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JOHN   GASPAR  SPURZHEIM,  M.D 

Fkom  Fisuer's  Painting,  in  the  Possession  of  Hon.  Moses  Kimball, 
Boston.    Photographed  by  Black. 


REMINISCENCES 


DK.  SPUKZHEIM 


GEORGE   COMBE: 


A  REVIEW  OF  THE  SCIENCE   OF  PHRENOLOGY,  FROM   THE  PERIOD   OF 

ITS   DISCOVERY 

TO   THE  TIME   OF  THE   VISIT   OF   GEORGE   COMBE  TO   THE  UNITED 
STATES,    1838,    1840. 


By    NAHUM    CAPEN,    LL.D., 

Author  of  "  Biography  of  Spurzheim,"  "  Republic  of  the  United  States," 
"  History  of  Democracy,"  etc. 


NEW  YORK : 
FOWLER    &   WELLS,    PUBLISHERS, 

753     BROADWAY. 

BOSTON:    A.  WILLIAMS  &  CO. 
1881. 


copyright,  1880,  by 
Fowler  &  Wells, 


Edward  O.  Jenkins, 

Printer  and  Stereotyper, 

20  North  William  Street^  New  York. 


TO 

GEORGE    H.    CALVERT 

IS   INSCRIBED    BY   HIS   FRIEND   OF   MANY    YEARS, 


PREFACE. 


The  origin  of  these  few  pages,  designed  to  impart 
and  perpetuate  the  teachings  of  three  of  the  greatest 
philosophers  of  modern  times,  is  sufficiently  explained 
in  the  correspondence  which  closes  this  Preface. 

Since  their  preparation,  Mr.  Calvert,  to  whom  this 
volume  has  been  dedicated,  has  added  another  volume 
to  his  many  admirable  productions.  To  his  "  First 
Years  in  Europe,"  his  numerous  "  Essays,"  to  his  vol- 
umes on  Goethe,  Ptjbens,  Chaelotte  Yon  Stein, 
WoEDSWOKTH,  and  Shakespeare,  he  has  just  added 
one  on  Colekidge  and  Shelley,  and  closed  with  his 
address  on  Goethe,  delivered  before  the  Goethe  Club 
of  ISTew  York,  Jan.  10,  1877. 

As  an  author  of  high  tone,  poetic  conception,  clear 
analysis,  deep  philosophy,  and  pure  thought,  he  is  to 
be  ranked  among  the  ablest  in  the  country.  It  was  his 
high  privilege  to  be  one  of  the  first  in  the  United 
States  to  ask  public  attention  to  Phrenology.  In  1832 
he  edited  and  published  a  volume  entitled  '^  Illustra- 
tions of  Phrenology  ;  heing  a  selection  of  articles  from 
the  Edinburgh  Phrenological  Journal,  and  the  Trans- 
actions of  the  Edinburgh  Phrenological  Society.  With 
twenty-six  wood-cuts.  With  a/n  Introduction.  By 
Geokge  H.  Calveet." 

In  his  Preface,  dated  Baltimore,  Md.,  September, 

(V) 


vi  Preface. 

1832,  lie  says :  "  The  conviction  the  editor  entertains 
of  the  vast  importance  of  the  Phrenological  discoveries 
and  of  the  beneficial  results  to  be  produced  by  a  diffu- 
sion of  a  knowledge  of  them,  has  entered  largely  into 
his  motive  to  undertake  the  task." 

We  speak  of  this  task  with  peculiar  interest,  in  this 
connection,  as  it  was  executed  nearly  fifty  years  ago, 
and  as  it  enables  us  to  make  quotations  from  his  inter- 
esting volume  on  Coleridge,  just  published. 

He  says :  "  That  there  is  a  close  connection  between 
brain  and  mind,  especially  intellectual  mind,  has  always 
been  vaguely  acknowledged,  or,  rather,  indistinctly  felt. 
Toward  the  end  of  the  last  century  Dr.  Gall,  a  physi- 
cian of  Yienna,  proved,  by  a  thoroughly  Baconian 
method,  not  only  that  there  is  a  connection,  close  and 
indissoluble,  between  them,  but  that  the  brain  is  the 
indispensable  organ  of  every  kind  of  mental  power ;  and 
further,  that,  instead  of  being  one  single  organ,  it  is  a 
congeries  of  organs,  and  that  every  intellectual  aptitude, 
every  animal  propensity,  every  aspiration,  every  senti- 
mental movement,  has  in  the  brain  its  individual  instru- 
ment. What  a  helpful  auxiliary  was  here  offered  to 
the  metaphysician,  to  the  psychologist,  to  the  theolo- 
gian, to  the  moralist !  Kant's  rare  intuition  would 
have  caused  new  delight  in  Coleridge,  who,  by  means  of 
this  new  potent  objective  discovery  of  Gall,  could  have 
given  precision,  enlargement,  definiteness,  depth,  to  the 
subjective  conclusions  of  Kant  and  of  himself." 

"  Through  Spurzheim,  a  pupil  of  Gall,  who  was  in 
London  about  the  year  1826,  Coleridge  got  a  glimpse 
of  the  great  discovery.     But  whether  from  being  too 


Preface.  vii 

old  (most  people  are,  after  forty,  to  accept  a  large,  new 
revolutionary  truth),  or  whether,  though  having  an 
intellect  apt  for  philosophic  search,  he  yet  lacked  the 
warm  hospitality  to  new  truths,  what  may  be  called 
the  philosophic  temperament,  which  not  many  even 
capacious  minds  are  blessed  with,  or  whether  he  was 
not  just  then  in  the  mood  for  such  study, — whatever  the 
cause,  while  he  admitted  to  his  nephew  (see  Table  Talk) 
that  'all  the  coincidences  which  have  been  observed 
could  scarcely  be  by  accident,'  the  presentation  of  the 
new  phenomena  did  not  flash  into  his  mind  the  light 
of  a  new  prolific  principle,  as  the  fall  of  an  apple  did 
into  that  of  [N^ewton.  Had  he  seized  the  import  of 
these  phenomena  by  following  the  high  logic  of  their 
revelations,  both  his  philosophy  and  his  theology  would 
have  been  expanded,  clarified." 

MoTJNT  Ida,  Boston,  Novemher^  1880. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 

"  New  York,  May  8,  1879. 
•'Hon.  NAHinvt  Capen  : 

"My  Deah  Sir: — Remembering  your  very  intimate,  per- 
sonal relations  with  Dr.  Spurzheim,  and  believing  it  im- 
portant that  the  public,  and  especially  the  readers  of  the 
PhrenoloGtICAL  Journaij,  should  know  more  of  him  and 
his  work  than  has  yet  been  published,  I  am  led  to  ask  you 
to  prepare  for  the  Journal  your  personal  reminiscences  of 
Spurzheim  ;  to  include  a  description  of  his  personal  ap- 
pearance, his  habits  of  life,  and  of  his  traits  of  character. 
And  I  should  be  glad  if  you  could  add  some  account  of 
the  discovery  of  the  "Science  of  Phrenology;  of  the  labors 


viii  Preface. 

of  Gall  alone,  and  of  Gall  and  Spurzheim  together;  of  the 
progress  of  the  science  abroad  up  to  the  time  of  Spurz- 
heim's  ^dsit  to  the  United  States;  of  the  object  of  his  visit 
to  this  country;  of  his  arrival  and  reception;  his  lectures 
and  their  influence,  and  of  the  circumstances  of  his  sick- 
ness and  death.  Also,  the  state  and  progress  of  the  sci- 
ence up  to  the  period  of  Mr.  Combe's  visit  to  the  United 
States ;  of  his  reception,  labors,  lectures,  etc. :  with  a  view 
that  the  teachings  of  Phrenology  may  be  compared  with 
previous  systems  of  Mental  Philosophy,  and  their  impor- 
tance and  utility  demonstrated  by  facts  of  history  and  ex- 
perience, 

"  Feeling  the  importance  of  this,  and  knowing  that  there 
is  now  no  person  living  besides  yourself  who  has  so  much 
data  from  which  to  write,  I  beg  leave  to  urge  the  matter  on 
you,  hoping  that  you  may  take  the  time  necessary  before 
it  is  too  late. 

"I  remain,  yours  for  the  dissemination  of  Phrenological 

truth. 

"Signed,  Charlotte  Fowler  Wells." 


(4 


Mount  Ida,  Boston,  Mass.,  Jan.  28,  1880. 
Mrs.  Charlotte  Fowler  Wells,  New  York : 

' '  Dear  Madam  : — When  I  received  your  favor  of  May 
last,  I  was  surrounded  with  permanent  cares  and  unfinished 
labors.  From  this  condition  I  anticipated  no  exemption. 
My  first  impressions,  instant  and  decided,  were  to  decline 
the  task  enjoined  by  your  letter.  But  when  I  reflected  on 
your  demands,  and  your  reasons  for  them,  I  was  influenced 
by  convictions  of  duty,  in  some  degree  to  meet  your 
wishes. 

"The  labor  of  examining  numerous  letters  and  docu- 
ments of  nearly  half  a  century  ago ;  of  recalling  to  mind  the 
events  and  opinions  of  that  period;  of  verifying,  classify- 
ing, and   condensing  them,   is  much   more   than   that  of 


Preface.  ix 

writing.  I  have  been  embarrassed  by  the  extent  of  my 
materials.  I  have  written,  and  compiled  from  my  own  pro- 
ductions, and  others,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  give  a  con- 
nected view  of  the  subjects  enumerated  in  your  letter.  Of 
course,  much  of  the  matter  will  not  be  new  to  some  of  your 
readers,  but  what  I  have  inserted,  I  trust,  will  prove  to  be 
of  permanent  value.  I  could  have  added  much,  but  the 
reader  will,  I  doubt  not,  pardon  any  omission,  or  imper- 
fection, in  view  of  my  want  of  time,  and  of  other  duties 
which  I  could  not  evade. 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect,  faithfully  yours, 

"jSTahum  Capen." 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Introductory  Remarks 1 

Spurzheim's  Labors  in  Great  Britain — His   Home  in 
Paris — His  Marriage — His  Motives  in  Visiting  the 
United  States — Events  of  his  Voyage       ...      4 
His  Arrival  in  the  United  States — Reception  .         .        .8 

His  Personal  Appearance 11 

First  Interview  with  Spurzheim 12 

His  interest  in  Public  Men,  in  Public  Institutions,  and 

in  the  Clergy 13 

Rev.  Hosea  Ballou      .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .15 

Rev.  Father  Taylor 16 

Spurzheim's  interest  in  Public  Institutions — Educa- 
tion                .        .        .19 

Visit  to  the  Monitorial  School  .        ,        .        .        .        .20 
Visit  to  "Hancock  School,"  and  "The  Smith  School," 

for  Colored  Children 24 

First  Appearance  before  a  Boston  Audience — His  Lect- 
ures in  Boston  and  Cambridge — His  Engagements 
— Health,   and  the   Events   of  his   Sickness — His 
Death  .         .         .         .         .         .        .        .         .         .25 

Preparations  for  a  PubUc  Funeral  —  Proceedings   of 
Committees — His   Property — Proceedings   of  Bos- 

(xi) 


xii  Contents. 

ton  Medical  Society — The  Funeral  at  the  "  Old 
South  Church"  —  Pro/.  Follen's  Oration  —  Pier- 
pont's  Ode — Notices  of  the  Press — His  Character    .    34 

His  Monument 43 

His  Interment — Heart  and  Brain      .....     45 
His   Character  —  Dr.    Roberton,    George   and   Andrew 

Combe 46 

His  Death  announced  in  Edinburgh — Highly  respected 

by  Distinguished  Men  of  Europe       .         .         .         .50 
What  should  be  the  Influence  of  Model  Philosophers — 

GaU,  Spurzheim,  and  Combe 55 

Personal  Appearance  of  Gall — His  Ability  and  Skill  as 

a  Physician 57 

Personal  Character  of  George  Combe      .         .        .        .59 
Metaphysics  before  the  Time  of  Gall — Physiognomy 

nothing  without  Phrenology 61 

Birth  and  Education  of  Gall — His  Early  Observations 
— Scientific  Conclusions — Anatomy  of  the  Brain — 

First  Appearance  as  Author 62 

Outlines  of  the  Science  of  Phrenology,  in  a  Letter  to 

Jos.  Fr.  De  Retzer 70 

Dr.  Gall's  Lectures  and  Works  .        .        .        .        .86 

Birth  and  Education  of  Spurzheim — His  Connection 

with  Gall 88 

Gall    and    Spurzheim's    Memoir    to    the    French    In- 
stitute —  Napoleon  —  Cuvier  —  Davy  —  Sovereigns 

and  Science 91 

Joint  Publication  of  Gall  and  Spurzheim       .         .         .     97 

Death  of  Gall— His  Funeral 98 

Labors  of  Spurzheim  alone— His  Visit  to  Great  Britain 

— Anatomy  of  the  Brain — Reviews — Abernethy       .     99 


Contents.  xiii 

Spurzheim's  Visit  to  Dublin,  Cambridge,  Edinburgh — 
Festival  in  Honor  of — Speeches  of  Combe  and 
Simpson — Mme.  Spurzheim — Replies  of  Dr.  Spurz- 
heim — Christianity  and  Women        ....  104 

Progress  of  Phrenology  in  Europe — Reviewers       .         .111 

The  Dignity  of  Truth  in  Controversy       .         .         .         ,112 

State  of  Phrenology  in  the  United  States — Master-Mind, 
like  that  of  Spurzheim,  wanted — Influence  of  his 
Labors — Attacks  upon  the  Science — Its  Progress — 
Character  of  Opponents 115 

Organization  of  the  Boston  Phrenological  Society — Its 
Members  and  Officers — Its  Transactions — Birthday 
of  Spurzheim  annually  observed — Proceedings — 
Lectures  by  Members — Close  of  Society — Reasons  .  119 

Progress  of  Phrenology  from  1832  to  1840 — Visit  of 
Combe  to  the  United  States — Birth  and  Education 
of  Combe — High  Position  of  Gall,  Spurzheim,  and 
Combe  as  Philosophers — Numerous  Testimonials 
respecting  the  AbiUty  and  Character  of  George 
Combe 125 

Combe's  Visit  to  the  United  States — His  Motives — His 
Arrival  and  Reception — Testimonials  of  Respect — 
In  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore, 
Washington,  D.  C,  New  Haven  and  Hartford, 
Conn. — Influence  of  his  Labors  ....  131 

Results  of  Mr.  Combe's  Visit  to  the  United  States         .  137 

Active  and  Scientiflc  Phrenologists  of  the  United  States 
— Surviving  Phrenologists  who  Wrote  upon  the 
Subject  from  the  Period  of  1832 — Dr.  Isaac  Ray — 
Geo.  H.  Calvert 138 

Philosophy  of  Phrenology — The  Three  Great  Teachers    142 


XIV 


Contents. 


The  Physiology  of  the  Brain 143 

Mental  Philosophy .         .145 

Phrenology  the  Science  of  Human  Nature — Testimony 

of  Hon.  James  D.  Green 149 

Importance   of    Phrenology  to   the    Blind,   Deaf  and 

Dumb,  and  to  Idiots — Testimony  of  Dr.  S.  G.  Howe.  153 
Who,  now,  are  Phrenologists  ? — Where,  now,  is  Phre- 
nology ? .  155 

Testimony  of  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher         .        .        .  157 

Importance  of  Mental  Philosophy 157 

Acknowledgments  of  Indebtedness  ....  173 


APPEISTDIX. 


A. 

Extracts  from  Prof.  Barber's  Address. 

"Mental  Philosopliy  and  Education,"  "Reform  and  Legislation," 

"  Materialism,"  "Anatomy  of  the  Bfaiu,"  "  Political  Economy,"    175 

B. 

Science  of  Human  Nature. 
Furtlier  Extract  from  Mr.  Green's  Address, 180 

c. 

Social  Relations  of  Man. 

From  Dr.  Howe's  Address,         -_.--...    187 


\  Contents,  xv 


D. 

Utility  of  PHRENOLoaY. 
From  Dr.  Bartlett's  Address, 198 


E. 

Progress  of   Phrenology — Its   Obstacles  kwq  Its 
Importance  to  the  People  and  Education. 

From  Mr.  Combe's  Address,        --------    210 


F. 

George  Combe's  Letter  to  the  Right  Hon.  the  Lord  Provost,  etc. 

"  What  is  Logic," 21U 


G.  H.  I. 

Testimonials  on  behalf  of  George  Combe. 

Letter  from  Dr.  William  Weir,  etc., 230 

Letter  from  Dr.  John  Elliottson,  etc.,  ------    232 

Letter  from  James  Johnson,  Esq.,      -------    234 

J. 

Science  of  Phrenology 

As  left  by  Gall,  Spurzheim,  and  Combe,     ------    335 


Extract  of  Spurzheim's  work,  entitled  "  Philosophical  Catechism 

of  the  Natural  Laws  of  Man."     The  Preface    -        -        -        -    340 


xvi  Contents. 

L. 

Oliver  Caswell  and  Laura  Bridgmar". 

Extracts  from  volume  entitled   "Life  and  Education  of  Laura 

Dewey  Bridgman,"       -----        -.-  243 

M 

Crime-Cause. 

From  Pamphlet  on  Crime-Cause,  by  Hon.  Richard  Vaux,       -       -    253 


REMINISCENCES  OF  SPURZHEIM. 


Mount  Ida,  Boston,  ) 
January,  1880.      \ 

The  appeal  to  me,  as  the  only  person  liviog,  who  is 
able  to  furnish  reminiscences  of  SpuRZHEm,  of  his  last 
days  in  this  country,  and  upon  earth,  affects  me  deeply. 
It  is  now  nearly  forty-seven  years  since  the  remains  of 
this  great  philosopher  were  deposited  at  Mount  Aubuen, 
and  the  first  Monument  placed  in  that  beautiful  Ceme- 
tery was  that  of  Spuezheim.  His  name  is  deeply  cut 
in  marble,  and  there  it  will  remain  forever.  It  is  one 
of  the  first  monuments  seen  after  the  visitor  enters  the 
gateway.  How  eminently  proper,  and  yet  not  by  the 
wisdom  of  man,  that  the  remains  of  one  who  dedicated 
his  life  and  energies  to  the  study  of  natm^e  and  of  mind, 
should  be  placed  at  the  entrance  of  that  consecrated 
enclosure,  where  the  bodies  of  all  classes  have  their  final 
home.  Here,  in  all  future  time,  visitors  will  first  be 
reminded  of  him  who  gave  so  many  lessons  of  useful 
knowledge  for  the  permanent  benefit  of  humanity,  and 
made  for  himself  a  record  of  character  that  will  stand 
as  an  example  to  be  admired  and  followed  by  all  sin- 
cere inquirers  after  truth. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  the  first  two  interments 
at  Mt.  Aubuun  were  male  and  female,  and  were  alike 
celebrated  as  gifted  thinkers  and  authors.     Both  were 


2  Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim. 

dear  friends  of  mine.  Tlie  first,  were  tlie  remains  of 
Hannah  Adams,  the  authoress  of  the  "  History  of  the 
Jews,"  and  the  second,  those  of  Spurzheim,  who,  at  the 
time,  was  ranked  among  the  most  distinguished  authors 
of  the  world.  Thus,  while  all  that  was  placed  beneath 
the  slab  and  monument,  was  ^'  dust  to  dust,"  the  souls 
of  the  first  tenants  had  acquired  before  death  an  im- 
mortal record  in  history.  Let  the  fact  iUustrate  the 
Christian  truth  at  Mt.  Aubtjkn,  in  its  beginning,  that 
though  the  body  may  be  buried,  the  soul  is  above  the 
power  of  death. 

Both  of  these  distinguished  persons  died  the  same 
year,  1832 — Hannah  Adams  at  the  age  of  73,  and 
Spurzheim  at  the  age  of  56.  The  remains  of  the  latter 
were  embalmed,  in  the  expectation  that  his  kindred  in 
Germany  would  send  for  them.  They  were  placed  in 
the  Receiving  Tomb  of  Park  Street  Church,  J^ovember, 
1832,  and  removed  to  Mt.  Aubukn  early  in  1833. 

What  a  splendid  beginning  in  that  sacred  ground  of 
the  dead  !  What  a  solemn  fact  to  contemplate — that  in 
less  than  half  a  century,  the  remains  of  many  thousands"^ 
have  been  there  deposited,  and  millions  of  wealth  have 
been  expended  to  beautify  the  spot,  that  has  been  made 
holy  by  memories  of  greatness,  goodness,  and  affection. 
Parents  and  children,  brothers  and  sisters,  men  and 
women,  respected  for  their  virtues,  charities,  and  patri- 
otism, have  here  their  final  record  upon  earth  to  be  read 
and  remembered  by  succeeding  generations,  each  adding 
its  own  examples  of  life  upon  the  slab  and  monument. 
In  the  collective  skill  of  the  architect,  sculptor,  artist. 


*  Number  of  interments,  to  1880,  about  22,000. 


Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  3 

and  gardener,  we  have  before  us,  in  tliis  silent  Paek  of 
THE  Dead,  the  magiiificei'it  and  nndjing  bloom  of  love, 
in  all  its  relations  of  beauty,  tenderness,  and  sublimity. 
I  can  not  repress  the  deep  emotions  of  my  soul,  when 
I  speak  of  these  impressive  realities  of  the  past.  I  am, 
indeed,  overwhelmed  with  reflections  upon  persons  and 
characters  I  have  known,  and  upon  the  events  of  a 
period,  which,  though  it  seems  short  to  me,  when  meas- 
ured by  days  and  years,  long  to  others.  In  these 
grounds  we  find  the  familiar  names  of  persons  who 
have  characterized  the  metropolis  and  commonwealth 
of  Massachusetts  during  the  present  century.  Among 
them,  variously  inscribed,  are  the  names  of  Kirkland, 
Quincy,  Eliot,  Warren,  Bigelow,  Everett,  Story,  Choate, 
Appleton,  Lawrence,  Jackson,  Bowditch,  Ticknor,  Gray, 
Sparks,  Longfellow,  Holmes,  Prescott,  Walker,  Brooks, 
Otis,  Savage,  Ballon,  Adams,  Austin,  Amory,  Sears, 
Tuckerman,  Parkman,  Shaw,  Lyman,  Kuhn,  Lowell, 
Perkins,  Channing,  Codman,  Cabot,  Parker,  Ward, 
Parsons,  Brereton,  Peirce,  Motley,  Welles,  Lewis, 
Worcester,  Hedge,  Bartlett,  Lothrop,  Hale,  Sargent, 
Bell,  Wigglesworth,  Ware,  Pickering,  Emerson,  Capen, 
Coolidge,  Thacher,  Ligalls,  Lee,  Curtis, — ^indeed,  the 
enumeration  would  almost  exhaust  the  necrologic  regis- 
ter of  ]^ew  England.  What  varied  reflections  and  as- 
sociations crowd  upon  the  memory  in  the  review  of  so 
many  departed  persons,  who,  while  they  lived,  accom- 
plished so  much  for  their  age,  their  country,  and  the 
world.  Active  friends  of  education,  interpreters  of 
history,  science,  law,  and  government,  and  the  promot- 
ers of  art  and  industry,  of  commerce  and  refinement, 
though  gone  from  earth,  their  names  will  be  forever 


4  ReminisGences  of  Spurzheim. 

identified  with  the  great  cause  of  progress  and  patriot- 
ism. In  this  hallowed  retreat  of  the  dead,  rests  the 
dust  of  men,  women,  and  children,  of  families  who,  for 
many  generations,  have  made  Boston  what  it  has  been 
and  what  it  is — the  city  where  Spnrzheim  was  advised, 
before  he  left  home,  first  to  make  known  his  theories. 
This  was  a  high  compliment  to  the  modern  Athens  of 
America,  and  it  was  amply  justified  by  the  events  which 
we  are  about  to  recite  connected  with  his  reception. 


SPTJEZHEIm's     LAJBOES    in    great    BRITAIN" HIS    HOME    IN 

PARIS HIS    MARRIAGE HIS    MOTIVES    IN  VISITING    THE 

UNITED    STATES — EVENTS    OF    HIS    VOYAGE. 

In  1831-2,  Spurzheim  delivered  courses  of  lectures 
on  Phrenology,  and  on  the  Anatomy  and  Pathology  of 
the  Brain,  in  Dublin  and  in  London.  They  were  at- 
tended by  distinguished  professional  men,  and  they 
excited  deep  interest  and  general  admiration.  There 
was  an  influential  movement,  though  unsuccessful,  to 
have  him  appointed  Professor  of  Anthropology,  in  one 
of  the  universities  of  England.  The  eloquent  Andrew 
Carmichael,  of  Dublin,  says :  ''  If  this  rational,  just, 
and  honorable  step  had  been  taken  by  any  of  our  uni- 
versities ;  if,  as  was  confidently  expected,  the  London 
College  had  appointed  him  to  the  chair  of  Anthropol- 
ogy, the  world  might  still  have  been  in  the  enjoyment 
of  the  useful,  enlightened,  and  invaluable  services  of 
the  wisest  and  best  of  men ;  and  under  his  auspices, 
society  might  possibly  have  gained  an  advance  of  half 


Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  5 

a  century  or  a  century,  in  the  general  progress  of  im- 
provement." 

This  opportunity  was  lost  to  the  college  and  to  science. 
He  now  decided  to  make  his  home  in  Paris,  with  the 
relatives  of  his  late  wife.  "  They  were  aifectionately 
attached  to  him,"  says  Carmichael,  "particularly  M. 
Perier,  his  brother-in-law,  and  M.  Perier's  residence  was 
in  fact  his  home." 

It  may  be  here  remarked  that  Spurzheim  was  mar- 
ried to  Mademoiselle  Perier  in  1818,  a  most  agreeable, 
accomplished,  and  talented  lady.  Those  beautiful  draw- 
ings which  her  husband  exhibited  at  his  lectures  were 
the  production  of  her  pencil.  Their  married  life  was 
one  of  unclouded  happiness,  and  it  continued  till  1829, 
when  his  beloved  companion  was  removed  by  death. 
This  severe  affliction  only  deepened  his  conviction  that 
his  life  belonged  to  the  cause  of  truth.  "  It  was  often 
observed,"  says  Prof.  Pollen,  "how  well  their  charac- 
ters seemed  to  be  fitted  for  each  other.  They  were  both 
adepts  in  that  profoundest  of  all  sciences,  and  the  most 
pleasiug  of  all  the  fine-arts — -Christian  benevolence 
shone  forth  in  beautif al  manners.  It  is  characteristic 
of  Spurzheim,  that  one  of  the  reasons  which  influenced 
him  in  the  choice  of  his  wife,  was  the  knowledge  that 
she  had  undergone  great  suffering,  which  he  thought 
essential  to  the  perfection  of  human  nature.  A  short 
time  previous  to  his  death,  having  occasion  to  allude  to 
her,  he  remarked,  '  that  she  possessed  a  mind  of  uncom- 
mon charact-er,  and  that  he  had  never  found  a  superior.' " 

Spurzheim  had  not  been  long  settled  in  his  new  abode 
when  he  received  pressing  invitations  from  various  sci- 
entific bodies  in  Boston,  and  other  cities  in  the  United 


6  Reminiscences  of  Sjpicrzheim. 

States,  to  cross  the  Atlantic,  for  their  instruction  in  the 
true  philosophy  of  mind.  He  could  not  resist  so  favor- 
able an  opportunity  of  doing  good.  He  assented  ;  and 
resolved  to  visit  America  during  the  summer  of  1832. 

"  He  was  always  a  sufferer  from  sea-sickness,"  says 
Carmichael,  "  even  in  the  shortest  voyages ;  and  to  en- 
counter a  long  one,  with  such  a  constitutional  predis- 
position, required  some  magnanimity.  In  the  spring 
of  1832,  some  friends  of  mine,  who  were  greatly  at- 
tached to  Spurzheim,  visited  him  in  Paris.  He  had  at 
that  time  come  to  the  determination  of  crossing  to  the 
United  States ;  and  my  friends  were  remonstrating  with 
him  on  his  imprudence,  in  braving  the  inconveniences 
and  hazards  of  such  a  voyage,  and  asked  him  what  could 
possibly  compensate  him  for  all  that  he  must  necessarily 
endure?  His  simple  and  emphatic  reply  was,  "  Shall  1 
not  see  Channing  ?  " 

On  the  20th  of  June,  1832,  Dr.  Spurzheim  sailed 
from  Havre  for  the  United  States,  and  arrived  at  ]S^ew 
York  on  the  4:th  of  August.  This  was  a  quick  passage 
for  a  sailing  ship.  Steamships  on  the  Atlantic,  at  that 
time,  were  generally  deemed  to  be  not  only  unsafe,  but 
impracticable.  On  board  the  ship  he  proved  himself  a 
friend  in  need  to  a  number  of  poor  emigrants,  many  of 
whom,  being  taken  sick  on  their  passage,  experienced 
his  kind  and  successful  medical  assistance.  The  sailing 
packets  from  the  United  States  did  not  provide  a  phy- 
sician, and  passengers  on  a  voyage  incurred  great  risks 
for  the  want  of  one,  unless  supplied  by  a  chance  travel- 
er of  the  profession.  That  Spurzheim  would  be  prompt 
to  meet  such  an  emergency,  was  a  fact  in  harmony  with 
his  nature.     When  his  usefulness  on  board  ship  was 


JReminiscences  of  Spurzheim,  ^ 

reported  to  his  friends  in  Paris,  they  did  not  omit  the 
opportunity  to  remind  him  of  their  ardent  desire  to 
influence  him  to  return  to  his  profession,  and  perma- 
nently to  settle  in  the  great  city  of  France.  In  a  letter 
which  he  received  from  a  lady  in  Paris,  dated  Septem- 
ber 13,  1832,  speaking  of  the  poor  emigrants,  she  says : 
''  That  you,  my  dear  friend,  have  rendered  yourself  on 
board  the  vessel  so  useful  by  your  talent  as  a  physician, 
ought  to  reconcile  you  to  the  medical  science.  Many  of 
these  poor  men  would  perhaps  have  perished  without 
your  aid ;  and  the  fact  that  all  Were  saved,  is  for  you  no 
small  blessing." 

His  friends  joined  in  writing  to  him  the  most  touch- 
ing and  affectionate  letters.  They  greatly  mourned  his 
absence,  and  expressed  deep  solicitude  as  to  his  safety, 
health,  and  success.  The  same  lady  continues :  "We 
have  longed  greatly  for  the  first  news  that  we  should 
receive  from  you,  and  are  quite  anxious  on  account  of 
the  long  delay.  The  frequent  head-winds,  and  the 
thought  that  sea-sickness  would  impair  your  health,  has 
caused  us  much  anxiety.  God  be  praised,  it  is  now 
happily  over.  That  the  illness  which  threatened  you, 
and  which  was  remedied  by  your  skill  and  carefulness, 
may  not  return,  is  our  sincere  prayer."  .  .  .  .  "  Madame 
Perier  mourns  greatly  over  your  resolution  to  be  away 
from  us,  and  we  all  join  in  constant  regrets  that  we  did 
not  more  earnestly  remonstrate  against  your  departure. 
We  can  not  but  feel,  if  we  had  done  this,  we  might 
have  easily  held  you  back."  She  thus  closes  her  letter, 
giving  other  friends  a  portion  of  her  sheet  to  express 
their  joy  on  his  safe  an^ival :  "  JSTow  I  seize  your  hand 
with  heartfelt  friendship  and  confident  hope  that  the 


8  Reminiscences  of  Sjpurzheim,, 

next  news  from  you  may  be  so  good  that  nothing  can 
be  added."  We  can  add  but  another  extract  from  this 
large  sheet,  filled  with  affection,  and  that  is  from  his 
brother-in-law,  Mons.  J.  Perier :  "  My  wife  joins  me 
and  our  friends  in  expressing  our  joy  on  account  of 
your  happy  arrival,  and  to  offer  our  prayers  for  your 
well-being.  May  the  cholera  spare  you,  as  it  spared 
you  in  Paris.  We  trust  it  will  be  as  gracious  to  you  in 
America."  .  .  .  .  "  Fare  right  well,  worthy,  precious 
friend,  and  believe  in  the  unchangeable  friendship  of 
J.  P." 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  to  be  noted,  that  M.  Perier, 
in  speaking  of  national  affairs,  asks  the  following  ques- 
tion :  "  Tell  us  if  the  ITorthern  portion  of  the  United 
States  will  separate  from  the  Southern  portion,  as  I 
fear  will  be  the  case."  Let  it  be  remembered  this  was 
in  1832. 

The  object  of  Spurzheim's  visit  to  this  country  was 
of  a  twofold  character:  1st,  To  study  the  genius  and 
character  of  our  nation ;  and  2d,  to  propagate  the  doc- 
trines of  Phrenology.  He  had  a  great  desire  to  visit 
the  various  tribes  of  Indians,  and  to  examine  the  men- 
tal and  physical  condition  of  the  slaves  at  the  South. 


HIS    ARRIVAL    EST    THE   UNITED    STATES RECEPTION". 

He  arrived  at  New  York  on  the  4th  of  August,  in 
the  heat  of  summer,  while  the  cholera  was  raging  there. 
He  remained  there  till  the  11th,  when  he  left  for  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  and  arrived  there  on  the  evening  of  the 


HeminisGences  of  Spurzheim,  9 

same  day.  It  was  Commencement  week  at  Yale  Col- 
lege. Here  lie  first  breathed  the  classic  atmosphere  of 
IS^ew  England.  He  was  received  with  great  considera- 
tion by  the  Faculty  of  this  Institution.  ''  Indeed,"  the 
distinguished  Prof.  Silliman  told  me,  "  the  Professors 
were  in  love  with  him."  He  said,  '^  He  was  much  in- 
terested in  the  pubHc  exercises,  the  whole  of  which  he 
attended,  and  it  was  easy  to  read  in  bis  expressive  feat- 
ures the  impression  made  upon  his  mind  by  the  difi*er- 
ent  speakers  ;  it  was  obvious  he  understood  everything 
he  heard.  In  the  evening  of  the  commencement  day 
he  attended  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Society  of  the 
Alumni,  and  listened  attentively  to  their  discussions. 
He  dissected  the  brain  of  a  child  that  had  died  of  hy- 
drocephalus, and  gave  great  satisfaction  to  the  medical 
gentlemen  present  by  the  unexampled  skill  and  the  per- 
fectly novel  manner  in  which  he  performed  the  dissec- 
tion." 

On  the  16th  of  August  he  proceeded  to  Hartford. 
At  this  place  he  visited  with  deep  interest  the  Asylum 
for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  and  the  Petreat  for  the  In- 
sane. He  also  visited  the  State  Prison  at  Weathers- 
field,  near  Hartford.  The  distinguished  Dr.  Amariah 
Brigham  was  then  alive,  and  he  accompanied  Spurz- 
heim,  with  other  gentlemen  of  the  Washington  Col- 
lege, and  others  of  his  profession,  in  his  visits  to  these 
Institutions.  In  a  letter  to  me,  dated  May  22,  1833, 
Dr.  Brigham  says  :  "  I  have  many  interesting  facts 
respecting  Spurzheim's  visit  to  the  Prison,  Insane  Re- 
treat, Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  etc.  I  presume 
he  did  not  take  so  full  notes  as  he  would  have  done  had 
he  not  expected  soon  to  return  here."  .  .  .  .  "  The 
I* 


10  ^Reminiscences  of  Sjpurzheim, 

Warden  of  the  Prison  has  repeatedly  assured  me  that 
Dr.  Spurzheim  gave  the  characters  of  many  of  the 
criminals,  especially  of  the  noted  ones,  as  correctly  as 
he  himself  could  have  done  who  had  long  known 
them." 

On  the  evening  of  the  20th  of  August  he  arrived  at 
Boston,  and  took  lodgings  at  the  Exchange  Coffee- 
House.  The  next  morning  he  engaged  rooms  at  Mrs. 
Le  Kain's,  Pearl  Street,  at  which  place  he  remained  till 
his  death.  At  that  time  some  of  the  finest  private 
dwellings  were  to  be  found  in  this  street.  ]!!^ow,  not 
one.  It  is  entirely  given  to  business,  and  on  both  sides 
only  extensive  and  splendid  warehouses  and  stores  are 
to  be  seen.  Here,  too,  was  the  "  Boston  Athenaeum  " 
and  the  "  Perkins  Institution  for  the  Blind."  In  the 
hall  of  the  former  institution  Spurzheim  commenced 
his  lectures,  but  it  proved  to  be  too  small,  and  he  en- 
gaged the  spacious  hall  at  the  Masonic  Temple,  now 
the  United  States  Court-House. 

The  arrival  of  Spurzheim  was  announced  in  the  pub- 
lic journals,  and  curiosity  was  soon  awake  to  see  a  man 
whose  fame  had  so  long  preceded  him,  and  who  had 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  whole  civilized  world. 
The  rich  and  the  learned,  the  student  and  the  scholar, 
soon  paid  him  their  respects,  as  due  to  a  distinguished 
stranger,  and  a  course  of  polite  engagements  was  at 
once  commenced.  All  who  called  upon  him  soon  be- 
came his  admirers,  and  he  was  made  the  leading  topic 
of  the  day,  both  in  conversation  and  in  the  public 
prints. 


Heminiscences  of  S^rzheim,  11 


HIS   PERSONAL   APPEARANCE. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  describe  bis  person  and  pres- 
ence.    An  interview  witb  bim  was,  indeed, 

*'  A  feasting  presence  fall  of  light." 

His  cordial  greeting,  bis  inimitable  smile  and  dignified 
suavity  were  irresistibly  captivating.  In  bim  tbere 
was 

"A  combination,  and  a  form,  indeed, 
Where  every  god  did  seem  to  set  his  seal, 
To  give  the  world  assurance  of  a  man." 

He  was  tall — about  six  feet  in  beigbt — and  well-pro- 
portioned, tbe  picture  of  vigor  and  good  bealtb,  and  bad 
a  countenance  beaming  witb  superior  intelligence.  He 
was  slow  and  graceful  in  bis  walk,  and,  without  tbe 
air  of  uneducated  curiosity,  be  appeared  to  see  every- 
tbing  tbat  was  peculiar  or  bad  a  meaning.  Mr.  Buck- 
ingham, of  tbe  Courier,  who  was  habitually  reserved 
when  others  were  extravagant,  gave  a  graphic  picture 
of  bis  persona]  ap^jearance  on  the  street.  He  closed 
by  saying  tbat  "no  one  would  be  likely  to  meet 
him  without  being  inclined  to  turn  to  look  after  him, 
and  to  inquire  bis  name."  It  was  my  privilege  to  meet 
bim  almost  daily,  to  converse,  to  walk,  or  to  ride  witb 
bim  ;  and,  tbough  always  cbeerful  and  sometimes  play- 
ful, he  seldom  indulged  in  remarks  even  upon  trifles 
without  giving  instruction.  His  language  indicated  a 
ready  knowledge  of  men  and  things,  and  invariably 
disclosed  high  motives  practically  connected  witb  tbe 
application  of  principles. 


12  Reminiscences  of  Sjyurzheim. 


FIKST   INTEKYIEW   WITH    SPHRZHEIM. 

But  in  giving  reminiscences  of  Spurzheim,  the  reader 
will  very  naturally  expect  that  I  should  speak  of  the 
origin  of  my  first  acquaintance  with  him.  In  doing 
this  I  can  not  well  avoid  speaking  of  myself,  but  in  a 
manner,  I  trust,  that  will  be  pardoned. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  I  called  upon  him.  1  was  com- 
paratively ignorant  of  his  theories,  but  from  what  I  had 
heard  and  read,  I  thought  much  of  his  learning  and 
character.  Some  years  before,  I  had  marked  out  for 
myself  a  course  of  reading  upon  the  history  and  nature 
of  man.  Metaphysics  had  been  my  early  and  favorite 
study.  I  had  a  desire  to  become  acquainted  with  his 
philosophy.  I  sought  him  as  a  teacher.  He  was  old 
enough  to  be  my  father,  and  I  approached  him  as  an 
humble  student.  I  had  friends  of  the  medical  profes- 
sion who  knew  him,  and  who  would  have  given  me 
notes  of  introduction  with  pleasure.  But  I  felt  that  I 
needed  none.  The  truly  great  always  welcome  the 
honest  student.  When  I  called  he  received  me  po- 
litely, but  he  was  engaged  with  President  Quincy.  As 
they  were  engaged  in  general  conversation,  he  invited 
me  to  be  seated.  I  waited  nearly  an  hour  before  Pres- 
ident Quincy,  with  assurances  of  high  consideration, 
took  his  leave.  I  then  made  known  the  object  of  my 
call,  and  freely  expressed  my  wishes.  We  became  im- 
mediately engaged  in  conversation  upon  subjects  of 
mutual  interest,  and  our  first  interview  lasted  nearly 
two  hours.  I  had  formed  distinct  views  on  metaphys- 
ical theories  of  the  old  schools,  and  had  adopted  for 
myself  a  method  of  inquiry  which  at  once  seemed  to 


Hemmiscences  of  Sjpurzheim.  13 

harmonize  with  his  philosophy.  He  did  not  disguise 
his  pleasure  and  satisfaction,  and  probably  no  two 
minds  were  ever  more  suddenly  brought  together  in 
agreement  and  sympathy.  He  placed  in  my  hand  the 
second  volume  of  his  works,  and  remarked  that  "  my 
first  lesson  must  be  to  read  law,  philosophy^  though  he 
advised  beginners,  generally,  to  commence  with  the 
first,  which  was  on  organology."  From  this  time  forth 
we  were  together  more  or  less  every  day.  He  honored 
me  with  unlimited  confidence  in  regard  to  his  views  on 
all  subjects,  his  works,  his  plans,  and  his  wishes.  He 
gave  me  control  of  his  business  affairs,  and  placed  in 
my  hands  from  time  to  time  all  his  money,  and  with- 
out counting.  One  day,  when  in  his  room,  he  re- 
marked to  me,  '^  I  believe  I  have  some  money  in  my 
trunk.  Please  take  care  of  it."  I  found  nearly  Hyq 
hundred  dollars  in  gold  on  the  bottom  of  the  trunk, 
but  I  could  not  persuade  Mm  to  count  it.  The  receipts 
from  his  lectures  were  frequently  handed  to  him  tied 
up  in  a  paper  by  his  business  agent,  and  he  would  pass 
them  to  me  unopened  with  the  simple  remark,  "  Please 
take  care  of  this  money."  When  he  died,  all  his  prop- 
erty, papers,  and  money  were  in  my  hands.  But  I 
anticipate. 


HIS    INTEKEST    IN^    PITBLIO   MET^T,    IN   PUBLIC   INSTITUTIONS, 
AND    IN    THE    CLEKaT. 

He  manifested  a  deep  interest  in  the  schools  and 
public  institutions.  He  was  earnest  to  know  about  our 
pubhc  men,  their  opinions  upon  the  great  topics  of  the 


14  ReminisGences  of  Sjpurzheirrb, 

age,  their  habits  in  life,  and  their  methods  of  influence 
and  action.  He  early  became  acquainted  with  Web- 
ster, Qiiincj,  Bowditch,  and  other  distinguished  men 
of  Massachusetts,  and  it  was  remarkable  to  see  with 
what  accuracy  he  could  delineate  their  peculiarities  and 
character.  But  his  opinions  of  men  were  confiden- 
tially communicated,  unless  asked  with  special  motives 
to  some  definite  good.  He  took  a  lively  interest  in  the 
teachings  of  the  clergy.  He  desired  to  hear  all  denom- 
inations of  Christians,  and,  on  every  Sabbath,  we  at- 
tended two  or  three  services  at  the  different  churches. 
In  this  he  was  not  moved  by  any  idle  curiosity,  nor 
with  motives  to  indulge  in  captious  criticism.  He  had 
no  uncharitable  expression  in  regard  to  peculiar  views 
or  differences.  He  was  quick  to  observe  the  natural 
language  of  the  preacher,  and  to  speak  of  any  incon- 
sistency between  that  and  his  teachings.  When  we 
attended  Edward  Beecher's  church  on  Bowdoin  Street, 
the  sexton  politely  ushered  us  into  a  pew  finely  cush- 
ioned and  carpeted.  As  we  were  early  he  had  time  to 
inspect  the  finish  and  the  furniture  of  the  church.  The 
next  pew  he  quickly  observed  was  without  a  carpet  and 
cushions.  "  What !  "  he  whispered  to  me,  "  a  pew  for 
the  rich  and  a  pew  for  the  poor !  This  was  not  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  Christ."  At  another  church,  where 
the  minister  was  distinguished  for  his  personal  appear- 
ance and  oratory,  and  handled  his  prayer-book  and  Bi- 
ble with  grace  and  elegance,  he  whispered :  "  See  what 
Self-esteem!  When  I  met  him  the  other  day  he 
thought  his  Self-esteem  was  small !  " 


Rermniscences  of  Sjpurzheim,  15 

KEV.  HOSEA   BALLOU. 

"When  we  attended  an  afternoon  service  at  Mr.  Bal- 
lou's  on  School  Street,  we  were  accompanied  by  the 
Eev.  Dr.  Tuckerman,  who  was  an  ardent  admirer  of 
Spurzheim.  Ahnost  every  day  he  inquired  after  his 
health  at  his  lodgings,  and,  in  speaking  of  him,  he  said  : 
"  I  have  traveled  much,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and 
have  seen  many  great  and  good  men,  bat  he  is  the  only 
one  that  reminds  me  of  the  character  of  Jesus  Christ." 

Whether  anything  had  been  said  to  Mr.  Ballon  as 
to  our  intention  to  attend  his  church  1  do  not  recol- 
lect. I  think  not,  however.  The  subject  of  his  dis- 
course was  on  the  Universality  of  God's  Love.  He 
was  particularly  earnest  and  eloquent  and  original  in 
his  illustrations.  After  service  we  walked  for  exercise 
toward  Beacon  Street,  and  had  proceeded  some  dis- 
tance before  any  conversation  took  place  in  respect  to 
the  subject  of  Mr.  Ballou's  discourse.  Dr.  Spurzheim 
was  the  first  to  speak,  and  he  highly  commended  the  ser- 
mon. He  said,  "  That  was  good  phrenology."  Dr.  Tuck- 
erman  coincided  with  this  opinion,  but  he  feared  that  the 
preacher  did  not  say  enough  about  the  world  after 
death,  ^*  Ah!"  said  Spurzheim,  with  one  of  those  in- 
telligent and  charming  smiles  for  which  he  was  so  re- 
markable, ''man  did  nothing  to  entitle  him  to  exist- 
ence in  this  beautiful  world.  Teach  him  to  do  his 
best  where  he  is,  and  leave  the  future  to  his  Maker. 
In  Him  our  confidence  should  know  no  limits.  What 
the  Creator  prepares,  man  can  not  alter.  By  trying  to 
understand  what  is  beyond  his  comprehension,  he  is 
very  apt  to  neglect  the  duties  for  which  he  was  created. 


16  HeminiscenGss  of  S_purzheim. 

Let  him  cultivate  the  faith  in  the  immortality  of  the 
Boul  and  practice  the  requisitions  of  Jesus  Christ,  but 
not  impair  the  sublime  results  of  such  a  belief  and 
course  by  narrow  speculations." 

I  can  only  give  the  substance  of  his  remarks,  and 
add  the  fact  that  the  respect  in  which  the  philosopher 
was  held  by  Dr.  Tuckerraan  was  so  great,  deep,  and 
sincere,  he  was  quite  disinclined  to  continue  a  conver- 
sation where  there  was  likely  to  be  any  difference  of 
opinion.  Another  topic  was  soon  introduced,  and  no 
further  allusion  was  made  to  the  discourse. 


EEY.  FATHER  TAYLOR. 

The  manner  and  matter  of  Kev.  Father  Taylor,  the 
Sailor  Preacher,  greatly  interested  him.  He  was  of  the 
Methodist  denomination,  and,  having  been  a  sailor  him- 
self, he  knew  how  to  reach  the  sailor's  heart.  His  church, 
though  built  for  the  sailor,  was  ever  crowded  by  first-class 
people  from  other  societies.  Distinguished  strangers  from 
all  parts  of  the  country  and  from  abroad,  when  visiting 
Boston,  were  sure  to  be  seen  at  the  Bethel  to  hear  Fa- 
ther Taylor.  Of  this  number  may  be  mentioned  J.  S. 
Buckingham,  M.P. ;  Charles  Dickens,  Miss  Martineau, 
Jenny  Lind,  Fredrika  Bremer,  Miss  Sedgwick,  Bev. 
Dr.  Bellows,  and  others ;  all  of  whom  have  noticed  his 
eloquence  in  their  writings.  Sketches  of  his  great 
power  and  interesting  peculiarities  by  these  authors 
and  by  Rev.  Dr.  Clarke,  Dr.  Bartol,  and  others  may 
be  found  in  the  biography  of  Father  Taylor  by  Bev. 
Gilbert  Haven  and  Hon.  Thomas  Bussell.    The  volume 


Jteminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  17 

is  filled  with  anecdotes  and  incidents  of  the  Sailor 
Preacher,  furnishing  ample  evidence  of  his  great  popu- 
larity and  usefulness.  At  a  Conference  in  Buffalo,  in  a 
speech  of  Kev.  Peter  Cartwright  referring  to  Father 
Taylor,  who  had  just  addressed  them,  he  said  :  "  When 
Father  Taylor  was  speaking  I  was  forcibly  reminded 
of  a  remark  made  by  a  foreign  lady  who  visited  this 
country  a  few  years  ago.  She  said  there  were  but  two 
cataracts  in  the  United  States — l^iagara  and  Father 
Taylor — and  I  verily  believe  it."  Pev.  Dr.  Bartol, 
who  was  intimately  acquainted  with  him,  in  a  sermon 
preached  from  the  text,  "  My  father  !  my  father ! "  has 
the  following  passage:  "E^o  American  citizen — Web- 
ster, Clay,  Everett,  Lincoln,  Choate — has  a  reputation 
more  impressive  and  unique.  In  the  hall  of  memory 
his  spiritual  statue  will  have  forever  its  own  niche." 

To  Ksten  to  one  of  his  most  impressive  sermons  was 
like  taking  a  voyage  with  him  at  sea.  His  sailor  lan- 
guage and  sea  phrases  to  illustrate  the  dangers  of  sin 
were  made  as  startling  as  the  terrific  blasts  of  the  tor- 
nado— ^the  foundering  or  the  burning  of  a  ship  on  the 
ocean.  All  hands  were  called  to  duty  with  rapid  utter- 
ances of  command,  with  such  graphic  pictures  of  peril, 
impending  death,  and  a  hopeless  future,  that  his  excited 
audience  would  frequently  rise  from  their  seats  and 
seem  to  be  ready  to  spring  to  the  fearful  conflict  with 
the  tempest.  When,  on  the  other  hand,  he  had  occa- 
sion to  describe  the  beauty  and  safety  of  holiness,  he 
would  sketch  in  the  language  of  a  mariner  a  beautiful 
ship  under  full  sail — commanded  by  a  model  captain 
and  worked  by  a  faithful  crew — grandly  moving  on- 
ward by  steady  and  auspicious  wiads  to  its  destined 


18  Heminiscences  of  SpurzTheim. 

port,  and  clieered  by  the  unerring  lights  of  the  sun, 
moon,  and  stars.  Or,  if  inspired  to  give  his  hearers  a 
realization  of  heaven,  he  would  liken  life  to  a  long  and 
perilous  voyage,  made  terrible  by  shipwrecks  and 
starvation  and  by  almost  miraculous  escapes,  and  then, 
with  a  look  of  joy,  hear  the  welcome  cry  of  "  land,"  the 
haven  of  home,  where  joyous  and  kindred  hearts  were 
ready  to  greet  and  embrace  them.  This  to  the  long- 
absent  and  hard-working  sailor  was  a  heaven  he  could 
see  and  feel  and  understand.  But  language  is  alto- 
gether inadequate  to  describe  the  eloquence  of  Father 
Taylor.  Its  style  and  character  can  only  be  very  im- 
perfectly indicated.  His  originality,  his  unstudied 
flights  of  language,  bursts  of  enthusiasm,  and  evident 
sincerity  were  greatly  admired  by  Spurzheim.  He  had 
found  a  natural  orator  and  a  preacher  who  had  not  been 
trained  by  the  learning  and  logic  of  the  schools.  He 
was  charmed  with  his  sincerity  and  honest  bluntness, 
and  his  freedom  from  all  cant  and  bigotry.  We  make 
the  following  extracts  from  his  biography : 

"  When  an  evangelical  clergyman  had  visited  his 
church  from  curiosity,  and  had  declined  a  seat  in  the 
pulpit  because  it  had  been  once  occupied  by  Rev. 
Henry  Ware  (a  distinguished  Unitarian  clergyman), 
he  fell  on  his  knees  and  made  this  brief  prayer :  '  O 
Lord,  there  are  two  things  that  we  want  to  be  delivered 
from  in  Boston — one  is  bad  rum,  the  other  is  religious 
bigotry.  Which  is  worse  Thou  knowest  and  I  don't. 
Amen ! '  In  the  diary  of  Horace  Mann,  June  4th, 
1873  (Sunday),  is  the  following  entry  ;  ^  Judging  from 
external  indications,  what  do  ministers  care  on  Monday 
at   a  dinner-party  or  a  "jam,"  which  way  souls  are 


Heminiscences  of  Spur^hevm.  19 

sleeping  ?     Let  me  always  except  in  this  city,  however, 
Dr.  Channing  and  good  old  Father  Taylor.' " 

I  have  made  these  brief  allusions  to  Father  Taylor,  as 
my  pleasant  recollections  of  him  are  associated  with 
Spnrzheim.  I  enjoyed  his  friendship  and  admired  his 
character.  He  was  a  devoted  admirer  of  Spnrzheim 
and  constantly  attended  his  lectures  and  introduced 
him  to  his  family  at  home.  He  could  not  repress  his 
enthusiasm  when  speaking  of  him  after  his  death,  and 
frequently  repeated  the  superlative  remark,  "  He  was 
the  only  preacher  I  have  ever  heard  on  earths" 


SPTJKZHEIm's   mTEREST   m   PUBLIC   INSTITUTIONS- 
EDUCATION. 

During  the  day-time.  Dr.  Spurzheim  was  mostly  en- 
gaged in  visiting  the  various  institutions  of  Boston,  and 
in  the  vicinity,  and  returning  the  calls  of  friends.  In 
his  visits  to  our  prisons  and  institutions  of  beneficence, 
he  uniformly  discovered  great  interest  for  the  welfare 
of  man,  by  his  observations  and  inquiries  with  respect 
to  all  the  details  of  peculiarities,  discipline,  and  results. 

On  invitation  of  President  Quiney,  he  was  present  at 
the  exercises  of  Harvard  University,  on  Commence- 
ment day,  and  attended  those  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa 
Society  on  the  day  following. 

His  visits  to  our  institutions  were  generally  made  in 
haste,  as  it  was  his  intention,  at  a  time  of  more  leisure, 
to  revisit  them.  We  can  not  but  regret  that  it  so  hap- 
pened, as  his  deliberate  and  explicit  judgment  upon 
character,  and  the  natural  dispositions  of  our  children, 


20  ReminisGences  of  Spurzheim. 

would  have  afforded  us  a  clearer  view  of  the  practical 
importance  of  his  system.  It  was  astonishing  to  see 
with  what  facility  he  could  point  out  among  the  pupils 
of  a  school,  those  who  were  remarkable  for  any  supe- 
riority or  deficiency.  His  quick  and  penetrating  eye 
seemed  to  read  the  very  thoughts  and  feelings  of  those 
around  him,  and  his  remarks  which  immediately  fol- 
lowed, showed  his  entire  confidence  in  the  truth  of  his 
science  and  the  certainty  of  his  decisions.  He  discov- 
ered no  solicitude  in  making  known  his  opinions,  but 
generally  expressed  them  without  even  asking  whether 
they  were  right  or  wrong.  He  had  been  too  strict  an 
observer  of  human  nature  not  to  be  acquainted  with 
the  extent  and  accm^acy  of  his  own  discriminating  pow- 
ers, and  his  conclusions  invariably  proved  that  there  was 
no  cause  for  any  apprehension  of  failure. 


VISIT   TO   THE   MONITORIAL    SCHOOL. 

The  following  account  of  his  visit  to  the  Monitorial 
School  is  extracted  from  a  paper  read  before  the  Bos- 
ton Phrenological  Society,  by  Mr.  Wm.  B.  Fowle,  the 
accomplished  teacher  of  that  Seminary  for  girls : 

"  Soon  after  the  commencement  of  Dr.  Spurzheim's 
lectures  in  Boston,  understanding  that  some  peculiari- 
ties of  my  school  had  led  him  to  express  a  wish  to 
visit  it,  I  requested  a  gentleman  to  invite  him  to  visit 
the  school  whenever  he  pleased.  He  came  October  3d, 
accompanied  by  the  gentleman  before  mentioned.  It 
had  been  previously  hinted  to  the  pupils  that  Dr.  S. 
would  visit  the  school,  and  they  having  imbibed  the 


Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  21 

notion  that  he  could  see  farther  than  their  teacher,  were 
by  no  means  at  ease,  when  a  very  tall,  stout  man,  with 
an  exterior  rather  commanding  to  children,  was  intro- 
duced. The  first  impression  upon  the  minds  of  the 
pupils  was  unfavorable  to  their  ease,  hut  the  counte- 
nance of  the  Doctor,  which  expressed  the  delight  he  felt 
at  the  sight  of  so  many  interesting  subjects  for  the  exer- 
cise of  his  skill,  soon  removed  all  apprehension. 

"  The  children  were  engaged   at   their  desks  in    a 
variety  of  exercises,  and  I  requested  him  to  walk  freely 
among  them,  remarking  that  he  probably  did  not  wish 
to  see  any  exhibition   of  their  acquirements.     This  I 
said,  because  I  wished  hhn,  if  he  gave  any  opinions,  to 
do  it  while  unacquainted  with  the  points  of  excellence 
which  would  naturally  be  developed  by  any  exhibition. 
'*I  had  just  corrected  some  pieces  of  composition, 
and  I  remarked  to  him  that  one  short  piece  seemed  to 
have  such  a  phrenological  bearing,  that  it  might  amuse 
him.     He  read  it,  and  said  he  should  like  to  see  the 
child  that  wrote  it.     I  told  him  where  she  sat,  and  we 
purposely  walked  in  that  direction.     Before  we  reached 
her,  '  Ah,'  said  he,  '  Caution.^      '  Ask  her,'  said  he, 
'  whether  she  ever  heard  any  discussion  upon  the  points 
touched  in  her  theme  ? '     I  asked  the  question,  and  she, 
blushing  deeply,  replied,  that  she  never  had  heard  any 
one  speak  on  the  subject.     '  Well,  my  dear,  you  have 
not  given  your  own  opinion ;  to  which  side  of  the  ques- 
tion do  you  incline  ? '     She  hesitated,  and  he  turned  to 
me  and  said, '  Caution  will  take  time  to  consider.'     She 
then  gave  her  opinion  with  great  modesty,  and  it  hap- 
pened to  favor  his  view  of  the  subject.     '  A  fine  head,' 
said  he  to  me,  '  a  fine  head.     What  Conscientiousness  ! 


22  a  eminisGences  of  Spurzheim. 

and  then  what  Firmness !  A  fine  model  of  what  a  fe- 
male head  should  be.'  ...  .  With  a  perfect  knowledge 
of  her  character,  having  had  her  under  my  care  for 
seven  years,  I  could  not  have  described  her  peculiar  ex- 
cellences as  readily  as  he  did. 

"  As  we  tm'ned  to  proceed  back  to  my  desk,  he  laid 
his  hand  upon  the  head  of  a  little  girl  about  ^yq  years 
old.  '  Fun,  fun,'  said  he,  and  laughed,  '  Courage  too,' 
said  he, '  look  out  for  pranks.'  The  child  had  only  been 
my  pupil  three  or  four  days,  but  she  had  already  exhib- 
ited symptoms  of  insubordination.  A  few  months'  more 
experience  proved  her  playful  to  excess,  and  so  courage- 
ous in  the  pursuit  of  fun,  that  she  disregarded  the  re- 
straints I  usually  impose  upon  insubordination  and  in- 
attention." .... 

Several  pupils,  having  marked  peculiarities,  were 
pointed  out  by  Mr.  Fowle,  and  without  communicating 
any  information  respecting  them,  but  Spurzheim  seemed 
to  know  them  better  than  their  teacher. 

"  I  next  called  up  a  little  girl,  whom  he  pronounced 
quick  at  figures.  She  is  the  quickest  I  have- ever  seen 
in  the  elements  of  arithmetic.  I  then  called  up  the 
head  and  foot  of  a  class  formed  of  three  or  four  classes 
that  I  had  been  reviewing,  and  asked  him  which  was 
the  best  arithmetician.  He  instantly  pointed  her  out, 
but  said,  '  the  other  was  not  deficient.' 

"By  this  time  the  curiosity  of  the  pupils  was  so  much 
excited,  that  regular  work  was  interrupted.  Children 
that  had  been  called,  remained  standing  around  the 
Doctor,  and  in  a  short  time  others  joined  them,  and  he 
had  an  audience  of  twenty  or  thirty.  He  was  a  decided 
favorite.     At  this  moment,  a  few  of  the  larger  pupils 


Reminiscences  of  SpurBheim.  23 

brought  forward  a  Miss  about  thirteen  years  old,  who 
had,  as  they  thought,  a  very  small  head,  and  respect- 
fully requested  Dr.  S.  to  tell  what  her  head  was  good 
for.  He  turned  to  me  and  said,  '  Imitation,  oh,  how 
full ! '  I  asked  him  how  it  would  be  likely  to  show  it- 
self. '  In  mimicry,'  said  he,  '  as  likely  as  in  any  way. 
Is  she  not  a  great  mimic  ? '  I  had  never  suspected  her 
of  any  such  disposition,  and  turning  to  her  companions, 
I  asked  them  if  they  had  ever  seen  her  attempt  to  mimic 
any  one.  *  Oh,  sir,'  said  they, '  she  is  the  greatest  mimic 
you  ever  saw.  She  takes  everybody  off.'  This  was 
news  to  me.  '  You  may  rely  upon  it,'  said  Dr.  S.,  '  she 
will  be  taking  me  and  my  foreign  accent  off,  before  I 
leave  the  room.'  This  proved  to  be  a  true  prediction. 
Before  he  left,  she  was  seen  to  be  manipulating  the 
heads  of  her  companions,  in  his  peculiar  way. 

"  His  visit  lasted  only  two  hours,  and  he  left  the 
school  much  to  the  regret  of  the  pupils,  to  whom  his 
easy  manners,  benevolent  advice,  and  knowledge  of  their 
thoughts,  had  strongly  recommended  him.  IS^ext  day, 
they  requested  me  to  beg  him  to  honor  them  with 
another  visit.  He  promised  to  do  so,  but  his  engage- 
ments prevented  him." 

When  at  the  Massachusetts  State  Prison,  he  selected 
one  who  probably  would,  as  he  said,  soon  return  if  he 
were  liberated.  The  prisoner  was  there  for  life.  He 
pointed  out  another  who  had,  as  he  remarked,  no  par- 
ticular development  that  should  have  led  him  to  crime ; 
and  on  inquiry,  the  prisoner  acknowledged  that  he  was 
there  for  acts  committed  while  in  a  state  of  intoxica- 
tion. He  thought  the  heads  of  the  prisoners,  compared 
with  others  of  similar  institutions,  were  unusually  good, 


24:  He^niniscences  of  SjpuTzkeim. 

and  lie  explained  this  upon  the  ground  that  a  large  pro- 
portion  of  them,  previous  to  their  commitment,  were 
addicted  to  habits  of  intemperance,  and  were  influenced 
bj  other  than  natural  causes. 


YISIT   TO    "  HANCOCK  SCHOOL,"  AJSTD  ''  THE  SMITH  SCHOOL  " 
FOR   COLORED   CHILDREN. 

He  visited  the  Hancock  School,  Boston,  and  the  fol- 
lowing extract  is  taken  from  a  note  received  from  the 
Principal,  Mr.  Barnum  Field  : 

"  In  anwer  to  inquiry  respecting  the  visit  of  Dr. 
Spurzheim  to  mj  school,  I  would  observe  that  his  object 
seemed  to  be  to  understand  the  physical  and  intellectual 
condition  of  the  pupils. 

"  The  aptness  of  his  questions  to  the  subject,  and  the 
originality  of  thought  produced  by  them,  excited  the 
most  lively  interest  in  the  pupils.  His  examination  of 
their  intellectual  progress,  though  perfectly  simple,  was 
more  appropriate  and  interesting  than  anything  of  the 
kind  I  have  ever  witnessed.*' 

The  schools  kept  for  the  children  of  the  colored  popu- 
lation, received  his  especial  attention.  He  remarked, 
"  that  Individuality  and  Eventuality  were  strong  in  the 
negro  children  ;  the  reflective  faculties  less,  and  the 
whole  forehead,  in  general^  smaller  than  in  the  whites. 
They  will  receive  their  first  education  as  quick,  if  not 
quicker  than  the  white;  they  can  read  and  speak  as 
well,  but  they  will  be  deficient  in  the  English  High 
School."    This  judgment  was  confirmed  by  the  teachers. 


Heminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  25 

FIEST    APPEARANCE    BEFORE  A    BOSTON     AUDIENCE HIS 

LECTURES    IN   BOSTON     AND  CAMBRIDGE HIS     ENGAGE- 
MENTS  HEALTH,  AND   THE  EVENTS  OF    HIS   SICKNESS 

HIS    DEATH. 

^  The  first  time  Dr.  Spurzheim  appeared  before  an 
andience  in  this  country  to  speak,  was  at  a  meeting  of 
the  American  Institute,  in  tlie  Representatives'  Hall  of 
the  State  House,  Boston.  He  delivered,  at  the  request 
of  that  institution,  a  lecture  on  Education. 

When  it  was  known  that  he  was  to  spea.k,  there  was 
a  general  interest  excited,  all  had  a  desire  to  see  and 
hear  him,  and  the  occasion  brought  together  a  large  and 
most  respectable  audience  of  ladies  and  gentlemen.  He 
delivered  his  lecture  without  notes  (as  he  always  did), 
and  was  listened  to  with  profound  attention.  The 
audience  seemed  to  be  perfectly  delighted.  His  views 
were  original  and  practical,  and  all  could  understand 
them. 

On  the  17th  of  September  he  commenced  a  course  of 
eighteen  lectures  on  Phrenology,  at  the  Athengeum 
Hall,  Boston,  and  soon  after  another  course  at  the  Uni- 
versity, Cambridge.  These  lectures  occupied  six  even- 
ings in  the  week.  He  delivered,  besides,  in  the  after- 
noon of  every  other  day,  a  course  of  five  lectures  before 
the  Medical  Faculty  and  other  professional  gentlemen 
of  Boston  and  vicinity,  on  the  Anatomy  of  the  Brain. 
His  lectures,  both  in  Boston  and  at  the  University, 
excited  great  and  lively  interest.  They  attracted  alike 
the  fashionable  and  the  learned,  the  gay  and  the  grave, 
the  aged  and  the  young,  the  skeptic  and  the  Christian. 
Our  most  eminent  men,  as  well  as  humble  citizens, 
2 


26  RerrwniscenGes  of  Spurzheim. 

were  early  at  the  Hall  to  secure  eligible  seats ;  and  they 
were  ahke  profoundly  silent  and  attentive  to  the  elo- 
quence and  philosophy  of  the  lecturer.  Whether  con- 
viction or  doubt  followed  his  words  in  the  minds  of  his 
hearers,  all  uniformly  yielded  to  thoughts  and  feelings 
of  admiration.  The  simplicity  of  his  views,  his  unaf- 
fected and  amiable  manners,  his  strict  adherence  to 
facts  and  candid  discussion  of  doctrines,  all  bespoke  the 
Christian  and  philosopher.  Some  of  those  who  at  first 
attended  with  a  view  to  collect  materials  for  amuse- 
ment, or  for  ridicule,  were  among  the  earliest  to  become 
converts  to  his  system ;  and  among  those  of  his  most 
constant  and  devoted  auditors  were  some  of  our  most 
respectable  and  intelligent  ladies. 

Having  excited  a  most  favorable  interest  among  our 
citizens,  in  relation  to  Phrenology,  he  labored  with  great 
earnestness  to  elucidate  the  principles  of  the  science. 
His  lectures  in  the  city  were  generally  an  hour  and  a 
half  in  length,  and  at  Cambridge  two  hours;  and  he 
often  remained  at  the  close  of  the  lecture  to  answer 
such  questions  as  his  auditors  might  feel  disposed  to 
ask,  and  many  at  this  time  sought  an  introduction  to 
him.  While  he  remained  in  the  Hall  he  was  generally 
surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  admirers  who  seemed  to  lose 
the  faculty  of  counting  time. 

His  time  and  presence  were  in  constant  demand. 
There  was  hardly  an  hour  in  the  day,  after  9  o'clock 
A.M.,  during  which  he  was  not  engaged  either  in  receiv- 
ing company  or  making  visits.  This  was  not  all.  The 
httle  time  which  he  had  after  the  close  of  his  lectures, 
of  almost  every  evening  of  the  week,  was  claimed,  and 
he  too  often   yielded  to  the  pressing   invitations   of 


Reminiscences  of  Sjmrzheim,  & 

friends.  He  was  early  to  rise,  and  much  of  the  time 
he  had  before  breakfast  was  given  to  the  preparation 
of  new  editions  of  his  works  for  the  press. 

Although  he  had  naturally  a  strong  constitution,  his 
exertions  were  more  than  he  could  endure.  Of  this  he 
was  fully  sensible  himself,  and  frequently  observed  that 
his  health  would  require  him  to  lessen  his  labors,  and 
that  he  should  not  engage,  after  his  first  course,  to  give 
more  than  three  lectures  a  week.  When  he  complained 
of  any  illness,  he  generally  attributed  it  to  a  change  of 
diet,  to  eating  of  food  to  which  he  had  not  been  accus- 
tomed ;  or,  as  he  generally  expressed  himself,  "  The 
natural  laws  have  been  violated,  and  I  must  suffer  the 
penalty ;  I  must  live  simple,  and  nature  will  correct  the 
evil."  He  presumed  upon  his  powerful  constitution 
before  he  became  accustomed  to  our  chmate.  I  fre- 
quently found  him  writing  in  his  room  at  an  open  win- 
dow early  in  cool  October  mornings.  Invariably  when 
I  entered  he  would  close  the  sash.  When  asked  the 
reason  for  so  doing,  he  kindly  remarked,  '*  Oh,  I  can 
stand  what  you  can  not."  JSTo  man  had  more  confidence 
in  the  strength  of  his  constitution  and  in  the  internal 
corrective  power  of  nature  than  Spurzheim.  He  had 
become  so  familiar  with  the  natural  laws  of  man,  that 
he  almost  fancied  they  were  under  his  control.  In 
answer  to  comphments  regarding  his  health,  we  have 
heard  him  reply,  with  a  confident  smile,  "  I  am  well,  I 
thank  you ;  I  am  always  well." 

In  his  funeral  oration,  Prof.  Follen  says :  "  We  have 
seen  him  sitting  down  to  sumptuous  meals  provided  in 
houor  of  him,  and  have  seen  him  fasting  for  the  want 
of  food  adapted  to  his  simple  tastes." 


