The Drama.

THE DRAMA .

" The Spendthrift" at the Olympic—" Chilperic" at the Alhambra . ME . Albery ' s first piece , "Tho Two Eoses , " produced at the Vaudeville four years ago , was so good as to warrant the opinion then held , by most playgoers , that in him we possessed an author equal in ability to tho late Mr . Robinson , but since then

Mr . Albery has written nothing worthy of the reputation he acquired on his debut—nothing indeed which , by any stretch of the imagination , could bo considered successful . It is nob enough to writo disjointed bits of witty dialogue , as in the " Two Thorns , " or airy fanciful ideas , as in " Oriana , " there must be some backbone , in

the shape of plot—something to sustain the interest through three hours of dialogue , and in this respect Mr . Albery has signally failed . Never so signally , however , as with " The Spendthrift , " which can hardly bo said to have a plot at all . The story , if it can be called ono , is simply this : a lady , in a sedan chair , is attacked by a set of

ruffians , who are beaten off by the . heroic efforts of a ruined gentleman , the " Spendthrift , " who eventually marries the lady . This is the plot , stated baldly and succinctly , and Mr . Albery's task in spreading it it over five acts must have been as difficult as the five acts aro wearisome to his audience . There is somo smart dialogue .

Miss Fowler ' s dresses are very splendid , and Mr . Anson gives us a capital simulation of drunkenness : but these things do not mako up a comedy , any more than bread is made of water and without flour . The pieco may have been meant as an antidote to tho sensationalism of " The Two Orphans ; " we cannot imagine any

other reason for tho production of a play so utterly devoid of tho elements of success . Mi-. Neville is , we believe justly , a very popular actor , and Miss Fowler is an actress who has shown great improvement lately ; but we are very much mistaken if the popularity of these two artistes will suffice to float " The Spendthrift . "

" Chilperic , " whon first produced at the LYCEUM , was an unquestionable success . M . Hcrvo himself played tho amorous king , and M . Marius also made his first bow to an English audience . Since thou Miss Soldene has performed in it , aud it has now found its way to the boards of tho Alhambra . Tho opera has not been improved by

its change to the air of Leicester Square . The pretty airs and tuneful choruses which went so well in the smaller house are lost in the vast auditorium of the Alhambra , and tho pieco has been lengthened , much to its disadvantage . Mr . C . Lyall now plays Chilperic , but we

miss tho grace aud light touch of M . Herve . Miss Lennox Grey is but a poor Tredogouda , and it is chiefly through her shortcomings that the quarelling duet falls so flatly . The pieco is well dressed and mounted , as is always tho case at tho Alhambra , but that theatre is adapted for spectacular effect , not for the protty frivolities of comio opora .

The Prince Of Wales's.

THE PRINCE OF WALES'S .

[ T is not very creditable to the public taste that tho production of tho Merchant of Venice has turned out a disastrous failure . Nothing that could be effected by tho management is wanting to ensure a success , save one thing—a fashionable Shylock . A Shylock whose language is unintelligible to an English audienco would have piovoked the enthusiasm of the lii . tlo band of critics who are

continually urging their readers to go aud witness performances meaningless to many of them , and to those who do understand its expression , ofteu ridiculous from its perversion of Shakspearc ' s vigorous Saxon . Mr . Coghlan's Shylock , viewed as a whole , is neithor a very tame nor a very striking performance . In his first scene with Antonio and Bassanio his hatred of Christians is well controlled , to

say the least of it , and his utterances against them seem more in the nature of philosophic musings than outbursts of rancorous feeling . In the subsequent scenes , however , upon tho flight of his daughter , and that of tho trial , wc havo never seen a better reading of tho part , nor ono more worthy of commendation . It is undeniable that Shylock does not here stand out from all the other characters in the

play as it probably would havo done in the hands of a " star " actor . There is no clipping of effective lines from the other parts to decrease their importance , nor aro the other performers kept carefully in tho background , lest tho effulgence of tho " star" might be dimmed in tho sight of tho audience . Whatever may bo said of Mr . Bancroft ' s

re-arrangement of the play , it has obviou .-ly been dictated by a desire to bring out clearly the true nature of every character in it . This he has succeeded iu doing , but with a result he probably did not anticipate;—that his andience aie more interested in the lottery of Portia than in the fat ; j of the bankrupt merchant .

Much of this feeling is undoubtedly duo to Miss Terry ' s rendering of the part . Miss Terry realizes to the letter Bassauio ' a fancy des cription of tho lady in Belmont richly loft . Grace , tenderness , nn < passion , find in her their natural exponent , and tho public that cai neglect such a performance as this is , displays little appreciation o any of them . In tho trial scene—one that outvies iu logitimatt

sensation the puny efforts of modern dramatists—her acting wa . ' nitural and effective to a degree unparalleled in our experience of Portias . The play is , throughout , represented with an evenness and apparent uniformity of talent that in our judgment has contributed to iu failure . Tho lip-lovers of Shakespeare have , in their minds at ruo > ' ! but two characters m each of Ids plays , aud it pains such persons l

see their favourites equalled in importance by characters whos names even do not live in their memory . Overlooking this paten fact was Mr . Bancroit ' s mistake , but ho is not likely , we shonld r . hnilto repeat it . He has shown conclusively that tho fuss maoo aboii Shakespeare is but empty talk , and that , so far as that iil-nsed autho is concerned , tho public care little for his work , and much for sci .-a fcional actors ,

Cross.

