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 ~"T-|rflpETi;TO7^ 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 OF 
 
 GEORGE TAIT, 
 
 A DEAF MUTE, 
 
 Who first gave Instructions to the Deaf 
 
 and Dumb in the 
 
 City of Halifax. 
 
 MA 
 
 Also an ExtracV<*fiSd^KaD'sAmerTca/i'.*Pap«f !i)in Teachers and 
 fA6it^\i iTeacbingVtiie Deaf' a^td' ^umb. 
 
 • t* ••• • « 
 
 tsiR/Tbbitth: bdittoit. 
 
 HALIFAX, N. 8. : 
 Printed by Jambs Bower dc Sons 142 Hollis Street. 
 
 1894. 
 
* I 
 
 DPE/EFA.OEI. 
 
 WHEN first I commenced to write this little book I did 
 so without the slightest intention of selling it ; I wrote 
 it merely for my own amusement and the pleasure of giving 
 it to some of my friends who had desired me to do so. But 
 when times became so hard, I was thrown completely out of 
 employment and finding it impossible to procure work, I very 
 unwillingly made up my mind to sell my book instead of 
 oiviNO it away as I had intended doing. I had no idea, 
 however, that I would have been favoured with such success, 
 but owing to the kind patronage of both strangers and 
 friends, I have been enabled to sell a large number. 
 
 In this my thirteenth edition. I have made a few slight 
 alterations, by inserting a few incidents of my life omitted in 
 the former editions, and adding a brief account, of my travels 
 since commencing to sell the book. I have also procured a 
 few references, and as some doubt the validity of my state- 
 ment concerning my first starting the Deaf and Dumb School 
 in Halifax, I have obtained a passage from an old paper in 
 connection with that fact printed upon the event of the 
 school first being started.* 
 
 And here allow me to ^tender my most sincere thanks to 
 all 
 purchasing my- book 
 
 • ••• .* ••? 
 
 those who hfdW Avl4'h4%fi*^'?^**^^®Hlw*Ty assisted me by 
 
 •fthasincr mv«lobolcV»* ••! I i '• '»* • ••• ••• • *•• 
 
 .:: /. SsoRQE Tait. 
 
 • « • • • »• 
 
 I • • • • ,' 
 * • • • t 
 
 • • • • • • 
 
 • • • 
 
 * Good Again.— Mr. Tait, the deaf mute young carpenter, who 
 has been mainly instrumental in getting up the Deaf and Dumb 
 Schools, Argyle Street, informs us that he collected from the 
 benevolent in this City, during ten days, the handsome sura of £40. 
 to aid him in the good cause. 
 
 —Halifax, (N. 8.) Chronicle, September 18th, 1866. 
 
' . ?- ^■ss^'^^S???!^^ 
 
 ' t 
 
 Hutobiogpapl)^ of €copgc Tab. 
 
 T, Oborou Tait, in accordance with the wishes of some of my 
 friends, proceed to write a brief history of my past life ; and my 
 sincere desire is to make the book sufficiently interesting to awaken 
 within the bosoms of any who may read it, an interest in the child- 
 ren of silence. 
 
 To begin my history where my life began, I shall invite my read- 
 er to travel in imagination far across the broad Atlantic, to the 
 heathery hills of ** Auld Scotland," " where the kilted lads are born," 
 and visit the haunts of my early childhood. 
 
 I was born in Caithness Shire, Scotland, in the year 1828. My 
 father was a farmer, and consequently a thatched cottage and broad 
 green fields form the associations of my earliest remembrance. As 
 there were no fences inclosing rav father's farm, it was necessary that 
 the cows and sheep should be herded, and as I was the eldest son 
 and at that time the only one old enough to perform such a task, I 
 was installed as herdsman ; a position which I, however, looked 
 upon with no very favourable eye. Ah I 1 can W3ll remember the 
 horror with which I looked upon those long wearisome hours of 
 dreary watching and herding. How I used co long for the sun to go 
 down, which was the welcome signal for me to return home with my 
 charge. Had I been able to read and thus amuse myself and be- 
 guile those uncommonly long hours, herding cattle might not have 
 grown such an inglorious occupation in my estimation. However 
 as it was, I had to amuse myself by imagining things in my own 
 untaught uncultivated mind without the aid of books whereon to 
 meditate. For instance, I used to think the moon was a huge cheese, 
 and as it decreased in size, I supposed without doubt that some 
 invisible person was cutting pieces of this imaginary cheese, and 
 slowly devouring it ; while the Northern Lights I supposed to be 
 creatures dancing in the heavens. Indeed the heavenly hosts used 
 to furnish a source of unfailing amusement for me, for I was never 
 tired of gazing at the myriads of twinkling sparkling stars, the 
 great blazing sun, and the pale majestic moon. But it must not for 
 one moment be supposed .hat it was in my wicked nature to quietly 
 and uncomplainingly do my duty. No, on the contrary, I used to 
 be continually devising all manner of plans to get clear of it. My 
 favorite one was to run off to my grandfather's a distance of about 
 two miles. And my grandfather, who was very fond of me, was 
 always ready with a smile of welcome. I loved him dearly, and he 
 and I were strongly attached. 
 
 61866 
 

 ^V . 
 
 
 r'«*'^8f'^«*\"^ 
 
 *•■ 
 
 
 4 
 
 * But while speaking of my grandfather, I must not forget to men- 
 tion my grandmother, and how she used to try to teach me to read, 
 anfl to honor the Sabbfith day. Ah ! how well I remember the lan;;e 
 old-fashioned Bible she ased to love so much to read, and how she 
 used to endeavour to teach me to love it too. I used to look with 
 reverence upon that book, not because I knew its inestimable value^. 
 but because she placed such store by it. I remember too that the 
 word *^ Gtod*' was printed in large capital letters. She would show 
 me this, and with deep devotion glowing in her faded eyes, point 
 upwards — thus I wap at first led to understand that God was one far 
 above this earth, a being whom we are to regard with reverence and 
 awe, and then the look of despair that would come into her eyes 
 when she saw how utterly useless it was for her to try to teach me 
 to read, I can well recollect, although at that time I do not think 
 the thought troubled me much, for I could not sp ^ any particular 
 use in my learning to read. [ had also the vague idea that I was the 
 only deaf and dumb person in the v^orld. I sigh when I remember 
 those days of blissful ignorance when I knew nothing of this hard, 
 cruel world. But although I cared so much for my grandfather, it 
 did not prevent me from often being very mischievous and thought- 
 less at his expense. And by way of illustrating how wicked are the 
 thoughts and feelings of even the most ignorant of the depraved 
 and fallen race of Adam, I will relate one or two of the schemes 
 which my mind suggested, as excellent means whereby to torment 
 my grandfather, and thereby create amusement for my own benefit. 
 
 One day he was working in his barn, and supposing that I was in 
 the field he carelessly threw his pea-jacket aside and went on with 
 
 * his work, but I was in the barn, and not as he supposed in the field, 
 and at the sight of the jacket came the thought "what a jolly chance 
 for a lark." I always wore a short kilt, and I thought it would be 
 
 , splendid to have a pair of pantf., so I took the jacket and forcing 
 my legs into the sleeves of it prepared to have some fun, but alas ! 
 to my grief at that moment my grandfather caught a glimpse of me 
 just as I was preparing to leave the barn and started to take the 
 jacket from me, but I had no intention of standing still and quietly 
 letting him deprive me of all the pleasure which I had determined 
 to have. No, I would make one last bold effort for the sake of the 
 said lark, so as quick as thought I set off at as great a speed as 
 possible, considering I had my legs through the sleeves of the jacket. 
 My grandfather engaged in hot pursuit after me, and I venture to 
 say there never was a more laughable sight. He caught me, how- 
 ever, and took my new fashioned pants from me, but not before we 
 had a most delightful and invigorating run, in which run I was 
 rather surprised to see my grandfather engage with the utmost 
 suppleness, and seem to lose for a time all the stiffness of old age. 
 Bif y grandfather was also a most notorious snuff-user. Now this 
 black stuff always reminded me of soot, and supposing soot to be 
 

 At to men- 
 oe to read, 
 r the lar^ 
 d how sbe 
 look with 
 able valoe^ 
 that the 
 ould show 
 7^8, point 
 ^as one far 
 sreDce and 
 her eyes 
 
 > teach me 
 not think 
 particular 
 
 > I was the 
 remember 
 this hard, 
 Ifather, it 
 
 thoQj^ht* 
 9d are the 
 
 depraved 
 ' schemes 
 ^ torment 
 
 I benefit. 
 
 I I was in 
 on with 
 
 the field, 
 ly chance 
 n^ould be 
 i forcing 
 >ut alas! 
 Be of me 
 take the 
 I quietly 
 l^rmined 
 e of the 
 speed as 
 <» jacket, 
 iture to 
 e, how- 
 •fore we 
 ' I was 
 
 utmost 
 >ld age. 
 ow this 
 t to be 
 
 6 
 
 i'ust as good (indeed I have not yet had cause to alter my opinion,) 
 ; one day took a little box and filled it from the chimney. My 
 grandfather- seeing me wilh it, and supposing it to be some of his 
 beloved snufi, took the box from me with a sharp reproof for being 
 so mischievous and (without the slightest attempt on my part to 
 prevent him) emptied the contents of it into his own box, while I, 
 all the time this was taking place, could hardly restrain my intense 
 amusement, and I went off laughing to myself when the thought of 
 how my good grandfather would look when he should discover his 
 mistake. But it must not be supposed that I made my venerable 
 old grandfather the subject of all my wicked pranks, for I was a 
 nuisance to those around me in general. 
 
 Thus I lived on, sometimes staying at my grandfather's, at other 
 times returning home and staying there awhile, until I reached the 
 age of twelve years, when my father left the country with its green 
 fields and pleasant shady lanes, and moved into the crowded smoky 
 city of Wick, where he kept a grocery store. Not long after we 
 went there the minister of the church which we attended called 
 upon us, and seeing that I was deaf told my parents of an institu- 
 tion established for the education of the deaf and dumb. They 
 were much gratified on receiving this piece of intelligence, as they 
 had never before heard of such an institution, but had hitherto 
 looked upon me with a sort of despair, supposing that there was no 
 means whereby 1 might gain an education; and it was at once 
 settled that L should go to school. My mother was soon busily 
 engaged in supplying every comfort that her mind could suggest to 
 make me comfortable while at school. 
 
 Soon all was ready and I was to start on my new career, little 
 thinking that this was to be a turning point in my life, that thence- 
 forth the current of ray existence should run in entirely another 
 direction, and would no longer flow as it had hitherto done, in 
 quiet and undisturbed tranquility. 
 
