Genre:

Biography

Subjects:

Human Species, Education, Progress, Physiognomy, Race, Ethnology, Christianity, Piety, Theology of Nature

    Reports that Caspar Hauser was kept in confinement until around seventeen or eighteen years old, at which age 'he had a brutish cast of countenance'. However, 'the formation of his face altered in a few months almost entirely [...] the prominent lower features of his face receded more and more, and his earlier physiognomy could scarcely any longer be recognized'. The narrator considers this evidence of the 'humanizing effect' of instruction to be important, especially as it has been questioned. It is particularly important since some have disputed that the 'Hottentot and the Indian' are of one 'race' with Europeans, despite the declarations of the scriptures. Observes of former black slaves: 'Let us see if civilization, and the light of the glorious gospel, will not contribute to the external improvement of these despised and persecuted children'. (232) When given any natural object, Caspar always enquired who made it: 'He could never hear enough of the wisdom, power, and goodness of the God who created heaven and earth'. He was particularly affected by seeing the 'starry heavens' for the first time: 'when he saw only so much of the Divine glory as the heavens can make known, he acknowledged with tears in his eyes, that the name of the Lord was excellent indeed'. (233)