THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS BY GEORGE COMBE. M Vain is the ridicule with which one sees some persons will divert them selves, upon finding lesser pains considered as instances of divine punishment There is no possibility of answering or evading the general thing here intended without denying all final causes." — Butler's Analogy t « FIFTH AMERICAN EDITION, MATERIALLY REVISED AND ENLARGED. BOSTON : SANBORN, CARTER, BAZIN & CO., 25 & 29 CORNHILL. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1835, by Marsh Cap en & Lyon, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Dis- trict of Massachusetts. By Trsnsfiir D. C. Public Library OCT 21 1938 STEREOTYPED BY T. O. WELLS * 00, BOSTON. a $ ^ PREFACE. This Essay would not have been presented to the Pub- lic, had I not believed that it contains views of the consti- tution, condition, and prospects of Man, which deserve attention; but these, I trust, are not ushered forth with any thing approaching to a presumptuous spirit. I lay no claim to originality of conception. My first notions of the natural laws were derived from a manuscript work of Dr. Spurzheim, with the perusal of which I was honored in 1824. This work was afterwards published under the title of c A Sketch of the Natural Laws of Man, by G. Spurz- heim, M. D.' A comparison of the text of it with that of the following pages, will show to what extent I am indebt- ed to my late excellent and lamented master arid friend for my ideas on this subject. All my inquiries and medita- tions since have impressed me more and more with a con- viction of their importance. The materials employed lie open to all. Taken separately, I would hardly say that a new truth has been presented in the following work. The parts have all been admitted and employed again and again, by writers on morals, from Socrates down to the present day. In this respect, there is nothing new under the sun. The only novelty in this Essay respects the relations which acknowledged truths hold to each other. Physical laws of nature, affecting our physical condition, as well as regulating the whole material system of the universe, are universally acknowledged, and constitute the elements of natural philosophy and chemical science. Physiologists, medical practitioners, and all who take IV PREFACE. medical aid, admit the existence of organic laws: And the sciences of government, legislation, education, indeed our whole train of conduct through life, proceed upon the ad- mission of laws in morals. Accordingly, the laws of na- ture have formed an interesting subject of inquiry to phi- losophers of all ages; but, so far as I am aware, no author has hitherto attempted to point out, in a combined and systematic form, the relations between these laws and the constitution of Man; which must, nevertheless, be done, before our knowledge of them can be beneficially applied nor has any preceding author unfolded the independent operation of the several natural laws, and the practical consequences which follow from this fact. The great ob- ject of the following Essay is to exhibit these relations and consequences with a view to the improvement of education, and the regulation of individual and national conduct - But although my purpose is practical, a theory of Mind forms an essential element in the execution of the plan. Without it, no comparison can be instituted between the natural constitution* of man and external objects. Phre- nology appears to me to be the clearest, most complete, and best supported system of Human Nature, which has hitherto been taught; and I have assumed it as the basis of this Essay. But the practical value of the views now to be unfolded does not depend entirely on Phrenology. The latter, as a theory of Mind, is* itself valuable, only in so far as it is a just exposition of what previously existed in human nature. We are physical, organic, and moral beings, acting under the sanction of general laws, whether the connection of different mental qualities with particular portions of the brain, as taught by Phrenology, be admit- ted or denied. Individuals, under the impulse of passion, or by the direction of intellect, will hope, fear, wonder, perceive, and act, whether the degree in which they habitually do so be ascertainable by the means which it points out or not In so far, therefore, as this Essay PREFACE. treats cf the known qualities of Man, it may be. instructive even tflfchose who contemn Phrenology as unfounded; while it can prove useful to none, if the doctrines which it unfolds shall be found not to be in accordance with the principles of human nature, by whatever system these may be expounded. Some individuals object to all mental philosophy as useless, and argue, that, as Mathematics, Chemistry, and Botany, have become great sciences, without the least reference to the faculties by means of which they are cul- tivated, so Morals, Religion, Legislation and Political Economy haye existed, been improved, and may continue to advance with equal success, without any help from the philosophy of mind. Such objectors, however, should consider that lines, circles, and triangles, — earths, alkalis and acids, — and also corollas, stamens, pistils and stig- mas, are objects which exist independently of the mind, and may be investigated by the application of the mental powers, in ignorance of the constitution of the faculties themselves; — just as we .may practise archery without studying the anatomy of the hand; whereas the objects of moral and political philosophy are the qualities and actions of the mind itself : These objects have no existence inde- pendently of mind ; and they can no more be systematical- ly or scientifically understood without the knowledge of mental philosophy, than optics can be cultivated as a science in ignorance of the structure and modes of action of the eye. I have endeavored to avoid all religious controversy. 'The object of Moral Philosophy,' says Mr. Stewart, c is to ascertain the general rules of a wise and virtuous con- duct in life, in so far as these rules may be discovered by the unassisted light of nature; that is, by an examination of the principles of the human constitution, and of the circumstances in which Man is placed.'* By following this method of inquiry, Dr. Hutcheson, Dr. Adam Smith, ♦Outlines of Moral Philosophy, p. %. A* VI PREFACE. Dr. Reid, Mr. Stewart, and Dr. Thomas Brown, tetve, in succession, produced highly interesting and instructive works on Moral Science ; and the present Essay is a hum- ble attempt to pursue the same plan, with the aid of the new lights afforded by Phrenology. I confine "my obser- vations exclusively to man as he exists in the present world, and beg that, in perusing the subsequent pages, this explanation may be constantly kept in view. In con- sequence of forgetting it, my language has occasionally been misapprehended, and my objects misrepresented When I speak of man's 'highest interest,' for example, as on page 7, arid in other places, I uniformly refer to man as he exists in this world; but as the same God presides over both the temporal and the eternal interests of the hu- man race, it seems to me demonstrably certain, that what is conducive to the one, will in no instance impede the other, but will in general be favorable to it also. This work, however, does not directly embrace the interests of eternity. These belong to the department of theology, and demand a different line of investigation; I confine myself exclusively to philosophy. Since the first Edition of this work appeared, on 9th June 1828, additional attention has been paid to the study of the laws of Nature, and their importance has been more generally recognised. In ' A Discourse on the Studies of the University, by Adam Sedgwick, M. A., &c.' of which a third edition was published at Cambridge in 1834, the author remarks, that ' we are justified in saying, that, in the moral as in the physical world, God seems to gov- ern by general laws.' 'I am not now,' says he, ' con- tending for the doctrine of moral necessity ; but I do af- firm, that the moral government of God is by general laws, and that it is our bounden duty to study these laws, and, as far as we can, to turn them to account.' ' If there be a superintending Providence, and if his will be manifested by general laws operating both on the physical and moral world, then must a violation of these laws be a violation PREFACE. VU of his will, and be pregnant with inevitable misery.' 1 Nothing, can, in the end, be expedient for man, except it be subordinate to those laws the Author of Nature has thought fit to impress on his moral and physical creation.' • In the end, high principle and sound policy will be found in the strictest harmony with each other. These are precisely the views which it is the object of the present work to enforce; and it is gratifying to me to see them so ably and eloquently recommended to the attention of the students of the University of Cambridge 23 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, 31st March 1835. PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. In presenting the present edition of c The Constitution of Man 1 to the American public, I beg leave to return my warmest acknowledgments for the favor with which they have received both this and my other works. There is so much vigorous thinking, practical sense, and bold enter- prise in the general public of the United States, that their approbation of the views which I have from time to time offered for their consideration, has increased not a little my own reliance on the truth and utility of my opinions ; and in preparing the present edition for the press, I have been animated throughout by the desire to render it worthy of the approbation of my transatlantic friends. I have not found it necessary to alter any essential principle adopted in the first edition. On the contrary, seven years of ad- ditional observation, discussion, and reflection, have tend- ed only to accumulate new evidence in favor of the prop- ositions maintained. I have, however, corrected as far as possible the style of the work, inserted new proofs and il- lustrations, and added three chapters entirely new — those on 'Punishment as inflicted under the Natural Laws,' on 'the Influence of the Natur 1 Laws on Individual Happi- ness,' and on 'the Relat ; n between Science and Scrip- ture.' I believe the pe< yie of the United States to have advanced farther towa ds the practical application of the principles developed \i the following work, than any other nation; and if it shall in any degree serve to animate and direct them in their future progress towards happiness and virtue, the highest object of my ambition will be gained. 23 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, 31st March 1835 HENDERSON BEQJLSST. On 27th May 1829, the late W. R. Henderson, Esq. younger of Warriston and Eildon Hall, executed a deed of settlement, by which he conveyed to certain trustees such funds as he should die possessed of; and, in the event of his dying without leaving children, he appointed them to pay certain legacies and annui- ties to individual friends, and gave the following instructions re- garding the application of the residue of his funds. 1 And, lastly, the whole residue of my means and estate shall after answering the purposes above written, be applied by my said trustees in whatever manner they may judge best for the advancement and diffusion of the science of Phrenology, and the practical application thereof in particular; giving hereby and committing to my said trustees, the most full and unlimited pow- er to manage and dispose of the said residue, in whatever man- ner shall appear to them best suited to promote the ends in view! Declaring, that if I had less confidence in my trustees, I would make it imperative on them, to print and publish one or more editions of an " Essay on the Constitution of Man, considered in relation to External Objects, by George Combe," — in a cheap form, so as to be easily purchased by the more intelligent indi- viduals of the poorer classes, and Mechanics' Institutions, &c. but that I consider it better only to request their particular atten- tion to this suggestion, and to leave them quite at liberty to act as circumstances may seem to them to render expedient ; seeing that the state of the country, and things impossible to foresee, may make what would be of unquestionable advantage now, not advisable at some future period of time. But if my decease shall happen before any material change affecting this subject, I re- quest them to act agreeably to my suggestion. And I think it proper here to declare, that I dispose of the residue of my prop- erty in the above manner, not from my being carried away by a transient fit of enthusiasm, but from a deliberate, calm, and deep- rooted conviction, that nothing whatever hitherto known can operate so powerfully to the improvement and happiness of man- K HENDERSON BEQUEST. kind, as the knowledge and practical adoption of the principles disclosed by Phrenology, and particularly of those which are developed in the Essay on the Constitution of Man, above men- tioned.' Mr. Henderson died on 28th May 1832, and his Trustees, having recently realized his funds, have assigned a sum for pub- lishing an edition of the present work in a cheap form. The ordinary selling price of this volume would have been ; and they have contributed so much towards the expense of it as to lower the price to , which they hope will place it within the reach of the operative classes of the United Kingdom, and fulfil the intention of^the testator. This has been named the ft Henderson Edition," to distinguish it from a separate impres- sion intended for sale to the general public ; and those who de- sire to obtain the cheap edition are requested to order it by this appellation. It may be proper to explain to readers who take an interest in the progress of Phrenology, that the annuitants for whom Mr. Henderson designed his funds in the first instance, are all alive, and likely to live for many years ; and that during their lives only a small annual surplus will remain applicable to the promo- tion of this science. The contribution to the present work has anticipated that surplus for more than one year. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. SENERAL VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF HUMAN NATURE, AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS, . . . Page J CHAPTER I. ON NATURAL LAWS, ... . 27 CHAPTER II. ON THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN, AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS, 42 Sect. I. Man considered as a Physical Being, . . . .43 II. Man considered as an Organized Being, . , .46 III. Man considered as an Animal— Moral — and Intellect- ual Being, . . . . . " . . .51 IV. The Faculties of Man compared with each other ; or the Supremacy of the Moral Sentiments and Intel- lect, . . . .55 V. The Faculties of Man compared with External Objects, 77 CHAPTER III. ON THE SOURCES OF HUMAN HAPPINESS, AND THE CONDITIONS REQUISITE FOR MAINTAINING IT, 84 CHAPTER IV. 1PPLICATION OF THE NATURAL LAWS TO THE PRACTICAL ARRANGE- MENTS OF LIFE, 97 rii CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. TO WHAT EXTENT ARE fHE MISERIES OF MANKIND REFERABLE TO INFRINGEMENTS OF THE LAWS OF NATURE ? ... 109 Sect. I. Calamities arising from infringements of the Physi- cal Laws, . ... 110 II. On the Evils that Befall Mankind from infringement of the Organic Laws, 115 III. Calamities arising from infringement of the Moral Law, 203 CHAPTER VI. ON PUNISHMENT, ..... . . 260 Sect. I. On Punishment as inflicted under the Natural Laws, ib. II. Moral Advantages of Punishment, . 287 CHAPTER VII. ON THE COMBINEDOPERATION OF THE NATURAL LAWS, . . 292 CHAPTER VIII. INFLUENCE OF THE NATURAL LAWS ON THE HAPPINESS OF 1NDI VIDUALS, 313 CHAPTER IX. ON THE RELATION BETWEEN SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE, . . 325 CONCLUSION, 352 APPENDIX. Note I. Natural Laws, 367 II. Organic Laws, 371 HI. Hereditary Transmission of Qualities, . . . 372 IV. Laws Relative to Marriage and Education in Ger many, . 379 l L Death, . . . . . 383 IV. Infringement of the Moral Laws, • 390 Index, . . 393 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. GENERAL VIEW OP THE CONSTITUTION OP HUMAN NATURE, AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. In surveying the external world, we discover that every creature and every physical object has received a definite constitution, and been placed in certain relations to other objects. The natural evidence of a Deity and his attr - butes is drawn from contemplating these arrangement Intelligence, wisdom, benevolence, and power, characte ize the works of creation; and the human mind ascencr by a chain of correct and rigid induction to a great Fir? Cause, in whom these qualities must reside. But hither to this great truth has excited a sublime yet barren admi ration, rather than led to beneficial practical results. Man obviously stands pre-eminent among sublunary objects, and is distinguished by remarkable endowments above all other terrestrial beings. Nevertheless no crea- ture presents such anomalous appearances as man. View- ed in one aspect he almost resembles a demon; in another he still bears the impress of the image of God. Seen in his crimes, his wars, and his devastations, he might be mistaken for an incarnation of an evil spirit ; contemplat- ed in his schemes of charity, his discoveries in science, and his vast combinations for the benefit of his race, he seems a bright intelligence* from Heaven. The lower animals exhibit a more simple and regulated constitution. The l'on is bold and ferocious, but he is regularly so; and, besides, is placed in circumstances suited to his nature, in which at once scope is given and limits are set to the gratification of his instincts. The sheep, as a contrast, 1 2 VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OP HUMAN NATURE, is mild, feeble, and inoffensive; but its external condition also is suited to its constitution, and it apparently lives and flourishes in as great enjoyment as the lion. The same remarks apply to all the inferior creatures; and the idea which I wish particularly to convey is, that their bodily organs, faculties, instincts, and external circum- stances, form parts of a system in which adaptation and harmony are discoverable; and that the enjoyment of the animals depends on the adaptation of their constitution to their external condition. If we saw the lion one day tearing in pieces every animal that crossed its path, and the next oppressed with remorse for the death of its vic- tims, or compassionately healing those whom it had man- gled, we should exclaim, what an inconsistent creature! and conclude that it could not by possibility be happy, owing to this opposition among the principles of its nature. In short, we should be strikingly convinced that two con- ditions are essential to enjoyment; first, that the different instincts of an animal must be in harmony with each other; and, secondly, that its whole constitution must be in accordance with its external condition. When, keeping these principles in view, we direct our attention to Man, very formidable anomalies present them- selves. The most opposite instincts or impulses exist in his mind; actuated by Combativeness, Destructiveness, Acquisitiveness, and Self-Esteem, the moral sentiments being in abeyance, he is almost a fiend; on the contrary, when inspired by Benevolence, Veneration, Hope, Consci- entiousness, Ideality, and Intellect, the benignity, seren- ity, and splendor, of a highly-elevated nature beam from his eye, and radiate from his countenance. He is then lovely, noble, and gigantically great. But how shall these conflicting tendencies be reconciled? And how can ex- ternal circumstances be devised that shall accord with such heterogeneous elements? Here again a conviction of the power and goodness of the Deity comes to our as- sistance. Man is obviously an essential and most impor- AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 3 tant part of the present system of creation, and, without doubting of his future destinies, we ought not, so long as our knowledge of his nature is incomplete, to consider his condition here as inexplicable. The nature of man has hitherto, to all philosophical purposes, been unknown, and both the designs of the Creator and the situation of man have been judged of ignorantly and rashly. The skeptic has advanced arguments against religion, and crafty deceivers have, in all ages, founded systems of superstition, on the disorder and inconsistency which are too readily admitted to be inseparable attributes of human existence on earth. But I venture to hope that man will yet bo found in harmony with himself and with his condition. I am aware that some individuals, whose piety I re- spect, conceive, that as the great revolutions of human •society, as well as all events in the lives of individuals, take place under the guidance of the Deity, it is presumpt- uous, if not impious, in man to endeavor to scan their causes and effects. But it is obvious that the Creator governs man with reference to the faculties bestowed on him. The young swallow, when it migrates on the ap- proach of the first winter of its life, is impelled by an in- stinct implanted by the Deity, and it can neither know the causes that prompt it to fly, nor the end to be attained by its flight. But its mental constitution is wisely adapted to this condition; for it has no powers stimulating it to reflect on itself and external objects, and to inquire whence came its desires, or to what object they tend. Man, however, has been framed differently. The Crea- tor has bestowed on him faculties to observe phenomena, and to trace cause and effect; and he has constituted the external world to afford scope to these powers. We are en- titled, therefore, to say, that it is the Creator himself who has commanded us to observe and inquire into the causes that prompt us to act, and the 'results that will naturally follow; and to adapt our conduct according to what wt shall discover. 4 VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF HUMAN NATURE, To enable us to form a just estimate of our duty and interest as the rational occupants of this world, we may inquire briefly into the constitution of external nature, and of ourselves. The constitution of this world does not look like a sys- tem of optimism. It appears to be arranged in all its de- partments on the principle of gradual and progressive im- provement. Physical nature itself has undergone many revolutions, and apparently has constantly advanced. Geology seems to show a distinct preparation* of it for successive orders of living beings, rising higher and higher in the scale of intelligence and organization, until man appeared. The globe, in the first state in which the imagination can venture to consider it, says Sir H. Davy,* appears to have been a fluid mass, with an immense atmosphere revolving in space round the sun. By its cooling, a por- tion of its atmosphere was probably condensed into water, which occupied a part of its surface. In this state no forms of life, such as now belong to our system, could have inhabited it. The crystalline rocks, or, as they are called by geologists, the primary rocks, which contain no vestiges of a former order of things, were the result of ihe first consolidation on its surface. Upon the farther cooling, the water, which, more or less, had covered it, contracted; depositions took place; shell-fish and coral insects were created, and began their labors. Islands appeared in the midst of the ocean, raised from the deep by the productive energies of millions of zoophytes. * The description in the text is extracted chiefly from " The last days of a Philosopher," by Sir Humphrey Davy, 1831, p. 134, on ac- count of its popular style ; but similar representations may be found in several recent works on Geology, — particularly " A Geological Manual, by H. T. De La Beche ;" the Penny Magazine of 1833, in a very instructive popular form; and in Sedgwick's Discourse on the Studies of the University of Cambridge, third edition. Mr. Lyell, however, in his Principles of Geology, vol. i. ch. ix. controverts tho doctrine of a progressive development of plants and aninals. AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 5 These islands became covered with vegetables fitted to bear a high temperature, such as palms, and various spe- cies of plants, similar to those which now exist in the hot- test parts of the world. The submarine rocks of these new formations of land became covered with aquatic ve- getables, on which various species of shell-fish, and com- mon fishes, found their nourishment. As the temperature of the globe became lower, species of the oviparous ren- tiles appear to'have been created to inhabit it; and the turtle, crocodile, and various gigantic animals of the Sauri (lizard) kind seem to have haunted the bays and waters of the primitive lands. But in this state of things, there appears to have*been no order of events similar to the present. Immense volcanic explosions seems to have taken place, accompanied by elevations and depressions of the surface of the globe, producing mountains, and causing new and extensive depositions from the primitive ocean. The remains of living beings, plants, fishes, birds, %nd oviparous reptiles, are found in the strata of rocks which are the monuments and evidence of these changes. When these revolutions became less frequent, and the globe became still more cooled, and inequalities of tem- perature were established by means of the mountain chains, more perfect animals became its inhabitants, such as the mammoth, megalonix, megatherium, and gigantic hyena, many of which have become extinct. Five suc- cessive races of plants, and fotir successive races of ani- mals, appear to have been created and swept away by the physical revolutions of the globe, before the system of things became so permanent as to fit the world for man. In none of these formations, whether called secondary, tertiary, or diluvial, have the fossil remains of man, or any of his works, been discovered. At last, man was created, and since that period there has been little altera- tion in the physical circumstances of the globe. " In all these various formations," says Dr. Buckland, " the coprolites" (or the dung of the saurian reptiles in 1* B 6 VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OP HUMAN NaTURE, a fossil state, exhibiti ig scales of fishes and other traces of the prey which they had devoured) iS form records of warfare waged by successive generations of inhabitants of our planet on one another; and the general law of na- ture, which bids all to eat and be eaten in their turn, is shown to have been co-extensive with animal existence upon our globe j the camivora in each period of the world's history fulfilling their destined office to check excess in the progress of life, and maintain the balance of creation.' This brief summary of the physical changes of the Globe, is not irrelevant to our present object. The more that is discovered of creation, thg more conspicuously does uniformity of design appear to pervade its every department. We perceive here the physical world grad- ually improved and prepared for man. Let us now contemplate Man himself, and his adapta- tion to the external creation. The world, we have seen, was inhabited by living beings, and death and reproduc- tion prevailed before Man appeared. The order of crea- tion seems not to have been changed at his introduction: — he appears to have been adapted to it. He receive* from his Creator an organized structure, and animal in- stincts. He took his station among, yet at the head of, the beings that existed at his creation. Man is to a certai extent an animal in his structure, powers, feelings, anc desires, and is adapted to a world in which death reigns and generation succeeds generation. This fact, although so trite and obvious as to appear scarcely worthy of being noticed, is of importance in treating of Man; because the human being, in so far as he resembles the inferior crea- tures, is capable of enjoying a life like theirs: he h pleasure in eating, drinking, sleeping, and exercising hi limbs; and one of the greatest obstacles to improvement is, that many of the race are contented with these enjoy- ments, and consider it painful to be compelled to seek higher sources of gratification. But to man's animal na- ture, have been added, by a bountiful Creator, moral sen- AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 7 timents and reflecting faculties, which not only place him above all other creatures on earth, but constitute him a different being from any of them, a rational and accounta- ble creature. These faculties are his highest and his best gifts, and the sources of his purest and intensest pleasures. They lead him directly to the great objects of his exist- ence, — obedience to God, and love to his fellow men. But this peculiarity attends them, that while his animal faculties act powerfully of themselves, his rational faculties require to be cultivated, exercised, and instructed, before they will yield their full harvest of enjoyment- The Creator has so arranged the external world as to hold forth every possible inducement to man to cultivate his higher powers, nay almost to constrain him to do so. The philosophic mind, in surveying the world as prepar- ed for the reception of the human race, perceives in exter- nal nature a vast assemblage of stupendous powers, too great for the feeble hand of man entirely to control, but kindly subjected within certain limits to the influence of his will.* Man is introduced on earth apparently helpless and unprovided for as a homeless stranger; but the soil on which he treads is endowed with a thousand capabili- ties of production, which require only to be excited by . his intelligence to yield him the most ample returns. The impetuous torrent rolls its waters to the main; but as it dashes over the mountain-cliff, the human hand is capable of withdrawing it from its course, and bending its powers subsefvient to his will. Ocean extends over half the globe her liquid plain, in which no path appears, and the rude winds oft lift her waters to the sky ; but, there the skill of man may launch the strong knit bark, spread forth the canvass to the gale, and make the trackless deep a highway through the world. In such a state of things, knowledge is truly power; and the highest interest of human beings is to become acquainted with the constitu- tions and relations of every object around them, that they may discover its capabilities of ministering to their own 8 VIEW OF TOE CONSTITUTION OF HUMAN MATURE, advantage. Farther, where these physical energies are too great to be controlled, man has received intelligence by which he may observe their course, and accommodate his conduct to their influence. This capacity of adapta- tion is a valuable substitute for the power of regulating them by his will. Man cannot arrest the sun in its course, so as to avert the wintry storms and cause perpetual spring to bloom around him; but, by the proper exercise of his intelligence and corporeal energies, he is able to foresee the approach of bleak skies and rude winds, and to place , himself in safety from their injurious effects. These pow- ers of controlling nature, and of accommodating his con- duct to its course, are the direct results of his rational fac- ulties; and in proportion to their cultivation is his sway extended. If the rain falls, and the wind blows, and the ocean billows lash against the mere animal, it must en- dure them all; because it cannot control their action, nor protect itself by art from their power. Man, while ignorant, continues in a condition almost equally helpless. But let him put forth his proper human capacities, and he then finds himself invested with the power to rear, to build, to fabricate, and to store up provisions; and by availing himself of these resources, and accommodating his conduct to the course of nature's laws, he is able to smile in safety beside the cheerful hearth, when the ele- ments maintain their fiercest war abroad. Again: We are surrounded by countless beings, infe- rior and equal to ourselves, whose qualities yield us the greatest happiness, or bring upon us the bitterest evil, ac- cording as we affect them agreeably or disagreeably by our conduct. To draw forth all their excellences, and cause them to diffuse joy around us — to avoid touching- the harsher springs of their constitution, and bringing painful discord to our ears — it is indispensably necessary that we know the nature of our fellows, and act with a habitual regard to the relations established by the Crea tor betwixt ourselves and them. AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 9 Man, ignorant and uncivilized, is a ferocious, sensual, and superstitious savage. The external world affords some enjoyments to his animal feelings, but it confounds his moral and intellectual faculties. External nature ex- hibits to his mind a mighty chaos of events, and a dread display of power. The chain of causation appears too intricate to be unravelled, and the power too stupendous to be controlled. Order and beauty, indeed, occasional- ly gleam forth to his eye, from detached portions of crea- tion,- and seem to promise happiness and joy; but more frequently, clouds and darkness brood over the scene, and disappoint his fondest expectations. Evil seems so mixed up with good, that he regards it either as its direct product or its inseparable accompaniment. Nature is never contemplated with a clear perception of its adapta- tion to the purpose of promoting the true enjoyment of man, or with a well founded confidence in the wisdom and benevolence of its Author. Man, when civilized and il- luminated by knowledge, on the other hand, discovers in the objects and occurrences around him, a scheme beau- tifully arranged for the gratification of his whole powers, animal, moral, and intellectual; he recognises in himself die intelligent and accountable subject of an all-bountiful Creator, and in joy and gladness desires to study the Creator's works, to ascertain his laws, and to yield to them a steady and a willing obedience. Without under- valuing the pleasures of his animal nature, he tastes the higher, more refined, and more enduring delights of his moral and intellectual capacities, and he then calls aloud for Education as indispensable to the full enjoyment of his rational powers. If this representation of the condition of the human being on earth be correct, we perceive clearly the un- speakable advantage of applying our minds to gain know- ledge of our own constitution and that of external nature, and of regulating our conduct according to rules drawn from the information acquired. Our constitution and our 10 VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF kUMAN NATURE, position equally imply, that the grand object of our exis- tence is, not to remain contented with the pleasures of mere animal life, but to take the dignified and far more delightful station of moral and rational occupants of this 'ower world. If the physical history of the globe clearly indicates progression in an advancing series of changes, the civil history of man equally proclaims the march, although often vacillating and slow, of moral and intellectual improve- ment. To avoid too extensive an inquiry, unsuitable to an introductory discourse, let us confine our attention to the aspects presented by society in our native country. At the time of the Roman invasion, the inhabitants of Britain lived as savages, and appeared in painted skins. After the Norman conquest, one part of the nation was placed in the condition of serfs, and condemned to labor like beasts of burden, while another devoted themselves to war. They fought battles during day, and in the night probably dreamed of bloodshed and broils. These gene- rations severally believed their own condition to be the permanent and inevitable lot of man. Next, however, have come the present arrangements of society, in which millions of men are shut up in cotton and other manufactories for ten or twelve hours a-day; others labor under ground in mines; others plough the fields; while thousands of higher rank pass their whole lives in idleness and dissipation. Now, the elementary principles, both of mind and body, were the same in our painted an- cestors, in their chivalrous descendants, and in us, their shopkeeping, manufacturing, and money-gathering chil- dren. Yet how different the external circumstances ol the individuals of these several generations! If, in the savage state, the internal faculties of man were in harmony among themselves, and if his external condition was in accordance with them, Jie must then have enjoyed all the happiness that his nature admitted of, and he must have erred when he changed; or, if the institutions and customs AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 11 of the age of chivalry were calculated to gratify his whole nature harmoniously, he must have been unhappy as a savage, and must be miserable now; if his present condi- tion be the perfection of his nature, he must have been far from enjoyment, both as a savage and a feudal warrior ; and if none of these conditions have been in accordance with his constitution, he must still have his happiness to seek. Every age, accordingly, has testified that it was not in possession of contentment ; and the question presents itself, If human nature has received a definite constitution, and if one arrangement of external circumstances be more suited to yield it gratification than another, — what are that constitution and that arrangement ? No one can tell. And in what respects have we in times past departed, and do we now depart, from them? The answer is in- volved in equal obscurity. How has it happened that, in all their various changes, the British have never succeed- ed in satisfying themselves with their condition? Why did they institute the savage state ? It was not fixed by the Creator as the permanent condition of man, otherwise they could not have escaped from it. The bear and the wolf, the ox and the camel, do not change their states and avo- cations as men have done. What prompted them to be- take themselves to war as their most honorable employment ? Again we say that that condition was not the ultimate lot of man, because it also has changed. And what has led us now to spin and weave, to hammer and construct, for all the nations of the globe? We answer, that this state may also disappear, and then it will not be regarded as the ne plus ultra of human enjoyment. Farther, if we have not reached the limits of attainable perfection, what are we next to attempt ? Are we and our posterity to spin and weave, build ships, and speculate in commerce, as the highest occupations to which human nature can aspire, and persevere in these labors till the end of time? Or if changes are to follow, we may ask, who instituted the changes which history records ? On what principles were 12 VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF HUMAN NATURE, they regulated ? And who shall guide the helm in out future voyage on the ocean of existence ? The British are here cited as a type of mankind at large ; for in every age and every clime similar races have been run, and with similar conclusions. Only one answer can be returned to these inquiries. Man is evidently a progressive being; and the Creator having designed a higher path for him than for the lower creatures, has given him intellect to dis- cover his own nature and that of external objects, and left him, by the exercise of it and his other powers, to find out for himself the method of placing his faculties in harmony among themselves, and in accordance with the external world. Time and experience are necessary to accomplish these ends, and history exhibits the human race only in a state of progress towards the full development of their powers, and the attainment of rational enjoyment. As long as man remained ignorant of his own nature, he could not of design form his institutions in accordance with it. Until his own faculties became the subjects of his observation, and their relations the objects of his reflection, they operated as mere instincts. He adopted savage habits, because his animal propensities were not at first directed by moral sentiment or enlightened by reflec- tion. He next adopted the condition of the barbarian, because his higher powers had made some advances, but had not yet attained supremacy; and he now manufac- tures, because his constructive faculties and intellect have given him power over physical nature, while his Acqui- sitiveness and Ambition are predominant, and are gratified by these avocations. Not one of these changes, however,, has been adopted from design, or from perception of its suitableness to the nature of man. He has been ill at ease in them all ; but it does not follow that he shall con- tinue for ever equally ignorant of his nature, and equally incapable of framing institutions to harmonize with it. The simple facts, that the Creator has bestowed on man reason capable of discovering his own nature, and its re- . AND ITS RELATIONE TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS 13 ations to external objects; that He has left him to apply it in framing suitable institutions to ensure his happiness, that, nevertheless, man has hitherto been ignorant of hig nature and of its relations, and that, in consequence, his modes of life have never been adopted from enlightened views of his whole capacities and qualities, but sprung up from the instinctive ascendency of orre blind propensity or another, — warrant us in saying, that a new era will begin when man shall be enabled to study his own nature and its relations with success; and that the future may exhibit him assuming his station as a rational creature, pursuing his own happiness with intelligence and design, and at length attaining higher gratification to his whole faculties than he has hitherto enjoyed. The inquiry next naturally presents itself, What has been the cause of the human race remaining for so many ages unacquainted with their own nature and its relations ? The answer is, that, before the discovery of the functions of the brain, they did not know how to study these sub- jects in a manner calculated to attain to true principles and practical results. The philosophy of man was con- ducted as a speculative, and not as an inductive science; and even when attempts were made at induction, the man- ner in which they were conducted was at variance with the fundamental requisites of a sound philosophy.* In con- sequence, even the most enlightened nations have never possessed any practical philosophy of mind, but have been bewildered amidst countless contradictory theories. In our own country two views of the constitution of the world and of human nature have long been prevalent differing widely from each other, and which, if legitimate* ly followed out, would lead to distinct practical results. The one is, that the world contains the elements of im- provement within itself, which time will evolve and bring to maturity; it having been constituted by the Creator on * See Svstem of Phrenology, Third Edition, p. 40. 14 VIEW Of THE CONSTITUTION OF HUMAN NATURE, the principle of a progressive system, like the acorn in teference to the oak. This hypothesis ascribes to the power and wisdom of the Divine Being the whole pheno mena which nature, animate and inanimate, exhibits; be- cause, in conferring on each part the specific qualities and constitution which belong to it, and in placing it in the circumstances in which it is found, He is assumed to have designed, from the first, the whole results which these qualities, constitution, and circumstances, are calculated in time to produce. There is no countenance given to atheism by this system. On the contrary, it affords the richest and most comprehensive field imaginable, for tracing the evidence of Divine power, wisdom, and good- ness in creation. The other hypothesis is, that the world was perfect at the first, but fell into derangement, continues in disorder and does not contain within itself the elements of its own rectification. If the former view be sound, the first object of man, an intelligent being in quest of happiness, must be to stud; the elements of external nature and their capabilities; th elementary qualities of his own nature, and their applica- tions; and the relationship between these. His secone object will be to discover and carry into effect the con- ditions, physical, moral, and intellectual, which, in virtue of this constitution, require to be realized before the fullest enjoyment of which he is capable can be attained. According to the second view of creation, nothing of good can be expected from the evolution of nature's ele ments, these being all essentially disordered; and human improvement and enjoyment must be derived chiefly from spiritual influences. If the one hypothesis be sound, man must fulfil the natural conditions requisite to the ex- istence of religion, morality, and happiness, before he can reap full benefit from religious truth: according to the other, he must believe aright in religion, and be the sub- ject of spiritual influences independent of natural causes. • AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 15 before he can become capable of any virtue or enjoyment; in short, according to the' latter hypothesis, sciences, phi- losophy, and all arrangements of the physical, moral, and intellectual elements of nature, are subordinate in their effects on human happiness on earth, to religious faith. It appears to me extremely difficult to reconcile these conflicting views. The theologians who condemned the natural world, «ived in an age when there was no sound philosophy, and almost no knowledge of physical science; they were un- avoidably ignorant of the elementary qualities of human nature, and of the influence of organization on the mental powers; — ^-the great link which connects the moral and physical worlds. They were unacquainted with the re- lations subsisting between the mind and external nature, and could not by possibility divine to what extent individ- uals and society were capable of being improved by nat- ural means. In the history of man, they had read chiefly of misery and crime, and had in their own age beheld much of both. They were, therefore, naturally led to form a low estimate of human nature, and to expect little good from the cultivation of its inherent capabilities. These views appear to me to have influenced their inter- pretations of scripture; and having once been entwined with religious sentiments, they have descended from gen- eration to generation: In consequence, persons of sincere piety, have, for several centuries, been induced to look down on this world as a wilderness abounding with briars, weeds, and noxious things, and to direct their chief atten- tiou, not to the study of its elements and their relations, in the hope of reducing them to order, but to enduring the disorder with patience and resignation, and to secur- ing, by faith and penitence, salvation in a future life. It has never been with them a practical principle, that human nature itself may be vastly improved in its moral and intellectual capacities, by those means which Phys- iology and Phrenology have recently opened up to us; 16 VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF HUMAN NATURE, nor that buman nature and the external world are adjust ed on the principle of favoring the development of the higher powers of our minds; nor that the study of the constitution of nature is indispensable to human improve- ment; nor that this .world and its professions and pursuits might be rendered favorable to virtue by searching out the natural qualities of its elements, their relationship, and the moral plan on which God has constituted and governs it. Some philosophers and divines having failed to discover a consistent order or plan in the moral world, have rashly concluded that none such exists, or that it is inscrutable. It appears never to have occurred to them that it is impossible to comprehend a whole system with- out becoming acquainted with its parts; these persons have been ignorant of the physiology of man, of the phi- losophy of man, of the philosophy of external nature, and their relations, and nevertheless have not perceived tha this extensive ignorance of the details, rendered it im- possible for them to comprehend the plan of the whole. Hence they have involved themselves in contradictions; for while it has been a practical principle with them, that enjoyment in a future state is to be the consequence of the believer attaining to a holy and pious frame of mind in this life ; they have represented the constitution of the world to be so unfavorable to piety and virtue, that men in general, who continue attached to it, cannot attain to this right frame of spirit, or acf habitually in consistency with it. They have not had philosophy sufficient to per- ceive that man must live in society to be either virtuous, useful, or happy; that the social atmosphere is to the mind what air is to the lungs; that while an individual cannot exist to virtuous ends out of society, he cannot exist in a right frame in it, if the moral atmosphere with which he is surrounded be deeply contaminated with vice and error. Individual merchants, for example, cannot act habitually on Christian principles, if the maxims of their trade be not Christian; and if the world be so unfa AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 17 /orably constituted that it does not admit of the rules of trade becoming Christian, then active life and practical religion are naturally opposed to each other. Divines Lave laboriously recommended spiritual exercises as means of improvement in this life and of salvation in the next; but have rarely dealt with the philosophy of this world, or attempted its rectification, so as to render these exercises truly efficacious. Their minds have been in- fected with the first great error, that this world is irreme- diably defective in its constitution, and that human hope must be concentrated entirely on the next. This may be attributed to the premature formation of a system of theology in the dawn of civilization, before the qualities of the physical world, and the elements of the moral world and their relationship, were known; and to erroneous in- terpretations of Scripture in consequence, partly, of that ignorance. Now, if the discovery of the philosophy of mind, foun- ded on the functions of the brain, is to operate at all in favor of human improvement, one of the most striking ef- fects which it will produce, will be the lifting up of the veil which has so long concealed the natural world, its capa- bilities and importance, from the eyes of divines. To alt practical ends connected with theo^gy, the philosophy o " nature might as well not exist: With few exceptions the sermons preached a century ago are equal, if not su perior, in sense and suitableness to human nature, to those delivered yesterday ; and yet, in the interval, the human mind has made vast advances in knowledge of the works of creation. Divines have frequently applied scientific discoveries in proving the existence and developing the character of the Deity; but they have failed in' applying either the discoveries themselves, or the knowledge of the Divine character obtained by means of them, to the construction of any practical system of mental philosophy, capable of combining harmoniously with religion, and promoting the improvement of the human race <2* 18 VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF HUMAN NATURE, This, however, Phrenology will enable them one day to do. In surveying the world itself, the phrenologist per- ceives that the Creator has bestowed elementary qualities on the human mind, and on external objects, and estab- lished certain relations between them; that these faculties have been incessantly operating according to their inhe- rent tendencies, generally aiming at good, always desir- ing it, but often missing it through pure ignorance and blindness, yet capable of attaining it when enlightened and properly directed. The baneful effects of ignorance are every where apparent. Three-fourths of the mental faculties have direct reference to this world, and in their functions appear to have no intelligible relation to another, such are Amativeness, Philoprogenitiveness, Combative ness, Destructiveness, Constructiveness, Acquisitiveness, Secretiveness, Self-Esteem, and others; while the remain- ing fourth have reference at once to this life and to a higher state of existence, such are Benevolence, Ideality, Wonder, Veneration, Hope, Conscientiousness, and Intel- lect. To guide and successfully apply the first class of faculties to the promotion of human happiness, it appears indispensable that the faculties themselves, the physical Conditions on which their strength and weakness, inert- ness and vivacity, depend,— the relations established be- tween them and the external world, which is the grand theatre of their action, — and, finally, the relation be- tween them and the superior faculties, which are destined to direct them, should be known; and yet, scarcely any thing is known in a philosophical and practical sense by the people at large, on these points. If I am correct in saying that these faculties have, by their constitution, re- ference chiefly to this world, then useful knowledge for their guidance will be afforded by the philosophy of thii world; and the wisdom which is to reduce them to order will receive important aid from studying the constitutio: which it has pleased the Creator to bestow on them, am the relations which he has seen proper to institute between AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 19 them and the other departments of his works. His wis- dom and goodness will be found to pervade them. He has bestowed on us intellect to discover, and sentiments to obey, his will in whatever record its existence is in- scribed, and yet little of this knowledge is taught to the people by divines. Knowledge of the constitution, relations, and capabili- ties of this world, is indispensable also to the proper ex- ercise and direction of the superior powers of our minds In all ages practical men have been engaged for three- fourths of their time in pursuits calculated to gratify the faculties which have reference to this world alone, but, unfortunately, the remaining fourth of their time has not been devoted to pursuits bearing reference to their higher faculties. Through want of intellectual education, they have been incapable of deriving pleasure from observing nature, and they have not been furnished with ideas to enable them to think. Owing to the barbarism which pervaded society in general, there has been no moral at- mosphere in which their superior sentiments could play. Ambition, that powerful stimulant in social life, has not been directed to moral objects, but generally the reverse. The hours, therefore, which ought to have been dedi- cated to the improvement of the higher portion of their faculties, were either devoted to the pursuit of gain, sensual pleasure, or ambition, or spent in mere trifling amusements and relaxation. There was no practical onward purpose of moral and intellectual advancement abroad in the secular occupations of society ; and the di- vines who formed public opinion, so far from discovering that this disorder was not inherent in the constitution of nature, and that Christianity, in teaching the doctrine of the supremacy of the moral faculties, necessarily implied the practicability of a state of society founded on that principle, fell into the opposite error, and represented the world as deranged in all its parts; as incapable, by the development of its own elements, of rectification; and all ad 20 VIEW OP THE CONSTITUTION OP HUMAN NATURE, thereby added strength and permanence to the evils orig- inating in ignorance and unguided passion. I am far from casting blame on the excellent individ- uals who fell into these mistakes; they were inevitable at the time in which they lived, and with the lights which they possessed; but I point them out as imperfections which ought to be removed. The late Earl of Bridgewater died in February 1829, and left the sum of <£ 8000, which by his will he directed the President of the Royal Society of London to apply in paying any person or persons to be selected by him, ce to write, print, and publish one thousand copies of a work 1 On the Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God, as man- ifested in the Creation ;' illustrating such work by al] reasonable arguments, as, for instance, the variety and formation of God's creatures in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms; the effect of digestion, and there- by of conversion; the construction of the hand of man, and an infinite variety of other arguments; as also bj discoveries, ancient and modern, in arts, sciences, and the whole extent of literature." The President of the Roya Society called in the aid of the Archbishop of Canterbury rmd of the Bishop of London, and with their advice nominated eight gentlemen to write eight treatises on different branches of this great subject. The aim of the Earl of Bridgewater appears to have been to ascertain what the character of external nature and the capacities of the human mind really are, and what is the adaptation of the latter to the external world; questions of vast importance in themselves, and which can be solved only by direct, bold, and unbiassed appeals to Nature her- self. The first inquiry that ought naturally to have presented itself in the execution of this object was, *' c What is the constitution of the human mind;" because, before we can successfully trace the adaptation of two objects to each other, we must be acquainted with each of the objects AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 21 themselves. But the authors of the Bridgewater Treati- ses have neglected this branch of inquiry. They dis- dained to acknowledge Phrenology as the philosophy of mind, and although perfectly aware that there was no other system that could be applied, with any reasonable success, to the investigation in hand, they have never even attempted to assign to human nature any definite or intelligible constitution. In consequence, "they appear to me to have thrown extremely little new light on the moral government of the world. In the following work, the first edition of which was published in 1828, before the Earl of Bridgewater's death, II have endeavored to avoid this inconsistency. Having been convinced, after minute and long continued observa- tion, that Phrenology is the true philosophy .of mind, I have assumed it as the basis of my reasoning. In this inquiry it is indispensably necessary to found on some system of mental philosophy in order to obtain one of the elements of the comparison; but the reader, if he chooses, may re- gard the phrenological views as hypothetical in the mean time, and judge of them by the result. Or he may attempt to substitute in their place any better system with which he is acquainted, and try how far it will successfully con- duct him. In the next place, in instituting the comparison in question, I have brought into view, and endeavored to 'substantiate and apply a doctrine which, so far as I have yet been able to discover, is the key to the true theory of the divine government of the world, but which has not hitherto been duly appreciated, — namely, the independent existence and operation of the natural laws of creation. The natural laws may be divided into three great clas- ses, — Physical, Organic, and Moral; and the peculiarity of the new doctrine is, that these operate independently of each other; that each requires obedience to itself; that each, in its own specific way, rewards obedience and punishes disobedience; and that human beings are happy c 22 VIEW OP THE CONSTITUTION OP HUMAN NATURE, in proportion to the extent in which they place themselves kn accordance with all of these divine institutions. For example, the most pious and benevolent missionaries sail- ing to civilize and christianize the heathen, if they em- bark in an unsound ship, may be drowned by disobeying a physical law, without their destruction beyig averted by their morality. On the other hand, if the greatest mon- sters of iniquity were embarked in a stanch and strong ship, and managed it well, they might, and, on the general principles of the government of the world, they would escape drowning in circumstances exactly similar to those which would send the missionaries to the bottom. There appears something inscrutable in these results if only the moral qualities of the men be contemplated; but if the principle be adopted that ships float in virtue of a purely physical law, — that the physical and moral laws operate independently, each in its own sphere, — the consequences j appear in a totally different light. Again, the organic laws operate independently; and hence, one individual who has inherited a fine bodily constitution from his parents, and observes the rules of temperance and exercise, will enjoy robust health, al- though he may cheat, lie, blaspheme, and destroy his fellow men; while another, if he have inherited a feeble constitution, and disregards the rules of temperance and exercise, will suffer pain and sickness although he may be a paragon of every christian virtue. These results are frequently observed to occur in the world, and, on every such occasion, the darkness and inscrutable per- plexity of the ways of Providence are generally moralized upon; or a future life is called in as the scene in which these crooked paths are to be rendered straight. But if our views be correct, the divine wisdom and goodness are abundantly conspicuous in these events; for we per- ceive that, by this distinct operation of the organic and moral laws, order is preserved in creation, and the means of discipline and improvement are afforded to all the human faculties. AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS 23 The moral and intellectual laws also operate indepen- dently. The man who cultivates his intellect, and prac- tically obeys the precepts of Christianity, will enjoy with- in himself a fountain of moral and intellectual happiness which is the appropriate reward of that obedience. By these means he will be rendered more capable of study- ing, comprehending, and obeying, the physical and or- ganic laws, of placing himself in harmony with the whole order of creation, and of attaining the highest degree of perfection, and reaping the highest degree of happiness of which human nature in this world is susceptible. In short, whenever we apply the principle of the independent operation of the natural laws, the apparent confusion of the moral government of the world disappears. These views will be better understood and appreciated after perusing the subsequent chapters, the object of which is to unfold and apply them; the aim of these introductory emarks being merely to prepare the reader for travelling over the more abstruse portions of the work with a clearer perception of their scope and tendency. The work itself has now been before the public for six years, and I have seen no criticism which has shaken my conviction of the substantial truth of the principles maintained in it. Of its value as a contribution to the philosophy of human nature, the public are the only legitimate judges. Some well-meaning individuals have imagined, that this work is hostile to religion, because it is confined to principles which can be discovered by observation and reflection, and to human conduct in this life without direct reference to a future state; but such ideas are entirely unfounded. Human nature and the external world have both proceeded from the Creator, and it is impossible, in interpreting their constitution aright, to arrive at any con- clusions at variejice with a correct interpretation of Scrip- ture. This fundamental truth must be granted, otherwise religion can have no substantial foundation. If two sound 'nterpretations of the divine will, as recorded in Creation 24 VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF HUMAN NATURE, and in Scripture, can by possibility contradict each other, we can have no confidence in the moral Governor of the world. Assuming, then, that all, sound philosophy, and all true religion, must harmonize, there will be a manifest advantage in cultivating each by itself, till its full dimen- sions, limits, and applications shall be brought clearly to light. We may then advantageously compare them, and use the one as a means of elucidating or correcting our viows of the other. To the best of my knowledge, there is not one practical result of the natural laws expounded in the subsequent pages, which does not harmonize precisely with the prac- tical precepts of the New Testament. Indeed this work has been characterised by some individuals as the philos- ophy of Christian morality, because they regard it as ex- hibiting the natural foundations of the admirable precepts which are taught only dogmatically in the New Testament. It is objected, however, that, by omitting the sanction of future reward and punishment, this treatise leaves out the highest, best, and most efficacious class of motives to vir- tuous conduct. This objection is founded on a misappre- hension of the object of the book. It is my purpose to show, that the rewards and punishments of human actions are infinitely more complete, certain, and efficacious, in this life, than is generally believed; but by no means tc interfere with the sanctions to virtue afforded by the pros pects of future retribution. It appears to me that everj action which is morally wrong, in reference to a future life, is equally wrong and inexpedient with relation to this world; and that it is of essential advantage to virtue tc prove this to be the case. Having observed a great ten- dency in many religious men to overlook the importance of understanding the moral administration of this world, and to turn their attention too exclusively to the next, I have endeavored to present the administration of the pres- ent world in a clear light, calculated to arrest attention, and to draw towards it that degree of consideration to which AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 25 it is justly entitled. This proceeding will be recognised as the more necessary, if one principle largely insisted on in the present work shall be admitted to be sound, viz. that religion operates on the human mind, in subordination and not in contradiction, to its natural constitution. If this view be well founded, it will be indispensable that re- ligious teachers shall comply with all the natural conditions required by the human constitution, as preliminaries to moral and religious conduct, before their purely religious teaching can produce its full effects. If, for example, an ill constituted brain be unfavorable to the appreciation and practice of religious truth, it is not an unimportant in- quiry, whether any, and what, influence can be exercised bv human means in improving the size and proportions of the mental organs? If certain physical circumstances and occupations have a natural tendency to blunt all the higher feelings and faculties of the mind, in consequence of their influence on the nervous system in general, and the brain in particular, and if religious emotions cannot be experi- enced with full effect by individuals so situate, the ascer- tainment, with a view to removal, of the nature, causes, and effects, of these impediments to holiness, is not a mat- ter of indifference. This view has not been systematically adopted and pursued by the religious instructers of man- kind in any age, or any country, and for this sole reason, in my,humble opinion, that the state of moral and physi- cal science did not enable them either to appreciate its im- portance or carry it into effect. By presenting Nature in all her simplicity and strength, a new impulse and direc- tion may perhaps be given to their understandings; and they may be induced to consider whether their universally confessed failure to render men as virtuous and happy as they desired, may not to some extent have arisen from their non-fulfilment of the natural conditions instituted by tha Creator as preliminaries to success. 3 CHAPTER I. ON NATURAL LAWS. In natural science, three subjects of inquiry may be distinguished. 1st, What exists? 2dly, What is the pur- pose or design of what exists; and, 3dly, Why was what exists designed for such uses as it evidently subserves? It is matter of fact, for instance, that arctic regions and torrid zones exist, — that a certain kind of moss is most abundant in Lapland in winter, — that the rein-deer feeds on it, and enjoys health and vigor in situations where most other animals would die ; that camels exist in Africa, that they have broad hoofs, and stomachs fitted to retain water for a length of time, and that they flourish amid arid tracts of sand, where the rein-deer would not live for a day. All this falls under the inquiry, What exists ? In contemplating these facts, the understanding is natu- rally led to infer that one object of the Lapland moss is to feed the rein-deer, and that one purpose of the deer is to assist man: and that broad feet have been given to the camel to allow it to walk on sand, and a retentive" stomach to fit it for arid places in which water is found only at wide intervals. These are inquiries into the uses or pur- poses of what exists; and they constitute a legitimate exercise of the human 'ntellect. But, 3dly, ve mav ask, Why were the physical ele- ment? of nature created sucn as they are? Why were summer, autumn, spring, and winter introduced? Why were animals formed of organized matter ? Why were torrid zones and trackless wastes of snow called into exis- 28 ON NATURAL LAWS tence? These are inquiries why what exists was maue such as it is, or into the will of the Deity in creation. Now, man's perceptive faculties are adequate to the first inquiry, and his reflective faculties to the second, but it may well be doubted whether he has powers suited to the third. My investigations are confined to the first and second, and I do not discuss the third. In the Introduction, p. 8, I have endeavored to show that the Creator has bestowed definite constitutions on physical nature and on man and animals, and that they are regulated by fixed laws. A law, in the common ac- ceptation, denotes a rule of action; it implies a subject which acts, and that the actions or phenomena which it exhibits take place in an established and regular manner; and this is the sense in which I shall use it, when treat- ing of physical substances and beings. Water, for in- stance, when at the level of the sea, and combined with that portion of heat indicated by 32° of Fahrenheit's ther- mometer, freezes or becomes solid; when combined with the portion denoted by 212° of that instrument, it rises into vapor or steam. Here water and heat are the sub- stances, — the freezing and rising in vapor are the appear- ances or phenomena presented by them; and when we say that these take place according to a Law of Nature, we mean only that these modes of action appear, to our intellects, to be established in the very constitution of the water and heat, and in their natural relationship to each other; an^that the processes of freezing and rising in vapor are their constant appearances, when combined in these proportions, other conditions being the same. The ideas chiefly to be kept in view are, 1st, That all substances and beings have received a definite natural constitution; 2dly, That every mode of action, which is said to take place according to a natural law, is inherent in the constitution of the substance, or being; and, 3dly, That the mode of action described is universal and inva- riable, wherever and whenever the substances, or beings ON NATURAL LAWS. 29 are found in the same condition. For example, water, at he level of the sea, freezes and boils at the same tempe- rature, in China, in France, in Peru, and in England; and there is no exception to the regularity with which it exhibits these appearances, when all its other conditions are* the same: For this last qualification must constantly be attended to in all departments of science. If water be carried to the top of a mountain 20,000 feet high, it will boil at a lower temperature than 212°; but this depends on its relationship to the air, and takes place also accord- ing to fixed and invariable principles. The air exerts a great pressure on water. At the level of the sea the pressure is every where nearly the same, and in that sit- uation the freezing and boiling points Correspond all over the world ; but on the top of a high mountain the pressure is much less, and the vapor not being held down by so great a power of resistance, rises at a lower temperature than 212°. But this change of appearances dues not indicate a change in the constitution of the water and the heat, but only a variation in the circumstances in which they are placed; and hence it is not correct to say, that water boiling on the tops of high mountains, at a lower temperature than 212°, is an exception to the general law of nature: there never are exceptions to the laws of na- ture; for the Creator is too wise and too powerful to make imperfect or inconsistent arrangements. The error is in the human mind inferring the law to be, that water boils at 212° in all altitudes; when the real law is only that it boils at that temperature, at the level of the' sea, in all countries; and that it boils at a lower temperature the higher it is carried, because there the" pressure of the atmosphere is less. Intelligent beings are capable of observing nature and of modifying their actions. By means of their faculties, the laws impressed by the Creator on physical substances become known to them; and, when perceived, constitute laws ta them, by which to regulate their conduct. For 3* 30 ON NATURAL LAWS. example, it is a physical law, that boiling water destroys the muscular and nervous systems of man. This is the result purely of the constitution of the body, and the rela- tion between it and heat ; and man cannot alter or suspend that law. But whenever the human intellect perceives the relation, and the consequences of violating it, the mind is prbmpted to avoid infringement, in order to shun the torture attached by the Creator to the decomposition of the human body by heat. Similar views have long been taught by philosophers and divines. Bishop Butler, in particular, says : — " An Author of Nature being supposed, it is not so much a de- duction of reason as a matter of experience, that we are thus under his government, in the same sense as we are under the government of civil magistrates. Because the annexing pleasure to some actions, and pain "to others, in our power to do or forbear, and giving notice of this ap- pointment beforehand to those whom it concerns, is the proper formal notion of government. Whether the pleasure or pain which thus follows upon our behavior, be owing to the Author of Nature's acting upon us every moment when we feel it, or to his having at once contrived and executed his own part in the plan of the world, makes no alteration as to the matter before us. For, if civil magis- trates could make the sanctions of their laws take place, without interposing at all, after they had passed them, without a trial, and the formalities of an execution ; if they were able to make their laws execute themselves, or every offender to execute them upon himself, we should be just in the same sense under their government then as we are now ; but in a much higher degree and more perfect man- ner. Vain is the ridicule with which one sees some per- sons will divert themselves; upon finding lesser pains con- sidered as instances of divine punishment. There is no possibility of answering or evading the general thing here intended, without denying all final causes. For, final causes being admitted, the pleasures and pains now mentioned ON NATURAL LAWS. 31 must be admitted too, as instances of them. And if they are, if God annexes delight "to some actions, with an ap- parent design to induce us to act so and so, then he not only dispenses happiness and misery, but also rewards and ! punishes actions. If, for example, the pain which we feel upon doing what tends to the destruction of our bodies, suppose upon too near approaches to fire, or upon wound- ing ourselves, be appointed by the Author of Nature to prevent our doing what thus tends to our destruction; this •is altogether as much an instance of his punishing our ac- tions, and consequently of our being under his government, as declaring, by a voice from Heaven, that, if we acted so, he would inflict such pain upon us, and inflicting it whether it be greater or less.