Leading Articles in the Reviews. 



8i 



THE OVERTHROW 

 M. OLLIVIER. 



OF 



August 9, 1870. 



In the Revue des Deux Moudes of June i and 15 

 M. Emile Ollivier continues his very voluminous 

 history of the War of 1870. 



FOREBODING OF THE COMING STORM. 



The article in the mid-June number tells of the over- 

 throw of the Ministry- of January 2, 1870, on August 9 

 of the same year. (The war had bcgim in July, and 

 already many battles had been lost.) On that fateful 

 day in .\ugust M. Ollivier arrived at the Chamber full 

 of determination as to the strong line he would adopt, 

 and with al)solute confidence of success. When he 

 took his seat none of his Ministerial colleagues hap- 

 pened to be present. Very soon it became apparent 

 to him that many of the deputies had assumed a 

 menacing attitude, others were silent and motionless, 

 and the only sound to be heard was a dull murmur 

 presaging a tragic sitting. Even before he mounted 

 the tribune the tumult broke out. No sooner had he 

 pronounced a few words than there was a clamour, the 

 force and the anger of which the Journal O'Jiciel was 

 unable to describe. The insults with which Thiers 

 was assailed on July 15 were compliments in com- 

 parison with the coarse outrages showered on M. 

 Ollivier on the day of his fall. 



" DO NOT TALK ! ACT ! " 



The object of his opponents, he says, was to intimi- 

 date and silence him, but the vociferations of Jules 

 Favre and others in no wise disconcerted him. His 

 voice simplv became louder and more imperious than 

 ever. Finally he appealed to the Chamber not to 

 waste time in discussions, but to act. He said in 

 effect :— 



If you fwlieve— and God knows with what ardour wc shall 

 support the men whom you honour with your confidence — if you 

 believe that others can better offer to the country, the army and 

 the national defence those guarantees which arc necessary, make 

 no speeches. Get a new Slinistry as soon as possible, and let 

 ihcrc be no suspension of public action. But I beg you to-day 

 not to think of anything fjut the public peril and the country. 

 Get rid of us at once if you will ; do not talk, but act. 



Later, when M. Ollivier announced his resignation, 

 many members o! the Chamber who, out of fear, had 

 voted against the .Ministry, surrounded him and shook 

 hands \Mtli him. " Vou have not fallen from power, 

 you ha\c >imply stepped down from it," said one. 

 " A r.irli.imenliiry repine has been founded," said 

 another. " It is the Empire which is dead. God grant 

 that it be not also the end of France," replied M. 

 Ollivier. 



Ciii.uNEi. Henry Filkisi.Imn, m the Untied Service 

 Magazine for July, sketches the Soldiers' Land Settle- 

 ment As.sociation, and outlines a scheme for training 

 soldiers as practical agriculturists and pi mting them 

 upon the soil. 



MAKING THE DUMB TO SPEAK. 



The June number of lectures pour Tons celebrate^ 

 the bicentenary of the birth of Abbe Charles Michel 

 de I'Epee by an article on his great work in connection 

 with the instniction of deaf-mutes. 



THE WORK OF ABB6 DE l'EP£e. 



The story is told that one evening in the winter of 

 1754, when he was on his way to visit a dying man. he 

 made a mistake as to the floor of the house where the 

 man lay, and opened the door of another room which 

 was standing ajar, and entered. Here he found, in a 

 most wretched place, two little girls of twelve and 

 thirteen dejected, motionless, and silent. He apolo- 

 gised for his mistake, and inquired the reason of their 

 unhappiness. There was no answer. Getting anxious, 

 he insisted on a reply, but the children remained silent. 

 He laid his hand on their shoulders, and in response 

 the children put their fingers to their lips and ears, and 

 made a gesture of impotence to indicate that they were 

 deaf-mutes. Then the mother appeared and explained 

 the hopelessness of their case. Discerning that the 

 girls were not without intelligence, he said he would 

 come next and every day and see what he could do for 

 them, 



sign-language. 



The idea of teaching deaf-mutes had never before 

 entered his head, and he had no idea how to proceed. 

 But he remembered that a professor had once said 

 something to the effect that words are associated with 

 ideas, which they represent by an arbitrary and con- 

 ventional link. It would therefore be possible to teach 

 deaf-mutes by signs and gestures as other men by 

 spoken words. In the night he elaborated a language 

 of conventional signs, and next day gave his first lesson. 

 From this small beginning the .\bbe became possessed 

 of the idea. Other children came to him, many more 

 indeed than he could undertake to teach. But he 

 would devote himself to the poor, and gi\e his house 

 for the purpose, A school was established, and the 

 incredulous public were allowed to visit it and see the 

 rcsjlts for themselves. 



LIP-READING. 



The next problem was how to teach the pupils to say 

 words. One day an unknown visitor brought him a 

 book by Bonnet on the subject. He studied it, and 

 forthwith evolved a system for his purpose. Disciples 

 came from all parts of France, and eventu.dly the 

 school became the famous National Institution of 

 Paris. The .\bb<-'s methods have no doubt been super- 

 seded, but all admit that in his day and with his slender 

 resources he achieved wonders. At the present lime it 

 may truly be said that deaf-mutes hear with their e\es 

 and speak with their voices. The writer concludes his 

 article with an account ol a visit to the National School 

 where the work is carried on with so much success. 



