                         CHAPTER 1
                            
                VALENTIN HAUY (1745-1822)
                             
  1.   ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE BLIND
  
  2.   THE INFLUENCE OF DIDEROT (1713-1784)
  
  3.   VALENTIN HAUY 1745-1822
  
  4.   LA FOIRE ST. OVIDE
  
  5.   AIMS
  
  6.   THE FIRST PUPIL
  
  7.   FIRST ATTEMPTS TO PROVIDE A MEANS OF READING
  
  8.   THE INSPIRATION
  
  9.   THE FIRST SCHOOL
  
  10.  PUBLICITY
  
  11.  HAUY TYPE
  
  12.  PRINTING
  
  13.  WRITING
  
  14.  FOUR CRITICISMS ANSWERED
  
  15.  1791-1801
  
  16.  NAPOLEON AND L'INSTITUT DES JEUNES AVEUGLES
  
  17.  THE YEARS IN RUSSIA
  
  18.  HAUY'S LAST YEARS
  
  19.  CONCLUSION
    1.     ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE BLIND
  
  The alphabet came into use approximately three thousand years ago,
  not instantaneously but over many years, and its use was probably
  spread by the Phoenicians during their Mediterranean trading voyages
  (Jean, 1987, English translation - Oates, 1992, p.51).  By contrast, a
  tactile version of the alphabet which could be read by blind people was
  not invented until just over two hundred years ago (Hay, 1786) and a
  means of writing was not evolved until 1821 (Pignier, 1859, p.14).  This
  late development of a means to literacy was caused in part by
  technological problems but largely by a lack of understanding of the
  needs and capabilities of those lacking the major sense of sight. 
  Because blind people often appeared helpless it was not realised that
  the remaining senses could be trained.
  
  In a sighted world it seems that the blind must adapt in order to be
  accepted, but for progress to be made those with sight have their part
  to play too, for "it is only in the context of a society where at least the
  rudimentary needs of blind persons are reasonably taken care of that a
  new ideology can emerge, one that insists that the larger society no
  longer use their handicap as a pretext to isolate them from the society
  of sighted persons" (Lukoff and Cohen, 1972, p.4).
  
  Monbeck (1973, p.23) considered that "the general treatment (to be
  distinguished from portrayal) of blind people in the western world falls
  into three historical phases: treatment as liabilities, as wards, and as
  members of society", and added the qualification that there were no
  historical periods in which blind people were uniformly portrayed.  When
  such people were regarded as "liabilities" or "wards" it was the more
  likely that history should record little of their lives, with the result that
  such references as there are are patchy and brief giving little general
  account of living conditions for those concerned.
  
  An early famous example of providing for the blind as wards occurred
  in Paris in 1254 when Louis IX set up the Congregation and House of
  the Three Hundred, usually referred to as the Quinze Vingts (French,
  1932, p.47).  It was probably built on an older foundation and there are
  various theories, none substantiated, as to why the number of inmates
  was always exactly three hundred, nor for which category of blind
  people it was first intended - possibly returning soldiers blinded during
  a tour in Egypt, or to help some of the many blind people in Paris (ibid.
  pp.48-49).
  
  2.   THE INFLUENCE OF DIDEROT (1713-1784)
  
  In the sighted world in Europe during the thirteenth and fourteenth
  centuries there had been a renaissance of interest in thought and
  creative art of the classical age, and by the eighteenth century "there
  was a considerable body of advanced thinkers in France imbued with
  new and revolutionary ideas on religion, science, history, society, and
  anxious to spread the enlightenment of which they believed themselves
  to be the possessors" (Cobban, 1957, Vol.1, p.86).
  
