Year: 1862



 of him. He was possessed some ghost spoke through him which is a fair enough definition of genius for Georgian slave to offer

 Mir. Oliver, as we said, was indulgeEt. Tom was allowed to have constant access to the pi ano in truth he could net live without when deprived of masic nov, actual physicial debility Iollo~ea {: the knswiRg Something kad found it's food st lest. No attsapt was made, however to give him any scientific musical teaching nor-I wish it distinctly borne in mind-has he ever at any time received such instruction.

 The planter began to wonder what kind of creature this WAS which he had bought, flesh and soul. In what part of the ansightly baby car cass had been slowed away these old airs. for gotten by every one else, and some of them never heard by the child but once, but which he now reproduced, every note intact, and with whatever quirk OF quiddity cf style belonged to the person who originally lad sung or played them? Stranger still the harmonies which he had never heard, had learned from no man. The sluggish breath of the old house, being en- chanted, grew into quaint and delicate yhms o music, never the same, changing every day. never glad uncertain, sad minors always, vexing the content of the hearer,-one inarticulate unanswered question of pain in all, making them one. Even the vulgarest listener was troubled, hardly knowing why-how sorry Tom < music was

 At last the time came when the door was tc be opened, when some listener, not vulgar rec ognizing the child as God made him, induced his master to remove him from the plantation Something ought to be done for him the world ought not to be cheated of this pleasure be sldes-the money that could be made So Mr. Oliver, with kindly feeling for Tom, proud, too of this agreeable monster which his plantation had grown, and sensible that it was p ore fruit full source of revenue than tobacco fields, set out with the boy, literally to seek their fortune.

 The first exhibition of him was given, think in Savannah, Georgia thence he was taken to Charleston, Richmond, and to all the principal cities and towns in the Southern States.

 This was in 1858. From that time until the present Tom has lived constantly an open life, petted, feted, this real talent befo2ged by exag- geration, and so pampered and coddlcd that one mi ght suppose the only purpose was to corrupt and wear it cut. For these reasons this state ment is purposely guarded restricted to plain, known facts.

 No sooner had Tom been brought before the pIIc than the pretensions put forward by his master commanded the scrutiny of both scientif. ic and musical elerties. His capacities were subjected to rigorous tests. Fortunately for the boy for so tired harshly, it is true, yet skilfully, they not only bore the trial, but ae- the touch as skillul every day new powers were developed, until he reached his limit, beyond which it is not probable he will ever pass. That limit, however, established him as an anomaly in musical science.

 Physically, and m animal temperament, this negro ranks next to the lowest Guinea type i; with strong appetites and gross bodily health. except iu one particular, which will be mention ed hereafter. In the every day apparent intel lect, in reason or judgment, he is but one de- gree above an Interchangeable of comprehend ing the simplest conversation on ordinary topics, amused or eursged with triaes such as would affect child of three years old. On the other side, his affections are alive, even vehement, delicate in their instinct as dog or an infants, he will detect the step of any one dear to him in crowd, and burst into tears. if not kindly spo- ken to.

 His memory is SO accurate that he can repeat without the loss of syllable, discourse of if teen minutes in length, of which he does not understand word. Songs. too in French or German, after single hearing, he renders not only literally In words, but in notes, style, and expression. His voice, however, is discordant, and of small compass.

 In music, this boy of twelve years born blind, utterly ignorant of a note, ignorant of every phase of so-called musical science, interprets severely classical composers with clearness of conception in which he excels, and skill in mechanism equal to that of our second rate ar tists. His concerts usually include any themes selected by the audience from the higher grades of Italian or German opera. His comprehen- sion of the meaning of music, as a prophetic or historical voice which few souls utter and fewer understand, clear and vivid :he renders it thus, with whatever mastery of the mere material part he may possess, lingering dramatic effects, etc these are but means to him, not an end, as with most artists One could fancy that Tom was never traitor to the intent or soul to the theme. What God or the Devil meant to say by this or that harmony what the soul of one man cred aloud to another in it, this boy knows, and is to that faithful witness, His deaf uninstructed soul has never been tempered with by art-crities who know the body we'll enough of music, but nothing of the living creature within. This world is full of these vulgar souls that palter with eternal Nature and the eternal Arts, blind Tom, or the demon in Tom, was not one of them.

 With regard to ms command or the lnStru- ment, two points have been especially noted by musicians the unusual frequency of tours de force in his playing, and the scientific precision of his manner Of touch. For example, in a progression ofaugmented chords, his mode oi lingering is invariably that of the schools, not that which would seem most natural to blind child never taught to place finger. Even when Saa tad ,rith his hack tn the niann and mada tc