And strength was given to her through prayerIn patience all her woe to bear,Clearly her duty to discern,And never more her life to spurn.She lived, not wrapt in selfish grief;Wherever she could give relief—In poverty, sickness, or despair,A spirit of comfort, she was there;One of that heavenly sisterhoodWho only live for others' good.
And strength was given to her through prayerIn patience all her woe to bear,Clearly her duty to discern,And never more her life to spurn.She lived, not wrapt in selfish grief;Wherever she could give relief—In poverty, sickness, or despair,A spirit of comfort, she was there;One of that heavenly sisterhoodWho only live for others' good.
And strength was given to her through prayer
In patience all her woe to bear,
Clearly her duty to discern,
And never more her life to spurn.
She lived, not wrapt in selfish grief;
Wherever she could give relief—
In poverty, sickness, or despair,
A spirit of comfort, she was there;
One of that heavenly sisterhood
Who only live for others' good.
Such words are like a feather thrown up in the air, they show the direction of the prevailing current.
For two years longer the visits to Culham and Oxford recur at frequent intervals, and there is repeated mention of the names of old friends. Every event of interest that affects them—births, deaths, marriages, arrivals, departures, promotions, bridesmaids' dresses—all are duly chronicled. Once we are told of two merry girls shut up with some of his pet MSS. by Mr. Coxe, the librarianof the Bodleian, who was too busy to join them. They emerged from his den in a state of enthusiasm which satisfied even his requirements; but they had to undergo a severe brushing from "his own clothes-brush and at his own hands," for, "learned dust as it was, we could not carry it through Oxford."
In 1847 the youngest brother, Tom, met with an alarming accident at Westminster School. By some means when preparing to act in a play his cloak caught fire, and he was almost burnt to death. Bessie used to tell how the little fellow was found kneeling with raised hands, and praying aloud, in the midst of a crowd of terrified boys, whilst the flames leapt up above his head. He was so much injured that it was more than a year before he recovered. His first letter, written with the left hand and the greater part of it unintelligible, is to Bessie. He is the little boy who was pulling daisies for her in Magdalen Gardens, and telling of their golden centres.
In 1848 Mr. Wintle died at Culham. Mrs. Gilbert was staying with him, and the Bishop with some of his daughters started at once for Oxford when he heard how serious the case had become. Mr. Wintle had expressed a special desire to see Bessie, but he was almost unconscious when she arrived. He was told that "Little Blossom" had come. "Where is she?" he asked, and with a last effort stretched out his hand towards her.
The pleasant home was henceforth closed to them, all silent and empty.
The great-uncle also passed away in 1855, and though many friends remained, yet from this time Oxford recedes, and is no longer a second home.
At this period Martin Tupper resided at Brighton; and Bessie, who seems to have sent him a copy of "The Sea Gull," received from him a letter which she valued, and a copy of "A Hymn and a Chant for the Harvest Home of 1847, by the author ofProverbial Philosophy." He wrote as follows:
Furze Hill, Brighton,23d August 1848.My dear Miss Bessie—An autograph of such affecting interest as that with which you have this morning so kindly favoured me, gives me the privilege of a letter of thanks in reply. And thank you I do very cordially; especially for having so soon and so amiably fulfilled your intention of honouring my verses with your melodious tones. When they are quite ready, I shall look forward with much interest to a manuscript copy; and I am not sure but that, some day or other, I shall run over and pay my respects at the palace, very much with the self-interested object of hearing you do justice to your own music. I am sure you will not refuse me this, especially as here we have no piano; not but that I will gotoute suiteto ask Miss Wagner or the Fraülein to give me an idea of your "Sea Gull," so as not to be altogether ignorant of the "sweet sounds" which you have married to Mary Howitt's "immortal verse." I have nothing here to offer you in return for your musical authorship, unless you might be pleased to accept "from the author" the enclosed. Pray make my best respects acceptable to your father and mother and sisters, and believe me, my dear Miss Bessie, your obliged and faithful friend,Martin J. Tupper.Miss Bessie Gilbert.
Furze Hill, Brighton,23d August 1848.
My dear Miss Bessie—An autograph of such affecting interest as that with which you have this morning so kindly favoured me, gives me the privilege of a letter of thanks in reply. And thank you I do very cordially; especially for having so soon and so amiably fulfilled your intention of honouring my verses with your melodious tones. When they are quite ready, I shall look forward with much interest to a manuscript copy; and I am not sure but that, some day or other, I shall run over and pay my respects at the palace, very much with the self-interested object of hearing you do justice to your own music. I am sure you will not refuse me this, especially as here we have no piano; not but that I will gotoute suiteto ask Miss Wagner or the Fraülein to give me an idea of your "Sea Gull," so as not to be altogether ignorant of the "sweet sounds" which you have married to Mary Howitt's "immortal verse." I have nothing here to offer you in return for your musical authorship, unless you might be pleased to accept "from the author" the enclosed. Pray make my best respects acceptable to your father and mother and sisters, and believe me, my dear Miss Bessie, your obliged and faithful friend,
Martin J. Tupper.
Miss Bessie Gilbert.
In 1849 Bessie, with two sisters and a brother, paid visits in Ireland. One of her chief pleasures was in listening to the echoes at Killarney. Wherever she went the young blind lady called out warm sympathy. On the way from Glengariffe to Cork they stopped at Gougon Barra to see the famous "Healing Well." The guide besought Bessie in the most earnest and pathetic manner to try the water, saying that he was sure it would restore her sight, and entreating her brother and sisters to urge her to make use of it.
This was the first time, since the visit to Liverpool, that she had been far from home, and she enjoyed her journey. She liked staying at hotels; the novelty was refreshing, and she liked the feeling that she also could travel and "see" the world.
The Bishop writes to Bessie on the 11th September 1849 from the "Old Ship private house," Brighton, as follows:—
Now I doubt not that you enjoyed the mountain scheme as well as any of them, and, with the aid of the mountain air, the potatoes too and milk of the cottagers, not omitting, however, I daresay, the more substantial viands which accompanied you from the Hospitable Hall. As for the wetting and all that, of course you treat that as heroines are bound to do—that is as trifles, where it is not convenient to exalt them above their true character.
Now I doubt not that you enjoyed the mountain scheme as well as any of them, and, with the aid of the mountain air, the potatoes too and milk of the cottagers, not omitting, however, I daresay, the more substantial viands which accompanied you from the Hospitable Hall. As for the wetting and all that, of course you treat that as heroines are bound to do—that is as trifles, where it is not convenient to exalt them above their true character.
The "Hospitable Hall" is that of Lismore, Archdeacon Cotton's house, where the travellers stayed for some time. Bessie's eldest brother married Archdeacon Cotton's daughter the following year, so that the visit was one of special interest.
The Bishop had now a house in London, 31 Queen Anne Street, and the family life was divided between London and Chichester. When she was twenty-one Bessie had the command of her own income. One of her first acts was to subscribe to the Philharmonic concerts. The daughter of an old friend of her parents, Mrs. Denison (now Lady Grimthorpe), lived in the same street, and also subscribed; she used to call for and take Bessie with her. The impression which Lady Grimthorpe received at that time was, first of all, "How merry she is:" and next, what an intense appreciation she had of beautiful music, and what a happy, trustful confidence in those about her. One night at the concert the gas suddenly went out, fears of an explosion were whispered about, and many persons left the room. Bessie put her hand in Lady Grimthorpe's and said: "I have no fear whatever, with you. Go or stay as you think best;" and they stayed.