* " If, then, the reader keep in view that God is the crea- tor; that Nature, in the general sense, means the world 1 which he has made; and, in a more limited sense, the par- ticular constitution which he has bestowed on any special object, of which we may be treating; and that a Law of Nature means the established mode in which the actions and phenomena of any creature or object exhibit them- selves, and the obligation thereby imposed on intelligent beings to attend to it, he will be in no danger of misunder- standing my meaning. Every natural object has received a definite constitution, in virtue of which it acts in a particular way. There must, therefore, be as many natural laws, as there are distinct modes of action of substances and beings, viewed by them- selves. But substances and beings stand in certain rela- tions to each other, and modify each other's action, in an established and definite manner, according to that relation- ship; altitude, for instance, modifies the effect of heat upon water. There must, therefore, be also as many laws of nature, as there are relations between different substan- ces and beings. * Butler's Works, vol. i. p. 44. Similar observations by other au stractedly from its consequen- ces, would appear to bv n unfortunate quality of the gas; >ut when we rec* " Jiat gas is invisible, extremely 92 ON THE SOURCES OF HUMAN HAPPINESS, subtile, and liable to escape, and also, when mixed in a certain proportion with atmospheric air, to explode, and that the nauseous and penetrating smell is like a voice attached to it proclaiming its escape and warning us, in ouder and louder tones, to attend to our safety by con- fining it, — it presents the aspect of wise and benevolent design. It is objected to this argument, that it involves an nconsistency. Ignorance, it is said, of the natural laws is necessary to happiness, in order that the faculties may obtain exercise in discovering them; — nevertheless hap- piness is impossible till these laws shall have been dis- covered and obeyed. Here, then, it is said ignorance is represented as at once essential to, and incompatible with, enjoyment. The same objection, however, applies to the constitution of the bee. Gathering honey is neces- sary to its enjoyment; yet it cannot subsist and be happy till it has gathered honey, and therefore that act is both essential to, and incompatible with, its gratification The fallacy lies in losing sight of the natural constitution both of the bee and of man. While the bee possesses instinctive tendencies to roam about the fields and flow- ery meadows, and to exert its energies in labor, it is obviously beneficial to it to be furnished with motives and opportunities for doing so; and so it is with man to obtain scope for his bodily and mental powers. Now, gathering knowledge is to the mind of man what gather- ing honey is to the bee. Apparently with the view of effectually prompting the bee to seek this pleasure, honey is made essential to its subsistence. In like manner, and probably with a similar design, knowledge is made indispensable to human enjoyment. Communi eating intuitive knowledge of the natural laws to man, while his present constitution continues, would be the -exact parallel of gorging the bee with honey in midsummer, when its energies are at their height. When the bee has completed its store, winter benumbs its powers, AND THE CONDITIONS FOR MAINTAINING IT. 93 which resume their vigor only when its stock is exhaust- ed, and spring returns to afford them exercise. No torpor resembling that of winter seals up the faculties of the human race; but their ceaseless activity is amply provided for, because, 1st, The laws of nature, compared with the mind of any individual, ,are of boundless extent, so that every one may learn something new to the end of the longest life. 2dly, By the actual constitution of man, he must make use of his acquirements habitually, otherwise he will lose them. 3dly, Every individual of the race is born in utter igliorance, and starts from zero in the scale of knowledge, so that he has the laws to learn for himself. These circumstances remove the apparent inconsis- tency. If man had possessed intuitive knowledge of all nature, he could have had no scope for exercising his faculties in acquiring knowledge, in preserving it, or in communicating it. The infant would have been as wise as the most revered sage, and forgetfulness would have been necessarily excluded:** Those who object to these views, imagine that after the human race has acquired knowledge of all the natu- ral laws, if such a result be possible, they will be in the same condition as if they had been created ivith intuitive knowledge ; but this does not follow. Although the race should acquire the knowledge supposed, it is not an m- evitable consequence that each individual will necessarily enjoy it all; which, however, would follow from intuition. The entire soil of Britain belongs to the landed proprie- tors as a class; but each does not possess it all; and hence every one has opportunities for adding to his ter- ritories; with this advantage, however, in favor of know- ledge, that the acquisitions of one do not impoverish another. Farther, although the race should have learned all the # natural laws, their children would not intuitively inherit their ideas, and hence the activity of every one, as he appears on the stage, would be provided for. 94 ON THE SOURCES OF HUMAN HAPPINESS, whereas, by intuition, every child would be as wise as his grandfather, and parental protection, filial piety, and all the delights that spring from difference in knowledge between youth and age, would be excluded. 3d, By the actual state of man, using of acquirements is essential to the preservation as well as the enjoyment of them. By intuition, all knowledge would be habitually present to the mind without effort or consideration. On the whole, therefore, it appears that man's nature being what it is, the arrangement by which he is endowed with powers to acquire knowledge, but left to find it out for himself, is both wise and benevolent. It has been asked, ' But is there no pleasure in science but that of discovery? Is there none in using the know- ledge we have attained? Is there no pleasure in playing at chess after we know the moves?' In answer, I observe, that if we know beforehand all the moves that our antagonist intends to make and all our own, which must be the case if we know every thing by intuition, we shall have no pleasure. The pleasure really consists in dis- covering the intentions of our antagonist, and in calculat- ing the effects of our own play; a certain degree of ignorance of both of which is indispensable to gratifica- tion. In like manner, it is agreeable first to discover the natural laws, and then to study ■ the moves' that we ought to make, in consequence of knowing them. So mdch, then, for the sources of human happiness. In the second place, Tq reap enjoyment in the greatest quantity and to maintain it most permanently, the faculties must be gratified harmoniously : In other words, if, among the various powers, the supremacy belongs to the moral sentiments, then the aim of our habitual conduct must be the attainment of objects suited to gratify them. For example, in_ pursuing wealth or fame, as the leading object of existence, full gratification is not afforded to Benevolence, Veneration, and Conscientiousness, and consequently complete satisfaction cannot be enjoyed , AND THE CONDITIONS FOR MAINTAINING IT. 95 whereas, by seeking knowledge, and dedicating life to the welfare of mankind, and obedience to God, in our several vocations, these faculties will be gratified, and wealth, fame, health, and other advantages, will flow in their train, so that the whole mind will rejoice, and its delight will remain permanent. Thirdly, To place human happiness on a secure basis, the laws of external creation themselves must accord with the dictates of the moral sentiments, and intellect must be fitted to discover the nature and relations of both, and to direct the conduct in harmony with them. Much has been written about the extent of human ignorance; but we should discriminate between absolute incapacity to know, and mere want of information, arising from not having used this capacity to its full extent. In regard to the first, or our capacity to know, it appears probable that, in this world, we shall never know the essence, beginning, or end of things; because these are points which we have no faculties calculated to discover: But the same Creator who made the external world, con- stituted our faculties, and if we have sufficient data for inferring that his intention is, that we shall enjoy exist- ence here while preparing for the ulterior ends of our being; and if it be true'that we can be happy here only by becoming thoroughly conversant with those natural laws which, when observed, are pre-arranged to con- tribute to our enjoyment, and which, when violated, visit us with suffering, we may safely conclude that our mental capacities are wisely adapted to the attainment of these objects, whenever we shall do our own duty in bringing them to their highest condition of perfection, and in applying them in the best manner. Sir Isaac Newton observed, that all bodies were com- bustible which refracted the rays of light, except one, the diamond, which he found tt> possess this quality, but which he was not able, by any powers he possessed, to consume by burning. He did not conclude, however, fc> 96 ON THE SOURCES OF HUMAN HAPPINESS. from this, that the diamond was an exception to the uniformity of nature. He inferred, that, as the same Creator had made the refracting bodies, which he was able to burn, and the diamond, and proceeded by uniform laws, the diamond also would, in all probability, be found to be combustible, and that the reason of its resisting his power was ignorance on his part of the proper way to produce its conflagration. A century afterwards, chemists made the diamond blaze with as much vivacity as Sir. Isaac Newton had done a wax-candle. Let us proceed, then, on an analogous principle. If the inten- tion of our Creator be, that we should enjoy existence while in this world, then He knew what was necessary ^to enable us to do so; and He will not be found to have failed in conferring on us powers fitted to accomplish his design, provided we do our duty in developing and applying them. The great motive to exertion is the con- viction, that increased knowledge will furnish us with increased means of happiness and well-doing, and with new proofs of benevolence and wisdom in the Great Architect of the Universe. 97 CHAPTER IV. APPLICATION OF THE NATURAL LAWS TO THE PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS OF LIFE. If a system of living and occupation were to be framed for human beings, founded on the exposition of their nature, which I have now given, it would be something like this. 1st, So many hours a-day should be dedicated by every individual in health, to the exercise -of his nervous and muscular systems, in labor calculated to give scope to these functions. The reward of obeying this requisite of his nature would be health, and a joyous animal exist- ence; the punishment of neglect is disease, low spirits, and death. 2dly, So many hours a-day should be spent in the sedu- lous employment of the knowing and reflecting faculties; in studying the qualities of external objects, and their relations; also the nature of animated beings, and their relations; not with the view of accumulating mere ab- stract and barren knowledge, but of enjoying the positive pleasure of mental activity, and of turning every discovery to account, as a means of increasing happiness, or allevi- ating misery. The leading object should always be, to find out the relationship of every object to our own na- ture, organic, animal, moral, and intellectual, and to keep that relationship habitually in mind, so as to render our acquirements directly^ gratifying to our various faculties The reward of this conduct -would be an incalculably great increase of pleasure, in the very act of acquiring knowledge of the real properties of external objects, to- gether with a great accession of power in reaping ulterior advantages, and avoiding disagreeable affections. 9 98 APPLICATION OF THE NATURAL LAWS TO 3dly, So many hours a-day ought to Fe devoted to the cultivation and gratification of our moral and religious sentiments; that is to say, in exercising these in harmony ^ with intellect, and especially in acquiring the habit of admiring, loving, and yielding obedience to the Creator and his institutions. This last object is of vast impor- tance. Intellect is barren of practical fruit, however rich it may be in knowledge, until it is fired and prompted to act by moral sentiment. In my view, knowledge by it- self is comparatively worthless and impotent, compared with what it becomes when vivified by elevated emotions. It is not enough that Intellect is informed; the moral faculties must simultaneously co-operate, in yielding obe- dience to the precepts which the intellect recognises to be true. As Creation is one great system of which God is the author and preserver, we may fairly presume that there must be harmony among all its parts, and between it and its Creator. The human mind is a portion of cre- ation, and its constitution must be included in this har- monious scheme. The grand object of the moral and intellectual faculties of man, therefore, ought to be, the study of God and of his works. Before philosophy can rise to its highest dignity, and shed on the human race its richest benefits, it must become religious; that is to say, its principles and their consequences must be viewed as proceeding directly from the Divine Being, and as a rev- elation of his will to the faculties of man, for the guidance of his conduct. Philosophy, while separated from the moral feelings, is felt by the people at large to be cold and barren. It may be calculated to interest individuals, possessing high intellectual endowments; but as the moral and religious sentiments greatly predominate in energy over the intellectual powers, in the mass of mankind, it . fails to interest them. On the other hand, before natural religion can appear in all its might and glory, it must be- come philosophical. Its foundations must be laid in the system of creation; its authority must be deduced from THE PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS OF LIFE. 99 the principles of that system; and its applications must be enforced by a demonstration of the power of Providence operating in enforcing the execution of its. dictates. While reason and religion are at variance, both are ob- structed in producing their full beneficial effects. God has placed harmony between them, and it is only human imperfection and ignorance that introduce discord. One way of cultivating the sentiments would be for men to meet and act together, on the fixed principles which I am now endeavoring to unfold, and to exercise on each other in mutual instruction, and in united adoration of the great and glorious Creator, the several faculties of Benevo- lence, Veneration, Hope, Ideality, Wonder, and Justice. The reward of acting in this manner would be a commu- nication of direct and intense pleasure to each other; for I refer to every individual who has ever had the good for- tune to pass a day or an hour with a really benevolent, pious, honest, and intellectual man, whose soul swelled with adoration of his Creator, whose intellect was replen- ished with knowledge of his works, and whose whole mind was instinct with sympathy for human happiness, whether such a day did not afford him the most pure, el- evated, and lasting gratification he ever enjoyed. Such an exercise, besides, would invigorate the whole moral and intellectual powers, and fit them to discover and obey the divine institutions. Phrenology is highly conducive to this enjoyment of our moral and intellectual nature. No faculty is bad, but, on the contrary, each has a legitimate sphere of action, and, when properly gratified, is a fountain of pleasure; in short, man possesses no feeling, of the right exercise of which an enlightened and ingenuous mind need be ashamed. A party of thorough practical phrenologists, therefore, meets in the perfect knowledge of each other's qualities; they respect these as the gifts of the Creator, and their great object is to derive the utmost pleasure from their legitimate use, ano! to avoid every approxima- 100 APPLICATION OF THE NATURAL LAWS TO tion to abuse of them. The distinctions of country and education are broken down by unity of principle; the chilling restraints of Cautiousness, Self-Esteem, Secre- tiveness, and Love of Approbation, which stand as bar- riers of eternal ice between human beings in the ordinary intercourse of society, are gently removed; the directing sway is committed to Benevolence, Veneration, Consci- entiousness, and Intellect; and then the higher principles of the mind operate with a delightful vivacity unknown to persons unacquainted with the qualities of human nature Intellect also ought to be regularly exercise**! in arts, science, philosophy, and observation. I have said nothing of dedicating hours to the direct gratification of .the animal powers; not that they should not be exercised, but that full scope for their activity will be included in the employments already mentioned. In muscular exercises, Combativeness, Destructiveness, Constructiveness, Acquisitiveness, Self-Esteem, and Love of Approbation, may all be gratified. In contending with and sui mounting physical and moral difficulties, Com- bativeness and Destructiveness obtain vent; in working at a mechanical employment, requiring the exertion of strength, these two faculties, and also Constructiveness and Acquisitiveness, will be exercised; in emulation who shaft accomplish most good, Self-Esteem and Love of Approbation will obtain scope. In the exercise of the mora} faculties, several of these, and others of the animal propensities are employed; Amativeness, Philoprogeni tiveness, and Adhesiveness, for example, acting under the guidance of Benevolence, Veneration, Conscientious- ness, ideality, and Intellect, receive direct enjoyment in the domestic circle. From proper direction also, and from tne superior delicacy and refinement imparted to them by the higher powers, they do not infringe the moral law, and leave no sting or repentance in the mind. Finally, a certain portion of time would require to be dedicate'd to taking of food and sleep. THE PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS OF LIFE. 101 AH systems hitherto practised have been deficient in providing for one or more of these branches of enjoy- ment. In the community at Orbiston, formed on Mr. Owen's principles, music, dancing, and theatrical enter- tainments were provided; but the people soon tired of these. They had not corresponding moral and intellec- tual instruction. The novelty excited them, but there was nothing substantial behind. In common society, very little either of rational instruction or amusement is provided. The neglect of innocent amusement is a great error. If there be truth in these views, they will throw some light on two important questions, that have puzzled phi- losophers in regard to the progress of human improve- ment. The first is, Why should man have existed so long, and made so small an advance in the road to happi- j ness? It is obvious that the very scheme of creation which I have described, implies that man is a progressive being; and progression necessarily supposes lower and higher conditions of attainment and enjoyment. While men are ignorant, there is great individual suffering. This distresses sensitive minds, and seems inexplicable: they cannot conceive how improvement should so slowly advance. I confess myself incapable of affording any^ philosophical explanation why man should have been so constituted; neither can I give a reason why the whole earth was not made temperate and productive, in place of being partially covered with regions of barren sand and eternal snow. The Creator alone can explain these dif- ficulties. When the inhabitants of Britain wore the skins of animals, and lived in huts, we may presume that, in rigorous winters, many of them suffered severe priva- tions, and that some would perish from cold. If there had been among the sufferers a gifted- philosopher, who observed the talents that were inherent in the people, al- though then latent, and who, in consequence, foresaw the splendid palaces and warm fabrics with which their de~ 9* H 102 APPLICATION OF THE NATURAL LAWS TO scendaLtfc would one day adorn this island, he might well have been led to deplore the slow progress of improve- ment, and been grieved at the prevalence of so much in- termediate misery. Yet, the explanation that man is a progressive being is all that philosophy can offer; and if this satisfy us as to the past, it must be equally satisfac- tory in regard to the present and the future. This dif- ficulty is eloquently adverted to by Dr. Chalmers in his Bridgew*;ter Treatise. cc We might not know the reason," says he, iC why, in the moral world, so many ages of darkness and depravity should have been permitted to pass bv . any more than we know the reason why, in the natural world, the trees of a forest, instead of starting all at once into the full efflorescence and stateliness of their manhood have to make their slow and laborious advance- ment to maturity, cradled in storms, and alternately drooping or expanding with the vicissitudes of the sea- sons. But though unable to scan all the cycles either of the moral or natural economy, yet we may recognise such influences at work, as when multiplied and devel- oped to the uttermost, are abundantly capable of regener- ating the world. One of the likeliest of these influences is the power of education, to the perfecting of which so many minds are earnestly directed at this moment, and ^for the general acceptance of which in society, we have a guarantee in the strongest affections and fondest wishes of the fathers and mothers of families." (Vol. i. p. 186 ) Although, therefore, we cannot explain why Man was constituted a progressive being, and why such a being advances slowly, the principles of this Essay show that there is at least an admirable adaptation of his faculties to his condition. If I am right in the fundamental prop- osition, that activity in the faculties is synonymous with enjoyment of existence, — it follows that it would have been less wise and less benevolent towards man, consti- tuted as he is, to have communicated to him intuitively perfect knowledge, thereby leaving his mental powers THE PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS OF LIFE. 103 with diminished motives to activity, than to bestow on him faculties endowed with high susceptibility of action, and to surround him with scenes, objects, circumstances, and relations, calculated to maintain them in ceaseless excite- ment; although this latter arrangement necessarily sub- jects him to suffering while ignorant, and renders his first ascent in the scale of improvement difficult and slow. It is interesting to observe, that, according to this view, although the first pair of the human race had been cre- ated with powerful and well balanced faculties, but of the same nature as at present; if they were not also intui- tively inspired with knowledge of the whole creation, and its relations, their first movements as individuals would have been retrograde; that is, as individuals, they would, through pure want of information, have infringed many natural laws, and suffered evil; while, as parts of the race, they would have been decidedly advancing; for every pang they suffered would have led them to a new step in knowledge, and prompted them to advance towards a much higher condition than that which they at first occu- pied. According to the hypothesis now presented, not only is man really benefited by the arrangement which leaves him to discover the natural laws for himself, al- though, during the period of his ignorance, he suffers much evil from want of acquaintance with them; but his progress towards knowledge and happiness must, from the very extent of his experience, be actually greater than can at present be conceived. Its extent will become more obvious, and his experience itself more valuable, after he has obtained a view of the real theory of his constitution. He will find that past miseries have at least exhausted countless errors, and he will know how to avoid thousands of paths that lead to pain: in short, he will then discover that errors in conduct resemble errors ih philosophy, in this, that they give additional impor- tance and practicability to truth, by the demonstration which they afford of the evils attending departures from »04 APPLICATION OP THE NATURAL LAWS TO its dictates. The grand sources of human suffering at present arise from bodily disease and mental anxiety, and, in the next chapter, these will be traced to infringe- ment, through ignorance or otherwise, of physical, organ- ic, moral, or intellectual laws, which, when expounded, appear in themselves calculated to promote the happiness of the race. It may be supposed that, according to this view, as knowledge accumulates, enjoyment will de- crease; but ample provision is made against this event, by withholding intuition from each generation as it ap- pears on the stage. Each successive age must acquire knowledge for itself; and, provided ideas are new, and suited to the faculties, the pleasure of acquiring them from instructers, is only second to that of discovering them for ourselves; and, probably, countless ages may elapse before all the facts and relations of nature shall have been explored, and the possibility of discovery exhausted. If the universe be infinite, knowledge can never be complete. The second question is, Has man really advanced in happiness, in proportion to hi3 increase in knowledge? We are apt tc ' Certain erroneous notions of the plea- sures enjoyed bj past ages. Fabulists have represented them as peaceful, innocent, and gay; but if we look nar- rowly into the conditions of the savage and barbarian of the present day, and recollect that these are the states of all individuals previous to the acquisition of knowledge, we shall not much or long regret the pretended diminu- tion of enjoyment by civilization. Phrenology renders the superiority of the latter condition certain, by showing it to be a law of nature, that, until the intellect is exten- sively informed, and the moral sentiments assiduously exercised, the animal propensities bear the predominant sway; and that wherever they are supreme, misery is an inevitable concomitant. Indeed, the answer to the ob- jection that happiness has not increased with knowledge, appears to me to be found in the fact, that until phrenolo- THE PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS OF LIFE. 10b gy was discovered, the nature of man was not scientifi- cally known; and, in consequence, that not one of his institutions, civil or domestic, Was correctly founded on the principle of the supremacy of the moral sentiments, or in accordance with the other laws of his constitution. Owing to the same cause, also, much of his knowledge has necessarily remained partial, and inapplicable to use; but after this science shall have been appreciated and applied, clouds of darkness, accumulated through long ages that are past, may be expected to roll away, as if touched by the rays of the meridian sun, and with them many of the miseries that attend total ignorance or imperfect information.* It ought also to be kept constantly in remembrance, that man is a social being, and that the precept ' love your neighbor as yourself 5 is imprinted in his constitu- tion. That is to say, so mttch of the happiness of each individual depends on the habits, practices and opinions of the society in which he lives, that he cannot reap the full benefits of his own advancement, until similar prin- ciples shall have been embraced and realized in practice by his fellow men. This renders it his interest, as it is his duty, to communicate his knowledge to them, and to carry them forward in the career of improvement. At this moment, there are thousands of persons who feel their enjoyments, physical, moral and intellectual, im- paired and abridged by the mass of ignorance and preju- | dice which every where surrounds them. They are men living before their age, and whom the world neither understands nor appreciates. Let them not, however, * Readers who are strangers to Phrenology, and the evidence on which it rests, may regard the observations in the text as extravagant and enthusiastic; but I respectfully remind them, that, while they judge in comparative ignorance, it has been my endeavor to subject it to the severest scrutiny. Having found its proofs irrefragable, and being convinced of its importance, I solicit their indulgence in speaking of it as it appears to my own mind. 106 APPLICATION OF THE NATURAL LAWS TO repine or despair; but dedicate their best efforts to com- municating the truths which have opened up to them- selves the prospect of happiness, and they shall not be disappointed. The law of our constitution which has established the supremacy of the moral sentiments, ren- ders it impossible for individuals to attain the full enjoy- ment of their rational nature, until they have rendered their fellow men virtuous and happy; and in the truth and power of this principle, the ignorant and the wretch- ed have a better guarantee for being raised in their .con- dition by the efforts of their more fortunate brethren, than in the establishment of poor laws or other legislative enactments. If all ranks of the people were taught the philosophy which I am now advocating, and if, in so far as it is true, it were enforced by their religious instruc- tors as the will of the Creator communicated to man, through His natural institutions, the progress of general improvement would probably be accelerated. If the notions now advocated shall ever prevail, it will be seen that the experience of past ages affords no suffi- cient reason for limiting our estimate of man's capabili- ties of civilization; — he is yet only in the infancy of his existence. In the introduction I mentioned the long and gradual preparation of the globe for man; and that he appears to be destined to advance only by stages to the highest condition of his moral and intellectual nature. At present he is obviously only in the beginning of his career. Although a knowledge of external nature, and of himself, are indispensable to his advancement to his true station as a rational being, yet four hundred years have not elapsed since the arts of printing and engraving were invented, without which, knowledge could not be disseminated through the mass of mankind; and, up to the present hour, the art of reading is by no means general over the world — so that, even now, the means of calling man's rational nature into activity, although dis covered, are but very imperfectly applied. It is only THE PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS OF LIFE. 107 five or six centuries since the mariner's compass was known in Europe, without which even philosophers could not ascertain the most common facts regarding the size, form, and productions of the earth. It is only three hundred and forty years since one-half of the habitable globe, America, became known to the other half; and considerable portions of it are yet unknown even to the best informed inquirers. It is little more than two hun- dren years since the true theory of the circulation of the blood was discovered ; previous to which it was impossi- ble even for physicians to form any correct idea of the uses of many of man's corporeal organs, and of their lelations to external nature. It is only between forty and fifty years since the true functions of the brain and nervous system were discovered; before which we pos- sessed no adequate means of becoming acquainted with our mental constitution, and its adaptation to external circumstances and beings. It is only fifty-seven years since the study of chemistry, or of the physical elements of the globe, was put into a philosophical condition by Dr. Priestley's discovery of oxygen; and hydrogen was discovered so lately as 1766, or sixty-eight years ago. Before that time, people in general were comparatively ignorant of the qualities and relations of the most im- portant material agents with which they were surrounded. At present this knowledge is still in its infancy, as will Appear from an enumeration of the dates of several other /mportant discoveries. Electricity was discovered in 1728, galvanism in 1794, gas-light about 1798; and steam-boats, steam-looms, and the safety-lamp, in our own day. It is only of late years that the study of geology has been seriously begun; without which we could not know the past changes in the physical structure of the globe, a matter of much importance as an element in judging of our present position in the world's progress. This science also is in its infancy. An inconceivable extent 108 THE PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS OF LIFE »f territory remains to be explored, from the examination of which the most interesting and instructive inferences will probably present themselves. The mechanical sciences are at this moment in full play, putting forth vigorous shoots, and giving the strong- est indications of youth, and none of decay. The sciences of morals and of government are still in he crudest condition. In consequence, therefore, of this profound ignorance, man, in all ages, has been directed in his pursuits, by the mere impulse of his strongest propensities, formerly to war and conquest, and now to accumulating wealth, without having framed his habits and institutions in con- formity with correct and enlightened views of his own nature, and its real interests and wants. Up to the pre- sent day the mass of the people in every nation have remained essentially ignorant, the tools of interested leaders, or the creatures of their own blind impulses, unfavorably situated for the development of their rational nature. They, constituting the great majority, of neces- sity influence the condition of the rest: — But at last, the arts and sciences seem to be tending towards abridging human labor, so as to force leisure on the mass of the people: while the elements of useful knowledge are so rapidly increasing; the capacity of the operatives for instruction is so generally recognised; and the means of communicating it are so powerful and abundant; that a new era may fairly be considered as having commenced. Owing to the want of a practical philosophy of human nature, multitudes of amiable and talented individuals are at present anxious only for preservation of the attain- ments which society possesses; and dread retrogression in the future. If the views now expounded be correct, this race of moralists and politicians will in time become extinct, because progression being the law of our nature, the proper education of the people will render the desire i br improvement universal. 109 CHAPTER V TO WHAT EXTENT ARE THE MISER ES OF MANKIND REFERABLE TO INFRINGEMENTS OF THE LAWS OF NATURE 1 i In the present chapter, I propose to inquire into some of the evils that have afflicted the human race; also whether they have proceeded from abuses of institutions benevolent and wise in themselves, and calculated, when observed, to promote the happiness of man, or from a constitution of nature so defective that he cannot supply its imperfections, or so vicious that he can neither rectify nor improve its qualities. The following extract from the journal of John Locke, contains a forcible statement of the principle which I intend to illustrate in this chap- ter: 'Though justice be also a perfection which we must necessarily ascribe to the Supreme Being, yet we cannot suppose the exercise of it should extend farther than his goodness has need of it for the preservation of his crea- tures in the order and beauty of the state that he has placed each of them in; for since our actions cannot reach unto him, or bring him any profit or damage, the punishments he inflicts on any of his creatures, i. e. the misery or destruction he brings upon them, can be nothing'else but to preserve the greater or more consid- erable part, and so being only for preservation, his justice is nothing but a branch of his goodness, which is fain by severity to restrain the irregular and destructive parts from doing harm. 5 — Lord King's Life of Locke, p. 122. 10 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 11Q. SECTION I. CALAMITIES ARISING FROM INFRINGEMENTS OF THE PHYSICAL LAWS. The proper way of viewing the Creator's institutions, is to look, first, to their uses, and to the advantages that flow from using them aright; and, secondly, to their abuses, and the evils that proceed from this source. In Chapter II, some of the benefits conferred on man, by the law of gravitation, are enumerated; and I may here advert to some of the evils originating from that law, when human conduct is in opposition to it. For example, men are liable to fall from horses, carriages, stairs, precipices, roofs, chimneys, ladders, masts, or to slip in the street; — by which accidents life is often sud- denly cut short, or rendered miserable from lameness and pain; and the question arises, Is human nature pro- vided with any means of protection against these evils, at all equal to their frequency and extent? The lower animals are equally subject to this law; and the Creator has bestowed on them external senses, nerves, muscles, bones, an instinctive sense of equilibrium, the sense of danger, or cautiousness, and other faculties, to place them in accordance with it. These appear to afford sufficient protection to animals* placed in all ordi- nary circumstances; for we very rarely discover any of them, in their natural condition, killed or mutilated by accidents referable to gravitation. Where their mode of life exposes them to extraordinary danger from this law, they are provided with additional securities. The monkey, which climbs trees, enjoys great muscular energy in its legs, claws, and tail, far surpassing, in proportion to its gravitating tendency, or its bulk and weight, what is bestowed on the legs and arms of man; so that, by means of them, it springs from branch to branch, in nearly complete security against the law in question INFRINGEMENTS OF THE PHYSICAL LAWS. Ill The goat, which browses on the brinks of precipices, has received a hoof and legs, that give precision and stability to its steps. Birds, which are destined to sleep on branches of trees, are provided with a muscle passing over the joints of each leg, and stretching down to the foot, which, being pressed by their weight, produces a proportionate contraction of their claws, so as to make them cling the faster, the greater their liability to fall. The fly, which walks and sleeps on perpendicular walls, and the ceilings of rooms, has a hollow in its foot, from which it expels the air, and the pressure of the atmos- phere on the outside of the foot holds it fast to the object on which the inside is placed. The walrus, or sea- horse, which is destined to climb up the sides of ice-hills, is provided with a similar apparatus The camel, whose native region is the sandy deserts of the torrid zone, has broad spreading hoofs to support it on the loose soil Fishes are furnished with air-bladders, by dilating and contracting of which they can accommodate themselves with perfect precision to the law of gravitation. In these instances, the lower animals, under the sole guidance of their instincts, appear to be placed admirably in harmony with gravitation, and guaranteed against its infringement. Is Man, then, less an object of love with the Creator? Is he alone left exposed to the evils that spring inevitably from its neglect? His means of pro- tection are different, but when understood and applied, they will probably be found not less complete. Man, as well as the lower animals, has received bones, muscles, nerves, an instinct of equilibrium # , and faculties of Cau- tiousness; but not in equal perfection, in proportion to his figure, size, and weight, with those bestowed on them: — The difference, however, is far more than com- pensated by other faculties, particularly those of Con- Btructiveness and Reflection, in which he greatly sur- * Vide Essay on Weight, Phren. Journ. vol. ii. p. 412. 112 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM passes them. Keeping in view that the external world in regard to man, is arranged on the principle of supremacy in the moral Sentiments and intellect, we shall probably find, that the calamities suffered by him from the law of gravitation, are referable to predominance of the animal propensities, or to neglect of proper ex- ercise of his intellectual powers. For example, when coaches break down, ships sink, or men fall from ladders, how generally may the cause be traced to decay in the vehicle, the vessel, or ladder, which a predominating Acquisitiveness alone prevented from being repaired; or when men fall from houses, scaffolds, or slip on the street, how frequently should we find their muscular, nervous, and mental energies, impaired by preceding debaucheries; in other words, by predominance of the animal faculties, which for the time diminished their natural means of accommodating themselves to the law from which they suffer. Or, again, the slater, in using a ladder, assists himself by Constructiveness and Reflec tion; but, in walking along the ridge of a house, or standing on a chimney, he takes no aid from these facul- ties; he trusts to the mere instinctive power of equili- brium, in which he is inferior to the lower animals, and, in so doing, clearly violates the law of his nature, that requires him to use reflection, where instinct is deficient. Causality and Constructiveness could invent means, by which, if he slipped from a roof or chimney, his fall might be arrested. A small chain, for instance, attached by one end to a girdle round his body, and the other end fastened by a hook and eye to the roof, might leave him at liberty to move, and break his fall, in case he slipped. How frequently, too, do these accidents happen, after disturbance of the faculties and corporeal functions by intoxication? The objection will probably occur, that in the gross condition in which the mental powers exist, the great body of mankind are incapable of exerting habitually that INFRINGEMENTS OP THE PHYSICAL LAWS. 1 13 degree of moral and intellectual energy, which is indis- pensable to observance of the natural laws; and that, therefore, they are, in point of fact, less fortunate than the lower animals. I admit that, at present, this repre- sentation is to a considerable extent just; but nowhere do I perceive the human mind instructed, and its powers exercised, in a degree at all approaching to their limits Let any person recollect how much greater capacity for enjoyment and security from danger he has experienced, at a particular time, when his whole mind was filled with, and excited by, some mighty interest, not only allied to, but founded in, morality and intellect, than in that lan- guid condition which accompanies the absence of elevat- ed and ennobling emotions; and he may form some idea of what man will be capable of reaching, when his powers shall have been cultivated to the extent of their capacity. At the present moment, no class of society is systematically instructed in the constitution of their own minds and bodies, in the relations of these to external objects, in the nature of these objects, in the natural su- premacy of the moral sentiments, in the principle that activity of the faculties is the only source of pleasure, and that the higher the powers, the more intense the delight; and, if such views be to the mind what light is to the eyes, air to the lungs, and food to the stomach, there is no wonder that a mass of inert mentality, if I may use such a word, should every where exist around us, and that countless evils should spring from its continu- ance in this condition. If active moral and intellectual faculties are the natural fountains of enjoyment, and the external world is created with reference to this state; it is as obvious that misery must result from animal supre- macy and intellectual torpidity, as that flame, which is constituted to burn only when supplied with oxygen, must inevitably become extinct, when exposed to car- bonic acid gas. Finally, if the arrangement by which man is left to discover and obey the laws of his ow» 10* 114 CALAMIT, IS ARISING FROM nature, and of the physical world, be more conducive to activity, than intuitive knowledge, the calamities now contemplated appear to be instituted to force him to his duty; and his duty, when understood, will constitute his delight. While, therefore, we lament the fate of individual victims to the law of gravitation, we cannot condemn that law itself. If it were suspended, to save men from the effects of negligence, not only would the proud creations of human skill totter to their base, and the human body rise from the earth, and hang midway in the air; but our highest enjoyments would be terminated, and our faculties become positively useless, by being de- prived of their field of exertion. Causality, for instance, teacher that similar causes will always, cceteris paribus, produce similar effects; and, if the physical laws were suspended or varied, so as to accommodate themselves to man's negligence or folly, it is obvious that this faculty would be without an object*, and that no definite course of action could be entered upon with confidence in the result. If, then, this view of the constitution of nature were kept steadily in view, the occurrence of one acci- dent of this kind would stimulate reflection to discover means to prevent others. Similar illustrations and commentaries might be given, in regard to the other physical laws to which man is subject; but the object of the present Essay being merely to evolve principles, I confine myself to gravitation, as the most obvious and best understood. I do not mean to say, that, by the mere exercise of intellect, man may absolutely guarantee himself against all accidents; but only that the more ignorant and care- less he is, the more he will suffer, and the more intel- ligent and vigilant, the less; and that I can perceive no limits to this rule! The law of most civilized countries recognises this principle, and subjects owners of ships, coaches, and other vehicles, in damages arising from INFRINGEMENTS OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 1 lo gross infringements of the physical laws. It is unques- tionable that the enforcement of this liability has given increased security to travellers in no trifling degree. SECTION II. ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. It is a very common error, not only among philoso- phers, but among practical men, to imagine that the feelings of the mind are communicated to it through the medium of the intellect; and, in particular, that if no indelicate objects reach the eyes, or expressions penetrate the ears, perfect purity will necessarily reign within the soul; and, carrying this mistake into practice, they are prone to object to all discussion of the subjects treated of under the ' Organic Laws,' in works designed for general use. But their principle of reasoning is falla- cious, and the practical result has been highly detrimental to society. The feelings have existence and activity distinct from the intellect; they spur it on to obtain their own gratification; and it may become either their guide or slave, according as it is, or is not, enlightened con- cerning their constitution and objects, and the laws of nature to which they are subjected. The most profound philosophers have inculcated this doctrine; and, by phre- nological observation, it is demonstratively established. The organs of the feelings are distinct from those of the intellectual faculties; they are larger; and, as each faculty, cctteris paribus, acts with a power proportionate to the size of its organs, the feelings are obviously the active or impelling powers. The cerebellum, or organ of Amativeness, is the largest of the whole mental or- gans; and, being endowed with natural activity, it fills the mind spontaneously with emotions and suggestions which may be directed, controlled, and resisted, in out- 116 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM ward manifestation, by intellect and moral sentiment, but which cannot be prevented from arising, or eradicated after they exist. The whole question, therefore, resolves itself into this, Whether it is most beneficial to enlighten and direct that feeling, or (under the influence of an error in philosophy, and false delicacy founded on it), to permit it to riot in all the fierceness of a blind animal instinct, withdrawn from the eye of reason, but not there- by deprived of its vehemence and importunity. The former course appears to me to be the only one consist- ent with reason and morality; and I have adopted it in reliance on the good sense of my readers, that they will at once discriminate between practical instruction con- cerning this feeling addressed to the intellect, and las- civious representations addressed to the mere propensity itself; with the latter of which the enemies of all improve- ment may attempt to confound my observations. Every function of the mind and body is instituted by the Crea- tor; each has a legitimate sphere of activity; but all may be abused; and it is impossible regularly to avoid abuse of them, except by being instructed in their nature, ob- jects, and relations. This instruction ought to be ad dressed exclusively to the intellect; and, when it is so, it is science of the most beneficial description. The pro- priety, nay necessity, of acting on this principle, becomes more and more apparent, when it is considered that the discussions of the text suggest only intellectual ideas to individuals in whom the feeling in question is naturally weak, and that such minds perceive no indelicacy in knowledge which is calculated to be useful; while, on the other hand, persons in whom the feeling is naturally strong, are precisely those who stand in need of direc- tion, and to whom, of all others, instruction is the most necessary. An organized being is one which derives its existence from a previously existing organized being, which sub sists on food, grows, attains maturity, decays, and dies INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. Ill Whatever the ultimate object of the Creator, in con- stituting organized beings, may be, it will scarcely be denied, that part of his design is, that they should enjoy their existence here; and, if so, the object of every particular part of their structure ought to be found to conduce to this end. The first law, then, that must be obeyed, to render an organized being perfect in its kind, is, that the germ from which it springs shall be complete in all its parts, and sound in its whole constitution; the second is, that the moment it is ushered into life, and as long as it continues to live, it shall be supplied with food, light, air, and e\ery physical aliment necessary for its support; and the third law is, that it shall duly exercise its functions. When all these laws are obeyed, the being should enjoy pleasure from its organized frame, if its Creator is benevolent; and its constitution should be so adapted to its circumstances, as to admit of obedience to them, if its Creator is wise and powerful. Is there, then, no such phenomenon on earth, as a human being existing in full possession of organic vigor, from birth till advanc- ed age, when the organized system is fairly worn out? Numberless examples of this kind have occurred, and they show to demonstration, that the corporeal frame of man is so constituted as to admit the possibility of his enjoying organic health and vigor, during the whole period of a long life. In the life of Captain Cook it is mentioned, that ' one circumstance peculiarly worthy of notice is, the perfect and uninterrupted health of the inhabitants of New Zealand. In all the visits made to their towns, where old and young, men and women, crowded about our voyagers, they never observed a single person who appeared to have any bodily complaint; nor among the numbers that were seen naked, was once perceived the slightest eruption upon the skin, or the least mark which indicated that such an eruption had formerly existed. Another proof of the health of these people is tjie facility with which the wounds they at any I i ft* CALAMITIES ARISING FROM time receive are healed. In the man who had been shot with the musket ball through the fleshy part of his arm, the wound seemed to be so well digested, and in so fair a way of being perfectly healed, that if Mr Cook had not known that no application had been made to it, he declared that he should certainly have inquired, with a very interested curiosity, after the vulnerary herbs and surgical art of the country. An additional evidence of human nature's being untainted with disease in New Zealand, is the great number of old men with whom it abounds. Many of them, by the loss of their hair and teeth, appeared to be very ancient, and yet none of them were decrepit. Although they were not equal to the young in muscular strength, they did not come in the least behind them with regard to cheerfulness and viva- city. Water, as far as our navigators could discover, is the universal and only liquor of the New Zealanders. It is greatly to be wished that their happiness in this respect may never be destroyed by such a connection with the European nations, as shall introduce that fond- s ness for spirituous liquors which hath been so fatal to the Indians of North America.' — Kippis's Life of Captain Cook. Dublin, 1788, p. 100. Now, as a natural law never admits of an exception, this excellent health could not occur in any individuals unless it were fairly within the capabilities of the race. The sufferings of women in childbed have been cited as evidence that the Creator has not intended the human being, under any circumstances, to execute all its func- tions entirely free from pain. " But, besides the obvipus answer, that the objection applies only to one sex, and is therefore not to be readily presumed to have its origin in nature, there is good reason to deny the assertion, and to ascribe the suffering in question to departures from the natural laws, either in the structure or habits of the individuals who experience it.* * See Appendix, No. 1" INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 119 • The advantage of the study of the finest models of the human figure, as exhibited in painting and sculpture, is to raise our ideas of the excellence of form and propor- tion to which our nature is capable of attaining; for, other conditions being equal, the most perfect forms and proportions are always the best adapted for health and activity. Let us hold, then, that the organized system of man in itself, admits of the possibility of health, vigor, ana organic enjoyment, during the full period of life; and proceed to inquire into the causes why these advantages are not universal. One organic law is, that the germ of the infant being must be complete in all its parts, and perfectly sound in its condition, as an indispensable requisite to its vigor- ous development and full enjoyment of existence. If the corn that is sown is weak, wasted, and damaged, the plants that spring from it will be feeble, and liable to speedy decay. The same law holds in the animal king- dom; and I would ask, has it hitherto been observed by man? It is notorious that it has not. Indeed, its exist- ence has been either altogether unknown, or in a very high degree disregarded by human beings. The feeble, the sickly, the exhausted with age, and the incompletely developed, through extreme youth, marry, and, without the least compunction regarding the organization which they shall transmit to their offspring, send into the world miserable beings, the very rudiments of whose existence are tainted with disease. If we trace such conduct to its source, we shall find it to originate either in animal propensity, intellectual ignorance, or more frequently in both. The inspiring motives are generally mere sensual appetite, avarice, or ambition, operating in the absence of all just conceptions of the impending evils. The pun ishment of this offence is debility and pain, transmitted tc the children, and reflected back in anxiety and sorrow on 120 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM the parents. Still the great point to be kept in view, is that these miseries are not legitimate consequences oi observance of the organic laws, but the direct chastise- ment of their infringement. These laws are unbending, and admit of no exception; they must be fulfilled, or the penalties of disobedience will follow. On this subject profound ignorance reigns in society. From such obser- vations as I have been able to make, I am convinced that the union of certain temperaments and combinations of mental organs in the parents, are highly conducive to health, talent, and morality in the offspring, and vice versa; and that these conditions may be discovered and taught with far greater certainty, facility, and advantage, than is generally imagined. It will be time enough to conclude that men are naturally incapable of obedience to* the organic laws, when, after their intellectual facul- ties and moral sentiments have been trained to observ- ance of the Creator's institutions, as at once their duty, their interest, and a grand source of their enjoyment, they shall be found to continue to rebel. A second organic law regards nutriment, which must be supplied of a suitable kind, and in due quantity. This law requires also free air, light, cleanliness, and attention to every physical arrangement by which the functions of the body may be favored or impaired. Have mankind, then, obeyed or neglected this institution? I need scarcely answer the question. To be able to obey insti- tutions, we must first know them. Before we can know the organic constitution of our body, we must study that constitution, and the study of the human constitution is anatomy and physiology. Before we can become ac- quainted with its relations to external objects, we must learn the existence and qualities of these objects, (un- folded by chemistry, natural history, and natural philos- ophy), and compare them with the constitution of the body. When we have fulfilled these conditions, we shall INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 121 be better able to discover the laws which the Creator has instituted in regard to our organic system.* It will be said, however, that such studies are imprac- ticable to the great bulk of mankind, and, besides, do not appear much to benefit those who pursue them. They are impracticable only while mankind prefer founding their public and private institutions on the basis of the propensities, instead of on that of the sentiments. I have mentioned, that exercise of the nervous and muscular systems is required of all the race by the Creator's fiat, that if all, who are capable, would obey this law, a mo- derate extent of exertion, agreeable and salubrious in itself, would suffice to supply our wants, and to surround us with every beneficial luxury; and that a large portion of unemployed time would remain. The Creator has bestowed on us Knowing Faculties, fitted to explore the facts of these sciences, Reflecting Faculties to trace their relations, and Moral Sentiments calculated to feel inte- rest in such investigations, and to lead us to reverence and obey the laws which they unfold; and, finally, He has made this occupation, when entered upon with the view of tracing his power and wisdom in the subjects of our studies, and of obeying his institutions, the most delight- ful and invigorating of all vocations. In place, then, of such a course of education being impracticable, every arrangement of the Creator appears to be prepared in direct anticipation of its actual accomplishment. The second objection, that those who study these sci- ences are not more healthy and happy, as organized be- ings, than those who neglect them, admits of an easy answer. Parts of these sciences have been taught to a few individuals, whose main design in studying them has been to apply them as means of acquiring wealth and *In " Physiology applied to Health and Education," by Dr. A. Combe, many striking examples of the infringement of these laws, and of the injurious consequences, are given, to which I refer* 11 122 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM fame, but they have nowhere been taught as connected parts of a great system of natural arrangements, fraught with the highest influences on human enjoyment; and in no instance have the intellect and sentiments been syste- matically directed to the natural laws, as the grand foun- tains of happiness and misery to the race, and trained to observe and obey them as the institutions of the Creator. A third organic law, is, that all our functions shall be duly exercised; and is this law observed by mankind? Many persons are able, from experience, to attest the severity of the punishment that follows from neglecting to exercise the nervous and muscular systems, in the lassitude, indigestion, irritability, debility, and. general uneasiness that attend a sedentary and inactive life: But the penalties that attach to neglect of exercising the brain are much less known, and, therefore, I shall notice them more at length. The brain is the fountain of nervous energy to the whole body, and many individuals are habitual invalids, without actually laboring under any ordinary recognised disease, solely from defective or irregular exercise of the nervous system. In such cases, not only the mind, in its feelings and intellectual capacities, suffers debility, but all the functions of the body participate in its languor, because all of them receive a diminished and vitiated supply of the nervous stimulus, a due share of which is essential to their healthy action. The mode of increasing the strength and energy of any organ and function, is to exercise them regularly and judiciously, according to the laws of their constitution. # The brain is the organ of the mind; different parts of it manifest distinct faculties; and the power of manifestation in regard to. each is propor- tionate, cceteris paribus, to the size and activity of the organ. The brain partakes of the general qualities of the organized system, and is strengthened by the same * See Phren. Journ. vol. vi. p. 109. INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 123 means as the other organs. When the muscles are call- ed into vivacious activity, an increased influx of blood and nervous stimulus takes place in them, and their vessels and fibres become at once larger, firmer, and more susceptible of action. Thought and feeling are to the brain what bodily exercise is to the muscles; they put it in motion and cause increased action in its blood- vessels, and an augmented elaboration of nervous energy. In a case reported by Dr. Pierquin, observed by him in one of the hospitals of Montpelier, in 1831, he saw, in a female patient in whom part of the skull had been re moved, the brain motionless and lying within the cranium when she was in a dreamless sleep; in motion and pro truding without the skull when she was agitated by dreams; more protruded in dreams reported by herselt to be vivid; and still more so when perfectly awake, and especially if engaged in active thought or sprightly con- versation. Similar cases are reported by Sir Astley Cooper and Professor Blumenbach.* Those parts of the brain which manifest the feelings, constitute by far the largest portions of it, and they are best exercised by discharging the active duties of life and of religion; the parts which manifest the intellect are smaller, and are exercised by the application of the un- derstanding in practical business in the arts, sciences, or literature. The first step, therefore, towards establishing the re- gular exercise of the brain, is to educate and train the mental faculties in youth; and the second is to place the individual habitually in circumstances demanding the discharge of useful and important duties. I have often heard the question asked, What is the use of education? The answer might be illustrated by ex- • See American Aimals of Phrenology, No. I. p. 37. Sir A. Cooper' Lectures on Surgery, by Tyrrel, vol. i. p. 279. Elliotson's Blumen bach, 4th edition, p. 283. 124 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM plaining to the inquirer the nature and objects of the va- rious organs of the body, such as the limbs, lungs, eyes and then asking him, if he could perceive any advantage to a being so constituted, in obtaining access to earth, air, and light. He would, at once, declare, that they were obviously of the very highest utility to him, for they af- forded the only conceivable means by which these organs could obtain scope for action, which action we suppose him to know to be pleasure. To those, then, who know the constitution of the brain as the organ of the moral and intellectual powers of man, I need only say, that the objects presented to the mind by education, stimulate it, in the same manner that the physical elements of nature do to the nerves and muscles; they afford the faculties scope for action, and yield them delight. The meaning which is commonly attached to the word education in such cases, is Greek and Latin; but I employ it to signify knowledge of nature in all its departments. Again, the signification generally attached to the word use in such questions, is how much money, influence, or consideration, will education bring; these being the only objects of strong desire with which uncultivated minds are ac- quainted; and they do not perceive in what way edu- cation can greatly gratify such propensities. But the moment the mind is opened to the perception of its own constitution and to the natural laws, the great advantage of moral and intellectual cultivation, as a means of exercising and invigorating the brain and mental facul- ties, and also of directing the conduct in obedience to these laws, becomes apparent. But there is an additional benefit arising from healthy activity of biain, which is little known. Different modi- fications of the nervous energy elaborated by the brain appear to take place, according to the mode in which the faculties and organs are affected. For example, when misfortune and disgrace impend over us, the organs of Cautiousness, Self-Esteem, and Love of Approbation are INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 12o painfully excited; and appear to transmit an impaired, ol positively noxious, nervous influence to the heart, sto- mach, intestines, and thence to the rest of the body, digestion is deranged, the pulse becomes feeble and ir- regular, and the whole corporeal system wastes. When, on the other hand, the cerebral organs are agreeably affected, a benign and vivifying nervous influence per- vades the frame, and all the functions of the body are performed with increased pleasure and success. Now, it is a law, that the quantum of nervous energy increases with the number of cerebral organs roused to activity In the retreat of the French from Moscow, for example, when no enemy was near, the soldiers became depressed in courage, and enfeebled in body; they nearly sunk to the earth through exhaustion and cold; but no sooner did the fire of the Russian guns sound in their ears, or the gleam of their bayonets flash in their eyes, than new life seemed to pervade them. They wielded powerfully the arms, which, a few moments before, they could scarcely carry or trail on the ground. No sooner, however, was the enemy repulsed, than their feebleness returned The theory of this is, that the approach of the combat called into activity a variety of additional faculties; these sent new energy through every nerve; and, while their vivacity was maintained by the external stimulus, they rendered the soldiers strong beyond their merely physical condition. Many persons have probably experienced the operation of the same principle. If, when sitting feeble and listless by the fire, we have heard of an accident having occurred to some beloved friend, who required our instantaneous aid, or, if an unexpected visiter has arriv- ed, in whom our affections were bound up, in an instant our lassitude was gone, and we moved with an alertness and animation that seemed surprising to ourselves. The cause was the same; these events roused Adhesiveness Benevolence, Love of Approbation, Intellect, and 8 variety of faculties, which were previously dormant, into 11* 26 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM action, and their influence invigorated the limbs. Dr. Sparrman, in his Voyage to the Cape, mentions, tha * there was now again a great scarcity of meat in the wagon; for which reason my Hottentots began to grum- ble, and reminded me that we ought not to waste so much of our time in looking after insects and plants, but give a better look out after the game. At the same time, they pointed to a neighboring dale over-run with wood, at the upper edge of which, at the distance of about a mile and a quarter from the spot where we then were, they had seen several buffaloes. Accordingly, we went thither; but, though our fatigue was lessened by our Hottentots carrying our guns for us up a hill, yet we were quite out of breath, and overcome by the sun, be- fore we got up to it. Yet, what even now appears to me a matter of wonder is, that as soon as we got a glimpse of the game, all this languor left us in an instant. In fact, we each of us strove to fire before the other, so that we seemed entirely to have lost sight of all prudence and caution.' — c In the mean time, our temerity, which chiefly proceeded from hurry and ignorance, was considered by the Hottentots as a proof of spirit and intrepidity hardly to be equalled.' It is part of the same law, that the more agreeable the mental stimulus, the more benign is the nervous influ- ence transmitted to the body. An individual who has received from nature a large and tolerably active brain, but who, from possessing wealth sufficient to remove the necessity for labor, is engaged in no profession, and who has not enjoyed the advantages of a scientific or extensive education, so as to take an interest in moral and intellectual pursuits for their own sake, is in general a victim to infringement of he natural laws. Persons of this description, ignorant of these laws, will, in all probability, neglect nervous and muscular exercise, and suffer the miseries arising from impeded circulation and impaired digestion. In entire INFRINGEMENT OJF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 127 want of every object on which the energy of their minds might be expended, the stimulating influence of their brains on their bodies will be withheld, and the effects of muscular inactivity will be thereby aggravated; all the functions will, in consequence, become enieebled; lassi- tude, uneasiness, anxiety, and a thousand evils, will arise; and life, in short, will become a mere endurance of punishment for infringement of institutions calculated in themselves to promote happiness and afford delight when known and obeyed. This fate frequently overtakes uneducated females, whose early days have been occu- pied with business, or the cares of a family, but which occupations have ceased before old age has diminished corporeal vigor: It overtakes men also, who, uneducated, retire from active business in the prime of life. In some instances, these evils accumulate to such a degree that the brain itself gives way, its functions become deranged, and insanity is the consequence. It is worthy of remark, that the more elevated the objects of our study, the higher in the scale are the mental organs which are exercised, and the higher the organs the more pure and intense is the pleasure: hence, a vivacious and regularly supported excitement of the moral sentiments and intellect, is, by the organic law, highly favorable to ^health and corporeal vigor. In the fact of a living animal being able to retain life in an oven that will bake dead flesh, we see an illustration of the organic law rising above the purely physical; and, in the circumstance of the moral and intellectual organs 'trans- mitting the most favorable nervous influence to the whole bodily system, we have an example of the moral and intellectual law rising higher than the merely organic. No person, after having his intellect and sentiments imbued with a perception of, and belief in, the natural laws, as now explained, can 'possibly desire idleness, as a source of pleasure; nor can he possibly regard muscu- lar exertion and mental activity 2 when not carried to 128 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM excess, as any thing else than enjoyments, Kindly vouch safed to him by the benevolence of the Creator. The notion that moderate labor and mental exertion are evils, can originate only from ignorance, or from viewing the effects of over-exhaustion as the result of the natural law, and not as the punishment for infringing it. If, then, we sedulously inquire, in each particular instance, into the cause of the sickness, pain, and prema- ture death, or the derangement of the corporeal frame in youth and middle life, which we see so common around us, and endeavor to discover whether it has originated in obedience to the physical and organic laws, or sprung from infringement of them, we shall be able to form some estimate how far bodily suffering is justly attributable to imperfections of nature, and how far to our own igno- rance, and neglect of divine institutions. The foregoing principles being of much practical importance, may, with propriety, be elucidated by a few actual cases. Two or three centuries ago, various cities in Europe were depopulated by the plague, and, in par- ticular, London was visited by an awful mortality from this cause, in the reign of Charles the Second. The people of that age attributed this scourge to the inscruta- ble decrees of Providence, and some to the magnitude of the nation's moral iniquities. According to the views now presented, it must have arisen from infringement of the organic laws, and been intended to enforce stricter obedience to them in future. There was nothing in- scrutable in its causes or objects. These, when clearly analyzed, appear to have had no direct reference to the moral condition of the people; I say direct reference to the moral condition of the people, because it would be easy to show that the physical, organic, and all the other natural laws,^are connected indirectly, and constituted in harmony, with the moral law; and that infringement of the latter often leads to disobedience to other laws, and brings a double punishment on the offender. The facts INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 1&* ecorded in history exactly correspond with the theory now propounded. The following is a picture of the con- dition of the cities of Western Europe in the 15th centu- ry: — ' The floors of the houses being commonly of clay, and strewed with rushes or straw, it is loathsome to think of the filth collected in the hovels of the common people, and sometimes in the lodgings even of the superior ranks, from spilled milk, beer, grease, fragments of bread, flesh, bones, spittle, excrements of cats, dogSj &c. To this Erasmus, in a letter 432, c. 1815, ascribes the plague, the sweating, sickness, &c, in London, which, in this respect, resembled Paris and other towns of any magnitude in those times.' — Ranken's History of France, vol. v. 416. The streets of London were excessively narrow, the habits of the people dirty, and no adequate provision was made for removing the filth unavoidably produced by a dense population. The great fire in that city, which happened soon after the pestilence, afforded an opportunity of remedying, in som,e degrees the nar- rowness of the streets; and habits of increasing cleanli- ness abated the filth; these changes brought the people into a closer obedience to the organic laws, and no plague has since returned. Again, till very lately, thou- sands of children died yearly of the small-pox; but, in our day, vaccine inoculation saves ninety-nine out of a hundred, who, under the old system, would have died. The theory of its operation is not known, but we may rest assured that it places the system more in accordance with the organic laws, than it was in the cases where death ensued A gentleman, who died about ten years ago at an advanced period of life, told me, that, six miles west from Edinburgh, the* country was so unhealthy in his youth, that every spring the farmers and their servants were seized with fever and ague, and needed regularly to undergo bleeding, and a course of medicine, to pre- vent attacks, or restore them from their effects. At that 130 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM time, these visitations were believed to be sent by Prov* dence, and to be inherent in the constitution of things After, however, said my informant, an improved system of agriculture and draining was established, and vast pools of stagnant water, formerly left between the. ridges of the fields, were removed, dunghills carried to a dis- tance from the doors, and the houses themselves made more spacious and commodious, every symptom of ague and marsh-fever disappeared from the district, and it be- came highly salubrious. In other words, as soon as the gross infringement of the organic laws was abated by a more active exertion of the muscular and intellectual powers of man, the punishment ceased. Another friend informed me, that, about forty-two years ago, he com- menced farming in a high and uncultivated district of East-Lothian; that the crops at first suffered severely from cold fog s 4 ; that the whole region, however, has been since reclaimed and drained; that the climate has greatly improved, and, in particular, that the destructive mists have disappeared. The same results have followed in Canada and the United States of America, from similar operations. In like manner, many calamities occurred in coal-pits, in consequence of infringement of a physical law, viz. by introducing lighted candles and lamps into places filled with hydrogen gas, that had emanated from seams of coal, and which exploded, scorched, and suffocated the men and animals within its reach, until Sir Hum- phrey Davy discovered that the Creator had established such a relation between flame, wire-gauze, and hydrogen gas, that, by surrounding the flame with gauze, its power of exploding hydrogen was suspended. By the simple application of a covering of wire-gauze, over and around the flame, it is prevented from igniting gas beyond it, and colliers are now able to carry, with safety, lighted lamps into places highly impregnated with inflammable air. T have been informed, that the accidents from INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 13 1 explosion, which still occasionally occur in coal mL»es, arise from neglecting to keep the lamps in perfect eon- dition. It is needless to multiply examples in support of the proposition, that the organized system of man, in itself, admits of a healthy existence from infancy to old r.ge, provided its germ has been healthy, and its subsequent condition uniformly in harmony with the physical and organic laws; but it has been objected, that, although the human faculties may perhaps be adequate to discover these laws, and to record them in books, they are to^ ally incapable of retaining them in the memory, and of for- mally applying them in every act of life. If, it is said, we could not move a step without calculating the effects of the law of gravitation, and adjusting the body to its influence; and could never eat a meal without squaring our appetite by the organic laws, life would be oppress ed by the pedantry of knowledge, and rendered miserable oy the observance of trivial details. The answer to this ob- jection is, that our faculties are adapted by the Creator to the external world, and act instinctively when their objects are properly placed before them. In.walking during day on a foot-path in the country, we adjust our steps to the inequalities of the surface, without being overburdened by mental calculation. Indeed, we , perform this adjust- ment with so little trouble, that we are not aware of having made any particular mental <5r muscular effort. But, on returning by the same path at night, when we cannot see, we stumble, and discover, for the first time, how important a duty our faculties had been performing during day, without our having adverted to their labor. Now, the simple medium of light is sufficient to bring clearly before our eyes the inequalities of the ground; but to make the mind equally familiar with the nature of the countless objects which abound in external nature, and their relations, an intellectual light is necessary, which can be struck out only by exercising and applying 132 s CALAMITIES ARISING FROM the knowing and reflecting faculties; but, when that light is obtained, and the qualities and relationships in question are clearly perceived, our, faculties, so long as the light lasts, will act instinctively in adapting our conduct to the nature of the objects, just as they do in accommodating our movements to the unequal surface of the earth After the poisonous qualities of hemlock are known, it is no more necessary for us to go through a course of phys- ical, botanical, and chemical reasoning, in order to be able to abstain from eating it, than it is to go through a course of mathematical investigation, before lifting the one foot higher than the other, in ascending a stair. At present, physical and political science, morals, and reli- gion, are not taught as parts of one connected .system; nor are the relations between them and the constitution of man pointed out to the world. In consequence, theoretical and practical knowledge are often widely separated. This ought not to be the case; for many advantages would flow from scientific education. Some of these would be the following: — In the first place, the physical and organic laws, when truly discovered, appear to the mind as institutions of the Creator; wise and salutary in themselves, unbending in their operation, and universal in their application. They interest our intellectual faculties, and strongly impress our sentiments. The necessity of obeying them comes home to us with all the authority of a mandate from God. While we confine ourselves to mere recommendations to beware of damp, to observe temperance, or to take exer- cise, without explaining the principle, the injunction carries only the weight due to the authority of the indi- vidual who gives it, and is addressed to only two ox three faculties, Veneration and Cautiousness, for instance, or Self-love in him who receives it. But if we are made acquainted with the elements of the physical world, and with those of our organized system, — with the uses of the different parts of the latter, — and the conditions neces INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 133 sary to their healthy action, — with the causes of their derangement, and the pains thereon consequent: and if the obligation to attend to these conditions be enforced on our moral sentiments and intellect, as a duty which is imposed on us by the Creator, and which we cannot neglect without suffering punishment, then the motives to observe the physical and organic laws, as well as the power of doing so, will be prodigiously increased. Before we can dance well, we must not only know the motions, but our muscles must be trained to execute them. In like manner, to enable us to act on precepts, we must not only comprehend their meaning, but our intellects and sentiments must be disciplined into actual performance. Now, the very act of acquiring connected scientific information concerning the natural world, its qualities, and their' relations, is to the intellect and sentiments what practical dancing is to the muscles; it invigorates them; and, as obedience to the natural laws must spring from them, exercise renders it more easy and delightful. 