ilhelm_, in _Mignon_, lacked distinction, is more
in his element as _Danilowitz_ the pastry-cook. The stage management
(as might have been expected with AUGUSTUS to the fore) is admirable,
the battle-scene at the end of the Second Act filling the house with
a mixture one-tenth smoke to nine-tenths enthusiasm. By the time these
lines are before the entire world, if all goes well, _Thorgrim_, by
Mr. FREDERICK COWEN, will have been produced. As the work of a native
composer, it should receive a hearty welcome, particularly on the
boards of the National Theatre; but, sink or swim, the Carl Rosa
Opera Company cannot possibly come to harm with its present popular
_repertoire_. And, as good music is a boon to the London public, such
a state of things is distinctly satisfactory.

* * * * *

"IN THE NAME OF THE LAW!"--It is a pity that Mr. LAW, the author
of _Dick Venables_, did not take a little more trouble in the
construction of his new piece at the Shaftesbury Theatre. It just
misses being an excellent drama, and deserving the valuable assistance
it receives from all concerned on the stage side of the Curtain. That
the wife of a convict should take a house next door to her deeply
dreaded husband's prison, that a jewel-collector should keep his
precious stones in a side-board, that an Archdeacon should apparently
have nothing better to do than play the kleptomaniac at Dartmoor,
are facts that seem largely improbable; and yet these are the salient
points of the latest addition to the playgoer's _repertoire_. For
the rest, _Dick Venables_ is interesting, and admirably played. But
whether, after the first-night criticisms, the piece will do, is a
question that must be left to the future for solution.

* * * * *

HYPNOTIC HIGH FEEDING.

(_Being some Brief Diary Notes of a Coming Little Dinner (New Style),
jotted down a few years hence._)

"YOUR dinner is served. Sir!"

It was the Professorial Butler who made this announcement with a
solemn and significant bow. He had undertaken, for the modest fee of
half-a-crown, to throw my four guests,--an Epicurean Duke, a couple
of noted Diners-out, and a Gourmand of a high order well known in
Society,--into a profound hypnotic sleep, under the influence of
which, while supplied with a few scraps of food, and slops by way
of drink, they were to believe that they were assisting at a most
_recherche_ repast, provided by a