UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FOUNDED  1836
WASHINGTON, D. C.
OPO  16—67244-1 
 
 
& IDOSCBCDTffl&BIB
PRONOUNCED BY REQUEST OF THE
SOCIETY FOR INSTRUCTING THE
DEAF  AND  DUMB*
  AT THE  CITY HALL IN THE


      City of XfeY*-Xot\l, \A/ J V    %


ON THE 24TH DAY OF MARCH, 1818.
(V
     BY SAMUEL L. MITCHILL,
ONE OF THE VICE-PRESIDENTS OF THE SOCIETY.
     NEW-YORK :


PRINTED BY E. CONRAD,

     Frarilcfort-street. 
 
 At a mating of the Society for instrwetins
            the Deaf and Dumb,
                           Mzrc/i 24, 1818.
    Resolved, That the thanks of this Institution
 be presented to the  Hon. Samuel li. Mltclnll,
for his Discourse, delivered pursuant to request,
 this day ; and that  Alexander iM^Leoa, D. 15.
 and 3ames li.ltall, "Esq. be a committee to wait
 upon him with this  Resolution, and request a copy
 of the same for publication.
            Extract from the JMUmtes,
                    JOHN B. SCOTT, Sec'ry. 
 
DISCOURSE.
>^EC<s«®^^
    SOLITUDE is a state of being neither comfort-
able nor useful to man.  A person of either sex so de-
tached, is but a fractional part of the  social unit.  Of
the progenitor of the human race, it was  said by his
Maker, that it was not good that he should be alone—
so he made an help meet for him, under the form of
woman, and brought her unto him.  Their union was
the origin of society.  The numbers added by natural
increase, constituted a family.   When this became too
great or unwieldy,  a part was  subtracted  from the
household to form another domestic cluster.   The ag-
gregate of families, by such operations of addition and
subtraction, was a tribe.
   By degrees the tribe multiplied to such an extent,
that a separation became necessary.  A part divided
from the rest, and went  forth in quest of a new settle-
ment.  Thus, by means of multiplication and division,
another tribe was formed.
   In a regular exercise of the powers by which frac-
tions were consolidated to units, and units extended to
families and  tribes, larger communities grew. Villages
and cities distinguished  the labours of a people acquir-
ing the strength and importance of a nation. 
                  (      •     )
    Thus man possesses a social disposition : the dawn-
ings- of history represent him so.   He will always con-
tinue to  associate with his kind.  Even  his dissocial
passions  require  a  social condition.   Is  he irascible t
there must be some object of his anger.  Is he vindic-
tive ? there must be some object of his spite.  Does jea-
lousy or envy disturb him ? there must be some object
cf his apprehension  or ill-will.   Do  hatred  or malice
agitate him? they too presume  some object of dislike
and malignity.  Does he engage in contention or war ?
there must be somebody with whom he shall struggle
or fight.
   In like manner his unsocial feelings presuppose an
established society.   What is the hermit or anchorite,
but a person who voluntarily withdraws from his fa-
mily and  neighbors?   The ascetic and recluse merely
retire from the occupation and bustle of society, to me-
ditate the  better alone.   So  distressing, however, is
this situation, that it is provided  for subjects by public
authority, in certain cases, as a punishment.  It is the
privation of social enjoyment, that embitters the fate
of the captive and the prisoner.   The denial of his ac-
customed associations and employments,  imparts poig-
nancy to the sufferings  of the exile, during his banish-
ment.  And the execution of an offender, as no longer
fit for society, and therefore doomed to expulsion from
this  world, is the most severe of all the proceedings of
the law.
    The great medium  of intercourse in all these posi-
tions, is the voice.   It is not, however, that use of the
laryngeal muscles, which enables the brute and inferior
animal to produce iheir respective sounds.  It is more 
(     1      )
than the bleating of the lamb, or the roaring of the
lion.  It surpasses  the musick of the feathered  gene-
ration.   The crowing of the cock, the cooing of the
dove, and the  song of the nightingale,  fall  very far
short of it.  Though in some animals, the throat may
utter notes, and these  may even amount to modulated
tones, there is, nevertheless, no articulation.   By arti-
culation, is  to be understood, the power of measured
and diversified, as well as of significant and spontane-
ous sounds.  I say, spontaneous  and  significant;  for,
although, as the learned Barrington relates, a bulfinch
has been taught to pipe a tune, and as the great Leib-
nitz declares, a dog has acquired the pronunciation of
words, yet both the fowl and the quadruped, were igno-
rant of the meaning attached to their utterance,  and
free from intention or ability to designate any thing
specific.
    Here, for our consolation, the actual examination of
the vocal organs, offers interesting facts.   In  the infe-
rior animals, even in the ape family, whose oran-otang,
or man of the woods, approaches nearest to  our spe-
cies, the organization of these parts is found  to be in-
capable of speech.  A cry or a scream does not amount
to regular enunciation.  Had this animal the rational
mind, he could not, through physical incompetency,
display the enlarged powers of either a speaker or an
orator.   Camper  and Blumenbach have settled  this
point.
    The  modulated and articulating voice, therefore,
belongs exclusively to us.  But we possess more. Ours
is the  attribute  of soul, distinguishing  us  from  all
other terrestrial beings, and assimilating us to  our 
(     8     )
creator. The philosophical Cicero concluded long ago,
from the just survey he made of this subject, that rea-
son and  speech (ratio et oratio) were discriminating
characters of the human race.
    Dumbness, or the inaptitude to pronounce articu-
late sounds, belongs to the beasts of the field.   In this
sense of the word, they are mutes.
    Far different is the condition of sapient man.  His
is the function of articulated voice, governed  by the
will and the understanding.
    There are two modes of exercising the voice.  One
is the employment of notes  and tones in harmonic pro-
portion, called  musick.   The signs of these  sounds
have been reduced  to  the  significant symbols of the
gamut.  They may be read and understood by all who
will take the pains to learn them.  Their arrangement
in due order and succession, is the nice and arduous
business of musical composition.  The other is the use
of sounds by  regular articulation, with emphasis and
cadence, known by the name of language.  These have
been characterized by the graphic marks of the alpha-
bet.  They are  intelligible to  all who will seek their
signification.  Their arrangement into words and sen-
tences, conformably to grammatical rules, is the art of
literary composition.  Such are the foundations of sing-
ing and of talking.
    The  performance of these  two functions by  the
voice, has shown that the organs of speech are a most
curious and admirable combination of a wind instru-
ment with a stringed instrument. For while the trachea
itself, is capable of being lengthened and shortened,
the glottis  can  be  contracted and  enlarged, and the 
(     '■>      )
ligaments of the larynx made to accompany with pro-
per vibrations.
    The  charm of musick is confessed by all who have
heard it.  From the reedy pipes of Pan, to the metallic
tubes of Handel; from the simple lyre to the compli-
cated piano forte; from the dulcet strains of the artless
damsel  of the cottage, to the high-toned and wide-va-
ried song of the tutored and professed performer, there
is a correspondence in musical expression, with the sen-
sibilities of our nature.   Hence Plato places musick in
the  constitution  of  his projected republic ; leaders of
armies  combine it with martial exercises; directors of
civic festivals mingle  it with the  rejoicings of peace;
and Zinzendorff and many more  devout  men, incorpo-
rate it with the public rites of religion.
    Powerful as  is  the effect of musick, it is excelled
by that  of language.  This is accomplished  by the
