The Illustrated Self-Instructor in Phrenology and Physiology Part 9

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 72. SMALL.]

LARGE.--Create a high regard for things sacred and religious; give an elevated, moral, and aspiring cast of feelings and conduct; create right intentions, and a desire to become good, holy, and moral in feeling and conduct; and, with weak animal feelings, is a rose in the shade.

VERY LARGE.--Give a most exalted sense and feeling of the moral and religious, with a high order of practical goodness, and the strongest aspirations for a higher and holier state, both in this life and that which is to come.

FULL.--Has a good moral and religious tone, and general correctness of motive, so as to render feelings and conduct about right; but with strong propensities and only average intellectual faculties, is sometimes led into errors of belief and practise; means right, yet sometimes does wrong, and should cultivate these faculties, and restrain the propensities.

AVERAGE.--Surrounded by good influences, will be tolerably moral and religious in feeling, yet not sufficiently so to withstand large propensities; with disordered nerves, is quite liable to say and do wrong things, yet afterward repents, and requires much moral cultivation.

MODERATE.--Has a rather weak moral tone; feels but little regard for things sacred and religious; is easily led into temptation; feels but little moral restraint; and, with large propensities, especially if circ.u.mstances favor their excitement, is exceedingly liable to say and do what is wrong.

SMALL.--Has weak moral feeling; lacks moral character; and, with large propensities, is liable to be depraved, and a bad member of society.

VERY SMALL.--Feels little, and shows no moral tone.

15. CONSCIENTIOUSNESS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 73. LARGE.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 74. SMALL.]

MORAL PRINCIPLE; INTEGRITY; PERCEPTION and love of right; innate sense of ACCOUNTABILITY and obligation; love of JUSTICE and truth; regard for DUTY; desire for moral PURITY and excellence; disposition to fulfill PROMISES, agreements, etc.; the internal MONITOR which approves the right and condemns the wrong; sense of GUILT; CONTRITION; desire to REFORM; PENITENCE; FORGIVENESS. Adapted to the rightness of right, and the wrongness of wrong, and to the moral nature and const.i.tution of things.

Perverted, it makes one do wrong from conscientious scruples, and torments with undue self-condemnation.

LARGE.--Loves the right as right, and hates the wrong because wrong; is honest, faithful, upright in motive; means well; consults duty before expediency; feels guilty when conscious of having done wrong; desires forgiveness for the past, and to do better in future; with strong propensities, will sometimes do wrong, and then be exceedingly sorry therefor; and, with a wrong education added, is liable to do wrong, thinking it to be right, because these propensities warp conscience, yet means right; with large Cautiousness, is solicitous to know what is right, and careful to do it; with weaker Cautiousness, sometimes does wrong carelessly or indifferently, yet afterward repents it; with large Cautiousness and Destructiveness, is severe on wrong doers, and unrelenting until they evince penitence, and then cordially forgives; with large Approbativeness, keeps the moral character pure and spotless--values others on their morals more than wealth, birth, etc., and makes his word his bond; with large Benevolence, Combativeness, and Destructiveness, feels great indignation and severity against oppressors, and those who cause others sufferings by wronging them; with large Ideality, has strong aspirations after moral purity and excellence; with large reasoning faculties, takes great pleasure, and shows much talent in reasoning upon, and investigating moral subjects, etc.: p. 126.

VERY LARGE.--Places moral excellence at the head of all excellence; is governed by the highest order of moral principle; would on no account knowingly do wrong; is scrupulously exact in all matters of right; perfectly honest in motive; always condemning self and repenting; makes duty every thing; very forgiving of those who evince penitence, but inexorable without; with Combativeness large, evinces the utmost indignation at the wrong, and drives the right with great force; is censorious, and makes but little allowance for the faults and follies of mankind, and shows extraordinary moral courage and fort.i.tude; with small Secretiveness and an active temperament, is liable to denounce evil doers; with large Friends.h.i.+p, cannot tolerate the least thing wrong in friends, and is liable to reprove them; with large Philoprogenitiveness, exacts too much from children, and with large Combativeness, is too liable to blame them; with large Cautiousness, is often afraid to do lest it should do wrong; with large Veneration, reasoning faculties, and Language, is a natural theologian, and takes the highest pleasure in reasoning and conversing upon all things having a moral and religious bearing; with Veneration average, and Benevolence large or very large, cannot well help being a thorough-going reformer, etc.: p. 129.

