IN THE DARK
"Every morn and every night
Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night."--BLAKE.
The Gilbert children had a very happy home. In Oxford they were
constantly under the eyes of parents who loved them tenderly, and loved
to have them at hand. The schoolroom was between drawing-room and study,
the nurseries adjacent to the parents' bedroom.
Mrs. Gilbert, a very handsome, large-hearted, attractive woman, was
devoted to her husband, and gave him constant and loving care so long as
she lived. She dearly loved her children; but she thought, though
perhaps she was mistaken, that she liked boys better than girls; and she
had so few boys! Husband and children were all the world to her; she was
happy in their midst, full of plans for them, greatly preoccupied with
their future, and looked up to and beloved by all.
Dr. Gilbert was a schoolfellow of De Quincey, and in his
_Confessions_[1] De Quincey thus speaks of him: "At this point, when the
cause of Grotius seemed desperate, G----[2] (a boy whom subsequently I
had reason to admire as equally courageous, truthful, and far-seeing)
suddenly changed the whole field of view."
And again referring to his leaving school, De Quincey writes: "To three
inferior servants I found that I ought not to give less than one guinea
each; so much therefore I left in the hands of G----[2], the most
honourable and upright of boys."
What weeks and months of anguish must have been passed by these parents,
when the bright little three-year-old child was struck down into
darkness, and the light of the "handsome black eyes" extinguished for
ever. She was smitten into the ranks of the blind; and of the blind
nearly sixty years ago, when their privation was a stigma, an
affliction, "a punishment sent by the Almighty;" when even good and
merciful people looked upon it as "rebellion" to endeavour to mitigate
and alleviate the lot of those who lived in the dark. Bessie's parents
did not and could not accept this view. They saw their child rise from
her bed of sickness unchanged, though grievously maimed; but she was the
same little Bessie who had been given to them bright and clever and
happy, and by God's grace they resolved that she should never lose her
appointed place in the family circle. From the very first they were, as
we have seen, advised to educate her with her sisters. This advice they
followed; and at the same time inquired in all directions as to the
methods and material and implements which might give special help to
their blind child. Packets of letters yellow with age, long paragraphs
copied from old newspapers by Mrs. Gilbert and sent to people living in
distant parts, accounts of apparatus, lists of inventions and
suggestions bear constant and touching tribute to the loving care of a
mother upon whose time and strength in that large young family there
must have been so many demands. The surviving members of the family do
not even remember by name many of those whose letters have been
preserved; letters now valuable, not in themselves, but as showing that
if Bessie Gilbert lived to do a great work on behalf of the blind, and
did it, undaunted by obstacles and difficulty that might well have
seemed beyond her strength, she did but inherit the strong will and
indomitable courage, the power of endurance and devotion which
characterised her parents.
These letters throw much light upon the condition of the blind at the
beginning of this century. One packet is specially interesting as the
story of the successful effort of a person unknown, and without
influence, to effect an improvement in a public institution. It may,
probably it must, have been told in later years to Bessie herself; it
would encourage her, and may encourage others, to persevere in efforts
on behalf of those who are helpless and afflicted.
Mrs. Wood, wife of the Rev. Peter Wood, Broadwater Rectory, Worthing,
was interested in the condition of the blind. She had visited
institutions in Zurich, in Paris, had heard of work being done on their
behalf in Edinburgh, and was acquainted with the condition of the School
for the Indigent Blind, St. George's Fields, London.
She wrote in 1831 to Mr. Henry V. Lynes, Mr. Gaussen, Mr. Dodd, Mr.
Pigou, Mr. Capel Cure, and other members of the Committee of the St.
George's Fields School, begging them to inquire into the methods for
teaching the blind to read, recently discovered, and at that time
attracting attention. With her letter she sent specimens of books and
other data to be submitted to the Committee.
Mr. Gaussen, writing from the Temple, 12th March 1831, replies that he
will have much pleasure in forwarding her excellent views, and that Mr.
Vynes has secured the reference of her plan to the Committee; that it
will be well considered, but for his own part he is bound to express the
greatest doubt as to the result. He suggests that instead of teaching
the blind to read there should be more reading aloud to them, "so as to
stimulate their minds to more exertion, which in many cases is the
source of the kind treatment they meet with."
