Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review.
as it is to previous works from the same zealous and earnest writer . It is quite clear that Dr . Moon ' s heart is in his work , honest Avork and great Avork as it reall y is , and we rejoice to think , not only how much good his labours have effected , but
how truly these painstaking efforts of his are now appreciated b y many who take a thoughtful interest in the good and happy work of philanthropy . To lessen the sor-1-OAVS of life , to miti gate the afflictions of to-day , to soothe and to softento elevate
, and to impress those Avhom earthly infirmity has marked as its own , is ever a righteous and a sacred mission for all who have time to bestow , or means to make use of . But Avhen , as in the case before us , some patient sufferer not repining at his
oAvnincurable malad y , sets himself gallantly and devotedly to aid and improve his fellow sufferers , it is impossible but to feel the highest admiration for talent consecrated to so hi gh an end , and for the labour of a life bestowed ungrud gingly in the amelioration of the bodily , the mental ,
the moral lot of others . Dr . Moon tells us in this concise little work , the story of his endeaA'ours , in modest yet moving words . He gives us also some facts Avhich are very startling , and some statistics Avhich will be new to our readers , and Avhich
may make some of us realize for the first time how vast not only is the field of human sympath y for personal calamity , but how widel y spread is the result of evil , and of suffering in this fallen Avorld of ours . For despitethat some
, may question to-day , as the sceptic sometimes ventures to do , the moral government of God , one fact remains indelibly imprinted both on the annals of time , the trials of man , and the progress of our race , that sin and sorroAV and affliction and malad
y everywhere abound , weaknesses of bod y , weaknesses of mind , and that in them all , we still must discern , unless our eyes are blinded by the hurtful glare of hopeless unbelief , the solemn trace of that eternal government of this loAver creation by Him Avho is over all , God blessed for evermore .
It seems from Dr . Moon ' s work that that there are no less than 30 , 000 blind persons in Great Britain and Irelandand that the approximate number of blind persons in the world is not less than 3 , 000 , 000 .
Among the blind m England and Wales in 1871 , Avere 270 gentlemen Avith private means , 665 ladies , 21 clergymen , 14 Nonconformist ministers , 352 musicians , 131 shoemakers , 78 army pensioners , 135 grocers and tea dealers , 134 seamen , 331 farmers 495 agricultural labourers 275
, , miners , 441 general labourers , 122 female domestic servants , 84 laundresses , 4 law clerks , 1 engraver , and 14 watch and clock makers .
There Avere in England and Wales in 1871 , 21 , 590 blind persons . In Scotland 3 , 019 ; in Ireland 6 , 879 . Surely this is a sad catalogue . With , then , the fact of this great affliction before him , in all its acute personal pressure , Dr . Moon in 1840 , Avhen he became blind himself , and Avhen he sought to alleviate the sad tedium of visual
darkness by reading , found that the system of reading for the blind , a great resource for all , Avas very difficult of attainment . So far back it seems as 1784 , a system of embossed reading was introduced at ParisAvhen the type resembled purel
, y Italic letters , and in 1817 the large and small Roman letters were used . In 1827 , Gall ' s angular type was made use of in Scotland , and in 1837 Alston ' s Roman type Avas introduced . From that time several modifications have been arranged
in Great Britain , Germany and America . But they have all been found too difficult for the majority of the blind to decipher in consequence of numerous lines and intricate forms . Indeed , the Council of the British and Foreign Blind Association
has condemned such forms in these distinct words : " The Roman character in all its existing forms , is so complicated that it requires long education and great acuteness of touch to read it Avith ease , and its universal adoption would be tantamount
to the total exclusion of the great majority of the blind from the privilege of reading . " There have been also put forth the stenographic systems of Messrs . Frere and Lucasbut though the characters are
, simple they are burdened with numerous contractions difficult for the aged , the nervous and the uneducated to acquire and to master . Braille ' s dotted system , though easily learnt probably by the young , is unsuit-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review.
