THEATRICAL AND LITERARY NOTES.

(Fbom Oob London CoeebrpondentJ London, Jan. 10. THEATRICAL NOTES. At the dress rehearsal of Joan of Arc the inaida pile of tuuereal laggot9 was, by mischance, set actually alight, and JSddme. Bernhardt narrowly escaped being badly burned. As things were she only got off with a slight siugeing and a eevere fright, which is more tbau can be said tor the two carpenters who had extinguished the flaming pile, both of whom are now in hospital. Sweet Lavender will be played at "Terry's Theatre" tor the 090 th and laßt time on Feb. 1, alter which Mr E. Terry will let his theatre and go abroad for a long tour in the jbJast. Air Jerome K. Jerome (author of the famous Idle Thoughts, Stageland, &c.) Lakes it. He has already achieved fair succebs aa a writer of short pieces {Barbara, for example, and Sunset), and the Kendals played his Woodbarroio Farm in the provinces several times. Tliid, however, will b« Mr Jerome's first serious dramatic venture in London. The death is announced of Signor Gayarre, once the " prince of tenors." He was a ISpaaiard by birth, and sang oftener in Madrid than anywhere else. His debut in London took place in 1577, at the Koyal Italian Opera. The role Gayarre selected was the same as that chosen by Italo Cauipanini on a similar occasion, viz., (iennaro in Lucresia Borgia. He secured a great triumph, and for live subsequent seasons ruled the roost at Oovent Garden. Then the handsome tenor disappeared till ISBU, when he was welcomed back enthusiastically, and made a prime hit in Glinka's Life of the Czar. The death ia announced of Frank Marshall, who will be principally reniem- j bered outside literary circles (where he was known aa a conscientious student of Shakspere) by his comedy False Shxme. This piece, which turns on the morale of duelling, hit tho mark chiefly through the admirable acting of hauasome Harry Montague — long dead. As the hero, Lord Chillon, whom everyone supposes to show the " white feather," he was a great success, especially in one thrilling scene in which the old Earl and a military uncle try to arouse the sense of nonour they imagine dormant in the young man. 'i'ne denouement, too, was effective. Marshall, not many years ago, married Ada Cavendish, who tnen retired tiom the stage. Her buxom figure is, however, invariably to be spied somewhere about on all interesting " first nights." Irving's new theatre will be built on similar lines to the Gatrick, save that the cheaper parts of the lioubb ate to be on an extra large size. The site is in Arundel street, Strand. Diury Lane has the better of the two big pantomime shows this year. LITEUARY NOTES. Two notable serials commenced to run through Tillotson's syndicate last Saturday,, viz., " Beatnca," by H. Rider Haggard, and '• Armorel ot LyoneiEe," by Walter Besant. William Black's "New Prince FottunaSus " is announced for i>ublication in three voluinea next Monday. Other immediately forthcoming fictions are "Position" (m three volumes), by "Ouida"; "For Love of a Lass," by Austin Clare; and " A Game of Bluff," by Christie Murray's brother, Henry Murray. The death is announced, atter a long and painful illness, of Mr Percy Greg, a daring and original writer on philosophic subjects, and a fairly succesful novelist. His more serious works were "The Devil's Advocate" and "Across the Zodiac," and he also compiled a history of the American Civil War from a Confederate point of view that gave great offence in the North. The scenes of Percy Greg's best novels were laid in the South during this struggle, and the principal battles 'twixt Northerners and Confederates are most vividly and realistically described in " Errant" and " Sanguelac." Both these stories are indeed admirable specimens of military romances. Ono imagined them written bj r a diring adventurous soldier, who had been through the war himself. As a matter of fact, Mr Greg was a pale, emaciated invalid who had never even crossed the Atlantic. His father, W. R. Greg, achieved considerable repute as the author of " Enigmas of Life," " The Warnings of Cassandra," and other similar works. Mr Hall-Caine'a new Icelandic romance, " The Bondman," which he lias, been telling everyone for the last twelvemonth is "quite ihe finest thing" he ha 3 written, will be published next month by Mr Win. Heineinann (the late manager of Trubner's), who ia seuting up on his own account. Tho terrific onslaught addressed "To Edward Fitzgerald," which Browning contributed to a recent Athenmum, after reading the dead man's callous remarks on his beloved dead wife's demise, is not, one is glad to notice, included in " Asolando." I hear, indeed, the poet regretted having written the fierce lines. " The fact is," he explained to Dr Furnivall, " I called on a friend, and found Fitzgerald's book on the table. As ill-luck would have it, I opened it at random, at the very page where Fitz wrote that about my wife. I eaid to myself, " Good heavens, he thanks God my wife is dead." When I got home I could not rest. At night I thought of nothing else. I walked about the room repeating, "■ He thanks God my wife is dead." Then I sat down and wrote ■ those veraeß and sent them to the Alhtnmwn first thing in the morning. Dr Westland Marston passed away quietly on Tuesday, at the great* ago of ninety-one. He wrote a large number of plays, and a fair proportion were successful. The best known are A Hero of Romance, in which Sothern made a hit during his salad days at the Haymarket, and A Life for a Life, in which the town flocked to se<s the beautiful Miss Neilßon. This actress was then in her first youth, and had the loveliest face and brown curling hair. Subsequently she dyed it golden, which gave her rather a bizarre look. I confess I prefer to remember her in A Life for a Life. Neither the Daily Graphic nor the Speaker haa made a decisive hit, at any rate yet. From the piles of the former left on I the bookstalls in the evenings, I do not think the lower middle classes have "caught on," and if this should be bo there is not a chance of the venture paying. The working expenses are almost incredibly i heavy. Twenty thousand pounds were laid out by the Company before they opened their doora. The chief blemishee of the Daily Graphic appear to me the head piece (a ludicrously feeble and ineffective design), and the lack of illustrations of contemporary metropolitan and provincial life. There are letters and sketches from all parts of the globe, many of which have been clearly standing ready in type for several days. For purely topical sketches, however, one looks in vain. The Pall Mall Gazetteia quicker to date. Ilikeneither the Speaker's get-up nor its contents. The three Barrow-column form, with type smaller than the Athenaum's, and no "breaks," strikes me as the reverse of an improvement on the Spectator, in fact a distinct retrograde movement. The one point on which I thought all classes of readers were agreed, was that two broad solumns in medium type, clearly " leaded," ■was the best form for a weekly review. The contents, too, required lightening. You don't want toujours politics in a journal of this class. But fa-morrow's issue may show an improvement.