The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1871-08-26
GheGstelliqeueer.
A Word AbOnt Faces.

From Every Saturday.
Some one calls the face the index ofthe
mind, but II was wisQ observGT-the
very wiseSt Of obseryGrs-whO wrote:
There's no art
To lind the minds construction In the face
There are u great many people who
plume themselves on being what is called
readers of character" We never knew
professional reader of this sort who was
not constantly deceivlng himself concern,
ing his fellow creatures. As a general
thing, faces have an obstinate way OF not
betraying the mental or moral traits OF
their pOssesSOrs. Character doesn't put
all its goods, nor even q small proportion
of them, in its shop window. The idea Of
reading at glance anything SO abstruse
and complex as the human heart lie Is
a wise man who can understand himself,
To say nothing about reading other people,
There are few things in which We are
80 apt TO be mistaken rs in the otf'hand
estimates We form OF men and women, A
man OF dissipated habits carries signs OF
dissipation in his cOunten0nCe; but then,
intense mental labor, protracted anxiety,
and lack Of exercise, will give the same
jadcd, worn out expression TO the lace. A
friend OF ours Ia famous student Of physi'
Ognomy) once pointed out TO us on the
street most eminent and exemplary d.
vine rs being evidently q member Of the
sporting traternity-"a fine old sport he
called him. Our friend was illustrating
his iatuOus theory OF reading character.
lie committed the easiest Of errors.
II so happens that a man OF the great.
est determination will have n weak
mouth, and the most vasGillating and
purpOseless disposition will go with firm.
set lip and defiant eye. One Of the bravest
Of the young generals in our late war-a
rough rider, and reckless In battle to the
verge Of madness--is gentleman so I'M.
0btrusivG in address, and so gentle Of face,
that n stranger meeting him casually
would at once place him in that category
of temporizing souls who are supposed
incapable OF saying boo 10 goose, Bret
IlartG was as true TO nature as to art in
his description Of the dGni2Gns of "ltOar-
ing Camp! THE assemblage numbered
about u hundred men, One or two of
these were actual ilglllves from justice,
some were criminal, and all were reckless,
Physically, they exhibited no indication
of their past lives and character. The
greatest scamp had Raphael face, with u
prOusiOn OF blond hair; Oakhurst, Il gam.
bier, had the melancholy air and intel.
lGctual abstraction Of n Hamlet the cool.
est and most courageous man was scarce.
Iy over five feet In height, with n soft
voice and an embarrassed, timid manner
y Perhaps in the minor details Of
fingers, toes, ears, etc, the camp may have
been deficient, but these slight omissions
did not dCtrRct from their aggregate
force. The strongest man had but three
fingers on his right hand the best
shot had but one eye" These few
touches, hasty and unCOnsidered as they
seem, prove that the writer Is shrcwd
observer Ol human nature, o reader Of
character in the best sense. The conYCn.
lOnAl novelist, who has studied novels
rather than life, makes his villains the
most obvious, bareiaCcd villains. The
black sheep Is 50 very black, physically |
and morally, that the wonder Is that the
sanity hero or the angelic heroine does
not hand him over to the police the in.
slant he appears. II Is not so unknowlngly |
that Shakespeare drew his rAscals. II was
not so he drew lago--outwardly most
engaging, soldlerly, lrank,eyed fellow,
though many actors, Judging by their
mounting and hAng.dog manner, seem to
think that lAgO was cheap transparent
knavc. As he Is usually represented on
the boards, he would not have deceived
Othelo for quarter of an hour. Othello
would have split him perpendicularly |
with his scimitGr at an carly stage Of the
proceedings. IagO was II witty, plausible,
fascinating, soullcss villain, cool, adroit
and sunny-just such n villain, in short,
rs the professional reader of character
would select from. u crowd as being mn
openiaCed and honest man and right
good fellow.
1t Is only in books that the shnrpIca.
lnrcd man Is always irritable and tho
rOund.laCcd man always jolly. In real
life II Is often the scamp who has the
smile that Is childlikc and bland" and
the choice spirit tho heart of true gold,
that wears unprcpOsscssing clay about II.