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I 
 
PHREN0L0C4Y 
 
 FAMILY. 
 
 OR THE UTILITY OF PHRENOLOGY IN 
 EARLY DOMESTIC EDUCATION. 
 
 DEDICATED TO MOTHERS, 
 
 Train up a child in the way he should go.— Solomon. 
 
 Whom shall he teach knowledge 1 Them that are weaned 
 
 from the milk, and drawn from the breasts —Isaiah. 
 
 BY JOSEPH A. WARNE, A. M. 
 
 GEORGE W. DONOHUE, 
 
 No, 22, South Fourth Street, 
 
 18 3 9. 
 
.Vffc 
 
 Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the 
 year 1839, by Joseph A. Warxe, in the Clerk's Office 
 of the District Court of the Eastern District of Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 Cj \ 
 
 / 
 
 V^ 
 
 Philadelphia : 
 
 KIXG AND EATRD, PRINTERS, 
 
 No. 9, George Street. 
 
PJREFACE. 
 
 The history of the little work which i$ 
 here offered to the public, is briefly as follows r 
 In the winter of 1834 — 5, the author was 
 solicited to deliver a Lecture before the Ly- 
 ceum of the town in which he then resided. He 
 acceded to the request, and delivered a lecture 
 on " Early Domestic Education." But at 
 that time, and in that place, Phrenology had 
 not gained such a footing, as' for it -to be quite 
 certain that the lecturer would secure a candid 
 hearing, if that science was brought into 
 prominence ; and accordingly, he determined 
 not to name it. But he had read and reflected, 
 considerably, on the subject, during the three 
 or four years previous ; and had come to the 
 conclusion that no system of education can be 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 successful, any further than it is in harmony 
 with those principles or elements of our nature 
 with which Phrenology makes us acquainted : 
 and that this \s % emphatically true, so far as 
 regards the Feelings ; — that part of our nature 
 which, more than any other, receives its educa- 
 tion " at home." Accordingly, while he care- 
 fully avoided the use, not only of the word 
 11 Phrenology," but also of all its technicalities, 
 he delivered a lecture on the education of the 
 feelings, on phrenological principles. The 
 success of the effort was greater than he had 
 ventured to hope for : — it was very generally 
 felt that the real elements of our nature had 
 been brought to view ; and a rational mode of 
 treatment recommended : and the lecturer was 
 warmly solicited to print his discourse. With 
 this request, he was unable to comply, at the 
 time ; in consequence of a press of engage- 
 ments : for he had lectured extemporaneously ', 
 from a mere. outline. This outline lay by him 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 for several months ; when the lady at that time 
 editing " The Mothers' Monthly Journal," ad- 
 dressed to him a letter, requesting him, as a 
 Phrenologist, (which she understood he was) 
 to prepare an article for that periodical, on the 
 application of Phrenology to the early educa- 
 tion of children. 
 
 This letter called out the skeleton lecture 
 from its resting-place ; and he prepared a 
 series of papers from it, for the pages of the 
 Mothers' Journal ; which appeared over the 
 signature H. S. E. Those papers the author 
 has been frequently urged to collect and pub- 
 lish ; but he could never persuade himself that 
 they were worthy of a separate appearance ; at 
 least in the form in which they then were. But 
 the opinions of judicious friends had their 
 weight with him ; he therefore revised the 
 papers, enlarged them, and supplied deficien- 
 cies, until they grew to the size in which they 
 are here presented. 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 In the progress of the work the author has 
 availed himself, to a limited extent, of the 
 labors of phrenological writers on the subject, 
 who preceded him ; particularly Levison, and 
 Simpson ; but the works of others than phrenolo- 
 gists have been found only in a very small degree, 
 adapted to his design. In one feature he 
 thinks, this work will stand alone, at present, 
 before the public : viz : in being, at the same 
 time, phrenological and religious-: and he 
 endeavoured to make it such, in order that the 
 religious portion of the community might per- 
 ceive the harmony between the philosophy of 
 phrenology, applied to education ; and the 
 inculcation, as a matter of paramount impor- 
 tance, of the truths of revealed religion, on the 
 minds of children. The works of mere phre- 
 nologists, on education, excite the apprehen- 
 sions, not to say the prejudices, of serious 
 christians, as to the bearings and tendency of 
 the science ; even where they cannot but 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 perceive the soundness of its philosophy : and 
 the works of mere religionists, on education, 
 -are, in some respects, so unphilosophical, that 
 the human subject cannot be, most effectually, 
 educated in accordance with their dogmas. 
 He has endeavoured to unite the two ; and if 
 he has succeeded, he has accomplished his 
 wishes. 
 
 He has only a word or two to add. The 
 similarity between the views exhibited in 
 the following pages, and certain portions of 
 Mr. Combe's Lectures on Phrenology, where 
 lie treats on the same subject, will not fail to 
 strike such readers of this work, as may have 
 enjoyed the pleasure of hearing those Lectures. 
 In justice to himself, he may be permitted to 
 say, that this work was prepared, and in the 
 hands of the Publisher, before the delivery of 
 either course of that gentleman's Lectures : — 
 the similarity, — yes, even the identity of views 
 expressed by him and by the author, without 
 
V1U PREFACE. 
 
 concert, or knowledge on the part of either, 
 that such were the opinions of the other, goes 
 far, however, to prove that both, in embracing 
 Phrenology as the basis of Education, have 
 adopted the true philosophy of human nature, 
 Joseph A. Warne. 
 
 Philadelphia, April 8, 1839, 
 
PHRENOLOGY 
 
 IN THE 
 
 FAMILY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 For several years after the annunciation of 
 his discovery, by Dr. Gall, that the brain is not 
 a unit, but an assemblage, or congeries of organs, 
 each having its appropriate function, the absorb- 
 ing question on the subject, was, is it true ! 
 There are many persons, indeed, who are not 
 yet convinced of its truth ; with them, there- 
 fore, this question may be considered as still 
 undecided. The number of such persons, 
 however, is rapidly decreasing ; and such have 
 been, and daily are, the number and nature of 
 the experiments calculated to test its truth, and 
 so adapted to convince persons of plain sense, 
 that it is, indeed, a science, and has its founda- 
 tion in nature, that it is confidently believed, 
 1 
 
14 PHREx\OLOGY 
 
 the time is not distant, when it will be no more 
 doubted, than the circulation of the blood, or 
 its purification, by contact with the oxygen of 
 the atmosphere, in the lungs. 
 
 Several things concur in leading us to adopt 
 this opinion : 
 
 First, The number of strong minded and 
 well informed persons, who have, during the 
 few last years, set themselves about the serious 
 examination of the evidences of the truth of 
 Phrenology, is very considerable : and the facts 
 that such persons, after thorough examination,* 
 are always either believers in its truth, or strong- 
 ly inclined to the opinion that it is true ; — and 
 also that many of them, from bold and unsparing 
 assailants, (who commenced the examination of 
 it with the view of disproving it,) have become 
 its firm believers, and bold professors, and able 
 advocates : (such are Dr. Vimont of Paris, and 
 Mr. Deville of London,) — these facts inspire 
 us with confidence that Phrenology can well 
 
 * Dr. Sewall's Lectures in opposition to Phrenology 
 are themselves a proof that he has not "examined" it; 
 but is profoundly ignorant of its pretensions. See a 
 review of them. Christian Review, Dec, 1837. 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 15 
 
 bear scrutiny ; and that the extent to which it 
 will be believed to be true, will be always in 
 proportion to that to which it is examined. 
 
 Secondly, Several of the leading Periodicals, 
 both of this country and of Europe, have 
 greatly changed, and are rapidly changing their 
 tone with respect to this subject: and as many 
 as three or four, are in existence, exclusively 
 devoted to the interests of Phrenology. More- 
 over, several of the writers in these journals, 
 who do not choose, for various reasons, to com- 
 mit themselves before the world, as believers in 
 Phrenology, give evidence, to an instructed 
 Phrenologist, that they have become believers 
 in the truth of the science ; and that they avail 
 themselves of the light it scatters, to guide 
 them in their researches through the regions of 
 Mental and Moral Science, Medicine, Educa- 
 tion, and even Theology. Such guides them- 
 selves conducted by Truth, will soon be much 
 more numerously followed. 
 
 Thirdly, The number of gentlemen of the 
 Medical Profession, who are now found in the 
 ranks of the friends of Phrenology, is a pledge 
 that not many years will elapse, before their 
 
10 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 opinions, as on the circulation of the blood, and 
 on the nervous system, will be adopted by the 
 community ; as eiiher certainly, or probably 
 true ; being the opinions of men devoted to a 
 particular profession, on a subject with which 
 they are peculiarly conversant : — human phy- 
 siology. Once, indeed, the whole medical 
 profession, with Dr. Gordon, of Edinburgh, at 
 its head, denounced Drs. Gall and Spurzheim, 
 as quacks and impostors ; — ignorant pretenders 
 to even Physiological knowledge ; and blankly 
 denied the truth of the doctrines advocated by 
 the latter, in his work on the anatomy of the 
 brain. But that period has passed away. Soon 
 after, Dr. Spurzheim, in the Lecture room of 
 Dr. Gordon, and under his eye, with his article 
 in the Edinburgh Review in one hand, and a 
 human brain in the other, demonstrated the 
 soundness of his own positions, and the fallacy 
 of those of his assailant ; in the presence of a 
 respectable assemblage' of the first men, in the 
 medical profession, in Britain. This defeat of 
 Dr. Gordon, in his own Anatomical Theatre, 
 was too much for his endurance ; and it is gene- 
 rally acknowledged to have accelerated, if it did 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 17 
 
 not, through chagrin, actually produce his death. 
 Since his days a great change has been wrought, 
 in the feelings and opinions of medical men, 
 towards Phrenology : — some, indeed, — those 
 who are advanced in life, and, moreover, are 
 committed against it, and who have more regard 
 for consistency, (even in error,) than for truth, 
 may be expected to continue their opposition*, 
 but the uncommitted, of every age, are daily 
 coming over to the side of its friends : and the 
 junior members of the profession, with very 
 few exceptions, are believers in its truth. It 
 requires no prophetic gift, to enable us to 
 predict the consequence, on the community, in 
 the lapse of a very few y 
 
 But another inquiry is beginning to agitate 
 the public mind in this country, relative to 
 Phrenology : viz : Its utility. Is it useful ? 
 What is its utility \ To Whom is it useful? 
 How can the generality of people render it 
 useful 1 
 
 To the first of these questions we shall 
 
 return only a short answer : viz : Whatever is 
 
 true, cannot but be useful. This question, 
 
 surely, cannot be asked, after due consideration. 
 
 1* 
 
18 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 Who can question, seriously, whether true and 
 specific knowledge of our own nature is useful? 
 Is it useful to improve our nature ? unquestion- 
 ably. But how can our efforts at improvement 
 be wisely directed, unless we are previously 
 possessed of information, as to what are the 
 powers and faculties of our nature ? 
 
 To the second inquiry — "What is its utility?" 
 i. e. to what is it advantageously applicable ? 
 — it is not so easy to give an answer ; — not 
 however, from the paucity of objects to which 
 it is thus applicable ; but from their multiplicity: 
 the difficulty lies in selection, and not in dis- 
 covery. It would carry us far beyond the 
 limits to which we must here confine ourselves, 
 were we to enter into detail of the uses of 
 Phrenology, in the several departments to which 
 it is applicable : we must content ourselves 
 with naming some of those departments. 
 Phrenology has effected, and is effecting, pro- 
 digious changes in the medical treatment of the 
 Insane. Physicians, generally, now account 
 Insanity to be, not disease of the mind ; but 
 of the bodily instruments with which the 
 mind* In the present state, acts ; or through 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 19 
 
 which it is affected. Accordingly, the patient 
 is treated for physical disease ; efforts are made 
 to restore these bodily instruments to healthful 
 action ; means are employed, which have a 
 known tendency to produce such action ; and 
 hence the comparative certainty, in cases of 
 recent insanity, of the restoration of the patient 
 to mental soundness. Phrenology then, is 
 useful in Medicine. 
 
 It is also useful in Intellectual and Moral 
 Science. It is destined, wholly to recast the 
 existing systems of the science of mind ; or 
 rather to sweep them away ; as not true to 
 nature ; and to substitute a true and natural one. 
 And though the laws of Moral Science, being 
 found in the Bible, are among " the things 
 which cannot be moved ;" Phrenology is 
 destined, by a developement of what human 
 nature really is, to show the adaption of those 
 laws to the nature of man as the subject of 
 them ; and thus to present us with a beautiful, 
 and perfect, and useful system of the Philo- 
 sophy of Morality and Religion. In like man- 
 ner, it would be easy to prove its utility, in 
 connection with Jurisprudence, Medical and 
 
20 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 Criminal ; and also, through the whole process 
 of Education. On the former of these subjects 
 we shall not enter ; because it might not interest 
 those for whom the following pages are in- 
 tended : and the latter we shall not discuss, 
 because, the principal part of the matter in this 
 volume, will consist in an amplification of one 
 portion of this subject : viz : Education in its 
 early states ; and especially as conducted under 
 the parent's eye: — Early Domestic Education, 
 to the successful prosecution of which we 
 consider Phrenology very highly important. 
 
 We have thus, in some degree, anticipated 
 a reply to the inquiry, " To whom is Phrenol- 
 ogy important ?" Yet we will briefly reply 
 to it. It is important, as we have seen, to 
 Physicians, to Judges, to Lawyers, to Teachers, 
 to Parents, to Ministers ; to all who are called 
 to act upon, and mould the minds of others : 
 and it is important, especially, to those who 
 exert most of this controlling and moulding 
 influence ; and, particularly at those periods, 
 when this influence is the most potent, and the 
 most efficacious. To Teachers, therefore, it 
 is specially important; because, often, large 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 21 
 
 masses of youth are under their influence ; but 
 to Parents it is pre-eminently so ; for to them 
 is intrusted the mind, in its most plastic state ; 
 and in the most charmed, and magic circle, — 
 Home. They, emphatically, 
 
 " Teach the young idea how to shoot." 
 
 But it is on one of the parents, principally, 
 that the burden of domestic instruction, in early 
 childhood, falls ; — on the mother ; and it is to 
 her especially,, that the following pages are 
 addressed. While many, actuated by mere 
 curiosity, would inquire, " How can people in 
 general, render Phrenology useful in the busi- 
 ness of education? She will put the question 
 with real and intense interest ; the strong in- 
 stinct of parental love makes her desire to 
 know any means, by which she may be aided 
 in the discharge of the difficult duties of her 
 responsible station. With a design to gratify 
 this desire the following" pages are written. 
 
22 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE SUBJECT PROPOSED AND ASCERTAINED. 
 
 There are very few terms, of so frequent 
 occurrence, respecting which there is an im- 
 perfect understanding of their import, as " Edu- 
 cation." Every one supposes he understands, 
 clearly, what it is ; and almost every one is 
 loud in advocating universal education ; and in 
 eulogizing our own country, on account of the 
 facilities it affords, for the extensive diffusion 
 of this blessing among her citizens. 
 
 But we no sooner propose the question, 
 " What is education ?" than we are constrained 
 toadmitthat it is very imperfectly understood, 
 even by many of its loudest eulogists, and 
 warmest friends. Most persons would define 
 it to be, " The cultivation of the intellectual 
 faculties." It is true, indeed, that they call it 
 the cultivation of the mind ; but to the term 
 11 mind," they attach the idea of, merely the 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 23 
 
 intellectual powers. Now this supposes man 
 to possess only intellect ; and that if this shall 
 be cultivated, the man is educated. But this 
 supposition is erroneous : Man is not a mere 
 intelligence : he possesses other faculties than 
 those of the understanding ; and some faculties 
 superior to them : and unless these, also, are 
 cultivated, the man, or human subject, cannot 
 be properly considered " Educated" in the 
 true extent of the import of that term. 
 
 But what generally passes by the name of 
 Education, is not in reality, the cultivation of 
 the intellectual faculties : it is the cultivation, 
 or rather the excitement to activity, of certain, 
 of those faculties ; but all of them are not 
 exercised ; and those which are employed, are 
 occupied rather upon words, than things : — 
 words to which there are often, no correspond- 
 ing ideas, in the mind of the learner ; and not 
 things, with the existence, and properties, and 
 phenomena of which, his external senses, and 
 his intellectual faculties capacitate him to be- 
 come acquainted ; of which, therefore, he is 
 able to form distinct ideas, and on which, he 
 
24 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 is capable of acquiring positive, and useful 
 knowledge. 
 
 But man is the subject of Feelings, as well as 
 Intellect : and it is manifest, that the education 
 of the human being, must embrace the educa- 
 tion of his feelings. To conduct properly, the 
 education of these, a much more detailed and 
 extensive knowledge than is commonly posses- 
 sed, is indispensable ; — a knowledge however, 
 not of books, and the science of which they are 
 the depositories, but of the nature of the being in 
 whom exist the feelings to be disciplined and 
 educated : a knowledge more definite, and ex- 
 tensive, and exact, of human nature, than any 
 system except Phrenology has furnished. A 
 moment's reflection must convince us, that he 
 who would train a child to any advantage, ought 
 to understand the elementary principles of that 
 nature, of which the child is a specimen: and, 
 moreover, that he might a jonon, be expected to 
 labor to greater advantage, in proportion as his 
 knowledge extended, to the degrees in which 
 the general elements of humanity entered into 
 the composition of the individual subject of his 
 experiment. To illustrate this idea ; — to what 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 25 
 
 advantage could an artizan work upon the 
 metals, who knows not the essential properties 
 of metals in general ? And might he not be 
 expected to work skilfully and effectually in 
 any given metal, in exact proportion as he 
 knew the degree in which, in that metal, the 
 essential properties of metals in general were 
 combined. And the case is similar in educa- 
 tion : no one is well qualified for the office of an 
 Instructor, who does not know more than that 
 a child possesses feelings. He must know, both 
 in general, and in particular, what those feelings 
 are. And as there are not only different indi- 
 vidual feelings, but different classes of them, 
 and these classes of various relative impor- 
 tance, the well qualified instructor must know 
 these facts ; and must regulate his movements 
 by this knowledge. He must, moreover, know 
 the relative dignity of these feelings, with 
 reference to each other, and also, to the intellect $ 
 —the relation in which both classes are design- 
 ed to stand, to the intellect : — what are the 
 manifestations of the feelings ; — when these 
 manifestations are made; — and where; — and 
 2 
 
26 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 what the treatment, proper for them to receive, 
 in order to their perfect education. 
 
 Each of these particulars will receive a por- 
 tion of attention, in the following pages ; and 
 it is hoped that our labors will not be altogether 
 fruitless. We have mentioned " Instructors, '* 
 more than once in the above remarks ; but as 
 we intend to confine ourselves, in the hints we 
 offer, to the instruction which is given at home ; 
 and to include, even the earliest of such instruc- 
 tion, there is obvious propriety in dedicating the 
 work to Mothers ; for of the education to which 
 our attention will be principally confined, 
 Mothers are the appropriate dispensers. 
 
 It may be proper, here, to obviate an objec- 
 tion which may be made, against an attempt to 
 introduce modes of education for the adoption 
 of mothers, based on a science of which many, 
 and perhaps most, of them are wholly ignorant £' 
 at least, practically so. It may be said, and 
 with an appearance of reason too, " That since 
 most mothers know almost nothing of the 
 situation of the phrenological organs, nor of 
 their functions, it is as absurd to make a system 
 of nursery instruction rest on Phrenology, as 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 27 
 
 it would be to raise the superstructure of an 
 edifice, without, first, laying the foundation." 
 
 To this our answer is, First, That the 
 foundation may be well considered as laid, in 
 this community ; in the numerous works, to be 
 found in every book store, on Phrenology, as 
 a system : and, therefore, for ns to lay it, here, 
 would be a work of supererogation. If mothers 
 will read, and digest these works, they will 
 transfer the foundation to their own minds ; and 
 our labor, in these pages, will be, more proba- 
 bly, to good purpose, It is true that the course, 
 now recommended, involves necessarily the 
 consumption of some time ; and the employ- 
 ment of some labor : more, perhaps, than some 
 can spare, to whom this little work may be 
 useful. We therefore reply, Secondly, That, 
 in these pages, we shall, nowhere, presuppose 
 a knowledge of Phrenology, as exhibited in 
 books ; i. e. of Organology. We shall name, 
 indeed, several of the organs ; but not as such : 
 — our design is to call the attention of mothers 
 to the several faculties of their children ; and 
 to the proper mode of educating them ; not to 
 the material instruments, by which those 
 
28 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 faculties are manifested. While, therefore, an 
 acquaintance with Phrenology, as laid down in 
 the books, is admitted to be, in the judgment of 
 the writer, important to mothers ; it is by no 
 means indispensable, in order to the usefulness 
 of his labors for their benefit. 
 
 The Feelings, which belong to human nature, 
 may be divided into two great classes : viz : 
 Those which man possesses, in common with 
 the lower animals ; and those by which he is 
 distinguished from them, and elevated above 
 them. There are some feelings, which are 
 found in certain tribes of animals below man, 
 but not in other tribes : these, therefore, are 
 feelings of a mediate character. 
 
 Both the first mentioned of these feelings, 
 and those of a mediate kind, are in phrenolo- 
 gical language, termed " animal feelings," or 
 " propensities :" but the second class are termed 
 "moral feelings," or "sentiments." The 
 education, which these two classes of feelings 
 require, may be very briefly expressed; and, we 
 are persuaded, that, the statement will command 
 the instant respect of every reflecting mind : 
 It is this : The animal feelings are to be edu- 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 29 
 
 eated to obey and the moral feelings to command. 
 In the present fallen condition of human nature, 
 energy is the characteristic of our animal feel- 
 ings ; and feebleness that of our moral ones : 
 consequently, naturally, and antecedent to 
 education, our animal feelings would rule, and 
 not serve ; and our moral ones would serve, and 
 not rule. Hence in educating those, control 
 is requisite ; but in the training of these, ex- 
 citement. And it is in beautiful harmony 
 with this system, that we find the eternal 
 mandates of Heaven directed against excess of 
 the former, in prohijitions ; — " Thou shalt not 
 kill :" — Thou shalt not steal, &c. But the 
 Moral Sentiments are addressed in commands, 
 46 Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;" 
 and the faculties are stimulated to the act of 
 obedience, by the tenderest, and most powerful 
 motive we can conceive : " Love one another, 
 as I have loved you" 
 
 2* 
 
30 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE BEING TO BE EDUCATED, IN THE NURSERY. 
 
 Having divided the feelings, which belong 
 to the being to be educated, into their classes ; 
 and shown their relative dignity and importance, 
 both with respect to each other, and with 
 respect to the Intellectual Faculties, we may 
 proceed to the enumeration of the particular 
 feelings in each class. It would be improper 
 here, however, to present a portrait of the 
 feelings only : they should be drawn, in con- 
 nexion with all that belongs to the subject of 
 Nursery Education, (the young human being) 
 and in the harmonious proportions which they 
 bear to other parts of the original. We shall 
 attempt, therefore, thus to present them. 
 
 The Feelings which belong to the first class, 
 are those which belong to man, in common 
 with the lower animals — they are, properly, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 31 
 
 the instincts of human nature. As the subject 
 under discussion is not Education in General ; 
 nor is it education beyond that period, when it 
 may be advantageously imparted at home, there 
 are some of the instincts of our nature, to 
 which it will be' unnecessary to advert : because 
 the feelings themselves are not manifested, until 
 a later period in the life of the child. Those 
 which we shall enumerate, we venture to 
 assure ourselves, every observant and reflecting 
 mother will acknowledge her own children to 
 possess. 
 
 The earliest instinct manifested by the infant 
 being, is, The Desire of Food. This feeling is 
 distinct from the pain of hunger. That pain, 
 indeed, generates a desire to receive food ; but, 
 strictly speaking, the desire, thence arising, is a 
 sort of secondary one : — a desire to take food, 
 not for its own sake ; but, to the end that the pain 
 of hunger may cease. But where this pain has 
 never been felt, there exists the desire of food, 
 as a primary desire : a craving of 'that positive 
 gratification attendant on the reception of food 
 into the stomach. The degree in which this 
 feeling exists, varies in different individuals : 
 
32 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 some, even in early infancy, are observed to 
 feed eagerly, nay, greedily : and to justify the 
 declaration respecting them, that " they live 
 only to eat" Such children afford unquestion- 
 able evidence of the necessity which exists, 
 that this feeling be educated. . Other children 
 are seen to feed, only moderately, never appear- 
 ing eager for food ; and yet relish, and thrive 
 upon, that which the benevolent Author of our 
 being, has provided for them. These last, as 
 well as the others, manifest, though in a 
 smaller degree, the desire of food, — the love of 
 feeding : or what, for the sake of convenience, 
 Phrenologists term " Alimentiveness." 
 
 Another feeling very early exhibited by an 
 infant, is the feeling of affection; — the Instinct 
 of Attachment ; or what is phrenologically 
 called " Adhesiveness." A child learns, at a 
 very early period of its life, to distinguish 
 between its mother or nurse, and a stranger ; to 
 be pleased in the presence, and by the caresses 
 of the former, and to return them with its 
 smiles, or embraces ; and by playfully hiding 
 its face in those soft pillows which are its 
 natural resting places, and from which it is 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 33 
 
 accustomed to draw its nourishment. This 
 feeling is the germ of friendship, and of that 
 whole circle of affections which man feels for 
 his relatives and associates. 
 
 Another of the feelings of this class may, 
 not improperly, be called the Instinct to op- 
 pose. Let not mothers be alarmed at the an- 
 nunciation ; as if it could not be true, that any 
 thing unlovely, could be an original element in 
 human nature ; and especially in the nature of 
 their gentle babes. Perhaps, when properly 
 understood, this feeling may be found, in its 
 nature, less unlovely than would appear, in the 
 name which we have given it : and especially, 
 less so, than in that given to it by Phrenologists, 
 — " CoMBATivENESsfi Our infinitely wise Cre- 
 ator knows, that in passing through life, we 
 should meet with many enemies, and dangers, 
 and difficulties, and temptations ; and that it 
 was necessary that we should be so far pre- 
 pared to meet them, as that our overthrows, or 
 defeats, especially in moral conflicts, should not 
 be philosophically necessary: — but that we 
 should be secured against falls, except by our 
 own fault. He accordingly implanted in our 
 
34 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 nature the instinct of opposition; and thus 
 adapted us to the condition in which we are 
 placed ; and like all the others of our animal 
 feelings, it is wrong only when misdirected, 
 and excessive. This is the instinct of courage ; 
 — the element of intrepidity ; — the feeling by 
 which we are braced to encounter difficulties, 
 surmount obstacles, and sweep aside impedi- 
 ments. But, Mothers, your infants have never 
 been called to this ; and hence you conclude 
 that the feeling does not yet exist in them ; 
 and therefore, you cannot feel that you are 
 called to educate it. But does your child never, 
 even though yet an infant, manifest a spirit of 
 disobedience — of opposition to your will ? Is 
 there never exhibited a disposition to contradict, 
 and even to contend ! Here then, is the ele- 
 ment whose existence we maintain. 
 
 When we assert that, even in very young 
 children, there exists the animal feeling, or 
 propensity, which Phrenologists call " Des- 
 tructiveness," we shall, not improbably, pro- 
 voke a smile of contempt ; and, perhaps, some- 
 thing not quite so harmless as even this. 
 Well ; " Strike, but hear me." Do not even 
 
IN' THE FAMILY, 35 
 
 very young children, sometimes evince irrita- 
 bleness, ill-temper, a disposition to revenge, 
 cruelty, &c? Will they not, early, exhibit an 
 inclination to pinch, scratch, bite, pull the hair 
 of their companions, and torture flies and other 
 insects, by pulling off their wings and legs ? 
 This instinct, in a just degree, and rightly 
 directed, is necessary to the well being of man: 
 it is evil only when excessive, and uncontrolled: 
 and we have instanced such excess and mis- 
 direction of it, in children, only to prove the 
 existence, in them, of this elementary principle 
 of human nature ; and to make way for some 
 remarks on its education. 
 
 The Instinct to Conceal, is another of the 
 elements of human nature, which belong to the 
 class under consideration. Its phrenological 
 name is " Secretiveness." That all persons 
 possess, in some degree, this feeling, is obvious 
 from the fact that no person exists, who does 
 not, in fact, conceal some things which they 
 do, and feel, and design. This feeling is an 
 element in what we call prudence, or discretion. 
 In some persons it is found in undue proportion; 
 and it is thus in some children. In such cases, 
 
36 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 cunning and duplicity will be evinced, an air of 
 secrecy will characterize all the movements of 
 the little creature ; and in its attempts to com- 
 pass its purposes, it will approach them, not 
 directly, but circuitously ; and with a well simu- 
 lated indifference and inattention to what may be 
 passing, with reference to the objects of its aim. 
 The Desire to Possess, is another feeling 
 of this class ; and is termed, in phrenological 
 language, "Acquisitiveness." One of the 
 earliest ideas, which gain possession of the 
 mind of a child, is, the idea of property : and 
 one of the first words it learns to utter, relative 
 to any object, the sight of which excites the 
 desire of possession, is, " Mine" It is the 
 activity of this feeling which makes children 
 desire to have, and try to obtain, things, of the 
 use of which they can form no conception. 
 Among the lower animals, the squirrel, the 
 magpie, and the rat, may be mentioned as 
 instances of the great activity of the propensity 
 to collect, or hoard up : and every one, who is 
 only a little acquainted with the habits of brutes, 
 will readily trace each of the above mentioned 
 feelings, to one or other animal, who seems 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 37 
 
 almost an incarnation of it. All the foregoing 
 feelings, or instincts, are, in phrenological 
 language, called " Propensities." 
 
 We now proceed to particularize the feelings 
 which are mediate in their character ; — i. e. 
 which are found in some, but not all, of the 
 tribes of the lower animals. Now as these are 
 less gross, and corporeal, so to speak, than the 
 former class, they are termed " Sentiments ;" 
 yet as they are inferior in nature, to certain 
 other sentiments, (the moral ones) they are 
 designated the lower, and the more noble ones, 
 the higher sentiments. 
 
 The first is a feeling, or Sentiment, tending 
 to Self- Elevation or Self -Prefer erne. No time 
 need be employed in illustrating its modes of 
 operation; for every watchful mother must 
 have observed its activity in her children, even 
 though they might be, by no means remarkable 
 for its excess. It may seem doubtful, to some 
 persons, whether our Maker, has compounded, 
 as an element of our nature, a feeling so nearly, 
 in appearance at least, allied to that pride 
 which he, so solemnly forbids. But it may 
 suffice to reply, that it is not the element, or 
 3 
 
38 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 essential principle, which he prohibits : it is 
 the excess. The sentiment in question, enters 
 essentially into all dignity, and is an ele- 
 ment in all self-respect. It is to this very 
 sentiment that His own appeal is made, when 
 he bids his children, " Walk worthy of the 
 vocation with which they are called." The 
 phrenological name of this feeling is " Self- 
 Esteem. " 
 
 The next sentiment or feeling, in this class, 
 is, The Desire of Estimation. Every one 
 who has closely observed children, must have 
 remarked the difference of degree in which the 
 kindred feelings of Pride and Vanity prevail, 
 in different individuals: some children are more 
 remarkable for pride ; and some for vanity. In 
 the former case there is a predominance of 
 " Self-Esteem ;" in the latter, of "Love of 
 AppROBATioN"or "Approbativeness ;" which 
 are the phrenological names of the feeling we 
 have called, Desire of Estimation. It is not 
 enough to render some children happy, that 
 they do right ; — they must be seen to do so, 
 and praised for so doing, or they are disap- 
 pointed, and dissatisfied. To them is applica- 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 39 
 
 ble, the language of our Divine Redeemer, 
 respecting some of the men of his own day : 
 " All their works they do, to be seen of men ;" 
 and being lauded for their doings, " they have 
 their reward" In different degrees, this is a 
 universal feeling. 
 
 The only remaining feeling of this class, is 
 a Sentiment of Fear. A perfectly fearless 
 character, perhaps, never existed among men : 
 and hence, it is plain that the phrenological 
 sentiment, " Cautiousness," is really an ele- 
 ment in human nature. Some children are 
 excessively timid; — needlessly so, and pain- 
 fully so ; both to themselves, and their friends: 
 and whatever may be the degree in which it 
 exists, this feeling requires to be properly 
 trained, or educated : in some requiring to be 
 excited, and in others to be soothed ; but, in 
 all, to be enlightened, and directed to proper 
 objects. 
 
 We now come to the enumeration of that 
 class of feelings, which are more elevated and 
 dignified than any we have yet specified : — 
 feelings which only man possesses. These 
 are termed, by phrenologists, the Higher, or 
 
40 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 " Moral Sentiments." They are " Vene- 
 ration," " Conscientiousness," and " Bene- 
 volence." He who should deny the existence 
 of these, in the nature of man, would be 
 immediately declared the calumniator of human 
 nature. These feelings exist, in every variety 
 of degree among men ; but in some degree, they 
 are found in all the race. There is in man, 
 a natural tendency to venerate whatever, for 
 antiquity, and elevation, and dignity, and 
 authority, is venerable : there is also, an innate 
 sense of a difference between right and wrong; 
 -—justice and injustice; and the command, 
 " Bender to all their dues" meets with a 
 response in the breast of every man, who 
 understands the terms in which the precept is 
 couched : and, moreover, there is a feeling of 
 spontaneous kindness, essentially belonging to 
 human nature, which is, occasionally at least, 
 active in every one who wears the human form : 
 and the activity of this, in the unsophisticated 
 samples of human nature, the young of the 
 species, or children, no parent can fail to have 
 noticed. 
 
 We cannot persuade ourselves to leave this 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 41 
 
 part of the subject, without noticing the adapt- 
 edness of the moral precepts of the Bible, to 
 our Moral Sentiments, as ascertained by 
 Phrenology. To our moral nature, it was 
 necessary that the laws of that nature should 
 be adapted : for we could not be subjects of 
 moral goverment, unless our nature contained 
 elements adapted to moral laws ; and to w r hich 
 they were adapted. Now the Bible includes 
 the whole duty of man, under obedience to the 
 enlightened dictates of these very sentiments : 
 " He hath showed thee, O man what is good : 
 and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to 
 do justly, (Conscientiousness,) to love merey, 
 (Benevolence,) and to walk humbly with thy 
 God?" (Veneration.) [Mic: 6, 8, 9.] This 
 adaptation of the moral laws to these moral 
 elements of our nature, is exhibited, in exactly 
 the same point of view, by the Apostle Paul ; 
 when describing the characteristics of the law ; 
 he says it is "holy, (or venerable,) and just, and 
 good," or benevolent: tending to the diffusion 
 of happiness. He specifies its characteristics 
 as being three; and they are such, as corres- 
 pond, respectively, with those three highest 
 3* 
 
42 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 feelings of our nature, which constitute us 
 moral agents ; or fit subjects to receive such a 
 law, and to live under a government based on 
 it. 
 
 In addition to these highest, or authoritative 
 Sentiments, are others, which require to be 
 mentioned. These are the feeling of " Hope," 
 which is constantly looking for something better 
 than the present ; and thus prevents satisfaction 
 with prosperity, and despondency under adver- 
 sity : — " Firmness," or a tenaciousness of 
 purpose : — " Wonder," or the belief of what 
 is, nevertheless, incomprehensible ; or, at 
 least, impenetrably mysterious : Imagination, 
 or, phrenologically speaking, " Ideality," 
 which is the sense, or perception, of the perfect 
 and beautiful in nature or art ; and finally, the 
 sense or feeling of the ludicrous, which phre- 
 nologists Call " MlRTHFTTLNESS." 
 
 All the particulars enumerated in these three 
 classes, are Feelings ; and to excite them to 
 activity, it is only necessary to present to them 
 their appropriate objects. But there are times 
 when they require to be controlled, or stimu- 
 lated ; and being, in themselves blind, they 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 43 
 
 always require to be directed. That we may 
 know when to stimulate, and when to control 
 them, and which, at given times, to treat thus, 
 and by what means, and in what direction, to 
 guide them, we require, and are accordingly, 
 furnished with another set of faculties, viz : 
 The Intellectual Faculties. These, like 
 the feelings, are divided into two classes. The 
 perceptive, or knowing faculties ; and the re- 
 flecting faculties. 
 
 The knowing or perceptive faculties, are 
 again divided into such as cognize or perceive 
 objects, individual and separate material things* 
 and beings ; — their form, size, color, arrange- 
 ment, and number ; and such as cognize 
 occurrences or events ; their time, or succession 
 to each other; and their place; and some 
 other accidents connected with them; together 
 with the conventional signs, or words, by 
 which these various attributes and phenomena 
 are expressed. And even the reflecting facul- 
 ties, though they are but two in number, have 
 offices or functions distinct from each other ; 
 and hence, appear to require division. One is 
 the faculty which perceives resemblances 
 
44 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 between known things and principles ; and 
 hence, reasons analogically, and by illustration ; 
 while the other, more severe in its character, 
 discovers and traces necessary consequences ; 
 or the connexion between cause and effect ; 
 tracing causes out to their consequences ; and 
 consequences back to their causes. It is the 
 activity of this faculty which leads many 
 children so frequently to ask the causes for 
 the appearances they see in nature : " Why 
 does the sky look blue ?" " What makes 
 some clouds look dark, and others bright?" 
 " Where do the bubbles come from, which 
 rise from the bottom of the kettle, when it 
 boils ?" 
 
