llustration]

FAITH COMETH BY HEARING.

A deaf and dumb Lady said that the first time she went to church after
she was impressed with the truths of christianity, she saw over the
pulpit the words "Faith cometh by hearing," which caused her great
unhappiness; for, she thought, that as she had no hearing she could
never have faith. Shortly after, however, she saw this text in the
Bible, and observed that it was followed by "and hearing by the Word of
God," which gave her so much delight, as shewing her a way in which it
was possible for faith to come even to her, that she clasped the Bible
to her heart.

MASSIEU.

One of the best educated and most distinguished deaf mutes was Massieu,
who gave the following remarkable replies to questions put to him by
various friends:--

"What is hearing?" "Hearing," said he, "is auricular sight." Another
party asked him whether he made any distinction between a conqueror and
a hero? "Arms and soldiers made a conqueror; courage of heart a hero.
Julius Caesar was the hero of the Romans; Napoleon the hero of Europe,"
was the answer he wrote on the blackboard, without hesitation.

In reply to the following questions, he instantly wrote answers. "What
is hope?" "Hope is the blossom of happiness." "What is happiness?"
"Happiness is pleasure that ceaseth not; and misfortune is grief that
endeth not." "What is the difference between hope and desire?" "Desire
is a tree in leaf; hope is a tree in flower; and enjoyment is a tree in
fruit." Another pupil standing by wrote, in reply to the same question,
"Desire is the inclination of the heart; hope is a confidence of the
mind." A stranger asked Massieu, "What difference do you think there is
between God and nature?" His reply was "God is the first maker, the
Creator of all things. The first beings all came out of His divine
breast; He has said to the first beings, ye shall make the second; to
the second ye shall make the third beings; His wills are laws; His laws
are nature."

"What is time?" "A line that has two ends, a path that begins in the
cradle and ends in the tomb." "What is eternity?" "A day without
yesterday or to-morrow, a line that has no end." "What is God?" "The
necessary being, the sun of eternity, the mechanist of nature, the eye
of justice, the watch-maker of the universe, the soul of the world." The
deceptive and acute question, "Does God reason?" was put to him, it is
said, by Sir James Macintosh, Massieu at