She would return from these concerts so bright and beaming, and give such pleasure to her father by her animated accounts of them, that he learnt to associate her enjoyment with a scarlet cloak she then wore. He said he would have her portrait taken, and in that cloak, for she never looked so well in anything else. Some time later this was done by Sir W. Boxall, and the frontispiece to this volume represents a picture which gives as much of the spiritual beauty and delicacy of Bessie's youthful face as the painter's art can render.
"When the fire is strong, it soon appropriates to itself the matter which is heaped on it, and consumes it, and rises higher by means of this very material."—Marcus Aurelius.
"When the fire is strong, it soon appropriates to itself the matter which is heaped on it, and consumes it, and rises higher by means of this very material."—Marcus Aurelius.
Bessie Gilbert, when she was about twenty, differed but little from the sisters around her. She could read Italian, French, and German, and her mental culture had been an education of the true and best kind. She had an open mind, an ardent desire for knowledge, and a warm interest in all the ways and works of humanity. The one accomplishment possible to her was music, and from her childhood her singing and playing had given pleasure to herself and others. "She never could sing out of tune:" says a musical friend.
She readily gained friends, for she was sympathetic and kind, and inspired others with confidence. A lady, very young and shy at that time, remembers calling in Queen Anne Street, and feeling alarmed at every one except Bessie. Sitting by her side, and talking to her, the shyest were at their ease.
No hardships in her lot had up to this time come home to her. Indeed, it is very doubtful if the want of sight to those born blind or those who have lost the memory of sight, is in youth a greater conscious privation than the want of wings. By degrees a different condition is conceivable, because it is known in a certain way from description; but as no person born blind can exactly realise what sight is, or what it does, there is no conscious sense of loss. No person born blind can comprehend the nature of the impression that sight conveys. Red may be as "the sound of a trumpet," blue as the outer air, and green a something connected with the meadows and the delight of flowers and shade; but except to those who remember, the sense of sight is only a name for the incomprehensible.
Bessie did not remember, and therefore she did not know the special hardship of blindness and that sense of irreparable loss, of "wisdom at one entrance quite shut out," which is so heavy an affliction.
As the years wore on she was, however, to learn the privations that resulted from her loss of sight, although the loss itself was not, and could not be, intelligible to her.
Some day a gifted creature may tell us of the possession of an organ and a sense revealing a dimension absolutely incomprehensible. We may come to bewail our lower condition; but how without the organ or the sense will it be possible to realise the nature of the loss or the advantage of possession?
Bessie by means of fingers or ears could get at the meaning of a book. There is a third and quicker way, she is told, but how except through fingers and ears can she realise it? Up to a certain point she has gone hand in hand with sisters and brothers; if not indeed in advance of them. She reaches that point full of ardour and enthusiasm, eager to learn, to live, to work, and suddenly the way is barred. Blindness stands there as with a drawn sword, and she can go no farther.
The limitations of her condition touched her first on the side of pleasure. She could join in a quadrille at Chichester, could dine at the palace when there was a party, and "what she was to take" had been arranged in the morning. But in London there were no balls for her, no dining out except with a few very old friends, no possibility of including her in the rapid whirl of London life. She had many disappointments, and tried hard to conceal them. Only once, says a sister, did she see a swift look of passing pain, when telling Bessie about a ball from which in the early morning she had returned. It was there for an instant, recognised by the loving and beloved sister, but at once thrust away, and Bessie threw herself with more than ordinary interest into the account of the pleasures of the evening. Another sister tells how about this time Bessie began "to want to do impossible things," to go out alone in London, to go alone in a cab, and if she might not go alone, she wished to give her own orders to the cabman.
Reading and writing depended largely on the time that others could give her. Writing was a slow and laborious process. She could write in the ordinary way, but to do so she had to remember not the form of a letter but the movements of her own hand. Such writing had to be looked over in case a word should be unintelligible, and she could therefore have no private correspondents. Girls in Oxford and at Chichester had plenty of spare time, but when the family was divided, and those in London or at Chichester had the duties of their position as well as its pleasures to attend to, there grew up almost insensibly a different order of things. In childhood and youth the blind daughter was the centre of all activity and pleasure; but the blind woman inevitably recedes more and more. She no longer leads; she can with difficulty follow; and at a distance which increases as the years go on.
The five or ten years that elapse after she is twenty, form the turning point in the life of a woman, whether married or unmarried. During that period, when she begins to tire of mere pleasure, there will come either the earnest and serious view of life which shows it all golden with promise, as a gift to be used on behalf of others; or a settled drift towards the current of levity, frivolity, and self-seeking, which may carry her down to age, dishonoured and unloved.
That which caused Bessie the keenest grief at this time was the impossibility of achieving what she wished to make her life, and not the loss ofits pleasures. But it was the loss of pleasure which preceded all other privations. Her tendency was, as it always had been, towards things that were noble, and high, and good. Without any fault of her own, without any change in her own condition, she discovered that blindness would be a permanent bar to activity. Sisters began to marry and be sought in marriage. A home of her very own, a beautiful life, independent of the family life, and yet united to it; fresh interests and added joy to all; the hope of this, which was her ideal of marriage, she had to renounce.
Work in the world, even a place in the world, there seemed to be none for her. Blindness, which had been a name, was becoming a stern reality. She asked about the blind around her, those who had to earn their bread; and the same answer came from all. She saw them led up to the verge of manhood and womanhood, and then, as it were, abandoned. They were set apart by their calamity, even as she was. Their sufferings were not less, but greater than her own. Poverty was added to them, and the enforced indignity of a beggar's life.
She bore her grief alone. She could not speak of it even to those she loved most dearly, and entirely trusted. She could not consciously add to the pain she knew they felt for her. But in those early years she would often sit silent and apart in the drawing-room at Queen Anne Street, tears streaming from her eyes. Sometimes she would spend hours together upon her knees,always silent; but the flowing tears spoke for her, and with an eloquence which she little realised. The sense of want and suffering was to be for her as it is for many, the great instrument of education. Whilst so many around her were craving for something to set them above their neighbours, some gift of fortune, some distinction, she was learning the need of that which should place the poor blind on the same level as others, learning to renounce for herself and for them any higher ambition than that of being like the rest of mankind.
The distress of her parents, who could only stand apart, watch and pray for her, was very great. They did not see how help was to come, but they continued in the old course. There was no aid for the blind, no invention which they did not eagerly inquire into, since it might be the appointed means of deliverance. Their sympathy was doubtless a great comfort to Bessie in this time of trial. They may not have been able to meet her in words, but she knew their hearts, knew that they never despaired; that their past, present, and future, were alike irradiated by hope for her, and, if for her, then for all those under like affliction. There were many, doubtless, who at this time would have justified the assertion of Mr. Maurice:[5]"The first impulse of most is to say, in such circumstances, 'Hold your peace. We are very sorry for you; but in the press and bustle of the world we have really not time to think about you.We are very fortunate in possessing our senses; we must use them. To be without them is no doubt a great calamity, but it has been appointed for you; you must make the best of it.' That appears to be a very natural and reasonable way of settling the question. If the votes of the majorities ruled the world, that would be the only way."