 Upon starting for school I was placed under the u' re of a gentle- 
 man whose name I do not remember, and conveyed safely to Edin- 
 burgh, (about 200 miles from my home) where the school stood — 
 tall and imposing. It was weir built of grey sandstone and situated 
 near the Donaldson Charity Institution, a splendid edifice of white 
 sandstone and capable of accommodating about 500 persons, erected 
 by & rich bachelor, named Donaldson. 
 
 When I reached the school I was kindly received by the Principal ' 
 a man who despite his 78 years, was still hearty and cheerful. His 
 name was Mr. Kinneburg, and he was at one time, I believe a 
 minister of the church of England. 
 
 He was a very tall stout gentleman with a certain air of import- 
 ance about him which at once deeply impressed my young mind. 
 He wore a very long- tailed black coat, knee breeches and gaiters, 
 some iMTge, old-fashioned gold seals suspended on a black ribbon 
 
 .::1bii,.i£ 
 

 ;^J- ^.';-V'.;--5ij,>7^i7Lr 
 
 
 •I 
 
 6 
 
 dangled from his vest, and two or three gold rings glittered on his 
 fingers. Another thing I also noticed was that one of his little 
 fingers were missing. I afterwards learned that this was due to some 
 of his own mischief, and it seemed strange to me that this strict 
 important looking gentleman should ever have been a mischievous 
 little urchin like myself, although, his appearance was such as 
 would undoubtedly excite the hearty laughter of any school-boy 
 of the present day. After I had finished gazing at him, I took a 
 survey of the school room and its occupants, when to my delight I 
 saw a large number of boys and girls, some of whom were near my 
 own age and size, and some too, my quick eye readily detected were 
 like myself, brimful of mischief. 
 
 I was perfectly charmed ; never before had I seen such a collec- 
 tion of boys and girls ranging from the tender age of 5 and 6, to 
 manhood and womanhood. 
 
 But despite the disparity of Age, size, and temperament, they 
 were all alike in one respect — like myself not one could hear a 
 sound, either pleasant or harsh — not one could utter a word of either 
 love or hatred — a sad state dear reader you will say, but not so ;sad 
 as you may imagine. While the deaf mute is deprived of two great 
 senses, double power seems to have been given to the remaining. 
 The " eye" is quick and sharp, the " feelings" acute and sensitive 
 to a degree, at times almost painful, and although he cannot easily 
 converse with those around him, a deaf man can almost read the 
 thoughts of others in the various expressions of the face with that eye. 
 
 " An eye that seems to hear * 
 
 E'en by observing, and that gathers more 
 From nickerinji; lights and shadows of a face. 
 Than duller minds can gain from spoken words." 
 
 But I am wandering from my subject, to return to the school- 
 rooim and its occupants, there were about 85 scholars attending at 
 that time and besides the Principal there were four male and two 
 female teachers employed. 
 
 In a short time I was duly established in the class for which my 
 intellectual attainments qualified me, and soon becoming acquainted 
 with the rest of the scholars, I was as happy as the day was long. 
 On going to school I could only make known my thoughts by signs, 
 but I quickly learned to talk with my fingers, thus being enabled to 
 talk more freely and with much less difficulty. 
 > So things went on in the usual routine of school life. Sometimes 
 I would become tired of learning my lessons and try to get clear of 
 them, but I soon learned that there was no mercy shown to lazy 
 boys in that well-regulated school, so I resorted to another plan, 
 that of feigning to be ill, but I was immediately sent to bed and a 
 most shocking dose of salts were brought to roe and I was forced to 
 drink it. Ugh 1 I have hated the sight of salts ever since, and you 
 may be sure that I did not pretend to be sick again. 
 

 
 ■:'"^?=nF^'' 
 
 One of the most intimate acquaintances while at school was a 
 fellow named Growe. He had an immense hooked nose, and I used 
 to be continually teasing him by telling him that he had a nose like 
 a crow's bill. Many were the pranks I used to play upon him, all 
 of which he generally received with the utmost good nature. 
 
 The matron of the school often bribed us scholars into doing 
 little chores for her. One day she offered Crowe and me some bread 
 and cheese (which by the way is very acceptable to a hungry school- 
 boy) if we would do her a favor. I forget now what the nature of 
 it was, at any rate we performed it. Crowe not being near, the 
 bread and cheese was given to me to divide between us, but just 
 then a wicked thought possessed me. I felt that I would dearly 
 love to see how Crowe would look if I were to eat his share as well 
 as my owut so in a short time all the bread and cheese had disap- 
 peared, and I went to inform Crowe of, what I had done. My 
 expectations were more than realized by seeing him get into a 
 towering range, which was a very unusual thing for easy-going, go6d> 
 natared Crowe to do. But this is only a very mild specimen of the 
 scores of wicked plans which I was continually forming to amuse 
 myself at the expense of someone else. Indeed, I have often since 
 wondered that Crowe and I were such good friends when I was such 
 a torment to him, and I can attribute it to nothing else except his 
 excessive good nature. He was human, however, and would often 
 get exceedingly angry at me, but we would soon be as good friends 
 as ever, and forget all about our previous quarrels and disagree- 
 ments. One day he was absent at dinner hour, and his dinner was 
 set aside for him when he should return. Again the evil spirit of 
 mischief took possession of me, and T coolly and deliberately ate 
 every morsel of poor Crowe's dinner, and then waited impatiently for 
 the fun which I expected to have when he returned. He came, and 
 anyone can imagine^iis feelings when with his good appetite he dis- 
 covered that his dinner had been eaten by someone else, and who was 
 that some one else, was very easy for him to divine. He swallowed 
 his rage, however, and left me very much disappointed at seeing film 
 apparently so very little concerned about the loss of a good dinner, 
 but he knew me well enough at this time to know how it delighted 
 me to see anyone get into a passion, and by mastering his own 
 feelings he had all the fun on his own side by witnessing my 
 disappointment. 
 
 In the summer time we boys used to have to go about two miles 
 out to Edinburgh to bathe. One day three or four of us elder boys 
 raised a collection among ourselves and bought a bottle of whiskey. 
 This we drank between us, and as may be supposed it made us all 
 reeling drunk. 
 
 In this disgraceful condition we turned to go back to school, 
 but on our way we met the Principal. He saw at once how matters 
 atood, and I can remember the look of mortification and disgust 
 
 
;; . '■> 
 
 W^. 
 
 ^f 
 
 m 
 
 p^nnnpiippp^ 
 
 
 H 
 
 W 
 
 that oatne into his face as he passed by without noticing or appear- 
 ing to know us at all, but when he had walked a short distance 
 past he turned and followed us back to the school where we each 
 got a hearty thrashing enough to destroy all the effect that the 
 whiskey may have had on us, and we were despatched to bed without 
 our supper. We carried ourselves straighter and more orderly after 
 this scrape. 
 
 On the premises of the school was a workshop where three 
 different trades were tanght — carpentry, tailoring and shoe-making ; 
 of those three trades every boy had his choice of the one he pre- 
 ferred, and at which he worked after school hours. I learned 
 carpentry, at which I have worked ever since. We ^ften used to 
 take the chance when we were in the workshop, away from the eyes 
 of our teachers, to steal out into the street, which, however, was 
 forbidden under pain of a good thrashing. 
 
 But when boys see a change for some good fun they generally do 
 not think much of the consequences. So one day we all went out 
 and were enjoying ourselves amazingly, when we were caught and 
 told we were wanted in the schoolroom. There was not a boy there 
 who did not tremble in his shoes as the thought of the punishment 
 terrible to contemplate, »nd awful to endure, rose uppermost in his 
 mind. All of the boys, excepting myself, went in at once, while I 
 ooward-like, hid in a small shed near by, hoping to escape my share 
 of the punishment, but when the rest of the boys were assembled in 
 the schoolroom, the question of " where is Tait V was asked, no 
 doubt in no very gentle tone ; but as I was not forthcoming it was 
 considered best that I should be looked after> so Crowe was sent in 
 quest of me and in his search he came into the very shed where I 
 was concealed, and after looking all around went out again without 
 having noticed me. I remained in the shed until dark and then 
 stole into the house and up to bed (without* anyone seeing or 
 molesting me) where I slept soundly and sweetly until morning, 
 when to my surprise and relief the matter seemed to be entirely 
 forgotten by the teacher if not by my companions, whose minds, I 
 have no doubt, it would have eased, could they have given me a 
 good thrashing themselves, since I had escaped the one given them. 
 But my happy school days were drawing to a close, for after four 
 years of study I returned home in vacation, and refused to go back 
 to school again, as my father very much wished me to do, for he 
 knew better than I how deficient my education was. i 
 
 Often since have I wished that I had complied with his wishes 
 and returned to school ; and I know that there are many others who, 
 neglecting their education in their youth, have lived to regret the 
 day, when instead of storing their minds with useful knowledge to 
 fit themselves for going out into the world in after life, have sadly 
 frittered away the precious hours of their schooldays, and finally 
 have left school with an education barely sufficient for them to write 
 
 ^JX'fX^-^/.y-i ^*rj*T.^C; 
 
:'iii::X' 
 
 9 
 
 their own namw. Such an education should be contemptible in the 
 eyes of every boy who has it within the limits of his power to obtain 
 a be iter But I was not wise enough then to see the importance of 
 I a good education* in one word I did not know enough to know I 
 knew nothing. But my spirit, a naturally wild and roaming one, 
 chafed under the restraint of a school room, and I longed for the 
 time to come when my school days should be numbered with the 
 things of the past, and I should be able to become a sailor and roam 
 ^over lands and seas of which I had so often studied, and which I 
 longed with my whole soul to see. And the lonely condition of my 
 home since my mother's death (she had died when 1 was at school) 
 increased the intensity of my longing for a sailor's Ufe, and having 
 gained my father's reluctant consent, I started off with my mind 
 full of what I had heard of countries far across the sea. 
 
