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Mr. Gallaudet follows with other instances of such communication and adds:

There was another use which I found it practicable to make of the mere expressions of the countenance, in conveying not only ideas but words to the mind of this pupil.

On a journey to Maine, we sat, one day, directly facing each other in the stage-coach. I proposed to him that we should invent an alphabet of expressions of the countenance, and see if we could not, in a short time, become so familiar with it, as to make it subservient to the spelling of words quite as surely and quickly as could be done by the finger alphabet. We began and settled it as follows:

The simple expression of awe was to denote the letter a; of boldness, b; of curiosity, c; of despair, d; of eagerness, e; of fear f; of gladness, g; and so on. We made various trials of this new alphabet of the looks, and found it to succeed. It is easy to see, that if I expressed by my countenance distinctly, and with slight intervals between the expressions, the emotions of despair, eagerness, awe and fear, the letters d, e, a, and f, would be denoted, and, of course, the word deaf, communicated.

Simple as this process is, it would still appear very surprising to a person ignorant of it, after being requested to furnish any word, no matter how difficult or abstruse its meaning, to see it immediately looked by the teacher into the mind of the pupil, and the latter writing it down correctly on his slate.

These, and other experiments of a similar kind, made by a teacher of the deaf and his pupils, may, perhaps, seem to be matters of mere amusement, and not of any practical use. But amusements have their uses in all schools, and especially if the teacher can, at suitable times, take part in them with his pupils.

Mr. Gallaudet had strong convictions as to the value of the sign language as a means of instruction, of which it may not be amiss to speak in these days, when not a few men of intelligence are found who would banish them from all schools for the deaf.

In an article on "The Natural Language of Signs; and its Value and Uses in the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb," published long after he had given up teaching, Mr. Gallaudet says: --

"My object is to show the intrinsic value and, indeed, indispensable necessity of the use of natural signs in the education of the deaf and dumb. ... In attempting this I wish I had time to go somewhat at length into the genius of this natural language of signs; to compare it with merely oral language, and to show, as I think I could, its decided superiority over the latter, so far as respects its peculiar adaptation to the mind of childhood and early youth.

"In what relates to the expression of passion and emotion, and of all the finer and stronger sentiments of the heart, this language is eminently appropriate and copious.

"So far as objects, motions, or actions addressed to the senses are concerned, this language, in its improved state, is superior in its accuracy and force of delineation to that in which words spelled on the fingers, spoken, written, or printed are employed."

Mr. Gallaudet, after treating at length of the capabilities and value of gesture language as a means of instruction, says in closing:

Instructors of the deaf and dumb should appreciate the great importance of being masters of the natural language of signs, -- of excelling in this language; of being able to make delineating and descriptive signs with graphical and picture-like accuracy; of acquiring the power to have the inmost workings of their souls, -- their various thoughts and feelings, with their fainter and stronger shades of distinctive character, -- beam out through the eye, countenance, attitude, movement, and gesture; and of doing all this with spirit, grace, and fluency, and for the love of doing it.

The labor is not small, indeed, that must be undergone, in order to possess these indispensable qualifications of an accomplished instructor of the deaf and dumb. To acquire them, the new and inexperienced teacher must consent, carefully and perseveringly, to take lesson after lesson of the older teacher who is a proficient in this language, while the older teacher must have the patience to give these lessons. For the language of signs is not to be learned from books. It can not be delineated in pictures, or printed on paper. It must be learned, in a great degree, from the living, looking, acting model. Some of the finest models for such a purpose are found among the originators of this language, the deaf and dumb. The peculiarities of their mind and character, and the genius of that singularly beautiful and impressive language which nature has taught them, should be the constant study of those whose beneficent calling it is to elevate them in the scale of intellectual, social, and moral existence; to fit them for usefulness and respectability in this life, and for happiness in that which is to come.

Mr. Gallaudet's practice as a teacher was consistent with this earnest preaching. He loved the language of signs and made a lifelong study of it. That he was such a master of it is due in part to his patience and painstaking as a student of it. But his eminence in pantomime was, no doubt, in large measure owing to inherited natural ability derived from those Italian ancestors of whom mention was made in the early pages of this book.