Archival Gems

[trouble]

There is something about this style of writing that just makes me imagine a purple pen.

Could parents of these poor helpless ones only drop in an see our comfortable school rooms, bed-rooms and parlours, our two pianos and organ, our workshops and play-room, our kind attentive Superintendent and lady teacher, our new pleasant good natured housekeepers, who fill the place of father and mother, the christian tone pervades the whole establishment, we think they would deeply censure themselves for not having taken advantage of such an opportunity to have their dear ones taught those things which give zest and happiness to life here, and prepare them for a joyous life hereafter. We go farther and say : it is cruelty on their part, for we have seen a poor child come to us helpless, nervous, and wholly ignorant, his face telling of the complete blank of the mind within, yet see that same boy a few months after as he begins to spell out words for himself, as he learns to make sweet chords on the musical instruments, and as he walks with ease and confidence through the streets of our city, cane in hand feeling his way along, his face radiant with a new light, beginning to feel his own powers to acquire knowledge, self-reliant and happy ; and having informed them of all this they still will not make the effort to send their children.

Run-on sentences! Oh, how I love Victorian run-on sentences. They're so earnest.

I also find this paragraph really interesting, in light of the Ongoing Discussions About Language:

The term [Asylum] was first applied to home for the blind, established in England before any effort was made to awaken their self-reliance and fir them to "fight the battle of life". At a later period schools were introduced into these asylums, thus changing their characters while the original name was still retained. In the United States an Institution of this kind is styled wither "Institution for the Education of the Blind" or "School for the Blind". The former name is objectionable chiefly on account of its length, while the latter has the advantage of brevity, besides the recommendation of defining clearly the nature of the Institution.

Comments

[capriuni]

Interesting. In ASL, the sign for DEAF-SCHOOL (As in, boarding school for all-deaf student population), is made with an initialized fingerspelled #i, thusly:

DEAF-SCHOOL (vid of the sign on loop)

[firynze.livejournal.com]

Teehee. Oh, Victorian prose. How very run-on and overwrought!