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The next &longs;pring, I entered
upon my &longs;tudies, with a phy&longs;ician, not
more ju&longs;tly celebrated for his knowledge
of the materia medica, than for his peculiar
dexterity and &longs;ucce&longs;s, in couching for
the gutta &longs;erena, and re&longs;toring per&longs;ons,
even born blind, to &longs;ight. The account
of a cure he performed, after I had been
with him about a year, may not be unacceptable
to the lovers of natural re&longs;earch.

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The &longs;ubject was a young man, of twenty
two years of age, of a &longs;weet di&longs;po&longs;ition,
amiable manners, and oppulent connexions.
He was born &longs;tone blind. His
blindne&longs;s was in &longs;ome mea&longs;ure compensated,
by the attention of his friends;
and the encrea&longs;ed power of his other organs
of perception. His brothers and
&longs;i&longs;ters enriched his mind, by reading to
him, in &longs;ucce&longs;&longs;ion, two hours every day,
from the be&longs;t authors. His &longs;en&longs;e of feeling
was a&longs;toni&longs;hingly delicate, and his
hearing, if po&longs;&longs;ible, more acute. His
&longs;en&longs;es of ta&longs;te and &longs;melling, were not &longs;o
remarkable. After the cu&longs;tomary salutation,
of &longs;haking hands, with a &longs;tranger,
he would know a per&longs;on, by the touch of
the &longs;ame hand, &longs;everal years after, though
ab&longs;ent in the interim. He could read a
book or news paper, newly printed, tolerably
well, by tracing, with the tip of his
finger, the indents of the types. He acquired
a knowledge of the letters of the

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alphabet early, from the prominent letters
on the gingerbread alphabets of the
baker. He was ma&longs;ter of mu&longs;ic, and had
contrived a board, perforated with many
gimblet holes; and, with the a&longs;&longs;i&longs;tance of a
little bag of wooden pegs, &longs;haped at top,
according to his directions, he could prick
almo&longs;t any tune, upon its being &longs;ung to
him. When in a large company, who
&longs;at &longs;ilent, he could di&longs;tingui&longs;h how many
per&longs;ons were pre&longs;ent, by noting, with his
ear, their different manner of breathing.
By the rarity or den&longs;ity of the air, not
perceivable by tho&longs;e in company, he
could di&longs;tingui&longs;h high ground from low;
and by the motion of the &longs;ummer's
breeze, too &longs;mall to move the loftie&longs;t leaf,
he would pronounce, whether he was in
a wood or open country.

He was an unfeigned believer, in the salutary
truths of chri&longs;tianity. He had imbibed
its benevolent &longs;pirit. When he &longs;poke
of religion, his language was love to God,

[figure description] Page 084.[end figure description]

and good will to man. He was no zealot,
but, when he talked of the wonders of
creation, he was animated with a glow of
enthu&longs;ia&longs;m. You ob&longs;erved, the other
day, as we were walking on this plain,
my friend, addre&longs;&longs;ing him&longs;elf to me, as I
was intimate in the family, that you knew
a certain per&longs;on, by his gait, when at &longs;o
great a di&longs;tance, that you could not discern
his features. From this you took occasion
to ob&longs;erve, that you &longs;aw the ma&longs;ter
hand of the great Creator, in the obvious
difference that was between man and man:
not only the gro&longs;&longs;er difference between
the Indian, the African, the E&longs;quimeaux,
and the white man; but that which distinguishes
and defines accurately, men of
the &longs;ame nation, and even children of
the &longs;ame parents. You ob&longs;erved, that as
all the children of the great family of
the earth, were compounded of &longs;imilar
members, features, and lineaments, how
wonderfully it di&longs;played the &longs;kill of the

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Almighty Arti&longs;t, to model &longs;uch an infinite
variety of beings, and di&longs;tinctly diver&longs;ify
them, from the &longs;ame materials. You
added, that the incident, you had noticed,
gave fre&longs;h in&longs;tance of admiration; for you
was now convinced that, if even all men
had been formed of &longs;o near re&longs;emblance,
as not to be di&longs;cerned from each other,
when at re&longs;t; yet, when in motion, from
their gait, air, and manner, they might
readily be di&longs;tingui&longs;hed. While you
&longs;poke, I could perceive, that you pitied
me, as being blind to a wonderful operation
of creative power. I too, in my turn,
could triumph. Blind as I am, I have
di&longs;covered a &longs;till minuter, but as certain a
di&longs;tinction, between the children of men,
which has e&longs;caped the touch of your eyes.
Bring me five men, perfect &longs;trangers to
me; pair the nails of the &longs;ame finger, &longs;o
as to be even with the fingers ends, let me
touch, with the tip of my finger, the nails
thus prepared. Tell me each per&longs;on's