 America was to me a bright vision of silver and gold, and my 
 heart was set upon reaching its shores, for I imagined that if I were 
 once to reach its shores my fortune would be made. On leaving 
 home I proceeded at once to Aberdeen, where I hired on board of 
 a hne brig belonging to that place. We sailed to several ports in 
 Scotland, £nglaud and Ireland; and even the hasty glimpses which 
 I got of those places during our short visits delighted me, and yet 
 more lirmly iixed my resolve to travel the world over. I worked 
 all the time with a will, for I was in my element and was happy ; 
 my mind was so filled with the wonders I was to see and the vast 
 fortune I was to make, that I scarcely knew how my limbs often 
 ached from the unaccustomed toil. Our brig was in London at the 
 time of the great Exhibition of 1851. This I visited, and there I 
 saw works of art and skill from all parts of the world. There I 
 met with people of almost every tongue and nation, from the hardy 
 Scotchman to the polite and fashionable Frenchman. After a short 
 stay in London, during which time I had visited almost every place 
 of interest in the city, we set sail for Calais, and while our brig 
 remained there, I and others belonging to the ship went by rail to 
 Paris. While in Paris I found ample amusement to beguile the 
 hoars of daylight roaming over the gay, fashionable, and splendid 
 city with its fine buildings and tastefully laid out grounds. Indeed, 
 I think that Paris is one of the finest cities that I have ever visited 
 everything has such a bright sparkling appearance, nothing looks 
 old or dingy. One day during our visit, one of the mates and I 
 visited the Deai and Dumb Institution in the city. I was surprised 
 to see such a number of pupils. They were, however, all French, 
 and speaking the French language we could not understand them ; 
 but the President, a pleasant, interesting sort of gentleman, who 
 could converse fluently in both English and French, entertained us 
 for some time by showing us through the school and explaining to 
 us their rules and mode of teaching, after which we had some 
 refreshments given us, when we went away well pleased with our 
 
^7 x^n. 
 
 g ! yi*iy^<»^f}fl,««#'y*.!"-"\i. ' ,''j' »' j;^ 
 
 ■ H ' j'" 'g " 
 
 
 10 
 
 visit, but I was disgusted when I afterwards learned*that the de- 
 licious pie of which we partook was prepared fromj the flesh 'of 
 frogs. I did not think the refined Frenchman capable of eating 
 that which a Scotchman would shudder to think of. I was also 
 much amused at the extreme politeness which characterizes the 
 manners of the French people, contrasting strongly with the abrupt 
 burly Scotchman. 
 
 Leaving Paris we returned to Liverpool, England, where I left 
 the brig, and after spending all my money — the fact that my pockets 
 were empty suddenly dawned upon me — and it was quite evident 
 that I must gain more employment, or I should, without doubt, 
 starve, for there I stood utterly alone and friendless in that great 
 bustling crowded city, and I could not turn now to my father for 
 help as I used to do in former times of need, but I must henceforth 
 depend entirely on my own exertion for support ; and I confess that 
 the thought came to me with something like a shock, and in one 
 short hour I seemed to change from the gay, thoughtless boy, into 
 the sober, calculating man ; and summoning all my courage to my 
 aid, I started to look for another ship, for I could think of none 
 other then a sailor's life. After looking around for some time, I 
 to my unbounded delight, found a ship preparing to sail for America. 
 
 I now felt sure thst my wildest dreams were about to be realized. 
 But when I wont down into the cabin, were the captain sat reading 
 and smoking, and proceeded to write to him on my slate, my heart 
 sank within me whe he told me that he was not allowed, under a 
 heavy penalty, to take a person infirmed in any way out of England, 
 without first having proper authority for so doing ; but when he saw 
 how anxious I was to go to America, he seemed to take a deeper 
 interest in the seemingly forlorn and friendless boy, so, after a little 
 deliberation, he decided to take me on board as assistant carpenter. 
 He then dressed me in a suit of blue, blackened my face with soot 
 to make me look like the grimy sailors, and sent me on deck with 
 them, and when the Customs Officers came on board to examine the 
 sailors, I was not noticed at all ; for with my blue suit and sooty 
 face, I looked very much like the rest of the crew, and soon to my 
 delight they left, and we set sail, and before long I had lost sight 
 of the land of my nativity, was rapidly being borne to the object 
 of my day-dreams — the foundation of ray most glorious air-oastles. 
 After a long and pleasant voyage, during which time I did not ex- 
 perience one spasm of that disag'^eeable sensation called sea-sickness, 
 we came in sight of the West Indies, and then in a few days arrived 
 safely in Jamaica. I found the heat there intense, to one not used 
 to it almost unbearable. 
 
 On our arrival, we were again examined, and again I was passed 
 over without my deafness being noticed. While in Jamaice we 
 were engaged in discharging our cargo, and in taking in a fresh one 
 for the English markets. The wharf was always filled with tht 
 
 ^^ 
 
11 
 
 •wathy natives. I made enquiries for a young and very handsome 
 native who had attended the Edinburgh Institution, but could learn 
 nothing of him, further than that it was supposed that he had been 
 taken as a slave. 
 
 As soon as our cargo had been discharged, and a fresh one taken 
 in, we again set sail ; this time carrying several passengers. Among 
 the number was a young Englishman, about my own age. We 
 became acquainted, and spent many pleasant hours together talking 
 of the fortunes which we expected to make, for he, like myself, 
 was a fortune hunter. We soon arrived at New York ; from thence 
 we sailed to Boston, and from Boston to Maine, where I left my 
 gallant brig, and that noble, generous captain. We were very 
 sorry to part, but he gave me some good advice, and told me to 
 cheer up and perhaps we would meet again, if not in this world 
 perhaps in the next ; but I have never seen that worthy captain 
 sirce. 
 
 While in Maine I worked in a shipyard. One evening, after 
 having tea, I left my boarding house to visit a friend who lived at 
 some distance ; when I left my friends to return it was rather late, 
 and the night was pitchy dark, and had I not been well acquainted 
 with the streets, I have no doubt that I should have been lost until 
 daylight at any rate. But shortly after I had set out on my way 
 back to my boarding house, a driver came up behind me. The 
 intense darkness prevented either of us from noticing each other., 
 and not being able to hear the sound of the carriage, I was not in 
 the least conscious of anyone being on the street except myself, 
 when I was suddenly knocked prostrate upon the ground, the horse 
 and carriage passing over me. 
 
 I know not how long I lay thus, for I had been stunned from a 
 blow which I received on the hand, and the driver of the carriage 
 was either unconscious of the fact or else he had not enough human- 
 ity left in him to pay any attention to me after he had run over and 
 stunned me, at any rate. When consciousness returned, I found 
 myself still lying where I had so rudely been thrown, I knew not 
 how long before. 
 
 With returning consciousness came a sense of terrible pain in 
 the region of my left wrist, but it was evident that I ought not to 
 lie there for fear some one else might: be unscrupulous enough to 
 play a similar trick upon me ; so I slowly dragged myself along to 
 the nearest house and, entering, explained my disagreeable situation. 
 The occupants of the house were extremely kind, binding up my 
 wrist, which was discovered to be broken, and doing all that day in 
 their power for my relief ; they then assisted me to my iKmrdlng 
 house, where I at once procured a doctor, and had my wrist properly 
 attented to, but it was four months before I was able to work 
 , again, and even then there was a disagreeable grating sensation in 
 : Djy wrist when I handled my tools while working. 
 
 IMh 
 
■»«lVi^ JMPML CW«Ww^.f.<fc^»- 
 
 
 12 
 
 While writing of this accident, I am reminded of a s milar one 
 which happened to me after I came to Halifax. I was just turning 
 the corner of Granville and Blower Streets, when I was suddenly 
 thrown down by a horse coming in the opposite direction, and no 
 doubt would have been injured more severely than before, but for 
 the little slate which I always carry in my pocket ; it was in the 
 breast pocket of ray coat, almost over my heart. The horse set his 
 hoof fairly upon it and smashed it to atoms. But fortuuately the 
 Halifax driver was more humane than the one in Maine, and he 
 immediately came to my assistance, but I received no injuries 
 beyond a bad fright and a slight bruise upon my knee. 
 
 These slight injuries which might, however, have proved serious 
 or even fatal, have been useful lessons to me in teach ng me to be 
 extremely careful when crossing streets at night, as i) deed all deaf 
 persons should be. 
 
 When I returned to my work in the shipyard, I w ^ aagaged in 
 building a large ship which was to sail for California Th« owners 
 wished me to go on board as carpenter, and I would hav* done so 
 with pleasure, but just at that time I learned through one of my 
 fellow- workmen that an uncle of mine was living in Nota Scotia, so 
 I declined going to California, and proceeded at once to write to my 
 uncle. In due time I received an answer, asking roe to come to 
 Halifax at once. I started, going from Maine to St. John, N. B., 
 in a sleigh ; I went from St, John in a steamboat, as far as the ice 
 would allow the boat to go ; and then walked on the ice to Anna- 
 polis, and from Annapolis to Halifax I went in a sleigh. When I 
 drove up to my uncle's door I could hardly suppress a smile at his 
 surprise when he saw that I was deaf and dumb, for he had not 
 known it before. 
 
 My uncle, who was a house carpenter, and carried on an exten- 
 sive business, which employed a large number of workmen, employed 
 me as one of the number. 
 
 I found the City of* Halifax very small and quiet as compared 
 with the large and populous cities, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, 
 and other cities which I had visited. I was also surprised to see 
 how strictly the Sabbath day was observed, and how quiet and free 
 fram all broils and disturbances the streets were on that sacrrd day. 
 But although Halifax is inferior to those large cities in size, popula- 
 tion, (fee, it has a harbor superior to any they can boast of. 
 
 Shortly after I came to Halifax I met with a gentleman at my 
 boaraing house who had a deaf and dumb child about twelve years 
 of age. As she had never received any instruction, he begged me 
 to teach her, and as he did not live in the city, he said he would 
 send her to live with an aunt residing in the city. I was pleased 
 to undertake her education, and when she was sent to Halifax 1 
 commenced without delay to instruct her during my leisure hours. 
 This girl, Mary Ann Fletcher, was the first deaf and daoib person 
 

 13 
 
 who ever rec<' d instruction in the City of Halifax. This was in 
 the year 185^. But the generous heart of that little child would 
 not allow her to rest satisfied with being taught herself alone, but 
 she was continually urging me to gather together the other children 
 in the city afflicted like herself, and teach them too. She manifest- 
 ed such concern for those who were like herself, but who had never 
 been taught to read or write, that I caught the infection, and 
 determined to do that which was within my limited power towards 
 starting a school in Halifax for the education of the deaf and dumb.^ 
 But how to commence I scarcely knew. It was quite evident that 
 I had no time to devote to such a project, for I could not afford to 
 throw up my present employment, as I would surely have to do 
 were I to do justice to the work which I contemplated. After a 
 good deal of thought about the matter. I decided that my best plan 
 would be to get a teacher, and by assisting him during my leisure 
 hours, T thought that we might aifter a time get along very well. 
 
