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    must always be shifty and imperfect—take Medicine and Physiology-as illustrations . We reject what Phrenologists scramble up into a nasty system , because we say , 1 st . Their basis is unsteady ; their cerebral physiology at ^ v ' mu eU * S are e 9 uivocal ~ 2 nd . Their psychology is imperfect . 3 rd . They pretend to ^ ive us & fixed unalterable system , carried out into details , and that , too , in a science of all others the most complex :, of all others the least broadly fixed o n a positive basis , . It is a grave fact , that all those great physiologists who have given special attention to the nervous system in man and animals , have , without hesitation , rejected Phrenological doetrines , and the " facts" ojl avMcIi they are founded . This is really enough to give us pause . Serres , ijeuret , l ^ onget , Majendie , Flourens , Lelut , Lafargue , Johannes von Muller , Valentin , and Owen—these men , to our knowledgereject the

    , ' facts ^ phrenology . Observe , we do not say the system , but the facts . Authority , even the highest , would with an ill grace be brought against phrenology , unless it were against the facts . But here we find the men most thoroughly acquainted with the physiology and " anatomy of thener" ^ o ^ s , system , instead of gaining increased confidence in phrenological doctrines , reject them , and mostly with scorn . :, .- - . " . Not : one of the facts , " says Valentin , but in this he exaggerates , " which constitute their foundation will survive a careful examination . The exterior of the skull is by no means an exact cast of the brain , but is modified by many i n termediate conditions ; such as the frontal sinuses , the thickness of the skull , and the form of its surfaces . . . . If to these considerations we add that the topographical subdivision of many of the is

    phrenological organs based upon misinterpreted facts of comparative anatomy , the reader will understand why physiologists are compelled to reject phrenology ; and that only the more emphatically the more violently it is defended by some educated persons . " It is the imperfect state of our knowledge of nervous centres which renders , and will long continue to render , Phrenology illusor y in its details . We cited a fact the other day which alone suffices to indicate this imperfection , namely , that all organic substances are indeterminate in their composition , and nervous tissue , of all others , is the , most so . To take but one element , water : the brain varies in different individuals , and at different ages , so much that its water sometimes constitutes three-fourfchs of its weight , sometimes four-fifths , and sometimes even seven-eio-hths ! Phosphorus varips from 0-80 to 1-65 and 1-80 ; cerebral fat from . S ^ S to 5 * 30 and 6 ; 10 . So t 3 iat in truth one may say there is nervous tissue and nervous tissue ! On the same occasion we cited the fact , that the grampus had larger and deeper convolutions of the grey vesicular matter of the

    brain than man , which is a stumbling-block in the way of determining intellect from amount of vesicular matter ; moreover , the brain of a cretin often . exhibits large and complicated convolutions , while its cavities are distended by copious fluid exudations . We may add / that the ordinary statement about man having the greatest relative weir / At of brain is inaccurate , ' many of the smaller mammals , and some birds , have brains of greater proportional Aveight . In short , turn which way we will , the fact is forced upon us , that we are as yet only on the threshold of the physiology of the nervous system . lJut then as an Art P Cranioacopy has certainly by empirical observation achieved some results and promises more . T " he general distribution of intellect , emotions , and propensities is confirmed . What then P Does

    that prove phrenological details to be trueP J \ ot so . Without any physiology , observation might have assigned to broad chests the character of strong frames ; thd observed concurrence of broad chests and strength would suffice . Then comes the physiologist with his explanation ( which may be wrong ); he points out the relation between costal capacity and greater oxygciiiation of the blood , which produces . greater muscular vigour . It all seems clear , till a wiry little man with a chest not broad steps in and boats tho big-chert ted follow out of tin ; field . Physiology is posed , and begins to suspect that there are other elements at Avork besides

    oxygonation of the blood—that perhaps the fiery , wiry little man , whose cheat is small , ¦ derives liis vigour from some other source . Physiology gofifl back to hcJi ; x >! . Meanwhile , as an empirical generalization , broad chests do stand us signs of strong frames . But if any one attempt to " improve on ( lie occasion , " and localize on particular parts of the chest , particular organ * for tho various manifestations of strength , such as hitting , pulling , lining , and that without demonstrating ( hoConnexion of tho muscles employed and the spots selector ! ,. wo . should toll him , as avo tell the phronoj'v ^ i . slrt , the attempt i . s premature . .. . From fheso o !); ,. > rvationH , necessarily no more ( ban mere points of indication , the reiulc :- will sec why w . e reject tho claims of phrenologists and the doctrines of phrenology , jUtlfoiUfh we admit tho tentative made by will , sis the first ; i . id greatest step hik e" toward ^ the creation of a positi ve psychology . . Ii > , > fn ; i . d of a science settled and complete , we liave as yet only the . rough t ! . ; fch of n science to bo completed age . s hence . In a future ari . it . ' k ) we will return , to Dr . Noble ' n book .

