Christian Phrenology: A Guide to Self-Knowledge

10. Acquisitiveness.

This organ is situated at the inferior range of the parietal bone. The faculty of the mind is a tendency to acquire whatever is regarded valuable and whether riches or learning or articles of vertu be the object of acquisition, there appears to be little doubt, that such a faculty is natural to the nature of man. Although such an instinctive desire presents the aspect of meanness we must in some measure look at its effects; what would England or any civilized country be, if there had never been a desire for storing up the products of intellect and philosophy,—and the wealth that enables England to send out millions in spreading the word of God over a benighted and barbarous world?—If industry were to be limited by present wants, man would always continue the creature of mere impulse; it is the faculty of acquisitiveness that directs a systematic aim at supplying the comforts and elegancies of life, and to this, accumulation is necessary: when however the pursuit of wealth becomes the chief business of life the moral sentiments are deadened, the intellect and the nobler faculties of the mind become engrossed in a debasing pursuit, the sympathy that characterizes a true christian is lost sight of. To provide for immediate wants of ourselves and those dependant upon us, to furnish the means of some repose for the body so as to enable the mind to enjoy cultivation, and to provide for the education of offspring:—to give a natural tendency for learning, for religious instruction, or the acquisition of that knowledge which is power, may be set down as the proper objects of this faculty: where the faculty of acquisitiveness is unduly exercised, and the propensity to acquire is not balanced by veneration and conscientiousness, the character is often influenced to dishonesty. In ABUSE; a miserly hoarding and total neglect of charity is evident, covetousness which St Paul condemns as idolatry, avarice and selfishness, a total disregard of distress, of conscientious principle, and of honour and duty are first and foremost;—from this organ, the weak fall a prey to the strong, the poor to the avarice of the lovers of mammon as they are called, that riches are valued more than public virtue or private integrity—that riches are pursued to the total ruin of the loftier principles of human nature, and to this prostitution of spirit and of soul is owing the difficulty of a rich man’s entering the kingdom of heaven. If there be such an instinctive tendency of the human mind, no better advice can ever be offered than that of the christian’s pattern “seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all other things shall be added unto you.” “For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”—

Besides these organs of the propensities, phrenologists have imagined the existence of a peculiar instinct termed Vitativeness, or love of life: the fact is probable but requires much caution and much experience before it can be definitely decided: the existence of a few isolated facts does not necessarily include the whole human race as being like a few individuals, and there is great necessity for not increasing the number of organs without due confirmation, because the simplicity of arrangement and the plainness of the science is thereby disturbed. Of this organ Spurzheim says “I look for this organ at the basis, where the middle and posterior lobes of the brain meet each other, at the internal border of Combativeness.”

DIVISION II. INTELLECTUAL AND PERCEPTIVE FACULTIES OF THE MIND.

11. Language.

It was owing to this organ, a full prominent eye, that Dr Gall first directed his attention to a scientific investigation of the faculties of the mind. vide Page. 13

A large developement is indicated by the prominence and depression of the eye, this appearance being produced by convolutions of the brain situated in the posterior and transverse part of the orbitary plate, pressing downward and outward in proportion to its convolutions. A full developement of this organ indicates a faculty for the acquisition and employment of words, or artificial signs, expressing our ideas; the meaning of the signs must be determined by other faculties, exactly as force or power of any kind requires to be guided and directed: from this reason may originate the very different significations given to the same abstract word, a different organization producing a difference in the meaning attached to it in spite of every effort to give an accurate definition; this will be self evident, if we merely quote the three leading features of Christianity, Faith, Hope, and Charity, and refer to different degrees of moral and intellectual elevation or turpitude, for the vague, unsatisfactory, and degraded meaning that we find frequently attached to them. Persons with a large endowment of this faculty, abound in words; in conversation they pour forth with volubility, but when excited they pour forth a torrent; this should be moderated by good sense, and appropriate language rather than verbosity will be employed in their speaking efforts as well as in their writings: when the organ is deficient, the individual wants a command of expression, he writes and speaks with great poverty of style, and when possessed of ideas is unable to clothe them in elegant or even appropriate language. The talent for, or facility of learning foreign languages originates in the same faculty, taken connectedly with the mental capacity for entering into the style and combinations of other countries. Some individuals in whom the organ is large do not necessarily possess a ready memory, which usually occurs when the faculty that apprehends the primitive idea (of which words only pronounce the name) is more than ordinarily small. The organ abused generally makes a speechifier of small worth, a talker for the mere sake of talking, who frequently loses sight of reason and subject as well as his own good sense.—Its best use is a felicity of diction in describing the sentiments and opinions of the individual so that they may be exactly comprehended by others.

