blind; also to support a circulating library, consisting of books in various systems of relief print, to the advantages of which the indigent blind shall be admitted free of charge, and others upon payment of the subscription required by the committee; to enable blind musicians to show that loss of sight does not prevent their being efficient organists and scientific musicians ; to collect and disseminate information relative to the physical, mental, moral, and religious condition of the blind; and to promote, among individuals and institutions seeking to ameliorate the condition of the blind, a friendly interchange of information calculated to advance the common cause."

How far the Association has succeeded up to the present time in carrying out this programme is shown to some extent by the following extracts from its reports.

The Committee, addressing the subscribers, state that

"The total number of blind men and women now receiving benefits, in various ways, from the Society amounts to 172, of whom 61 are supplied with regular work at their own homes, 28 are instructed and employed at the workshops of the Association, and 25 are engaged in selling goods for the Society.

"Pensions, varying from £5 to £15. 12s. per annum, are granted to 16 blind persons who are unable to earn their own living; and 42 men and women, in addition to obtaining occasional employment and pecuniary aid, participate in the educational and religious advantages conferred by the Association on all persons connected with it.

"Of the total number of men and women employed at their own homes and at the workshops, 4 earn from £1. 1s. to £1. 5s. per week, 16 from 16s. to £1 per week, 16 from 12s. to 15s. per week, 17 from 6s. to 11s. per week, and 36 from 3s. to 5s. per week.

"Of the total number of persons assisted, about 60

are married, and have more than 80 children dependent on them for support. Of those employed at their own homes and at the Society's workshops, 31 are women, who earn respectively from 4s. to 10s. per week.

"The various articles made by the blind are quite equal in quality to those produced by the sighted, but the blind cannot work as quickly as other mechanics; and to compensate for their want of speed, the Association pays them double the wages usually given by manufacturers to ordinary workpeople. In addition to this high rate of wages, the Society continues to supply the blind with work, whether the articles sell or not, which is contrary to the general practice in the labour market, and makes great demands on the funds of the institution; but the object of affording remunerative employment to the blind, without excessive labour, is productive of so much good to those deprived of sight and to the community at large, that your committee feel the expenditure is well bestowed. "Some idea of the amount of good thus accomplished may be gathered from the following examples :

"A.' became blind when a child; he was educated in two blind schools, but for want of work was obliged to beg through the country with his wife, who was also blind, and three young children. He is now supplied with constant work by the Association, and the whole family is thus rescued from vice. 'B.' lost his sight in infancy, and was an inmate of a workhouse for several years, where he had the character of being generally insubordinate. Proper instruction and employment, however, have not only made him docile, but have also transformed him into a really useful member of society. 'C.' lost his sight at the age of 17, and in the following year became totally deaf; in this forlorn condition he was entirely dependent for the necessaries of life on two sisters, who had no other

resource but needlework. His feelings, under these trying circumstances, are best given in his own words: I am very wretched, very wretched.' This poor blind and deaf man has been taught to read and write, and to work at brushmaking, by which he now earns 18s. per week. His sisters are both well married, and he himself rejoices in being able to maintain a wife and child. 'D.' was a foreign sailor, who lost his sight in the English service. He became entirely dependent on charity, and must have sunk lower and lower had he not been rescued by this Association, which now supplies him with work to the extent of 16s. per week. E.' became totally blind while a servant; her dependent position exposed her to great temptation. She was, happily, rescued by this Society, and now supports herself by the labour of her hands.

"These are but a few cases, but they are fair samples of the rest; and it is much to be regretted that there are at present no fewer than 288 blind persons applying to the Association for help, to whom no assistance can be rendered for want of funds. These 288 men and women are sunk in the same wretched condition as that indicated by the examples above given; and the committee earnestly appeal to those who can sympathize with blindness and poverty to furnish them with the means of at once admitting some of these poor sightless ones to the blessings of honest industry and Christian instruction.

"The industrial arts carried on are the following, viz. worked at by men,-the manufactures of brushes, brooms, baskets, carpentry, mats, rugs, chair cane and rush-work, nets, bead-work, hassocks, and firewood; made by women,-brushes, baskets, firewood, chair cane and rush-work, nets, knitting, ornamental leatherwork, bead-work, and needle-work.

"The blind officials connected with the Society are the director, teachers of brush-making, carpentry, and bead-work; also a town traveller and a housemaid.

"One of the principal objects aimed at, from the commencement of the Association, has been to introduce trades hitherto unpractised by the blind; and, in pursuance of this design, several new industrial arts have been added to those usually carried on by persons without sight. It has, however, been considered of the highest importance that the blind should depend as much as possible on their own powers, and therefore only such trades have been permanently adopted as can be carried on without sighted superintendence. This course, in addition to developing the faculties of the blind to the largest extent, has produced a saving in the financial expenditure of no small importance, especially as the sums that would have been paid under other circumstances for sighted supervision are by this means spent directly upon the blind.

"About ten years ago the use of the sewing-machine was introduced by this Association, but, owing to the necessity that existed for the constant presence of a sighted attendant, it was felt desirable to devote the efforts of the Society to the development of such branches of industry as could be carried on by the blind without extraneous aid. The sewing-machine has, however, been subsequently adopted by some other institutions, and, by the aid of sighted supervision, has been productive of some good; should the time arrive that all the employments shall have been introduced that can be carried on by the blind without supervision, it may then be deemed the duty of the Association to adopt trades for which the direction of seeing persons is indispensable.

"The importance of giving work to the blind at their own homes is constantly being more forcibly illustrated; by this plan the blind are enabled to reside with their friends in whatever part of the country they may be located, and thus family ties are strengthened instead of being rudely snapped, as is too often the case where persons deprived of sight have to leave

all that is dear to them in this world, to obtain daily bread in some far-distant town. The cementing of social bonds is highly necessary for every class of the community; but in the case of those persons who labour under the heavy affliction of blindness, its importance can scarcely be exaggerated. As fully half the blind live in rural districts, the establishment of workshops in large towns is obviously insufficient to meet the circumstances of the case. Illustrations of how ardently some of the blind are attached to their relatives are constantly occurring. Several cases are known in which persons have willingly accepted smaller wages, in order that they might be enabled to live. with their friends, instead of being separated from them by continuing to work in London.

"Your Committee have developed the department for giving work to the blind at their own homes as far as the means at their disposal would permit; but in peculiar instances they have been obliged to employ the blind in workshops, as some branches of industry require space to be successfully carried on; it is also usually indispensable that pupils should be instructed at the institution, but whenever work can be given to the blind at their own homes, that course is preferred.

"Your Committee, wishing to give to the Association the fullest development, in order that its benefits might be extended to the masses of the blind throughout the kingdom, recommended to the members of the Society that certain privileges should be given to those who support the Association, either by charitable contributions or by purchasing certain quantities of goods made by the blind. This recommendation has been adopted by the members of the Society, and the necessary steps have been taken to enable the supporters of the Association to elect a proportion of the recipients of the charity, while at the same time the Committee have the power to afford aid to the extent of their means to the most necessitous of the blind applicants.