FULL.--Has good conscientious feelings, and correct general intentions, yet is not quite as correct in action as intentions; means well, yet with large Combativeness, Destructiveness, Amativeness, etc., may sometimes yield to these faculties, especially if the system is somewhat inflamed; with large Acquisitiveness, makes very close bargains, and will take such advantages as are common in business, yet does not intend to wrong others out of their just dues, still, has more regard for money than justice; with large intellectual organs, loves to reason upon subjects where right and duty are involved, yet too often takes the ground of expediency, and fails to allow right its due weight; and should never allow conscience to be in any way weakened, but should cultivate it a.s.siduously: p. 130.

AVERAGE.--When not tempted by stronger faculties does what is about right; generally justifies itself, and does not feel particularly indignant at the wrong, or commendatory of the right; with large Approbativeness and Self-Esteem, may do an honorable thing, yet where honor and right clash, will choose the former; with only average Combativeness and Destructiveness, allows many things that are wrong to pa.s.s unrebuked, or even unresented, and shows no great moral indignation or force; with moderate or small Secretiveness and Acquisitiveness, and large Approbativeness, Benevolence, and Ideality, will do as nearly right, and commit as few errors as those with Secretiveness, Acquisitiveness and Conscientiousness all large, and may be trusted, especially on honor, yet will rarely feel guilty, and should never be blamed, because Approbativeness will be mortified before conscience is convicted; with large propensities, especially Secretiveness and Acquisitiveness, and only full Benevolence, is selfish; should be dealt with cautiously, and thoroughly bound in writing, because liable to be slippery, tricky, etc.; and should cultivate this faculty by never allowing the propensities to overcome it, and by always considering things in the moral aspect: p. 124.

MODERATE.--Has some regard for duty in feeling, but less in practice; justifies self; is not very penitent or forgiving; even temporizes with principle, and sometimes lets interest rule duty. The combinations under average apply still more forcibly here: p. 131.

SMALL.--Has few conscientious scruples; has little penitence, grat.i.tude, or regard for moral principle, justice, duty, etc.; and is governed mainly by his larger faculties; with large propensities and only average Veneration and Spirituality, evinces a marked deficiency of moral principle; with moderate Secretiveness and Acquisitiveness, and only full Destructiveness and Combativeness, and large Adhesiveness, Approbativeness, Benevolence, Ideality, and intellect, and a fine temperament, may live a tolerably blameless life, yet, on close scrutiny, will lack the moral in feeling, but may be safely trusted because true to promises; that is, conscience having less to contend with, its deficiency is less observable. Such should most earnestly cultivate this faculty: p.

132.

VERY SMALL.--Is almost wholly dest.i.tute of moral feeling, and wholly controlled by the other faculties: p. 133.

16. HOPE.

EXPECTATION; ANTIc.i.p.aTION of future success and happiness. Adapted to man's relations with the future. Perverted, it becomes visionary and castle-building.

LARGE.--Expects much from the future; contemplates with pleasure the bright features of life's picture; never desponds; overrates prospective good, and underrates and overlooks obstacles and evils; calculates on more than the nature of the case will warrant; expects, and hence attempts a great deal, and is therefore always full of business; is sanguine, and rises above present trouble by hoping for better in future, and though disappointed, hopes on still; builds some air castles, and lives in the future more than in the present; with large Combativeness, Firmness, and Causality, is enterprising, never gives up the s.h.i.+p, but struggles manfully through difficulties; and with large Approbativeness, and full Self-Esteem added, feels adequate to difficulties, and grapples with them spiritedly; with large Self-Esteem, thinks that every thing it attempts must succeed, and with large Causality added, considers its plans well-nigh perfect; with large Acquisitiveness lays out money freely in view of future gain; with large Approbativeness and Self-Esteem, hopes for renown, honor, etc.; with large Veneration and Spirituality, hopes to attain exalted moral excellence, and should check it by acting on only half it promises, and reasoning against it: p. 137.

VERY LARGE.--Has unbounded expectations; builds a world of castles in the air; lives in the future; enjoys things in antic.i.p.ation more than in possession; with small Continuity, has too many irons in the fire; with an active temperament added, takes on more business than it can work off properly; is too much hurried to do things in season; with large Acquisitiveness, is grasping, counts chickens before they are hatched, and often two to the egg at that; with only average Cautiousness, is always in hot water; never stops to enjoy what it possesses, but grasps after more, and will never accomplish much because it undertakes too much, and in taking one step forward slips two steps back: p. 138.

