What hath been hitherto said may enough suffice to observant Readers, inasmuch as the Fundamentals of the whole Artifice, are therein contained; but least the curious should complain, that I have only made their Mouth water, I shall ingeniously discover to them what in four Years time, wherein I have endeavoured to instruct some Deaf Persons, I have observed what is worthy, and most necessary to be known.
Now what I have effected by this my Method, especially to the Daughter of Mr. Kolard, a Merchant of Harlem, I can appeal to a great part of Holland, and universally almost to the whole City of Harlem, and to innumerable other Witnesses, of all Ranks and Conditions.
The first thing which I require in the Person I am to teach, is, that he be of a docible Wit, and not too young of age; than that the Organs of Speech be rightly constituted in him; for stupid Persons are capable of no Teaching, whose Age is yet too tender; nor do they mind enough, nor know how Teaching will be for their Use and Benefit; but those whose Organs of Speech are altogether unfit, they may learn indeed to understand others when they speak, and discover their own Mind by Writing; but they will never learn to speak.
Having therefore a fit subject, my first Care is to make him to sound forth a Voice, without which, almost all labour is lost, but that one point, whereby Deaf Persons do discern a Voice from a Mute Breath, is a great Mystery of Art; and if I may have leave to say so, it is the Hearing of Deaf Persons, or at least equivolent thereunto, viz. that trembling Motion and Titillation, which they perceive in their own Throat, whilst they of their own accord do give forth a Voice; that therefore the Deaf may know, that I open my Mouth to emitt a Voice; not simply to yawn, or to draw forth a Mute Breath, I put their Hand to my Throat that they may be made sensible of that tremulous Motion, when I utter my Voice; then I put the same Hand of theirs to their own Throat, and command them to imitate me; nor am I discouraged, if at the beginning their Voice is harsh and difficult; for in time it becomes more and more polite.
If I gain their Voice, which for the most part I do at the first time, I soon learn them to pronounce Vowels, viz. I bid them so to moderate the opening of their Mouth, whilst they do form a Voice in their Throat, as I have said above, concerning the Formation of the Vowels; but that they may do that the more easily, I hold a Looking-Glass to them, because they cannot from Sight alone imitate those diverse Motions of the Jaws, of the Tongue, and of the Lips, unless they had oftentimes tried it before a Looking-Glass. Thence I learned, that that common belief, (that so soon as Hearing is restored to Deaf Persons, they will speak) to be false, for it seems not to me, that there is so great a consent betwixt the Organs of Voice, and of Hearing, that at the first blush they can imitate a Voice that is heard; but by often imitating a Voice or Breath received from another, and also by hearing their own at the same time, we find at length a likeness between both, and after this manner we all learn to speak; for he who learns to speak, it is all one, as if he did learn some other Art; for by a long accustoming, the Organs are rendered apt and pliable: Hence it is, that sometimes we come not to pronounce aright Foreign Letters but after a long time. Now, it would be well observed or considered, that I presently prescribe all the Letters to Deaf Persons, or else they could not fix in their Minds their Idea's of them, and I seldom teach more than two or three Letters in one day, least the Idea's be confounded; but I bid them very often to repeat them, and to write them down as they are pronounced by me.
But if by chance, as it sometimes happeneth, that they should pronounce one Letter for another; I blame them not, but rather commend them, and grant with a nodd that they have satisfied me, and forthwith I write down the Character of that Letter upon Paper, that they may knit together the Idea thereof with its figure. In the interim, whilst they learn the Vowels, I very often put their Hand to my Throat, that they may be accustomed to give forth a Sound.
When the Vowels are become familiar to them, I go next to the Semi-vowels, which sometimes are more difficult, especially the Nasals; for Deaf Persons, unless they be taught, never give forth the Voice by the Nose, thereupon I begin with [m.] as that which is most plain, and easier learnt than the rest, so that they thereby may be accustomed to give a Sound at least thro' the Nose; therefore I bid them shut together their Lips, and putting their Hand to their Throat, to give forth a Voice, and by that means they necessarily pronounce [m.] and not [em.] as it's vulgarly pronounced.
The Daughter of Mr. Kolard, before she was committed to my Care, could indeed say Pappa; for indeed it is a little word, which is almost born with us; but her Father did confess, that he had more than 1000 times tried in vain to make her say Mamma, which yet I I brought her to in a small time.
And now, Reader, I commit to thee another Secret, viz. that if a Deaf Person be committed to thee to teach, beware that you do not teach him to pronounce together Semi-vowels and Consonants, together with their annexed Vowels; as for example, em. en. ka. ef. te, &c.
For thus they would learn neither to read, nor rightly to pronounce any word. The power and force of Semi-vowels and Consonants consists not in the adjoyned Vowels, but in a peculiar Voice or Breath; and when you would have a Deaf Person to say Tafel or Swartz, you shall hear from him nothing else but Te. a. ef. e. el. or Es. we. a. er. te. zet. which is very uncouth, nor can you easily mend it: But by this Method, so soon as ever they know their Letters, they begin to read; for to read is only to pronounce the Letters successively.