Bessie cannot have failed to meet and speak with many of the "majority," whose quiet acquiescence in a misfortune that did not come near them, would often "give her pause."
Social questions also attracted her attention at this time. A sister remembers reading Lord Ingestre'sMeliorato her, and the intense interest she took in the question of bridging over the chasm between the rich and the poor. It was not a new question to her, this bridging over a chasm. It was that which, under another aspect, was engrossing so much of her attention. The discovery of a method, or even the suggestion of the possibility of such a discovery, would be a sign of hope.
The first ray of light, however, came through a very small chink, and not at all in heroic form.
During the Great Exhibition of 1851 her parents learnt that a Frenchman was showing a writing frame of his invention, and that by means of it the blind could write unaided. The inventor, M. Foucault, was invited to Queen Anne Street. Bessie learnt to use the frame, and soon found that it made her independent of supervision andassistance. She could write and address a letter herself; and here at last she stood in one respect on an equal footing with those around her.
She used in later years to date from the time she had the Foucault frame. A medal was awarded to the inventor, but owing to some mistake it was not sent to him. Bessie was instrumental in procuring and having it forwarded to a man whom she looked upon as her benefactor.
Her friendship with Miss Isabella Law, which lasted throughout her life, was inaugurated over the Foucault frame. A correspondence was carried on between them with regard to it, and Miss Law, blind daughter of the Vicar of Northrepps, who was preparing a volume of poetry for the press, found it very helpful, and at the same time found a dear and valued friend.
Another use which Bessie made of the frame was to write, in 1851, to a young blind man named William Hanks Levy, of whom she had heard at the St. John's Wood School for the Blind. He was an assistant teacher there, and in 1852 married the matron of the girls' school, with whom Mrs. Gilbert had corresponded in Bessie's childhood, and who had sent embossed books to Oxford. Levy did all the printing for the St. John's Wood School, and Bessie wanted an explanation of the Lucas system in use there. She could read every kind of embossed printing, and when she heard of any new system, always inquired into it. She knew at this time the triangular Edinburgh in which the first books she possessed wereprinted, Moon, Braille, the American, and several shorthand types. She could read Roman capitals and the mixed large and small hands. She always considered the Edinburgh type the simplest; but when she found how many adults lose their sight, and how slowly their sense of touch is developed, whilst in some it is not developed at all, she thought that, on the whole, it might be best to use Roman capitals for the blind, that this would offer greater facility than any other system for those who had previously learnt to read, and would present no greater difficulty to those born blind. She made no effort for the advancement of her view on this subject, and in later years always advocated the use of Moon's type for those who lose sight as adults.
Her own keenness of touch was marvellous, but then it had been carefully trained from the time that the little child sat beside her father at dessert, and poured out his glass of wine. She always knew the hands of her sisters, could tell them apart by touch, and though they would sometimes try, they were never able to deceive her. She also remembered by touch people whom she had not met for years. But she recognised that her power and that of some of the born blind was exceptional, and the development of it due to careful training.
And so her letter written to inquire into a system which she did not understand, turned her thought for a time to a question which always interested, though it never engrossed her, that ofdeciding upon a uniform type for embossed printing.
All paths are right that lead to the mountain top, provided we remember that we are going up the hill and keep ascending.
Bessie had taken this very humble path of typewriting, and it led her upwards and onwards, showing her the possibility of giving aid to others through experiments and trials of her own.
It has already been mentioned that General Sir James Bathurst was an old friend of the family; and in London his children and the Gilberts saw much of each other. Sir James's eldest daughter, Caroline Bathurst, was one of the little band of so-called "advanced" women who, about this time, 1850, were interested in every movement having for its object the development and intellectual culture of women, and the throwing open to them of some career other than that of matrimony; since matrimony was seen to be not possible or even desirable for some women, such, for example, as Bessie Gilbert.
Miss Bathurst had taken part in the opening in 1848 of Queen's College for Women, Harley Street, by the Rev. F. D. Maurice and the Professors of King's College, London. She also gave hearty assistance and furtherance to the opening of a similar institution in Bedford Square by the Professors of the University College, Gower Street. She was one of those who gave earnest and deep thought to the difficult problems of life, who was willing to work to the uttermost of her power, togive all that she had,—time, money, health, even life itself, if only she might aid in raising the condition of women and establishing them as "joint heirs of the grace of life."
No one has ever worked more ardently, more enthusiastically than she did. Over women younger than herself she exercised an irresistible fascination. Her courage, her hopefulness, her high and lofty aims, carried others as by a mighty wave over obstacles that had seemed insurmountable. She was a few years older than Bessie, had full experience of all the best that life can give, and also of the deepest sorrows. Those who have seen her will recall the slight graceful figure, broad low brow, and eyes youthful and beautiful like a child's; eyes, with love and trust and happiness looking out from them. And at this very time she was suffering from an incurable malady, and enduring martyrdom with heroic fortitude and without one murmur.
Such a friend for Bessie and at such a time marks an epoch in her life. The dear sister Mary was now married, and Mary had also seen with heart-felt sorrow that the condition of her blind sister was inevitably and painfully changed. On a subsequent visit to her old home it was she who first suggested that Bessie should give her time and money for the benefit of the blind. She urged that instead of being laid aside as useless it might be that God was preparing her for a great work on behalf of others.
Miss Bathurst was at the same time layingbefore Bessie the duty and the privilege of a career of some kind, telling of her own labours amongst the poor, and doing all that was possible to loving sympathy in order to stimulate and encourage her.
By degrees the dark cloud of depression passed away. It was to gather again and again during the course of her life, to blot out sun and sky and present happiness, but never to settle down into despairing incurable gloom.
Bessie heard from Miss Bathurst much of the poor in London, of their troubles, and of their poverty. Her own sympathies naturally led her to consider the condition of the blind poor. She began to make inquiry as to their number, the places they lived in, the work they did, their homes and social condition. Note-books full of facts and dates and numbers testify to the activity of this time. And then once again her attention was directed to the blind teacher in the Avenue Road School.
In the autumn of 1853, she was then twenty-seven years old, she wrote to ask Mr. W. Hanks Levy to call upon her in Queen Anne Street. She said she had been told that he could give her the information she wanted as to the condition and requirements of the blind.
FOOTNOTE:[5]MS. Sermon on the Blind, Rev. F. D. Maurice.
[5]MS. Sermon on the Blind, Rev. F. D. Maurice.
[5]MS. Sermon on the Blind, Rev. F. D. Maurice.
"While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good."Marcus Aurelius.
"While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good."Marcus Aurelius.
"While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good."Marcus Aurelius.
"While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good."
Marcus Aurelius.
The interview in Queen Anne Street was one of the most important events in Bessie's life.
Her feeble health, her limited opportunities of ascertaining the condition of the poor, her imperfect knowledge of their requirements and their powers, made it imperative that she should find an ally with health and energy, with experience that might supplement her own, and with equal devotion to the cause she had at heart.