28  JRemmiscences  of  Spurzheim. 

"At  one  of  his  lectures  in  Boston,"  continues  the 
same  author,  "the  beautiful  lecture  on  charity  and 
mutual  forbearance,  while  he  was  diffusing  light  and 
warmth  among  his  hearers,  he  was  seen  suddenly  shiv- 
ering." 

When  leaving  the  hall,  after  his  lecture  on  natural 
language,  he  said :  "  I  feel  quite  ill,  and  I  am  afraid  my 
own  natural  language  has  been  too  strong  for  the  pleas- 
ure of  my  hearers." 

Eegardless  of  the  entreaties  of  his  friends,  he  contin- 
ued to  fulfill  his  engagements.  His  lectures  were  nearly 
finished,  and  he  had  a  most  ardent  desire  to  close  them 
before  he  rested.  "  The  arrangement  has  been  made," 
said  he,  "  the  public  will  expect  to  hear  me  at  the  stated 
time,  and  when  I  have  finished,  it  will  be  a  relief  to 
know  that  I  can  rest  without  disappointing  others." 

On  the  evening  of  the  last  lecture,  it  was  very  appa- 
rent that  his  illness  had  increased.  When  he  arrived 
at  the  Temple,  although  he  rode  in  a  close  carriage,  we 
observed  a  free  and  cold  perspiration  on  his  face,  and 
saw  that  he  was  unusually  pale  and  occasionally  affect- 
ed by  chills.  In  his  lecture  h^  appeared  grave  and  fee- 
ble, and  did  not  discover  that  lively  animation  which 
usually  lighted  up  his  countenance  and  characterized 
his  performances.  He  greatly  exerted  himself  to  edify 
his  hearers,  but  they  seemed  to  be  more  concerned  for 
his  health  than  interested  in  his  subject.  They  rather 
sympathized  with  the  sick  man  than  listened  to  the 
philosopher. 

It  was  ascertained  at  the  close  of  the  lecture  that 
the  hall  in  the  Temple  could  not  be  had  for  the  next 
evening,  and  he,  wishing  to  consult  the  convenience  of 


ReminisGences  of  Spurzheim,  29 

his  audience,  asked,  with  one  of  his  benignant  smiles, 
"  In  what  place  shall  we  meet  next  time  ?  "  A  ques- 
tion, though  answered  bj  man,  it  pleased  the  Almighty 
Disposer  of  Events  to  answer  in  the  counsel  of  His  own 
will,  leaving  mortals  to  dwell  upon  the  infirmities  of 
human  nature,  and  to  stand  in  awe  before  the  inexplic- 
able decrees  of  Divine  Providence  ! 

He  returned  to  his  lodgings,  never  to  leave  them.  It 
was  difficult,  even  then,  to  persuade  him  that  he  was 
too  sick  to  lecture.  He  consented  to  a  postponement 
of  only  two  or  three  days,  and  until  the  expiration  of 
that  time  he  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  acknowl- 
edge the  importance  and  necessity  of  entire  cessation 
from  labor.  He  entertained  the  idea  that  exertion 
would  have  an  influence  in  restoring  his  system. 

A  new  obstacle  now  presented  itseK ;  he  was  a^^erse 
to  all  medicine.  While  in  England  he  suffered  from  a 
severe  fit  of  sickness,  owing,  as  he  then  supposed,  to 
change  of  climate,  and  afterward  another  when  he  re- 
turned to  France.  In  both  cases  he  submitted  to  the 
advice  and  prescriptions  of  physicians,  and  from  what 
he  saw  in  his  own  experience,  he  inferred  that  it  was  not 
safe  to  place  too  much  confidence  in  the  skill  of  the  Fac^ 
ulty  or  in  the  virtue  of  drugs.  He  said  that  "  Cuvier 
had  been  bled,  though  he  (Dr.  Spurzheim)  protested 
against  it,  believing  that  literary  men  did  not  bear  that 
evacuation,  that  his  own  constitution  was  very  sensitive, 
and  that  from  his  childhood  he  had  never  been  able  to 
bear  medicine." 

For  several  days  after  he  had  first  complained,  there 
were  no  symptoms  that  gave  rise  to  any  serious  appre- 
hension or  alarm.     He  considered  himself  as  slightly 


30  IteminiscenGes  of  Spurzheim. 

indisposed,  and  confidently  believed  that  his  chosen 
physician,  nature,  would  heal  and  restore  him.  Had 
these  moments  been  enjoyed  in  rest  and  quietude,  it  is 
possible  that  the  fatal  grasp  of  disease  might  have  been 
avoided.     But  this  was  not  to  be. 

Receiving  no  relief  from  his  own  choice,  he  consent- 
ed that  I  should  call  Dr.  James  Jackson,  who  at  that 
time  stood  at  the  head  of  the  Faculty,  not  only  in  Bos- 
ton, but  in  ISTew  England.  This  distinguished  physi- 
cian attended  him  from  the  30th  of  October  till  his 
death,  which  occurred  at  11  o'clock  on  Saturday 
night,  IS'ovember  10th.  He  died  without  a  groan  or  a 
struggle.     - 

On  the  following  Monday  his  death  was  announced 
in  the  daily  papers  as  an  irreparable  loss  to  the  world, 
in  language  that  betokened  a  deep  and  common  sorrow. 

Dr.  Ware  and  Dr.  Stevenson  were  called  in  consul- 
tation several  days  before  his  death,  but  they  suggested 
no  change  of  treatment.  The  course  pursued  by  Dr. 
Jackson  was  not  only  approved  by  Dr.  Spurzheim  him- 
self, but  by  all  of  the  most  eminent  in  the  profession, 
who  were  constant  in  their  attendance  to  afford  aid.  I 
had  a  long  list  of  physiciaus,  from  which  I  selected  two 
to  be  with  him  at  his  bedside  every  night.  Immedi- 
ately after  his  death  Dr.  Jackson  published  in  the  daily 
papers  a  detailed  statement  of  his  case.  It  is  too  long 
to  be  copied,  and  only  a  brief  extract  is  made  in  respect 
to  Dr.  Spurzheim's  disease.  He  says :  "  I  should  de- 
scribe it  thus :  It  was  continued  fever,  in  which  the 
symptoms  of  the  access  came  on  insidiously,  and  were 
alone  for  many  days ;  the  symptoms  of  the  other  stages 
never  became  very  prominent ;  those  of  a  crisis  never 


MeminiscenGes  of  Spurzheim,  31 

appeared.  There  was  not  evidence  of  inflammation  in 
any  organ  of  the  body.  If  inflammation  did  exist,  it 
must  be  called  latent." 

During  the  last  week  of  his  illness  he  frequently 
complained  of  the  want  of  light.  On  the  evening  of 
the  5th  he  said,  "  The  light  is  dirty,  artificial ;  I  want 
natural  light."  He  made  the  same  complaint  on  the 
succeeding  night,  and  wanted  the  doors  and  windows 
opened  to  admit  more  air.  The  admission  of  light 
into  the  room  when  morning  appeared  gave  him  great 
pleasure. 

He  believed  the  air  of  the  city  to  be  bad  and  close, 
and  was  anxious  that  a  carriage  should  be  procured  to 
take  him  out  to  Cambridge,  where  it  was  pure.  His 
mind  was  so  strongly  impressed  with  this  idea,  that  his 
friends  could  hardly  persuade  him  that  the  step  would 
be  dangerous,  and  perhaps  fatal.  This  was  a  trying 
scene  for  those  who  were  present.  To  be  obliged  to 
deny  a  request  made  by  one  whom  they  loved  and 
respected,  and  which  was  urged  with  every  interesting 
expression  of  deep  feeling,  of  reason,  and  of  right,  was 
indeed  a  painful  duty  to  perform.  It  was  more  than 
painful ;  it  was  performed  in  anguish. 

It  was  thought  by  some,  at  the  time,  that  he  was  de- 
ranged ;  but  he  had  spoken  of  the  subject  frequently, 
and  had  reasoned  himself  into  the  belief  that  his  recov- 
ery depended  upon  the  measure.  On  the  assurance  of 
his  physician,  however,  that  such  a  remove  would  be 
impossible  without  great  danger,  he  acquiesced,  and 
after  that  made  no  allusion  to  it. 

About  a  week  before  his  death  two  letters  were  re- 
ceived for  him  from  Paris,  to  which  we  have  already 


33  Hernvniscences  of  Spurzheim, 

alluded.  "When  told  of  their  arrival,  he  seemed  to  be 
reanimated,  and  at  the  same  time  profoundly  affected. 
He  grasped  the  lettera  with  a  mingled  expression  of 
fervent  gladness  and  sorrow  we  shall  never  forget,  and 
pressing  them  to  his  lips,  he  laid  down  and  wept.  The 
language  of  his  soul  shook  his  noble  frame,  and  with 
the  simplicity  of  a  child  he  silently  expressed,  by  his 
tears  and  deep-heaving  bosom,  that  to  a  mighty  mind 
God  had  united  a  loving  heart. 

Although  these  letters,  so  precious  in  his  sight,  arrived 
to  gladden  him  in  his  illness,  yet  he  had  not  strength 
sufficient  to  read  them.  He  would  not  suffer  them  for 
some  time  to  be  taken  from  him,  and  frequently  at- 
tempted to  read  their  contents,  but  with  little  success. 

One  day  he  called  for  his  watch,  to  which  were 
attached  several  seals  and  rings.  He  viewed  one  of 
them  for  some  moments  with  an  expression  of  intense 
thought,  and  appeared  to  derive  an  exquisite  pleasure 
from  the  act.  Who  will  say  that  a  gift  from  a  friend 
we  love  can  be  kept  too  sacredly,  when  such  a  mind  as 
that  of  Spurzheim  acknowledged  and  enjoyed  the  pres- 
ence and  the  touch  of  a  simple  ring  ?  Tokens  of  true 
friendship  become  sources  of  delight  by  association. 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  9th  he  called  for  the  writer 
of  these  pages  and  lawyers.  When  told  that  he  was 
present,  he  immediately  signified  a  wish  to  be  raised 
Tip,  and  could  only  recognize  his  friend  by  a  pressure  of 
his  hand.  His  eyes  were  nearly  closed,  his  mouth  and 
tongue  dry,  and  his  strength  was  insufficient  to  sustain 
his  body.  He  attempted  to  speak,  but  in  vain.  His 
friend,  being  satisfied  that  he  (Dr.  Spurzheim)  was  con- 
scious of  his  approaching  dissolution,  assured  him  that 


Rermniscences  of  Spurzheim.  33 

no  duty  would  be  omitted,  and  that  everything  would 
be  properly  done.  But  this  assurance  did  not  seem  to 
aid  him  to  speak  his  wishes.  Attempts  were  made  to 
solve  them,  but  in  vain.  The  wisdom  of  living  mortals 
could  not  fathom  the  departing  mind,  nor  give  strength 
to  the  dying  body. 

BUs  inability  grieved  him,  and  for  a  moment  we  saw 
an  expression  of  despairing  grief  pass  over  his  counte- 
nance, and  an  inward  struggling  to  make  known  his 
death-bed  request.  That  he  had  something  particular 
to  say,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  as  he  expressed  a  wish  to 
make  some  communication  to  the  writer  soon  after  his 
confinement,  but  feeling  too  ill  at  the  time,  he  said, 
"  To-morrow,  when  I  shall  feel  better."  To-morrow 
came,  and  days  succeeded,  but  not  to  witness  the  re- 
turning health  of  Spurzheim. 

When  his  sickness  began  to  grow  more  dangerous,  he 
said  to  one  of  his  best  friends,  "  I  must  die,"  His  friend 
replied,  "  I  hope  not ; "  and  he  added,  "  Oh,  yes,  I  must 
die ;  I  wish  to  live  as  long  as  I  can  for  the  good  of  the 
science,  but  I  am  not  afraid  of  death."  He  never  mur- 
mured at  his  sickness,  but  awaited  its  issue  with  entire 
submission. 

The  scenes  at  his  lodgings  during  his  sickness  and 
just  preceding  his  death  were  of  painful  interest.  The 
man  who  had  so  lately  appeared  in  public,  apparently 
enjoying  all  the  blessings  of  hcaltli ;  who  had,  by  his 
learning  and  eloquence,  excited  the  wonder  and  admi- 
ration of  our  citizens — lay  prostrate  and  helpless,  and 
seemingly  unconscious  of  those  who  surrounded  his  bed. 
^Nothing  was  heard  but  the  laborious  breathing  of  him 
who  was  the  object  of  attention,  and  the  low  and  mel- 
2* 


34:  MeminiscenGes  of  SpurzJieim. 

ancholy  wMspers  of  his  numerous  inquiring  friends. 
Sadness  and  despondency  clouded  every  countenance, 
and  the  silent  language  of  the  feelings  told  that  a  spirit 
respected  and  beloved  was  about  to  depart  from  earth. 
Men  advanced  in  age  and  accustomed  to  the  hardening 
cares  of  life  gazed  upon  the  face  that  had  so  recently 
smiled  upon  them,  and  left  the  room  weeping  at  the 
sight  of  so  vast  a  change.  But  a  few  hours  before  his 
death,  says  Prof.  Foil  en,  "  I  saw  him,  with  his  hands 
folded  upon  his  breast,  while  deep  tranquillity  was  rest- 
ing on  his  uplifted  countenance,  as  if  saying  within 
himseK  the  prayer  which  was  ever  in  his  heart  and  upon 
his  tongue,  '  Father,  thy  will  be  done.'  " 

It  was  not  my  privilege  to  be  with  him  in  his  last 
moments.  He  had  so  frequentlj^  enjoined  me  not  to 
remain  in  the  sick-room  after  9  o'clock  p.m.,  I  sacredly 
heeded  his  injunctions,  although  he  was  unconscious  of 
all  earthly  surroundings.  His  kind  and  constant  solici- 
tude in  regard  to  my  health  and  happiness  will  forever' 

be  to  me 

**The  Morning-star  of  memory." 


PEEPARATI0N"S    FOR    A    PUBLIC    FUNEEAL PE0CEEDrN"G8 

OF     COMMITTEES HIS     PEOPERTT PKOCEEDINGS     OF 

BOSTON     MEDICAL     SOCIETY THE     FUNERAL     AT     THE 

"  OLD    SOUTH     CHURCH  " PROF.    FOLLEn's    ORATION 

PIERPONt's     ode NOTICES    OF   THE   PRESS HIS    CHAE- 

-ACTER. 


Early  on  the  following  morning,  after  his  death, 
quite  a  number  of  the  friends  of  the  deceased,  both  in 


Reminiscences  of  Sjmrzheim.  35 

Boston  and  Cambridge,  were  notified  to  meet  for  the 
purpose  of  adopting  snch  measures  as  the  solemn  occa- 
sion required.  The  following  is  from  the  published  ac- 
count of  their  proceedings : 

"  On  Sunday,  the  11th  day  of  IS'ovember,  1832,  the 
morning  after  the  decease  of  Dr.  Spurzheim,  a  number 
of  his  friends  assembled  at  his  late  apartments  for  the 
purpose  of  considering  what  measures  should  be  taken 
on  this  melancholy  occasion. 

"  The  Hon.  Josiah  Quictct,  President  of  Harvard 
University,  being  called  to  the  chair,  and  J.  Greely 
Stevenson,  M.D.,  appointed  Secretary,  a  deliberation 
took  place  on  the  measures  which  should  be  adopted  to 
express  a  sense  of  the  public  loss  sustained  by  the  death 
of  this  distinguished  man,  and  of  the  impression  made 
by  his  talents  and  virtues  on  those  who  had  enjoyed  the 
privilege  of  his  acquaintance  during  his  short  residence 
in  this  city.  The  gentlemen  assembled  also  took  into 
consideration  what  disposition  should  be  made  of  his 
remains,  so  as  to  place  them  at  the  future  disposal  of 
his  European  relatives  and  friends,  in  case  they  should 
be  hereafter  claimed  by  them,  and  in  whose  hands  his 
papers,  casts,  and  other  property  should  be  deposited, 
so  as  to  secure  them  from  the  possibility  of  being  dam- 
aged, diminished,  or  lost,  until  some  person  legally  au- 
thorized should  take  them  into  possession. 

"  Whereupon  it  was  voted, 

"  1.  That  the  arrangement  of  the  funeral  obsequies  of 
the  deceased,  and  of  the  measures  proper  to  be  adopted 
to  express  a  sense  of  the  public  loss  by  the  death  of 
Dr.  Spurzheim,  and  the  respect  entertained  by  the  in- 
habitants of  this  city  and  its  vicinity  for  his  talents  and 


36  Reminiscences  of  Sjpurzheim. 

virtues,  be  committed  to  Josiah  Qnincj,  LL.D.,  Pres- 
ident of  Harvard  University  '^  ISTathaniel  Bowditch, 
LL.D.,  Joseph  Story,  LL.D.,  Joseph  Tuckerman,  D.D., 
Charles  Follen,  J.U.D.,  Jonathan  Barber,  M.D., 
Charles  Beck,  P.D.,  William  G-rigg,  M.D.,  George 
Bond  and  Charles  P.  Curtis,  Esquires. 

"  11.  That  the  body  of  Spukzheim  be  examined  and 
embalmed  and  be  placed  in  such  a  situation  as  will  ren- 
der it  most  suitable  to  be  transmitted  to  his  European, 
relatives  and  friends  should  they  request  it,  and  also 
that  a  cast  of  his  head  be  taken  under  the  superintend- 
ence of  Drs.  John  C.  Warren,  James  Jackson,  George 
G.  Shattuck,  Walter  Channing,  George  Parkman,  John 
Ware,  Edward  Reynolds,  Winslow  Lewis,  Jr.,  J.  Greely 
Stevenson,  John  D.  Eisher,  William  Grigg,  and  Samuel 
G.  Howe. 

"  III.  Yoted,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Capen,  That  the  pa- 
pers, casts,  and  other  property  of  the  deceased  be  com- 
mitted to  John  Pickering,  LL.D.,  Nathaniel  Bowditch, 
LL.D.,  Thomas  Ward  and  J^ahum  Capen,  Esquires, 
and  that  they  be  requested  to  secure  the  same  until 
such  disposition  be  made  of  them  as  the  laws  of  the 
land  in  such  cases  provide. 

''A  true  transcript  of  the  proceedings. 

"Josiah  Quinoy,  Chai/rman. 

"  {Attest) :  J.  Gjreelt  Stevenson,  Secretary ^ 

At  a  meeting  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the 
friends  of  the  late  Dr.  Spuezheim  to  take  charge  of  his 
funeral  obsequies,  and  to  adopt  measures  proper  to  ex- 
press a  sense  of  the  public  loss  sustained  by  the  death 
of  Dr.  Spuezheim  and  the  respect  entertained  by  the 


Remm/iscences  of  Sjpurzheim.  37 

inhabitants  of  this  city  and  vicinity  for  his  talents  and 
virtues,  holden  on  the  11th  of  E^oveniber,  1832,  it  was 
"  Yoted^  That  the  body  of  the  deceased  be  conveyed 
on  Saturday,  tlie  17th  inst.,  at  two  o'clock  p.m.,  to  the 
Old  South  Meeting-house,  where  appropriate  services 
shall  be  performed,  after  which  the  body  shall  be  con- 
veyed to  the  receiving  tomb  belonging  to  the  trustees 
of  Mount  Auburn,  there  to  remain  until  the  determina- 
tion of  his  European  friends  shall  be  known,  and  that 
it  be  attended  from  the  Old  South  Chui'ch  to  the  ceme- 
tery in  Park  Street  by  a  voluntary  procession  composed 
of  the  members  of  the  several  committees  and  such 
citizens  as  may  be  desirous  to  pay  that  mark  of  respect 
to  the  remains  of  this  distinguished  stranger. 

"  JosiAH  QtrcN^CT,  diaiTmoMP 

At  a  meeting  of  the  above  committee  on  the  17th  of 
!N"ovember,  1832,  it  was 

"  Yoted,  That  a  place  for  the  permanent  deposit  of 
the  body  of  Dr.  Spubzheim  be  prepared  at  Mount  Au- 
burn, in  case  it  should  not  be  requested  to  be  sent  to 
Europe  by  his  relatives  and  friends,  and  that  a  monu- 
ment be  erected  over  his  tomb,  and,  for  this  purpose, 
that  a  subscription  be  opened  among  those  who  are 
willing  to  pay  this  tribute  to  his  memory. 

"  Voted,  That  Edward  H.  Robbins,  Thomas  B.  Curtis, 
and  William  Sturgis,  Esquires,  be  a  committee  to  so- 
licit subscriptions  for  said  monument  and  to  take 
proper  measures  for  erecting  the  same. 

"A  true  copy  of  the  proceedings  of  the  above  sub- 
committee. 

"  JosiAH  QumoT,  OhairmanP 


38  JReminiscences  of  Sjpurzheim. 

At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Boston  Medical  Associa- 
tion, held  at  the  Massachusetts  Medical  College,  No- 
vember 14th,  1832,  the  following  resolutions  were 
uncmimously  adopted  and  ordered  to  be  published : 

"  The  Boston  Medical  Association,  having  received 
with  great  satisfaction  the  visit  of  the  late  Dr.  J.  G. 
Spukzheevi,  and  their  acquaintance  with  him  having 
inspired  them  with  high  respect  for  his  researches  in 
Anatomy  and  Physiology,  and  a  deep  interest  in  his 
opinions  on  the  moral  and  physical  improvement  of 
man ;  therefore 

^'^ Resol/ded^  That  we  view  the  decease  of  Dr.  Spttez- 
HEiM  and  the  termination  of  his  labors  as  a  calamity 
to  mankind,  and,  in  a  special  manner,  to  this  country. 

''Hesol/ued^  That  a  respectful  letter  be  addressed  to  his 
friends  in  Europe  by  the  Secretary  of  this  Association, 
detailing  an  account  of  his  labors,  his  illness  and  death, 
and  the  expression  of  public  respect  paid  to  his  mem- 
ory. 

""Resolved^  That  this  Association,  as  a  body,  will  at- 
tend the  funeral  obsequies  of  the  deceased. 

''liesolved^  That  we  recommend  to  our  fellow-citizens 
the  opinions  of  the  deceased  on  the  improvement  of 
our  systems  of  education,  and  especially  what  relates  to 
the  development  of  the  physical  powers  and  moral  dis- 
positions, and,  as  they  can  no  more  expect  to  hear  them 
from  the  lips  of  our  lamented  friend,  that  they  lose  no 
time  in  making  a  practical  application  of  them  to  the 
existing  state  of  our  institutions  for  the  culture  of  the 
human  mind. 

"  {Attest) :  Joseph  W.  McKean,  Secreta/ryP 


ReminisGences  of  Sjpurzheim,  39 

The  solemn  funeral  rites  were  paid  to  tlie  remains  of 
Dr.  Spurzheim,  at  the  appointed  time  and  place.  The 
body  of  the  deceased  was  removed  from  the  Medical 
College  to  the  church,  at  12  o'clock,  accompanied  by 
the  Boston  Medical  Association.  The  bells  of  the  city 
were  tolled  from  two  to  three  o'clock. 

The  services  were  commenced  at  three  o'clock,  by  a 
dirge  on  the  organ  by  Zeuiter.  The  Eev.  Dr.  Tucker- 
man  addressed  the  throne  of  grace  in  a  most  fervent 
prayer.  An  able  and  eloquent  oration  was  then, deliv- 
ered by  Prof.  FoUen,  of  Harvard  University. 

The  following  beautiful  Ode,  by  Rev.  John  Pierpont, 
was  then  sung  with  great  effect  by  the  Handel  and 
Haydn  Society : 

I. 

Stranger,  there  is  bending  o'er  thee, 

Many  an  eye  with  sorrow  wet : 
All  our  stricken  hearts  deplore  thee  ; 

Who,  that  knew  thee,  can  forget  ? 
Who  forget  what  thou  hast  spoken  ? 

Who  thine  eye — thy  noble  frame  ? 
But  that  golden  bowl  is  broken, 

In  the  greatness  of  thy  fame. 

II. 

Autumn's  leaves  shall  fall  and  wither 

On  the  spot  where  thou  shalt  rest; 
'Tis  in  love  we  bear  thee  thither 

To  thy  mourning  mother's  breast. 
For  the  stores  of  science  brought  us, 

For  the  charm  thy  goodness  gave, 
To  the  lessons  thou  hast  taught  us, 

Can  we  give  thee  but  a  grave  ? 


40  Reminiscences  of  S^puTBheim. 

III. 

Nature's  priest,  how  true  and  fervent 

Was  thy  worship  at  her  shrine  ! 
Friend  of  man,  of  God  the  servant, 

Advocate  of  truths  divine, — 
Taught  and  charmed  as  by  no  other, 

We  have  been,  and  hope  to  be  ; 
But  while  waiting  round  tliee.  Brother, 

For  thy  light — 'tis  dark  with  thee  ! 

IV. 
Dark  with  thee  ! — no  ;  thy  Creator, 

All  whose  creatures  and  whose  laws 
Thou  didst  love,  shall  give  thee  greater 

Light  than  earth's,  as  earth  withdraws. 
To  thy  God  thy  god-like  spirit 

Back  we  give,  in  filial  trust  ; 
Thy  cold  clay — we  grieve  to  bear  it 

To  its  chamber — but  we  must. 

On  this  occasion,  the  Old  South  Church  was  crowded 
with  ladies  and  gentlemen  at  an  early  hour,  and  large 
numbers  came  and  went  away  sadly  disappointed,  who 
could  not  find  even  a  place  to  stand  upon.  It  was  esti- 
mated that  about  three  thousand  persons  were  present. 
The  ceremonies  were  peculiarly  and  intensely  solemn, 
and  they  made  an  impression  upon  the  audience,  that 
time  can  never  erase.  After  the  close  of  the  services, 
the  remains  of  the  lamented  deceased  were  removed  to 
the  receiving  tomb  under  Park  Street  Church,  fol- 
lowed by  city  and  State  officials,  by  distinguished  repre- 
sentatives of  institutions  of  learning,  and  by  several 
hundred  citizens.  The  procession  embraced  the  most 
illustrious  men  of  Massachusetts. 

The  decease  of  Spurzheim  cast  a  gloom  over  the  city 


Henrniisoences  of  SpurzheiTn.  4:1 

not  to  be  described  by  language.  We  have  never  known 
a  death  which  seemed  to  excite  so  universal  and  sincere 
a  feeling  of  grief.  The  citizens  of  Boston  and  vicinity 
had  seen  and  heard  him.  They  had  met  him,  and  had 
been  dehghted  with  his  conversation.  They  saw  that  he 
was  a  man,  eminent  both  for  his  learning  and  virtues, 
and  they  regarded  his  death  not  only  as  a  pubhc  calam- 
ity, but  a  personal  bereavement.  They  felt  that  they 
had  lost  a  noble  and  powerful  friend,  one  who  had 
made  human  nature  his  study,  and  held  in  his  willing 
hands  the  keys  of  wisdom,  and  of  earthly  happiness  in 
his  teachings.  They  had  been  charmed  by  his  manners 
and  love,  and  inspired  by  his  language. 

We  would  be  glad  to  quote  largely  from  the  eloquent 
language  of  the  funeral  oration  of  Prof.  Follen,  but  our 
limits  do  not  permit.  We  feel,  however,  that  the 
reader  is  entitled  to  the  following  beautiful  passage,  in 
respect  to  the  wonderful  influence  of  the  personal  pres- 
ence of  the  great  man :  "  We  have  welcomed  him  at 
our  firesides,  we  have  seen  him  surrounded  by  our 
children,  and  the  hearty  applause  he  drew  from  these 
little  hearers,  who  listen  with  their  hearts,  and  judge  by 
their  affections,  has  convinced  me  that  the  charm  which 
had  attached  us  to  the  successful  lecturer,  was  not  the 
spell  of  a  great  name,  or  of  talent,  learning,  or  eloquence ; 
that  the  light  which  shone  in  his  countenance,  was  not 
the  reflection  of  many  lamps,  or  of  admiring  eyes,  but 
that  it  was  the  spirit  of  truth  and  goodness  within, 
which  lighted  up  his  face,  and  gave  life  and  meaning  to 
every  sound  and  every  motion.  And  of  all  this  power 
of  eloquence,  by  which  words  became  pictures  to  the 
eye,  and  music  to  the  ear,  of  all  those  bright  manifesta- 


42  RemmisGenees  of  SpurzTieiin. 

tiong  of  a  mind  that  had  searched  into  the  kingdoms  of 
nature,  and  the  institutions  of  man,  that  had  studied 
the  wonderful  architecture  of  the  human  frame,  in  order 
to  reach  the  more  mysterious  recesses  of  the  mind ;  of  all 
these  powers  and  charms,  which,  but  a  few  days  since, 
excited,  engaged,  and  delighted  so  many  of  us ;  of  that 
fullness  of  thought  and  action,  embodied  in  a  frame 
which  nature  herself  seemed  to  have  designed  to  be  a 
stronghold  of  life  and  health — is  there  nothing  left  of 
all  this?  nothing  but  what  is  enclosed  in  the  narrow 
case  before  us  ! " 

In  noticing  the  funeral,  the  Boston  Daily  Advertiser 
of  JSTov.  19,  1832,  says :  "  The  final  tribute  of  re- 
spect was  paid  to  this  distinguished  stranger  by  a  mul- 
titude of  our  citizens,  whose  respect  and  regard  he  had 
conciliated  by  his  scientific  reputation  and  the  amiable 
qualities  of  his  private  character."  .  ..."  It  will  be 
consoling  to  the  friends  of  the  deceased  in  his  own  coun- 
try, to  know,  that  during  his  last  illness  he  received 
every  attention  which  kindness  could  suggest,  or  pro- 
fessional skill  bestow ;  that  the  feeling  of  regret  and 
sympathy  for  him  was  very  deep  and  sincere  ;  and  that 
funeral  offices  were  performed  by  our  citizens  in  a  man- 
ner which  exhibited  their  sensibility  to  departed  worth." 

It  is  now  nearly  half  a  century  since  the  departure 
of  Spurzheim.  The  illustrious  men  who  performed 
with  so  much  feeling  and  consideration  the  sepulchral 
rites  to  his  remains,  and  with  whom  it  was  my  privi- 
lege to  act,  are  all,  with  the  exception  of  the  venerable 
and  respected  Dr.  Keynolds,  of  Boston,  numbered 
among  the  dead.  The  remains  of  most  of  them  are  de- 
posited at  Mt.  Auburn,  and  their  monuments  speak  a 


Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  43 

language,  that  while  it  records  their  worth  and  distinc- 
tion as  citizens,  it  exalts  the  name  of  him  they  so  much 
loved  and  honored 


HIS    MONTTMElsTT. 

In  pursuance  of  the  vote  of  the  Committee,  passed 
Nov.  17,  1832,  a  subscription  was  immediately  com- 
menced, after  the  funeral,  for  funds  to  procure  a  suit- 
able monument,  to  be  placed  at  Mt.  Auburn.  In  a 
week  or  two,  several  hundred  dollars  had  been  sub- 
scribed, when  Hon.  William  Sturgis,  one  of  the  Com- 
mittee, becoming  impatient  at  the  slowness  of  the 
movement,  requested  "  that  all  sums  already  contributed 
should  be  returned  to  the  subscribers,  and  he  would  pay 
for  such  a  monument  as  the  Committee  would  author- 
ize." A  beautiful  Italian  monument  was  selected, 
and  it  was  the  first  placed  at  Mt.  Auburn.  It  is 
marked  by  his  illustrious  name  alone.  There  could  be 
no  better  epitaph.  Its  entire  cost  was  paid  by  Mr. 
Sturgis,  and  he  was  honored  by  a  vote  of  thanks  of  the 
Boston  Phrenological  Society,  and  a  donation  of  a  bust 
of  Spurzheim,  and  a  copy  of  his  works,  elegantly 
bound. 

The  bust  was  from  the  artistic  hand  of  Bally,  and  it 
gives  accurate  outlines  of  the  original.  The  Marquis 
Moscati  placed  upon  it,  in  London,  the  following  in- 
scription : 

"Hie  est  Spurzheim,  medicus,  sophiceque  sacerdos, 
Qui  cerebri  partes  omnes,  arcanaque  novit, 
Atque  facultates  mentis,  sedesque  notavit, 


44  Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim. 

Quique  bono  liumani  generis  sudavit  et  alsit. 
Noctes  atque  dies  meditans,  summoque  labore 
Perficiens  systema  sui  sublime  magistri." 

Thus  translated  by  Pierpont : 

*'  Spurzheim  is  here  !  the  Sage,  who  drew 
Its  secrets  from  the  complex  brain, 
Who  gave  each  power  a  place  and  name, 
Surpassed,  sublime,  his  Teacher's  fame, 
And  died,  imparting  what  he  knew." 

In  Mr.  Combe's  address,  delivered  at  the  Anniversary 
Celebration  of  the  birth  of  Spurzheim,  and  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Boston  Phrenological  Society,  Dec.  31, 
1839,  he  thus  alludes  to  this  monument,  and  to  the 
noble  donor : 

■  "  'Alas !  that  America's  first  tribute  to  her  illustrious 
guest  should  be  a  grave  and  a  monument ! ' — is  the 
language  of  James  Simpson,  of  Edinburgh.  That 
monument,  citizens  of  Boston,  is  a  noble  tribute  of  re- 
spect to  a  great  and  good  man's  worth.  The  place,  the 
form,  the  simple  inscription  of  the  name,  '  Spuezheim,' 
all  speak  with  a  touching  eloquence  to  the  soul,  which 
no  pomp  of  architectural  decoration,  and  no  panegyric 
of  classic  phraseology  could  have  reached.  Posterity 
will  associate  one  name  with  that  monument,  the  name 
of  William  Sttjkgis,  citizen  of  Boston.  This  day  I 
repaired  to  his  residence,  and  tendered  him  my  humble 
gratitude  for  the  tribute  which,  in  erecting  it,  he  had 
paid  to  the  memory  of  the  benefactor  of  his  race,  to  my 
master  and  my  friend ;  and  for  which  many  a  good 
mind  will  hereafter  honor  him." 


Meminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  45 


HIS    INTEEMENT— HEAKT   AOT)   BEATN". 

In  1867 1  received  a  letter  from  A.  J.  Coolidge,  Esq., 
Secretary  of  "  Mt.  Auburn  Cemetery,"  asking  the  par- 
ticulars respecting  the  remains  of  Spurzheim,  and  of 
their  interment  at  Mt.  Auburn,  as  it  was  believed  by 
some  that  they  were  removed  to  Germany. 

In  reply,  I  communicated  the  particulars  of  his  sick- 
ness and  death,  and  in  .that  letter  the  following  para- 
graph will  be  found  concerning  the  remains : 

"A  short  time  after  his  (Spurzheim's)  death  I  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  George  Combe,  Esq.,  and  after 
dwelling  upon  his  beautiful  character  and  important 
labors,  he  stated  that  it  was  his  wish,  frequently  ex- 
pressed, while  living,  that  his  skull  should  be  detached 
after  death,  and  prepared  for  scientific  purposes.  I  did 
not  feel  at  liberty  to  disregard  a  request  so  distinctly 
communicated,  and  by  so  distinguished  a  person.  As 
the  remains  were  embalmed,  and  had  not  been  removed 
from  the  receiving  tomb  under  the  Park  Street 
Church,  there  was  no  obstacle  in  the  way  of  its  prompt 
execution.  By  my  request,  this  sad  task  was  skillfully 
performed  by  Dr.  Winslow  Lewis,  in  the  presence  of 
several  of  his  professional  brethren."  The  skull,  brain, 
and  heart  were  preserved,  and  placed  in  a  fire-proof 
safe,  and  the  remaining  parts  of  the  remains  were  de- 
posited beneath  the  monument. 

Alas  !  what  is  life,  and  what  is  death !  Yast  multi- 
tudes of  human  beings  are  born,  who  live,  and  move, 
and  act,  and  die  without  leaving  a  single  trace  of  their 
usefulness,  or  without  discovering  to  the  world  the  de- 
sign of  their  existence  !     New  names  are  hourly  added 


4:6  Remwiiscences  of  Spurzheim, 

to  our  records  of  deatb ;  but  how  few  of  the  great  num- 
ber that  are  let  down  into  the  cold  grave,  excite  public 
grief  for  the  loss  of  their  wisdom,  piety,  or  exertion  ! 

Living  is  not  physical  action,  though  death  may  be 
physical  decay.  To  live  is  to  possess  the  knowledge 
proper  to  man,  to  perform  the  duties  required  by  the 
condition  of  our  fellow-creatures,  and  to  act  according 
to  the  noblest  dictates  of  an  honest  mind. 

It  should  be  humiliating  to  the  pride  of  man  that  so 
few  are  alive  to  the  great  and  subhme  objects  of  their 
existence.  That  the  decease  of  one  human  being  out 
of  so  many  millions,  should  create  a  void  which  no  other 
is  capable  of  filling !  And  yet,  who  can  ^ill  the  place 
of  Spurzheim  ? 


HIS   CHAEACTEE — DE.   EOBEETON,    GEOEGE   AND    ANDEEW 

COMBE. 

It  is  difficult,  in  a  few  words,  to  convey  to  the  reader 
the  character  of  Spurzheim.  All  that  was  proper  and 
exalted  in  man  was  to  be  found  in  him.  What  he  was 
in  character  he  was  in  practice.  The  semblance  was 
true  to  the  reality.  Endowed  with  a  powerful  intellect 
and  eminently  graced  by  the  higher  sentiments,  he 
honestly  explored  the  world  for  truth.  His  passions 
were  made  the  servants  of  his  reason,  and  by  systematic 
culture,  he  literally  stood  before  the  world  as  a  man  of 
wisdom  and  strength.  He  was  a  favorite  son  in  his 
youth,  and  a  beloved  classmate  at  the  University  where 
he  was  honored  as  a  student,  l^eukomm,  the  celebrated 
composer  of  music,  was  a  classmate  of  his.  I  met  him 
in  Manchester,  England,  and  found  him  to  be  a  gentle- 


HeminisGences  of  Spurzheim.  47 

man  of  great  dignity  and  intelligence.  He  spoke  of 
Spurzheim  with  deep  emotion  and  profound  respect. 
He  said,  "  N^o  one  was  more  beloved  by  his  classmates." 
I  also  met,  in  the  same  city.  Bally,  an  Italian,  Spurz- 
heim's  skillful  artist,  who  accompanied  him  in  his 
travels  for  six  years.  When  he  heard  of  my  arrival  he 
called  upon  me  with  a  mind  so  full  of  inquiries,  and  a 
heart  so  oppressed  by  affectionate  recollections  of  his 
departed  friend,  that,  at  first,  he  could  not  utter  a  word. 
He  could  only  speak  the  name  of  one  who  was  with 
Spurzheim  in  his  last  hours  before  death.  He  seized 
my  hands  and  wept.  This  example  of  deep  affection,  I 
may  say  of  reverence,  almost  unmanned  me.  His  dis- 
position to  sei-ve  me,  his  suggestions  for  my  gratifica- 
tion and  pleasure,  were  unlimited,  and  they  are  grate- 
ful]y  remembered. 

To  speak  of  the  many  attentions  I  received  from  dis- 
tinguished persons  in  Europe,  in  1835-6,  on  account  of 
my  intimate  relations  with  Spurzheim,  would  too  much 
extend  the  communications  you  have  asked  of  me.  I 
can  not  omit,  however,  reference  to  Dr.  Roberton,  a 
distinguished  Scotch  physician,  an  old  resident  in  Paris. 
He  was  a  classmate  of  Sir  Charles  Bell,  and  was  much 
respected  by  the  learned  men  of  France.  He  was  alive 
to  all  questions  of  progress,  and  was  quite  intimate 
with  the  eminent  men  of  science  in  Paris. 

He  was  then  President  of  the  Anthropological  Soci- 
ety, an  institution  founded  by  Spurzheim,  of  which  he 
was  the  first  President.  I  attended  a  meeting  of  this 
Society,  and  was  introduced  to  its  members,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  a  nephew  of  Spurzheim,  who  was  in  Paris, 
completing  a  medical  education  by  attending  the  lect- 


48  ReminiscenGes  of  Spurzheim, 

Tires  of  the  most  distinguislied  professors.  He  was  a 
young  gentleman  of  fine  appearance,  and  very  intel- 
ligent. 

Through  the  influence  of  Dr.  Hoberton,  I  had  the 
privilege  of  attending  a  meeting  of  the  French  Insti- 
tute, and  was  introduced  to  Arago,  and  to  other  mem- 
bers of  distinction.  He  was  a  most  devoted  friend  and 
admirer  of  Spurzheim.  Though  older  in  years,  the 
friendship  was  mutual.  I  can  never  forget  his  manifes- 
tations of  affection  for  the  departed  philosopher.  His 
many  inqniries  of  his  last  days  and  hours,  the  state  of  his 
mind,  and  of  his  consciousness  of  the  approaching  end, 
and  last  words ;  respecting  his  disease  and  medical  treat- 
ment ;  of  the  attentions  to  make  him  comfortable,  and 
of  his  reception  and  teachings — all  these  and  numerous 
other  inquiries  were  rapidly  made  with  dropping  tears 
and  trembling  voice — vindicating  deep  emotions  of  affec- 
tion too  touching  and  exciting  to  be  described  by  the 
pen.  His  attentions  to  me  while  in  Paris  were  unre- 
mitting. He  was  unhappy  unless  I  could  breakfast 
with  him  every  morning.  But  the  depth  of  his  friend- 
ship is  best  illustrated  by  an  item  found  in  his  will 
after  his  death,  which  happened  in  1841.  Knowing 
that  the  skull  of  his  dear  friend  had  been  preserved,  as 
has  been  stated,  he  provided,  that  his  own  skull  should 
be  preserved  in  a  similar  manner,  and  sent  to  Boston, 
to  be  placed  by  the  side  of  that  of  Spurzheim.  Having 
faith  in  Phrenology,  he  had  collected  numerous  skulls 
and  casts,  and  these  he  bequeathed  to  the  Boston 
Phrenological  Society,  having  made  ample  provision  to 
pay  all  expenses  incident  to  the  donation.  They  were 
shipped  and  safely  received.     His  will  was  faithfully 


Reminiscences  of  SjpuTzheim,  49 

executed.  His  skull  was  placed  by  the  side  of  that  of 
Ms  dear  friend — and  there  it  will  sacredlj  remain  in 
obedience  to  the  commands  of  unalterable  aifection. 
What  a  monument  to  be  preserved  in  honor  of  science ! 

Dr.  Roberton  bequeathed  a  large  sum  of  money,  to 
be  disbursed  to  advance  the  science  of  Phrenology,  un- 
der the  direction  of  the  Edinburgh  Phrenological  Soci- 
ety, but  in  consequence  of  some  uncertainty  in  the 
language  of  his  will,  the  sum  has  not  been  paid. 

It  is  but  proper  that  I  should  introduce  some  of  the 
testimony  from  abroad  in  respect  to  the  death  and 
character  of  Spurzheim.  In  a  letter  to  me  from 
George  Combe,  dated  Edinburgh,  December  20,  1832, 
he  says : 

"  I  offer  you  my  warmest  acknowledgments  for  your 
very  interesting  letter  of  ISTovember  15,  1832,  an- 
nouncing the  lamented  death  of  Dr.  Spurzheim.  The 
subject  was  painful  and  distressing,  but  your  kind  at- 
tention was  highly  appreciated.  I  read  the  communi- 
cation to  the  Phrenological  Society,  and  prefix  an  ex- 
tract from  their  minutes,  which  I  request  you  to  circu- 
late as  widely  as  possible  among  your  countrymen,  that 
they  may  receive  the  humble  expression  of  our  grati- 
tude for  their  admirable  treatment  of  Dr.  Spurzheim, 
and  for  the  honor  which  they  paid  to  his  remains. 

"  Inclividually,  I  felt  as  if  I  had  lost  a  near  and  dear 
relative  and  friend.  To  Dr.  Spurzheim  I  owe  an  un- 
speakable debt  of  gratitude,  which  it  gave  me  joy  to  ex- 
press when  he  was  alive,  and  which  I  shall  never  cease 
to  acknowledge  while  my  being  continues. 

"  He  found  me  an  anxious,  but  disappointed  inquirer 
after  the  philosophy  of  man ;  a  lover  of  mankind,  but 
3 


50  Mendniscences  of  Sj^uvzheirrh, 

ignorant  how  to  do  tliem  any  good ;  a  firm  believer  in 
a  superintending  Providence,  but  utterly  incapable  of 
comprehending  the  principles  of  the  moral  government 
of  the  world.  I  was  unhappy  because  I  had  blind  de- 
sires which  I  could  not  gratify,  and  longings  for  good 
and  knowledge  which  were  nowhere  to  be  found.  Dr. 
Spurzheim  gave  me  light ;  the  world  cleared  up  under 
his  tuition ;  my  moral  and  intellectual  faculties,  from 
being  spell-bound,  became  active.  I  experienced  the 
delight  of  having  my  various  powers  placed  in  harmony 
with  each  other,  and  I  saw  how  the  good  which  I  de- 
rived might  be  practically  realized.  To  the  man  who 
conferred  these  gifts,  gratitude  unbounded  was  due ; 
and,  when  he  added  to  them  an  affectionate  and  abid- 
ing kindness  as  a  friend,  you  may  judge  how  deeply  I 
deplored  his  loss.  The  whole  conduct  of  yom-  country- 
men toward  him  was  excellent."  .... 

"  The  shopkeepers  and  merchants  of  Edinburgh  and 
their  clerks  requested  me  to  lecture  to  them  this  win- 
ter in  the  evenings.  The  course  commenced  on  the  6th 
of  ITovember,  and  about  two  hundred  and  twenty  at- 
tend. They  heard  your  letter  read  with  an  intense  and 
melancholy  interest." 


HIS    DEATH     AITNOUNCED     IN      EDINBURGH HIGHLY     EE- 

SPECTED   BY   DISTINGUISHED   MEN   OF    EUROPE. 

The  extract  from  the  proceedings  of  the  Edinburgh 
Phrenological  Society,  December,  1832,  alluded  to  by 
Mr.  Combe,  was  as  follows : 

"  James  Simpson,  Esquire,  in  the  chair.    After  the 


jReminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  61 

discussion  on  the  papers  read  to  the  meeting,  the  Pres- 
ident addressed  the  Society  in  nearly  the  following 
words : 

"  '  Gei^tlemen"  : — Dnring  the  twelve  years  of  this  So- 
ciety's existence,  no  communication  has  ever  been  made 
to  it  so  afflicting  as  that  which  it  is  now  my  painful 
duty  to  make  to  you — Dr.  Spurzheim  is  no  more  !  He 
died  of  fever,  brought  on  by  over-exertion  in  his  great 
vocation  at  Boston  in  the  United  States,  on  the  10th 
day  of  last  month. 

" '  The  death  of  Dr.  Gall,  the  great  founder  of 
Phrenology,  was  not  without  its  alleviations.  He  had 
run  his  course,  and  had  done  all  that  seemed  in  the 
decrees  of  the  All-wise  allotted  him  on  earth  to  do,  and 
fell  like  a  shock  of  corn  fully  ripe.  Above  all.  Dr. 
Spurzheim,  his  great  pupil,  survived — heir  of  all  his 
master's  wealth,  and  richer  than  even  that  master  in 
treasures  of  his  own.  But  Dr.  Spurzheim  himseK  is 
now  snatched  away  in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness,  at  the 
summit  of  his  power,  about  to  pour  the  true  philosophy 
of  man,  like  a  flood  of  light,  upon  the  transatlantic 
world.  This  is,  indeed,  a  blow  almost  devoid  of  al- 
leviation. 

"  '  And  yet,  hope  deserts  us  not.  To  his  own  genius 
we  owe  the  discovery  of  the  organ  of  Hope  and  a  beau- 
tiful exposition  of  its  functions.  As  we  bend  over  his 
early  grave,  a  ray  breaks  forth  even  from  that  dark 
abode.  America  has  celebrated  his  obsequies  with  pub- 
lic honors,  and  ranks  him  with  the  illustrious  dead. 
Europe  will  sanction  the  award.  His  philosophic  page 
will  live,  and  even  pride  and  prejudice  will  look  into 
the    philosophy    when    the    philosopher  whom    they 


62  JReminiscences  of  SpurzTieim, 

shunned  when  alive  is  no  more.  Galileo,  l^ewton,  and 
Harvej  were  all  destined  to  teach  from  the  tomb ;  so 
are  Spurzheim  and  Gall.  Thej,  too,  are  among  the 
departed,  "  who  are  dead,  yet  speak,"  and  many  a  kin- 
dred genins  will  yet  arise  to  listen  to  their  voice.  The 
minds  already  laboring  in  the  great  work  by  them  be- 
queathed, will  be  stimulated  by  the  very  thought  that 
they  are  bereft  of  their  leaders.  A  hand  to  grasp  all 
the  inheritance  may  not  be,  but  there  does  live  a  proph- 
et who  will  wear  gracefully  the  mantle  that  has  now 
descended  upon  him.  May  all  of  us,  however  humbly 
each,  make  redoubled  exertions  to  do  that  which  our 
teacher  would  have  ui^ged  us  to  do  with  his  dying  ac- 
cents— ^promote  by  all  that  in  us  lies  the  cause  for 
which  he  lived  and  in  which  he  died  !  His  labors  were 
as  expansive  as  they  were  indefatigable ;  no  scope  was 
too  great  for  them.  He  had  gone  to  add  the  new 
world  to  the  old  in  one  wide  empire  of  truth.  Alas ! 
that  America's  first  tribute  to  her  illustrious  guest 
should  be  a  grave  and  a  monument  1  Be  hers  the  care 
and  custody  of  his  honored  remains.  The  spirit  of  his 
genius  is  everywhere.  His  memory  is  the  cherished 
legacy  of  the  human  race.' 


?  ?j 


After  this  most  eloquent  speech  of  Mr.  Simpson,  the 
following  resolutions  were  moved  by  Mr.  Combe,  sec- 
onded by  Mr.  Dunn,  and  adopted  unanimously : 

''JFirstj  That  this  Society  have  heard  the  communi- 
cation now  made  with  sentiments  of  the  most  heartfelt 
sorrow.  While  they  deplore  the  premature  death  of 
Dr.  Spurzheim,  as  by  far  the  greatest  loss  which  the 
philosophy  of  mind  and  man  can  in  their  present  state 


Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  53 

STistain,  they  lament  it  as  an  especial  bereavement  to 
themselves  of  a  valued  and  beloved  benefactor  and 
friend. 

"  Secondly^  That  this  Society  feel  deeply,  and — con- 
sidering their  intimate  and  affectionate  relation  to  the 
illustrious  deceased — gratefully,  the  intense  concern 
manifested  by  the  citizens  of  Boston  over  his  sick-bed, 
the  public  sorrow  for  his  loss,  and  the  intended  honors 
to  his  remains  and  his  memory,  and  they  experience 
comfort  in  the  reflection,  since  it  was  in  the  Divine  de- 
crees that  that  great  man  was  so  soon  to  be  taken  away^ 
that  he  did  finish  his  mortal  career  in  the  midst  of  a 
people  enlightened  enough  to  discern  his  distinguished 
talents  and  worth,  and  duly  to  appreciate  the  philoso- 
phy which  he  had  come  among  them  to  teach." 

In  a  letter  of  George  Combe  to  Dr.  Spurzheim,  dated 
March  12,  1832,  we  find  the  following  passage : 

"  Your  sympathy  and  advice  did  Andrew  great  good 
in  October.  [He  was  quite  ill,  and  Spurzheim  did  not 
expect  to  see  him  again  alive.]  He  was  most  grateful ; 
and  I  need  not  assure  you  that,  in  the  affections  and  es- 
teem of  all  my  family,  you  hold  a  place  more  like  that 
of  a  father  than  of  any  other  being.  How  much  of 
happiness  and  usefulness  do  we  not  owe  to  you !  Chance 
brought  me  first  into  your  presence ;  but  the  day  when 
I  met  you  was  the  fortunate  one  of  my  life." 

In  a  letter  to  me  from  Dr.  Andrew  Combe,  dated 
Edinburgh,  November  2,  1833,  is  the  following  post- 
script :  "  By  a  curious  coincidence,  it  is  exactly  two 
years  to-day  since  I  last  shook  hands  with  our  lament- 
ed friend  Spurzheim.  He  came  to  the  coach-office  in 
Paris  to  see  me  start  for  Italy  ;  he,  the  picture  of  ro- 


64:  Heminiscences  of  Spurzheim. 

bust  health,  and  his  countenance  radiant  with  the  kind- 
liest affections  of  our  nature,  and  I,  weak  and  ill,  with 
little  hope  of  ever  returning.  And  now  I  am  here,  and 
he  is  gone  in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness  !  I  can  hard- 
ly trace  the  reality  to  my  mind.  To  me  he  was  at  once 
the  friend,  the  physician,  and  the  philosopher." 

But  the  most  touching  allusion  to  Spurzheim  by  Dr. 
Combe  was  in  a  letter  to  me  dated  Edinburgh,  Decem- 
ber 13,  1838,  in  which  is  the  following  language  :  "  I 
have  to  thank  you  most  warmly  for  your  intended 
present  of  a  brooch  with  Spurzheim's  hair.  There  was 
no  man  out  of  my  own  family  to  whom  I  ever  felt  the 
deep  attachment  I  did  to  Spurzheim,  and  scarcely  a  day 
passes  that  my  thoughts  do  not  turn  with  affectionate 
interest  to  some  fact  or  other  of  my  past  intercourse 
with  him,  and  especially  to  that  of  autumn  1831,  when 
he  tended  me  in  Paris  with  a  friendly  care  which  I 
shall  never  forget.  He  believed  me  to  be  dying,  as  I 
believed  myself  to  be,  and  under  such  circumstances 
there  was  a  gentleness,  purity,  and  simple  truthfulness 
in  every  word  and  in  every  tone,  in  every  look  and  in 
every  gesture,  that  soothed  and  comforted  while  it 
moved  me.  When  we  parted,  it  was  felt  by  both  as  a 
long  and  last  farewell ;  but  little  did  I  then  expect  how 
it  was  to  prove  so.  You  may  conceive,  then,  how  I 
shall  value  your  memorial  of  him." 

These  undisguised  sentiments  of  regard  and  respect 
were  fully  reciprocated  by  Spurzheim.  He  considered 
Dr.  Andrew  Combe  as  one  of  the  ablest  and  best  of 
men.  In  respect  to  the  high  qualities  of  amiability  and 
attractiveness,  perhaps  no  two  men  were  more  alike. 
Dr.  Combe  was  not  only  thoroughly  conversant  with 


Heminiscences  of  Spurzheim,  55 

the  natural  laws,  but  he  was  a  strict  observer  of  them. 
Doubtless  to  this  fact  was  attributable  his  long  contin- 
uance in  life  after  his  extreme  physical  prostration. 

I  received  letters  from  Prof.  Elliotson,  Sir  George  S. 
McKenzie,  London  ;  James  Simpson,  Edinburgh ;  An- 
drew Carmichael,  Dublin  ;  Dr.  Roberton,  Paris ;  Prof. 
Otto,  Copenhagen ;  and  from  many  other  gentlemen,  on 
the  death  and  character  of  Spurzheim,  and  all  filled  with 
similar  language  to  that  we  have  quoted.  At  meetings 
of  learned  societies  in  Europe,  before  and  after  his  death, 
speeches  were  made  and  resolutions  passed,  and  all  in 
terms  of  profound  respect  and  admiration.  Such  unan- 
imity of  opinion  everywhere  among  those  who  knew 
him  or  heard  him  speak,  in  respect  to  the  greatness  of 
his  mind  and  purity  of  his  character,  should  lead  all 
inquirers  after  truth  to  treat  his  investigations  with 
careful  consideration  and  respect,  even  if  they  do  not 
adopt  his  theoretic  conclusions. 


WHAT   SHOTJLD   BE    THE     mFLUENCE    OF    MODEL    PHILOSO- 
PHERS  GALL,    SPUEZHEIM,    AND   COMBE. 

The  invitation  to  give  reminiscences  of  Spurzheim, 
has  led  me  to  dwell  at  some  length,  not  only  on  the 
events  of  his  visit  to  the  United  States,  his  sickness  and 
death,  the  detail  of  his  funeral  solemnities  and  inter- 
ment, but  upon  his  personal  and  private  character,  as  a 
man  and  lover  of  wisdom.  As  defined  by  himself, 
*'  Wisdom  consists  in  the  knowledge  and  in  the  applica- 
tion of  Truth.''  The  evidence  of  his  greatness  as  a 
man,  and  of  his  goodness  as  a  Christian  philosopher. 


56  Heminiscences  of  S^urzheim, 

has  been  taken  from  tlie  records  of  his  eventful  life.  In 
doing  this,  my  endeavor  has  been^  in  some  small  degree, 
to  acknowledge  my  indebtedness  for  his  friendship  and 
teachings,  and  to  present  to  the  world  a  model  philos- 
opher, whose  integrity  of  heart  was  equal  to  the  great- 
ness of  his  intellect.  When  thinking  men  have  hon- 
ored philosophy  by  their  genius  and  discoveries,  and  in 
addition  become  shining  examples  of  social  and  moral 
conduct,  their  influence  should  be  kept  alive  and  per- 
petuated. 

In  this  case  the  question  arises.  How  can  this  be 
done  ?  By  demanding  that  the  same  public  attention 
should  be  given  to  the  science  of  Phrenology  that  is 
conceded  to  all  other  sciences  in  our  schools  and  uni- 
versities. 

Spurzheun  was  one  of  the  founders  of  this  science, 
and  its  importance  is  to  be  estimated  in  view  of  his 
character,  investigations,  and  opinions.  But  he  does  not 
stand  alone.  Gall  preceded,  and  Combe  followed  him. 
It  is  proposed  to  glance  at  their  character  as  men,  that 
we  may  see  w^hat  evidence  can  be  found  that  they  are 
entitled  to  be  classed  among  the  acknowledged  teachers 
of  wisdom  in  the  world. 

Standing  as  I  do  as  one  of  the  trusted  friends  of 
Spurzheim,  and  being  asked  to  speak  of  his  character 
as  disclosed  by  events  at  the  close  of  his  life,  it  was  first 
in  order  to  commence  with  what  I  knew  of  him,  to  add 
the  testimony  of  others,  and  then  to  proceed  to  speak 
of  his  joint  laborers  in  the  same  field  of  science.  After 
giving  a  brief  sketch  of  their  character  as  men,  it  is 
proposed  to  consider  them  as  philosophers  identified 
with  the  origin  and  progress  of  Phrenology.    All  three 


Reminiscences  of  Sjpurzheim.  67 

were  endowed  with  gifted  minds,  and  had  superior  ad- 
vantages of  education.  All  three  became  distinguished 
in  their  respective  professions,  and  high  authority  in  all 
the  established  departments  of  learning,  whenever  they 
expressed  opinions  npon  the  current  subjects  of  prog- 
ress or  of  pubhc  concern. 


PEESONAL     APPEAEANCE     OF     OALL HIS     ABILriY     AND 

SKILL    AS    A   PHYSICIAN. 

Of  the  personal  character  of  Gall  but  little  need  be 
said.  That  all  who  approached  him  or  who  listened  to 
his  lectures,  admired  him,  and  that  such  a  man  as  Spurz- 
heim  should  join  him  in  his  labors  from  high  convic- 
tions of  duty,  warrants  the  unqualified  belief  that  he 
was  a  man  of  remarkable  capacity  and  of  elevated 
motives.  He  had  slight  peculiarities,  but  they  were 
remarkable  only  as  illustrating  self-forgetfulness.  In 
1826,  an  interesting  account  of  an  interview  with  him 
was  published  in  the  Birmingham  Gazette,  England, 
from  which  the  following  extract  is  made  : 

"I  found  Dr.  G-all  to  be  a  man  of  middle  stature," 
says  the  interviewer,  ''  of  an  outline  well-proportioned ; 
he  was  thin  and  rather  pallid,  and  possessed  a  capacious 
head  and  chest.  The  peculiar  brilliancy  of  his  pene- 
trating eye  left  an  indelible  impression.  His  counte- 
nance was  remarkable,  his  features  strongly  marked  and 
rather  large,  yet  devoid  of  coarseness.  The  general 
impression  that  a  first  glance  was  calculated  to  convey 
would  be,  that  Dr.  Gall  was  a  man  of  originality  and 
3* 


58  Meminiscences  of  Sjpurzheim. 

depth  of  mind,  possessing  much  urbanitj,  with  some 
self-esteem  and  inflexibility  of  design." 

M.  Fosati,  M.D.,  of  Paris,  knew  him  personally,  and 
spoke  of  him  in  unmeasured  terms  of  admiration.  He 
thus  particularly  describes  his  person :  "  His  body  was 
well  developed ;  he  was  five  feet  three  inches  two  lines 
in  height,  with  a  large  chest  and  strong  muscles ;  his 
step  was  firm,  and  his  look  vivid  and  penetrating.  His 
features,  though  not  handsome,  possessed  a  mild  and 
pleasing  expression.  Every  part  of  his  head  was  strik- 
ingly developed,  measuring  above  the  eyebrows  and 
at  the  top  of  the  ears  twenty-two  inches  two  lines  in 
circumference,  and  fourteen  inches  and  nine  lines  from 
the  root  of  the  nose  to  the  occiput."  .  .  .  .  "  He  was 
frank  and  honest,  acute  and  penetrating.  I  always  ob- 
served him  to  be  indifferent  to  the  praise  and  approba- 
tion of  the  multitude,  as  he  was  also  to  their  blame  and 
ridicule.  He  labored  for  the  love  of  science,  and  under 
the  conviction  that  his  ideas  would  triumph  in  the  end. 
I  could  recall  a  thousand  anecdotes  to  illustrate  mj 
statements.  He  was  proud  and  independent.  He  never 
was  anxious  for  titles,  and  cheerfully  practiced  the  pro- 
fession of  medicine.  His  skill  as  a  physician  may  be 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  in  1820  a  medal  was  pre- 
sented to  him,  executed  by  M.  Bane,  an  eminent  artist 
in  Paris,  by  order  of  Count  Potosky,  a  rich  Polish  no- 
bleman, who  took  this  method  of  expressing  his  deep 
gratitude  to  Dr.  Gall,  who  had  cured  him  of  an  old  and 
dangerous  malady,  for  which  he  had  in  vain  consulted 
the  best  medical  men  in  Paris.  As  a  political  man,  he 
loved  liberty  and  good  laws."  ....''  He  often  said 
that  it  is  more  difiicult  to  sustain  a  reputation  than  to 


HeminisGences  of  Sjpurzheim.  69 

create  one,  and  that  we  must  always  act  as  if  making 
tke  first  efforts  to  render  onrselves  known.  It  was  to 
his  firmness  that  he  owed  the  success  of  his  researches. 
Without  this  constancy  with  which  he  pursued  the  same 
ideas,  the  same  observations,  and  the  same  researches, 
it  would  have  been  impossible  for  him  to  carry  his  new 
science  to  the  point  where  he  left  it."  .  .  .  .  "  Gall  was 
exceedingly  benevolent ;  he  succored  the  unfortunate, 
and  procured  them  the  assistance  of  his  rich  patients ; 
he  encouraged  talents,  and  rendered  them  all  the  aid  in 
his  power.  He  educated  and  supported  his  nephews, 
and  his  table  was  free  to  everybody.  The  more  inti- 
mately he  was  known,  the  mora  he  was  loved." 

His  views  in  regard  to  Deity  may  be  found  in  his 
own  language.  "  Everywhere,"  he  says,  "  and  in  all 
times,  man,  pressed  by  the  feeling  of  dependence,  by 
which  he  is  completely  surrounded,  is  forced  to  recog- 
nize at  every  instant  the  limits  of  his  powers,  and  to 
avow  to  himself  that  his  fate  is  in  the  hands  of  a  supe- 
rior Power.  Hence  the  unanimous  consent  of  all  peo- 
ple to  adore  a  Supreme  Being;  hence  the  ever-felt 
necessity  of  recurring  to  Him,  of  honoring  Him,  and 
rendering  homage  to  His  rule." 

What  Spurzheim  was  we  have  already  seen. 


PERSONAL    CHARACTEK    OF    GEORGE    COMBE. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  lo  speak  of  the  personal  char- 
acter  of  George  Combe,  of  Edinburgh.*      His  high 

*  "The  Life  of  George  Combe,"  in  two  volumes,  by  Charles  Gib- 
bon, was  published  by  Macmillan  &  Co.,  London  and  New  York,  la 
1878.     It  IS  a  very  interesting  book. 


60  Reminiscences  of  Spurzheirri. 

moral  nature  and  unyielding  integrity  have  almost  a 
universal  record.  His  extreme  love  of  truth  erected  in 
his  mind  a  standard  of  conduct  but  few  could  reach.  If 
he  had  charity  for  weakness  or  error,  it  was  seldom 
exercised  at  the  expense  of  justice.  Indeed,  his  rigid 
observance  of  the  ten  commandments  was  an  example 
but  few  could  follow.  Prof.  JS^ichols,  of  Edinburgh, 
who  knew  him  intimately,  says  :  '^  It  is  never  possible 
for  Mr.  Combe's  audience  to  doubt  that  the  aim  and 
object  of  his  instructions  is  the  benefit  of  mankind ;  and 
he  is  manifestly  actuated  by  that  pure  and  independent 
love  of  truth  which  it  is  the  highest  privilege  of  a  teach- 
er to  exhibit  and  infuse,  but  which  is  never  a  ruling 
principle  unless  in  very  superior  minds."  Prof.  Hun- 
ter, of  Glasgow,  says :  "  The  lectures  of  Mr.  Combe  are 
characterized  by  simplicity,  clearness,  elegance,  and  co- 
gency of  reasoning ;  and  his  writings  are  remarkable 
not  only  for  purity  of  style,  but  for  sound  philosophy 
and  right  moral  feeling."  The  Hon.  Andrew  Car- 
michael,  of  Dublin,  says :  "  When  I  had  the  honor  to 
propose  George  Combe  as  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Royal  Irish  Academy,  our  celebrated  astronomer.  Sir 
William  Hamilton,  Dr.  Litton,  Professor  of  Botany  of 
the  Dublin  Society,  and  the  Very  Pev.  Henry  Daw- 
son, Dean  of  St.  Patrick's,  were  all  desirous  of  placing 
their  names  beside  mine  in  certifying  to  his  high  posi- 
tion and  character."  No  man  was  better  acquainted 
with  Mr.  Combe  than  Charles  Maclaren,  Esq.,  the  able 
editor  of  the  Scotsman^  Edinburgh.  He  says :  "  Mr. 
Combe,  like  his  predecessors,  Drs.  Gall  and  Spurzheim, 
instead  of  applying  the  new  doctrines  of  Phrenology  to 
unsettle  men's  notions  of  duty  by  raising  doubts  and 


Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  61 

difficu]ties,  has  invariably  employed  them  to  strength- 
en the  foundations  of  virtue  and  religion.  The  moral 
results  of  his  system  may  be  said  to  be,  that  we  best 
promote  our  own  well-being  when  we  venerate  God 
and  obey  the  voice  of  conscience — when  we  are  tem- 
perate, industrious,  and  orderly,  and  exercise  justice 
and  charity  toward  our  neighbor.  These  principles  are 
not  only  enforced  in  the  volume  of  Mr.  Combe,  the 
*  Constitution  of  Man,'  but  they  may  be  said  to  pervade 
every  page  of  it." 

The  Hon.  Thomas  Wyse,  M.P.,  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Education  in  Ireland,  says :  "  I  feel  a 
high  admiration  for  the  talents  of  Mr.  Combe,  and  for 
the  truly  Christian  benevolence  which  directs  them." 

Here  we  close  the  testimony  in  respect  to  the  per- 
sonal character  of  the  three  distinguished  Phrenologists 
who  labored  so  long  and  faithfully  in  the  great  cause 
of  science  and  education.  Much  might  be  added,  but 
the  reader  is  referred  to  the  pages  of  their  numerous 
works,  and  to  the  record  of  their  achievements.  They 
were  the  first  to  mark  with  precision  the  conditions  of 
health  necessary  to  sound  mental  activity,  and  the  first 
to  discover  the  nature  and  to  remove  the  local  causes 
of  insanity.  They  were  the  first  to  systematize  mental" 
development  according  to  physical  means,  and  to  meli- 
orate idiocy  by  a  special  knowledge  of  its  causes. 


METAPHYSICS    BEFOEE    THE    TIME    OF    GALL PHYSIOG- 
NOMY   NOTHING    WITHOUT    PHRENOLOGY. 

For  centuries  man  had  been  studied — not  as  a  being 
to  be  observed  as  to  the  functions  of  all  the  parts  of  a 
harmonious  body,  as  to  his  form,  habits,  and  natural 


62  Meminiscences  of  Spui^zheim. 

tendencies,  as  we  study  the  subjects  of  Natural  His- 
tory— but  as  a  creature  of  mere  theory — an  abstraction 
— an  abstraction  so  mysterious,  as  to  challenge  the 
most  gifted  minds  to  furnish  a  reasonable  or  practical 
solution  of  its  meaning.  When  Gall  appeared,  philos- 
ophers were  ignorant  of  men.  They  knew  man  by 
sight,  indeed,  and  they  had  records  of  what  he  had 
done,  but  they  had  not  carefully  studied  naind  in  con- 
nection with  matter.  They  even  recognized  the  gen- 
eral fact  that  all  persons  were  physiognomists  to  a  cer- 
tain degree,  but  they  failed  to  observe  the  connection 
between  the  face  and  head.  They  did  not  discover  the 
fact  that  the  shape  of  the  head  rather  gave  expression 
to  the  face  than  the  face  to  the  head.  The  face  of 
Lord  Bacon  or  of  Daniel  Webster  joined  to  an  idiot's 
head  would  not  be  recognized.  Most  people  claim  to 
be  judges  of  character,  and  are  favorably  or  unfavorably 
impressed  with  a  person  in  the  fll'st  interview.  This 
impression  makes  a  part  of  the  judgment,  whether 
right  or  wrong,  but  how  few  are  prepared  to  analyze 
their  impressions  of  personal  character,  and  to  give 
special  reasons  upon  which  they  are  based.  To  do 
this  accurately  the  importance  of  Phrenology  can  not 
be  over-estimated.  We  now  proceed  to  speak  of  G-all, 
Spurzheim,  and  George  Combe — of  each  in  the  order  of 
his  birth — as  connected  with  the  science. 


BIETH     AND     EDTJCATION     OF    GALL — HIS    EARLY   OBSEKVA- 

TIOKS SCIENTIFIC     CONCLUSIONS — ANATOMY     OF     THE 

BEAIN FIEST   APPEARANCE   AS    AUTHOR. 

Francois  Joseph  Gall  was  born  in  Tiefenbrum,  a 
village  of  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Baden,  Germany,  on  the 


Meminiscences  of  Sjpurzheim.  63 

9tli  of  March,  1758.  His  father  was  a  merchant,  and 
mayor  of  Tief enbrum,  a  village  two  leagues  distant 
from  Pforzheim  in  Swabia.  His  parents — professing 
the  Roman  Catholic  reli2:ion — had  intended  him  for  the 
Church,  but  his  natural  dispositions  were  opposed  to  it. 
His  studies  were  pursued  at  Baden,  afterward  at 
Brucksal,  and  then  were  continued  at  Strasburg.  Hav- 
ing selected  the  healing  art  for  his  profession,  he  went 
in  1781  to  Vienna — the  Medical  School  of  which  had 
obtaiued  great  reputation,  particularly  since  the  times 
of  Yan  Swieten  and  Stahl. 

