feelings of the mind, may give them in the end a particular contour and character. But the ancient philosophers, who were many of them great physiognomists, persuaded themselves that the original shape of the features invariably announced the original propensities of the mind; while they acknowledged that the interference of reason, education, and habit, might prevent the influence of these propensities on our lives. Thus Philemon reported as badly of Hippocrates, from the observation of his countenance, as Zopyrus of Socrates; and both their accounts were confirmed by the confession of those great men themselves, who at the same time expressed their obligations to philosophy, which had controuled this malignity of their stars, and given a new turn to their thoughts and behaviour.

All this, however, is vague and unsatisfactory, there being no proof but the confession of these sages themselves, that their dispositions were originally more dangerous than those of the rest of mankind; and there are no greater impositions than those which we practise on ourselves in the estimation of our own qualities. Our opinions, therefore, must always remain without confirmation, as to those qualities and dispositions of a man's heart or head, of which we have had no practical testimony. Thus, though it would be obstinacy to doubt that the influence of philosophy might meliorate dispositions originally bad, yet no certain proofs can be obtained that such has been the case in this or that particular instance; and I should question, on the other hand, notwithstanding such grave authority, whether the most promising set of features in the world would redeem us from depravity or folly, without the aid of culture, and the exercise of reason.

Physiognomy, in its earliest state, was wrapped in

absurdity and error; and in its general notion included the doctrine of materialism, by supposing a closer connection between the mind and body than is consistent with religion or reason. Thus Plato, Aristotle, and Galen, held absurd conjectures on this head, and imagined an elemental affinity between our corporeal and spiritual natures. Hermes first adopted a different theory, and taught that there existed a certain analogy between the mind and body, without admitting any physical connection: thus, according to him, courage is represented by amplitude of chest, quickness of thought, by celerity of pace; and clearness of intellect, by composure of countenance: and this notion seems to have been favoured by Milton, in describing the person of the first man—

"His fair large front, and eye sublime, declar'd
Absolute rule," &c.

Philo-Lacedæmonius comes nearer to the opinion I have already submitted to my readers, and attends almost solely to the temporary and changeable expressions of the face. I do not recognise any material improvement of this study in modern times, and I fear that our attempts to reduce it to a science will ever terminate in confusion and embarrassment. Every one may enrich it by the force of his own observations, may consult attentively the inexhaustible variety of specimens which every day supplies to him, and collect rules for his own judgement from the average of these experiences; but these rules must be bred afresh in every man's mind, and cannot devolve through any line of inheritance, or be propagated through any channels of instruction.

The reader may perhaps be amused by the following letters which were put into my hands yesterday

morning, and which gave me the thought on which my present paper has turned.

To the Rev. Simon Olive-branch. 1,

"Complacent Sir,

"What a succession of absurdities have flowed in upon us, since men began to philosophise! A set of impostors in every art have at all times been spawned out of the weakness, and credulity of our minds, who have found their account, in 9 obstructing the progress of truth and knowledge, by occupying as much as possible of our little lives about, idle, unfruitful novelties. Thus augury, astrology, geomancy, koskinomancy, chiromancy, divination, witchcraft, magic, and magnetism, have all had their turns, as the posture of men's minds, and the bias of the moment, have favoured the one or the other. Those must have been delightful times, when every family had some one belonging to it whose head was turned with one or other of these chimerase, ID WVAC &

"I can speak feelingly on this subject, as a nephew of mine, who has been long in my counting house, and has hitherto given proofs of very solid parts, is lately gone wild with the prevailing conceits about physiognomy. When a merchant enters the room, he takes out his pencil, and instead of making memorandums, minutes down the proportions of his face, makes an entry of his nose and mouth; and, if his business detain my customers longs enough, will squeeze his whole head and shoulders into the margin of his waste-book.sin visvs mi death, bear

"I found the other day, instead of an order of great amount, half an ear, a high forehead, and a pair of lantern jaws; and some of my best friends have been cavalierly treated for having too narrow a

mouth. My ledger, which it was once my pride to see clean and neat, is now dashed over with eyes and noses; and my entries for blonds, lace, ribands, and fans, are made in the names of cardinal Bentivoglio, Charles XII., and the chevalier Bayard. I have frequently attacked him, though surrounded by these heroes, with threats and remonstrances, and have sometimes imagined myself on the point of prevailing. But if the malady give way in one part, it is sure to break out somewhere else, and is a kind of inveterate humour that circulates through the whole

mass.

"Within these three or four days he is grown less studious of the face, and seems to lay much greater stress upon the hand-writing. He will accept a bill without looking at the signature, if the shape of the O be to his mind, and bears a proper testimony of openness and integrity. Every bit of paper that contains any writing upon it, is in jeopardy if it come within his reach and the other day a piece of roasting beef, discovering the back of a letter with a fine flourish upon it, was arrested in its progress before the fire, and stripped in a moment. I cannot help suspecting that I saw a scrap of my own handwriting, at the tail of some stupid remarks on narrowness of mind; and a little crooked E, which I learned from my father, has been brought in evidence against me and my whole family, for I don't know how many generations backwards.

"When this flying disorder was thus lodged in the fingers' ends, I thought there was some hope of its going altogether; but, alas! it begins already to show itself in the legs; and a man cannot walk a yard without betraying the emotions and qualities of his heart and head. I find also that he takes into the calculation the tones and inflexions of the voice; and

his hair is cut above his ears, I suppose to facilitate the entrance of every cadence and semi-tone.

Now, sir, if this rage should spread much, we must begin to talk with our fingers, and manufacture words like yarn; for no man will be able to look you in the face, or speak or write, without disclosing every secret of his bosom. As my nephew reads the LOOKER-ON, your admission of this letter may turn out greatly to his benefit, and will much oblige

"Yours, faithfully, dsord of » duos culona BEN. INVOICE."/

van vuol zo said sead, nifit. A To the Rev. Simon Olive-branch.

Worthy Simony D

I do not doubt but that it will give you greater pleasure to be informed of any new invention of public utility, than of any new shape or instance of folly or degeneracy. I am the author of a discovery which I think of great and general importance, as it supplies a method, that is perfectly innocent, of coming at the real characters of those with whom we are connected. When I was a little boy, I could tell, by my father's manner of stirring the fire at his return from 'Change, the price of stocks, and the news at Lloyd's. If things went ill, he would spend half an hour in beating it down, till the same gloom was created in the parlour that prevailed in the Alley; but if a fleet had just arrived, he would be sure to raise a flame to give it a warm reception. W

66

My observations stood me in great stead during my apprenticeship; and the sound of the poker over head, when my master came home to dinner, like the bar before the entrance of an opera singer, acquainted me at once with the disposition I should find him in when I went up stairs; whether I was to be re