202 REMARKS ON MR. COMBE 's " CONSTITUTION OF MAN." 



esced in this, that " lying lips become not a prince's mouth." In my 

 view, therefore, Burnett has manifested himself, on the foregoing 

 subject, as deficient in reflection as in research, in deciding with 

 constitutional confidence where the careful survey of a minute spe- 

 cification of circumstances is so necessary, before any opinion can be 

 urged from a conviction of its superior force and validity. Truly, 

 this our historian's style of judging can only be compared, in its 

 want of acuteness and discrimination, to that of Horace Walpole, 

 who with one stroke of his pen affirms the book in question to be 

 a contemptible performance,* and with the next, pronounces Henry 

 to be unequal to its composition. 



F. A. a 



REMARKS ON MR. COMBE's '' CONSTITUTION OF 



MAN,"t 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS OP HIS DOCTRINE AND ITS TENDENCIES. 



Mr. Combe's essay on The Constitution of Man originally formed 

 the concluding part of a course of lectures delivered by him at 

 Edinburgh, in the winter of 1826 — 27 ; and, at the time, his expo- 

 sition of the natural laws excited a profound interest in the minds 

 of his hearers. Many of these expressed their perfect conviction of 

 the truth and practical importance of his doctrine ; and, in the end, 

 he was urgently solicited by them to publish his views, as well cal- 

 culated to promote the best interests of society. Having patiently 

 considered this application in all its bearings, he printed a very 

 small impression of the essay exclusively for private distribution, 

 with the object of presenting copies to reflecting individuals who 

 entertain a disinterested concern for the improvement of mankind, 

 and of thus obtaining their deliberate opinions on the tendencies of 

 his propositions, and on the inferences he maintains. His own 

 judgment clearly discerned the duty and advantages of their publi- 

 cation ; and, finding himself encouraged to submit his principles to 



• Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors, voL i., p. 24. 



i" Tfie Constitution of Man, considered in Relation to External Objects, by 

 George Combe. 8vo. Edinburgh and London, 1835, The fourth edition, 

 revised, corrected, and enlarged. 