2. It is only by being taught the principle on which consequences depend, that we become capable of per- ceiving the invariableness of the results of the physical and organic laws; acquire confidence in, and respect for the laws themselves ; and fairly endeavor to accommodate our conduct to their operation. Dr. Johnson defines 1 principle' to be ' fundamental truth; original postulate; first position from which others are deduced;' and in these senses I use the word. The human faculties are instinctively active, and desire gratification; but Intellect itself must have fixed data, on which to reason, otherwise it is itself a mere impulse. The man in whom Coiistruc- tiveness and Weight are powerful, will naturally betake himself to constructing machinery; but, if he be ignorant of the principles of mechanical science, he will not direct his efforts to ends equally important, or attain them with equal success, as if his intellect had been stored with such knowledge Scientific principles are deduced from 12 K 134 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND the laus of nature. A man may make music by the instinctive impulses of Time and Tune; but there are immutable laws of harmony, of which, if he be ignorant, he will not perform so correctly and in such good taste, as he would do if he knew them. In every art and science, there are principles referable solely to the con- stitution of nature, but these admit of countless applica- tions. A musician may produce gay, grave, solemn^ or ludicrous tunes, all good of their kind, by following the laws of harmony; but he will never produce one good piece by violating them. While the inhabitants west of Edinburgh allowed the stagnant pools to deface their fields, some seasons would be more healthy than others; and, while the cause of the disease was unsuspected, this would confirm them in the notion that health and sickness were dispensed by an overruling Providence, on inscru- table principles, which they could not comprehend: but the moment the Cfcuse was known, it would be found that the most healthy seasons were those that were cold and dry, and the most sickly those that were warm and moist; and they would then discover, that the superior salubrity of one year, and unwholesomeness of another, were clearly referable to one principle; and after perceiving this truth, the^ would both be more strongly prompted tc apply the remedy, and be rendered morally and intel- lectually more capable of doing so. If some intelligent friend had merely told them to drain their fields, and remove their dunghills, they would not probably have "complied with his recommendation; but whenever their intellects were led to the perception that the evil would continue until they acted in this manner, the improvement would become easy. The truth of these views may be still farther illustrated by examples. A young gentleman of Glasgow, whom 1 knew, went out, as a merchant, to North America Business required him to sail from New York to St Domingo. The weather was hot, and he, being very FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 135 sick, found the confinement below deck, in bed, as he said, intolerable; that is, this confinement was, for the moment, more painful than the course which he adopted, of laying himself down at full length on the deck, in the open air. He was warned by his fellow passengers, and the officers of the ship, that he would inevitably induce fever by this proceeding; but he was utterly ignorant of the physical and organic laws; his intellect had been trained to regard only wealth and present pleasure as objects of real importance; it could perceive no neces- sary connection between exposure to the mild and grate- ful sea breeze of a warm climate, and fever, and he obstinately refused to quit his position. The conse- quence was, that he was rapidly taken ill, and lived just one day after arriving at St. Domingo. Knowledge of chemistry and physiology would have enabled him, in an instant, to understand that the sea air, in warm climates, holds a prodigious quantity of water in solution, and that damp and heat, operating together on the human organs, tend to derange their healthy action, and ultimately to destroy them entirely: and if his sentiments had been deeply imbued with a feeling of the indispensable duty of yielding obedience to the institutions of the Creator, he would have actually enjoyed, not only a greater desire, but a greater power, of supporting the temporary inconvenience of the heated cabin, and might, by possi- bility, have escaped death. Captain Murray, R. N. mentioned to Dr. A. Combe, that, in his opinion, most of the bad effects of the climate of the West Indies might be avoided by care and atten- tion to clothing; and so satisfied was he on this point, that he had petitioned to be sent there in preference to the North American station, and had no reason to re*gret the change. The measures which he adopted, and their effects, are detailed in the follow interesting and in structive letter: 36 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND 1 Assynt, April 22, 1827. ■ My dear sir, 1 I should have written to you before this, had I not been anxious to refer to some memorandums, which I could not do before my return home from Coul. I at- tribute the great good health enjoyed by the crew of his Majesty's ship Valorous, when on the West India station, during the period I had the honor of commanding her, to the following causes, 1st, To the keeping the ship perfectly dry and clean; 2d, To habituating the men to the wearing of flannel next the skin; 3d, To the pre- caution I adopted, of giving each man a proportion of his allowance of cocoa before he left the ship in the morning, either for the purpose of watering, or any other duty he might be sent upon; and, 4th, To the cheerfulness of the crew. ' The Valorous sailed from Plymouth on the 24th December 1823, having just returned from the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland, where she had been sta- tioned two years, the crew, including officers, amounting to 150 men. I had ordered the purser to draw two pairs of flannel drawers, and two shirts extra for each man, as ; soon as I knew that our destination was the West Indies; and, on our sailing, I issued two of each to every man and boy in the ship, making the officers of each division responsible for the men of their respective divisions wearing these flannels during the day and night; and, at the regular morning nine o'clock musters, I inspected the* crew personally; for you can hardly con- ceive the difficulty I have had in forcing some of the men to use flannel at first; although I never yet knew one who did not, from choice, adhere to it, when once fairly adopted. The only precaution after this, was to see that, in bad weather, the watch, when relieved, did not turn in in their wet clothes, which the young hands were apt to do, if not looked after; and their flannels were shifted every Sunday. FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 131 ' Whenever fresh beef and vegetables could be pro- cured at the contract price, they were always issued in preference to salt provisions. Lime juice was issued whenever the men had been fourteen days on ship's provisions; and the crew took all their meals on the main deck, except in very bad weather. ' The quarter and main decks were scrubbed with sand and water, and wet holy-stones, every morning at daylight. The lower deck, cock-pit, and store-rooms were scrubbed every day after breakfast, with dry holy- stones and hot sand, until quite white, the sand being carefully swept up, and thrown overboard. The pump- well was also swabbed out dry, and then scrubbed with holy-stones and hot sand; and here, as well as in every part of the ship which was liable to damp, Brodie-stoves were constantly used, until every appearance of humidity vanished. The lower-deck and cock-pit were washed once every week in dry weather; but Brodie-stoves were constantly kept burning in them, until they were quite dry again. ' The hammocks were piped up, and in the nettings, from 7 a. m. until dusk, When the men of each watch took down their hammocks alternately, by which means, only one-half of the hammocks being down at a time, the tween-decks were not so crowded, and the watch relieved was sure of turning into a dry bed on going below. The bedding was aired every week, once at least. The men were not permitted to go on shore in the heat of the sun, or where there was a probability of their getting spirituous liquors ; but all hands were indulged with a run on shore, when out of reach of such temptation. 1 T was employed on the coast of Caraccas, the West India Islands, and Gulf of Mexico; and, in course of service, I visited Trinidad, Margarita, Cocha, C^mana Nueva Barcelona, Laguira, Porto Cabello, and Maracai bo, on the coast of Caraccas; all the West India Islands, from Tobago to Cuba, both inclusive; as also Cara§oa 12* 138 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND and Aruba, and several of those places repeatedly; also to Vera Cruz and Tompico, in the Gulf of Mexico, which you will admit mustliave given a trial to the constitutions of my men, after two years among the icebergs of Labrador, without an intervening summer between that icy coast and the coast of Caraccas; yet I arrived in England on June 24th, without having buried a single man or officer belonging to the ship, or indeed having a single man on the sick list; from which I am satisfied that a dry ship will always be a healthy one in any climate. When in command of the Recruit, of 18 guns, in the year 1 809, I was sent to Vera Cruz, where I found the 46, the 42, the 18, and gun-brig; we were joined by the 36, and the 18. During the period we remained at an- chor (from 8 to 10 weeks), the three frigates lost from 30 to 50 men each, the brigs 16 to 18, the most of her crew, with two different commanders; yet the Re- cruit, although moored in the middle of the squadron, and constant intercourse held with the other ships, did not lose a man, and had none sick. Now, as some of these ships had been as long in the West Indies as the Recruit, we cannot attribute her singularly healthy state to seasoning, nor can I to superior cleanliness, because even the breeches of the carronades, and all the pins, were polished bright in both and , which was not the case with the Recruit. Perhaps her healthy state may be attributed to cheerfulness in the men; to my never allowing them to go on shore in the morning, on an empty stomach; to. the use of dry sand and holy- stone for the ship; to never working them in the sun; perhaps to accident. Were I asked my opinion, I would say that I firmly believe that cheerfulness contributes more to keep a ship's company healthy, than any pre- caution that can be adopted; and that, with this attain- ment, combined with the precautions I have mentioned, I should sail for the West Indies, with as little anxiety FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 139 as I would for any other station. My valorous fellows were as cheerful a set as I ever saw collected together.' ' Suppose that two gentlemen were to ascend one of the Scottish mountains, in a hot summer day, and to arrive at the top, bathed in perspiration, and exhausted with 'atigue: that one of them knew intimately the- physical And organic laws, and that, all hot and w T earied as he was, he should button up his coat closer about his body, wrap a handkerchief about his neck, and continue walking, at a quick pace, round the summit, in the full blaze of the sun: that the other, ignorant of these laws, should eager- ly run to the base of a projecting cliff; stretch himself at full length on the turf, under its refreshing shade; open his vest to the grateful breeze; and, in short, give himself up entirely to the present luxuries of coolness and re- pose; — the former, by warding off the rapid chill of the cold mountain air, would descend with health unimpaired; while the latter would carry with him, to a certainty, the seeds of rheumatism, consumption, or fever, from permit- ting perspiration to be instantaneously checked, and the surface of the body to be cooled with an injurious rapid- ity. 1 have put these cases hypothetically, because, although I have seen and experienced the benefits of* the former method, I have not directly observed the opposite No season, however, passes in the Highlands, in which some tragedy of the latter description does not occur; and, from the minutest information that, I have been able to obtain, the causes have been such as are here des- cribed. The following case is illustrative of the points under consideration, and is one which I have had too good an opportunity of observing in all its stages. An individual in whom it was my duty as well as plea- sure to be greatly interested, had resolved on carrying Mr. Owen's- views into practical effect, and got an estab- lishment set agoing on his principles, at Orbiston, in Lanarkshire. The labor and anxiety which- he under 140 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND went at the commencement of the undertaking, gradually mpaired an excellent constitution; and, without perceiv ing the change, he, by way of setting an example of in- dustry, took to digging with the spade, and actually worked for fourteen days at this occupation, although previously unaccustomed to labor. This produced hae- moptysis. Being unable now for bodily exertion, he gave up his whole time to directing and instructing the people, about 250 in number, and for two or three weeks spoke the whole day, the effusion of blood from his lungs contin- uing. Nature rapidly sunk under this irrational treat- ment; and at last he came to Edinburgh for medical advice. When the structure and uses of his lungs were explained to him, and when it was pointed out that his treatment of them had been equally injudicious as if he had thrown lime or dust into his eyes, after inflammation, he was struck with the extent and consequences of his own ignorance, and exclaimed, How greatly he would have been benefited if one month of the five years which he had been forced to spend in a vain attempt at acquir- ing a mastery over the Latin tongue, had been dedicated to conveying to him information concerning the structure of his own body, and the causes which preserve and im- pair its functions. He had departed too widely from the organic laws to admit of an easy return; he was seized with inflammation of the lungs, and with great difficulty got through that attack; but it impaired his constitution so grievously, that he died, after a lingering illness of eleven months. He acknowledged, however, even in his severest pain, that he suffered under a just law. The lungs, he saw, were of the first-rate importance to life, and their proper treatment was provided for by this tre- mendous punishment, inflicted for neglecting the condi- tions requisite to their health. Had he given them rest, and returned to obedience to the organic law, at the first intimation of departure from it, the way to health was open and ready to receive him; but, in utter ignorance, TROA INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 141 he persevered for weeks in direct opposition to that law, till the fearful result ensued. This last case affords a striking illustration of the in- dependence of the different institutions of the Creator , and of the necessity of obeying all of them, as the only condition of safety and enjoyment. The individual here alluded to, was deeply engaged in a most benevolent and disinterested experiment for promoting, the welfare of his fellow creatures; and superficial observers would say that this was just an example of the inscrutable decrees of Providence, which visited him with sickness, and ulti- mately with death, in the very midst of his most virtuous exertions. But the institutions of the Creator are wiser than the imaginations of such men. The first principle on which existence on earth and all its advantages de- pend, is obedience to the physical and organic laws. The benevolent Owenite neglected these, in his zeal to obey the moral law; and, if it were possible to dispense with the one by obeying the other, the whole scheme of man's existence would speedily become deranged, and involved in inexplicable disorder. The following case was furnished to me by an actual observer: — A gentleman far advanced in years fell into a state of bodily weakness, which rendered the constant presence of an attendant necessary. A daughter, in whom Adhesiveness, Benevolence, and Veneration were largely developed, dovoted herself to this service with the most ceaseless assiduity. She was his companion for month after month, and year after year, happy in cheer- ing the last days of her respected parent, and knowing no pleasure equal to that of solacing and comforting him. For months in succession she did not go abroad from the house; her duty became dearer to her the longer she dis- charged it; till at length her father became the sole object on earth of her feelings and her thoughts. The super- ficial observer would say that such conduct was admira- ble, and that she must have received a rich n ward from 1*2 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND heaven for such becoming and virtuous devotion. Bu providence rules by other laws, and never yields. Her enjoyment of mental happiness -and vigor depended on the condition of her brain, and her brain was subject to the organic laws. These laws demand, as an indispensable condition of health, exercise in the open air, and variety of employment, calculated to maintain all the faculties in activity. She neglected the first in her constant atten- dance in her father's chamber; and she overlooked the second in establishing him as the exclusive object of her consideration. The result was, that she fell into bad health, accompanied by weakness of brain, extreme irri- tability, and susceptibility of mind, excessive anxiety, hysteria, and even symptoms of insanity. Some judicious friends at last interfered, and by forcing her to leave for a time, although much against her inclination, the object of her solicitude, rescued her from death, or confirmed mental derangement. If this case had been allowed to proceed uninterruptedly to its natural termination, many pious persons would have marvelled at the mysterious dispensations of Providence in afflicting so dutiful a daughter; whereas, when the principle of the divine gov- ernment is understood, the result appears neither* won- derful nor perplexing. In the works of religious authors, many erroneous views of divine dispensations may be found traceable to ignorance of the natural laws. The Reverend Ebenezer Erskine, speaking of the state of his wife's mind, says, 'For a month or two the arrows of the Almighty were within her, the poison whereof did drink up her spirits; and the terrors of God did set themselves in array against her.' He called in the assistance of some neighboring clergyman to join in prayers on her behalf, and she was induced to pray with them; ' but she still continued to charge herself with the unpardonable sin, and to conclude that she was a castaway.' Such feelings occurring in a woman of blameless life, clearly indicated diseased action FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 143 in the organs of Cautiousness. s Before she fell into these depths, 5 he continues, ' she told me that the Lord gave her such a discovery of the glory of Christ as darkened the whole creation, and made all things appear as dung* and dross in comparison of him.' These ex- pressions indicate excessive excitement of the organs of Wonder and Veneration. She subsequently recovered ner mental serenity; and her husband treats of the whole phenomena as purely mental and religious. He, however, afterwards incidentally mentions that she was subject to bad health, and that ' melancholy was a great ingredi- ent in her disease. 5 We now know that melancholy is a diseased affection of the organs of Cautiousness. At the time when Mr. Erskine lived and wrote, the physiology of the brain was unknown; the occurrences wb^ch he describes had a real existence; and he had been taught to attribute them to the agency of the divine spirit, or of the devil, according to their different char- acters. He is, therefore, not deserving of censure for the errors into which he unavoidably fell; but now when the facts which he describes, and analogous occurrences in our own day, can be traced to diseased action of the organs of the mind, we are authorised to view the prov- idence of God in a different light. While it would be subversive of all religion to throw any doubt whatever on the reality and importance of religious feelings, sound in their character, and directed to proper objects, it is nearly equally injurious to the sacred cause, to .mistake the excitement and depression of disease for the influence of the Holy Spirit, or the agency of the enemy of man- kind. It is mentioned also in the life of Mr. Erskine, that his wife bore several children to him while in precarious health, and that the situation * of the manse, or parsonage house, was unwholesome. 5 We are told, also, that in the year 1713, three of his children died; that one died in 1720, and that, in 1723, a fifth was on the brink of death. 144 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND but recovered.* He treats of all these events as f severe trials,' and ' sore afflictions, ' without having the least glimpse of their true causes and objects, or their relation to the natural laws. Again, Hannah More, in a letter to the Rev. John Newton, dated Cowslip's Green, 23d July 1788, says, 1 When I am in the great world, I consider myself as in an enemy's country, and as beset with snares, and this puts me upon my guard.' 'Fears and snares seem necessary to excite my circumspection; for it is certain that my mind has more languor, and my faith less energy here, where I have no temptations from without, and where I live in the full and constant perusal of the most beautiful objects of inanimate nature, the lovely wonders of the munificence and bounty of God. Yet, in the midst of his blessings, I should be still more tempted to forget him, were it not for frequent nervous headaches and low fevers, which I find to be wonderfully wholesome for my moral health. 'f This passage contains several propositions that merit attention. First, according to the natural laws, ' the most beautiful objects of inanimate nature,' and c the lovely wonders of the munificence and bounty of God, 3 are calculated to invigorate the moral, religious, and intellectual faculties, in all well constituted and rightly instructed minds; yet Hannah More's mind ' had more languor, and her faith less energy,' amidst such objects, than 'when beset with snares.' Secondly, According both to the natural laws and scripture, c evil communi- cations corrupt good manners;' but ' when in the great world,' and ' in an enemy's country,' her faith was im- proved: and, thirdly, 'Nervous headaches and low fe- vers,' are the consequences of departures from the organic laws, and are intended to reclaim the sufferer to * Life and Diary of the Rev. Ebenezer Erskine, 1831, pp. 266, 301 286. 290, 320. t Memoirs of H. More, Vol. II. p. 110, 111. FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 146 obedience that the pain may cease; yet she c found them wonderfully wholesome for her moral health,' and they prevented her from c forgetting God!' Only disease or errors in education could have pro- duced such perverted experience in a woman so talented, so pious, and so excellent, as Hannah More. Can we , wonder that the profane should sneer, and that practical religion should slowly advance, when piety exhibits itself in such lamentable contradiction to the divine institutions? And still more so, when, from proceeding on a false the- ory, it contradicts itself? Hannah More, in her Journal m 1794, says, c confined this week with four days head- ache — an unprofitable time — thoughts wandering---little communion with God. I see by every fresh trial, mat the dime of sickness is seldom the season for religious improve- ment. This great work should be done in health, or it will seldom be done well, 5 vol. ii. p. 418. This passage is full of sound sense ; but it is in contradiction to her previous assertion, that c nervous headaches and low fevers were wonderfully wholesome for her moral health.' These examples, to which many more might be added, may serve as illustrations of the proposition, That without a philosophy of human nature, even religious authors, when treating of sublunary events, cannot always pre- serve consistency either with reason or themselves, and hence that religion can never become thoroughly prac- tical, nor put forth its full energies for human improve- ment, until it is wedded to philosophy. In proportion as •men shall become acquainted with the natural laws, and apply them as tests to theological writings relative to this world, they will become convinced of the truth of this observation. Having traced bodily suffering, in the case of individu- als, to neglect of, or opposition to, the organic laws, by their progenitors or by themselves, I next advert to another set of calamities, which may be called social miseries, and which obviously spring from the same 13 (46 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND causes; although of this latter fact complete evidence was not possessed until Phrenology was discovered. And first, in regard to evils of a domestic nature: — One fertile source of unhappiness arises from persons uniting in marriage, whose tempers, talents, and disposi- tions do not harmonize. If it be true that natural talents and dispositions are connected by the Creator with par- ticular configurations of brain, then it is obviously one of his institutions that, in forming a compact for life, these should be attended to. The following facts I regard to be fully established by competent evidence. The por- tion of the brain before the line A A, Fig. 1, manifests the intellect, that above B manifests the moral senti- ments, *and all the rest the animal propensities; and each part acts, cceteris paribus with 9. degree of energy corres- ponding to its size. The following figures exhibit these regions existing in different proportions in different ind' viduals; and the lives of the persons represented bear testimony to their possessing the corresponding disposi- tions. Fig. 1. Hare. FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 147 The first is a view of the head of William Hare, the associate of Burke, who, acting in concert with him, strangled sixteen individuals in Edinburgh for the pur- pose of selling their bodies for dissection. In this head the organs which manifest the animal pro- pensities decidedly preponderate over those which mani- fest the moral sentiments and intellect. Another example of the same kind is afforded by the head of Williams, who was executed along with the no- torious Bishop, in London, for the same crime as that of Hare.* Fig. 2. Williams. In the head of the celebrated Richard Brinsely Sheri- dan, we find an example of the three regions of the brain in question, existing nearly in a state of equilibrium The natural tendencies of such an individual are equally strong towards vice and virtue ; and his actual conduct is generally determined by the influence of external circum- stances. The life of Sheridan shows,, that while he possessed high mental qualities, he was also the slave of degrading and discreditable vices. * See Phrenological Journal, vol. vii. p. 446. 148 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND Fig. 3. Sheridan. Fig. 4. Melancthon. The head of the celebrated Philip Melancthon the reformer, and associate of Luther, furnishes an example FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 149 of the decided predominance of the moral and intellec- tual regions over that of the animal propensities. The drawing is copied from a portrait by Albert Durer. The following description of the head is given in Dr. Spurzheim's work, • Phrenology in Connection with the Study of Physiognomy.' ' It is the brain of an extra- ordinary man. The organs of the moral and religious feelings predominate greatly, and will disapprove of all violence, irreverence, and injustice. The forehead be- tokens a vast and comprehensive understanding; and the ensemble a mind the noblest, the most amiable, and the most intellectual that can be conceived.' He was born in 1495, and rendered great services to the cause of the reformation by his admirable abilities and great modera- tion. ' He was humane, gentle, and readily won upon by mild and generous treatment; but when his adversa- ries made use of imperious and menacing language, he rose superior to his general meekness of disposition, and showed a spirit of ardor, independence, nay, of intrepi- dity — looking down with contempt upon the threats of power, and the prospect even of death.' The demarcations in the figures are not arbitrary The space before A A corresponds to the anterior lobe of the brain; and the space above B -includes all the convolutions that lie on the upper surface of the brain, and rise higher than the organs of Cautiousness, corres- ponding to nearly the middle of the parietal bones, and of Causality, situated in the upper part of the forehead It is not difficult to distinguish these regions; and a comparison of their relative proportions with the talents and dispositions of individuals, will convince any intelli- gent, honest, and accurate observer, of the truth of the foregoing statements. I have examined the heads, or casts of the heads or skulls, of several hundred criminals, in various countries, and found them all to belong to the classes represented by the figures of the heads of Hare or of Sheridan, and never saw one of them with a braiir 13* L 150 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND like that of Melancthon. Neither have I ever seen a man distinguished by moral and intellectual qualities like those of Melancthon, presenting a brain like that of Hare. The figures represent Nature, not a casual ap- pearance, but forms which are found constantly in com- bination with the qualities here named: and I ask why Nature, when she speaks to a geologist or chemist, should be listened to with profound attention, and her revelations treasured for human improvement, — but scouted and despised when she speaks to and is inter- preted by phrenologists? It is (?^d who speaks from Nature in all her departments: and the brain is as as- suredly his workmanship as the Milky-Way, with all its myriads of suns. If the doctrine before expounded be true, that every faculty is good in itself, that the folly and crime which disgrace human society spring from abuses of the faculties, and that the tendency to abuse them originates in the disproportion of certain parts of the brain to each other, and in moral and intellectual ignorance of the proper mode of manifesting them, how completely do these considerations go to the root of the- ology and morals! At present the influence of organiza- tion in determining the natural dispositions is altogether neglected or denied by the common school of divines, moralists, and philosophers; yet it is of an importance exceeding all other terrestrial influences and considera- tions. If we imagine an individual endowed with the splendid cerebral development of Melancthon, under the influence of youthful passion and inexperience, uniting himself for life to a female possessing a head like that of Hare or Bishop, the effects could not fail to be most disastrous, with respect both to his own happiness, and to the qualities of his offspring. In the first place, after the animal feelings were gratified, and their ardor had sub- sided, the two minds could not by any possibility sym- pathize. Many marriages are unhappy in consequence FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 151 of an instinctive discord between the modes of feeling and thinking of the husband and wife; the cause of which they themselves cannot explain. The mental dif- ferences will be found to arise from different develop- ments of brain. If the husband be deficient in the organ of Conscientiousness, and the wife possess it in a high degree, she will be secretly disgusted with the dishonesty and inherent falsehood of his character, which she will have many opportunities of observing, even when they are unknown to the world. 'What,' says Dr. Johnson, c can be expected but disappointment and repentance from a choice made in the immaturity of youth, in the ardor of desire, without judgment, without foresight, without inquiry after conformity of opinions, similarity of manners, rectitude of judgment, or purity of senti- ment? Such is the common process of marriage. A youth and maiden meeting by chance, or brought togeth- er by artifice, exchange glances, reciprocate civilities, go home, and dream of one another. Having little to divert attention, or to diversify thought, they find them- selves uneasy when they are apart, and therefore con- clude that they shall be happy together. They marry, and discover what nothing but voluntary blindness before had concealed; they wear out life in altercations, and charge nature with cruelty. 1 Until Phrenology was discovered, no natural index to mental qualities, that could be practically relied on, was possessed, and each individual, in directing his conduct, was left to the guidance of his own sagacity; but the natural law never bended one iota to accommodate itself to that state of ignorance. Men suffered from unsuitable alliances, and they will continue to do so, until they shall avail themselves of the means of judging afforded by Phrenology, and act in accordance with its dictates. In the play of the Gamester, Mrs. Beverly is represented as a most excellent wife, acting habitually under the guidance of the moral sentiments and intellect; but 152 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND married to a being who, while he adores her, reduces her to beggary and misery. His sister utters an excla- mation to this effect: — Why did just Heaven unite such an angel to so heartless a thing! The parallel of this case occurs too often in real life ; only it is not ■' just Heaven' that makes such matches, but ignorant and thoughtless human beings, who imagine themselves ab- solved from all obligation to study and obey the laws of Heaven, as announced in the general arrangement of the universe. The justice and benevolence of rendering the indivi- duals themselves unhappy who neglect this great institu- tion of the Creator, become more striking when, in the next place, we consider the effects, by the organic law, of such conduct on the children of these ill-assorted unions. Physiologists, in general, are agreed, that a vigorous and healthy constitution of body in the parents, com- municates existence in the most perfect state to the offspring,* and vice versa. The following instances of the transmission of defects are given in the Athenaeum: — c Many persons who have never *known any, or perhaps not more than one, deaf and dumb individual in the immediate circle in which they lived, would be astonished to read the lists of ap- plications circulated by the committee for the asylum in the Kent Road, so ably conducted by Mr. Watson, which usually contain nearly a hundred names. The most remarkable fact, however, which these lists present, is the number of deaf and dumb children frequently found in the same families, evidently in consequence of the continued operation of some unknown cause con- nected with the parents. Three, four, and five, deaf and dumb children are not uncommonly met with in one r amily, and in some instances there have been as many * See Appendix, No. II. FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 153 as seven. In the family of Martain, a laborer, out often children, seven were deaf and dumb; in the family of Kelly, a porter, seven out of eight were deaf and dumb; and in the family of Aldum, a weaver, six out of twelve were deaf and dumb. The .result of a table of twenty families, given in the 'Historical Sketch of the Asylum,' published by Powell, Dowgate-hill, is ninety deaf and dumb out of one hundred and fifty-nine children. ' # Many observers of mankind, as well as medical authors, have remarked also the transmission, by hereditary de- scent, of mental talents and dispositions. Dr. King, in speaking of the fatality which attended the House of Stuart, says, ' If I were to ascribe their calamities to another cause (than an evil fate), or endea- vor to account for them by any natural means, 1 should tnink they were chiefly owing to a certain obstinacy of temper, which appears^ to have been hereditary and inherent in all the Stuarts, except Charles II.' It is well known that the caste of the Brahmins is the highest in point of intelligence as well as rank of all the castes in Hindostan; and it is mentioned by the mission- aries as an ascertained fact, that their children are naturally more acute, intelligent, and docile, than the children of the inferior castes, age and other circum stances being equal. Dr. Gregory, in treating of the temperaments in his Conspectus Medicinoz Theoretical, says, c Hujusmodi va- rietates non corporis modo, verum et animi quoque, plerumque congenita?, nonnunquam hereditaria?, obser- vantur. Hoc modo parentes ssepe in proles reviviscunt; certe parentibus liberi similes sunt, non vultum modo et corporis for mam, sed animi indolem, et virtutes, et vitia. Imperiosa gens Claudia diu Roma? floruit, impigra, ferox, superba; eadem illachrymabilem Tiberium, tristissimum tyrannum, produxit; tandem in immanem Caligulam, et * Athensum, 28th May 1828, p. 489. 154 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND Claudium, et Agrippinam, ipsumque demum Neronem post sexcentos annos, desitura.' * — Cap. i. sect. 16. The following remarks by Professor John Gregory, are extracted from his Comparative View of the State and Faculties of man with those of the Animal World ' By a proper attention we can preserve and improve the breed of horses, dogs, cattle, and indeed all other animals. Yet it is amazing this observation was never transferred to the human species, where it would be equally applicable. It is certain that, notwithstanding our promiscuous marriages, many families are distin- guished by peculiar circumstances in their character. This family character, like a family face, will often be lost in one generation and appear again in the succeeding. Without doubt, education, habit, and emulation, may contribute greatly in many cases to keep it up; but it will be generally found that, independent of these, Nature has stamped an original impression on certain minds, which education may greatly alter or efface, but seldom so entirely as to prevent its traces being seen by an accurate observer. How a certain character or consti- tution of mind can be transmitted from a parent to a child, is a question of more difficulty than importance. It is indeed equally difficult to account for the external resemblance of features, or for bodily diseases being transmitted from a parent to a child. But we never dream of a difficulty in explaining any appearance of nature which is exhibited to us every day. A proper attention to this subject would enable us to improve, not only the constitutions but the characters of our posterity. Yet we every day see very sensible people, who are anxiously attentive to preserve or improve the breed of their horses, tainting the blood of their children, and * Parents frequently live again in their offspring. It is quite cer- tain that children resemble their parents, not only in countenance and the form of their body, but also in their mental dispositions, in their virtues and vices, &c. FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 155 entailing on them not only the most loathsome diseases of the body, but madness, folly, and the most unworthy dispositions, and this too when they cannot plead being stimulated by necessity or impelled by passion.' # A celebrated French writer, who has written much sound as well as raise philosophy, observes, that c physi- cal organization, of which moral is the offspring, trans- mits the same character from father to son through a succession of ages. The Apii were always haughty and inflexible, the Catos always severe. The whole line of the Guises were bold, rash, factious; compounded of the most insolent pride and the most seductive politeness. From Francis de Guise, to him who alone and in silence went and put Linlself at the head of the people of Naples, they were ail, in figure, in courage, and in turn of mind, above ordinary men. I have seen whole-length portraits of Francis de Gu;se, of the Balafre, of his son: they are all six feet high, with the same features, the same cou- rage and boldness in the forehead, the eye, and the atti- tude. This continuity, this series of beings alike, is still more observable in animals; and if as much care were taken to perpetuate fine races of men, as some nations still take to prevent the mixing of the breeds of their horses and hounds, the genealogy would be written in the countenance and displayed in the manners.' | Phrenology reveals the principle on which these phe- nomena take place. Mental talents and dispositions are determined by the size and constitution of the brain. The brain is a portion of our organized system, and, as such, is subject to the organic laws, by one of which its qualities are transmitted by hereditary descent. This law, however faint or obscure it may appear in individual cases, becomes absolutely undeniable in nations. When we place the collection of Hindoo, Carib, Negro, New * Comparative View, &c. 3d edit. Lond. 1766, pp. 18, 19. t Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary, art. Cato. 156 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND Holland, North American, and European skulls, possess- ed by the Phrenological Society, in juxtaposition, we per- ceive a national form and combination of organs in each actually obtruding itself upon our notice, and correspond- ing with the mental characters of the respective tribes; the cerebral development of one tribe is seen to differ as widely from that of another, as the European mind does from that of the New Hollander. Here, then, each Hindoo, Chinese, New Hollander, Negro, and Carib, obviously inherits from his parents a certain general type of head; and so does each European. If, then, the gen- eral forms and proportions are thus so palpably trans- mitted, can we doubt that the individual varieties follow the same rule, modified slightly by causes peculiar to the parents of the individual? The differences of national character are equally conspicuous as those of national brains, and it is surprising how permanently both endure It is observed by an author in the Edinburgh Review, that e the Vicentine district is, as every one knows, and has been for ages, an integral part of the Venetian domi- nions, professing the same religion, and governed by the same laws, as the other continental provinces of Venice; yet the English character is not more different from the ' French, than that of the Vicentine from the Paduan; while the contrast between the Vicentine and his other neighbor, the Veronese, is hardly less remarkable.' — No. lxxxiv. p. 459. If, then, form, size, and constitution of brain, are transmitted from parents to children, if these determine natural mental talents and dispositions, which in their turn exercise the greatest influence over the happiness- of individuals through the whole of life, it becomes extremely important to discover according to what laws this transmission takes place. At the first aspect of the question, three principles present themselves to our con- sideration. Either, in the first place, the constitution and qualities of brain, which the parents themselves FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 157 inherited at birth, are transmitted absolutely, so that the children, sex following sex, are exact copies, without variation or modification, of the one parent or the other; or, secondly, the natural and inherent qualities of the father and mother combine, and are transmitted in a modified form to the offspring; or, thirdly, the qualities of the children are determined jointly by the constitution of the stock, and by the faculties which predominate in power and activity in the parents, at the particular time when the organic existence of each child commences. Experience shows that the first cannot be the law; for, us often mentioned, a real law of nature admits of no exceptions, and it is well established, that the minds of children are not exact copies, without variation or modifi- cation, of those of the parents, sex following sex. Nei- ther can the second be the law, because it is equally certain that the minds of children, although sometimes, are not always, in talents and dispositions exact blended reproductions of those of the father and mother. If this law prevailed, no child would be a copy of the father, none a copy of the mother, nor of any collateral relation, but each would be invariably a compound of the two parents, and all the children would be exactly alike, sex alone excepted. Experience shows that this is not the law. What, then, does experience say to the third idea, that the mental character of each child is determined by the particular qualities of the stock, combined with those which predominated in the parents when its existence commenced. I have already adverted to the influence of the seock, and shall now illustrate that of the condition of the parents, when existence is communicated. A strong illustration, in the case of the lower animals, appeared in the Edinburgh Review, No. lxxxiv. p. 457. 1 Every one conversant with beasts, 5 says the reviewer, 1 knows, that not only their natural, but that many of heir acquired qualities, are transmitted by the parents 14 158 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND to their offspring. Perhaps the most curious example of the latter fact may be found in the pointer. * This animal is endowed with the natural instinct of winding game, and stealing upon his prey,, which he surprises, having first made a short pause, in order to launch himself upon it with more security of success This s$rt of semicolon in his proceedings, man converts into a full stop, and teaches him to be as much pleased at seeing the bird or beast drop by the shooter's gun, as at taking it himself. The stanchest dog of this kind, and of the original pointer, is of Spanish origin, and our own is derived from this race, crossed with that of the fox- hound, or other breed of dog, for the sake of improving his speed. This mixed and factitious race, of course, naturally partakes less of the true pointer character; that is to say, is less disposed to stop, or at least he makes a shorter stop at game. The factitious pointer is, however, disciplined, in this country, into stanchness ; and, what is most singular, this quality is, in a great degree, inherited by his puppy, who may be seen earnestly standing at swallows or pigeons in a farm-yard. For intuition, though it leads the offspring to exercise his parent's faculties, does not instruct him how to direct them. The preference of his master afterwards guides him in his selection, and teaches him what game is better worth pursuit. On the other hand, the pointer of pure Spanish race, unless he happen to be well broke himself, which in the south of Europe seldom happens, produces a race which are all but unteachable, according to our notions of a pointer's business. They will make a stop at their game, as natural instinct prompts them, but seem incapa- ble of being drilled into the habits of the animal, which education has formed in this country, and has rendered, as I have said, in some degree, capable of transmitting his acquirements to his descendants.' 'Acquired habits are hereditary in other animals be- sides dogs. English sheep, probably from the greater FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 159 richness of our pastures, feed very much together; while Scotch sheep are obliged to extend and scatter them- selves over their hills, for the better discovery of food. Yet the English sheep, on being transferred to Scotland, keep their old habit of feeding in a mass, though so little adapted to their new country; so do their descendants; and the English sheep is not thoroughly naturalized into the necessities of his place till the third generation. The same thing may be observed as to the nature of his food, that is observed in his mode of seeking it. When tur- nips were introduced from England into Scotland, it was only the third generation which heartily adopted this diet, the first having been starved into an acquiescence in it.' In these instances, long continued impressions on the parents appear to have at last effected change of disposi- tion in the offspring. 1 We have seen,' says an author whom I have already quoted, c how wonderfully the bee works — according to rules discovered by man thousands of years after the insect had followed them with perfect accuracy. The same little animal seems to be acquainted with principles of which we are still ignorant. We can, by crossing, vary the forms of cattle with astonishing nicety; but we have no means of altering the nature of an animal, once born, by means of treatment and feeding. This power, however, is undeniably possessed by the bees. When the queen-bee is lost, by death or otherwise, they choose a grub from among those who are born for workers; they make three cells into one, and, placing the grub there, the^ build a tube round it; they afterwards build another cell, of a pyramidal form, into which the grub grows, they feed it with peculiar food, and tend it with extreme care. It becomes, when transformed from the worm to the fly, not a worker, but a queen-bee.' — Objects, Advan tages, and Pleasures of Science, p. 33. It is difficult to conceive that man will ever possess such a power as this ast. 160 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND Man, however, as an organized being, is subject to laws similar to those which govern the organization of the lower animals. Dr. Pritchard, in his Researches into the Physical History of Mankind, has brought forward a va- riety of interesting facts and opinions on the subject of transmission of hereditary qualities in the human race. He says, ( Children resemble, in feature and constitution, both parents, but, I think, more generally the father. In the breeding of horses and oxen, great importance is attached, by experienced propagators, to the male. In sheep, it is commonly observed that black rams beget black lambs. In the human species, also, the complexion chiefly follows that of the father; and I believe it to be a general fact, that the offspring of a black father and , white mother is much darker than the progeny of a white father and a dark mother.' — Vol. ii. p. 551. These facts appear to me to be referable to both causes. The stock must have had some influence, but the mother, in all these cases, is not impressed by her own color, because she does not look on herself; while the father's complexion must strikingly attract her attention, and may, in this way, give the darker tinge to the offspring. # Dr. Pritchard states the result of his investigations to be, First, That the organization of the offspring is always modelled according to the type of the original structure of the parent; and, secondly, 'That changes, produced by external causes in the appearance or constitution of the individual are temporary; and, in general, acquired char- acters are transient; they terminate with the individual, and have no influence on the progeny.' — Vol. ii. p. 536. He supports the first of these propositions by a variety of facts occurring ' in the porcupine family,' c in the he- reditary nature of complexion,' and ' in the growth of supernumerary fingers or toes, and corresponding defi- ciencies.' c Maupertuis has mentioned this phenomenon * Black hens lay dark-colored eggs. FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 161 tie assures us, that there were two families in Germany, who have been distinguished for several generations by six fingers on each hand, and the same number of toes on each foot,'&c. He admits, at the same time, that the second proposition is of more difficult proof, and that an opinion contrary to it has been maintained by some wri ters, and a variety of singular facts have been related in support of it. 5 But many of these relations, as he justly observes, are obviously fables. In regard to the foregoing propositions, I would ob- serve, that a manifest distinction exists between transmit sion of monstrosities, or mutilations, which constitute ad- ditions to, or abstractions from, the natural lineaments of the body, and transmission of a mere tendency in parti- cular organs to a greater or less development in point of size, and of energy in their natural functions. This last appears to me to be influenced by the state of the parents at the time when existence is communicated to the off- spring. On this point Dr. Pritchard says, £ The opinion which formerly prevailed, and which has been entertained by some modern writers, among whom is Dr. Darwin, that at the period when organization commences in the Ovum, that is, at or soon after the time of conception, the structure of the foetus is capable of undergoing modifica- tion from impressions on the mind or senses of the parent, does not appear altogether so improbable. It is contra- dicted, at least, by no fact in physiology. It is an opinion of very ancient prevalence, and may be traced to so re- mote a period, that its rise cannot be attributed to the speculations of philosophers, and it is difficult to account for the origin of such a persuasion, unless we ascribe it to facts which happened to be observed.' — P. 556. A striking and undeniable proof of the effect on the character and dispositions of children, produced by the form of brain transmitted to them by hereditary descent, is to be found in the progeny of marriages between Euro- Deans, whose brains possess a favorable development of 14* 162 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND he moral and intellectual organs, and Hindoos, and na- tive Americans, whose brains are inferior. All authors agree, and report the circumstance as singularly striking, that the children of such unions are decidedly superior in mental qualities to the native, while they are still in- ferior to the European parent. Captain Franklin says, that the half-breed American Indians i are upon the whole a good looking people; and, where the experiments have been made, have shown much expertness in learning, ana willingness to be taught; they have, however, been sadly neglected. 5 — P. 86. He adds, ' it has been remarked, 1 do not know with what truth, that half-breeds show more personal courage than the pure breeds.* Captain Basil Hall, and other writers on South America, mention, that the offspring of native American and Spanish parents, constitute the most active, vigorous, and powerful portion of the inhabitants of these countries; and many of them rose to high commands during the revolutionary war. So much is this the case in Hindostan, that several writers have already pointed to the mixed race there, as obvious- ly destined to become the future sovereigns of India These individuals inherit from the native parent a certain adaptation to the climate, and from the European parent a higher development of brain, the two combined consti- tuting their superiority. Another example of the same law occurs in Persia. In that country, it is said that the custom has existed for ages among the nobles, of purchasing beautiful female Circassian captives, and forming alliances with them as wives. It is ascertained that the Circassian form of brain stands comparatively high in the development of the moral and intellectual organs. # And it is mentioned by * In Mr. W. Allan's picture of the Circassian Captives, the form of the head is said to be a copy from nature, taken by that artist, when he visited the country. It is engraved by Mr. James Stewart with great beauty and fidelity, and may be consulted as an example of th« superiority of Circassian development of the brain. FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 163 some travellers, that the race of nobles in Persia is the most gifted in natural qualities, ' bodily and mental, of any class of that people; a fact diametrically opposite to that which takes place in Spain, and other European countries, where the nobles intermarry constantly w ; th each other, and set the organic laws altogether at dt fiance. The degeneracy and even idiocy of some of the noble and royal families of Spain and Portugal, from marrying nieces, and other near relations, is well known; and defective brains, in all these cases, are observed. Many facts illustrate the influence of the state of the parents, particularly of the mother, at the time when the existence of the child commenced, on its mental talents and dispositions.* The father of Napoleon Bonaparte, says Sir Walter Scott, ' is stated to have possessed a very handsome person, a talent for eloquence, and a vivacity of intellect, which he transmitted to his son.' c It was in the middle of civil discord, fights, and skirmishes, that Charles Bonaparte married Lsetitia Ramolini, one of the most beautiful young women of the island, and possessed of a great deal of firmness of character. She partook of the dangers of her husband during the years of civil war, and is said to have accompanied him on horseback on some military expeditions, or perhaps hasty flights, shortly before her being delivered of the future Emperor.'— Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, vol. iii. p. 6. • The murder of David Rizzio was perpetrated by armed nobles, with many circumstances of violence and terror, in the presence of Mary, Queen of Scotland, shortly before the birth of her son, afterwards James the First of England. The constitutional liability of this monarch to emotions of fear, is recorded as a charac- eristic of his mind; and it has been mentioned that he * See Appendix, No. II. 164 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND even started involuntarily at the sight of a drawn s^ ord Queen m Mary was not deficient in courage, and the Stuarts, both before and after James the First, were distinguished for this quality; so that his dispositions were an exception to the family character. Napoleon and James form striking contrasts; and it may be re- marked that the mind of Napoleon's mother appears to have risen to the danger to which she was exposed, and braved it; while the circumstances in which Queen Mary was placed, were calculated to inspire her with fear alone. Farther evidence of the same law may still be men- tioned. Esquirol, the celebrated French medical writer, in adverting to the causes of madness, mentions that many children whose existence dated from periods when the horrors of the French Revolution were at their height, turned out subsequently to be weak, nervous, and irritable in mind, extremely susceptible of impres- sions, and liable, by the least extraordinary excitement, to be thrown into absolute insanity. A medical practi- tioner of Douglas, in the Isle of Man, mentions the following case: — A man's first child was of sound mind; afterwards he had a fall from his horse, by which his head was much injured. His next two children proved to be- both idiots. After this he was trepanned, and had other children, and they turned out to be of sound mind. A lady of considerable talent wrote as follows to a phre- nological friend: — c From the age of two I foresaw that my eldest son's restlessness would ruin him; and it has been even so. Yet he was kind, brave, and affectionate. I read the Iliad for six months before he saw the light, and have often wondered if that could have any influence on him. He was actually an Achilles.' # * This lady's head is large; in particular, the organs of Combative- ness, Self-Esteem, and Firmness, are very large ; those of Destruc- tiveness and Adhesiveness are large ; and the Temperament is very active. TRANSMISSION OF HEREDITARY QUALITIES. 165 In a case which fell under my own observation, the father of a family had been sick, had a partial recovery but relapsed, declined in health, and in two months died Seven months after his death, a son was born, of the full age; and the origin of whose existence was referable to the period of the partial recovery. At that time, and during the subsequent two months, the faculties of the mother were in high excitement, in ministering to her husband, to whom she was greatly attached; and, after his death, the same excitement continued to operate, as she was then loaded with the charge f a numerous family, but not depressed; for her circumstances were comfortable. The son is now a young man; and, while his constitution is the most delicate, the development and activity of the mental organs are decidedly greater in him than in any other member of the family. Another illustration of the same law is found in the fact, that, when two parties marry very young, the eldest of their children inherits a less favorable develop- ment of the moral and intellectual organs, than those produced in more mature age. The animal organs in men, in general, are most vigorous in early life, and this energy appears to cause them to be then most readily transmitted to offspring. Indeed it is difficult to account for the wide varieties in the form of the brain in children of the same family, unless on the principle, that the organs which predominate in vigor and activity in the parents, at the time when existence is communicated, determine the tendency of corresponding organs to de- velope themselves largely in the children. Since the first edition of this work was prepared, so many facts illustrative of the truth of this principle, have been communicated to me, and observed by myself, that I now regard .it as probable. Several of these cases will be subsequently mentioned, and others will be found stated in the appendix. If this be really the law of nature, as there is great u 166 ORGANIC LAWS. reason for believing, then parents, in whom Combative- ness and Destructiveness are in habitual activity, will transmit these organs, in a state of high development and excitement, to their children; and those in whom the moral and intellectual organs exist in supreme vigor, will transmit these in greatest perfection. This view is in harmony with the fact, that children generally, although not universally, resemble their pa- rents in their mental qualities; because the largest organs being naturally the most active, the general and habitual state of the parents will be determined by those which predominate in size in their own brains; and on the principle that predominance in activity and energy causes the transmission of similar qualities to the offspring, the children will, in this way, very generally resembie the parents. But they will not always do so; because, even very inferior characters, in whom the moral and intel- lectual organs are deficient, may be occasionally exposed to external influences which, for the time, may excite these organs to unwonted vivacity; and, according to the rule now explained, a child, dating its existence from that period, may inherit a higher organization of brain' than the parent. Or, a person with an excellent moral development, may, by some particular occurrence, have his animal propensities roused to unwonted vigor, and his moral sentiments thrown, for the time, into the shade, and any offspring connected with this condition," would prove inferior to himself in the development of the moral organs, and greatly surpass him in the size of those of the propensities. I repeat, that I do not present these views as ascer- tained phrenological science, but as inferences strongly supported by facts, and consistent with known pheno mena. If we suppose them to be true, they will greatly strengthen the motives for preserving the habitual supre- macy of the moral sentiments and intellect, when, by doing so, improved moral and intellectual capacities ma> TRANSMISSION OF HEREDITARY QUALITIES. 167 be conferred on offspring. If it be true that this lower world is arranged in harmony with the supremacy of the higher faculties, what a noble prospect would this law open up of the possibility of man ultimately becoming capable ol j* lacing himself more fully in accordance with the divine institutions, than he has hitherto been able to do; and, in consequence, of reaping numberless enjoy- ments that appear destined for him by his Creator, and avoiding thousands of miseries that now render life too often only a series of calamities. The views here ex- pounded also harmonize with the second principle of this Essay, namely, That, as activity in the faculties is the fountain of enjoyment, the whole constitution of nature is designedly framed to support them in ceaseless action. What scope for observation, reflection, the exercise of moral sentiments, and the regulation of animal impulse, does not this picture of nature present! I cordially agree, however, with Dr. Pritchard, that this subject is still involved in great obscurity. ' We know not,' says .he, ' by what means any of the facts we remark are effected; and the utmost we can hope to attain is, by tracing the connection of circumstances, to learn from what combinations of them we may expect 'o Witness particular results.' — Vol. ii p. 542. Much of this darkness, however, may be traced to ignorance o c the functions of the brain. If we consider that, in rela- tion to mind, the brain has all along been the most important organ of our system; that mental impressions in the parents must almost necessarily have exercised a powerful influence over the development of the cerebral organs in the children, and. that the .relative size of the organs determines the predominance of particular talent3 and dispositions; but that, nevertheless, all past observa- tions have been conducted without the knowledge of these facts; it will not appear marvellous that hitherto much confusion and contradiction have existed in the cases recorded . and in the inferences drawn from them 168 ORGANIC LAWS. on this subject. At the present moment, almost all that phrenologists can pretend to accomplish is, to point out the mighty void; to offer an exposition of its causes, and to state such conclusions as their own very limited obser- vations have hitherto enabled them to deduce. Far from pretending to be in possession of certain and complete knowledge on this topic, I am inclined to think, that, although every conjecture now hazarded were founded in nature, centuries of observation might probably be necessary to render the principles fully practical. At present we have almost no information concerning the effects, on the children, of different temperaments, of different combinations in the cerebral organs, and of differences of age in the parents. It is astonishing, however, to what extent mere pecu- niary interests excite men to investigate and observe the Natural Laws, while moral and rational considerations appear to exert so small an influence in leading them to do so. Before a common insurance company will under- take the risk of paying £100, on the death of an indivi- dual, they require the following questions to be answered by credible and intelligent witnesses: — 6 1. How long have you known Mr. A.