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Here is a fac-simile of Helen's first composition, addressed to her cousin Anna, which was written three months and fifteen days after she began to receive instruction from Miss Sullivan.

-TRANSCRIBED- helen write anna george will give helen apple simpson will shoot bird jack will give helen stick of candy doctor will give mildred medicine mother will make mildred new dress

This little note was scribbled on the 17th of June, 1887, and therefore it antedates by thirty-six days the first letter, which Helen wrote to her mother from Huntsville, where she was visiting relatives, on the 23d of July of the same year. Let us compare with this crude specimen of composition the following letter, which she wrote to one of New England's sweetest singers, John G. Whittier, on his eighty-third birthday, and we shall have an indisputable proof of what she accomplished in the course of three years and six months: --

-TRANSCRIBED- South Boston, Dec. 17, 1890

Dear kind Poet,

This is your birthday; that was the first thought which came to my mind when I awoke this morning; and it made me glad to think I could write you a letter and tell you how much your little blind friends love their sweet poet and his birthday This evening they are going to entertain their friends with readings from your poems and music. I hope the swift winged messenger of love will be here to carry some of the sweet melody to you, in your little study by the Merrimac. At first I was very sorry when I found that the sun had hidden his shining face behind dull clouds, but afterwards I thought why he did it, and then I was happy. The sun knows that you like to see the world covered with beautiful white snow, and so he kept back all of his brightness, and let the little white crystals form in the sky. When they are ready, they will softly fall and tenderly cover every object. Then the sun will appear in all his radiance and fill the world with light If I were with you today I would give you eighty-three kisses -- one for each year you have lived. Eighty-three years seems very long to me. Does it seem long to you? I wonder how many years there will be in eternity I am afraid I cannot think about so much time. I received the letter which you wrote to me last summer, and I thank you for it. I am staying in Boston now at the Institution for the Blind, but I have not commenced my studies yet, because my dearest friend, Mr. Anagnos wants me to rest and play a great deal. Teacher is well and sends her kind remmbrances -sic- to you The happy Christmas time is almost here! I can hardly wait for the fun to begin! I hope your Christmas Day will be a very happy one and that the New Year will be full of brightness and joy for you and everyone.

From your little friend

Helen A. Keller

This letter is one of the finest productions of Helen's brain. It conveys an adequate idea of the exuberant fancy as well as the naturalness of the little author, and shows that her early promise of abundant fruition has developed into a wonderful inflorescence of achievement. Its sentences are perfect and its phrases pure and sweet. To borrow the words of John Adams, --

"What joyous breathings of a glowing soul
Live in each page, and animate the whole."

Miss Sullivan's Account.

At my suggestion Miss Sullivan prepared a full account of Helen's mental development and of her marvellous progress in the acquisition of knowledge during the past three years. Her narrative is a statement of facts pure and simple; yet it reads more like a romance than a record of actual occurrences. Here is the tale of the achievements of the little pupil, as related by her tutor.

During the past three years Helen has continued to make rapid progress in the acquisition of knowledge. Indeed, the following account may seem incredible to those who have not seen her frequently, but all who have had an opportunity of watching her development from day to day will admit that my statements are not exaggerated. Knowing that the value of this sketch depends upon its exactness, I shall confine myself to the statement of facts, and to making such selections from Helen's own letters and compositions as will enable those who are interested in her progress to form an accurate conception of her achievements. I shall not, however, enter into the details of her education more fully than I have done in previous reports, for I have simply employed principles of instruction already well known; and all who have read Doctor Howe's reports in regard to the education of Laura Bridgman are familiar with the peculiar mental phenomena shown in the development of a mind debarred from the exhilarating influence of sight and sound.

Helen has spent the greatest part of the past three years in South Boston at the Perkins Institution, where she has enjoyed exceptional social and educational advantages. She has numerous and loving friends, not only in the school but throughout the city, whose delight it is to give her pleasure. She is so widely known, and the interest in her is so general, that wherever she goes she is the happy recipient of the kindest attentions; and the task of instructing her is greatly facilitated when she learns about things and people by actual contact with them. Her power of observation is thereby cultivated, and every faculty of her mind is strengthened.