We do not feel it necessary to work for the sympathy of the public, for we are already conscious of having that; but we do sincerely desire their respect, and, if freely extended, their patronage, as do any other class of people plying a legitimate vocation.

Among the throng with whom.  I have come in contact in the course of canvassing, the vexed question, paramount in the minds of the majority, and one frequently addressed to me in person.  It is:  why I do not avail myself of an Institution for the Blind, or—­as they almost universally dub it—­an Asylum in which I will be taken care of for life, almost invariably adding that they are taxed for this purpose.

I desire here to correct an impression which, in the main, is utterly false.  These institutions are (together with others) supported by the States in which they are located, and in so far as every property holder has a larger or smaller amount of State tax, they help to sustain the Institutions for the Blind among others.  These State institutions are intended only for the education of the blind, and not for their support.  For the purpose of education there are a certain number of years allotted to each pupil, according to their age at the time of admission.  At the expiration of this term they have no alternative but to go back to the poor homes of their respective counties, more unfitted to endure their privations than before they were permitted a taste of a better mode of life, and no matter how sad their sacrifices, or how bitter their trials, they are never looked after by the Institutions in which they graduate.

In their new life, however high may be their excellence in music or any other accomplishment, or how great their effort to make them available, their surroundings are all against them, consequently they lapse into a condition even worse than before their education, because their enlightenment renders them more keenly sensitive to their affliction.

But I am thankful there are so many who have courage to rise above all these obstacles, and, with a heroism known only to those who have passed through the crucible, to become noble men and women.

Another question so often arising is, can the blind distinguish colors by the sense of feeling?  To this my invariable answer has been, “I believe it to be an impossibility.”  Many insist upon the point that it is not only possible, but that they can substantiate it as a fact—­having seen it with their own eyes.

This I have, of course, no right to dispute, but in illustration of the point in question, and in proof that one can be mistaken therein, I will cite an incident that occurred in the Baltimore Institution.