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    jfraTtacSSSde TOtbthe : frftoip + . «? tiie Pftrenojogjwts in its most abstract shap £ , ifr bv ^ sSS ^ Q ^ M ^ ' ^ 'iA ^^ te ^^ liodiipeiiS- of It- Indeed the crudity ^ of ififetr'afflosopny ftiach ? as toay well make many who to some extent agr « 5 e with liem : reff ^ < rbttr airyavowai " ' of their agreement ; more especially when they are met by so great an unwillingness to listen to any criticisms oit the detailed scheme ' rasUy !^ m \ ilgat ^^ an ^ y 8 ettled . ; T #¥ e ^ urri ibs € rall . ' ¦ ' ¦ "& ¦ is very noticeable- that while carrying the PhysiologicalMethod fartherthan his predecessors , he set himself decidedly a < miiiBt ; tnein , fflS ' -ytHs more truly psychological , in declaring that the Experience n ^ otheslsVould not suffice , but , that faculties were innate . It was necessary to take Mind as one factor in the sum ; experience alone would not'do . TMen ¦ wie rei born -with certain propensities , faculties . These ^ depended on their organisation , notion education , which had only a modifying influenceGall here oil the threshold of great truthThat he and

    . was a . his follovirer ^ remained on the threshold was mainly owing to the erroneous direction into which a premature systematisatioii led them , so that they abandoned both the physiological and the psychological Method , to give themselves to the observation of character , and its correspondence with , certariij external signs , thus giving up Physiology for Cranioscopy . ' The cohlfequence has been that while the physiology of the nervous system has been advancmg tvith extraordinary rapidity , scarcely a single phrenologist has been found among the neurologists ; and Phrenology can do nothing more than iterate what Grail said in defiance of every distinguished physiologist who has studied the subject . Nor has their Psychology made any real advance- In fact , Phrenology has become an Art . Gall , like Hartley , rendered science the collateral service of a -definite hypothesis . To refute Gall the nervous system has , been studied . No

    physiologist now—at least explicitly—denies that the mental manifestations correspond with the nervous structure ; and' even the Metaphysicians are beginning to understand the Mechanism of the Senses , and some genernl laws of Nervous Action . That is to say , they acknowledge themselves beaten in the long fight . However dear to them' their cherished Entities of Mipd and Will and Vital Principle , they have at length yielded to the force of , evidence , and confess that properly to understand vital or psychial action they must study them as manifestations of an organism . The time is approaching when' it will sound as absurd to talk of Mind without respect to the Nervous System , as it now sounds when we read of Stahl repudiating all chemical and anatomical researches as worse than useless in medicine . "We are far removed froni the metaphysical method which explained ail vital actions by means of a vital principle ; and we are

    approaching the day when we shall cease to explain mental actions by a mental principle . During the progress of the Physiological Method what has the metaphysical Method achieved ? Among pure metaphysicians , nothing . Among Metaphysicians tinctured with the positive method , real acquisitions in the way of psychological analysis . Hartley , for instance , gave us the law of Association . James Mill taught us the true principle of Naming . Adam Smith , Reid , Stewart , and Brown have certainly helped us , and Sir W . Hamilton has brought gigantic learning and a marvellous subtlety to help us through the labyrinthine way . For while Psychology is indebted to Physiology for its true Method and its amplest material , yet the chemist might-as well attempt to explain vital action upon strictly chemical principles , as the physiologist to explain psychology on strictly p hysiological

    principles . There is needed the union of psychial analysis with physiological observation ; otherwise Psychology remains simple Metaphysics or simple Physiology . This union we find in Mr . Bain ' s Senses and the Intellect , and Mr . Herbert Spencer ' s Principles of Psychology .. Mr . Bain , indeed , treats his subject more in the method of Natural History , is rather descriptive than analytical ; Mr . Spencer , on the contrary , is more analytical than descriptive . The two works should be studied together . In them will be found the natural outcome of the two great lines of speculation , physiological and psychological . In a future article , we will endeavour to characterise more definitely the results which Mr . Spencer has reached , and give the reader an outline of the course of the investigation . The present article must be accepted as a digression .

