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Now in the face of these facts what is our duty towards our pupils? In making plans or devising methods what principles shall we adopt or what rules shall we follow? Are we to take no notice of the signs of the times and of the warnings of experience? Shall we venture to set sail against the strong current of forces which are at work shaping human activities and giving direction to business enterprises? Instead of holding fast to what is right in principle and promises in practice to level the great mass of sightless people up to a higher plane both socially and morally, shall we yield to the idle clamor of boisterous selfishness and sacrifice the interests and welfare of the many to the convenience and satisfaction of the few by temporizing and putting the easy devices of expediency in place of the sterner requirements of justice and wisdom and science and common sense? Is it prudent, is it manly, nay, is it honest to ignore the dictates of reason and the teachings of sound philosophy and to pursue a course which would tend to pauperize and degrade the blind and which would inevitably lead to the erection and support of special almshouses for their benefit, disguised under the false name of "working homes?" If we do not pursue this course, then what shall we do?

There is but one answer to these questions: we must change front. Unmoved by clamor and undisturbed by the demands of indolence and selfishness, we must show, in dealing with a most serious problem, uncompromising moral courage and unflagging honesty of purpose. We must consider and measure the need in all its phases and proportions and then strive to meet it fairly and in the best possible manner. The great task confronting us is not how to house and feed and pension a limited number of sightless individuals, nor how to gratify the wishes of those among them, who, aspiring to attain ease and comfort for themselves at public expense and without much exertion on their part, are indifferent as to the fatal results of their gain and indulge in such low views of life and in such perversions of their destiny as bring in their train demoralization and degradation. Our task is more serious than this. It is how to uplift the blind as a class, how to strengthen them and render them self-reliant and how to secure for them an appropriate place in the social ranks, in the esteem and the activities of the communities in which their lot may be cast. In other words, it is our solemn duty to do everything in our power which will enable those of our fellow-men who live in never-ceasing darkness to see through their mind's eyes, to think rationally, to judge correctly, to imagine sanely, to decide rightly, to plan wisely, to execute promptly, to sympathize broadly and to be prepared to conform with the demands and conditions of modern progress.

In endeavoring to accomplish this purpose first and above all we must realize the fact that the liberation of the blind from the captivity of dependence and debasement cannot be effected by means of manual labor or of any kind of handicraft. It is brain work that will do this. It is not technical skill nor ability to work successfully at one or more of the usual trades that will obliterate the most conspicuous effects and check the train of consequences of the loss of sight, or bring about the higher development of its victims and turn the current of their lives to a favorable direction. Verily, it is not this that will raise them in the scale of humanity and place them on terms of equality with their fellow-men, but broad intelligence, mental alertness, thorough acquaintance with the principles and rules that govern business, a firm and comprehensive grasp of affairs, general versatility and adaptability, and a power of discernment and penetration in all things. A comprehensive and liberal scheme of education is necessary for this purpose, one which will enable the' recipients of its benefits to --

Rise to their task, and, be it small or great,
Shine on it till their smile has made it bright.

This system must begin with the kindergarten and end with a completely equipped high or secondary school, bringing our graduates inside of the gates of the colleges and universities of the country for seeing young men and women. It should provide not only for physical, intellectual and ethical culture, but also for training along scientific, esthetic and humanitarian lines, and should procure for the blind, both male and female, such superior advantages as would best fit them to share in the activities of life, to enter the liberal professions, to respond to the ordinary requirements of business and to discharge successfully their duties and obligations to society in whatever sphere they may be placed. It is this alone that, by equipping every individual to reach out towards his highest and largest life, will help to create the best possible types of manhood and womanhood, and thus make a long step toward approaching the ideal which Emerson portrays in the lines quoted at the head of this section. Working homes cannot do this. On the contrary, their natural tendency is to hinder rather than facilitate the attainment of such an end. Instead of being practical solvents of a perplexing problem and permanent sources of good, they are merely expedients of temporary relief, pregnant with future evils of a social and moral character. They represent a system of alimony, which, born of ignorance and reared in selfishness, is wrong in principle, vicious in practice and pernicious in its effects. Loyalty to truth, devotion to the best interests of the blind and largeness of thought alike demand that we shall prevent the erection and multiplication not of workshops pure and simple but of special abodes for "lazy yawning drones," the occupants of which will have to be maintained in sheer idleness or in sham industry, and that we shall not shrink from the penalties which are inseparable from a conscientious discharge of duty. Be the consequences what they may, we must rise superior to the vociferations of the day and help to shape the destiny of the blind in accordance with the dictates of wisdom and justice and not in obedience to the demands of weakness and cowardice.