ry, of course, prevented
that. And this vile system, although it could not stamp out the
"vocal spark," the germ of great musical ideas, could still prevent
such growth of the same, such elaboration, as would have been secured
by education in a state of freedom. Yet, since the war, many of the
religious slave-songs of the South, words and music, have been
printed. It has been found that they are as subject to the laws of
science as are others; that they were not, as many persons have
supposed, merely a barbarous confusion of sounds, each warring, as it
were, against the other. For a proof of this (if there be those who
doubt), the reader is referred to the "History of the Jubilee Singers
of Fisk University," in which he will find printed the music of many
songs like those to which I have alluded.

Thus have we considered, in part, the native minstrelsy of the South.

Notwithstanding their lack of a scientific knowledge of music, colored
men, as instrumentalists, have long furnished most of the best music
that has been produced in nearly all of the Southern States. At the
watering-places, orchestras composed of colored musicians were always
to be found; in fact, at such places their services were considered
indispensable. Many of them could not read music; but they seemed
naturally full of it, and possessed a most remarkable faculty for
"catching" a tune from those of their associates who learned it from
the written or printed notes: in truth, the facility of all in
executing some of the most pleasing music in vogue was so great, that,
when these little orchestras played, it was almost impossible to
discover the slightest variation from the music as found on the
printed page.

"A good many years ago," writes a correspondent from the White Sulphur
Springs of Virginia, "the statesman Henry Clay was here, enjoying a
respite from his arduous government duties. Being present at a grand
reception where dancing was in progress, Mr. Clay wished to have
played the music for a 'Virginia Reel;' but, to his great surprise, he
learned that the colored musicians present did not know the necessary
tune. Not to be cheated out of an indulgence in this, his favorite
dance, Mr. Clay took the band over to a corner of the room, and
_whistled_ the music to them. In a very few minutes they 'caught' it
perfectly; and, returning to their places, the enterprising statesman
and his friends enjoyed themselves in dancing the 'Virginia Reel' just