No. CONTENTS OF VOL. II. XV. Critical Remarks on "The Judgment, a Vision," a Poem by Mr. Hillhouse of New York XIX. The Valley of the Rye, a Tale, continued XX. On the Blindness of Homer, Ossian, and Milton. XXI. The Valley of the Rye, a Tale, concluded XXII. Remarks on Social Worship-The Village- EVENINGS IN AUTUMN. No. XII. Non est miserum esse cœcum; miserum est cœcitatem non posse ferre: Et sanè haud ultima Dei cura cœci sumus: Illos memorem, vetustatis ultimæ priscos vates, ac sapientissimos. MILTON. Τυφλὸς ἀνήρ οἰκεῖ δὲ Χίω ἐνὶ παιπαλοέσση. HOMER. It is not miserable to be blind; he only may be considered as miserable who cannot endure blindness with resignation. To be blind, indeed, is to be placed more immediately under the providence of God. I might record as instances, a few of the wisest and most ancient bards of antiquity. Lo! the blind bard of Chio's rugged isle! Of all the bodily deprivations to which man is subjected in his passage through this transitory life, perhaps the one which most renders him an object of commiseration, as placing him most entirely at the mercy of others, is the loss of sight. More especially do we feel the highest degree of interest mingled with our pity, where this misfortune has fallen to the lot of those who have been distinguished for their virtues and their talents, and who, had it not been for the intervention of this disaster, had retained, to the last, the full possession of that influence and independency, to which a high order of intellect, in combination with perfect bodily power, had previously conducted them. There is, however, almost constantly to be found under every visitation of providence, and as arising directly from the very nature of the infliction, something of a compensatory and alleviating cast; and, in the instances to which I have alluded, if failure of sight lead, as it almost necessarily must do, in numerous particulars, to a helpless subserviency to the will of others, it is, at the same time, generally accompanied by the most decided manifestations, on the part of relatives and friends, of increasing assiduity and regard; while in the estimation |