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From this cause, and from the indigent circumstances in which many of the deaf and dumb are placed, they are often removed from the Asylum at the expiration of the third or even second year.

Again, some of the pupils are too young, and others are too old, to commence the learning of a trade, and, among those who are of a suitable age, and expect to continue a few years at the Asylum, there is much diversity of inclination and opinion, both on their own part and that of their parents and friends, with regard to the particular trade most suitable for them to follow.

A simple statement of a few facts will serve to illustrate the truth of the above remarks.

During the last term an attempt was made to ascertain whether any and what classification of the young men and boys, could be effected, so as to introduce among them some branches of mechanical employment. They were thirty-six in number; of whom eight were between the ages of eight and sixteen; seventeen between fifteen and twenty one; six between twenty and twenty-six; and five between twenty-five and thirty-one. -- How much longer than the present year many of them would remain at the Asylum, was very doubtful. -- Eight, from their youth and other causes would not probably engage in learning a trade; of the remaining twenty-eight, three were shoe-makers or knew something of the trade; one was a cooper, and one wished to learn that trade; one was a joiner, and two wished to learn that trade; one was a blacksmith and cutler, and three wished to learn that trade; four wished to be shoemakers; four to be tailors; one to be a book-binder; one to be a cabinet-maker; and no less than six to be printers. In making this choice of a trade, the parents and friends of the pupils were written to; in some cases they themselves decided, while in others, they left the matter wholly to the inclination of the pupil; and, indeed, it is well known that, without this inclination, and somewhat, also, of what is termed a natural taste or bent of the mind, for any particular mechanical employment, success in it is always difficult, and often doubtful.

How was this incongruous mass to be moulded into any thing like form or regularity? How were such difficulties to be overcome? They have been thus minutely stated, not to produce discouragement, and the abandonment of so important an object as that of qualifying a deaf and dumb person to take a respectable and useful station in society, and to support himself, if necessary, by the labour of his own hands; nor to justify remissness and delay on the part of those to whom the management of the Asylum is entrusted; nor unduly to enhance the value of any efforts or sacrifices which they have made in endeavouring to encounter these difficulties; but simply to enlighten the public mind on a subject which, from its peculiar nature, is very little and imperfectly understood; to engage public confidence, by a frank avowal of the obstacles with which such an Institution has to contend; -- to awaken public sympathy, by letting it be fully known under what numerous and singular embarrassments, a very interesting and unfortunate class of our kindred and countrymen labour, in attaining to any thing like an equality with those whom a kind Providence has distinguished by more exalted privileges; and thus to produce public co-operation in the adoption and prosecution of such comprehensive yet prudent plans for the relief of all our deaf and dumb population who are capable of instruction, as will result in the accomplishment of an object which not only benevolence but justice forces upon our regard.

In forming and proposing such plans, the Directors have felt the importance of not being too precipitate. It is but a few years since the Institution was founded. Our country is an extensive one, and it takes time both to diffuse information on a new and difficult subject, and to collect the public sentiment with regard to it. Experience is a wise counsellor. Besides, every year since the very generous grant of land in Alabama, made by Congress to the Asylum, the prospect has been brightening, that it would eventually be in possession of funds sufficient to enable it to propose such terms to the public, as would lessen very much the expense of providing for the education of the deaf and dumb, and lead to their being sent at an earlier age, and for a longer period of years, to the Institution; thus enabling them to devote a considerable part of their time to manual labour and the acquisition of a trade, while enough would be left for all the purposes of making them acquainted with the duties of morality and religion, and of imparting to them that knowledge which is necessary for their usefulness and happiness in life. -- The Directors regret, that the time has not yet arrived when they can do this, though their hopes of its approach are constantly becoming stronger. -- Much expense and labour, however, will yet be necessary, in addition to what has already been bestowed, to convert the lands in Alabama into money. -- They lie at distance, and in a part of our country where great pecuniary embarrassment exists. They have all been patented, but a considerable portion is yet unsold. -- Of what has been sold, much the greater part yet remains to be paid for. Failures, to a considerable amount, on the part of some of the purchasers, to meet their payments, have occurred, and urgent solicitations for still further indulgence, continue to be presented to the Directors.