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    EIGHT YEARS' WANDERINGS IN CEYLON . Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon . By S . W . Baker , Esq . Longman and Co . Prostrated by jungle fever after a twelvemonth ' s life of adventure , our author was compelled to proceed , for the sake of a more bracing climate , to the mountainous region of Newera Ellin , the sanitarium of Ceylon . Grateful for the restoration of health , charmed by the beauty of the surrounding scenery , and tempted by the apparent fertility of the soil , Mr . Balder resolved to become a / settler in this delightful spot , where , at the same time , he " could reside in a perfect climate , and enjoy the sportsof the low country at his . own -will . " Ho accordingly purchased « n extensive tract of land from Government , at the rate of twenty shillings an acre , and made arrangements , on a most extensive and complete scale , for the establishment

    of an English village in the most lovely island in the Indian Ocean . At first , however , everything went wrong . A drunken vagabond of a groom contrived to upset « new carriage and a pair of fine Austmlian horses down a precipice , to the eerious injury of both the vehicle and the animals ; though the driver , being Bacclii plenus , of course escaped unhurt . Nor was this his only escapade , for being sent down with an elephant to assist in drawing up the ciiririttge , he , / insisted upon the Mahout putting the huge beast into a trot , and kVpt , up this pacofor fifteen miles , when , finding that the elephant would not be required , lie indulged somewhat freely in libations of brandy-nndwftter , and then forced the poor animal " up the steep pass for seven miles , till it fell down ,. and shortly after died . " . . . * ' That . afternoon , Mr . Porkes was being wheeled about the bazaar in a wheelbarrow , insensibly drunk , by

    a brother emigrant' who was also considerably elevated . " Misfortune ^ however , never come alone : — Many ' tyrera the dllTJcultios to contend against when tho first attempts were made iu

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    " agr iculture at J ^ era EHiaT" Wio ^ e ^^ they were subjected , to the nocturnal Visits of elk and ho ^ itt ^ ubh ^ unifi ^^ nlt ' they , were almost wholly destroyed . ;¦ A crop of potatoes of about thrtee acres oil ^ B ' ^ t ^ fy * cleared forest land was totally devoured by grabs . The bull and st <* fc weM ^ eWhK starved on the riiiserable pasturage of the country , and no sooner bad the clover sprang tig in the new clearings than the Southdown ram got hovetf upon itj " a « d died * > The two remaining rams , not having been aecustomed to much high living since their arrival at Newera Ellia , got pugnacious upon the clover , and in a pitched baitie : the : Leicester ram killed the Cotswpld—and remained solus . An epidemic appeared , among the cattle , and twenty-six fine bullocks died within a few daya ; . five Australian horses died daring the first year , and everything seemed to be going into the next worldLas fast as possible . '¦ ' '¦'"' . ''

    But our author appears to have been of the right stuff for a colonist . After awhile , things changed for the better , and a gleam of sunshine lightened up his distant home . Finding that good beer could be made at that , elevation— -6200 feet above the sea—he established a small brewery . The ; Leicester ram became the sire of a numerous and thriving offspring . His herd ; proved equally prosperous . The fields were green , and his house comfortable , and a reading-room and a church arose in his immediate neighbourhood . As an agricultural experiment , however , the settlement proved an ut | ter failure , owing to the natural poverty of the soil . In ancient times , indejed , the cultivation of the land was carried to a , high degree of excellence , and a teeming population found ample means of subsistence where a few thinl y ^ peop led villages now with difficulty avoid starvation * But then immense skiJl and labour were employed in supplying arid districts with water Joy artificial aqueducts , and a stubborn soil was compelled to produce abundant crops .

    From the remains of deserted water-courses of the first class , it is evident that more than fifty times the volume of water was then required that is in use at present , and in the same ratio must have been the amount of population . In those days' rivers were diverted from their natural channels ; opposing hills were cut through , and the -waters thus were led into another valley to . join a stream flowing in its natural bed , whose course , eventually obstructed by a dam , poured its accumulated waters into canals which branched to various localities . Not a river in those times flowed in vain . The hill-sides -were terraced out in beautiful- cultivation , which are now waving with wild vegetation and rank lemon grass . The remaining traces of stone walls point out the ancient boundaries far above the secluded valleys now in cultivation * The nation has vanished ; and with it , the industry and perseverance of the era .

