HDD 



A LITERARY, SCIENTIFIC, AND INSTRUCTIVE FAMILY PAPER. 



Conducted by WILLIAM KIDD, of Hammersmith,— 



Author op the Familiar and Popular Essays on "Natural History;" "British Sonq 



Birds;" "Birds of Passage;" "Instinct and Reason;" 



" The Aviary and its Occupants," &c. 



"THE OBJECT OF OUR WORK IS TO MAKE MEN WISER, WITHOUT OBLIGINO THEM TO TURN OVER FOLIOS AND 

 aUARTOS.— TO FURNISH MATTER FOR THINKING, AS WELT, A3 READING."— EVELYN. 



No. 9.— 1852. 



SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28. 



Price l£rf. 



Or, in Monthly Parts, Price Id 



PHRENOLOGY FOR " THE MILLION.' 

 Introductory Chapter. 



" Nature is but a name for an effect, whose cause 

 is GOD."— Cowper. 



In accordance with the wishes expressed 

 by our philanthropic Correspondent, Amicus, 

 (see London Journal, No. 8, p. 119), we 

 have given his proposition our very best 

 attention ; and we confess that our Corre- 

 spondent has good reason and good sense on 

 his side when he urges us to make the won- 

 derful science of Phrenology " exten- 

 sively popular." 



We admire, too, the Christian spirit with 

 which he proposes the whole inquiry shall 

 be conducted — placing Man and his Creator 

 in their proper, relative positions. If this 

 were lost sight of, and mere " theoretical 

 speculations " indulged in, ours would be 

 a hopeless cause indeed ! But it is a most 

 righteous cause, — " Magna est Veritas 

 et prcevalebit." Truth, in all its grandeur, is 

 on our side, and it will carry all before it. 



Our first and grandest object will be, to 

 record "facts," which Burke says, "are 

 to the mind the same thing as food to the 

 body. On the due digestion of facts," he 

 adds, "depend the strength and wisdom of 

 the one, just as vigor and health depend upon 

 the other." This is worth bearing in lively 

 remembrance. 



The time has quite gone by, when people 

 were blindly led by the nose ; and ignorantly 

 thought as others thought — without reflecting 

 for themselves. Education has assisted greatly 

 in this matter ; and society has benefited in 

 consequence. 



Thousands of our fellow-men, who formerly 

 resorted to low public houses and wasted their 

 evenings in the so-called "enjoyment" of 

 ribald jests, now form worthy, estimable mem- 

 bers of society. They have, too, their Weekly 

 Magazine, and favorite author, to fill up their 

 leisure moments. The greater their advance 



in knowledge — for knowledge is progressive, 

 and always makes its possessor thirst for 

 more — the greater we observe their desire 

 to be to find out a reason or " cause " for 

 everything that comes under their notice. 

 It is this spirit of inquiry that has stimulated 

 so many of our now eminent men to rise 

 " from the ranks." Despising difficulty, and 

 aspiring to eminence, they reached the goal, 

 — setting an example which we hope to see 

 universally followed. It shall be our aim 

 to encourage this, and to assist in it by 

 every available means in our power. 



It is quite evident to all who choose to 

 argue on the matter, that the human Brain 

 is the seat of Reason ; and that therein is 

 contained the regulating medium of all our 

 actions. How important then is the study 

 of it ! How culpable are those who refuse 

 to listen, and who are too apathetic to in- 

 quire about what is of such vital interest 

 to themselves and to society at large ! 



We can now look back to our early days, 

 and give satisfactory reasons for our defi- 

 ciencies and excellencies. The former, our 

 teachers (fool like) endeavored to remedy by 

 the rod and by punishment ; but neither had 

 any good effect. We possessed not the 

 " power," nor the "ability " to do what was 

 required of us, in certain of the sciences. We 

 shone in many. Our 'cuteness indeed 

 could not be surpassed ; but when coerced 

 into the study of others which were beyond 

 our capacity (we use an advisedly apt word) 

 to learn — as well might a Negro have been 

 submitted to the action of soap, with a view 

 to change his complexion. 



We have for many years past thought on 

 this, and it has swayed us much in our course 

 through life. We have often passed over 

 offences, and forgiven acts of unkindness in 

 our fellow-creatures, which it has appeared 

 to us they could not help committing. Do not 

 let us subject ourselves here to the charge 

 of being "fatalists," or of fondly imagining 

 that we are not "responsible creatures." 



Vol. I.— New Series. 



