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p.. Si. T WILLIAM D. COOKE, A FAMILY MWSPAPER-NEfTML IN POLITICS. TERMS, EDITOR & PROPRIETOR TWO DOLLARS PER mCM. Zlttwitcb to all tijc 3n crc0ta of fc)t Souti), itatu, true ation, multure, jfttiv, flje iWarfects, VOL. Ill -NO. 31. RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, SATURDAY, JULY 8, 1854. WHOLE NO. l5. ; . i INTERESTING DISCOURSE. From the Edinburg Review." THE BLIND, THEIR WORh.S, AND WAYS. " Aro ma n becomes blind" says the proverb, Hy merely shutting his eyes; nor does a fool always see by opening them." Yet, in spite of Saricho and the proverb, when -we think or rea son about the blind, we are apt, to judge of them as simply haying their eyes shut while we have ours open ; and that therein lies the , great difference between us. This is but a hun 'dreth part of the difference. . ';Eyes and No-eyes," says didactic Mr. Mavor, " made together a tour, in which Eyes saw every thing, and No-eyes nothing; notwithstanding which stern truth No-eyes was not a blind man certainly not Mr. Holman, who, in spite of total blindness, has visited and described half the known countries of the' world. Let us fur ther illustrate the case from life. Mr. Onesimus Smith has for a neighbor, Mr. Cassio Brown.- Mr. Smith caught a cold in his eyes some six or seven years after his first appearance in the Smithian halls, and became totally blind ; while Jiis neighbor Brown's eyes are still at fort as keen as a hawk's, and scorn the- aid of glasses. It is a winter evening, and Mr. Brown sits read ing in his library. He has mastered three chapters of metaphysics, and now closes his eyes for a moment to ponder on the last and toughest. As his bodily eyes close his mental eyes open; ind the very objects which he but now beheld, re-appear almost as they fade away He still sees the printed page which he was reading a minute ago : opposite, over the fire place, still appears to hang that incomparable . .likeness of himself as the' President of the Little Tedlington Archery Club, in full uniform; he " can still see the ruddy fire as well as hear it " crackle, and the shadow on the wall still flickers in the uncertain light. On whichever of these points his thoughts chance to dwell metaphy . sics, archery, his own noble mien as President, the price of; coals, or the theory of shadows of that very one may his eyes, though closely shut, still luhold a visible symbol: " Non cer nenda sibi Iwmina clausa vident." But suppose Mr.O. Smith under precisely sim ilar circumstances, save that he is blind. He, too; reads metaphysics, and is given to medita tion. He leans back in his chair, and thinks on the last tough chapter. He has been blind since he was eight year! old, and is now forty. He cannot remember, with any accuracy,'the shapes of the objects of sight which greet the traveller throno-h Little Pedlinpjton, though he can with r ' . ease find his way through every part of the vil lae.- He 'knows where to turn off from the main road to the stile across the fields, precisely where the pump stands outside Firkins the gro cers door ; and can even run without danger through this paternal mansion of the Smiths. He is well-acquainted with all the details of the room in which he sits, can find almost any one volume that is wanted, and is aware of the por trait over the fire-place.f But when he leans back to muse on that last tough chapter of met aphysics, no sudden change takes place further Uictll IU1, lilUi l 'Junius agyj 11 -.o now he is thinking, or not, as the case may chance. . But no visions of shadows on the wall, of printed type, or page, of portrait, or of archery. are ready to spring up at a moment s notice to be scanned, or dismissed as intruders. Blank night shuts him in on all sides as he reads ; it still' slAits him in when he has ceased to read Of the. very light, in which live all the rest of the world, he most probably can form little, if an, conception, but from-its general warmth as the sun greets him in his morning walk, or dies along the elm-tree avenue as he strolls at even tide through his father's park. If his thoughts stray for a moment from met aphysics to the crackling " sound" of his fire. his mental vision may at once form such idea as it can of ; blazing coals, but it has no help in the conception from aught of the visible, exter nal world. "The world of the blind," says Prescott, "is circumscribed by the little circle which they can span with their own arms. Al beyond has for. them no real existence." (Es say, p. 47.) i ' A man who has been blind from birth or even earlv childhood, fails in realising even what light is, much less a blazing flame. In the same way he fails to realise, even remotely, descriptions of the stars, the starry heavens at night, the sun the moon. He has scarcely any idea of dis tance; such words as "the arched canopy of heaven," which seeing men call boundless, con vey to him, after all, but a vague and dreamy idea of space and distance, but not even a faint conception of the glorious spectacle which de lights his fellow-men. Malebranche, when he wished to ,think intensely, used to close his window shutters in the day -time, ex cluding every ray of light; and, for