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"The words which she utters
Are of her soul a part,
And the good seed she scatters
Is springing from the heart."

Helen's arduous work for the deliverance of little Tommy from the abyss of darkness and stillness is an inspiring proof of the blessedness of her own emancipation from the same dreary prison. Her eager solicitude to secure for all others the privileges which she now enjoys, is the fruitage of the tree of benevolence, which is deeply rooted in her heart and sends forth branches toward heaven.

Reason, Religion and Optimism.

"Life and sense,
Fancy and understanding: whence the soul
Reason receives, and reason is her being."
Milton.

Helen is an acute thinker. Her nature is eminently rational. Her conclusions are usually deduced from the unerring dictates of her faculties. Reason is her sun. It is the noble spark kindled from heaven. Under its light she carries on her mental operations, and if any statement is made to her she at once seeks for evidence to substantiate it. She receives gladly the opinions of others; but in forming her own she depends upon the exercise or her intellect. Like the bee, she gathers substance from abroad, but digests that which is obtained by her own virtue. She finds unspeakable pleasure when calling into activity the powers or her mind. That she uses them constantly, witness the following extract from one of Miss Sullivan's letters, dated Tuscumbia, May 24, 1889.

A short time ago A. undertook to give Helen an idea of deity. She began by telling her that "God is everywhere." The child instantly asked to be shown him. A. found herself in a difficult position, but she proceeded to add to Helen's perplexity by telling her that "God made her and all the people in the world out of dust." This bit of information amused the little woman greatly. In speaking of it to her mother afterwards she said: "A. told me many funny things. She says Mr. God is everywhere, but has not a body like that of my father, and does not live in a house!" Then the poor, puzzled child added: "A. says God made me out of dust! I think she is a great joker! I am made of flesh and blood and bones, and I was born nearly nine years ago. A. must not make too many mistakes!"

Helen's natural religious inclinations are of the best kind. She worships everything that is highest and noblest in human life. To use a phrase of Mr. Frothingham, "she adores the substance of deity." At the same time, she longs to get at the root of things by reflection and careful examination and is not disposed to accept all sorts of conflicting speculations and assertions as absolute truth. Hers is a rational nature par excellence. This is clearly shown in her keen criticisms and penetrating remarks on all matters which seem to her out of the ordinary course of things, and for the occurrence of which no logical explanation or satisfactory proof can be adduced. Her reason is very strong and discriminating, and she is quite prone to dispel instinctively the smoke of incense arising from the altars of superstition. In her mental field there is no congenial soil for the spontaneous growth of a luxuriant supernaturalism, which in many instances, instead of lighting, dims and darkens the spiritual faculty.

The way in which the first rays of religious ideas dawned upon the mind of the child confirms Max Müller's teachings rather than the theories of Herbert Spencer. Charmed with the beauties of nature and refreshed with its bountiful gifts, Helen began to contemplate its mysteries and majesties, and to inquire about the origin and the first cause of things. She grew more and more musing and meditative on these subjects in proportion to the increase of her intelligence. Her questions about the creation and the government of the world were constant and very searching. Finally she became quite eager to learn everything relating to cosmogony. Here was presented a rare and most glorious opportunity for having one of the acutest and most brilliant minds try to evolve the light of religious ideas from within instead of taking it from without, and form its conceptions of deity and divine attributes in perfect freedom from external influences, and authoritative bias. To the adoption of this course no objection was raised from her parents, and, if it had been pursued, it would have been of inestimable value in more ways than one. Aside from throwing some light on several psychological questions, it would have encouraged the child to rely upon her own resources in the solution of serious problems, and to acquire habits of mind which would enable her to seek truth resolutely and perceive it in a clear light. Moreover, it would have prepared the way for her indissoluble unification with nature and its laws and with the principles of all being. Unfortunately, Miss Sullivan took a different view of the matter. She could not rise above the sway of popular notions and common prejudices. While the little pupil's inquisitiveness and diligence in prying into things hidden gave evidence that her ideas were steadily unfolding and ripening into reverence, the teacher was quite alarmed at this mental activity, fearing lest it should lead to the disturbance of the "harmonious development of the soul." Hence she deemed it her duty to prevent such a catastrophe by turning the current of Helen's thoughts into the ordinary channels of theology.