  Amongst these thinkers was Diderot who was responsible for editing an
  "Encyclopdie" which was to contain "all knowledge and be a work of
  propaganda for the new ideas" (ibid., p.86).  The first volume was
  published in 1751 and it contains nearly two pages written by Diderot
  about the blind.  [A copy kept open at the relevant pages, may be seen
  in the Muse Historique at l'Institut des Jeunes Aveugles, Paris.]  The
  account demonstrates Diderot's specific interest in seeking to
  understand how the human brain can function when without the sense
  of sight.  For this purpose he had paid several visits to discuss with and
  make observations on Saunderson, a blind professor of mathematics at
  Cambridge University.  By contrast, Diderot also made observations on
  a poor blind man living at Puiseaux in France (1773, p.74) where "it was
  about five in the afternoon when we came to the blind man's house,
  where we found him hearing his son read from raised characters".
  
  3.   VALENTIN HAUY 1745 - 1822
  
  Valentin Hay lived in Paris during the second half of the eighteenth
  century.  He was born in Picardy in 1745, and completed his education
  in Paris where he attended the university.  With his knowledge of
  languages, he earned his living by helping business men with
  translations of foreign correspondence, and he specialized in
  deciphering old manuscripts in French and foreign languages and was
  interested in foreign codes (Henri, 1984, p.25).  He carried out some
  translations for Louis XVI, and eventually became a master and
  subsequently a professor at the Bureau Acadmique d'Ecriture (ibid.,
  p.30), which had been founded by the king.  This was a prestigious
  appointment and his interest in communication was invaluable for his
  future work in helping the blind to become literate.
  
  He was six when the first volume of the "Encyclopdie" was published,
  but as he grew up he was likely to have known and been influenced by
  evidence of the New Thinking appearing in books, articles and also in
  letters in the Journal de Paris.  For example, in 1784 when Hay was
  about to begin his great work of systematically educating blind pupils for
  the first time, he sent a letter to the Journal on 30th September (ibid.,
  p.48) in which he wrote "... c'est  celle de Monsieur Diderot imprime
  en 1759, que je suis redevable de l'ide d'un plan d'ducation  l'usage
  des aveugles" (sic).  In 1760 the abb de l'Epe opened the first school
  for the deaf and dumb, where Hay gave practical help in teaching the
  pupils the manual alphabet and also to speak.
  
  4.   LA FOIRE ST. OVIDE
  
  With such an interest and also practical experience in helping children
  with a major disability it is not surprising that Hay was deeply distressed
  by a spectacle which he witnessed in 1771 at la Foire St. Ovide.  Twelve
  blind men from the Quinze Vingts had been hired to entertain the
  crowds: "They were dressed up in ugly gowns and long pointed hats and
  wore huge cardboard spectacles without lenses on their noses.  They
  were set in front of a desk with music and lights and produced a most
  monotonous sound, for the singer and the violins and the cello all
  followed the same musical part.  ... behind their leader they placed a
  peacock's tail, fully spread, and on his head a Midas headdress."  (Hay,
  1800, pp.9-10.)
  
  The onlookers were highly diverted, but Hay understood the utter
  humiliation of the performers, and the spectacle reinforced his
  determination to help bring purpose to the lives of blind people.  He
  described (ibid. p.10) how for 12 years [13 according to the dates] he
  worked late at night to earn more money and even contracted debts in
  order to set up the first educational establishment for blind workers.
  
  5.   AIMS
  
  In April 1784, the Journal de Paris announced the arrival in the capital
  of a young blind musician from Austria named Mlle. Maria von Paradis
  (Henri, 1984, p.45).  Besides her musical ability which drew crowds to
  listen, she made copies of her music by means of pricks on paper rested
  on a soft surface.  She also had a small printing press for
  correspondence with the sighted, with which she used pica fount (Hay,
  1786, trans. 1793, p.20).  Unfortunately no record exists of the details of
  its construction (Levy, 1872, pp.315-318).  Hay endeavoured to find out
  all he could about her innovative means of communication, so he had
  several meetings with her and was much encouraged by her ready
  interest in his project to help the blind. "The aim we had before us was
  the following: to rescue the blind from that distressing and even
  dangerous burden which idleness creates; to help them find a means of
  livelihood in pleasant and easy tasks; to insert them into society; to
  comfort them in their misfortune and, it is above all, by collecting the
  results of their efforts in workshops and museums ..." (Hay, 1800, p.11).
  
