This allusion to "what she wishes" refers to her desire to write a book upon the condition of the blind. She had this object before her for many years, and prepared for it by accumulating statistics and information from every available source. She read the lives of blind men, books written by blind men, took copious notes, or had them taken for her, sometimes by her younger brother, sometimes by a sister. She "thought out" every statement made, every suggestion offered, with regard to the blind. Her book would have been singularly valuable. Her sound judgment, her power of looking at all sides of a question, would have saved her from the danger of forgetting that, although there are 30,000 blind in the United Kingdom, there are some millions who have the gift of sight. The book was never written, but her preparation for it made her a storehouse of information and of wise and tender thought, not only for the blind, but for all those who are afflicted and suffering.
17th May.... Saw Sir W. Reid, heard from him that a brush, with the Repository stamp, is left in the Museum at Malta; was very glad of this. Received from him £5. Heard he had seen Lord Cranbourne, and that Lord C. thought I was wrong in using and teaching T. M. L. system. I talked to Sir W. Reid of the different systems, also asked him for the names of books upon the blind mentioned to him by Lord C. Wrote to Lady Mayne to ask if she could get St. Michael's, Pimlico, lent.
Afternoon.—Went to Miss ——. Very little done there for the Association. Saw Dr. Jelf there; heard he would come to the meeting next day.
The list of letters written and embossed and duly recorded in the Journal will be omitted. They are the inevitable drudgery of such a work as she was now engaged in. Explanations, petitions, acknowledgments, inquiries, information, requests for the loan of pulpits from which the claims of the Association may be urged, of schoolrooms in which meetings can be held, all these things were part of her daily work. The sisters tell that Bessie could at this time emboss a letter upon her Foucault frame and dictate two others at the same time; always without mistake or omission.
On the 18th May 1858 the Annual Association Meeting was held, and the First Annual Report presented.
We learn from the balance-sheet that the receipts during this, the first year of accurate and formal management, had been £1784:3:11.
| Of this, subscriptions and donations amounted to | £648 1 2 |
| Balance in hand 25th April 1857 | 215 9 3 |
| Sale of goods, etc. | 920 13 6 |
| ———————————— | |
| £1784 3 11 |
There was a balance in hand at the end of the year of £118:15:1. The number of blind men and women who had been employed during the year at the Institution, or in their own homes, was forty-three.
The sum required for payment of rent, officials, teachers, and supplementary wages to the blind, amounted to £744:10:4. The annual subscription paid by Bessie was at this time £75, and in addition there is a donation of £10 for broom-making, and £2 for advertising. But the sum that appears in the subscription list is only the smallest part of that which she devoted to the service of the blind. Her private charity amongst them was at all times far-reaching and unstinted. She had many pensioners in London, and pleasant stories of them abound. There was a poor blind woman called Mary H., elderly and very lonely, whose wonderful trust and patience called forth Bessie's admiration. She ultimately procured the placing of Mary's name on the list of recipients of the Queen's Gate Money, she taught her to read, and allowed her monthly a certain quantity of tea and sugar.
One day when she came for her reading lesson Mary said:
"Oh, miss, I had such a strange dream last night!"