PERSON OF DisrINcT ION phy 4g Reciting the moſt intereſting Parti iovlars a” tive to Perſons born Blind and thoſe Ns. have lolt their Sight, Being an Enquiry into the Nature of their 4 Ideas, Knowledge of Sounds, Opinions con- cerning Morality and Religzon, &c.
Interſperſed with ſeveral Anecdotes of S ANDERSON, MILTON, AND OTHERS.
With Cor rxz-Prarzs elucidating Dr. Sax- DERSON'S Method of Working GEOMETRICAL PROBLEMS.
CC Tranſlated from the FRENCH of 5 M. B 'Þ DB E R Phyfician to His moſt Chriſtian VAJESTY.
— „ n * — 5 - ” LON DOH. 4 Printed for Richar Dy mot, oppoſ ite — YT in the STRAND, MDCCLXXIII, J {Price 11. 6d.]
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* * 1 : 1 . * * _ LL PREFACE informed of the author's motive f;;: | for writing the following letter. A foreign phyſician of ſome reputation had-bills put up at the corners of alt © the ſtreets at Paris, that on ſuch a day:: he would give fight to a girl who was born blind. The philoſophers were one and all ſtricken at the confidence with which this kind of prodigy was thus publiſhed: and the celebrated 8 Mr. Diderot defired the phyſician to } allow him the favour of being preſent 4 "PRYPACE.
55 the operation. | Tt was anſwered be a great honour; however, dreading the philoſopher's keen eye, he per- formed the operation in private; but, at the ſame time, was willing to make 8 (che honour of it as public as poſſible. a On this, the philoſopher determined to lay open the fraud, which he did very FE ingeniouſſy i in this letter; a letter ſtor- ed with ſuch refined ideas, and ſuch profound inveſtigations, that it may well be accounted the ſtandard of human wit and penetration. The impoſtor ſtoutly maintained his point, * in which he was ſo ſeconded by the Ek monaſtick Phalanx, that, as proves but Wow commonly the caſe, he got the better, and the philoſopher was ſent to Vincennes -caſtle, OF that his preſence would, to be ſure, "MRO ACE” S But the truth came at length to. light, and falſity was exploded with. ignominy. Mr. Diderot's letter could not, be. ſufficiently extolled, and, as a complete crown of its glory, Mr. D'Alembert has given a moſt judicious extract of it in the E, dia, with obſervations, omitted here purely to avoid ſwelling the price of this admirable compoſition, but which throw great light on the work. itſelf, and may ferve 2s a model to reviewers and others, whoſe buſineſs i is. to ſelect the plan, ground- work, and eſſence of books. I have added a few remarks of my own, which aroſe in me as I peruſed the book, humbly vo them to the reader 8 notice.
7 Beauty,: T/ \ TABLE or CONTENTS.
Influence of the ſenſes on our metaphyſics, 19 Morality of a perſon influenced by the texture and I | Tag . LIND girl couched...1 B "paxil cok Jr. =>; *S 7 12 lind perſons love exactneſs and regularity, 4. Their morality different from ours, 4 „ we. 3 7 Speculums, account of them aſtoniſhing to a blind perſon, | 7 Eyes, defined by a blind man, 1 Deſcartes, 9, 29 Faces, why taken notice of, 1 : Phyſiognomy, 18 Theft, detected by the blind, and why, Direction, notion of, how acquired by a blind man, TAE | 5 Looking-glaſs, blind man's deſcription of it, 7. His notion of its repreſenting objects in colours, 10 Sight, a blind perſon's idea of it, I Puiſaux, blind man of, his ingenuity, 7 6. Threads a needle, 11. His remembrance of ſounds, ibid. Finds thoſe who have their ſight inferior to him in many reſpects, 12. Deſirous of eyes only for cu- rioſity, 13. A dangerous markſman, 14. His anſwer to a magiſtrate, ibid. Turns and works with a needle very neatly, 16. Why he married, 17. Abhors theft, and from what motives, 19 Concurrence of our ſenfes, 5 18 ' conformation of the body, Mi . Wonders of the creation no argument to the blind, 72 How one born blind formed ideas of figures, 23 24. His intellectual operations have little analogy with ours, 3 Author, his caſe under mental