 In order to our readers profiting by this 
 extended enumeration of the elements of human 
 nature, or the materials upon which we have 
 to operate, in the early training of children, it 
 is indispensable that the following principles 
 be const anily borne in mind ; and we hope 
 that before proceeding further, mothers will 
 work them into the very texture, so to speak, 
 of their own minds. 
 
IN THE FAMILY, 45 
 
 1. Every sane individual possesses them 
 all ; But, yet, 
 
 2. They are possessed, in every variety of 
 degree, by different individuals. 
 
 3. They belong to our nature; or are innate. 
 They cannot be annihilated, nor created: though 
 they may be controlled, or modified, and 
 stimulated. 
 
 4. They are capable of simultaneous, or 
 combined activity ; and also of individual, or 
 separate activity. 
 
 5. They are not all of the same rank, or 
 dignity, or authority : the reflecting faculties 
 are superior to the observing ones, and the 
 moral feelings, superior to the animal ones. 
 
 The foregoing are principles which lie at the 
 foundation of the philosophy and morality of 
 Phrenology ; and their importance, in the 
 application of it to education, can scarcely be 
 too highly estimated. 
 
46 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PRACTICAL ERRORS CONCERNING EARLY EDUCATION. 
 
 Having presented to view, the classes of 
 faculties which belong to the nature of Man ; 
 shown their relative importance and dignity ; 
 and given a catalogue of the principal individual 
 faculties in each class ; we pause a moment, 
 and ask any intelligent, and reflecting mother, 
 which of these classes of faculties, and which 
 individual faculty, in any of them, does not 
 require education ? If we look at facts, how- 
 ever, we shall be ready to conclude, that there 
 prevails, almost universally, a practical belief 
 that nearly all of them may, safely, be left 
 uneducated, and that those which are admitted 
 to require education, should receive it elsewhere 
 than at home. Our position is, that all the 
 faculties of our nature require to be educated ; 
 trained to such kinds and degrees of activity, 
 as are proper to them ; and to that activity, in 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 47 
 
 such a direction as shall secure the due develop- 
 ment of them all ; and the approbation of Him 
 who has endowed us with them. We contend, 
 also, that home is the appropriate place in 
 which for education to have its commence- 
 ment; and that parents, but especially mothers, 
 are the divinely appointed, and responsible 
 instructors. 
 
 These positions will not, probably, be dis- 
 tinctly disputed, or even questioned, in so 
 many words : but we meet with a practical 
 denial of them, in the conduct of almost all 
 persons, to whom God has given children. It 
 is a fact, that all the faculties are not attempted 
 to be educated ; — it is not even proposed to 
 educate any but the Intellectual Faculties ; and 
 the education of even these, is little attended to, 
 till the child is put in charge of the professional 
 Teacher ; and it is thought just and right, that 
 until the child is put under his care, that course 
 of instruction through which it is designed that 
 he shall pass, should not have even its com- 
 mencement. So that the Teacher (than whom, 
 when faithful and intelligent, there is no human 
 being to whom parents are under greater 
 
48 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 obligations) instead of finding the soil which 
 he is expected to cultivate, prepared to his hand 
 by judicious and careful culture, at home ; finds 
 it overrun with noxious weeds, which it re- 
 quires much time and great labor to eradicate ; 
 even if it be, at all, possible to remove them : 
 and then begins to sow the seeds of instruction, 
 in a soil hardened by the neglect with which 
 it has been treated : and where he ought to 
 have found the young plants, prepared for his 
 hand ; and waiting only for his fostering and 
 directing attention. 
 
 But we object, not only to the general 
 neglect of instruction at home, and to the 
 manifest injustice to the teacher, and injury 
 to the child, of committing to the former, the 
 work of training the latter, with its mind a 
 wilderness, when it should have been a garden : 
 we complain that education, as, at present, 
 professionally conducted, is not what it pro- 
 fesses to be ; nor what it is capable of becom- 
 ing : — this blessing is not, in fact, afforded to 
 all, even of those faculties (the Intellectual 
 ones) which it professes to cultivate : — indeed, 
 it is afforded to only a very few of them. It is 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 49 
 
 afforded to the faculty of " language," or 
 verbal memory, — the knowledge of convention- 
 al sounds, or words: (i. e. in Reading:) — to 
 " number," or the faculty of calculation ; (in 
 arithmetic ;) — to " constructiveness," or the 
 faculty of using instruments or tools ; (in 
 Writing and Drawing:) — and perhaps, to one 
 or two others. This is Education, as far as it 
 goes : but " the training of the Intellectual 
 faculties," must include the due exercise of 
 them all. 
 
 And the practical denial of our position, that 
 the work of education is to begin at home, 
 extends, often, to the more important portion 
 of our nature, — the Moral Feelings. The 
 training and culture of these seems to be 
 considered as belonging, exclusively to the 
 Minister ; or, at most, to be divided, between 
 him and the Sabbath School Teacher. But 
 what can these accomplish, except as they are 
 auxiliaries to parents in the work of moral 
 culture ? Indeed, one reason why the labors 
 of both these classes of instructors are not more 
 successful, is, that they are not assisted, in 
 their benevolent efforts, by the co-operation of 
 
50 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 home instruction. The Minister in two or 
 three discourses a week, (a very small portion 
 of which is addressed to children, or would be 
 understood by them) together with the Sabbath 
 School Teacher (in the intercourse, often, of not 
 more than one hour weekly,) cannot perform 
 the work of education to the Moral Feelings. 
 It must be done at home, or it will, assuredly, 
 be left undone ; and at home the greater portion 
 of it must be performed by mothers. 
 
 Nor is the case better, with regard to the 
 Animal Feelings. How very few intelligent 
 attempts are made to give to these feelings any 
 education at all ! It is almost never attempted, 
 except at home ; — seldom is it attempted, even 
 there, and when the effort is made, it is scarcely 
 ever made intelligently: i. e. with a true 
 knowledge of the elements which enter into 
 the nature of the child ;« the proper mode in 
 which to operate on those elements ; and the 
 proper means with which so to operate. 
 
 And yet, to parents is committed this im- 
 portant duty ;— a duty scarcely less laborious, 
 than it is important. Children manifest several 
 of the feelings and faculties which we have 
 
IX THE FAMILY. §1 
 
 enumerated, before they are of an age to go 
 from home for instruction ; and this fact indi- 
 cates the design of the Creator, that the early- 
 education of them should be performed at 
 home; and it shows, at the same time, how- 
 important it is that the education received at 
 home, should be conducted aright ; — conducted 
 according to the nature of the being who is to 
 receive instruction : for that only, deserves the 
 name of Education, which is characterized by 
 this adaptation. It is, indeed, a fact, that 
 parents do give instruction to the Propensities, 
 and Intellect, and Moral Feelings of their 
 children ; i. e. they teach them severally, to 
 act ; but alas ! in the large majority of cases, 
 they teach them to act erroneously ; and even 
 injuriously. It may not be improper, here 
 to introduce a passage from a work on this 
 subject, by the Rev. Christopher Anderson, o i 
 Edinburgh ; — " The Genius and Design of the 
 Domestic Constitution." His language is as 
 follows : 
 
 " In the laudable anxiety of their hearts, two 
 Parents, with a family of infants playing around 
 their feet, are heard to say — ■ Oh ! what will — 
 
0% rriKfiNOLOGY 
 
 what can best educate these dear children? I 
 reply — Look to yourselves, and your circum- 
 stances. * * * * Your example will educate 
 them ; — your conversation with your friends ; — 
 the business they see you transact ; — the likings 
 and dislikings you express ; — these will educate 
 them ; the society you live in, wilt educate 
 them ; — your domestics will educate them ; 
 and whatever be your rank or situation in life, 
 your house, your table, and your behaviour 
 there, these will educate them. To withdraw 
 them from the unceasing and potent influence 
 of these things is impossible, except you were 
 to withdraw yourself from them also. Some 
 parents talk of beginning the education of their 
 children : — the moment they are capable of 
 forming an idea, their education is already 
 begun : — the education of circumstances — in- 
 sensible education, which, like insensible per- 
 spiration, is of more constant and powerful 
 effect, and of far more consequence to the 
 habit, than that which is direct and apparent. 
 Its education goes on at every instant of time ; 
 it goes on like time — you can neither stop it, 
 nor turn its course. Whatever these, then, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 53 
 
 have a tendency to make your children, that, 
 in a great degree, you, at least, should be per- 
 suaded they will be." 
 
 To some of the particulars referred to, in the 
 foregoing passage, we shall have occasion, 
 hereafter, to revert: it may suffice, here, to 
 observe, that no reflecting person can question 
 the correctness of the sentiments ; — the truth 
 of the observation ; nor will any one who ad- 
 mits their truth, question the correctness of the 
 opinion we have advanced, that the instruction 
 actually given to the various faculties of the 
 infant mind, is given ignorantly, by example, 
 and circumstances ; without the knowledge, on 
 the part of the parents, that it is given : or if the 
 fact be adverted to, that the child is instructed by 
 these, no care is taken to secure the presence of 
 an example which may be safely imitated, and of 
 circumstances, which shall have a healthful in- 
 fluence. Instead of the education, arising from 
 these agencies, being a systematic course of 
 procedure, upon known principles, carefully 
 adapted to a certain end, and as skilfully direct- 
 ed towards it, an end is secured — an education 
 4# 
 
54 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 given, which, not only was not designed ; but 
 which is, in many particulars, the very reverse 
 of what is wished ; and if, in any thing, it is 
 such as might be desired, this is the result, 
 almost wholly, of accident; and is as unlikely 
 to be repeated, in a given case, as that a child, 
 at play with a box of letters, not one of which 
 he knows, should twice, in succession, so ar- 
 range certain of them, as to spell a particular 
 word. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 EDUCATION DURING INFANCY. 
 
 Early education may be divided into two 
 periods : Infancy and Childhood. The first 
 may extend, with some children, to one age, and 
 with others to another : for it is a mistake to 
 suppose that this period can be precisely indi- 
 cated by months, or years, so as to be applicable, 
 alike, to all children. Some children are fre- 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 55 
 
 quently said to be more " forward" than others ; 
 and this language is applicable to the manifes- 
 tation of the feelings and intellect ; as well as 
 to corporeal developement. With some children 
 it may extend from the birth to six months 
 old ; and in others may be extended a year, or 
 eighteen months, or even to two years. 
 
 We have already stated, in the fundamental 
 principles laid down, at the close of Chapter 
 III. that all the faculties are innate, or belong 
 to our nature ; and that all are found in some 
 degree, in every sane individual. It will be 
 obvious, therefore, that no one of them can be 
 either created, or annihilated. Education must 
 not be expected to accomplish either one or 
 the other : and the assertion, sometimes made, 
 that it is education which makes all the differ- 
 ences which exist, either between nations, or 
 Individuals of the same nation, is to be received 
 with considerable limitations. Education may 
 stimulate, or enfeeble the faculties and feelings : 
 and its legitimate office is, to stimulate the 
 faculties which are feeble, and ought to be 
 powerful ; and to enfeeble those which are 
 energetic, and require to be weak, or subordi- 
 
56 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 nate. It is the proper province of education, 
 to cultivate the Intellectual Faculties, and the 
 Moral Sentiments, and to control the animal 
 and Selfish Feelings : — it is intended to train 
 the Intellect to observe, and to reflect; the 
 Moral Feelings, (when enlightened by Intellect 
 and Revelation) to command ; and the Animal 
 and Selfish ones to obey. 
 
 The feelings earliest manifested, by the in- 
 fant subject of education, are animal ones ; and, 
 of course, these are the earliest to be subjected 
 to discipline. Indeed, as soon as a feeling is 
 manifested, so soon should it be disciplined. 
 But discipline is not, necessarily, coercion ; 
 and we cannot, therefore, subscribe to the 
 opinions of some strenuous advocates for dis- 
 cipline, who maintain the propriety of coercion, 
 yes, even of stripes, in the case of infants, only 
 a few weeks old. Such discipline we cannot 
 believe, ever, to be necessary ; and are per- 
 suaded it cannot be useful ; and if useless and 
 needless, it cannot be otherwise than injurious. 
 
 The earliest instinct manifested by the in- 
 fant being, is the Desire of Food; — " alimen- 
 tiveness." And here, we must be permitted 
 
IX THE FAMILY. 57 
 
 to observe, that the order of nature is virtually 
 reversed ; in consequence of the ignorance of 
 mothers and nurses, themselves : so reversed, 
 as that the babe would, if it might, impart 
 instruction to its seniors. In the newly born 
 infant, nature appears unsophisticated : and 
 when its cravings for food are satisfied, it 
 spontaneously relinquishes its hold, on the 
 vehicle of its reception. In fact, the child 
 knows, better than the parent, when he has 
 had sufficient food ; and indicates that he is 
 satisfied, by declining to receive more. But 
 maternal fondness, ("Philoprogenitiveness") 
 a feeling, in itself blind, like all the other mere 
 feelings, conceives that more food would be 
 gratifying, and may be necessary, to the child ; 
 and to induce him to receive it, " alimentive- 
 ness," in the infant, is. in various ways stimu- 
 lated. Now this is a capital error : the feeling 
 stimulated is an animal one ; — one of a class 
 which, already, possess undue energy ; and 
 are properly educated, by diminishing, not 
 increasing their activity. But the presentation, 
 to any faculty, of a stimulus, does increase its 
 action ; and thus, progressively, its power of 
 
58 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 action. So, in the present case, by means of 
 the stimulant (sugar or spice, or what not) 
 " alimentiveness" is re-excited, after having 
 been satisfied ; and a further portion of food is 
 received into the stomach : and not only is the 
 cerebral organ of the feeling in question, in- 
 creased in size,. by the excitement furnished 
 through the stimulus ; but the stomach is, in 
 some measure, distended, by the additional food 
 forced into it. This enlargement is, to some 
 extent, permanent; and of course, there 13 
 space for the reception of a larger portion of 
 food at the next meal. To receive this larger 
 portion, there is, also, a stronger inclination ; 
 in consequence of the increased activity of the 
 organ of the feeling. This increased desire 
 for food is again gratified, and still further 
 stimulated ; and this process is repeated from 
 day to day, until in after life, the parent dis- 
 covers, to her sorrow, that the child of her 
 affections is greedy for food ; anxious for it, 
 whenever it is in sight ; absorbed in the mere 
 pleasure of eating, when partaking of food ; 
 and in one word, an incipient glutton. She 
 bewails her hard fate ; but she " has rewarded 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 59 
 
 evil unto herself." It is a law of our nature, — 
 it is the fiat of the Almighty, — that an animal 
 Feeling, in man, shall be strengthened by in- 
 dulgence ; and " Alimentiveness" is such a 
 feeling. A course of conduct has been pursued, 
 contrary to the will of the Creator ; and the 
 consequence resulting, is the penalty which he 
 has annexed to transgression. It is the natural 
 consequence of the conduct of the parent ; and 
 it is a righteous consequence ; even though 
 she knew it not ; because she is endowed with 
 faculties for obtaining knowledge of it ; and is 
 bound to employ them. Hence we perceive 
 the indispensable necessity, in order to a 
 proper education of the human being, that those 
 who conduct it should possess definite and 
 positive knowledge of the nature of man, and 
 of the effects of a given course of procedure, 
 on any of the innate elements of that nature. 
 
 The next feeling the activity of which is ex- 
 hibited in Infancy, is " Adhesiveness," or the 
 Instinct of Attachment. Words are called the 
 signs of ideas ; and to the man, and even to the 
 child, they are such : but words are artificial 
 signs of ideas ; and with these the infant is, as 
 
60 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 yet, unacquainted. Long before he can utter 
 these, or even understand them, he can feel 
 emotions, and has means of expressing them, 
 though not in words. The emotion of affection 
 he early experiences ; and the natural language 
 of that emotion he frequently exhibits. With 
 how much delight does he look up into his 
 mother's face, (after having satisfied his hunger 
 from her breast,) and smile, and then playfully 
 bury his face in the bosom on which he rests I 
 And how obvious is the satisfaction he derives 
 from her affectionate pressure and caresses. 
 In some children this feeling is exceedingly 
 strong ; and in almost all of them it is among 
 the strongest. 
 
 And how can we sufficiently admire the 
 wisdom and goodness of our glorious Maker, 
 in calling into exercise the powerful, unwearied,, 
 exhaustless instinct of paternal love, at a time 
 when the helplessness of its object renders es- 
 pecially necessary its activity; — in causing it 
 to be excited by that very helplessness ; — and 
 in securing so early a reward for its exercise, 
 in the manifest attachment of the child ! This 
 attachment calls forth new gushes of maternal 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 61 
 
 love ; and this process is continually repeated, 
 because there is continued need for the exercise 
 of this love, in order to secure the well-being 
 of its object. 
 
 No intelligent mother can be ignorant of the 
 immense influence over her child, which she 
 derives from his affection towards herself: and 
 no such mother, who knows it, will fail to 
 endeavour to retain this influence, and watch 
 for the occasions to exert it for his benefit. 
 Some mothers, of strong Intellect, have, in 
 after life, made this single feeling of attach- 
 ment to herself, the cord by which to hold back 
 a wayward son from temporal ruin, and many 
 are the cases in which it has subserved the 
 higher end, of conducting such sons even to 
 the Saviour's feet. Cecil, in recording his 
 own experience, of the use his wise and pious 
 mother made, of her knowledge that he tender- 
 ly loved her, says, " When parental influence 
 does not convert, it hampers. It hangs on the 
 wheels of evil. I had a pious mother, who 
 dropped things in my way. I could never rid 
 myself of them. I was a professed infidel, but 
 then, I liked to be an infidel in company, 
 5 
 
62 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 rather than when alone, I was wretched when 
 by myself. These maxims, and principles, 
 and data spoiled my jollity. * * * * * My 
 mother would talk to me, and weep as she 
 talked. I flung out of the house, with an 
 oath; — but wept too, when I got into the 
 street." This case speaks loudly and distinct- 
 ly of the power which the affection of a child 
 places in a mother's hand. The following is a 
 similar instance. 
 
 Some years since a fine young man, " the 
 only son of his mother, and she was a widow," 
 on becoming of age, and receiving his patri- 
 mony, entered into company, and indulged in 
 the dissipations of genteel society. Her watch- 
 ful eye saw his danger ; and she pointed out 
 its tendency to ruin both body and soul : and 
 used every argument, persuasion, and entreaty, 
 to induce him to relinquish it ; but in vain. 
 One day she learned that he was to dine with a 
 large and jovial party, and she spent the fore- 
 noon in entreating him to break his engagement : 
 but it was useless. " Mother, " said he, " I 
 will go!" " Then, John, replied the widowed 
 parent, " I will retire to my closet, and pray 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 63 
 
 for you, till I see your face again. " He went 
 to the party ; but could find no enjoyment : — 
 the thought of his mother, on her knees, wrest- 
 ling with God in prayer for him, formed such 
 a contrast to the scene before him, that he 
 slipped away — found his mother in the act of 
 prayer, — knelt by her side, fell on her neck, 
 and from that day, became the delight of his 
 pious mother's heart. It was the operation of 
 the feeling under consideration ; — the Instinct 
 of Attachment; the activity of a powerful 
 Adhesiveness, which haunted him with the 
 vision of his kneeling mother, praying for him, 
 and which rendered, not merely insipid, but 
 disgusting, all the gaiety and frivolity of that 
 jovial meeting ; — which withdrew him from 
 the circle of dissipation, and ultimately brought 
 him to the path of goodness and truth* — the 
 Saviour's footstool. 
 
 In the early education of this feeling, care 
 should be taken that it be not needlessly pained. 
 It is a principle in Phrenology, that pleasure is 
 the result of the exercise of any faculty. But 
 a faculty cannot act, except on its appropriate 
 object ; and to deprive a faculty of its proper 
 
64 
 
 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 object, is, of course, to inflict suffering. The 
 same effect is produced, when the individual 
 supposes that the object on which any of its 
 faculties delightfully operates, has been removed 
 or lost. This is the case with the faculty or 
 instinct of Adhesiveness. It is, therefore, 
 exceedingly wrong, injurious, and cruel, to 
 endeavour to persuade a child that his mother 
 does not love him ; or that she will exchange 
 him for some other Uttle boy : or that a brother 
 or sister is beloved more than himself. Often, 
 very often, is this done in mere thoughtlessness ; 
 and for this no apology can be offered : but 
 where, as is sometimes the case, it is done in 
 wantonness, and from a desire to give pain, it 
 cannot be too severely censured. 
 
 The injuriousness of such a course of treat- 
 ment is obvious, as goon as we look upon its 
 effect on the child. Its " Love of Approbation" 
 is keenly pained. The little one is told, that 
 another possesses that place in his mother's 
 affection, which he did possess, and which he 
 has not forfeited by any act of disobedience, or 
 transgression. His sense of justice or his 
 " Conscientiousness' ' is indignant at this out- 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 65 
 
 rage on his rights. His " Combativeness," or 
 instinct to oppose, is roused to contend for his 
 violated and valued rights, and* against the real 
 or supposed invader of them : as also, is its 
 kindred faculty, " Destructiveness ; " which 
 turns on his rival, whether brother, sister, play- 
 mate, or stranger. Thus arise at once Anger, 
 Envy, and Revenge, in their germs, and 
 essence. 
 
 But this is not the whole amount of the 
 mischief: The mother suffers in the child's 
 esteem : his confidence in her is no longer 
 entire, and unlimited : she has (as he is made 
 to believe) unjustly withdrawn her love from 
 him : and he cannot trust her as before. 
 Mothers, can you bear to be regarded with 
 distrust, by the children of your affection ? 
 Will you baiter their entire, confiding love, for 
 the pleasure of seeing them angry, envious, 
 and revengeful ? Beware then, how you pain 
 their " Adhesiveness." Let them be taught, 
 by all your conduct, even before they can un- 
 derstand your language, that no child of another 
 family is so loved as themselves; and that you 
 love not them at all the less, for having others, 
 5* 
 
66 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 whether older or younger, as the objects of 
 your affectionate regard. Alas ! how numerous 
 are the cases ir* which a permanently and in- 
 corrigibly bad temper has been originated, by 
 the conduct to which we have here adverted. 
 
 We have all along supposed that the evil in 
 question has been traceable to the mother her- 
 self; but it may be otherwise. It may have 
 proceeded from the other parent ; or from an 
 elder sister or brother ; or from a misguided, 
 though well-meaning domestic. In all cases 
 except the first named, it will certainly be the 
 mother's duty to interpose her authority, to 
 prevent the infliction of pain and injury, on an 
 innocent being, so tenderly dear to her : and in 
 the first case, we are confident, that an intelli- 
 gent and affectionate husband and father will 
 need no inducement to abandon the mischievous 
 course, beyond a mere glance at the conse- 
 quences which must result from it. 
 
 And there is one other consequence, not so 
 immediately connected with suffering inflicted 
 on the child, as with injury done to him, in his 
 moral interests, which, before we leave the 
 subject, we will mention : viz : His regard for 
 
IX THE FAMILY. 67 
 
 truth is weakened. Some persons will smile at 
 the idea of the moral interests of an infant 
 being injured; and his regard for truth being 
 weakened ; but let them smile : — we are assured 
 that there is but too much ground for our ap- 
 prehension in this case. The child, when 
 sufficiently tortured by the treatment referred 
 to, to satisfy the mind of his torturer that it 
 should be no longer continued, is soothed ; 
 and, it may be, satisfied that his mother does 
 love him as well as before ; — that she will not 
 change him for another boy, and that, therefore, 
 he has not been injured, as he had supposed ; 
 but what is the effect of this, upon his moral 
 feelings ? — for of these he has the germs ; and 
 they act, as soon as he can form an idea. Does 
 he not suppose that it is lawful to say one thing, 
 and mean another ? — that falsehood, in fact, is 
 not a serious evil ; if, even, it be one at all ? 
 for his parents and friends utter it : and a child 
 takes for granted, that what its parents do, is 
 not wrong. Thus is the almost embryo feeling 
 of " Conscientiousness" enfeebled ; and those 
 of u Seeretiveness," and " Imitation" excite*d 
 to activity ; and the child learns, in its very 
 
OS PHRENOLOGY 
 
 cradle, and from its parents themselves, its 
 earliest lessons in deception and falsehood and 
 hypocrisy; — evils for the practice of which, 
 in after life, it is to suffer severe punishment ; 
 and not improbably, may cost its eternal happi- 
 ness. " Behold, how great a matter a little fire 
 kindleth :" how great a stream issues from an 
 apparently insignificant fountain ! 
 
 We now advance to the consideration of 
 another feeling discovered in infancy, the edu- 
 cation of which should, of course, therefore, 
 be commenced at that peri >d : — Anger. This 
 feeling is not simple in its nature ; but com- 
 pounded of the activity of " Destruetiveness," 
 and " Combativeness." Its compound nature 
 will be explained by a reference to the close of 
 the third chapter ; (Fundamental Principles No. 
 4.) — both the feelings, just mentioned, are 
 active simultaneously, in a case of Anger. In 
 some children there is a very strong natural 
 tendency to this compound feeling : — they are, 
 so to speak, of an inflammable disposition : a 
 mere spark is sufficient to enkindle them ; and 
 many waters are insufficient to extinguish the 
 fire. 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 69 
 
 The education of this feeling in such children, 
 is no easy task. A hint, as to the correct course, 
 in thi3 difficult duty, may be derived from the 
 illustration we have given of the disposition of 
 such children. As they are inflammable, they 
 must, as much as possible, be kept from the 
 presence of what would enkindle them : if 
 possible, not even a spark must come in contact 
 with them, lest they explode. Or, to speak 
 without a figure. In the education of this 
 feeling, we must keep constantly before our 
 mind, this great principle ; viz : That Anger 
 is an animal feeling, and that it is the will of 
 our Maker, that animal feelings should be edu- 
 cated to obey. In order to accomplish this, 
 measures must be taken to enfeeble the feeling. 
 But the inquiry now presents itself : What are 
 the measures, the adoption of which will secure 
 this result? This question may be answered 
 by another, analogous to it : — What measures 
 would be taken, if it were desirable to decrease 
 the strength of a limb of the body ? Would 
 an attempt be made to wear it feeble, by fre- 
 quent and energetic use ? This might and 
 would, by each effort, produce weariness, but 
 
70 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 not feebleness : — on the contrary, this alterna- 
 tion of labor and repose would result in the 
 increased vigor of the limb ; and every renewed 
 exertion of its power, would be an exertion of 
 augmented, power. This course then is not 
 wise. 
 
 Instead of this, let the limb be inactive, for 
 a time : — let there be no occasion for the ex- 
 ertion of its strength : — let its muscles not 
 only not be exerted; but let them not be 
 exercised; not even used ; and the result will 
 speedily be, a decrease of power; and even a 
 difficulty, and ultimately an impossibility, of 
 use. This is actually seen, in the feeble and 
 sickly frames, of persons of good natural con- 
 stitution, but whose habits, or pursuits, or in- 
 clinations are unfavourable to bodily exercise : 
 but it is seen in all its terrible extremes, in the 
 case of the superstitious Fakir of India, whose 
 withered limbs become immoveable and useless, 
 as if made of wood, or marble, in consequence 
 of his carrying out his purpose, never to remove 
 them from some certain assumed position. 
 We are, now, perhaps, prepared to reply to the 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 71 
 
 question. How shall we enfeeble the feeling 
 of Anger, in the infant subject of education ? 
 
 It must be done by keeping it still: — pre- 
 venting, if possible, its excitement ; and if un- 
 fortunately, it should be excited, quiet it as soon 
 as possible. But this must not, and cannot, 
 be done by force: the employment of this, 
 will only excite, and thus increase, the feeling : 
 it may at length weary and wear it out, tem- 
 porarily ; but after repose, it will be prepared 
 to ;< awake like a giant refreshed with new 
 wine." The caprices of even an infant's anger 
 must not be ministered unto ; but until he is of 
 an age to be reasoned with, it is best silently 
 to remove the provocation ; and sedulously to 
 watch against its future presentation. A fail- 
 ure to do this, is perhaps, the cause why we so 
 frequently hear parents complain of the fretful- 
 ness and impatience of their children when a 
 year or two old ; and affirm (truly, too, without 
 doubt, in many cases) that, for the first few 
 months of their lives they were perfectly good- 
 tempered. The first exhibitions of temper 
 were not treated as we recommend, but in an 
 opposite manner ; and thus the seed was made to 
 
72 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 germinate ; and subsequent steps in the training 
 adopted, changed the seed into a plant, and 
 alas ! (for evil) a fruitful one. This evil con- 
 sequence results, sometimes, from entrusting the 
 care of an infant to an injudicious attendant: 
 children are, themselves, sometimes made the 
 attendants of children; and by them, they are not 
 unfrequently neglected, teased, and provoked. 
 A sour, fretful, impatient, irritable disposition is 
 thus originated, in the infancy of a child, and 
 without the knowledge of the mother, which 
 proves to her a source of surprise, at first, and 
 of affliction afterwards : and which cleaves to 
 him, probably, to the latest period of his life. 
 We shall find it necessary to revert to this feel- 
 ing and to some following ones, on a future 
 page ; when we treat of the early education of 
 Childhood. 
 
 " Acquisitiveness," or the desire to possess, 
 is not unfrequently quite active in Infancy. 
 Injudicious treatment may, in fact, stimulate it. 
 Parents and nurses, to quiet a crying child, will 
 sometimes offer it something attractive and 
 valuable, which it ought not to have. At 
 another time the child desires the same thing. 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 73 
 
 and possession is refused. Now this is incon- 
 sistency, in the education of this feeling. It is 
 natural for the little one to desire a thing, the 
 possession of which has afforded him gratifica- 
 tion : and equally so, for him to suppose that, 
 since he has been indulged, he may be indulged 
 again. Hence he interprets refusal as the act 
 of unkindness, or caprice. Is it not injudicious, 
 unkind, and even, in a sense, cruel, to excite 
 a desire which must not be gratified? But, 
 moreover, such a course as that first pursued, 
 actually stimulates the feeling in question, by 
 gratifying it : and many are the instances in 
 which a mother has reaped a large harvest of 
 anguish, when witnessing, inher child, avarice, 
 stubbornness, passion, and pride, the seeds of 
 which her own hand scattered, by the indul- 
 gence, in infancy, of the feeling in question. 
 The infant, under its influence, cannot be rea- 
 soned with ; and the best course is, generally, to 
 remove him to another room, where the 
 presence of new objects may efface the recol- 
 lection of the desired one ; and thus render the 
 desire inactive. 
 
 " Firmness," or tenacity of purpose, is 
 6 
 
74 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 another of the feelings which discover them- 
 selves in Infancy ; and it exists, sometimes, in 
 great energy. We often see young children of 
 whom it is said, between jest and earnest, that 
 " they have a will of their oivn." The educa- 
 tion of this feeling is highly important, and at 
 the same time, somewhat difficult. Some 
 parents, foreseeing the evils which will arise 
 from its prevalence, determine on overpowering 
 it, as soon as it is exhibited ; and, accordingly, 
 adopt strong measures for that purpose. But, 
 let it be remembered that it is an innate feeling, 
 and cannot be eradicated, or annihilated : and, 
 therefore, it is useless to attempt this : and if 
 the feeling be particularly strong in the child, 
 it cannot be overpowered : it can only be watch- 
 ed, modified, and enfeebled. To attempt, in 
 such a case, to overpower it, is productive of 
 an increase of its strength : especially if " Com- 
 battveness" be also strong : for both these 
 feelings are excitedby opposition. In educating 
 this feeling, therefore, this should always be 
 borne in mind, and the conduct of the mother 
 should be regulated accordingly. It is impos- 
 sible to address the Intellect, and Moral Senti- 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 75 
 
 ments of the infant, on account of his tender 
 age : and until this can be done, it is better 
 silently to yield your preference. Here, as in 
 the case of the other Animal Feelings, the great 
 point to be accomplished is, to enfeeble the 
 feeling, by keeping it inactive. Be careful how 
 you take ground yourself ; for to take it, and 
 afterwards, to relinquish it, would be to give a 
 conquest to this feeling in your child ; and, be 
 assured, he will know how to improve it, 
 another time. On the other hand, by a wise 
 and careful course, endeavour to prevent his 
 taking ground. In either of these cases, a 
 contest is inevitable ; and it must always 
 strengthen the feeling in question. 
 
 The Feelings are not the only faculties which 
 develope themselves in the infant child ; — the 
 Intellect, also, begins, at this early age, to un- 
 fold itself: indeed the incipient workings of 
 the observing intellect, are discernible at an 
 extremely early age. The objects of observa- 
 tion may be comprised under two heads ; Ex- 
 istences, and Occurrences : It is not Existence, 
 in the sense either of Being, or Creation, that 
 
76 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 we mean ; but the beings, (things and persons) 
 which exist. 
 
 Our Maker has, so to speak, divided the 
 material creation around us, into an infinite 
 multitude of separate portions ; and from the 
 endless variety of their properties and qualities, 
 it is plain that He intends we shall form an ac- 
 quaintance with them, seriatim, or in succes- 
 sion. Accordingly they are presented, some 
 at a time, before us ; and we no sooner use our 
 external senses, than we employ them, as the 
 instruments of acquiring knowledge of the 
 things and beings around us. But since God 
 has, as it were, parcelled out the material 
 Universe around us, it is reasonable to suppose 
 that He has so constituted our nature, as to 
 adapt it to this arrangement of his wisdom : i. 
 e. that He has bestowed *on us, faculties design- 
 ed to take cognizance of these several objects, 
 and the events which befal them : and that as 
 the one exist, and the other occur in our pre- 
 sence, in early infancy, even the infant being 
 should possess faculties which can take cogni- 
 zance of both. Now the intellectual faculties 
 called "Individuality," and " Eventuality," 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 77 
 
 perform these functions ; the former cognizing 
 existences, i. e. persons, beings, and things ; 
 and the latter occurrences, i. e. events, ox what 
 befals the before mentioned existences. And 
 the infant being has only been a few days in 
 the world, before he gives evidence of the ex- 
 istence and activity of both faculties. The 
 following passage, from a work* republished in 
 this country, from an English publication, is 
 valuable, as exhibiting the activity of these two 
 faculties ; though the language employed is 
 (perhaps designedly) not Phrenological. 
 
 " But let us turn to the consideration of 
 the infant itself. When it first awakens to 
 existence in this world, there is a rush of new 
 and peculiar sensations, demanding attention. 
 The agitated motion of its lungs must appear 
 strange, and almost terrifying; — the cold air 
 upon its face, and the pressure of dress upon 
 its limbs, the unusual and perplexing sounds of 
 voices and motion which strikes its ear ; — and 
 the burst of dazzling light which pours in upon 
 
 * The Mother's Friend. Leavitt, Lord & Co., New 
 York. 
 
 6* 
 
78 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 its sight, when it raises, accidentally the veil 
 heretofore constantly drawn before its eyes ; — 
 all these feelings burst upon its attention, in 
 bewildering and inextricable confusion. 
 
 " The little being does not understand what 
 are the avenues of these various sensations. 
 It has no conception that light comes in through 
 the eye, or hearing through the ear. It grasps 
 whatever is placed in its hand, by a sort of in- 
 voluntary closing of the fingers, but it has no 
 idea from what part of the body that peculiar 
 feeling comes in. In a moment it/elaxes the 
 hold, and the object is lost; — it misses then, 
 perhaps, the peculiar feeling it excited, but it 
 does not know why. It is pleased w T ith the 
 bright light of the windows, coming in through 
 its opened eye, and when it accidentally drops 
 the lid, it does not know why the beautiful 
 spectacle has disappeared. Sounds will very 
 early attract its notice ; it will be still to hear 
 them ; but it is long before it learns that the ear 
 is the instrument by which it obtains the pleas- 
 ure. 
 
 " The first great lesson of existence, then, 
 is a lesson of the senses. The few moments 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 79 
 
 each day, which the demands of food and 
 slumber leave unoccupied, are busily employed 
 in endeavours to understand these mysterious 
 feelings : to separate the mass of sensations 
 which crowd upon it, into their several kinds ; 
 to learn that sight comes in through the eye, 
 and hearing through the ear, and touch through 
 the hand. 
 
 " If this is correct, we should suppose that 
 the mother might do much to assist the infant 
 in these first steps. For a day or two after 
 birth, the only progress which can possibly be 
 made, is for the infant to become a little famil- 
 iarized to its new condition. Its attention is 
 so occupied, probably, with the sense of feel- 
 ing, from pressure of clothes, and the contact 
 of air, and other similar causes, that it must 
 pay little attention to the other senses. It is, 
 perhaps, best to leave the others at rest, and 
 not to endeavour to make it open its eyes, or 
 listen to sounds, but to leave it to accustom 
 itself to its new condition. In a few days, 
 however, the mother will probably discover, 
 that at some happy moment, when it is free 
 from uneasiness and plain, it will lie and gaze 
 
80 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 steadily at some object of vision, — a lamp, a 
 window, or a white curtain. When this is the 
 case, let the room be kept perfectly still. Do 
 nothing to divert its attention. It is certain 
 that, at such a time, it is making rapid progress 
 in the elements of the art of vision/' and, we 
 would add, is employing the earliest experi- 
 ments in that art, in acquiring acquaintance 
 with external objects. 
 
