ATHENAEUM THEATRICALS.

THE "new departure" of the Everett Athenaeum from the orbit which some of its early friends and former members had confidently asserted to be its only proper one must be a source of hearty congratulation for those most interested. The success that attended the theatricals at Andover and Exeter on Friday the 17th, and Saturday the 18th instant, was such as to make these occasions memorable in the society's history; and if the enthusiasm of an audience means anything, the society will have a hearty welcome whenever it chooses to revisit either of these towns.

Almost the same programme was given at both places. The farce was "The Two Puddifoots," the characters of the men being taken by Messrs. Botume, Joy, and McMartin; those of the women by Messrs. Burnham, Thomsen, and Meeks. Then followed a violoncello solo by Mr. Finck; and the entertainment concluded with the four-act burlesque "William Tell." In the burlesque the principal characters were taken by Messrs. Morris, Botume, Eldridge, McMartin, Peirce, A. A. Wheeler, and Osgood. The singing was the subject of much remark and praise, and the college songs as rendered both by the principal actors and by the large chorus were thoroughly enjoyed. A feature of the entertainment heartily appreciated was the instrumental music given between the acts of the burlesque by the clarionet soloist, Mr. Gorman of the Pierian Sodality, and by the Pianist of the society, Mr. Jecko. The farce was received at both places with an enthusiasm quite unexpected, and the deceptive cleverness with which those two handsome females - Mrs. Figsby and Caroline - were "constructed," may in part account for it. The Caroline who, at Exeter, so gracefully received her bouquet in the Farce, was hardly recognized, we fancy, as the black bear who received a cabbage in the burlesque. The puns and ridiculous situations that were scattered so profusely through the burlesque relieved the audience of all their accumulated cares, and came very near transforming some middle-aged Harvard men back into undergraduates again.

OBS.