12. Form.

This organ is situated in the corner of the eye next the nose, and when large there is a considerable breadth across the nose at that place: its chief use is in the accurate knowledge of form, whether of persons or objects, and disposes the mind to give a definite form to objects even when unseen: it is to this the acute observation of objects, by which means we compare them one with another, or personal identity after absence and probable change in the form of features: to this organ many distinguished sculptors and architects owe much of their excellence, as its necessary action in connection with other organs would be to express an accuracy of outline: it is to an excessive use of this organ that painters study correctness of form in drawing, and neglect colouring; useful to architects for this reason.

13. Size.

The organ of size is situated at the corner of the eyebrow, next to individuality, and appears to influence the capability of the eye and mind in its motions of dimension: instances are known where persons deficient in this faculty have been unable to manage perspective in drawings, or even to copy the plainest figure without error in the size: others on the contrary measure size by the eye almost as accurately as by a rule, and are especially accurate in judging about dimensions—the organ is necessary for some professions, but not of great general importance.

14. Weight.

This faculty like the preceding, is shewn only in particular persons: the absence of it is rarely noticed, and the presence of it quite unseen except in some particular walks of life. It gives a power of measuring, and comprehending the resistance of bodies to forces applied to them, is useful in philosophic enquiry, engineering, architecture &c.

15. Colouring.

The sensation of colour on the eye is very different in different persons; many persons having an acute sense of vision readily perceive the qualities of objects but are incapable of judging about the agreement or disagreement of particular colours, and when the faculty is small they confound them and are incapable of perceiving their effect. When prominent the individual possesses a taste for gaudy colours, careless about their arrangement or harmony with others. It is situated in the centre of the eyebrow giving it a prominent aspect such as may be witnessed in the portraits of Titian, Rubens, and many celebrated artists: The organ of colour well developed gives harmony and excellence in colouring and is useful to botanists, dyers, mercers, and all artists: That the faculty is abused, or rather wanting may be witnessed by the numberless facts that we meet with constantly, where people dress in gaudy colours and appear quite regardless of their being suitable or otherwise.

16. Space.

This hardly appears a positive faculty, we have noticed it from its being mentioned by phrenologists; it appears to be of a similar kind to form, size, and weight, all of which organs are connected with the organ of vision; the persons who have the organ well developed are persons of wide views in every thing, they are enraptured with extensive prospects, mountains, and every thing of a large size—if proved to exist, such a faculty would be valuable to painters.

17. Order.

The tendency of this faculty is to produce a love of order and arrangement in every thing; they are distressed by confusion, and are highly pleased with a regular arrangement of their furniture, books and other property. The organ is located in the superciliary ridge, and from its general small developement, much fact is still necessary before the organ and its value can be definitely determined: there is certainly well marked in some persons, a love of order, and in others a carelessness to disorder, the one often degenerating into precision in trifles that produces great discomfort to other persons, the latter often inducing a disregard of necessary care and attention: the medium is to be sought for by all who detect either in their own character.

18. Number.

The organ of the faculty of NUMBER is situated above and outside the external angle of the eye, a little below the external angle of the frontal bone. The special function seems to be calculation in general: it does not seem to extend to any faculty of computation beyond that of numbers, although from the tact that it associates with it, it facilitates the study of mathematics. Many instances are adduced of its large size in good calculators, particularly in George Bidder, the calculating boy. This organ, like the other perceptives requires cultivation.

19. Tune.

The organ of TUNE bears the same relation to the ears that the organ of Colouring does to the eyes. A large developement of the organ enlarges the lateral parts of the forehead, and great practice is always necessary before the organ can be successfully observed: but if two persons are placed together, the one having it largely, the other smally developed, the superior one will be perceptible at a glance. The faculty gives the perception of melody, which is only one of the ingredients of musical talent; the organs of the mind must be well developed in accordance with this, so that the soul and expression of music may be felt and appreciated, before the organs are perfectly developed; the fingers indeed may be trained to great expertness, but it is only the real lover of harmonious sounds who devotes all his powers to its cultivation that can arrive at any thing like perfect skill. As a natural faculty of nature, this organ is particularly pleasing in calming the passions, and producing pleasure by means perfectly innocent. Persons cannot obtain a scientific knowledge of music in whom the organ is deficient, and when abused as this faculty often is, it should be remembered that the line between pleasure and pain is so indefinite, that where one terminates the other begins;—music carried beyond an agreeable pitch, leads the possessor into society, and too frequently into pleasures more enervating and sensual—these are to be dreaded, and the musician should remember that as the noblest employment of his faculty is to “Praise God in the highest,”—so, nothing can be more debasing than the prostitution of it to unworthy purposes.

