Biography of the blind Author:James Wilson Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: (cultivating active benevolence, or a just appreciation of real worth. In contrasting the characters of Tom Jones and Sir Charles Grandison, with those of the Du... more »ke of Sully and Lord Clarendon, we observe a striking difference between the real and fictitious personages ; yet, the mere novel reader is neither improved nor amused in reading the lives of these illustrious characters, while the tear of sympathy steals down his cheek, as he pores over the imaginary sufferings of the heroes and heroines of romance. There are, I know, many novels to which the above observations do not apply, particularly some of modern date, which are very superior to those above mentioned ; but still the best, even of these, present overcharged pictures of real life, and, in proportion as they are fascinating, they indispose the mind to more serious reading. I now engaged with Mr Gordon, Editor of the Belfast News-Letter, to deliver the papers to subscribers on the days of publication. Half a dozen papers, and two shillings per week, were my wages in this service. The papers I lent to tradesmen at a halfpenny an hour, and when the time allotted to the first set of customers was expired, it afforded me an agreeable exercise to collect and distribute them to others. While in this employment, I had sometimes to go four or five miles into the country, but, having an accurate knowledge of the surrounding neighbourhood, and being well acquainted with every gentleman's seat in the vicinity of Belfast, however remotely situated from the public road, I was able to execute my business with exactness and despatch. I hope the account of the following adventure willbe acceptable to my readers, as it will illustrate what I have said, respecting my perambulations through the town and neighbourhood where I was rea...« less