    The extinction of the ancient race is thus accounted for . . The principal supply of water being derived from Newera Ellia , or the " Royal Plains , " whoever held that district was absolute master of the island . Mr . Baker , therefore , conjectures that during some intestine commotions the canals of irrigation , have been cut ofi ^ and the low lands laid desolate . As rice was the staple article of food , . and as abundant moisture is necessary for its production , the absence of water would speedily create a famine , and whole tribes be exterminated . And in such a climate the jungle rapidly closes around as men decay and labour becomes insufficient fpr the task of checking the rank luxuriance . The circulation of the air is thus impeded , arid fatal diseases engendered . Cause and effect tell upon each other mutually . Men perish and the jungle invades the cultivated clearing , and as the open space is filled up the population dies away . From the ruins of ancient cities it is manifest that in the olden time the " Paradise of the East "—the beautiful "L . unka" of Hindoo mythology—inust have been very densely inhabited . The remains of Anaradupoora , for instance , are spread over 256 square miles of ground , the said vestiges of a * ' noble city which stood within its walls in a square of sixteen miles . " At Pollanarua the Dagoba , or principal temple , raises its head 260 feet from its base .

    Two circular terraces , each of some twenty feet in height , rising one upon the other , with a widtli of fifty feet , and a diameter at the base of about 260 , form the . etepliko platform upon which the Dagoba stands . These are ascended by broad flights of steps , each terrace forming a circular promenade around tho Dagoba ; the whole having the appearance of white marble , being covered with polished stuoco , ornamented with figures ia bas-relief . The Dagoba is a solid mass of brickwork in the shape of a dome , which rises from the upper terrace . The whole is covered with polished stucco , and surmounted by a gilded epire standing upon a square pedestal of stucco , highly ornamented with large figures , also in bas-relief ; this pedestal is a cube of about thirty feet , supporting the tall gilded spire , which ia surmounted by a golden umbrella . Around the base of the Dagoba on the upper terrace are eight small entrances with highly ornamented exteriors . These ara the doora to eight similar chambers of about twelve feet square , in each of which is a email altar and carved golden idol .

    Such noble edifices could have been tho . work of no feeble or barbarous people . It is clear that the ancient Cingalese had attained a considerable degree of civilisation , and that their numbers availed to carry out the conceptions of their genius and taste . The failure of a crop of rice changed the entire aspect of the island . Tho inhabitants perished by thousands , the towns became deserted , the reservoirs were neglected , the dams broken down ; cultivation gave place to the jungle ; the boar , the elephant , and the elk resumed their sway in tho forest ; and the most beautiful island in the world became one of the most useless and unproductive , No doubt , if the population again increase , the former prosperity and abundance will also return . But what steps hare been taken by tho British Government to attain this end ? It would bo incredible , were it not in perfect consistency with tho

    absurdities perpetrated in all other colonies and possessions of the British Grown the only measure hitherto adopted for the encouragement of agriculture is tho reward of seven shillings for every elephant ' s tail brought to tho proper office 1 Instead of restoring « t a trifling outlay some of the aplonditf tanks constructed by their barbarous predecessors , and thus affording a nucleus to the native population , the Government throws obstacles in tho w » y of even ^ European colonisation . The upset price of I * " * } 9 twenty shillings « n acre , though it coats seven times that amount to > bring jfc into cultivation , besides the labour and expense of making roads for tho conveyance of the produce to the nearest market . It would be rather to the * d- . vantage of the , country that tho land were leased at » fair ™« tflJ » or eve " given away in «* najl lota , to encourage i » riv « to speculation jvhen pubho enterprise b dormant . The construction of roads » » « £ »** f «« " * benefit , and not merely of individual interns * . It i » , therefore , the auty of

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• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 27, 1855, page 1037, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2112/page/17/