Christy's Minstrels

A few evenings sincc, I was enlighton, a point wlth regard to which 1 felt i curios:!}'. I was a good deal at a ioss lo know wheil cr ihe disciples ol religions teachers who denounce rama in any simpo, indulgcd lo any c amusement; aivi, if they did, what nrruise-ments were? Passing ílie ' .Meclinnics' Hall," n Broadway, I saw. by the light of lwo mngnificent lamps, a ;aie placard, aunounc'ng that "Christy's Minstreis" were performing jvitliin; and, being informe.! lliat they had been attraclinT oveiílowing liouses for lwo inonths ■ ast. I eritered, n order to jiuige of their quality. The hall, capable of sonting ImnJred persons, 'was crowded to e.xres, and, cwnsiinl, no ihought ofprog for ts véntilution liaving entercd mind of the architect, ihe effluviutn .vas oppressÍTe In tha extremo. On a nn at the end of ihe hall wore spati young men.w.'th iheir faces blacki, and who were now shouting n fiiil chorus the c'assic melody of '; Dantiy Jim of the Caroline!" These were the "i strels! I lookrd around on tlic nuIt was composed chiefiy pf i respeclable citizens, who would linve regarded it ss worso than bankruptey ío be scen within Uie walls of a Ihéatre! Yet here they were, with their wives rbI d;iughters, enjoying for a ;ng a vulgar caricature of n .lni of their fellow-men whose sad lot dqrmnded tho of Cliristian by, ,-aihr-j tlwn úfc loúü láiighter n( the fooi! Ycs, thera thcy sat, these imcllectunl, evangélico!, thcatre-l.ntirg. Presbyierian, Dutcli Refnrmed Chrislians, encoring the doggrel slang of these delfclable minstrels, and apphuiding till ihe roof rang ng.iin the performanoe of onc ofihoin, who, in femiilp. nppcared, dancoJ befo re ihf-oi with vulgar and