Dr.  Gall  gives  an  account,  of  which  the  following  is 
an  abstract,  of  the  manner  in  which  he  was  led  to  the 
study  of  the  natural  talents  and  dispositions  of  men — 
his  views  of  which  terminated  in  the  formation  of  the 
Phrenological  system.  When  snch  a  man  as  Gall 
speaks,  it  would  be  presumption  to  deviate  from  his 
own  language  as  it  has  been  reported. 

From  an  early  age  he  was  given  to  observation,  and 
was  struck  with  the  fact  that  each  of  his  brothers  and 
sisters,  companions  in  play,  and  school-fellows  possessed 
some  peculiarity  of  talent  or  disposition  which  distin- 
guished him  from  others.  Some  of  his  school-mates 
were  distinguished  by  the  beauty  of  their  penmanship, 
some  by  their  success  in  arithmetic,  and  others  by  their 
talent  for  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  natural  history  or 
of  languages.  The  compositions  of  one  were  remark- 
able for  elegance,  while  the  style  of  another  was  stiff 
and  dry,  and  a  third  connected  his  reasonings  in  the 
closest  manner  and  clothed  his  arguments  in  the  most 
forcible  language.  Their  dispositions  were  equally  dif- 
ferent, and  this  diversity  appeared  also  to  determine 


64  Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim. 

the  direction  of  their  partialities  and  aversions.  ]S"ot  a 
few  of  them  manifested  a  capacity  for  employments 
which  they  were  not  taught.  They  cut  figures  in  wood 
or  delineated  them  on  paper.  Some  devoted  their  leis- 
ure to  painting  or  the-  culture  of  a  garden,  while  their 
comrades  abandoned  themselves  to  noisy  games,  or 
traversed  the  woods  to  gather  flowers,  seek  for  bird-s' 
nests,  or  catch  butterflies.  In  this  manner  each  indi- 
vidual presented  a  character  peculiar  to  himself,  and 
Gall  never  observed  that  the  individual,  who,  in  one 
year,  had  displayed  selfish  or  knavish  dispositions,  be- 
came in  the  next  a  good  and  faithful  friend. 

The  scholars  with  whom  young  Gall  had  the  greatest 
difficulty  in  competing  were  those  who  learned  by  heart 
with  great  facility ;  and  such  individuals  frequently 
gained  from  him  by  their  repetitions  the  places  which 
he  had  obtained  by  the  merit  of  his  original  composi- 
tions. 

Some  years  afterwards,  having  changed  his  place  of 
residence,  he  still  met  individuals  endowed  with  an 
equally  great  talent  of  learning  to  repeat.  He  there 
observed,  that  his  school-fellows,  so  gifted,  possessed 
prominent  eyes ;  and  he  recollected,  that  his  rivals  in 
the  first  school  had  been  distinguished  by  the  same  pe- 
culiarity. When  he  entered  the  University,  he  directed 
his  attention,  from  the  first,  to  the  students  whose  eyes 
were  of  this  description,  and  he  soon  found  that  they 
all  excelled  in  getting  rapidly  by  heart,  and  giving  cor- 
rect recitations,  althongh  many  of  them  were  by  no 
means  distinguished  in  point  of  general  talent.  This 
observation  was  recognized  also  by  the  other  students 
in  the  classes ;  and,  although  the  connection  betwixt 


Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  65 

tlie  talent  and  the  external  sign  was  not  at  this  time  es- 
tablished upon  such  complete  evidence  as  is  requisite 
for  a  philosophical  conclusion,  yet  Dr.  Gall  could  not 
believe  that  the  coincidence  of  the  two  circumstances 
thus  observed  was  entirely  accidental.  He  suspected, 
therefore,  from  this  period,  that  they  stood  in  an  im- 
portant relation  to  each  other.  After  much  reflection, 
he  conceived  that  if  memory  for  words  was  indicated 
by  an  external  sign,  the  same  might  be  the  case  with 
the  other  intellectual  powers ;  and,  from  that  moment, 
all  individuals  distinguished  by  any  remarkable  faculty 
became  the  objects  of  his  attention.  By  degrees,  he 
conceived  himself  to  have  found  external  characteris- 
tics, which  indicated  a  decided  disposition  for  painting, 
music,  and  the  mechanical  arts.  He  became  acquaint- 
ed, also,  with  some  individuals  remarkable  for  the  de- 
termination of  their  character,  and  he  observed  a  par- 
ticular part  of  their  heads  to  be  very  largely  developed. 
This  fact  first  suggested  to  him  the  idea  of  looking  to 
the  head  for  signs  of  the  Moral  Sentiments.  But  in 
making  these  observations,  he  never  conceived  for  a 
moment  that  the  shull  was  the  cause  of  the  different 
talents,  as  has  been  erroneously  represented ;  he  refer- 
red the  influence,  whatever  it  was,  to  the  Brain. 

In  following  out,  by  observations,  the  principle  which 
accident  had  thus  suggested,  he  for  some  time  encoun- 
tered difficulties  of  the  greatest  magnitude.  Hitherto 
he  had  been  altogether  ignorant  of  the  opinions  of 
physiologists,  touching  the  brain,  and  of  metaphysi- 
cians respecting  the  mental  faculties,  and  had  simply 
observed  nature.  When,  however,  he  began  to  enlarge 
his  knowledge  of  books,  he  found  the  most  extraordi- 


66  Reminiscences  of  S^urzheim. 

nary  conflict  of  opinions  everywhere  prevailing,  and 
this,  for  the  moment,  made  him  hesitate  about  the  cor- 
rectness of  his  own  observations.  He  found  that  the 
moral  sentiments  had,  by  almost  general  consent,  been 
consigned  to  the  thoracic  and  abdominal  viscera ;  and 
that  while  Pythagoras,  Plato,  Galen,  Haller,  and  some 
other  physiologists,  placed  the  sentient  soul  or  intel- 
lectual faculties  in  the  brain,  Aristotle  placed  it  in  the 
heart,  Yan  Helmont  in  the  stomach,  Des  Cartes  and  his 
followers  in  the  pineal  gland,  and  Drelincourt  and 
others  in  the  cerebellum. 

He  observed  also  that  a  greater  number  of  philos- 
ophers and   physiologists   asserted  that  all  men  were 
born  with   equal  faculties;   and   that   the  differences 
observable  among  them  are  owing  either  to  education 
or  to  the  accidental  circumstances  in  which  they  are 
placed.   If  all  differences  are  accidental,  he  inferred  that 
there  could  be  no  natural  signs  of  predominating  facul- 
ties, and  consequently  that  the  project  of  learning,  by 
observation,  to  distinguish  the  functions  of  the  differ- 
ent portions  of   the    brain  must   be  hopeless.      This 
difficulty  he  combated,  by  the  reflection  that  his  broth- 
ers, sisters,  and   school-fellows  had  all  received  very 
nearly  the  same  education,  but  that  he  had  still  ob- 
served each  of   them  unfolding  a  distinct  character, 
over  which  circumstances  appeared  to  exert  only  a  lim- 
ited control.     He  observed,  also,  that  not  unfrequently 
they  whose   education   had  been  conducted  with  the 
greatest  care,  and  on  whom  the  labors  of  teachers  had 
been  most  freely  lavished,  remained  far  behind  their 
companions  in  attainments.     "  Often,"  says  Dr.  Gall, 
^'  we  were  accused  of  want  of  will,  or  deficiency  in 


Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  67 

zeal;  but  many  of  us  could  not,  even  witli  the  most 
ardent  desire,  followed  out  by  the  most  obstinate  ef- 
forts, attain  in  some  pursuits  even  to  mediocrity ;  while 
in  some  other  points,  some  of  us  surpassed  our  school- 
fellows without  an  effort,  and  almost,  it  might  be  said, 
without  perceiving  it  ourselves.  But,  in  point  of  fact, 
our  masters  did  not  appear  to  attach  much  faith  to  the 
system  which  taught  the  equality  of  mental  faculties ; 
for  they  thought  themselves  entitled  to  exact  more 
from  one  scholar,  and  less  from  another.  They  spoke 
frequently  of  natural  gifts,  or  of  the  gifts  of  God,  and 
consoled  their  pupils  in  the  words  of  the  Gospel,  by 
assuring  them  that  each  would  be  required  to  render 
an  account  only  in  proportion  to  the  gifts  which  lie  had 
received.""^ 

Being  convinced  by  these  facts  that  there  is  a  natu- 
ral and  constitutional  diversity  of  talents  and  disposi- 
tions, he  encountered,  in  books,  still  another  obstacle 
to  his  success  in  determininoj  the  external  sio^ns  of  the 
mental  powers.  He  found  that,  instead  of  faculties 
for  languages,  drawing,  distinguishing  places,  music, 
and  mechanical  arts,  corresponding  to  the  different  tal- 
ents which  he  had  observed  in  his  school-fellows,  the 
metaphysicians  spoke  only  of  general  powers,  such  as 
perception,  conception,  memory,  imagination,  and  judg- 
ment ;  and  when  he  endeavored  to  discover  external 
sigus  in  the  head  corresponding  to  these  general  facul- 
ties, or  to  determine  the  correctness  of  the  physiologi- 
cal doctrines  regarding  the  seat  of  the  mind,  as  taught 


*  Preface  by  Dr.  Gall,  to  tlie  "Anatomie,  etc.,  du  Cerveau." 


68  Meminiseences  of  Spurzheim. 

by  tlie  authors  already  mentioned,  lie  found  perplexi- 
ties without  end  and  difficulties  ins armoun table. 

Dr.  Gall,  therefore,  abandoning  every  theory  and 
preconceived  opinion,  gave  himself  up  entirely  to  the 
observation  of  nature.  Being  physician  to  a  lunatic 
asylum  in  Yienna,  he  had  opportunities,  of  which  he 
availed  himself,  for  making  observations  on  the  insane. 
He  visited  prisons  and  resorted  to  schools ;  he  was  in- 
troduced to  the  courts  of  princes,  to  colleges,  and  the 
seats  of  justice ;  and  wherever  he  heard  of  an  indi- 
vidual distinguished  in  any  particular  way,  either  by 
remarkable  endowment  or  deficiency,  he  observed  and 
studied  the  development  of  his  head.  In  this  manner, 
by  an  almost  imperceptible  induction  he  conceived 
himself  warranted  in  believing  that  particular  mental 
powers  are  indicated  by  particular  configurations  of  the 
head. 

Hitherto  he  had  resorted  only  to  physiognomical  in- 
dications, as  a  means  of  discovering  the  functions  of 
the  brain.  On  reflection,  however,  he  was  convinced 
that  physiology  was  imperfect  when  separated  from 
anatomy.  Having  observed  a  woman  of  fifty -four 
years  of  age,  who  had  been  afflicted  with  hydrocephalus 
from  her  youth,  and  who,  with  a  body  a  little  shrunk, 
possessed  a  mind  as  active  and  intelligent  as  that  of 
other  individuals  of  her  class.  Dr.  Gall  declared  his 
conviction  that  the  structure  of  the  brain  must  be  dif- 
ferent from  what  was  generally  conceived — a  remark 
which  Tulpius  also  had  made,  on  observing  a  hydro- 
cephalic patient,  who  manifested  the  mental  faculties. 
He  therefore  felt  the  necessity  of  making  anatomical 
researches  into  the  structure  of  the  brain. 


Reminiscences  of  Spiirzheim.  69 

In  every  instance  where  an  individual,  whose  head 
he  had  observed  ^^hile  alive,  happened  to  die,  he  used 
every  means  to  be  permitted  to  examine  the  brain,  and 
frequently  did  so ;  and  found,  as  a  general  fact,  that  on 
removal  of  the  skull,  the  brain,  covered  by  the  dura 
mater,  presented  a  form  corresponding  to  that  which 
the  skull  had  exhibited  in  life. 

The  successive  steps  by  which  Dr.  Gall  proceeded  in 
his  discoveries  are  particularly  deserving  of  attention. 
He  did  not,  as  many  have  imagined,  first  dissect  the 
brain,  and  pretend,  by  that  means,  to  have  discovered 
the  seats  of  the  mental  powers;  neither  did  he,  as 
others  have  conceived,  first  map  out  the  skull  in  vari- 
ous compartments,  and  assign  a  faculty  to  each,  accord- 
ing as  his  imagination  led  him  to  conceive  the  place 
appropriate  to  the  power.  On  the  contrary,  he  first 
observed  a  concomitance  betwixt  particular  talents  and 
dispositions,  and  particular  forms  of  the  head ;  he  next 
ascertained,  by  removal  of  the  skull,  that  the  figure  and 
the  size  of  the  brain  are  indicated  by  these  external 
forms;  and  it  was  only  after  these  facts  were  deter- 
mined that  the  brain  was  minutely  dissected,  and  light 
thrown  upon  its  structure. 

Dr.  Gall  was  first  known  as  an  author  by  the  publi- 
cation of  two  chapters  of  an  extensive  work,  entitled 
"  Pliilosophisch-inediciniscTie  Untersuchiingen  uber 
Natur  unci  Kunst  imgesunden  und  kranhen  Zustande 
des  Menschen,  Wien,  lY9i."  The  continuation  of  this 
work  has  never  appeared;  but,  in  the  first  of  the  two 
chapters  printed,  he  has  evinced  the  spirit  with  which 
his  researches  into  the  moral  and  intellectual  nature  of 
man  were  subsequently  conducted.     The  first  written 


70  Reminiscences  of  Sjpurzheim, 

notice  of  his  inquiries  concerning  the  head  appeared  in 
a  familiar  letter  to  Baron  Ketzer,  which  was  inserted  in 
the  German  periodical  jonrnal  "  DeutscJien^  Ilercur^'^ 
in  December,  1Y98.  In  this  letter  he  announces  the 
publication  of  a  work  upon  his  views  concerning  the 
brain ;  but  circumstances  induced  him  to  alter  his  in- 
tention. 

In  reading  it,  one  will  be  sui^rised  to  find,  contained 
in  so  few  pages,  written  so  long  ago,  all  the  principles 
of  the  physiology  of  the  brain.  It  will  be  observed 
that  Gall  clearly  defined  the  object  of  his  researches ; 
to  wit,  a  knowledge  of  the  brain,  in  relation  to  the  fun- 
damental qualities  of  man,  illustrated  by  that  of  the  in- 
stincts and  propensities  of  animals  in  connection  with 
their  cerebral  organization.  The  reader  will  perceive 
in  it  all  the  useful  applications  which  he  proposed  to 
make  of  his  new  doctrines  to  medicine,  to  morals,  to 
legislation,  to  everything,  in  a  word,  which  relates  to 
the  physical,  moral,  and  intellectual  nature  of  man. 

This  paper  is  a  valuable  document  for  the  history  of 
the  science,  and  M.  Dr.  Fossati  says,  "  Should  convince 
every  one  that  to  Gall  alone  belongs  the  glory  of  hav- 
ing discovered  the  true  physiology  of  the  brain." 


OUTLINES    OF   THE    SCIENCE  OF  PHRENOLOGY,  IN  A  LETTER 
TO   JOS.  FE.  DE   EETZER. 

The  following  letter  from  Dr.  F.  J.  Gall  to  Joseph 
Fr.  De  Retzer,  upon  the  Functions  of  the  Brain  in 
Man  and  Animals,  is  taken  from  the  Journal  de  la 
SocieU  Phrenologique  de  Paris  : 


Hemimscences  of  Spurzheim,  Yl 

"  I  have  at  last  the  pleasure,  my  dear  Retzer,  of  pre- 
senting yon  a  sketch  of  my  Treatise  upon  the  Functions 
of  the  Brain ;  and  upon  the  possibility  of  distinguish- 
ing some  of  the  dispositions  and  propensities  by  the 
shape  of  the  head  and  the  skull.  I  have  observed  that 
many  men  of  talent  and  learning  awaited  with  confi- 
dence the  result  of  my  labors,  while  others  set  me  down 
as  a  visionary  or  a  dangerous  innovator. 

"  But  to  the  subject :  my  purpose  is  to  ascertain  the 
functions  of  the  brain  in  general,  and  those  of  its  differ- 
ent parts  in  particular ;  to  show  that  it  is  possible  to 
ascertain  different  dispositions  and  inclinations  by  the 
elevations  and  depressions  upon  the  head ;  and  to  pre- 
sent, in  a  clear  light,  the  most  important  consequences 
which  result  therefrom  to  medicine,  morality,  education, 
and  legislation — in  a  word,  to  the  science  of  human 
nature. 

"  To  do  this  effectually  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  large 
collection  of  drawings  and  plans.  Therefore,  with  re- 
gard to  particular  qualities  and  their  indications  only, 
I  shall  now  submit  to  my  readers  so  much  as  i^  neces- 
sary for  the  establishment  and  illustration  of  the  fun- 
damental principles. 

"  The  particular  design  of  my  work  is  to  mark  the 
historical  outline  of  my  researches ;  to  lay  down  the 
principles,  and  to  show  their  application.  You  will 
readily  conceive  that  the  study  of  the  real  springs  of 
thought  and  action  in  man  is  an  arduous  undertaking. 
Whether  I  succeed  or  not,  I  shall  count  upon  your  in- 
dulgence and  support,  if  only  on  account  of  the  hardi- 
hood of  the  enterprise. 

"  Be  so  good  as  to  recollect  that  I  mean  by  the  head 


72  Reminiscences  of  S^urzheiTYi. 

or  cranium,  the  bony  box  wliicb  contains  tbe  brain ; 
and  of  this,  only  those  parts  which  are  immediatclj  in 
contact  with  it.  And  do  not  blame  me  for  not  making 
use  of  the  language  of  Kant.  I  have  not  made  prog- 
ress enough  in  mj  researches  to  discover  the  particular 
organ  for  sagacity,  for  depth,  for  imagination,  for  the 
different  kinds  of  judgment,  etc.  I  have  even  been 
sometimes  wanting  precision  in  the  definition  of  nay 
ideas,  my  object  being  to  make  known  to  a  large  num- 
ber of  readers  the  importance  of  my  subject. 

Paet  I. 

contains  the  principles.  I  start  with  my  readers  from 
that  point  to  which  nature  had  conducted  me."  [The 
original  is  obscure ;  the  author  means,  probably,  that 
nature,  or  the  natural  process  of  induction,  having  led 
him  to  certain  principles,  he  starts  from  them  with  his 
readers.]  "After  having  collected  the  result  of  my 
tedious  experiments^  I  have  built  up  a  theory  of  their 
laws  of  relation.  I  hasten  to  lay  before  you  the  funda- 
mental principles. 

"  I. — The  faculties  and  the  jpTopensities  innate  in  man 

and  animals, 
"  You  surely  are  not  the  man  to  dispute  this  ground 
with  me ;  but,  follower  of  Minerva,  you  should  be 
armed  to  defend  her  cause.  Should  it  appear  from 
my  system  that  we  are  rather  slaves  than  masters  of 
our  actions,  consequently  dependent  upon  our  natural 
impulses,  and  should  it  be  asked,  what  becomes  of  lib- 
erty ?  and  how  the  good  or  evil  we  do  be  attributed  to 
us  %  I  shall  be  permitted  t(;  give  you  the  answer  by  ex- 


ReminisGences  of  Spitrzheim.  T3 

tracting  it  literally  from  my  preface.  You  can 
strengthen  the  argument  by  your  metaphysical  and 
theological  knowledge. 

"  Those  who  would  persuade  themselves  that  our  dis- 
positions (or  qualities)  are  not  innate,  would  attribute 
them  to  education.  But  have  we  not  acted  alike  pas- 
sively, whether  we  have  been  formed  by  our  innate  dis- 
positions or  by  education  1  By  this  objection  they  con- 
found the  ideas  of  faculties,  inclinations,  and  simple 
disposition  with  the  mode  of  action  itself.  The  ani- 
mals themselves  are  not  altogether  subject  to  their  dis- 
positions and  propensities.  Strong  as  may  be  the  in- 
stinct of  the  dog  to  hunt  or  of  the  cat  to  catch  mice, 
repeated  punishments  will  nevertheless  prevent  the  ac- 
tion of  their  instincts.  Birds  repair  their  nests  when 
injured,  and  bees  cover  with  wax  any  carrion  which 
they  can  not  remove.  But  man  possesses,  besides  the 
animal  qualities,  the  faculty  of  speech  and  unlimited 
educability — two  inexhaustible  sources  of  knowledge 
and  action.  He  has  the  sentiment  of  truth  and  error ; 
of  right  and  wrong.  He  has  the  consciousness  of  free- 
will. The  past  and  the  future  may  influence  his  action. 
He  is  endowed  with  moral  feeling,  with  conscience, 
etc.  Thus  armed,  man  may  combat  his  inclinations. 
These  indeed  have  always  attractions  w^hich  lead  to 
temptation,  but  they  are  not  so  strong  that  they  can 
not  be  subdued  and  kept  under  by  other  and  stronger 
inclinations  which  are  opposed  to  them.  You  have  a 
voluptuous  disposition,  but,  having  good  morals,  con- 
jugal affection,  health,  regard  for  society  and  for  relig- 
ion as  your  preservatives,  you  resist  it.  It  is  only  this 
struggle  against  the  propensities  which  gives  rise  to 
4 


74  Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim, 

yirtue,  to  vice,  and  moral  responsibility.  What  wonld 
that  self-denial  so  much  recommended  amount  to  if  it 
did  not  suppose  a  combat  with  ourselves  ?  And  then, 
the  more  we  multiply  and  fortify  the  preservatives,  the 
more  man  gains  in  free-agency  and  moral  liberty. 

''  The  stronger  are  the  internal  propensities,  the 
stronger  should  be  the  preservatives.  From  them  re- 
sult the  necessities  and  the  utility  of  the  most  intimate 
knowledge  of  man,  of  the  theory  of  the  origin  of  his 
faculties  and  inclinations,  of  education,  laws,  rewards, 
punishments,  and  religion.  But  the  responsibility 
ceases,  even  according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  most  rigid 
theologians,  if  man  is  either  not  excited  at  all,  or  if  he 
is  absolutely  incapable  of  resistance  when  violently  ex- 
cited. Can  it  be  that  there  is  any  merit  in  the  con- 
tinence of  those  who  are  born  eunuchs  ?  Rush  men- 
tions the  case  of  a  woman,  who,  though  adorned  by 
every  other  moral  virtue,  could  not  resist  her  inclina^ 
tion  to  steal.  I  know  many  similar  examples  among 
others  of  an  irresistible  inclination  to  kill.  Although 
we  reserve  to  ourselves  the  right  .to  prevent  these  un- 
happy beings  from  injuring  us,  all  punishment  exer- 
cised on  them  is  not  less  unjust  than  useless;  they 
merit  indeed  our  compassion.  I  hope  some  day  to 
render  the  proof  of  this  rare  but  sad  fact  more  familiar 
to  judges  and  physicians. 

"  Now  that  our  opponents  are  tranquillized,  let  us 
take  up  these  questions — In  what  manner  are  the  fac- 
ulties and  propensities  of  man  connected  with  his  or- 
ganization ?  Are  they  the  expression  of  a  principle  of 
mind  purely  spiritual  and  acting  purely  by  itself,  or  is 
the  mind  connected  with  some  particular  organization 


Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  16 

— if  so,  by  what  organization  ?     From  the  solution  of 
these  questions  we  shall  derive  the  second  principle. 

"II. — The  facvMies  and  propensities  of  man  hoAie 
their  seat  in  the  hrain. 


"  I  adduce  the  following  proofs : 

"  1.  The  functions  of  the  mind  are  deranged  by  the 
lesion  of  the  brain ;  they  are  not  immediately  deranged 
by  the  lesion  of  other  parts  of  the  body. 

"  2.  The  brain  is  not  necessary  to  life ;  but,  as  nature 
creates  nothing  in  vain,  it  must  be  that  the  brain  has 
another  distinction — that  is  to  say, 

"  3  and  4.  The  faculties  are  not  only  distinct  and 
independent  of  the  propensities^  hut  also  the  faculties 
among  themselves  and  the  propensities  among  them- 
selves are  essentially  distinct  and  independent.  They 
ought ^  consequently,  to  have  their  seat  in  parts  of  the 
hrain  distinct  and  independent  of  each  other, 

"Proof  1.  We  can  make  the  qualities  of  the  mind 
alternately  act  and  repose,  so  that  one,  after  being  fa- 
tigued, rests  and  refreshes  itseK,  while  another  acts  and 
becomes  fatigued  in  turn. 

"2.  The  dispositions  and  propensities  exist  among 
themselves  in  variable  proportions  in  man  as  also  in 
animals  of  the  same  kind. 

"  3.  Different  faculties  and  propensities  exist  sepa- 
rately in  different  animals. 

"4.  The  faculties  and  propensities  develop  them- 
selves at  different  epochs ;  some  cease  without  the  other 
diminishing,  and  even  while  the  other  increases. 

"  5.  In  diseases  and  wounds  of  certain  parts  of  the 
brain,  certain  qualities  are  deranged,  irritated  or  sus- 


IQ  JRemmiscences  of  Sjpurzheim. 

peiided.  They  return  by  degrees  J:o  their  natural  state 
during  the  curative  process. 

"  I  do  not  imagine  myself  a  man  sufficiently  great 
enough  to  establish  anytliing  by  bare  assertion.  I  must 
endeavor,  therefore,  to  establish  each  one  of  these  facts 
by  proof.  E^evertheless,  some  timid  minds  will  object 
thus  :  If  you  allow  that  the  functions  of  the  mind 
are  produced  by  corporal  means,  or  by  certain  organs, 
will  you  not  assail  the  spiritual 'nature  and  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul?  Condescend  to  hear  my  answer. 
The  naturaHst  endeavors  to  penetrate  the  laws  of  the 
material  world  only,  and  supposes  that  no  natural  truth 
can  be  in  contradiction  with  an  established  truth ;  he 
now  finds  that  neither  the  mind  nor  body  can  be  de- 
stroyed without  the  immediate  order  of  the  Creator ; 
but  he  can  draw  no  conclusion  as  to  spiritual  life.  He 
contents  himself  with  perceiving  and  teaching  that  the 
mind  is  chained  in  this  life  to  a  corporeal  organization. 

''  Thus  much  in  general ;  but  for  details,  I  answer  in 
the  following  manner :  In  the  preceding  objection  the 
being  acting  is  confounded  by  the  instrument  by  which 
he  acts.  That  which  I  laid  down  respecting  the  lower 
faculties,  that  is  to  say,  of  the  inferior  organs  of  the 
functions  of  the  mind,  in  numbers  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  takes 
place  also  with  it  in  regard  to  the  external  senses.  For 
example,  while  the  fatigued  eye  reposes,  we  can  listen 
attentively  ;  the  hearing  may  be  destroyed  without  the 
vision  being  impaired ;  some  of  the  senses  may  be  im- 
perfect, while  others  are  in  full  force ;  worms  are  en- 
tirely destitute  of  hearing  and  sight,  but  they  possess  a 
perfect  touch ;  the  new-born  puppy  is  for  several  days 
both  blind  and  deaf,  while  his  taste  is  perfectly  de- 


Heminiscenees  of  Spurzheirrh.  77 

veloped ;  in  old  age,  the  hearing  generally  diminishes 
before  the  sight ;  while  the  taste  almost  always  remains 
unimpaired.  Hence  results  the  proof  of  the  existence 
of  the  senses  themselves,  and  of  their  independence, 
which  no  one  doubts.  Has  any  one  ever  drawn  the  con- 
clusion that  the  mind  ought  to  be  material  or  mortal, 
from  the  essential  diiference  of  the  senses  ?  Is  the 
mind  which  sees  different  from  the  mind  that  hears  ? 
I  extend  the  comparison  a  Kttle  further ;  he  is  mistaken 
who  thinks  that  the  eye  sees,  that  the  ear  hears,  etc. ; 
each  external  organ  of  sense  is  in  communication  by 
nerves  with  the  brain  ;  and  at  the  commencement  of 
the  nerves  is  a  proportionable  mass  of  the  brain  which 
constitutes  the  true  internal  organ  of  each  sensitive  func- 
tion. Consequently,  the  eye  may  be  ever  so  sound,  the 
optic  nerve  may  be  ever  so  perfect,  and  yet,  if  the  internal 
organ  is  impaired  or  destroyed,  the  eye  and  the  optic 
nerves  are  of  no  avail.  The  external  instruments  of 
sense  have,  consequently,  their  organs  also  in  the  brain, 
and  these  external  instruments  are  only  the  means  by 
which  the  internal  organs  are  put  in  relation  with  ex- 
ternal objects ;  it  is  for  these  reasons  that  it  never 
entered  the  head  of  Boerhaave,  nor  of  Haller,  nor  of 
Mayer,  nor  even  of  the  pious  Lavater,  who  seeks  for  the 
qualities  of  mind  in  the  head,  and  of  character  in  the 
body,  that  anything  could  be  inferred  against  the  doc- 
trine of  the  immateriality  and  immortality  of  the  soul 
from  the  difference  and  independence  of  the  faculties 
and  propensities,  and  of  their  internal  organs.  The 
same  mind  which  sees  through  the  organ  of  sight,  and 
which  smells  through  the  olfactory  organ,  learns  hy 
heart  through  the  organ  of  memory,  and  does  good 


Y8  Reminiscences  of  SpurzJieinh. 

through  the  organ  of  benevolence.  It  is  the  same 
spring  which  puts  in  motion  fewer  wheels  for  you  and 
more  for  me.  In  this  way  the  general  functions  of  the 
brain  are  established. 

"  I  now  proceed  to  prove  that  we  can  estabhsh  the 
assistance  and  the  relation  of  many  faculties  and  pro- 
pensities by  the  formation  of  the  cerebral  development, 
by  which    means  will  be  demonstrated,  at  once,  the 
.  functions  of  the  different  cerebral  parts. 

"  Y. — Of  the  distrihution  of  the  different  organs  and 
their  various  develo])rYhent  arising  from  different  for^ns 
of  the  hrain. 

"Among  the  proofs  in  support  of  this  principle,  I 
point  out  the  differences  of  conformation  between  car- 
nivorous, frugivorous,  and  omnivorous  animals.  Then 
I  show  the  cause  of  the  difference  between  different 
species  of  animals,  also  the  cause  of  accidental  differ- 
ences of  species  and  individuals. 

"  YI. — From  the  totality  and  the  deuelopment  of  de- 
terminate organs  results  a  determinate  form  ^  either  of 
the  whole  hrain  or  of  its  parts  as  separate  regions. 

"  Here  I  take  the  opportunity  to  show  that  an  organ 
is  the  more  active  the  more  it  is  developed,  without 
denying  other  exciting  causes  of  its  activity.  But  how 
is  all  this  to  lead  us  to  a  knowledge  of  the  different 
faculties  and  the  different  propensities  by  the  formation 
of  the  skull  ?  Is,  then,  the  form  of  the  skull  moulded 
upon  that  of  the  brain  ? 

"  YII. — From  the  formation  of  the  hones  of  the  head 
until  the  most  ad/vanced  joeriods  of  life,  the  form  of  the 


Heminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  ^9 

internal  surface  of  the  skull  is  determined  hy  the  exter- 
nal form  of  the  hrainj  we  can  then  he  certain  of  the 
existence  of  some  faculties  and  propensities,  while  the 
external  surface  of  the  shidl  a^grees  with  its  internal 
surface,  or  so  long  as  the  variation  is  confined  to  certain 
known  limits. 

"  Here  I  explain  the  formation  of  the  bones  of  the 
head,  and  I  prove  that,  from  the  moment  of  birth,  they 
receive  their  form  from  the  brain.  I  speak  afterwards 
of  the  inflnence  of  other  causes  npon  the  conformation 
of  the  head ;  among  which  causes  we  may  rank  con- 
tinual or  repeated  violence.  I  show  that  the  organs 
develop  themselves  from  the  earliest  infancy  nntil  their 
final  completion,  in  the  same  proportion  and  the  same 
order  as  the  manifestation  of  the  faculties  and  natural 
propensities.  I  show,  besides,  that  the  bones  of  the 
head  take  on  their  different  forms  in  the  same  propor- 
tion and  in  the  same  order.  I  show,  finally,  the  gradual 
diminution  of  onr  faculties  by  the  diminution  of  the 
corresponding  organs,  and  how  nature  deposits  in  the 
vacant  spaces  new  portions  of  bony  matter.  All  these 
things  were  heretofore  unknown  in  the  doctrine  of  the 
bones  of  the  head.  By  these  is  the  first  step  taken  for 
the  determination  of  the  particular  functions  of  the 
different  parts  of  the  brain. 

"Paet  II. 

^'Application  of  general  principles.  Estahlishment  and 
determination  of  the  faculties  and  propensities  edc- 
isting  of  themselves, 

"  As  I  suppose  a  particular  organ  for  each  one  of  our 
independent  qualities,  we  have  only  to  estabhsh  what 


80  Heminiscences  of  Spurzheim, 

are  the  independent  qualities,  in  ©rder  to  know  what 
are  the  organs  which  we  may  hope  to  discover.  For 
many  years  I  met  great  difficulties  in  this  research,  and 
at  last  I  am  convinced  that,  as  in  everything  else,  we  take 
the  nearest  and  surest  road  if  we  lay  aside  onr  artificial 
logic  and  allow  ourselves  to  be  guided  by  facts.  I  make 
known  to  my  readers  some  of  the  difficulties  which  it 
was  necessary  to  surmount.  They  may  solve  them  if 
they  have  more  penetration  than  I  have.  I  come  at  last 
to  the  means  which  have  served  me  most  in  the  determi- 
nation of  the  independence  of  the  natural  qualities,  and  I 
begin  by  pointing  out  more  clearly  the  seat  of  the 
organs.     Among  these  means  I  cite — 

"  1.  The  discovery  of  certain  elevations  or  certain 
depressions  when  there  are  determined  qualities.  I 
mark  here  the  course  which  it  is  necessary  to  follow  in 
like  researches. 

"  2.  The  existence  of  certain  qualities  together  with 
the  existence  of  certain  protuberances. 

"  3.  A  collection  of  models  in  plaster. 

"  4.  A  collection  of  skulls. 

""We  shall  find  many  difficulties  with  regard  to 
human  skulls ;  you  know  how  every  one  fears  for  his 
own  head ;  how  many  stories  were  told  about  me  when 
I  undertook  such  researches.  Men,  unhappily,  have 
such  an  opinion  of  themselves  that  each  one  believes 
that  I  am  watching  for  his  head,  as  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant objects  of  my  collection.  ^Nevertheless,  I  have 
not  been  able  to  collect  more  than  twenty  in  the  space 
of  three  years,  if  I  except  those  that  I  have  taken  in 
the  hospitals,  or  in  the  asylum  for  idiots.  If  I  had  not 
been  supported  by  a  man  who  knows  how  to  protect 


Hernvniseences  of  Spurzheim.  81 

science,  and  to  consult  prejudices,  bj  a  man  jnstlj  and 
nniversally  esteemed  for  his  qualities  of  mind,  and  for 
his  character,  I  should  not  have  been  able,  in  spite  of 
all  my  labors,  to  collect  even  a  few  miserable  specimens. 

"  There  are  those,  indeed,  who  do  not  wish  that  even 
their  dogs  and  monkeys  should  be  placed  in  my  collec- 
tion after  their  death.  It  would  be  very  agreeable  to 
me,  however,  if  persons  would  send  me  the  heads  of 
animals,  of  which  they  have  observed  well  the  charac- 
ters ;  for  example,  of  a  dog  who  would  eat  only  what 
he  had  stolen,  one  who  could  find  his  master  at  a  great 
distance  ;  heads  of  monkeys,  parrots,  or  other  rare  ani- 
mals, with  the  histories  of  their  lives,  which  ought  to 
be  written  after  their  death,  lest  they  should  contain 
too  much  flattery.  I  wish  you  could  establish  the  fash- 
ion, for  every  kind  of  genius  should  make  me  the  heir 
of  his  head.  Then,  indeed  (I  will  answer  for  it  with 
mine  own),  we  should  see  in  ten  years  a  splendid  edi- 
fice, for  which  at  present  I  only  collect  materials.  It 
would  be  surely  dangerous  for  a  Castner,  a  Kant,  a 
Wieland,  and  other  like  celebrated  men  if  the  exter- 
minating angel  of  David  were  placed  under  my  order ; 
but,  with  Christian  patience,  I  shall  await  the  timely 
will  of  Providence. 

''  However,  in  the  meantime,  my  dear  Retzer,  look  a 
little  with  me  into  futurity  and  see  assembled  the  choice 
spirits  of  men  of  past  ages.  How  they  will  mutually 
congratulate  each  other  for  each  minute  portion  of  util- 
ity and  pleasure  which  each  one  of  them  has  contribu- 
ted for  the  happiness  of  men !  Why  has  no  one  pre- 
served for  us  the  skulls  of  Homer,  Ovid,  Yirgil,  Cicero, 
Hippocrates,  Boerhaave,  Alexander,  Frederic,  Joseph 


83  Heminiseences  of  Spurzheim, 

II.,  Catharine,  Yoltaire,  Rousseau,  Locke,  Bacon,  and  of 
others  ?  What  ornaments  for  the  beautiful  temple  of 
the  muses ! 

^'5.  I  come  now  to  the  fifth  means — phenomena  of 
the  diseases  and  lesions  of  the  brain.  I  have  also  much 
to  say  on  this  subject.  The  most  important  is  the  en- 
tirely new  doctrine  of  the  different  kinds  of  insanity 
and  the  means  of  cure — all  supported  by  facts.  If  all 
of  my  researches  should  only  conduct  me  to  this  result, 
I  should  deem  myself  sufficiently  rewarded  for  my  la- 
bors. If  men  of  sense  will  not  thank  me,  I  ought  at 
least  to  be  sure  of  the  thanks  of  fools. 

"  6.  The  sixth  means  for  discovering  the  seat  of  the 
organs  consists  in  examining  the  integral  parts  of  dif- 
ferent brains  and  their  relations,  always  comparatively 
with  the  different  faculties  and  the  different  propensi- 
ties. 

"  1.  I  come  at  last  to  one  of  my  favorite  subjects — 
the  gradual  scale  of  perfections. 

"  Here  I  imagine  that  I  am  a  Jupiter,  who  beholds 
from  the  heavens  his  animal  kingdom  crowding  upon 
the  earth.  Think  a  little  of  the  immense  space  which 
I  am  going  to  pass  through — from  the  zoophite  to  the 
simple  polypus,  up  to  the  philosopher  and  the  theos- 
ophist.  I  shall  hazard  like  you,  gentlemen  poets, 
some  perilous  leaps.  In  setting  out  I  shall  create  only 
irritable  vessels ;  then  I  add  nerves  and  the  herma- 
phrodite nature ;  then  beings  who  merit  something 
better,  who  can  unite  and  look  around  upon  the  world 
by  the  organs  of  sense.  I  make  an  arrangement  of 
powers  and  instruments  and  divide  them  according  to 
my  pleasure.     I  create  insects,  birds,  fishes,  mammalia. 


Itew.iniscences  of  Spurzheim.  83 

I  make  lap-dogs  for  your  ladies  and  horses  for  your 
beaux ;  and  for  myself,  men — that  is  to  say,  fools  and 
philosophers,  poets  and  historians,  theologians  and  nat- 
uralists. I  end,  then,  with  man — as  Moses  told  you 
long  before ;  but  it  has  cost  me  more  than  one  reflec- 
tion before  I  could  elevate  him  to  the  rank  of  the  king 
of  the  earth.  I  give  you  the  language  of  signs  or  nat- 
ural language,  that  you  may  amuse  yourselves,  and  that, 
if  any  mute  should  be  found,  there  may  be  for  him  one 
other  language  besides  that  of  speech.  1  assure  you 
that,  although  no  one  has  thought  of  acknowledging  it, 
I  have  not  been  able  to  effect  this,  but  by  putting  in 
communication  in  a  strange  manner  your  body  and 
your  muscles  with  your  cerebral  organs. 

"  Strictly  speaking,  you  only  play  the  part  of  pup- 
pets in  a  show.  When  certain  cerebral  organs  are  put 
in  action,  you  are  led  according  to  their  seat  to  take 
certain  positions,  as  though  you  were  drawn  by  a  wire, 
so  that  one  can  discover  the  seat  of  the  acting  organs 
by  the  motions.  I  know  that  you  are  blind  enough  to 
laugh  at  this ;  but,  if  you  will  take  the  trouble  to  ex- 
amine it,  you  will  be  persuaded  that  by  my  discovery 
I  have  revealed  to  you  more  things  than  you  observe. 
You  will  find  the  explanation  of  many  enigmas ;  for 
example.  Why  you  defend  so  valiantly  your  women ; 
why  you  become  churls  at  your  advanced  age  ;  why 
there  is  no  one  so  tenacious  of  his  opinions  as  a  the- 
ologian. PoiiTC[iioi  jplus  cVun  taureau  doit  eterneior 
loTsqxC  une  E\iro])Q  le  chatouille  entre  las  cornes^  etc. 
I  return  at  last  to  you,  my  dear  Ketzer,  like  a  poor  au- 
thor, to  satisfy  you  concerning  my  work. 

"  The  first  section  of  the  second  part  being  here  fin- 


84  Reminiscences  of  Spurzhehn. 

ishedj  I  ought  to  beg  my  readers  to  examine  all  that  I 
have  said,  so  that  they  may  be  more  convinced  of  the 
truth  of  my  first  principles,  which  I  have  explained  in 
a  superficial  manner;  but  I  think  that  he  who  is  so 
blind  as  not  to  see  by  the  light  of  the  sun,  will  not  do 
better  by  the  additional  light  of  a  candle. 

"  The  second  section  contains  various  subjects. 

"1. — Of  National  Heads. 

"  Here  I  agree  in  some  measure  with  Helvetius, 
whom  I  have  heretofore  contradicted.  I  shall,  perhaps, 
fall  out  with  Blumenbach,  Camper,  and  Soemmering, 
although  I  gladly  confess  that  I  am  not  certain  respect- 
ing it.  You  may,  nevertheless,  perceive  why  some  of 
our  brethren  can  not  count  more  than  three ;  why  others 
can  not  conceive  the  difference  between  meum  and 
tuum  I  why  lasting  peace  among  men  will  be  always  but 
a  dream. 

"2. — Of  the  difference  hetween  the  Heads  of  Men  and 

Women. 

"  That  which  I  could  say  on  this  subject  must  remain 
entre  nous.  We  know  nqtj  well  that  the  heads  of  the 
women  are  difficult  to  unravel. 

"  3. — On  Physiognomy. 

"  I  shall  show  here  that  I  am  nothing  less  than  a 
physiognomist.  I  rather  think  that  the  wise  men  have 
baptized  the  child  before  it  was  born ;  they  call  me 
craniologist,  and  the  science,  which  I  discovered,  crani- 
ology;  but,  in  the  first  place,  all  learned  words  dis- 


HemmisGences  of  Spv/rzheim,  85 

please  me ;  next,  this  is  not  one  applicable  to  mj  profes- 
sion, nor  one  which  really  designates  it. 

"  The  object  of  my  researches  is  the  brain.  The 
cranium  is  only  a  faithful  cast  of  the  external  surface 
of  the  brain,  and  is,  consequently,  but  a  minor  part  of 
the  principal  object.  This  title,  then,  is  as  inapplicable 
as  would  be  that  of  maker  of  rhymes  to  a  poet. 

"  Lastly,  I  cite  several  examples  to  give  to  my  read- 
ers something  to  examine,  so  that  they  may  judge,  not 
by  principles  alone,  but  also  by  facts,  how  much  they 
can  hope  from  the  effect  of  these  discoveries.  You 
know,  without  doubt,  my  dear  friend,  how  much  strict- 
ness I  observe  in  my  comparisons. 

"If,  for  example,  I  do  not  find  in  good  horse  the 
same  signification  as  in  good  dog,  and  if  I  do  not  find 
in  this  the  same  as  in  good  cook,  or  good  philosopher, 
and  if  it  is  not  in  the  same  relation  to  each  of  these  in- 
dividuals, the  sign  or  word  is  of  no  value  to  me ;  for  I 
admit  no  exceptions  in  the  works  of  nature. 

"  Finally,  I  wonld  warn  my  disciples  against  a  rash 
use  of  my  doctrine,  by  pointing  out  many  of  its  diffi- 
culties. On  the  other  hand,  I  shall  get  rid  of  many 
doubters. 

"  Allow  me,  at  present,  to  touch  upon  two  impor- 
tant defects  in  my  work.  First,  it  would  have  been  my 
duty  and  my  interest  to  conform  more  to  the  spirit  of 
the  age ;  I  ought  to  have  maintained  that  we  could  ab- 
solutely ascertain  by  the  form  of  the  skull  and  the 
head,  all  the  faculties  and  all  the  propensities,  without 
exception ;  I  ought  to  have  given  more  isolated  experi- 
ments, as  being  a  hundred  times  repeated ;  I  ought  to 
have  made  of  the  whole  one  speculative  study,  and  not 


86  RoininiscenGes  of  Sjmrzhcim, 

to  submit  my  doctrine,  as  I  have  done,  to  so  many  in- 
vestigations and  comparisons ;  I  should  not  ask  of  the 
world  so  much  preparatory  knowledge  and  persever- 
ance; I  ought  to  have  mounted  Parnassus  upon  Pegasus, 
and  not  upon  a  tortoise.  Where  is  the  charm  of  the 
interest  of  a  science  so  hard  to  acquire  ?  The  prema- 
ture sentences  which  have  been  pronounced,  the  jokes 
and  squibs  which  have  been  let  off  at  my  expense,  even 
before  my  intention  or  my  object  was  known,  prove 
that  men  do  not  wait  for  research  in  order  to  draw  their 
conclusions. 

"  I  remark,  in  the  second  place,  I  have  not  sufficiently 
appreciated  the  a  priori.  I  have  had  the  weakness  in 
this  to  judge  others  by  myself ;  for  that  which  I  have 
considered  as  well  established  by  my  logic,  I  have  in- 
variably found  incomplete  or  erroneous.  It  was  diffi- 
cult for  me  to  reason  soundly  upon  the  experiments 
which  I  make,  as  well  as  upon  those  made  by  others, 
although  I  am  persuaded  that  I  can  collect  truths  only 
on  the  highway  of  experience.  It  is  possible,  neverthe- 
less, very  possible,  that  others  have  a  more  favorable 
organization  than  I  have  to  arrive  at  knowledge  a  pri- 
ori I  but  you  will  do  me  the  justice  not  to  insist  upon 
my  entering  the  lists  with  other  arms  than  my  own." 


DR.    gall's    LECTUEES    A^J}   WORKS. 

In  1Y96  Dr.  Gall  commenced  giving  courses  of  lect- 
ures in  Vienna.  Several  of  his  hearers,  as  well  as 
others  who  had  never  heard  him  lecture,  published 
notices  of  his  doctrines,  and  represented   them  with 


Reminiscences  of  Sjpurzheim.  87 

greater  or  less  exactness.     Among  the  better  class,  the 
following  deserve  to  be  noticed  : 

Feokiep. — Who  has  printed  an  Exposition  of  the 
Doctrine  of  Dr.  Gall. — Third  Edition. 

Maetens. — "  Quelque  chose  sur  la  physiognomie."-— 
Leipzic^  1802. 

Walthee. — '*  Exposition  critiqne  de  la  Doctrine  de 
G-all,  avec  quelques  particularites  concernmant  son 
autenr." — Zurich,  1802. 

Having  continued  his  lectures  five  years,  on  the  9th 
of  January,  1802,  the  Austrian  Government  issued  an 
order  that  they  should  cease ;  his  doctrines  being  con- 
sidered dangerous  to  religion.  A  General  Kegulation 
was  made  upon  the  occasion,  prohibiting  all  private  lect- 
ures, unless  a  special  permission  was  obtained  from  the 
public  authorities.  Dr.  Gall  understood  the  object  of 
this  "  General  Regulation,"  and  never  solicited  permis- 
sion, but  preferred  to  stop  his  courses.  The  doctrines, 
however,  continued  to  be  studied  with  greater  zeal  than 
before ;  the  prohibition  strongly  stimulated  curiosity, 
and  all  publications  on  the  subject  continued  to  be  per- 
mitted, provided  they  abstained  from  reflecting  on  the 
Government  for  issuing  the  "  general  order." 

Gall  was  settled  as  a  physician  in  Vienna,  and  had  in 
his  charge  many  of  the  hospitals  and  other  public  insti- 
tutions requiring  medical  superintendence.  His  house 
was  open  to  every  one  who  wished  for  information  in 
his  newly-discovered  science.  As  might  be  expected, 
the  new  views  of  Gall  soon  attracted  the  unprejudiced 
notice  of  Spurzheim,  whose  birth  and  education,  it  is 
but  proper,  should  be  noticed  in  this  place. 


88  JReminisGenees  of  Spurzheim. 

BIETH   AND     EDUCATION    OF    SPURZHEIM  — HIS    CONNECTION 

WITH    GALL. 

John  GtAspae  Spurzheim  was  bom  on  the  31st  of 
December,  1776,  at  Longvich,  a  village  about  seven 
miles  from  tlie  city  of  Treves,  on  the  Moselle,  in  the 
lower  circle  of  the  Rhine,  now  under  the  dominion  of 
Hussia.  His  father  was  a  farmer,  and  cultivated  the 
lands  of  the  rich  Abbey  of  St.  Maximin  de  Treves.  In 
his  religious  persuasion  he  was  a  Lutheran,  and  young 
Spurzheiin  was  educated  for  the  clerical  profession. 
He  acquired  the  first  rudiments  of  Greek  and  Latin  in 
his  native  village ;  to  which  he  added  Hebrew  at  the 
University  of  Treves,  where  he  matriculated  in  1Y91, 
in  his  sixteenth  year,  and  where  he  also  entered  upon 
the  study  of  Divinity  and  Philosophy,  of  both  of  which, 
in  his  riper  years,  he  was  a  consummate  master.  Li 
1792  the  armies  of  France  overran  the  south  of  Grer- 
many,  and  seized  upon  Treves.  Spurzheim  retired  to 
Yienna,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  medicine, 
which  opened  to  him  a  wider  field  of  inquiry  and  more 
suited  to  his  mind.  In  1800  he  became  acquainted 
with  Gall,  and  entered  with  great  zeal  into  the  con- 
sideration of  the  new  doctrine.  To  use  his  own  words, 
he  "  was  simply  a  hearer  of  Dr.  Gall  till  1804,  at  which 
period  he  was  associated  with  him  in  his  labors,  and  his 
character  of  hearer  ceased."  Before  this  time,  Dr.  Gall 
had  employed  a  student  to  dissect  for  him,  but  his 
method  was  mechanical,  according  to  the  old  school. 
The  moment  Spurzheim  became  the  associate  of  Gall, 
the  anatomy  of  the  brain  assumed  a  new  character.  He 
specially  undertook  the  prosecution  of  the  anatomical 


ReminiscenGes  of  Spurzhemi,  89 

department,  and  in  their  public  and  private  demonstra- 
tions he  always  made  the  dissections,  and  Gall  ex- 
plained them. 

"Dr.  Spurzheim,"  says  Dr.  Gall,  "who  for  a  long 
time  had  been  familiar  with  the  physiological  part  of 
my  doctrine,  and  who  was  particularly  expert  in  ana^ 
tomical  researches  and  in  the  dissection  of  the  brain, 
formed  the  design  of  accompanying  and  of  pursuing  in 
common  with  me  the  investigations  which  had  for  their 
end  the  anatomy  and  physiology  of  the  nervous  sys- 
tem." They  left  Yienna  in  1805  to  travel  together 
and  to  pursue  in  common  their  investigations. 

In  the  period  which  elapsed  betwixt  the  interdiction 
of  Dr.  Gall's  lectures  in  1802  and  the  time  when  he 
and  Spurzheim  left  Yienna,  the  doctrine  had  made  a 
rapid  progress — not  only  in  general  diffusion,  but  in 
solid  additions.  The  following  works  afford  evidence 
of  the  state  of  the  science  in  1805 :  Bischoff,  "  Expo- 
sition de  la  Doctrine  de  Gall  sur  le  Cerveau  et  le 
Crane,  suivie  de  remarques  de  Mr.  Huf eland  sur  cette 
doctrine,"  Berlin,  second  edition^  1805  ;  Blcede,  "  Le 
Doctrine  du  Gall  sur  les  fonctions  de  Cerveau," 
Dresde,  second  edition,  1805. 

From  1804  to  1813  Gall  and  Spurzheim  were  con- 
stantly together.  On  leaving  Yienna  they  proceeded 
directly  to  Berlin,  and  afterward  they  visited  the  fol- 
lowing places :  Potsdam,  Leipzic,  Dresden,  Halle, 
Jena,  Weimer,  Goettingen,  Brauerschweig,  Copenha- 
gen, Kiel,  Hamburgh,  Bremen,  Munster,  Amsterdam, 
Leyden,  Dusseldorf,  Frankfort,  Wiirtzbourg,  Mar- 
bourg,  Stuttgard,  Carlsruhe,  Lastall,  Freybourg  en 
Brisgaw,   Doneschinque,   Heidelberg,   Manheim,   Mu- 


90  Meminiscences  of  Spurzheim. 

nich,  Angsbourg,  Ulm,  Zuricli,  Bern,  Basle,  Muhlhause, 
and  Paris. 

"In  these  travels,"  says  Dr.  Gall,  "I  experienced 
everywhere  the  most  flattering  reception.  Sovereigns, 
ministers,  philosophers,  legislators,  and  artists  seconded 
my  design  on  all  occasions,  augmenting  my  collection 
and  furnishing  me  with  new  observations.  The  cir- 
cumstances were  too  favorable  to  permit  me  to  resist 
the  invitations  which  came  to  me  from  most  of  the 
Universities. 

"  This  journey  aflPorded  me  the  opportunity  of  study- 
ing the  organization  of  a  great  number  of  men  of  emi- 
nent talents  and  of  others  extremely  limited,  and  I  had 
the  advantage  of  observing  the  difference  between 
them.  I  gathered  innumerable  facts  in  the  schools 
and  in  the  great  establishments  of  education,  in  the 
asylums  for  orphans  and  foundlings,  in  the  insane  hos- 
pitals, in  the  houses  of  correction,  in  prisons,  in  judicial 
courts,  and  even  in  places  of  execution.  The  multi- 
plied researches  on  suicides,  idiots,  and  madmen  have 
contributed  greatly  to  correct  and  confirm  my  opin- 
ions." An  interesting  account  of  their  visit  to  the 
prisons  in  Berlin  and  Spandau  may  be  found  in  the 
sixth  volume  of  Gall's  works,  American  edition. 

From  November,  1807,  Dr.  Gall  made  Paris  his  per- 
manent home. 

In  ]!^ovember,  1807,  Dr.  Gall,  assisted  by  Dr.  Spurz- 
heim,  delivered  his  first  course  of  public  lectures  in 
Paris.  "  His  assertions,"  says  Chenevix,"^  "  were  sup- 
ported by  a  numerous  collection  of  skulls,  heads,  casts, 


*  Rictiard  Chenevix,  Esq.,  F.R.S.,  etc. 


Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim,  91 

and  by  a  mnltiplicitj  of  anatomical  and  physiological 
facts.  Great  indeed  was  the  ardor  excited  among  the 
Parisians  by  the  presence  of  the  men,  who,  as  they 
supposed,  could  tell  their  fortunes  by  their  heads. 
Every  one  wanted  to  get  a  peep  at  them ;  every  one 
was  anxious  to  give  them  a  dinner  or  supper ;  and  the 
writer  of  this  article  saw  a  list  on  which  an  eager  can- 
didate was  delighted  to  inscribe  himself  for  a  breakfast, 
distant  only  three  months  and  a  half,  at  which  break- 
fast he  sat  a  wondering  guest." 


GALL    AND     SPUEZHEIm's   MEMOIR   TO    THE   FEENCH   INSTI- 
TUTE   NAPOLEON CUVIER DAVY SOVEREIGNS   AND 

SCIENCE. 

In  1808  they  presented  a  joint  memoir  on  the  anat- 
omy of  the  brain  to  the  French  Institute.  "  We  pre- 
sent you,"  said  they  in  their  memoir,  "  une  description 
du  Systeme  Nerveux^  moins  d'apres  sa  stritcttcre  phy- 
sique,  et  ses  formes  mecaniques  que  d''apres  Yues 
jPhilosophiques  et  PTiysiologiques  que  des  hom^mes  hab- 
itues a  des  considerations  superieures  ne  refuserant 
point  WaccueillirP  The  Institute  was  there  in  all  its 
glory.  In  proportion  as  Bonaparte  had  cannonaded,  it 
had  grown  enlightened.  As  the  hero  was  the  referendary 
of  military  justice,  so  was  it  the  areopagus  of  scientific 
truth.  The  chief  of  the  anatomical  department  was  M. 
CuviER,  and  he  was  the  first  member  of  this  learned 
body  to  whom  Doctors  Grail  and  Spurzheim  addressed 
themselves. 

M.  Cuvier  was  a  man  of  known  talent  an^  acquire- 


92  Heminiscences  of  Spurzheim, 

ments,  and  lie  was  high  authority  in  many  branches  of 
science.  But  what  equally  distinguished  him  with  the 
versatility  of  his  understanding  was  the  suppleness  of 
his  opinions.  He  received  the  German  doctors  with 
much  politeness.  He  requested  them  to  dissect  a  brain 
privately  for  him  and  a  few  of  his  learned  friends,  and 
he  attended  a  course  of  lectures  given  purposely  for 
him  and  a  party  of  his  selection.  He  listened  with 
much  attention,  and  appeared  well-disposed  toward  the 
new  doctrine ;  and  the  writer  of  this  article  (Chenevix) 
heard  him  express  his  approbation  of  its  general  feat- 
ures in  a  circle  which  was  met  particularly  private. 

About  this  time  the  Institute  had  committed  an  act 
of  extraordinary  courage  in  venturing  to  ask  permission 
of  Bonaparte  to  award  a  prize  medal  to  Sir  H.  Davy 
for  his  admirable  galvanic  experiments,  and  was  still  in 
amaze  at  its  own  heroism.  Consent  was  obtained,  but 
the  soreness  of  national  defeat  rankled  deeply  within. 
"When  the  First  Consul  was  apprised  that  the  greatest 
of  his  comparative  anatomists  had  attended  a  course  of 
lectures  by  Dr.  Gall,  he  broke  out  as  furiously  as  he 
had  done  against  Lord  Whitworth ;  and,  at  his  levee, 
berated  the  wise  men  of  his  land  for  allowing  them- 
selves to  be  taught  chemistry  by  an  Englishman  and 
anatomy  by  a  German,  sat  verbum.  The  wary  citizen 
altered  his  language.  A  commission  was  named  by  the 
Institute  to  report  upon  the  labors  of  Drs.  Gall  and 
Spurzheim.  M.  Cuvier  drew  up  the  report.  In  this 
he  used  his  efforts— not  to  proclaim  the  truth,  but  to 
diminish  the  merits  of  the  learned  Germans.  When- 
ever he  could  find  the  most  distant  similarity  between 
the  slightest  point  of  their  mode  of  operating  and  any- 


Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  98 

tWng  ever  doue  before,  he  dwelt  upon  it  witli  peculiar 
pleasure,  and  lightly  touched  upon  what  was  really 
new.  He  even  affected  to  excuse  the  Institute  for  tak- 
ing the  subject  into  consideration  at  all,  saying  that  the 
anatomical  researches  were  entirely  distinct  from  the 
physiology  of  the  brain  and  the  doctrines  of  mental 
manifestations.  Of  this  part  of  the  subject,  Bonaparte 
(and  not  without  cause)  had  declared  his  reprobation, 
and  M.  Cuvier  was  too  great  a  lover  of  liberty  not  to 
submit  his  opinion  to  that  of  his  Consul.  His  asser- 
tion, too,  that  the  anatomy  of  the  brain  has  nothing  to 
do  with  its  mental  influence,  he  knew  to  be  in  direct 
opposition  to  fact ;  but  even  the  meagre  credit  which 
he  did  dare  to  allow  to  the  new  mode  of  dissection  he 
wished  to  dilute  with  as  much  bitterness  as  he  could. 
So  unjust  and  unsatisfactory,  so  lame  and  mutilated  did 
the  whole  report  appear,  that  the  authors  of  the  new 
method  published  an  answer,  in  which  they  accused  the 
committee  of  not  having  repeated  their  experiments. 
Such  was  the  reception,  concludes  Chenevix,  which 
Phrenology  met  with  from  the  Academy  of  the  great 
nation. 

l^apoleon  was  supposed  to  be  a  good  judge  of  char- 
acter, and  doubtless  had  his  rules  in  deciding  upon  the 
motives  and  designs  of  men.  Had  he  been  tested  by 
the  signs  of  the  countenance  in  connection  with  the 
form  of  the  head,  his  rules  would  have  been  discov- 
ered. It  was  not  his  nature  to  be  ignorant  of,  or  in- 
different to,  the  doctrines  of  Gall.  Conscious  of  his 
own  superiority  and  eminently  proud  and  selfish,  it  is 
not  to  be  supposed  that  he  would  favor  a  system  which 
opened  to  all  the  origin  and  nature  of  human  actions. 


94  RenniniscenGes  of  Spurzheim. 

In  admitting  sucli  a  theory  as  that  of  Gall,  lie  would 
himseK  become  a  subject  of  remark  and  investigation 
by  his  own  consent,  and,  however  well  he  might  have 
liked  the  principles  of  organology  for  his  own  exclusive 
use,  his  spirit  could  never  have  sanctioned  the  practice 
of  them  in  others. 

That  this  position  may  be  made  more  apparent,  we 
will  quote  the  following  conversation  from  the  Me- 
moires  du  Docteur  F.  AntomarcJii^  ou  les  derniers 
Moonens  de  Najpoleon.  He  does  not  express  his  aver- 
sion to  all  those  philosophers  who  pretend  to  interpret 
the  internal  man  by  the  external  organization. 

Lady  Holland  had  sent  a  box  of  books,  in  which  was 
also  contained  a  bust  in  plaster,  the  head  of  which  was 
covered  with  divisions  and  figures,  according  to  the 
craniological  system  of  Dr.  Gall.  "  There,  doctor," 
said  I^apoleon,  "  that  lies  in  your  province.  Take  and 
study  it,  and  you  shall  then  give  me  an  account  of  it. 
I  should  be  glad  to  know  what  Gall  would  say  of  me  if 
he  felt  my  head."  I  immediately  set  to  work,  but  the 
divisions  were  inexact  and  the  figures  misplaced,  and  I 
had  not  been  able  to  put  them  to  rights  when  ISTapoleon 
sent  for  me.  I  went  and  found  him  in  the  midst  of  a 
mass  of  scattered  volumes  reading  Polybius.  He  said 
nothing  to  me  at  first,  and  continued  to  run  over  the 
pages  of  the  work  he  held  in  his  hand.  He  then  threw 
it  down,  came  to  me,  and,  taking  me  by  the  ears  and 
looking  me  steadily  in  the  face,  said  :  "  Well,  dottorao^ 
cio  di  capo  Corso,  have  you  seen  the  bust  ? "  "  Yes, 
sire."  "Meditated  the  system  of  Gall?"  "Yery 
nearly."  "  Comprehended  it ?  "  "I  think  so."  "  You 
are  able  to  give  an  account  of  it  ?  "     "  Your  Majesty 


Heininiscences  of  Sj[>urzheim,  95 

shall  judge."  "  To  know  my  tastes  and  appreciate  my 
faculties  by  examining  my  head  ?  "  ''  Even  without 
touching  it."  He  began  to  laugh.  "You  are  quite  up 
to  it  ?  "  "  Yes,  sire."  "  Yery  well,  we  shall  talk  about 
it  when  we  have  nothing  better  to  do.  It  is  2i  jpis-alleVy 
which  is  just  as  good  as  any  other,  and  it  is  sometimes 
amusing  to  notice  to  what  extent  folly  can  be  carried." 
He  now  walked  up  and  down,  and  then  asked :  "  What 
did  Mascagni  think  of  these  German  reveries  ?  Come, 
tell  me  frankly,  as  if  you  were  talking  to  one  of  your 
brethren."  "  Mascagni  liked  very  much  the  manner  in 
which  Gall  and  Spurzheim  develop  and  point  out  the 
different  parts  of  the  brain.  He  himself  adopted  their 
method,  and  regarded  it  as  eminently  fitted  for  discov- 
ering the  structure  of  this  interesting  viscus." 

"  Sovereigns,"  remarks  Dr.  Gall,  "  are  always  de- 
ceived when  they  ask  advice  from  the  ignorant,  the 
jealous,  the  envious,  the  timid,  or  from  those  who,  from 
age,  are  no  longer  accessible  to  new  opinions.  E^a- 
poleon  acquired  his  first  notions  of  the  value  of  my  dis- 
coveries during  his  first  journey  to  Germany.  A  cer- 
tain metaphysical  juris  consult,  E ,  at  Leipzig,  told 

him  that  the  workings  of  the  soul  were  too  mysterious 
to  leave  any  external  mark.  And,  accordingly,  in  an- 
swer to  the  report  of  the  Institute,  I  had  this  fact  in 
view  when  I  terminated  a  passage  in  these  words: 
'  And  the  metaphysician  can  no  longer  say,  in  order  to 
presei've  his  right  of  losing  himself  in  a  sea  of  specula- 
tion, that  the  operations  of  the  mind  are  too  carefully 
concealed  to  admit  of  any  possibility  of  discovering 
their  material  conditions  or  organs.'  At  his  return  to 
Paris  he  scolded  sharply  {tanga  vertemont)  those  mem- 


96  Beminiscenees  of  Spurzheim. 

bers  of  the  Institute  who  had  shown  themselves  enthu- 
siastic about  any  new  demonstrations.  This  was  the 
thunder  of  Jupiter  overthrowing  the  pigmies." 

It  is  a  remark  of  the  Edinburgh  Phrenological  Jour- 
nal, "that,  although  Gall,  merely  from  seeing  the  bust 
of  Napoleon  placed  alongside  of  those  of  the  Generals 
of  the  AustriaU  armies,  predicted  the  immortal  victories 
of  Italy,  yet  he  never  received  from  the  Emperor  the 
smallest  mark  of  attention." 

Keeping  in  view  the  strong  and  adverse  feelings  of 
Napoleon  in  relation  to  Phrenology,  we  may  account 
for  the  imperfect  report  of  Cuvier.  The  report,  it 
should  be  observed,  related  only  to  the  anatomical  dis- 
coveries of  Gall  and  Spurzheim — not  to  their  peculiar 
doctrines  of  the  functions  of  the  brain.  Cuvier,  how- 
ever, admitted  in  the  annual  report  that  their  "Me- 
moir was  by  far  the  most  important  which  had  occupied 
the  attention  of  the  class." 

That  Cuvier  was  a  phrenologist,  there  can  be  but  lit- 
tle doubt ;  neither  his  report  nor  any  of  his  works 
warrant  us  in  supposing  the  contrary.  Although  politi- 
cal causes  had  a  tendency  to  influence  Cuvier  against 
the  doctrines  of  Gall,  nevertheless  these  two  celebrated 
men  were  made  to  understand  and  esteem  each  other, 
and,  toward  the  end  of  their  career,  they  did  each  other 
justice.  Gall  had  already  one  'foot  in  the  grave  when 
Cuvier  sent  him  a  cranium,  "  which,"  he  said,  "  ap- 
peared to  him  to  confirm  his  doctrine  of  the  physiology 
of  the  brain."  But  the  dying  Gall  replied  to  him 
who  brought  it,  "  Carry  it  back  and  tell  Cuvier  that 
my  collection  only  wants  one  head  more — my  own — 
which  will  soon  be  placed  there  as  a  complete  proof  of 
iny  doctrine." 


MeminisGences  of  Spurzheim.  97 

JOINT   PTJELIOATION   OF    GALL   AND    SPTTEZHEIM. 

In  1809  Gall  and  Spurzlieim  commenced  publishing 
their  magnificent  work,  entitled  The  Afiatomy  and 
Physiology  of  the  Nervous  System  in  general^  and  of 
the  Brain  in  particular,  with  Observations  upon  the 
possibility  of  ascertaining  the  several  intellectual  and 
Tuoral  Dispositions  of  Man  and  Anhnals  hy  the  coro- 
figuration  of  their  Heads.  Four  volumes  folio,  with 
an  Atlas  of  100  Plates.     [Price  1,000  francs]. 

This  great  work  was  continued  by  the  joint  exertions 
of  Gall  and  Spurzheim  to  the  completion  of  two  and  a 
half  Yolnmes,  and  was  ultimately  finished  by  Gall  in 
1819.  They  continued  their  researches  in  common  till 
1813,  when  Spurzheim  left  Paris  to  visit  Yienna  and 
Great  Britain.  Previous  to  his  departure  he  had  stud- 
ied the  English  language,  and  could  write  and  speak  it 
with  remarkable  accuracy.  While  in  Vienna  he  re- 
ceived from  the  University  his  degree  of  M.D.  These 
were  preparatory  steps  to  his  scientific  travels,  and,  con- 
sidering that  England  was  to  be  the  first  field  of  his  la- 
bors, they  were,  of  course,  most  important.  During 
Dr.  Spurzheim's  absence  Dr.  Gall  discontinued  his  lect- 
lU'es.  After  his  return  (1817)  he  delivered  one  private 
course  in  his  own .  house  and  two  public  courses  gratis 
— --one,  "J.  VEcole  de  Medecine,^^  and  the  other  in  a 
hall,  ^'Pe  V Institution  pour  les  Aveugles.'^'^ 

In  1819  Dr.  Gall,  at  the  request  of  the  Minister  of 
the  Interior,  commenced  lecturing  for  the  benefit  of 
the  medical  students  in  Paris.  The  lectures  were,  like 
others,  delivered  gratis ;  but  he  was  provided  with  the 
use  of  an  operating-room  in  the  Hospice  de  Perfec- 
5 


98  Reminiscences  of  Sj^urzheim, 

tionnement  for  his  first  course,  and  afterward,  on  ac- 
count of  that  being  too  small,  with  the  large  examina- 
tion-room of  the  Institution  des  Jeune  Aveugles^  which 
is  well  fitted  for  the  purpose.  His  audience  amounted 
to  betwixt  two  and  three  hundred  ;  and,  so  eagerly 
was  he  attended,  that  many  more  tickets  were  applied 
for  at  each  course  than  could  be  given,  and  the  apart- 
ment was  regularly  crowded  half  an  hour  before  the 
lecture  began.  The  French  savants  listened  to  him  with 
the  same  interest  as  those  of  Germany  had  done,  and 
the  celebrated  Corvisart  was,  among  others,  one  of  his 
most  enthusiastic  admirers.  Some  were  slow  and  re- 
luctant to  admit  the  great  value  of  his  labors.  "  At 
last,  however,"  said  Dr.  Fossati  in  his  funeral  oration 
on  Dr.  Gall,  "  his  works  appeared,  and  several  of  his 
eminent  contemporaries  hastened  to  do  him  justice,  and 
still  to  follow  the  line  of  investigation  so  successfully 
marked  out  by  him." 

From  1822  to  1826,  Dr.  Gall  published  an  edition  of 
his  work,  "  Sur  les  Fonctions  du  Cerveau^"^  etc.,  in  six 
volumes,  8vo. 


DEATH  OF  GALL HIS  FUNEEAL. 

