U N I VLRS ITY Of ILLINOIS Received Ly bequest from Albert H. Lybyer Professor of History University of Illinois 1916-1949 FACTS AND FACES: BEING AN ENQUIRY INTO THE CONNECTION BETWEEN LINEAR AND MENTAL PORTRAITURE, WITH A DISSERTATION ON PERSONAL AND RELATIYE BEAUTY, •BA’ THOMAS WOOLNOTH, ESQ. Jftistorical ©nstahft to tje , ib. Finest Examples of their Union , ib. EXPRESSION. The Nature and Force of Expres- sion ........... 204 How far independent of Beauty . . 205 ■Considered in Three Classes, and in what they Morally and Lineally consist ib. TASTE. Its Nature and Origin .... 208 Vulgar concessions to false Taste . 210 Attributes of Justice ib. Nature presented in odd numbers . 211 Ideal perspective reduced to prin- ciple 212 Instances of perverted Taste . . ib. Architectural distress . . . . . 212 Monumental infirmities , . , . 213 The Nelson Pillar ib. The Wellington Statue .... 214 Modern sign posts 215 Influence of Fashion over Natural Taste, whether in Dress, Art, Science, on Literature . . . 216 ^ayrfage a la mode in Literary life 219 Precocious Shoots 224 Fajlsq Tpte the test of the true . . 225 Meretricious effects i;lq argqngept against a geneir^J pervading ^aste ......... ib. CHARACTER & EXPRESSION. Difference between them defined . 226 The Moving Mass compared . . . 227 GENTILITY, In what it essentially consists . . 228 To what extent Persons are as they ^ make themselves ib. The mastery of the Mind over the Body Dramatically Illustrated . 230 S ITLL-LIFE EXPRESSION. As seen in Still-Life as well as in Animated Nature .. . . . . 231 RELATIVE BEAUTY. Analogy of the Sister Arts . . . 232 Complexionary Appendages to Beauty. 233 Hints on 'the Choice of Colours in Advantageous Dressing . . . 234 Beauty to none Indifferent , . . ib. PORTRAIT-PAINTING. Points of Beauty decided by the Pencil with Mathematical Pre- cision 236 Modes of its Reception 238 Moral and Mechanical Causes of the .apparent Deceitfulness of the Mirror 237 Popular Prejudices and Compromises of Art 239 Where the Painter is really in fault 240 Some of the Causes of his failure . ib, Its Miseries Beauty not Conventional : its Do.car lity determined, and from whence and where Distributed , , , 246 COMPLEXION OF CHARACTER. The Incoporeal Nature of this Vi- sual Faculty ....... 249 Its Nearipg on the Positiye Lines of Physiognomy 261 THE SISTER ARTS. Painting, Poetry, aud Music . , , g65 PHYSIOGNOMY. PHYSIOGNOMY. Nature, which in her wise provision has not formed two faces alike, has for the same reason given the mind the same varieties ; but what their mutual influences are upon each other, or what their just effect will be, when taken together, is the present design as familiarly as possible to explain. Now it may not occur to all, that in this shifting world of ours, there is more traffic carried on by the face than the hands ; and the tongue, which affects to be chief agent in the concern, is fre- quently taking a subordinate part, while the face is in reality marketing for the whole. To regulate this fictitious currency, and separate the counterfeit from the coin, requires the inter- position of science to produce both caution ;uid confidence with regard to others, as well as a respect to what is equal and just to ourselves ; by taking the right of dissection out of the hands of self-love, which, if it had a centaur to divide, would take the best half and give the other to its neighbour. Though we are ail Physiognomists by nature more or less, and so far may be right in our general conclusions ; still, we may be subject to many grievous mistakes, which this hieroglyphic art can alone rectify, by iT'iidering the face legible without the trouble of reading ; reducing all its signs and wonders to mere matter of fact expres- sion ; and relieving us equally from prejudice on the one hand, and prepossession on the other. Our powers of recognition are greatly weakened for want of simple exercise, and this is the reason why children are greater adepts at natural Physiognomy than adults ; men have learned to trifle, but children are always in earnest ; their minor perceptions are >trong, because there is nothing with them of minor importance, and hence that acute- ness of observation and strength of memory, bv which they acquire a knowledge of this dumb language, with as much facility as they learn the mother tongue: they watch every 4 PHYSIOGNOMY. movement of the parental countenance with as much precision as we should the changes of the weather-glass ; and can tell with equal certainty what kind of a day they are to expect. One principal cause of the failure, or rather the decline of this art may be, that they outgrow their little genius for discovery ; their good opinion of the world not keeping pace with their acquaintance with it, they learn to put no more confidence in looks than professions, and thus insensibly dispossess themselves of a faculty, which may hitherto have been their best preserva- tive. A neglect of these natural helps to which the art is indebted, will defeat the end of science, Avhich undertakes to carry out our own unaided observations, or to supply what is de- fective in them ; for even the sagacity of inferior animals in this particular, should be sufficient to teach us the necessity of improving an indigenous principle, which is implanted in us for mutual comfort and defence. Hence we are directed to science, the use and application of which is, to test the genuineness of such characters as never expect to come under its survey ; from this it is, that insincere persons may be better known by the dispositions they strive to conceal, than by those they alFect lo display ; and as to such as act under no restraints, we may form some idea of what it discovers in their countenances, by that which it is able te detect even in those of the best disciplined minds, as in the case of Socrates, when the Athenian Physi- ognomist remarked unfavorably of certain lines of his face, his pupils pronounced upon the fallacy of his art ; when Socrates declared that its principles were nevertheless true ; and that he was by nature all that the man of science described him to be. lb make such a discovery is among the greatest difficulties of the art, and only to be overcome by the fact that certain lines once contracted are never entirely obliterated ; while it goes very far in support of the idea, that what has been attributed solely to nature or education, may more properly belong to both. It may be observed in this p’ace, that when nature is the most uniform in her proportions, we are the more struck with her exceptions ; and where the mind is adjusted with the same care, departures from it are marked with equal severity : neverthe- less it is the prevalence of bad lines which determines the exceptionable character of the face, and answers to that term of deprecated art, the “being out of balance.” To command the mind is to control the features; the one is consequent iq)on the other ; those, therefore, who fiatter theiiiselves they can regulate PHYSIOGNOMY. O their faces without being at the pains to put their principles in order, will only be making an effort to convince the world at least of their mistake, and need to be reminded that there is a validity in the countenance which answers to every move- ment of a well regulated mind, with the same certainty as the state of the inner works is ascertained by the pointing of the hands in the face of a clock. In bringing the specious coun- tenance under the eye of science, it may be remarked that a sense of the just and proper must of necessity precede every corrupt movement of the mind ; right thoughts first suggest themselves, and must be got rid of before wrong ones are con- ceived ; and the transition will not be made without as much violence being done to the face as the understanding. The close observer should be taught how to watch the shifting pro- cess of the face without trusting to the mechanism of speech, in order to find how much trouble it would save him by betray- ing its own secrets ; for even one unguarded look from the chambers of the eye, may be sufficient to bring into suspicion the most studied harangue. In truth, all the features act as outlets as well as inlets to the mind ; and it would be as easy to bar it against the very entrance of thought and feeling, as to shut it up to its own devices. It is no less remarkable than natural, that the face can have but one expression at the same time ; it may fluctuate between many, but can never entertain all at once, if the features will take contrary parts, they must play in succession, or we may detect in the varying face, a want of agreement and unison of time, w’hich can only deceive by the rapidity of the change. As a simple experiment — lower and contract the brow as in anger, then attempt at the same time to smile away the harsh expression, and mark the ludicrous effect. It follows also, and as certainly, that there must be in all their varieties one prevailing expression ; one feature or other must be principal actor, and the rest will have subordinate parts to perform ; for without this controlling power it would be impossible to carry out any design. Allowing then, that as many changes may be wrought upon the countenance as may be rung upon eight bells, and that every emotion of the mind has its corresponding sign ; how necessary it is that the artist should be master of that art which furnishes the great distinction between the intellectual painter and the mere mecha- nic in the art, who misrepresents what appears on the surface of the subject from ignorance of the creature influences which 6 PHYSIOGNOMY. lie underneath. It is quite unnecessary to insist upon its importance to the historic art^ or of its equal use to the amateur as the professor, in the misplaced patronage it might prevent by interposing the judgment between those productions that are valueless or valuable, overvalued or overlooked. For the moral and political advantages of this art, less room than occa- sion will be found here for all that might be said on the subject. The well instructed observer may be taught to read his good or ill fortune, rather in the varying face than reputation of those with whom he has to do, and may save himself the most pain- ful and expensive discoveries. For want of this faculty many an elaborate piece of oratory has been wasted, by being pre- ferred to the predetermined countenances of such as have no other view in listening to a proposal, than that of denying the request ; and many a sensitive mind might have had its feelings spared, by a previous glance at those hard official faces, from whom, if they are ever relieved, it will be from a weight of obligation, with the liberty of taking back the petition, with this alteration only in the form, “ and your petitioner as in duty <«w-hound, will w-ever pray.” In the sable professions of physic and the law, what a preservative to the health and circum- stances it would prove, when, by a few facial observations you may learn to see, without a fee, or consult your own under- standing, for something less than six and eightpence. In engaging servants it will enable you so to look at them, that there will be no occasion to look after them : it will also act in confirmation of a good character, and prevent the hazard of a false one. This science advertises itself to parents and guar- dians, recommending its learned looks at teachers and superin- tendants, that the children may not become the subjects of a bad education which is worse than none. It would prove a ready reckoner in the rapid intercourse of trade, where time or delicacy might not allow of a reference, in those numerous instances, where faces must be taken upon trust. The personal advantages of getting into favor with the physiognomist may be instanced by the necessary protection it affords in times of excitement and political phrenzy, such as the canvassing for a member, where, should you blunder your interview on the wrong side of the question, your face may prove your only apology ; it might save you the indignity of the door, perhaps allow you a chair, and in some mitigated cases, even forgive your politics. Nor is it less essential to the repose of private PHYSIOGNOMY. i life ; in every society it carries with it, for its own defcnce, a tacit denial of every thing which has the remotest tendency to offend ; a face ever ready to explain away the slightest affront, and at once disarming the fashionable world of that weapon of speech called “ an affair of honor and thereby contributing to the health of the body and the soul, by saving both the reputa- tion and the bones, besides this, what can render the path of life more open and accessible than when a letter of introduc- tion is carried in the face, and read without the trouble of breaking a seal ; or where, in nine cases out of ten, the wheel of fortune is made to turn upon one interview. Another advantage of cultivating good looks is that of reflecting them ; the benevolent public are aware of this in their harmonious manner of bringing all sorts of people together at the dinner- table, where the subscription plate goes round merrily, and hundreds of faces are turned to charitable account, that were never before conscious of having the divine principle within them. The reciprocity of good looks in the social circle may truly be said to be the lending and receiving back your own with usury ; where men, relaxing from the severity of their engagements, are mutually assisted to throw off that reserve which neither belongs to, nor becomes them, to make way for that native good humour which is so often clouded by the demands and disappointments of life ; from which, if they get a reprieve but for the time being, they may be thankful ; and if the periods should be few, they are the only ones in which it may be said, they are themselves again. The want of this facial desideratum has been severely felt in untried connections, in parties who have become to each other the objects of aver- sion or esteem by a mere exchange of looks ; whereas, by a judicious use of this art, the deceitful promises of a better acquaintance might be timely suspected, or never trusted ; and the simple confiding expression made to open a way to the realities of friendship, by separating that wall of partition which, from suspicion or reserve, is so often allowed to bar all future intercourse. But let the science be consulted in refer- ence to matrimonial engagements ; and then what becomes of those secondary considerations, wit, manners, or money. Per- haps there is no instance where the imagination is so playful, or takes so many liberties with the understanding in the absence of personal acquaintance, as in the passion of love ; where, by a kind of natural magic all that is agreeable in the PHYSIOGNOMY. creature is conjured up at once, as it wore by a kind of coitp d'oeiL An attention to this chastening scienice might be the means of retarding sucli flights of fancy, and preventing much trouble in looking for qualities, where they were never after*- wards to be found. These are your pre-engaging personage's, who look so amiable in a church, and in the silence of a con- vent might be taken for divinities ; and who pass through all the great assemblies, with a character which would take a long time perhaps to get up in a private way, and all without the necessity of speaking a word. In adapting this work to the present age of refinement, it should not be overlooked, that many minds grow the more restless under the restraints of society, and gain a strength from confinement, which lends this art a power over the secret consciousness of the soul, that may be called the rendering of “ darkness visible,” or the bringing out as from the shades of the pencil, the chiaroscuro of the liiiman composition. It is one thing for persons to defy the science, and quite another to escape it ; nor will any such be able to meet the student upon equal terms ; for it may be verily believed that a man may travel from Dan to Beersheba, and yet shall not see half so much of the world as the skilful Physiognomist in walking only from St. Paul’s to the Exchange, and that too without any travelling expences. Notwithstanding all that might be said upon the subject, it does not appear that more than one treatise, worthy of consideration, has ever been presented to the public, and that so entirely linear, that it is trusted there will be no objection in supplying what is morally wanting ; in order to test the truth of the science and render the art complete. Among other modern discoveries, there has been found an elasticity in the mind, that may extend itself beyond its natural dimensions, with an aptitude for receiving any thing that may be injected into it, impressions may be made, and images raised upon it, which, by an educational winding up, can be as mechanically set in motion as the figures on a box-organ. It appears then, that as the privilege of learning may be had at so cheap a rate, and our scientific necessities are to be met at every point but one ; the art in question should present an especial claim to our attention, in an age where the cultivation of the face is so far neglected as to be left leagues behind in the march of intellect. PRIDE. EXPLANATORY REMARKS. It may be due to the pictorial references to state, that as the introduction of as many heads in the collection as the different subjects of each passion might seve- rally demand, would exceed the limits of this work, an example of each is simply given, as constituting only one of a class, rather than as a sample of all the rest. This is the more apparent, inasmuch as the same passion in one and the same person may be differently expressed under different influences; and whatever varieties may appear upon the. surface, may all be comprehended under the general term of “ variety in one. ” As to the wider distinctions which neccessarly exist between the different subjects of the same passions’ it will be found upon observation, that they do not arise from linear departures from the rule, so much as from diversions from it, either from peculiarity of feature, or any other circumstances as accidental or incidental. Linear expression of Pride, as represented in the annexed head. An elevation of the head with a downward direction of the eyes, as though in the act of looking condescendingly upon all inferior things, accounting for the apparent drooping of the eye-lids. A tightness of nose, with high aristocratic bridge, decending in hard and direct lines towards the nostrils, which partake of the same character. From a sense of its own proud importance, the muscles are represented as puffed or inflated, and drawn from the eyes as it were at the pleasure of the wearer. The whole of the individuality acting under the control of the leading features, which seem to divide the expression into three parts, the eyes being indicative of superciliousness, the nose of scorn, and the mouth of contempt. PRIDE. As soon as a man opens his eyes in the world, that is to look about him, and reason upon what he sees, finds people constructed in the same manner and breathing the same air, it naturally occurs to him that he has as much business in it as any one else. The great family, however, of which he is but a member, soon arranges for, and finds him a place or standing in society, with which, if he is satisfied, is what is called “ finding his level but any resistance against this order of things is what is denominated Pride. This quality is in its nature either defensive or aggressive, as in instances where it undertakes an undue defence of its liberty, or becomes invasive of the rights of others. Pride would never have obtained the false eminence it has were things only called by their proper names ; hence it is that there is not a word in our vocabulary so perverted, or lost to its pro- per signification, insomuch that any one not thoroughly acquainted with our language, would be at a loss to know whether it meant a quality good or bad, since it has undergone as many changes as self-love is able to produce, and varies its complexion like an object seen through many-colored glasses. Heathen philosophers could discover no more of the nature of this quality than appeared upon its surface, nor would after ages have gone more deeply into the inquiry, but for the com- ing in of Christianity to expose what was wanting in the right state of the affections, and to supply the deficiency by motive. Hence the pride of Ancient Pome has become the shame of Modern States ; the patriotic deed of Brutus, and the last act of 12 PRIDE. Cato, with those of their noble imitators, stand out but as so many examples of exalted vice ; even Epictetus, the most enlightened of the stoics, was not aware to what extent he was indebted to this false principle for his virtue of endurance ; Avhile the recriminating spirits of Plato and Diogenes served only to shew where Pride reigned or raged the most, whether in or out of a tub. The manner in which this quality is made use of to dig- nify or degrade may he curious to notice. For instance : how frequently do we hear it ostentatiously exclaimed, “ Ours is a proud family,” by those, too, who readily admit that Pride is a vice of the mind, without being the least aware of the right rendering of this kind of family renown. Sometimes it is made to represent such qualities, as delight, independence, or spirit ; from whence arises such elevated sentiments as these: “he takes a pride in it” — “ he has a pride above it” — “ he is too proud to accept of it” — all which might stand as well for vanity or ingratitude. Besides this, our language must be tortured by tlie words necessary pride, decent pride, and becoming pride ; yet we never hear, (which we might with equal propriety) of necessary deceit, decent envy, and becoming hypocrisy. Such is the estimation this rare quality is held in by many, that they absolutely look down upon the supposed envy of those who may not have made the same attainments ; while they in return liandle this word Pride very roughly, and qualify it with the terms insutferable or offensive, especially when it assumes that unendurable form of it, the affectation of superiority ; for, be it known, that pride in ordinary will concede nothing to pride extraordinary; and that they are under a most humiliating mistake who fancy they get half as much submission to their claims, as opposition to their pretensions. There is a personal pride belonging to a haughty carriage and demeanour ; then there are the purse proud, in persons who are more remark- able for their possessions than for possessing any thing else ; there is also the pride of intellect, of which nothing worse need be said, than that of its keeping pace with, the march of it. This may be illustrated by the servant who had PRIDE. 13 seen better days, that is better families, but who left her last place because the society was not good enough for her ; a cir- cumstance very easily accounted for, by the present style of education, where ladies are teaching their servants the art of becoming their mistresses. We hear a great about family affection, which in no few instances is a very convenient and convertible term for family pride ; for how often do we hear individuals of the same family uniting in out-door praises of each other, for talents, and sweetness of temper, when, if those who are silly enough to believe them, could only spend a few hours under the same roof, would find them any thing but house-lambs. There are besides (emanating from the same proud source) what are termed debts of honor, peculiar to those whose credit never extends to the paying of any thing else; and as to affairs of honor, for such as have had their affairs settled in that way, it only remains for the survivors to analyze their folly, and resolved it into the same quality at last since What is their honor, but that sense of shame, Which takes the form of Pride without its name ; With such the love of justice is not worth The purchased reputation of the truth ; But passion soley prompts the brainless head, And all deficiency’s supplied by lead. There is one condition of it, however, which seems to demand the softer passions of our nature : even love and esteem may be made tributary to this ignoble quality, as may appear from the many trophies which have been raised to it, under the sheltering title of “ a token of affection,” or “a tribute of respect,” as dis- played in Those stately monuments which lift their head, That living Pride, that’s fostered on the dead ! It does not follow that the feelings are not concerned in all this, except that it is difficult to detach this quality from them especially when we see other devices of the same order, though not of the same nature, on articles of living uses, as well as dead ones. There is also what is called the pride of station, and the pride of ancestry ; both which might be resolved into 14 PRIDE. the chance of fortune, or the accident of birth; and a sad spurious state of things it is when persons of distinction have no other way of being distinguished. But this kind of Pride is not confined to rank or elevation ; the humblest individual must aspire to something beyond his condition ; even those who have no title either to present or posthumous fame, may always get a lift by ancestry ; and destitute indeed must he be, whose far-fetched genealogy is simply to be traced to Adam and Eve, without any intermediate trappings. Although in the bustle and confusion of society, things have got so mixed and tum- bled about, that it is almost impossible to find one’s own, yet our proudest necessities are so arranged for, that although not one in fifty can legitimately trace his right to a coat of arms, no one need be without one who is able to pay for it, as in the most obsolete cases the herald office will be sure to find him one of some kind or other, so that neither Smith, Brown, Jones nor Robinson may be without a chance. A gentleman having sported a coat of arms for many years, discovered at last that it belonged to nobody knows whom. This, it must be remembered, cast no imputation on the herald officer, who was obliged either to furnish one which did not belong to him, or to inform the gentleman he had no ancestors at all. It is a fortunate thing for those persons who have no idea of this kind of ideal happiness, but are contented to take up with common providences, as was the case with that poor desolate creature who was heard to bless himself after this fashion, “ though they tell m.e I have no coat of arms, there’s one comfort, I’ve got arms to my coat.” This disease of the mind is hereditary and contagious ; a haughty parent will make a proud child, and an imperious master an insolent servant ; they soon learn enough of the imi- tative art to practise after the same manner upon those they con- sider beneath them, and to do unto others as they are done unto. Some of these aspirants proudly mount up with their master’s privileges, and share their honors relatively at least, as when they are heard to say, “ Our company has not arrived “ our carriage is not ready “ we shall not leave town this spring,” and so forth. PRIDE. 15 Persons who are impatient of contradiction, place themselves in the worst condition of offended Pride, being the last to con- sider that contradiction must of necessity be mutual ; hence arises nearly all those private disputes which are the separating of very friends ; and those public controversies which are the making of very enemies ; especially as they are carried on with such animosity in the world, and such acrimony in the church. Thus it is most lamentable to find so many sectarians devoting one another to destruction for mere difference of opinion in the least essential points, and then placing it to the account of zeal instead of temper. This “ ne plus ultra' perfection of mind is to be found with those who need no other information than that they need not be informed ; and it is just with such persons that you are to find your rule absolute, to which you must absolutely submit, or get your absolution where you can. It may be observed by the way, that notwithstanding their pride and self-sufficiency, they are of all others the most easily imposed upon, guarding as they do the one point with such vigilance as to leave every other almost unprotected. If affluent, the only way to come at their estates, is to keep close to their opinions, and clear of their understandings ; they are in fact your ipse-dixit persons, with whom, so far from daring to contradict an assertion, you must not even hazard one ; nor will you ever be able to keep your own sentiments unless it be by never expressing them ; it is after this manner they hold their dependants in complete vassilage, and their friends and acquaintances in a kind of pupilage, if not in terrorum. Pride seems to be the source of all the crazy ills of life, whatever may be said of lunar influence ; it is certain the moon rules all the sea, and one would think half the land; at all events. Pride rules the other half, so that if it cannot dispute her reign, it will at least divide her empire ! Hence what a desolating thought it is, that while humanity provides for every species of wretchedness, whether through Guy’s, St. Thomas’, or St. Luke’s, this inveterate complaint has no asylum what- ever ; but thousands, and tens of thousands of proud patients 16 rUTDE. are suffered to walk at large, either for incurable reasons, or that no hospital could be built large enough to contain them. But Pride is not more the infirmity of madmen than the vice of fools, since it voluntarily carries with it a load of miseries, with the eventful certainty of a fall ; at the same time that mortification and self-denial attend it at every step, and punish it in all its pretensions : often it is constrained to part with that from ostentation that never could have been wrung from cha- rity, and many an inconvenient act has been extorted from pride, that never could have been obtained from principle. A proud man will owe no man any thing but ill will ; offend him and he will never forgive you, but will follow you with an expensive resentment, that would seem to have no mercy on himself. Last, but not least, there is the pride which imitates humility ; and this is the most consummate and imposing ; for instance, compare the behaviour of some persons at church with their behaviour out of it, and by way of experiment, only charge them with one tenth of the evils they have been lament- ing in the general confession, in order to ascertain what kind of responses they will make to you. Thus it would appear that formal acknowledgment may be admitted in the sanctuary in general terms, but defended out of it in every particular, shew- ing the possibility of some being proud of their humility, while some are proud of their pride, and others are too proud to own it. It has been well said, that “ Pride was never made for man,’' but if he flatters himself it was, let him recollect he only has it in common with other animals ; birds and beasts have it, and insects are not without it. The peacock is only the proudest bird of its kind ; and when we hear talk of the conscious majesty of the war-horse, we are as frequently reminded of “ the pride of the cobler’s dog.” The aristocracy of the bee is proverbial, and even “ the trodden worm is said to turn.” Hence we may trace this quality upwards, from the meanest to i\iQ proudest reptile in \hQ proud isle which contains it; toge- ther with all the watery distinctions in the proud ocean that surrounds it. TYRANNY. THE SAME ELEMENTS OF CHARACTER AS IN PRIDE. Tyranny, here represented as Pride with Ferocity, while its parent Pride is represented as Pride with Contempt. Ferocity in the eyes, opening wide with obtrusive whites, contracted eyebrows, and the parts in the neighbourhood so meanly developed, as to give a peculiar prominence to the eye-balls, which are left alone (as it were) to do their own office. You are here to to imagine sudden starts of the eye, and consequent strain of the veins, which are angry and blood-shot towards the corners. The nose, indicative of littleness of mind, somewhat childish, and cartilaginous in the lines. The mouth, not only contemptuous, but arrogant and insolent. As Tyranny is seldom or ever accompanied by intellect, every muscle is described as partaking of the animal. General expression — The triumph of Passion over Reason. TYRANNY. Tyranny is either capricious or absolute ; but as both are the offsprings of Pride, enough of their common natures remain to make the expression of the countenance but one. Capricious tyrants are only to be known when their purposes are crossed ; their cruelty arising more from the opposition they meet with, than the circumstances which appear to call it out ; but abso- lute tyrants make no terms with the humanity with which they sport ; nor can they account for the two-fold gratification they receive from the witnessing of suffering in others, and the con- sciousness and satisfaction they feel from having themselves been the occasion of it. Unless men may be supposed to be made of different mate- rials than formerly, we must anatomize the times for the differ- ence, which may inform us that the reign of tyranny and per- secution has been weakened in its succession more in its power, than its principle ; that the repeated opposition it has met with in its course, has nearly destroyed the former ; while a ceasing familiarity with such scenes has almost extinguished the latter. Thus men insensibly fall in with the temper and spirit of the age they live in, according to which their countenances will contract a more violent expression, or undergo a more modified change. Many passions grow out of occasion, from which they derive a kind of new existence ; but this is expressly formed in, and comes out of the nursery very much after the manner it has been fashioned in it. In these preparatory schools we may trace the greater evil to indolence or neglect ; in those who 20 TYRANNY. should watch over and weed out certain inconsiderate and cruel practices in young children, before they are nurtured into tasteful habits, and come out with all the maturity of design. The juvenile diversions of Nero and Caligula consisted in unwinging, imlegging, and decapitating flies ; this was allowed to go on till it was too late to meditate either for flies or men, which they afterwards considered as much the same things : by the way, who can think of that beautiful sentiment “ do unto others as you would be done by,” without feeling what a pity it is, there is no golden rule for insects ; if one of these little creatures is maimed or hurt, we say “ kill it out of its misery but if one of our fellow creatures come into the same predica- ment, we do not cry “ kill him out of his misery,” but send for a doctor, which some people will tell you ‘ is just the same thing.’ Tyranny, in the present age of refinement, would appear to differ more in its character than complexion, and to make up in number what it loses in atrocity. Tyrants extraordinary would sometimes dazzle mankind by some redeeming act of clemency ; but whoever heard of the relentings of petty tyranny 1 Eeally, if persons would only make as much use of their optics as their observations, those who endeavour to pass off an act of tyranny for an act of justice, would never at least be able to put a good face upon it. As an unexampled example of this, take the following fact: — A schoolmaster, in whose “ morning face might be traced the day’s disaster,” commenced the exercises of the day in the following manner : It is my intention to flog two boys this morning ; most terribly and audibly announcing their names. For what, sir 1 What have we done '? exclaimed the two terrified wretches. Pray, young gentlemen, said he, have you come to school to me, or have I come to school to you, that I am to be catechised by my boys? but, come, for once I’ll indulge your curiosity, and inform you, that as I consider your general conduct to be bad, I intend to punish you this morning in particular. It should be added, that the gratuitous whipping they received was such as would have done credit to the worst behaviour, and must have been TYRANNY. 21 greatly aggravated by looking forward to a second edition, revised and corrected ; we need not be surprised at the cruel- ties which boys at school inflict upon each other, in imitation of their tyrant-in-chief, whose genius for figuring, or rather dis-figuring, they emulate beyond all other departments of learning, and in the practice of which they find it so much easier to excel. We never see this disposition more effectually carried out than among some of the heads of large business concerns. Masters or superintendants of warehouses and facto- ries, or by all such as imagine that business is not to be trans- acted with their inferiors without rigid exactions, and a kind of domineering respectability ; it is just with such an one, and in such a condition, that makes that petty tyranny which is so insupportable, and the slavery which is so abject ; his depen- dants know his knock, they understand his tread, are half ter- rified at his approach, and are almost ready to sink at the augury of his face ; when he takes his seat and opens his ledger, it is done with such judicial importance that you would think he was about to settle your last accounts ; his wit is supposed to rise with his elevation, which he expects will be retailed out of his wholesale concerns of sayings and doings, which is never so conspicuous as in his ingenious and expedi- tious method of dispatching both his servants and his business. It may be profitable to notice, that in whatever condition of life this passion is to be found, or to whatever maturity it may have arrived, it still has its spring-time in the nursery, and therefore parents should be especially admonished of their sea- son of responsibility, and of the growing consequences of ill- training or neglect. “ Just as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined,” and if these young shoots should receive no check, it will not be difficult to see what direction they must naturally t ike ; they gain such an ascendancy over the families to which they belong, and give the heads of those families such an altered position in them, that one is really at a loss to know whether the children belong to the parents, or the parents to the chil- dren, and it has frequently been noticed, that a stern unap- proachable master tyrant, who shall be a terror to all the world 22 TYRANNY. beside, has been completely under the dominion of his own little curly-headed boy ! These are your little fellows who take the whole family economy into their hands ; and among ser- vants especially are such objects of domestic dread. A tax- gatherer called at the house of a poor gentleman, who always happened to be out on 'pressing occasions, but forgetting the name of the occupant, he asked if the master of the house was at home ? The servant at first said no ; but recollecting her- self, said, oh yes, sir, he is, and I will bring him to you. She presently returned struggling with a little urchin about nine years old, whom she brought out by the collar, saying here he is, sir ! It need not be added, that the collector was a sufficient physiognomist to see that there was no mistake there. This temper is often the consequence of indulging young children in practical jokes, which their parents accompany with a sly glance at some observing friend, and reprove their wicked little drol- lery with such frowning complacency that the children are quite sharp enough to discover that whatever their parents may see amiss in the spirit of their play, they are at least able to enter into the wit of it. But tame and harmless are all the tyrants that ever lived, compared with those who have been brought up under tender grandmothers ; after requiting them in the usual way for all favors received, they come out full of expectation, and make the same demands upon the world they did upon their grand- mothers ; but which, meeting with a world of opposition that their hectoring and unaccustomed spirits are unable to bear ; with a cruel impatience to overcome, they would “out Herod Herod,” tyrannize over tyranny itself, and commence a course of general hostility, though at their own cost, and with no other effect than that of arming all mankind against themselves, and making every individual their antagonist. EE80LUTI0N. RESOLUTION. Having endeavoured to separate this quality from all that is unworthy of it, but one view can be given of it under the present head. The eyes, here represented as full, open, and expressive, without being staring. The eye-brows especially marked and distinct. The nose, partaking of the Roman character, and equally firm and determined. The mouth, tight and compressed, with the same decision of character. The forehead full, but receding. An elevation of the head, as though drawn up for some occasion. The muscles, an angular and sharp tendency, and marked out as it were for straightforward and determined action. The muscles of the neck and throat sympathizing with the expression of the whole ; the frontal swelling being very conspicuous. A total absence of selfishness in the expression, with a fixedness and prepared- ness of feature, as though made up for attack or defence. RESOT.UTION. Resolution, that master property of the mind, which is able to control every act of it, and give efficiency and effect to certain qualities that would be lost or obscured without it ; in its popular and redoubtable sense carries its own meaning with it, as a resolution to do or suffer any thing that may be necessary to the end proposed, by gifting its subjects with a spirit of enterprise and power of endurance, which not only elevates them to the object itself, but renders them superior to every thing that stands in its way. It is very unfortunate that obstinacy should so far assume upon its nature, as to require the simple distinction that Reso- lution consists in persevering in a good cause, and obstinacy in persisting in a bad one ; the one being all determination, the other all opposition ; the one invincible, the other immoveable ; the one consisting in facial vindication of the truth, and intrepid assertion of its right ; while the other is compounded of all the meaner expressions of pride and resentment, and seems for ever laboring under a sense of wrong. These two qualities frequently run so one into another, or get so entangled together, that there is scarcely knowing which is which ; nay, they are sometimes made to change places, for the better perverting of the understanding ; by way of experiment, (only) take the two qualities of Obstinacy and Resolution out of their common sense connection, by letting the words expressive of those qualities keep their places, and the circumstances which give occasion for their use, change sides ; and what a complete idea it will give you of what is called “ two ways of telling the 26 RESOLUTION. same story.” For instance, in the moral right of invasion, where the public are taught the easy lesson of mis-nnderstanding the difference between meum and tuum ; take one of our cheering dispatches which formerly came out with such splendid national effect, and have been known to run pretty much thus : “ The enemy defended their possessions with the greatest obstinacy^ hut nothing could exceed the resolution of our brave troops, who, after a short siege, succeeded in forcing a breach, ransacking and firing the town, and reducing the whole of the garrison to ashes !” Now take another method of dispatching the business, and imagine you read a case of the same moral kind, and after the same order ; by allowing the same qualities to remain ver- bally as before, and the parties represented by them to change places : “ The master of the house defended his property with the greatest obstinacy^ but nothing could exceed the resolution of our brave thieves, who, after a short siege, succeeded in breaking open the house, ransacking and firing the premises, and reducing the owner and all his family to ashes !” Plain common sense would almost class as one, Who fires a house, or ravages a town ; But blinking justice steps between the two, And gives the un-commissioned rogue his due ; Then to her sons of honor right and left, Approves the deed, and dignifies the theft. Where motives to resolution are wanting, the quality itself is wanting ; and instead of the intrepidity of the man, we are furnished with the ferocity of the tiger, which distinguishes between that generous expression of it, which invites to pro- tection ; and that animal one, which is ever looking out for its prey. Resolution arises out of the very passion of fear ; that principle of self-preservation which is the first law of nature. Courage, unattempered by this passion, becomes rashness ; but if acting under its restraints, it produces caution, and not cowardice. The black prince was not deficient in courage, still he wore armour, and so would any white prince since his time, had it been less cumbrous and inconvenient. The very endeav- our to shut out fear, shews that it must have entered ; the RESOLUTION. 27 absence of fear, therefore, must be synonymus with presence of mind, and determines an act of resolution to consist in displacing of one passion to make room for another. Men of true courage deliberate before they resolve ; they see danger in prospective, and are never taken by surprise, while the rash and inconsiderate, possessing more courage than calcu- lation, will rush into danger with the same precipitancy which they are obliged sometimes to rush out of it. In former days a Scotsman and an Englishman met promiscuously in the field, but under very unequal circumstances ; the Englishman had lost his shield, but the Scotsman had secured his, and made it stand between him and his adversary, while he laid his sword about so stoutly, that the Englishman cried out in a rage, “ come out from behind your door, and fight like a man.” The Scots- man continued his work, without any heed to his admonition, and the flying result of the other was sufficient to shew that there is as much difference between courage and caution, as between wit and discretion. It is frequently said of, or by, some particular persons, that they never knew what fear was; for the best reply to such statements, they might be referred to the anecdote of Charles II , who, when one of his generals was making the same asser- tion, asked him if he ever snuffed a candle with his fingers ; upon answering in the negative, and being questioned why, replied, because he should be afraid of burning them. We should not hear of so many fine acts of resolution were it not that the admiration they create rises in proportion to the magnitude of the undertaking, from simple commendation to tumultuous applause. It is here that the hero and the patriot have the advantage of the working statesman ; for while the trump of applause proclaims the undaunted act, and the har- mony of respect attends the generous deed, a rougher kind of music frequently waits upon the resolution of public measures ; nevertheless, it is as difficult to separate between such men and their actions, as it is sometimes dangerous to come between them ; it must therefore remain for the physiognomist, whose province it is to bring to view the motives through the muscles, 28 RESOLUTION. to settle those differences which can never be adjusted in any other way. ’ Different qualities are sacred to different functions or profes- sions, and are not expected to come wandering out of their con- nection ; we naturally apply resolution to the soldier, and meek- ness to the divine^ but seldom hear of the meek soldier and the resolute divine ; and though these virtues are by no means in^ compatible with each other, we know which should be the pre- vailing one in either ; and as there are times and seasons for the exercise of both, we are always disappointed if we do not find them in their place. There is a courage which is native, and a courage which is the forcing of nature ; and this makes the difference between acts of resolution, and resolute acts; the former proceeding from the quality itself, and the latter pre- ceeding it, or as it were, giving birth to it ; and may be said to be occasional or constitutional, as circumstances might call them out. Discrepancies in this particular may be more owing to the state of the nerves, than the mind, in which case the epithet of cowardice should be supplied by the milder term of apprehension, and used as aptly in reference to the subjects of it, as timidity to a sheep. . The resolute act of a man of principle, is as free from selfish- ness as suspicion, while one single act of resolution in another might be sufficient to last him for the whole of his life. We have a striking example of this in the meeting of E-ichard II. with Wat Tyler, where the king, having by an extraordinary presence of mind, suppressed the rebellion, left nothing else worth recording in the rest of his history. There are certain acts of resolution which are as difficult to appreciate as to account for, and may serve at least to shew what those who perform them are able, rather than willing to do. As for instance, ascending upon a single rope to an alarm- ing height ; spring from the stage over the heads of men with pointed bayonets ; reposing the head in a lion’s mouth, and the like — exhibitions which never could have excited such interest with the public, but from their agreeable associations. It is possible there may be much of this noble quality brought RESOLUTION. 