is father's house, he
succeeded so well in enlisting the sympathies of the public in behalf of
the class which they represented that funds soon flowed in from various
sources. The present well-known institution, with its flourishing
workshop, printing establishment, and other dependencies, stands to
attest his work, and the support given to it by the community.

A new lustre was added to his name by the wonderful series of
experiments which brought the gifts of human speech and knowledge to a
blind deaf mute. The story of Laura Bridgman is too well known to need
repetition in these pages. As related by Charles Dickens in his
"American Notes," it carried Dr. Howe's fame to the civilized world.
When he visited Europe with this deed of merit put upon his record, it
was as one whom high and low should delight to honor.

Mr. Emerson somewhere speaks of the romance of some special
philanthropy. Dr. Howe's life became an embodiment of this romance. Like
all inspired men, he brought into the enterprises of his day new ideas
and a new spirit. Deep in his heart lay a sense of the dignity and
ability of human nature, which forced him to reject the pauperizing
methods then employed in regard to various classes of unfortunates. The
blind must not only be fed and housed and cared for; they must learn to
make their lives useful to the community; they must be taught and
trained to earn their own support. Years of patient effort enabled him
to accomplish this; and the present condition of the blind in American
communities attests the general acceptance of their claim to the
benefits of education and the dignity of useful labor.

Dr. Howe's public services, however, were by no means limited to the
duties of his especial charge. With keen power of analysis, he explored
the most crying evils of society, seeking to discover, even in their
sources, the secret of their prevention and cure. His masterly report on
idiocy led to the establishment of a school for feeble-minded children,
in which numbers of these were trained to useful industries, and
redeemed from brutal ignorance and inertia. He aided Dorothea Dix in her
heroic efforts to improve the condition of the insane. He worked with
Horace Mann for the uplifting of the public schools. He stood with the
heroic few who dared to advocate the abolition of slavery. In these and
many other departments of work his influence was felt, and it is worthy
of remark that, although employing his powe