20. Time.

The organ of Time seems to be related to that of order in its effects, it is essential to music and versification, form some source of pleasure in dancing, and seems to give a power of judging time and intervals of duration in general. The value of time renders this faculty more than usually necessary; it leads to a right estimation of punctuality as well as punctuality in engagements: persons with the organ large are fevered by delay, they become irritated about trifles of time that they may be kept waiting by others and thus incur a charge of bad temper. The organ is especially useful in persons studying history as it tends to give a faculty of remembering dates and other periods of time, the succession of events, &c.

21. Locality.

Dr. Gall was led to infer the position of this organ from witnessing the memory of particular persons in their relation of places they had visited, and the strong impression made upon them by surrounding objects, so that he regarded this to be a primitive faculty. Spurzheim says, “the special faculty of this organ and the sphere of its activity, remains to be determined. It makes the traveller, geographer and landscape painter, recollects localities and gives notions of perspective.” Persons in whom the organ is large, form vivid and distinct conceptions of situations and scenery which they have seen or heard described, and have great power in recalling such conceptions.—The organ is large in all eminent navigators and travellers, also in great astronomers and geographers. Persons who have this organ large, are passionately fond of travelling: and where firmness is small, it influences to restlessness, and love of change; to physical pleasure as a gratification of this organ, in the neglect of other duties, and thus often exerts a baneful influence on the mind when allowed to operate without control.

22. Individuality.

The tendency of this organ is, the examination of fact as the only foundation of truth; it is situated in the middle of the lower part of the forehead, immediately above the top of the nose, it produces breadth and projection between the eyebrows. This faculty renders us observant of outward objects, and gives a desire to know, and to examine; it prompts to observation and general information, and is necessary for the acquisition of facts as a basis of science. Spurzheim says, “Persons endowed with this faculty in a high degree are attentive to all that happens around them, to every object, to every phenomenon, to every fact: it desires to know all by experience, and consequently puts every other organ into action: is fond of instruction, collects facts, and leads to practical knowledge.”—To the influence of this organ we may trace the knowledge of individuals by animals, and even wild beasts in which this organ is large may be tamed to the will of a keeper. It puts into active exertion the perceptive faculties round the eyebrow, and thus influences the quality of the faculty (language) which lies in that portion of brain; so that a person with this organ large, and language small, will say but a few words and those to the purpose, or with individuality small and language large, he will utter ten thousand neatly turned sentences of the meanest commonplace, alike destitute of information or science. Persons in whom the organ is large, are alive to every thing that passes around them, they look at facts and events, leaving it to others to reason upon them, and many great discoveries have been made by persons with this organ large who have not been celebrated for their powers of reasoning. When the organ is small, the individual fails to observe things that are going on around him, he will walk in the streets, or the country and see or rather observe literally nothing; he may visit a house without observing any one object beyond the immediate purpose of his visit.

Abuses. This organ is often employed in the affairs of other people, in petty knowledge that tends to no real purpose; a superficiality of observation that leads to erroneous inferences, and when largely developed with the reflective and philosophic faculties, it leads to peculiarity of studies and pursuits to the exclusion of all others, and by breaking the unity of learning which points all things to Him who gave, it is too often the cause, of mistaken opinion or downright error.