 " If the child is allowed quietly to pursue its 
 observations in its own way, it will, in the 
 course of a few weeks, or a month, learn to 
 look steadily at large bright objects ; and then 
 a new step may be taken, making, we believe, 
 the third in our series. This is, learning to 
 follow with the eye some bright object slowly 
 moved before it. Let the mother, at some 
 time, when the child seems disposed to look at 
 a lamp, for example, after its eye is steadily 
 fixed upon it, take up the lamp, and move it 
 very slowly to one side. If it is moved very 
 rapidly, the child will not be able to follow it. 
 After two or three trials, the mother will find 
 a motion so slow that the child will follow it 
 from side to side, and, if the experiment is re- 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 81 
 
 peated from day to day, rapid improvement will 
 be observed. 
 
 " It is evident that while engaged in this, 
 every effort should be made to present no other 
 objects of interest, which would distract the 
 attention. It will be better that the mother be 
 alone, or nearly so, the room still, and no other 
 bright or alluring objects near. Efforts to 
 assist children to acquire the full use of the eye 
 may be carried to any extent, by employing 
 smaller and smaller objects, and more and 
 more rapid motion ; and after a time the sense 
 of hearing may receive attention, upon the 
 same principles, and in substantially the same 
 manner." 
 
 The phrenological reader of the above quo- 
 tation, will not fail to recognize substantially the 
 earliest training of the faculties of " Individ- 
 uality," and " Eventuality." The former 
 begins to be active as soon as the infant will 
 " lie and gaze steadily at some object of vi- 
 sion, — a lamp, a window, or a white curtain ;" 
 and the appropriate training of this faculty at 
 this interesting period, is very philosophically 
 stated in the words, " when this is the case, let 
 
82 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 the roowi be kept perfectly still ; do nothing to 
 divert the attention" of the child : or in Phre- 
 nological language, allow the faculty (" Indi- 
 viduality,") to act on the object which has 
 excited it, without interruption, either by the 
 substitution of another object, (which would, 
 by dividing its action, render it less vigorous ; 
 and thus fail to strengthen the faculty in exer- 
 cise,) or by exercising another faculty, as 
 " Eventuality," till the activity of the first 
 has wearied it, which may be known, either by 
 a change of the object observed > or by the 
 infant sinking into slumber. 
 
 On the effect of crowding objects on the 
 attention of the child, while he is making his 
 first efforts to acquire knowledge, the author 
 has the following judicious remark. " If, now* 
 as is frequently the case, two or three individ- 
 uals crowd around, filling its ears with excla- 
 mations, standing in the way of the object it 
 was desiring to see, in order to catch its eye 
 themselves, or move the object itself, if indeed 
 it is moveable, must not the child be bewilder- 
 ed and confounded, and its progress prevented?" 
 
 This sensible writer's mode of gradually 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 83 
 
 exercising the faculty in question, by gradually 
 increasing its task, commends itself to our un- 
 derstanding, and accords with the phrenological 
 philosophy ; viz : " employing smaller and 
 smaller objects" on which for the faculty to be 
 exercised : and the same good sense and sound 
 philosophy, appear in his proposed course in 
 training " Eventuality." The change of 
 place, in an object removed, is an event which 
 befals it. To exercise the faculty which takes 
 cognizance of events, let its rapidity be so 
 regulated, as not to transcend the tiny powers 
 of the young experimenter's observation : — 
 " let the lamp," says the writer above mention- 
 ed, " be moved very slowly to one side. If it 
 is moved rapidly, the child will not be able to 
 follow it." But, as in the case of the other 
 faculty, this has to be strengthened by exercise ; 
 its task must be increased, that the power of 
 the faculty may be augmented ; and according- 
 ly, both smaller objects may be used by the 
 mother in exercising it, and less glaring ones, 
 and they may be changed from place to place 
 more frequently, and more rapidly, 
 
 Nor is the knowledge, acquired by the in- 
 
84 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 fatit being, confined to the existence of 
 individual objects around him, and to the 
 changes which befall him. Even in early 
 infancy, he acquires knowledge, (at least its 
 simpler elements,) of their number, form, size, 
 weight* &c, and accordingly the faculties 
 which take cognizance of these, require to be 
 suitably educated. Even when left to himself, 
 the child may be observed to exercise these 
 faculties ; and, so to speak, to make, for him- 
 self, a course of experiments, on the objects 
 around him. At the age of only a few months 
 he may be seen to direct his hands towards 
 objects before him, sometimes within his 
 reach, and sometimes beyond it. If he can 
 reach them, he makes the sense of feeling 
 auxiliary to that of sight, and employs both in 
 increasing his stock of knowledge of the physi- 
 cal properties of objects. His faculty of 
 distinguishing between the different forms of 
 objects is exercised by his attention being turn- 
 ed to objects round and square, globular and 
 cubical, regular and irregular: — his faculty for 
 distinguishing the size of objects is, in like 
 manner, exercised by things large and small, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 85 
 
 long and short, broad and narrow, thick and 
 thin. He next educates the faculty which 
 takes cognizance of weight ; and seizing the 
 object with both hands, endeavours to lift it, 
 and probably carry it to his mouth, that he 
 may examine it by the sense of Taste. The 
 faculty which distinguishes colors, is exercised 
 from the very first, by the almost endless 
 variety in the hues of objects, even in a single 
 apartment ; and still more, when the child is 
 taken, from room to room, and from house to 
 house ; and especially when carried into the 
 open air, and the flower garden. 
 
 It may sound strange, and may provoke a 
 contemptuous smile, in some persons, to hear 
 it asserted that " Infants meditate, and exercise 
 contemplation :" but let an observing mother 
 mark well the countenance of her infant, when 
 introduced to new objects, and before becoming 
 entirely familiar with them ; and she will not 
 fail to acknowledge the truth of the statement ; 
 for she will read it in his thoughtful and ex- 
 pressive countenance. 
 
 " While the infant is thus engaged, let the 
 nurse allow it leisure to be quiet, and not by 
 7 
 
86 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 some incessant bunch of keys, some ill-timed 
 trot on the knee, or some other injudicious 
 interruption, disturb its mental operations." 
 " There is great danger, in very early infancy, 
 of doing too much to arouse and excite the 
 intellectual powers of children." " We are 
 naturally inclined to play too much with child- 
 ren, and to excite their powers too strongly ;"* 
 but this course not only tends to destroy a mild 
 and serene disposition ; but retards the child's 
 progress in knowledge, by interrupting its little 
 lucubrations ; and by this same interruption, 
 injures its disposition. We know that violent 
 interruption, in a pleasant and successful train 
 of thought, so disturbs the equanimity of even 
 mature years, that, if often repeated, it requires 
 all the moral and intellectual restraint we can 
 command to prevent the display of asperity. 
 We know, too, that when, by a train of investi- 
 gations, we have almost reached the conclusion 
 atw r hich we were aiming, if suddenly interrupt- 
 ed, we find the chain irreparably broken, and 
 the knowledge we were near obtaining, missed, 
 
 * Mothers Friend, pp. 31, 32. 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 87 
 
 perhaps, for ever ; and we feel the effect on 
 our temper, temporarily if not permanently ; 
 and this effect would be permanent, should the 
 cause frequently operate. But on the poor 
 infant it does operate frequently ; and he has no 
 security, and no resource : and can we wonder 
 that his temper is injured ? 
 
 But it is time we brought this chapter to a 
 close ; there are, indeed, others of the faculties 
 which require education in infancy, and which 
 we might particularize ; but as we shall need 
 to recur to them, when we consider the educa- 
 tion of Childhood, they may, not improperly, 
 be brought to view in the following chapter. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 EDUCATION DURING CHILDHOOD. 
 
 We proceed, now, to a more advanced stage 
 in the life of the being to be educated ; viz. that 
 which we term Childhood : a period which 
 
88 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 may be considered as extending from what we 
 have called " Infancy," to ten or twelve years 
 of age. The education of a child during this 
 period, must, of course, vary in some respects, 
 from that practised during its earlier life. It 
 must vary in its details, also, in different child- 
 ren ; with some, the period of Infancy con- 
 tinues longer than with others ; and moreover 
 some emerge more suddenly, and some more 
 gradually, from Infancy to Childhood; so that 
 certain modifications are necessary, in the 
 course of Domestic Education to which they 
 should be subjected. But the principles upon 
 which their education should be conducted, are, 
 in all cases, the same ; — in all the periods of 
 the life of the child, and in all the varieties of 
 character and disposition, which the children 
 of the entire species may present to us. And 
 it is in this particular that Phrenology is pre- 
 eminently valuable, as a basis of education ; 
 viz : that as it affords a knowledge of human 
 nature, principles of education deduced from it, 
 are such as are universally applicable. In the 
 prosecution of any undertaking of magnitude 
 and importance, a constant advertence to certain 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 89 
 
 great principles, elementary and fundamental 
 in the case in hand, is absolutely indispensable ; 
 and though, when we become familiar with the 
 details of the process, such a reference to first 
 principles will become so easy and constant, 
 that we shall be likely to think it instinctive ; 
 yet, in the incipiency of the undertaking, it is 
 necessary to recur to them again and again ; 
 and indeed to take no step without reference to 
 chart and compass. We must be excused 
 therefore, if we refer, in this place, to the 
 elementary principles of phrenology laid down 
 at the close of our third chapter, and request 
 parents who may favor this work with their 
 notice, to give them a perusal in this place ; 
 and not to be satisfied until they are entirely 
 familiar with them. 
 
 At the period of Childhood the Intellect of 
 the little ones begins to develope itself. Its 
 earliest dawnings, indeed, as we have already 
 observed, belong to a still earlier period in 
 their existence. Those dawnings, however, 
 are so obscure, and are possessed by the young 
 of our own species, so nearly in common with 
 
 those of the lower animals, that we may be 
 
 7* 
 
90 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 pardoned for the want of exactness of expres- 
 sion, if we say that Intellect only begins to 
 open in Childhood. With the developement 
 of new faculties, and with the further develope- 
 ment of faculties already discovered, it must 
 be obvious that new duties devolve on the 
 heaven-appointed instructors of the child — on 
 parents, and especially mothers. 
 
 Every faculty rejoices in exercise ; and, in 
 erder to the happiness of the possessor, it is 
 requisite that every faculty should be exercised. 
 Our beneficent Creator knew this ; and there- 
 fore has furnished to each faculty, animal, in- 
 tellectual, and moral, its appropriate object; 
 the search after and possession of which shall 
 afford it the requisite exercise. The intellect- 
 ual faculties of a child require and rejoice in 
 exercise ; for these faculties the Creator has 
 provided their appropriate objects ; these ob- 
 jects, the faculties desire and demand ; and the 
 claim is loud and forcible, in proportion to the 
 degree in which the organs of the faculties are 
 developed. We need not expect that, such 
 being the purposes, and such the provisions of 
 our Maker, his plans cnn be frustrated ; — we 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 91 
 
 say, then, that the intellectual faculties must, 
 and will have exercise, in one way or another. 
 And here the appropriate sphere of parental 
 solicitude, is selection, and supervision. Care 
 is to be taken that the exercise of the faculties 
 be not continued too long, at one time ; so as to 
 produce weariness : and also, that the faculties 
 themselves be not stimulated to over exertion, 
 even on right objects, and in a right direction. 
 There is danger of error here : and especially 
 where parents are intelligent, and children are 
 precocious. Intelligent parents are naturally 
 delighted with the appearances of intelligence 
 in their children ; they cherish such appear- 
 ances, and with the greater pleasure, in propor- 
 tion as they consider them unusual in degree or 
 extraordinary in nature. They accordingly 
 exercise the intellects of their children ; call 
 them out to greater and greater exertions ; and 
 suppose that, so long as the child is as well 
 pleased as themselves, with its efforts, so far 
 from injury being done, it is of real and perma- 
 nent advantage to him to call them forth. But 
 unusual pleasure, on the part of the child, in 
 intellectual efforts beyond his years, is not in- 
 
92 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 dicative of the duty of the parent to tax the 
 powers which the child exhibits. It more 
 correctly indicates that those faculties are pos- 
 sessed in sufficient degree to insure, at least as 
 much exercise as is healthful, even without the 
 parents care ; and that it may, not improbably, 
 be the duty of the parent to suppress their 
 activity, rather than to stimulate them. Stimu- 
 lus is required in the case of sluggish, and not 
 of unusually active faculties. But in the 
 generality of children the lower intellectual 
 faculties (the knowing, or observing faculties) 
 are generally sufficiently active, at least if they 
 meet with proper treatment from the beginning. 
 Children are naturally greedy after knowledge ; 
 and we have no hesitation in saying, that every 
 child of average intellectual endowment, 
 whose infant training has been such as was 
 described in the foregoing chapter, will exhibit 
 a satisfactory and healthful appetite for know- 
 ledge. Knowledge is the appropriate object 
 of intellect: and children whose intellect is 
 healthfully active will obtain it, of some kind, 
 useful or injurious. Now, as the appetite is 
 natural, it cannot be, and ought not to be, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 93 
 
 annihilated. But as it is blind and inex- 
 perienced, — desiring simply to know, it re- 
 quires to be guided in a right direction, and 
 furnished with a wholesome nutriment. To 
 its parents the little creature naturally looks, 
 for the requisite guidance, and the needed 
 supply ; and it is justified in the expectation it 
 cherishes. 
 
 How shall this expectation, on the part of 
 our children, be met ? We mean not, by this 
 question, what shall we do to enable us to meet 
 it ? But, in what manner are we required to 
 attempt furnishing the supply ? The answer 
 is, it must be so met as to accord with the 
 impulses of nature ; otherwise, injury instead 
 of benefit, will be the result. Now, nature, in 
 the child, calls for a knowledge of things, and 
 not of words : and those parents,' — that mother 
 —is but little ' qualified for the duties of a 
 domestic instructor to her children, who is 
 unprepared to impart the knowledge of things. 
 We repeat it, that children will learn things ; 
 but it is the province of the mother to see that 
 they be proper things : the intellectual faculties 
 of the child should be furnished with a know- 
 
94 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 ledge of these, in proper proportion ; that, 
 being employed in acquiring this knowledge, 
 they may not go in quest of that which will be 
 detrimental to its welfare. 
 
 How immensely important then, is it, that- 
 she who sustains the maternal relation (and not 
 less so, that the father of her children) should 
 possess a large fund of information, on all 
 those subjects which will be likely to awaken 
 the curiosity, and excite the inquiries of the 
 child ! Indeed, as children sometimes make 
 inquiries on subjects which we could not have 
 expected would interest them, so that there is 
 scarcely any matter but may lead to their 
 interrogatories, a mother should be a very 
 extensively intelligent woman. The questions 
 of a child are, almost all, calls for knowledge ; 
 and how almost numberless are those cravings 
 for knowledge which an intelligent child of 
 four or five years of age will present to its 
 mother, in the course of a single day ! Many 
 of these relate to matters on which the little 
 creature has a right to be informed ; and on 
 which a mother ought to be qualified to impart 
 information. Some, it is true, will be inquiries 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 95 
 
 of another character ; hut the proper mode, in 
 such a case, is,- to give such information as the 
 child ought to possess, and such as he is able 
 to understand ; and he will, generally, be found 
 to be satisfied without that, of which it is best 
 that he should remain in ignorance. But he 
 will never be satisfied with evasions ; and 
 though rebukes for inquisitiveness, may silence 
 him, and put a stop to his inquiries, rest 
 assured he has discernment sufficient to discover 
 that you are as ignorant as he is, on the subject 
 of his questions ; and the consequence will 
 soon be, that he will cease to regard you with 
 that respect, which is due, indeed, to the 
 relation you sustain ; but which it is only 
 intelligence on your part, that can command. 
 He construes your evasions as modifications, 
 only, of prevarication ; and his confidence in 
 your veracity is shaken ; and at the same time 
 his dread of falsehood is lessened. The know- 
 ledge his intellect required, you have not im- 
 parted ; and if he cannot obtain that, he will 
 possess himself of other knowledge, and such 
 as will, probably, injure him to acquire. Re- 
 peat this a few times, and your child will no 
 
96 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 longer resort to you for instruction, but will 
 seek it elsewhere ; feeling that you only mock 
 his cravings for it. We appeal to experience 
 and observation in proof of the truth of these 
 remarks. 
 
 What, in point of fact, is the effect of the 
 endless inquiries of their children, on the minds 
 of many parents ? Is it not to mortify them, 
 because they cannot give them the information 
 their children seek ? — To sour their tempers, 
 and to lead them to chide the constant inquisi- 
 tiveness of their little ones ? To drive those 
 little ones to seek the gratification of the 
 innate, and now, vigorously active desire to 
 know, in the acquisition of improper and in- 
 jurious knowledge ; and finally, to degrade 
 themselves, in the eyes of their children, as 
 persons but little better -informed than them- 
 selves ; persons who constantly disappoint 
 those longings after knowledge, which, antece- 
 dently to experience, they instinctively suppose 
 their parents can easily satisfy. 'And there is 
 no way to prevent these results, but by parents 
 resolutely determining to acquaint themselves 
 with things. When, on any subject, of which 
 
IX THE FAMILY. 97 
 
 they possess not the requisite information, 
 inquiries are made, they should postpone for a 
 time, as short a one as possible, the reply, and 
 in the interval should prepare themselves with 
 the knowledge they require. If they are not 
 previously prepared with information, on many 
 subjects, their children will keep them con- 
 stantly employed, by their questions. It is 
 astonishing how long a catalogue of questions 
 an intelligent child will put to his mother, on 
 either of the following, and a thousand other 
 subjects : Tea, Sugar, Salt, Starch, Iron, 
 Paper, &c, and equally astonishing, how 
 large a measure of positive knowledge, on 
 Natural History, Manufactures, Geography, 
 Commerce, Chemistry, &c, a mother must 
 possess, and how much at hand her knowledge 
 must be, in order to an immediate, full, and 
 proper reply to them. 
 
 It is often an occasion of complaint by affec- 
 tionate mothers, that the Infant School alienates 
 the affections of children from their homes, and 
 the society of their parents : and this complaint 
 is found to be more frequent, in proportion as 
 the Infant School is ably and efficiently con- 
 8 
 
98 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 ducted. But there is a good, and a sufficient 
 reason for this : In the Infant School, thus 
 instructed, the very kind of knowledge is com- 
 municated, which satisfies the natural craving 
 of the young mind ; — knowledge of things, 
 and their properties: whereas, at home, all 
 their questions relative to such matters, are 
 either impatiently checked, or in vain solicit 
 replies. That we may be distinctly understood 
 when we speak of the knowledge of things 
 being imparted, in- well conducted Infant 
 Schools, we present the following extracts from 
 a Report of the Edinburgh Infant School 
 Society, presented May 18, 1832. 
 
 " The master one day intimated that he 
 wanted a number of articles, of a kind which 
 he enumerated, to illustrate the lessons. He 
 was next day inundated with all sorts of odds 
 and ends ; every child bringing him something ; 
 — leather, feathers, cloths, silks, stones, wood, 
 glass, <fcc. &c." In the appendix of the same 
 Report, is found the following list of the 
 " kinds of articles which will be thankfully 
 received, — for the Museum of the School." 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 99 
 
 " 1. Models of ships, boats, simple machines, 
 tools, curiosities, &c. 
 
 " 2. Specimens of manufactures, common 
 and curious. 
 
 " 3. Specimens of metals, wood, nuts, and 
 such like portable botanic articles ; and of 
 mineral stones. 
 
 " 4. Foreign articles, especially from rude 
 tribes. 
 
 " 5. Pictures of costumes of various races of 
 men ; and historical, and interesting pictures 
 of all kinds. 
 
 " 6. Stuffed birds and animals, and pictures 
 of them. 
 
 " 7. Miscellaneous articles of all kinds which 
 will surprise, amuse, or instruct children from 
 two to six years of age ; such as puzzles, 
 dissected pictures and maps, changing figures, 
 curious toys, &c. &c. &c." 
 
 These and numerous other material and 
 tangible objects, are, in a well conducted Infant 
 School, made the basis of the lessons imparted, 
 either instead of the arbitrary signs of the 
 elements of speech, in books ; or, in the cases 
 of the older children, in connection with the 
 
100 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 lessons read. In either case, the child acquires 
 positive, and valuable, and interesting know- 
 ledge ; and such knowledge as its nature calls 
 for: (knowledge of things,') and there you 
 will rarely or never see a wandering eye, the 
 evidence of a listless mind. There will cer- 
 tainly be difficulty in furnishing every child's 
 home with a " museum," of the extentof those 
 which enrich a properly endowed Infant 
 school ; but a moment's reflection will con- 
 vince any one, that, in fact, there are multitudes 
 of common articles, in the home of every child, 
 which will furnish materials for an instructive 
 lecture or lesson, though they may not be the 
 very articles which such a museum will contain. 
 The principal requisite is, that the mother, in 
 every family, should be, in some happy degree, 
 qualified to teach the knowledge of things, to 
 her children ; and that she should, if not already 
 qualified for this interesting portion of her 
 duties, set about the preparation of herself. 
 
 It is in vain to propose to substitute any 
 thing else, for this knowledge, in the parent : — 
 nothing can possibly stand in its place. The 
 parents of a child may have wealth ; and may 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 101 
 
 be liberal, and even profuse, in the use of it, 
 for the benefit of their children ; they may most 
 willingly, and joyfully, furnish them books, 
 which contain the information they crave. But 
 this will not answer the purpose, for various 
 reasons which might be assigned : the two 
 following, however, may suffice, in this place : 
 First, The desire of knowledge commences, 
 before the child can possibly understand that 
 books are the depositories of knowledge : before 
 he can read : and it is painful to his desire to 
 know, even to have its gratification deferred: 
 and much more so, to have it almost (to the 
 child) hopelessly deferred ; i. e. till he can read ; 
 and unaided, prosecute his own inquiries. And 
 if he be so eager to know, as to wish, at once, 
 to learn to read, the tediousness of the proce-ss 
 disappoints and wearies him ; and the more so, 
 because the books he studies, for years after 
 he feels the craving for knowledge, do not at 
 all satisfy his desires. For instance, he wishes 
 to know what paper is made of; — perhaps he 
 is not told ; or possibly he is informed, that it is 
 made of cotton or linen rags. He then asks, how 
 it is, that dirty rags become clean paper ; — how 
 8* 
 
102 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 it can be, that what looks and feels so different 
 from each other, as rags and paper, can be made 
 one of the other ? Here he is told that when 
 he learns to read, he will know all about it ; 
 accordingly he is sent to school, that he may- 
 learn. His great trial there is, to do violence 
 to his nature, i. e. whereas the impulses of his 
 nature prompt him to action, he is made to sit 
 still on a bench for hours ; and his whole in- 
 tercourse with his teacher is on the subject of 
 his lessons. Weeks, and perhaps months, pass 
 away, and the little victim of education has 
 learnt — what ? How paper is made ? What 
 gives it an appearance and texture so different 
 from rags ? Nothing of all this : but he has 
 learned "great A," and all the rest of the 
 regiment of hieroglyphics ; and that a, b, spells 
 ab, and a few more such-like discoveries. This 
 is his commencement of knowledge ; but the 
 knowledge of what ? Not things, but words ; 
 and the true reason why there are so many 
 book-learned blockheads, is, that they have 
 become familiar with words or signs, while 
 the things signified have been overlooked. 
 Now, Secondly, The natural appetite, in a 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 103 
 
 child's intellect, is for the knowledge of things 
 signified, and not for signs. To a child, a 
 book is conceived of simply as a collection of 
 words, which mean or teach nothing, i. e. no 
 thing: — all the books with which he has 
 become acquainted, have been such, and his 
 experience leads him to regard all books as the 
 terrible storehouses of tasks. It may be ob- 
 jected, in opposition to these statements and 
 reasonings, that some of the most distinguished 
 men of past time, have been such as were urged 
 to the efforts which gave them eminence, by 
 incessant exhortations "to read." This was 
 the case with Sir William Jones ; whose 
 mother would constantly, and w r atchfully, 
 stimulate his appetite for knowledge, by reply- 
 ing to his questions, on topics of casual con- 
 versation, "Read, and you will knowP But 
 who, that shall peruse the history of his child- 
 hood, will imagine that this watchword of his 
 mother, was a substitute for the information of 
 which her son was so intensely anxious ? His 
 mother was a woman of strong understanding, 
 extensive information, and uncommon attain- 
 ments. This sentence was the accompaniment 
 
104 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 of information, and the impulse to attempt the 
 acquisition of more ; and not the substitute for 
 knowledge, and the veil for ignorance. Books 
 were loved by the youthful, and almost infantile 
 William Jones, because his- excellent mother 
 had acquired, and was accustomed to impart to 
 him the knowledge he desired ; and to speak 
 o{tJds, as only a sample of what he should 
 amass for himself, in abundance, when he should 
 have learned to read with facility. She was 
 able, also, to direct his reading: to point him 
 to authors whose writings would satisfy and 
 reward his labors ; and not left to plod over 
 the mere class books of the school, or if he read 
 others, select them at random. It is such a 
 course, substantially, that we would urge other 
 parents to pursue with their children. This 
 will afford to them a practical proof that words, 
 in their books, are the vehicles of knowledge; 
 and the eager craving for knowledge, would 
 soon render unheard of the complaint, now 
 so common, that the child " does not love his 
 book." 
 
 But we have said sufficient in this place, 
 respecting the culture of the opening intellectual 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 105 
 
 faculties ; the feelings, animal and moral, of 
 the child, present the especial field of parental 
 culture ; to this, therefore, let us now direct 
 our attention. 
 
 ANGER. 
 
 The feeling of Anger we have already- 
 defined to be, a painful affection of the two 
 phrenological faculties, Destructiveness, and 
 Combativeness. It does not first come into ac- 
 tivity during what we have termed " Child- 
 hood ;" but earlier : yet, as we but too plainly 
 and painfully see, its activity is by no means 
 confined to the tender age in which it makes its 
 earliest manifestations : viz : " Infancy." 
 This feeling, in the young subject of education 
 requires the most careful watching, and the 
 wisest and most judicious treatment. Disci- 
 jjline is absolutely indispensable to it ; but it can 
 never be advantageously brought under disci- 
 pline; without a knowledge of its nature, such 
 as only phrenology imparts. This feeling, 
 resulting from the simultaneous activity of two 
 of the animal propensities, is, of course, a 
 
106 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 feeling, animal, in its nature : and a knowledge 
 of this fact must guide us, in the discipline to 
 which we subject it. Now it is a principle, to 
 which we have already referred, that all animal 
 feelings are excited by opposition ; of course, 
 therefore this is thus excited : and it must be 
 not only useless, but positively injurious, to 
 resort to blank opposition, in the discipline of 
 the feeling in question. 
 
 The Apostle Paul well understood the nature 
 of this feeling, and the effect of direct coercion 
 upon it, when he drops a hint, on the subject 
 of its education in the family, in the following 
 precept to parents : " Fathers provoke not your 
 children to anger, lest they be discouraged ;" 
 and in the same connexion to " forbear threat- 
 ening." But we often see this direction of 
 inspired truth disregarded ; and the angry child 
 is, ignorantly or thoughtlessly, and always to 
 its injury, coerced into submission. It is some- 
 times said of such a child, by a well meaning, 
 but injudicious and misguided parent, " I -will, 
 and must, break that spirit." Now there may 
 be cases in which this spirit may be broken ; 
 but never without real injury to the moral 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 107 
 
 nature of the child ; and thus it costs more 
 than it is worth : but this result (i. e. the break- 
 ing of the spirit) does by no means always 
 follow. Let that parent know that, where there 
 is a remarkably strong natural tendency to 
 anger, — a large developementof Combativeness 
 and Destrnctiveness ; especially, if combined 
 with obstinacy, — a large developement of Firm- 
 ness, — it is as easy to break the pillars of 
 heaven, as to " break that spirit." The attempt 
 defeats itself; — it is like the endeavour to ex- 
 tinguish the flame of burning wood, by exposing 
 it to the action of a current of air; or the 
 effort to smother the glowing coal, by burying 
 it in gunpowder. It is, indeed, the most phi- 
 losophical course which could be pursued, if 
 the purpose of the experimenter were, the in- 
 crease, to the greatest practicable extent, of the 
 evil which he really wishes to remove. 
 
 For, what are the measures taken to secure 
 the contemplated object? The very language 
 employed, is a sufficient answer to this inquiry: 
 they are forceful measures. But these measures 
 can never be taken, without calling into exercise, 
 in ourselves, the very feeling which we are 
 
108 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 desirous of subduing in the child ; and the 
 very highest authority has pronounced on the 
 inappropriateness of these means to produce 
 this effect : "As coals to burning coals, and 
 wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle 
 strife :" — (Prov : 26, 21.) his course not only 
 does not tend to the accomplishment of his 
 object ; but has a directly opposite tendency. 
 Phrenology acquaints us with the philosophy 
 of this result ; furnishing a satisfactory com- 
 ment on this passage of holy writ : — The angry 
 child possesses other faculties than those in 
 activity during his paroxysms of passion ; — 
 faculties which are ready to act, even when not 
 active ; and they only wait for their appropriate 
 object to excite them to activity. Among these 
 faculties is that of Imitation, and its appropriate 
 object, — the means of its excitement,- — is ex- 
 ample. Let, now, the spirit of the angry child 
 be attempted to be broken by force, and we 
 present an example to that child, on which his 
 Imitation will promptly seize ; — an example of 
 that very passion which, in him, we condemn ; 
 and one on which he will seize with the greater 
 avidity, from the fact, that he is, by nature, (i. 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 109 
 
 e. by his organization) strongly inclined to 
 anger. Thus the evil is increased, by the 
 very means designed to effect its cure : and in- 
 creased, because the means designed to secure 
 this end, were not adapted to it. The measures 
 adopted were pursued in ignorance of the 
 nature of the being to be educated, and of the 
 proper mode of addressing the principles con- 
 cerned : — " coals" are added " to burning coals, 
 and wood to fire," with the design, we admit, 
 but, certainly, not with the tendency, to extin- 
 guish it. 
 
 It may appear, however, that " how specious 
 soever our reasonings may be, they are not 
 solid ; for that, in fact, the course of treatment 
 reasoned against, does often produce submis- 
 sion." We will not say that it never does ; 
 but we do say that, when it produces this result, 
 the organization of the individual is not such 
 as that, in the case supposed : — viz : " where 
 there is a remarkably strong natural tendency 
 to anger, — combined with obstinacy" In 
 some cases, indeed, where this organization 
 exists, there may be induced, by severe mea- 
 sures, the appearance of submission : but an 
 9 
 
1 1 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 observer, who understands the philosophy of 
 the transaction, will assuredly give another 
 version of it. He will say, that the child is 
 debased ; but is not subdued: — that his Firm- 
 ness was, probably, not sufficient to enable him, 
 unflinchingly, to endure the pain which the 
 Destructiveness and Combativeness and Firm- 
 ness of his disciplinarians inflicted on him, and 
 that he, therefore, called Secretiveness to his 
 aid,— affected a submission to which his heart 
 was a stranger, and from which it revolted ; — 
 and thus began to act the deceiver. Thus is 
 the foundation laid, for a sly and cunning char- 
 acter ; in the well-intended, but misguided 
 attempt to overbear an angry one : and let the 
 Conscientiousness of any Christian Parent 
 decide, whether a greater evil is not induced, 
 in the endeavour to correct a smaller one. 
 
 It will now be asked " What course would 
 a knowledge of Phrenology suggest, as proper 
 to be adopted in the treatment of such a child I 
 The answer is plain, by adverting to two of 
 our fundamental principles : viz : " That every 
 faculty is strengthened by activity, and enfeebled 
 by inaction ;" and " That all the animal feel- 
 
IN THE FAMILY. Ill 
 
 ings are excited by opposition." These are 
 in beautiful harmony with the decision of the 
 wise man, employing the same figure, in refer- 
 ence to the same subject, as in the former quo- 
 tation ; — " Where no wood is, there the fire 
 goeth out :"• (Prov : 26, 20.) By the aid of 
 these lights, the answer of the Phrenologist, to 
 the above inquiry would be, That the mode of 
 treatment should be, uniformly, mild and firm. 
 This is the least likely to excite the feeling to 
 be cured ; and the most likely to allay it. It 
 presents another, and a nobler, object for the 
 activity of Imitation, than a rational being 
 transported by passion ; — viz : such a being, 
 exhibiting the predominance of Intellect and 
 the Moral Sentiments, controlling and subduing 
 the risings of Animal Feeling, even though that 
 feeling is lacerated by provocation. The child 
 feels that you have the superiority ; that you 
 are his subduer : and to principles which he 
 feels to be superior to those by which he is 
 actuated, he yields a real, a cordial, and not a 
 feigned, submission. 
 
 We are far, very far, from advocating a 
 system of indulgence in the training of an 
 
112 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 angry child. Its feelings of imitation must not 
 be ministered unto ; this were to augment the 
 evil, in another way than by coercion, but yet, 
 as really to augment it ; for it is a principle 
 with phrenologists, that indulgence increases 
 the demand for indulgence, in the Animal 
 Feelings ; as well as that opposition, or violence 
 excites them to activity. To manage, properly, 
 a child in whom the tendency to anger and irri- 
 tation is strong, is, in practice, an exceedingly 
 difficult task ; though it is by no means difficult 
 to point out the proper course. It requires 
 perfect self-control ; and this, under repeated, 
 and severe provocations ; and the parent who 
 shall attain to it, will present a distinguished 
 instance of the triumph of that charity which 
 "suffereth long, and yet is kind."'* Some 
 Secretiveness also must be called into exercise, 
 by the parent ; — he must seem not to perceive 
 all which passes before him. In one word, the 
 whole manner and spirit required, in a parent 
 to whose hands such a child is committed for 
 training, is exactly expressed, in one of our 
 common proverbial expressions : — He should 
 be as " calm as a clock." 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 113 
 
 INSTINCT TO OPPOSE. 
 
 The next faculty we shall mention, is that 
 which, in Phrenological language, is termed 
 " Combativeness :" a term, perhaps, not en- 
 tirely unobjectionable, and yet sufficiently 
 expressive, when the function of its organ is 
 defined, to answer all ordinary purposes. The 
 term, however, is not wholly unexceptionable, 
 inasmuch as, to ears not familiar with the 
 phraseology of our science, it appears to point 
 out a specific act, as its appropriate function, 
 rather than a general tendency. It is, indeed, 
 the feeling which leads as its name imports, to 
 fighting : but fighting is only one of the kinds 
 of contention or opposition ; — one of the 
 spheres for the activity of courage and resist- 
 ance, of which there are very many ; and all 
 of them, so far as they contain contest, opposi- 
 tion, resistance, &c, are the appropriate sphere 
 of the activity of this feeling. 'Some of the 
 Edinburgh Phrenologists have proposed an 
 emendation of the nomenclature, in this parti- 
 cular ; and have suggested the term " Oppo- 
 9# 
 
114 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 siveness" instead of " Combativeness." To 
 the writer this term appears preferable ; as 
 embracing all that is included in the term 
 Combativeness ; and yet extending beyond that, 
 through the whole range of encountering and 
 overcoming obstacles and opposition. 
 
 The feeling under consideration is manifestly 
 animal, in its nature : man possesses it in 
 common with the lower animals ; and in some 
 of them it is seen in its most energetic and 
 unlovely forms. In any creature, and therefore 
 in the human species, the precise aspect which 
 it will present, depends on the condition, on 
 the whole, of the individual in whom it appears. 
 Now the condition of children, on the whole, 
 is in fact, one in which there is a predominance 
 of the animal nature, or of the activity of the 
 Propensities: hence, the prevailing tendency 
 of the feeling in question will be, to produce 
 fighting, quarrelling, contention, and strife : for 
 the animal nature enlists Opposiveness in its 
 service. When this feeling is strong, by 
 natural endowment, its education becomes an 
 exceedingly difficult task ; and one which 
 severely tests both the wisdom and the for- 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 115 
 
 bearance of those, to whom the education of 
 the child is committed. Such children exhibit 
 their Opposiveness on all occasions. " They 
 refuse to do any thing they are required to do, 
 and always appear to delight in contradiction :" 
 — " They will evince their inveterate (innate) 
 tendency that way, by refusing to have what 
 they at first cried for." " If food be placed 
 before such a child, he pushes it from him, or 
 throws it down : take it away, and he cries for 
 it : give it to him again, and he renews the 
 first proceedings." " The love of contradiction 
 will make such a child refuse a favorite dress, 
 because the nurse is putting it on without asking 
 whether he would have on this, or any other." 
 (Levison's Mental Culture, p. 116.) 
 