agitations, 1 Fancy, no figuring in, without colouring,, 26 Wl pe N | ens _ RAT. EXT v7 - aſation indiviſible, | Fo 2 — of internal ſenſation, 1 hid. \ Brain, why impaired by the labours of imitation, 29 Nerves, not demonſtrated to be the cauſe of our ſenſations, SINE Abſtractions, 30, 31 lee gifs © 31 Engliſh geometrician, 32 Imagination in blind perſons, | 30 Unity,: bf: 32 Touch, way of ſpeaking to its, 32 Knowledge, three ayenues to it, 3 n wr 1 3 daunderſon, 34. Abounded in happy expreſſions, 42. Reads lectures on optics, 44. His ideas of infinitude, 91. Affected by the _ alteration of the atmoſphere, 53. His converſation with a clergyman in his laſt illneſs, 56.. Conſents to re- 3 "WW ceive the ſacrament, 656, His laſt words, ibid. q His moral charatter. Marries, 67, His af- n fecting farewell to his family, 67, 68. Reads in- 1— ſeriptions with his fingers, f 110 is Machine, Saunderfon's, - 34 £3 WE lcments of T Sat Saunderſon's, 41 d, anguages all deficient to writers of a lively fancy, 19 | | | 18 english, the French writer beſt liked by them, Fo 13 {Wlbinkers, Tacitus their favourite, 44 19 eat philoſopher's great geometrician, 46 ind I ealiſts, 49 19 erkeley, biſhop, | 49: 19 {Wuthor of the Eſſay on the Origin of Human Know- nd,\ ledge: judicious obſervations of his, - "mo 22 afniteſimal logic, Y 51 23. more preciſe than fight, 3 1an, {Widymus of Alexandria, 55 ogy Wulebius, the Aftatic, 55 "ms icaiſe of Mechlin, | ,. Ip. * 5 27 adian, his anſwer concerning the worlds being ral.
26 Wl pended in the airs,. 56 Sen- + | RS CONTENTS England's panegyric on it, 68 Inchcliffe, Mr. his account. of Dr. Saunderſon, 67 Theory of the ſenſes, - Queſtion, curious, © 72 Molineux, M. ſets about folving a a curious queſtion, # 22% 2. Locke, 5 Eſſay on the origin of human 88 73 Whether one born blind will ſee immediately after his cataracts are couched, 8 79 Cheſelden's famous experiments, | 82, 83 Touch, a help to ſight, | 85 Experiment of the concave ſpeculum.,. - a Parrot, 92 Viſual experiments, on whom to be tried, 97 RBeaumur, M. his girl, |; -1o2 Diodorus, Tully's account 7 him, 5 Saint Jerom, _ 4. des Voerde, his. attainment, ha in Young gentleman couched by Mr. Cheſelden, ni N of him in Blacklock, Mr. the poet, curious obſervations ot his deſcriptive poetry, * 118 N Milton, when his blindneſs firſt ſeized him, 118 Lady, many N aGoniſhing circumſtances. of her * 123 ON THE . |;: 4 1 Mapa, T was no more than what I apprehended, that the blind girl, whom Mr. Reaumur had couched for a ca- taract, would not inform you of what you was curious to know; but I little thought that it would neither be her fault nor yours. I have, in perſon, and by means of his beſt friends, and by paying him many compliments, applied to her bene- factor, but without the leaſt ſucceſs and the firſt dreſſing will be taken off, without your being admitted to ſee it. Some per- {ons of the firſt diſtinction have had the B * honour r E R 8 336 —— —— 3 — — JT LETTER ON * * honour of Ting put on a level 85 phi- loſophers in this ſenſe: in a word, it was only before ſome eyes of no conſequence he would remove the veil. If you would - know why that wonderful operator makes ſuch a ſecret of experiments, at which you think too great a number of intelligent witneſſes cannot be preſent, my anſwer is, that the obſervations of ſuch a en perſon do not ſo much ſtand in need of ſpectators, whilſt making, as of hgarers, when made. Thus diſappointed, Madam, I betook myſelf to my $6 intention, and, being obliged to go without an experi- ment, in which 1 ſaw but little to be gained, either for my own inſtruction, or yours, but which Mr. Reaumur will Xoubtleſs improve to a much higher pur- poſe, I fell to philoſophizing with my friend on the important matter which is the object of it. Happy, if you will be Pleaſgd to accept the narrative of one of our converſations, inſtead of the ſight.
