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Thus the old story of Laura Bridgman was repeated again, and one of the finest and grandest intellectual and spiritual temples, which in its completion would have afforded extraordinary opportunities for scientific investigation and the discovery of truth in its simplest form, was destroyed before its dome was finished.

Miss Sullivan has prepared a detailed account of Helen's religious instruction, which is herewith given in full: --

RELIGION. -- The evolution of the mind of this remarkable child in the province of religious thought is both interesting and instructive. It was the earnest desire of those upon whom devolved the responsibility of Helen's education that her mind should not be biased by outside influences. It was hoped that one so peculiarly endowed by nature as Helen, would, if left entirely to her own resources, throw some light upon such psychological questions as were not exhaustively investigated by Dr. Howe; but their hopes were not to be realized. In the case of Helen, as in that of Laura Bridgman, disappointment was inevitable. It is impossible to isolate a child in the midst of society, so that he shall not he influenced by the beliefs of those with whom he associates. In Helen's case such an end could not have been attained without depriving her of that intercourse with others, which is so essential to the development of her social nature.

It must have been evident to those who watched the rapid unfolding of Helen's faculties that it would not be possible to keep her inquisitive spirit for any length of time from reaching out toward the unfathomable mysteries of life. But great care has been taken not to lead her thoughts prematurely to the consideration of subjects which perplex and confuse all minds. Children ask profound questions, but they often receive shallow answers, or, to speak more correctly, they are quieted by such answers.

"Where did I come from, and where shall I go when I die?" were questions asked by my pupil nearly three years ago. But the explanations which she was able to understand at that time did not satisfy, although they forced her to remain silent, until her mind should begin to put forth its higher powers, and generalize from innumerable impressions and ideas which streamed in upon it from books and from her daily experiences. Without any particular direction being given to her mind, it naturally sought for the cause of things.

As her observation of phenomena became more extensive and her vocabulary richer and more subtle, enabling her to express her own conceptions and ideas clearly, and also to comprehend the thoughts and experiences of others, she became acquainted with the limit of human creative power, and perceived that some power, not human, must have created the earth, the sun, and the thousand natural objects with which she was perfectly familiar.

Finally, she one day demanded a name for the power, the existence of which she had already conceived in her own mind. The study of the natural sciences and geography had done much to arouse her curiosity with regard to the origin of things. She began to realize, in a dim and childlike way, the vastness and manifold variety of the works of nature.

Through Charles Kingsley's "Greek Heroes" she had become familiar with the beautiful stories of the Greek gods and goddesses, and she must have met with the words God, heaven, soul, and a great many similar expressions, in the books she eagerly devoured.

Strange to say, she never asked the meaning of such words, nor made any comment whatever when they occurred; and until February, 1889, no one had ever spoken to her of God. At that time, a dear relative who was also an earnest Christian tried to tell her about God; but, as this lady was not able to clothe her ideas in words suited to the comprehension of the child, they made little impression upon Helen's mind. When I subsequently talked with her she said: "I have something very funny to tell you. A. says God made me and every one out of sand; but it must be a joke. I am made of flesh and blood and bone, am I not?" Here she examined her arm with evident satisfaction, laughing heartily to herself. After a moment she went on: "A. says God is everywhere, and that He is all love; but I do not think a person can be made out of love. Love is only something in our hearts. Then A. said another very comical thing. She says He -meaning God- is my dear father. It made me laugh quite hard, for I know my father is Arthur Keller."

I saw that the child was not in a fit state of mind to receive the spiritual truths which her kinswoman had so inopportunely tried to impart, and I explained to her that she was not yet able to understand what had been told her, and so easily led her to see that it would be better not to talk about such things until she was wiser.

She had met with the expression Mother Nature in the course of her reading, and for a long period of time thereafter she was in the habit of ascribing to Mother Nature whatever she felt to be beyond the power of man to accomplish. She would say, when speaking of the growth of a plant, "Mother Nature sends the sunshine and the rain to make the trees and the grass and the flowers grow." The following extract from my journal will show what were her ideas at this time: --