Sir William Hamilton and phrenology : an exposition of phrenology; shewing the complete inefficacy of the objections lately advanced in the Royal Society, and the real grounds on which the system ought to be assailed.

  • Hamilton, William, Sir, 1788-1856.
Date:
1826
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Sir William Hamilton and phrenology : an exposition of phrenology; shewing the complete inefficacy of the objections lately advanced in the Royal Society, and the real grounds on which the system ought to be assailed. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    ]0 But all this must not go without its quali- fication. Before the Phrenologists can call upon us to inquire, they must have produced a clear, connected, and congruous system. It will not he fatal to them, in this stage of the inquiry, and according to Sir William Hamil- ton, that they are driving us on to Atheism, Fatality, or Materialism ; because, even if the facts be true, we know that these con- clusions are impossible. But it will be fatal to them, even in this condition of the inquiry, that their reasonings are incomplete and pre- posterous—their system incongruous and sub- versive of itself—their nomenclature confused and barbarous, and their classification of fa- culty radically absurd :—because, if these be shewn, we know that the observations are false, and the observers themselves unworthy of belief. All this, and more, we rather pledge ourselves to make good ; and, instead of troubling our heads with Sir William Hamil- ton, about the “practical conclusions,” we shall strike at once at the speculative principles. What, then, are these Phrenologists who have so suddenly solved the mystery of six thousand years ? Who are these bold ad- venturers who have succeeded in basing a se- cure philosophy on those very analogies, the rejection of which had formed the chief pre- tension of most preceding inquirers ? They are mainly physicians and anatomists ;—men who are accustomed to look on spirit only