of the day, the coloured gentlemen rush out in unmeasurable umbrellas of
felt, straw, and gossamer. A long-tailed white is, in comparison, but a
docked black. Should muslin trip from a carriage, tucked or flounced to
the knee, the same material, sported by a sable belle, will take its next
Sunday out fur-belowed from hip to heel. Parasols are parachutes; sandals,
black bandages; large bonnets, straw sheds, and small ones, nonentities.
So it is with colours: green becomes more green, blue more blue, orange
more orange, and crimson more flaming, when sported by these ebon slaves
of deep-rooted vanity.

The spirit of imitation manifests itself in all their actions: hence it is
by no means an uncommon occurrence to see a tall, round-shouldered,
woolly-headed, buck-shinned, and inky-complexioned "Free Nigger,"
sauntering out on Sunday, shading his huge weather-proof face from the
rays of the encroaching sun under a carefully-carried silk umbrella! And
again, as in many of the places of worship the whole congregation cannot
be accommodated with seats, many of the members supply their own; so these
sable gentry may be frequently seen progressing to church with a small
stool under their arms: and in one instance, rather than be disappointed,
or obliged to stand,--a solemn-looking specimen of the species actually
provided himself with a strong brick-bat, and having carefully covered it
with his many and bright-coloured bandana, preserved his gravity, and,
still more strange, his balance, with an irresistible degree of
mirth-creating composure.

Their laziness and unequivocal antipathy to work is as true as proverbial.
We know an instance of it in which the master ordered his sable "help" to
carry a small box from the steam pier to the Astor-House Hotel, where his
newly-married wife, an English lady, was waiting for it; judge of her
surprise to see the dark gentleman arrive followed by an Irish lad bearing