as it is to previous works from the same zealous and earnest writer . It is quite clear that Dr . Moon ' s heart is in his work , honest Avork and great Avork as it reall y is , and we rejoice to think , not only how much good his labours have effected , but
how truly these painstaking efforts of his are now appreciated b y many who take a thoughtful interest in the good and happy work of philanthropy . To lessen the sor-1-OAVS of life , to miti gate the afflictions of to-day , to soothe and to softento elevate
, and to impress those Avhom earthly infirmity has marked as its own , is ever a righteous and a sacred mission for all who have time to bestow , or means to make use of . But Avhen , as in the case before us , some patient sufferer not repining at his
oAvnincurable malad y , sets himself gallantly and devotedly to aid and improve his fellow sufferers , it is impossible but to feel the highest admiration for talent consecrated to so hi gh an end , and for the labour of a life bestowed ungrud gingly in the amelioration of the bodily , the mental ,
the moral lot of others . Dr . Moon tells us in this concise little work , the story of his endeaA'ours , in modest yet moving words . He gives us also some facts Avhich are very startling , and some statistics Avhich will be new to our readers , and Avhich
may make some of us realize for the first time how vast not only is the field of human sympath y for personal calamity , but how widel y spread is the result of evil , and of suffering in this fallen Avorld of ours . For despitethat some
, may question to-day , as the sceptic sometimes ventures to do , the moral government of God , one fact remains indelibly imprinted both on the annals of time , the trials of man , and the progress of our race , that sin and sorroAV and affliction and malad
y everywhere abound , weaknesses of bod y , weaknesses of mind , and that in them all , we still must discern , unless our eyes are blinded by the hurtful glare of hopeless unbelief , the solemn trace of that eternal government of this loAver creation by Him Avho is over all , God blessed for evermore .
It seems from Dr . Moon ' s work that that there are no less than 30 , 000 blind persons in Great Britain and Irelandand that the approximate number of blind persons in the world is not less than 3 , 000 , 000 .
Among the blind m England and Wales in 1871 , Avere 270 gentlemen Avith private means , 665 ladies , 21 clergymen , 14 Nonconformist ministers , 352 musicians , 131 shoemakers , 78 army pensioners , 135 grocers and tea dealers , 134 seamen , 331 farmers 495 agricultural labourers 275
, , miners , 441 general labourers , 122 female domestic servants , 84 laundresses , 4 law clerks , 1 engraver , and 14 watch and clock makers .
There Avere in England and Wales in 1871 , 21 , 590 blind persons . In Scotland 3 , 019 ; in Ireland 6 , 879 . Surely this is a sad catalogue . With , then , the fact of this great affliction before him , in all its acute personal pressure , Dr . Moon in 1840 , Avhen he became blind himself , and Avhen he sought to alleviate the sad tedium of visual
darkness by reading , found that the system of reading for the blind , a great resource for all , Avas very difficult of attainment . So far back it seems as 1784 , a system of embossed reading was introduced at ParisAvhen the type resembled purel
, y Italic letters , and in 1817 the large and small Roman letters were used . In 1827 , Gall ' s angular type was made use of in Scotland , and in 1837 Alston ' s Roman type Avas introduced . From that time several modifications have been arranged
in Great Britain , Germany and America . But they have all been found too difficult for the majority of the blind to decipher in consequence of numerous lines and intricate forms . Indeed , the Council of the British and Foreign Blind Association
has condemned such forms in these distinct words : " The Roman character in all its existing forms , is so complicated that it requires long education and great acuteness of touch to read it Avith ease , and its universal adoption would be tantamount
to the total exclusion of the great majority of the blind from the privilege of reading . " There have been also put forth the stenographic systems of Messrs . Frere and Lucasbut though the characters are
, simple they are burdened with numerous contractions difficult for the aged , the nervous and the uneducated to acquire and to master . Braille ' s dotted system , though easily learnt probably by the young , is unsuit-