“Let us imagine,” says Gall, “a woman in whom the love of offspring is but little developed, ... if, unfortunately, the organ of murder be very much developed in her, need we be surprised if her hand....”[76] &c.
Organization explains every thing.
“These last named facts show us,” says Gall, “that this detestable inclination (the inclination to commit murder) has its source in a vice of the organization.”[77]
“Let those haughty men,” says he again, “who cause nations to be slaughtered by thousands, know that they do not act of their own accord, but that Nature herself has filled their hearts with rage and destructiveness.”[78]
No, indeed! This is not what they must know; for, thanks be to God, it is not true. What they ought to know, what they ought to be told, is, that although Providence has left to man the power to do evil, he has also endowed him with the power to do good. That which man ought to know, that which should be instilled into his mind and heart is, that he has a free power, and that this power ought not to be misdirected; and that he who in his own nature misdirects it, no matter under what form of philosophy he takes refuge, is a being who degrades his nature.
Under the title of fundamental faculties, Gall confounds all things together—the passions, the instinct, the intellectual faculties. These faculties, which are at the basis of his whole philosophy, he knows not even how to denominate them. He calls them instincts,[79] inclinations, senses, memories, &c. There is a memory or sense of things, a memory or sense of persons, &c. He confounds the instinct that leads certain animals to live in elevated regions with pride, which is a moral sentiment in man;[80] the carnivorous instinct with courage;[81] he believes that conscience, (which is the soul judging itself,) is nothing but a modification of a particular sense, the sense of benevolence, &c.[82]
The hesitation of his mind is visible every where.
“I leave it to the reader,” says he, “to decide whether the fundamental faculty to which this penchant relates, should be denominated sense of elevation, self-esteem,” &c.[83]
“To speak correctly,” continues he, “firmness is neither a penchant nor a faculty; it is a mode-of-being, which gives to a man a distinctive quality, which is called character.”[84]