  6.   THE FIRST PUPIL
  
  Henri (1966, p.12) described how Hay selected his first pupil.  He gave
  a silver coin to a young beggar who was sitting by the church porch of St.
  Germain des Prs, only to have the coin returned by the beggar who
  thought the giver had mistaken it for a coin of lesser value.  This action
  led Hay to draw conclusions about the young man's character and also
  his keen sense of touch perception.  The beggar was Francois Lesueur,
  aged 17, whose daily earnings were taken home to support an elderly
  father, his mother and five younger brothers and sisters (de la Sizeranne,
  authorised translation from second edition by Lewis, 1893, p.61).  At first,
  Lesueur spent half his day being taught by Hay who recompensed him
  for lost earnings, and soon he was learning full time, resulting in the
  unusual situation of the teacher paying the pupil (ibid. p.61).
  
  7.   FIRST ATTEMPTS TO PROVIDE A MEANS OF
  READING
  
  Hay (trans.1793, p.12) was aware that "various but ineffectual
  experiments had been tried to provide a means of reading".  Historically
  these seem to have been attempted in isolation.  Guilli (trans. 1819,
  p.105) described how in the sixteenth century letters cut in wood were
  "sunk or made hollow, on which account the fingers were unable to trace
  the forms of the letters unless they were very large."  In 1575
  Rampazetto of Rome taught people to read by letters carved in relief on
  thin wooden tablets (ibid., p.105).  The disadvantage of this system was
  that the letters were immoveable and a fresh tablet was required for each
  page.  In 1640 Pierre Moreau, a notary of Paris, devised a system of
  moveable letters cast in lead (ibid., p.106), but the great expense
  prevented him continuing with the project.  The idea of having separate
  type so that the letters could be reused was a definite advance.
  
  Galliod (1828, Notice Historique sur l'tablissement des Jeunes
  Aveugles, mss., p.1) described letters and numbers "carved in relief on
  the upper surface of wooden tiles and a protuberance on the underside
  which kept each tile in place in the vertical troughs cut out of a
  rectangular board" (Muse Historique and Muse Valentin Hay).  The
  following illustration demonstrates the uneven heights of the tiles which
  might have caused deciphering problems when used for reading on such
  a board.
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Embossed tiles used by Hay to teach reading and mathematics.
                   Henri, 1984, p.72.
                            
                             Hay (trans., 1793, p.12, footnote) believed that "It is without doubt by
  these means that the blind man of Puiseaux, of whom M. Diderot speaks
  in his letter to a friend p.8 taught his son to read".  On the other hand
  Guilli (trans.1819, p.108) states that the blind man used letters of wood
  kept together by a metal bar threaded through the "tails" on the backs of
  the letters.
  
  Though Hay used such wooden characters when he first began
  teaching (Henri, 1984, p.49) he regarded such methods as "gross and
  imperfect utensils" which "only presented to the blind the possibility of
  attaining and enjoying the pleasures and advantages of reading without
  affording them the proper means of acquiring them" (Hay, trans. 1793,
  p.12).  The days of being able to read continuous embossed prose in
  books were still in the future.
  
  8.   THE INSPIRATION
  
  Galliod (1828, mss., pp.1-2) described the exact moments when a means
  of literacy for the blind was first discovered.  "One day, close by Hay's
  desk, Lesueur chanced to find a funeral card which was strongly
  indented on the reverse side, where he recognised the letter O."  He
  called to Hay, who, understanding the potential of the discovery, "with
  the handle of his quill pen and with a little pressure, traced the characters
  on thick paper, which his pupil immediately recognised; this gave the
  idea of reading and writing in relief".
  