a like reason, Demo crjtus is said to have put out his eyes, in order that he might philosophise the better; which latter story, how ever, it should be observed, though, told by several anci ent writers, is doubted by Cicero (De Fin. v. 39), and discredited by Plutarch (De Curiosit. c. 12). Speaking on this point, M. Dufau (the manager of the famous French Schools) says, "Lprsque nons voulons ajouter accidentellement a notre force habituelle d'attention, nous fermons les yeux, nous nous faisons artificiellement aveugles. Diderot tenait souvent en purlant les yeux en tierement clos, et sa parole avait alors, au dire de La Harpe, une' eloquence qui s'elevait quelquefois jusqu'au sublime." , T t There isnow living in the county of York a gentleman of fortune, w ho, though totally blind, is an expert archer ; "so expert," says eur informant, (who knows him well), "that out of twenty shots with the long bow, he was far my superior. His sense of hearing was so keen, thai when a boy behind the target rang a bell, the blind arch4r knew predsely low to aim th shaft." So again, of the sea he can form no accurate conception. "I have been told," said a poor blind man to us not long since, "that the ocean is like au immense green field ; but of what use is that ? How do I know what a field is, or what green is?" (A blind companion had used this simile in trying to make htn understand what the sea was like.) . The words "sea" and "sky" therefore do not convey to the blind man the impression they convey to us. His world, so to speak, is without sky or sea but of such a world we can form no idea. The pic ture, therefore, now before Mr. Smith, however vague or imperfect, comes to him when sum moned ; but is the result rather of inward pow er than outward impression. He has no remem brance of the fire at which he burnt his fingers in the nursery some five and thirty years ago, save that it was hot and painful. He may re member sitting as a boy on the bench under the great walnut tree, but he cannot now call to mind even its color, shape or size ; and still more faint is his remembrance of that striking portrait of Onesimus Smith", Serv, Esq., major in the Yorkshire Invincibles, which still hangs where his son was . held up in I nurse's arms to see it on the wralnut wainscot of the dining room. But it must not be forgotten, that al though the circle of which Prescott speaks is a narrow one, yet within that circuit the blind student has full sway, ancf-that nothing is too distant for his intellect to gather even from far off sources, and bring within his own range. Whatever object, therefore, rises in his thoughts to interfere with the metaphysical musings, rises up from within ; and the very fact of its being thus isolated from the external world tends to render the mental "vision, if not keener, yet more concentrated ; as the rays of common light ga thered into a focus burn the hand on which the hottest Julv sun shines hanulesslv. And thus it happens5;" that on whatever sub ject the blind man thinks with greater concen tration and individuality of purpose than the student who has eyes ; if he loses the help of external objects in forming certain conceptions or ideas, he gains by not being liable to their in trusion in tangible and solid reality, when not wanted. How imperfectly, and with what difficulty, the blind realize space and distance, even if their sight be restored,- may be seen from the follow- most interesting case, extracted from the "Philosophical Transaction :" "The boy born blind, upon whom Cheselde'n so successfully operated, believed, when first he saw, that the objects touched his eyes as the things which he felt touched his skin : conse quently In; had no idea of distance. He did not know the form of any object, nor could he dis tinguish one object from another, however dif ferent their figure or size might be : when ob- jects were shown to him which he had known formerly by the touch, he looked at them with attention, and observed them carefully, in. order to know them again ; but as he had too many objects to retain at once, he forgot the greater part of them ; and when he first learned, as he said, to see and know objects, he forgot a thou sand for one that he recollected. It was two months before he discovered that pictures repre sented solid bodies ; until that time he had con sidered them as planes and surfaces differently colored, and diversified by a variety of shades ; but when he began to conceive that these pic tures represented solid bodies, in touching the canvass of a picture with his hand, he expected to find something in reality solid upon it: and he was much astonished when, on touching these parts which seemed round and unequal, he found them flat and smooth like the rest. He asked which was the sense that deceived himthe sight or the touch ? There was shown to him a little portrait of his father, which was in the case of his mother's watch ; he said that he knew very well that it was the resemblance of his father; but he asked, with great astonishment, how it was possible for so large a visage to be kept in so small a space as that appeared to him as impossible as that a bushel could be contained in a pint." It is but