The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-08-23
a Word About Faces.

From every 5Alurdi5.I
Some one calls the face the index Of tie
mind, but it was Il wiser Obscrvcr--the
very wi$eSt of obScrvcrs--Who wrote:
"rhere's 10 art
TO lrd the minds construction IN tie face"
There are great many people who
plume themselves on being WHIST is called
..rcaders of character" We never knew a
professional reader Of this sort who was not
constantly decciying himself concerning his
fellow-creatures. AS general thing, faces
have an obstinate way of not betraying the
mental or moral traits of their posSeSSurs.
Character doesn't put all its goods, nor
even Il small proportion of them, in It's shop
window. The idea OF reading ut glance
ANYTHING SO abStruSc aud complex rs The
human heart! He is Il wise man who can
understand himself, to say nothing about
reading other people.
There are few things in which we are so
apt to he mistaken rs in the ofl-hand eStl-
mates we form OF men and women. A man
of diSsipatcd habits carries signs OF dlSSlpa-
ton in his cuuntCnance a; but then, intense
mental labor, protracted anxiety, and lack
of exercise, will give the same jadcd, worm
out expression to the face. A friend Of ours
"a famouse student of physiognomy) once
pointed out to us on the street IL most emf
ncnt aud exemplary divine as being evil
IDENTITY Il member Of the sporting ira
tcrnity-"a fine old SPORT" he called him.
Our friend was illustrating his fatuous
theory OF reading character. lie commit
ted tie easiest of errors.
1t so happens that Il man OF the greatest
determination will have weak mouth, and
the most vacillating and purposeless dis
10 itian will 90 with tirm-set lip and detl-
ant 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 Il gentleman so uDobtrusive in address, land
so gentle of face, that Il stranger meeting
him casually would at once place him in that
category Of temporizing souls who are sup
posed incapable OF saying boo to goose.
Bret Ilarte was rs true to nature as to art
IN his description of the denlzens Of ''Roar-
inc Camp: The assembage numbered
about hundred men. One or two oil these
were actual fugitives from justice, some
were cri minal and all were reckless. Physl-
cuiiy, they exhibited no indication of their
mast lives and character. The greatest scamp
had a Raphael face, with pr0fusion OF
blond hair Oakburst, Il gambler, had the
melancholy air and intellectual abstraction
of Hamlet the coolest and most courage
Gus man was scarcely over five feet In hclShf,
with a soft voice and an embarrassed, tlhld
manner. Perhaps in the mlnor
uttaliS vi uUSClcs tCC., S"i ., Wv, CIV
NAV have been deficient, but these slight
omissions did not detract from their ag-
creyatc force. The strongest man bad but
three fingers OIL his right hand; the
best shot had but one eye" These few
touches, hasty and unconsidered as they
seem. prove that the writer is shreWd OBJ
server of thurman nature, Il reader oil character
i'm the best sense. The conventional novel
Ist, who has studied novels rather Than
life, makes his villains the most obvious,
barefaced villains. The black sheep is 50
very black, physically and morally, the
wonder is that the sanity hero or the an
aelic heroine does not hand him over to the
police the instant he appears. 1t is not so
unsnowingly that Shakespeare drew his ras-
Gals. It was not SO be drew lago-0ut-
wardly most engaging, soldierly, capital,
fellow, though many actors,
Judging by their mounting and haDg-dog
manner, seem to think that lago was a cheap
knave. As he is usually repre-
scntcd on the boards, he would not nave
deceived Othcllo for quarter OF an hour.
Othello would have split him perpendicu..
Early with his scinlitar at an early stage Oh
the proceedings. Iago was witty, plallsi-
BILE, fascinating, soulless villain, COO, adrOit,
and sunny-iust such villain, in short, as
the professional reader OF character would
select from crowd rs being an open-laced,
honest nun, and right good fellow. -
tits only in books that the sharp-featured
man Is always irritable. and the round.faced
man always jolly. In real life it is often the
scamp who has the g smile that is childljke
and bland" and tho choice spirit, the heart
of true gold, that wears unprepossesslng
clay about H..