Excerpt from An Inquiry Into the Musical Instruction of the Blind: In France, Spain, and America, in a Letter to Samuel Henry Sterry, Esq. (Chairman), And the Other Members of the Committee of the School for the Indigent Blind

During the summer of 1854, I visited the Blind School of Barcelona, the most complete one of its kind throughout Spain, and was very much pleased and astonished at the amount of progress hitherto made in the education of the Blind in that Institution. The School is situated in the Platza Santa Anna, in an old convent, which has been allotted by the Government to the uses of the Corporation of Barcelona, who have established therein a very large school, divided into several sections, for the general instruction of children of young and of more advanced ages, and likewise for those afflicted with partial or total blindness. Unlike charitable schools in other countries, it is devoted exclusively to mental and musical instruction, neither food nor clothing being found, whilst, the attendance, not being compulsory, is somewhat irregular, the number of pupils depending greatly on caprice, the uncertainty of the weather, or any extraneous circumstance. The hours of attendance are nominally from nine to twelve, and from three to six, with several intermissions on fete days and holidays, which, being of frequent occurrence in so Catholic a country as Spam, make it difficult for visitors to find both masters and pupils at work.

The establishment accommodates a large number of scholars, though there are but about sixty or eighty blind pupils, who attend most irregularly. Forty-five to fifty males and twelve to fourteen females is the ordinary number that can be got together, except on particular occasions. The locale is very Spanish, being very fragrant with the fumes of garlic, and very "al fresco" as regards furniture and school accommodation.

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