natural, therefore, to find that the blind, as a class, when once they have been roused to exertion, and their education has been really commenced, even in every-day practical life act with greater individuality and concentra tion of purpose than many cleverer friends who have eyes. If neglected, and left alone, they will doubtless stagnate in mind and body.. The darkness surrounding the body seems to pene trate and pervade the mind ; and not only does it appear to them that the day is over, and the night come when none may work, but that the sun is set, and that there can be no moon or stars to govern the night. But only once convince the blind man that He who made the day made also the night that very night in which he lives and is to work- show to him but one star of hope point out to him but one work whie he can and ought to do make your demonstration practical, and show that the work proposed can be done by him raise in short one spark of interest 'in what the hand or the head is to do, and it will soon be done with might and earnestness. The ne sol itary, dim spark will increase in brilliancy and size ; soon other stars will dawn upon the sight where but now was darkness, as each heaviest, darkest cloud "unfolds her silver lining to the night," and the whole heaven soon glows with innumerable prints of fire. But to return to the prose reality of the mat ter, and cut short our moonlit walk. When one point of interest is thoroughly roused in the mind of a blind child of whatever age, the work uickly progresses, whatever that point of inter est be. It may chance to be in the art of mak ing a basket or a pair of shoes ; in the learning of a psalm, or the art of using a knife ; it may be of walking uprightly4 or finding his way through the asylum into which he is received, from room to room of his new home. It mat ters little where the interest is first roused, provi ded it be real,, and is at once cherished into ac tive life and exertion. Much will depend on the habit and disposition of the learner, his pre vious mode of life, his parents' occupation, gnorance and poverty, neglect or care of their child. One boy will, we find, learn in a month what it takes another a year to acquire, and which perhaps a third is never able to ac quire. Outside one of tiie workshops in St. George's Fields is a long covered pathway for the use of the pupils in wetweather, and on it may be often seen some forty or fifty boys and men promenading with as much ease and regu- arity in twos and threes as if they had the keenest sight. At a second glance, however, you will see that here and there in the crowd are one or two who, if they lose the arm of their companions, are at once in great difficulty. The new comers are to be distinguished at the first glance. They stoop much, and walk with a shambling, shuffling steps, as if in fear and dread of suddenly meeting some unseen obstacle and so coming down with a crash. Yet it is not so with all the new comers. One, a smart ac tive boy, who perhaps has had companions at borne, learns in a few days the exact line of the covered way, never swerves from it, nor wanders into the wrong side of the path so as to inter fere with the stream going in the other direc tion, though his fellow-pupil admitted at the same time cannot walk live vards alone without fear and trembling. Another learns to run, clev erly, from one angle of the building to another as if his fingers saw the handle of the door which they s readily and exactly find ; while a fourth for many months never gets out of a zig zag when he tries to walk alone, and is certain to fall if he attempts to run. A similar difference exists among them in the acquirement of any art or knowledge. The blind boy generally excels in some one special department. Thus, the clever basket-maker is no musician ; he persists in singing G while the organ strongly exhorts himto sing A, and yet hears no discord ; while his companion, who entered the school with him, and can sing and play scales major and minor from A to Z, elab orates the tenth part of a basket in a month, and in great misery cuts his finger when he should be splitting a withy or chipping off an irregular and stray end at the edge of his work. But whichever phase of character A. or B. presents, the one favourite pursuit is carried on with zeal and diligence. If B. has strong inten tions of outbasketing all other frameis of twigs, A. threatens to become a second Handel, and C, who prides himself on his powers of memo ry and mental calculation, bids fair to make mnemonic Major Beniowski retire from Bow Street in despair. Zeal and diligence may, therefore,"be noticed as special characteristics of the blind who are being educated in a true snse. Many of them, toot possess that spark of what, at first sight, appears- like vanity, but is an essential element in the composition of all men who attain any degree of skill, whether in the'making of an osier basket or in ruling a great nation. Every man, when once any one power of mind has been thoroughly trained and is ready for action if he be. really in earnest feels and knows in his own heart that he possesses this power. lie knows that he can do, and there fore does. Like the poet the