rs had given
their faces a coating of burnt cork, in order that their resemblance to
Yankee minstrels might be in every respect complete. There were
excellent voices among the singers, and some of the players handled
their instruments with surprising skill; but the presence of an audience
composed entirely of white people, and including many of the highest
officers in the Department, evidently caused great embarrassment to
performers so unaccustomed to the stage. Not a single song which could
be called comic was included in the programme; and, with the exception
of a few patriotic airs, the songs were of the 'Lily Dale,'
half-mournful sort. Between the pieces there was the customary telling
of anecdotes and cracking of jokes, some of which were quite amusing,
while others excited laughter from the manner in which they were told.
As an imitation of our Northern minstrelsy given by a band of uneducated
negro musicians, the performance was a wonderful success. Yet the
general impression left upon the mind of the hearer was far from
pleasing. One could not help feeling that a people, whose very natures
are attuned to harmony, are capable of something better than even the
most perfect imitation of those who have so grossly caricatured their
race.

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION AMONG THE FREEDMEN.

The education of the children of the freedmen was begun simultaneously
with the work of employing the negroes as free laborers. Teachers, both
men and women, from Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, accompanied the
superintendents who were sent to Port Royal in March, 1862. The results
of their labors during the past year have been most encouraging, in
spite of the changes and confusion caused by the war and the numerous
obstacles in the way of a steady and continued application on the part
of the children. The teachers in their reports all unite to attest the
'universal eagerness to learn,' which they have not found equalled in
white persons, arising both from the desire for knowledge common to all,
and the desire to raise their condition now so very strong among these
people. The details of these reports present few points of special
interest to the common reader. A common mistake, both of those who visit
these schools for the first time, and of others who have merely heard of
their existence, arises from comparing the negro schools, where children
of all ages are to be seen, with our district schools in New England,
where difference