in lottery tickets to comply with the law. The amount received under this law has varied, and has been annually stated in the several reports for eight years, as follows, to which is also added the receipts of last year:

Received from Venders of Lottery Tickets.

In 1819,

$1000

Why the Sixth Annual Report is not on the journals of the house, the Directors are unable to account, but they feel satisfied that it was made and forwarded to Albany, and afterwards printed by them in a pamphlet form. The incongruity of the date on the printed Report, as noticed by the Committec, is a mere typographical error. Instead of being censured for not reporting according to law, the Directors have heretofore been complimented for the minuteness of detail, and the punctuality of their Annual Reports, and instead of appropriations having been made, without much inquiry, as is stated by the Committee, it will be seen by reference to the journals of the House of Assembly, that on the 5th March, 1825, Mr. (Senator) Jourdan, (then a member of Assembly,) made a detailed and sensible report, embracing some of the very statements referred to by the Committee of the Senate, in 1827.

The amounts that have been annually received through the Comptroller, under the state law of April 16th, 1822, have been regularly reported as required, but as they are not to be found together, they are here presented at one view, for future examination.

Received from the State Treasurer through the Comptroller,

The Committee have remarked, that, "with respect to the system of instruction pursued, there is reason to believe that it may be improved."

The Directors of this Institution, agree with the Committee on this subject. They believe that no art or science has arrived at the ne plus ultra, and that the system of instruction in Colleges, Academies and Common Schools, may be improved: and with respect to the modern art of instructing Deaf Mutes, there is no doubt that it is far from having attained its ultimate perfection, and must therefore be susceptible of improvement. Mr. Bebian's work, already mentioned, is offered as proof. If any other Institution in this country has made improvements in the system of Sicard, the Directors of this Institution would be glad to see them made public, that they might be generally adopted. The Abbe Sicard has published to the world his system of instruction, has pointed out the defects of his predecessor De L'Epee, and acknowledged that his own was not perfect. His works, however, are the best that have come to our knowledge before Mr. Bebian's. They are in our possession, have been translated for the use of our school, and his system has been adopted by our teachers. They are too voluminous, and would be too expensive for publication at present, considering that their circulation would be very limited. If the Committee have observed any difference between our pupils and others, as is intimated, we believe it has arisen from the difference of time that they have been under instruction. The Directors have heretofore been convinced of the improvement of the pupils of this school, and they have received ample testimony of satisfaction from the parents of pupils instructed here. The exhibition in the Assembly chamber, in January, 1827, has been represented to us by those who witnessed it, as having given strong evidence that the pupils presented before the Honourable the Legislature, could read understandingly, and write their ideas correctly. It is to be regretted that the Committee of the Senate entered into a comparison between this school and that in Connec

ticut, and it is still more to be regretted, that they should have sought information (which could only afford ex parte evidence) in relation to this Institution, from a jealous and rival Institution, which has also shown an unfriendly disposition towards the school for the Deaf and Dumb in NewYork. It was therefore not surprising when Mr. Clerc (the French teacher at Hartford) in his letter to the Chairman of the Committee of the Senate, stated that the signs used in New-York, were derived from the " Indians and the pupils taught at Hartford." These and other uncivil and invidious insinuations contained in that letter, and sanctioned by Mr. Gallaudet, the principal teacher, in a postscript to the letter, are proofs, we regret to notice, of an unfriendly and hostile disposition.*

Soon after the publication of Major Long's expedition to the Rocky Mountains, one of the Directors of this Institution, read a paper before the New-York Lyceum of Natural History, on the subject of the signs used by the Indians west of the Mississippi, as stated in that work. He compared these signs with those used by Deaf Mutes, and found that there was a great similarity. It was considered as a matter of great curiosity, that the inhabitants of the forest, speaking different languages, should communicate by signs, and these signs bear a strong analogy to the signs of Deaf Mutes. A copy was sent to Mr. Clerc in a spirit of friendly regard, and he has totally perverted the object of the communication, and drawn from the premises, an improper inference.

In an address delivered in Philadelphia, by Mr. Weld, the principal teacher in the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, that gentleman has also since adverted to the signs of the Indians, and noticed their similarity to the natural signs of the Deaf and Dumb. From this fact, Mr.

This letter of Mr. Clerc's would not have been noticed, had it not been made a public document, by being referred to in the Report of the Committee of the Senate, and afterward read when the subject was under discussion.

Clere might draw the same conclusion, in relation to the signs used in the school in Philadelphia. It would, however, be equally as absurd and unjust, as his assertion in relation to the school in New-York.

With respect to the art of instructing Deaf Mutes, there are only two systems, the French and the English. The French is now pursued in this school, as explained in the works of the Abbe Sicard. The English system, which adopts the method of articulation, was first tried in the school of this Institution, but after trial, was abandoned for that of the French, which experience has proved to be the best. This Institution has no system of its own, but has endeavoured to follow that of Sicard, as far forth as its means and situation would permit.

The Honourable the Committee of the Senate, have referred to the Connecticut School, and made comparisons, which a more particular examination will show to have been unnecessary. The New-York Institution has not been able to retain pupils more than three and four years, with a few exceptions, and many have been dismissed after a shorter period of instruction, while the pupils at Hartford have been retained five, six and eight years, and some even longer, according to their own reports. Hence the unfairness of the comparison attempted to be established by the Committee, between the pupils of the two schools, must be evident. According to the Tenth Report of the American Asylum at Hartford, made in May, 1826, it appears that the expenditure for the preceding year was over $15,000, and that $6025 were paid to teachers alone. That Institution, no doubt, has some able teachers, and they have funds to pay them well. It is amply endowed, and free to act without restrictions. While on the other hand, this Institution has had a precarious, limited and uncertain support, requiring attention and economy in expenditures, and a limitation in employing teachers. If the Honourable the Legislature of this State, are desirous that the New-York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, should be placed in an inde

pendent situation like that at Hartford, it would be necessary to establish permanently, only one Institution in the state, and to endow it liberally. Heretofore the state appropriations have been divided between two Institutions, and neither has flourished so well, nor done so much good, as if the whole of the appropriations had been applied to the same object in one School. As the Asylum which has been commenced in this city, will be capable of accommodating 150 or more pupils, and will be completed in the course of the present year, it is now respectfully suggested to the consideration of the Legislature, whether it would be best to weaken its energies by division, (quoad hoc) or to strengthen them by concentration to one point, and for one object.

In conclusion, the Directors have only to observe, that in addition to the Treasurer's accounts, other documents are hereunto annexed, more fully to explain every thing in connection with the concerns of this Institution. And while they return thanks for the liberality of the Legislature, in providing for the building of an Asylum, they venture to hope that the foregoing explanations fully remove the seeming grounds of complaint.

Respectfully submitted,

By order of the Directors,

SAMUEL L. MITCHILL, President.

SAMUEL AKERLY, Secretary.

New-York, January, 1828.