Masonic Amateur Performances At Plymouth.

To soothe the bed of sickness , to impart jlope to the hopeless , heal the breaking heart . Such deeds are worth the doing—they , at least , Can give true pleasure to the human breast . For this we amateurs now tread the stage , You , too , who hear me , in this cause

engage ; We do not wish to-night to use our power Merely to frisk away an idle hour ; We seek to aid in charity ' s design , And all true hearts in this good work combine . With true delig ht our histrionic crew Exert themselves to win apiilause from

you ; And feel supremely gratified to be The humble instruments of charity . For thus supporting our design so well . We thank you all ; but words would fail I to tell j The fervent gratitude we all must feel . '

In such a cause I know I ought to speak In terms as strong as these poor words are weak . ( Prompter ' s bell heard . ) But words are useless . Besides , 'tis certain The prompter wishes now to raise the

curtain . Yet listen while a few more words I say Ere we begin to represent our play ; Conspicuous though our many faults may be , Mild be your judgment , gentle your decree .

Let your applause our timid hearts in-, flame , j Pleasant to actor is the glad acclaim . f Aud the enchantment of your warm ( esteem ] Will banish fear and give us joy su- /

preme . Now , feeling sure you'll praise , if praise be due , We'll do our best and leave the rest to you . This was followed by the Ticket-of-Leave-Man , and we have seldom or never

seen the piece better acted either by amateurs or professionals ; the repeated calls for all the performers at the close of each act proved only well the audience was pleased . At the end of the 3 rd act , Hawkshaw ( Bro . Shanks)—who , as he was then changing his dress for the next act

could not present himself—was so vociferously called for , that the manager had to go in front of the curtain and explain the cause of his non-appearance , but even then it was some time ere the call ceased . Tho character of Bob Brierly was sjdendidly acted by Bro . Hussey , who is a well-known

aud much admired amateur , but he even excelled himself , and his delineation of mental anguish when all hope of getting an honest living appears gone , fairly brought clown the house . Hawkshaw ( Bro . Shanks ) was first-rate acting throughout ,

and the cool but quick-sig hted detective was admirably pourtrayed by him , he seemed to have grasped the character and acted it to the life . Jem Dalton was undertaken by Bro . Lucas , whose ability is well-known , his disguises were capitally got up , and when he outwitted the detective in the office scene his acting was

simply faultless . Moss ( Bro . Mutten ) was the most perfectly gotten up old rascal we ever saw , and the manner in which the impersonation was rendered was beyond all praise . The r 61 e of Mr . Gibson was well played by Bro . Bond ; and that of Green Jones by Bro . Pikewho acted with

, great life and spirit and afforded much fun by his eccentricities ; Bro . Dyer made a capital landlord , and Bro . Moore did duty as second detective most satisfactorily ; Miss Masson as May Edwards was extremely touching , and her fine acting was

throughout appreciated by the audience . Miss Randford made a very lively and amusing Sam ; his Granny , Mrs . Willoughby ( Miss Harvey ) , notwithstanding her good acting , seemed to have as much as she could do to keep Master Sam in orderEmily St .

, Evremond , with her ups and downs in life , is a very difficult character to deal with , but it was very fairly pourtrayed by Miss Dalby .

The farce on both occasions was " Raising the Wind , " in which Bro . Newcombe took his favourite r & le of Jeremy Diddler , and was , as he ever is , most energetic and amusing ; he was ably supported by Bro . Holmes as Plainway , Bro . Avery as Fainwouldand Bro . Kennedy as

, Sam , who all made the most of their respective characters . We believe a considerable sum will be handed over to the charities already named as the result of these entertainments .