tions? ti If this be the effect, even ino avery slight degree;band that this would be the effect with some, I have little doubt then will this work, with all its merits, have lent a helping hand to one of the pres vailing corruptions of our nature: it will have drawn off the attention from God to fix it upon man and may have been accessary to bring ing many under the condemnation, "They loved the praise of men, rather than the praise of God." There is likewise in the forced and artificial manner in which, in this story, religious topics are indiscriminately introduced on all occas sions, something quite opposed to the simple, unostentatious, mode which Jesus Christ continually recommended both by his precepts and example. It is true, religion cannot too constantly occupy the thoughts or actuate the conduct, but by its dwelling continually on the lips, and by the introduction of Scripture language into common use, in reference to the every day occurrences of life, that feeling of sacredness and awe which has proved so congenial to the spirit of genuine religion, and so conducive to its purity, must, from the very constitution of the human mind, be essentially injured. Surely this feeling of holy fear ought always, in some degree, to exist between creatures and their Creator: nor should we forget the admonition it once prompted; "The Lord is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.do The above serious objections to this little work are the more to be lamented, because it has in it much that is excellent, and much that is substantially useful. The principal lesson it inculcates is quite invaluable, and was greatly needed to be impressed and many other minor duties are enforced by the way, with a minuteness of detail, and a par ticularity of time and circumstance, which will render them peculiarly ensy and inviting im application Another objection remains to some of the stories, of equal weight 1 children,into diminish the child's ress clearness of conception till it finabis spect, occasionally to justify its dis lys succeeds ing divesting death ofi obedience, and to excite in its mind its terrors, and renders her last mod a feeling of superiority and selfs ments tranquil and full of hoped I complacency, utterly inconsistent have now. laid before your with that humility which is a first readers the principal considerations essential of Christianity The story which have made me afraid to cirev of Margaret Whyte, though more culate even the deast objectionable i than usually free from any of the among these stories, lest evilt former objections, is not altogether should result where good only was exempt from this. The morality is intended. My object, in so doing, false throughout. Margaret's in has been to suggest to the authors tentions were good, and she acted of such works, whose sole object L nobly up to them; but her idea of believe to be the desire of instructduty was quite erroneous. A child's ing and assisting their fellow-crea-s first duty, after its duty to God, is tures, whether, by a little alterationa to its parents, (which indeed is only in their mode of writing, they might a branch of its duty to God,) and not better secure the end they have that duty should instruct it to con- in view, effect equal good, without ceal nothing from them which it danger of strengthening or giving may concern them to know. It rise to any thing of evil tendency, should also make the child feel that and render their works almost gors it has no right to inflict suffering on altogether unobjectionable. They its parents, in order to promote the contain so much that would affordo good of others. Had Margaret innocent pleasure; so much that is been the only sufferer from the con calculated to cultivate the affections,d cealment of the truth respecting the soften the feelings, and civilize the corn, it would have been all well; but manners; and the doctrines and prein her desire to save poor Dickey, cepts of Christianity are so repeat she overlooked a more clear and edly brought home to the feelings, imperative duty. that it is earnestly to be desired they should contain nothing which renders it matter of doubt whether their tendency be, on the whole, beneficial, los ame -In the admirable story of Jessie Allan, the superiority of the child toroits parents, which, as it does sometimes exist in common life, I am far from intending to imply should never be assumed in fiction, is managed less objectionably than in most others: sorrow and distress appear to have been the only feel. ings which it excited in Jessie's mind indeed, this story is but little obnoxious to any of the fore mentioned objections. The scene is laid, not in an ornamented and beautifully situated cottage, but in an indifferent dwelling in the town of Glasgow: the incidents are interesting, but also natural and probable; the religion is plain and simple, and is seen to influence the daily conduct and happiness of the heroine, supporting her under pain ful trials, guiding her safely through situations of greatordifficulty, in creasing gradually in strength and 1 boruj Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. I BEG leave to inclose a paperien-I titled "Observations on the Lan guage of Signs," read last year beforet the New-York Lyceum of Natural History, by Samuel Akerly, M.D. which I think will prove interesting [ to your readers. "In compliance with the duty! which you have assigned to me, fors this evening, I was about to consi tinue the inquiry in relation to thatb class of animals, called Zoophytes, which