-B. ? "2. Has he had the gout? * 3. Has he had a spitting of blood, asthma, consump- tion, or other pulmonary complaint? c 4. Do you consider him at all predisposed to any of these complaints? 6 5. Has he been afflicted with fits, or mental derange- ment ? 1 6. Do you think his constitution perfectly good, in the common acceptation of the term? * 7 . Are his habits in every respect strictly regular and temperate? 1 8. Is he at present in good health? 1 9. Is there any thing in his form, habits of living, or business, which you are of opinion may shorten his life ? TRANSMISSION OF HEREDITARY QUALITIES. 169 * JO. What complaints are his family most subject to? c 11. Are you aware of any reason why an insurance night not with safety be effected on his life?' A man and woman about to marry, have, in the gene- rality of cases, the health and happiness of five or more human beings depending on their attention to considera- tions, essentially the same as the foregoing, and yet how much less scrupulous are they than the mere speculators in money? It is pleasing, however, to observe, that, in Wurtemberg, there are two excellent laws calculated to improve the moral and physical condition of the people, which other states would do well to adopt. First, ' It is illegal for any young man to marry before he is twenty- five, or any young woman before she is eighteen; and a young man, at whatever age he wishes to marry, must show to the police and the priest of the commune where he resides, that he is able, and has the prospect, to pro- vide for a wife and family.' The second law compels parents to send their children to school, from the age of six to fourteen. * \ There is no moral difficulty in admitting and admiring the wisdom and benevolence of the institution by which good qualities are transmitted from parents to children; but it is frequently held as unjust to the latter, that they should inherit parental deficiencies, and so be made to suffer for sins which they did n'ot commit. In treating of this difficulty, I must again refer to the supremacy of the moral sentiments, as the theory of the constitution of the world. The animal propensities are all selfish, and re- gard only the immediate and apparent interest of the individual; while the higher sentiments delight in that which communicates the greatest quantity of enjoyment to the greatest number. Now, let us suppose the law of hereditary descent to be abrogated altogether, that is to say, that each individual of the race were, at birth, en 1 See Appendix, No. III. 15 170 ORGANIC LAWS. dowed with fixed natural qualities, without the slightest reference to what his parents had been or done; — this form of constitution would obviously cut off every possi- bility of improvement in the race. Every phrenologist knows, that the brains of the New Hollanders, Charibs, and other savage tribes, are distinguished by great defi- ciencies in the moral and intellectual organs.* New Hollander. Charib. If, however, it be true that a considerable development of the intellectual organs is indispensable to the compre- hension of science, and the practice of virtue, it would, on the present supposition, be impossible to raise the New Hollanders, as a people, one step higher in capacity for intelligence and virtue than they now are. We might cultivate each generation up to the limit of its powers, but there the improvement, and a low one it would be, would stop; for the next generation, being produced with brains equally deficient in the moral and intellectual regions, no principle of increasing ameliora- tion could exist. The same remarks are applicable to every tribe of mankind. If we assume modern Euro- peans as the standard, then, if the law of hereditary descent were abrogated, every deficiency that at this moment is attributable to imperfect or disproportionate development of brain, would be irremediable, and con- tinue as long as the race existed. Each generation might be cultivated till the summit level of its capacities were attained, but there each succeeding generation * This fact is demonstrated by specimens in most Phrenological Collections. 13 in the above cut is the organ of benevolence. TRANSMISSION OP HEREDITARY QUALITIES. 171 would remain. When we contrast with this prospect the very opposite effects flowing from the law of hereditary transmission of qualities in an increasing ratio, the whole advantages are at once perceived to be on the side of tho latter arrangement. According to this rule, the children of the individuals who have obeyed the organic, the moral, and the intellectual laws, will not only start from the highest level of their parents in acquired knowledge, but they will inherit a tendency towards an enlarged development of the moral and intellectual organs, and thereby enjoy an increasing capability of discovering and obeying the Creator's institutions. It appears to me that the native American savages, and native New Hollanders, cannot, with their present brains, adopt European civilization; and the same con- clusion seems to have been drawn by an intelligent missionary, from long continued and intimate observation of their mental qualities. Mr. Timothy Flint, a Presby- terian clergyman, who passed ten years, commencing in 1815, in wanderings and preaching in the Valley of the Mississippi, says that he has - inspected the northern, middle, and southern Indians for a length of ten years, that he has been forcibly struck with a general resem- blance in their countenance, make, conformation, man- ners, and habits;' 'you may easily discover striking dif- ferences in their stature, strength, intellect, 1 acuteness, and consideration among themselves: but a savage of Canada, and he of the Rio del Norte, have substantially the same face, the same form, and, if I may say so, the same instincts. They are all, in my mind, unquestionably from a common stock.' ■ They have not the same acute and tender sensibilities with the other races of men. They seem callous to every passion but rage.' 'Their impassible fortitude and endurance of suffering, which have been so much vaunted, are, after all, in my mind, the result of a greater degree of physical insensibility. * No ordinary stimulus excites them to action. None of 17 6 2 ORGANIC LAWS. the common excitements, endearments, or motives, ope- rate upon them at all. They seem to hold most of the things that move us in proud disdain. The horrors of their warfare, — the infernal rage of their battles, — the demoniac fury of gratified revenge, — the alternations of hope and despair in their gambling, to which they are addicted far beyond the whites, — the brutal exhilaration of drunkenness, — these are their excitements.' He con- cludes, ' It strikes me that Christianity is the religion of civilised man, that the savages must first be civilized, and that, as there is little hope that the present genera- tion of Indians can be civilized, there is but little more that they will be christianized.' The reader will find, in the Phrenological collections, specimens of the skulls of these savages; and, on com- paring them with those of Europeans, he will observe that, in the Indians, the organs of reflecting intellect, and of all the moral feelings, are greatly inferior in size to the same organs in the Europeans. The moral and intel- lectual organs are decidedly larger in the Sandwich Islanders than in the Indians, and they have received European civilization with greater cordiality and success. If, by obeying the organic laws, the moral and intellec- tual organs of the American savages could be considera- bly enlarged, they would desire civilization, and would adopt it when offered. If this view be well founded, all means used for their cultivation, which are not calculated at the same time to improve their cerebral organization, will be limited in their effects by the narrow capacities attending their present development. In youth, all the organs of the body are more susceptible of modification than in advanced age : and hence the effects of education on the young may arise from the greater susceptibility of the brain to impressions at that period than later. This improvement will, no doubt, have its limits; but it may probably extend to that point at which man will be capable of placing himself in harmony with, the natura 1 TRANSMISSION OF HEREDITARY QUALITIES. 173 laws. The effort necessary to maintain himself there> will still provide for the activity of his faculties. 2dly, We may suppose the law of hereditary descent to be limited to the transmission'of good, and abrogated as to the transmission of bad qualities; and it may be thought that this arrangement would be more benevolent and just. There are objections to this view, however, which do not occur without reflection, to the mind. We see as matter of fact, that a vicious and debased parent is actually defective in the moral and intellectual organs. Now, if his children should take up exactly the same development as himself, this would be the transmission of imperfections, which is the very point objected to; or, If he were to take up a development fixed by nature, and not at all referable to that of the parent ; this would render the whole race stationary in their first condition, without the possibility of improvement in their capacities, which also we have seen would be an evil greatly to be deprecated; or, 3dly. The bad development might be supposed to transmit, by hereditary 'descent, a good development: but this would set at nought the supremacy of justice and benevolence; it would render the consequences of con- tempt for, and violation of the divine laws, and of obe- dience to them, in this particular, precisely alike. The debauchee, the cheat, the murderer, and the robber would, according to this view, be able to look upon the prospects of his posterity, with the same confidence in their welfare and happiness, as the pious, intelligent Christian, who had sought to know God and to obey his institutions during his whole life. Certainly no indivi- dual, in whom the higher sentiments prevail, will for a moment regard this imagined change as any improvement on the Creator's arrangements. What a host of motives to moral and religious conduct would at once be with- drawn, were such a spectacle of divine government ex- hibited to the world! 15* . 74 ORGANIC LAWS. 4thly. It may be supposed that human happiness would have been more completely secured, by endowing all individuals at birth with that degree of development of the moral and intellectual orgarfs, which would have best fitted them for discovering and obeying the Creator's institutions, and by preventing all aberrations from this standard; just as the lower animals appear to have re- ceived instincts and capacities, adjusted with the most perfect wisdom to their conditions. Two remarks occur on this supposition. First, We are not competent at present to judge correctly how far the development actually bestowed on the human race is, or is not, wisely adapted to their circumstances; for there may, by possi- bility, be departments in the great system of human society, exactly suited to all existing forms of brain, not imperfect through disease, if our knowledge were suffi cient to discover them. The want of a natural index to the mental dispositions and capacities of individuals, and of a true theory of the constitution of society, may have hitherto precluded philosopher from arriving at sound conclusions on this question. It appears to me probable, that, while there may be great room for improvement in the talents and dispositions of vast numbers of individuals, the imperfections of the race in general may not be so great, as we, in our present state of ignorance of the aptitudes of particular persons for particular situations, are prone to infer. But, Secondly, On the principle that activity in the faculties is the fountain of enjoyment, it may be considered whether additional motives to the exercise of the moral and intellectual powers, and, con- sequently, greater happiness, are not conferred by leaving men (within certain limits) to regulate the talents and tendencies of their decendants, than by endowing each individual with the best qualities, independently of the conduct of his parents. On the whole, therefore, there seems reason for con- cluding, that the actual institution, by which both good TRANSMISSION OF HEREDITARY QUALITIES 176 and bad qualities* are transmitted, is fraught with higher advantages to the race, than the abrogation of the law of transmission altogether; or than the supposed change of it, by which bad men would transmit good qualities to their children. The actual law, when viewed by the moral sentiments and intellect, both in its principles and consequences, appears beneficial and expedient. When an individual sufferer, therefore, complains of its opera- tion, he regards it through the animal faculties alone; his self-love is annoyed, and he carries his thoughts no further. He never stretches his mind forward to the consequences which would ensue to mankind at large, if the law which grieves him were reversed. The animal faculties regard nothing beyond their own immediate and apparent interest, and they do not even discern it cor- rectly; for no arrangement that is beneficial for the race can be injurious to individuals, if its operations in regard to them were distinctly traced. The abrogation of the rule, therefore, under which they complain, would, we may be certain, bring ten- thousand times greater evils, even upon themselves, than its continuance. On the other hand, an individual sufferer under here- ditary pain, in whom the moral and intellectual faculties predominate, who should see the principle and conse- quences of the institution of hereditary descent, as now explained, would not murmur at them as unjust; he would bow with submission to an institution, which he perceived to be fraught with blessings to the race, when t was known and observed, and the very practice of this * In using the popular expressions ' good qualities' and ' bad quali- ties,' I do not mean to insinuate, that any of the tendencies bestowed on man are essentially bad in themselves. Destructiveness and Acquisitiveness, for example, are in themselves essential to human welfare in this world, and, when properly directed, produce effects unquestionably good; but they become the sources of evil, when they are ill directed, which may result either from moral and intellectual ignorance, or from their organs being too large, in proportion to those of the superior sentiments and intellect. 176 ORGANIC LAWS. reverential acquiescence would be so delightful, that it would diminish, in a great degree, the severity of the evil. Besides, he would see the door of mercy standing widely open, and inviting his return; he would perceive that every step which he made in his own person towards exact obedience to the Creator's institutions, would re- move by so much the organic penalty transmitted through his parent's transgressions, and that his posterity would reap the full benefits of his more dutiful observance. It may be objected to the law of hereditary transmis- sion of organic qualities, that the children of p, blind and lame father have sound eyes and limbs: But, in the 1st place, these defects are generally the result of accident or disease, occurring either during pregnancy, or poste- rior to birth, and seldom or never the operation of nature; and, consequently, the original physical principles re- maining entire in the constitution, the bodily imperfec- tions are not transmitted to the progeny. 2d, Where the defects are congenital or constitutional, it frequently happens that they are transmitted through successive generations. This is exemplified in deafness, of which I have cited several examples on page 152, in blindness, and even in the possession of supernumerary fingers or toes. The reason why such peculiarities are not trans- mitted to all the progeny, appears to be simply that, in general, only one parent is defective. If the father, for instance, be blind or deaf, the mother is generally free from that imperfection, and her influence naturally ex- tends to, and modifies the result in, the progeny. If the law of hereditary transmission of mental qualities be, as now explained, dependent on the organs in highest excitement in the parents, it will account for the varieties, along with the general resemblance, that occur in chil- dren of the same marriage. It will account also for the circumstance of genius being sometimes transmitted and sometimes not. Unless both parents possess the develop- ment of brain and temperament of genius, the law woulc TRANSMISSION OF HEREDITARY QUALITIES 177 not certainly transmit these qualities to the children; and even although both did possess these endowments, they would be transmitted only on condition of the parents obeying the organic laws, one of which forbids that excessive exertion of the mental and coj^oreal functions, which exhausts and debilitates the system; an error almost universally committed by persons endowed with high original talent, under the present condition of igno- rance of the natural laws, and erroneous fashions and institutions of society. The supposed law would be disproved by cases of weak, imbecile, and vicious chil- dren, being born to parents whose own constitution and habits had been in the highest accordance with the organic, moral, and intellectual laws; but no such cases have hitherto come under my observation. Further, after birth, it is quite certain, that the organs most active in the parents have a decided tendency to cause an increase in the size of corresponding organs in the children, by habitually exciting and exercising them, which favors their growth. According to this law, ha- bitual severity, chiding and imperious conduct, proceed- ing from over-active Self-Esteem and Destructiveness in the parents, rouse the same faculties in the children, pro- duce hatred and resistance, and increase the. activity of the same organs, while those of the moral sentiments and intellect are left in a state of apathy. Rules, however, are best taught by examples; and I shall, therefore, proceed to mention some facts that have fallen under my own notice, or been communicated to me from authentic sources, illustrative of the practical con- sequences of infringing the law of hereditary descent. A man, aged about 50, possessed a brain, in which the animal, moral, and knowing intellectual organs, were all strong, but the reflecting weak. He was pious, but des- titute of education; he married an unhealthy young wo- man, deficient in moral development, but of considerable force of character; and several children were born. The 178 MISERIES ARISING FROM father and mother were far from being happy; and, when the children attained to eighteen or twenty years of age, they were adepts in every species of immorality and profligacy; they picked their father's pocket, stole his goods, and gpt them sold back to him, by accom- plices, for money, which was spent in betting and cock- fighting, drinking, and low debauchery. The father was heavily grieved;. but knowing only two resources, he beat the children severely as long as he was able, and prayed for them; his own words were, that 'if, after that, it pleased the Lord to make vessels of wrath of them, the Lord's will must just be done.' I mention this last obser- vation, not in jest, but in great seriousness. It was impossible not to pity the unhappy father; yet, who that sees the institutions of the Creator to be in themselves wise, but in this instance to have been directly violated, will not acknowledge that the bitter pangs of the poor old man were the consequences of his own ignorance; and that it was an erroneous view of the divine administration, which led him to overlook his own mistakes, and to at- tribute to the Almighty the purpose of making vessels of wrath of his children, as the only explanation which he could give of their wicked dispositions. Who that sees the cause of his misery must not lament that his piety should not have been enlightened by philosophy, and di- rected to obedience, in* the first instance, to the organic institutions of the Creator, as one of the prescribed con- ditions, without observance of which he had no title to expect a blessing upon his offspring. In another instance, a man, in whom the animal organs, particularly those of Combativeness and Destructive ness, were very large, but with a pretty fair moral and in- tellectual development, married, against her inclination, a young woman, fashionably and showily educated, but with a very decided deficiency in Conscientiousness They soon became unhappy, and even blows were said to have passed between them, although they belonged to th< NEGLECT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS IN MARRIAGE. 179 middle rank of life. The mother, in this case, employed the children to deceive and plunder the father, and, lat- terly, spent the produce in ardent spirits. The sons in- herited the deficient morality of the mother, and the ill temper of the father. The family fireside became a the- atre of war, and, before the sons attained majority, the father was glad to get them removed from his house, as the only means by which he could feel even his life in safety from their violence ; for they had by that time re- taliated the blows with which he had visited them in their younger years; and he stated, that he actually considered his life to be in danger from his own offspring. In another family, the mother possesses an excellent development of the moral and intellectual organs, while, in the father, the animal organs predominate in great ex cess. She has been the unhappy victim of ceaseless mis- fortune, originating from the misconduct of her husband Some of the children have inherited the father's brain, and some the mother's; and of the sons whose heads resembled the father's, several have died through mere debauchery and profligacy under thirty years of age; whereas those who resemble the mother are alive and little contaminated, even amidst all the disadvantages of evil example. On the other hand, I am not acquainted with a single instance in which the moral and intellectual organs pre- dominated in size, in both father and mother, and whose external circumstances also permitted their general activ- ity, in which the whole children did not partake of a moral and intellectual character, differing slightly in degrees of excellence one from another, but all presenting the decid- ed predominance of the human over the animal faculties. A lady possessing a large brain and active tempera- ment, was employed professionally as a teacher of music Her husband also had a fine temperament, and well con stituted brain, but his talents for music were only moder- ate. They had several children, all of whom were 180 ORGANIC LAWS. produced while the mother was in the full practice of her profession, and they all now indicate superior musical abilities. They have learned to play on several instru- ments, as if by instinct, and promise to excel. In this case the original endowments of the mother, and her ac- tive exercise of them, conspired to transmit them to her children. There are other instances in which the character of particular children appears to bear relation to the condi- tion of the parents, or of one or other of them, at the time of their production. A friend told me that in his youth he lived in a country in which the gentlemen were much addicted to hard drinking; and that he, too frequently, took a part in their revels. Several of his sons, born at that time, although subsequently educated in a very dif- ferent or moral atmosphere, turned out strongly addicted to inebriety; whereas the children born after he had re- moved to a large town, and formed more correct habits, were not the victims of this propensity. Another individ- ual, of superior talents, described to me the wild and mischievous revelry in which he indulged at the time of his marriage, and congratulated himself on his subsequent domestication and moral improvement. His eldest son, born in his riotous days, notwithstanding a strictly mora^ education, turned out a personification of the father's actual condition at that time; and his younger children were more moral in proportion as they were removed from the period of vicious frolics. The mother, in this case, possessed a favorable development of brain. There are well-known examples of the children of reli- gious and moral fathers exhibiting dispositions of a very inferior description; but in all of these instances that I have been able to observe, there has been a large devel- opment of the animal organs in the one parent, which was just controlled, but not much more, by the moral and intellectual powers; and in the other parent, the moral organs did not. appear to be in large proportion. The * ORGANIC LAWS 181 unfortunate child inherited the large animal development of the one, with the defective moral development of the other; and, in this way, was inferior to both. The way to satisfy one's self on this point, is to examine the heads of the parents. In all such cases, a large base of the brain, which* is the region of the animal propensities, will very probably be found in one or other of them. Another organic law of the animal kingdom deserves attention, viz. that hy which marriages betwixt blood re- lations tend decidedly to the deterioration of the physical and mental qualities of the offspring. In Spain kings marry their nieces, and, in this country, first and second cousins marry without scruple; although every philoso- phical physiologist will* declare that this is in direct opposition to the institutions of nature. This law holds also in the vegetable kingdom. 'A provision, of a very simple kind, is, in some cases, made to prevent the male and female blossoms of the same plant from breeding to- gether, this being found to hurt the breed of vegetables, just as breeding in and in does the breed of animals. It is contrived, that the dust shall be shed by the male blossom before the female is ready to be affected by it, so that the impregnation must be performed by the dust of some other plant, and in this way the breed be cross- ed.' — Objects, fyc. of Science, p. 33. On the same principle, it is found highly advantageous in agriculture not to sow grain of the same stock in con- stant succession on the same soil. In individual in- stances, if the soil and plants are both possessed of great vigor and the highest qualities, the same kind of grain may be reaped in succession twice or thrice, with less perceptible deterioration than where these elements of reproduction are feeble and imperfect; and the same fact occurs in the animal kingdom. If the first individuals connected in near relationship, who unite in marriage, are uncommonly robust, and possess very favorably de- veloped brains, their offspring may r >t be so much deter 16 n 183 CHOICE OP SERVANTS, &C. orated below the common standard of the country as to attract particular attention, and the law of nature is, in this instance, supposed not to hold; but it does hold, for to a law of nature there never is an exception. The off- spring are uniformly inferior to what they ivould have been, if the parents had united with strangers in blood of equal vigor and cerebrqj, development. Whenever there is any remarkable deficiency in parents who are related in blood, these appear in the most marked and aggravated forms in the offspring. This fact is so well known, and so easily ascertained, that I forbear to enlarge upon it. So much for miseries arising from neglect of the organic laws in forming the domestic compact. * I proceed to advert to those evils which arise from overlooking the operation of the same laws in the ordi- nary relations of society. How many little annoyances arise from the . miscon- duct of servants and dependents in various departments of life; how many losses, and sometimes ruin, arise from dishonesty and knavery in confidential clerks, partners, and agents. A mercantile house of great reputation, in London, was ruined and became bankrupt, by a clerk having embezzled a prodigious extent of funds, and ab- sconded to America; another company in Edinburgh, sus- tained a great loss by a similar piece of dishonesty; a company in Paisley was ruined by one of the partners having collected the funds, and eloped with them to the United States; and several bankers, and other persons, suffered severely in Edinburgh, by the conduct of an in- dividual, some time connected with the public press. It is said that depredations are constantly committed in the Post-offices of the United Kingdom, in spite of every ef- fort made to select persons of the best character, and of he strictest vigilance exercised over their conduct. If be true that the talents and dispositions^ individuals are indicated and influenced by the development of their CHOICE OF SERVANTS, &C. 183 )"ains, and that their actual conduct is the result of this development, and of their external circumstances^ includ- ing in the latter every moral and intellectual influence coming from without, it is obvious, that one and all of the evils here enumerated might, to a great extent, be ob- viated by the application of Phrenology. These misfor- tunes can be traced to the error of having placed human beings decidedly deficient in moral or intellectual qualities, in situations which demanded these in a higher degree than they possessed them; and any certain means by which the presence or absence of these qualities could be predicated, before their appointment, would go far to prevent the occurrence of the evils. The three following figures, for example, represent several of the organs most important in practical conduct in opposite states of devel- opment, and the dispositions of the individuals exactly corresponded with them. Mrs. H. John Gibson. 15. Firmness small ; 16. Con- scientiousness large j 12. Cautiousness full. 15. Firmness, and 16. Consci- entiousness both deficient: 12. Cautiousness, and, Secretiveness, both largo D. Haggart. 15. Firmness large ; 16. Con- scientiousness deficient ; 12* Cautiousness rather large. 84 ORGANIC LAWS. If individuals having brains resembling those of Gibson and Haggart, both of whom were remarkable for dis- honesty, should be placed in situations of trust, in which temptations to deception and embezzlement should be presented to tfiem, which could be resisted only by strong sentiments of justice, their misconduct, sooner or later, would t>e almost certain, owing to the great size of their animal organs, and the deficiency of their organs cf Conscientiousness. I have seen so many instances of dishonest practices- in concomitance with similar combi- nations, that I cannot doubt of their connection. Where external circumstances remove from persons thus consti- tuted all temptation to pilfering, their deficient percep- tions of justice will still be discernible in the laxness of their notions of morality, in their treatment of inferiors, and in their general conduct. Again, if a person were wanted for any situation in which great decision of character, steadiness and perse- verance were necessary, and we selected a candidate whose brain, in the organ of Firmness, resembled that of Mrs. H., we should assuredly be disappointed. This lady was remarkable for vacillation of purpose; and I have never seen a single instance of decision of mind ■ ■ i combined with such a defect of brain as is here repre- sented. These cases are introduced merely as examples and illustrations. The reader who wishes to pursue the subject farther, is referred to the common treatises on Phrenology and the Phrenological Journal, for additional information. If any man were to go to sea in a paper boat, which the very fluidity of the element would dissolve, no one would be surprised at his being drowned: and, in like manner, if the Creator has constituted the brain so as to exert a great influence over the mental dispositions, and if, nevertheless, men are pleased* to treat this fact with neglect and contempt, and to place individuals, naturally eficient in the moral organs, in situations where a great CHOICE OF SERVANTS, &,C 185 degree of these sentiments is required, they have no cause to be surprised if they suffer the penalties of theii own misconduct, in being plundered and defrauded. Although I can state, from experience, that it is pos- sible, by the aid of Phrenology, to select individuals whose moral qualities may be relied on, yet, the ex- tremely limited extent of our practical knowledge in regard to the intellectual talents that fit persons for par- ticular duties, falls to be confessed. We must have seen a variety of combinations tried in particular departments and observed their effects, to be able to judge accurately what combination of natural talents and dispositions in an individual will best fit him for any given employment. It is impossible, at least for me, to anticipate with un- erring certainty, what these effects will be: but I have ever found nature constant ; and after once discovering, by experience, an assortment of qualities suited to a par- ticular duty, I have found no subsequent exception to the rule. Cases in which the predominance of particular regions of the brain, such as the moral and intellectual, is very decided, present fewest difficulties; although, even in them, the very deficiency of animal organs m.ay some- times incapacitate an individual for important stations. Where the three classes of organs, the animal, moral, and intellectual, are nearly in cequilibrio, the most opposite results may ensue by external circumstances exciting the one or the other to decided predominance in activity, and little reliance ought to be placed on individuals thus constituted, unless when temptations are removed, ana strong motives to virtue presented. Having now adverted to calamities by external vio- lence, — to bad health,-— unhappiness in the domestic circle, arising from ill advised unions, and viciously disposed children,- — to the evils of placing individuals, as servants, clerks, partners, or public instructers, in situa tions for which they are not suited, by their natura. 16* 186 ORGANIC LAWS. qualities, and traced all of them to infringements 01 neglect of the physical or organic laws, I proceed to advert to the last, and what is reckoned the greatestof all calamities, death, and which itself is obviously a part of the organic law. In the introduction, page 7, to which I refer, I have stated briefly the changes which occurred in the globe before man was introduced to inhabit it. Baron Cuvier, after stating that the world we inhabit was at first fluid, and that highly crystalline rocks were deposited before animal or vegetable life began, has demonstrated, that then came the lowest orders of zoophytes and of vege- tables, — next fishes and reptiles, — and trees in vast for- ests, giving origin to our present beds of coal, then quadrupeds and birds, and shells and plants, resembling those of the present era, but all of which, as species, have utterly perished from the earth; that next came alluvial rocks, containing bones of mammoths, and other gigantic animals, and that last of all came man. # Dr. Buckland has shown that certain long, rounded, stony bodies, like oblong pebbles or kidney potatoes, scattered on the shore at Lyme Regis, and frequently lying beside the bones of the saurians, or lizard-like reptiles, there discovered, are the dung of these animals in a fossil state. Many speci- mens of them contained scales, teeth, and bones of fishes, that seem to have passed undigested through the body of he animals; just as the enamel of the teeth and frag- ments of bone are found undigested in the dung of the ravenous hyena. Similar fossils (scientifically named coprolites) are found also on the shore of the Frith of Forth, about a mile westward from Newhaven. These facts show that death or destruction of vegetable and animal life was an institution of nature before ma» became an inhabitant of the globe. * Cuvier'a Preface to his Ossemens Fossiles, and papers by Dr. Fleming in Chalmer's Journal. DEATH. 187 Physiologists in general regard the organic frame of man also as containing within itself the seeds of dissolu- tion. * 'The last character,' says a popular author, 'by whieh the living body is distinguished, is that of termi- nating its existence by the process of death. The vital energies by which the circle of actions and reactions necessary to life is sustained, at length decline, and finally become exhausted. Inorganic bodies preserve their ex- istence unalterably and for ever, unless some mechanical force, or some chemical agent, separate their particles or alter their composition. But, in every living body, its vital motions inevitably cease sooner or later, from the operation of causes that are internal and inherent. Thus, to terminate its existence by death, is as distinctive of a living being as to derive its origin from a pre-existing germ.'* It is beyond the compass of philosophy to explain ivhy the world was constituted in the manner here represented. I therefore make no inquiry why death was instituted, and refer, of course, only to the dissolution of organized bodies, and not at all to the state of the soul or mind after its separation from the body. These belong to Revelation. Let us first view the dissolution of the body abstract- edly from personal considerations, as a mere natural arrangement. Death, then, appears to be a result of the constitution of all organized beings; for the very defi- nition of the genus is, that the individuals grow, attain maturity, decay, and die. The human imagination can- not conceive how the former part of this series of move- ments could exist without the latter, as long as space is necessary to corporeal existence. If all jiie vegetable and animal productions of nature, from creation down- wards, had grown, attained maturity, and there remained, ihis world would not have been capable of containing the "Animal Physiology, p 7, Library of Useful Knowledge. 188 ORGANIC LAWS. thousandth part of them; so that, on this earth, decaying and dying appear indispensably necessary to admit of reproduction and growth. Viewed abstractedly, then, organized beings live as long as health and vigor con tinue; but they are subjected to a process of decay, which impairs gradually all their functions, and at lasl terminates in their dissolution. Now, in the vegetable world, the effect of this law is, to surround us *-with young, in place of everlasting stately full grown trees, standing forth in awful majesty, without variation in leaf or bough; — with the vernal bloom of spring, changing gracefully into the vigor of summer, and the flfaturity of autumn; — with the rose, first simply and delicately bud- ding, then luxuriant and lovely in its perfect evolution. In short, when we advert to the law of death, as institut- ed in the vegetable kingdom, and as related to our own faculties of Ideality and Wonder, which desire and delight in the very changes which death introduces, we, without hesitation, exclaim, that all is wisely and won- derfully made. Turning, again, to the animal kingdom, the same fundamental principle prevails. Death removes the old and decayed, and the organic law introduces in their place the young, the gay, and the vigorous, to tread the stage with renewed agility and delight. This transfer of existence may readily be granted to be beneficial to the young; but, at first sight, it appears the 'opposite of benevolent to the old. To haveiivedat all, is felt as giving a right to continue to live; and the ques- tion arises, how can the institution of death, as the result of the organic law, be reconciled with Benevolence and Justice ? I am aware that theologically death is regarded as the punishment of sin, and that the attempt to reconcile our minds to it by reason is objected to as at once futile and dangerous to revelation. But I beg leave to observe that philosophers have established by irrefragable ev* dence, that before man was created, death prevailed DEATH. 189 among the lower animals, not only by natural decay and the operation of physical forces, but by the express institution of carnivorous creatures destined to prey on living beings; that man himself is carnivorous, and ob- viously framed by the Creator for a scene of death; that his organic constitution, in its inherent qualities, implies death as its final termination; and that if these facts be admitted to be undeniable on the one hand, and we are prohibited^on the other, from pointing out, from the records of creation itself, the wise adaptation of the human sentiments and intellect to this state of things, neither the cause of revelation nor of reason can be .thereby benefitted. The foregoing facts can neither be disputed nor concealed; and the only effect of excluding the investigation on which I propose to enter, would be to close the path of reason, and to leave the constitution of the external world and of the human mind apparently in a state of contradiction to each other. Let us rather trust to the inherent consistency of all truths, and rely on all sound conclusions of reason being in accordance with every correct interpretation of Scripture. In treating of the supremacy of the moral sentiments, I pointed out, that the grand distinction between the sentiments and the propensities, consists in this, that the former are in their nature disinterested, generous, and fond of the general good, while the latter aim only at the welfare or gratification of the individual. It is obvious, that death, as an institution of the Creator, must affect these two classes of faculties in the most different manner. A being endowed only with propensities and intejlect, and enabled, by the latter, to discover death and its con- sequences, would probably regard it as an appalling visitation. It would see in it only the utter extinction of enjoyment to itself; for, although it perceived existence transferred to other beings, who would enjoy life after its removal from the scene, this would afford it no consola- on, in consequence of its wanting all the faculties which 190 ORGANIC LAWS. derive pleasure from disinterestedly contemplating the enjoyments of other creatures. The lower animals, then, whose whole being is composed of the inferior pi open sities, and several knowing faculties, would probably see death, if they could at all anticipate it, in this light. It would appear to them, as the extinguisher of every pleasure which they had ever felt, and apparently the bare prospect of it would render their lives so wretched, that nothing could alleviate the depressing gloom with which an habitual consciousness of it would inspire them. But, by depriving them of reflecting organs, the Creator has kindly and effectually withdrawn from them this evil. He has thereby rendered them completely blind to its existence. There is not the least reason to believe, that any one of the lower animals, while in health and vigor, has the slightest conception that it is a mortal creature, any more than a tree has that it will die. In conse- quence, it lives in as full enjoyment of the present, as if it were assured of every agreeable sensation being eternal. Death always takes the individual by surprise, whether it comes in the form of violence, suppressing life in youth, or of slow decay by age; and really operates as a transference of existence from one being to another, without consciousness of the loss in the one which dies. Let us, however, trace the operation of death, in regard to the lower animals, a little more in detail. Philosophy, as already remarked, cannot explain why Death was instituted at first, but, according to the views maintained in this Essay, we should expect to find it con- nected with, and regulated by, benevolence and justice; that is to say, that it should not be inflicted for the sole purpose of'extinguishing the life of individuals, to their damage, without any other result; but that the general system under which it takes place should be, on the whole, favorable to the enjoyment not only of the race, but of each individual animal while life is given; and this accordingly is the fact. Violent death, and the DEATH. 1S devouring of one animal by another, are not purely benevolent, because pure benevolence would never inflict pain; but they are instances of destruction leading to beneficial results; that is, wherever death is introduced under the institutions of nature, it is accompanied with enjoyment or beneficial consequences to the very animals that are subsequently to become the subjects of it. While the world is calculated to support only a limited number of living creatures; — the lower animals have received from nature powers of reproduction far beyond what is necessary to supply the waste of natural decay; and they do not possess intellect sufficient to restrain their numbers within the limits of their means of subsis- tence. Herbivorous animals, in particular, are exceed- ingly prolific, and yet the supply of vegetable food is limited. Hence, after multiplying for a few years, ex- tensive starvation, the most painful and lingering of all deaths, and the most detrimental to the race, would inevitably ensue; but carnivorous animals have been in- stituted who kill and eat them; and by this means not only do carnivorous animals reap the pleasures of life, but the numbers of the herbivorous are restrained within such limits, that the individuals among them enjoy exist- ence while they live.* The destroyers, again, are limit- ed in their turn: The moment they become too numerous, and carry their devastations too far, their food fails them, and, in their conflicts for the supplies that remain, they * St. Pierre states this argument forcibly. — -' By their production without restraint,' says he, * creatures would be multiplied beyond all limits, till even the globe itself could not contain them. The preser- vation of every individual produced, would lead to the ultimate de- struction of the species. Some will answer, that the animals might live always, if they observed a. proportion suitable to the territory which they inhabited. But, according to this supposition, they must at last cease to multiply ; and then adieu to the loves and alliances the building of nests, and all the harmonies which reign in theii nature. 't t St. Pierre, Etude de la Nature, Paris, 1791, p. 17 192 ORGANIC LAWS. extinguish each other, or die of starvation. Nature seems averse from inflicting death extensively by starva- tion, probacy because it impairs the constitution long before it extinguishes life, and has the tendency to pro- duce degeneracy in the race. It may be remarked, also, speculatively, that herbivorous animals must have existed m considerable numbers before the carnivorous began to exercise their functions, for many of the former must die, that one of the latter may live. If a single sheep and a single tiger had been placed together at first, the tiger would have eaten up the sheep at a few meals, and thereafter died itself of starvation. In natural decay, the organs are worn out by mere age, and the animal sinks into gradual insensibility, unconscious that dissolu- tion awaits it. Farther, the wolf, the tiger, the lion, and other beasts of prey, instituted by the Creator as instru- ments of violent death, are provided, in addition to Destructiveness, with large organs of Cautiousness and Secretiveness, that prompt them to steal upon their victims with the unexpected suddenness of a mandate of annihilation, and they are impelled also to inflict death in the most instantaneous and least painful method ; the tiger and lion spring from their covers with the rapidity of the thunderbolt, and one blow of their tremendous paws, inflicted at the junction of the head with the neck, produces instantaneous death. The eagle is taught to strike its sharp beak into the spine of the birds which it devours, and their agony endures scarcely for an instant. It has been objected, that the cat plays with the unhappy mouse, and prolongs its tortures; but the cat that does so, is the pampered and well fed inhabitant of a kitchen; the cat of nature is too eager to devour, to indulge in such luxurious gratifications of Destructiveness and Secretive- ness. It kills in a moment, and eats. Here, then, is actually a regularly organized process for withdrawing individuals of the lower animals from existence, almost by a fiat of destruction, and thereby providing for the DEATH. 193 comfortable subsistence of the creatures themselves while they live, and thereafter making way for a succession of new occupants. 'Nature,' says St. Pierre, ' does nothing in vain, she intends few animals to die of old age; and I believe that she has permitted to none except man to run the entire course of life, because in his case alone can old age be useful to the race. What would be the ad- vantage of old animals, incapable of reflection, to a pos- terity born with instincts holding the place of experience; and how, on the other hand, would decrepit parents find support among offspring, which instinctively leave them whenever they are able to swim, to fly, or to run? Old age would prove to such creatures a burden; of which beasts of prey mercifully deliver them." Man, in his mode of putting the lower creatures to death, is not so tender as beasts of prey: but he might be so. Suppose the sheep to be guillotined, and not mal- treated before its execution, the creature would never know that it had ceased to live. And, by the law which I have already explained, man does not with impunity- add one unnecessary pang to the death of the inferior animals. In the butcher who inflicts torments on calves, sheep, and cattle, while driving them to the slaughter, and who puts them to death, in the way supposed to be most conducive to the gratification of his Acquisitiveness, such as bleeding them to death, by successive stages, prolonged for days to whiten their flesh, — : the animal faculties of Destructiveness, Acquisitiveness, and Self- Esteem, predominate so decidedly in activity, over the moral and intellectual powers, that he is necessarily excluded from all the enjoyments attendant on the supre- macy of the human faculties: He, besides, goes into society under the influence of the same base combination, and suffers at every hand animal retaliation; so that he does not escape with impunity for his outrages against the moral law. 17 194 ORGANIC LAWS. Here, then, we can perceive nothing malevolent in the institution of death, in so far as regards the lower ani- mals. A pang certainly does attend it; but while De- structiveness must be recognised in the pain, Benevolence is equally perceptible in its effects. I mentioned formerly, that the organic law rises above the physical, and the moral and intellectual law above the organic ; and the present occasion affords an addition- al illustration of this fact. Under the physical law, no remedial process is instituted by nature. If a mirror falls, and is smashed, it remains ever after in fragments; if a ship sinks, it lies still at the bottom of the ocean, chained down by the law of gravitation. Under the organic law, on the other hand, a distinct remedial process is estab- lished. If a tree is blown over, every root that remains in the ground, will double its exertions to preserve life ; if a branch is lopped off, new branches will shoot out in its place; if a leg in an animal is broken, the bone will reunite; — if a muscle is severed, it will grow to- gether; if an artery is obliterated, the neighboring arteries will enlarge their dimensions, and perform its functions. The Creator, however, not to encourage ani- mals to abuse this benevolent institution, has established pain as an attendant on infringement of the organic law> and made them suffer for the violation of it, even while he restores them. It is under this law that death has received its organic pangs. Instant death is not attended with pain of any perceptible duration; and it is only when a lingering death occurs in youth and middle age, that the suffering' is severe; dissolution, however, does not occur at these periods as a direct and intentional result of the organic laws, but as the consequence of infringement of them. Under the fair and legitimate operation of these laws, the individual whose constitution was at first sound, and whose life has been in accordance with their dictates will live till old age fairly wears out his organized frame DEATH. 195 and then the pang of expiration is little perceptible * The pains of premature death, then, are the punishments of infringement of the organic law, and the object of that chastisement probably is to impress upon us the necessity of obeying them that we may live, and to prevent our abusing the remedial process inherent to a great extent in our constitution. Let us now view death as an institution appointed to man. If it be true, that the organic constitution of man, when sound in its elements, and preserved in accordance with the organic laws, is fairly calculated to endure in health from infancy to old age, and that death, when it occurs during the early or middle periods of life, is the consequence of departures from the physical and organic laws, it follows, that, even in premature death, a benevo- lent principle is discernible. Although the remedial pro- cess restores animals from moderate injuries, yet the very nature of the organic law must place a limit to it. If life had been preserved, and health restored, after the * The following table is copied from an interesting article by Mr. William Fraser, on the History and Constitution of Benefit or Friend- ly Societies, published in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal for October 1827, and is deduced from Returns by Friendly Societies in Scotland for various years, from 1750 to 1821. It shows how much sickness is dependent on age, and how little there is of it in youth even in the present disordered state of human conduct We may ex pect its quantity to decrease, at all ages, in proportion to the increase of obedience to the organic laws. Average Sickness for Each Individual. Weeks and Proportion of Sic* Age. Decimals. Weeks. Days. Hours Members Under 20 0.3797 2 16 1 in 136.95 20-30 0.5916 4 3 1 ... 87.89 30-40 0.6865 4 . 19 1 ... 75.74 40-50 1.0273 1 4 1 ... 50.61 50-60 1.8806 1 6 3 1 .. 27.65 60-70 5.6337 5 4 10 1 ... 9.23 Above 70 16.5417 16 3 19 1 ... 3 14 196 ORGANIC LAWS brain had been blown to atoms, by a bomb shell, as ef fectually as a leg that is broken, and a finger that is cut are healed, this would have been an actual abrogation of the organic law; and all the curbs which that law im- poses on the lower propensities, and all the incitements which the observance of it affords to the higher senti- ments, and intellect, would have been lost. The limit, then, is this, — that any departure from the law against whic'i restoration is permitted, shall be moderate in ex- tent, and shall not involve, to a great degree, any organ essential to life, such as the brain, the lungs, the stomach, or intestines. The very maintenance of the law, with all its advantages, requires that restoration from grievous derangement of these organs should not be permitted. When we reflect on the hereditary transmission of quali- ties to children, we clearly perceive benevolence to the race, in the institution which cuts short the life of an individual in whose person disease of essential organs has become so great as to have exceeded the limits of the remedial process; for the extension of the punishment of his errors over an innumerable posterity is thereby pre- vented. In premature death, then, we see two objects accomplished, first, the individual sufferer is withdrawn from agonies which could serve no beneficial end to himself; he has transgressed the limits of recovery, and prolonged life would be protracted misery; secondly, the race is guaranteed from the future transmission of his disease by hereditary descent. The disciple of Mr. Owen, formerly alluded to, who had grievously transgressed the organic law, and suffered a punishment of equal intensity, observed, when in the midst of his agony, — c Philosophers have urged the insti- tution of death, as an argument against divine goodness, but not one of them could experience, for five minutes, the pain which I now endure, without looking upon it as a most merciful arrangement. I have departed from the natural institutions, and suffered the punishment; but, in DEATH. 19/ death, I see only the Creator's benevolent hand, stretched out to terminate my agonies, when they cease to serve any beneficial end.' On this principle, the death of a feeble and sickly child is an act of mercy to it. It with- draws a being, in whose person the organic laws have been violated, from useless suffering; cutting short, there by, also, the transmission of its imperfections to posterity. If, then, the organic institutions which inflict pain and disease as punishments for transgressing them, are found- ed in benevolence and wisdom; and, if death, in the early and middle periods of life, is an arrangement for withdrawing the transgressor from farther suffering, after return to obedience is impossible, and protecting the race from the consequences of his errors, it also is in itself wise and benevolent. This, then, leaves only death in old age as a natural and unavoidable institution of the Creator. It will not be denied, that, if old persons, when their powers t>f enjoyment are fairly exhausted, and their cup of pleasure full, could be removed from this world, as we have sup- posed the lower animals to be, in an instant, and without pain or consciousness, to make way for a fresh and vigorous offspring, about to run the career which the old have terminated, there would be no lack of benevolence and justice in the arrangement. At present, while we live in habitual ignorance and neglect of the organic institutions, death probably comes upon us with more pain and agony, even in advanced life, than might be its legitimate accompaniment, if we placed ourselves in accordance with these; so that we are not now in a condition to ascertain the natural quantity of pain neces- sarily attendant on death. Judging from analogy, we may conclude, that the close of a long life, founded at first, and afterwards spent, in accordance with the Crea- tor's laws, would not be accompanied with great organic suffering, but that an insensible decay would steal upon the senses. 17=* 198 ORGANIC LAWS. Be this, however, as it may, I observe, in the> next place, that as the Creator has bestowed on man anima) faculties that fear death, and reason that carries home to him the conviction that he must die, it is an interesting ***quiry, Whether he has provided any natural means of relief, from the consequences of this combination Ow terrors? * And what thinkest thou,' said Socrates to Aristodemus, c of this continual love of life, this dread of dissolution, which takes possession of us from the moment that we are conscious of existence ? ' * I think of it, 5 answered he, c as the means employed by the same great and wise artist, deliberately determined to preserve what he has made.' Lord Byron strongly expresses the same opinion, and is struck with the energetic efforts which he instinctively made in a moment of danger, to preserve his own life, although in his hours of calm reflection, he felt so unhappy that he wished to die. There are reasons for believing not only that the love of life is a special instinct, but that it is connected with a particular organ, which is supposed to be situate at the base of the brain, and that, cceteris paribus, the feeling varies in intensity in different individuals, according to the size of the organ. I have ascertained, by numerous confidential communications, as well as by observation, that even when external circumstances are equally pros- perous and happy, there are great differences in the desire of life in different minds. Some persons have assured me, that death, viewed even as the extinction of being, and without reference to a future state, did not appear to them at all appalling, or calculated, when con- templated as their certain fate, to impair the enjoyment of life; and these were not profligate men, whose vices might make them desire annihilation as preferable to Jture punishment, but persons of pure lives and pious dispositions. This expefience is so different from the feelings commonly entertained by ordinary p.ersons, that have been led to ascribe it to a very small development DEATH 19i* of the organ of the Love of Life in these individuals. A medical gentleman who was attached to the native army in India, informed me, that in many of the Hindoos, the love of life was by no means strong. On the con- trary, it was frequently found necessary to interpose force to compel them to make even moderate exertions, quite within the compass of their strength, to avoid death. That part of the base of the brain which lies between the ear and the anterior lobe, is generally narrow, measuring across the head, in such individuals. If there be an organ for the love of life, the vivacity of the instinct will diminish in proportion as the organ decays, so that age, which induces the certain approach of death, will, in a corresponding degree, strip him of his terrors. The appa- rent exceptions to this rule will be found in cases in which this organ predominates in size and activity, and preserves an ascendency over the other organs, even in decay. These ideas, however, are thrown out only as specula- tions, suggested by the facts before described. Whatever may be thought of them, it is certain that the Creator has bestowed moral sentiments on man, and arranged the whole of his existence on the principles of their supremacy; and these, when duly cultivated and enlight- ened, are calculated to withdraw from him the terrors of death, in the same manner as unconsciousness of its existence saves the lower animals from its horrors. The Moral Sentiments and Intellect perceive, 1st, That Amativeness, Philoprogenitiveness, and Ad- hesiveness, are provided with direct objects of gratifica- tion, in consequence of the institution of death. If the same individuals had lived here for ever, there would have been no field for the enjoyment that flows from the domestic union,, and the rearing of offspring. The very institution of these propensities prove, that producing and rearing young form part of the design of creation; and the successive production of young appears necessarily to imply removal of the old. 200 ORGANIC LAWS. 2d, All the other faculties would have been limited in their gratifications. Conceive, for a moment, how much exercise is afforded to our intellectual and moral powers, in acquiring knowledge, communicating it to the young, and ^n providing for their enjoyments; also, what a delightful exercise of the higher sentiments is implied in the intercourse between the aged and the young; all which pleasures would have been unknown, if there had been no young in existence, which there could not have been, without a succession of individuals. 3d, Constituted as man is, the succession of individuals withdraws beings whose physical and mental constitutions have run their course, and become impaired in sensibility, and substitutes, in their place, fresh and vigorous minds and bodies, far better adapted for the^ enjoyment of creation. 4th, If I am right in the position, that the organic laws transmit, in an increasing ratio, the qualities most active in the parents to their offspring, the law of succes- sion provides for a far higher degree of improvement in the race than could have been reached by the perma- nency of a single generation possessing the present human constitution. Let us inquire, then, how the moral sentiments are affected by death in old age, as a natural institution. Benevolence, glowing with a disinterested desire for the diffusion and increase of enjoyment, utters no com- plaint against death in old age, as a transference of existence from a being impaired in its capacity for useful- ness and pleasure, to one fresh and vigorous in all its powers, and fitted to carry forward, to a higher point of improvement, every beneficial measure previously begun. Conscientiousness, if thoroughly enlightened, perceives no infringement of justice in a guest, satiated with enjoy- ment, being called on to retire from the banquet, to per- mit a stranger with a keener and more youthful appetite o partake; and Veneration, when instructed by intellect DEATH. 201 that this is the institution of the Creator, and made acquainted with its objects, bows in humble acquiescence .o the law. Now, if these powers have acquired, in any individual, that complete supremacy which they are clearly intended to hold, he will be placed by them as much above the terror of death as a natural institution, as the lower animals are, by being ignorant of its existence. And unless the case were so, man would, by the very knowledge of death, be rendered, during his whole life, more miserable than they. In these observations, I have said nothing of the pros- pects of a future existence as a palliative of the evils of dissolution, because I was bound to regard death, in the first instance, as the result of the organic law, and to treat of it as such. But mo one who considers that the prospects of a life to come, are directly addressed to Veneration, Hope, Benevolence, and Intellect, can fail to perceive that this consolation also is clearly founded on the principle, that supremacy in the sentiments is intend- ed by the Creator to protect man from its terrors. The true view of death, then, as a natural institution, is, that it is an essential part of the very system of organ- ization; that birth, growth, and arrival at maturity as completely imply decay and death in old age, as morning and noon imply evening and night, as spring and summer imply harvest, or as the source of a river implies its termination. Besides, organized beings are constituted by the Creator to be the food of other organized beings, so that some must die that others may live. Man, for instance, cannot live on stones, or earth, or water, which are not organized, but must feed on vegetable and animal substances; so that death is as much, and as- essentially, an inherent part of organization as life itself. If vege- tables, animals, and men, had been destined for a duration like that of mountains,— instead of creating a primitive pair of each, and endowing these with extensive powers of reproduction, so as to usher into existence young 202 ORGANIC LAWS. beings destined to grow up to maturity by insensible degrees, we may presume, from analogy, that the Creator would have furnished the world with its definite comple- ment of living beings, perfect at first in ail their parts and functions, and that these would have remained, like hills, without diminution, and without increase. To prevent, then, all chance of being misapprehended, I repeat, that I do not at all allude to the state of the soul -or mind, after death, but merely to the dissolution of organized bodies; that, according to the soundest view which I am able to obtain of the natural law, pain and death in youth and middle age, in the human species, are consequences of departure from the Creator's laws; while t death in old age, by insensible decay, is a~n essential and apparently indispensable part of the system of organized existence ; that this arrangement admits of the succession of individuals, substituting the young and vigorous for the feeble and decayed; that it is directly the means by which organized beings live, and indirectly the means by which Amativeness, Philoprogenitiveness, and a variety of our other faculties obtain gratification; that it admits of the race ascending in the scale of improvement, both in their organic and mental qualities; that the moral sentiments, when supreme in activity, and enlightened by intellect, so as to perceive its design and consequences, are calculated to place man in harmony with it; while religion addresses its consolation to the same faculties, and completes what reason leaves undone. If the views now unfolded be correct, death, in old age, will never be abolished, as long as man continues an organized being; but pain and premature death will constantly decrease, in the exact ratio of his obedience to the physical and organic laws. It is interesting to ob- serve, that there is already some evidence of this process being actually in progress. About seventy years ago, i ables of the average duration of life, in England, were compiled for the use of the Life Insurance Companies* ORGANIC LAWS. 203 and from them it appears, that the average duration of life was then 28 years; that is, 1000 persons being born, and the years which each of them lived being added to- gether, and divided by 1000, gave 28 to each. By recent tables, it appears that the average is now 32 years to each; that is to say, by superior morality, cleanliness, knowledge, and general obedience to the Creator's insti- tutions, fewer individuals now perish in infancy, youth, and middle age, than did seventy years ago. Some per- sons have said, that the difference arises from errors in compiling the old tables, and that the superior habits of the people are not the cause. It is probable that there may be a portion of truth in both views. There may be some errors in the old tables, but it is quite natural that increasing knowledge and stricter obedience to the or- ganic laws should diminish the number of premature deaths. If this idea be correct, the average duration of life should go on increasing; and our successors, two centuries hence, may probably attain to an average of 40 years, and then ascribe to errors in our tables our low average of 32. # SECTION III. CALAMITIES ARISING FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. We come now to consider the Moral Law, which is proclaimed by the higher sentiments and intellect acting harmoniously, and holding the animal propensities in subjection. In surveying the moral and religious codes of different nations, and the moral and religious opinions of different philosophers, every reflecting mind must * An interesting article on the l Diminished Mortality in England, appeared in the Scotsman newspaper, of 16th April 1828, which coin tides with the views of the text ; and, as it proceeds on scientific data it is printed in the Appendix, No. IV. 204 . CALAMITIES ARISING FROM have been struck with their diversity. Phrenology, by demonstrating the differences of combination in their faculties, enables us to account for these varieties of sentiment. The code of morality framed by a legislator, in whom the animal propensities were strong, and the moral sentiments weak, would be very different from one instituted by another lawgiver, in whom this combination was reversed In like manner, a system of religion, founded by an individual, in whom Destructiveness, Wonder, and Cautiousness were very large, and Vene- ration, Benevolence, and Conscientiousness deficient, would present views of the Supreme Being widely dis- similar to those which would be promulgated by a person in whom the last three faculties and intellect decidedly predominated. Phrenology shows, that the particular code of morality and religion, ivhich is most completely in harmony with the whole faculties of the individual, will necessarily appear to him to be the best, while he refers only to the dictates of his individual mind, as the standard of right and wrong. But if we are able to show, that the whole scheme of external creation is arranged in harmony with certain principles, in preference to others, so that enjoyment flows upon the individual from without, when his conduct is in conformity with them, and that evil overtakes him when he departs from them, we shall then obviously prove, that the former is the morality and re- ligion established by the Creator; and that individual men, who support different codes, must necessarily be deluded by imperfections in their own minds. That con- stitution of mind, also, may be pronounced to be the best, which harmonizes most completely with the morality and religion established by the Creator's arrangements. In this view, morality becomes a science, and departures from its dictates may be demonstrated as practical follies, injurious to the real interest and happiness of the indi- vidual, just as errors in logic are capable of refutation'to he satisfaction of the understanding. INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 205 Dugald Stewart most justly remarked, that ' the impor- tance of agriculture and of religious toleration to the prosperity of states; the criminal impolicy of thwarting the kind arrangements of Providence, by restraints upor commerce; and the duty of legislators to study the laws of the moral world as the ground- work and standard of their own, appear, to minds unsophisticated by inveterate pre- judices, as approaching nearly to the class of axioms; — yet, how much ingenious and refined discussion has been employed, even in our own times, to combat the preju- dices which every where continue to struggle against them; and how remote does the period yet seem, when there is any probability that these prejudices will be completely abandoned. ' # The great cause of the long continuance of these prejudices, is the want of an intel- ligible and practical philosophy of morals. Before ordi- nary minds can perceive that the world is really governed by divine laws, it is obvious that they must become acquainted with, first, The nature of man, physical, animal, moral, and intellectual; secondly, The relations of the different parts of that nature to each other; and, thirdly, The relationship of the whole to God and external objects. The present Essay is an attempt, (a very feeble and imperfect one indeed,) to arrive, by the aid of phre- nology, at a demonstration of morality as a science. The interests dealt with in the investigation are so elevating, and the effort itself is so delightful, that the attempt carries its own reward, however unsuccessful in its re- sults. I am not without hope, that if phrenology, as the science of mind, and the doctrine of the natural laws, were taught to the people as part of their ordinary education, the removal of these prejudices would be considerably accelerated. Assuming, then, that, among the faculties of the mind, he higher sentiments and intellect hold the natural * Prelim. Dissert, to Sup. Ency. Brit. p. 127. 