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near me, and I can see you all day long; and the fresh air will soon make you quite well again."

The child's face brightened as he listened. "And Harry he'll go with us?" said he, pointing to the boy who was standing by the bedside.

"Ay," replied John, cheerily, "that he will

and we'll have fine times."

"Ay," said Tom, echoing with his feeble voice something of his father's cheery tones, "that we will."

Harry Lindsey said nothing, but looked earnestly into the eyes of the buy, and then into the face of the blacksmith, as if endeavouring to read there an explanation of some perplexing thought.

"And how is the pain which troubled you so?" inquired John. "It was there, wasn't it?" said he, placing his hand upon the breast of the child.

"Just there it was," replied little Tom; "but it's gone now. I'm getting well now."

"Ha! that's right, that's right, Tom!" said John, joyously. "And now, Tom," added he, rising from the bed, "I've been sent for by Mr. Lindsey, and I must go; but I'll be back quite soon. Come, Master Harry, you are to go with me, for it's a dark night. Tom, won't you thank him for coming to see you?"

"That I will," replied the child, in the same feeble imitation of his father's heartiness. "That I do. Good-night," said he, earnestly: "you'll come again to-morrow, Harry?"

"Oh yes!" replied the boy. "Good-night." He turned and looked once more into the face of his playfellow, and again into that of the old man, and went out without speaking.

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Father, kiss me before you go," said Tom. John stooped and kissed him, and then, gently unclasping the arms which encircled his neck, said: "I'll be back very soon. Come, Master Harry,"

THE THEATRES, &c.

OPENING OF THE NEW CHARING. CROSS THEATRE: PRODUCTION OF A NEW PLAY FOR MISS BATEMAN AT THE HAYMARKET. Theatrical entertainments-which now can hardly be called the "drama"-have attained their zenith of popularity with half-a-dozen new theatres flourishing, and as many glitteringly mounted burlesques played nightly to audiences whose delight is cented in meretricious song and dance. There is a new system in vogue of conducting theatres. The policy of the entrepreneurs appears now to be to transfer the management to vicarious, but nevertheless quite irresponsible parties. The ostensible managers so selected are persons who possess some kind of name before the public as connected with literature or art; but were never before supposed to be capitalists. It is said that one of the gay theatres recently opened in the vicinity of the Strand, with very stylish accessories, is in reality the property, not of a certain littérateur whose name is ostentatiously printed at the head of the play-bill, but of the proprietor of a morning newspaper. Doubtless dummy" managers and lessees are even a better device than 66 manageress" - actresses. Under the former term the capitalist-lessee may import extraneous matters into the drama, which in no way belong to it; but are only showy and alluring adjuncts, calculated to attract "fast" audiences and the "gaping crowd."

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Another of those new theatres devoted to the pleasures of "vanity fair," and the "nods, and becks, and wreathed smiles" of extravaganzaactresses, has opened under the name of the CHARING CROSS theatre. The site is that of the late Polygraphic Hall of Mr. W. S. Woodin. The managers of the little "Charing Cross" establishment appear proud of the fact that their "Wooden O" is so diminutive; and they rather ostentatiously announce that there is no gallery for the accommodation of the public, and that there is no "half-price." But they have ample compensation to offer; for

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"Silken dalliance in the wardrobe lies," and the luxuries of their sofa-stalls and upholstery in the auditorium cannot be denied. But with all this external show and glitter we should have preferred a more substantial fare than the inaugurative performances of the Charing Cross" company provided. lever de rideau was an operatic sketch, entitled Coming of Age," written by J. E. Carpenter, the song-writer, the music being composed by E. L. Hime, and the characters supported by a respectable staff. Then followed a mild threeact drama of much tenuity of texture, entitled

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The

Edendale." The piece treats of an American subject, and relates dramatically an episode of the American War, in which there are contentions like those of the Montagus and Capulets, The characters were well represented by a com

pany nearly all provincials, led by Mr. J. G. Shore (from the Princess's) and Miss Hughes (from the Olympic). The concluding entertainment was a burlesque (of course), the subject being Bellini's "Norma," which had been travestied half-a-dozen times before the present Druidical sacrifice was offered. Miss Cicely Nott, Miss Irwin, Miss Ernstone, and Miss Garthwaite the three latter, from the provinces -are valuable acquisitions.