 My plans seemed to be favored, for one day as I was walking 
 along the street I noticed a man and woman talking with their 
 fingers ;, it was evident that one of them was deaf and dumb, and 
 as they appeared to be in a starving condition, I approached and 
 commenced to talk with them. The poor fellow seemed pleased to 
 find some one who could talk to him, and immediately commenced 
 to tell me a most pitifal story of want and woe. I learned that the 
 woman who was with him was his wife, and that they had one child. 
 He told mn too that he had left Scotland with the intention of going 
 to his brother, who lived in the United States, but that he had been 
 landed in Halifax. Friendless and almost penniless, he found it 
 impossible to get sufficient imployment to maintain himself. I went 
 with him to his lodgings, which consisted of one room scantily fur- 
 nished, or not fiirnished at all, tor the only thing in the shape of 
 fbrniture that I could see was a miserable bed and a few dishes. He 
 told me that his name was Gray. I knew the name for I had heard 
 of him before I had left Scotland He had received his education 
 at the Edinburgh institution, and the thought occurred to me that 
 if I could collect the scholars, this man might teach them, as he had 
 nothing else to do. I proposed ray plans to him. He sympathized 
 with them in every respect, and promised to teach as well as he 
 could any who might wish to learn. Then after supplying him with 
 some of the necessaries of which he stood so much In need, I left 
 him and commenced at once to look for scholars and collect some- 
 thing for the school from any whose sympathies might be enlisted 
 in our cause. Friends seemed to spring up on every side, and in a 
 very short time I hart made a collection amounting to $160, with 
 which we furnished a room on Argyle Street. The school opened 
 with two scholars. This small number gradually increased, and in 
 course of time there was quite a room fhll. Thus, that littln room 
 with its few scholars formed the nucleus or beginning of the fine 
 InsUtation of to-day. 
 
u 
 
 tnl 
 
 The late Andrew McEinlay, Esq., proved himself to be a most 
 valuable fHend. Assisting and advising us in many ways he became 
 Secretary and Treasurer, for besides what was left of the 8160 after 
 ftirnishing the schoolroom there was always money on hand given us 
 by some kind friend in aid of the school. When the number of 
 pupils had so increased as to render the room which he had occupied 
 till now incapable of accommodating them all., the friends and 
 directors of the school procured a large room and sent to Scotland 
 for a teacher, as Mr. Gray was not capable of supplying the place 
 of a first-class teacher. 
 
 Before long the present Institution was purchased and repaired 
 and enlarged in different ways. 
 
 There are now a large number of pupils attending the school, 
 many ot them going home every year during vacation. Tli^y come 
 from all parts of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, New Brunswick and 
 Prince Edward Island. The school is a great blessing, for without 
 it the deaf child would remain in utter mental dullness and ignorance, 
 ranee. 
 
 After a time I began to get tired of boarding, and determined to 
 go to sea again ; and as there were relations of mine living in Aus- 
 tralia, I had concluded to go there, when by mere chance I became 
 acquainted with a young lady with whom I at once fell in love, and 
 instead of embarking on the deep blue Atlantic, I embarked on 
 the sea of matrimony, and finally settled down in the quiet humdrum 
 of married life, without having accomplished one hundreth part of 
 what I had intended to do, viz., to travel the world over. Ah ! I 
 had by this time discovered that the world was a larger place than 
 I had at first supposed it to be. My wife could both hear and speak ; 
 yet at the same time could converse with her fingers with as much 
 ease and quickness as with her lips. After I had been married for 
 about 13 years, and a swarm of children had gathered around my 
 knee, I became desirious of again visiting my native land, so I 
 procured a passage on board the " City of Halifax." The passage 
 was a pleasant one ; no storms were encountered, and everything 
 went smoothly (after the horrors of the first night were over). I 
 had gone to bed and was sleeping soundly, lulled by the gentle 
 rolling of the ship, when I was suddenly awakened by some one 
 feeling over my head. I sprang up in bed and met the bloodshot 
 eyes of a drunkea sailor who bad staggered into my room. He 
 held in his hand an open knife which he raised above his head in a 
 threatening attitude. I grasped his arm but not in time to avoid 
 altogether the descent of the knife, which struck my shoulder, 
 cutting through my clothes and slightly injuring the flesh. How- 
 ever, by dint of a good deal of coaxing, I succeeded in getting him 
 out of the room, and then I fastened the door. The rest of the 
 voyage was accomplished in peace, and I once more stood on Scot- 
 land soil. 
 
 I proceeded at ance to my father's store and entered — ** But, 
 
15 
 
 was. that old man with the bent form and snowy hair, mj father ?" 
 I had not thought of seeing any change in him. He did not know 
 me, however, and the joy that woald naturally shine in a father's 
 eyes when he recognizes a long absent child was not seen in his. 
 He looked upon me as he would look upon an utter stranger. Tet 
 how could it be expected that he should see in the bearded man 
 before him, any resMmblance to the slight youth of 16, who had left 
 his home more than twenty years before. I then made myself 
 known to him. He was greatly rejoiced to see me, and, after a 
 hearty greeting, he took me into the house. It looked quite natural 
 and home-like, for although I had been absent so long I had not 
 forgotten what my old home looked like It was but little changed ; all 
 the change seemed to have taken place in the occupants themselves. 
 
 The brothers and sister:^ whom I left at home children, were now 
 grovrn to manhood and womanhood. I also found brothers and. 
 sisters whom I had never seen before, for my father had married 
 again during my absence. I spent a very happy time during the 
 summer visiting my friends and relations. 1 also hunted up some 
 of my old schoolmates and had a chat with them. To one of them 
 whom I visited, I did not tell my name. I merely said that I was an ' 
 old school fellow, and we were spending a most delightful time 
 together, talking of old times and the many scrapes and adventures 
 of our schooldays, when he asked me if I knew what had become of 
 that black curly headed fellow named *'Tait," who used to be such a 
 mischievous rascal. I could not help laughing at his surprise, when 
 I told him that that person was now before him. Shortly after my 
 arrival my father became suddenly very ill He had been out taking 
 a walk, and when he got home, was scarcely able to reach his own 
 room, which he never left again, but died after a few days suffering. 
 And it was with a thankful heart that I had been permitted to see 
 my dear father once more, that I sorrowfully followed his remains 
 to their last resting place, the last tribute of respect which we can 
 pay the dearest earthly friend. 
 
 When the summer began to wane, and the autumn leaves were 
 falling, I prepared to return home. The voyage back was not so 
 .pleasant as the one out had been, we encountered several storms. 
 One very heavy one, the water lashed the ship, and the day became 
 dark as night. In the fUry of the storm I was washed overboard 
 and narrowly escaped being drowned. We also passed a huge ice- 
 berg on our way, when the warm genial air of the early autumn was 
 suddenly changed to cold chillness of winter. 
 
 My family were not in Halifax when I arrived, and I proceeded at 
 once to the country, where they were spending the summer I came 
 in upon them just as they were having a delicious feast of corn The 
 corn was forgotten and I was immediately surrounded by a laughing, 
 danoing group of children, glad to see *^ Father '' at home once mure, 
 and I nit that although I had not gained the immense fortune I had 
 

 
 w 
 
 16 
 
 ' ; 
 
 once dreamed of, I had a far greater blessing than any amount of j 
 money could buy, viz. : a happt, loving family. Shortly after this 
 we left Halifax and moved to Dartmouth, wherie I built a house, in 
 which I still live. 
 
 I was lately engaged as a pattern maker in the Skate Factory, 
 which is an extensive manufactory, where a large number of men are 
 employed. It is there " Forbes' Patent Acme Club Skates *' are 
 manufactured. These skates are known all over the world. ' 
 
 Since writing the foregoing, Thave been deprived of employment, 
 owing to the very depressed state of business, and have, as I have 
 stated in my preface, been unwillingly forced to soil this little book 
 as a means of support. Since I have commenced selling it T have 
 travelled over the greater part of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward 
 Island, and have visited New Brunswick, Quebec, Montreal and 
 Boston. During this summer I have sold 3,000 copies. I sold very 
 few in Canada ; but never having been there before, I enjoyed my 
 visit very much. There are some fine buildings indeed in Montreal 
 and Quebec ; a great many of the inhabitants are French. T was 
 glad to find St. John being so rapidly built up after the late disas- j 
 trous fire. 
 
 With my visit to Yarmouth I was particularly pleased, and I like j 
 the people exceedingly. Fredericton, N. B., I think a very pleasant 
 city, with its broad level streets lined with green trees. By the way, I 
 I think the people of Halifax might take pattern by the said city, so 
 far as clean streets are concerned at any rate. I was quite surprised 
 on arriving at Charlottetown, P. E. I. , to find it such a large town, 
 the people of the place are I think enterprising and industrious, and 
 the town bids fair to be a large and thriving one. Besides thojse 
 places already mentioned, I visited many others of smaller sise and 
 less note, such as Woodstock, Shediac, Amherst, Chatham, New- 
 castle, and others. In Pictou I met with a great many Scotch 
 people, all of whom readily purchased my book. 
 
 I met with similar success in Truro, Digby^ Kentville, Annapolis^ 
 Lunenburg, and many other places which I visited during a tour of { 
 five months. 
 
 In Halifax and Dartmouth I have sold a large number. I have 
 also within the past few days .sold quite a number to the members of 
 the House of Assembly. And with this hurried account I shall close 
 my book for the present, and perhaps after returning fh>m another 
 tour which I intend shortly to make I will give my readers a fuller 
 and more satisfactory account. 
 
 Now, dear reader, my story is ended up to the present, and if I 
 have succeeded in eliciting your sympathy in favor of the *^ Children 
 of Silence," it will not be altogether a failure. 
 
17 
 
 EXTRACT from an Amepican Report, stating^ the early 
 History of the different Deaf and Dumb Schools en 
 the Continent of Europe. Also a short History of 
 . the early American Deaf and Dumb Teachers 
 
 In the year 1776 there existed but three schools for the deaf and 
 dumb in the world, and they numbered, in the aggregate, less than 
 forty pupils. One was the establishment of the celebrated Abbe 
 Charles Michel de L'Eppe, situated on the heights of Montraatre, in 
 the outskirts of Paris, and supported through the practice of the 
 most careful economy, by the income of his own moderate patrimony. 
 He is properly regarded as the father of the French system of deaf 
 mute education. The fundamental idea that led to the method he 
 adopted, was, according to his own statement, " There is no more 
 natural and necessary connection between abstract ideas and the 
 articulate sounds which strike the ear than there is between the 
 same ideas and the written characters that address themselves to the 
 eye." This principle, generally regarded at the time as a solecism in 
 philosophy, led him to enquire as to the best means of conveying a 
 knowledge of the significance and use of written language to the 
 mind of a congenital deaf mute. After much observation and re- 
 flection, he came to the conclusion that the most obvious instrument 
 for effecting his purpose was the natural pantomime which grew out 
 : of thd modes of thought of one born deaf, enlarged in its scope, and 
 methodized in its arrangement. Commencing his labors in the 
 instruction of the deaf and dumb about the year 1775, with two 
 young girls whose pitiable condition touched his heart, he taught 
 [Successive classes till his death, in the year 1789, at the ag« of 77. 
 |Two years after this, the school which he founded was adopted by 
 s the national government of France, and has continued under its 
 care and surveilance ever since. 
 
