number of blind persons lose their sight as adults, from such causes as
fever, smallpox, and accidental injury. They lose sight when others are
dependent upon them, and when blindness means either the life of a
beggar or life in the workhouse. And again she learnt that the existing
institutions dismiss young men and women who have been fairly educated
and taught a trade, on the assumption that, as adults, they can practise
their trade and earn a living. This conjecture tells cruelly upon the
blind. They leave many of the institutions with an adequate stock of
clothes, and either with tools or with money to purchase tools; and then
begins a hopeless struggle. Private friends diminish in numbers, and are
gradually lost. The blind men and women cannot go about from place to
place in search of work, cannot work without special contrivances, which
are not to be found in ordinary workshops, and have no market for their
goods if they work at home.

But do blind people wish to work, or would they not rather beg? asked
many to whom Bessie spoke on this subject. To this she replied that she
did not know; must try to find this out. For some months, at her
request, Levy went into the streets and accosted every blind beggar whom
he met, asking him or her to tell the story of life to a blind man.
"Which would you rather do, work or beg?" he would ask when the speaker
had finished. And in almost every case the answer was "Work." "Why, I'd
rather work, but how can I get work; or, if I get it, how can I do it?
And where can I sell it, if I work at home without orders?"

These were the difficulties that experience brought to light, and after
many months of close and patient investigation, Bessie at length saw a
way open before her. "Don't work yourself to death," a friend said to
her at this time. "Work to death," she said, with a happy laugh; "I am
working to life."

She saw that some one must come forward to befriend the blind poor, some
one who could supply material, give employment, or dispose of the
articles manufactured.

Why should she not do this?

Her parents warmly approved of the course she proposed to take, and
brothers, sisters, friends encouraged her. They saw that it would bring
occupation and interest, which she sorely needed. They could not foresee
how the little rill was to widen into a broad stream, and what
far-reaching results it would have.

In May 1854 "Bessie's scheme" was started. Seven blind men were employed
at their own homes, material was purchased for and supplied to them at
cost price; the articles manufactured were to be disposed of on their
account, and they were to receive the full selling price, minus the cost
of material.

A cellar was rented in New Turnstile, Holborn, at the cost of eighteen
pence a week, and Levy was engaged as manager, with a salary of half a
crown a week, and a percentage upon the sales. The cellar was to be a
store-room for materials and goods, and as the basket-makers could not
bleach their baskets at home, a binn was fixed so that this part of the
work could be done in the cellar. Levy recommended a young man named
Farrow to put up the bleaching binn. Farrow had lost his sight at eleven
years old in consequence of a gun accident. He had been educated in the
St. John's Wood School, was a very good carpenter and cabinetmaker, and
a man who could readily turn his hand to anything. But like many others
who had left the school, he was without work or prospect of work.

He fixed the bleaching binn and arranged the cellar as a store-room
without any assistance, and from 1854 to the present time he has been
employed by the institution which sprang from that small dark cellar in
Holborn.

Levy's theory was that no man with sight should interfere with the
blind; that an opportunity ought to be afforded them of showing that
their work is thorough and complete, and that they can stand alone. It
may, at that time, have been necessary to take such a step in order to
convince the general public that blind men and women could do anything
at all, but the theory involves a limitation which is to be regretted.

Bessie's education, experience, and sympathy would naturally lead her to
try to restore the blind to their place and their work in the world, to
ameliorate their condition but not to alienate them, not to separate
them from home and companions. Her own happy youth, her work in the
schoolroom at Oxford, her enjoyment of the home at Chichester, all
tended to prevent her from being drawn into the current with enthusiasts
who looked upon the blind, less as afflicted, than as persecuted and
oppressed. She had gradually learnt that blindness is a limitation which
the most loving and tender care cannot entirely remove. To be blind, to
be a woman, both imply considerable restrictions: but Bessie was not
predisposed to consider one state any more the fault of society than the
other. She would labour to remove the disabilities of either condition,
but she always recognised that they were inherent, and did not arise
from persecution or ill-will.

It is necessary to say so much at this time, because we shall see that
in many points Bessie did yield to the judgment of one who took an
extreme view; who, himself educated in an institution, surrounded only
by blind people, often of a very feeble capacity, had learned to look
upon himself more as a member of an oppressed and persecuted race than
as an afflicted man. Levy wished to show that the blind could do their
work and manage their affairs in their own way, and that it was as good
a way as any other. No "sighted" man was to interfere in the workshop.
He invented a system of embossed writing, and he used to send to
Chichester weekly accounts of the money paid for basket and brush
material, and in wages. This money was remitted by Bessie, and when
brushes and baskets were sold she was to receive the price paid for
them. The liabilities that she undertook were rent, manager's salary,
percentages on sale, incidental expenses, and losses. These, with only
the cellar and seven blind men at work, would not be more than she could
afford, and with the approval of her family she set to work bravely to
sell her brushes.

The only point on which the Bishop gave advice was, that difference of
creed should not be taken into consideration in selecting the workmen to
be employed. He urged this very strongly, and Bessie carried out his
wishes.

Levy's bills, in embossed writing, were copied by Bessie's mother and
her sisters; the weekly accounts were kept by these ladies from May
1854, when the cellar was taken, until the end of the year.

In the earliest records comes the pathetic entry: "Man to see colour."
This man, in spite of Levy's resolve to employ none except the blind,
reappears pretty often as the "Viewer." He used to "view" the baskets
and their colour.

On the 16th of August 1854 Levy's wages were raised to 10s. per week,
and at that time the cost of rent, postage, and porter for one week
amounted to no more than two shillings and two pence.

The cellar was, however, found to be inadequate to the requirements of
the undertaking, and it was decided that Levy should take a small house,
No. 83 Cromer Street, Brunswick Square. Bessie rented one room from him
at half a crown a week. It was to be used as a shop, and was known as
the Repository. The cellar in Holborn was given up.

As the work of the seven blind men depended mainly upon orders, there
was no great accumulation of stock, but some few specimens were on hand.

During the year 1854 Levy's accounts were copied sometimes by Mrs.
Gilbert, sometimes by Bessie's sisters or her sister-in-law. They were
quite clear to the two principals, but outsiders found them confused and
confusing. Bessie's younger brother took them in hand and tried to
reduce them to order, but the task was a hopeless one. Some bills were
entered more than once, whilst others were not entered at all. To
Bessie, who kept these accounts with unfailing accuracy in her head, the
difficulties with regard to entries must have seemed one of the
disabilities of sight. We learn some particulars as to the original plan
from a statement by Mrs. Gilbert; for each amanuensis kept her own
special copy of accounts.

"As much is to come back from the men for material as has been
originally expended by Bessie for material.

"The men take material weighed out by Mr. Levy one week and pay for it
the next week.

"This, with the value of the stock of material on hand, should tally
with what has been originally paid for materials of mats or baskets."

Some light is thrown on the view of all concerned with regard to these
pecuniary details by a letter from Levy, dated 5th December 1854, and
written from

               W. H. Levy's
          Repository for Articles
         Manufactured by the Blind
     Books and apparatus for their use
             83 Cromer Street
             Brunswick Square.

He writes with regard to a description of mat which only one man, Burr,
can make, so that it will take him two or three weeks to execute an
order from Brighton, wanted immediately. He asks Miss Gilbert to have
the kindness to advise him concerning this matter, and says he has
enclosed last week's accounts, but is "fearful through the multiplicity
of business that the items, although correct in general, are somewhat
confused in detail." Then follows a lengthy superscription--

         I remain
     Dr. Madam with
         Gratitude and Respect
                   Your obedient
     Humble S^t.
               W. H. LEVY.

The "confusion in detail" seems to have been considerable, and Mr.
Gilbert's summary for 1854 was as follows:--

     Total of disbursements on Levy's account   £159  11   0
     Total of Mandeville's bills not entered      60   5   8
                                                ------------
                                                £219  16   8

     Total of receipts for material (presumably
     from workmen)                               £54   4  11
     Total of other receipts (presumably sales)   32   8   9
                                                ------------
     Total receipts                              £86  13   8
     Loss                                        133   3   0

To this are added the following remarks:--

     This account is only approximate. To the disbursement should
     certainly be added about £6 paid to Levy for himself and not
     entered, and one lost bill of Mandeville's (£4: 18: 6), if not more
     than one. The receipts also are probably imperfect.

The word _loss_ is one that would not approve itself to either of those
chiefly concerned. Bessie was _giving_ freely of her income, Levy was
spending economically and carefully. Each knew that there was no error,
though there might be irregularities which seemed considerable to those
who were not primarily concerned in the great cause.

For three months in 1855 there follow a most bewildering series of
accounts. Disbursements, receipts, sales, and a few donations are all
entered on one page. Such a course probably induced further remonstrance
from _the sighted_, and in March 1855 a more orderly system is adopted.
Receipts and disbursements are neatly kept on separate pages, and
confusion henceforth ceases.

We may recall that Bessie always hated "sums," and found them
bewildering. She was, however, very accurate in mental calculation. She
knew what money she had advanced, on what occasions and to whom. No
amount was omitted or entered twice over in her memory. It was only by
slow degrees that she learnt the value of written records, the nature of
them, and the necessity of absolute accuracy in matters of business.
Ledgers and cash books and journals at first indicated merely a certain
incapacity in _the sighted_; but time and experience taught her that
they were indispensable.

The work of the Repository had engrossed much of her time, but in the
summer she accompanied her parents and other members of the family on a
tour in Scotland. She was in very good health, and walked with a brother
and sister from Stirling to Bannockburn and back. Her love of early
Scottish history gave her a special interest in the places visited. As
they drove through Glencoe it was carefully described to her. Inverness,
as being near Culloden, was specially attractive. At Oban she heard of
the taking of Sebastopol, and this recalled her to the interests and
anxieties of that time. She enjoyed staying at Scotch hotels; but on the
whole she had derived less pleasure from the Scotch than from the Irish
tour. She found nothing so beautiful as the Killarney echoes, and missed
the warm-hearted sympathy and genuine interest of the Irish peasantry
and guides.

The one point that stood out pre-eminent as the outcome of her visit to
Scotland was her inspection of the School for the Blind in Edinburgh.
The work done there gave her many ideas, inspired many hopes and plans.
But she saw more clearly than ever that her scheme was a new departure,
and returned with confidence in her own power, and that of her blind
workmen, to carry it forward.

CHAPTER VIII

ROYAL BOUNTY

     ... "From the cheerful ways of men
     Cut off, and for the book of knowledge fair
     Presented with a universal blank
     Of nature's works."...--MILTON.

We must remember that Bessie's scheme was at first a private matter, and
that there is no reason why a blind lady's accounts should be kept like
a tradesman's books. Bessie Gilbert had arranged that her weekly bills
should be copied by members of her family rather for their information
than for her own. So far as she was concerned she could remember what
she gave, and had only to take care not to exceed her income. This
seemed at first a simple matter, but before long the increased
expenditure in connection with "the Repository" began to be a source of
anxiety. The sale of goods entailed very serious loss. The workmen
received the full selling price of articles minus the cost of material,
and Bessie bore all charges and expenses, so that any considerable
development of the trade would have left the promoter of it penniless.

Moreover, it was inexpedient to pay workmen as wages what was in
reality a gift. If they had received trade prices they could not have
lived on what they earned. Their work was much slower than that of the
sighted, and they had less of it. These conditions made the scheme an
experiment; and in the meantime the difficulty of the workmen was
surmounted by giving them everything.

They executed an order for the trade or for an individual when it was
obtained, lived on the money, and waited for another order. This seemed
inevitable at the time; but the mistake was that for many years the men
considered the large sums paid as wages to be really their due. Now if
wages had from the first been fixed on the ordinary scale, and an
additional sum given as bonus, many subsequent difficulties might have
been avoided.

About five-sixths of the articles produced by the seven workmen were
sold in the trade at a discount of from 25 to 40 per cent, the latter
being the ordinary sum demanded and allowed. A further discount of 25
per cent was allowed to the blind salesman. Thus a deficiency of from 50
to 65 per cent had to be made up on all articles sold to the trade, to
which must be added the cost of rent, manager's salary, printing,
porters, etc.

To the blind lady and her assistant the only method that suggested
itself for the reduction of expenses was, that the articles manufactured
should be sold to the public and not to the trade. They must have, not
a repository but a shop, and a shop in a public thoroughfare. They must
make appeals for _custom_, and then income would suffice for the
expenses of management. It is doubtful whether Bessie ever wrote a
letter after 1855, save to members of the family, without an allusion to
the urgent need of customers.