29 into the voluntary exercise of the steeple chase, where, should it end in breaking the neck of one of these performers, the utmost that could be said of him would be, that he has an- swered the end of his creation. Perhaps there is no property of the mind which has obtained so much reputation amongst men as resolution ; it is not sur- prising, therefore, that so many degrading passions should assume upon its nature and quality ; even obstinacy, which claims such especial identity with it, would seem to have its honors disputed by the inflexibly vicious ; while in some cases it would seem to afford a shelter for avarice itself. As a remarkable instance of a moral courage to which the hero has never aspired, and which might shame the philanthropist who had not made the same attainments ; it was the felicity of a gentleman of fortune to make his boast of. This good and great man, having been solicited for a trifle in aid of a most deplorable object of charity, returned as a decisive answer, that he had taken a resolution never to give any thing away ! This saving clause in his sentiments he expected would be sufficient to shew his great superiority over those ordinary feelings of the mind which he was able to bring under subjection to that highly esteemed and formidable virtue under present considera- tion. Various as the modes may be in which this quality is dis- played, there is but one genuine expression of it, by which it may be tested ; not indeed by that daring spirit that would draw down the eyes of the whole world upon it, but that still more daring one which is able to do without witnesses, that which the other might only be capable of doing before all the world ; for examples of this, we need only refer to those private acts of resolution where men, for the sake of their fellow creatures, have interposed their lives between the most threat- ening accidents and their results, under circumstances where humanity alone stand pledged to their courage, and where little more account has been taken of their deeds, than some passing commendation or trifling consideration, which they neither expected nor desired. This is just as some high rival spirits 30 RESOLUTION. would have it to be ; they would rather such unobtrusive acts should go off with as little disturbance as possible, than that any movement should be made in their favor, that might tend to obscure their own renown. Here it is that our earliest les- sons are worth our latest regards, especially that which teaches us that “ Virtue is its own reward,” and well for the sake of poor humanity it is, for if it were not to be found in itself, one would be puzzled to know where else to find it ; since so many are obliged to feed upon this kind of consolation, who have scarcely any thing else to live upon. How far the love of fame, or fear of shame may contribute to this quality, those that are under the influence of such passions can best decide. Nevertheless, it is never more formidable, nor so free from suspicion, as when acting in the discharge of duty. True as it may be that the same ingredients of cha- racter are as necessary to bring out the patriot and the hero, as distinguish the martyr and the confessor ; there has always been this eventual difference, that with the former the reward generally goes with the work, while with the latter it invaria- bly follows after ; the successful exploits of the first being crowned with living glory and undying fame ; while the nobler achievements of those self-distinguished heroes of whom the world was not worthy, have been followed by contempt, degra- dation, and even loss of life. All the devoted sufferers that have been offered up at the shrine of ignorance or superstition, must have possessed the same elements of this enduring cha- racter, and which formidable virtue, if rightly directed, would have found its highest employment in doing that for the true religion, which it has never been able to do against the false. OBSTINACY. OBSTINACY. One head given of this disposition in its most unquestionable character, in order that it may act as a direct reference to those more specious lines, which may still exist in other connections, although in more various and less determined forms. The eyes not so full as they are protruding. The eyebrows weak and indecisive. The nose in every sense the opposite to that of Resolution. The mouth not so determined as Resolution, full and pouting, but not pliable; lips thick, and swelling with discontent. The forehead small but full, with fleshy projections over the eyes. A general round swelling of the muscles of the face, the features rather blunt, and partaking of the same character. The general expression equally divided between determination and dissatis- faction, with no small portion of ill-will. OBSTINACY. If an attempt to separate two approximating passions by a definition of one, may have the effect of determining the otheiy little should remain for the one in question beyond finding it a place on the countenance ; this would seem to be the only wny of disposing of that all -defying and self-contradicting quality Obstinacy ; having in its very nature that which exposes the futility of attempting to describe an object which proposes to itself no end ; and which is too unaccountable even for itself to explain ; since, however, there is no more to be discovered than lies upon the surface of obstinate characters, it is in vain to remark upon any thing but their absurdities ; and hence it must have been especially noticed in these pieces of inconsistency, that whether in act or argument, (as though studious only of their own inconvenience) they are not satisfied with getting on the wrong side of the question, but take up the most awkward position in it, and entrench themselves in proportion to any effort to get them out of their own way ; and just as any other hard material, when struck at the wrong end, is rather rivetted than removed, they would prefer to suffer any thing by the con- test, than forego the sullen satisfaction of being punished with- out defeat ; should they, how^ever, be allowed to keep their ground, it would not be from the difficulty of removing them, so much as that they are scarcely thought worth the being removed; still less are persons disposed to enter into the depth of their profound stupidity, from the labor of having to dig beneath so great a waste of mind, before they come to the origin of their stubborn and flinty natures, and after all to discover no more 34 OBSTINACY. of the cause, than they have learned to feel from their effects. Obstinate persons should be reminded that they are infinitely indebted to the society they annoy, inasmuch as it grants them the full indulgence of exercising this passion, and without which a negative existence is all they could really promise themselves ; there is scarcely a family that has not an individual temper of this kind to deplore ; nor a connection that has not to enter into combat with it ; even our nearest or dearest associate may pos- sess sufficient of this character to render his conversation irk- some, if not his friendship doubtful. With such no questions are ever at rest ; the opposite pressure upon their understand- ing makes them, as it were, rise up in resentment ; and their disposition for provoking you. They dare not risk a single con- fession, lest it should direct the mind to those numerous instances in which they flatter themselves their inconsistencies are over- looked, because unattoned for, and thereby leave them no further excuse for disagreement or discontent. This quality would seem to have a private and political advantage over all public feuds and private dissentions, by bring- ing matters at once to a conclusion ; as in the case of a gentle- man who, while demonstrating a point with his impervious friend, with as much certainty as two and two make four, flat- tered himself he had made the impression at last, and having, for the first time in his life, as he thought, gained him over to his opinion ; he turned unexpectedly upon him with this sapient declaration — “ I won’t be convinced.” This is perhaps of more general application than may at first appear ; nor are we aware how very few persons are to be convinced against their will.” Sometimes a liberal sentiment is allowed to break in upon the monotony of this passion ; as in a similar conversation with two parties, the obstinate one appeared to be so penetrated with the truth of the other’s assertion as to meet him half way, and manifested something of a yielding disposition in these inexpli- cable words — Although I am perfectly convinced of the truth and propriety of all you have said, I cannot make up my mind to believe it nevertheless ! OBSTINACY. 35 But more unaccountable still ; instances have been, where these characters having been denied the opportunity of taking the usual objections, will make an advance upon your under- standing, and hold it in anticipation ; this has been whimsically related of one in a popular piece, who interrupted the silence of his friend by telling him he did not agree with him in the senti- ment ; to which he replied, that it would be strange if he did, as he was not aware of having even expressed one. True, said he, but I should not have agreed with if you had ! The common sympathy which obstinate persons have with each other is to agree to disagree, and those who are not able to meet them upon the same conditions, must be satisfied to choose their own company, or simply to remark upon their absurdities. As this disposition, like every other, is capable of being turned to profitable account, so this gives its subjects a seeming right to assume upon decision of character, a property of the mind readily conceded to them, inasmuch as they are always con- sidered to be decidedly wrong. One of these decided characters being pressed to fulfil a solemn engagement, declared in these most resolute terms, ‘‘I won’t;’’ and pray why will you not, replied the covenanter with surprise ; what is your reason ? My reason is this, said he, I won’t because I won’t. This laconic declaration was met by a legal one, which brought him to ruin, though not to his senses. Now, if obstinate persons, instead of comparing themselves with the resolute of mankind, would only look at the mulish animals with which they really might be compared, howmuch- soever they may suffer by the comparison, it would be much better that they should make it ; as they would profit more from observation than even by reading, and be more convinced of their identity with these creatures by this simple means, than they would learn by the application of the fable of the ass and his driver, which they flatter themselves was expressly written for them. It is very well for obstinate persons to talk about the perverseness of what, in their conceit, they choose to call infe- rior animals ; surely they, of all others, should sympathize with OBSTINACY. the asses’ lamentations, and consider how they would conduct themselves under half their burthens ; for who is there, while being struck with his outrageous noise, has not been equally moved by his expressive silence ; or that has not noticed how this comparatively patient creature rather bears than carries his panniers ; feeling, as he must, that they would be more in place upon his master’s shoulders. When he makes a full stop on the road, it is only in virtue of what is called his vices ; and could he be called upon for a verbal explanation of his conduct no doubt he would do it in a manner that might make his owner blush ! When obstinate persons become unmanageable, it may be shewn how they may be made to manage themselves, by availing yourself of their tendency to do any thing but what is required of them. This has been happily illustrated in an attempt to ship off a drove of pigs ; as often as they were impelled towards the vessel, so often they took just the contrary direction, till it was despaired of getting even one to enter ; fortunately a fellow came up, wdio happened to be better acquainted with their natural history, and undertook the business for them ; only leave them to me, he cried ; and instead of driving them towards the vessel, he pulled them separately back by the tail ; this w^as enough for them ; they sprang instinctively forward, and em- barked themselves in the finest order, and in most excellent time. Thus, if you wish to turn these persons to proper account, wdio cannot reason out their unreasonableness, you must particularly request of them to do nothing for you, that you really stand in need of ; and be very desirous they should do something for you, that you would rather they w^ould let alone ; for, be assured of this, that they are not so desirous of having their own w^ay, as they are determined you shall not have your’s, and will even put themselves to great inconvenience, provided they can only put you to greater. Much has been said about the balance of power, and the equal division of comfort ; both of which may be preserved so long as w^e are able to keep the scales in our own hands ; but if these matters are to be a^lj Listed by obstinate servants, it will be dif- OBSTINACY. 37 ficult to say wliat will become of either — moreover, were these contrary tempers to be weighed against each other, their self- ’will would be found so far to preponderate over their self-love, as to promise them no other satisfaction than that of making all parties the worse for it. These, of all others, are the persons who are able to turn their rule inverse to as perverse account as they can possibly desire, or occasion may not require ; and to over act or under act their part with equal zeal and infidelity ; they can be as officiously alive in matters which are not required of them, as though they were in the actual discharge of their duty ; and be found as trusty in such affairs as a fox with a fire- brand, or a monkey with a message ; whereas, should there be a real demand for their services, they would be as insensible to the call, and as impervious to the consequence, as the shell of a tortoise ; and would display about as much activity as the crea- ture contained in it. Though these persons seem to be sent into the world rather to cross our path than cheer our way, yet they have their uses not only in the exercise of patience, but in shew- 'iug that if they are not able to learn wisdom themselves, they are able to teach it to others, by their follies. As it may be said of other animals, they belong to such and such classes ; and it may be equally said respecting each, that you may do well to avoid them, but much better to keep out of their enclosures. If the obstinacy which cannot be interpreted reduces man to the level of a brute, the obstinacy which he may attempt to account for, sinks him as much lower as it heightens his respon- sibility. This higher class of obdurates imagine there is more error in the admission than in the commission of evil, and would rather endure the penalty due to a thousand faults, than be de- tected in the acknowledgment of one. As no speculation, how- ever, has been ventured upon with regard to this inexplicable temper, it can only be suspected to arise from that pride of heart which allows the passion so to prevail over the judgment as to determine it in favor of its invariable rule of wrong. It is true there may be great distinction in the names, but very little in the natures of these incorrigible beings ; nay, even among the inflexibly just (as they would be called) are to be 38 OBSTINACY. found certain obdurate or obstinate persons, whose relative situ- ation in life affords them sufficient power to demand without danger of resistance, and to withhold without rendering a reason ; but, beyond this, there are those which may be termed governing ungovernables ; who, from office or station, can in- dulge this passion without being suspected of possessing it; we need not wonder at their liberty when it is known where they get their licence, belonging, as they do, to a company that holds its charter under the right of contradiction ; whoever, therefore,, may dispute their deeds, none will presume to dispute their title, as “ the family of the wrong-heads is one of the most ancient families in the world.” But let all such persons he admonished of the fact, that whatever may be their moral indemnifications, any attempt to shelter themselves from personal exposure will? only be like an escape into prison ; the passion may go free, but the countenance will go into confinement, nor will they even get their faces to bear false witness in favor of them, which must ever remain as faithful recorders of the whole. We can only imagine that if this quality could be analyzed,, it might be found to be compounded of pride, ill-nature, and conceit ; but as it may not be worth the process, it would be better to clear it all out of the way, as one determinate mass of unmixed stupidity. CUNNING. (! U N N I N G. In the class of expression in which this head of Cunning is included, it is io be observed that The great peculiarity is in the eye. Very much the form of children’s eyes; if we can imagine them brought into maturity. Morally aacounted for — never learning wisdom they retain their original unspeculative form. The eyes a great tendeney to fly upwards from the corners ; the eye-brows having the same inclination, giving their expression a kind of hoaxing satis- faction. The nose rounded at bottom, somewhat contracted at top ; uniting in the same character, and seeming (as it were) under a good-natured constraint. The mouth an irresistible smile, drawing all the confederate muscles together, as though to keep the secret. One corner of the mouth having an especial inclination towards the eye ; the greater confederacy lying between the two ; and which mutual understanding, if put into words, would be, “Didn’t we manage it nicely between us.” CUNNING. Cunning, notwithstanding its depth, is still on the surface of character, and lies less in the construction of the mind than in the mechanical uses which this artificial quality attempts to make of it. Those therefore, who seem to possess the faculty of influencing the minds of others contrary to their better understandings, may not be aware that their secret practices are amply provided against by certain visibilities in the face, which even to an ordinary observer might be sufficient to bring their secret intentions into suspicion ; but should the discriminating art be opposed to their designing ones, then so far from accom- plishing their end, they will come about as near to the object as a mouse would do, in endeavouring to tie a bell round a cat’s neck, or as the child’s experiment might, in trying to catch sparrows by putting salt on their tails. So much for the nature of that cunning which is inwrought with the constitution of inferior minds ; but as to its general practice, it would almost seem as if there were not a trade or profession that would not be undone without some strokes of art. Hence it is that successful practice so often depends upon the discovery of how much easier it is to create wonder than admiration. A picture twenty feet long will be considered a great production at least ; and if, moreover, it shall contain a thousand figures, the number will be quite sufficient to atone for their resemblance to German toys. The orator who is said to have been six hours upon his legs, would have doubled the applause had he been half that time upon his head. Paganini delighted the audience more by the gambols he played above G 42 CUNNING. the bridge of the violin, than the sweetest tones he ever pro- duced below it. Italian singers gain their applause by smo- thering the composer’s airs with their graces ; and as to their dancers, nothing gives half the British satisfaction, as when they turn round and round like a whipping-top, and then come upon one leg, upon which they stand with all the constancy of a goose. There would not be room for half the exercise of cunning, were it not that the public invite all kinds of decep- tions, and which, if played off well, would seem all that was necessary. When the mermaid, which was manufactured some years ago, came to pieces by accident, the disappointed crowd had so yielded up their understandings to the belief, as to shew themselves less angry with the trick than the discovery of it, and seemed more concerned about the manner in which it was stiched together, than for the manner in which they were taken in. How much cunning has been mixed up in medicine, or infused into law ; they best know who have been physicked into both ; dissolved or involved ; strangled or entangled in one or the other. Cunning Esculapeans require only two things of those who get under their care, or rather charge : patience and credulity ; especially the former, as they find those are their best patients that have most patience with them. It may be within the memory of the old fashioned world, their method of phy- sicking people at “ spring and fall and which, if their patients did not see the necessity for, they were made to feel it ; in addition, too, to all those bleedings and bolsterings against evils that were never likely to happen ; together with a thou- sand by-gone practices, which are now considered as great enemies to the profession, as air and exercise. We must have observed that the first appearance of one of these gentlemen is mysteriously alarming ; by which you are to understand he is just sent for in time ; this is commonly attended with an everlasting family obligation for a kind of resurrection from a complaint, which had they only listened to the whisperings of nature, might have yielded to a few grains of Epsom. They anticipate the patient by bringing the symptoms with them ; and feel the pulse, much as the unskilful phrenologist feels the CUNNING. 43 head, in order to ask you if you do not feel what it is very natural you should ; or as when the ignorant of old consulted the cunning man ; the oracle would first endeavour to acquaint himself with circumstances, or answer questions by probabilities. It is just in such a connection that we find a persevering prac- tice that would do honor to many a legitimate professor, and a constancy that would do credit to a more righteous cause ; this the poor frail body at length becomes fully sensible of, and finding itself all the worse for the contact, a struggle com- mences between the doctor and his patient, as to which is to be got rid of first, although it is pretty well known who can hold out the longest. There is more of trick in that faculty called oratory, than many are aware of, whose ears are more open to it than their understandings ; and even those of better judgment are fre- quently imposed upon by the time, place, and circumstance of its delivery, who would otherwise have considered an orator in the forum but a chatter box in company. A gentleman of the bar, who had made many unsuccessful attempts to make an impression on the court, at length contrived to faint away two or three times from mere volubility ; from thence he dated his first rise and celebrity, and discovered that no argument could be applied with half the effect of burnt rag and harts- horn ; and that the shortest way of getting a brief was in not being so. A genuis of this kind commenced a cause in the Court of Chancery, and to shew his powers of expatiation, observed, that all he was going to say might be comprised in a nut-shell ; and so in point of matter it was, although he occu- pied the court about three days in filling it. This is what he was pleased to call dilating, which might be better rendered dilating, and may serve to show how much may be done by the mere interchange of a vowel. In separating sense from sound, or uniting sound with sense, (without detracting from etymological helps,) there is not a little cunning in those who pretend to be so profoundly skilled in the art as to tell you you must go back to the original construction of words for all you want, even though the sense of such words shall be lost in 44 CUNNING. usage, or altered by general acceptation ; and till you arrive at this knowledge, the five senses may so mislead you, that you will be in danger of taking one thing for another, and hardly know a stock from a stone ; nay, that you would be scarcely conscious of your own existence, unless you knew precisely the origin from whence you sprung. Thus it is that so many in the cunning and injudicious use of this faculty, disarrange every thing and settle nothing, unless it be the opinion that they understand every language better than their own. In recurring to examples of practical Cunning, it should be noticed that persons can no more look one way and steer another, than they can look two ways at once. The fencer unavoidably glances at the point he is aiming at before he ventures to make a thrust. The cunning child who in the absence of the company, has an eye to the cream jug or the sugar dish, as naturally darts a side look to see first if all is safe, or, as the phrase is, “ if the coast is clear ; ” this inclination of the eye as rapidly follows the intention, and as certainly as both must precede the act which is to follow it — these little tyros grow up under the express observation of science ; they act under a constant suspicion of being watched, and come out with a physiognomy that describes them very much after this manner. A restless inclination of the eyes towards the corners, as if continually being called out of their natural position, from which arises a glassy protrusion of the whites of the eyes ; this is manifest even when they are at rest ; but when in action, they pass to and fro with, a twink- ling shine as they catch the light in the rapidity of the passage. These are among some of its most outward and visible signs, and a sly looking servant stands an unfortunate chance of being hired, should he or she be marked in this particular way, being one of those expressions of it which is the easiest to be seen, and the last probably which is overlooked ; there are other lines of course in which this quality is as deeply entrenched ; but they are among its other varieties, which the mind may still be made familiar with. To bring female servants especially under the rules of art, would be the means of preventing those little pickings and stealings which go under the gentle name of CUNNING. 45 perquisites^ that they have no more right to, than the mice in the closet ; and which their mistresses, who find it more easy to pickle than preserve^ have been made very sensible of, as well as a thousand little legerdemain tricks they could never play off, were the eyes of their overseers as diligent as their own. Experienced nurses (especially in the virtues of a concealed dram) are always foreboding convulsions, in every crooked smile, or adverse movement of the infant’s face ; the anxious mother is admonished by the intelligent nurse of the danger of allowing the house to be without a good supply of Godfrey’s cordial, and her fears are easily nursed into the belief of the comfortable and proper, without the least suspicion of the two- fold application of these family drops, which may be adminis- tered in more cases than one; these considerations are not confined to the nursery, but enter into every department of thoughtful ingenuity. Cunning persons are remarkable for recommending to others, that which will turn out best for themselves, prefacing their reasons with some imaginary advan- tages, that the advised party has the greatest reason to forego. These are among the tricks of trade (so termed) where you have been infiuenced against your better sense by the persuasion of the dealer, who finds you want something that he wants to get rid of, while any thing you do require^ he thinks you had better do without ; especially if he has any trouble in procuring it. Should you be agonizing in a tight pair of boots, the maker assures you they will yield in half an hour’s wear ; or should you be rambling in loose ones, he descants upon the pleasures of ease, and tells you they will accommodate to the feet in the same length of time ; the same as we might infer the more saving advantage of doing without either boots or shoes, by having no feet at all ! We may observe also, that cunning persons are often esteemed “ men of business,” and to such only lies the political advantage of calling things out of their pro- per names, since by this transposition they get a moral indem- nity one from another, which would seem to pay for the sacrifice of principle. Friends are not to be found in the ledger, most certainly not in the every day book, and they may 46 CUNNING. be really journalized, if they are ever found out of them ; so that it does not signify so much how, as where, he out- mancEuvres his friend, and what might be reckoned a very passable transaction in the warehouse, would be considered a very discreditable one in the world. Such separate ideas seem to be entertained of the just and proper in one’s secular and social concerns as to divide the conscience into two parts, though not very equal ones, it is feared ; whoever knew a person that was not rather ridiculed than pitied for being taken in ; or that did not create more astonishment for his want of caution, than pity for his loss : in fact these are not considered questions of propriety but ingenuity ; the same as there may be some credit in constructing a trap, but not quite so much in being caught in one. There is an inimitable and and much imitated species of cunning, that is no where so well illustrated as in the fable of the fox and the crow. The fox espies a crow at the top of a high tree, with a delicious cheese ill his mouth. Reynard compliments him on the sweetness of his voice, and desires to be favoured with one of his melodies ; the crow in the act of complying, drops the cheese, which the fox carries off, and finishes the repast, leaving the crow to finish the song ; now almost every connection worth keeping hath its fox and crow ; some artful flatterer like the one, or some finished performer like the other ; who is so far the dupe of his or her own exhibitions, that if either had not more substantial notes to entertain their admirers with, might remain in the solitary enjoyment of their own performances and sing themselves to sleep. With few exceptions society may be said to be divided into two opposite parties ; those who may be said to believe any ^ thing, and those who believe nothing ; here Cunning fre- quently steps in adroitly between the two, and turns them both to the same account ; for where the credulity is not to be imposed on, the vanity is always to be attacked ; the artful know, therefore, that they seldom spread their nets to no pur- pose, and when they contrive to enclose both parties, “ why then their line is never so complete as when they catch both ends, and make them meet.” Some there are who look upon CUNNING. 47 this quality Cunning not simply as a bait, but as a kind of cement ; and fancy that the present state of things could not be kept together without it ; in seminaries how common it is for each parent to be individually informed by the master that his boy is the most promising youth in the school ; where, therefore, ought he to continue his education, but where he has been so much advanced ; although one week’s residence of the said parent among either of their little superlatives, would very soon shew, they could still admit of comparison, though the tutor had nothing to mark the degrees with but the rod. How else could so many teachers keep on their pupils, unless they were to encourage their inaptitude by proposing some brilliant end to the persevering practice of such of their learners as may have been have been hammering away at the keys of the pianoforte for years, without making any more progress than a squirrel in a rolling cage. When professional men complain of want of encouragement, they too frequently charge upon the times, that which belongs to time servers ; for whatever the man of real talent may think, and he is the only one that has cause to com- plain ; he is much oftener supplanted than neglected, and may trace to intriguing competition, that which is too often attributed to incapacity. This specious quality Cunning, is the very spring and source of many sapping companies, which it would be pain- ful to enumerate ; they profess to be got up for the million, though it is about a million to one if any thing is got by them, but by those who have formed them ; the fact is, that some wise philanthropist first sees the necessity of forming a hody^ and contrives it to be just such an one as he thinks his head will fit ; hence, for the benefit of the head and members, he undertakes to supply all things necessary for the injury of the public, and the ruin of the fair trader, who has every thing to lose by com- panies, as certainly as the public has nothing to gain from them, unless it be by contending ones ; but which, if they ever unite, we know, alas ! who is to pay the price of the reconciliation. Societies are very promising things, and therefore it is, they look best in their infancy, but soon grow out of knowledge, being like the human constitution, all the worse for wear; conse- 48 OUNNIXU. quently they are only to be judged of in their maturity, as it is not unlikely that Jonathan Wild may have looked very well in his cradle. In these we may include those wholesale societies for useful smattering, which are to furnish us with more than is worth knowing to the disbanding of the whole mass of legiti- mate teachers, and which partial evil, we are informed, is uni- versal good. It must be confessed, however, that whatever individuals may think of companies, they are generally thought to be very essential, and bandittis have always found them so. Indeed so matchless is this quality for its universality, that it enters every department of ordinary and extraordinary life ; we may trace it upwards, from the lowest subterfuges to state tricks and court intrigues ; from the cunning artificer which weaves his web to catch small flies, to the artificial statesman who con- trives to entangle the whole nation, and imprison the whole human fry. To take the circuit of these trading professional and political devices, through all their systems of quackery, shades of extortion, and methods of adulteration, would be end- less indeed ; and the man who could perform such a journey, might be reckoned the greatest traveller that ever lived. This rare quality Cunning it is, which undertakes for all the vices, and without which, the seductive arts would want practice, and the deceitful ones would be obliged to keep their own names ; it not only provides the bad passions with food and raiment, but nourishes them with a constant supply of tricks and devices, and furnishes them moreover with a cloak to cover them withal ; scanty and thin as this mantle may be, easily seen through, or miserably the worse for wear, still it is the best it has, and is at the service of all who cannot do without it ; beyond this, it seems to possess a convertible property, by means of which it not only gives to certain vices another form, but the very name and appearance of those opposite virtues which most disdain and disclaim them. Nay, such is the assumptive as well as pervert- ing nature of this quality, that it would even pretend to the work of charity itself, by attempting to cover a multitude of sins. CUNNING IN TUB IMBECILE. If CUNNING IN THE IMBECILE. The eyes and eye*bro\vs a direction upward from tlie corners, attempting tlie same expression of Cunning as in its more accomplishe an indefinite or doubtful expression — it is to be noticed that the annexed head represents Envy in the aCt^ and supposes it sees the object of dislike; Eyes half closed, as though shrinking from the object. Eye-balls drawn under the upper lip, the color retiring from the iris below, leaving a paleness which is not hatural to the subject. The eye-brows corresponding with the lids, and every line and feature a ten- dency to meet, as though concentrating to one object. The nose indicative of scorn, and the mouth of hatred. Expression deep and intense, occasioning a hectic appearance, not stationary, but going and coming with returning consciousness. Mistakes of poets rectified in their ordinary description — “pale-eyed Envy,” envious eyes being of all colors ; — desertion of color what they must have ob- served; from the same physical cause as the color of the lips in malice, where there is an involuntary retiring, or falling back, as it were, upon its secret re- sources ; or, as in opposition to passion, which, on the contrary, reddens ; having no time for thought, comes out in gusts; “feeds its own flame, and in that flame expires.” ENVY, Envy, that olden sin, more remarkable than venerable for its antiquity, has a viprous distinction of its own judicially entailed upon it, that makes it ashamed of its very nature, and which self-degradation it would appear to resent by the secret exercise of a power of evil that seems to bring every thing within its influence equally under the curse ! Mischief is both its element and its aliment, it only lives where nothing thrives, and unless nourished by the misfortunes of others, it turns inward to prey upon itself, and suffers in retribution all the pain it is not able to inflict. Every other disposition of the mind will affect to shew some cause for its expression ; but Envy has neither pal- liative nor excuse ; the very \vorst passions of the mind, as though destined to stand or fall together, refuse all identity with this solitary evil ; while selWove, which affords a shelter for every other vice, is not able to provide this with a cloak to cover its natural deformity* That the envious feel the sense and shame of this condition of mind, is evident from the effort they make to conceal it ; and as though a kind of conventional silence were observed in reference to this odious passion, there is nothing so little talked of or so well understood ; it therefore happens to be, of all dispositions, the very last they are able to discover in others, as certainly as it is the very firsts and perhaps the only one they are able to detect in themselves. It may be described as that uneasiness of mind which such persons feel at the relation of any good turn of fortune in another, and that secret satisfaction they receive upon hearing of the reverse ; or where, as martyrs to the usages of society, they are obliged to 84 ENVY. congratulate their friends upon some happy event, which they wish had never taken place; or to condole with them upon some disastrous affair, which has happened just as they would have it to be. This passion is no less remarkable for its extent than its nature, for limits it has none ; it is affected by every grade of form and fashion, from the most splendid equipage down to the mere tie of a bow or the color of a ribbon, and no condi- tion is secure from its hated influence beyond that of a scullion or a turnspit ; to keep on anything like terms with such persons or to keep them at peace with themselves, you must make no pretensions to wit, beauty, or manners, and it is essential to them that you should be afflicted in “ mind, body and estate,” in fact they are so far from being satisfied with nine-tenths of your advantages, that you must have nothing in common with them, no, not even to the breathing of the same atmosphere. Should there remain any doubt of the existence of this passion in the mind of any of its subjects, an interrogatory or two, by way of experiment on the feelings, might put the question at rest, for example : — -Do you no sooner see your neighbour in the possession of some good than you wish for it ] If so^ and it shall go no further than the desire, it may stop at covetousness ; but do you wish it were not his, although you know it never can be yours 'I If your consciousness answers, in the affimative, then you are envious ; and if in addition to this, you hate him for the possession of it, then you are envious indeed! To such gentle questions the same quiet answers may be given, as no one it is presumed ever yet came verbally to the confession. As early symptoms of this disease may be perceived in young children before they come to age of discretion^ that is before they have discretion enough to conceal them, the greatest atten- tion should be paid to the predictions of these little men and women, which, without due restraints, they will afterwards fulfil to the very letter : for if such should bring this passion into maturity, their capacity for mischief will increase with their years and opportunities, and it may be curious to observe in the exercise of it, the various ways in which they are able to com- ENVY. 85 mit their gentle assaults upon the understanding ; these consi^ derates are too much penetrated with a sense of duty, to allow you to be in the quiet enjoyment of the present, or in the vain anticipation of the future, without reminding you of the insta- bility of the one, and the flying uncertainty of the other (a lan- guage of caution, intended to have a very healthful effect upon desponding minds) ; for the same friendly reasons, and with the same convincing powers, they could almost persuade you that they are more concerned for your advancement in life than even for their own : they would strenuously recommend to the counter or counting-house a youth of roving habits and irregular fancy, and condemn to the army or university a genius for weights and measures ; nay, they would so invert the order of things as to persuade an honest man to be a lawyer, and a roguish man to become a priest, in hopes that they might not only unflt them for either profession but absolutely ruin them in both. Another happy method the envious have of bringing out persons’ natural defects in order to banquet on their infirmities ; and here they find entertainment enough from the number and vanity of their victims ; they will tell a gentleman who has the grace of a bear and the activity of the tortoise, they are perfectly astonished he does not cultivate his natural qualifications for dancing, till worried into a belief of the fact, he undergoes a course of dril- ling, which not only ends in fatigue and loss of time, but the discomfiture (perhaps) of being surprised in figuring away at the glass ! Another who has no more idea of sound than sense, is told that it is really a shame so fine an ear for music should not be cultivated, and is strongly recommended to practise on the violin ; the advice is taken and the probable result is, that he is indicted for a nuisance and bound over to keep the peace. Another victim of their perfidy who is not a little enamoured of her singing, is persuaded that she has a voice that might reach any altitude, whereupon she sets about the vigorous improve- ment of her talents, to the alarm of every one within her voca- lity, and especially that of her neighbours, who every now then rush in to her assistance upon hearing her screams. A young lady, whose beauty depended on a profusion of beautiful hair, 86 ENVY. was assured by an envious rival that it was the only thing which detracted from her person, and was surprised she should dis- figure it with such frightful ringlets, while such a remedy was at hand as a pair of scissors ; the advice succeeded, to a charm, and was taken at the commencement of the winter parties ; the shorn lamb would as soon have been slaughtered as to have remained in solitary confinement unfit to be seen, till her pati- ence and maccassar were quite exhausted, and her loss appeared a work of time everlasting to restore. Nothing affords the envious a finer musical entertainment than to treat them with a concert of evil-speaking ; as it not only relieves them from the responsibility of joining in the profane music, in being but simple auditors, but gives them an opportunity of reproaching both the revilers and the reviled. Nor will the envious leave the worst of beings to the common chances of oblivion, without showing they do not forget their absent friends ; hence it is they are so often taken suddenly virtuous in company, and are ready to faint under their sensi- bilities, while with an affected ^eal for propriety, and a tender- ness for those who have lost sight of it, they are continually calling its attention to their manifold vices or infirmities. There is another mode of assault, still more insiduous ; where a very kind individual, out of pure charity, will undertake the defence of some notorious profligate, by naming a few redeem- ing qualities which, of all others, he is known to be the most destitute of; this will be sure to put the whole company in motion, and while the poor wretch is torn piece-meal by the rest of the assembly, this friend to the destitute, pleased with their contradictions, slyly withdraws from the contest, and leaves them to finish the work of destruction. Sometimes these cha- racters make their way (if they are not already made) into the most endeared connections, and by ambiguities and inuendoes contrive to shake the confidence of the parties where they can- not destroy it. It is after this manner they proceed to the very separating of friends and the disbanding of acquaintances : acts of kindness they call officiousness, and social intercourse but the binding of interests ; they would insinuate that even natural ENVY. 87 affection might be resolved into self-love or sentiment ; and thus would displace every creature in your esteem, in order to make room for their own. There is a moderated form of Envy, pertaining to a class of persons who vainly imagine that any excellence conceded to another is just so much abstracted from theirs : this is what every candidate for fame must take into account as the ordinary tax upon talent. In proportion, however, as the world with- draws its assistance from those who cannot do without it, so it is lavish of its favors to those who cease to want it ; and thus it is persons are more envied in the pursuit of an object than the absolute attainment of the object itself; for the point is no sooner gained, than they become enviable objects rather than objects of envy: still, whatever this disposition may concede to us in one form it will be sure to withhold from us in another, and will pursue us in some shape or other, visible or invisible. There are many to be found in whom this disposition was never tested ; some have no more ambition for study than for tumb- ling or vaulting, and it is only when you do not trespass upon their premises, that they will leave you in the quiet enjoyment of your own. It is very possible to have a very particular friend without being acquainted with all his particulars ; you may appreciate his virtues and think you understand all his faults, and yet Envy shall be the last you discover in him, although it is said to slide in everywhere. A gentleman of this cast, who could endure no rivalry, chose for his friend one of under talent, who, from concessions and submissions, maintained a friend- ship with his highness for twenty years, which was at last in- terrupted by this subordinate having shewn him a fugitive piece of poetry ; and fugitive piece he found it, for he saw no more of him afterwards : he should have informed himself that if his superior did not write it was because he did not choose to do so ; and that, so far from enduring comparison, he must not be allowed to suffer even by implication. Uncertainty of temper is frequently the mark of an envious disposition ; you may have noticed that your friend observes a singular coolness towards you which is too equivocal to risk an explanation ; on your OVY. S8 part you are rather willing to wait the process of his recovery, or what is vulgarly called “ coming to of his own accord re- turning symptoms of kindness cause you to regret any unfavor- able construction you may have put on his conduct, while you have scarcely time to blame your own mistake, before he re-v lapses into the same unaccountable behaviour ; the secret how- ever will remain with your mysterious friend so long as he is ashamed to confess it, only be assured of this, that it arises from something he sees in you, rather than receives from you, and that you have recommended yourself to others by some quality or other which he either rivals you in, or does not possess. It is thus we suffer by friendly approximation, and it is only when we neither compare nor are compared, that we are the least sensible of the existence of this passion ; for instance, those who have devoted their lives to the civilization of savage states, and those who have spent their precious time in taming white mice, are seldom envious of each other’s employment ; and no one thinks of instituting a comparison between the head of a refractory nation and the keeper of a menagerie^ however similar their offices may be. But take a comprehensive view of it in relation to the world at large, and the passion (if it may then be so called,) is restricted in proportion as it is removed or lost in the distance ; even in contiguous and contending countries, in- volving the necessary comparison of England and France, Spain and Portugal, and the like — it is in the same degree so dissi- pated and divided by the individuals composing them, as to become a matter of sentiment rather than feeling. These incidental remarks are introduced in order to make the distinction between the subjects of occasional envy and the habitually envious ; and as the fixed expression is made upon the latter, a simple example may be sufficient ; for as Envy de- mands so many faces, while this can furnish but one, whatever their varieties may be, there should at least he an analogy in the lines which betray the same intention in all. ILL-NATUHE. N I L L - N A T U 11 E. The whole indicative of a mind that is never at rest. Anger in the eyes ; Ill-Nature in the mouth. No line or muscle in this hice that might not be found in another, the disposition only bringing them more hatefully and prominently out. The most powerful expression of Ill-Nature bearing upon one point ; as may be especially noticed by the line from the wing of the nose taking a downward direction towards the corner of the mouth, to which it is closely united, as in the example. The line in question, frequently strong in benevolence, invariably so in age, and still stronger in the passion of laughter. In age, or benevolence, it receives its just expression, in being disassociated from the mouth. The violence of the line in the passion of laughter is accounted for, as being in action, and diverted from the downward tendency by being carried off into the muscles of the cheek ; shewing, with greater precision, what the expression may gain or lose by the direction of the line. A curling form in all the muscles, which are pointed and sharp. A selfishness conspicuous, even in dress — trim, tight, and close to the person, as though the very appendages should be more entirely his own. ILL-NATU RE. This all-opposing principle of Ill-Nature would affect to dis- claim all identity with its hated sisterhood, Spite and Malignity, for the mere negative reason that it manifests itself rather from the good it withholds than the injury it inflicts ; but, whatever its milder features may be, enough of family likeness remains to show that it has something in common with both. There is an habitual Ill-Nature in some persons which has a sufficient shew of justice to convince others how disagreeable they are able to make themselves, by doing just as much and no more than it is their duty to do ; they can infringe upon the claims of society without committing one legal trespass ; and because, like good Protestants, they are held guiltless of all works of supereroga“ tion, they really begin to think there is some merit in what they are able to leave undone. These characters have a phraseology of their own, by which their natural dispositions are as much marked as their faces are by the effects of them. With the vulgar, or unrefined, this feeling is seldom disguised, and never more unceremoniously called out than by the uncivilized in country places, where a ruggedness of temper seems to partake of the nature of the soil, and creates as much strife and litiga- tion as any lawyer in the vicinity could desire : with such spirits the intercourse of friendship is scarcely known from the inter- change of ill-will, and kind requests are sometimes met with a resentment that may be more quickly felt than described. There is a refined Ill-N ature in a certain class who seem all the worse for their educational distinctions, and which is often insinuated through the softer medium of reflection and regret, by persons 92 ILL-NATURE. whose acrimony is dissolved in so much tenderness as to adapt themselves to the most trying circumstances, and administer comfort and consolation so unacceptably, that it is difficult to find out the true meaning of their angel-visits : they have a word in season for every one ; they preach up the virtue of con- tentment to those that have nothing to be contented with, and when they (unfortunately) find the patience they recommend, they fear it is only an idle excuse, which they attribute to laxity of principle, or love of ease. Should they hear of any one being successful in life, they consider it merely accidental, and that the first cross Providence will reduce them to their former state ; or, in the event of failure, they are equally certain it has arisen from inattention or neglect ; and, as they carry the evil about 'with them, there is no chance of matters getting any better. Sometimes this disposition takes a sportive turn, and mani- fests itself in a fondness for teazing children, imagining they conceal their malignity under the cover of such practical jokes as, starting their little nerves by sudden noises, terrifying them with masks, and the like ; all of which tendencies we see carried out in other connections, in the less refined but playful exercises of bull-baits, duck-hunts, and cock-fights. Personal defects never escape their notice ; they are sure to make their objects more sensible of them than even the looking-glass : they are most ingenious in bringing together what nature has placed asunder, by finding out an extraordinary likeness between some one of handsome features and one whose features might be scarcely known as such but by their situation on the face ; one person’s walk puts them in mind of another person’s waddle, and one of an easy carriage and deportment reminds them of an- other who you would scarcely suppose had yet come to the use of his limbs : often, too, has a mother’s tender feelings been wounded by a comparison of her smiling baby to some little crying monstrosity 'v\ffiich may bear about as much resemblance to each other as a cherub to a sucking pig. This propensity for plagueing and disconcerting may have originated the custom of making April fools, the discontinuance of which may be traced to their ill-natured conceit of finding so many readg 7nade. Con- ILL-NATURE. 