In  March,  1828,  at  the  conclusion  of  one  of  his  lect- 
ures. Dr.  Gall  was  seized  with  a  paralytic  attack,  from 
which  he  never  perfectly  recovered,  and  which  ulti- 
mately carried  him  off  the  22d  of  August,  1828,  in  the 
seventy-first  year  of  his  age. 

His  remains  were  followed  to  the  grave  by  an  im- 
mense concourse  of  friends  and  admirers,  ^nq  of  whom 
pronounced  discourses  over  his  grave,  as  is  the  custom 


Herainiscences  of  Spurzheim,  99 

in  France  on  such  occasions.  His  death  gave  rise  to  a 
succession  of  eulosriums  and  attacks  in  the  French 
newspapers  that  had  scarcely  ever  been  paralleled,  and 
public  sentiment  was  warmly  and  loudly  expressed  in 
his  favor.  In  proof  of  this  we  quote  from  a  letter  to 
Dr.  Andrew  Combe,  written  by  a  gentleman  in  Paris, 
at  the  time,  who  was  not  a  professed  believer  in  Phre- 
nology, and  whose  testimony  is  therefore  impartial. 
After  speaking  of  the  political  relations  of  France,  he 
adds,  "  You  will,  I  am  sure,  be  more  affected  by  the 
death  of  Dr.  Gall,  than  by  any  political  events.  In 
truth,  it  is  an  immense  loss  to  science.  Whatever 
opinion  we  may  form  of  the  system  of  that  illustrious 
man,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  he  has  made  an  im- 
mense stride  in  the  sciences  of  medicine  and  of  man. 
You  must  have  been  satisfied  with  the  homage  paid  to 
his  memory  by  the  side  of  his  grave,  by  whatever  dis- 
tinguished men  Paris  possesses.  J^othing  was  wanting 
to  his  glory ;  not  even  the  abuse  and  calumnies  of  our 
devots  de  gazette P 


LABOES     OF     SPTJEZHEIM     ALONE HIS     VISIT     TO     GKEAT 

BKITAII^ ANATOMY    OF    THE   BKAIN REVIEWS — ABEK- 

NETHY. 

"We  now  proceed  to  consider  the  scientific  labors  of 
Dr.  Spurzheim,  alone.  After  a  few  months'  residence 
in  Yienna,  he  left  for  England,  and  arrived  at  London, 
March,  1814.  Without  doubt,  he  had  seen  much  in  the 
character  of  the  English  that  corresponded  to  his  own  ; 
— carefulness  and  patience  in  study,  but  boldness  in 


100  -  Beminiscences  of  Spurzheim. 

opinion ;  ardent  in  tlie  pursuit  of  scientific  discoveries, 
but  regulated  by  deliberate  reflection. 

"  The  moment  of  bis  first  visit,"  says  Cbenevix, 
"was  not  propitious.  The  nation  was  still  smarting 
with  tbe  scars  of  war.  Many  kings,  too,  bad  indis- 
posed it  to  tbe  lore  of  Germany ;  it  was  jealous  and 
toucby  upon  tbe  subject  of  quackery.  Mesmer,  Maina- 
duke,  Perkins,  tbe  morbid  sentimentalism  of  Miss 
Ann  Plumptre's  translation,  bad  made  it  so ;  and  Dr. 
Spurzbeim  bad  to  struggle  against  all  tbese  obstacles. 
He  commenced  bis  labors  by  a  dissection  of  tbe  brain, 
at  tbe  Medico-Cbirurgical  Society's  in  Lincoln's  Inn 
Fields ;  and  tbe  novelty  as  well  as  tbe  trutb  of  tbe 
demonstration,  tbat  tbis  viscus  is  composed  of  fibres, 
created  no  small  surprise  among  tbe  learned  audience. 
Tbe  cboice  of  sucb  a  mode  to  enter  upon  tbe  subject 
was  eminently  judicious,  as  it  placed  it  at  once  upon  a 
respectable  footing,  by  making  an  appeal  to  science. 
Tbe  effect  in  its  favor,  bowever,  was  not  so  general  as 
migbt  bave  been  expected.  Wben  a  course  of  lectures 
was  delivered,  not  more  tban  forty  auditors  were  pres- 
ent ;  neitber  did  a  second  course  attract  a  more  numer- 
ous circle." 

It  is  said,  tbat  Dr.  Abernetby  "  fully  acknowledged 
tbe  superiority  of  Dr.  Spurzbeim's  anatomical  demon- 
strations over  every  previous  mode  of  dissecting  the 
brain,"  and  that  he  "  directed  tbe  attention  of  bis  class 
to  Dr.  Spurzbeim's  anatomical  labors,  as  most  impor- 
tant discoveries." 

As  the  opinions  of  Abernetby  are  always  read  with 
interest  and  respect,  we  introduce  tbe  following  extracts 
from  the  second  volume  of  his  Surgery : 


Hermniscences  of  SpurzheiTn.  101 

^'The  views  which  Drs.  Gall  and  Spurzheim  have 
taken  of  the  nature  of  the  dispositions  and  faculties  of 
man  and  animals  appear  to  me,  however,  both  new  and 
philosophical,  and  these  admit  of  being  surveyed  with- 
out any  reference  to  organization  or  its  supposed  situa- 
tion. It  is  thus  only  that  I  submit  them  to  you  as  well 
deserving  your  examination  ;  for  I  think  it  will  be  ac- 
knowledged that  they  have  drawn  a  correct  portrait  of 
human  nature,  whether  they  be  right  or  wrong  iu  their 
speculations  concerning  certain  protuberances  which 
they  have  depicted." 

"  It  should  be  remembered,  that  Gall  and  Spurzheim 
do  not  speak  of  protuberances  or  bumps ;  they  require 
that  every  one  who  wishes  to  form  an  opinion  concern- 
ing the  reality  of  Phrenology,  must  make  himself  ac- 
quainted with,  (1),  the  situation  of  the  special  organs ; 
(2),  with  the  true  meaning  of  each  fundamental  faculty 
of  the  human  mind,  as  adopted  in  Phrenology;  (3),  with 
the  different  temperaments  as  giving  more  or  less  ener- 
gy to  the  function  of  the  organs ;  (4),  with  the  relative 
development  of  the  four  regions  of  the  head,  occipital, 
lateral,  frontal,  and  sincipital ;  (5),  with  the  proportion- 
ate size  of  the  basilar  to  the  coronal  portion,  and  with 
the  proportionate  size  of  the  three  great  divisions  of 
the  inferior  feelings,  superior  sentiments,  and  intellect- 
ual faculties ;  finally,  (6),  with  the  relative  development 
of  the  special  organs  in  each  individual." 

After  considering  the  science  in  detail,  Mr.  Abernethy 
thus  remarks  in  conclusion : 

"  The  foregoing  representation  of  hunian  nature, 
when  viewed  in  its  proper  hght,  and  with  due  atten- 
tion, must,  I  think,  please  every  one ;  for  it  is  not  like 


102  Jteminiscences  of  Spurzheim. 

others  heretofore  presented  to  us,  which  appear  in  com- 
parison but  as  mere  diagrams,  the  result  of  study  and 
imagination,  whilst  this  seems  like  a  portrait  from  life 
by  masterly  hands.  It  is  not,  indeed,  exactly  like  any 
individual,  but  capable,  by  alterations,  of  being  made 
to  resemble  every  one ;  so  that  by  the  help  of  a  few 
touches  we  are  able  to  show  '  Yirtue  her  own  image, 
Yice  her  own  deformity,'  in  all  their  diversities. 

"  I  had  gratification  in  being  intimate  with  Dr. 
Spurzheim  whilst  he  remained  in  London,  and  in  a  kind 
of  badinage  I  proposed  to  him  questions  which  he  an- 
swered with  facility,  and  in  a  manner  that  showed  a 
very  perfect  knowledge  of  human  nature.  For  instance, 
I  inquired  whether  he  had  discovered  any  organ  of  com- 
mon sense ;  and  he  replied  in  the  negative.  I  then  de- 
manded in  what  that  quality  consisted ;  and  he  answered, 
in  the  balance  of  power  between  all  the  other  organs. 
This  answer  shows  why  a  quality  so  peculiarly  useful  is 
common  to  all,  and  rare  in  any ;  for  there  are  but  few 
who  have  not  prejudices  and  partialities,  hopes  or  fears, 
or  predominant  feelings,  which  prevent  them  from  pur- 
suing that  middle  and  equal  course  of  thought  and  con- 
duct which  unbiased  consideration,  or  common  sense, 
indicates  and  directs.  I  inquired  if  there  was  any  organ 
of  self-control,  or,  if  not,  whence  that  power  originated. 
He  said,  '  It  is  the  result  of  a  predominating  motive ; 
thus,  justice  may  control  avarice,  and  avarice  sensuality.' 
In  short,  I  readily  acknowledged  my  inability  to  offer  any 
rational  objection  to  Gall  and  Spurzheim's  System  of 
Phrenology,  as  affording  a  satisfactory  explanation  of 
the  motives  of  human  actions. 

*'  Their  representation  simplifies  our  notions  of  such 


Heminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  103 

motives,  by  lessening  the  number  of  reputed  agents ; 
thus  the  want  of  benevolence  and  virtuous  dispositions, 
with  excitement  to  anger,  produces  malevolence,  and 
this,  conjoined  with  concealment,  malice.  I  need  not 
recite  a  variety  of  instances,  since  they  are  sufficiently 
apparent." 

From  London  Dr.  Spurzheim  proceeded  to  Bath, 
Bristol,  Cork,  and  Dublin,  where  he  was  well  received, 
and  where  he  lectured  with  success.  He  then  proceeded 
to  Scotland.  "  If,"  says  Chenevix,  '^  during  his  qxqwt- 
sion,  the  harvest  of  proselytes  was  not  yet  very  great, 
the  additions  to  his  observations  were  extensive  and  in- 
teresting. In  the  Scottish  capital  another  fate  attended 
him,  and  a  decisive  moment  was  approaching.  There, 
as  in  London,  he  opened  his  campaign  by  the  dissection 
of  the  nervous  mass;  but  the  circumstances  of  the 
demonstration  were  highly  exciting. 

"  The  writings  of  Drs.  Gall  and  Spurzheim,  conjoint- 
ly and  separately,  had  attracted  the  attention  of  our 
periodical  critics,  and  an  article  had  appeared  in  the 
Edinburgh  Review  for  June,  1815,  in  which  these 
authors  were  most  heartily  reviled.  Hardly  an  oppro- 
bious  epithet  in  the  language  was  omitted  on  their 
moral,  as  on  their  intellectual  characters,  and  they  were 
roundly  called  fools  and  knaves."  .... 

The  intention  of  Dr.  Spurzheim  always  was  to  visit 
the  Scottish  Athens,  but  this  article  confirmed  it.  He 
procured  one  letter  of  introduction  for  that  city,  and 
but  one ;  that  was  to  the  reputed  author  of  the  vituper- 
ating essay.  He  visited  him,  and  obtained  permission 
to  dissect  a  brain  in  his  presence.  The  author  himself 
was  a  lecturer  on  anatomy,  and  the  dissection  took  place 


104:  HeininisGences  of  SpurzTieim, 

in  his  lecture-room.  Some  eyes  were  a  little  more,  or  a 
little  less,  clear-sighted  than  others,  for  they  saw,  or 
thought  they  saw,  fibres.  A  second  day  was  named. 
The  room  was  full  as  it  could  be,  particularly  as  an  in- 
termediate bench  was  reserved  for  Dr.  Spurzheim  to 
carry  round  the  subject  of  inquiry  to  every  spectator. 
There,  with  the  Edinburgh  Review  in  one  hand  and  a 
brain  in  the  other,  he  opposed  fact  to  assertion.  The 
writer  of  the  article  still  believed  the  Edinburgh  Review^ 
but  the  public  believed  the  anatomist;  and  that  day 
won  over  near  ^yq  lumdred  witnesses  to  the  fibrous 
structure  of  the  white  substance  of  the  brain,  while  it 
drew  off  a  large  portion  of  admiring  pupils  from  the 
antagonist  lecturer. 

Thus,  aided  by  success,  Dr.  Spurzheim  opened  a 
course  of  lectures  on  the  anatomy  and  the  functions  of 
the  brain,  and  its  connection  with  mind.  He  used  to 
say  to  the  Scotch,  '^  You  are  slow,  but  you  are  sure; 
I  must  remain  some  time  with  you,  and  then  I'll 
leave  the  fruit  of  my  labors  to  ripen  in  your  hands. 
This  is  the  spot  from  which,  as  from  a  centre,  the  doc- 
trines of  Phrenology  shall  spread  over  Britain."  These 
predictions  proved  true.  Converts  flocked  in  on  all 
sides ;  the  incredulous  came  and  were  convinced. 


spurzheim' S  VISIT   TO   DUBLIN",  CAMBRIDGE,  EDINBURGH — • 

FESTIVAL     IN     HONOR     OF SPEECHES     OF    COMBE   AND 

SBIPSON Ml^IE.    SPURZHEIM REPLIES    OF    DR.    SPURZ- 
HEIM  CHRISTIANITY   AND   WOMEN. 

In  giving  an  account  of  his  visit  to  Dublin,  I  shall 
employ  the  language  of  my  late  and  respected  friend, 


Reminiscences  of  Sjpurzhehn.  105 

the  Hon.  Andrew  Carmichael.  He  was  a  ripe  scholar, 
a  learned  author,  and  a  most  genial  and  refined  gentle- 
man. When  I  was  preparing  a  biography  of  the  great 
philosopher,  he  was  engaged  in  producing  his  interest- 
ing volume,  entitled  "  A  Memoir  of  the  Life  and  Phi- 
losophy of  Spurzheim,"  which  was  published  by  request 
of  the  Dublin  Phrenological  Society  in  1833,  of  which 
he  was  the  first  President. 

After  speaking  of  the  audacious  misrepresentations 
of  the  reviewers,  he  says  :  "  Spurzheim  arrived  in  Dub- 
lin at  a  time  when  every  mind  was  poisoned  against 
him  by  the  effusions  of  the  reckless  reviewers.  I  did 
not  myseK  escape  the  infection.  It  was  with  difficulty 
I  was  persuaded  to  enter  his  lecture-room  ;  but,  having 
then  an  abundance  of  leisure,  I  thought  a  few  hours 
would  not  be  much  misspent  in  indulging  an  idle  curi- 
osity, and  reaping  some  little  amusement  where  I  could 
hope  but  for  little  information. 

"  I  listened  to  his  first  lecture,  expecting  it  to  breathe 
nothing  but  ignorance,  hypocrisy,  deceit,  and  empiri- 
cism. I  found  it  fraught  with  learning  and  inspired 
by  truth ;  and,  in  place  of  a  hypocrite  and  empiric,  I 
found  a  man  deeply  and  earnestly  imbued  with  an  un- 
shaken heliefm  the  importance  and  value  of  the  doc- 
trines he  communicated. 

"  I  Hstened  to  his  second  lecture,  and  I  adopted  his 
helief.  I  was  satisfied  of  the  importance  and  value  of 
those  doctrines,  and  exulted  in  anticipating  those  treas- 
ures of  knowledge,  of  whose  enjoyment  the  Edinburgh 
Meijiew  had  well-nigh  overreached  and  swindled  me. 

"  I  listened  to  his  third  lecture,  and  perceived,  with 
all  the  force  of  thorough  conviction,  that  there  was 
5* 


106  Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim. 

nothing  of  any  value  in  the  metaphysics  of  ancient  or 
modern  schools,  except  so  far  as  they  coalesced  and 
amalgamated  with  the  new  system.  Fi^om  that  hour  to 
the  present,  I  have  regarded  the  science  with  increasing 
confidence  and  unalterable  devotion.  More  certain  or 
more  important  truths  the  divine  finger  has  not  written 
in  any  of  the  pages  of  nature,  than  those  which  Spurz- 
heim,  on  this  occasion,  unfolded  to  our  examination, 
our  study,  onr  admiration. 

"  He  was  attended  by  a  large  and  intelligent  class  of 
both  sexes,  and  consequently  made  many  ardent  con- 
verts to  Phrenology  in  Dublin.  Indeed,  whoever 
listened  attentively  to  his  lectures  must,  voluntarily  or 
involuntarily,  become  a  disciple.  Of  the  numbers  who 
received  his  instructions,  I  have  personally  known  only 
three  who  were  not  convinced  of  the  truth  and  value  of 
his  doctrines. 

''In  January,  1816,  he  went  to  Cork,  where. he  de- 
livered two  courses.  In  a  letter  from  that  city  he  ob- 
serves :  '  From  the  beginning  the  fair  sex  has  been 
favorable  to  our  science  :  it  is  so  in  Cork.  Yery  few  of 
the  medical  profession  think  proper  to  be  interested  in 
our  investigations,  and  prefer  dinners  and  suppers  to 
Phrenology.'  .... 

"  In  February  he  returned  to  Dublin  and  delivered 
two  concurrent  courses,  repeating  in  the  evening  the 
same  lecture  he  had  given  in  the  morning.  Many  at- 
tended both;  and  though  the  topics  were  the  same, 
his  language,  manner,  and  illustrations  varied  so  much 
that  his  auditors  felt  unabated  gratification  whenever 
they  heard  him." 

"  In  May,  1826,"  says  Carmichael,  "  Spurzheim  wrote 


Reminiscences  of  Bpurzheim.  107 

me  from  his  residence,  Gower  Street,  London :  '  The 
pleasure  to  see  jon  and  my  friends  in  Dublin  is  post- 
poned. I  return  to  France  for  the  present,  and  am 
willing  to  pay  a  visit  to  Dublin  at  the  beginning  of 
next  winter,  if  a  class  can  be  assured.  If  this  be  im- 
possible, I  remain  in  England.  Here  the  progress  of 
Phrenology  is  extraordinary.  I  have  lectured  at  the 
London  Institution  to  such  an  audience  as  never  before 
was  brought  together  by  any  scientific  subject.' " 

In  1827  he  visited  Cambridge,  "and  was  received," 
says  Chenevix,  "in  that  seat  of  exact  learning  with 
honors  seldom  bestowed  before.  By  the  influence  of 
some  of  the  members  of  that  eminent  body,  the  most 
distinguished  for  their  characters  and  talents,  permis- 
sion was  granted  to  deliver  a  course  of  lectures  on 
Phrenology,  in  the  botanical  lecture-room  of  the  Uni- 
versity— a  favor  never  conferred  on  any  who  are  not 
members  of  the  establishment.  The  audience  was  most 
respectable,  and  increased  as  the  course  advanced ;  till, 
toward  the  close,  it  amounted  to  one  hundred  and 
thirty,  among  whom  were  fifty-seven  partly  professors, 
partly  tutors,  and  fellows  of  the  different  colleges. 
The  attentions  paid  to  Dr.  Spurzheim,  personally,  were 
most  gratifying ;  and  the  impression  made,  not  merely 
by  his  method  of  dissecting  the  brain,  but  by  his 
phrenological  doctrines,  was  as  complete  a  refutation  of 
the  lame  and  impotent  conclusions  of  the  Edinburgh 
Peviewer  as  candor  and  science  could  desire/' 

"He  also  lectured,"  says  Carmichael,  "  with  the  most 
triumphant  success,  at  Bath,  Bristol,  and  Hull ;  and 
from  the  last-mentioned  town  continued  his  journey  to 
Edinburgh,  where  he  arrived,  by  invitation,  in  the  first 


108  Remmiscences  of  Sp'^'^^heim, 

week  of  January,  1828.  He  was  accompanied  by  Mme. 
SpuTzheim. 

"  On  this  occasion  Ms  reception  formed  a  strong  con- 
trast to  that  which  he  had  experienced  eleven  years  be- 
fore. During  this  period  a  Phrenological  Society  and 
Journal  had  been  established,  of  which  George  Combe 
was  made  president  and  chief  editor;  a  large  collec- 
tion of  casts  and  drawings,  to  illustrate  the  science,  had 
been  made,  and  funds  secured  to  give  permanency  to 
the  great  objects  of  the  association.  He  was  received 
with  sincere  respect  and  profound  attention.  He  de- 
livered two  general  courses ;  and  a  third,  confined  to 
the  anatomy  and  pathology  of  the  brain.  His  classes 
were  numerous,  respectable,  and  intelligent. 

"  But  the  most  gratifying  incident  accompanying  this 
visit,  was  a  dinner  given  in  honor  of  Dr.  Spurzheim,  by 
the  Phrenological  Society,  on  Friday,  25th  of  January. 
The  enthusiasm  of  that  day  will  not  readily  be  forgotten 
by  those  who  had  the  happiness  of  being  present. 
George  Combe  was  president  of  the  day,  and  was  sup- 
ported by  Sir  Geo.  Stewart  Mackenzie,  the  Hon.  David 
Halliburton,  Mr.  Neil,  Mr.  Simpson,  and  other  distin- 
guished gentlemen. 

"  In  proposing  the  health  of  Dr.  Spurzheim,  which 
was  received  with  profound  respect  and  applause,  Mr. 
Combe  made  a  most  eloquent  speech,  from  which  the 
following  extracts  are  made  : 

"  'How  would  we  rejoice  to  sit  at  table  with  Galileo, 
Harvey,  or  I^ewton,  and  pay  them  the  homage  of  our 
gratitude  and  respect ;  and  yet  we  have  the  fehcity  to 
be  now  in  company  with  an  individual  whose  name  will 
rival  theirs  in  brilliancy  and  duration ;  to  whom  ages 


Heminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  109 

nnbom  will  look  with  fond  admiration  as  the  first  great 
champion  of  this  magnificent  discovery;  as  the  partner 
in  honor,  in  cotjeage,  and  in  toil,  with  Dr.  Gall ;  as  the 
rival  in  genius  of  him  by  whose  master-mind  the 
science  of  man  started  into  existence.'  .... 

" '  Dr.  Spurzheim,  my  friends,  is  an  historical  per- 
sonage :  a  glory  dwells  on  that  brow  which  will  never 
wax  dim,  and  which  will  one  day  illuminate  the  civil- 
ized world.  His  greatness  is  all  moral  and  intellectual. 
Like  the  sun  of  a  long  and  resplendent  day,  Spurzheim, 
at  his  rising,  was  obscured  by  the  mists  of  prejudice  and 
envy ;  but,  in  ascending,  he  has  looked  down  upon  and 
dispelled  them.  His  reputation  has  become  brighter 
and  brighter  as  men  have  gazed  upon  and  scrutinized 
his  doctrines  and  his  life.  ]^o  violence  and  no  anguish 
tarnish  the  laurels  that  flourish  on  his  brow.  The 
recollections  of  his  labors  are  all  elevatino;  and  en- 
nobling,  and  in  our  applause  he  hears  not  the  voice  of 
a  vain  adulation,  but  a  feeble  overture  to  a  grand  strain 
of  admiration  which  a  grateful  posterity  will  one  day 
sound  to  his  name.' " 

"  Striking,"  says  Carmichael,  from  whose  volume  this 
account  is  taken,  "impressive,  and  affecting  was  Dr. 
Spurzheim's  reply : 

"  '  I  never  felt  so  much  the  want  of  mental  powers 
necessary  to  express  the  pleasurable  satisfaction  and 
gratitude  I  feel.  This  day  is  for  me  a  day  of  joy,  which 
I  never  hoped  to  see.  My  joy  would  be  complete  were 
Dr.  Gall  amongst  us.  Dr.  Gall  and  myself  often  con- 
versed together  about  the  future  admission  of  our  doc- 
trines. Though  we  relied  with  confidence  on  the  in- 
variable laws  of  the  Creator,  we,  however,  never  ex- 


110  Heminiscenc&s  of  S])UTzheim. 

pected  to  see  them  in  our  lifetime  admitted  to  such  a 
degree  as  thej  actually  are.  I  often  placed  my  conso- 
lation IN  MAN  BEING  MOETAL,  or  in  futuTe  generations^ 
to  whom  it  is  generally  reserved  to  take  up  new  dis- 
coveries.    But  we  are  more  foktunate.'  " 

What  adds  greatly  to  the  value  of  such  speeches,  is 
to  be  found  in  the  character  of  those  who  uttered  them, 
and  in  the  absence  of  all  vanity.  On  this  occasion,  the 
language  spoken  by  these  distinguished  men  was  that 
oi  undisguised  sincerity.  They  stood  before  the  world 
as  the  exalted  servants  of  truth,  and  their  extreme  en- 
joyment was  inspired  by  the  noblest  motives  for  the 
advancement  and  happiness  of  mankind. 

After  a  most  felicitous  speech  by  Vice-President 
Simpson,  he  proposed,  "  With  all  the  honors,  the  health 
of  Mme.  Spurzheim,  and  all  the  matrons  and  all  the  maids 
who  devote  themselves  heart  and  soul  to  Phrenology." 

The  response  of  Dr.  Spurzheim  to  this  sentiment 
was  most  important  and  worthy  to  be  remembered : 

"  Mr.  President :  As  Mme.  Spurzheim  has  had  the 
honor  to  be  named  at  the  head  of  the  females  who 
study  Phrenology,  I  think  it  is  incumbent  upon  me  to 
thank  you  in  Tier  name.  There  can  be  no  doubt  among 
phrenologists,  that  the  minds  of  ladies  should  be  culti- 
vated as  well  as  ours,  to  lit  them  for  their  social  re- 
lations and  duties.  With  respect  to  Phrenology  in  par- 
ticular, I  am  convinced  that  among  an  equal  number 
of  ladies  and  gentle^men^  a  greater  number  of  the 
former,  are  fitted  to  become  Practical  Phrenolo- 
gists :  that  is,  to  become  able  to  distinguish  the  different 
forms  and  sizes  of  the  head  in  general,  and  of  its  parts 
in  particular.     The  reason  seems  to  be,  because  girls 


ReminisGences  of  Spurzheim.  Ill 

and  women,  from  the  earliest  age,  exercise  the  intellect- 
ual powers  of  coniiguration  and  size,  more  than  bojs 
and  men,  in  their  daily  occupations. 

"You  have  already  done  justice  to  those  mothers 
whose  influence  has  been  great  on  the  education  of  their 
children.  It  is  also  evident,  that  ladies  may  greatly 
contribute  to  the  diffusion  of  Phrenology  in  society, 
and  may  make  frequent  use  of  it  in  practical  life.  But 
if  ladies  do  render  service  to  Phrenology,  this  science 
will  also  be  of  great  advantage  to  them — I  may  say^ 
of  the  greatest  advantage,  after  Christianity." 


PROGRESS    OP   PHRENOLOGY   IN   EUROPE REVIEWERS. 

It  would  be  both  useful  and  interesting  to  give  a 
connected  account  of  the  progress  of  Phrenology  in 
Europe  during  the  first  generation  of  the  present 
centur}",  but  this  would  fill  a  large  volume,  which,  we 
trust,  will  be  produced  at  some  future  time.  Our  pres- 
ent endeavor  must  be  regarded  only  as  an  imperfect 
sketch,  simply  to  indicate  the  great  field  and  ample 
materials  for  some  gifted  author  to  shape  who  desires 
to  be  useful.  It  was  in  1830,  when  Chenevix  said,  in 
his  very  able  article — "  It  would  be  long  to  enumerate 
all  the  successes  and  triumphs  which  this  new  science 
now  obtained  in  the  shape  of  societies,  collections  of 
busts,  lectures  fully  attended  in  different  parts  of  the 
British  empire :  London,  Exeter,  Manchester,  Edinburgh, 
Glasgow,  Liverpool,  Dublin,  Cork,  Hull,  Paisley,  Dun- 
dee, vied  with  each  other,  according  to  their  means,  to 
learn  and  diffuse  the  science;  and,  in  an  instant,  as 


112  Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim. 

soon  as  the  doctrine  was  fairly  stated,  more  phrenolo- 
gists sprung  up  among  us  than  during  twenty  years  in 
the  country  where  Drs.  Gall  and  Spurzheim  had  been 
residing  all  the  time. 

"In  the  British  colonies,  too,  Phrenology  has  not 
been  neglected ;  and  Dr.  Murray  Patterson,  in  the  East 
India  Company's  service,  delivered  lectures  at  Calcutta, 
where  a  Phrenological  Society  was  about  to  be  formed. 

"But  the  freest  of  nations  must  always  be  that  in 
which  whatever  relates  to  the  study  of  man  will  excite 
the  greatest  interest.  Without  such  knowledge,  in- 
deed, liberty  can  not  exist.  Such  is  a  cause  of  the 
warm  reception  which  Phrenology  has  met  with  among 
its  partisans  in  England,  and  of  the  no  less  warm  op- 
position of  its  adversaries.  The  reverse,  too,  has  pro- 
cured it  a  tepid  attention  in  France ;  for,  whatever  be 
the  forms  of  liberty  there,  its  spirit  is  yet  to  be  bom. 
It  is,  then,  easy  to  conjecture  what  may  be  the  mind  of 
the  United  States  of  America  toward  this  doctrine. 
Dr.  Caldwell,  medical  professor  in  Transylvania  Uni- 
versity, Kentucky,  has  prepared  a  work,  entitled  "  Ele- 
ments of  Phrenology,"  and  delivered  lectures  in  Balti- 
more, Washington,  D.  C,  and  in  other  cities.  And  it 
may  be  added,  that  the  city  of  Copenhagen  boasts 
of  Professors  Otto  and  Hoppe,  who  recognize  the  im- 
portance of  the  science." 


THE   DIGNITY    OF    TEUTH   m    CONTEOVEEST. 

There  is  no  higher  test  of  the  character  of  great 
men  than  that  to  be  found  in  public  controversy,  on 
any  subject.    This  is  particularly  true  when  antagonists 


Remmiiscences  of  Spurzheim.  113 

indulge  in  terms  of  bitterness  and  abuse^  and  in  reck- 
less misrepresentation.  Perhaps  no  writers,  in  any 
country,  were  treated  with  more  ridicule  and  audacious 
injustice  than  Gall  and  Spurzheim.  Endowed  with 
great  capacity  and  favored  by  the  best  education  and 
position,  their  theories  and  opinions,  to  say  the  least, 
were  entitled  to  grave  and  careful  consideration.  But 
instead  of  this,  their  lectures  and  works  were  attacked 
by  the  most  influential  Reviews  of  the  world  in  lan- 
guage as  false  as  it  was  shameless.  Facts  were  opposed 
by  groundless  assertions,  and  opinions  were  first  misin- 
terpreted and  then  dismissed  with  flings  of  contempt. 
They  discovered  no  aim  for  truth,  and  no  respect  for 
decency. 

The  spirit  and  temper  of  Spurzheim  in  replying  to 
these  reviewers  was  truly  magnanimous,  and  afforded  a 
salutary  example  to  his  opponents,  as  may  be  seen  in 
the  following  extracts,  taken  from  the  Preface  of  one 
of  his  works : 

"  Discussions  properly  conducted,"  he  says,  "  are  of 
great  utility.  For  that  reason  I  am  always  ready  to 
examine  every  objection  against  our  doctrines.  But  I 
am  sorry  to  observe,  that  scientific  pursuits  are  so  often 
degraded  by  selfish  passions  and  spirit  of  party ;  that 
literary  publications  are  employed  for  the  purposes  of 
calumny  and  detraction ;  that  invectives  are  used  in- 
stead of  arguments ;  and  that  by  praising  friends  and 
blaming  rivals,  the  progress  of  the  arts  and  sciences, 
and  the  improvement  of  man,  are  mightily  retarded. 

"  Such  behavior  I  will  never  imitate ;  nay,  the  illiberal 
and  uncandid  manner  in  which  some  British  Reviews 
have  taken  up  our  investigations,  has  hitherto  prevent- 


114  Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim. 

ed  me  from  attempting  jiistification.  As,  however, 
many  persons  liave  no  inclination,  and  a  greater  num- 
ber no  time,  for  comparing  the  original  works  with  the 
reports  of  the  critics ;  and  as  in  science  the  majority  of 
readers  believe  without  examining  for  themselves,  I 
can  not  entirely  avoid  controversy. 

"  I  am  now  to  submit  to  the  public  some  observations 
on  the  objections  of  our  principal  antagonists  in  Great 
Britain,  confining  myself  to  the  points  in  question,  and 
depending  on  the  moral  sense,  the  judgment,  and  ob- 
servation of  my  readers. 

"Every  one  will  perceive  that  our  adversaries  are 
very  witty  men.  They  deal  very  extensively  in  the 
ridiculous ;  and  when  they  have  leisure  to  become  seri- 
ous, they  speak  of  the  motives  and  dangerous  conse- 
quences of  our  inquiries ;  but  their  generous  minds 
need  not  be  apprehensive,  since  they  declare  our  doc- 
trines '  incredible  and  disgraceful  nonsense^  absurd 
theories^  trash,  and  desjpicahle  trumpery,'^ 

*'  Why  do  they  not  rather  listen  to  our  constant  dec- 
laration, that  one  fact  well  observed  is  more  decisive  to 
us  than  a  thousand  opinions  and  all  the  metaphysical 
reasoning  of  the  schools,  and  that  facts  alone  can  expel 
such  intruders  as  our  doctrines." 

This  able  and  dignified  reply,  which  secured  to  its 
author  the  respect  even  of  his  opponents,  thus  con- 
cludes : 

'''  Certainly,  with  such  critical  reviewers,  such  would- 
be  philosophers,  such  mechanical  directors,  and  such 
historians  I  have  done  forever ;  and  I  may  say  with 
Job  (xiii.  5),  '  Oh,  that  you  would  altogether  hold  your 
peace,  and  it  should  be  your  wisdom.' " 


Herainiscences  of  S^purzheim,  115 

STATE   OF   PHRENOLOGY   IN"   THE  UNTTED  STATES MASTEE- 

MmD,  LIKE   THAT  OF  SPUKZHEIM,  WANTED — INFLUENCE 

OF     HIS     LABORS ATTACKS     UPON     THE     SCIENCE — ITS 

^PROGRESS CHARACTER   OF   OPPONENTS. 

When  Spurzheim  visited  the  United  States,  Phrenol- 
ogy was  a  new  subject.  So  far  as  it  had  been  discussed, 
it  was  perverted  and  misrepresented.  It  is  true  soci- 
eties had  been  formed  in  Philadelphia  and  in  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  and  lectures  had  been  delivered  by  Profes- 
sor Charles  Caldwell,  of  Kentucky,  but  these  efforts 
were  insufficient  to  counteract  the  influence  of  foreign 
reviewers  and  a  class  of  editors  at  home  who  were  ac- 
customed to  repeat  opinions  from  abroad  without  ex- 
amination. 

In  this  state  of  things  a  master-mind  was  wanted  to 
combat  the  prejudices  of  the  people  and  to  undeceive 
the  learned.  If  there  were  one  man  more  capable  than 
all  others  in  the  world  to  set  forth  the  claims  of  this 
important  science  and  to  defend  it,  that  man  was 
Spurzheim.  With  a  desire  to  increase  his  own  knowl- 
edge, and  moved  by  that  noblest  motive  of  human  ac- 
tion, to  advance  the  cause  of  truth,  he  resolved  to  visit 
the  growing  Pepublic  of  America. 

His  arrival  in  this  country  and  the  receptions  given 
him  in  several  of  our  large  cities  have  already  been  no- 
ticed. It  is  an  interesting  fact  to  be  noted,  and  partic- 
ularly to  be  remembered,  that  no  stranger  from  abroad, 
however  distinguished  by  public  service  or  by  attain- 
ments in  science,  was  ever  received  in  the  United 
States  with  more  profound  respect  and  enthusiastic 
attention  than  Dr.  Spurzheim.     It  was  clearly  evident 


116  Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim, 

tliat  his  higli  reputation  had  preceded  him,  and  that  it 
was  more  than  sustained  bj  his  wisdom  and  presence. 
The  unanimity  of  all  who  met  him  or  who  listened  to 
his  lectures  was  soon  made  known  in  the  public  press 
and  by  private  correspondence  throughout  the  country. 
JS^umerous  letters  of  inquiry  from  men  of  science  in  all 
sections  were  received  and  answered ;  and  there  was 
but  one  common  feeling  everywhere,  and  that  was  ex- 
pressed in  an  earnest  desire  to  see  him  and  to  hear  him. 
Once  heard,  his  influence  became  irresistible,  ^o  wit- 
ness of  his  eloquence,  of  his  truthful  appeals,  and  of  his 
ample  knowledge  had  even  a  desire  to  venture  an  open 
opposition  to  his  teachings.  All  saw  in  hun  "the 
bright  countenance  of  truth  "  and  the  surpassing  wealth 
of  goodness.  All  admired,  no  one  doubted.  Without 
exaggeration  the  hues  of  Goldsmith  could  here  be 
quoted : 

*' Truth  from  his  lips  prevail'd  with  double  sway  ; 
And  fools,  who  came  to  scoff,  remain'd  to  pray." 

This  was  while  he  lived  to  be  seen,  to  be  met,  and  to 
be  heard.  When  he  was  removed  from  earth,  however, 
the  self-complacent  critic — too  ignorant  to  be  prudent 
and  too  proud  to  be  wise — appeared  in  the  E-eviews 
with  an  assumed  courage  to  contradict  and  misrepresent 
the  departed  philosopher.  The  N orth- American  and 
the  Christian  Examiner^  in  a  year  or  two  after  his 
death,  gained  an  unenviable  reputation  by  repeating 
the  insulting  language  and  unfounded  assertions  of  for- 
eign E-eviews  against  Phrenology  published  more  than 
twenty  years  before.  They  copied  statements  which 
repeatedly  had  been  denied  or  refuted,  and  quoted  au- 


Heminiscences  of  SpuTzheim,  117 

thors  who  had  lived  to  be  honest,  and  who  had  dis- 
carded their  own  premature  opinions.  The  article  in 
the  North-American  Review  was  ablj  answered  by 
Professor  Caldwell,  of  Kentucky.  In  a  letter  to  the 
editor,  Hon.  A.  H.  Everett,  enclosing  the  article,  and 
dated  Lexington,  Kentucky,  August  31,  1833,  he  em- 
ploys the  following  decided  language  : 

"  One  of  two  things  is  true — you  either  did  not  read 
attentively  the  article  of  your  correspondent  before  in- 
serting it  in  yom'  journal,  or  you  have  no  familiarity 
with  the  history  and  science  of  Phrenology.  Possessing 
suoh  familiarity,  you  never  would  have  admitted  such 
an  article." 

This  reply  was  published  in  the  October  !N"umber  of 
the  Annals  of  Phrenology^  1833.  "We  can  make  only 
two  or  three  brief  extracts  from  it : 

"  The  article,"  he  says,  "  is  a  compound  of  worn-out 
matter.  There  is  no  originality  in  it.  The  allegations 
of  the  writer  are  but  the  mouldering  remains  of  the 

sophistry  of  his  predecessors Nor  is  it  the 

matter  of  the  article  alone  that  is  borrowed  or  pur- 
loined.    Of  its  form  and  manner  the  same  is  true." 

In  refutation  of  the  assertion  that  Phrenology  was 
losing  its  hold  upon  thinking  men,  the  writer  says  : 

"  Able  works  in  exposition  and  defence  of  it  are  now 
extensively  circulated  and  read.  Societies  for  the  cul- 
tivation and  promotion  of  it  are  growing  in  number  in 
our  own  country,  and,  in  Great  Britain  and  France, 
they  are  already  abundant  and  still  on  the  increase. 
....  ]^ot  only  are  the  friends  of  Phrenology  increas- 
ing, its  enemies  are,  in  much  more  than  an  equal  ratio, 
reduced — not  alone  in  number,  but  in  activity,  energy, 


118  Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim, 

and  the  hope  of  success.  Comparatively,  they  are  par- 
alyzed in  everything.  In  proof  of  this,  let  the  former 
hostile  operations  of  the  British  press  be  contrasted 
with  its  present  unbelligerent  condition,  and  the  testi- 
mony will  be  found  conclusive.  The  Edinburgh  Re- 
mew^  BlacTcwood^ s  Magazine^  and  the  London  Quar- 
terly— which  once  formed  the  holy  anti-phrenological 
alliance  and  led  the  war  against  the  science — have  re- 
tired from  the  field,  their  shields  broken  and  their 
laurels  withered,  and  will  never  renew  the  helpless 
conflict." 

The  article  entitled  "  Pretensions  of  Phrenology  Ex- 
amined," published  in  the  IN^ovember  Number  of  the 
Christian  Examiner^  1834,  was  answered  by  Mr.  Capen 
in  the  Annals  of  Phrenology  in  1835,  and  by  Professor 
Caldwell  in  a  pamphlet  of  ninety-three  pages.  It  was 
of  a  similar  character  to  that  of  the  North- American 
Review.  It  was  characterized  by  unbecoming  arro- 
gance and  ignorance.  After  reviewing  the  article  with 
great  severity.  Professor  Caldwell  thus  dismisses  the 
writer : 

"  Influenced  by  these  considerations,  and  regardless 
of  the  opinion  of  any  one  to  the  contrary,  we  feel  that 
we  have  inflicted  no  unbecoming  or  unmerited  chastise- 
ment on  the  Pev.  Defamee  of  Pheenologt  and  its 
Advocates." 

From  1832  to  1838  lectures  against  Phrenology  were 
occasionally  delivered  by  Doctors  of  Divinity  and  by 
Doctors  of  Medicine,  but  with  no  marked  success,  ex- 
cept to  show  their  utter  want  of  information  upon  the 
subject.  Their  objections  to  the  science  were  old,  and 
had  been  frequently  refuted,  and  even  their  wit  and 


Heminiscences  of  Spitrzheim.  119 

prejudices  were  harrowed.  It  would  be  unprofitable  to 
the  reader  to  dwell  in  this  place  upon  these  discredit- 
able articles  and  lectures,  or  upon  the  triumphant  re- 
plies that  proved  them  to  be  such.  To  be  fully  under- 
stood, they  should  be  read  as  a  part  of  the  history  of 
conflicts  between  truth  and  error,  a  subject,  by  itself,  of 
imposing  magnitude. 

The  immediate  results  of  Spurzheim's  lectures,  in 
Boston  and  Cambridge,  were  most  gratifying  both  to  him 
and  to  the  public.  Their  effect  upon  the  minds  of 
leading  men  and  editors  produced  an  excitement  through- 
out the  country.  It  was  one  of  inquiry.  Phrenolog- 
ical societies  were  numerously  organized,  courses  of  lect- 
ures were  given  upon  Phrenology,  and  the  subject  was 
almost  everywhere  discussed,  at  the  lyceums,  in  the 
social  and  debating  clubs,  and  by  the  public  press. 


OEGAJSriZATION   OF    THE    BOSTON     PHRENOLOGICAL    SOCIETY 

ITS    MEMBEKS    AND    OFFICERS ITS    TRANSACTIONS 

BIRTHDAY    OF    SPURZHEIM    ANNUALLY    OBSERVED PRO- 
CEEDINGS  LECTURES    BY   MEMBERS CLOSE   OF  SOCIETY 

REASONS. 

On  the  evening  of  the  17th  of  J^ovember,  1832  (the 
day  of  the  funeral  of  the  lamented  Spurzheim),  a  meet- 
ing of  gentlemen  was  held  in  the  building  occupied  by 
Marsh,  Capen  &  I^yon,  at  which  the  Pev.  Dr.  Tucker- 
man  presided,  and  ^Nahiim  Capen  was  chosen  secretary. 
The  following  resolutions  were  offered  by  Dr.  J.  D. 
Fisher,  and  passed : 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  we  form  ourselves  into  a  society  to  be 
called  '  The  Boston  Phrenological  Society,'  instituted 


120   .  Iteminiscences  of  SpurzheiTn, 

for  the  purpose  of  investigating  the  science  of  Phrenology 
and  its  bearings  upon  the  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral 
conditions  of  man. 

* '  3.  Resolved^  That  a  committee  of  five,  consisting  of  Hon. 
John  Pickering,  Dr.  Jona.  Barber,  Dr.  Saml.  G.  Howe,  Rev. 
John  Pierpont,  and  Wm.  B.  Fowle,  Esq.,  be  appointed  to 
draft  a  Constitation  and  By-Laws  for  the  government  of 
the  Society,  and  that  the  said  committee  shall  have  power 
to  invite  others  to  act  with  them." 

At  a  subsequent  meeting,  ]^ov.  28th,  the  venerable 
Dr.  Wm.  Ingalls  presided,  and  a  Constitution  and  By- 
Laws  were  reported  by  the  committee,  and  adopted. 
It  was  voted,  "  that  the  annual  meetings  of  the  Society 
should  be  held  on  the  31st  of  December,  this  being  the 
birthday  of  the  late  Dr.  Spurzheim."  It  was  also 
voted  to  petition  the  Legislature  for  an  Act  of  In- 
corporation. This  was  granted  and  signed  by  the  Gov- 
ernor, in  March,  1833. 

The  first  officers  of  the  Society,  elected  December 
31,  1832,  were  the  following:  Rev.  John  Pierpont, 
President ;  Dr.  Jona.  Barber,  Yice-President ;  Dr. 
Samuel  Gr.  Howe,  Cor.  Secretary  ;  ITahum  Capen,  Re- 
cording Secretary  ;  E.  P.  Clark,  Treasurer. 

Counsellors — Dr.  J.  F.  Flagg,  Dr.  Winslow  Lewis, 
Jr.,  Dr.  Jos.  W.  McKean,  and  Wm.  B.  Fowle. 

Curators  [elected  in  1834]— Dr.  ]^.  B.  Shurtleff  and 
Henry  T.  Tucker  man. 

Of  the  first  organization,  all  are  deceased  except  the 
Recording  Secretary.  The  Society  continued  a  useful 
activity  for  about  ten  years,  and  numbered  one  hundred 
and  forty-four  members.  Of  these,  about  one-fourth 
were  of  the  medical  profession,  about  one-tenth  were 


Memyniscences  of  SpursHieim.  121 

clergymen,  and  the  remainder  were  merchants,  lawyers, 
professors,  teachers,  artists,  clerks,  and  mechanics. 

In  the  list  of  members,  we  find  the  names  of  some  of 
the  weU-known  citizens  of  Boston,  viz :  Kev.  Henry 
"Ware,  Jr.,  Eev.  Dr.  Brownson,  Hon.  John  Pickering, 
Hon.  Abbott  Lawrence,  Hon.  J.  W.  Edmnnds,  Wm. 
P.  Mason,  l^athl.  C.  ISTash,  Samnel  Downer,  Chas.  Gr. 
Loring,  J.  H.  Walcott,  Moses  Kimball,  Geo.  G.  Smith, 
Jonas  Chickering,  Joseph  Tilden,  Otis  Everett,  Jr., 
James  Blake,  Hon.  James  D.  Greene,  Hon.  J.  S.  Sleeper, 
J.  W.  Ingraham,  E.  L.  Frothingham,  Wm.  A.  Alcott, 
Dr.  Daniel  Harwood,  Wilder  S.  Thurston,  Wm.  Hunt, 
F.  Skinner,  John  Appleton,  Dr.  Henry  G.  Clark,  John 
H.  Blake,  Danl.  F.  Child,  Alvan  Fisher,  Danl.  S.  Smal- 
ley,  Dr.  M.  S.  Perry,  Dr.  John  Flint,  John  J.  Dixwell, 
etc. 

Of  the  twenty-six  members  elected  to  office  during 
the  ten  years'  existence  of  the  Society,  only  five  are 
living.  Of  the  whole  number  of  members,  during  the 
same  period,  one  hundred  and  forty-four,  only  twenty- 
one  are  now  living.  During  the  same  period  the  following 
distinguished  professors  and  authors  were  elected  hon- 
orary members :  Prof.  EEiottson,  Sir  Geo.  S.  McKen- 
zie.  Sir  Wm.  Ellis,  J.  De  Yille,  London ;  Geo.  Combe, 
Dr.  Andrew  Combe,  Eev.  Dr.  Welsh,  Edinburgh ;  Prof. 
Otto,  Copenhagen  ;  Prof.  L.  Y.  de  Simoni,  Eio  Janeiro ; 
Dr.  Eichard  Carmichael,  Hon.  Andrew  Carmichael, 
Dublin ;  Prof.  Blumenbach,  Gottingen ;  Dr.  J.  Eober- 
ton,  Prof.  Andral,  Dr.  C.  Broussais,  Prof.  Broussais, 
Dr.  Felix  Yoisin,  Dr.  Yimont,  Paris;  and  Eev.  Dr. 
Wheaton,  Pres.  Washington  College,  Hartford,  Conn. 
Quite  a  large  number  of  scientific  gentlemen,  in  the 
6 


122  Reminiscences  of  Sjpurzheim. 

United  States  and  abroad,  were  elected  corresponding 
members. 

In  bis  advisory  letter  to  Blumenbacb,  tbe  Corre- 
sponding Secretary,  Dr.  Saml.  Gr.  Howe,  says : 

"  Tbe  Boston  Pbrenological  Society  bas  for  its  ob- 
ject tbe  examination  of  tbe  principles  of  tbe  science  of 
Pbrenology  directly  ;  and  indirectly  all  of  tbe  pbysical 
tbat  bas  a  bearing  upon  tbe  social,  moral,  and  intellect- 
ual conditions  of  man.  It  numbers  among  its  members 
many  of  tbe  scientific  minds  of  our  community." 

In  bis  letter  to  Sir  G-eo.  Stewart  Mackenzie,  after 
complimenting  bim  upon  bis  important  labors  in  favor 
of  Pbrenology,  be  says  :  "  Tbere  is  but  little  credit  due 
to  tbose  wbo  now  embrace  and  defend  a  doctrine  wbicb 
bas  survived  tbe  storms  of  prejudice  tbat  assailed  it  at 
birtb,  and  wbicb  numbers  among  its  supporters  some 
of  tbe  brigbtest  geniuses  of  tbe  age." 

All  tbe  letters  of  tbe  Corresponding  Secretary  to  tbe 
honorary  members  elect,  are  cbaracterized  by  tbe  intel- 
ligent zeal  and  good  judgment  of  tbe  distinguisbed 
autbor. 

During  tbe  period  of  its  existence,  tbe  Society  duly 
observed  tbe  birtbday  of  Spurzbeim,  tbe  day  of  its  an- 
niversary, by  suitable  private  or  public  services.  Tbese 
occasions  were  made  public  in  1833,  1836,  1837,  1838, 
and  in  1839.  Tbe  proceedings,  tbe  addresses,  and 
poems  delivered,  were  published.  Tbey  were  delivered 
by  Professor  Barber,  of  Cambridge ;  Hon.  James  D. 
Green,  of  Cambridge ;  Dr.  Samuel  Gr.  Howe,  of  Bos- 
ton ;  Dr.  Bartlett,  of  Lowell ;  and  by  George  Combe, 
of  Edinburgh. 

The  subject  of  Professor  Barber  was  "  The  Impor- 


J^eminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  123 

tance  of  Phrenology ;  "*  of  Mr.  Green,  "  Claims  of 
Phrenology  to  be  regarded  as  the  Science  of  Human 
Nature ;  "f  of  Dr.  Howe,  "  The  Social  Eolations  of 
Man;  "J  of  Hon.  EKsha  Bartlett,  "Progress  of  the 
IN'atural  Sciences,  the  Character  of  Spurzheim,  and  the 
Importance  of  Phrenology ;  "§  of  Mr.  Combe,  "  Obsta- 
cles to  the  Progress  of  Phrenology,  and  its  Importance 
to  All  Classes  and  in  the  Schools ;  "|| 

Lectures  were  given  by  Drs.  Ingalls  and  McKean  on 
the  anatomy  of  the  brain,  and  by  Dr.  Ingalls  on  the 
harmony  between  Phrenology  and  Christianity.  Two 
courses  of  public  lectures  were  also  given  in  1834  and 
1836  by  the  following  members  of  the  Society,  viz : 
Pev.  John  Pierpont,  Professor  Barber,  Hon.  J.  D. 
Greene,  Dr.  Howe,  Dr.  J.  D.  Fisher,  Dr.  J.  F.  Flagg, 
and  ISTahum  Capen. 

In  1835  the  Council  of  the  Society  were  authorized 
by  the  publishing  house  of  Marsh,  Capen  &  Lyon  to 
offer  a  premium  of  one  hundred  dollars  for  the  best 
essay  of  fifty  pages  against  Phrenology — the  merits  of 
such  essay  to  be  determined  by  a  competent  committee 
of  three  anti-phrenologists.  This  offer  was  announced 
in  1835,  1836,  and  1837,  but  no  one  was  ambitious  to 
compete  for  the  prize. 

To  give  a  full  account  of  the  transactions  of  this  So- 
ciety— of  its  correspondence,  reports  of  committees  on 
heads,  skulls,  and  character,  of  papers  read,  and  of  dis- 
cussions on  numerous  subjects — would  make  a  large 
volume.     It  was  the  leading  Society  of   the  United 


*  Appendix  A.  f  Appendix  "B.  J  Appendix  C. 

§  Appendix  D.  |  Appendix  E. 


124r  MeminisGences  of  S^urzheim. 

States,  and  it  was  extensively  approached  by  prominent 
men  in  all  sections  of  the_  country  and  from  abroad. 

It  would  be  quite  natural  for  the  reader  to  inquire  in 
this  place  why  the  Society  was  not  continued  beyond  the 
period  of  1842.  The  reasons  are  various  and  obvious.  The 
subject  had  ceased  to  be  a  novelty.  All  new  subjects 
or  discoveries,  after  a  certain  time  cease  to  command 
special  attention.  If  established,  contrpversy  ends ;  if 
otherwise,  its  importance  ceases.  New  topics  arise, 
and  these  absorb  the  public  mind.  The  great  master 
of  the  science  had  been  removed  by  death,  and  slowly 
by  death  his  enthusiastic  followers  were  removed,  or 
scattered  by  the  calls  of  a  business  nature.  Some 
may  have  had  a  disposition  to  be  active,  but  were  with- 
out health  or  means.  Besides,  in  a  Society  of  nearly 
one  hundred  and  fifty  members,  there  will  always  be 
some  who  injure  the  cause  of  scientific  investigation  by 
their  weakness,  their  want  of  sense,  and  by  their  tedi- 
ous dissertations  upon  subjects  they  do  not  understand. 
This  is  the  common  fate  of  associations  made  up  of 
members  of  unequal  capacity,  and  where  pride  and 
vanity  often  claim  a  distinction  above  merit  and  an  in- 
fluence above  that  of  knowledge. 

When  men  do  not  readily  disclose  the  sources  of 
their  convictions  and  the  reasons  of  their  belief,  it  is 
difficult  to  measure  the  progress  of  phrenological 
science,  or  indeed  of  any  science.  The  unyielding 
pride  of  the  schools,  the  influence  of  old  prejudices 
against  new  theories,  the  natural  aversion  to  labor  to 
investigate  new  truths  and  at  the  expense  of  old  ones, 
stand  for  a  long  time  in  the  way  of  tracing  thought  in 
its  invisible  action.    Error  is  often  rejected  by  clothing 


RertiiniscenceB  of  Spurzheim,  1^5  '• 

new  truths  in  disguised  language — that  is,  the  princi- 
ples of  new  theories  are  recognized,  but  not  in  the 
technical  language  of  their  authors.  This  has  been  ex- 
tensively done  with  Phrenology.  Many  adopt  its  phi- 
losophy, but  are  not  honest  enough  to  give  due  credit 
to  the  science. 


PEOGKESS    OF    PHEENOLOaT    EEOM   1882   TO    1840 VISIT 

OF  COMBE  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES ^BIETH  AND  EDUCA- 
TION  OF    COMBE HIGH   POSITION    OF   GALL,  SPUEZHEIM, 

AND  COMBE  AS  PHILOSOPHERS NUMEEOUS  TESTIMO- 
NIALS EESPECTING  THE  ABILITY  AND  CHAEACTEE  OF 
GEOEGE    COMBE. 

But  perhaps  the  progress  of  the  science  may  be  best 
estimated  by  a  review  of  the  period  from  1832  to  1840, 
when  leading  scientilic  men  of  the  country  gave  their 
unqualified  testimony  in  favor  of  the  importance  of  the 
proposed  visit  of  George  Combe  to  the  United  States, 
and  other  distinguished  men  of  the  world  gave  their 
high  testimonials  as  to  his  eminent  fitness  to  fill  the 
chair  of  Logic  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  Add 
these  testimonials  to  the  record  already  given  of  Gall 
and  Spurzheim ;  weigh  them  together  and  study  their 
meaning. 

The  emphatic  acknowledgment  of  so  many  distin- 
guished men,  who  have  given  glory  to  the  present  cent- 
ury, of  the  ability  and  merit  of  such  authors  and  teach- 
ers, is  an  extraordinary  fact.  It  is  an  irrevocable 
recognition  of  the  great  truths  which  they  have  taught 
and  indisputable  evidence  of  their  salutary  inflaence 
upon  society.     As  the  mountain  marks  the  geographi- 


126  Heminiscences  of  Spurzheim. 

eal  locality  from  which  the  countless  streams  of  water 
flow,  to  give  fertility  to  the  earth  and  pass  to  the  ocean, 
so  this  great  fact  points  to  a  common  centre  from  which 
trnth  emanates  to  cheer  and  bless  mankind.  The 
teachers  of  truth  are  but  the  servants  of  God,  in  whom 
all  truth  centers. 

George  Combe  was  born  October  21,  1788,  at  Liv- 
ingston's Yards,  close  under  the  south-west  bank  and 
rock  of  the  Castle  Edinburgh.  He  was  the  son  of 
George  Combe,  brewer.  His  mother,  Marion  Kewton, 
was  the  daughter  of  Abram  l^ewton,  of  Curriehill. 
He  was  educated  to  the  profession  of  the  law,  and  be- 
came "Writer  to  the  Signet.  As  a  student  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Edinburgh  it  was  certified  that  he  "  prose- 
cuted his  studies  with  great  diligence  and  success."  In 
his  chosen  profession  he  became  distinguished  for  his 
carefulness,  accuracy^  and  integrity.  Mental  philoso- 
phy was  his  favorite  theme  at  an  early  period.  ''  While 
still  a  youth,"  says  Gibbon,  "he  read  the  works  of 
Locke,  Francis  Hutch  eson,  Adam  Smith,  David  Hume, 
Dr.  Eeid,  and  Dugald  Stewart."  These  authors  served 
only  to  discourage  him.  He  could  not  understand 
what  they  seemed  to  endeavor  to  teach,  and  was  led  to 
mistrust  his  own  want  of  capacity,  rather  than  their 
want  of  philosophy.  In  1815  he  followed  the  lead  of 
the  Edinburgh  Remew  against  Gall  and  Spurzheim, 
but  he  was  not  slow  in  manifesting  his  delight  when 
he  listened  to  the  simple  language  of  truth  as  uttered 
by  the  latter.  But  this  has  been  given  in  his  own  lan- 
guage. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  his  high  personal  char- 
acter.     Of  his  eminent  ability  and  scientific   attain- 


JReminiscences  of  SpurzTieiin.  127 

ments  tbere  is  a  mass  of  unquestionable  evidence, 
which,  for  extent  and  character,  is  almost  without  a 
parallel.  In  1836  he  was  a  candidate  for  the  vacant 
chair  of  Logic  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  There 
were  ten  candidates,  but  only  four  were  voted  for,  viz : 
Sir  William  Hamilton,  Isaac  Taylor,  Mr,  McDougall, 
and  Mr.  Combe.* 

We  have  printed  documents  before  us,  numbering 
more  than  two  hundred  octavo  pages,  containing  letters 
addressed  to  "the  Lord  Provost  and  Council  of  the 
city  of  Edinburgh,  in  behalf  of  George  Combe,"  and 
articles  from  influential  journals  favoring  his  appoint- 
ment.    The  letters  are  signed  by  more  than  a  hundred 
of  the  most  eminent  physicians,  surgeons,  divines,  pro- 
fessors, editors,  and  authors  in  England,  Scotland,  Ire- 
land, France,  Germany,  Denmark,  and  in  the  United 
States.     Among  the  names  of  Great  Britain  we  may 
mention  His  Grace  Eight  Rev.  Archbishop  of  Dublin 
(Whately),  Sir  George  S.  Mackenzie,  Sir  WiUiam  C. 
Ellis,   Professor    Elliotson,   Robert    Ferguson,   M.P., 
R.   Jonson    Evanson,    M.D,,  M.R.I.A.,    Dr.  William 
Gregory,  F.R.S.E.,  Professor  J.  P.  Nichol,  Professor 
Robert  Hunter,  M.D.,  Hon.  D.  G.  Halliburton,  M.P., 
Robert  Chambers,  Esq. ;  Charles  Maclaren,  editor  of  the 
Scotsman^  James  Johnson,  M.D.,  physician  to  the  King 
and  editor  of  the  Medico-Chirurgical  Review  ;  Robert 
C.  Macnish,  M.D.,  author  of  "  Philosophy  of  Sleep  ; " 
Surgeon  Carmichael,  and   Hon.   Andrew  Carmichael. 
Of  the  names  in  the  list  from  France  we  can  give  only 
a  few:   Professor  Broussais,  M.  David  Richard,  Dr. 

*  Appendix  F.  ' 


128  Heminiscences  of  Spurzheim, 

Roberton,  Dr.  Fossati,  Professor  Boullard,  M.  Turpin, 
member  of  French  Institute ;  Professor  Cloquet,  M.  Pel- 
tier, Dr.Yimont,  Dr.  Gaubert,  M.  Dumontier,  Dr.  Felix 
Yoisin,  and  Professor  Andral.  Among  the  names  from 
the  United  States  we  find^from  JSTew  York^  Drs.  John  F. 
Gray,  Valentine  Mott,  and  H.  J.  Jndson ;  from  Balti- 
more^  John  P.  Kennedy,  Professors  Dunglinson,  George 
H.  Calvert,  Drs.  Ducatel,  Geddings,  and  Dickson  ;  from 
Hartford,  Connecticut^  Pev.  Dr.  Wheaton,  President, 
and  Professors  of  Washington  College,  Dr.  A.  Brig- 
ham  ;  from  Boston^  Drs.  J.  C.  Warren,  Hayward,  Lewis, 
Homans,  and  Storer;  and  from  Albany,  New  Yorls, 
Pev.  Dr.  Sprague  and  Professor  Dean. 

Of  these  testimonials,  the  London  Spectator  says : 

"  The  testimonialists  (in  favor  of  Mr.  Combe)  are  of 
various  countries.  They  are  of  various  walks  in  science, 
religion,  literature,  and  life ;  many  of  them  are  the  well- 
known  heads  and  oiiicers  of  philosophical  institutions, 
and  teachers  of  the  great  schools  of  medicine  and  gen- 
eral science  throughout  Europe ;  and  some  of  them 
members  of  Parliament.  Among  them  are  the  present 
philosophical  and  high-minded  Archbishop  of  Dublin 
("Whately),  himseK  the  chief  authority  on  Logic,  as  a 
writer  upon  it ;  and  Andral,  one  of  the  most  eminent 
guides  of  the  medical  student." 

The  Bath  Journal,  Eng.,  says  :  "  Probably  an  equiv- 
alent amount  of  evidence  has  never  been  collected,  in 
so  short  a  time,  in  favor  of  any  individual,  or  of  any 
subject  whatever." 

The  following  brief  extracts  will  afford  the  reader 
some  idea  of  the  substance  of  these  interesting  and  re- 
markable letters: 


Item^iniscences  of  SpurzheiTn.  129 

Dr.  Robert  Macnishj  of  Glasgow,  author  of  the 
"  Philosophy  of  Sleep,"  etc.,  says  :  "  I  am  not  acquainted 
with  any  individual,  either  in  Edinburgh  or  elsewhere, 
who,  as  a  teacher  of  Logic  or  Metaphysics,  can  be  com- 
pared with  M.Y.  Combe." 

Prof.  William  Weir,  M.D.,  of  Grlasgow,  one  of  the 
editors  of  the  Glasgow  Medical  Journal,  says  :  ''I  con- 
sider Mr.  Combe,  from  his  splendid  talents,  his  vigor- 
ous and  enlightened  understanding,  and  his  very  superior 
attainments  in  philosophy,  to  be  eminently  qualified  for 
the  Logic  Chair  in  the  LTniversity  of  Edinburgh."* 

Dr.  John  EUiotson,  F.P.S.,  President  of  the  Poyal 
Medical  and  Chirurgical  Society,  Dean  of  the  Faculty 
in  the  London  University,  etc.,  etc.,  says :  ''  JS^o  one 
could  be  found  more  fitted  for  the  chair  of  Logic  than 
Mr.  Combe,  and  scarcely  any  one  so  fit."f 

Hon.  D.  G.  HalHburton,  M.P.,  says :  "  Wherever  Mr. 
Combe  is  known  (and  he  is  very  generally  known  in 
the  Scotch  metropolis),  there  is  but  one  opinion,  and 
that  a  very  favorable  one,  of  his  ample  qualifications 
for  filling,  with  credit  to  himself,  benefit  to  his  pupils, 
and  honor  to  any  learned  body  who  should  adopt  him, 
the  chair  of  siooh  a  Professorship  as  that  of  Logic." 

James  Johnson,  M.D.,.  Physician  Extraordinary  to 
the  King,  and  editor  of  the  Medico-  Chirurgical  Review^ 
etc.,  says :  "  I  have  no  hesitation  in  stating  my  convic- 
tion that  Mr.  Combe  is  eminently  qualified  to  teach  the 
manifestations  of  the  immortal  sjparh  through  the  me- 
dium of  its  perishable  instrument  on  earth. "ij: 

Dr.  W.  F.  Edwards,  F.R.S.,  says:  "JS'o  man  has, 


*  Appendix  G.        t  Appendix  H.        J  Appendix  L 
6* 


130  Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim, 

since  Gall  and  Spurzheim,  done  so  much  to  enlarge  our 
knowledge  of  human  nature  as  Mr.  Combe,  to  whose 
labors  the  scientihc  world,  and  humanity  at  large,  are 
much  indebted."  In  noticing  this  letter,  the  London 
Courier  says :  '^  Dr.  Edwards  is  a  Member  of  the 
French  Institute,  and  is  known  all  over  Europe  for  the 
accuracy  of  his  scientific  investigations." 

Broussais,  Professor  to  the  Faculty  of  Medicine  of 
Paris,  expresses  "  the  hope  that  Mr.  Combe  will  obtain 
the  chair  of  Logic  in  question.  It  can  not  be  filled  by 
a  man  better  qualified  to  cause  a  great  and  rapid  ad- 
vancement of  the  positive  philosophy."  Turpin,  Mem- 
ber of  the  French  Institute,  and  many  of  the  learned 
professors  of  France,  give  similar  testimony,  and  even 
in  stronger  language. 

In  a  letter  signed  by  Professor  P.  Dunglinson,  John 
P.  Kennedy,  Geo.  H.  Calvert,  and  others,  dated  Balti- 
more, Md.,  U.  S.  A.,  June  3,  1836,  we  find  the  following 
passage :  "  Wherever  Mr.  Combe's  works  have  been  read, 
they  have  been  admired,  as  well  by  those  who  do  not 
as  by  those  who  do  believe  in  the  phrenological  doc- 
trines, and  have  given  their  author  fame  in  America  as 
a  man  of  high  mental  powers  and  fine  cultivation." 
Similar  and  stronger  language  in  his  favor  may  be  found 
in  the  printed  letters  from  Dr.  Mott  and  others  of  IS^ew 
York ;  from  Dr.  John  C.  Warren  and  others  of  Bos- 
ton ;  and  from  Dr.  Brigham,  Pev.  Dr.  Wheaton  and 
others  of  Hartford,  Conn. ;  and  from  Pev.  Dr.  Sprague, 
of  Albany,  N.  Y.  These  testimonials  (in  the  U.  S.) 
were  addressed  to  l^ahum  Capen. 


Heminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  131 

combe's  visit  to  the  united    states HIS   IMOTIVES — HIS 

AKEIVAIi  AND  RECEPTION TESTIMONIALS  OF  RESPECT 

IN  BOSTON,  NEW  YORK,  PHILADELPHIA,  BALTIMORE, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  NEW  HAVEN  AND  HARTFORD,  CONN. 
^INFLUENCE  OF  HIS  LABORS. 

"  Long  before  Mr.  Combe  had  determined  to  visit 
America,"  says  Charles  Gibbon,*  "he  repeatedly,  in 
letters  and  in  private  notes,  expressed  his  admiration  of 
the  country  and  the  people."  The  visit  of  Spnrzheim, 
in  1832  ;  his  cordial  reception  and  sad  ending ;  the  great 
influence  of  his  teachings,  his  unfinished  labors,  and  the 
general  voice  of  thinking  men,  that  he  was  counted  as 
his  successor — all  these  events,  in  connection  with  pri- 
vate letters  from  personal  friends,  served  to  hasten  Mr. 
Combe  in  his  convictions  of  duty  that  he  had  a  sacred 
mission  to  perform  in  the  United  States.  When  assured 
of  a  warm  welcome,  he  did  not  hesitate.  He  left  En- 
gland, in  the  Great  Western^  on  the  8th  of  September, 
1838,  and  arrived  in  JSTew  York  on  the  25th.  He  was 
accompanied  by  his  accomplished  wife,  Mrs.  Cecilia 
Siddons  Combe,  the  daughter  of  the  late  celebrated 
Mrs.  Siddons.  He  was  met  there  by  his  friend,  Mr. 
Capen,  who  had  made  arrangements  for  his  first  course 
of  lectures  in  the  United  States,  to  be  delivered  in  Bos- 
ton. He  commenced  his  first  course,  of  sixteen  lectures, 
at  the  Masonic  Temple,  on  the  10th  of  October,  1838. 
No  delay  was  permitted  in  making  arrangements  for 
his  lectures  in  New  York,  Albany,  Philadelphia,  Bal- 
timore, Washington,  Hartford  and  New  Haven,  Conn., 
and  in  other  cities. 

His  arrival  was  extensively  announced,  and  with  much 

*  "The  Life  of  George  Combe." 


132  MeminisGenoes  of  S^urzheim,^ 

favor.  He  was  received  everywhere*  by  the  learned  and 
distinguished  men  of  all  classes  with  marked  distinc- 
tion, and  his  lectures  were  attended  by  the  most  intel- 
ligent citizens  of  all  classes.  While  in  Boston  he 
became  acquainted  with  Wm.  H.  Prescott,  Daniel 
Webster,  Rev.  Dr.  Channing,  Dr.  James  Jackson,  Dr. 
J.  C.  Warren,  Prof.  Ticknor,  George  Bancroft,  John 
Pickering,  Horace  Mann,  Dr.  Shattuck,  and  with  many 
other  leading  men  of  the  city  and  vicinity. 

At  the  close  of  the  last  lecture,  the  following  compli- 
mentary resolutions  were  adopted*  by  the  class,  and  pre- 
sented by  a  committee : 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  subscribers  to  the  course  of  lect- 
ures delivered  by  George  Conibe,  Esq.,  in  Boston,  held  at 
the  Masonic  Temple,  Nov.  14,  1838, 

"Besolved,  That  this  audience  feel  highly  grateful  to  George 
Combe,  Esq.,  for  the  generous  philanthropy  which  has  led 
him  from  the  shores  of  his  native  country  to  extend  among 
us  the  principles  of  that  philosophy  which  he  has  cultiva- 
ted with  so  much  success. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  have  derived  from  the  lectures  of  Mr. 
Combe  much  instruction  and  delight,  and  we  believe  that 
his  investigations  have  shed  a  valuable  light  on  the  physi- 
cal, intellectual,  and  moral  constitution  of  man  ;  and  that 
his  la,bors  are  eminently  calculated  to  promote  the  progress 
of  the  human  race  in  civilization,  virtue,  and  religion. 

