(f
A BRIEF MEMORIAL
OF THE LATE
  JUDGE JOHN  K.  KANE,
SENIOR VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE PENNSYLVANIA INSTITUTION FOR THE
           INSTRUCTION OF THE BLIND.
PREPARED BY DESIRE OF THE BOARD OF MANAGERS,
/
          BY   A

ROBLEY DUNGLISaN", M.D.,

    A MEMBER OF THE BOARD.
<-y<h
":t\. ;y. * 
 
MEMORIAL.
   Their late distinguished vice-president—John K. Kane—
 from the very first, took profound interest in the success of the
 Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind;  but
 it was not until  the  Fifth Annual  Meeting of  the Board of
 Managers, held on the  6th of March, 1837, in the hall of the
 American Philosophical Society, that he was  elected into the
 Board.   From the moment of his admission he became one of
 its most active, energetic, and able members.   The first motion,
 made by him on the 6th of June, was to determine what mea-
 sures should be adopted to  testify the respect  of the Board for
 Mr.  Birch,  a  great benefactor  of  the  Institution, who  had
 recently  died;  and  the result was  the tablet erected to his
 memory in the exhibition-room, and the purchase  of the burial-
 lot at Laurel  Hill.   On the 3d of  July, following, the  first
 Committee of Instruction  was appointed, of which  he was a
 member; as he subsequently was of the Executive Committee,
 the Committee of Admission and Discharge, the Committee of
 Finance, and, lastly, of the present Committee of Instruction,
 of which he still  formed part at the time of  his  decease.   In
 the year 1847, he was appointed one of the vice-presidents;
 and,  on the resignation, by Dr. Robert M.  Patterson, of the
 office of vice-president, in 1854, became senior vice-president.
   In addition to the various official positions which he occupied
 in the Institution,  he usually formed an important part of com-
 mittees on special subjects; and, when it became necessary to
 enlarge the Institution,  he  was, on the 20th of January, 1842,
 made chairman of a committee to inquire into the expediency
 of remodelling the whole; and  on the 14th  of  February, an
 organization, on a more extensive scale, was recommended by
 the committee, in conformity with a general plan suggested by
 the Board, the details of which were left subject to modification
 by the committee.  The Board,  at  the same  time, resolved,
that it was expedient to erect a " Birch Retreat,"  and that the
same committee should be charged with its organization. This 
4
" Retreat" was designed  for those  pupils  whose terms had
expired, and was the prototype of the present " Home."   On
the 21st of April, 1842, the Committee of Organization reported
a system of general arrangement and management, with a series
of revised by-laws, such as exist essentially at the present day.
The last meeting of the Board at which he appeared, was on
the 7th of January,  1858.
   A reference  to the  Minutes of the Board of Managers  ex-
hibits the many important proceedings of the Board, in which
Judge Kane was personally engaged for the promotion of an
institution for which he felt so profound and abiding  an  inte-
rest;  and yet  none  but those with  whom he  was associated
can know  how zealously and ably he co-operated with them.
There  was not, it may be safely affirmed, a single  question of
magnitude in which he did not participate, and on which  his
cultivated intellect did not shed  light, and facilitate a satisfac-
tory determination.    Although  absorbed in matters of the
greatest moment, first  in  the active exercise of his profession
as an  advocate,  and afterwards in the elevated and responsible
position of Judge of the District Court  of the  United States,
he was generally present at the meetings of the Board; and it
may be said with truth, that the  presence of no member was
hailed with more satisfaction.  At all times, and under all cir-
cumstances, courteous, gallant, and conciliating,  he was as open
as he  was fearless in the exposition of his views; ever solicitous
to avoid giving  pain, and never permitting himself to be unduly
ruffled at the honestly-entertained and frankly-expressed con-
victions of others.   The  Board  have, indeed, lost in  him  an
able, energetic, conscientious, and exemplary associate; the blind,
one who could not be surpassed in intensity of devotion to their
best interests;  and it is to commemorate the sad bereavement,
which every one connected with the Institution has sustained by
his death, that  the Board  of  Managers have directed this brief
memorial  to  be preserved in the archives of the Institution.
  At a  meeting of the Board of Managers, held on the 4th day of
March, 1858, it was resolved, that a copy of the above memorial be
appended to the  next Annual Report of the Board of Managers, and
that it be printed in  raised characters  for  distribution among the
pupils of the Institution.