 Another of those schools was in Germany, under the charge of a 
 [Self-made man named Samuel Heincke, who, in 1754, while stationed 
 iaa a private soldier at Dresden, had employed some of his leisure 
 itime in developing the mind of an indigent deaf and dumb boy, an 
 > experiment interrupted by the seven years war. Supporting him- 
 [self, after the close of this conflict, at the University of Jona, by 
 |his skill in music, he repaired, on his graduation, to the village of 
 [Eppendorf, near Hamburg, and engaged in teaching a school for 
 Ihearing youth. Here he found another deaf mute, who at once 
 [became to him an object of absorbing interest. Other deaf mutes 
 [soon found their way to his benevolent ministrations, and relinquish- 
 [ing his bearing pupils, he devoted his whole time to their instruction. 
 
rt 
 
 KC !?„ 
 
 
 18 
 
 Such was his success that it attracted the notice of the enlightened 
 Prince Frederick Augustus, the elector of Saxony, who in 1778 
 invited him to Leipsic with his nine pupils and established him at 
 the head of the first institution ever supported at the public expense. 
 In this to him most acceptable position he remained twelve yean, 
 laboring with zeal so disproportioned to his strength that his career 
 was prematurely terminated by death in 1790, when he had reached 
 the age of sixty-one. As the recognized father of the German 
 system however, he still lives in the persons of his followers, and 
 the institution of which he was director will two years hence, cele- 
 brate its own centennial anniversary. 
 
 The principle which guided him was the opposite of that which 
 had been adopted by De L'Epee. " The written word,'* he wrote, 
 *' is only the representation of articulate sound. It addressed itself 
 to the eye, and can never be imprinted on the soul or become the 
 medium of thought. This is the sole prerogative of the voice. 
 Without an acquaintance with spoken language, a deaf mute child 
 can never become more than a writing machine, or have anything 
 beyond a succeeciion of images passing through his mind." He 
 accordingly devoted himself to the cultivation of vocal speech on the 
 part of the deaf, regarding it as the point of departure in all his 
 efforts in their behalf. 
 
 The schoool remaining to be mentioned in this connection is that of 
 the Braidwoods, father and son, established near Edinburgh, Scot- 
 land, at a country place which, from the fact of its being occupied 
 for the instruction of the deaf and dumb, came to be called Dum- 
 biedikes, a name immortalized by Sir Walter Scott in his Heart of 
 Midlothian. Of this school, Dr. Samuel Johnstone, in his Journey 
 to the Hebrides, thus remarks : *' There is one subject of philosophi- 
 cal curiosity to be found in Edinburgh which no other city has to 
 show, a college of the deaf and dumb. The number of pupils is about 
 twelve. They are taught by Mr. Thomas Braidwood, and their im- 
 provement is wonderful; they not only speak, write and understand 
 what is written, but it is an expression scarcely figurative to sky they 
 hear with the eye. * * * It was pleasing to see one of the most 
 desparate of human calamities capable of so much help. Whatever 
 enlarges hope will exalt . courage. After seeing the deaf taught 
 arithmetic, who would be afraid to cultivate the Hebrides ? " 
 
 Thomas Braidwood, according to that rare old work ** Vox oculis 
 Subjecta," London, 1783, began the instruction of the deaf and dumb 
 with one pupil, the son of an eminent merchant of Leith, and about 
 1770, associated his son John with himself in the conduct of an 
 academy for the benefit of this class of learners. The author, Franois 
 Green, sent his son Charles to this establishment in February, 1780, 
 and in May 1781, and September 1782, spent several weeks in visit- 
 ing it. The evidence furnished by his testimony, and that of many 
 others, goes to establish the fact that these two men, whatever may 
 
>?>, 
 
 '. > 
 
 ( -4 ' '• 
 
 if, 
 
 1§ 
 
 
 be thought of their theory and practice, were endowed with a tact, 
 ingenuity and seal that brought them as much success as could 
 possibly be realized from the methods they pursued. 
 
 The academy was, in 1783, removed to Hackney, near London, 
 where the elder Braid wood died in 1806 ; but the school was main- 
 tained by his widow and grandchildren tiL 1816, when it ceased to 
 exist as a separate establishment. 
 
 Thomas Braidwood's views of the importance of teaching vocal- 
 ization to the deaf may be inferred from his declaration '* articulate 
 6r spoken language hath so great and essential a tendency to confirm 
 and enlarge ideas above the power of written language, that it is 
 almost impossible for deaf persons, without the use of speech, to be 
 perfect in their ideas. He, however, as we infer from the practice 
 of his nephew, Joseph Watson, LL.D., who was appointed first prin- 
 cipal of the London asylum in 1792, made use of signs of action, 
 including signs purely natural and others more or less arbitrary 
 grafted on them, and also of the two hand manual alphabet. He 
 also believed in the graduation of difficulties and taking up one at a 
 time. In this sense he may be said to have marked out a course 
 intermediate between those of Heinicke and De L*Epee, equivalent, 
 in some respects to a combination of the two, though it is evident 
 that he did not derive any suggestion from either. He differed from 
 .both these eminent men, however, in putting a commercial value 
 upon his art. The prices he charged for instruction were very high, 
 and though a very few poor children were alfowed to derive benefit 
 from, his labors, his special ministrations were given to the children 
 ot the rich. Both he and his family refused to impart a knowledge 
 of their possesses except for a large pecuniary consideration. Still 
 through his nophew, Dr. Watson, already mentioned, through his 
 grandson, Thomas Braid wood, and through Mr. Robert Kinniburg, 
 his pupil, who became severally rutisters of incorporated institutions 
 at London, Birmingham and Edinburg, as well as the teachers they 
 have trained, his methods have become perpetuaterl, with more or 
 less strictness to this day, so that he may, with propriety, be called 
 the immediate father of the English system. 
 
 It is not to be inferred, however, from what has been said, that 
 the three schools mentioned as furnishing the starting point for the 
 great development of the work which has been made during the 
 century we are considering, are entitled to any commendation fur- 
 ther, than that of doing for numbers what had been done equally 
 well before for individuals, nor that all three of these founders were 
 either the inventors or discoverers of the peculiar methods which 
 they adopted. To De L'Eppe, indeed must be awarded the merit of 
 true originality — the originality of common sense, it is true — in that 
 he simply recognized in his pbi'osophy what now seems to be an 
 axiom, and in his practice that which his pupils naturally suggested 
 to him in all their efforts to express their ideas, but still unique and 
 
 
mMmmmr^":^'^*^ V 
 
 
 ^^^W^W^SvW!'^^ 
 
 20 
 
 B«Uw«rthy, in that'it was a departure from all the received notioni 
 of his day. Even he, however, owed to a Spanish teaoher who 
 appeared nearly one hundred and fifty years before his time, the 
 single-handed manual alphabet, which, however, has been identified 
 with the name of De L'Eppe, because we find it in general use only 
 among his followers. 
 
 Heinicke, on the contrary, had the merit of only making skilful 
 adaptations of the plan of John Conrad Amman, a physician in 
 Holland, who wrote a book entitled Surdaa Loqtiena (Amsterdam, 
 1692). A copy of this work tell into his hands, when he undertook 
 the instruction of his first pupil, and gave direction to his subsequent 
 views and methods. Amman placed an extravagant estimate upon 
 the efficacy of speech, attributing to it a mysterious power altogether 
 beyond what is consistent with the teaching of philosophy. He was 
 the first practical teacher of the deaf and dumb in Holland, though 
 he was able to pursue this work only in the intervals of professional 
 leisure, and with a view, it would seem, rather to establish his 
 theories and interest others of his benevolent scheme than to found 
 a school of his own. After his death no one was found to continue 
 the work in his native land, and more than a century elapsed before 
 any efibrt was made to revive it. 
 
 Braidwood, in like manner, was indebted to John Wallis, L.L. D., 
 professor of mathematics in the University of Oxford, a man of pro- 
 found erudition, and of extraordinary philosophical acumen, who is 
 acknowledgod by common consent to have been the earliest teacher 
 of the deaf and dumb in Great Britain. To him their case presented 
 itself in- the light of a most interesting problem. In 1653 he pub- 
 lished a Latin work on the English grammar to which was prefixed a 
 treatise on the formation of all articulate sounds. This he designed 
 for the use of foreigners studying the English language, and the 
 application of his theory to the instruction of the deaf and dumb 
 probably never occurred to him till the year 1616, when he became 
 interested in a youth named Daniel Whaley, son of the mayor of 
 Northampton, who became deaf at the age of five years, but had lost 
 all knowledge of spoken language. Him he taught to read, to write 
 and to speak in a way greatly to gratify the Royal Society before 
 which he exhibited his pupil at a meeting held May 31, 1662, and 
 also His Majesty King Charles I., at Whitehall, together with His 
 Highness Prince Rupert and divergp others of the nobility, who were 
 so much interested that they sent for Dr. Wallis, and required him 
 to exhibit the attainments of his pupil on several diflTerent occasions. 
 He also educated Alexander Popham, *' a young gentleman of very 
 good family and fair estate, who from his birth did want his bearing." 
 These seemed to have been the only cases which he instructed in 
 articulation, though he continued to teach the deaf and dumb for 
 some fifty years, never undertaking more than one or two at a time. 
 He published very full accounts of his possesses in the philosophical 
 
1 * .'' f 
 
 /''* 
 
 21 
 
 trangaotions of the Royal Society (1670-1691) and also in the fifth 
 ind sixth editions of his grammar. He used as one of his instru- 
 ments of communication a double-handed manual alphabet, which 
 seems to have been the original of the alphabet now used in Great 
 Britain, an engraving of which first appears in Daniel DeFoe's his- 
 tory of the Life and Adventures of Duncan Campbell, a deaf mute, 
 of whom he says, that he was educated by a clergyman who had 
 become familiar with Dr. Wallis' writings, -and had enjoyed the 
 advantage of personal intercourse with him. The work which was 
 published in 1720, contains a chapter devoted to an explanation pf 
 the manner in which this was accomplished, which, says the author, 
 *' is mostly taken out of the ingenious Dr. Wallis ; and lying hid in 
 that book, which is rarely enquired after, and too scarcely known, 
 died in a manner with that great man." 
 
