turn, complimented him with a present of a hay-cock or a fleece; less as a recompence for this particular service than as a general acknowledgment. The Sabbath was in a strict sense kept holy; the Sunday evenings being devoted to reading the Scripture and family prayer. The principal festivals appointed by the Church were also duly observed; but through every other day in the week, through every week in the year, he was incessantly occupied in work of hand or mind; not allowing a moment for recreation, except upon a Saturday afternoon, when he indulged himself with a newspaper, or sometimes with a magazine. The frugality and temperance established in his house were as admirable as the industry. Nothing to which the name of luxury could be given was there known; in the latter part of his life, indeed, when tea had been brought into almost general use, it was provided for visitors, and for such of his own family as returned occasionally to his roof, and had been accustomed to this refreshment elsewhere; but neither he nor his wife ever partook of it. The raiment worn by his family was comely and decent, but as simple as their diet; the home-spun materials were made up into apparel by their own hands. At the time of the decease of this thrifty pair, their cottage contained a large store of webs of woollen and linen cloth, woven from thread of their own spinning. And it is remarkable, that the pew in the chapel in which the family used to sit, remained a few years ago neatly lined with woollen cloth spun by the pastor's own hands. It is the only pew in the chapel so distinguished; and I know of no other instance of his conformity to the delicate accommodations of modern times. The fuel of the house, like that of their neighbours, consisted of peat, procured from the mosses by their own labour. The lights by which in the winter evenings their work was performed, were of their own manufacture, such as still continue to be used in these cottages; they are made of the pith of rushes dipped in any unctuous substance that the house affords. White candles, as tallow candles are here called, were reserved to honour the Christmas festivals, and were perhaps produced upon no other occasions. Once a month, during the proper season, a sheep was drawn from their small mountain flock, and killed for the use of the family; and a cow, towards the close of the year, was salted and dried, for winter provision: the hide was tanned to furnish them with shoes. By these various resources, this - venerable clergyman reared a numerous family, not only preserving them, as he affectingly says, from wanting the necessaries of life; but afforded them an unstinted education, and the means of raising themselves in society. "It might have been concluded that no one could thus, as it were, have converted his body into a machine of industry for the humblest uses, and kept his thoughts so frequently bent upon secular concerns, without grievous injury to the more precious parts of his nature. How could the powers of intellect thrive, or its graces be displayed, in the midst of circumstances apparently so unfavourable, and where, to the direct cultivation of the mind, so small a portion of time was allotted? But, in this extraordinary man, things in their nature adverse were reconciled; his conversation was remarkable, not only for being chaste and pure, but for the degree in which it was fervent and eloquent; his written style was correct, simple, and animated. Nor did his affections suffer more than his intellect; he was tenderly alive to all the duties of his pastoral office: the poor and needy he never sent empty away,'-the stranger was fed and refreshed in passing that unfrequented vale,-the sick were visited; the feelings of humanity found further exercise among the distresses and embarrassments in the worldly estate of his neighbours, with which his talents for business made him acquainted; and the disinterestedness, impartiality, and uprightness which he maintained in the management of all affairs confided to him, were virtues seldom separated in his own conscience from religious obligations. could such conduct fail to remind those who witnessed it of a spirit nobler than law or custom; they felt convictions which, but for such intercourse, could not have been afforded, that, as in the practice of their pastor there was no guile, so in his faith there was nothing hollow; and we are warranted in believing, that, upon these occasions, selfishness, obstinacy, and discord, would often give way before the breathings of his good-will and saintly integrity. It may be presumed also, while his humble congregation were listening to the moral precepts which he delivered from the pulpit, and to the Christian exhortations that they should love their neighbour as themselves, and do as they would be done unto, that peculiar efficacy was given to the preacher's labours by recollections in the minds of his congregation, that they were called upon to do no more than his own actions were daily setting before their eyes. Nor "The afternoon service in the chapel was less numerously attended than that of the morning, but by a more serious auditory; the lesson from the New Testament, on those occasions, was accompanied by Burkitt's Commentaries. These lessons he read with impassioned emphasis, frequently drawing tears from his hearers, and leaving a lasting impression upon their minds. His devotional feelings and the powers of his own mind were further exer- interest due from them, among others, un der the title of church stock: a great hardship upon the incumbent, for the curacy of Loweswater was then scarcely less poor than that of Seathwaite. To what degree this prejudice of his was blameable need not be determined;-certain it is, that he was not only desirous, as he himself says, to live in peace, but in love, with all men. He was placable, and charitable in his judgments; and, however correct in conduct and rigorous to himself, he was ever ready to forgive the trespasses of others, and to soften the censure that was cast upon their frailties.