W. Hanks Levy, who called at her request to tell her about the blind poor, was one of whom she had often heard, and with whom she had already corresponded. He was an assistant teacher at the school in Avenue Road, married to the matron of the girls' department.
Levy was of humble origin and blind from early youth. His education, such as it was, had been received at the Avenue Road School, but he was essentially self-taught. Outside of the narrowroutine of the school he had worked and striven to obtain knowledge, to find help for himself and others. He was a man of small stature and of slender build, with plentiful dark hair on head and face. He wore darkened spectacles, which covered the sightless eyes. His nose was large and well formed, and the mouth fairly good. All the features were marked by extreme mobility, a sensitive tremulousness often seen in the blind. It is as if they did their thinking outside. Bessie had this same tremulous mobility of feature; her soul fluttered as it were about a thought, and you saw hope, apprehension, joy, fear, or dismay when it was first presented to her.
Levy was a man of eager intelligence and generous heart. He earnestly desired the amelioration of the condition of the blind. Their disabilities had pressed upon him from his youth upwards, and upon all around him.
Living in an institution, and able to measure himself by no higher standard than that which it offered, he had not, however, realised the actual limitations of blindness. It is doubtful whether he ever did realise them. He would, therefore, have been an unsafe guide, but he was an excellent follower. He would have resented interference from those whom he called "the sighted," but he submitted to the blind lady; her nurture, training, and delicate sense of the fitness of things gave her a strong hold over him. He accepted her judgment when it was opposed to his own will, and faithfully carried out her views and wishes.
During this first interview in Queen Anne Street he told her of the various institutions in Great Britain and their work, and especially of the work done in London. At her request he investigated carefully, and obtained dates, facts, and figures that were reliable. Bessie found that the institutions for the blind provided instruction for the young, and for them only. Statistics showed, however, that by far the greater number of blind persons lose their sight as adults, from such causes as fever, smallpox, and accidental injury. They lose sight when others are dependent upon them, and when blindness means either the life of a beggar or life in the workhouse. And again she learnt that the existing institutions dismiss young men and women who have been fairly educated and taught a trade, on the assumption that, as adults, they can practise their trade and earn a living. This conjecture tells cruelly upon the blind. They leave many of the institutions with an adequate stock of clothes, and either with tools or with money to purchase tools; and then begins a hopeless struggle. Private friends diminish in numbers, and are gradually lost. The blind men and women cannot go about from place to place in search of work, cannot work without special contrivances, which are not to be found in ordinary workshops, and have no market for their goods if they work at home.
But do blind people wish to work, or would they not rather beg? asked many to whom Bessie spoke on this subject. To this she replied that shedid not know; must try to find this out. For some months, at her request, Levy went into the streets and accosted every blind beggar whom he met, asking him or her to tell the story of life to a blind man. "Which would you rather do, work or beg?" he would ask when the speaker had finished. And in almost every case the answer was "Work." "Why, I'd rather work, but how can I get work; or, if I get it, how can I do it? And where can I sell it, if I work at home without orders?"
These were the difficulties that experience brought to light, and after many months of close and patient investigation, Bessie at length saw a way open before her. "Don't work yourself to death," a friend said to her at this time. "Work to death," she said, with a happy laugh; "I am working to life."
She saw that some one must come forward to befriend the blind poor, some one who could supply material, give employment, or dispose of the articles manufactured.
Why should she not do this?
Her parents warmly approved of the course she proposed to take, and brothers, sisters, friends encouraged her. They saw that it would bring occupation and interest, which she sorely needed. They could not foresee how the little rill was to widen into a broad stream, and what far-reaching results it would have.
In May 1854 "Bessie's scheme" was started. Seven blind men were employed at their ownhomes, material was purchased for and supplied to them at cost price; the articles manufactured were to be disposed of on their account, and they were to receive the full selling price, minus the cost of material.
A cellar was rented in New Turnstile, Holborn, at the cost of eighteen pence a week, and Levy was engaged as manager, with a salary of half a crown a week, and a percentage upon the sales. The cellar was to be a store-room for materials and goods, and as the basket-makers could not bleach their baskets at home, a binn was fixed so that this part of the work could be done in the cellar. Levy recommended a young man named Farrow to put up the bleaching binn. Farrow had lost his sight at eleven years old in consequence of a gun accident. He had been educated in the St. John's Wood School, was a very good carpenter and cabinetmaker, and a man who could readily turn his hand to anything. But like many others who had left the school, he was without work or prospect of work.
He fixed the bleaching binn and arranged the cellar as a store-room without any assistance, and from 1854 to the present time he has been employed by the institution which sprang from that small dark cellar in Holborn.
Levy's theory was that no man with sight should interfere with the blind; that an opportunity ought to be afforded them of showing that their work is thorough and complete, and that they can stand alone. It may, at that time, havebeen necessary to take such a step in order to convince the general public that blind men and women could do anything at all, but the theory involves a limitation which is to be regretted.
Bessie's education, experience, and sympathy would naturally lead her to try to restore the blind to their place and their work in the world, to ameliorate their condition but not to alienate them, not to separate them from home and companions. Her own happy youth, her work in the schoolroom at Oxford, her enjoyment of the home at Chichester, all tended to prevent her from being drawn into the current with enthusiasts who looked upon the blind, less as afflicted, than as persecuted and oppressed. She had gradually learnt that blindness is a limitation which the most loving and tender care cannot entirely remove. To be blind, to be a woman, both imply considerable restrictions: but Bessie was not predisposed to consider one state any more the fault of society than the other. She would labour to remove the disabilities of either condition, but she always recognised that they were inherent, and did not arise from persecution or ill-will.
It is necessary to say so much at this time, because we shall see that in many points Bessie did yield to the judgment of one who took an extreme view; who, himself educated in an institution, surrounded only by blind people, often of a very feeble capacity, had learned to look upon himself more as a member of an oppressed and persecuted race than as an afflicted man. Levy wishedto show that the blind could do their work and manage their affairs in their own way, and that it was as good a way as any other. No "sighted" man was to interfere in the workshop. He invented a system of embossed writing, and he used to send to Chichester weekly accounts of the money paid for basket and brush material, and in wages. This money was remitted by Bessie, and when brushes and baskets were sold she was to receive the price paid for them. The liabilities that she undertook were rent, manager's salary, percentages on sale, incidental expenses, and losses. These, with only the cellar and seven blind men at work, would not be more than she could afford, and with the approval of her family she set to work bravely to sell her brushes.
The only point on which the Bishop gave advice was, that difference of creed should not be taken into consideration in selecting the workmen to be employed. He urged this very strongly, and Bessie carried out his wishes.
Levy's bills, in embossed writing, were copied by Bessie's mother and her sisters; the weekly accounts were kept by these ladies from May 1854, when the cellar was taken, until the end of the year.
In the earliest records comes the pathetic entry: "Man to see colour." This man, in spite of Levy's resolve to employ none except the blind, reappears pretty often as the "Viewer." He used to "view" the baskets and their colour.
On the 16th of August 1854 Levy's wageswere raised to 10s. per week, and at that time the cost of rent, postage, and porter for one week amounted to no more than two shillings and two pence.