The work of the institution grew steadily, the number of applicants for
work increased. In reply to appeals for custom, donations were beginning
to come in, offers of subscription also, and it was evident that the
enterprise, begun in the cellar, was to grow and develop. Bessie found
that to make provision for supplying work, only in the homes of the
blind, would seriously restrict the industries to be carried on, some of
which required a special workshop. She saw that much more would be done
for the blind in a shop or factory, where they would find the requisite
material, often bulky as well as costly, and the requisite appliances.
These could not be provided in the single room of a blind man with a
wife and family. There was also a daily increasing demand amongst the
blind, not for charity but for work. It was not men only who applied.
Poor, respectable women, condemned by blindness and poverty either to
beggary or the workhouse, began to turn to her, to implore her to save
them also, to teach them a trade, and enable them to earn an honest
living. The opportunity for the employment of women was not to come for
a year or two, but the appeal issued on the behalf of work for blind
_men_ was changed to one on behalf of blind _persons_.

After six months in the Holborn cellars and eight months in the little
room in Cromer Street, it was decided that Levy should take a house and
shop at 21 South Row, New Road (now Euston Road), and that in the first
instance four rooms should be rented by Bessie at £26 a year. Levy was
henceforward to receive 12s. 6d. a week as manager, and his wife was to
serve behind the counter and to have, as a temporary arrangement, 25 per
cent on all articles sold in the shop.

This increase in the expenses made it necessary that Bessie should
obtain help from the outside public; and the change of her work from a
private to a public undertaking was anxiously discussed in her own home.

The Bishop urged that there should be a Committee of Management as soon
as subscriptions were asked for; and pointed out to his daughter the
responsibility of administering money belonging to others. Having done
this he left the matter in her hands, and she, like a dutiful child,
submits her case when she has come to a decision. She writes on her
Foucault frame in July 1855, from 31 Queen Anne Street:--

     MY DEAR PAPA--I wanted to have spoken to you about what I am now
     going to write, but had no good opportunity before you went. The
     situation of the shop in Cromer Street stands very much in the way
     of the sale of my mats and baskets. No one goes into that street
     unless they go on purpose, therefore I am sure it would be better
     to move into a really good situation, which I cannot do without
     subscriptions.

     Mr. Taylor has said a good deal about the situation being a great
     hindrance to the sale of the work, so have several people, so now
     what I wish to tell you is that if you see nothing to the contrary
     in the meantime, I shall begin on Monday to ask for subscriptions.
     I have three promises, four rather, and I know I should soon get
     more.... I remain, ever your dutiful and loving child,

     BESSIE GILBERT.

     You see I have taken rather for granted that you would have no
     objection, and so as there is not much time now before we go, I
     said Monday; as I thought it would be better to begin as soon as I
     could.

To this the Bishop replied:

                                 PALACE, CHICHESTER, _6th July 1855_.

     MY DEAR BESSIE--Your letter was nicely written, and I read it for
     myself very fluently. If it must be so, it must; indeed you could
     not launch into a high-rented house without subscribers. You may
     put me down low in the list for five pounds [£5] a year. I do not
     think you will do very much now until next spring, but you may make
     a beginning. It will grow under God's blessing. You must let me
     know, before I go into the North, what sum must be left accessible
     at Hoare's for the wants of E. M. M. G. Levi and Co.--I am, my
     dearest Bessie, yr. ever affectionate father,
                                              R. T. CICEST^R.

On the 13th July Bessie writes again from Queen Anne Street:

     MY DEAR PAPA--I would not be troublesome if I could help it, but I
     cannot help it. I do think it would be well for my undertaking to
     form a Society, and I want to know if I may set to work to do
     whatever I can towards it. I send you a list of the people
     Henrietta [a sister] and I have thought of for the Committee. Would
     you mention any you think advisable? Of course I cannot tell that
     any named in this list will agree to the proposal, so that it will
     be well to be prepared with a good choice. Mr. Green and Mr.
     Futvoye I am sure of, and Mr. Green will subscribe five guineas a
     year. I am very anxious to get all this settled before leaving this
     year, and as people will be leaving town soon, when once I have
     your sanction I shall write to the people thought of, to ask them
     whether they will undertake it. Of course there will only be a few
     who will really work, but we must have names besides. I send you a
     copy of the proposed rules. My notion is not to have a public
     meeting this year, but only to let the Committee meet, and to hire
     a room for this purpose. Levy suggested that Mr. Taylor should
     visit the workmen at their homes. I think he would do this well.
     Our love to mamma. We hope she is better.--Your loving, dutiful
     child,
             BESSIE GILBERT.

The Bishop's reply has not been preserved; but as the first Committee
consists of persons selected from the list furnished, he probably had
few changes to suggest, and in forming a committee Bessie was carrying
out advice he had previously given.

An appeal to the public was drawn up by her, of which the following is a
copy. On the reverse was a list of goods made by the blind, with prices.
The public was informed that these articles were superior in durability
and equal in price to those ordinarily offered. It was hoped that the
circumstance of their being entirely made by blind men would induce
purchasers to encourage the industry of those who labour under peculiar
disadvantages in obtaining employment.

     ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTING THE GENERAL WELFARE OF THE BLIND.

     In addition to the many difficulties which the loss of sight
     imposes on all blind persons, those whose livelihood depends upon
     their own exertions labour under three great disadvantages.

     1. Comparatively few have an opportunity of acquiring a trade.

     2. The trades taught are very few in number.

     3. Those who have acquired an industrial art rarely obtain constant
     employment or a market for their manufactures.

     In consequence of these difficulties great numbers are reduced to a
     state of beggary and degradation. These would, as a class, be only
     too thankful to be enabled practically to refute the prevailing
     idea that a life of pauperism, or at best of dependence upon
     almsgiving, is an inevitable necessity of their condition. It is
     surely the duty of the community at large to afford them an
     opportunity of so doing, and thus enable them to take their right
     position as active and useful members of society.

     An undertaking was set on foot in May 1854 by a blind lady to
     ensure regular employment to blind working men. This has been
     gradually extended, so that the number now employed is fourteen;
     and a department for teaching new trades has been added, at which
     there are six pupils, particular attention being paid to the
     instruction of those who, on account of age, are ineligible for
     admission to other institutions. The mental and religious welfare
     of the blind is also sought; and a circulating library of books in
     relief type has been established, to which the indigent are
     admitted free of charge.

     To secure the continuance of the above undertaking, and in the hope
     of its becoming, under God's blessing, gradually enlarged, and
     eventually to a great extent a self-supporting National
     Institution, an Association is now formed under the above title,
     whose Committee, including the original promoter of the
     undertaking, earnestly solicit the active support of all who
     acknowledge its claims on the sympathy of the public.

Then follow the names of the first Committee.

     The Treasurer, Henry Sykes Thornton, Esq., 20 Birchin Lane.

                             COMMITTEE.

     Adams, James, Esq., 2 College Villas, Upper Finchley Road.

     Anson, Sir John, Bart., 55 Portland Place.

     Dale, Rev. Thomas, Canon of St. Paul's, 31 Gordon Square.

     Dixon, James, Esq., 1 Portman Square.

     Dyke, Charles, Esq., R.N., 6 Eaton Square.

     Elmsley, William, Esq., Q.C., 46 Harley Street.

     Futvoye, Edward, Esq., 8 Acacia Road, St. John's Wood.

     Gilbert, Miss, 43 Queen Anne Street, and Palace, Chichester.

     Glennie, Rev. John D., junr., 51 Green Street, Grosvenor Square.

     Green, Frederic, Esq., West Lodge, Avenue Road, Regent's Park.

     Hollond, Mrs. Robert, Stanmore Hall, near Harrow, and 63 Portland
       Place.

     Johnson, George, Esq., M.D., 3 Woburn Square.

     King, Henry, Esq., 8 Lowndes Street.

     Kynaston, Rev. H., D.D., St. Paul's Churchyard.

     Powell, Mrs., 2 Palace Gardens, Kensington.

     Summers, William, Esq., 10 Great Marlborough Street, Regent Street.

     Bathurst, Henry A., Esq., 101 Baker Street,     }
       Portman Square, and 12 and 13 Great           }
       Knightrider Street,                           } Auditors.
                                                     }
     Wintle, R. W., Esq., 10 Tavistock Square, and   }
       22 Old Square, Lincoln's Inn,                 }

     Fyers, Captain, R.A., 3 Westbourne Place, Paddington, Hon. Sec.

     Superintendent and Collector, Mr. William Hanks Levy, 21 South Row,
       New Road.

The projected Committee seems not to have acted in 1855, as at the end
of the year the account-book shows no sign of the supervision of
auditors.

     The disbursements for the year had been      £323  1 1
     The receipts stand as                         141  5 4
                                                  ---------
     No balance is drawn, but the sum contributed
     by Bessie must have been                     £181 15 9

Her efforts on behalf of the blind met with grateful recognition.
Amongst the letters which she valued and preserved is one which belongs
to this period; it was probably written in the winter of 1855-56. The
paper is old and ragged, doubtless the letter has often been read aloud
to her and to others. It is undated, and for obvious reasons unsigned,
the blind workmen could not write their names; orthography and
punctuation are uncertain, and capital letters scattered at random. The
scribe employed wrote badly and spelt imperfectly, but no doubt the
letter was a genuine one, the outcome of warm though somewhat
incoherent feelings of gratitude and affection. She to whom it was
addressed knew this, and prized the poor letter accordingly. The
spelling is now corrected, and some punctuation attempted in order not
too greatly to bewilder the reader.

     The humble address of Blind Workmen employed by their benefactor
     Miss Gilbert to the Same.

     MADAM--We the recipients of your bounty beg permission to be
     allowed to express our gratitude collectively for the benefits we
     have received from the Society instituted and under your
     governance. With the deepest feelings of gratitude we have to thank
     you for the great assistance during the last severe winter and the
     constant support we have when no other work was to be procured. We
     look upon this society as a time arrived in which our Heavenly
     Father has placed in your hands the deliverance of the blind from
     the worst of their afflictions, namely the Sting of Poverty. Madam,
     we are assured it is a difficult undertaking and must be a great
     trouble to contend with Tradesmen and to show forth our
     capabilities. We must acknowledge that it is moved by God's
     influence. It is what has been wanted since England has been a
     nation, for a country so great not to employ their own blind in a
     permanent manner appears to be a thing which no one till the
     present ever attempted. We have considered that the truest manner
     to show our gratitude and Satisfaction for the benefits received
     would be allowed to present a small permanent testimonial which
     shall impress on all minds the great blessing conferred upon us,
     and how thankfully it is received by your humble Servants.

There is nothing to indicate the nature of the "permanent testimonial,"
nor that it was ever presented; but the wish to make some return for
benefits received, and the gratitude for work done on their behalf,
could not fail to encourage the blind lady.

She had now the moral support of her Committee, but there was at this
time no Association, properly so called. No rules had been drawn up,
there were no Committee Meetings, and Bessie had not only to "contend
with tradesmen," but to conduct in the best way she could "the sale of
my mats and baskets."

Levy was strongly impressed with the necessity of showing the capacity
of the blind, their power as well as their desire to work. It was
necessary to ascertain what trades it was possible for them to follow,
what trades were open to them, and under what conditions. He had found
by his own inquiry that the greater number of the blind poor were
willing to work; he now occupied himself, with Bessie's approval, in
making experiments in various handicrafts.

She had acquiesced in his wish that none but blind persons should be
employed in the Institution, and that no trades should be carried on
there except such as the blind could work at unaided. Her own
experience, as well as the theory of her parents, had shown that more
can be done for the blind by including them with, than by separating
them from the sighted. But the argument to which she yielded was one
often urged by Levy: that it would be impossible to interest the public
in the scheme, unless the blind worked unaided, and it was made clear
that they were capable of following a trade. He also urged, and with
more reason, that the teacher of the blind should be a blind man, who
knows from his own experience the difficulties and the limitations of
blindness, and who has overcome them; for the teacher who knows these
only from theory will not have so intelligent an appreciation of them,
nor be so likely to discover the aids required by the blind.

No one could have worked with more enthusiasm or energy than Levy
himself. He learnt trades and tried experiments with tools, introduced
brush-making, and prepared the way for the great development which he
and Bessie now foresaw. She also was not idle; the possibility of
employing women was always before her, and she made experiments with
regard to occupations that might be suitable for them.