^'Besolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  signed  by  the  Chair- 
man and  Secretary,  and  that  the  following  persons,  viz., 
John  Pickering,  Charles  G.  Loring,  John  Pierpont,  Horace 
Mann,  and  George  Barracott,  be  a  committee  to  present 
these  resolutions  to  Mr.  Combe. 

' '  Abbott  Lawrence,  Qhairman. 
"Nahum  Capen,  Secretary.'^'' 

In  presenting  these  resolutions,  in  the  presence  of  the 
audience  of  his  last  lecture,  the  Hon.  Abbott  Lawrence 


Reminiscences  of  Spurzhevm,  133 

made  a  brief  speech,  in  his  happy  manner,  and  a  modest 

reply  was  made  by  Mr.  Combe.    He  claimed  no  special 

reward  for  honest  motives  to  be  useful,  and  if  thanks 

were  due  to  any  one  they  were  due  to  Mr.  Capen  for 

having  influenced  him  to  visit  the  United  States. 

The  following  letter  to  him  explains  itself : 

*'  BosTOif,  Nov.  13,  1888. 
"  To  George  Combe,  Esq.  : 

**  A  large  number  of  our  citizens  having  expressed  a 
desire  of  giving  you  some  public  testimonial  of  their 
personal  regard,  and  of  their  respect  to  you  as  a  teacher 
of  mental  and  moral  philosophy,  a  meeting  was  held 
for  that  purpose  on  Friday  last. 

"  The  undersigTied  were  appointed  a  committee  to 
carry  into  effect  the  wishes  of  the  meeting,  and  as  the 
result  of  their  deliberation,  they  beg  to  ask  your  ac- 
ceptance of  a  piece  of  plate,  as  a  testimonial  of  affec- 
tion and  respect  of  your  friends  in  Boston. 

"  They  are  desirous  that  the  presentation  should  be 
accompanied  by  some  ceremony,  and  they  propose  that 
it  shall  be  followed  by  a  social  entertainment,  in  order 
that  ladies,  as  well  as  gentlemen,  may  have  an  op- 
portunity of  paying  their  respects  to  Mrs.  Combe  as 
well  as  to  yourself. 

"  Will  you  have  the  goodness  to  name  some  evening 
when  it  will  be  convenient  to  you  to  attend  the  pre- 
sentation ?     With  much  respect  we  are,  dear  su*, 
"  Tours  most  truly, 

''  JoHiq^  Piokeeestg, 
"  Charles  G.  LoRnra, 
"  S.  G.  Howe, 
**  Samuel  E.  Sew  all, 

"IS" AHUM    CAPElir." 


134  HemmiscenGes  of  S^urzkeim. 

The  e'vening  was  appointed  and  the  presentation 
took  place  in  the  spacious  parlors  of  the  Tremont 
House.  There  was  a  large  gathering  of  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen, and  the  occasion  was  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing of  the  season.  Happy  sentiments  and  speeches 
were  uttered  by  gifted  minds,  but  I  am  unable  to  give* 
particulars.  I  can  only  give  extracts  from  an  extended 
and  beautiful  speech  of  Mr.  Combe,  which  I  have  in  man- 
uscript. He  said ;  *'  I  ascribe  your  present  gift  to  your 
own  generous  sentiments  much  more  than  to  any  merit 
of  my  own.  I  accept  it  as  a  memorial  of  the  elevated 
feelings  and  high  intellectual  attainments  of  the  do- 
nors, and,  as  such,  it  will  recall  many  of  the  most  de- 
lightful associations  of  my  life The  high  talents 

and  distinguished  station  of  those  in  whose  names 
these  resolutions  have  been  presented  will  operate  not 
only  in  every  region  of  this  vast  country,  but  in  Eu- 
rope, in  dispelling  the  mists  of  prejudice  against  Phre- 
nology." 

The  design  of  this  testimonial  was  quite  original.  It 
was  a  tea-kettle  of  solid  silver.  It  was  forwarded  by 
request  of  Mr.  Combe  to  his  hotel  in  E^ew  York.  In 
a  letter  from  Mrs.  Combe  to  me,  she  thus  speaks  of  it : 

"My  dear  Mr.  Capen: — The  box  containing  the 
vase  was  delivered  here  yesterday,  and  you  may  be  sure 
we  lost  no  time  in  unpacking  it.  We  placed  it  on  our 
table  and  admired  it  in  every  point  of  view.  It  is  very 
handsome,  and,  in  style  and  execution,  very  peculiarly 
adapted  both  to  our  taste  and  to  correspond  with  all 
the  other  plate  which  we  possess.  In  all  respects,  then, 
we  shall  indeed  most  highly  prize  it — first,  as  a  remem- 


Remniniscences  of  Spurzheim.  136 

brance  of  most  valued  friends;  secondly,  as  in  itself 
intrinsically  handsome  and  in  good  taste ;  and  lastly, 
as  suitable  in  substantial  and  unpretending  appearance 
to  tbe  character  and  establishment  of  a  simple  and  prac- 
tical philosopher.  "VYe  beg  yon  to  tell  all  our  friends 
liow  much  gratified  and  pleased  Mr.  Combe  and  my- 
self are  at  the  sight  of  their  kind  token  of  regard." 

When  Mr.  Combe  arrived  in  this  country,  the  citi- 
zens of  ]N^ew  York  vrere  favorably  disposed  to  the  sci- 
ence of  Phrenology.  In  a  letter  to  me  from  Dr.  A. 
Brigham,  dated  ISTew  York,  August,  1837  (where  he 
resided  at  the  time),  he  asks  :  "  How  is  Phrenology  in 
Boston  ?  Here  I  find  a  general  and  favorable  impres- 
sion respecting  it.  Nearly  all  the  physicians  are  said  to 
be  phrenologists."  After  Mr.  Combe  had  commenced 
his  first  course  of  lectures  in  that  city,  Professor  Wil- 
liam M.  Holland,  in  a  letter  to  me  dated  JSTew  York, 
^November  22,  1838,  says :  "  Mr.  Combe  is  succeeding 
admirably.  His  first  lecture  was  attended  by  ^vq  or  six 
hundred  of  the  best  hearers  in  the  city.  He  has  set  to 
work  with  an  earnestness  of  a  man  forgetful  of  himself 
and  everything  but  truth,  and  can  hardly  fail  to  make 
a  strong  impression." 

At  the  close  of  his  second  course  of  lectures  in  [N^ew 
York,  an  address,  expressive  of  admiration  for  himseK 
and  confidence  in  the  beneficent  tendency  of  his  phi- 
losophy, was  made,  and  subsequently  the  class  made  a 
presentation  to  him  (March  23,  181:0)  of  a  silver  vase 
bearing  medallic  portraits  of  Gall,  Spurzheim,  and  him- 
self, and  also  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Push  and  Dr.  Charles 
Caldwell.     In  presenting  this  testimonial  the  chairman 


136  Heminiscences  of  Spurzheim. 

of  a  committee,  E.  P.  Hurlbut,  said :  "  Your  visit  has 
awakened  the  interest  of  thousands  in  your  welfare — of 
thousands  who  are  not  wanting  in  gratitude  for  tlie  in- 
struction and  delight  which  your  discourses  have  af- 
forded them,  but  who  have  had  no  opportunity  to  man- 
ifest, as  we  do  on  this  most  favored  occasion,  their  high 
appreciation  of  your  character  and  attainments  and  the 
enduring  impression  which  your  visit  has  made  upon 
their  minds.  Their  and  our  best  wishes  attend  you." 
Mr.  Combe  made  an  eloquent  reply,  but  we  have  room 
for  only  a  brief  extract,  showing  the  character  of  his 
sense  of  appreciation:  "I  have  held  converse,"  he 
said,  "  with  many  enlightened  minds  in  this  country — 
minds  that  do  honor  to  human  nature,  whose  philan- 
thropy embraces  not  only  patriotism,  but  an  all-prevail- 
ing interest  in  the  advancement  of  the  human,  race  in 
knowledge,  virtue,  religion,  and  enjoyment  in  every 
clime.  Many  of  these  admirable  men  are  deeply  inter- 
ested in  Phrenology." 

A  cordial  reception  in  Philadelphia  was  anticipated 
by  Mr.  Combe,  and  he  was  not  disappointed.  I  had 
received  assurances  from  Professor  John  Bell  which 
were  fully  redeemed.  Mr.  Combe  wrote  me,  "Dr. 
Bell's  head  is  like  my  brother  Andrew's,  and  his  writ- 
ings are  like  his."  In  a  letter  dated  Philadelphia,  Feb- 
ruary 10,  1839,  he  says :  "  Our  lectures  terminated  on 
the  8th  inst.  most  satisfactorily.  I  have  had  regularly 
from  five  to  six  hundred  and  a  vote  of  approval  at  the 
close.  My  auditors  here  embraced  professors,  physi- 
cians, and  men  of  the  first  grade,  and,  so  favorable  has 
been  the  impression,  that  I  have  been  publicly  re- 
quested to   repeat  the  course.  .....  Mr.  Rembrandt 


Beminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  137 

Peale  is  painting  my  portrait  for  his  own  gratification, 
as  I  appear  to  his  mind,  but  considerably  different  from 
my  appearance  in  your  portrait."  The  one  he  referred 
to  was  painted  in  Edinburgh  in  1837. 

When  he  visited  Washington,  he  became  acquainted 
with  Dr.  Sewall,  who  had  distinguished  himself,  among 
the  great  men  of  the  nation,  by  lecturing  and  speaking 
against  Phrenology.  He  had  been  repeatedly  warned 
respecting  his  unguarded  statements  and  assertions,  by 
Dr.  Brereton,  of  the  U.  S.  army,  and  Secretary  of 
Washington  Phrenological  Society,  but  without  effect. 
In  a  letter  to  me  dated  March  14,  1839,  Mr.  Combe 
thus  alludes  to  him  :  "  Dr.  Sewall  overwhelmed  us  with 
kindness.  I  told  him  in  presence  of  a  dozen  of  Sena- 
tors and  Representatives  in  his  own  house,  that  what 
he  called  Phrenology  was  a  phantom  of  his  own  crea- 
tion, and  that  if  it  were  really  Phrenology,  I  should 
be  an  opponent  also.  He  took  this  in  good  part,  and 
said  he  would  revise  his  opinions." 


RESULTS    OF   ME.    COMBe's   VISIT   TO    THE    TOOTED    STATES. 

That  the  visit  of  Mr.  Combe  to  the  United  States 
was  regarded  by  some  of  the  best  and  most  infiuential 
people  of  the  country,  as  an  event  calculated  to  ad- 
vance the  great  cause  of  education  and  science,  is  at- 
tested by  unquestionable  evidence.  This  evidence  is 
to  be  found  in  the  public  journals,  in  votes  and  resolu- 
tions of  associations  passed  at  pubic  meetings,  and  in 
the  correspondence  of  learned  and  professional  men. 
That  his  lectures  served  to  confinn  and  advance  tho 


138  Reminiscences  of  ^urzheim, 

great  truths  of  Phrenology  as  taught  by  Gall  and 
Spurzheim,  no  one  will  venture  to  deny.  That  they 
aided  to  remove  a  prevailing  prejudice  against  the  sci- 
ence, and  to  invest  the  subject  with  a  dignity  that  be- 
longs to  truth,  all  must  admit.  That  those  who  were  the 
most  active  and  foremost  in  offering  him  attention  and 
in  giving  him  opportunities  to  be  useful,  were  men  emi- 
nent in  the  walks  of  science  and  among  the  highest  in 
respectability,  is  abundantly  proved  by  the  record.  That 
the  high  reputation  in  Europe  which  he  had  acquired, 
and  which  had  been  conceded  to  him  there  by  all  class- 
es ;  that  he  was  the  only  living  representative  of  Spurz- 
heim, wlio  was  able  to  do  justice  to  the  science  which 
he  taught,  were  facts  fully  acknowledged  everywhere. 
Of  course,  many  who  approached  him,  had  no  motives 
above  those  of  mere  curiosity.  But  few  of  such, 
however,  were  to  be  found  on  his  committees  of  ar- 
rangement for  his  lectures  or  receptions.  That  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Combe  fully  comprehended  and  appreciated 
the  results,  may  be  seen  from  his  journal : 

"  I  thank  God  very  sincerely  for  His  bounteous  gifts 
to  her  (Mrs.  Combe)  and  to  me,  and  am  persuaded  that 
the  recollection  of  our  visit  to  the  United  States  will 
afford  us  lasting  gratification." 


ACTIVE   AND    SCIENTIFIC    PHEENOLOGISTS    OF   THE   UNITED 

STATES SURVIVING   PHEENOLOGISTS  WHO  WROTE   UPON 

THE    SUBJECT    FROM   THE    PERIOD    OF    1832 — DR.    ISAAC 
RjiT GEO.    H,    CALVERT. 

I  could  easily  extend  this  chapter  of  details  by  mak- 
ing numerous  extracts  from  letters,  from  Mr.  Combe, 


Hemmiscenoes  of  Bpurzheim,  139 

Prof.  Silliman,  of  l^ew  Haven ;  Dr.  Brigham,  of  Hart- 
ford ;  Prof.  Bell,  of  Philadelphia ;  Prof.  Calvert,  of  Bal- 
timore ;  Prof.  Dean,  of  Albany ;  Dr.  Pay,  of  East- 
port  ;  Prof.  Caldwell,  of  Kentucky,  and  from  many 
others;  but  most  of  them  have  long  been  numbered 
among  the  dead,  and  further  testimony,  I  trust,  will 
not  be  deemed  important.  Of  the  many  correspond- 
ents I  had  between  the  periods  from  1832  to  1842, 
only  two  are  now  living :  Doctor  Isaac  Pay,  formerly 
of  Eastport,  Maine,  now  of  Philadelphia,  the  gifted 
author  on  Medical  Jurisprudence,  etc.,  etc. ;  and  the 
Hon.  Geo.  H.  Calvert,  formerly  of  Baltimore,  now  of 
Newport,  P.  I.,  the  able  author  of  many  valuable 
volumes. 

When  advised  that  I  was  preparing  these  pages,  they 
both  addressed  me  letters,  which  follow : 

Lettee  feom  Isaac  Pat,  M.D. 
"  Philadelphia,  Baring  Street,  August  2^,  1879. 

"  My  Deae  Sik  : — Your  letter  has  called  up  many 
interesting  reminiscences  of  my  earlier  years — those 
connected  with  Phrenology  and  my  dealings  with  your 
house.  Phrenology  was  to  me,  in  those  days,  a  revela- 
tion of  new  truths  and  especially  of  a  philosophy  that 
shed  a  marvelous  light  on  the  whole  field  of  mental 
science.  I  never  reached  much  belief  in  organology, 
but  it  gave  a  turn  to  my  inquiries  which  I  never  have 
ceased  to  follow,  and  for  which  I  can  never  cease  to  be 
thankful.  No  story-book  was  ever  devoured  with  such 
an  abandon  of  every  other  thought  as  was  Gall's  great 
work,  '  Sur  les  Fonctions.'' 

"  I.  do  not  think  Phrenology  throws  much  light  on 


140 .  Reminiscences  of  Sjpurzheim. 

insanitj,  nor  upon  the  received  theories  of  cerebral 
pathology ;  could  it  be  expected  to  ?  The  source  of  in- 
sanity is  an  organization,  more  or  less  vicious,  of  the 
brain,  and  so  far  as  our  inquiries  have  yet  gone,  it  seems 
to  be  general  and  not  local  or  partial  in  its  seat.  Mr. 
Combe  thought  that  the  insane  manifestations  must 
come  from  the  prominent  organs,  and  thus  the  manip- 
ulation of  the  head  would  enable  one  to  say  what 
would  be  the  character  of  the  derangement  in  any  par- 
ticular case,  produced  by  the  disease  insanity.  Had  he 
known  as  much  of  insanity  as  he  did  of  the  brain  and 
mind  in  the  sound  state,  he  would  never  have  adopted 
this  notion.  The  practical  application  of  it  on  several 
cases  at  the  McLean  Asylum,  failed  completely,  as  Dr. 
Bell  informed  me.  Not  but  what  some  light  may  be 
shed  on  the  play  of  the  mind  in  the  unsound  state  as 
well  as  the  sound  to  the  patient  and  skilled  observer. 
The  two  most  common  manifestations  of  mental  de- 
rangement, are  excessive  exaltation  and  depression,  and 
they  may  continue  for  months  the  only  ones.  They 
are  as  clearly  the  results  of  abnormal  cerebral  action, 
as  delusion  or  raving.  If  it  be  contended  that  they 
spring  from  some  affection  of  Hope,  it  is  a  fair  ques- 
tion, but  one  not  easily  answered,  how  it  happens 
that  one  particular  organ,  and  that  a  small  one,  should 
become  diseased  so  much  of  tener  than  any  other  ?  You 
must  conclude,  of  course,  that  I  am  unable  to  commend 
Phrenology  for  any  signal  service  it  has  rendered  in 
the  treatment  of  insanity.  I  am  glad  that  you  have 
undertaken  this  book  of  reminiscences  of  one  who 
made  so  strong  a  mark  on  his  time  (Spurzheim)  and 
promise  myself  much  gratification  from  reading  it. 


•    Heminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  141 

*'  "With  thanks  for  your  expressions  of  kindness  and 
regard,  I  remain, 

"  Yours,  truly,  Isaac  Eat. 

"I^AHUM  Capen,  Esq.,  Boston,  Mass." 

In  an  address  delivered  in  Glasgow,  Mr.  Combe  thus 
alludes  to  a  work  of  Dr.  Ray : 

"  Dr.  Ray's  work,  allow  me  to  say,  is  a  valuable  treat- 
ise on  Medical  Jurisprudence,  in  which  he  not  only 
presents  the  Hghts  of  Phrenology  to  illuminate  the 
subject,  but  condemns  the  lawyers  of  other  countries 
for  their  blindness  to  its  importance,  and  among  others, 
he  censures  the  High  Court  of  Justiciary  of  Scotland 
for  their  condemnation  in  1832  of  Howison,  obviously 
a  homicidal  monomaniac."* 

Letter  feom  Hoist.  Geoege  H.  Calveet. 

"Newport,  R.  I.,  August  20,  1879. 
"  My  Dear  Me.  Capen^  : — Herewith  I  send  you  a 
copy  of  '  Brief  Essays  and  Brevities^  in  which  is  a 
paper  entitled  '  The  Beain,'  a  succinct  statement  as  to 
the  discovery  of  the  functions  of  the  brain  by  Gall, 
and  as  to  the  nature  and  significance  of  this  great  dis- 
covery. That  it  is  a  discovery,  and  one  of  the  greatest 
ever  made,  I  Urmly  believe.  Observation  and  reflec- 
tion, during  the  fifty  years  since  I  first  began  to  ex- 
amine the  expositions  of  Gall  and  his  disciples,  have 
from  year  to  year  strengthened  in  me  the  opinion  that 
this  discoverv  of  what  is  the  office  of  the  hitherto 
mysterious  mass  of  cerebral  nervous   matter,   and   is 


*  Gibbon's  "  Combe." 


142  JRemmiscences  of  S^urzheim. 

pregnant  with  solutions — solutions  ethic,  aesthetic,  meta- 
phjsic,  and  theologic. 

"Most  truly  yours,  Geo.  H.  Calveet. 

"  E'ahum  Capen,  Esq., 

"  Mount  Ida,  Boston,  Mass." 

The  interesting  volume  referred  to  by  Mr.  Calvert, 
was  published  in  J  8Y4,  The  chapter  on  "  the  'brain  "  is 
brief,  original,  and  full  of  meaning,  but  we  can  make 
from  it  only  a  single  extract.  He  says :  "  From  the 
discoveries  of  Gall  legitimate  deductions  are :  that  the 
brain  is  the  instrument  of  mind ;  that  the  brain  is  not 
a  single  organ,  but  a  congeries  of  organs,  the  function 
of  each  being  to  manifest  a  primitive  mental  power  of 
feeling  or  of  intellect ;  and  that,  other  things  being 
equal,  such  as  health,  temperament,  opportunity,  size  is 
the  measure  of  power." 


PHILOSOPHY     OF     PHEENOLOGT THE     THREE     GREAT 

TEACHERS. 

When  I  commenced  these  pages,  I  had  intended  to 
give  outline  views  of  Phrenology  as  left  by  Gall,  and 
as  modified  and  extended  by  Spurzheim  and  Combe, 
but  the  reader  must  look  for  these  additions  in  their 
works.*  Like  all  other  subjects.  Phrenology  should  be 
carefully  studied  and  practically  applied  in  the  affairs  of 
life. 

Having  given  reminiscences  of  Spurzheim  and  Combe, 
and  having  given  unquestionable  evidence  of  the  per- 


*  See  Appendix  J. 


ReminiscenGes  of  Sj[>urzheim,  143 

sonal  character,  education,  and  eminent  ability  of  these 
great  teachers  of  Phrenology,  and  of  their  claims  npon 
all  good  men — to  be  remembered,  respected,  and  fol-' 
lowed  as  honored  disciples  of  troth — it  remains  to  be 
added  a  brief  review  of  the  philosophy  of  their  system, 
and  its  importance  to  the  great  canse  of  education,  legis- 
lation, and  to  the  treatment  of  criminals  and  the  insane. 
The  object  of  these  pages  is  to  influence  instructors  and 
parents  to  teach  children  the  science  of  Phrenology,  and 
legislators  and  heads  of  public  institutions  to  boldly  rec- 
ognize the  system  as  the  true  science  of  self-hnowledge 
— the  greatest  of  all  themes  for  the  study  of  man. 

The  PHYSioLoaT  of  the  Beain. 

It  is  now  nearly  half  a  century  since  Prof.  Elliotson, 
of  the  University  of  London,  the  learned  translator  of 
Blumenbach's  Physiology ;  Dr.  John  Mackintosh,  Sur- 
geon to  the  Ordnance  Department  in  ]^orth  Britain, 
Lecturer  on  the  Principles  of  Pathology  and  Practice 
of  Physics,  Fellow  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  of 
Edinburgh,  etc.,  etc.;  Prof.  Robert  Hunter,  Prof,  of 
Anatomy,  etc.,  in  the  Andersonian  LTniversity,  Glasgow  ; 
Prof.  C.  Otto,  M.D.,  Prof,  of  Medicine  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Copenhagen ;  James  Johnson,  M.D.,  Physician 
Extraordinary  to  the  King,  etc. ;  Richard  Carmichael, 
Surgeon  and  Author,  of  Dublin — and  numerous  other 
distinguished  authors  and  professors — ^gave  distinct  and 
emphatic  testimony  in  favor  of  the  Anatomy  of  the 
Brain — as  demonstrated  and  taught  by  Gall  and  Spurz- 
heim.  Let  this  fact  be  publicly  and  unreservedly  an- 
nounced in  our  medical  schools — whatever  else  may  be 
added  that  may  have  been  discovered  since  theii'  time. 


144  Heminiscences  of  SpuTzheirrh. 

But  in  speaking  of  the  Physiology  of  the  Brain, 
especially,  it  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  Human  Physi- 
ology, as  a  whole,  is  either  to  be  omitted  or  neglected.  It 
is  a  subject  that  should  be  studied  and  made  familiar 
both  in  the  family  and  in  the  school.  The  prevailing 
ignorance  of  common  people  of  the  make  of  their  own 
bodies  and  the  means  of  health,  is  truly  lamentable. 
Even  educated  men  and  women  often  invite  both  dis- 
sease  and  death  by  violating  the  physical  laws  of  their 
bodies. 

In  1853,  by  co-operation  of  that  great  and  good  man, 
Sir  James  Clark,  an  opinion  was  obtained  in  favor  of 
teaching  Physiology  and  the  laws  of  health  in  the  com- 
mon schools,  and  signed  by  sixty-five  of  the  leading 
physicians  of  London. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  docament : 

"  Our  opinion  having  been  requested  as  to  the  advan- 
tage of  making  the  Elements  of  Human  Physiology,  or 
a  general  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  health,  a  part  of  the 
education  of  youth,  we,  the  undersigned,  have  no  hesi- 
tation in  giving  it  strongly  in  the  afiirmative.  We  are 
satisfied  that  much  of  the  sickness  from  which  the  work- 
ing classes  at  present  suffer,  might  be  avoided ;  and  we 
know  that  the  best  directed  efforts  to  benefit  them  by 
medical  treatment  are  often  greatly  impeded,  and  some- 
times entirely  frustrated,  by  their  ignorance  and  neglect 
of  the  conditions  upon  which  health  necessarily  de- 
pends. We  are,  therefore,  of  the  opinion  that  it  would 
greatly  tend  to  prevent  sickness,  and  promote  soundness 
of  body  and  mind,  were  the  elements  of  Physiology,  in 
its  application  to  the  preservation  of  health,  made  a  part 
of  general  education ;  and  we  are  convinced  that  such 


Meminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  145 

instruction  may  be  rendered  most  interesting  to  the 
young,  and  may  be  communicated  to  them  with  the 
utmost  facility  and  propriety  in  the  ordinary  schools, 
by  properly  instructed  schoolmasters." 

Mental  Philosophy. 

It  was  a  great  event  to  be  recorded  in  the  history  of 
science  when  the  learned  Archbishop  Whately,  in  1836, 
pronounced  in  favor  of  the  metaphysics  of  Phrenology. 
"  It  had  a  metaphysical  nomenclature,"  he  said,  "  far 
more  logical,  accurate,  and  convenient  than  Locke, 
Stewart,  and  other  writers  of  their  schools."  To  give 
numerous  similar  opinions  would  be  easy,  but  mere 
•opinions,  perhaps,  would  not  aid  the  reader  so  much  as 
a  few  words  upon  the  subject  itself. 

In  works  on  Mental  Philosophy,  the  Mind  has  usually 
been  represented  as  made  up  of  Faculties  and  Affec- 
tions, but  these  words  have  been  used  in  so  vague  a 
sense,  and  in  such  a  variety  of  "relations,  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  find,  in  any  standard  work,  satisfactory  defini- 
tions. The  mind  consists  of  faculties,  as  all  admit,  and 
yet  there  is  an  apparent  relation  constantly  kept  in  sight 
between  the  faculties  and  the  mind,  as  if  they  had 
separate  spheres  of  action,  although  one  and  the  same. 
Of  this,  however,  Locke  was  perfectly  aware,  as  he 
says  that  "  this  way  of  speaking  of  faculties  has  mis- 
led many  into  a  confused  notion  of  so  many  distinct 
agents  in  us,  which  had  their  "several  provinces  and 
authorities,  and  did  command,  obey,  and  perform  several 
actions,  as  so  many  distinct  beings."  But  in  this  re- 
mark Locke  only  stated  a  difficulty  in  his  own  philoso- 
phy, without  even  attempting  to  obviate  it,  and  by  im- 


146  Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim, 

plication,  as  we  have  a  right  to  suppose,  admitted  tlie 
necessity  of  some  system  like  that  of  Phrenology. 

Some  may  be  of  the  opinion  that  "  when  Locke  dis- 
proved the  existence  of  innate  ideas  he  also  disproved 
the  existence  of  innate  faculties  and  propensities,"  but 
such  an  inference  is  altogether  unwarrantable.  So  far 
from  this,  he  furnishes  much  evidence  that  the  faculties 
are  innate,  and  advanced  a  step  nearer  to  Phrenology 
when  he  maintained  that  the  organs  of  thinking  might 
be  material.  Such  were  the  opinions  of  H artley,  Tucker, 
Hume,  Priestly,  Peid,  Butler,  and  others  equally  em- 
inent. 

But  to  make  still  nearer  approaches,  the  functions  of 
nearly  thirty  of  the  organs,  discovered  by  Gall  and 
Spurzheim,  have  been  alluded  to  as  innate  faculties  of 
mind,  by  several  of  the  most  eminent  metaphysicians. 
Lord  Karnes  alone  admits  twenty.  Conscientiousness^ 
under  the  name  of  the  moral  sense,  moral  feeling^  sense 
of  right,  is  supported  by  Warbuton,  Hume,  Marmontel, 
Pousseau,  Tucker,  Hutches  on,  Peid,  Gregory,  Stewart, 
Browne,  Cudworth,  and  others. 

Veneration  has  had  many  learned  supporters,  but  we 
shall  only  name  Kant,  Davy,  Montesquieu,  Warbuton, 
Tucker,  Kames,  and  some  distinguished  professors  in 
the  United  States.  The  innateness  of  Philoprogenitive- 
ness  is  maintained  by  Hume,  Warbuton,  Tucker,  Peid, 
and  Browne ;  Marijellousness,  by  the  same,  and  Lord 
Shaftesbury ;  Benevolence  and  Cautiousness,  by  the 
same,  and  others.  Self-esteem  is  maintained  by  Peid, 
Stewart,  and  Browne ;  Love  of  Approbation,  by  Hume, 
Browne,  and  Kames ;  Hope,  by  Stewart ;  Ideality,  by 
Browne  and  Stewart ;  Imitation,  by  Peid  and  Browne ; 


Reminiscences  of  Sjpurzheim.  14lr 

Tir)ie  and  Time^  Individualif/y  and  Causality^  by 
Reid,  Browne,  and  Karnes ;  Comparison^  by  Mal- 
branclie,  Bacon,  and  Locke.  Adhesiveness  is  supported 
by  Warbuton,  Browne,  and  Karnes ;  Amaiiveness,  by 
Browne  and  Stewart ;  Comhati/veness  and  Destructive- 
ness,  by  Hume,  Browne,  Karnes,  and  Leigliton ;  Firm 
ness,  by  Tucker,  and  Acquisitiveness^  by  Reid  and 
Kames,  and  Sccretiveness,  by  Lord  Bacon  and  Bishop 
Leighton.  And,  as  stated  by  Andrew  Carmichael,  in 
whose  work  references  to  some  of  these  authors  may 
be  found,  "Browne  absolutely  admits  a  faculty  of 
eguilihrium^  which  is  identical  with  the  phrenological 
faculty  of  Weight  I  and  if  his  principle  of  relative  sug- 
gestion be  not  a  component  part  of  the  mind,  then,  to 
account  for  other  pnenomena  v/hich  he  discusses,  the 
innate  existence  must  be  inferred  of  Individuality^ 
Eventuality^  Conpa/rison,  Causality,  Nuniber,  Size, 
Form,  Coloring,  and  Space,  in  addition  to  those  facul- 
ties which  he  admits  without  reserve." 

To  say  nothing  of  these  subdivisions  of  mind  into 
faculties,  without  a  system  to  be  found  in  nature,  most 
writers  have  agreed  in  dividing  the  mental  nature  of 
man  into  four  classes  of  powers,  and  allowing  to  each 
class  its  own  sphere  and  peculiar  characteristics,  viz, 
the  Intellectual,  the  Moral,  the  Religious,  and  the 
Animal. 

With  this  view  of  the  subject,  it  is  very  natural  to 
inquire  whether  it  be  consistent  to  suppose  that  particu- 
lar acts  of  the  mind  result  from  many  powers  combined, 
and  acting  as  one,  or,  as  one  power  acting  in  different 
modes.  We  hear  of  religious  men  without  moral  hon- 
esty, and  of  moral  men  without  religion.   And  we  find, 


148  Jteminiscences  of  SpuTzTieim, 

also,  men   of  great  intellectual   endowments  without 
either. 

Men  are  ever  before  us  marked  by  the  greatest  vari- 
ety of  differences  as  to  person,  capacity,  and  conduct. 
Let  us  study  them  as  we  see  them,  as  we  know  them 
— without  losing  ourselves  in  the  labyrinths  of  an  artifi- 
cial erudition  or  in  the  spell-bound  fogs  of  prejudice. 
Let  us  study  nature  as  we  find  it  to-day,  and,  in  the  past, 
as  we  find  it  revealed  both  by  sacred  and  profane  his- 
tory. Let  us  have  certainties  to  stand  upon  while  we 
are  studying  the  uncertainties  of  life.  Let  us  regard 
the  attributes  of  mind  as  immutable  in  their  nature  as 
the  attributes  of  Deity.  Shall  we  presume  to  under- 
take to  improve  the  immortal  principle  of  the  soul  it- 
self, or  of  the  body  in  its  conditions  of  strength  or 
weakness?  Let  us  confine  ourselves  to  the  training  of 
that  nature  which  limits  and  deranges  the  manifesta- 
tions of  the  spirit,  of  the  immortal  mind,  whose  depths 
and  mysteries  no  finite  wisdom  can  solve.  Let  us  study 
mind  and  matter — as  we  only  know  them  together — as 
it  has  pleased  the  Almighty  to  place  them.  As  we 
study  T^atural  History  to  leam  the  instincts  and  habits 
of  the  animal  creation,  so  should  we  study  the  physical 
and  mental  capacities  of  man — that  we  may  understand 
their  normal  conditions  and  arrive  at  the  best  methods 
of  training  the  body  and  developing  the  faculties  of  the 
mind  in  harmony:  the  great  business  of  education. 
Practical  self-knowledge  formulized  will  prove  to  be 
the  most  useful  system  of  mental  philosophy.  The 
philosophy  of  Phrenology  affords  an  easy  solution  of 
the  mental  phenomena  of  Consciousness,  Perception, 
Keflection,  Memory,  the  Association  of  Ideas,  Dream- 


Reminiscences  of  S^urzheim,  149 

ing,  and  of  Insanity,  such  as  can  not  be  found  in  any 
other  system.* 


PHRENOLOGY     THE     SCIENCE    OF   HUMAN   NATUEE TESTI- 
MONY   OF    HON.  JAMES    D.  GliEEN. 

In  this  connection  it  is  a  most  agreeable  privilege  to 
employ  the  language  of  an  able  brother  member  of  the 
Boston  Phrenological  Society.  He  is  still  living,  be- 
yond the  period  of  fourscore  years,  and  is  delighted  to 
join  his  voice  with  mine  again  in  the  cause  of  truth, 
guided  by  a  reflective  experience  of  nearly  half  a  cent- 
ury. In  1836  the  Hon.  James  D.  Green,  of  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts,  was  appointed  to  deliver  the  anniversary 
discourse  on  the  birthday  of  Spurzheim.  '^  Phrenol- 
ogy the  Science  of  Human  Nature^''  was  his  subject, 
and  it  was  discussed  by  him  with  great  ability  and 
learning.  The  discourse  was  published,  and  the  fol- 
lowing extracts  are  made  from  it,  which,  I  doubt  not, 
will  be  welcomed  by  the  reader  as  appropriate  matter 
to  make  a  part  of  these  pages. 

He  says  :  "  The  true  mode  of  conducting  inquiry  in 
the  pursuit  of  knowledge  was  first  pointed  out  by  Lord 
Bacon.  The  minds  of  men  until  his  time  had  yielded 
profound  homage  to  the  Aristotelian  philosophy.  But 
the  spell  of  enchantment  was  broken  by  the  publication 
of  his  NovuTYh  Organum  Scientiarum  —  the  new 
method  of  studying  the  sciences — and  the  world  was 
delivered  from  an  intellectual  bondage  of  two  thousand 
years.     Goethe  says,  '  He  drew  a  sponge  over  the  table 


*  See  Appendix  K. 


150  RcminlscenGes  of  Spurzheim. 

of  human  knowledge.'  Bacon  was  not  himself  the 
founder  of  a  sect.  His  object  was  attained  when  he 
had  discovered  and  pointed  oat  the  way  by  which  fut- 
ure inquirers  should  be  guided  to  the  truth.  This  was 
enough  to  be  accomplished  by  a  single  mind.  It  pro- 
cured for  him  the  enviable  distinction  of  being  known 
through  all  after-time  as  the  '  Father  of  the  Experi- 
mental Philosophy.'  His  great  principle  of  inquiry 
has  been  called  the  '  Inductive  Method,'  i.  e.^  the 
method  of  hringing  in  or  collecting  facts,  making  ex- 
periments, and  observations  of  nature.  General  truths 
are  to  be  established  only  by  an  induction  of  facts. 

'^  This  great  principle  was  at  once  applied  in  physi- 
cal investigations,  and  lo !  how  surprising  was  the  re- 
sult !  A  total  revolution  was  effected  in  natural  phi- 
losophy. Instead  of  a  jargon  of  unmeaning  terms  to 
stand  for  occult  qualities  and  imaginary  essences,  about 
which  there  was  not  one  clear  conception  in  the  mind, 
the  attention  was  directed  to  the  observation  of  facts 
and  the  classification  of  phenomena,  and  the  inves- 
tigation of  causes  was  abandoned  as  a  fruitless  en- 
deavor  

"  Intellectual  philosophy,  as  it  has  been  taught  in  the 
schools  and  founded  on  individual  consciousness,  pos- 
sesses no  title  to  rank  as  a  science,  and,  least  of  all,  to 
constitute  a  science  of  a  distinct  class.  Instead  of  be- 
ing knowledge  it  is  still  mere  theory^  altogether  unset- 
tled, various  and  conflicting  in  its  elements,  as  ex 
pounded  by  different  writers,  and  without  any  verifica- 
tion by  an  examination  of  nature.  Intellectual  philos- 
ophy in  times  past  has  made  no  progress  in  comparison 
with  other  departments  of  scientific  inquiry.     Yet  gi- 


Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim,  151 

gantic  minds  have  laid  out  their  strength  upon  it. 
They  have  had  the  misfortune  to  overlook  the  only- 
true  mode  of  investigating  the  mental  phenomena 

"  It  was  reserved  for  Gall  and  Spurzheim  to  make 
the  first  application  in  the  study  of  human  nature,  of 
the  same  inductive  process  which  had  been  so  success- 
fully applied  in  physics.  The  founders  of  Phrenology 
had  deeply  imbibed  the  spirit  of  the  Baconian  philoso- 
phy. It  everywhere  breathes  through  their  works. 
The  first  sentence  of  the  Organum  of  Bacon  is  as  fol- 
lows :  '  Man,  the  servant  and  interpreter  of  ISTature, 
understands  and  reduces  to  practice  just  so  much  as  he 
has  actually  experienced  of  i^ature's  laws  ;  more  he  can 
neither  know  nor  do.'  How  much  akin  to  it  is  the  sen- 
timent that  follows :  '  Man  will  be  happy  when  he  con- 
fines himself  to  understand  the  laws  of  his  Creator,  and 
to  find  out  the  means  of  putting  them  into  execution.' 

"  According  to  the  principle  which  is  here  expressed, 
the  phrenologist  applies  himself  to  the  study  of  human 
nature.  He  begins  by  regarding  himself,  not  as  the 
standard  of  universal  man,  but  as  possessing  a  distinct 
individuality.  He  forbears  to  draw  general  conclusions 
from  a  single  case.  He  takes  care  not  to  mistake  his 
idiosyncrasies  for  common  attributes  of  humanity. 
He  observes  other  individuals,  and  ascertains  his  facts 
both  by  positive  and  negative  proof.  His  observation 
is  directed  to  every  period  of  life  from  infancy  and 
childhood,  through  the  various  situations,  occupations, 
and  professions  of  men,  in  which  every  variety  and 
modification  of  individual  talent  and  character  may  be 
called  into  exercise.  From  individuals  he  proceeds  to 
sexes  and  notes  their  characteristic  differences.      He 


152  Heminiscences  of  Spurzheim, 

studies  human  nature  in  all  the  modes  of  its  manifesta- 
tion as  it  may  be  learned  in  the  school,  in  the  hospital, 
in  the  almshouse,  in  the  prison,  in  the  asylum  for  the 
deaf  and  dumb,  the  blind,  the  insane,  and  the  idiotic. 
From  classes  he  proceeds  to  the  observation  of  nations 
and  races  of  men,  and  marks  their  distinctive  peculiari- 
ties. How  vast  is  the  field  to  be  explored  by  him  who 
would  be  a  profound  student  in  the  science  of  man's 
nature!  But  the  observation  of  such  a  student  does 
not  terminate  here ;  it  must  extend  even  beyond  the 
human  race  to  the  animal  kingdom,  that  thus  his  con- 
clusions may  be  further  ascertained  by  the  demonstra- 
tions of  comparative  anatomy  and  the  broad  distinction 
found  and  marked  between  the  human,  the  spiritual, 
immortal,  and  the  brutal,  earthly,  perishable.  Having 
made  these  extensive  observations,  the  phrenologist 
feels  authorized  to  regard  his  conclusions  as  established, 
unless  opposing  facts  are  produced  or  an  error  is  pointed 
out  in  his  induction. 

"  On  the  ground  of  this  procedure,  the  phrenologist 
conceives  that  he  makes  out  the  title  of  his  science  / 
that  he  establishes  its  claims  to  be  regarded  as  the  true 
jpMlosoj>hy  of  human  nat/iireP 


IMPOETANCE    OF   PHEENOLOOT    TO    THE   BLIND,  DEAF   AJ^D 
DUMB,  AND  TO  IDIOTS TESTEVIONT  OF  DE.  S.  G.  HOWE. 

I  can  not  omit  to  quote  in  this  place  from  a  letter  I 
received  from  my  late  and  respected  friend,  Dr.  Samuel 
G.  Howe,  dated  June  3,  1836  :   - 


Heminiscences  of  Spurzheim,  153 

"Tou  request  my  opinion  of  the  works  of  Mr. 
George  Combe.  I  can  not  conceive  how  my  individ- 
ual opinion  can  be  of  any  consequence ;  it  would  be 
but  a  faint  note  in  the  loud  expression  of  approbation 
and  admiration  which  I  am  sure  would  follow  a  ques- 
tion on  this  subject,  if  addressed  to  hundreds  of  our 
first  literary  men.  Convinced  as  I  thoroughly  am  of 
the  soundness  of  Mr.  Combe's  views,  and  the  truth  of 
most  of  his  deductions,  my  opinion  as  a  phrenologist 
might  be  considered  as  biased  in  his  favor ;  but  aside  from 
that,  I  speak  my  own  deliberate  opinion,  and  that  of  many 
of  my  anti-phrenological  friends,  when  I  say  that  Mr. 
Combe  should  be  ranked  among  the  master-spirits  of 
the  age.  But  one  fact  is  worth  many  speculations ;  I 
have  had  occasion  to  teach  the  general  principles  of  the 
philosophy  of  mind  to  the  young.  I  have  given  my 
class  the  views  of  the  older  writers,  and  mystified  them 
with  Stewart  and  Browne ;  but  on  presenting  the  new 
philosophy,  as  explained  by  Mr.  Combe,  they  said  that 
they  saw,  and  felt,  and  understood,  what  before  was 
dark  and  unsatisfactory.  I  consider  Mr.  Combe's  works 
as  invaluable  to  a  teacher  of  moral  and  intellectual 
philosophy." 

This  testimony  is  particularly  valuable,  although 
given  more  than  forty  years  ago.  He  modestly  es- 
teemed his  own  opinion  at  that  time,  and  yet  subse- 
quent achievements  made  it  more  valuable  than  the 
opinion  of  any  other  man.  I  well  remember  the  be- 
ginning of  his  study  of  mental  philosophy  as  taught 
by  Phrenology,  of  his  enthusiasm  in  dwelling  upon  its 
importance.  We  were  students  together.  He  was 
naturally  bright  and  keenly  practical  in  everything 
7* 


154:  Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim. 

that  was  nobly  useful  and  generous,  and  wlien  he  left 
college  he  was  utterly  indifferent  to  the  metaphysics  of 
Locke,  .Stewart,  and  others  of  the  old  schools.  He 
taught  their  philosophy  from  their  books,  but  without 
satisfaction,  either  to  himself  or  to  his  pupils.  When 
guided  by  the  light  of  Spurzheim,  his  first  glimpse  of 
the  great  truths  of  his  system  gave  him  irrepressible 
joy.  They  opened  to  him  a  new  world  of  mental  or- 
der and  activity  such  as  he  had  never  imagined  or  real- 
ized. He  first  began  to  see  man  in  his  relations  of 
power  and  duty,  and  to  comprehend  the  value  of  self- 
knowledge  in  the  cause  of  education.  It  was  simple, 
it  had  a  meaning,  it  was  practical,  and  by  applying  it 
he  became  the  foremost  teacher  of  the  Blind  in  the 
world.  That  his  success,  as  the  Director  of  the  "  Per- 
hins  Institution  and  Massachusetts  Asylum  for  the 
Blind^''  was  really  beyond  that  of  any  other  man,  I 
had  substantial  reasons  for  believing.  My  relations 
with  him  were  intimate,  and  I  was  well  acquainted 
with  the  results  of  his  methods,  and  when  I  visited 
Europe  in  1835-'6,  I  took  special  pains  to  visit  all 
similar  institutions  abroad,  and  the  comparison  was 
most  gratifying,  and  largely  in  his  favor.  He  not  only 
gave  to  the  blind  the  full  advantage  of  the  new  phi- 
losophy, but  he  sought  out  new  subjects,  subjects  to 
whom  unfortunately  had  been  denied  most  of  the  in- 
lets of  knowledge.  The  history  of  Laura  Bridgman 
and  Oliver  Caswell  is  extensively  known  and  need  not 
be  repeated  here.  They  were  deaf,  dumb,  and  blind, 
and  by  the  aid  of  Phrenology  he  found  the  key  to  un- 
lock their  imprisoned  minds.  Such  an  achievement  in 
mental  philosophy  was  without  a  parallel.     No  meta- 


Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  155 

physician  of  any  age  had  ever  supposed  it  possible.* 
But  he  was  not  satisfied  even  with  this  triumph. 
James  Simpson,  Esq.,  Advocate,  and  a  distinguished 
phrenologist  of  Edinburgh,  had  succeeded  in  teaching 
an  idiot  boy,  and  I  had  personal  knowledge  of  his  de- 
light when  he  discovered  that  he  had  sufiiciently  awak- 
ened his  darkened  pupil  to  join  his  fellows  in  l)lay. 
This  first  step  consumed  a  period  of  four  months,  be- 
fore the  first  flash  of  pleasurable  intelligence  appeared 
in  the  poor  boy's  eyes.  This  experiment  was  not  lost 
to  the  world  when  it  was  made  known  to  Dr.  Howe. 
He  entered  earnestly  into  an  inquiry  as  to  the  causes 
of  idiocy,  and  was  the  first  in  the  world  to  establish  a 
school  for  idiots,  in  Boston,  which  has  been  in  success- 
ful operation  since  1848.  It  is  known  as  the  "  Massa- 
chusetts School  for  Idiotic  and  Feeble-minded  YouthP 


WHO,     NOW,     AEE     PHRENOLOGISTS  ? WHEKE,     NOW,     IS 


PHEENOLOGY 


2 


It  is  to  be  remembered,  that  neither  the  evidence  of 
truth,  nor  the  sources  of  truth,  are  to  be  found  in  the 
utterances  of  to-day,  either  in  books  just  published,  or 
in  the  public  journals.  The  skeptical  inquiries,  "  Who, 
now,  are  phrenologists  ? "  and  ''  Where,  now,  is  Phre- 
nology?" would  not  so  often  be  made,  if  the  records 
of  the  past  had  been  faithfully  read,  and  if  all  literary 
and  scientific  men  had  publicly  confessed  their  indebt- 
edness to  the  founders  of  Phrenology.     At  no  period 


*  See  Appendix  L. 


156  Meminiscences  of  Spurzheim, 

since  1836  has  there  been  such  a  collection  of  over- 
whelming testimony  in  its  favor ;  and  during  the  long 
period  since,  let  it  be  asked,  how  many  institutions  of 
learning  have  been  founded,  how  many  reformatory 
schools  and  asylums  have  been  established;  and  how 
many  subjects  concerning  humanity  have  been  discuss- 
ed, and  without  even  a  reference  to  the  science  by 
name,  though  using  by  stealth  many  of  its  important 
truths  ? 

An  expensive  and  important  work  on  Comparative 
Phrenology  was  published  by  Dr.  Yimont,  in  Paris,  in 
1836,  and  how  many  E^atural  History  Societies  in  the 
United  Stat^,  let  me  ask,  even  know  of  its  existence,  or 
have  studied  its  pages  ?  The  human  race  stands  at  the 
head  of  the  animal  kingdom,  and  yet  how  many  of  these 
societies  have  given  any  time  or  attention  to  the  natural 
history  of  man,  or  to  Phrenology?  Criminals  have 
constantly  been  before  Courts  for  trial,  and  before 
councils  for  pardon,  when  questions  have  been  raised 
as  to  the  line  which  divides  crime  from  insanity,  but 
how  seldom  has  the  skill  of  the  phrenologist  been  in- 
voked to  solve  the  dark  uncertainties  of  human  mo- 
tives ?  In  all  the  recent  discussions  on  "  Color-Blind- 
ness,"  how  many  have  looked  to  Phrenology  for  an 
explanation  of  this  common  deficiency  which  was  given 
by  Spurzheim  a  long  time  ago  ?  Is  a  person  who  can 
not  distinguish  Yankee-Doodle  from  Old  Hundred  to 
be  regarded  as  deaf?  Is  the  possessor  of  millions  of 
property,  who  can  not  see  a  shilling  to  count  for  use, 
money  hlind  f  An  idiot  can  see  persons,  animals,  and 
things ;  but  he  can  not  see  the  use  of  the  alphabet :  is 
he  hnowledge  hlind  f     Such  misuse  of  language  indi- 


JReminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  157 

cates  the  want  of  a  pMosophj  that  can  be  explained 
and  understood. 


TESTIMONY    OF   EEV.    HENEY   WAED    BEEOHEE. 

More  than  twenty  years  ago,  a  distinguished  clergy- 
man acknowledged,  in  the  pulpit,  this  indebtedness  in  a 
manner  that  was  highly  creditable  to  him,  and  yet,  but 
few,  probably,  who  are  accustomed  to  read  his  eloquent 
sermons  are  aware  of  the  language  to  be  found  in  the 
following  quotation  : 

"  And  I  may  say  here,  what  I  have  never  said  before 
in  the  pulpit,  that  the  views  of  the  human  mind  as 
they  are  revealed  by  Phrenology,  are  those  views  which 
have  underlaid  my  whole  ministry ;  and  if  I  have  had 
any  success  in  bringing  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  to 
bear  practically  on  the  minds  of  men,  any  success  in 
the  vigorous  apphcation  of  truths  to  the  wants  of  the 
human  soul,  where  they  are  most  needed,  I  owe  it  to 
the  clearness  which  I  have  gained  from  this  science, 
and  I  could  not  ask  for  the  members  of  my  family, 
nor  of  a  church,  any  better  preparation  for  religious  in- 
doctrination, than  to  put  them  into  possession  of  such 
a  practical  knowledge  of  the  human  soul  as  is  given  by 
Phrenology." 


IMPOKTANCE  OF  MENTAL  PHILOSOPHY. 

Next  in  importance  to  religion,  to  all  classes  of  men 
and  women,  is  mental  philosophy.  Indeed,  without  a 
knowledge  of  mental  philosophy,  even  religion  can  not 
be  fully  understood.    Its  importance  to  legislators,  and  to 


158  Reminiscences  of  SjpuTzheim. 

all  who  are  chosen  to  administer  the  affairs  of  Govern- 
ment, can  not  be  overestimated.  A  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  the  faculties  of  the  human  mind,  studied  in 
their  relations  of  duty  and  to  external  objects,  should 
be  regarded  as  indispensable  to  the  statesman,  as  light 
is  to  the  painter,  or  tools  to  the  mechanic.  Without 
such  knowledge,  how  can  the  judge,  the  lawyer,  or  the 
juror  analyze  evidence  that  will  safely  defend  the  in- 
nocent or  convict  the  criminal  ?  How  can  the  physician 
accurately  draw  the  line  between  sanity  and  insanity, 
or  between  the  causes  of  mental  depression  and  the 
causes  of  physical  disease  ?  How  can  the  clergyman 
understand  in  what  language  to  appeal  to  the  numer- 
ous and  varying  faculties  of  the  minds  of  his  hearers, 
unless  he  has  clear  conceptions  of  their  separate  and 
combined  activity  ?  How  can  parents  and  teachers 
educate  children,  without  a  knowledge  of  their  differ- 
ences ? 

The  frank  confession  of  Sir  G.  S.  Mackenzie,  pub- 
lished in  1836,  is  a  striking  example  of  candor,  and  is 
to  be  remembered  for  what  it  teaches : 

"  When  I  was  unacquainted  with  the  facts  on  which 
Phrenology  was  founded,  I  scoffed,  witk  many  others, 
at  the  pretensions  of  the  new  philosophy  of  the  mind. 
On  hearing  and  conversing  with  the  most  eminent  dis- 
ciple of  Gall,  the  lamented  Spurzheim,  the  light  broke 
in  ujDon  my  mind  ;  and  many  years  after  I  had  neglect- 
ed the  study  of  mind,  in  consequence  of  having  been 
disgusted  with  the  utter  uselessness  and  emptiness  of 
what  I  had  listened  to  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh, 
I  became  a  zealeus  student  of  what  I  now  perceive  to 
be  truth.    Dui'ing  the  last  twenty  years  I  have  lent  my 


lieminiscences  of  Spurzheim,  169 

humble  aid  in  resisting  a  torrent  of  ridicule  and  abuse, 
and  have  lived  to  see  the  true  philosophy  of  man  es- 
tablishing itself  wherever  talent  is  found  capable  of 
estimating  its  immense  valae." 

But  this  imperfect  chapter  must  be  closed.  Let  the 
subject  receive  further  and  earnest  attention,  from  all 
classes,  by  reading  that  able  and  eloquent  book  of 
George  Combe,  entitled  "  The  Constitution  of  Man, 
considered  in  relation  to  External  Ohjects^^  and  when 
this  has  been  faithfully  read  and  studied,  all  books  on 
Phrenology,  calculated  to  convey  information  explan- 
atory of  the  science,  will  be  extensively  sought  for  and 
appreciated. 

Here,  again,  we  have  occasion  to  give  another  exam- 
ple of  Dr.  Howe,  who,  in  teaching  the  blind,  excelled 
other  professors,  whose  pupils  could  see,  and  yet  were 
not  permitted  to  use  their  eyes  on  lessons  they  could 
understand. 

It  was  more  than  twenty  years  after  the  date  of  the 
letter  already  quoted,  that  Dr.  Howe  caused  "  The 
Constitution  of  Man^^  by  Mr.  Combe,  to  be  printed 
for  the  use  of  the  blind.  It  made  a  large  quarto  vol- 
ume of  250  pages,  and  was  "  about  live  inches  thick." 
In  sending  a  copy  of  it  to  Mr.  Combe,  in  1858,  he 
wrote  a  letter,  in  which  he  says  : 

"  I  consider  this  edition  of  your  great  book  to  be 
the  most  valuable  addition  ever  yet  made  to  the  library 
for  the  blind  in  any  language.  I  have  already  had 
warm  expressions  of  gratitude  from  intelligent  blind 
persons  for  putting  the  '  Constitution''  within  their 
reach — gratitude  and  thanks  which  belong  rather  to 
you  than  to  me." 


160  Heminiscences  of  S^urzheim. 

There  is  another  subject  which  demands  special  con- 
sideration, in  connection  with  Phrenology,  and  that  is 
criminal  legislation. 

During  all  time,  man  has  been  the  subject  of  educa- 
tion, and  no  community  has  been  found  without  the 
criminal.  Almost  every  generation  has  had  its  new 
methods  of  teaching  and  of  reform.  With  what  success 
we  can  only  know  from  the  history  of  progress.  That 
progress  has  been  very  slow,  is  sufficiently  proved  by 
the  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  best  methods  of  im- 
provement now  in  use.  Perhaps,  after  so  long  a  period 
of  trial  and  with  so  little  success,  it  would  be  useful  to 
inquire  how  far  we  have  been  influenced  by  our  igno- 
rance and  prejudices,  and  how  little  by  accurate  knowl- 
edge. 

We  have  before  us  a  learned  pamphlet,  just  pub- 
lished, on  "  Criws  Caiise^'^  by  the  Hon.  Pichard  Yaux, 
of  Philadelphia.  For  more  than  thirty  years  Mr.  Yaux 
has  been  chairman  of  the  State  Commission  on  Prisons, 
and  all  the  reports  of  that  long  period  have  been  writ- 
ten by  him.  They  have  been  prepared  with  much 
knowledge  and  great  ability,  and  yet  it  is  amazing  to 
see  how  much  remains  to  be  ascertained  and  how  much 
to  be  done.  He  says,  "  That  crime  is  hereditary  is  now 
accepted  as  pathologically  as  well  as  physiologically 
determined."  Dr.  Harris,  of  New  York,  gives  a 
well-authenticated  case  of  six  hundred  and  seventy- 
three  descendants  of  one  female  who  was  incorrigibly 
vicious,  traced  through  five  generations.  We  commend 
this  Peport  to  all  inquirers.* 


*  See  Appendix  M. 


Eeminiseences  of  Spurzhemi.  161 

If  such  documents  fail  to  point  out  the  true  method 
of  treating  criminals,  they  certainly  serve  to  demon- 
strate the  necessity  of  a  more  careful  study  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  a  more  enlightened  judgment,  which,  in  our 
humble  opinion,  can  only  come  from  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  Phrenology. 

If  we  should  read  the  candid  and  intelligent  letter 
of  Sir  George  S.  Mackenzie  to  the  Right  Hon.  Lord 
Gleneig,  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonial  Depart- 
ment of  Great  Britain,  in  1836,  in  respect  to  the  best 
method  of  treating  and  reforming  criminals,  we  might 
reasonably  conclude,  to  say  the  least,  that  if  his  counsel 
had  been  followed,  more  progress  than  we  have  seen 
would  have  been  made  duiing  the  past  forty-four  years. 
His  letter  was  filled  with  practical  information,  and 
which  was  made  the  basis  of  a  method  of  proceeding 
which  he  plainly  suggested.  The  entire  letter  is  inter- 
esting, but  we  can  only  give  such  extracts  as  will  indi- 
cate its  character : 

"  My  Dear  Lord  : — I  now  put  into  your  hands  a 
number  of  certificates  from  eminent  men,  confirming 
my  former  assertion,  that  it  is  possible  to  classify  con- 
victs destined  for  our  penal  settlements,  so  that  the  col- 
onists may  be  freed  from  the  risk  of  having  atrocious 
and  incorrigible  characters  allotted  to  them,  and  the 
colonial  public  from  the  evils  arising  out  of  the  escape 
of  such  characters 

"  Your  Lordship  must  be  aware  of  the  fact,  that, 
independently  of  rank,  education,  or  wealth,  men  differ 
from  each  other  very  widely  in  the  amount  and  kind 
of  their  intellectual  power,  in  moral  feeling,  and  in 
their  tendencies  to  indulge   their  propensities.     It  is 


162  MeminiscenGes  of  Spurzheim. 

too  well  known  that  titled,  intelligent,  wealthy  black- 
guards exist,  guilty  of  the  grossest  violation  of  moral 
law,  while  they  contrive  to  escape  the  penalties  of 
statutes,  which,  however,  occasionally  reach  their  enor- 
mities. That  such  are  rather  encouraged  by  what  is 
called  high  society,  is  notorious ;  and  surely  a  titled 
gambler,  or  cheat,  or  seducer,  can  not  be  reckoned  less 
guilty  than  a  poor,  ignorant  wretch,  who  steals  perhaps 
to  sustain  life,  and  not  from  a  depra^^ed  propensity.  It 
is,  however,  to  the  fact  of  difference  of  character  and 
talent  among  men  of  all  stations  of  society  to  which  I 
anxiously  desire  your  Lordship's  attention.  This  dif- 
ference must  clearly  be  the  effect  of  something.  There 
have  been  philosophers  who  tanght  that  man  is  a  tabula 
rasa,^  on  which  we  may  stamp  what  talent  and  what 
character  we  please.  This,  however,  has  long  been 
demonstrated,  by  thousands  of  facts  of  daily  occur- 
rence, to  be  mere  delusion.  Differences  in  talent,  in- 
telligence, and  moral  character  are  now  ascertained  to 

be  the  effects  of  differences  in  organization 

"  The  differences  of  organization  'are,  as  the  certifi- 
cates which  accompany  this  show,  sufficient  to  indicate 
externally  general  dispositions,  as  they  are  proportioned 
among  one  another.  Hence,  we  have  the  means  of 
estimating,  with  something  like  precision,  the  actual 
natural  characters  of  convicts  [as  of  all  human  beings], 
so  that  we  may  at  once  determine  the  means  best 
adapted  for  their  reformation,  or  discover  their  inca- 
pacity of  improvement,  and  their  being  proper  subjects 


*  "A  shaved  or  smoothed  tablet,"  leaving  it  a  mere  blank. 


Rernvniscences  of  Spurzheim.  163 

of  contimied  restraint,  in  order  to  prevent  their  further 
injuring  society 

"  It  will  be  a  proud  day  for  our  country  when  the 
Government  that  has  provided  vigorously  to  reform 
our  institutions,  shall  proceed  in  the  true  path  to  moral 
reform.  There  is  a  near  prospect  of  education  being 
conducted  on  the  true  principles  of  man's  nature  under 
national  sanction ;  and  I  hope  the  time  is  not  far  dis- 
tant when  their  influence  on  criminal  legislation  will 
be  apparent 

"  In  the  hands  of  enlightened  governors.  Phrenology 
will  be  an  engine  of  unlimited  improving  power  in 
perfecting  human  institutions,  and  bringing  about  uni- 
versal good  order,  peace,  prosperity,  and  happiness." 

This  letter  was  formally  approved  and  commended 
by  a  large  number  of  eminent  men  of  scientific  reputa- 
tion, and  of  officials  of  large  experience  in  Great  Britain, 
France,  Germany,  and  the  United  States. 

With  an  accurate  knowledge  of  Phrenology,  criminal 
legislation  and  prison  discipline  could  be  systematized 
with  great  ease  and  with  much  advantage.  Ignorance 
of  this  subject,  at  the  present  day,  is  most  sad  and 
lamentable.  Cruel  and  criminal  arrests  are  often  made, 
without  rebuke,  by  competing  detectives,  and  newspaper 
reporters  are  permitted  to  lead  judicial  inquiry.  At- 
torneys are  feed  to  cast  suspicion  upon  innocence,  and 
to  conceal  the  evidence  of  crime.  Imprisoned  crimi- 
nals are  debased  and  made  ferocious  by  the  passionate 
injustice  of  their  keepers,  and  the  means  of  reform  be- 
come powerless  by  the  slow  process  of  the  ignorant  or 
the  indifferent  official  circumlocution  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 


164  I^eminisGences  of  Sjpurzheim. 

In  Gibbon's  Life  of  Combe,  pnblislied  in  1878,  we 
find  the  views  of  Mr.  Combe  on  tliis  subject  are  thus 
briefly  stated : 

"  His  views  of  the  mental  constitution  of  those  per- 
sons who  generally  become  criminals  have  been  already 
explained  ;  and  in  the  two  systems  of  dealing  with  them 
he  found  the  radical  defect  that  they  did  not  provide 
sufficient  means  for  strengthening  the  moral  and  intel- 
lectual faculties  of  the  prisoners.  The  conclusions  at 
which  he  arrived  led  him  to  suggest  a  scheme  of  prison 
discipline,  which,  although,  he  admitted,  of  a  Utopian 
character  in  some  of  its  features,  was  based  upon  sound 
principles.  His  leading  ideas  were  as  follows  :  1.  That 
the  criminal  should  be  treated  as  a  moral  patient  from 
the  beginning.  2.  That  he  should  be  sentenced  to  con- 
finement in  a  penitentiary  for  an  indefinite  period  of 
time,  power  to  restore  him  to  liberty  being  invested  in 
Government  commissioners.  3.  That  he  should  be  first 
subjected  to  solitary  confinement,  without  occupation  of 
any  kind,  until  the  mental  depression  of  ennui  forced 
him  to  ask  for  work  as  a  relief  from  the  monotony  of 
his  existence.  He  would  thus  be  made  most  susceptible 
to  moral  and  religious  instruction,  which  should  then  be 
commenced  and  continued  in  solitude  until  repentance 
and  the  desire  of  reformation  were  produced.  4.  In 
proportion  to  his  improvement,  the  moral  faculties 
should  be  exercised  by  increasing  degrees  of  liberty, 
and  he  should  be  allowed  occasionally  to  leave  the 
prison  on  parole  before  he  was  finally  discharged.  6. 
During  the  long  period  of  confinement,  seclusion  during 
the  night,  and  active  labor  during  the  day,  should  be 
combined  with  vigorous  intellectual  and  religious  culti- 


JReminiscences  of  Spurzheim.  165 

vation.  6.  The  prisoners  should  be  carefully  classified, 
so  that  the  more  advanced  might  act  as  guides  and  ex- 
amples to  those  recently  admitted,  and  their  privileges 
curtailed  for  every  breach  of  discipline.  7.  The  prisons 
should  be  remote  from  towns,  but  near  a  village,  where, 
during  their  probationary  period,  the  prisoners  might 
hold  regulated  communication  with  the  inhabitants. 
Until  they  had  been  brought  to  that  state  of  mind  in 
which  they  would  not  only  give  their  pledge  to  return  to 
the  prison  at  a  stated  hour,  but  redeem  it  faithfully,  he 
would  not  consider  them  fit  to  be  restored  to  society. 
There  were  individuals  whose  moral  and  intellectual 
organs  were  so  deficient  in  size  in  proportion  to  that  of 
the  propensities,  that  they  might  be  found  incapable  of 
reformation.  Such  men  he  regarded  as  moral  patients, 
and  he  would  have  them  confined  for  life.  The  mistake 
of  detaining  a  man  who  ought  to  be  at  large  could  not 
be  easily  made,  for,  according  to  this  plan,  the  prisoner 
would  always  have  it  in  his  own  power  to  determine  by 
his  own  conduct  the  period  of  his  imprisonment. 

"Finally,"  he  said,  "a  practical  knowledge  of  Phre- 
nology on  the  part  of  the  chief  superintendent  and  direc- 
tors of  the  institution  would  be  of  great  advantage.  By 
means  of  this  science  the  natural  dispositions  and  talents 
of  each  individual  would  be  ascertained,  mjich  decep- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  criminals  be  prevented,  and  a 
steady  and  consistent  direction  be  given  to  the  efibrts 
of  all  persons  employed  in  the  institution." 

We  commend  these  views  as  practically  sound,  in  our 
opinion,  and  for  the  substantial  reason,  that  wherever 
they  have  been  adopted  they  have  been  successful.  To 
estimate  their  full  value,  the  reader  must  test  them 


166  Reminiscences  of  Spurzheim. 

by  observation  and  experience,  as  many  others  have 
done. 

I  sball  close  these  pages,  already  extended  beyond  my 
original  purpose,  by  a  few  remarks  upon  the  gravest  of 
all  subjects,  the  subject  of  insanity. 

When  Dr.  Todd,  of  the  Hartford  Asylum  for  the  In- 
sane, was  alive.  Phrenology  had  been  but  little  studied 
or  noticed  in  the  United  States.  He  had  the  enviable 
reputation  of  curing  a  larger  percentage  of  his  patients 
than  any  other  physician  in  the  world.  He  left  no 
record  of  his  special  knowledge,  and  no  record  of  his 
methods  of  treatment. 

"When  in  Edinburgh,  I  was  told  by  Dr.  Andrew 
Combe  that  he  would  give  more  to  possess  the  knowl- 
edge that  successfully  guided  Dr.  Todd  in  his  treatment 
of  the  insane,  than  that  of  any  other  man  who  had  ever 
lived.  I  promised  inquiry,  and  the  only  information  I 
could  obtain  from  any  one  was  from  the  talented  Dr. 
A.  Brigham,  his  successor  in  Hartford,  Gonn.,  and 
afterward  the  head  of  the  great  asylum  at  Utica,  ^.  Y. 
This  was  only  verbal,  and  from  personal  acquaintance. 
He  said  that  "  Dr.  Todd  was  remarkable  as  a  judge 
of  character  from  personal  appearance.  He  could  read 
the  natural  language  of  a  person,  whether  sane  or  in- 
sane, almost  instantly  and  with  great  accuracy.  It  was 
impossible  to  deceive  him,  and  he  gave  me  interesting 
anecdotes  to  illustrate  the  fact.  He  did  not  know  the 
rules  by  which  he  judged,  he  only  knew  the  fact,  that 
when  he  expressed  opinions  of  persons  w^hom  he  had 
seen,  he  was  always  right  in  his  judgment.  He  only 
asked  to  see  them  and  to  hear  them  converse.  It  was  this 
accurate  knowledge  of  character  that  enabled  him  to 
excel  in  the  treatment  of  the  insane." 


Reminiscences  of  Sjpurzheim.  167 

WTiat  Dr.  Combe  said  of  him  may  be  said  of  Gall, 
Spurzheim,  Combe,  Sir  "Wm.  C.  Ellis,  Prof.  Elliotson, 
and  numerous  other  physicians  and  surgeons  at  the  head 
of  asylums  in  Europe,  and  Dr.  Brigham,  Dr.  Wood- 
ward, and  others,  in  the  United  States.  The  language 
of  Sir  Wm.  C.  Ellis  is  entitled  to  great  consideration, 
and  his  language  was  substantially  the  language  of  all 
who  spoke  from  experience. 

In  a  letter  to  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  Gleneig,  Secretary 
for  the  Colonies,  dated  March  29,  1836,  he  says :  "  I 
have  been  the  resident  physician  of  the  Lunatic  Asylum 
at  Hanwell,  where  we  have  upward  of  six  hundred 
patients,  for  five  years,  and  for  thirteen  years  previous 
held  a  similar  situation  in  Yorkshire,  where  we  had  two 
hundred  and  fifty.  If  it  were  necessary,  I  could  men- 
tion a  great  variety  of  cases  in  the  treatment  of  which 
I  have  found  the  Kttle  knowledge  I  possess  of  this  in- 
teresting science  [Phrenology]  of  the  greatest  utility ; 
and  I  am  fully  persuaded  that  when  it  is  more  known 
and  acted  upon,  very  great  advantages  will  result  to  so- 
ciety." 

In  a  subsequent  letter  to  Mr.  Combe,  Sir  William 
says  :  ''  I  candidly  own  that  until  I  became  acquainted 
with  Phrenology  I  had  no  sohd  basis  upon  which  I 
could  ground  any  treatment  for  the  cure  of  the  disease 
of  insanity,  which  had  long  had  a  peculiar  claim  upon 
my  attention." 

When  I  visited  Europe,  1835-6, 1  visited  most  of  the 
asylums  for  the  insane,  and  at  that  time  nearly  one-half 
of  the  whole  number  were  under  the  direction  of 
phrenologists.  I  had  opportunities  to  see  the  great 
differences  in  their  management  by  comparison.     Sue- 


168  ReininisGences  of  Spurzheim, 

cess  and  failure  were  the  two  words  to  be  applied  to 
them,  precisely  to  the  extent  they  had  adopted  Phre- 
nology as  a  guide.  I  well  remember  the  large  asylum  in 
Manchester,  where  I  was  introduced  by  a  note  from 
Kichard  Cobden,  whose  governor  gave  me,  in  a  single 
sentence,  the  extent  of  his  knowledge  and  an  idea  of  his 
system  of  classification.  Observing  a  great  variety  of 
patients  in  the  same  ward,  I  asked  him  "  on  what  prin- 
ciple he  classified  his  patients."  "  Classify  them  ?  "  he 
asked,  with  an  inquiring  look.  "  Why,  a  crazy  man  is 
a  crazy  man ! "  By  invitation  of  Mr.  Cobden,  who  was 
then  an  active  member  of  the  Manchester  Phrenological 
Society,  I  attended  a  special  meeting  of  that  Society,  at 
which  I  gave  an  account  of  my  visits  to  the  various  in- 
stitutions of  the  city.  My  account  of  the  lunatic  asylum 
caused  great  merriment.  Mr.  Cobden.  remarked,  that 
"  it  was  a  whole  generation  behind  the  age.  The  direc- 
tors were  highly  respectable  men,  advanced  in  years, 
but  they  allowed  their  prejudices  to  influence  them 
against  Phrenology."  The  same  was  true  of  the  asylum 
in  Liverpool,  and  for  the  same  reasons,  as  I  was  assured 
by  Dr.  Baird,  the  physician. 

