THE PHILOSOPHY OF EXPRESSION.
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��and within one hour after their union they will be found hanging with breath- less interest upon the lips of some strange orator, and before they part he will be unanimously selected as their leader. Thus mind shows itself in ac- tion. Character is manifested by works. This is the only unerring cri- terion of a man's ability, both mental and physical. By their fruits ye shall know them.
But in all ages, men have been anx- ious to judge of their fellows at sight. They can not wait for the tardy testi- mony of experience. They often ask, with the poet :
" Ls there an art To find the mind's construction in the face?"
It has ever been a desideratum with philosophers to determine the true method of discovering mental and moral qualities from external signs. It has ever been the prevailing opinion that both the mind and affections stamp their own image upon the feat- ures. Especially in the human counte- nance have the inquisitive sought to read the secret workings of the soul. Aristotle seems to have been the first philosopher who attempted to reduce physiognomy to a science, and to es- tablish it upon fixed and undeniable principles. He defines it as "the science by which the dispositions of mankind are discoverable by the features of the body, especially those of the counte- nance." This philosopher has treated the subject more rationally than any of his successors of higher pretensions. This science was much cultivated among the Romans. Cicero often availed himself of its admitted princi- ples, whenever he could bring con- tempt, suspicion or hatred upon a criminal by pointing out the rogue in his face. A judge upon the bench once said to an eminent barrister, who, in his plea, was evidently making the worse appear the better reason : "Ah, man, I see the rogue in thy face." " Indeed," replied the advocate, " I was not aware that my face was a mir-
��ror." The countenance, however, is by no means an unerring index of the internal emotions. In some persons the face has nothing peculiar in its conformation ; in others, expression is but slight or evanescent ; in others, the true character is revealed only under strong excitement. Others, by a long course of hypocrisy, have re- pressed or changed the natural indices, and substituted those which have no corresponding types in the soul. Some men have so disciplined their emotions as never to betray them in their looks. The most scrutinizing gaze of Napo- leon could not disturb the fixed com- posure of Talleyrand. Having heard that his minister was planning his own aggrandizement in case of Bonaparte's defeat in his Northern campaign, the Emperor said to him, on the eve of his departure : " I have given orders for your immediate arrest, in case my ex- ])edition fails." The courtier replied, with imperturbable gravity : " I shall pray for your majesty's success." Such was the man who affirmed that language was made to conceal thought ; and he might have added the human face was made to mask emotions. But apart from such execeptions, there is so much significancy in external signs as to render them available aids in estimating character. They are not confined to the face merely. They exist in the whole organization of the man. Nor are they peculiar to man. They are common to all the animated creation. The characteristics and qualities of animals are known by their conformation ; and even by their //m- iogiioiny. Dr. Lemercier says : " The ears of a horse may be called indices of his mind. Intelligent animals prick up their ears when spoken to ; vicious ones throw their ears back. A blind horse directs one ear forward, and one backward, and in a deaf horse the ears are without expression." Celerity and timidity are visible in the form and countenance of the roe ; dignity and strength in those of the lion ; surliness and sluggishness in those of the bear. The faces of dogs differ as much as
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