THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. BY GEORGE COMBE. Vain is the ridicule with which one foresees some persons will divert them- ELEVENTH AMERICAN EDITION, MATERIALLY REVISED AND ENLARGED. BOSTON: MARSH, CAPEN, LYON AND WEBB. 109 WASHINGTON STREET. Phil 592.720 4.1 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1835, by MARSH, CAPEN & LYON. in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. STEREOTYPED BY T. G. WELLS & CO. 42221 Mefiz March, Capen Lyon & Webb of Boston, are the only American Dublishers, where Edi tions of my works are approved of, & fanctioned by me, Geo. Combe Boston 1 January 1840 PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. The Constitution leave to return my IN presenting the present edition of of Man' to the American public, I beg warmest acknowledgments for the favor with which they have received both this and my other works. There is so much vigorous thinking, practical sense, and bold enterprise in the general public of the United States, that their approbation of the views which I have from time to time offered for their consideration, has increased not a little my own reliance on the truth and utility of my opinions; and in preparing the present edition for the press, I have been animated throughout by the desire to render it worthy of the approbation of my transatlantic friends. I have not found it necessary to alter any essential principle adopted in the first edition. On the contrary, seven years of additional observation, discussion, and reflection, have tended only to accumulate new evidence in favor of the propositions maintained. I have, however, corrected as far as possible the style of the work, inserted new proofs and illustrations, and added three chapters entirely new—those on 'Punishment as inflicted under the Natural Laws,' on 'the Influence of the Natural Laws on Individual Happiness,' and on 'the Relation between Science and Scripture.' I believe the people of the United States to have advanced farther towards the practical application of the principles developed in the following work, than any other nation; and if it shall in any degree serve to animate and direct them in their future progress towards happiness and virtue, the highest object of my ambition will be gained. 23 CHARLOTTE SQUARE, Edinburgh, 31st March, 1835 HENDERSON BEQUEST. ON 27th May 1829, the late W. R. HENDERSON, Esq. younger of Warriston and Eildon Hall, executed a deed of settlement, by which he conveyed to certain trustees such funds as he should die possessed of; and, in the event of his dying without leaving children, he appointed them to pay certain legacies and annuities to individual friends, and gave the following instructions regarding the application of the residue of his funds. 'And, lastly, the whole residue of my means and estate shall, after answering the purposes above written, be applied by my said trustees in whatever manner they may judge best for the advancement and diffusion of the science of Phrenology, and the practical application thereof in particular; giving hereby and committing to my said trustees, the most full and unlimited power to manage and dispose of the said residue, in whatever manner shall appear to them best suited to promote the ends in view: Declaring, that if I had less confidence in my trustees, I would make it imperative on them to print and publish one or more editions of an Essay on the Constitution of Man considered in relation to External Objects, by George Combe,'-in a cheap form, so as to be easily purchased by the more intelligent individuals of the poorer classes, and Mechanics' Institutions, &c.; but that I consider it better only to request their particular attention to this suggestion, and to leave them quite at liberty to act as circumstances may seem to them to render expedient; seeing that the state of the country, and things impossible to foresee, may make what would be of unquestionable advantage now, not advisable at some future period of time. But if my decease shall happen before any material change affecting this subject, I request them to act agreeably to my suggestion. And I think it proper here to declare, that I dispose of the residue of my property in the above manner, not from my being carried away by a transient fit of enthusiasm, but from a deliberate, calm, and deep-rooted |