Hence  the  greatest  number  of  theii*  giaduates  relapse
into  their  original  state  of  inanition,  and  the  glimmering
of  happiness  which  they  have  caught  while  under  in-
stiniction  is  followed  by  a  doubly  dark  and  wretched
future.  The  fact  that  even  so  eminent  a  man  as  Penjon,
who  held  a  professoi*ship  of  mathematics  at  the  college
of  Angers  for  thirty  years  with  success  and  distinction,
spent  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  either  willingly  or  from
force  of  cuxumstances,  amidst  the  misery  of  the  hospice
des  Qainze-  Vingts^  illustrates  strikingly  the  unfavorable
eflfects  of  early  education  and  training  at  so  famous  a
school  as  that  of  Paiis.
The  most  valuable  distinctive  feature  of  the  Ameri-
can institutions  is  that  they  constitute  an  integral  part
of  the  educational  system  of  the  country.  Their  exist-
ence is  planted  in  the  letter  and  nourished  by  the  liberal
spirit  of  its  fundamental  laws.  They  are  the  creations
of  justice  and  equity,  and  not  the  offspring  of  charity
and  favor.  Thus  the  right  of  the  blind  to  participate
in  all  the  educational  benefits  provided  for  every  chUd
in  the  commonwealth  is  acknowledged  by  the  state  in
its  sovereign  capacity ;  and  since  they  cannot  be  taught
in  the  common  schools,  an  express  provision  is  made
for  their  instruction.  This  policy  has  acted  very  favora-
bly upon  tlie  blind.     It  has  strengthened  their  good  im-


1881.]  PUBLIC  DOCUMENT  — No.  27.  119

pulses,  and  fostered  in  them  an  upward  tendency  and
noble  determination  to  become  useful  and  independent.
