Monongalia mirror. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1855, 1853-07-02

| ~ EHaNS va SANN H'hto 80
innts with pride and joy, and blesse'
God for the treasures He has bestowed
upon her; but o! who can paint The
anguish with which her heart is strick'
en-, when she first discovers that one o
the fair young beings whom. she CALL
her own is blind! But with hear
full OF faith and hope she turns 10 The
other, who, she inwardly says, will be
as guiding-star 10 olighten the pathway
OF the helpless one. Months pass away
and all her cares seem absorbed in bel
efforts 10 Tighten the suiFtrings Of The
innocent one on whom fnIls SO heavily
the rod of oflliciion. Again. it is will
an aching, freezing sensation, That she
is gradually convinced Of what she has
SO long refused 10 believe, that her 9th.
or child is deaf! YET, in her double
alIliction, she looks upto "Iiim who
tempers the wind to the shorn lamb
scarcely knowing which 10 pity most
the deaf or the blind.
Time speeds on, and she compares
the sparkling eye and sprightly form OIL
the one, with the pale face and sightlrss
orbs Of the other; but o! says she, it is
the deaf pity most; for when the one
cheers the sadness oi her infant home,
with her low warble Of plainlive melo'
dy, or burst Of childish glee; or, most
of all, when she kncels by her couch,
and gently c!asping her little hands,
Iisps her evening prayer; then tits that
The mothers heart yearns over the 9TH
er, whom she cannot teach.
But thanks TO the seli-drnying e&cr-
tions of the "noble few" it is not The
LOT off The dcrt and dumb 10 remain al
ways in ignorance; and when, after The
lapse Of a few short years, The mother
sees her child depart for home among
those whose successful efforts will cal!
forth the latent powers oIher mute child
she breathts sigh of hope, and silently
offers up a prayer to Heaven for these
whose lives are gwen to such o noble
work.
Years pass away, and they both grow
10 womanhood; one beneath a mothers
fostering hand is living in a world ot
material darkness, yet with the light oi
the mind daily increasing; while the
other, far away from the "fricnds Of ear
lipr years." is drinking in the beauties
If f5 ned n0f wSEl4 w6Fe9 sisni ti
10 , sec young immortal being sradual-
ly emerging from its darkened prison
house into The light OF knowledge and
understanding!
In the course OF seven or eight years
she again returns 10 the paternal roof;
and can the aGtctionale mother recog-
Mise in the wo,nanly form and intelli-
gent countenance OF the being before
her, the ignorant child who, eight years
previous, had left her "bal little more
| Than brute save in her FORM" much less
when with a quickncss Of motion, and
facility Of expression, she gives utter
ance in wiittcn language 10 the noble
emotions which swell her soul, and the
enthusiastic ontpourings Of an affection
ate heart. Then is the mothers heart
melted, and on her knees she calls down
ferven. blessing on The heads of those
10 whom, under God, her child owes
this wonderful change. Far to be pre-
(trrcd is such an offering, ,haa the dia-
dem monarch wears.
And she says no longer, at is the
mute / pity most" for is she not in eve
~ way more fortunate than her from
whom the beautiful works Of nature are
forever hidden7 And the "Child Of
Silence,' as she fingers at eve beneath
heavens starry dome, looking up to The
bright translucent orbs above, where
she alnos, iaucies she sees mirrored the
DIVINE Image, ilial'As oou '',"' ~ ~
is that Of the deaf, rather than OF the
blind. And she no longer neede your
pity. You have given her the means
Of instruction, and those means have
been employed to her present and future
happiness; and what is there to consist
emily prevent her being placed on an
equal footing with those who hear aud
speak
Then pity The deaf and dumb in is-
norancc, and ifyou pity, aid them
Give them every means Of instruction
in your power, and they will be capa'
bic Of high and holy feelings; yea more,
they will be capableof expressing those
feelings. They will tell you also that
they are more fortunate than the blind
since the birth Of their mental sight
but had il been their lot 10 remain al
ways in ignorance, blindness would
have been infinitely preferable. Nj T.