Annotated and Abridged Artifact


Idiots And Institutions For Their Training

Creator: Linus P. Brockett (author)
Date: 1855
Publication: American Journal of Education
Source: Available at selected libraries

Abridged Text

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It was not until the early part of the present century that the con-dition of the idiot began to attract the attention of the humane. The celebrated surgeon and philosopher, Itard, [1 »] at Paris, foiled in his attempt to demonstrate his sensational theory by the idiocy of his subject, the famous Savage of Aveyron, [2 »] was led to consider the possi-bility of instructing a class hitherto considered hopeless. Being, how-ever, advanced in years, and suffering from the disease which finally terminated his life, Itard felt that his plans must be committed to younger hands for execution; his choice fell upon Dr. Edward Seguin, [3 »] a favorite pupil of his, and the subsequent history of this noble phil-anthropic movement has demonstrated the wisdom of that choice. Dr. Seguin possessed an inextinguishable love for his race, indomitable perseverance, a highly cultivated intellect, and a rare degree of execu-tive talent. There were many difficulties to be surmounted, many obstacles to be overcome, ere the first step could be taken; but, before his youthful ardor and enthusiasm, doubts vanished, difficulties disap-peared, the thick veil which had enshrouded the mind of the idiot was rent asunder, and these innocent but hapless creatures were res-cued from the doom of a life of utter vacuity.


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Though something had been accomplished in the way of instruct-ing individual cases, it was not till 1838, that a school for idiots was established which could be regarded as successful. In 1842, a por-tion of the Bicêtre, one of the great hospitals for the insane, was set apart for their instruction, and Dr. Seguin was appointed director. He remained in this position for a time; but, subsequently, established a private institution for idiots in Paris. [4 »]


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It may be well, as a preliminary step, to answer two or three ques-tions which meet us at the threshold of our investigations. And first, what constitutes idiocy? "The type of an idiot," says Dr. Seguin, "is an individual who knows nothing, can do nothing, and wishes nothing; and every idiot approaches more or less to this maximum of incapacity." Of the many definitions which writers on this subject have essayed, no one appears entirely free from objection; and though we can hardly hope to escape falling into the same condemnation, we are disposed to offer one which shall, at least, possess the merit of brevity. We should define idiocy, then, as the result of an infirmity of the body which prevents, to a greater or less extent, the develop-ment of the physical, moral and intellectual powers.

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In short, humiliating as the thought may be, we are driven to the conclusion that the vast amount of idiocy, in our world, is the direct result of violation of the physical and moral laws which govern our being; that oft times the sins of the fathers are thus visited upon their children; and that the parent, for the sake of a momentary gratification of his depraved appetite, [5 »] inflicts upon his hapless offspring a life of utter vacuity.


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The object of training is to change this torpid, sluggish, inert con-dition, to health, vigor, and activity; to send the healthy red blood coursing through the veins and arteries; to overcome the automatic movements, and subject the nervous system to the control of the will; to substitute for the vacant gaze of the idiot, the intelligent, speaking eye, which recognizes the hues of beauty in the rainbow, and reads in the countenance of friendship, the look of reproof or the glance of love; to accustom the inattentive ear to recognize the stern tones of re-buke, or the gentle accents of affection; to notice and enjoy the melodies of the songsters of the grove, or the more expressive songs warbled by human voices; to accustom those lips which have hitherto uttered only unmeaning and discordant sounds, to speak, if not with all the graces of oratory, at least with distinctness and fluency.

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A further object of training is to overcome the filthy and degrading habits in which the idiot has hitherto indulged; to transform this gluttonous, beastly creature, into a man, capable of observing all the proprieties of life, no longer greedy, selfish, voracious, and quarrel-some, but temperate, quiet, courteous, and thoughtful of the interest of others; to rouse the hitherto dormant intellect, to induce mental activ-ity, and stimulate thought and study; and above all, to awaken the consciousness of his responsibility to God, and of his duties toward his fellow man.


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In the development of the moral nature, great difficulties are encountered. The comprehension of an abstract idea is far beyond an idiot's capacity; his conception of goodness must be derived from the manifestation of it in his teachers and friends; of sin, from his own misconduct or that of others; hence, with him, love must be the key note of all progress, and under its genial influence, his stubborn and refrac-tory nature will yield like wax before the fire; his vicious and hurt-ful propensities become subject to control; and learning to love "his brother whom he hath seen," he soon attains to some knowledge and love for "God whom he hath not seen," and his humble, childlike faith should put to the blush many, who with more exalted intellects are wandering in the mazes of unbelief. [6 »]


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We are firm believers in "the good time coming;" [7 »] we are satisfied that the race is making progress, that as an eminent statesman has well said, "the frightful number of those unfortunates, whose ranks encum-ber the march of humanity, -- the insane, the idiots, the blind, the deaf, the drunkards, the criminals, the paupers will dwindle away, as the light of knowledge makes clear the laws which govern our exist-ence. But in the words of the same eloquent writer, "in the mean-time, let none of them be lost; let none of them be uncared for; but, whenever the signal is given of a man in distress, no matter how deformed, how vicious, how loathsome, even, he may be, let it be regarded as a call to help a brother."

Annotations

1.     Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard (1775-1838) was a French physician. He worked as a doctor at the National Institution for Deaf-Mutes in Paris, but his fame rests on his work with the child known as “The Wild Boy of Aveyron.”

2.     “The Wild Boy of Aveyron” was a feral child discovered by hunters in southern France in 1799. Itard tried educate the boy by creating a nurturing environment and thus is considered as one of the pioneers in “moral treatment.”

3.     Edward Seguin was Itard’s student. A leader in the education of idiots, Seguin came to the United States in 1848 because of political unrest in his native France.

4.     The Bicêtre Hospital in Paris was the institution at which Philippe Pinel did his pioneering work in the moral treatment of insanity.

5.     In nineteenth-century America, “appetite” was distinguished from “will.” Appetite suggested a surrender to animal instincts of all kinds and often suggested immorality; will was defined as the power of moral human intellect to keep appetite in check. Seguin considered idiocy to be a disease of the will rather than a description of lowered moral capacity, as it would later be defined.

6.     The idea that idiots were capable of deep faith was a common one in the moral literature of the first half of the nineteenth century.

7.     The Second Coming of Christ.

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