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    L / VMARTI . N . U : Till ) ( JON . S'J'lTl / KNT AKS . MMULY . History of M .,: UonMU-ncnt Asscwhli / ( 178 i >) . By AlphoiiHo do i , unmrl , ino . Vol . T . . J . new fid . ,. . . ¦ . ' ,, . VizclollyaiuKJo . i iiicuij is nomothui " inexpressibly painful in seeim ; ' a man of genius degrading hiN . nnmo a . iul deluding , the public , by , the rapid manufacture of WfH ' KH as insignificant tin they aro venal ; , him 1 Hitch a spectacle does j !; i'iUa' ''' no l"" < 'Hon . t m ( , thin moment . ' J . Io in aw [ impudent an Dmuiis , iih in-< lUI (> ro . nl ; to " conscience" as a penny-a-liner , lie tumble . ) from h ; id (; o ) i'H (\

    w < Irom lMx , il , y to niter disregard of literary tuoralH . lie wroto the i iiirondijjH : " i ( , n hucoohn was innncnHo . Mo iWrote the " Restoration : " Ji'H Kueeo ^ H was mediocre . 11 ( v now writes l , h , <> « m . rly history of the Rovoutiou Hjj ( . l wo ' . venture lo , predict , for , it-. wido-sproiwliug contempt . T , be > Mi > wriwor works hud nlnu > nt , every vice history eouh , l Imvo , but they had | h . kUumuI » , 1 o j > , ftrae , ii . onH . THi proiWitwork , i < o , judge from the iirwt yolmne , f » VH , | , h o vi <; oM , but huH not the . ut . U'aut . ioiiH ., ¦ Xt hart the same slUmolefiH waii , (( of research , and oarolosH servility of copying tho first book which Ies « tvad i iko Biuno suppression of the truth in favour o £ mythical and

    theatrical versions ; the same want of honest labour and conscientiousness ; the same rose-pink affectation of style ; but not the same power of narrative and portrait painting . . . r . r What possessed Lamartine to write a history of the French Revolution ? Money ; nothing but money . He had no new documents , he had made no researches , he had no novelty of fact or principle which could ur « -e and justify such an undertaking . The public did not need a history '? The public had Tliiers , Mignet , Bucliez and Eoux , Micbelet , Louis Blanc , Villaume , with endless monographs ; and for any man to come forward to re-write that history without some novelty of material or of doctrine Ayith nothing but his style pour tout potaye , is enough to make tho most lenient critic indignant .

    Money , auri sacra fames , has ere now been the stimulus to many a work whichotherwise AVOuldhaA ^ e beenunAvritten ; but men with a conscience work for money as honestly as they would for fame . Granting that Lamartine ' s needs were great , we have still the obvious remark to make , that he might have chosen one of two things , —Eirst , either to have earned that money by some book not-requiring much labour ,-or , —Second , to have honestly devoted the requisite labour . He has done neither . He has chosen a subject in which immense research was indispensable , and lie has contented himself with a cursory glance at a few popular books . Any one who has made himself in the least familiar with tlie details of this epoch , will at once see how disgracefully superficial is Lamartine ' s

    knowledge . He does not even know what the current literature of the day could teach him . For example , he gives a long narrative of Mirabeau's early life , and his passion for 8 op 7 iie . The falsification is abiding , and results from that detestable romancist style which cannot leave history to its severity , But he need only have read Sainte Beuve ' s articles in the Constitutionnel ( subsequently reprinted in the four volumes of Les Cawseries de Zundi ) , Avhieh made a " sensation , " to have corrected both his narrative of Sophie ' s history and of . the denouement of their passion . Lamartine wants a " victim ^— he wants , for ' pathetic purposes , a creature Avhom he can drape sentimentally , ' and , without caring to ascertain the truth , he makes her what he wants . Read this .-

