Thereafter, Mr. Sharpe hired me out to play only simple dances, the impresario at Faneuil Hall disrelishing my acerbities; and several times I went, habited in my ebon frock-coat, and played country tunes and minuets while the gentry skipped it in a banquet hall. The country dances I found pleasant in the highest degree; the minuets too pretty for my taste, and dry.

Not infrequently, the others who played the British jigs and hornpipes with me on fiddle or pipe were of my Africk race. We were not permitted to speak much, there being little time for conversation; and so we were reduced to nods and watchful eyes. With each, I wondered, Who hath taught thee these English tunes? Do you ask the same of me? We all have our tales. What music do you hear when you sleep?

But most asked few questions, being content to play what the dancing-master demanded; and most, like me, found pleasure in the old tunes and their enlarging. And so the many turned, and bowed, and I played, and this was gratification enough.

Music hath its land of origin; and yet it is also its own country, its own sovereign power, and all may take refuge there, and all, once settled, may claim it as their own, and all may meet there in amity; and these instruments, as surely as instruments of torture, belong to all of us.