OF THE

DEAF AND DUMB.

ASK A BLESSING.

In America there are four deaf and dumb clergymen working in connection with the Church Missions to the Deaf and Dumb. There are also in connection with the same mission eight lay readers, all of whom are deaf and dumb.—Deaf Mute World.

n a vast majority of cases where the deaf and dumb are allowed to grow up uneducated and uncared for they become inmates of Workhouses or Lunatic Asylums. Many years ago L—— K—— was taken from a workhouse in Derbyshire where he had been for a number of years, and educated and apprenticed to a suitable trade; he is now a steady, industrious man, married, and himself a ratepayer. This is only one of many similar instances that have come within our experience. In some other cases they are struggling to support widowed mothers and sisters.

The following is taken from the Manchester Mercury and Harrop's General Advertiser, June 10, 1800:—"On the 12th ult., in the Island of Anglesea, Mr. Henry Ceclar, a gentleman well known for his pedestrian feats, to Miss Lucy Pencoch (the rich heiress of the late Mr. John Hughes, Bawgyddanhall), a lady of much beauty, but entirely deaf and dumb. This circumstance drew together an amazing concourse of people to witness the ceremony, which, on the bride's part, was literally performed by proxy. A splendid entertainment was given on the occasion by the bridegroom; but a dreadful catastrophe closed the scene, for the bride, in coming down stairs, made a false step, and fell with so much violence against a chair that she immediately expired."

This gentleman, who is now senior professor in the Paris Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, is described as a man of rare merit, probably superior in literary abilities and acquirements to any other deaf mute from birth that any country can produce. He is the author of several works that would do credit to a well-educated man whose knowledge of language had been acquired through the ear. On a recent occasion of a public exercise at the Institution he was decorated by the President of the Republic with the Cross of the Legion of Honour, the first time such a distinction had ever been conferred on a deaf and dumb person.

In a letter received by the head master at the Deaf and Dumb Institution at Derby, a lady writes about a little boy she had assisted in obtaining admission into the Institution, and said that "During the little time (18 months) that William has been in the Institution he has improved wonderfully." She writes—"You know he used to be so wild, dirty, and careless; he was always interfering with everybody, in fact he went in the village by the name of Troublesome Dummy. All is changed; he is a nice clean, well behaved boy, and people are beginning to call him by his right name, William. We shall never forget what you have done for him."

We were lately shown a curiosity in the shape of a sewing machine entirely of wood. It was whittled out of ordinary pine with an ordinary jack-knife by an ordinary boy—no, not an ordinary boy; it was the handiwork of a deaf and dumb boy who resides at Massachusetts. A machine was left at the house of the boy by an agent, and the lad, with considerable ingenuity, made a counterpart of the machine, and did it wholly with a jack-knife.

At a meeting held in a country village in aid of the Deaf and Dumb Institution, Derby, a number of the pupils were present on the platform. One of the speakers called attention to a bright looking little fellow, and asked the audience if they knew him? and amidst general laughter spoke of the boy's earlier years, how he had seen him running about barefooted and dirty, playing with the worst boys in the streets; but now completely changed in his habits and character. He went on to relate a little incident he had himself observed a few weeks previous, when the boy was home from the Institution for his holiday. The little deaf and dumb boy was coming along the road, looking clean and bright, and carrying a book in his hand, when four of his old gutter companions, all in dirt, and who ought to have been at school, saw him, and one of them shouted out, "Hello, here's owd dummy comin;" and all four went to meet him, and tried to make friends with him, but he thought they were scarcely clean enough for his company, and quietly passed on his way towards home. The boys were surprised, and stared at each other for some time; at last one of them said, "Oh, ain't he got mighty proud?"

A deaf and dumb sculptor named Van Louy de Canter has recently obtained two prizes, one a silver medal with a ribbon of Belgian colours, and a second class award for his best work in marble; the other a bronze medal; he has also an honourable certificate from the Belgian Exhibition of 1880. It is encouraging to hear of his success, and to know that from his devotion to the art, he will persevere in the right way to be a credit to his country and to his numerous friends among the deaf and dumb.

By Sir John Lubbock, Bart, M.P., &c.

This work is one of the many magnificent contributions to the literature of natural history issued by the Royal Society. It treats of curious animals which the author considers as more nearly allied to the Insecta than to the Crustacea or Arachnidæ. It is magnificently illustrated with 78 plates (31 being coloured), and the whole of the illustrations were executed by a painstaking deaf and dumb artist, Mr. Hollick. It will mark an era in the study of those neglected, but intensely curious animals, and we doubt not will repay both author, and artist, and the Society for the labour bestowed upon it.—Daily Paper.