commencednat tayformer: meeting; but as my attention has been forcibly arrested by thats parts of Major Long's Expedition to the 1}( *།:7】 become" universal. The language of signs is so true to nature, that the deaf and dumb, from different parts of the globe, will immediately On meeting understand each other. eultivated state, is limited to the expression of their immediate wants "and the few ideas which they have acquired by their silent intercourse with their fellow-beings. As this manner of expressing their thoughts has arisen from necessity, it is surprising to me how the Indians have adopted a 'similar language, whên the intercourse between nations of different tongues is most usually carried on by interpreters of spoken language. logo】 b9151 978 baad Tocky Mount, which treats of the language of 1919 emploved by the aborigines of our western terrtory, I ber you will indulge me in some observations on the subject!? "The elucidation of a sign lan-Their language, however, in an unguage is peculiarly!! attractive to me, as connected with the interest of the Institution in this city for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, over which I have a superintending care. I therefore hope to fix your attention for a few minutes' on 'a subject which, although novel in this society, may be made" agree. able, and I hope, interesting to its members. To The Indians, Tartars, or aboriginal inhabitants of the country west of the Mississippi, consist of different nations or tribes, speaking several different languages, or diacts of the same language. Some of these tribes have stationary villages or settlements, while others wander about the country, resting in their skin tents of lodges, and following the herds of bisons or Buffaloes, upon which they principally depend for support. These tribes are not able to hold communication with each other by spoken language but this difficulty is overcome by their having adopted language of signs, which they all" Truth, in spoken language, is understand, and by means of which "the different tribes hold converse without speaking.” J If we examine the signs employed by the Indians, it will be found that some are peculiar and arise from their savage customs, and are not so universal as sign language in general; but others are natural and universally applicable, and are the same as those employed in the schools for the deaf and dumb, after the method of the celebrated Abbé Sicard. # biod e bast food "In comparing a few of these signs, it will be seen wherein they agree. Among them is found the sign for truth. 66 79to di a representation of the real state of things, or an exactness in words "conformable to reality. In the language of signs, truth is repre'sented by words passing from the mouth in a straight line without deviation. This is natural and universal: it is the same as was adopted by the Abbé Sicard, and is used in the schools for the deaf and dumb in the United States. It is thus described in Major Long's Expédition, as practised by the Indians auto di amprods -3594 This circumstance may be considered as something novel in the history of man; for although ternporary signs have been occasionally resorted to by travellers and voyagers, where spoken language was made equate, yet we know of no nation, tribe, or class of human beings, possessed of the faculty of speech, Fbesides the Indians of this country, who have adopted any thing like • a system of signs, by which they TruthThe fore-finger passeould freely express their ideas. of gris to Philosophers have discussed the subject of a tiniversal language, but live failed to invent one, while the savages of America have adopted the only one which can possibly ed in the attitude of pointing from the mouth forward in a line curving a little upward, the other fingers Being carefully closed out mont "A lie, on the other hand, sisa departure from rectitude, a devíation from that straight course which inculcates truth. The Indians represent a lie by the following signs Lie.The fore and middle fingers extended, passed two or three times from the mouth forward, they are joined at the mouth, but separate as they depart from it, indicating that the words go in differ ent directions.' e" This sign is true to nature, and radically correct, though in the instruction of deaf mutes we simplify the sign, by the fore finger passed from the mouth obliquely or side. ways, indicating a departure from the correct course. 1 House or lodge. The two hands are reared together in the form of the roof of a house, the ends of the fingers upward.' DUR "This sign is true and natural, though we add to it by placing the ends of the fingers on each other before they are elevated in the position of the roof, to indicate the stories of which a house in civilized life is composed. 6 Entering a house or lodge The left hand is held with the back upward, and the right hand, also with the back up, is passed in a curvilinear direction down under the other, so as to rub against its >palm, then up on the other side of it. The left hand here represents the low door of the skin lodge, and the right the man stooping down to -pass in.? "This sign, though peculiar, is natural as respects the mode of living of the Indians, but is not universally applicable. It corresponds with the sign for the preposition under T The sign for an object dis-covered, as distinguished from the -simple act of seeing, is made by the aborigines with much nicety and -precision, and may with propriety be adopted in a universal language. Seeing-The fore finger, in the attitude of pointing, is passed from the eye towards the real or simaginary object o noitsiyah sobrusler moitaque 66.6 10" Seen or discovered. The sign of a man or other animal is made; after which, the finger is pointed towards and approached to your own eye: it is the preceding sign reversed.'