23. Eventuality.

Enquires into events and takes notice of occurrences; it gives prominence, or a rounded fulness to the middle of the forehead. Dr. Gall comprised this organ and the preceding one in one faculty, but it is now known that the one takes cognizance of objects, the other the relationship and actions of those objects. It seems to unite the reflectives with the perceptives, so that it recognizes the activity of other faculties and directs them to strict action; it desires to know by experience, and thus produces what is termed the good sense of a matter, and by recognizing the functions of the other powers of the brain and the operations of the external senses, it reduces those impressions into conceptions, ideas and opinions.—Eventuality is shewn when we review the past for comparison with the future, it examines the effects of God’s government in the universe and brings home the truths of the gospel to the heart of every one. Eventuality is the intellectual door to the threefold nature of man directing facts to his perceptive, reflective and moral being, thus pointing out the truth of Christianity in the fulfilment of prophecy, the mercy of the Creator and the punishment entailed upon sin; without this faculty the mind acquires a false conception of things, unsound opinions, and a tendency to the doctrines of materialism and infidelity from the animal rather than the intellectual nature being appealed to. Persons distinguished in professional pursuits have this organ large, since they possess readiness of observation as well as talent in the detail, whereby previously acquired knowledge is brought to bear upon present emergencies; where the organ is only partially and imperfectly developed, he will feel great difficulty in commanding his knowledge or appealing to it with any certainty, the organ should therefore be assiduously cultivated. In ABUSE it tends to promote a love of trifles, detailed events, scandal and abuse, the minutest particulars in preference to general information and individual aggrandizement rather than general good.

24. Comparison.

The organ of comparison lies upon the upper and middle portion of the frontal bone. The aim of the faculty seems to be to form abstract ideas, generalizations and establish harmony among the operations of the other faculties; thus comparing and establishing analogies among the objects of which a knowledge has been obtained by the perceptives: and it not only traces real resemblances, but the relations which things have to one another; persons with this organ large illustrate their ideas by similies drawn from other objects and thus render them plainer to the understanding of another person, and the comparisons thus drawn will be derived from those objects which most commonly engage the attention of the person making them: it is generally large in poets, even when they write prose; 2,500 similies are found in Moore’s Life of Sheridan; these comparisons please, because they address themselves to the multitude and produce clearness and force of illustration. Spurzheim says of this organ, “In order to persuade and to affect, the speaker or orator must speak by analogy, he must bring spiritual things close to terrestrial objects and compare them with each other; the activity of this faculty is very important, it compares the sensations and ideas of all the other faculties and points out their difference, analogy, similitude, or identity.” By comparison, man is enabled to judge whether his own life is what it ought to be, whether he has lived for time or for eternity: by comparison he is enabled to determine how far his life agrees with the Christian’s pattern, knowing that “as he sows, so will he reap;” the propensities incline to evil, as a necessary sequence to the fall, the moral sentiments urge on to good, a foreshadowing of immortality, the reflectives teach him how to be good, how to compare the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, with his own sinful heart, and learn wherein he errs. This is the proper and should be the only true aim of the Christian. In ABUSE this faculty frequently leads to false reasoning on account of the inactivity of the perceptives, in examining the subjects compared, it gives a love for similies and analogies, not always caring for their applicability, and unless duly regulated by the nobler instincts of fallen humanity, it degenerates to sophistry and a blindness to error.

25. Causality.

This organ lies immediately at the sides of Comparison and is found large in men distinguished for profound metaphysical talent. We have shown how Individuality and Eventuality take cognizance of things evident to the senses; Causality looks to the cause of the phenomena observed by other faculties: it expresses the irresistible conviction that every phenomenon and change around us emanates from a mighty, an unseen, an Eternal God; it looks to Him as the cause of our joys, and our possessions here, as the omniscient and ever merciful Father who gave his Son to die for our transgressions, it seeks Him as the cause of our hopes of everlasting bliss, and it bids us to acknowledge and adore. It is the faculty that considers the relation of cause and effect and prompts the question, Why? to whatever is unknown, or imperfectly understood; and for this reason requires to be watched lest the matter of enquiry be placed beyond the limited faculties of man, and infinite subjects be thus reasoned upon by finite capacity. If this organ be in unity with Veneration, Conscientiousness, and Comparison, the individual will be of steady, and rational Christian principles, but if without them, impious doubts and atheistical surmises will tend to require a visible cause for what must be invisible and the germ of error being planted, it may take root and abound to the ruin of nobler and more elevating opinions. In ABUSE, this organ produces a mania for possibilities, denying the existence of causes not evident to the senses, a disbelief in whatever is spiritual, and a direct influence to intellectual pride, sophistry, and error.

26. Gaiety.

The organ of Gaiety is sometimes called Wit; and has been defined by Spurzheim as “a sentiment which disposes men to view every thing in a gay, joyful, and mirthful manner;”—“given to man to render him merry and gay,—feelings not to be confounded with satisfaction and contentment.” The faculty appears to give a characteristic tendency to view every thing that occurs in a light manner, simply as far as it gratifies, and pleases, not in proportion to its intrinsic value, combined with the higher faculties, it produces wit, in common events humour; with the animal propensities, sarcasm and satire, or caricature and excess; with language, punning and double meanings, and in all cases it tends to a levity that is often misplaced. It is situated between Ideality and Causality at the upper part of the side of the forehead. In ABUSE, or when not counteracted by reason and reflection, it tends to severity and satirical remarks on the failings and weaknesses of others: a too easy regard for sin when not positively offensive, a love of pleasure, often leading to vicious excess; and frequently the faculty to gratify itself, offends friends by ill timed remarks and a system of practical jokes.

