ning. He wrote till late. Becoming
weary, and his eyelids being heavy, he lighted a
spirit-lamp; and with a very diminutive French coffee-pot he
prepared, and soon was sipping, a cup of coffee that no
doubt would have pleased the Arabian prophet, had he been
present to partake. Refreshed by this, he continued his
labors until the darkness grew to gray dawn, and the dawn to
full light of day. At seven in the morning the last note was
written. At eight o'clock he took the work to his patron,
and before nine returned with a light heart and good
material for breakfast."

A touching incident this, surely, but one that has had either a near
or perfect counterpart in the lives of many music writers and
teachers, who have often been obliged to labor in season and out of
season for the bare necessaries of life. And yet how seldom it is that
we are aware of the painful vigils that are kept by these gifted but
toiling ones when creating the works that so much contribute to the
pleasure of our leisure moments!

Of all the music-publishing firms for whom Mr. Holland has written, I
believe the only ones that know him personally, and know that he is a
colored man, are the Messrs. Brainard and Mr. John Church. On this
point of color, a little incident in his life is well worth recording.
One day, in 1864, Mr. Holland went into a large music-store (not in
Cleveland) to purchase an instrument. The salesmen present seeming
disposed--no doubt on account of his color--to give him no attention
whatever, he quietly left, and made his purchase elsewhere. He has
since been employed by, and has received large sums of money from,
that very firm, as a writer of music for them. He does not even now
personally know any one of the firm; nor is it supposed that the
latter know him otherwise than by his reputation, and through
correspondence with him. It is almost certain, that had it been
generally known, as it was not outside of Cleveland, that this gifted
and accomplished musician was a member of the colored race, his
success would have been much curtailed, so greatly has the senseless,
the ignoble feeling of color-phobia prevailed in this country. To the
Messrs. Brainard and Mr. Church, who proved themselves superior to the
low prejudices of the times, all honor be given! To them the
brightness of the artist's genius was not obscured by the color of his
face.

As another evidence of the esteem