ial in case this same gentleman were thrown for the first time in the
presence of an equal number of society ladies, who could see if it would
be possible for him to address a similar remark to them, without being
charged with rudeness and presumption, or if it were not even questionable
whether he would dare to address them in such a way at all--and we,
although blind, felt that we had the right to demand the same deference
and respect. It is almost needless to say that I was fully exonerated from
all blame, and honorably discharged from the presence of my interrogator.

In the course of my travels I am ofttimes asked if I desire my meals sent
to my room, presupposing, as would be naturally inferred, the possibility
of great awkwardness in my manner of eating; hence I invariably decline
this offer of privacy, as there need be nothing in our manner of eating at
all _outre_ or disagreeable.

It is of course necessary to have a graceful attendant, and my first great
care is to instruct my guide in all the phases of table ministration,
which are more varied and important than is discernible to those who can
see.

I also take great pains to instruct them in the art of walking with me
properly; never allowing them to _tell_ me how to proceed, but to give me
a tacit understanding _of_ their movements in order to direct my own, and
this system in my own experience has been reduced to a science.

Many persons feel that it is far more sad and terrible to have once
possessed sight, and afterward to become blind, than never to have seen at
all, but I cannot agree with them, and will never cease to be grateful
that until I was twelve years old, I could grasp, through sight, the
unfolding beauties of nature and art, which are now so often reproduced
that I can see all the manifold loveliness spread out before me, and for a
season forget that I am blind. Those who are born in blindness, are, to a
great extent, denied this pleasure, for it is almost impossible through
the imagination to form any adequate conception of "things seen."

One of the most deplorable results of blindness is the fact that so many
of its victims condescend to the degradation of beggary, thus bringing
disgrace upon those who try to make an honorable living. I once had
occasion to go into a prominent Express Office of Chicago upon important
business of my own. The agent discovering that I was blind, and in evident
anticipation of a draught upon his pocket, re