-It would be unpardonable to omit that, in the maintenance of his virtues, he received due support from the Partner of his long life. She was equally strict in attending to her share of their joint cares, nor less diligent in her appropriate occupations. A person who had been some time their servant in the latter part of their lives, concluded the panegyric of her mistress by saying to me, "she was no less excellent than her husband; she was good to the poor, she was good to every thing! He survived for a short time this virtuous companion. When she died, he ordered that her body should be borne to the grave by three of her daughters and one grand-daughter; and, when the corpse was lifted from the threshhold, he insisted upon lending his aid, and feeling about, for he was then almost blind, took hold of a napkin fixed to the coffin, and, as a bearer of the body, entered the Chapel, a few steps from the lowly Parsonage. "What a contrast does the life of this obscurely-seated, and, in point of worldly wealth, poorly-repaid Churchman, present to that of a Cardinal Wolsey! He was indeed most zealously attach ed to the doctrine and frame of the Established Church. We have seen him congratulating himself that he had no dissenters in his cure of any denomination. Some Too heavy for a man who hopes for hea allowance must be made for the state of opinion when his first religious impressions were received, before the reader will acquit him of bigotry, when I mention, that, at the time of the augmentation of the cure, he refused to invest part of the money in the purchase of an estate offered to him upon advantageous terms, because the proprietor was a Quaker ;-whether from scrupulous apprehension that a blessing would not attend a contract framed for the benefit of the Church between persons not in religious sympathy with each other: or, as a seeker of peace, he was afraid of the uncomplying disposition which at one time was too frequently conspicuous in that sect. Of this an instance had fallen under his own notice: for, while he taught school at Loweswater, certain persons of that denomination had refused to pay, or be distrained upon, for the accustomed annual "O'tis a burthen, Cromwell, 'tis a bur then ven !" " LETTER FROM THE AUTHOR OF MR EDITOR, I HAVE read with much pleasure the "attempt to reconcile Metaphysics and Phrenology" which appeared in your Number for May, and feel greatly indebted to your philosophical correspondent for the liberality, candour, and ingenuity, and, I may add, success of his attempt. He observes, that in the Essays on Phrenology, the Metaphysicians are spoken of in terms calculated rather to widen the breach, than to cement the union betwixt them and the Phrenologists; and a १ this is, in some degree, true, and as, in consequence of subsequent events, the two sciences appear not to be so widely opposed as I had at first conceived, I beg leave, through the medium of your pages, to make a few observations illustrative of what new appears to be the relation betwixt them. The greatest causes of the opposition which the doctrines of Phrenology encountered from the philosophers, were the entire novelty of the division of the powers of the mind which they contained, and the irreconcileable differences betwixt them and the systems of metaphysical philosophy generally received. The Metaphysicians exhibited a long list of Faculties, Consciousness, Sensation, Perception, Conception, Attention, Abstraction, Association, Memory, Imagination, and Judgment, and the Phrenologists declared not only that no organs were to be found in the brain corresponding to such powers, but that other powers, of which the Metaphysicians had no idea, were to be found in constant concomitance with particular cerebral parts. They, therefore, denied that the faculties of the Metaphysicians were primitive powers, and exhibited, in opposition to them, an account of the faculties which they had discovered by observation. While matters stood thus, the differences were irreconcileable. The one system could not subsist if the other was true. But Dr Thomas Brown arose, and by one of those wonderful efforts of mental power, which only one man in a century seems capable of making, he broke down the wall of partition, and enabled the parties to unite as friends engaged in the prosecution of one common object, instead of contending as opponents. He shewed by the most profound, yet correct metaphysical analysis, that the faculties of the Metaphysicians were not powers, but states, of the mind. This was precisely what the Phrenologists had all along contended for. And he then made a new division of the mental powers, which, as your ingenious correspondent has shewn, coincides in a wonderful degree with the results of phrenological observations. ticular faculties; and the mirthful fit being over, they are disposed to inquire seriously into the subject of their joke. The