sentiment the tongue conveys.  Here the sounds are
full of meaning.  They are loaded with significancy.
They convey ideas from person to person. They carry
expression  through the trembling air.   They are the
vehicles of thought.   They bear the tone of feeling and
of intellect to indefinite distances.
     The Almighty  is represented  as  communicating
his will, in this mode, to man.  The words he spoke to
the saints  and the prophets, have  been faithfully re-
corded.   When  that voice resounded, what a meaning
 was there!
     In the  effusions  of the heart, wc address this ex-
alted and  incomprehensible Being, with our voices.
Whether we make confession of our sins, or offer up
 applications for mercy: whether we praise him for be- 
(     io      )
nefits received, or pray to him for succour in distress;
whether we prostrate ourselves unconditionally before
him, or ask in this our blind state, a ray of his guiding
light; it is  usual and it is reverent to give utterance to
our emotions in words.
    All  these functions  of the voice would be lost in
air, unless there was some sense to which they were
immediately adapted.  This  resides in the organ of
hearing.  Among the correspondences in nature, there
is perhaps  none more exquisite and  admirable,  than
that subsisting  between the throat and the ear.   The
fitness extends beyond the constitution of the indivi-
dual person; it  has the nicest relation  to  other be-
ings of the like organization.   In the contemplation of
this subject, it  ought not to  escape observation, that
sounds  may be heard by the  ear  of the  person  who
utters them.  In this manner they may be modulated,
harmonized,  and rendered  pleasant,  as  well  to  the
speaker, as to  the  listener.  It  is likewise  a worthy
theme of reflection, that in the act of  communicating
to another  by the  voice, there is  a chance  that both
parties may enjoy pleasure; but such is the kindness of
providence in this  particular, that though the passive
party may grow drowsy at the tale, the narrator is sure
to be  delighted with his own performance.
    There  is an association, by  means of the nerves,
between the organ of hearing and the tongue.  Instead
of proceeding from  their origin, direct  and unconnect-
ed,  to their respective places of destination, these sen-
sitive  filaments communicate  with  each other.   While
the  soft portion  (portio mollis) of the  auditory nerve,
spreads itself upon the labyrinth of the  internal ear. 
(     11     )
and constitutes the immediate seat of hearing, the hard
portion (portio dura) of the same nerve, despatches a
branch to join  a branch  of the fifth pair, and to form
by their union the (chorda tympani)  cord of the drum.
    This fifth is called the gustatoryJpair,  because it
sen <s a branch to the  tongue; which is an instrument
oi speech.  This branch comes from  the inferior max-
iilat /  nerve, that reflects a twig to the ear, to be en-
grafted with the twig of the seventh, just mentioned.
    The connection might be traced further, by follow-
ing the third pair of cervical nerves  along their distri-
bution to  the outer ear; and by examining the consti-
tution  of the cervical plexus, and of its manner of sup-
plying the larynx with nerves.
    The eighth,  or  wandering  pair of nerves  (par
vagum) after distributing twigs to the tongue and la-
rynx, interlaces with the cervical plexus, and thus aids
in sustaining the relation between the organs of hear-
ing and of speech.   You may learn  the more particu-
lar organization of  the ear, from Valsalva and Du-
VERNEY.
    The ear is the  part of the body  specially intended
for social  purposes.   It appears from examination, that
it is singularly constructed.  There are two parts that
may be termed external; one of which communicates
with the atmosphere through the outside of the head,
and the other through the inside of the throat.   The
former is  distinguished as the outer passage, and the
latter  as  the eustachian  tube.   Between the  two is
placed the internal organ of hearing.  The tympanum
with its catenation of little bones;  the vestibule, the
cochlea and the semicircular canals; and above all, the 
(     «      )
 delicate expansion of the auditory nerve;  are in their
 intermediate stations.   That this  important function
 might not be interrupted by slight or ordinary causes,
 the more precious portion of the organ is protected by
 an osseous case.   Its remarkable hardness has given
 rise to the name of os petrosum,  or the rocky bone.
 The protection it affords, surpasses that of  any other
 part of the frame.   The liver, the spleen and the brain
 itself,  are exposed and insecure, in  comparison of the
 membranes, bones and nerves of hearing.  These are
 remote from outward  accidents; and locked up, be-
 sides, in the  strongest box of the body.   Such precau-
 tions for their security, show the extraordinary impor
 tance attached to them, by their Maker.
   Hearing is the sense to which life peculiarly inheres
 in diseases.  It seems  to survive all the rest.   Many
 are the instances of the ear being awake, when the eye,
 the nostril and the palate are asleep. Cases are record-
 ed, where the auditory nerve was sensibly alive, when
 the other seats of sense appeared to be dead.  The
 widow's son, who  was excited  to life, as he was car-
 ried on the bier towards his burial place; and Lazarus,
 who was roused to animation from the grave in which
 he had laid four days, were saluted by the Redeemer's
 voice.   The ears  of the former received the  sounds,
young man,  I say unto thee, arise ;  and those of the
 latter, the words hazarus come forth.   It is very re-
 markable, that in  these miraculous resuscitations  the
 stimulus was applied to the organ of hearing.
   The atmosphere forms the connection between the
 person who speaks and the one who  hears.   The fact
 is worthy of being mentioned, that the same fluid which 
(     ^      )
sustains the vital energy of the individual by its action
upon the lungs,  qualifies him  to be a social being, by
performing the part  of a messenger to convey  intelli-
gence.  The percussion received by the air at  the la-
rynx, issues from  the mouth in waves or  undulations,
varying in frequency, force and modulation.  Proceed-
ing at the rate of 1142 feet in a second of time, their
velocity is so great,  as at short distances, to seem in-
stantaneous.   Their passage has been considered as a
most  rapid flight.   Homer represents  his  heroes  as
speaking  winged words (EnEA nTEPOENTA).   The an-
cient  Greeks  painted  wings on the shoulders  of ze-
phyrs, and other personified winds.   Indeed, the story
of Mercury, the swift-moving  herald of their sky, with
his many wings and his  manifold  tongue, appears  to
be an  ingenious allegory,  to  explain the celerity and
meaning of articulate sounds.  And Echo, the  nymph
of the rocks and the caves,  was probably but another
personification,  to show  how aerial tremors, repelled
from hard surfaces,  rolled  back to the place whence
they came.
    As the human voice is enabled to propagate sounds,
with peculiar  significations, so the  human ear is won-
derfully adapted  to receive  and  comprehend them.
The ideas thus passing from one person to another,
may be referred to three heads; physical, or such as
relate to  natural  things; ethical, or such as concern
accountable beings; and logical, or such as  illustrate
the method of reasoning upon the two former.
    Of the physical  or natural class of objects,  all the
senses take cognizance, according  to their several ca-
pacities.  The sight,  the  taste,  the smell, and more 
(     14     )
cspeciaily the touch,  concur  with the ear, in making-
man acquainted with the material world ; but the ear
possesses an almost exclusive jurisdiction over ques-
tions of a moral and dialectic kind.  The sentiments
of a rational mind, and the duties of an accountable
soul, cannot be so well portrayed to the eye, nor sub-
jected to the touch, nor perceived by the palate,  nor
comprehended by the olfactory nerves.  They are des-
