Elizabeth Gilbert and Her Work for the Blind Part 9

Gilbert, Miss, 43 Queen Anne Street, and Palace, Chichester.

Glennie, Rev. John D., junr., 51 Green Street, Grosvenor Square.

Green, Frederic, Esq., West Lodge, Avenue Road, Regent's Park.

Hollond, Mrs. Robert, Stanmore Hall, near Harrow, and 63 Portland Place.

Johnson, George, Esq., M.D., 3 Woburn Square.

King, Henry, Esq., 8 Lowndes Street.

Kynaston, Rev. H., D.D., St. Paul's Churchyard.

Powell, Mrs., 2 Palace Gardens, Kensington.

Summers, William, Esq., 10 Great Marlborough Street, Regent Street.

Bathurst, Henry A., Esq., 101 Baker Street, } Portman Square, and 12 and 13 Great } Knightrider Street, } Auditors.

} Wintle, R. W., Esq., 10 Tavistock Square, and } 22 Old Square, Lincoln's Inn, }

Fyers, Captain, R.A., 3 Westbourne Place, Paddington, Hon. Sec.

Superintendent and Collector, Mr. William Hanks Levy, 21 South Row, New Road.

The projected Committee seems not to have acted in 1855, as at the end of the year the account-book shows no sign of the supervision of auditors.

The disburs.e.m.e.nts for the year had been 323 1 1 The receipts stand as 141 5 4 --------- No balance is drawn, but the sum contributed by Bessie must have been 181 15 9

Her efforts on behalf of the blind met with grateful recognition.

Amongst the letters which she valued and preserved is one which belongs to this period; it was probably written in the winter of 1855-56. The paper is old and ragged, doubtless the letter has often been read aloud to her and to others. It is undated, and for obvious reasons unsigned, the blind workmen could not write their names; orthography and punctuation are uncertain, and capital letters scattered at random. The scribe employed wrote badly and spelt imperfectly, but no doubt the letter was a genuine one, the outcome of warm though somewhat incoherent feelings of grat.i.tude and affection. She to whom it was addressed knew this, and prized the poor letter accordingly. The spelling is now corrected, and some punctuation attempted in order not too greatly to bewilder the reader.

The humble address of Blind Workmen employed by their benefactor Miss Gilbert to the Same.

MADAM--We the recipients of your bounty beg permission to be allowed to express our grat.i.tude collectively for the benefits we have received from the Society inst.i.tuted and under your governance. With the deepest feelings of grat.i.tude we have to thank you for the great a.s.sistance during the last severe winter and the constant support we have when no other work was to be procured. We look upon this society as a time arrived in which our Heavenly Father has placed in your hands the deliverance of the blind from the worst of their afflictions, namely the Sting of Poverty. Madam, we are a.s.sured it is a difficult undertaking and must be a great trouble to contend with Tradesmen and to show forth our capabilities. We must acknowledge that it is moved by G.o.d's influence. It is what has been wanted since England has been a nation, for a country so great not to employ their own blind in a permanent manner appears to be a thing which no one till the present ever attempted. We have considered that the truest manner to show our grat.i.tude and Satisfaction for the benefits received would be allowed to present a small permanent testimonial which shall impress on all minds the great blessing conferred upon us, and how thankfully it is received by your humble Servants.

There is nothing to indicate the nature of the "permanent testimonial,"

nor that it was ever presented; but the wish to make some return for benefits received, and the grat.i.tude for work done on their behalf, could not fail to encourage the blind lady.

She had now the moral support of her Committee, but there was at this time no a.s.sociation, properly so called. No rules had been drawn up, there were no Committee Meetings, and Bessie had not only to "contend with tradesmen," but to conduct in the best way she could "the sale of my mats and baskets."

Levy was strongly impressed with the necessity of showing the capacity of the blind, their power as well as their desire to work. It was necessary to ascertain what trades it was possible for them to follow, what trades were open to them, and under what conditions. He had found by his own inquiry that the greater number of the blind poor were willing to work; he now occupied himself, with Bessie's approval, in making experiments in various handicrafts.

She had acquiesced in his wish that none but blind persons should be employed in the Inst.i.tution, and that no trades should be carried on there except such as the blind could work at unaided. Her own experience, as well as the theory of her parents, had shown that more can be done for the blind by including them with, than by separating them from the sighted. But the argument to which she yielded was one often urged by Levy: that it would be impossible to interest the public in the scheme, unless the blind worked unaided, and it was made clear that they were capable of following a trade. He also urged, and with more reason, that the teacher of the blind should be a blind man, who knows from his own experience the difficulties and the limitations of blindness, and who has overcome them; for the teacher who knows these only from theory will not have so intelligent an appreciation of them, nor be so likely to discover the aids required by the blind.

No one could have worked with more enthusiasm or energy than Levy himself. He learnt trades and tried experiments with tools, introduced brush-making, and prepared the way for the great development which he and Bessie now foresaw. She also was not idle; the possibility of employing women was always before her, and she made experiments with regard to occupations that might be suitable for them.

