... (Dur Captious djrilir. WHO is this Captious Critic-- this fellow who arrogates to himself the position of a particular censor, and wields his pen as though he had a right to be considered in his opinions before his more modest brethren-- who is he? Faith, my friends! that is a question which at this early moment of the New Year, when indigestion duly waits upon appetite, presses itself ...

... . THE following games are suitable to all seasons of the year; but the worse the weather the greater is the fun; and they are, for this reason and some others, most appropriate to this hilarious period of pantomimes, plum-puddings, and all manner of heavy jocularity. Persons of very unselfish dis position, who have grown unalterably settled in the habit of studying the comfort and happiness of ...

... grama. THE entertainments at all the theatres during the week have been in exact accordance with the extended programmes we set forth last Saturday, with one exception: at the Criterion, where M. Pitron's management having terminated, the per formances during the week have consisted of Mr. Marshall's comedy Brighton, with Mr. Charles Wyndham in his original part of Bob Sackett, supported by Mr ...

... -. LAST night the third quarter of the nineteenth century was completed. Another year was gathered to its predecessors; and a favourable moment arrived for a comparison of the present state of musical culture with that which existed at the infancy of the current century. Such an examination could hardly fail to furnish encouragement to the most faint-hearted lovers of art. At a superficial ...

... (Sttr dfapticMB dfrilir. When some twelvemonths ago I pre seated the reader with a slight biographical sketch of the well-known North Woolwich Infant, whose features are here strikingly portrayed, I was not in possession of the few additional facts regarding his early career which have since come to my knowledge. He is said to have been born on a Boxins Night. and he began to clown it even in ...

... Drama. THE pantomimes have now got into smooth working order, and both the morning and evening performances have drawn crowded houses during the week-- while the theatres where no special Christmas fare was provided have been equally well attended. During the second week of the holidays changes of programme are not expected, yet some few have taken place, and we are on the eve of numerous ...

... MADAME L'ARCHIDUC.-- OPERA COMIQUE THEATRE. WHAT can be the magic which causes managers to believe implicitly in the name of Offenbach? There was a time when he was known in connection with successes only. Too Many Cooks, La Grande Duchesse, Falsacappa, Genevieve de Brabant, and a few other works, achieved successes which were justly merited. But during the last four or five years ...

... (Ditr (^ajjtuma dfrittt I have for some time been convinced that Christmas panto mime has become one of the most cynical exhibitions to be witnessed even in this age of ironical improvement. Professedly got up for the special delectation of youth, and looked forward to by children as the great annual treat, pantomimes are now for the most part composed of materials more calculated to bewilder ...

... King's-Cross Theatre. r -The eighth performance of the. Betterton Dramatic Club at this house was very creoitaDie. Our old friend Meg's Diversion was given, followed by the capital one-act comedy The First Night. Mr. Harry Irocter acted, as usual, with vigour and point, as Jasper Pidgeon. Perhaps the part hardly suited him as well as the character old men in which he usually appears, but we ...

... &Iie grama. WITH the exception of the production of one novelty, Mr. Craven's three-act drama Too True, at the Duke's Theatre, on Saturday evening; the closing performance at the Criterion, on the same night, of Brighton and The Debutante, by Mr. Charles Wvndhaui and his company; and the revival at the Adelphi, on Monday, of Mr. Edmund Falconer's Irish drama Peep o' Day, in succession to the ...

... ...

... SKETCHES FROM THE LONDON THEATRES. THE OPENING OF THE WESTMINSTER ACiUARIUM, as graciously performed by the Duke of Edinburgh on Satur day last, is pictured in our front Illustration. The afternoon and evening concerts formed the specialties of the inaugural day; and they will be found commented on in our musical review. Appropriate enough was it that the Sailor Prince and a, rakish guard of ...