186]Prnlg rmnd 6 res from his pen, as he carelessly rounded those s periods for the edification of his friend, Dr. son. Whether true or false, Phrenology is condemned by a fair interpretation of the lang e. Had he simply declared that the science lcated false morals, it would have been another er. But he says, "if" it be a baseless hypothit teaches wrong views of moral responsibility. v, precisely the same ethics is taught by the pothesis" which would be taught by the sci, if true. A certain set of facts, real or imary, constitute the system: upon these, phlregists reason in a particular way, and in the same way would they reason, whether these existed in nature, or only in their own fancy. en Swedenborg entertained the twelve Disci, at dinner, in his own house, he no doubt playhe host exactly as he would have done, had been bodily present. The creatures of his heated brain were, for him, flesh and blood, to ntents and purposes. So, the phrenological rs, which Dr. Meigs so pungently disapproves, Ild remain just as at present, were the science ecome as fixed as Newton's theory, and he Ild be bound by his logic to deprecate such suc; to mourn with suffering morality that the em was true; to sanction the ridiculous heresy, there are discoverable truths in nature, of lsh mankind had b etter continue ignorant. rofessor Flourens observes in his own preface, ach succeeding ace has a philosophy of its own. seventeenth century recovered from the phiphy of Descartes,-the eighteenth, from that ocke and Condillac; is the nineteenth to recover that of Gall? I frequently quote Descartes; en go further; for I dedicate my work to his tory. I am writing in opposition to a bad phiphy, while I am endeavoring to recall a sound Heed her good promptings-muse and learn- e And, haply, to thy toils return With a clear heart and courage stern. P. P. COOKE. PHRENOLOGY EXAMINED. By P. FLOURENS, Member of the French Academy, perpetual Secretary of t h e Royal Academy of Sciences, ( Institute of France,) &c., &c., "J'ai un sentiment clair d e ma libert6." —Bossuet, Trait6 du l ibre arbitre. Translated from the Second Edition of 1845, by C h a r l e s De Lucena Meigs, M, D., Memb. Amer. P h i l. Soc. etc., etc. Philadelphia: Ho gan & Thompson. 1846. "Professor Flourens," says the translator, in a prefatory letter to Dr. James Jackson of Boston, "by his writings on the brain and nervous system, by his courses of lectures at the Jardin des Plantes, by numerous writings on various scientific subjects, by his position in the Institute, has acquired a place among the literary and scientific celebrities of the age. * * * He is one of the best and most precise thinkers in Europe. * * * A pulverizing blow is given in this work to so considerable an error, (i. e., to Phrenology.) * * * In order to have a just view of human responsibility, it is indispensab le to entertain th e justest notions of the nature of the human mind. If Phrenology be an unsubstantial hypothesis, no phreinologist is fit to be a juror, a judge, or a legislator." On this quotation, which we make for the instruction of our readers, as to the reputation and aims of our author, we will offer but one remark, and that to Dr. Meigs. We would most respectfully suggest, that the last sentence contains thrice-wonderful doctrine, and must, assuredly, have run un These, we think, are very strange expre ssio ns for one of the " best and mos t precise thinker s in EuropP." Wba y nh ich Di s silthe soun d phil osophy that he endeavors to recall h The Cart esi an; and yet, he speaks in the same brea th of the seventeenth entur y having recover ed from it, afte r th e very fashi on in wh ich he would gladly s ee the nineteenth recover from that of Gall. Moreover, if each succeeding age must have a philosophy of its own-if all the systems are idly traced in sand, w hy do es he quite earnestly and dogmatically draw his own little diagram. The next wave of time will sweep it away. Nay, why does he even try to revive the marks which Descartes scribbled there, and over which the obliterating tide of time has twice rolled. The truth is, both our author and his translator evidently entertain cloudy notions of what a science, or a philosophy really is, which must spread confusion through all their reasonings on the subject. They cram the experiments of Gall, and the fantastic speculations of Descartes, into the same 267 1846.] Phrenology Examined., Bare is the gray peak where he stood Again the blue sky seems to brood Over a lovely solitude. V. Our life on earth is ftill of cares, And ttie worn spirit oft despairs Under the groaning load it bears. When such dark moods will force their wayWhen the soul cowers beneath their sway, Go forth as 1 have done to-day. Boon Nature is a foe severe To pallid brow and shadowy fear, And lifts the fallen to valiant cheer. Virginia. PHRENOLOGY EXAMINED. one.
