Litchfield enquirer., 1860-02-09
out to any inquirer, as nasty outline of ad. vice with regard to general reading.
 THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAINS.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAINS.
 RALPH WALDO EMERSON.
 The lecture by MR EMERSON, at Poughkeepsie
 is thus reported in the Gazeae. It is as fair a re
 port as the lecturers thought and style will per
 nit, yet itgives only the vaguestidea of the beau
 ty of the production:
 The lecturer announced for the curren
 week, RALPH WALDO EMERSON, in the Lyce
 um course, who not being able to appear on tn,
 usual evening, fulfilled his engagement or
 Tuesday evening. The subject treated O
 was Morals and Manners.
 The soul comes to the surface in a million
 forms, no less in gestures than in speech
 Manners are not the what" but the
 ''how," they are the visible action resulting from organization and as oil poured or
 wheels to prevent friction. CoNsUELo boasts having moulded the manners of the nobles by her acting, and TALMA is said to have ac
 tually done this in real life. Certain man. ners once acquired, give one the emtree to good society and are universally recognized
 Our manners are constantly under observa- tion and are winning us prizes when we least expect it. In business we put taste aside and go where interest calls, but that over, we associate with those who please US. It is good manners which pervade and render cheerful all club rooms and form the stock in trade of many an ambitious youth. Let us consider them under the heads of conve- nience, power and beauty. Under the first they perform their lowest service, and con- stitute kind of minor morals. Their office is to rake us endurable tu each other, to raise us from the level of the quadruped, to stife base and encourage generous be- haviour. Society is infested by rude and brutal persons who prey on the rest and who can be reached only by public opinion Such are the persevering takers and the frivolous. It is said that in western hotels you find placards forbidding the guests com ing to the table without their coats, and posters in church pews cautioning against too profuse expcctoration. Regarding the latter, the assaults of DICKENS were, per haps, not without effect. It might be well to display in our public reading rooms, di- rectlons not to speak loud, and to handle fine engrayiDgs like spiders webs and butter fy's wings. Manners are fictitious. If we compare the portraits of patricians of past ages, which have come down to us with the same class of to-day, we find striking re- semblance. The Doges of Venice are much like, in their cast of features, the portraits of the Japanese nobility Con- PERRY brought home with him. The possession of broad acres forms manners. The old seneschal, mentioned in Scottish poetry, could assign the rank of the guests accurately from their mien. Sir GODFREY KNELLER was able to refute the islander of the Prince of Wales (son of Henry IL. illegitimacy from having attentivcly studied the features of his par ents, when sitting to him. It is great tri- umph to conquer one's face. Do not be de- ceived by fac;Ie exterior, it often conceaIs q most indomitable will. To good manners there must also be capacity of culture in the blood. The old prejudice in favor of blood, lying at the foundation of all feudal institu- tions, is not unsustained by fact. The Ori- entails are orthodox on this point and have saying to the effect that thorn bush water ed and cared for, will still produce thorns, while a date tree, deprived of all horticul- 1ural advantages, continues to bear dates. It is wonderful to note the power of the hu- man body in disclosing our real selves to the observer. Much of this lies in the eye. A scientific lady, the conversation turning on dynamics, asked the late Mr. STEPHENSON what he considered the most powerful agent. Mir. S. replied that he thought the power of a woman's eye exerted on her lover the most powerful. If this be so, it is but one of catalogue of powers possessed by this won- derfnl organ. It is remarked, as an imper- lection, that the eye cannot be fixed on the sun; but in Siberia there are men who eau see the satellites of some planets with the unarmed eye. The COW, doubtless through her eyes. exercises mysterious influence on her calf and the eye of the insane man is clothed with a brute power Outdoor life is said to give vigor to this organ. The eye can insult or make the heart dance with joy It reveals the interior of man but our lan- guage is inadequate to express it's revelations. When thought strikes us the eye remains fixed and motionless. MICHAEL ANGELO, said that the artist should carry his measur- ing tools in his eye. The eyes are bold as lions, speak all languages, are no English men, respect no age or sex, but go through ouO euiouSu III Ou luStuuG Ucy are Lue bodily symbol of identity of natures, aud we look to them to determine the status of a stranger. There are good and bad angels who preside over the eye and terrible disclo- sures are often made. The eye needs no dictionary and sometimes holds to one thing while the tongue declares another A look prepares us for the utterance of bon mot and announces its successful birth. We should distrust that invitation accompanied by no holiday in the eye. When man is off his center the eye declares it and the speaker had seen an amusing instance in the case of popular orator speaking on a sub- ject at short notice. There are eyes which give admission to man, some so deep you might fall into them and others searching and seeing all-the military eye. There are eyes that ask, assert, prowl and are full of fate. The so-termed power of the eve to tame insanity and wild beasts, lies not in that organ, but behind it in the will. Men do not obey us, because they see the mud in the bottom of our eyes, while the hero con- mands unhesitatiDg compliance. Each of the
 features have their own power and it is won. derful how many secrets of character may be crowded into the few square inches of the
 face The nose and the teeth have each their peculiar meaning. BALzAo left @ man.
 uscript treatise on the gait as an index tc character. Palaces interest us chiefly from