DUMB AXD DEAF. 



*.A 1 IIFHE is nothing wlfk-h relates to the intellectual ac- 

 _ l> !* f - ml ' rcincnts f early life more certain, tliun that the no- 

 ""Y" blest of them all, the acquisition of Vocal Speech, depends 

 entirely on the sense of Hearing. The same early lesson 

 of experience which teaches the child, that, by a certain vo- 

 Juntary effort, hecan extend his arm, informs him also, that, 

 by a similar exertion of his will, he can product: ccitaiu 

 vocal sounds. He endeavours to imitate the words that 

 re spoken by those around him. His first attempts are 

 unsuccessful, because his memory is yet feeble ; and be- 

 cause his voluntary actions, in this instance, just as in 

 his first amusing struggles to gain that erect position by 

 which man is distinguished, are irregular* and unsure. 

 But repetition brings continual improvement ; age deve- 

 lopes the other faculties of the mind; and without the 

 least regard to those vibrations in his throat, or those 

 motions of his tongue and lips, by which his purpose is 

 accomplished, he goes on, from indistinct prattling, to 

 the acquisition of clear and perfect Speech, regulated sole- 

 ly by the Ear. 



To those, however, who have been born Deaf, or who 

 have been affected with incurable Deafness before articula- 

 tion had been attained, or sufficiently impressed on the me- 

 mory, it is obvious, that this natural guide to the acquisi- 

 tion of Speech is utterly denied ; and so obscure or unat- 

 tainable does the only other path to the possession of this 

 important faculty seem to such persons, that, when left to 

 themselves, no attempt is ever made by them to gain 

 it. The records of physiology do not present us with a 

 single instance of an individual born Deaf, or deprived of 

 hearing in infancy or childhood, who did not remain 

 Dumb for life ; unless cherished and instructed by the 

 philanthropy and ingenuity of some fellow-creature, more 

 happily gifted than himself. 



It is to persons in this /condition, to those who are 

 Dumb merely because they are Deaf, whose organs of 

 Speech are perfect, whose intellect is good, and who 

 differ from other individuals only in being incapable of 

 sensations of sound, that the term Deaf and Dumb or 

 Deaf-mute is applied. 



The task of education is never, perhaps, more truly 

 delightful, than when this unfortunate though interesting 

 class of persons are the subjects of it. They unite, in 

 general, to singular steadiness of application, the great- 

 est gentleness and docility ; and expressions of counte- 

 nance, as cheering as they are unequivocal, continually 

 declare the emotions of gratitude with which they receive 

 instruction. It is pleasant to become their pupils in our 

 turn, and to learn of them that natural pantomime by 

 which all their wants are expressed. Copious, however, 

 and significant as that language is, it is necessarily in- 

 telligible but to a few ; and it is indeed an exulting sa- 

 tisfaction which they seem to feel, when they arc taught 

 to exchange it for the more powerful medium of words ; 

 nd arc thus, as it were, enabled, to command the thoughts 

 of all mankind. We see their happiness increasing with 

 their knowledge ; and when the sublimity of nature is first 

 unfolded to their opening minds, and we mark the tear 

 starting into their eyes, we cannot but participate in their 

 noble pleasure, and rejoice that such emotions cau be 

 theirs. 



In the present article, we propose to state the general 



I'.' whom 

 the term 

 Deaf and 

 Dumb is 

 applied. 



principles according to which the Education of the Deaf Dim.h ud 

 and Dumb ougl avoiding all those mi- |lf f- 



nute details which could be of no interest to the general ^ ""V"^ 

 reader ; and which even to tho.se who mean to occupy Tll ir BAu 

 themselves practically with this sptvics of instiui-tion, f *" oa * 

 could be of little advantage ; since they are of a nature to 

 suggest themselves to any intelligent teacher, almost as 

 soon as they could be taught. 



We suppose the education of the Deaf and Dumb pupil 

 to commence at the age of eight years. By tin's period, with 

 children who enjoy the sense of hearing, have always tjl * c 

 acquired the full command .of their organs of Speech ; 

 they have learnt the meaning and application of several 

 hundreds of words ; and to the stock of knowledge, which 

 youthful curiosity has stimulated them to obtain, by their 

 own personal obscrvation,within their own limited sphere, 

 they have been enabled to make a most important addi- 

 tion, from the verbal information of others. The busi- 

 ness, therefore, of their early education, consists, merely, 

 in making them acquainted with the n-ritlcn nml print- 

 ed characters of those words, whose pronunciation is al- 

 ready familiar to them ; and by an analysis of these, 

 pointing out to them all the visible sigtis of those simple 

 articulate sounds, out of which the whole of Speech is 

 constructed. After this, reading presents them with abun- 

 dance of new words ; and should any of these not be sus- 

 ceptible of explanation by terms already known, they 

 arc gradually enabled to collect their meaning, by fre- 

 quent and attentive observation of the manner in whidi 

 they arc used, in conversation, by others. Nor arc their 

 lessons in language confined to the tasks of the school ; 

 at meals, at play, abroad, at home, everywhere, they are 

 continnally acquiring from the speech of their seniors, 

 either new terms, or new or more correct methods ol" cm- 

 ploying the vocabulary which they already possess. 



But the task which the Deaf and Dumb have to enter 

 upon, is much more complicated and difficult. Ignorant 

 of every part of that system of signs, which mankind 

 have invented for the communication of thought, they 

 have to be instructed, not merely in those written cha- 

 racters which are the representatives of words ; but in 

 the method of articulating the words themselves, and of 

 distinguishing them when articulated by others ; and in 

 the precise meaning which each of them is intended to 

 convey. Many circumstances, too, combine, to render 

 this process tedious. We cannot, in their case, it is ob- 

 vious, define one word by another ; but the signification 

 of each must be taught, either by a direct appeal to 

 things themselves, or the pictures of things ; or by the 

 language of gesticulation and natural signs. The nar- 

 row stock of knowledge which they bring with them, 

 when compared with those who enjoy the sense of hear- 

 ing, circumscril>cs greatly that field of illustration, which 

 is required in the early stages of instruction. And what 

 is a no less material disadvantage, they are entirely cut 

 off from that constant source of new ideas, as well as new 

 words, which other children enjoy in their intercourse 

 with society. 



Experience, however, has shewn, that all these difficul- Arrnf*J 

 ties may be overcome by perseverance ; and in pointing "^ u 

 out what appear to us to be the best means of attaining 

 thi.s important object, we shall refer our observations to 



