l
contralto; MAUREL, the cultured artist; SIBYL SANDERSON, the simple
child of Nature; AGNES JANSON, with more sauce Hollandaise; marvellous
MRAVINA for the French Queen, "with a song;" and, above all, Madame
ALBANI, in tip-top voice, acting and singing better than ever.

_Tuesday_.--June 2 was a Diamond Night in front. H.R.H.'s present:
Diamond Queens and Princesses of Society all on view. DRURIOLANUS, in
his glory, beams on everyone.

_Wednesday_.--State Ball counter-attraction to Opera. Won't do to go
in rumpled silks and satins, and drooping feathers, like hens after
the rain, to a Court Ball. So Opera suffers; those present trying to
look as if they had been invited to State Ball, but didn't care
about going, or couldn't go, on account of recent family affliction.
However, as DRURIOLANUS is reported to have appeared in full fig
at State Ball, he couldn't expect others less interested in the
performance than himself to cut the Court and come to the Opera.
To-night, M. PLANCON as _Mephistopheles_, a thinner demon than Brother
NED DE RESZKE, but _un bon diable tout de meme_.

_Friday Night_.--Notable for excellent performance of _Rigoletto_, or
The Little Duke and The Big Duck respectively personified by Signor
RAVELLI and GIULIA RAVOGLI. Three "R"s in such a combination. Quite
"_R's Poetica_." Beg pardon.

"Tag" on the week,--if our friends in front are pleased as they appear
to be, then DRURIOLANUS and Council--not the County, but the Covent
Garden Council--are satisfied. _Curtain._

* * * * *

[Illustration: HONEY-MOONING IN ITALY.

_Fair American Bride_. "OH, JOHN! TO THINK THAT PERHAPS VIRGINIUS
STABBED HIS DAUGHTER ON THIS VERY SPOT, AND THAT JUST OVER THERE
TELLIA DROVE OVER HER POOR FATHER'S DEAD BODY!"

_John_. "AH--VERY SAD--VERY SAD, INDEED! BUT, SAY, MATILDA, I GUESS
WE'D BETTER LET BYGONES _BE_ BYGONES. AND NOW LET'S GO AND HAVE A LOOK
AT THE NEW POST-OFFICE."]

* * * * *

THE ALARMED AUTOCRAT!

"The Czar declared that he was determined to continue
resolutely to the end the policy upon which he had entered,
with a view to the solution of the Jewish difficulty, adding
that it was the Jews themselves who had forced that policy
upon him by their conduct.... 'Down to the present time' (His
Majesty remarked), 'there has never been a single Nihilistic
plot, in which Jews have not been concerned.'"--_The Time