Phrenology Examined [pp. 267-277]
Southern literary messenger; devoted to every department of literature and the fine arts. / Volume 12, Issue 5
186]Prnlg rmnd 6 res from his pen, as he carelessly rounded those s periods for the edification of his friend, Dr. son. Whether true or false, Phrenology is condemned by a fair interpretation of the lang e. Had he simply declared that the science lcated false morals, it would have been another er. But he says, "if" it be a baseless hypothit teaches wrong views of moral responsibility. v, precisely the same ethics is taught by the pothesis" which would be taught by the sci, if true. A certain set of facts, real or imary, constitute the system: upon these, phlregists reason in a particular way, and in the same way would they reason, whether these existed in nature, or only in their own fancy. en Swedenborg entertained the twelve Disci, at dinner, in his own house, he no doubt playhe host exactly as he would have done, had been bodily present. The creatures of his heated brain were, for him, flesh and blood, to ntents and purposes. So, the phrenological rs, which Dr. Meigs so pungently disapproves, Ild remain just as at present, were the science ecome as fixed as Newton's theory, and he Ild be bound by his logic to deprecate such suc; to mourn with suffering morality that the em was true; to sanction the ridiculous heresy, there are discoverable truths in nature, of lsh mankind had b etter continue ignorant. rofessor Flourens observes in his own preface, ach succeeding ace has a philosophy of its own. seventeenth century recovered from the phiphy of Descartes,-the eighteenth, from that ocke and Condillac; is the nineteenth to recover that of Gall? I frequently quote Descartes; en go further; for I dedicate my work to his tory. I am writing in opposition to a bad phiphy, while I am endeavoring to recall a sound Heed her good promptings-muse and learn- e And, haply, to thy toils return With a clear heart and courage stern. P. P. COOKE. PHRENOLOGY EXAMINED. By P. FLOURENS, Member of the French Academy, perpetual Secretary of t h e Royal Academy of Sciences, ( Institute of France,) &c., &c., "J'ai un sentiment clair d e ma libert6." —Bossuet, Trait6 du l ibre arbitre. Translated from the Second Edition of 1845, by C h a r l e s De Lucena Meigs, M, D., Memb. Amer. P h i l. Soc. etc., etc. Philadelphia: Ho gan & Thompson. 1846. "Professor Flourens," says the translator, in a prefatory letter to Dr. James Jackson of Boston, "by his writings on the brain and nervous system, by his courses of lectures at the Jardin des Plantes, by numerous writings on various scientific subjects, by his position in the Institute, has acquired a place among the literary and scientific celebrities of the age. * * * He is one of the best and most precise thinkers in Europe. * * * A pulverizing blow is given in this work to so considerable an error, (i. e., to Phrenology.) * * * In order to have a just view of human responsibility, it is indispensab le to entertain th e justest notions of the nature of the human mind. If Phrenology be an unsubstantial hypothesis, no phreinologist is fit to be a juror, a judge, or a legislator." On this quotation, which we make for the instruction of our readers, as to the reputation and aims of our author, we will offer but one remark, and that to Dr. Meigs. We would most respectfully suggest, that the last sentence contains thrice-wonderful doctrine, and must, assuredly, have run un These, we think, are very strange expre ssio ns for one of the " best and mos t precise thinker s in EuropP." Wba y nh ich Di s silthe soun d phil osophy that he endeavors to recall h The Cart esi an; and yet, he speaks in the same brea th of the seventeenth entur y having recover ed from it, afte r th e very fashi on in wh ich he would gladly s ee the nineteenth recover from that of Gall. Moreover, if each succeeding age must have a philosophy of its own-if all the systems are idly traced in sand, w hy do es he quite earnestly and dogmatically draw his own little diagram. The next wave of time will sweep it away. Nay, why does he even try to revive the marks which Descartes scribbled there, and over which the obliterating tide of time has twice rolled. The truth is, both our author and his translator evidently entertain cloudy notions of what a science, or a philosophy really is, which must spread confusion through all their reasonings on the subject. They cram the experiments of Gall, and the fantastic speculations of Descartes, into the same 267 1846.] Phrenology Examined., Bare is the gray peak where he stood Again the blue sky seems to brood Over a lovely solitude. V. Our life on earth is ftill of cares, And ttie worn spirit oft despairs Under the groaning load it bears. When such dark moods will force their wayWhen the soul cowers beneath their sway, Go forth as 1 have done to-day. Boon Nature is a foe severe To pallid brow and shadowy fear, And lifts the fallen to valiant cheer. Virginia. PHRENOLOGY EXAMINED. one.
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"Phrenology Examined [pp. 267-277]." In the digital collection Making of America Journal Articles. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/acf2679.0012.005. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 25, 2025.