DECEMBER 21, 1861.]


* -T LF.


 PAN AT THE PLAY,

 L MAN who acknowledges his errors and
 amend,-s his plays deserves the success
 i' 1 ccMR. BOUCICAULT has mot' with in alter-
 7 ing the last act, or rather writing a
 l l IA new last act, to the sensation drama of
 I the Octoroon. By saving the life of the
 1 charming Zoc, the dramatist has paid a
 ; graceful compliment to the critics who
 recommended him to do so, and has
 strengthened his otherwise very power-
 : fiul and effective play. Now that the
 p- iece ends happily, bygones should be
 allowed to be bygones, but I must be
 Permitted to give-as the late CHARLES
 S MAT IEWvs said in his tortoiseshell tons-
 cat song-one "long, .last, lingering
 look" at the picture of the self-sacri-
 ficing heroine, and to exclaim, posi-
 tively for the last time," what were you
 thinking of, MR. BOUCICAULTr, when you
 determined upon that never-to-bc-sufficiently condemned tableau?
 The cattle-show visitors cannot complain of the bill of fare iM.
 WEBSTER placed before them; eight acts of melodrama were surely
 enough for the most insatiate sight-seer. The Octoroon and the
 Colleen.Bawie'all in one evening! Pelion on Ossa! Bread buttered
 on both sides! Scylla.and Charybdis! What could one wish for
 more ? Only fancy the dreams of the "young man from tio country "
 after a first course of cattle show, a solid Adelphi second, and a top
 dressing of EvaNs's I can imagine him writhing beneath MR. PalDDY
 GREEN, who, fiercely flourishing a tomahawk, insists upon taking a
 "header," sinking at the bottom of the bed only to reappear with one
 of MR. FISHER HOBBES'S favourite pigs resting sleepily on one shoulder,
 and HERR VON JOEL in a fainting state on the other.
 The Colleen Bawn has broken out in a fresh place, by the way, at
 the GERMAN REEDS' entertainment, where MR. JoHN PARRY invests
 MR. BYRON's drawing-room version of the drama with that genuine
 fun which is all his own. The best of the matter is that this extra-
 ordinary piece-which is not extraordinary at all, being simply a neat
 and effective drama with one strong situation-never becomes a bore
 in any form, and it has appeared in every conceivable shape. Stay,
 with one exception; MR. SPURGEON has not yet lectured upon it.
 I referred just now to CHARLES M1ATHi EWS tlile older; CiARLES
 MATHEWS the younger is going on swimmingly with his At Homie.
 It now works more smoothly, and one or two excisions have done it
 as much good as clipping does a vine. I wish him to succeed for his
 own sake, but I should like to see him fail for the drama's. How-
 ever, I am afraid there is no chance of that, tlh long string of
 carriages on the opera-side of the Haymarket being an agglesomo
 sight for MR. BUCKSTONE, who, by the way, has discovered a treasure
 in MR. SOTIrERN, a marvellous character actor, who succeeds in
 attracting audiences and amusing them, notwithstanding his being
 hampered by having to appear in the most unattractive collection of
 common-places ever strung together, and I... 'I.. I with the title of
 comedy. The pantomime at this theatre will be as usual a children's
 pantomime, and though it will not have the advantage of the super-
intendence of MR. LECLERCQ, will be sure to satisfy those merry little
folks whose tastes are specially consulted. MR. LECLEIRCQ had thL
satisfaction of seeing all his children in prominent positions before lie
died,; his sons are inimitable in that walk to which their parents
devoted himself; LouISE is, without doubt, thio most accomplished
of English dcasenises; CARLOTTA is one of tho most popular and
pleasing of our comedy actresses ; and ROSE is rapidly becoming a
dangerous rival to her sister. This knowledge must have soothed
the last moments of the veteran whose loss is regretted by a very
wide circle of friends.
 The Drury Lane pantomime will be the manager's strong card of
the year, for tragedians may bawl away until they are black in the
tace to somnolent bill-sellers, sulky "free-listers," and empty benches,
but a pantomime is the thing to cram Old Drury ;" and those who
pass by its entrance with a shudder in October, will rush to its pit
doors on the 26th of December, convulsively clutching their two
shillings, and determined to fight to the death for the front row.
ltIANCiHARD'S cheery dialogue and BEVoERLEt'S tWO grand scenes are
more attractive than all the G. V. BROOKEs and five-act tragedies in
the world.
 At the Princess's, little Miss MARIA IIARRIS, a very charming in-
gdJie, plays Dick Whittington, and a marvellous boy, a pupil. of the
celebrated RAVEL, appears as the Cat. The tastes and intellects of


