“The occult, the noble, the sublime, sense of hearing, has nature placed sideways, and half concealed. Man ought not to listen entirely from motives of complaisance to others, but of information to himself; and, however perfect this organ of sensation may be, it is devoid of ornament; or, rather, delicacy, depth, and expansion, are its only ornaments.
“I now come to the inferior part of the face, on which nature bestowed a mask for the male; and, in my opinion, not without reason. Here are displayed those marks of sensuality which ought to be hidden. All know how much the upper lip betokens the sensations of taste, desire, appetite, and the enjoyments of love; how much it is curved by pride and anger, drawn thin by cunning, smoothed by benevolence, made flaccid by effeminacy; how love and desire, sighs and kisses, cling to it, by indescribable traits. The under lip is little more than its supporter, the rosy cushion on which the crown of majesty reposes. If the parts of any two bodies can be pronounced to be exactly adapted to each other, such are the lips of man, when the mouth is closed.
“It is exceedingly necessary to observe the arrangement of the teeth, and the circular conformation of the cheeks. The chaste and delicate mouth is, perhaps, one of the first recommendations to be met with in the common intercourse of life. Words are the pictures of the mind. We judge of the host by the portal. He holds the flaggon of truth, of love, and endearing friendship.
“The chin is formed by the under lip, and the termination of the jaw-bones. If I may speak figuratively, it is the picture of sensuality, in man, according as it is more or less flexible, smooth, or carbuncled: it discovers what his rank is among his fellows. The chin forms the oval of the countenance; and when, as in the antique statues of the Greeks, it is neither pointed nor indented, but smooth, and gradually diminishes, it is then the key-stone of the super-structure. A deformity in the chin is indeed much to be dreaded.”—Herder.
THE
POCKET LAVATER.
The various thoughts which arise in the mind, the different passions which agitate the soul of man, are respectively connected with his features and the external parts of his frame; and so intimate is their correspondence, that the expression of the countenance, more rapid than speech, betrays his sentiments and emotions, and gives to his utterance energy and animation. The one was designed as a mirror in which we might behold the other reflected; but the vicious study dissimulation; they endeavour to lock their passions and vices within their own breasts, and, by a virtuous exterior, to conceal the characteristic expression of villany. In vain, however, does hypocrisy tender them her aid: the outward figure and form of the man are forced to a resemblance of the internal model, and the dispositions of the heart are almost invariably depicted on the countenance. These facts were observed and verified, and such was the origin of physiognomy.
Most persons are daily in the practice of this art, without a knowledge of the principles upon which it is founded, but according to such crude and uncertain notions as are supplied by custom and general opinion. A man’s face displeases them: this is often a sufficient ground for aversion. Prejudices of this nature ought to be exploded, and it behooves the man of science and real philanthropy to remove them. Such was the great design of Lavater, whose profound researches, guided by the desire of being useful to his species, displayed to him the nature of man, and taught him how far the moral character is capable of being traced upon the visage. He has created a new art—he has traversed an unbeaten path. Has he not, however, gone too far in attempting to determine the character of a man by the form of his hands, ears, &c.—in assigning to these parts an expression of which they are not susceptible? His opinions are sometimes rash, especially when resting upon such foundations; but these are venial faults, and the inquirer after truth will always adopt Lavater as his guide.
This subject has already been handled by celebrated men of antiquity, such as Galen, Aristotle, Polemo, Adamantius, and many others; but their systems were bottomed upon very weak grounds; and they assumed as the basis of their opinions, the shape of the limbs, and other vague criteria. Their whole doctrine was like those old empirical recipes, in which were absurdly compounded a thousand drugs, each destroying the effect of the other: it would be just as safe to rely upon such remedies for the cure of a patient, as to trust to the remarks of those authors; at whose erroneous ideas we may justly be surprised, since they were generally endowed with a spirit of observation.