which I had too haſtily promiſed you. On the very * that the Pruſſian per- formed formed the operation of the cataract on ſome talk with the Puiſaux man who had been born blind. He is poſſeſſed of good ſolid ſenſe, is known to great numbers of creditable perſons, underſtands ſomethingof chemiſtry, and has attended the courſes of botany in the king's garden with tolerable of improvement. His father was an eminent profeſſor of philoſophy in the univerſity of Paris, and left him ſuch a fortune, as would have very well ſufficed for the ſenſes remaining to him; but in his youth he was 15 carried away by love of pleaſure, which, or Nvith the diſhoneſty of ſome others, ſo re- „induced his domeſtic affairs, that he retired ur- Into a little town in Provence, from whence my every year he takes a journey to Paris, 1 is bringing with him liquors of his own dif- be filling, and which give great ſatisfaction. e of HTheſe, Madam, are circumſtances, indeed, ight rot very philoſophical; but, on that very account, the fitter to make you conclude, per- Hat the perſon I am ſpeaking of is not aginary.
'f 2 It THE BLIND. 8 . 8. — Simoneau's daughter, we went to have — © — i AA — 2 — 8 * — 2 _— £ a — 4 APs ot loam ic CE * 238 4 * — — bove an hour; for you muſt know that 5 % 4 Fit ON It was about five in the afternoon when Ml we came to the blind man's houſe, where we found him hearing his ſon read with raiſed characters: he had not been up 2.
his morning is our evening; carrying on his domeſtic affairs, and working while « M * thers are aſleep. At midnight he is free if * from diſturbance himſelf, and is not trou- U bleſome to others. His firſt care is to pu * in its place every thing that has been di- © Placed during the day; that his wife, af © her getting up, commonly finds the houf be ſet to rights. The difficulty which blind ta perſons have in finding things miſlaid, Bt makes them love regularity and exactneſs JU and I have obſerved, that thoſe about then U imbibe that quality, whether from ti good example ſet them by the blind, from an humane concern for them. Thi blind would, indeed, be very unhappf bu without ſuch regard from thoſe abou ** them, nayz we ourſelves would feel t "* want of it. Great ſervices are like ” large pieces of gold or ſilver, which We Flom ſeldom have occaſion to make uſe of; but little complaiſances are as current caſh, or paying away.
This blind man judges very well of ſymmetries. Symmetry, which, perhaps, is no more than a matter of mere compact Qtee among us, is certainly ſuch in many re- u. (pets, between a blind man, and thoſe ut who have their ſight. A blind man ſtudies, du by. his touch, that diſpoſition required be- a even the parts of a whole, to entitle it to ſly be called fine; and thus, at length, at- ina fains to a juſt application of that term. aa But in ſaying, that is fine, he does not else judge; it is no more than repeating the gen judgment of thoſe who ſee; and is not e this the caſe of three fourths of thoſe who give their verdict on a play, or a book? Beauty, to a blind man, is but a word when abſtracted from utility; and wanting an organ, how which lies out of his verge? Are not the blind extremely to be pitied in accounting 5 B 3 nothing L 1 * o THE BLIND: 5 which we are continually either receiving many things are there, the utility of 5 * LETTER ON nothing fine, unleſs it be likewiſe gocd⸗ How many admirable things are loſt to them? The only compenſation is, their having ideas of the beautiful, which, if leſs extenſive, are more clear than thoſe of many keen - ſighted philoſophers, who have compoſed prolix diſſertations on it.
