the diameter of the earth’s orbit—­and in every calculation he would produce the true answer in less time than ninety-nine out of a hundred men would take with their pens.  And what was, perhaps, more extraordinary, though interrupted in the progress of his calculations, and engaged in discourse upon any other subject, his operations were not thereby in the least deranged; he would go on where he left off, and could give any and all of the stages through which the calculation had passed.

“Thus died Negro Tom, this untaught arithmetician, this untutored scholar.  Had his opportunities of improvement been equal to those of thousands of his fellow-men, neither the Royal Society of London, the Academy of Science at Paris, nor even a Newton himself need have been ashamed to acknowledge him a brother in science."[619]

DERHAM THE PHYSICIAN.

Through all time the science of medicine has been regarded as ranking among the most intricate and delicate pursuits man could follow.  Our Saviour was called “the Great Physician,” and St. Luke “the beloved physician.”  No profession brings a man so near to humanity, and no other class of men have a higher social standing than those who are consecrated to the “art of healing.”  Such a position demands of a man not only profound research in the field of medicine, but the rarest intellectual and social gifts and accomplishments.  For a Negro to gain such a position in the nineteenth century would require merit of unusual order.  But in the eighteenth century, when slavery had cast its long, dark shadows over the entire life of the nation, for a Negro, born and reared a slave, to obtain fame in medicine second to none on the continent, was an achievement that justly challenged the admiration of the civilized world.

Dr. James Derham was born a slave in Philadelphia in 1762.  His master was a physician.  James was taught to read and write, and early rendered valuable assistance to his master in compounding medicines.  Endowed with more than average intelligence, he took a great liking to the science of medicine, and absorbed all the information that came within his observation.  On the death of his master he was sold to the surgeon of the Sixteenth British Regiment, at that time stationed in Philadelphia.  At the close of the war he was sold to Dr. Robert Dove of New Orleans, a humane and intelligent man, who employed him as his assistant in a large business.  He grew in a knowledge of his profession every day, was prompt and faithful in the discharge of the trusts reposed in him, and thereby gained the confidence of his master.  Dr. Dove was so much pleased with him, that he offered him his freedom upon very easy terms, requiring only two or three years’ service.  At the end of the time designated, Dr. Derham entered into the practice of medicine upon his own account.  He acquired the English, French, and Spanish languages so as to speak them fluently, and built up a practice in a short time worth three thousand dollars a year.[620] He married, and attached himself to the Episcopal Church, in 1788, and at twenty-six years of age was regarded as one of the most eminent physicians in New Orleans.