 Specific directions for the treatment of a child 
 thus constituted, can scarcely be given. We 
 cannot perhaps do better in this place, than 
 recur to those principles frequently adverted 
 to already, and which are our Pole-Star in a 
 multitude of cases, where but for them we 
 should be in perplexity. These should be 
 borne constantly in mind, and applied as vary- 
 ing circumstances, in the particular case may 
 
116 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 require. Those principles teach us that the 
 treatment of such a child must be mild, and yet 
 firm. Coercion will only excite the feeling, 
 and should rarely, if ever, be resorted to : — 
 that is the very element en which it lives and 
 thrives. " It would be the most egregious 
 folly," says Mr. Levison, " to strike, or 
 threaten them ; for, in such cases, the little 
 creatures are sure to lift their hand, and with 
 extraordinary daring, strike again. It is a diffi- 
 cult task to deal properly with such tempers, 
 or to legislate for the little tyrant of the nur- 
 sery:" "should force be employed, 'then 
 comes the tug of war ;" — pulling, pushing, 
 crying, kicking." " It would be well to avoid 
 exciting the combative principle at any time ; . 
 but how can we avoid it ?" " To encourage 
 insubordination would be injudicious ; and yet, 
 even with that risk, it is best to keep such 
 tempers unexcited when very young. If a 
 child of such disposition have attained the third 
 or fourth year, and you chide it mildly, 
 appealing to its attachment and moral feeling, 
 (Adhesiveness and Conscientiousness) there is 
 a probability of restraining animal excesses ; 
 
IX THE FAMILY. 117 
 
 but if you treat it harshly, raising your voice 
 in tones of anger, the child will elevate his, and 
 bid you defiance, by telling you ' he is not 
 naughty, — you are naughty.'' " 
 
 That parents may not be left without some 
 hints as to the management and training of this 
 feeling, let us suppose a case or two of its 
 strong activity, and suggest what appears an 
 advisable course in treating it. The reader will 
 bear in mind that it has been laid down as a first 
 principle, that " the faculties are capable of 
 simultaneous, or combined activity :" i. e. that 
 sometimes more than one faculty acts at one 
 time. Now let us suppose that together with 
 large Combativeness, a child possesses large 
 Self-Esteem. The latter faculty accounts the 
 being chief, as a sort of summv.m bonum, or 
 highest good. It also prompts its possessor to 
 assume the place of chief, as his unquestionable 
 right : he must and u of right ought to be" 
 first. For this distinction, then, Combative- 
 ness or Opposiveness inclines him to contend; 
 and his little lordship claims supremacy in 
 the nursery. If there be another child in 
 the family, similarly constituted, he is, of course, 
 
1J8 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 the subject of the same feelings ; and " then 
 comes the tug of war :" the question of chief- 
 tainship must be settled, by the laws of the 
 strongest. Now for the mode of treatment 
 with such a child. We have said that the 
 feelings of our animal nature are blind in them- 
 selves : the first step to be taken is, to prevent 
 their acting blindly : and this is, of course, 
 done by enlightening them. They are enlight- 
 ened through the Intellect; Intellect therefore 
 must be addressed ; — knowledge must be im- 
 parted ; the child must be instructed. Let 
 him then be taught that he and his fellows are 
 equally creatures of God ; and that God regards 
 them and him with equal love, and commands 
 each of them to love others as themselves. 
 He should then be further enlightened, and 
 should be shewn, that self-preference trans- 
 gresses this command ; and really degrades him 
 who indulges it, in the estimation of God ; for 
 that God loves " the humble and lowly," — the 
 meek and gentle ; and not the proud and as- 
 suming, the angry and contentious : — that God's 
 estimate of worth, or of the right to be chief. 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 119 
 
 is the proper one ; and that He has said " honor 
 shall uphold the hamhle person ;" — that to such 
 He will give grace, while " the proud he knows 
 afar off :" and accounts " a meek and quiet, 
 spirit," — not an irritable and contentious one, 
 " of great price." Such a course is obviously 
 right ; because it, at once, enlightens the In- 
 tellect, and appeals to the Moral Sentiments. 
 Conscientiousness, Benevolence and Rever- 
 ence, are all appealed to, and stimulated by 
 their appropriate aliment, religious truth ; and 
 to these, as the highest principles of our nature, 
 God has given the dominion in the soul. These 
 lessons, with a child of average intellectual 
 endowment, if they were inculcated at proper 
 times, and in a suitable manner, could scarcely 
 fail of being understood, and exerting a benefi- 
 cial influence. It cannot be necessary to say, 
 that lessons addressed to the intellect and moral 
 feeling, must not be imparted while the teacher 
 is the subject of irritation and resentment. 
 They will be utterly powerless, in such cases ; 
 and though the little pupil may be unacquainted 
 with the phraseology of the proverb, he will 
 
1 20 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 not fail to make application of its spirit, "Phy- 
 sician, heal thyself." 
 
 But suppose that to the former combination 
 of faculties, there be added, in the child, large 
 Acquisitiveness. In this case, even though 
 there should not be a deficiency of Conscien- 
 tiousness, it would not be surprising if he should 
 appropriate to himself the toys, fruit, &c, of 
 his little companions. Such cases of spoliation 
 are the result not of deficient Conscientiousness; 
 but of a large and active Self-Esteem, origina- 
 ting, as it does uniformly, the feeling of per- 
 sonal superiority in its subject ; and connected 
 with this feeling, a sense of priority of claim 
 among his compeers. In this case, most parents, 
 whose own sense of Justice (Conscientious- 
 ness) was strong, woul'd make an equitable 
 distribution of the articles contended for ; and 
 do summary justice, by some corporeal infliction 
 on the aggressor ; leaving it to a future time, 
 when the child's sense of right and justice should 
 be more matured, to justify the act of the parent 
 in all its parts. 
 
 But this course would not be wise, for several 
 reasons : First, The blind activity of the child's 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 121 
 
 Combativeness, Self-Esteem, and Acquisitive- 
 ness is not at all enlightened by these measures ; 
 and consequently, the decision, of the parent, 
 though just in reality, will not be seen to be so, 
 by the child : it will not, by the subject of this 
 discipline, be distinguished from the mere 
 exercise of power and authority : and he is not 
 at all the more prepared, another time, to do 
 right. On the contrary, Secondly : Combat- 
 iveness is excited to activity ; and its activity 
 is increased by the excitement of Imitation, 
 prompting him to copy the active Combative- 
 ness of his parent. Thirdly ; The cultivation 
 of Conscientiousness is not promoted by this 
 act of Nursery Discipline ; but the parent 
 presumes that in the after life of her child, it 
 will, by some means, be so far cultivated, as to 
 lead him to perceive the justice of the disci- 
 pline administered. Fourthly, Reverence or 
 Veneration towards the parent is not cultivated ; 
 for, in such discipline, she makes no exhibition 
 of superior wisdom, or goodness, or justice : 
 and these are the appropriate objects of the 
 activity of this Sentiment. Such conduct may 
 excite Cautiousness, and awaken Fear; but 
 10 
 
122 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 parents who indulge it cannot command respect, 
 and need not expect reverential deference from 
 their children. 
 
 If it be asked, What would be the proper 
 mode of procedure in training a child so or- 
 ganized ? The reply is as follows : First, A 
 calm investigation should be made, of the right 
 of the little belligerents, to the articles in dispute. 
 This may involve the sacrifice of some time, 
 and the exercise of some considerable patience ; 
 time and patience in a degree which some 
 parents may find it difficult to command. 
 They mast, nevertheless, be afforded ; or valua- 
 ble opportunities for the cultivation of the 
 Moral nature of the children will be irre- 
 coverably lost ; and a dangerous ascendan- 
 cy will be acquired by their merely Animal 
 nature. Those who cannot find time, nor 
 exercise patience sufficient for the cultivation 
 of the noblest elements in the nature of their 
 children, have grossly misconceived the re- 
 sponsibilities of the parental relation ; such 
 persons ought never to put themselves in the 
 way of sustaining that relation ; no, never. 
 Secondly, When right, in the case in dispute, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 123 
 
 is fully ascertained, an appeal should be made 
 to the Intellect of the children ; i. e. the parent 
 should be at pains to make them understand 
 what is right in the case ; and also, why it is 
 right. Thirdly, Conscientiousness should be 
 addressed, and by means of Intellect, should 
 be shown the fitness and propriety of doing 
 right in general ; and hence of doing right in 
 particular cases, and especially in this particu- 
 lar case : the fitness of his doing right, and of 
 his parent's doing right ; and of his parent's 
 requiring him to do right. The morality of 
 the course proposed, should be shown, by 
 adverting to the authority of God ; and by 
 showing that He commands parents to require 
 their children to do right : and therefore that 
 you are obeying God, in requiring this of him : 
 and that if he should disobey, it would displease 
 God, as well as offend you. Fourthly, Right, 
 should then be impartially administered ; but 
 it should be done most calmly, and most kindly. 
 This last step, the administration of strict justice, 
 would indeed pain Acquisitiveness and Self- 
 Esteem ; but the excess and the perversion of 
 their activity will be checked, by Conscientious- 
 
124 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 ness ; which is now doubly potent, being en- 
 lightened by Intellect, and, thus enlightened, 
 being roused to its highest activity, by a refer- 
 ence to the Supremely Just, and his authority. 
 This excitement of Conscientiousness, more- 
 over, and its illumination, has awakened Vene- 
 ration, and Benevolence ; so that all these moral 
 Sentiments concur in retaining control over 
 the baser nature : a control the more easily 
 exercised, because, since Intellect is enlighten- 
 ed, the violence of the activity of that nature 
 is much allayed. 
 
 In training a child with large Combativeness, 
 it is perhaps wise to inform him that he pos- 
 sesses it ; and to let him know that you 
 perfectly understand its operations. You will 
 do well, also, to admit the value and importance 
 of this element in his character, provided it be 
 properly directed and controlled. Yet show 
 him that it is merely an animal feeling ; and as 
 such, is to be repressed and guided ; and not 
 cherished and excited ; because in him it is 
 even stronger than is desirable. Show him that 
 he has no more reason to value himself on 
 account of possessing it than a bull-dog has, in 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 125 
 
 whom it exists in special power. Inform him 
 of the proper sphere of its activity ; namely, in 
 opposing wrong, in resisting temptations, in 
 sustaining trials, and in vanquishing difficulties, 
 in the path of duty. 
 
 By the adoption of this course you will, 
 according to a principle before laid down, 
 direct and control the activity of a powerful 
 faculty, without attempting the impossibility of 
 annihilating it : for remember, " all the facul- 
 ties are innate ; and cannot be either created, 
 or annihilated." It will facilitate your task 
 too, if in the confidence of parental affection, ■ 
 you express a tender sympathy with your 
 child, under this feeling : choosing, of course, 
 those times for the expression of this sympathy, 
 when the feeling you would weaken is inactive. 
 Let him understand that you can distinguish 
 between the spontaneous activity of a strong 
 natural feeling, and the indulgence of that feel- 
 ing ; and assure him that he possesses your 
 compassion, and shall receive your prayers for 
 his victory, in his daily conflicts with it. Thus 
 will you enlist Adhesiveness on your side ; and 
 1Q* 
 
126 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 better still — Reverence, for your wisdom, and 
 discernment, and piety. 
 
 There are some parents whose intellectual 
 character is so feeble, and withal so unrefined, 
 and in whom the mere instincts, or propensities 
 of our nature are so strong, that they pursue a 
 course of conduct with their children, not only 
 not calculated to train aright the opposive 
 instinct ; but of which the direct tendency is 
 to increase, to the utmost, its activity. Almost 
 as soon as the child begins to speak, he is 
 taught to say "/ wori?t" when requested or 
 bidden to do any thing. He has, not impro- 
 bably, heard the expression from the lips of 
 some other member of the family, at a time 
 when he was encouraged to exercise the 
 imitative faculty, by repeating, or trying to 
 repeat, every word he heard. He understands 
 by imitation, the natural language of opposive- 
 ness, and has now learned its artificial language 
 also ; and being the subject of the feeling, in a 
 striking degree, he improves every opportunity 
 to manifest that feeling, and to utter its lan- 
 guage. This is a source of merriment to the 
 misguided parents ; and, that they may enjoy 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 127 
 
 much of it, the little one is many times a day 
 required to repeat his lesson, of blank refusal 
 to obey a command. Such is the lesson of his 
 Infancy ; and when he advances to Childhood, 
 the feeling is seen to have grown to positive 
 Combativeness, even in the popular sense of 
 that term : and its existence and energy, in the 
 little subject of Nursery Discipline, is seen in 
 the liberal distribution of blows, and cuffs, and 
 kicks, to brothers and sisters, nurses, and even 
 parents. The foolish father, it is not unlikely, 
 accounts such displays of the combative Pro- 
 pensity, to be evidences of manliness in his 
 boy; and encourages, rather than represses 
 them. He will hold sham boxing-matches 
 with his unfortunate little son ; and exhibit his 
 precocious pugilism, for the amusement of his 
 own visitors. Yet this same parent, when, by 
 the course he has adopted, he has called into 
 incessant, and almost uncontrollable activity, 
 this propensity, on finding it operate against 
 the exercise of his own authority, undertakes 
 to vindicate that authority, by the employment 
 of forcible measures to subdue the child's will 
 to his. Such a remedy, so far from removing, 
 
128 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 only aggravates the violence of the disease ; and 
 bad is, most generally, made ivorse and worse. 
 What is true of all the animal feelings, is 
 especially true of this ; viz : that it is excited 
 by opposition : for opposition is, plainly, the 
 very pabulum vitse of Opposiveness. And, if 
 it be true that, 
 
 " 'Tis education forms the common mind, 
 
 Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined ;" 
 
 what can be expected, in the after life of a 
 child thus trained, but that in childhood and 
 youth he will be disrespectful to superiors ; 
 contentious and quarrelsome towards equals ; 
 overbearing, unkind and tyrannical towards 
 inferiors ; and the object of aversion among all : 
 and that, as a man, he will be universally shun- 
 ned and detested. To trace out these conse- 
 quences, from the training which produces 
 them, would occupy more time and space than 
 can be devoted to it ; we must leave parents, in 
 their own reflections, to trace them out ; aided, 
 alas ! by the illustrations which actual cases, 
 occurring under almost every one's observation, 
 will afford them. 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 129 
 
 ACQUISITIVENESS. 
 
 The education of this faculty is by no means 
 an easy task. In the endeavour to train it, first 
 principles must never be lost sight of. We 
 must not forget that, like all the others, this 
 faculty is innate, and cannot therefore be 
 eradicated ; that it is an original element of 
 our nature, and therefore must have a legitimate 
 sphere of activity : that sphere we must dis- 
 cover, and to that we must aim to confine it : 
 its activity cannot be prevented ; but it requires 
 to be directed and controlled. It is much to 
 be regretted that the education actually given 
 to the feeling of Acquisitiveness, is such as 
 tends directly and powerfully to increase its 
 activity and energy ; while it is not at all 
 calculated to illuminate it, and secure its 
 activity in a right direction : and thus the 
 covetousness of which parents sometimes com- 
 plain, in their children, is the natural conse- 
 quence of the misdirection of this feeling ; for 
 covetousness is only the undue activity of 
 acquisitiveness. In some children the desire 
 
130 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 to possess, or the sense of property, is natural- 
 ly too strong. In such, therefore, according to 
 the general principles laid down in a former 
 chapter, and since, frequently reverted to, it 
 should be kept as still as possible, in order to 
 enfeeble it. Instead, however, of receiving 
 such training, it is actually stimulated ; and 
 this, in order to render it instrumental in 
 securing the docility and obedience of the child. 
 A parent learns, f*rom observation, that this 
 feeling is among the most powerful by which 
 a certain child is actuated ; and that he will do 
 almost any thing for reward, when that reward 
 is presented in the shape of something tangi- 
 ble, and that may be retained. Perhaps, also, 
 it is perceived that he is by no means remark- 
 able for diligence and laborious ness in the 
 studies of his age, or' for obedience to the 
 authority of either parents or instructors. The 
 course pursued with him, is, to propose to him 
 such a reward as that above mentioned, for 
 diligence in his studies, or obedience to his 
 superiors ; and it is found to work admirably : 
 — the reward is always secured. 
 
 But this course is totally erroneous, and 
 
IX THE FAMILY. 131 
 
 must be deeply injurious to the subject of such 
 education : and a moment's reflection will not 
 fail to convince us of it. It is obvious that the 
 very object of this course of procedure is to 
 excite to activity a feeling already by supposi- 
 tion, too active. Now since activity augments 
 the power of a feeling, the tendency of this 
 course is to increase the power, as well as the 
 activity of Acquisitiveness : to make it act with 
 greater energy : and thus more completely to 
 enslave the child to a propensity which already 
 threatens to lead him captive. Is not such a 
 course wholly erroneous ? And the magnitude 
 of the error appears the greater, the more 
 closely it is examined. In such a course of 
 procedure the moral nature of the child is 
 wholly overlooked ; to it no appeals are made, 
 but, on the contrary, appeals, incentives, 
 stimuli are presented to a mere animal feeling, 
 the direct tendency of which appeals, is, to 
 subjugate the moral nature of the pupil to 
 the dominion of that feeling. But since the 
 animal is the lowest, and the moral the high- 
 est nature of the child, and since it is the 
 design of our Maker that the Moral nature 
 
132 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 should subordinate the Animal to itself and to 
 Him, it is obvious that the purpose of nature, 
 — the will of God, — is contravened by the 
 training acquisitiveness receives ; or in other 
 words, that it is altogether erroneous. He 
 is not taught to revere the authority of his 
 parent or teacher ; i. e. Veneration is not 
 cultivated : nor is he taught to regard duty, or 
 what is right, and therefore, ought to be done ; 
 i. e. Conscientiousness is not cultivated : but 
 he is hired to do his duty. Is this not a 
 capital error ? If any doubt is entertained on 
 this question, it will be removed by following 
 this kind of education out to its consequences. 
 By such a training of the feeling in question 
 Reverence and Conscientiousness are enfeebled, 
 by want of exercise ; while Acquisitiveness is 
 strengthened, by unheal thful stimulus : and the 
 views taken by the child, of right, and duty, 
 and filial reverence, are greatly modified by this 
 change in the relative energy of these feelings. 
 Having been always hired to perform what it 
 was his duty to have done freely, he takes it for 
 granted that his parent has done right in hiring 
 him : and that he has done right, in performing 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 133 
 
 duty for a reward : and hence soon learns to 
 think the price he receives for obedience is his 
 clue^ — that he may claim it, — and may refuse 
 obedience if not compensated for rendering it ; 
 — that without remuneration obedience cannot 
 be righteously demanded ; — and that the rightful 
 exercise of parental authority, in demanding it, 
 is little, if anything, else than domestic tyranny. 
 Such are some of the consequences naturally 
 flowing from that treatment of Acquisitiveness 
 now under consideration: and the appeal may be 
 safely made to any intelligent mother, whether 
 a procedure of which such is the tendency, 
 is not wholly erroneous ? It not only introduces 
 those new evils just enumerated, but it perpe- 
 tuates and aggravates the evil itself. The 
 demands of the feeling so injudiciously indulged 
 and gratified, will soon become more extensive, 
 and more clamorous : " higher wages" will be 
 demanded for obedience and industry ; nor can 
 we assign any limits beyond which we are 
 certain these demands will not rise ; for, says 
 Spurzheim, the demands of the animal feelings 
 are, in their nature, insatiable. We will point 
 11 
 
134 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 out those consequences, without needlessly- 
 enlarging on them. 
 
 When the excessive activity of Acquisitive- 
 ness is occasioned by the injudicious treatment 
 we have adverted to ; or when by the same 
 means, it has attained a strength no longer to 
 be borne by the parent, a necessity is felt that 
 it should be punished. Sometimes a depriva- 
 tion of food, or fruit, or some valued toy, or 
 other article, is resorted to, as a punishment 
 sure to be felt, in the case of such a child. 
 But this is injudicious, and must result in dis- 
 appointment and defeat : for be it remembered, 
 Acquisitiveness, or the desire to possess, is an 
 animal feeling ; and that all such feelings are 
 only excited by opposition. The training 
 which such a child has received, leads him to 
 conclude, as we have shown above, that that of 
 which he is deprived, as a punishment, is his 
 due ; — that he has a right to it ; and that in 
 being deprived of it his right is violated. 
 Thus his sense of right, — an erroneous one 
 indeed, but yet all the sense of right that he 
 has, — is outraged ; and Conscientiousness, 
 blindly and erroneously active, is arrayed 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 135 
 
 against the discipline to which he is subjected: 
 and the difficulty is increased of rendering that 
 discipline efficacious, in exactly the degree in 
 which Conscientiousness, or the sense of justice, 
 is strong in the child. For it must be remem- 
 bered that the moral feelings are, in themselves, 
 as blind as are the animal $nes : and the func- 
 tion of the organ of Conscientiousness is, not 
 to impart the knowledge of what is right and 
 just ; but only to give the feeling that there 
 is a difference between right and wrong; — 
 justice and injustice. Now it is difficult by 
 discipline to accomplish the objects it contem- 
 plates, while the feeling pervades the mind of 
 the subject of discipline, that he has right on 
 his side ; the first step towards success must 
 be taken, by correcting his conception of right : 
 but in the case supposed it has not only not been 
 corrected, but has actually been perverted. 
 
 Outraged Conscientiousness in such a case 
 cannot be expected to act alone : Firmness, 
 (whose function is to give permanence to the 
 activity of whatever feeling may be predomi- 
 nant) will lend its aid, and render the offender 
 obstinate ; and the more hopelessly so because, 
 
136 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 with perverted Conscientiousness, he will feel 
 that he suffers as a martyr for justice. Com- 
 bativeness is also roused to resistance (of 
 injustice as the offender has been trained to 
 believe) and Destructiveness contributes its 
 fearful energy in the same mistaken direction. 
 Self-Esteem too, is. wounded at the degradation 
 he suffers ; and thus pride is enlisted on the 
 side of passion. Moreover, to the combined 
 activity of these feelings must be added that of 
 acquisitiveness itself, in the augmentation of 
 the difficulty, and in the rendering certain of 
 disappointment and defeat. The child inter- 
 prets the conduct of the parent, according to 
 the principles which have dominion in his own 
 breast. Now, by the supposition, covetousness 
 is the ruling feeling in him : accordingly, he 
 ascribes his parent's act, .in depriving him of 
 the gratification in question, to the prevalence 
 of this disposition, — to a desire to possess, or 
 to save that fruit or food. And as he under- 
 stands, for he is distinctly told, that this is 
 intended to punish covetousness in him, he 
 regards the statement as mere pretence ; and 
 despises what he considers the hypocrisy of 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 137 
 
 punishing him for that, as an evil, which his 
 parent practices, as a duty, in the very act of 
 punishing him. Imitation thus learns to 
 practice deceit ; Conscientiousness becomes 
 numb with respect to the evil of such practice ; 
 and Veneration, for the moral probity of his 
 parent, is enfeebled : and the advice and 
 instruction of that parent at a future time, will 
 be little likely to be welcome, and scarcely can 
 be greatly influential for good. 
 
 But we may be asked for some suggestions 
 as to the right mode of training this feeling. 
 We say in the first place, never excite it. 
 More than this it can scarcely be necessary to 
 say here ; having already shown how it may, 
 and how it certainly will be excited ; viz : by 
 being catered to and indulged ; and also by 
 blank opposition and mortification. The next 
 direction to be observed is, as much as possible 
 preserve it in a state of inactivity in order to its 
 enfeeblement : present as few of its appropriate 
 objects as possible to it, in order that it may 
 remain inactive. Thirdly, Never allow an 
 instance of its improper activity to pass un- 
 noticed, nor uncorrected ; but be very careful 
 
138 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 how you set about the duty of correction. 
 
 Always endeavour, as a first step, to enlighten 
 
 the child's intellect, as to the real nature of the 
 
 act you would correct. When this is done, 
 
 you have his understanding on your side ; and 
 
 if you make a wise use of this advantage, you 
 
 will soon enlist his moral feelings also, in your 
 
 behalf. By such a procedure you will secure 
 
 the child's own co-operation in the effort to 
 
 suppress the excessive activity of the feeling : 
 
 and though the discipline to which you may 
 
 subject him may be self-denying and painful, 
 
 he will see the reasonableness, the propriety, 
 
 and necessity of the measure, and yield to it, 
 
 as wise, and right, and good. Fourthly^ Afford 
 
 opportunities, and present encouragements, to 
 
 the practice of generosity and self-sacrifice : 
 
 and whenever they are practised, do not fail to 
 
 afford the reward of a smile, and an approving 
 
 word. By this means he will learn that he is 
 
 observed ; and, when he does his duty is 
 
 approved also. But do not reward such acts 
 
 by gratuities ; for this were to stimulate a 
 
 feeling which you are aiming to weaken : and 
 
 one such stimulus would do more to strength- 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 139 
 
 en it, than five acts of generosity would, to 
 overcome it : while, by the praise you bestow 
 on such acts you stimulate Approbativeness 
 and Benevolence, and render them auxiliary, 
 in the conquest of a too active Acquisitiveness. 
 
 The following instances from the appendix 
 to the Report of the Edinburgh Infant School 
 Society, in Mr. Simpson's work on Popular 
 Education, are exceedingly happy illustrations 
 of the foregoing suggestions : — instances in 
 which, through an enlightened intellect, mea- 
 sures were adopted whose tendency was to 
 keep inactive an excessive Acquisitiveness ; 
 and to make the nobler sentiments to over- 
 grow it. 
 
 " L One of the children lost a halfpenny in 
 the play ground. The mistress was so certain 
 4hat it would be found and accounted for, that 
 she lent the loser a halfpenny. Some time 
 after, when the incident was almost forgotten, 
 one of the boys, J. F., found a halfpenny in 
 the play ground ; and although no one saw him 
 find it, he brought it at once to the Teacher. 
 As the latter knew nothing about the loss of 
 the halfpenny. already alluded to, it appeared to 
 
140 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 him a halfpenny without an owner : but one of 
 the children suggested that it must be the lost 
 halfpenny, for which the mistress had given a 
 substitute. ' What then shall be done with 
 it V Many voices answered, ' The mistress 
 should get it.' The girl who had lost the 
 halfpenny was called out, and she at once 
 knew her own. It was given to her, and she 
 immediately transferred it to the mistress. The 
 teacher then appealed to the whole school, ' Is 
 that right V (Addressing Conscientiousness 
 through the Intellect.) ' Yes ! yes ! right ! 
 right V was called out by the whole assemblage 
 with much applause and animation. The last 
 accompaniment of their approbation is strongly 
 contrasted with the more tranquil, and evidently 
 regretting way in which they condemn, when 
 any thing is wrong." (Firmness sustaining 
 the decisions of enlightened Conscientiousness; 
 even though Benevolence is pained by the 
 infliction of punishment.) 
 
 " 2. A penny was found in the play ground, 
 which had lain so long as to be mouldy and 
 rusty. It was held up for an owner ; but 
 claimed by none. ' What shall we do with 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 141 
 
 it ?' ' Keep it, master, keep it.' i Why should 
 I keep it ? I have no right to it, more than any- 
 one here.' (An appeal to Conscientiousness 
 through Intellect : and also to Benevolence and 
 Imitation by the denial of Acquisitiveness, in 
 the teacher himself.) This was puzzling to all, 
 till a little girl, not four years old, stood up and 
 said ' Put it in the box.' Many voices seconded 
 this excellent motion, and the master referred 
 it to a show of hands : up went every hand 
 in the school, most of the children showing 
 both hands for a greater certainty ; and the 
 penny was put into the subscription-box amid 
 cheers of animation and delight." 
 
 3. The following case, kindred in its charac- 
 ter, strikingly exhibits the effects, on the Moral 
 Sentiments, of appealing to them through an 
 enlightened Intellect, for the purpose of check- 
 ing the activity of Acquisitiveness : " P. M. 
 was brought to solemn trial before the whole 
 school, for keeping up a penny of his weekly 
 school fee." After the trial and award, which 
 were both just and judicious, the teacher asked 
 the school, " How many of us have been tried 
 now ?" A voice called out, " J. H. has been 
 
142 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 tried." This was indignantly denied by J. H. 
 The teacher turning to J. M. (the accuser of J. 
 H,?) asked him " if he had ever been tried ?" 
 He hung his head and answered " yes. " 
 " What was it for." " Master, do you not 
 remember yourself?" " I do : but are you any 
 better for your trial and punishment." " I've 
 never stolen since, any how." " What was 
 your reason for not stealing ?" " I listened to 
 the thing in my breast; and that told me it 
 was a crime." The following is an analogous 
 case. 
 
 4. J. M's offence had been, watching, all the 
 time of school, a penny-piece which had been 
 dropped under the stove, and secretly appro- 
 priating it, after school was dismissed. His 
 confession stated that his* purpose was to buy 
 marbles ; but felt so unhappy that he could not 
 make up his mind to look upon what he should 
 purchase. (Acquisitiveness and Conscientious- 
 ness in simultaneous, and conflicting activity.) 
 8 He formed the singular resolution to expend 
 the money in something eatable, (Acquisitive- 
 ness enlisting Alimentiveness in its aid, to 
 overpower the activity of Conscientiousness,) 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 143 
 
 that he might get it out of his sight. This he 
 did, and gave a share to a school-fellow. He 
 was asked whether his conscience did not up- 
 braid him. He answered, " It did not speak 
 very loud at first ; but I grew very unhappy, 
 and was happier after I was tried and punished." 
 His contrite tears moved the compassion of his 
 numerous judges (Benevolence active) who 
 wished to spare him: but this was not admissible 
 in the circumstances,' (the supremacy of 
 Justice, i. e. Conscientiousness, maintained) 
 * and a few pats on the hand were the form of 
 corporal punishment allotted him. He was 
 sorely tempted ; for he confessed that he kept 
 his eye on the penny-piece for two hours before 
 he took it.' It would be interesting to make 
 further extracts, but they are not needed. 
 
 You may in training an acquisitive child, 
 secure the agency of Conscientiousness, and 
 its co-operation. Advert frequently to the rights 
 of others, — the rights of property which belong 
 to them, and which such a child is strongly 
 tempted to invade. Insist on the inviolability 
 of those rights, even in the minutest particular: 
 and especially, let it be evident that you your- 
 
144 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 self regard those rights, and scrupulously 
 practice the precepts you inculcate. Thus 
 will you avail yourself of the aid of the child's 
 Eventuality and Imitation, as your coadjutors 
 in training the feeling of Acquisitiveness. The 
 covetous child is usually selfish. To remedy 
 this evil let him be your companion in your 
 visits to the abodes of poverty, affliction, and 
 distress ; and witness the joy which benevo- 
 lence, in the form of pecuniary or other aid, 
 will inspire, and the gratitude it will awaken 
 in the object of its bestowment : and express 
 to him freely the pure and exalted pleasure you 
 find in the diffusion of happiness by such 
 means ; and even in foregoing some personal 
 indulgences and gratifications in order to such 
 a diffusion of happiness. This course will, 
 not improbably, sap the fortress to its over- 
 throw, which you could never carry by storm. 
 Self-love, in the child, will desire to participate 
 in the pleasure you experience from acts of 
 benevolence ; and Imitation will prompt to the 
 adoption of the same means to obtain it ; and 
 Benevolence, by exercise, will gather strength, 
 and Eventuality will observe the gleam of joy 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 145 
 
 in the countenance of the beneficiary ; and 
 Self-Esteem will be gratified with the conscious- 
 ness of living to some worthy purpose ; and 
 Conscientiousness, with the thought of having - 
 performed a duty ; and Approbativeness with 
 that of having pleased God. Thus many 
 faculties will unitedly and harmoniously ope- 
 rate, in due subordination to the Moral Senti- 
 ments, and in connexion w T ith them, to overtop 
 the growth of the appetite to possess, or ac- 
 quire. 
 
 But we have said that this appetite cannot 
 be eradicated ; and we do not forget that state- 
 ment : it ivill exist, and, if naturally strong, it 
 will operate energetically. What we have said 
 of each of the other feelings is equally true of 
 this ; viz : that to educate it aright, it must be 
 directed ; and in order to its direction aright it 
 must be illuminated. Be at pains, therefore, not 
 m°rely to inform the child, but to explain to 
 him, what is the nature of the feeling which 
 it is necessary for him to subordinate : — viz : 
 that it is a blind, and a mere animal instinct ; 
 one which prevails greatly in some of the tribes 
 of meaner animals. The writer had once an 
 12 
 
146 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 opportunity of affording to a child an exhibition 
 of the nature of this feeling, which it may be 
 well here to record, as an example of what is 
 meant by explaining the nature of a feeling. 
 
 A boy, an adopted son of the writer, one 
 day informed me that he had seen a large rat 
 in the yard, take up an old dry bone, and 
 carry it away. He wished me to inform him 
 what the animal would do with it : whether he 
 would eat it ? It may be proper to say here, 
 that in this child, I had sometimes noticed the 
 activity of a blind Acquisitiveness, in a degree 
 that gave me some anxiety ; while yet it was 
 always so controlled, as not to occasion any 
 real alarm. I availed myself of the occasion 
 which was presented by the above incident, to 
 enlighten and control the feeling in question. 
 The child was therefore informed that rats do 
 not eat dry bones. This piece of information 
 excited the desire for further knowledge on the 
 subject : " What was he going to do with it ?" 
 To this it was replied that rats have a very 
 strong desire to get, and to hoard up : and that 
 often they would seize and carry off substances 
 which could be of no kind of use to them : 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 147 
 
 such as could serve them neither for food, nor 
 for a bed, as was the case with the old dry bone 
 which he had seen the rat carry away. He 
 was told also, that some men, who are idiots or 
 insane, manifest the same ^disposition, not 
 having reason to guide them ; and that such 
 persons, when they exhibit this propensity de- 
 serve our pity and not our censure or dislike : 
 that in itself, therefore, the feeling is one of a 
 mere animal, or of an irrational human being : 
 and that any man, or any child, who yields 
 himself up to its impulse, and allows it to 
 govern him, is, so far, like a poor idiot, or 
 maniac ; or even like a rat. Here the question 
 was proposed to him. " Do you wish to be 
 like a rat, or an idiot, or a madman ?" His 
 Self-Esteem, having been thus enlightened 
 through Intellect, he answered, " No, Sir." 
 " Be careful then never to be a miser, nor a 
 niggard, nor greedy or covetous : for remember, 
 if you are, you will be like a rat /" It is highly 
 gratifying to observe, from that time, how the 
 activity of Acquisitiveness is modified, in the 
 case of this child. It is not extinct ; it is not 
 inactive: it operates with considerable energy, 
 
148 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 but it is subjugated to Intellect and the Moral 
 Sentiments, so far, that though strictly econo- 
 mical in every thing, he is not parsimonious 
 in anything : though he knows how to value 
 any little item of property he may possess, he 
 evinces the activity, in his mind, of the in- 
 -quiry, Is it of any use ? and even if useful and 
 valuable to himself, he is ready to relinquish it, at 
 the bidding of Benevolence ; but especially of 
 Conscientiousness. 
 
 The education of Acquisitiveness does not 
 forbid that it be even exercised. When it is 
 so large and powerful as that it will act, it is 
 incumbent on parents to watch its activity, and 
 give it such a direction as is consistent with the 
 supremacy of the Moral Sentiments. For ex- 
 ample, a portion of the % garden, a peach or 
 plum-tree, may be cultivated by the child, in 
 order to sell the produce. This will tend to 
 secure health, and promote physical develope- 
 ment in the child; and to form habits of activi- 
 ty and industry. But care should be taken 
 that Acquisitiveness do not, in such cases, act 
 alone, nor in combination with the other ani- 
 mal or selfish feelings ; but in connexion with 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 149 
 
 the higher feelings, or Sentiments. Cultivate 
 Benevolence and Reverence together with it, 
 by showing him that property, in its proper 
 uses, will enable us to honour God, and to 
 benefit men ; — that it is God who has estab- 
 lished such a connexion between wisely direct- 
 ed labour, and property, as that the acquisi- 
 tion of property results, regularly, from labor 
 so directed : and hence, that it is a reasonable 
 duty to devote a portion of our property to 
 his service : — that to supply the wants, ani- 
 mal, intellectual and moral, of the destitute of 
 our own species, is to " honour the Lord with 
 our substance :" and that, therefore, it is 
 his (the child's ) duty to devote the produce of 
 this part of his garden, this fruit-tree or that 
 strawberry-bed, to some object or objects of 
 benevolence. Expatiate on the pleasures of 
 beneficence ; and thus stimulate Benevolence, 
 in the child; — and especially act yourself, 
 upon the principle you lay down for the regula- 
 tion of his conduct ; and devote, regularly a 
 proportion of your property, or income, to the 
 objects you recommend to his favourable no- 
 tice. This will enlist Imitation and Acquisi- 
 12* 
 
150 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 tiveness in the service of Benevolence, Con- 
 scientiousness, and Veneration. 
 