  We know nothing of how Hay must have experimented with the size and
  shape of the configurations, the spacing of letters and words, the type of
  paper and the technical means of embossing.  In the "Advertisement to
  the French Edition" mentioned by Hay (undated, trans. Blacklock,
  p.221), there is reference to appendices including "the Examples (sic) of
  the forms of the several operations in printing, which may be executed by
  the blind".
  
  Lesueur proved to be intelligent and keen to learn, and by November
  1784, he could "read an Extract de la vie de Saunderson" (sic) printed in
  relief for his use, make phrases from dictation, calculate and recognise
  embossed musical signs (Henri, 1984, p.51).  Hay had been fortunate
  in his first pupil but he needed more proof of the success of his project.
  
  9.   THE FIRST SCHOOL
  
  La Socit Philanthropique had been set up in 1780 (ibid., p.44).  It was
  "an organisation composed of such benevolent persons as may be
  moved by a union of their efforts and their means to aid the poor and
  suffering" (de la Sizeranne, trans. 1893, p.55, from first notice of the
  society).  In 1783 it was decided that specific groups of needy people
  should be supported including "twelve children of poor artisans, blind
  from birth or soon after" (ibid., p.55).  Hay used them to try out his
  methods further and the Socit  "satisfied with our first trials, they
  designed to intrust (sic) us with the care of these unfortunate people"
  (Hay, trans., Blacklock, 1793, p.32).
  
  At first Hay educated the children in his own home, but when numbers
  grew he opened "a school for both sexes and instructed them with the
  help of his pupil" [Lesueur] (de la Sizeranne, trans., 1893, p.63).  The
  accommodation again proved inadequate, so with the help of la Socit
  Philanthropiqe, he was installed at No. 18, rue de Notre Dame des
  Victoires in February 1786 (Henri, 1984, p.57).  This may be regarded as
  the official opening of l'Institut des Jeunes Aveugles, the first educational
  establishment for the blind.  Henri (1966, p.134) considered that "the
  originality of Hay's undertaking lay in the opening where a general
  education was available to all victims of blindness, to girls as well as
  boys, and no longer reliant on the privileges of good families or
  intelligence".  For those who could not benefit from such instruction,
  Hay intended to provide craft instruction leading to a trade rather than
  leave such people neglected and feeling unacceptable to the community.
  
  10.  PUBLICITY
  
  To help with the much needed financial backing, Hay arranged for
  public demonstrations of the pupils' work.  Some onlookers were
  impressed by what they saw and heard, but others accused Hay of
  charlatanism.  He responded by writing "l'Essai sur l'Education des
  Aveugles" (1786) in which he stated his aims, countered some of the
  criticisms and explained his methods.
  
  The publicity Hay needed for the school to flourish was given further
  encouragement when he and his pupils were invited to Versailles at the
  Christmas season, 1786, to give demonstrations of their achievements
  before the royal family (de la Sizeranne, trans. 1893, p.66).  A copy of
  Hay's "Essai" was presented to the king who promised support, with the
  result that it became fashionable to contribute towards the cost of the
  school.
  
  11.  HAUY TYPE
  
  Hay not only provided craft work for those for whom it was most suited,
  but his methods for educating Lesueur were developed for those who
  could benefit.  He used upper and lower case script, choosing this form
  deliberately because he considered that it would be an easier mode for
  teaching writing.  He had taught orthography to the sighted for many
  years and samples of his correspondence (e.g. Henri, 1984, p.29) show
  that he included the fashionable, more complicated capital letter signs.
  
  He needed to reduce the embossed shapes to their simplest forms for
  tactile reading.  He kept the lower case letters fairly simple, but the
  capital letters were still very complicated as shown in the following
  illustration.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
              Capital letters in Hay type.
                   Henri, 1984, p.72.
                             
  Hay's mistake was to consider that because a letter is easy to interpret
  by the eyes, there should not be too much difficulty in using only slightly
  adapted shapes to interpret by touch.  To help with recognition, he made
  the letters much larger than those used for inkprint resulting in very bulky
  books.  Guilli (trans.1819, p.111) made improvements influenced not
  only by his own sighted opinion, but by consultation with some of the ex-pupils of the school.
  