[figure description] Page 086.[end figure description]

name, as he pa&longs;&longs;es in contact before me,
bring the &longs;ame per&longs;ons to me one month
afterwards, with their nails paired, in the
&longs;ame manner, and I will call every one by
his right name. For, be a&longs;&longs;ured, my friend,
that arti&longs;t, who has denied to me that
thing called light, hath opened the eyes
of my mind, to know that there is not a
greater difference between the African
and the European, than what I could discover,
between the finger nails of all the
men of this world. This experiment he
afterwards tried, with uniform &longs;ucce&longs;s.
It was amu&longs;ing, in a gayer hour, to hear
him argue the &longs;uperiority of the touch to
the &longs;ight. Certainly, the feeling is a nobler
&longs;en&longs;e, than that you call &longs;ight. I infer
it from the care nature has taken of the
former, and her di&longs;regard to the latter.
The eyes are comparatively poor, puny,
weak organs. A &longs;mall blow, a mote, or a
&longs;traw may reduce tho&longs;e, who &longs;ee with them,
to a &longs;ituation as pitiable as mine; while

[figure description] Page 087.[end figure description]

feeling is diffu&longs;ed over the whole body.
Cut off my arm, and a &longs;en&longs;e of feeling remains.
Completely di&longs;member me, and,
while I live, I po&longs;&longs;e&longs;s it. It is coexi&longs;tent
with life it&longs;elf.

The &longs;en&longs;es of &longs;melling and ta&longs;te are but
modifications of this noble &longs;en&longs;e, distinguished,
through the inaccuracy of men,
by other names. The flavour of the mo&longs;t
delicious mor&longs;el is felt by the tongue;
and, when we &longs;mell the aromatic, it is the
effluvia of the ro&longs;e, which comes in contact
with the olfactory nerves. You, that enjoy
&longs;ight, inadvertently confe&longs;s its inferiority.
My brother, honing his penknife,
the other day, pa&longs;&longs;ed it over his thumb
nail, to di&longs;cover if the edge was &longs;mooth.
I heard him, and inquired, why he did
not touch it with his eyes, as he did other
objects. He confe&longs;&longs;ed that he could not
di&longs;cover the gaps, by the &longs;ight. Here, the
&longs;uperiority of the mo&longs;t inaccurate &longs;eat of
the feeling, was manife&longs;t. To conclude,

[figure description] Page 088.[end figure description]

he would archly add: in marriage, the
mo&longs;t important concern in life, how many
mi&longs;erable, of both &longs;exes, are left to deplore,
in tears, their dependence on this treacherous
thing, called &longs;ight. From this danger,
I am happily &longs;ecured, continued he,
&longs;miling and pre&longs;&longs;ing the hand of his cousin,
who &longs;at be&longs;ide him; a beautiful
blooming young woman, of eighteen,
who had been bred with him, from childhood,
and who&longs;e affection for him, was
&longs;uch that &longs;he was willing, notwith&longs;tanding
his blindne&longs;s, to take him as a partner for
life. They expected &longs;hortly to be married.
Notwith&longs;tanding his accuracy and veracity
upon &longs;ubjects, he could comprehend;
there were many, on which he was miserably
confu&longs;ed. He called &longs;ight the touch
of the eyes. He had no adequate idea of
colours. White, he &longs;uppo&longs;ed, was like the
feeling of down; and &longs;carlet he re&longs;embled
to the &longs;ound of martial mu&longs;ic. By pa&longs;&longs;ing
his hands over the porcelain, earthern, or

[figure description] Page 089.[end figure description]

plai&longs;ter of Paris images, he could readily
conceive of their being repre&longs;entations of
men or animals. But he could have no
idea of pictures. I pre&longs;ented him a large
picture of his grand father, painted with
oil colours on canva&longs;s; told him who&longs;e
re&longs;emblance it was. He pa&longs;&longs;ed his hand
over the &longs;mooth &longs;urface and mu&longs;ed. He
repeated this; exclaimed it was wonderful;
looked melancholy; but never a&longs;ked
for the picture again.

