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* Washington, in one of his letters, says that he never saw a more gallant military show than was presented by these troops when he joined them, after first crossing the Monongahela.

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THE RATIONALE OF CRIME.

THIS is a work that we have for some time been acquainted with, and which we are glad to see re-published under such auspices, though we by no means concur in all its conclusions. It is a theory of crime, and its treatment, founded upon the doctrines of phrenology, presented with admirable clearness, and great force of logic, by the accomplished author, Mr. Sampson. The notes, added by Mrs. Farnham, impart a greater value to the book, and will be read with interest by all who concern themselves with the subject of crime.

We say that we do not concur in all the conclusions of it, because we have not yet that vivid trust in the deductions of phrenological science, which inspires the faith of either the author or the editor. That there is truth in the general principles of this new science of mind, and a great deal of important truth, no one who has studied it impartially will deny. Too large an accumulation of facts has been gathered by the indefatigable researches of its disciples, to allow a philosophic mind to treat its inductions with contempt. Indeed, we may say that the day for deriding and sneering at it is past; and the work of the thinker or investigator now is, not to utter flippant sarcasms and pointless jokes about "bumps" and craniology," but to consider how far the large array of well authenticated observations which have been collected, has been properly digested into a coherent system, and to what extent error may or may not have been mingled with truth in the generalization.

No physiologist will dispute that the brain is the organ of the mind, and no one who believes his own eyes, or his own instincts, will maintain that different mental functions are not appropriated to different parts of this organ. We have a consciousness almost as clear as that of our own existence, that we do not think with the back side of the head; and therefore, we infer that the minute divisions mapped out on the scull by the phrenologists, have some foundation in nature, and may be perfectly true to the distributions of nature. Whether they are or not, is a legitimate subject for scientific inquiry. We do not propose to discuss the question; yet we will briefly observe, that the phrenological theory seems in accordance with the analogy of nature in many of her other arrangements.

But what we wish to say of this book is, that whether its mental theories be right or wrong-whether there is more or less truth in the doctrines of phrenology-the method it proposes for the treatment of criminals, is in the main, accordant with the spirit of Christianity, and the noblest impulses of modern benevolence. Perhaps on no subject has there been a greater progress made by public opinion, in the course of the last half century, than in that of prison discipline and reform. This progress has been slow, but it has been sure and abiding. The change it has effected amounts to a complete revolution-to a reversal almost of former practices and principles, and the solid establishment of opinions, not only new, but opposite to all previous thought.

There was a time when persons who offended against any law of society,'

* RATIONALE OF CRIME, and its appropriate treatment; being a treatise on Criminal Jurispru dence, considered in relation to cerebral organization. By M. B. Sampson. With notes and illustrations, by E. W. Farnham, Matron of Mount Pleasant State Prison. Appleton & Co., 200 Broadway.

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