Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1892-05-19

q llMELA NAkNlNG.
Against this dumb devil of the text |
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 | 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 loyeliness and knowl-
edge was Laura Bridgman, of New Hamp-
shirel Not only without faculty of speech,
but without herring 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
10 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
turies 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 a sound or
spoken word, an interpreter standing be
side me while | addressed them. con
graduated that audience on two advan-
tages 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
the alleviations shackled tongue Is an APP
palling limitation. But we are not this
morning speaking Of congenital mutes
We mean those who are born with all the
faculties Of voealzation and yet have been
struck by the evil one mentioned in the
text--the dumb devil TO whom Christ
called when he said. 'Thou dumb and deaf
spirit. charge thee, come out of him"
SILENCE MAY BE a CRIME.
There has been apotheosization of silence.
Some one has said silence is golden, and
sometimes the greatest triumph is TO keep
YOUR mouth shut. But sometimes silence
is crime, and the direct result OF the
baleftil influence Of the dumb devil of our
text. There is hardly man or woman in
this house today who has not been pres
ent Oh. some occasion when the Christian
religion became target for raillery. Per
hans il was over in the store some day
when there was not much going on, and
the clerks were in a group: or II was in the
factorv at the noon spell: or Il was out ON
the farm under the trees while you were
resting: or it was in the clubroom; or It
was in a social circle. or il was in the
street on the way home from business; or
il was on some occasion which you remem
Der without my describing it.
Some ore rot the laugh on the Bible and
caricatured the profession Of religion as
hypocrisy. or made pun out Of something
that Christ sand The laugh started and
YOU Joined IN. and not one word of protest
4sd x-or, inter What kent YOU sllentf