KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



heresies introduced amongst Nature's children. 

 Her ladyship claims to rule, in her own sweet 

 way, once a year at least ; and insists in 

 putting us in the right way, whether we 

 continue to walk in it or not. She hates the 

 superficial and the artificial as much as we 

 do. Oh that we could, between us, banish 

 them for ever ! 



The curtain must here fall. Papas and 

 mammas, boys and girls, young and old, 

 grave and gay — all have met to keep Nature's 

 holiday, and to rejoice together in love. 

 Sight-seeing is at an end. The vacation is 

 nearly over. The last boy is now " due" at 

 school. Whilst we write, " Black Monday" 

 is frowning on our young friends, and duty 

 is beckoning them away from pleasure. 



Well ; they have had their treat, and must 

 now away to improve their minds. We will, 

 in their absence, try and prepare something 

 to "assist" in this, against their return. The 

 seasons will soon roll over ; then will they 

 again assemble to give a loose to the dictates 

 of honest Nature. 



May God bless our rising youth ! say we ; 

 and as we grow older, may we contrive — if 

 possible, to grow more natural ! 



THE BLESSING OF SIGHT AND HEARING. 



The following graphic sketch appears in 

 the " Boston Transcript." There is a vein 

 of feeling in it, which we wish to impress 

 upon the mind of every reader. How little 

 do we value our gifts, until by comparison 

 we are brought to reflection ! 



A few days since, says Dr. C, the narrator, 

 I paid a visit, by invitation, with a friend, to 

 the " Blind Institution" at South Boston, 

 where I had an opportunity of seeing Laura 

 Bridgman. Although much has been written 

 about this interesting young lady, yet I am 

 inclined to believe that her actual condition 

 is not generally well understood. The Blind 

 Institution has long been established, and is 

 now under the superintendence of Dr. Howe, 

 a man whose intelligence and humanity ad- 

 mirably fit him for the situation. 



Laura is blind, deaf, and dumb. She can 

 neither hear, see, nor speak ! I had somehow 

 formed an opinion that she was a little girl, 

 but I learned that she was 22 years of age, 

 although she appeared not above 16 or 18. 

 Her features are regular — an oval face, 

 with a very pleasing expression of counte- 

 nance. Her head is what phrenologists 

 would call "finely balanced " — the moral and 

 intellectual predominating. Her demeanor 

 was lady-like, and attractive. One would 

 not suppose she ever entertained a thought 

 of sadness, from her appearance. 



The mode of communicating intelligence 

 to her, is entirely different from that of any 

 other human being — she being the only per- 



son living who is at once blind, deaf, and 

 dumb. The deaf and dumb can learn by 

 seeing ; and the blind by hearing, — but Laura 

 can learn in no such way. She can only learn 

 by the sense of touch alone ! Strange as it may 

 appear, she has been taught not only to con- 

 verse freely, but to write. This has been 

 accomplished by the sense of touch alone. 

 How did she learn her letters? How was the 

 first idea communicated to her? As we 

 entered the room, she was in earnest conver- 

 sation with her blind companion. The blind 

 girl could hear our approach, but Laura lite- 

 rally "turned a deaf ear" to us. 



While viewing the two, we almost envied 

 the condition of the blind girl, in contrast 

 with the night of night in which poor Laura 

 was encompassed. Laura could speak to 

 others by the motion of her fingers, like the 

 deaf and dumb spelling out every word. But 

 while she could speak to others in this way, 

 no one by similar motions could speak to 

 her. She could not see the motion of their 

 hands. In speaking to her, the motion of 

 the fingers had to be made inside of her 

 hand. She could then understand their mean • 

 ing. Laura and the blind girl both conversed 

 in this way. On the desk, before Laura, lay 

 a piece of grooved tin, with a slip of paper. I 

 asked if she would write her name for me ; 

 as I should prize it as a choice memento. 



She complied cheerfully, after learning the 

 request through her teacher. She placed 

 the paper on the grooved tin, measuring the 

 distance from the side ; and wrote in plain 

 round letters — " Laura Bridgman to Dr. 

 C." She guided her pencil with the left hand, 

 in the grooves of the tin. 



Poor Laura ! Heaven grant that the dark- 

 ness which now surrounds you, may end in 

 this life ! There is a kind Providence,whose 

 care is over even the most obscure creature, 

 and in time will compensate and rectify all 

 wrongs. There is no blindness or deafness 

 in Heaven. " There the eyes of the blind 

 shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf un- 

 stopped." On leaving the Blind Institution, 

 I trust I had a more truthful sense of the 

 blessings of sight and hearing, and of the 

 corresponding obligations they impose. 

 Laura Bridgman is considered by those who 

 know her condition and her attainments, as 

 the highest object of interest in the world. 

 Let those who indulge in complaints at the 

 disappointments and disadvantages they 

 suffer in life, only think of Laura Bridg- 

 man ! 



The Neav Year. — Every first of January 

 that we arrive at, is an imaginary milestone in 

 the track of human life ; at once a resting-place 

 for thought and meditation, and a starting point 

 for fresh exertions in the performance of our 

 journey. 