the juveniles are consultedd, liiit tlih di:lo'"inu is up to t(h re.'Iila bi ur-
lesque standard, and will keep alive the iniierst oftl' the grl'\\n-up
playgoer.
 At the Lyceum, tihe fortunes of L.;itll' ?ra, t:idinl 1100l. will li
 exhibited in a 'ew light, by N i. li.It'i':sI:i Ht ciust.\M, who, iln a,
 largo stage, and wiih iho co-operation lof a liberal illttuagIl'ent', aund
 an efficient company, will hlive a better Oil iortuinity of' exhibiting his
 undeniably original talent thai lie halis hitherto experiencedd. At lth
 Strand- Theatre, in the old days, when it twas undir a loudly Mr.
 BUCKINGAue produced several exceedingly clever burlcsqtes, in all
 of which a peculiar hunioiur was apparent, anid wlilh Iurlequels,
 indeed, alone kept the theatre open. For the St. uanios's, too, when
 managed by MI. CIIA'IErTON, he wrote some amusing pieces o'f the
 same nature ; and as the Lyceum lias for some years i iade its luark at
 Christmas principally through its scene painter, 1 anticipnto great
 things for its persevering manager now that an accomplished writer
 provides the main portion of theo programme.
 At the Olympic, lMu. liih NANi has tuinid an original slit r, by Nit.
 PALGRAVE SIMPSON, into anl extrasvagallZa. IK. RliOSON lis i8
 wonderful part, and groon-room gossips speak ofl thle pive ias exrllent..
 At the St. James's, MR. WILLIAM UItROUGIt has employed his graceful
 pen in illustrating the story of 'ersi'us nf A trl litr'owdoi IThree very
 agreeable singers-Miss LANZA, Mllss KATh'E ItI IN, and u Nllss
 LUCETTE, appear in it; ild it will, I hear, be found an excellout Bit'-
 cessor to Endytnion.l .
 At the Strand, Mil. Brtox las remodelled the old story of' Iiss in
 Boots. Miss CnAiiOTitn S .UNDIEIIS lia8 a capital part thi (',i t M i.
 ROGERS plays a mad king, and IMR. OL.C1IKE t, roieorsI'Oses ogro. 'Il'T
 piece is much weakened by the unavoidable absence olf' I l isi MA in it
 WILTON, who lhas been sutBlring froim a very Bovero bronichial all'e'-
 tion, and is too ill to appear at prcscnt
 All the other tleatreo aro in a stato of' ferment; 'igld leafI is it a
 premium, tinfoil reigns triumphantly, slagie ilntingers aroe irenlring
 themselves fit.inmates for Colney llatch, musical directors are inllly
 clutching their hair and gesticulating wildly nt mild-looking chor'ist crs,
 super-masters are drilling their underlings ns if the entire sutccess of
 the piece depended upon the army of KINm KICK:\iaImI keeping in
 a line," and behind the curtain, generally, nothing is heard but, hai-
 mering, hallooing, and hurry-scurry.


 SERIOUS INDISPOSITION 01 ONE OF TIHE T'lAFAIldA It
 SQUARE FOUNTAINS.
 1r regret to h1ave o no 11111111 tl
 sideilon and alharning illiehs of
 tCi westerinost, Ifountain in
 Trlhlgar-sqluare. hOun London
 t lrea der wili rt luill icnlh holll w'. I
 grandly, and yet holw pracifully,
 tle pipe, limintpiod oller stms, l tkld froti
 no another i a most rpexitg mouth ,of theeply g into thl
 apoor fsi bcniafh. They w ill also
 nfortnat n br), asr th halo of sItenm
obliging yong an, comm which ensi d i n fiun wil ingly
 ao_ al-eveury mIorning, iand suggsied
 of soaso frcibly thi ceIehII rui d ll istiRe
 from whi t fountaNiagar. They will regr, to
 tepid l trlll tinr job, of water hasi
 draining tlh lutt fbw dayd pre-
/ sonted every syiptoni ,if, violent,
 For somo das ln lcl nvlllsilon. lThle lligAt
 treairst w f d t it ha retired is split, li, the onhli of
the pipe, into tell or twelve smaller streams, which crons ind recross
one another ill a most perplexing manner. Deeply grieved Ill, Ih
poor fountain's unfotunlate condition, we inquired of t ili liable wand
experienced turncock (who is now in hourly iattendinnl( on the
unfortunate sufferer), as to the cause of this ,phnowi n sticking iii atn
obliging young mian, ofa communicative. e irposition, :ad .e willingly
afforded us all the information we required. I1, appean'r: tat, a pieco
of soap from the St. Martin's Baths and WVash-houlses (I ie Hourco
from which tho fountains arc fed) had introduced itself into he' pipe,
and caused the derangement in its circulation which lnd alt.acted
our attention. It is hoped, however, that a cntfil T.n1 rlpplicalion of
tepid water from the baths will eventually nlch, the obstrultive soup,
and restore the fountain to its primitive bneauty.
 For somo days last week the eastloern foutain ces:ed playing. At
first we feared that it had retired :', -., 1.. f rom public lilfi, but wo
learnt subsequently that it was stopped, in order that incre:a ed water
power might be' applied to the piece of Poap n'ow sticking in the
gullet of its unhappy brother.


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