Probably, however, this nobleman, and it may be others, were only taught to write and not to speak, which may account for such cases attracting less attention. It was not, however, till near the end of the eighteenth century that Alea, a disciple of De l'Epeé, opened a private school for deaf-mutes at Madrid; and at this day, Spain and Spanish America are, of all Christian countries, those in which the least has been done for the deaf and dumb. The single existing Spanish institution has had a long and doubtful struggle with indifference and neglect, and though now gaining a firmer footing under the care of Ballasteros, it is content to borrow its methods of instruction from Sicard and Bebian.*

In the course of the seventeenth century, Italy produced several writers who treated of the instruction of the deaf and dumb. Some have merely mentioned the possibility of instructing them, while others have described the means that could be used; but no Italian is known to have actually practiced the art. We have seen that Pietro de Castro who is usually named as the first Italian teacher, merely mentioned, that the deaf-mutes had been instructed; and the only deaf-mutes in that age, of Italian birth who is known to have received instruction, owed this benefit to the labors of a Spaniard+

England, on the contrary, can produce, in this century, the names not merely of theoretical writers, of whom the oldest is Dr. Beelwer (whose Philocophus appeared in 1648,) but of at least one very able practical teacher, Dr. John Wallis. The early English teachers though they may have heard through Digby, of the successful labors of Ponce and Bonet in Spain, know nothing of their processes and had thus the merit of inventing the art for themselves.

Passing on to Holland we find, besides one or two speculative writers not remarkable for the clearness or the correctness of their views, the name of John Conrad Amman, who published, in

A large portion of the Manual de Sordo-mudos of Ballasteros, Madrid, 1836, is occupied with processes of Sicard, long since abandoned in the French schools. It was a disciple of De l'Epeé, the Abbe Sylvester, that opened the first school for the deaf and dumb in Italy, at Rome in 1784.

1692, a Latin work, entitled Surdus Loquens (the deaf-mute speaking,) which has passed through many editions, and is still esteemed as a valuable practical treatise on the method of teaching deaf-mutes to articulate. Amman was a successful teacher, but like all the other early teachers of the deaf and dumb, he never undertook the instruction of more than one or two at once. In some points of theory, his views were wild and visionary. He ascribed to speech a mysterious efficacy. The power of the living voice to awaken the attention, to convince the understanding, to sway the passions, seemed to him something divine; and many later teachers, especially in Germany, influenced by his views, have strangely held that the power of articulating words was necessary to the full conception and realization of the value of words; and this idea had probably as much influence as anything else, in leading the early German teachers to make articulation so prominent a part in their system of instruction. Yet it requires but very little reflection to perceive that, whatever may be the power of the living voice in making language clear and impressive it is utterly lost to the deaf and dumb, for whom articulated words are, and can be no more than mere movements—a kind of spelling words by means of rapid and indistinct motions and positions of the mouth, tongue, &c., not to them more impressive and much less distinct than the spelling of words on the fingers, or writing them in the air.

Germany also furnishes some early names of men who attempted the education of one or two deaf-mutes, in some cases, without being aware that others had attempted the same thing before, and in most cases, without having the benefit of the experience of their predecessors. Thus it happened that, in almost every country, the early teachers of the deaf and dumb were obliged each to grope his own way, and invent his own processes. Among the earliest German teachers, we may mention George Raphel who gave to the world, in 1718, the methods by which he had successfully instructed his three deaf and dumb children.

We have now fulfilled the promise we made to present the result of our researches into the origin and early history of the art,

and the limits of a paper like this will not permit us to pursue the subject further.

At this point where we now stop, a vast and inviting theme opens before us. Among a crowd of honored names, shine eminently out, those of Heinicke in Germany, of Braidwood in Scotland, of the venerated De l'Epeé and of Sicard in France, through whose benevolent labor, and especially of the two last named, the benefits of instruction, hitherto confined to the favorites of fortune, are gradually extended to the poor and humble. Institutions spring up and multiply in almost every christian land; the deaf and dumb,-hitherto neglected, thrust out of society, denied the disposition of their own goods, in most cases excluded from the marriage tie,—are admitted to equal social and legal privileges with their fellow men; and above all, they, who for many centuries were left in darkness, without hope in this world or the next, are brought into the glorious light of the gospel; are taught to fix their eyes on the Savior of men, and forget the calamities of this life in the promises of the life to come.