What  was  true  in  Europe,  was  essentially  true  in  the 
United  States,  as  to  the  importance  of  Phrenology  in 
the  treatment  of  the  insane.  Dr.  Woodward,  of  the 
asylum  at  Worcester,  Mass.,  said  ''it  was  impossible 
successfully  to  treat  the  insane  without  the  aid  of  Phre- 
nology." -He  gave  me  the  particulars  of  a  very  inter- 
esting case  ;  in  which  he  relieved  a  patient  by  local  ap- 
plications. Dr.  Brigham,  of  Plartford,  was  of  the  same 
opinion.  Dr.  Bell,  and  others  of  high  distinction,  ad- 
mitted the  importance  of  the  science,  just  to  the  extent 


HeTnmiscences  of  Sjmrzheim.  169 

of  their  knowledge  of  it.  It  may  be  said  of  some  meu, 
who  are  distinguished  for  ability  and  learning,  that  if 
they  are  not  influenced  by  their  own  prejudices,  they 
permit  themselves  to  be  influenced,  or  neutraHzed,  by 
the  prejudices  of  others.  Personal  independence  is 
an  indispensable  element  in  the  t^haracter  of  all  who 
have  an  honest  desire  to  aid  in  advancino;  science. 

That  the  present  age  is  sadly  ignorant  of  the  nature 
and  causes  of  insanity  there  can  be  no  doubt.  We  see 
ignorance  everywhere  among  the  common  people,  in 
our  schools,  at  the  hearings  of  legislative  committees, 
in  the  halls  of  legislation,  and  in  our  courts  of  justice. 
Even  the  testimony  of  medical  men  is  often  given  with 
a  timidity  that  indicates  doubt,  and  in  qualified  lan- 
guage that  indicates  the  want  of  knowledge.  Experi- 
ence is  frequently  quoted  by  them  with  so  many  un- 
certainties of  opinion,  that  no  positive  information 
whatever  can  be  gathered  and  shaped  from  their  testi- 
mony. Ignorant  attorneys  are  employed  to  serve  par- 
ties on  occasion,  and  what  they  often  attempt  to  prove 
or  disprove,  by  their  numerous  questions,  only  serves 
to  demonstrate  their  ignorance  of  the  subject,  and  to 
confuse  others  who  are  in  the  pursuit  of  the  truth. 

Such  ignorance  leads  to  painful  mistakes,  and  some- 
times to  horrors  too  terrible  to  be  described.  Insane 
people  are  arrested  as  criminals  by  rough  and  insolent 
detectives,  and  forced  into  the  dark  cells  of  the  prison, 
and  suspicion  manufactured  to  sustain  abhorrent  theories 
at  the  expense  of  all  the  sacred  relations  of  kindred 
and  of  the  affections  of  the  heart.  Religious  frenzy  is 
counted  a  crime  of  the  deepest  atrocity,  and  monorrtcmia 
conclusive  evidence  of  guilt.  Lawyers  and  judges  of 
8 


lYO  Meminisoences  of  S^trzheim. 

courts  of  justice  have  so  little  knowledge  of  the  hu- 
man mind,  and  of  its  aberrations,  that  thej  are  per- 
mitted to  employ  their  skill  and  learning,  not  so  much 
to  demonstrate  the  truth  as  to  hide  it. 

Professed  Christians  allow  themselves  to  indulge  in 
revengeful  language,  in  respect  to  such  cases  as  we  have 
in  Jesse  Pomeroy,  the  moral  idiot  and  monster  youth, 
and  in  Freeman  and  his  wife,  who  took  the  life  of  a 
beloved  child  by  the  supposed  command  of  the  Al- 
mighty. The  case  of  Pomeroy  is  one  of  the  saddest 
on  record,  but  he  should  be  humanely  cared  for  in  an 
asylum,  but  never  liberated.  Intellectual  idiocy  is 
recognized  and  provided  for  by  law.  Moral  idiocy  is  to 
be  found,  and  it  should  be  understood.  Fox,  of  Leba- 
non, IT.  H.,  who  killed  his  sister  and  her  husband  be- 
cause they  married  against  his  consent,  was  an  idiot. 
He  inherited  property,  and  when  of  age  he  had  a  guard- 
ian appointed  by  the  Judge  of  Probate.  He  imagined 
that  their  marriage  was  a  conspiracy  against  his  proper- 
ty, and  threatened  their  lives  before  they  were  united. 
Comparatively,  his  organ  of  Constructiveness  was  large^ 
and  it  was  said  that  he  could  make  the  best  ox-yoke  of 
any  man  in  Lebanon.  He  was  placed  in  an  asylum. 
ISTo  explanation  influenced  him  to  regret  the  act.  He 
was  sorry  that  he  was  not  able  to  find  the  sexton  who 
published  them,  and  the  clergyman  who  married  them, 
to  take  their  lives.  Even  now  Freeman  is  confined  as 
a  criminal  in  prison,  and  by  a  government  so  ignorant 
that  it  is  incapable  of  discriminating  between  crime  and 
insanity  ;*  such  ignorance  is  culpable  in  this  age  of  pro- 


*  Since  the  above  was  written,  Freeman  has  been  ad- 
judged insane,  and  sent  to  the  State  Asylum  at  Danvers. 


Reminiscences  of  Sj^urzheinfi.  ITl 

gress,  and  it  can  only  be  explained  by  tbe  absence  of  a 
true  system  of  philosophy.  The  saddest  error  that  can 
be  committed  in  an  enlightened  community  is  to  con- 
found crime  with  insanity.  The  enormities  of  crime 
are  often  so  shocking  to  humanity,  that  it  is  difficult  to 
look  upon  them  with  a  charitable  judgment,  or  with  a 
Christian  forbearance.  The  atrocities  of  murder  are  so 
frequently  paraded  in  the  daily  journals,  and  with  de- 
tails so  revolting  to  cultivated  Christianity,  we  can  well 
understand  how  ignorant  people  are  led  to  indulge  in 
terms  of  unmeasured  destructiveness  in  their  demands 
for  instant  and  terrible  retribution.  But  little  time  is 
given  to  reflection,  and  this  without  a  proper  knowledge 
of  the  human  mind,  in  its  weakness  or  in  its  conditions 
of  disease,  and  people  are  liable  to  be  counseled  by 
their  propensities,  and  not  by  their  sentiments  of  jus- 
tice directed  by  a  discriminating  judgment.  Humanity 
fails  only  when  it  is  weak,  and  when  temptations  are 
strong.  Good  and  evil  forever  go  hand  in  hand  to- 
gether. The  stronger  is  the  master  in  the  conflicts  of 
life.  The  faculties  of  the  human  mind,  so  far  as  possible, 
should  be  weighed  and  measured,  as  taught  by  Phre- 
nology, so  that  the  harmony  of  right  and  the  key  to 
happiness  may  be  secured  in  the  conduct  of  life. 

Phrenology  helps  to  establish  by  knowledge  a  safe 
and  consistent  Faith  '^  it  gives  an  intelligent  and  practi- 
cal meaning  to  Hope  ^  and  with  these  aids  it  increases 
the  moral  and  religious  responsibilities  of  the  mind,  by 
opening  to  its  view  the  sources  and  blessings  of  truth 
and  duty,  and  by  pointing  out  the  dangers  and  penalties 
of  wrong  and  error,  thus  leading  to  the  sublime  privi- 
leges  of    Charity,     Let  ignorance  be   feared  rather 


172  ReminiscenGes  of  Spv/rzheim, 

tlian  knowledge.  Remember,  that  wlien  the  judgment 
is  weak,  prejudice  is  strong.  Remember,  too,  that 
pride  is  apt  to  be  a  false  counselor  against  the  courage 
of  conscience,  as  it  is  well  known  to  be  "  the  vice  of 
fools."  He  that  is  without  sin  "  let  him  cast  the  first 
stone."  It  is  a  sad  doom  to  be  a  criminal  within  the 
meaning  of  the  law,  but  to  confound  the  wreck  of 
mind  with  guilt  and  crime  is  like  a  stain  that  wounds 
humanity.  Phrenology  is  an  aid  to  Christianity,  and  if 
it  be  feared  that  it  leads  to  too  much  charity,  let  all  re- 
member the  example  of  Jesus  Christ  upon  the  Cross, 
who,  instead  of  dooming  His  enemies  to  a  cruel  destruc- 
tion, prayed,  "  Father,  forgive  them :  for  they  know 
not  what  they  do." 

Thus,  very  imperfectly,  I  haye  given  the  reminis- 
cences of  Spurzheim  and  Combe  during  the  period  from 
1832  to  1840,  and  have  endeavored  to  convey  to  the 
reader  some  idea  of  Phrenology  in  its  origin,  in  its  slow 
progress,  and  of  its  importance  to  humanity.  Of  the 
progress  of  the  science  since  1840,  I  leave  to  other 
pens.  Since  that  period  mine  has  been  largely  turned 
to  subjects  of  history. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS    OF   INDEBTEDNESS. 

Before  closing,  however,  I  desire  publicly  to  express 
my  indebtedness  to  the  science  as  affording  me  the  true 
philosophy  of  mind,  without  which,  in  my  humble 
opinion,  no  subject  can  be  well  understood. 

And  furthermore,  I  take. this  occasion  to  express  my 


Reminiscences  of  SjpuTzheim.  173 

acknowledgments  as  a  citizen  to  Messrs  O.  S.  and  L.  ]^. 
Fowler,  to  the  late  Samuel  R.  Wells,  and  "  thongli  last, 
not  least,"  to  Mrs.  C.  F.  Wells,  for  their  long,  persistent, 
and  successful  efforts  in  keeping  Phrenology  before  the 
public  mind.  They  have  done  this  by  lectures,  by 
numerous  publications,  and  by  establishing  an  Institute 
for  the  instruction  of  students,  male  and  female,  in  the 
great  truths  of  the  science ;  thus  extending  their  bless- 
ings throughout  the  country.  They  are  entitled  to  the 
thanks  of  all  good  people.  It  is  certainly  a  subject  of 
congratulation,  that  we  have  before  us  an  example 
where  enterprise  and  truth  for  more  than  a  generation 
have  so  successfully  worked  together.  And  in  this 
connection,  I  am  reminded  of  a  remark  of  Spurzheim, 
that  women  make  better  phrenologists  than  men,  and 
I  trust  I  shall  be  pardoned  for  adding,  that  this  truth 
is  well  illustrated  by  the  character  and  intelligence  of 
the  lady  who  so  efficiently  and  modestly  directs  the  ap- 
pointments and  proceedings  of  "  The  American  Insti- 
tute OF  Phkenology." 


APPENDIX  A. 
IMPORTANCE  OP  PHRENOLOGY, 


EXTRACTS  FROM  DR.  BARBER'S  ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  BOS- 
TON PHREIs^OIiOGICAL  SOCIETY,  DEC.  31,  1833. 

....  Thus  the  phrenologists  claim  for  their  metaphysics 
one  especial  point  of  superiority,  that  they  have  separated 
by  a  broader  and  brighter  line  than  preceding  inquirers, 
the  distinctive  characteristics  of  man  as  compared  with  the 
inferior  animals;  and,  seriously,  if  we  admit  the  correctness 
of  their  analysis  of  the  human  powers,  I  see  not  how  this 
claim  can  be  disputed,  or  how  we  can  deny  that  they  have 
thus  presented  morals  in  a  more  simple  and  impressive 
point  of  view  than  they  had  attained  before. 

From  the  data  obtained  by  the  combined  study  of  the 
brain  with  the  moral  and  intellectual  phenomena,  phre- 
nologists proceed  to  deduce  the  physical,  moral,  and  intel- 
lectual laws.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  some  of  the  specu- 
lations of  the  phrenological  writers,  on  this  branch  of  their 
subject,  are  of  a  very  imposing  character.  They  set  forth 
in  a  novel  and  striking  manner  what  they  deem  the  causes 
of  the  evils  which  afflict  society — showing  these  to  be 
certain  specific  combinations  of  the  faculties  in  too  great 
activity,  or  too  little  checked  by  the  restraining  authority 
of  intellect  and  of  the  powers  exclusively  human.  The  use 
they  make  of  their  nomenclature  simplifies  their  inductive 
processes,  and  gives  a  clearer  and  more  impressive  charac- 
ter to  these  moral  disquisitions.   In  practical  affairs,  names 

(176) 


176  Appendix  A. 

are  often  made  to  stand  for  things,  and  here  lies  the  foun- 
dation of  many  fallacies;  but  this  shows  the  power  of  a 
nomenclature,  which,  if  based  on  truth,  is  always  of  great 
assistance  in  science. 

I  am  not  aware  that  any  but  the  phrenological  writers 
have  perceived,  and  clearly  stated,  the  fallaciousness  of  the 
general  expectation  that  the  cultivation  of  the  intellectual 
powers,  and  the  progress  of  mere  knowledge,  will  remove 
the  moral  evils  of  society.  They  contend  that  the  notions 
which  exist  on  this  subject  are  chimerical  and  extravagant; 
and  that  the  cultivation  of  the  yhoyqI  feeling s\^  essential  to 
the  production  of  the  anticipated  improvement.  In  this 
respect  the  deductions  of  Phrenology  are  in  harmony  with 
Christianity. 

Phrenologists  contend,  of  course,  that  the  brain's  struct- 
ure has  an  influence  upon  human  actions;  and  that  the 
admission  of  this  truth  is  an  important  factor  hitherto  left 
out  in  the  computation  of  the  probabilities  of  improvement 
in  the  human  race,  and  of  the  degree  to  which  it  may  be 
ultimately  carried.  They  consider  the  brain  as  subject, 
generally,  to  the  following  organic  laws :  First,  that  parts 
assigned  to  special  faculties  will  increase  in  size,  and  be 
active,  in  proportion  to  their  exercise.  Secondly,  that  if 
not  exercised,  they  will  probably  diminish  in  size  as  well  as 
activity.  Thirdly,  that,  thus,  classes  of  organs  greatly  ex- 
ercised will  acquire,  in  proportion  to  their  original  capacity, 
an  ascendency  in  the  general  system,  and  that,  consequent- 
ly, the  class  of  faculties  and  propensities  dependent  on 
them  will  be  active  accordingly.  Farther,  they  think  it 
very  probable  that,  as  to  intellectual  powers,  moral  dis- 
positions, and  animal  propensities,  children  start  from  a 
higher  or  lower  point  of  organization,  according  to  the  ac- 
tivity or  restraint  imposed  upon  the  respective  faculties  by 
the  parents.  They  think  that  on  the  operation  of  this  law 
depends,  in  part,  the  improvement  and  deterioration  of 
races,  the  rise  and  fall  of  empires 

Phrenology,  too,  say  its  friends,  shall  teach  you  how  to 


Importcmoe  of  Phrenology,  177 

rule  as  well  as  reform.  Her  wise  oracles  shall  prescribe  the 
principles  of  legislation.  She  shall  teach  how  to  punish  in 
order  to  amend.  She  shall  enter  your  prison-houses,  and 
lay  her  hand  upon  the  heads  of  your  criminals.  She  shall 
tell  you  whom  you  must  consign  to  bondage— whom  you 
may  hope  to  restore  to  society— how  to  reclaim  the  wan- 
derer, to  raise  the  fallen,  and  to  give  free  course  to  that 
gracious  religion  by  which  the  captive  of  sin  is  translated 
into  the  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God. 

Phrenologists  point  to  the  works  of  Spurzheim  and 
Combe  for  great  moral  lessons  on  Toleration,  and  on  Po- 
litical Economy.  These  philosophers,  they  say,  have  shown 
how  it  happens  that  if  unjust  regulations  sometimes  lead 
to  riches,  these,  in  their  turn,  prove  the  bane  of  nations ; 
that  schemes  of  national  policy  and  international  commu- 
nication and  exchange  must  be  regulated  by  Juster  prin- 
ciples to  secure  the  continued  peace  and  prosperity  of  com- 
munities. These  authors  tell  us  that  they  predicate,  from 
observation  of  the  cranium,  what  powers  are  in  general 
most  energetic,  what  are  the  modifications  which  exist  in 
particular  communities,  and  how  the  predominance  of  cer- 
tain classes  of  feelings  become  especially  dangerous  to  the 
well-being  of  society,  and  are  the  sure  precursors  of  the 
revolutions  and  fall  of  empires 

Attempts  have  been  made  to  put  down  Phrenology  by 
excluding  investigation  on  other  grounds  than  those  al- 
ready stated.  Its  enemies  have  said  that  it  is  an  irreligious 
science — that  it  leads  to  materialism.  The  objection  I  have 
to  this  argument  is,  that  it  is  entirely  senseless.  My  alle- 
gation against  it  is,  not  that  it  is  false,  but  unintelligible. 
The  question,  whether  the  hrain  thinks,  is  mere  logomachy; 
the  words,  however  correct  in  grammatical  construction, 
have  not  any  correspondent  ideas,  and  can  not  have.  We 
are  limited  in  the  attainment  of  knowledge  to  the  exercise 
of  the  senses,  of  the  knowing  and  of  the  reflective  faculties. 
Now,  by  what  conceivable  exaltation  of  the  powers  of  sen- 
sible discernment  can  we  be  supposed  to  perceive  thought — 

8* 


178  Appendix  A. 

particles  in  the  act  of  thinMng — or  by  what  knowing  or  re- 
flective faculty  can  we  form  a  notion  of  such  a  process  in 
the  brain  ?  Consequently,  whether  the  brain  thinks,  is  a 
question  just  as  intelligible  as  that  attributed  to  the  old 
schoolmen,  "whether  a  chimera,  bounding  in  a  vacuum, 
could  eat  up  the  second  intentions." 

Is  such  nonsense  as  this  to  stand  in  the  way  of  scientific 
investigation,  or  to  weaken  the  hopes  and  expectations 
which  lay  hold  on  eternal  life  ?  .  .  .   . 

In  joining  this  society,  I  take  it  for  granted  that  all  the 
means  necessary  to  determine  on  the  truth  or  illusiveness 
of  Phrenology  will  be  provided,  and  that  every  facility  will 
be  afforded  for  acquiring  a  thorough  knowledge  of  it.  I 
need  not  dwell  on  the  importance  of  anatomy  in  every 
physiological  investigation.  The  society  should  provide 
for  a  thorough  system  of  instruction  in  the  anatomy  of  the 
brain,  spinal  marrow,  and  nerves  of  the  senses.  There  will 
be  gentlemen  among  our  members,  able,  and,  I  am  confi- 
dent, willing  to  undertake  the  demonstrations.  The  anat- 
omy of  the  cranium  within  and  without,  together  with 
the  external  coverings,  should  be  understood.  In  demon- 
strating the  cranium,  the  places  of  the  respective  organs, 
assigned  by  phrenologists,  and  their  boundaries,  should  be 
pointed  out.  These  should  also  be  shown  on  the  brain  it- 
self, and  their  position  should  be  always  indicated  in  con- 
nection with  the  sutures,  eminences,  and  depressions  of  the 
different  bones,  which  have  received  anatomical  designa- 
tions. In  this  way  our  members  will  become  familiar  with 
the  exact  seat  of  the  organs,  and  be  able  to  determine  their 
relative  size,  when  they  approach  them  in  the  living  head. 

Dr.  Spurzheim  dwelt  much  on  the  importance  of  con- 
sidering the  general  shape  of  the  head,  apart  from  isolated 
prominences  or  depressions.  With  reference  to  this  ob- 
ject, the  society  should  spare  no  pains  in  obtaining  a  well- 
selected  assortment- of  national  skulls.  The  history  of  na- 
tions may  thus  be  studied  in  direct  connection  with  organ- 
ization, and  iu  this  way,  as  it  seems  to  me,  the  truth  of 


Invportance  of  Phrenology.  179 

Phrenology  in  its  general  outlines  be  at  once  verified  or 
disproved.  The  society  should  lose  no  opportunity  of  lay- 
ing military  and  naval  officers,  captains  of  merchant  ships, 
and  travelers,  under  contribution  in  this  respect,  or  of  ob- 
taining supernumerary  specimens,  with  wiiich  sister  socie- 
ties may  be  disposed  to  favor  us.  Casts  already  in  existence, 
and  which,  in  the  opinion  of  experienced  phrenologists, 
may  be  necessary  fally  to  verify  the  data  of  the  science, 
should  be  procured  and  deposited  in  the  museum 

Phrenology,  if  it  be  not  an  illusion,  must  form  the  basis 
of  political  economy.  The  data  of  that  science  can  never 
be  relied  upon,  unless  they  be  in  harmony  with  the  ele- 
ments of  the  human  character,  and  be  founded  upon  the 
dictates  of  the  higher  sentiments. 

The  same  is  triie-of  the  law  of  nations,  as  well  as  of  that 
which  regulates  the  intercourse  of  the  different  portions  of 
the  same  community.  Each  must  depend  upon  the  dis- 
covery of  the  true  principles  which  propel  man  to  associ- 
ate and  deal  with  his  fellows,  which  strike  the  balance  justly 
between  his  selfish  interests  and  his  social  duties,  which 
exalt  to  their  just  pre-eminence  the  nobler  sentiments  of 
his  nature,  and  suggest  efficacious  means  of  establishing, 
maintaining,  and  perpetuating  their  ascendency.  Prison 
discipline,  the  causes  and  remedies  of  pauperism,  and  the 
management  of  the  insane,  are  all  connected  with  the 
science  of  the  mind,  and  if  Phrenology  be  in  possession  of 
the  secrets  of  this  science,  it  is  intimately  connected  with 
every  one  of  these  subjects,  and  must  suggest  important 
practical  views  respecting  them. 

But  I  forbear  to  enlarge  on  the  results  of  the  truth  of 
Phrenology.  They  touch  every  subject  of  anthropology, 
and  I  shall  make  an  end  of  this  last  head  of  my  subject  by 
observing,  that  if  Phrenology  be  an  illusion,  the  effect  of 
our  testimony  will  not  be  lost  in  proclaiming  it  such;  and 
in  that  alternative  our  duty  is  not  less  obvious  and  imper- 
ative than  in  the  other 


APPENDIX  B. 

CLAIMS  OF  PHRENOLOGY  TO  BE  REGARDED  AS 
THE  SCIENCE  OF  HUMAN  NATURE. 


EXTRACT  FROM  MR.  GREEN'S  ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  BOSTON 
PHRENOLOGlCAIi   SOCIETY,    DECEMBER  30,    1836. 

.  ..."  It  is  not  in  the  mere  knowledge,  nor  even  in  the 
discovery  of  facts,  that  philosophy  consists.  One  who  pro- 
ceeds thus  far  is  an  experimentalist ;  but  he  alone,  who,  by 
examining  the  nature  and  observing  the  relation  of  facts, 
arrives  at  general  truths,  is  a  philosopher.  It  is,  therefore, 
no  wonder  that,  amongst  many  experimentalists,  there 
should  be  few  philosophers."* 

An  appeal  to  fact  is  the  test  of  truth.  By  this  Phrenol- 
ogy will  be  content  to  stand  or  fall.  We  inquire  how  man 
has  been  constituted  by  his  Creator  ?  This  is  the  question; 
not  how  we  think  beforehand  he  ought  to  have  been  consti- 
tuted; nor  how  we  should  have  been  pleased  to  have  had 
M7n  constituted;  but  simply,  what  is  the  fact  ?  Now,  Phre- 
nology claims  to  have  made  the  discovery.  Phrenology 
answers  the  question.  Do  you  deny  it  ?  Then  you  are 
bound  to  disprove  the  facts.  Produce  the  cases  that  are 
in  opposition.  If  there  be  no  foundation  for  the  doctrine, 
you  can  bring  as  many  facts  against  it  as  are  brought  in 
its  support.  But  the  opponent  will  not  abide  this  test. 
He  shrinks  from  the  appeal  to  nature.  He  reasons  ab- 
stractly about  the  subject;  he  misconceives  and  misrepre- 
sents its  nature;  he  denounces  its  tendency;  he  attempts 


*  Enfield,  Pref.  to  Institutes  of  Nat.  Phil. 
(180) 


Claims  of  Phrenology.  181 

to  excite  prejudice;  he  calls  hard  names;  but  he  carefully 
keeps  clear  of  the  only  touchstone.  In  vain  will  you  look 
to  the  anti-phrenologist  to  bring  examples  to  disprove  the 
science.  So  tenaciously  does  he  cling  to  the  old  modes  of 
conceiving  of  human  nature,  so  great  seems  to  him  the  diffi- 
culty, a  priori^  of  admitting  the  system,  such  is  the  fear 
he  entertains  of  its  consequences,  that  he  can  not  come, 
like  a  little  child,  to  be  taught  of  nature.  He  has  not 
learned  the  philosophy  of  Bacon. 

It  was  a  saying  of  Dr.  Spurzheim,  that  ' '  all  which  can  be 
found  out  by  human  reasoning  has  been  found  out."  That 
is,  reasoning  is  not  the  mode  of  discovering  truth.  It  is 
available  for  purposes  of  proof,  but  it  supposes  the  truth 
to  be  already  known. 

Such,  then,  though  imperfectly  represented,  is  the  ground 
on  which  the  claims  of  Phrenology  rest  to  be  ranked  as  a 
science.  The  name  it  has  assumed  denotes  the  science  of 
the  mind  {^(^r]v-\oyc) ;  not  that  it  pretends  to  treat  of  the 
mind  in  itself  considered  ;  for  of  the  nature  of  the  mind  we 
can  know  nothing.  We  have  no  faculties  by  which  we  can 
take  cognizance  of  this.  We  know  not,  indeed,  the  nature 
of  any  thing.  We  do  not  know  the  nature  of  matter.  We 
can  perceive  only  its  properties,  its  form,  its  magnitude, 
its  color,  and  a  few  other  external  characteristics ;  but  wjiab 
that  substance  is  to  which  these  properties  belong,  what  is 
its  real  nature,  is  concealed  entirely  from  our  observation. 
So  it  is  in  regard  to  the  true  nature  of  mind.  We  can  not 
tell  what  constitutes  the  mind.  We  are  conscious  of  its 
operations  in  ourselves,  of  its  thoughts  and  feelings;  but 
of  its  nature  we  know  nothing.  As  form,  size,  and  color 
do  not  constitute  matter,  so  neither  do  thought  and  feeling 
constitute  the  mind.  They  can  not  exist  of  themselves. 
They  imply  something  else,  of  which  they  are  the  qualities 
or  properties  in  the  one  case,  and  the  operations  or  affec- 
tions in  the  other. 

Phrenology  professes  to  be  the  science  of  the  mental 
phenomena,  or  of  the  mental  manifestations.     It  claims 


182  Apjpendix  B. 

to  have  discovered  the  laws  in  accordance  to  which  the 
mind  acts;  or,  in  other  words,  the  material  conditions  ac- 
cording to  which  the  mind  is  exercised  and  manifested. 
It  claims  to  be  received  as  the  only  true  basis  of  intellectual 
and  moral  philosophy.  It  urges  that  mind,  in  itself  con- 
sidered, apart  from  matter,  can  not  be  an  object  of  our 
study.  It  would  be  as  wise  to  attempt  the  study  of  grav- 
ity, electricity,  or  magnetism,  in  themselves  considered, 
and  without  reference  to  matter.  Mind  is  connected  with 
a  material  organization,  and  manifests  itself,  in  this  state 
of  existence,  only  through  a  material  instrumentality.  How 
it  may  be  in  other  modes  of  existence,  whether  the  mind 
can  act  or  not,  independent  of  a  material  instrument,  is 
altogether  hypothetical.  As  philosophers,  we  are  con- 
cerned only  with  present  phenomena.  We  have  nothing 
to  do  with  theory  and  hypothesis. 

What  we  affirm  is  this:  the  human  mind,  in  its  present 
state  of  existence,  manifests  itself  only  through  a  material 
organization.  Phrenology  claims  to  have  established  with 
certainty  the  fact — a  fact  which  no  physiologist  of  any  name 
will  now  undertake  to  question,  so  full  and  conclusive  is 
the  proof  —  that  the  human  brain  is  that  organization. 
These  aTe  the  words  of  Blumenbach,  second  to  no  man 
living  as  a  physiologist  :  "That  the  mind  is  closely  con- 
nected with  the  brain,  as  the  material  condition  of  mental 
phenomena,  is  demonstrated  by  our  consciousness  and  by 
the  mental  disturbances  which  ensue  upon  affections  of 
the  brain."* 

Phrenology  claims,  moreover,  to  have  demonstrated  the 
fact  that  the  several  faculties  of  man's  nature,  both  of  in- 
tellect and  feeling,  have  their  respective  cerebral  organs, 
whose  functions  are  distinct,  and  whose  energy  may  gen- 
erally be  ascertained.  These  are  the  fundamental  posi- 
tions. Of  the  nature  of  that  connection  which  exists  be- 
tween the  mind  and  the  several  organs  by  which  its  facul- 


*  Blum.  Elem.  Ed.  Elliotson,  4th  Lond.,  p.  195. 


Claims  of  Phrenology.  1^3 

ties  are  manifested,  we  pretend  to  know  nothing.  "We 
assert  only  the  simple  fact,  the  existence  of  the  connec- 
tion. The  mind  we  regard  as  a  unit;  and  the  proposition 
we  aflBLrm  is  this:  that  the  mind,  in  the  present  life,  is  de- 
pendent on  the  cerebral  organization  for  its  power  of  mani- 
festation; or,  to  express  it  more  precisely,  is  dependent  on 
the  several  organs  for  its  several  miodes  of  manifestation. 
Phrenology  does  not  affirm  that  the  mind  results  from  or- 
ganization; this  might,  indeed,  with  some  show  of  reason, 
expose  it  to  the  charge  of  materialism;  but  that  it  acts,  or 
manifests  itself,  through  this  instrumentality. 

To  render  it  obnoxious  to  such  a  charge,  the  order  of 
nature,  as  we  conceive  it,  must  be  reversed,  and  mind  must 
be  shown  to  result  from  organization ;  whereas  the  simple 
truth  may  be,  that  mind  exists  back  of  the  organiza- 
tion, and  uses  the  organized  system  for  its  exercise  and 
manifestation.  Thus  organization  is  not  the  cause  of  mind, 
but  the  m.edium  through  which  the  mind  acts.  It  is  not 
the  cause  of  any  mental  phenomena,  but  merely  the  me- 
dium through  which  these  phenomiena  are  displayed.  The 
distinction  appears  to  be  perfectly  plain  and  simple,  and 
such  as  no  clear  and  candid  mind  can  confound. 

It  is  true  there  have  been  those  who  have  conceived  of 
the  mind  as  though  it  were  a  quality,  not  a  thing  that 
could  have  an  independent  existence,  but  a  quality  or 
property  resulting  from  organization,  in  some  manner 
analogous  to  that  in  which  harmony  results  from  a  mu- 
sical instrument.  But  Phrenology  is  not  responsible  for 
this  opinion.  It  has  no  connection  whatever  with  it. 
Even  John  Locke,  whose  "  ideas  "  were  as  remote  as  possi- 
ble from  Phrenology,  has  argued  at  great  length,  in  a  let- 
ter to  the  Bishop  of  Worcester,  to  prove  that  God  may 
"give  to  matter  a  faculty  of  thinking."  We  conceive  that 
the  analogy  referred  to  is  extremely  fallacious.  It  can  not 
stand  the  test  of  a  rigid  examination.  Whence  proceeds 
harmony  ?  Is  it  produced  by  the  instrument,  or  by  the 
musical  performer,  by  means  of  the  instrument  ?     Most 


184  Appendix  B. 

certainly  the  latter.  It  is  not  the  organ,  but  the  per- 
former upon  it,  who  conceives  and  produces  the  music. 
So  we  believe  it  is  in  regard  to  the  phenomena  of  mind. 
It  is  not  the  organization  which  produces  the  mental  mani- 
festations, but  the  mind,  which  is  back  of  the  organiza- 
tion, and  which  manifests  itself  through  this  instrumen- 
tality. The  eye  does  not  see.  The  ear  does  not  hear.  It 
is  the  mind,  which  sees  and  hears  through  these  organs. 
That  is,  in  all  cases,  the  mind  exists  back  of  the  organiza- 
tion, and  acts  through  it. 

In  the  present  state  of  existence,  then,  there  can  be  no 
mental  manifestation  but  through  the  medium  of  matter. 
Such  has  been  the  ordinance  of  the  Creator;  and  our  duty 
is  to  learn  and  acquiesce  in  His  appointment.  Indeed,  the 
same  may  be  affirmed  of  the  Infinite  Mind.  He  is  manifested 
to  us  only  through  matter;  i.  e.,  through  the  medium  of  His 
works.  This  fact  should  teach  us  caution  in  the  use  of 
language  derogatory  to  that  whi-ch  He  has  ordained  as  the 
medium  through  which  His  attributes  are  displayed.  Mat- 
ter— though  not  improbably  inferior  in  its  nature  to  mind 
— is  by  no  means  to  be  spoken  of  in  terms  of  contempt. 
It  is  the  creature  of  God ;  and  is  doubtless  useful  and  nec- 
essary in  the  place  which  has  been  assigned  it.  To  speak 
in  disparagement  of  any  of  God's  works  is  to  reproach 
Him.  To  despise  the  creature  is  the  same  in  criminality 
as  to  despise  the  Creator. 

Matter! — indeed  we  know  not  what  it  is.  It  may  be  at- 
tenuated to  a  degree  infinitely  beyond  our  conception. 
Light,  which  travels  with  the  velocity  of  195,000  miles  in  a 
second  of  time — for  it  is  proved  by  the  eclipses  of  Jupiter's 
satellites  to  cross  the  orbit  of  the  earth,  190,000,000  of  miles, 
in  sixteen  minutes  and  a  quarter — light  is  affirmed  by  many 
philosophers  to  be  matter.  We  know  not  how  ethereal 
matter  is  capable  of  being  in  many  of  its  forms. 

On  material  organization,  then,  we  are  dependent  for  our 
power  of  mental  manifestation ;  deriving  all  the  knowledge 
we  possess  of  other  minds  from  the   same  intermediate 


Claims  of  Phrenology.  185 

communication,  and  recognizing  the  attributes  of  the 
Creator  only  as  displayed  through  the  instrumentality  of 
the  material  universe.  The  material  organization  is  in- 
tended also,  we  believe,  for  the  mind's  exercise  as  well  as 
manifestation.  As  the  organization  is  developed  from  in- 
fancy to  adult  age,  the  mind's  power  of  manifestation  is 
increased  in  the  same  proportion. 

Do  any  serious  persons  entertain  the  fear  that  mind, 
from  its  intimate  connection  with  a  material  organization, 
may  be  in  danger  of  becoming  extinct  when  that  organiza- 
tion shall  be  dissolved  ?  Phrenology  affirms  the  connec- 
tion to  be  constant,  in  this  life,  but  makes  no  inference 
from  this  that  the  connection  is  necessary.  Nay — the 
Phrenologist  may  cherish  as  strong  a  faith  as  any  other 
individual — I  speak  from  the  consciousness  of  my  own — in 
the  spirituality  of  the  thinking  principle  and  its  independ- 
ence of  matter,  so  far  as  its  existence  is  concerned.  He 
may  cherish,  in  perfect  consistence,  a  strong  faith  that  this 
wonderful  organization  has  been  designed  as  the  tempo- 
rary residence  of  the  spiritual  principle,  not  merely  for  its 
external  manifestation,  but  also  for  its  discipline  and  im- 
provement. He  may  recognize  the  various  means  and  aids 
with  which  it  is  supplied  to  promote  its  intellectual  and 
moral  progress.  He  may  believe — doubtless  he  does  be- 
lieve (it  appertains  to  faith  and  not  to  science) — that  the 
knowledge  and  virtue  the  mind  acquires  here,  through  a 
material  instrumentality,  it  will  carry  with  it.  It  may  be 
as  difficult  for  them  to  be  separated  from  the  mind  that 
possesses  them,  as  for  form  or  extension  to  be  separated 
from  matter. 

The  Phrenologist  may  believe,  with  as  undoubting  confi- 
dence as  any,  that  the  greater  the  progress  the  mind  makes 
here,  the  more  advanced  will  be  the  position  it  will  occupy 
when  it  shall  awake  hereafter  a  disembodied  spirit.  The 
mind  of  the  infant,  then,  at  death,  must  go  with  infant 
capacities;  but  the  mind  of  a  Newton  must  carry  with  it 
its  vast  intelligence. 


186        A^ppendix  B. — Claims  of  Phrenology. 

The  Phrenologist,  therefore,  may  cherish  as  strong  a  faith 
as  any  other  individual — there  is  nothing  in  his  science  in- 
consistent with  it — that  the  mind  of  man  is  a  spiritual  prin- 
ciple, in  its  own  nature  distinct  from  matter  and  superior  to 
it,  and  in  this  life  connected  with  a  material  organization, 
not  only  for  its  manifestation,  but  also  for  its  discipline 
and  improvement.  As  he  contemplates  the  living  indi- 
vidual, and  beholds  him  full  of  activity  and  vigor,  display- 
ing intelligence,  speaking,  reasoning,  and  performing  his 
part  on  the  busy  theater  of  the  world,  he  refers  the  va- 
rious phenomena  to  the  connection  of  mind  with  matter. 
Presently  the  individual  dies.  There  is  the  same  body. 
All  the  parts  of  the  material  organization  are  there.  The 
anatomist  can  not  discover  that  anything  is  missing.  Yet 
no  organ  now  perform.s  its  function.  No  speech,  no  mo- 
tion, no  animation  is  to  be  perceiv^ed  there.  The  eye  no 
longer  conveys  any  impression  of  light.  The  ear  no  longer 
affords  the  sensation  of  sound.  What  now  makes  the  dif- 
ference between  the  dead  and  the  living  man  ?  Let  the 
Phrenologist  give  the  answer  to  the  question.  He  will  re- 
ply, "The  spirit  is  gone.  The  mind,  or  soul,  which  gave 
animation  to  this  otherwise  lifeless  dust,  hath  broken  its 
connection  with  it  and  departed  to  another  state."  Yes; 
the  Phrenologist  will  cherish  as  strong  a  faith  as  any  other 
Christian,  that  the  spirit,  which  is  in  man,  being  depend- 
ent on  a  material  organization  for  its  exercise  and  mani- 
festation only,  in  this  life,  not  for  its  existence,  is  inde- 
pendent of  the  body's  dissolution.  Though  the  body  dies, 
the  soul  survives,  and  will 

"  riourisla  ia  immortal  youth, 
Unhurt  amidst  the  war  of  elements, 
The  wreck  of  matter,  and  the  crush  of  worlds." 


APPEISTDIX    C. 

EXTRACTS  FROM  A  DISCOURSE  ON  THE  SOCIAL  RELATION'S  OF 
MAN,  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  BOSTON  PHRENOLOGICAIi 
SOCIETY,    BY  S.    G.    HOWE.      1837. 

Phrenology  teaches  that  our  immaterial  and  immortal 
spirits,  though  essentially  independent  of  matter,  are,  in 
this  state  of  being,  entirely  subjected  to,  and  dependent 
upon,  corporeal  organization  for  the  manner  and  extent  of 
their  manifestations. 

That  God  has  given  to  the  human  race,  collectively,  the 
capacity  of  perceiving,  and  the  power  of  executing  those 
conditions  on  which  the  development  and  improvement  of 
the  immortal  spirit  is  dependent;  that  observance  or  neglect 
of  these  conditions  is  visited  upon  the  race  to  the  third  and 
fourth  generation. 

That  individual  men  have  faculties,  sentiments,  and  pro- 
pensities, the  quality  and  strength  of  which  are  dependent 
on  the  original  size,  the  physical  structure,  and  the  educa- 
tion or  exercise  of  certain  corporeal  organs. 

That  when  the  original  formation  of  these  organs  is  ac- 
cording to  the  general  laws  of  nature,  the  individual  is  a 
free  moral  agent,  and  responsible  for  his  actions  according 
to  the  degree  of  his  intelligence;  that  when  the  original  or- 
ganization is  unnatural,  or  when  it  becomes  diseased,  or 
when  the  organs  sleep,  the  individual  is  not  a  moral  free 
agent. 

It  teaches  that  the  whole  corporeal  organization  is  an 
unit;  that  no  one  part  can  be  diseased  without  all  the 

(187) 


188  Appendix  C. 

others  being  implicated,  directly  or  indirectly,  immediately 
or  rem.otely. 

That  man  can  abuse  and  destroy  the  powers  of  his  mind, 
by  neglecting  or  abasing  his  corporeal  organization,  and 
that  God  does  and  will  punish  him  therefor. 

Farther,  it  teaches  that  the  manifestation  of  mind  is  de- 
pendent, most  immediately,  upon  the  structure  and  con- 
dition of  certain  parts  of  the  brain;  that  the  structure  is 
dependent,  in  a  great  degree,  upon  the  obedience  or  neglect 
of  certain  known  laws  by  the  human  race  in  general;  that 
the  condition  is  dependent,  in  a  great  measure,  upon  the 
use  or  abuse,  exercise  or  neglect  of  his  organization,  by 
each  individual. 

Lastly,  it  teaches  that  the  body  may  be  the  corrupt  and 
unhallowed  abode,  where  selfishness  holds  uncertain  sway 
over  tumultuous  propensities  and  fierce  passions ;  or  may 
be  swept  and  garnished,  and  become  a  fit  temple  for  the 
transient  dwelling  of  a  spirit  emanating  from  the  Deity 
himself. 

In  considering  man,  and  different  animals,  we  perceive  in 
all  a  natural  tendency  to  social  union,  a  sort  of  mutual  at- 
traction of  aggregation ;  and,  although  it  shows  itself  in 
various  degrees  of  energy,  to  a  certain  extent,  it  always  ex- 
ists :  this  is  the  foundation  of  society 

I  said,  in  my  last  lecture,  that  the  organs  of  the  three 
great  cavities  of  the  body,  the  cranium.,  the  thorax,  and  the 
abdomen,  should  be  in  harmonious  action  and  reaction,  in 
order  to  give  firm  and  continuous  health,  and  great  capacity 
for  endurance  of  physical  or  intellectual  labor.  Now  the 
tendency  of  most  of  our  social  institutions  and  regulations 
is  to  destroy  the  equilibrium  between  these  functions,  and 
to  excite  the  cerebral  organs  into  undue  and  unhealthy  ac- 
tion. There  is  no  country  on  earth  whence  the  brain  and 
nervous  system  of  man  is  kept  in  such  a  state  of  turmoil 
and  excitement  as  in  ours;  no  one  has  ever  reaped  such  an 
early,  abundant,  and  bitter  harvest  of  pain  and  suffering  as 
ours  has ;  verily,  we  have  sown  the  wind,  and  are  already 
beginning  to  reap  the  whirlwind. 


The  Social  Relations  of  Man.  189 

There  is  no  country  where  the  importance  of  the  phren- 
ological principle,  of  the  necessity  of  harmonious  action 
between  the  great  functions,  is  more  exemplified  than  it  is 
in  ours,  by  the  consequences  of  their  violation  or  neglect. 

The  great  errors  seem  to  me  to  be,  a  neglect  of  the  physi- 
cal nature  of  man ;  the  custom  of  treating  boys  too  early  as 
men,  and  sending  them  too  early  into  the  world  to  act  for 
themselves,  the  existence  of  too  much  political  excitement, 
and  too  extravagant  notions  of  personal  and  political  liberty; 
the  fact  that  we  are  too  zealous,  devout,  and  untiring  wor- 
shipers of  mammon;  and,  that  we  mingle  passion  under 
the  name  of  zeal,  with  our  rehgious  feeling. 

The  physical  nature  of  man  is  sadly  neglected  and  abused 
in  this  country,  and  many  of  our  institutions  tend  to  in- 
crease that  neglect  and  abuse.  It  is  too  much  in  the 
fashion  to  talk  and  think  contemptuously  of  matter,  as 
though  its  nature  and  its  law^s  were  not  fixed  by  the  same 
God  who  created  mind.  And  even  when  attention  to  physi- 
cal health  and  strength  is  enjoined,  its  claims  are  urged  by 
considerations  so  low,  so  purely  selfish,  that  the  aspiring 
contemn  them. 

I  would  not  have  gymnasia  for  muscular  effort — I  would 
not  have  exercise  for  enjoyment,  or  appetite  alone;  but  I 
would  that  the  cultivation  of  physical  health,  and  the  rear- 
ing of  strong  and  robust  children  should  be  favored  by  all 
our  social  institutions;  I  would  that  stern  conscientiousness 
should  be  appealed  to;  that  the  abuse  of  Grod's  gift  should 
be  forbidden ;  that  the  body  should  be  considered  as  the 
instrument  by  which  the  soul  is  not  only  to  influence 
others,  but  to  operate  upon  itself,  and  prepare  itself  for  its 
future  and  eternal  condition. 

People  in  this  country  too  often  consider  and  treat  their 
bodies  as  avaricious  men  treat  their  horses;  they  try  to  get 
the  most  possible  work  out  of  them  in  the  shortest  possible 
time ;  and,  like  overworked  horses,  indeed,  they  do  look 

And  woman,  too,  delicate  and  lovely  woman,  how  has 
she  changed ;  and  how  little  is  left  of  that  erect  and  noble 


190  Appendix  C. 

carriage,  that  full,  rounded  figure,  that  dignity  and  beauty 
which  characterized  those  of  the  bygone  century,  and  does 
still  characterize  the  daughters  of  fair  Albion ;  a  beauty 
which  arose  from  a  full  and  perfect  development  and 
healthy  action  of  every  organ  of  the  body.  Some  may  say 
that  beauty  is  of  small  moment,  that  it  is  of  little  conse- 
quence in  an  individual,  and  much  less  in  a  national  point 
of  view  is  it  to  be  regarded;  but  I  maintain,  and  will  main- 
tain, the  contrary ;  and  though  I  can  not,  like  the  chevalier 
of  old,  uphold  the  claims  of  beauty  by  the  point  of  a  lance, 
I  will  use,  wield  at  least,  a  pen  in  its  defence,  and  maintain 
its  cause  with  all  the  chivalry  and  zeal  which  the  degener- 
acy of  the  age,  and  of  our  unchivalric  day  and  country,  will 
allow. 

Most  heartily  do  I  agree  with  the  sage  who  said,  with  a 
sigh,  "Well,  philosophers  may  argue,  and  plain  men  may 
fret;  but  beauty  will  find  its  way  to  the  human  heart." 
And  it  should  be  so,  for  so  hath  the  Creator  kindly  and 
wisely  ordained  it ;  He  hath  vouchsafed  to  man  the  faculty 
of  perceiving  beauty ;  He  hath  made  the  perception  a  source 
of  delight  to  him,  and  He  hath  filled  the  earth,  the  sea,  and 
the  skies  with  bright  and  beautiful  objects  which  he  may 
contemplate  and  admire.  Else,  why  is  the  earth,  and 
everything  upon  it,  so  varied  in  form,  so  full  of  beauty  of 
outline  ?  Why  are  not  the  hills,  the  rocks,  the  trees,  all 
square  ?  Why  runneth  not  the  river  canal-like  to  the  ocean  ? 
Why  is  not  the  grass  black?  Why  cometh  the  green  bud, 
the  white  blossom,  the  golden  fruit,  and  the  yellow  leaf  ? 
"Why  is  not  the  firmament  of  a  leaden  changeless  hue? 
Why  hang  not  the  clouds  like  sponges  in  the  sky?  Why  the 
bright  tints  of  morning,  the  splendor  of  noon,  the  gorgeous 
hues  of  sunset?  Why,  in  a  word,  does  the  great  firmament, 
like  an  ever-turning  kaleidoscope,  at  every  revolving  hour 
present  to  man  a  new  and  beautiful  picture  in  the  skies  ? 
I  care  not  that  I  shall  be  answered  that  these,  and  all  other 
beauties,  whether  of  sight  and  sound,  are  the  results  of  ar- 
rangements for  other  ends ;  I  care  not,  for  it  is  enough  for 


The  Social  Relations  of  Man.  191 

me,  that  a  benevolent  God  hath  so  constituted  us  as  to  en- 
able us  to  derive  pleasure  and  benefit  from  them,  and,  by 
so  doing,  he  hath  made  it  incumbent  upon  us  to  draw  from 
so  abundant  a  source. 

It  will  be  said  I  am  losing  sight  of  my  subject — the  physi- 
cal beauty  of  my  countrywomen ;  I  am  not  wont  to  do  so 
long,  and  hasten  back  to  it. 

It  is  a  very  general  opinion  with  us,  that  the  standard  of 
female  beauty  is  quite  as  high  here  as  in  most  countries ; 
but  this  is  by  no  means  the  case ;  our  women  fall  far,  very 
far  below  the  standard  which  is  attainable  by  them ;  for  I 
hold,  that  with  greater  advantage  of  descent,  with  more  of 
physical  comfort  and  luxuries,  with  greater  intellectual  cul- 
tivation, than  any  women  on  earth,  in  beauty  and  grace  of 
person  they  fall  far  below  those  of  every  civilized  nation 
whom  I  have  ever  seen.  Exceptions  there  are,  and  bright 
exceptions — I  need  not  leave  this  desk  to  point  out  some 
of  them;  but,  alas!  in  how  sad  contrast  do  they  stand  with 
thousands  whose  narrow  chests,  projecting  collar-bones, 
pallid  faces,  and  decaying  teeth,  show  the  defective  physical 
organization.  This  is  an  interesting  and  a  very  important 
subject;  for,  as  I  shall  show,  the  perfection  of  womanly 
beauty  is  dependent  upon  her  original  constitution,  and 
her  physical  health,  and  I  beg  you  to  allow  me  to  enlarge 
upon  it. 

I  said  that  it  was  generally  supposed  here  that  our  women 
are  not  deficient  in  beauty,  while  in  reality  they  are  so,  and 
this  I  explain  from  the  fact,  that  in  the  spring  of  life,  and 
for  a  number  of  years,  there  is  a  brilliancy  of  complexion 
which  makes  our  maidens  seem  beautiful,  and,  as  it  were, 
dazzles  the  spectator  into  blindness  to  other  faults.  I  con- 
fess I  know  nothing  like  it ;  and,  as  the  gorgeous  pomp  of 
our  summer  sunsets  are  unmatched  by  richest  skies  of  Italy 
or  Greece — as  the  bright  hues  of  our  autumnal  foliage  are 
unrivaled  by  the  forest  scenery  of  any  country,  and  in- 
imitable by  the  boldest  pencil — so  is  the  clear,  glowing  com- 
plexion of  our  maidens — the  blended  Hly  and  rose  of  their 


192  A^endix  C. 

faces,  unequaled  by  the  brightest  and  most  beautiful  of 
earth's  daughters.  This  it  is  that  renders  them  so  pretty 
■without  being  beautiful ;  and  for  this  it  is,  that  when  the 
bloom  of  cheek  is  gone,  you  have  but  a^  very  plain  woman 
left.  As  at  sunset  you  gaze  with  rapture  upon  a  golden- 
hued  cloud,  but  while  you  gaze,  the  sun  ceases  to  shine 
upon  it,  and  you  have  only  a  leaden-colored,  sombre  mass 
before  you ;  so,  oftentimes,  does  the  lovely  American  girl 
of  sixteen  sink  into  the  plain  American  woman  of  twenty. 

Now,  there  is  no  reason  in  nature  why  this  should  be  so; 
there  is  nothing  in  the  constitution  of  woman  that  prevents 
her  being  at  thirty  still  fresh,  healthy,  and  beautiful ;  with 
well-developed  and  erect  figure,  with  clear  and  un wrinkled 
brow,  with  a  luxuriant  profusion  of  hair,  and  with  every 
tooth  in  her  head,  and  clear  and  sound  as  the  pearl;  but 
there  are  many  and  very  sufllcient  reasons  in  the  present 
constitution,  and  habits  of  society,  and  in  our  social  and 
domestic  arrangements.  Depend  upon  it,  the  milliner,  the 
hairdresser,  and  the  dentist,  are  but  funguses  growing  out 
of  a  rotten  state  of  society,  and  that  if  women  were  what 
they  should  be,  one-half  the  doctors  would  emigrate,  in  de- 
spair, to  a  less  enlightened  and  favored  land. 

But  the  point  in  which  American  women  fall  most  below 
the  standard  of  female  beauty,  is  in  the  figure;  and  this  is 
attributed,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the  very  absurd  and  un- 
natural attempt  to  set  up  a  standard  of  beauty,  in  the  out- 
line of  form,  exactly  the  reverse  of  nature.  To  man  has 
nature  given  the  deep  chest,  the  broad  shoulders,  the  form 
tapering  from  above  downwards;  to  woman,  exactly  the 
reverse;  but  fashion,  tyrant  fashion,  condemns  all  this ;  the 
waist  must  be  drawn  in  at  all  hazards,  the  internal  organs 
may  take  care  of  themselves,  and  grow  if  they  can;  if  they 
cannot — no  matter — the  cord  must  be  drawn;  and  when 
the  balloon  sleeves  filled  our  streets,  and  monopolized  our 
side-walks,  the  figure  of  a  lady  in  outline  looked  as  un- 
natural as  would  a  churn  set  up  on  its  small  end. 

Should  a  female  appear  in  the  streets  with  her  dress  ar- 


The  Social  Relations  of  Man,  193 

ranged  so  as  to  show  her  figure  to  be  in  outline  like  that  of 
Eve,  she  would  be  pointed  at  as  a  fright ;  and  the  Venus  de 
Medicis  would  be  called  a  dowdy  by  our  fashionables. 

Such  is  not  the  case  with  the  famed  beauties  of  the  East 
— the  women  of  Georgia  and  Circassia;  with  them  the 
growth  of  the  figure  is  never  constrained ;  the  dress  is  never 
drawn  tight,  the  foot  is  never  cramped  up  in  a  shoe ;  the 
locks  are  never  imprisoned  in  papers;  the  dentist,  the 
coiffeur,  the  mantua-maker,  are  never  known  there,  and 
yet  they  grow  up  erect  as  the  pine,  graceful  as  the  gazelle, 
beautiful  as  a  flower.  But  that  which  most  distinguishes 
them  is  the  graceful  and  swan-like  carriage  of  the  neck — 
the  erect  and  easy  posture  of  the  body,  which  is  unstayed 
and  unsupported  by  art — £he  perfect  roundness  of  the 
tapering  limbs,  and  the  general  fullness  and  swell  of  the 
flesh,  which  hides  every  projection  of  bone;  there  is  no 
elbow — no  collar-bone;  they  seem  as  if  made  of  elastic 
ivory — as  if  they  had  no  skeleton,  of  the  existence  of  which 
you  are  so  frequently  and  disagreeably  reminded  here,  by 
the  angular  arms,  the  sharp  elbows,  and  the  projecting 
collar-bones  of  our  ladies. 

There  is,  however,  a  more  important  and  lamentable 
effect  of  the  want  of  attention  to  the  organic  laws,  a  care- 
less defiance  of  the  natural  tendency  to  hereditary  trans- 
m.ission  of  infirmities.  Very  few  consider  that  they  owe 
more  to  society  than  to  their  individual  selves ;  that  if  wo 
are  to  love  our  neighbor  as  ourself,  we  must,  of  course,  love 
all  our  neighbors  collectively  more  than  the  single  unit, 
which  each  calls  I 

But  a  word  more  for  the  actual  state  of  things :  We  find 
that  it  is  not  our  country  alone  which  is  affected ;  and  it  is 
in  vain  to  seek  for  the  origin  of  the  present  distress  in  any 
partial  and  particular  measures  of  any  government  or  any 
institution ;  the  causes  lie  deeper — they  are  in  the  very  nat- 
ure of  and  spirit  of  the  modern  method  of  business.  Gov- 
ernments, and  institutions,  and  particular  edicts  may,  and 
doubtless  have  done,  much  to  hasten  the  crisis ;  certainly 
9 


194  A'ppendix  O. 

some  of  them  are  very  like  an  order  that  all  waters  shall 
run  up  hill;  but  though  they  had  been  ever  so  preposter- 
ous and  absurd,  not  to  say  willful  and  wicked,  they  could 
not  have  produced  the  convulsion  that  is  now  rocking  our 
firmest  houses  like  an  earthquake,  if  men  had  conducted 
business  in  that  spirit  which  looks  only  to  the  natural  and 
certain  reward  of  prudent  industry. 

It  will  be  answered  that  men  must  act  according  to  the 
spirit  of  the  time  and  place;  and  that  they  have  a  right  to 
count  upon  the  permanence  of  any  national  law  or  com- 
mercial regulation.  Aye!  but  when  such  laws  and  regula- 
tions run  counter  to  the  course  of  nature,  they  must,  and 
will,  be  frustrated;  and  he  who  puts  more  faith  in  the  laws 
and  regulations  of  man  than  in  those  of  nature,  must  take 
the  consequences  of  his  choice. 

The  fact  is,  the  present  generation  has  been  agitated  and 
swayed  by  passion  as  much  as  the  most  remarkable  ones  in 
history  ;  veneration  and  combativeness  once  stirred  up 
Europe  to  madness,  and  sent  her  raving,  with  the  cross  in 
one  hand,  and  the  sword  in  the  other,  upon  benighted 
Asia;  love  of  approbation  and  combativeness  caused  France 
to  raise  the  storm  of  war  which  shook  the  world — which 
made  the  rivers  of  the  south  run  red  with  blood,  and 
stained  the  snows  of  the  north  with  gore ;  and  now,  love  of 
approbation,  riding  on  acquisitiveness,  is  making  the 
world  equally  mad  in  the  chase  for  money.  America  leads 
in  the  van — she  mortgages  her  unexplored  lands,  and  her 
unborn  generations,  to  raise  funds  for  the  present;  Europe 
follows  hard  after — she  pawns  her  regalia,  she  sells  her 
titles,  she  grubs  in  the  battle-fields,  and  converts  the  bones 
of  her  heroes  into  money;  Asia  starts  up  to  join  the  chase, 
and  casts  away  her  turban  and  her  robes,  that  she  may 
follow  the  faster;  even  dead  Africa  is  roused  to  life,  and 
begins  to  pull  down  her  pyramids  to  build  up  factories.* 


*  A  population  of  five  hundred  millions  would  hardly  suflSce  to  fill  up 
the  land  which  has  been  laid  out  on  paper,  and  counted  as  propertj',  in 
this  country;  pawnbrokers  are  the  "keepers  of  the  jewels;"  money 


The  Social  Relations  of  Man.  195 

I  have  said  that  combined  love  of  approbation  and 
acquisitiveness  is  tlie  leading  characteristic  of  the  age;  ib  is 
certainly  and  especially  so  of  our  own  country.  Many  a 
man  devotes  his  hours,  his  days,  and  his  years  to  the  accu- 
mulation of  dross,  which  he  would  despise  if  he  did  not 
consider  it  a  means  to  an  end,  a  stepping-stone  to  honor 
and  distinction.  We  may  deny  it,  we  may  hide  it  from 
ourselves,  but  we  do  bow  down  to  and  honor  wealth;  we  do 
give  it  the  precedence  of  talent.  I  speak  not  of  this  city, 
nor  of  a  particular  class,  but  of  the  country  generally ;  and 
I  say,  that  except  where  genius  blazes  like  a  comet,  dazzling 
the  people  and  forcing  admiration,  wealth  commands  more 
personal  regard  than  intellectual  and  moral  superiority; 
the  wise  man,  or  the  good  man,  is  stared  at;  the  rich  one  is 
bowed  down  to ;  the  one  excites  wonder,  the  other  envy 

Dyspepsia,  that  canker-worm  which  gnaws  at  and  slowly 
undermines  the  soundest  constitution,  prevails  in  this 
country  to  an  extent  unknown  elsewhere  in  the  world ;  of 
this  there  is  no  manner  of  question ;  nor  is  there  a  doubt, 
that  it  prevails  much  more  in  the  present  than  in  past 
generations.  The  causes  are  obvious;  there  must  be  a  com- 
munication between  the  stomach  and  brain,  by  means  of 
the  nerves,  in  order  that  the  digestive  process  may  go  on 
well;  interrupt  this  communication,  and  you  stop  digestion : 
restore  it,  and  it  goes  on  again.  Now,  if  the  brain  is  ex- 
hausted, if  its  influence  is  carried  to  another  part,  and  not 
to  the  stomach;  or,  if  it  be  so  impaired  that  it  can  not 
afford  nervous  stimulus  to  the  stomach,  digestion  is  im- 
paired, precisely  as  the  muscles  of  the  body  can  not  con- 
tract without  the  necessary  cerebral  stimulus  is  sent  to 
them,  and  as  the  strength  of  the  contraction  is  mainly  de- 
pendent upon  this  stimulus.  Now,  give  to  two  dogs  a  full 
meal,  let  one  lie  down  and  rest,  so  that  the  whole  cerebral 


obtains  patents  of  nobility  anj'wliere ;  the  bones  at  Waterloo,  Leipsic, 
etc.,  have  been  articles  of  commerce  ;  the  Sultan  has  ordered  the  turban 
and  trowsers  to  be  abandoned  ;  the  Viceroj'^  of  Egypt  issued  an  edict  for 
pulling  down  ancient  tnonuments  to  build  factories,  arsenals,  etc. 


196  Appendix  C. 

influence  may  be  exercised  over  the  stomach ;  and  set  the 
other  to  hunting,  let  the  cerebral  influence  be  expended 
upon  the  muscles,  and  withdrawn  from  the  stomach,  and 
in  four  hours  examine  the  two;  the  stomach  of  the  first  will 
be  found  almost  empty,  and  the  food  converted  into  chyle; 
the  other  will  contain  what  the  dog  had  eaten,  and  but  half 
digested.  But  I  will  spend  no  words  on  what  is  now  ad- 
mitted as  an  axiom  by  all  physiologists,  phrenological  and 
anti-phrenological;  there  is  no  doubt  but  the  great  major- 
ity of  cases  of  dyspepsia  in  this  country  arise  from  an  abuse 
and  over-excitement  of  the  cerebral  organ ;  and  those  few 
which  form  the  exception  to  this,  arise  from  some  violation 
of  the  organic  laws ;  from  eating  too  much,  or  too  fast,  or 
too  hot,  all  of  which  may  be  claimed  as  American,  and 
errors  of  our  social  system.  And,  we  may  add,  that  we  take 
not  sleep  enough  for  digestion ;  Csesar  would  have  found 
few  here  to  answer  his  purpose,  when  he  said,  "Let  me 
have  fat,  sleek-headed  men  about  me,  such  as  sleep 
o'  nights."  But  he  would  have  said  of  us  as  he  did  of  Cas- 
sius,  "  Yon  Yankee  has  a  lean  and  hungry  look;  he  thinks 
too  much;  such  men  are  dangerous." 

The  extent  of  insanity  in  this  country  has  already  be- 
come alarming;  but  all  nervous  diseases  are  on  the  increase, 
and,  with  insanity,  will  doubtless  continue  to  be  so.  The 
entire  number  of  insane  is  computed  to  be  already  fifty 
thousand  !  In  some  of  the  New  England  States  the  pro- 
portion is  as  one  to  every  two  hundred  and  fifty  inhabit- 
ants, while  in  Old  England,  where  insanity  is  more  preva- 
lent than  in  any  country  of  Europe,  the  proportion  is  only 
as  one  to  eight  hundred  and  twenty  !  This  is  a  serious,  an 
awful  consideration;  it  Is  one  of  the  penalties  which  out- 
raged nature  inflicts  upon  society ;  and  upon  our  social  in- 
stitutions must  fall  the  moral  guilt  and  the  moral  respon- 
sibility for  such  an  amount  of  suffering,  for  such  an  abuse 
and  destruction  of  the  highest  prerogative  of  man,  the 
noblest  trust  reposed  in  us  by  God — the  human  reason ! . . . . 

Our  country  is  far  advanced  in  civilization ;  but,  how  far 


The  Social  Relations  of  Man,  197 

is  man,  here  and  everywhere,  from  the  bright  goal  to  which 
he  may  one  day  attain!  and  how  much  may  he  advance 
toward  it,  by  due  attention  to  his  physical,  moral,  and  in- 
tellectual nature,  and  the  laws  of  animal  organization  by 
which  these  are  modified  and  influenced.  These  have 
hitherto  been  unknown  and  neglected,  or  imperfectly  per- 
ceived, and  vaguely  followed.  Phrenology  points  them  out 
clearly ;  it  presents  a  plain  chart  of  the  mind — a  simple  and 
beautiful  system  of  moral  philosophy;  and  though  not  a 
single  organ  could  be  pointed  out  on  the  head,  it  would 
still  be  invaluable.  Let  us  follow  then  its  precepts;  let  the 
body,  the  instrument  of  the  soul,  be  a  fit  one  for  it  to  oper- 
ate with ;  let  our  social  institutions  be  such  as  to  improve, 
as  far  as  maybe,  its  original  structure;  let  every  individual 
preserve  it  in  healthy  tone ;  for  as  well  may  he  hope  for  the 
sweetest  sounds  from  an  inferior  or  discordant  instrument 
as  the  finer  manifestations  of  spirit,  from  an  inferior  or  de- 
ranged organization;  the  harp  must  be  well  formed;  its 
strings  must  all  be  in  the  nicest  tune,  or  the  fingers  that 
play  upon  it,  the  wind  that  sighs  through  it,  will  produce 
but  discord ;  the  body  is  a  harp  of  a  thousand  strings — 
the  breath  of  the  spirit  moves  among  them — may  it  be  so 
attuned  that  the  spirit  can  give  forth  those  sweet  sounds 
which  proclaim  its  heavenly  origin,  and  indicate  its  heav- 
enly destiny  I 


APPENDIX  D. 

PROG^RESS  OF  THE  NATURAL  SCIENCES  —  THE 
CHARACTER  OF  SPURZHEIM  AND  .THE  IM- 
PORTANCE  OF  PHRENOLOGY. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  DR.  BAHTLBTT'S  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  AT 
THE  ANiaVERSARY  CELEBRATION  OF  THE  BIRTH  OF  SPURZ- 
HEIM AiSTD  THE  ORaAiaZATION  OF  THE  BOSTON  PHRENO- 
LOaiCAIi  SOCIETY,  JANUARY  1,  1838. 

....  LeavinGt  this  topic,  then,  I  proceed  to  say  that  the 
true  science  of  the  human  mind  ought  to  issue  in  human 
good  ;  it  ought  to  be  productive  of  beneficent  results. 
Such  has  been  the  case  with  all  the  other  sciences;  such 
ought  also  to  be  the  case  with  this.  Astronomy,  mathe- 
matics, geology,  chemistry,  and  physiology  have  all  proved 
themselves  not  merely  subjects  of  abstract  intellectual  in- 
terest and  curiosity,  but  matters  of  great  practical  useful- 
ness. They  have  acted  upon  man's  daily  life.  They  have 
aided  in  improving  his  spiritual  nature,  and  they  minister 
to  his  commonest  wants.  They  enlarge  and  elevate  his 
mind  ;  they  clothe  and  nourish  and  protect  his  body. 
They  make  the  elements  his  servants  to  do  his  bidding. 
They  make  his  timekeepers,  for  seconds  or  for  ages,  the 
stars  on  the  dial-plate  of  the  sky.  They  carry  him  over 
the  land ;  they  guide  him  across  the  sea ;  his  pillar  of  cloud 
by  day  and  of  fire  by  night.  Unfolding  to  him  the  mysteries 
of  the  visible  world,  they  bring  him  nearer  to  its  author — 
God.    If  Phrenology,  I  repeat,  is  what  it  pretends  to  be,  it 

(198) 


Progress  of  the  Natural  Sciences.  199 

must  also,  like  its  sister  sciences,  show  itself  directly  in- 
strumental in  promoting  the  best  interests  of  the  human 
race.  And  if  it  does  so  show  itself,  we  have  a  right  to  see 
herein  another  evidence  of  its  truth,  I  shall,  therefore, 
after  these  preliminary  observations,  endeavor  to  apply 
this  test  of  the  claims  of  Phrenology,  derived  from  some 
few  of  its  leading  tendencies  and  results,  both  practical  and 
philosophical — from  the  natural  and  inevitable  issues  of  its 
principles  and  laws. 

The  first  general  result  of  the  phrenological  doctrines  of 
which  I  shall  speak  is  the  separation  which  they  make  of 
our  true  humanity  ivom.  those  accidental  and  factitious  cir- 
cumstances with  which  it  is  interwoven  and  overlaid.  By 
revealing  to  us  the  essential  nature  of  humanity  in  its  com- 
plex physical  and  spiritual  constitution,  it  exposes  also  the 
manifold  illusions  which  this  humanity  has  always  and  ev- 
erywhere worn.  In  the  clear  light  of  Phrenology,  man  for 
the  first  time  stands  before  ns  as  man — whatever  and  how- 
ever unlike  and  diverse  may  be  the  accidents  of  his  envi- 
ronment. If  there  is  any  one  moral  truth  which  can  claim, 
to  be  a  central  truth — the  truth  of  truths — it  is  that  of  the 
entire,  essential,  absolute  oneness  and  equality  of  human 
nature.  All  right  rests  upon  this,  its  only  immutable  ba- 
sis ;  all  order  flows  from  this,  its  sole  inexhaustible  fount- 
ain. I  do  not  claim  for  Phrenology  the  merit  of  having 
first  asserted  or  promulgated  this  truth.  Always,  through- 
out all  time  and  in  every  country,  have  there  been  seers 
who  have  read  the  sublime  record  written  on  their  own 
hearts ;  always,  too,  have  there  been  prophets  and  TEACH- 
ERS who  have  uttered  it.  It  is  a  doctrine  also  of  inspira- 
tion. It  was  proclaimed  by  Moses,  and  it  runs  through  all 
the  teachings  of  Christ.  I  do  not  claim  for  Phrenology,  I 
say,  the  merit  of  having  first  asserted  and  promulgated 
this  truth ;  but  I  do  claim  for  it  the  next  highest  merit  of 
having  given  to  that  which  was  before  only  matter  of  ar- 
gument or  speculation  or  of  dogmatic  statement,  merely, 
the  fixed  and  positive  and  everlasting  attributes  of  science. 


200  Ajpjpendix  D. 

What  was  precept  became  law — unchangeable  and  eternal, 
and  universally  binding  in  its  obligations. 

