s. Mr. Gall continues in almost daily
attendance at the school, and will remain some short time longer,
so anxious is he to establish his system permanently in this
school. On the female side he has already pretty well succeeded;
Miss Grove, the sub-matron, and also one of the blind inmates
having qualified themselves to become teachers.

On the male side, Mr. G. has hitherto been baffled, and therefore
has asked the Committee for some extra aid. This matter is still
under consideration.... On the whole, then, I think I may now
venture to congratulate you, my dear madam, on the attainment of
the object you have so much at heart--that these poor blind shall
be enabled to read those oracles which will give them comfort in
this world and lead them to perfect happiness hereafter.

And thus cautiously and quietly, with the inevitable resistance of
officials to any change, and the caution of a Committee on their guard
against enthusiasm, and not sanguine as to results, an important change
was inaugurated. Henceforward the blind were no longer to be treated as
incurables in a hospital, capable of no instruction and able to do no
more than commit to memory moral precepts and religious truths. They
were to learn reading and writing, a door was set open that would never
again be closed. Education was shown to be possible, and work would
follow.

In August 1832 Mrs. Gilbert received the copy of a letter written by Mr.
Edward Lang, teacher of mathematics, St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh, to a
Mr. Alexander Hay. Mr. Lang had invented a system of printing for the
use of the blind, with simplifications of letters and the introduction
of single signs for many "redundant sounds." He is in favour of these
modifications, and adds:

Were not the prejudice so strong in favour of ordinary spellings of
words, I would, had I been engaged in the formation of such an
alphabet, have innovated much more extensively. But words, like
men, must carry their genealogy, not their qualifications, on their
coats-of-arms; and though this arrangement conceals many
obliquities of descent, and more than many real characters, it must
be acquiesced in, since the law of prescription in this, as in many
other cases, prevents the exercise of reason. He concludes: Most
warmly do I recommend your whole system to the attention of all who
feel interested