Q. Are au revoir, auf wiedersehen and adieu synonymous ?

A. Au revoir and auf wiedersehen are synony

mous.

Adieu is used by the French in the sense of a final farewell.

Q. Was Queen Victoria on terms of intimacy with the ex-Empress Eugenie?

A. Yes, and they frequently enjoyed a tête-à-tête.

Q. Does King Edward VII visit the German Court?

A. Yes; yearly, when en route from England to Marienbad, frequently making a détour and visiting Switzerland.

Q. Would it have been in good taste if Paris had appeared during the balcony scene in "Romeo and Juliet "?

A. No; he would have been decidedly de trop. He would have discovered that since he last saw her, Juliet had become the fiancée of Romeo, and he would have decided that a sudden departure was sine

qua non.

Q. Was Cleopatra always happy?

A. No; she frequently suffered from ennui, but being possessed of savoir faire, whenever she and another were vis-à-vis she was quickly en rapport, and en passant gained the entrée into his

confidence tout de suite, and with all her éclat she assumed naïveté when with the bon ton. This conduct was à propos as well at that time as during the fin de siècle. Cleopatra was noted for her repartée. Her capture of Alexandria was a coup d'état. Even her impromptu entertainments in honor of Antony were recherchés and en règle, and the tout ensemble, including the cognac, was comme il faut. They beguiled the time with many a bon mot and with belles lettres. Cleopatra had a penchant for noted men and frequently sought a rendezvous with Cæsar, incognito. One day when she was on the qui vive, quite like an ingénue, she asked Cæsar why he gave so much of his money to the poor and the bourgeois. He replied, with a shrug of his shoulders, "Noblesse oblige; but," he added, "this is entre nous." She said, "Très bien! Your answer is multum in parvo and shall remain so ad infinitum. It is in statu quo, and I shall not betray it even in my billets doux." This discretion characterized Cleopatra's régime. She was not gauche when she stepped from her barge to terra firma, and never indulged in double entente with either her femme de chambre or her aide-de-camp.

Q. Was your author friend at the reception the other evening?

A. Yes. While she usually wears negligée costumes bordering on deshabillé, on this occasion she appeared in a blue satin gown, made décolleté, and wore the badge of her Alma Mater, set in pearls. There was nothing outré about her appearance, and later, when she went to the opera, she was the cynosure of all eyes as she entered the foyer. Upon her return home her husband's valet served refreshments from the buffet, the pâte de foie gras being the pièce de résistance of the menu.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DRAMA

Question. What is drama?

Answer. It is a story portrayed in action and produced with reference to truth, representing the conflict between the human will and some opposing force. The force may be the hero's inner conscience, outer circumstances, or conditions in the material world.

Q. How did drama originate?

A. With the crude pantomime used in connection with the religious observances of primitive

races.

Q. What are the historical divisions of the drama?

A. Classic, mediæval, and modern.

Q. What is meant by classic?

A. The drama of ancient Greece and Rome. Q. What is the medieval dramatic period? A. Approximately from the close of the fifth to the beginning of the sixteenth century, also called the Dark Ages.

Q. What is the modern dramatic period?

A. From Marlowe and Shakespeare to the present time.

Q. How did theatrical performances originate?

A. With the Greek student, Thespis, who lived about the middle of the sixth century before Christ. He is said to have read monologues and plays for entertainment, and therefore has the distinction of being the first dramatic reader of whom we have any record.

Q. Who was one of his important successors? A. Eschylus (525-456 B. c.), greatest of the Greek tragic poets. He is said to have introduced a second speaker, a chorus and a mask in the dialogue form, and has therefore been called the father of tragedy.

Q. How were the entertainments of Thespis given?

A. On a movable platform on four wheels, invented by himself.

Q. What were these entertainers called?
A. Thespians.

Q. Where were the wheels of the platform dispensed with?

A. It is supposed the platform became stationary in the temple of Bacchus, at Athens.

Q. When were the performances given?

A. At the spring festivals and other feast days of the people.