Her private scheme was now about to expand into an Association managed
by a Committee. Before the final step was taken she wished to secure all
the objects for which she had hitherto laboured, and to prepare for the
changes which were imminent. She endeavoured to obtain friends and
allies, and the success which attended her efforts was no doubt in part
owing to the fact that she was the daughter of a bishop and was herself
blind. She was spared the long and weary search for patrons and support
to which many are condemned. Her name, her position, her privation,
secured immediate attention from those who were able to give both money
and influence. So great was her success, that in the winter of 1855 she
decided, all the necessary preliminaries having been arranged, to appeal
to the Queen.

In January 1856 she sent to the Queen an autograph letter, written on
her Foucault frame, and with the consent of Her Majesty the
correspondence is now reproduced:

     MADAM--The loving care ever shown by your Majesty for the welfare
     of your subjects, together with the benevolent interest which your
     Majesty and your Royal Consort are so well known to take in works
     of mercy, have emboldened me most humbly to pray for the gracious
     condescension of your Majesty and your Royal Consort towards an
     undertaking for employing the blind which has been carried on
     during the past year and a half, on so limited a scale that but
     very few have derived benefit from it. Being myself blind, I have
     been led to take a deep interest in the blind, of whom there are
     stated to be twenty-seven thousand in Great Britain and Ireland,
     out of which number but a small proportion can be received into the
     existing institutions, on leaving which many even of this number
     are reduced to beggary from the difficulty they find in obtaining
     employment. Could the endeavour to remedy this evil become truly
     national, the condition of the blind, as a class, would, with the
     blessing of God, be materially raised and improved, and this
     nothing could so effectually ensure as the sanction and gracious
     patronage of your Majesty and of your Royal Consort. The plan of
     the undertaking for which I have ventured humbly to plead with your
     most gracious Majesty, is to ensure to the blind workman a fixed
     sum weekly, in remuneration for his labour; and also to teach those
     too old for admission into institutions, some trade. Should your
     Majesty be pleased of your gracious condescension to grant this
     request, the hearts of your Majesty's blind subjects will be ever
     bound to your Majesty in love and gratitude.--Your Majesty's most
     dutiful, loyal, devoted, humble servant,
                                               E. M. GILBERT.

Perhaps at this point one may venture to call attention to the fact that
a person born blind or blind in early life can seldom spell quite
correctly. The training of the eye tells for much in the English
language, and the unaided memory cannot be relied upon. Bessie's
autograph letters are rarely free from defects; and the letter here
copied may have been discarded when it was found on supervision to
contain _admition_ for admission, _Concert_ for Consort, and one or two
other trifling inaccuracies. Some of her intuitions in spelling--only
think in how many cases a blind person's spelling must be intuitive--are
delightful. She gives instruction for a letter to be written to the
Rector of Marlbourne, our old friend Marylebone, and speaks of a
statement she remembers in De Feau.

The autograph letter to the Queen was duly corrected, no doubt, and
despatched. It elicited the following reply from Colonel Phipps:

                              TO MISS GILBERT.

                                   WINDSOR CASTLE, _15th January 1856_.

     MADAM--I have received the commands of Her Majesty the Queen to
     inform you in reply to your application, dated the 11th instant,
     that that paper does not contain sufficient intelligence with
     regard to the institution which you advocate, to enable Her Majesty
     to form any judgment upon it.

     I am therefore directed to request that you will have the goodness
     to forward to me the prospectus of the institution in question,
     containing the particulars of its objects, locality, and mode of
     management, and also an account of its financial position,
     including a balance-sheet of its income and expenditure. I shall
     have then an opportunity of bringing the question fully under the
     consideration of Her Majesty.--I have the honour to be, Madam, your
     obed. humble servt.,  C. B. PHIPPS.

This letter was the most valuable contribution yet received, and the
suggestion of a balance-sheet the most practical thing done on behalf of
the scheme.

There was immediate and anxious effort to comply with the suggestions
made, and on the 1st of February the details, dignified by the title of
"a Report" with such balance-sheet as could be produced, was forwarded
to Her Majesty. The reply of Colonel Phipps was again prompt, and as
Bessie justly considered it, "very gracious."

                              TO MISS GILBERT.

                                   WINDSOR CASTLE, _4th February 1856_.

     Colonel Phipps presents his compliments to Miss Gilbert. He has
     laid the papers relative to her scheme for the employment of the
     blind before Her Majesty the Queen, and has received Her Majesty's
     commands to forward to her the accompanying cheque for £50 towards
     the funds of this establishment, which promises to be so useful to
     persons labouring under privation which particularly entitles them
     to compassion.

     Should the plan prove successful, as Her Majesty hopes it may, and
     have the appearance of becoming permanent, Colonel Phipps is
     commanded to request that a further report may be made through him
     to Her Majesty.

The kindly hand thus held out by the Queen to her blind subjects gave a
great and valuable impetus to the work. The Duchess of Gloucester sent a
donation through Colonel Liddell. Subscribers and donors came forward in
sufficient numbers to show that if blind men wanted work, both work and
wages would be provided.

CHAPTER IX

REMOVING STUMBLING-BLOCKS

     "Give unto me, made lowly wise,
     The spirit of self-sacrifice."--WORDSWORTH.

Throughout 1856 Bessie was mainly occupied in writing letters to all and
sundry. She wanted money, and more even than money, she wanted custom.
From the very first she saw that customers were of greater importance to
her than subscribers, for it was customers who could ensure the
stability and permanence of her scheme. If the blind were to be
employed, there must be a sale for the articles produced; and the
greater the sale the larger would be the number of workmen required.
Hence the sale of goods, the appointment of agents in country towns, and
the sending out of price lists, were important matters.

She received help and encouragement from many friends. Letters, which
came from those who had known and loved her as a child, gave her great
pleasure, and were carefully preserved.

The following is from a former fellow of Brasenose, the Rev. J. Watson:

                                               OXFORD, _2d June 1856_.

     MY DEAR BESSIE--I fear I shall not quite respond to your wishes
     exactly in the way you desire. But I will do something; I am not
     fond of annuals, I forget them; and arrears are discreditable. Nor
     indeed am I sure but that the enclosed (£10) may be more effectual
     than an annual £1. _Vita brevis._

     All nations have some prudential maxims about present possession.
     La Fontaine has a fable to the point, but I cannot call it up.
     There is our own famous English proverb, the very Magna Charta of
     prudential security. A bird actually in grip is worth the more
     abundant but doubtful contingencies of the distant bush. I am glad,
     however, of the opportunity of being able to do so much in the way
     of donation, following in a modest way the example of our most
     gracious Queen and governor.

     Thankful too I hope that, being reduced myself to almost a state of
     helplessness by the same calamity, I am not obliged to appeal to
     the charity of others; and have even something to give to relieve
     the necessities of fellow-sufferers.

     So much for request second. As to request first, I will do what I
     can. But I am a bad beggar, and people are not very easily
     persuaded (far from it); 6d. in the pound property tax, poor rates,
     champagne, lighting, anything will do to stop the mouth of a
     petitioner. I doubt not in the range of your philanthropical
     experience you have met with many a cold shoulder. I believe you
     might disperse a mob more effectually by the exhibition of a
     subscription list than by reading the Riot Act. It is very useful
     in clearing your room of officious visitors. Produce a list for the
     conversion of somebody to some thing which he was not before (to
     wit, the Pope to a coadjutor of Dr. Cumming or Lord John Russell to
     an honest statesman), and, presto! the whole scene changes. "Well,
     Watson," says one, "I must be off, I have several calls to make."
     "Bless me," says another, taking out his watch, "it's getting on to
     half-past five (the clock has just struck three) and it's my week
     to read in Chapel." Helter-skelter away they go, like Leonora
     pursued by the ghosts.

              Der Mond scheint hell,
          Hurrah! die Todten reiten schnell.

     Well, Bessie, you have called up old times. Merry days they were,
     and have left no sting. I sometimes see Mary. I go occasionally to
     Didcot, where there are nice children; but Milton Hill is just a
     mile and a half too far off. I can't walk as I could in those days
     when we used to saunter through the scented glades of the happy
     valley, or penetrate the mysterious horrors of Bagley. The last
     fragment of those excursions was with Fanny and Henrietta to
     Headington and round by Marston (as intended), but time was getting
     on, and your good uncle would be waiting for his dinner. So in an
     evil hour we made a short cut across the fields and verified the
     proverb,--Hedges without a gap; ditches without a plank; gates
     guarded with _chevaux de frise_ of prickly thorns. It was then that
     Henrietta, madly pushing at an impracticable passage, uttered that
     famous parody:

          I'll brave the scratching of the thorn,
            But not a hungry uncle.

     But I am spinning out a double-thrummed homily, and you have better
     things to attend to. My love to you all. Believe me, my dear
     Bessie, _vuestros hasta la muerte_,
                                          J. WATSON.

Bessie had sent as a Christmas present to Dr. Kynaston a silk
watch-chain of her own make, a favourite gift of hers to dear friends.
In his reply the doctor proposes to make an appeal to the public on
behalf of the blind. He writes:

                                    ST. PAUL'S, _26th December 1856_.

     MY DEAR BESSIE--Your pleasing remembrance both of me and of old
     times was a happy and early beginning to me of yesterday's holy
     celebrations. I think you over-rate my love of flowers. Till we
     used to pick them together, I fear I was but a Peter Bellish sort
     of being, of whom it is said that

          A primrose by the river's brim
          A yellow primrose was to him,
              And it was nothing more.

     I seldom look at wild flowers now but I think how you used then to
     take them in your hands and feel them, and exclaim, "How beautiful
     they are," admiring and loving them far more than any of us, I
     always believed.

     The chain, too, is highly prized, and I am delighted to show it to
     my friends, and both to tell them that you could work it, and that
     it was worked for me.

     I feel almost inclined to draw up a short account of your
     institution, with a little memoir of the foundress, appending some
     of the verses suggested in former years to my mind by your cheerful
     and happy contentedness in the midst of those sad privations which
     you now seek to alleviate in others.

     Circulated together with the more official and, of course, less
     affectionate "statement" which was lately sent about, a little
     memoir of this kind might do good to the cause. I should entitle it
     "God's Fondness to the Blind," and it need not exceed many pages.

     If you approve I will set about it at once, and let you have the
     results of my labour of love in the shape of proof sheets in a few
     days.

     We join heartily in wishing you and all your home party a happy
     Christmas, and with much affection, I am always, my dear Bessie,
     most truly yours,
                                                    H. KYNASTON.

     Miss Gilbert, Chichester.

Dr. Kynaston's suggestion was not carried out, it must have been most
distasteful to Bessie.

Just in proportion to her desire to make known the cause for which she
worked was her dislike to personal notoriety. She felt keenly moreover,
and at all times, the pain of becoming remarkable through a calamity or
a defect. She could appreciate the writer's motive, and would answer
kindly and gratefully; but the proposal was at once put firmly aside.

Her eldest brother, Mr. Wintle (he had taken his grandfather's name),
gave her much valuable assistance during 1856. He and Mr. Henry
Bathurst, brother of her friend Caroline Bathurst, acted somewhat
informally as auditors during the year, compared vouchers, examined
bills, and no doubt enlightened her as to the method of book-keeping
which would have to be adopted so soon as the Committee was fairly
established, and had taken over the management of the institution. This
was not done until January 1857. Bessie was probably anxious to draw up
rules for the institution which should embody her own views; but during
the infancy of the scheme she saw that she had not adequate knowledge
upon which to establish them. She had still much to learn as to the
powers as well as the defects of the blind, and she shrank from
legislation until she understood "her people."

Mr. Wintle opened an account at Drummond's, a "Fund for employing the
Blind," to which donations and subscriptions were paid. In reply to her
own appeals, as well as in consequence of newspaper accounts and
sermons, she received many letters.