FULL.--Expects considerable, yet realizes more; undertakes no more than it can accomplish; is quite sanguine and enterprising, yet with Cautiousness large, is always on the safe side; with large Acquisitiveness added, invests money freely, yet always safely, makes good bargains, if any, and counts all the cost, yet is not afraid of expenses where it knows they will more than pay; with larger animal faculties than moral, will hope more for this world's goods than for another, and with larger moral than animal, for another state of being than this, etc.: p. 139.

AVERAGE.--Expects and attempts too little, rather than too much; with large Cautiousness, dwells more on difficulties than encouragements; is contented with the present rather than lays out for the future; with large Acquisitiveness added, invests his money very safely, if at all, and prefers to put it out securely on interest rather than risk it in business, except in a perfectly sure business; will make money slowly, yet lose little, and with large intellectual organs, in the long run may acquire considerable wealth: p. 136.

MODERATE.--With large Cautiousness, makes few promises; but with large Conscientiousness, scrupulously fulfills them, because it promises only what it _knows_ can be performed; with small Self-Esteem, and large Veneration, Conscientiousness, and Cautiousness, if a professed Christian, will have many fears as to his future salvation; with only average propensities, will lack energy, enterprise, and fort.i.tude; with large Firmness and Cautiousness, is very slow to embark, yet once committed, rarely backs out; with large reasoning faculties, may be sure of success, because it sees _why and how_ it is to be brought about; with large Acquisitiveness, will hold on to what money it gets, or at least spend very cautiously, and only where it is sure to be returned with interest; should cheer up, never despond, count favorable but not unfavorable chances, keep up a lively, buoyant state of mind, and "hope on, hope ever:" p. 139.

SMALL.--Expects and undertakes very little; with large Cautiousness, puts off till it is too late; is always behind; may embark in projects after every body else has succeeded, but will then be too late, and in general knocks at the door just after it has been bolted; with large Cautiousness, is forever in doubt; with large Approbativeness and Cautiousness, though most desirous of praise, has little hopes of obtaining it, and therefore is exceedingly backward in society, yet fears ridicule rather than hopes for praise; is easily discouraged; sees lions in the way; lacks enterprise; magnifies obstacles, etc.: p. 140.

VERY SMALL.--Expects next to nothing, and undertakes little: p. 140.

17. SPIRITUALITY.

FAITH; PRESCIENCE; the "LIGHT WITHIN;" TRUST IN DIVINE GUIDING; perception and feeling of the SPIRITUAL; interior perception of TRUTH, what is BEST, what is about to transpire, etc. Adapted to a spiritual state of mind and feeling. Perversion--superst.i.tion; witchcraft; and with Cautiousness large, fear of ghosts.

LARGE.--Perceives and knows things independent of the senses or intellect, or as it were by spiritual intuition; experiences an internal consciousness of what is best, and that spiritual communion with G.o.d which const.i.tutes the essence of true piety; loves to meditate; bestows a species of waking clairvoyance, and is as it were "forewarned of G.o.d;"

combined with large Veneration, holds intimate communion with the Deity, for whom it experiences profound adoration; and takes a world of pleasure in that calm, happy, half-ecstatic state of mind caused by this faculty; with large Causality, perceives truth by intuition, which philosophical tests prove to be correct; with large Comparison added, has a deep and clear insight into spiritual subjects, and embodies a vast amount of the highest order of truth; with vigorous propensities, gives them a sanctified cast and spiritual direction; and clearly perceives, and fully realizes, a spiritual state of being after death: p. 142.

VERY LARGE.--Experiences the same functions as large, only in a higher degree; unless well regulated by reason, is liable to fanciful credulity, fanaticism, and superst.i.tion, and to a thousand whims, visions, dreams, etc.: p. 143.

FULL.--Has a full share of high, pure, and spiritual feeling; has many premonitions, or interior warnings and guidings, which, implicitly followed, would conduct to success and happiness through life; and has an inner test or touchstone of truth, right, etc., in a kind of inner consciousness which is independent of reason, yet, unperverted, in harmony with it; is quite spiritual-minded, and as it were "led by the spirit."

For combinations, see large: p. 143.

