[Illustration: PARLIAMENTARY PRIVILEGE.

_Wife of the Late Member for Tooting._ "ARCHIBALD, WHY WERE YOU SO
GRUMPY AT THE BIGGE BOOTHBYS' TO-NIGHT?"

_L.M. for T._ "SUCH PEOPLE, SUCH A DINNER, FOR A MAN WHO HAS JUST LOST
HIS SEAT!"

_Wife._ "I'M SURE PARLIAMENT DIDN'T DO ANYTHING FOR YOU!"

_L.M. for T._ "AT LEAST IT SPARED ME THIS SORT OF THING HAPPENING SIX
TIMES A WEEK!"]

* * * * *

OPERATIC NOTES.

_Last Nights of the Season._--_Monday._--"By General Desire," the
Second and Third Acts of DE LARA-Boom-de-ay's Opera, called _La Luce
dell' Asia_, followed by _Cavalleria Rusticana_. Was "by general
desire" applied to the entire programme, or only to its first part?
Well, we may take for granted that everyone wanted to hear and see
again--but especially to hear--the _Cavalleria_. So the "special
desire" must apply to _La Luce_ solely and only. If so, then from this
wording we gather that the general and uncontrollable desire to hear
the Second and Third Acts of DE LA-RA-Boom's Opera did not extend to
its Prologue, First Act, Fourth Act (if any), and Epilogue. But is
it complimentary to a Composer to express a general wish to hear only
certain portions of his work, implying thereby that the generally