In  spite  of  all  the  teachings  of  sages  and  philosophers 
and  prophets — blind  to  the  light  of  wisdom  and  deaf  to 
the  oracles  of  Revelation — men,  generally,  have  never  be- 
lieved this  truth.  They  do  not  yet  believe  it ;  at  least  they 
do  not  feel  it,  and  they  never  have  felt  it.  The  feeling — ■ 
and  in  this  case  the  feeling  is  equivalent  to  the  belief — is 
almost  universal  that  the  drcumstances  by  which  each 
man  and  woman  is  accidentally  surrounded  have  wrought 
a  change  in  that  man's  or  woman's  nature  and  rendered  it 
unlike  that  of  an  individual  surrounded  by  wholly  differ- 
ent circumstances.  I  am  sure  that  I  do  not  state  this  too 
strongly.  Phrenology  not  only  asserts  what  has  always 
been  nominally  asserted,  that  this  is  not  the  case,  but  it 
shows  the  reasons  why  it  is  not.  Phrenology  not  only 
teaches  the  great  opposite  truth,  but  it  makes  plainly  visi- 
ble the  foundation  on  which  the  truth  rests ;  it  develops  its 
principles;  it  unfolds  and  establishes  its  laws  and  sanc- 
tions. We  see  by  its  light  not  only  that  every  man  is  the 
equal  brother  of  every  other  man,  but  we  see  also  why  he 
is  so,  and  how  he  is  so,  and  wherein  he  is  so 

The  truth  which  I  claim  to  have  been  first  authorita- 
tively asserted  and  demonstrated  by  Phrenology  as  a  law 
of  the  mental  constitution  is  this,  that  every  separate 
power  and  capacity  of  the  human  mind  can  be  developed 
and  strengthened  only  by  developing  and  exciting  its  own 
peculiar  individual  activity;  and  that,  therefore,  the  edu- 
cation of  each  and  every  faculty  is  dependent  wholly  upon 
those  means  and  influences  which  increase  or  diminish  or 
control  this  activity  and  strength.  That  power  of  the 
mind  which  takes  cognizance  of  the  relations  of  numbers 
can  be  educated  only  through  its  own  instrumentality;  it 
can  acquire  skill  and  facility  in  calculating  these  relations 
only  by  calculating  them;  and,  just  in  proportion  to  the 
amount  of  its  original  vigor  and  of  its  educated  activity, 
will  be  its  strength  and  capabilities.     This  is  strictly  true 


Progress  of  the  Natural  Sciences,  201 

of  every  intellectual  power,  and  it  is  as  true  of  the  animal 
instincts  as  it  is  of  the  knowing  faculties.  The  love  of  chil- 
dren is  made  strong  and  fervent  by  loving  children.  Hate 
becomes  a  burning  and  ferocious  passion  only  by  hating. 
And,  furthermore,  as  strictly  true  as  this  is  of  the  intellect 
and  the  instincts,  is  it  of  all  the  higher  sentiments.  Hope 
can  be  nourished  only  by  its  own  ambrosial  food — the 
bright  colors,  the  ever-blossoming  flowers,  the  fairy  en- 
chantments of  the  future.  Conscientiousness — that  deep- 
seated  sentiment  of  right  and  wrong,  that  stern  monitor 
within  us — can  be  crowned  with  the  supremacy  which  it 
was  designed  to  possess  only  by  our  being  just.  Ideality — 
that  versatile  power — constituting  as  it  may  be  said  to  do 
the  wings  of  the  spirit,  can  acquire  strength  and  freedom 
only  by  soaring  aloft  into  a  pure  and  celestial  atmosphere, 
and  by  visiting  in  the  heavens  and  on  the  earth  those 
scenes  of  beauty  and  sublimity  and  order,  those  manifesta- 
tions of  the  perfect,  the  excellent,  and  the  fair  which  have 
been  created  for  its  gratification.  Benevolence  can  be 
quickened  into  a  divine  and  soothing  sentiment  only  by 
our  being  compassionate  and  humane. 

The  bearing  of  this  principle  must  be  perfectly  manifest. 
It  is  easy  to  see  that  all  education  hinges  upon  it,  and  you 
would  almost  as  soon  tolerate  me  in  consuming  your  time 
with  a  formal  argument  in  favor  of  education  itself,  as  in 
any  more  elaborate  effort  to  show  the  importance  of  the 
truth  which  I  have  stated. 

There  is  another  great  elementary  truth  bearing  directly 
upon  the  subject  of  education,  which,  like  the  one  already 
spoken  of,  was  first  clearly  demonstrated  as  a  natural  law 
of  man's  spiritual  being  by  Phrenology.  I  mean  that  of  the 
absolute  rule  and  superiority  which  the  Author  of  the 
mind  has  conferred  on  the  religious  and  disinterested  sen- 
timents over  all  the  other  powers.  Phrenology  has  not 
merely  pointed  out  the  only  effective  method  of  educating 
these  sentiments,  but  it  has  vindicated  for  them  their  in- 
alienable suj)remacy.     Far  be  it  from  me,  I  say  again  as  I 

9* 


202  .  Appendix  D. 

have  said  in  another  connection,  to  arrogate  for  Phrenol- 
ogy the  Tnorit  of  having  discovered  or  of  having  first  pro- 
mulgated the  truth  of  which  I  now  speak.  No  one,  I  trust, 
will  suppose  me  guilty  of  such  ignorance  or  of  such  pre- 
sumption. Always  has  it  been  taught  by  the  wise  and  the 
good  everywhere  and  throughout  all  time;  eloquently  in 
their  precepts  and  more  eloquently  still  in  their  happy  and 
beneficent  lives  and  in  their  deaths  of  serenity  and  tri- 
umphant hope.  It  is  the  declaration  of  prophets  and 
apostles;  it  is  the  song  of  the  seraphim;  it  is  the  great  les- 
son of  Christ;  it  is  the  voice  of  God.  Nevertheless,  it  is 
true  that  to  Phrenology  belongs  the  high  distinction  of 
having  placed  this  doctrine  on  the  firm  basis  of  demon- 
stration, of  having  fixed  it  immutably  in  the  very  organiza- 
tion of  humanity  one  of  its  central  and  everlasting  laws. 

This  truth,  like  the'  other  of  which  I  have  spoken,  is  al- 
most universally  disregarded.  In  all  systems  of  education 
the  intellectual  powers  are  almost  exclusively  considered; 
a  very  subordinate  place  is  assigned  to  the  higher  senti- 
ments, and  herein  consists  one  of  the  most  melancholy  and 
disastrous  errors  of  these  systems.  Almost  the  whole  sur- 
face of  the  civilized  world  is  spread  over  with  school- 
houses  for  the  nurture  of  the  infant  intellect,  and  univer- 
sities are  built  and  professorships  are  endowed  to  aid  it  in 
its  maturer  training.  I  do  not  complain  that  this  has  been 
done,  but  that  the  other  has  been  left  undone.  One  of  the 
highest  ends,  even  of  intellectual  culture,  is  almost  entirely 
overlooked  and  neglected — that  of  promoting  the  develop- 
ment and  regulating  the  action  of  the  moral  and  religious 
feelings,  and  of  ministering,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  their 
good 

Free  and  liberal  governments  have  thought  it  their 
safety  as  well  as  their  duty  to  provide  for  and  encourage 
general  education.  The  axiom  is,  that  popular  intelligence 
is  the  only  sure  support  and  safe  guardian  of  popular  gov- 
ernment. All  political  institutions,  resting  to  any  consid- 
erable extent  on  the  popular  or  democratic  principle,  rec- 


Progress  of  the  Natural  Sciences,  203 

ognize  this  relation.  They  profess  to  rely  upon  it  for  their 
stability  and  efficiency  for  good.  What  I  wish  to  say  is 
this :  If  the  education  on  which  popular  government  is  to 
rest  be  the  education  of  the  intellect  merely,  then  it  leans 
on  a  broken  reed.  How  is  it  here  at  home  in  this  Federal 
RepubUc  ?  Will  intellectual  culture  alone,  perfect  and 
universal  as  it  can  be  made,  secure  to  us  the  permanency 
and  the  purity  of  our  institutions  ?  Will  it  keep  iaviolate 
the  spirit  of  rational  liberty  which  pervades  and  conse- 
crates the  written  charter  of  our  rights  ?  Will  it  hold  un- 
broken the  links  of  that  chain  which  binds  these  States  to- 
gether ?  Will  it  prove  a  sufficient  security  for  national 
peace,  prosperity,  and  happiness  ?  Can  we  confide  to  it 
the  keeping  of  our  hearth-stones  and  our  altars  ?  Will  it 
guard  us  in  the  business  of  the  day  ?  Will  it  be  round 
about  us  —  a  tutelary  presence — in  the  watches  of  the 
night  ?  No  !  never,  never,  never  !  Unless  the  sense  of 
right  and  wrong  between  man  and  man  be  ripened  to  a 
hardier  growth  amongst  us  than  it  has  ever  yet  attained — 
unless  the  true  and  great  relation  which  every  man  sus- 
tains to  all  other  men  be  better  understood  and  felt  more 
warmly  than  it  ever  yet  has  been — unless  reverence  and 
love  for  whatever  is  exalted  above  us  in  genuine  excellence 
and  glory  be  more  cherished  than  it  now  is — unless,  in 
short,  the  moral,  social,  and  religious  sentiments  are  made 
to  receive  that  regular,  systematic,  and  general  culture 
which  is  now  bestowed  almost  entirely  upon  the  intellect 
— then,  as  surely  as  there  is  certainty  in  science  or  truth  in 
revelation,  shall  we  come  short  of  our  true  greatness  ;  nay, 
more — then  is  there  for  our  institutions  no  safety  in  the 
present  and  no  security  in  the  future. 

What  are  these  institutions  ?  Have  they  in  themselves 
any  principle  of  preservation  or  of  perpetuity  ?  What  is 
this  written  charter  which  we  are  taught  so  much  to  prize 
and  venerate  ?  Is  it  anything  but  ink  and  parchment  ? 
Nothing.  You  may  raise  the  naked  intellect  of  this  whole 
nation  to  its  highest  attainable  point,  and  you  only  pre- 


204  Appendix  D. 

pare  and  accumulate  the  elements  in  whose  fiery  collision 
this  charter  shall  be  consumed  like  tow.  You  may  sur- 
round it  with  a  whole  cohort  of  gallant  champions,  whose^ 
hearts  shall  be  as  large  and  whose  arms  shall  be  as  strong 
as  those  of  your  own  great  defender  of  its  integrity  and 
its  worth — all  in  vain. 

The  elements  of  individual  good  and  of  universal  good 
are  identical.  What  is  best  for  me  is  best  also  for  all  other 
men.  If  in  me  evil,  confusion,  misery,  and  disaster  are  the- 
fruits  of  a  predominance  either  of  the  intellect  merely  or 
of  the  selfish  and  animal  propensities  or  of  both  over  the 
higher  powers,  the  same  is  true  of  a  community,  of  a  peo- 
ple, of  the  race.  All  history  is  a  running  commentary  on 
this  truth.  I  have  no  time  to  dwell  at  length  on  this  great 
topic,  but  I  can  not  forbear  a  short  and  passing  allusion  to 
the  age  of  Louis  XV.  of  France,  and  to  the  following  rev- 
olution. Then,  on  the  largest  scale  since  the  days  of  the  Ro- 
man emperors  and  their  successors  (the  Alarics  and  Attilas) 
was  the  experiment  tried  whether  a  nation  could  reach 
and  keep  any  considerable  height  and  degree  of  social  and 
civil  good  by  the  unaided  intellect.  That  age  m  France 
was  emphatically  the  age  of  intellect — the  g  and  culmi- 
nating epoch  of  cyclopedias  and  philosophers.  But,  in  that 
aggregate  of  mind  then  in  the  ascendant,  there  was  no  rev- 
erence, there  was  little  ideality,  there  was  no  conscien- 
tiousness, there  was  no  benevolence,  there  was  no  recog- 
nition of  the  disinterested  and  self-sacrificing  in  humanity. 
The  order,  which  God  has  ordained  as  an  indispensable 
condition  of  individual  and  so  of  general  greatness  and 
good,  was  reversed;  the  understanding,  which  was  then 
called  reason,  was  placed  above  the  true  kingly  powers  of 
the  mind,  and  the  issue  was  what  it  was,  what  it  always 
has  been,  and  ever  will  be  under  like  circumstances. 
Here,  too,  let  it  be  remembered,  that  the  antagonistic  pow- 
ers in  the  mind,  of  the  animal  appetites,  and  the  selfish 
passions  are  the  higher  and  essentially  disinterested  feel- 
ings, and  not  the  understanding.     And  so  in  Paris,  under 


Progress  of  the  Natural  Sciences.  205 

Louis  XV.  and  Louis  XVI. ,  and  in  Rome,  under  Augustus, 
with  the  highest  cultivation  of  the  mere  intellect,  there 
was  linked  the  foulest  corruption.  In  the  broad  blaze  of 
that  cold  enlightenment  stood  —  unblushing  and  unre- 
proved — nay,  worshiped,  rather — crowned  with  garlands 
as  true  gods,  every  possible  form  and  manifestation  of  sen- 
sualism, selfishness,  and  crime.  And  what  was  the  end  ? 
Let  the  dying  wail  of  the  seven-hilled  city — mingled  with 
the  crash  of  falling  temples,  the  gusty  roar  of  conflagra- 
tion, and  the  fierce  clamor  of  vandal  armies — answer.  Let 
that  gay  capital  of  intellectual  and  philosophic  France, 
when  her  gambling-rooms  and  her  houses  of  infamous 
pleasure  became  the  murky  gathering-places  of  conspiracy 
and  murder,  when  her  halls  of  science  and  legislation  were 
converted  into  camps  and  citadels  of  civil  war,  when  feroc- 
ity itself  went  reeling  through  her  streets  satiate  and  drunk 
with  carnage,  when  the  guillotine  was  running  day  and 
night  with  the  blood  of  the  high-born,  the  learned,  and 
the  beautiful — as  the  fountain  in  her  Palais  Royal  now 

flows  with  water — let  her  also  answer 

Phrenology,  by  demonstrating  the  primary  faculties  of 
the  mind  and  their  relations,  first  rendered  intelligible  the 
infinite  variety  of  thought  and  action  in  individuals.  Ex- 
tending the  same  principles  from  the  individual  to  the  race 
— ^from  the  one  person  thinking  and  acting  to-day,  to  the 
many  hundreds  or  millions  of  like  persons  thinking  and 
acting  at  any  time  and  at  all  times  in  the  past — it  solves 
the  riddle  of  history ;  it  interprets  the  great  events  of  time. 
Beautifully  unfolding  itself  in  the  process  of  this  interpre- 
tation shall  we  find,  everywhere,  Law.  Chance  disappears, 
and  we  see  that  throughout  all  that  multitudinous  thought 
and  action  of  humanity  constituting  its  history — in  all  its 
fightings,  from  the  first  fratricide  down  to  the  battle  of 
Waterloo ;  in  all  its  art,  in  all  its  literature,  in  its  religion, 
in  its  laws,  in  its  politics,  in  its  love  and  in  its  hate,  in  its 
wisdom  and  in  its  perversity,  in  its  migrations,  in  its  con- 
quests, in  its  discoveries,  in  the  mutations  of  empires  as 


206  Appendix  D. 

truly  as  in  the  phases  of  individual  life — is  there  nothing 
fortuitous,  nothing  accidental,  nothing  anomalous.  We 
have  only  to  apply  to  all  this  the  true  principles  of  human 
nature,  as  they  are  now  expounded  by  Phrenology,  and  its 
obscurity  is  dissipated,  its  apparent  contradictions  are  rec- 
onciled, the  seemingly  inextricable  confusion  in  which  its 
elements  are  mingled  is  cleared  up.  As  the  sea — aUke  in 
its  vast  aggregate  and  its  every  atom,  alike  in  its  rest  and 
in  its  wrath — is  still  subject  to  the  lav/s  of  gravity  and  mo- 
tion, so  is  the  great  tide  (as  it  has  been  called)  of  human 
affairs — in  its  ebb  and  in  its  flow,  in  its  agitation  and  in 
its  repose — obedient  ever  to  the  few  and  simple  laws  which 
God  has  impressed  upon  it. 

One  result  of  this  method  of  investigating  the  past  will 
be  a  conviction,  clearer  and  stronger  than  we  can  in  any 
other  way  attain,  that  all  Form  is  created  and  moulded  by 
Spirit;  that  all  the  multiform  institutions  of  men,  that  all 
the  complex  machinery  of  life  and  society,  that  all  the  ag- 
gregate act  of  humanity  existed  first  in  the  mind ;  that  all 
these  are  but  the  emanations,  in  distinct  and  visible  shape, 
of  the  pre-existing  and  pre-acting  human  soul.  Without 
denying  the  reaction  of  these  institutions  and  of  this  ex- 
ternal machinery  as  instruments  of  that  general  mind  of 
which  they  are  the  product  upon  the  interests  and  condi- 
tion of  our  race,  we  shall  be  satisfied,  1  think,  that  their 
influence  has  been  exaggerated.  We  shall  thus  be  led,  not 
only  to  a  more  correct  philosophy,  but  to  the  adoption  ot 
more  rational  and  efllcient  means  of  acting  on  the  condi- 
tion of  our  race — of  promoting  its  well-being.  Strangely 
and  widely  do  we  mistake  in  the  estimate  which  we  form 
of  the  greatest  personages  and  the  most  important  influ- 
ences, judged  merely  in  their  relationship  to  civil  and  so- 
cial institutions  and  to  the  form  and  administration  oi 
government.  We  are  accustomed  to  regard  the  statesmen 
and  politicians  of  a  country — its  kings,  its  presidents,  its 
secretaries  and  diplomatists,  and  senators  and  representa- 
tives— as  the  great  guardians  and  conservators  of  its  Hb- 


Progress  of  the  Natural  Sciences.  207 

erty  and  its  interests.  This  is  too  much  the  case  with  our- 
selves. But  neither  in  these  nor  yet  in  that  other  mis- 
named rock  of  safety,  the  democracy  of  numbers — the  mere 
preponderance,  ever  changing,  of  numerical  strength — does 
any  abiding  security  lie.  True  hearts  are  there  undoubt- 
edly, many  of  them  among  the  first,  warm  with  a  patriot's 
love;  and  eloquent  lips,  touched  with  fire  from  the  true  al- 
tar, to  vindicate  for  our  wide  commonwealth  its  best  good 
and  to  warn  it  against  threatened  ills.  But  from  the  high 
arena  of  the  capitol  at  Washington,  and  from  the  ten  thou- 
sand other  rostrums  scattered  through  the  land,  are  there 
ever  issuing  discordant  as  well  as  angry  voices,  Lo  here! 
says  one,  and  lo  there !  says  another.  That  democracy  of 
numbers,  too,  can  pull  down  as  easily — more  easily  per- 
haps than  it  can  build  up — and  it  undoes  to-day  its  most 
solemn  acts  of  yesterday.  Not  in  the  speculative  doctrines 
of  consolidation  or  of  nullification,  of  sub-treasury  systems 
or  of  banks,  nor  yet  in  the  pendulum-swinging  of  counted 
majorities — whether  federal  or  democratic,  whether  whig 
or  tory — is  the  genuine  good,  the  enduring  and  high  glory 
of  this  nation  bound  up.  Not  Jefferson  nor  Hamilton,  not 
Webster  nor  Hayne — useful,  indispensable  as  their  func- 
tions may  have  been  and  may  still  be,  worthy  as  their 
names  may  be  of  that  high  honor  and  renown  which  they 
wear — not  they  are  the  anointed  high-priests  of  our  social 
temple ;  not  on  their  shoulders  does  the  ark  of  our  safety 
rest. 

"Who,  then,"  it  may  be  asked,  "are  the  great  among  us 
if  not  these  ? "  They  are  those  who  are  most  successful  in 
giving  to  human  nature  that  development,  relative  and  ab- 
solute, which  its  Author  has  so  evidently  made  the  indis- 
pensable condition  of  its  well-being.  They  are  those  who 
are  doing  most  for  the  direction  of  the  intellect  to  its  best 
uses,  and  especially  for  that  subordination  of  the  animal 
appetites  and  selfish  desires  to  the  moral  and  religious 
powers  which  Revelation  and  Phrenology  agree  in  declar- 
ing to  be  the  best  and  highest  good  of  man.  They  are  the 
teachers  in  our  schools  and  academies  and  colleges,  al- 


208  Appendix  D. 

though  the  relative  importance  of  these  has  been  over- 
rated. They  are  the  ministers  at  the  ahar  of  reUgion — so 
far,  and  so  far  only,  as  these  fill  the  soul  with  reverence  and 
humility  and  good-will  and  duty — warming  the  heart  with 
love  and  devotion,  instead  of  crowding  the  head  with 
theology.  They  are  mothers  at  the  fireside  and  in  the 
nursery,  guiding  the  feet  of  childhood  in  the  right  way, 
moulding  its  plastic  mind  to  a  correspondence  with  the 
good,  the  just,  the  beautiful,  and  the  true.  They  are  that 
mighty  host  of  the  dead  and  the  living  by  whom — in  their 
lives  and  in  their  writings,  in  their  works  and  in  their 
"words — Truth  and  Wisdom  are  ever  speaking  to  all  who 
are  willing  to  listen.  Even  now  a  woman,  by  the  subtle 
magic  of  her  pen,  seated  in  her  quiet  parlor  near  the  banks 
of  the  Honsatonic,  may  be  doing  more,  although  of  these 
things  she  may  not  utter  a  word,  for  the  preservation  and 
improvement  of  our  political  fabric,  for  the  strengthening 
of  the  bonds  of  our  political  union,  and  for  the  promotion 
of  our  truest  and  highest  national  glory,  than  all  the  Sena- 
tors and  Representatives  of  the  twenty-six  States  in  Con- 
gress assembled 

The  last  topic  that  I  had  intended  to  speak  upon  is  the 
relationship  which  has  been  established,  first,  between  the 
powers  of  the  mind  and  the  forms  and  phenomena  of  mat- 
ter, including  the  body;  and  secondly,  between  these  pow- 
ers and  the  various  circumstances  of  life  in  the  midst  of 
which  we  are  placed.  The  adaptation  of  the  powers  of  the 
human  mind,  and  also  of  the  organization  and  functions  of 
the  human  body  to  the  physical  constitution  of  things,  to 
the  residence  of  man  on  the  earth,  is  no  new  subject  either 
of  study  or  of  admiration.  It  constitutes,  as  you  well 
know,  one  of  the  fairest  and  richest  fields  of  natural  theol- 
ogy, and  has  long  furnished  manifold  and  significant  evi- 
dence of  the  being  and  agency  of  an  almighty  and  benev- 
olent God.  All  these  varied  and  beautiful  relationships 
and  adaptations  have  been  rendered,  by  the  clear  and  new 
light  which  Phrenology  has  shed  upon  the  faculties  of  the 
mind,  more  manifest  and  more  wonderful  than  they  had 


Progress  of  the  Natural  Seiences.  209 

ever  before  appeared.  I  pass  by  this  theme  with  reluc- 
tance. Many  voices  are  calling  out  to  us  to  stop — many 
hands  beckon  to  us  to  pause  and  to  ponder  it.  Color  holds 
to  our  eyes  her  prism  and  asks  us  to  look — Tune  touches 
her  harp-strings  and  invites  us  to  listen.  The  connection 
which  the  Creator  has  seen  fit  to  establish,  during  the  pres- 
ent state  of  our  existence,  between  the  mental  and  the 
physical  constitution  of  man — imparting,  as  this  connec- 
tion does,  to  bodily  labor  the  dignity  of  moral  action,  and 
making,  as  this  connection  so  manifestly  does,  obedience 
to  the  physiological  laws  a  moral  duty — the  relation  be- 
tween the  knowing  and  reasoning  powers  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  properties  and  laws  of  the  entire  universe  of  mat- 
ter on  the  other — accurately  adapted,  as  this  relation  is, 
to  excite  and  develop  the  perceptive  and  reflective  facul- 
ties— demonstrating,  as  it  does,  the  constantly  and  inimit- 
ably progressive  character  of  science  and  knowledge — the 
delightful  correspondence  which  exists  between  all  our  so- 
cial faculties  on  the  one  hand,  and  our  social  relations  and 
the  discipline  of  life  on  the  other — transforming  evil  into 
good,  endowing  it  with  a  blessed  and  beneficent  ministry — 
between  ideality  and  all  forms  and  expressions,  in  nature 
and  in  art,  in  spirit  and  in  matter,  of  the  beautiful — be- 
tween marvelousness  and  all  that  wonder  and  mystery  of 
man's  being  and  environment,  which  science,  instead  of 
dissipating  and  clearing  up,  only  deepens  and  increases — 
between  veneration  and  whatever  is  exalted  above  us,  its 
worthiest  and  truest  object  being  none  else  than  God  him- 
seK — between  that  supremafey  of  the  moral  and  religious 
sentiments,  which  the  Father  of  our  spirits  has  instituted, 
and  the  continual  advancement  in  all  happiness  and  well- 
being  of  humanity,  thus  rendering  this  advancement  not 
probable,  but  certain — the  necessary  and  inevitable  result 
of  man's  constitution : — all  these  and  many  other  like  con- 
siderations are  crowding  upon  us.  They  are  all  pertinent 
to  our  argument.  They  have  all  received  new  elucidation, 
new  value,  and  new  interest  from  Phrenology,  and  they 
thus  tend  in  their  turn  to  estabhsh  and  confirm  its  truth. 


APPENDIX  E. 

OBSTACLES  TO  THE  PROGRESS  OF  PHRENOLOGY. 

ITS  IMPORTANCE  TO  ALL  CLASSES  AND 

IN  THE  SCHOOLS. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  MR.  COlVrBE'S  ADDRESS,  DELIVERED  AT  THE 
AJSriOYERSARY  CELEBRATION  OF  THE  BIRTH  OF  SPURZHEIM, 
AND  THE  ORGANIZATION  OP  THE  BOSTON  PHRENOLOGICAIi 
SOCIETY,    DECEMBER   31,  1839. 

We  have  met  together  this  evening,  on  the  anniversary 
of  the  birthday  of  Dr.  Spurzheim,  to  cele^orate  the  institu- 
tion of  the  Phrenological  Society  of  Boston,  and  the  Council 
of  the  Society  has  done  me  the  honor  to  request  me  to  ad- 
dress you  on  the  occasion.  It  affords  me  much  gratifica- 
tion to  comply  with  their  desire.  In  addressing  an  Ameri- 
can audience  the  speaker  enjoys  the  inestimable  advan- 
tage of  breathing  the  air  of  Liberty ;  and  only  in  such  an 
atmosphere  can  Phrenology  flourish.  Napoleon,  on  his 
Imperial  throne,  sustained  by  five  hundred  thousand 
armed  men,  and  ruling  over^  the  prostrate  continent  of 
Europe,  feared  the  philosophers  who  investigated  the  laws 
of  mind  and  of  morals.  He  hated  metaphysicians,  moral- 
ists, and  even  jurists;  all,  in  short,  who  sought  to  analyze 
the  nature  of  man,  with  a  view  to  discover  his  rights  as 
well  as  his  duties.  He  seems  to  have  had  an  instinctive  con- 
sciousness that  if  the  human  mind  were  examined  in  its 
elements,  and  the  dictates  of  its  highest  powers  given  forth, 
the  conqueror  and  the  tyrant  would  stand  condemned  be- 
fore them.  He  disliked  Phrenology  in  particular,  and  gave 
(210) 


Obstacles  to  the  Progress  of  Phrenology.     211 

significant  hints  to  Cuvier  and  other  men  of  science  of  tho 
French  capital,  that  they  should  lend  no  countenance  to  its 
doctrines  and  pretensions.  There  was  good  reason  for  this 
conduct.  Had  the  French  people  been  taught  the  sphere 
of  activity  of  every  faculty,  instructed  in  the  great  doctrine 
of  the  supremacy  of  the  moral  sentiments,  and  enabled  to 
appreciate  the  unerring  certainty  of  that  law  of  the  Crea- 
tor which  binds  misery  to  all  abuses  of  our  faculties  and 
enjoyment  to  their  legitimate  action,  the  horrible  drama  of 
the  Revolution  could  not  have  been  enacted,  and  the  blood- 
stained Empire  of  Napoleon  could  never  have  arisen  to 
scourge  and  to  terrify  the  nations  of  Europe.  Even  the 
milder  despots  of  Austria  and  Prussia,  whose  sway  is  more 
paternal  than  that  of  the  military  conqueror,  sovereigns 
who  walk  forth  unarmed,  unguarded,  nay,  even  unat- 
tended among  their  people,  and  who  by  their  personal  vir- 
tues and  the  halo  of  a  long  line  of  ancestors,  secure  the 
willing  homage  of  their  subjects,  even  they  tq^q\  the  phi- 
losophy of  mind.  They  honor  the  philosophers  who  inves- 
tigate matter;  but  the  laws  of  the  material  universe  tell  no 
tale  of  human  rights.  When,  however,  the  mental  phi- 
losopher speaks  of  man's  intellectual  powers  as  instru- 
ments bestowed  on  him  with  the  injunction,  "Try  all 
things,  and  hold  fast  by  that  which  is  good ;"  when  he  un- 
folds sentiments  of  Benevolence,  Veneration,  Ideality,  and 
Justice,  under  the  inspirations  of  which  men  feel  that  they 
have  rights  to  enjoy  as  well  as  duties  to  perform;  when  he 
proclaims  to  the  political  bondsman  that  kings,  emperors, 
and  all  terrestrial  powers,  are  themselves  bound  by  the 
dictates  of  these  heavenly  emotions,  and  that  a  God  of 
beneficence  and  justice  knows  no  distinction  in  moral 
rights  and  duties  between  the  prince  and  the  peasant, 
then  the  philosopher  of  mind  becomes  odious  to  the  des- 
pot, whose  maxims  of  government  will  not  snstam  the 
scrutiny  of  this  searching  analysis.  The  Emperor  of  Aus- 
tria forbade  Dr.  Gall  to  lecture,  and  virtually  banished 
him  from  his  dominions.     To  this  day  the  subjects  of  Aus- 


212  Appendix  E. 

tria  and  Prussia  sigh  while  they  say,  "  Phrenology  is  the 
philosophy  of  a  free  country;  here  it  can  not  flourish." 

Where,  then,  should  this  last  and  best  gift  of  individual 
genius  to  the  family  of  mankind  bring  forth  its  blessed 
fruits,  in  richer  abundance,  than  in  this  land  of  freedom! 
Let  us,  then,  enjoy  this  liberty,  and  let  us  speak  of  Dr. 
GalFs  discovery  in  terms,  if  they  can  be  found,  adequate 
to  its  importance.  In  addressing  a  miscellaneous  audience 
a  phrenologist  is  bound,  by  the  dictates  of  correct  taste, 
to  moderate  his  language  and  veil  the  pretensions  of  his 
science,  to  such  an  extent  as  not  to  shock  too  rudely  the 
perhaps  unfavorable  prepossessions  of  those  before  whom, 
he  appears.  But  on  this  occasion  I  regard  myself  as  a 
phrenologist  (whose  opinions  are  founded  on  nearly  twen- 
ty-five years  of  observation  and  reflection  in  various  re- 
gions of  the  globe)  addressing  a  Society  of  phrenologists, 
whose  convictions  of  the  great  truths  of  the  science  are  as 
firmly  rooted  as  my  own.  While  to  them  I  may  present 
ideas  to  which  the  tyro  in  the  study  is  not  prepared  to 
assent,  I  assure  liim  that  I  cordially  allow  him  to  withhold 
his  approval;  but  I  also  very  respectfully  solicit  him  to 
restrain  his  condemnation,  and  not  to  measure  the  solidity 
of  the  foundations  on  v/hich  our  convictions  are  built  by 
the  slender  soil  on  which  he  yet  rests  his  own. 

It  is  seven  years  since  this  Society  was  instituted  (Dec. 
31,  1832)  for  the  cultivation  and  diflTusion  of  a  knowledge 
of  Phrenology ;  but  after  some  vigorous  exertions,  display- 
ing zeal  and  talent  in  its  members,  its  active  existence  has 
ceased.  In  its  splendid,  but  brief  career,  it  does  not  stand 
forth  a  monument  of  that  youthful  passion  for  novelty 
and  that  lack  of  perseverance  amidst  obstacles  and  difll- 
culties,  which  is  said  to  characterize  the  people  of  this 
young  and  ardent  nation;  but  it  has  yielded  to  the  opera- 
tion of  causes  which  have  equally,  and  in  the  same  man- 
ner, paralyzed  several  of  the  phrenological  societies  of  Eu- 
rope. It  may  be  interesting  to  trace  the  nature  of  these 
adverse  influences  whose  effects  we  deplore. 


Obstacles  to  the  Progress  of  Phrenology.     213 

I  observe,  then,  that  many  phrenological  societies  have 
perished  from  having  prescribed  to  themselves  objects  of 
too  limited  a  nature.  They  have  undertaken  chiefly  the  duty 
of  verifying  the  observations  of  Drs.  Gall  and  Spurzheim 
and  other  phrenologists,  in  regard  to  the  organs  of  the 
mind  and  their  functions;  and  have  too  seldom  embraced, 
in  their  sphere  of  action,  the  application  of  this  knowledge 
to  the  physical,  moral,  and  intellectual  improvement  of 
themselves  and  their  fellow-men ;  or,  if  this  aim  have  found 
a  place  in  the  constitution  and  laws,  it  has  not  practically 
been  carried  into  effect. 

A  knowledge  of  the  organs  and  their  functions,  and  of 
the  effects  of  their  combinations,  is  indispensable  as  a 
foundation  for  the  useful  application  of  phrenological 
science ;  and  I  have  long  been  convinced,  by  observation, 
that  the  confl^dence  of  each  disciple  in  the  power  of  his 
principles,  and  also  his  capacity  of  applying  them  to  ad- 
vantage, bears  a  relation,  ceteris  paribus,  to  his  minute 
acquaintance  with  organology.  Far  from  undervaluing, 
therefore,  the  importance  of  an  extensive  series  of  observa- 
tions in  organology,  I  emphatically  declare  my  experience 
to  be,  that  it  is  the  first  step  toward  the  formation  of  a 
true  phrenologist;  it  is  the  second  step;  and  it  is  the  third 
step  toward  the  formation  of  a  true  phrenologist.  If  any 
cause  has  contributed  more  than  another  to  the  distinction 
acquired  by  Edinburgh  as  a  school  of  this  science,  it  has 
been  the  rule  established  in  our  Society  from  its  founda- 
tion, that  the  cerebral  development  of  every  member  should 
be  taken  by  a  committee  of  the  Society  and  recorded;  and 
that  extensive  observation  of  living  heads  and  casts  should 
be  practiced.  The  Phrenological  Society  of  Aberdeen  has 
traveled  in  the  same  path,  and  it  also  has  been  eminently 
successful.  Again,  therefore,  I  f^'.ay  that  I  place  the  highest 
value  on  the  practical  department  of  the  science. 

But  experience  induces  me  to  add  that  this  department 
is  comparatively  narrow.  In  a  few  years,  an  individual  of 
ordinary  powers  of  observation  may  attain  to  a  full  knowl- 


214  Appendix  E. 

edge  of  organology  and  a  thorough  conviction  of  its  truth; 
and  if  he  stop  there,  he  will  resemble  a  geometrician,  who, 
after  having"  mastered  all  the  demonstrations  of  Euclid, 
shrinks  from  applying  them.  He  would  find  the  constant 
repetition  of  them  uninteresting  because  they  had  become 
familiar,  and  led  to  no  practical  results.  The  same  rule 
holds  good  in  Phrenology.  To  sustain  our  interest,  we 
must  proceed  to  apply  our  principles;  and  here  our  diffi- 
culties comnience.  The  most  timid  mind  may  employ  it- 
self, in  the  secret  recesses  of  its  own  study,  in  observing 
casts,  or  in  manipulating  living  heads,  and  suffer  no  incon- 
venience, except  perhaps  a  passing  smile  of  derision  from 
some  good-natured  friend,  who  esteems  his  own  ignorance 
more  excellent  than  our  knowledge.  But  when  the  phre- 
nologist advances  openly  to  the  application  of  the  princi- 
ples of  his  science,  then  the  din  of  conflict  arises.  He  in- 
vades other  men's  prejudices,  and  sometimes  assails  what 
they  conceive  to  be  their  privileges ;  for  there  are  persons 
who  claim  as  a  privilege  the  profits  which  they  may  make 
by  public  errors.  He  is  then  opposed,  misrepresented,  and 
abused;  and  as  he  is  conscious  that  his  object  is  one  of 
beneficence,  he  is  unwilling  to  accept  a  reformer's  recom- 
pense, discontinues  his  exertions,  and  the  society  becomes 
dormant.  This  fate  has  overtaken  several  phrenological 
associations  in  Britain.  They  have  shrunk  from  the  prac- 
tical application  of  their  principles,  and  consequently  sleep. 

The  time  is  not  yet,  but  will  probably  soon  arrive,  for 
resuscitating  them  into  active  existence  as  societies  for 
physiological,  moral,  and  intellectual  reform;  and  I  vent- 
ure to  prophesy,  that  whenever  they  shall  embody  a  reason- 
able number  of  members  pledged  to  the  application  of  the 
principles  of  Phrenology  in  these  great  fields  of  usefulness, 
their  success  will  be  conspicuous  and  cheering 

In  this  country,  many  excellent  men  fear  the  power 
of  the  demagogue  to  mislead  the  people.  I  should  like  to 
see  the  most  splendid  orator  who  ever  bent  a  people  to  his 
will,  address  an  assemblage  of  men  who  had  been  instructed 


Obstacles  to  the  Progress  of  Phrenology,      215 

in  Phrenology  from  their  youth,  who  had  been  trained  to 
analyze  every  thought,  word,  and  action  quickly  as  it  was 
uttered ;  before  whose  mental  vision  the  boundaries  of  good 
and  evil  had  been  made  by  this  science  to  stand  forth  as 
clear  and  well-defined  as  the  rocks  which  first  greeted  the 
eyes  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  when  they  reached  this  land 
of  their  hopes  and  fears.  I  should  rejoice  to  witness  the 
attempt  of  Demosthenes  himself,  to  instigate  such  an  as- 
sembly to  deeds  of  outrage  and  injustice  —  to  persuade 
them  that  individual  and  national  grandeur  could  be  best 
achieved  by  triumphant  propensities  and  virtues  prostrate; 
in  short,  that  the  remedy  for  all  social  evils  was  to  plunder 
the  rich,  to  degrade  the  refined  and  intelligent,  and  to  en- 
throne confident  ignorance  and  rude  propensity  in  high 
places  of  authority  and  power.  The  orator  would  be  com- 
mitted to  a  lunatic  asylum  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  the 
people,  whose  reason  he  had  thus  insulted  and  whose 
moral  emotions  he  had  outraged,  in  the  full  conviction 
that  he  was  insane.  It  is  true  that  no  candidate  for  popu- 
lar favor  would  venture  even  now  to  present  such  naked 
propositions  of  injustice  to  the  people,  but  many  daily 
offer  injurious  schemes  to  their  acceptance  thinly  clothed 
with  sophistry  and  gilded  by  passion. 

In  proportion  to  the  power  of  sifting  moral  and  political 
propositions  and  resolving  them  into  their  simple  elements, 
which  you  confer  upon  your  people,  will  be  their  dexterity 
in  stripping  off  the  ornamental  finery  from  the  sophist's 
speech,  and  in  resisting  his  appeals  to  their  passions. 
Your  institutions  call  on  your  people  to  act  on  questions 
of  great  moment,  and  often  of  much  difficulty.  They  need 
an  instrument  of  moral  analysis,  at  once  simple  and  com- 
prehensive, to  enable  them  to  do  so  with  intelligence  and 
success.  Such  an  instrument  is  Phrenology.  If  you  wish, 
therefore,  to  deprive  the  demagogue  of  every  possibility  of 
success,  teach  your  young  generation  a  sound  philosophy 
of  mind ;  you  will  find  that  it  is  also  the  handmaid  of  a 
pure  and  practical  religion 


216  Appendix  E. 

I  have  spoken  as  a  phrenologist  to  phrenologists,  who  no 
longer  doubt  the  foundations  of  the  science,  but  look  for- 
ward with  ardor  to  its  beneficial  applications.  It  is  now 
within  a  few  days  of  thirty-eight  years  since  Dr.  Gall,  the 
immortal  discoverer  of  the  functions  of  the  brain,  stood 
alone  in  the  world  as  the  author,  the  teacher,  and  the 
champion  of  the  new  philosophy.  It  gave  displeasure  to 
the  Emperor  of  Germany  and  the  Church  of  Austria,  and 
an  edict  was  issued  by  the  Emperor,  the  effect  of  which 
was  intended  to  be  the  suppression  .of  the  doctrine  and  all 
its  consequences.  On  the  9th  of  January,  1802,  Dr.  Gall 
presented  a  respectful  petition  and  remonstrance  to  the 
Government  of  his  native  country,  showing  forth  the  truth 
and  the  beneficial  applications  of  his  discovery,  and  pray- 
ing to  be  permitted  to  continue  to  teach  it  in  public  lect- 
ures. His  petition  contains  these  memorable  words:  "As 
my  doctrine  on  the  functions  of  the  brain  has  been  taught 
to  several  thousand  hearers,  and  as  it  has  been  spread 
abroad  among  a.  still  greater  number  of  persons  by  the 
sale  of  Froriep's  Treatise,  in  three  editions,  and  by  means 
of  smaller  extracts  and  notices  in  almost  -all  the  German, 
English,  and  French  journals,  it  is  no  longer  in  the  power 
either  of  myself  or  of  any  human  being  to  arrest  its  prog- 
ress, or  to  set  bounds  to  its  circulation."  The  Emperor 
was  inexorable;  the  edict  was  enforced;  Dr.  Gall,  in  the 
forty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  and  in  possession  of  a  high  and 
lucrative  practice  as  a  physician  in  Vienna,  went  into  vol- 
untary banishment  rather  than  remain  silent — and  who  is 
now  victorious  ?  The  Emperor  sleeps  in  the  tomb  and  so 
does  Dr.  Gall;  but  every  word  of  these  prophetic  lines  is 
already  realized.  Look  at  Phrenology  in  France,  in  Brit- 
ain, and  in  the  United  States  of  America.  It  already  di- 
rects lunatic  asylums;  it  presides  over  education;  it  miti- 
gates the  severity  of  the  criminal  law;  it  assuages  religious 
animosity;  it  guides  the  historian;  is  a  beacon  light  to  the 
physiologist,  and  already  has  it  incorporated  its  nomen- 
clature with  the  language  of  these  countries.  Who  now 
reigns  over  the  minds  of  the  free,  of  the  great  in  intellect, 


Obstacles  to  the  Progress  of  Phrenology.     217 

and  of  the  good  ?  Is  it  the  Emperor,  or  the  spirit  of  Dr. 
Gall  ?  Thus  it  is  ever.  Francis  of  Grermany,  stripped  of 
his  diadem,  is  an  uninteresting  individual  of  the  human 
race.  His  edict  suppressed  Phrenology  in  his  own  domin- 
ions; and  to  this  hour  they  lie  buried  in  the  darkness  of 
ignorance  and  ghostly  superstition;  while  light  and  be- 
neficence beam,  on  the  nations  around  from  the  luminary 
which  he  in  vain  endeavored  to  extinguish.  Dr.  Gall 
stands  forth  the  equal  of  Copernicus,  Galileo,  Harvey,  and 
Newton;  or,  if  discoveries  are  to  be  estimated  by  their  con- 
sequences, he  will  one  day  be  awarded  a  place  in  the  tem- 
ple of  Fame,  more  elevated  than  those  assigned  even  to 
these  illustrious  men ! 

Napoleon  frowned  on  Dr.  Gall  and  his  discoveries.  But 
where  are  now  Napoleon  and  his  Empire  !  His  body  mould- 
ers in  a  solitary  tomb,  far  from  the  scenes  of  his  energetic 
deeds,  and  his  Empire  has  crumbled  into  dust.  Has  lie 
tr'umphed  over  Dr.  Gall?  No;  the  cast  of  his  own  head 
now  serves  as  one  of  the  strongest  evidences  in  support  of 
Dr.  Gall's  discovery;  and  Napoleon,  dead^  ministers  to 
Gall's  enduring  glory! 

There  can  be  but  one  Dr.  Gall,  because  there  is  no  other 
department  of  nature  equally  important  for  man  to  know, 
with  that  which  contains  the  philosophy  of  his  own  mind; 
and  this  once  discovered,  no  equal  field  remains  to  be  ex- 
plored by  succeeding  philosophers. 

Next  to  Gall,  beyond  all  question,  stands  Dr.  Spurzheim, 
on  the  anniversary  of  whose  birth  we  are  now  assembled. 
He  has  not  the  merit  of  having  discovered  the  functions  of 
the  brain,  but  he  has  extended  the  knowledge  of  them  by 
discoveries  of  important  organs  which  Dr.  Gall  did  not 
reach,  and  he  has  taught  the  applications  of  the  whole. 
Animated  by  a  generous  devotion  to  truth,  he,  in  early 
youth,  cast  aside  the  allurements  of  ambition  and  the 
prospects  of  fortune,  and  dedicated  his  life  to  Phrenology, 
when  it  had  no  defender  except  ite  founder,  and  counted 
among  its  opponents  the  greatest  minds  of  the  scientific 
world.  But  signal  has  been  his  triumph!  In  Britain  we 
10 


218  Appendix  E. 

cherish  his  memory  with  the  deepest  reverence  and  the 
fondest  affection.  He  it  was  who  first  came,  like  a  mes- 
senger from  heaven,  to  make  known  to  us  the  new  phi- 
losophy ;  and  we  find  his  monument  in  the  good,  the  imper- 
ishable good,  which  he  has  done  to  us.  We  point,  as  you 
do,  to  improved  hospitals  for  the  insane,  managed  (to  the 
admiration  of  our  countrymen)  by  his  avowed  disciples, 
and  on  the  principles  which  he  taught;  to  our  improved 
schools,  conducted  on  his  maxims;  to  our  more  just  and 
humane  administration  of  criminal  law,  particularly  in 
cases  of  homicidal  insanity;  to  our  enlightened,  philan- 
thropic, and  philosophical  press  (for  the  journals  of  largest 
circulation  and  most  extensive  influence,  in  my  native 
country,  are  conducted  by  the  followers  of  Dr.  Spurzheim) ; 
to  our  general  advance  in  civilization ;  and  we  say  we  owe 
these  great  benefits  to  the  new  philosophy  which  Dr.  Spurz- 
heim taught  us  to  understand  and  apply. 

On  the  25th  of  January,  1828,  in  my  native  city,  and  in 
presence  of  this  illustrious  teacher,  I  publicly  acknowledged 
that  "I  owe  everything  I  possess  in  this  science  to  him; 
his  lectures  first  fixed  my  wandering  conceptions,  and  di- 
rected them  to  the  true  study  of  man;  his  personal  kind- 
ness first  encouraged  me  to  prosecute  the  study  thus 
opened  up;  and  his  uninterrupted  friendship  has  been 
continued  with  me  since,  communicating  every  new  idea 
that  occurred,  and  helping  me  in  difficulties  which  embar- 
rassed my  progress. "  I  now  stand  within  a  short  distance 
from  his  grave,  and  nearly  twelve  years  have  rolled  over 
my  head  since  these  words  were  spoken.  I  repeat  them 
here  with  redoubled  earnestness,  and  confirm  the  testi- 
mony then  given  to  the  value  of  the  gifts,  in  the  following 
words:  "  I  speak  literally,  and  in  sincerity,  when  I  say  that 
were  I  at  this  moment  offered  the  wealth  of  India,  on  con- 
dition of  Phrenology  being  blotted  from  ray  mind  forever, 
1  should  scorn  the  gift;  nay,  were  everything  I  possessed  in 
the  world  placed  in  one  hand  and  Phrenology  in  the  other, 
and  orders  issued  for  me  to  choose  one,  Phrenology,  with- 
out a  moment's  hesitation,  would  be  preferred."  .... 


APPENDIX  F. 

GEORGE   COMBE'S    LETTER  TO   THE   RIGHT  HON. 

THE  LORD  PROVOST,  MAGISTRATES,  AND 

TOWN  COUNCIL  OF  EDINBURGH. 


23  Chaklotte  Square,  Ebinburgh,  ) 
1st  July,  ISZG.     ) 
My  Lord  Proyost  and  Geisttdemen  : 

I  beg  leave  to  present  to  you  a  few  additional  testimo- 
nials which  I  have  received  from  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  to  avail  myself  of  the  occasion  to  offer  some 
explanations  regarding  the  grounds  of  my  pretensions  to 
the  Logic  chair,  which,  I  am  informed,  are  stiil  imperfectly 
understood  by  several  members  of  Council. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  if  a  chair  of  Phrenology  were 
to  be  disposed  of,  my  certificates  might  be  deserving  of  at- 
tention, but  that  they  have  no  relation  to  Logic. 

I  beg  leave  very  respectfully  to  solicit  the  attention  of 
those  who  entertain  this  opinion  to  the  following  words  of 
Mr.  Dugald  Stewart:  "I  have  always,"  says  he,  "been  con- 
vinced that  it  was  a  fundamental  error  of  Aristotle  (in 
which  he  has  been  followed  by  almost  every  logical  writer 
since  his  time)  to  confine  his  views  entirely  to  Reasoning  or 
the  discursive  faculty,  instead  of  aiming  at  the  improve- 
ment of  our  nature  in  all  its  parts If  this  remark  be 

well  founded,  it  obviously  follows  that,  in  order  to  prepare 
the  way  for  a  just  and  comprehensive  system  of  logic,  a 
previous  survey  of  our  nature  considered  as  one  compre- 
hensive whole  is  indispensably  necessary."* 


*  "Pliilosopliical  Essays,"   by  Dugald    Stewart,   Esq.;    2d  edition, 
cliap.  ii.,  pp.  61-63. 

(219)   ' 


220  Ajpjpendix  F. 

The  late  Mr.  Greorge  Jardine,  Professor  of  Logic  in  the 
University  of  Glasgow,  in  his  "  Outlines  of  Philosophical 
Education  illustrated  by  the  Method  of  Teaching  the  Logic 
Class"  in  that  University,  says:  "To  the  elements  of  the 
science  of  the  human  mind,  therefore,  I  have  recourse  on 
the  present  occasion,  as  the  mother  science,  so  to  call  it, 
from  which  all  others  derive  a^t  once  their  origin  and  nour- 
ishment. Thus  logic,  metaphysics,  ethics,  jurisprudence, 
law,  and  eloquence  have  their  common  origin  in  mind; 
....  and,  consequently,  an  intimate  acquaintance  with 
the  phenomena  of  mind  must  form  a  suitable  introduction 
to  the  study  of  every  branch  of  knowledge."— (p.  45). 

The  Royal  Com.missioners  appointed  to  visit  the  Univer- 
sities of  Scotland,  in  their  General  Report,  observe  that 
"Logic  maybe  rendered  more  elementary  and  useful  by 
being  confined  to  a  brief  and  general  account  of  the  objects 
of  human  knowledge,  the  faculties  by  which  it  is  acquired, 
and  the  rules  for  the  investigation  of  truth."— (p.  28). 

Assuming,  then,  that  the  philosophy  of  mind  is  indis- 
pensable to  the  formation  of  a  sound  and  useful  system  of 
logic,  I  beg  leave  to  observe  that  Phrenology — whatever 
notions  of  it  individuals  who  have  never  studied  it  may 
entertain — is  the  philosophy  of  the  human  mind,  based  on 
observation  of  the  mental  organs. 

The  external  senses  may  be  adverted  to  in  illustration  of 
its  nature  and  pretensions.  In  order  to  comprehend  the 
philosophy  of  vision,  it  is  necessary  to  study  the  following 
particulars : 

1.  The  structure  and  functions  of  the  eye  and  optic 
nerve,  which  are  the  organs  of  this  sense. 

2.  The  effects  of  the  condition  of  these  organs  on  the 
powers  of  vision.  One  constitution  of  the  eye,  for  instance, 
gives  distant,  another  close,  vision.  When  the  eye  is  dis- 
eased, we  may  see  green  objects  as  yellow,  or  we  may  see 
double,  or  we  may  be  altogether  incapable  of  seeing,  ac- 
cording to  the  nature  of  the  malady. 

3.  The    relations   of  external  objects  to   these   organs. 


George  Comhe^s  Letter.  221' 

This  head,  inchides  the  science  of  optics,  with  its  various 
applications  to  painting  (perspective),  astronomy  (making 
of  telescopes),  etc.,  etc. 

If  the  philosophy  of  vision  were  studied  by  merely  nam- 
ing, recording,  and  classifying  its  phenomena  without 
knowledge  of  the  structure,  functions,  diseases,  and  rela- 
tions of  the  eye,  it  would  present  precisely  the  same  ap- 
pearance which  the  philosophy  of  mind  now  exhibits  in 
the  pages  of  the  metaphysicians. 

In  studying  the  works  on  mental  philosophy  by  Dr. 
Keid,  Mr.  Dugald  Stewart,  and  Dr.  Thomas  Brown,  who 
form  the  boast  of  Scotland  in  this  department  of  knowl- 
edge, the  following  observations  strike  a  reflecting  reader: 

1.  These  authors  differ  widely  in  regard  to  the  number 
and  nature  of  the  primitive  mental  faculties. 

If  the  philosophy  of  the  senses  had  been  studied  without 
knowledge  of  their  organs,  we  should  probably  have  had, 
in  like  manner,  disputes  whether  hearing  and  seeing,  tast- 
ing and  smelling  were  distinct  senses,  or  whether,  by  some 
metaphysical  refinement,  they  could  not  all  be  referred,  to 
one  sense. 

2    They  make  no  inquiry  into  the  organs  of  the  faculties. 

3.  They  give  no  account  of  the  obvious  fact  of  different 
individuals  possessing  the.  faculties  in  different  degrees  of 
endowment  which  fit  them,  for  different  pursuits, 

4.  They  give  no  account  of  the  effects  of  disease  on  the 
m.anifestations  of  the  faculties. 

5.  They  have  given  no  philosophical  account  of  the  relar 
tions  of  external  objects  to  the  faculties,  and  can  not  do  so 
while  the  faculties  themselves  continue  unknown. 

In  consequence  of  these  imperfections,  it  is  impossible  to 
apply,  with  reasonable  success,  the  philosophy  of  mind  as 
taught  by  these  distinguished  authors  to  any  of  the  follow- 
ing purposes : 

1.  To  the  selection  of  proper  pursuits  for  individuals  ac- 
cording to  their  capacities,  or  to  the  selection  of  persons 
endowed  with  the  necessary  natural  ability  to  fill  particu- 


222  Appendix  F. 

lar  oflftces.  Men  of  penetration  accomplish  these  ends  by 
the  aid  of  their  natural  sagacity,  sharpened  by  experience, 
but  metaphysical  philosophy  affords  them  no  aid  in  doing  so. 

2.  To  the  elucidation  and  treatment  of  insanity. 

3.  To  the  exposition  of  the  relations  of  different  sciences 
to  the  human  faculties ;  an  indispensable  requisite  in  an 
effective  system  of  education. 

4.  To  the  elucidation  of  the  mental  causes  which  produce 
the  tendency  to  crime. 

5.  To  the  exposition  of  the  effects  of  the  condition  of  the 
bodily  organs  on  the  powers  of  m.ental  manifestation. 

Phrenology,  on  the  other  hand,  is  recommended  by  the 
following  considerations : 

1.  No  faculty  of  mind  is  admitted  as  primitive  until  the 
organ  by  which  it  is  manifested  be  ascertained  by  observa- 
tion. 

In  consequence,  the  phrenologists  no  more  attempt  to 
make  and  unmake  faculties  or  to  analyze  one  into  another 
than  they  would  attempt  such  feats  in  regard  to  the  exter- 
nal senses.  Every  faculty  stated  as  ascertained  in  Phre- 
nology stands  forth  as  a  distinct  mental  capacity,  whether 
of  feehng  or  of  thought,  resting  on  the  stable  foundation 
of  an  organ,  having  specific  functions  and  standing  related 
to  determinate  objects,  very  much  as  the  external  senses 
appear  when  studied  in  connection  with  their  organic  ap- 
paratus. 

2.  The  fact  is  ascertained  by  observation  that  the  power 
of  manifesting  each  of  these  faculties  bears  a  relation,  code' 
ris  paribus,  to  the  size  of  its  organ,  and  that  the  relative 
size  of  the  organs  differs  in  different  individuals. 

Hence,  it  is  possible  to  ascertain  the  strong  and  feeble 
powers  in  individual  minds  and  to  apply  this  knowledge  in 
dedicating  them  to  particular  pursuits.  The  same  knowlr 
edge  renders  it  possible  to  select  persons  enjoying  particu- 
lar mental  qualifications  to  fill  particular  ofiBlces. 

3.  The  mental  faculties  being  studied  in  relation  to  their 
organs,  their  constitution  in  health  is  philosophically  as- 


George  Corribe^s  Letter.  223 

certained,  and  it  becomes  easy  to  understand  their  appear- 
ances under  the  influence  of  disease. 

4.  The  fact  that,  cceteris  paHhus,  the  power  of  manifest- 
ing the  faculties  is  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  organs, 
enables  us  to  comprehend  how  some  individuals,  from  hav- 
ing the  organs  of  the  animal  feelings  in  excess  and  the  or- 
gans of  the  moral  emotions  in  a  state  of  deficiency,  are 
prone  to  crime ;  and  the  knowledge  of  it  aids  us  in  their 
treatment, 

5,  The  mental  faculties  being  specifically  ascertained  by 
means  of  their  organs,  it  becomes  possible  to  determine 
the  relations  in  which  they  stand  to  external  objects;  in 
other  words,  to  form  a  rational  system  of  logic  and  a  really 
philosophical  plan  of  education. 

It  is  generally  admitted  that  logic  and  mental  science  as 
at  present  taught  are  inapplicable  to  any  practical  purpose, 
except  serving  as  a  species  of  gymnastics  for  exercising  the 
mental  faculties  of  the  young. 

Professor  Jardine,  in  speaking  of  the  state  of  logic  when 
he  entered  the  University  of  Glasgow,  uses  these  words: 
''During  several  sessions  after  my  appointment  the  former 
practice  was  regularly  followed;  that  is,  the  usual  course 
of  logic  and  metaphysics  was  explained  by  me  in  the  most 
intelligible  manner  I  could — subjected,  no  doubt,  to  the 
same  animadversions  as  my  predecessor.  Though  every 
day  more  and  more  convinced  me  that  something  was 
wrong  in  the  system  of  instruction  pursued  in  this  class — 
that  the  subjects  on  which  I  lectured  were  not  adapted  to 
the  age,  the  capacity,  and  the  previous  attainments  of  my 
pupils — I  did  not  venture  upon  any  sudden  or  precipitate 
change.  Meanwhile,  the  daily  examination  of  the  students 
at  a  separate  hour  gave  me  an  opportunity  of  observing 
that  the  greater  number  of  them  comprehended  very  little 
of  the  doctrines  explained;  that  a  few  only  of  superior  abil- 
ities or  of  more  advanced  years  could  give  any  account  of 
them  at  all ;  and  that  the  greatest  part  of  the  young  men 
remembered  only  a  few  peculiar  phrases  or  technical  ex- 


224:  Ajpjpendix  F. 

pressions,  which  they  seemed  to  deliver  by  rote  unaccom- 
panied with  any  distinct  notion  of  their  meaning.  Im- 
pressed with  this  conviction,  which  the  experience  of  every 
day  tended  to  confirm,  I  found  myself  reduced  to  the  al- 
ternative of  prelecting  all  my  life  on  subjects  which  no  ef- 
fort of  mine  could  render  useful  to  my  pupils,  or  of  making 
a  thorough  and  radical  change  in  the  subject-matter  of  my 
lectures." — -(p.  28). 

Professor  Jardine  informs  us  that  he  did  make  "a  thor- 
ough and  radical  change  in  the  subject-matter  of  his  lect- 
ures "  accordingly,  and  no  doubt  he  introduced  great  im;- 
provements ;  but  you  may  easily  ascertain  by  inquiring  of 
the  students  of  the  latest  session  whether  the  foregoing  ob- 
servations are  not  in  a  great  degree  still  applicable  even 
to  the  most  improved  systems  of  logic  taught  in  the  Scot- 
tish Universities. 

On  this  subject,  indeed,  Mr.  Stewart  speaks  emphatic- 
ally. Alluding  to  the  long  prevalence  of  Aristotle's  logic, 
ho  remarks  that  ' '  the  empire  founded  by  this  philosopher 
continued  one  and  undivided  for  the  period  of  two  thou- 
sand years ;  and  even  at  this  day,  fallen  as  it  is  from  its 
form^er  grandeur,  a  few  faithful  and  devoted  veterans,  shut 
up  in  its  remaining  fortresses,  still  bid  proud  defiance  in 
their  master's  name  to  all  the  arrayed  strength  of  human 
reason."* 

"As  to  logic  in  general,"  he  observes,  "according  to  my 
idea  of  it,  it  is  an  art  yet  in  its  infancy,  and  to  the  future 
advancement  of  which  it  is  no  more  possible  to  fix  a  limit 
than  to  the  future  progress  of  human  knowledge." — (p. 
63).  Again  he  remarks  that  "to  speak  in  the  actual  state 
of  the  world  of  a  complete  system  of  logic  (if  by  that  word 
is  meant  anything  different  from  the  logic  of  the  schools) 
betrays  an  inattention  to  the  object  at  which  it  aims  and 
to  the  progressive  career  of  the  human  mind;  but,  above 
all,  it  betrays  an  overweening  estimate  of  the  little  which 


*  "Philosophical  Essays,"  p.  66. 


George  Coinbe^s  Letter.  225 

logicians  have  hitherto  done,  when  compared  with  the 
magnitude  of  the  task  which  they  have  left  to  their  suc- 
cessors."— (p.  64). 

In  accordance  with  these  remarks,  you  will  observe  that 
in  the  testimonials  presented  to  you  in  favor  of  the  cham- 
pions of  the  existing  school  no  allusion  is  made  to  the  util- 
ity of  the  doctrines  either  in  metaphysics  or  in  logic. 

The  questions  for  you  to  determine,  therefore,  are — 
Whether  the  teaching  of  logic  in  your  University  shall  be 
continued  on  a  system  which  the  experience  of  ages  has 
demonstrated  to  be  nearly  useless,  and  which  has  been 
condemned  as  barren  by  the  highest  authorities  in  mental 
philosophy ;  or  whether  you  will  endeavor  to  introduce  a 
new  system,  founded  on  the  improvements  in  mental  sci- 
ence which  have  recently  taken  place — rational,  practical, 
and  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  age.  If  the  former 
be  your  determination,  then  you  should  by  all  means  re- 
ject my  pretensions;  but  if  you  aim  at  the  latter  alterna- 
tive, I  very  respectfully  solicit  your  suffrages,  because  I 
appear  before  you  as  the  representative  of  a  new  mental 
philosophy  capable  of  affording  a  basis  for  a  sound  system 
of  logic,  and  I  have  endeavored  to  prove  by  evidence  in  my 
testimonials  that  that  system  is  founded  in  nature  and 
applicable  to  practice. 

In  forming  your  judgment  on  these  two  questions,  it 
may  not  be  without  advantage  to  bear  in  mind  that  the 
history  of  all  scientific  discoveries  establishes  the  melan- 
choly fact  that  philosophers  educated  in  erroneous  systems 
have  in  general  pertinaciously  adhered  to  them,  in  con- 
tempt equally  of  the  dictates  of  observation  and  of  mathe- 
matical demonstration.  You  can  not,  therefore,  reason- 
ably expect  that  the  masters  of  the  expiring  systems 
should  in  the  present  instance  view  with  any  favorable  eye 
the  pretensions  of  the  new.  Experience  also  shows  that  it 
is  equally  true  in  philosophy  as  in  the  affairs  of  ordinary 
life,  that  "coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before;"  in 
other  words,  that  the  opinions  of  the  young  present  the 

10* 


226  Appendix  F, 

best  index  of  the  doctrines  which  will  prevail  in  the  next 
generation.  There  is  no  instance  in  the  records  of  science 
of  the  authority  of  great  names,  even  although  sustained 
by  the  energy  of  civil  power,  proving  successful  in  perma- 
nently supporting  error  in  opposition  to  truth;  and  neither 
is  there  an  example  of  any  established  University,  which 
had  at  an  early  period  embraced  a  great  discovery  in  sci- 
ence, having  had  occasion  afterward  to  repent  of  having 
done  so. 

In  applying  these  historical  facts  as  principles  of  judg- 
ment to  the  present  case,  I  would  respectfully  remind  you 
that  Phrenology  is  now  in  the  forty-eighth  year  of  its  pro- 
mulgation, and  that  during  the  whole  period  of  its  history 
it  has  been  opposed,  ridiculed,  misrepresented,  and  con- 
temned by  almost  all  the  men  v/hose  intellectual  reputa- 
tions rested  on  the  basis  of  the  philosophy  which  it  is  ex- 
tinguishing; and  that  nevertheless  it  has  steadily  advanced 
in  public  estimation,  until  at  present — even  in  weighing 
the  mere  authority  of  names  against  names — it  stands  in 
Europe  on  an  equality  with  the  older  systems  and  in 
America  it  has  unquestionably  the  ascendency.  Farther, 
in  looking  at  the  state  of  opinion  in  your  own  city  on  the 
subject,  it  is  certain  that  while  you  will  hear  Phrenology 
condemned  by  the  more  aged  patrons  of  the  ancient  school, 
you  will  find  the  young  ardent  inquirers  into  its  doctrines. 
Your  acute  and  learned  member  of  Council,  Bailie  Macfar- 
lane,  will  correct  me  if  I  am  in  error  in  stating  that  in 
1823,  when  he  so  ably  and  eloquently  defended  Phrenology 
in  the  Royal  Medical  Society  in  this  city,  he  had  scarcely 
any  supporters;  but  that  in  proportion  as  he  persevered, 
season  after  season,  in  lifting  up  his  testimony  in  its  favor, 
he  found  himself  backed  by  a  constantly  increasing  minor- 
ity. And  I  am  informed  that  now,  so  numerous  are  its  ad- 
herents in  that  body,  that  questions  touching  its  truth  and 
merits  are  generally  carried  by  majorities  in  its  favor. 

In  nominating  a  professor  of  logic,  you  are  providing  a 
teacher  for  the  young;  and  I  very  respectfully  beg  of  you 


George  CoiJibe'^s  Letter.  227 

to  consider  whether  it  is  probable  that — with  the  testimo- 
nials in  favor  of  Phrenology  which  have  been  presented  to 
you  in  their  hands,  with  the  books  and  museums  on  the 
science  before  their  eyes,  and  with  the  constant  advocacy 
of  its  truth  by  a  highly  influential  portion  of  the  periodical 
press — the  students  of  the  rising  generation  will  readily 
bow  to  the  authority  of  a  philosophy  which  never  satisfied 
men  of  practical  understandings,  even  when  it  was  sup- 
ported by  public  opinion  and  the  highest  names,  but  which 
is  now  generally  proclaimed  as  being  useless,  and  which  is 
brought  into  competition  with  a  newer,  a  better,  and  a 
highly  practical  system  of  truth. 

I  have  been  told  that  to  rest  my  claims  on  the  truth  and 
utility  of  Phrenology  is  to  deprive  myself  of  the  benefit 
which  I  might  otherwise  have  derived  from  the  talents 
which  I  have  displayed  and  the  beneficial  uses  which  I 
have  made  of  them,  however  humble  these  may  be.  I  pro- 
fess myself  altogether  incapable  of  comprehending  this  ob- 
jection. I  found  my  pretensions  on  Phrenology  because  I 
entertain  the  sincere  conviction  that  no  rational  or  useful 
system  of  logic  can  be  reared  without  its  aid.  If  you  have 
confidence  in  the  judgment  and  good  faith  of  the  gentle- 
men who  have  honored  me  with  testimonials,  you  have 
grave  authority  for  admitting  the  reasonableness  of  this 
opinion.  To  reject  my  claims,  therefore,  because  they  are 
based  on  and  bound  up  with  Phrenology,  would  be  simply 
to  shut  your  eyes  to  doctrines  which  have  been  certified  to 
you  by  men  of  the  highest  talents  and  philosophical  repu- 
tation as  constituting  the  only  basis  of  a  sound  system  of 
logic. 

It  may  appear  to  savor  of  egotism  in  me  to  observe  fur- 
ther, that  on  your  decision  in  the  present  instance  will  de- 
pend to  some  considerable  extent  the  prosperity  and  repu- 
tation of  your  University  for  the  next  generation ;  but  I 
venture  to  do  so  because  I  speak  not  of  my  own  impor- 
tance, but  of  that  of  a  great  system  of  natural  science,  to 
the  prosperity  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh.    As  an  in- 


228  Ajpjpendix  F. 

dividual  I  am  utterly  insignificant ;  but  if  in  rejecting  me 
it  shall  be  understood  that  you  refuse  to  admit  Phrenology 
as  a  science  within  your  academic  walls,  then  you  may  in- 
jure the  Institution  over  which  you  preside. 

Phrenology  stands  in  much  the  same  relation  to  the  phi- 
losophy of  mind  and  its  applications  in  which  the  discov- 
eries of  Copernicus,  Galileo,  and  Newton  stood  to  astron- 
omy and  physical  science.  It  is  calculated  to  remove  mys- 
tic speculations  and  to  supplant  them  by  facts  and  the 
sound  inductions  of  reason.  Its  first  and  greatest  influ- 
ence will  be  felt  in  leading  to  an  important  reformation  in 
the  subjects  taught  in  classes  dedicated  to  moral  and  intel- 
lectual science.  Its  next  effect  will  extend  to  the  improve- 
ment of  education,  rendering  it  at  once  philosophical  and 
practical.  But  it  will  exert  a  still  more  extensive  influ- 
ence. Phrenology  is  the  doctrine  of  the  functions  of  the 
brain,  and  I  feel  and  aver  that  if  it  were  once  admitted  into 
your  University  as  science,  professors  of  physiology  might 
soon  find  it  prudent  to  instruct  their  pupils  in  its  princi- 
ples, else  they  would  fall  behind  their  age.  It  is  the  founda- 
tion of  the  most  rational  views  of  insanity,  and  professors 
of  medical  jurisprudence  might  find  it  proper  to  give  effect 
to  its  doctrines  in  preparing  their  pupils  for  judging  of  this 
form  of  disease.  It  affords  an  intelligible  clue  to  the  re- 
ciprocal influence  of  mind  and  body,  and  teachers  of  the 
theory  and  practice  of  medicine  might,  I  trust,  be.induced 
to  avail  themselves  of  its  lights  in  their  prelections.  But, 
while  I  say  these  things,  permit  me  to  assure  you  that  if 
placed  in  the  chair  it  would  be  my  earnest  study  as  it 
would  be  my  duty  and  interest  to  avoid  giving  offence  to 
any  one,  and  I  am  persuaded  that  I  could  teach  logic  on 
phrenological  principles  without  doing  so 

In  short,  were  the  new  philosophy  introduced  into  your 
University,  a  very  few  years  would  justify  the  wisdom  of 
your  decision ;  and  you  would  maintain  for  your  Seminary 
that  pre-eminence  as  a  seat  of  unfettered  and  liberal  study 


George  Combers  Letter.  229 

■which  it  has  already  enjoyed,  find  which  contributes  so 
greatly  to  the  fame  and  prosperity  of  the  city. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  you  shall  shut  your  eyes  to  the 
pretensions  of  the  new  science,  you  will  proclaim  to  the 
world  that  the  University  of  Edinburgh  is  not  disposed  to 
take  the  lead  in  adopting  the  new  lights  of  the  age,  and  a 
short  period  may  suffice  to  reveal  to  you  a  decline  in  its 
prosperity  which  it  may  be  extremely  difficult  to  arrest. 