93 tradictions, negations, conversational traps, catching up your words before you have completed the sentence, or filling it up with a sense you never intended, are all emanations from the same ill-natured source. Another plausible method they have of transferring their faults to others, and in such a manner as shall make them believe, for the time, they are really their own. Of all imaginable tempers theirs are the most insufferable which consist in taking objections to all you say or do ; and although no one ever came into contact with them without being sensible of it, or ever had an interview with them that ever desired an- other ; yet these reprovers not only escape their own censure, hut are allowed to go off without reflection, and sometimes even with respect. There is also another class of Ill-Natured beings, whose property or influence secures to them the indulgence of this hateful disposition. A character of this description, who to the art of amassing wealth united that of tormenting, was pleased to patronize a poor, meek, and inoffensive nephew, by holding out to him an independence at his death, on condition of prompt and ready obedience to his will : he forbade him to marry, lest he should be deprived of his single services ; gave him no pecuniary aid, lest it should encourage habits of idleness ; and demanded his attendance every Sabbath day to keep him out of mischief ; on this day of rest, he obliged him to sit upon an old deal box, with the liberty of speaking when he was spoken to, and the privilege of taking his dinner on his knees : the gout, the rheumatism, and a thousand ills his “ flesh was heir to,” which promised the poor expectant a speedy deliverance, only gave him an opportunity of exercising his spleen for a term exceeding all reasonable calculation ; it was thus he was kept a prisoner of hope for nearly thirty years, and when the happy release at length arrived, he found himself equally released from the burthen of the inheritance, having nothing left him but the virtue of patience as his only reward. Such practices are expected to pass off for mere humour or eccentricity ; a mistake which the countenance may rectify at any period, but especially when it settles down into the determined lines of a churlish and 94 ILL-NATURE. morose old age. Should this disposition be associated with any- thing like principle or sense of duty, the subjects of them become still more intolerant and intolerable ; their hard requisitions assuming the form of righteous exactions, and their arbitrary acts the expressions of rigid morality : let an applicant enter the room of such an one, and he will eye him with a suspicion that shall make him feel at once he has no business there ; if the poor dependant has much at stake, the pause is terrific ; but be the issue what it may, the favor is so insultingly withheld, or so ungraciously conferred, that he scarcely knows whether he is most relieved or burthened by the acceptance of it. It is dif- ficult, however, to say whether his dependants are most hateful or essential to him, since, w^ere it not for their unworthy claims upon his growling benevolence, his feelings would be dying for want of exercise : talk to this moralist about public distress, and he will tell you it is a great mercy that many persons are not cut off at once, but allowed time to starve^ as it gives them space for repentance ; and as to individual charity, if that is ever extorted from him, it is seldom without reminding the party that it was neither from recommendation nor desert, but in order to save him from the hulks or transportation. Now with all this kind consideration for others, they are not at all aware, in a physiognomical respect, how little mercy they have on them- selves ; and yet, repulsive as their countenances may be, they had better keep them, such as they are, than endeavour to sport one which does not belong to them ; for when a churlish man puts on a laugh, it is so unnatural to him that we are more dis- gusted than pleased with the change, being about as improving to a forbidding countenance as a Welch wig would be to an agreeable face. The head in question is illustrated in its most unpleasing form, that the pencil may arrest it where description fails, and make it impossible to escape by its own deformity. MALIGNITY. MALIGNITY, This passion, like others, is subject to many modifications ; but is here pre« sented in its most repulsive form, and aggravated by being represented in action. The eyes sunken in the head, and shining in their recess with an unnatural lustre. The eye-balls, to appearance, contracting at pleasure or displeasure. The muscles about the eye-lids obscured by an overcharging brow, carried on by a prominent line which seems to unite the two frontal muscles across the top of the nose. The upper part of the nose pinched and contracted ; the nostrils distended in the same proportion. A sarcastic and hateful curling of the lip on one side, by which a few of the teeth are displayed, as though they wood be seizing upon something. The whole bearing greatly upon a distinguishing feature of this disposition, which, according to Michael Angelo’s representation of it in his picture of The Last Judgment, might be called the line of malignity. The line in question, commencing from the Vving of the nose, with a sharp straight direction downward, thence inserting itself into a muscle uniting with the corner of the mouth, with which it associates the expression of hatred. The line alluded to similarly explained in the head of Ill-Nature ; being frequently as strong in age or benevolence ; the difference lying in the direction. It. MALIGNITY. This unnatural condition of the mind, in which nothing less is implied than universal ill-will, may be said, for the credit as well as the comfort of mankind, to embrace that smaller portion of it called the mhuman race. In presenting these characters in their worst extreme, with a view of answering to the revolt- ing expression of the prefaced head, which has been represented (rather inadvertently) in its most outrageous form, we instinc- tively seem to disclaim all identity with this our alienated species, which would appear to have their place in society for no other purpose than that of defeating its ends. So far, however, as their natures are concerned, they are only to be considered on a footing with wild beasts, (though not so respectable,) and it is owing entirely to the privilege of humanity, that they are suf- fered to walk abroad without the danger of being treated after the same manner as when they muzzle a bear or deprive a tiger of his claws. Without adverting to the greater inroads which these more malignant spirits have made upon the community in their own sphere, it may be sufficient to remark only upon some of the ordinary practices of their common natures, considered merely as members of it ; and it will appear from thence, that in their best seasons (those of their inactivity) if they ever feel them- selves to be a blank in society, it is only when they cannot con- tribute to its discomfiture, and are only solitary apart from it for the same inquiet reasons : they are so far from being at peace while others are so, that a kind of counter-charity would induce them to forego their own happiness rather than not be able to 98 MALIGNITY. detract from that of others ; while such is the horror of their own place of confinement, that if it were possible to enter the prison-house of their minds, no one would stay longer in it than could be ascertained how quickly he might escape out of ito That which they are unable to execute on the powerful they visit on the unprotected, and follow up their injuries with a re- sentment that might better become the victims of it ; and for no other conceivable reason than that of a secret consciousness of having themselves provoked (and deservedly) their ill opinion. What impression they make upon the social circle, their phy- siognomy may best explain : they no sooner enter a house than it is no longer a home ; and the longer is their stay the shorter is their welcome ; in fact, the unfortunate countenance they are sentenced to carry about them is such as nothing can get rid of but decapitation. We may observe, through life_, that these persons slide insensibly into certain offices or employments which by nature they are as mutually fitted into as lock and key, and are dreaded in proportion to the vulgarity of the situ- ation ; the same as the private has more to apprehend from the drill-serjeant than from the commanding officer, or as criminals may have more to fear from the severity of the jailor than even the sentence of the judge. These are the kind of men, we may imagine, who were formerly employed to aggravate the sutfer- ings of those we read of as having been dragged to the stake, thrust into prison, or made fast in the stocks. It is with this malicious outfit that slave-drivers go forth to their labors, and find their reward in their work ; with what unwearied industry they apply the lash, when one-fourth of the exercise at their legitimate employment of beating hemp, or at the tread-mill, would have been most grievous and intolerable ! The only way in which such faces are turned to political account will appear in the uses they are made of as worn by servants in expensive establishments, or mansions of the great ; being considered as essential to the halls as scare-crows are to the fields to protect the corn ; their abrupt and impudent mode of getting rid of applications not only saves their master’s money but his reputation, in taking the entire responsibility MALIGNITY, 99 ^7pon themselves ; besides sparing tlie applicant an infinite deal of trouble, by presenting to him a countenance not unlike those that preside over the knockers, to frighten away solicitation and drive necessity from the door. The zeal with which these fellows execute or rather exceed their commission is highly praiseworthy and convenient to such as would secretly have it so, insomuch as it relieves them from the claims of patronage and the obligations of charity, in being kept in blissful ignorance of their duty ; not aware that they would be dealt with after the same manner, should it ever happen that their necessities might require it. When the subjects of this disposition find their way into the nursery, it affords them ^afe and easy methods of indulging it ; among other opportunities, a very notable one occurs to them — that of sly pinching children, not more with a view of getting rid of them, than of having to complain of their little froward tempers, and get them punished for crying without a cause ; or, if too narrowly watched to be able to gratify their inclina- tions in this way, their natural genius will never suffer for want of exercise, while there are such things as dumb animals to practice upon^ these will be sure to come in for the residue ; but which, alas ! having no other appeal, are obliged to give their complaints to the winds. It may be worth the digression to remind the higher order of the brute creation who are in the habit of inflicting upon their dogs unnecessary pain, of the analogy of sounds ; and that after such unmerited treatment the poor sufferers go off with a yelping noise, exactly resembling the words pen-and-ink ; things which some persons imagine they call for, to record the injury. It w^ould be no less for their edification were it possible for inferior animals, so called^ to write the lives of one another ; we should then be presented with something more faithful and affecting than has ever issued from the pen of Buffon, and might anticipate the work as coming out under the title of the Foxes' Book of Martyrs^ or, the Brutes’ ^7/^natural History. It must be highly gratifying to cooks who bring this countenance into the profession to be able to indulge in the practice of it, not only with pleasure, but 100 MALIGNTTV. profit and applause ; it is in this connection they are publiclv allowed to unite the art of pleasing with that of ingeniously tormenting, and to find their higliest employment in such re- fined exercises as crimping cod, slicing eels, or boiling lobsters. Individual examples of this Malignant spirit might be given out of number ; but with all their variety of expression, they are so uniformly the same in nature and tendency, that the cases become more distressing than interesting ; it may be for such reasons that so many characters are lost sight of that it might be better to keep in view ; and if they are allowed to escape our observation simply because the eye has no desire to dwell upon them, it is the more essential they should be arrested in passing, and viewed through such a medium as may serve at least to act as a cautionary reference ; it is therefore that the annexed specimen is supplied, which, though it may not be the most flattering view of the picturesque, still it is one aspect of it, and since it is presented in its most uninviting form, we may pre- sume upon the profitable speculation that may arise from the contemplation of such heads, and the moral improvement that may be derived from reflection upon the owners of them ; hence the two-fold purpose of guarding us against encountering such a countenance, or of contracting such an one as should be guarded against. Although such persons may be so indifferent about a good name that they would scarcely give a farthing for the purchase of one, yet they may have some personal consider- ations that may not be of so trifling a value ; and should they flatter themselves with having a different kind of beauty from the one in question, it may serve to admonish them of having much the same expression : their serious attention is therefore invited through this medium, in hopes by such a channel of communication to affect their vanity where it would be impos- sible to influence their hearts. SPITE. SPITE. It might be unnecessary to state that this example is presented under its most extravagant form ; from which it must appear, that the lines of the face are so deranged and disordered, as either to obscure the natural countenance, or leave it in a condition only to be guessed at. In endeavouring to detach this disposition from its undesirable associate, it should be observed, that In malignity we have a settled expression : in Spite we have much the same description of look in action, and one in which the subject is imagined to be surprised into by some moving cause. The “ eyes starting from their spheres ; ” the brows “ standing on end ; ” the nose contracted ; the mouth open, and the teeth clenched, as though prematurely acting out in the face what the mind designs to do. The muscles of the face, angular and sharp, taking no subordinate part, but uniting in the one resentful expression. The outer and inner lines of the face irregular, with strong indents in the muscular parts, not natural to the subject. A vindictive eye at all times, but in this instance called out of its natural position, as supposed to be aggravated by circumstances ; its cautionary language requiring no other interpretation to those to whom it is directed, than that of — “ Take care of yourself ! ” ',1 SPITE. Although Spite and Malignity are considered to be twin- sisters of the same family, they will he found to differ more in their origin than in their nature ; as Spite supposes previous injury of some kind or other, whereas Malignity would seem to promise itself no other end than that of the gratification it re- ceives in the mere act of inflicting pain. It is no less common than convenient for Spiteful persons to found their arguments on the misapplied terms of “ the laws of retaliation,” and “ natural resentment and there does appear upon its surface something fair and equal, as far as the ends of justice are answered in demanding “ an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” without considering to what an extent such painful restitutions might be superseded by the milder economy which teaches us rather to live under the spirit of the gospel than to act under the letter of the law. This law of love, or counteracting principle of “ overcoming evil with good,” which, from the little influence it exercises over the mind, would seem to be on record for no other purpose than that of appearing in prints might be more regarded, perhaps, were persons aware that it promises as much for the countenance as the character ; while the neglect of the wholesome precept may be attended with such personal responsibilities as might serve to shew that those who are not to be admonished by Facts must submit to be adver- tised by Faces, Were it not for the abounding instances of Spite which every day’s experience supplies, it would be but justice to the parties (a privilege they would not thank you for) to allow them to furnish their own examples ; but as they are equally to he seen 104 SPITE. through the medium of the passion itself, it should be remarked, that Spite may be arranged under the following heads of Per^ sonal^ Prospective, Relative^ and Retrospective. Of Personal Spite it must have been observed, that there are few instances where this passion has been at all proportionate to the offence : the “ giving of two for one,” as it is called, com- mends itself especially to the retaliating spirit of young persons, whose growing consequence may further account for why we have in early, as well as later life, so many instances of provoca- tions in ordinary, and visitations extraordinary. There is in the very nature of this disposition that whiclr defeats its own ends, and sometimes even at the cost of justice : as in cases only where a delinquent has absolutely made his escape through the means of a spiteful advertisement ; the kind of description having been known to run in such a manner as to unite in one individual such a host of personal discrepencies as Providence has benevolently distributed amongst all mankind ; and which has proved as matchless a device as any culprit could possibly desire : for who, in the name of decency, could expect to see, much less apprehend, a character so extraordinary in a world like ours % or why the advertiser could not perceive that he belonged to a creation of his own, this irresistable passion can best explain. Under the head of Prospective Spite we must class that un- extinguishable and self-condemning spirit of unforgiveness — a disposition carried out by certain persons who, if they cannot pay off a grudge at sight, will give you a promissory note at length, with an accumulating interest, which they are determined you shall receive in full of all demands ; thus giving this passion all the strength of time, and rendering it the more dangerous by delay. There is also what may be called Relative Spite, in those who, besides their bills of exchange and notes of hand, have also their transfer days ; for example, take but one specimen-speech of this — “ That man has offended me, and I cannot fall in with him by any chance ; but only let me catch his dog out, and give me a good thick stick, that’s all ! ” SPITE. 105 As to Retrospective Spite, a very natural instance of this has been given us in the case of a fine, ignorant youth, who being questioned as to the extreme poverty of his education, the poor boy said that it was owing to his not being able to get into a charity-school, because his uncle’s-grandfather’s-landlord’s- wife’s-cousin voted on the wrong side for the beadle of the parish: and numberless instances of Retrospective Spite might be given which are about as far-fetched as most of our modern puns. As instances of Spite, in its many degrees, are too numerous to come within the limits of this work, it may be especially con- sidered in reference to the nature or condition of the subjects of it : and here we might be cautioned, that when servants are spiteful they become eminently so, from the opportunities which lend this quality such power, and the practice which gives it such perfection. Whatever your horses or dogs may have to complain of at their hands, let those beware of culinary resent- ments who put any value upon fish, flesh, or fowl ; at least, it would be better to be kept in total ignorance of what passes iu and out of the kitchin, than be made too sensible of the differ- ence between serving up and serving out : in all such matters, a pro tempore change of services would be desirable ; and many have found more comfort and less fatigue in waiting on them- selves than in watching over those who wait upon them. The embryo workings of this quality are sometimes seen in very young children, who seem to be training for the same employment ; observe, when their little purposes are crost, how they contend with everything within their reach ; or, in their morning ablutions, how they kick, and splash, and fight with the winds — and all preparatory to their future exercises, when they come to the maturity of scratching drawers, chipping jugs, and breaking china, to any amount, according to the number of cats that are kept. There is also another class of Spiteful persons who, if they have nothing to do with your furniture, will find something to do with your feelings, who set themselves in opposition to your opinions, and lie at catch for your words, which if they find the least astray, they will seize upon, as they would like to do r 106 SPITE. upon the hair of your head, till you have scarcely a hair or an idea left ; insomuch, that you hardly dare to shelter yourself under the fact that two and two make four. On describing an absent character (should you have offended them), they point out every exception to it they think you can take to yourself, and thus ghost you with your own apparition in a form and at a time when you do not wish to see anything worse than your- self ; and all this by a kind of distorting glass, that shall dis- comfit you with your likeness, without your perceiving the hand which holds it. If you remark that your friend is flourishing in business, they will ask you, how long it is since his bank- ruptcy ] or, if living in any style — if you knew him when living in “ Sharp’s Alley V They will not allow your name to escape without trying to find out some chance identity with that of some one who may have been convicted of coining, or concerned in robbing the mail : as to your nature, they would scarcely allow you the privilege of ancestry, if they could help it ; and, indeed, you had better do without any, rather than such as they would help you to. All this you may expect, and infinitely more, provided you give them what they choose to call “ cause of offence.” In separating between the approximating passions of Malig- nity and Spite, no very nice distinctions are to be made, partaking as they do of the same elements of character ; but as the difference may lie in the habitual indulgence or occasional exercise of these passions, a greater modification of the lines in question may be expected under milder circumstances ; that is, if we can imagine such a face could be at rest. It only remains to give an illustration of the head in its most outrageous form, and to congratulate you should you find it in no other place. I INFLEXIBILITY. infi.extbit.it Y. The annexed head, which is to be seen in such a variety of form and character, is represented under one general hard expression, and introduced as a peculiar example of rigidity of muscle and inflexibility of feature. The eyes nmmy, of a metalic appearance ; with a determined brow, remark- ably hard ; and that which constitutes the breadth of the upper and underlid particularly so ; with a corresponding tightness in those parts which unite the eyes to the nose. The nose with equally determined lines, and such as one seldom sees in faces of more flexibility and softness. The mouth with all the characteristics of Decision, but sufficiently plausible to conceal the design and cover the hard expression That part of the forehead which unites with the brow especially keeping up the hard consistency : the chin partaking of the same nature. An emotionless countenance, having one unvarying look, which appears as though it were originally imprinted by nature, and afterwards stereotyped by art. Frequently accompanied by a studied and corresponding stiffness of dress. V INFLEXIBILITY. Inflexibility, which has no less the determined property of Resolution than the distinguishing feature of Obstinacy, implies nothing more, in the abstract of the term, than a fixedness of mind, irrespective of any good or ill quality to which it may be attached : it will, therefore, be considered in its unqualified acceptation — that of rigidity of character. As certain qualities impress the mind more powerfully from what is observed in the subjects of them than, in the definition of the qualities themselves, the attention will be directed rather to the nature and practice of the parties which come under the description, and which are usually denominated, “ hard menP These persons are remarkable for an unvarying countenance and inflexibility of feature, which gives them what may be termed “ cast-iron faces to those who recollect them formerly they would seem to be much the same as when they originally came oat of the nursery, with very little alteration, except in their growth ; and must have been in their infancy, to all appearance, a sort of manikens, or little men. Such negative-looking beings flatter themselves that by a total want of expression they evade all suspicion as to their intentions — little aware that there are marks of distinction by which they may be as easily known as the zebra by his stripes, or the leopard by his spots. These business-like men (for such they invariably are), finding them- selves happily relieved from the ordinary restraints of feeling, confine their calculations to what they consider “ the one thing needful,” and have no idea that they came into the world for any other purpose than that of making the most of it ; hence 110 INFLEXIBILITY. they acquire a worldly shrewdness, by which their social inter- course becomes a matter of political exchange, while they look upon every green herb and every living thing in the light of marketable commodities. It is here that the mind with all its atfections seems locked up and incased, and so partakes of the hard material which encloses it, that if it were possible to give it substance, it would come out from the body the same as a cast from a mould : nay, one might carry the speculation further, and believe that if, by any stretch of fancy, we could pass these obdurates through the same flame with a diamond, it would be difficult to imagine which would dissolve first. Cautious as these persons are in shutting up the house, there are two windows they are obliged to leave open — those outlets of the eyes, through which may be discovered certain secrets that may give the close observer some idea of the kind of tenan- try which is in its occupation. It may be noticed frequently, if not generally , that their outward appearance is stiff and uncom- promising, exhibiting few symptoms of having learnt to dance, and the whole of the unbending machinery looks as if it were built for service rather than made for society ; as nothing, how- ever, is made without design, it is reasonable to conclude that they are born for certain offices or employments, to which they are so mutually fitted and squared, that it is of necessity we see them insinuated among such as stock-jobbers, money-scriveners, or the worthless fragments of the more honorable professions called “ limbs of the law.” It is well for them, they think, when by some side duty they can append the office of overseer, or guardian of the poor, as by this last work of charity they hope to procure a double passport to pocket and peace of mind, and thus obtain both worlds at once without the inconvenience of deserving either. These gravities (to save appearances) will present themselves at Divine Service once on every Sabbath- day at least, and if they can only take a share in the General Confession, get a discharge by the Absolution, wake-out the discourse, and become creditor, perhaps, by holding a plate at the church-door, they consider they have preserved a pretty equal balance of their accounts, and have got^ so far in advance INFLEXIBILITY. Ill of their duty as to be qualified to renew their licence, and fetch up their arrears of unfulfilled iniquity. As long, however, as the wheels of business are in order, all seems to go on well ; nor can they be persuaded that this state of things will not always last. One of these characters had his hard materials so softened by a fever as to threaten his very dissolution : the accusing spirit, which he fancied he had long got rid of, made its re-appearance, and paid him a few dusky visits, which extorted from him the usual promises of restitution and amend- ment of life, on condition of his being restored. “ Ah !” said he, to a serions friend, “ should my unworthy life be spared, I am resolved I never will be again the man I have been !” His friend left him under these hopeful impressions ; but repeating his visit, he found him considerably better ; and, being in that mixed state of mind which comes in between hope and fear ; as the former grace advanced, he addressed his friend in a some- what different tone, and, in language not exactly suited to a sick chamber, said, “ that his plaguey long illness had thrown his business most confoundedly in arrears, but he hoped soon to fetch all up again ; that there were two or three persons he had in his eye whom he was only waiting to arrest ; and that many who had been making very hind inquiries after his health would be most cruelly disappointed at finding him about again !” One reason why these men are so hard upon the necessities and feelings of others may be from the supposition that they can have none, because their own deficiencies are made up in such a gratuitous manner ; their incidental weakness of mind being compensated by a strength of nerve and brainless insensibility which renders them alike impervious to appeal and attack ; and it is only when friends or connections do not interpose, or fortune does not appear for them, that they are compelled to answer the legitimate ends of justice and their creation. If one might intervene one indemnifying quality which lies at the root of their prosperity, it is industry ; and here they would almost shame “ the old one,” who, in this particular, must be allowed to share his reputation with them, as well as for other things ; unfortunately for them, however, there is a sub- 112 INFLEXIBILITY. ordinate intercourse going on the while, which they are not at all aware of ; nor do they in the least suspect they are kept by their old benefactor much as they keep their own dependents, or as people keep bees, by aifording them shelter till they have made their deposit, and then fumigating them well out for their pains : it is thus that these exactors become extractors, and command the labours of those who have nothing else to give. Shylock could be satisfied with a certain amount of flesh, but these would not only rob you of your flesh but bleach your very bones : they seem endowed, as it were, with all the privileges of the Egyptian task-masters, and are just the kind of men who have brought about that condition of black and white bondage which has been dragged through every grade and shade of humanity, from the slave-market down to the loom and factory, and the more unsuspected abodes of domestic tyranny : none, however, of their wretched dependents are likely to become victims of midnight dissipation, having learned a more laborious manner of turning night into day ; nor are they likely to get any discharge from their labours till nature shall give them one in full ; even their dreams of better things are cut short by the early alarum, which awakens them to the accustomed and miserable sense of their being, and teaches them a new method of shortening their lives by lengthening their days. Now whatever of “ the green bay-tree” may be in their out- ward condition, they are in a state of banishment amidst their own possessions ; and so shut up within their enclosures that neither friend (if any) nor stranger can venture upon the con- flnes of their territories without the secret caution that steel traps and spring guns are set in their grounds. In return for all this, the world yields them no more respect than they are able to purchase ; and as to honors, they are so universally black-balled in society as never even to dream of any. VOLUPTUOUSNESS. \ Q O L U P T U O U S N V S S. An illustration of one of the class of heads is selected for the purpose of shewing where this appetite rather rages than reigns ; and one where the countenance is clouded over with one general look of discontent. The eyes, in this extreme case, appear to be separated in expression from the intellectual part of the head, and become companions of the lower and animal part of the face, to join that which is most congenial, and to have (as it were) all things in common. The muscles in the vicinity of the lower jaw are particularly affected by sympathy, and create that fulness of cheek so visible in those parts which anatomists call the parotid glands. The eyes protrude, and “ stand out with fatness.” The nose and mouth fully carry out the propensities. The mouth espcially expressive of discontent, as indicated by the thickness and curling of the lips, which are eager and insatiate. The muscles uniformly swelled and puffed up. The general expression animal and ferocious. VOLUPTUOUSNESS. The lines which this passion entails upon the face are not peculiar to those who avail themselves of every thing within their reach, but betray, to a certain extent, the man of appetite, whether he has the means of self-indulgence or not ; for un- gratified desires frequently create a greater sense of want, and the masticating muscles are often sympathetically set in motion when, alas ! there is no occasion for them. The appetites are of two kinds — natural and acquired ; the former is limited by its excess ; but the other, although founded on aversion, has no bounds : the reason is obvious : Nature opprest resents all freedoms with satiety, but shews no mercy where she is artificially attacked : we need no further proof of this than in the personal condition of those who have been trained to the love of olives, or the chewing of tobacco or opium, the latter practice especially. As voluptuousness includes the grosser tendencies of our nature, it will be chiefly considered in relation to Gluttony — a condition of being which is never acknowledged, universally reprobated, and seldom supposed to go unpunished. Vulgar notions ascribe the Great Fire of London to the prevalence of this all-devouring passion ; but why the consumers since that time have not been consumed, or why we have not had a recurrence of tlie blazing event, when so much fuel has been prepared for it, can only be accounted for by the supposition that the sin itself has been insured, and, from its apparent increase, as double hazardous. Subjects of such tendencies are especial observers of times and seasons, and see no other intention in keeping Christmas than 116 VOLUPTUOUSNESS. in associating it with turkeys, nor in Michaelmas but in geese. Their capacity, or rapacity, is generally based upon a good con- stitution ; and cases have been known where the teeth have been absolutely worn to the stumps, in the service of the sinner, without the least symptom of decay. This propensity may, or may not be associated with Epicureanism, which, in the abstract sense of the word, would seem to have the sanction of a kind of philosophy for making the best rather than the most of life : still less can it attach to the peculiar cases of persons of delicate habits, whose refined indulgences may arise more from neces- sity than choice. But, to pass from its weakness to its absurd- ity, there is a manifest consciousness of this infirmity in certain individuals who look to society to countenance that for which they are individually ashamed : hence, they resolve themselves into “ beef-steak clubs,” white-bait parties, and the like ; till these companies are not only liberally allowed for, but their con- stituents dignified as members of the more substantial Board of Taste. These are the gentlemen who are so often heard to say, they have travelled from place and have seen nothing — but cannot say, they have gone from house to house and have taken ” nothing : in all their excursions they seem to measure their distance from inn to inn, and compute their time from meal to meal, while their chronology is marked rather from dinners than events. Voluptuaries can only divide their natures with the Cen- taur ; all other animals have no such contact with our huma- nity, and wolves and vultures have been libelled by the com- parison ; nay, the very character is reducible to the very word_, for if we never had a definition of the term Voluptuousness, such is the adaptation of the sound to the sense, that it would be difficult to suppose it could mean anything else. Should such characters ever relax into good humour, it is never till their creature expectations are fully ’satisfied ; but only put these fleshly tyrants under culinary restraints, and you will hear a something in the voice of these turtles, accompanied by a look, that no one can describe but the waiter at a tavern, or a keeper of wild beasts at feeding-time. SENSUALITY. SENSUALITY. One specimen of the class of head is given, as sufficient for general purposes. The skull very capacious, and of a form and order that might give promise of better things. The width across the forehead being the only unbalanced and disorganized part, as regards its general consistency and proportion. The strongest characteristic — a most infallible sign of the disposition — invari- ably to be seen in the tendency of the under eyelid to close over the iris, or lower circle of the eye. The mouth especially engaged in this; the flexibility of its lines, and their inclination towards the corner of the eyes, sympathizing with their peculiar expression. All the muscles possessing a round tendency, with fleshy protuberances, and partaking of the same character. The upper eyelids softened into the muscles above, with a general uniting and blending of the whole. / S E N S U A L I T Y. The marks, or rather incisions, which this unmerciful passion inflicts upon the openly licentious will exist, under a modifled form, in those more subdued instances of it which the common observer will not entirely overlook, but which the art can fully explain, and in a manner that no other art shall explain away. Science, therefore, may serve to keep that greatly in check which it cannot entirely control, by giving to the guardian eye some well-directed attention to certain little flaws in the face, which may either be the means of preventing many an alarming sign from giving place to more painful realities, or, at least, of rendering any little act of surprise the less surprising. It is not a little remarkable, that the otherwise “ wise and prudent ” should be so far the sport of this capricious passion as to be hurried into a thousand follies and inadvertencies, which not only tend to bring their morality into question, but their reason and judgment also ; persons, too, who in other respects appear as though they could not be “ tied and bound by the chain of any sin ; ” and yet, let but the silken cord be applied, and they will become as powerless as Samson in the hands of Delilah. The extraordinary triumph of this passion over reason has been illustrated, in no few instances, by those who have been “ led captive by it ” at their own will, having become so far sinners by consent as to attach a sort of reputa- tion to it. These characters would not have gone unreproved in the time of Charles the Second, nor, indeed, at any other time, unless it may be supposed that nature plays the wanton 120 SENSUALTY. more at one period than another, Whatever might then have been the reigning fashion, they did not think it necessary to throw any more of this passion into the countenance than was thought to be compatible with interesting wickedness : in proof of this we need only be referred to Sir Peter Lely’s Court Beauties for the style of expression ; where, from the uniform expression, and general resemblance given to the ladies, espe- cially about the eyes, the faithfulness of their portraiture has been doubted, and the failure attributed to mannerism, or affectation in tlie painter — who only took his instructions from nature, and simply copied what he saw : the fact is, that they were represented by Lely just as they represented themselves, or wished to be represented ; so that the subject as well as the artist were at one and the same time furnishing examples of the imitative art. Now since it happens with regard to this gentler shade of evil, there is no other for which the world makes such liberal and constitutional allowances, the illustrated head is purposely given in its most debasing form, and in one of superior intellect, that those who might attempt, under any modification to under- take its defence, may perceive to what an extent this imperious passion is capable of tyrannizing over the most powerful and master minds. It is in such a connection that the brain, in- stead of performing its legitimate office, gives strength to the very passion it is calculated to subdue ; and thus all that is intellectual in the look is inwrought with an animal expression, which at periods seems to pervade over the whole. It is there- fore the more to be regretted, that while the outer lines of this intellectual fabric are preserved, the individual frame-work of a well-constructed head should be so deranged as to appear the more affecting in ruins, by presenting us Avith a miserable contrast to what it might have been but for the disorderly tenantry within. It may be, hoAvever, but justice to remark, that whatever this irresistable passion may affix upon the head, it carries away, at the same time, all traces of ill-humour and ill-will, and renders it a subject of compassion rather than contempt. SAUCIJ^ESS. S A IT 0 1 N E S S. As this disposition assumes such a variety of forms in different characters, it is here jfiven in one in which it is chiefly supposed to prevail, and after a manner in wliicli it is generally found to be exercised ; and this, in order that it may be recognized under some of its more quiet modifications, by vdiat it is able to ex- press by the open display of its powers. The lines of the features in this exan ple not generally expressive of the dispo- sition, but rather incidental to the class of face. Generally attended with black eyes, but far from being peculiar to them. The eyes open, with a tendency to close at the corners ; the surrounding parts round and playful. Very frequently accompanied by a turned-up nose, and not, as in some inter- esting cases, a slight inclination of the nose upwards; this remarkable feature appearing as though it had taken the direction by choice, and was indebted to this quality for its expressive formation. All the features an inclination to lift : the lips curling upwards, and the njo^^th opening wide, with a chattering exhibition of the teeth, thrown open as it v ere in defiance — every muscle seeming to make an effort to get out of its place. The lines animated with a character entirely its own — the very ojTposite to those of pride — undignified, and vulgar in the extreme. A levelling expression, which would bring every thing down to its own con- dition, without raising itself. I'he mind in perfect harmony with the featuiee, which appear just as the sub- ject would have them to be. The verbal expression of the whole— “ Who cares for you ?” SAUCINESS, This complete and finished expression of an accomplished face and tongue, which, from the reputation it has acquired for wit and, smartness amongst a certain class, is regarded by them as a great ornament of the mind — may be resolved into nothing more nor less than the natural aptness of a bad temper in its most aggressive form. When this quality enters the composition, it not only quali- fies the whole of it, but would seem to be the principal ingre- dient in it ; it lies upon the surface of all that is superficial, is the very essence of all that is non-essential ; and is the only article which flavors the natural insipidity : it is the counterfeit of wit, the substitute for sense ; and, while it assumes these sterling qualities, it is only in possession of those brazen ones which pass for them all. The wise and good of every age have ever considered such characters as past all verbal correc- tion, and recommended Solomon’s method of expostulation, “ a bridle for the ass, and a rod for a fool’s back.” But, alas ! we have too frequently to deplore the full-grown consequences of the early beginnings and unchecked tendency of these young shoots having been allowed to take their natural course ; and which, instead of being trained up like wild and disorderly plants ; have, on the contrary, been nursed and nourished into these inclinations and habits by those whose duty it was to watch over and weed them out. Notwithstanding such admo- nitions, it must have been painfully observed that this precocious talent has even been commended in pert young children, for saying many a smart thing under the domestic roof that would 124 SAUCINESS. have made them smart in other connections ; but which has only enabled their fond parents to supply their friends with so many specimens of their eloquent fooleries ; and that, too, in the hear- ing of these little ready reckoners, who are sure to commit them to memory, if not to paper, till they get such a collection of Kolands and Olivers, as to add to their natural stock of impu- dence, and make them what is called “ a match for anybody.” This embryo quality, which promises such a plentiful harvest whenever it shall arrive at the full maturity of insolence, puts them greatly in advance of their studies, and not unfrequently gives way to exercises of a lighter kind, in which they are so finished off, that they may be said to have got their education “ at their finger s ends'' It is then they are able to realize the fondest expectations of those whom they have made too sensible of their improvement ; and are no sooner invested with the pri- vilege of manhood than they charge society with the full cost of taking up their freedom. Thus elevated, we find them lording it over those modest and retiring persons, whose virtue and for- bearance so often pass for insipidity or cowardice ; at the same time that these redoubtables are receiving a character for daring and spirit, until some unexpected circumstance may call them out and apply to them the language of Homer — ‘‘ Thou dog in forehead, bnt in heart a deer !” When such shall make their appearance in ordinary life, they appear with more than ordinary advantages, are sent into the world with the finest recommenda- tions, and with as many mistakes about their characters as were never made about those of a magpie or a monkey : they come boldly out in the hearing of such remarks as these, “ fine spirited youth, this !” — ‘‘ fine sharp boy, that !” (language that might fiatter a pickpocket), and are considered to be those intrinsic geniuses which parents expect to get off without premiums, and such as are especially fitted for offices of trust ; in fact they are what is called “ any body’s money,” and those who trust them will generally find them so : their employers are not long in discovering their real uses in collecting bad debts and delivering saucy messages, all which they perform with a fidelity that would do honour to the most righteous cause ; while their acti- SAUCINESS. 