The times., 1898-12-18
Helen Keller.

Several interesting little pamphlets have
appeared. reprinted from the Amer can
Annals of the Deaf" and Indicating TIE
progress which has been made in teaching
deaf children since the idea OF their cd
| ucation first entered the head of KIND
ly and generous-souled man. One of the
most fascinating of these is an account
OF Helen Keller's first year of college pre-
paratory work. A few years ago 1t would
have been thought preposterous that
girl deaf, dumb and blind should ever be
able to take n college examination in
tended for those in full possession of their
senses. Yet she has done SO. after study
ing on strictly college preparatory lines
for only one year, and was successful in
every subject, taking honors in English
and German. Mr. Arthur Gilman, direc-
tor of the Cambridge School for Girls,
declares that he never knew a student,
man or woman. who prepared for those
examinations in so brief a time.
The fate of the person born deaf and
blind was in other days one of the most
pathetic which can befall human being.
When we consider how much of our or-
dinary knowledge Is absorbed half-uncon-
sciously through contact with others, how
much of that human sympathy which is
the most precious thing in life is cut eff
by mere inability to establish lines of
communication, 1t is appalling to think
of the life of a man or woman of inteli-
gence heart and force of character, Slut
out from all this opportunity, denied the
power to give or to receive pleasure. de-
MED even the chance to suffer for othe-s.
Here and there in the past there has been
some individual, like Beethoven or Mil
ton. great enough to overcome disad-
vantage like this, especially when il has
come upon him late in life; but for every
one who has won comparative happiness
in spite of such handicap. there have
hundreds who have suffered unheeded
and unknown. 1t Is a mistake to think
that feeling does not exist when it has
no outward expression. Sometimes II Is
only dormant; sometimes it is expressed
in unusual ways; but almost for the first
time in the history of the world men are
beginning to understand that a vast
amount of the emotion in human life IS
forever unexpressed, but none the less
real and intense. Considering all this.
the achievement of Helen Keller becomes
the more wonderful and significant
Here is a young girl shut off from all or
dinary communication with her kind, her
only avenue to the outward world being
through the sense of touch. Through this
single sense, by constant and intelligent
care and education, she has been made to
know more happiness than many people
ever know in their lives. Her nature, in
stead of being brooding and melancholy,
or dull and thoughtless, as II must almost
inevitably have been if denied all Quiet.
has proved gentle, joyous. affectionate.
and her brain has developed beyond any
thing which could have been expected. In
short, she has been saved from a living
death during sixty or seventy years of
dependence, and has become a happy,
loving, refined and educated woman, who
is likely in course of time to become not
only independently useful, but to render
valuable service to her brothers and SIS
tiers in darkness. Dependent upon others
she must always be to some extent. But
II IS not improbable that mind as gu ok
as hers may devise new methods of edu-
cation for other afflicted ones, and thus
the world will be in debt to Helen Keller.
The old brute instinct of humanity was
to crush out all the helpless ones. as i'm
peding the progress of the race. In by
gone ages of the world this was neces-
sary. that the finer type should preserve
itself. Now We have reached a poin,
where We can afford magnanimity, cnival-
ry and tenderness. More than that. in
the life of the intellect and the heart
every mind. every soul may be of conse-
quence. If through the education of the
deaf the world gain Beethoven, a Mil
ton or Prescott, the money and time
spent on those who sit in darkness and
in silence will not be wasted.