we confidently anticipate the time when a due proportion of the deaf and dumb will be raised from their forlorn condition to an eminence which will be at once grateful to them, and honourable to their instructors. We have spoken of the difficulty of approaching their minds compared with that of communication with the blind; we see that this difficulty almost vanishes in the case of the latter; while in that of the deaf it cannot be overcome but by the most patient and persevering labour.

The magnitude of the obstacles to the mental cultivation of the deaf and dumb was doubtless the consideration which prevented many philosophical minds from encountering the labour, even after they had ascertained the practicability of such cultivation. The general spread of inquiry, especially during the present century, has brought more accurate information respecting the state and numbers of the deaf and dumb; the result of which has been to call forth the sympathy of the public for their relief: and although the provision which is at present made for them is by no means commensurate with the object to be accomplished, there is reason to expect that more ample measures will soon be taken for removing as far as possible the moral and physical evils attendant upon this deplorable calamity. Benevolent minds have been awakened to this duty in our own country, among whom, the late Rev. John Townshend, the founder of the London Institution, deserves especial notice, as the first individual who effected the extension of education to the indigent deaf and dumb. The imitators of this good and great man in other parts of the kingdom, whose names are recorded in the memory of some hundreds of pupils, are the late Dr. de Lys, of Birmingham; Dr. Orpen, of Dublin; Mr. Bateman, of Manchester; and Mr. Comer, of Liverpool. In Yorkshire, where an institution for the deaf and dumb has sprung up within a very few years, may be found another gentleman whose name must be ranked with the above benefactors to this class of sufferers: it is the name of its first promoter and honorary secretary, the Rev. W. C. Fenton, whose benevolence and untiring zeal have given it prosperity as well as existence.

As this institution, from its locality in a populous and wealthy district, and the success which has attended its establishment, will furnish us with some materials suitable to the purpose we have in view in this paper, we propose to take a survey of its origin, history, and internal management, and to explain the system of instruction there pursued. One of our objects in doing this, is to diffuse a knowledge of all

useful experiments in education, in order that similar institutions may from their commencement be assisted by the experience of others who have gone before them, and so be enabled to profit by what has been found successful, and warned on those points wherein their predecessors have failed.

So

In the early part of the year 1829, the attention of the county of York was drawn to the establishment of an institution for the education of the deaf and dumb. This institution originated, as we have stated, with Mr. Fenton, a clergyman residing in the neighbourhood of Doncaster, who soon succeeded in bringing the object under the notice of the principal nobility of the county. The Archbishop of York, the late Earl Fitzwilliam, the Earl of Harewood, and the present Earl Fitzwilliam, were among the earliest patrons of the projected institution. Each of these noblemen gave liberal donations; that of the late Earl Fitzwilliam was 5007. patronized in its commencement, the object met with support in all quarters wherever applications were made, and large sums of money were voluntarily contributed to its funds. At a public meeting held in Doncaster, in March, 1829, which was kindly attended by Mr. Vaughan, the master of the Manchester Institution, with some of his pupils, in order to show that the education of the deaf and dumb was not a visionary idea, a committee was appointed, and it was at once determined to open an institution as soon as the preliminary arrangements could be completed. In the mean time it was thought desirable to obtain for the intended institution the sanction of the Grand Jury, then about to assemble at York. By means of an active member of the committee, the subject was introduced to those gentlemen,-a proceeding which was altogether judicious, as the institution was thus made known to that part of the community from which it was to derive much of its permanent support, namely, the county gentry. At this period the restoration of York Minster occupied the public mind, and the committee thought proper to defer to the suggestion of the Archbishop, and to commence the institution in rented premises, rather than to solicit donations for the erection of a suitable building.

A part of Eastfield House, on the north side of the Doncaster race-course, was therefore obtained, and in November, 1829, fifteen boys were admitted. The institution was placed under the superintendence of the present head master, Mr. Charles Baker. By having spent some years as assistant master at Birmingham, under M. du Puget, who had been educated by Pestalozzi, the system of that eminent man be

came in some degree familiar to him. At the same time Mr. Baker does not profess to conduct the Yorkshire Institution on Pestalozzian principles. He acknowledges himself to be too little acquainted with those principles to make any such pretensions, though aware of their value and of their applicability to a great extent in the education of the deaf and dumb.

commencement.

:

The Yorkshire Institution was not founded altogether on the principle of a gratuitous provision. A sum of 2s. 6d. per week is required from the parents of each pupil, or from the parishes to which they belong. The income of the institution from all sources was about 400l. per annum at its The means by which the income has been increased to its present amount deserve particular notice, as the same means have since been employed with similar success by some of the other provincial schools for the deaf and dumb we allude to public examinations of the pupils in neighbouring towns. Before the Yorkshire Institution had been established six months, several public examinations had taken place in various divisions of the county. In the more populous towns a lecture was delivered explanatory of the condition of the deaf and dumb, and the methods by which their minds and affections might be cultivated; but the exhibition of the children themselves, and their acquirements, even in the short space of time mentioned, were always found the best exemplification, as well as the most efficient proof, of the excellence of the charity. After these examinations, no one doubted that deaf-mutes had powers capable of improvement; and this was sufficient. Subscriptions and contributions flowed in from every quarter.

