There is at Lausanne a very interesting case of a young man named Edward Meistre, who is totally deaf, dumb, and blind. He has been in the institution for several years, and has become a successful manufacturer of turnery goods. It does not appear, however, that much progress has been made in the development of his mental faculties, and he evidently falls far short of the degree of intelligence attained by Laura Bridgeman, of Boston, America, who labours under the same triple misfortune.

HOLLAND.

The population of this kingdom was, according to a recent census, 3,308,969, and the number of the blind 1990, or one in every 1663 of the inhabitants. It is claimed by the people of Amsterdam that an institution for the education of the blind existed in that city as early as 1779, being five years before the establishment of that of Paris; but, however this may be, a school was commenced at Amsterdam in 1808, which still exists, and if an earlier one was founded, the undertaking was subsequently abandoned. addition to the institution at Amsterdam, there are now in the Netherlands, schools for the blind at Groningen, Rotterdam, Utrecht, and the Hague, and we believe that there is also an institution at one of the towns of North or Dutch Brabant. These establishments afford instruction to about two hundred and

In

fifty persons of both sexes. The common Roman type is employed for reading to some extent, but at Amsterdam Braille's system is also used, and at Rotterdam, Moon's characters are exclusively employed. Music is taught in the greater number of the institutions, and the trades prevalent are those of basketmaking, bottoming chairs with cane, mat-making, rope-making, netting and knitting. At the institution of Amsterdam there are seventy inmates, and

great attention is paid to the cultivation of arithmetic and geography, the maps used being on the principle of progressive elevation, similar to those invented by Herr Zeune, of Berlin. It is a remarkable feature of the Dutch charitable institutions for the blind that they are all, if we mistake not, supported entirely by voluntary subscriptions; and in this, while they resemble Great Britain, they form a striking contrast to the practice ruling in other European countries.

The school at Amsterdam was founded, and is now largely maintained by a body of Freemasons, and there is also in the same city an asylum or workshop for the adult blind, which was opened in 1843, and which has produced considerable good; but no attempt has been made to afford employment to the blind at their own homes.

BELGIUM.

The population of the kingdom of Belgium according to a recent governmental return was 4,529,560, and the number of the blind 3675, or one in every 1233 of the population.

It is remarkable that an institution for the relief of the blind existed in Belgium as early as 1305, in which year an asylum was formed at Bruges for the relief of persons deprived of sight by Robert de Bethune, Count of Flanders, in gratitude for the courage displayed by the inhabitants of that town, at the battle of Monsem-Pouelle, fought between the Count and the French king, Philip the Fair; and although this charitable establishment has passed away, the place of worship which was connected with it still exists. A similar house of charity was also opened at Gand about the year 1370, by Pierre Vander Leyen, but, like its predecessor at Bruges, it has disappeared. The first school in Belgium for the education of the blind was commenced at Brussels in 1833, and there

are now similar establishments at Bruges, Antwerp, i.e. Anvers, Gand, Liége, Mons, and Namur. At Brussels and Gand there are two institutions, making the total number of schools for the blind in Belgium amount to nine, but in general each institution is only for persons of one sex. The school at Bruges, however, is an exception, as both boys and girls are admitted. There is also at Brussels a philanthropic society which lodges, feeds, and clothes the poor generally, and extends similar advantages to a few blind children and adults.

The educational institutions of Belgium contain about two hundred inmates and are usually managed by religious communities, a certain number of monks taking charge of the male establishments, and the nuns superintending those for females. This, as might be expected, gives an air of monasticism to the schools, unlike anything to be met with in Protestant countries; the education of the poor is not, however, neglected, and in the schools for the blind, it seems quite on a par with that of similar institutions in other lands. In manufactures the Belgians are very much behind the English and Germans, but they are about on an equality with the Freuch. Music is taught as a means of livelihood, and a few years ago, the organist of the Roman Catholic cathedral at Antwerp was a blind man.

Braille's system of reading and writing is in use in all the institutions except that of Bruges, where the method invented by the Abbé Carton is adopted. Pencil-writing, as introduced by Haüy, largely prevails, and the Typhlograph, invented by Mr. Gall, of Edinburgh, is in use at Brussels, while at Bruges, black writing is effected by means of a style and tracing-paper, the letters being formed in the square holes of Carton's embossing frame. The common figures made in metal are usually employed as type for the arithmetical boards, but at Bruges the pentagonal peg, as used in England, prevails. The maps are made of needlework, but at

the Brussels school for boys, they produce embossed paper maps, from wires and pins fastened on boards. At Bruges they have a very good museum, consisting of stuffed birds and other objects, but it does not include inventions specially intended for the use of the blind, which is an omission to be regretted.

The industrial arts carried on are,-basket-making, bottoming chairs with rush and cane, and knitting. In some places also sash-line-making according to the old English plan is used, and at Bruges, bead rosaries are made for the use of Roman Catholics at their devotions.

When the author visited Belgium in 1865, he received the greatest courtesy from the Sisters and Brothers in charge of the various institutions for the blind, and he gladly avails himself of this opportunity publicly to return his thanks for their uniform kindness and attention.

The deaf and dumb, and the blind are invariably educated in the same establishments in Belgium, the institutions are chiefly supported by State grants. In some instances the various communes contribute to the maintenance of their own blind, and the friends and relatives of pupils frequently aid in the same direction. It is much to be regretted that the Belgians have not introduced any organization for affording regular employment to the blind, and especially so as they enjoy peculiar facilities for carrying out such an undertaking. The agricultural employments of the people render a constant supply of baskets indispensable, and osiers are very cheap. Coal mining also creates a demand in the same direction; and we believe that the blind might be very largely employed in making the sabots, or wooden shoes, so commonly used by the working classes of that Belgium and other continental countries.

The institution at Bruges was founded and for many years superintended by the eminent Abbé Car

ton, who died in 1863. The following account of this event we copy from the journals of the day: :

"The late celebrated Abbé Carton, a Knight of Leopold, has just died at Bruges, after a short illness, in the asylum for the deaf, dumb, and blind, of which he was the founder and director. He was born in 1802 at Pitthem, in West Flanders, and after taking priest's orders, concentrated all his energies in providing for the deaf, dumb, and blind children, whose pitiable state had, from his early years, attracted his sympathies. Encouraged by the support and patronage of the late Mgr. Bousseu, Bishop of Bruges, he founded the sisterhood of the Children of Mary, a community. which has been most successful in educating the children labouring under the above afflictions.

"The most interesting of all the lions of Bruges, 'that quaint old Flemish city,' as Longfellow calls it, was the acting by the deaf and dumb children of the Litany of Loretto, while the blind boys sang it. the last twenty years the Abbé Carton has been the universally beloved and venerated director of this institution.

For

"He was a man of great ability, and, in spite of his arduous duties, found time to write several works of scientific and literary merit. After being exposed, clothed in his sacerdotal vestments, in a room of the asylum for two days, and being visited by a concourse of people, the body of Abbé Carton was taken to St. Saviour's cathedral for the last funeral rites, accompanied by the canons of Bruges and a regiment of infantry, the deceased being one of the Knights of the Order of Leopold. Mass having been said, the body was interred in the cemetery in presence of an immense number of persons, and a military salute was fired over the grave. The Abbé Carton was a canon of Bruges, and also of the metropolitan chapter of Paris, a member of the Royal Academy of Brussels, and of many other learned societies."