the cornet,
and on nearly every one of the wind-instruments. Indeed, you can
scarcely bring to this remarkable musician an instrument upon
which in tasteful and artistic manner he cannot perform.

[Illustration: FREDERICK ELLIOT LEWIS.]

It is not my purpose, however, to present him here as a musical
"prodigy," nor as one of those rather abnormal, supernatural beings
who astound their hearers by playing upon an instrument almost at
sight, without previous study, or without observable method; playing,
as it would seem, from a kind of instinct. I present him rather as he
is,--an intelligent, a cultured gentleman; an artist so great in
natural gifts as to often excite astonishment certainly; but yet one
with intelligent method, and fully able to understand and explain all
he so skilfully performs.

His extraordinary success in acquiring a good degree of proficiency in
playing upon at least fifteen instruments--on two or three of which he
excels as a performer, and most of which, too, he teaches--is due not
alone to his great natural endowments, but is largely the result of an
assiduous cultivation of the same, and of a severe, steady, and
long-continued study and practice of each one of these instruments, in
which occupation he has ever aimed at the classical, and avoided all
that was coarse or commonplace, either in the compositions used, or in
his execution of the same.

On choosing an instrument for study, Mr. Lewis's plan has been to
first learn all about its structure, the theory concerning its
qualities, its tone-producing capabilities; and then, choosing the
best practical text-books procurable, to commence, without other
teachers than the latter, its practice. He is acquainted, therefore,
not only with the musical capacity of all the instruments he plays,
but also knows so much in regard to their mechanism, that, when out of
order, he can generally repair them; thus possessing in this latter
respect an ability far from common among musicians. He has at his
rooms quite a large family of stringed instruments, consisting of two
or three violins, a viola, two 'cellos, a double-bass, and a guitar.
These have all been carefully chosen for their beauty of form, and
nicety and sweetness of tone, their owner being a decidedly good
judge, a real connoisseur; and none of them are for sale.

His rooms are neatly but not expensively furnished. A few choice
pictures hang on the walls: but here, there, and everywhere are t