AustLit

The Freeman's Journal acknowledges the receipt of £50 from the newspaper's Defence Fund in Bathurst.

An advertisement for Clark's Varieties and People's Theatre production of Belphegor, the Mountebank; or, Woman's Constancy on 31 October and 1, 7 and 9 December 1868.

Buggins's opening salvo reads: 'At the opera house, the attendance – considering the attraction of legitimate pieces, well mounted and carefully acted, have been disgraceful to the playgoers of Sydney, and proves that the estimate I first formed of their capabilities of appreciating anything in the shape of intellectual amusements, was a correct one. The only good house I have seen in a Sydney theatre during the past twelve months was on the occasion of the production of Jack Sheppard at the Victoria, shortly before the company migrated to the opera house – one of the most disgusting and immoral plays ever written.'

He continues: ' My only wonder is that the management continue to cater for a class that has no existence in Sydney. If plays and dramas of a low and repulsive school are the only ones that will draw money to the theatre, I can scarcely think they (the managers) are justified in working so hard to obtain patronage when it is evident that their labour is useless.'

Buggins then proceeds to discuss the Royal Victoria Theatre production of James Sheridan Knowles's The Hunchback, featuring Miss Aitken in the role of Julia, and also mentions a performance of William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale.

A short report on a meeting of the Bathurst 'friends and supporters of the Freeman's Journal' at which it was agreed that the sum of £50 be forwarded to the newspaper's proprietors 'to assist them in defending the case at present pending in the Supreme Court at the instance of the late Attorney-General'.

A column outlining progress in the case against W. A. Duncan and his removal as Collector of Customs.

An advertisement for James Hill, bookseller and stationer, advising of the arrival of 'a large assortment of standard Catholic works, Bibles, Prayer Books, &c., which he is determined to sell at the very lowest prices'.

An advertisement advising that the proprietors of the Freeman's Journal have entered into a 'job printing business' and 'are now prepared to execute orders'.

A list of suburban, country and inter-colonial agents for the Freeman's Journal.

An advertisement advising that Freeman's Journal 'is filed and may be seen, free of charge, at Holloway's, 533, Oxford-street, W. C., (late of 224, Strand) London, where advertisements and subscriptions may be received'.

An advertisement for the Leader stating that it is 'without exception, the largest paper in the Australian colonies' and that it has 'a guaranteed circulation of 21,000 copies'.