He is continually talking of looking- _ glaſſes.. You are ſenſible that he does not know what the word looking-glaſs means, yet is he never known to put a glaſs in a wrong light. He expreſſes himſelf as ſen- ſibly as we on the qualities and the de; fects of the organ which is wanting in him. If he annexes no idea to the terms he makes uſe of, yet has he this advantage over moſt other men, that he never uſes them improperly. He diſcourſes ſo well and ſo juſtly of ſo many things abſolutely unknown to him, that his converſation would conſiderably leſſen the weight of that inference which, without knowing, _ wherefore, we all draw from what paſſes in ourſelves, to what paſſes within others. I aſked him what he meant by a looking: & C A wand — THE BLIND. 7 mg-glals? © A machine,“ anſwered he, « which puts relievo things at a diſtance from themſelves, if when properly placed « with regard to it: it is like my hand, „ which, to feel an object, I mult not put « on one fide of it.” Had Deſcartes been born blind, he might, in my opinion, have hugged himſelf for ſuch a defini- tion. Do but conſider, I beg of you, what an ingenious combination of ideas it implies. This blind man has no other object, but by the touch. He knows, from the account of others, that objects are known by means of the ſight, as to him by the touch; at leaſt it is the only notion he can form of them. He farther knows, that there is no ſeeing one's own face, though it may be touched. He muſt..
therefore conclude ſight to be a kind of touch, reaching only to objects different from our face, and at a diſtance from us. The touch gives him an idea only of re- lief: therefore,“ adds he, a looking- * glaſs is a machine repretenting us in re- lief out of ourſelves.” | How many. fa- ; a4 mous . 1 [1 F l 4 . LETTER ON mous philoſophers have laboured with leſs fubtilicy in the purſuit of notions as falſe? But how ſurprizing muſt a looking-glaſs be to this blind man? How much muſt his amazement have increaſed on our inform: ing him, that there are ſome of thoſe ma- chines which magnify objects, others which, without duplicating them, put them out of their place, bring them nearer, remove them farther, cauſe them to be perceived, and lay open the moſt minute parts to the eyes of the naturaliſts; that ſome again multiply them by thouſands, and that ſome appear totally to change the figure of ob- jects? Concerning theſe phenomena, he aſked vs abundance of ſtrange queſtions; as, Whether none, but thoſercalled na- * turaliſts, ſaw with the microſcope; and „whether aſtronomers alone ſaw with the «teleſcope? Whether the machine which „ magnifies objects be larger than that which leſſens them? Whether that « which brings them nearer was ſhorter than that which removes them farther off?“ And not conceiving how that o- 1: 6nd ther "HE BLEND” 7» ther ſelf, which, according to him, the looking-glaſs repreſents in relief, ſhould not be raCtile, ** So,” ſaid he, © there's two « of our ſenſes ſet at variance by a little % machine: a more perfect machine might « poſſibly reconcile them, without the ob- « ject's being ever the more real for that; „“ and perhaps a third, ſtill more com- « pleat, and leſs illuſory, would make « them vanith, and ſhew us our miſtake.” And what do you take eyes to be? ſaid M. D. They are,” ſays the blind man, * an organ, on which the air has the ef- « fect which my ſtick has on my hand.”
This anſwer amazed us, and whilſt we were looking at one another, wrapped 1n admiration, © So true is this,” continued he, © that on my putring my hand be- « tween your eyes and an object, my hand is preſent to you, but the object “ abſent. It is the ſame with me when I « am ſeeking one thing with my ſtick, and « meet another.” | Madam, only turn to Deſcartes's Diop- tics, and there you will ſee the phænome- B 5 | na 10 LETTER ON 10 LETTER ON na of ſight illuſtrated by thoſe of the touch; and optic plates full of men buſi- ed in ſeeing with ſticks. Deſcartes, and all his ſucceſſors, have not been able to give us clearer ideas of viſion; and that Feat philoſopher was, in this reſpect, no farther ſuperior. to the blind man, than a. common man who has the uſe of his eyes.
None of us thought of queſtioning him concerning painting and writing; but it is evident that there are no queſtions in which his compariſons would not have borne him out; and I make no doubt but he would have ſaid, that to go about reading or ſee- ing without eyes, was like ſeeking after a pin with a faggot ſtick. We only talked to him of thoſe kinds of glaſſes which ex- hibit objects in relief, and are both ſo very > fimilar to, and ſo very different from, our ilooking-glaſſes; but theſe we perceived ra- ther contradicted than coincided with his idea of a looking-glals; and he was apt to think, that a painter might, perhaps, paint a looking-glaſs, and that thus it came to „ objects 1 in colours.
