screaming completely drowned the mimicry on the stage. " T h e Doctor" and his lady got up a very pretty quarrel on their o w n account, and the surrounding " gods" took good care not to over-exert themselves as peacemakers. Wentworth set to thrashing the fair one, and she nailed him, like a wild cat, about the throat. H e yvas half choked, and to ward off death by asphyxia had her up on the parapet in the act of pitching her over into the pit, yvhen he was pounced upon by Chief-Constable Sugden, and the pair were cooled by a night's sojourn in the watch-house. They were charged with vagrancy before the Court next morning, when Wentworth by his eloquence convinced the Magistrates that he yvas possessed of " lawful and visible means of support as a commission agent," and the prisoners were discharged with a caution. T h e 24th of April, 1845, beheld the last ofthe Pavilion as a theatre, and "the Ghost" walked there never more. Several subsequent attempts yvere m a d e to obtain a license, but to no purpose. T h e n a m e undenvent a further change, for the place yvas styled the " Canterbury Hall," where low class concerts, and an occasional pulpit meeting yvere held; but its d o o m yvas sealed, and in a short time it yvas pulled down, and Bourke Street knew it not again.
THE QUEEN STREET THEATRE.
But though, to all intents and purposes, the existence of " The Pavilion " was an unmitigated evil, it established a belief that a theatre conducted yvith some claim to respectability, and sustained by even moderate ability, would obtain a remunerating ratio of encouragement. Indeed as early as the n t h May, .1843,1 find M r . John T h o m a s Smith, then the landlord of the Adelphi Hotel, in Little Flinders Street, turning his attention to theatrical speculations. O n the 20th M a y he m a d e formal application to the Melbourne Court of Petty Sessions for a certificate recommending the issue of a theatrical license to him, guaranteeing to have a building erected within four months, the materials to be of stone and brick, 40 feet by 75 feet, and capable of holding 800 persons. T h e application yvas granted ; but the question yvas hung up for some time, and it was not until the autumn of 1844 that M r . Smith really set to yvork. T h e site selected for the edifice yvas a block of land at the south-yvest corner of Queen and Little Bourke Streets. Plans and specifications were prepared, and as the projector yvas in no want of cash, he decided upon annexing an hotel to the playhouse, a double speculation yvhich he counted upon reimbursing him amply for yvhat yvas then a considerable outlay. O n the corner house being completed, it yvas called the St. John's Tavern—an intended compliment to Freemasonry—was licensed and opened without delay. In the beginning of 1845 the neyv theatre yvas drawing to afinish,and yvould be ready to open on the coming 25th March, thefirstday of the races. Smith (having experienced no difficulty in procuring a renewal of the necessary authorization) had already opened negotiations with Mrs. Griffiths, an actress of some character in Sydney, and with the Coppins (Mr. and Mrs.) then said to be "starring" at Launceston. T h e theatre was a plain, substantial, brick, shingle-roofed building, with no attempt at exterior architectural ornamentation, and would hold about twelve hundred persons. T h e Race Day, however, came and the races were run, yet the theatre did not unclose its doors to the public until the evening ofthe 21st April; and then by yvay of a " benefit" to Mr. John Davies, the hybrid newspaper writer and amateur actor, w h o had a ready wit and sharp handforany chance in the money-making line. This individual prevailed on Smith to allow him the use ofthe theatre on this very special occasion, and as Davies was yvhat might be truthfully termed a champion " blower," the coming demonstration was heralded with the loudest typographicalflourishings,from the glaring poster m the streets to the prodigiously-displayed advertisement, and the most inflated puffing in the Melbourne journals. As this was thefirstregular theatre in the town, and as by its subsequent management, travelling over a series of years it succeeded, to a certain extent, in dramatically educating the public, the republication at this distance of time of itsfirstplay-bill m a y not be devoid of historical interest. Here then is the highly flavoured pronunciamento issued by Davies, which shows how well and gushingly he knew h o w to angle for public favour:—
