Excerpt from Report of the Kentucky Asylum for the Education of the Blind (at Louisville, Kentucky): For the Year Ending November 1, 1875

We hold as a self-evident truth, that the blind, instead Of finding in their defect a barrier to these pure and lofty incentives to great thoughts and noble deeds, plead imperatively that their intellectual eyes shall be Opened to the enjoyments, the strength and the vigor that three thou sand years Of civilization have found in intellectual pursuits. If they may not perfectly rise to these great heights, they should be aided and encouraged to rise far above a state of helpless dependence - far above the degrading and demoralizing influences that are essentially a part of that state. Of themselves they cannot make a pool Of Siloam, but the Commonwealth has enacted the part of Shallum and repaired the walls Of the pool. For these reasons we gladly give our time, our labor and care, to every feasible method of instructing the blind as fully as possible, in everything that may be useful to them in enlarging, invigorating, and clearing their intellectual powers; in fitting them for the duties of citi zenship in their largest scope. One Of the ablest, most learned and most useful members of the British Parliament during the ministry of Mr. Gladstone, is a blind man - Professor Henry Fawcett. When his father waslamenting the loss of his son's sight, the sufferer said: Rejoice with me that my health is unimpaired, my purpose still strong, and my spirit as cheerful as ever. He is one ofthe foremost men of his age. Among the great thinkers of Great Britain he is now recognized as the first.

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