for several years. He has the same thirst for having papers and books read to him, and appears equally interested in the affairs of the country as usual; but his original privation continues undiminished.

Note. Many cases of disease affecting the organ and faculty of Language have now been laid before the public, and so many more might easily be produced as to excite surprise at the frequency of their occurrence. We are not sure that the manifestations of this faculty are, in fact, more frequently deranged than those of any other. From its very nature, it is impossible that its imperfections can escape notice, while almost any of the others may be seriously altered in their functions, and still escape the attention of an ordinary observer. In the case of Language, the patient cannot open his mouth to communicate his situation to his medical attendant without revealing the defect; but suppose the faculty affected to be that of Number, of Time, of Tune, or of Locality, how long may it not be before accident leads to a discovery of such a lesion? This, therefore, ought to be kept in view in forming a judgment in regard to injuries of particular parts of the brain being observed to be accompanied with loss of particular powers. A late French author, Dr Bouillaud, offers some curious facts in regard to the influence exercised by the part of the brain appropriated to the faculty of Language over the muscular action of the organs of speech; but the present article is already too long to admit of our now laying them before our readers.-EDITOR.

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ARTICLE XI.

The Contest of the Twelve Nations; or, a View of the Dif ferent Bases of Human Character and Talent. 8vo. Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh; and Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, London. 1826.

THE general design of this book is excellent, and no small talent is displayed in its execution; but, in forming his views of human character, the author unfortunately has drawn more on his own fancy than on nature. "The purpose of the fol"lowing work is to show that there is not room, in rerum natura, for more than twelve generic characters essentially dif"ferent from each other; and that to some one or other of the "twelve departments, every nation and every individual must "be capable of being referred, in the same manner that, in na"tural history, each animal can be traced to some known order, "in the distinctive qualities of which it participates.

"The work, therefore, consists of twelve parts; and in each "part a different generic character is brought into view, and all "the qualities supposed to spring from that root are collected " and specified. They are shown to form one stock of consist"ent qualities; but each national character may, of course, vary "its aspect in individual specimens. Thus each class abounds "with diversities and modifications. These are made apparent "by a reference to the lives of individuals celebrated in history, ❝ or by citing anecdotes of eccentric characters, criminals, and "others, in whom a nature energetically displayed itself. The peculiar talent belonging to any one department must also be "susceptible of various applications, and these are copiously il"lustrated by specimens being pointed out in the works of "poets, artists, men of science, and others, in whom that parti"cular talent is supposed to have been exemplified.

"In this manner, it is attempted to be shown that all the hu"man species is resolvable into twelve great kinds or departments, and that every individual whom we meet must be a " specimen belonging to some one of these. It must not, how"ever, be supposed, that the distinguished men born in a coun"try are uniformly of the nature which is most common in that "country. On the contrary, they often appear to have been "dropt by chance upon a soil foreign to themselves. Thus we "must not infer that Newton was indisputably an English

man, or Socrates a Greek, or Julius Cæsar an Italian: a more "accurate inquiry into the nature of the talents and dispositions "of those men may perhaps induce us to refer them to other "stocks, or to say that they are more kindred to some other

"natures.

"In the following discourses the chief object is always to en"deavour to fix some notion of what constitutes the essence of "each separate stock of character, and to show that it has a pe"culiar principle of action, which clearly separates it from all "other natures. Another object is to show that its cast of in"tellect, its temper, and its tastes, are consistent among them"selves, or that they all proceed from one source. Another

"object is to enlarge our notions of the kind by comparing "many individuals who are supposed to have belonged to it, "and who, therefore, may be regarded as all expressing more " or less of its properties and powers."

The author considers each generic character which is found among the human species in three chief points of view:First, In relation to INTELLECT. This, when subdivided, has in itself" four chief forms or applications:" 1st, An intellectual faculty, when operating internally, perceives the necessary dependence of one relation upon another in pure idea, and so gives birth to inference; 2dly, When conversant with objects existing in the external world, constitutes observation; 3dly, When employed to refer many different objects to the same standard, or test, or measure, and observe in what proportions they agree with it, produces the spirit of system or classification, and also of criticism; 4thly, " When employed to compare the kinds either of internal sensation or " of impression, which the mind receives from external powers, produces sensuality, which is the desire to have some particu"lar kind of sensation apart, and to enjoy it in great quantity, (6 as sweet or bitter, hot or cold."