We THE BLIND. 13 We afterwards ſaw him thread very:ſmall needles. May I beg the favour of you, Madam, here to falpend your reading, and think how you would go about it, were you in his caſe? Should no expedient of; fer itſelf, I will tell you that of the blind man's. He places the needle's eye tranſ- verſally between his lips, and in the ſame direction as his mouth; then, by the help of his tongue and faction. he draws in the thread, which follows his breath, unleſs i it be much too large for the eye but, 1 in that caſe, he who has his ſight 1s litdle better off.
He has a prodigious remembrance of ſounds; and the infinite diverſity we per- ceive in faces, he perceives in voices, wich numberleſs minute gradations, which eſcape us, as not ſo much concerned to ob- ſerve them. Thoſe gradations are, to us, like our own face; as of all the men that we have ever ſeen, he whom we ſhauld leaſt recollect, is our very ſelf. We take notice of faces only for better knowing the perſons; and that we do not remember our { | i { | i LETTER ON own is, becauſe we ſhall never be liable to take ourſelf for another perſon, or another for ourſelf; then, the helps which our ſen- ſes reciprocally afford to each other, hinder their improvement. It is not here only - that 1 ſhall have e to make _ re- mark. © On cis head our blind n man faid, That * he ſhould think himſelf a pitiable object in wanting thoſe advantages which we « enjoy; and that he ſhould have been pe apt to conſider us as ſuperior intelli- gences, had he not a hundred times « found us very much inferior to him in other reſpects.? This refleckion gave riſe to another in us. This blind man, faid we, values himſelf as much, and per- haps more, than we who ſee. Why then, if the brute reaſons, and it is ſcarce to be doubted, why, on weighing its advantages over man as better ktiown bo it than thoſe of man over it, ſhould it not make a fike inference? He has arms, perhaps fays the gnat, but 1 have wings. If he has weapons; * the lion, have we not rig claws?
1 | 1. 4 .- * "IX RES — — H—U 4 * 8 * e Ea 3% > @ A PET n > ws * M' THE BLEND 13 ines? The elephant will look on us as inſects;; and all the animals, very readily allowing us a reaſon, with which we ſhould at the ſame time ſtand in great need of their inſtinct, will ſet up to be endued with an inſtin&t, by means of which they do very well without our reaſon. one of our company aſked the blind man, whether he ſhould not be very glad to have eyes? © Were it not for curio- © ſity,” ſaid he, © I would full as lieve have long arms. My hands, I think, MW would inform me better of what is-do- ing in the moon, than your eyes or your * teleſcopes. Beſides, the eyes ſooner * ceaſe to ſee, than the hands to touch; that to improve the organ which I have, would be as good as to give me that which is wanting in me.”: This blind man points with ſuch exact- eis at the place whence a noiſe comes, hat I make no doubt the blind may, by practice, become very dexterous, and very Langerous. Here is a paſſage which will ew you, how imprudent it would be to . ſtand * * * 4 LETTER ON ſtand the throwing of a ſtone, or diſcharg- ing of a piſtol, by him, were he in the leaſt uſed to that weapon. He had, in his youth, a quarrel with one of his brothers, who came off but badly. Provoked at ſome inſulting language, he laid hold of the firſt object which came to hand, threw it at him, and hit him directly on the forehead, ſo as to lay him flat on the ground.
