Page:The education of the deaf and dumb practically considered.djvu/7

 written language; but a medium of receiving and conveying ideas must be obtained. "This channel of communication established, and a copious knowledge of words acquired, the art of the instructor would be little more difficult than that of ordinary education." — Penny Cyclopædia.

I said that the nature of the language was unimportant, except as regarded the physical health of its employer; but that point in itself is worthy of consideration.

Two facts in the physical condition of the deaf and dumb point the instructor to articulation as the best means towards a higher end. They are—

1st. No naturally born deaf child was ever known to be deficient in any of the vocal organs.

2ndly. The constant cause of death among such persons arises from diseases in the lungs and other organs which might have been strengthened by the salutary exercise of speech.

The inference from these statements is obvious. We see in it the common law of nature, the just judgment enforced: "From him that hath not shall be taken even that which he hath." The gift unemployed becomes a debt, which it may cost a life to redeem.

Every human faculty is dependent on exercise for its development; labour is man’s means of support in himself, as in the world around him. The neglect of any power, mental or bodily, is its destruction—destruction of itself alone, if it be an unimportant, of the whole body if it be a vital function.

A very instructive story is related of Laura Bridgman, the poor American girl who early lost the senses of hearing, sight, smell, and taste. "Not being able to speak, she