This organ acting upon the intellect leads to unsound and hasty judgments, because the mind being influenced more by Ideality than Causality, (between which two organs Gaiety is situated) it becomes an enemy to self discipline, and study, and leads the possesser into a physical love of pleasure, &c.—it opposes also the operation of the higher intellectual faculties from its close approximation to the true organ of analogy which is situated between the duplex organ of Causality in the centre of the forehead, and by a vain influence on the imagination it leads to delusive analogies as regards truth, overcoming the careful study of fact by the perceptive faculties and diverting the current of conscious inquiry by a regard for self and its pleasures rather than the true and correct analogies of truth.

27. Imitation.

Imitation leads us to imitate what we see deserving to be copied in others, and thus lies at the foundation of all art, because it is necessary to copy before any skill can be arrived at. It is a necessary ingredient in the character of actors, sculptors, architects, painters and engravers: it influences the style of the author, the manner of the poet, the correctness of the dramatist. It is always active in children and thus forms a natural education in them, taken from the persons around them: it is for this reason essentially and imperatively necessary that good models are presented to children in their youth; it gives a talent of acquiring the peculiarity of foreign languages; and when deficient, it produces a stiffness and uncomfortable mannerism that causes a person to appear like a fish out of water. It may be misused by being employed for mimicry and buffoonery especially for defects—in vice this is the real “facilis descensus averni,”—The situation of the faculty on either side of Benevolence, and above the reflective faculties teaches the proper use of Imitation; to copy what is good and above all the prominent features of our Lord’s character, charity and universal love.

28. Caution.

Caution tends naturally to circumspection, and it produces a cautious and considerate disposition of mind; persons so organized are continually on their guard, they look forward from fear of what may happen and are anxious to anticipate every occurence, they ask advice, take opinions and are still undecided; thus it produces doubt, irresolution, and wavering, which prevents vigorous and decisive conduct: when the organ is deficient in mature age, the individual is rash and precipitate, never apprehensive of the results of his conduct and thus he adopts rash resolutions and enters on hazardous enterprizes without foreseeing what must necessarily follow: to a due influence of this faculty we may trace the moral virtue that regulates the impulses of passion—looks to the future, and keeps the end of all things steadily in view. In ABUSE the faculty occasions fear and anxiety of the future, timid and desponding sentiments; no reliance upon Providence, too much thought about the morrow, forgetting that “sufficient for the day is the evil thereof”—Let a wise man, “Fear God and have no other fear,” for this will lead him to be cautious against offences against Him, and if a man keeps this steadily in view, he will never violate the laws of man.

29. Temperance.

Temperance is allied to caution, it is to the animal portion of man what caution is to the intellectual: its existence is identified with the preceding organ by many phrenologists, and probably the developement of that organ, as it is closer too, and more active upon the animal passions may be coincident with this. In this way Temperance tends to present as cautiousness to future prudence, it gives mind the mastery over matter, overcomes Combativeness and the lower feelings, and teaches temperance in all things: carried into an erroneous action it produces meanness and almost avariciousness; the wise man whose animal nature predominates will learn the difference between use, and abuse, by exercising Temperance not by the abuse of the goodness and gifts of his Creator.

30. Conscientiousness.

Located between Cautiousness and Firmness. This faculty produces a feeling of duty, a desire of justice, and a love of truth; it is the organ that leads men to do as they would be done unto, and is the most elevated principle of human action: the faculty does not determine what is just or unjust, but causes a desire to do whatever the reflective faculties determine to be right and becoming. It is a portion of the organization that cannot be too much cultivated, as it is of the highest importance in guiding and directing, regulating and controlling the actions of the other faculties: it leads to a conviction of individual error, and the truth when asserted by others: it influences the whole being to exercise prudence, temperance and fortitude, in opposition to the baser desires of the propensities; it tends to overcome the energy of passion, to regulate and direct the affections, to root out prejudice, and give the sense of moral rectitude, that supports an honest man under distress and affliction: when the sentiment is not well developed, the ideas of right and wrong are weak, and injustice if in accordance with interest or inclination easily committed; and when the lower propensities are active, an individual with this organ small, will call that justice, which a person differently organized would at once condemn; these are they of whom the apostles spoke, “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving, there is nothing pure:” but even their mind and conscience is defiled: remorse and repentance spring from this faculty: it should however be exerted before, not after an action—neither should it descend into immoderate personal chastisement; for no punishment of the body can wash out sin from the soul; the sentiment will never be abused if it be directed to preserve the “conscience, void of offence.”

