Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1860-11-19
The Language of Eyes.
BY L. VIRGINIA FRENCH.

The EYE was the first '.nagnetic tele-
graph" When Adam first looked into the
eyes of Eve IN Eden. he doubtless felt
thrill OF electric influence. and still, TO
this day, heEeye nds forth it messages in
lightning Pushes. quivering along the ''elec-
trio chain with wbichwe aTe'daFkly bound"
from spirit to spirit. and from heartto heart.
( IT, when accounting for the origin of Ian
guage. we are evyntually thrown back upon
Divine power, bow much more quickly we
credit to a spiritual inspiration the deeper.
4 ruer. and evefvarying" el0quence of the
human eye. And if, as according to Talley
rand ,.'speech was given to us to conceal our
thoughts" most certainly. then, eyes were
given to us to reveal them Gener; lily
speaking, the eyes are the echo of the heart,
and while the tongue is a laggard. they
answer to The emotions OF the soul. and give
them instant .utterance. We say that usual
ly this is the case; true it is, however, that
there are some in VIII m
s.Hear t, lips and eyes, are put to school,
And ever guarded feature has its rule,'
in such way that no natural expression of
the heart g sentiments can be elected throug Oh
its legitimate Interpreter. the Eye. Bat.
where people are neither afraid nor ashamed
to say what they feel; where nature reignS,
and ruth is dominant, the silent inter
change of looks is more. and above ''all that
tongue can tell" And what a range of ex
preston it embraces, from the knit brow
and gIaring eye of rage and hate, to the Sc
rene forehead, the clear, open orb. and melt.
ing radiance of the ''look of love.'' We
speak familary of persons having an EEK
pressive,,nlo or an eloquent eye" !, In such a
one we can read affection. grief, langor, com
passion, Incredibly contempt, establishment,
censure-anything in fact, which the bid
den heart below can feel. We can see in the
merry twinkle of humor, the dread wear-
ness of sorrow, the fire of iildignation,5 the
sparkle of pleasure, the glow of enthusiasm;
the soft beamiug of love, the pride ofaconfi-
dence, the calm courage, the gloom of
despair, and the bOrror of remOrSe. The
very turning of the eye.'' in itself, says IA
great deal. Instinctively it is upturned in
devotion, and cast downward by shame; il is
straight and stern in rebuke, while a slant
ing regard conveys the idea of malice, cum
ming and meanness. The beaming glance OF
the mother points out to you her children
long ere her lips have named them; indig-
nant eyes doom the cnlprit ere sentence has
been passed by his judges~and the lover sees
reflected in this magic mirror the secret of
bis acceptance or rejection, long before the
words that confirm them have been uttered
by the timid or tardy tongue. As written
character by which to read the human char
acter within, the eye stands pre-emipent, be-
and questioned; it is a spontaneous revela-
ton of ITSELF 1t is Natures choicest jewel,
and its influence, beyond that of the weird
and tabled opal. often haunts US like SPELL
The whole interest of face, as well as of a
picture. sometimes centres in this organ. We
may have fancied a picture. animated with
life, ready, to speak, to start into action be-
fore US; lay your hand over the eyes and the
phantasy of life is gone; it is only sem
blance, after all Grace Greenwood speaks
of the dark brown eyes" of Lucrezia
Borga, in the portrait of her by Giulio
Romano, as casting upon the observer q
powerful and baleful spell;an adds, that one
may read in them "IntelIect keen and subtle;
sensuality and 5cruslty, imperiousness,, re-
vengcfulness, voluptuousneSS and utter false
hood" There is piratical story now in
course of publication in Hdrper's Weekly in
which all the life and interest in one old
villain centres in his one-eye-it was mas
ter stroke to give him hut one, and YET be
does more with that than many an individual
could accomplish with all the eyes of Argus
Poets and painters have nearly ..done to
death" this subj CT, and still it, rises up be-
fore, each one, fresh as though possessed OF
The talismau of immortal youth. Shak-
speare, in particular, has richly illustrated
the truth of the eloquence of eyes. What
more natural than for Bassanio TO hope for
success, when in regard to Portia he can say,