From all parts of the United Kingdom persons interested in the blind
applied to her for advice, or wrote on behalf of men who professed a
desire to learn a trade and earn their own living. Some of these were
really in earnest, but many were not. When arrangements had been made to
send them to work in London they drew back. Bessie was not discouraged.
She became more than ever convinced that the life of a beggar is
demoralising; but she knew that already, and had long seen that old
people will not give up begging, and that all efforts to improve their
condition must be made on behalf of the young. An extract from a single
letter will suffice to show the frequent result of a prolonged
correspondence and of final arrangements to receive a blind man as
pupil:

     I was delighted to see Miss Gilbert's letter, and immediately had a
     talk with him [the blind man] which was not satisfactory, for he
     said that, even if we should succeed in getting him the employment,
     he is sure he could not support himself by work, as he was a much
     shorter time under instruction than is usually the case.... He
     seems to think he can do better by making a basket occasionally and
     carrying it about the streets for sale, and begging of the few
     people who know him. I am sorry it ends so for the present, for I
     think his case a very distressing one. He was born in New York, and
     has no parish in England; he has one tiny child here who leads him
     about. His wife, with, I think, two more children, is in the
     Bristol Union.

Many similar cases helped Bessie to understand those on whose behalf she
laboured; but they never closed her heart to the appeal of a blind
person who was in need. The area of her work was enlarged, as well as
that of the aid which enabled her to carry it on. Not all those who
clamoured for employment really wanted it. They meant _alms_ when they
said _wages_, and drew back in disgust from the offer to teach them a
trade and make them self-supporting. They were often even more degraded
and vicious than poor.

To see and know this, and yet not to lose heart, to "hold fast to that
which is good" when evil abounds, is a difficult task. Bessie did not
shrink from it, and she did not misunderstand her work. She was merciful
and compassionate to those who had fallen, felt for them in the
solitude, the poverty, the despair that had driven them to evil courses,
would relieve them in actual want, but she soon learnt that nothing
could be done with or for them in the workroom. They might be reached,
and indeed must be reached by other agencies, but the _teacher_ could do
nothing.

The practical outcome of this experience was extreme care in selecting
the persons to be taught and employed, and a very tender compassion in
reference even to the hopeless and abandoned. Their lonely, sad
condition was never overlooked.

Bessie was very cautious in the selection of members of the Committee
who would henceforth govern the Institution, and a letter written about
this time on her Foucault frame to an old Oxford friend will be read
with interest. She not only wrote many of her own letters at this time,
but addressed her own envelopes, and very puzzling the postman must
have sometimes found them.

                              PALACE, CHICHESTER, _16th January 1857_.

     MY DEAR MRS. B.--I hope you will not think this letter very
     troublesome, but I know not in what other way I can gain the
     information I wish than by troubling you with these lines. I
     remember you have heard of my undertaking for employing blind
     workmen. I have now formed an Association under the title of "The
     Association for promoting the general welfare of the Blind," in
     order to extend its usefulness, and to place it upon a more
     permanent footing than it could have had when in the hands of one
     individual. Now my object in writing to you is to ask whether Mr.
     A., who is, I believe, a clergyman at C., knows or could find out
     anything about a Mr. D., living, I believe, at C. He is a very
     large fur dealer, very rich; he is blind, and I am anxious to have
     him on the Committee of the Association, but must know more about
     him before this can be done. He has a warehouse in the city, I
     think, in Cannon Street or Cannon Street West. I want all the
     information I can get with regard to his character and principles,
     etc. I thought perhaps you would be able to get this for me through
     Mr. A.'s family, or direct from himself if you would kindly write
     to him on the subject. I send you some of the present price lists.
     Brushes, hassocks, and servants' kneelers are now made, besides
     mats and baskets.

     By far the greater number of the blind become so after the age at
     which they can be admitted into institutions, so that in most cases
     these have not even the opportunity of learning anything by which
     they can earn a living. I am anxious to have this want supplied,
     and six are now being taught trades who would not be admitted into
     other institutions, and this branch will, I hope, be gradually very
     much extended. Then there is a circulating library in raised books
     to which the poor can belong free of charge, and others by paying
     the subscription required by the Committee. If you think it would
     be well, and will tell me so, I will write to Mr. A., but as I
     thought you knew him, or, at all events, his family, I thought
     perhaps you would be able, and would kindly undertake the matter,
     which is only one of inquiry. We are a large family party now. M.
     with her husband and three children, and E. with her two children,
     are all here. Robert is gone back to London and law. Papa and mamma
     are really very well, and would send kind messages did they know I
     was writing. I hope you can give a good account of Mr. B. With very
     kind New-Year greetings from us all to him and yourself--I am most
     sincerely yours,
                      BESSIE GILBERT.

During the whole of 1856 the possibility of giving employment to women
as well as men had been occupying Bessie's close attention, and it was
one of the things she wished to arrange whilst the management was in her
own hands. She found that the ordinary work of blind women, knitting,
crochet, etc., could not be relied upon as a means of livelihood.

Experiments had to be made in brush making, chair caning, basket work,
wood chopping, and the trades that were being opened up for blind men.
These unremunerative experiments might not be sanctioned by a Committee;
and in fact the greater number of those made and the decision with
regard to them date back to the time when Bessie was the supreme and
ultimate authority; and they were made at her own cost.

By the close of 1856 she had drawn up a set of rules to be submitted to
the Committee. One of the most important of these was that a
Sub-Committee should be appointed, whose duty it was to select the blind
persons to be employed. She would not hear of giving votes to
subscribers and enabling them to force upon the institution worthless
and incompetent persons. Careful selection was essential to her scheme,
and was one of the chief causes of its early success.

Another matter which she deemed of importance was a stipulation that the
"present superintendent, William Hanks Levy, is to be continued in his
office until he shall withdraw, or be removed by the General Committee."

The rules recapitulate the object and set forth the work of the
Association. They were submitted to a general meeting of the
subscribers, held on the 19th December 1856.

The meeting having first resolved itself into the Association for
Promoting the General Welfare of the Blind, unanimously approved of the
rules, and adopted them as the laws of the Association. They are
interesting as the outcome of Bessie's endeavours to ameliorate the
condition of the blind, and are therefore given at the end of the
chapter.

A Committee was appointed on the 1st of January 1857, and in May of the
same year a report was issued, with a balance-sheet, showing
subscriptions and donations to the amount of £435, £75 of which had been
contributed by Bessie herself. Interesting tables were appended, giving
the age, address, cause of blindness, family, income, to what amount
employed by the institution, and nature of trade of all men working for
the Euston Road shop, together with similar lists of men and women
desiring employment, of applicants at the institution, and of members of
the circulating library.

The three months' report was a preliminary to a meeting held in Willis's
Rooms on the 26th of May 1857. The Bishop of London was in the chair,
the Bishop of Oxford spoke, and afterwards wrote to Mrs. Gilbert:

                             LAVINGTON HOUSE, PETWORTH, _30th May 1857_.

     MY DEAR MRS. GILBERT--I must tell you with many thanks what
     pleasure your kind letter gave me, and how glad I was to be able to
     take part in _that_ meeting. I did not at all please myself in what
     I said, _because_ I wanted to show in the instance of your own
     daughter how God brought good out of such suffering; how the inward
     character, intensifying and become sanctified by grace, made the
     sufferers as an angel in the house, do what otherwise they never
     would have done, by the example of her becoming the foundress of
     this institution--but she was present, and I could not trust myself
     to say all I felt. May God's blessing rest abundantly on this good
     work.--I am ever, most sincerely yours,
                                             S. OXON.

     Mrs. Gilbert.

We have now the result of Bessie's three years of arduous labour. Her
institution was fairly afloat. The Bishop of London had consented to act
as president, and the Rev. Thomas Dale, Canon of St. Paul's, was the
vice-president. Notices of the meeting appeared in the London papers,
and were copied in provincial papers. Donations, inquiries, and orders
increased, and so did applications for employment from blind men and
women. The Bishop of Chichester had written a prayer to be read before
Committee meetings, and this prayer was used by Bessie until the last
day of her life. She looked upon it as a solemn sign of her father's
approval, and as sanctifying all her efforts on behalf of the blind.[6]

No period of her life was so rich and full as the few years that
followed the first development of her scheme. She was surrounded by
friends who were enthusiastic in the cause, ready to serve her, and
willing that she should guide and control the work which she had
initiated. Some of those who gathered round her in 1857 are still
working for the institution. Captain, afterwards Colonel Fyers, who for
a time filled the part of honorary secretary, was a faithful and
generous friend to the blind from 1857 until his death in July 1886. Mr.
Summers still sits on the Committee.

One of the first things done by the Committee was to take a lease of the
house occupied by Levy, then known as 21 South Row, and subsequently as
127 Euston Road. It was prepared as a factory for the blind. Rooms were
set apart for the various trades, and the requisite fittings and tools
were supplied. A large front room on the first floor was assigned to
women.

Many informalities and irregularities which had sprung up insensibly
whilst the undertaking was small and private had now to be abolished.
The Committee directed that subscriptions and donations should no longer
pass through the trade cash book, and we may assume that a strict method
of book-keeping was adopted.

An initial difficulty there was, and always will be, in the management,
by amateurs, of business which involves the purchase of material from
foreign markets. Prices rise and fall, quality is open to deception,
wages have also to be adjusted, and manufactured goods must be sold
wholesale as well as retail. This is taken in hand by a Committee
consisting of ladies and gentlemen, many of whom could probably not
dispose of a basket of oranges on advantageous terms.

Bessie herself by this time had acquired considerable information in
matters of business, and she knew the difficulties that surrounded her.
Practical knowledge of this kind would have justly given her a prominent
place on any Committee. Her own Committee placed her without hesitation
in a position from which she was never deposed. They looked upon
themselves as elected to carry out her aims and objects for the blind,
and they believed her to be the best guide they could have. She on her
side gave her whole time and attention to the mastery of all the
intricacies of trade and mysteries of book-keeping. She was soon
familiar with stock-book, ledger, cash-book, and banker's accounts. When
she discovered that her wish would be law, she became doubly anxious
and scrupulous. She had always treated every one around her with
courtesy and generous consideration, and now to the grace of nature was
added a strong sense of the duty she owed to those who trusted her and
relied upon her. She was careful to ascertain the wishes of her
Committee upon every subject to be presented to them, and she never
urged her own views until she saw that her friends were ready to receive
them.

One further development of her work was of doubtful utility. Schools to
teach reading to the blind were formed in different parts of London.
Each scholar was paid threepence for his or her attendance, and guides
were also paid for. It was found some years later that classes for the
blind, under similar conditions, were rather extensively carried on,
were indeed a favourite form of private benevolence, and that there were
blind men and women who earned a living by going about as pupils.

                     RULES FOR GENERAL MANAGEMENT.

                                _Title._

     1. That this Society be denominated THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR
     PROMOTING THE GENERAL WELFARE OF THE BLIND.

                               _Objects._

     2. That the more immediate objects of this Association shall be to
     afford employment to those blind persons who, for want of work,
     have been compelled to solicit alms, or who may be likely to be
     tempted to do so. To cause those unacquainted with a trade to be
     instructed in some industrial art, and to introduce trades
     hitherto unpractised by the blind. To support a Circulating Library
     consisting of books in various systems of relief printing, to the
     advantages of which the indigent blind shall be admitted free of
     charge, and others by paying the subscription required by the
     Committee. To collect and disseminate information relative to the
     physical, mental, moral, and religious conditions of the blind. To
     promote amongst the supporters of the various institutions for
     their benefit, and among other friends of the blind, a reciprocal
     interchange of the results of their efforts for ameliorating their
     condition.

                              _Members._

     3. That donors of £5:5s. at one time shall be life members of the
     Association, and subscribers of half a guinea annually, members so
     long as they shall continue such subscriptions.

                             _Committee._

     4. That the management of the affairs of the Association be vested
     in a General Committee, to consist of the founder, Miss Gilbert,
     and two ladies chosen by her, a President, Vice-President,
     Treasurer, and seven gentlemen, to be chosen annually by the
     members from among themselves; which General Committee shall meet
     on the first Wednesday in February, May, August, and November, or
     oftener if necessary; three to be a quorum.

     4b. That out of the fourteen elected members of the Committee, Miss
     Gilbert shall nominate one to be Vice-President, who, together with
     herself, the two ladies chosen by her, and two gentlemen, elected
     from among their own number by the President, Treasurer, and
     gentlemen of the General Committee, shall be a Sub-Committee, whose
     business it shall be to select the blind persons to be employed by
     the Association, and to regulate the details, subject to the
     correction of the General Committee. This Sub-Committee to meet at
     least once a fortnight, and three to be a quorum.

     4bb. The President or Treasurer shall be capable of being nominated
     Vice-President, and Miss Gilbert shall have the privilege of
     introducing at the meetings of either the Committee or
     Sub-Committee, her mother, or one of her sisters, who may take part
     in the proceedings, but not vote.