A brother of the Secretary, Mr. Dodd, writes that he also will do what
he can, although he has heard that the benefit of the plan "is so
limited that quite as much good may be accomplished by teaching the
pupils to commit portions of Scripture to memory as by teaching them to
read."
Mr. Vynes informs Mrs. Wood that he has, at her request, attended the
meeting of the Committee, that only two of the other gentlemen she had
written to were present, Mr. Pigou and Mr. Gaussen. "The latter is not
favourable to the plan, neither is Mr. Dodd, the Secretary." The
gentlemen present who spoke were all "well satisfied with the amount of
religious knowledge which their blind pupils already possess, so that I
much fear they will take little trouble to increase it." He refers to a
"rumour" that the "art of reading" has been introduced into the
Edinburgh School for the Blind, but adds that the "Meeting did not seem
inclined to give any credit to it;" and suggests that, if it is true,
Mrs. Wood might let them hear more about it, as he had secured a
reference of the whole matter to the consideration of the House
Committee.
Now Mrs. Wood was nothing daunted by these successive splashes of cold
water. She wrote afresh to members of the Committee. She obtained facts
from Edinburgh, and she wisely limited her appeal to a petition that the
blind should be enabled to read the Scriptures for themselves. But
whether at that time she recognised the fact or not, there can be no
doubt that the whole question of what the blind could do _themselves_
would be opened by this step, and must be decided.
Mr. Vynes writes to her again on the 29th March, and it is interesting
to observe that a Committee in 1831 was very much the same sort of thing
that it is now.
Among the seven or eight gentlemen present I found Mr. Jackman, the
Chaplain of the Institution, being the first time I had ever the
pleasure of meeting him. Both Mr. Jackman and Mr. Dodd [the
Secretary] affirm that these poor blind pupils are already as well
instructed as it is possible they should be, under their afflicting
circumstances. They are correctly moral in their general conduct,
influenced by religious feelings and principles, with contented and
pious minds. Mr. Jackman mentioned as a proof that they do think
beyond the present moment, the average number who now participate
at every celebration of the Lord's Supper is one or two and twenty,
though formerly there had been but three or four. They can repeat a
large portion of the Psalms, not merely the singing Psalms, but
take the alternate verse of the reading version without requiring
any prompting. And all the pupils have a variety of the most
important texts strongly impressed upon their memories. Their
memories are generally good, and they assure me they are fully
exercised upon sound truths. These gentlemen are of opinion that
more is to be learned by the ear than ever can be acquired by the
fingers, and therefore see no advantage attending the new plan
which can at all compensate the trouble and expense of introducing
it.
Two of the gentlemen present, Mr. Capel Cure and Mr. Meller, very
handsomely supported your view of the subject, and recommended a
trial to be made. At the same time they candidly confessed
themselves quite unable to point out the best way, or indeed any
way, to set about it; upon which the Committee very naturally threw
the burthen upon me, or, my dear madam, you must allow me to say,
rather upon you. I read to them the plan which you had sketched
out, which, however, the Committee do not think very practicable.
They will not seek out an idle linguist as you recommend; but if
you will bring a qualified man to their door, with all appliances
to boot--that is, all the books requisite for introducing the
system, then they will be ready to treat with him. And here the
matter rests for the present.
"Here" probably the Committee expected it to rest. But not so Mrs. Wood,
who reconsidered and amended her suggestion as to "an idle linguist."
The next letter from Mr. Vynes, 15th April 1831, announces that Mr. Gall
of Edinburgh "has offered to come to London to put our Committee in more
complete possession of his plan, and to instruct some of our teachers
gratuitously." The Sub-committee recommended that this offer should be
accepted; the General Committee had resolved to adopt the
recommendation. "They have also very properly," he continues, "agreed to
reimburse Mr. Gall the expenses of his journey and of his necessary
residence in London. The account which Mr. Gall has given of his
invention is doubtless overcharged; it exhibits all the enthusiasm which
generally attends all new discoveries. His estimate of the expense is
somewhat vague. He requires very little _time_ to enable his poor blind
pupils to read and to write as correctly, and almost as quickly, as the
more fortunate poor who have the blessing of sight. However, if Mr. G.
does but accomplish one-half of what he has promised, our Committee will
be quite satisfied.