18 206 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM supremacy, I shall endeavor to show, that obedience to the dictates of these powers is rewarded with pleasing emotions in the mental faculties themselves, and with the most beneficial external consequences; whereas dis- obedience is followed by deprivation of these emotions, by painful feelings within the mind, and great external evil. First, Obedience is accompanied by pleasing emotions in the faculties. It is scarcely necessary to dwell on the circumstance, that every propensity, sentiment, and intel- lectual faculty, when gratified in harmony with all the rest, is a fountain of pleasure. How many exquisite thrills of joy arise from Philoprogenitiveness, Adhesive- ness, Acquisitiveness, Constructiveness, Love of Ap- probation, and Self-Esteem, when gratified in accordance with the moral sentiments; who that has ever poured forth the aspirations of Hope, Ideality, Wonder, and Veneration, directed to an object in whom Intellect and Conscientiousness also rejoiced, has not experienced the deep delight of such an exercise ? Or, Who is a stranger to the grateful pleasures attending an active Benevo- lence? Turning to the intellect, again, what pleasures are afforded by the scenery of nature, by painting, poetry, and music, to those who possess the combination of faculties suited to these studies? And how rich a feast does not philosophy yield to those who possess high reflecting organs, combined with Concentrativeness and Conscientiousness? The reader is requested, therefore, to keep steadily in view, that these exquisite rewards are attached by the Creator to the active exercise of our faculties, in accordance with the moral law; and that one punishment, clear, obvious, and undeniable, inflicted on those who neglect or infringe that law, is deprivation of these pleasures. This is a consideration very little at- tended to; because mankind, in general, live in such habitual neglect of the moral law, that they have, to a very oartial extent, experienced its rewards, and do not know INFRINGEMENT OP THE MORAL LAW. 207 the enjoyment they are deprived of by its infringement. Before its full measure can be judged of, the mind must be instructed in its own constitution, in that of external objects, and in the relationship established between it and them, and between it and the Creator. Until a tolerably distinct perception of these truths is obtained, the facul- ties cannot enjoy repose, nor act in full vigor or har- mony: while, for example, our forefathers regarded the marsh fevers, to which they were subjected, from defi- cient draining of their fields, — and the outrages on person and property, attendant on the wars waged by the En- glish against the Scots, or by one feudal lord against another, even on their own soil, — not as punishments for particular infringements of the organic and moral laws, to be removed by obedience to these laws, but as inscru- table dispensations of God's providence, which it behoved them meekly to endure, but not to avert, — the full enjoy- ment which the moral and intellectual faculties were fairly calculated by the Creator to afford, could not be experienced. Benevolence would pine in dissatisfaction; Veneration would flag in its devotions; and Conscien- tiousness would suggest endless surmises of disorder and injustice in a scheme of creation, under which such evils occurred, and were left without a remedy: — in short, the full tide of moral, religious, and intellectual enjoyment could not possibly flow, until views, more in accordance with the constitution and desires of the moral faculties were obtained. The same evil afflicts mankind still to a prodigious extent. How is it possible for the Hindoo, Mussulman, Chinese, or the native American, while they continue to worship deities, whose qualities outrage Benevolence, Veneration, and Conscientiousness, — and remain in profound ignorance of almost all the Creator's natural institutions, in consequence of infringing which they suffer punishment v/ithout ceasing, — to form even a conception of the gratifications which the moral and intel- lectual nature of man is calculated to enjoy, when exer 208 CALAMITIES ARISING PROM cised in harmony with the Creator's real character and institutions? This operation of the moral law is not the less real, because many do not recognise it. Sight is not a less excellent gift to those. who see, because some men born blind have no conception of the extent of pleasure and advantage from which the want of it cuts them off. The qualities manifested by the Creator may be infer- red from the works of creation; but it is obvious, that, to arrive a; *he soundest views, we would need to know his institutions thoroughly. To a grossly ignorant people, who suffer hourly from transgression of his laws, the Deity will appear infinitely more mysterious and severe than to an enlightened nation, who trace the principles of his government, in many departments of his works, and who, by observing his laws, avoid the penalties of infringement. The character of the Divine Being, under the natural system, will- go on rising in human apprehen- sion, in exact proportion as his works shall be understood. The low and miserable conceptions of God formed by the vulgar among the Greeks and Romans, were the reflec- tions of their own ignorance of natural, moral, and polit- ical science. The discovery and improvement of phre- nology must necessarily have a great effect on natural religion. Before phrenology was known, the moral and intellectual constitution of man was unascertained; — in consequence, the relations of external nature towards it could not be competently judged of; and, while these were involved in obscurity, many of the ways of Provi- dence must have appeared mysterious and severe, which in themselves were quite the reverse. Again, as bodily suffering and mental perplexity would bear a proportion to this ignorance, the character of God would appear to the natural eye in that- condition, much more unfavorable Jian it will after these clouds of darkness shall have passed away. Some persons, in their great concernment about a future life, are liable to overlook the practical direction INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 209 of th< mind in the present. When we consider the nature and objects of the mental faculties, we perceive that a great number of them have the most obvious and undeniable reference to this life; for example, Amative- ness, Philoprogenitiveness, Combativeness, Destructive- ness, Acquisitiveness, Secretiveness, Cautiousness, Self- Esteem, and Love of Approbation, with Size, Form, Coloring, Weight, Tune, Wit, and probably other facul- ties, stand in such evident relationship to this particular world, with its moral and physical arrangements, that if they were not capable of legitimate application here, it would be difficult to assign a reason for their being be- stowed on us. We possess also Benevolence, Venera- tion, Hope, Ideality, Wonder, Conscientiousness, and Reflecting Intellect, all of which appear to be particularly adapted to a higher sphere. But the important considera- tion is, that here on earth these two sets of faculties are combined; and, on the same principle that led Sir Isaac Newton to infer the combustibility of the diamond, I am disposed to expect that the external world, when its con- stitution and relations shall be sufficiently understood, will be found to be in harmony with all our faculties, and of course that the character of the Deity, as unfolded by the works of creation, will more and more gratify our moral and intellectual powers, in proportion as knowledge shall advance. The structure of the eye is admirably adapted to the laws of light; that of the ear to the laws of sound; that of the muscles to the laws of gravitation ; and it would be strange if our mental constitution were not as wisely adapted to the general order of the external world The principle is universal, and admits of no exception, that want of power and activity in every faculty, is at- tended with deprivation of the pleasures attendant on its vivacious exercise. He who is so deficient in Tune that he cannot distinguish melody, is cut off from a vast source of gratification enjoyed by those who possess that organ a a state of vigor and highly cultivated; and the same 18* 210 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM principle holds in the case of every other organ ana faculty. Criminals and profligates of every description, therefore, from the very constitution of their nature, are excluded from great enjoyments attendant on virtue; and this is the first natural punishment to which they are inevitably liable. Persons also, who are ignorant of the constitutions of their own minds, and the relations be- tween external objects, not only suffer many direct evils on this account, but, through the consequent inactivity of their faculties, are, besides, deprived of many exalted enjoyments. The works of creation, and the character of the Deity, are the legitimate objects of our highest powers; and hence he who is blind to their qualities, loses nearly the whole benefit of his moral and intellec- tual existence. If there is any one to whom these grati- fications are unknown, or appear trivial, either he must, to a very considerable degree, be still under the dominion of the animal propensities, or his views of the Creator's character and institutions cannot be in harmony with the natural dictates of the moral sentiments and intellect. The custom of teaching children to regard with the high- est admiration the literature and history of the Greeks and Romans, stained with outrages on all the superior faculties of man, and diverting their minds away from the study of the Creator and his works, has had a most per- nicious effect on the views of this world, entertained by many excellent and intellectual individuals. This is truly preferring the achievements of barbarous men to the glorious designs of God; and we need not be surprised that no satisfaction to the moral sentiments is experienced while this course of education is pursued. But, in the second place, as the world is arranged on the principle of the supremacy of the moral sentiments and intellect, observance of the moral law is attended with external advantages, and infringement of it with posithe evil consequences; and from this constitution arises the second natural punishment of misconduct. INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 211 Let us trace the advantages of obedient. — In the do- mestic circle; if we preserve habitually Benevolence, Conscientiousness, Veneration, and Intellect supreme, it is quite undeniable, that we shall rouse the moral and intellectual faculties of children, servants, and assistants, to love us, and to yield us willing service, obedience, and aid. Our commands will then be reasonable, mild, and easily executed, and the commerce will be that of love. With our equals, again, in society, what would we not give for a friend in whom we were perfectly convinced of the supremacy of the moral sentiments; what love, confi- dence, and delight, would we njot repose in him! To a merchant, physician, lawyer, magistrate, or an individual in any public employment, how invaluable would be the habitual supremacy of these sentiments! The Creator has given different talents to different individuals, and limited our powers, so that we execute any work best by confining our attention to one department of labor, — an arrangement which amounts to a direct institution of separate trades and professions. Under the natural laws, then, the ^manufacturer may pursue his calling with, the entire approbation of all the moral sentiments, for he is dedicating his talents to supply the wants of his fellow men; and how much more successful will he not be, if his every wish is accompanied by the desire to act benev- olently and honestly towards those who are to consume and pay for the products of his labor! He cannot gratify his Acquisitiveness half so successfully by any other method. The same remark applies to the merchant, the lawyer, and physician. The lawyer and physician whose whole spirits breathe a disinterested desire to consult, a3 a paramount object, the interests of their clients and patients, not only obtain the direct reward of gratifj ing their own moral faculties, which is no slight enjoyment, but also reap a positive gratification to their Self-Esteem and Love of Approbation, in a high and well-founded reputation, and to their Acquisitiveness, in increasing 212 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM emolument, not grudgingly paid but willingly offered from persons who feel the worth of the services bestowed There are three conditions required by the moral and intellectual law, which must all be observed to insure its rewards. 1st, The department of industry selected must be really useful to human beings: Benevolence demands this; 2d, The quantum of labor bestowed must bear a just proportion to the natural demand for the commodity produced: Intellect requires this; and 3d, In our social connections, we must imperatively attend to the organic law, that different individuals possess different develop- ments of brain, and in consequence different natural tal ents and dispositions, and we must rely on each, only to the extent warranted by his natural endowment. If, then, an individual have received, at birth, a sound organic constitution and favorably developed brain, and if he live^ in accordance with the physical, the organic, the* moral, and the intellectual laws, it appears to me that, in the constitution of the world, he has received an assur- ance from the Creator, of provision for his animal wants, and a high enjoyment in the legitimate exercise, of his various mental powers. I have already observed, that before we can obey the Creator's institutions we must know them; that the science which teaches the physical laws is natural philosophy; and that the organic^ laws belong to the department of anatomy and physiology: and I now add, that it is the business of the Political Economist to unfold the kinds of industry that are really necessary to the welfare of mankind, and the degrees of labor that will meet with a just reward. The leading object of political economy, as a science, is to increase enjoyment, by directing the application of industry. To attain this end, however,' it is obviously necessary that the nature of man, — the con- stitution of the physical world, — and the relations between these, should be known. Hitherto, the knowledge of he first of these elementary parts has been very deficient INFRINGEMENT OP THE MORAL LAW. ■ 213 and, in consequence, the whole superstructure has been weak and unproductive, in comparison of what it may become, when founded on a more perfect basis. Political Economists have never taught that the world is arranged on the principle of supremacy of the moral sentiments and intellect — that consequently, to render man happy, his leading pursuits must be such as will exercise and gratify these powers, — and that his life will necessarily be misera- ble, if devoted entirely to the production of wealth. They have proceeded on the notion, that the accumulation of wealth is the summum bonum ; but all history testifies, that national happiness does not invariably increase in propor- tion to national riches; and until they shall perceive and teach, that intelligence and morality are the foundation of all lasting prosperity, they will never interest the great body of mankind, nor give a valuable direction to their efforts. If the views contained in the present Essay be sound, it will become a leading object with future masters in that science, to demonstrate the necessity that civilized man should limit his physical, and increase his moral and intellectual occupations, as the only means of saving him- self from ceaseless punishment under the natural laws. The idea of men in general being taught natural phi- losophy, anatomy, and physiology, political economy, and the other sciences that expound the natural laws, has been sneered at, as utterly absurd and ridiculous.* But I would ask, in what occupations are human beings so * It is pleasing to observe, that great progress has been made in appreciating the importance of the kind of education here recom- menced, since the first edition of this work was published. In Edinburgh an association of the industrious classes has been formed for obtaining instruction in useful and entertaining knowledge, and it has met with the greatest encouragement. Under its superintendence, lectures have been delivered on all the sciences enumerated in the text, to audiences consisting of both sexes, and with eminent success A notice of its constitution will be found in the Appendix, No. V P 214 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM urgently engaged, that they have no leisure wo bestow on the study of the Creator's laws? A course of natural philosophy would occupy sixty or seventy hours in the delivery ; a course of anatomy and physiology the same ; and a course of phrenology can be delivered pretty fully in forty hours! These, twice or thrice repeated, would serve to initiate the student so that he could afterwards advance in the same paths, by the aid of observation and books. Is life, then, so brief, and are our hours so ur- gently occupied by higher and more important duties, that' we cannot afford these pittances of time to learn the laws that regulate our existence ? No ! The only diffi- culty is in obtaining the desire for the knowledge; fot when that is attained, time will not be wanting. No idea can be more preposterous, than that of human beings having no time to study and obey the natural institutions. These laws punish so severely, when neglected, that they cause the offender to lose tenfold more time in undergo- ing his chastisement, than would be requisite to obey them. A gentleman extensively engaged in business, whose nervous and digestive systems have been impaired by neglect of the organic laws, was desired to walk in he open air at least one hour a-day; to repose from all exertion, bodily and mental, for one full hour after break- fast, and another full hour after dinner, because the brain cannot expend its energy in thinking and in aiding diges- tion at the same time ; and to practise moderation in diet, which last injunction he regularly observed; but he laugh- ed at the very idea of his having three hours a-day to spare for attention to his health. The reply was, that the organic laws admit of no exception, and that he must either obey them, or take the consequences; but that the time lost in enduring the punishment would be double or treble that requisite for obedience; — and, accordingly, the fact was so. Instead of attending an appointment, it is quite usual for him to send a note, perhaps at two in the afternoon, in these terms: — C I was so distressed with INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW <2l5 head-ache last night, that I never closed my eyes, and to-day I am still incapable of being out of bed.' On other occasions, he is out of bed, but apologizes for incapacity to attend to business, on account of an intoler* able pain in the region of the stomach. In short, if the hours lost in these painful sufferings were added together, and distributed over the days when he is able for duty, he would find them far outnumber those which would suffice for obedience to the organic laws — and with this differ- ence in the results: by neglect he loses both his hours and his enjoyment; whereas, by obedience, he would be rewarded by aptitude for business, and a pleasing con- sciousness of existence. We shall, however, understand the operation of the moral and intellectual laws more completely, by attend- ing to the evils which arise from neglect of them. I. Let us consider Individuals. At present, the al- most universal persuasion of civilized man, is, that happi- ness consists in the possession of wealth, power, and external splendor; objects related to the animal faculties and intellect much more than to the moral sentiments. In consequence, each individual sets out in the pursuit of these as the chief business of his life; and, in the ardor of the chase, he recognises no limitations on the means which he may employ, except those imposed by the mu- nicipal law. He does not perceive or acknowledge the existence of natural laws, determining not only the sour- ces of his happiness, but the steps by which it may be attained. From this moral and intellectual blindness merchants and manufacturers, in numberless instances, hasten to be rich beyond the course of nature; that is to sa/, they engage in enterprises far exceeding the extent of their capital, or capacity; they place their property in the hands of debtors, whose natural talents and morality are so low, that they ought never to have been entrusted with a shilling; they send their goods to sea without insuring them, or lea ;e them uninsured in their ware- 216 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM houses; they ask pecuniary accommodation from other merchants, to enable them to carry on undue specula- tions, and become security for them in return, and both fall into misfortunes; or they live in splendor and extrava- gance, far beyond the extent of the natural return of their capital and talents, and speedily reach ruin as their goal. In every one of these instances, the calamity is obviously the consequence of infringement of the moral and intel- lectual law. The lawyer, medical practitioner, or proba- tioner in the church, who is disappointed in his reward, will be found erroneously to have placed himself in a profession for which his natural talents and dispositions did not fit him, or to have pursued his vocation under the guidance chiefly of the lower propensities; preferring selfishness to honorable regard for the interests of his employers. Want of success in these professions, ap- pears to me to be owing, in a high degree, to three causes. First, the brain may be too small, or constitu- tionally lymphatic, so that the mind does not act with sufficient energy to make an impression. Secondly, some particular organs indispensably requisite to success, may be very small, as Language, or Causality, in a lawyer — the deficiency of the first rendering him incapable of ready utterance, and that of the second, destitute of that intuitive sagacity, which sees at a glance the bearing of the facts and principles founded on by his adversary, so as to estimate the just inferences'that follow, and to point them out A lawyer, who is weak in this power, appears to his client like a pilot who does not know the shoals and the rocks. His deficiency is perceived whenever diffi- culty presents itself, and he is pronounced unfit to take charge of great interests; he is then passed by, and suf- fers the penalties of having made an erroneous choice of a profession. The third cause is predominance of the animal and selfish faculties. The client and the patient discriminate instinctively between the cold, pitiless, but pretending manner of Acquisitiveness and Love of Ap- INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW 217 probation, and the unpretending genuine warmth of Benevolence, Veneration, and Conscientiousness; and they discover very speedily that the intellect inspired by the latter sees more clearly, and manages more success- fully, their interests, than when animated only by the former. The victim of selfishness either never rises, or quickly sinks, wondering why his merits are neglected. In all of these instances, the failure of the merchant, and the bad success of the lawyer and physician, are the consequences of having infringed the natural laws; so that the evil they suffer is the punishment for having failed in a great duty, not only to society, but to them- selves. II. Some of the Calamities arising from infringe- ment of the Social Law may next be considered. The greatest difficulties present themselves in tracing the operation of the moral and intellectual laws, in the wide field of social life. An individual may be made to comprehend how, if he commits an error, he should suffer a particular punishment; but when calamity overtakes whole classes of the community, each person absolves himself from all share of the blame, and regards himself simply as the victim of a general but inscrutable visita- tion. Let us then examine briefly the Social Law. In regarding the human faculties, we perceive that numberless gratifications spring from the social state. The muscles of a single individual could not rear the habitations, build the ships, forge the anchors, construct the machinery, or; in short, produce the countless enjoy- ments that every where surround us, and which are attained in consequence of men being constituted so as instinctively to combine their powers and skill, to obtain a common end. Here, then, are very great advantages resulting directly from the social law; but, in the next place, social intercourse is the means of affording direct gratification t€ a variety of our mental faculties. If we 19 218 lived in solitude, the propensities, sentiments, and reflect- ing faculties, would be deprived, some ^of them absolutely, and others of them nearly, of all opportunities of gratifi- cation. The social law, then, is the source of the highest delights of our nature, and its institution indicates the greatest benevolence towards us, and wisdom in the Creator. Still, however, this law does not suspend or subvert the laws instituted for the regulation of the conduct of man as an individual. If an individual go to sea in a ship, the natural laws require that his intellectual facul- ties shall be instructed in navigation, and in the features of the coasts and seas which he shall traverse; that he shall know and avoid the shoals, currents, and eddies; that he shall trim his canvas in proportion to the gale] and that his animal faculties shall be kept so much under subjection to his moral sentiments, that he shall not abandon himself to drunkenness, sloth, or any animal indulgence, when he ought to be watchful at his duty. If he obey the natural laws, he will be safe; and if he disobey them he may be drowned. # It is obvious that it must be a small vessel, and bound only on a short voy- age, that could be managed by one man; for he must eat and sleep; and he could not perform these functions, and manage his sails at the same time. It is the interest, therefore, of individuals who wish to go to sea, to avail themselves of the social law, that is, to combine their powers under one leader; — by doing so, they may sail in a larger ship, have more ample stores of provisions, obtain intervals for rest, and enjoy each other's society If at the same time they fulfil the moral and intellectual laws, by placing in the situation of captain an individual fully qualified for the duty, they will enjoy the i > vard in sailing safely and in comfort; if they disregard these laws, * I waive at present the question of storms, which he could not foresee, as these fall under the head of ignorance of natural laws which may be subsequently discovered. INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 219 and place an individual in charge of the ship, whose in- tellectual faculties are weak, whose animal propensities are strong, whose moral sentiments are in abeyance, and who, in consequence, habitually neglects the natural laws, they may suffer the penalty in being wrecked. I know it will be objected that the crew and p.assen- gers do not appoint the captain; but, in every case, ex- cept impressment in the British navy, they may go into, or stay out of, a particular ship, according as they dis- cover the captain to possess the natural qualities or not. This, at present, I am aware, ninety-nine individuals out of an hundred never inquire into; but so do ninety-nine out of an hundred neglect many other of the natural laws, and suffer the penalty, because their moral and intellec- tual faculties have never yet been instructed in the exist- ence and effects of these, or trained ta observe and obey them. But they have the power from nature of obeying them, if properly taught and trained; and, besides, I give this merely as an illustration of the mode of opera- tion of the social law. Another example may be given: By employing ser- vants, the labors of life are rendered less burdensome to the master; but he must employ individuals who know the moral law, and who possess the ^desire to act under it; otherwise, as a punishment for neglecting this requi- site, he may be robbed, cheated, or murdered. Phreno- logy presents the means of observing this law, in a degree quite unattainable without it, by the facility which it af- fords of discovering the natural talents and dispositions of individuals. By entering into copartnerships, merchants and other persons in business may extend their employment, and gain advantages beyond those they could reap if laboring as individuals. But, by the natural law, each mast take care that his partner knows, and is inclined to obey, the moral and intellectual laws, as the only condition on which the Creator will permit him securely to reap the 220 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM advantages of the social compact. If a partner in China be deficient in intellect and moral sentiment, another in London may be utterly ruined. It is said that this is an example of the innocent suffering for, or at least along with, the guilty; but it is not so. It is an example of a person seeking to obtain the advantages of the social law, without conceiving himself bound to obey the conditions required by it; the first of which is, that those individuals of whose services he avails himself, shall be capable and willing to observe the moral and intellectual laws. Let us now advert to the calamities which overtake whole classes of men, or communities, under the social law, — trace their origin, and see how -far they are attri- butable to infringement of the Creator's laws. If I am right in representing the whole faculties of man as intended by the Creator to be gratified, and the moral sentiments and intellect as the higher and directing pow- ers, with which all natural institutions are in harmony; it follows, that if large communities of men, in their sys- tematic conduct, habitually seek the gratification of the inferior propensities, and allow either no part, or too small and inadequate a part, of their time to be devoted to the regular employment of the higher powers, they will act in direct opposition to the natural institutions* and will, of course, suffer the punishment in sorrow and disappointment. Now, to confine ourselves to our owp country, it is certain that, until within these few years, the laboring population of Britain were not taught that it was any part of their duty, as rational creatures, to restrain their propensities, so as not to multiply their numbers beyond the demand for their labors and the supply of food for their offspring; and up to the present hour this most obvious and important doctrine is not admitted by one in a thousand, and not acted upon as a practical principle u y one in ten thousand of those whose happiness or *uisery depends on observance of it. The doctrine of MiLTHus, that 'population cannot go on perpetually INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 22* increasing, without pressing on the limits of the means of subsistence, and that a check of some kind or other must sooner or later, be opposed to it,' just amounts to this,— that the means of subsistence are not susceptible of sucl rapid and unlimited increase as population, anr* n conse quence that the Amative propensity must be restrained by reason, otherwise it will be checked by misery. This principle is in accordance with the views of human natun maintained in this Essay, and applies to all the faculties Thus Philoprogenitiveness, when indulged in opposition to reason, leads to spoiling children, which is followed directly by misery both to them and to their parents. Acquisitiveness, when uncontrolled by reason, leads to avarice or theft, and these again carry suffering in their train. But so far from attending to such views, the lives of the inhabitants of Britain generally are devoted to the acquisition of wealth, of power and distinction, or of animal pleasure: in other words, the great object of the aboring classes, is to live and gratify the inferior pro- pensities; of the mercantile and manufacturing popula- tion, to gratify Acquisitiveness and Self-Esteem; of the >more intelligent class of gentlemen, to gratify Self-Esteem and Love of Approbation, in political, literary, or philo- sophical eminence; and of another portion, to gratify Love of Approbation, by supremacy in fashion— and these gratifications are sought by means not in accordance with the dictates of the higher sentiments, but by the joint aid of the intellect and propensities. If the supre- macy of moral sentiment and intellect be the natural law, then, as often observed, every circumstance connected with human life must be in harmony with it; that is to say, first, After rational restraint on population, and the proper use of machinery, such moderate labor as will leave ample time for the systematic exercise of the higher powers, will suffice to provide for human wants; and, uecondly, If this exercise be neglected, and the time 19* 222 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM which ought to be dedicated to it be employed in labor to gratify the propensities, direct evil will ensue; and this accordingly appears to me to be really the result. By means of machinery, and the aids derived from science, the ground can be cultivated, and every imagin- able necessary and luxury produced in ample abundance, at a moderate expenditure of labor by any population not in itself superabundant. If men were to stop when- ever they had reached this point, and dedicate the resi- due of each day to moral and intellectual pursuits, the - consequence would be, ready and steady, because not overstocked, markets. Labor, pursued till it provided abundance, but not superfluity, would meet with a certain and just reward, and would also yield a vast increase of happiness; for no joy equals that which springs from the moral sentiments and intellect excited by the contempla- tion, pursuit, and observance, of the Creator's institu- tions. Farther, morality would be improved; for men, being happy, would cease to be vicious; and, lastly, there would be improvement in the organic, moral, and intellectual capabilities of the race; for the active moral and intellectual organs- in the parents would tend to in- crease the volume of these in their offspring; so that each - * generation would start not only with greater stores of acquired knowledge than its predecessors possessed, but with higher natural capabilities of turning them to ac- count. Before merchants and manufacturers can be expected to act in this manner, a great change must be effected in their sentiments and perceptions; but so was a striking revolution effected in the ideas and practices of the ten- antry west of Edinburgh, when they removed the stag- nant pools between each ridge of land, and banished ague from their district. If any reader will compare the state of Scotland during the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, correctly and spiritedly represented in Sii* Walter Scott's Tales of a Grandfather, with its presen* INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 223 condition, in regard to knowledge, morality, religion, and the comparative ascendency of the rational over the animal part of our nature, he will perceive so great an improvement in later times, that the commencement of the millennium itself, in five or six hundred years hence, would scarce be a greater advance beyond the present, than the present is over the past. If the laws of the Creator be really what are here represented, and if they were once taught as elementary truths to every class of the community, and the sentiment of Veneration called in to enforce obedience to them, a set of new motives and principles would be brought into play, calculated to ac- celerate the change ; especially if it were seen, what, in the next place, I proceed to show, that the consequences of neglecting these laws are the most serious visitations of suffering that can well be imagined. If the views ad- vocated in this work be correct, the system on which the manufactures of Britain are at present conducted, is as great an aberration from the laws of nature as the history of the world has ever presented. -It implies not only that the vast body of the people shall for ever remain in a condition little superior to that of mere working animals, in order that, by means of cheap labor, our traders may undersell the merchants of all other nations; but also that our manufactures and commerce shall enjoy an indefinite extension — this being essential to their prosperity, as now conducted, although, in the nature of things, impossible. On the 13th May 1830, Mr. Slaney, M. P. called the attention of the House of Commons to ' the increase which had taken place in the number of those employed in manufacturing and mechanical occupations, as com- pared with the agricultural class. 5 He stated, that, 'in England, the former, as compared with the latter, were 6 to 5 in 1801 ; they were as 8 to 5 in 1821 ; and, taking the increase of population to have proceeded in the same ratio, they were now as 2 to 1. In Scotland the increase had been still more extraordinary. In that country they 224 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM * were as 5 to 6 in 1801 ; as 9 to 6 in 1821 ; and now they were as 2 to 1. The increase in the general population during the last twenty years had been 30 per cent. ; in the manufacturing population it had been 40 per cent. ; in Manchester, Coventry, Liverpool, and Birmingham, the increase had been 50 per cent. ; in Leeds it had been 54 per cent.; in Glasgow, it had been 100 per cent. 5 Here we perceive that a vast population has been called into existence, and trained to manufacturing industry. I do not doubt that the skill and labor of this portion of the people have greatly contributed to the wealth of the nation; but I fear that the happiness of the laborious indi- viduals who have conferred this boon, has not kept pace with the riches which they have created. The causes of this circumstance appear to be the following: — Several millions of human beings have been trained to manufactures, and are unfit for any other occupation. In consequence of the rapid increase of their numbers, and of vast improvements in machinery, the supply of la- bor has, for many years, outstripped the demand for it, and wages have fallen ruinously low. By a coincidence which at first sight appears unfortunate, much of the machinery of modern invention may be managed by children. The parent, who by his own labor for twelve hours a-day, is able to earn only seven shillings a week, adds to his income one shilling and sixpence or two shil- lings a week, for each child whom he can send to the manufactory; and, by the united wages of the family, a moderate subsistence may be eked out. Both parents and children, however, are reduced to a hopeless-condi- tion of toil; for their hours of labor are so long, and their remuneration is so small, that starvation stares each of them in the face when they either relax from exertion or cease to live in combination. Mental culture, and moral and intellectual enjoyment are excluded, and their place supplied by penury and labor. Dr. Chalmers reports, that in our great towns whole masses of this class of the INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 225 people are living in profound ignorance and practical heathenism. The system tends constantly to increase the evils of which it is the source. Young persons, when they arrive at manhood, find themselves scarcely able to subsist by their individual exertions; whereas, if they can add the scanty income of three or four children to their own, their condition is, in some degree, improved. House-rent, and the expenses of furniture and fuel, are not increased by the wants, — in proportion to the contri- butions — of the young. Adults are thus tempted — nay, almost driven by necessity — to contract early marriages, to rear a numerous offspring, devoted to the same em- ployments with themselves, and in this way to add to the supply of labor, already in excess. The children grow up, and in their turn follow the same course; and thus, however widely the manufactures of Britain may have extended, a still farther, and indeed an indefinite exten- sion of them seems to be demanded ; for the system pro- duces a constantly increasing, yet ignorant, starving, and miserable population, more than adequate to the supply of all the labor that can be profitably expended. The consequence is, that markets are overstocked with pro- duce; prices first fall ruinously low; the operatives are then thrown idle, and left in destitution, until the surplus produce of their formerly excessive labors, and perhaps something more, are consumed; after this, prices rise too high in consequence of the supply falling rather below the demand; the laborers then resume their toil, on their former system of excessive exertion; they again overstock the market; are again thrown idle, and suffer dreadful misery. In 1825 — 6 — 7, this operation of the natural laws was strikingly exhibited; large bodies of starving and unem- ployed laborers were supported on charity. How many hours did they not stand idle, and how much of excessive toil would not these hours have relieved, if distributed over the periods when they were overworked! There- 226 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM suits of that excessive exertion were seen in the form of untenanted houses and of shapeless piles of goods decay* mg in warehouses — in short, in every form in which mis- applied industry could go to ruin. These observations are strikingly illustrated by the following official report ' State of the Unemployed Operatives resident in Edinburgh, who are supplied with work by a Committee constituted for that purpose, according to a list made up on Wednesday, the 14th March 1827. 1 The number of unemployed operatives who have been remitted by the Committee for work, up to the 14th of March, are - - 1481 ' And the number of cases they have rejected, after having been particularly investigated, for being bad characters, giv- ing in false statements, or being only a short time out of work, &c. &c. are - ..*..... 446 Making together, 1927 ' Besides those, several hundreds have been rejected by the Com- mittee, as, from the applicants' own statements, they were not consider- ed as cases entitled to receive relief, and were not, therefore, remitted for investigation. 1 The wages allowed is 5s. per week, with a peck of meal to those who have families. Some youths are only allowed 3s. of wages. i The particular occupations of those sent to work are as follows : — 242 masons, 634 laborers, 66 joiners, 19 plasterers, 76 sawyers, 19 sla- ters, 45 smiths, 40 painters, 36 tailors, 55 shoemakers, 20 gardeners, 229 various trades. Total 1481.' Edinburgh is not a manufacturing city, and if so much misery existed in it in proportion to its population, what must have been the condition of Glasgow, Manchester, and other manufacturing towns? Here, then, the Creator's laws show themselves para- mount, even when men set themselves systematically to infringe them. He intended the human race, under the moral law, not to pursue Acquisitiveness excessively, but to labor only a certain and a moderate portion of their lives; and although they do their utmost to defeat this intention, they cannot succeed; they are constrained to remain idle as many days and hours, while their surplus oroduce is consuming, as would have served* for the due INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 227 exercise of their moral and intellectual faculties, and the preservation of their health, if they had dedicated them regularly to these ends from day to day, as time passed over their heads. But their punishment proceeds: the extreme exhaustion of nervous and muscular energy, with the absence of all moral and intellectual excitement, create the excessive craving fbr the stimulus of ardent spirits which distinguishes the laboring population of the present age; this calls into predominant activity the or- gans of the Animal Propensities; these descend to the children by the law already explained; increased crime, and a deteriorating population, are the results; and a moral and intellectual incapacity for arresting the evils becomes greater with the lapse of every generation According to the principles of the present Essay, what are called by commercial men c times of prosperity,' are seasons of the greatest infringement of the natural laws, and precursors of great calamities. Times are not reckoned prosperous, unless all the industrious popula- tion is employed during the whole day, hours of eating and sleeping only excepted, in the production of wealth. This is a dedication of their whole lives to the service of the propensities, and must necessarily terminate in pun- ishment, if the world is constituted on the principle of supremacy of the higher powers. This truth has already been illustrated more than once *n the history of commerce. The following is a recent example. By the combination laws, workmen were punishable for uniting to obtain a rise of wages, when an extraordinary demand occurred for their labor. These laws, being obviously unjust, were at length repealed. In summer and autumn 1825, however, commercial men conceived themselves to have reached the highest point of pros- perity, and the demand for labor was unlimited. The operatives availed themselves of the opportunity to better their condition; formed extensive combinations; and, 228 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM because their demands were not complied with, struck work, and continued idle for months in succession. The master manufacturers clamored against the new law, and complained that the country would be ruined, if combina- tions were not again declared illegal, and suppressed by force. According to the principles of this Essay, the just law must from the first have been the most beneficial f 01 all parties affected by it; and the result amply confirmed this idea. .Subsequent events proved that the extraordi- nary demand for laborers in 1825 was entirely factitious, fostered by an overwhelming issue of bank paper, much of which ultimately turned out to be worthless; in short, that, during the combinations, the master manufacturers were engaged in an extensive system of speculative over- production, and that the combinations of the workmen presented a natural check to this erroneous proceeding. The ruin that overtook the masters in 1826 arose from their having accumulated, under the influence of unbri- dled Acquisitiveness, vast stores of commodities which were not required by society; and to have compelled the laborers, by force, to manufacture more at their bidding, would obviously have been to aggravate the evil. It is a well known fact, accordingly, that those masters whose operatives most resolutely refused to work, and who, on this account, clamored loudest against the law, were the greatest gainers in the end. Their stocks of goods were sold off at high prices during the speculative period: and when the revulsion came, instead of being ruined by the fall of property, they were prepared, with their capitals at command, to avail themselves of the depreciation, to make new and highly profitable investments. Here again, therefore, we perceive the law of justice vindicat- ing itself, and benefiting by its operation, even those in- dividuals who blindly denounced it as injurious to their interests. A practical faith in the doctrine that the world is arranged by the Creator in harmony with the moral sentiments and intellect, would be of unspeakable advan- INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 229 tage both to rulers and subjects; for they would then be able to pursue with greater confidence the course dictat- ed by moral rectitude, convinced that the result would prove beneficial, even although, when they took the first step, they could not distinctly perceive by what means. In the whole system of the education and treatment of the laboring population, the laws of the Creator, such a9 I have now endeavored to expound them, are neglected or infringed. Life with them is spent to so great an ex- tent in labor, that their moral and intellectual powers are stinted of exercise and gratification; and hence their mental enjoyments are chiefly those afforded by the animal propensities: in other words, their existence is too little rational; they are rather organized machines than moral and intellectual beings. The chief duty per- formed by their higher faculties is not to afford predomi- nant sources of enjoyment, but to communicate so much intelligence and honesty, as to enable them to execute their labors with fidelity and skill. I speak, of course, of the great body of the laboring population; there are many individual exceptions, who possess higher attain- ments; and I mean no disrespect even to this most deserving portion of society; on the contrary, I represent their condition in what appears to me to be a true light, only with a view to excite them to amend it. Does human nature, then, admit of such a modification of the employments and. habits of this class, as to raise them to the condition of beings whose chief pleasures shall be derived from their rational natures? — that is, creatures whose bodily powers and animal propensities shall be subservient to their moral and intellectual facul- ties, and who shall derive their leading enjoyment from the latter. To attain this end, it would not be necessary that they should cease to labor; on the contrary, the necessity of labor to the enjoyment of life is imprinted in strong characters on the structure of man. The osseous, $0 Q £30 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM muscular, and nervous systems of the body, all require exercise as a condition of health; while the digestive and sanguiferous apparatus rapidly fall into disorder, if due exertion is neglected. Exercise of the body is labor; and labor directed to a useful purpose is as beneficial to the corporeal organs, and far more pleasing to the mind, than when undertaken for no end but the preservation of health. Commerce is rendered advantageous by the Creator, because different climates yield different pro- ductions. Agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, therefore, are adapted to man's nature, and I am not their enemy. But they are not the ends of human exist- ence, even on earth. Labor is beneficial to the whole human economy, and it is a mere delusion to regard it as in itself an evil ; but the great principle is, that it must be moderate both in severity and duration, in order that men may enjby, and not be oppressed by it. I say enjoy it; because moderate exertion is pleasure, and it has been only labor carried to excess, which has given rise to the common opinion that retirement from active industry is the goal of happiness. It may be objected that a healthy and vigorous man is not oppressed by ten or twelve hours' labor a-day; and I grant that, if he be well fed, his physi- cal strength may not be so much exhausted by this exer- tion as to cause him pain. But this is regarding him merely as a working animal. My proposition is, that after ten or twelve hours of muscular exertion a-day, continued for six days in the week, the laborer is not in a fit condition for that active exercise of his moral and in- tellectual faculties which alone constitutes him a rational being. The exercise of these powers depends on the condition of the brain and nervous system; and these are exhausted and deadened by too much muscular exertion The fox hunter and ploughman fall asleep when they sit within doors, and attempt to read or think. The truth of this proposition is demonstrable on physiological princi- ples, and is supported by general experience; neverthe- INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW 231 less, the teachers of mankind have too .often neglected it The first change, therefore, must be to limit the hours of labor, and to dedicate a portion of time daily to the exer-» cise of the mental faculties. So far from this limitation being unattainable, it appears to me that the progress of arts, sciences, and society, is rapidly forcing its adoption. Ordinary observers appear to conceive man's chief end, in Britain at least, to be to manufacture hard-ware, broad cloth, and cotton goods, for the use of the whole world, and to store up wealth. They forget that the same impulse which inspires the British with so much ardor in manufacturing, will sooner or later inspire other nations also; and that, if all Europe shall follow our example, and employ efficient machinery and a large proportion of their population in our branches of industry, which they are fast doing, the four quarters of the globe will at length be deluged with manufactured goods only part of which will be required. When this state of things shall arrive, — and in proportion as know- ledge and civilization are diffused it will approach, — men will be compelled, by dire necessity, to abridge their toil, because excessive labor will not be remunerated. The admirable inventions which are the boast and glory of civilized men, are believed by many persons to be at this moment adding to the misery and degradation of the peo- ple. Power-looms, steam-carriages, and steam-ships, it is asserted, have all hitherto operated directly in increas- ing the hours of exertion, and abridging the reward of the laborer! Can we believe that God has bestowed on us the gift of an almost creative power, solely to increase the wretchedness of the many, and minister to the luxury of the few? Impossible! The ultimate effect of mechanical inventions on human society appears to be not yet divin- ed. I hail them as the grand instruments of civilization, by giving leisure to the great mass of the people to culti- vate and enjoy their moral, intellectual, and religious powers. 232 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM One requisite to enable man to follow pursuits refera- ble to his higher endowments, is provision for the wants of his animal nature, viz. food, raiment, and comfortable lodging. It is clear that muscular power, intellect, and mechanical skill, have been conferred on him, with the design that he should build houses, plough fields, and fabricate commodities. But assuredly we have no war- rant from reason or revelation for believing that, any portion of the people are bound to dedicate their whole lives and energies, aided by all mechanical discoveries, to these ends, as their proper business, to the neglect of the study of the works and will of the Creator. Has man been permitted to discover the steam-engine, and apply it in propelling ships on the ocean and carriages on rail- ways, in spinning, weaving, and forging iron, — and has he been gifted with intellect to discover the astonishing powers of physical agents, such as are revealed by chem- istry and mechanics, — only that he may be enabled to build more houses, weave more cloth, and forge more iron, without any direct regard to his moral and intellec- tual improvement? If an individual, unaided by animal or mechanical power, had wished to travel from Manches- ter to Liverpool, a distance of thirty miles, he would have been under the necessity of devoting ten or twelve hours of time, and considerable muscular energy, to the task. When roads and carriages were constructed, and horses trained, he could, by their assistance, have accom- plished the same journey in four hours, with little fatigue ; and now, when railways and steam-engines have been successfully completed, he may travel that distance, with- out any bodily fatigue whatever, in an hour and a half: And I ask, for what purpose has Providence bestowed the nine hours, which are thus set free as spare time to (he individual? I humbly answer, for the purpose of cultivating his moral, intellectual, and religious nature. Again, before steam-engines were applied to spinning and weaving, a human being would have needed to INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 233 labor, say for a month, in order to produce linen, woollen, and cotton cloth, necessary to cover his own person for a year; or, hi case of a division of labor, a twelfth part of the population would have required to be constantly engaged in this employment: by the applica- tion of steam, the same ends may be gained in a day. I repeat the inquiry; for what purpose has Providence bestowed the twenty-nine days out of the month, set free by the invention of the steam-engine and machine'ry? These proportions are not stated as statistically correct, but as mere illustrations of a proposition, that every dis- covery in natural science, and invention in mechanics, has a direct tendency to increase the leisure of man, and to enable him to provide for his physical wants with less laborious exertion. The question recurs, whether, in thus favoring the human race, the object of Providence be, to enable only a portion of them to enjoy the highest luxuries, while the mass shall continue laboring animals; or whether it be not to enable all to cultivate and enjoy their rational nature ? In proportion as mechanical inventions shall be gene- rally diffused over the world, they will increase the powers of production to such an extent, as to supply, by moderate labor, every want of man; and then the great body of the people will find themselves in possession of reasonable leisure, in spite of every exertion to avoid it Great misery will probably be suffered in persevering in the present course of action, before their eyes shall be opened to this result. The first effect of these stupen- dous mechanical inventions threatens to be to accumulate great wealth in the hands of a few, without proportionally abridging the toil, or greatly adding to the comforts of the many. This process of elevating a part of the com* munity to affluence and power, and degrading the rest, threatens to proceed till the disparity of condition shal have become intolerable to both, the laborer being utterly 20* 234 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM i oppressed, and the higher classes harassed by insecurity Then, probably, the idea may occur, that the real benefit of physical discovery is to give leisure to the mass of the people, and that leisure for mental improvement is the first condition of true civilization, knowledge being the second. The science of human nature will enable men at length to profit by exemption from excessive toil; and it may be hoped that, in course of time, the notion of man being really a rational creature, may meet with general countenance, and that sincere attempts may be made to render all ranks prosperous and happy, by institutions founded on the basis of the superior faculties. The same means will lead to the realization of practi- cal Christianity. An individual whose active existence is engrossed by mere bodily labor, or by the pursuits of gain or ambition, lives under the predominance of facul- ties that do not produce the perfect Christian character. The true practical Christian possesses a vigorous and enlightened intellect, and moral affections glowing with gratitude to God and love to man; but how can the people at large be enabled to realize this condition of mind, if stimulus for the intellect and the nobler senti- ments be excluded by the daily routine of their occupa- tions? In some districts of England, the operatives lately demanded an abridgement of labor without abatement of wages. This project was unjust, and proved unsuccess- ful. They ought to have given up first one hour's labor, and the price of it, and waited till the increase of capital ind of demand brought up wages to their former rate, which, if they had restrained population, would certainly have happened. They ought to have then abated a second hour, submitting again to a reduction, and again waited for a re-action; and so on, till they had limited their labor to eight or nine hours a-day. The change must be gradual, and the end must be obtained by mora* means, else it will never be accomplished at all. INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 235 The objection has been stated, that, even in the most improved condition of the great body of the people, there will still be a considerable proportion of them so deficient in talent, so incapable of improvement, and so ignorant, that their labor will be worth little; that, as they must obtain subsistence, no alternative will be left to them but to make up by long hours of exertion what they want in skill ; and that their long-continued labor, furnished at a cheap rate, will affect all the classes above them, and indeed prevent the views now taken from ever being generally realized This objection resolves itself into the proposition, That the people have been destined by the Creator to be laboring animals, and that, from their inherent mental defects, they are incapable generally of being raised to any more honorable station; which is just the great point at issue between the old and the new philosophy. If mankind at large (for the industrious classes constitute so very great a majority of the race, that I may be allowed to speak of them as the whole), had been intended for mere hewers of wood and drawers of water, I do not believe that the moral and intellectual faculties which they unquestionably possess, would have been bestowed on them; and as they do enjoy the rudi- ments of all the feelings and capacities which adorn the highest of the race, and as these faculties themselves are improvable, I do not subscribe to the doctrine of the per- manent incapacity of the race. I consider the operatives, in successive generations, quite capable of learning to act as rational beings; and whenever the great majority oPthem shall have acquired a sense of the true dignity of their nature, and a relish for the enjoyments afforded by their higher capacities, they will become capable of so regulating the supply of labor in reference to the demand, as to obtain the means of subsistence in return for mode- rate exertion. In short, I hope that few of the imbeciles alluded to in the objection will exist; and that these few will be directed and provided for by the multitude of 236 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM generous and enlightened minds which will exist around them. At the same time there is great force in the objection, considered in reference to the present and several suc- ceeding generations. In throwing out these views, \ em- brace centuries of time^. I see the slow progress of Jhe human race in the past, and do not anticipate miracles in the future. If a sound principle is developed — one having its roots in nature — there is a certainty that it will wax strong and bear fruit in due season; but that season, from the character of the plant, is a distant one. All who aim at benefiting mankind, ought to keep this truth constantly in view. Almost every scheme is judged of by its effects on the living generation; whereas, no great fountain of happiness ever flowed clear at first, or yielded its full sweets to the generation which discovered it. It is now an established principle in political economy, that Government ought not to interfere with industry. This maxim was highly necessary when governors were grossly ignorant of all the natural laws which regulate production and the private conduct of men; because their enactments, in general, were then absurd, they often did much harm, and rarely good. But if the science of hu- man nature were once fully and clearly developed, it is probable that this rule might, with great advantage, be relaxed, and that the legislature might considerably ac- celerate improvements, by adding the constraining au- thority of human laws to enactments already proclaimed by the Creator. Natural laws do exist, and the Creator punishes if they are not obeyed. The evils of life are these punishments. Now, if the great body of intelligent men in any state saw clearly that a course of action pur- sued by the ill-informed of their fellow subjects was the source of continual suffering, not only to the evil-doers themselves but to the whole community, it appears to me allowable, that they should stop its continuance by legis- lative enactment. If the majority of the middle classes INFRINGEMENT OP THE MORAL LAW. 237 resident in towns were to petition parliament, at present, to order shops in general to be shut at eight o'clock, or even at an earlier hour, to allow time *br the cultivation of the rational faculties of the men and women engaged in them, it would be no stretch of power to give effect to the petition: that is to say, it would lead to no evil, if the ignorant and avaricious were prevented by law from continuing ignorant, and forcing all their competitors in trade to resemble them in their defects. If the Creator have so constituted the world that men may execute all necessary business, and still have time to spare for the cultivation of their rational faculties, any enactment of the legislature calculated to facilitate arrangements for accomplishing both ends would be beneficial and suc- cessful, just because it was in accordance with nature; although the prejudiced and ignorant of the present gen- eration would complain, and probably resist it. This principle of interference would go much farther; its only limits seem to me to be the boundaries of the real know- ledge of nature; as long as the legislature enacts in conformity with nature, the result will be successful. At present, ignorance is too extensive and prevalent, to authorize Parliament to venture far. From indications which already appear, however, I think it probable that the laboring classes will ere long recognise Phrenology, and the natural laws, as deeply interesting to themselves; and whenever their minds shall be opened to rational views of their own constitution as men, and their condi- tion as members of society, I venture to predict that they will devote themselves to improvement, with a zeal and earnestness that in a few generations will change the as- pect of their class. The consequences of the present system of departing from the moral law, on the middle orders of the commu- nity, are in accordance with its effects on the lower. Uncertain gains, continual fluctuations in fortune, the absence of all reliance, in their pursuits, on moral ana CALAMITIES ARISING FROM intellectual principles, a gambling spirit, an insatiable ap- petite for wealth, alternately extravagant joys of excessive prosperity and bitter miseries of disappointed ambition, render the lives of manufacturers and merchants, to too great an extent, scenes of mere vanity and vexation of spirit. As the chief occupations of the British nation, manufactures and commerce are disowned by reason; for as now conducted, they imply the permanent degradation of the great mass of the people. They already constitute England's weakness; and, unless they shall be regulated by sounder views than those which at present prevail, they will involve her population in unspeakable misery. The oscillations of fortune, which almost the whole of the middle ranks of Britain experience, in consequence of the alternate depressions and elevation of commerce and manufactures, are attended with extensive and severe individual suffering. Deep, though often silent agonies, pierce the heart, when ruin is seen stealing, by slow but certain steps, on a young and helpless family ; the mental struggle often undermines the parent's health, and con- ducts him prematurely to the grave. No death can be imagined more painful than that which arises from a broken spirit, robbed of its treasures, disappointed in its ambition, and conscious of failure in the whole scheme of life. The best affections of the soul are lacerated and agonized at the prospect of leaving their dearest objects to struggle without provision, in a cold and selfish world. Thousands of the middle ranks of Britain unfortunately experience these miseries in every passing year. No- thing is more essential to human happiness than fixed principles of action, on which we can rely for our present safety and future welfare; and trie Creator's laws, when seen and followed, afford this support and delight to our faculties in the highest degree. It is one, not the least, of the punishments that overtake the middle classes for neglect of these laws, that they do not, as a permanent condition of mind, feel secure and internally at peace INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 239 with themselves. In days of prosperity, they continue to fear adversity. They live in a constant struggle with fortune ; and wnen the excitement of business has subsid- ed, vacuity and craving are felt within. These proceed from the moral and intellectual faculties calling aloud for exercise; but, through ignorance of their own nature, either pure idleness, gossipping conversation, fashionable amusements, or intoxicating liquors, are resorted to, and with these, a vain attempt is made to fill up the void of life. I know that this class ardently desires a change that would remove the miseries described, and will zeal- ously co-operate in diffusing knowledge, by which means alone it can be introduced. The punishment which overtakes the higher classes is equally obvious. If they do not engage in some active pursuit, so as to give scope to their energies, they suffer the evils of ennui, morbid irritability, and excessive relax- ation of the functions of mind and body, which carry in their train- more suffering than is entailed even on the operatives by excessive labor. If they pursue ambition in the senate or the field, in literature or philosophy, their real success is in exact proportion to the approach which they make to observance of the supremacy of the sentiments and intellect. Franklin, Washington, and Bolivar, may be contrasted with Sheridan and Bona- parte, as illustrations. Sheridan and Napoleon did not, systematically, pursue objects sanctioned by the higher sentiments and intellect, as the end of their exertions; and no person, who is a judge of human emotions, can read their lives, and consider what must have passed within their minds, without coming to the conclusion, that, even in their most brilliant moments of external prosperity, the canker was gnawing within, and that there was no moral relish of the present, or reliance on the future, but a mingled tumult of inferior propensities and intellect, carrying with it an habitual feeling of unsatisfied desires. 