Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1872-10-08
LETTER FROM aARPBR,s FERRY
Be thou a Sp,Rtr of hea l,h, or Goblin damn,d
II will speak to thee

-I will speak to thee.
It seems, at least SO you inform me. (and
you have heen too long connected with the
newspaper business, to be capable of misrep-
resentation) that am under an old promise,
to send you occasional contribution You
kindly add, that they need not be long and
that such items of local interest as may occur
in my Deighborhood, or such reflections as
may occur to myself, will be most acceptable.
Now both regret and rejoice, that l possess
neither the polish, or the i'll nature of the
mirror. 1t, held up to nature, is your trus
reflector; and sometimes, pretty ugly are the
I pictures that it presents. If by ''rehectons"
you mean to invite me to philosophize, why,
surely, you ought to know, that Charles
O'Conor monopolizes that business. not begin.
ming in his intellectual perigrinations, with
Hector and Leondas, and not ending with
This eve, festival. Of the land of his ances.
tors, that comes neither before nor after
Christmas. So. reflections. farewel AS for
'items of interest" we have none Through
our cniet streets, no street cars run over de-
| crcpid old ladies. While, owing to the ras>
cally spectators. that have tied up our public
property. and the hardly less rascally govern
ment that has not hung them up for it,
unless the uerata 9uestio is settled, that there
Is legitimate value in dogs, there is nothing
left on which to practice even petit larceny.
Whether what | am going to say comes
under the head of ''iten, A." or reflection" i" your
readers will judge.
In this neighborhcod we have very little
blindness. We stand in our own light. quite
as much, no doubt, as other people, fact, of
which we have as good right to boast, as
our neighbors in the mountain do of not being
able to read or write But the great visual
deprivation is rare That the large demo>
cratic majority hcreabouts should allow "the
greed Of Office" to first throw sand in its eyes.
and then scatter its ranks, is a matter more
tor the consideration of commission de
'"nn'ico i"quirendo. than the eve doctor
besides as local item, Charlestowu, indubi-
tnb!y, has the first claim toit; always surpos.
ing that it is of sufficient Importance to talk
about. So far as I know, we have here but
| one blind man.
1t is said that tho blind are peculiarly
Goods children" F." But old Henry Russell
had won the favor of both God and man before
he lost his eye-sight His history takes us
back to the good old times of Armory. Yard
prosperity. And thev were good old times
Times that were marked, it not by afliucnce.
at least by snificiencv: and that if thew never
experienced these raroxisims of iov that an
parently, successful speculation occasionally
give to large cities, were always blessed with
that reace, aud happiness. and coutcutmont.
which large cities seldom know Brown stone
fronts are very magnificent to look at John
Ruskin is foud of describing the like But
J have an idea. that the woodhine and roses
OF our former dsys, told of lite, lahorinus
pnrhars, vet innocent, cheerful and ioynus
that the NTH avenue is utterly innocent of
and that wond have delighted the heart of
HIM, who, speaking of his native village said.
i'o~ hlest is he who crowns. in shades likes these
youth OF labor. with age of ease."
Mr. Russell is n Narvlander, of an old english
stock. and-whch is better sti'l-has heen
blessed. for 10! these many wears. with good
Irish wife, When he frs, came here. in 1851,
ns strong as a lion, though as gentle AS a lamb
he might have hecp mistaken for a Sicilian
Cyc'ors-a manufacturer of the thunderbolts
OF Jupiter, for he was cnnper-smith. and
had but one eye He was immediately cm-
pinyed in the armnry yard, where in about two
vears, chip of copper striking his remaining
eve. he became and continued totally blind.
Having thus, while in the service of the
United States, become iucapacitated for
further labor usefulness, it has always
seemed strange to me-. that nothing has heeo
done for the fine old fellow hy goverpment.-
Surely it will he matter for the considera.
tion of our new Congressman. Wha, do Won
say brother Martin? People say. that vour
weather eye is open. Now what are Won pre.
pared to do-should you get the chance-for
this poor blind man?
MIR. Russell as I said. was our onlv blind
man, and the ''item" [ half spoke of was.
that the other evening at about twilight. [
overlook a stranger, an old blind man, grop-
ing down the street. The next morning, the
first thing saw, was, blind darkev. stands
ing on the sidewalk And-strange to re-
late-on turning the corner, on nv way to
my breakfast, met two blind fddlers.
Well sir that morning, my coffee was cold
before tasted it. Suddenly, seeing so manv
blind persons, startled me into reflection. |
thought with gratitude of the nunlberless
blessings that pair OF pretty good eyes be-
slowed on myself. And then | thought of
the bind, of old Homer, writing and re-
peatns the glowing lines of his immortal
epic; Of old Belisarius, who once a Roman
general, in his old age begged for bread in
the streets, through which, in his youth, he
had been carried in triumph Of poor Nina,
wandering as best she could, through the
ruins OF Pompei; of Milton, ''bereft of
sight, and yet, gIurying in the loss, since it
was occasi"neo by his efforts in defence of
liberty of old blind Lozzimus. repeating his
own dogserel poem of Mary in Egypt, in the
streets OF Dublin; Of the blind beggar woman
sitting from day to day and from year to year,
at st. Paul's church, New York and of ma
ny others, and then again thought of our
old triend Russell, and of the two blind fid>
dlers.
Oh! what sympathy, and what assistance.
we, who possess and enjoy the blessing of
sight, owe to the blind. And yet, how usual
y vain is the appeal "pisy the dark man ~
Remember! though the suu rises in the
morning, aud all through the day sweeps
through the heavens, and in the evening.
watched by many an enraptured gaze. sinks
to rest amid its own glory, the blind never