use their intelligence that men differ; and his own process, depending
on (3), was to give any one learning a language for the first time a
short passage of a few lines, and to encourage the pupil to study, first
the words, then the letters, then the grammar, then the meaning, until a
single paragraph became the occasion for learning an entire literature.
After the revolution of 1830 Jacotot returned to France, and he died at
Paris on the 30th of July 1840.
His system was described by him in _Enseignement universel, langue
maternelle_, Louvain and Dijon, 1823--which passed through several
editions--and in various other works; and he also advocated his views
in the _Journal de l'émancipation intellectuelle_. For a complete list
of his works and fuller details regarding his career, see _Biographie
de J. Jacotot_, by Achille Guillard (Paris, 1860).
JACQUARD, JOSEPH MARIE (1752-1834), French inventor, was born at Lyons
on the 7th of July 1752. On the death of his father, who was a working
weaver, he inherited two looms, with which he started business on his
own account. He did not, however, prosper, and was at last forced to
become a lime-burner at Bresse, while his wife supported herself at
Lyons by plaiting straw. In 1793 he took part in the unsuccessful
defence of Lyons against the troops of the Convention; but afterwards
served in their ranks on the Rhône and Loire. After seeing some active
service, in which his young son was shot down at his side, he again
returned to Lyons. There he obtained a situation in a factory, and
employed his spare time in constructing his improved loom, of which he
had conceived the idea several years previously. In 1801 he exhibited
his invention at the industrial exhibition at Paris; and in 1803 he was
summoned to Paris and attached to the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers.
A loom by Jacques de Vaucanson (1700-1782), deposited there, suggested
various improvements in his own, which he gradually perfected to its
final state. Although his invention was fiercely opposed by the
silk-weavers, who feared that its introduction, owing to the saving of
labour, would deprive them of their livelihood, its advantages secured
its general adoption, and by 1812 there were 11,000 Jacquard looms in
use in France. The loom was declared public property in 1806, and
Jacquard was rewarded with a pension and a royalty on each machine. He
died at Oullins (Rhône) on the 7th of August 1834, and six years later a
statue was erected to him at Lyons (see WEAVING).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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