B L I 



525 



B L I 



The plan of the Norwich Asylum was to unite a school for 

 the young with an hospital for the ageO. It designed to 

 admit the young pupils at the age of twelve years, and to keep 

 them in the school till they should have attained a suffi- 

 cient knowledge of some trade, as far as this could be ac- 

 complished within three years, but under no consideration to 

 keep them longer than that time : some however have been 

 kept longer. With respect to the aged, the rules express 

 that none shall be admitted who have not attained the age 

 of sixty-five years. It appears from the account of the 

 institution published up to the end of 1833, that from the 

 establishment of the institution to that date, 1 53 pupils had 

 been admitted and 48 aged persons: 77 had been dis- 

 charged qualified to work for themselves; 12 had proved 

 incapable of instruction; 4 had left the asylum without 

 leave, 13 had been discharged for irregularity, and 16 at 

 their own request: 43 had died, and 36 remained on the 

 books. The expenses seem to have averaged about 11 OOl. 

 per annum, and the income about equalled the expenditure. 



We looked earnestly through the account of the Norwich 

 Asylum published in 1819, to find some rule relating to 

 the intellectual education of the pupils, but none appears. 

 In answer to our inquiries, we have to state that the 

 sole occupation of the pupils is manual labour, with the 

 following exceptions : the pupils are taught psalmody ; 

 they sing in parts, and many of them play on instruments : 

 they perform of an evening for the amusement of the pa- 

 tients, and also to visitors. Some of the blind form the 

 choir of a neighbouring parish church. The secretary reads 

 morning and evening prayers, and every evening reads 

 aloud portions of the Bible and of history, for instance, the 

 History of England. The principles of such an institution 

 cannot be commended ; they tend practically to inculcate that 

 we live only to produce the means of supplying our animal 

 v ants. The manual labour schools of the United States may 

 teach the directors of such establishments a very useful 

 lesson. There, learning is a recreation which follows se- 

 verer toils; and surely, in our own countiy, where manual 

 labour is less valuable, a portion of time might be set 

 apart for inculcating those duties which man, as a social 

 being, has to perform, and for exercising and improving 

 his rational powers. 



The asylum for the blind at Glasgow was founded by 

 John Leitcb, Esq., who was himself partially blind ; he 

 bequeathed 50001. towards opening and maintaining the 

 institution. Nearly eighty blind persons have been ad- 

 mitted since it was opened in 1828 to the commencement of 

 the present year (1835), and there are at present fifty indi- 

 viduals, of whom thirty are adults, enjoying the benefits 

 of the asylum. It depends for support upon legacies, 

 donations, and the sale of its manufactured productions. 

 The treasurer of the asylum, Mr. Alston, has published 

 a short statement of the employments of the pupils and 

 the internal arrangements of the asylum, from which the 

 condensed view here given is derived. The alphabet, 

 spelling, and exercises on the string- alphabet are among 

 the first auxiliaries used in the communication of know- 

 ledge. Oral instruction is also an important feature in 

 this part of their education, which is modified under the 

 various forms of lectures, dialogues, and catechetical exa- 

 minations. The works performed by the pupils of this 

 asylum are similar to those of others, but there appears to 

 be" a greater variety of articles. The superintendent pur- 

 chases the raw material for the manufactures and keeps an 

 account of the work each person performs, from which a 

 statement of their earnings is made, and they are paid 

 every Saturday. The male adults are allowed the same 

 rate that other workmen have for the same kinds of work ; 

 if a man can make five or six shillings a week, he receives 

 that sum for his weekly wages. At the end of every four 

 weeks a statement of his earnings is made up from the 

 work-book, and whatever he has earned over that sum is 

 paid to him, and also an additional shilling a week as a 

 premium upon his industry. If the amount which he 

 ought to earn be not earned, or if the work be bad, no pre- 

 mium is allowed. At the monthly settlement some of 

 them will have several shillings to receive in addition to 

 their regular wages and premiums. Since the adoption of 

 this regulation it has been found that a marked improve- 

 ment has taken place both in the quantity and quality of 

 work produced. A few elderly females are placed upon 

 the same system ; they work in the institution, but reside 

 at their own homes. Females generally, above the age of 

 eighteen years, are admitted as day-workers ; they dine at 



the asylum and receive regular weekly wages ; their apart- 

 ments are separated from those of the males, and no inter- 

 course is permitted. Boys and girls from ten to sixteen 

 years of age reside in the house, and in addition to attend- 

 ance on their classes, they are taught to perform light 

 works suitable to their age, till old enough to be removed 

 into the regular workshops. The girls and female adults 

 are under the superintendence of a matron, who also has 

 the management of the sales. Several of the blind men 

 are employed in calling on the customers of the asylum to 

 deliver goods and to solicit orders. It is common for adults 

 who reside in distant parts of the city to go to and from 

 their employment without a guide, and no accident has 

 ever happened to any of them. 



