A blind man's offering.

  • Bowen, B. B. (Benjamin B.), 1819-1905
Date:
1849
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A blind man's offering. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    72/448 (page 62)
    she had been instructed in everything but that which would have rendered her useful as a wife or companion. At this time she had just returned from the seminary, and had arrived at that precise period in such a young lady’s life when she is very desirous of making an impression. She seemed to be conscious of her personal defects, but hoped to make up in flippancy and ostentatious display all other deficiencies. She was very particularly desir- ous of making a decided impression on our young hero, who was the guest in many a circle, and with whom she frequently met. Rochford did not admire her, nay, he was not infrequently vexed with her efforts to con- ceal her real deficiencies, but, in consideration of the fortune in perspective, he overlooked all the want of real excellence of character, and when he left for Boston to pursue his studies as a physician, he was regarded as her accepted suitor. Rochford’s progress was rapid as a successful pupil of the Medical School, and he was about, at the end of the third year, to receive his degree of ‘‘ M. D.” with honor to himself and his teachers, when, by a sudden explosion of some chemical preparation with which he was exper- imenting, the fragments of the glass bottle which con- tained the substance were thrown into his eyes, and he was almost instantly rendered blind! He had expected, at the close of the term of his studies in Boston, to have returned to his father’s, and to have fulfilled his matri- monial engagement with Amelia. But, on learning his misfortune, she positively refused to receive any further attentions from him, and it is easy to perceive that her affection had no sympathy with the true and holy pas- sion which impels even to martyrdom for the one beloved. Dispirited by his misfortune, and unable to make any use of his acquirements as a physician, he resolved to