240 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM Let us now consider the effect of the moral law on national prosperity. If the Creator has constituted the world in harmony with the dictates of the moral sentiments, the highest prosperity of each particular nation should be thoroughly compatible with that of every other: that is to say, Eng- land, by sedulously cultivating her own soil, pursuing her own courses of industry, founding her internal insti- tutions and her external relations on the principles of Benevolence, Veneration, and Justice, which imply absti- nence from wars of aggression, from conquest, and from all selfish designs of commercial monopoly, would be in the highest condition of prosperity and enjoyment that nature would admit of; and every step that she deviated from these principles, would carry an inevitable punish- jnent along with it. The same statement might be made relative to France and every other nation. According to this principle, also, the Creator should have conferred on each nation some peculiar advantages of soil, climate, situation, or genius, which would enable it to carry on amicable intercourse with its fellow states, in a beneficial exchange of the products peculiar to each; so that the higher one nation rose in morality, intelligence, and riches, it ought to become so much the more estimable and valuable as a neighbor to all the surrounding states. This is bo obviously the real constitution of nature, thai proof of it would be superfluous. England, however, as a nation, has set this law at absolute defiance. She has led the way in taking the propensities as her guides, in founding her laws and institutions on them, and in following them out in her practical conduct. England placed restrictions on trade, and carried them to the greatest height; she conquered colonies, and ruled them in the full spirit of selfishness; she encouraged lotteries, fostered the slave trade, and carried paper money and the most avaricious spirit of manufacturing and speculating in commerce to their INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 241 highest pitch; defended corruption in Parliament, and distributed churches, and seats on the bench of justice, on principles purely selfish; all in direct opposition to the supremacy of the moral law. If the world had been created in harmony with the predominance of the animal faculties, England should have been a most felicitous nation; but as the reverse is the case, it was natural that a severe national retribution should follow these depart- ures from the divine institutions; and grievous according- ly has been, and, I fear, will be, the punishment. The principle which regulates national chastisement is, that the precise combination of faculties which leads to the transgression, carries in its train the punishment. Nations are under the moral and intellectual law, as well as individuals. A carter who half starves his horse, and unmercifully beats it, to supply, by the stimulus of pain, the vigor that nature intended to flow from abundance of food, may be supposed to practise this barbarity with impunity in this world, if he evade the eye of the police ; but this is not the case. The hand of Providence reaches him by a direct punishment: He fails in his object, for blows cannot supply the vigor which, by the constitution of the horse, will flow only from sufficiency of wholesome food. In his conduct, he manifests excessive Acquisi- tiveness and Destructiveness, w T ith deficient Benevolence, Veneration, Justice, and Intellect; and he cannot reverse this character, by merely averting his eyes and his hand from the horse. He carries these dispositions into the bosom of his family and into the company of his asso- ciates, and a variety of evil consequences ensue. The delights that spring from active moral sentiments and intellectual powers, are necessarily unknown to him; and the difference between these pleasures, and the sensa- tions attendant on his moral and intellectual condition, are as great as between the external splendor of a king and the naked poverty of a beggar. It is true that he has never felt the enjoyment, and does not know the 21 242 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM extent of his loss; but still the difference exists; %*>t see it and know that, as a direct consequence of this state of mind, he is excluded from a very great and exalted pleas ure. Farther, his active animal faculties rouse the Com bativeness, Destructiveness, Self-Esteem, Secretiveness, and Cautiousness, of his wife, children, and associates, against him, and they inflict on him animal punishment. He, no doubt, goes on to eat, drink, blaspheme, and abuse his horse, day after day, apparently as if Provi- dence approved of his conduct; but he neither feels, nor can any one who attends to his condition believe him to feel, happy; he is uneasy, discontented, and conscious of being disliked, — all which sensations are his punish- ment, and it is owing solely to his own grossness and ignorance that he does not connect it with his offence. Let us apply these remarks to nations. England, under the impulses of excessively strong Acquisitiveness, Self-Esteem, and Destructiveness, for a long time protected the slave trade. According to the law which I am explaining, during the periods of greatest sin in this respect, the same combination of faculties ought to be found working most vigorously in her other institutions, and producing punishment for that offence. There ought to be found in these periods a general spirit of domineering and rapacity in her public men, rendering them little mindful of the welfare of the people; injustice and harshness in her taxations and public laws;, and a spirit of aggression and hostility towards other nations, provoking retaliation of her insults. And, accordingly, I have been informed, as a matter of fact, that, while these measures of injustice were publicly patronised by the government, its servants vied with each other in in- justice towards it, and its subjects dedicated their talents and enterprise towards corrupting its officers, and cheat- ing it of its due Every trader who was liable to excise or custom duties evaded the one-half of them, and felt no disgrace in doing so. A gentleman, who was subject to INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW 243 the excise laws fifty years ago, described to me the con- dition of his trade at that time. The excise officers, he said, regarded it as an understood matter, that at least one-half of the goods manufactured were to be smuggled without being charged with duty; but then, said he, 1 they made us pay a moral and pecuniary penalty that was at once galling and debasing. We were constrained to ask them to our table at all meals, and place them at the head of it in our holiday parties; when they fell into debt, we were obliged to help them out of it; when they moved from one house to another, our servants and carts were in requisition to transport their effects. By way of keeping up discipline upon us, and also to make a show of duty, they chose every now and then to step in and detect us in a fraud, and get us fined; if we submitted quietly, they told us that they would make us amends, by winking at another fraud, and generally did so; but if our indignation rendered passive obedience impossible, and we spoke our mind of their character and conduct, they enforced the law on us, while they relaxed it on our neighbors; and these, being rivals in trade, undersold us in the market, carried away our customers, and ruined our business. Nor did the bondage end here. We could not smuggle without the aid of our servants; and as they could, on occasion of any offence given to them- selves, carry information to the headquarters of excise, we were slaves to them also, and were obliged tamely to submit to a degree of drunkenness and insolence, that appears to me now perfectly intolerable. Farther, this evasion and oppression did us no good; for all the trade were alike, and we just sold our goods so much cheaper the more duty we evaded; so that our individual success did not depend upon superior skill and superior morality, in making an excellent article at a moderate price, but upon superior capacity for fraud, meanness, sycophancy, and every possible baseness. Our lives were any thing but enviable. Conscience, although greatly blunted by 244 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM practices that were universal, and viewed aj inevitable, still whispered that they were wrong; our sentiments of self-respect very frequently revolted at the insults to which we were exposed, and there was a constant feeling of insecurity from the great extent to which we were dependent upon wretches whom we internally despised. When the government took a higher tone, and more principle and greater strictness in the collection of the duties were enforced, we thought ourselves ruined; but the reverse has been the case. The duties, no doubt, are now excessively burdensome from their amount; but that is their least evil. If it was possible to collect them from every trader with perfect equality, our independence would be complete, and our competition would be confin- ed to superiority in morality and skill. Matters are much nearer this point now than they were fifty years ago; but still they would admit of considerable improvement.' The same individual mentioned, that, in his youth, now seventy years ago, the civil liberty of the people of Scot- land was held by a weak tenure. About 1760, he knew instances of soldiers being sent, in time of war, to the farm houses, to carry off, by force, young men for the army; and as this was against the law, they were accused of some imaginary offence, such as a trespass, or an as- sault, which was proved by false witnesses, and the magistrate, perfectly aware of the farce, and its object, threatened the victim with transportation to the colonies, as a felon, if he would not enlist; which, unprotected and overwhelmed by power and injustice, he was, of course, compelled to do. If the same minute representation were given of other departments of private life, during the time of the great- est immoralities on the part of the government, we would find that this paltering with conscience and character in the national proceedings, tended to keep down the mo- -ality of the people, and fostered in them a rapacious and gambling spirit, to which many of the evils that have since overtaken us have owed their origin. INFRINGEMENT OP THE MORAL LAW. 245 But we may take a more extensive view of the subject of national responsibility. In the American war England desired to gratify her Acquisitiveness and Self-Esteem, *in opposition to Bene- volence and Justice, at the expense of her transatlantic colonies. This roused the animal resentment of the lat- ter, and the lower faculties of the two nations came into collision; that is to say, they made war on each other — England, to support a dominion in direct hostility to the principles which regulate the moral government of the world, in the expectation of becoming rich and powerful by success in that enterprise; the Americans, to assert the supremacy of the higher sentiments, and to become free and independent. According to the principles which I am now unfolding, the greatest misfortune that could have befallen England would have been success, and the greatest advantage, failure in her attempt; and the result is now acknowledged to be in exact accordance with these views. If England had subdued the colonies in the American war, every one must see to what an extent her Self-Esteem, Acquisitiveness, and Destructiveness would have been let loose upon them. This, in the first place, would have roused their animal faculties, and led them to give her all the annoyance in their power, and the fleets and armies requisite to ropress this spirit would have far. counterbalanced, in expense, all the profits she could have wrung out of the colonists, by extortion and oppression. In the second place, the very exercise of these animal faculties by herself, in opposition to the moral sentiments, would have rendered her government at home an exact parallel of that of the carter in his own family. The same malevolent principles would have overflowed on her own subjects; the government would have felt uneasy, and the people rebellious, discontented, and unhappy ; and the moral law would have been amply vindicated by the suffering which would have every where abounded. The consequences of her failure have 21* B 246 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM been the reverse. America has sprung up into a great and moral nation, and actually contributes ten times more to the wealth of Britain, standing as she now does, in her natural relation to this country, than she ever could have done, as a discontented and oppressed colony. This ad- vantage is reaped without any loss, anxiety, or expense; it flows from the divine institutions, and both nations profit by and rejoice under it. The moral and intellec- tual rivalry of America, instead of prolonging the pre- dominance of the propensities in Britain, tends strongly to excite the moral sentiments in her people and govern- ment; and every day that we live, we are reaping the benefits of this- improvement in wiser institutions, deliver- ance from endless abuses, and a higher and purer spirit pervading every department of the executive adminis- tration of the country. Britain, however, did not escape the penalty of her attempt at the infringement of the moral laws. The pages of her history, during the Ame- rican war, are dark with suffering and gloom, and at this day we groan under the debt and difficulties then partly incurred. If the world be constituted on the principles of the supremacy of the moral sentiments and intellect, the method of one nation seeking riches and power, by conquering, devastating, or obstructing the prosperity of another, must be essentially futile: Being in opposition to the moral constitution of creation, it must occasion misery while in progress, and can lead to no result except the impoverishment and mortification of the people who pursue it. It is narrated that Themistocles told the Athenians that he had conceived a project which WDuld be of the greatest advantage to Athens, but that the pro- foundest secrecy was necessary to ensure its success. They desired him to communicate it to Aristides, and promised, if he approved, to execute it. He took Aris- tides aside, and told him that he proposed, unawares, to burn the ships of the other Grecian states, then in pro- INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 247 found peace with the* Athenians, and not expecting an attack; which would render Athens master of them all. Aristides reported, that nothing could be more advanta- geous, but nothing more unjust than the project in view The people refused to hear or to execute it. Here the intellect of Aristides appears to have viewed the execu- tion of the scheme as beneficial, while his sentiment of Conscientiousness distinctly denounced it as morally wrong; and the question is, Whether external nature is so con- stituted, that the intellect can, in any case, possess suffi- cient data for inferring actual benefit from conduct which is disowned and denounced by the moral sentiments? It appears to me that it cannot. Let us trace the project of Themistocles to its results. In the inhabitants of the other Grecian states, the faculties of Self-Esteem, Combativeness, Destructive- ness, Intellect, Benevolence, and Conscientiousness ex- isted. The proposed destruction of their ships (in time of profound peace), would have outraged the higher sen- timents and intellect, and these would have kindled Com- bativeness and Destructiveness into the most intense activity. The greater the injustice of the act, the fiercer would the flame of opposition, retaliation, and revenge have glowed; and not only so, but the more grossly and wantonly the higher sentiments were outraged by the act, the higher would have been the class of minds which would instinctively have burned with the desire of re- venge. The Athenians, then, by the very constitution of nature would have been assailed by this fearful storm of moral indignation and animal resentment, rendered doubly terrible by the most virtuous and intelligent being con- verted into the most determined of their opponents. Turning to their own state agajj|, only those individuals among themselves in whom intellect and moral sentiment were inferior to Acquisitiveness and Self-Esteem, which give rise to selfishness and the lust of power, could have cordially approved of the deed. The virtuous would have 248 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM turned from the contemplation of it with shame and sor- row, and thus both the character and number of the defenders would have been diminished in the very ratio of the atrocity of the crime, while the power of the assail- ants, as we have seen, would, by that very circumstance, have been proportionally increased. It was impossible, therefore, that advantage to Athens could ultimately have resulted from such a flagrant act of iniquity ; and the ap- parent opposition, in the judgment of Aristides, between the benefits to be expected from it and the justice of the deed, arose from his intellect not being sufficiently pro- found and comprehensive to grasp the whol$ springs which the enterprise would excite into action, and to trace them to their legitimate consequences. In point of fact, there would have been no opposition between the dictates of an intellect which could have accurately sur- veyed the whole causes and effects which the unjust enterprise would have set in motion, and the dictates of Conscientiousness, but quite the reverse; and the Athe- nians, in following the suggestions of the latter faculty, actually adopted the most advantageous course which it was possible for them to pursue. The trite observation, that honesty is the best policy, thus becomes a profound philosophical maxim, when traced to its foundation in the constitution of human nature. The national debt of Britain has been contracted chief- ly in wars, originating in commercial jealousy and thirst of conquest; in short, under the suggestions of Combat- iveness, Destructiveness, Acquisitiveness, and Self-Es- teem * Did not our ancestors, therefore, impede their * Of 127 years, terminating in 1815, England spent 65 in war and . 62 in peace. The war of lffi8, after lasting nine years, and raising our expenditure in that period 36 millions, was ended by the treaty of Ryswick in 1697. Then came the war of the Spanish succession, which began in 1702, concluded in 17J3, and absorbed 62£ millions of our money. Next was the Spanish war of 1739, settled finally at Aix la-Chapelle in 1748, after costing us nearly 54 millions. Then INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 249 own prosperity and happiness, by engaging in these con- tests? and have any consequences of them reached us, except the burden of paying nearly thirty millions of taxes annually, as the price of the gratification of their propensities? Would a statesman, who believed in the doctrines of this Essay, have recommended these wars as essential to national prosperity! If the twentieth part of the sums had been spent in objects recognised by the moral sentiments, — for example, in instituting seminaries of education and penitentiaries, and in making roads, canals, and public granaries, — how different would have been the present condition of the country! After the American followed the French revolutionary war. Opinions are at present more divided upon this subject: but my view of it, offered with the greatest de- ference, is the following. ■ When the French Revolution broke out, the domestic institutions of England were, to a considerable extent, founded and administered on prin- ciples in opposition to the supremacy of the sentiments. A clamor was raised by the nation for reform of abuses. If my leading principle is sound, every departure from the moral law in nations, as well as in individuals, carries its punishment with it, from the first hour of its corn- came the seven years' war of 1756, which terminated with the treaty of Paris in 1763, and in course of which we spent 112 millions. The next was the American war of 1775, which lasted eight years. Our national expenditure in this war was 136 millions. The French Revolutionary war began in 1793, lasted nine years, and exhibited an expenditure of 464 millions. The war against Bonaparte began in 1803, and ended in 1815; during these twelve years, we spent 1159 millions, 771 of which were raised by taxes, and 388 by loans. In the revolutionary war we borrowed 201 millions ; in the American, 104 millions ; in the seven years' war 60 millions ; in the Spanish war of 1730, 29 millions ; in the war of the Spanish succession 32J millions ; in the war of 1688, 20 millions Total borrowed in the seven wars during 65 years, about 834 millions. In the same time, we raised by taxes 1189 millions, thus forming a total expenditure on war of two thousand and twenty-three millions of poundi sterling. — Weekly Review. 250 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM mencement till its final cessation; and if Britain's institu tions were then, to any extent, corrupt and defective, she could not too speedily have abandoned them, and adopted purer and loftier arrangements. Her government, how- ever, clung to the suggestions of the propensities, and resisted every innovation. To divert the national mind from causing a revolution at home, they embarked in a war abroad; and, for a period of twenty-three years, let loose the propensities on France with headlong fury, and a fearful perseverance. France, no doubt, threatened the different nations of Europe with the most violent interference with their governments; a menace wholly unjustifiable, and one which called for resistance. But the rulers of that country were preparing their own de- struction, in exact proportion to their departures from the moral law; and a statesman, who knew and had confi- dence in the constitution of the world, as now explained, could have listened to the storm in complete composure, prepared to repel actual aggression, and have left the exploding of French infatuation to the Ruler of the Un 1 * verse, in unhesitating reliance on the efficacy of his laws England preferred a war of aggression. If this conduct were in accordance with the sentiments, we should now, like America, be reaping the reward of our obedience to the moral law, and plenty and rejoicing should flow down our streets like a stream. But ma*rk the contrast. This island exhibits the spectacle of millions of men, toiled to the extremity of human endurance, for a pittance scarcely sufficient to sustain life; weavers laboring for fourteen or sixteen hours a-day for eightpence, and frequently unable to procure work, even on these terms; other artisans, exhausted almost to death by laborious drudgery, who, if better recompensed, seek compensation and enjoyment in the grossest sensual debauchery, drunkenness, and glut- tony; master-traders and manufacturers anxiously labor ing for wealth, now gay in the fond hope that all theii expectations will be realized, then sunk in deep despaii INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 251 by the- breath of ruin having passed over them; landhold- ers and tenants now reaping unmeasured returns from their properties, then pining in penury, amidst an overflow of every species of produce; the government cramped by an overwhelming debt and the prevalence of ignorance and selfishness on every side, so that it is impossible for it to follow with a bold step the most obvious dictates of reason and justice, owing to the countless prejudices and imaginary interests which every where obstruct the path of improvement. This much more resembles punish- ment for transgression, than reward for obedience to the divine institutions. If every man in Britain will turn his attention inwards, and reckon the pangs of disappointment which he has felt at the subversion of his own most darling schemes, by unexpected turns of public events, or the deep inroads on his happiness which such calamities, overtaking his dear- est relations and friends, have occasioned to him; the numberless little enjoyments in domestic life, which he is forced to deny himself, in consequence of the taxation with which they are loaded ; the obstructions to the fair exercise of his industry and talents presented by stamps, ' licenses, excise laws, custom-house duties, et hoc genus omne; he will discover the extent of responsibility attached by the Creator to national transgressions. From my own observation, I would say, that the miseries inflicted upon individuals and families, by fiscal prosecutions, founded on excise laws, stamp-laws, post-office laws, &,c. all originating in the necessity of providing for the national debt, are equal to those arising from some of the most extensive natural calamities. It is true, that few persons are prosecuted without having offended; but the evil -consists in presenting men with enormous temptations to infringe mere financial regulations, not always in accord- ance with natural morality, and then inflicting ruinous penalties for transgression. Men have hitherto expected the punishment of their offences in the thunderbolt, or the 252 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM yawning earthquake; and believed, that because the sea did not swallow them up, or the mountains fall upon them and crush them to atoms, Heaven was taking no cogniz- ance of their sins; while, in point of fact, an omnipotent, an all-just, and an all-wise God, had arranged, before they erred, an ample retribution in the very consequences of their transgressions. It is by looking to the 'principles in the mind, from which transgressions flow, and attending to their whole operations and results, that we discover the real theory of the divine government. When men shall be instructed in the laws of creation, they will dis- criminate more accurately than heretofore between natu- ral and factitious evils, and become less tolerant of the latter. Since the foregoing observations were written, the great measure of Parliamentary Reform has been carried into effect in Britain and Ireland, and already considera- ble progress has been made in rectifying our national institutions. For the first time in the annals of the world, a nation has voluntarily contributed a large sum of money for the advancement of pure benevolence and justice. Wo have agreed to pay twenty millions sterling for the freedom of 800,000 human beings, whom our unprinci- pled forefathers had led into hopeless slavery. Sinecures have been abolished monopolies destroyed, unmerited pensions checked, arra taxation lightened; and there is a spirit abroad which demands the reform of all other abuses both in Church and State. The great gratifica- tion which I experience in these changes arises from the perception that they have all the tendency to place the institutions of the country, and the administration of them, in harmony with the dictates of reason and the' moral sentiments; the effect of which will infallibly be, not only to increase the physical enjoyments, but greatly to ad- vance the moral, intellectual, and religious condition of the people. Example is the most powerful means of instruction, and it was in vain for a priesthood allied to INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 253 the itate to preach truth, justice, and benevolence to the people, while force, oppression, and every species of abuse, were practised by our rulers and the church itself. No more effectual means of purifying the hearts of the people can be devised than that of purifying all public institutions, and exhibiting justice and kindly affection as the animating motives of public men and national measures. Of all national enormities, that of legalizing the pur- chase of human beings, and conducting them into slavery, is probably the most atrocious and disgraceful; and England was long chargeable with this iniquity. The callous inhumanity, the intense selfishness, and the utter disregard of justice, implied in the practice, must have overflown in numerous evils on the people of England themselves. Indeed, the state of wretched destitution in which the Irish peasantry are allowed to remain, and the unheeded increase of ignorance, poverty, and toil, in the manufacturing districts, appear to be legitimate fruits of the same spirit which patronised slavery, and these probably are preparing punishment for the nation, if repentance does not speedily appear. Slavery, however, has now been abolished by Britain, and I hail this as the first step in a glorious career of moral legislation. The North Americans have been left behind by England, for once, in the march of Christian practice. In the United States, negro slavery continues to deface the moral brightness of her legislative page; and on no subject does prejudice appear to be so inveterately powerful in that country as on slavery. Greatly as I respect the charac- ter of the Americans, it is impossible to approve of their treatment of the negro population. The ancestors of the present American people stole, or acquired by an unprincipled purchase, the ancestors of the existing negroes, and doomed them to a degrading bondage This act was utterly at variance with the dictates of the moral sentiments, and of Christianity. Their posterity 22 5254 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM have retained the blacks in thraldom, treated them with contumely, and at this day regard them as scarcely human beings. This also is a grievous transgression of the natural and revealed law of moral duty. Evil and suffering must flow from these transgressions to the American people themselves; if God really governs the world. The argument that the negroes are incapable of civili- zation and freedom, is prematurely urged, and not relevant, although it were true. The neg*o head presents great varieties of moral and intellectual development, and I have seen several which appeared fully equal to the discharge of the ordinary duties of civilized man. But the race has never received justice from its European and American masters; and until its treatment shall have become moral, its capabilities cannot be fairly estimated, ancf the judgment against it is therefore premature. Besides, whatever be its capabilities, it was a heinous moral transgression to transport it, by violent means, from the region where a wise and benevolent God had placed it, and to plant it in a new soil, and amidst institutions, for which it was never intended; and the punishment of this offence will not be averted, but aggra- vated, by losing sight of the source of the transgression, and charging the consequences of it on the negroes, as if they were to blame for their alleged incapacity to glide gracefully into the ranks of American civilization. The negroes must either be improved by culture and inter- marriages with the European race, or retransferred to their native climate, before America can escape from the hands of divine justice. I am not sufficiently acquainted with the details of. American social life, to be able to point out the practical form in which the punishment is inflicted; but if there be truth in the principles now expounded, I cannot doubt of its existence. The alternative of incorporating the negroes, by inter- marriage, with the European race, appears revolting re INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 25£ the. feelings of the latter; while they also declare it to be impossible to retransport the blacks tp Africa, on account of their overwhelming numbers. There is much force in both of these objections, but there is still greater weight in the following considerations: — that the white race is exclusively to blame for the origin of the evil, and for all its consequences; that the natural laws never relax in their operation; and that, therefore, the existing evils will go on augmenting, until a remedy be adopted, which will become more painful the longer it is delayed. If the present state of things shall be continued for a century, it is probable that it will end in a war of extermination between the black and the white population; or in an attempt by the blacks to conquer and exclusively possess one or more of the southern states of the Union;, as an independent kingdom for themselves. At the time when I write these pages, the planters of Jamaica and of the other West India Islands are com- plaining of the ruinous consequences to them of negro emancipation, and blaming the British Government for having abrogated slavery. These men apparently do not believe in the moral government of the world, or they do not know the manner in which it is administered If they did, they would acknowledge that those who sow the wind have no right to complain when they reap the whirlwind. The permanency of negro slavery in the West Indies was impossible; because it was a system of gross injustice, cruelty, and oppression, and no such social fabric can permanently endure. Its fruits have long been poisonous and bitter, and the planters are now suffering the evils of having reared them. They ought, however, to thank the justice and repentant generosity of the mother country, which has purchased the freedom of the slaves, that their punishment is* so greatly miti- gated; for they may rest assured, that the annoyances now suffered are light and transient compared with the calamities which would have befallen them from the 256 - CALAMITIES ARISING FROM prolongation of slavery, until it had wrought out its own termination. Another generation will probably see and acknowledge this truth. But, in the mean time, I re- mark, that be the sufferings of the West Indian planters at present what they may, they, as the representatives of the original transgressors, are justly sustaining the penalty, and that, in their instance, as in that of a patient undergoing a severe operation to escape from a dangerous disease, delay would only have protracted affliction, and augmented ultimate pain and the danger of the remedy. The Spaniards, under the influence of selfish rapacity and ambition, conquered South America, inflicted ujfon its wretched inhabitants the most atrocious cruelties, and continued to weigh, for 300 years, like a moral incubus, upon that quarter of the globe. The punishment is now endured. By the laws of the Creator, nations must obey the moral law to be happy; that is, to cultivate the arts of peace, to be industrious, upright, intelligent, pious, and humane. The reward of such conduct is individual happiness, and national greatness and glory. There shall then be none to make them afraid. The Spaniards dis- obeyed all these laws in the conquest of America, they looked to rapine and foreign gold, and not to industry, for wealth; this fostered avarice and pride in the govern- ment, baseness in the nobles, indolence, ignorance, and mental depravity in the people; and led them to imagine happiness to consist, not in the exercise of the moral and intellectual powers, but in the gratification of all the in- ferior feelings to the outrage of the higher. Intellectual cultivation was utterly neglected, the sentiments ran astray into bigotry and superstition, and the propensities acquired a fearful ascendency. These causes made them the prey of internal discord and foreign invaders; and Spain, at this moment, suffers an awful retribution. Cowper recognises these principles of divine govern- ment as to nations, and has embodied them in the follow- ing powerful verses: INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 251 The hand that slew till it could slay no more. Was glued to the sword hilt with Indian gcire. Their prince, as justly seated on his throne As vain imperial Philip on his own, Tricked out of all his royalty by art, That stript him bare, and broke his honest heart, Died by the sentence of a shaven priest, For scorning what they taught him to detest. How dark the veil, that intercepts the blaze Of Heaven's mysterious purposes and ways ; God stood not, though he seemed to stand aloof; And at this hour the conqueror feels the proof: The wreath he won drew down an instant curse, The fretting plague is in the public purse, The cankered spoil corrodes the pining state, Starved by that indolence their minds create. Oh ! could their ancient Incas rise again, How would they take up Israel's taunting strain ! Art thou too fallen, Iberia ? Do we see The robber and the murd'rer weak as we ? Thou that has wasted Earth, and dared despise Alike the wrath and mercy of the skies, Thy pomp is in the grave, thy glory laid Low in the pits thine avarice has made. We come with joy from our eternal rest, To see th' oppressor in his turn oppressed. Art thou the god, the thunder of whose hand Rolled over all our desolated land, Shook principalities and kingdoms down, And made the mountains tremble at his frown ? The sword shall light upon thy boasted powers, And waste them, as the sword has wasted ours. Tis thus Omnipotence his law fulfils, Ind Vengeance executes what Justice wills. Coicper's Poems. — Charity. In *urv.M*£ *he present aspect of Europe, we perceive ^jBtonishing impairments achieved in physical science. How much is imphi^I ; n the mere names of the steam- engine, power-looms, rail roads, steam-boats, canals, and gas-lights; and yet of how much misery are several of these inventions at present the direct sources, in conse- 22* 258 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM quence of being almost exclusively dedicated to the gratification of the propensities. The leading purpose to which the steam-engine in almost all its forms of applica- tion is devoted, is the accumulation of wealth, or the gratification of Acquisitiveness and Self-esteem; and few have proposed, by its means, to lessen the hours of toil to the lower orders of society, so as to afford them opportunity and leisure for the cultivation of their moral and intellectual faculties, and thereby to enable them to render a more perfect obedience to the Creator's institu- tions. Physical has far outstripped moral science; and, it appears to me, that, unless the lights of Phrenology open the eyes of mankind to the real constitution of the world, and at length induce them to regulate their con- duct in harmony with the laws of the Creator, their future physical discoveries will tend only to deepen their wretchedness. Intellect, acting as the ministering ser- vant of the propensities, will lead them only farther astray. The science of man's whole nature, animal, moral, and intellectual, was never more required to guide him than at present, when he seems to wield a giant's power, but in the application of it to display the ignorant selfishness, wilfulness, and absurdity of an overgrown child. History nas not yielded, and cannot yield, half her fruits, until mankind shall be possessed of a true theory of their own nature. Many persons believe that they discover evidence against the moral government of the world, in the success of individuals not greatly gifted in moral and intellectual qualities, in attaining to great wealth, rank, and social consideration, while men of far superior merit remain in obscurity and poverty. But the solution of this difficulty is to be found in the consideration, that success in society depends on the possession, in the greatest degree, of the qualities which society needs and appreciates, and that these bear reference to the state in which society finds itself at the time when the observation is made. In th« INFRINGEMENT ON MORAL LAW. 259 savage and barbarous conditions, bodily strength, cour- age, fortitude, and skill in war, lead a man to the highest honors; in a society like that of modern England, com- mercial or manufacturing industry may crown an individ- ual with riches; and great talents of debate may carry him to the summit of political ambition. In proportion as society advances in moral and intellectual acquirements, it will make larger demands for similar qualities in its favorites. The reality of the moral government of the world is to be found in the degree of happiness which individuals and society enjoy in these different states. If unprincipled commercial ^and political adventurers were happy, in proportion to their apparent success; or if na- tions were as prosperous under the dominion of reckless warriors as under that of benevolent and enlightened rulers; or if the individuals who compose a nation enjoy- ed as much serenity and joy of mind when they advanced the bold, selfish, and unprincipled to places of trust and power, as when they chose the upright, benevolent, and pious, — the dominion of a just Creator might well be doubted. But the facts are the reverse of these. 260 CHAPTER VI. ON PUNISHMENT. SECTION I. ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS The last point connected with the Natural Laws, which I consider, is the principle on which punishment for infringement of them is inflicted in this world. Every law presupposes a superior, who establishes it, and requires obedience to its dictates. The superior may be supposed to act on the principle of the propensities, or on that of the sentiments. The former being selfish, whatever they desire is for selfish gratification. Hence laws instituted by a superior inspired by the propensities, would have for their leading object, the individual advan- tage of the lawgiver, with no systematic regard to the enjoyment or welfare of those who were called on to obey. The moral sentiments, on the other hand, are altogether generous, disinterested, and just; they delight in the happiness of others, and do not seek individual advantage as their supreme end. Laws, instituted by a lawgiver, inspired by them, would have, for their grand object, the advantage and enjoyment of those who were called on to obey. The story of William Tell will illus- trate my meaning. Gessler, an Austrian governor of the canton of Uri, placed his hat upon a pole, and required the Swiss peasants to pay the same honors to it that were due to himself. The object of this requisition was obvi- ously the gratification of the Austrian's Self-esteem, in witnessing the humiliation of the Swiss. It was framed without the least regard to their happiness; because such ON PUIfUHMBWT. 261 abject slavery could gratify no faculty in their minds, and ameliorate no principle of their nature; but, on the con- trary, was calculated to cause the greatest pain to their feelings. Before punishment for breaking this law could be justly inflicted, it would be indispensably necessary to show, that those who were called on to obey it, not only possessed the power of doing so, but were to be benefited by it. If it could be established, that, by the very constitution of their minds, it was impossible for them to reverence the hat of the tyrant, and that, if they had pretended to do so, they would have manifested only baseness and hypocrisy; then the law was unjust, and all punishment for disobedi- ence would have been pure tyranny and oppression on the part of the governor, In punishing, he would be calling in Destructiveness to minister to the gratification of his own Self-esteem. . Let us imagine, on the other hand, a law promulgated by a sovereign, whose sole motive was the happiness of his subjects, and that the edict was, Thou shalt not steal. If the lawgiver were placed far above the reach of theft by his subjects, and if respect to each other's rights were indispensable to the welfare of his people themselves, then it is obvious, that, so far as he was personally con- cerned, their stealing or not stealing would be of no im- portance to him, while it would be of the highest moment to themselves. Let us suppose, then, that, in order to prevent the evils which the subjects would bring upon themselves b,y stealing, he were to add as a penalty, that every man who stole should be locked up, and instructed in his duty, until he clearly felt the necessity of abstain- ing from theft; the justice and benevolence of this sen- tence would rest securely on the circumstance, that it was in the highest degree advantageous, at once to socie- ty at large, and to the offender himself. Suppose that he was born with large organs of Acquisitiveness and Se- cretiyeness, and deficient Conscientiousness, and that at I 262 ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED the time he committed the offence, he really could not help stealing, still there would be no cruelty and no injustice in locking him up, and instructing him in moral duty, until he learned to abstain from theft; because if this were not done, and if all men were to follow his example and only steal, the human race, and he, as a member of it, would necessarily starve and become ex- tinct. Now, the Creator's natural laws, so far as I have been able to perceive them, are instituted solely on the latter principle; that is to say, there is not the slightest indica- tion of the object of any of the arrangements of creation being to gratify an inferior feeling in the Creator himself. No well constituted mind, indeed, could conceive Him commanding beings, whom he called into existence, and whom he could annihilate in a moment, to do any act of homage which had reference solely to the acknowledg- ment of his authority, solely for his gratification, and without regard to their own welfare and enjoyment. We cannot, in short, without absolute outrage to the sentiments and intellect, imagine Him doing any thing analogous to the act of the Swiss governor, — placing an emblem of his authority on high, and requiring his creatures to obey it, merely to gratify himself by their homage, to their disparagement and distress. Accord- ingly, every natural law, so far as I can discover, appears clearly instituted for the purpose of adding to the en- joyment of the creatures who are called on to obey it. The object of the punishment inflicted for disobedience is to arrest the offender in his departure from the laws; which departure, if permitted to proceed to its natural termination, would involve him in tenfold greater mise- ries: this arrangement greatly promotes the activity of the faculties; and active faculties being fountains of pleasure, the penalties themselves become benevolent and just. For example, Under oue of the physical laws, all organized bodies UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS. 263 are liable to combustion. Timber, coals, oils, and animal substances, when heated to a certain extent, catch fire and burn. The question occurs, Was this quality bestow- ed on them for a benevolent purpose or not? Let us look to the advantages attending it: By means of fire we obtain warmth in cold latitudes, and light after the sun has set; we are enabled to cook, thereby rendering our food more wholesome and savory; and to soften and fuse the metals. I need go no farther; every one will ac- knowledge, that, by the law under which organized bodies are liable to combustion, countless benefits are conferred on the human race. The human body itself, however, is organized, and in consequence is subject to this law, so that, if placed in a great fire, it is utterly dissipated in a few minutes. Some years ago, a woman, in a fit of insanity, threw herself into an iron smelting furnace, in full blaze. She was observed by a man working on the spot, who instantly put off the steam-engine that was working the bellows, and came to take her out; but he then saw only a small black speck on the surface of the fire, and in a few minutes more even it had disappeared. The effect of a less degree of heat is to disorganize the texture of the body. What mode, then, has the Creator followed, to preserve men from the danger to which they are subject by fire. He has caused their nerves to communicate sensations from heat, agreeable while the temperature is such as to benefit the body; slightly uneasy, when it becomes so high as to be in some measure hurtful; posi- tively painful when the heat approaches that degree at which it would seriously injure the organized system, and horribly agonizing whenever it becomes so elevated as to destroy the organs. The principle of all this is very obviously benevolent. Combustion brings us innumera- ble advantages; and when we place ourselves in accord- ance with the law intended to regulate our relation to it, we reap unmingled benefits and pleasure. But we are in 264 ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED danger from its excessive action; and so kind is the Creator, that he does not trust to the guardianship of our own cautiousness and intellect alone to protect us from infringement, but has established a monitor in every nerve, whose admonitions increase in intensity through imperceptible gradations, exquisitely adjusted to the de- grees of danger, till at last, in pressing circumstances, they urge in a note so clamant, as to excite the whole physical, animal, and mental energy of the offender, io withdraw him from the impending destruction. Many persons imagine that this mode of admonition would be altogether unexceptionable, if the offender always possessed the power to avoid incurring it; but that, on the other hand, when a child, or an aged person, stumbles into the fire, through mere lack of physical strength to keep out of it, it cannot be just and benevo- lent to visit him with the tortures that follow from burning. This is a short-sighted objection. If, to remedy the evil supposed, the law of combustion were altogether suspended as to children and old men, so that, so far as they were concerned, fire did not exist, then they would be deprived of the light and warmth, and many other benefits which it affords. This would be an awful depri- vation; for warmth is more grateful and more necessary to them, in consequence of the very feebleness of their frames. Or, we may suppose that their nerves were constituted, so as to feel no pain from burning, — an arrangement which would effectually guarantee them against the tortures of falling in the fire ; but, in the first place, nerves feel pain under the same law that enables them to feel pleasure; the agony of burning arises alto- gether from an excessive degree of the stimulus of heat, which, when moderate, is genial and grateful: and, 2dly, If no pain were felt when in the fire, the child and old man would have no motive to get out of it. Under the present system, the pain would rouse every principle in their minds to escape; it would increase their musculai CINDER THE NATURAL LAWS. 265 energy, or make them roar aloud for assistance; in short, it would compel them to. get out of the fire, by some means or other, ana thereby, if possible, to escape from death. As they fell into the fire in consequence of a deficiency of mental and physical power to keep out, it would follow, that if no pain attended their contact with the flames, they might repose there as contentedly as on a bed of down; and the fond mother might find a black cinder for her child, or a pious daughter a half chared mass of bones for her father, although they had been only in an adjoining apartment, whence the slightest cry or groan would have brought them to arrest the calamity. In this instance, then, the punishment for neglecting and infringing the law of combustion, is both benevolent and just, even when it falls upon offenders who were com- pletely incapable of avoiding the offence; and it is so, because its object is the welfare of these very unconscious offenders themselves, so that if the principles on which punishment is inflicted were subverted, they would be greatly injured, and would loudly petition for their re- establishment. Let us take another example. Opium, by its inherent qualities, and the relationship established by the Creator between it and the nervous system of man, operates, if taken in one proportion, as a stimulant; if the proportion is increased it becomes a sedative; and if still increased, it paralyses the nervous system altogether, and death en- sues. Now, it is generally admitted, that there is no want of benevolence and justice, when a full grown and intel- ligent man loses his life, if he deliberately swallow an overdose of opium, knowing its qualities and their effects, because, it is said, he embraced these effects voluntarily: when, however, an ignorant child, groping about for something to eat and drink, to satisfy the craving of its natural curiosity and appetite, stumbles on a phial of laudanum, intended for the use of some sick relative, pulls the cork, drinks, and dies, — many persons imagine that 23 266 ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED it is more difficult to discover justice and benevolence in this severe, and, as they say, unmerited catastrophe. But the real view of the law under which both events happen, appears to me to be this: The inherent qualities of opium, and its relationship to the nervous system, are very obviously benevoletft, and are the sources of manifest advantages to man. Imagine that, to avoid every chance of accidents, opium, in so far as children are concerned, were deprived of its qualities, or that their nervous sys- tems received no greater impression from it than from tepid water, it is clear that they would be decidedly sufferers. The greatest advantages of the drug are de- rived from its scale of efficiency, by which it can be made to produce, first a stimulating effect, then a gently sedative, and afterwards a higher and a higher degree of sedative influence, until, by insensible degrees, absolute paralysis may ensue. A dose, which kills in health, will cure when in disease; and, if its range were limited to effects beneficial in health, its advantages in disease, arising from higher action, would be necessarily lost; and chil- dren, by the supposed arrangement, would be cut off from its beneficial administration. The parallel between it and the law of combustion is complete. If we could lever have commanded a degree of heat higher than that which would gently warm the human body, we must have passed without the whole advantages now derivable from the intense heats used in cooking, baking, and manufac- turing. If we could never have commanded more than the gently stimulant and sedative effects of opium on the body, in a state of health, we should necessarily have been deprived of its powerful remedial action in cases of disease. The proper question then is, Whether it is more benevolent and just, that children, after they have been exposed, from whatever cause, to that high degree of its influence, which, although beneficial in disease, is adverse to the healthy action of the nervous system, should be preserved alive in this miserable condition, or UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS, 267 that life should at once be terminated ? It appears obvi- ously advantageous to the offender himself, that death should relieve him from the unhappy condition into which his organized frame has been brought, by the abuse of this substance, calculated, when discreetly used, to con- fer on him no mean advantages. The principle that divine punishments are founded in Benevolence, even to the sufferer, is strongly elucidated in the case of the organic laws. When inflammation, for example, has seized any vital organ, if there was no pain, there would be no intimation that an organic law had been infringed, the disease would proceed quietly in its progress, and death would ensue, without the least previ- ous intimation. The pain, therefore, attending an acute disease, is obviously instituted to warn the sufferer, by the most forcible of all admonitions, to return to obedience to the law which he has infringed. In the case of a broken limb, or a deep cut, the principle becomes exceedingly obvious. The bone of the leg will re-unite, if the broken edges are preserved in close contact; and the subsequent serviceable condition of the limb will depend much upon the degree of exactness with which they have been made to re-approach, and been preserved in their natural posi- tion. Now, the pain attending a broken limb, in the first place, gives the most clamant intimation, that an injury has been sustained; secondly, It excites the individual most forcibly to the reparation of it; and, thirdly, As it recurs with a degree of violence exactly proportioned to the disturbance of the parts, after the healing process h'as commenced, it officiates like a sentinel with a drawn sword, compelling the patient to avoid every thing that may impede his recovery. The same observations apply to a flesh wound. The pain serves to intimate the injury, and to excite to its removal. The dissevered edges of the skin, nerves, and muscles, if skilfully made to re-approach, will, by the organic law, reunite, if left in repose. An accession of pain follows everv disturbance of their con 268 ON PUNISHMENT At INFLICTED dition, when in the process of healing; and it serves therefore, as a most effectual* and benevolent guardian of the welfare of the individual. If these views be correct, what person would dispense with the pain which attends the infringement of the organic laws, although such a boon were in his offer? It is obvious, that, if he possessed the least glimmering of understanding, he would thank the Creator for the institution, and beg in mercy to be allowed the benefits attending it; especially when taken in connection with the fact, that, after the possibility of recovery ceases, death steps in to terminate the suffering. The point to which I request the reader's particular attention is, that the power of the individual to avoid, or not to avoid, the infringement of the law in the particu- lar instance which brings the punishment, is not an indispensable circumstance in rendering the infliction benevolent and just. The infliction is approved of by the moral sentiments and intellect, because the law, in its legitimate operation, is calculated altogether for the advantage of the subject; and because the punishment has no object but to bring him back to obedience for his own welfare, or to terminate his sufferings when he has erred too widely to return. Let us now inquire whether the same principle prevails in regard to the infringement of the Moral and Intellec- tual Laws. This investigation is attended with great difficulty; and it may be best elucidated by attending, in the first place, to the liability to punishment under which the lower animals are placed as to their actions. The physical and organic laws operate on them in the same manner as on man, so that nothing need be said on these points. The lower animals, however, possess pro- pensities impelling them to act, and a certain degree of intellect enabling them to perceive the consequences of their actions. These faculties prompt them to inflict punishment wi each other for infringement of their rights, although they possess no sentiments pointing out the T7NDER THB NATURAL LAWS 269 moral guilt of their conduct. For example, dogs possess Acquisitiveness, which gives them the sense of property. When one is in possession of a bone, and another at- tempts to steal it, this act instinctively excites the Corn- bativeness and Destructiveness of the proprietor of the bone, and he proceeds to worry the assailant. Or a cock, on a dunghill, finds a rival intruding on his domain, and under the instinctive inspiration of offended Self-Love and Combativeness, he attacks him, and drives him off. I call this inflicting animal punishment. In these cases it is not supposed that the aggressors possess moral faculties, intimating that their trespass is wrong; or free will, by which they could avoid it, if they chose. I view them as inspired by their propensities, and rushing blind- ly to gratification. Nevertheless, in the effect which the aggression produces on the propensities of the animal assailed, we perceive an arrangement instituted by the Creator for checking outrage, and arresting its progress. Before the penalty inflicted could be viewed by man as just in such cases, it would be necessary to perceive that it was instituted for the benefit of the aggressors themselves; and, accordingly, it is so. If all dogs neg- lected to seek bones, and dedicated themselves- solely to stealing; and if cocks, in general, deserted their own domains, and gave themselves up only to felonious in- roads on each other's territories, it is self-evident that the races of these animals would soon become extinct. It follows, also, that any individual among them who should habitually abandon himself to such transgressions, would speedily lose his life by starvation. If, then, it is bene- ficial for the race, and also for the individual offender him- self, in these instances, to be arrested in his progress, his chastisement is decidedly benevolent and just. It is interesting to observe, that various provisions are made under the animal law for bringing about substantial justice, even in creatures destitute of the sentiment of Conscientiousness. The lower animals make perfectly 23* 270 ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED 6ure of punishing only the real offender; for he must be caught in the fact, otherwise he is not visited by their resentment. In the next place, it appears to be the ge- neral law of animal nature, that, unless the offender has? carried his inroad to an extreme extent, the punishment is relaxed the moment he desists; that is to say, the master of the bone or dunghill is generally satisfied with simple defence, and rarely abandons his treasure to pur- sue the offender for the sake of mere revenge. Farther, the animals, in inflicting punishment, make no inquiry into the cause of the offence. With them it af- fords no alleviation that the aggressor is himself in a state of the greatest destitution, or that his appetite is irresisti- ble; neither do they concern themselves with his fate after they have made him* undergo the penalty. He may die of the wounds they have inflicted upon him, or of ab- solute starvation before their eyes, without their enjoy- ment being in the least disturbed. This arises from their faculties consisting chiefly of perceptive powers and pro- pensities, which regard only self. They are destitute of the faculties which inquire into causes and trace conse-* quences; and of the moral sentiments, which desire, with a disinterested affection, the welfare of other beings. Nevertheless, the punishment which they inflict is in itself just, and serves, as we have seen, a- decidedly bene- ficial end. Let us now direct our attention to man. Man possesses the same animal propensities as those of the lower creatures, and, under their instigation, he, too, inflicts punishment on principles precisely analogous to those under which they chastise. Indeed, it is curious to remark, that hitherto the criminal laws, even of the most civilized nations, have been framed on the principles of animal punishment exclusively. A thief, for example, breaks into a dwelling-house, and steals. The reflecting faculties are employed to discover the offender, jind find evidence of the offence. Judges and juries assemble to determine whether the evidence be sufficient; and if they UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS. 27 find it to be so, the offender is ordered to be flogged, to be imprisoned, or to be hanged. -We are apt to imagine that there is something moral in the trial. But the sole object of it is to ascertain that a crime has been commit- ted, and that the accused is the real offender. The dog and cock make equally certain of both points; because they never punish except when the individual is caught in the offence. Guilt being ascertained, and the offender identified, the dog shakes and worries, and then lets hhr go; and man scourges his back, or makes him mount the steps of a tread-mill, and then turns him adrift. If the offender has been very presumptuous and pertinacious in his aggression, the dog sometimes, although very rarely, throttles him outright; and man, in similar circumstan- ces, very generally strangles him with a rope, or cuts off his head. In his proceeding the dog makes no inquiry into the causes which led to the crime, nor into the con- sequences upon the offender of the punishment which he inflicts. Man imitates him in this also. He inflicts his vengeance with as little inquiry into the causes which led to the offence, and, except when he puts him to death, he turns the culprit adrift upon the world, after he has undergone his punishment, with as little concern about what shall next befall him, as is shown by his canine prototype. The dog acts in this manner, because he is inspired by animal propensities, and higher facul- ties have been denied him. Man imitates him, because he, too, has received animal faculties; and although he possesses moral sentiments and reflecting intellect in addition, he has not yet discovered the practical applica- tion of them to the subject of criminal legislation. The animal punishment is not without advantage even in the case of man, although it is far short, in this re- spect, of what he might obtain by following the guidance of his moral sentiments. Man as a mere animal could not exist in society, unless some check were instituted against abuses of the propensities; and hence it is quite 272 ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED obvious, that animal vengeance, rude as it is, carries with it results beneficial even to the offender, except where it puts them to death, — a degree of punishment which, as we have seen, the lower animals very rarely inflict on each other of the same species. Unless the outrages of Destructiveness, Acquisitiveness, and Self* Esteem, and the other animal propensities, were check- ed, human society would be dissolved, and by that result the offenders themselves would suffer more grievous calamities than under any moderate ' form of animal in- fliction. The world is arranged, in so far as regards the lower animals, with a wise relation to the faculties bestowed on them. Accordingly animal resentment is really effective in their case. In consequence of their not possessing reflecting faculties, they are incapable of forming deep or extensive schemes for mutual aggression, and are not led to speculate on the chances of escaping detection in their misdeeds. Their offences are limited to casual overflow-, ings of their propensities when excited by momentary temptation; which are checked by counter overflowings of other propensities, momentarily excited in the animals aggrieved. In regard to man, however, the world has been ar- ranged on. the principle of supremacy of the moral senti ments and intellect, and, in consequence, animal retribu tion is not equally effectual in his case. For example, a human offender employs his intellect in devising means to enable him to escape detection, or to defend himself against punishment; and, in consequence, although he sees punishment staring him in the face, his hope deludes him into the belief that he may escape it. Farther, if the real cause of human offences be excessive size and activ- ity in the organs of the animal propensities, it follows that mere punishment cannot put a stop to crime, because it overlooks the cause, and leaves it to operate with un- abated energy, after the infliction has been endured. The undeH the natural laws. 273 •history of the world; then, presents us with a regular succession of crimes and punishments, and at present the series appears to be as far removed from a termina- tion as at any previous period of the annals of the race. If the world, in rSgard to man, has been arranged oh the plan of supremacy of the moral sentiments and intel- . lect, we might expect better success, were moral retribu- tion, of which I now proceed to treat, resorted to. ^ The motive which prompts the dog to worry, or the cock to peck and spur his assailant, is, as we have seen, mere animal resentment. His propensities are disagree- : ably affected, and Combativeness and>< Destructiveness instinctively start into activity to repel the aggression The animal resentment of man is precisely analogous. A thief is odious to Acquisitiveness, because he robs it of its treasures; a murderer is offensive to all our feelings, because he extinguishes life. And these faculties being offended, Combativeness and Destructiveness rush -to their- aid in man while under the animal dominion, as instinctively as in the dog, and punish the offender on principles, and in a way, exactly similar. The case is different with the proper human faculties. Benevolence, contemplating outrage and murder, disap- proves of them, because they are hostile to its inherent constitution, because they occasion calamities to those who are their objects, and misery to the perpetrators - themselves. Conscientiousness is pained by the percep- tion of theft, because its very nature revolts at every in- fringement of right, and because justice is essential to the welfare of all intelligent beings. Veneration is of- fended at reckless insult and indignity, because, from its very constitution, it desires to respect the intelligent creatures of the God whom it adores, believing that they are all the objects of his love. When crime is presented before the moral sentiments, therefore, they all ardently and instinctively desire that it should be stopped, and its recurrence prevented, just because it is in direct opposi 274 ON FUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED tion to their very nature, and this impression on their part is not dependent on the power of the criminal to offend or to forbear offence. Benevolence grieves at death inflicted by a madman, and calls aioud that it should be averted: Conscientiousness* disavows all theft, although committed by an idiot, and requires that he should be restrained; while Veneration recoils at^ the irreverences even of the frenzied. The circumstance of the offenders being involuntary agents, quite incapable of restraining their propensities, does not alter the aversion of the moral faculties to their actions; and the reasons of this are obvious: first, the sentiments hate evil, because it is contrary to their nature, no matter from what source it springs; and, secondly, the circumstance of the ag- gressor being a necessary agent, does not diminish the calamity inflicted on the sufferer. It is as painful to be killed by a madman as by a deliberate assassin; and it is as destructive to property to be robbed by a cunning idiot, as by an acute and practised thief. We perceive, therefore, as the first feature of the moral and intellectual law, that the sentiments, absolutely and in all circumstances, declare against offences, and demand imperatively, that they shall be brought to an end. There is a great difference, however, between the means which they suggest for accomplishing this object, and those prompted by the propensities. The flatter blindly inflict animal resentment without the slightest regard to the causes which led to the crime, or the conse- quences of the punishment. They seize the aggressor, worry, bite, or strangle him, and there they begin and terminate. The moral and intellectual faculties, on the other hand, embrace even the criminal himself within the range of their sympathies. Benevolence desires to render him virtuous, and thereafter happy, as well as to rescue his victim. Veneration desires that he should be treated aa UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS 275 a man; and Conscientiousness declares that it cannot with satisfaction acquiesce in any administration towards him that does not tend to remove the motives of his mis- conduct, and to prevent their recurrence. The first step, then, which the moral and intellectual faculties combine in demanding, is a full exposition of the causes of the offence, and the consequences of the mode of treatment proposed. Let us, then, pursue this investigation; and here let me observe, that we are now in condition to do so, with something like a chance of success; for, by the aid of Phrenology, we have obtained a tolerably clear view of the elementary faculties of the mind, and the effects of organization on their manifestations. The very first fact, then, that arrests our attention in this inquiry, is, that every crime proceeds from an abuse of some faculty or another. The question next arises. Whence does the tendency to abuse arise ? Phrenology enables us to answer, from three sources; first, from par- ticular organs being too large and spontaneously active, secondly, from excessive excitement from external causes; or, thirdly, from intellectual ignorance of what are uses and what are abuses of the faculties. The moral and intellectual powers next demand, What is the cause of particular organs being too large and active in individuals? Phrenology, for answer, points to the law of hereditary descent, by which the organs most ener- getic in the parents determine those which shall predomi- nate in the child. Intellect, then, infers that, accord- ing to this view, certain individuals are unfortunate at birth, in having received organs from their parents so ill prDportioned, that abuse of some of them is almost an in- evitable consequence, if they are left to the sole guidance of their own suggestions. Phrenology replies, that the fact appears to be exactly so. In the Phrenological Hall is exhibited a large assemblage of skulls and casts of the heads of criminals, collected from Europe, Asia, Africa 276 ON PUNISHMENT A» INFLICTED and America; and an undeniable feature in them all, is a great preponderance of the organs of the animal propensi- ties over those of the moral sentiments and intellect. In the next place, excessive excitement from without may arise from the individual being pressed by animal want, stimulated by intoxicating liquors, or seduced by evil example, and from a variety of similar causes. And, thirdly, abuses may arise from sheer want of in- formation concerning the constitution of the mind, and its relations to external objects. I have examined the cere- bral development, and inquired into the external circum- stances, of a considerable number of criminals, and have no hesitation in saying, that if, in the case of every of- fender, the three sources of crimes here enumerated were investigated, reported on, and published, the conviction would become irresistible, that the individual was the victim of his nature and external condition, and that peni- tentiaries would be resorted to as the only means of at once abating crime and satisfying the moral feelings of the public The public err through ignorance, and need only to know better to insure their going into the right path. Farther, intellect perceives, and the moral sentiments acknowledge, that these causes subsist independently of the will of the offender. The criminal, for example, is not the cause of the unfortunate preponderance of the animal organs in his own brain, neither is he the cause of the external excitement which seduces his propensities into, abuse, or of the intellectual ignorance in which he is in- volved. Nevertheless, the moral and intellectual facul- ties of the indifferent spectator of his condition, do not, on this account, admit that he ought, either for his own sake or for that of society, to be permitted to proceed in an unrestricted course of crime. They absolutely insist on arresting his progress, and their first question is, How may this best be done? Intellect answers, by removing the causes which produce the offences* UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS. 271 The first cause — the great preponderance of animal or- gans — cannot, by any means yet known, be summarily removed. Intellect, therefore, points out another alter- native, viz. to supply, by moral and physical restraint, the control which, in a brain better constituted, is afforded by large moral and intellectual organs; in short, to place the offender under such a degree of effective control as absof^ lutely to prevent the abuses of his faculties. Benevo- hnce acknowledges this to be kind, Veneration to be respectful, and Conscientiousness to be just, at once to the offender himself and to society; and Intellect pe ceives that, whenever it is adopted, it will form an impor- tant step towards preventing a repetition of crimes. The second cause, viz. great external excitement, may be removed by withdrawing the individual from its influ- ence. The very restraint and control which serve to remedy the first, will directly tend to accomplish this second object at the same time. The third cause, being moral and intellectual igno- rance, may be removed by conveying instruction to the higher faculties of the mind. If these principles be sound; the measures now recom- mended ought, when viewed in all their consequences, to be not only the most just and benevolent, but, at the same time, the most advantageous that could be adopted. Let us contrast them with the results of the animal method. Under the animal system, we have seen that no mea- sures are taken to prevent crimes. Under the moral method, as soon as a tendency to abuse the faculties should be perceived in any individual, instant measures of prevention would be resorted to, because the senti- ments could not be satisfied unless this were done. Under the animal system, no inquiry is made into the future proceedings of the offender, and he is turned loose on society, under the unabated influence of all the causes which led to his infringement of the law, and, as effects never cease while their causes continue to operate, he re~ 24 * 278 ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED peats his offence, and again becomes the object of a new animal infliction. Under the moral system the causes would be removed, and the evil effects would cease. Under the animal system, the lower propensities of the offender and society are maintained in habitual excite- . ment, for the punishment proceeds from the propensities, and is addressed to the propensities. Flogging, for in- stance, proceeds from Destructiveness, and is addressed solely to self-love and fear. The tread-mill springs from Destructiveness in a milder form, and, as its sole object is to cause annoyance to the offender, it is obviously ad- dressed only to Cautiousness and his selfish feelings. Hanging and decapitation undeniably spring from De- structiveness, and are administered as terrors to the pro- pensities of persons criminally disposed. These punish- ments, again, especially the latter, are calculated to excite the animal faculties, and none else, in th© spectators who witness them. A capital execution obviously interests and gratifies Destructiveness, Cautiousness and Self- love, in the beholder, and nothing can be farther removed than such exhibitions from the proper food of Benevo- lence, Veneration, and Conscientiousness. Under the moral system, again, the whole faculties exercised and addressed in restraining and instructing the offender, are the human powers. The propensities are employed merely as the servants of the moral sentiments in accomplishing their benignant purposes, and Benevo- lence is as actively engaged in behalf of the offender as of society at large. The whole influence of the proceed- ing is ameliorating and elevating. Under the animal system, children pioduced of parents who have been recently engaged in either suffering, in- flicting, or witnessing punishment, will, by the organic law, inherit large and active animal organs, occasioned by the excitement of similar organs in the parents. Thus a public execution, from the violent stimulus which it produces in the lower faculties of the spectators, may UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS. 27S within twenty -four hours of its exhibition, be the direc cause of a new crop of victims for the gallows. Under the moral system, children born of parents ac- tively engaged in undergoing, executing, or witnessing the elevating and ennobling process of moral reformation, will, by the organic law, inherit an increased develop- ment of the moral and intellectual organs, and be farther removed than their parents from the risk of lapsing into crime. Under the animal system, spectators of crime, and ac- complices, need to be^ribed with large rewards to induce them to communicate their knowledge of the offence; and witnesses require to be compelled by penalties to Dear testimony to what they have seen concerning it. Many will recollect the affecting picture of mental agony drawn by the author of Waverly, when Jeanie Deans, at the bar of the High Court of Justiciary, gives evidence against her sister, which was to deprive that sister of life. Parallel cases occur too frequently in actual experience. The real cause of this aversion to betray, and internal re- pugnance to give evidence, is, that the moral sentiments are revolted at the delivery of the culprit to the cruelty of animal resentment. Under the moral system, the sentiments and intellect of the spectator of a crime, and those of the nearest rela- tives of the offender, would unite, along with those of society at large, in an unanimous desire to deliver him up with the utmost speed to the ameliorating influence of moral reformation, as the highest benevolence even to himself. Under the animal system, the office of public execu- tioner is odious, execrable, and universally condemned. If it were necessary by the Creator's institutions, it would present the extraordinary example of a necessary duty being execrated by the moral sentiments. This would be a direct inconsistency between the dictates of the superior faculties and the arrangement of the externa. 