  12.  PRINTING
  
  The processes carried out by Hay's pupils of composing, adjusting and
  impressing when producing embossed books were similar in many
  respects to those used at that time for inkprint books (Hay, trans. 1793,
  p.12).  The main differences were that the type was specially cast in the
  form in which letters would be read instead of being in the reverse
  pattern, and the paper used was very thick, needing greater pressure in
  the press.  It was dampened before being placed over the tray of type,
  then covered with several thick pieces of flannel before pressure was
  applied.  A very sturdy press was required for this work.
  
  For material to be read by both blind and sighted people, "Hay Noire",
  was provided in which the embossed letters were emphasised in black;
  "A parchment tympanum smeared with ink was put gently on top of the
  sheet of paper and under the flannel before pressing took place"
  (Galliod, 1828, mss. p.4).
  
  13.  WRITING
  
  Hay attempted to teach writing to his pupils.  Paper was placed on a
  fairly soft surface, such as leather or sheets of newspaper, and, "using
  a pen of iron, the top of which was not split, and with which writing
  without ink, and supported with a strong paper, they produce upon it a
  character in relievo which they can afterwards read, in passing their
  fingers along the elevated lines on the back of the page" (ibid., p.10). 
  The paper was kept in place by a wooden frame, and the catgut strings
  were stretched horizontally at intervals down the frame to help keep the
  lines straight [Muse Valentin Hay].  It was a slow and difficult method
  and only found feasible by a few students who had previously had vision.
  
  14.  FOUR CRITICISMS ANSWERED
  
  At a time when many people were illiterate, education of the blind was
  regarded as superfluous and Hay received criticism concerning his aims
  (Hay, trans., 1793, pp.14-17), though he did not specify by whom the
  remarks were made.  Many public demonstrations of the pupils at work
  were given in order to gain publicity and financial support so he was
  likely to hear opinions from the onlookers on such occasions.  Wisely, he
  met these criticisms with direct replies (ibid.), for at that time the school
  depended entirely upon public support.
  
  "The elevation of your characters will doubtless be very soon depressed
  and of consequence no longer be perceptible to the blind by touch". 
  Hay replied (ibid., p.14) "our pupils distinguish a typographical
  character by feeling, which may elude even a microscopic eye ... they
  read a series of words, after the elevation of the letters is depressed". 
  Teachers of braille today find that beginners are liable to depress the
  dots until a light touch becomes habitual, and the early stages of a
  reading scheme may need replacement because newly embossed pages
  give better results.  Hay's volumes of embossed alphabet letters were
  very expensive and time consuming to produce so it is possible that he
  did not wish to face this issue.
  
  "Your books are too voluminous".  Henri (1984, p.59) quotes dimensions
  of Hay volumes given by Guilbeau (1907):
  "Page 20 x 27 cm; 11 lignes de 24 'lettres'."
  Hay replied (1793, trans. p.14) that embossed printing was in its
  infancy.  In fact, Hay, like many others before and since, thought that
  large letters would be easier to read.  Guilli (director of the school 1814-1821) wrote (trans. 1819, pp.108-109) "The letter founders who fifty
  years ago cast the first letters in lead, made them larger than was
  necessary always supposing that they would be more easily recognised
  than those ... which we use now.  Experience has since proved that it is
  not the size, but the perfection of form of these letters which helps the
  blind to distinguish them ..."  It took many years for these words to be
  fully understood.
  
  In his Essai (trans. 1793, p.14) Hay suggested that "a judicious
  abridgment" would help overcome the problem of volumes that were
  excessively large and he proposed the development of a system of
  contractions.  In 1787 he began printing some books using a system of
  dashes and dots above or below the line to indicate where some of the
  more frequently occurring letters had been omitted.  For example:
  
                           _    _    _    _    _
       vowel with upper dash    a    e    I    o    u
  
                           an   en   in   on   un
  
                           (or vowel followed by an m)
  
       vowel with lower dash    a    e    o
  
                           au   eu   ou
  
       consonant with lower dot b    c    d    etc.
                           .    .    .    
  
