The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1873-01-30
KEEP A STIFF UPPER LIP.


The world courts q man for bie r,c,,,a,, :
'awns upon him if there is power in his hand
% urn 0he scales when the weights OF others
~fS III Sh9 balances; defers ato him IL he have
great mental gifts; admires him for personal
beauty and grace; loves him for large-beart-
edness; but It never thoroughly rasnects
him unless he has shown that he knows how
and when to keep asstiff upper lip. ,.-, ...sr /
= Keep stiff upper lip, old fellow ~ is the
parting counsel ofsone friend to another, who
is standing in the shadow, of somestgreat1
trouble ofthattsort which causes ali men 10
turnatheir eyes 'onsthe7 gsufferersto see how he
bears it, Under these circumstances there is
notsa man but instinotively knows that If he
can. only .pertormathat little facial feat sue
cessfully, his battle is more than half won.
Some men neverscan do itrat all. Some try.
only to beak down slamentably. There are
mouths and mouths. With some mouths the
keeping of a stiff upperfJip ARCHAEOLOGICAL
impossibility. If you want to sec the most
perfect failure OF such an attempt. watch an
impulsive, sensitive child whose Rfeelings
have been wounded, but whosesnatural pride
instinctively suggests concealment of the
trouble. The lips begin5to culver ominons-
~ then the eyes, in turn, show signssof re-
belIing against the!discipline which is sought
to be enforced upon q countenance accus
toned to be made an ndex of all thatfgoes
onswithin. Next, q sob forces itself up from
the'throat, and brings the ready tears with
it, and the tears are the slgnalfor. an uncon.
ditional capltulation. Down goes the
ltreacherOus. under lip, and up goes the for
saken upper lip, which cannot possibly pre-
serve its equilibrium after thesdefection Of
its twin brother and nearest ally. The con-
troll over the muscles of the mouth which is
necessary to the preservat ion of a stiff upper
lip, and which typifes 'frmness. is gonly
gained after long. and repeated struggles. 1t
is an important part in that unconscious
self-education which begins so early that no
one can ever exactly know when heTtook his
first lesson in it.
And this is why so much stress is'laidFon
the keeping of stiff upper lip. The simple
physiological fact implies so much else of the
gravest Importance which lies behind it, 1t
means so many things that we can only
name a few of them. It means making up
your mind and keeping it made up. Ii
means not wearing your. heart ou'your sleeve
6 for DAVIS to pick at.' And in some cases
| 1t means having SO utterly conquered impul.
; sive feeling as to forget altogether at last
how TO give way to it. 1t means brave bear
ing up under adversely and this last ofEts
= meanings is the noblesr of all. But how is il
= done-that is, the facial part of the process
The jaws are brought firmly together, the
front teeth overlapping each. other and the
: lips pressed together. In this position you
have the best possible physical illustration
Of the stiff upper lip. Tt always goes with
the firmly set faW, and you really cannot
have one without the other. Asilong as you
r can keep your mouth in that position yor
e are good for stiff upper lip. But will
strong emotion wrestling for the mastery
> and demanding outlet, it is not so eGsy a.
you might think to keep the jaws nrmly
set. The heart, the eyes, the throat, The
chest, all crysout against it. Even the chin
the nose, and the eyebrows, join in the pro
test. In state of excitement they are al
enemies to the keeping of stiff upper lip
and II they can gain-ov the tongue to theil
side, they usually win the victory. Some
people never keep stiff upper lips, and the
physical impossibility is typical Of the moral
one. Others, again, keep them habitually
too stiff. But these are In the minority
More fine faces are spoiled by an undecided
look about the mouth and chin, Ecaused by
never bringing the jaws firmly together thar
rendered grim by keeping them abitually
too closely locked.