The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1854-06-17
A!urnl nnh krIiuiung.
The Blind Girl and her Bible.

The Blind Girl and her Bible
From The Eo.:on 'lrav,l,cr.
Many wears ago. sid the Rev Monsieur
u. when 4 student I'm the UNIVERSITY d.
Geneva. was accustomed to spend the long
summer vacations. travelling from village 10
village il a.y native France. preaching in the
open squares the kingdom Of God distribute
in. III, holy word 10 those who would accept
il, aud trachn. from house to house On
such an excursion IN the summer of 1873.
entered little vin"-hunr cabin in the cnvi-
.Yfons Of Dion. In It's low. w;,le kitchen. saw
:. &Ni.lllc aged woman Lu<ilv ironing. boy
yeSbo youn. for labor and :, Girl Of seven
tern or eighteen years. Of a sweet. ~crior. As
pcct plating straw. She did not raise her
eyes as entered. anil on a nearer approach
perceived that she was llnd
Saving that was onr sent to BRING Glad
.i!in-< of good things. bean to tell them
the story of Christ. III. love, Ii, suffer
in" his death. They listened a;tcnivcly. X
was indeed tilin">. new and wonderful. 20
them. Ike other of the simple poa>an'rv Of
France. The next t!,v. and The next. vI$i-
ted the widows poor cottage
Poor >i.l,,lcS> Marie how was she affected
when told her OF; Him who opened the eyes
of the Blind, and real to her how blind Bar
,im,,S sat hv the wav->ilc be@.in". when he
,ri,,! unto Jesus Of Nazareth passing by. and
received 81 "ht. Then IN irrcpreS>iblc lony
in". such rs she had never known before
lun-in. for Coils blessed yiit Of vision Scixoi
upon the, poor blind girl: not tia. she sighed
TO behold the blue heaven. or The golden light,
or to look upon hcr mothers smile. or gaze
in her brothers lanrhirr ewes No. not ti.c,e:
hut she longed 20 rr,d the blessed words f
Jesus, how he said. Come unto me-, and
viii give rou rest
There dwclt then in p;ion nan o: God.
who had gathered around him a few blind.
whom he had taurlt to rraI and work |
sou"h. lin ont. tod HIN Of Marie. inierc>;c
him in her. arranged that She should come an
hour cvr~v nlornin. 20 Kan 10 read, and
procured for htra Bile viii, raised Letters
for The Blind
Iou should have seen her ;.cli1h: as she
started Oft next mnr.ring-a warm. !li@ht
August nornin.-on hand locked in her
little brothers. and the other ionlv c,a~lin-
tn, I,rcciou> Bible. to take der first lesson
Alas poor Marie it requires delicate
touch to distinguish the slightly raised surface
and nice Outline OF the letters. and her FIN
GERS were hard am! rallouS with the constant
plating of straw \.ain and arain was Ike
effort made. hut to no purpose. Eu; one day
as she sat alone. sorrovtil,lv chipping with
her little knit; the ror.h cArr> of the straw.
happy though; occurred 10 hcr. Could not
she cut away The thick, hard skin from her
fingers. and then it wonld GROW anew. smooth
and soft. ike tie rosy fingers Of child:
And so she whitfield the skin from the poor
fingers. needing not the pain: was it not that
SHt NuISut It'tt tHt Woi'l vi NIDu J,lt tit
straw work could not cease: it bought bread.
and the wounded fingers were slow TO heal
When the reading lesson was tried again.
warm drops tricklcl from The bleeding fin
"crs along the sacred line. 1t was all in vain.
After the first bitterness of ler disarpont-
mcn:. Marie <trovc iarl to be cheerful, 'Gol
had opened the eyes of hrr soul She saiI
AMI ou,ht she not 70 rra>r Tim Ard :hn
new Bible Nh. surely she must carry it
hack some happier llinl cil might ,luck
The fruit irolN tbs tree Of lie. and Gn! heal
in in is hcssci iravcs And. !ol,lins the
volume near TO th, heating Of her heart. She
knclt by her white 60: to pray AMI touched
the open Eih!e with her lips. Ojoy, r.
the soft lips the >li.Nt inlcn.a'ions of The
raised surface are clearly prrccp.illc: they
trace the sharp outlines OF the letters with
nnrrrin. accuracy. With low c,v Of Joy.
she passes lin. aiirr i.;ir across her EAGER lips.
she turns the leaf. The lips lose not their pow
or. II is ali clear. al easy how. The lips
could 10 what the toll hardened fingers could
no'-'hcv coull RAIL-
n 'wcivrmon:li after ! visited Dion. The
low kitchen wore lis OIL lock. but villa.
hra:nInc. happy face WAS M,rir'> as Size sa' in
her rude chair. her la>kr. of straw ~ her feet
reading her beloved Bible. Blind. i; was full
"fli=ht. Nest il pas hrrrcrx she murmu.-
ed in her rich. musical .o.cs. NEST il pas
hrnrcux de laiscr ain-i les louccs paroles
pendant qu" j. les lis + it not blessed to
Kiss the sweet words as read
Dear el":ncnt lips. which the cold clay
kisses now. tnl! me- Nj little tale. and lis
tened with starting tears thinking low the
poor hind ":rl woul,! rise w in iurmcnt to
condemn the many. who having ewes soc
not