full
justification of the course I have taken in presenting the sketch.

The author well remembers, that, when only a boy of fourteen years, he
was so much opposed to seeing colored men appear as minstrels, that he
indignantly refused to comply when requested to post and otherwise
distribute play-bills for a company of colored minstrels who were to
appear in the town in which he lived; for he considered it alike
disgraceful for them to thus appear, and himself to give aid to such
appearance. He fully retained this feeling of aversion up to a year or
two ago, when, contemplating the preparation of this book (which, by
the way, was for the sake of consistency, as a work on music, to trace
the footsteps of the remarkable colored musician wherever they might
lead), he had to force himself, so to say, into the hall, to witness
the performances of the Georgia Minstrels. He resolved as he entered,
however, that he would give his particular attention to the _musical_
part of the programme, and try to discover in that such evidences of
talent and fine attainments as would justify him in sketching the
troupe. He was not pleased, of course, with that portion of the
performance (a part of which he was compelled to witness) devoted to
burlesque. Nevertheless, he found in the vocal and instrumental part
much that was in the highest degree gratifying; for during the evening
he listened to some of the most pleasing music of the time, sung and
played in a manner evincing on the part of the troupe not only fine
natural talent, but much of high musical culture. And so he came away,
thinking, on the whole, that there were, to say the least, two sides
to the minstrel question; feeling that the Georgia Minstrels had
presented so much that was really charming in a musical way as to
almost compensate the sensitive auditor for what he was ready to
confess he suffered while witnessing that part of the performance
devoted to caricature.

Commencing about twelve years ago, composed of men some of whom had
been slaves in Georgia, all possessed of much natural musical talent,
without (except in one or two instances) scientific training, the
Georgia Minstrels began their career under the leadership of Mr.
George B. Hicks. Although from the first attracting by their
performances no little attention, their fortune was for some time only
a varying one; nor did they attain to a firm position before the
public until after Mr. George B. Callender assume