led him into some errors, particularly that very pardonable one of supposing his pupils to understand more than they really did understand. His report of their rapid advancement, as compared with the actual practice of modern times, shows this; but with a less active mind, and with less zeal, he would never have succeeded in awakening the public feeling to the important object of his life, and he would never have overcome the opposition of other teachers, and of minds less generous than his own. “One day,” says M. de l’Epée, “a stranger came to our public lesson, and offering me a Spanish book, he said that it would be a real service to the owner if I would purchase it. I answered, that as I did not understand the language it would be totally useless to me: but opening it casually, what should I see but the manual alphabet of the Spaniards neatly executed in copper-plate! I wanted no further inducement; I paid the messenger his demand, and kept the book. I then became impatient for the conclusion of the lesson; and what was my surprise when I found this title, _Arte para enseñar à hablar los Mudos!_ I had little difficulty to guess that this signified _The Art of teaching the Dumb to speak_, and I immediately resolved to acquire the Spanish language for the benefit of my pupils.” Soon after meeting with this work of Bonet, he heard of Amman’s _Dissertatio de loquelâ Surdorum et Mutorum_, in the library of a friend. Conducted by the light of these two excellent guides, De l’Epée continued his task with a success which quite satisfied himself. It will be well, in the present Memoir, to touch but lightly upon the disputes which agitated the learned in France and Germany when the partial success of the Abbé de l’Epée became generally known. We cannot but give praise to the Abbé for the openness and candour with which he made known his experience and his views; and if his arguments to prove the superior excellence of his own method appear unsatisfactory and inconclusive to the enlarged experience of the present day, such arguments ought to be viewed as those of a zealous-minded teacher of an art yet in the first stages of its infancy. Had his antagonist M. Heinich, the Leipsic teacher, been as communicative respecting his plans as his liberal opponent, good might have resulted from this learned warfare; as it was, to the satisfaction of almost everybody, the Abbé de l’Epée was left master of the field, and received compliments from all quarters, among which should be especially noted the “Decision” of the Academy of Zurich in his favour.