                            _Auditors._

     5. That two subscribers be chosen annually, by the members of the
     Association, to audit the accounts of the ensuing year.

                           _Treasurer._

     6. The Treasurer shall be elected annually by the members of the
     Association, and shall present his accounts to the members, and
     also to the auditors or the Committee whenever required. All drafts
     upon the Treasurer shall be signed by two members of the Committee.

                    _Annual Meeting of Members._

     7. That a General Meeting of the members of the Association be held
     annually on the second Wednesday in May, notice thereof to be sent
     to each subscriber on the first of that month, to receive from the
     Committee a report of their proceedings, and to appoint the
     officers for the ensuing year. But should any vacancy occur in the
     offices of President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Auditors, or
     gentlemen of the Committee or Sub-Committee, the vacancy shall be
     supplied by the Committee or by Miss Gilbert, as the case may be,
     until the next general meeting.

                         _Funded Property._

     8. All monies directed by the Committee to be funded, shall be
     vested in the joint names of four Trustees, chosen by them, unless
     otherwise directed by the donors; the dividends arising therefrom
     shall be received by the Treasurer, and applied to the current
     expenditure of the Association. As often as any vacancy shall occur
     among the Trustees, or change appear necessary, the same shall be
     supplied or effected by the Committee.

     No general meeting shall have power to sell or appropriate any part
     of the capital funded property, until the order made by it for such
     purpose be confirmed by a subsequent annual or extraordinary
     general meeting, consisting of not less than twenty-four members of
     the Association, of whom three-fourths at least shall vote for such
     confirmation.

                          _Auxiliaries._

     9. The Committee shall be empowered to form or to receive into
     connection with the Association, upon terms to be agreed upon,
     Auxiliaries in various parts of the kingdom, for the purposes of
     increasing the funds and extending the utility of the Association.

                         _Special Cases._

     10. The Sub-Committee may in a special case require the patrons or
     friends of any indigent blind person to pay a donation, or provide
     an annual subscription of such amount as they shall deem proper and
     suitable, before admitting the applicant to the benefits provided
     by the Association.

                 _Secretary and Superintendent._

     11. A Secretary, and likewise a Superintendent of the Repository,
     shall be appointed by the General Committee, each with a stipend,
     if necessary. These offices to be held together if the Committee
     shall so appoint. It shall be the Secretary's business to attend at
     every meeting of the Committee and Sub-Committee; register the
     proceedings, and keep the accounts of the Association. He must
     always be ready to produce the books and accounts fairly written
     out, to any member of the Committee. On his appointment he shall
     give such security as shall be required by the Committee, for the
     performance of the duties of his office, and for the due accounting
     for such monies as may be paid him for the purposes of the
     Association. The Superintendent of the Repository shall also give
     security in like manner as the Secretary, and conduct the business
     of the Repository with zeal and assiduity. The present
     superintendent, William Hanks Levy, is to be continued in his
     office until he shall withdraw, or be removed by the General
     Committee. He must also be in attendance at each meeting of the
     Committee or Sub-Committee, and be ready to give information at
     other times also when required.

                           _Visitor._

     12. That a subscriber who is not a member of Committee be appointed
     by the Committee to visit the persons employed at their own homes
     and the Repository, and other premises of the Association, and
     present to them a quarterly report of the results of his
     observations.

                      BISHOP GILBERT'S PRAYER.

     _To be offered up at all Meetings of the Committee and Members._

     O Lord Jesus Christ, Who, in Thy ministry upon earth, didst make
     the blind to see, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, lepers to be
     cleansed, the dead to be raised up (Matt. xi. 5, Luke vii. 22), and
     by Thy holy apostle has commanded Thy followers, that we should
     bear one another's burdens (Gal. vi. 2), regard with Thy favour, we
     beseech Thee, and aid with Thy blessing, our humble endeavour to
     remove stumbling-blocks from before the feet of the blind, to
     smooth their difficulties, and to strengthen their steps.

     Prosper our efforts, we humbly beseech Thee, O Father, to their
     worldly relief, and sanctify them, by Thy Spirit, to the increase
     in us of humility, faith, thankfulness, and charity, and to the
     growth in our afflicted brethren and sisters of patience and
     resignation, of goodwill to those around them, and of love to all,
     with all other graces that adorn the Christian life. Of Thy mercy,
     O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, one ever blessed Trinity in Unity,
     hear our prayer, and accept and bless the work of our hands. O
     prosper Thou our handiwork. Amen.

FOOTNOTE:

[6] The prayer is inserted at the end of this chapter.

CHAPTER X

TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS

     "Boundless pity for those who are ignorant, misled, and out of the
     right way."--KINGSLEY.

Bessie was now thirty-two years old, and during 1857, 1858, and part of
1859 she was probably at the height of her power, physical and mental.
The physical never amounted to very much. Her health was feeble. She was
liable to long fits of depression, to long attacks of headache and
prostration, to much suffering from nervous exhaustion. During the year
1857 the progress and development of her work, the encouragement and
offers of help which she received, stimulated her to unusual activity.
To a great extent she took her life into her own hands, and choosing a
confidential maid to accompany her, she visited blind men and women, the
institutions established for them, and her own friends, new and old, as
well as many influential persons to whom she had received introductions.
She made and carried out her own arrangements, and might fairly consider
herself emancipated from control. The only restriction placed upon her
by her parents and not yet removed was that she should not travel alone.
She submitted, but often wished to ascertain for herself, and by
experience, if the prohibition was necessary.

On one occasion, when travelling from Chichester to London, she sent her
maid into an adjacent carriage. She wished to try the experiment of
being alone in the train. At the last moment a gentleman rushed into the
station, jumped into the first available carriage, that in which she was
seated, and had just time to close the door when the train started.
Bessie was a little disturbed by this incident. As her companion did not
address her, she knew him to be a stranger. She soon found that he was
reading a newspaper, and as it was an express train she remembered that
she must have his company as far as London. Her companion was not aware
that the train was express, and when it dashed through the station at
which he had hoped to stop, he----

At this point, when she recounted the adventure, Bessie paused:

"What did he do?" was asked.

In an awe-struck voice she answered, "He swore----an _oath_."

The look of startled pain with which she must have heard that oath
passed over her face, and the sensitive mouth quivered. She knew nothing
about an oath; she had been told that sometimes there was bad language
in a book or in a newspaper, but no one had ever said an oath to her, or
read an oath. And now in the solitude of this railway carriage she was
shut up with a man,--swearing.

"What did _you_ do?" was asked.

"I held on tight to the arms of the seat. I was so frightened. I did not
know what he might do next."

"What _did_ he do?"

"He was very quiet; it seemed a long time; then he said 'I beg your
pardon;' and after that he did not speak again, and he jumped out as
soon as we reached London."

She referred to this as one of the most painful adventures of her life,
and said she passed through an agony of apprehension and suspense until
the train arrived at the terminus.

This journey took from her all desire to travel alone, and she made no
further experiment in that direction.

The success of her efforts on behalf of the blind began now to be spread
abroad, and institutions in many parts of England were disposed to
consider the possibility of not only teaching but permanently employing
the blind. Many inquiries were made of her, and she gave cordial
encouragement to all who asked her advice. Levy was often sent to teach
a trade, and to give information as to the best manner of carrying it
on.

One letter from him may be given as a sample of many, and of the fresh
interests that were being opened out:

                            127 EUSTON ROAD, N.W., _26th October 1857_.

     DEAR MADAM--On Monday the 19th inst. I left home for Bath, where I
     continued till the following Thursday, when I went to Bristol,
     which I left on Saturday and returned home. My presence being
     required in London, I felt it prudent to defer my visit to
     Hereford, which I think you will approve when I have the pleasure
     of acquainting you with the details of the reasons which influenced
     me. The results of these visits are of the most satisfactory kind,
     being briefly the following: Commenced chair caning at the School
     Home, Bath, and suggested improvements in basket-making which the
     Committee approved, and the basket-makers showed every disposition
     to carry out; taught two pupils to write, that they might teach
     others to use the writing frame which they purchased; advised the
     introduction of a laundry and tuning pianos, and arranged for the
     sale of each other's manufactured goods. Before leaving Bath I
     received orders for nearly thirty brushes and brooms, and had the
     satisfaction of receiving from their Committee an offer to pay all
     my expenses, which the vote of £5 enabled me to decline. The master
     of the Bristol school promised to bring before his Committee the
     subject of employing men who are not connected with their
     institution. I have promised to send him some material, that he may
     commence brush-making there. Miss Stevens advances money to a
     workman which is regularly repaid; she complains much of the apathy
     of the people in Bristol. Capelin is succeeding; business is
     pressing and promising. Lady Byron's order will be forwarded this
     week; there is not any difference made to Mr. Moon's subscribers,
     but a grant might be obtained from the Bible Society, or the
     Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; an arrangement with the
     shopkeeper would be advantageous. Hoping that you will excuse
     brevity, I am, dear madam, with gratitude and respect,
                                                         WM. HANKS LEVY.

     _P.S._--We are all quite well.

The blind throughout Great Britain were beginning to learn that they
had a friend; and Bessie received numerous letters and appeals for help.
The Rev. J. Burke, a blind clergyman, was elected in 1857 by the Mercers
Company to a Lectureship at Huntingdon, and he writes to thank Bessie
for efforts made on his behalf which had resulted in his appointment.
The employment of women called forth a fresh burst of enthusiasm and
gratitude from the blind. One of the first workwomen was Martha Trant,
subsequently employed for more than twenty years.

A copy of verses by "W. Heaton and Martha" probably belong to this early
period. They were laid by with several similar testimonials, all yellow
with age and worn by use, but carefully preserved as the "jewels" of the
blind lady.

William Heaton had been trained as a teacher for the blind, and, poor
fellow! his gratitude was far in excess of his poetical power:--

     Yes, I for one have felt the good,
       And hope to feel it still;
     For I a teacher soon shall be,
       Then do my best I will.

     I thank you for the favour that
       You have conferred on me,
     For thus admitting me to learn
       A teacher for to be.

Martha's verses are upon the same level as William's:--

     Oh that we had the power to speak
       The gratitude we feel,
     But words are vain, and oh how weak,
       The feelings to reveal.

     Dear lady, we most humbly hope,
       You kindly will accept
     This token of our gratitude,
       Our love and deep respect.

And so on through several not very interesting pages. But to Bessie the
value of these effusions was very great. They showed not only the
gratitude but the happiness of her workpeople. They indicated a renewed
life of the intellect and affections, and were received with encouraging
sympathy. The composition of verses had given pleasure to herself from
early childhood, and no doubt the form of expression chosen by the
workpeople was influenced by her own example.

The time had now come when she was to learn more of the effects of
blindness upon the character than had hitherto been revealed to her. She
had inaugurated work on behalf of a special class, a course always beset
by difficulties, and she was open to the influence of the fanatics of
that class, of those who had been embittered by suffering and had
allowed themselves to drift to the conclusion that they were set in the
midst of cruel enemies.

There are some blind people who, when the full knowledge of all that
their calamity entails is borne in upon them, have the courage, faith,
and hope of a Christian to support them. They go forward in the
certainty that as this cross has been appointed, strength will be given
to bear it.

There are others who resolve to live their life, to carry out their
aims, to press forward along the lines laid down for them, and not allow
a mere physical privation to reduce them to a condition below the high
level to which they had resolved to attain. Christian faith animates and
supports the former, physical and mental force will carry on the latter.
In rare cases, Bessie's was one of them, the two are combined. But there
is a third and perhaps a more numerous class--those who consider
themselves as unjustly afflicted, and look upon mankind as enemies.
Mankind is the majority, the blind are the minority. They speak of the
attitude of "the majority," the neglect and selfishness of "the
majority," the duty of "the majority." Their only outlook seems to be in
restrictions to be applied to the more fortunate. They are the
one-legged men who want to abolish foot races. They seek not so much to
raise those that are cast down, as to abase those who stand erect.
Bessie's knowledge of the blind would not have been complete if she had
remained ignorant of this large class.

She had deep sympathy with those who were embittered by sorrow and loss.
She could feel for the man upon whom blindness entails sudden collapse;
all his prospects shattered; himself and those dependent on him plunged
into poverty. He sees himself set aside and made of no account. He
forgets the blind whom he has known and neglected without any thought
of injuring, and suspects every man who is indifferent to him of being a
secret and cruel enemy.

