Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1848-05-12
From the Union Magazine.
THE VOICE OF THE MUTE.
A Passage from Actual Life.
BY W. GILMORE sISNs.


renee, having been involved by painful inves-
,guIion in court Of justice. The event is re-
cent, and fresh in the memory Of the numerous
witnesses, who were in part prvy to the trans
action, and present at the trial. We forbear the
use OF names, as by no means necessary to the
narrative; and suppress some of the minor de-
tails, which, however Insignificant in themselves,
might possibly have the effect Of disQuieting
persons whom there can be no motive TO dis.
turb. The period Of action is within the last
twenty years; the scene, one of the northern
border districts of South Carolina. The region,
penetrated by numerous and unproftableswam
is necessarily very sparsely settled. The popu-
laton is generally Of an humble and unnsiruct.
cd class; the physical difficulties Of the country
preventing that sufficient accumulation of pu-
pills, in any one place, which alone could recon-
pense the tolls of competent school.masler.
The Lighthouse of the squatter, and scarcely su-
perior framed dwelling of the more said me-
Ihodical farmer. but inlrequenty dot the sarace
of the country; and it is at long intervals only
that you arrive at the more stately establish.
ments Of the wealthy planter, proud in his hos
pltalty, and sollcltous always 10 give it exercise
Humanity, in such region, necessarily puts OH
lis least persuasive aspects, and phegmatic
harshness of character ordinarily prevails among
people who see but little Of the world, and
suffer habitually from most Of its privatons-
Their nature Soured By denial, and rendered
suspicious by secusion, is severe to itself, and
far from indulgent 10 others. It's sympathes are
not often challenged or accorded; and life pass
es, from infancy TO age, unsweetened and unev-
lvened by those tender sentiments which alone
rnfan tho nasSiOnc into vipt,oe onJ ,,.oL. -.
tolerent of the flults and feebIeness of their
neighbors. A rude courtesy shares with you its
bread and meat, and points to the bed of shuck
upon which you are to sleep; but you are well
coined without a smile, and dismissed without
a regret. The sensibilites are not dead, but
dormant. They have never been aroused by
exaction, nor trained by provocation to constan-
cy and activity. There is, indeed, an ignorance
of the heart,-the natural history, it would
seem, of all regions where an ncurable sterility
of soil, unhealthy seasons, and infrequent asso-
cations Of man with man, repress the affections,
which we mistakenly ascribe 10 nature, educa-
ton; when, indeed it may be more safely asser-
ted that there are few natural impulses of human
mpathies-cer;ainly few of any intensity of
character-unless in conditions OF large and i'm
proving intellectual activity. As the true ma
ture of man implies intellect, so this nature is
seldom properly active in q state of society
where the intellect is unexercised and the men
tai energies are kept in abeyance, or suffered TO
decline. In no other region, perhaps, than one
suffering from such social privations, could such
history have had its occurrence.
1t appears that in one Of the most secluded
portions of the district of country which we
have described, there dwelt widow, who, in
addition to the evils of poverty and ignorance,
had TWO children, a boy and girl, both of whom
were mutes. A slight difference in their ages
was in favor of the boy. They were both near
" grown, at the period to which we entreat the
attention of tho reader. Though mutes, uned-
ucated and simple, they were not deficient, it
would seem, in certain degree of natural in
teIIigence, but lacking wholly those external
aids by which society would have trained it into
activity, they soon proved themselves wild and
unmanageable, so far as parental control was
concerned. They were harmless, however, of.
lering no offence to those with whom they came
in contact; and though moody and passionate
at periods, were very far from exhibiting such
dispositions as would have rendered them dan
gerous, or even troublesome to the neghbor.
hood. They were thus tolerated, though with
out winning sympathies and, though unmoles-
4ed in their somewhat erraIic course, were vel
very far from possessing the favor or even the
pity of those around them. Indeed, in com
munty where the mind asserted TO ascenden
,cy, aud where no provision for education hat
been made, their DEFICIENCIES were not so obvi
Gus; and the rare physical health and case which
they enjoyed, and the leisure which naturall,
resulted from their partial incapacity- priv
ileges, indeed, might with some have been rath
er matter of envy than commiseration.
But the condition of the mother did not sul
Ter them to be wholly without employment
though their tasks were necessarily few, anC
strictly adapted to their capacities. The lac
could be useful in his way, and had his task as
signed him by the mother; who, though herself
entirely uneducated, and without information OF
experience, in the managemenlof children thus
deprived of the most ordinary of human gifts
had by her maternal instincts, arrived at reason.
able means for guiding her children, and res.
sraining them, after fashion. She could as.
certain their wants, and declare her own, soothe
thelr distresses, and moderately conduct theil
desires. She had secured their affections. al,
most as the natural consequence of the exercise
and showing of her own; and in all the ord
nary business of the household and the NEIGH
borhood, her training from infancy to youth, 6ac
enabled her to acquire and teach them Ian
guage Of locks and signs, which, perhaps, wa.
not SO far inferior to the modes practced in oul
public asylums for such pupils. The children
were not without their sympathies, such as they
were' They loved the mother, and they loved
one other, in perhaps greater degree than i:
commonly the case with boys and girls in thci
own condition in life, who are free from theil
disabilities. But their affections, as might be
supposed, were directed by their impulses, anC
these we're quite US capricious as they were in
tense. Strong, deep feelings, and ferv will
are very apt to inform the bosoms which ar,
made painfully conscious of any great physca
inferiority or deficiency; and il Is in ihn ,.es.