day, perhaps, is not far distant, when their delusion itself will afford an ample fund of entertainment both to themselves, and afterwards to posterity; but, the joke apart, I may observe, that the full value and the high merit of Dr Brown's discoveries are perceived by none so distinctly as by Phrenologists, and that his reputation for profundity and acuteness will rise every day as Phrenology becomes known. It is easy to shew how this will be the case, and for the sake not only of science, but of the numerous admirers of Dr Brown, who cannot but feel an interest in every thing that is likely to enhance, in any degree, the esteem in which his genius is held, I beg to be allowed to make a few observations on the relation of Metaphysics to Phrenology, in addition to those of your correspondent. It is now granted on all hands that the mind has no consciousness of the organs by which it acts on the external world, and that dissection throws no light on the functions of the brain. It is a question, therefore, purely of observation, whether the brain be the organ of the mind, and whether particular parts of it be the organs of particular powers or not. But supposing a moment that such is the case, let me ask what will the result be in regard to the philosophy of the mind? It will be interesting in no common degree, for it will make a mighty revolution not only in the mode of cultivating the science, but in the extent and degree of its certainty, application, and utility. The object of the Metaphysicians has always been to discover the elementary principles of the human mind, and they have endeavoured to accomplish this end by reflecting on and analyzing the thoughts and feelings of which they are conscious. Every one of them has borne testimony to the difficulty of this analysis, and lamented, that, even after it has been accomplished, only few minds. are capable of comprehending the results. Hence, in the opinion of the The public have now laughed to reading public, the science of Mind satiety at the idea of the brain being has, in the words of a contemporary the organ of the mind, and of differ-reviewer, " resembled rather the fanent parts of it being the organs of par- tastic evolutions of the inimic-actors in great affairs, than the earnest exhibitions of those who had something to contend for; and their works, as if without a base on which to poise themselves, have tottered, and sunk into oblivion, in sure and melancholy succession." The object of Phrenology is precisely the same; but it presents facilities for attaining the end in view of which Metaphysics cannot boast. As soon as the fact is ascertained by observation, that a particular portion of the brain goes in concomitance with a particular mental power, a mode of ascertaining the nature, functions, laws, and number, of the primitive faculties of man presents itself, divested of the difficulties of the metaphysical analysis, and attended with the certainty, stability, and precision, of physical inquiries. If it were asked, whether the Desire for Property be innate or acquired? the Metaphysician would reflect on the desire for property of which he himself is conscious, and analyze it. The result of this analysis, in almost every case, has been a decision that such a desire is not innate in the mind; that property is desired merely as a means of attaining other enjoyments; and that the ardour with which some men endeavour to heap up stores of wealth which they never apply to purposes of utility, arises from their associating the ideas of property and enjoyment together for such a length of time, that at last they become incapable of contemplating them apart, and hence feel the same longing for wealth which mankind, in general, do for the pleasures which it purchases. Another Metaphysician, however, might dispute the correctness of this analysis, and endeavour to shew that the desire in question could not be resolved into any other feeling, and, of course, that it is primitive in itself. How, then, could the point between them be determined? According to the metaphysical mode of philosophizing, only by each party writing long discussions about a mental process, so fleeting and evanescent in itself, that it is extremely difficult to make it at all a subject of reflection, and so much mingled with other feelings, that only one intellect out of a thousand is endowed with the degree of acuteness which is indispensable to trace it to its source. The Phrenologist, on the other hand, would answer the question briefly by saying, that, in point of fact, he had found the intensity of the desire for property to go in regular concomitance with the dimensions of a particular portion of the brain, strong when it was large, and weak when it was small, and that, hence, he could with certainty pronounce, not only that it was iunate, but that the degrees of its intensity differed in different individuals, and that the extent of these differences was ascertainable. But we may take another example." It has long been a question among metaphysicians and moral philosophers, whether there is an innate moral sense in the mind or not. Some philoso-" phers contend that there is, while others, by such an analysis as we have now noticed, resolve our sentiments of right and wrong into feelings of Benevolence, into Love of Approbation, or into Perceptions of Utility. The Phrenologist, on the other hand, declares that he finds a regular proportion existing betwixt the intensity of the sentiment of Justice