Numerous letters addressed or submitted to her show that the morbid
bitterness of many a heart had been revealed to her, and that she had
been urged, again and again, to lead a forlorn hope, and storm the
heights that were held by the sighted.

She knew what it was to hear her "humble work and low aims" spoken of
with contempt, and to find that those whom she loved and honoured were
objects of ridicule to the advanced thinkers amongst the blind. She
could not work with men and women of such a type, but her sympathy gave
her faultless intuitions with regard to them. Underneath a hard,
aggressive exterior she felt the beating of a heart that was torn and
bleeding. She could make allowance for wild words and angry
exclamations, she could try to understand their meaning, but she was
never dragged into the whirlpool of mere clamour, nor wrecked upon the
hidden rocks of despair.

A few extracts will show the dangers to which she was exposed, dangers
not unfamiliar to many of those who read the story of her life.

     We are all of one opinion that the blind ought to be educated and
     restored to the privileges of social life and happiness from which
     they have been unjustly and selfishly excluded.... The present
     condition of my own private affairs and the desolate prospect of
     the future do not deter me from persevering, nor shall I desist so
     long as God gives me health of mind and one or two links by which I
     may communicate with the selfish and insensible Levites of the
     sighted world.... No permanent success will be gained till the
     education of the blind and their reception into social life be
     recognised and insisted on as a Christian duty; till the old and
     selfish indifference of animalism, that is almost everywhere
     manifested, be superseded by a more earnest and generous anxiety
     for their wellbeing, something more worthy of the spirit of
     humanity.

     Until this real Christian sympathy be awakened to take the place of
     that evasive and reluctant sham, so offensively paraded, misleading
     the benevolent and deeply injuring us, we shall not be able to make
     any progress. It is to arouse this sense of duty that I direct all
     my efforts. I see plainly it is the only road to success. We must
     first look to the enlightened, conscientious, and humane of every
     creed, trade, profession, and rank, who believe in and practise
     that Catholic duty of individual effort. Next those who by official
     position ought to lead the way; and here we come first to the
     minister of religion, who basely deserts his duty if he attempts to
     snub into silence the just clamours of those who are hourly sinking
     into the wretchedness of conscious degradation and social exile,
     merely because the well-meaning sighted do not wish to be disturbed
     in their enjoyment of all the blessings of the visible world and
     social existence, by these melancholy and distressing subjects. If
     the ministers of religion do but their duty, it must then be taken
     up by the Board of Education, and public opinion will then call on
     men of science, especially the medical profession, to direct their
     physiological inquiries to higher subjects too long neglected. If
     but one hundredth part of the mental energy that has been of late
     years directed to the constitution and habits of the insect world
     and of shellfish, had been devoted to an inquiry into the means of
     restoring to healthy action the imprisoned, stagnant, and
     deteriorating mind of the blind, something long before now would
     have been done more worthy of the name of philosophy.... As to
     gaining information from the teachers of schools, I do not expect
     you would be treated with much respect in our present degraded and
     unrecognised condition. With the exception of ---- and ----, I
     never met with any one who treated me with the respect due to an
     educated man; the manner in which I have been treated by others
     connected with such institutions has almost universally been that
     off-hand supercilious disrespect, with which an imaginary superior
     treats one of a lower grade, such as a beadle will show to a
     workhouse child.... The reckless and unprincipled disregard of
     truth to which the supposed-to-be helpless, dependent, and
     incapable blind are so generally exposed, has long taught me to
     keep copies of my letters.... I could fill pages with many an act
     and their consequences, which have contributed to my present ruined
     position, the miserable desolation of my mother's old age, and the
     blasted prospects of those who must sink and degenerate into
     isolated poverty, who would otherwise have formed a happy,
     self-supporting, united, and self-elevating family. This would
     never have happened had not those who know well where to find when
     convenient those sacred texts, "Thou shalt not lead the blind out
     of their way! Thou shalt not put a stumbling-block before the
     blind," taken a foul advantage of my supposed incapacity to protect
     my own interests, and had they not practically ignored the _equally
     sacred obligation_ that "the labourer is worthy of his hire." And
     when I have occasionally heard the Jesuits railed against for
     advancing the doctrine that the end sanctified the means, I have
     assured such, that those equally were to be dreaded who privately
     practised without openly advocating it.

Bessie's nature was too healthy, and her own experience had been too
favourable to allow her to believe in the organised opposition of
society to the afflicted. But she was deeply moved by these cries out
of the dark. They made her more than ever resolute to labour on behalf
of the blind; they also showed her that she must stand aloof from plans
and schemes which assume that the blind are struggling against their
enemies, and that if they are successful, a time of subjection for the
sighted will follow.

In May 1858 one of the earliest entries in her Common Place Book refers
to this subject, and treats of the position of the blind in a world
specially adapted for the sighted. The sensible, clear view, calm and
dispassionate, is characteristic of one trained to look on all sides of
a subject, and to recognise that which is just for all. The child's love
of what was fair comes in to help the woman to see that a majority has
rights as well as a minority. She had to learn that, amongst the blind
workers, she stood almost alone in this recognition. She was surrounded
by men, some of whom attributed their misfortunes and failures not so
much to the loss of sight as to malignity and oppression, whilst others
believed and endeavoured to persuade those around them that blindness
induces an intellectual superiority, characteristic of the blind man.
Many of these were predisposed by early experience to suspect
intentional persecution, but Bessie never shared their views; and an
exalted notion of her own conduct, merits, and powers was impossible to
her.

     L. [Levy] asked me the other day [she writes] if I had ever thought
     that it was an additional hindrance to the blind that so much in
     the way of communication between human beings was carried on by
     means of sight, that so much, in short, in the world was adapted to
     the sense of sight, and that only: for instance, that all signals
     are addressed to sight, and not to any of the other senses. He
     thought that hearing and smell could be made much more available
     than they are at present. I have often thought this; but of course
     it is only natural that the intercourse of the world should be
     adapted to the senses of the majority of its inhabitants; indeed,
     it would not be well, either for the world in general or for any
     minority under any peculiar circumstances that this rule should be
     departed from, only there ought to be the possibility of training
     this minority in such a way as that it might avail itself as far as
     possible of the means in use for general intercourse, and where
     this is impracticable, of substituting other means which shall
     answer the end in view. For example, the senses of hearing, touch,
     and smell might, I believe, be very much more accurately educated,
     and more fully developed than they are for the most part; but I
     have much to find out on this point. I can now, however, quite
     understand that systems of signals might be made very intelligible
     to the senses of hearing and smell. I remember Dufeau thinks that
     these senses might be much more developed; but he does not think
     that the principles upon which this should be done are yet
     sufficiently understood to establish a system of accurate training
     of them.

     From what I have seen, nothing does this so effectually as the
     necessity of using all the faculties in self-maintenance, though it
     is true sometimes that when this struggle is too hard the whole
     being seems so utterly depressed that all the faculties seem to be
     dormant.

     I wish I had time for more personal intercourse with the blind. I
     have, however, had more this year. One of the women at the
     Repository, Jane Jones, strikes me very much as having a good deal
     of spiritual insight, for I know not what else to call it. It is
     strange, for her other faculties seem to be below the average;
     perhaps, however, partly from the want of having been called out.
     Among the women there seems to be a great mutual kindliness. A. L.,
     the most intelligent of them, is full of energy, and seems to have
     a strong desire for improvement in every way. She is only one and
     twenty, and more educated than the rest. She has much to contend
     with. I hope she may do much in teaching.

     I have found the only two men I have as yet taken to teach,
     wonderfully patient, and most willing to learn. One has a very good
     notion of spelling, and is evidently really fond of arithmetic. The
     other has scarcely any idea whatever of spelling, and it is very
     difficult to give him a notion of the sound of the letters; but as
     far as his mind has been opened to different subjects he has, I
     suspect, a good deal of information and seems full of interest,
     especially in accounts of travels. The history of Egypt, so far as
     he knows it, seems to have seized upon his imagination in a way at
     which I was quite astonished. He is an Irishman.

CHAPTER XI

REFLECTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

     "Attempt the end, and never stand to doubt,
     Nothing's so hard but search will find it out."
                                             LOVELACE.

The entries in Bessie's Common Place Book are not numerous, but they are
very valuable. They are the result of careful study, of long-continued
and anxious thought, and they are the most important original work left
by her. They will be read by all who have endeavoured to help the blind
with no less interest than by the blind themselves.

                        _Education of the Blind._

     In the preface to a poem entitled Genius of the Blind, by E. H.
     White, a blind man, he speaks of the great amount of labour and
     money which have been spent in attempts to educate the blind; of
     the comparatively small result, and of the bad effects of bringing
     up the blind in asylums, and thus estranging them from their
     families. It seems to me, however, that some such plan is necessary
     for those who cannot be educated at home; though perhaps in the
     case of pupils whose homes are in the town in which the institution
     is situated, the evil complained of might in a measure be remedied
     by their being admitted as day scholars, as I once remember Mr.
     Bird suggesting. But even here in London and other large towns,
     distance might be a great difficulty; and for those pupils not
     residing in the town itself, I see nothing to prevent this evil
     except holidays, and perhaps in many cases even this might not be
     practicable. There is also this to be said, that among the poor it
     is by no means the blind only who become estranged from their
     homes: I think this may be said of the majority with more or less
     truth; and it has often struck me that in all the different plans
     for improving the condition of the people, this very evil is too
     little thought of and guarded against. Indeed, I think that in all
     classes this is hardly recognised to be as great an evil as I
     believe it really to be. No doubt it was always intended that
     families should separate and disperse; but much more might be done
     than is done, to keep the home affections fresh and living, in the
     hearts of their members. Certainly the blind have, if anything,
     greater need of receiving and exercising the social affections than
     others. And here I would lay particular stress on the necessity of
     their exercising those affections towards others, as I am sure that
     the necessity of their being the objects of affection is often too
     exclusively dwelt upon, and that sufficient opportunity for showing
     their gratitude towards their fellow-creatures is not afforded
     them. I believe this to be the cause of much apathy or
     irritability, as the case may be, among them. One remedy for this
     result of the school system would be the multiplying of schools; as
     then a greater number of the blind would have opportunities of
     attending as day scholars. From all I can learn from others, and
     from the little I have seen myself, I believe there is one great
     evil at the root of the system of education in blind schools, which
     is, that each institution wishes to take rank as the first in
     importance, and is therefore more bent on making such an appearance
     before the public as will secure its own reputation, than upon
     practically benefiting the pupils, so far as lies in its power.
     This is one reason of the pupils being taught to make things for
     sale, which do not really help their progress in their trade, but
     which please and attract visitors, and are on that account often
     purchased, though in themselves utterly useless. Indeed I have
     heard it remarked what very useless things are made in blind
     asylums, and in other charitable institutions.

     Anderson says that one prominent feature in institutions for the
     blind is, the desire to carry forward the pupil at any sacrifice,
     to accomplish such pieces of work as may call forth the mere
     surprise of the passing visitor. If this is bad in an asylum where
     it is very little practised, it is far worse in a school. The time
     of a pupil ought to be considered most sacred, and as much as
     possible appropriated to the acquirement of that which he will be
     able to perform and find a ready sale for, on his leaving the
     school.

     There is, however, one thing to be urged in excuse of this practice
     in blind schools, viz., that the funds of most of them are not
     equal to their expenses, without the aid of the sale of the pupils'
     work. I believe that every such school, in order to be efficient,
     ought not to derive benefit from the work of the pupils; as when
     this is the case, the learners are often hurried over the different
     steps of their trade without due care being taken that they should
     each be able to take such steps securely when entirely unassisted.
     Thus on leaving the school the blind man often finds himself at
     fault when left to his own resources in practising the trade of
     which he was believed to be the master, in the acquiring of which
     much time, labour, and money have been spent, and from which far
     greater benefit might have been derived had it not been for the
     root-evil which has been mentioned. The aim of every school for the
     blind should be to fit them to fill their station in the world, be
     it what it may, as Christian men and women, and therefore to earn
     their own living, when this is necessary, as in far the majority of
     cases it is.

     I hope and trust that one day the whole school system will be
     improved. I know that Liverpool, which led the way in England,
     started with the best possible aims and intentions; although it has
     now greatly degenerated. Indeed, I believe all the first
     institutions to have been good, though the scope of many is, I
     suspect, very narrow. But it strikes me that all fall more or less
     below their first intentions, not only in their practice but even
     in their theory, and this I believe partly unconsciously. I do not
     see why it should be so, but I am afraid this is but too true.
     However, I can't help thinking that the rendering of such
     institutions independent of any gain from the labour of the pupils
     would go far towards improvement.

