such a grotesque manner. The executants
are five in number; one plays the tambourine, Mr. Germon, who is the
leader; another the bone castanet; the third, the accordion; and the two
others, the banjo, or African guitar. The castanet player does not sing;
but his four colleagues have good voices, and, in glees, harmonize
charmingly. In a quartet, the parody on the Phantom Chorus, from
Bellini's 'Sonnambula'; and in a glee, 'You'll See Them on the Ohio,'
nothing can be more effective than the skilful blending of the parts. It
is, perhaps, the _buffo_ exhibition which will create the greatest
sensation, and in this quality they are inimitable. The tambourine
performer affects a ludicrous air of pompous sentiment, while the
castanet sable hero indulges in all kinds of buffoonery and antics. He
is a wonderful player--no Spaniard can rival him in rapidity, delicacy
and precision. A scene called a 'Railway Overture,' causes an explosion
of laughter; they seem to be endowed with perpetual motion; and the
scream of the whistle, at the same time as the noise of the engine,
beggars all description. The entertainment is quite a novelty, and will,
no doubt, be attractive. They have been provided with letters of
recommendation from President Polk, and some leading persons in America,
who must be better able to appreciate the accuracy of their African
delineations than Europeans."

They _were_ popular, with a vengeance--for every little street arab had
beef bones for castanets, and every new song was roared out in the
streets until it nauseated. _Punch_ drew policemen and dustmen as
Ethiopian Serenaders, and even suggested that Lablache, Mario and
Tamburini should adopt the style.

[Picture: Picture of musicians]

The Queen opened Parliament on 19 Jan., and in her speech, whilst
deprecating "the very frequent instances in which the crime of deliberate
assassination has been, of late, committed in Ireland," she went on: "I
have to lament that, in consequence of a failure of the potato crop in
several parts of the United Kingdom, there will be a deficient supply of
an article of food which forms the chief subsistence of great numbers of
my people. The disease by which the plant has been affected, has
prevailed to the utmost extent in Ireland. I have adopted all such
precautions as it was in my power to adopt, for the purpose of
alleviating the sufferings which may be caused by this calamity; and I
sha