CROSS .

FROM MACKEY ' ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FREEMASONRY

WE can find no symbolism of the cross in the primitive degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry . It does not appear among the symbols of the Apprentice , tho Fellow Craft , tho Master , or the Royal Arch . This is undoubtedly to be attributed to the fact that the cross was considered , by those who invented those degrees , only in reference to its character a 3 a Christian sign . The snbsequenb archaeological investigations that have given to the cross a more

universal place in iconography were unknown to the rituals . It is true , that it is referred to , under the name of tho rode or rood , in the manuscript of tho fourteenth century , published by Halliwell ; thia was , however , one of the Constitutions of tho Operative Freemasons , who were fond of tho symbol , aud were indebted for it to their ecclesiastical origin , and to their connection with the Gnostics , among

whom the cross was a much used symbol . But on tho revival in 1717 , when tho ritual was remodified , and differed very greatly from that meagro ono in practice . among the mediroval Masons , all allusion to the cross was left out , because the revivalists laid down the principle that the religion of Speculative Masonry was not sectarian but universal . And although this principle was in some points , as in

the lines parallel , neglected , the reticence as to the Christian sign of salvation has continued to the present day ; so that tho cross cannot be considered as a symbol in tho primary aud original degrees of Masonry . But in the high degrees , tho cross has been introduced as au important symbol . In some of them , —those which are to be traced to

the Tomplo system of Ramsay , —it is to be viewed with refereuco to its Christian origin aud meaning . Thus , in tho original Rose Croix and Kadosh , —no matter what may be the modern interpretation given to it , —it was simply a representation of the cross of Christ . In others of a philosophical character , snch as the Ineffable degreos , the symbolism of tho cross was in all probability borrowed from the usages

of antiquity , for from tho earliest times and in almost all countries the cross has beon a sacred symbol . lb is depicted on the oldest monuments of Egypt , Assyria , Persia , and Hindustan . It was , says Faber ( Cabir ., ii . 390 ) , a symbol throughout the pagan world long previous to its becoming an object of veneration to Christians . In ancient symbology ib was a symbol of eternal life . M . de Mortillet , who in 18 G 6 published a work entitled Le Signe de la Croia avant le

Christianisme , found m the very earliest epochs three iiriucipal symbols of universal occurrence : viz : the circle , tho pyramid , and the cross . Leslie ( Man ' s Origin and Destiny , p . 312 ) , quoting from him in reference to the ancient worship of tho cross , says , " It seems to have been a worship of such a peculiar nature as to exclude the worship of idols . " This sacredncssof tho crucial symbol may bo ono reason why its form was often adopted , especially by the Colts , in the construction of their temples .

Ot the Drtudical veneration ot the cro 3 s , Higgms quotes from tho treaties of Schedius , De Moribus Germanorum ( xx ! v ) ., tho following remarkable paragraph : — " The Druids seek studiously for au oak-tree , largo aud handsome , growing up with two principal arms in the form of a cross , beside tho main , upright stem . If tho two horizontal arms are not sufficiently adapted to tho figure , thoy fasten a cross beam to it . This tree they

consecrate in this manner . Upon tho right branch they cut in tho bark , in fair characters , the word IlESUS ; upon the uuddle or nprighb stem , the word TARAMIS ; upon tho left brmicli , BE LEXUS ; over this , above the . going off of tlie arms , ihcv cut the name of God , THAU . Under all ' the same repeated , THA U . This tree , so inscribed , they make their Icehla in the grove , cathedral , or summer church , towards which they direct their faces in tho offices of religion . "

The Standard Work.

THE STANDARD WORK .

From our earliest conuectiou with Masonry the subject of the Standard Work has been dinned in our ears , and from tho oldest Craftsman of our acquaintance to tho youngest Master in tho East , we have heard nothing but " Standard Work ; " in fact , the changes have been so ofteu rung in our ears , that we havo , at times , been well nigh disgusted .

In this connection wo cannot forego the mention of an incident of ecerit occurrence : A brother who- was lately elected to a prominent losition in the Lodge was ambitious upon the subject , aud applied to in old and familiar friend of ours for tho Standard Work . " Cerainly , my dear young friend , " he replied , " yen shall havo the Standard Work ; call at my house this evening and 1 will furnish von with a cony of it . "

The ambitions brother called , and his aged friend placed a volume in his hands , which the modesty of the recipient at the moment nevented his examining , though ho was profuse in thanks and u-otestations of gratitude . Shortly after , when about retiring , after a s ! y glance at tho book , > e discovered that it was the Bible ! Sut . posing thai there had b . en

mistake , ho remarked upon the fact , wtien his veueiahlo bo-t inormed him that the volume which he had received contained all tka here was , is , or ever had been in Masonry , and that ii any son of ight desired " more li ght" than it contained , he must exoeor disap . ) > intment , and that he might yet , learn that modern improvements in never add to the glory of first , principles , and that original faith vhich makes all brothers . —Brooklyn Bedew .

~ LA Run ' s IsTERyATioxAT , PLAYnso ' ' A RTIS .-Portraits of the Royalty o Europe , Post free , 2 s 8 d , W . W . Morgan , 07 Barbican , Loudon , E . C , '