... THE PLEASURES OP PLAY-WRITING TO THE EDITOR OP THE ERA. 8ir,-Well iay Mr Burnased vindicate the originality of lis rra;tdta Icomedy against tile ill-conditioned liiisrr'preS1 tion of his New York critirc. We have all grosm too Pick wickian, nolwadnys, to use the stern old rulonosyllahle which is the best condemnation of this sort of tlijir. It is the same everywhere. We have the Houses of ...

... One of the most remarkable sights we have witnessed this Christmas was the Agricultural Hall on Boxing Night. The audience could be numbered by thousands, and even into the very roof the delighted crowds had climbed to get a better view of Myers's famous Circus, the fame of which had preceded its appearance. There could not be a better building for the purpose than the Agricultural Hall, which ...

... MR. E. RIGHTON IN DUlBLIN. Mr E. Righton appeared last night for the first time at the Gaiety. * * ' Flirtations was received last night with great applause, and deservedly so, for the acting of all the parts was above the average. Mr Righton played Major Shoreshot, a part that be may be said to have created. In his interpretation ot this character, a vain, absurd old man, he showed great ...

... THE LATE WALTEFP MONTGOMERY. TO THE EDITOR OF THE ERA. Sir,-The enclosed verbatim copy of a highly interesting letter from the late Walter Montgomery to Mr T. H. Atkinson, of Grantham, I have great pleasure in forwarding to you, with Mr Atkinson's full permission to insert the same in The Era. Fraternally and faithfully yours, JOHN LEVEY, Dramatist. Theatre Royal, Grantham, 1878. Boston, U.S. ...

... A N:1W PIANOFORTE. The pianoforte is such a popular instrument that we do not wonder at the interest shown in any improvements made in its construction. As a popular writer says, A good piano- forte is a household orchestra ; and in fact so many of the effects of an orchestra can be obtained upon our modern grand pianos that the instrument is likely to hold its place in public estimation, ...

... THE ATROCIOUS V!ILLAINS OF THE STAGE. The Abbe de Morallet had one fault as a counterweight to a great many virtues, he was a bon vivant; and it is recorded of him that he was at the table of a. host who, being anxious for a particularly fine pheasant to be so carved thst each of the guests might have a portion, directed the servants to pass the bird to the Ahb6, lie being well qualified for ...

... TOPICS OF THE WEE. | THE debate on the wart in which England is at present inevitably involved drags its slow length along in the House of Conmnons. All has been said that need be said. The wheat I hae been sifted friom the tares. Englishmen and Afghans have gone off to opposite camups, and we now know our fiends from our enemies. Argument is surely wasted on a man who, looking to history, can ...

... WHAT does the Afghan party in modern politics say to the disclosures of to-day we wonder? How will the obsti- nately unpatriotic section meet the announcement made on the faith of the Amise's own proclamation, that the war was the result of deliberate forethought and revolt, that the nation was actually summoned to war, and the religious feelings of the Mussulmen strongly worked upon. ...

... TO THE EDITOR OF THE ERA. Sir,-That is an excellent article you published under the above head in The Era of yesterday's date, and will, I hope, be widely read by incipient dramatists and Managers also. A glance at the playbills of the London Theatres will show that the proportion of really original English plays now upon the boards is small. French translations and adaptations (acknow- ledged ...

... THE JEALOUS WIkFE. The part of Mr Oakley was sustained by Mfr Coghlan with entirely favourable results. Mr Coghlan was full of the nice discrimi- nation and delicate shades of meaning we have learned to expect from this aceomplished actor. The deferential maniner of the earlier sceses was admirable, and the passages where the worm turns at last were delivered with corresponding ease and ...

... Fp T, I, ,1i M A S 0 W R Y. F-o, ,l Masionic Institution for Girls. Me;it ;]Y neeting of tile GeLneral Comtmnittee of this ih2 elt oin ThIsdav at Freemiasrss' [Ifail, Br TiOMAS W. iltl' chlat t The wthe; Brethren present were Tics Grifliths jil tl~e cli~altrl Ii. Mlassey, W- Palley, ?? NIIreridge sr i lilall W.- ll. Farnlfield, Charles Lacey, John A. Rucker, ll. e j. ii. Sriren, E. II. ...

... R E E MA SO N RY Grand Lodge. lc ttl Conimunicatioii of Graud Lodge of .Lnglisls III :I licid ?? Wedllesday igiit at Fiteallsotils Hall. The 702011%.,tltAnvox po Cral pUaster, presided. Lord Tenterden, ?? of Grand Sncuior Warden, and Sir HarcourtJohn. ?? the chair of Grand Junior Warden. Br W. B. B. Beach, Store2, A PDeputy Grand Master; and among the other Brethren wtedas large number of ...