“None shall rule but the humble.”—Emerson.
Dedicated
TO THE
MEDICAL MEN, NURSES, AND OTHERS,
WHO, BY THEIR GENEROUS ASSISTANCE,
HAVE SO LARGELY CONDUCED TO THE SUCCESS OF THE AUTHOR’S
LABOURS
AMONGST OUR EPILEPTIC AND NEURASTHENIC POOR.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
ONCE there lived a race of men blest with very strong eyesight—so strong that they were unconscious of possessing sight at all, but accepted their marvellous endowment as a matter of course. These men were hunters, who lived on the birds and beasts they shot with their bows and arrows.
After a time our hunters learnt other arts besides that of the chase; various implements were invented; industries such as spinning and weaving were established; the primitive huts and sheds were discarded, and commodious dwellings rose in their place. But their progress was not unattended by serious disadvantages. For instance, the weavers, who passed a great deal of their time indoors, began to lose the strength and keenness of eyesight enjoyed by those who followed the chase.
At first little attention was paid to this calamity, but when some of the weavers went blind and became a burden on the rest of the community, a meeting was convened in the council-chamber called Public Opinion, the most influential members of the tribe were consulted, and certain conclusions were arrived at.
To be brief, it was decided that the malady in question was nothing more nor less than a special manifestation of the Evil One, and that the prompt execution of the sufferers was the only sure means of preventing the spread of his power. It was therefore decreed that these uncanny and mischievous weavers should at once be put to death. To ensure the conviction of all suspected parties, a mode of trial was ordered which had the advantage of being as efficacious as it was painful. So everything seemed to be made quite safe and comfortable, and the spirits of the tribe improved.
In spite of these excellent arrangements, however, some of the invalids contrived to escape the doom thus thoughtfully prepared for them. It so happened that certain of the community, who had not been invited to vote at the meeting, held firmly to the belief that, so far from being possessed by the Evil One, these dreaded weavers were divinely inspired. Just because those whose sight was impaired could not see to do the work which was close to their eyes, their advocates credited them with the ability to discern things which were beyond the range of the most powerful vision. They therefore protected the sufferers from trial and honoured them with superstitious awe.