A Sermon Delivered at the Opening of the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons

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Excerpt from A Sermon Delivered at the Opening of the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons: At the Request of the Directors, on Sunday Evening, April 20th, 1817These words depict a part of the visions of futurity which gladdened the eye of Isaiah, and irradiate his writm gs with so cheering a lustre, that he has been called the evangelical prophet. His predictions are assuming in our day, some of their most glorious forms of fulfilment. For although they had a more direct reference to the time of our Saviour, by whose miraculous energy, the ears of the deaf were open ed, and the tongue of the dumb loosened, yet, without doubt, as might be proved from the general scope and tenour of the prophetic writings, they equally allude to the universal dif fusion of the gospel in these latter ages of the church, and to its happy in¿uence upon the hearts of all mankind. The same Saviour, who went about doing good, is also the Lord of this lower creation. He once performed the acts of his kindness by the mere word of his power he now is mindful of the necessitous, and makes provision for them, through the medium of his providential dispensa~tions. It should be matter, therefore, of encouragement to us, that the establishment, which is now ready to receive within its walls the sons and daughters of misfortune, how ever humble may be its sphere of exertion, is not overlook ed in the economy of the Redeemer's kingdom that its probable in¿uence is even shadowed forth in the sayings of prophecy and that it forms one link in that golden chain of universal good-will, which will eventually embrace and bind together the whole family of man. Let it awaken our grati tude to think, that our feeble efforts are not disregarded by the great Head of the church, and that we are permitted thus to cast our mite into his treasury.In the chapter, from which the words of my text are ta ken, the prophet has described the blessings of the Redeem er's kingdom, in the richest colours of Oriental imagery. He portrays, by the strongest and boldest figures, the joy that will be diffused throughout the earth, when the Gospel of Jesus Christ shall have been proclaimed to all people, and its principles made the universal rule of thought and con duct. He would thus teach us the intimate connexion, even in this world, between holiness and happiness, and excite our efforts towards hastening on the latter day glory of the church, by placing before us the advantages that will result from it. Every exertion, then, of christian benevolence, which forms a part of the great system of doing good, is en titled, so to speak, to the encouragements which the prophet holds forth. I shall not, therefore, depart from the spirit of the text, if, on the present occasion, I attempt to describe some of the benefits which will result from the exertions which are making for the improvement of the deaf and dumb, and thus show how it will happen, that in this depart ment of christian benevolence, in the wilderness shall wa ters break out, and streams in the desert.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.