There are three asylums for the blind in Dublin. The 

 oldest of them, Simpson's Hospital, was opened in 1781 ; 

 it was founded and endowed by a merchant whose name it 

 bears, who was himself subject to a disorder of the eyes, 

 and was also a martyr to the gout. The design of the hos- 

 pital is to provide an asylum for blind and gouty men, the 

 preference being given to those of good moral character, who 

 have formerly been in affluent circumstances. About fifty 

 persons partake of the benefits" of this charity. It was incor- 

 porated in 1799, and its income is about 3000/. per annum. 



The Richmond National Institution for the Indigent 

 Industrious Blind is supported by subscriptions and dona- 

 tions ; it was opened in 1809; the inmates, who are all 

 indigent, are instructed in the trades, ordinarily taught to 

 the blind. At present the institution contains forty men 

 and youths, who are lodged, maintained, and clothed there. 



The Molineux Asylum is supported by subscriptions, by 

 the profits of a chapel, and by charity sermons; it is solely 

 for the reception of females, who are admitted at all ages. 

 Those above fifty have here a permanent abode. The 

 younger section of the establishment are lodged, clothed, 

 and fed ; and for a certain number of years receive instruc- 

 tion in those employments by which it is intended that 

 they shall earn their living. This asylum was opened in 

 1815, in the mansion of Sir Charles Molineux, Bart. This 

 family has been among its most liberal benefactors. 



In addition to the institutions which we have mentioned, 

 two others are in the course of being established in the 

 north of England. One of these is the Yorkshire Asylum 

 for the Blind, which opened in October last (1835), at 

 York. At the first election, candidates between the ages 

 of twelve and fifteen only were admitted ; and it is intended 

 that the charity shall be confined as much as possible to 

 young persons. Its design is ' not so much to provide main- 

 tenance for the blind, as to give them such instruction as 

 may help them to gain a livelihood for themselves, attention 

 being at the same time paid to their moral and religious 

 instruction : their friends or parishes therefore contribute 

 towards their support whilst they are in the institution.' 

 Those persons only are admissible who have lost their sight 

 to such a degree as to be able at most only to distinguish 

 light from darkness those who have a capacity for instruc- 

 tion those who are free from any dangerous or communi- 

 cable disease and those who are free from vicious habits. 



The Rev. W. H. Vernon Haroourt, canon residentiary of 

 York, is actively engaged in forwarding the objects of this 

 institution, which is partly supported by donations and sub- 

 scriptions, and partly by payments on behalf of the pupils. 

 The Rev. William Taylor, mentioned as the author of the 

 tangible Euclid, is its superintendent, and persons of expe- 

 rience from the Edinburgh Asylum fill the situations of in- 

 structor and matron. 



The second new establishment in progress for the blind 

 is at Manchester. An endowment of 20,000/. was left in 

 the year 1810, for the purpose of supporting an asylum for 

 the blind, at or in Manchester, by the will of Thomas Hen- 

 shaw, Esq., formerly of Ohlham. Nearly 10,000/. have 

 been subscribed by the inhabitants of Manchester for the 

 purchase of land, and for erecting a suitable building, as no 

 part of Mr. Henshaw's endowment can be appropriated to 

 either of these purposes. An eligible plot of land in the 

 vicinity of the Botanic Garden has been taken by a com- 

 mittee formed for effecting the objects proposed, and there 

 is every prospect of an institution rising up worthy of the 

 noble endowment of its first benefactor. At present nothing 

 is known upon the views of the committee as to what kind 

 of education the blind should receive. Various opinions are 

 held by the subscribers to the building-fund ; some think a 

 mere asylum all that is necessary ; others, that trades should 

 be taught, as at Liverpool ; and, others again, that their edu- 



