UNCLE SAM'S FARM. 67 



most interesting institutions I ever visited was the 

 Institution for the Blind, at South Boston. On the 

 elevation where this building stands, Gen. Washington 

 stationed his troops immediately preceding the evacu- 

 ation of Boston bj the British ; some of the fortifica- 

 tions are still seen near the asylum. I was quite 

 delighted by what I saw and heard at this institution. 

 It was truly astonishing to see and hear girls and boys, 

 perfectly blind, reading, writing, cyphering, playing 

 musical instruments, and accurately describing the 

 most wonderful discoveries of science. In this insti- 

 tution I saw Laura Bridgman, who is deaf^ dumb and 

 blind. Her sensibilities were deeply moved when the 

 account of the Irish famine in 1847 was communicsr 

 ted to her — she set to work immediately, and plied 

 her fingers night and day, until she finished a piece 

 of beautiful embroidery, which was sold for a barrel 

 of flour, and that barrel of flour was shipped on 

 board the " Jamestown," to assist the famishing 

 Irish in 1847. 



" She was born in Hanover, New Hampshire, Deo. 

 21st, 1829, and is described as having been a 

 sprightly and pretty child ; but during her infancy she 

 was deprived by a violent stroke of disease at once of 

 sight and hearmg ; nor was it until four years of age 