280 ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED world. But the animal executioner is not acknowledged as necessary by the human faculties. Under the moral system, the criminal would be committed to persons whose duties woulcl be identical with those of the clergy- man, the physician, and the teacher. These are the ex- ecutioners under the moral Jaw; and just because their avocations are highly grateful to the sentiments, these are the most esteemed of mankind. The highest and the most important object of this long exposition of the principles of punishment under the natural laws, remains to be unfolded. We are all liable to abuse our faculties; and the in- quiry is exceedingly interesting, what, in our cases, are the causes of the infringement of the moral law. The offences which -we daily commit, are neither more nor less than minor degrees of abuse of the very same facul- ties of which crimes are the greater. For example, if in private life we backbite or slander our neighbor, we commit abuses of Self-Esteem and Destructiveness, which, if increased merely in intensity, without at all changing their nature, might end, as in Ireland, in maim- ing his cattle, or, as in Spain or Italy, in murdering him outright. If, in any transaction of life, we deliberately give false representations as to any article we have for sale, or overcharge it in price, this is just a minor abuse of Secretiveness and Acquisitiveness, acting in absence of the moral sentiments, of which pocket-picking and stealing are higher degrees. I need not carry the paral- lel farther. It is so obvious that every offence against the moral law is an abuse of some faculty or other, and that great crimes are just great abuses, and smaller of- fences lesser aberrations, that every one must perceive the fact to be so. Reverting to what I observed in regard to crime, 1 repeat, that every infringement of the moral law, the smallest as well as the greatest, is denounced by the sen- timents and intellect, just because it is opposed to their UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS. 281 nature, and they desire absolutely to bring all abuses to an end, from whatever source they spring, be they voluntary or involuntary. Animal resentment is, by the present practice of socie- ty, resorted to as the chief method of dealing with the minor, just as it is with the higher, abuses of our faculties. If one gentleman insults another, the offended party makes no inquiry into the state of mind and other causes that produced the insult, but proceeds to knock him on the head, to challenge, and thereafter to shoot him, or to prosecute him in a jury court, and inflict pain by depriv- ing him of money. These are the common methods by which men inflict animal retribution on each other, and in essential character they do not much differ from those followed by the lower creatures. I do not say that these proceedings are absolutely without beneficial effect. The animal faculties are sel- fish, and these inroads upon their enjoyment have un- doubtedly a tendency to check them. It is painful to a gentleman to be knocked down or shot, and, in conse- quence, some individuals whose moral principles are low, are induced to manage matters so as to avoid these forms of retaliation, who would not be restrained from insulting their neighbors by the dictates of their own feelings; but here the benefit terminates. The infliction of the chas- tisement excites only the animal faculties of the offended party, and it is addressed exclusively to the animal part of the offenders mind. Habitual morality, however, cannot exist without supreme activity of the moral senti- ments; and the whole code of animal law, and animal punishment, does nothing whatever to establish this as a permanent condition of mind. Under the moral and intellectual law, every thing is different. The intellectual faculties inquire into the causes of abuses, and the sentiments desire to remove them with kindness and respect, even for the offender himself. If one person insult another, intellect, aided by 24* 282 ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED Phrenology, perceives that he must of necessity do so, either from excessive predominance of Combativeness, Destructiveness, and Self-Esteem in his own brain, so that he has an instinctive tendency to insult, just as some ill-natured dogs and horses have a tendency to bite with- out provocation; or from excessive external stimulus, that is to say, from some aggression offered to these lower organs by other people; or, thirdly, from intellectual igno- rance, that is, erroneously supposing motives and inten- tions in the party whom he insults, which really do not belong to him. If one person cheats another, Intellect, aided by Phrenology, perceives that he can do so, only because Acquisitiveness and Secretiveness predominate in him over Consientioiisness; because the external temp- tation to cheat is too powerfulfor his combination of facul- ties to resist; or because he is intellectually ignorant that cheating is equally fatal to his own interest as injurious to that of his victim. In short, intellect, aided by Phre- nology, comes to an irresistible conclusion, that no abuse of the animal faculties can be committed, that may not be traced to these or similar causes. But intellect and the moral sentiments desire to remove the causes as the most effectual way of putting an end to the effects, and their method is one congenial to their own constitution. If a man by nature is irritable, and prone to injure every one with whom he comes into contact, they desire most sedulously to remove every cause that may tend to exasperate his propensities, and also to sur- round him with a high moral and intellectual atmosphere. If he is exposed to temptation, they desire to withdraw it; if he is misinformed, ignorant, or deceived, they desire to instruct him, and give him correct information. After we have suffered injury from another', if we perceive the causes from which it proceeded to be really such as I have now explained, and if we comprehend and believe in the supremacy of the moral law, it will be impossible for us to prefer the method of redress by animal resentment. UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS. 283 The question naturally presents itself, What is the dis- tinction between right and wrong, under this system? If offences proceed from unfortunate development of brain, not fashioned by the individual himself; from external temptations which he did not make; or from want of knowledge which he never possessed, how are the distinc- tions between right and wrong, merit and demerit, to be explicated and maintained? The answer is simple. The natural distinction betwixt right and wrong, so far as man is concerned, depends on the constitution of the moral and intellectual faculties. The act of wantonly killing another is wrong; because it is in direct opposition to the dictates of Benevolence. The act of appropriating to ourselves effects belonging to another is wrong, because it is distinctly denounced by Conscientiousness, and so with all other offences. The authority of the moral law, in for- bidding these offences, depends on the whole arrangements of creation being constituted to enforce its dictates. If Benevolence and Conscientiousness denounce murder, and if the whole other faculties of the mind, and the ex- ternal order of things, harmonize with their dictates, and combine to punish the offender, the foundation and sanc- tions of the moral law appear abundantly strong. It has been^ objected, that, in Tartary, theft is honorable; but Dr. T. Brown has well answered this objection. There are more principles in the mind than Benevolence, Vene- ration and Conscientiousness; and it is quite possible to misinform the intellect, and thereby misdirect the propen- sities and sentiments. For example, the Tartars are taught, as matter of fact, that all men beyond their own tribes are their enemies, and would rob and murder them if they could; as long as this intellectual conviction lasts, strangers become the objects of their animal" resentment They are criminals, in their eyes, clearly convicted of deliberate purpose to rob and murder. In England, under Lord Ellenborough's act, when men are convicte.d in a court of this intention, they are delivered over to the hang" ON PUNISHMENT AS INP1CTED man to be executed; and we might as well maintain, as an abstract proposition, that the English are fond of hang- ing one another, as that the Tartars approve of robbery and murder. Strangers whom the latter maltreat in this manner, actually stand convicted in their minds of an in- tention of using them in that way if they could. The real method of arriving at a correct view of the question is to suppose the conviction complete in a Tartar's mind that other men love him, and make him an object of their most sedulous benevolence, and then ask him whether he ap- proves of robbing and murdering a benefactor? There is no instance of human nature,. in a state of sanity, regard- ing such a deed as virtuous. The moral law, therefore, when cleared of other principles that may act along with it, but are not part of it, is obviously universal and inflex- ible in its dictates. The views contained in this chapter were printed and distributed amongst a few friends in 1827, and I have been favored by them with several remarks. Two of these appear to me to merit a reply. , It -is objected, that, according to the moral system of treating offenders, punishment wouid.be abrogated and crime encouraged. I respectfully answer, that if this system be right in itself, and suited to the nature of man, it will carry in itself all the punishment that will be needed, or that can serve any beneficial end. I believe that to an individual whose mind consists chiefly of animal propensities and intellect, confinement, compulsory labor, and the enforce- ment of moral conduct, will be highly disagreeable, and that this is the punishment which the Creator designed should attend that unfortunate combination of mental qualities. It is analogous to the pain of a wound; the object of which is to induce the patient to avoid injuring himself again. The irksomeness and suffering to a criminal, in- separable from confinement and forced labor, are intended as inducements to him to avoid infringements of the moral UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS. 285 law; and when perceived by himself to arise from the connection established by the Creator, between crime a and to unfold its 23 w 526 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN objects. They contain several admirable observations, calculated to remove prejudices against the pursuit of new truths, which are directly applicable to the subject of this work, and on this account I present them to the readers. c It has been my first object,' says Dr. Whately, in his preface, ' to combat the prevailing prejudices against the study, and especially those which represent it as unfavor- able to religion.' 'In proportion,' he continues, e as any branch o" study leads to important and useful results, in proportion as it gains ground in public estimation, — in proportion as it tends to overthrow prevailing errors — in the same degree it may be expected to call forth angry declamation from those who are trying to despise what they will not learn, and wedded to prejudices which they cannot de- fend. Galileo probably would have escaped persecution, if his discoveries could have been disproved, and his reasonings refuted.' l That political economy should have been complained of as hostile to religion, will probably be regarded a century hence (should the fact be then on record) with the same wonder, almost approach- ing to incredulity, with which we, of the present day, hear of men sincerely opposing, on religious grounds, the Copernican system. But till the advocates of Christian- ity will have become universally much better acquainted with the true character of their religion, than, universally, they have ever yet been, we must always expect that every branch of study, every scientific theor^ that is brought into notice, will be assailed on religious grounds, by those who either have not studied the subject, or who are incompetent judges of it; or again, who are address- ing themselves to such persons as are so circumstanced, and wish to excite and to take advantage of the passions of the ignorant. Fleeter e si nequeo superos, Acheronia movebo. Some there are who sincerely believe that the Scriptures contain revelations of truths the most distinct SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE. 327 from religion. Such persons procured, accordingly, a formal condemnation (very lately rescinded) of the theory of the earth's motion, as at variance with Scripture. In Protestant countries, and now, it seems, even in Popish, this point has been conceded; but that the erroneous principle — that of appealing to revelation on questions of physical science — has not yet been entirely cleared away, is evident from the objections which most of you proba- bly may have heard to the researches of geology. The objections against astronomy have been abandoned, ra- ther, perhaps, from its having been made to appear, that the Scripture accounts of the phenomena of the heavens may be reconciled with the conclusions of science, than from its being understood that Scripture is not the test by which the conclusions of science are to be tried. 5 ' It is not a sign of faith — on the contrary, it indicates rather a want of faith, or else a culpable indolence — to decline meeting any theorist on his own ground, and to cut short the controversy by an appeal to the authority of Scrip- ture. For, if we really are convincea of the truth of Scripture, and consequently of the falsity of any theory, (of the earth, for instance) which is really at variance with it, we must needs believe that that theory is also at variance with observable phenomena; and we ought not therefore to shrink from trying the question by an appeal to these.' ' God has not revealed to us a system of mo rality, such as would have been needed for a being who had no other means of distinguishing right and wrong. On the^contrary, the inculcation of virtue and reprobation of vice in Scripture, are in such a tone as seem to pre- suppose a natural power, or a capacity for acquiring the power to distinguish them. And if a man, denying or renouncing all claims of natural conscience, should prac- tise without scruple every thing he did not find expressly r orbidden in Scripture, and think himself not bound to do any thing that is not there expressly enjoined, exclaiming at every turn — 328 ON THE RELATIOJN BETWEEN ' Is it so nominated in the Bond ? ' he would be leading a life very unlike what a Christian's should be. Since, then, we are bound to use our own natural faculties in the search after all truth that is with- in the reach of those faculties, most especially ought we to try, by their own proper evidence, questions which form no part of revelation properly so called, but which are incidentally alluded to in the Sacred Writings. If we appeal to the Scriptures on any such points, it should be merely as to an ancient book, not in reference to their sacred character; in short, not as Scripture.' — Pp. 29 to 36. These observations are highly philosophical and worthy of attention; the more so that their author is a divine, and now a high dignitary in the church of Ireland. The science of Geology also, has been fiercely attack- ed as hostile to religion, and been ably defended by the Rev. Adam Sedgwick, one of its most eminent professors In the Appendix to his Discourse on the Studies of tho University of Cambridge, he has added some valuable and instructive notes, in the last of which he reproves, with great eloquence and severity, the bigoted and igno- rant individuals who ' dare to affirm that the pursuits of natural science are hostile to religion.' He also chastises those writers who have endeavored to falsify the facts and conclusions of Geology, for the purpose of flattering the religious prejudices of the public. ' There is another class of men,' says he, ■ who pursue geology by a nearer road, and are guided by a different light. Well inten- tioned they may be; but they have betrayed no small self- sufficiency, along with a shameful want of knowledge of the fundamental facts they presume to write about; hence they have dishonored the literature of this country by Mosaic geology, Scripture geology, and other works of cosmogony with kindred titles, wherein they have over- looked the aim and end of revelation, tortured the book of life out of its proper meaning, and wantonly contrived SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE. 329 to bring about a collision between natural phenomena and the word of God.' (P. 150.) The following observations of the same author ar.e exceedingly just, and completely applicable to the prin- ciples expounded in the present work, as well as to geology. ' A Brahmin crushed with a stone the micro- scope that first showed him living things among the vegetables of his daily food. The spirit of the Brahmin lives in Christendom. The bad principles of our nature are not bounded by caste or climate; and men are still to be found, who, if not restrained by the wise and humane laws of their country, would try to stifle by personal violence, and crush by brute force, every truth not hatch- ed among their own conceits, and confined within the narrow fences of their own ignorance.' — (P. 151.) 1 We are told by the wise man not to ansiver a fool ac- cording to his folly; and it would indeed be a vain and idle task to engage in controversy with this school of false philosophy — to waste our breath in the forms of exact reasoning, unfitted to the comprehension of our antagonists — to draw our weapons in a combat where victory could give no honor. Before a geologist can condescend to reason with such men, they must first learn geology. # It is too much to call upon us to scatter our seed on a soil at once both barren and unreclaimed — it is folly to think, that we can in the same hour be stubbing up the thorns and reaping the harvest. All the writers of this school have not indeed sinned against plain sense to the same degree. With some of them there is perhaps a perception of the light of natural truth, whicli may lead them after a time to follow it in the right road; but the case of others is beyond all hope from the powers of rational argument. Their position is impregnable * This remark is peculiarly applicable to those who oppose Phre- nology, and the doctrine of the Natural Laws. Such of them as are lerious do so in profound ignorance of the whole subject 28* 330 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN while they remain within the fences of their ignore *e, which is to them as a wall of brass; for (as was well s**id, if I remember right, by Bishop Warburton, of some bustling fanatics of his own day) there is no weak side of common sense whereat we may attack them. If cases like these yield at all, it must be to some treatment which suits the inveteracy of their nature, and not to the weapons of reason. As psychological phenomena, they are, however, well deserving of our study; teaching us among other things, how prone man is to turn his best faculties to evil purposes — and how, at the suggestions of vanity and other bad principles of his heart, he can be- come so far deluded, as to fancy that he is doing honor to religion, while he is sacrificing the common charities of life, and arraigning the very workmanship of God.' (Pp. 151, 152.) After the examples which these passages afford, of misdirected zeal for religion leading to opposition to the most useful and interesting investigations, we need not be surprised that the doctrine of the natural laws also has met with a similar reception. The charge is made that it leads to infidelity, and that its principles are irreconcilable with Scripture, It may be useful to observe, that in all ages new doc- trines have been charged with impiety, and that Chris- tianity itself has offered no exception to this rule. The Greeks and Romans charged Christianity with ' impiety and novelty.' In Cave's Primitive Christianity, we are informed that c the Christians were every where account- ed a pack of Atheists, and their religion the Jltheism.' They were denominated c mountebank impostors,' and 'men of a desperate and unlawful faction.' They were represented ' as. destructive and pernicious to human society,' and were accused of c sacrilege, sedition, and high treason.' The same system of misrepresentation and abuse was practised by the Roman Catholics against the Protestants, at the Reformation,-—' Some called their SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE. 331 dogs Calvin; and others transformed Calvin into Cain,' In France, ' the old and stale calumnies formerly invent- ed against the first Christians, were again revived by Demochares, a doctor of the Sorbonne, pretending that all the disasters of the state were to be attributed to Protestants alone.' If the views of human nature expounded in this work be untrue, the proper answer to them is a demonstration of their falsity. If they be true, they are mere enun- ciations of the institutions of the Creator, and it argues superstitious and not religious feelings, to fear evil con- sequences from the knowledge of what Divine Wisdom has appointed. The argument that the results of the doctrine are obviously at variance with Scripture, and that therefore the doctrines cannot be true, is not admissi- ble, c for,' in the words of Dr. Whately, ' if we really are convinced of the truth of Scripture, and consequently of the falsity of any theory (of the earth for instance), which is really at variance with it, we must needs believe that that theory is also at variance with observable phenomena; and we ought not therefore to shrink from trying the question by an appeal to these.' Galileo was told from high authority in the church, that his doctrine of the revolution of the globe was obvi- ously at variance with Scripture, and that therefore it could not be true ; but, as his opinions were founded on physical facts, which could neither be concealed nor denied, they necessarily prevailed. If there had been ja real opposition between Scripture and nature, the only result would have been a demonstration, that Scripture in this particular instance was erroneously interpreted, because the evidence of physical nature is imperishable and insuperable, and cannot give way to any authority whatever. The same consequence will evidently happen in regard to Phrenology. If it were possible that any facts in physiology did actually and directly contradict any interpretation of Scripture, it is not difficult to per- 332 ON THB RELATION BETWEEN ceive which must yield. The human understanding can- not resist evidence founded on nature, and even if it did resist, Nature would not bend, but continue to operate in her own way in spite of the resistance, and a new and more correct interpretation of Scripture would ulti- mately become inevitable. Opposition between science and revelation I sincerely believe to be impossible, when the facts in nature are correctly observed, and divine truth is correctly interpreted; but I put the case thus strongly to call the serious attention of religious persons to the mischievous consequences to religion, of rashly denouncing any doctrine professing to be founded on natural facts, as adverse" to revelation. Every instance in which the charge is made falsely, is a gross outrage against revelation itself, and tends to lead men to regard Scripture as an obstacle to the progress of science and civilization, instead of being a system of divine wisdom, in harmony with all natural truth. In confirmation of these views the opinions of some of the most eminent divines may be added. 'Natural religion,' says Bishop Butler, ' is the foundation and principal part of Christianity. # * * * ' Christianity teaches natural religion, in its genuine simplicity.' # * * c Reason can and ought to judge, not only of the meaning, but also of the morality and evidence of Reve- lation.' * * * 1 Let reason be kept to, and if any part of the scriptural account of the redemption of the world by Christ, can be shown to be really contrary to it, let the Scripture, in the name of God, be given up. ' c Those rules of action,' says Dr. Doddridge, * which a man may discover, by the use of reason, to be agreeable to the nature of things, and on which his happiness will appear "to him to depend, may be called the law of nature; and when these are considered as intimations of the divine will and purpose, they may be called the natu- ral laws of God.\ * * * * 'For any one to pour SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE. 333 contempt upon these natural laws of God, under pretence of extolling any supposed divine revelation, or intimation of God's will, in an extraordinary manner, will appear very absurd. 5 * # # * ' No discovery can be supposed so particular, as not to need the use of reason upon the prin- ziples of the law of nature, in explaining and applying it too particular cases.' 1 The first excellency peculiar to the christian doctrine is,' says Dr. Barrow, ' that it gives us a true, proper, and complete character or notion of God, such as perfectly agrees with what the best reason dictates, the works of nature declare, ancient tradition doth attest, and com- mon experience testify.' **•'■*** ' Every religion that should, in this case, clash with the law of nature, would bear upon it the marks of reprobation, and it could not come from the author of nature, who is always consis- tent, always faithful.' All existing interpretations of Scripture have been adopted in ignorance of the fact, that, ceteris paribus, a brain in which the animal organs preponderate greatly over the moral and intellectual organs, has a native and instinctive tendency to immoral conduct, and vice versa , and that the influence of the organization is fundamental — that is to say, that no means are yet known in nature, by which a brain of the inferior combination may be made to manifest the moral and intellectual faculties with the same success as a brain of the superior combination. Only phrenologists, who have observed, for many years, in various situations, and under different influences, the practical conduct of individuals constituted in these differ- ent ways, can conceive the importance of the combina- tions of the organs; but after it is discovered, the infer- ences from it are irresistible. The religious teachers of mankind are yet ignorant of the most momentous fact in regard to the moral and intellectual improvement of the race which natuie contains. I have heard it said that Christianity affords a better and a more instantaneous 334 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN remedy for human depravity, than improvement in the cerebral organization; because the moment a man ig penetrated by the love of God in Christ, his moral and religious affections and intellect become far stronger and more elevated, whatever his brain may be, than those of any individual whatever without that love, however high his cerebral development, and however much he may be instructed in .natural knowledge. I observe, however, that in thjs life a man cannot become penetrated by the love of God, except through the aid of sound and suffi- cient material organs. This fact is directly proved by cases of madness and idiocy. Disease in the organs. is the cause of insanity, and mere deficiency in size in them, is one, and an invariable cause of idiocy. In neither of these states can the mind receive the advantages of the Christian doctrine. These facts show that the power of receiving and appreciating Christianity itself is modified by the condition of the brain, and I venture to affirm, that the influence of the organs does not terminate with these extreme cases, but operates in all circumstances, and in every individual, aiding or impeding the reception and efficacy even of revelation. If this were not the case, there would be a power in operation capable of influenc- ing the human mind, during life, without the intervention of material organs; and, accordingly, many excellent persons believe this to be Scriptural truth, and matter of experience also: But those who entertain this opinion are not instructed in the functions of the brain; are not aware of the universally admitted facts, which establish, that while life continues, the mind cannot act or be acted upon except through the medium of organs; nor do they bring forward one example of idiots and madmen being render- ed pious, practical, and enlightened Christians by this power, notwithstanding the state of their brains. Cases indeed occur in which religious feelings co-exist with partial idiocy or partial insanity ; but in them the organs by means of which these sentiments are manifested, will be SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE. 335 discovered to be well developed, — and if the feelings be sound, the organs will be found to be unaffected by disease. Serious persons who are offended by this doctrine con- stantly forget that the reciprocal influence of the minci and the brain is not of man's devising, but that God him- self established it, and conferred on the organs those qualities which He saw to be necessary for executing the purposes to which he had appointed them. If the state- ments now made be unfounded, I shall be the first to give them up; but believing them to be true, I cannot avoid adhering to them. When, therefore, I add, that I have never seen an individual with large animal, and small moral and intellectual organs, whose conduct was steadily moral, under the ordinary temptations of life, however high his religious professions might be, I merely state a fact which the Creator himself has decreed to exist. In- deed, I have seen several striking instances of persons, who, after making a great profession of religion, ultimate- ly disgraced it; and I have observed, without one excep- tion, that, in all these instances, the organs of the inferior propensities were large, and those of one or more of the moral sentiments deficient; and I am convinced that the same conclusion, after sufficiently accurate and extensive observation, will force itself upon all candid and reflect ing minds. My inference, therefore, is, that the Divine Spirit, re vealed in Scripture as a power influencing the human mind, invariably acts in harmony with the laws of organi- zation; because the latter, as emanating from the same source, can never be in contradiction with the former; and that a well constituted brain is a condition essential to the due manifestation of Christian dispositions. If this be really the fact, and if the constitution of the brain be in any degree regulated by the laws of physiology, it is im- possible to doubt that a knowledge of the natural laws is destined to exercise a vast influence in rendering men capable of appreciating and practising Christianity. The 336 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN manner in which it will do so, is explained in Dr. Combe's work on ' Physiology applied to Health and Education, already alluded to. It contains an exposition of the laws of action of the brain and its connection with and influ- ence on the rest of the system, and therefore its applica j tion generally to human improvement. An admirable portion of Christianity is that in which the supremacy of the moral sentiments is explained and enforced as a practical doctrine. c Love thy neighbor as thyself;' all mankind are thy neighbors; blessed are the meek and the merciful; love those that hate you and despitefully use you ; seek that which is pure and holy, and of good report; — these are^precepts of Scripture. Now, I have endeavored to show, that the human facul- ties, and external nature, are so constituted as to admit of this becoming a practical doctrine on earth, an idea which it has rarely entered into the heart of man to con- ceive as a possibility without miraculous interference. If the philosophy now explained shall carry home to the conviction of rational men, that the order of nature, by the development of its inherent resources, fairly admits of the practical exemplification of these precepts, a new direction must necessarily be given to the pursuits of the religious instructers of mankind. Christianity, after its establishment by Constantine, was left to exert its own influence over the Roman Empire, unaided by printing and natural science. It is recorded in history, that it did not suffice to arrest the decline of morals and the down fall of the State, but was itself corrupted and perverted, [n the dark ages which followed the subversion of that Empire, it was again left, unaided by human learning, to do its best for the regeneration of mankind; and it became 1 vast system of superstition. It was only after the in- vention of printing, and the revival of letters, that the barbarous superstructures which had been raised on the simple foundations of the Gospel, were cleared away. But the period from the revival of letters to the present SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE 337 d**.y, has been the age of scholastic learning, as contra- distinguished from that of philosophy and science. Chris- tianity stands before us, therefore, at present, as inter- preted by men who knew extremely little of the science, either of external nature or of the human mind. They have conceived it to be a system of spiritual influences, of internal operations on the soul, and of repentant preparation for another world, rather than an exposition of pure and lofty principles inherent in human nature itself, and capable of being largely developed and ren- dered practical in this world. It is a common accusation against philosophy, that the study of it. renders men infidels: and this alleged fact is brought forward as a proof that human nature is corrupt, blind, and perverse, turning what ought to be its proper food into mortal poison. But if this were really a well founded charge, the conclusion which I would draw from it would be, that there must be essential errors in the popular interpretations of revelation, when the effect of a knowledge of nature on the mind is to lead to disbelief of its truth. Science is of modern growth, and, down to the present hour, the mass of Christians in every country have embraced their faith without the possibility of comparing it with the revelation of the Divine Will con- tained in the constitution of external nature, which, philosophically speaking, was unknown to them. The facts unfolded by science were unknown to the divines who first denied the capability of mankind to attain, by the development of their natural powers, to a higher moral condition than any they have hitherto exhibited; and, hence, their decision against the capabilities of human nature has been pronounced causa non cognita, and must be open for reconsideration. If Christianity was freed from many errors by the revival and spread of mere scholastic learning in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, much more may we expect that the interpretations of it will be farther purified, corrected, 29 S38 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN and elucidated, by the flood of light which the sciences of human and physical nature, now in the course of cultivation, will one day shed upon it. According to my view, the study of the human con- stitution, and of external nature, and of their relations, will become an object of paramount importance, with reference to a just appreciation of the true meaning of Scripture. Civilized man sees infinitely more of true and practical wisdom in Scripture than the savage of the wilderness, even supposing that the latter could read and understand the words of the sacred volume; and, in like manner, man, when thoroughly instructed in his own constitution, and in that of external nature, will discover still profounder truth and more admirable precepts in that record, than are found in it by ignorant, contentious, blind, and conceited man, such as he has hitherto ex- isted. % History is full of instruction concerning the insuffi- ciency of mere religious instructions to protect men from practical errors, when their understandings are unen- lightened in regard to philosophy and the constitution of nature; and the part which the religious teachers of Europe acted in regard to witchcraft, affords one striking proof of the truth of this remark. It was not till towards the close of the 15th century, says the Foreign Quarterly Review, No. XI, that per- secutions for witchcraft began to prevail in Europe. By a bull of Pope Innocent VIII. in 1484, death was, for the first time", denounced without mercy to all who should be convicted of witchcraft, or of dealings with Satan; and a form of process for the trial was regularly laid down by a wretch of the name of Sprenger, whom the Pope placed at the hea*} of a commission of fire and sword The succeeding pope^ Alexander VI. and even Leo X, lent their aid in accelerating the course of this havoc- spreading engine. So far, however, were these commis- sions from being attended with beneficial consequences, SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE. 339 that their only effect was to render the evil every day more and more formidable; till, at last, if we are to believe the testimony of contemporary historians, Europe was little better than a large suburb of Pandemonium One half of the population was either bewitching or bewitched. ' About the year 1515, 500 witches were executed in Geneva in three months. 1000 were exe- cuted in one year in the diocese of Como; and they went on burning at the rate of 100 per annum for some time after. In Lorraine, from 1580 to 1595, Remigius boasts of having burned 900. In France, the multitude of executions about 1520 is incredible. One historian calls it c an almost infinite number of sorcerers.' Germany was so fertile a soil for the supernatural, that, from the publication of Innocent's bull, to the sup- pression of persecution for witchcraft, the number of victims could not be less than 100,000! In the town of Wurtzburg alone, in the course of two years — 1621-29 —there were twenty-nine acts of conflagration, and 157 persons burnt, including not only old women, but even children as young as nine years. Other places furnished their full contingent; and so familiarized was the public with these atrocious scenes, that it relished and gloried in them; singing the events of them to popular airs; representing them in hideous engravings, with devils dragging away 'their own;' while the clergy preached solemn discourses, called ' witch-sermons,' upon occasion of every sacrifice — the effect of which was, of course, to inspire with fresh zeal to collect fuel for another. England was not free from the same madness. Three thousand victims were executed during the reign of the Long Parliament alone; and it is a melancholy spec- tacle to find a man like Sir Matthew Hale condemning wretches to destruction, on evidence which a child would now be disposed to laugh at. A better order of things commenced with the chief-justiceship of Holt, in conse- quence of whose firm charge to the jury on one of these 340 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN trials, a verdict of not guilty — almost the first then on record in a trial for witchcraft — was found. In about ten other trials by Holt, from 1694 to 1701, the result was the same. Yet, in 1716, a Mrs. Hicks and her daughter, aged nine, were hanged at Huntingdon for selling their souls to the devil, and raising a storm by pulling off their stockings and making a lather of soapl With this crown- ing atrocity, the catalogue of murders in England closes, the penal statutes against witchcraft being repealed in 1736, and the pretended exercise of such arts being pun- ished in future by imprisonment and pillory. Barrington, in his observations on the statute of 20th Henry VI, does not hesitate to estimate the number of those put to death in England, on the charge of riding through the air on a broomstick, at 30,000! Scotland, too^ must bear her share of the bloody stain of these abominable doings. Till the Reformation, little or no regard was paid to this subject; but soon after that event, a raving thirst for destruction took possession of the nation. In 1563, an act of, Parliament was passed, enacting the punishment of death against witches, or consulters of witches. The consequences of this author- itative recognition of the creed of witchcraft became immediately obvious in the reign of James VI. which followed. Witchcraft became the all-engrossing topic of the day; and it was the ordinary accusation resorted to, whenever it was the object of one individual to ruin another. A number of the trials are reported in Mr. Pitcairn's recent and valuable publication of the records of the Court of Justiciary. The first case is in 1572, of which no particulars are given, except the name of the unfortunate women, and the doom — ' convict and brynt.* Thirty-five trials are recorded subsequently to the end of James's reign, in all of which the horrid result is the same. The trials proceed, in the course of years, and confessions are obtained by torture with thumb-screws and boots, and pricking with sharp instruments; while SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE. 841 slranglings and burnings follow of course. The scene darkens towards the reign of Charles I., with the increas- ing dominion of the Puritans. In 1640, the General Assembly passed an act, that all ministers should take particular note of witches and charmers, and that the commissioners should recommend to the supreme judi- cature the unsparing application of the laws against them. In 1643, after setting forth the increase of the crime, they recommended the granting of a standing commission from* the Privy Council or Justiciary, to ' any understanding gentlemen or magistrates,' to apprehend, try, and execute justice on the delinquents. By the urgency of the Gen- eral Assembly, who resumed the subject in 1644-45, and 1649, an act of Parliament was passed in the last named year, confirming and extending the statute of Queen Mary, passed in 1563. As was to be expected, convic- tions, which had been fewer since James's time, increase, and the cases of course are more horrible. Thirty trials appear on the record between 1649 and 1660, in which (here seems to have been only one acquittal ; while at one western circuit, in 1659, seventeen persons were con- victed and burned for the imputed crime. Numerous, however, as are the cases in the records of Justiciary, these afford a most inadequate idea of the extent to which this pest prevailed over the country ; for the Privy Coun- cil was in the habit of granting commissions to resident gentlemen and ministers to examine, and afterwards to try and execute, witches all over Scotland; and so nu- merous were these commissions, that one author expresses his astonishment at the number found in the registers. Under these commissions, multitudes were burnt in every part of the kingdom. It is matter of history, that, in every case of the kind, the clergy displayed the most intemperate zeal. It was before them that the poor wretches were first brought for examination, in most cases after a preparatory course of solitary confinement, cold, famine, want of sleep, or ac- 29* X 342 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN tual torture. On some occasions, the clergy themselves actually performed the part of the prickers, and inserted Jong pins into the flesh of the witches; and in all, they labored with the most persevering^ investigations to ob- tain from the accused a confession which might after- wards be used against them on their trial, and which, in more than one instance, although retracted, formed the sole evidence on which the conviction proceeded. After 1662, the mania in Scotland began to decline in its violence; and to the great lawyers of the time is due the merit of first stemming the foul torrent. * From the horridness of the crime,' says Sir George Mackenzie in his Criminal Law, C I do conclude, that of all crimes it requires the clearest relevancy and most convincing pro- bature; and I condemn, next to the wretches themselves, those cruel and too forward judges, who burn persons by thousands as guilty of that crime.' The trials after this became fewer and fewer, and the last execution took place at Dornoch in 1722. The statutes were finally repealed in 1735. So little light did the Bible afford regarding the atro- city of the proceedings against witches, that the Seces- sion Church of Scotland, comprising many intelligent clergymen and a large number of the most serious and religious of the people, * complained, in their annual Confession of Personal and National Sins, against " the penal statute against witches having been repealed by Parliament, contrary to the express law of God." ' — (See Brewster's Edinburgh Encyclopedia, voce Witchcraft.) This defection is classed by Dr. John Brown of Had- dington, one of the great leaders of the Secession Church about the middle and end of last century, among ' the practical backslidings from the once attained to and covenanted work of reformation, which have happened In the preceding and present age, as abuses of the singu- ar favors of God.' During the whole of these proceedings, the clergy, SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE. 343 both Catholic and Protestant were in possession of revelation as fully and freely as they are at the present day; and in Scotland, in particular, the Reformation had been completed, and the people put in possession of the Bible for nearly a century before the cessation of these prosecutions. Not only so, but the Bible itself was per- versely used as the warrant of the atrocities, and religion employed to fan the flame of cruelty and superstition. It any facts can prove that the Creator intended man to use his intellectual faculties, and to study the revelation of his will contained in the works of nature, in addition to the Bible, as a guide to his conduct, and that the Bible was never intended to supersede the necessity of all other knowledge, those now detailed must have this effect. The great difference between Christians of the present day who regard these executions as great crimes, and the pious ministers who inflicted, and the serious people who witnessed them, consists in the superior knowledge pos- sessed by the moderns, of physical science, which has opened up to their understandings views of nature and of God, widely different from those entertained by their ancestors under the guidance of the Bible alone. In these remarks I do not depreciate the importance of the Bible; I only very humbly endeavor to vindicate the study of the Creator's will in his works as well as in his word, and to show that the human mind needs illumination from both to direct its conduct towards vir- tue. In the words of Archbishop Whately, I conclude, that e we are bound to use our own natural faculties in the search after all that is within the reach of these faculties; and that most especially ought we to try, by their own proper evidence, questions which form no part of revelation properly so called, but which are inciden- tally alluded to in the Sacred Writings.' ' If it be true that man's duty coincides with his real interest, both in this world and in the next, the better he is qualified by intellectual culture and diffusion of knowledge, to under- 344 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN stand his duty and his interests, the greater prospect there would seem to be (other points being equal) of his moral improvement.' The relation between Scripture and Phrenology ap- pears to me to be the following. The communications of the Bible may be divided into two great classes — the one relating to matters which the human intellect could never by its own powers have discovered, and the other consisting of descriptions of beings which exist in this world, and of rules of duty to be observed by those beings, — which appear to me to be subjected to the examination of every ordinary under- standing. To the former class belong the character and offices of Jesus Christ; while in the latter are compre- hended human nature itself, such as it now exists, and all moral and religious duties which bear relation to human happiness in this world. The Calvinist, Arminian, and Unitarian entertain views widely different regarding the character and offices of Jesus Christ. The doctrine of the Natural Laws and Phrenology can throw no light whatever on that subject, and therefore it would be a mere waste of words to mix up a discussion of the one with a treatise on the other: and this observation is equally applicable to every an- nouncement contained in the Bible regarding matters which are not permanent portions of ordinary nature. The Bible, however, contains numerous descriptions of human character, and numerous rules for the guidance of human conduct; all of which maybe compared with the constitution of the mind as it is revealed to us by observation, and with the inferences which may be drawn from that constitution concerning its most becoming and most advantageous modes of action. The result of this comparison appears to me to establish the harmony between Phrenology and Scripture. But let us come to details. SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE 345 We are informed in Matthew's gospel, (xv. 19.) that ( out of the heart (clearly meaning the mind) proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies;' and statements .essentially to the same effect are made in the Epistles of St. Paul to the Romans (i. 29, 31; iii. 10.) and to the Galatians (v. 19, 21.) Now, according to Phrenology, excessive and irregular action of various faculties produces evil thoughts; — an abuse of Destructiveness leads to murder; an abuse of Amativeness is the source of adulteries and fornications; an abuse of Acquisitiveness produces thefts; an abuse of Secretiveness is the origin of falsehood; and an abuse of Destructiveness and Self-Esteem gives rise CONCLUSION. examples, they must resort to crime for the means of gratification; yet -there is no solid instruction given to them, sufricient to satisfy their understandings that the rich themselves are straying from the paths that lead to solid and lasting happiness, and that it is to be found only in other and higher occupations. Morals and religion, also, cannot assume a systematic and demonstrable character, until the elementary quali- ties of mind, and their relations, shall be ascertained. It is presumable that the Deity, in creating the moral powers and the external world, really adapted the one to the other; so that individuals and nations, in pursuing morality, must, in every instance, be promoting their best interests, and, in departing from it, must be sacrificing them to passion or to illusory notions of advantage. But, until the nature of man, and the relationship between it and the external world, shall be scientifically ascertained, and systematically expounded, it will be impossible to support morality by the powerful demonstration of interest coinciding with it. The tendency in most men to view expediency as not always coincident with justice, affords a striking proof of the limited knowledge of the constitution of man and the external world, still existing in society. The diversities of doctrine in religion also, obviously owe their origin to ignorance of the primitive faculties and their relations. The faculties differ in relative strength in different individuals, and each person is most alive to objects and views connected with the powers pre- dominant in himself. Hence, in reading the Scriptures, one is convinced that they establish Calvinism; another, possessing a different combination of faculties, discovers in them Lutheranism; and a third is satisfied that Socini- anism is the only true interpretation. These individuals have, in general, no distinct conception that the views which strike them most forcibly, appear in a different light to minds differently constituted. A correct inter- pretation of revelation must harmonize with the dictates of the moral sentiments and intellect, holding the animal CONCLUSION. 357 propensities in subordination. It may legitimately go beyond what they, unaided, could reach; but it cannot contradict them; because this would be setting the reve- lation of the Bible in opposition to the inherent dictates of the faculties constituted by the Creator, which cannot be admitted; as the Deity is too powerful and wise to be inconsistent. But mankind will never be induced to bow to such interpretations, while each takes his individual mind as a standard of human nature in general, and con- ceives that his own impressions are synonymous with ab- solute truth. The establishment of the nature of man, therefore, on a scientific basis, and in a systematic form, must aid the cause of both morality and religion. The professions, pursuits, hours of exertion, and amusements of individuals, ought also to bear reference to their physical and mental constitution; but hitherto no guiding principle has been possessed to regulate practice in these important particulars, — another evidence that the science of man has been unknown. In consequence of the want of a philosophy of man, there is little harmony between the different departments of human pursuit. God is one; and as He is intelligent, benevolent, and powerful, we may reasonably conclude that creation is one harmonious system, in which the phy- sical is adapted iu the moral, the moral to the physical, and every department of these grand divisions, to the whole. But at present, many principles clearly revealed by philosophy are impracticable, because the institutions of society have not been founded with a due regard to their existence. An educated lady, for example, or a member of the learned professions, may perceive with the clearest conviction that Go3, by the manner in which he has constituted the body, and connected the mind with the brain, has positively enjoined muscular exertion as indis- pensable to the possession of sound health, the enjoyment of life, and the rearing of a healthy offspring; and, never- theless, they may find themselves so hedged round by routine of employment, the fashions of society, the influ- 358 CONCLUSION ence of opinion, and the positive absence of all arrange- ments suited to the purpose, that they shall be rendered nearly as incapable of yielding this obedience to God's law as if they were imprisoned in a dungeon. By religion we are commanded to set our affections on things above, and not to permit our minds to be engrossed with the cares of the world; we are desired to seek god- liness, and eschew selfishness, contention, and the vani- ties of life. These precepts must have been intended to be practically followed, otherwise it was a mockery of mankind to give them forth: But if they were intended to be practised, God must have arranged the inherent constitution of man, and of the world, in such a manner as to admit of mankind following them* and not only so, but to render men happy in proportion as they should practise, and miserable as they should neglect them. Nevertheless, when we survey human society in the forms in which it has hitherto existed, and in which it now ex- ists, these precepts appear to have been, and to be now, absolutely impracticable to ninety-nine out of every hun- dred of civilized men. Suppose the most eloquent and irresistibly convincing discourse on the Christian duties to be delivered on Sunday to a congregation of Manchester manufacturers and their operatives, or to London mer- chants, Essex farmers, or Westminster lawyers, how would they find their respective spheres of life adapted for acting practically on their convictions? They are all commanded to love God with their whole heart and soul, and to resist the world and the flesh, or, in philosophical language, to support their moral affections, and intellec- tual powers, in habitual activity, to direct them to noble, elevating, and beneficial objects, and to resist the subju- gation of these higher attributes of their minds to animal pleasure, sordid selfishness, and worldly ambition. The moral and intellectual powers assent to the reasonable- ness of these precepts, and rejoice in the prospect of their practical application; but, on Monday morning, the manufacturers, owing to the institutions of society, and CONCLUSION 359 he department of life into which they have been cast, before they had either reason or moral perception to di- rect their choice, must commence a course of ceaseless toil, — the workmen that they may support life, and the masters that they may avoid ruin, or accumulate wealth. Saturday evening finds them worn out with mental and physical exertion, continued through all the intermediate days, and directed to pursuits connected with this world alone. Sunday dawns upon them in a state of mind widely at variance with the Christian condition. In like manner, the merchant must devote himself to his bar- gains, the farmer to his plough, and the lawyer to his briefs, with corresponding assiduity; so that their moral powers have neither objects presented to them, nor vigor left, for enjoyments befitting their nature and desires. It is in vain to say to individuals that they err in acting thus: individuals are carried along in the great stream of social institutions and pursuits. The operative laborer is compelled to follow his routine of toil under pain of absolute starvation. The master manufacturer, the mer- chant, the farmer, and the lawyer, are pursued by com- petitors so active, that if they relax in selfish ardor, they, too, will be speedily plunged into ruin. If God has so constituted the human mind and body, and so arranged external nature, that all this is unavoidably ne- cessary for man, then the Christian precepts are scarcely more suited to human nature and circumstances in this world, than the command to fly would be to the nature of the Tiorse. If, on the other hanS 1 , man's nature and circumstances do in themselves admit of the Christian precepts being realized, it is obvious that a great revolu- tion must take place in our notions, principles of action practices, and social institutions, before this can "be ac- complished. That many Christian teachers believe this improvement possible, and desire its execution, I cannot doubt; but through want of a knowledge of the consti- tuent elements of human nature, and their relations,— through want, in short, of a philosophy of mind, and of 360 CONCLUSION physical nature, they have never been able to perceive intellectually, what God has rendered man capable of attaining, how it may be attained, or on what principle? the moral and physical government of the world in regard to man is conducted. Consequently, they have not acted generally on the idea of religion being a branch of an all- comprehending philosophy; they have relied chiefly on inculcating the precepts of their Master, threatening future punishments for infringement, and promising future rewards for observance, without proving to society phi- losophically, not only that its institutions, practices, and principles, must be formed on higher data than they are at present, before it can become truly Christian, but that these improvements are actually within the compass of human nature, aided by revelation. Individuals in whom there is a strong aspiration after the realization of the Christian state -of society, but whose intellects cannot perceive any natural means by which it can be produced, take refuge in the regions of prophecy, and expect a miraculous reign of saints in the Millennium. How much more profitable would it be to study the philosophy of man's nature, which is obviously the work of God, and endeavor to introduce morality and happiness by the means appointed by Him in creation! Supernatural agen- cy has long since ceased to interfere with human affairs, and whenever it shall operate again, we may presume that it will neither be assisted nor retarded by human opinions and speculations. We need only attend to the scenes daily presenting themselves in society, to obtain irresistible demonstration of the many evil consequences resulting from the want of a true theory of human nature, and its relations. Every preceptor in schools, every professor in colleges, every author, editor, and pamphleteer, every member of Parliament, counsellor and judge, has a set of notions of. his own, which, in his mind, hold the place of a system of the philosophy of man; and although he may not have methodized his ideas, or even acknowledged them to CONCLUSION. 361 himself as a theory, yet they constitute a standard to him by which he practically judges of all questions in morals, politics, and religion; he advocates whatever views coincide with them, and condemns all that differ from them, with as unhesitating a dogmatism as the most pertinacious theorist on earth. Each also despises the notions of his fellows, in so far as they differ from his own In short, the human faculties too generally ope- rate simply as instincts, exhibiting all the confliction and uncertainty of mere feeling, unenlightened by perception of their own nature and objects. Hence public measures in general, whether relating to education, religion, trade, manufactures, the poor, criminal law, or to any other of the dearest interests of society, instead of being treated as branches of one general system of economy, and adjusted on scientific principles each in harmony with all the rest, are supported or opposed on narrow and empi- rical grounds, and often call forth displays of ignorance, prejudice, selfishness, intolerance and bigotry, that great- ly obstruct the progress of improvement. Indeed, any important approach to unanimity, even among sensible and virtuous men, will be impossible, so long as no standard of mental philosophy is admitted to guide indi- vidual feelings and perceptions. But the state of things now described could not exist, if education embraced a true system of kuman nature and its relations. If, then, the doctrine of the natural laws here expound- ed be true, it will, when matured, supply the deficiencies just pointed out. But, here, another question naturally presents itself, How are the views explained in this work, supposing them to contain some portion of truth, to be rendered practical? Sound views of human nature and of the divine government come home to the feelings and intellects of men; they perceive them to possess a substantive exist- ence and reality which rivet attention and command re- spect. If the doctrine unfolded in this work be in any 31 362 CONCLUSION. degree true, it is destined to operate proportionally on the character of clerical instruction. Individuals whose minds have embraced the views which it contains, inform mo that many sermons appear to them inconsistent in their different propositions, at variance with sound views of human nature, and so vague as to have little practical relation to life and conduct. They partake of the ab- stractedness of the scholastic philosophy. The first divine of comprehensive intellect and powerful sentiments who shall take courage and introduce the natural laws into his discourses, and teach the people the works of the Creator and his institutions, will reap a great reward in usefulness and pleasure. If this course shall, as hereto- fore, be neglected, the people, who are daily increasing in useful and scientific knowledge, will in a few years look down with disrespect on their clerical guides, and probably remodel the entire system of pulpit instruction. The institutions and manners of society indicate the state of mind of the influential classes at the time when they prevail. The trial and burning of old women as witches, point out clearly the predominance of Destruc- tiveness and Wonder over Intellect and Benevolence, in those who were guilty of such cruel absurdities. The practices of wager of battle, and ordeal by fire and water, indicate Combativeness, Destructiveness, and Veneration, to have been in great activity in those who permitted them, combined with much intellectual ignorance of the natural constitution of the world. In like manner, the enormous sums willingly expended in war, and the small sums grudgingly paid for public improvements; the in- tense energy displayed in the pursuit of wealth; and the general apathy evinced in the search after knowledge and virtue, unequivocally proclaim activity of Combativeness, Destructiveness, Acquisitiveness, Self-Esteem, and Love of Approbation; with comparatively moderate vivacity of Benevolence and Intellect, in the present generation Before, therefore, the practices of mankind can be al tered, the state of their minds must be changed. Nt conclusion. 363 practical error can be greater yian that of establishing institutions greatly in advance of the mental condition of the people. The rational method is, first to instruct the intellecjt, then to interest the sentiments, and, last of all to form arrangements in harmony with, and resting on, these as their basis. The views developed in the preceding chapters, if founded in nature, may be expected to lead, ultimately, to considerable changes in many of the customs and pur- suits of society; but to accomplish this effect, the princi- ples themselves must be first ascertained to be true, and then they must be sedulously taught. It appears to me that a long series of years will be necessary to bring even civilized nations into a condition to obey systematically the natural laws. The preceding chapters may be regarded, in one sense, as an introduction to an Essay on Education. If the views unfolded in them be in general sound, it will follow that education has scarcely yet commenced. If the Creator has bestowed on the body, on the mind, and on external nature, determinate constitutions, and arranged them so as to act on each other, and to produce happi- ness or misery to man, according to certain definite prin- ciples,- — and if this action goes on invariably, inflexibly, and irresistibly, whether men attend to it or not, — it is obvious that the very basis of useful knowledge must con- sist in an acquaintance with these natural arrangements, and that education will be valuable in the exact degree in which it communicates such information, and trains the faculties to act upon it. Reading, writing, and ac- counts, which make up the instruction enjoyed by the lower orders, are merely means of acquiring knowledge, but do not constitute it. Greek, Latin, and mathematics, which are added in»the education of the middle classes, are still only means of obtaining information: so that, with the exception of the few who pursue physica science, society dedicates very little attention to the study of the natural laws. In following out the views now dis* 364 CONCLUSION, cussed, therefore, each individual, according as he be- comes acquainted with the natural laws, ought to obey them, and to communicate his experience of their opera- tions to others; avoiding at the same time, all attempts at subverting, by violence, established institutions, or out- raging public sentiment by intemperate discussions. The doctrine now unfolded, if true, authorizes us to predicate that the most successful method of ameliorating the condition of mankind, will be that which appeals most directly to their moral sentiments and intellect; and, I may add from experience and observation, that, in pro- portion as any individual becomes acquainted with the real constitution of the human mind, will his conviction of the efficacy of this method increase. The next step ought to be to teach those laws to the young.* Their minds, not being occupied by prejudices, will recognise them as congenial to their constitution; the first generation that has embraced them from infancy will proceed to modify the institutions of society into accordance with their dictates; and in the course of ages they may at length be acknowledged as practically use- ful. A perception of the importance of the natural laws will lead to their observance, and this will be attended with an improved development of brain, thereby in- creasing the desire and capacity for obedience. All truz theories have ultimately been adopted and influenced practice; and I see no reason to fear that the present, if true, will prove an exception. The failure of all previous systems is the natural consequence of their being un- founded; if this one shall resemble them, it will deserve, and assuredly will meet with, a similar fate. Finally, If it be true that the Natural Laws must be obeyed as a preliminary condition to happiness in this world, and if virtue and happiness be inseparably allied, the religious instructers of mankind may probably dis- * Some observations on Education will be found in the Phrenolo' gical Journal, vol. iv. p. 407. CONCLUSION. 365 cover in the general and prevalent ignorance of these laws, one reason of the limited success which has hitherto attended their own efforts at improving the condition of mankind; and they may perhaps perceive it to be not inconsistent with their sacred office, to instruct men in the natural institutions of the Creator, in addition to his revealed will, and to recommend obedience to both. They exercise so vast an influence over the best members of society, that their countenance may hasten, or their opposition retard, by a century, the practical adoption of the natural laws, as sound guides of human conduct. If the excessive toil of the manufacturer be inconsistent with that elevation of the moral and intellectual faculties of man which is commanded by religion, and if the moral and physical welfare of mankind be not at variance with each other (which they cannot be), the institutions of society out of which the necessity for that labor arises, must, philosophically speaking, be pernicious to the interests of the state as a political body, and to the tem- poral welfare of the individuals who compose it; and whenever we shall be in possession of a correct know- ledge of the elements of human nature, and the principles on which God has constituted the world, the philosophical evidence that these practices are detrimental to our tempo- ral welfare, will be as clear as their inconsistency with our religious duties. Until, however, divines shall be- come acquainted with this relation between philosophy and religion, they will not possess adequate means to render their precepts practical in this world ; they will not carry the intellectual perceptions of their hearers fully along with them; they will be incapable of controlling the force of the animal propensities; and they will never lead society to fulfilment of its highest destinies. At present, the animal propensities are fortified in the strong intrenchments of social institutions; Acquisitiveness, for example, is protected and fostered by our arrangements for accumulating wealth; a worldly spirit, by our con- 31* 366 CONCLUSION. stant struggle to obtain the means of subsistence; pride and vanity by our artificial distinctions of rank and fashion; and Combativeness and Destructiveness by our warlike professions. The divine assails these powers by Jhe denunciations of the Gospel; but as long as society shall be animated by different principles, and maintain in vigor, institutions in diametrical opposition to its doctrines, so long will it be difficult for him to realize his precepts in practice. But, it appears to me, that by teaching mankind the philosophy of their own nature, and of the world in which they live, by proving to them the coincidence between the dictates of this philosophy and Christian morality, and the inconsistency of their own institutions with both, they may be induced to mo- dify the latter, and to intrench the moral powers, and then the triumph of virtue and religion will be more com- plete. Those who advocate exclusively the importance of spiritual religion for the improvement of mankind, appear to me to have erred in overlooking to too great an extent the necessity of complying with the natural conditions on which all improvement depends; and I anticipate that when schools and colleges shall expound the various branches of philosophy as portions of the institutions of the Creator; when the pulpit shall deal with the same principles, show their practical application to man's duties and enjoyments, and add the sanctions of religion to enforce their observance; and when the busy scenes of life shall be so arranged as to become the field for the practice at once of our philosophy and our religion, then man will have assumed hi3 station as a rational being, and Christianity will have achieved her triumph APPENDIX. NATURAL LAWS. — Text, p. 27. Tn the text it is mentioned, that many philosophers have treated »f the Laws of Nature. The following are examples : — Mr. Stewart says, ' To examine the economy of nature in the phenomena of the lower animals, and to compare their instincts with the physical circumstances of their external situation, forms one of the finest speculations of Natural History ; and yet it is a speculation to which the attention of the natural historian has seldom been directed. Not only BufFon, but Ray and Derham, have passed it over slightly; nor, indeed, do I know of any one who has made it the object of a particular consideration but Lord Karnes, in a short Appendix to one of his Sketches.' — Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind, vol. iii. p. 368. Mr. Stewart also uses the following words : — ' Numberless ex- amples show that Nature has done no more for man than was necessary for his preservation, leaving him to make many acquisi- tions for himself, which she has imparted immediately to the brutes. i My own idea is, as I have said on a different occasion, that both instinct and experience are here concerned, and that the share which belongs to each in producing the result, can be ascertained by an appeal to facts alone.' — Vol. iii. ch. 338. Montesquieu introduces his Spirit of Laws by the following observations :— ' Laws, in their most general signification, are the necessary relations derived from the nature of things. In this sense, all beings "have their laws ; the Deity has his laws ; the material world its laws ; the intelligences superior to man have their laws ; the beasts their laws ; man his laws. 1 Those who assert that a blind fatality produced the various effects we behold in this world, are guilty of a very great absurdity ; for can any thing be more absurd than to pretend that a blind fatality could be productive of intelligent beings ? 368 APPENDIX. NATURAL LAWS. 1 There is, then, a primitive reason ; and laws are the relations which subsist between it and different beings, and the relations of these beings among themselves. 1 God is related to the universe as Creator and preserver ; the laws by which he has created all things are those by which he pre- serves them. He acts according to these rules, because he knows them : he knows them because he has made them ; and he made them because they are relative to his wisdom and power, &c. ' Man, as a physical being, is, like other bodies, gorerned by inva- riable laws.