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Letters and Journals of Samuel Gridley Howe

Creator:  (editor)
Date: 1909
Publisher: Dana Estes & Company, Boston
Source: Available at selected libraries
Figures From This Artifact: Figure 1

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422  

"They have all improved in personal appearance and habits, in general health, in vigour, and in activity of body. Almost all of them have improved in the understanding and the use of speech. But what is most important, they have made a start forward. They have begun to give their attention to things; to observe qualities, and to exercise thought. The mental machinery has been put in operation, and it will go on more easily and more rapidly in future, because the greatest difficulty, that of getting into motion from a state of rest, was overcome when it began to move. . . .

423  

"It has been demonstrated that idiots are capable of improvement, and that they can be raised from a state of low degradation to a higher condition. How far they can be elevated, and to what extent they may be educated, can only be shown by the experience of the future. The result of the past year's trial, however, gives confidence that each succeeding year will show even more progress than any preceding one."

424  

A year later, he was able to report as follows.

425  

"... Most of these youth were, three years ago, in an utterly helpless and hopeless condition of idiocy. Some of them sat or lay in drivelling impotency, unable to do anything but swallow the food that was given them. They were void of speech and understanding. They were filthy in their persons and habits, and given to debasing practices. They were unable to dress themselves, or sit at table and feed themselves. They passed their time in idleness, without a thought or an effort for bettering their deplorable condition. Some of them were noisy and destructive in their habits.

426  

"A great change has come over them. They have improved in health, strength, and activity of body. They are cleanly and decent in their habits. They dress themselves, and for the most part sit at table and feed themselves. They are gentle, docile, and obedient. They can be governed without a blow or an unkind word. They begin to use speech, and take great delight in repeating the words of simple sentences which they have mastered. They have learned their letters, and some of them, who were speechless as brutes, can read easy sentences and short stories! They are gentle and affectionate with each other; and the school and the household are orderly, quiet, and well regulated in all respects."

427  

After some words of hearty commendation of Mr. Richards and his assistants, my father goes on to describe in detail the progress made during the year by each pupil. The story is one of intense interest, and I cannot forbear to quote from the account of George Rowell.

428  

"George Rowell is a congenital idiot. He entered our school in December, 1848, being then seven years and six months old. ... In his gait and some of his habits, he reminded one of a monkey. In point of intelligence he was very low. Speech, that peculiarly human attribute, and the surest test in such cases of the degree of intellect, was wanting; he could pronounce only three words, and those only indistinctly. He was to all intents and purposes as dumb as a brute. . . . He had no sense of decency or duty, and no regard for the rights or feelings of others.

429  

"There was, however, much vitality and energy about him, which, being expended through his animal nature, kept him active, restless, and mischievous. He was passionate and destructive, and given to picking things to pieces and destroying them. . . . His habits were those of an infant.

430  

"Such was this boy, two years and a half ago; nor was there any reasonable hope of his improvement. . . .

431  

"But now a great and happy change has come over him. He is decent in all his habits, and cleanliness has not only become a custom but a want. He is neat in his dress; he sits at table, using a knife and fork, and eating as other children do. He makes his bed, sweeps the floor, assists in scouring knives, and does various little chores about the house, with great good humour and sufficient skill. But the most gratifying result is that he begins to speak! ... He has learned to read simple sentences, and does read understandingly, and with pleasure and pride, such books as Bumstead's Primer. ..."

432  

Whittier, writing to a friend after a visit to the school, says of George Rowell, "The change is almost like a resurrection of a mind from death -- or rather a new creation; "and George B. Emerson, in the Christian Examiner, tells of the poor lad's forming with his letters the sentence "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name;" and adds, "divine words, which are now familiar to the eyes, and which will soon, we may hope, reach the soul of the poor rescued child."

433  

After two years of tuition, George made a short visit to his parents. When his teacher came to take him back to the school, the father tried to thank him for what had been done. "George," he said, "now plays with the other boys; he plays like the other boys -- " he would have said more, but could only turn aside to weep.

434  

I remember George Rowell well: "Littlehead," his playmates called him. In the early sixties he was a tall youth, busy, happy, and useful; his life a round of simple duties and pleasures, thoroughly performed, thoroughly enjoyed. When I think what his life would have been but for my father, I find no words, but am silent, as was the child's own father.

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