31. Firmness.

Firmness, is a tendency to persist in conduct, opinion, and purpose: the immediate emotion is termed Resolution. The organ is situated at the posterior part of the coronal region, close upon the middle line. This faculty seems to bear no relation to external objects, its influence adds a particular quality to other manifestations: whatever may be the predominant pursuit it seems to give perseverance in that pursuit; it contributes greatly to the success of an individual in a particular object, as he keeps steadily in one course. A person without the faculty may manifest equal desire, but will, perhaps, try a dozen methods of success without following out any one, thus fortitude and patience are the results of this organization: when duly exercised, it gives stability of character; a person who is not led by the accident of the moment, but one who aims at perfection, and duly keeps to the high road to arrive there: when combined with conscientiousness it gives moral courage, supports the martyr at the stake, and enables a man to go on through evil report and good report without turning to the right hand or the left: without this endowment, the most splendid talents are thrown away, as they never reach the summit of what is good, because like Reuben, “unstable as water they cannot excel.”—In Abuse this faculty leads to obstinacy, stubbornness, infatuation in evil courses, or a constant aim at what is good, without perseverance to arrive at it.

32. Ideality.

The operation of this faculty is beautifully described by Shakspeare;—

“The poet’s eye in a fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven,
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.”

The organ is situated nearly on the temporal ridge of the frontal bone. Gall called it, the organ of poetry, because “in every kind of poetry the sentiments are exalted, the expressions warm; and there must be rapture, inspiration, what is commonly called imagination or fancy.” It is this faculty that produces the aspiration after perfection, it aims at endowing every object with the highest degree of perfection which it is capable of assuming, and is thus very valuable to man in his progressive changes towards a more virtuous and perfect existence. It gives a peculiar tinge to other faculties, making them aspire to exquisiteness, thus giving an expansion to the mental powers, which carries onwards, forwards, and upwards, makes them aim to be happy and form schemes for its attainment: it gives a keener relish to other faculties, in short, its operation is intellectually ennobling. In ABUSE it produces a finical and sickly refinement, fanciful opinions, love of show more than utility; it leads to novel reading, extravagant notions, and this gives a fictitious and unsteady character, unfitted for the severer walks of life.

33. Wonder.

This organ is situated immediately above Ideality; and the faculty gives faith in spiritual agency, in what is beyond the sphere of human vision, and which nevertheless requires to be believed; it inspires a love of the marvellous, the wonderful, the grand; a seeking for extraordinary events even in the most unlikely concerns, and a tinging of common-place with the emotions of superstition and romance. In the end of man’s tyranny, God prophesies through the mouth of Isaiah that “he will make all men drunk with the wine of astonishment.” In ABUSE, this faculty leads into much error, it inspires a love of what is novel and marvellous, a tendency to believe in magic, witchcraft, and other unlawful and unchristian arts, and when uncontrolled by the higher sentiments, to the pursuit of occult subjects; when united with the moral sentiments and due perception and reflection, it searches deep into the truth, tests spiritual causes and prophecies by research and belief, considering that nothing is impossible to God and that His goodness is sufficient for all.

34. Faith or Veneration.

Situated in the middle of the coronal region of the brain; gives an innate disposition to religious truth; a veneration for things sacred; belief in the word of God, and hope in Christ Jesus; it is this innate principle that bids the savage bow down to stocks and stones, to graven idols, and the works of his own hands; it is this that inspires the missionaries of God’s word, and leads others to bestow their wealth in furthering the good cause; and to pray for the time when the “knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea;” when abused, this organ leads to superstition, an undue reverence for the material portion of Christianity, to the depreciation of the spiritual, thus producing fanaticism, fear, and mystery; this organ requires to be guided by conscientiousness, and the light of God’s word, as the only true guide to religion, as composed of its elements, Faith, Hope and Charity.

