Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/20

 all times too apt to be discouraged by the consciousness of their own defect, it should be the teacher s duty cheerfully to stimulate and encourage them to advancement. 1 An infant school was formed in connection with the Manchester Institution for the deaf and dumb some years ago, but from the report for 1876 it appears that there were only two children under the age of seven, out of a total of 149 pupils, in the two departments. Most of the institu tions admit children from seven to nine years of age, and it is the opinion of teachers of experience that at that age it is most suitable to commence instruction. Still, before they are eligible for an institution of the deaf and dumb, much may aud ought to be done by the parents for their improvement. The first and primary aim of the teacher is to get at the minds of the pupils, and for this end it is of immense advantage that they should be brought up together, so that they may acquire and maintain the language of signs. The acquisition enables them to convey to one another much and varied information, which proves of great service in the Lands of the teacher in the class-room ; and further, through this intercommunion the influence of example operates with due force in stimulating them to intellectual exertions. The length of time required at school for the education of the deaf and dumb must be determined by the capacities of the pupils, and perhaps even more by their position in life. Of course, they require a much longer time than hearing children to compensate for their deprivation. Still those who have to begin to earn thsir daily bread by the labour of their hands at about the age of fourteen (f of good capacity) leave the school with a store of varied aud useful knowledge. They are able to understand directions given to them, to hold intercourse with others, to express their opinions on ordinary affairs in short, they are raised from a wretched and forlorn condition to that of intelligent and moral beings, and as such their future progress will be proportional to their own diligence, aud will be impeded by no obstacles except those which their own exertions &quot;are now competent to remove.

Occupations.—Most of the deaf and dumb soon after leaving school are put to some trade. They will be found to be engaged in all kinds of employment except those to which hearing and speech are indispensable. The depriva tion of hearing is no barrier to learning most trades, and the deaf and dumb acquire them with the same facility and show the same expertness as others. As a rule, they are very steady, and apply themselves with assiduity to their work; for while the attention of those who can hear is often distracted in the workshop, they steadily keep to their task, as they well know that talking implies for them cessation from labour. There is at times a little difficulty to get employers for them, as they require more attention .to be initiated into their trades. The following extract from an interesting work on the deaf and dumb by the Rev. S. Smith enumerates many of the trades in which they are engaged : &quot; Deaf and dumb soldiers aud policemen are not existent ; there is however a rifle volunteer, whose father being an old soldier drilled him well so that lie is now able to join in general practice. Amongst the males, besides various labouring employments, the trades of shoemaking and tailoring predominate, but beyond these 1 In one school only, namely, Donaldson s Hospital in Edinburgh, are the deaf and dumb brought up together with hearing children, but even there it has never been thought practicable to instinct them in the same class-room. The benefit derived by the deaf and dumb from such a system is very slight in an educational point of view, but socially it is of great advantage, as it draws them out of that isolation to which they are naturally so prone, and fits them to hold free and ready intercourse with strangers in after life ; and besides, the associa tion largely tends to spread the mode of deaf-mute communication throughout the country, as the hearing children learn to communi cate freely with them. there is a diversity of occupation. &quot;We have bakers, blacksmiths, bookbinders, brassworkers, bricklayers, brickmakers, brush- makers, cabinetmakers, carpenters, carvers on wood and stone, cigar-makers, compositors, coopers, cork-cutters, cutlers, en gravers on wood and metals, French polishers, gardeners, gilders, glass writers and stainers, harness makers, saddlers, hatters, japanners, jewellers, law writers, optical and philosophical instrument makers, pattern designers, print and map colourers, printers both lithographic and letterpress, turners, typefounders, watch-dial painters, wire drawers, &c. &quot;We also find artists litho graphic, photographic, heraldic and some in the highest branches both in oil and water colours ; also a sculptor of great ability who produced a beautiful composition in competition for the Wellington memorial prize, who also once stood second for a gold medal, and who has most satisfactorily executed statuettes of Wellington, Peel, Eaglan, Havelock, &c. 2 There are, besides, two heraldic painters, who have studios of their own, and are amongst the best of their art in London, with others who are rising in great proficiency. Two of the artists in oil, although but young and at present students, have executed pictures which have been accepted by the British Insti tution, the Suffolk Academy, and in one instance by the Royal Academy. In more intellectual occupations we find several gentle men in the civil service, respecting one of whom, who has gained a superior position in his ollice, it has been remarked to us by some whose duties bring them into contact with, him, that notwith standing his aflliction they can do business better with him than any other clerk in the establishment. There is a young gentleman making himself noted as an entomologist ; some are teachers of the deaf and dumb, occasionally even principals of institutions ; and the highest instance we know of is a barrister, not a pleader of course, but who is eminent as a conveyancer. In the employment of females there is not so much variety ; some are engaged in domestic work, others are artificial florists, bookfolders and sewers, brush- drawers, cigar makers, corset makers, dress and mantle makers, fringe aud tassel makers, laundresses, muslin workers, milliners, sewing machinists, straw bonnet makers, tailoresses, &c. We also know one who is a compositor, another a lady s maid, and a third who is employed in a telegraph ollice. &quot; From this it will be seen that to the educated deaf mute nearly all trades are open, and the reports from their masters to the several institutions are generally most favourable. The census returns for 1871 give the following table of occupations of deaf aud dumb in England and Wales and Scotland : Classes. England and Wales. Scotland. 120 2ii 37C 76 118 70 728 340 5 Industrial 2995 921 6. Indefinite and non-productive 7181 651 Total 11 018 2087

Institutions.—Most of the institutions for the deaf and dumb in England have originated in the benevolent in terest of a few individuals of the localities in which they are established. They are supported by public an nual subscriptions, donations, legacies, and fees of pupils for board and education. The principals are held re sponsible for the educational department and for internal management, while the affairs of the institutions are directed by committees selected from the subscribers. Trades are taught to the boys in some of the schools, while all the pupils have to do some industrial work, and the girls are taught household work, sewing, aud knitting. The children are admitted either gratuitously or by payment of fees, varying in amount in the several institutions, some of which grant apprentice feea and otherwise assist the children on leaving school. The London Asylum was the first public school in England for the gratuitous education of the indigent deaf and dumb. It was projected by the Rev. J. Townsend and Rev. H. Mason, rector of Bermondsey, London. On the 1 4th November 1 792 the school was opened with four pupils 2 Among those who passed the recent Cambridge Local Examinations with honours in classics and mathematics was a deaf-niute lad under Id years of age, named Farrur. 