Sterne, in his Tristam Shandy, says, “Whenever a man’s conscience does accuse him (as it seldom errs on that side), he is guilty, and unless he is melancholy and hypochondriac, there is always sufficient ground for the accusation. But the converse of the proposition will not hold true,” that if it does not accuse, the man is innocent.
“Thus conscience, placed on high as a judge within us, and intended by our Maker as a just and equitable one too, takes often such imperfect cognizance of what passes, does its office so negligently, often so corruptly, that it is not to be trusted alone, and, therefore, we find there is a necessity, an absolute necessity, of joining another principle with it.”
That “other principle” demanded by Sterne has never been found, until, in the revelation of the functions of soul and brain, we have found the absolute standard of character, and in Cranioscopy and Psychometry the perfect method of applying the principle to each individual.
An amusing illustration occurred lately in England, which was published as follows:—
“When the address to the queen at the opening of the English royal courts was under consideration by the judges, one very eminent judge of appeal objected to the phrase ‘conscious as we are of our shortcomings.’ ‘I am not conscious of shortcomings,’ he said, ‘and if I were I should not be so foolish as to say so;’ whereupon a learned lord justice blandly observed, ‘Suppose we say, “conscious as we are of each other’s shortcomings.”’”
Chapter VIII—The Origin and Foundation of the New Anthropology
Difficulties of imperfect knowledge in my first studies—First investigation of Phrenology—Errors detected and corrected—The Pathognomic System organized—A brilliant discovery and its results—Discovery of the sense of feeling and development of Psychometry—Its vast importance and numerous applications—The first experiments on the brain and the publication of Anthropology—The discovery of Sarcognomy and its practical value—Reception of the new Sciences—Honorable action of the venerable Caldwell.
The very brief exposition of the structure and functions of the brain already given, may serve as an introduction to the subject and prepare the reader to appreciate the laborious investigations of many years, by means of which so comprehensive a science was brought into existence amid the hostile influences of established opinions and established ignorance.
It is necessary now to present this statement to enable the reader to realize more fully the positive character of the science.