404 MENTAL FUNCTIONS OF 



degrees of disposition and talents being hereditary, and of each 

 age having its distinctive character, are quite as favourable as 



without betraying a total misconception of it, or an ignorance of the facts of which 

 the spoke. Some opposers are both ignorant and malicious. 



Let us all, therefore, follow Gall's advice ; and when, by careful investigation, 

 we have satisfied ourselves of a truth, let us not be angry, but let us, remember- 

 ing the words of Locke, that few people have any solid reasons for the " doc- 

 trines they keep such a stir about " (Hum. Underst. iv. 21.), pity mankind and 

 totally disregard the opinions of those who have not bestowed the same atten- 

 tion as ourselves or yield to malevolent passions, be they little, like the swarm, 

 or men of real distinction. 



Till Gall established himself in Paris and rose into a very fine and high prac- 

 tice (he was physician to many ambassadors), he kept himself very poor from 

 spending upon his phrenological pursuits all he gained, after absolutely necessary 

 expenses. And although he lived then in the most private manner, with the com- 

 forts indeed of a handsome lodging, a carriage, and a garden with a small house 

 in the suburbs, he had saved so little, that, had his illness been protracted, his 

 friends in a few months must have supported him. In his combination of intellect 

 and moral sentiments, I doubt if any other human being surpassed him j and 

 the frontal and sincipital regions of his head were magnificent. His cerebellum 

 was very large, and he was twice married ; and although, after separating from 

 his first wife he had a mistress, I believe he was a model of fidelity, and married 

 again immediately that his first wife died. His noble independence of mind 

 cannot be better shown than in his account of self-esteem in which he evidently 

 pourtrays himself, a passage which I have ever in my thoughts. " There is a 

 certain number of men endowed with such strength of mind and nobleness of 

 soul, thoroughly sensible of their own worth, and so passionately fond of inde- 

 pendence, that they resist every external influence calculated to subject them. 

 They endeavour, as much as possible, to establish themselves in countries where 

 there is the most liberty ; they follow a pursuit which renders them independent, 

 which exempts them from the favours and the caprices of the great. Dominion 

 over their inferiors, which would lead on to slavery under an absolute master, to 

 them would be insupportable. Honours and distinctions intended for merit, 

 when lavished on men of no pretensions, are in their eyes only degradations. If 

 they prosper, it is through their own exertions. Like the oak, they sustain 

 themselves ; and, for whatever they are, they consent to be indebted to no one. 

 This is a pride which has not degenerated into haughtiness ; which is often the 

 companion of great virtues, is the enemy of all baseness, and the support of 

 courage in adversity." (1. c. 4to. vol. iii. p. 299., Svo. t. iv. p. 254.) " I 

 am the most modest, the most humble of men, when I behold around 

 me the immensity of things which I am condemned not to understand, and 

 which, nevertheless, are connected with the objects of a medical observer and 

 practitioner. But when the discovery of the structure and functions of 

 the brain is spoken of, I believe myself, with imperturbable confidence, to 

 be above all my predecessors, above all my cotemporaries. Yes ; I am the first 

 who has established the physiological principles on which the structure and 