tined for another sense: this resides in the auditory
organ.   Here these momentous communications  are
received, welcomed and comprehended.  So  extensive
and sovereign is its cognizance, that the ear may be
pronounced  the door or seat of the moral sense.
  The first words spoken by God to man, (Genesis n.
16, 17.) contained a rule of conduct, and a penalty for
the breach of it.
   The promulgation of the ten commandments from
the top of Mount Sinai, was  by words spoken (Exo-
dus xx.)
   The  sublimest  display of  creative  wisdom and
power, is in  the language of the Almighty himself, an-
swering out  of the whirlwind.  (Job xxxvni.  1.)
   The prophets arid ministers of his will upon earth,
have also employed the voice in executing their com-
missions.  They have addressed words to the ears of
the people; words as expressive as they could be made,
of precepts for observance, and of denunciations for
disobedience.
   In like manner, the sages and philosophers of an-
cient days, taught their pupils by word of mouth.   The
venerable Jacob telling his assembled sons what should
befal them in the  last days (Gen. xlix. 1.); Pilpay. 
(     15     )
reciting his fables  or  moral inventions, to instruct a
Hindu audience; and Socrates, discoursing to his Athe-
nian school; are subjects sufficiently impressive to in-
vite the painter's skill.
    Naturally  and easily, through the ear, the  freeman
becomes acquainted with his  rights,  and his obliga-
tions.   He learns to abhor slavery, and to make a dis«<
creet use of liberty.   He is informed  he must so  use
his own, as not to invade his neighbor.  The dogma
is propounded, directing him to act  in every case, as if
the  rule by which he then acted, was the rule of uni-
versal action.   He is orderqd to do  unto others, those
things which he would that others should do unto him.
    He learns that he is a  depository of a portion of
the popular sovereignty.   The elective franchise is ex-
plained to him.  He discovers the qualifications  and
functions of officers.   The duties of  a legislator, she-
riff and judge, become familiar to him, as do those  of a
juror, assessor and musqueteer.  By degiees, the busi-
ness of an arbitrator, executor and administrator, are
 unfolded to him.   The relations of parent and child,
husband and  wife, master  and servant, guardian  and
 ward,  ought to be studied by him.   In short,  after
 knowing how to  estimate  himself,  and to respect his
 fellow-creature, he rises to the dignity of knowing, and
 of venerating the Author of all.
     The practice of writing and of printing, has pro-
 duced many curious and interesting effects upon socie-
 ty.   Among  others  is  the contrivance of  recording
 sounds, and in a certain degree of rendering  them visi-
 ble and permanent.   By these  two arts, reading is sub-
 stituted for hearing;  the printer fills the station of the 
(     16      )
 rhetorician;  a sheet of paper  coloured by types,  an-
 swers the purpose of an oration; and a personal attend-
 ance  on the forum, is superceded in a considerable
 degree, by the typographical  reports of its proceed-
 ings,  brought home to our chambers.  Nothing  has
 wrought such harm to the speaker, as printing.  It has,
 in a great  degree, removed the necessity of  declama-
 tion.  By the examination of printed  or written docu-
 ments, the  members  of deliberative  bodies  may  be-
 come as intelligent as the orators, and that without
 their  aid.   And  eloquence,  as  the sagacious Profes-
 sor Adams observes, less courted now than of yore
 in the tribunal and the senate,  has ascended  with  her
 talent of persuasion, to  her more appropriate abode in
 the pulpit.  The great principle in these operations,
 is, that the eye can  comprehend the sign of a sound,
 and understand its exact signification, when there is no
 sound in  the ear.  On this basis rests the  svstem of
 instruction for the deaf and dumb, as I shall presently
 show.
    In the mysterious  dispensations of divine  provi-
 dence, some persons are affected by  diseases before
 birth.  They bring with  them  certain defects and in-
 capacities.   It would require an auditory of physicians
 to listen to the long enumeration of such connate  in-
 firmities.  Among these, is an incomplete organization
 of the ear.   Though they become inhabitants of this
 noisy  world, every thing is silent as to them.  The vi-
 brations of the air produce no  more effect than upon
 impassive  walls.   The messages they bear  are lost.
because there is  an  impossibility of delivering them.
 No pleasure, no  instruction can be received from that 
(     17     )
quarter.   Every species  of knowledge by this avenue,
is quite shut out.
    This condition is the wore worthy of serious con-
sideration, as it was not  produced by the vice and in-
temperance of the sufferer.  It is a visitation for which
he is not to be blamed.   In the distempers engendered
by criminal conduct, as by lewdness  and intoxication,
the hand of the benevolent is daily and hourly extended
for relief.  We consider  the immorality  as  merged
in the disease, and contribute  our mite without hesi-
tation.  How much stronger is the claim of our un-
fortunate brethren, who never  brought upon  them-
selves this calamity, by a dissolute or profligate course
of life!  No! they were from  the beginning, disqua-
lified from receiving parole communication.
    We owe much, more in reality than the  pride of
many  permits them to acknowledge,  to our  mothers.
What can equal the tenderness of the female parent, to
her child ? She moulds her offspring to habits of action;
she instils into it principles of conduct.  The most early
and important lessons  of life,  are derived from this
source.  Mothers ! know ye, and practice, the  duties of
your stations! You prepare citizens for their diversified
walks of life.   Consider, that  much of their future suc-
cess or disappointment, is derived from you.  More im-
pressive, more lasting are your lessons, than the boast-
ed lectures of academy  or college.   Where you are
virtuous, intelligent, and  decorous, the  little  ones, by
imitating the beautiful pattern, become also good, wise
and well-behaved: when the contrary, the house is a
polluted  den.  Such  an exemplary  mother  is an in-
                          C 
(     18      )
 valuable treasure, both  to the commonwealth and to
 her family.  Let her be  prized by some  moral deno-
 mination of worth,  for her  price cannot be  rated in
 current money.  Form the minds of your children to
 sentiments of love and affection, of attachment, and of
 duty, and these will generally be indelible. It is mostly
 through the neglect of the parent, that the weeds of
 disrespect  and  ingratitude take root in the garden of
 the mind.   For myself, educated in my days of infancy
 and childhood, by one of  the most exemplary mothers
 that ever reared  a  son,  I feel, I hope, as I ought to
 feel, how parental care conciliates filial regard.  Yea!
 let it go forth, and may it ever  be retained in the me-
 mory, that  the  household is the nursery of the repub-
 lic, and that there the mother has the chief direction!
    The deaf children now standing in your presence,
 fellow citizens,  have  never heard, as you  and  I have,
 the voice of maternal love.   The accents of affection
 issuing from the mother's voice, are unknown to them.
 The salutations of the brisk morning, and the blessings
 of weary eve, have made no  impression.  They have
 never been composed  by the melody of the lullaby,
 nor by the  sweetness of the cradle-hymn.   Think of
 the emotion of a mother,  speaking and singing to her
 deaf offspring.  The effort to be heard is vain.   This
is afflicting  enough:  but  this is not the whole.   She
recollects that not a single sentiment of morality, piety
or duty can be thus conveyed.
   In healthy cases,  as the child advances in growth
 and time, the organs  of speech begin to act.  By imi-
 tation, the voice pronounces the sound that  the ear has
caught j and thus the junior members of society, speak 
                  (     19     )

