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Sarah, at Mr. Gallaudet's request, entered into a French correspondence with him by writing: -- "C'est etonnaut que vous ecrivez si bien l'anglois, je serois bien contente de pouvoir ecrire le francois aussi bien." The sight of his own language seemed, as Mr. Gallaudet said it would, to please him very much, and he wrote: --

"J'etois agreablement surpris, vous ecrivez tres bien le francois, et je crois qu'un peu plus agee, vous l'ecrivez encore mieux." We had more conversation, both French and English, which was transcribed by Sarah, or written down from recollection by me immediately after, but as my epistle has already run out to a great length, I must suppress a part of it. I am not afraid of having tired you, because I am sure you will be, as we all are, very much interested in this poor unfortunate, as he calls himself; though he has, as I told him, almost lost all claim to that name. I have not been able to learn how abstract ideas are communicated to the deaf and dumb, but as an example of the justness of their notions I give you the following definition of virtue which Mr. Clerc wrote down verbatim and literatim, as you have it below, on my father's asking him what idea he had of virtue: -- "It is the disposition or habit of the soul to do good, to avoid evil, and to observe what divine and human laws order and what reason dictates."

I think the Connecticut institution will open under the most favorable auspices -- the talents and experience of Mr. Clerc, and the great progress Mr. Gallaudet had made even before his late visit to Europe authorize very sanguine expectations of the success of their joint exertions.

Believe me, with sincere respect and esteem, Yours,
NATHANIEL F. MOORE.
The REV. JOHN McVlCKAR, Hyde Park, N. Y.

While Mr. Gallaudet was still in Europe, his supporters and the friends of the deaf in Hartford were not idle. They secured an act of incorporation from the Legislature of Connecticut for the new institution in May, 1816, and raised a considerable sum of money by private subscription, not, however, enough to warrant the opening of the school. The solicitation of funds, therefore, became Mr. Gallaudet's first work. In October, 1816, the Legislature of Connecticut granted five thousand dollars in aid of the enterprise, which is believed to have been the first appropriation of public money made in America in behalf of a benevolent institution. In New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Albany, and a number of smaller towns, the cause of the deaf was successfully urged by its young and zealous apostle. He enlisted the generous support of such men as Elias Boudinot, of New Jersey; Stephen Van Rennselaer, of Albany; Daniel Wadsworth, of Hartford; William Phillips, William Gray and Israel Thorndike, of Boston; and Robert Oliver, of Baltimore. Many donations of less amount followed the liberal subscriptions of these men, and before the opening of the new institution upwards of seventeen thousand dollars was secured.

Mr. Gallaudet's sagacity in bringing an educated deaf-mute from France was proved by the effect produced by young Clerc in their solicitations. His intelligence, and the fact of his being well educated, made it impossible for any one to question the feasibility of the work proposed to be done. And yet, strange as it may now seem, there were those who had declared, even from the sacred desk, that the proposal to educate the deaf was absurd, quixotic, involving a useless waste of money.

The records of the Board of Directors of the institution show that it was no easy task to effect its organization. These public spirited men were setting out on an untrodden path, at least in their own country, and it was difficult to obtain information from any source that might give them the experience of others.

It was thought desirable, since it was necessary to make the new institution a boarding-school, that a suitable person should be employed to take charge of the domestic department. In their search for such an officer the directors were for a number of months singularly unsuccessful, and so serious did this difficulty become, as the time for opening the school drew near, that a day was appointed by vote of the board on which the Divine assistance should be formally invoked. A special meeting of the directors was held toward the end of February, 1817, at which the several pastors of Hartford were invited to be present and conduct religious services. This occasion was in effect a solemn dedication of the new institution to the service and honor of the Almighty, and His especial blessing was asked on all its operations.

Soon after this meeting the organization of the institution was completed and public announcement was made that pupils would be received.

It was on the 15th of April, 1817, a date deserving to be commemorated as the birthday of organized philanthropic effort in America, that Mr. Gallaudet's heart was made glad by the actual opening of the school, for the establishment of which he had labored in the face of obstacles which would have seemed insurmountable to many men.