REMARKS ON MR. COMBE's " CONSTITUTION OF MAN." 21 1 



rate faction ; and they were accused of sacrilege, sedition, and high- 

 treason. Mr. Combe's favourite science of mind has not been ex- 

 empted from the same sort of obloquy : nevertheless, it flourishes 

 vigorously, and its benignant influences are extending- to the utmost 

 precincts of the civilized world. Its advocates expect that it will 

 lead to a better interpretation of some parts of the Bible, and thus 

 conduce eminently to the realization of pure practical Christianity, 

 by giving a new direction to the pursuits of the religious instructors 

 of mankind. History exhibits the apostolic doctrine itself as becom- 

 ing corrupted by the selfish or senseless inventions of men, and as 

 exerting but little influence in improving the nations, until it came 

 to be aided by the arts and sciences. Mr. C. uses a narration of the 

 persecutions for witchcraft, in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seven- 

 teenth centuries, as an illustration of the inefficacy of Scripture, 

 alone or not rightly interpreted, to produce a perfectly rational and 

 moral conduct ; and hence he infers the necessity of employing all 

 our lights and all our powers in searching for the true meaning of 

 the divine enunciations. In his essay to determine the relation 

 between scripture and science, Mr. Combe explicitly disavows all in- 

 tention or desire to depreciate the importance of The Bible : in his 

 own words, he only very humbly endeavours to vindicate the study 

 of the Creator's will in his works as in his word ; to shew that the 

 human mind needs illumination from both science and scripture, to 

 direct our conduct towards virtue ; and to prove that, without phi- 

 losophical knowledge, we may grievously misunderstand and misuse 

 the doctrines revealed in the sacred writings. 



Supposing it to be true, what is the practical use of phrenology ? 

 Mr. C. devotes a section of his work to a solution of the question, 

 and his observations on this head are every way worthy of attention 

 and unprejudiced consideration. With much felicity of illustration 

 and deduction, he defines the varied and comprehensive utility of 

 this science, with reference to politics, legislation, education, morals, 

 and religion; the professions, pursuits, exercises, and amusements 

 of individuals. He concludes his admirable exposition of the advan- 

 tages to be conferred on education by a right api)lication of the new 

 mental system, with the remarks that, by teaching mankind the 

 philosophy of their own nature, and that of th& world in which 

 they live, and by proving to them the coincidence between this phi- 

 losophy and Christian morality, as well as the inconsistency of their 

 own institutions with both, they may then be induced to modify 

 the latter, and to entrench the moral powers; and that when 

 schools and colleges shall expound the various branches of science 



p2 