Secondly, Each generic character may be considered in relation to WILL or DISPOSITION, which, when subdivided, has four chief forms or applications: 1st, "A disposition or "power of the will, when operating internally, is the same as "the necessity which the mind has to live and extend its being only according to one pattern, or form, or mode of deduction, rejecting all others, and retaining this throughout. This con"stitutes inherent nature or disposition, or the kind of life "which is going on in the individual at all times. 2dly, A dis"position, when operating relatively to the forces of external

objects, inspires the mind with a wish to modify or control "them, and to impress upon them the character of its own will. "This is the source of industry, and of the taste for manufacture. "3dly, A power of the will, when operating so as to conform "successive intentions to one standard, produces courage, which "is command over our intentions and likings for the time "being, to enable us to encounter what is painful or appalling "as the means through which we must pass to some more de"sirable end, which is assumed as the standard to which the "acts of our will must be conformed. Courage is analogous to "systematic intellect. 4thly, A power of the will, when ope" rating in relation to quantity, produces the inclination to assist "natural dispositions by the agreement of different individuals "in the same intention, or by rendering the dispositions of men "consistent and capable of mutually favouring each other. This "sentiment gives birth to politeness, and appears in the morals "of the individual,-that is to say, in his habit of considering "how far his actions will fit with the claims and wishes of other persons, and what mutual obligations and restraints as to ac"tion must be acknowledged for the sake of agreement and "convenience. Such appear to be the four chief forms of will.”

Thirdly, Each generic character may be viewed in relation to TASTE OR THE SENSE OF BEAUTY, which, when subdivided, has four chief forms or applications:-" 1st, Taste, "when applied to consider what is good or perfect in itself, "produces the sense of religion, or determines what qualities "men are to venerate and worship. 2d, Taste, when operating "communicatively, lends or imputes the beauty or good quali"ties of one thing to another which is supposed to be connected "with it, and so produces a sort of transfer of qualities between "them, as in the tastes which are produced by the association "of ideas. This appears in the mixture of various causes of "pleasure and esteem in social life and in party-spirit, in which "tastes are generated from the casual dependence of one thing upon another, and not simply from inherent qualities. The "talent for perceiving the various dependences of ideas upon "each other also produces style in literary composition; since "style is arbitrary progression, in which some one principle of " connexion is preferred and gives the character to the style. "The same holds in the arbitrary progress of musical composi“tion. 3d, Taste, when operating systematically, considers all "circumstances as more or less conducive to what the indivi"dual considers good and desirable in itself. From hence he “ obtains a standard for determining in what order or gradation "situations, circumstances, and places, are to be desired, so that "he may be always leaving those which are less conformable to "his notion of good, and passing on to others which are more "so. This systematic kind of taste appears in the ambition of

"the individual, and determines its direction. 4th, Taste, when operating in relation to quantity, teaches us to seek for other things fitted to corroborate the kind of beauty which already "exists, and so leads to the discovery of analogous traits capable "of helping out the same expression. This leads to the con"trivance of similes, illustrations, and allegories, and is the "source of poetical genius, which expands and improves our "ideas of all things by characteristic description, and by adding whatever can increase the same effect. Such appear to be "four chief forms of taste, or the sense of beauty.

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"The use of those inquiries cannot fail to become apparent "to the reader. By pursuing this plan of investigation, we enlarge our notions of what each particular character is fitted "for, what resources it contains, and what are the situations and "circumstances in which it finds most enjoyment. The experience which an individual acquires in the longest life can never "reveal to him all his nature is capable of, either in intellect, in action, or in taste. But, by comparing and collating the cha"racteristics of many individuals supposed to belong to one "kind, we acquire an enlarged notion of the kind; and, in pursuing it through the various phases and aspects which it may assume, we begin to catch its spiritual nature, and to rise as "it were into a noble and poetical conception of its qualities, so as to pass beyond the narrow bounds of individual forms and specimens. No talent has ever been the exclusive property " of an individual. The same power must have been shared by "all persons whose nature belonged to the same department."

The author avails himself freely of Phrenology as an instrument of analysis and exposition of character; but, unaccustomed, apparently, to the observation of nature, he takes it up as an hypothesis, models it according to his own fancy, and applies it in utter disregard of its true principles and of the best-established facts. He maintains, that "the system "would, if completed, comprehend thirty-six faculties, which "would be resolvable into twelve triads, consisting each of, I., "an intellectual power, II., a sentiment, III., an instinct; the "three faculties in each triad being supposed to spring from "one root, and to be connected with each other by the closest analogy or similarity of nature."-" Thus," says he, "the "Irish character is supposed to have, I., Individuality for the "intellectual faculty; II., Philoprogenitiveness for the senti"ment; and, III., Wonder for the instinct. In every indivi"dual some one of the twelve triads of faculties must predomi"nate decidedly over the rest, and give the tone to the whole "character, determining its bias or direction of force. In every "head (according to this supposition) there should be found "three organs more expanded than the rest. Such appears to