Five Lectures on Blindness | Page 7

the city's hum; I catch its subtle undertone of trade; I hear of fortunes lost and fortunes made, In sounds to him a mystery profound Who, seeing, knows not vision muffles sound. Distinct to him must sound become, to whom Life walks in darkness--call it not in gloom. 'Tis only an exchange of good for good, A new plant growing where the old one stood, Old blessings taken, and new blessings given; Sweet compensation, thou wert born in heaven!
There is not silence unto him whose soul In darkness sits and listens. Like a scroll On which the secrets of the world are traced, Blindness is but a sea-shell kindly placed Beside the ear, and in its varying tone, Who will, may make life's secret all his own. And thus misfortunes bless, for blindness brings A power to pierce the depths of hidden things, To walk where reason and fair fancy lead, To read the riddle of men's thoughts, to read The soul's arcana in each subtler tone, And make man's joys and sorrows all my own.
Nor can I sit repining at my lot As bitter or unjust, or curse the shot Which tore away my sight. The world is kind And gentle to her sons. Though I am blind, Smooth paths of enterprise have always stood Open for me, and, doing what I could, With hand or brain, with simple earnestness, Have gathered what was due me of success.
O you, who sit in darkness, moaning o'er Your dead and vanished vision, mourn no more! Keep in the current. Be you brave and strong! The busy world is singing--join the song, And you shall find, if you no duty shirk, Who will may prosper, if he do but work.
And as a last thought, permit me to quote the concluding words of Clarence Hawkes' wonderful book, "Hitting the Dark Trail": "If night has overtaken me at noonday, yet have I found beauty in night. The sun at noontide showed me the world and all its wonder but the night has shown me the universe, the countless stars and illimitable spaces, the vastness and the wonder of all life. The perfect day only showed me man's world, but the night showed me God's Universe."

THE BLIND CHILD AND ITS DEVELOPMENT.
As a foreword to this lecture, I shall quote from a paper entitled "Blind Children And How To Care For Them," written by Dr. F. Park Lewis, an eminent oculist of New York City, and a man who has devoted much time and thought to the blind and their needs.
Dr. Lewis says: "It is the mind and the spirit which control, and when these are great, they dominate and rise superior to mere physical deficiencies. The inspiration of great ideals must be held out to the blind, even more than to the seeing, from the very beginning. It is not enough that the blind man or woman shall have physical strength, but his training must be so well balanced as to give him poise as well as vigor. It does not suffice that the blind man shall be as well educated as his fellow who sees. Handicapped by the loss of the most important of his special senses, he must supplement this deficiency by a better training of his mind and body. It is not enough that he should have the good character of the average man. His word and his reputation should be beyond question. He should be independent, and proudly unwilling, except when absolutely necessary, to accept that for which he can not, in some way, return an equivalent. He must be taught to reason with clearness and logical precision, for he must succeed by the aid of his mentality and character, rather than by his manual exertions. These facts are emphasized here, because if such qualities are to be secured, the training which produces them should begin in the cradle." If I could bring it about, a copy of the foregoing lines should be framed and placed on the desk of every teacher of blind children, and such teachers requested to read these words at least once each day.
In considering the development of the blind child, we must recognize the fact that, in mental attainment, at least, he is the peer of the child who sees. But in order to bring this about, the early years of the child must be carefully supervised, and his training calculated to fit him for the tremendous task awaiting him, a task requiring the courage of a Spartan, the wisdom of Solomon, and the patience of Job. Unfortunately, the parents of blind children rarely understand the importance of this early training. They are too often too absorbed in their own sorrow at having a child so afflicted, too sure that loss of eyesight means loss of