Smyrna Times

What a joyous scene is one of the negro balls
so frequently given in some of the New England
villages! In the morning, the stranger
notices upon the lordly, wide-spreading elm
that shades the post-office a neatly written pa-
per, notifying the public that an "entertain-
ment' is to be given that evening for the
"benefit" of some afflicted person,—perhaps
a woman whose husband a ruthless constable
has taken off to jail. "All who wish to enjoy
a good time are respectfully invited to attend,—
admission, twenty-five cents," for which a sub-
stantial supper of pork and beans and new ci-
der is furnished. Soon after eight in the even-
ing the village resounds with the voice of a col-
ored Stentor, who calls out the figures of the
quadrille, and all the world is thus notified that
the "entertainment" has begun. The scene
within the ball-room might make some persons
hesitate to decide which destiny were the more
desirable in New England,—to be born white
or black. The participants are so unconsciously
and entirely happy! An ancient uncle, white-
haired and very lame, stands near the entrance,
seizes the new-comers with both hands, and
gives them a roaring and joyous welcome; and
there is a one-legged man with a crutch, and
four mothers with infants in their arms, who go
through a quadrille with the best of them.
The mothers, however, when they grow warm
with the dance, hand the blessed baby to a pass-
ing friend to hold.

The band, which consists of two male fid-
dlers and a woman who plays the accordion, is
seated upon a platform at one end of the long
room, and plays with eyes upcast, ecstatic and
keeps a heel apiece going heavily upon the
boards. The room itself seems to be quivering.
There is no walking through a quadrille here;
but each performer, besides doing his prescribed
steps, cuts as many supplementary capers as
he can execute in the intervals. A dance be-
gins, it is true, with some slight show of mod-
eration; but as it proceeds the dancers throw
themselves into it with a vigor and animation
that increase every moment, until the quadrille
ends in a glorious riot and delirium of dance
and fun. No Mussulman would ask these peo-
ple why they did not require their servants to
do their dancing for them. On the contrary,
that famous pacha, catching their most conta-
gious merriment, would have sprung upon the
floor, and dashed his three tails wildly about
among those shining countenances. Neverthe-
less, there was not the smallest violation of de-
corum; all was as innocent as it was enjoyable.
As the room was lined with white spectators,
perhaps we shall some day learn the trick of
cheap, innocent, and hearty enjoyment. One
thing was noticeable, and would certainly be
noticed by any one familiar with the South,—
the purity of blood exhibited in the faces of the
company. Among the one hundred and fifty
dancers, there were perhaps ten who were not
quite black; and this was an ancient settlement
of colored people, dating back beyond the re-
collection of the present inhabitants.—From
the Atlantic Monthly for January.