Milford chronicle., 1892-05-20
A TIMELY WARNING.

Against this dumb devil Of the text I
put you on your guard. Do not think that
this agent of evil has put his blight on
those who by omission of the vocal organs
have had the golden gates of speech bolted
and barred. Among those who have never
spoken a word are the most gracious and
lovely and talented souls that were ever
incarnated The chaplains Of the asylums
| for the dumb can tell you enchanting
stories of those, who never called the name
of father or mother or child, and many of
the most devOut and prayerful souls will
never in this world speak the name of God
or Christ. Many deaf mute have I seen
with the angel of intelligence seated at the
window of the eye who never came forth
from the door of the mouth.
What a miracle of loveliness and knowl-
edge was Laura Bridgman, of New Hamp-
shirel Not only without faculty of speech,
but without hearing and without sight,
all these faculties removed by sickness
when two years Of age, yet becoming a
wonder at needlewOrk, at the piano, at the
sewing machine and an intelligent student
of the Scriptures, and confounding philos-
ophers, who came from all parts of the
world to study the phenomenon. Thanks
to Christianity for what it has done for the
ameliOratiOn of the condition of the deaf
and the dumb. Back in the ages they were
put to death as having no right with such
paucity of equipment to live, and for cen
turtles they were classed among the idiotic
and unsafe
But in the Sixteenth century came
Pedro Ponce, the Spanish monk; and in
the Seventeenth century came Juan Pablo
Bonet, another Spanish monk, with dac-
tylology or the finger alphabet; and in our
own century we have had John BraidwoOd
and Drs. Mitchell and Ackerly and Peet
and Gallaudet, who have given to un
counted thousands of those whose tongues
were forever silent the power to spell out
on the air by a manual alphabet their
thoughts about this world and their hopes |
for the next. We rejoice in the brilliant |
inventions in behalf Of those who were
born dumb.
One Of the most impressive audiences / |
ever addressed was in the far west two or
three years ago-an audience of about 600 /
persons, who had never heard sound or
spoken a word, an interpreter standing be-
side me while addressed them. con
graduated that audience on two advan-
5ages they had over the most Of us-the
one that they escaped hearing a great
many disagreeable things, and on the other
fact that they escaped saying things they
were sorry for afterward. Yet after all
she alleviations a shackled tongue is an mp
oalling limitation. But we are not this
morning speaking Of congenital mutes.
We mean those who are born with all the
faculties of vocalization and yet have been
truck by the evil one mentioned in the
dumb devil to whom Christ
allied when he said, ''Thou dumb and deaf
pirit, charge thee, come out Of him."
SILENCE MAY BE A CRIME.
There has been apOtheosization Of silence
,ome one has said silence is golden, and ,
ometimes the greatest triumph is to keep I
our mouth shut. But sometimes silence I
5 a crime, and the direct result Of the
laleful influence Of the dumb devil Of our I
ext. There is hardly man or woman in :
his house today who has not been pres
MT on some occasion when the Christian
eligion became target for raihery, Per /
APPS it was over in the store some day I
7hen there was not much going on, and {
he clerks were in a group; or it was in the !
actory at the noon spell; or it was ont on ,
be farm under the trees while you were Z
esting; or it was in the clubroom; or it {
ras in social circle; or it was IN the
treet on the way home from business; or
was on some occasion which you remem- {
er without my describing it. /
Some one got the laugh on the Bible and q
aricatured the profession OF religion as ]
ypocrisy, or made pun out Of something
nat Christ said The laugh started and \
on joined in, and not one word Of protest e
id you utter What kept you silentf 1
[odesty2 No Incapacity to answer No. c
aek Of opportunity No. It was blow 8
D both your lips by the wing of the dumb
evil If some one should malign your Il
.ther or mother or wife or husband or p
lid you would flush up quick, and either
18th an indignant word or doubled up fist o
AXE response.
And yet here is our Christian religion,
hich has done 50 much for you and so e
UGH for the world that it will take all s.
ernity to celebrate it, and yet, when it
as attacked, you did not SO much rs say: t,
differ, object, ! am sorry to hear you n
y that. There is another side to this" Il
on Christian people ought In such times a
these to go armed, not with earthly II
laDons. but with the sword of tha mirik e.