I meet with several
agreeable and distinguished people at this house, among whom are M. Anglas,
Mme Duthon from the Canton de Vaud, a lady of great vivacity and talent,
and General Guilleminot and his lady. Col. Paulet, who married M.
Vanderberg's second daughter, was on the staff of General Guilleminot at
the battle of Waterloo and suffered much from a fever and ague that he
caught on the night bivouacs.
I have attended a seance of the Institution of the _Sourds-Muets_ founded
by the famous Abbe de l'Epee, and continued with equal success by his
successor the Abbe S[icard],[63] who delivered the lecture and exhibited
the talent and proficiency of his pupils. The eldest pupil, Massieu,
himself deaf and dumb, is an extraordinary genius and he may be said in
some measure to direct all the others. Massieu, who has a very interesting
and even handsome countenance, and manners extremely prepossessing,
conducts the examination of the pupils by means of signs, and writing on a
slate or paper; and it is wonderful to observe the progress made by these
interesting young persons, who have been so harshly treated by Nature. The
definitions they give of substances and qualities are so just and happy;
and in their situation, definition is everything, for they cannot learn by
rote, as other boys often do, who, in the study of philology, acquire only
words and not things or meanings.
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