The Mason's Sign.

THE MASON'S SIGN .

SONG BY G . W . W HEELEK . I . Duncan McPhie was a cannie wio cheil , A Freemason he , quite trusty and leal , He'd a snug country cot , and twa children young ,

A braw-big wife , and she had a long tongue , And she tried all she could his secret to know , But she soon found out that that " was no go . "

He loved her truly , and he loved her well , But he plainly said that he could not tell . Yot she bothered and teased him ; it was really absurd , How she bothered and teased him for the Freemason ' s Word .

II . She tried all her arts , but she tried all in vain , By no means in her power the word could she gaiu ; Though so often foiled , yet still she would try , At times she would laugh , at times she would ory ,

At times she would coax , and then sho would glour , Then she would sulk , nor speak for an hour ; Sho'd say then , " Such cruelty never was heard , If he loved her one bit he'd soon tell her the word . Thus she bothered and teased him ; it was really absurd , How she bothered and teased him for the Freemason's Word . "

III . But a woman , you know , will never be beat , When she ' s made up her mind to accomplish a feat , She therefore determined to try a new dodge , The next time he was late returning from Lodge .

It happened one night , when 'twas stormy and cold , — In the country he lived , as already I've told , — Ho rapped at the door ? Who ' s there ? " Why its me . "

" Well , go to your Lodge , if you havo not a key . I won't let you in , without word , grip and sign , If yon can't give me them , you ' re no husband of mine . "

IV . What could the man do in so sorry a case ? 'Twas too late to go back , and no Inn in that place , His wife sho was there , with the door on the chain , He was outside—in the cold and the rain .

So he thought it was better the secret to tell , Before you blame him , see you do as well . " The Pass word , my dear , Fll tell what it means ,

The one cheil says ' Bacon' the other says ' Greens' " " But the grand word and sign ?—toll me them , and I'm dumb . " " Turn fiuger down thus , and say ' Ne ' er fash your thumb . '"

V . Sho opened the door , saying , " Come hi , my deaf , No mortal from me these words ever shall hear ;" And , like a true woman , she kept to her word ,

Those sounds , for a month at least , never were heard . Onco more it ' s lull late , his wife ; now he'd come , Was heard to call out , " Oh , ne ' er fash your thumb .

My cousins are here , they know what it means , I soon let them know 'bout your Bacon and Greens . Do yon think I'd sit here by myself and bo dumb , While , drinking your wiuo , you say ' No ' cr fash your thumb . '"

VI . The poor man was glad to escape to his bed , His heart it was aching , as well as his head . Hero was destroyed the fond dream of his life , The faith ho had placed in the truth of his wife ;

He had given that word on her pledge to bo dumb , Yet tho sign she'd betrayed , — " Ne ' er fash your thumb . " So he thought that on her he'd now steal a march ,

And find the true word in the depth of the Arch , For she'd bothered and teased him ; it was really absurd , How sho bothered and teased him till ho save her the W , 1 .

The Drama.

THE DRAMA .

" Buckingham" at the Olympic—" The White Cat " at the Queen ' s . ME . WILLS is , without donbt , agood dramatist , but he is an uncommonly bad historian ; there is , of course , much licence allowed to a dramatic author , as to a poet , but we think that the bounds of this licence have been overstepped by Mr . Wills . Not content with having ,

in his play of Charles I ., blackened the character of one ot our most noble Englishmen , in order to exalt the memory of a deservedly reprobate king , he now endeavours still further to darken history by placing before us , as a chivalrous gentleman , a man who was a gambler , a libertine , and a blackguard . It is strange that English people can

be found willing to weep over the sorrows of a Charles , and to laug h at the simulated humiliation of a Cromwell ; it is to somo extent a sign of a deteriorated age , but this is no excuse for Mr . Wills . If he does not know it already , he must learn that it is ono thing to distort history , quite another to snlly the memory of our illustrious dead .

