need to a far greater extent than other persons. The resident inmates of institutions are pretty well supplied in this respect, but the mass of those without sight have to depend on the kind offices of poor friends and neighbours, which are very inefficient for meeting the wants of the case. If existing societies for imparting to the blind religious instruction were to extend their plan, so as to include secular information, much good might be done, but it must be borne in mind that men and women without sight require to be made acquainted with general literature, and with the contents of newspapers, as much as their more fortunate brethren. Something in this direction has been done, but it is so small that the effects are almost inappreciable. A class in connection with the Scotch church, Regent's Square, is held at Middlesex Street, Somers Town, and it is much to the credit of its promoters that secular reading forms no small part of its operations. A few similar efforts have also been made in other parts of London and elsewhere, and it is greatly to be wished that the system could be more widely diffused.

Of the educational wants of the blind of the upper classes, and of other matters connected with this branch of our subject, we have so fully treated elsewhere, that any further notice of them is unnecessary. For the successful prosecution of the study of music or other profession as a future means of subsistence, youth is indispensable; but it has been shown beyond doubt that a blind person of average ability and health is capable, up to the age of forty years, of acquiring such a knowledge of certain professions and industrial arts as may enable him, with proper encouragement, to provide to a great extent for the support of himself and family. We know that this has often been done by individuals above the age just named, but such instances must be considered more as exceptions, than as cases sufficiently strong for the establishment of a general rule. Taking, then, forty years as

the maximum, we find that the number of the blind in the United Kingdom under that age is 9304; and if we consider that those who have received, and who are receiving instruction, amount to 3189, and if we allow 10 per cent. for those of independent means, or who are disqualified by infirmity, we shall find that the number of persons now requiring instruction, to enable them to earn their own living, amounts to 5185.

Instruction, without subsequent employment, is almost useless; and it is therefore of the highest importance that those who have been properly taught should be supplied with regular work, and receive such pecuniary returns for their labour as may enable them to maintain themselves and families.

It is probable that at the present time the number of the blind in the United Kingdom willing to work, including those requiring preliminary instruction, exceeds 7000; and if we deduct from this number those employed by the various societies that afford work to the blind, we find that no fewer than 6300 men and women without sight are calling for employment.

The necessity that exists for the instructors of the blind receiving a suitable preparation for their work, has been so fully considered in another part of this volume, that we need only refer to it here to include the establishment of a normal school for the purpose, among the subjects earnestly demanding attention, and to point out that of all matters connected with the welfare of the sightless, this is the one most urgently demanding the support of the Legislature. The number of the blind in the United Kingdom who at present require or receive pensions is probably about 17,000; but it would not have been by any means as large if those who lost their sight before the age of forty years had obtained proper instruction and subsequent remunerative employment.

The number at present receiving pensions of various sums is about 2000, which leaves about 15,000 who need

but cannot obtain assistance of this kind. It must be, however, observed that the amount known to be annually distributed as pensions only gives an average of £9 per head, whereas a pension really to effect the object sought, namely, to keep the recipient from seeking alms, or entering a workhouse, should not be less than £26 a year. Although it is desirable to connect the blind with their families, andto do everything possible to strengthen social ties, yet there are many cases in which those suffering from loss of sight are so utterly helpless and without friends, that an asylum where they can be received and cared for for life, is the only thing that meets their condition. The number actually needing such help, and to whom any other means of assistance would be inappropriate, is not very large, but still sufficiently so to merit attention, and especially as the institutions where persons are received for life do not accommodate more than 300 inmates, which is not by any means equal to the requirements of the

case.

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APPENDIX.

The following account, taken from the 'Family Herald' of Nov. 19, 1864, strikingly shows how in Germany persons have been blinded for purposes of begging.

THE BLIND PRINCESS.

The blind young Princess of was lately presented to the Empress Eugénie at Schwalbach, and the utmost interest and sympathy were excited by her story. The lady is well known all over Germany, and her princely domain is visited every year by crowds of strangers.

The story of this young princess is perhaps the most touching romance of the nineteenth century. As a child she had been stolen from the gardens of the very château she now inhabits. A careless nurse, bent on her own enjoyment, had suffered her master's child to stray towards the river, and when, in answer to the frantic appeals and the search made in every direction, no signs of the infant's presence could be discovered, it was concluded she had fallen into the river and been drowned. The despair of the mother was beyond all description; but the idea of the child's death, accepted by all besides, was rejected entirely by her. When the death of the prince, her husband, had released her from the obligation to remain in the château, she set out upon a strange pilgrimage all over the Continent, fully convinced that she should find, one day or other, the object of her search. During the embassy of Prince Talleyrand she came to London, and was received by Queen Adelaide with the utmost kindness and sympathy. Soon afterwards she went to the south, still bent on finding her lost child.

One day, the carriage climbing slowly up one of the steep