In July, 1830, the number of children under instruction was increased to thirty-two,-twenty boys and twelve girls. The annual funds at this time amounted to about 8001.; and the building fund was considerably augmented.

The purchase or erection of a suitable edifice for the permanent establishment of the institution occupied the committee during the year 1831, at the expiration of which it was finally determined to purchase the whole of Eastfield House, which was offered to them along with three acres of land for 3000l. No site could have been found more open and salubrious. A more convenient building might have been erected, but it would have been at a great additional expense, which might have crippled the operations of the institution for years. The whole outlay amounted to 32007., including the alterations, of which sum about 360l. was advanced from the general fund to be restored at some future

period. The great desideratum in the building is a room sufficiently large for a school-room. With such an addition to the premises, the accommodation would be ample enough for one hundred children. As soon as possession of the above purchase was obtained, the number of children was increased to fifty. The annual income arising from subscriptions alone then amounted to little short of 1000l. This rapid increase of funds had not been obtained without great exertions; among which must be particularly specified the periodical examinations of the pupils.

Another advantage attending such examinations in different towns, is the publicity given to these institutions, by which parents, who might otherwise never know the fact, are informed that such a public provision exists for the mitigation of these organic defects. Even with this publicity, instances are sometimes discovered of deaf and dumb persons having grown up without instruction, even in the neighbourhood of such institutions. The recurrence of such cases calls for some further exertions on the part of the public to disseminate an account of deaf and dumb institutions amongst that class of society who are most likely to want such assistance, and least likely to know where and how to obtain it.

Various causes operate to prevent a larger number of deaf and dumb children from receiving the benefits of education in so populous a county as Yorkshire; but of a population of several hundreds deprived of hearing, and consequently dumb, it must require explanation why no more than fifty children enjoy the benefit of instruction.

1st. None under eight years of age, nor above fourteen, can be admitted into the institution.

2d. A proportion of the deaf and dumb are diseased, and some to such a degree as to be unfit objects for an institution. 3d. Another class whose names swell the statistics of the deaf and dumb are not deaf, but only dumb, being idiots.

4th. Those who are not absolutely idiots, but who are palpably deficient in intellect, are not considered proper objects for an institution avowedly supported for intellectual education.

5th. Some parents are so attached to their offspring labouring under physical infirmities, as to be unwilling to part with them.

6th. Many parents of deaf and dumb children, who are anxious to secure for them the mental and moral advantages of education, are yet too poor to make the required weekly payment. In such cases the parishes to which the children belong often defray the entire charge for the clothing and in

struction of such children; but in some instances the parishes refuse this aid.

The last difficulty, here alluded to, it has been thought should be removed by a legislative enactment requiring parish officers to defray the expenses attendant upon the instruction and care of the deaf and dumb poor, on the principle upon which a provision is made for other paupers labouring under severe bodily infirmities. The policy of such a measure is perhaps doubtful; but the claims of the deaf and dumb, it is hoped, will not be overlooked whenever the subject of national education is brought under the notice of the legislature. Both humanity and policy seem to dictate but one course to parish officers. If their deaf and dumb are educated, they are surely less liable to become chargeable to the public than if they continue in ignorance without the power of receiving or communicating information on the commonest circumstances of life. It would be vain to expect any proficiency in manual labour in these objects of our sympathy while the main inlets to instruction are closed; and their dispositions, like their understandings, for want of culture, produce bad instead of good fruits. Many facts might be adduced to confirm this statement, but it needs no further illustration: uneducated, the deaf and dumb are almost levelled with the brute creation; educated, they are raised to the proper dignity of their nature.

To confirm some of these statements, we may refer to the experience of the Yorkshire Institution. Since its commencement in 1829, seventy-three children have been admitted, of whom twenty-three have been removed. Of this number, five were in the institution only a few months, being found so deficient in intellect as to be incapable of improvement, although capable of doing something for their living in manual occupations of the simplest kind. Their friends were advised to put them instantly to such occupations. Four remained in the institution about three years, improving to a certain point, beyond which it seemed impossible for them to advance. These pupils were adapted for some of the more ordinary trades. Four others had attained an age at which it was thought desirable for them to leave school, particularly as they were capable of earning their livelihood. Ten were withdrawn because their parents could not afford to make the required payment of 2s. 6d. per week, in addition to the loss of the little services rendered by these children in their families, in all which cases the parish officers refused to advance the payments demanded by the institution. In addition to the above number, ten other applicants for admission have been excluded from the operation of the same cause; making