 You may even train your child to gain and 
 hoard ; provided only that the objects he 
 collects are such as enlightened Intellect and 
 the Moral Sentiments approve. For example, 
 he may be encouraged to collect a cabinet of 
 Natural History, Minerals, Shells, Insects, &c. 
 together with suitable microscopic objects. 
 The encouragement of the child in this course 
 however, requires some care. He must not 
 multiply objects of the same kind ; because 
 this gratifies Acquisitiveness only. Especially 
 must this be guarded against with regard to 
 Insects, or things possessed of animal life : for 
 in that case Destruetiveness would be excited, 
 and cruelty might be the result. It is impor- 
 tant too, that the ehild should be led to survey 
 GWinhis works ; his wisdom, and power, and 
 goodness, as seen in these objects, should be 
 rendered prominent objects of notice to the 
 pupil : and thus his Veneration, Ideality, 
 Wonder, and Benevolence addressed ; and the 
 love and fear of the Supreme Being, awakened 
 through his works. In the family of the wri- 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 151 
 
 ter, this course of treatment has been pursued, 
 with the happiest results, in the case of two 
 brothers : — their conversion to God, at a very- 
 early age. When they entered the family, at 
 the ages of eight and ten years, very little 
 attention had been paid to them, in the way of 
 education of any kind. They had, indeed, 
 heard something of God, and their own charac- 
 ters by nature ; but this information, if it 
 deserve the name, had been given to them, 
 principally, through catechisms and hymns, 
 and in the language of Scripture ; while their 
 teachers, were evidently ignorant of human 
 nature, and had made almost no efforts to en- 
 lighten their Intellect. Almost the earliest 
 worthy conceptions these children had, of the 
 natural and moral perfections of the Deity, 
 were such as they were led to form, by survey- 
 ing some of the minute works of his hand 
 through a microscope. The excitement of 
 their Wonder was seized upon, to awaken their 
 Veneration, and to excite their Cautiousness, 
 lest the power of God, exhibited in the wonders 
 of the Microscope, should be employed 
 against them : while at the same time his good- 
 
152 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 ness, equally displayed in those wonders, was 
 urged to awaken their Hope, and enkindle 
 their love, and ( especially as seen beyond 
 creation, viz. in redemption) to excite their 
 repentance. The success of the effort was 
 such as should encourage its repetition in other 
 cases ; — they became, very shortly the subjects, 
 it is hoped, of real religion, and were num- 
 bered, at the ages of ten and twelve, among the 
 professed servants of God. 
 
 SECRETIVENESS. 
 
 Secretiveness, as its name imports, is the 
 instinct to conceal. It exists, in different 
 children, in every variety of degree. In some 
 it is exceedingly energetic ; and in such a case 
 there is a strong tendency in the child to 
 dissimulation, or the acting of a part. The 
 language of the poet may be reversed, with 
 respect to the conduct of such a child : " Here, 
 real and apparent are" not " the same." All 
 that he does will be invested with an air of 
 concealment : — will be covertly done ; and this, 
 even though there be nothing which is wrong ; 
 or which requires concealment; or indeed, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 153 
 
 which is worth concealing. He will endeavour 
 to accomplish all his objects circuitously ; 
 without observation. He will evince what, in 
 more mature life, is called " tact" and 
 " management" in all he does. He will be 
 the agent, while others are made the instru- 
 ments : will, to use a common adage, " pull 
 the wires," but will, himself, remain behind 
 the scenes. The excessive activity of this 
 feeling, is an evil ; and one to the correction of 
 which the early and unremitting attention of 
 parents and teachers should be directed. Under 
 proper direction, and in proper degree, it is not 
 only permissible, but useful and good ; and, as 
 in the case of all the other feelings, it is only 
 the excessive and blind activity of it from 
 which evil is to be apprehended. When seen 
 in excess, it too often happens that injudicious, 
 and injurious attempts are made to correct and 
 eradicate it. 
 
 Such a child usually obtains the character of 
 being sly, artful, cunning, crafty : — he may, 
 indeed, be so ; but his large Secretiveness does 
 not, necessarily, render him so. Slyness, art, 
 cunning, and craft, are abuses of the propensi- 
 
154 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 ty ; — the results of its being uncontrolled, or 
 misdirected ; and sometimes, (little as it may- 
 be suspected) results from the improper at- 
 tempts made to eradicate it. When this 
 feeling manifests itself strongly, especially if 
 the parent has become, in any thing, its dupe, 
 it is likely the child is subjected to punishment. 
 Now this is unwise : let it always be remem- 
 bered that Secretiveness is an instinct of our 
 nature ; and that the child, wholly unenlight- 
 ened, can no more understand how the desire 
 of concealment can be wrong, than how the 
 desire to eat and drink can be wrong. He 
 receives punishment, therefore, which he can- 
 not see that he deserves ; and his sense of 
 justice, is indignant at the wrong he suffers ; 
 but is wholly blind and insensible to that he 
 has done. Combativeness and Firmness, are 
 also roused, in connexion with Conscientious- 
 ness ; and he resists the power which tramples, 
 as he thinks, on his rights. But this is not 
 all. He regards the punishment he suffers, as 
 the consequence of an imperfect exercise of 
 Secretiveness ; and hence, is careful in future, 
 not to avoid the practice, but to become a 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 155 
 
 more perfect adept in the science of deception. 
 And it is more than probable that he will be 
 successful in his efforts ; for two or three 
 reasons : first, greater care, with the same 
 powers will enable him to accomplish more 
 than before, because the powers are in a high- 
 er state of excitement than they were previous- 
 ly : secondly, he conceives that he has suffered 
 punishment for failure of success, and not for 
 fault, in the act itself of deception ; and hence, 
 the punishment disciplines Secretiveness, and 
 not Conscientiousness ; and, by this means, 
 increases its power: thirdly, Secretiveness is 
 an animal propensity; and according to our 
 elementary principles, it is strengthened by 
 opposition or coercion : so that, on the whole 
 punishment, while Intellect and the Moral 
 Sentiments are not addressed, only tends to 
 the increase of the evil which it would eradi- 
 cate or enfeeble. 
 
 Perhaps the next effort of the parent is to 
 discourage concealment and dissimulation, by 
 closely watching, and always, if possible, 
 detecting the operations of Secretiveness. But 
 this course is also unwise : for, if the parent 
 
156 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 has not as great or greater Secretiveness than 
 the child, it is pretty certain that, sometimes, 
 the child will be successful : and one such 
 instance of success will be treasured in memory, 
 by Eventuality, and will inspirit Hope, so as 
 to stimulate Secretiveness, more than twenty 
 detections would accomplish in preventing its 
 activity. And supposing the parent never fails 
 to detect the attempt at concealment, this only 
 exhibits, to the child, a Secretiveness more 
 perfect than its own ; and thus excites Imitation 
 to activity, and this still further stimulates 
 Secretiveness. It also receives, additional 
 stimulus from another faculty : Secretiveness 
 in the parent is matched against the same 
 feeling in the child ; and, of course, Combative- 
 ness, or the love of contest, furnishes its 
 stimulus to his Secretiveness. How can it be 
 otherwise, under such circumstances, than that 
 the remedies, for such they are called, and 
 designed to be, should aggravate the symptoms 
 of the disease ? 
 
 Secretiveness, in the parent, is by no means 
 an unimportant faculty, in the education of the 
 same feeling in the child ; but the proper 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 157 
 
 sphere for its activity is, the endeavour to 
 prevent, rather than to detect his attempts, to 
 conceal, or to deceive. This will keep it in 
 some measure inactive ; and in exactly the 
 same measure will it tend to the weakening of 
 the propensity. It is highly important to avoid 
 the exhibition of pleasure or satisfaction at any 
 manifestations of this feeling in your child ; for 
 such exhibitions are gratifications of his Appro- 
 bativeness, and will insure a repetition of the 
 manifestation, at the first favorable opportunity; 
 in order to reap again the reward of his parent's 
 smile. Of course Secretiveness gains power, 
 by every such repetition of its exercise. Never 
 consider, for it is not true, that a tendency to 
 conceal, to dissemble, or to act a part, is indica- 
 tive of talent, i. e. of intellect. There is no 
 intellect in it : it is a mere feeling ; and the 
 same feeling which prompts the cat to conceal 
 herself till she can securely dart upon her prey : 
 and we have never yet heard of an intellectual 
 cat. Let not parents, then, be deceived ; they 
 must not flatter themselves, that cunning gives 
 any promise of intellectual greatness ; and still 
 less should they conceive of it as being of a 
 13 
 
1 58 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 nature to merit approbation, as if possessing 
 moral worth. 
 
 In the education of this feeling in any child, 
 and especially in one in whom it is very active, 
 great care is requisite. Proper use must be 
 made of the Intellect of the pupil : he must be 
 shown distinctly that it is not intellect, but 
 feeling ; and one of a class of feelings too, 
 which ally him to the lower animals, many of 
 which possess it in much greater perfection 
 than he does. This will tend to sober his 
 estimate of its worth, and importance. More- 
 over, great care should be taken never to 
 practice deception, or insincerity in his pre- 
 sence. Parents should never be " extremely 
 gratified to see dear friends" when they really 
 wish them at the bottom of the sea ; or at 
 least, as far off as possible : — they should 
 never make large, or heartless professions, of 
 any kind; for they may rest assured that a 
 child, with large Secretiveness, will discover 
 that they have assumed a mask ; and will not 
 fail to imitate them. We would say to all 
 parents, but especially to parents of such 
 children, resolutely and undeviatingly deter- 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 159 
 
 mine to be all that you profess and pretend to 
 be, and you cannot, by any more effectual 
 means, teach your child to appear what he 
 really is. Such a course of training may be 
 expected to result thus : your child will not, 
 cannot, have the feeling annihilated ; for it is 
 innate ; but he will experience a modification 
 of it : in his future life it will appear in the 
 form of prudence and reserve ; and not in that 
 of cunning. He cannot be Solomon's "fool 
 who uttereth all his mind;" — the constitution 
 of his mind renders this impossible ; but he 
 will be " the wise man," of the same sacred 
 writer, " who keepeth it in, till afterward." A 
 proper cultivation of his Intellectual and Moral 
 nature will not allow him to condescend to 
 craft, subtil ty, evasion, and all the thousand 
 nameless manifestations of hypocrisy and 
 deceit ; but he will be prudent, reserved, and, 
 without being inquisitive into the affairs of 
 others, will so instinctively penetrate their 
 plans and motives, as that he will rarely, and 
 almost never, become the dupe of the unprinci- 
 pled and designing. 
 
 From these remarks it is obvious that this 
 
160 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 faculty in man is highly useful ; and that, 
 indeed, without it a man would be unfit for the 
 world in which we live : he would stand in 
 need of our pity, and especially would this be 
 the case, in civilized society. He would really 
 be in the situation in which, it is said, that an 
 ancient philosopher desired to be ; — he would 
 have " a window in his breast, so that every 
 passer-by, might look in, and see what was 
 passing there." But, had his wish been 
 granted, whatever of reputation he might 
 previously have possessed, for wisdom, he 
 must have suffered the loss of it : — our thoughts, 
 to a great extent, are involuntary, and flow in 
 upon us from a variety of sources ; — they form 
 incongruous, and sometimes even absurd and 
 injurious combinations ; and it would be highly 
 improper to pour them forth at our lips, in a 
 constant current. It is Secretiveness, modified 
 into Prudence, which " keeps the door of our 
 lips ;" and either wholly suppresses the utter- 
 ance of the thoughts and feelings, or commands 
 silence until the Intellect perceives that the 
 time has arrived to speak. 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 161 
 
 FEAR, OR CAUTIOUSNESS. 
 
 The feeling of Timidity, or Fear, is the 
 next of those emotions for which the Nursery 
 at Home is the proper field of training, or edu- 
 cation. This feeling is the effect of either 
 large or excited Cautiousness ; and where the 
 organ is large, especially if uncontrolled or 
 unenlightened, it is spontaneously active, and 
 very easily excited ; and not unfrequently is 
 roused to a state of morbid activity. It is 
 wisely arranged that in most children this feel- 
 ing shall be active ; because as the young 
 creatures are exposed to numerous dangers, its 
 activity contributes to their safety. But very 
 much of the happiness of the individual de- 
 pends on its being properly educated. When 
 active and misdirected its subject may through- 
 out its life time be only a sufferer. Yes a 
 sufferer: for the feeling is, in such cases, 
 entirely involuntary ; and where it is excessive 
 in degree, the child may be considered really 
 unfortunate. To educate it aright, we must, 
 as in the former case, bear in mind its nature, 
 13* 
 
162 FHRENOLOGY 
 
 and its origin. In its nature it is an animal 
 feeling ; and its origin we have already stated 
 to be, an over-active Cautiousness. As an 
 animal feeling or propensity, it will be increas- 
 ed, like all others of the same class, by all 
 direct and forcible means to suppress it : and 
 being the result of an already too active Cau- 
 tiousness, special care must be taken never to 
 afford to that organ, excitement. It is a feeling 
 which has various modes of manifestation : as, 
 a dislike to enter the company of strangers ; a 
 cleaving to the side, or arms of parents when 
 introduced to strangers ; dread of solitude, or 
 of darkness, and the like. The two former are 
 comparatively harmless and unimportant modes 
 of its exhibition : but it is otherwise with the 
 dread of solitude, or of darkness, or of both 
 united. 
 
 Perhaps some persons may smile at the 
 expression, when we say, that we should 
 consider such cases, as instances of real disease; 
 and should subject them to a correspondent 
 treatment. It is a fact, with which phrenolo- 
 gists are familiar, that when any one organ is 
 unusually developed, while others, whose 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 163 
 
 activity would tend to control or modify it, 
 are not in nearly equal developement, the organ 
 in excess will act alone, without the consent of 
 the other organs. This is in accordance with 
 our principle that " each organ may act or 
 repose, either separately, or simultaneously 
 with others." Moreover, it is a fact equally 
 well known to them, that disease, in individual 
 organs of the brain, usually occurs in the case 
 of organs developed in excess : and that each 
 organ may be diseased or in health, while the 
 others are in an opposite state. Now, by the 
 supposition, (and the facts will always be found 
 to be in strict accordance with it) Cautiousness 
 is large in the timid child ; and not only large, 
 but consequently active. Moreover, excessive 
 timidity can scarcely exist ; — we may say 
 cannot exist, — where the controlling organs are 
 in equal developement : with Cautiousness in 
 the timid (i. e. the excessively timid) child, 
 therefore, they are not in this equal develope- 
 ment ; and there are present the conditions of 
 disease, in his organization, and the symptoms 
 of disease in its manifestations : why then may 
 we not say that the subject of these conditions 
 
164 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 and symptoms is diseased ? And the disease 
 is so serious and dangerous, that a few words 
 on the treatment proper for it are requisite. 
 Some persons take pleasure in meeting with 
 a child thus afflicted, and amuse themselves by 
 exciting its terrors. They suppose, perhaps, 
 that darkness, or their stories of ghosts, &c. 
 cannot really injure the child, because none of 
 its bones are broken, and none of its five ex- 
 ternal senses are impaired by them : but this 
 is a capital error. An injury is done, in such 
 cases, far greater than if two or three limbs 
 were broken ; or the child injured, for life, in 
 one or two of its external senses. If the con- 
 duct of these torturers result from thoughtless- 
 ness, there is that apology for it, which our 
 blessed Redeemer offered for his murderers : 
 " They know not what they do :" but if it be 
 done either wantonly, or to acquire or retain 
 influence over the child, and secure his obedi- 
 ence ; or if it be made the instrument of 
 punishment, no terms of reprobation are too 
 strong to employ in reference to such conduct. 
 The language of the Psalmist, respecting the 
 effect on himself, of the terrors of the Almighty, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 165 
 
 has been often applicable, in all the terribleness 
 of its literal import, to the victims of this diaboli- 
 cal cruelty : " While I suffer thy terrors I am 
 distracted" Many, alas! too many by hundreds, 
 are the well authenticated instances of absolute 
 idiocy being the immediate and permanent 
 consequence of shutting up a timid child in a 
 dark closet ; to say nothing of a multitude of 
 other cases, where fits or death resulted from 
 the same, or similar causes. A tyrannical 
 teacher, or an ignorant domestic, have often, by 
 such means, infused unmingled bitterness into 
 the cup of families, where, but for them, only 
 domestic bliss had sparkled. 
 
 The proper mode of educating the Cautious- 
 ness of a timid child may be learned by asking 
 the cause of his timidity ? It is Cautiousness 
 over active: let, then, a course be pursued, 
 which shall tend to allay its excitement. This 
 is best done through the medium of the Intel- 
 lect. Enlighten this, and you do much towards 
 the conquest of the fears of your child. Of 
 this, the following fact, from the before mention- 
 ed Infant School Report, presents a proof. 
 " A gentleman was crossing a church-yard 
 
166 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 (burial-ground) not altogether without the habit- 
 ual dread of ghosts, witches, &c, which from his 
 youth he found it impossible to separate from 
 the place ; and met, in his way, a little girl of 
 five years old, marching, all alone, through the 
 same place. He asked her if she was not 
 afraid to go through the church-yard alone ? 
 "Not a bit;" was her reply, " We learn" 
 (Intellect enlightened) " at Infant School, that 
 ghosts and all that, is nonsense," 
 
 The same illumination of the Intellect may 
 take place at home. When the child is calm 
 and confiding, introduce judiciously and kindly, 
 in conversation, the subject of his constitution- 
 al infirmity. Inform him, and impress it on 
 his mind, that darkness is really nothing more 
 than the absence of light ; that the objects in 
 the room are the same — chairs, tables, books, 
 &c. neither more nor less, in darkness as in 
 light. Perhaps, if very timid, it may be wise 
 to let the lesson stop here for the present, and 
 allow the pupil to digest it at leisure. On the 
 next occasion resume the subject by asking 
 him what darkness is ! — Whether it changes, 
 diminishes, or increases the objects in the 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 167 
 
 room ? How you or he can make darkness ? 
 If he knows not your meaning, bid him close 
 the shutters, that he may see what the effect 
 is. If, as the gloom increases, his terrors ap- 
 pear to come over him, bid him think on your 
 conversation, open the shutters, and go to 
 play. It is most likely that at the next lesson 
 he will be willing perfectly to close the shut- 
 ters ; and probably, if you continue talking to 
 him, he may not object to their continuing 
 close a few moments. Assure him that the 
 darkness of night is exactly like the darkness 
 he has made, and that it is just as safe : so 
 that he never need fear being in the dark. 
 Similar training to that above mentioned, will 
 lead him to see the groundlessness of his fears 
 of solitude, or being alone ; and possibly, indeed 
 your earliest lesson might with advantage 
 be given on solitude, and your second on 
 darkness. 
 
 If the fears of your child arise from the 
 apprehension of seeing spectres, ghosts, <fcc. 
 it will be well to explain to him the causes of 
 various mysterious things. This course of 
 proceeding will insensibly lead him to perceive 
 
168 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 that every effect has a cause, and that there are 
 intelligible causes, for many mysterious effects: 
 he is thus guarded against supposing that there 
 is a supernatural cause for every strange thing 
 he sees. It would be wise, also, to purchase 
 or hire, for his amusement and instruction, a 
 Magic Lantern : allow him by day-light to ex- 
 amine the slides on which are painted skeletons 
 and bloody heads, &c. Explain the nature and 
 use of the Lens ; and especially how it operates 
 on the figures in the slides, to enlarge them. 
 Then close the shutters, ( having previously 
 lighted the lamp ) and let him, with his own 
 hands, make ghosts, &c. on a screen or wall. 
 Tell him that many persons who have seen 
 such things as those he has made on the wall, 
 without knowing how they were produced, 
 have really thought that they saw the objects 
 themselves, instead of mere pictures ; and have 
 been very much alarmed ; but, as he now 
 knows, there was nothing for them to fear. 
 Perhaps, in his first attempts, his joy may not 
 be wholly without terror : terror at the sight 
 of the goblins he has called up ; and joy at the 
 thought that he can lay them, at his pleasure. 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 169 
 
 A valuable book for parents, with a view to the 
 explanation of mysterious appearances on 
 natural principles, is Dr. Brewster's Natural 
 Magic : but one more valuable still, with refer- 
 ence to Spectral Illusions, and the explanation 
 of them on philosophical principles, is the 
 Edinburgh Phrenological Journal ; in some of 
 the early numbers of which the subject is very 
 satisfactorily discussed. 
 
 It need only be added on the education of 
 morbid Cautiousness in children, that it is of 
 the utmost importance for the parent or attend- 
 ant to be of a patient, gentle, benevolent 
 disposition; and withal, intelligent, as to the 
 nature of the faculty under their training. In 
 all the intercourse held with such a child, by 
 its parents or teachers, the utmost blandness 
 and gentleness are indispensable. The reason 
 of this necessity is, that the exhibition of such 
 feelings and dispositions has a tendency to 
 keep still the too susceptible Cautiousness of 
 the child, or to sooth it, if excited : and accord- 
 ing to the principles we have laid down, any 
 faculty weakens by inaction. On the contrary 
 if a parent or teacher, or domestic, be irritable, 
 14 
 
170 
 
 PHRENOLOGY . 
 
 impatient, or nervous ; and especially, if igno- 
 rant of the nature of the feeling with which 
 they have to do, in the training of their charge, 
 by incessantly leading the child to apprehend 
 some suffering or punishment from their 
 displeasure, they will infallibly do injury, by 
 increasing the evil in question. Such persons 
 maintain in almost constant activity, (and thus 
 increase that activity) a principle already too 
 active; — incessantly augment a feeling, at 
 present excessive in the child ; and under such 
 treatment, cure of the evil may be considered 
 as hopeless. 
 
 APPROBATIVENESS. 
 
 We come now to treat of another, and more 
 extensively operative feeling : — that innate sen- 
 timent which may be designated, the desire of 
 estimation. Such is its designation in some 
 works on mental and moral science : but, by 
 Phrenologists it is termed " Love of Approba- 
 tion," or "Approbativeness." This faculty is 
 called a " Sentiment" by phrenologists of every 
 School ; and by those of Edinburgh it is pro- 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 171 
 
 perly called a "Loicer Sentiment." It is so 
 called, because man possesses it in common 
 with some of the lower animals. It is this 
 feeling, in the dog' and horse, which so 
 keenly enjoys the cheering and soothing words 
 of man, and his gentle pat, on the neck or 
 side. 
 
 Every one who turns his thoughts and atten- 
 tion on his own inward feelings, must be 
 conscious of the existence of the feeling in 
 question : and happy is that person in whom 
 it does not exist in excess ; at least so far as 
 the approbation of man is the object of its 
 activity. To the writer it appears certain that 
 a very powerful sentiment in all persons ; 
 though in some it may be stronger than in 
 others ; and often it may not be manifested in 
 the degree in which it really exists, in con- 
 sequence of the modifying and controlling 
 influence of other strong feelings, or of feelings 
 and intellect combined. There is a difference 
 among nations in this respect, as well as among 
 individuals in the same nation. In the Ameri- 
 can head it is generally larger than in the 
 English ; but if it were only equally developed, 
 
172 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 its manifestation in character, would be greater, 
 in consequence of the more moderate develope- 
 ment of Self-Esteem, which, in the English 
 head, is usually large. It would be easy, if 
 this were the place to do so, to find in the 
 history of this country, since the Revolution, 
 the causes of the excess of Approbativeness in 
 the American character. It is our business in 
 these pages, however, to point out the causes 
 of the general largeness of this organ, and 
 the general strength of this feeling, and not 
 to give a national cast to our remarks. 
 
 Independent, then, of original organization, 
 (a subject which is admirably discussed by Mr. 
 George Combe, in his work on the " Constitu- 
 tion of Man," and which more properly 
 belongs to such, a work, than to one on the 
 education of the feelings,) we can see, in the 
 education which Approbativeness actually re- 
 ceives, both in this and other countries, causes 
 which account for its great activity ; and to a 
 considerable extent also, for the general " full- 
 ness" or " largeness" of the organ of this 
 Sentiment : the education bestowed upon this 
 feeling has a direct tendency to increase its 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 173 
 
 power. The principle x to which we find it 
 necessary, quite frequently, to advert, viz : that 
 " every faculty is strengthened by activity, and 
 enfeebled by inaction" — would suggest the 
 propriety of keeping still that now under 
 notice ; inasmuch as it has, naturally, more 
 than sufficient power, in a large majority of 
 persons ; children as well as others. It should 
 scarcely ever be excited by making appeals to 
 it, with a view of securing docility and 
 obedience to parents or teachers ; — perhaps, 
 indeed, it should never be appealed to, except 
 with reference to the approbation of God ; the 
 " desire of his approbation" cannot be too 
 strong, and when appeals are made to this 
 feeling, in this connexion, Approbativeness is. 
 not called into activity alone ; neither is it 
 excited in connexion with the propensities, 
 selfish or social; but together with the Moral 
 Sentiments ; and while this is the case, the 
 effect can scarcely be otherwise than beneficial. 
 It would surprise one who has not adverted 
 to the subject, to observe and record the 
 multiplied appeals which are made to this 
 faculty, in the actual training of children ; and 
 14* 
 
174 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 it would alarm those who should mark the 
 frequency of these instances, if they should 
 understand how the temporal and eternal 
 interests of the children are imperiled by such 
 treatment. This section will be occupied in 
 bringing these things before the minds of those 
 to whom the formation of the character of 
 children is committed. 
 
 Let us inquire what the education, or train- 
 ing is, Avhich the desire of estimation, or 
 " Approbativeness," actually receives? The 
 feeling in question is manifested by the human 
 subject, in all the periods of life, from very 
 infancy to the extremest age. It is this feel- 
 ing, as we have before intimated, which causes 
 the little one to smile when noticed ; and this^ 
 even before he can understand the terms in 
 which he is addressed. And it is the same 
 feeling which, in childhood, becomes a strong 
 motive in prompting to obedience : — viz : th& 
 wish to be praised. Mothers soon learn the 
 power which this feeling gives to them, over 
 their children ; but they do not so easily learn 
 how they may wisely, and for the benefit of 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 175 
 
 their children, employ that power. In proof 
 of this look at facts. 
 
 As soon as the child knows enough to value 
 the love of its mother, she employs this feeling 
 to sway his reluctant will to obedience to her 
 commands ; when other, higher, and holier 
 motives shoidd be urged. Obedience, in 
 children, should flow from Conscientiousness, 
 Reverence, and Adhesiveness, more than from 
 Approbativeness, or Cautiousness. Thus we 
 find the appeals of Scripture made to the for- 
 mer, and not to the latter, except as auxiliary 
 motives to obedience : " Children obey your 
 parents in the Lord ; for this is right" Here 
 the appeal is to Conscientiousness. " Honor 
 thy father and thy mother," — the fifth com- 
 mandment, addresses Veneration or Reverence. 
 In John, 14, 15, obedience to the commands of 
 the Saviour himself is urged, by an appeal to 
 Adhesiveness : " If ye love me keep my com- 
 mandments." As auxiliary motives appeals to 
 Cautiousness or the fear of punishment, and to 
 Approbativeness, or the desire of praise, are 
 occasionally made ; but it is believed that to 
 neither of these is the appeal made, as to a 
 
176 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 ruling, or principal spring of action. Now how 
 nearly in accordance with these suggestions of 
 Holy Writ, is the mode of procedure actually 
 adopted with children? We will suppose a 
 mother to desire her little one to perform some 
 act of duty, and the child to exhibit some degree 
 of unwillingness. Instead of taking his hand 
 in hers, and looking him in the face seriously, 
 to secure attention, and explaining to him that 
 it is right to obey her, — that she must be 
 obeyed, — and that she will be pained by his 
 disobedience, (thus appealing to the above 
 three faculties) she takes a royal road to secure 
 obedience, appealing to the single faculty of 
 Approbativeness, and says, " Mama won't love 
 you, if you disobey her." This, as the remarks 
 above made, must show, is not acting in 
 accordance with the nature of the child ; for it 
 is appealing to but one motive, whten three at 
 least, might have been addressed: and besides 
 this, the motive appealed to, is inferior in its 
 nature to two out of the three which should 
 have been brought to bear on the child ; that 
 being only a lower Sentiment, and these two 
 of the highest in our nature. But there is 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 177 
 
 another, and an extremely weighty objection to 
 the course actually taken : — it is one which 
 offends against that elevated morality which 
 ought invariably to characterize the intercourse 
 of a mother with her children. The mother, 
 in the supposed case above, has secured her 
 child's obedience by telling him a falsehood. 
 She would love him, even if disobedient ; does 
 love him, even when disobedient : and she 
 may be assured that her child can read the 
 natural language of maternal love, with suffi- 
 cient clearness and confidence, to convict her, 
 at the bar of his intellect, of having spoken an 
 untruth. The effect of this will be, to lower 
 her in his esteem and affection, i. e. to enfeeble 
 the activity of his Veneration and Adhesiveness 
 towards her ; to decrease the power of his 
 Conscientiousness ; making him regard a false- 
 hood as a trifle ; to stimulate Secretiveness and 
 Imitation ; teaching him how to play off a 
 deception, and seek the accomplishment of his 
 objects by insincere pretensions ; to weaken 
 Cautiousness, by the experience that the evil 
 threatened to disobedience, does not follow on 
 the heels of the offence ; and to strengthen 
 
178 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 Firmness in its wilfulness, by the experience 
 that it can secure its objects, with impunity. 
 
 If the child is required to form habits, and 
 exhibit a deportment, correct and lovely, in 
 his intercourse with his brothers and sisters, 
 or associates, instead of explaining to him why 
 they are correct and amiable, the mother takes 
 the same short course to secure her object : 
 only, instead of appealing to the Approbative- 
 ness of the child, with respect to her approba- 
 tion, she gives it a wider range. She assures 
 him that " people will not love him, unless his 
 conduct to his fellows is such and such:" and 
 asks " What will Mr. A. and Mrs. B. and 
 Thomas C. think of you ?" The effect of this 
 treatment, on the child, can be seen at a glance : 
 He draws the conclusion that the rule of right, 
 is the opinion of others ; or, at least, that he 
 must conform his practice to their opinions ; 
 must never dare to be singular : for that, to 
 have other persons think unfavourably of him, 
 is the greatest calamity that could befal him. 
 Such stimulants applied to Approbativeness 
 cannot but be deeply injurious. The Intellect 
 is not at all enlightened, as to the fact that the 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 179 
 
 opinions of people in general are of very little 
 importance ; being often most grossly erroneous, 
 and especially so on moral subjects. Self- 
 Esteem, in its proper sphere of activity, — the 
 cultivation of proper self-respect and personal 
 dignity and independence, — is quite overtopped 
 by the hot-bed culture of its next neighbor 
 Approbativeness : and a spirit, both vain and 
 servile is generated. 
 
 The Sentiment of Approbativeness is mis- 
 educated also, in the injudicious, and often 
 excessive administration of praise. Praise is 
 the proper aliment of this feeling ; but as is the 
 case with the body, an aliment proper in itself, 
 may be improperly imparted, as regards time, 
 and degree, and the circumstances of the system 
 which receives it. If praise be excessive, it 
 becomes Flattery ; and where this is bestowed 
 it generates disease in the feeling ; which in 
 that case, becomes Vanity. To render the 
 child susceptible of encouragement, the love 
 of Approbation is implanted* in him ; and to 
 afford him encouragement, the approbation he 
 desires is to be bestowed on him, in proper 
 
180 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 measure. But is it in fact thus imparted ? 
 By no means. 
 
 A child in whom this feeling is naturally- 
 strong, and especially if it be not sufficiently 
 controlled, will be vain. Many persons would 
 err, in their analysis of the motives by which 
 such a child was influenced in his actions. 
 They would consider him actuated by affection 
 and filial respect (Adhesiveness and Veneration) 
 when, in reality, the ruling motive was Appro- 
 bativeness, He is prompt, willing, officious, 
 perhaps ; but it is that he may be praised, 
 thought to be talented or benevolent, and thus 
 may secure praise. If it be imparted, you 
 increase the diligence and zeal of the young 
 aspirant for popularity : for you appeal to 
 Approbativeness, and thus increase its energy. 
 " Flattery" says Mr. Levison,* " is the com- 
 mon language of the nursery and the parlor ; 
 and also the stimulus which is applied in tuition, 
 at meals, and in the play-ground ; and however 
 diversified as regards the mode of expression, 
 its specific object is the same. The child is 
 
 * Mental Culture, p. 123. 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 181 
 
 soothed by it, and when in the company of its 
 parents, is constrained in its manners by the 
 mechanical and artificial usages of etiquette ; 
 and, under the name of emulation, its desire 
 of applause is made the incentive for out- 
 stripping others ; and the source of contention 
 and ill-will during the hours of relaxation. If 
 we analyse the motives of those who thus 
 appeal to this powerful feeling, we shall find 
 that, in every instance, they do so for the 
 purpose of facilitating the otherwise laborious 
 task of moral culture. A servant, for example, 
 observes that the dear infant is easily moved 
 and acted upon by flattery : hence to avoid a 
 temporary inconvenience, she administers an 
 over dose ; without reflecting that it is like an 
 opiate, and that we must continue to increase 
 the dose, or else the anodyne effect will not, 
 ultimately, be obtained. How common a 
 practice it is for parents to attempt to induce a 
 child to behave itself properly whilst in the 
 parlor by assuring it that rude and vulgar 
 children only, speak what they think, and ask 
 for what they want : but that young gentlemen 
 and ladies should know better. Is not this 
 15 
 
182 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 making an appeal to Love of Approbation ? 
 And to what can we attribute this election of 
 an animal motive, if we reject the notion that 
 it originates in a desire to save trouble." * * * 
 " But such is the harmony of the moral gov- 
 ernment of God, that in most instances, the 
 designs of parents and instructors are defeated : 
 and they create for themselves infinitely more 
 trouble in the end, than they would have had, 
 if the moral qualities had been early and 
 judiciously worked upon." 
 
 There are other appeals to this Sentiment, 
 such as need only to be named, to insure for 
 them the reprobation of intelligent and reflecting 
 persons. How often do we hear the child, — 
 yes, even the infant, — receive lessons on the 
 subject of dress, which cannot fail to excite a 
 love of it, as a means of commanding admira- 
 tion ! Such lessons are all allusions to " pretty 
 new frocks," and " pretty red shoes." Such, 
 also, are the comparisons or contrasts drawn 
 between the clothes of the child, and those of 
 its little friends and acquaintance : " Here is 
 his beautiful cap and feathers ! George C. 
 hasn't got such a cap as my darling: — no, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 183 
 
 brother Henry, you mustn't have it : that is for 
 mother's beauty," &c. A course of treatment 
 such as this, (and alas ! it is a course of it, to 
 which children are subjected,) necessarily as- 
 sociates in the mind of the little one, the favor 
 of others with personal appearance ; and this, 
 in its turn, with external ornament ; and thus 
 such ornaments are valued, as conferring claims 
 to regard : and this, not only to the total disre- 
 gard of lovely moral qualities ; but often to the 
 implantation and culture of those which are the 
 most despicable. It is to erroneous and false 
 impressions, as to the degree of importance 
 really belonging to ornament, made by the 
 training which this sentiment receives in In- 
 fancy and Childhood, that we should ascribe the 
 necessity, in youth and maturity, of urging so 
 strenuously on the fair portion of our species, 
 another " adorning than the plaiting of hair, 
 and the wearing of gold, and the putting on of 
 apparel ; — the adorning of the hidden man of 
 the heart, with that which is not corruptible ; 
 — the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, 
 which is, in the sight of God, of great price." 
 (1 Pet : 3. 3. 4.) They learned, almost in the 
 
184 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 cradle, that to be approved and admired is the 
 " one thing needful ;" and that to be adorned 
 is indispensable to the being admired : hence 
 the insatiable appetite evinced as early at least 
 as the days of Isaiah, for " chains and brace- 
 lets, and mufflers, and ear-rings, and changeable 
 suits of apparel, and mantles, and wimples, and 
 crisping-pins." (Isa : 3. 19. 23.) " Cockle has 
 been sown" in the soil ; and can we expect that 
 it should produce barley ? 
 
 Another practice, in the training of Approba- 
 tiveness, merits a few words of notice. When 
 the young subject of education happens to utter 
 a sentence which, to the partiality of a mother, 
 seems indicative of talent, it is quite common 
 for her to treasure it up in memory, and to 
 repeat it to her friends in the presence of the 
 child. And the feeling is equally cherished by 
 a practice, now perhaps, somewhat on the 
 decline, of calling the little fellow to make a 
 display of his attainments, by repeating to every 
 stranger who may call, his hymns, and cate- 
 chism, and knowledge of the various school 
 studies of his years. All these and many other 
 practices, are only so many modes of training 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 185 
 
 the child to the love of display ; and to believe 
 that the use of knowledge is to make a show 
 of it, and thus ensure to himself a revenue of 
 praise. 
 
 Nor is the excitement of Approbativeness 
 confined to Home. It is, indeed, travelling a 
 little beyond the range of nursery, or strictly 
 domestic training : but we cannot allow the 
 opportunity to pass unimproved, of saying that 
 the present system of education in schools, is 
 such as most injuriously to affect the senti- 
 ment of Approbativeness, by keeping it in a 
 state of preternatural excitement. The object 
 at which all pupils are taught to aim, is not 
 excellence, but distinction. The system of 
 place-taking in classes, and also, that of distri- 
 buting medals as marks of distinction, have a 
 tendency to goad it into a state of feverish ex- 
 citement ; and to erect, in the scholar's mind, 
 an erroneous standard of personal worthiness ; 
 as well as to generate, in the minds of class- 
 mates and school-fellows, the feelings of envy 
 and aversion. 
 
 Having considered now the actual training 
 given to the sentiment of Approbativeness, it 
 15* 
 
186 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 may not be improper to advert to the effects 
 of it, on the present and future character of the 
 child. That effect, we have no scruple in 
 saying, must be injurious ; and we will instance 
 some of the injuries it inflicts. 
 
