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DEAF
AND
DUMB!
BY THE AUTHOR OF
"THE TWIN SISTERS," &c. &c.
"That good diffus'd may more abundant grow,
And speech may praise the Power that bids it flow."
Cowper.
THIRD EDITION.
London:
PRINTED FOR DARTON, HARVEY, AND DARTON,
No. 55, GRACECHURCH-STREET.
1818.
PREFACE.
It is hoped the title of the following book will excite attention: howmuch more, then, should the unhappy situation of those who are in thatstate demand compassion! and it is gratefully acknowledged, that in somebenevolent minds the tide of pity has flowed even to them. An Asylum, ona plan more and more extensive, as the means of making it so hasincreased, has been formed for these once melancholy appellants totheir commiseration, but who are now, through their means, enabled[Pg iv]cheerfully to pass through life; and scarcely to feel the deprivation ofthose powers, which, were it not for this institution, would have sunkthem into listless apathy, or moody ideotism.
Perhaps the reader is little aware how many of his fellow-creatures arelabouring under this misfortune, and how much the number of those whocannot, from want of room, or means for their support, be admitted intothe Asylum, exceeds those who have received the benefit of it. Let thefollowing extract acquaint them with it:—"The unhappy malady whichaffects[Pg v] these children is found to exist to a dreadful extent; scarcelya week passes without some application for admission, and though thenumber of pupils has been gradually augmented from six to sixty, it mustbe stated (and it is stated with deep concern) that at every election,the number of candidates exceeds, in a tenfold proportion, thenumber of vacancies! Such a painful fact makes a most interesting andpowerful appeal to every benevolent mind." Another powerful plea mayalso be added: that, after twelve, the age appointed by the committee,they cannot[Pg vi]...