and a particular portion of the brain, and hence concludes, that it is innate, and not resolvable into any other. Every one will perceive from these examples, the advantage which Phrenology confers for attaining a knowledge of the constitution of the human mind. If its fundamental proposition be found by experience to be true, which I am certain that it will be, we require only to observe and discriminate attentively the kinds of mental acts which accompany particular forms of brain, to attain a certain knowledge of the primitive faculties of man. It is vain and absurd to adhere to the mode of reflective analysis to the exclusion of observation, when the one presents such difficul ties, and the other such facilities; and it is something approaching to childishness to be deterred from entering upon new and better fields of philosophizing afforded by Phrenology, merely because the novelty of the doctrines and the cumbrous length of the nomenclature had at first excited a fit of merriment in the public mind, Every faculty, power, or tendency of the mind ascertained by phrenological observation, is a point gained in the science of the mind, which cannot be subject to future revolutions. No' philosopher would attempt by reasoning or analysis to shew, that the eyes hear or the ears see, or that sound might be resolved into smell. In the same manner, whenever philosophers will take the trouble to observe, they will find that the desire for property is attached to one part of the brain, the sentiment of justice to another, benevolence to a third, and many other feelings to many other parts, and that the degree of effect with which each may be experienced, bears a definite relation to the size and activity of the organs; and such facts being ascertained, it is evident that the ultimate principles of our nature will be ascertained at the saine time, and so clearly, palpably, and unequivocally, that all discussions about them must cease, as they have long ceased, about the functions of the senses. While, however, phrenology affords such facilities to the philosopher on the mind, it asks the aid of his profound analysis to bring it to perfection. It is impossible that two feelings or two intellectual acts can depend on distinct organs, and be capable of existing in the same individual in different degrees, without there being a real difference in their nature. But to the inquisitive mind it is gratifying to perceive the metaphysical distinction, as well as to know the popular fact, that the organs are different; and hence the mental power manifested by each organ becomes an object of metaphysical analysis, and the ultimate result of such analysis must in every instance be truth, because we have a landmark to guide our reflections, and a touchstone to try their accuracy. When the analysis agrees with the practical conclusion, we may be certain that we have arrived at the truth; when it disagrees, there is an error in the process. Thus Phrenology, when complete, must include a perfect system of metaphysics; and metaphysics, when perfect, must coincide with phrenology. In short, the two sciences, instead of being distinct, must be blended into one; and instead, therefore, of looking on the metaphysicians as opponents, I shall henceforth regard them as fellow labourers in the same vineyard; and I am convinced that whenever they become acquainted with Phrenology, they will discover that it affords them facilities, which they have never yet enjoyed for per fecting the Philosophy of the Mind. In In this union, however, it is not to be concealed that metaphysical opinions must, in the first instance, yield to phrenological observations. every case where metaphysical analy sis is inconsistent with the result of observation, it must be erroneous. Our first object in every instance, therefore, ought to be to ascertain the fact of particular powers depending on the same or on different organs, and then we may proceed to the analytic investigation. But we must never pretend to class two organs or two faculties together, or deny the existence of any organ, merely because we cannot yet see the metaphysical distinction between their functions. The soundness of these observations is illustrated in no ordinary degree by the comparison which your ingenious correspondent has made betwixt the philosophy of Dr Brown and the doctrines of Phrenology. His opinions are at utter variance with those of the metaphysicians who have preceded him: So are the results of Phrenology: But his conclusions are more profound and truer to nature than theirs; and they in consequence approach incomparably nearer to the results of phrenological observation. The next step, in all probability, will be to unite the two sciences into one. I have still a few observations to add, but they shall be reserved for a future Number, not to trespass too far on your pages. RES NON VERBA QUESO. ACCOUNT OF THE YEARS OF SCARCITY IN SCOTLAND FROM 1694 to 1700.* In the year 1694, in the month of August, that crop got such a stroke in one night by east mist or fog standing like mountains, (and where it remained longest and thickest, the badder were the effects,) which all our old men, that had seen frost, blasting, and mildewing, had never seen the like, that it got little more good of the ground/ In November that winter, many were smitten with wasting sore fluxes, and strange fevers, (which car * Extracted from the Life and Prophecies of Mr Daniel Cargill, by Peter Walker. 8vo. Edinburgh. |