 Contemporary with Wallis, and enjoying his friendship, was 
 George Delgarno, master of the grammar school at Oxford, who 
 wrote a book of great learning, entitled Didascolocyphu?, or the deaf 
 and dumb man's tutor, published in 1660, a work held in respect by 
 teachers, and often consulted by them even at this day. Dalgarno 
 discarded articulation as unessential in the instruction of the deaf 
 and dumb. He was the inventor of an alphabet in which the con- 
 sonants were considered as located between the articulation of one 
 hand, with the vowels at the tips of the fingers, and which were to 
 be touched by the thumb and index fingers of the other. It is con- 
 jectured, not without reason, that Dalgarno and Wallis were of 
 mutual assistance to each other in developing the theory of deaf mute 
 instruction, which, with the former, was simply an intellectual 
 recreation, while the latter gave it practical efiect. Previous to 
 Dalgarno and Wallis, the earliest writer on the subject in England 
 was Dr. John Bulwer, who, in 1644, published "Chiralogia, or the 
 natural language of the hand," and in 1648, " Fhilocophus, or the 
 deaf and dumb man's friend," both of which are interesting specula- 
 tions. But anterior to the earliest writer in England, and long 
 before the earliest teacher, was Pedro Ponce De Leon, a monk of the 
 order of the Benedictines in the Convent of Ona, Spain, where he 
 died in 1684. The success of his labours was vouched for by at least 
 three contemporary writers, one of whom, Ambrose Moralez, a 
 Spanish historian, speaks of him as one of the most remarkable men 
 of his age. He is supposed to have commenced his labors in the 
 year 1550. Some thirty or thirty-five years after his death, all trac6 
 of his labors seems to have disappeared exce^ t in the casual mention 
 to which allusion has been made, and scarcely anything would now 
 be known of him but for an account of his labors, he left in a i act 
 for a foundation for a chapel, executed in 1558, and long afterwards 
 discovered among the archives of the convent. At this period 
 appeared Juan Pablo Bonet, who wrote the first book in regard to 
 the method of instructing the deaf and dumb ever published, an 
 

 ^rl^.T..-" 
 
 
 i t"' 
 
 ■ *^. ;^ 
 
 ti. 
 
 22 
 
 analysis of which, from the pen of the late Dr. H. P. Feet, was oon- 
 tributed to the American Annals of July, 1851, and he elsewhere 
 says of its author, that, " with this exception (the employment of 
 pictures) he seems to. have successfully employed all the methods 
 now used in this branch of instruction. In reading his book we are 
 reminded that an art, in its first elements, is often more nearly con- 
 formed to sound philosophy than it becomes in the hands of subse- 
 quent innovators. * • * The parent or friend of a deaf mute 
 who should wish to begin at home the education of a child, cannot 
 do better than to follow the method laid down by Bonet— explaining 
 the names of visible objects by pointing to them ; verbs, by perform- 
 ing the actions they represent ; other ideas of explanations and 
 scenes in pantomime, and the general construction of simple sentences, 
 questions, answers and narratives, by continual usage, by means 
 of the manual alphabet and writing." The success which attended 
 Sonet's labors was, as may be supposed, very considerable, though 
 he never had more than one or two pupils at a time. It should be 
 added that the manual alphabet which he employed, and probably 
 invented, is the same precisely, in about two-thirds of its letters, as 
 that adopted by the Abbe De L'Eppe, and in none of the remaining 
 letters, except the D and R, is there any essential difference. An- 
 other teacher contemporary with Bonet, was Ramirez Emmanuel 
 De Carion, who survived his co-laborer about thirty years. After 
 his death no further effort was made to instruct the deaf and dumb 
 in Spain, until the year 1796, when it was revived by Alea, a 
 disciple De L'Eppe, who opened a school for deaf mutes at Madrid, 
 and though Spain has a population of over 12,000,000, of whom 
 12,000 are deaf mutes, there are at this day but two institutions in 
 her borders ; and it is a remarkable fact that of the 238 institutions 
 now existing in the different countries of the world, with the single 
 exception of the Paris National Institution, which is the same on 
 another foundation, with the private school of De L'Eppe, there is 
 not one that has not been founded since 1776. 
 
 In Great Britain and Ireland there were twenty-three, which, in 
 their methods, may be regarded as belonging to the school of Braid- 
 w^ood, though they generally reject articulation as an incumbrance. 
 
 The institution in London was founded by the Rev. John Town- 
 send, a minister of the congregational order in London, and on the 
 14th of November, 1792, was opened with four pupils. Mr. Town- 
 send began to take subscriptions on the 1st of June, 1792, and by 
 the aid of others, whom he enlisted in the enterprise succeeded in 
 securing for it a generous support In the years 1808, 1809 and 
 1810, he travelled thousands of miles, preaching in different places, 
 and collecting £6,000 as a permanent fund for the society. Tnis 
 fund was afterwards increased until, in 1844, it amounted to £140,- 
 000 or $700,000, and is much larger probably at the present tim^ 
 The pupils are selected for admission by a vote of the Governors 
 

 ST ..'> 
 
 23 
 
 who arelimited in number, being composed of those who pay one 
 guinea per annum, with the privilege of an additional vote for every 
 additional guinea subscribeil, many of its most liberal supporters 
 being personages of the highest rank. The first teacher selected 
 was Joseph Watson, a nephew of Braidwood, who had dedicated 
 himself to the education of the deaf and dumb. In the year 1809 
 he published a treatise on his art, which secured for him the degree 
 of LL. D., from the University of Glasgow. He died in 1836, and 
 has since been succeeded, as Principal, by his son, and subsequently 
 by his grandson. Among the distinguished teachers in Great 
 Britain, in addition to those already mentioned, the names of the 
 late Duncan Anderson, of Glasgow, and Charles Baker, of Doncaster, 
 deserve special mention, while that of David Buxton, the present 
 head of the school in Liverpool, is especially prominent among living 
 instructors. The school of De L'Eppe is now represented in the 
 continent of Europe by fifty institutions in France, fifteen in Italy, 
 two in Spain and one in Portugal, all of which adopt his methods to 
 a greater or less degree. His immediate and most distinguished 
 successor at Paris was the Abbe Sicard, and among the most distin- 
 guished professors have been Bebian, Morel, Berthier and Vaisse. 
 M. Vaisse was the only practical instructor at the head of the 
 institution after the time of Sicard, the other individuals intrusted 
 with its management having been selected for political reasons, a 
 circumstance which has greatly limited the usefulness of the institu- 
 tion, as the teachers were practically left without a directing bead. 
 The French, Italian, Spanish, and Portugese schools have been 
 supported by their respective governments. 
 
 The school of Heinicke is represented by thirty institutions in 
 Germany, fifty in Austria, ten in Belgium and Holland, five in 
 Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and three in Russia, although a 
 number of the institutions, especially those in Holland, Sweden and 
 Norway, have adopted what may properly be called the combined 
 method, which consists in using signs as an instrument of instruc- 
 tion in language and articulation as a means of expression. One 
 characteristic of all the schools is that they reject the manual 
 alphabet, though there is an increasing disposition even in the most 
 pronounced articulating schools, to use gestures, which are the most 
 necessary, as they find there is a large and increasing number of 
 their pupils who can derive no benefit from the eflbrts made to teach 
 them to speak and read on their lips. The total number under 
 instruction in the 195 institutions of Great Britain and Europe has 
 been estimated at from 5,000 to 6,000, a contrast indeed to the 
 forty that were under instruction at the beginning of the period 
 whose progress we are considering. The characteristics of the 
 French teachers are an unbounded enthusiasm and a close analysis of 
 language and ideas. Those of the Italian are great, particularly in 
 instructing their pupils in religious and ecclesiastical history, and 
 
 1 
 
JBdWiwssw**-""^ 
 
 24 
 
 tenets, and also a remarkable development in the arts of designs, 
 architecture, sculpture, drawing, painting and engraving, many of 
 the pupils showing remarkable proficiency in these respects. All of 
 the teachers being members of religious orders, their services are 
 rendered gratuitously. The Abbe Pendola is the most remarkable 
 man among them. The German teachers are remarkable for their 
 devoted faithfulness, their extensive reading, and their philosophic 
 research, and hold a lost respectable position among the learned 
 men of their country, a remark which may bo applied with equal 
 truth to the teachers in Holland. Among the latter the brothers 
 Guyot and Canton Hirsch are men notable both within and without 
 their profescion. 
 
 It is on the continent of America, however, and within the 
 borders of the United States, that the art has reached its fullest 
 development. The first deaf mute of whom we have any record in 
 this country was the son of Francis Green, Esq., chen of Boston, 
 afterwards of New York, of whom it has already been said that he 
 placed his son at the Braidwood Academy. In the early days after 
 the revolutionary war, he wrote a number of contributions to the 
 newspapers of Massachusetts, signed *' Philocophus," but from the 
 fact that there was no prominent man who had any personal interest 
 in the matter, the seed which he sowed did not bear immediate fruit. 
 It reserved under Providence to another father, twenty years later, 
 to give the impetus needed to a work, the importance and benevol- 
 ence of which all acknowledged when they became familiar with the 
 deplorable condition of the uneducated deaf mute, and thus receive 
 positive proof that he is capable of such development as to make an 
 intelligent, self-dependent, well informed member of the community 
 capable of expressing his ideas in written and sometimes in spoken 
 language, and of comprehending the written communications of 
 others. The daughter of Dr. Mason F. Cogswell, an eminent phy- 
 sician in Hartford, Conn., had the misfortune to suffer total loss of 
 hearing as the result of a disease then known as spotted fever, but 
 of late years greatly dreaded under the name of cerebro spinal 
 meningitis. Parental love tried every expedient for alleviating the 
 condition of the child, but was settling down into the sad belief that 
 in the holiest and tenderest relations of the soul, there must 
 ever be a wide chasm, isolating the child. It chanced, however, 
 one day, that Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, son of a neighbour and 
 friend, a young clergyman, who had recently carried off the highest 
 honors at the Andover Theological Seminary, as he had previously 
 done at Yale College, chanced, in passing, to see little Alice Cogsv/ell 
 pjpying in the garden, and attracted by her bright and winning ways, 
 endeavored to establish some communication with her. Before ho 
 had left the garden he had actually suceeeded in teaching her the word 
 fmt. From this he proceeded, in subsequent visits, to teach her to 
 writ* th« names of other objects, and even little sentencei. Ai 
 
5iO 
 
 hope animated the mind of the father, he began to make inquiries 
 as to what had been done for the deaf and dumb abroad, and as his 
 information oii the subject increased, he ascertained that there were 
 a number of deaf mutes in the State of Connecticut, who, like his 
 daughter, were entirely without education. Through his efforts a 
 few gentlemen assembled at Hartford and decided that it was ex- 
 pedi«nt to send some one abroad to learn the process of instruction 
 there employed, and undertake the education of the deaf and dumb 
 in this country. Their choice naturally fell upon Mr, Gallaudet, 
 who on the 25th of May, 1815, embarked for Europe, and proceed- 
 ing to London, at once made application to Dr. Watson, of the 
 London institution, for permission to attend the exercises of his 
 school, and make himself familiar with the process employed. He 
 found, however, that the rules of the institution were such that this 
 could not be permitted, except upon terms with which Mr. Gallaudct 
 found it impossible to comply. He then went to Edinburgh, and 
 sought from the Rev. Robert Kinniburgh, principal of the institution 
 there, the privileges which he had been denied in London. Here ho 
 found the same influences at work to frustrate his efforts. Mr. 
 Kinniburgh had, like Dr. Watson, received his own license to teach 
 only on condition that he would not impart a knowledge of the art 
 to any one designing to establish a separate institution. On his 
 return to London proposals were made to Mr. Gallaudet to employ a 
 member of the Braldwood family then visiting America, but this he 
 feared would be inexpedient. While he was thus tossed on a sea of 
 doubt and anxiety, he had the good fortune to meet in London the 
 Abbe Sicard, who had brought with him his two celebrated pupils, 
 Massieu and Clerc, for the purpose of demonstrating the value of his 
 process. Becoming very much interested in Mr. Gallaudet's project 
 he at once invited him to Paris, and Mr. Gallaudet, satisfied of the 
 superiority of this system of its results, most heartily accepted the 
 invitation, under the feeling that he had been guided by a special 
 Providence, overruling his own plans for the benefit of those whose 
 welfare he was endeavoring to promote. We find him accordingly 
 in Paris, where he remained from March 9 to June 16, 1816. 
 
