The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-06-18 00:00:00

MODES OF MANTFESTING THE

FEELINGS.

MaN's exalted place in the scale of creation
is exhibited in other ways besifh s his
poss: siion of the high endowments of i efts' ,n
ant consciousness. It is shown in the
multifarious modes audible to the ear, or
v sible to the eye, by which he can make ouL-
warilv manifest his internal feelings.
Among these modes of manifestation a
prominent place is held by the faculty of
speech, as it unfolds in articulate words, the
love and hate, joy and grief, confidence and
felt., admiration and contempt, and all the
other emotions appertaining to human nati re
that successively animate the breast, varyin,c
in strength according to the occasion and
'1
circumstances by which they are called into
play. While quietly-spoken words uffiee
for common conversational intercourse and
the ordinary moods of the mind and heart,
hot indignation, stirred up on the sadder,
hurls invectives from thelmouth, thick and
fast, like death-dealing missiles in warfare.
What the tongue of man is capable of perform
ing, in the way of powerful denunciation,
was strikingly displayed by the elder Pitt
wbei he discomfited and silenced Parliament-
' arylopponents by the awe inspiring thunders
of his voice, and caused his terrible whisper
to thrill through the tympanum of the dullest
ear. Strong feelings, excited by injustice
and the sense of wrong, and the use of
offensive and insulting epithets, have the
effect of drawing bursts lof indignant
eloquence even from untutored lips. No one,
who has the free use of the faculty of speech,
need ever be at a loss to make known the
state of his feelings with respect to any.
person or event. On the occasions when
articulate words are felt to be inadequa' e to
(rive due expression to the over-flowing joy,
or loyalty, or enthusiasm that floods to:
heart, the exuberance of emotion finds vett
in resonant shouts that palpitate through the
air. Plaudits at a public rueetine., when the
sentiments of a speaker command the approval
and admiration of his auditors, are com-
pounded of shouts and clapping of hands,
forming what is commonly called cheers ;
and disagreement with anything that proceeds
from the platformlis generally!accentuatecl by
• cries of derision and the shuffling of feet on
the floor. Hilarity, springing from some-
thing excessively fanny—such as a pat
anecdote or racy jest—has its inevitable out-
come in fits of laughter. So contagious is
laughter when once set ageing that it"roars
into cataracts" in crowded assemblages,
causing the walls and roof to resound with
merriment, louder than that which echoed in
the festive hall where the beards wagged all,
If the light laughter of fools, originating in
trifles, be only comparable, as the wisest of
men thought, to the crackling of thorns
under the pot, the ring of genuine .laughter,
on the other hand, denotes the right sort of
metal, sound to the very core. There is a
a kind of laugh called a chuckle, which
indicates the intense self-compl& ency of the
chuckler, on account of his having done
a good stroke of business, circumvented a
• too trustful friend, or performed a clever
trick with which he is mighty well pleased.
There are whispers, very different from the
terrible one of Chatham's which also pro-
duce a thrill, but it is the heartfelt thrill of
responsive love. In the case of "whispering
lovers,' the defects of s,‘ ords, in giving full
expression to the depths and tenderness of
mutual attachment, are more than atoned
for by what is capable of being conveyed by
means of ardent glances and yearning looks.
When Milton described the human face as
"divine," he was probably thinking of it as
the mirror of the inner nature reflecting the
feelings as they come and go, like light and
shade on the glassy waters of some breeze-
, rippled lake: The lights and shadows of the
face are smiles and frowns. Nothing in the
snape of words can equal these mute signs
in clearly indicating approbation and dis-
approbation, pleasure and displeasure. Bright
smiles, revealing sweetness of disposition,
have a captivating and magical charm that
entangles hearts. The scowl on the brow—
heavier, denser, and more lasting than the
frown—resembles a murky thundercloud,
and portends flashes of fury, from which it
is advisable to seeek safe shelter in good
time. The eves, which are to the face what
windows are 'to a house, sparkle with joy,
moisten with grief, soften with pity, beam
with affec ton, glow with love, and glare
with hate. Tears have a variety of signific-
ance according to the Circumstancas in which
they are shed. When drawn from the strong
man they are burning drops—the wringino.s
of anguish. They relieve the surcharged
feelings of women, and men, who are not
womanish in their natures, seldom give way
to them except when labouring under an
agony of affliction. "Talk not of grief till
thou hast seen the tears of warlike men,"
form one of the lines in the Bernardo Del
Carpio ballad, written by Mrs. Hemans.
Few men, fortunately, unless they get into
a m tudlin state, are so addicted to tear shedd-
ing and choking sensations as Henry
Ma,ckenzie's "Man of Feeling," who, in the
book bearing the title just quoted, is
represented as always weeping, or disposed
weepoo ler talas of misfortuue and distruss.
Elevation of the eyebrows is a common mode
of expressing surprise, which has sometimes
rather a ludicrous effect when the eyebrows
are shaggy ; and the carding of the upper lip
is a favourite snobbish way of indicating
lofty disdain. The blush crimsoning the
cheek may either be a sign of modesty, of
that awkward failing known as shamefaced-
ness, or of guilt in cennection with some
offence, an unexpected reference to I,vl-I;ch
causes the real culprit to stand c mfessed.
Bat the face is not the only porti in of the
haman frame that serves to make 'known,
without any aid from words, the feeling
that are upp ,rmost in the heart. A sliug
of the shoulders denotes dislike or ;lii.ZUAt,
and an imperious stamp to be thoroughly
roused. Very dissimi far states
are represented by clenched fists and folded
hands. Even the snapping of the ligt rs
has a significance whit; n can be easily enough
understood. When dancing is resorted to
the spirits must be at full as the w hole
body takes part in the exhilarating exercise.
What:amount of fei-ce fanatical feelings
may contain only beeotnes known to the
astonished behoiders of the wild andl-
- moveineni,s of dancing clervies in
Eastern lands.

Co,,j, k •trringdon I, .
of .tie best kuown localiaes ;Lt 1.4)(1clon. It sLo: 1 1
tm: for St. Jacobs 0.1 is now 33. idttlili9r ati ,-
Meld ifOrtis thcough)ut.ttto kir:46(l.om.

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