B L I N D. 



601 



Blind, either. " The rays refracted through a prism," says 

 ^y ' Dr Bew (in the Manchester Memoirs), " wlien suf- 

 ficiently vivid, produced certain distinguishable effects 

 on his eyes. The red gave him a disagreeable sen- 

 sation, which lie compared to the touch of a saw. 

 As the colours declined in violence, the harshness 

 lessened, until the green afforded a sensation that 

 was highly pleasing to him, and which he described 

 as conveying an idea similar to what he felt in run- 

 ning his hand over smooth polished surfaces. Po- 

 lished surfaces, meandering streams, and gentle de- 

 clivities, were the figures by which he expressed his 

 ideas of beauty : rugged rocks, irregular points, and 

 boisterous elements, furnished him with expressions 

 for terror and disgust." Dr Moyes had long ab- 

 stained from the use of animal food and fermented 

 liquors ; nevertheless, he was remarkable for the 

 chearfulness or equanimity of his temper ; and great- 

 ly excelled in the charms of conversation. 



That the blind should be able to discourse with ac- 

 curacy on the general laws of optics, need not so 

 greatly excite our surprise, when it is considered, 

 that, except it be the mere perception of light and 

 colours, these are all resolvable into the effects of im- 

 pulse and attraction, in causing various deviations 

 from the rectilineal course which luminous rays natu- 

 rally pursue. Analogy, therefore, will in most cases 

 supply the blind with means of satisfying themselves 

 of the truth of an optical theorem. Diderot, in his 

 Lettres sur les avetigles, a I'usage de ceux qui xoynl, 

 mentions an extraordinary blind man whom he had 

 seen at Puisaux en Gatiuok, who was accustomed to 

 express his ideas of visible objects, and of optical re- 

 lations, in this analogical manner. He defined a mir- 

 ror to be " a machine by which objects are placed in 

 relief, out of themselves ;" and he called the eye, 

 " an organ upon which the air produces the same 

 effect, as a stick does upon the hand." This ana- 

 logical mode of expression, however, will be of little 

 or no service where the simple notion of light or of 

 colour is alone concerned, for the communication of 

 which there is no avenue whatever but the eye ; so 

 that, when a man who has been totally blind from his 

 infancy, discourses concerning light and colours, thus 

 simply considered, his language must be like that of 

 a parrot, without appropriate ideas annexed. 



Dr Biacklock, however, in his poetical produc- 

 tions, alludes to the various beauties of the visible 

 world, and to the charms and delicacies of colour, 

 with all the propriety, and with all the rapture and 

 enthusiasm, that ever fired the breast of a poet who 

 had the fullest enjoyment of his eye-sight. Nor was 

 this done mechanically, or merely by rote ; for having 

 himself put it as a question, " How shall we ac- 

 count for the same energy, the same transport of 

 description, exhibited by those on whose minds visi- 

 ble objects were either never impressed, or have been 

 entirely obliterated .'" he assures us that, " how- 

 ever unaccountable this fact may appear, it is no 

 less certain than extraordinary." This paradox seems 

 to be explained with great ingenuity, and in a very 

 satisfactory manner, by Mr Alison in his Essays on 

 Taste. 



" That the blind," says he, " may receive the 

 tame delight from the ideas which they associate with 



VOL. III. PART IV. 



colours that they do not see, is a fact which I think 

 every one will be convinced of, who reads the poems 

 of Dr Biacklock. No man who is not acquainted 

 with the history of their ingenious author, could per- 

 ceive that he had the misfortune to lose his sight in 

 early infancy. That from conversation, and from 

 the perusal of books of poetry, it was possible for 

 him to learn the distinguishing colours of certain ob- 

 jects, and to apply them with sufficient propriety in 

 his own verses, I do not deny ; but the circumstance 

 of importance, at present, is this, that his poetry is 

 full of the same sentiments, and expresses the same 

 admiration with regard to the different visible quali- 

 ties of matter, with that of poets who had no such 

 defect ; and that the same power is ascribed to them 

 in producing the emotions of beauty, and with as 

 great accuracy with regard to particular instances, as 

 in the compositions of those who have had the sense 

 of sight in its fullest perfection. If our perception 

 of the beauty of colours arose from some original fit- 

 ness in such qualities to produce this emotion, it is 

 obvious, that the blind must be as incapable of per- 

 ceiving this beauty, as of perceiving the colours 

 themselves ; but if the beauty of colours arises from 

 the associations we connect with them, this fact, in 

 the case of Dr Biacklock, admits of a very simple 

 solution. From reading, and from conversation, he 

 has acquired the same associations with the words 

 that express such colours, as we have with the co- 

 lours themselves ; that the word white, for instance, 

 signifies a quality in objects, expressive of chearful- 

 ness and innocence, the word purple, the quality of 

 majesty, the. word black, the qualities of gloom and 

 melancholy, &c. In this case, it is obvious, that he 

 may feel the same emotions from the use of these 

 words, that we do from the colours which they ex- 

 press ; and that, from the permanence of these asso- 

 ciations in a great variety of cases, he may apply the 

 terms with sufficient propriety, either in sublime or 

 beautiful descriptions. As this is in reality the case, 

 it seems to be a very strong confirmation of the opi- 

 nion, that the beauty of such qualities arises from 

 the associations we connect with them, and not from 

 any original or independent beauty in the colours 

 themselves." Essay ii. chap. 3. sect. 2. 



From the instances we have now produced, it ap- 

 pears sufficiently evident, that the blind are suscepti- 

 ble of a very high degree of intellectual improve- 

 ment ; and are capable of attaining skill and dex- 

 terity in many mechanical employments. That a 

 due degree of care and diligence should be bestowed 

 upon their education and improvement, is strongly 

 prompted by every feeling of humanity and gene- 

 rosity ; and is, indeed, no more than they have a 

 right to demand, from the justice and benevolence of 

 their more fortunate fellow creatures. It is with 

 pleasure we add, that tli^'ir claims have not been 

 slighted nor treated with neglect ; and that the pre- 

 sent age is highly distinguished by the attention that 

 has been bestowed, upon the mo8t eligible means of 

 rendering these unfortunate persons useful to them- 

 selves and to society. In London, in Edinburgh, in 

 Paris, and in many other great cities and flourishing 

 towns, asylums have been erected for the indigent 

 blind ; where they are not only fed and clothed by 

 4 G 



Blind. 



