The number of pupils in the departments is at present sixty-nine.
In conclusion, I would express my especial thanks and obligations to Assistant-principal Mr. Covell, Mrs. Coleman, of the Blind, and Mr. Fink, of the Deaf-mute Department, for their extreme kindness and attention.
In my next, I shall give you a sketch of the Lunatic Asylum, also situated at this place.
Yours, truly,
Philip Barrett.
No. 2.
THE LUNATIC ASYLUM.
Staunton, Va., June, 1859.
The sun was hanging low in the west, when we stood at the gateway of the Staunton Lunatic Asylum. His rays were gilding with a golden lustre the hoary summits of the Blue Ridge, as they printed their bold outlines on the cloudless evening sky; and as a few beams fell here and there on the graveled walks, the flower-crowned terraces, and verdant shrubbery of the beautiful greensward which stretches forth in front of the Asylum, we could but thank an ever-gracious and ever-good Providence, for His inestimable gift to mankind—the bright, sparkling, joyous sunshine.
A moment’s glance at the general appearance of the buildings convinces the beholder that they are not as beautiful nor as commanding as those of the Blind Institute; though much taste is displayed in the arrangement of the walks, and selection of many and choice specimens of rare and beauteous flowers and shrubbery. You enter the main building, after ascending a flight of granite steps, through a portico of Ionic architecture, supported by four graceful pillars. The first apartment which we enter is the chapel. On either side of the pulpit are painted in beautiful gilt letters, the Ten Commandments; in the opposite end of the room stands a large and handsome organ; the dome and walls are beautifully frescoed. The pulpit is occupied every Sabbath evening by some one of the ministers of the various evangelical denominations worshipping in Staunton. All these bespeak that these poor demented creatures are not forgotten on the Sabbath; and even where a few sparks of intellect linger amid the ashes of minds once proud and noble, it is interesting to see how those sparks are kindled anew by the light of religion.