bilities of the high office to which he was called by the voice of the people. Hon. Samuel Hubbard, of Boston, one of the judges of the Supreme Court, was a Sabbath school teacher. Governors of states and their wives, members of Congress, and professors in colleges, have not deemed it beneath them to teach children lessons of piety.

The instruction that has been communicated in this way, during the last half century, has already produced much good fruit. When many are running to and fro, knowledge is increased.

SECTION 2. Institutions for Deaf Mutes.

THE late Mason Cogswell, M. D., a pious physician, of Hartford, Connecticut, had a daughter who was deaf and dumb. It awakened in him an interest in this unfortunate class of persons. In 1814, he employed the Rev. Thomas Gallaudet, a young clergyman, who had just left the Andover Theological Seminary, to instruct his daughter. The success of the experiment was such that Dr. C. and some other gentlemen in that city were led to undertake the establishment of an institution for the benefit of deaf

mutes.

In the spring of 1815, they sent Mr. Gallaudet to Europe, to visit the institutions there established, and to qualify himself for the superintendence of the one they had in contemplation. He visited several, but

spent more time in Paris than any where else, at the royal institution under the care of the Abbé Sicard.

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He returned in 1816, bringing with him Mr. Laurence Le Clerc, from Paris, to be his assistant. act of incorporation was obtained from the legislature, a liberal sum was contributed in Hartford for the erection of suitable buildings, and a township of land in Alabama was given by Congress towards endowing the institution.

It was opened April 15, 1817, and was called the American Asylum. It was the first of the kind in America.

The system of instruction introduced by Mr. Gallaudet differed somewhat from the European systems, and has been called, by way of distinction, the American system, the peculiar excellences of which have been since adopted in Europe. He introduced the fundamental principle of Heiniche, "first ideas, then words," and that "the natural language of signs must be elevated to as high a degree of excellence as possible, in order to serve as a medium, through which to impart clear ideas." He introduced another principle, which was original with himself, that the pupil must be led to reflect on what is passing in his own mind, in order to acquire mental and spiritual ideas, preparatory to understanding written language and religious truths. He also introduced the practice

of praying with his pupils, and of conducting this devotional exercise by natural signs.

At the end of the first year, there were thirty

pupils. It soon became the asylum for all the New England States; the legislatures of all, except Rhode Island, make appropriations annually for educating their deaf mutes at Hartford. In May, 1829, there were 143 pupils in the asylum. Massachusetts appropriated for its pupils $6,500. In 1834, there were 50 pupils from Massachusetts, 25 from Connecticut, 25 from Vermont, 15 from New Hampshire, and as many from Maine. In 1842, there were 134 from 12 different states; and, in 1850, there were 210 from 8 different states.

Mr. Gallaudet resigned his place as principal in 1831, and was succeeded by Mr. Lewis Weld, who is still at the head of the institution. The board of directors, on accepting the resignation of Mr. G., said, "The cause of humanity is primarily indebted to him for the introduction of deaf mute instruction into the United States, and for the spread of the information necessary for prosecuting it successfully in public institutions, of which all in the country are experiencing the benefits."

The second institution of the kind was established in the city of New York. It was incorporated in April, 1818, and went into operation in May of that year, under the superintendence of Rev. A. C. Stansbury. At the end of the first term, it had 18 pupils. It did not at first adopt the American system of instruction, probably for the want of an experienced teacher. Mr. Harvey Peet, who has been at the head of it for many years, was for some time a

teacher in the asylum at Hartford, and has introduced the system he learned there. In 1834, there were 124 pupils, 90 of whom were supported by the state of New York. In 1850, there were 222, of whom 127 were males and 95 females; 160 were supported by the state. In 1848, the state paid for this object $21,000.

There is a similar institution at Canajoharie, New York, which went into operation prior to 1830, and had, in 1834, only 34 pupils.

The Pennsylvania institution, at Philadelphia, was the third in point of time; it was commenced in 1820. In 1834, it had 80 pupils, 50 of whom were supported by that state, 20 by Maryland, and 10 by New Jersey.

Asylums for deaf mutes were established at Columbus, Ohio, and at Danville, Kentucky, previous to 1830.

There are now eleven institutions for the instruction of this unfortunate class of people in the United States, which contain 1,000 pupils. They remain, if the support is adequate, five years, and acquire, in that time, a good business education, besides learning some art or trade, by which they may be able to support themselves. Nearly all the older states make provision for the education of their deaf mutes. There were, in 1840, in the United States, 7,900 deaf and dumb; there may now be 10,000.

The most remarkable pupil in any of these asylums is Julia Brace, born in Hartford, Connecticut, June

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13, 1807. When four years old, she had the typhus fever, and on the sixth day lost her sight and hearing, which she has never recovered. She continued to talk for a while, and did not lose her speech entirely for a year. The word she continued to articulate longer than any other was that of mother. She is still a resident at the asylum, where she has been ever since 1821. When nine years old, she learned to sew, and soon after to knit. She is supported, in part, by the contributions of visitors, to whom she is ever an object of interest, and in part by the avails of her own labor.

There is published, at Hartford, the American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb. It is issued in quarterly numbers of sixty-four pages each, and was commenced in October, 1847.

In German institutions, the deaf mutes are taught to articulate sounds. It is not much attended to in this country. Their speaking is harsh, unnatural, and monotonous. "Destitute of modulation and accent, it more nearly resembles what we should conceive a speaking machine might utter, than the usual speech of mankind."

SECTION 3. Instruction of the Blind.

THE New England Institution for the Blind was incorporated by the Massachusetts legislature in 1829. Its location was Boston, and Dr. S. G. Howe was