 The time of his sojourn was very much shortened by his obtaining 
 the consent of the Abbe Sicard to Mr. Clerc's accompanying him 
 in this country, and in June, 1816, he set sail for America, arriving 
 in New York on the 9th of August. In the meantime an act of 
 incorporation, under the style of the " Connecticut Asylum for deaf 
 and dumb persons," had been obtained from the Legislature of Con- 
 necticut. The eight months succeeding their arrival was spent by 
 Mr. Gallaudet and Clerc in visiting different cities in New Eng 
 land, New York and Pennsylvania, and in obtaining subscriptions. 
 On the 15th of April, 1817, the asylum was opened in a rented 
 house in Hartford, with a class of seven pupils. In Muivli, 1819, 
 through the efforts of Hon. Nathaniel Terry and Hon. Thoi. S. 
 
A^*" 
 
 26 
 
 Williams, an act was passed by both houses of Congress, granting 
 to the asylum a township of land consisting of more than 23,000 
 acres, in the then new State of Alabama, and in the 'same year the 
 title was changed, by the Act of the Legislature of Connecticut, to 
 that of the " American Asylum," it being thought that one institu- 
 tion would meet the necessities of the country. The lands were 
 located with excellent judgment, and sold to great advantage by 
 Wra. Fly, Esq., who was made commissioner of -the fund thus 
 created. In the year 1839 this fund amounted to $278,100, includ- 
 ing real estate, and amounts at the present time to $338,925. 
 This has enabled the asylum to contribute more than one-third to 
 the cost of maintaining the pupils, thus diminishing the expense to 
 the Legislature and individuals availing themselves of the benefit 
 it confers. The six New England States and the State of South 
 Carolina have been the principal patrons. The State of Connecticut 
 made it a grant of $5,000 in 1815, and has supported beneficiaries 
 in the asylum from the time of its opening until the present. In 
 1825 the Legislature of the remaining New England States fol- 
 lowed its example. The organization of the asylum was originally 
 in two departments — one, that of a home under a superintendent ; 
 the other, that of a school under a principal. The title of superin- 
 tendent was afterwards changed to that of steward, and still later 
 to that of family guardian and steward. The early teachers selected 
 by Dr. Gallaudet were men of remarkable ability and finished edu- 
 cation, and the example thus set has been followed by all institutions 
 which have since been established in this country, under the belief 
 that a work of such importance and intrinsic difficulty could thus be 
 carried on with far greater advantage than with teachers of merely 
 ordinary qualifications. The result has been that what has been 
 called the American system has been brought to a degree of perfec- 
 tion that was not anticipated when the American asylum was founded. 
 As, however, deaf mutes of more than usual intelligence and attain- 
 ments have been trained in the difierent institutions, it has been 
 found advisable to make use of their rare ability to make an impres- 
 sion upon the minds of their companions in misfortune, in the 
 teaching of a portion of the classes. Those early teachers also 
 enjoyed the rare advantage of obtaining, through Mr. Clerc, a 
 system of pantomime, remarkable for its vividness and grace. Mr. 
 Gallaudet himself had a very remarkable skill iu the use of this 
 instrument, in expressing ideas. He was the first to introduce 
 regular religious exercises into an institution of the deaf and dumb, 
 on week days und on Sabbath, if we except the Paris Institution, 
 where mass is celebrated once a week. The permaitont building of 
 the asylum was completed in 1821, and the service of dedication 
 took place on tho twenty-second of May of that year. On the 22n(l 
 of April, 1830, in consequence of failing health, Mr. Gallnudpt 
 tendered his resignation to the directors, and retired from his otticu 
 
21 
 
 as principal on the first of the following November, when he was 
 succeeded by Lewis Weld, Esq., one of his early associates and 
 disciples. His ability as a writer and thinker received fitting recog- 
 nition from Trinity College, which, in the year 1832, conferred upon 
 him the degree of LL. D. He died on the 10th of September, 1851, 
 at the age of sixty-one. Thousands of deaf mutes in the country 
 who had been directly or indirectly benefitted by his labors were 
 inspired by this event to enter at once upon contribution funds 
 towards the erection of a monument to his memory, and the cere- 
 monies attending its completion took place at the American asylum, 
 the scene of his labors, on the 6th of September, 1854. The design 
 of this memorial stone was by Albert Newsam, a distinguished deaf 
 mute engraver; but one of the most attractive features was a 
 sculptured group on the seventh panel, in which Dr. Gallaudet is 
 represented as teaching little children the manual alphabet. The 
 postures and expressions of the figures are of rare beauty, and do 
 great credit to the genius of John Carlin, a distinguished deaf mute 
 artist of New York, who originated the conception. With its 
 companion monument, subsequently orected by the deaf mutes of 
 the country of Laureat Clerc, who died at Hartford, July 18th, 
 1866, it forms a very V)eautiful ornament to the grounds of the 
 asylum. 
 
 Dr. Gallaudet has been called the De L'Eppe of America, but 
 while his title is iu one sense appropriate, both by suggestions that 
 he did for this country what De L'Eppe did for France, Italy, 
 and Spain, and by reminding us that he was indebted to that great 
 man for those fundamental ideas which characterized the French 
 system, still, as he furnished to the world a new point of departure, 
 from which has proceeded a system with peculiarities all its own, 
 the historian will be inclined to assign him a separate and independ- 
 ent place, as he presents the representative names of Braidwood, 
 De L'Eppe, Heinicke, Gallaudet. 
 
 Since the time of Dr. Gallaudet, forty-nine institutiors have 
 been established, all but four of which may be regarded as owing 
 their existence and their methods to his influence. Of these New 
 York has seven, Illinois two, Ohio two, Pennsylvania three, and 
 every other State in the Union one, with the exception of Maine, 
 New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware, 
 Florida and Nevada. The first four named send their pupils to 
 Hartford ; New Jersey sends hers to any institution that may be 
 selected by the Governor, but principally to New York ind 
 Pennsylvania, and Delaware to the District of Columbia. The 
 number of pupils actually under instruction on the Ist December, 
 1875, was 4,440, about half the numb«T under instruction in the 
 whole world. Some six of those institutions have high class in 
 which the higher branches of education are taught, luid iherr? is 
 connected with the institution in the District of (Columbia a college^ 
 
r 
 
 i^ 
 
 28 
 
 which receives as students graduates of the other institutions. 
 This is the only institution to which appropriations are made by the 
 general government, the several States making provision for the 
 education of their own deaf mute beneficiaries as a part of the 
 common school system, the institution being responsible, in most 
 instances, to the State Superintendents of Public Instruction. 
 Their immediate government is intrusted to boards of trustees or 
 directors, which select the principal or superintendent, make by- 
 laws, direct and control the expenditures, and exercise a vigilant 
 guardianship through frequent visitations. Heinicke, however, is 
 followed in an institution established in New York City in 1867, 
 entitled, " The New York Institution for the Improved Instruction 
 of Deaf Mutes," its principal teachers having been associated with 
 the distinguished Mr. Deutsch, of the Jewish institution in Vienna. 
 In this connection it may not be out of place to say that Braidwood 
 is also represented in the Clark Institution for the Deaf and Dumb 
 in Northampton, Mass., where the distinctive principals he advo- 
 cated seemed to have been followed. This institution was also 
 founded in 1867, having been endowed with a large ftind for its 
 support by the late John Clarke, Esq., who took a peculiar interest 
 in the deaf and dumb. 
 
 The New York institution may be regarded as having been as 
 independent in its origin as that of Hartford. In 1816 William 
 Lee, Esq., on his return from Bordeaux, France, where he had been 
 consul, brought a letter from Mr. F. Card, the distinguished pupil 
 of the Abbe St. Sarnin, the directors of the institution of that place. 
 The letter was written in excellent English, which Mr. Card had 
 studied, and was addressed to '' Philanthropists of the United 
 States," and contained an offer of himself as teacher of the deat 
 and dumb, and Mr. Lee handed it to Samuel L. Mitchell, M. D., a 
 celebrated physician in this city, who had attained a great reputa- 
 tion as a man of learning and benevolence. Dr. Mitchell's 
 sympathies were at once aroused, and he conversed with Rev. John 
 Stanford, chaplain ot the alms-house, who had met a number of 
 deaf mutes in the course ot the ministrations, and with Dr. Samuel 
 Ackerly, whom he knew as a man with a heart open to every call 
 of benevolence. These three gentlemen called a meeting at the 
 house of Rev. John Stanford, at which were present, besides them- 
 selves, Jones Mapes, Ellsha W. King, John B. Scott, Silvanus 
 Miller, R. Wheaton, James Palmer, Nicholas Rooms, and Rev. 
 Alexander McLeod, The meeting resulted in another, more public 
 at Tammany Hall, at which the feasibility of instructing the deaf 
 and dumb wa^ demonstrated by evidence which Dr. Mitchell had 
 collected, then arose the more practical question as to whether 
 there were enough deaf mutes in the city to justify the establish- 
 ment of ajschool. The result was the first census of deaf miitos 
 ever made in this country. The Committees appointed presented, 
 
bitutions. 
 le by the 
 1 for the 
 rt of the 
 I, in most 
 struotion. 
 pustees or 
 make by- 
 Ei vigilant 
 iwever, is 
 in 1867, 
 nstruction 
 iated with 
 n Vienna. 
 Braidwood 
 and Dumb 
 J he advo- 
 1 was also 
 ind for its 
 iar interest 
 
 ng been as 
 .6 William 
 e had been 
 shed pupil 
 ■that place. 
 Card had 
 he United 
 )f the deat 
 , M. D., a 
 lat reputa- 
 MitchcU's 
 Rev. John 
 number of 
 If. Samuel 
 every call 
 ng at the 
 (ides tbera- 
 , SUvanus 
 and Rev. 
 ore public 
 g the (leaf 
 itchell had 
 to whether 
 establiah- 
 Ideaf mutes 
 presented, 
 
 29 
 
 at a third meeting, on January 23, 1817, reports from seven of the 
 ten wards in this city, giving the names and residences of sixty-six 
 deaf mutes. The population of this city was then 120,000, which 
 showed a proportion of one to 1,818, which does not differ very 
 much from that which obtains at the present time. 
 