125 vity in getting in and out of place makes them remarkable for seeing more of the world in one calender month than the most steady and experienced would in the whole of their lives. When- ever servants are endowed with this gift of tongues, it elevates them above the state of life in which Providence, or (as they would have it) ignorance has placed them, and enables them, even in their inferior situation, to preserve the balance of power. Under their saucy prerogative, every requisition they consider to be an infraction upon their liberty, and every act of conde- scension, a concession to their rights ; while any contest with their superiors would seem to lend a greater respectability to their talent, by giving them an opportunity of showing them- selves better than their betters : in like manner they would make their equals sensible of their inequality, in their own con- nection, where their liberty would be lost in the exercise of this freedom, in being made to feel that they are never so much out of place as when they are in it. We are not aware to what an extent we are indebted to this said quality for giving a relish to so many (would-be) popular works of the day, but which, if inquired into, or traced to the source from whence their materials are gathered, would prove to be nothing more than so many street compilations, and far below the originals, which are to be found, in all the perfection of imperfection^ in stable-yards, coach-stands, fish-markets, and other schools of eloquence. It is in such unzephyr-like associa- tions that the low and vulgar contract that sharpness of expres- sion and acuteness of insult, which can never be met by uniti- ated respectability, and is never to be overcome but by the power of endurance. Sense enough accompanies the Sauciness of these individuals to make them aware that this kind of delinquency only comes under the moral law, that other modes of assault are expensive and dangerous; but that Sauciness is a cheap and easy mode of annoyance, and exactly suited to their circumstances and abilities. They seem to have obtained a cockney charter for this kind of insolence, by which they are in the free exercise of the vulgar tongue — a privilege society is unwilling to deprive them of; for unless they included in it a language still more 126 SAUCINESS. vulgar and entirely their own, they would have no intercourse at all. They are always on good swearing terms with each other, and whether they come in contact or meet in recognition, it is with all the acrimony of good humour and the felicity of abuse ; insomuch that you would really think they were going to pro- ceed to blows, and give striking proofs of their friendship ; at the same time the exchange is kept up with such invidious smartness as to make it evident they would rather receive the most provoking insults than be cut off from the vanity of a reply. Fortunately for them, however, there is a senseless familiarity in their unceremonious method of “ giving and taking,” as the term is, which makes them impervious to attack, and gives them the advantage of becoming what is called “ case- hardened.” This could not be better illustrated than in a most interesting scene in Punch’s Drama, where the two brothers, having had words, agree to fight ; but, unluckily, having but one stick between them, they pass it alternately into each other’s hands, and knock one another about the head in polite succes- sion : here is a courtesy we cannot suificiently admire : they know they deserve no good at each other’s hands, and therefore make up their minds, as they do their heads, to take what follows. Now, just so their saucy colleagues out of the show-box ; they preserve the same equilibrium of temper, they have the same dexterity of handling, and the same wooden insensibility. This quality, which is supposed to exist in such perfection in Metropolitan connections, has been by some disputed : as an in- stance of this — “There is,” said a town-cut gentleman, while walking the streets of London with a country friend, “ a refined order of things in this metropolis, which seems to embrace the four corners of it, and includes within it the meanest citizen, taking within its range those falsely called ‘ the lower orders,’ but who, from assimilation, are able to put the stranger at such perfect ease with them, that, if he does not receive out-of-the-way marks of attention, he may reckon, at least, on an exchange of civilities : and now, my friend, since you seem rather infidel to all this, as we are approaching Covent Garden Market, you have only to make an inquiry or two at the stalls in order to please SAUCINESS. 127 yourself with the experiment.” The countryman, pretending great simplicity, walks up to a flower-stand with — “ Ma’am, will you have the kindness to inform me what they call this pretty flower?” — ‘‘ Nothing that you want,” said the woman, “ or else you would know the name of it.” — “ Well, I must confess,” said the townsman, “ this is rather a bad beginning ; but, however,” continued he, “ try the next stand, and shape your question more knowingly.” The countryman proceeds with — Pray, ma’am, is not this pretty flower a geranium ?” — “ Why, yes, stupid !” says the lady, ‘‘ what did you take it for, an oak tree?” — “Well,” said he, “ this leaves me but with another question and, walk- ing up to a third, he begged to be informed which was the way out of the market ? which was as politely answered with — “ Why the same way you came into it, I suppose.” — “ Well,” said the countryman, “ it must be allowed that this furnishes us with a very fair sample of the progress of Sauciness and civilization ! and here, I must concede to you, that our country folk are far behind your town people in this respect.” It is not a little remarkable, that in countries the most remote the fewest instances of this kind of refined barbarity are to be found. Even Bruce relates, that, during his travels, the only thing which he resented as falling upon his unaccustomed ears was the sauciness of the Abyssinian who tauntingly said to him, “ A boy of our country would beat a man of yours.” We are apt to think that Sauciness is a relative property belonging to vulgar persons and subordinates ; but the same elements of character are to be found in those who are placed in authority over them ; for being able to exercise a higher style of insolence, they are distinguished by the more exalted terms of “imperious” and “ overbearing.” The only fellowship which gentlemen have with this familiar talent may be found in the examination of witnesses in the courts of law, where the advocates descending to the same nicety of language with some of their out-door pro- ficients, have met their rivals on equal terms ; and sometimes very unequal ones, in not a few cases where the latter have been able to double upon their practice, and mark, by their superior powers over the specious court currency, that distinction be- 128 SArCINESS. tween Wit and Sauce which these sables liave never been able to make in their contests with one another. These learned gen- tlemen should consider, that whatever the amount of Wit may be in either, the Sauciness is the same in both ; the only differ- ence being, that in the one case it is brought under the domina- tion, and in the other under the protection, of the court. And so of most promiscuous public meetings, where persons of all denominations are supposed to meet together without respect of persons ; how many long and elaborate speeches have, by one stroke of laconic impudence, been made to tell against the speaker, and evaporate into a laugh ! Whenever this faculty is brought into what is called good society, it undergoes a modi- fication of the term and is insinuated under the better rendering of the “ polite insult,” and the “ retort courteous,” which sup- plies the place of wit in parties where there is as much to put out as to please, and without which there would be nothing in the follies of the evening worth remembering. If, however, this quality could ever be said to have its uses, it can only be where it has been turned to good trading and political account, by giving a flavour to a dish or a discourse ; as in the instance of two as notable characters as ever garnished a board or graced a senate, and of whom it might be equally said — By one ingredient two great men obtained their eminence — The one who furnished sauce for fish, the other, Sauce for sense. It would be as vain to attempt to enumerate instances of this quality, in such of its professors as meet us at every point, as to count the currency ; but of this we may be assured, that acute as their insults may be, or brisk and sprightly in their manner of conveying them, their ingenuity is not so imposing, nor their impudence so irresistible, but that their characters may be driven before them, and their faces made to go in advance of them all. AVARICE. AVARICE. In this last stage of the complaint, the head is represented as being more unsparing in its lines than that of any condition that man has ever plunged his face into ; insomuch that the natural countenance is almost obscured in the very signs of the disease. In the commencement of its career (for we must recollect there are young misers as well as old), it exhibits little more than a contracted countenance, shut in, as it were, to its own selfish considerations ; but every now and then looking out from its confinement, with a kind of dodging uncertainty which takes the part of the hawk and the owl — of the hawk, that of penetration and eagerness ; and of the owl, of shyness and distrust. The leading expression of the head, continual watchfulness — unhappy, peevish, and suspicious. A culprit-like consciousness, giving a piteous and apprehensive look. The eyes humid and rheumy, with a timid and tremulous appearance at all times. Pinching and contracting of the muscles, which are pointed and sharp. Hard features, drawn looks, and muscles dragged. The mouth the more expressive of dislike, shewing but one tooth, and that a griping one ! i ' AVA RICE. The slaves to this passion, which are an astonishment to the world and a contradiction to themselves, by placing themselves in a wretched condition between abundance and want — what- ever they may have promised themselves from their thrifty beginnings, might not have been aware that the strife between abstinence and ease which lengthens out their visages and their lives, would bring them at last to a despicable old age ! As Covetousness consists in “ the coveting or desiring other men’s goods,” so Avarice not only includes all this, but converts the very means and end it proposes into the abstract love of money itself. These characters are remarkable for taking their affairs out of the hands of Providence and transferring them to their own, and then endeavouring to place it all to moral account by borrowing certain indemnifying words from our vocabulary ; a liberty our accommodating language would almost seem to allow them for the sake of retorting upon a censorious world. Hence it is their parsimony, oppression, or circumvention, assume upon the estimable qualities of prudence, justice, forecast, or as many other of ther convertible terms in convenient use among them as may serve to silence the impertinencies of con- science, and “ put to shame the ignorance of foolish men.” “ To have” and not to “ hold” they consider a legal breach of trust ; and with all their moral and self-denying integrity will be found about as honest in their method of getting and keeping as virtuous necessity will allow. As they begin without having enough to give, so they end in having too much to spare, and find it necessary to abridge their comforts as their means 132 AVARICE. increase, both for the political and moral advantage of freeing them alike from dear-bought virtues and expensive vice. As if it were not sufficient to complete the picture, that their looks should proclaim them of all creatures the most miserable^ they are frequently to be seen appropriately and shabbily drest ; a signal of distress intended to render all applications useless, though at the expense of that personal respect which at the beginning of their career they may have promised themselves to purchase. It might be remarked, by the way, that although such provisional duties should be insisted on as supply the medium between a criminal neglect of, and an undue solicitude about them, yet there are cases which have all the appearance and none of the facts of either : for example — many a man has acquired the reputation of having done well for his children, while others have been as severely reflected on for the omission, and that, too, where the principle of afiection may be really less wanting than in former instances. These happy or unhappy results may not be owing to prudence so much as parsimony in the one, nor to indifference so much as thoughtlessness in the other ; arising probably, in both cases, from early habits con- tracted long before the season of parental responsibility, unless we are to imagine the possibility of having affection for children before they are born. The “ taking care of children,” as it is called, is frequently nothing more than the natural consequence of having taken care of themselves : this their intelligent off- spring are sometimes equally aware of, and have made them some juvenile requitals which have been sufficient to show that affairs are mutually understood : the undisguised fact is, that their fond parents would leave them nothing at all, if they could take it with them ; and even if they could, they would not like to trust it in the hands of the old black banker, who, they suspect, would give them very different interest for their money. In reverting to the early stages of this complaint, the money’- patient is not conscious that any thing is the matter with him, beyond a feverish thirst for that which will produce him the greatest amount of good ; nor is he aware of the state of his pulse till it is felt by the cold hand of charity, and he is harassed AVARICE. 133 with those distressing symptoms arising from the solicitations of the friendless, and the cry of the widow and orphan, which he cannot get comfortably over till he arrives at the full-proof condition of Elves and Company ; then it is, when this insatiate passion may have so absorbed every social feeling as to render him alike impervious to appeal and attack, that he may defy comparison with anything, but the chevaux-de-frise^ which guards its own heartless extremes, and presents a foe at every avenue. ' When Avarice is grafted upon exuberant Vanity, the subject will bring forth such a stock of inconsistency that the tree is scarcely to be known by its fruits : his mode of dispensing his favors, and method of putting out his charities at compound interest, may serve to illustrate this. Devoting a sum of money to a public cause, and delivering some individual of double the amount — Giving an entertainment, and winning it hack by cards — Having a friend at his house for a day, and staying at his friend’s for a week — No appetite at home, but a tremendous one abroad — Going with a friend to a tavern, and coming out without his purse — Borrowing little sums of money, and making forgets, or letting them go down in the Doomsday-book — Send- ing a box to his friend on his own account, and not paying the carriage on any account — Physicking his servants out of their appetites, and miscalculating their wages for them — Making visits of charity with counterfeit coin — Applications met with, “he gives anonymously;” that is, it is unknown what he gives away. Among the victims of this disease we may include a Mr. Cooke, of Islington, who has bequeathed us, in the history of his life and character, so many affecting instances of it. Mr. Cooke, who it seems, had realized a fortune of four hundred thousand pounds, to no other end than that of rendering himself incapable of en- joying it, was so far from being able to give an account of him- self, as not only to wonder at his own inconsistency, but so to reason upon his absurdity, and bear such witness to his folly, that you would expect he was becoming his own exemplar. This man. who was eighty years of age, of growing infirm- 134 AVARICE. ities, without wife or relation, and professedly without a friend, was addressed, in the hearing of the writer, in the following manner. Mr. Cooke, you speak as to the possession of enor- mous wealth, and that you cannot long expect to enjoy the little fraction of it you will scarcely allow yourself ; that you are full of infirmities, which increase with your deprivations, while your habits have made every one your enemy, and your death and property so desirable, that you feel yourself in danger even from your nearest attendants. Now, although you know, in your present state of mind, your posthumous charities will avail you nothing, yet you have not the soul to enjoy the gifts in this world which you have laboured to place within your reach, and which every one stands ready to deprive you of.” To all this Mr. Cooke would reply, “ I know it ; I feel sensible of it : I know not by what infatuation I am bound ; but I cannot help it !” Here the tears would flow in such abundance, that his handkerchief was kept in constant employ to wipe away the shame. That a change of conduct would wait upon such con- victions was naturally expected ; but, no ! Still, however, it could not be said that he never visited the poor ; on the con- trary, he would seek out as many widows with families as were thought to be in respectable distress, and where, after the most sympathetic inquiries into their concerns, he would note down the names and ages of their dear little ones, and having filled them full of expectation, pompously take his departure. Next would follow, from the poor widows, a little present of poultry, or something they could as ill afford, to him, and this would serve the miscreant for his daily provender. Among the numerous anecdotes with which Mr. Cooke’s history abounds, another specimen may be given of his unexampled ingenuity. It appears he had in reserve one little relish for life, which was an anchovy, and for this he would ride a wretched piece of anatomy called a horse, to the extent of the parish, to save a farthing in this little pickle. On one occasion when Cooke and his horse Barebones were out on an anchovy excursion, the latter pitched him off, by way of requital, and made two incisions in his legs, of equal size and consequence. The surgeon was AVARICE. 135 sent for ; but Cooke, suspecting he would make work for the gentleman who usually comes after him, said, “ Now, doctor, I don’t intend you should attend both my legs : you shall take one leg and I the other ; if you get your leg well first I will pay you for both ; but if I get my leg well first, mind, I will pay you for neither.” It was agreed : and the surgeon, with most undoctor-like expedition, succeeded in getting his leg nearly well first : whereupon Cooke secretly mutilated the doctor’s work, till he could bring up his own arrears, and, by advancing upon the other, contrived to save both his legs and his pocket. As a more extraordinary instance of this inscrutible passion, an old disciple of Plutus, in the last stage of life, promised the “ happy release ” to his children and grandchildren, who were making the most kind inquiries after his death, and as often finding them much better than they wished : at length the time arrived ; and he, being apprised that he had not twelve hours to live, sent for the undertaker, bargained for every item of the funeral expenses, and insisted upon discount for ready money ; this being refused, the patient got into a passion, and called the undertaker a cheat, who vowed he could not get a living price out of the coifin, and left, (as it was humourously stated) declaring that if he could not get some one else to bury him, he might bury himself, for he would have nothing more to do with him. We frequently find after the departure of such a gentle- man, that he had previously formed a more correct idea of the value of the characters than of the money he was to leave behind him ; and those who have been present at the opening of his will must have witnessed a scene far more affecting than the closing of his last accounts. Observe the attention they give to the reading of the will, and how insensibly they unlock their features, and open their mouths as though to swallow the contents ; but, alas ! with what sensations they close them when, instead of his money, they get only his malediction! It can only be compared to the inside of a bird’s nest, where the little starve- lings open wide their little bills in expectation of the old bird’s return ; but with this fatal difference, that here the old bird has flown to return no more ; and as they have been made to open 136 A YAK ICE. their mouths to so little purpose, so they have been left to shut them again at their own convenience. This strange passion appears as though it were only to be judged of by analogy with that more admissible one, “ the rage for collecting ; for, after all, it is but uniform with that of the virtuoso, and whether it be in coins, shells, stuffed birds^ or old china, the same growing interest is felt in proportion to every new accession to this kind of wealth ; while the collector has been more affected or afflicted from the loss of one out of a hun- dred, in the advanced stage of his collection, than by the loss of four out of five at its commencement. These are the parties who have been renowned for giving thirty pounds for a shell that a child would not pick up on the sea-shore, and for which they would not have given as many pence before they had so well furnished their cabinet. In such extravagancies they are not aware to what an extent they keep all the gratification to themselves : for who, after passing an hour or two in the private collection of one who has been displaying his wonders to those who neither know nor care, would ever wish to pass another, or would not rather, after seeing such a character coming towards him, run for his life. In this passion, therefore, is involved the pride of comparison ; for only judge of the delight with which one of these gentlemen listens when he hears it remarked as he passes. — “ There goes one of the richest men in the corporation or, when it is said of another — “ There goes a man who has the largest collection of butterflies in the kingdom !” But, to carry these absurdities no further, it only remains to point out what this passion has entailed on the face, in its most rigid and hope- less state. AFFECTATION. AFFECTATION. The heaci, as here illustrated, is only one of the forms of Affectation which is facially assumed. A face possessing no marks by which its moral character or natural tendencies may be tested ; but simply to be viewed through the medium of those graces it affects to display. The distinguishing mark of this head is, that the expression is produced inde- pendently of the features ; showing, in the ever-varying face, that habit of mind which the spectator will easily perceive is under the influence of self-complacency and love of admiration. A face that, from the forms it is capable of assuming, is never confined to one expression, but made up for any and every occasion. From the habitual display of this passion, and its necessary command over the individuality of the face, there is a flexibility of feature and muscle, which is chiefly, if not entirely, to be seen in action, as they are seldom or ever to be found at rest. It may therefore, be observed, that the lines of the face throughout have a playfulness and versatility of character, which, as they are evidently superinduced, are only to be self-described ; and hence we perceive that — the lifting up of the eyes, the screwing up of the mouth, the drawing up of the eyelids, and the con- strained acting of the muscles of the face, are all concerting together to produce effect. H AFFECTATION. As Affectation is neither a quality, principle, nor property of the mind, but a mere phantasy of the mind’s conceit, it might be thought inconsistent to introduce it in a work which under- takes a delineation of positive and unwavering expression ; except, that by an habitual display of it, it will fix such an absurdity upon the countenance as shall bring it under the review of science. It may be resolved, however, into that strange affection of the mind whereby the subjects of it would pass for something they are not, or something more than they are. This unaccountable propensity for taking up a position in life which was never designed for them, is well known by the term “ shewing off and it is by this irresistible desire to strike, or make an impression, they are led to over-act their part, and furnish us with that distinction between art and nature which there is no necessity for such to make as have learned to keep within their own sphere, nor for those whose real situation in life gives them no occasion to come out of theirs. Affectation is the only form of vanity which labours for ex- pression, and its devotees as certainly reap the due reward of their w^ork : Nature (retributive) resents the tricks they play off upon her on themselves, by fixing on them the marks of those vagaries they simply intended to go and come at their own pleasure. Although they are just the persons who have no wish to come under the course of anything but observation, they would find very few grant them the indulgence of looking on, were it not that so many private lessons may be learned from their fooleries ; and hence it is that so few are disposed to put a stop 140 AFFECTATION. to their exhibitions. As to their simplicity, their ideas of the present state of things are so antediluvian, that they profess to have no more knowledge of the world than a child that has just entered into it. Their sympathies are all on pins and needles at the bare mention of a tale of woe ; nor would they be able to live through other peoples’ misfortunes, were it not that they dissolve them in their tears : and thus they become such martyrs to their sensibilities, that their healths suffer more from senti- ment than the seasons. They never allow themselves to be the subjects of vulgar complaints, and think nothing so rude as to be told they are in rude health. One delicate lady considers she has been in a consumption for thirty years, and, according to pre- sent appearances, is likely to continue so as many years longer. Happy would it be for them could they reserve these privileges to themselves, but there are under-divinities which are deter- mined to share theim Two servant girls in the same family, of mutual tastes and feelings, from having their sympathies hound up in novels, a sisterhood took place between them of the most melting kind : it was agreed that they were to be alternately the heroines of the tale, and take it by turns, the one to read and the other to cry ; they contrived to get rid of the kitchen bloom with cosmetics ; Avould wash their faces in rose water, and sleep in gloves to make their hands white. The most languishing of the two would frequently remind the other domestics that “ her l^a never intended her for service,” and, in consequence, was as often questioned as to who her “ Pa” was, but to no purpose ; she could not allow her family to be degraded by her situation : her mistress, however, instituted some successfid inquiries, the result of which was that her “ Pa” was a shoe-black ! Here one would suppose this passion must have received its consumma- tion ; but no ! there is such a thing as the affectation of Affec- tation, in persons who not only affect to he affected^ but grow enamoured of the very name. Among the number of those who prefer the copy to the original, there are imitators who have their imitators, who not only surpass them, but almost descrip- tion itself, any attempt at which might seem to favor their pre- tensions by stopping short of their absurdities. This never AFFECTATION. 141 appears so ridiculous as when it is carried out into the affectation of childishness, and is expected to pass for simplicity among those they fancy are as simple as themselves : hence they con- tract a soft, unintelligible voice, accompanied with an infantine lisp, though not at all wanting in teeth, and certainly not in tongue, together with a face which they endow with all the incipiency of a child’s doll. Now, if anything out of nature can have its counterpart, that is, if the matchless can be matched, the petit maitre may be produced as an example. You have only to take these gentlemen in all their sufficiency, and they will be found to possess a knowledge of speculative things to Avhich there can be no accession, and an affected indifference to all created things, by which you are to admire their self-posses- sion ; their own logical definition of which is, that as those who wonder at everything can know nothing, so the converse of the proposition must be equally true, that those who wonder at nothing must know everything. They do not, like others, receive distressing accounts in the usual form of pity or surprise, but carry it off by way of response, probably by a slight tattoo of the fingers, a gentle, zephyr-like whistle, or the offer of a snuff-box, by way of non~chalance. Give one of these exqui- sites a sad piece of intelligence, and you may anticipate the way in which he will receive it : the following may be given as a specimen. “ I am sorry to inform you that our mutual friend, Mr. * ^ ^ has fallen from his horse, and broken both his legs.” ' Both his legs, you say ! — Was it the black horse or the chesnut which threw him ?” ' “ Is that material V ‘‘ Perhaps not very.” “ But do you not think it is a great calamity ?” “ No doubt it is a great inconvenience.” ‘‘ And is that all you gather from it “ Oh, no ! I gather from it that he’ll not be in town so soon as he expected.” This may serve to shew, at least, with what fortitude they are able to bear other people’s troubles. 142 AFFECTATIOX. For the very pedantry of AiFectation, however, we are in- debted to those who refine away our pronunciation, by altering the commonly received sounds of familiar words, and with about as much propriety as calling a dish a spoon. For instance ; we frequently hear the word cow changed into coo ; as when, in reference to the sounds Coivper and Cowley^ we are asked which is the best poet, Cooper or Cooley : now this is all very taking, and very fine ; only the danger is in the servants march- ing off with the family intellect, or so assuming upon it, that you may hear them talking of the cowing of a dove, or the looing of a coo ; or next informing you that the cowper is come to mend the casks ; this interchange becomes more interesting as it proceeds, as in the case of the young woman who was heard to complain that she had wrinced her hand in wrenching the glasses ! To the same passion in its most fastidious form, and the same characters, we are probably indebted for certain revisions in the Courts of Law ; especially in those appropriate addresses to the Bench, where, agreeably to the refinement of the Court, the broad o is changed into the narrow «, and “ My Lord ” is ad- dressed as “ My Lard or where, in some over-refined cases, they have cut his “ Lardship down still closer, and addressed him as “ My Lad now neither the superfine address of “ My Lard” and “ My Lard’s” acquiescence in it, nor their court eostume, and habit of looking more like each other than there is any occasion for, can avail them out of the Court ; nor, indeed, any of the imaginary advantages they think they possess over those who would rather have their gowns than their abilities. There is nothing which has such a tendency to disfigure or discolor the form and complexion of the sister arts as Afiectation ; for how easily can we imagine an affected artist congratulating himself upon a subject wLose turn of features may be exactly after his turn of mind ! No wonder at their pleasing rivalry to do the utmost for each other, and the mutual strife as to which of their arts shall most successfully triumph over the ordinary expressions of Nature. It is seldom, however, such experiments fail, that is, at making the parties appear as ridiculous as they AFFECTATION. 148 deserve : and it is only for the quiet spectators of such interest- ing exhibitions fully to appreciate their separate efforts^ or to pronounce upon their absurdity. Then, ’tis who best divides the palm As masters of grimace ; Who draws the features out of form, Or twists them out of place. It would appear then that Affectation is seen as much through the medium of men’s productions as in the men them- selves. The painter’s attempt to remodel Nature generally ends in unmaking himself: the “racy poet,’^ as he is called, may not be aware that by his riotous effusions he looks worse in grint than out of it : and when our musical compositions, or rather complications y are affectedly carried out by the drawling conceits of some violin performers, they make the instrument whine in such a manner as to be in danger of having the old nursery threat applied to them, “ the getting something to cry for.” There is an Affectation in some of the growing youth of the day which arises from that intellectual independence alluded to the being suprised at nothing, or having, as it is termed,^ every thing within themselves,” It may be for such self-sufficient reasons we so frequently see them with cigars in their mouths, in token of having no longer use for speech ; it is thus they have been known to recognize each other in puffs, and invita- tions have been given and received in the same masonic man- ner ; an evening’s discourse is often carried on in the same superior style, and, with the exception of a few short sentences, little else but smoke escapes their lips ; while in a kind of wink- ing, blinking, and, perhaps, drinking, consists the Elysium of the entertainment. When persons bring this phantasy into the Affectation of Dress, it is strange what they can propose to themselves beyond making themselves ridiculous, especially when they see others wise enough to turn this to better account than that of answer- ing the purposes of folly, by throwing it into business as stock in trade, and, by thus making themselves uniform with the placarded caravans, become of themselves travelling advertise- 144 AFFECTATION. ments, without expense, and to the same end and effect. Van Bushel, the celebrated quack doctor, did this, and found there was more virtue in his horse than his medicines ; for, by paint- ing the animal he rode on, in different colors, and allowing his own beard and horse’s tail to grow together, his reputation was measured by the length of both, while his horse of many colors seemed to denote the variety of his practice. Thus it is, and most unfortunately, that public credulity rates men according to the value they put upon themselves, and the price they set upon their performances : only let a man appear to be unique, and the chances are that he will fetch a price equal to Queen Anne’s farthing, although the intrinsic value may be but the same in both. It is said, “ The proper study of mankind is Man no doubt it is the most singular one ; for when persons are endeavouring to get out of their own natures without being able to get into another, they become both a paradox and a problem ; and by defeating the noble purpose for which they were created, they furnish us with a map of humanity where a picture of it is not to be obtained. It might be observed in reference to the annexed head, that there is a greater variety of expression called out into this pas- sion than is to be found in any other ; and as so many heads seem to be endowed with this unaccountable phantasy, it is given in a form in which it is generaliy recognized ; no less with a view of directing the attention to its absurdities in this connection than of leading to further observations on the follies which may not be so conspicuous in many others. SATIRE. S A T I R K. As the expression of this head is presented in one of its most peculiar and eccentric forms, from the difficulty of conveying it in any other way, and being (perhaps) the only instance in which expression derives any assistance from cha- racter — the head in question may be found especially available for the purpose, considering the many cases in which the ordinary exercise of this faculty is not to be facially recognized, and only to be known by its verbal expression. The lines of the face, therefore, being so indistinctly traced in the same quality of face, unaided by character, would seem to require the introduction of a head with such determined ones as might prove an inlet to a better understanding in the less striking particulars. !■ The general characteristics — playfulness of muscle united with shrewdness. The intellectual part manifested by a developed and intelligent forehead. The eyelids expressive of thoughtfulness, and the eyes of vivacity. The nose, no other variation than the accident of portraiture. The mouth intellectually expressive, but diverted from its natural course by relaxing into playfulness and humour. The lines of the face indicative of humour throughout; the satirical part lying in the sporting and (mrling of .the muscles, as seen in the corner of the eyes and mouth ; the muscles of the cheek corresponding with them. The peculiarity of character especially seen in the general outline of the profile of the face. The head, in its moral aspect, indicative rather of turn of thought than state of mind. / SATIRE. Perhaps we cannot better define the nature and character of Satire than by endeavouring to distinguish this sterling property of the mind from that spurious imitation of it — Sarcasm. Satire is not only a principal ingredient in Wit, but the very essence of it ; while the least mixture of Sarcasm will either derive from its strength or discolor the whole. Satire generally attacks the passions, and Sarcasm the person ; Satire the follies, and Sar- casm the infirmities of men. As Sarcasm consists in giving pain to the world, so Satire is as commonly receiving pain from it : it is as much attacked as it is attacking, and more dreaded than disowned. Accuse any one of being sarcastic, and they will repel the charge ; admonish them of being satirical, and the compliment paid to the understanding will more than atone for the reflection : and when it is said to be a dangerous weapon, it is only so to those who have reason to fear it ; while its undue exercise, or legitimate employment, makes all the difference between a sword in the hand of a madman and one who knows how to use it. Sarcasm has a frown for every fault, and a sneer for every infirmity ; Satire steps kindly in between grave ad- monition and bitter reflection, and adjusts many matters by point and pleasantry which never could be settled any other way. It has a most salutary effect upon persons who have been thought to be past all verbal correction, by making them acutely sensible of their faults without aggravating their character, and relieving them of their severity by giving them over to play- fulness. Satirists are generally men of keen sensibilities and melaii- 148 SATIRE. choly habits, arising, probably, firom an eye too easily offended with impropriety ; and it may not be that they look unamiably upon objects so much as that the objects may be unamiable at which they look ; not that they turn away from Nature’s fairest face so much as that they are anxious she should look all beau- tiful alike. On the contrary, the very tone and taunt of the Sarcastic betray a disposition to discomfit or degrade, while their mode of conveying reproof is of a character that, whatever faults or failings may attach to their neighbour, they are no other than such as they wish them to be. From the habitual practice of ill-will they acquire an aptitude for turning a point, which, rightly considered, consists in nothing more than an inversion or perversion of your intention, or some other mechanical method of bringing you to a full stop. A very few specimens of the complimentary kind may be given, as the experience of every one might supply the rest : for instance — if you have done some- thing which falls short of their expectations, they will probably say, “ Really, sir, you are too good !” if you happen to go beyond them, they will meet you with — “ Oh, I perceive you are coming out !” Say to them, ‘‘ Do you think the work I propose to bring out will be approved ?” the anticipated answer may be, I have no doubt you will like it yourself!” or, should you say, I don’t like that gentleman’s voice they will return— I dare say you like your own better !” Such, and a thousand such, agreeable responses are generally accompanied with an elevation of the nostrils and a curling of the upper lip, intended to give peculiar emphasis to that which, in their conceit, answers all the pur- poses of Satire, without being at the expense of one witty word. We include in that comprehensive term WlT^ — Satire^ Irony ^ Humour, and Whimsicality, to the exclusion of those shapeless imitations of it — Ridicule, Bombast, Extravagance, and Incon^ gruity ; and all those efforts of false Wit which have forced their way into the understanding, and have as frequently been obliged to force their way out of it whenever they may have made their incursions upon common sense : even Mimicry, amusing and aceptable as it sometimes is, seems to have no higher claim to this superior quality ; a faculty that Momus was SATIRE. 149 supposed to possess in so high a degree as to determine both its character and fate by his fall. Tunning^ which is now driven out of good society to any that will take it in, and which has taken refuge in so many works, to show that if it is out of practice it is not out of print, may he considered the lowest and most depraved condition of false Wit, and can be turned to no other or better account than that of being the test of the true. Unlike true Wit, it will not translate, consisting merely in making one word answer two purposes ; whereas Wit is not only playing upon words, but upon the sense of words, and in a manner that shall double upon its meaning and bring it out with more than ordinary effect. An example of far-fetched and close Punning may be sufficient to expose its futility or commend its ingenuity — for this last qualification is the highest point it can expect to arrive at. Three interesting objects appeared on the front of a stage — namely, two dramatic performers and a well : the audience could account for the ap- pearance of the gentlemen, hut for what expensive purpose the well was introduced was yet to he explained. The time at length arrived, and the dialogue was carried on with such feverish heat that it Avas interrupted by one of the gentlemen saying, “ I am very dry the second gentleman replied, “ There is a well !” to which the other returned — “ It is well there is !” As a specimen of close Punning the following may be more accept- able. A gentleman being shown an engraved plate of flowers for which the author is said to have given fifty guineas, ex- claimed, “ What a sum of money for opiate of garden stuff T With respect to Satire, it is never so unacceptably good as when called out impromptu^ or in the “ retort courteous as a notable exchange of this kind of sentiment, an anecdote, perhaps gene- rally known, is merely introduced by way of illustration : — Sir Godfrey Kneller, the painter, and Sir Hans Sloane, the physi- cian^ lived next door to each other ; the two gardens at the end were separated by a brick wall, in which was a door, as an inlet or outlet, as convenience might require : notwithstanding they were each furnished with keys, the physician was continually leaving it open, to the annoyance of the painter, who sent this 150 SATIRE. message to the doctor— that if he continued to leave the door open he would nail it up the doctor sent back word, “ that he might do anything to it but paint it !” whereupon the painter returned for answer, “ that he could take anything from the doctor but physic /” Irony is never so cutting as when sharpened by distress. A very poor man, who considered himself burthened with a family of ten children, at length got out of all patience with the fates, and, in the bitterness of disappointment, exclaimed — Mine is a peculiarly hard case ! I see that other people are fortunate in losing their children, while I can’t even get rid of one ! I don’t know how to account for it, unless it be that I cannot afford to employ a doctor /” Amidst abounding instances of Wit, which might be given in all its varieties, it may be sufficient to observe, by the way, that the Wit may be true not only where the sentiment may agree, but where it may be either false or perverted. This is especially to be seen in Epigrams, where the mind is forced into fair con- clusions from false premises, or from fair premises is compelled to draw unfair inferences ; or where, from the ingenious use of paradoxes and the reconciling of contradictions, the mind yields to the agreeable impression that is made upon it, and consents, against its better reason, to that which cannot reasonably be inquired into. Specimen of Satire^ as distinguished by Point and Direction : “ ‘ I’ve reared my son, at vast expense, But grieve I cannot give him sense ‘ Nor should you — ’tis not just,’ said one, To give him what is not your own/ ” The “Pleasing Author.” “ Tie that would please the town two things must do ; Find them in books — and understanding too T’ Or, A Scold.” “ Scylla was toothless ; yet when she was young She had both teeth enough and too much tongue : What shall we, then, of toothless Scylla say, But that lier tongue has worn her teeth away 1 ” SATIKE. 151 Of Irony — which is directing the mind to the right s point hy affecting to take the wrong : “ The Muses in Mourning.” “ Why clothe your sense in deep regret, By mourning o’er departed Wit ? The Town, so far from being worse, Seems quite unconscious of the loss 1” Of Humour — the next approach to Wit^ where a true sentiment is recognized under a false medium : “ When drunkards cry ‘ Your health !’ the fact assures They’ve drank away their health, and would drink yoursi* Or — Where the mind is drawn into false conclusions hy fair propositions ; as in “Five Reasons for Drinking.” “ Good wine ; A friend ; The being dry ; Or lest you should be by and bye ; Or-— any other reason why I” Of Whimsicality — the most disorderly branch of Wit, consist- ing merely in taking an aim without an end : “ So fat and ignorant we find * his Grace,’ His very nose seems buried in his face ; So much so, that, at length, the story goes. The man knows nothing, and he has no wose.” Or, — Where hy the ingenious playing upon words the mind is perplexed hy the contradiction and surprised into the fact : “ To find some folks one’s strangely put about; To find them m, you first must find them out: While the rogues’ welcome is more plainly seen — Before you find them out they take you in Of Wit, in the abstract sense of the word, where it simply points the sentiment and gives it the right direction : “ Reciprocal Advantage of Doing your Duty towards your Neigh- bour Practically Exemplified.” “ Not on harsh precept or reproof rely ; But by your virtues let his faults be shewm ; And, in reflection of your charity. You’ll find his follies will correct your own.” 152 SATIRE. Or, — Where it sim])ly joints the fact^ as illustrated in some of its best examples : True Wisdom. “ That creed be mine makes men both good and wise, Opens the heart, hut does not shut the eyes /” Satire. “ Heroes and Gods make other poets shine ; Plain Satire calls for sense in every line.” Wit^ under any of its forms, will always contribute to amuse- ment, even where it fails of instruction ; but the very design of Satire^ whether grave or gay, is to convey reproof in the most wholesome and agreeable manner. Let Gravity, therefore, (which is too frequently but another name for Stupidity) be re- minded, that man is the only laughing animal in the creation ; all inferior animals are grave and serious : whether this arises from want of the laughing muscle, or that they see nothing in their species to laugh at, it is for the superior wisdom of man to decide. Certain it is, that the muscles which anatomists call the zygomaiicce^ have no other earthly use than that of drawing the corners of the mouth upward when we laugh or smile, and were planted there by Him who created nothing in vain. The only one who ventured to speculate upon the propriety of this arrangement was a E-omish priest, who once took his text from the saying of the wise man, “ I said of laughter. What is it ? and of mirth. What does it T whereupon he laid it down as a point of doctrine, that laughter was the effect of original sin, and that man never laughed till after the fall, At all events, it must be confessed that this passion is natural because it is irresistible ; and whatever grave objections may be taken to it, let them be answered by Satire^ which meets the humour of man with the most respect, and relieves it at least of the noisy part of the charge ; for as certainly as true Wit is rather admirable than laughable, so the very sentiment conveyed through Satire may be more affecting than diverting, and has a tendency to counteract those boisterous expressions of delight which wait upon the efforts of false Wit, the extravagance of fun and farce, and all the provoking features of grimace and inconsistency. IRRITABILITY. IRRITABILITY. It may be perceived that there is an expression entailed upon this head which morally speaking, does not belong to it, and one which furnishes a most provoking example of self-deterioration ; the natural lines being so broken in upon by its humours and fancies, as nearly to obscure those of an otherwise amiable and (possibly) inviting countenance. In this illustration the following peculiarities may be observed : — A fractious look, produced chiefly by the oblique direction of the upper eyelid, causing an (almost) absence of lid, by being divided into two small parts, giving the general expression rather an angry appearance ; while the upper lid being pulled upwards towards the brow gives it a distressed look and neutralizes the feeling. The eyebrows with much the same inclination as the lids ; and the same strained and acute forms in the muscles which surround the eye, corresponding in form and character. The nose represented as free from scorn, and undisturbed by the expression. The mouth, the same quick and sharp tendency as the eye ; yet not the seat of the expression, but rather suffering from it. A nervous look, assisted by the working of the muscles about the mouth. The irritable expression, in this connection, made up of a number of fractional parts, adding to the general disturbance of the face, and increasing the sensitive- ness of the whole. IRRITABILITY. Irritability, in its most excusable and pitiable form, dis- covers itself in a temper which is the more distressing inasmuch as it is not incompatible with an amiable disposition. It is a question whether the subjects of this unhappy frame of mind are more chargeable with its outbreaks than any other object that might be brought under the power of electricity ; being equally susceptible of and open to those natural and moral influences from which they involuntarily receive their shocks. Like sensitive plants, they seem instinctively to shrink from the touch, and are no more able to give a reason why ; while they fight against men and materials, with about as much ill-will towards one as the other. To those who are unable to enter into their secret they would seem to partake of an aggressive character, and to borrow a shade from malevolence, whereas they are clouded with no such evil, but are rather the unfortu- nate victims of those sudden surprises of mind and body which yield to some momentary resentment before they have time to recover from those feelings which are ever getting in advance of their understandings. Hence it is that, by acting confessedly against their own consent, they procure for themselves a moral indemnity from the more indulgent part of the world, which settles, with no little precision, the difference between disposition and temper : so far, and no farther, their acquital ; but where their case remains uncertain and hopeless, it is when their pride steps in between their relapses and relen tings, and interrupts the generous confession, by endeavouring to palliate that which they are not able to excuse. They would have their friends believe 156 IRRITABILITY. that the inconveniences this state of mind subjects them to should make a fair balance or set-otf against those they occasion in others, and that they have a right to make their neighbours share those evils which they have made to all intents and pur- poses their own. They are astonished that the world cannot enter into their feelings, and make the same allowances for them they make for themselves ; without considering that the world suffers too much from them to be mixt up ivith them, and that, so far from other people concerning themselves about the purity of their motives, they are not even at the pains to look after their own. It is after this manner they are always complaining of want of sympathy, and expect to be appreciated for those qualities of heart and mind which, if they really do possess, they take care no one shall get at but themselves ; and thus it is they so frequently associate with the kindest hearts the most forbid- ding faces. They may, know their own attractive powers, but make others feel their repelling ones ; and thus an individual distance is preserved which promises little more than a general acquaintance, for wherever they appear they seem to clear the way as they go, by presenting a countenance the very antidote to friendship. Whenever they relax, they become as affectionately provoking, and even trouble you more with their excuses than their tres- passes : not unfrequently with such notable phrases as — “ It was said without a thought !” or, ‘‘ It was done with the best inten- tions !” although the same might be said of the fond mother who hugged her child to death. It would be well, however, for such kind intentions if they were only once and aw^ay ; but, alas ! they make up in number what they remit in quality, and for which the world at large will make about as much allow- ance as the servant did his master when he said, ‘‘ You must not mind my irritable temper, John, for you know it is soon off^ “ I do, sir,” replied John, ‘‘ and I also know it is soon on again.” And so of the inconsistency of all such miserable beings, who (feelingly alive to this condition of mind) are continually cry- ing — “ This is our infirmity !” though all the consolation they receive is, that they are welcome to keep it. mRITABILlTY. 