many.

the world. We must admit the real virtues of antiquity, in the continence of Scipio, the devotion of Regulus, the morality of Socrates, Plato, &c. * Some have resolved these heathen virtues into a love of applause; but there is a native sense of integrity in Domestic duties are in many instances performed from principle, and disquietude is felt if they are not attended to. We cannot deny that some men are actuated by motives of benevolence, philanthropy, &c. But the more this is admitted, so much the more evident is it that man has fallen from his original righteousness. When man is charged with guilt, this is rested on his ungodliness. If this count is made out, it is enough. Examine the best moral constitution of any man on earth, we may find benevolence, integrity, &c. but no loyalty to God."

This, then, is the doctrine, that the depravity of man consists, in the first place, in his having forsaken God, and that from this has flowed, as a necessary consequence, all his other depravity. No doubt there are degrees in depravity, and some have fallen to greater depths of degradation than others; but this is true universally, that all mankind, without exception, are in a state immeasurably below the original perfection of their nature. "The moral question," says Dr Chalmers, “between God and man, is one thing, and between man and man is another thing. One man may manifest kindness, and another malice, but both are alienated from God. The relative distances and elevations of the earth sink into insignificance when compared with the immensity of the distance of the earth from the sun; so it is in the moral condition of man. One man is more moral than another, but the differences are inconThese, not having the law, are a law unto themselves."-Romans,

* 66

ii. 14.

siderable, when compared with the immense interval that separates all from a state of perfect allegiance to God."

Holding this, then, to be the doctrine, I shall endeavour to illustrate it in different ways. First, in regard to our original state: man was created in the image of God, and while he remained in paradise, enjoyed an intercourse with him far nearer and more perfect than we at present possess. Hence, he had a more accurate knowledge of the will of God, and more constraining motives for its performance. He was formed for intercourse with and an entire dependence upon God, and while he remained in that state, he was perfect. He walked in the sight of God; and having inclinations agreeable to his will, he could not act otherwise than according to it. In this state there could be no imperfection, and no sin.

The phrenological view of such a state would be this: Having all his faculties and sentiments in perfection, these would always lead him "to seek to God" as their highest object. Veneration would impress him constantly with ideas of the greatness of God and his own dependence upon him, and lead him in all things to inquire after his will, and to obey it. Wonder would be constantly excited by new discoveries of the character of God, and the greatness and variety of his works. Ideality would receive constant delight from the unfading perfection of the one, and the splendour and beauty of the other. Benevolence and conscientiousness would instinctively lead him to that conduct towards his fellow-men, which would conduce most to their happiness, being that which God designed when he implanted such sentiments in his mind; the one making those actions a pleasure, which the other would point out to be a duty. An enlightened self-esteem would lead to the same conduct,

T

as the best means of promoting his own happiness. Acting constantly under a sense of the presence of God, he would constantly endeavour so to act as to obtain his approbation; while cautiousness would lead him to avoid whatever might offend, and hope would point smiling to the delightful future, which nothing could disturb while he continued in obedience. The social qualities of adhesiveness, and the love of offspring, would of course lead, in private, and with relation to a more confined class of duties, to the same perfect and unblamable conduct, as the other sentiments we have mentioned in relation to their more extended sphere. Thus, all the faculties which could operate in any way as motives upon the conduct, would in this situation lead directly and necessarily to one result, a perfect submission to the divine will. But in this state man did not continue.

He had his choice of remaining in a state of dependence upon God, or of leaving him and trusting to his own resources. He was induced, by what means we need not here inquire, to prefer the latter. He was seduced from his allegiance. He disobeyed a positive command, and in so doing, was guilty of an overt act of rebellion. He was, in consequence, banished from that intercourse with God which he had hitherto enjoyed, and sent into the world to reap the fruits of the choice he had made.

The change produced by this may be compared to that which the earth would sustain if separated from its connection with the sun,-if it were driven or attracted by any extraneous force from its present orbit. The earth and all its productions remaining the same, they would soon degenerate when deprived of the warmth and light of the solar rays.

In like manner, man, after the Fall, remained the same creature as he was before, but his situation was altered. He retained the same faculties, but the highest of these

were deprived of their highest, their appropriate objects. His veneration and wonder might still lead him to contemplate the perfections of God through the medium of his works, but they no longer enjoyed the perfect gratification resulting from his immediate presence. He no longer acted under a constant sense of that presence, and consequently God was now "not in all his thoughts." But more than this, he no longer looked up to God with unmingled, undisturbed feelings of veneration, love, and hope. Fear mingled in his thoughts of Him whom he had offended, and what we fear, we soon learn to hate, or at least endeavour to banish from our minds. Hence, to do His will-to obtain His approbation-was no longer his supreme wish - his earnest and constant endeavour. In the same way, his feelings towards his fellow-creatures were likewise disturbed and perverted. These were no longer feelings of perfect love. It is natural to suppose, that as both the man and the woman had participated in' the guilt of the Fall, they would soon be led to mutual recrimination.* This would naturally lead to angry and unpleasant thoughts of each other, and occasionally to mutual offences. In every view, therefore, both of duty to God and duty to man, the human faculties, by the change which had taken place, were turned away from their proper objects, and their proper modes of exercise. From the moment of his first departure from God, man had no longer the same clear knowledge of His will, nor the same constraining motives to obey it. His faculties, deprived of those objects, for the contemplation and enjoyment of which they were primarily intended, attached themselves to those which were improper, and acting with irregular and misdirected energy, necessarily

* Something of this kind appears in the excuse offered by Adam for his disobedience, Gen. iii. 12.

led to evil; and thus he unavoidably fell from one degree of depravity to another.

But the evils of the Fall did not end here. The spiritual and moral degradation which it produced brought necessarily in its train the physical. The influence which retained the mental powers in their just balance being removed, the disorder would constantly tend to increase. The laws of propagation (admitted, nay, insisted on by Mr Combe as part of his system,) communicating to the children the disordered state of faculties which the parents themselves suffered under, necessarily continued, and, except under very favourable circumstances, increased and deepened the features of the original degradation. The moral and religious feelings, not receiving their proper gratifications, would languish and decay; while the lower propensities, kept in constant exercise, and constantly in view of their appropriate objects, would rise into an unnatural and fearful predominance. Each generation, as it succeeded, would thus become not only more alienated from God, but physically more imperfect, and mentally more unfavourably constituted than the last; until, finally, as we are told, "the earth was filled with violence, and the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually."

There is evidently nothing in this that is not perfectly consistent with all that Phrenology teaches, and indeed nothing but this will afford an explanation of our present condition. We see that the present state of the human faculties is much more imperfect than the high nature of some of them would lead us to expect. It is acknowledged by all the phrenological writers, that the higher sentiments are generally weaker than the lower propensities; and that, in a great majority of our race, some one or more of the former are eminently defective. From this, it appears undeniable, that the faculties have been thrown