ces--is excellent. WEEDON GROSSMITH is funny, but in
make-up, tone of voice, and mannerisms, the part seems mixed up with
one or two others that he has played, and is very far from being in
the same category with _Aunt Jack's_ crushed Solicitor. BRANDON THOMAS
as _Captain Roland Gurney, R.N._, is very natural. _The Office Boy_
of Master WILSON and the little _Gridd_ of Master WESTGATE (very near
Birchington when the boy is in Mrs. WOOD's hands), are capital. Miss
CARLOTTA LECLERCQ's _Duchess_ is equal to the occasion. The two girls'
parts are unnatural and uninteresting. What ought to make the success
of the piece is the scene where WEEDON GROSSMITH volunteers to sing
"_The Wolf_," and everyone talks and chatters until the Babel ends
in an explosion. It convulses the house with laughter; and if this
situation had been so contrived,--as it might have been, allow me
to say,--as to end the Act, the Curtain falling on the climax, the
dashing down of the enraged musician's song and the exit of the
Duke, the run of _The Volcano_ would have been insured from now to
Christmas. Is it too late to retrieve this? To quote the title of
one of ANTHONY TROLLOPE's novels, "I say No!" There is so much that
is genuinely funny in the piece, that if the alteration is done
with a will, _hic et nunc_, why within a week the piece could be
fixed securely in its place for the London season, and beyond it.
Let funny little WEEDON reconsider his make-up, and come out as
the flaxen-headed M.P. of a Saxon constituency. And a word in his
ear,--SOTHERN fashioned _Lord Dundreary_ out of a worse part than
this. _The Volcano_ shouldn't "bust up." That's my opinion, as

A FRIEND AT COURT.

* * * * *

A SCHOOL OF CRITICISM.

From the _Queen_. A Correspondent writes:--

"JOURNALISM.--I want to become a Dramatic Critic; how should I begin?
I am fond of going to the theatre, but find it difficult to remember
the plot of the play afterwards. What kind of notices do Editors
prefer?--_Histrionica_."

Isn't it Mr. DAVID ANDERSON who has set up a flourishing School for
Journalists? Why shouldn't there be a School for Critics? The Master
would take his pupils to the Theatre regularly, and could lecture on
the Play as it proceeded. Should Managers and Actors be so blind to
the best interests of their Art as to refuse to allow the play to be
stopped from time to time to allow of the Instructor's remarks, then
he would have to w