35. Hope.

The organ of Hope lies on each side of Veneration; the mental faculty being altogether different from desire, led phrenologists to seek for a primitive organ, and thus the faculty has been identified with this portion of the brain. In well formed characters, this faculty leads to sanguine expectation in the goodness of God, it produces the blessed hope of everlasting life, the perfect love that casteth out fear, through hope and belief in Christ; it gives confidence in all undertakings commenced and carried on in a Christian spirit; it is the true staff of moral and religous courage, buoying up the soul amid the darkest terrors of distress or desolation. Hope supports Faith, and perfects Charity, since without it, the religion of man would be dark, gloomy, and desponding; in abuse, the faculty is directed to hopes of this world only; it creates too sanguine expectations, leading to disappointment that is often the bitter but wholesome fruit of experience; it often leads to vain and foolish speculations, and sometimes to want of exertion from a hope of good happening; “hope deferred maketh the heart sick.” When in unity with faith, benevolence, and the higher sentiments, it is productive of Theosophy, the knowledge of God from his works of love, and by a warm hope of everlasting life, leads men to subdue the lusts of the flesh, to be humble in their own wisdom, and to hope for the accomplishment of the great promise, “to be heirs of glory, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.”

36. Benevolence.

Benevolence is the noblest sentiment that man is enabled fully to exercise: it is in the coronal bone, central and immediately before the fontanel, it produces the generous and forgiving Christian, and the faculty is always delighted in doing good, and in ministering to the happiness of others; it compassionates distress, communicating a warmth of generous feeling that overcomes acquisitiveness and selfishness: it disposes to mildness of disposition, general kindness, charity, sympathy and love; it is the foundation of Christian charity and tends to relieve the wants and necessities of others. The higher sentiment is that of charity to the weaknesses of others, and a due regard to their opinions and errors; if too freely exercised it becomes abused that is, it inclines to generous extravagance, and alms-giving without regard to necessity in the object; it may thus be used to effect injustice to others, and although one of the noblest virtues of the human character it is useless unless exercised in a right way: for as St. Paul says—“though I give all my goods to feed the poor, and my body to be burned, and have not Charity, it profiteth me nothing.”

37. Self Esteem.

Self Esteem rightly exercised confers self respect, a due regard to rank or station, and induces confidence in one’s own abilities; the organ is placed just at the top or crown of the head. When exercised in a right way, it imparts a degree of self-satisfaction, and enables us to apply our powers to the best advantage in whatever station we are placed; it leads to self esteem, so that the individual contemns every action that is base and unworthy of an exalted mind; it restrains from forming improper connections, and this too when the moral qualities are not sufficient. When the organ is too small, the individual is bashful, has no reliance on himself, and from rating his abilities too low, gets them rated less. When large, it produces egotism, pride, hauteur, and self conceit. Combined with good moral sentiments, it is a valuable organ. In ABUSE it tends to self-love, self-will, and uncharitableness; and towards others contempt, disdain, and tyranny; it is a mortal enemy to Christian love and peace.

38. Love of Approbation.

This faculty regards the opinion that other persons form of us: the organ is situated on each side of Self esteem about half an inch from the lambdoidal suture: it produces the desire of approbation, admiration, praise and fame: it renders us anxious to please those whose approval we esteem, and to excel in whatever pursuit our associates admire. If well balanced by conscientiousness and veneration, it seeks the approval of the Great Judge of all things, by becoming worthy of eternal life: a due endowment is indispensable to an amiable character. In ABUSE it tends to vanity, a thirst for praise and flattery, a dread of the world’s opinion, and a too easy giving way to the ways of the world to obtain the applause of the worthless;—the faculty is cultivated by the system of rewards for merit offered in youth,—it is not often the abstract value of the object so much as the approbation of those who know us. This organ causes bashfulness or Mauvaise Honte, and produces the fear of doing wrong, which it often originates by over anxiety to do well; it requires to be closely watched, as it leads to envy, one of the most subtle and dangerous passions, that afflict man in his fallen state; it stirs up the animal propensities and the earthly affections, overcoming the superior sentiments; the man who endeavours to seek the applause of others should remember that his Redeemer said, “And whosoever of you be the chief, let him be the servant of all.” The faculty requires to be cultivated and regulated by conscientiousness, guided by the understanding to seek the applause of the good, and influenced by the spirit to seek the applause that is all in all to the christian, “Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”

39. Sophistry.

This organ, called by the French authors, “Ottin, Tete Philosophie,”—is situated on the top of the forehead above Comparison and causality, and gives an intense love of philosophy and metaphysical research: when well supported by the moral sentiments and perceptive faculties, it gives a great power of reasoning well, but if the perceptives are deficient, it gives a love of theory without sufficient regard to facts, so that the process of induction is lost sight of: its greatest abuse causes the light of wisdom, which is Truth, to be darkened by spiritual delusion or wilful perversion of revelation: or it produces intellectual sophistry, which tends to support party prejudices, and clothe error in the vestments of truth—actuated by the moral sentiments, this faculty produces the power of detecting sophistry in the arguments of another and teaches the christian to be as “subtle as the serpent, and as harmless as the dove.”