"Thus far, then, I may congratulate you, my dear madam, on the
successful result of your active and persevering exertions."
After this there is a long pause; and the next letter from Mr. Vynes is
dated Clapton, 24th August 1831. We can picture to ourselves the
feelings with which Mrs. Wood would read it in the far-off Broadwater
rectory.
DEAR MADAM--I have now the pleasure of returning to you the various
books and papers which you so kindly sent up for the inspection of
the Committee of our Blind School, and have to give you our best
thanks for the use of them. You will be pleased to hear this new
system of reading and writing is making some progress in the London
school. As a proof that the General Committee are satisfied, I will
report to you the results of their meeting on the 13th of this
month. They first voted fifty guineas to Mr. Gall as a compliment
for the service he has already done to the Institution. But when
Mr. G. was called in and acquainted with their vote, he at once,
respectfully, but very positively, declined to accept of any
remuneration for what he had done, saying his object was to
introduce the new system to serve the poor blind and not himself.
The Committee then elected Mr. Gall as Honorary Member of the
Corporation, and requested the House Committee to find out (if
possible) something acceptable to Mrs. Gall, and empowered them to
present it to her. I mention all this in justice to Mr. Gall. It is
indeed highly creditable to him, for we are told that he is by no
means in affluent circumstances. Mr. Gall continues in almost daily
attendance at the school, and will remain some short time longer,
so anxious is he to establish his system permanently in this
school. On the female side he has already pretty well succeeded;
Miss Grove, the sub-matron, and also one of the blind inmates
having qualified themselves to become teachers.
On the male side, Mr. G. has hitherto been baffled, and therefore
has asked the Committee for some extra aid. This matter is still
under consideration.... On the whole, then, I think I may now
venture to congratulate you, my dear madam, on the attainment of
the object you have so much at heart--that these poor blind shall
be enabled to read those oracles which will give them comfort in
this world and lead them to perfect happiness hereafter.
And thus cautiously and quietly, with the inevitable resistance of
officials to any change, and the caution of a Committee on their guard
against enthusiasm, and not sanguine as to results, an important change
was inaugurated. Henceforward the blind were no longer to be treated as
incurables in a hospital, capable of no instruction and able to do no
more than commit to memory moral precepts and religious truths. They
were to learn reading and writing, a door was set open that would never
again be closed. Education was shown to be possible, and work would
follow.
In August 1832 Mrs. Gilbert received the copy of a letter written by Mr.
Edward Lang, teacher of mathematics, St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh, to a
Mr. Alexander Hay. Mr. Lang had invented a system of printing for the
use of the blind, with simplifications of letters and the introduction
of single signs for many "redundant sounds." He is in favour of these
modifications, and adds:
Were not the prejudice so strong in favour of ordinary spellings of
words, I would, had I been engaged in the formation of such an
alphabet, have innovated much more extensively. But words, like
men, must carry their genealogy, not their qualifications, on their
coats-of-arms; and though this arrangement conceals many
obliquities of descent, and more than many real characters, it must
be acquiesced in, since the law of prescription in this, as in many
other cases, prevents the exercise of reason. He concludes: Most
warmly do I recommend your whole system to the attention of all who
feel interested in the diffusion of knowledge; and I trust that its
advantages will soon be felt by those who were once consigned by
barbarous laws, or by dark superstition, to destruction or to
neglect, but who now are re-elevated to their own station through
the light of a milder and nobler humanity.
At the close of this year, 1832, a Mrs. Wingfield sent to Mrs. Gilbert a
newspaper paragraph giving an account of a meeting of the Managers of
the Blind Asylum, Edinburgh. After some routine business these managers
had proceeded to examine the "nature and efficiency" of the books lately
printed for the use of the blind. Some of the blind boys in the Asylum,
who had been using the books for "only a few weeks," picked out words
and letters and read "slowly but correctly." By repeated trials, and by
varying the exercises, the directors were of opinion that the art
promised to be of "the greatest practical utility to the blind." Mr.