157 Unmerciful, however, as the world may be to their infirmi- ties^ they are still more unsparing of themselves, in bringing on a premature look of age, and which, if they are at all conscious of, they would have you attribute to care and anxiety, or indeed, to anything but those fiery commotions which they expect are to have a kind of sacred property — “ to burn and not consume.” This is the most hopeless state of the complaint, and as it is one from which they have no anxiety or care to be delivered, their fruitless efforts to conceal the fact serve only to shew “ how vain it is to change the name and nature of qualities that don’t become the creature.” However kind their offices may be, or regular in the discharge of their duties, the government of the tongue would seem to form no part of them ; this they fre- quently allow to run on with all the power of steam, regardless of the moral consequences, which may be mechanically com- pared to an unruly machine, at the mercy of an engine without a guide, and followed by a train of evils without a terminus. For, lo ! the elements which they provoke By fire and fury, may not end in smoke. Among the numerous instances where the nerves affect the mind, not a few might be given where the mind affects the nerves, and depends neither upon health, circumstances, nor condition. This may be mainly accounted for by pride of heart, in those who, from a conscious deficiency, are ever extorting respect, or, from an imagined sufficiency, are never sufficiently receiving it. It may also be traced, and not unfrequently, to early indulgence ; such, for instance, as elder brothers being taught to give up to younger ones, for the sapient parental prin- ciple that they are the younger, and know no better ; or for other wise nursery reasons, where having once been allowed their own way, it is but reasonable they should keep it. Thus it eventually happens, that from the opposition such tempers receive from without, all is resistance within, and the disorder at length communicates with the nerves, which bear no idle part; their quick sensibilities are then, as it were, all on edge, while their pride would seem to resent the mere jogging of an elbow, or displacing of a book ; and the crossing of a room almost 158 IRRITABILITY. as much as the crossing of an opinion ; nay, the opening of a door, or even of the lips, would seem to paralyze their best in- tentions towards you, and render an act of kindness so equivo- cal that you would be puzzled to know, for the time being, whe- ther they were writing you an order for money or going to order you out of the room. It is after this manner their friendships are so broken in upon by their humours, that they are neither to be timed nor trusted ; while they cancel almost every obligation in the very act of conferring it. They find nothing but vexation and deterioration every where, and are glad if they can only find something better than a straw to quarrel with. One of these Irritables, in the act of making a pen out of a goose-quill, so hacked and jagged it that he cried out, “ Plague on it ! they never make any thing as they used Should this temper attach to men of influence or property, whatever their capabilities of lending may be, it is certain they can borrow anything but a horse^ for, before they had half done with the animal, they would make him almost as vicious as themselves ; they might return him safe^ but not sound ; for it is proverbial they would spoil any horse in the kingdom : those who may have witnessed a contest between the two animals would be puzzled to know which would be the most in want, of bit and bridle ! and, what is worse, when dismounted they never seem to take their spurs off! But only let a person of common morality be present when one of these gentlemen may be writhing under a fit of the gout, or pulling on a tight pair of boots, and if he were addicted to swearing, the hearer might almost tremble for the foundation of the house. These characters are never so well borne in mind as when out of sight, and can reckon upon no friends but absent ones. They imagine the tide of things is against them, and the wind is set full in their teeth ; in fact, they seem destined to go down the stream of life alone, for should fate give them a friend or companion, it would remind us of ^sop’s fable of The Brazen and Earthen Jug; their earthen friend must take care to keep at a friendly distance, lest he should come into contact, and be split to pieces. They are proverbially wretched sleepers ; for they carry the IRIUTABILITY. 159 disturbances of the day into the night, and go to bed without going to rest ; being visited by no very agreeable images of the mind, either of their own raising, or which some out-door incident or other may give a distressing reality to ; such, pro- bably, as the early serenade of a drove of pigs, or the music of cats upon a wall — an un-come-at-able situation that can only be imagined by the manner in which they spend their useless rage, like a monkey in a trap, or a squirrel in a cage. Thus it is they become at once both martyrs and persecutors, the former, in their case, being the natural consequence of the latter : even Providence would seem to interpose its righteous laws, by deter- mining they shall be all the worse for quarrelling with their state, in visiting them with complaints incidental to their humours, and such as shall return upon them with all the sharp- ness of retribution. But even this temper is not so insufferable in those whose circumstances may relieve them from ordinary duties and re- straints, as in those less fortunate Irritables, who feeling them- selves controlled by them, imagine they have the more to resent ; an inconvenience which must have been severely felt by those persons who transact business under a continual dread of petu- lant assistants, such as “ know their value,” as it is termed, and are obliged to be coaxed into the right way, just as we see a timid rider, more out of fear than love, patting his horse on the neck to make terms with him, and so to go gentle and easy. The more ignorant or senseless the subjects of this complaint may be, the more inconsistent and ridiculous we find them. Vulgar persons and ill-regulated children carry out this temper so far as to convert every indisposition of body as well as mind into an angry expression of it that shall be some sally or other upon nature. The extent of their pains are marked by their gestures and measured by their screams : they will not even let the common cough take its natural course, but give one ahem for themselves and another for the wreath er. As to Irritable ser- vants, they riot in this infirmity. Only let a chair or stool come in their way, and it will be leg for leg : all the paraphernalia must present themselves when wanted, upon the peril of being 160 IRRITABILITY. wanted no more : glass and china must behave themselves, or expect the work of the cat in the closet : spoutless jugs and armless mugs all come under their sign-manual, and not an utensil would be found free from temper-chips. It is a qnestion, nevertheless, if these persons have not some secret relentings, which never come out in confession, lest they should make the world as wise as themselves. But, judging of such characters by their extravagancies, they would appear to be the mere machinery of mankind, having but one counterpart, in their irritable brother, Mr. Punchy as, like him, where other people are moved by motives., they seem moved by wires, Should it so happen that this Irritability lies upon the surface of a spiteful or malevolent disposition (which, almost to the credit of this passion, very seldom occurs) it provides against the very evil it imagines, by coming out in advance of the worst intentions, and making the same notes of preparation as the rattle-snake to warn the traveller of its approach. Having thus far considered the Irritability which is on the nerves, and that determined state of the disease which is on the mind, it might be observed in reference to the former, that many a face in the quiet indulgence of the most disorderly pas- sions may not have its looks so much deranged or disturbed as the one in question, and that from the unfair advantages, unfor- tunately, they possess over faces less specious but lying under no control, The annexed head, however, is illustrative of this dis- position under its more distressing yet milder aspect ; and, what- ever its mitigating circumstances may be, enough remains to justify the oft-repeated remark, that “ an Angel could not live with her !” AMIABILITY. AMIABILITY. As faces of this inviting nature are undisturbed by those indications that have so characterized most of the preceding heads as to mark them out for particular observation and confine them to the class to which they severally belong ; it fol- lows, from the opposite reason, that the Amiable expression must be co-extensive with the sentiment which generally produces it, and is equally to be recognized in other faces of the same quality, wherever they are to be found. As the Amia- ble expression, therefore, is not to be confined to one class of face, (viewed, as it may be, in any condition or under any circumstance) so the head in review is not given in the only aspect by which it may be expressed or known, but rather as the only one in w^hich it is not to be mistaken ; and as there may be, possibly, a predilection in favour of a face of a particular form and order, it may be sufficient to remark simply upon the one under consideration,, as being among the many that might be illustrated. An interesting feature in this expression may be noticed in a full and drooping eyelid, as represented in the face of Madonnas^ accompanied by a thoughtful and dwelling eye, giving a kind and sheltering look A placidity and repose of feature and muscle throughout the whole, attended with the negative as well as positive advantage of giving the full interest of agree- able lines, by the absence of all that might be unpleasant. The contour of the head in perfect agreement with the individuality; the general convexity of the face appearing to throw the features forward, as though (in kindly emotion) looking out affectionately upon the affairs of others. The face, in this connection, appropriately formed and adjusted, inclined to be rather full, and supposed to be completed by a double chin. The general expression peaceful and happy, but full of solicitude. AMIABILITY. The naturally Amiable disposition (so considered) is too frequently looked upon as a temper of mind self-originated, involving no self-denial, and so inwrought with the constitution as to be entitled to no more credit than the colour of the hair, the purity of the complexion, or any other circumstance about as accidental ; but, whatever amount of innate or spontaneous feeling may be allowed to exist in this accomplished disposition, less will be found to arise from natural temperament than from sympathy with that universal Rule of Right — “ the doing unto others as we would be done by in the early observance of which a pleasing state of the affections may have been produced upon the mind at the period of its greatest susceptibilities : or, should it discover itself in those more uncongenial natures which are to be penetrated only by a notional regard to the just and proper ; it may be attributed to the truth of the great precept having so accommodated itself to their reasoning faculties as to discipline them into the sentiment, and teach them to render what is actually due by teaching them how to think and feel. Without this moral incentive, mere educational advantages or political motives will not be sufficient to keep the mind in order ,or abeyance; for neither that subjected temper which is acting under polite restraints, nor that indolent one which seems to require none, can be depended on any longer than while the one shall continue, and the other remain undisturbed. As all the passions of the mind which are of any reputation among men have their essayists, so Deceit is the express counter- feit of Amiability; and from its imperfect imitation it is, that this 164 AMIABILITY. genuine quality appears to receive additional value. It is very unfortunate that apathy, inditference, insensibility, or any other passive condition of the mind, should pass for a disposition which owes its nature to benevolence, and without activity would even want a name. Much more is due to this estimable quality than those who are destitute of it are willing to allow. Amiable tem- pers are supposed to be accompanied by weakness, especially by those who take advantage of their accommodating dispositions : the fact is, they are not subject to very nice calculations, and too frequently manifest a kind and yielding disposition, where it would be duty to resist, and charity to deny : the act may be indiscreet, but the motive will be always accredited, and will not fail of being respected, even where it is not allowed for. It might be more profitable for the unamiable and inflexible rather to consider, how many have lost by resistance what they would have gained by submission ; and to which end they might be referred to the fable of The Oak and the Reed, as described to be in the same storm, but meeting with a different fate : “the reed yields and bends to the blast, while the oak is torn up by the roots.’' There is, however, a certain flexibility of temper in some unprincipled persons, who can accommodate themselves to the manners of all with whom they have to do : characters, who, though they are always committing themselves, are no sooner out of your confidence than they contrive to get in again, and manage by the most agreeable roguery to relieve you from (what they would have you to think) your fancied, though ever-recurring mistakes. The discrepancies of Falstaff is the best illustration of this ; and many such characters would have been victimised before their time^ but for the consciousness of deserving nothing from the hands of any one, they have laid their account to a general buffeting, and found their only escape to be in the last resources of good humour. In referring to the disorderly passions, which have been given in so many of their unpleasing varieties, it is not to be under- stood that persons’ virtues are not so numerous as their faults, but because they are capable of being more distinctly shewn ; as in the passions of Envy, Hatred, Covetousness, &c. ; while there AMIABILITY. 165 are no such varieties to mark the difference between the softer passions of Affection, Sensibility, and Pity, or the more indexible virtues of Truth, Honor, or Justice, and which, if represented at all, can have no separate expression, but must be uniformly comprehended under one general head of Benevolence. Upon this Amiable countenance the finest intellectual expression is reared and seated, while the strongest faculties apart from this temper might be so mixed up or lost in the signs of a disordered mind, as to appear to the worst advantage, if it should ever appear at all. To complete the picture, habitual kindness must accompany this generous principle, as the occasional exercise of it will never atone for a returning disposition to annoy ; nay, the very outbreaks of passion are more easily borne than the re- peated provocations of a contentious spirit, inasmuch as an occasional deluge w^ould be quite refreshing compared with the continual dropping of water. The truly Amiable, however, describe themselves as not only regarding you affectionately, but intending you kindly ; and whatever their own infirmities may be, such a general benevolence prevails over them all, that when we look in their faces we can scarcely imagine a single fault. As to their own views, they seem to have acquired the faculty of looking at the imperfections of others without seeing them ; or if forced upon their observation, the best use they make of the discovery is to endeavour to hide them ; and hence the four-fold return they meet with in the bosom of their own charities. In associating Amiability with expression, we seem to enter the department of personal beauty, and this may be done with- out apology : to mistake expression for beauty is a very natural mistake, and a very agreeable one, too ; and perfectly due to those who, by cultivating such dssirable looks, would appear to make so near an approach towards it. It is for want of this animating quality that it is so often said, “ Beauty soon grows familiar to the eye — expressive beauty, never ! nor even ex- pressive plainness ! (if you can imagine such a thing) for with- out its vital aid there would not be in the whole oeconomy of the face provision made for one line of it. Of all expressions, 166 AMIABILITY. •however, the Amiable one is not only the best, but the most advantageous to its possessor : it is seated upon a countenance which heralds its own way, and makes the most pleasing ad- vances upon your confidence, before you have even time to question the sincerity of those intentions which it gives you no ultimate reason to doubt of. It is a kind of antithesis in nature, which, like that in art gathers beauty by contrast ; marking the difference between those who seem to live to no other pur- pose than that of aggravating the ills of life, and those who appear to be sent into the world as though expressly for its relief. Without confining the Amiable look to the softer sex, we must consider it as addressing itself especially to them ; for it is impossible to walk the streets, or enter an assembly, without , abundant illustrations of the force of expression : but how much more pleasing is it to associate with this personal advantage its growing interest; to consider that it is co-existent with the mind itself, and that, so far from being impaired by time, is for ever coming to its maturity : while such as are destitute of this engaging quality, whatever their pretensions to beauty may be, seem only making us the more sensible of its decay. ' It must be insisted on, nevertheless, that however much may be conceded to lie in the power of the subject towards the cul- tivation of. the face as consequent upon that of the mind, that where nature or education leaves the work. Religion can take it up ; and that divinely-skilful Hand from which it has re- ceived its first impress will give it the last finish, not only by contributing to the perfecting of the fairest outlines, but to such a modification of imperfect ones as shall render them but faint indications or traces of what they may have been, which the novice may not perceive, or the student without looking for. It is in this connection we may expect to find the happiest in- stances of the truly Amiable expression, in those legible and lesson-teaching faces which bring their own arguments with them, and such powerful ones as shall rectify all mistakes about that all-sufficient and comprehensive word — Charltu, so much talked of, and so little understood. VANITY. 1 •V. Vanity. VANITY. Ip (as we are taught to believe) All is Vanity,” it follows from its universality that it can have no particular expression on the face; but since it shelters itself under the passions it gives birth to, it is introduced in a physiognomical connection, in order. to separate it from its unruly offspring, and to make it appear in its own proper dress and complexion. Vanity may be considered either in its comprehensive form or its individual character; that is, in what is simply under- stood to be the Vanity of the world, or that consummate Vanity with which the very Vanity of the world is entertained. As to the Vanity of the world, you have only to imagine a . plume of feathers and place it over any head you please ; you have the choice of the whole universe, and the question at large will not be who has it, but who has it not. This is the secret spring which sets our whole machinery in motion, gives an impetus to all our concerns, and may be called the imaginary axis upon which every thing turns : remove this moral cause, and the earth might still go its rounds, but it would be a question if any one would be able to go his rounds with it. By the way, to separate between the Vain and the Conceited may be simply to remark, that the latter are such as are wise in their own conceits, and the former are those who desire to be so in the conceit of others, — while they are equally to be distin- guished from the Proud and Ambitious ; for instance. Pride affects to be disdainful of applause ; Conceit is above all praise ; Ambition would seek it legitimately ; but Vanity must have it at any cost. X 170 VANITY. That there are, notwithstanding, many negative beings in the world is as certain as that there are none who think themselves so ; and though they appear to fall in so uniformly in the world as to be no more distinguished from the common run than if they only made one in a row of beads, yet they will be ever getting out of their place and deranging the whole order, for some faculty or other unknown. In fact, if we only consider the portion of Vanity which attends upon genius itself, which has no occasion to step out of its way, it is not surprising that it should attach to those who have every occasion to step into it ; and although this passion may not be so conspicuous in those who are in possession of talent as in those who merely make pretensions to it, the same superficial regard to the study of effect will be more or less apparent in both. It remains, there- fore, to take this quality in its extent, and mark it in its degrees, which resolves all at last into the love of fame — the great exciting cause of the noblest aim and the meanest ambition. All start for praise of some kind or other, whether it be for mind, material, or dress ; some, indeed, levy contributions as they go, and those who refuse the tribute will find them to be friends no longer than they submit to be their admirers. If literary, you never hear the last of their learning, for they will trespass upon your talent, and tax you with their technicalities in a manner that shall make you pay dearly for their education. There are others, again, who, if they cannot aspire to such a high style of absurdity, can set themselves off* by the louver arts of rivalry : if they cannot shame the wise, they may confound the ignorant, and shine in rings if they cannot in conversation ; if they cannot point a satire, they can pitch a summerset ; if they cannot 'round a compliment, they can turn u cat-and- wheel : or, if they are not able to sustain an argument or cen- tralize a discourse, they can balance a straw upon their chins, or catch a ball upon a pivot. They are just the kind of persons that are able to promote the harmony of the company, and can always find voices if you will only provide them with ears. If they cannot exactly come after Kean and Kemble, they can treat you with something after their own way : one will give VANITY. 171 you the town crier ; another would gratify you with the dust- bell: one would be remarkable for crowing like a cock; another for braying like an ass, although he need only open his mouth in confirmation of his being one ; not that there can be any objection to their imitating their superiors^ only, it is presumed, they would never strain themselves up to such excellencies were they not ignorant of their natural qualifications in those particular ways. In the higher points of imitation some have been (in the exuberance of their fancy) the very characters they would personate ; heroics, who in describing the battles of Alex- ander have been known so to riot in the recital, and act out the part in so furious a manner, that you would be glad to get out of their way: here it is that Vanity may become as destructive as Ambition, for your uncommissioned Alexanders and Ceesars are the most dangerous characters to be met with. In the present day this quality is very publicly patronized. The poor boys and girls are no longer limited to “ plain reading, writing, and arithmetic,” but are sufficiently instructed in the arts and sciences to create self-sufficiency, if not disaffection, and which, in the event of their success, might only have the painful effect of bringing out geniuses for whom, in the present state of our over-stocked market, there- would be no demand. This order of things, however, may have received much of its countenance from the sapient use of the phrase, “ the more the merrier,” — the same as may be said of ships going down at sea ! Vanity is never so heartless and contemptible as when it shews itself in company in certain instances, where some gentle- man has endeavoured to acquire an ascendancy over the hearts of the ladies, by playing at what might be termed “ bo-peep” with their affections: in this connection it may have been noticed that one of these interesting gentlemen, by some in- dividual assiduities, accompanied with a mysterious air, has rendered himself a character of great and doubtful importance ; and who, when matters appear to be carrying too far, has con- trived by a more divided attention, such as a tender glance at one, a look askance at another, and a few ambiguous phrases to a third, to create a pleasing diversion in his favour ; while the 172 VANITT. whole being too equivocal for explanation, he has gone off witlu the reputation of 'having sacrificed so many at the shrine of his Vanity. The Vanity of present-making will be found to consist in adapting the value of the present rather to the circumstances than the condition of the party ; that is, not according to his necessities, but according as he has no necessity for it f and is frequently attended with this happy effect, that the recipient imagines a flattering identity, and the donor confers a proud testimonial, by which both’ parties are equally gratifi i >/ ' ' '., ■ ; ^ A^i »,.' j n m BEAUTY. ABSTRACT, EXPRESSIVE, AND INTELLECTUAL BEAUTY. All constructed upon one form of face, which in order to be better understood^ is drawn, as much as possible, after the fashion of the Grecian model. ABSTEACT BEAUTY. In Abstract Beauty, where Intellect or Expression is wanting, an indefinite something is wanting, which is supplied by the other two. Generally attended by a weakness in the neighbourhood of each feature, leav- ing each (if separately explained) unsupported and alone to make its own im- pression, giving the whole a look for which there seems to be no better term than that of — ** a pleasing void."*' BEAUTY, WITH EXPRESSION. Based upon the same outline, but all the features receiving contributions from their adjuncts, the surrounding muscles. The outline of the eyelid more distinctly marked, to keep the eye in balance, and more in its right place or keeping. The nose, with the same kind of muscular attendance, and not standing alone, as in Abstract Beauty. The mouth participating in this, with more determined forms. The whole gathering strength from the pleasing combination. BEAUTY, WITH EXPRESSION AND INTELLECT. The same accompaniments and auxiliaries as in Expressive Beauty. The upper eyelids still larger, and inclined to droop, as though more thoughtful and contemplative. The same feeling conveyed through every feature ; the undulating line of the mouth especially sympathizing with them ; possessing more fixedness and deci- sion of character, and giving the expression of the face its full meaning and in- tention. The forehead inclined to be elevated ; and the general outline of the whole not to be regarded as a deviation from the lines of Abstract Beauty, but rather (as though by an effort of the mind) more fully developed, and expanding, in the same proportion, by a greater power of Intellect. i*' / > , 'Vv,. PLAINNESS. PI, AIN NESS. Instead of the arched eyebrows, the straight and contracted ; for the full eye not imfrequently represented by the small, grey, with smaller pupil: the lids weak and indistinct. Seldom or ever accompanied by a straight nose : in this instance, irregular large at bottom, and narrow and contracted at top. The long upper lip, as opposed to the short t instead of the undulating line which separates the lips, remarkably straight, and tending to a point at the extremes ; the muscles surrounding the mouth elongating with it. The general form of the face inclined to the square, in distinction from the oval. PLAINNESS, WITH EXPEESSION. General forms, as in the figure of Plainness ; the individualty approaching somewhat nearer to Beauty. Larger and more expressive balls to the eyes : more determined lids : the straightness of the eyebrows rather interrupted than arched. Each feature undergoing a modification of the lines, and supplied by the par- ticular additions alluded to, which increase the expression and determine the cha- racter of the face in its different stages. PLAINNESS, WITH EXPRESSION AND INTELLECT. Considered probably in its intellectual advancement as the connecting link between Plainness with Expression and Intellect, and Beauty without either. The general form of the face losing still more of its irregularity : the forehead rather higher : the lower part of the face proportionably refined, and partaking more of the nature and character of Beauty. The eyelids, as in this last stage of improvement, more full and determined, by an increase of the muscular attendance alluded to : the rest of the features equally balanced and sustained : the whole expression gathering strength by union and compact. Still making a stronger effort (as it were) to approach the line of Beauty PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY, It has been a commonly-received notion, that our ideas of Beauty are vague and undefined, — different in different minds, and diversified by time and place : it will be the endeavour, therefore, to shew, on the contrary, that Beauty is subject to the most definite and unerring rules ; and so to inquire into the nature and cause of the spontaneous delight it affords, as shall not only tend to remove all mistakes about it, but assist in. estab- lishing its principles. We might as well doubt of the existence of Beauty itself, as to consider it irrespectively of the rules which confirm it ; since this would be making an exception in this case which was never admitted in any other, and thereby sup- posing an effect without a cause. In speaking of Beauty in the abstract of the term, we must not confine our ideas to any par- ticular class of objects, but suppose it to be the perfection of each class : thus, (as it has been justly observed,) “ we speak as appropriately when we speak of a beautiful child as of a beauti- ful woman, — of a beautiful cottage as of a beautiful palace, — of a beautiful red as of a beautiful white rose and so of every thing else superlatively after its kind. As linear or geometrical Beauty comes so expressly within the rules of art, it should be shown that its principles are first laid down in the general design of Nature, and from which we are too frequently diverted by being directed to the finest examples of antiquity, where the question of Beauty is so far settled between the Grecian models of old and the living models of the present day that a lady cannot receive a more flattering compli- jnent than to be told she has a regular Grecian face : by this 186 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. we are supposed to understand — a round, unobtrusive forehead, arched eyebrows, large eyes, straight nose, full and undulating mouth, round chin, and oval face. These are the facial charac- teristics of Beauty which prevail in the States even to this day ; and that European taste which is so in accordance with it, may arise more out of a native approximation to the supposed test than from any predilection it has received in its favour. Few persons make more mistakes about Beauty than those who are instructed to look out of our own country for it : Grecian authorities should, therefore, be looked upon with caution as well as respect, as it is not the intention to detract from their admitted excellence, but rather to detach from their devoted admirers some of those prejudices which arise out of this species of idolatry. It must have been observed that they are marked with this unvarying peculiarity — one continued straight line from the top of the forehead to the bottom of the nose, without that undulating medium which so expressively separates be- tween the two ; forming them into one^ without any sensible advantage to either, as the nose gains no additional beauty, nor has the forehead any accession of intellect by this classical arrangement. These straight lines, which are supposed by some to denote simplicity, and by others the affectation of it, have been carried into their draperies in a manner that has been so much admired, and so stiffly imitated as to make the pro- priety of it a questionable point, even with artists themselves. Hogarth^ in his “ Analysis of Beauty f contends roundly against the straight line, to which he opposes the serpentine, and, with his usual continuity, exhibits it on his palette, at one end of his portrait, and his favorite pug dog on the other, who is dwelling upon it with a dumb intelligence which seems to say, “ I believe my master is right, notwithstanding; and whatever mistakes men may make about the Line of Beauty, I am certain I can perfectly understand it.” To shew to what extent this prejudice may be carried is simply to be referred to the Elgin Marbles for some of the most admired but incomplete examples of this order of excellence. Beautiful as- they undoubtedly are, they cannot be perfectly so. PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 18 T as the eye is expected to judge of the whole by parts, and to dwell upon interesting fragments, beauteous fractures, headless trunks, and armless bodies, where there is scarcely a figure without some deficiency, and some where everything is want- ing. It is in such a collection the spectator must understand he is to be as much astonished at the beauty he misses as at that which he finds ; and this is perhaps what may be called ‘‘ the Pleasures of Imagination for what cannot fall out with his taste may yet fall in with his conceit, and as every one has the liberty of filling up the loss in his own way, it may partly ac- count for why they give such general satisfaction. We may cease to wonder at the prepossession of the common eye, since artists themselves are kept in such a state of mental dependence upon Grecian models as to be taught from their earliest prac- tice they are ever to be imitated and never to be surpassed ; and thus, losing all confidence in their natural abilities, they com- mence a course of imitation which frequently ends in a total want of design, not in the least aware by such an exhausting process what a capital they are sinking, and that, too, for a miserable rate of interest, should they even get any returns at all. It is Necessity, that “Mother of Invention,” especially in art, which drives the labouring student into the store -house of Nature to satisfy his imaginary wants, and gives an impetus to his creative faculties, if such they may be called, — faculties that are co-extensive with the objects presented for imitation ; which increase and multiply with the means of observation, and are attended with fresh facilities in proportion to every new acces- sion to this kind of wealth. But, apart from every other con- sideration, and conceding to Grecian forms their undoubted excellence, it is by taking the mean between these and those of our handsome countrywomen we find in the sculptured exam- ples of each a positive and impressive beauty, although contend- ing against Nature, with all the lifeless disadvantage of want of color. When poets and orators would give us the highest idea of Beauty, they invariably refer us to the statuary : this may be because we have no pictorial Beauty descending to us that cor- responds with our sculptured ideas of it, unless we take a few of 188 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. Raphael’s divinities upon credit ; as some of the Italian, and nearly all of the Flemish school, furnish us with little better notions of Beauty than may be found at our fish-markets and flower-stands. In order to find the right standard of Beauty, we must come to the right place, and look for it amongst the most refined of the European states ; for if we consult the notions of different nations about it, there will be no infallible way of telling which is right : for instance, — on the coast of Guinea, thick lips, flat noses, and tawney complexions, are reckoned beauties; in China, a lady’s foot should not be large enough to walk upon ; the North American savages board their children’s heads to squeeze them into square dimensions ; and a thousand other contrivances which could get no countenance from the civilized world, but in the approaches it makes to them by the confine- ment of small shoes and the refined distortion of tight and modish lacing. We cannot, therefore, revert to foreign Beauty without feeling it is a pity to go so far out of the way for reasons that might be found at home. In endeavouring to trace this quality, in its refinement, to its natural source, a living illustration may be sufficient to shew how far Nature will prevail over the prejudices of art ; for it must have been observed, that when a female of transcendent beauty shall enter an assembly, all eyes will be fixed upon her, and she becomes at once a beauty by consent. Now, if this acknowledged excellence may be reduced to rule, what is it we perceive but a compound or collection of what we admire in all united to one in particular ? in other words, it consists in the presence of generalities, or, which is the same thing, the absence of peculiarities ; making it a paradox but no contradiction to say, that nothing is ordinary that is in the ordinary way. A great authority tells us, however, that if a person born blind were suddenly to receive his sight, and the first objects he beheld were two females, the one of the greatest Beauty and the other as greatly in want of it, he would be at a loss to know whether he should give the preference to, Beauty or Deformity. This is just supposing that a taste for Beauty is not natural, PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 189 but acquired, and that such a growing attachment to Beauty would follow in the course of years as to give Cupid his greatest reputation among old men and women. In all such calamitous cases the mind’s eye is the more busily at work in the absence of the natural one, and acquires a feeling and self- consciousness of form, such as those who have never been de- prived of that faculty can scarcely conceive : first appearances to such persons would be more astonishing than unanticipated ; and it would be with sight as it would be with sound, — they would have a natural sympathy with either, the moment one should break upon the eye or the other burst upon the ear. It is certain the sensibilities cannot get in advance of the percep- tions, but that they follow them as rapidly as light, and that we are more instantaneouly struck with the sight of Beauty than with any other object, is a point as little in dispute. It would seem, then, to require no maturity to come to the full meaning of the word Beauty ; but, even admitting it to be a matter of preference or native taste, still it does not alter the determined position that Beauty is subject to rule, inasmuch as there must be a rule for everything. This fact may be maintained by the consideration that we are primarily and insensibly operated upon by feelings and sensations which we are left afterwards to account for ; and that whatever elements this irresistible quality. Beauty, may have in itself, its principles will be found very much out of it. This two-fold question of sight and sense was very briefiy and erroneously disposed of by a Greek philosopher, who being asked, “ What was Beauty 1” answered, “ This is the ques- tion of a blind man though, really, if we notice the uses which some persons make of their eyes after they have got them, and the optical deceptions they allow to pass before them, we need not wonder at the conclusive statement, that Beauty is — Beauty ! IDEAL BEAUTY. In reference to Ideal Beauty, and the many ideal notions that may be entertained about it, it is difficult to accept of it 190 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. Otherwise than as a term of distinction ; inasmuch as it not only supposes the perfection of every class, but the most perfect union and disposition of all that is beautiful in each class. Those inspired geniuses, therefore, who may have failed in their representations of Ideal Beauty have been wonderfully success- ful in producing Ideal Deformity. Among the few candidates for this disorderly kind of fame was a gentleman who turned his attention to the painting of such ex-terraneous characters as should have procured him an appointment to the black Master of Arts, which might have helped off his performances, that were as full of witchery and nonsense as the figures upon a magic lanthorn. This original could not be persuaded of the fact that “ there is nothing new under the sun and to prove there was, would endeavour to give birth to animals that never had existence, in order to treat Nature with something out of her own way : and what were his unique attempts, after all, but mere pilferings from Nature rather than departures from it, in the bringing together different parts and fragments of other animals to the malformation of one incongruous whole % From such vagaries we may learn, that we are tied down to facts as well as limited to fancy, and are not allowed, for variety’s sake, to give one creature the form of an animal, to another the form of a vegetable, or, to a third, such a shapeless one as is not to be found in the three kingdoms. It is at the peril of the imitative art to violate the laws of unity which are preserved in all the varieties of nature : even in Comparative Anatomy we observe the same consistency ; for animals that are not con- structed alike, are constitued much after the same manner: as an instance — the general form of a man is very unlike that of a fish ; yet his backbone is very like that of a herring : he breathes in a different element, it is true, but much after the same manner ; and when it is said of him, “ he drinks like a fish,” it may be too often added, but not of the same liquor. Elevated as our ideas may be concerning Ideal Beauty, and of its being more easily conceived than described, it will still be found to have its origin in Nature, however much its end may appear to be out of it. It is here the artist is so frequently in PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 191 error who supposes it to be that sublimated Beauty which he affects to draw from a celestial source, without being aware that the materials belong to a world of his own, and to which he is as often brought down by the very means he takes to aspire above it. In our highest flights of fancy we cannot escape out of the region of probabilities : invention is but another name for discovery, and there is nothing we can conceive or imagine that has not its origin in something which we may^ mighty or must have seen. Thus in our super-natural attempts by Babel-strides to reach the unknown world, confusion waits upon every step, and convinces us, at length, that even our imaginary desires are as much anticipated as our real wants are provided for, and are all confined within the limits of our own allotted atmosphere. We are told that angels have wings, and they are accordingly represented with them ; but we could form no conception what things they were if we had never seen a bird : but stretch the imagination to anything else as yet unseen, and conceive if you can of any creature which shall be totally different from any thing you may have observed in Nature, — dr suppose (for a moment only) that your ingenuity has conjured up one to your mind, and at odds with the rest, can you trouble your imagina- tion for another that shall differ as much from that you may have fancied as a horse from an oyster, or a tiger from a tom- tit ? Most animals have heads and tails ; some have no legs because they have no uses for them ; and whatever they are furnished with belong distinctly to their own class, while all their peculiarities and diversities of form are arranged under the same head and partake of the same character. Eyes, noses, and mouths are common to all creatures ; men have them, and so have owls ; but who cannot perceive the difference between them ? — excepting in cases where they are judicially condemned to wear wigs. There are not two species which resemble each other so little as to be found out of their class, nor are there any two to be found which do not distinguish themselves from each other in their own class ; so that we never break in upon the uniformity of Nature without being presented with some- thing past finding out. By the way, it is only to extend our 192 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. observations beyond what is presented to us in this intelligent order of things to discover that the same combinations and balancings are to be found in inanimate matter as in organized existence, and may be judged of by analogy even where they cannot be brought into comparison. It is in vain to search for hidden treasure in mines which are accessible to all ; and as that which is the most useful happens to be the readiest within our reach, so that is the most simple and beautiful with which we are most familiar : it might be profitable, therefore, to re- mind such as would not only attempt the perfection of Beauty but even the beauty of perfection, that it is possible for them to refine upon Nature as many do upon sentiment, till neither have any meaning left; and instead of exalting the subject, are either raising it above the comprehension, or sinking it below their own dimensions. From hence it may be inferred, that the Beau-ideal consists in a happy selection of the best of what Nature dispenses around us ; for Nature is very sparing of her perfections, and it is only by availing ourselves of her fairest inequalities, and drawing these scattered fragments into a complete union, that we can arise from an imperfect imitative to a perfect Ideal Beauty. Conceding, then, that the utmost we can conceive of Ideal Beauty is, that it is the aggregate of all that excellence which has been beneficently distributed amongst every individual order of being, it must be evident, from the very nature of things, that there can be nothing unearthly about it, only that it should be represented after such a manner as shall cause us to think so. COMPARATIVE BEAUTY. Comparative Beauty does not consist in comparing one beauty or class of beauty with another, but is rather marked in its approaches to, or deviations fronts the proper standard ; and is, therefore, only to be comprehended in its different bearings, or as a question of degrees. This may be illustrated by imagining a separating line between a chain of heads reaching PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 193 from the lowest stage of deformity to the highest point of beauty. In proportion as Nature shall pass the intermediate line and rise above it we are supposed to trace it upward towards perfection ; while its comparative situation below the line will determine its degrees downwards by which its deformity may be compared. Now such as can look out on the right side of the line are provi- dentially, the mass, and are interested in all its comparative states; while those whose fastidious tastes are only to be met with at the fairest extreme, and can scarcly find anything worth looking at between the poles, are only fit to converse with their own models, and bless themselves with the beau-ideal, whenever they can catch a glimpse of it in the glass. Comparatively speak- ing, persons pretty well understand that term of degraded Beau- ty called the “ passable but very few like to be passed off in that way, although there are not many of the “ passable,” so called, who have not some redeeming feature, while not a few who flatter themselves they are the impassable will be found without some defect. Considerable beauty may be rendered in- considerable by one obtrusive feature ; while an ordinary face may be surmounted or set off by one of such peculiar excellence as shall lend a sweetness to all the rest, or make you insensible to its deficiencies. A pair of fine eyes will be capable of all this ; while a large nose over an otherwise handsome face may so prevail over the prettiest companionship as to throw the whole out of countenance. A fine pair of eyes may answer the double purpose of looking at and looking through : a good set of teeth may have more uses than in mastication, contributing greatly to sweetness of temper, by keeping the owner on laughing terms with every body : the display of these has been known to keep an ill-tem- pered person in humour for hours together, when nothing else in nature could make him so : nay, these beautiful enamels will give a sort of interest to invective, by tempting some females to scold with open mouth, to shew us that the “ Belle Sauvage ” is to be found at other places besides Ludgate Hill. Persons may have good general proportions and bad individual forms, or they may have bad general proportions and good individual forms ; the former of these surprise you with an alto- A A 194 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. gether appearance, while the latter contrive to break upon you in fragments, — it may be with a well-turned ankle, slender waist, little hand, round elbow, raven hair, alabaster neck, ivory fore- head, grecian nose, bow-and-arrow mouth, or dimpled cheek, either of which are to be taken separately, although they are never to be seen together. Thus it is they so often come indivi- dually out with such flattering effect, when we hear it ex- claimed — “ What a pretty foot for dancing ! What an exquisite hand and arm for the pianoforte ! What a sweet figure for the harp !” and so forth. These little matters are sometimes set to music ; for Shakspere speaks of a lover writing sonnets “to his mistresses eyebrows,’^ without bestowing a single epithet on the orbs below. In trying the general proportions we take up a term in fam- iliar use, that “ the figure should divide well.’ ' The standard height of the sexes has been fixed by the Venus and the Apollo ; from whence it may be generally observed that those who exceed the height of the statues will have the extra length in the legs, and those who fall below it will have the deficiency in the short- ness of them. As a ridiculous instance of this, Mr. Barrymore, the tragedian, was greatly upwards of six feet high, and his friend Mr. Smith very much under five feet : when meeting at the same convivial board, they were accustomed to sit side by side, and appeared while thus sitting like two gentlemen of equal size and consequence ; when it was necessary to rise in respect, as in drinking the King’s health, which they would both spontaneously do, little Mr, Smith, contrary to all order, would appear to keep his seat, while Barrymore would spring up like a spectre from the trap-door of the stage : this circum- stance placed the two gentlemen in a serious predicament, as it was said of each of them, that the one ought never to get up, and the other ought never to sit down ! There is an opposite case which is still more strange, but not less true. Two per- sons shall be of the same height, and yet one shall be con- sidered much taller than the other ; this may be the reason why statues are often described as not being so many feet, but so many heads high ; the size of the head in either will generally PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 195 govern the rest of the body, and the two subjects will be distin- guished less by height than by tall or short proportions : upon the same principle, short or long faces command short or long limbs, and it may be comparatively said of each of them — they may be fair specimens of elegance and plumpness, of grace or of good condition. It is no contradiction to assert that a long and short face may be lineally of the same length. To unravel this, take two profiles of each, let the projecting and undulat- ing lines be traced as in a map, then let each be elongated so as to form two straight lines, and they will be found to measure the same. The fact is, that the lines of a short face will make up in projection what they lose in length, and the lines of a long face will make up in length what they lose in projection. In like manner a short upper lip will not shorten the lower part of the face, as the deficiency may be made up by a larger space of chin ; the same may apply to a high forehead, to which some one or other of the features will yield the necessary room, that the uniform length may be preserved. There is, at least, Comparative Beauty where there is consistency : it does not therefore follow that because oval faces are beautiful that none but such can be so : a round face may be very pleasing when it has what it is expected to have, that is, its concomitants. This order of Beauty is generally kept up by shortish features ; pos- sibly with a slight inclination of the nose upwards ; full and open expression ; ruby lips, and cherry cheeks ; in short, with all the animating etcaeteras of a pretty chub. When we look at such an arrangement w^e can scarcely wish it were otherwise ; for example, — transfer these short graces to a long face, and they would look unpleasant, because out of place ; while, in reverse, the longer features transferred to a short face would look worse, for the same reasons. To say that long features could be placed upon a short face would be a mistake in terms ; there would be no room for them : or, if short features were as contrarily placed, the effect would be to leave a waste of fore- head, cheek, and chin, as ridiculous as rare. It is only where the economy of the face and features are disturbed that they no longer come within the range of Beauty, and may be denomi- 196 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. nated plain. It follows, beyond this, that individual features should so partake of their own nature and character as to admit of no comparison out of themselves ; for when, unfortunately, they may be compared to inferior things, vulgar expressions have been given to ideas which the refined mind is unwilling to entertain ; such, probably, as — “ He has eyes like whitings,” “ mouth like a carp,” “ chin like the drop of a lemon,” &c. Among other terms of Beauty in familiar use we hear of “ the fine open chest,” “ the fine bend in the back,” and “ the fine fall in the shoulders : ” the first of these elegancies may be acquired by carriage and deportment, but how the head should be fitted on the shoulders is no such work of art ; this “ fall in the shoulder,” so 7??wcalled, arises from a fulness of muscle which anatomists call the trapezius., the line of which by taking a fine sloping direction on each side of the neck relieves the long line of a too long neck, and adds grace to one of a moderate length ; and it is from a scantiness of this muscle we get the vulgar idea of square shoulders. The general form and outline of all faces, especially as they are seen in profile, are of three orders ; the straight, the convex, and the concave. The straight face is considered the hand- somest, and may be known by admitting a straight line being drawn from the top of the forehead to the bottom of the chin without intersecting more than a portion of the nose and a very small part of the upper lip. A line in like manner drawn down a eonvex face, from the top of the forehead to the lower part of the chin, would intersect all the features, leaving the forehead and chin behind, and throwing the nose forward to all appearance beyond its natural extremity. A line drawn down the concave face from the top of the forehead to the bottom of the chin, would seem to shut in the features and nearly escape them all. The convex and concave face may be singularly de- scribed by the features of them being oppositely drawn upon the inside and outside of a crescent ; or, as it may be whimsically observed, as the features of the concave face are frequently drawn within a crescent, to represent the mean in the first quarter, — or, in reverse, as the convex face may be supposed to PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 197 be drawn on the outer edge of the crescent. The following re- mark upon the convex and concave face may be especially noticed here, as comprehending a rule without an exception. Convex faces, thongh perhaps the least agreeable of the two, have this ulterior advantage, that they retain a youthful ap- pearance beyond the natural periods, and are found by obser- vation and experience to last much longer than the concave or straight. Concave faces, on the contrary, which give young persons somewhat of an old-fashioned appearance, butfrequently, withal, a something which is very interesting, from the oppo- site cause, and most unfortunately bring the face too soon to its maturity. Of the numbers who have so wonderfully gone as it is termed, we may include all those whose faces have been fashioned after this concave manner. There is one aspect of Nature quite perplexing : in instances where it must have deen observed that when Nature seems just to have approached the Line of Beauty, how very shy she is of the mark ! Who has not observed that two persons may appear together of the same class of face and form of feature, and yet an undoubted preference shall be given to one without being able to discover in what the difference consists % To account for this it should be known that there are cases in which a great variation in some points will not affect the looks so much as a slight variation in others : the discrepancy may lie in the last place we should think of looking for it ; some little trespass may have been committed in the neighbourhood of the eyes, nose, or mouth, the most sacred to expression ; these are the minor points of major importance, which have reference to such hair’s-breadth deviations or additions as make a more sensible difference in the appearance of an individual than an inch or two in the general height. Now as it is almost as difficult to find out the place where the disturbance lies as to give a reason for it when discovered, the fact would seem to be left exclusively for the development of true and tasteful art. And here, again, a practical distinction is necessary to be made between two persons of equal scientific knowledge but different perceptibili- ties : for example, — let each attempt to draw the figure, and it 198 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. may serve to show how possible it is for the most correct of the two to present you with the most inferior outline ; the one shall draw it mechanically, the other feelingly ; the one shall give you its character, the other its expression ; in other words, the one shall be anatomically, the other naturally correct. What- ever may be the labour and pains bestowed upon the subject, it must be so felt before it is imitated that the practice shall become as much an affair of the head as the hand, and thus furnish the only ocular proof of that expression which could be in no other way expressed. Or, again, if looked at in reference to the common process of tracing^ where the original is seen through a transparent medium, and the copy would seem to lie within the compass of a pair of eyes and hands ; — let the same experiment be made by two persons of the same executive skill, but if unequal in taste, it will be seen to what an extent they will make the difference between the mere points and the intention ; between the spirit and meaning of the subject and that which has no other distinction than that of being mechanic- ally correct ; the lines of one only appearing to be in perfect drawing, while the lines of neither shall be out of place. Or, as a more familiar illustration : were two scientific persons to sit down to an instrument with equal mechanical powers, but differing, as aforesaid, in taste, the same line might be drawn between the understanding and the ear : although they may strike the same notes and in the same order, the one will give the feeling of the air, the other the notes only which should produce it ; the one will enter into the mind of the composer, while the other will entertain you with what you have no mind to hear : they shall also be strictly in time ; but how either may turn that time to account will serve to mark the difference be- tween the use one makes of his time and the manner in which the other throws his time away ! PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 199 AETIFICIAL BEAUTY. To speak of Artificial Beauty, we have little more to do with it than to dislodge it from the Real, and to leave its subjects with one word of advice, — that if they are ever in deshabille they should take care never to be caught in it. We may as easily dispose of the Capricious Beauty, (though not exactly after the same manner), which is finished off with wiles and smiles. The Arch-looking Beauty, with which persons are so vastly taken, or rather taken in : and the Assumptive Beauty, remarkable for putting on that which does not naturally belong to it; and all this, perhaps, from being within hearing of a parcel of sanctioned absurdities, such as, “ a negligent and careless air,” “ a scornful look,” “ a disdainful smile,” or “ a pretty pout.” Every town or village has its beauty to boast, who is supposed to embellish the neighbourhood to which she belongs. The court has its “ reigning beauty,” the city its “ belle,” and the country its “ blossom ; ” nor is there a family which has not what is called “ the flower of the flock.” A lady patroness who was endowed with seven small children which looked to every other eye like so many young griffins, very un- expectedly (though naturally) asked an artist, which he thought was the handsomest ; the reply was, “ Really, Madam, it is impossible for any one to say ;” this was most flatteringly taken by the lady, and, fortunately for the gentleman, in the way it was not intended. Reported beauties, with few exceptions, are only so many living illustrations of popular mistakes, and will be found, upon enquiry, to consist in little more than growth, carriage, complexion, or any thing else that may speak in the absence of expression, which makes the first impression on the sight, and the last upon the senses. Some reported beauties have gained their admiration at the cost of the public, and some at the cost of life. The reputed beauty of Mrs. Senior, com- monly called “ the handsome widow,” was the occasion of her advancement in life ; while the pretty Miss Verrie was stared 200 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. to death ! These visible advantages, and their different results, were left with little more than the casual remark, that what put the widow in such easy circumstances happened to be a sad circumstance for the poor girl. Of Self-conscious beauties, (for the comfort and joy of so great a portion of society), their num- bers are not a few, — they are aware that the world has a very heavy hand at panegyric, and makes such little concessions to Beauty, that if they did not find some satisfaction in themselves they would find very little out of them. Persuade these per- sons they have no beauty, if you can ; for the mirror dare not always take that liberty without resentment, and it is well when both the glass and the personal reputation are preserved entire. Where, however, the natural reflection may be really such as to create disturbance, the moral reflection might succeed in teaching them, that, instead of being exasperated with their looks, they should rather endeavour to repair them by the cul - tivation of those habits upon which they so greatly depend. Persons who are really beautiful are seldom in want of admirers, and settle down very familiarly under the information they re- ceive about it. Happy conceits are generally to be found among those who are neither remarkable for beauty nor the want of it ; their beauty being so equivocal as to find it necessary to decide for themselves, they come to the most pleasing conclusions, and put themselves under greater obligations to Nature than she at all requires of them. But there are some persons who, although as far removed from Beauty as the equator from the poles, have yet been endowed with such an immoderate share of self-conceit, as absolutely to have grown bold in deformity. There is little doubt but that these have been the victims of early flattery; such, probably, as were known by the name of the “ mother’s darling,” or, the “ father’s own hoy,” and have outgrown every thing but their praises. Whatever of beauty they may have lost they still preserve the reputation of having once possessed it, and can never be made sensible of their frightful departure from it, while they have any recollection left of having been called ‘‘angels^'' A gentleman of this all-sufficient character, who used to say more fine things of his personal appearance PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 201 than was ever said of any man beside, was in the habit of talking of himself after this fashion, — that were he disposed to a matrimonial engagement he verily believed he might have the choice of any lady in the land. What rendered his blissful ignorance in this particular the more surprising was, that, in other respects, he was neither wanting in sense nor accomplish- ments, possessed considerable musical talent, and more than once was known to treat the church and congregation with a voluntary on the organ ; after this favor he would usually confer another — the popping of his head from behind the green curtain which concealed him, to gratify the eye as well as the ear, and give the last finish to his personal performance. As it happens that whatever is wanting in the pictorial history of such individuals is sure to be mischievously supplied, it was reported that at one of these exhibitions nothing could possess the timid part of the congregation but that a lion had got into the organ- loft, till out came an arm, a coat-sleeve, and a snuff-box, to contradict their fears, by convincing them that such articles could never belong to that animal. Sometimes an innocent but aggravating mistake steps in opportunely to correct the evil ; as in the case of one of these gentlemen, who, on returning from a masquerade in his own proper dress and natural face, was reminded that he had forgotten to take his mask off ! There are other persons who, if they do not make such open pretensions to beauty, may yet have much that is hidden under the mask of conceit: this may be partly discovered by certain individual remarks which, (when descanting upon Beauty), will be found to be nothing more than pickings and choosings out of their own faces : with such it not unfrequently happens, and even amongst men who might find some other way of seeking reputation, that those who chance to be of an opposite com plexion will receive from the softer party the epithets “ coarse,” harsh,” or “ hard while those whose faces may have all the ruggedness of the Saracen’s Head will, in their turn, accuse their fairer brethren of looking like poultry. Many persons are not sensible in their awkward attempts to reach the climax of Beauty to what a degree they sink themselves below it : and 202 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY, in cases where N ature appears to have gone to its worst extent, there are those who would convince us how much further they can go ; not in the least aware, either, how much they might improve their condition by being more satisfied with it. Even the most highly favored of Nature by endeavouring to advance upon her steps will experience a retrograde movement, which not unfrequently passes them off from natural beauty to the mere affectation, if not the extinction of it, till at length they become those marked and made-up characters which receive neither admiration nor toleration for their acquired defects. COMPOUND AND SUPEELATIVE BEAUTY. Compound Beauty consists in uniting some of the best qualities of other natures into one ; that is, where that nature is congenial to the reception of them ; as there are some we can no more think of amalgamating than those of the hare and the tortoise. This happy union can never be effected unless a just balance is preserved : if the quality of beauty or the property of strength be unduly entrenched upon, they will abate in the same degree of their sweetness or power ; as in an ill or unequally adjusted mind the firmer qualities without some softening influences would acquire a hardness, and the tenderer ones without a sufficient controlling power might degenerate into weakness. The highest examples of sculptured art stand out in illustra- tion of this, and serve not only to shew where the union is compatible and complete, but that what may be beautiful separately may be monstrous conjointly. Thus, for a combi- nation of beauty and strength take the Gladiator and the Discobulus ; but only attempt the same by the Hercules and Apollo, and you disfigure both figures at once. This shews the necessity of keeping what is our own : dispossess the lion of his mane and place it upon the back of the tiger, and what an idea it will give you of profit and loss ! Apart, however, from this high order of things, it might be noticed that Nature, in PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 203 ordinary, is never disorderly, but in all her peculiarities has her corresponding forms : in all our imitations, therefore, consistency must be kept up, although inconsistently consistent ; for we are expected to be in agreement with ourselves though at variance with all the world beside. As every class of objects has its general resemblance, so every individual feature in that class must have its correspond- ing one. A singular illustration of this might be made, if allowed to go through a process of the mind’s conceit : — take half-a-dozen persons of equal beauty and regularity of feature ; then imagine they are severally dislodged, so that by a mutual exchange of feature each receives that of another in parting with his own ; and the result of the experiment would be, that instead of adding variety to beauty, it might only be tranform- ing them into so many frights. To notice, by the way, an absurdity which bears something upon this : we may have observed that when young children make their first appearance in the world, and before they grow old enough to be pulled to pieces, they are generally put together in regular family order ; the wingless cherub is regarded with peculiar interest and curiosity, and friends and relations are for making the most agreeable discoveries : there are the mother’s eyes, the father’s nose, the aunt’s mouth, and the uncle’s chin : grandfathers, grandmothers, and the whole tribe of first and second cousins, come in for their share of the flattering resemblance : they are sure to see themselves and kindred in some fashion or other, and by mutually throwing in their meed of praise receive back their own with usury, in different portions of reflected beauty. But mark the old, wary nurse, who generally takes the dissecting part, and lots it all out into half-crown pieces ! Superlative Beauty supposes the most perfect of each class, and gives us the only natural idea we can entertain of perfection. It is not necessary to the perfecting of Beauty to be unconscious of it. This would seem to be the privilege rather than the property of the possessor ; for it is never till Beauty is attended with the retiring graces, and exists as something to admire 204 PERSONAL ANT) RELATIVE BEAUTY. rather than receive admiration, that it will ever come out with true meaning and eifect : as it needs no artificial helps, so it uses none ; and so far from being lost in its own unobtrusive- ness, it is the more to be seen the less it is sought for, and only shuns the light in order to shed its own. There are doubtless acquired as well as natural graces : with a view to this ^it may be well to observe, that Nature must first suggest what is really graceful, and when art has been dictated to by nature, nature in its turn may be disciplined by art. Perhaps the readiest way to this attainment will be in the get ting rid of bad habits rather than in acquiring new : and as to natural and acquired distortion, it may be remembered that Hogarth looked very equally on such self-adjusting and incorri- gible forms, when he said, that the three most graceless animals in nature were Hercules, Henry VIII., and a French dancing- master ! Beauty receives all its energies from grace, as it does its vitality from expression. There may be beauty without grace, but there can be no grace without some degree of beauty : there may be such a thing as a graceful attitude in an indifferent form, or in one at rest ; but, in the abstract of the term, there can be no grace without motion. The statues of the Apollo Belvidere and the Daughter of Niobe have given us perfect ideas of moving grace. Milton thus distinguishes it from beauty, — “ Grace was in all her steps ; Heaven in her eye.” and Venus has been said “ to be guessed at by her beauty, but known by her movements EXPBESSION. Now in all our approaches to absolute Beauty if Expression be wanting, the perfection of our nature can never be attained ; for without its vital aid the most perfect symmetry will be but the mere plan or preparation of a design yet to be carried out. Expression is that which silently conveys the thoughts and intents of the heart through the medium of the senses, and may PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 205 be considered the very soul of the body, as certainly as it is the index of the mind: it conveys, without the use of speech, a language which is understood by all nations and tongues, and is a pledge, in the absence of all verbal professions of the sincerity of those intentions it may have no other way of ex- plaining. Beauty is imperfect without expression, but expres- sion may be perfect without Beauty. It is not positive but expressive Beauty which so often decides in the most happy matrimonial engagements ; and this triumph of esteem over admiration may be called the virtue of choice ; very frequently, indeed, where Expression has been consulted the Line of Beauty has been so completely left out in the compact as to remain in the possession of those who really seem to have no uses for it. Expressive looks are either penetrating or contemplative; they either address themselves to the senses or the sensibilities ; and may be considered in three classes: the sentimental^ the animated^ and the intellectual. The sentimental expression is peculiar to those who look upon every object of sense (however indifferent to others) either with an undue solicitude or mourn- ful interest : hence it is their faces always appear to wear a pleasing melancholy, while they contrive to bring the smile and the tear together, to the astonishment of those who can only laugh and weep by turns. It is upon this affectionate countenance that artists have constructed their Madonnas ; the face they represent as long and oval, the peculiar feature of which is a large round upper eyelid, which some have called “ sleepy,” for want of knowing better, and others have called “ sepulchral,” from knowing nothing about it : the other features are supposed to be in concert with this, the nose being propor- tionately large, and the mouth sufficiently flexible to give interest and sensibility to the whole. The animated expression is the facial property of those who, while the sentimentalist is getting “ sermons out of stones ” are for getting “ good out of everything.” They not only seem to have discovered the secret of making the best of life, but of letting others into it too ; and as though they were capable of taking none but the best impres- sions, reflect, as a consequence, nothing but what is agreeable : 206 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. thus it is that their influence is felt where it is not acknowledged, and they frequently are better known by the efiects they produce than even the expression they convey. Many books have been written on the duty of cheerfulness, but these carry whole volumes in their faces, legible without the trouble of reading them. However lightly esteemed such may be by an ungrate- ful world, it cannot be aware to what an extent it is indebted to these etherial spirits, especially in times of pressure and dif- ficulty, if it is only for dissipating the mind for a season, and driving out “ the knight of the rueful countenance,’* who never steps in unless to make bad worse, and lend the shades of our affairs a deeper tint ; characters whose visits are always un- welcome, and never more untimely than in the best of times ; for so far from permitting you to indulge in any pleasing anti- cipation of the future, they will not even leave yon in the quiet enjoyment of the present without the necessary foreboding con- tained in their favorite couplet — “ If it’s fine to-day it may rain to-morrow, And so let us all be unhappy together.” The intellectual expression gives strength to the sentimental and the animated, but if it unfortunately exists apart, we shall find it in a mind so shut up to its own considerations as to lend the countenance a very unsocial, if not unfriendly aspect. The intellectual look, therefore, should be regarded as the presiding rather than the prevailing one ; and it is only when unitedly considered that it constitutes what is fully understood to be the powerful expression. The innocent expression which is so often construed into one of insipidity, requires the nicer perception of the practised eye to discover enough of good design upon its surface to make up in sweetness what it would seem to lose in strength. The dignified expression not being marked by any peculiarity of its own, is frequently made up, and put on as a covering to what might be offensive in haughty looks, or to lend an artificial importance to natural insignificance. When however, it is consequent on self-respect or self-possession, it invests the subject with a quality of face which may condescend without descending, and dignify without distancing. In this PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 207 latter connection it should be one of the distinguishing features of high life, and has its important uses in all official stations ; in courts of judicature especially, where the countenance should so prevail over the costume that the culprit may not feel him- self more in peril from the sight of the red robe than the less imposing one of the wearer. With an especial reference, how- ever, to those points in which this quality may be said more definitely to consist, it should be remarked, primarily, that what union is to strength, compactness is to expression ; and as it is with individuals so it is with features, and makes that formidable difference between either as when they are taken separately or seen acting altogether. As certainly as the features are made expressly for one another, so no feature can have a single part to perform ; each, therefore, should have its appropriate situation on the face, or must sufier equally from too close a connection or uninviting distance, as the slightest discrepancy in either case would be attended, in the same degree, with weakness or incongruity : for instance, — where the eyes are too wide apart they not only lose their companionship, but, from the greater angle they make with the nose, this feature would be deprived of its relative consistency, and the mouth, from the same cause, would lose its sympathy with either ; to say nothing of the disturbance it would give to the outer lines of the face. It is possible that the features, viewed separately, may have their adjuncts, and be well compacted ; but as they are never looked at in succession, they would only impress us the more powerfully with their disunion. The same uniformity should be observed in adjusting the proportions of the whole-length subject, as any irregularity in these greater particulars would present us with what is rather characteristic than expressive in the figure ; or, in other words, with what is rather peculiar than pleasing. This comprehensive view of the subject may be further illus- trated by the art of consistent Dressing. Let the drawing or models of two female forms of equal form and beauty (the one after the ancient order and the other after the fashion of the day) be placed at such a distance from the spectator that the angle of the eye shall repose upon the upper part or only a frac- 208 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. tion of each, and he will find, in the former example, that it will still take in the rest of the figure, although imperfectly ; while by making the same experiment upon the latter, the outer lines of the figure will scarcely be recognized, if distinguished at all ; making the expressive difference between a figure that is not to be mistaken and one that is only left to be guessed at. The statuaries of Greece seem to have been aware of this, by so adapting their draperies to the general form of the figure as to preserve it entire ; and thus the eye has been able to trace it without efibrt, from its highest point to its lowest extreme. From the opposite cause it may be easily imagined to what an extent a figure may sutfer from a superfluity of dress or ornament where even a tasteful individuality may be so contrarily disposed as to interrupt the general form and divert the eye from its natural tendency to take a comprehensive view of the whole. True as it may be that over all such arrangements the judg- ment should preside, or in other words that the eye should be governed by the understanding ; it nevertheless involves a question of Taste in every department ; a quality inwrought with the very existence of Personal and Relative Beauty. TASTE. This quality which is erroneously supposed to be self-origi- nated, of spontaneous nature, and indigenous growth^ does not exist as the natural property or product of the mind ; but con \ sists rather in its aptitude to receive certain agreeable impres- sions which may be made upon it by the power of sensible objects ; and when thus implanted, (like a prepared soil) is dependant upon the same external influences for improvement and increase. The elements of Taste, therefore, having their existence in nature, and out of ourselves, prove that principles cannot be innate ; that we possess no ideas but such as come from sensation or reflection ; that objects are the source of those ideas ; and in proportion to our natural susceptibilities or per- ceptibilities, so we are penetrated with this quality either in PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 209 degree or extent : hence there can be no difficulty in tracing its genealogy upwards to its primitive birth in the mind of our first Parent who must have derived this quality from the same origi- nal source, and that as certainly as he could not have received it by inheritance : here it should be observed that it was in the exercise of Taste, that Adam found his earliest employment, having been put into the Garden of Eden ‘‘ to keep and to dress it ” : we conclude, therefore, that it was in the midst of a Paradise of such beauty and variety he received his first instruc- tions, and may have given the first impulse to those imitative faculties, which have been successively employed, no less for the elevation and improvement of succeeding times, than as so many discoveries of the Parent design which should reflect back the praise to the Great Original. If then in pursuance of the argument, the value of this quality may be determined in any measure from its antiquity, it is no small guide to its importance to learn that it has attended upon the studies and pursuits of all ages ; while Nature in its plenitude and beauty has been furnishing the finest examples, and silently inviting us to avail ourselves of her teachings : all deviations therefore from her main design, or conceited attempts to supply her deficiences will be resented in proportion as her principles are violated : and although instances out of number might be given of the inroads made upon the propriety of her arrangements, we should be cautious of attributing that to want of Taste, which may be due only to total ignorance in relation to its principles. The fact is, that Art rather enters, than invades, the province of Nature, and finds therein its legitimate employment, in select- ing and disposing her scattered beauties after the manner in which she heiself would seem to dictate ; while it is only in the neglect of such opportunities, that we are so often disappointed when we look for something out of the common, rather than out of the natural way. Some persons arrogate to themselves an entire want of judgment in all matters relating to ordinary life, at the same time that it is at the peril of any one to impugn their taste in any thing ; so far it would appear to be the com- mon patrimony of all ; every one is supposed to possess it, and 210 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. those who do not, either pretend to it, or are unconscious of the deficiency. In every grade of society it would seem to take its degrees, and is vulgarly supposed to rise with rank or condition ; sometime indeed very suddenly, for how frequently does it happen that when a man first receives a Title, such concessions are made to his new dignity, as would seem to give him a title to every thing else ; few matters are then too high for him ; he can assert himself without the privilege of Genius, and may he allowed to know every thing but himself: it is useless to tell him there is no royal road to learning ; he has found the short cut to it, and has no longer any occasion to wait the proper season ; his judgment is ripened as though in a hot-house, and a kind of Taste engrafted upon it that he never could have at- tained in the natural way. The same with the influence of property, which serves in its degree to qualify a man after the same manner ; his voice commands attention in assemblies where common sense may cry till it’s hoarse before it can obtain a hearing : by the way may we not suppose that these are the kind of gentlemen who are consulted in all matters of Taste, who preside over the Sciences, and pronounce upon the Arts ?' the first persons probably who saw the necessity of representing Justice as blind ; though so far the emblem is good, for if we are to judge by her unequal distributions among us she must be blind indeed ! the scales are better accounted for than the short weights ; the executive sword may serve to keep the rabble quiet, and the bandage round her eyes may be the best excuse for her blunders : with equal propriety we might assert that the best way of looking at a picture is to shut both eyes ; and really if we are to judge by the enlightened manner in which some private collections are made up, and public prizes awarded, one would think that was just the very method they took. Taste has a very broad establishment over which the imagina- tion of every one seems to preside ; it shews itself in some form or other in the finest models of art, or in the manufacture of Ger- man toys; in the pleasing decorations of the female, or the dressing of a child’s doll : it is the finest travelling companion to the sister arts ; it gives genuineness to the picture that should PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 211 adorn the hall, or assigns it its place on the sign post : it is that which should accompany poetry, or make it by its desertion, of all things the most miserable, and without whch the Apollonic band would make about as much music as a drove of pigs. Taste in its objective sense consists in the disposing of proper things in proper places, in a manner that the judgment shall be as much consulted as the taste displayed in the furnishing, no less than in the construction of house and furniture ; every apartment makes its own demands ; all the paraphernalia should appear as though they found their own places ; insomuch that there should be no more necessity to shew where they ought to be placed, than to tell you that you should not white-wash your floor, or nail your carpet across the ceiling : as to the materials, the forms should be elegant and the proportions just, while in disposing them, the distances should be equal ; but equality without balance is the uniformity that offends. As a simple illustration one chandelier demands the centre of a room ; intro- duce a second and it’s out of place ; put the two at equal dis- tances, and the eye requires a third, which ends in the shifting of the whole in favor of the last : here again we are dictated to by Nature which presents itself in odd numbers, as may be ob- served by the division of the leaf, and the petals of flowers? which appear in threes, fives, and so forth ; a principle we enter into insensibly, and proceed upon accordingly : as a general illustration of this ; take Nature at that convenient distance w’hich comprehends the angle of the eye, and you will perceive the same kind of triplet maintained in other forms ; and in which variety and uniformity will be equally preserved ; or imagine three columns of equal height and distance on the same plane ; let the eye rest on the centre column, and those on either side would seem to retire or incline, presenting an imaginary figure under a pyramidal form, which is supposed to comprehend that which is most pleasing in Nature, and consequently the most agreeable in Art ; the same regard to the common centre is uniformly manifested by persons both of the highest and hum- blest pretensions, extending in their general view of things, from the outer courts to the inner apartments ; from the tas te- 212 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. ful distribution of the flower garden, to the simple device of the ^card-rack and fire-screen, and the very arrangement of chimney ornaments. It may be an overlooked fact, that the natural eye, unaided by rule, is initiated into a kind of ideal or visual perspective, so that the diminution of objects at a distance is with it, more a matter of satisfaction than surprise ; it expects therefore that the same inclination to a point upwards should be uniform with what it is in the habit of seeing horizontally, and is distressed or offended if it does not find the same carried out into Art : this is strictly attended to in our fine national monument on Fish Street Hill, and in every other of deserved reputation ; even the condemned statue of William the Third, formerly recog- nized under the appellation of King’s Cross Battle Bridge, stood out in reflection upon a want of Taste in this particular ; for the skilful mason had there contrived to throw the Effigy into the pointed design, and the King and the toll-gate were so worked up together, that you could scarcely tell which was which ! Had not observation and experience confirmed the fact of the progress of Taste, one might almost be tempted to believe that it has retrograded in its succession ; that is if we are to judge by certain architectural and sculptured examples, which have been latterly forced upon the better understanding, and which (however familiarized they may now be to the eye) were formerly the occasion of so much “ complaining in our streets.” Suffice it to instance only the number of Edifices which have been got up within the last half century, which consist either in little pickings and stealings from others in defiance of all order, or in studied departures from the truth, insomuch that one would think the science had rather run mad than run out, and that the scientifics themselves were more in danger from straight waistcoats than straight lines : it is a strange mistake to suppose that the science has been pre-occupied, for those who flourished centuries ago, might have had to complain of being anticipated by foregoing examples ; only that they would not sacrifice their consistency, and where they have accidentally or truthfully fallen into the same manner, enough, of originality PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 218 has remained to shew that the work was mainly, if not entirely their own. In reverting to monuments, which at their lowest elevation should at least appear to be of an exalted character, it should not be forgotten that there is a standard height for monuments as well as men ; when therefore we look up to them, we are naturally disappointed, if we do not see what we expect to see ; but as they are now presented to us, they are so contracted at the base and limited at the height, one would almost imagine there was an equal value put upon earth and air ; that there was such a thing as sky-rent as well as ground-rent ; and that the pillars were taxed at both ends. This however may be left for the Gentlemen of the Board of Taste to explain ; for if the architects have been all the while, simpiy cutting to order ^ they will only have been taking the underpart of an old gardener, who while working in a gentleman’s garden, very submissively asked his employer as to where he should use the knife, as he did not like cutting out of his own head. Various however have been the speculations upon the Nelson Monument ; some have considered the figure would have been more in place upon a Pedestal ; others have compared it to a huge Corinthian column ; a fragment carried off as it were from some edifice of which it may have formed but a part, and at length made to stand out as a whole ; while other minds more mischievous (perhaps) than just ; having discovered in it a resemblance to a candlestick ; have been for displacing the flam- ing hero in favor of a save-all and extinguisher, as emblematical of the thrifty manner in which it has been put up, and the more prudent manner in which it ought to be put out : still whatever may be the objections taken to the thing itself; we cannot quarrel with the arrangement as it now stands, turning its back upon its little squat companion the Gallery, and looking over the head of Charles I., who is for better reasons turning his back upon them both. Amidst these monumental infirmities, the Duke of Wellington must have been thought chargeable with the greatest neglect because (contrary to all usage) he had an opportunity of superintending his own Image ; had he attended 214 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. as he should have done with a rod and rule, he would have had great occasion for both, especially the former. It would be a great saving of criticism to look at this equestrian carving in Piccadilly, obliquely or in front, you might then take such a fore-shortened view of both objects, that one defect should most charitably cover another, and leave you with no more than a guess at the rider, and to say of the horse^ you can neither make head nor tail of it : but who, upon taking a side view of these two blocks of art, can help comparing them with those little childrens’ cuttings of paper men on horse-back (from which probably the idea was taken), or to those corresponding leaden devices which boys used formerly to cast in a mould, and then set up as a throw for dumps. Well, if these geniuses cannot get reputation in their own day, they may comfort one another with an eye to posterity, although it may be of such a posthu- mous nature, that many generations will pass away before their merits are discovered ! Much has been said about going to Rome, and an Artist is not thought to have finished his education till he had been there : without disputing the propriety of all this, it might be as well to observe by the way, that there are two great errors which wait upon the travels of these gentlemen : first the extreme eagerness with which they run through all the Galleries and Churches, nimium vident^ nec tamen totum^ and the second is, the habit of estimating pictures by their names ; a rule of all others the most productive of ignorance and confusion : under any circumstance however if the taste of the student does not travel with him, his judgement will not be informed ; if in this respect he does not go out furnished, he will not come back finished ; and if he shall bring nothing home, it must be (like an unfreighted vessel) because he took nothing with him : for such reasons it is, that many an Artist whose only out-fit would seem to be a medal, has never been able on his return to make a decent re-appearance, or if he has appeared at all, it has gen- erally been under the new character described by Dibden in the old song of “ Jackey and the Cow.” The same kind of initia- tion seems necessary for polite life ; some persons imagine they PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 215 are not fit for refined society till they have been abroad to mend their manners, which is not unfrequently a method of getting rid of them altogether, for how often do they leave behind them those native gifts they travelled to improve, and return with those foreign tastes and predelictions which only serve to shew how much the worse they are for the exchange. All men consider themselves to be judges of art, more or less, and their ignorance in this particular is frequently in propor- tion to their pretension. This may be illustrated by the story of one, who having a spurious picture that he could not pass off, was advised by a friend to procure a list of all the connoi- seurs of reputed taste, as the only persons likely to be taken in with it : unfortunately for the British market especially there are picture manufacturers who can multiply originals ‘in propor- tion to the credulity of those who will receive them ; and this safe and easy mode of procedure makes all the difference between imitating the coin of art and the coin of the realm ; the one be- ing reckoned a capital joke, and the other a capital ofience ! There is nothing which so entirely supercedes the exercise of taste as that popular method of settling all matters relating thereto by judging of them exclusively by their mode of recep- tion or external effects, there is a current phraseology arising out of this which has the sanction of the indolently wise, and to which the old proverb “ what every body says must be true^” lends a most mischievous hand : this is a guarantee for every species of quackery, and acts with the same kind of certainty as a direction post which happens to point the wrong way. We have every day illustrations of this in such conclusive re- marks as these : — Surprising man that — all the world is running after him ! Such an orator — you may hear a pin drop ! Great preacher — you can scarcely get in at the doors ! Fine work — it goes off