Abbe de l epee biography of william

Abbas, Judah ben Samuel Ibn. Abbas, Hassan Abbas II. Abbas Abenabez, AbenavezMoses ben Samuel. Abbagnano, Nicola — Abbado, Roberto. Abbe, Kathryn —. Abbe, Robert. Abbelen, Peter. He studied theologybut, having refused to sign a condemnation of Jansenismwas denied ordination by Christophe de Beaumont, Archbishop of Paris. He then studied lawbut no sooner had he been admitted to the Bar than the Bishop of Troyes consented to ordain him.

He endeavoured to develop the minds of his pupils by means of certain conventional signs constituting a complete alphabet. Succeeding in this attempt, he resolved to devote himself to the education of the deaf and dumband founded a school for their instruction at his own expense. His method is based on the principle that "the education of deaf mutes must teach them through the eye what other people acquire through the ear".

Several other methods had been tried, previous to this time, to enable the deaf and dumb to communicate with one another and with the rest of mankindbut there can be no doubt that he attained far greater success than Pereira, Bulwer, Dalgano, Dr. John Wallis, or any of his predecessors, and that the whole system now followed in the instruction of deaf mutes virtually owes its origin to his ingenuity and devotion.

Abbe de l epee biography of william

His own system has, in its turn, been replaced by a newer abbe de l epee biography of william, which teaches the pupils to recognize words and, in time, to utter them, by closely watching, and afterwards imitating, the motions of the lips and tongue in speech, the different portions of the vocal organs being shown by means of diagrams.

There had been men who had experimented on the subject till they were satisfied that the deafmute could be taught, but who lacked the nerve, or the philanthropy, to apply the results they had attained to the general instruction of the deaf and dumb, or who carefully concealed their processes, that they might leave them as heir-looms to their families;—among the former may be reckoned Pedro de Ponce, Wallis, and Pietro da Castro; among the latter, Pereira and Braid wood.

It is interesting to trace the history of such a man,—to know something of his childhood,—to learn under what influences he was reared, to what temptations exposed,-—to see the guiding hand of Providence shaping his course, subjecting him to the discipline of trial, thwarting his most cherished projects, crushing his fondest hopes, and all, that by these manifold crosses he may be the better prepared for the place for which God has destined him.

His father, who held the post of Architect to the King, in an age remarkable above any other in French history for the prevalence of immorality, which even the refinement, and pretended sanctity of the court aud nobility could not disguise, was a man of deep piety and purity of character. Amid the lust, selfishness, and hypocrisy of the age, he constantly sought to impress upon the minds of his children the importance of truthfulness, the moderation of desire, reverence for God, and love for their fellow-men.

To the young Charles Michel compliance with the behests of such a parent was no difficult task ; naturally amiable and obedient, the instructions of his father sunk deep into his heart. At an early age, he manifested that love of goodness which made every form of vice utterly distasteful to him; and in after years, when he heard of the struggles of those who, with more violent passions or less careful parental training, sought to lead the Christian life, his own pure and peaceful experience seemed to him wanting in perfection, because he had so seldom been called to contend with temptation.

As manhood approached, and he was required to fix upon a profession, his heart instinctively turned toward a clerical life, not, as was the case with so many of the young priests of that day, for its honors, its power, or its emoluments, but because, in that profession, he might the better fulfil the earnest desire of his heart to do good to his fellow-men.

He accordingly commenced the study of theology. He refused at once, and, on his refusal, his application was rejected; and though subsequently admitted to the diacouate, he was insultingly told by his superior, that he need not aspire to any higher order, for it should not be granted. It was with a saddened heart that he found himself thus compelled to forego long cherished hopes of usefulness.

With that glowing imagination which characterized him even in old age, he had looked forward to the time when, as the curate of some retired parish, he might encourage the devout, reprove and control the erring, and, by his example, counsel, and prayers, so mould and influence the little community, that it should seem another Eden.

But an overruling Providence had reserved for him a larger field of usefulness, a more extended mission of mercy, and it was through the path of trial that he was to be led to it. Regarding it as his duty to employ his time, he at length determined to enter the legal profession. He passed with rapidity through the preliminary course of study, and was admitted to the bar.

The practice of the law was not, at that time, in France, nor is it, indeed, now, invested with the high character attaching to it in England. Its codes and rules bore the impress of a barbarous age ; and among its practitioners, fraud, artifice, and chicanery were the rule, and honesty the rare and generally unfortunate exception. For such a profession the pure-minded De l'Epce found himself entirely unfitted, and, abandoning it with loathing, his eyes and heart were again directed toward the profession of his choice, and, this time, apparently not in vain.

His early friend, M. The desire of his heart was now gratified, and he entered upon his new duties with the utmost ardor. But his hopes were soon to be blasted. Monscigneur de Bossuet died, and, as the Jansenist controversy was at its height, His old enemies, the Jesuits, exerted their influence with tin; Archbishop of Paris, and procured an interdict, prohibiting him from ever again exercising the functions of the: priesthood.

A severer blow could scarcely have fallen upon him. In the early s, his shelter became the world's first free school for the deafopen to the public. Two years after his death, the National Assembly recognised him as a "Benefactor of Humanity" and declared that deaf people had rights according to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

It was later renamed the Institut St. The Instructional Method of Signs is an educational method that emphasised using gestures or hand signs, based on the principle that "the education of deaf mutes must teach them through the eye of what other people acquire through the ear. Although he advised his hearing teachers to learn the signs lexicon for use in instructing their deaf students, he did not use their language in the classroom.

Instead, he developed an idiosyncratic gestural system using some of this lexicon, combined with other invented signs to represent all the verb endings, articles, prepositions, and auxiliary verbs of the French language. For example, the word croire "believe" was signed using five separate signs—four with the meanings "know", "feel", "say", and "not see" and one that marked the word as a verb Lane, As a result of his openness as much as his successes, his methods would become so influential that their mark is still apparent in deaf education today.

Laurent Clerca deaf pupil of the Paris school, went on to co-found the first school for the deaf in North America and brought with him the sign language that formed the basis of modern American Sign Language ASLincluding the signs of the ASL alphabet. The oralism vs. Oralism is sometimes called the German method, and manualism the French method in reference to those times.

In fact, he was taught to sign by the deaf. On 24 NovemberGoogle Doodle commemorated his th birthday. No further information is given on these languages. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history.