sides, and is continually dropped in favour of the sign system even by those who know them both. There is also so much more life and intelligence brought into play by the sign than by the oral language, that the deaf and dumb themselves prefer it, and the difference of expression of pleasure and of rapid appreciation of the subject when expressed in the two different methods is strongly marked. I have observed a whole deaf and dumb company convulsed with laughter at jokes or points made in the sign language, which have been received with painful gravity, owing to the attention required for appreciating them, when expressed by the oral system.

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The Education Department" now wisely requires both systems to be taught in State-aided schools, while showing an apparent favour for the oral in preference to the sign system, founded upon the Report of the Royal Commission on the Blind, Deaf, and Dumb, issued in 1889. In estimating the true value of this report on this particular question it is necessary to bear in mind that the Commission was originally formed with reference to the blind only, and fourteen of the eighteen commissioners were appointed while that was its sole object. The deaf and dumb were added as an after-thought some months afterwards, and four additional names were added, who represented the deaf and dumb interest. From special and exceptional circumstances one or two of these were in some sense committed to the oral system before appointment, but it is my confirmed belief that both the teachers in deaf and dumb schools, and also those who have had the longest and most practical acquaintance with the deaf and dumb prefer the sign system for general use, while willingly encouraging the addition of the oral system for the benefit of the more limited number who possess the time, the means, and also the intellectual capacity for

making use of its more exacting requirements. The increased number of years in school now required by the Department, and the grants in aid of the schools now officially made, have removed the greatest obstacles to the benefits to be derived from the oral system.

There is one medium of communication between hearing people and the deaf and dumb that it is in the power of the Education Department to create without the necessity for any new commission or any legislation, and I should strongly urge it as a great boon to the deaf and dumb, and also as a source of enjoyment and amusing instruction in all Kindergarten schools aided by Government grants. That is the compulsory requirement of instruction in the Finger Alphabet language in all such schools. To the children themselves, learning to spell on their fingers would be fully as much instruction as learning to spell upon a slate, and at the same time it would be a source of amusement and interest to them, not unlike such "acting songs" as

"This is the way we wash our clothes," &c.,

which are sung and acted with such zest as part of the daily teaching. At the infantile period of school life the letters would be easily mastered, and they would never afterwards be forgotten, and it would be an inexpressible boon to many a deaf and dumb inmate, male or female, of a workshop to feel that they could communicate in such a way with their fellows in the shop, or with the foreman, instead of being practically isolated, forlorn, and solitary workers in an otherwise busy community. Existing masters or mistresses of such schools could learn the finger language without the least difficulty if they do not already know it, and no hardship would be imposed upon either teacher or scholar in requiring such an addition to the present curriculum.

S

GREAT VARIETY IN THE SIGNS EMPLOYED IN DIFFERENT

PLACES.

It must not be inferred from the foregoing account and illustrations of the sign language that it is a hard and stereotyped system, such as ancient Sanscrit or Hebrew. On the contrary, every large deaf and dumb school, or collection of deaf mutes, inevitably produces signs of its own that may or may not be intelligible to other schools just as the various counties, and even separate towns in England, have their individual forms of expression, tones, and (in general terms) dialects that may differ widely from those of other districts—yet the basis of all is still English; and even such separate dialect speakers would be more intelligible to each other than would Germans and English, or French and English. As an illustration of this, the late head master of the Liverpool Deaf and Dumb School found many peculiar signs prevalent in it with which he had never met in the Yorkshire* and Edinburgh Schools in which he had for years been a teacher; and many of their signs were equally unknown to each other, or to the Liverpool School. But the basis of all was the sign language of the Abbé de l'Epée, and a very little effort enabled him to add to his knowledge, and to make his sign language richer than it was before, by adding Lancashire signs to those of Yorkshire and Auld Reekie.

With this short and imperfect sketch of the sign language of the deaf and dumb we may bid a temporary farewell to its great inventor; but we shall probably enrol him in our thoughts in the future as among the worthiest and greatest of the benefactors of that large host of poor and miserable which the world had contained for centuries, and that he at last did so much to elevate and to bless.

* The school in Doncaster is the officially recognised school for deaf and dumb children from all parts of Yorkshire.

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THE INFLUENCE OF ART.

BY ALFRED H. FRAZER.

FORTY or fifty years ago Art was looked upon as an expensive luxury, which could only be enjoyed by a few. The number of artists was, in consequence, very limited, and of these the majority were regarded as erratic, though harmless, individuals, who were incapable of more useful labour. However, in this, as in other matters, time has brought about many important changes; and the fact that at the present time we have 12,000 professional artists in the metropolis alone, actively engaged in its various branches, proves that an enormous advance has been made in the general appreciation of art.

This has been brought about, to a great extent, by the issue of books containing beautiful illustrations, and by improvements in the various processes for the reproduction of important pictures by the most eminent artists, which are now published at prices within the means of almost the poorest classes; and if there are still many homes whose walls are bare of decoration, the fault lies, not with the art producers, but with the tenants themselves, as the result of their stolid indifference to the influence of art, and their unwillingness to sacrifice the indulgence of less worthy gratifications for the sake of improving their more immediate surroundings.

In several important matters connected with the progress of art, it is interesting to note that Liverpool, among provincial towns, has led the way. The opening of the Royal Academy in 1768, under the presidency of Sir

Joshua Reynolds, was immediately followed by the formation of a society in Liverpool, having for its object the promotion and encouragement of art. A few years later, through the efforts of one of Liverpool's most illustrious sons, William Roscoe, the first public exhibition was inaugurated. It was of a varied and comprehensive character, its eighty-five exhibits including designs for bedsteads in the Chinese taste, models of ships, and, what was certainly a remarkable example of realistic art, a portrait of the Marquis of Granby, adorned with human hair.

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In 1810 the Liverpool Academy was founded, and to its exhibitions (of which a number were held in the Royal Institution) pictures were contributed by the leading artists of the day, including the President of the Royal Academy, who, to quote from the preface to the catalogue, thought it not improper to favour the society with his performances; a circumstance which, whilst it dignifies this undertaking, reflects the highest honour on his candour and politeness." Later on, we find the municipal authorities taking an active part in the operations of the Academy by offering premiums of twenty guineas each for the three best works in painting, drawing, and sculpture.

This system of prize awards not only created a spirit of emulation among artists, but conferred on the Academy itself a distinction and power enjoyed by no other contemporaneous institution.

Its policy for a time was such as to meet the approbation of the public as well as the general body of artists; but, unfortunately, this happy condition was not fated to last, and its recognition of the pre-Raphaelite movement, whilst it conferred on Liverpool the proud distinction of being the first to appreciate its merits, proved fatal to the