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exterior of the cranium and Brain; from an examination of which, the experienced craniologist will be able to learn the various propensities and capacities of people, which may prove of great use in directing us in the choice of professions for our children according to their genius, and will assist wonderfully the use of moral education, by showing which good propensities are to be encouraged, and what bad ones remain to be repressed,

It would be possible to illustrate this system with drawings, which, as it distinguishes the innate propensities of the mind by means of their several organs in the head, should be distinguished by the name of the Organology of the Brain; and I may conclude this essay with preparing the way for what is to follow when this system becomes generally known, and endeavour to meet some of the moral objections which have been raised against its doctrine.

The most common objection which I have heard advanced against the theory is, that it leads to the doctrine of materialism. This however is sufficiently confuted by what I have already said of the threefold nature of man, when speaking of the body, life, and mind as distinct, though de pendent on each other. To trace our different faculties and sentiments to proper seats in the brain, is no more a doctrine of materialism, than simply to regard the brain as the organ of thought, which has been the popular notion of persons in all ages.

The next argument used against this system is, that by ascribing to the mind such a physical origin, we undervalue moral precepts, and should be inspiring a dangerous indifference to the laws of government, which pre-suppose the moral liberty of the subject. To this I reply, first, with regard to moral precept, that this theory, so far from un dervaluing it, gives education additional importance, and makes it quite a science. For what is it the business of

education to do, unless it be to strengthen the good propensities of our nature, capable of receiving corroboration by exercise, and to repress the bad ones which can be diminished in force by counteraction. Organology, by pointing out to us, before they are matured and developed, the various propensities of infants, will enable us to commence early this discipline, with more certainty and effect. For these innate propensities are only strong dispositions or faculties, capable in all but madmen of being controlled by the reason, of being subjugated and directed, to use the words of Dr. Gall, par la liberté morale, par la moralité, par la religion. Where the propensities are not under the control of the reasoning faculties, the subject is virtually to a certain degree insane, and ought to be treated as such, And I believe it will be admitted that insanity frequently arises from not feeling sufficiently lora tenens, to guide our wandering thoughts, or not possessing enough self-command to counteract the violent propensities of nature. This view of the subject shows indeed the high importance of discipline in enabling us to guide and subject to the superior sentiments and to the reasoning faculties of man, the understanding faculties and the propensities of man and animals in common, and shows the necessity of erecting some moral standard, whereby to regulate our notions. And thus Organology confirms that system of morals which teaches us that evil not only consists in doing but in thinking wrong.

With regard to the intellectual faculties, this science will be of the highest utility. A father may discover by the prominences of his son's head his peculiar fort; and may chalk out for him an appropriate profession. I take it, we have all, more or less strongly developed, some prevailing penchant, some particular faculty more strong than the rest. The poet is not the only character, to whom the proverbial adage, Nascitur non fit, is applicable. And I

believe that eminence often depends on a man's being allowed to pursue, what, in the language of the vulgar, is called the bent of his genius.

Where one organ was too strongly marked, a parent, though he might let his son follow the studies it led him to, as a profession, might nevertheless give great encouragement to the exercise of others, that the student's mind might not run wholly into one channel.

With regard to Government, all laws are made on the supposition that man acts from motive, and not by contingency or chance; otherwise the prospect of reward or punishment could never operate on his conduct. What then can assist legislators in the adaptation of laws to people so much, as a science, which exposes the variety of motives by which man is actuated, and compares their relative strength in different individuals, and in different nations. This science must assist both the domestic management of families, and the national government of countries. Thus, then, have I removed another argument against the doctrine.

I proceed to a third, and the last, I believe, commonly urged; namely, that, barring the unpleasantness of submitting our heads to the critical touch of a ruthless anatomist, the exposure of the failings and faults of mankind would do no good to society, where hypocrisy is often useful.

To such an objection a witty friend replied, that though organology would expose hypocrisy, it would teach men to be ingenuous. "Our feelings might, indeed, be sometimes shocked, when on feeling the head of some suspected saint, whose physiognomy betrayed marks of what Lavater called the lines of Dissimulation, we were further to discover that the crown of his head wanted that noble eminence which Dr. Gall calls the organ of Theosophy; or when the man, who fights a duel to establish his courage, should be found, on

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inspection, to want the eminence behind the ears, which is the seat of valor: and it should be thenceforward suspected, that fear of the world was the cause of his temerity. But these petty inconveniences are a flea-bite to the advantage society would gain by this science."

"When, for instance, the last militia bill was passed, and so many tinkers, blacksmiths, and snuff-makers, turned preachers of the gospel, to avoid being drawn for soldiers, how advantageous to the licensing clerk would it have been to discover, that it was the smell of gunpowder, and not the love of religion, that had influenced these turncoats."

I hope, on a future occasion, to proceed to a description of the seats of these various organs, to illustrate the connexion between physiognomy and craniology; and shall exhibit some rude figures of the parts of the head where the organs are to be sought for. You will, I trust, make allowances for the im perfect manner in which I explain this great science, and the embarrassment I shall feel in describing the brain to those who may not be accustomed to anatomical subjects: but I hope, at least, that when I show that, what has been overlooked in Education, has been the various seats and organs of intelligence of so many learned men as have lived heretofore, nobody will say I have accused Philosophy of stumbling over a straw.'

If I am interrogated, to what will this theory tend? how will it end? I reply, I have shown it has no bad tendency: as to what may be the ultimate effect of it in producing so great a change in society, as it is calculated to produce, L shift the question, like most other projectors, and while

1 There seems to be no sect of Christians who have succeeded in subduing the evil propensities of Man in so eminent a degree as the Quakers. They ought therefore particularly to study this doctrine.

I have a sanguine hope of great amelioration, as I have said already, I shall shelter myself under the wings of Simonides

Ὦ παῖ, τέλος μὲν Ζεὺς ἔχει βαρύκτυπος
Πάντων ὅσ ̓ ἔστι.

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