the dialect of the  persons  with whom they associate.
But in the case of the persons before you, no sounds
were  received by the ear; and, of course, there was no
imitation to be made by the voice.   The fond mother
discovers that  dumbness enchains the faculties of the
babe.   To the misfortune of deafness, is added the in-
capacity of a mute.  In vain she encourages the suck-
ling to exercise its lips, by forming the easiest sounds.
He is unable to combine the most ready labials, or to
salute her with the endearing title of mamma.   After
all her  efforts to  teach it, not  a sentence,  nor even  a
lisp of language is  heard.  While  the lips, and  the
tongue, and  the throat, perform their other functions,
they utter no articulate sounds.   She sighs and weeps
at the discovery, that  the child who was born deaf,  is
also dumb.   Reluctantly, and with piercing grief, she
foregoes the pleasure of hearing its incipient prattle,
and resigns the delightful task of teaching it the modes
of correct enunciation and  the  principles  of virtuous
demeanour.
    To  these the face of nature wears the garb of uni-
versal and perpetual  silence.   The  breezes whisper,
the brooks babble, and the birds Warble, in vain.  The
clatter of the city, the hum and buzz of business, and
the clamour  of the  inhabitants, are  nothing to them.
They are  equally insensible of  the  angry howling of
the tempest, the threatening roar of the ocean, and ter-
rifying burst of thunder.
   For them, literature is the same as if it had no exist-
ence.  The rhapsodists of Greece, and Improvisatori
of Italy,  could awaken no attention.  The great ora-
tors of ancient, and perhaps  the greater  of modern 
(     ^o      )
days, would address them to no purpose.   The  plain
expression of prose cannot be distinguished from the
ornamental  measure of verse.  They can  in no wise
conceive how the thread of speech is spun, how it is
wove into a discourse, and how it  is embroidered with
the flowers of diction.
    They can hold no verbal communion with their re-
latives or neighbors. They are equally unconscious of
the accents of love and friendship.   Should a narrating
grandsire offer  them his  tale of  adventures  and ex-
ploits, they are  incapable of accepting his gift.  The
most able professor might exhibit facts,  and institute
reasoning upon  them, without being in any degree un-
derstood.  Though his  life  depended upon it, one of
these unfortunates,  if the cry of alarm, or the shout of
danger  was  sounded,  would be  wholly beyond  its
reach. Was an angel to make him a visit, there would
be need of some other mode of saluting  and convers-
ing, than by words.
    They are incapable of joining in the audible acts
of devotion.  A family assembled  at prayer, is a phe-
nomenon to them.  A society of  the faithful,  congre-
gated in  a church, is  a still greater  wonder.  They
hear nothing.   From their other senses, however per-
fect, they can derive no  adequate  idea of a God.   Are
you  prepared to  hear  that a  human  being, deaf and
dumb from his  birth, is an atheist? I do not mean by
this query to insinuate, far less to assert, that such a
person is in a state of disbelief \ from a wantonness of
knowledge, but that he is in the condition of an  unbe-
liever', through  a lack of information. 
                  (     21     )

