Page:Father's memoirs of his child.djvu/225

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157

a short time, during the paroxysms of pain, or a more than ordinary height of fever. That his head was large and of a remarkable form, must have been obvious to the most indifferent examiner. Yet, so far from giving rise to gloomy forebodings, its shape and character had often been admired by artists, and especially by our late friend Mr. Banks, as tallying exactly with the most approved models, and agreeing with the established principles of beauty. Now the idea of beauty in the human frame can never be disjoined, at least not justly, from that of healthy and perfect conformation; so that the taste of the designer must stand corrected by the closer investigations of the anatomist. We had the testimony of both.

Our confidence in the hands, to which we had committed so near an interest, was great; nor was our faith easily to be shaken. But it was impossible for any of the parties concerned to be satisfied without a further enquiry. Happily for all, the doubt was