     Much might be done in schools to prevent the blind from being
     isolated, by giving them an interest in the subjects of the day.
     For instance, in the Bristol School, a newspaper is read to them.

     The older pupils should have opportunities for discussion not only
     with each other, but with visitors and friends. For instance, there
     might be an inexpensive entertainment once a week, or at some such
     stated time, for the purpose. I should think also lectures at
     Mechanics Institutes might be attended with advantage, as these are
     never given till the evening; and means such as these would open
     and enlarge the minds of the pupils, and would all tend to foster
     in them the sense of membership with the community at large. It
     should always be borne in mind that there is much in the condition
     of blindness, and indeed in any other exceptional state, to smother
     and weaken this feeling; and if not counteracted almost entirely to
     destroy it. This is the tendency of the gathering together of the
     blind into asylums as adults; and I am sorry to find from what I
     have read to-day that this is being increasingly done on the
     Continent. Many institutions there, seem to be rich in the
     different inventions for the blind; but as far as I can see, all
     seem to derive more or less profit from the manual labour of the
     pupils. It has this moment occurred to me that the right use of
     this labour would be to realise thereby a fund which should be
     spent in some way for the benefit of each pupil when he or she
     should leave the institution; or, in cases where it should be
     deemed advisable, it should be made over to the pupil to be used at
     his or her own discretion. Perhaps it would be well always to allow
     the pupils to appropriate a certain portion of their earnings; this
     would teach them the value of money, and would educate them in the
     management of it. No doubt the answer to these suggestions would
     be, want of funds. I should reply that much more real good would be
     done by lessening the number of pupils, so as to be able to effect
     it in proportion to the funds at command. I do believe such a
     system would go far towards giving the blind workmen a better start
     in the race for a livelihood than institutions have hitherto shown
     themselves able to give.

     The importance of systematically training and developing the
     remaining senses of their pupils cannot be too strongly impressed
     on those who educate the blind. I am delighted to find that
     Monsieur K., the blind director of the institution at Breslau, has
     succeeded in obtaining permission for his pupils to _feel_ the
     specimens of natural history contained in the Museum of that city.
     How glad I should be to hear of such permission being given in
     England. I think, as I have heard Mr. D. Littledale, a blind
     gentleman, say, that in schools there ought to be classes formed
     for the special object of exercising the touch. He himself has
     begun to form a Museum of objects with this view for the York
     School. But here I must say that I think the education of the blind
     will never attain the perfection of which I believe it is capable,
     unless teachers are specially trained for the work, and also unless
     at least a proportion of these are themselves blind. Among the
     blind I think individuals would be found capable of commencing and
     carrying on such training schools; then of course each fresh
     teacher so trained might be able either to superintend another
     school, or to carry on in a blind school something of the
     pupil-teacher system now adopted for ordinary schoolmasters and
     mistresses.

     In every country there ought to be at least one normal school where
     teachers for the blind may be trained. A simple way of effecting
     this would be for the Government to allow to one establishment,
     which should first be ascertained to be a superior one in its
     management and results, such an annual grant of money as should
     enable it to retain several young men as assistant-teachers, who
     would be ready to supply vacancies, and to take charge of
     newly-established institutions.

     This kind of assistance would be, perhaps, the most valuable
     encouragement which a Government could give. It would ensure the
     training of persons to continue and perfect an art which has been
     kept in a state of infancy from the want of such a provision.

     The blind may be divided into two classes--those so born and those
     who become so from disease or accident; the latter is by far the
     most numerous class. Bowen says he believes there is no authentic
     instance of any one born blind being restored to sight by human
     means. I should rather doubt this, as I have been told that
     congenital cataract can be removed if the operation takes place
     early enough, viz. at the age of one or two years. The same author
     says it is believed that blindness in after life might often be
     prevented were the organisation of the eye more thoroughly
     understood by physicians. He then gives some facts to show the
     extent to which blindness prevails. Bowen says the first accounts
     which we have of schools for the blind are those in Japan. They
     existed some years before that in Paris, thought to be the first in
     Europe, though there is a doubt between it and the school at
     Amsterdam. In Japan the instruction appears to be oral. The blind
     seem to have fulfilled the office of historians to their nation,
     and to have formed no small proportion of the priesthood. The first
     regular system of embossed printing in Europe was the invention of
     Valentin Haüy, the founder of the Paris institution. Many alphabets
     have since been invented, of which I will not speak now, as this
     subject should be treated separately, but will only say that the
     education of the blind will receive an immense impulse when the
     improvement of which I believe embossed printing to be capable, is
     effected. There are many contrivances for writing; and here also I
     am not sure that all which is necessary is yet obtained, though
     much towards it has certainly been done. But in this case also, any
     increase of speed would be an immense help.

     The blind have different wants in writing to those who see. They
     want to write easily and rapidly, and they want to commit their own
     thoughts or those of others to paper, or, in short, anything they
     wish to keep in a tangible form, by means of some rapid and easy
     process.

     If possible they should have the power of making notes, and
     referring to them when made, with as much facility as the sighted.
     This at least ought to be the object aimed at. Perhaps it might be
     impossible fully to realise this idea, but I think very much might
     be done towards it. Even now Braille's embossed system goes far
     towards this, but I shall hope one day to treat of both reading and
     writing as distinct subjects. I will therefore only now say that
     every improvement and facility given to the blind in these two
     branches will do a great deal towards bringing their education to
     perfection. I have said given to the blind, but I would rather say
     every improvement and facility invented and contrived by the blind,
     as I believe in truth they must be their own helpers and
     deliverers, at least to a great extent.

     Before leaving this subject, I will add that I believe the power
     of writing in some tangible form, with the greatest possible ease
     and rapidity, to be of the highest importance to the blind; and
     with this view I should like to see Braille's system in use in all
     our schools.

     This system was the invention of a blind man, and is, I believe,
     the best that has yet been contrived. I am sure the mind of many a
     blind person remains far below the degree of cultivation and
     maturity to which it might attain, simply from the want of being
     able to emboss its thoughts upon paper. Some one, I know not who,
     says: use the pen to prevent the mind from staggering about; and
     this help should certainly be placed by some means or other within
     the reach of the blind generally.

CHAPTER XII

HER DIARY

     "The older we grow, the more we understand our own lives and
     histories, the more we shall see that the spirit of wisdom is the
     spirit of love, that the true way to gain influence over our
     fellow-men is to have charity towards them."--KINGSLEY.

In addition to the Common Place Book, which contains the result of many
years of thought and investigation, Bessie kept during 1858 a diary.
This shows not only her thoughts but her deeds. Her whole life was now
engrossed by her work for the blind. French, Italian, German, the harp,
the guitar, were all laid aside. Friends were made no longer for herself
but for the blind. She was eagerly occupied with experiments in trade,
with instruction, with visits to the workshop and the homes of her
people, with letters and appeals, and with efforts to make known not
only what was being attempted, but the need there was that more should
be done.

She studied the census of 1851, and upon it based her statements as to
the number of the blind throughout Great Britain and their condition.
She learned that a large proportion of the number lose their sight after
having reached the age at which they are admissible to the existing
institutions. She saw, therefore, that she must add to her scheme for
employment that of the instruction of adults in trades by which they
could earn a living. She did not believe in doles, pensions, and
so-called "Homes." She believed in work, in a trade, a handicraft, the
possibility of earning one's own living, as the means of restoring blind
men and women to their place in human society. There is nothing that she
records in the diary with more satisfaction than the progress made by
adult pupils. The instruction and employment of women was also
succeeding beyond her expectation, and the wages they earned
approximated more nearly to the wages of sighted women than had been
expected. But even her remarks on this proficiency of the women show her
usual fair and broad view. She says:

     There are seven men and six women pupils. The best workwoman can
     earn seven shillings a week, working eight hours a day. Upon this
     she contrives to support herself and a little sister. A sighted
     brushmaker employing a hundred workwomen states that she must be a
     very good workwoman who can earn six shillings a week at eight
     hours a day. The women he employs often work twelve or fourteen
     hours to increase their earnings. This is great drudgery. It seems
     as if brush drawing was more a matter of touch than of sight. If we
     can only discover them, it may be that several trades will answer
     for the blind on this very account. I think at present that this
     will apply even more to women than to men. The male pupils work
     well and make great progress, but their earnings, I think, would
     not bear the same proportion to those of sighted workmen as do
     those of the women. Still, as their work includes more than one
     branch, this may be a mistake, and at all events it must take them
     longer to become thoroughly good workmen, as they have more to
     acquire.

On 6th May 1858 she writes in the diary:

     Joined for the first time in the daily prayer and reading at the
     Repository [the Association was known by this name]. This was what
     I had often wished to do. Saw Mr. Dale, asked for his schoolroom
     for a lecture for the benefit of the Association; he gave leave.
     Told him what F. B. was doing about the _Times_. Took four [blind
     persons] for reading, and think they are getting on. Saw Mr. Bourke
     for the first time; had a long talk with him; think he will be more
     active than he has been in seeking out the blind and looking into
     their condition. Saw Levy Esqre. [not the manager], who showed me
     specimens of turning done by Mestre at Lausanne, who is blind,
     deaf, and dumb. Got Mr. Levy to promise to attend the meeting, on
     the 18th. Talked with Levy [manager] about the meeting. Corkcutting
     to be introduced before Walker's life-belt is made. Talked about
     furnishing carpenter as the next trade taught, also about embossed
     printing; think much might be done towards improving it....

     _8th May._--Looked over, corrected, and altered proof of report.
     Dictated a note to Levy about it. Wrote to Mr. Cureton, asking if
     he could lend his church for Dr. Thompson to preach in, in July, if
     not earlier. Wrote to Mrs. Jones asking about Dr. Thorpe's chapel,
     also to Mr. Eyre, asking him to preach at Marylebone Church. Sent
     papers to both clergymen. Received from Mrs. Sithborp her guinea
     subscription. Entered letters of yesterday and to-day. Dictated
     some notes and thoughts for the Common Place Book. It is a great
     pleasure to get some of these thoughts actually expressed. It gives
     them, as it were, a shape and a body, besides, I can never do what
     I wish without this, as I should never have the necessary
     materials. Saw Mary Haines. Wrote to Miss Repton.... Read a letter
     in two systems.

This allusion to "what she wishes" refers to her desire to write a book
upon the condition of the blind. She had this object before her for many
years, and prepared for it by accumulating statistics and information
from every available source. She read the lives of blind men, books
written by blind men, took copious notes, or had them taken for her,
sometimes by her younger brother, sometimes by a sister. She "thought
out" every statement made, every suggestion offered, with regard to the
blind. Her book would have been singularly valuable. Her sound judgment,
her power of looking at all sides of a question, would have saved her
from the danger of forgetting that, although there are 30,000 blind in
the United Kingdom, there are some millions who have the gift of sight.
The book was never written, but her preparation for it made her a
storehouse of information and of wise and tender thought, not only for
the blind, but for all those who are afflicted and suffering.

     17th May.... Saw Sir W. Reid, heard from him that a brush, with the
     Repository stamp, is left in the Museum at Malta; was very glad of
     this. Received from him £5. Heard he had seen Lord Cranbourne, and
     that Lord C. thought I was wrong in using and teaching T. M. L.
     system. I talked to Sir W. Reid of the different systems, also
     asked him for the names of books upon the blind mentioned to him
     by Lord C. Wrote to Lady Mayne to ask if she could get St.
     Michael's, Pimlico, lent.

     Afternoon.--Went to Miss ----. Very little done there for the
     Association. Saw Dr. Jelf there; heard he would come to the meeting
     next day.

The list of letters written and embossed and duly recorded in the
Journal will be omitted. They are the inevitable drudgery of such a work
as she was now engaged in. Explanations, petitions, acknowledgments,
inquiries, information, requests for the loan of pulpits from which the
claims of the Association may be urged, of schoolrooms in which meetings
can be held, all these things were part of her daily work. The sisters
tell that Bessie could at this time emboss a letter upon her Foucault
frame and dictate two others at the same time; always without mistake or
omission.

On the 18th May 1858 the Annual Association Meeting was held, and the
First Annual Report presented.

We learn from the balance-sheet that the receipts during this, the first
year of accurate and formal management, had been £1784:3:11.

