PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

R

1919

གབ་པ《

"ILCOK UPON PHRENOLOGY AS THE GUIDE OF PHILOSOPHY, AND THE OF CHRISTIANITY. WHOEVER DISSEMINATES TRUE PHRE HORACE MANN.

HANDMAID

NOLOGY. IS A PUBLIC BENEFACTOR."

COPYRIGHT SECURED.

PHFENOLOGICAL FRESS OF POWERS AND WILLS.

PREFACE

TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.

IN presenting the present edition of The Constitution "of Man' to the American public, I beg leave to return my warmest acknowledgments for the favor with which they have received both this and my other works. There is so much vigorous thinking, practical sense, and bold enterprise in the general public of the United States, that their approbation of the views which I have from time to time offered for their consideration, has increased not a little my own reliance on the truth and utility of my opinions; and in preparing the present edition for the press, I have been animated throughout by the desire to render it worthy of the approbation of my transatlantic friends. I have not found it necessary to alter any essential 'principle adopted in the first edition. On the contrary, seven years of additional observation, discussion, and reflection, have tended only to accumulate new evidence in favor of the propositions maintained. I have, however, corrected as far as possible the style of the work, inserted new proofs and illustrations, and added three chapters entirely new-those on 'Punishment as inflicted under the Natural Laws,' on 'the Influence of the Natural Laws on Individual Happiness,' and on 'the Relation between Science and Scripture.' I believe the people of the United States to have advanced farther towards the practical application of the principles developed in the following work, than any other nation; and if it shall in any degree serve to animate and direct them in their future progress towards happiness and virtue, the highest object of my ambition will be gained.

28 CHARLOTTE SQUARE, EDINBURGH,

HENDERSON BEQUEST.

ON 27th May 1829, the late W. R. HENDERSON, Esq. younger of Warriston and Eildon Hall, executed a deed of settlement, by which he conveyed to certain trustees such funds as he should die possessed of; and, in the event of his dying without leaving children, he appointed them to pay certain legacies and annuities to individual friends, and gave the following instructions regarding the application of the residue of his funds.

'And, lastly, the whole residue of my means and estate shall, after answering the purposes above written, be applied by my said trustees in whatever manner they may judge best for the advancement and diffusion of the science of Phrenology, and the practical application thereof in particular; giving hereby and committing to my said trustees, the most full and unlimited power to manage and dispose of the said residue, in whatever manner shall appear to them best suited to promote the ends in view: Declaring, that if I had less confidence in 'my trustees, I would make it imperative on them to print and publish one or more editions of an Essay on the Constitution of Man considered in relation to External Objects, by George Combe,'-in a cheap form, so as to be easily purchased by the more intelligent individuals of the poorer classes, and Mechanics' Institutions, &c.; but that I consider it better only to request their particular attention to this suggestion, and to leave them quite at liberty to act as circumstances may seem to them to render expedient; seeing that the state of the country, and things impossible to foresee, may make what would be of un questionable advantage now, not advisable at some future period of time. But if my decease shall happen before any material change affecting this subject, I request them to act agreeably to my suggestion. And I think it proper here to declare, that I dispose of the residue of my property in the above manner, not from my being carried away by a transient fit of enthusiasm, but from a deliberate, calm, and deep-rooted

conviction, that nothing whatever hitherto known can operate so powerfully to the improvement and happiness of mankind, as the knowledge and practical adoption of the principles disclosed by Phrenology, and particularly of those which are developed in the Essay on the Constitution of Man, above mentioned.'

Mr. Henderson having died on 29th May 1832, his Trustees, after realizing his funds, assigned a sum for publishing an edition of the present work, consisting of two thousand copies, at the price of 2s. 6d. per copy. This was considerably below the cost of production. The publication took place in March 1835, and before the end of May the whole edition was bought up,-chiefly by the class of persons for whom Mr. Henderson had intended it, the greatest sales having taken place in Glasgow, Dundee, Dunfermline, and other manufacturing towns in Scotland, and in Manchester and similar towns in England, A separate and finer impression of one thousand copies, taken from the same types as the Henderson Edition, was bought up at the price of 4s. between May and August, and the demand for the work continues unabated.

Mr. Henderson's Trustees, with every wish to continue to aid the circulation of the work by reducing the price, have not, at present, the means of doing so to a large extent. It is only the surplus of his funds, after paying certain legacies and annuities, that is applicable to the advancement of Phrenol-. ogy; and as all the annuitants named in the settlement are alive, and likely to live for many years, only a small annual surplus remains; two years' produce of which was devoted to the edition published in March 1835. The Author, however, encouraged by the favorable reception of the book, has endeavored to produce a new edition, considerably enlarged, at a moderate price. The quantity of matter, if printed in an octavo volume of ordinary size and type, would be sold, according to the common rate of publishing, for 10s.; and if in duodecimo, at 7s. 6d. By employing a condensed yet clear stereotype, a part of the expense of which has been contributed by the trustees, it has been found possible to offer the present edition at 4s., a price which, it is hoped, will continue it within the reach of the industrious classes.