M. Augier's "Gabrielle," a French five-act comedy, in verse, first represented in Paris some twenty-one years ago, has repeatedly tempted the British adapter to exercise his craft upon it; and "Gabrielle" has now furnished the ADELPHI with a new melo-drama, which they | have pre-historically entitled "Eve." The arguments by which a husband induces his wife and her lover to abstain from proceeding too far on the road to the Divorce Court are of that sentimental kind which Adelphi audiences like. The material discomforts their persistence in error entails upon the corrupt couple give form and substance to the mise en scene and the contrasts in the domestic life represented are enjoyed, now for their pathos, then, perhaps, for their humour. The general performance of the Adelphi company was not up to the level required by M. Augier's play, even if represented by the meanest French company. The best sustained character was the Mrs. Grimsditch of Mrs. A. Mellon. Mr. Webster has, apparently, a liking for the part of Wollaston, the husband, and played certain of the more emotional scenes in "Eve" with force and success. Miss Furtardo's uneducated style and cold snappish manner quite unfits her for the part of the wife. Mr. H. Neville is the most stolid and unengaging of lovers. The scenic appliances are sufficiently handsome, but the billiard-table, in the second act, seemed brought on to advertise the makers as much as for any other purpose.

On June 7th burlesque and extravaganza took the place of high comedy at the ST. JAMES'S THEATRE, and Mdlle. Schneider and M. Dupuis succeeded M. Lafont and Mdlle. Leonide Leblanc. "La Grande Duchesse" has lost nothing of its popularity by its twelvemonths' absence from the boards of the St. James's. Mdlle. Schneider startles by her naif audacity and her surprising elan; but some of her by-play is suggestive of a corruptness of manners which is generally kept out of sight in English theatres. There happened to the opera-buffa troupe at the St. James's lately a surprise, which ended in a scene," in the conlisses. An explosion of gas in the saloon of the parterre, just as the doors were about to be opened, drove the actors and actresses, panicstricken, from their dressing-rooms into the street on a fine summer's evening, thus allowing wayfarers to discover some of the processes of the boudoir by which French actresses make themselves up to be "beautiful for ever." By dint of the exertions

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of M. Raphael Felix, the manager, and the fair Schneider (the Grande Duchesse herself), who were among the "route of Comus," the affrighted children of Orpheus and Offenbach were induced to return where duty called.

On the 21st instant a play of remarkable merit and interest-albeit, it was a play made out of a novel-was produced at the HAYMARKET, under the title of "Mary Warner.” The piece is from the pen of Mr. Tom Taylor. It treats of a story of poverty and crime belonging to the kind of life such as is known to the poorer inhabitants of the metropolis. These "short and simple annals of the poor" furnish a tale redolent of the police office and the Central Criminal Court, with a democratic element supervening, as a set-off to the domestic interest of the piece. All the characters were well sustained. Mr. Compton, as Tollet, the sergeant of police, was very amusing; while Miss Bateman fully sustained her reputation for pathetic power. Mr. Kendal was happy in the delineation of the modern "working-man" class of hero, and Miss Caroline Hill, as the starving wife, acted extremely well, even by the side of Miss Bateman. Mr. Howe has the part of a Lambeth workman, which he took his usual pains with. We must not omit to notice the playing of Miss Mary White, in a child's character, pathetically rendered, without a trace of what is called "parotting" being manifested. Dryden wrote

"And as the prompter breathes
The puppet squeaks!"

but the infantile actress at the Haymarket has given quite an intelligent study to the part she performs, and is no parroquet.

For those who have scruples against "stage plays" "dramatic readings" are in the present day provided in greater abundance than ability. It is true that Mr. Bellew is a good "reader," and that Mr. Charles Dickens was a better; that Miss Glynn reads Shakespeare admirably is indisputable; but that the Wilsons, Montagues, Phillips', and others, who now profess dramatic reading, are acquisitions we doubt. Mr. H. J. Montague is called "one of our most popular and rising comedians," and he has taken to "readings at the Queen's Concert Rooms. Now, Mr. Montague has a good deal of stage sang froid, but it is of a sort that might denote a vacant rather than a full mind. It is certain, at any rate, that, as a reader, Mr. Montague's forte does not lie in impassioned or tragic passages. E. H. MALCOLM.

