Taz time and money bestowed by the Shanghai community upon their amusements certainly entitle them to as much intellectual and artistic enjoyment as they can possibly obtain for their outlay. Of course we enjoyed ourselves of old ander considerable difficulties, and in all our public entertainments we lad "to make believe" a great deal. Wo are placed in a remote corner of the earth and we cannot expect that artists of the most commanding ability in the musical and dramatic worlds will come thousands of miles to gratify a fortuitous coujauction of atoms pitched in a swamp on the coast of China. Looking over the past we are disposed to think tat we have been exceptionally fortunate and that the amusements that have beguiled our evenings have been quite as good as our remoteness warranted us in expecting. The triumphs of the A.D.C. are freshly recollected and the excellence of old favourites in certain well remembered reles is a fruitful topic of conversation with those whose dramatic memories are long and active. There were smart hits given and witty songs sung in the brave days of old, and many a quaint and fantastic and amusing picture rises before the mind's eye when it summons up the heroes and heroines of the burlesques and comediettas that were performed in the godown in the Peking Road and in the theatre of which the epitaph wassogracefully written in the pages of Puck. Ibis idle to expect, however, that these times will return, When it became possible to secure the kind wid of Indy amateurs on our boards, a new epoch was entered apon and the character of our amusements was vastly improved. We must of course henceforth expect that the Lyceum will be principally supporiea by the performances of professional companies, and these will gradually improve in strength and efficiency as time goes on and the steadiness and liberality of our patronage are known amongst actors and singers. Thus the Lyceum boards will only be occasionally trodden by amateurs, and the majority of the entertainers who present themselves: will be regularly trained to their work, We are disposed to think that this will be a boon to the community. Though no amateur can ever be induced to believe it, the stage is a difficult profession, and the most brilliant amateurs when compared with actors nud actress. es, who have studied their vocation, are often convicted of ignorance of the grammar of their fascinating art.
The frequent opportunities which will be afforded us we hope in coming years of seeing good professionals, will tench our amateurs many little details and make their performances far more on-joyable than they have often been. All the performers who appear on the Lyceum stage might learn with advantage to themselves and all concerned, that the acoustic properties of the house render the voice of the prompter when even imperfectly heard by the actors, distinctly audible to the audience, and the professional managers would do well to copy the amateurs in their attention to scenery and decorations. The time for slovenliness in these matters is passed away. The public taste will not be satisfied without some attempt at picturesque arrangement and historical fidelity in the mounting of a drama or an opera, Signor Cagli's company is by far the best. which has ever appeared in Shanghai, and they have given us evenings which will be plensautly recollected through many weary summer dass. hose residents who have not been home for several years must, we are persuaded, thoroughly enjoy the performances of these excellent singers and actors. It is not our province to trench on the Art critic's ground, and to specify in a leading article the special merits of the various vocalists, but we may express a general opinion on the excellence of the group of singers Signor Cagli has marshalled under his direction, and also a hope that they will be encouraged sufficiently to induce them to come again, Where there is so nieh to praise, however, it is a pity to see the effect of fine operas marred carelessness in details. There is a large collection of well painted scenery
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.