true j)oietes, doer or maker he too feels " The energy divine within him shrined Bid every glowing thought an action live." - In such as these it appears as a high and noble self-consciousness of real living power within them, widely differing from mere empty vanity. Vanity sees nothing higher or greater than self. The true consciousness of power is not a confes sion of self, but of Him who made man, and placed in him the power to act and to feel con scious of the power ; and that from him comes the power, whether to make baskets or to rule empires, to weave a door-mat, or " To melt the soul to very tears of joy, With never-ending waves of melody From Music's deep, unfathomed sea."t How nobly Milton realised this, and in his da3Ts of darkness felt and owned the presence of a Power greater than himself, may be seen in the following grand words: "Et sane haud ultima Dei cura cseci sum us ; qui nos, quominus quicquom aliud praeter ipsum cernere valemus, eo dementi us atque beniguius respicere dignatur. This characteristic faculty is, according to Father Charlevoix, turned to good account in Japan, where the public records of the empire are committed-to the memo ry by chosen blind men. We are ourselves acquainted with an old blind mat maker, who can repeat Thomson's " Seasons," and one or two other long poems, besides having an almost equal ly ready knowledge of several of the Gospels. Very re cently a son was added to a friend's family, and news of the birth was brought to the blind man, who instantly sat about calculating how often the child's birthday would fall on a Monday up to the year 1900. In a short time he had accurately settled the matter. He is now, though upwards of sixty, trying to learn to read. But his fingers are become hard and horny with work. ,, t " There is in the heart of all men a working principle, call it ambition, or vanity, or desire of distinction, the inseparable adjunct of our individuality and personal na ture, and flowing from the same source as language, the instinct and necessity in each man of declaring his particular existence, and thus of singularising himself." (Coleridge's Omnia a, p. 875.) Nos ab injuriis hominum non modo incolumes, sed pene sacros divino lex reddidit, divinus fa vor ; nec tarn oculorum hebetudine quam cceles tium alarum umbra has nobis fecisse tenelra's videtur ; factas illustrare rursus interiore ac longe praestabiliore lumine haud raro solet." -(Defens. Secund.) That the gloom of the blind man's life should not be from mere dulness of vision, but rather "from the shadow of the Di vine wings " which overspread him, is indeed a conception worthy of Milton himself. We do not, of course, assert that the blind, as a class, possess this npble self-consciousness in a greater degree than, but only in common with, other men. In them as in others empty vanity usurp its place ; but on the whole we imagine that the higher tone is not unfrequent, and 'is one secret of their sucuess, though casual observers are apt to call it the result of mere cleverness. There is an idea, we believe, extant amonc persons that the blind as a class are inferior in actual power of mind as well as in attainment ; as if with the:r eyes their mental faculties had also become blinded that a sort of blight had passed over the powers of mind, destroying at once both keenness and vigour. People are apt to say, " O he is blind," just as they say, " he is an idiot." It would be easy to prove the in justice of such words at once, but we prefer leav ing plain facts to speak for themselves in a fu ture page of these remarks. It is sufficient here to say that the idea is altogether erroneous, arising from ignorance of the facts of the case, or a konwledge of the blind derived only from books. If we sum up the characteristics of the blind as a class, we shallf find -them to be thoughtful and diligent, with peculiar keenness and sensi bility of mind and feeling ; shy of expressing their thoughts or feelings before strangers; grateful for every little kindness, and equally tenacious in the remembrance of theleast slight ; not seldom conceited and opinionated. They are affectionate to one another, and to any who will take an interest in theircares or pelasures. One peculiarity not to be forgotten is, that they hate to be compassionated, to be supposed to be so frightfu!lydifferent from other people. " Pity the poor blind," is the cry of the pro fessional mendicant who haunts the kerbstone behind a dog. His blindness is his stock in trade, at once his misfortune and his most ex cellent property ; though even in his case one's pity is all in vain until it assumes a metalic form and drops into the canine basket. But the poor blind who are once placed above being tempted to this degradation do not like being lamented over with pitiful tears or words,, or compassion ated with sentimentalities. They will gladly listen if you take an interest in what they do, and talk to them as workers of an ordinary kind. But they feel that they are of the same flesh and blood as you are, and you must ident ify yourself with them if you would hear of their difficulties, successes, joys, and troubles. Other wise the task will be one of difficulty, and un