The ORATORIO CONCERTS, under Mr. Barnby, were brought to the termination of a short and, we believe, eminently successful season, by the Conductor's benefit, on Tuesday evening, June 15, when the Jephtha of Handel (with additional accompaniments by Arthur S. Sullivan) was given before a large and fashionable audience. A winter season of these admirable Oratorio Concerts is promised.

MATERIALS.

THE LADIES' PAGE.

CLARENDON LACE.

Boar's-head Crochet-cotton, No. 18, of Walter Evans & Co., Derby.

1st. row. Make a chain, and on it a row of long stitch.

2nd.-1 long, 2 chain, miss I, repeat. 3rd.-1 long worked into space, 2 chain, repeat.

4th.-1 long into space, * chain, miss 1 space, 1 long into next space, repeat from *.

5th.-4 long into first space, 2 chain, 2 long into next space, 4 chain, 2 long in same space as last, 2 chain, 4 long in next space, 2 chain, 6 long with one chain between each in next space, 2 chain, repeat.

6th.-4 long, three of them being on those of former row, and the last on the next chain stitch, 2 chain, de in second space, 2 chain, 4 long, the first in the chain stitch next before the long ones of last row, 3 chain, de into division between first two long stitches next in former row, 5 chain, de in next space, 5 chain, repeat dc and 5 chain twice more, dc, 3 chain, repeat.

7th.-4 long, the last one on the chain, 2 chain, 2 long into de of last row, 4 chain, 2 long in same loop, 2 chain, miss 1, 4 long, 3 chain, de into loop of five, 5 chain, repeat this dc 5 chain three times more, de 3 chain, repeat.

8th.-4 long, 3 chain, de in second space, 3 chain, 4 long, the first of them on the second of previous row, the last one of course on the first of the chain, 3 chain, de in space as before, 5 chain, de in space, 5 chain, de in space, 3 chain, 4 long, the first in the chain stitch next before the long ones, repeat from *.

9th.-4 long, * 3 chain, 2 long in de, of last row, 4 chain, 2 long in the same loop, 3 chain, 4 long, the first on the second of last row, 3 chain, de in space. 5 chain, de in space, 3 chain, 4 long, the first on the chain stitch next before the long of last row, repeat from *.

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10th.-4 long, 3 chain, de in second space, chain, 4 long, the first on the second long stitch, 3 chain, 1 long in centre of the five chain, 3 chain, 4 long-the first on the chain stitch next before the long of last row, repeat from *. 11th.-4 long, * 3 cnain, 2 long in de of last Irow, 5 chain, 2 long in same loop, 3 chain, 4 ong-the first on the second of last row, 3 chain, 1 long on former one, 3 chain, 4 longthe first on the chain stitch next before the long of last row, repeat from *.

12th.-4 long, 3 chain, de in second space, 3 chain, 4 long on those of last row, 2 chain 4 long with one chain between each, and all four into the middle loop over the long stitch of last row, 3 chain, repeat.

13th.-4 long, 2 chain, 2 long in de of last row, 5 chain, 2 long in same loop, 2 chain, 4 long on those of last row, 2 chain, de in second space, 5 chain caught into next space, 2 chain repeat.

14th.-4 long, 5 chain, de in second space, 5 chain, 4 long on those of last row, 5 chain, de in second space, 5 chain, de 5 chain, repeat.

15th.-4 dc, * 10 chain, de in space before the four long, 10 chain, de in space after the four long, repcat from *.

RUSTIC ORNAMENTS.

PICTURE-FRAME OF OAK LEAVES AND ACORNS.