The cellar was, however, found to be inadequate to the requirements of the undertaking, and it was decided that Levy should take a small house, No. 83 Cromer Street, Brunswick Square. Bessie rented one room from him at half a crown a week. It was to be used as a shop, and was known as the Repository. The cellar in Holborn was given up.
As the work of the seven blind men depended mainly upon orders, there was no great accumulation of stock, but some few specimens were on hand.
During the year 1854 Levy's accounts were copied sometimes by Mrs. Gilbert, sometimes by Bessie's sisters or her sister-in-law. They were quite clear to the two principals, but outsiders found them confused and confusing. Bessie's younger brother took them in hand and tried to reduce them to order, but the task was a hopeless one. Some bills were entered more than once, whilst others were not entered at all. To Bessie, who kept these accounts with unfailing accuracy in her head, the difficulties with regard to entries must have seemed one of the disabilities of sight. We learn some particulars as to the original plan from a statement by Mrs. Gilbert; for each amanuensis kept her own special copy of accounts.
"As much is to come back from the men formaterial as has been originally expended by Bessie for material.
"The men take material weighed out by Mr. Levy one week and pay for it the next week.
"This, with the value of the stock of material on hand, should tally with what has been originally paid for materials of mats or baskets."
Some light is thrown on the view of all concerned with regard to these pecuniary details by a letter from Levy, dated 5th December 1854, and written from
W. H. Levy'sRepository for ArticlesManufactured by the BlindBooks and apparatus for their use83 Cromer StreetBrunswick Square.
W. H. Levy'sRepository for ArticlesManufactured by the BlindBooks and apparatus for their use83 Cromer StreetBrunswick Square.
He writes with regard to a description of mat which only one man, Burr, can make, so that it will take him two or three weeks to execute an order from Brighton, wanted immediately. He asks Miss Gilbert to have the kindness to advise him concerning this matter, and says he has enclosed last week's accounts, but is "fearful through the multiplicity of business that the items, although correct in general, are somewhat confused in detail." Then follows a lengthy superscription—
I remainDr. Madam withGratitude and RespectYour obedientHumble St.W. H. Levy.
I remainDr. Madam withGratitude and RespectYour obedientHumble St.W. H. Levy.
The "confusion in detail" seems to have been considerable, and Mr. Gilbert's summary for 1854 was as follows:—
To this are added the following remarks:—
This account is only approximate. To the disbursement should certainly be added about £6 paid to Levy for himself and not entered, and one lost bill of Mandeville's (£4: 18: 6), if not more than one. The receipts also are probably imperfect.
This account is only approximate. To the disbursement should certainly be added about £6 paid to Levy for himself and not entered, and one lost bill of Mandeville's (£4: 18: 6), if not more than one. The receipts also are probably imperfect.
The wordlossis one that would not approve itself to either of those chiefly concerned. Bessie wasgivingfreely of her income, Levy was spending economically and carefully. Each knew that there was no error, though there might be irregularities which seemed considerable to those who were not primarily concerned in the great cause.
For three months in 1855 there follow a most bewildering series of accounts. Disbursements, receipts, sales, and a few donations are all entered on one page. Such a course probably induced further remonstrance fromthe sighted, and in March 1855 a more orderly system is adopted.Receipts and disbursements are neatly kept on separate pages, and confusion henceforth ceases.
We may recall that Bessie always hated "sums," and found them bewildering. She was, however, very accurate in mental calculation. She knew what money she had advanced, on what occasions and to whom. No amount was omitted or entered twice over in her memory. It was only by slow degrees that she learnt the value of written records, the nature of them, and the necessity of absolute accuracy in matters of business. Ledgers and cash books and journals at first indicated merely a certain incapacity inthe sighted; but time and experience taught her that they were indispensable.
The work of the Repository had engrossed much of her time, but in the summer she accompanied her parents and other members of the family on a tour in Scotland. She was in very good health, and walked with a brother and sister from Stirling to Bannockburn and back. Her love of early Scottish history gave her a special interest in the places visited. As they drove through Glencoe it was carefully described to her. Inverness, as being near Culloden, was specially attractive. At Oban she heard of the taking of Sebastopol, and this recalled her to the interests and anxieties of that time. She enjoyed staying at Scotch hotels; but on the whole she had derived less pleasure from the Scotch than from the Irish tour. She found nothing so beautiful as the Killarney echoes, and missed thewarm-hearted sympathy and genuine interest of the Irish peasantry and guides.
The one point that stood out pre-eminent as the outcome of her visit to Scotland was her inspection of the School for the Blind in Edinburgh. The work done there gave her many ideas, inspired many hopes and plans. But she saw more clearly than ever that her scheme was a new departure, and returned with confidence in her own power, and that of her blind workmen, to carry it forward.
... "From the cheerful ways of menCut off, and for the book of knowledge fairPresented with a universal blankOf nature's works."...—Milton.
... "From the cheerful ways of menCut off, and for the book of knowledge fairPresented with a universal blankOf nature's works."...—Milton.
... "From the cheerful ways of menCut off, and for the book of knowledge fairPresented with a universal blankOf nature's works."...—Milton.
... "From the cheerful ways of men
Cut off, and for the book of knowledge fair
Presented with a universal blank
Of nature's works."...—Milton.
We must remember that Bessie's scheme was at first a private matter, and that there is no reason why a blind lady's accounts should be kept like a tradesman's books. Bessie Gilbert had arranged that her weekly bills should be copied by members of her family rather for their information than for her own. So far as she was concerned she could remember what she gave, and had only to take care not to exceed her income. This seemed at first a simple matter, but before long the increased expenditure in connection with "the Repository" began to be a source of anxiety. The sale of goods entailed very serious loss. The workmen received the full selling price of articles minus the cost of material, and Bessie bore all charges and expenses, so that any considerable development of the trade would have left the promoter of it penniless.
Moreover, it was inexpedient to pay workmen as wages what was in reality a gift. If they had received trade prices they could not have lived on what they earned. Their work was much slower than that of the sighted, and they had less of it. These conditions made the scheme an experiment; and in the meantime the difficulty of the workmen was surmounted by giving them everything.
They executed an order for the trade or for an individual when it was obtained, lived on the money, and waited for another order. This seemed inevitable at the time; but the mistake was that for many years the men considered the large sums paid as wages to be really their due. Now if wages had from the first been fixed on the ordinary scale, and an additional sum given as bonus, many subsequent difficulties might have been avoided.
About five-sixths of the articles produced by the seven workmen were sold in the trade at a discount of from 25 to 40 per cent, the latter being the ordinary sum demanded and allowed. A further discount of 25 per cent was allowed to the blind salesman. Thus a deficiency of from 50 to 65 per cent had to be made up on all articles sold to the trade, to which must be added the cost of rent, manager's salary, printing, porters, etc.
To the blind lady and her assistant the only method that suggested itself for the reduction of expenses was, that the articles manufactured should be sold to the public and not to the trade.They must have, not a repository but a shop, and a shop in a public thoroughfare. They must make appeals forcustom, and then income would suffice for the expenses of management. It is doubtful whether Bessie ever wrote a letter after 1855, save to members of the family, without an allusion to the urgent need of customers.
