The inhabitants of this foreign colony work all the week with their ice-barrows or their barrel-organs, but Saturday evening is, with them, a time of relaxation and pastime. With the natives of the sunny South, not to enjoy is not to live; and though I do not include in the numbers of those who amuse themselves, the miserable little victims of the _padroni_, the comparatively well-to-do Italians always go in for amusing themselves as soon as they can afford it. Dancing is the chief pastime of these people. On Saturday nights they regularly assemble together for this purpose, the women arrayed in the picturesque attire of their native country, and the men in their holiday garments likewise. As I have never been to one, I cannot say how these gatherings are conducted. They are not carried on in licensed premises, but in the cellars and kitchens of private houses, where admission to strangers is denied. Probably they are harmless enough. One thing is tolerably certain, refreshments are not supplied on the premises. There are plenty of public-houses hard by; and an observant person standing in the bar of one of them while the dancing is going on in an adjoining house, will note from time to time a sudden inrush of several couples still flushed and panting from the Terpsichorean exercise in which they have been indulging; who after a hearty draught of something in a pewter pot will rush off, and dance away again. On Saturday night the tap-rooms of the taverns in the vicinity of Saffron Hill are well filled; and brisk business is done in drinkables. The company, however, is not exclusively Italian; there being a goodly number of Irish besides. The Italians are credited as a race with having a sensitive ear for music. One can only say that those of their countrymen who come over here and inflict upon us the ear-torturing melodies of their barrel-organs and accordions sadly belie the reputation of their country. When once asked in the House of Commons if he could do anything to put down this nuisance, Mr. Goschen replied that it was a difficult matter, inasmuch as many derived great pleasure from the music of the barrel-organ. Such an answer leads one to suppose that Mr. Goschen has not such a keen ear for music as he has an eye to finance, and also that he is ignorant of the true facts. Even on a superficial aspect the nuisance is intolerable; but that is the least part of the evil. When we come to look beneath the surface of the seemingly careless existence of these Italian street musicians, and see the cruelty, hardships, and injustice which is undoubtedly bound up with the system, we shall recognize that it is high time that something was done to put down what is not only an intolerable nuisance, but also an evil trade.