The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-10 00:00:00

BRITISH MUSEUM.

This great national repository of the world's
wonders, which at seasons like the present possesses
a holiday interest proportioned to its extent, was
visited yesterday by a dense throng of what an
eminent statesman and orator has recently termed
"the lower middle classes ;" and it was delightful
to see them—men, women, and children—pressing
eagerly under the portal even at a late hour in the
afternoon, to view some of the inexhaustible marvels
within. Long before 4 o'clock upwards of 15,000
persons had entered the building and peram'3ulated
some of its various departments, and by five—the
hour for closing—the total amounted to not far
short of 20,000, the gratification with which such a
vast aggregate must be viewed being enhanced by
the fact testified to by the officials, that the
utmost decorum marked the behaviour of the
visitors, without a single known exception.
The only perceptible drawback was the diffi-
culty which the juvenile portion of the mass
found in quenching their thirst at the handsome
recently-erected drinking fountains under the colon-
nade, the flow of water and the capacity of the
chaste drinking goblets being quite inadequate to
meet the incessant demands upon them.

CHRISTY'S MINSTRELS.
This band of celebrated songsters may fairly be

placed at the head of public entertainments of their
class. With all that is grotesque in the gestures
and amusing in the manners of the genuine " nig-
ger," they unite a musical cultivation and vocal
powers which the unsophisticated sons of Ham can
rarely lay claim to. In fact, they are as great an
improvement on the real darkies as the stereotyped
stage Irishman is upon the ordinary Hibernian, for
all purposes of continuous and popular amusement.
The most harmonious band of niggers ever brought
together would fall far short of these brilliant imi-
tators. They would no more be able to compete
with them than an ordinary jack tar—however
nimble, however jolly, and all that sort of thing—
would be able to compare with T. P. Cooke in
" doing" the sailor's hornpipe. But the darkie's
disguise is a good stage effect, and contributes much
to the popularity of the performance with the large
masses of the public. This, however, is only an
incidental attraction—the great secret of their
success is their genuine and undeniable ability.
We need only add that, great as their success has
been, it has not been greater than they richly de-
served to attain; and the only further observation
we need make is to call attention to the fact that
those who Nsish to hear them for the first time, or
who, having once heard them, naturally desire to
repeat the pleasure, must take an opportunity of
doing so previous to their quitting the,- metropolis,
which thßy will do at the end of the present season.

GREAT GLOBE, LEICESTER SQUARE.
This instructive place of amusement received
yesterday its share of patronage from the holiday-
makers, and upheld its claims to public favour by

the exhibition in addition to its former attractions
of several new dioramic saenes, among which may
be noted for beauty, and doubtless for fidelity,
those of Pekin, Savoy, Italy, and Japan,
and sites and scenery in India. These are illustrated
by lectures on Italy, Savoy, Morocco, &c., &c. The
unrivalled Model of the Earth still offers its wonders
to those who have not yet examined it.