, 1861-01-24

ing them sort Of paytiesPs rimiAis, By beeom-
ing BUYERS and consumers Of the contrabaud ar
ticle. On the whole, the adventure was Of SER
vice to me, being good lesson on the trusting
to appearances, and jumping ct conclusions too
hastily and without due consideration.
The Hand. #....
The hand Is the most perfect instrument which
Col has given for the use and study Of man. II
is replete with the clearest evidence Of the most
wonderful design. By Il we obtain more com
plete knowledge Of the properties Of matter
than by any other organ of touch. The eye
alone could never communicate to the mind
many Of the qualities Of external things-sizr,
distance, position. The muscles Of the shoul-
der, arm, wrist, and those disposed about the
arm ITSELF give this member astonishing facility
in performing the multitudinous operations in
which we use it-grasping, reaching, pulling,
thrusting, etc. There Is q meaning in the ine-
qualities to the horny ingers-the arming them
at the tiTs with q horny substance-in the sep
aration Of the thumb from the four digits by
bed Of muscle. Then only consider is beauty
"No face, no hand. proportion, line or air
OF beauty, but the Muse hath interest in"
Whiteness Ia thought q great point; and Q
fair hand Il certainly very beautiful But the
whiteness ought to be healthy and natural, not
Of sickly hue; rather than that give Us Q
genuine, undeniable, unehangeable red. The
most distinguishing Characteristic Of Aurora was
her rosy hand, hand glowing with health and
freshness. A white hand seems 10 have been
emblematic Of innocence. Thus, IN Massingers
Great Duke Of FLORENCE" Let this the en-.
blem Of your innocence, give me assurancel"
And Lydia replies: q Ny hand joined TO yours
without this superstition, confSus Il" A red
hand, the baronet's cOgnizance, was symbolical
Of war, and hard hand Of vulgarity-lor labor
was ever accounted vulgar. Scipio Nasica, the
enemy Of TbeFia Gracious, who was great
hyorite Of the Roman populace, stood candidate
for the consulship, and although he complied 90
ar with the usual custom a. 10 canvass for votes,
yet he displayed In his behavior the greatest
contempt for the people. "What" said be, q
he took the hardened hand Of laborer, Whose
vote hesolicited, " do you walk on your hands"
Byron was Of opinion that there was nothing
more distinctive Of birth than the hand, and
that Il is almost the only sign Of bloOd aFistOc-
racy can generate. Leigh Hunt hss ridieuled
Byron's notion - Ny friend, George Bustle,
used to lament that in consequence Of the ad-
vancement Of polteaess and knowledge, there
was no longer any distinguishing mark Of gen
tility but q white hand. Poor Georgei be had
better have thought otherwise. People who
have nothing but white hand to show for their
breeding, arc In bad way" Then, as TO shape
here grace is more satisfied BY hating the Oh.
ject rati.or under than over the usu'l size. The
fingers should taper, be well rounded ct the
nails, and the whole outline should und1late and
ilOw to please the taste for curves end formal
beauty which nature has implanted In N By
rons hand, bis biogFapbeF tells us, was remark
ably small, 90 much % almost as to be out Of
proportion to his 6ce. The first Villiers, Duke
Of Buckingham, was, like the poet proud Of the
beauty Of his hands. Sultan Mahmond II, Of
terrible memory, was also noticeable for the
smaIlness Of his hands and Queen Elizabeth,
amongst her other vaIlities, imagined that nature
had distinguished her BY the comcllncss Of this
part of her person. She seems invariably to have
directed the painter to attend 10 her handsj yet,
in her picture, at Hampton Court they are long
and lank, like an untTied pair Of gloveA Paul
Heutzner, IN recording notice Of public pro-
cession of tho Queen to praysrA describes her
hands - small, and her fingers long He msa-
sent to her. and that she pulled her glove OF her
right hand, and gave L him 10 kiss, as mark
Of peculiar laVof. ] may @ well mention that
Grademgo, orator di ROma. describes Leo \. as
" Of most noble stature, with . vyry large
head, and with hands superlatively beautiful"
And, accordingly, 10 Raphael's hmous picture
Of tie Pope af florence, the hands are carefully
painted. Froisaart mentions certain CASTOR Dc
foix, surnamed Phnbus, who had remarkably
fine, long and straight fingers He returned one
day to bis castle from hunting the bear In hot
sun, and to cool hImselE dipped bis hande into
cold water, wheFeupOa he was svized with .
violent 1T, in which be died. Artaxerxes, son.
Of Xerxes the Persian, Is said to have had hands
Of such . length, that he could touch bis knees.
when standing upright, aud hence was surnamed
Longimanus Rob Roy was remarkable for the
length Of his arm and hand, which enabled him
to tie his garter without STOPPING 1ao s7iFo.
Ever since the mortal taste Of forbidden fruit
brought death, and knowledge and woe, into the
world, there has been no object more eagerly
and perseveringly sought after BY man than an
acquaintance allcr futurity. Il is quite certain,
that, except 30 iar a. God has been pleased 10
make an express revelation, mans attempts 10
render tho veil transparent have been entirely
fruitless; yet he has often deceived himself with
the idea that some nostrum had answered bis
purpose. He has consulted the stars Of heaven |;
be has perusod the entFails Of beasts and fowls |;
and he has read on the table Of his hand . por-
traiture Of his Lie. "Cardan," saith the cTedu-
lous Sir Thomas Brown, In letter 70 his friend,
"hath q peculiar and no hard observation from
mans hand, 70 know whether be was born In
the day or night; which, confess hOideth In
my own" This was guessing backwards but
the chief promise Of chiromancy was 70 tell
things to Dc. Seven mountains stand on the
palm, from which OWNERS pretended they had
views into futurty aud valleyslay at their feet,
wherein were great mines Of knOwledge Pal.
mistry is asserted bV the author Of " L ChirO-
mantle Uaiverselle," to BE- tho most beautiful ef
tho sciences founded on nature. In that work
are long explanations u the signs 70 be reed On
the palm, end upwards Of twelve hundFed rep.
rrssntA,1na Ol the hand and iis hnrS ehaks.
pcare satirscd astrOlOgy 10 King LeaR" aRd
he ridicalvd cLirO,nancy In the Merchant u
Venice,"
Thsre WSpS many Oihgr strange slpsrslitiens
oOnnSctsd uiIh The hand. u was h.llssed tnas