AVERAGE.--Has some spiritual premonitions and guidings, yet they are not always sufficiently distinct to secure their being followed; but, when followed, they lead correctly; sees this light within, and feels what is true and best, with tolerable distinctness, and should cultivate this faculty by following its light: p. 141.

MODERATE.--Has some, but not very distinct perception of spiritual things; rather lacks faith; believes mainly from evidence and little from intuition; with large Causality, says "Prove it," and takes no man's say-so unless he gives good _reasons_: p. 144.

SMALL.--Perceives spiritual truths so indistinctly as rarely to admit them; is not guided by faith, because so weak; like disbelieving Thomas, must see the fullest PROOF before it believes; has very little credulity, and doubts things of a superhuman origin or nature; has no premonitions, and disbelieves in them: p. 145.

VERY SMALL.--Has no spiritual guidings or superst.i.tions: p. 146.

18. VENERATION.

DEVOTION; ADORATION of a Supreme Being; reverence for religion and things sacred; disposition to PRAY, WORs.h.i.+P, and observe religious rites. Adapted to the existence of a G.o.d, and the pleasures and benefits experienced by man in wors.h.i.+ping him. Perverted, it produces idolatry, bigotry, religious intolerance, etc.

LARGE.--Experiences an awe of G.o.d and things sacred; loves to adore the Supreme Being, especially in his works; feels true devotion, fervent piety, and love of divine things; takes great delight in religious exercises; has much respect for superiority; regards G.o.d as the centre of hopes, fears, and aspirations; with large Hope and Spirituality, wors.h.i.+ps him as a spirit, and hopes to be with and like him; with large Ideality, contemplates his works with rapture and ecstacy; with large Sublimity, adores him as infinite in every thing; with large reasoning organs, has clear, and, if the faculties are unperverted, correct ideas of the Divine character and government, and delights to reason thereon; with large Philoprogenitiveness, adores him as a friend and father; and with large Benevolence, for his infinite _goodness_, etc.; with large Causality added, as securing the happiness of sentient beings by a wise inst.i.tution of _law_, and as the great first CAUSE of all things; with large and perverted Cautiousness, mingles fear and dread with wors.h.i.+p; with large Constructiveness and Causality, admires the system of his architectural plans, contrivances, etc.: p. 148.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 75. LARGE.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 76. SMALL.]

VERY LARGE.--Experiences these feelings in a still higher degree; places G.o.d as supreme upon the throne of the soul, and makes his wors.h.i.+p a central verge; manifests extreme fervor, anxiety, and delight in divine wors.h.i.+p, and is pre-eminently fervent in prayer; with moderate Self-Esteem, and large Conscientiousness and Cautiousness, and a disordered temperament, experiences the utmost unworthiness and guiltiness in his sight, and is crushed by a sense of guilt and vileness, especially before G.o.d, yet should never cherish these feelings; is always dreading the wrath of Heaven, no matter whether the actions are good or ill; and should cultivate religious cheerfulness and hope of future happiness. For additional combinations, see large: p. 149.

FULL.--Experiences a good degree of religious wors.h.i.+p, whenever circ.u.mstances excite this faculty, yet allows the larger faculties frequently to divert it, and prays at least internally; with large or very large Conscience or Benevolence, will place his religion in doing right and doing good, more than in religious observances; will esteem duties higher than ceremonies; with large propensities, may be devout upon the Sabbath, yet will be worldly through the week, and experience some conflict between his religious and his worldly aspirations: p. 149.

AVERAGE.--Will adore the Deity, yet often makes religion subservient to the larger faculties; with large Adhesiveness, Benevolence, and Conscience, may love religious meetings because it meets friends, and prays for the good of mankind, or because duty requires their attendance; yet is not habitually and innately devotional, except when this faculty is excited: p. 147.

MODERATE.--Will not be particularly devout or wors.h.i.+pful; with large Benevolence and Conscientiousness, if religiously educated, may be religious, yet will place religion more in works than faith, in duty than in prayer, and be more moral than pious; in his prayers will supplicate blessings upon mankind; and with Conscientiousness large, will confess sin more than express an awe of G.o.d; with large reflectives, can wors.h.i.+p no further than it sees a _reason_; with moderate Spirituality and Conscientiousness, cares little for religion as such, but with large Benevolence, places religion mainly in doing good, etc.; and is by no means conservative in religion, but takes liberal views of religious subjects; and is religious only when this faculty is considerably excited: p. 150.