Page:Headlong Hall - Peacock (1816).djvu/166

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158
HEADLONG HALL.

"Here is the skull of a Newfoundland dog. You observe the organ of benevolence, and that of attachment. Here is a human skull, in which you may observe a very striking negation of both these organs; and an equally striking developement of those of destruction, cunning, avarice, and self-love. This was one of the most illustrious statesmen that ever flourished in the page of history.

"Here is the skull of a turnspit, which, after a wretched life of dirty work, was turned out of doors to die on a dunghill. I have been induced so preserve it, in consequence of its remarkable similarity to this, which belonged to a courtly poet, who, having grown grey in flattering the great, was cast off in the same manner, to perish by the same catastrophe."

After these and several other illustrations, during which the skulls were handed round