VIEW OF THE MORAL AND THEOLOGICAL BEARING OF THE SCIENCE.

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHORS, BY W. H. COLYER,

CORNER OF PEARL AND BEEKMAN STREETS.

1836.

ENTERED,

According to Act of Congress, in the year 1836, by

L. N. FOWLER & S. KIRKHAM,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of

NEW YORK.

STEREOTYPED BY F. F. RIPLEY,

NEW YORK.

PREFACE.

To Americanize whatever in science and the arts, is capable of improving or adorning the mind, or of otherwise benefiting mankind, is no less the duty, than it would prove the glory, of every American citizen. Americans have had the genius and the moral courage to point out to the world the landmarks of civil liberty, and the true form and principles of free government, and, also, the highroad to national prosperity by improving and promoting agriculture, commerce, and the arts; but, with a deep sense of humility and abasement, it must be acknowledged, that hitherto they have rendered to foreign literature and foreign science, a far more degrading homage and submission than that demanded of our forefathers by political tyrants at the period of our Revolution. We have nobly burst the bands of despotick rule, and raised a proud beacon of liberty and independence whose light has penetrated and illumined the remotest corners of the earth; and yet, it cannot be denied, that we have too generally been content to receive our literary and our scientifick supplies by foreign importations-that we have too long degraded ourselves by tamely submitting to the dictum of transatlantick writers, and by servilely copying their works; or, in other words, that our literary and scientifick dependence has brought a blush upon our political independence.

In nothing has this spirit of literary servility been more strikingly manifested than in the works of our countrymen upon the science of Phrenology. Hitherto, no American work has appeared upon this subject, stamped with originality of thought, or presenting new and comprehensive views, or even imbodying, to any considerable extent, facts produced by the soil and climate of equal rights ; but every thing phrenological in this country, has been either are print, or a substantial copy, of some foreign work.

Why this dearth of talent in American authorship upon Phrenology? Is it because foreign writers have exhausted the subject; or because it is an exotick plant which no man of genius and learning dares to touch? or because we have not among us, minds sufficiently gifted in logical and critical acumen, to grapple with the subject, and to imbody and analyze the enormous mass of facts presented by the peculiar condition of the country in which we live? Surely, if the genius of science ever demanded an advocate-if ever nature held out her hand, and invited her worshipper to sit down by her side and take her picture, here the votary of the one and the amateur of the other have inducements and allurements to step forth, which were never before proffered to mortal genius. In this land of plenty and equal rights, conscious of its liberty to exercise any and all of its powers, the human mind marches forth unfettered and free. Here human nature displays itself in all its varying hues of light and shade. Here, then, if anywhere, we might expect to find, not only the greatest variety, but, also, the greatest extremes, of character and

(RECAP).

talents, as well as the most striking specimens of original genius, and all accompanied with corresponding phrenological developments. Among those who have become identified with the American soil, we find three of the five varieties of the human race, namely, the Anglo-American, the Aboriginal American, and the African; besides an innumerable multitude of every other nation, kindred, tongue, and people, who are every day landing upon our prolifick shores and, in short, here we have all the materials necessary for the most extensive, and interesting, and instructive phrenological observations and experiments. Since, then, the grand basis of the phrenological system has been laid by Drs. Gall and Spurzheim, in the Old World, does it not behoove some American genius to step forward and lay hold of these ample materials thus placed by Providence within his reach, and complete this beautiful structure, and thereby identify the American name with a monument which is destined to become the admiration of all future ages?

Phrenology, it is true, is yet in its infancy; and its warmest advocates do not deny, that, for years, it must totter along in its leadingstrings. They do not expect, that, like the birth of Minerva from the brain of Jupiter, a science of so vast importance can spring at once into perfect form and maturity. They do not imagine, that, in the freshness of its tender youth, it can possess all the strength, and vigour, and compactness of manhood. They are not unaware, that centuries have rolled up their rich floods of discovery to aid in rearing to its present growth, the science of astronomy; and they believe that the fertilizing efforts of other centuries will be required to perfect it: and they are sensible, too, that the same is true of botany, chymistry, medicine, and, indeed, of all other sciences. Hence, they are not so unreasonable as to suppose, that two or three intellects, however gigantick, are capable of discovering and perfecting so comprehensive and profound a science as that of Phrenology; but they do believe, that Phrenology is a noble and thriving plant-a germe of true science, which has already taken deep root, and which requires nothing more than the fostering care of men of genius and learning to increase it to a stately tree, whose branches will wave over all nations, and whose fruit will gladden the hearts of all people.

Of all the subjects in philosophy, that which pertains to the mind of man, is undoubtedly the most interesting and important. Every discovery, therefore, in this imperfectly-explored region--every fresh ray of light cast upon this clouded tract, should be hailed with joy by every votary of science and by every friend of man. This volume is not designed to supersede the invaluable writings of Drs. Gall and Spurzheim, and of Mr. Combe, nor does it profess to be wholly original; but it does lay claim to many important improvements in the science of Phrenology. These consist mainly in presenting many new and (as the Authors conceive) useful views upon the subject; in bringing forward many new facts and the result of many observations and successful experiments, which serve as new proofs of the truth of the science and illustrations of its principles and utility; in supplying many gross deficiencies of the other writers upon the subject; and, above all, in presenting the subject in a far more practical form than it has been heretofore given. These several improvements, however, will be more clearly understood by giving a definite, numeri

cal statement of them.