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1838

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ARADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
LIBRARY

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1837,

By WILLIAM A. ALCOTT,

In the Clerk's Office of the District of Massachusetts.

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE DEAF AND DUMB; ΤΟ ILLUSTRATE THE PRINCIHLES OF FAMILY AND SCHOOL DISCIPLINE.

BY REV. T. H. GALLAUDET.

AN incident, which occurred in the early history of the American Asylum, at Hartford, Connecticut, for the education of the deaf and dumb, has left an impression on the memory of the writer, of the efficacy of religious influence upon an untutored mind, which is still vivid with the freshness, as it were, of yesterday.

A boy had come to the institution, from a considerable distance, of a striking, and, in many respects, very interesting character. He was the son of a widow, living in one of our large seaports. She was in moderate circumstances; and, as is too often the case with parents who have a deaf and dumb child, had treated him with a degree of indulgence alike excessive and unwise. He had been brought under little or no restraint, and, by roaming about the city, and, especially on the wharves and among the shipping, had acquired habits which made him a singularly fit subject on which to exercise all the skill and patience of those who had the charge of his instruction and gov

ernment.

He was under ten years of age, but possessed of great muscular power and bodily activity. The tone of his will was equally strong; his temperament quick, ardent and courageous, -it might be said, reckless.

Subordination, in all its forms, he had yet to learn; and to teach this, in any good degree, was no easy task. If any

Anecdote of a Deaf Mute.

physical coercion, affecting the free use of his locomotive powers, was attempted, or corporeal discipline threatened, he had a habit of uttering a violent and piercing shriek, of no small volume and extent of sound. He had probably found, at home, that doing this was the means of exciting either so much alarm or sympathy, as to arrest the course of parental discipline; and he resorted to the old device for relief on the new emergencies, believing that his success would be equally great.

It was necessary to watch him at all points, and, by a proper mixture of firmness and tenderness, to let him see that obedience to rightful and reasonable authority, would not be dispensed with.

There was then no chapel in the Asylum, as there is at present, and no religious exercises were held on the Sabbath, during the usual hours of public worship,—a custom which has since been introduced and continued, with deep interest, and, it is hoped, with great benefit, on the part of the pupils.

For the sake of forming a salutary religious habit, and of impressing their minds with some notions of the sacredness of the day and of the solemnities of public service, as visible to them in the large assembly and devotional aspect of a body of worshippers, the pupils of the Asylum were required to attend at one of the churches in the city. They were distributed in several pews in the gallery, accompanied by the teachers; the males occupying one portion, and the females another. And, generally, their deportment was of the most decorous kind, impressed as they appeared to be, with the solemnity of the place and the

occasion.

Now and then there were exceptions, of which the boy to whom I have referred was one. It was thought best to have him under my immediate inspection. He was accordingly brought from his usual seat among the boys, and placed in the pew where I sat, and which was occupied by female pupils.

One Sabbath forenoon, he seemed to be more restless than usual, and as full, as his overflowing animal spirits could make him, of a half-malicious sportiveness, showing itself in sly, antic movements of his hands and feet, and droll expressions of countenance, so irresistibly ludicrous, that really it was hard to blame the smiles and half-suppressed laughter which ran round the circle of his pew-mates.

After several severe admonitions with my eye and finger, which only answered the purpose of making him more cautious, so as to turn his former fuller expressions of roguery into more concealed, though not less provoking, hints and allusions of merriment, (as we of speech would say,) I directed him to

Extent of his Obstinacy.

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leave his seat, and come and stand near me, before the door of the pew. He obstinately refused. Laying my hand upon his shoulder, to produce compliance, I perceived, as he struggled to resist me, that he was preparing for one of his tremendous shrieks, which, if uttered at the time, and under the circumstances of the occasion, would have electrified the whole assembly. I knew this from my familiarity with the foreboding movements and expressions of countenance that always accompanied this practice.

I dreaded such an explosion exceedingly, and saw that there was but one way to prevent it. In an instant, I took his hat and my own, and ordered him to go with me out of the church. The unexpectedness of the command, and the strong and stern air of authority with which I enforced it, to my agreeable surprise, (for, I confess that I had fears of not succeeding,) produced immediate obedience.

We went, with all possible expedition, to my study in the Asylum, adjoining which was a large closet. There I bade him be seated on a chair, and proceeded to tie his hands behind him with a silk handkerchief, and his feet together, in the same manner. All this was done with so much despatch, and with such an air of determination on my part, that he seemed not to have the time necessary to collect and array his turbulent feelings into a confirmed opposition. Had he done this, there is not much probability that I could have accomplished my object, single-handed; for his muscular strength and eel-like lubricity of motion, under the direction of his inflexible obstinacy, when it was once fairly roused to effort, would, I think, have proved an over-match for me.

I hoped, by tying him as I did, to make him feel that he was in my power, and, in addition to this, to produce, by the restraint, some more quietness of nerves, and possibly a subdued spirit.

I waited a sufficient time to have the effect follow, which did in a good degree, so far as bodily composure was concerned. There was evidently, also, some composure of mind; but whether it was accompanied with any compunctions of conscience and a willingness to yield the obedience of the heart, or was only the calm to forebode a new storm, I was at a loss to determine.

I stood before him, and secured his fixed and steady attention. With all the mild yet firm expression of countenance that I could assume, exhibiting, what I really felt, a deep sorrow for his misconduct and a parental longing of soul, to convince him of it, and make him sensible of his guilt, I began to tell him, by

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Appeals to his Conscientiousness.

signs and gestures which he perfectly understood, what I conceived his offence to be.

He had been long enough with us, to have learned something of God and of our accountability to him; of the object of the Christian Sabbath; and of the nature and design of public worship. He had behaved improperly at church before, and often been admonished on the subject. He knew why he had been removed to the pew in which I sat, and that he was, thus, under peculiar obligations to notice my directions and to yield to them.

I set all these things in order before him, clearly, affectionately, and impressively. During the whole of the admonition, he kept his eye on me with a steady, unwavering gaze, while the muscles of his countenance gave no disclosure, as yet, of the internal workings of his soul. He had an eye and a countenance capable of the strongest expression of purpose and emotion. I made a short pause, and asked him what he thought of his conduct in the church. He gave no reply. I repeated the inquiry, again and again; and there he sat, like a little statue, literally mute, so that not a breath, or motion of any kind, escaped him.

'Do you think you did right, to behave as you did?'

'Yes,' said he, 'yes, yes, yes;'-moving his head affirmatively, with a look that showed his whole soul felt the force of the declaration.

Thinking it barely possible that he might not have understood me, I repeated the inquiry in a different form.

Was it not wrong for you to behave as you did, at church ?' 'No, no, no;' was the immediate and prompt reply, with equal emphasis.

Will you be guilty of such conduct again?'

Yes, yes, yes;' with an expression of countenance that indicated the fixed purpose of his soul.

What was to be the issue of this contest I knew not, or what expedient I should resort to, in the hopes of inducing a better state of feeling. I felt it to be a duty to let him see that such conduct could not escape with impunity. I demanded his attention, and he gave it immediately, with the same settled and stern look of composure that he had exhibited before.

'You are a very bad boy, and I must punish you in some way severcly. I am thinking seriously of keeping you confined in this room, perhaps for several days, and giving you nothing but bread and water. Do you not think it would be just what you deserve?'

'No, no, no.'