 The first injury done is, the prevention, or 
 the destruction of transparency and simplici- 
 ty °f character, in the pupil. By the training 
 given to this faculty, the child is not taught to 
 6e; but only to appear, such as he ought. 
 Nor is it truly such as he ought to appear, at 
 which he is taught to aim, so much as it is, to 
 be such as others will approve : and as they 
 will sometimes approve, what they ought not, 
 he will learn, in such cases, to aim at what is 
 improper : but of this, more afterwards. The 
 obedience of a child, whose Love of Approba- 
 tion is trained as above described, will be only 
 superficial ; not cordial and sincere. He acts 
 a part, and does not act himself : and the part 
 which he does act, when he obeys an unpleas- 
 ant command, he assumes from a selfish 
 motive. He has been taught to feel that 
 expressions of endearment, and the frequent 
 administration of praise ( or in other words, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 187 
 
 incessant flattery) are essential to his happi- 
 ness, and almost to his existence ; and as 
 these can be secured by some outward act, 
 that act is performed. But it is, after all, not an 
 act of obedience ; for it is not performed from 
 a sense of duty, which is essential to true 
 obedience ; but from the desire of self-gratifica- 
 tion : the hope of securing* the praise which 
 follows the performance of the act. From a 
 similar motive he complies with the wishes of 
 his parents, when they present him with the 
 motive, that others will not think well of him 
 if he shall refuse compliance. He loves their 
 good opinion ; he can secure it by compliance 
 with the wishes of parents and friends, in the 
 case in hand 5 he must lose their favour if non- 
 compliant; he therefore yields, — not because 
 it is right and duty \cf which he is urged; not 
 because parents can justly claim his obedience, 
 but because his own gratification will be, 
 thereby, promoted. Yet he passes for an 
 obedient child : is praised for obedience : he 
 knows that credit is given him for obedience, 
 and a regard for duty ; and knows also that he 
 is not actuated by the motives ascribed to him ; 
 
188 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 but by others, which are not suspected : who 
 then can fail to see that he learns duplicity and 
 deceit, from the training given to his Approba- 
 tiveness ? or which is the same thing, that the 
 education this feeling receives, is unfriendly to 
 simplicity of character ? 
 
 The subject of the education we have des- 
 cribed, is injured, also, in another respect: 
 There is set before him a false standard of 
 morality ; — a false rule of duty. He is taught, 
 it will be remembered, that his conduct must 
 be regulated by the opinion of others ; and in 
 connexion with this, he is, by precept, taught, 
 that his course is to be a good and a right one : 
 how natural then, is the conclusion to which 
 he comes, that the opinion of others is the 
 rule of right. This conclusion, from the above 
 premises, is as irresistible as the mathematical 
 axiom, that " things equal to the same thing, 
 are equal to one another." But the learner is 
 afterwards undeceived ; and finds that while 
 the opinions of men fluctuate, and are uncer- 
 tain, the principles of morality are immutable : 
 yet, such is the ascendancy over his conduct, 
 that the opinion of others has acquired, that he 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 189 
 
 cannot, — dares not — be singular, even in a case 
 of plain moral duty, if those, whose good 
 opinion he desires to secure, are arrayed on the 
 opposite side ; — if the performance of duty shall 
 subject him to the loss of their favor, and es- 
 pecially, if it shall subject him to their raillery, 
 ridicule, displeasure, or contempt. An illus- 
 tration will bring this case completely before 
 the mind of the reader. To become religious, 
 is a plain moral duty, obligatory on every in- 
 telligent moral being. But the present training 
 to which Approbativeness is subjected, presents 
 powerful and almost insuperable obstacles to 
 the performance of it. The frown, or laugh? 
 or sneer of such as hate religion, (things which 
 must be encountered) are more formidable to a 
 mis-educated Approbativeness, than prisons, 
 and fetters, and the stake would be, to a pro- 
 perly enlightened and subjugated Cautiousness. 
 The subject of this morbidly sensitive feeling, 
 dares not avow his seriousness, before those 
 who will disapprove of it : he trembles to be 
 surprised by his irreligious relatives, friends, 
 or associates, reading his Bible, or engaged in 
 prayer, or attending the inquiry meeting. His 
 
190 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 mother's early lesson has been alas ! too per- 
 fectly learned by him ; " What will people 
 think of you ?" and he defers to their opinion, 
 when he ought, resolutely, to set it at nought. 
 The great Founder of our Religion perfectly 
 understood the magnitude of the obstacle in the 
 way to heaven, presented by a perverted Ap- 
 probativeness, when he said, to certain persons 
 of his own day, " How can ye believe, who 
 receive honor one of another, and seek not the 
 honor which cometh from God only ?" (John, 
 5. 44.) 
 
 The right training of this faculty would con- 
 sist in addressing it through an enlightened 
 Intellect; and addressing it not alone, or in 
 connexion with the lower feelings ; but in 
 connexion with the Moral Sentiments, — with 
 Veneration and Conscientiousness : — thus as- 
 sociated, the appeals to it can scarcely be too 
 frequent, or too powerful. That we may be 
 understood, when we speak of addressing Ap- 
 probativeness through an enlightened Intellect, 
 and in connexion with the higher sentiments, we 
 will explain. Inform him, then, that the 
 authoritative rule of duty is the will of God : — 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 191 
 
 that all He enjoins is good in itself, and good 
 in its tendency, and reasonable : and not only 
 affirm this, but so explain it as that he shall 
 himself see that it is so. Remind him of the 
 declaration of holy writ, that it is the favor of 
 God which is life, and "His loving kindness" 
 or approbation, " which is better than life ;" 
 and show him that to secure that is the great 
 end of existence :— that that must be secured, 
 at every risk, and at every cost : and that if he 
 would resolutely determine to secure the divine 
 favor, he must prepare, sometimes, to forego 
 the favor of men, and even to endure their 
 ridicule and enmity. Expatiate on the great- 
 ness, and goodness of the character of God, — 
 and on the value of his favor, in contrast with 
 the indifference of the favor of men ; also on 
 the insignificance of the displeasure of man, in 
 comparison with the awfulness of His/ Animate 
 him to bear present contempt from the irreligi- 
 ous, for doing his duty, by presenting before 
 him the exalted satisfaction which will result 
 from hearing him say, at last, " Well done, 
 good and faithful servant." By this course 
 Approbativeness is made to operate in the 
 
192 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 highest sphere of its activity, viz : with 
 reference to the favor or approbation of God ; 
 and is led, by supremely seeking the honor 
 which cometh from God, to regard, no further, 
 the approbation of fellow creatures, than it can 
 be secured by obedience to His will. This 
 education of the feeling of Approbativeness 
 accords both with the nature of man, and with 
 the will of God. It treats the sentiment 
 according to its nature, as a mere feeling, and 
 one not of the highest order, and not, therefore, 
 itself entitled to dominion. But it associates it 
 in its activity with the very highest feelings of 
 our nature : — causes it to act, not blindly, but 
 under the illumination of Intellect, and thus to 
 bring its potent influence to bear on the 
 ennobling, and dignifying, and blessing its 
 possessor. Such an education of Approbative- 
 ness aims not at the impossibility of annihilating 
 an innate faculty ; but consists in imparting to 
 its activity a right direction, in associating it 
 with the best society in its activity, in present- 
 ing it to its proper control. Thus directed, 
 thus associated, thus stimulated, and thus con- 
 trolled, the possessor of the feeling, however 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 193 
 
 strong, will be sensitive, indeed, to the opinions 
 of others, and desire to meet with their appro- 
 bation ; but will feel that there is a higher 
 object of pursuit than that ; and that the 
 controlling principle of action must be, the 
 desire of " the honor which cometh from God 
 only." 
 
 The false morality which is induced by the 
 training actually given to Approbativeness 
 merits some further remark. In the nursery 
 this is often manifest to a close observer. The 
 faculty as we have seen is often there stimulat- 
 ed ; and the effect of this is, that the stimulated 
 faculty requires to be pampered ; and the 
 ingenuity of the young subject of education 
 often exhibits itself, in his measures to secure 
 the favorite food of the morbid feeling in 
 question. Hence we sometimes see such a 
 child even officiously attentive, to discover and 
 anticipate its parents' wants and wishes :— 
 fetching unbidden, what may be wanted ; and 
 picking up what may have accidentally fallen, 
 —a spool of cotton, a pair of scissors, or a 
 thimble : — and this, not for the sake of doing 
 good, or being useful ; but merely that you 
 16 
 
194 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 may bestow the coveted praise. You may 
 without difficulty, obtain the proof of this : — 
 Express simple thanks, in a tone of coldness 
 and indifference, and observe, without seeming 
 to do so, the effects. In an officious child there 
 will be evident disappointment, and uneasiness. 
 She expected a compliment, on her dexterity, 
 or foresight, or usefulness, in helping her 
 mother ; — to be called by some specially 
 endearing epithet, or to be told she was grow- 
 ing quite a little woman. Withhold this, and 
 you cut the sinews of her activity : whereas, 
 if she were really what she desires to appear, — 
 actuated by affection and filial respect : — were 
 her conduct prompted by the activity of Adhe- 
 siveness and Veneration, the very presentation 
 of simple thanks, would have been wholly un- 
 expected, and undesired ; and so far from 
 being undervalued, would be considered more 
 than a sufficient reward. Thus the morality 
 which Approbativeness originates is a false 
 morality. 
 
 But, furthermore, it is a morality which can- 
 not be relied on. At home, and while the 
 individual is exposed only good to influences, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 195 
 
 he may be every thing which could be desired, 
 so far as external conduct is concerned ; but if 
 he be such, under the influence of " Approba- 
 tiveness," it will be because any other conduct 
 would expose him to censure. Nothing would 
 be approved by those around him, but what is 
 reputable and praiseworthy ; and desiring their 
 approbation, his conduct is reputable and praise- 
 worthy also. But suppose his circumstances 
 to be changed ; and that he is removed from 
 such a home as we have considered him to 
 possess ; — surround him with numerous and 
 powerful temptations ; connect him with those 
 whose conduct and morals are evil ; and what 
 will then be the result ? The ruling principles 
 in his character are not changed, by this change 
 in his situation and connexions ; and yet his 
 conduct may present a widely different, and a 
 far less amiable aspect. He is now surrounded 
 by those who approve of evil ; and the conduct 
 which he practised at home, will expose him 
 to censure and ridicule here ; it is little to be 
 expected, therefore, that now he will practice 
 it : for, if he do, he will incur a penalty which 
 he has been taught to regard as the most severe 
 
196 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 he could suffer — the disapprobation of associates 
 and friends. He is still the same character, 
 essentially, as before : still desires praise, and 
 feels that it is necessary to his happiness. But, 
 in this change of circumstances, in order to 
 secure praise, and even to avoid censure, he 
 must practice evils to which he was before a 
 stranger : and being, by the supposition, under 
 the controlling influence of Approbativeness, it 
 cannot be difficult to foresee what course he 
 will pursue : he will yield to temptation. Not 
 only so, but the very feeling w T hich, under his 
 former circumstances, restrained him from evil, 
 and led him to worthy conduct, will prove, 
 under his present ones, a most powerful impulse 
 to the practice of every evil to which he may 
 be solicited. " Consequences like these are 
 very frequently seen to follow a youth or child's 
 departure from home, to school, or to business : 
 and the parents of such a child bewail them as 
 their calamities, and afflictions ; and not im- 
 probably refer them to the sovereignty and 
 inscrutability of God ; whereas, in fact, they 
 might read their own sin in their punishment ; 
 and learn that they are only reaping the fruits 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 197 
 
 of seeds which they themselves profusely- 
 scattered, and successfully cultivated, when 
 they said to the yet guiltless child, in the 
 nursery, " What will people think of you ?" 
 
 •Finally, The training which this faculty 
 receives, induces insincerity and falsehood. 
 The love of praise, when excessive, or when a 
 ruling principle, will give a relish for flattery : 
 and to a person in whom it exercises dominion, 
 flattery, in almost its grossest forms, will be- 
 come ere long, not only bearable, but palateable, 
 and even pleasant ; — it will be almost necessa- 
 ry to his happiness. But such profuse offer- 
 ings of its incense can scarcely be expected to 
 continue spontaneous : they must be purchased ; 
 and to obtain them from others, flattery will be 
 offered to them. Thus is formed a pitiful and 
 despicable character ; the very opposite of 
 sincerity, and frankness, and independence ; — 
 a character utterly incompatible with a proper 
 degree of self-respect ; and formed by that very 
 training which Approbativeness almost univer- 
 sally receives ; and the communication of which 
 can scarcely be followed by any other than 
 these results. 
 
 16* 
 
198 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 In childhood, too, occasional, and even fre- 
 quent, deviations from truth, are consequences 
 of the same training. Children who have but 
 little Secretiveness, and who have, at the same 
 time, a strong sense of right, (Conscientious- 
 ness large ) will, under the influence of an 
 over active Approbativeness, especially if aided 
 by large Cautiousness, (leading to a dread of 
 punishment ) utter untruths, to conceal a fault: 
 and this, not because they are insensible to the 
 evil of falsehood ; but because they love the 
 approbation they must forfeit ; and dread the 
 censure which the declaration of the truth will 
 bring upon them ; and fear the punishment to 
 which its utterance may expose them. In 
 these children, Self-Esteem has not been so 
 cultivated as to make them feel the meanness 
 of falsehood ; nor Combativeness so trained as 
 to feel its cowardice; nor Conscientiousness so 
 trained as to feel its wickedness : — they are the 
 slaves of a blind Approbativeness ; and this is 
 the true solution of the apparent paradox, of a 
 child so constituted, uttering falsehood. 
 
 Let parents, then, beware how they edu- 
 cate Approbativeness in their children. Teach 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 199 
 
 them to estimate human approbation at no more 
 than its proper value, and not to idolize it. 
 They will then learn that it is often valueless, 
 and indeed worse than even that ; then will 
 they never sin, in ,. order to secure it. Let 
 Conscientiousness, Veneration, and Benevo- 
 lence be stimulated, by religious truth, — their 
 appropriate aliment ; — that they may over- 
 power a too active Approbativeness. Then 
 the accusations and reproaches of Conscience 
 will be accounted a greater evil than the cen- 
 sures of fellow-creatures ; and the loss of 
 Divine approbation by equivocation or false- 
 hood, will be accounted a vastly greater evil 
 than the loss of even a parent's smile, which 
 loss might follow from the utterance of 
 undisguised truth. And in order to lessen the 
 temptation to disguise or equivocation, let the 
 censures which parental duty requires should 
 be administered, be uttered without needless 
 asperity ; and even with studied gentleness : 
 remembering that a child with large Approba- 
 tiveness, is cut to the quick, by a censure so 
 gentle, that one, differently constituted, would 
 scarcely feel it ; and that when such a child 
 
200 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 equivocates, it is, often, only to avoid the an- 
 guish he would suffer from a severe rebuke — 
 an anguish which, his sense of justice tells 
 him, is not merited, by a mere inadvertence or 
 indiscretion ; and therefore he dissembles, or 
 equivocates, or lies to hide it. 
 
 SELF ESTEEM. 
 
 There are certain characteristics among men 
 which distinguish not only man from man ; but 
 one race of men from another, and one nation of 
 a certain race, from another nation of the same 
 race. Among these characteristics, there are 
 few, if any more striking, than that which we 
 propose now to consider : viz : The feeling 
 of Self-Estimation. It is a national character- 
 istic ; but not the characteristic of the Ameri- 
 can nation. Of this nation, as we have 
 already hinted, in our remarks on another 
 feeling, the characteristic, if it be proper to 
 mention a single one, is Approbativeness : 
 while the distinguishing peculiarity of the 
 English nation is Self-Esteem. We must not, 
 by this remark, be understood to say that there 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 201 
 
 are not many individuals of these two nations, 
 in whom the organs of these faculties are 
 found in such relative proportions, as to give to 
 the native born American the character of an 
 Englishman, and to the Englishman that of an 
 American. We mean only that, in the majori- 
 ty of Englishmen, there will be found a 
 predominance of Self-Esteem ; and in the 
 majority of Americans, a similar predominance 
 of Approbativeness. There is then less danger, 
 in America than in England, that this feeling 
 should be excessive ; yet, the individual cases 
 are numerous, in which this excess is to be 
 seen. 
 
 Wherever it is discovered, the greatest care 
 seems indispensable, in its education. Its 
 characteristics are, in general, Self-elevation, 
 and Self-preference. In particular, it loves 
 pre-eminence and claims it ; and if external 
 circumstances are such as favor that claim, it 
 may be expected to be asserted on all occa- 
 sions. No faculty of our nature is more 
 likely to run into abuses : and when it is in 
 large developement ; and when the accidents of 
 rank, station, office, wealth, &c, favor the 
 
202 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 manifestation, those abuses will almost certain- 
 ly be exhibited : viz : pride, self-sufficiency, 
 disdain, haughtiness, love of power, tyranny 
 where power is possessed ; and, in one word, 
 general selfishness. These, however, are its 
 abuses in mature life ; but they result from 
 very insignificant germs ; and it behoves those 
 to whom the business of instruction is commit- 
 ted, and especially Mothers, most carefully to 
 watch the buddings of the feeling; to retard 
 their growth ; and give them a proper direction. 
 We have said that the germs of these abuses 
 of Self-Esteem are insignificant ; but we mean 
 the earliest manifestations of its activity in an 
 improper direction, rather than the principle 
 from which they arise ; and we apply the 
 word " insignificant" to those manifestations, 
 in the sense of pitiable and contemptible, rather 
 than of unimportant. In the infancy and early 
 childhood of such a child, we sometimes feel 
 contempt, when we witness the presence of a 
 braggadocio spirit, impelling him to the perfor- 
 mance of certain little exploits, and then swel- 
 ling his bosom with Self-complacency, while 
 he struts among his nursery play-fellows, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 20$ 
 
 saying, at least by his actions, " There ; do 
 that if you can," or issuing his mandates to 
 juniors and inferiors, if not to equals and supe- 
 riors, with all the consequence of an oriental 
 despot. In his little sports, with his brothers 
 and sisters, or companions, he will dictate the 
 nature of the game, and the mode of conducting 
 it ; and will be the arbiter of all disputes which 
 may arise in its progress : and the natural lan- 
 guage of an excessive Self-Esteem will appear, 
 in his language, tone, gait, and look ; the 
 simple interpretation of which may be given, 
 in a single sentence of holy writ : *' / am ; and 
 there is none besides me: " he is "entitled 
 to rule: HE has a natural right to be master !" 
 To train such a child is among the most 
 difficult of duties ; but it is not impossible. In 
 performing it properly, we must turn to first 
 principles ; and endeavour to keep them con- 
 stantly before us. Again, therefore, do we 
 quote one of our fundamental principles, in its 
 application to this case ; — As the feeling in 
 question is an animal one, though not one of 
 the lowest of those feelings, it must be enfeebled 
 in order to its proper training ; and to enfeeble 
 
204 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 it, pains must be taken to keep it still. It must 
 be educated to obedience, by stimulating other, 
 and nobler faculties to a growth which shall, if 
 possible, overpower it; and if not, which shall 
 considerably modify, and control it. Two 
 things appear of vital importance, in the training 
 of a vigorous Self-Esteem. First, It must not 
 be fed: Secondly, It must not be mortified. 
 
 First. It will be highly improper to feed, or 
 pamper this feeling. A desire to avoid, for the 
 time, the disagreeable consequences of its 
 activity, might prompt to this course of con] 
 duct; but the relief is only temporary, even 
 if obtained ; and that is by no means certain : 
 for so arrogant is the activity of Self-Esteem, 
 that it will scarcely recognize a concession, as 
 such, when it is made ; but will receive it as 
 the mere recognition of his right ; and conceive 
 that, therefore, no obligation is conferred ; and 
 of course none need be acknowledged. But if 
 it be otherwise, and by concession you con- 
 ciliate the little monarch, it is only for a 
 time : ere long you must yield again ; and 
 the next claim he makes, will be a larger 
 one ; for animal feelings are, in their nature, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 205 
 
 insatiable ; and make large demands, in propor- 
 tion as those demands are gratified. If the 
 conduct of such a child merits praise, in any 
 case, it must be bestowed with extreme caution : 
 not that, (with Approbativeness moderate) it 
 would so gratify the appetite for praise, as to 
 do it injury; but because it is scarcely possible 
 for praise to be bestowed, without increasing 
 the high opinion the child already possesses, of 
 himself. He regards it as due to him ; — that 
 he deserves it : and that, of course, he must 
 really be, what he always before, thought he 
 was ; — the solus and the totus /—the ALONE, 
 and the WHOLE. It is ruinous to such a child 
 to make appeals to his Self-Esteem, or Pride, 
 in order to incite him to action in any direction. 
 It may succeed, indeed, in accomplishing your 
 present object ; but you must afterwards pay 
 the penalty of your transgression of one of the 
 laws of your child's nature:-— you have strength- 
 ened his Self-Esteem, by affording it a stimulus ; 
 and the difficulties with which you have for- 
 merly met, in managing him, will be augmented 
 in future cases ; for your antagonist has been 
 strengthened by yourself. It is best to en- 
 17 
 
206 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 feeble Self-Esteem, by indirect means ; even 
 when you present remedies for its excessive 
 activity, in addresses to the Moral Sentiments, 
 through the Intellect. The most powerful 
 means to subdue, or to control the too great 
 activity of this feeling, are, certainly, moral 
 considerations ; but it is dangerous to present 
 these, nakedly and abruptly. If you would 
 moderate the child's arrogance, even by present- 
 ing to him the exclusive claims of Jehovah 
 to universal deference, choose wisely your 
 time for doing so ; and, not less wisely, the 
 mode. Do it not when his Self-Esteern is 
 rampant in activity, and claiming to subdue all 
 things to itself : but when it is the sleeping 
 lion. Do it not by alleging his natural tenden- 
 cy to claim deference, and opposing to his 
 claims, those of the Almighty : this will in- 
 stantly excite Combativeness, in aid of Self- 
 Esteem ; and give you two powerful feelings, 
 instead of one, to contend against. It will, 
 moreover, excite a feeling of aversion to God, 
 which it will be next to impossible to eradicate : 
 and thus, still further, augment your difficulty. 
 Instead of this, Approach the feeling you 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 207 
 
 would train, through the Intellect : discourse 
 on the perfections of the Divine Character in 
 general ; and make no personal applications ; 
 or if you do, make them not with reference to 
 him ; or at least, not to the strong and danger- 
 ous point in his character, which you desire to 
 influence. Let your applications, in certain 
 cases, lead him to make them in others ; and 
 lead him cautiously towards his own. When 
 he has discerned, and begins to feel the right 
 of the Almighty to govern, and that His will is 
 supreme law, accord with him ; declare your 
 perception of his absolute authority over you, 
 and yours. You may show, also, that the 
 aknowledgement of this, is not degrading to 
 you, as an intelligent and moral being \ because 
 the will of God is perfectly wise, and just, 
 and benevolent ; and hence, that duty and 
 interest unite, in requiring of you obedience. 
 If your child has, from infancy, learned aright, 
 that he owes you subjection and deference, he 
 cannot now fail to infer that he owes it to a 
 greater than you : he will not fail to see that, as 
 the greater includes the less, since he owes 
 obedience to the lower, much more to the 
 
208 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 higher authority. And his submission will be 
 voluntary, too : not forced, or constrained : he 
 will feel that he submits, and yet is not degraded 
 by submission : he is swayed by Intellect, and 
 the Moral Sentiments. This point once gained, 
 you have a powerful instrument in your hand : 
 one of the strongest feelings in the nature of 
 such a child is thus converted, or rendered 
 capable of being converted, into a motive to 
 influence him for good. Now you may appeal 
 to Self-Esteem, and render it subservient to 
 moral purposes : thus, " You perceive that you 
 are accountable to God, as a moral and intelli- 
 gent being ; it becomes you, in this character, 
 to employ all your talents, faculties, and oppor- 
 tunities, in accordance with his will, and for 
 the purpose for which he bestowed them." 
 His sense of propriety, and fitness ; — of what 
 is due to himself, will assent to this ; and he 
 may be expected to govern himself accordingly* 
 Secondly, It will be equally injurious to 
 attempt to mortify the feeling of Self-Esteem. 
 This may be done with the best intentions ; 
 but the purity of the motives, changes not the 
 tendency of the action, to which it gives birth. 
 
IX THE FAMILY. 209 
 
 It will not accomplish the object intended; 
 which is, the decrease of the activity and energy 
 of the feeling ; for, according to our first 
 principles, being an animal feeling, it is not 
 only not enfeebled, but it is actually invigorated, 
 by attempts, so made, to weaken it. There is 
 but one way to weaken it, and that is, to render 
 it as nearly as possible inactive ; but the 
 attempt to mortify it, and thus punish its 
 activity, excites it directly ; and not so only, 
 but awakens Combativeness and Firmness to 
 activity, which lend their power to increase its 
 energy : and you will thus have a threefold 
 cord, instead of a single one, to break. But 
 this is not all : Mortifications of Self-Esteem 
 being designed, primarily, to give pain, are 
 seldom attempted under the guidance of Con- 
 scientiousness and Benevolence : the inquiries 
 be not made " Is it right?" "Is it kind?" 
 but only, will it mortify (i. e. pain) a too 
 energetic and active principle, in the child ? If 
 this is answered affirmatively, the measure is 
 adopted, without further investigation of its 
 probable results. Accordingly, it is not im- 
 probable that some phvsical defect in the child, 
 17* 
 
210 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 — mental or bodily, is seized on as the instru- 
 ment of torture, or mortification : perhaps the 
 child is lame, or has a cast in his eye, or is 
 homely in features, or is the subject of some 
 other peculiarity wholly beyond his power to 
 prevent or to remedy. If he is taunted with 
 this, or even reminded of it, the effects must be 
 injurious ; deeply, and almost hopelessly so. 
 He, perhaps, has good sense sufficient to per- 
 ceive that his torturers really possess an 
 advantage over him, in the case in hand ; but 
 this augments the evil, instead of decreasing it. 
 It not only, as in the former case, enlists Com- 
 bativeness and Firmness, in support of Self- 
 Esteem ; but other, and by no means feebler 
 feelings also. " True," says the injured child, 
 "lam ugly ; I have a club foot ; I do squint ; 
 but am I to be blamed for that ? If I had formed 
 myself I should not have chosen these deform- 
 ities ; I would gladly be free from them." He 
 is indignant (Combativeness and Self-Esteem 
 active) at the flagrant injustice of the reproach 
 he suffers ; (Conscientiousness engaged,) and, 
 not improbably, he will meditate some terrible 
 revenge (Destructiveness awakened,) on the 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 211 
 
 authors of his misery. Now, the tendency of 
 all these active and powerful feelings is, to 
 maintain the activity, and increase the power of 
 Self-Esteem ; and especially is this the case 
 with Conscientiousness : this teaches him that 
 he is injured — wronged — in the treatment he 
 receives ; — that " he does well to be angry ;" 
 that the offenders deserve punishment ; and that 
 he is right in inflicting it ; and, therefore, right 
 in devising it. Since, then, the attempts to 
 mortify Self-Esteem are productive of these 
 consequences ; — since such attempts are both 
 injurious, by strengthening the Sentiment, and 
 demoralizing, by generating some of the dark- 
 est, and at the same time, most powerful feel- 
 ings of our nature, it is needless to spend more 
 time in proving bur position, that it should not 
 be mortified. We will say a few words, as to 
 the use which may be made of it, in training 
 some other faculties ; and leave the subject to 
 the reflections of the reader. 
 
 We have said, in a preceding page, that 
 Self-Esteem should rarely be appealed to, and 
 never, except in connexion with the Moral 
 
212 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 Sentiments : and nothing we shall now say is 
 intended to conflict with that opinion. But in 
 connexion with those Sentiments, such appeals 
 may be made, not only with safety, but with 
 advantage. The tendency of Self-Esteem is 
 to inspire confidence in our own powers ; — to 
 impart the feeling that what others have done, 
 we are capable of performing. A child with 
 large and active Self-Esteem rarely, and indeed 
 almost never, feels that there is anything which 
 he could not do, if he pleased. It is a valuable 
 element, in character, therefore ; for without it, 
 difficulties would be dreaded ; and the con- 
 quest over them would rarely be achieved. 
 Persons with decidedly small Self-Esteem 
 seldom accomplish much ; whatever may be 
 their abilities ; for they have not the requisite 
 confidence, to undertake the conquest of diffi- 
 culties : and if, in any case, they are success- 
 ful, and even if such cases are numerous, 
 whoever else may have foreseen this result, 
 they did not : and if no one else is surprised at 
 their success, they are, themselves, almost 
 astonished at it. 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 213 
 
 The reluctance to undertakeanything difficult 
 of accomplishment, may, however, be found in 
 connexion with large Self-Esteem; but it results, 
 in such cases, from an inactive temperament, or 
 from small Combativeness or small Hope. Sup- 
 pose a child thus organized ; and by an appeal 
 to Self-Esteem, in connexion with the Moral 
 Sentiments, you may excite Combativeness and 
 Hope, and overcome the tendency to inaction, 
 which a sluggish temperament will induce. It 
 should be said to such a child, " You are con- 
 scious, that if you choose to exert the powers 
 God has given you, you can attain to respecta- 
 bility, at least, if not to eminence : but you 
 dread the endurance of the labor you must 
 perform, in order to attain either. Now, since 
 you are conscious of possessing the requisite 
 ability, your guilt will be the greater for that 
 consciousness, if you fail." This appeal will 
 not only stimulate Self-Esteem and Combative- 
 ness, and put them in operation in a right 
 direction ; but will also, by exciting Firmness 
 in the same cause, be likely to give permanency 
 to the activity of the others, in the direction in 
 which they are made to operate. A few such 
 
214 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 lessons will teach the child by experience, the 
 sober truth of the poet's language. 
 
 " The wise and prudent conquer difficulties 
 By daring to attempt them. Sloth and Folly 
 Shiver and shrink, at sight of toil and danger ; 
 And make the impossibility they fear^ 
 
 Rowe. 
 
 The presence of a large and powerful Self- 
 Esteem may sometimes be found, in connexion 
 with other organs large and active ; and hence 
 may present difficulty, to an unskilful hand, in 
 training it; though to a thorough and philoso- 
 phical phrenologist, no such difficulty would 
 appear. There is present to the writer's mind 
 at this moment, such a case. A girl, between 
 eleven and twelve years of age, residing under 
 the roof, and receiving the instructions of a 
 benevolent and intelligent lady, presents to her 
 teacher and benefactress, considerable diffi- 
 culty in managing her. The lady is a 
 believer in our Science ; but not yet, a thorough 
 and well instructed phrenologist ; and desired 
 some hints, if they could be given her, relative 
 to the best and most philosophical mode of 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 215 
 
 treatment in the case ; and she accordingly 
 introduced the child to the writer. Self-Esteem 
 is rather unusually large in her head, especially 
 for a girl; and the head itself is large, but the 
 temperament not remarkably active. In con- 
 nexion with large Self-Esteem, are found here, 
 large Firmness, and Combativeness ; and these, 
 under the treatment the child has received, 
 have increased the trouble of the Instructress. 
 But there are, also, large Conscientiousness 
 and Reverence ; and also, quite full Adhesive- 
 ness : these have not been made a right use of, 
 in the education of this child. The instructress 
 herself has large and sharp Combativeness ; 
 which is, therefore, very active ; and the more 
 so from her temperament being favorable to 
 activity. It can be easily foreseen that these 
 characters are not so cast, as to move along to- 
 gether pleasantly; unless the lights of Phrenolo- 
 gy are shed on their path. The temperament of 
 the pupil not being very active, it will not be 
 surprising if her progress in her studies be not 
 very rapid ; especially since there is, in her, 
 more reflective, than perceptive intellect. Now 
 with this slowness to acquire knowledge, (in 
 
216 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 the common acceptation of that term) in the 
 pupil, the active temperament of the teacher 
 cannot sympathize ; and moreover it pains her 
 Approbativeness, inasmuch as her reputation is 
 connected with the pupil's progress. By this 
 means her Combativeness is roused, and she 
 determines to " make" the pupil learn ; and to 
 accomplish this, resorts sometimes, to corporal 
 punishment. But it is of no use : the child 
 can learn, but in certain cases, will not. 
 
 But the case is explicable, and the evil can be 
 remedied. The explication is the following. 
 First, the tendency of this child's mind is great- 
 er towards reflection, than towards acquisition; 
 whereas, what is demanded of her is acquisition, 
 rather than reflection. Next, her slowness to 
 acquire is not sufficiently borne in mind by her 
 teacher; (herself quick of perception) and 
 hence she receives censure in a degree, in 
 which it is not merited. She is sensible of 
 this ; and Conscientiousness feels that she is 
 dealt unjustly by : — this rouses Combativeness 
 in her mind, to greater activity ; though it was 
 before awakened, by the active Combativeness 
 of her teacher. Conscientiousness, making 
 
IN THE FAMILY* 217 
 
 her feel that her teacher does her wrong, rouses 
 Firmness in aid of Combativeness, to oppose 
 this wrong; and this works with greater 
 energy, in consequence of the activity of 
 wounded Self-Esteem ; which feels that she 
 has been degraded, by subjection to corporal 
 punishment. No wonder that, under such 
 circumstances, she is indocile. Of explication 
 of this case, the above may be sufficient. 
 
 The remedy for the evil is the following ; 
 and it accords with the treatment and education 
 of the faculty, given above : — Recognize her as 
 entitled to respect, by abstaining from every- 
 thing tending to degrade her : i. e. by no means 
 mortify her Self-Esteem. She has reasoning, 
 rather than perceptive intellect ; address it ; and 
 through it, her large Conscientiousness. Ex- 
 plain to her that though she has not a strong 
 tendency io acquire knowledge, yet, its acquisi- 
 tion is a duty, and one the performance of 
 which, sometimes requires that we do violence 
 to our preferences. Appeal to her conscious- 
 ness that she can do what is required of her, 
 if she will : show her that it is required of her, 
 under a sense of duty, on the part of her 
 18 
 
218 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 teachers ; and not that they desire to thwart 
 her will, or accomplish their own ; and express 
 the conviction that her sense of duty, and her 
 love to her friends, and her self respect will, 
 unitedly, constrain her to resolve that she will 
 make greater exertions to meet the wishes of 
 others, and do her duty, both to them, and to 
 God. Thus will she feel that she is not 
 degraded ; but treated respectfully and rational- 
 ly : and it is more than probable that, after a 
 while, she will forgive the injuries done to her 
 by the former mode of treatment ; and feel the 
 kindliness of affectionate respect, instead of the 
 glowings of stubborn wilfulness. By this 
 course no danger is incurred of compromiting 
 the dignity which belongs to the station of 
 teacher and guardian ; indeed, there is a truer 
 exhibition of dignity in this case, than there 
 would be, in resolving to secure a blind and 
 feigned obedience, by the application of brute 
 force to the mere corporal feelings of an in- 
 telligent being: for such a being soon dis- 
 cerns whether the springs of her conduct 
 are understood by those who control her ; and 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 219 
 
 recognizes dignity in that intelligence, and will 
 respect it. 
 
 MARVELLOUSNESS OR WONDER. 
 
 That there is such a feeling as this in human 
 nature, can scarcely be questioned by any one 
 who has carefully observed men ; or who is 
 familiar with the history of his species. It is 
 the tendency to credit, as real or true, what 
 has not been and cannot be, submitted to the 
 examination of the senses; and, moreover, what 
 is not comprehensible by the mind in its 
 present imperfect state. A little reflection will 
 convince us of the wisdom of imparting to man 
 such a feeling or tendency ; and even its indis- 
 pensableness, in order to adapt him to that 
 remedial system of morality and religion which 
 is presented to him in the volume of Inspiration. 
 But for the possession of this faculty, how little 
 more than the brute creation, would man 
 know. It is not, indeed, this faculty which 
 cognizes or knoivs ; but it is yet, a faculty, 
 the excitement of which impels the perceptive 
 faculties to acquire knowledge; and the reflective 
 
220 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 ones to reason on the knowledge acquired : 
 and moreover, from the belief, on proper 
 authority, of what is, it gives birth to active 
 speculations as to what may be. But it is a 
 faculty really indispensable to man, in his 
 present condition ; for without it he would be 
 incapable, altogether, of religious faith. Such 
 " faith is the realization of things hoped for ; 
 the confident expectation of things not seen : " 
 i. e. not submitted to the evidence of the senses ; 
 nor capable of appreciation by them. Now, 
 how true soever these things may be, man 
 could never be required to believe them, w r ere 
 he incapable of so doing : and incapable he 
 would be, since they are unappreciable by the 
 senses, unless there were given to him a 
 faculty to believe that of which his senses 
 could give him no knowledge ; that of which 
 he has, and can have, in the present state, no 
 experience ; and which is altogether beyond 
 his comprehension. These are the truths 
 which Revelation brings to his notice ; such as 
 the endlessness of our being; a future judge- 
 ment ; the existence of angels and separate 
 spirits; the mysterious person of Christ, &c. &c. 
 
IX THE FAMILY. 221 
 
 In these truths faith is declared to be indispen- 
 sable; and it is the possession by man, of the 
 sentiment of Marvellousness, which capacitates 
 him to exercise it. 
 
