they seem inevitably to lead, as I expect to shew in the course of my examination of the opinions he has promulgated in his essay "On the Brain as a Double Organ," contained in his profound and instructive work called "Medical Notes and Reflections."

A double organ the brain is not, but dual it is, as I shall prove beyond a shadow of doubt.

The word Mind is employed in so many different senses in ordinary discourse, that it will be necessary, on the present occasion, strictly to define its meaning before we can advance into the discussion on which I propose to enter; it is used so vaguely and so variously in different places by the same writer, that it is often difficult to understand the drift of his argument. By some it is held to be synonymous with soul, and by others considered as equivalent to the Principle of Vitality of animal life. According to Cruden, the word is used in the Holy Scriptures in nine different senses, and the word Soul, in five. With these varieties of signification we have nothing to do in the present disquisition, and I confine myself to the single object of shewing the absolute distinction between Mind and Soul. It seems to me that the use of these two words as convertible terms, is a serious obstacle to the freedom of investigation of the mental phenomena, and is at the root of all the difficulties which occur in the discussion of the intellectual faculties.

When I speak of Mind, then, I wish to be understood to signify the aggregate of the mental powers and faculties, whether exercised by one brain or two; and when I have occasion to allude to the GREAT, IMMORTAL, IMMATERIAL PRINCIPLE, connected for a time with the material world by means of our physical

organization-I shall call it by its proper name, THE SOUL.

The soul, however, is not in question on the present occasion; it lies in the domain of theology, into which I do not presume to enter. Of it we can know absolutely nothing through our own unaided faculties. Revelation alone can enable us even to conceive its nature, still more its destiny.

To attempt to form a conception of the abstract nature of the Mind, in the sense in which it is usually employed, or even of the vital principle, or of the essence of matter, is a pure misemployment of our time, and leads only to confusion; these things are beyond our comprehension, absolutely out of the reach of our faculties, and were probably so intended by the Creator. On these subjects the gigantic intellect of a Newton is as impotent as that of the uneducated peasant, or the child.

In contemplating my own mental powers, it seems to me that such investigations are as futile as the endeavour to ascertain what kind of structure it is which fits the inhabitants of the planet Mercury for their position so near the sun. We are wandering beyond the bounds assigned to human understanding. With the manifestations of these essences in their phenomena we are familiar, and can pursue the examination of them to a satisfactory result. The prospect beyond is covered with clouds and darkness, and our limited vision can penetrate no further.

I have listened to the reasonings of our greatest modern philosopher, on the essential nature of matter, with wonder, admiration, and alarm:-wonder, at the exhibition of mental powers, so vastly beyond the

average of humanity; admiration, of the energy and perseverance with which they have been cultivated; and alarm, lest the physical structure of the material organ should be spoiled by such excessive exertion of its faculties.

"To see ourselves," says Lord Bacon, "we must look down." Let us humbly exercise within their proper bounds, the glorious faculties which it has pleased the Almighty to bestow upon us; and when we have finished our worldly task, and spun, like the silkworm, our allotted cocoon, let us wait till a more genial atmosphere shall call us to a higher destiny. When the chrysalis bursts from his torpor and his prison, and is furnished with wings, he has a wider horizon, a more extended view, and increased faculties for the enjoyment of happiness.

CHAPTER II.

ORIGIN OF THE WORK-REV. J. BARLOW, ON MAN'S POWER OVER HIMSELF TO PREVENT AND CONTROL INSANITY-HIGH INTELLECTUAL CULTIVATION OF THE CLERGY-THERE CAN BE NO DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THE WORD AND THE WORKS OF GOD.

THE opinions here expressed on the nature of insanity, of the exercise of sound mind, and of the structure and functions of the brain, which give rise to these different states, are not of recent growth; they have occupied my attention for at least thirty years, and have appeared to me so clear, so well founded, and so obvious, that I have constantly wished to place them before the public, and have only been withheld from it by two considerations. The first, that inferences, apparently so irresistible, from facts so thoroughly established, must necessarily have been drawn by others, and that I should be contending for opinions already familiar to thinkers. Secondly, that my theory of the mental functions in health and disease was accompanied by moral corollaries, extremely perplexing and unsatisfactory; which latter reason I naturally thought might have operated with others as well as myself, and would perhaps account for the silence of so many writers on a subject of such great interest and importance.

Longer consideration, and more extensive reading

and experience, have convinced me that such fears were quite unfounded, and that, in seeking during so many years for objections to my theory, instead of confirmation of it, I have neglected a duty incumbent on every man, of promulgating a new and important

truth.

This mode of proceeding has, however, had one advantage; it has enabled me to anticipate or to refute, I believe, all the objections to the new doctrine. I have tried them in every way that my degree of intellect would permit, and believe them to be utterly unfounded.

It is not likely, however, that I should have put pen to paper on the subject, but for the perusal of a highly interesting little work, " On Man's Power over Himself to prevent or control Insanity," by the Rev. J. Barlow, the Secretary of the Royal Institution. I have read it with great interest and attention. The acute and able writer goes so near the truth, that to use the children's phrase, "he burns;" and I can only attribute the tangent he describes, on approaching the very verge of the discovery, to an influence which has misled many other men-an error in nomenclature; vitiating the ratiocination of some of the strongest minds which have been directed to the subject.

It is from no feeling of arrogance that I use this language respecting my superiors in mental power and acquirements. The idea has presented itself to my mind, and I have dwelt on it for more than a quarter of a century, without being able to find a single valid, or even plausible objection. It explains innumerable difficulties and contradictions; it is founded on anatomical evidence, capable of demonstration, and is in