    —" The death of M . de Monnier had given Sophie her liberty ; but , surrounded as she was by-the scandal-heaped upqn her by Mirabeau , and disheartened with lhe altogether , she remained voluntarily in the convent of Gien . A small house , adjoining the monastery which had been her prison , enabled her to live at fcliesame time in the society of its pious inhabitants , Avho had been a consolation to her , and in the restricted society of the world . Two priests , belonging to the convent , had endeavoured to take advantage of her happy position , and their clamorous importunities had occasioned some odious calumnies on their victim which reached the ears of Mirabeau .-. Since the liberation of the latter , under the superintendence of his father , a secret interview , facilitated by a member of the convent of Gien , had brought the loyera together for a moment , to have a mutual explanation . This explanation , which took place in the presence of their religious accomplicewas

    , heart-rending , full of reproaches , of accusations , of anger , of tears , —almost tragical , in short . After this interview they never met again , and all correspondence ceased between these two lovers , whose sighs had " pierced the walls of Vincennea . Deceived and blighted , Sophie , in the first moment of bitterness , only looked forward to the tomb ; but , some time after , her heart felt the flame of a more pure and constant passion for M . de Potcrat , a young gentleman of the neighbourhood of Gien . In him she found the absolute devotion which she hud vainly borne towards Mirabeau . She was about to be united in marriage with this gentleman when death snatched away from her her last friend . M . de Poterat breathed his last sigh in her arms , and thus everything she had loved in the world had been torn from her by ingratitude or the tomb . Life , both in the past and the future of

    , was now a source perpetual misery . Her ardent soul , which bad all the strength of passion , had not the forbearance of resignation . After paying the last duties to the remains of her betrothed , she dismissed , \ inder vague pretences , her friends and servants , burnt her letters , wrote down her last wislms with great ' coolness and a firm hand , and . shutting herself up in a closet , the doors of which kIhj closed hermetically , nbe put a period to her existence with the fumes of charcoal , holding in her hand the portrait of the husband she had lo . st . There nlie was found ] dead , with her feet tied to Ivn- bed-posts , an if . she had determined to provide thu . s beforehand against lier own irresolution or the struggles of her last moments . Thus died this intrepid woman , —who bad M \ , : md inspired the most tragic .-il pas- ' aion of the age ,--the victim of her own delirium , but , above all , a victim to tho delirium , the genius , and tho ingratitude of Mirabeau . "

    JLhis is history a la Dumas or a la Lama / rfine . Tho fact is , that Sophie ' s love . had cooled in absence ; her last , let-tors indicate it , While in that convent sho had I ranHferredhnr affections to M . Potora , ! , ; v <> ry wisely wo ( hire say , only not aa Lamartino represents it , some time . afWher liaison , with Mimboa . u ,. lm (; during it . It is quite , probable that Lamartino lcnew fhi . s , but ignored it . IFo uniformly prefers " elleefc" to truth ; like his eolebralfHl eountryinan , he asks , — " What is TrulVto a Bonsai-km F" Thus it is that lie repeats the absurd phrase attributed to Mirabeaii , — " (» o nnd say to your ma , sl , er that wenre here by the . will of the nation , and that we shall not quit our post until we , aro expelled by tho bayonet . " Now this phrase w not to be found in . Mirabe . juiV ) o \ vn journal—nor in ( ho Moiritciir—nor in the Memoirs of Hailly , who avhs presold ;— -nor in the Point , <( n jonr of JWe . ro , who was also present . WlnU , Miralxinu said avhh simply , ' " . T declare to yon that if you aro orderod ( o turn iih from lienee , you inustaKk for ordoi \ s " fco employ

    force , for we \ vi . I | only quit our se ; i ! s at tho point of tlie bayonet . " Tho insolence of " ^ and tell your master , " and the antil besi . s of " will of tho hat-ion" arc , as Louis . Ulauc Kiiyw , iu the nol ; o from which avo copy the rooti / ication ( Jlixt . < lv la Jtcv . . Fran ^ aiae , IT ., e . viii . ) , ' ominentJy iuihiHtorival , foi * they- *" f | ivo a completely false . idea of the stale of tho bour /^ eoifi' mind no ]« ias than of Mirabea . u ' s . " Wo jire not at ; all ( umvincod that it ; Avas i ^ noranco nrhinh niado Lamartino r < ipon , t , tho wron <^ phrasehut ; it was either unpardonable ignorance or unpardonal ) l n . hf '! HtateR-C i ! eneral , and ends with tlio dest-ruetion of tho . HuNtillo , i ( - app

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    i ' , ¦ ' # - ¦*¦ . ' Pectmbeb 10 r 1853 . ] T HE L EADE R . 1193

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 10, 1853, page 1193, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2016/page/17/