The work of the institution grew steadily, the number of applicants for work increased. In reply to appeals for custom, donations were beginning to come in, offers of subscription also, and it was evident that the enterprise, begun in the cellar, was to grow and develop. Bessie found that to make provision for supplying work, only in the homes of the blind, would seriously restrict the industries to be carried on, some of which required a special workshop. She saw that much more would be done for the blind in a shop or factory, where they would find the requisite material, often bulky as well as costly, and the requisite appliances. These could not be provided in the single room of a blind man with a wife and family. There was also a daily increasing demand amongst the blind, not for charity but for work. It was not men only who applied. Poor, respectable women, condemned by blindness and poverty either to beggary or the workhouse, began to turn to her, to implore her to save them also, to teach them a trade, and enable them to earn an honest living. The opportunity for the employment of women was not to come for a year or two, but the appeal issued on the behalf of work for blindmenwas changed to one on behalf of blindpersons.
After six months in the Holborn cellars and eight months in the little room in Cromer Street, it was decided that Levy should take a house and shop at 21 South Row, New Road (now Euston Road), and that in the first instance four rooms should be rented by Bessie at £26 a year. Levy was henceforward to receive 12s. 6d. a week as manager, and his wife was to serve behind the counter and to have, as a temporary arrangement, 25 per cent on all articles sold in the shop.
This increase in the expenses made it necessary that Bessie should obtain help from the outside public; and the change of her work from a private to a public undertaking was anxiously discussed in her own home.
The Bishop urged that there should be a Committee of Management as soon as subscriptions were asked for; and pointed out to his daughter the responsibility of administering money belonging to others. Having done this he left the matter in her hands, and she, like a dutiful child, submits her case when she has come to a decision. She writes on her Foucault frame in July 1855, from 31 Queen Anne Street:—
My dear Papa—I wanted to have spoken to you about what I am now going to write, but had no good opportunity before you went. The situation of the shop in Cromer Street stands very much in the way of the sale of my mats and baskets. No one goes into that street unless they go on purpose, therefore I am sure itwould be better to move into a really good situation, which I cannot do without subscriptions.Mr. Taylor has said a good deal about the situation being a great hindrance to the sale of the work, so have several people, so now what I wish to tell you is that if you see nothing to the contrary in the meantime, I shall begin on Monday to ask for subscriptions. I have three promises, four rather, and I know I should soon get more.... I remain, ever your dutiful and loving child,Bessie Gilbert.You see I have taken rather for granted that you would have no objection, and so as there is not much time now before we go, I said Monday; as I thought it would be better to begin as soon as I could.
My dear Papa—I wanted to have spoken to you about what I am now going to write, but had no good opportunity before you went. The situation of the shop in Cromer Street stands very much in the way of the sale of my mats and baskets. No one goes into that street unless they go on purpose, therefore I am sure itwould be better to move into a really good situation, which I cannot do without subscriptions.
Mr. Taylor has said a good deal about the situation being a great hindrance to the sale of the work, so have several people, so now what I wish to tell you is that if you see nothing to the contrary in the meantime, I shall begin on Monday to ask for subscriptions. I have three promises, four rather, and I know I should soon get more.... I remain, ever your dutiful and loving child,
Bessie Gilbert.
You see I have taken rather for granted that you would have no objection, and so as there is not much time now before we go, I said Monday; as I thought it would be better to begin as soon as I could.
To this the Bishop replied:
Palace, Chichester,6th July 1855.My dear Bessie—Your letter was nicely written, and I read it for myself very fluently. If it must be so, it must; indeed you could not launch into a high-rented house without subscribers. You may put me down low in the list for five pounds [£5] a year. I do not think you will do very much now until next spring, but you may make a beginning. It will grow under God's blessing. You must let me know, before I go into the North, what sum must be left accessible at Hoare's for the wants of E. M. M. G. Levi and Co.—I am, my dearest Bessie, yr. ever affectionate father,R. T. Cicestr.
Palace, Chichester,6th July 1855.
My dear Bessie—Your letter was nicely written, and I read it for myself very fluently. If it must be so, it must; indeed you could not launch into a high-rented house without subscribers. You may put me down low in the list for five pounds [£5] a year. I do not think you will do very much now until next spring, but you may make a beginning. It will grow under God's blessing. You must let me know, before I go into the North, what sum must be left accessible at Hoare's for the wants of E. M. M. G. Levi and Co.—I am, my dearest Bessie, yr. ever affectionate father,
R. T. Cicestr.
On the 13th July Bessie writes again from Queen Anne Street:
My dear Papa—I would not be troublesome if I could help it, but I cannot help it. I do think it would be well for my undertaking to form a Society, and I want to know if I may set to work to do whatever I cantowards it. I send you a list of the people Henrietta [a sister] and I have thought of for the Committee. Would you mention any you think advisable? Of course I cannot tell that any named in this list will agree to the proposal, so that it will be well to be prepared with a good choice. Mr. Green and Mr. Futvoye I am sure of, and Mr. Green will subscribe five guineas a year. I am very anxious to get all this settled before leaving this year, and as people will be leaving town soon, when once I have your sanction I shall write to the people thought of, to ask them whether they will undertake it. Of course there will only be a few who will really work, but we must have names besides. I send you a copy of the proposed rules. My notion is not to have a public meeting this year, but only to let the Committee meet, and to hire a room for this purpose. Levy suggested that Mr. Taylor should visit the workmen at their homes. I think he would do this well. Our love to mamma. We hope she is better.—Your loving, dutiful child,Bessie Gilbert.
My dear Papa—I would not be troublesome if I could help it, but I cannot help it. I do think it would be well for my undertaking to form a Society, and I want to know if I may set to work to do whatever I cantowards it. I send you a list of the people Henrietta [a sister] and I have thought of for the Committee. Would you mention any you think advisable? Of course I cannot tell that any named in this list will agree to the proposal, so that it will be well to be prepared with a good choice. Mr. Green and Mr. Futvoye I am sure of, and Mr. Green will subscribe five guineas a year. I am very anxious to get all this settled before leaving this year, and as people will be leaving town soon, when once I have your sanction I shall write to the people thought of, to ask them whether they will undertake it. Of course there will only be a few who will really work, but we must have names besides. I send you a copy of the proposed rules. My notion is not to have a public meeting this year, but only to let the Committee meet, and to hire a room for this purpose. Levy suggested that Mr. Taylor should visit the workmen at their homes. I think he would do this well. Our love to mamma. We hope she is better.—Your loving, dutiful child,
Bessie Gilbert.
The Bishop's reply has not been preserved; but as the first Committee consists of persons selected from the list furnished, he probably had few changes to suggest, and in forming a committee Bessie was carrying out advice he had previously given.
An appeal to the public was drawn up by her, of which the following is a copy. On the reverse was a list of goods made by the blind, with prices. The public was informed that these articles were superior in durability and equal in price to those ordinarily offered. It was hoped that the circumstance of their being entirely made by blind men would induce purchasers toencourage the industry of those who labour under peculiar disadvantages in obtaining employment.
ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTINGTHE GENERAL WELFARE OF THE BLIND.In addition to the many difficulties which the loss of sight imposes on all blind persons, those whose livelihood depends upon their own exertions labour under three great disadvantages.1. Comparatively few have an opportunity of acquiring a trade.2. The trades taught are very few in number.3. Those who have acquired an industrial art rarely obtain constant employment or a market for their manufactures.In consequence of these difficulties great numbers are reduced to a state of beggary and degradation. These would, as a class, be only too thankful to be enabled practically to refute the prevailing idea that a life of pauperism, or at best of dependence upon almsgiving, is an inevitable necessity of their condition. It is surely the duty of the community at large to afford them an opportunity of so doing, and thus enable them to take their right position as active and useful members of society.An undertaking was set on foot in May 1854 by a blind lady to ensure regular employment to blind working men. This has been gradually extended, so that the number now employed is fourteen; and a department for teaching new trades has been added, at which there are six pupils, particular attention being paid to the instruction of those who, on account of age, are ineligible for admission to other institutions. The mental and religious welfare of the blind is also sought; and a circulating library of books in relief type has beenestablished, to which the indigent are admitted free of charge.To secure the continuance of the above undertaking, and in the hope of its becoming, under God's blessing, gradually enlarged, and eventually to a great extent a self-supporting National Institution, an Association is now formed under the above title, whose Committee, including the original promoter of the undertaking, earnestly solicit the active support of all who acknowledge its claims on the sympathy of the public.
ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTINGTHE GENERAL WELFARE OF THE BLIND.
In addition to the many difficulties which the loss of sight imposes on all blind persons, those whose livelihood depends upon their own exertions labour under three great disadvantages.
1. Comparatively few have an opportunity of acquiring a trade.
2. The trades taught are very few in number.
3. Those who have acquired an industrial art rarely obtain constant employment or a market for their manufactures.
In consequence of these difficulties great numbers are reduced to a state of beggary and degradation. These would, as a class, be only too thankful to be enabled practically to refute the prevailing idea that a life of pauperism, or at best of dependence upon almsgiving, is an inevitable necessity of their condition. It is surely the duty of the community at large to afford them an opportunity of so doing, and thus enable them to take their right position as active and useful members of society.
An undertaking was set on foot in May 1854 by a blind lady to ensure regular employment to blind working men. This has been gradually extended, so that the number now employed is fourteen; and a department for teaching new trades has been added, at which there are six pupils, particular attention being paid to the instruction of those who, on account of age, are ineligible for admission to other institutions. The mental and religious welfare of the blind is also sought; and a circulating library of books in relief type has beenestablished, to which the indigent are admitted free of charge.
To secure the continuance of the above undertaking, and in the hope of its becoming, under God's blessing, gradually enlarged, and eventually to a great extent a self-supporting National Institution, an Association is now formed under the above title, whose Committee, including the original promoter of the undertaking, earnestly solicit the active support of all who acknowledge its claims on the sympathy of the public.
Then follow the names of the first Committee.
The projected Committee seems not to have acted in 1855, as at the end of the year the account-book shows no sign of the supervision of auditors.
Her efforts on behalf of the blind met with grateful recognition. Amongst the letters which she valued and preserved is one which belongs to this period; it was probably written in the winter of 1855-56. The paper is old and ragged, doubtless the letter has often been read aloud to her and to others. It is undated, and for obvious reasons unsigned, the blind workmen could not write their names; orthography and punctuation are uncertain, and capital letters scattered at random. The scribe employed wrote badly and spelt imperfectly, but no doubt the letter was a genuine one, the outcome of warm thoughsomewhat incoherent feelings of gratitude and affection. She to whom it was addressed knew this, and prized the poor letter accordingly. The spelling is now corrected, and some punctuation attempted in order not too greatly to bewilder the reader.
The humble address of Blind Workmen employed bytheir benefactor Miss Gilbert to the Same.Madam—We the recipients of your bounty beg permission to be allowed to express our gratitude collectively for the benefits we have received from the Society instituted and under your governance. With the deepest feelings of gratitude we have to thank you for the great assistance during the last severe winter and the constant support we have when no other work was to be procured. We look upon this society as a time arrived in which our Heavenly Father has placed in your hands the deliverance of the blind from the worst of their afflictions, namely the Sting of Poverty. Madam, we are assured it is a difficult undertaking and must be a great trouble to contend with Tradesmen and to show forth our capabilities. We must acknowledge that it is moved by God's influence. It is what has been wanted since England has been a nation, for a country so great not to employ their own blind in a permanent manner appears to be a thing which no one till the present ever attempted. We have considered that the truest manner to show our gratitude and Satisfaction for the benefits received would be allowed to present a small permanent testimonial which shall impress on all minds the great blessing conferred upon us, and how thankfully it is received by your humble Servants.
The humble address of Blind Workmen employed bytheir benefactor Miss Gilbert to the Same.
Madam—We the recipients of your bounty beg permission to be allowed to express our gratitude collectively for the benefits we have received from the Society instituted and under your governance. With the deepest feelings of gratitude we have to thank you for the great assistance during the last severe winter and the constant support we have when no other work was to be procured. We look upon this society as a time arrived in which our Heavenly Father has placed in your hands the deliverance of the blind from the worst of their afflictions, namely the Sting of Poverty. Madam, we are assured it is a difficult undertaking and must be a great trouble to contend with Tradesmen and to show forth our capabilities. We must acknowledge that it is moved by God's influence. It is what has been wanted since England has been a nation, for a country so great not to employ their own blind in a permanent manner appears to be a thing which no one till the present ever attempted. We have considered that the truest manner to show our gratitude and Satisfaction for the benefits received would be allowed to present a small permanent testimonial which shall impress on all minds the great blessing conferred upon us, and how thankfully it is received by your humble Servants.
There is nothing to indicate the nature of the "permanent testimonial," nor that it was ever presented; but the wish to make some return forbenefits received, and the gratitude for work done on their behalf, could not fail to encourage the blind lady.
She had now the moral support of her Committee, but there was at this time no Association, properly so called. No rules had been drawn up, there were no Committee Meetings, and Bessie had not only to "contend with tradesmen," but to conduct in the best way she could "the sale of my mats and baskets."
Levy was strongly impressed with the necessity of showing the capacity of the blind, their power as well as their desire to work. It was necessary to ascertain what trades it was possible for them to follow, what trades were open to them, and under what conditions. He had found by his own inquiry that the greater number of the blind poor were willing to work; he now occupied himself, with Bessie's approval, in making experiments in various handicrafts.
She had acquiesced in his wish that none but blind persons should be employed in the Institution, and that no trades should be carried on there except such as the blind could work at unaided. Her own experience, as well as the theory of her parents, had shown that more can be done for the blind by including them with, than by separating them from the sighted. But the argument to which she yielded was one often urged by Levy: that it would be impossible to interest the public in the scheme, unless the blind worked unaided, and it was made clear that they were capable offollowing a trade. He also urged, and with more reason, that the teacher of the blind should be a blind man, who knows from his own experience the difficulties and the limitations of blindness, and who has overcome them; for the teacher who knows these only from theory will not have so intelligent an appreciation of them, nor be so likely to discover the aids required by the blind.
No one could have worked with more enthusiasm or energy than Levy himself. He learnt trades and tried experiments with tools, introduced brush-making, and prepared the way for the great development which he and Bessie now foresaw. She also was not idle; the possibility of employing women was always before her, and she made experiments with regard to occupations that might be suitable for them.