The Buckingham of his latest play , although somewhat dissolute , is an honourable gentleman , in love with Mary , daughter of Lord Fairfax ; Elizabeth , daughter of Cromwell , is in love with him , and Cromwell , partly ont of love for his daughter , partly wishing to find himself connected with a noble family , is anxious to make Buckingham

his son-in-law . Adopting a royal mode of attaining his object , the Protector offers to Buckingham his choice between marriage with Elizabeth and execution . That nobleman chooses marriage , but , by a ruse , Mary Fairfax is enabled to occupy the place of the bride . Finding this out immediately after tho ceremony , Cromwell orders the

bridegroom to tho Tower , for execution , a fato which is averted only by the death of the ruler . From this brief sketch of tho plot it will be seen that there is room for many striking situations , which aro led up to with admirable art . The dialogue is always good , some of tho speeches rising to absolute poetry of expression . The fault wo have

to find with the play we have indicated already . We cannot expect to find at the OLYMPIC a company worthy of the piece ; it is objectionable to listen to a duke who revives recollections of Bob Brierley , and a Cromwell who reminds one of a first murderer at the Victoria .

The two leading ladies , who appear in London , we believe for tho first time , are overweighted , and the cast generally is sadly weak . There is much in the play that is worthy of observation , but for the reasons which we have noted we must z-estrain our approval until we find Mr . Wills reading history with an unbiassed mind .

One of tho sayings of the unfortunate man now languishing at Dartmoor will seldom remain long without an exponent , we mean that saying which applies to the connection between money and brains . Mr . Mayer has gone to almost unheard of expense in producing The White Cat , and with this effect : there fire one or two scenes of

dazzling splendour imbedded in a mass of sombre dulness . The combined openings of a hundred pantomimes would hardly represent fairly the chaos of which this so-called fairy play is composed . The adventures of the lady who is first a princess , then a country girl , then a warrior , then a cat , and , lastly , a wife , are utterly

incomprehensible , admirably as that lady is played by Miss Rose Massey . Mr . Stoyle tries hard to extract some fun ont of the most uncongenial part of King Mignonette , and a host of pretty girls do their best to brighten our eves ; but the play is past all understanding . If it is

meant as a pantomime , it is prematurely born , and is without tho chief attraction of a pantomime , tho fooling of the clown . In Paris The White Cat drew extremely well , by reason of its somewhat lavish display of female charms ; in London it is , perhaps , worse than improper , for it is supremely dull .

Railway Traffic Returns.

RAILWAY TRAFFIC RETURNS .

The following statement shows the receipts for traffic on tha undermentioned railways for the past week , as compared with tho corresponding week in 1874 : — Miles open . Receipts . Railway . 1875 18 T 5 W 4

£ £ Caledonian 739 53 , 028 50 , 845 Glasgow and South Western . . 315 i 15 , 922 15 , 875 Great Eastern .... 763 41 , 726 44 , 7 S 8 Great Northern ... . 523 52 , 082 52 , 645 iveat Western .... 1 , 534 100 , 158 100 , 538

Lancashire and Yorkshire . . 431 68 , 150 68 , 905 London and Brighton . . . 37 « i 27 , 908 . 23 , 409 London , Chatham and Dover . . 1534 . 14 , 561 14 , 597 London and North Western . . 1 , 586 167 , 154 166 , 124 Lo :: d"ii and South Western . . 626 £ 30 , 456 29 , 211

L ( . n : ! uii , Tilbury and Southend . 45 1 , 910 — Manchester and Sheffield . . 259 J- 34 ; 319 33 , 172 . fidkmd 975 : } 113 , 430 109 , 025 Metropolitan 8 9 , 192 8 , 423 „ „ District ... 8 5 , 108 4 , 720

„ „ St . John ' s Wood . . 1 £ 445 417 ^ orth British 8 Wf 41 , 183 37 , 732 orth Eastern ... . l , 400 i 117 , 720 119 , 482

orth London ... . 12 6 , 421 6 , 462 orth Staffordshire Eailway . . 191 10 , 174 . 9 997 „ Canal . 118 1 . 546 1 . 41 . ) mith fetrni .... 3 " 0 28 , 934 30 , fi () i