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confidence ; he was forsaken by the people , of whose rights and liberties he had ever been the fearless advocate , and was almost proscribed as an enemy to his country . This severe discipline , so ~* unexpected and so unmerited , gave the * last polish to his sublime character ^ It
' purified his public principles . He now * learned to practise patriotism for its own ? . sake . His great mind rose superior to « popular applause , and he persevered in the path of public duty , from a proud * sense of honour and conscious rectitude
, —from a regard to dignity and consistency of character — and from a high and generous principle of love to his country . Thus he persisted in exerting his amazing energies to enlighten , and to save from impending ruin , a people that turned a deaf ear to his earnest and
benevolent remonstrances ; till , in the end , truth and reason , aided by his potent eloquence , and by the testimony of sad and dear-bought experience , gained a complete victosy over prejudice and passion ; and this great statesman enjoyed the peculiar felicity of Jiving to see the loftiest of his opponents giving way to
the cogency of his arguments ; and his iUustrious rival himself acknowledging the wisdom of his political principles , earnestly soliciting his co-operation in the direction of the national councils ; and , almost with his latest breath , recommending him as the only person
whose talents and energies were capable of extricating his country from an unparalleled crisis of difficulty and danger . Thus was this extraordinary man , by the ¦ u nanimous voice of his sovereign and his country , summoned to take the helm of the state in the midst of a tempest , and in circumstances of the most imminent
peril ; and had it been the will of Providence to have permitted him to c ^ rry into execution his magnificent designs , there can be little doubt that he would have steered his important charge into a
safe and peaceful harbour . But the felicity of being governed by his wise anci energetic counsels was not reserved for Britain . The poWers of animal nature sunk exhausted by the vigorous exertions of the mind : and the immense
pressure of public business and public care broke down a constitution which already indicated symptoms of decay , and in a few months deprived his country of one of the most enlightened , liberal , and patriotic statesmen , which this , l > r any other age ., or nation , could boast ,
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before the mighty schemes revolving in his breast could be matured and developed , and almost before any one-of his wise and salutary measures could be carried into effect . " Died , October 24 , at Grove House , Hackney , in the 21 st year of his age
THOMAS BRAIDWOOD , Esq . formerly of Edinburgh , eminently distinguished for the discovery and successful practice of the art of instructing the deaf and dumb . > f M . Chronidt . Dr . Johnson being at Edinburgh in
1773 , paid a visit to Mr . Eraidwood ' s school , of which he has given the following very interesting account at the close of his " Journey to the Western Islands . "
" There is one subject of philosophical curiosity to be found in Edinburgh , which no other city can shew ; a college of the deaf and dumb , who are taugta to speak , to read , to write , and to practise arithmetic , by a gentleman whose name * is Braid wood . The num * .
ber which attends him is , I think , about twelve , which he brings together into a little school , and instructs according t ^ their several degrees of proficiency . — How far any former teachers have sue * ceeded , it is not easy to know ; the im * provement of Mr . Braidwood ' s pupils is
wondeiftti . They not only speak , write , and understand what is written , but if he that speaks looks towards them , anci modifies his organs by distinct and ful { utterance , they know so well what is spoken , that it is an expression scarcely figurative to say , that they hear with the eye .
" This school I visited , and found some of the scholars waiting for their master , whom they are saidtoreceive at his entrance with smiling countenances and sparkling eyes , delighted with the hope of new ideas . One of the young * Jadie ^ had her slate before her on which I
• wrote a question , consisting of three figure , to be multiplied by two figures . She looked upon it and quivering her fingers in a manner which I thought very pretty , but of which I know not whether it was art ot play , multiplied the sum regularly in two lines ,
observingthe decimal place ; but did not add the two lines together , probably disdaining so easy an operation . I pointed at the * place -where the sum total should stand , and she noted it with such expedition a « seemed to shew that she had it onl y t <* write . "*
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Obituary . 607
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1806, page 607, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1730/page/47/
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