productive of the least intimacy. So keenly do they feel their oneness with other people, and so disinclined are they in gen eral to allude, even remotely, to their own loss of sight, that among blind children such phras es as the following are' constantly exchanged : " Have you seen Martha Smith?" " I saw Robert in the basket shop." " Sarah, have you seen my bonnet ? " (here the chapel bell rings ;) just see if it is in your room." As may be therefore im agined, they take great interest in listening to descriptions of many circumstances and things which it appears at first thought persons with out sight could not at all realize. We happen to know that the the pupils of the Blind SchooP in St. George's Fields listened with great inter est to several very lengthy printed accounts oi the funeral pageant of the Great Duke. Many of them also visifed the Great Exhibition, and w ere delighted with the wonders of the place, oi which they still talk.J Of this thoughtful and ingenious race of people there are in Great Brit ain about twenty-five thousand, of whom a small proportion, certainly not one-half, are be ing educated, as the majority of the whole num ber belong to an indigent class for whom little has been attempted, and still less has been done. Shut out as the blind are frgm the thousand channels of information and improvement open to the rest of mankind in the world of books, of course the first object has been to teach them to read, especially to read the Scrip tures. For unfortunately scarcely any other book has yet been brought within the reach This idea Dufau contradicts strongly, eveir in the case of those born blind : " C'est toutefois nn fait bien digne de remarque que la defectuosite de l'wstrumeut in tellectucl chez les aveuglesnes ne depasse presque jamais certaines limites. On a observe qu'il est fort rare qu'ils soient atteints sinon d'imbecilite du moins de folie." "En somme," says Dunu, " 1' attention, lacomparai son, et le raisonnement, l'abstraction, l'analyse et la me moire, tous les elemens de la raison humaine sont en eux comme en nous ; pas un n'y manque." (P. 47.) Our readers will perhaps be surprised to learn that the blind were exhibitors at the world's mart, a large stand being entirely filled with their work in rugs, mats, and baskets, besides knitting in wool and silk, and hair work of the finest kinds. Golownin's estimate of the number of blind persons in Japan appears to us impossibly large ; he sets down 36,000 to the capital, Jeddo, alone ! The proportion of the blind to the whole population is rather higher in America than in Europe. In Egypt the average is still higher, probably on account of ophthal mia; being computed to amount to one blind person in every hundred ; in Norway, one in a thousand; in Great Britain rather less than in Norway. . All the blind do not seem to feel their privation with equal acuteness ; diff erent causes of blindness seeming to involve different degrees of suffering those born bliitd feeling their loss far less deeply than others who can form a real idea oj of the poor blind. We say unfortunately, be cause The Book of all books has by this means been subjected to much usage to which any book may be degraded at once unbecoming and unworthy of its sacred character and con tents. ! " The Scriptures" says the author of " Tan-! gible Typography," (a work which we gladly recommend to our readers' careful perusal,) " are now read more frequently as an exercise, and a means for mastering a system, than as a spiritu al comfort, guide, and consolation ; especially in schools, where portions of the Bible are used as the only class book, and where, consequently, monotony begetting indifference, and indiffer ence want of respect, the reading of the Word of God is apt to be regarded as a task, rather than a pleasure and a privilege." (P. 8.) And again, " The books printed for their use are few in number, deficient in variety, and not procured without difficulty even at a large expense." (Ibid.) " The blind are almost entirely without works of interest or amusement." (Ibid.) It is evident, therefore, that much remains to be done before the blind, as a class, can be rais ed from their present dark and dreary condition. Two-thirds of the twenty-Jive thousand in Eng land cannot yet read (p. 10,) and those who can have their small library rendered still smaller by the multiplicity of systems on which the books have been printed. These systems are, it appeal's, so utterly different from each other as to require separation and special study before they can be deciphered. Learning a new system is, in fact, to a blind man, like learning a new language. That our readers may the more readily under stand this, we propose giving a brief sketch of the different systems now in use among the blind in Great Britain; and then as briefly no ticing what else has been done for them in other matters of mental and bodily education. All printing for the blind is in raised, or, as it is called, embossed type, at once perceptible to the touch. The different systems maybe sub divided into two distinct classes, which have been severally named Arbitrary and Alphabet cal ; the first in which arbitrary characters are used to represent letters, sounds, or words, and the second in which the ordinary Roman letters are employed. Modifications of the two great classes of Sys terns may be thus subdivided : Alphabetical 1. Alston's system. 