. "The Indian sign for a man, is a finger held vertically, which differs from the deaf and dumb sign. Their sign for a bison is the same as the deaf and dumb sign for a cow; namely, "The two fore fingers are placed near the ears, projecting so as to represent the horns of the animal,' Now when a party of Indians are oat on a hunting or warlike expedition, they may discover a man, the scout of a hostile party, or an herd of buffaloes. The sign for discovery, in such a case, will be different from that of the simple act of seeing. . "In general we cast our eyes' upon an object with indifference, and in seeing simply distinguish a man from an animal, a tree from a shrub, a house from a barn; or we determine the relative shape, size, or distance of an object. This is done by the coup d'œil; and there. fore the act of seeing, in the universal language of signs, is to direct the finger from the eyes to the object. "But when we discover an object, we look and look again, and then in the true natural language of signs it comes to our eyes, as the Indians have correctly represented it, because we have repeatedly directed the eyes to the spot where the discovery is made; and not seeing it the first, second, or third time, the object clearly comes to our eyes; and hence the distinction between sight and discovery is founded in the universality of sign language.. ་ " "To see, is a radical word in sign language; from which may be derived the words to look, to gaze, to behold, as well as to discover. These are all sensible actions of the visual organs, or, in the language of Sicard, operations of the organic eye.' ovd 66 6 the course of the sun's declination from the summer to the winter's solstice, and back again, But that which is easiest understood and the most natural, is by the sign for one hot and one cold season. zlubbte ei Spring is represented by the springing up of the grass, and the expanding of blossoms; summer bys the heat; autumn by the ripening of fruits; and winter by the cold, to "The signs for eating, drinking, and sleep are naturally and universally the same, and cannot be mistaken. They are thus described in the account of the expedition: D" Eating. The fingers and thumbs are brought together in opposition to each other, and passed to and from the mouth four or five times, within the distance of vent three or four inches of it, to imitate the action of food passing to the mouth.' then he " "Drinking or water-The hand is partially clenched, so as to have, something of a cup shape, and the opening between the thumb and finger is raised to the mouth as in the act of drinking. If the idea of water is only to be conveyed, the hand does not stop at the mouth, but is continued above it.'. 66 6 1 " f t Night or sleeping.The head, with the eyes closed, is laterally inclined for a moment upon the hand. As many times as this is repeated, so many nights are indi cated very frequently the sign of the sun is traced over the heavens from east to west, to indicate the lapse of a day, and precedes the motion.' per "In the work from which the preceding signs are taken, no other divisions of time are explained except different periods of day, by the passage of the sun through an arch in the heavens under the word sun, in which the fore-finger and thumb are brought together at the tip, so as to form a circles and held up towards the sun's track. In the school for the deaf and dumb, we distinguish the periods of a year, the seasons, a month, a week, a day, a might, and parts of a day or night, as dawn, sunrise,, morning, noon, evening midnight. A year may be represented by a great circle in t the air indicating a revolution of the earth; about the sun; but, this sign, is rather, philosophical than naturabia It may more paturally be represented by tracing with the fingert 66 "A week is represented by seven days; or the hands placed together before the breast in the attitude, of prayer, indicating the return of the Sabbath. fororopuit yobai To indicate a day, the left arm is bent, and held before the body to represent the horizon, and a semicircle is traced above it, beginning at the elbow and ending at the band An artificial horizon, being formed, it is easy to designate the parts of the day by shewing where the sun would be at such periods, as dawn suprise, morning, noon, afternoon, sunset, evening, night, midnight.ou t "The sign for a month is one moon, and the Indians, use the cor rect natural sign.ve viitor blad "Moon.The thumb and fingeropen are elevated towards the right ear. 12-24 "The Indian sign for good, for death, and pretty, are nearly the same as those of the deaf mute. Is ei a "Good.-The hand, held horica zontally back upwards, describes with the arm a horizontal outwards 7 6 tot eengvino curve "Death By throwing the fore! finger from the perpendicular, into:[ a horizontal position towards the earth with the back downwards.'»› Pretty The fingers; and t thumb so opposed as to form ad curve, are passed over the facer nearly touching it, from the forehead to the chin, then add, the sign of good agno.I boltitne eleve to 2 The signs for theft exchange b riding on horseback, fish, be quit foobiando snake are the same aso those employed in the tuition of theo deaf and duabi od yd boen 26 angie |