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KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



has lasted from the time of mv arrival in Paris, 

 1807, to the year 18191" 



While pointing out the piracies many savans 

 had made upon his works, he reasons with them 

 in the following style : " When nations are at 

 war, pillage becomes a right. Now, savans who 

 are engaged in making discoveries, are con- 

 stantly at war with one another; therefore they 

 are allowed to pillage; therefore the little malice 

 of M. Boisseau is eminently rational." 



The result of another manifestation of the 

 intellect, is the poetical talent. This is not enough 

 to make one a poet (in the ordinary acceptation 

 of the word); for versification depends upon 

 another faculty. Gall could never make verses. 

 He even detested poetry, because he had no ear 

 for harmony ; but he possessed, in a high degree, 

 the poetical power of invention. 



A fundamental quality inherent in our nature, 

 and which constitutes the strongest bond of our 

 species, is the sentiment of Benevolence, Compas- 

 sion, Moral Sense. Gall was exceedingly bene- 

 volent ; he succored the unfortunate, and pro- 

 cured them the assistance of his rich patients; he 

 encouraged talents, and rendered them all the 

 aid in his power. If a kind of abruptness, or, 

 more properly speaking, nonchalance, was some- 

 times observed in his manners, all thought of it 

 was effaced by his benevolence. In his conver- 

 sation, he was not too careful to observe those 

 conventional forms and verbal disguises, which 

 civilisation has introduced to cover, as with a 

 fine mantle, the bad dispositions of the soul ; but 

 the more intimately he was known, the more 

 he was loved. 



The faculty of Imitation, that which makes 

 the actor and mimic, and is also of great use to 

 the orator, inasmuch as it excites him to express by 

 external signs what is passing within, existed in 

 a very high degree in Gall. We had but im- 

 perfect means of judging of him as an orator 

 in his public lectures, where, however, notwith- 

 standing the disadvantage of speaking in a 

 foreign tongue, he left a deep impression on the 

 minds of his hearers. 



Let us now see whst were Gall's opinions re- 

 specting God and religion. "Everywhere/' he 

 says, "and in all times, man, pressed by the 

 feeling of dependence, by which he is completely 

 surrounded, is forced to recognise at every 

 instant, the limits of his power, and avow to 

 himself that his fate is in the hands of a superior 

 power. Hence, the unanimous consent of all 

 people to adore a Supreme Being ; hence, the 

 ever- felt necessity of recurring to him, of honor- 

 ing him, and rendering homage to his superio- 

 rity." Thus Gall recognised God as a philoso- 

 pher should do. He was indignant only against 

 the abuses that men practised upon the credulity 

 of the people; against those who make of religion 

 a refinement of power, of ignorance, of slavery 

 and corruption. He was indignant against the 

 persecutions which sectarians, of different faiths, 

 carry on against their fellow-men in the name of 

 God and religion. He was indignant against all 

 these abuses, because he loved the human race 

 and desired its happiness. 



It was to his firmness that Gall owes the 

 success of his researches. Without this con- 

 stancy, or rather obstinacy with which he pursued 



the same ideas, the same observations, and the 

 same researches, it would have been impossible 

 for him to carry his new science to the point 

 where he left it. 



In 1831, a Phrenological Society was formed 

 in Paris. "Actuated by the wish," as stated in 

 its Constitution, " to perform worthily the task 

 bequeathed by Gall to his adopted country, the 

 Phrenological Society calls upon all the friends of 

 science and humanity to communicate the results 

 of their observations, and lend their aid by all 

 the means in their power." It is only astonish- 

 ing that France so long delayed to profit by the 

 labors of Gall, and to advance the impulse 

 which he first communicated, while already, and 

 for a long time past, in England, in Scotland, in 

 Ireland, in the United States, in India, and even 

 in Italy, — that land of despotism, religious and 

 political, Phrenology has been cultivated with 

 the greatest ardor and the most encouraging 

 success. 



The object of this society, as stated in its own 

 prospectus, is to propagate and improve the doc- 

 trines of Phrenology. The society publishes a 

 journal, " offers prizes, and bestows medals of 

 encouragement. 



" The society has a council of management, 

 composed as follows: a cabinet council; a com- 

 mittee for editing the journal; a committee of 

 funds. 



" The cabinet council consists of a president, 

 two vice-presidents, a general secretary, two 

 secretaries for the minutes (proces verbaux), a 

 treasurer, and a keeper of the museum (materiel) 

 of the society. 



" On the 22nd of August, every year, the 

 anniversary of the death of Gall, the society 

 holds a general public meeting, in which the 

 general secretary gives an account of the labors 

 of the society, reads notices of the members it 

 has lost, and proclaims the names of those whom 

 it has honored, announcing the prizes which it 

 proposes to bestow. 



" The society has tickets of presence, bearing 

 the portrait of Gall ; and on the reverse, the title 

 and year of the foundation of the society, with 

 this motto — Aux Progress des Lumieres. 



" The journal is published monthly. Its con- 

 tents are to be, 1. An analysis of the proceedings 

 of the meetings; 2. Memoirs and other papers 

 which the society shall resolve to publish; 3. 

 Articles sent for the journal; 4. A bibliographi- 

 cal bulletin. M. Dannecy was elected president, 

 and Casimir Broussais, general secretary." 



The Paris society, within the first year of its 

 existence, consisted of one hundred and ten 

 members, sixty of whom were physicians. Its 

 members are of the highest respectability in Me- 

 dicine, Philosophy, and Law, with some of both 

 Chambers of the Legislature. We make refer- 

 ence to this society, because its members have 

 particularly honored Gall in their constitution 

 and proceedings. 



It would be interesting to notice in this place 

 the various societies and the progress of Phreno- 

 logy, throughout the civilised world; but we 

 should exceed our present limits and design. 

 That Phrenological Societies exist in most of 

 the civilised nations, and are actively engaged in 

 promoting the science originated by Gall, is an 