2. The American. 3. French alphabetical. 4. Alston's modified. Arbitrary. 1. Lucas's system. 2. Frere's system. 3. Moon's. 4. Le Systeme Braille. 5. Le Systeme Carton. Of the alphabetical systems Alston's is the chief and best. ' After long experience,' writes the adapter, Mr. Alston, of Glasgow, ' I am con vinced that arbitrary characters, however inge niously constructed, throw unnecessary obstacles in the way of the blind.' He therefore chose the ordinary Roman capital letters, as being at once the simplest, and most easily felt, the most likely to be remembered by any blind scholar who had once enjoyed sight ; in which, too, any one with sight, able to read ordinary type, could with ease instinct those deprived of the use of their eyes. The importance of this J latter advantage cannot, we imagine, be over estimated ; and we are bound to admit that Mr. Alston's choice of the Roman letters is, on the whole, a wise one. At p. 35-36 of Mr. John son's valuable little work, we find the following reasons why Alstou's, as now in use, or slightly modified, is the system best suited for general adoption: " The blind already form a peculiar and distinct class of people, and it is most desirable on every account not to render them more isolated or peculiar, but rather to make them, as far as may be, one in advantages, duties, and en joyments with their fellow men. The system of embossed printing for their use, therefore, should embrace at least the following features : " 1. It must resemble as nearly as possible the type in ordinary use among those who have eyesight; , " (a) that the blind scholar, in learning to read, may have every possible help from words which he may have formerly seen, but which now his fingers must decipher ; " (b) that he may derive help in learning from any one who can read an ordinary book ; or, if needful, that his friend may be able to read to him. " It must present the words correctly spelt in full, that when he learns to write, he may do so in a correct manner which others can read. 3. The raised characters must be clear, sharp, and well defined, which the finger hardened by long work, and the keen soft touch of the little child, may be alike able to discern. " The only system which can ever offer such advantages as these must clearly be some modification of Alston's system, or the lower-case type." (P. 36.) To the same effect speaks the Rev. W. Taylor of York, probably one of the highest authorities on all points connected with the blind. " No alphabet" he says, seems to possess so many One most curious and ingenious system of writing and reading is that of a knotted string, invented some years since "by two blind men, then in the Edinburgh School. We have but space to note that the letters are on this system divided into seven classes, each claas and each letter being represented by a knot or knots of a pe culiar kind, easily distinguished by the touch. The sys tem is obviouHy more curious than useful. It would be an interesting task to compare' it with the ' Quipos,' or knotted records anciently kept by the Peruvians, before the era of Spanish discovery. In the system of raised characters, first adopted for the use of the blind, the Illyrian or Sclavonian alphabet was employed, probably on account of the square form of the letters, for this reason more easily detected. These soon gave way to solid letters (Roman) of wood, which were made to slide into a frame. Archbishop Usher tells us of his being thus taught to read by two blind aunts. advantages as the Reman alphabet? " would discourage all systems of embossing, says Mr. Hughes, the Governor of the Blind School at Manchester, " ichich could not be read and taught by seeing persons." And to like puport writes Mr. Morris the Superintendent of the Blind School at York. The American books are all printed on a' mod ification of Alston's system, and are a strong testimony on its behalf; while the words of the famous Abte Cartorr speak in its favour still i more strongly. The Abbe is the Governor of L'Institution des Sourdsmuets, et des Aveugles, at Bruges, and having devoted a long life to the study of the blind, must be admitted as a valua ble authority. He thus writes : En effet, si un caractere, connu des clairvoyants, est employe dans 1'impression en relief pour les aveugles, ces infortunes sont plus rapproches des autres hom ines que s'ils se servaient d'un caractere inconnu de ceux qui les entourent ; quoiqu'on en dise, il nous en coute d'apprendre un nouvol alphabet pour l'enseigner a des enfants, et cette difficult rebutera plusieurs personnes qui, sans cela, se seraientoccupeesde cetenseignement. Diminuer i difficulte qu'anraient les clairvoyants a con- naitre l'alphabet des aveugles, est reellement travailler en faveur des aveugles. Le plus grand nombre d'aveugles se trouve parmi la classe pauvre, et le plus grand malheur des aveugles est leur isolement ; tous nos efforts doivent ten dre a les rapprocher de nous, et a rendrs leur instruction aussi semblable a la