     Of this, subscriptions and donations
       amounted to                             £648  1  2
     Balance in hand 25th April 1857            215  9  3
     Sale of goods, etc.                        920 13  6
                                              -----------
                                              £1784  3 11

There was a balance in hand at the end of the year of £118:15:1. The
number of blind men and women who had been employed during the year at
the Institution, or in their own homes, was forty-three.

The sum required for payment of rent, officials, teachers, and
supplementary wages to the blind, amounted to £744:10:4. The annual
subscription paid by Bessie was at this time £75, and in addition there
is a donation of £10 for broom-making, and £2 for advertising. But the
sum that appears in the subscription list is only the smallest part of
that which she devoted to the service of the blind. Her private charity
amongst them was at all times far-reaching and unstinted. She had many
pensioners in London, and pleasant stories of them abound. There was a
poor blind woman called Mary H., elderly and very lonely, whose
wonderful trust and patience called forth Bessie's admiration. She
ultimately procured the placing of Mary's name on the list of recipients
of the Queen's Gate Money, she taught her to read, and allowed her
monthly a certain quantity of tea and sugar.

One day when she came for her reading lesson Mary said:

"Oh, miss, I had such a strange dream last night!"

"Well, Mary, what was it?"

"Why, miss, I dreamt you were dead."

"Did you, Mary? and what did you think about it?"

"The first thing I thought, miss, was, what shall I do for my tea and
sugar!"

The honesty and simplicity of this answer delighted Bessie, and she
frequently spoke of Mary's dream.

The saying of another pupil also pleased her. She taught a blind boy at
Chichester to read, and when he came for his lessons the boy used to ask
innumerable questions. One day she remarked upon this, and he frankly
exclaimed:

"Oh yes, marm, so I do, I always likes to know up to the top brick of
the chimney."

Brush-making, first introduced by Bessie and taught by Farrow, had
proved a successful and remunerative occupation for the blind.
Encouraged by this success, the making of bass brooms was now added to
the work carried on in the Euston Road. The coarse fibre used for this
purpose has to be dipped in boiling pitch, and then inserted and fixed
into holes in the wooden back of the broom. By an ingenious contrivance
of the teacher, the hand of the blind man follows a little bridge across
the boiling pitch, reaches a guide, at which he stops and dips his
bristles into the shallow pan. He then withdraws his hand along the same
bridge, kneads the pitch, and fixes the fibre in its hole. Several men
sit round a table, and are thus enabled to work without risk of a burn
at a trade which requires no skill.

The blind carpenter Farrow, who had made the fittings for the Holborn
cellar, had been from that time permanently employed in the Institution.

In 1858 he was the teacher of thirteen blind men and women who were
learning a trade. Levy had visited Norwich and Bath during the year
1858. In the latter city a Blind Home was formed for the employment of
women instructed in the Bath Blind School. This was done in consequence
of a Report of Bessie's institution which had been sent to the Committee
at Bath. The School for the Indigent Blind, St. George's Fields,
Southwark, had also opened departments for instructing and employing the
adult blind, but we have no sheaf of old letters to give the history of
this further development.

The Committee of the Association might well look back with pleasure, and
forward with hope. They well knew on whom the success of the work mainly
depended; and in spite of Bessie's objection to the introduction of her
name, the following paragraph closes the Annual Report issued in May
1858:

     Your Committee feel that their report would be very imperfect if
     they did not allude to the great services which have been rendered
     to this society, during the last year, by Miss Gilbert, the
     foundress of the Association. Whenever pecuniary embarrassment has
     threatened the efficiency of the Institution, her active zeal has
     soon replenished the funds; and when the Association has been
     unable to relieve the most distressing cases that have been pressed
     on their notice, the sufferers have found her ever ready to afford
     them timely help; and that, too, in a way which has shown such
     sympathising interest in their privations, as well as so much
     consideration for their feelings, that the value of the aid thus
     afforded can be fully appreciated only by those who have received
     it.

CHAPTER XIII

THE FEAR OF GOD AND NO OTHER

     "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might."

Bessie's early education and happy home life counted for much in her
work on behalf of the blind. She knew the advantage of being thrown on
her own resources, of learning the ways of a house and the paths of a
garden. She knew also that the happiness of the blind depends chiefly on
companionship. "A deaf person," she used to say, "is very cheerful
alone, much more cheerful than in society. It is social life that brings
out his privation. But a blind man in a room alone is indeed solitary,
and you see him at his best in society. It is social life which
diminishes his disabilities."

Whilst she acquiesced, therefore, in Levy's wish that the work of the
Institution should be exclusively carried on by blind persons, she was
anxious that they should not be set apart and kept apart from other
workmen.

Her diary for 1858 contains the following passage:

     Spoke to Levy about the workpeople in the Repository not having
     intercourse enough with those who see, and thought of the
     possibility of their belonging to Mr. Maurice's Working Men's
     College; I think that might be just the thing. L. asked what I
     thought about their attending a Bible Class by any of Mr. Dale's
     curates. I said I should like it, provided the mistake was not made
     of talking to them upon religion as if it must be a sort of last
     resource to the blind, to make up for the want of other things. L.
     understood what I meant, and said he was glad I had mentioned it.

Any display of the blind with the object of calling attention to their
affliction, and extorting money on account of it, was extremely painful
to Bessie. She had too much reverence and tenderness for her
fellow-sufferers to make a show of them, and she would not accept help
if it involved any lowering of the tone she hoped to establish in the
workshop. Blind men and women were to be taught that they could do an
honest day's work and earn their own living.

An entry in the diary shows that she had to educate more than her
workpeople before her views were adopted.

     L. spoke to me about a suggestion for employing blind beggars to
     carry boards to advertise the Association. Told him I strongly
     objected, and why.

The workpeople also frequently caused her anxiety.

     Felt and compared brushes from W. with those made at Repository.
     Our make is the best.

     L. told me things were rather uncomfortable between two of the
     women. I saw them each separately, and think and hope they will go
     on better, but the whole affair made L. think how necessary what I
     have often spoken to him about would be in future; namely, the
     possibility of arranging for board and lodging for learners not
     having means of subsistence....

     Talked to L. about visiting the workmen at their own homes. He told
     me he thought I should have special advantages for so doing, and
     specially in speaking to them on spiritual matters.... Spoke about
     baskets not being made to measure. When good workmen do not make
     baskets according to order, something is to be taken off the
     price.... Went to Repository to try and find out what Susan M. had
     better do towards earning her living; am not sure about it, but so
     far as I can tell, don't think she would have musical talent enough
     to make her living by that; however, she has hardly learnt two
     years, so I think one can hardly judge.... Spoke to Mrs. L. about
     ventilator for Committee room, and about using disinfecting fluid
     in the workrooms on Sunday.... Mrs. H. gave me a towel made in a
     loom without steam, as a specimen of the linen proposed to be woven
     by Association workpeople. She also talked about a home for the
     blind without friends, where they should pay and, as I suggested,
     be entirely free to leave at any time. She thought perhaps the
     weaving might be carried on in some such place at a little distance
     from London.... Dictated note to Mrs. L. to ask about the state of
     health in the homes of the workmen, and to get their exact
     addresses. Spoke to mamma about visiting them.

We may be sure that there would be some anxiety on the part of her
parents as to these visits to the homes of the workmen, but her wishes
prevailed, and an entry dated 19th June 1858 states:

     Greatest part of the day occupied in visiting the workmen at their
     own homes. Was very glad to do it, but sorry not to visit more of
     them. Only went to four--Hounslow, Hemmings, Barrett, and Symonds.
     Found the latter not so well off as I expected. He has not had much
     work besides Association work. Altogether what I saw confirmed me
     very much in the belief that such an Association as ours is very
     greatly needed.... Spoke to L. [Levy] purposely a little of what I
     had to give up for the work, only with a view of showing him that
     one often thought one would rather be doing other things, and of
     making him see that he was to some extent right in saying that I
     had made sacrifices. This was not at all with the view of making
     him suppose that I thought much of them, but in order to show him
     how true it is that one feels the work to be a sacred duty, for
     which, as for all other duties, sacrifices must be made. He is
     thoroughly imbued with this feeling, but I wish to keep it
     constantly both before him and myself, as I believe it is only thus
     that we can either of us work as God would have us work, and we
     both believe that He has made us His instruments for a special work
     for the blind....

     Wrote to the Dean of Westminster (the very Rev. R. C. Trench, who
     was about to preach for the Association in Mr. Llewelyn Davies'
     church) to describe the different papers I sent, and telling him I
     thought that in what had been done for the blind, those who saw had
     perhaps committed the mistake of making the blind feel how much
     they needed their aid, rather than how far they might become
     independent of it.... Gave £5 of my own on Capelin's account, but
     find Capelin has been earning more than I expected towards his
     maintenance, so that what I owed was not very much.... Talked with
     L. about Newman, and heard a very sad letter from him, written from
     the Union where he now is. Settled that the resolution as to his
     being employed should be acted upon, but I am sorry he is a bad
     workman, as this will make the thing very difficult.... Told L. we
     ought to bring the Association into such a position that it should
     be able to bear the loss from bad work while a man is improving.
     Found, as I expected, that expense of management is about £300 a
     year, and think subscriptions now cover this entirely or very
     nearly.... Whilst I was at the Repository Herr Hirzel, master of
     the institution at Lausanne, came; I was anxious to get all
     possible information as to relief printing. He, Levy, and I, went
     through the merits of many of the different systems, which took a
     long time.

Relief printing for the blind is a subject beset with difficulty. In
every country where books are embossed for the blind there are two or
three different alphabets. There are systems in which dots and lines and
abbreviations take the place of letters; and there are systems where the
alphabet is enlarged and modified to suit the requirements of a person
who is going to read with fingers instead of eyes. The number of books
printed in relief is very small; and the result of using several systems
is that a blind reader finds that four out of five of the very small
number embossed are unintelligible. He can read Moon or Lucas or
Braille, but Frere and Howe and Alston and a host of others he cannot
decipher. Bessie spent much time upon the subject of relief printing,
and could read nearly everything printed for the blind. She thought that
Braille's was in itself the best system, but that Moon's was the only
one really useful to adults, more especially to those whose hands have
been hardened by labour. All except Moon's system must be acquired by
the young and sensitive fingers of a child. Bessie would have liked to
see the systems narrowed down to two, if not to one; but she found, as
many others have done, that it was impossible to obtain unanimity on
this point, as too many interests are involved in it. She made no
progress in the matter, and put it on one side.

On the 7th of July the diary tells us she was at the Repository giving
advice to "Martha."

     Talked much to Martha about her proposed marriage. Told her to ask
     if her intended husband would wish to go to Mr. Dixon on account of
     his near sight, saying that if this stood in the way of his getting
     something to do, and Mr. Dixon thought spectacles would help, he
     should have them.... L. sent me papa's motto, "The fear of God and
     no other." I had asked him to have it printed for the
     boarding-house.

In August of this year Bessie paid a visit to Miss Bathurst, who with
her mother, Lady Caroline Bathurst, was then living at Stanmore. She met
there Lady Elizabeth Waldegrave and Miss Butler. A friendship formed at
that time with Miss Butler continued to the end of her life. She records
the meeting in her diary, adding, "talked about the Association."
Perhaps we should have been more surprised if she could have recorded
that she talked about anything else.

On the 10th of August she left London for Chichester. The morning was
spent in making arrangements for the Association.

     L. came. I told him to tell Hounslow that he was only to repay £3
     out of the £6:10s. for the quarter's rent. Arranged to have a
     large applicant's book with full details. Found that all concerned
     were very much pleased with the boarding-house. Gave L. something
     for relief in special cases. Told him to see about getting several
     of Braille's small writing frames made, if he found the one I had
     sent to be successful. Impressed upon L. to take on more workpeople
     the very moment the sales would allow it. Talked to him of my plan
     for raising money to buy a West-end house, made him feel he must
     devote himself more than ever to the work, not that he is
     unwilling.

     L. told me that the amount of goods bought in the past year had
     been too great, but that bass-broom and cocoa-mat making would do
     much towards keeping down this item.

The "purchase of goods" here referred to was always a sore point with
Bessie. In order to fulfil the order of a customer, articles not made by
the blind had often to be procured. The manager was on the horns of a
dilemma. Custom was lost when an order was sent home incomplete, whilst,
on the other hand, the Lady President wished nothing, or as little as
possible, to be sold which was not the work of the blind. This
difficulty, however, increased rather than diminished, and if there is
any way of avoiding it, that way has not yet been discovered.