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INTRODUCTION

TO THE

STUDY OF PHRENOLOGY.

Phrenology is a system of Mental Philosophy. It enquires into the quality and condition of the mind, estimating the faculties, sentiments, and propensities of the individual, without being deceived by personal esteem or the voice of partial praise; for as it too frequently occurs that minds of the highest order are more or less under the influence of self love, or a desire for the admiration of others, so are they blinded to their own weaknesses and in some measure rendered incapable of acknowledging their faults even to themselves. This defect, a defect of the race rather than of the individual, presents an effectual barrier to all mental improvement, for minds however highly gifted are always in some measure led astray by self gratulation or the flattering commendations of others, and thus they are led to overlook their own errors, or to congratulate themselves that they are not as other men are, and the mental eye becomes blinded to what is wrong in its own intellectual organization although sensitively awake to the erroneous feelings and propensities of others. It is the province of Phrenology to measure the external features of the mind’s agent, and to facilitate the study of Man without diverging into metaphysical error on the one hand, or materialism on the other.

Phrenology then is one of those beautiful revelations of applicable science which could only have been made known in an æra of intellectual cultivation. It is in accordance with man’s advancement in civilization and refinement.—It was not needed in the days of

“High emprise or priestly power.”

for when men were measured by their prowess, and when might was right, a standard of intellect would have been of little value; but amidst the discoveries of the 19th century it comes to us as a monitor and a friend; Its developement forms a striking fact in the philosophy of history—for as we trace the long and varied records of physical discovery from the time of Archimedes to the coronation of Victoria,—we invariably find that whatever science, or whatever art has been made known to us, it has always been the forerunner of new chapters in the history of man: thus Astronomy led the way to magnetism—Magnetism led to the scientific principles of navigation,—and the steam engine, mighty as its power appears, is but in accordance with the advanced wants of mankind; and so with every other instance, in proportion to the discoveries of intellect, has man advanced in the scale of intelligence and humanity,—with mind, so has matter progressed, until from the unlettered savage, he has arrived at the gates of that scientific temple whose lessons teach him, that now, having laid out the earth for his sustenance, peopled the ocean with his race, and proved his mastery over all things, it is time that he should arise and conquer self,—

Know then thyself, and seek not God to scan,
The proper study of mankind is man!
Pope.

To do this, man must be studied in his moral, social, and religious condition; thus only is he enabled to gratify that inward yearning after what is great and good which is the basis of all improvement. It is necessary however to learn what is imperfect before improvement can be attempted. We must learn our own mental constitution and compare it with a standard of excellence, and what standard can we have, but that all surpassing goodness that created man in his own image? HE in whom even Pilate found no fault—who said “I am the vine, and ye are the branches,”—who went about doing good, and who said to his disciples, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect.” This is the standard that we should look up to—to the Author of all good;—to His life upon earth as the line of our conduct here—to his sufferings in our day of tribulation—to His glory as the end that we would one day share in.

Such is the object that forces itself upon the mind, when liberated from the baser passions of humanity, the spirit can indulge in its own lofty aspirations—it feels a noble elevation of purpose in contemplating the improvement of its being—and it feels capable of following out a design so beautiful,—there is a dimly revealed pleasure in devoting every energy to the acquisition of an end so glorious, and the pleasure is pure, elevated, and ennobling, it is neither transient nor violent, but it seems to be breathed into the heart, making it wiser, better, and happier—It is not the pleasure that we have sought for in life, but the calm and quiet enjoyment that is referred to the mind, as the seat of all pure and rational delight: and to the brain, as a pleasure that will endure and increase, and fade not away like the momentary intoxications of animal delight: the pleasure of a good object is referrible to the mind, and to the brain as the seat of that mind, and we ask, Is the mind the offspring of that brain? or, Is the brain the organ through which the mind acts? a moment’s thought answers the question; in a few short years that brain will be mouldering away in the silent tomb, whilst the mind that animated it, can never die; thus then we arrive at the seat of the mind, a fact universally allowed by all philosophers, in all places, and at all times, and by reasoning upon this simple fact, we are led through progressive stages of induction, until we have arrived at a knowledge of that most valuable but most difficultly exercised faculty, Self-control.

Now, we know well that the eye and the ear receive their faculties from the brain, through the medium of the nerves. Thus, the eye may be delighted by gazing on an extended view of nature; the ear by listening to the sublime cadences of sacred music; but if we sever the delicate filament that conveys the sense of enjoyment to the brain, as the seat of all pleasure, resulting from the exercise of the eye or the ear, so do we immediately sever the sentient being from the perception of beauty in form or landscape, or of harmony in sound. So it is with a limb, if we divide the fibre or nerve connecting the muscles of that limb with the brain, we immediately deprive the organ of feeling and volition. Thus, then, the feelings, the senses, and the enjoyments are referred to the brain as the seat of the mind, and it would be as irrational to suppose that the brain in its entirety