Her private scheme was now about to expand into an a.s.sociation managed by a Committee. Before the final step was taken she wished to secure all the objects for which she had hitherto laboured, and to prepare for the changes which were imminent. She endeavoured to obtain friends and allies, and the success which attended her efforts was no doubt in part owing to the fact that she was the daughter of a bishop and was herself blind. She was spared the long and weary search for patrons and support to which many are condemned. Her name, her position, her privation, secured immediate attention from those who were able to give both money and influence. So great was her success, that in the winter of 1855 she decided, all the necessary preliminaries having been arranged, to appeal to the Queen.

In January 1856 she sent to the Queen an autograph letter, written on her Foucault frame, and with the consent of Her Majesty the correspondence is now reproduced:

MADAM--The loving care ever shown by your Majesty for the welfare of your subjects, together with the benevolent interest which your Majesty and your Royal Consort are so well known to take in works of mercy, have emboldened me most humbly to pray for the gracious condescension of your Majesty and your Royal Consort towards an undertaking for employing the blind which has been carried on during the past year and a half, on so limited a scale that but very few have derived benefit from it. Being myself blind, I have been led to take a deep interest in the blind, of whom there are stated to be twenty-seven thousand in Great Britain and Ireland, out of which number but a small proportion can be received into the existing inst.i.tutions, on leaving which many even of this number are reduced to beggary from the difficulty they find in obtaining employment. Could the endeavour to remedy this evil become truly national, the condition of the blind, as a cla.s.s, would, with the blessing of G.o.d, be materially raised and improved, and this nothing could so effectually ensure as the sanction and gracious patronage of your Majesty and of your Royal Consort. The plan of the undertaking for which I have ventured humbly to plead with your most gracious Majesty, is to ensure to the blind workman a fixed sum weekly, in remuneration for his labour; and also to teach those too old for admission into inst.i.tutions, some trade. Should your Majesty be pleased of your gracious condescension to grant this request, the hearts of your Majesty's blind subjects will be ever bound to your Majesty in love and grat.i.tude.--Your Majesty's most dutiful, loyal, devoted, humble servant, E. M. GILBERT.

Perhaps at this point one may venture to call attention to the fact that a person born blind or blind in early life can seldom spell quite correctly. The training of the eye tells for much in the English language, and the unaided memory cannot be relied upon. Bessie's autograph letters are rarely free from defects; and the letter here copied may have been discarded when it was found on supervision to contain _admition_ for admission, _Concert_ for Consort, and one or two other trifling inaccuracies. Some of her intuitions in spelling--only think in how many cases a blind person's spelling must be intuitive--are delightful. She gives instruction for a letter to be written to the Rector of Marlbourne, our old friend Marylebone, and speaks of a statement she remembers in De Feau.

The autograph letter to the Queen was duly corrected, no doubt, and despatched. It elicited the following reply from Colonel Phipps:

TO MISS GILBERT.

WINDSOR CASTLE, _15th January 1856_.

MADAM--I have received the commands of Her Majesty the Queen to inform you in reply to your application, dated the 11th instant, that that paper does not contain sufficient intelligence with regard to the inst.i.tution which you advocate, to enable Her Majesty to form any judgment upon it.

I am therefore directed to request that you will have the goodness to forward to me the prospectus of the inst.i.tution in question, containing the particulars of its objects, locality, and mode of management, and also an account of its financial position, including a balance-sheet of its income and expenditure. I shall have then an opportunity of bringing the question fully under the consideration of Her Majesty.--I have the honour to be, Madam, your obed. humble servt., C. B. PHIPPS.

This letter was the most valuable contribution yet received, and the suggestion of a balance-sheet the most practical thing done on behalf of the scheme.

There was immediate and anxious effort to comply with the suggestions made, and on the 1st of February the details, dignified by the t.i.tle of "a Report" with such balance-sheet as could be produced, was forwarded to Her Majesty. The reply of Colonel Phipps was again prompt, and as Bessie justly considered it, "very gracious."

TO MISS GILBERT.

WINDSOR CASTLE, _4th February 1856_.

Colonel Phipps presents his compliments to Miss Gilbert. He has laid the papers relative to her scheme for the employment of the blind before Her Majesty the Queen, and has received Her Majesty's commands to forward to her the accompanying cheque for 50 towards the funds of this establishment, which promises to be so useful to persons labouring under privation which particularly ent.i.tles them to compa.s.sion.

Should the plan prove successful, as Her Majesty hopes it may, and have the appearance of becoming permanent, Colonel Phipps is commanded to request that a further report may be made through him to Her Majesty.

The kindly hand thus held out by the Queen to her blind subjects gave a great and valuable impetus to the work. The d.u.c.h.ess of Gloucester sent a donation through Colonel Liddell. Subscribers and donors came forward in sufficient numbers to show that if blind men wanted work, both work and wages would be provided.

CHAPTER IX

REMOVING STUMBLING-BLOCKS

"Give unto me, made lowly wise, The spirit of self-sacrifice."--WORDSWORTH.