Upon this young man, my preceptor
operated &longs;ucce&longs;sfully. I was pre&longs;ent
during the whole proce&longs;s, though few
were admitted. Upon the introduction
of the couching in&longs;truments, and the removal
of the film from the retina, he appeared
confu&longs;ed. When the operation was
completed, and he was permitted to look around
him, he was violently agitated. The
irritability of the ophthalmic mu&longs;cles faintly,
expre&longs;&longs;ed the perturbation of his mind.
After two and twenty years of total

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darkness, to be thus awakened to a new world
of &longs;en&longs;ation and light; to have &longs;uch a flood
of day poured on his benighted eye ball,
overwhelmed him. The infant &longs;ight was
too weak, for the &longs;hock, and he fainted.
The doctor immediately intercepted the
light with the proper bandages, and, by
the application of volatiles, he was revived.
The next day, the dre&longs;&longs;ings were
removed. He had fortified his mind,
and was more calm. At fir&longs;t, he appeared
to have lo&longs;t more than he had gained,
by being re&longs;tored to vi&longs;ion. When blind,
he could walk tolerably well, in places
familiar to him. From &longs;ight, he collected
no ideas of di&longs;tance. Green was a colour
peculiarly agreeable to the new born &longs;ight.
Being led to the window, he was charmed
with a tree in full verdure, and extended
his arms to touch it, though at ten rods distance.
To di&longs;tingui&longs;h objects within reach,
he would clo&longs;e his eyes, feel of them with his
hands, and then look earne&longs;tly upon them.

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According to a preconcerted plan, the
third day, his bandages were removed, in
the pre&longs;ence of his parents, brothers,
&longs;i&longs;ters, friends, and of the amiable, lovely
girl, to whom he was &longs;hortly to be married.
By his reque&longs;t, a profound &longs;ilence
was to be ob&longs;erved, while he endeavoured
to di&longs;cover the per&longs;on of her, who was
the object of his deare&longs;t affection. It
was an intere&longs;ting &longs;cene. The company
obeyed his injunction. Not a finger moved,
or a breath a&longs;pirated. The bandage
was then removed; and, when he had recovered
from the confu&longs;ion of the in&longs;tant
effu&longs;ion of light, he pa&longs;&longs;ed his eye hastily
over the whole group. His sensations
were novel and intere&longs;ting. It
was a moment of importance. For aught
he knew, he might find the bo&longs;om partner
of his future life, the twin &longs;oul
of his affection, in the fat &longs;cullion
wench, of his father's kitchen; or in the
per&longs;on of the toothle&longs;s, pal&longs;ied, decriped

[figure description] Page 092.[end figure description]

nur&longs;e, who held the ba&longs;on of gruel at his
elbow.

In pa&longs;&longs;ing his eye a &longs;econd time over
the circle, his attention was arre&longs;ted, by his
beloved cou&longs;in. The agitations of her lovely
features, and the evane&longs;cent blu&longs;h on
her cheek, would have at once betrayed
her, to a more experienced eye. He passed
his eye to the next per&longs;on, and immediately
returned it to her. It was a moment
big with expectation. Many a finger
was rai&longs;ed to the lips of the &longs;pectators,
and many a look, expre&longs;&longs;ive of the &longs;ilence
&longs;he &longs;hould pre&longs;erve, was ca&longs;t towards her.
But the conflict was too violent for her
delicate frame. He looked more intensely;
&longs;he bur&longs;t into tears, and &longs;poke. At
the well known voice he clo&longs;ed his eyes,
ru&longs;hed towards her, and cla&longs;ped her in
his arms. I envied them their feelings;
but I thought then, and do now, that the
&longs;en&longs;ations of my preceptor, the &longs;kilful humane
operator, were more enviable. The

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man who could re&longs;tore life and u&longs;efulne&longs;s,
to the darling of his friends, and &longs;catter
light in the paths of an amiable young
pair, mu&longs;t have known a joy never surpassed;
except, with reverence be it &longs;poken,
by the &longs;atisfaction of our benevolent Saviour,
when, by his miraculous power, he
opened the eyes of the actually blind,
made the dumb to &longs;ing, and the lame and
impotent leap for joy.

p407-101

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