i do not know that any attempt has yet been made in english fiction to draw the character of a “deaf mute,” simply and exactly after nature—or, in other words, to exhibit the peculiar effects produced by the loss of the senses of hearing and speaking on the disposition of the person so afflicted. the famous fenella, in scott’s “peveril of the peak,” only assumes deafness and dumbness; and the whole family of dumb people on the stage have the remarkable faculty—so far as my experience goes—of always being able to hear what is said to them. when the idea first occurred to me of representing the character of a “deaf mute” as literally as possible according to nature, i found the difficulty of getting at tangible and reliable materials to work from, much greater than i had anticipated; so much greater, indeed, that i believe my design must have been abandoned, if a lucky chance had not thrown in my way dr. kitto’s delightful little book, “the lost senses.” in the first division of that work, which contains the author’s interesting and touching narrative of his own sensations under the total loss of the sense of hearing, and its consequent effect on the faculties of speech, will be found my authority for most of those traits in madonna’s character which are especially and immediately connected with the deprivation from which she is represented as suffering. the moral purpose to be answered by the introduction of such a personage as this, and of the kindred character of the painter’s wife, lies, i would fain hope, so plainly on the surface, that it can be hardly necessary for me to indicate it even to the most careless reader. i know of nothing which more firmly supports our faith in the better parts of human nature, than to see—as we all may—with what patience and cheerfulness the heavier bodily afflictions of humanity are borne, for the most part, by those afflicted; and also to note what elements of kindness and gentleness the spectacle of these afflictions constantly develops in the persons of the little circle by which the sufferer is surrounded. here is the ever bright side, the ever noble and consoling aspect of all human calamity and the object of presenting this to the view of others, as truly and as tenderly as in him lies, seems to me to be a fit object for any writer who desires to address himself to the best sympathies of his readers.