"Bringing in the Maize," and in 1875 three: "The American Circus in Paris," "Tete a Tete in Cairo," and "In the Pyrenees." The same year he was made an associate of the national academy. In 1876 he exhibited "A Moorish Interior" and "Chapel-Noon, Brittany," and sent to the centennial exhibition at Philadelphia " A Kybelian Woman," "Flower of the Harem," and "The Nubian Story-Teller." Many of his finest paintings are owned in this country. In 1880 Mr. Bridgman came to America and gave a collective exhibition of his works in New York. He was chosen a member of the National Academy of Design in 1881, and the same year returned to Paris, where he resides and has his studio. His latest paintings are "Caid's Escort at Rest"; "Family Bath at Cairo"; "My Last Price " (1884); and "Summer on the Bosphorus" (1885).
BRIDGMAN, Laura Dewey, blind deaf-mute,
b. in Hanover, N. H., 21 Dec., 1829; d. in Boston, Mass., 24 May, 1889. When she was two years old a severe illness deprived her of sight and hearing. Her sense of smell was also destroyed, and that of taste impaired. At the age of eight she was placed in the Perkins institution for the blind, at
Boston, Mass., where the superintendent, Dr. Samuel G. Howe, undertook the difficult task of instructing her.
The first step was to teach her
the names of objects, and this was done by putting
into her hands some familiar article, together with
its name in raised letters. When she had begun to
realize that the words bore some relation to the
objects, the former were given her alone, and it
was found that she recognized them. The letters
were then taken apart, and she was taught how to
put them together to form the words. After she had
learned many names in this way, type with raised
letters were given her, with a board containing holes
for their reception, and it afforded her great amusement
to form with these materials the names of
objects that were presented.
She was also taught
the manual alphabet and its connection with the
raised letters, so that when the name of a new
object was spelled on her teacher's hands she would
compose the same with her type. All this was
done in three months. Laura never grew tired of
learning, and Dr. Howe, after continuing for two
years to teach her the names of objects, next tried to
instruct her in their qualities and relations. The
difficulties connected with each step having been
surmounted by patience and perseverance, she was
next taught to write with a lead-pencil. After
this her studies were various.
She acquired a
knowledge of arithmetic, of geography, which was
taught by means of maps and globes in relief, and
also learned to sew and to do household work.
The statement that she learned to play on the
piano is incorrect. She constantly thought, and
asked questions about what she had learned. One
day Dr. Howe, when asked who it was that had
made land and sea, explained to her the character
of God, and from this time her religious feelings
became strongly developed.
Miss Bridgman
taught in the Perkins institution with great
success, and made it her home during the school
session, spending the summers with her mother at
Hanover, N. H. The facts in her life have been
referred to by theologians, philosophers, and medical
men all over the world, and her physical and
mental condition is still of great interest. It is
probable that when she came to Dr. Howe she was
not quite so completely in the state of one blind
from birth as he supposed. The modesty of her
demeanor, which surprised him so, and the facility
with which she learned, were doubtless due to the
influence of the twenty-six months when she had
full possession of her senses, though she was totally
unable to remember anything that happened in
that period.
She was so deaf that her hand was
more sensitive to sonorous vibrations than her
head, yet she was easily made dizzy by whirling, a
fact that has been thought to contradict the
hypothesis that the semicircular canal of the ear is
the seat of giddiness. Her left eye was sensitive
to a strong beam of light, which, however, only
caused her pain. She was with difficulty able to
form a mental picture involving space relations,
and it required effort for her to tell, for instance,
how many sides of an object were visible from one
point.
An interesting peculiarity was her Homeric
use of epithets. Her bed was always “easy” or
“soft,” her room “cosey,” and the fire “nice” or
“warm.” She was very neat in her dress and in
the arrangement of her room, and, while regarding
the rights of others, was tenacious of her
own. She was very fond of “talking,” and often
soliloquized in finger-language. Dr. Howe wrote,
in 1873: “She enjoys life quite as much, probably
more, than most persons do. She reads whatever
book she finds in raised print, but especially the
Bible. She makes much of her own clothing, and
can run a sewing-machine. She seems happiest
when she can find some person who knows the
finger alphabet, and can sit and gossip with her
about acquaintances, the news, and general
matters. Her moral sense is well developed.” See
“Life and Education of Laura Dewey Bridgman,”
by her instructor, Mary S. Lamson (Boston, 1878).
BRIGGS, Amos, manufacturer, b. in East
Greenwich, R. I., in 1795; d. in Newport, R. I., 8 Aug., 1874. He removed to Schaghticoke, N. Y., in 1820, and was engaged in manufacturing there
for more than fifty years. He held many local
offices, was several times state senator, and did
much by his energy and public spirit to increase
the prosperity of the town. He was also prominent in religious matters.
BRIGGS, Caleb, geologist, b. in North Rochester, Mass., 24 May, 1812; d. there, 28 Sept., 1884. He was educated as a physician, but devoted himself to the study of geology and its allied sciences, and was engaged in the first survey of the coal and
iron regions of Ohio. He entered upon the work in June, 1837, explored Scioto, Lawrence, Gallia, Athens, Jackson, Hocking, and afterward Wood.
Crawford, and Tuscarawas cos., and, after the survey terminated in 1839, was employed in surveying the western counties of Virginia. He then
settled at Ironton, Ohio, where he engaged in mining, and gave |25,000 to found a public library.
BRIGGS, Charles Augustus, clergyman, b. in
New York city, 15 Jan., 1841. He studied in the
university of Virginia from 1857 till 1860, in the
union theological seminary. New York city, from
1861 till 1863, and in the university of Berlin from
1866 till 1869. Returning to this" country, he became pastor of the Presbyterian church at Roselle, N. J., and in 1874 was appointed to the chair of Hebrew in Union theological seminary. He is
one of the editors of the "Presbyterian Review,"
and has published "Biblical Study" (New York,
1883); "American Presbyterianism" (1885): and
"Messianic Prophecy" (1886).
BRIGGS, Charles Frederick, author, b. in Nantucket, Mass., in 1804; d. in Brooklyn, N. Y., 20 June, 1877. He removed to New York early in life, and was there connected with the press many years. He began the publication of the "Broadway Journal" in 1844, and in the following year Edgar A. Poe became his associate editor. Proff
