SECOND EDITION
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CHRISTIAN
PHRENOLOGY,
A GUIDE TO
SELF-KNOWLEDGE.
BY
JOSEPH BUNNEY
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ΓΝΩΘΙ ΣΕΑΥΤΟΝ.
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A. DREWETT AND Co,
PUBLIC LIBRARY, 62, REGENT STREET.
MDCCCXXXIX.
INTRODUCTION
TO THE
STUDY OF PHRENOLOGY.
Phrenology is a system of Mental Philosophy. It enquires into the qualityand condition of the mind, estimating the faculties, sentiments, andpropensities of the individual, without being deceived by personal esteemor the voice of partial praise; for as it too frequently occurs that mindsof the highest order are more or less under the influence of self love, ora desire for the admiration of others, so are they blinded to their ownweaknesses and in some measure rendered incapable of acknowledging theirfaults even to themselves. This defect, a defect of the race rather thanof the individual, presents an effectual barrier to all mentalimprovement, for minds however highly gifted are always in some measureled astray by self gratulation or the flattering commendations of others,and thus they are led to overlook their own errors, or to congratulatethemselves that they are not as other men are, and the mental eye becomesblinded[Pg 6] to what is wrong in its own intellectual organization althoughsensitively awake to the erroneous feelings and propensities of others. Itis the province of Phrenology to measure the external features of themind’s agent, and to facilitate the study of Man without diverging intometaphysical error on the one hand, or materialism on the other.
Phrenology then is one of those beautiful revelations of applicablescience which could only have been made known in an æra of intellectualcultivation. It is in accordance with man’s advancement in civilizationand refinement.—It was not needed in the days of
“High emprise or priestly power.”
for when men were measured by their prowess, and when might was right, astandard of intellect would have been of little value; but amidst thediscoveries of the 19th century it comes to us as a monitor and a friend;Its developement forms a striking fact in the philosophy of history—foras we trace the long and varied records of physical discovery from thetime of Archimedes to the coronation of Victoria,—we invariably find thatwhatever science, or whatever art has been made known to us, it has alwaysbeen the forerunner of new chapters in the history of man: thus Astronomyled the way to magnetism—Magnetism led to the scientific principles ofnavigation,—and the steam engine, mighty as its power appears, is but inaccordance with the advanced wants of mankind; and so with every otherinstance, in proportion to the discoveries of