   But, I have the satisfaction  of stating to you, that
the incapacities I  have enumerated, are susceptible of*
alleviation.  The law does not consider a person who
is born  deaf,  and who remains dumb afterwards, as
necessarily an idiot.   The  matured conclusion of our
predecessors,  has added to those  privations, that of
blindness  to constitute such a form  of degradation.  A
person, therefore, who is born  deaf, dumb  and blind,
says  Dr. Blackstone (Commentaries on the Laws, &c.
vol. i. p. 304) is  looked upon by  the law, as  in the
same state with an idiot: but a person who grows deaf,
dumb and blind, not being born so, and does not come
under the description  of an idiot or a lunatic, is said to
be non  compos mentis, a general name employed  by
Sir Edward  Coke, to (1  Instit. p. 246.) comprehend
those who are judged by  the court of chancery, inca-
pable of conducting  their own affairs.   Pursuant to
this  doctrine  and practice, deaf and dumb  are not
deemed non compotes mentis, unless they are blind also,
and  that from birth. (Blackstone's Commentaries, vol.
II. p. 497.)   The originally deaf  and dumb merely,
may acquire understanding enough  to devise property
by testament.   From stronger considerations, the same
capacity and  privilege appertain to those  who are de-
prived  of hearing, speech and sight, after having once
enjoyed them.
   The law thus, in consonance with right  reason, al-
lows to the deaf and  dumb, the capacity  to acquire
knowledge.  In a certain  case of this kind, I have de-
cided, as an inspector of the election, that a deaf and
dumb  man, offering himself at the poll,  to vote, was
qualified according to  the  constitution, and have re- 
(     22     )
ceived his ballot.  This judgment was predicated upon
the knowledge of men and things, that he had actually
acquired.
    The faculties of such as are simply deaf, and con-
sequently dumb, may be  improved.   Is authority de-
manded ? I cheerfully give it. A christian audience can
have none higher than that furnished by the author of
their religion. He made the dumb to speak; (Matthew
ix.  33.) he  healed one blind and dumb, so that both
sight and speech were enjoyed (Ibid. xn. 22.); he pro-
nounced the word Ephphatha (be opened) to one who
laboured  under deafness and an impediment in his
speech,  whose  ears  were straightway opened, the
string of whose tongue  was loosed, and  who spake
plain (Mark vn. 32-35); he cast out a dumb devil, and
the dumb spake, and the people wondered (Luke xn.
14.); he rebuked the deaf and dumb spirit of the tor-
mented boy, charging it to come out and enter into him
no more (Mark xi. 25.)
    These occurrences show that the deaf and dumb
were deemed worthy of being delivered from their dis-
abilities by miraculous power. I regret that the famous
picture of Christ healing the  sick in  the temple at Je-
rusalem,  contains no patient of  this  sort in the group
of persons presented for remedy.  Palsy,  rickets, lu-
nacy,  blindness,  and some other diseases are there.
The interesting object described  by St. Mark, was pro-
bably omitted by Sir Benjamin West, as incompatible
with the unity of place, in the composition.
    Much can be accomplished for  them by  human
means.  Can be done, did I say ?  Let me  correct my-
self, and say much has been done already.  The pre*- 
(     23     )
sent undertaking is not an untried project, or visionary
scheme of benevolence.  No; it is an experiment that
has been successfully made; it is a proceeding sanc-
tioned by reiterated trial.   The cautious have no place
to rest a doubt upon.   The enterprizing consider  the
great work as achieved.  What remains is  as plain as
a school upon the plan of Lancaster.
   The task was deemed by the ancients an impossi-
bility.  Lucretius has a sentiment about it, which  has
been translated thus:

      T' instruct the deaf no art could ever reach,
      No care improve them, and no wisdom teach.

    Deaf and dumb persons may be instructed in four
different ways. 1. by significant gestures;  2. by spel-
ling words on the fingers;  3. by writing words  and
sentences at full  length; 4. by actual articulation
after the manner of those who hear.
    By the first of these, the Mima of the Romans
are reported to have made themselves  understood
on almost  every subject, by all who  beheld them.
Some individuals of the Malay tribes in North Ame-
rica, are celebrated for  the skill with which they
convey every thing they wish by intelligible signs.
The ingenious Mr. Dunbar, of Natchez, has explain-
ed, in a very curious memoir,  the manner in which
these gestures have been arranged into a system.
A few years ago, I witnessed the performance of a
native Ricara from the  Missouri, who was a profi-
cient in this mode of communication.  It  is by this
method chiefly, that deaf and dumb persons  among
us, receive and impart ideas. 
(     24     )
   By the three other of these methods, a plan of
regular instruction has been invented.
   These will  be considered under the two heads
of the British  and of the French: it being all the
while remembered that bpth methods, which are ar-
tificial, practice the natural gesticulations, as far as
they can be useful.   The modes of teaching pur-
sued by certain individuals, in Spain,  Holland and
Germany, are  referable  to the one or the other of
these.
   Of the British method, the first distinguished
teacher, was Mr. Braidwood.  He instructed pupils
at Edinburgh.  Mr.  Green, a gentleman of New-
York, placed a deaf and dumb son there about 1780.
The succeeding year he  visited  the school,  and
wrote an account of it from London, to the late Mr.
Bay ley, professor of anatomy in Columbia College,
&c.  I cannot  do any thing so much to the point as
to read you the letter:
   " The extraordinary nature of a discovery very
" important to  the human race, induces  me to  be
" particular  in giving you an account of the obser-
" vations I had the satisfaction to make  lately, on
" my visit to  Mr. Braidwood's academy  at Edin-
" burgh, for teaching the deaf and dumb, as well as
" for removing impediments in the speech of those
" who hear: especially  as I conceive, setting aside
" my own particular interest therein, that it is an
" object well worthy the consideration of the bene-
" volent part of the literati in every quarter of the
" world. 
                  (      25     )

    " Upon my first interview with my son,  who was
 ■' impatiently waiting to receive  me, he  very  distinctly
 " addressed  me, viva voce, with, how do you do, my
 " dear papa ? and several other questions and answers.
 '' I then delivered  him a letter  from  his sister, which
 " he  read  without hesitation, not only in an audible
 " manner,  but  with significant gestures accompanying
 " his pronunciation of many words, such as write, let-
 " ter, papa and others ; which plainly proved his ideas
 " of their meaning, were as clear and just, as his arti-
 " culation  was  proper and intelligible.
    " I remained at Edinburgh  nearly six weeks, and
 ;t was every day at the academy.  During this time I had
 " the ineffable  pleasure of marking the daily progress
 " of improvement in  my boy, and in the other pupils,
 " as  respected  the knowledge  of language, and the
 " actual acquisition of that most  distinguishing mark of
 " rational  beings, speech : from which, by some unac-
 " countable  defect in the abstruse organ of hearing,
 " they had seemed to be irremediably precluded.
    " By means of this interesting art [from  the crea-
 lt tion unknown to this half century) a certain portion
 " of  the human species  is rescued from  uselessness,
 " ignorance  and lamentable  inferioritv, and  rendered
44 capable  of every useful accomplishment, every de-
" gree of erudition, and all the  advantages and plea-
 " sures of social conversation and enjoyment.
    " I have  seen many in this predicament;  one of
•; whom is  a principal officer in the custom-house at
44 Leith, a  very gentleman-like agreeable  companion.
46 There is  at present, one of these pupils at one of the
44 universities: and I have not a doubt that Charles, if
                         D 
(     26      )
 ik he live to a state of manhood, will be as thorough a
 44 master of languages as any in this kingdom.
   44 As a specimen of the degree  of proficiency to
 44 which persons are capable of arriving, I enclose one
 44 composition among many that I have, consisting of 12
 44 lines  in poetry, written  by one of them,  on seeing
 44 Garrick  act a few years ago.   You may depend
 44 upon its being absolutely the unassisted performance
 44 of one whom I know personally.
    44 Many  authors have lately mentioned this institu-
 44 tion as one of the most remarkable of this, or indeed
 44 of any other time, to wit, Pennant, Johnson, Arnot,
 44 Monboddo and others.  Notwithstanding which, such
 44 is the astonishing nature of it, that it seems generally
 44 incredible.
   44 The powers and faculties of naturally-deaf people
 44 vary, and are graduated as far as among others who
 44 have the sense of hearing.  But there appears in the
 44 former an  universal appetite for knowledge; and of
44 course, what  to  young persons, commonly seems a
44 tax upon their  time and pleasures,  and  is really a
44 task, is undertaken  with  avidity by those, as  the
44 highest gratification: so fond  are they of all sorts of
44 learning.
   44  From this it is not improbable some uncommon
44 genius may arise, whose turn for study (and attention
44 to pursuits to which want of hearing  may be rather
44 favorable than otherwise) may be so  great and suc-
44 cessful in the arts and sciences, as that he may arrive
44 at  new excellence;  and not  only eclipse the lustre
44 of all others, in some particular arts; but what seems
" paradoxical,  throw  new light and perspicuity  upon 
                    (     27     )

