An address to the public at the first exhibition of the pupils of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind, November 21, 1833 / by J. R. Friedlander.

  • Friedlander, J. R. (Julius Reinhold), 1803-1839.
Date:
1833
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An address to the public at the first exhibition of the pupils of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind, November 21, 1833 / by J. R. Friedlander. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    If the blind has once been brought so far as to move his body in a more becoming manner, and if he has through language and touch, acquired proper ideas of the objects that come be- fore him, he will find himself gradually more comfortable in his new situation. The mental reception of things hitherto strange or dark to him, excites his fancy, which is already very lively; his soul awakens daily more to activity, and af- fords him gradually such a delight to learn, and to know more, that he spares no pains for the attainment of his desire; nay, he can find no pleasure but in constant mental and physical occupation. A new world opens within him, occupying him so much as to prevent him from taking or finding pleasure in reflecting upon the state of his blindness; yet whenever his desire to learn and to know more has reached this degree, nothing should be left undone to satisfy and keep it active. For this very reason, relaxation from his studies would be no recreation, and therefore his time should alw'ays be filled up with proper occupations. It is this desire of the blind for knowledge and occupation alone which aids him in all objects of science and manual labour, without his enjoying any ad- vantage over him who can see; because, in the latter, the same impulse, the same diligence may be excited, and lead to results surpassing those that can possibly be expected from the blind. Although the blind by learning manual labour should not be brought so far as to render themselves useful, still the circumstance of their being withdrawn by education from a state of mere animal existence, and being translated into a new spiritual world, affording them abundant matter to enable them to pass through the dark night of their existence, ought to recommend their education most urgently. Whenever I think of the former state of my eleven pupils, and contemplate the great change that has taken place with them, so intent upon learning, so merry and contented, it af- fords me joy indeed. Yet this is also the greatest satisfaction, the fairest recompense, for much trouble and anxiety, which the care for the spiritual and physical welfare of such poor be- ings has frequently occasioned. I have already mentioned, that their education engages the chief attention of the greater part of such pupils, and that they feel daily more happy in proportion to the extent of their knowledge, it is for this rea- son that the institutes for the education of the blind should be so calculated as to reach this object, and that those who direct them should not be content with merely having inculcated into the more talented pupils the first principles of knowledge. Far from it! The cultivation of the talented pupil ought gradually to raise him into a higher state of existence, into the sanctuary of the muses, in whose halls a Homer, an Ossian, a Milton, a