Evening star., 1899-03-11
ADVANTAGES OF BLINDNESS.
Everything in Nature Seems Beautiful
to Those without Eyesight.
From Pearson's Weekly.

From Pearsons Weekly.
The loss of the sense of sight or hearing
| is justly regarded by all as most terrible
af1iiction; our sympathy and assistance are
freely bestowed on the afflicted person,
while feeling of thankfulness arises with
in us that, whatever our troubles, are
at least spared such a disaster as that
which has fallen upon the individual SO as
sisted.
| The man with the useless eyes is he who
provokes our pity most. As we walk along
and see hiln standing by the curb soliciting
aims, or making his way along the pave
ment, his coming heraaded by the tapping
of his stick-stepping at the street corner
| to listen before he ventures to cross the
road, or asking to be conducted acress-we
unhesitaringly grant that he is in worse
plight than his deaf felfow-sufferer. The
latters acknowledgement and hard to bear as
it undoubtedly isis not apparent to us un-
til we have to speak to him; but the blind
man adiietion is thrust upon our notice.
1t is pleasant, therefore, to find that there
are compensations of blindness that those
who have lost the sense of vision have
pleasures unknown to those who see, and
that they are not quite so much in the dark
| as We usually imagine. This is the con-
clusen at which We arrive after chatting
with several blind people On different oc-
caSions.
| The blind develop the faculty of ideal
| izing; they imagine everything better or
more beautiful than it is. Take the case
of those born with sight who become blind
later; TO them the flowers are always
| blooming. and they are not offended by the
vision of a faded bloom in the midst of the
pretty display You tell them that such a
foWer is in full bloom, and stop tlem in
| front of bed that they may think in the
sweet fragrance; they see in their mind s
eye glorious scene; they are carried away
with delight by their own imagination and
l T.t nnnt
| and their enjoyment is far greater than
yours.
In the winter, when you are depressed by
| the appearance of the leafiess trees and the
gloomy outlook, they are not at all cast
down. The aspect is not unknown to them;
but as 1t Is not thrust upon them as upon
you, their developed inclination to improve
things causes them to forget the gloom and
remember the joy of coming spring
To the one with the sightless eye all
| friends are good looking and charming. The
excessive plainness of this lady and the
dlshgur1ng scar on that mans face are
alike unknown to him; he pictures them
Doth as handsome, fine-leoking people He
mas seen ugly, deformed persons, but now
that he sees no longer his mind refuses TO
conJure up such visions. And they are
charming Tor the reason that their COMPASS
sion provokes all their good qualities Wnen
they come in contact with him
The loss of sight is usually followed by a
sharpening of the sense of hearing One
lady with whom We had talk assured us
that she felt that she had never really en-
1oyed music until she became blind She
was always fond of it, but it never appealed
to her in the same way. She can hear har
monies that are inaudible even to the per
former. --e Pei
The power of Imagination becomes preat-
er after the loss of the eyesight. Thrown
upon their own resources, the blind spend
iarge portion of their time in thinking
ana imagining all sorts of things We
question whether Milton's marvellous work
Would nave been given to the world in such
splendld form had not his infirmity rendered
his imagination 50 vivid as the raSnJt
proves 1t to have been. And this increase
In the imaginative faculty is a source of
continual pleasure to the blind.
ne power OF reasoning and the memory
are favorably affected in like manner. This
was exemplified by the case of a gentleman
VINO is actlng as manager in a big COM
iherciai mouse. All matters are submitted
10 MIN Tor his advice; all letters of impor--
ahce are read to him and he dictates tbe
replies He reasons out intricate business
matters and lays the result before the prin-
cipai, and in pursuance of his duties he sur-
prises everybody by his acuteness and b:s
recollection of dates and details
A compensation of a different natura was
admitted by this same gentleman As a
youth he was not inclined toward study or
any mental activity and in all proba hi,itv
ne would now have been living on a small
Saiary-had not his sight troubled him.
FlnoinS that ne was unable ito take part in
the sports of the young fellows of his ar
qualntance by reason Of his defective Wis
Jon, he was forced to read-which he could
90 perfectly well-as an amusement This
gradually led to study, and he devoted him
sell to such subjects as would be useful in
the business In which he was engaged.
In spite of declining eyesight, his knoNl-
edge led to advancement and, finally. to the
post he occupies " -Ae
Had my sight been perfect" he says, It
should most probably be earning 30 shillings
week instead of 600 year"
Not the least of the compensations of
blindness is the bountiful kindness with
which the afflicted person is treated by an
who come in contact with him. Those who
see cannot properly understand what that
means; they must be afflicted before they