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The language of signs is, in our institutions, as it necessarily is in all other seminaries for the deaf and dumb, even to a considerable extent in the German schools themselves, a means, but neither in our own nor in any others is it the end of instruction. Every deaf mute, who can find one or more persons willing to converse with him and to learn his signs, will soon establish a dialect of gestures more or less extensive. We have met uneducated mutes, whose sign-dialect, their own creation, was sufficient not only for the mutual communication of wishes and wants concerning the daily avocations of the parties, for the correct execution of errands relating to common things, for directions concerning the task for the day, and an account of it when done, but even for the narration of all interesting events, not only in the circle of the deaf mutes' acquaintance, but far beyond it. No deaf mute of ordinary capacity stands in need of the lessons of an instructer to enable him to interchange familiar ideas with his more intimate companions.

When a number of deaf mutes are collected together in an institution, a sign-dialect is speedily and inevitably formed, as much superior to the previous dialect of each solitary individual, as is the copious and refined language of a highly civilized nation to the scanty vocabulary of a small horde of savages. This sign-dialect the teacher may attempt to improve, but he is rarely obliged to teach it to new comers. They learn it by intercourse with those whom they find already in the institution, as certainly as the child, who hears, learns the spoken language of those around him, and in a much shorter space of time. It is true, that the too constant use of this pantomimic language retards the acquisition of a language more universally intelligible among men; but on the other hand, it favors, to a degree conceivable only to those who have witnessed the fact, the development of the pupil's ideas, -- of his moral sentiments and intellectual faculties and it forms, in most cases, the surest and most convenient, and in many instances, the only practicable means, of defining correctly the meaning of words.

But we repeat, that, in the instruction of the deaf and dumb, the language of' signs is a means, and not an end. The expansion which this language always undergoes in an institution, accompanied, as it necessarily is, by a corresponding expansion of ideas, is in itself highly advantageous, and becomes very important as a means of imparting moral and religious instruction to those deaf mutes who, from various causes, fail to make sufficient progress in written language. But instruction in the last mentioned language is, with us, the great end of all the teacher's efforts. We aim to enable the pupils to converse by writing with all who can read and write; and, as a prerequisite to such conversation, to furnish them with all the stores of knowledge generally diffused among men, and which supply materials for the ordinary conversation of persons of intelligence. We aim, also, to enable them to derive from books and newspapers that solace and enjoyment which reading never fails to afford to well educated persons who are in some measure secluded from society. That our efforts are not in all cases fully successful, we admit; but we are persuaded, that, if we should spend a large portion of the period, scanty at the best, allowed to each pupil, in attempting to teach him to articulate and to read on the lips, the cases of partial failure in the far more essential, yet easier, task of teaching the vocabulary and idioms of language would he much more numerous. It has not, therefore, been through ignorance or indifference, that American instructers have neglected to teach articulation. It has been excluded from the course of instruction after careful and mature deliberation, and, in the New York institution, after actual and patient experiment ; not because the object was considered of little account, but because the small degree of success usually attainable was judged to be a very inadequate compensation for that expenditure of time and labor which the teaching of articulation exacts, -- for the many wearisome hours which must be spent in adjusting and readjusting the positions of the vocal organs, -- in teaching the "seven sounds of the letter a," - "the hundreds of elementary sounds," as Mr. Mann says, represented by only twenty-six letters, -- and the thousand capricious irregularities in the pronunciation of the same letters, or combinations of letters. To the deaf and dumb child, the acquisition of ideas, through his own language of gestures, is a task at once easy and delightful ; but as words can never be to him what they are to other men, the acquisition of a language of words, whatever signs are chosen to represent them, must for him ever remain a labor that will task to the utmost his patience and his powers, and the skill and perseverance of his teacher. Why, then, should we, on a prospect of doubtful advantage, double a labor which already tasks most minds to the utmost, and not a few beyond their powers?