Page:The education of the deaf and dumb practically considered.djvu/12

 depth of horror, "they all seem to have a kind of religious melancholia upon their minds."

To guard against such evil no pains should be spared. Very heavy is the responsibility of those who train souls for eternity through the only inlet of eye or touch.

He who led them "aside from the multitude," to breathe the divine "Ephphatha" with loving touches, and glances of perfect faith, first showed them the source of all good—then the opened ear heard His voice, the stammering tongue spake plainly the praise of its Deliverer.

"With regard to the deaf and dumb," again says Mr. Hawkins, "we would submit that an effective mental training of them is, or ought to be, a conspicuous feature in social science. Although in relation to society, generally, they may perhaps form an exceptional class, yet this is no reason why they should be looked upon in the same light &#39;as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding.&#39;"

By intimacy with the affections and associations of the human heart, they become better men and women, more intelligent as citizens, and better capacitated for following and carrying out the divers concerns of active life. By education they can understand and be understood by the hearing in the interchange of intellectual thought: through it they acquire a love of God, and have a reverence for his laws stamped upon their hearts. They gain a mother-tongue, and become rational and moral beings. They are, in fact, by it made capable of comprehending anything portrayed to their observation, either