                           bb   cc   dd
  
                                _    .
       other selected examples  d    q    q
  
                           du   que  qui
  
  The use of such contractions appeared in "Catchisme du Diocse de
  Paris" printed in 1787 (a facsimile of page 97 appears in Henri, 1984,
  p.60).  The method did not help the main problem of identifying letters,
  and was likely to have made perception even more difficult because the
  reading finger would have had to move up or down to perceive the extra
  symbols and at times may not have registered their presence.  Hay
  seems to have discontinued using this device and his successor did not
  repeat the experiment.
  
  "... your blind read slowly, and the spirit of the most animated composition
  will evaporate beneath their fingers, while the words are languidly
  pronounced without energy and without emotion."  Hay explained (ibid,
  p.15) that his pupils were bound to read more slowly than the sighted
  because they could only perceive one letter at a time. He considered that
  with frequent practice in the use of his proposed contractions they would
  proceed with "greater quickness".  He added a comment which showed
  an attitude that was to be very prevalent among the well-wishers who
  encouraged codes for the blind in Britain some 50 years later, "Let them
  find this exercise an effectual remedy against that intolerable melancholy
  which corporeal darkness and mental inactivity united in the same person
  are too apt to produce".
  
  "But what good purpose will it serve to teach the blind the letters?  Why
  instruct them in the art of printing books for their particular use?  They will
  never be able to read ours.  And from the knowledge which they will
  require by reading, will any considerable advantage result to society?"
  (ibid., pp.15-16).  Not surprisingly considering Hay's ideals for the blind,
  the questions show how little understanding there was of the needs of
  those without sight.  In answer to the last point of the question, he
  reminded them (ibid., p.16) of the blind man of Puiseaux whom Diderot
  once saw teaching his sighted son to read. He added that the teaching
  of a blind person to read provided him with "the dearest prerogative of
  intellectual existence".
  
  15.  1791-1801
  
  While Hay was seeking to get his school firmly established and was
  demonstrating the achievements of his pupils in public, the political
  clouds were gathering preliminary to the deluge of the French
  Revolution.  He had already reached the climax of his career, and had he
  lived in more settled times his work would probably have continued
  quietly and with less challenge.  Fewer funds might have been
  forthcoming once his aims and methods were no longer a novelty and it
  became less fashionable to give support to the less fortunate.  Those
  who had helped the blind in anticipation of them becoming self-supporting, would probably come to realise that Hay's method was
  indeed slow and not possible for all.  Even so, the idea of education of
  the blind, both intellectually and manually, seemed to have come to stay.
  
  As the events leading to the horrific stages of national revolution
  gathered speed there was a real danger that with financial support
  dwindling as his benefactors became emigrs fleeing for safety overseas,
  the school might be closed.  Hay realised that at all costs his work must
  survive even though there was the possibility that with his radical thinking
  as well as his royal acclaim, he might himself be compromised.
  
  Hay seems to have made no attempt during these years to make any
  educational improvements, possibly because he was constantly harassed
  by other matters.  Food and fuel were often in short supply, and the
  situation was not improved when the school was nationalised in 1791 for
  the government had no money to spare (Henri, 1966, p.18).  There was
  an uneasy alliance with the school for the deaf and dumb during 1791-6,
  a move which was psychologically unsound because the needs for both
  handicaps are so different and require very different training.
  
  In 1793 Hay became Secretary to the Committee of the Revolution in
  the district of the Arsenal, a position which brought him many enemies
  and he even found himself in prison on three occasions (Henri, 1984,
  p.106, footnote).  He took a leading part in a grand ceremony sponsored
  by the Committee of Public Safety specifically in "support of the
  unfortunates", and for this participation he was later to be taxed with
  terrorism (de la Sizeranne, trans. 1893, p.72).  He also joined a new cult
  known as Theophilanthropy which came to be regarded with derision
  because of excesses of symbolism and sentiment (ibid., pp.76-86).
  