notre qu'il est possible, et a commencer cette instruction aussi vi'te que Ton peut." One would imagine that such testimony as this was sufficient to decide any question the settlement of which depended on common sense and reason. But, strange to say, such is far from being the case. It is not even yet decided that one of the alphabetical systems shall be adopted. It appears indeed settled that the blind, as a classhall be educated, and, as a first step, shall be taught to read. But eager and unwearied partisans are disputing on the very threshold of the work how the blind shall be taught " Whether" says Tangible Typography, " by Brown's infallible stenographic, Smith's unrivalled abbreviations, Jones's unsurpassed contractions, Bobinson's easy symbols, or any other of tlie numerous perfect systems which, un fortunately for the blind, have been lately invent ed" And meanwhile, the work for which all are striving is greatly impeded. , The strength and success which unity of purpose and of ac tion alone can give, are wanting; and the edu cation of the blind is impeded. The American books are all printed on a mod ification of Alston's plan, and, as a whole, may be regarded as successful, being smaller in bulk and cheaper in cost than those published in England. The type adopted is clear, and sharp, being a slight modification of what printers call lower-case. Further notice it scarcely needs from us, as the books are not to be procured in England. The books printed by M. Dufau, at the great. Institution for the Blind at Paris, before the em-. ployinent of an arbitrary system of dots, were rounded lower-case letters with Roman capitals, and, in the Jurors' Report of the May Exhibition, are highly spoken of. But that type has been abandoned, and an arbitrary one of raised dots adopted in its place, apparently without cause, and with little success. Books of embossed printing, on whatever sys tem, are chiefly for the benefit of the poor blind ; their cost, therefore, is a question of primary importance. And in this age of cheap books, when a handsome library can be purchased for a few pounds, it is sad to think that the poor blind man who may chance to have mastered the great task of reading, cannot procure even the New Testament on any system at a less cost than 21.; even on Frere's it will cost 10a.; and if he had grown up under the marine shad ow of Mr. Moon, he will be mulcted of 41. 10s. To all intents and purposes, therefore, the New Testament as a whole is utterly beyond the reach of those who most need it; the poorest and most ignorant of the blind. But it remains to be proved whether the printers of this age will not be able to introduce into printing for the blind improvements equal to those which mark every other branch of the art. To use a well known phrase of logical precision, 'there ia no antecedent improbability' why the blind should not have a pocket Bible and prayer book, and therewith rejoice on' many a happy Sunday. Neither is there any 4 archidiaconaV reason why they should not in a shilling volume wax melancholy over the sable miseries of Uncle Tom, or enjoy with wonder and delight the ex citing adventures of Robinson Crusoe. We now come to another branch of our sub ject, and to note what has been done for the in- Ltellectual cultivation of the blind. Little more has been yet accomplished in England than teaching them to read,f write, and cipher, and M. Dufau is the author of a most valuable work on the blind, entitled " Des Aveugles. Considerations sur leur etat physique, moral et intellectuel," which, we regret to say, baa reached us only too late to be of service while writing the following pages. A few brief notes is all that it now lies in our power to give by way of extract. His work is dedicated to the Crown Prince of Hanover, who is totally blind. t But looking back on what Saonderson and Moves achieved in the study of pure science and mathematics, there seems to be no reason why a few of the cleverest pupils who show any taste for such subjects should not be allowed to read a book or two of Euclid. That the at tempt has been made, and not without succtfes, we know. It is more -than probable that the blind boy who (airly crosses the fatal ' Ponsasinorum' realises the ur reason of his task far more fully than many a learner with eyes who again and again describes the dreadful angle on a greasy slate. even thus far only in the best of the sJhools with any degree of accuracy or skill. But the spirit of inquiry on their behalf is now spreading through the land. Many thoughtful and! phil anthropic men are expending time and labour J on a subject al once of interest and imporiance,: and the next ten years will probably wit-! ness many useful discoveries in aid of so intel-f ligent and afflicted a class. , . As might naturally be supposed, the study of Music affords to the blind the purest and most unmixed pleasure; for in this pursuit ar0 they least reminded of their infirmity. They find m it scope for the highest imagination, as fell as the deepest feelings of religion ; and when a blind man becomes a musician he is one with his whole heart, giving up to this study his en tire energies and thoughts. At the Blind . School in