COMPARATIVELY few Americans are prepared to do justice to the -character of the French people. The English writer whose productions till within a very few years constitute American literature, invariably represented the

subsistence at the hand of charity; and sensed from his

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perhaps with imperfect utterance, his claims to
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XV. VALENTIN HAUY,

THE FOUNDER OF INSTITUTIONS FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF THE BLIND.

BY L. P. BROCKETT, M. D.

COMPARATIVELY few Americans are prepared to do justice to the character of the French people. The English writers whose productions till within a very few years constituted the greater part of American literature, invariably represented them as frivolous and heartless; devoid alike of morality and of high intellectual power, and fit only to preside over the toilet or the cuisine.

Yet to this people, belongs the honor of having achieved the greatest discoveries of modern times in Mathematical, Chemical, and Astronomical Science; of having explored successfully the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and what is more honorable to them than aught else, of having initiated four of the most remarkable philanthropic enterprises of modern times. At the command of Pinel, the maniac was freed from his chains and soothed by kindness till reason resumed its deserted throne; the deaf-mute, under the instruction of the Abbe De l'Epee, was raised to the intelligence and responsibility of citizenship; the blind, enlightened by Haüy's teachings, no longer sought a subsistence at the hand of charity; and the idiot, roused from his apathy by the patient and laborious toils of Seguin, asserted, though perhaps with imperfect utterance, his claims to manhood. The memory of Pinel and De l'Epee is enshrined too deeply in the hearts of those whom their labors have benefited to need eulogy at our handsHaüy, not less deserving than they, was in his latter years the victim of a malice which sought to consign to oblivion his well earned reputation, and a brief sketch of his philanthropic labors may interest our readers.

VALENTIN HAUr, born at St. Just, a small village in Picardy, on the 13th November, 1745, was the second son of a poor weaver whose constant toil only sufficed for the support of his little family. His elder son, Renè, afterward the Abbe Haüy, the most eminent mineralogist of his time, was, through the kindness of the monks of a neighboring monastery, educated at their expense. It was probably through their good offices, also, that the young Valentin, who, in such schools as the poor vicinage afforded, had manifested a wonderful aptitude for

learning, was removed, at an early age, to one of the colleges of Paris. Here his thirst for knowledge could be measurably gratified, and his proficiency, especially in classical learning, was remarkable. His collegiate course completed, he soon received an appointment, to which, probably, his superb penmanship contributed, in the Bureau of Foreign affairs, where for nearly twenty years he filled the post of translator of dispatches. Up to his thirty-eighth year he seems to have had no premonitions of the future in store for him; his life was quiet, but schemes of benevolence had their fascination for him, for we read that he was deeply interested in the organization of the school for the Deaf and Dumb, by the Abbe De l'Epee, and devoted much time to visiting it, and ascertaining the processes adopted for their instruction.

At length his attention was called to the condition of the blind, by an incident, which though trivial in itself, changed the whole current of his thoughts.

The proprietor of a Café, in one of the principal thoroughfares, desirous of attracting a larger amount of custom, procured the services of eight or ten blind men, whom he arranged before a long desk, with spectacles on nose, and instruments in their hands; upon the desk were placed open music books and the blind men feigning to read their music from these, executed, at short intervals, the most discordant symphonies. The object of the proprietor of the Café was gained; the music drew together a large crowd, who laughed heartily at the ridiculous performance, while they patronized the Café. Among the by-standers was Haüy; but to him it was not an occasion of mirth; the misfortunes of his fellow men seemed to him not to be a subject for idle jest, and the performance at once suggested to his mind the query, whether the blind might not in some way, be enabled to read words and music.

Haüy not only possessed a benevolent heart, but a high order of mechanical talent, and he soon contrived some apparatus for enabling the blind to discern letters and characters by the touch. His efforts in this direction were materially aided by the counsels of a young German lady, of high rank, who, blind from the age of two years, had acquired a good education, and had made extensive attainments in music, with very little assistance. She explained and exhibited to him her movable types with raised letters, and the pin-type, both the invention of Weissembourg, of Mannheim-by means of which, she could communicate with her absent friends. After repeated interviews with Mille de Paradis, Haüy determined to test his plans by the instruction of one or more blind persons. This was in the spring of 1784. After some time he found a lad of seventeen years, blind from