Every autumn we have delightful summerlike days, when a ramble over the hills or in the woods affords much enjoyment to those who admire the beauties of nature, or can appreciate fresh air and healthy exercise. Another inducement for young ladies to go on these rural walks is that much can be found that may be manufactured into ornaments for our homes. Then make it the aim of these pleasant, healthgiving rambles to gather autumn-leaves, acorns, cones, and mosses of all varieties, and beautify your homes with ornaments which are none the less beautiful for being your own handiwork.

When the leaves are falling from the trees in the month of October, go into the woods where there are large oaks, and among others that are scattered around your feet you will see perfectly fair and smooth oak-leaves, of a pretty brown colour, and of various forms and

sizes. While you are looking about for some of the best of these, you will find a variety of acorns also. Press the leaves, and dry the acorns, and you have materials for a pictureframe. They should be fastened to the frame with glue. If you make an oval frame, arrange them in form of a wreath. If a square shape, have it smooth and stained before putting them on.

Commence by placing a small sized leaf rather more than a third of the length of the side from the corner; then two more on to each side of that; lay a small acorn on the first leaf, the point toward the point of the leaf, and the stem under the two others; then two or three larger acorns, two or three more leaves, and so on. Put a group of the largest acorns at the corners, and fill in around them with small-sized leaves.

THE TOILET.

(Specially from Paris.)

FIRST FIGURE. Costume of straw-coloured foulard, Petticoat of foulard trimmed with three plaitings surmounted by two cross-strips of light green silk, between which runs a row of small green buttons. Tunic of the same material; this tunic crosses on the breast, and forms in front a large point, bordered by a plaiting edged with silk and surmounted by a row of green buttons between two rolls of the same silk. This ornament runs up one side as far as the waist; on the right the tunic is raised by a tab. Jacket of straw-coloured foulard, presenting two pointed skirts in front, and behind a single rounded one. Tabs catch up the jacket at the sides; and it has lapels trimmed throughout with a double roll of green silk, with small light green buttons. Sleeves close-fitting, bordered by a double plaiting. Fanchon bonnet of black lace ornamented with a wreath of wild roses; barbs of black lace, and ribbon passing under the chin.

SECOND FIGURE.-Round dress of mauve algérienne, three deep flounces at the bottom of the skirt, bordered with mauve silk. Above these runs a puffing, and over that again, but separated by a roll of mauve silk, there is a narrow plaiting of algérienne. Jacket of black gros grain. Waistband of gros grain satin, cut from the piece; it is arranged in five large loops behind, with a long end hanging below them, both loops and end being bordered with lace. The corsage of algérienne has pagoda sleeves trimmed with a plaiting. Belgian straw hat with wreath of vine leaves, and at the side a large black satin bow. Collar and undersleeves of embroidered muslin. Talking of bats reminds me that a description of a few new models may be useful. Here are half-a-dozen to begin with:

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1st.-Green velvet hat, slightly puffed round the sides. On the top a rather spreading tuft of flowers with a trail behind.

2nd.-Diadem bonnet of rice-straw, bordered with blue velvet. At the top a blue bow with four square loops, the ribbon of which is continued to form wide strings, which come forward and are fixed on the corsage with a small bouquet of blue cornflowers.

three narrow blue velvets in front, and two 3rd.-Belgian straw bonnet bordered with behind on a stiff curtain made of straw. At the side, agrafes of large daisies with a trail of long green grass thrown behind.

4th. Rice-straw bonnet in the diadem-form, high in front, and a curtain banging in hollow plaits behind. The diadem in front is surmounted by a lilac blond. Bow of gros grain lilac silk near the ear.

5th.-Low straw hat turned up with black velvet, gauze veil, the Dona Maria, proceeding from the top and hanging down as a scarf behind. This veil is bordered with black lace.

6th. Rice-straw hat, crown rather convex, and the brims turned down. Wreath of blue corn-flowers on the hat. Blue velvet border. Bow of maroon ribbon behind.

Black lace bonnets are very much worn, one called the "Isabella" is a very handsome and novel affair. The whole bonnet is composed of a scarf of Spanish net, the diadem being high, and set in front. The diadem is a wreath of leaves fastened at the top by a jet butterfly and black aigrette. An oddity in trimming, on a black lace bonnet, is a bird's nest of golden hue moss on the forehead, with three tiny pearly eggs in it.

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