  " metaphysical researches, which persons with all their
  ■4 senses, have never  attained to.   This, perhaps, you
  44 will think enthusiasm.
      ki It would  be impossible to recite  the various in-
  44 stances of mental and literary qualifications. I have
  44 had conviction of.  Suffice it to say, that Mr. Braid-
  44 wood, by his ingenuity and talents, doth  teach them,
  " in effect to hear, and in reality to speak.
      44 His method in  general is this.  He  first teaches
  44 them to sound the vowels; next to place the tongue
  44 and lips in such positions  as  to form with the conso?
  44 nants, monosyllables.  Thus by perseverance and
  '; close application, he  brings them gradually to know
  44 how to articulate any word that is expressed by cha-
  '4 racters, either in print or manuscript.  And in this
  44 manner, by  experience and great attention  to his
4  44 mouth, his pupils begin to understand, without hear-
  tc ing what is pronounced or said.   Consonant to this,
  44 is the motto he hath adopted,  vox oculis subjecta,
  4; the voice subjected  to the  eyes.   His  crest is  a bird
  " charmed by a serpent.
      44 My son hath made uncommon proficiency for the
  44 time; not only in speaking,  but  in reading, writing,
  44 arithmetic and drawing;  and bids fair to make a re-
  4C spectable  figure in life, notwithstanding his misfor-
  44 tune  of deafness.   Having referred  several  of my
  44 friends at New-York to you for these particulars, I
  44 will be obliged to you  to communicate  them to all
  44 such; and should wish for the sake of humanity, that
  44 the knowledge of them might be universal."   (Me-
  dical Repository, vol.  8.  p. 73, 75.)—This jusdy dis-
  tinguished teacher in Scotland, has been succeeded by 
(     %8     )
his pupil Dr. Watson, in  England.  His school is in
London, the most prolific place, perhaps, on the terra-
queous  globe  for the  institutions  called charitable.
It does not appear to have  established a society for
relieving  this class of persons, until 1792;  when an
asylum was opened 44 for the support and education of
the deaf and dumb children of the poor."  The bene-
fits of it, have since been  felt by many of those com-
passionate objects.  They are admitted, as I under-
stand,  between  the  ages  of 9 and 14; are  taught to
speak articulately, and to  write; and are made to un-
derstand the meaning of letters, and of the sounds con-
stituting speech.  They are also instructed in arithme-
tic.  By an acquaintance with penmanship and calcu-
lation, they become qualified for the common business
of life.   Afterwards, the acquisition of some of the most
useful mechanical arts, enables them to earn a livelihood
and to be comfortable.  As the two volumes written
by this practical labourer in the field,  are before you in
print, it is enough that I  mention the  work with  re-
spect, and refer to it for information, as a document of
peculiar value.
    In France,  the  Abbe de PEpee gathered the deaf
and dumb into  a seminary of his own, and taught them.
His successor, the Abbe Sicard, continues the business
with the most encouraging result.  His pupils learn to
connect the powers of the letters in the alphabet, with
signs made by  the fingers of the right hand; to under-
stand  the meaning of letters, syllables arid words, like
other students; to reduce them to writing,  according
to the  rules of orthography  and syntax;  to acquire
 other  languages than  their  mother tongue;  and in 
                  (     89     )

short, to become masters of every thing that languages
can convey to the mind.
    In this latter plan, pupils are not taught pronuncia-
tion. M. Sicard has become convinced that the voice of
deaf persons, not being  modulated by their own ear, is
necessarily harsh, uncouth and ungraceful.  It is  fre-
quently difficult to  be understood.  He has therefore
omitted it, as of no substantial service; resting  the qua-
lifications of his pupils on their manual alphabet;  their
conventional gestures; their reading, writing and  com-
position ; their ability to learn languages; and in fine,
their capacity to  attain every  thing relative to  lan-
guage,  except its sounds and vocal  utterance.   The
scholars of his seminary, therefore, although instructed
in the  meaning  and use  of language,  continue to be
dumb.
    From a neighbouring  city, a missionary was  sent,
a {ew years ago, to seek in the kingdoms of  Europe,
the  true art  of  teaching the  deaf and dumb.   The
Rev. Mr. Gallaudet returned to his friends, a qualified
instructor, upon the French system.  He brought with
him as an assistant, a most interesting man, Mr. Clerc.
This person never heard a sound or uttered  a word;
being  deaf and dumb  from his birth.   Yet  he  is so
quick  and  intelligent, that he has become acquainted
with both the French and English tongues, which he
writes  with grammatical  accuracy.  A letter  which I
received from him a few weeks ago, is a correst piece
of English composition.   In him we  have an example
of the ability of a person, himself deaf and dumb, to
give the necessary instruction to others labouring under
similar disabilities. 
(     30     )
    Nor is this the only instance.  In the city of Bour-
deaux, Mr. Gard is  a  teacher  in the Royal Academy
there, for instructing the deaf and dumb. Although he
is now, and always has been, unable either to hear or
to speak;  yet he is perfectly qualified for his place.
and performs its duties in a becoming an'1  satisfactory
manner.  I know by his writing that  he understands
English composition, as wTelI as  if he had the sense of
hearing, and  had  spoken  the  tongue all his  days.
[Here the two letters  were produced.]
    Such are the two plans of instruction for  the deaf
and dumb.  It is for you, fellow-citizens, to decide whe-
ther either of them is worthy of adoptation in this city.
    We  live in an ao;e distinguished for benevolence.
    Already has it freed the slave from his bondage,
and bestowed  upon him  the  invaluable  blessing of
freedom.
    The criminal  code  has been mitigated,  and the
convicts, instead of  expiating their guilt by death, are
permitted to  labour in confinement, with  the hope of
penitence and amendment.
    As these humane  reformations  regard  liberty and
life  more than the culture of the understanding and of
the  heart, examples may be demanded, more apposite
to the present inquiry.  Here they are.
    In churches erected for  the  worship of the Deitv,
the lessons of the  reader, the responses of  the congre-
gation, the sermon of the preacher, and the hymns and
psalms of the choristers, impart edification and  com-
fort to those who can hear and speak.  But in these
acts the deaf and dumb have no participation. 
                  (      31     )