I  am  aware  of  the  criticisms  to  which  I  expose  m.yself  in 
making  these  remarks,  but  criticism  has  already  done  its 
worst  on  me  and  I  have  nothing  farther  to  fear  from  its 
severity.  If  I  did  not  state  to  you  truths,  and  truths  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  the  welfare  of  your  University  and 
city,  I  should  be  bound  to  submit  to  obloquy,  because  it 
would  be  merited;  but  if  I  merely  present  to  you  facts 
founded  in  nature  and  endeavor  to  open  your  understand- 
ings to  the  perception  of  consequences  which  a  few  years 
may  reahze,  I  appeal  to  public  opinion,  when  enhghtened 
by  experience,  to  decide  on  the  merits  of  the  course  which 
I  have  pursued. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  my  Lord  Provost  and  gentlemen, 

Your  very  obedient  servant, 

George  Combe. 


APPEl^DIX  G.  H.  I. 

TESTIMOIflALS  IN  FAVOR  OP  GEORaE  COMBE  AS  A  CANDI- 
DATE FOR  THE  CHAIR  OF  LOGIC  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF 
EDINBURGH. 

From  Dr.  William  Weir,  Lecturer  on  the  Practice  of 
Medicine  at  the  Portland  Street  Medical  School,  Glasgow, 
formerly  Surgeon  to  the  Royal  Infirmary,  and  one  of  the 
Editors  of  the  Glasgow  Medical  Journal : 

Buchanan  Street,  Glasgow,  15th  April,  1836. 

I  have  much  pleasure  in  bearing  testimony  to  the  very 
superior  talents  and  high  attainments  of  George  Combe, 
Esq.,  of  Edinburgh.  I  have  been  personally  acquainted 
with  him  for  some  time,  have  frequently  heard  him  lecture, 
and  am  intimately  conversant  with  his  various  writings  on 
the  Science  of  Mind. 

Being  myself  firmly  convinced,  after  many  years'  study 
of  the  subject,  and  numerous  observations,  that  Phrenology 
is  the  true  Philosophy  of  the  Mind,  I  have  taught  it,  in  my 
lectures  delivered  to  medical  students,  as  the  correct  physi- 
ology of  the  brain;  and  I  consider  it  impossible  to  give  a 
proper  view  of  the  functions  of  the  brain  on  any  other  but . 
phrenological  principles.  In  my  lectures  on  the  Practice 
of  Medicine,  also,  I  have,  during  the  last  five  years,  applied 
the  principles  of  this  science  toward  the  elucidating  the 
nature  and  treatment  of  insanity. 

I  have  no  hesitation  in  further  stating  my  opinion,  that 
an  acquaintance  with  Phrenology  must  be  eminently  useful 
to  the  successful  teaching  of  any  branch  of  knowledge  con- 
nected with  the  human  faculties ;  and  that,  therefore,  the 

(230) 


Testimonials.  231 

application  of  its  principles  to  the  exposition  of  the  subjects 
treated  of  in  a  course  of  logic  is  absolutely  necessary,  and 
highly  conducive  to  the  proper  understanding  of  that 
science. 

Holding  these  opinions,  I  consider  Mr.  Combe,  from  his 
splendid  talents,  his  vigorous  and  enlightened  understand- 
ing, and  his  very  superior  attainments  in  philosophy,  to  be 
eminently  qaalifled  for  the  Logic  Chair  in  the  University 
of  Edinburgh.  I  know  that  he  has  devoted  a  great  portion 
of  his  time,  for  the  last  twenty  years,  to  the  study  and  the 
teaching  of  mental  science,  and  that  he  has  been  very  suc- 
cessful as  a  public  instructor.  As  a  lecturer  his  language  is 
forcible,  yet  plain  and  simple;  his  demonstrations  are  al- 
ways clear  and  easily  understood,  and  his  arguments  at 
once  logical  and  convincing.  He  possesses,  in  a  very  high 
degree,  that  aptness  for  teaching — that  power  of  communi- 
cating knowledge  to  others,  so  very  essential  to  the  in- 
structor of  youth ;  and  also  the  capability  of  fixing  the  at- 
tention of  an  audience,  so  necessary  to  render  the  subject 
interesting,  and  the  lecturer  popular  with  his  pupils.  I 
have  heard  few  lecturers  who  could  equal  Mr.  Combe  in 
these  particulars. 

Of  Mr.  Combe's  publications  it  is  scarcely  necessary  for 
me  to  speak.  They  are  in  the  hands  of  thousands.  The 
"System  of  Phrenology,"  and  "The  Constitution  of  Man 
considered  in  relation  to  External  Objects,"  are  his  two 
great  works.  In  the  former  the  principles  of  Phrenology 
are  maintained  with  evidence  and  illustrations  equally  ap- 
propriate and  conclusive,  and  with  the  dignity  and  strict 
accuracy  of  pure  inductive  science.  It  is  truly  a  compre- 
hensive system  of  m^ental  philosophy,  and  contains  rules 
for  facilitating  improvement  in  everything  connected  with 
human  happiness — education,  prison  discipline,  legislation, 
and  morals.  It  only  requires  to  be  read  by  a  mind  free 
from  hypothetical  notions  and  the  prejudice  of  authority, 
to  bring  conviction  to  the  understanding.  The  "Consti- 
tution of  Man"  is  a  true  exposition  of  the  laws  of  the 


232  Appendix  G.  H.  I. 

Creator  as  applicable  to  mankind,  and  contains  a  mass  of 
information  which  can  not  be  obtained  in  any  other  work. 
The  views  of  human  nature  laid  down  in  this  treatise  are 
perspicuous  and  profound,  and  its  tendency  has  always  ap- 
peared to  me  in  the  highest  degree  useful  and  excellent ; 
for  it  inculcates,  in  the  strongest  and  most  impressive  lan- 
guage, and  in  a  style  level  to  the  meanest  capacity,  the 
high  importance  of  cultivating  the  moral  and  intellectual 
faculties,  and  keeping  in  due  subjection  the  impulses  from 
the  lower  propensities.  These  two  publications  are  suffi- 
cient to  stamp  Mr.  Combe  as  a  writer  of  the  very  highest 
class.  The  subjects  are  treated  with  the  vigor  and  eloquence 
of  a  master,  and  every  page  exhibits  a  mind  powerful,  dis- 
criminative, and  just.  I  must  be  permitted  to  add,  that  the 
perusal  of  these  and  his  other  writings  has  been  to  me  the 
source  of  much  instruction  and  very  great  pleasure  ;  and  it 
consists  with  my  knowledge,  that  they  have  afforded  the 
same  to  very  many  within  my  own  circle. 

Will.  Welr. 


From  Dr.  John  Elliotson,  F.R.S.,  President  of  the  Royal 
Medical  and  Chirurgical,  and  of  the  London  Phrenological 
Societies;  Professor  of  the  Principles  and  Practice  of 
Medicine  and  of  Clinical  Medicine,  and  Dean  of  Faculty,  in 
the  University  of  London;  Senior  Physician  of  the  North 
London  Hospital ;  Fellow  of  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians 
of  London;  formerly  Physician  to  St.  Thomas'  Hospital, 
and  President  of  the  Royal  Medical  Society  of  Edinburgh, 
etc.,  etc.,  etc.: 

Conduit  Street,  London,  April  23,  1836. 
Dr.  EUiotson  takes  the  opportunity  of  a  distinguished 
phrenologist  offering  himself  for  the  chair  of  Logic  in  the 
University  of  Edinburgh,  to  state,  that  metaphysics,  or 
mental  philosophy,  have  formed  a  favorite  study  with  him 
from  his  youth,  and  ttiat  he  has  carefully  read  a  large  num- 


Testimonials.  233 

ber  of  the  best  writers  on  the  subject — but  that  he  feels  con- 
vinced of  the  phrenological  being  the  only  sound  view  of 
the  mind,  and  of  Phrenology  being  as  true,  as  founded  in 
fact,  as  the  science  of  Astronomy  or  Chemistry.  Twenty 
years  have  elapsed  since  his  attention  was  first  directed  to 
it,  and,  during  the  whole  period,  a  day  has  not  passed  with- 
out some  portion  being  devoted  to  its  consideration.  His 
opinions  have  been  published  in  his  notes  to  a  translation 
of  "  Blumenbach's  Physiology,"  which  has  gone  through 
many  editions,  as  well  as  in  papers  which  have  appeared  in 
periodicals.  He  always  taught  it  in  his  lectures  upon  in- 
sanity when  he  had  the  chair  of  the  Practice  of  Medicine  in 
St.  Thomas'  Hospital ;  and  notwithstanding  this  was  stated, 
he  understands,  to  the  University  of  London  when  he 
offered  himself  for  the  chair  of  the  Practice  of  Medicine  in 
that  institution,  he  was  unanimously  elected  to  that  chair, 
and  has  not  only  discussed  the  subject  of  insanity  there, 
ever  since,  upon  phrenological  principles,  as  the  only  ones 
by  which  a  person  can  have  any  knowledge  of  insanity,  but 
has  premised  a  statement  and  defence  of  Phrenology  on 
arriving  at  that  department  of  his  course.  He  must  add, 
that  none  but  those  who  are  totally  ignorant  of  Phrenology 
regard  it  as  a  means  of  merely  discovering  natural  powers 
and  dispositions  by  external  signs.  Those  who  have  studied 
it  know,  indeed,  that  the  natural  powers  and  dispositions 
are,  coeteris  paribus,  in  conformity  with  the  size  of  the 
various  parts  of  the  brain;  but  they  know  likewise,  that 
Phrenology  unfolds  the  only  satisfactory  account  of  the 
mind,  human  and  brute;  that  it  contributes  to  establish 
the  surest  foundation  for  legislation,  education,  and  morals., 
and  presents  a  large  department  of  nature  in  the  noblest, 
grandest,  and  the  only  satisfactory  point  of  view;  and  that 
those  who  reject  or  neglect  Phrenology,  are  lamentably 
ignorant  of  much  which  they  fancy  they  know,  and  de- 
prive themselves  not  only  of  much  intellectual  delight,  but 
of  much  practical  utility ;  and,  compared  with  phrenologists, 
remain  as  men  of  some  centuries  past. 


234  Appendix  Q,  H.  I. 

If  such  is  Phrenology,  he  feels  justified  in  expressing  his 
opinion,  that  no  one  could  be  found  more  fitted  for  the 
chair  of  Logic  than  Mr.  Combe,  and  scarcely  any  one  so  fit. 


From  James  Johnson,  M.D.,  Physician  Extraordinary 
to  the  King,  Editor  of  the  Medico-Chirurgical  Review ^ 
etc.,  etc. 

Suffolk  Place,  Pall-Mall  Easter,  ) 
London,  3d!  May,  1836.  ' 

To  GrEORGE  CoMBE,  Esq. : 

I  have  long  been  acquainted  with  the  writings  of  Mr. 
Gombe,  and  have  considered  them  as  exhibiting  the  most 
rational  and  enlightened  views  of  the  human  mind,  as  re- 
vealed through  the  organ  of  Mind,  in  this  our  sublunary 
state  of  existence.  I  have  long  been  convinced  that  the 
science  of  Mind  can  only  be  understood  and  taught,  prop- 
erly, by  those  who  have  deeply  studied  the  structure  and 
functions  of  its  material  instrument — the  brain.  I  am  con- 
vinced that,  in  this  world.  Mind  can  be  manifested  only 
through  the  medium  of  matter,  and  that  the  metaphysician 
who  studies  Mind  independent  of  its  corporeal  organ,  works 
in  the  dark,  and  with  only  half  of  his  requisite  tools. 

Without  subscribing  to  all  the  details  of  Phrenology,  I 
believe  its  fundamental  principles  to  be  based  on  truth ; — 
and,  as  a  profound  phrenologist,  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
stating  my  conviction,  that  Mr.  Combe  is  eminently  quali- 
fied to  teach  the  manifestations  of  the  immortal  spark 
through  the  medium  of  its  perishable  instrument  on  earth. 

James  Johnson,  M.  D. 


APPENDIX    J. 


The  following  is  taken  from  Mr.  Capen's  "Biography  of 
Spurzheim  "  : 

The  additions  which  Dr.  Spurzheim  made  to  the  num- 
ber of  the  fundamental  faculties,  not  before  admitted  by 
Dr.  Grail,  are  eight.  But  it  is  not  the  number,  it  is  the 
spirit  of  these  modifications  which  phrenologists  principally 
admire. 

We  present  a  diagram  of  the  system  such  as  Dr.  Gall 
made,  and  another  comprising  Dr.  Spurzheim's  latest  modi- 
fications. 

SYSTEM  AS  LEFT   BY   DR.    GALL. 

"No.  1.  Zeugunstrieh — the  instinct  of  generation. 

No.  2.  Jungenliebe,  Kinderliehe — the  love  of  offspring. 

No.  3.  Anhdngliclikeit — friendship,  attachment. 

No.  4.  Muth,  Raufsinn — courage,  self-defence. 

No.  5.  Wurgsinn — murder,  the  wish  to  destroy. 

No.  6.  List,  Schlauheit,  KlugTieit — cunning. 

No.  7.  Eigenthumsinn — the  sentiment  of  property. 

No.  8.  Stolz,  Hochnhuth,  Herschsucht — ^pride,  self-esteem, 
haughtiness. 

No.  9.  Eitelkeit,  Rhumsucht,  Ehrgeitz — vanity,  ambition. 

No.  10.  Behuthsarnkeit,  vorsicht,  Vorsichtigkeit — cautious- 
ness, foresight,  prudence. 

No.  11.  Sachgeddchtniss,  Erzichungs-faTiigkest — the  mem- 
ory of  things,  educability. 

No.  13.  Oatsum,  Raumsinn — local  memory. 

(235) 


236  •  Appendix  J. 

JSTo.  13.  Personensinn — tbe  memory  of  persons. 

No.  14.  Wortgeddchtniss — verbal  memory. 

No.  15.  SpracTiforscliungssinn — m.em.ory  for  languages. 

No.  16.  Farbensinn — colors. 

No.  17.  Tonsinn — music. 

No.  18.  Zahlensinn — number. 

No.  19.  Kunstsinn — aptitude  for  the  mechanical  arts. 

No.  20.  Vergleichender,  ScJiarfsinn — comparative  sagacity, 
aptitude  for  drawing  comparisons. 

No.  21.  MetaphysisGhei\  T^'e/^m^z— metaphysical  depth  of 
thought,  aptitude  for  drawing  conclusions. 

No.  22.   W^fe— wit. 

No.  23.  Bichtergeist — poetry. 

No.  24.  GutmiXthigkeit^  mitleiden — good  nature. 

No.  25.  Barstellungssinn — mimicry. 

No.  26.  TlieosopTiie — theosophy,  religion. 

No.  27.  Festigkeit — firmness  of  character. 


*' Philosophers,"  said  Spurzheim,  in  one  of  his  lectures, 
"have  merely  spoken  of  the  general  manifestations  of  the 
mind,  and  have  given  names  to  them;  but  we  must  be 
more  particular,  we  must  specify  the  powers,  and  hence 
we  are  obliged  either  to  speak  in  circumlocution,  or  to  give 
new  names.  Some  people  say  they  do  not  hke  new  names, 
but  if  I  have  an  idea,  must  I  not  give  it  a  sign  ?  If  the  first 
man  gives  names  to  all  things  known  to  him,  and  if  in  future 
ages  things  are  discovered  not  known  before,  must  we  not 
name  them  ?  I  will  not,  however,  dispute  about  names, 
only  let  us  have  the  powers  kept  distinct ;  I  am  ready  to 
change  the  names,  at  any  time,  if  any  person  will  suggest 
better." 


Dr.  Spurzheim's  arrangement  of  the  faculties  is  comprised 
in  orders,  genera,  species,  etc. 


Systems  of  Gall^  Spurzheim^  a/tid  Combe.      237 


SYSTEM  AS  MODIFIED   BY  SPURZHEIM. 

Special  Faculties  of  the  Mind.   Order  I.  — Feelings,  or  Affec- 
tive Faculties.     Geis'US  I. — Propensities. 

4.  Adhesiveness. 


Desire  to  Live. 
Alimentiveness. 

1.  Destructiveness. 

2.  Amativeness. 

3.  PMloprogenitiveness. 


5.  Inhabitiveness. 

6.  Combativeness. 

7.  Secretiveness. 

8.  Acquisitiveness. 


9.  Constructiveness. 

Genus  II. — Sentiments. 
10.  Cautiousness.  16.  Conscientiousness. 


11.  Approbativeness. 

12.  Self-esteem. 

13.  Benevoleiice. 

14.  Reverence. 

15.  Firmness. 


17.  Hope. 

18.  Marvellousness. 

19.  Ideality. 

20.  Mirthfulness. 

21.  Imitation. 


Order  II. — Intellectual  Faculties.      Genus  I. — External 

Senses. 


Voluntary  motion.                     Smell. 

Feeling.                                         Hearing. 

Taste.                                           Sight. 

Genus  II. — Perceptive  Faculties. 

23. 

Individuality.                           38.  Order. 

23. 

Configuration.                          29.  Calculation. 

24. 

Size.                                           30.  Eventuality. 

25. 

Weight,  and  resistance.         31.  Time. 

26. 

Coloring.                                    32.  Tune. 

27. 

Locality.                                    38.  Artificial  Language, 

Genus  III. — Reflective  Faculties. 
84.  Comparison.  35.  Causality. 


238  Ajpjpendix  J. 

To  take  a  comparative  view  of  these  distinguished  phi- 
losophers, and  to  say  which  was  the  greater  of  the  two,  Gall 
or  Spurzheim,  is  a  task  that  we  leave  for  abler  hands  to 
perform.  Both  had  their  points  of  strength  and  originality, 
and  they  both  excelled  in  whatever  they  attempted  to  ac- 
complish. 


SYSTEM  AS  MODIFIED  BY   GEORGE   COMBE. 

CliASSIFICATIONS  OF  OliaANS. 

Order  I. — Feelings.    Genus  I. — Propensities. 

1.  Amativeness.  6.  Destructiveness. 

2.  Philoprogenitiveness.  Alimentiveness. 

3.  Concentrativeness.  Love  of  Life. 

4.  Adhesiveness.  7.  Secretiveness. 

5.  Combativeness.  8.  Acquisitiveness. 

9.  Constructiveness. 

Genus  II. — Sentiments  common  to  Man  with  the  Lower 

Animals. 

10.  Self-esteem.  11.  Love  of  Approbation. 

12.    Cautiousness. 

Genus  III. — Superior  Sentiments. 

13.  Benevolence.  17.  Hope. 

14.  Veneration.  18.  Wonder. 

15.  Firmness.  19.  Ideality. 

16.  Conscientiousness.  20.  Wit,  or  Mirthfulness. 

21.  Imitation. 

Order  II.  —  Intellectual  Faculties.  Genus   I.  —  External 

Senses. 
Feeling,  or  Touch.  Hearing. 

Taste.  Smell.  Sight. 


Systems  of  Gall,  Spurzheiniy  and  Combe.      239 


Genus  II. — Intellectual  Faculties  which  perceive  Existence 
and  Physical  Quahties. 

22.  Individuality.  24.  Size. 

23.  Form.  25.  Weight. 

26.  Coloring. 

GEifUS  III. — Intellectual  Faculties  which  perceive  relations 
of  External  Objects. 

27.  Locality.  29.  Order.  31.  Time. 

28.  Number.  30.  Eventuahty.  32.  Tune. 

33.  Language. 

Genus  IV. — Reflecting  Faculties. 
34.  Comparison.  35.  Causality. 


appe:^dix  k. 


In  connection  with  the  subject  of  Self-Knowledge,  we 
would  commend,  as  an  important  aid,  the  little  volume  of 
Spurzheim's  entitled  "Philosophical  Catechism  of  the 
Natural  Laws  of  Man.'' 

It  commences  with  a  chapter  on  Generalities^  giving  pre- 
liminary definitions,  and  is  divided  into  sections : 

Section  1.— Of  the  Vegetative  Laws  of  Man. 

Sec.  II. — Of  the  Intellectual  Laws  of  Man. 

Sec.  III.— 0/  the  Moral  Laws. 

Chapter  I. — Of  Morality. 

Chap.  II. — Of  Religion  ;  1,  Of  Religion  in  General;  2,  Of 
Natural  Religion ;  3,  Of  Revealed  Religion ;  4,  Of  Chris- 
tianity;  5,   Of  Church  Religion. 

The  Preface  of  the  author  indicates  the  value  of  the 
book,*  and  it  is  inserted  here  in  the  hope  that  it  will  influ- 
ence our  readers  not  only  to  add  it  to  their  libraries,  but  to 
study  its  lessons  : 

PREFACE. 

Men  have  long  been  treated  as  children ;  they  have  been 
taught  that  ignorance  and  credulity  are  virtues,  and  that 
fear  is  wisdom;  and  that  they  may  glorify  God  by  flattery 
rather  than  by  moral  excellency.     Arbitrary  regulations  of 


*  "  Natural  Laws  of  Man.  A  Philosophical  Catechism."  Sixth  Edi- 
tion. Enlarj^ed  and  improved.  One  IGrao  vol.,  171  pp.,  muslin,  50  cents. 
FowLEK  &  Wells,  Publishers,  753  Broadway,  New  York. 

(240) 


SjpurzheiwC s  "  GatechismP  241 

* 

all  sorts  have  been  imposed  upon  them,  and  blind  and  un- 
conditional obedience  to  these  required.  Words  too  often 
satisfy  them;  and  the  less  they  understand,  the  more  do 
they  generally  deem'  it  incumbent  on  them  to  admire;  sen- 
sual gratifications  have  proved  sufficient  inducements  for 
them  willingly  to  follow  the  good  pleasure  of  their  masters. 
Even  religion,  in  one  or  another  form,  has  been  an  engine 
to  crush  the  human  mind.  This  was,  at  all  times,  more  or 
less  the  deplorable  condition  of  mankind.  Those  who,  even 
in  our  days,  make  exception,  are  comparatively  few  in 
number. 

The  following  pages  are  written  with  a  view  to  ascertain 
whether  or  not  the  human  kind  be  susceptible  of  better 
treatment;  and  whether  or  not  the  arbitrary  legislation  of 
man,  that  has  hitherto  been,  and  must  always  be,  but 
temporary,  and  of  limited  application,  might  not  advan- 
tageously give  place  to  a  code  of  immutable  laws,  which, 
established  by  the  Creator,  and  not  adapted  to  a  single 
family,  to  a  particular  nation,  to  an  age,  but  to  all  man- 
kind, and  to  all  times,  are  calculated  to  endure  as  long  as 
the  species  remains. 

It  is  of  the  highest  importance  to  demonstrate  the  ex- 
istence of  such  laws,  although  it  may  happen  that  govern- 
m^ents  and  nations  themselves  will  oppose  their  adoption. 
But  this  opposition  will  not  annihilate  the  reality  of  the 
NATURAL  CODE,  and  communities  will  certainly  feel  dis- 
posed to  receive,  will  even  demand  it,  in  proportion  as  they 
become  enlightened ;  they  will  also  be  worthy  of  it  in  pro- 
portion as  they  become  virtuous. 

I  shall  consider  my  subject  under  the  form  of  question 
and  answer,  the  better  to  fix  the  attention  of  my  reader. 
My  sole  intention  is  to  contribute  to  the  amelioration  of 
man;  that  is  to  say,  to  combat  his  ignorance  and  his  im- 
morality, and  to  point  out  the  means  of  making  him  better 
and  happier,  by  insisting  particularly  on  the  necessity  of 
his  fulfilling  the  laws  of  his  Creator. 

Some  may  be  of  opinion  that  I  might  here  have  avoided 
11 


242  Appendix  K. 

the  introduction  of  any  question  upon  religion  and  mor- 
ality. I,  however,  think  it  incumbent  on  a  philosopher  to 
examine  all  that  enters  into  the  nature  of  man,  and  to 
*'  holdfast  that  which  is  good.''''  Now,  man  being  positively 
endowed  with  moral  and  religious  feelings,  as  well  as  with 
vegetative  functions  and  intellectual  faculties,  it  was  my 
business  to  speak  of  the  former  as  well  as  of  the  latter.  Nay, 
true  religion  is  central  truth;  and  all  knowledge,  in  my 
opinion,  should  be  gathered  round  it. 

I  lament  the  continual  war  which  philosophers,  moralists, 
and  divines  have  hitherto  waged.  They  have  only  mutu- 
ally disparaged  their  inquiries,  and  retarded  the  knowledge 
and  happiness  of  man.  Would  they  consent  to  lay  aside 
vanity,  pride,  and  self-interest,  they  would  perceive,  and 
might  display,  the  harmony  that  exists  between  the  will  of 
God  and  His  gift  of  intelligence. 


APPENDIX    L. 


The  following  extracts  are  taken  from  a  volume  entitled 
"Life  and  Education  of  LAURA  Dewey  Bridgman,  the 
Deaf,  Dumb,  and  Blind  Girl."  By  Mary  Swift  Lamson. 
With  an  Introduction,  by  Edwards  A.  Park,  Andooer 
Theological  Seininary.  The  volume  embraces,  also,  an  ac- 
count of  Oliver  Caswell,  the  deaf,  dumb,  and  blind 
boy. 

This  is  a  most  important  and  interesting  book  of  above  four 
hundred  pages,  and  many  will  be  inclined  to  add  it  to  their 
libraries  when  informed  that  the  profits  arising  from  the 
sales  will  be  appropriated  for  the  benefit  of  Laura  D.  Bridg- 
MAN.  It  is  illustrated  with  portraits  and  specimens  of  writ- 
ing. It  is  for  sale  at  the  low  price  of  $1. 50,  a,t  the  Office  of 
Perkins'  Institution  for  the  Blind,  No.  37  Avon  Street, 
Boston  : 

Laura  Dewey  Bridgmaist  was  born  Dec.  21,  1829,  in 
Hanover,  N.  H.  She  was  the  child  of  Daniel  and  Harmony 
Bridgman. 

Mrs.  Mary  Swift  Lamson  says:  "For  the  interesting  ac- 
count which  follows,  I  am  indebted  to  Mrs.  L.  H.  Morton 
(Miss  Drew),  of  Halifax,  Mass.,  who  assisted  Dr.  Howe  in  all 
these  early  lessons,  and  who  continued  to  be  Laura's 
teacher  for  several  years.     She  writes  as  follows: 

"  'Laura  was  a  healthy  little  girl,  with  very  fair  complex- 
ion and  light-brown  hair;  and  there  was  nothing  in  her 
appearance  to  distinguish  her  from  the  other  little  blind 

(243) 


244  Appendix  L. 

girls,  except  that  she  was  more  quiet  and  undemonstrative. 
Ttiis  was,  perhaps,  because  all  were  strangers  to  her .  She 
first  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  matron,  Mrs.  Smith,  to 
whom  she  seemed  to  be  especially  attracted,  whose  greet- 
ings would  light  up  her  face  with  smiles,  while  she  returned 
her  caresses  with  interest.  She  spent  her  time  in  knitting, 
and  would  take  her  work  to  Mrs.  Smith  if  she  dropped  a 
stitch,  and  smile  quietly  as  it  was  returned,  with  a  sign  of 
approbation. 

"  '  At  this  time  she  uttered  only  a  little  pleasant  noise ; 
but  as  she  became  better  acquainted,  this  grew  louder  and 
very  disagreeable. 

"  'When  I  had  been  with  her  a  few  days,  and  she  became 
accustomed  to  being  led  about  by  me,  I  took  her  one  morn- 
ing to  the  nursery;  and  having  seated  her  by  a  table,  Dr. 
Howe  and  myself  commenced  her  first  lesson.  He  had  had 
printed,  in  the  raised  letters  used  by  the  blind,  the  names 
of  many  common  objects,  such  as  knife,  fork,  spoon,  key, 
bed,  chair,  stove,  door,  etc.,  and  had  pasted  some  of  the 
labels  on  the  corresponding  articles.  First  we  gave  her  the 
word  "knife"  on  the  slip  of  paper,  and  moved  her  fingers 
over  it,  as  the  blind  do  in  reading.  Then  we  showed  her 
the  knife,  and  let  her  feel  the  label  upon  it,  and  made  to 
her  the  sign  which  she  was  accustomed  to  use  to  signify 
likeness,  viz,  placing  side  by  side  the  forefingers  of  each 
hand.  She  readily  perceived  the  similarity  of  the  two 
words. 

"  'The  same  process  was  repeated  with  other  articles. 
This  exercise  lasted  three-quarters  of  an  hour.  She  re- 
ceived from  it  only  the  idea  that  some  of  the  labels  were 
alike,  and  others  were  unlike.  The  lesson  was  repeated  in 
the  afternoon,  and  on  the  next  day,  and  about  the  third 
day  she  began  to  comprehend  that  the  words  on  the  slips 
of  paper  represented  the  object  on  which  they  were  pasted. 
This  was  shown  by  her  taking  the  word  "chair''  and  plac- 
ing it  first  upon  one  chair  and  then  upon  another,  while  a 
smile  of  intelfigence  lighted  her  hitherto  puzzled  counte- 


Laura  Dewey  Bridgman.  245 

nance,  and  her  evident  satisfaction  assured  us  that  she  had 
mastered  her  first  lesson.  In  succeeding  lessons,  the  label 
having  been  given  her,  she  would  search  for  the  article, 
and  having  found  it,  place  it  upon  it.  Then  the  operation 
was  reversed,  and  having  the  article  given,  she  found  the 
proper  label. 

"  'Thus  far  she  had  studied  the  words  as  a  whole,  and 
it  was  now  desirable  to  have  her  form  them  herself  from, 
their  component  letters.  Mr.  S.  P.  Ruggles,  who  had 
charge  of  the  printing  department,  was  caUed  upon  to  con- 
struct a  case  of  metal  types.  This  contained  four  sets  of 
the  alphabet,  and  afforded  her  much  amusement  as  well  as 
profit.  She  seemed  never  to  tire  of  setting  up  the  types  to 
correspond  with  the  printed  words  with  which  she  was 
already  famiUar.  All  the  letters  of  one  alphabet  were  kept 
arranged  in  theu*  proper  order,  while  she  used  the  others. 
In  less  than  three  days  she  had  learned  this  order,  as  was 
found  by  taking  all  the  types  from  the  case,  and  making  a 
sign  to  her  to  rearrange  them,  which  she  did  without  as- 
sistance. 

"  'During  the  time  of  her  earliest  instruction,  it  was 
necessary  to  use  many  signs.  These  were  laid  aside,  how- 
ever, as  soon  as  we  had  something  better  to  supply  their 
place.  As  a  mark  of  approval,  I  stroked  her  hair  or  patted 
her  upon  the  head;  of  disapproval,  knocked  her  elbow 
lightly. 

"  '  Whenever  she  overcame  a  difficulty,  a  peculiarly  sweet 
expression  lighted  up  her  face,  and  we  perceived  that  it 
grew  daily  more  intelligent. 

"  '  It  was  nearly  two  months  before  any  use  was  made  of 
the  manual  alphabet.  At  this  time  Dr.  Howe  gave  me  a 
letter  of  introduction  to  Mr.  Greo.  Loring,  who  was  a  deaf- 
mute  and  a  graduate  from  the  institution  at  Hartford.  In 
one  afternoon  he  taught  me  the  alphabet,  and  the  next  day 
I  began  to  teach  it  to  Laura,  showing  her  the  position  of 
the  fingers  to  represent  each  of  the  types  which  she  had 
been  using. 


246  Ajppendix  L. 

"  'The  method  of  teaching  her  new  words  afterward  was 
as  follows:  To  let  her  examine  an  object,  and  then  teach 
her  its  name  by  spelling  it  with  my  fingers.  She  placed  her 
right  hand  over  mine,  so  that  she  could  feel  every  change 
of  position,  and  with  the  greatest  anxiety,  watched  for  each 
letter;  then  she  attempted  to  spell  it  herself;  and  as  she 
mastered  the  word,  her  anxiety  changed  to  delight.  Next 
she  took  her  board,  and  arranged  the  types  to  spell  the 
same  word,  and  placed  them  near  the  object,  to  show  that 
she  understood  it. 

"  'She  very  soon  perceived  that  spelling  the  words  in 
this  way  was  much  more  rapid,  and  attended  with  much 
less  difficulty  than  the  old  method  with  types,  and  im- 
mediately applied  it  practically.  I  shall  never  forget  the 
first  meal  taken  after  she  appreciated  the  use  of  the  finger 
alphabet.  Every  article  that  she  touched  must  have  a 
name;  and  I  was  obliged  to  call  some  one  to  help  me  wait 
upon  the  other  children,  while  she  kept  me  busy  in  spell- 
ing the  new  words.  Dr.  Howe  had  been  absent  for  some 
time,  and  on  his  return  was  much  delighted  with  the  prog- 
ress she  had  made,  and  at  once  learned  the  manual  alpha- 
bet himself. 

"  'After  she  had  learned  a  hundred  or  more  common 
nouns,  we  began  to  teach  her  the  use  of  verbs.  The  first 
were  shut,  open  ;  shut  door,  open  door,  accompanying  the 
spelling  of  the  word  by  the  act.  In  this  way  she  learned 
those  in  constant  use,  and  then  we  taught  her  adjectives, 
and  the  names  of  individuals.  In  a  very  short  time  she 
had  learned  the  names  of  all  our  large  family. 

"  '  After  a  year  she  began  to  learn  to  write.  A  pasteboard 
with  grooved  lines,  such  as  the  blind  use,  was  placed  be- 
tween the  folds  of  the  paper  ;  a  letter  was  pricked  in  stiff 
paper,  so  that  she  might  feel  its  shape,  and  then  her  right 
hand,  holding  the  pencil,  was  guided  to  form  it,  the  fore- 
finger of  the  left  hand  following  the  point  of  the  pencil, 
guiding  the  writing  and  keeping  the  spaces  between  the 
letters.  She  did  not  learn  to  write  well  as  quickly  as  many 
of  the  blind  children. 


Laura  Dewey  Bridgman.  247 

'*  *  She  was  very  social,  and  always  wished  to  have  some 
one  sit  beside  her  or  walk  with  her,  and  she  taught  her  lit- 
tle blind  friends  the  finger  alphabet. 

"  '  One  day  I  was  passing  the  door  of  the  linen -room,  and 
saw  her  standing  upon  a  chair,  examining  the  contents  of 
an  upper  drawer.  It  contained  pieces  of  ribbon  and  laces  be- 
longing to  the  matron.  She  took  them,  out,  felt  of  the  smooth 
satin  and  the  delicate  lace,  soUloquized  with  her  fingers, 
and  made  a  motion  as  if  to  appropriate  them,  then  knocked 
her  elbow  (the  sign  of  wrong),  and  after  some  hesitation 
replaced  them.  This  was  repeated  several  times,  and  then 
I  went  to  her,  and  took  her  hand  as  if  wishing  to  speak  to 
her,  when  an  expression  of  conscious  guilt  overspread  her 
face.  I  made  her  understand  by  signs  that  she  must  not 
meddle  with  what  did  not  belong  to  her.  She  said,  ' '  Laura 
wrong,  no  ;  Laura  right,"  patting  her  own  head,  and  show- 
ing me  that  she  had  not  taken  anything,  but  I  knew  that 
she  had  been  under  great  temptation  and  had  triumphed 
over  it. 

"  '  I  accompanied  her  on  her  first  visit  to  her  home  in 
Hanover,  in  1839.  Her  father  met  us  in  Lebanon,  and  as 
he  took  her  hand  she  recognized  him,  and  I  taught  her  the 
word  "father,"  She  had  seen  her  mother  a  year  before, 
and  had  learned  the  word  "mother"  at  the  time  of  her  visit 
at  the  Institution.  Before  Laura  could  be  persuaded  to 
take  off  her  cloak  and  bonnet,  after  arriving  at  home, 
she  took  me  over  the  whole  house,  showing  me  everything, 
and  inquiring  the  names  of  things  which  she  had  not 
learned  about  in  Boston.  In  an  unfinished  room  were  a 
loom  and  spinning  wheel.  These  she  had  seen  (felt)  her 
mother  use,  and  was  very  anxious  for  their  names.  Then 
she  led  me  to  the  bee-hive  to  know  what  that  was. 

"  '  At  this  time  she  was  very  shy  of  gentlemen,  and  would 
hardly  approach  any  one  but  Dr.  Howe,  and  I  thought  she 
might  repel  her  father,  and  her  old  friend  Mr,  Tenny,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  she  was  much  pleased  to  walk  with  him, 
as  she  had  been  in  the  habit  of  doing  before  she  left  home. 


24:8  Appendix  L, 

*' '  She  was  anxious  to  have  her  mother  talk  with  her,  and 
began  at  once  to  teach  her  the  alphabet. 

"  '  She  seemed  so  happy  to  be  at  home  that  I  feared  she 
might  object  to  return  with  me,  but  at  the  end  of  a  fort- 
night she  was  quite  willing  to  go,  and  left  her  mother  very 
calmly.'  " 

OLH^R  CASWELL'S  FIRST  LESSOIST. 

''For  the  benefit  of  any  future  case  of  similar  affliction,  I 
have  thought  it  desirable  to  describe  minutely  the  first 
lessons  given  to  Oliver  Caswell,  a  deaf,  dumb,  and  blind 
boy  who  entered  the  Institution  at  South  Boston,  Septem- 
ber 30, 1841,  at  the  age  of  twelve  years,  having  lost  his 
senses  when  three  years  and  four  months  old  by  scarlet 
fever.  Lucy  Reed,  also  deaf,  dumb,  and  blind,  had  been 
received  in  the  previous  February,  but  remained  only  five 
months,  having  returned  to  her  home  two  months  previous 
to  Oliver's  arrival. 

"  l^ot  having  become  acquainted  with  Laura  until  she  had 
been  two  years  and  a  half  under  instruction,  I  was  much  in- 
terested in  watching  Lucy's  progress,  the  course  of  training 
being  the  same  as  that  which  was  adopted  for  Laura,  and 
which  has  been  described  in  the  preceding  pages.  Four 
months  elapsed  before  Lucy  attached  any  significance  to 
the  process  she  was  required  to  go  through  several  times  a 
day,  of  feeling  the  letters  in  raised  type  composing  the  va- 
rious labels,  which  were  placed  upon  a  few  common  objects, 
and  moving  her  fingers  in  certain  directions  to  correspond 
with  them.  Her  ungoverned  will  and  stolid  indifference 
were  undoubtedly  serious  obstacles  to  her  progress,  but  it 
had  taken  more  than  two  months  before  Laura  received 
the  idea,  although  she  was  a  most  interested  scholar.  After 
a  careful  study  of  our  work  with  Lucy,  it  seemed  to  me 
that  the  introduction  of  the  raised  letters  at  the  beginning 
of  the  training  was  entirely  useless,  and  resulted  only  In  a 
serious  complication  of  the  whole  matter.  No  one  would 
teach  a  little  child  to  read  until  it  had  learned  to  talk,  so 


Oliwer  Caswell.  249 

the  deaf  and  blind  child  should  only  be  taught  to  spell  the 
names  of  objects  on  the  fingers,  and  not  to  read  the  raised 
letters  at  the  same  time  ;  the  attention  being  thus  concen- 
trated on  this  one  point,  I  believe  the  desired  result  would 
be  far  more  speedily  attained. 

"  I  had  often  expressed  the  wish  that  one  more  such  child 
might  be  brought  to  us,  that  my  theory  might  be  tested, 
and  on  this  September  30th  I  was  made  happy  by  a  sum- 
mons from  Dr.  Howe,  and  the  announcement  that  such  a 
child  had  arrived,  and  I  might  begin  my  experiment  at 
once,  whUe  he  was  absent  in  the  city. 

"That  there  need  be  nothing  to  distract  attention,  I  led 
the  boy  into  a  room  where  we  could  be  undisturbed,  and 
seated  myself  beside  him  upon  a  sofa.  He  first  wished  to 
find  what  manner  of  person  I  was,  and  I  gave  him  all  the 
opportunity  he  desired  to  examine  the  arrangement  of  my 
hair,  to  feel  of  my  face,  dress,  chain,  breastpin,  rings,  etc., 
until  his  curiosity  was  satisfied.  Next  he  examined  the 
sofa  on  which  we  were  seated,  and  then  rested  quietly. 
Now  was  my  time  to  attract  his  attention.  I  led  him  to  a 
door,  and  placed  his  hand  upon  the  key  which  was  in  the 
lock.  He  made  the  motion  of  turning  it,  nodding  with  a 
quizzical  look,  all  which  meant  plainly,  Yes,  I  know  what 
a  key  is  for,  did  you  suppose  I  did  not  ?  Taking  the  key 
from  the  door,  we  returned  to  the  sofa.  Now  he  was  curi- 
ous to  know  what  was  to  come  next.  I  placed  his  hand 
upon  the  key,  then  lifting  it,  moved  the  fingers  in  the  po- 
sitions for  the  letters  k-e-y,  repeating  it  several  times. 
Then  I  placed  my  hand  in  his  and  let  him  feel  that  I  moved 
my  fingers  in  the  same  way.  By  tapping  his  hand  he  un- 
derstood that  he  was  to  repeat  it  himself ;  he  succeeded  in 
making  k,  but  needed  assistance  on  the  other  letters,  which 
was  given  by  letting  him  feel  me  make  them  again.  On 
the  second  trial  he  spelled  the  word  without  assistance. 

"  The  expression  on  his  face  now  indicated,  I  wonder  what 
all  this  means.  Next  I  took  a  mug  from  a  table  near  by, 
and  placed  it  in  his  hand.  Again,  he  nodded  and  raised 
11* 


260  Appendix  L.  , 

it  to  his  lips,  tipping  it  as  a  sign  of  drinking.  Laying  his 
hand  upon  it,  as  I  had  done  before  with  the  key,  I  moved 
his  fingers  to  make  the  letters  m-u-g,  repeating  it  with  my 
own  fingers,  his  hand  resting  on  mine,  so  that  he  could 
feel  the  motions,  and  then  asked  him  by  a  sign  to  do  it 
himself.  After  three  efforts  he  was  successful,  and  showed 
pleasure  in  receiving  a  pat  upon  his  head  as  a  sign  of  ap- 
probation. Then  I  returned  to  the  key.  He  had  forgotten 
those  letters,  but  after  feeling  me  make  them  once,  suc- 
ceeded in  spelling  it.  TurniAg  back  to  the  mug,  he  re- 
membered two  letters,  and  after  a  few  trials  more,  spelled 
each  correctly  without  assistance. 

"All  this  time  his  face  wore  a  puzzled  look,  mingled  with 
indifference,  which  would  perhaps  have  triumphed  at  this 
point,  but  for  his  spirit  of  obedience,  which  prompted  him 
to  do  as  he  perceived  I  wished.  These  two  words  learned, 
he  sat  back  upon  the  sofa,  as  if  to  say,  this  is  enough  of 
such  nonsense.  Just  then  I  drew  a  pin  from  my  dress  and 
handed  it  to  him.  He  made  the  sign  of  sticking  it  into 
his  coat,  and  listlessly  returned  it  to  me.  I  lifted  his  hand, 
which  he  had  lain  quietly  on  his  knee,  and  spelled  with 
my  fingers  p-i-n.  With  a  nervous  movement  and  an  ex- 
pression of  face  quite  unlike  anything  he  had  exhibited 
before,  he  tapped  my  hand,  showing  his  wish  that  I  should 
repeat  it,  and  then,  without  waiting  to  make  the  letters 
himself,  with  a  look  of  intense  earnestness,  he  sprang  from 
the  sofa  and  drew  me  to  the  table,  placing  his  hands  upon 
it,  and  then  rapping  my  fingers.  As  I  made  the  letters 
t-a-b-1-e,  he  perceived  that  they  were  unlike  those  he  had 
learned  for  the  key,  mug,  and  pin.  His  countenance  be- 
came radiant.  He  led  me  rapidly  about  the  room,  putting 
my  hands  on  different  objects,  and  feeling  me  spell  the 
names.  A  half  hour  had  passed  since  we  took  the  key 
from  the  door,  and  he  had  received  the  idea  which  it  had 
taken  four  months  to  give  to  Lucy  Reed,  and  nearly  three 
months  to  Laura.  The  success  of  the  experiment  was  far 
beyond  my  expectations.     Had  we  saved  a  month's  time, 


Olwer  Caswell.  251 

it  would  have  been  a  great  gain  ;  bnt  the  work  was  done 
when  I  supposed  it  only  commenced.  Once  having  re- 
ceived the  idea  that  objects  have  names,  and  that  by 
movements  of  our  fingers  we  can  communicate  them,  the 
remaining  work  is  simply  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  those 
movements.  In  teaching  a  deaf,  dumb,  and  blind  person, 
the  Frenchman's  maxim  is  eminently  true,  '  C'est  le  pre- 
mier pas  qui  coute. ' 

"  It  will  be  noticed  that  in  selecting  the  words  to  be  taught, 
care  was  taken  that  they  should  be  as  short  as  possible, 
and  that  no  letter  used  in  the  name  of  one  object  should 
be  repeated  in  that  of  another.  This  is  very  important, 
as  the  first  idea  which  the  mind  receives  is  probably  the 
difference  in  the  words,  and  by  making  any  part  of  them 
similar,  we  make  this  less  striking. 

' '  Let  no  one  who  undertakes  a  similar  work  be  discour- 
aged if,  in  following  the  steps  above  described,  it  takes 
weeks  or  even  months  to  attain  the  desired  result,  but  in 
no  case  can  the  labels  be  of  assistance." 


APPEITDIX  M. 

SOME    REMARKS    ON    CRIME-CAUSE. 


PROM  AN  ABIiE  PAPER,    1879,  BY  HON.  RICHARD  VAUX. 

That  physical  traits  are  inherited,  is  not  doubted. 

The  resemblance  between  parents  and  their  children  is  a 
fact  that  is  not  even  questioned.  We  know  that  physical 
causes  have  had  such  influence  on  females  during  pregnancy, 
that  the  child  born,  has  proved  the  effect  of  these  influ- 
ences. A  lady  during  pregnancy  felt  a  strange  sensation  on 
one  of  her  limbs ;  she  struck  the  part  with  her  hand,  and 
on  examination  it  was  found  a  mouse  had  run  up  the  limb, 
and  the  blow  given  had  killed  it.  When  the  child  was  born, 
there  was  oti  the  limb  of  the  child  the  exact  figure  of  a 
mouse,  and  the  skin  covering  the  spot  was  mouse-colored. 

If  there  is  imparted  to  the  child  by  the  mother  during 
pregnancy,  such  consequences  from  physical  causes,  is  it  to 
be  doubted  that  both  mental  and  moral  impressions  are  in 
like  manner  impressed  on  the  child  ?  That  most  children  in- 
herit mental  traits  from  their  parents  is  undeniable.  Music, 
painting,  other  special  mental  capacities  are  found  in  the 
children  of  parents  who  possessed  them.  Is  the  moral  nat- 
ure only  to  be  utterly  unimpressible  ?  It  is  not  so  easy  to 
trace  up  moral  defects  in  the  crime  class  to  these  parents, 
but  occasionally  special  cases  are  found  in  which  this  can 
be  successfully  accomplished,  and  we  have  given  some 
striking  examples  which  deserve  serious  consideration. 
They  are  authentic,  and  form  the  basis  for  farther  investi- 
gations by  those  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  explore  this 
(253) 


Some  Remarks  on  Crim^e-Cause.  253 

field  open  for  examination.  That  mental  disease,  or  the 
morbid  abnormal  mental  state  as  a  crime-cause,  is  a  subject 
now  receiving  very  serious  attention.  It  is  specially  referred 
to,  in  order,  by  comparative  reasoning,  to  establish  that 
the  abnormal  moral  condition  is  also  replete  with  the  cause 
of  crime.  By  a  process  of  deductive  reasoning,  it  may  be 
asserted  that  if  mental  disease  induces  to  crime,  moral  un- 
soundness or  inherited  moral  weaknesses  have  a  similar 
effect. 

In  support  of  the  first  of  these  propositions,  we  cite  the 
following  extract  from  a  volume,  by  Henry  Maudsley,  M.D., 
a  very  high  medical  authority  in  England,  entitled  "Re- 
sponsibility in  Mental  Disease."  International  scientific 
series.   Appleton  &  Co.,  N.  Y.,  1874: 

"Notwithstanding  that  the  influence  of  hereditary  ante- 
cedents upon  the  character  of  the  individual  has  been  ad- 
mitted by  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  its  important 
bearing  upon  moral  responsibility  has  not  received  the 
serious  consideration  which  it  deserves. 

"  Laws  are  made  and  enforced  on  the  supposition  that 
all  persons  who  have  reached  a  certain  age,  arbitrarily  fixed 
as  the  age  of  discretion,  and  are  not  deprived  of  their 
reason,  have  the  capacity  to  know  and  obey  them ;  so  that 
when  the  laws  are  broken,  the  punishment  inflicted  is  in 
proportion  to  the  nature  of  the  offence,  and  not  to  the  act- 
ual moral  responsibility  of  the  individual.  The  legislator 
can  know  nothing  of  individuals;  he  must  necessarily  as- 
sume a  uniform  standard  of  mental  capacity,  so  far  as  a 
knowledge  of  right  and  wrong,  and  of  moral  power,  so  far 
as  resistance  to  unlawful  impulses  are  concerned;  excep- 
tions being  made  of  children  of  tender  age,  and  of  persons 
of  unsound  mind. 

"There  can  be  no  question,  however,  that  this  assump- 
tion is  not  in  strict  accordance  with  facts,  and  that  there 
are  in  reality  many  persons  who,  without  being  actually 
imbecile  or  insane,  are  of  lower  moral  responsibility  than 
the  average  of  mankind ;  they  have  been  taught  the  same 


254  A^endix  M. 

lessons  as  the  rest  of  mankind,  and  have  a  full  theoretical 
knowledge  of  them,  but  they  have  not  really  assimilated 
them;  the  principles  inculcated  never  gain  that  hold  of 
their  minds  which  they  gain  in  a  sound  and  well-consti- 
tuted nature.  After  all  that  can  be  said,  an  individual 
nature  will  only  assimilate,  that  is,  will  only  make  of  a  same 
kind  with  itself,  what  is  fitted  to  further  its  special  develop- 
ment, and  this  it  will,  by  a  natural  affinity,  find  in  the  con- 
ditions of  its  life.  To  the  end  of  the  chapter  of  life  the  man 
will  feel,  think,  and  act  according  to  his  kind.  The  wicked 
are  not  wicked  by  deliberate  choice  of  the  advantages  by 
wickedness  which  are  a  delusion,  or  of  the  pleasures  of  wick- 
edness, which  are  a  snare,  but  by  an  inclination  of  their 
natures,  which  makes  the  evil  good  to  them,  and  the  good 
evil;  that  they  choose  the  gratification  of  a  present  indul- 
gence, in  spite  of  the  chance  or  certainty  of  future  punish- 
ment and  suffering,  is  often  a  proof  not  only  of  a  natural 
affinity  for  the  evil,  but  of  a  deficient  understanding  and  a 
feeble  will. 

' '  Not  until  comparatively  lately  has  much  attention  been 
given  to  the  way  criminals  are  produced.  It  was  with  them, 
much  as  it  was  at  one  time  with  lunatics;  to  say  of  the 
former  that  they  were  wicked  and  of  the  latter  that  they 
were  mad,  was  thought  to  render  any  further  explanation 
unnecessary  and  any  further  inquiry  superfluous.  It  is 
certain,  however,  that  lunatics  and  criminals  are  as  much 
manufactured  articles  as  are  steam  engines  and  calico  print- 
ing machines,  only  the  processes  of  the  organic  manufactory 
are  so  comple*^  that  we  are  not  able  to  follow  them.  They 
are  neither  accidents  nor  anomalies  in  the  universe,  but 
come  by  law  and  testify  to  casuality ;  and  it  is  the  business 
to  find  out  what  the  causes  are  and  by  what  laws  they 
work.  There  is  nothing  accidental,  nothing  supernatural 
in  the  impulse  to  do  right,  or  in  the  impulse  to  do  wrong; 
both  come  by  inheritance  or  by  education ;  and  science  can 
no  more  rest  content  with  the  explanation  which  attributes 
one  to  the  grace  of  heaven  and  the  other  to  the  malice  of 


Some  Remarks  on  Crime-Cause.  256 

the  devil,  than  it  can  rest  content  with  the  explanation  of 
insanity  as  a  possession  by  the  devil.  The  few  and  imper- 
fect investigations  of  the  persona]  and  family  histories  of 
criminals  which  have  yet  been  made,  are  sufllcient  to  ex- 
cite some  serious  reflections.  One  fact  which  is  brought 
strongly  out  by  these  inquiries  is  that  crime  is  often  hered- 
itary; that  just  as  a  man  may  inherit  the  stamp  of  the 
bodily  features  and  characters  of  his  parents,  so  he  may 
also  inherit  the  impress  of  theh  evil  passions  and  propensi- 
ties; of  the  true  thief  as  of  the  true  poet  it  may  be  indeed 
said  that  he  is  born,  not  made.  That  is  what  observation 
of  the  phenomena  of  hereditary  would  lead  us  to  expect; 
and  although  certain  theologians,  who  are  prone  to  square 
the  order  of  nature  to  their  notions  of  what  it  should  be, 
may  repel  such  doctrine  as  the  heritage  of  an  immoral  in 
place  of  a  moral  sense,  they  will  in  the  end  find  it  impos- 
sible in  this  matter,  as  they  have  done  in  other  matters,  to 
contend  against  facts.  To  add  to  their  misfortunes,  many 
criminals  are  not  only  begotten  and  conceived,  and  bred  in 
crime,  but  they  are  instructed  in  it  from  their  youth  up- 
wards, so  that  their  original  criminal  instincts  acquire  a 
power  which  no  subsequent  effort  to  produce  reformation 
will  ever  counteract. 

"All  persons  who  have  made  criminals  their  study,  rec- 
ognize a  distinct  criminal  class  of  beings,  who  herd  to- 
gether in  our  large  cities  in  a  thieves'  quarter,  giving  them- 
selves up  to  intemperance,  rioting  in  debauchery,  without 
regard  to  marriage  ties  or  the  bars  of  consanguinity,  and 
propagating  a  criminal  population  of  degenerate  beings. 
For  it  is  furthermore  a  matter  of  observation  that  this 
criminal  class  constitutes  a  degenerate  or  morbid  variety 
of  mankind,  marked  by  peculiar  low  physical  and  mental 
characteristics.  They  are,  it  has  been  said,  as  distinctly 
marked  off  from  the  honest  and  well-bred  operatives,  as 
''black-faced  sheep  are  from  other  breeds,"  so  that  an  ex- 
perienced detective  officer  or  prison  official  could  pick  theiir- 
out  from  any  promiscuous  assembly  at  church  or  market. 


256  Appendix  M. 

*'  Their  family  likeness  betrays  them  as  follows : — *  By  the 
hand  of  nature  marked,  quoted,  and  signed  to  do  a  deed 
of  shame.'  They  are  scrofulous,  not  seldom  deformed,  with 
badly  formed  angular  heads ;  are  stupid,  sullen,  sluggish, 
deficient  in  vital  energy,  sometimes  afflicted  with  epilepsy. 
As  a  class,  they  are  of  mean  and  defective  intellect,  though 
excessively  cunning,  and  not  a  few  of  them  are  weak-mind- 
ed and  imbecile.  The  women  are  ugly  in  features,  and 
without  grace  of  expression  or  movement.  The  children, 
who  become  juvenile  criminals,  do  not  evince  the  educa- 
tional aptitude  of  the  higher  industrial  classes;  they  are 
deficient  in  the  power  of  attention  and  application,  have 
bad  memories,  and  make  slow  progress  in  learning.  Many 
of  them  are  weak  in  mind  and  body,  and  some  of  them  act- 
ually imbecile. 

' '  We  may  accept  then  the  authority  of  those  who  have 
studied  criminals,  that  there  is  a  class  of  them  marked  by 
defective  physical  and  mental  organization ;  one  result  of 
their  natural  defect,  which  really  determines  their  destiny 
in  life,  being  an  extreme  deficiency  or  complete  absence  of 
moral  sense.  In  addition  to  the  perversion  or  entire  ab- 
sence of  moral  sense,  which  experience  of  habitual  crimi- 
nals brings  prominently  out,  other  important  facts  disclosed 
by  the  investigation  of  their  family  histories  are,  that  a 
considerable  proportion  of  them  are  weak-minded  or  epi- 
leptic, or  become  insane,  or  that  they  spring  from  families 
in  which  insanity,  epilepsy,  or  some  other  neurosis  exist, 
and  that  the  diseases  from  which  they  suffer,  and  of  which 
they  die,  are  chiefly  tubercular  diseases,  and  diseases  of  the 
nervous  system.  Crime  is  a  sort  of  outlet,  by  which  their 
unsound  tendencies  are  discharged ;  they  would  go  mad  if 
they  were  not  criminals,  and  they  do  not  go  mad  because 
they  are  criminals. 

"Crime  is  not  then,  in  all  cases,  a  simple  affair  of  yield- 
ing to  an  evil  impulse,  or  a  vicious  passion,  which  might  be 
checked  were  ordinary  control  exercised;  it  is  clearly  some- 
times the  result  of  an  actual  neurosis,  which  has  close  re- 


Some  Mema/rhs  on  Crime-Cause.  257 

lations  of  nature  and  descent  to  other  neuroses,  especially 
the  epileptic  and  the  insane  neuroses ;  and  this  neurosis  is 
the  physical  result  of  the  physiological  laws  of  production 
and  evolution.  No  wonder  that  the  criminal  psychosis, 
which  is  the  mental  side  of  neurosis,  is  for  the  most  part  an 
intractable  malady,  punishment  being  of  no  avail  to  pro- 
duce a  permanent  reformation.  The  dog  returns  to  its 
vomifc,  and  the  sow  to  its  wallowing  in  the  mire.  A  true 
reformation  would  be  the  re-forming  of  the  individual 
nature ;  and  how  can  that,  which  has  been  forming  through 
generations,  be  re-formed  within  the  term  of  a  single  life  ? 
Can  the  Ethiopian  change  his  skin,  or  the  Leopard  his 
spots  ? 

"Thus,  then,  when  we  take  the  most  decided  forms  of 
human  wrong-doing,  and  examine  the  causes  and  nature 
of  the  moral  degeneracy  which  they  evince,  we  find  that 
they  are  not  merely  subjects  for  the  moral  philosopher  and 
the  preacher,  but  that  they  rightly  come  within  the  scope 
of  positive  scientific  research.  The  metaphysical  nature  of 
a  man,  as  an  abstract  being,  endowed  with  a  certain  fixed 
moral  potentiality  to  do  the  right  and  eschew  the  wrong,  is 
as  httle  applicable  to  each  human  being  bom  into  the 
world,  as  the  notion  of  a  certain  fixed  intellectual  power 
would  be  applicable  to  each  being,  whether  of  good  mental 
capacity,  imbecile  or  idiot.  There  are,  as  natural  phenom- 
ena, manifold  gradations  of  understanding  from  the  high- 
est intellect  to  the  lowest  idiocy;  and  there  are  also,  as 
natural  phenomena,  various  degrees  of  morality  between  the 
highest  energy  of  a  well-fashioned  will  and  the  complete 
absence  of  moral  sense.  Nor  are  intellect  and  moral  power 
so  dependent  mutually,  as  necessarily  to  vary  together,  the 
one  increasing  and  decreasing,  as  the  other  increases  and 
decreases.  Experience  proves  conclusively  that  there  may 
be  much  intellect  with  little  morality,  and  much  morality 
with  little  intellect." 

Taking  these  views  of  Dr.  Maudsley  as  authority  on  this 
subject,  it  is  not  solely  by  deduction  that  the  hereditary 


258  Appendix  M. 

nature  of  crime  in  the  moral  constitution  is  to  be  main- 
tained. In  the  fifteenth  volume  of  the  Journal  of  Mental 
Science,  there  is  a  paper  by  J.  B.  Thomas,  of  singular  in- 
terest, under  the  caption  of  "The  Hereditary  Nature  of 
Crimes.''  It  can  hardly  be  denied  that  if  special,  or  par- 
ticular, or  peculiar  traits  in  the  physical  and  mental  con- 
dition can  be  inherited  by  offspring  from  parents,  then  by 
a  parity  of  reasoning,  the  moral  defects  of  parents  are  like- 
wise transmitted,  and  exert  as  malign  influences  as  other 
vicious  or  unhealthy  inherited  physical  characteristics. 

To  support  these  views,  the  following  extracts  from  a 
paper  prepared  by  J.  B.  Thomas,  L.R.C.S.,  resident  Sur- 
geon-General, prison  for  Scotland,  at  Perth,  A.D.  1870,  are 
here  presented: 

"  On  the  border-land  of  lunacy  lie  the  criminal  popula- 
tions. It  is  a  debatable  region,  and  no  more  vexed  prob- 
lem comes  before  the  medical  psychologist  than  this,  viz: 
"Where  badness  ends  and  madness  begins  in  criminals 

"  The  propositions  that  crime  is  generally  committed  by 
criminals  hereditarily  disposed  to  it,  I  shall  try  to  prove  by 
showing — 

"  1.  That  there  is  a  criminal  class  distinct  from  other  civ- 
ilized and  criminal  men. 

"  2.  That  this  criminal  class  is  marked  by  peculiar  physi- 
cal and  mental  characteristics. 

' '  3.  That  the  hereditary  nature  of  crime  is  shown  by  the 
family  histories  of  criminals. 

"4.  That  the  transformation  of  other  nervous  diseases 
with  crime  in  the  criminal  class,  also  proves  the  alliance 
of  hereditary  crime  with  other  diseases  of  the  miad,  such 
as  epilepsy,  dipsomania,  insanity,  etc. 

"5.  That  the  incurable  nature  of  crime  in  the  criminal 
class  goes  to  prove  its  hereditary  nature 

"  Not  to  heap  up  proofs  which  are  ample,  I  shall 

only  add  to  this  my  own  testimony  as  a  prison  surgeon,  as 
to  the  mental  condition  of  prisoners  generally.  Out  of  a 
population  of  5,432,  no  less  than  673  were  placed  on  my 


Some  Reraarks  on  Crime-Cause,  259 

registers  as  requiring  care  and  treatment  on  account  of  ttieir 
mental  condition 

"One  of  the  most  remarkable  examples  of  a  criminal 
family  I  know  of,  is  as  follows :  Tln*ee  brothers  had  families 
amounting  to  fifteen  members  in  all.  Of  these  fourteen 
were  utterers  of  base  coin ;  the  fifteenth  appeared  to  be  an 
exception,  but  was  at  length  detected  in  setting  fire  to  his 
house,  after  insuring  it  for  four  times  its  value 

"  Of  109  prisoners,  out  of  50  families,  were  in  prison  at 
one  time.  Of  one  family  eight  were  known.  The  father 
had  been  several  times  under  long  sentences.  Near  rela- 
tions I  found  in  prison,  were  the  father,  two  sons,  three 

daughters,  one  daughter-in-law,  and  a  sister-in-law 

There  were  in  prison  three  cousins  (two  being  sisters),  two 

aunts,  and  two  uncles,  of  the  same  family Of  two 

families,  six  were  in  prison  about  the  same  time,  "^z : — four 
brothers  and  two  sisters. 

"  The  following  instances  are  from  the  reports  of  a  gentle- 
man of  large  experience  in  Glasgow: 

"In  one  family  there  were  five  criminals — one  male  and 
four  females ;  the  last  was  executed.  The  girls  had  lived  by 
thieving  and  profligacy.  Their  evil  propensities  seem  to 
have  been  inherited  from  the  mother;  the  mother  also  being 
a  poor  silly  creature. 

"  In  another  family  were  two  male  and  two  female  crim- 
ina.ls,  all  transported  for  theft  they  inherited  from  the 
mother. 

"  In  another  family  four  females  were  all  thieves ;  often 
in  prisons ;  inherited  from  the  father. 

' '  In  another  family  three  girls,  all  wicked ;  two  of  them 
were  banished;  father  and  mother  criminals. 

"Again,  two  males  and  two  females  were  active  thieves 
by  inheritance. 

"Again,  one  male  and  two  females,  incorrigible  thieves; 
their  mother  a  thief;  grandmother  also. 

"Again,  two  males  and  two  females;  three  transported. 

''  Again,  three  girls,  all  thieves  by  the  mother's  heritage. 


260  Appendix  M. 

**  Again,  a  family  of  four,  all  thieves  by  the  mother. 

"Again,  one  male  and  two  females,  with  the  mother;  all 
sentenced  to  transportation. 

"  Again,  four  or  five  in  this,  all  thieves ;  two  sentenced  to 
transportation. 

"  Let  me  wind  up  this  dark  roll  with  an  example  from  a 
French  report.  The  history  of  a  family  in  Bayeaux  is  this : 
— One  of  them  had  been  sentenced  to  the  Travaux  forces 
for  life,  having  committed  assassination.  Five  remained — 
three  brothers,  one  sister,  and  her  husband,  who  all  became 
robbers.  Their  uncles  and  aunts  had  been  in  les  bogues; 
one  nephew  also,  and  others  took  to  criminal  courses  by 
an  hereditary  proclivity  that  seemed  quite  irresistible. 

"  I  offer  the  following  conclusions  from  the  foregoing  ex- 
amen : 

"1st.  That  crime  being  hereditary  in  the  criminal  class, 
measures  are  called  for  to  break  up  the  caste  and  commu- 
nity of  the  class. 

"2d.  That  transportation  and  long  sentences  of  habitual 
criminals  are  called  for,  in  order  to  lessen  the  criminal 
offenders. 

"3d.  That  old  offenders  can  scarcely  be  reclaimed,  and 
that  juveniles  brought  under  very  early  training  are  the 
most  hopeful;  but  even  these  are  apt  to  lapse  into  their 
hereditary  tendency. 

"4th.  That  crime  is  so  nearly  allied  to  insanity,  as  to  be 
chiefly  a  psychological  study." 

The  direct  influences  exerted  to  produce  crime-cause  on 
that  aggregation  of  people  in  more  or  less  dense  population, 
as  contra-distinguished  from  agricultural  life  in  sparse  set- 
tlements, or  villages  and  hamlets,  are  not  authoritatively 
to  be  yet  determined.  There  are  now  no  positively  ascer- 
tained data  on  which  to  erect  any  hypothesis  which  will 
bear  careful  study  or  stand  analytical  criticisms.  The 
scientist  can  only  obtain  here  and  there  some  facts,  but 
what  is  to  be  proved  by  them  in  their  relation  to  the  gen- 
oral  subject,  is  far  from  ascertainable,  because  though  they 


Some  Remarks  on  Critne- Cause.  261 

are  facts,  they  are  not  connected  with  what  may  be  found 
to  be  either  explanatory  or  contradictory,  or  as  essentially 
varying  the  proof,  from  the  theory  assumed. 

It,  however,  may  be  asserted,  that  the  influence  of  the 
social  forces  which  produce  crime  on  those  subjected  to 
them,  are  positive  and  controlling.  These  social  forces  are 
motors  which  come  from  the  compression  in  large  popula- 
tions which  evolves  necessity,  opportunity,  affinity,  im- 
munity, dwarfed  moral  perceptions,  blunted  or  weakened 
comprehension,  and  a  reliance  on  precarious  means  for  sup- 
port rather  than  honest  labor  or  trade,  or  regular  employ- 
ments in  a  large  or  smaller  class  of  the  population.  Temp- 
tation to  commit  crime,  a  lack  of  a  resisting  power  to  re- 
press this  temptation,  a  lack  of  comprehension  which  fails 
to  set  up  a  distinctive  understanding  of  the  disobedience 
of  law  which  temptation  to  violate  it  urges  in  individuals, 
is  often  the  consequence  of  the  action  of  these  social  forces, 
and  as  classes  of  society  are  by  their  near  association  more 
liable  to  the  operation  of  those  forces  because  of  the  aggre- 
gation of  those  moral  defects  which  are  individual  to  each 
member  of  the  class,  it  may  not  be  too  broad  an  assertion 
to  declare  that  crime  is  often  produced  by  social  influences. 

The  observation  of  careful  investigation  shows  that  in 
large  populations  there  exists  a  class,  or  it  may  be  classes 
of  individuals  who  are  criminals  by  reason  of  their  personal 
habits,  tastes,  associations,  moral  defects,  mental  weak- 
nesses, and  the  cultivation  of  that  animal  instinct  called 
cunning,  which  may  be  described  as  a  physical  sagacity 
that  does  not  partake  of  the  faculty  of  reason  beyond  the 
line  which  marks  the  blending  of  mental  with  the  physical 
constituents  of  human  nature.  This  class  or  classes  are 
found  in  the  depressed  state  of  the  social  structure.  They 
grow  out  of  the  deep  shadow  which  this  structure  throws, 
and  are  indigenous  to  it. 

The  motives  for  the  action,  the  impulses,  the  motors,  the 
impelling  or  compelling  causes  are  produced  by  the  pres- 
ence, on  this  class  or  classes,  of  the  social  forces  which  are 
constantly  in  action  in  large  populations. 


262  Appendix  M. 

While  it  is  true  that  there  are  more  criminals  in  large 
than  in  small  populations,  and  that  the  proportion  of 
criminals  to  population  is  the  evidence  of  the  fact,  yet  that 
does  not  wholly  explain  why  the  criminal  exists,  unless  it 
is  admitted  that  populations  create  criminals  in  the  ratio 
of  crime-cause  to  these  communities.  Why  an  individual 
should  be  a  criminal  in  a  city  and  not  in  a  village,  is  unex- 
plained by  the  proof  that  in  the  city  he  is,  and  in  the  vil- 
lage he  is  not,  a  criminal.  If  it  is  to  be  explained  by  the  as- 
sertion that  in  a  city  the  demand  for  employment  is  less 
than  the  supply,  and  the  excess  is  forced  into  crime  for 
support,  then  the  question  is  at  once  suggested,  why  arc 
the  unemployed  persons  driven  to  crime,  if  in  these  larger 
populations  there  are  no  predisposing  causes  which  belong 
to  them? 

Take  the  facts  as  they  are,  it  Is  plain  that  in  large  com- 
munities there  are  social  forces,  which  by  their  pressure  on 
parts  or  classes,  evolve  criminal  conditions,  and  out  of  them, 
come  crimes  and  criminals,  or  crime-cause  forced  into 
operation. 

One  mode  to  test  the  influence  of  society  as  contributing 
to  crime,  educating  in  crime,  creating  crime-causes  and 
crime  classes,  let  us  invite  attention  to  the  following  statis- 
tics :  We  have  given  the  several  counties  of  this  State,*  then 
the  number  of  crimes  of  which  individuals  have  been  con- 
victed, then  the  character  of  these  crimes.  While  this  is 
neither  conclusive  nor  exhaustive  of  the  premises  to  be 
proven,  it  is  something  to  show  what  is  the  proportion  of 
criminals  to  populations,  and  what  counties  produce  the 
largest  number  of  criminals,  and  for  what  offences  they  are 
charged.  A  comparison  instituted  from  these  facts  will 
direct  closer  investigation  and  suggest  into  what  channels 
investigation  is  to  be  directed.  Such  a  comparison  will  be 
suggestive.  Some  light  will  be  thrown  on  the  subject,  and 
thus  enable  scientists  to  adopt  an  initial  point  for  co-oper- 
ative examinations  in  various  localities. 


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COUNTWAY   LIBRARY   OF   MEDICINE 

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