like wildfire ! Talented Artist — they buy his pictures off the easel ! High style of writing — it is above the compre- hension ! Overpowering music the other night — two or three persons fainted ! Such a Patriot — people are ready to devour him ! ! and then to sum up all — What does the Times say ! ! ! Although these and a thousand such wise remarks are at the 216 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. basis of that vulgar popularity, it does not follow that the opinions of those who are not in the habit of thinking for them- selves, are so many arguments against the existence of a general pervading taste, but rather as reflections upon the undue exer- cise of it, neither are we to suppose there is no well-earned reputation in the present day, while not a few honourable ex- ceptions mny be taken of those who have been fortunate enough to escape the Fate of Genius I for, alas ! Intellectual wealth is seldom of any proflt to its present possessor ; it becomes a sink- ing fund for the benefit of posterity, while the kind of currency which obtains in its own day when tried and tested by time and truth is rarely any other than so many drafts upon the public credulity. As to the influence of Fashion over natural Taste, it is no- where more conspicuous than in dress, as must appear from the manner in which it is primarily resisted ; at its first entrance there is an endeavour to shut it out ; next it is adopted ; after- wards reconciled ; and at length admired ; and this growing familiarity with what is absurd, is the only way to account for its perversion. Fashion may tyrannize over Taste, but can never extinguish it, it will only keep it awhile in abeyance, and in this place it is pleasing to remark upon the advances it has made towards its recovery in the present style of female dressing, when the ladies’ high head-dresses and spreading hoops assi- mulated them in form to Dutch dolls, or as a closer comparison to their own hand-bells. No kind of dress is admissible which either in form or magnitude shall obscure or embarrass the figure, as there are few instances in which the personal identity can afibrd to be lost, and the instant you can no longer distin- guish one figure from another, the advantage, if any, may be in favor of Joan who then becomes as good as my lady. An en- deavour to assist nature by excessive dressing is just laying upon the subject more than even beauty itself is able to bear, and has the same deteriorating effect upon the person, as the present day attempt to expand the mind must have, by over-crowding it, a mental process corresponding with the manual one of gold- beating or wire-drawing, which abates of the substance in PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 217 proportion as the material is extended, and might be as aptly compared to an impoverished fountain which is weakened at its source by being divided into streams. Thus it is with our literary atlasses who need to be reminded that the mind is no more capable than the body of sustaining any weight they may be pleased to lay upon it. The same with many an Art or Science which finds its only resources in a tasteful individuality ; not so the comprehensive mind, which seems rather encumbered than enriched by the process, as must appear from the effort it is constantly making to break away from the slavery of detail. This tendency to individualize has been the prevailing error of the young student in every department of Art, Science, or Literature: a faculty for productiveness which has been the making of so many men of small things, and happens to be one of those mistakes which so far from being rectified by time seems absolutely to grow out of it: for instance, we are living in an age of complexity where nothing is more talked of, or so little understood as that antique word simplicity ; a word which ac- cording to their own version of it, has become so lost to its original meaning that there seems no chance of its ever being restored . Much has been said about the rules of Poetry by those me- chanics in the art, who would never confine their criticisms to it, had they but sufficient Taste to elevate them above the trifling conceits of their measured graces : although a man of genuine Taste may not write by rule, he may always be tried by it. By rule we are to understand the propriety and not the mere mechanism of the art, where expletives are pressed into the service to supply the exact number of feet ; the words de- ranged for the convenience of the accent, and close rhyming insisted on as essential beyond this to the sonorous termination of the lines ; on the contrary the art rightly consulted consists rather in throwing the harmony into the lines themselves than the end of them ; and the loose or apparently careless rhymes might then take their chance, or act as they frequently do, like a slight discord in music to break the monotony of the sounds. There would seem to be a kind of triumph over the fate of D D 218 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. Poetry in the present day, for in compliance with the Fashion, we are constantly hearing it remarked “ that Poetry is going out,” in like manner that schoolboys in their seasons of play might say of their tops and marbles that “ they are going out,” and indeed it would be to the credit of these modish objectors if they had as good reasons for saying so : but no, they tell you among other modern discoveries, that it is the language of savages : it is true that the finest poetry was written in the earliest times, but it does not follow that those who wrote it, were the savages of those times ; they had all their energy with- out their barbarity, and when persons go to church and join in the beautiful compositions of the psalms, it would not assist them much in their devotions to look upon David as the chief among savages and the founder of a most corrupt and depraved taste. It must be confessed, however, that much of the poetry of the day gives little employment to criticism when it appears in the shape of blank verse, becoming as it does its own com- mentary by being blank indeed ; but let it assume its more familiar character, and be complete in rhyme and measure, and if the writer shall not fail in this particular, he has only to fall in with the fashion, and then be as “ rich and racy,” that is, as ridiculous as he pleases ; and as to those whose riotous descrip- tions are not to be confined within their own sphere; but who would ‘‘ tread on stars and talk with gods,” surely the distur- bance they create in this lower world, should be sufficient for them without setting the whole universe together by the ears 1 The same want of Taste we frequently have to lament in elabo- rate and ceaseless prose, where a number and weight of words, the substitutes for thoughts as light as air, seem to be handled as dexterously, and with about as much meaning, as a cat play- ing with a cork. Nothing betrays a want of Taste more than an improper choice of words, however correct the parts of speech may be ; this dis- discordancy may not arise from ignorance so much as an affec- tation of superior diction in this great day of large pursuits and lofty pretensions ; and it would be well for our literary adven- turers, should the object not be taken for the end ; otherwise PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 219 the magnitude of their undertaking might be attended with the same glorious results as when “ The King of France with twenty thousand men, Marched up the hill, and then marched down again ! ” With respect to words ! when we consider the wondrous in- crease of their population, and the unhealthy influence it must necessarily have over the intellect, it would seem to be one of the greatest reflections on the age that there is no provision made (as in other cases) for their emigration. It appears that Addison in his day had taste enough to foresee the growing evil ; for we read in one of his papers, that this vegetating disease was beginning to take root ; in consequence of which, orders were issued that any one infected with the complaint, should be arrested by the Spectator with the following sanitary directions for his recovery' — To the Infirmary with him ! ! ! How it has since happened that such inroads have been made on the understanding by this disorderly tenantry of the mind, is only to be accounted for by attributing their prolific birth and unruly behaviour to what might be termed “ Marriage-a-la- Mode” in literary life. As. — When for defence of wit and sense, An union was expedient ; They very soon gave birth to words. And found them most obedient. But now they grow, in size and show. And consequence about them ; They turn their Parents out of doors. And learn to do without them. It may be, however, that these manifold writers proceed upon the thrifty principle of Natural Philosophy, that “ nothing runs to waste,” in which case we must allow them their moral and physical uses, either in the exercise of the reader’s patience, or the saving of his eye-sight and understanding ; and as to the political importance of a wordy eloquence ; of that we may be assured by the wisdom of Parliament itself, especially when it meets for what is called despatch of business ! But apart from 220 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. all such weighty considerations, there can be but one excuse for prolixity in writing, and that is, when persons have but few ideas they do well to make the most of them ; from among such we may expect to find a class of objectors who are always com- plaining of “ poverty of language ” : now, if they mean poverty of thought we can readily acquit them of the mistake, and point them to the simplicity of the inspired writings, the sublimest portions of which (as though in contempt of all human aid) have descended to us in monosyllables, while their own con- ceptions, should they rise no higher than those contained in a child’s primer, are generally supported by words of such dimen- sions as to be fit only for orthographical exercises. That sterling property of the mind, the art of condensing, possesses beyond its force and impressiveness, a creative power which is co-extensive with the mind itself ; for example, what a train of reflections have emanated from, and been embodied in, many a single line or couplet in which we have been pre- sented with a bold but simple outline of description or sentiment which the familiarized mind will not fail to fill up with its own imaginings ; and that as naturally as for the opposite reason that many a self-sufiicient attempt on the part of the author to supply the intermediate links in his own chain of thought, has tended rather to circumvent than assist the reader’s imagination by leaving it no materials to work upon. This does not militate against a corresponding individuality in those particulars where the memory is supposed to have failed of its hold, or the mind of its observations ; but in either view of it, the author’s des- cription should so fall in with the current of the reader’s reflec- tions as to leave him equally unfettered in his imagination, and scarcely conscious of being dictated to as to the manner in which he is led to carry out his seemingly new but natural train of thought. Thus it will ever be in literature especially, where Taste is associated with judgment, but should it exist apart, it were better (perhaps) to be extinct altogether than act as a mere coloring ingredient to that which otherwise might never go down. In no instance however is the trickery of taste more PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 221 conspicuous than in the modern method of what is called, “ getting up of books,” still it has some latent uses ; for what- ever advances it may or may not have made in the art of writing^ there is certainly great improvement in the art of gilding ; and to those who are more acquainted with the cover than the contents, it must appear to be the “ golden age ” of literature. Alas ! how many a shining volume would seem to make the same annual appeal to a kind and considerate public, as the distressed Bellman in all his tricked-up finery ; and may with equal reason sympathise in the same inward complaint when he exclaims — Careful, my Masters clothe my outward skin, But leave me miserably lined within. As to Taste as it is now displayed in so many of our musical compositions, we may judge of the influence of Fashion over the science, by the manner in which it is able to play off its vagaries on the ear without the consent of the understanding, really one would think that it had reserved to itself the exclusive faculty of separating sense from sound, were it not for the many eloquent specimens we have of their dis-union. There is not a charm in poetry, nor an effect in painting, which may not be felt and responded to in music. Music is not so unintelligible as it is indescribable ; possessing that which either falls in with the sentiment or produces it ; and when it shall fail in these particulars we may fairly suspect it is a cheat upon the senses. Every other science may he said to come under mathematical demonstration ; while this with equal capabilities, but greater difficulties of being reduced to principle, is left as it were to tell its own tale. Time and the lasting impression it makes, is per- haps the best test of its truth, as we know from experience how we dismiss one tune after another (pleasing as the passing vibrations may be on the ear) till we have nothing left, but such as we never wish to part with ; and the reviving names of Handel, Mozart, Purcell, and the like, still remain with us, to shew that there are no by-gone days in the records of musical taste. There are those who imagine that a strict attention to time 222 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. leaves no room for the exercise of taste, without considering that a neglect of this particular in order to the display of their musical powers over those of the composer’s, becomes subver- sive of the very end and meaning, and has the same perverting influence over emphasis in music, as a total disregard to punc- tuation over intelligence in writing. In this latter connexion a curious fact might be adverted to of a gentleman of great self- celebrity, who, in order to shew (in his public readings) his superiority over all such minor points, would run over every division of a line with the rapidity of a race-horse ; and then make a full stop after the first word that should begin the next sentence, an ingenious mode of delivery, which to his audience had the same surprising effect as the old school catch of “ I saw a peacock With a fiery tail — I saw a comet Tumble down hail — I saw the clouds, &c,. &c.” These departures from Taste f whether the exception he of the ear or the understanding), go the whole length of their distance to establish the rule ; hence it must have been observed in the former case, that a passionate love for music is by no means incompatible with a total absence of taste in the exercise of it ; and were certain ungifted persons to confine their love for it by a simple attendance on oratorios or concerts they might get full credit for that to which they never could attain ; but unfortunately while they are penetrated with the sound and perhaps with the sense ; they are so imper- vious to the method by which the whole is produced, that they must forthwith become performers themselves, being so far qualified as to be sensible of every thing but their deficiency. Four or five gentlemen, amateurs and friends from very sympathy, mistaking a predeliction for the science, for the elements of the science itself, attempted to get up a concert of their own. The conductor was a vocalist, whose voice seemed as though it had been nursed in a crow’s-nest and discharged from a rookery ; the rest were instrumental performers. Of the first and second violin, it might be said that no one in his musical senses would ever wish for a third ; the next gentleman being a learner on the fiute, it was agreed that he should seize upon a note when ever he could make it, and so come in where PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 223 he could ! while the other, who was an asthmatic blower on the clarionet, was allowed to stop in the middle of a bar to take breath : here they thought that all would end harmoniously ; but the door being shut for the confinement of the sound, report says that the only auditors in the room were a dog and cat, who cried most piteously to be let out ; while all they got for their pains, was to be fated with a gentleman before alluded to, in being “ indicted for a nuisance, and bound over to keep the peace.” Besides the descrepancies of the ear, there are those of the eye, and these are no less manifest by what is imagined to be an exquisite choice of art, than in the unskilful practice of the art itself. As one specimen of refined ignorance ; a gentleman who had returned from Borne, declared that till he had been there, he really did not know what art was : now this gentleman had seen the finest collections in England, and what ditference there could be between an old master there and an old master here, we must leave for the young master to decide : this reminds us of a man who fancied he could leap over a five-barred gate at Athens, but could not leap over a stool in his own country ; or of another who saw no inconsis- tency in bringing two difierent casts out of the same mould ! Such has been the deteriorating effects of Fashion even over legitimate Art, that we are left to mark it in its degrees down- ward, and take the climax at the wrong end. It is unnecessary to remark that it commenced with the highest walks of Art : scriptural, classical, and historical subjects ; from thence it de- scended to the allegorical and pastoral ; and in succession to those of familiar life, and mere animal painting : portraiture the while attending its steps, and landscape, which being out of the reach of fashion, has ever served to enliven its borders. Hence we have no difficulty in tracing it descent from the last judge- ment to the cut-finger ; and from Paul preaching at Athens to the rabbit on the wall ! To follow this quality Taste through all the grades and shades of the representative art would be endless indeed, insomuch as to require space only for the passing remark, that the success- ful practice of Painting involves a question of time as well as 224 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. talent ; for example we are aware that the perfection of Poetry has been arrived at in not a few instances by the ordinary faci- lities of the mother tongue, but the language of art is still to be acquired, and an antideluvian life is not long enough to answer all its purposes ; to what extent then that portion of the stu- dent’s limited space, when confined to the minor points of detail or consumed upon elaborate finishing may entrench upon the higher properties of art, is worthy at least of his consideration. Nothing is of more importance than that of giving the pecu- liar tastes of young persons the right direction ; and Parents and Guardians would do well to look impartially to it : mistake their talents at the first outset, and you ruin them for life ! One great hindrance to their advancement is the tendency of so many Parents to see themselves through the medium of their children, like “ Narcissus beholding himself in the stream,” nor would they look upon them with such admiring eyes, did they not imagine they saw themselves in reflection : from such par- tial causes, they watch their unfoldings with growing pride, and mistake every little freak of fancy for some extraordinary im- pulse of genius. It is in consequence of such predelictions that so many Raphaels and Michael Angelos have been conjured up in families of the humblest pretensions, and are early marked out for envy and admiration to agitate the times and disturb posterity. A Mr. C , a fond parent, happening to have one of these precocious shoots, took him and his performances to the Presi- dent of the Royal Academy, under the conviction that he would he taken with a fit of surprise, and so “ bring him out” as it is called. The President looked very gravely at the drawings, and still more so at the boy ; when turning to the father he said : “ Your son will never do for the arts : he has no eye !” — “ No eye, sir 1” said the astonished father, who always thought he had two. “ I should rather say,” said the President, he has a bad eye.” — “ Nay, sir,” said the father, “ I assure you his eyes are very strong.” — I mean to say, then,” said the President, petulently, “ he has no eye for the arts.” It will be difficult to conceive of Taste apart from its influ- PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 225 ences ; the very elements of true taste are to be found in the false ; even a perverted or diverted taste, supposes the subject still to have the materials, but not having the faculty of putting them together, is the reason why it becomes promiscuous and frequently disorderly: again, we must have observed how persons possessing what is termed the common eye, are struck with meritricious elfects, whether of poetry, music, or painting, espe- cially the latter : this may be because they rather surprise than delight them by stealing a march upon the senses ; and thus before they are sufficiently recovered, in steps the w^ondering part of the community attended by certain connoisseurs (so called) of acquired blindness to forestal their better opinions or confirm their errors. When after a season, the astonishment is, how such things could possibly have obtained with the public ; we must consider that we are less indebted to its patience, than the liberal policy of those who may have more reasons than mere stupidity for helping off their performances being ever ready to assist the destitute of every thing but money. It does not impugn the notion of a general pervading taste, to instance those taking absurdities which from time to time have amused the town ; it is in their very nature so to do ; for even the indus- trious mind, relaxing from the fatigue of thought, will fre- quently allow itself to be wrought upon by that which it cannot calmly consent to, and hence the seeming preference it gives to what might rather agree with the inclination than accord with the taste. Should it be objected, that if Taste is of that univer- sal nature ; why it happens that so many have burthened us with compositions which seem utterly destitute of this quality ; it may be answered, that it does not argue their absence of taste so much as that they have not taste enough to feel how much they want it ; these we may take as exceptions to the number which have the ability to display it, and the far greater num- ber which have sufficient taste to restrain them from making a public exhibition of it. From the whole then it would appear that there is a general pervading taste which may exist without culture ; nevertheless the advantages arising from their union is incalculable. Quintilian observes “ The learned know the 226 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTT. principles of art ; the illiterate its elfects ; ” hence we are to suppose that Taste is a facility of the mind to be moved by what is truthful in nature, and excellent in art, but science must be informed of the truth of the art, by the principles whereby those effects are produced ; and although this remark has re- ference to the capabilities, rather than the essence of this quality, it may serve to fix the boundary line between Taste and Science. CHARACTER AND EXPRESSION. Character and Expression (so often confounded with each other) are quite distinct in their meaning, and so far from being united are seldom to be seen together in the same face. Character may be distinguished as that which lies on the surface of the face, and Expression by that which is produced by the infiuences underneath it. Character is no other than peculiarity of form and feature, while Expression may be con- sidered as the complexionary portraiture of the mind ; making this sensible difference between the two, — that the former is marked by what is accidental in or incidental to Nature, and the latter by that which is intentional or significant in it. The pictorial representations of certain great personages are suf- ficiently illustrative of this ; where, by a few strokes of the burin the most extravagant likenesses are produced, in which there can be no mistake. The most expressive heads, though unmarked by Character, have, nevertheless, their peculiarities or defects ; and it simply requires the exaggeration of these to make the difference between caricature and genuine portraiture. As the heads of statesmen are generally sported with after this manner, we would not libel their excellencies so much as to assert they are good likenesses, but certainly they are very great ones, for they are absolutely more like the men than the men are like themselves ! Still, they have (like every thing else) their uses ; and, if they are not able to contribute to the public good, they are made at least to contribute to its amusement. PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 227 In walking the streets of the metropolis, we have the finest opportunities of enlarging our facial observations : for in such a collection, all the expressions seem brought together as though for immediate comparison ; hence we find in the great multitude the mixed Expression is the prevailing one, and has that neutral- izing effect upon the mass, that they move on as undistinguished as if they had no Expression at all. The more vulgar or un- refined of this community do not intrude themselves especially on our notice, as they carry in their countenances little more than those feelings and emotions which supply the place of thought and reflection, and which leave behind them a vacancy that is supplied by mere cast of character. What arrests the eye in passing is that more turbulent and depraved condition of face, which does not average above one in a hundred, of such as are not to be brought suddenly or severely under physiognomical survey. Thus it is the different grades of society may be marked in their descent, and never more visibly than in those natures, whose occupation lies among the brute creation, but who, so far from partaking of the milder Expression of the animals under their dominion, allow their countenances to yield to every savage impulse, till all their individuality of Character is absorbed in one general look of ferocity. The truly good Expression, when it shall belong to either of these classes, and which for distinct- tion sake may be termed the upper and lower, arises in both from the same cause, that' is, from sentiment finely expressed or coarsely conveyed; this elevates the ordinary man above his class, and gives the other his finished excellence ; in the first it must be natural, in the other it may be either natural or ac- quired, and forms that word in common use, “ Genteel,” upon the nature of which so many mistakes are made for want of knowing in what it essentially consists. 228 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTT. G E N T I L I T Y. It must be recollected that a man is no more born a gentle-^ man than a giant ; that it is not in birth but in education that the best habits are cultivated and the worst removed ; that there is an assimilation in polite connexions to what is modish or be- coming, as a matter of necessity even where it may not be of choice ; and this produces a look of placidity and self-possession which will give that almost undefinable word “ Gentility ” its best signification. In proportion to the refinement of education Expressson is increased and Character diminished ; for example, we find the civilized world as much distinguished by Expression as the savage tribes are marked by Character ; and in proportion to the most barbarous or refined of these, so we find an increase of either : for precisely the same reasons the higher orders of any country have the same expressive, because the same intel- lectual advantage over the lower classes ; the national character is always to be found among the vulgar of each nation, their peculiarity of look, and even of form and feature (the necessary influence of the mind over the body), being contracted by that common intercourse which distinguishes them more from their superiors than from one another. This must be evident to per- sons of any observation, as, whether across the Channel or the other side the Tweed, the politest of our neighbours have little or no personal difference with us ; and as to those national pecu- liarities which separate the inferior classes from either, they make them so exclusively their own by the manners and habits alluded to, that a kind of countenance which receives no coun- tenance from Nature is frequently worn by them as though by common consent. If, therefore, some moral or mental discipline is necessary to subdue the character, refine the expression, and give that equanimity which is preserved in superior life, it be- comes more difficult to judge between the disposition which is naturally amiable, and the one that would have the reputation of being thought so ; for where sincerity is wanting, education PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 229 may effect to cover but will not conceal the lines nor their designs. Much may be discovered under a seeming repose of cheek which is not entirely at rest ; and many a bosom that would not yield to one turbulent passion, may, nevertheless, be the nursery of quiet resentment; giving the vulgar their noisy advantage over them, in getting rid of their feelings by a full discharge of what may be called the temper -delivery ! Amongst polite and well-bred persons there is a mutual recognition of countenance, as though they were secretly influenced in their judgments of others by what they would desire to look like themselves ; this sentimental kind of masonry is the last thing the vulgar look for, and the only thing they are not able to see : their highest ideas of character or condition are chiefly conveyed to them through the medium of dress ; nothing is more taking with them than a spruce and dapper air, or can come up to him who — “ Looks like a Squire of high degree, When drest in his Sunday clothes. In point of Beauty we are much as we come from the mould? but in point of Expressson we are very much after the fashion of the model, according as we choose to cut and chip it about. Men are in this sense as much the architects of their faces as their fortunes, as must be manifest by those contrary dispositions that shew how much the worse they are for tear as well as wear. We are apt to confine Expression to the face^ because we are not in the habit of looking for it anywhere else, forgetting that there must be a corresponding movement of the body, answering to every emotion of the mind ; and that a general Expression throughout the whole frame must vary with every sentiment that animates it is as certain as that there can be no member of the body affected without every member suffering with it. Were the same observations we apply to the face directed to other involuntary movements, we should have an expressive explanation of the whole, which we could no more doubt of than describe: of this sympathy we may be assured by the visible signs of those affections which cannot be mistaken. We 230 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. know that when the face exhibits signs of fear, the body does of trembling, and it follows as certainly, if not as conspicuously, that a joyous countenance will be responded to by an elasticity of the muscles of the limbs, and so of every other action of the body. How far individual observation might carry us may be ascertained by the shepherd, who sees as much variety in his fold as we do in our flock ; nor would they look alike to us if we were in the habit of watching over them instead of preying upon them: not that inferior animals have equal expressions so much as distinguishing ones, and of this we might be better judges were we disposed to be. As to the force of Expression and its ready obedience to the act which determines it, this cannot be better expressed than in the language of the drama, “ the suiting the action to the word.” What else can be meant by feeling for an attitude, where the mind is to be conveyed into any part of the body ] — a faculty which is required of every finished actor, in distinction from those who “ saw the air with their hands.” The legitimate performer, like the accomplished artist, is one who is supposed to have reached the highest point of the imi- tative art_, and is not only expected to enter into the spirit and meaning of the subject, but frequently to rise so far above the author’s conceptions as to supply all that is wanting in character or effect: this he must do, or “ his occupation is gone.” It does not even appear that Shakespere became his own commentary, but required some living illustration of his extraordinary powers : this, it is unnecessary to say, devolved upon Garrick, through whose medium he was audibly introduced to the public, and made as it were his first appearance in life so many years after his death ! It is in such a two-fold connexion that Expression may be said to be literally embodied, while its truthfulness may be tested no less from its common sympathy with our nature than its capability of being brought under the governing prin- ciples of art. PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 231 STILL-LIFE EXPRESSION. Expressive Beauty has respect to more than is generally ima- gined: it is to be seen in vegetable as well as animal life ; else why is landscape termed poetical or classical, but from those expressive views of it, in which it affects the ideal or approaches the sublime ; or where, furnishing materials for the finest poetical descriptions, it becomes a subject which requires the eye of the mind to perceive and the pencil of the artist to imitate? for this will be equally conspicuous in those who have cultivated the art of poetry, and those who have painted with all the poetry of the art. Nay, we may carry this observation still further: even the grain on wood, or the veins on marble, give a kind of Ex- pression to Still-life, and why ? not because of the number but variety of their forms ; if these should be unpleasing it would no longer be variety but complexity, and which, as far only as they might present the eye with anything but a complete blank, would be preferable to no form at all. Nature abhors a vacuum, is distressed by monotony, and is only to be satisfied by the manner in which her outline is to be filled up : and however various the process may be, unless uniformity be preserved, she will fall from her balance and fail of giving us either diversity or design. It is true that there can be no beauty without uniformity, that is, if by uniformity is meant balance and equality, and not side-by-side monotony. Uniformity or Unity, therefore, is no more monotony than variety is quantity, and is as far removed from sameness as variety is from disorder. ORNAMENTAL BEAUTY. It must be curious to observe the unity or agreement that may be found in every department of Relative Beauty, and which is nowhere more conspicuous than when viewed in connection with the sister arts. Take only by way of illustration the analogy 232 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. subsisting between poetry and painting, although the same remarks shall be equally applicable to music. Classification, or the arranging of verses or sentences after an order that shall be most agreeable to the mind, is what is intended by grouping in a picture in a manner that shall be equally pleasing to the eye. Sentiment in writing may be compared to Expression in art : harmony answers to keeping, and embellishment to color, while composition and design are the same in both. The opposition of words and sentences is applicable to contrast of form, and light and shadow, and may be termed the very antithesis of painting as of writing, having each for their object strength and force of effect. All the minor considerations in one department have their corresponding individuality in the other, and the art of putting proper words in proper places is no other than execu- tion in painting, or that facility of drawing and handling which is the artist’s acquired means of setting down his ideas, the imagination or thought being essentially the same in either, and comprehending or giving birth to the whole. With respect to Ornamental Beauty, we cannot detach from it that noble appendage the hair without serious loss, the value of which can only be appreciated by the consideration of what kind of appearance the handsomest face would make without it : a paucity of this material is severely felt under any colored circumstances, but should the quality be such as one could desire, the quantity would never seem too much. A fine head of hair might be so ill-disposed by the wearer, that it were almost better to be disposed of altogether, while it is of ines- timable advantage to those who know how to take advantage of it : this is the only flexible material that can be twirled about at pleasure, and it may be well for the features they are not quite so yielding, as there would be less chance for their remaining in than being twisted out of place. This may be sufficient to shew how few persons might be safely trusted with Beauty, if they had it as much at their own disposal. Nature is very considerate in her arrangements, and so conforms the hair to faces that are not formed alike, that where she has left a facial defect is as solicitous to cover it, as when she has conferred a particular PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 233 beauty she is as forward to discover it. Angular jaws, with sudden retiring cheeks, in faces inclined to be lengthy, have (generally) their accommodating locks hanging over the excep- tionable parts which they shadow or divert ; while the rounder and fuller-covered cheeks are not so well supplied, being better able to afford the loss : notwithstanding this kind provision, we see persons inverting the use of this ornament by keeping it off the face or protruding forward as occasion may not require. These natural capabilities are sufficient to shew to what an extent such intentions may be frustrated by too strict a confor- mity to fashion. Scientifics in hair should, therefore, be espe- cially reminded that Nature consulted will always suggest what is proper, and leave no more to taste than is necessary to improve upon her hints. It may not be out of place here to make a few remarks upon the artificial method in which Beauty may be heightened or its deficiences supplied, as especially addressed to those whose only object would seem to be the setting themselves off to the worst advantage, by dressing so inversely as to con- ceal their beauties and expose their defects. The tone and texture of the skin, generally, depend upon the nature and color of the hair whether fair or dark, and from thence it derives its richness, transparency, or beauty ; black or blue eyes are in the greatest request, but we are rather indebted to circumstance than color for their beauty, so much depends upon how they are formed in the head and what contributions they receive from the surrounding parts, as, unless they are pro- portionably chastened or shaded, they may become obtrusively bright, almost to fierceness : if the intermediate lines and shades are rightly disposed, the objectionable color of the eyes may be so overpowered by the expression as not to be inquired after ; their brilliancy alone being that fugitive part of Beauty which, like the red on the lips, and the roses on the cheeks, come and go, (though not at pleasure,) and leave in many a delicate sub- ject as much interest in its absence as will compensate for their loss. The very dress may receive instructions from the hair and eyes : the harmony of colors should be studied to suit the com- plexion, and the contrast of colors to set it off. Clear and 234 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. transparent skins may wear almost anything with impunity, as they will either be heightened by contrast, or come into associa- tion with something as pure as themselves. Sallow, dusky, uneven, and all the intermediate complexions, however light the tones may be, require the intermediate colors : for where the native hue is of that mixed description, it should never be brought into contact with the primitive colors, or any that are gay, gaudy, or bright, that are likely to act upon them in reflec- tion. Colors and materials should be chosen of such a texture, tone, or mixed quality, as may either neutralize or carry off all that is superfluous in the skin, or give all that is worth retain- ing its most agreeable effect. It may be added, that although black and white are no more colors than light and darkness, still they act as such, and so powerfully as to produce a greater con- trast than the positive colors, let them be ever so pure and intense. Now in all this, fashion must be consulted to avoid the affec- tation of singularity ; for the secret of dressing gracefully is in those gentle deviations from it that have more regard to the form and complexion : indeed, you may almost know a gentle- woman as much from the choice of her dress as her acquaint- ances. Beauty is among those rare qualities which no lessons of wisdom have taught us to look upon with indifference, nor has any effort of wit been able to bring it into contempt ; even Socrates must have had a pretty good idea of Beauty when he advised the ladies of his day to endeavour to make themselves as handsome as possible ; of course he could not have intended this as cosmetic advice, for he would have recommended a fine morning’s walk for the complexion in preference to cold cream. No doubt the sweet qualities of the mind will have a wonderful effect in the tempering down and modifying of unpleasant lines, and if this were more generally believed, we should be probably furnished with still more agreeable-looking persons than we are in the habit of seeing. PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 235 PORTRAIT-PAINTING THE DESIDERATUM ITS ADVANTAGES AND MISERIES. In considering the subject in reference to Painting, it might be superfluous to remark, that there are persons who have no taste for the arts ; but they are generally found among such as have no taste for anything : they affect an indifference to its exquisite appeals, to supply a conscious deficiency in themselves which they suspect might be otherwise attributed to ignorance or insipidity. Others, who may be less impervious to its claims, betray sufficient interest to shew that they are moved rather by what is enviable than excellent in the pursuit ; while there are those who (still more unfriendly to the practice) would look at the ruin of Art as they would on the ruins of Athens, and imagine they see as much beauty in both: all, as it were, attaching a kind of reputation to the want of this distinguishing faculty, which in any other connection would call for the application of that unaccountable saying — “ they don’t know great A from a chest of drawers ! ” Persons of this description might be profitably reminded that there is not such an independent feeling of the mind (considered in itself) as Admiration^ nor any passion that can be so amiable indulged in ; for, as certainly as it supposes a sym- pathy with all that is beautiful in Nature or Art, so it must possess within itself the elements of all it admires ; although this should not be said without making every deduction for the ignorance or insufiiciency of such as are too readily taken with all that is false or meretricious. Beyond this, there are to be found those who affect a superiority over every sensation which may be simply induced by what is natural and agreeable; without considering that infinitely more taste may be manifested by the discovery of beauties than judgment evinced by the de- tection of faults. 236 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. Among the many miseries of unappreciated Art with which we are familiar there are none that are more to be lamented than in that essential branch of it — Portraiture, which either is or ought to be the desideratum^ inasmuch as the pencil, in the hands of the skilful artist, may be used with all the certainty of a mathematical instrument, and capable of deciding the points of Beauty and Expression, for all but those who are unwilling to be convinced ; for wdth such persons he puts himself in the position of the common liar, ‘‘ who is not to be believed although he speak the truth.” All other professions have their good, bad, and indifferent ; but, unluckily, artists are all disturbers of the peace ; the best from having too much ability, and the w^orst from having too little of it ; the first from giving it to nature in full of all demands, and the others for not paying her what is really her due. It does not affect the question to say that people look at one another with different eyes since they know each other under different aspects : we cannot say, either, that colors affect the senses all alike ; but there is no dispute whether this or that color be red, blue, or green, unless it be with those w'ho are in the habit of saying ‘‘black’s white.” We may assume upon these optical differences by their practical bearing upon the perceptibilities of those students of art who are allowed to be the closest observers of Nature; for example, let half-a-dozen Portraits be taken by different hands, in the same point of view, and they shall each resemble the original, although not one might compare with another. In either of the cases there would be no doubt as to the identity, but the different medium through which the object itself may be perceived by Nature, or represented by Art, can alone account for why in fact or ap- pearance it becomes a matter either of caprice or choice. As to the manner in which the subjects regard themselves, it must have been frequently observed that there is at first sight of a newly-drawn Portrait such a startling incredulity, that the sitters are at a loss for the moment to know which to quarrel with, the artist or themselves ; and if they have hitherto been under agreeable mistakes, they would rather cherish the delu- PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 237 sioii than be undeceived by such a wholesome and admonitory fact ; this may be further accounted for by that familiarity with ' the glass which does not leave space enough at each interview at it to mark the progress of time and change upon the counte- nance, and that flattering resemblance which is constantly being presented to them through the medium of self-love and quick- silver. Philosophers tell us that the greatest piece of self- knowledge is to know ourselves, to which might be added, that as great a piece of self-knowledge is to know our faces; for instance, a lady may approach her toilet as many times in a day as she pleases ; every gentleman who ties a cravat will look in the glass three hundred and sixty-flve times in the year at least, and yet they shall have a more imperfect knowledge of their own faces than that of the stranger, whom they may not have seen more than half-a-dozen times, and could say, I should know that person again anywhere ! Here again the mirror is not in fault : self-love, it may he suspected, has some share in the de- lusion, and to account for this, both mathematically and morally; it should be observed that we look at our own faces in the glass horizontally and perpendicularly, but at our neighbour’s faces out of it perspectively ; that is, we look at our own faces in one point of view, but at our neighbours in all directions ; beyond which we do not dwell upon our defects or peculiarities, those we leave behind, and carry away those more agreeable but less tangible forms which are the first to fade upon our recollection. As one instance only of our want of personal knowledge, few persons have ever seen their profiles except by design, or if by accident they have caught a glimpse of them, by mirrors placed obliquely, how few have known themselves under that new aspect. It is unfortunately one of the arts of recognition (a strange perversion in the temper), that persons know one another more by their peculiarities than their excellencies ; nevertheless, there are certain mysterious-looking beings who flatter themselves they are able to defy observation altogether, without suspecting that the science rightly consulted leaves the most equivocal face no chance of escaping. 