Though the introduction of the art of instructing the deaf and dumb into the United States, through the labors of two whom we are happy to claim as personal friends, as well as our immediate master in the art, Thomas H. Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc, dates back less than thirty-five years, our country, we rejoice to say, already stands in the front rank of those countries that have heard and granted the silent appeal of the unfortunate deaf and dumb for the means of moral and intellectual life. Our own State, and most of the northern states of the Union, have made provision for the education, not merely of a favored few, but for all of this unfortunate class within their limits; and we trust the time is coming when, throughout all our vast regions, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the once desolate and degraded lot of the deaf and dumb shall be known but to the curious and antiquarian research; when the parents of every deaf-mute child shall begin at home, from the cradle the education of its mind and heart, and shall interpose no selfish obstacles, or mistaken feelings of fondness, to the separation necessary to the full benefit, at the best age, of that special instruction which is indispensable

to the full restoration of a deaf-mute to the intellectual and moral level of his fellow men. Then will this great triumph of science and benevolence over one of the most terrible of human calamities be complete, and the deaf and dumb, objects of interest, but hardly of compassion, will stand forth among their kindred who hear, heirs to all the hopes, the privileges and the lofty aspirations of their race.

Some interesting remarks ensued upon the conclusion of this memoir.

Rev. Mr. TURNER, of Hartford, was of opinion that the accounts of early success in teaching the deaf and dumb, should be received with a great deal of allowance. We know that the times in which these scenes were said to have transpired, were times of marvelous events; and historians of those days were prone to magnify events which occurred, and prone to deal in marvels. He would relate an incident that occurred in Hartford, which had led him to place small reliance upon mere statements not corroborated by abundant proof. Some few years since, an association of the teachers of New-England met at Hartford. He was present at their deliberations. A little before that meeting, the question as to the proper mode of instructing the deaf and dumb had been agitated in Boston; and the Hon, HORACE MANN, at that time Secretary of the Board of Education, in Massachusetts, became a strong advocate of the system prevalent in Germany, viz : teaching by articulation rather than by signs. In support of the superior advantages claimed for this mode of instruction, Mr. M. called the attention of the meeting to a young man from NewLondon County, (Conn.) who was present, and who was said to have been born deaf and dumb. His father, however, had succeeded in teaching him to read and write. The case was set forth by Mr. Mann as conclusive proof of the superiority of the plan of teaching by articulation, as practiced by the German schools. Mr. Whipple, the father of the youth, was introduced to the notice of the convention, and was called upon to state the processes by which he had been enabled to teach his son to read and speak.

He stated that he was born deaf and dumb; that he, (the father,) after having ascertained the fact, began very early to instruct him, by showing him objects, and persons in connection with their names. By placing the mouth near his ear, and enunciating words very distinctly, he was then taught to understand articulation, and at last to read. These facts (continued Mr. Turner,) led me to think that this boy could not be entirely deaf; I therefore determined to try some experiments with him. On questioning the father closely in a private interview, the same details of management were repeated, and there seemed to be no ground for further doubt. An opportunity, however, soon occurred, to experiment upon the son. The result was, that the young man made prompt replies to questions asked close to his ear in little more than an ordinary tone of voice, without seeing the mouth of the speaker, and was evidently neither deaf nor dumb. These results were laid before the convention in the afternoon of the same day, and further experiments substantiated the opinion already formed, that the young man was only afflicted by a partial deprivation of the sense of hearing. The father, however, was certainly entitled to much credit for his successful attempts at teaching his son to read from the motions of the lips, a feat which was successfully accomplished, at a distance of several yards. Mr. Turner produced this case to show that other wonderful accounts of success in teaching by articulation might, upon a thorough investigation, be found worthy of little confidence, and that it is more than probable that many of the instances dwelt upon by ancient writers were of a very similar character to this modern instance.

Dr. PEET replied. He had not felt at liberty to discredit statements made with so much apparent candor and good faith. He was, however, confidently of opinion, with the gentleman from Hartford, that many of the statements of the ancient writers were very incorrect, where the success of the early teachers of the deaf and dumb is alluded to. He believed, however, that the persons named in connection with those events, were remarkable men; and that none engaged in the instruction of the deaf and dumb at the present time, possessed greater claims than they, to the gratitude of posterity.