The following curious anecdote is related of Mary, Countess of Orkney. She was deaf and dumb, and was married in 1753, by signs. She lived with her husband, who was also her first cousin, at his seat, Rostellan, on the harbour of Cork. Shortly after the birth of her first child, the nurse, with considerable astonishment, saw the mother cautiously approach the cradle in which the infant was sleeping, evidently full of some deep design. The Countess having perfectly assured herself that the child really slept, took a large stone, which she had concealed under her shawl, and to the horror of the nurse—who, like all persons of the lower order in her country, indeed in most countries, was fully impressed with an idea of the peculiar cunning and malignity of "dumbies"—raised it with an intent to fling it down vehemently. Before the nurse could interpose the Countess had flung the stone—not, however, as the servant had apprehended at the child, but on the floor, where of course it made a great noise. The child immediately awoke, and cried. The Countess, who had looked with maternal eagerness to the result of her experiment, fell on her knees in a transport of joy. She had discovered that her child possessed the sense which was wanting in herself.

In St. Modwen's Churchyard at Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, the following inscription has been copied from the tombstone of a deaf and dumb man:—

This Stone
Was raised by Subscription
To the Memory of
Thomas Stokes,
An eccentric and much-respected deaf and dumb man,
Better known by the name of
Dumb Tom,
Who departed this life Feb. 25th, 1837,
Aged 57 years.

ot long ago there died in the county Wexford, in Ireland, a deaf and dumb shoemaker named Henry Plunkett. He had for many years been a true and sincere christian, and therefore when he came to die he was not afraid, but rejoiced at the thought of meeting his Saviour. During the last few hours of his life on earth he suffered much pain; but he was quite sensible, and made signs that if the house was piled up with gold he would not take it all and live, for, he said, pointing his hand upwards, "I wish to go up." To the woman who attended him he signed, "Do not fret, not never; I am going to Jesus." "The contrast between the white face—white as marble—and the long jet black hair and beard is striking," wrote the clergyman who sent this account, shortly after his death. But beautiful as he looked in death, he looks far more beautiful in heaven, where he now is, clothed in the white robe of Christ's righteousness, which he has provided for all who truly love and serve him.

The state coach for the Lord Mayor elect will be furnished by Mr. J. Offord, of Wells Street and Brook Street, who has also supplied the chariot for Mr. Sheriff Johnson. The coach for the new Lord Mayor is quite in harmony with modern ideas and taste. The side windows, instead of being rounded off in the corners as formerly, are cut nearly square, to follow the outlines of the body. This novelty renders the body of the carriage much lighter than usual, and more elegant in appearance. Another 'innovation' is the painting. It has hitherto been usual to paint the under part of the carriage white or drab, relieved by the same colour as the body, but in the present case the whole vehicle has been painted a dark green, the family colour of the Lord Mayor elect, relieved by large lines of gold upon the body, and gold and red upon the under carriage. The natural elegance of this arrangement of colouring is heightened by the beautiful heraldic paintings of the City arms and those of the Fishmongers' and Spectacle Makers' Companies, of which Mr. Alderman Lusk is a member. These have been executed by Mr. D. T. Baker, the celebrated deaf and dumb artist.—The Times, 1883.

Deaf and Dumb men have a poor chance in Texas. One of them went to a farmhouse, and, when asked what he wanted, put his hand in his pocket to get a pencil, and he was at once shot down by the farmer, who thought his visitor was feeling for a pistol.

e are quite sure the Indians were delighted by the reception tendered them by the children of the public schools and the inmates of the Institutions for the Blind and Deaf and Dumb last Friday, in the Academy of Music, but their happiness was made complete, on Sunday evening, at the La Pierre house, by a visit which they received from six of the pupils, all girls, of the Deaf and Dumb Institute, accompanied by the Principal, Mr. Foster, and one of the teachers. On their arrival at the hotel they were received by Mr. Welsh, the humane commissioner, and shown into a well furnished private parlour, when they were introduced, one by one, to General Smith and his Indians, whose faces plainly showed the delight which their hearts felt. They at once singled out the two girls who had taken part in the reception at the Academy, and bestowed upon them special marks of friendship.

At the great Exhibition in 1851 there was exhibited a set of oak tables and cabinet of Stanton oak, combined with glass and ormolu, etc., made and carved by three deaf and dumb persons; the castings by Marsh, of Dudley.

Among some of the islands of the South Sea the compound word for "hope" is beautifully expressive; it is "manaolona" or "swimming thought"—"faith" floating and keeping its head aloft above water, when all the waves and billows are going over it—a strikingly beautiful definition of "hope," worthy to be set down along with the answer which a deaf and dumb person wrote with his pencil, in reply to the question "What is your idea of forgiveness?" "It is the odour which flowers yield when trampled on."

avid Simons, of Boston, is deaf and dumb; he is also blind; likewise he is lame. Penniless he is, and houseless. Finally, he is black, which may or may not be considered a misfortune. No,—finally he was run over by a team and dreadfully bruised. Yet we suppose that John Simons still desires to live, for he consented to be carried to a hospital.—Deaf Mute Advance.

