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 L26 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 [L5] 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 L323 1 1
The receipts stand as 141 5 4
---------
No balance is drawn, but the sum contributed
by Bessie must have been L181 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 L50 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.