  16.  NAPOLEON AND L'INSTITUT DES JEUNES
  AVEUGLES
  
  The school for the blind was included in Napoleon's review of education
  throughout France.  Hay's optimistic efforts to ensure education and
  employment for many of his blind pupils had been disappointing, and his
  record of changing allegiance in efforts to sustain his school was
  disastrous for his reputation.  In desperation he wrote three "Notes" to
  the authorities in his defence (1800), the third specifically described in
  more detail his work of educating the blind.  In conclusion, he wrote
  (ibid., p.16) "... if this establishment is destroyed ... I shall rebuild it".
  
  Napoleon was not impressed.  Hay was dismissed and the pupils were
  sent to form an annexe at the Quinze Vingts where they were taught
  mainly craft subjects (Dufau, 1852, p.7).  Meanwhile, Hay kept his word. 
  He had been granted a small pension (Henri, 1984, p.124) yet he opened
  a small establishment for "blind workers" (ibid., p.124).  It was not to
  flourish long because of an unexpected request.
  
  17.  THE YEARS IN RUSSIA
  
  In spite of difficulties at home, Hay's influence was to spread.  The tzar
  of Russia, Alexander I, had received reports of Hay's teaching, so he
  was invited to St. Petersburg to advise on the setting up of an institution
  for young blind people (Henri, 1966, p.20).  He set out on the long
  journey in 1806, with his family and Fournier, one of his best pupils.  On
  the way he was received at the Berlin Academy of Sciences (ibid., p.22)
  where he demonstrated his methods to the king of Prussia, and as a
  result a school for the blind was inaugurated.  The future king Louis XVIII
  of France received him at Mittau, near Riga, and he too was impressed
  by Fournier's capabilities (ibid., p.22).  By contrast, in spite of the royal
  invitation, Hay found no preparations to welcome him at St. Petersburg,
  and after a year without pupils, his request to start work was greeted with
  a smile and the words, "We have no blind people in Russia!" (ibid., p.22). 
  Eventually, he was provided with a building and some pupils and one
  very inefficient teacher.  Hay remained 11 years before he returned
  home a sadly disillusioned man.
  
  18.  HAUY'S LAST YEARS
  
  Hay had seen his great project founder and his stay in Russia had been
  beset with difficulties.  Meanwhile, Louis XVIII who had met Hay at Riga
  had been instrumental in the reopening of the school in Paris in 1814
  under the new title l'Institut Royale des Jeunes Aveugles.  The new
  director, Guilli , refused to let Hay visit the school, perhaps because
  Hay had left under a cloud, or perhaps Guilli wished to claim any
  success of his scholars.  In his book (1819) he made no mention of Hay
  in the main part of the text.  Hay died in March 1822.
  
  19.  CONCLUSION
  
  Posterity has recognised Hay's great pioneering work though he has
  been overshadowed by the name of Louis Braille who provided the
  lasting benefit of a punctiform code that is now used world wide.  Hay
  was the first in the western world to attempt to find a practical solution to
  the fact that the blind need to be recognised in their own right as people
  who should be regarded as citizens, able to make their own contribution
  to the general good.  He opened the first school for the blind and was
  instrumental in the spread of institutions in Europe, and the reopening of
  the Paris school was largely the result of his fortuitous meeting with the
  future king Louis XVIII.  He was also the first to provide a means of
  embossed reading and showed how books could be printed for use by
  his pupils.  Others coming after a pioneer can benefit from previous
  mistakes.  Hay, in his desire for his pupils to be as much like the sighted
  as possible, chose an unsuitable embossed type, not fully understanding
  the perceptual problems of the Roman alphabet.  He thought that reading
  merely involved using the same shapes but embossed and enlarged. 
  New knowledge brings new methods.
  
  