8 



head, where they are said to indicate ex- 

 cess of cautiousness ; suppose him ap- 

 prized that such excess tends to produce 

 melancholy musings and irrational appre- 

 hensions, which may hold the mind spell- 

 bound and appalled, till suicide is wel- 

 comed as the only means of escape from 

 seemingly insupportable gloom and horrors. 

 Suppose him with this information seized 

 with a fit of temporary despondency; will 

 he now strive to rouse his mind to active 

 exertion and employ it on other subjects? — 

 will he not rather think the effort useless 

 and be inclined to submit to his doom, 

 from the belief that it is the result of un- 

 alterable organization ? Or, suppose a man 

 to have large knobs on his head which are 

 said to indicate him to be a knave and a 

 thief, can he expect assistance or confidence 

 from any one ? Must he not, as all of noto- 

 riously bad character do, consider himself 

 to be an outcast from society, having no 