(From The Graphic, May, 1874.)

Messrs. Doulton and Co., who have done so well with stoneware, dignifying the simplest material by giving even to the most ordinary and cheapest articles shapes of real beauty, exhibit in Room 9 a most praiseworthy set of examples (3719) of very remarkable art and character, demonstrating principally possibilities of wall decoration. On the floor at the base of the division are some noble pieces of graphite stoneware contributed by Mr. Frank A. Butler, who is deaf and dumb.

(From the Journal of the Society of Arts, May 1, 1874.)

Another artist who has made his mark on the ware by the originality of his forms is Frank A. Butler. He is quite deaf and almost dumb. He is one of many thus heavily afflicted who have passed through the school. He began his artistic life as a designer of stained glass, but his invention was not needed, nor, I dare say, discovered in the practice of an art which is almost traditional. I introduced him to the new work, and in a few months he brought out many new thoughts from the silent seclusion of his mind. A bold originality of treatment, and the gift of invention, are characteristic of his work. He has struck out many new paths. A certain massing together of floral forms, and ingenious treatment of discs, dots, and interlacing lines indicate his hand.

A little coloured deaf and dumb girl in Demerara came to Mrs. H——'s school, and wished to learn to read. It was thought impossible to teach her; the missionary's wife therefore shook her head, and made signs for her to go home. But she would take no denial; so Mrs. H—— sent to England for the "Deaf and Dumb Alphabet." It was astonishing how quickly the child was taught to read the New Testament, from which she learned to know Jesus as her Saviour. One day she signed to her kind teacher, "Missie, me too happy. You would think when me walk out that there were two people in the road; but it is Jesus and me. He talk and me talk, and we two so happy together."

Mr. James Wyllie (the Herd Laddie), the greatest living draught player, has been in Aberdeen for a whole week, playing in public against all comers. He played altogether 98 games, of which he won 79, lost 3, and 6 drawn. It is worthy of notice that three of the draws were secured by Mr. Benjamin Price, a deaf mute, and a well known local player.—Scotsman.

sabella Green was a young woman who was completely blind and deaf, and she was brought before a number of eminent surgeons to see if anything could be done for her. Her sad condition had been produced by violent pain in the head. The only method of communicating with her was by tapping her hand, which signified no, and squeezing it, which signified yes. The surgeons concluded that her case was incurable, and in reply to her earnest inquiries she received the unwelcome tap. She immediately burst into tears, in all the bitterness of anguish. "What!" said she, "shall I never see the light of day, or hear a human voice? Must I remain shut up in darkness and silence as long as I live?" A friend who was present took up a Bible and placed it to her breast. She put her hands on it, and asked "Is this the Bible?" Her hand was squeezed in reply. She immediately clasped it in her hands, and held it to her bosom, and exclaimed, "This is the only comfort I have left. I shall never be able to look upon its blessed pages, but I can think of the promises I have learned from it." And she then began to repeat some of the promises—"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain thee;" "Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee;" "My grace is sufficient for thee," &c. She dried her tears, and became peacefully submissive to the will of God.

orot the Artist had a deaf and dumb pupil. The young fellow was employed in copying one of his master's beautiful pencil drawings, when he even tried to imitate a stain of glue which was on the paper. Corot, when he saw it, smiled, and said, or at least wrote, "Très bien, mon ami; mais quand vous serez devant la nature; vous ne verrez pas de taches." "(Very well, my friend; but when you are before nature you will not see any stains.)"

M. Jean Baptist Corot, the great French landscape painter, died February 23rd, 1875, aged 79.

lorence B——, a little girl in the Deaf and Dumb Institution at Derby, was painting in water colours during her leisure hours. She had been told to be very careful with the card she was painting, and do it exactly the same as the copy, and to these instructions she strictly adhered. When the card was finished she took it to the head master, who at once noticed a black spot painted on a bright flower. On being told she had spoilt the card with doing this, she replied "But it's like the copy," and at once produced it, when it was found that by some means an ink spot had got on the copy.

esterday week a young man named Sydney Cornwall, of Coventry, started at six o'clock in the morning for Salisbury (a distance of 128 miles) on a bicycle. On the morning following his friends received a letter from him, posted at Taunton, stating that he had reached that place and had yet fourteen miles to go that evening; and a subsequent letter on Wednesday morning informed them that he had arrived at his destination at six o'clock on Tuesday evening, having stopped the previous night at a hostelry some miles beyond Taunton. This young man is deaf and dumb, and his enquiries for the right road must have cost him some considerable time. The driving wheel of his machine is only forty inches in diameter.—Bicycle News.