spectacular demonstration on the Queen's Birthnight (24th May), and it was done accordingly. T h e Superintendent (Latrobe) would, it yvas knoyvn, be appointed thefirstGovernor; and he yvas already honoured by the complimentary designation of "the Lieutenant Governor Elect." His patronage yvas asked and freely given, as much as possible being made of the incident in the theatrical placards and advertisements. It yvas decided to hold a public Masquerade Ball. The front of the theatre was lit up by a magnificent display offireworks,and " Gustavus, King of Syveden," was produced on a scale of splendour never before attempted in Australia. The admission tariff was fixed at ios. 6d., double tickets; single, 7s. 6d., not transferable, for which " none but respectable persons need apply." T w o months after, in July, the opera of " Maritana" yvas produced, wherein Young, as Don Ccesar, showed off "yvith his usual vivacity." Elrington, as the crafty and intriguing Jose, was "admirable," Mrs. Young's Maritana "equal to anything ever seen on the colonial boards," and "the sombre, weak, vacillating King of Spain, yvas yvell sustained" by Ward. The overture by Megson's band yvas "decidedly the finest ever heard in Melbourne." In August, a neyv trio yvere added, viz., Mr. Tomlin's band of Ethiopian Minstrels, " universally acknowledged to be the only genuine band in the colonies," Mr. Smith, from Adelaide, an adept at light characters and hornpipe, and Mr. Fayvkner, yvho made grotesque efforts to be funny yvith dubiously funny songs.
THE YELLOW FEVER.
The gold mania was noyv in its incipient throes, and as the year advanced the intensity of the yelloyv fever increased. The theatre of course required another brushing up, and Duke and Opie, the two best painters available, yvere commissioned to go to yvork. The season opened on the 17th November, 1851, for which occasion "an entertainment of the most novel and brilliant description had been prepared." Magnificent scenery yvas produced by Duke, and a neyv drop-scene by Opie. The burlesque, which recently had a long run at home, was called " The Enchanted Forest," and the acting of Mr. and Mrs. Young, yvas declared to be "first chop." A neyv comic song by Evans, was followed by the celebrated recitation "Bucks Have At Ye All" by Mrs. Young, and a Highland Fling by an amateur —the whole concluding with the laughable glee of " Our Mary Anne." Lucky gold hunters yvere noyv returning to the town to "melt their nuggets," and as a compliment to their good fortune, the performances on the 16th December yvere under the unsolicited but freely given patronage " of the gold diggers." The special novelties comprised favourite dances by a Miss Daly, comic duets by Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, the always welcome "pas seul" by Mrs. Young, comic songs by Gardiner, Sylvester's "wonderful performances on the slack rope," and, per contra, Riley's "unparalleled and astounding feats on the tight rope." O n the 29th December was produced " A splendid spectacle, adapted and localized from a German Romance,"folloyvedby a stupid trifle termed " The Gold Field, or the Mines of Mount Macedon." T h e year yvound up with " The King of the Mist, or the Miller of the Mountains." The Theatre was continued for some years, and attained a high position from the class of pieces put on the stage and the reputation of some of the performers who trod its boards. It was there the celebrated G V Brooke made hisfirstappearance in Melbourne on the 26th February, 1855. Its career as a Temple of the Drama had its end, and when other theatres sprung up in more central places, the old "Queen's" was compelled to bow to fate, and the sock and the buskin, the orchestra and gods and goddesses bade it good-bye for ever. The drop-scene yvas lowered for the last time, and it is now (1888), turned over to the common-place and matter-of-fact purpose of a carriage factory. " Sic transit gloria mundi."
ADDENDA.
Though I have closed my sketch of Melbourne's second playhouse, it would be unpardonable to dismiss the subjectfinallywithout some supplementary notice of the after career of one extraordinary man first introduced to a Melbourne public through the medium of the Queen Street Theatre, viz.,