St. George's Fields, under the able direction of Mr. Turle of -Westminister Abbey, many ot the pupils have attained considerable skill both in vocal and instrumental music. A- blind "choir, guided and accompanied by a blind organist, performing choruses and soles from the works of Handel, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Bach,, and other choice masters, is, indeed, a surprising spectacle ;, of which, however, our. readergnay themselves judge by attending one of their ysual Monthly Concerts at the School- It is mch to be regretted that difficulty should exist in procuring situations for blind organists, however well qualified, more especially as the' pupil who becomes a musician rarely masters a trade, or shows much skill as a reader. How the blind man writes is a problem of mucn easier solution than that ot oil what , - ... ., ... A system he is to learn to read. The apparatus he uses is very simple. A small framework of wood, . somewhat like a gridiron witjhout a handle, is made to shut with a hinge ofn a flat square of mahogany, on which is laid a sheet of paper. Between the wooden bars thus resting on the paper, the writer inserts, one iby one each letter, a small slip of deal with thea Roman capital (thus G) protruding from one! end in points of metal. These points pierce the paper and produce coiTespondiug letters ; the operation being most like what children call ' pricking a pattern ;' easily seen by the eye, and onl the re verse side easily detected by the finger. The process is soon learned, and requires but a little patience, strength of finger, and a knowledge of spelling not Moonish or Lucasian. Almost as easily the blind scholar learns to use a cipheriner rame, which is of the ordinary size, metal iu a frame of wood. Across it, in parallel lines at equal distances, run rows of pentagonal holes, like the cells of a honey-comb: Into thpse holes he inserts his figure (2 or 8, or whatever it may be), which consists of a small metal pentagonal plug terminating at one end in twj) forked points, at the other in a single obtuse point. When this plug is inserted into the tole, one end remains above the surface of the slate, and according to its position and the nature of the point, whether twofold or single, the finger of the blind scholar determines what figure is re presented ; the different positions being obvious ly ten in number. With an -apparatus of this kind the scholar of an ordinary blid school manaces to work simnle suma in thp ter rhiaf rules of arithmetic ; but beyond a knowledge of these four comparatively few ever pass. It may be asked, 4 Why cannot the blind in some degree emulate the skill and dexterity of Saun derson the famous blind mathematiciar. ? How, if they as a class never progress beyond the horrors of long division, could he, wi thout in genious frames and pentagonal plugs, calculate the doctrine of eclipses and comets, and explain those profound laws which guide, the stars in their courses !' Genius like Saunderson's ever deuses way3 and means of its own. It has a thousand little contrivances unknown to the ordinary student, who is content enough to travel along tihe beaten road which others have fashioned for him. Saunderson's whole machinery for computing was a small sheet of deal, divided by lines into a certain number of squares, and pierced at certain angles with holes large enougl to admit a metal pin. With this simple board ind a" box of pins he made all. his calculations ; in 1711, he was the friend of Sir Isaac Newtcn, and by his interest was elected Lucasian P-ofessor of Mathematics at Cambridge. It is mos ; probable that he never beheld the distant orbs of heaven yet with the highest skill he reasoned of the laws which control them ; unfolding and ex plaining the nature, and beauty of light which ' he could not behold,, and the glory of that bow - I Thus, also, was it with Huber, the lind phil osopher of Geneva. His discoveries in the honied labours of bees have equalled, if not sur passed, those of any other one student of Nature. . It remained for Huber, not only to corroborate truths which others had partially iscovered, but also to detect and describe minute ; articulars which had escaped even the acute observation of Swammerdam. It is true that other 3 supplied him with eyes, but. he furnished tiem with thought and intellect ; he saw with their tytt; Thus hie clearly proved that there ane two dis- Mr. Hughes, the Governor of the Blind School at Manchester, has invented a most ingenious typogrmph for the use of the blind.' But its price at once removes it be yond the reach of all but the wealthy. j Of the keenness with which he entened on these studies, and the readiness with which he neoeived out ward impressions, M. Dufau gives 1 striking proof: ''Assistant nn jour a des observations astronomiqttes qui se fasisaient " en plein air, s'apercevait des momens on la. soleil etait obscurci par des nnages passagera! an point it pouvoir indiqner loimeme avee precision lnstaJbt on il; fallait snspendre on poursoirrs les observations.' ..
Southern Weekly Post (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
July 8, 1854, edition 1
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