\ — Spirit of Laws, b. i. c. i. Justice Blackstone observes, that 'Law, in its most general and comprehensive sense, signifies a rule of action ; and is appliea indiscriminately to all kinds of action, whether animate or inanimate^ rational or irrational. Thus we say, the laws of motion, of gravi- tation, of optics, or mechanics, as well as the laws of nature and of nations. Thus, when the Supreme Being formed the universe, and created matter out of nothing, he impressed certain principles upon that matter, from which it can never depart, and without which it would cease to be. When he put that matter into mo- tion, he established certain laws of motion, to which all movable bodies must conform.' — i If we farther advance from mere inactive matter to vegetable and animal life, we shall, find them still governed by laws ; more numerous, indeed, but equally fixed and invariable. The whole progress of plants, from the seed to the root, and from thence to the seed again ; — the method of ani- mal nutrition, digestion, secretion, and all other branches of vital economy ; — are not left to chance, or the will of the creature itself, but are performed in a wondrous involuntary manner, and guided by unerring rules laid down by the great Creator. This, then, is the general signification of law, a rule of action dictated by some superior being ; and in those creatures that have neither power to think, nor the will, such laws must be invariably obeyed, so long as the creature itself subsists ; for its existence depends on that obedience.' — Blackstone 1 s Commentaries on the Laws of England, vol. i. sect. 2. v ' The word law, 1 says Mr. Erskine, ' is frequently made use of, both by divines and philosophers, in a large acceptation, to express the settled method of God's providence, by which he preserves the order of the material world in such a manner, that nothing in it may deviate from that uniform course which he has appointed for it. And as brute matter is merely passive, without the least de* gree of choice upon its part, these laws are inviolably observ- APPENDIX. NATURAL LAWS. 369 id in the material creation, every part of which continues to act, immutably, according to the rules that were from the beginning pre- scribed to it by Infinite Wisdom. Thus philosophers have given the appellation of law to that motion which incessantly pervades and agitates the universe, and is ever changing the form and substance of things, dissolving some, and raising others, as from their ashes, to fill up the void : Yet so, that amidst all the fluctuations by which particular things are affected, the universe is still preserved without diminution. Thus also they speak of the laws of fluids, of gravitation, &c. and the word is used, in this sense, in several passages of the sacred writings ; in the book of Job, and in Prov- erbs viii. 29, where God is said to have given his law to the seas that they should not pass his commandment.' — Drskine's Institutes of the Law of Scotland, book i. tit. i. sect. 1. Discussions about the Laws of Nature, rather than inquiries into them, were common in France, during the Revolution : and, having become associated, in imagination, with the crimes and horrors of that period, they continue to be regarded, by some individuals, as inconsistent with religion and morality. A coinci- dence between the views maintained in the preceding Essay, and a passage in Yolney, has been pointed out to me, as an objection to the whole doctrine. Volney's words are the following : — ' It is a law of nature, that water flows from an upper to a lower situ- ation ; that it seeks its level ; that it is heavier than air ; that all bodies tend towards the earth ; the flame rises towards the sky ; that it destroys the organization of vegetables and animals ; that air is essential to the life of certain animals : that, in certain cases, water suffocates and kills them ; that certain juices of plants, and certain minerals, attack their organs, and destroy their life ; — and the same of a variety of facts. ' Now, since these facts, and many similar ones, are constant, regular, and immutable, they become so many real and positive commands, to which man is bound to conform, under the express penalty of punishment attached to their infraction, or well-being connected with their observance. So that if a man were to pre- tend to see clearly in the dark, or is regardless of the progress of the seasons, or the action of the elements ; if he pretends to exist under water, without drowning ; to handle fire without burning himself; to deprive himself of air without suffocating ; or to drink poison without destroying himself; he receives, for each infrac- tion of the law of nature, a corporal punishment proportioned to his transgression. If, on the contrary, he observes these lawa» 370 APPENDIX. NATURAL LAWS. and founds his practice on the precise and regular relation which they bear to him, he preserves his existence, and renders it aa happy as it is capable of being rendered ; and since all these laws, considered in relation to the human species, have in view only one common end, that of their preservation and their happiness : whence it has been agreed to assemble together the different ideas, and express them by a single word, and call them collectively by the name of the ' Law of Nature.' — Volney's Law of Nature, 3a edit. p. 21, 24. I feel no embarrassment by this coincidence ; but remark, first, That various authors, quoted in the text and in this note, advocat- ed the importance of the laws of nature, long before the French Revolution was heard of; secondly, That the existence of the laws of nature is as obvious to the understanding, as the existence of the external world, and of the human mind and body themselves to the senses ; thirdly, That these laws, being inherent in crea- tion, must have proceeded from the Deity : fourthly, That if the Deity is powerful, just, and benevolent, they must harmonize with the constitution of man ; and, lastly, That if the laws of nature have been instituted by the Deity, and been framed in wise benevolent, and just relationship to the human constitution, they must at all times form the highest and most important subjects of human investigation, and remain altogether unaffected by the errors, follies, and crimes of those who endeavor to expound them ; just as religion continues holy; venerable, and uncontami- nated, notwithstanding the hypocrisy, wickedness, and inconsis- tency of individuals professing themselves her interpreters and friends. That the views of the natural laws themselves, advocated in this Essay, are diametrically opposite to the practical conduct of the French revolutionary ruffians, requires no demonstration. My fundamental principle is, that man can enjoy happiness on earth only by placing his habitual conduct under the supremacy of the moral sentiments and intellect, and that this is the law of his na- ture. No doctrine can be more opposed than this to fraud, rob- bery, blasphemy, and murder. It may be urged, that all past speculations about the laws of nature have proved more imposing than useful ; and that, while the laws themselves afford materials for elevated declamation on the part of philosophers, they form no secure guides even to the learned, and much less to the illiterate, in practical conduct. In answer, I would respectfully repeat what has frequently been urged APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. 37 i in the text, that, before we can discover the laws of nature, ap- plicable to man, we must know, first, The constitution of man himself; secondly, The constitution of external nature; and, thirdly, We must compare the two. But, previous to the discovery of Phrenology, the mental constitution of man was a matter of vague conjecture, and endless debate ; and the connection between his mental powers and his organized system, was involved in the deepest obscurity. The brain, the most important organ of the body, had no ascertained functions. Before the introduction of this science, therefore, men were rather impressed with the un- speakable importance of the knowledge of the laws of nature, than acquainted with the laws themselves ; and even the know- ledge of the external world actually possessed, could not, in many instances, be rendered available, on account of its relationship to the qualities of man being unascertained, and unascertainable, so long as these qualities themselves were unknown. NOTE I. ORGANIC LAWS.— Text, p. 118. On the subject of the sufferings of women in childbed, the fol- lowing authorities may be referred to:-»~ ' One thing,' says Mr. Alison, ' is very remarkable, and occurs in most cases of concealment and childmurder, viz. the strength and capability for exertion evinced by women in the inferior ranks shortly after childbirth, — appearances so totally different from those exhibited in the higher orders, that, to persons ac- quainted only with cases among the latter, they would appear incredible. In the case just mentioned (that of Catharine Butler or Anderson, at Aberdeen, in spring 1829), the mother, two or three days after her delivery, walked from Inveruiy to Huntly, a distance of twenty-eight miles, in a single day, with her child on her back. Similar occurrences daily are proved in cases of this description. It is not unusual to find women engaged in reapirg, retire to a little distance, effect their delivery by themselves, return to their fellow laborers, and go on with their work during the remainder of the day, without any other change of appearance but looking a little paler and thinner. Such a fact occurred in the case of Jean Smith, Ayr, spring 1824. Again - , in the case of Ann Macdou- gall, Aberdeen, spring 1823, it appeared that the panel, who was Bleeping in bed with two other servants, rose, was delivered, and J72 APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. returned to bed, without any of them being conscious of what had occurred. Instances have even occurred in which women have walked six and eight miles on the very day of their delivery, without any sensible inconvenience. Many" respectable medical practitioners, judging from what they have observed among the higher ranks, would pronounce such facts impossible ; but they occur so frequently among the laboring classes as to form a point worth) of knowledge in criminal jurisprudence ; and to render perfectly credible what is said of the female American Indians, that they fall behind for a little, on their journeys through the forests, deliver themselves, and shortly make up to their hus- bands, and continue their journey with their offspring on their back.' — Alison's Principles of the Criminal Law of Scotland, pp. 161—162. Mr. Lawrence observes, ' that the very easy labors of negress- es, native Americans, and other women in the savage state, have been often noticed by travellers. This point is not explicable by any prerogative of physical formation ; for the pelvis is rather smaller in these dark-colored races than in the European and other white people. Simple diet, constant and laborious exertion, give to these children of nature n hardiness of constitution, and exempt them from most of the ills which afflict the indolent and luxurious females of civilized societies. In the latter, however, the hard-working women of the lower classes in the country often suffer as little from child-birth as those of any other race. Analogous differences, from the like causes, may be seen in the animal kingdom. Cows kept in towns, and other animals, de- prived of their healthful exercise, and accustomed to unnatural food and habits, often have difficult labors, and suffer much in parturition.' — Lawrence 1 s Lectures on Physiology, Zoology, ana the Natural History of Man.— 1S22. Vol. ii. p. 190. Among the Araucanian Indians of South America, ' a mother , immediately on her delivery, takes her child, and going down tt the nearest stream of water, washes herself and it, and returns to the usual labors of her station.' — Stevenson 1 s Twenty Years 9 Resi- dence in South America. Vol. i. p. 9. NOTE II. HEREDITARY TRANSMISSION OF QUALITIES.— Text, p. 152. Fortified by the observations made in the text, I venture to cite some additional authorities, and to record some farther facta APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. 373 communicated by persons on whose accuracy reliance may be laced, in support of the doctrine of the transmission of qualities by hereditary descent. 1 The advice which I am now about to give, is indeed no other than what hath been given by those who have undertaken*this argument before me. You will ask me, what is that ? 'Tis this, that no man keep company with his wife for issue sake, but when he is sober — as not having before either drunk any wine, or, at least, not to such a quantity as to distemper him ; for they usually prove wine-bibbers and drunkards whose parents begot then? when they were drunk : wherefore Diogenes said to a stripling somewhat crack-brained and half-witted, Surely, young man, thy father begot thee when he was drunk.' — Plutarch's Morals, trans- lation published at London, 1718, vol. i. p. 2. It is remarked by Burton in his Anatomy of Melancholy, that if a drunken man gets a child, it will never, likely, have a good brain.' The following case fell under my own observation : — W. B. shoemaker in Portsburgh, called and showed me his son, aged 18, who is in a state of idiocy. He is simple and harmless, but never could do any -thing for himself. His father said that his wife was sound in mind ; that he has other three children all sound, and that the only account he could ever give of the condition of this son was, that he kept a public-house, and some months before the feilth of this boy an idiot lad came round with a brewer's drayman and helped him to lift the casks off the cart ; that that idiot made a strong impression on his wife ; that she complained that she could not get his appearance removed from her mind; and that she kept out of the way when he came to the house afterwards ; that his son was weak in body from birth, and silly in mind, and had the slouched and slovenly appearance of the idiot. The following cases are recorded in the Phrenological Journal : 1 1 now proceed to give some facts strongly illustrative of the doc- trine, that Jthe faculties which predominate in power and activity in the parents, when the organic existence of the child com- mences, determine its future mental dispositions. This is a doc- trine to which, from its great practical importance, I would beg leave to call your serious attention. It was remarked by the celebrated Esquirol, i that the children whose existence dated from the horrors of the first French Revolution, turned out to be weak, nervous, and irritable in mind, extremely susceptible of impressions, and liable to be thrown by the least extraordinary 32 2 374 APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. excitement into absolute insanity.' Sometimes, too, family cai* mities produce serious effects upon the offspring. A very intelli- gent and respectable mother, upon hearing this principle expound- ed, remarked that there was a very wide difference in the intel- lectual and moral development between one of her children and the others ; and accounted for this difference by the fact, that, during pregnancy, she received intelligence that the crew of the ship, on board of which was her son, had mutinied — that when the ship arrived in the West Indies, some of the mutineers, and also her son, had been put in irons, — arid that they were all to be sent home for trial. This intelligence acted so strongjy upon her, that she suffered a temporary alienation of judgment. The re- port turned out to be erroneous, but this did not avert the conse- quences of the agitated state of the mother's feelings upon the daughter she afte wards gave birth to. That daughter is now a woman, but she is and will continue to be a being of impulses, incapable of reflection, and in other respects greatly inferior to her sisters. . i The following is a melancholy instance of the operation of this principle, which was communicated to me by a respectable medi- cal practitioner, and which I have since found from inquiries in the neighborhood, and from seeing the subject of it, to be sub- stantially correct. In the summer of 1827, the practitioner allud- ed to was called upon to visit professionally a young woman in the immediate neighborhood, who was safely delivered of a male child. As the parties appeared to be respectable, he made some inquiries regarding the absence of the child's father; when the old woman told him that her daughter was still unmarried, that the child's father belonged to a regiment then in Ireland ; that last autumn he had obtained leave of absence to visit his relations in this part of the country ; and that on the eve of his departure to join his regiment, an entertainment was given, at which hei daughter attended. During the whole evening, she and the sol dier danced and sang together ; when heated by the toddy and the dance, they left the cottage, and after the lapse of an hour were found together in a glen, in a state of utter insensibility from the effects of their former ^festivity ; and the consequenct of this interview was the birth of an idiot. He is now nearly six years of his age, and his mother does not believe that he is able to recognise either herself or any other individual. He is quite incapable of making signs, whereby his wants can be made known •—with this exception, that when hungry he gives a wild shriek APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. 375 This is the case upon. which it would be painful to dwell ; and I shall only remark, that the parents are both intelligent, and that the fatal result cannot be otherwise accounted for than by the al- most total prostration or eclipse of the intellect of both parties from intoxication.' — Phren. Journ. vol. viii. p. 471. The following case affords aj^example of the effect on the children of unfavorable physicaWircumstances operating on the parents previous to birth. 1 There are about Paris a number of beggars, twelve or thir- teen of them at least, all deformed in various ways, and all born at Lille, in certain dark caverns under the fortifications. The effect of these places, from their want of light, producing mal- formed births, is so notorious, that the Magistrates of Lilie have issued strict orders to pr&hibit trie poor from taking up their abode in them. It is added by the writer, that he had a con- versation with Mr. Edwards on the subject, and that gentleman was greatly struck with the confirmation which the above circum- stances afford to his views, stated in his work. ' Sur l'lnfluence des Agens Physiques sur la Vie.' Mr. Edwards' experiments of detaining tadpoles in darkness, and thus causing them to grow into gigantic and monstrous tadpoles, instead of their being trans- formed into frogs, is well known. — From London Medical Ga- . zette, September 1832, as quoted in Arcana of Science and Art, 1833, p. 198. The operation of the same laws in the case of the lower animals appears to be indubitable. The following cases will serve as examples. * In Europe, the constant practice of milking cows has enlarg- ed the udder greatly beyond its natural size, and so changed the secretions, that the milk does not cease when the calf is removed. In Colombia, where circumstances are entirely different, nature shows a strong tendency to resume its original type. A cow gives milk there only while the calf is with her.' ' It is worthy of notice, that the amble, the pace to which the domestic horse in Spanish America is exclusively trained, become, in the course of some generations, hereditary, and is assumed by the young ones without teaching.' — Encyc. Brit, 1th edits vol. ii. p. 653, Art. America. The writer refers to a paper by M. Roulin, en- titled * Sur les Changemens survenus,' &c. in the Bulletin des Sciences Naturelless, Avril 1829. A gentleman, who has paid much attention to the rearing of horses, informed me, that the male race-horse, when excited, bui 378 APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. not exhausted, by running, has been found by experience to be in the most favorable condition for transmitting swiftness and vivacity to his offspring. Another gentleman stated, that he was himself present when the pale gray color of a male horse was objected to , that the groom thereupon presented before the eyes of the male another female from the stable ,^pa very particular but pleasing, variety of colors, asserting, that the latter would determine the^ complexion of the offspring ; and that in point of fact it did so. The experiment was tried in the case of a second female, and the result was so completely the same, that the two young horses, in point of color, could scarcely be distinguished although their spots were extremely uncommon. The account of "Laban and the peeled rods laid before the cattle to produce spotted calves, is an example of the same kind. Portal mentions the hereditary descent of blindness and deaf- ness. His words are: c Morgagni has seen three sisters dumb 1 d'origineS Other authors also cite examples, and I have seen like cases myself. In a note, he adds, ' I have seen three children out of four of the same family blind from birth by amaurosis, or gutta serena.'' — Portal, Memoires sur Plusieurs Maladies, torn. hi. p. 193. Paris, 1808. In the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, No. I., there are seve- ral valuable articles illustrative of the Organic Laws in the infe- rior animals. I select the following examples : 1 Every one knows that the hen of any bird will lay eggs although no male be permitted to come near her ; and that those eggs are only wanting in the vital principle which the impregna- tion of the male conveys to them. Here, then, We see the female able to make an egg, with yolk and white, shell and every part, just as it ought to be, so that we might, at the first glance, sup- pose that here, at all events, the female has the greatest influence. But see the change which the male produces. Put a Bantam cock to a large-sized hen, and she will instantly lay.a small egg ; the chick will be short in the leg, have feathers to the foot, and put on the appearance of the cock : so that it is a frequent com- plaint where Bantams are kept, that they make the hens lay small eggs, and spoil the breed. Reverse the case ; put a large dung- hill cock to Bantam hens, and instantly they will lay larger eggs, and the chicks will be good-sized birds, and the Bantam will have nearly disappeared. Here, then, are a number of facts known to every one or at least open to be known by every one, clearly proving the influence of the male in some animals ; and "as I hold APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. 377 t to be an axiom that nature never acts by contraries, never out- rages the law clearly fixed in one species, by adopting the opposite course in another, — therefore, as in the case of an equilateral triangle on the length of one side being given, we can with cer* tainty demonstrate that of the remaining*; so, having found these laws to exist in one race of animals, we are entitled to assume that every species is subjected to the self-same rules, — the whole bearing, in fact, the same relation to each other as the radii of a circle.' Very young hens lay small eggs ; but a breeder of fowls will never set these to be hatched, because the animals produced would be feeble and imperfectly developed. They select the largest and freshest eggs, and endeavor to rear the healthiest stock possible. 6 A method of obtaining a greater number of One Sex, at the option of the Proprietor, in the breeding of Live Stock. 1 — Extracted from the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, No. I. p. 63. * In the Annales de l'Agriculture Franchise, vols. 37 and 38, some very interesting experiments are recorded, which have lately been made in France, on the Breeding of Live Stock. M. Charles Girou de Buzareingues proposed, at a meeting of the Agricul- tural Society of Severac, on the 3d of July 1826, to divide a flock of sheep into two equal parts, so that a greater number of males or females, at the choice of the proprietor, should be produced from each of them. Two of the members of the Society offered their flocks to become the subjects of his experiments, and the re- sults have now been communicated, which are in accordance with the author's expectations.' ' The first experiment was conducted in the following man- ner : He recommended very young rams to be put to the flock of ewes, from which the proprietor wished the greater number of females in their offspring; and also, that, during the season when the rams were with the ewes, they should have more abundant pasture than the other ; while, to the flock from which %ie proprietor wished to obtain male lambs chiefly, he recom mended him to put strong and vigorous rams four or five years old. The following tabular view contains the result of this experiment. 32* 378 APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. Flock for Female Lambs. Flock for Male Lambs. Age of the Mothers. Sex of the Lambs. Age of the Mothers. Sex of the Lambs. Males. Females' Two years, .... 14 26 Three years, .... 16 29 Four years, .... 5 21 Total, 35 76 Five years and older, 18 8 Total, 53 84 N B. — There were three twin-births in this flock. Two rams served it, one fifteen months, the other nearly two years old. Males. Female*. Two years, .... 7 3 Three years, .... 15 14 Four years, ... 33 14 Total, 55 31 Five years and older, 25 24 Total, 80 55 N. B. — There were no twin-births in this flock. Two strong rams, one four, the other five years old, served it. ' The general law, as far as we are able to detect it, seems to be, that, when animals are in good condition, plentifully supplied with food, and kept from breeding as fast as they might do, they are most likely to produce females. Or, in other words, when a race of animals is in circumstances favorable for its increase, na- ture produces the greatest number of that sex which, in animals that do not pair, is most efficient for increasing the numbers of the race : But, if they are in a bad climate, or on stinted pasture, or, if they have already given birth to a numerous offspring, then na- ture, setting limits to the increase of the race, produces more males than females. Yet, perhaps, it may be premature to attempt to deduce any law from experiments which have not yet been sufficiently extended. M. Girou is disposed to ascribe much of the effect to the age of the ram, independent of the condition of the ewe.' Mr. W. B. Stevenson, in his ' Narrative of Twenty Years' residence in South America,' vol. i. p. 286, says, * he has always remarked, that in cases where parents are of different castes, the child receives more of the color of the father than of the mother.' He made extensive observations during a long residence in Lima ; a place, he remarks, than which there cannot be any more favor able for an examination of the influence of * the configuration of the human face, or of'its color, on the intellectual faculties.- He gives the following table, showing the mixture of the different^ castes, under their common or distinguishing names. But ' this* table,' says he, ' which I have endeavored to make as correct as possible, from personal observation, must be considered as gen- eral, and not including particular cases.' APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. 379 Father. Mother. Children. Color. European, European, Creole, White. Creole, Creole, Creole, White. White, Indian, Mestiso, | White, | Indian—Fair. Indian, White, Mestiso, | White, | Indian. White, Mestiso, Creole, White — often very fair. Mestiso, White, Creole, White — but rather sallow. Mestiso, Mestiso, Creole, Sallow — often light hair. White, Negro, Mulatto, 1 White, | Negro— often fair. Negro, White, Zambo, | White, | Negro — dark copper. White, Mulatto, Quarteron, | White, | Negro — Fair. Mulatto, White, Mulatto, | White, | Negro— Tawny. White, v Quarteron, Quinteron, 1 White, | Negro — very fair. Quarteron, White, Quarteron, | White, | Negro— Tawny. White, Quinteron, Creole, White — light eyes, fair hair. Negro, Indian, Chino, | Negro, | Indian. Indian, Negro, Chino, | Negro, | Indian. Negro, Mulatto, Zambo, | Negro, | White. Mulatto, Negro, Zambo, | Negro, | White. Negro, Zambo, Zambo, if Negro, ^ White — Dark. Zambo, Negro, Zambo, 1 Negro, | White. Negro, Chino, ) Negro, 5 Negro, Zambo- ) Chino, } Zambo- > Chino, ( Vegro, J| Negro, ^ Indian* Chino, \ Negro, | Indian. Negro, NOTE III. LAWS RELATIVE TO MARRIAGE AND EDUCATION IN GER- MANY.— Text, p. 169. ' It cannot be altogether foreign to natural history, to notice the influence of climate, food, and political and religious regula- tions on the human species ; and we are unwilling to leave Ger* many without saying something on so interesting a people as the Germans. It will not be denied that man is subject to the same laws as other animals, and that his natural or inborn character must depend principally on the climate and products of the soil where he is placed. His factitious, or civilized character, will as certainly depend on his education, taking that word in its most sxtensive sense, as including parental care and example, scholas* 880 APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. tic tuition, religion, and government. In warm fertile countries, where nature produces every thing spontaneously, man become* inactive, and has naturally few labors and few enjoyments. In extremely cold and inhospitable climates, the enjoyments ©f man are also few, because the labor necessary to overcome natural objects is too great for his powers. It would seem, therefore, that intermediate climates are more favorable for human* happiness than either extremes ; but whether such are at all times tem- perate, as those of many parts of Italy and Spain, or such as are alternately temperate and severe, as those of the south of Ger- many and the north of France, are the best, may perhaps be doubted. It appears that a climate where the winters are severe, nas a considerable influence on the human character, by the necessity which it induces of forethought, in the laying up a pro- vision of food for winter, and the greater attention and labor that are requisite in the article of clothing for that season. It is cer- tain,-on the other hand, that, in climates at all times temperate^ the health, other circumstances being alike, must be better than in severe climates, where it is impaired by the artificial atmos- phere of apartments during the winter season ; and constant good health must necessarily have a considerable influence on the cha- racter. Supposing, therefore, all the artificial circumstances to be the same in two climates, such as that of the south of Ger- many, and that of Italy or the central parts of France, it seems reasonable to conclude that man would attain to a higher degree of perfection in the latter climates than in the former. So much for our theory of the influence of soil and climate on man ; and, for farther details, we refer the reader to Dr. Falconar's work on the subject. 4 Of all the artificial or accidental circumstances which influence the character, personal education must be allowed to be the great- est, and next, religion and government. Manner of life, occupa- tions, and pursuits, and even amusements, have an important influence. To do more than premise these matters, would be unsuitable to this Magazine ; but what has been said became necessary as an introduction to what is to follow. 1 Applying the above theory to the three states of Germany which we have passed through, Wurtemberg, Bavaria, and Baden, the climate and soil of these states seem favorable in the second degree ; education, to a certain extent, is there universal ; reli- gion is, on the whole, more simple than in some other countries , and the laws and government* seem, at least, equal, in constitu- APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. 381 tional merits and impartial administration, to those of any people in Europe. The manner of life, or occupation, is chiefly *%ac\ib airaj^which, though not favorable to luxury or refme/aent, seenl(Ptathout doubt, for the great mass of the people, the hap- prest mode of existence. Local and personal attachments are universally felt to be essential sources of happiness : and» in no way can this feeling be gratified so easily and effectually a^ by the, possession of land. In the three countries named, the great ma- jority of the population are occupiers in perpetuity, of a poition of the soil, either as absolute proprietors or as perpetual renters. This state of things is far from being favorable to what is called making money ; but it is highly favorable to health and content- ment. It is a great deal for a poor man to have something which he can call his own ; something on which he can bestow labor, and from which he can, in consequence, extract enjoyment. The absolute necessities of life are few, and derived directly from the soil; the laboring man, therefore, who has a house and a few roods of land, is certain of a home and food ; he increases the interest of his home by a wife ; and parental care and solicitude, with connubial and filial attachment, fill up the measure of his happiness. These are the essential purposes and enjoyments of life, which nature intended for all men ; which the poor man can enjoy as well as the rich ; and for which no other enjoyment, either of the rich or the poor, the wise or the learned ..can en- tirely compensate. In no part of Europe have we seen, or thought we have seen, these enjoyments so generally diffused as in the countries we have recently passed through, and more especially Wurtemberg. We entered -on these countries, expecting to find the people not much better off than in France ; but we could not resist the conviction produced by constant observation, and the result of various inquiry, that comfort and happiness exist to a much greater degree among the laboring classes of society in the south of Germany, than they do in Britain. The people, at first sight, have a milder and more civilized aspect. The dress of the country laborers, male and female, does not consist of such fine materials as in England ; but one part of the dress is of a quality consistent with the others, and the whole is in a superior style, compared with the dress of the other classes of society. There is no such thing, in this part of Germany, as a man or woman in rags, oj with a coat or gown of the best quality, and the hat or stockings in tatters, as is frequently the case, not only among laborers, but even among mechanics, in England. In short, the 382 APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS dress in Germany is in much better keeping. Both men and women of the laboring class here are more intelligent in their aspect, much more civil and polite on a first acquaintaa^ and much better furnished with conversation, than the BritiSRitar- ers. What struck us particularly were, the great rarity of Re- ceptions to this general description, the general uniformity of manner and character throughout the whole country, and the to- tal absence of public beggars. On inquiry, we found that there were few or no poor supported publicly, though every parish is obliged to support its poor when unable to work ; and also, that there were few people in prison, either for debt or for crime of any kind. * This state of things more particularly applies to Wurtemberg ; and the causes, we think, may be very easily traced. The first and principal cause is a law respecting schools, which has existed, more or less, in the states of the south of Germany, for above a century, but which has been greatly improved within the last thirty years. By this Jaw, parents are compelled to send their shildren to school, from the age of six to fourteen years, where they must be taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, but where they may acquire as much additional instruction in other branches as their parents choose to pay for. To many of the schools of Bavaria large gardens are attached, in which the boys are taught the principal operations of • agriculture and gardening in their hours of play ; and, in all the schools of the three states, the girls in addition to the same instruction as the boys, are taught knit- ting, sowing, embroidery, &c. It is the duty of the police and priest, (which may be considered equivalent to our parish ves- tries) of each commune or parish, to see that the law is duly exe- cuted, the children sent regularly, and instructed duly. If the parents are partially or wholly unable to pay for their children, the commune makes up the deficiency. Religion is taught by the priest of the village or hamlet ; and where, as is frequently the case in Wurtemberg, there are two or three religions in one pa- rish, each child is taught by the priest of its parents ; all of which priests are, from their office, members of the committee or vestry of the commune. The priest or priests of the parish have the regular inspection of the schoolmaster, and are required by the government to see that he does his duty ; while each priest, at the same time, sees that the children of his flock attend regularly. After the child has been the appointed number of years at school, it receives from the schoolmaster, and the priest of the religion t« APPENDIX. DEATH. 383 which it belongs, a certificate, without which it sannot procure employment. To employ any person under twenty-one, without sueh a certificate, is illegal, and punished by a'fixed fine, as is al- most every other offence in this part of Germany ; and the fines are never remitted, which makes punishment always certain. The schoolmaster is paid much in the same way as in Scotland ; by a house, a garden, and sometimes a field, and by a small salary from the parish ; and by fixed rates for the children. 1 A second law, which is coeval with the school law, renders it illegal for any young man to marry before he is twenty-five, or any young woman before she is eighteen; and a young man, at whatever age he wishes to marry, must show to the police and the priest of the commune where he resides, that he is able, and has the prospect , to provide for a wife and family. 1 There are minor causes, but these two laws, and the general possession of land both by laborers and tradesmen, are the chief. Amongst the minor causes are the general simplicity of their forms of religion, and universal toleration ; even the Catholic faith in Wurtemberg, is unattended with the ceremony and spectacle with which it is exhibited in various parts of Germany and France. The equal footing on which the different religions are placed, is a]so favorable to liberality of sentiment and good neighborhood. That particular mildness of feature and charac- ter, so different from what is met with in the laboring classes in England, is no doubt partly owing to the greater proportion of vegetables and fruits which enter into the general diet of the population ; the almost total abstinence from strong liquors or spirits, the general drink being wine ; and, perhaps, to the almost unremitted smoking of tobacco from morning to night. — From the Magazine of Natural History. NOTE IV. DEATH.— Text, p. 203. The decreasing Mortality of England is strikingly supported by the following extract from the Scotsman of 16th April, 1828. It is well known that this paper is edited by Mr. Charles Maclaren, a gentleman whose extensive information, and scrupulous regard to accuracy and truth, stamp the highest value on his statements of fact ; and whose profound and comprehensive intellect warrants I well-grounded reliance on his philosophical conclusions. *84 APPENDIX. DEATH. 1 Diminished Mortality in England. — The diminution of the annual mortality in England amidst an alleged increase of crime, misery, and*pauperism, is an extraordinary and startling •act, which merits a more careful investigation than it has receiv- ed We have not time to go deeply into the subject ; but we shall offer a remark or two on the question, how the apparent an- nual mortality is affected by the introduction of the cow-pox, and g Jie stationary or progressive state of the population. In 1780, according to Mr. Bickman, the annual deaths were 1 in 40, or one- fortieth part of the population died every year; in 1821, the pro- portion was 1 in 58. It follows, that, out of any given number of persons, 1,000 or 10,000, scarcely more than two deaths take olace now for three that took place in 1780, or the mortality has diminished 45 per cent. The parochial registers of burials in Eng- land, from which this statement is derived, are known to be incor- rect, but as they continue to be kept without alteration in the same way, the errors of one year are justly conceived to balance those of another, and they thus afford comparative results, upon which considerable reliance may be placed. * A community is made up of persons of many various ages, among whom the law of mortality is very different. Thus, ac- cording to the Swedish tables, the deaths among children from the moment of birth up to 10 years of age, are 1 in 22 per annum ; from 10 to 20, the deaths are only 1 in 185. Among the old again, mortality is of course great. From 70 to 80, the deaths are 1 in 9 ; from 80 to 90 they are 1 in 4. Now, a community like that of New York or Ohio, where marriages are made early and the births are numerous, necessarily contains a large proportion of young persons, among whom the proportional mortality is low, ind a small proportion of the old who die off rapidly. A commu- nity in which the births are numerous, is like a regiment receiv- ing a vast number of young and healthy recruits, and in which, of course, as a whole, the annual deaths will be few compared with those in another regiment chiefly filled with veterans, though, among the persons at any particular age, such as 20, 40, or 50 the mortality will be as great in the one regiment as the other. It may thus happen, that the annual mortality among 1,000 per- son? in Ohio, may be considerably less than in France, while the Expectation of Life, or the chance which an individual has to reach to a certain age, may be no greater in the former country than in the latter ; and hence we see that a diminution in the rate of mor- tality is not a certain proof of an increase in the value of life, or an improvement in the condition of the people. I APPENDIX. DEATH 885 ' But the effect produced by an increased number of births ia less than might be imagined, owing to the very great mortality among infants in the first year of their age. Not having time for the calculations necessary to get at the precise result, which are pretty complex, we avail ourselves of some statements given by Mr. Milne in his work on Annuities. Taking the Swedish tables as a basis, and supposing the law of mortality to remain the same for each period of life, he has compared the proportional number of deaths in a population which is stationary, and in one which increases 15 per cent, in 20 years. The result is, that when the mortality in the stationary society is one in 36.13, that in the pro- gressive society is one in 37.33, a difference equal to 3 J per cent. .Now, the population of England and Wales increased 34.3 per cent, in the 20 years ending in 1821, but in the interval from 1811 to 1821, the rate was equivalent to 39J per cent, upon 20 years ; and the apparent diminution of mortality arising from this circumstance must of course have been about 8J per cent. We are assuming, however, that the population was absolutely station- ary at 1780, which was not the case. According to Mr. Milne (p. 437), the average annual increase in the five years ending 1784, was ] in 155 ; in the ten years ending 1821, according to the cen- sus, St was 1 in 60. Deducting, then, the proportional part cor- responding to the former, which is 3J, there remains 5J. If Mr. Milne's tables, therefore, are correct, wemay infer tkgt the progres- sive state of the population causes a diminution of b\ per cent, m the annual mortality — a diminution which is only apparent, because it arises entirely from the great proportion of births, and is not ac- companied with any real increase in the value of human life. 1 A much greater change — not apparent but real — was pro- duced by the introduction of the vaccination in 1798. It was computed, that, in 1795, when the population of the British Isles was 15,000,000 the deaths produced by the small-pox amounted to 36,000, or nearly 11 per cent, of the Whole annual mortality. (See article Vaccination in the Supplement to Encyclopedia Bri- tannica, p. 713.) Now, since not more than one case in 330 ter- minates fatally under the cow-pox system, either directly by the primary infection, or from the other diseases supervening: the whole of the young persons destroyed by the small-pox might be considered as saved, were vaccination universal, and always pro- perly performed. This is not precisely the case, but one or one and a half per cent, will cover the deficiencies ; and we may therefore conclude, that vaccination has diminished the annual mor 33 386 APPENDIX. DEATH. taaty fully nine per cent. After we had arrived at this conclusion by the process described, we found it confirmed by the authority of Mr. Milne, who estimates in a note to one of his tables, that the mortality of 1 in 40 wo*. Id be diminished to 1 in 43-5, by ex- terminating the small-pox. Now, this is almost precisely 9 per cent. 1 We stated, that the diminution of the annual mortality be- tween 1790 and 1821 was 45 per cent., according- to Mr. Rickman. If we deduct from this 9 per cent, for the effect of vaccination, and 5 per cent, as only apparent, resulting from the increasing proportion of births — 31 per cent, remains, which, we apprehend, can only be accounted for by an improvement in the habits, morals, and physical condition of the people. Independently, then, of the two causes alluded to, the value of human life since 1780, has increas- ed in a ratio which would diminish the annual mortality from 1 in 40 to 1 52 J, — a fact which is indisputably of great importance and worth volumes of declamation in illustrating the true situa- tion of the laboring classes. We have founded our conclusion on data derived entirely from English returns ; but there is no doubt that it applies equally to Scotland. It is consoling to find, from this very unexceptionable species of evidence, that though there is much privation and suffering in the country, the situation of the people has been, on the whole, progressively improving during the last forty years. But how much greater would the advance have been, had they been less taxed, and better treated? and how much room is there still for future amelioration, by spreading in- struction, amending our laws, lessening the temptations to crime, and improving the means of correction and reform ? In the mean time, it ought to be some encouragement to philanthropy to learn, that it has not to struggle against invincible obstacles, and that even when the prospect was least cheering to the eye, its efforts were silently benefitting society.' Extract from" Edinburgh Advertiser 13th January 1829 ; ' The following comparative table of the average duration of life at Geneva, during the last 260 years, is very remarkable. The growing improvement affords a striking proof of the benefits re* suiting from the progress of civilization and the useful arts. From 1560 to 1600, - - 1601 to 1700, .... 1701 to 1760, - - - - 1761 to 1800, .... 1801tol814, .... 1815 to 1826, .... Average ruration. Years. Months, 18 5 23 5 32 8 33 7 38 6 38 10 APPENDIX. DEATH. 387 It has been mentioned to me, that the late Dr. Monro, in his anatomical lectures, stated, that, as far as he could observe, the human body, as a machine, was perfect, — that it bore within it- self no marks by which we could possibly predicate its decay,— that it was apparently calculated to go on for ever, — and that we teamed only by experience that it would not do so ; and some persons have conceived this to be an authority against the doc- trine maintained in Chap. III. Sect. 2, that death is apparently inherent in organization. In answer, I beg to observe, that if we were to look at the sun only for one moment of time, say at noon, no circumstance, in its appearance would indicate that it had ever risen, or that it would ever set ; but, if we had traced its progress from the horizon to the meridian, and down again till the long shadows of evening prevailed, we should have ample grounds for inferring, that, if the same causes that had produced these changes continued to operate, it wquld undoubtedly at length disappear. In the same way, if we were to confine our observations on the human body to a mere point of time, it is certain that, from the Appearances of that moment, we could not infer that it had grown ap, by gradual increase, or that it would decay ; but this is the jase only, because our faculties are not fitted to penetrate into the essential nature and dependences of things. Any man, who had seen the body decrease in old age, could, without hesitation, predicate, that, if the same causes which had produced that effect went on operating, dissolution would at last inevitably occur ; and, if his Causality were well developed, he would not hesitate to say that a cause of the* decrease and dissolution must exist, al- though he could not tell by examining the body what it was. By analyzing alcohol, no person could predicate, independently of experience, that it would produce intoxication .; and, nevertheless, there must be a cause in the constitution of the alcohol, in that of the body, and in the relationship between them, why it produce3 this effect. The notion, therefore, of Dr. Monro, does not pro**** that death 'is not an essential law of organization, bat onl* .u at the human faculties are not able, by dissection, to discover that the cause of it is inherent in the bodily constitution kself. It does not follow, however, that this inference may not be legitimately drawn from phenomena collected from the whole period of cor- poreal existence. 388 APPENDIX.- — EDINBURGH ASSOCIATION. NOTE V. EDINBURGH ASSOCIATION FOR PROCURING INSTRUCTION .3* USEFUL AND ENTERTAINING SCIENCES.— Text, p. 213. The history of this Association is briefly stated in one of its reports. ' In the summer of 1832, several individuals, engaged in mercantile and trading avocations, and who were then attending Mr. Combe's evening course of lectures on Phrenology, expressed a strong desire for a more extended course during winter, along with lectures on some other subjects of natural science. With this view, they resolved to form themselves into an Association for procuring such instruction, at convenient hours and on moder- ate terms ; and in order to make the public acquainted with their intentions, as well as to ascertain the support likely to be obtain- ed, they printed and circulated a " Proposal for Courses of Lec- tures on natural History, Chemistry, and Phrenology combined with Physiology." ' These lectures were intended for the instruc- tion of persons of both sexes, belonging chiefly to the middle classes of society. They have been completely successful. The regulations of the Association are the following : — ' I. The name of the Institution shall be, The Edinburgh Association for providing Instruction in Useful and Entertaining Sciences. 1 II. The subjects for lectures shall be left to the judgment of the Directors for the time being. c III. There shall be twenty-four Directors, one-half of whom shall be annually changed, and an equal number elected, by a general meeting of the members ; and the said Directors shall, from among their own number, choose a President, Treasurer, and Secretary. 4 IV. An annual payment of one guinea shall entitle the contri- butor to free tickets for all the lectures, to vote in the election of Directors, and to enjoy all the other privileges of an ordinary member. ' V. Individuals shall be allowed to purchase tickets for admis- sion to one or more of the lectures, without becoming regular members. ' VI. The funds shall be deposited in a respectable bank, (at present being so lodged,) in the names of the President, Treasur- er, and Secretary. APPENDIX. EDINBURGH ASSOCIATION 389 * VII. After the present season, the annual meeting of mem- bers for the election of office-bearers, and other general business, shall he held in the month of March.' The last report of the Association, dated October 1834, men- tions, that ' in November 1832, lectures on Phrenology, Chemis- try, and Geology, were commenced, under the auspices of the Association. At this early period the number of subscribers ex- ceeded all expectation ; and the courses which have since been given on Botany, Popular Education, Natural Philosophy, Astro- nomy, and Physiology, have likewise met with the most marked success. The following abstract of the pecuniary transactions to the close of last session, will show the great interest which has been taken by the public in the proceedings of the Association :— • ■ TOTAL RECEIPT AND EXPENDITURE FOR SESSIONS 1832-3, AND 1833-4. Classes. Phrenology, Chemistry, Geology, Three Lectures on Education, given separate- ly in April, 1833, .,....♦.. Botany, day class, Botany, evening class, Three Lectures on Education, given in No-I vember, 1833 (in addition to the holders of Tickets to any of the other classes, who > were admitted to the Lectures on Educa- 1 tion free), J Natural Philosophy, Astronomy, ► . Physiology, . . . Tickets sold. 225 229 251 60 192 245 311 309 1822 Interest from Bank, Visiters ad- mitted at 6d. each. 387 142 242 at Is. 33 do. 163 340 406 231 at Is. 330 3267 Receipts. £115 16 4 100 73 7 9 2 2 12 2 38 5 75 12 6 10 110 3 313 8 9 95 17 9 £743 2 5 1 Paid Lecturers, and other charges, Surplus at 26th June, 1834, £748 3 605 12 4 £ 142 10 8 1 In comparison with some other institutions, the pecuniary means of this Association have been limited; but still they' have been more than sufficient for defraying all necessary expenses. These expenses, too, have been considerable, particularly for room-rent, fittings, advertising, and printing; for, besides the original prospectus, the Directors have already printed, and wide- ly circulated, four detailed reports, comprehensive syllabuses fot S3* »a 390 APPENDIX. MORAL LAW*. the three season courses of lectures, and tabular view of the Linnean system of classification of plants, with explanatory re- marks, amounting in all to 7500 copies. Certain fundamental principles have been steadily kept in view, viz. that no reliance should be placed on eleemosynary aid — -that the Directors should be regularly changed — that the instruction should be interesting, practical, and useful — that it should be applicable to both sexes from twelve years of age and upwards — and that full value should be given to the subscribers for their money, as well as a reasona- ble remuneration to the lecturers for their services. By continu- ing to act upon these principles, and by securing the aid of well qualified teachers, the directors confidently hope for a continu- ance of public support,' SVOTE VI. INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAWS,— T«xt, p. 826. The deterioration of the operative classes of Britain, which I attribute to excessive labor, joined with great alternations of high and low wages, and occasionally with absolute idleness and want, is illustrated by the following extract from a Report on Emigra- tion by a Committee of the House of Commons : — * Joseph Foster, a weaver, and one of the deputies of an emi- gration society in Glasgow, states that the labor is all paid by the piece; the hours of working are various, sometimes eighteen or nineteen out of twenty-four, and even all night once or twice a-week ; and that the wages made by such labor, after deducting the necessary expenses, will not amount to more than 4s. 6d. to 7s. per. week, some kinds of work paying better than others When he commenced as a weaver, from 1800 to 1805, the same amount of labor that now yields 4s. 6d. or 5s. would have yielded 20s. There are about 11,000 hand-looms going in Glasgow and* its suburbs, some of which are worked by boys and girls, and he estimates the average net earnings of each hand-weaver at 5s. 6d. The principal subsistence of the weavers is oatmeal and potatoes, with occasionally some salt herrings. * Major Thomas Moodie, who had made careful inquiries into the state of the poor at Manchester, states, that the calico and other light plain work at Bolton and Blackburn yields the weaver from 4». to 5a. per week, by fourteen hours of daily labor. In tht APPENDIX. MORAL LAWS. 891 power -loom work, one man attends two looms, and earns from 7s 6d. to 14s. per week, according to the fineness of the work. He understood that during the last ten years, weavers' wages had fallen on an average about 15s. per week. * Mr. Thomas Hutton, manufacturer, Carlisle, states, that there are in Carlisle and its neighborhood about 5500 families, or from 18,000 to 20,000 persons dependent on weaving. They are all hand-weavers, and are now in a very depressed state, in consequence of the increase of power-loom and factory weaving* in Manchester and elsewhere. Taking fifteen of his men., he finds that five of them, who were employed on the best work, had earned 5s. 6d. per week for the preceding month, deducting the necessary expenses of loom-rent, candles, tackling, &c. ; the next five, who are upon work of the second quality, earned 3s. lid.; and the third five earned 3s. 7Jd. per week. They work from fourteen to sixteen hours a-day, and live chiefly on potatoes, but- termilk, and herrings, 1 Mr. W. H. Hyett, Secretary to the Charity Committee in London, gives a detailed statement, to show, that, in the Hun- dred of Blackburn, comprising a population of 150,000 persons, 90,000 were out of employment in 1826 ! In April last, when he gave his evidence before the Committee, these persons had gen erally found work again, but at very low wages. They were laboring from . twelve to fourteen hours a-day, and gaining from 4s. to 5s. 6d. per week.' ' Extract from Lord Advocate Sir William Rae's Speech in the House of Commons, Wth March 1828, on the additional Circuit Court of Glasgow. 1 The Lord- Advocate, in rising to move for leave to bring in a bill to ' authorize an additional Court of Justiciary to be held at Glasgow, and to facilitate criminal trial in Scotland,' said he did not anticipate any opposition to the motion. A great deal had been said of the progress of crime in this country, but he was sorry to say crime in Scotland had kept pace with that increase. A return had been made of the number of criminal commitments in each year, so far back as the year 1805. In that year the num- ber of criminal commitments for all Scotland amounted only to * In what is called factory- weaving, an improved species of hand-loom is em- ployed, in which the dressing and preparation of the web is effected by machine ry, and the weaver merely sits and drives the shuttle. 392 APPENDIX. MORAL LAWS. 85. In 1809 it had risen to between 200 and 300 ; in 1819-20, it had increased to 400 ; and, by the last return, it appeared, that, in 1827, 661 persons had been committed for trial. He was in- clined to think that the great increase of crime, particularly in the west of Scotland, was attributable, in no small degree, to the number of Irish who daily and weekly arrived there. He did not mean to say that the Irish themselves were in the habit of com- mitting more crime than their neighbors ; but he was of opinion, that their numbers tended to reduce the price of labor, and that an increase of crime was the consequence. Another cause was the great disregard manifested by parents for the moral education of their children. Formerly the people of Scotland were remark- able for the paternal care which they took of their offspring. That had ceased in many instances to be the case. Not only were parents found who did not pay attention to the welfare of their children, but who were actually parties to their criminal pursuits, and participated in the fruits of their unlawful proceedings. When crime was thus on the increase, it was necessary to take measures for its speedy punishment. The great city of Glasgow, which contained 150,000 inhabitants, and to which his proposed measure was meant chiefly to apply, stood greatly in need of some additional jurisdiction. This would appear evident, when it was considered that the court met there for the trial of capital offences, had' also to act in the districts of Renfrew, Lanark, and Dumbar- ton. In 1812, the whole number of criminals tried in Glasgow was only 31 ; in 1820, it was 83 ; in 1823, it was 85 ; and in 1827, 211. — The learned lord concluded by moving for leave to bring in a bill to authorize an additional circuit court of justiciary to be held at Glasgow, and to facilitate criminal trial in Scotland.' INDEX. Acquisitiveness, 52, 62, 70, 78, 345. Adhesiveness, 52, 60, 74. Alison, Mr., on the easy childbirths among the lower orders, 371. Amativeness, 51, 6«, 77, 1 15, 345. America, evils anticipated from slavery in the U. States of, 253. Cruelties of the Spaniards in, 256. Penitentia- ries in, 265. American Indians, character of the, 171. American war, 245. Animals, their constitution compared with that of man, 1, 3, 42, 110. He- reditary transmission of their quali- ties, 158, 423, 425. Punishment in- flicted by them on each other, 269, et seq. Aristides's advice as to the burning of the Grecian ships, 246. Aristocracy, source of the unhappiness of the, 239. Barometer, its utility in foretelling storms, 301. Barrow, Dr., his interpretation of Reve- lation in connection with Nature, 333. Benevolence, sentiment of, 52, 67, 79. Bible, divisions of, 344. Contains nu- merous descriptions of human charac- ter, ib. Teaches that different talents are given to different individuals, 349. Bla-ckstone on the laws of nature, 368. Bonaparte's mother, a woman of supe- rior talent and courage, 163. Brahmins, their children naturally supe- rior to those of other Hindoo castes, 153. Brain the organ of the mind, 122. Ne- cessity of exercising it, 122, etseq. Its form and qualities transmissible from parents to children, 155, 209, 311, 421. By improving the brain we may im- prove human character, 334 Breeding of live stock, 377. Bridge water bequest, 20. Britain too exclusively manufacturing and commercial, 231, 238. Corruption of her government arising indirectly from the slave trade, 242. Strictures on her conduct in entering on the American war, 245. Her national debt the punishment of foolish wars, 219. Brown, Dr. John, of Haddington, his complaint about the repeal of penal statutes against witches, 342. Butler, Bishop, on the government of God, 30. On the supremacy of con- science. 43. On the extent t .> which suffering results from our own con- duct, 288. His interpretation ot Re- velation in connection with Nature, 332. Caldwell, Dr. Charles, 285, 287 Cautiousness, 52, 66, 90. Chalmers, Dr., on the means of human improvement, 102. Childbirth, pains of, 119, 371. Children, resemblance of, to their pa- rents, 152, etseq., 373. See Heredi- tary transmission. Christianity has proved itself insuffi- cient, while unaided by physical sci- ence, to produce moral conduct among men, 335. Practical Christianity, how to be realized, 234. Christians, primitive, charged with atheism and impiety, 330. Circassian brain, 162. Clergy, their zeal in persecuting and tormenting witches, 341. Ought they to teach the natural as well as reveal- ed laws of God ? 364. See Religion. Clerks, evils arising from a bad choice of, 182. Combination laws, 226. Combativeness, 51, 62. Commercial prosperity and distress, 227, 311,390. Conscientiousness, 53, 68, 81. Constitution of man, general view of the, and its relations to external ob- jects, 1. Constructiveness 52, 78. Cow per on the punishment of the Span- iards for their cruelties in America 257. Crime, origin of, 276. How to be pre- vented, 277. Increase of, in Scotland, 391. Criminals, punishment of, 270. Brains of, 275. Deafness and dumbness hereditary, 152 Deaf, 36, 383. A natural institution * 187, 203. Depravity of the human mind, 333. Destructiveness, 52, 62, 77, 345. Disease, predisposing causes of, 128, el seq. At different ages, 197. Doddridge, Dr. his interpretation of Re velation in connection with Nature 332. Dogs, acquired habits of, heredita v,158 Drunken fathers produce infer! chi) dren, 373 394 Edinburgh, great fires in, 295. Edin- burgh Association for procuring Sci- entific Instruction, 388. Education, Dr;. Chalmers on its power to improve the human race, 102. Utility of, 124. Classical and scientific com- pared, 214. Utility of phrenology in relation to, 353. What it ought to be, 362. State of, in Wurtemberg, 382. Eggs of hens, 376. Emancipation of the Negro slaves, 252, 255. Erskine on the laws of nature, 368. , Ebenezer, his account of the despondency of his wife, 142. Evil. See Misery. Excise laws, their oppressive and unjust operation fifty years ago, 243. Exercise indispensable to happiness, 47, 84, et seq. 122, 232. Expediency and justice always accord- ant, 232. Faculties of man, summary of the, 51,58, etseq. Compared with each other, 55. Compared with external objects, 77. Fall of man, 14, et seq. 188. Fire, benefits accruing from its proper use, and evils from its misapplication, 263. Fires in Edinburgh in 1824, causes of, 295. Firmness, one of the faculties, 53, 82. Flint's account of the American In- dians, 171. Fo;>d, relation of, to climate, 48. French Revolution, 250. Philosophers of the, 369. Friends, faithless, 61. Friendship, 60, 74. Future state, 24, 201, 208 Geology, truths revealed by, 4, 186. Scripture geology, 329. r Germany, burning of witches in, 338. State of the lower orders in, 381. Education in, 382. Globe, progressively adapted for the re- ception of man, 4, 186. God, existence and attributes of, dis- coverable from his works, 1, 79. Pro- fessor Sedgwick and Bishop Butler on his government, xii. 30. Locke on his benevolence and justice, 109. Principles on which his laws seem to be instituted, 262. Government, ought it to interfere with industry? 236. Gravitation, law of, results of obedierfce to, and neglect of, 44, 110, 314. Gregory, Drs. James ind John, on the hereditary transmission of mental qualities, 153. Happiness, how attainable, 8, 9, 84, 206. Why so little advance has been made in the pursuit of, 101. Influence of the natural laws on that of individuals, 313. Hare, murderer, engraving of his head 147. Harmonious gratification of the facul- ties necessary to happiness, 59, 71, 95 Head, different forms of, 145. See Brain Phrenology. Health, prerequisites of, 46, 47, 117. Hens, their eggs how made to vary in size, 376. Hereditary transmission of bodily and mental qualities, 119, 152, et seq. 275, 311, 320, 372; and of acquired habits, 158,375. Advantage of crossing the breed, 181. History exhibits man progressively im- proving, 10, 222. Honesty the best policy, 248. Hope, sentiment of, 53, 67, 80. Human nature. See Man. Constitu tion of Man. Ideality, 53, 68, 80. Imitation, one of the faculties, 53, 82. Independence of the natural laws, 21, 34. Intellectual faculties, 53, 82. Intended to be exercised, 88. Intellectual laws, 33. James 1. of England, his pusillanimity accounted for, 163. Jesus Christ, offices of, 344. Johnson, Samuel, on the evils arising from hasty marriages, 151. Jury trial in Scotland, errors in the mode of conducting it pointed out, 292. Justice always in accordance with ex- pediencv, 246. Defective administra- tion of, 288. Knowledge, acquisition of, agreeable, . • 86. Happiness advances with, 104. Knowledge of science necessary for rightly interpreting Scripture, 325, et seq. Labor, man intended for, 49, 232. Evils arising attending its excess, 224, 230, 390. Lawrence, Mr., on the easy child births of savages, 372. , Laws of nature, 29. Three great classes of, 21, 32. Their independe»ce, 21, 34 Definition of the term. 28. Obedience to each rewarded, and neglect punish ed, 34. Universal, invariable, and un- bending, ib. In harmony with the whole constitution of man, 35. Ap- plication of, to the practical arrange- ments of life, 97. Punishment inflict- ed under the, 260. Instituted for the benefit of created beings, 362. Moral advantages of punishment under them, 287. Their combined opera tion, 292. ''Their influence on the hap- piness of individuals, 3!3. Extracts from authors who have treated of, 367 Legislation, utility of Phrenology in re 'ation to 354. INDEX. 495 Life lovcrf, 51, 60, 198. Duration of, increasing, 202, 383. Plan of, 97. . Locke on the objects of divine punish- ments, 109. Love of Approbation, 52, 64, 78. Love thy neighbor as thyself,' 105. Lyon, Captain, unsuccessful result of his attempt, to reach Repulse Bay traced to its causes, 302. Machinery, anticipated moral effects from employment of, in manufac- tures, 232. Maclaren, Charles, on the diminution of mortality in England, 383. Malthus's principle of population, 220. Man, docttine of the fall of, 14, et seq. Man considered as a physical being, 43; as an organized being, 46 ; as an animal, moral, and intellectual being, 47. Intended for activity, 47, 84, 232. Summary of his mental faculties, 51, 58, et seq". Tbese compared with each other, 55, and with external ohjects, 77. A progressive being, 10, 103. Ap- parently but. in the infancy of his ex- istence', 106. Slowness of his pro- gress, 236 Manufacturing population, source of miseries of the, 224, 390. Marriage, 59, 119, 232, et seq. Miseries arising from neglect of the organic laws in, 177. Prohibited before the age of twentv-five in Wurtemberg, 383. Melancthon, engraving of his head, 149. 's opinion of the laws of God, 348. Mind, represented in Scripture as liable to commit every species of wicked- ness — and possessing moral qualities, 347. % Miseries of mankind, how far referrible to infringements of the laws of nature, 109. Misery and evil, sources of, particular- ly nienticWied in this work. — 111 sorted and too earlv marriages, 59, 119, 146, 150, 168, 177, 180, 374. Ignorance, 97, 13Q. Breach of the phvsical laws, J 12, 303. idleness, 126, 239. Filth, and impurity of air, 128. Ignorance of the organic laws, or phvsiologv, ,134,139, 140, 215, 265. Bad choice of servants, clerks, partners, and agents, 182, 218. Rash mercantile speculation, 215. Mistaken choice of a profession, 215. Excess of popula- tion, 220. Too severe and long con- tinued labor, 231. Oscillations of trade and manufactures, 237. Na- tional selfishness and unjust wars, 240—259. The slave trade, 242, 253. Errors in the mode of conducting Jury trials, 293; and in the proceed- ings of Judges in the Circuit Courts, 294. Scotch and English hostility, 294. Selfishness in captains of ships, 299. Montesquieu on the laws of nature 367 Moral laws, 21, 33. Calamities arising from their infringement, 203. Moral sentiments and intellect, supre- macy of the, 55. Moral science outstripped by physical, More, Hannah, on the effects of sickness on the religious character, 144. Mortality, diminution of, 46, 202, 383. Moscow, French retreat from, 125. Murray, Captain, his mode of preserv- ing the health of seamen, 136. National brains and character, 155, 1C1, 170. prosperity, effect of the moral law on, 240. wars absurd, 246. debt of Britain the result of he! wars, 249. Natural Laws. See Laws of Nature. Navigation, dangers of, 218. Negro slavery, 242, 253. Nervous energy, 125. New doctrines often charged with im piety, 330. New Hollanders, 170. New Zealanders, their excellent health, 117. Prognosticate storms, 301. Operatives, causes of their depressed condition, 224, 390. Opium, benefits accruing from its pro- per, and evils from its improper, use, 265. Optimism, 4, 37. Organic laws, 21, 32. Evils that befal mankind from infringing them, 115, 214,-315. Organized being, man considered as as, 46. Owen, Mr., 101. Pain, utility of, 267. Paley on the contrivances in creation, 37. Parliamentary reform, 252. Partners, evils arising from a bad choice of, 192, 219. Paul, St., his doctrines in harmony with Phrenology, 348. Penitentiaries, 285. Pestilence, 128. Philoprogenitiveness, 51, 58, 70, 77 Phrenologv, ix. 18, 105, 150, 183, et seg, 204—5, 275, 333. Human faculties according to^ 51. Practical utility o 343. Phvsical laws, 21, 32. How man may be placed in accordance with them 43. Calamities arising from their in fringement, 110. Phvsiologv ought to be generally studi- ed. 120." Plutarch, on the children of drunken parents, 373. Politics, utility of phrenology in relatiol 596 im*EX. Population, Malthus's principle of, 220. Increase of in manufacturing towns, 223. Principles, utility of a knowledge of, 133. Prichard, Dr., on the hereditary descent of bodily peculiarities, 160. Profession, choice of a, 216. Propagation, laws of, 116, et seq. 152, et seq. Advantage of crossing the breed, 181. See Hereditary Transmission. Punishment for breach of the natural laws, 260. Punishment inflicted by the lower animals compared with that inflicted by man, 270, et seq. Of criminals, ib. Flogging, the tread- mill, executions, 287. Moral advan- tages of punishment, 287. Reform of Parliament, 252. Religion and religious opinions, 24, 38, 98, 142—6, 234, 287, 325* 349, 356. See Clergy. Revelation. Scripture. Remorse, its occurrence after offences, how reconcilable with benevolence, 81. Retirement from business generally fol- lowed by unhappiness, 127. Revelation, 38. Cannot be at variance with true science, 332. Right and wrong, natural distinction between, 283. Royal families, degeneracy of, 163, 181. Safety-lamps, 130. Savages, easy child-births among, 372. Science, physical has far outstripped moral, 257. Relation between science and scripture, 325. Progress of scien- tific discovery, 107. Scotland, persecution of witches in, 339. Increase of crime in, 391. Scripture, interpretation of, 15, 24. Relation between, and phrenology, 344. Agreement between, 349. A knowledge of science necessary for correctly interpreting it, 325, et seq. Its meaning appears different to differ- ent minds, 325. Seamen, Captain Murray's mode of pre- serving the health of, 136. Seceders, their solemn complaint as to the repeal of penal statutes against witches, 342. Secretiveness, 50, 63, 78,345. Sedgwick, Professor, on God's govern- ment of the world by general laws, rii. On scripture and science, 328. ©elf-esteem, 52, 63, 78, 345. Servants, rhoice of, 182, 219. Sheep, acquired habits hereditary in, Sheridan, R. B., 61. Engraving of hit head, 148. Shipwreck from neglect of the natura laws, 298, 310. Sickness, amount of, at different ages. 196. Slave-trade, corruption of the British government indirectly flowing from the, 242, 253. Slavery in the United States, evils anti- cipated from, 253. Social law, calamities from infringe- ment ot the, 217. Society, advantages resulting from, 217 Spaniards punished under the natural laws for their cruelties in America, 256. ' Spurzheim on the natural laws, vii. St. Pierre on death, 191, 193. Stevenson, Mr. W. B. on the colors of mixed American breeds, 378. Stewart's classification of the activ* and moral powers, 345. Storms at sea, often prognosticate, 300, et seq. Stuarts, hereditary character of the. 153 Supremacy of the moral sentiments and intellect, 43, 55, 351. Happiness aris ing therefrom, 210. Tell, William, 260. Truth, slow progress of, 285. Vaccination, diminution of mortality . by, 385. Vanity, 64. Veneration, 53, 67, 79. Ventilation and health, 46, 293. Virtue conducive to happiness, 16. Volney on the laws of nature, 369. Wages, lowness of, 224, 234, 390. War, the American, 245. Wars absurd, 246. French revolutionary war, 250. National punishment for engaging in wars, ib. _ Wealth, engrossing pursuit of, 215, 231 237. Whately, Archbishop, on scripture and science, 326. Williams, murderer, engraving of hit head, 147. Witches, appalling atrocities perpetrafr ed against them in Germar.y, 338. England, ib. and Scotland, 339* Women, their pains in child-birth, 118, 371. Wonder, sentiment of, 53, 68, 80. Wurtemburg, law in, rendering educa- tion indispensable, and prohibiting marriage before the age of twenty- five, 382. 3477 Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: Nov. 2004 PreservationTechnologies A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township, PA 16066 (724)779-2111