40. Prophecy.

This organ lies between Conscientiousness, Hope, Caution and Wonder; it produces a desire to compare the past with the future and judge of what will be; it influences to a study of prophetic writings and as the organ is actuated by wonder, or a desire of truth, so is the prophet true or false; and as the animal or moral and spiritual creature prevails, so will the person be dangerous or useful. St. Paul tells us, “despise not prophesying.”—and he calls it a gift and adds prophecy shall cease, but Charity and Love never faileth;—and again he exhorts us above all things to seek to prophecy, which in the greek text signifies “to teach the truth,” and thus it tends to perfect Christian peace and establishes for ever the eternal power of love; this faculty teaches us to perfect the faculties by pointing their evil tendency and looking forward to the teaching of the Divine spirit, to perfect what is out of unity in the threefold nature of man, as a physical, intellectual, and spiritual being: it teaches us to wait for the time when the Great Teacher Christ shall come as the Spirit of Truth and teach us all things. The abuse of this faculty makes men become false prophets and teachers; history affords abundant instances of men acting under diseased organs who have thus become deluding fanatics. The humble Christian who follows his anointed master will strive to overcome all that is vicious, so that he may be able to inherit all things, and understand the great truth that “the testimony of Christ Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Conclusion.

This little work having extended to a greater length than was originally intended, it is purposed to continue the subject in another volume of similar size, to which this is the text book.—In that work we design to point out the influence of the organs in combination,—the harmony of Scripture with Phrenology—and a text book for perfecting the organization by means of Holy writ—our object in so doing, is to make Christians the true Phrenologists, and to make this science one of the great army of TRUTHS, now advancing to the battle of Armageddon. Our aim in this volume has been simply to point out the uses of Phrenology, and the truths whereon it is founded; in the next we purpose to consider the means, whereby the pious and humble reader of Scripture may be enabled to perfect his organization, so as to overcome the world,—to fight the good fight,—and indeed to be born again.

THE END.

INDEX.

PHRENOLOGY.

Public attention is solicited to this Science as practised on Christian principles, by

Mr. BUNNEY, 62, REGENT’S QUADRANT.

Phrenology is emphatically the Science of Mind; and it enables persons to ascertain what points of their character are defective without being deceived by self-love or flattery, because, the Brain being the agent through which the mind operates, acts as an index to the general state of the mind at any particular period: and since Unhappiness—Ill success in life—Monomania—Nervousness—Erroneous or Evil Actions—are all the results of mis-directed mental energy—so Phrenology is, under Divine Providence, the means of detecting those slight wanderings of the intellectual faculties into particular channels, which frequently terminate in permanent estrangement, or lasting mental misery and discontent. Phrenological Advice, as practised by Mr. Bunney, is an examination of the state of the mind, through its agent the brain, and a recommendation of those pursuits which are calculated to restore a disarranged unity or an unequal balance among the organs or dispositions of the mind.

Mr. Bunney having examined many thousand heads during the last ten years, and witnessed the very great success attending Phrenological advice when rightly administered and properly followed, desires to announce that he is at home from Ten till Five daily, at his Lecture Room, 62, Regent’s Quadrant, where he will be happy to examine and advise persons as his long experience in accordance with the Holy Scriptures may render necessary. Mr. B. is well aware that many persons are deterred from visiting him by pecuniary reasons, but he begs to add that his invitation is for public good only, and that he expects no remuneration unless it is perfectly agreeable to the wishes and circumstances of the inquirer. Having examined one-half the members of our leading Universities, Oxford and Cambridge with valuable results to the parties themselves, Mr. B. must consider any further comment unnecessary.

DREWETT & CO., PRINTERS, 62, REGENT’S QUADRANT.

Footnote:

[1] No one will doubt how much influence Christianity has had in producing the high moral and intellectual developement of Europeans, to this also we may trace their great intellectual superiority as nations.