GOO 



the tunes, as an tteistaiice to her memory. " So deli- 



\~~ m ' caU- are her organs," says the account, " that in 



singing a tune, though new to her, she is able to 



he notes. In figured dances, she acquits her- 



: extremely well ; and in a minuet, with inimitable 

 ease and gracefulness. As for the works of her sex, 

 she has a masterly hand : she sews and hems perfect- 

 ly well ; and in all her works she threads the needles 

 for herself, however small." 



A still more extraordinary example of acquired 

 dexterity, in spite of the most afflicting natural pri- 

 vations, was in the case of a lady, who, in conse- 

 quence of a violent attack of the confluent smallpox, 

 was completely deprived hoth of her sight and hear- 

 ing, as well as of her speech, notwithstanding the 

 medical aid of Sir Hans Sloane. In this deplorable 

 condition, her touch and her smell became so exquisite, 

 that she could distinguish the different colours of silk 

 and flowers ; and was sensible when any stranger was 

 in the room with her. After she became blind, and 

 deaf and dumb, it was not easy to contrive any me- 

 thod by which a question could be asked her, and an 

 answer received. This, however, was at last effec- 

 ted by talking with the fingers ; at which she was 

 uncommonly ready. But those who conversed with 

 her in this manner, were obliged to express them- 

 selves by touching her hand and fingers instead of 

 their own. She generally distinguished her friends 

 by feeling their hands ; which they presented to her, 

 when they came in, as a means of making themselves 

 known : the make and warmth of the hand pro- 

 duced, in general, the differences that she distin- 

 guished ; but she sometimes used to span the wrist, 

 and measure the fingers. To amuse herself, in the 

 mournful and perpetual solitude and darkness to 

 which her disorders had reduced her, she used to 

 work much at her needle ; and it is remarkable, that 

 her needle-work was uncommonly neat and exact. She 

 used also sometimes to write ; and her writing was 

 yet more extraordinary than her needle-work : the 

 character was handsome, the lines were all even, and 

 the letters placed at equal distances from each other : 

 but the most astonishing particular of all, with re- 

 spect to her writing, was, that she could by some 

 means discover when a letter had by mistake been 

 omitted ; and would place it over that part of the 

 word where it should have been inserted, with a caret 

 under it. It was her custom to sit up in bed at any 

 hour of the night, either to write or to work, when 

 she was kept awake by pain, or any other cause. 



These circumstances were so very extraordinary, 

 that it was long doubted whether she had not some 

 faint remains both of hearing and sight, and many 

 experiments were made to ascertain the fact ; some 

 of which, when she accidentally discovered them, 

 gave her prodigious uneasiness, on account of her 

 being suspected of insincerity. At length Sir Hans 

 Sloane. after being permitted to satisfy himself by 

 such experiments and observations as he thought 

 proper, pronounced that she was absolutely blind 

 and deaf. 



If we may credit Leo Africanus, (1. 6.), there 

 was a blind man who used to exercise the surprising 

 office of conducting merchants through the sands 

 an'l departs of Arabia. His relation, however, is 



BLIND. 



rendered far from improbable, by what Dr Bew com- 

 municates in the first volume of the Transactions of 

 the Manchester Society respecting John Metcalf, 

 commonly known by the name of Blind Jack, whose 

 death lias been recently announced in the newspapers. 

 Though this man had become blind at a very early 

 age, lie followed the profession of a waggoner, and 

 occasionally of a guide in intricate roads during the 

 night, or when the tracks were covered with snow. 

 At length he became a projector and surveyor of 

 highways, in difficult and mountainous districts ; an 

 occupation that we should suppose, would be the 

 last to which a blind man would ever turn his atten- 

 tion. His abilities, however, in this respect, were 

 so great as to procure him constant employment ; 

 and most of the roads over the Peak in Derbyshire, 

 were altered by his directions. " With the assist- 

 ance only of a long staff," says Dr Bew, " I have 

 several times met this man, traversing the roads, 

 ascending precipices, exploring valleys, and investi- 

 gating their several extents, forms, and situations, so 

 as to answer his designs in the best manner." 



In respect of intellectual advancement, and exten- 

 sive proficiency in the various departments of science 

 and literature, there are many remarkable instances 

 on record in the annals of the blind. Dr Blacklock, 

 already mentioned, was an excellent classical scholar, 

 a learned divine, and a pleasing poet. The cele- 

 brated Saunderson, it is well k wn, though totally 

 destitute of sight, was able to m ke such proficiency 

 in mathematics that he discharged the duties of pro- 

 fessor of that science, in the univ rsirv of Cambridge, 

 with great applause. The smallpox had so com- 

 pletely destroyed his eye-sight in early infancy, tiiat 

 he had no perception of light : yet so delicate was 

 his feeling, that he was sensible of the (tightest 

 situdes of the atmosphere ; and while he assisted in 

 the open air, at astronomical observations, he dis- 

 tinguished the times at which a cloud obscured the 

 sun, by the impression of the air on his face. In 

 passing over with his hands a cabinet of medals, he 

 could detect the counterfeits, even though > Well 

 executed as to deceive the eyes of a connoisseur; 

 and he judged of the exactness of a mathematical 

 instrument, by passing his fingers over it:, 



No less remarkable for his scientific attain, 

 was Dr Henry Moyes, a native of Fifeshire ; of 

 whom the world has been but lately deprived. H also 

 lost his sight by the smallpox, at so early a period, 

 that he never recollected to have seen. Possessed, 

 however, of a lively genius and ah ardent application, 

 he made great proficiency in almost every branch of 

 liberal knowledge ; and particularly in the various 

 departments of chemi-try, natural history, and natu- 

 ral philosophy. Mechanical pursuits were the fa- 

 vourite employment of his early years ; and even 

 when a boy, he was expert at the use of edged tools. 

 When he afterwards became a lecturer on various 

 branches of natural philosophy and chemistry, he 

 performed most of the experiments which his course 

 required, with his own hands, ind with great neat- 

 ness. He lectured also with the greatest precision 

 and accuracy on the laws of optics, and the pheno- 

 mena of light and colours ; although it does not 

 appear that his eyes had any proper perception of 

 9 



Blind. 