 But we have here to do principally with its 
 education. Its existence and activity are early 
 evinced, in most children, by the eagerness 
 with which they listen to narratives of whatever 
 is new, surprising, and wonderful. Not unfre- 
 quently the narrators will transcend the bounds 
 of truth in their narrations ; but, though the 
 little auditor may be informed that certain 
 portions of what he hears, are not true, but 
 are mere embellishments ; he, yet, can scarcely 
 endure to deprive them of the relish with which 
 their miraculousness invests them ; and thus 
 proves that, if he had not been admonished, he 
 would have believed them, notwithstanding 
 their extravagance ; and perhaps, impossibility. 
 Injudicious parents, domestics, and associates, 
 are pleased with the excitement of this faculty 
 in others ; and hence, carry it to improper and 
 criminal lengths, by the narration to children 
 of supernatural stories, of fairies, witches, 
 ghosts, &c. This cannot be too severely 
 18* 
 
222 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 reprehended ; it is fraught with consequences 
 always to be deprecated; often deeply injurious; 
 and sometimes calamitous, and even terrible. 
 It is a feeling strong enough, in almost all chil- 
 dren ; and if one may, now and then, be found, 
 in whom it is otherwise, sufficient stimulus can 
 be found in the presentation of mysterious 
 truths ; without resorting to fictions. Many 
 have been the cases of persons who have ar- 
 rived at mature age — yes, at middle life, and 
 perhaps beyond it, — who have not overcome 
 perfectly, the injuries they sustained in child- 
 hood, from these nonsensical tales of the 
 Nursery : and this, though they possessed 
 naturally vigorous understandings ; and those 
 understandings had been carefully cultivated. 
 It is to the activity of this sentiment that is 
 to be attributed the belief in omens, signs, 
 lucky and unlucky days, dreams, &c, and to 
 the combined activity of this and Cautiousness, 
 the undefinable dread which some persons suf- 
 fer, of darkness, burial grounds, the chamber 
 and bed of death, and the mental aberrations of 
 the delirious, or the permanently insane. In 
 both these cases Intellect may be supposed to 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 223 
 
 be unenlightened ; but it is not always so : true, 
 the intellect ivas unenlightened when these 
 feelings acquired the dominion ; and having 
 acquired and for some time retained the com- 
 mand, it is with great difficulty surrendered ; 
 even after the understanding is convinced that 
 the terrors are destitute of reasonable founda- 
 tion. 
 
 There is another, and less important effect of 
 the too great activity of this feeling, which it 
 may be proper here to notice ; viz: a desire to 
 excite it to activity in others. A child will 
 sometimes adorn and embellish a very simple 
 story, or a very common-place occurrence, by 
 annexing certain fictitious appendages to it, or 
 using some extravagant expressions respecting 
 it ; and this, not with the intention to deceive; 
 but only to excite surprise. In such cases, it 
 is the most likely mode of correcting the evil, to 
 avoid expressions of surprise when you hear 
 the wonderful statements ; and proceed to sub- 
 ject them, in a good tempered way, to the 
 examination of reason ; and when they are 
 found not to accord with reason and fact, to 
 admonish the child, still in a half-playful man- 
 
224 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 ner, to be more careful how he expresses him- 
 self in future. The absence of strict gravity 
 and seriousness, on the part of the parent, is, 
 of course, only permissible on the supposition 
 that there is not, on the child's part, any 
 intention to deceive. The improper activity 
 of this feeling was well corrected, by a mother, 
 whose child, after a walk in the fields, returned 
 with a few wild flowers in his hand, exclaim- 
 ing, " O Mother, there are thousands, and 
 thousands of the most beautiful flowers you 
 ever saw, in the woods where I have been 
 walking : a great deal prettier than these. " 
 " Are there, my child," was her reply. " I 
 wonder, then, that you did not pick some of 
 the prettiest for me ; and that you did not 
 bring me a few more. I think I have often 
 seen prettier flowers than these; and much 
 prettier than any that grow wild in our woods." 
 She thus corrected the exceptionable points 
 in his address to her, as to the number and 
 beauty of the flowers, — topics on which he had 
 enlarged, under the influence of excited 
 Wonder, and with a view to excite that of his 
 Mother, — without censure of its excitement, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 225 
 
 or of his expression of it ; and without check- 
 ing his ingenuous communicativeness. 
 
 Marvellousness should always be under the 
 instruction and guidance of enlightened Intel- 
 lect ; or serious and dangerous consequences 
 may be expected from its excitement. For 
 this reason it should never, in childhood, be 
 excited, except by the relation of what com- 
 bines Truth, with Novelty. Works of fiction 
 should not be read until the Intellect has ac- 
 quired a vigor which will prevent the illusions 
 and creations of fiction from assuming the 
 dominion in the mind ; and thus producing a 
 distaste for, and almost a disgust with, the sober 
 realities of life. This is especially the case 
 with regard to those works of imagination in 
 which the sublime predominates over the 
 beautiful: and which, by the mysteries which 
 pervade them, address themselves, almost ex- 
 clusively, to the faculty under consideration. 
 In the same manner, the mysterious truths of 
 religion need not be presented to the mind of 
 the child ; except indeed a few fundamental and 
 elementary ones, till the intellect has acquired 
 considerable strength. And great care should 
 
226 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 be taken, that fables and legends, having a 
 bearing on religion and the spiritual world, 
 should be kept out of sight. Otherwise super- 
 stition may be expected to occupy the place of 
 religion; and gloom, and perhaps terror, give 
 their tinge to the mind, which ought to be, and 
 might have been, gilded with the sunshine of 
 hope, and confidence, and joy. Evils such as 
 these, when once incurred, can scarcely ever 
 be cured ; the great object to which our efforts 
 should be directed, therefore, is prevention. 
 But prevention of what? Not the activity of 
 the feeling in question ; this is impossible ; 
 prevention of its abuse : and this is best secured 
 by watching and guiding its activity, and by 
 care that no other than a healthful stimulus be 
 ever applied to it. This, of course, includes a 
 vigilance which never sleeps, as to what parents 
 utter to their children, or in their presence, on 
 subjects which might excite the feeling ; but 
 especially, (and which is a far more difficult 
 task) such a vigilance respecting domestics, 
 teachers, associates, and acquaintances of their 
 children ; and " though last not least," respect- 
 ing the books they read. One ignorant, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 227 
 
 superstitious nursery maid, — one teacher, who 
 understands no mode of governing, but by fear, 
 — one associate or acquaintance, who has been 
 subject to the evil influence of such a domestic, 
 or such a teacher, — or one book of an impro- 
 per character, may inflict an injury that it 
 will be impossible, subsequently, to repair. 
 In view, then, of the importance and indis- 
 pensableness of this feeling to man, as a moral 
 being, on the one hand ; and of the dangers to 
 which we are exposed, from its excessive, or 
 its misdirected activity, on the other, we may, 
 in reference to the arduousness of the parent's 
 duty in educating it, adopt the language of an 
 inspired Apostle, in another case, and say, 
 "Who is sufficient for these things ?" But, be 
 not discouraged ; a sense of the magnitude and 
 importance of a duty, from the obligation to 
 perform which we cannot escape, naturally 
 tends to produce humility ; and if, in humility, 
 we seek from above, the wisdom we need, and, 
 at the same time, avail ourselves of the aids to 
 acquire it, by which we are surrounded, we 
 shall neither seek, nor strive, in vain. 
 
228 F11REN0L0GY 
 
 HOPE . 
 
 Perhaps some persons would not be willing 
 to allow this to be so much a separate faculty 
 of the mind, as an act of the whole mind ; and 
 a duty, binding on every one to perform. But, 
 whatever may have been the opinions, and 
 whatever the instructions of writers on mental 
 philosophy, relative to it, the painters and 
 pourtrayers of Nature — Poets — have recog- 
 nized its existence as an innate faculty : and 
 here, it is safer to follow these, than our graver 
 teachers. Hope is by them considered so truly 
 an element of human nature, that it is said to 
 " come to all :" i. e. to be innate in each. 
 Indeed, we cannot conceive of a Benevolent 
 Creator, (designing, of course, the happiness 
 of his creatures,) giving existence to rational 
 beings, and placing them in a state of probation ; 
 and yet leaving them destitute of a faculty 
 whereby they may anticipate the experience of 
 a higher good than they enjoy. If they hope 
 not, they must despair ; and if they despair, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 229 
 
 how can they be happy, and how can they 
 exert their powers to attain a good, of which 
 they have no assurance, and ( upon this 
 supposition ) no prospect ? Hope, then, 
 must be an innate faculty, in this view of 
 the matter. But it is not less evidently such, 
 even upon the hypothesis that to hope, is an 
 act of the whole mind ; and that it is the duty 
 of the individual to perform it. If it be 
 my duty to perform an act, I must be so en- 
 dowed as to capacitate me to perform it ; and, 
 as no act can be performed without instruments, 
 I must be in possession of the necessary instru- 
 ments to enable me to hope, if to hope be my 
 duty. And if to hope is a different act of the 
 mind, from to reason, the instrument of the one 
 act, must be different from the instrument of the 
 other : if then I am endowed with the instru- 
 ment by which I perform the act of reasoning 
 — i. e. if it be innate, — I must, also, be 
 endowed with the instrument by which I per- 
 form the act of hoping : i. e. that instrument 
 must be innate also. This is the doctrine of 
 Phrenology. Accordingly we find the faculty 
 experienced, in a greater or less degree, by all 
 19 
 
230 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 persons, whatever their station, possessions, or 
 intellectual endowments and attainments. No 
 one can be found who does not hope at some 
 times, and for some things. 
 
 Hope is one among the most active of the 
 feelings of childhood and youth ; it is also 
 one of the most important, and one of which 
 great use may be made, in the work of educa- 
 tion, and to the training of which considerable 
 attention should be given. It is this which 
 prevents us from being overwhelmed by the 
 disappointments with which we meet ; and in 
 connexion with other faculties, enables us to 
 overcome the obstacles we have to encounter, 
 in climbing the rugged steeps of knowledge, to 
 which we are conducted. But while the sun- 
 shine of Hope renders, if not beautiful, yet 
 bearable, the desert we tread ; — while its influ- 
 ence is so powerful in stimulating us to attempt, 
 and we may say enabling us to achieve, the 
 conquest of difficulties, it is liable to numerous 
 errors : for it is but a feeling, and, as such, is 
 as blind, as the merest animal propensity. 
 Care must be taken that it never get loose from 
 the guidance of the understanding, or it will 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 231 
 
 lead to the most unfounded expectations ; and 
 thus sow the seeds of painful disappointments: 
 — it will lead us to forego substantial happiness, 
 in the vain attempt to grasp that which is 
 shadowy and unreal. Hope should be trained 
 in connexion with Eventuality : the child 
 should be informed largely of cases, both of 
 the disappointment of extravagant expectations, 
 and of the success of vigorous and wisely 
 directed efforts to conquer difficulty, and sur- 
 mount obstacles. He should be shown the 
 causes of failure, where failures have been made, 
 and the causes of success, where the results 
 have been favorable. By this means the 
 reflecting faculties are indirectly cultivated, in 
 connexion with the direct training of Hope ; 
 and moreover, the child learns, by definite 
 examples, what is meant by " wisely directed 
 efforts to acquire knowledge, &c." and what 
 by such efforts to overcome difficulties in the 
 way of attaining any proper object of pursuit. 
 
 The necessity for calling the Intellect of the 
 child to our aid, in the education of his Hope, 
 will be easily seen, if we look to the conse- 
 quences of either a deficiency or an excess of 
 
23% PHRENOLOGY 
 
 its activity : for Intellect will exert a powerful 
 influence, in either exciting or repressing its 
 activity, as may, in the particular case, be 
 necessary. If the organ of this faculty be 
 small, unhappiness is the consequence ; — the 
 individual is low-spirited ; discouraged by the 
 merest trifles ; magnifies real evils, and creates 
 imaginary ones ; cannot muster enterprise 
 sufficient to undertake anything in which 
 failure is possible ; can see nothing but the 
 shades of the picture of futurity. If his talents 
 are good, or even average, he will often 
 succeed better than he expects ; but yet, 
 especially if Self-Esteem be moderate, will 
 repeat, again and again, the same round of 
 despondencies and success. It is obvious that, 
 in such a case, the feeling is too weak, and 
 requires stimulus : and by no means can this 
 be more probably communicated, than by 
 repeated and varied exhibitions of facts, — 
 instances of successful effort, even under dis- 
 couraging circumstances ; and the most valua- 
 ble of all such instances will be those of his 
 own success. These, however, will need 
 repeating frequently ; — " line upon line, line 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 233 
 
 upon line ; precept upon precept, precept upon 
 precept ; — and the utmost patience must be 
 exercised by the parent, with a child thus 
 organized :• — let the attempt be persevered in, 
 and it will not wholly and finally fail : — " in 
 due season ye shall reap, if ye faint not." 
 
 Nor is the importance of the aid of Intellect 
 at all decreased, in cases the very reverse of 
 the above : but it exerts its influence on Hope, 
 not only directly, but indirectly also. Large 
 Hope will fill the future of the child's life with 
 the brightest visions ; and it will be impossible 
 to bedim them into the colors which belong to 
 really sober expectations. Difficult attainments, 
 and almost impossible ones, appear easy, and 
 hazardous ones certain : its subject will be 
 sanguine, cheerful, lively, buoyant ; — feeding 
 always on the future ; promising largely, and 
 intending and expecting to fulfil his promises. 
 Here, as before, Intellect must be addressed : 
 he must be taught that he cannot accomplish 
 everything ; because there is a limit to his 
 powers, which is easily reached : — he must be 
 made repeatedly, and perhaps severely, to feel 
 that there is such a limit, by being left, in some 
 19* 
 
234 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 difficult crises, to his own resources. Other 
 cases must be related to him, of disappoint- 
 ments following those who cherished even 
 reasonable expectations. He must be shown 
 that his character will suffer from the extrava- 
 gance of his hope ; and that he will often erect 
 monuments, before which his fellows will 
 pause ; and pointing to him, will say, " that 
 boy began to build, but was not able to finish, — 
 he has undertaken so many things, that he has 
 accomplished nothing." This will address 
 Approbativeness, through the Intellect ; and by 
 the probability of its being painfully affected, 
 will awaken Cautiousness — the invaluable and 
 indispensable associate of an excessive activity 
 of Hope. Through Intellect, Conscientiousness 
 may be addressed, also ; and the child may be 
 shown that though, intending and expecting to 
 fulfil his promises and engagements, he is 
 guiltless of falsehood, it is yet morally wrong 
 to excite confident expectations, which he is 
 not certain he can fulfil ; and (Intellect again 
 addressed) that in a world of so much uncer- 
 tainty, and where so little is subject to our 
 control ^ we can very rarely be certain of results, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 235 
 
 how fair soever may be the promise of them ; 
 and that, therefore, we should almost never 
 give absolute promises ; and never unless the 
 result depends only on ourselves. Benevolence 
 may be employed, also, through the Intellect, 
 in moderating the activity of Hope. The child 
 may be shown that disappointments inflict 
 pain, and that, therefore, by promising what he 
 does not, and cannot perform, he gives pain, 
 where, but for his promises, none would 
 have been experienced. We might enlarge 
 with ease, but these instances will be sufficient 
 to explain our meaning, when we say Intellect 
 and the higher Sentiments must be addressed 
 in the cultivation of the faculty of Hope. 
 
 IDEALITY. 
 
 The existence of the faculty which we 
 designate " Ideality," is not, we believe, any 
 where questioned, among civilized men: butitis 
 recognized under another name — " Imagina- 
 tion. " But what Metaphysicians call by the 
 latter name, is not exactly what Phrenologists 
 mean by " Ideality. " It is not a power of 
 
236 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 mental creation, but a sentiment ox feeling of 
 ideal perfection, beauty, finish, elegance, 
 which may belong to all the objects of the 
 external senses, and of the perceptive faculties; 
 and its function is to adorn and beautify all 
 such objects, and to refine and elevate all the 
 feelings of which man is rendered capable. 
 Without it man would have continued always 
 a savage ; he could hardly have advanced 
 even to the stage of Barbarism, and much less 
 to those of Civilization and Refinement. But 
 it exists in all men, to some extent ; and in all 
 it should receive appropriate education. In no 
 faculty do we perceive a greater difference, as to 
 the degree in which it exists, in different per- 
 sons ; and we uniformly find, other things 
 being equal, that in proportion to the cerebral 
 developement in the region of the organ, is 
 the mental manifestation of the faculty of 
 which that organ is the instrument. But, im- 
 portant as this feeling is, — indispensable as it 
 is, to the excitement of the other faculties to 
 action, on their appropriate objects, so as to 
 help and urge man forward to that perfection 
 of his Intellectual and Moral nature to which he 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 237 
 
 is destined, we must not forget that it i3 a 
 mere feeling ; and therefore must not be left 
 without guidance and control. It must be 
 placed under the guidance of Intellect ; and 
 subjected, in different individuals, to different 
 discipline ; sometimes requiring restraint, and 
 sometimes excitement ; according as it exists in 
 excessive, or in deficient devolopement. In 
 some children this faculty is quite feeble, and 
 requires to be excited : they are coarse, low, 
 vulgar, unrefined in their tastes, feelings, and 
 pursuits ; and this, notwithstanding perhaps, 
 they do not belong to the lowest walks in 
 society ; — nay, although they may be destined 
 to move in superior circles. Such children 
 will generally discover little taste for improve- 
 ment, advancement, politeness, and elegance. 
 "What is called " taste " you cannot enable 
 them to conceive of ; and of course, the cultiva- 
 tion of it in them is difficult and almost 
 impossible. Things as they are generally 
 satisfy them, and they rarely inquire how they 
 ought to be, nor how they may be improved. 
 The beautiful, in nature or art, has for them no 
 charms ; the flower, in the beauty, delicacy, 
 
238 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 and harmony of its tints, and in the exquisite- 
 ness of its structure, and the variety of its parts, 
 and the distinctness of their uses, has no beau- 
 ties, beyond those coarser and more obvious ones 
 of form and colour, and these are seen merely 
 in the gross. The beautiful varieties of hill 
 and vale, wood and waterfall, produce no more 
 emotion from their contemplation, than would 
 a desert of sand, or the waste and bitter waters 
 of the Dead Sea. The works of art either 
 please not at all ; or, if they do, it is not those in 
 the higher walks of it : — the Poetry of painting, 
 engraving, or sculpture, is never recognized. 
 Coarse and worthless prints are as highly 
 valued, as the most breathing creations of 
 Genius ; and poetic compositions are regarded 
 only as unnatural and out of the way modes, of 
 saying common things ; and its design is sup- 
 posed to be, that the writer may appear very 
 fine, and be very ridiculous. In such cases it 
 must be obvious that the faculty requires 
 cultivation ; — the proper stimulus must be 
 afforded to it ; and the question occurs, What 
 is that Stimulus ! We answer, the appropriate 
 objects of the faculty must be presented to it ; 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 239 
 
 and all things of an opposite character, as 
 much as possible, kept at a distance. Nothing 
 vulgar, coarse, groveling, must be allowed to 
 be said in the presence of such a child ; and his 
 associates must be chosen from those above, 
 rather than from those below him. Ignorant 
 and vulgar servants must, on no account, have 
 the charge of him ; especially if Imitation be 
 large and active : for on them, as models, he 
 will in that case, form himself. The beauties 
 of nature should be discovered for him, and 
 pointed out to him, and expatiated on before 
 him : and this frequently, for a long period. 
 Beauties of style and expression should 'be 
 remarked on, in his presence, and coarseness 
 of expression, and all inelegancies in an author 
 remarked, and censured. If possible, he 
 should see only good specimens of the fine 
 arts, in painting and engraving; and the beauties 
 of these should be carefully sought out for him, 
 and his attention directed to them. He should 
 be -encouraged to cultivate flowers, for their 
 beauty ; and because they are the Creator's 
 ornaments to the earth. By & patient continu- 
 ance in such a course ; beneficial results may 
 
240 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 be expected to follow ; but let the parents who 
 have the training of such a child, remember, 
 that it is only " if they faint not that they 
 shall reap :" and there is danger, with such a 
 soil to cultivate, that the work may be aban- 
 doned, as hopeless. It is not so : beneficial 
 results will succeed ; though it may be after 
 much toil ; and in small measure : "whatso- 
 ever a man sow, that shall he also reap." 
 There is encouragement arising from another 
 source, also : — viz : that there are very few 
 cases quite so trying as that which is above 
 supposed : it is an extreme case ; — such an 
 one as occurs not, in one case of a thousand ; 
 and in proportion as the case may be re- 
 moved from this, in its features of difficulty, 
 will the labor and hopelessness of education be 
 diminished. 
 
 But there are cases of the excessive activity 
 of this feeling ; and here, a different course of 
 treatment is necessary. In such children, 
 especially with active Marvellousness, the 
 reins will, probably, be given to rampant Fancy. 
 The mind will revel in scenes of fiction and 
 romance : for Poetry, there will be a passion, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 241 
 
 even though there may be little talent to make 
 it. Inanimate nature will be conceived of, 
 as possessing a sort of life and consciousness ; 
 of which all its varieties and changes will be 
 supposed to be the results : the seasons of the 
 year, day and night, echoes and winds, will be 
 personified by the imagination ; and all nature 
 crowded with the fabulous beings, to which the 
 fancy of Poets has given birth. Such children 
 can never be satisfied with things as they are : 
 they are too low, too coarse, too remote from 
 the perfection of which they conceive, and of 
 which the writers of fiction have told them : — 
 with real life they have scarcely any sympa- 
 thies ; they live in the region of Utopia. It 
 requires no words to prove, that the state of the 
 feeling under review is as far from desirable, as 
 is the former. Medium is what is most 
 desirable'; — it was in order to rise to this, that 
 in the case of the former extreme, we recom- 
 mended its cultivation by stimulus ; and that it 
 may descend to this, we, in the case of its too 
 great activity, recommend palliatives, and 
 anodynes. It is desirable to secure refinement 
 of feeling and expression, without sickly 
 20 
 
242 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 delicacy in either; or in anything else. In 
 order to promote this, let it be taken for granted, 
 that in cases like that above described, cultiva- 
 tion, in the sense of excitement, or calling into 
 activity the feeling, is entirely needless. It 
 will act sufficiently, even under all the restraints 
 which can be laid upon it, by a sound education. 
 The Intellect of the child must be instructed, 
 relative to the sober realities of the world he 
 inhabits ; and he must be taught, that sound 
 wisdom consists in enjoying what is within 
 reach, and aiming at what may be attained ; and 
 not in rejecting what he may enjoy, because it 
 is not invested with ideal perfection : nor in 
 sighing after what cannot be reached ; because, 
 it has no existence, except in his own concep- 
 tions. Show him that these conceptions will 
 be fruitful sources of sorrow, instead of enjoy- 
 ment, to him, unless they are placed under the 
 discipline of Intellect ; and that to its dictations 
 and restraints, they must be subject. If he 
 turns, with disgust, from things as they are, 
 strive to exercise his Ideality on its proper 
 objects, by showing him that earth is not the 
 desert that he conceives it to be : — that there 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 243 
 
 are thousands of forms of beauty, and tints of ♦ 
 loveliness, and strains of melody, which he 
 overlooks ; and that in real life, he can discover 
 love as pure, and friendship as disinterested 
 and self-sacrificing, as those of which Poets 
 sing, and Novelists dream : and, for instances, 
 point him to the dear circle of his own domestic 
 relations ; — a parent's tenderness, — a brother's 
 and a sister's love. From the reading of such 
 children, works of fiction should be, as much 
 as possible, excluded ; and the poetry they 
 read should be of the chaste, sober, character ; 
 not at all connected with the creations of 
 fancy ; but such, only, as invests things which 
 are, with beauty ; — which discovers and dis- 
 plays the beauties of Nature, and invests them 
 in the garb of morality and religion. Cowper, 
 Kirke White, Mrs. Hemans, and Mrs. 
 Sigourney are instances of such Poets as are of 
 useful tendency in such cases. 
 
 IMITATION. 
 
 It has been often remarked that man is an 
 imitative being. This was known long before 
 
244 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 t it was ascertained that there was a portion of 
 the brain whose function it is to impart the 
 power of imitating. In the young of our own 
 species, this faculty is exceedingly active ; and 
 it is necessary that it should be so, because 
 much, which it is the design of education to 
 teach, must be learned by means of it. It is 
 indeed rarely, and almost never, advisable to 
 exercise it alone, even if it were easily practi- 
 cable ; and those pursuits of childhood which 
 require the activity of Imitation, usually re- 
 quire it in connection with Constructiveness or 
 some other of the intellectual, or semi-intellect- 
 ual faculties. In the education of this faculty, 
 it is rarely necessary to present it with a 
 stimulus, or to excite it, for the reason already 
 assigned, — that in childhood it is, generally, 
 quite active : the principal effort of the parent 
 should be, to see that it is properly associated 
 with the activity of other faculties ; and under 
 the control of the Moral Sentiments. If it 
 should be active alone — free from the re- 
 straints of those Sentiments, and apart from 
 the illuminations of Intellect, the child would 
 be a mere monkey. If active in connection 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 245 
 
 with only Mirthfulness, he would be only a 
 Buffoon ; — if still further associated with 
 Secretiveness, and a measure of Intellect, a 
 Humourist ; if associated with Mirthfulness 
 and Intellect, and without Secretiveness, he 
 would be a Wit;if with Constructiveness, 
 and only a moderate developement of Intellect, 
 he would be a mere copyist, having no origi- 
 nal thoughts, and producing no original combi- 
 nations ; and so on, according as the faculties 
 varied, with which it might happen, in particu- 
 lar cases, to act. 
 
 So very extensive is the sphere of the 
 activity of Imitation, that were we to enlarge 
 on the several portions of it, and give directions 
 for its education, in all the combinations of 
 which it is capable, it would require a volume 
 of itself. Almost all the actions of life require 
 its exercise : it is by this faculty that we 
 learn, either to speak, or write ; our own lan- 
 guage, or any other; for, though we may be 
 acquainted with the words, by means of 
 another faculty, it is Imitation which enables 
 us to utter them, so as to render ourselves 
 intelligible. In writing, drawing, and indeed, 
 20 * 
 
246 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 all mechanical operations, a large and active 
 Imitation is necessary, to give facility and 
 effect. We shall confine ourselves to such 
 particulars as appear to be fraught with most 
 danger, from the activity of this faculty ; and 
 offer some suggestions, relative to the combina- 
 tions it is desirable to form, between its activi- 
 ty, and that of other faculties and feelings. 
 
 It is very apt to be active, in connection with 
 Mirthfulness ; — in this there is nothing wrong 
 in itself; but mischief is likely to result, if their 
 combined activity be unaccompanied by that 
 of Veneration : Seniors, Teachers, Parents, 
 and Superiors in general, will, in all probability 
 be imitated, in their peculiarities of tone, gesture, 
 pronunciation, gait, &c, the result of which 
 will be, that they will be disesteemed, and treat- 
 ed disrespectfully. If, in addition, Veneration 
 be moderate or small (and it is a rather defi- 
 cient organ, in the American head) what is 
 religious, in the office, character, or conversa- 
 tion of these superiors, will be chosen for 
 imitation, and exhibition to ridicule. In such 
 cases, the evil consequences can be easily fore- 
 seen, in the imitator, and in other children of 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 247 
 
 the family. The former can scarcely fail of 
 disesteeming what he ridicules ; and the difficul- 
 ty, always great, is increased, of leading him to 
 give that attention to religion, which is its due : 
 and the latter, since they witness the religion of 
 others subjected to ridicule, will probably, 
 regard it with increased aversion, and fear to 
 embrace it, even though convinced of its impor- 
 tance ; lest their Approbativeness should suffer 
 pain, from themselves being made the objects 
 of disrespectful merriment. 
 
 The combination of faculties under consid- 
 eration, if accompanied by small, or moderate 
 Benevolence, will need watching in another 
 point also : — there will be danger that the 
 aged, the infirm, and the unfortunate may be 
 selected as the objects of the activity of Imita- 
 tion ; and thus, that form of unkindness in- 
 dulged, which is commonly called "mocking." 
 To prevent this, is a much easier task than to 
 apply effectually, a remedy ; and hence the 
 importance of carefully watching, without 
 seeming to do so, a child thus organized ; 
 and adopting the requisite measures for preven- 
 tion. Intellect, in such a case, must be in- 
 
248 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 structed ; the child must be shown that it often 
 happens, in this life, that persons suffer through 
 the faults of others ; and that infirmity, some- 
 times, is the consequence, in an individual, of 
 misconduct, or ignorance, in his parents, or 
 grand-parents. Then, remind him that when 
 he suffers, in any way, he expects sympathy; 
 and that his expectation is reasonable, because 
 the proper object of compassion is misery. 
 Further, show him that he would specially 
 feel sympathy due to him, if he suffered where 
 no neglect, nor any fault, was chargeable upon 
 him; and also, that his feeling would be just. 
 Remind him, next, that others havfc the same 
 claims on him, that he would have on them, 
 in a change of condition ; and hence, that they 
 expect, and should receive from him, sympa- 
 thy under their sufferings ; that it is their due, 
 and that it is unjust and unkind to withhold it. 
 By this means, you will foreclose the activity 
 of Imitation and Mirthfulness, with relation to 
 the infirmities and misfortunes of others ; and 
 what is called " mocking" can scarcely take 
 place ; and certainly will not, without loud 
 remonstrances from Conscientiousness, and 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 249 
 
 Benevolence, enlightened and enforced by 
 (the illumination of) Intellect: and the enlist- 
 ment of these feelings in the right direction, 
 will be an important assistance in rectifying 
 the evil, should it ever take place. 
 
 It sometimes happens, that, in connection 
 with a large developement of the organ of this 
 faculty, there is also large Veneration, and 
 perhaps Marvellousness. In such cases the 
 feelings connected with religions subjects will 
 be strong ; and there is danger, in certain cases, 
 that the manifestations of religion will be 
 imitated ; while yet the child is a stranger to 
 the principle. This will be more than com- 
 monly likely, if either the developement of 
 the intellectual faculties be small, or moderate ; 
 or if they have not been properly cultivated. 
 Such a child will, probably, under the influence 
 of mere Imitation, read the scriptures, and at- 
 tend on public worship, and on that of the fam- 
 ily, and perhaps, if he knows his parents to do 
 so, may offer prayer in retirement. These 
 acts, under the influence of this feeling, he is 
 led to imitate : and his large Veneration im- 
 parts to him a sort of superstitious feeling of 
 
250 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 pleasure, in so doing. He has, perhaps, 
 small Secretiveness, and hence has no design to 
 act apart, and deceive others ; and if Conscien- 
 tiousness be large, he would abhor the charac- 
 ter of a hypocrite. But he may be deceived, 
 though he designs not to deceive; and it is to 
 prevent his self-deception, that the efforts of 
 those who train him should be directed. He 
 is, by supposition, sincere; but is mistaken; 
 and this very statement suggests the proper 
 mode of treatment, in the case of such a child. 
 He is mistaken : his mistakes then, must be 
 rectified. He supposes that praying, and 
 going to meeting, and reading the bible, con- 
 stitute religion : he sees his parents to practice 
 these, if pious, and supposes that, for him to 
 practice these, is to be pious also : and imag- 
 ines that when these are done, his duty to 
 God is performed. Inform him then, that 
 these are but external acts, which, in the truly 
 pious, result from internal principles : — that 
 God, the glorious object of worship, is a spirit, 
 and searches the hearts, or is acquainted 
 with the inmost dispositions, of the worship- 
 per ; and that when these are not such as 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 251 
 
 he approves, the substitution of the external 
 acts, for these dispositions, is offensive to 
 him : and so far from being the perform- 
 ance of all he requires, is not the performance 
 of any part of it ; but really increases the guilt 
 of him who supposes that he worships God 
 by these means. It is not intended that by 
 adopting this course, such a child will be 
 rendered truly pious; we know better than 
 this; but we do say, that, since religion is a 
 rational service, the intellect of its subject 
 should be engaged in it; and that, by such 
 means as are above pointed out, the intellect- 
 ual powers are so addressed, as has a tendency 
 to enlighten them; and we think that a child, 
 constituted as we have supposed, will, if thus 
 treated, be likely to become an intelligent 
 christian; or at least, will be unable longer to 
 continue the victim of self-deception. 
 
252 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 MIRTHFULNESS OR WIT. 
 
 The existence, in human nature, of this 
 faculty, will scarcely be questioned, unless by 
 some person, most unhappily endowed, with 
 only a very small portion of it. Such a person 
 may consider that it belongs not to the species, 
 and that all manifestations of its activity are the 
 results of mis-education, and instances of im- 
 pertinence. With such persons we have very 
 little argument ; we expect not to meet with 
 many such, in our passage through life ; and as 
 they are so inconsiderable a fraction of the 
 species, it will scarcely be expected that we 
 write for their benefit. But there is a larger 
 class, who require a respectful attention, and 
 shall receive it : — those who cannot but admit 
 that Mirthfulness is an element of our nature ; 
 and yet labor under the mis-apprehension that 
 it belongs to the sinful portion of our nature, 
 and should never be indulged ; but carefully 
 watched against, and repressed. A few words 
 will, perhaps, be sufficient to correct this mis- 
 apprehension. 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 253 
 
 It will scarcely be questioned that whatever are 
 the peculiarities in the constitution of human na- 
 ture, they have a legitimate sphere of develope- 
 ment and exercise; and, in that sphere, are in- 
 tended to be employed. For instance, Man is 
 the only reflecting being, among all the tribes of 
 animals to which our Creator has given exist- 
 ence upon earth : hence, the inference is valid, 
 that there is an appropriate sphere in which his 
 reflective powers are to act ; or, that his Maker 
 designed that he should reason and reflect. 
 Man is, also, the only moral being, among all 
 the inhabitants of earth ; the only one capable 
 of appreciating moral subjects, and feeling the 
 influence of motives to moral actions : hence 
 as before, the inference is sound, that his Maker 
 designed that he should be a moral agent, — a 
 religious being. In like manner, since among 
 all the tribes of sentient beings with which 
 we are acquainted, there is none, except man, 
 who is a laughing animal, — none but he, 
 capable of appreciating the ludicrous and incon- 
 gruous, — it was the design of his Maker, that 
 from these he should receive impressions, or 
 should be affected by them ; and as laughter is 
 21 
 
254 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 the natural and involuntary expression of a 
 sense of the incongruous or ridiculous, it was 
 designed that man should laugh, as well as that 
 he should reason. 
 
 The conscientious, but misguided, religionists 
 with whom we here have to do, in vain allege 
 that the Scriptures do not sanction laughter : — 
 it would be easy to show, if this were the place, 
 that they do recognize the existence of the 
 feeling, and that they address it too. It is 
 almost too glaring an instance of pitiful ignor- 
 ance to allude gravely to it, but it is justifiable, 
 because it is gravely alledged against the lawful- 
 ness of the act of laughter, " that we no where 
 read that our Redeemer ever was other than 
 grave, and that often he was sad ; — that we 
 have no evidence that his features ever relaxed 
 into a smile. " Perhaps we need make use of 
 no more words on this childish remark, than to 
 relate the observation of a child, about nine or 
 ten years of age, to her father, when she had 
 heard a minister, from the pulpit, make the 
 above remark : " Papa," said she, " I think 
 Jesus must have smiled, when he took the 
 little children in his arms, and blessed them." 
 
IN THE FAMrLY. 255 
 
 This remark of the child was more worthy of 
 the minister, than was his own ; and his was 
 less appropriate to himself, than it would have 
 been to the child, had she been three or four 
 years younger than she was. 
 
 We must distinguish between the use of a 
 faculty, and its perversion : our Eedeemer 
 never abused this faculty, nor any other of the 
 faculties of his human nature ; but this proves 
 not that he possessed not, or that he did not 
 exercise them. The danger lies in the excessive 
 activity, or in the uncontrolled activity of 
 the feeling ; not in that activity itself In 
 the case of certain children, there is danger 
 of one or other of these ; and the danger is 
 less or greater, in proportion as the directing 
 and controlling organs are more or less deve- 
 loped, and more or less perfectly cultivated. 
 The original impulse of a large and active 
 Mirthfulness is, to give ludicrous conceptions : 
 but of ivhat subjects, will depend on other 
 faculties, and their culture or restraint. With 
 small and uneducated Marvellousness and 
 Veneration, there will be danger that things 
 sacred will be thus treated : with large Marvel- 
 
256 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 lousness, and small Veneration ; it will more 
 probably be with sacred persons, than with 
 sacred things, that the child will sport : 
 Parents, Teachers, Superiors, will perhaps be 
 the butt of his ridicule. With small Benevo- 
 lence, he will, probably, turn to ridicule the 
 misfortunes, and infirmities of his fellow 
 creatures : and with small Conscientiousness, 
 the scrupulosity of others on matters of right, 
 and the principles of morals. In one word, 
 the combinations, and their degrees, may vary 
 almost endlessly ; and so will vary the manifes- 
 tations. 
 
