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AMUSEMENTS OF THE PEOPLE. 17
pulsorilp set apart by lam for recreative purposes. But; RS
such an idea never entered into the heads of our ancestors, t,hc
dangerous streets and the reeking alleys are the play-grounds
of t,he mass of English children. Columbia Market offers tho
best possible opportunit,y for showing what might be done
to remedy this state of things. Frco gymnasia already exist
at Primrose Hill, the Victoria and Battersea Parks, in tho
Alexandra Park at Manchester, and good many other plncos,
but they are far from the classes which use them ; and n wcllregulated
plnco of rccrention in the centre of such a denso
poor population RR that of J3cthnnl Green, would bo a novelty
indeed. In summer evenings the area of the market might bo
employed for open-air couccrts by a brass Lrtnil. To supply
the poor with chcnp good food was an cxcellcnt idea of tho
munificent founder of these buildings; bat there are couutless
good shops in Shoreditch, and in the surrounding principal
streets. There is no such thing ns the institution for the
supply of pure, mholcsome, popular recreation which might bo
provided by tho Columbia Play-ground and tho Columbin
Concert Eall.
The question arises whether any measures could be suggested
for raising the tono of the numerous existing musichnlls,
which must long have n hold on a large part of tho
population. I will presently refer to one legislative and polico
measure, which is as indispensable as it is practicsblc. But,,
apart from this, it is difficult to see what direct means there
are of influencing private competing owners. Tho magistrates
can hardly exact a certain portion of Beethoven or Schnmann
as a condition of the license. It is tho audience which must
demand better entertainment, if the common run of music-halls
are to be made to supply it. But it is to be earnestly hoped
that the great public places of recreation, the Crystal and
Alexandra Palaces and the Westminster Aquarium, will
a!waya carefully maintain the high tone and the perfect
* esyectability by which alone they can fulfil their paison d’6tre.
Already, indeed, it is a matter of regret to notice that Zazel
‘~=m better than the Pastoral Symphony, and that Negro
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