This, with ſome other e of the like kind, cauſed him to be brought be- fore the police. The blind are proof a- gainſt all thoſe enſigns of power which make ſuch ſtrong impreſſions on us. He made his appearance before the magiſtrate as his equal, and without being in the leaſt intimidated by any of his threats, „What would you do to me?” ſaid he, to M. Herault. I will commit you to the * dungeon,” anſwered the magiſtrate. © As to that, Sir,” replied the blind man, 6. haye Deen in one theſe twenty-five « years.” There was an anſwer, Madam; and what a text for one, who is ſo fond of ' moralizing) THE BLIND. 5 moralizing, as your humble ſervant! We go out of life, as from a ſplendid enter- tainment; the blind man, as out of a dungeon. We may poſſibly have more pleaſure in living than he, but certainly death to him is a much leſs diſagreeable affair. 6114 1 The blind man judges of the nearneſs of fire by the degrees of heat; of the fullneſs of veſſels, from the noiſe made by liquors which he decants into them; and of the proximity of bodies, by tlie action of the air on his face. So ſenſible is he of the leaſt change in the atmoſphere, that he can diſtinguiſh a ſtreet from a turn- again. He has a wonderful faculty in de- termining the weights of bodies, and the capacities of veſſels; and of his arms he has made ſuch exact ballances, and his lingers are compaſſes ſo well known to him from numberleſs experiments, that in this kind of ſtatics, I will always wager on our blind man's head againſt twenty perſons, with all their eyes about them. The po- lih of bodies has ſcarce fewer gradations PE '.- + PE '.- + 1s LETTER ON to him than the ſound of voices; and there is no danger of his miſtaking ano- ther for his wife, unleſs he was to be a gainer by the exchange. Yet is it very probable, that among blind people, wives would be in common, or thejr laws againſt the adultereſs muſt be ſevere indeed; fo very eaſy would it be for wives to deceive their huſbands, by concert] g a ſign with their gallants. He judges of beauty hy the 8 this, however, there is no great PR; but what is not ſo eaſy to be comprehended is, that he includes in this gonjecture, pronunciation, and the ſound of the voice, J wiſh anatomiſts would inform us, whe- ther there 1s any relation between the parts of the mouth and the palate, and the exter- nal form of the face. He turns very neatly, does pretty pieces of needle-work, levels with a ſquare, and makes up and takes to pieces common machines. He is fo far Killed in muſic, as to perform a piece after being told the notes, and their value. He eſtimates the duration of time much more "PRE VLIVS more preciſely than we, by the ſucceſſion of actions and thoughts. A ſmooth ſkin, firm fleſh, an elegant ſhape, a ſweet breath, a mellow voice, a graceful pronunciation, are qualities on which he ſets a great Falue.
He married to have eyes of his own, which ſuperſeded a former intention of taking into partnerſhip with him a deaf man, to find eyes, as he, in return, would contribute ears. I could not fufficiently wonder at his ſingular addreſs in a great many things; and on our exprefling our ſurprize, © I perceive, gentlemen,” ſays he, “that you are not blind: you are a- * ſtoniſned at what I do, and why not as much at my ſpeaking?” I believe there is more philoſophy in this anſwer, than what he himſelf dreamed of. The facility with which we all are brought to ſpeak, is not a little ſurprizing. It is only by a ſeries of ingenious and profound com- binations of the analogies obſerved be- tween objects out of the verge of ſenſe, and the ideas they raiſe, that we come to annex rn DN annex an idea to many terms not repre- ſented by ſenſible objects; and, conſe- quent learning to ſpeak ſhould be more difficult to a- blind man than to any other, the number of objects, without the verge of his ſenſes, being much greater, and thus his field for comparing and combin- ing, much more limited. How, for in- ſtance, can the word phyſiognomy imprint itſelf on his memory? It is a kind of comelineſs, conſiſting in objects ſo little ſenſible to a blind perſon, that for want of its being ſufficiently ſo even to us who ſee, we ſhould be at no little loſs to ex- plain very preciſely what phyſiognomy is. If the eyes be the parts in which it chiefly reſides, then the touch can give us no infor- mation; and, beſides, what does a blind man know of dead eyes, languiſhing eyes, briſk eyes, expreſſive eyes, &c.?
