Litchfield enquirer., 1858-02-11
Teaching Idiots.

A correspondent of the Indepemdsmt gives a long account of the efforts made on this sub- ject, with some history of the rise and pro- gress of the same We copy the following in- teresting item:
 To Edward Sesuin, then of Paris, but now resident of this country belongs the honor Of having first advanced the true theory of idiot instruction, and of having successfully reduced 1t to practice in the year ls38 For many years previously Dr. S. had been care fully investigating the phenomena of idiocy, and. having become satisfied that it was due to the want of development rather than the ab- sence Of the intellectual faculties, and that this want of development was owing to the feeble ness es pnperfection of the bodily organization and the deficiency of yoltion, he followed ua- ture II his system of instruction, regarding the idiot as in the mental condition of the new borns bahe. While by bathing, exercise in standing, walking, jumping, climbing ladders, nslng the dumb-bells, &c. &c, the body was lhVlgcrated, and the attention aroused, the eye was educated by means of pictures and objects Of dsTsrent color size, and form the ear by musical sounds the organs of speech, by sim pie lessons in articulation the hand, by hold tug alnerent things, and, subsequently,, by the formation of letters on the blackboard, and working on perforated paper
 Ihfs preliminary education acquired, the subsequent progress of the pupil, though slow, Was certain The mind, so long inactive, was generally sluggish in it's movements, and often required months to comprehend what some children would have learned in few days, but patience and perseverance would triumph in the end.
 In l942 young Swiss physician, Dr. Lou. is Guggenbuhl, who for some three years pre- vous had been Investigating the condition of the Crctina Ia class of idiots found in great numbers in the low-ying valleys of the Alps and other mountainous districts of Europe, and whose infrmty, often complicated with gotre, Is supposed to be dependent in part upon eli mate nfnence,) established an Asylum for them on the Abdeudberg, above Interlachcn Here, with a patient devotion of which there are but few examples in the worlds history, this noble philanthrop;st has given his time, his energy, and his little patrimony to the work of restoring to health and intellectual life those whose a'ject and ptiable condition seemed to render the effort hopeless. With slender means, but a large faith, he has struggled on for fourteen years, and though his labors have greatly impaired his health, he has found the reward of his tolls in the complete success which has crowned them. Children brought to the Asylum unable to speak or stand, with tumid, bleotlless, and dscoIored skin, and hid eous gotre, and on whose benighted intellect no ray of reason seemed ever to have dawned, have, in few years been restored to their friends, active, lively, manly, and intelligent, capable of taking their place in society, and even fulfilling the duties and responsibilities of exalted rank and large wealth with propriety No hope of gain or fame has stimulated hun in this noble sacrice, this arduous toll it has been undertaken solely for the love of Christ and of souls"