238 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTT. In reverting to Portraiture, there is little doubt but that it is owing to the same familiar and partial causes as the every day deceit of the mirror that husbands and wives cannot be brought to look favorably upon each others Portraits ; and when friends or acquaintances do not think them young and handsome enough, it is generally where the gentleman gives good wine or the lady has any pretensions to beauty. To pay a compliment, even in the ordinary way, requires more than ordinary skill, and however adroitly it may be managed, it is seldom attempted without suspicion : insincere persons are secretly aw^are of this by the discovery that it can never be so unsuspectingly conveyed as through the medium of Portraiture, and are, therefore, the more particularly indebted to the artist for furnishing them with the only opportunity perhaps they may ever have in their lives of paying their best personal respects to the original at his, the artists’, own expence ; hence such remarks in his hearing as, the Portrait is certainly not flattered,” or, “ it is not sufficiently intellectual ” — mere passing observations as they would have him or her to think, but quite sufficient to answer all the pur- poses of self-interest, and wonderfully adapted to favor the views of self-love ; especially should it be too flattering a re- semblance for the adverse party to recognize, and too faithful an one for the parties represented to reconcile. It is true that the presence of the painter may put these objectors under polite restraints, and silent many such uncourteous and uncalled-for remarks in the studio ; but they will be sure to find their full expression out of it, and thus it is, it so often follows that the production which has been welcomed by its friends and admirers on the easel, has found a very different reception when trans- ferred to the private wall. Young and well-looking persons are too well satisfied with what Nature has done for them to have many pictorial cares and fears; the artist finds his greatest difficulty with those of maturer age, who are passing the meridian or have just crossed the line, and are thus tacitly admonished of having gone so far along the road of life ! This the intelligent artist is aware of, and is not long in discovering that when persons arrive at a PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 239 certain period of life, they have as great a demand for youth as beauty ; hence he imagines he has something to do, and com- mences a revision of the lines of the face, with such modifications and omissions of all that is rigid or square, as to affect the agree- able compromise between Age and Youth, by making the sitter look like an old Cherub. But even this mixed style of repre- sentation is greatly preferred by some, to any advance the artist may make upon their years : for this would not only be an attack upon their vanity, but to the same extent upon their lives, by seeming to rob them of so much of their existence ; a kind of feeling which answers to the fact of those poor ignorant dis- contents, who, when the old style was altered, did not under- stand their being put so much forwarder on the calender, but demanded a restitution of their time from their oppressors, vociferating, “ Give us back our eleven days ! ” Thus it is that many an artist does nothing for his subject by attempting to do too much for him, and may acconnt for their frequent failures in taking Portraits of persons of rank or condition. As it is at their peril to increase a defect, what they cannot omit they en- deavour to modify, and whatever they present them with over and above their natural claims, they consider as so much obli- gation conferred, but for which their sitters have no cause to be very thankful, not aware that Nature can give better reasons for withholding supplies than they can give for supplying deficien- cies. It must be confessed, nevertheless, that in many cases no small portion of resentment has been measured out to the painter for treating his half-conscious subject with some little peculiarities which he or she had flattered themselves would be kept out of sight. Whatever may be said about the failure of Portraits, they will be (generally) found more faithful to the subjects than the subjects to themselves; and it is in conse- quence of their being represented in a new rather than in a false light, that they will not recognize what they cannot recon- cile. Some persons think they may have as much beauty as they are able to pay for, and that it is but fair it should rise or fall according to the price, without the least idea of what it truly is they gain by such expensive failures. On the contrary. 240 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. it is very provoking to find that where the painter is really the most in fault, it happens to be just in those points where he is considered the least so by those who should be taught that it is a libel upon Nature, (in the way she is generally represented) to say she can be flattered ; hence it is we have so many futile attempts to shew that she can be, which are not only gratefully acknowledged^ but become as it were the approved failings of the mechanic in the art, who finds by experience that if he can only treat his subjects with bright eyes, rosy cheeks, and fine complexions they are willing to part with their money and their intellect too. If such Portraits of our humanity are intended for cases that are never to be opened, or rooms, that are never to be entered, well and good : but if they are to be made a public exhibition, or rather spectacle of, it may be well said with Macbeth — “ There is no speculation in those eyes which thou dost glare with ; ” and when he exclaims — “ Time was men could not live when their brains were out ; ” if such pictures speak the truth, they go a great way to shew the possibility of it. The failure of whole-length Portraits, which is of such fre- quent occurrence, may not arise from a deficiency in the know- ledge and practice of art so much as a want of union or adap- tation of the constituent parts of the body to the right formation of the whole. It should be recollected that there is as much Portraiture in the hands and feet as in the face ; that they severally belong to one subject, as certainly as they can belong to no other ; and that all the individuality of the figure contri- butes to the making up of that general character of it by which persons are able to distinguish one another before they turn their faces ; others are to be known by an indistinct outline at almost any distance, and some are not even to be lost in a fog. The ablest artists are sometimes made sensible of this, in instances where they have furnished a correct likeness of the face, and might have done as much for the rest, had their originals only found the necessary time and patience to sit to them for it : for want of these adjuncts they have had recourse to lay figures, or others about as unlike the original upon which PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 241 they have suspended their draperies, and drawn their subordinate parts, thereby producing an inconsistency no greater than might have been expected from such contrary forms and fittings. No wonder, then, the general identity should be lost, and the dis- appointed sitter should discover that he had gained nothing by borrowing his neighbour’s limbs, and that no one’s shoulders fit his head so well as his own. These are amongst its failures ; but its miseries superabound, and from a variety of causes of which the disorganized or uncul- tivated eye is not among the least. There are those who have no idea of perspective or distance, and look at works of art with the same flat interest they would upon a county map or a child’s show of many-colored threads. It would appear almost incre- dible to state that any individual could take a miniature in the direction placed in the hand, and judge of the likeness by look- ing at it upside down ; still more of another who could not reconcile the appearance of a profile portrait with the loss of an eye ; but it may be remembered that it was to meet the views of such that Hogarth accommodated his perspective, by represent- ing the two opposite sides of a drum upon the same plane. If ever such persons may be said to have their uses, they must have been in helping the incompetent artist out of his difficul- ties by accounting for things otherwise past finding out, or advancing the reputation of the more accomplished by account- ing for more than he ever intended, and attributing no little meaning to the accident of the brush. The effect of positive light and shadow upon such would appear from the impression made on one of these enlightened individuals, who, while looking at Murillo’s picture of the Spanish boy and girl, where one face was fully presented to the light, and the other equally divided by shadow, exclaimed, “ What a difference between two natives of the same climate ! here is a girl endowed with a fair com- plexion, while the boy seems to be half a black.” There are few in the profession that have not had some such sapient remarks to record ; but the most provoking instance was yet to be found in the judgment of one of these intelligences, who, on survey- ing a correct drawing of a’ young Cupid, commended it as an excellent copy of an old Roman general. 242 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. In ordinary matters it is not very usual for persons to be asking for what they have no desire for ; but in sitting for por- traits nothing is more common. They may tell you they don^t wish to be flattered ; and, agreeable to the tone of the day, wiU say, “ Give us facts ! ” “ Give us facts ! ” but, unless these facts shall fall in with their fancy, they might as well cry, — Give us physic ! ” “ Give us physic ! ” for one would be about as palat- able as the other. When an artist has acquired a name he may libel his subject with impunity, and affix upon him any charac- ter he pleases without risking his own: not so the young dependent one, whom we may suppose to be overlooked by a phalanx of beads, while, with a servile attention to their remarks, or obsequiously putting himself under instructions, he is volun- tarily taking upon himself the folly of his sitters. Amongst other objections, “ a waste of cheek,” so termed, is not one of the least ; for it is remarkable, that there is nothing in which persons are so much at odds with Nature as that of prescribing for them a full-sized and proportionate cheek and chin : here the dutiful limner is obliged to undertake for them by removing the said waste of cheek in order to refine the face : this is done by paring away so much of the cheek and chin till the features by comparison appear large out of all bounds, and the outer lines of an otherwise fuU and handsome face are exchanged for those of a coach pannel or a whipping-top. Uniform with this is the required method of treating the cherub cheeks of little children, protuberances which they think have no business there, whatever Nature may say to the contrary ; possibly this may arise from their fatal resemblance to the carved heads upon tombstones, to avoid which they would cause their children to look as though they were cut out of little men and women, and thus when it is observed “ we cannot put old heads upon young shoulders,” they are willing to shew us that they can. The Daguerreotype Portraits which have stepped in so won- derfully to settle the point by substituting novelty for truth, have only shewn to what an extent Nature may be made to work against herself, and that aU artificial effects must be left at last to the imitative art. It imagined, that like an impression PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 243 from a plate, it must be like the plate from which it is taken ; but it must be recollected there are bad impressions as well as good, and we need not go further than the Daguerreotype to find the worst ; to say nothing of its slaty or odious coloring, and its indistinct resemblance to common lithography. It is here that Nature so visibly resents the liberty that is taken with her, for as they are commonly presented to us, it may be verily said “No eye hath seen such scarce-crows.” No doubt these mechanics in the art secretly reserve to themselves the fact that from the very nature of the lens and its spherical convexity, an optical increase of the prominent parts is the result, and the forms and features when reflected on the inclined surface of the material become distressingly small. What renders its success still more uncertain is, that the subject should be as motionless as a stone during the process ; for, instantaneous as it may appear, it must take every part in succession, so that the slightest shifting of the body, or emotion of the mind, will be sufficient to disturb the oeconomy of the whole. On the con- trary, it need scarcely to be stated that the legitimate professor has both time and opportunity to watch the changes of the countenance, to make his own selection, and take it at its best ; and in this lies his unfettered practice and superior advantage. Admitting that, in reference to first principles, we should look at Art through the medium of Nature, this relative view of things is [rather the province of the accomplished student than of the uninformed amateur, who needs to be directed as to the manner in which both should be regarded. It is for want of the right channel of communication that so many entertain those predilections for a certain order of Beauty which has never been seen in Nature, and is only to be found among the compromises and conventionalisms of meretricious Art, and may be the reason why they are not so impressed with the beauty persons really possess as deceived by that which passes for it in their pictures. Unfortunately, this is not peculiar to those who suspend their notion of Beauty to opinions ; nor are we aware to what an extent we are carried away by that old hacknied phrase, — “ It is so considered.” Now, if there ever was a saying *244 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. (3alculated to put a full stop to independent thinking, it is surely this. The phrase, Very well, considering,” — though it does ViOt come out with the same authority as “ It is so considered,” yet it is that modification of the sense as brings us to much the ame wise conclusions : to wit — the lame duck walks and the ^aagpie talks — “very well, considering;” or may be as appro- priately said of the graceless performer, the senseless composer, or of any other disabled member of our own community, who, having accidentally fallen, as it were, into some pursuit or profession for which nature never designed him, has been en- titled to considerations of no small weight with a kind and indul- .yent public. With due deference, then, let it be asked, “ By '.vhom considered 1” for the question should not be, how it is, i)ut how it ought to be, considered. Bright eyes are considered beautiful ; they are so : but bright eyes may be obtrusive and Taring : arched eye-brows are considered open and expressive, but they may be owlish and eccentric ; white teeth are con- sidered very ornamental, perhaps more so than agreeable, as they may be planted as though they were going to seize upon you ; ruby lips and rosy cheeks are considered essential to the perfecting of the complexion, but they may be as overcharged and sudden as the enamel on a child’s doll ; and a thousand Ther little popularities which are no sooner supposed to belong :o Beauty than they are patronized and pushed to the very ex- treme : instance only the prejudice in favour of small waists, small hands, and small feet ; query again — how small % why if we allow the Venus de Medicis to be the standard of excel- lence she has a waist that an abigail might be ashamed of ; and and as to her feet, if their proportion and beauty are to be equally admired, there can be no reason why they should be considered more matchless for size than shape. Still the pre- judice goes that hands and feet cannot be too small, and there- fore the smaller the better : hence the unqualified demand for such things in portraits, and which, as they cannot be rationally accounted for, must be left for the very absurdity of fashion to reconcile. The same regard to the picturesque must be mani- fest in connection with Nature itself; as maybe instanced in PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. 245 those otherwise pretty waists which some ladies have contrived to imprison in stays till they have nearly pinched and squeezed themselves in two ; by which unhealthy pressure, and their consequent resemblance to the figure of an hour-glass, they be- come at once affecting emblems which remind us both of the smallness of their waists and the shortness of their time. If a word or two may be added by way of reflection, it might be simply remarked, that as there is no Beauty transmitted to us that is not worth keeping, so there is no Beauty withheld from us that is not worth supplying ; and it is only where Art becomes tributary to Nature that it can ever perform its work aright, or mend that which it was never intended to make. Nature may be courted, but will not be trifled with : she can accommodate herself to good habits, but will resent bad ones by such a reversion of her own laws as may serve to shew that as it is possible to approach or improve Beauty, so it is as possible to deface or destroy it. In proof of this we need only to remark upon the influence which good or bad temper has over the most pleasing subjects, and contrast in the same person the nature of that Beauty which is acting with that which is acted upon. From what has been advanced it should appear that Beauty does not consist so much in fine individual form as in good general proportion and uniformity ; not so much in colour and complexion as in their purity and adjustment; and with all its linear advantages and glowing appendages, possesses no more of real interest or value than it derives from expression. Nay, whatever may be said of Ornamental or Constructive Beauty, if unattended by this vital quality, their very presence would only seem to point to the place where everything was wanting : and although in reference to the subject in question Expression must ever appear to be the great auxiliary, yet it is equally essential that all the minor points under consideration should be there, as the perfection of Beauty cannot be arrived at without the union of them all. It is but justice, however, to its superior claims to state, that whatever difficulties there may be in deter- mining the nature of this attractive quality, so as to shew in what it consists,, there can be none, it is presumed, as to where 246 PERSONAL AND RELATIVE BEAUTY. it eocists ; for in this highly-favoured isle lies the very home and centre of Beauty, and from this point, take what direction we please, the further we travel the further we are off ; while every seeming step of our advance is attended with no other effect than that of bringing us back to our own country for the finest living illustrations of it. Beauty, therefore, cannot be con- sidered conventional ; it has “ a local habitation and a name,” and Angle^terrey (the French definition of our Angel4and^ so pre-eminently sustained by our fair British country-women,) has neither lost its name nor its character, but will ever stand out as the pride and ornament of this country, and the envy and admiration of every other. COMPLEXION OP CHABACTEB. COMPLEXION OF CHARACTER. Having attempted in the former part of the work to unite mental with linear Portraiture, in confirmation of physiognomi- cal rule, — there still remains, as though in refiection, a certain likeness of the mind which is so far detached from either as to speak more powerfully in the absence than the presence of the subject, insomuch that while the natural form shall lose its dis- tinctness, its incoporeal character shall retain an unfading com- plexion. By this invisible faculty of the mind’s eye it is we are furnished with such a general ideal notion of all with whom we have to do as to be able to comprehend the whole of their cha- racter at one blush, and (unlike that practical knowledge of Nature which is only to be obtained by degrees), let in, as it were, the experience of an age in an instant of time. Cast of Character, which would seem to come equally under review, may be so far separated from Complexion of Character that it implies a condition of mind rather as it is constituted by Nature than constructed by Art, and so indelibly fixed at the earliest stage of the susceptibilities, that in succeeding years persons may be said to be virtually the same in disposition which they were at any former period of their youthful lives. All that has since been done for it, or may have become peculiar to it, must have been raised upon the ground- work of the moral edifice, imbuing the mind’s eye with a certain aspect or coloring upon the whole, from which it receives its Complexion of Cha- racter. This Complexion of Character is forced upon the view of the commonest observer who frames and figures to himself an ideal picture, the impression of which he carries away with him in every connection and under any circumstance, whether he is H H 250 COMPLEXION OF CHARACTER. willing to entertain it or not : as thus we instinctively form all men into classes, and afterwards separate them from each other by mind and manners, as naturally as we do by features and expression ; so that this mental portraiture is presented to the mind whenever we talk of, and most especially when- ever we think of, the subject For example: let any one make an experiment upon an absent friend or acquaintance, and he will find the mind’s eye even more faithful than the natural one : there may be an effort to associate the mind and the person together, but if either should fail it would be the latter ; for in proportion as the lineaments lose their distinctness, the mental resemblance will be more vividly preserved. A prin- cipal cause of this may be, that as men cannot change their countenances with the facility they change their minds, we are under more powerful impressions for the time being from what they affect to think and feel than from what they pretend or propose to do ; such facial assurances, so often repeated, not allowing time to wait for results that might invalidate the ex- pression both of the face and tongue. There is a natural tendency in many minds to be ever specu- lating upon Character ; a disposition to which self-love and self- preservation may equally contribute : the former afibrds them an agreeable opportunity of making comparisons in their favor, w^hile the latter by enabling them to ascertain what persons are in relation to others, as being of eventual consequence to them- selves, may teach them how to avoid a disagreeable contact, to court a desirable acquaintance, or repose in the confidence of a sincere friend. Nothing heightens this Complexion more, or gives it such lively or lasting colours, as love, friendship, or esteem. In love, especially, this fair Complexion of Character will continue when Beauty has grown familiar to the eye and out-charmed the very charms that inspired it : and although, from the opposite cause, the objects of hatred or aversion may be darkened or discolored in the same degree, still it does not affect the question; inasmuch as they must receive a complexion of some kind or other, although it should not be exactly the true one. In instances COMPLEXION OF CHARACTER. 251 where a very slender acquaintance exists, we are apt to carry away much more than the features, and attach to the subject a quality of mind which may, or may not, belong to it ; but even upon first-sight appearances, where Character is not supposed to be formed, the mind, in relation to it, will be equally active in supplying all deficiencies by conjecture ; nor will it be satis- fied till it has given it a complexion of its own. We judge of Complexion of Character in the absence of the parties much after the manner in which we take a survey of objects at a distance, or the taking of what is technically called “ a bird’s eye view,” lest the angle of the eye should rest only upon a part, and the general proportions should be lost in the individuality : from the same moral distance answering to this artistic elevation it is that we are able to take such a comprehensive view of our neighbour’s affairs as to settle the balance of good and evil in his accounts, in order to the preservation of a good understanding. It is of necessity that persons have Complexion of Character, if they have any charac- ter at all : of this we are so individually conscious, that there is no one (whatever he may affect to the contrary) who would not like to choose his own colors, and that as certainly as there are no objects, however mean and insignificant, of whom the mind, in its loftiest independence, can say, “ I am purely indif- ferent to.” Few persons have a clearer notion of Character than those who have most occasion to turn this visionary faculty to good political account ; a faculty which is strengthened by exercise, and wonderfully adapted to the rapid intercourse of business, where almost everything depends upon observation, and as little as possible left to experience. Many characters who have but superficial notions of virtue themselves have, nevertheless, very substantial reasons for approving of it in others : as, for instance, they have great hopes of making use of the industrious, but great fears lest the idle should make use of them : they consider that idleness is “ the root of all evil,” not because it leads its subjects to want, but because it brings them to borrowing of money. 252 COMPLEXION OF CHARACTER. Generally speaking, the world knows us better than we know ourselves ; and for this particular reason (however variously it ' has been accounted for) — we may he fondly struck with certain individualities in our own characters, that may amount to no more in the scale of public opinion than a penny-weight or a drachm, and yet be so occupied with these little excellencies as to reserve to others the superior faculty of putting them together and ascertaining for us how far such trifles make the sum of human things. Since, then, we have as imperfect a knowledge of our own minds as of our faces, we must be satisfied to receive our Complexion of Character from the world, not knowing what part of life’s drama we are acting, or what kind of figure we cut before a numerous and discerning audi- ence : of one thing, however, we may be assured, — that our name is down in the play-bill, though the part we are acting should not be exactly the one which self-love would have assigned us : all artificial characters, therefore, should not forget how much easier it is to make a fool of themselves than of others, and that while they fancy they are the heroes of the piece, they may be but the mere spados of the entertainment, and refreshing the spectators at their own expense. There is that upon the surface of Character of not a few which gives general occasion to say, “ You can do nothing for them !” Should one of these have just come out of the Queen’s Bench, the presumption is that he will soon be there again ; not that any thing in his future affairs might warrant the assertion, but merely because he is that kind of man. Here is one of the many instances where a man presents you with his own Com- plexion of Character ; so that those who never learned to read may always be able to see. Now there are two kinds of persons who think to defy this mental sapience : those mysterious beings who are generally spoken of as “ persons you cannot make out,” and those versatile characters who are so continually shifting and changing their colors that they can scarcely make out themselves. The former of these are not aware that their equivocal manners and safe- guarded walk and conversation become the very inlets to the COMPLEXION OF CHARACTER* 353 secret recesses of the mind, which open a door for suspicion ; curiosity enters, and a few sable discoveries are made, not very creditable to the inner man. It is singular to observe what an especial hold the mind lays upon such characters, even where it is disposed to let others go ; so that when they think to veil themselves in obscurity, they, of all others, get the least quarter from those fertile imaginations which enrich them with faults which may not belong to them, in addition to those that do. These mystics, therefore, cannot be too frequently admonished of the fact, that when persons cannot find out what they are, they are sure to set them down at the worst. As to those mot- ley-minded natures that are everything by turns and nothing long, no doubt they flatter themselves that the many-colored characters they assume will divert the eye and flit across the mind of the observer, like those floating and fugitive ideas which give the fancy chase, as though to baffle the pursuit : here, again, the mind’s eye will arrest them in passing, but finding them not worth keeping, may pursue them no further, hut dis- miss them as mere phantoms of the mind, or skip-jacks of the imagination. For the Complexion of noted or illustrious Characters we are superseded by the biographer, who frequently opens the door with a false key, and presents us with a variety of party-colored portraits that we are obliged to take upon trust : the mind necessarily receives them as they are presented to it, entertains them without doubt or suspicion, and, in consequence, makes that its own which possibly never yet belonged to anybody. But take a one-sided view of Character, or make an unbalanced experiment upon it, — expatiate upon the few evils which may he suspended to the character of a worthy man, or dwell with equal complacency upon the little good that may attach to a very unworthy one — and the result will he that they instantly change sides ; that you disinherit the honest man and emanci- pate the rogue. As to statesmen (those chameleons of our nature, that are ever changing their colour with the times), it is difiicult to ascertain their true Complexion (if any complexion at all), and the more especially as they have not this surprising 254 COMPLEXION OF CHARACTER. faculty entirely at their own disposal ; being so much at the mercy of the press and party that they either receive the most brilliant Complexions or are painted as black as a coal. We can only, therefore, speak feelingly where we cannot knowingly, and console them upon this remaining advantage — that if they lose their reputation in one place they are sure to get it up in another ; nor are they ever likely to appear totally destitute, since there is scarcely an individual who has not a fancy dress of his own provided for them ; so that if they ever should get out of favor they can never get out of fashion. It is not a little singular that the imagination will work though everything else is quiet. Thus, when we hear of the name or adventures of any one, we not only embody it with a form, but give it a mind and match it with a Complexion : else, why upon seeing those of whose names we had only heard, such after-expressions as these — Well, he’s just the kind of man I expected to see or, “ He is a very different man from the one I took him for.” In short, there is not a character, however remote, or of whom we have received the slightest information, that will not be tinctured with our own imaginings. It is thus we are unable to separate mind from body, and body from mind ; and this union of form and fancy is not intended in such in- stances to illustrate the true Complexion of Cliaracter so much as to shew the power of the imagination to create that which may neither be the image of one nor the other. We have often heard it said by certain parties — “ I have an unaccountable aversion to such and such persons, although it would seem to be against my better judgment this seemingly causeless assertion may arise, in such repelling subjects, from something upon the surface of their character ; such, possibly, as Pride, Affectation, or Conceit, or that notional Self-regard which too frequently allows the manners so to predominate over the mind as to deprive it of its otherwise genial and healthful complexion. Or, possibly, this repugnant feeling may be no less consequent on too great familiarity than upon too much re- serve. Modes of recognition have frequently much to do with this ; there are those who meet you as though they never saw COMPLEXION OF CHARACTER. 255 you before, and part with you as if they never wdsh to see you anymore: some persons take you^or rather shake you, by the hand as though they were going to shake it off ; or give you a hearty squeeze about as grateful to the feelings as the grasp of a hand- vice : others, again, have a passive method of allowing you to take their hand, which they give you upon the flat, and then pass it so frigidly through yours that you really feel glad when it is gone ; but w^hen this retiring hand of friendship is accom- panied by an ungracious look from a cold suspicious eye, and it should meet us so unexpectedly that one’s nature cannot avoid the freezing contact, it shrinks as it were into its more congenial self. There is, also, what may be termed the patronizing mode of bestowdng the hand ; this you are to receive as something more than complimentary, being given, or rather granted, in an erect or sitting posture, to make you the more sensible of the condescension. Then there is the ceremonious shake of the hand, which is attended with as many compliments of the season will afford, and, in some obsolete cases, with — “ Pray excuse my glove !” as though the article required as much apology as the wearer. Now" if this is intended as a certificate of friendship, a most desirable thing it is to have this orderly method of shew- ing it ; for, as the world goes at present, it is seldom manifested in any other way ; after all, it serves to keep things tolerably well together, and is a very convenient kind of currency, espe- cially for some bankrupts in morals, by acting like promises on tissue paper, which good faith, if tested, would amount to some- thing less than three-pence in the pound. That Character should lose so much of its Complexion on its near approach is sometimes as unfortunate as it is singular : for instance ; there is scarcely a connection in which it may not be said there are one or more individuals of such a Complexion of Character as to render it our duty and interest to avoid, and that from the fact of the mental impression we may have been justly under tow^ards them being so likely to be lost in a personal in- terview ; thus it has frequently happened that persons have allowed themselves, against their better convictions, to be so diverted and disarmed by lying looks and insinuating manners 256 COMPLEXION OF CHARACTER. as to repeat their favours, and add still further to an old stock of unrepaid obligations ; while the party no sooner disappears than his Complexion of Character revives, and they know not which to blame most — his insincerity, or their own credulity : nay, there have been instances where a character has been of such a depraved and unalterable complexion, that the mind has been predeterminately made up against any renewed attack, and yet has yielded after the same manner, through some sudden or accidental meeting, to the greater astonishment of themselves, and even the surprise of the imposter. The fact is, that nothing seems real but what is present ; this may be all very felicitous for our present well-being, but not always so profitable for our future well-doing ; and may furnish another reason why persons are rather to be timed than trusted. A man may have a pleas- ing interview with his friend or patron, that w^ould seem to give promise of very great things, while his after-impressions from what may have transpired might so alter the complexion of the affair as to give a very different coloring to his views ; and so of many an individual who might have been sacrificed to the pas- sing imposition of vain words and specious looks, were it not for the mind’s retrospective eye, to which is reserved the faculty of putting the whole together. There are few persons who are not indebted to this optical privilege of the mind ; but if there are those who are not thankful for it, it can only be such as cannot make it exclusively theirs, and for this private reason — that the advantage of seeing the character of others is not at all equal to that of concealing their own. Similarity of sentiment may classify two individuals of the same Character who may be of very opposite Complexions ; as from the different mode or medium through which the sentiment may be conveyed they would not appear to others under the same aspect. While the one might seem to be acting under restraints, the other would come out, as it were, with the special licence of privileged men and women, and say or do with im- punity what would scarcely be tolerated in the other ; insomuch that any attempt in either at an interchange of behaviour would create astonishment, if not ridicule. Whatever persons may COMPLEXION OF CHARACTER. 257 affect or fail to discover in Character, they are always able and willing to remark upon what lies on the surface of it ; and hence the impolicy as well as absurdity of many innocent persons, who, by depriving their character of its natural complexion, and discoloring it by substituting that of another, have laid them- selves open to censure, if not suspicion, where they never should have been marked by anything worse than indiscretion. From such inconsistencies it is clear, that every one has an element of his own, out of which it is as unsafe breathing as that of a fish out of water. As this provisional faculty was implanted in us for mutual comfort and defence, a right use and improvement of it would answer the most important ends of society. The slanderer should especially consult this Complexion of Character, and before he ventures to injure the reputation of another, would do well to consider how far he is risking his own. He should acquaint himself with the fact, that there are different persons, to whom different properties and propensities belong, and to be very cautious how he inverts the natural order of things, by attributing to one person what is only due to another, or more probably^ perhaps^ to himself^ lest his over-anxiety to vilify or degrade should deprive him of the use of the couplet — ‘‘ If you would have your story true, Keep probability in view ; ” or before he may be furnished with a practical solution of the proverb, ‘‘ the fowler caught in his own snare.” Without this complexionary caution the adversary may become your greatest friend ; for giving the mind the wrong direction is frequently the means of setting it right, by instituting enquiries that might lead to the discovery of opposite virtues, and such as the per- secuted party was never known before to possess ; besides the additional advantage of gaining the bad opinion of those whose ill-name would be sufficient to establish the reputation of any one. A misdirected accusation brings with it both its bane and antidote, from the consideration that a mere assertion would be enough to fasten upon some characters what a host of evidence would scarcely substantiate in others, and might only 258 COMPLEXION OF CHARACTER. stand out as so many moral contradictions to an absurdity which carries, according to the vulgar saying, “ a lie in the very face of it.” He should also recollect that there are prevailing tints in the complexion, that may be called /ast colors^ which any attempt to dislodge, or to substitute others for them that it is not capable of receiving, would be as absurd as attaching cowardice to Nelson, or inhumanity to Howard; or^ what is about as misfitting, as meekness to Lord Thurlow, or generosity to old Elwes ; and would find no place of deposite but in the confidence of the receivers-general of false reports. In all such cases the breath of calumny is like the natural breathing upon any pure and polished surface, that may dull and obscure it for a time, but which is presently dissipated, and soon loses all traces of ever having been there. It is thus that Complexion of Cha- racter is either self-exposing or self-protecting; and, in the latter instance, may be considered as a kind of armour of the mind, which provides for its inhabitant a security against every thing but fate : but in either view of it, if not the substance it is the sign of Character, which stands invitingly out, or acts as a beacon to warn us of too near an approach. The use of this common faculty of discerning through this complexionary medium is always available, except in the per- verse cases of those who, having an eye for consistency but no mind to be troubled about it, have contracted an idle habit of taking people at their words, and are ever complaining of being deceived ; with no other self-correction to their credulity than what they supply by their common words of wonder — “ who would have thought it !” or where (more fatally) prejudice or partiality may interpose the last covering to a bad complexion, in those cases where the most misplaced attachments or unwar- rantable dislikes are taken, and which, when inquired into, might be found to arise from incongenial sentiments or kindred sympathies, which free them from those observations they are rather unwilling than unable to make. Nevertheless, there is a transparency in the complexion through which the object may always be seen, although in a mist ; unless the mind’s eye be impaired, and then, like the natural one, it will be as blind to COMPLEXION OF CHARACTER. 259 everything else. Still there is more of c^dusion than i71usion in this, and the removal of such moral obstructions would be the means of preventing many of those great and fatal mistakes which have been left to the course of time and experience to rectify. It is this Complexion of Character which throws a halo round the shades of departed worth, and preserves the moral and men- tal resemblance of the object the most entire ; insomuch that the mind increases its tenacity on the more enduring excellen- cies in proportion to its fading recollection of form and feature. But even this must have its season ; it will not compensate for the loss of Portraiture^ in which Nature receives from Art its last impress and true complexion, and affords the only material to which we can at any period resort to refresh the eye or re- vive the imagination ; — an imperishable memorial, which, when time may have obliterated almost every other feeling, will con- stitute its best, and frequently its last remains ! It may be objected, that under bereaving circumstances the mind forms a too fond and partial view of Character ; but this is what it rather desires to entertain than calmly consents to. A nicer balance may be preserved than we are aware of : many a little fault or infirmity, once scarcely excused, will then be charitably allowed for ; while many a virtue, not sufficiently appreciated, will find its right place in our esteem. Of persons departed, either in or out of the pale of our connexion, and from whom we may or may not have received injury, — the ideal no- tion of them which they bequeath to us might be equally cor- rect. This may be partly accounted for from the religious or superstitious observance, that “ we should never speak ill of the dead;” though, by the bye, that depends upon how long they have been dead, as we are allowed to say what we please of such bygone characters as Judge Jeffries or Bishop Bonner: in all recent cases, however, we are to suppose the angry passions are buried with them ; so that in proportion as the tongue is put under restraints, the mind becomes the more at liberty, and the ideal picture it presents of different characters is such as to give both saint and devil their due. 260 COMPLEXION OF CHARACTER. This Complexion of Character does not belong exclusively to individuals, but to communities ; and upon its complexion de** pends their recognized respectability. “ Union is strength,” so all monopolizing companies assure us, and the shut-out indivi- dual is quite sensible of it : no one doubts their power (of doing mischief) at least. “ The old man and the bundle of sticks ” may do well as an illustration of virtuous bands, that is, if we know where to find them ; but the kind of compact seems now to be put in the hands of gentlemen who, in binding up the sheaves and providing for our necessities, make all the ditference between the cord and the cat-o’-nine-tails ; to say nothing of those private monopolists who unite all these virtues in one. But leaving these gentlemen to their own work (and very short work they secern to be making of it), it should be noticed, com- prehensively, that there is what is called the Complexion of our aifairs, where every individual determines his relative situation under the general aspect of things. This the sentimental (not the merely statistical) statesman knows ; he is aware that the Complexion of Character of a people is the moral atmosphere which surrounds the community, and under its influence it is that he works his whole machinery. Beyond this, there is among nations a Complexion of Character, which is felt and acknowledged by every State, under color of which they seve- rally exercise their caution or place their confidence ; and in this respect it is not presuming to assert, that our country has conceded to it the preference over every other. It may, possibly be a fact either overlooked or not sufficiently considered, that the whole world is in the constant excercise of a faculty it may not be aware to what an extent it possesses ; and which faculty may be so improved by applying this ideal portraiture to the positive lines of physiognomy, as to answer more beneficial pur- poses than those of mere speculation, in turning both the Cha- racter and its Complexion to good moral and political account. As it is of necessity, from what has been advanced, that a variety of cases must be attended with uncertainty or conjecture, from a partial or total ignorance of the character itself, still the mental impression will be there, which renders it the more COMPLEXION OF CHARACTER. 261 necessary that the ideal formation should be the result of some knowledge of the individual ; if, however, after the closest ob- servation, there should be that upon the surface of Character which may appear at all doubtful or equivocal, the positive lines of Physiognomy may be safely consulted, so as to come in ex- position or confirmation of the whole : and as this constructive view of the subject is alone capable of being reduced to the rules of art ; in order that nothing should be wanting to estab- lish its principles, it remains only for the Pencil to determine its points, and become the counterproof of the validity of the Science. THE SISTEE AETS. (painting, poetry, and music.) THE SISTER ARTS. (painting, poetry, and music.) Blest be the inventive Art, that power sublime, Which can redeem from the rude hand of time, What memory loses, or what ages waste ; Presents the future, and recals the past. Or still where Nature shews her varied dress, And minds conceive much more than words express ’Tis then the Painter’s Art alone to trace Her bolder features or her milder face ; But if the magic pencil can give birth To living pictures of departed worth ; ’Tis in fair portraiture we hope to find The dear lost image of the absent mind, 'Which memory to recal may vainly strive, ’Till Art arrests the lovely fugitive ! To this its fading tablet may return ; While the faint verse or unfrequented stone, Prove indistinct and treacherous arts at best, And sad memorials of their sacred trust. The picture speaks while every sense is gone, But not a language to the eyes alone ; Though the fair Site the first impress retains, And the fixed colors deck the last remains. In vain fond Nature with her wonted strife. Would call the latent beauty back to life ; K K THE SISTER ARTS. But no such lasting touches can impart, As wake the soul by tender strokes of art ’Tis here indulgent fancy fain would sonr, To realize beyond artistic power, The strong emotions of a mind in thrall. Between the copy and original. Fain she’d restore to lively sympathy, The fond, but fixed expression of that eye ; And seems in one oblivious moment thence. To bring it from unconsciousness to sense. What if no warmth re-animate the cheek, No secret spell the lasting silence break ; The skilful hand has not been tried in vain. Though all be mute intelligence again. It now no more with fancied ardour glows ; But the fair transcript of a long repose, Seems beaming still with an unearthly grace, And throws a halo round a soul in peace. Task not the Muse for lover, wife, or friend ; The theme begun, where would the numbers end Should jealous Nature still dispute the prize, Which on the canvassed surface only lies ; May She the gentle violence forgive, And let Her favorite in description live. For if a countenance could be as fair, As mortals wish to be or angels are ; ’Twill be where Nature’s to her utmost gone. To cull her sweets and lavish all on one ! Her slender form, her steps as light as air ; Soft as the dawn and as the morning fair ; Her face and features such as might command The finest model of the master-hand ; THE SISTER ARTS. 267 Her hair to graceful negligence consigned, Luxuriant plays, or wantons in the wind ; Waves o’er her polished forehead white as snow, Which dignifies with sense that placid brow. Beneath whose arch, the fringy veil affords Protecting beauty to those lovely Orbs, Whose deep long lashes, like the spreading night, Chastens and shades the unobtrusive light Of those bright eyes which seem forbid to rove. But dwells with all the constancy of love. Or if (reluctant) to the gay resort. Unconscious beauty pays her brilliant court ; The rival pearl and dazzling jewelry. In her attractions undistinguished lie ; And all the artificial aids of dress. Intrusions seem on native loveliness. And so appears the blooming pride of May, Transplanted here, unprofitably gay Though with the choicest skill the transfer’s made To her white bosom from ther native bed ; The lily droops to find itself surpassed. And roses blush and deepen by contrast ; While fairest fiow’rets which compose the wreath, No odours shed so frasfrant as her breath ! Where Nature on her own, her best expends. The Muses wait and every grace attend. — Let Poetry, great star of Science shine, Its origin and end, alike divine ; That comprehensive Art, beyond the reach Of common thought or ordinary speech ; Gives form to fancy ; scans the vast unknown, And upon nature’s beauties grafts its own. 268 THE SISTEIi ARTS, Presents the fading tint, or rich display, More gravely deep, or more profusely gay ; With measured step and sentiment refined. It penetrates the heart, corrects the mind ; Gives strength to Satire, and adds force to Truth, And meaner passions emulates to worth. When sense grows dull by ceaseless prose, ’tis thine. To wake the soul by one inspiring line. Loosed from the prison-house of fettered rules. It triumphs o’er the slavery of schools ; Mounting from airy songs to lofty odes, ’Twould tread on stars, and e’en converse with gods.” From its high conference thence it downward flies. Like odours dropping from congenial skies; Spreads its wide influence, while the path beguiles Its native visit to the British Isles ! Should the rich patrimony so compare To pearls ill-cast, or fragrance lost in air ; Where, though embracing all ’t may but command The few that read and less that understand : To Music, (heavenly maid) it would resort. To add the last expression to the thought ; Or if the soft appeal be made alone In sweet harmonious numbers of her own, The agitated spirit lulls to rest. Or wakes the dormant passions of the breast, Which rise in transports, in soft tumults move, Dissolve in extacy, or melt in love. Then lofty airs to nobler deeds invite. While wings of fancy aid the towering flight ; Nor less its power to “ smooth the rugged mind Exquisite sense, and innocence refined. THE SISTER ARTS. 269 In notes as lovely as themselves prevail, And plead, or please till every charm may fail. Thus waked to melody, the cheerful earth, (With Songs responsive to its higher birth) Ascends in praise to Him from whom ’t was given. And forms the sweetest intercourse with Heaven. Rebel to Nature be the voiceless tongue, Since “ stones cry out ” when men refuse the song ; Fruit, herbs, and flowers, their grateful incense raise. Attuned to Him who formed them for his praise. “ The trees break forth in singing ” vales repeat ; And accents rising with a theme so great ; Proclaim the origin of their employ^ \\fhen even the Morning Stars could sing for joy. THE END. LOxXDON : S. BIRD, I’RINTER, 36, BOW STREET, COVENT GARDEN. . SSOM , -Yj Vr ' • ■^»V. '’ ‘ .i4.,»#*^'h /;iV/ ift'v|W.irff/i?.??i-/' ^ ^ ,. "ii;.'i4*^Mi«i'.'i'tf(ihr -Vc ^ivi *»ilt;i^^.Aj K^: • -»^'''tS »“ 'iu^iU fi^A^>fr. IWiatf i i^ft: . -i j. !(ii.i^!>. y^ij^ »v. -vtXV, .-i -':^|'U ' ■:•> ' U' ;■'" f ' . ' ' - ‘is . £ . ■.•