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* BLIMBER. 173 BLIND. BLIMBEB, Doctor. The master of a private school at Urij;liton. to which Paul Dombey vas sent, in Dickens's Dombey and Son. "A portly gentleman in a suit of black, with strings at his knees and stockings below them. He had a bald head, highly polished; a deep voice, and a chin so very double that it was a wonder how he man- aged to shave into the creases." BLINB, Education of the. In every genera- tion of children, a certain proportion, varying according to social conditions and climatic in- Uucnces, are born blind, or with such defective organs of sight as to become blind. With the improvements in cleanliness and in sanitary appliances at orphan asylums and houses of refuge, blindness has decreased in the United States in recent years. Most of the blind are born of the poor, and even the few who are not so born tend to sink into the dependent class. Hence, in all civilized countries, blindness and pauperism have been synonymous terms, al- though many of its victims are endowed with keen sensibilities, and suflfer more from their low social position than from their physical in- firmity. The Xineteentli Century saw a won- derful revolution in the condition of the blind. They have emerged from a state of utter ig- norance, dependence, and general wretchedness; and while nuiny have become well-educated, inde- pendent, self-supporting citizens, the condition of all has been greatly improved. For this radi- cal change, much credit is due to the blind themselves, for the eagerness with which they have taken advantage of the opportunities of- fered them, and for the brave and successful struggle to overcome the obstacles in their path. Since their infirmity cuts them off less than the deaf from social intercourse with the world at large, they are, as a rule, more cheerful and happj' than the latter, while a tendency to con- ceit is doubtless attributable to the conscious- ness that they have had to contend with very great difficulties. HiSTOBY OF Institctioxs. The first book call- ing attention to the condition of the blind was published in Italy in 1646, and we find, from this time onward, an increasing interest in the subject of blindness and its effect on the human mind. Locke, Leibnitz, Condillac, Reid, and Diderot wrote upon it, and Rousseau endeavored to bring the question out of the region of ab- stract speculation into that of practical every- day life. Raised print had been long, though dimly, foreshadowed, and a number of blind per- sons had received assistance in their studies from tangible apparatus, such as raised letters and ciphering-tablets, before Valentine Haiiy began his work. To him, however, belongs the honor of iftventing embossed books for the blind, as well as of founding in Paris, in 178.5, the first school for their instruction. The Royal Academy made a report on his work in that year, and while pointing out the features which his sys- tem had in common with the agencies previously emphn-ed by individual blind persons, declared that to him alone were due their perfection, ex- tension, and systcmatization. The school for the blind aroused great interest in Paris, and Louis XVI. took Haiiy into favor, bestowing several ofRces upon him. In the dark days of the Revo- lution, Haiiy and his school suffered much: but he continued his work, under great difficulties and privations, educating some pupils who be- came famous. Hauy's long, faithful, arduous, and fruitful labors in behalf of the sightless' earned him the title of 'Father and Apostle of the Blind.' He published an essay on their edu- cation, and continued his work "in Russia and Prussia, after he had been obliged to give it up in Paris. England followed the lead of France by estab- lishing in 1791 the School for the Indigent Blind in Liverpool, the object of which was to teach poor blind children to work at trades, to sing in church, and to play the organ. In 1793 llr. David IMiller, a blind" man, and Rev. Dr. David Johnston founded the Royal Blind Asylum and School in Edinburgh, the main purpose" of which was to train the blind to habits of manual labor, though in later years the directors have devoted increased attention to the intellectual develop- ment of the pupils. The Bristol Asylum for the Blind was opened in 1793, its object being to teach sightless cliildren such handicrafts as would enable them to earn their own living. They also receive instruction in music and the English branches. The School for the Indigent Blind in London was established in 1799. Its chief object was instruction in manual labor, but a more liberal scheme of education was adopted after a time. Similar establishments were founded in Norwich. Glasgow, York, Man- chester, and elsewhere. The organized efforts made in Great Britain for the relief of the blind were founded upon the idea that as a class the blind must necessarily remain at the foot of the social scale, forever dependent upon the more fortunate classes. Hence most of the British schools have never taken a high stand in their literary or musical training. The Royal Normal College and Academy of ilusic for the Blind was established in London. 1872, by an American, Mr. F. J. Campbell, a blind man. who had been educated and had taught at institutions for the blind in the United States, and who brought American teachers and methods to England. There are also in Great Britain societies for teaching the adult blind to read, and circulating libraries of books in raised type have been estab- lished in London, Brighton, and many provincial towns. The Association for Promoting the Gen- eral Welfare of the Blind, which has been in operation for fifty years, supplies regular work to many at their own homes, and finds employ- ment for others in its workshops. In most of the European institutions the pre- vailing idea is that what is done for the blind is in the spirit of favor and charity, rather than of right and obligation. A large number of the so-called schools, especially those in Great Britain, are mere asylums, chiefly supported by annual contributions, which are" made and re- ceived in the nature of alms. Even in those establishments which are endowed and supported by the governments the pupils are brought up under such influences as favor the segregation of the blind into a class by themselves, and do not inspire the desire for usefulness and self-main- tenance. At the beginning of the Nineteenth Century institutions for the blind, mainly fashioned after the model set l)y Haiiy, were established in various parts of E'urope. " The Vienna Institution was founded in 1804, Dr. Klein, a blind man, being its director for about fifty years. That of Berlin was established under the superintendence