Theodosius may, perhaps, be offered as an example in earlier times; and in our own day the deposed Charles IV. of Spain, who resigned himself altogether into the hands of the infamous Godoy, surnamed Prince of the Peace; Augustus king of Saxony, who resigned himself equally into the hands of Buonaparte; and Ferdinand of Sicily, who in lucky hour, but of too short duration, at length surrendered the government of his people to our own country.

V. The last temperament I have noticed is the NERVOUS or IRRITABLE, as it has been sometimes, but incorrectly denominated. In this constitution the sentient system, or that susceptible to external impressions, is predominant over all the rest. Like the melancholic, it is seldom natural or primitive, but morbid and secondary, acquired by a sedentary life, reiterated pleasures, romantic ideas excited by a long train of novel or other fictitious and elevated histories; and peculiarly distinguished by promptitude but fickleness of determination, vivacity of sensations, small, soft, and wasted muscles, and generally, though not always, a slender form. The diseases chiefly incident to it are hysterical and other convulsive affections.

Let us close with two brief remarks upon the general survey before us. The first is, that these temperaments or generic constitutions are perpetually running into each other; and consequently, that not one of them, perhaps, is to be found in a state of full perfection in any indivi

dual. Strictly speaking, Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox belonged equally in the main to the second of them: there was the same ardour, genius, and comprehensive judgment in both; but the former had the bilious temperament, with a considerable tendency to the sanguineous; and hence, with more irritability, had more self-confidence, audacity, and sanguine expectation: the latter, while possessing the same general or bilious temperament, was at the same time more strongly inclined to the lymphatic; and hence his increased corporeal bulk; and, with less bold and ardent expectation, he possessed one of the sweetest and most benevolent dispositions to be met with in the history of the world. The first was formed to be revered, the second to be beloved; and both to be admired and immortalised.

The closing remark I have to submit is, that each of these temperaments, how widely soever they may differ from each other, is capable of being transmuted into any of the rest. Galen has particularly dwelt upon this most important fact, and has especially observed that a man of the most elevated and sanguineous constitution may be broken down into a melancholic habit by a long series of anxiety and affliction; while, on the other hand, the most restless and audacious of the bilious or choleric genus may be attuned to the sleek quiet of the phlegmatic temper by an uninterrupted succession of peaceful luxury and indulgence. Of what moment is this well

established fact in the nice science of education! The temperaments of boys may be born with them; but they are capable of alteration, nay, of a total reversion, both in body and mind, each of which may be made to play upon the other; the one by a discipline of gymnastic exercises, and the other by a discipline of intellectual studies. The Greeks were thoroughly aware of this mutual dependence; and hence, as we have already seen,* made gymnastic games a regular part of the tuition of the Academy; thus rearing at one and the same time, and rearing, too, in the self-same persons, a race of heroes and of sages, and turning the wild and savage luxuriance of nature to the noblest harvests of wisdom and virtue.

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LECTURE XII.

ON PATHOGNOMY, OR THE EXPRESSION OF THE PASSIONS.

In our last lecture, we examined how far the state of the body has an influence upon that of the mind in the study we are now entering upon we shall take the opposite side of the question, and examine how far the state of the mind has an influence upon that of the body.

This influence, if it exist, may be either instantaneous or permanent: it may be produced by some sudden affection or emotion of the mind, exciting an abrupt change in the features, the muscles, or other soft and flexible parts of the body; or it may result from the habitual character of the moral propensity, slowly and imperceptibly operating on parts that are less pliant, and giving them a fixed and determinate cast. The former constitutes the study of Pathognomy, or of the signs, language, or expression of the passions: the latter, the study of physiognomy, or of the signs, language, or expression of the genius or temper.

Let us investigate each of these in the order in which I have now stated them; and devote our present attention to the former of the two.

Suppose a man of a mild but courageous disposition, reclining at ease, and alone, beneath some overspreading forest tree, on a summer's evening, should be suddenly surprised by the attack of a ruffian, who should attempt to rob or murder him; what would be the change of feelings and of figure he would undergo? The tranquillity of his mind would be transmuted into horror, rage, and probably revenge, or an attempt to retaliate; while the negligent ease of his posture, the relaxed muscles of his face, the natural vermeil of his cheeks, his half-opened lips, half-closed eyelids, and easy breathing, would suddenly start into tension, energy, suffusion: he would be instantly on his feet, in an attitude of determined resistance; still trembling with fear, he would collect all his soul into a strong and desperate effort to overcome the wretch: his muscles would swell with violent rigidity; his heart contract with unusual force and frequency; his lungs heave power. fully; the whole visage become inflated, dark, and livid; the eye-balls roll and look wildly; the forehead be alternately knit, and worked into furrows; the nostrils would open their channels to the utmost; the lips grow full, stretch to the corners of the mouth, and disclose both rows of teeth, fixed and grinding upon each other; the hair stand on end, and the hands, spasmodically clenched, or grasping and grappling with the assassin.

Now it has been made a question whether these rapid and violent movements are instinctive