Gall also stated that the apparatus for writing to and by the blind was
in a state of considerable forwardness. This paragraph Mrs. Gilbert
copied and sent, on the 10th of January 1833, to her father's cousin,
Mr. J. Wintle of Lincoln's Inn Fields, who had, as she learnt, a friend
in Edinburgh. To this friend, Mr. Ellis, application was duly made, and
he set about instituting inquiries which resulted, on the 13th of April
1833, in the despatch of a portentous epistle, such a letter as at that
time was considered worthy of heavy postage. He had obtained for Mr.
Wintle every possible scrap of information on the subject in question.
Letters follow from him direct to Mrs. Gilbert, and on the 2d of
November 1833 Mr. Ellis "presents his compliments, and, after many
delays, is happy in being able at last to forward the articles he was
commissioned to procure for Mrs. Gilbert's little girl."
The following list shows how much had been done in two years:--
1. Gall's First Book. Three other Lesson Books and the Gospel of St.
John.
2. Hay's Alphabet and Lessons (Mr. Lang's friend), with outline sketch
of Map.
3. The string alphabet, with a printed statement of its invention and
use.
4. Seven brass types constructed on the principles of the string
alphabet.
5. Several packets of metallic pieces representing the notes in music.
Another letter preserved by Mrs. Gilbert was from a Mr. Richardson, of
11 Lothian Street, Edinburgh, to her uncle, Mr. Morrell, at that time
staying in Edinburgh, dated 14th January 1837. It gives an account of
the globes, maps, boards, etc., in use in the Edinburgh Asylum, and
shows what rapid advance has been made since the little boys were
examined by the managers in 1833.
Mrs. Gilbert would learn not so much from the account of the things
done, as the manner of doing them; from the explanation of the method of
adapting ordinary maps and globes to the use of the blind, and of
employing gum and sand and string and pieces of cork; the little holes
in the map instead of the names of cities, and the movable pegs. All
these hints were very valuable to her; and every one of them was turned
to good account in the schoolroom at Oxford.
In 1839 Mr. J. Wintle sends raised books from London. In 1840 he has
gone, out of health, on a visit to his friend Mr. Ellis, Inverleith Row,
Edinburgh. One of his first visits was to the Edinburgh Asylum, and he
writes an account of it to Mrs. Gilbert, "in the hope of being useful to
your daughter Bessie." He promises further information from Glasgow,
which is, so he learns, "the fountain-head of all works for the blind,
save those published in America," and he announces a copy of the New
Testament as almost ready, price L2: 2s. It was ultimately procured by
Mrs. Gilbert and presented to Bessie.
And now we may lay aside the time-worn, yellow paper, the large and
copious letters, the anxious inquiries and the willing replies. They
did not, however, end at this period, they went on throughout the whole
life of these good parents. There was no new invention, no new system
into which they did not at once inquire, nothing that could be procured
which they did not obtain for their child.
But they never swerved from their original intention to educate Bessie
at home in the schoolroom with her sisters. The apparatus which replaced
pen and pencil and slate might differ, as slate differs from paper. She
had to put her fingers on the globe upon which her sisters cast their
eyes, and to feel the movements of the planets around the sun, in the
orrery which gave her so much pleasure; but her lessons were given and
learnt at the same time, and she lost none of the happiness and
stimulating effect of companionship in work and play.
There can be no doubt that she was influenced throughout life by her own
early training, which had made it impossible for her to believe in the
numerous so-called "disabilities" of the blind. Some of her friends
thought that she had not an adequate notion of what these really were.
Perhaps those who are born blind, or who have lost sight at so early an
age that no memory of it remains, do not adequately realise their
privation. Sight is to them a "fourth dimension," a something that it is
absolutely impossible to realise. They can talk about it, but it is
impossible for them to understand it.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] _Confessions of an English Opium Eater_, pp. 48 and 73, by Thomas de
Quincey. Edinburgh, 1862.
[2] Gilbert.