I infer from thence, that we unqueſtion- ably derive great advantages from the concurrence of our ſenſes, and our organs; ſtill would it be quite another thing, did we ule them ſeparately, and never employ =: two, r THE SLING ® two, Where one alone would ſuffice. To add the touch to the ſight, when our eyes will do the bulineſs, 1s like putting to a carriage with two. horſes, already ſuffici- ently ſtout, a third, which will draw one way, while the others draw ano- ther.; As to me it has always been very clear, that the ſtate of our organs and our ſenſes has a great influence on our metaphyſics and our morality; and that our molt intel- lectual ideas, in a great meaſure, depend on the conformation and texture of our bodies, I put ſome queſtions to the blind man concerning the vices and virtues. I immediately perceived that he had a vio- lent averſion to theft; poſſibly for two reaſons, it being an eaſy matter to ſteal from him without his perceiving it; and ſtill more, perhaps, that he could be im- mediately ſeen, were he to go about filch- ing. Not that he is at any * to ſecure himſclf againſt that ſenſe which he knows we have above him, or that he is but aukward at hiding what he might ſteal. Modeſty 20 EET TER ON deſty he makes no great account of. He would ſcarce underſtand the uſe of appa- rel, were it not for the weather; and he frankly owns, he cannot think why one part of the body is covered more than a- nother; and till leſs, how, among thoſe parts, the preference is given to ſome, which, from their uſe, and the indiſpoſi- tions to which they are ſubje&, ought ra- ther to be kept free. Though living in an age when philoſophy has rid us of a great number of prejudices, I don't think we ſhall ever go ſuch a length as to ſet aſide the prerogatives of modeſty, ſo ab- ſolutely as this blind man. Diogenes would have been no philoſopher in his ac- Count.
As of all the external ſigns which raiſe our pity and ideas of pain, the blind are affected only by complaint, I have, in ge- neral, no high thoughts of their ſympathy and tenderneſs. - What difference is there to a blind man between him who is mak- ing water, and him whoſe blood is guſhing out, but makes no complaint? And we ourſelves; TIR BLIND. 28 TIR BLIND. 28 ourſelves; Mere is is our compaſſion, when diſtance, or the ſmallneſs of objects, ren- der them the ſame to us, as the want of ſight does to the blind? So near a- kin are our virtues to our manner of ſenſation, and the degree in which external things affect us! Nay, I make no doubt but that, ſetting the law aſide, many could ſooner kill a man at ſuch a diſtance as to ſeem no bigger than a ſwallow, than cut an ox's throat with their own hands. We pity a horſe in pain, and we tnake nothing of cruſhing an ant; and ſtill is it not by the ſame principle that we are moved? Ah, Madam, how different is the morality of the blind from ours? How different would that of a deaf man likewiſe be from his? And how deficient, to ſay nothing more, would our morality appear to one with a ſenſe more than we have?
Our metaphyſics and theirs agree no better. How many of their principles are mere abſurdities to us, and vice verſa? Concerning this, I might enter into a detall, which I am pretty certain would entertain 22 LETTER ON tertain you, but which a et exceptious men exclaim againſt, as profaneneſs and infidelity, as if it was in my power to make the blind perceive things otherwiſe than they do. I ſhall therefore only ob- ſerve one thing, and that, I believe, every one muſt allow: it is, that the mighty argument drawn from the wonders of na- tute, is a very weak one to the blind. The facility with which we, as it were, create freſh objects, by means of a ſmall glaſs, is ſomething more incomprehenſible to them than conſtellations, from the ſight of which they are totally excluded. That lucid globe, moving from eaſt to weſt, aſtoniſhes them leſs than a ſmall fire, which they are able to make greater or leſs: ſee- ing matter in a much more abſtra& man- ner than we, they are leſs indiſpoſed to be- heve that it thinks.
A man who has ſeen but a day or two muſt, among a blind people, either be ſi- - Jent, or be looked upon as brain- ſick. He would be every day acquainting them with ſome new myſtery, which would be ſuch. only r d Ar i only to them, and thus free-thinkers would oppoſe it tooth and nail. Might not the champions of religion greatly avail them- ſelves of ſuch q ſtubborn infidelity, which, however juſt in ſome reſpects, is yet fo very ill grounded? Be pleaſed only to dwell a little upon this ſuppoſition. It will bring to your mind, under a bot- rowed imagery, the hiſtory and perſecu- tions of thoſe whoſe misfortune it has been to find out truth in an age of darkneſs, and who 1mprudently made it their bulineſs to ſpread 1t among their blind co- temporaries; and their moſt envenomed enemies were thoſe, who, from their claſs and education, one would have thought leaſt remote from ſuch opinions: ics of the blind: I proceed to things leſs important, but more nearly connedvent vith the end of the various obſervations erery where made here ſince the Pruſſian's arrival.
Queſtion I. How can one born blind form to himſelf ideas of figures?