Her private scheme was now about to expand into an Association managed by a Committee. Before the final step was taken she wished to secure all the objects for which she had hitherto laboured, and to prepare for the changes which were imminent. She endeavoured to obtain friends and allies, and the success which attended her efforts was no doubt in part owing to the fact that she was the daughter of a bishop and was herself blind. She was spared the long and weary search for patrons and support to which many are condemned. Her name, her position, her privation, secured immediate attention from those who were able to give both money and influence. So great was her success, that in thewinter of 1855 she decided, all the necessary preliminaries having been arranged, to appeal to the Queen.
In January 1856 she sent to the Queen an autograph letter, written on her Foucault frame, and with the consent of Her Majesty the correspondence is now reproduced:
Madam—The loving care ever shown by your Majesty for the welfare of your subjects, together with the benevolent interest which your Majesty and your Royal Consort are so well known to take in works of mercy, have emboldened me most humbly to pray for the gracious condescension of your Majesty and your Royal Consort towards an undertaking for employing the blind which has been carried on during the past year and a half, on so limited a scale that but very few have derived benefit from it. Being myself blind, I have been led to take a deep interest in the blind, of whom there are stated to be twenty-seven thousand in Great Britain and Ireland, out of which number but a small proportion can be received into the existing institutions, on leaving which many even of this number are reduced to beggary from the difficulty they find in obtaining employment. Could the endeavour to remedy this evil become truly national, the condition of the blind, as a class, would, with the blessing of God, be materially raised and improved, and this nothing could so effectually ensure as the sanction and gracious patronage of your Majesty and of your Royal Consort. The plan of the undertaking for which I have ventured humbly to plead with your most gracious Majesty, is to ensure to the blind workman a fixed sum weekly, in remuneration for his labour; and also to teach those too old for admission into institutions, some trade. Should your Majesty be pleased of your gracious condescension to grant this request, the hearts of yourMajesty's blind subjects will be ever bound to your Majesty in love and gratitude.—Your Majesty's most dutiful, loyal, devoted, humble servant,E. M. Gilbert.
Madam—The loving care ever shown by your Majesty for the welfare of your subjects, together with the benevolent interest which your Majesty and your Royal Consort are so well known to take in works of mercy, have emboldened me most humbly to pray for the gracious condescension of your Majesty and your Royal Consort towards an undertaking for employing the blind which has been carried on during the past year and a half, on so limited a scale that but very few have derived benefit from it. Being myself blind, I have been led to take a deep interest in the blind, of whom there are stated to be twenty-seven thousand in Great Britain and Ireland, out of which number but a small proportion can be received into the existing institutions, on leaving which many even of this number are reduced to beggary from the difficulty they find in obtaining employment. Could the endeavour to remedy this evil become truly national, the condition of the blind, as a class, would, with the blessing of God, be materially raised and improved, and this nothing could so effectually ensure as the sanction and gracious patronage of your Majesty and of your Royal Consort. The plan of the undertaking for which I have ventured humbly to plead with your most gracious Majesty, is to ensure to the blind workman a fixed sum weekly, in remuneration for his labour; and also to teach those too old for admission into institutions, some trade. Should your Majesty be pleased of your gracious condescension to grant this request, the hearts of yourMajesty's blind subjects will be ever bound to your Majesty in love and gratitude.—Your Majesty's most dutiful, loyal, devoted, humble servant,
E. M. Gilbert.
Perhaps at this point one may venture to call attention to the fact that a person born blind or blind in early life can seldom spell quite correctly. The training of the eye tells for much in the English language, and the unaided memory cannot be relied upon. Bessie's autograph letters are rarely free from defects; and the letter here copied may have been discarded when it was found on supervision to containadmitionfor admission,Concertfor Consort, and one or two other trifling inaccuracies. Some of her intuitions in spelling—only think in how many cases a blind person's spelling must be intuitive—are delightful. She gives instruction for a letter to be written to the Rector of Marlbourne, our old friend Marylebone, and speaks of a statement she remembers in De Feau.
The autograph letter to the Queen was duly corrected, no doubt, and despatched. It elicited the following reply from Colonel Phipps:
To Miss Gilbert.Windsor Castle,15th January 1856.Madam—I have received the commands of Her Majesty the Queen to inform you in reply to your application, dated the 11th instant, that that paper does not contain sufficient intelligence with regard to the institution which you advocate, to enable Her Majesty to form any judgment upon it.I am therefore directed to request that you will have the goodness to forward to me the prospectus of the institution in question, containing the particulars of its objects, locality, and mode of management, and also an account of its financial position, including a balance-sheet of its income and expenditure. I shall have then an opportunity of bringing the question fully under the consideration of Her Majesty.—I have the honour to be, Madam, your obed. humble servt.,C. B. Phipps.
To Miss Gilbert.
Windsor Castle,15th January 1856.
Madam—I have received the commands of Her Majesty the Queen to inform you in reply to your application, dated the 11th instant, that that paper does not contain sufficient intelligence with regard to the institution which you advocate, to enable Her Majesty to form any judgment upon it.
I am therefore directed to request that you will have the goodness to forward to me the prospectus of the institution in question, containing the particulars of its objects, locality, and mode of management, and also an account of its financial position, including a balance-sheet of its income and expenditure. I shall have then an opportunity of bringing the question fully under the consideration of Her Majesty.—I have the honour to be, Madam, your obed. humble servt.,
C. B. Phipps.
This letter was the most valuable contribution yet received, and the suggestion of a balance-sheet the most practical thing done on behalf of the scheme.
There was immediate and anxious effort to comply with the suggestions made, and on the 1st of February the details, dignified by the title of "a Report" with such balance-sheet as could be produced, was forwarded to Her Majesty. The reply of Colonel Phipps was again prompt, and as Bessie justly considered it, "very gracious."
To Miss Gilbert.Windsor Castle,4th February 1856.Colonel Phipps presents his compliments to Miss Gilbert. He has laid the papers relative to her scheme for the employment of the blind before Her Majesty the Queen, and has received Her Majesty's commands to forward to her the accompanying cheque for £50 towards the funds of this establishment, which promises to be so useful to persons labouring under privation which particularly entitles them to compassion.Should the plan prove successful, as Her Majesty hopes it may, and have the appearance of becoming permanent, Colonel Phipps is commanded to requestthat a further report may be made through him to Her Majesty.
To Miss Gilbert.
Windsor Castle,4th February 1856.
Colonel Phipps presents his compliments to Miss Gilbert. He has laid the papers relative to her scheme for the employment of the blind before Her Majesty the Queen, and has received Her Majesty's commands to forward to her the accompanying cheque for £50 towards the funds of this establishment, which promises to be so useful to persons labouring under privation which particularly entitles them to compassion.
Should the plan prove successful, as Her Majesty hopes it may, and have the appearance of becoming permanent, Colonel Phipps is commanded to requestthat a further report may be made through him to Her Majesty.
The kindly hand thus held out by the Queen to her blind subjects gave a great and valuable impetus to the work. The Duchess of Gloucester sent a donation through Colonel Liddell. Subscribers and donors came forward in sufficient numbers to show that if blind men wanted work, both work and wages would be provided.