 From the remarks in the foregoing paragraph, 
 a reflecting parent, will, at once, perceive, that 
 the excessive activity of the feeling must be 
 guarded against ; and a right direction must be 
 given to it. If large, it will act ; and we must 
 endeavour to do for it, from among the faculties, 
 as we do for our children, from among their 
 acquaintance, — select its associates. For in- 
 stance, some of the faculties are dangerous 
 associates for it; and we should strive, as far 
 as may be, to prevent their acting together. 
 This is the case with Imitation : and yet, from 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 257 
 
 its juxta-position in the brain, it is like a dan- 
 gerous companion for our child, who lives next 
 door ; they are specially liable to act in com- 
 bination; and we can scarcely keep them 
 asunder. Some again, are desirable com- 
 panions of its activity : such are Benevolence, 
 Veneration, and Conscientiousness. Under 
 their control we should strive to place it; in 
 connection, always, with an enlightened In- 
 tellect. Inform the child that while mirth is 
 permitted, in itself, there are certain subjects 
 on which it is not to be indulged : — that sacred 
 things, such as have a connexion with religion 
 and the future state, must never be so conceived 
 of, or at least so exhibited, as to produce 
 merriment. By this lesson, you cultivate 
 Veneration, and train it to control Mirthfulness ; 
 and you educate Mirthfulness to submit to the 
 control of Veneration. You do the same thing 
 precisely, and by the same means, when you 
 prohibit the activity of this feeling, (and 
 especially its association with Imitation, in 
 activity,) with regard to persons who should 
 command respect, Superiors, Teachers, Seni- 
 ors, <fec Thus also you may excite Benevo- 
 21* 
 
258 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 lence to lend its controlling influence, in 
 chastening Mirthfulness, by instructing Intellect 
 that it is unkind, and cruel, to turn to ridicule, 
 the infirmities of the unfortunate, — the blind, 
 lame, aged, &c. The same effect is produced 
 on Conscientiousness, when you inform your 
 child (i. e. instruct, or enlighten Intellect) that 
 every one has a right to all the enjoyment of 
 which he is capable, in obedience to all the 
 laws of his nature, and under all the circum- 
 stances of his being ; and that whenever, by 
 ridicule, he (the child) inflicts pain wantonly, 
 he does wrong; invades the rights of his 
 fellows : and that God regards him as guilty, in 
 so doing. 
 
 The proper, and innocent sphere of activity 
 should be pointed out to the child : he should be 
 informed that merriment is permissible, in cases 
 where it is excited by accidents, not in them- 
 selves serious, or painful ; by carelessness, 
 inattention, and negligence, and the consequen- 
 ces thence arising. Also, that there are instances 
 in which ignorance, self-conceit, and folly can 
 scarcely be assailed by the sober weapons of 
 reason, or the graver ones of religion ; which, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. t59 
 
 yet, may be reached and corrected, by means 
 of a keen and caustic wit : and therefore, 
 that this is another appropriate sphere of its 
 activity. Let him understand, however, that 
 it must never break loose from the restraints of 
 Benevolence : for, that the legitimate design of 
 wit, or ridicule, is, to correct the errors or follies 
 of its object, and not to inflict pain; so that, 
 when the end is answered, Benevolence requires 
 the cessation of the assault : and that this is 
 equally required, when amendment becomes 
 hopeless ; since, thence-forward, no object can 
 be secured by ridicule, but the infliction of pain : 
 and this alone, is never right. 
 
 CONSCIENTIOUSNESS, VENERATION AND 
 BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 It may, probably, have struck the attention 
 of the reader, that we have not, heretofore, 
 said anything of the direct education of the 
 higher Moral Sentiments ; or the religious 
 feelings. This has not been through over- 
 sight, but by design : for it is certain, to the 
 mind of the writer, that the direct and imme- 
 
260 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 diate appeal, or address to any feeling, (and 
 therefore to the religious ones) is highly im- 
 proper. Nor should the attempt be made to 
 address them alone ; but opportunities should 
 be sought, (and of these many will present 
 themselves,) for training these, together with 
 the other feelings, through the Intellectual 
 Faculties, or the Understanding. 
 
 The religious feelings, or the Higher Moral 
 Sentiments, are so intimately connected with 
 each other, that it is not so easy to offer any 
 suggestions, as to the training of them separate- 
 ly, or individually, as it is, in the case of the 
 other feelings : and the difficulty is the greater, 
 because all the three, mentioned above, come 
 into activity simultaneously, in nearly every 
 religious exercise. 
 
 It was mentioned, in a previous chapter, that 
 among the Moral Sentiments, the Edinburgh 
 Phrenologists distinguish between the higher 
 and the lower Sentiments ; and the three which 
 now come under consideration, constitute the 
 class which they denominate the higher Senti- 
 ments. There appears to be good reason for 
 this, in the very nature of the faculties them- 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 261 
 
 selves : we have called them religious senti- 
 ments ; not because their activity, to the 
 exclusion of the activity of other sentiments, 
 constitutes religious emotion ; but because there 
 is that in their nature, which corresponds, in 
 one striking particular, with the very essence 
 of religion itself: — viz : disinterestedness. In 
 a religious man, these faculties are in a readi- 
 ness for action : and they do operate, in every 
 truly religious act of the mind : but they do 
 not act alone; there are others, which, in 
 various degrees, in different individuals, com- 
 bine with them : but it is only contingently, and 
 not essentially, that they are religious, when so 
 combined. These three are the only unselfish 
 faculties in our nature ; and hence, as religion is 
 an unselfish principle, we perceive the truth of 
 the statement, that their activity enters essential- 
 ly into all religious emotion. Conscientiousness 
 regards abstract right, and duty, irrespective of 
 its bearings, on ourselves or on others. Venera- 
 tion leads to the exercise, by us, of respect, rever- 
 ence, or worship, to other beings, and cannot 
 be selfish in its nature. Benevolence is kindly 
 feeling towards others, and may assume various 
 
262 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 forms, as gratitude, compassion, love, &c, but, 
 in no case is its object self. 
 
 It is otherwise with those feelings which 
 enter accidentally, or contingently, into our 
 religious emotions : they are selfish in their 
 nature, even though they may be truly under 
 the control of the higher Sentiments. For 
 example, Fear is an element in our religious 
 emotions ; but fear is excited Cautiousness, 
 which, when it acts with respect to religion, 
 bids us take care of the highest interests of 
 self The desire of final approval by the Judge 
 of all, enters largely into our religious emotions ; 
 but this is onlyApprobativeness, lawfully active 
 to secure for self the applauding " well done." 
 Marvellousness, the faculty by which we exer- 
 cise faith, puts forth its energies relative to 
 revealed truths in which self is concerned. 
 Hope looks for some greater good beyond the 
 grave, than has, here, ever been experienced ; 
 but it is a good to be possessed by self In 
 short, it is so wiih every faculty we possess, 
 except the three we have here classed together, 
 and they are essentially religious Sentiments. 
 
 But though it is with these that we have 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 263 
 
 especially to do, in the religious education of 
 children, let it not, for a moment, be supposed 
 that we have to do exclusively with these. In 
 the business of religious education, these should 
 be addressed ; but they should rarely, and 
 indeed scarcely ever be addressed alone : but 
 always through the Intellectual faculties ; — the 
 understanding. But this is very far from being 
 the usual mode of teaching religion to children. 
 On the contrary, a course is adopted which is 
 not only injudicious ; but, if it may be said 
 without offence, is positively absurd: — exhibi- 
 tions are made both of religion and of God, 
 which can scarcely be productive of any other 
 effects, than a rooted aversion to both; — teachers 
 and parents "sow cockle, and expect to reap bar- 
 ley." But it cannot be so : — it is admitted that 
 they have no such designs, or wishes ; they de- 
 sire and intend the very reverse : but there are 
 certain tendencies in the course they adopt, 
 which their good intentions will not reverse. 
 The human mind has received from its Creator 
 a certain nature and constitution ; and according 
 to this, it will be affected in a certain way, by 
 certain modes of treatment; and if certain 
 
264 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 courses have a tendency to produce injury and 
 mischief, the purest motives, and the best 
 intentions, joined to the most fervent prayers 
 will not prevent it, or effect its opposite. 
 
 Probably every'one will readily acknowledge 
 that real religion consists in supreme love to 
 God, and such a course of conduct as will 
 arise from that single source. In the religious 
 education of a child, then, the great object con- 
 templated by a parent, is, to inspire such a 
 love to Him. It is love which produces love, 
 according to a common adage ; or, more pro- 
 perly, it is loveliness which produces it. Ac- 
 cordingly, the loveliness of the divine character 
 should be brought before the child, in order to 
 awaken his affection. But is this the actual 
 course, in the religious training of a child? 
 Very far from it. Instead of this, it is usual to 
 make such displays of the character of God as 
 are calculated to excite scarcely any feelings 
 but those of terror and alarm : i. e. in the 
 attempt to inspire love to God, in the bosom 
 of a child, and with the intention too, that such 
 shall be the result, measures are actually taken, 
 the most naturally adapted to prevent that 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 265 
 
 result, and produce exactly the opposite one. 
 We can, it is true, account satisfactorily to 
 ourselves, for the adoption of this mode of 
 procedure ; but this does neither annihilate the 
 evil, nor lessen it : and we should feel little 
 inclination to unravel the philosophy of so 
 imphilosophical a course, were it not for the 
 hope that the exhibition of the evil may have a 
 tendency to diminish it. 
 
 Pious parents and teachers desire for their 
 children and pupils, above all things, that they 
 should become the subjects of real religion. 
 They consider, too, that, since religion is 
 nothing, unless it has the dominion in the soul, 
 they must labour to invest it with the domin- 
 ion : and accordingly, that they must address 
 the most powerful feelings of the child, and en- 
 list them on the side of religion and of God, in 
 order to accomplish this object. Now, they 
 are conscious that one of the most powerful 
 feelings, in themselves, is fear, i. e. excited 
 Cautiousness ; and also, that it is when they 
 make appeals to the same feeling in their 
 children, (i. e. when they threaten to punish 
 them) that they are most successful in securing 
 22 
 
266 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 obedience to their own commands ; therefore, 
 as they think religion to consist in obedience 
 to God, they conclude that obedience to Him 
 will be most effectually secured by an appeal 
 to the same feeling, as produces obedience to 
 them. Hence they make very early, and per- 
 haps some of their very earliest and strongest 
 appeals to Cautiousness ; and exhibit to their 
 children, almost wholly, those attributes, and 
 those acts, of the Creator, which shall awaken 
 their fears : — viz : his terrors ; — the "fire and 
 brimstone, and horrible tempest " of the world 
 of despair, &c. &c. If 
 
 — u Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood 
 Of human sacrifice, and parent's tears, " 
 
 were the God of Christians, a course of con- 
 duct like that above described would be perfect- 
 ly rational, in the religious education of their 
 children, but as the case really is, it is impossi- 
 ble to conceive of any mode of training called 
 religious, which is less deserving of the 
 name. 
 
 The errors in this case are several ; and as 
 it is not to be expected that they will be 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 267 
 
 remedied till they are known, nor that they 
 will be known, till they are pointed out, we 
 shall take the liberty of specifying at least 
 some of them. 
 
 First. Evidence is sufficient in the above 
 expose of the rationale of religious education, 
 as actually conducted, that the training of 
 children is, in other respects than those which 
 regard religion, very far from what it should 
 be ; and more than this, that the training of 
 the past generation was not more in accord- 
 ance with nature, than is that of the present. 
 
 Parents and teachers would not be conscious 
 of the commanding and supreme power of 
 Fear, as a motive to proper conduct, if they 
 had themselves been properly trained. Had 
 the proper direction been given, in their case, 
 to the activity of Adhesiveness and Veneration, 
 these united, would have assumed the suprema- 
 cy, and would not have yielded it to a merely 
 animal feeling. Affection (the activity of Adhe- 
 siveness) and respect, (the activity of Venera- 
 tion) would have taken the government of 
 the mind; and fear (the activity of excited 
 Cautiousness) would have possessed only a 
 
268 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 subordinate power there. But the conduct of 
 the miseducated parent, in subjecting his child 
 to a discipline similar to that through which he 
 himself passed, has a direct tendency to per- 
 petuate the evil through successive generations: 
 unless indeed, a stop may happily be put to it. 
 A little reflection will perhaps do something 
 towards altering and reversing the treatment. 
 Let it be remembered then, that the present 
 mode of educating a child, by giving the supreme 
 command to Cautiousness, is degrading to his 
 nature ; — it is treating him precisely as we do 
 a brute. This may seem startling ; but it is 
 nevertheless true :— a dog is trained to do or 
 not to do certain things, by punishment, if he 
 act contrary to his master's will. Now there 
 is good sense, — sound philosophy — in thus 
 treating a dog, or any of the lower animals ; be- 
 cause they do not possess intelligence, sufficient 
 to enable them to understand our will, expressed 
 by other means. But children belong to a 
 higher order of animals, and even when very 
 young, possess a degree of understanding far 
 greater than the lower creatures are ever capa- 
 ble of attaining. But to treat them as those 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 269 
 
 creatures are treated, is to affirm by action, (the 
 most forcible form of affirmation,) that children 
 and^ brutes are on a level : for where is the 
 wisdom of subjecting to the same treatment 
 and training, beings of different capacities and 
 grades of dignity ? Should any one take the 
 liberty of. declaring, in words, that our children 
 were on a level in intelligence and capacity 
 with the brutes, we should be highly and justly 
 offended ; let us then be consistent, and take 
 offence at ourselves, for a louder and more 
 forcible assertion of the same untruth, if we 
 have trained, and are training them as brutes, 
 by ruling them, either altogether or principally, 
 by means of fear. But this is somewhat of a 
 departure from the immediate matter in ha'nd : 
 Let us, then, without further remark, return 
 to it. 
 
 Secondly. In the mode of religious educa- 
 tion we have remarked on, the fact is not 
 adverted to, that Cautiousness is a mere 
 animal feeling ; and that to make that the 
 dominant feeling, is, in fact, to place the child 
 under the dominion of his baser, instead of his 
 nobler (his Intellectual and Moral) Nature. It 
 22* 
 
270 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 is to subvert the principles of our nature, and 
 to contravene the precepts of divine revelation. 
 It subverts the principles of our nature, for as 
 we have already shown, Benevolence, Venera- 
 tion and Conscientiousness, are the highest prin- 
 ciples or faculties of our nature ; and as such, 
 must evidently be designed by our Maker to take 
 the control or command of all the rest. His 
 design is plainly contravened, when, not only 
 these are put down from the dominion, but one 
 ( viz : Cautiousness) which was designed for 
 a servant, is exalted to the throne. It is as 
 true, in the case of an individual, with respect 
 to the subversion of order, harmony, and virtue, 
 in the soul, by such an usurpation, as that un- 
 der discussion, as it is of a State, under the 
 control of an unqualified and unworthy magis- 
 trate : — "The wicked walk on every side, when 
 the vilest men are exalted." Moreover, such 
 an usurpation is in opposition to the revealed 
 will of God :— We have shown his will on 
 this subject, in a former page, and we repeat it 
 here : — the whole amount of human duty, — 
 " all that the Lord requires of us, is to do just- 
 ly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 271 
 
 our God :" i. e. to let Conscientiousness, and 
 Benevolence, and Veneration, possess the su- 
 preme command of the whole man. Now, in 
 the religious education of children, as actually 
 conducted, not only is this not done, but these 
 noble and ennobling faculties are overborne, 
 and almost lost, by the terrible energy given to 
 the animal feeling of Cautiousness : in one 
 w T ord, Religion is made to consist in nothing, 
 or scarcely anything else than the servile dread 
 of Hell, and eternal torments, and the selfish 
 desire to escape them. 
 
 Thirdly. It is practically forgotten that God 
 is a Spirit ; and that he looks for, and will 
 receive the homage of the spirit in his servants, 
 and nothing short of this. Obedience to 
 a parent may consist in a course of external 
 conduct ; because the commands of a parent 
 may relate only to external acts. Obedience 
 such as this, may be secured by a constant ap- 
 peal to Cautiou^e^: — by the threats of 
 punishment for disobedience. But even a 
 parent, who rules by the force of this motive, 
 must not suppose that he is loved, or revered ; 
 nor that he receives voluntary obedience from 
 
272 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 his child. The parent is obeyed because 
 he is dreaded^ not because he is loved : and 
 the obedience the child renders, is forced, 
 and not free. Obedience such as this parent 
 receives, — external, forced, and servile — may 
 be secured to God, by the same means : but 
 where is the intelligent christian who supposes 
 that such obedience is religion; or that it can 
 possibly be acceptable to Him, who is the 
 Searcher of hearts ; and whose single glance 
 informs him that the soul of the worshipper is 
 alien from. Him. These appeals to Cautious- 
 ness have, indeed, produced, and they have a 
 tendency to produce, "the fear of the Lord," 
 that is the dread, and almost the horror of the 
 Divine Being : but of the child subjected to 
 such a species of religious education, we may 
 say, without any gift for the discerning of spi- 
 rits, that " the love of God is not in them." 
 And this introduces to notice another error in 
 this treatment, viz : 
 
 Fourthly. It overlooks the fundamental 
 principle, that real religion is love to God. 
 Now this emotion towards our Maker is called 
 into exercise by amiable exhibitions of his 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 273 
 
 character, and not by those which are terrible. 
 It is the goodfiess of God which effectually 
 leads men to repentance ; and it is exactly the 
 same with children. If we love him, it is 
 from a conviction that "he first loved us." 
 This is the true reason why the preaching 
 of the cross of Christ is so potent an instrument 
 in producing repentance, and inspiring love to 
 God ; because that, more than all things else, 
 proves "the exceeding riches of his grace:" 
 — it shows " his kindness towards us by 
 Christ Jesus," more than that kindness is dis- 
 played by any other of his acts or gifts. But 
 appeals to Cautiousness, not only do not, and 
 can not, produce these results, but they actual- 
 ly do produce such as render these almost 
 impossible : the mental vision of the child is 
 so filled with images of terror, that there is no 
 room for the introduction of others of an oppo- 
 site character ; and the cross of Christ, itself, 
 possesses not sufficient effulgence to dispel the 
 smoke of the bottomless pit by which it is 
 concealed. 
 
 There are errors, also, in the moral training 
 of children, with regard to their feelings towards 
 
274 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 religion itself. The religious training (so called) 
 which they receive, excites a strong prejudice, 
 against both religion and its duties. Among 
 other means to which these results are attribu- 
 table, may be mentioned the following. Reli- 
 gious parents, of course, are actuated by the 
 best and purest motives, in desiring to implant 
 religion, at an early age, in the minds of their 
 children ; and, under the influence of these 
 motives, they take measures to form in their 
 tender charge, habits of devotion. Accordingly 
 they occasionally, and perhaps frequently, retire 
 with their children, and pray with them. So 
 far there is nothing wrong; — nothing, the results 
 of which will probably be injurious : and yet 
 where such a practice prevails, it is not at all 
 uncommon to find it unsuccessful. The child 
 may perhaps, in his simplicity and confidence, 
 plainly confess to his mother, — and almost 
 break her heart by the confession, — " that he 
 does not love prayer." But let us pause and 
 inquire what he understands by " prayer :" 
 perhaps an answer to this inquiry may so ex- 
 plain his meaning, as to render it by no means 
 so wicked as, at first sight, it appears. Per- 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 275 
 
 haps he has had his mind filled with terrible 
 images of the Divine character ; — and when he 
 is told that prayer is intercourse with this 
 terrible Being, can we wonder that he does not 
 love it ? Be it remembered, that such a child 
 has scarcely any other conceptions of God, 
 than such as are precisely calculated to terrify 
 him : and yet we wonder, and are broken 
 hearted, because the poor little fellow does not 
 love to be terrified! Is this wise? 
 
 Again : Perhaps the mother or father of 
 such a child, though pious, and perhaps on 
 many other subjects, intelligent, may be really 
 ignorant of the nature of the material on which 
 they are required to operate : and hence, as 
 might be expected, do not act in accordance 
 with its nature. Parents, in this case, may 
 not know, or they may forget, that activity is 
 indispensable to a child's enjoyment; and 
 consequently, that stillness or inaction, can be 
 commanded only for short periods, without 
 producing uneasiness and restlessness : and 
 through this forgetfulness, may lengthen the 
 devotional duty with the child, to the point 
 where weariness begins ; and perhaps even 
 
276 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 much beyond it ; This he certainly does not 
 like ; and he associates confinement and inac- 
 tion with prayer, and says and thinks that he 
 does not love prayer. 
 
 Again, the mother may in her closet, close 
 not only her door, but perhaps her windows 
 and shutters also. The -consequence of this 
 is Darkness : now almost all children dislike 
 darkness ; and some positively dread, and are 
 terrified at it. Suppose, now, a child with 
 large amd morbidly active Cautiousness, and 
 perhaps Marvellousness also, to have been so 
 trained and educated, with regard to the charac- 
 ter of God, as to see only the terrible, which 
 belongs to him : — suppose such a child with- 
 drawn to a dark chamber to worship this 
 dreadful object ; how can it be expected that 
 the duty should be pleasant to him ? He says 
 he does not like prayer ; but we can see that 
 it is solitude, confinement, and darkness that 
 he dislikes and dreads. 
 
 Once more, possibly, in addition to all the 
 preceding sources of uneasiness to the child, 
 the voice of the mother may be dissimilar, in 
 prayer, from her voice at other times ; — it may 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 277 
 
 be hollow, and sepulchral, or it may be employ- 
 ed in semitones (i. e. a sort of half weeping 
 tone) from one end to another of a long pray- 
 er ; and thus, to the affectionate child, is pre- 
 sented the distressing object, of a beloved 
 mother in distress. It was precisely thus with 
 a child who expressed his dislike, to prayer, 
 and assigned as a reason, that " it always 
 makes dear Mamma so sorry." Now let us be 
 understood : we have distinctly said that 
 retirement with children for prayer is not 
 censurable : it is the subsequent acts of shutting 
 out the light, and uttering prayer in the tones 
 of distress, and continuing the duty till the 
 child's position becomes uneasy ; — it is these 
 things which merit censure. Prayer, with 
 children, especially when very young, should 
 always be short; — should be uttered in a 
 serious and yet perfectly natural tone of voice ; 
 not differing more from that of common speech, 
 than reading does ; — and it should be perform- 
 ed in a light room. Moreover, the appropriate 
 preparation for it is, judicious education of the 
 child, relative to the character of the being- 
 whom we worship, when we pray. Not only 
 23 
 
278 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 should he be instructed as to the power, and 
 vengeance of God ; but as to his wisdom, and 
 goodness, and mercy : thus Ideality, and 
 Benevolence, and Hope will be exercised ; and 
 exhibit their activity in admiration, and grati- 
 tude, and trust. 
 
 In the endeavour to inspire the mind of a child 
 with love to God, we should proceed, substan- 
 tially, as we do when we endeavour to secure 
 his love towards ourselves. How is this done? 
 Not by incessant appeals to Cautiousness, for 
 the purpose of inspiring dread : nor by any 
 addresses to the mere animal nature of the 
 child. We address his nobler nature, through 
 the medium of Intellect; we present, almost 
 exclusively, the bland and gentle in our nature, 
 to his observation ; and allow him, by reflec- 
 tion, to learn that we cherish kind and affec- 
 tionate feelings towards him ; and it is the 
 conviction of this, which draws forth his 
 affection and confidence towards us. What 
 mother ever won, for her husband, the affection 
 of his boy, by telling him that " Papa was so 
 strong that he could do anything he pleased with 
 his little son : that he had a large, sharp sword, 
 
IN THE FAMILY, 279 
 
 with which he could cut his head off; and that 
 Mama was not strong enough to prevent him ; 
 that Papa had really cut off the heads of a great 
 many children, because they did not love him ; 
 and if the child did not love hi* dear Papa, he 
 would certainly cut him up into mince meat?" 
 The very idea is preposterous ! No : she 
 pursues another and an opposite course : she 
 even divests the father of some of the sterner 
 elements of his character ; because the child is 
 incapable of understanding the value of those 
 elements ; she displays those only which her 
 little pupil can understand ; and which tend to 
 excite Adhesiveness, Veneration, and Benevo- 
 lence : she expatiates on the expense, and 
 anxiety, and labor, and self-denial to which the 
 father subjects himself, for the benefit of his 
 family, and thus proves to the child that his 
 father loves him : and thus inspires his love 
 and confidence. There is very much of Nature, 
 in that stroke of the father of Grecian Poetry, 
 in which he describes Hector as laying aside 
 his helmet, when taking leave of Andromache 
 and her child. It was the father and not the 
 warrior whom the babe was to see, and to em- 
 
280 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 brace. So, when parents would draw forth 
 the love of their children towards God, as the 
 young mind can but very imperfectly compre- 
 hend the bearing of the awful attributes of 
 Deity, on his own glory and the good of his 
 creatures, these attributes should be but very 
 sparingly exhibited. We should rather direct 
 our efforts to the proof of this truth : — that 
 God loves children ; and when this is clearly 
 perceived, and strongly felt by them, they will 
 feel the enkindlings of ingenuous, confiding, 
 repentant love towards him. If we desire, in 
 a given case, that children should love U6, we 
 do not approach them brandishing a sword, and 
 looking lightning at them : and the reason is, 
 that there is nothing in an exhibition of rage 
 and wrath to inspire confidence, and enkindle 
 love. Who ever felt emotions like these, in 
 reading Walter Scott's graphic description of 
 Cormac Doyle's vengeance, on the assassin of 
 Allan, his favorite page ? 
 
 " Not so awoke the Bruce ! — his hand 
 Snatch'd from the flame a knotted brand, 
 The nearest weapon of his wrath ; 
 With this he crossed the murderer's path, 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 28 1 
 
 And venged young Allan well ! 
 The spattered brain, and bubbling blood 
 Hissed on the half-extinguished wood ,• 
 The miscreant gasped and fell." 
 
 And yet it is common to present to children, 
 views of God, kindred to this, in order to 
 inspire religion, i. e. love to God! If we desire 
 children to love us, we approach them with 
 smiles and pleasant looks ; and present to 
 them the proof s of our good-will; and we are 
 rarely unsuccessful in seeking their love. Now 
 we must make analogous displays of God, to 
 them, if we would win for him, their affec- 
 tions. But to do this successfully, we must 
 ourselves learn to see and feel the Divine 
 goodness ; and to teach it from our own per- 
 sonal knowledge. There is no lack of materials 
 for almost endless lectures on the goodness of 
 God : creation is full of them. Animals and 
 vegetables, in their boundless variety, and 
 various uses, and numerous parts, and the 
 separate functions of each, and their adapted- 
 ness to the end for which they were intended, 
 and their subjection to man for his happiness, — 
 these are some of the themes on which we might 
 23* 
 
282 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 enlarge. As a specimen of the manner in 
 which some of these subjects may be presented 
 to children, and made the medium of imparting 
 religious instruction, we will present a short, 
 familiar, conversational lecture, and it can be 
 repeated substantially, and varied endlessly, by 
 any parent of only common intelligence and 
 reflection. 
 
 Suppose a good and powerful Microscope to 
 be in use, for the amusement and instruction of 
 the children of a family, and that fig-mites are 
 •exhibited before them. The first emotion 
 which pervades their minds will probably be 
 surprise ; — an inconsiderable degree of the 
 activity of Wonder or Marvellousness ; — 
 and if the youthful auditory were left to them- 
 selves, they would probably wonder, and pro- 
 ceed no farther. But a judicious parent will 
 see that excited Wonder is an instrument of 
 which he can make important use in the moral 
 training of his children ; and avails himself of 
 the occasion to employ it. To insure its 
 activity in his children, he expatiates briefly 
 on the object before them, pointing out, in the 
 various parts of the object, the evidences of the 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 283 
 
 wisdom and skill of the Creator. He directs 
 the attention of his hearers to the various parts 
 of the animal structure before him ; and 
 remarks on the exquisite polish of the fig-mite's 
 armour, the fineness of its bristles, the minute- 
 ness of its eyes, and of the several parts of its 
 internal laboratory for the digestion of its food ^ 
 — its adaption to its mode of life, and the 
 abundance of the stores around it, for the sup- 
 ply of all its wants. When the Observing Intel- 
 lect has been awakened to the perception of these 
 things, such a parent will exercise the Reflec- 
 tive Intellect, by turning it to operate on these 
 objects of knowledge ; accordingly, he asks, 
 Who made the fig-mite ? Some little one 
 answers, " God made it : he made everything." 
 
 He asks again, " What kind of a being 
 must God be, to combine so great a multitude 
 of parts in so very small a space, as the body 
 of a fig-mite ?" 
 
 " 1 should think," says one child, " he must 
 be very wise.' 31 
 
 " I should say he was very powerful '," says 
 •another. 
 
 u But," says the parent, " do you not per- 
 
284 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 ceive more to belong to the Creator than 
 wisdom and power, when you think on the 
 adaptation of the fig-mite to its mode of life ; 
 and the abundance by which he is surrounded, 
 for the supply of all his wants ?" 
 
 " That proves his goodness" says another 
 of the children. " It does," replies the 
 parent ;" and good men, many ages before the 
 Microscope was invented, perceived and extolled 
 the wisdom of God, in the works of Creation : 
 David says, in contemplating them, " How 
 great is thy goodness !" and again, " His tender 
 mercy, (or his kindness, compassion, and be- 
 nevolence) is over all his works." And if his 
 goodness has regard to all his works, it has 
 special regard to man, to whom he has put in 
 subjection all his other works. How very 
 ungrateful and wicked it must be, to offend 
 and disobey so good and kind a Being ! And 
 how dangerous to provoke so powerful a 
 Being ! And how reasonable, when we have 
 offended him, that we should be sorry for our 
 offences, and repent ! When you offend me, 
 I am sure you are always sorry for it : can you 
 tell me why you are sorry ?" 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 285 
 
 44 Because," replies one child, " we know 
 that you love us, and are kind to us, and provide 
 so many things to make us happy." 
 
 44 You are quite correct ; but now, observe, 
 God has done much more for you than ever I 
 have done, or ever can do for you : and since 
 it is reasonable that you should be sorry for 
 offending me, it is much more reasonable that 
 you should be so for offending Him : — impeni- 
 tence and irreligion, remember, are unreason- 
 able. And if you are truly sorry for your sins 
 against God, he will forgive them all ; and that, 
 even more readily than I forgive any offence 
 against me : though you know I am always 
 glad to forgive you as soon as I see you are 
 sorry for, or have repented of a fault. For 
 God has said in the Bible, that He delight eth 
 in mercy ;" i. e. in forgiving those who are 
 sorry for their sins. And we are sure that he 
 is so : not only from what He has said, but 
 from what He has done. Men's real dispositions 
 are most correctly judged of by their actions ; 
 and so are the dispositions of God: his acts 
 prove the truth of his words. He has done 
 what clearly proves, how he 'delights In 
 
286 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 mercy ;' — he has given his dear Son to die on 
 the cross, in order that those who have offended 
 him, and are sorry for their sins, might be for- 
 given ! Here, then, you see goodness, not as 
 it appears in supplying, abundantly, the wants 
 of the lower creatures ; but goodness which is 
 really boundless and infinite ; and your love to 
 God should be proportionate to it. You ad- 
 mire the wisdom, and power, and goodness of 
 God, as displayed in the fig-mites before you ; 
 and there are millions of other things, in which 
 the same perfections of his glorious nature 
 appear. But when we look at redemption we 
 see that 
 
 " God, in the person of his Son, 
 
 Has all his mightiest works out-done." 
 
 Let His will, then, be the rule of your life; and 
 his glory the object at which you aim ; " serve 
 Him, with a perfect heart, and with a willing 
 mind: if you seek him, he will be found of 
 you ; but if you forsake him, he will cast you 
 off for ever." 
 
 It will be seen, that, in the above supposed 
 attempt to educate the moral feelings, the 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 287 
 
 observing intellect is first presented with its 
 appropriate objects ; next the reflecting intel- 
 lect is made to operate on these objects, and 
 to deduce inferences : thus the whole intellect 
 is presented with its appropriate aliment, truth. 
 But the truth presented is not such as is calcu- 
 lated to alarm the fears of the children ; — to 
 excite their Cautiousness to unhealthful activity: 
 it is such as excites Wonder, Veneration, and 
 Benevolence. And it may be further observed, 
 that this excitement is sustained and increased, 
 by passing from material, to moral subjects ; 
 and then and there presenting moral truth, 
 which tends and is designed, to give such 
 energy to the activity of the child's moral 
 nature, as should render it dominant in the 
 soul. It is, in fact, the dominance of the 
 mora!, over the animal feelings, in the human 
 subject, which constitutes his conversion, re- 
 generation, or renovation ; and it is truly 
 philosophical to adopt such measures to secure 
 this object, as are, in their own nature, adapt- 
 ed to secure it. Such are the measures above 
 sketched out ; and they are such as are equally 
 in accordance with common sense, and with 
 
288 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 inspired truth. It is well known to the writer, 
 and he deeply feels it, that success, in the 
 moral and religious training of children, is of 
 God, and not of us: but he is equally confident 
 that God operates on mind, in religious matters, 
 according to the laws of mind : and he is free 
 to make the appeal , to any reflecting and con- 
 siderate christian, who may honor these pages 
 with a perusal, whether the training, of which 
 he has here presented a mere sample, is not 
 more in accordance with the laws of mind, than 
 those which he has ventured to censure. 
 
 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 
 
 We have now finished the task we proposed 
 to ourselves, of affording some hints on the 
 education, in the early periods of life, of human 
 nature, as it is. No element has been con- 
 sidered as belonging to our nature, w T hich an 
 observant and reflecting parent will fail to 
 recognize in the children of his own family. 
 The elements which enter into the composition 
 of that nature, have been separately considered ; 
 at least so far as concerns the Feelings, animal 
 and moral, which belong to it : and in early 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 289 
 
 education, it is with these, principally, that we 
 have to do : and we have endeavoured to show 
 what kind of treatment each required ; whether 
 separately active, or acting in combination with 
 one or more of the others. It is true, a very 
 brief and imperfect sketch has been given, both 
 of the functions of the several organs, and of 
 the treatment which the manifestations of their 
 activity should receive ; but the design of the 
 writer was rather to call attention to this sub- 
 ject, and excite inquiry, than to present a full, 
 and extended treatise on Education. If he shall 
 accomplish the object he intended, he is assured 
 that the result will be beneficial. 
 
 If the foregoing pages exhibit the education 
 of the Feelings in any thing like a correct point 
 of view, it must follow that some knowledge 
 of the science of Phrenology is highly impor- 
 tant to all parents ; and especially to Mothers ; 
 because to them is committed the greater part 
 of the education of children ; while they are 
 the subjects of feeling, rather than of intelli- 
 gence and reasoning. The elements we have 
 ascribed to the nature of children, vary almost 
 endlessly, in the degrees in which they exist 
 24 
 
290 PHRENOLOGY 
 
 in different individuals : and to train them 
 aright, it is important to know, before we 
 begin, not only what the elements are, but in 
 what relative proportions they exist in the 
 minds of the pupils. If we have not this 
 knowledge at first, but wait to acquire it, till 
 the children manifest both ihe existence and 
 the degrees of these feelings, we shall lose time 
 in experimenting upon them ; and perhaps those 
 feelings which are feeble and require strength- 
 ening, may be finally overpowered by such as 
 are too strong : while these last will have 
 increased their power, by the very experiment 
 itself, which was intended to ascertain the 
 degree of power, in order to bring them under 
 discipline. 
 
 It is not likely that, in a matter so important 
 as the early training of children, our beneficent 
 Creator would have left us without the means 
 of knowledge. He has, in fact, imparted to us 
 observing faculties, in order that, by their means, 
 we might ascertain, what after the lapse of 
 almost six thousand years, Dr. Gall did ascer- 
 tain: viz: that the size and shape of the head, 
 in its several regions, afford an index to the 
 
IN THE FAMILY. 291 
 
 degree in which the several elementary princi- 
 ples of human nature are combined, in any- 
 single case ; so that, in our intercourse with the 
 individual, we may adapt ourselves to the 
 peculiarities he may present ; and operate oa 
 him to the greatest advantage. 
 
 Now it is in childhood, early childhood, 
 and even infancy, that we can operate most 
 advantageously : the material is then most 
 plastic, and most readily takes impressions, 
 and most tenaciously retains them. Of course, 
 then, it is important to those who are destined 
 to give these impressions, and are most 
 interested in giving, and most concerned to 
 give, right impressions, (i. e. to mothers,) to 
 understand, from the first, in what relative 
 proportions the elementary principles of human 
 nature are combined in their own children ; that 
 • they may not err in their treatment of them. 
 This information Phrenology will impart to 
 them : and, on this account, it is, we had 
 almost said, imperative on them to study it. 
 It was not always thus imperative : Phrenology 
 was, at first, little more than a hypothesis ; but 
 by degrees it advanced to a theory ; and ulti- 
 
292 PHRENOLOGY. 
 
 mately became a system, and a science. Its 
 importance, in the department of education, can 
 scarcely be over rated ; — it is just beginning to 
 be appreciated ; and the sooner it is appreciated 
 in the nursery, the better ; because the more 
 efficiently will it be applied in the subsequent 
 parts of education, in proportion as the sub- 
 jects of education have been, in early childhood, 
 treated according to its principles. Let Parents, 
 then, be admonished, that in the present state 
 of knowledge upon this subject, they will not 
 be found to have performed their duty, in the 
 education of their children, either as regards 
 their animal, their intellectual, or their moral 
 nature, unless they make that nature the object 
 of their own study ; and this, by means of the 
 lights of Phrenology. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
 Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
 Treatment Date: Nov. 2004 
 
 PreservationTechnologies 
 
 A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 
 
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 Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
 (724)779-2111 
 
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