 A list of officers and directors, at the head of which was the 
 natae of the Hon. DeWitt Clinton, was then formed, and a petition 
 presented to the Legislature for an act of incorporation. The high 
 character of the applicants, and the unexceptional, though novel 
 nature of the application, insured a ready and favorable hearing, 
 and on the 15th of April, 1817, the New York Institution for the 
 Deaf and Dumb acquired a legal existence with the usual corporate 
 privileges. By an interesting coincidence, this was the same day 
 that the Asylum of Hartford was open for the reception of pupils. 
 On the 22nd of May, 1817, the board of directors met for the first 
 time. The first act was to appoint a committee to write to England 
 fer a teacher, under the impression that the system of articulation 
 introduced by Braidwood would be of more value than the French 
 system, which discarded it. No answer was received until the 
 summer of 1818, when the terms demanded were found so exorbit- 
 ant that it was impossible to accede to them. On the twenty-fourth 
 of March, 1818, the deaf and dumb of New York were collected in 
 the court room in the city hall, and lent an affecting influence to an 
 address delivered by Dr. Mitchell to an assemblage of the promi- 
 nent ladies and gentlemen of the city, on the necessity of making 
 provisions for their education. On the twentieth of May of the 
 same year was found in a room which the city authorities had 
 kindly' set apart in the alms-house, then situated in the City Hall 
 Park, a benevolent looking gentleman, of liberal education, named 
 Mr. Abraham C. Stansbury, who had been a y«ar in the asylum at 
 Hartford, in the capacity of superintendent ef the administrative 
 department, and whom, after waiting in vain to hear from Europe 
 the directors of the New York Institution had engaged to take 
 charge of their new school. Around him were grouped four young 
 deaf mutes who had been brought to him this morning, and whom 
 he was in the act of teaching the letters of the manual alphabet. 
 They were to live at home, and come to him every day. Before 
 the close of the year 1818, had been gathered thirty-three pupils, 
 and Miss Mary Stansbury had been employed as an additional 
 teacher. Twenty-four of these pupils were day scholars, and nine 
 were boarders who were accommodated in hired roonjs for their 
 benefit. Some of these were paying pupils, but the expenses of the 
 majority were defrayed by charitable contributions and by tlie city 
 of New York, which agreed to make an annual appropriation of 
 $400. At the annual meeting of the members of tlie institution, 
 composed of ladies and gentlemen, wlio had agreed to pay three 
 dollars annually or thirty dollars in one sura, held on the third 
 
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 M 
 
80 
 
 Tuesday of* May iu that year, in accordance with the terms of the 
 charter, Dr. Mitchell was elected president, in the place of DeWitt 
 Clinton, who having been elected Governor, felt constrained to 
 retire. In the spring of 1819, as the number of pupils had reached 
 forty-seven, it was found impossible to support the institution on 
 the limited resources they could command, and accordingly Dr. 
 Mitchell, as president, and Dr. Ackerly as secretary of the board 
 of trustees, accompanied by Mr. Stansbury and seven of his pupils, 
 proceeded to Albany, and held an exhibition before the Legislature. 
 The result of the favorable impression thus created was the passage, 
 on the 13th of April, 1819, of two acts— one making a direct 
 appropriation of $10,000 from the state treasury, and the other 
 securing to the institution a moiety of a tax on lotieries in the city 
 of New York, from which, for fourteen years thereafter, a consider- 
 able part of its income was derived. 
 
 In the June following, Mr. Horace Loof borrow . was engaged as 
 an assistant teacher. In 1821 a further grant was obtained from 
 the Legislature of $2,500, and on the 16th of April, 1822, vras 
 passed an Act appropriating $150 each per annum for thirty-two 
 indigent State pupils, four of whom were to be sent from each 
 Senate district, and authorizing the supervisors of any county in 
 such district to send to the institution, at the expense of the county, 
 any deaf mutes not provided for by the preceding arrangement. In 
 this way, it was thought, no deaf mute would be left without in- 
 struction. The term of instruction was, however, unfortunately 
 limited to three years. In the meantime important changes had 
 taken place in the organization of the institution. Mr. Stansbury 
 departed for Europe, in May, 1821, and Mr. Horace Loofborrow 
 was made principal, an office which he leld for nearly ten years. 
 The administrative department of the institution was placed in the 
 hands of Dr. Samuel Ackerly as superintendent and physician, who 
 occupied the post till February, 1831. In 1827 an Act of the 
 Legislature was passed granting $10,000 to aid in the erection 
 of buildmgs for the permanent use of the institution, coupled with 
 three conditions ; 1st — That the directors should raise an equal 
 amount ; 2nd — That the location and plans should receive the ap- 
 proval of the Superintendent of Common Schools, and the expendi- 
 tures accounted for to the State Comptroller, and ; 3rd -That the 
 institution should be subject to the inspection of the Superintendent 
 of Public Schools, this officer being, at the same time, authorizen to 
 visit other institutions for the deaf and dumb, and to suggest to the 
 directors such improvements in the system of instruction as might 
 seem to him desirable. 
 
 The directors having complied with the conditions, the corner- 
 stone of the new building was laid on Fiftieth street between the 
 Fourth and Fifth avenues, by the Hon. A. G. Flagg, Secretary of 
 Slate and ex-ojficio Superiatendent of Common Schools, in presence 
 

 81 
 
 of a large assemblage of friends if the institution. The site selected 
 was an acre of ground donated by the city, but some ten acres of 
 land adjoining were leased from the city for the use of the pupils. 
 For one who sees it now, densly built up with elegant stone struc- 
 tures, it is ditficult to realize that this was then a rural spot sur- 
 rounded by green tields, woods and pasture lots, and reached only 
 b}' country roads. The building was dedicated in its human pur- 
 poses on the 30th of September, 1829. The address on the occasion 
 was delivered by Rev. James Milnor, D. D., Rector of St. George's. 
 Church, who at the election in May had been chosen as the successor 
 of Dr. Mitchell in the office of president. Though the cost had 
 exceeded the original estimate by $150,00, amounting in all to 
 $35,000, the entire amount, except $10,000 given by the State, 
 was secured by the directors, who thus far excedded the condition 
 imposed upon them by law. 
 
 While these events were transpiring, the Superintendent of Com- 
 mon Schools visited the institutions at Hartford and Philadelphia, 
 and made a careful comparison of their system of instw.^tion with 
 that which had been pursued in New York, and made a careful 
 report of his observations, which indicated his opinion as to the 
 course it was desirable for the directors to pursue. The labors and 
 anxieties connected with erecting a suitable building having been 
 brought to an end, the directors now turned their attentions to mak- 
 ing improvement in the internal management, and especially in the 
 personnel of the corps of instruction. Under the inspiring guidance 
 of their new president they inaugurated measures designed to give 
 the institution a leading position in this country and in the world. 
 Dr. Milnor visited Europe in 1830, at his own expense, and 
 inspected a large number of institutions. On his return he brought 
 with him from the Paris Institution, Prof. Leon Vaisse, an instruc- 
 tor who held high rank in the corps of the Paris Institution, to 
 which he returned after some years ot service in New York, and 
 successively made vice-principal and principal. 
 
 The services of Harvey P. Peet, A.M., who has been associated 
 with Dr. Galldudet in the Hartford Institution as an instructor since 
 the year 1823, and had, during the most of the time, had the charge 
 of the administrative department of that institution, was soon after 
 engaged to combine, under one head, the hitherto separate offices 
 of principal and superintendent. 
 
 From this, dates a new era in the history of the institution. Mr. 
 Peet, (afterwards known as Dr. Peet, by virtue of the title of L. L. 
 D., conferred upon him by the Regents of the University of the 
 State of New York,) entered upon his duties on the first of 
 February, 1831, and at once, with characteristic vigor, began to 
 introduce the clijyigfs^ which his ^experienced eye found necessary. 
 He waa a man of.J^iitgpint: A*il^:iij^f^t1^afl)[e Jcjiergy, and he left 
 nothiner unattempie(]£nal*«^nltl teUotiCidlt^Vttie* benefit and reputa- 
 
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 tion of the institution. He always kept it before the public eyes, 
 both in the city and at the capital. He procured teachers who had 
 the making of men that would be considered eminent in any pro- 
 fession. He prepared and published a course of instruction for the 
 deaf and dumb which has been adopted in all the institutions in this 
 country'. He organized and fuithered durihg his life, a system of 
 convention of teachers of the deaf and dumb which have continued 
 to the present time. He constantly contributed himself and urged 
 his associates to contribute articles for various periodic&ls, chiefly 
 the American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb supported by all the 
 institutions in the country, and in every way inspired enthusiasm in 
 his associates as well as his pupils; and yet, wlf.hal, he was a man 
 of quiet manners and dignified presence, combining seemingly 
 opposite qualities in such a way as to bring to the institution and to 
 cause everything that was needed for their advancement. Obtain- 
 ing the confidence of a board of directors, composed of gentlemen 
 of much more than usual intelligence, he secured their co-operation 
 and influenced in all measures where his special knowledge amiability 
 gave him pre-eminence, and was guided by them in all matters 
 where their united wisdom and varied experience were put in exer- 
 cise for the benefit of the institution. The result was that the 
 institution gained a full measure of that public favor that was essen- 
 tial to its prosperity. The period of instruction was lengthened at 
 various times until it finally reached eight years, and additions were 
 made to the number of State pupils, till by the Act of 1862, every 
 indigent deaf mute in the State, between the ages of twelve and 
 twenty-five was entitled to education at the public expense. The 
 number of pupils were also steadily increased from eighty-five at the 
 time of Dr. Feet's accession, to the unprecedent number of 439 at 
 the close of his administration. The influence which brought it about 
 were the wide disseminations of notices of the institution circulated 
 in its annual reports, which reached almost every person of leading 
 influence in the several counties, and especially county and town 
 oflScers, by the union with the New York institution, in 1836, of the 
 Central Asylum, established in 1821, at Canajoharie, N. Y., by 
 sending agents through the State to seek out the uneducated deaf 
 and dumb, and by a tour in whicli Dr. Pcet visited every city and 
 many towns of importance in the State. 
 
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 DOUBLE HANDED ALP^^ABET 
 
 FOR THE DEAF MUTE AND OTHERS. 
 
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 HALIFAX, N, 1^ 
 
 VWe hereby certify that we have known Mr. Qeorqe 
 Tait for a good, many years, as a man of Christian 
 character, and wortAiy of confidence. 
 
 P. G. McGregor, d. d. 
 
 JUDGE A. JAMES. 
 
 J. S. MACLEAN, Esq. 
 
 HON. McNEIL PARKEL, M. D. 
 
 REV. ALLAN SIMPSON. 
 
 REV. P. M. MORRISON. 
 
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