- Little— Peter
- Philpot
- Love
- Johnson. R. M.
- Sevier
- Boswell
- Crowninshield B W
- Martin William D
- Lee— William
- Wirt— William.
Signed yesterday an order for the discharge from prison of Henry Crawford, in Execution for the
costs of a debt to the United States in the Northern District of
New-York— Visits this morning from Colonel
Little, Member of the House of Representatives from
Baltimore County, with two of his Constituents Philpot, and Love— Coll.
Johnson, Senator from Kentucky, with Mr Sevier
the new Delegate from the Territory of Arkansas, in the place of
Henry W. Conway, killed in a
Duel, last November, by the Secretary of the Territory, Crittenden, and with a Mr Boswell, also of
Arkansas. Mr Crowninshield introduced Mr
Martin a member of the House of Representatives from
South-Carolina, who apologised for not having called upon me before— I
sent for Mr
Lee, the second Auditor of the Treasury, and spoke with
him of the question upon the Settlement of the Account of Simeon Knight heretofore a paymaster
in the army. He claims pay till January 1822. four years from the date
of his Commission upon the ground that he was not dismissed from his
Office, but Mr Lee says he believes he was,
and that another was appointed in his place— I told Mr Lee, that in that event the allowance of
his pay could not be made— It appears that the practice has constantly
been of leaving the dismission of officers by the President of the
United States, without Record signed by him— The order has been verbally
given, and notified to the individual dismissed by Letter, from the Head
of the Department under which he served. Sometimes as in the case of
Satterlee Clark, only from
a Subaltern; and if Lee’s belief is correct in this case of Simeon
Knight not at all— The only evidence of his dismission will be the
appointment of another paymaster without even saying in his place— Mr Lee brought with him, and shewed me a
statement made at his office, to be exhibited to the retrenchment
Committee, shewing the multiplicity of business with which it has been
and is charged. All the offices are equally occupied. 436This day at One O’Clock had been appointed for the Cabinet
Meeting upon the Letter from the Governor of
Georgia, with the Cherokee Constitution— But the House of
Representatives adjourned over from yesterday till next Monday to allow
the use of the Hall this day for the exhibition of the deaf and dumb
Teachers and pupils— I learnt the fact this morning from Mr John
Taliaferro, whom I fell in with on my walk, accompanying
his brother to Brown’s Hotel, whence he was going to
take passage in the Steam-boat for Virginia— I met also in this walk,
Mr
Barney and Mr Dorsey, Members of the House
from Maryland— I shortened this walk, and at Noon walked to the Capitol,
leaving directions at home, that if the members of the Administration
should come at one, to ask them to wait a short time for my return from
the Capitol; and ordered my Carriage to be there for me at one. I found
at the Capitol Mr
Weld, delivering in the House of Representatives, an
Address recommendatory of the Institutions for the Instruction of the
deaf and dumb, which he soon closed, and then began the performances of
his three pupils. Their language of gesticulation is two-fold, one
consists of spelling words; each Letter of the alphabet being marked by
the sign of a distinct collocation of the fingers: the other is by
motion of the arms and hands, and of the whole body, and by significant
expressions of the countenance; it is altogether pantomimic— By spelling
the Letters they read and write—and thus they identify words— But it is
through the pantomime only that they understand the meaning of their
discourse; and two of them in writing a sentence occasionally used
different words— Their writing is in this respect a translation of the
discourse delivered by gesticulation; and different translators use
different words to convey the same thought— Besides the examination
which they underwent from their teacher Mr
Weld, and from Mr Gallaudet principal of the original
Institution at Hartford, Connecticut, several of the Spectators at the
request of Mr Weld, joined in the
examination, and put questions to the pupils which they answered with as
much acuteness and propriety, as could be expected from youths of their
age possessed of all their Senses— But as the questions put by the
Spectators, were upon objects, not within the ordinary routine of their
Studies, there was not quite the same promptitude or accuracy in their
answers to them, as when responding to their own Instructors. Vice President Calhoun asked them what
was the difference between Power and Right— They gave definitions, but
without point— They did not suspect what was running in Mr Calhoun’s head when he put the question—
They had not read the debate on the Rules of the Senate, and did not
know, that Right was a President of a deliberative assembly without
Power to call to order, for, words spoken in debate. Mr Speaker
Stevenson asked them, who had given the world the greatest
example of true glory—only one of them attempted to answer this
question; and he was sadly perplexed—he first answered God, by giving
the gospel— He was told the question referred to human beings, he then
wrote Moses— Finding this did not yet
answer he successively wrote Perhaps Bonaparte— Perhaps Washington— This name, without the perhaps was that which
I suppose the Speaker had intended to elicit— Mr Weld to illustrate the method of teaching them abstract
words and ideas wrote the word irrefragable, the use of which he said
was unknown to them, and which upon his enquiring of them they signified
that they did not understand— He taught them the meaning of it so that
they wrote sentences in which the word was properly introduced— I asked
Mr Gallaudet if he could make them
understand the difference, between irrefragable and incontrovertible— He
said he could not immediately discern the distinction between them
himself— I said irrefragable was that which could not be
refuted—incontrovertible was that which could not even be contested. He
then taught them the difference between the words of which they wrote
distinct definitions— 437I desired the question to
be put to them, if they knew the figure over the Clock in the Hall: but
they did not— Afterwards I enquired if they could tell the name of the
Muse of History— One of them said he had forgotten it— But the question
still did not suggest to him that it was the figure over the Clock. I
asked Mr Weld if he could make them write
the line
He told me the only word in the line that he should spell to them by
Letters on the fingers was lonely— The eldest pupil, wrote the line
Hark! a glad voice the lonely desolation cheers— The youngest boy wrote
it Hark, a glad voice a lonely desert cheers— One
of them was asked to write the names of several distinguished men, of
antient and modern times, and the four quarters of the globe, which he
did— The Spectators were requested to name any one of them for a brief
biography— I named Plato, and the pupil
immediately wrote down a short account of his life, death and writings—
One of them wrote down an abstract, of a Conversation he had yesterday
had with Mr Gallaudet on the subject of
Rousseau of Geneva— The
boy at the request of a Lady, told a Story of a Clergyman, marked and
mimicked while preaching, by his monkey perched on the canopy over his
head—to the inextinguishable laughter of his Auditory— There was a boy
from Alexandria, about fifteen, entirely untaught, with whom, Mr Weld held some conversation, mutually
intelligible between him and the boy. He says there is a great
resemblance between the gestures of all the uninstructed deaf and dumb—
He says also that throughout this country the proportion of deaf and
dumb to the whole population is about one to two thousand persons— About
6000 in the United States— This exercise lasted about three hours, and
when I came home, I found Mr Clay, Governor Barbour and Mr
Southard had been here, and were gone— Governor Barbour
after waiting some time— Mr Wirt came afterwards and I
had a very long conversation with him about the Cherokee Constitution,
and the Indian Titles to Lands. He seems not to have considered
thoroughly the nature of the Indian titles, and to suppose that it is a
permanent possession of the Soil—like that of the white People— He has
not yet prepared his Report upon the Claim of Satterlee Clark—My visit
at the Capitol this day very much interrupted the regular course of my
business.