   When the goodly line of young persons is extended
before the  catechist, the principles and  doctrines of
religion are inculcated by words.  But to these exer-
cises the deaf and dumb have no approach.
   In common schools and colleges, literary and moral
discourses  are  delivered by  the teachers to the  stu-
dents,  and recitations and  compositions submitted by
pupils to their instructors.  All pre-suppose the use of
the ear and the tongue.  But from all these exercises,
the deaf and dumb are excluded.
   The courts  of law,  the  halls of legislation,  and
chambers of debate, furnish materials for the  most  pro-
found reflection, to those who can understand the  pro-
ceedings.  These are performed by the voice and ad-
dressed to the hearing.  But these exercises are nulli-
ties to the deaf and dumb.
   That social and domestic circle, where the ameni-
ties and suavities of life subsist, and are enjoyed; where
the diversified occupations of the household are order-
ed, and done; where rational and cultured man holds
converse with his friend,  and both  are content;  that
society of the tire-side, 1 say, presumes speech and lis-
teners.   How hard is it for the deaf and  dumb,  that
they know nothing about it!
  [Here the deaf and dumb children were exhibited.]
   Unoffending Outcasts! how have the  high  and
the mifhtv overlooked you! Your kinsmen, too often, as
if ashamed to own you, have kept you behind the door,
or removed you from notice.   The humane and kind-
hearted have shunned  you, and passed by, as though
they saw you not.  The zealous and pious, who equip
missionaries with Bibles,  for converting the heathen in 
(     32     )
 India and the remotest isles, have omitted to commu-
 nicate the glad tidings of the gospel  to you.   That
 tongue-tied eloquence  seems to  speak to the philan-
 thropists—I perceive its meaning:—it charges them,
 ON THEIR RESPONSIBILITY, TO CONSIDER YOUR CLAIMS.
    Neglected Innocents ! I know full well how inca-
 pable you are of hearing my words. But you have eyes,
 and the intuitive  sense of physiognomy, which  often
 influences the nursling  at the breast.   You  may  learn
 from the observation of my countenance, that I am no
 prophet—too forgetful  of the past, too heedless of the
 present, the dark and distant future has never been dis-
 closed to me.  I therefore predict nothing as to your
 fate.   Still, though I fail  to reveal what will happen,
you have the consolation  of learning from my face and
manner, what according  to my judgment, should hap-
pen.  They, to whom  the goodness of their heavenly
father, has given hearts to feel, and treasures to spare,
ought to take care that intellectual and spiritual food
should be  duly administered to your famished souls.__
Even while I speak, you may behold in the look and de-
meanour of this very numerous and most respectable as-
 sembly of citizens,  a sign of the times :—It is an auo-ury
of an approaching event—I feel inspired to foretel it—
DEW AND MANNA ARE READY TO  DISTIL FOR YOUR RE-
FRESHMENT. 

TO THE PUBLIC.
      THE NEW-YORK INSTITUTION

           For the Instruction of the

 DEAF   AND  DUMB.

    THE objects of this Institution are "for the
" purpose of affording the necessary  means of
" Instruction to the Deaf and Dumb,—and also to
" provide for the  support and maintenance of
" those in that condition, whose parents are una-
" ble  to  maintain them during their course of
" tuition."

    It is not contemplated that this  Institution
should be exclusively charitable,—but also to
educate all those whose circumstances will  ena-
ble them to pay for their tuition.
                    E 
NUMBER OF DEAF AND DUMB.
   Sixty-three are ascertained to be residing
in the city of New-York,  and Eight  in the vi-
cinity.

   It is believed the number, when discovered,
will  amount to one hundred, in the city of
New-York alone.

   Those in the city, as  far as their  ages are
known, are as follow:

       l    ----     4 years of age,
       4    ----     6
       4    ----     7
       6    ----     8
       2    ----     9
       4    ----    10
       %    ----    11
       3    ----    12
       2    ----    13
       2    ----    14
       7 from 15 to 18
       3 from 18 to 22
       2 from 28 to 30
      15 Children, ages unknown, believed to be
     ----from 6 to 14.
      57 
    THE humane and charitably disposed citizens
and inhabitants, are appealed to with  confidence,
tofuHher the views and promote the objects of the
Xerw-Xork Institution lor thfe Instruction
of t\ie Iteaf and Dumb.

    No occasion has ever presented itself to the be-
nevolent, more laudable in  its nature; and, it is
presumed, that no  inducement need be  offered  to
ensure patronage  and support, other than  a fair
understanding of its merits.

    In claiming a due proportion of public  munifi-
cence in their undertakings, the Managers  of the
New-York  Institution for the  Instruction  of the
Deaf and Dumb, request that this application may
be properly  considered, and duly appreciated by a
discerning community ; and that from their virtu-
ous convictions, and sympathies, they act according
to their best feelings and inclinations ;—from these
they anticipate the most gratefid success ; and will,
to their anxious wishes for the promotion of so great
an object, superadd their unremitted exertions, in
giving efficacy to such means as may be placed at
their disposal.

                 30HX B. SCOTT, Sec'ry.

New-York, March 26, 1818. 
 
Me.<L. Hist.
   mo
  1*1?