The World As I Have Found It | Page 3

my
mind's eye, and
"So the blessed train passed by me, But the vision was sealed upon my
soul."
Through the agency of family friends I returned to my birth-place, and
with strange and mingled emotions was welcomed back to Baltimore,
with kind greetings from relatives and friends. Some had passed
beyond the portal of earthly existence, and others unexpectedly
reappeared, among whom was my father, whose face I could not see,
but whose emotion betokened great anguish at the sight of his blind
daughter. Oh how many memories must have passed through his mind,
as he clasped to his heart his chastened, motherless child, and, while
other loves and other ties were his, "the shades of friends departed" as
told by Longfellow must have entered a weird train, and amid other
angel footsteps must have come--
"That being beauteous Who unto his youth was given; More than all
things else to love him, And is now a saint in Heaven."
Notwithstanding so many former attempts at the restoration of my sight,
another effort was made, involving a trip to New York, where a most
painful operation was undergone. But, alas! although a brief period was
accorded me, in which I saw with rapture objects around me, it was
only to be shut out into utter and hopeless sightlessness. As the
wounded hare seeks some cover remote from the human ken, so did my
sinking soul seek the solace of solitude, where for twenty-four hours I
searched my nature to its depths, and made resolves for my future
course, known only to God and pitying angels. They alone comforted
me then, and they have sustained and soothed through every succeeding
trial!

CHAPTER III.
"The saddest day hath gleams of light, The darkest wave hath bright

foam near it. And, twinkles o'er the cloudiest night, Some solitary star
to cheer it."
In the year 1855, my heart still heavy with its burden of blindness, I
entered the Baltimore Institution for the Blind. With kind friends to aid
and cheer me, high hopes, rich resolutions and ambitious aims to
inspire, I commenced the course of study which was to fit me for my
new avocations. Ofttimes was I found in the deep valley of humiliation,
where I sat me down and sighed; and in many a "Garden of
Gethsemane" were seen the trickling "tears of blood." The cross and the
crucifixion came, but afterwards came the resurrection of dead hopes
and angels bearing the crown.
I must say with undying gratitude to all connected with the Institution,
that it is to them I am indebted for the might and the mastery; for while
many a daisy was crushed in my path, many a rose bloomed upon a
thorny stem, and these kind ones led me at last to the sun-crowned
mountain-tops and clear blue skies.
After being in school for three years, without consulting with any
friend, I wrote, with much difficulty, a letter with pin-type, to Governor
Hicks, asking a three years extension of time. I preserved secrecy in
this matter in the fear of disappointment, and determined if it came to
bear it alone. One day a professor called me to him and said: "You have
written to the Governor, and his reply has come." With anxious,
nervous silence, I "waited for the verdict," and when it came in an
affirmative, how happy and joyous I felt! How determined to push on
to the bright goal before me!
Meantime I had written a history of my life, and through assistance
from ever kind friends had succeeded in securing its publication. A
copy of it was sent to the Governor, as a tiny token of my appreciation
of his kindness. I afterward accompanied a delegation from our school
to Annapolis, where we gave an entertainment. The Governor, coming
up to our little group, said, in cheerful tones, "I am going to see if I can
recognize the one who wrote the book." And in pursuance of this
announcement, easily selected me, and with kindly tones and hearty
grasp of the hand, spoke many words of comfort, which are still

carefully held in my casket of gems as
"Treasures guarded with jealous care And kept as sacred tokens."
Continuing my course of studies, I graduated in 1860 with, I hope, a
fair degree of honor to myself and my instructors. Just previous to this
time there came among our many visitors a good friend from Loudon
county, Virginia, named Richard Henry Taylor, who promised if I
would visit his home he would furnish me every facility for the sale of
my book; and of him I shall have more to say hereafter.
Now commenced the real struggle of life. Alone I must brave the world,
and with patience bear its frowns or enjoy