INSTRUCTION OF THE BLIND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9565, 22 October 1892, Page 6 (Supplement)

INSTRUCTION OF THE BLIND.

TO THE EDITOR. Sm, —I read with very great interest the report of Mr Goyen on the remarkable progress which the two blind scholars of Wakari School have made, and his opinion that "the success achieved by Mr Paterson places beyond doubt the question of the practicability of teaching bliud children in public schools." Dr Hislop's paper will be widely read, with the outcome, I have no doubt, that no bliud child in the colony will be alioweel to grow up without receiving an education as thorough as sighted children. Nor do I doubt that the community will provide industrial schools to qualify them for earning their bread by honest labour. The school of this order in Adelaide qualifies ils scholars, whether boarders 'or day scholars, in three years, irrespective of sex, for making their way iv the world. Of its 35 inmates, 13 are t-ngaged in brushmakiag, 3 in basket-making, 3 iv couch and chair canhog, 6 in matmakiug, 1 as storeman, 1 at piano-timing, 1 as traveller* 1 as collector, and 2 officers, while some are only learners ; yet the output during 1391 was : Brushes, 16,2*0; baskets, 2458; mats, 1180; couches and chairs, 34; — total articles, 19,962. There was paid in wages during the year L 1597, exclusive of the manager's salary (who is also blind). A short ascouub of the instruction, of the bliud in Chiisa, numbering over half a million, may interest your readers. The Braillu of China is William 11. Murray, a mfcive of Port Duudas, near Glasgow, who lost his left arm in his ninth year, while assisting his father in his humble saw miil. Disqualified for the vocation of a saw miller, young Murray obtained in due course the situation of a rural letter carrier near Glasgow. Finding that Sunday work was connected with ifc, he was relieved from ib by giving up 2s of his weekly wage. Dr Arthur Piersou—to whose book, '"The Miracles of Missions," we are indebted for our information—adds "that his self-sacriiice was not only blessed to himself, but sowed the seeds of that extensive reform now in progress to secure for Goverameni; employes in the postal service a Sabbath respite from work." Bent on selfimprovement, youug Murray, in following his vocation, devoted cue-third of his time to the study of the Hebrew Bible, cue-third to the study of the Greek Testament, and the other one-third to meditation and prayer for heavenly wisdom to fit him for direct missionary work. Eager to do goorT, he offered his services to the National Bible Society of Scotland as a colporteur, and was accepted. His sphere was the shipping, and he sold to the sailors of many lands large numbers of Bibles. The directors of the society having noticed his power in acquiring languages, a friend enabled him to attend classes in the university while serving as a colporteur. Iv the course of time he received an appointment as colporteur in China. In this vast field he travelled far and near, commending the Scriptures and selling them. In his wanderings he took notice of the prevalence of blind beggars in town and country aiid_ their extremely demoralised condition. Their state engrossed his mind day aud night. One clay, weary, he lay down for a noonday nap While yet awake, though with closed eyes, he saw spread out before him the whole system for the instruction of the blind which he has siuce put into available form for use, and obtained the conviction that it would enable the blind to read iv a short time the Word of God. He regarded the vision as a divine revelation. Turning his mind to the problem he found that instead of 4000 characters, 408 distinct syllables would suffice to represent the sounds of the language. No doubt his early acquaintance with both Moon's and Braille's systems assisted him, and especially the latter, as being fitted for both writing and musical notation. " So practical has his method proved," says Dr Piersou, "that a thorough acquaintance with -both reading and writing may be acquired by a blind boy of average faculty in from six weeks to two months, whereas six years of study would be required for seeing eyes to recognise the 4000 distinct characters of the ordinary written language. Mr Hurray devoted eight years of his spare time to perfect the system which he saw iv theory in the day vision to which I referred. His first practical test was upon Wang, a rheumatic cripple, who soon learned to read the Scriptures. Then a poor blind patient, who had been kicked by a mule, began to learn to read, and in two months his callous fingers could feel the precious truth of God. Then_ a poor blind lad, left on a dunghill to die, after three months' nursing, was restored to health and learned to read and write. Next a blind beggar boy, au orphan, taken in out of a winter's cold, read more accurately aud fluently -without eyes than many do with eyes iv a score of years. Bliss i\ Gordon dimming, who has told the story of the Gospel's triumph in Fiji, tells of the wonder that filled her soul when she heard Murray's blind pupils read tbe Scriptures—pupils whom he not only taught but fed from scanty means. One boy of 12, left in his charge by an elder brother, and then left on his hands, though blind, not only rapidly learned to read aud write, but became his main, dependence iv stereotyping and all other work, and developed such musical ability as to become the organist in the chapel of the London Mission. "The rumour of this wonderful school for blind pupils has spread far and wide, and some have come 300 miles to study the system. . The work is but afc its beginning, for there must be at least eight different versions reduced Ito the dot system before the blind of the different provinces can find the system available to represent the various colloquial dialects. Mr Murray has so simplified stereotyping in connection with his method of instruction that a Chinese lad will produce in a day more than three times as many pages as au ordinary London workman by the common method. Thus God is using the special sensitiveness of the fingers of the blind and (heir proverbial aptitude for music to raise up blind readers cf the Word and bliud singers and players on instruments who may make music the handmaid of evangelism." In a word, th:: blind of China when instructed and Christianised become colporteurs and missionaries to whom the people willingly listen.—l am. &c, Dunedin, October 21. D. M. Stuart.

— A hand-bi]l in York, .'iiiuouncin/? a public meeting in that city, stated that " The ladies, without distinction of sex, are invited to attend."