The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1847-05-06

to snow the crushing ana irresistible power
the stroke of the piston, the lesson is invalr
able, because the mind receives most of th
evidence through witnesses who speak thei
vernacular tongue, which it understands, an
retains for ever.
Possibly the mode of giving lessons by OF
iects may be abused,a every good thing ma
be abused but it is very hard to conceive hoy
the abuse shall be practiSed
1t may be said that this process of translat
ing the language of one sense into that Of an
other, and of forming general and abstrac
IDEAS from the evidence of all the senses, is
necessary and very important mental opeEa
ton, and that, by presenting objects and the
sensible qualities of objects to the different
senses, We prevent the pupil from carrying
on this operaton---in other words, prevent
him from exercising the power of abstraction
To this it may be answered. that the tendency
to abstraction and generalization, like the
tendency of the body to grow, is strong and
irresistible like that, it does not so much re-
quire encouragement as direction; no one
fears that the boy will not grow, the only fear
is that he may grow crooked or detormed.
When child hears or reads description
OF thing, he must necessarily form some idea
or other about it,and it is very important that
his idea should be as nearly correct as is pos
sible. The tendency and the danger is, that
he will not contract the habit Of examin-
ing closely the evidence given by tho senses,
and consequently that his ideas will be vague
and indistinct. Inattention to those qualities
Of things WHICH are the objects of sense, leads
to inattention to words which are the signs Of
these objects and inattention to words makes
the meaning of language obscure and cQuivo-
cal, and obscurty Of language causes evil
without end both in school and in after life.
In the instruction Of deaf and blind mutes,
it Is important to keep these principles always
IN view, and probably it would be so in other
ca5os To return to the illustration of the
stoam engine; if the learner has q clear and
distinct idea of the cylinder, piston valve cam,
balance wheel, and other parts, and of the
principles Of expansion, latent heat, friction,
Ga, so that when these words are used he
knows exactly what they mean, then the en-
CINE or the model would be less indisp2nsa-
BILE. But the mischief is, that we often fail
to require knowledge of the component parts
and principles, and clear idea of the des-
criPtive words,and we dispense with the mod |
Ell also. How many young persons, after stu
dying years about geography, grammar, his |
tory, and natural philosophy, find out, for the |
first time, long after leaving school, what a !
harbour, noun, legislator and lever, re-
ally are
In the case of Oliver Caswell, the difficult
ties could never be entirely overcome, even
should he live to the age Of Methuselah, and
the little knowledge that can be given to him
is with difficulty retained, unless it is illustra-
ted by words which derive their meaning d.
rectly or indirectly from the sense of feeling
Or Of smell. With regard to intellectual
knowledge, then, he is still a child, and his
tastes and pursuits are those Of child but
in his affections he is as tender and true as a
in his department he is aJ regular
and discreet as a man.
What is most remarkable about him, per-
lnps,ls the disparity between his mental pow
&a and attachments, and his moral sentiments
and social affections. Ills natural ability, as
said, is small, and his acquired knowledge
very limited but his sense of right and wrong,
his obedience to moral obligations, and his
attachment to friend3,are very remsrkablc.-
He never wiifully and knowingly violates the.
rights or Injuries the feelings of others,and he
seldom shows any signs of temper when his
own seem to be Hvaded, but he bears even
the teasing of little boys with gentleness and
patience. lie "a very tractable, and always
obeys respectfully the requests of his teacher.
This shows the effect which kind and gentle
treatment has had upon his character for
when he came here, he was sometimes very
7ilful, and showed occasional outhurstg of
,emper which were very violent 1t seems
hardly possible that tho gentle and affection
tie youth, who loves all the household, and is
)eloved by every one in return, should be the
ame who few years ago scratched and bit,
ike young savage, those who attempted to
control him.
Daring the past year. his principal study
las been that of language Of which his know
edge is still very limited and his command
imperfect. He is instructed, for the most
part, by familiar conversation, in which the
eacher contrives to give some knowledge of
geography, &c. He is best pleas
ID, however, to be in the workshop, and he
will probably become good workman and be
enabled to support himself by his own labor
lfter he leaves school.
Another child, ten years of age, has been
oroagat to oar school during the past year,
whose case is an interesting one.
She has a strong and vigorous frame which,
however, is evidently tainted with scroiula.-
She became nearly blind several years ago,
md at the age of seven she lost her hearing
entirely. Her parents, fearing that she would
become entirely blind brought her hero in
October last,and committed her TO our charge.
She presented Il very vigorous but unfavor-
,ble organization; for though she had the in
lications Of uncommon intellectual capacity,
'he had evident marks Of very strong and &C
i've propensities.
She still retained Che power of speech, and
mad vision enough to guide herself about, and
TO distinguish the position Of the fingers. As
there was danger that her eyesight might be
lost entirely, it was thought best to take ad-
vantage Immediately of what was left, and
to teach her the mar&al alphabet of the deaf
mates
But even though there had been no such
danger, it would have been proper to give
her the manual alphabet because it is not un-
likely that she may lose her power of articu-