The free citizen. (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1874-1876, 1875-10-30

here is Il second obstacle to this III
Simultaneous reading of character. whicl
calls for special notice. Not onlv j.
Character phenomenon OF great com
| pcNItv, but 1t Is also Que in Il high ,icmrr,
| macrcs>ihlr. For. in the iir>, place. al
the thoughts and purposes Of another
nave 10 he Inferred from external Suns
llrl tins process. however carefully car.
rcd on. must always hc liable 10 error
me real unltornltirS of connection he.
tween tcrlln" and expression. for exam
Pc can only he known Approximately
;iitcra wide and careful comparison of in.
divl'uai pcculariiire. This reflection
never occurs To hcconiidcnt connOiSSrul
OF phySiognomv, who tundlv imagine:
chat every moral popularity is diStinctl,
indicated by some one form % t;ira
structure or movement. In the -rcnn,
place, { should br remembered that III
"t Us have 81 certain power of di~~inla
ton, and most OF uS are accustomed {,
! put some kind of watch on our words aud
actions. This is especially the case wi,l!
We have to confront Il new observer. We
do not care, in most instances to bc
onncd too easily by our fellows Nearly
cvcryhody Is accustomed To ~on,. meas
| are of rctccncc before strangers Willie
there are few who. from Il certain kind
OF pride and lorcc of inlvilutlilv. are
wont even 10 mi$l"al casual observer.
| FSpcctin" their real aim, and sentiments
ihAS 1t happens tha; Il person who j.
| ready at Il glance To classify ANY now
variety of character runs the ri>l, OF ;lc-
ccptln%, ~ an essential ingredient at the
! phenomenon. something which j. wholly
;dvcnlitiou~. 1t may he said, OF course.
that the instances we have selected are
| exceptional ones, that the "rc:g majority
ut people are both tnp much alike ::n'l
900 transparent in thrirwnrlS andariiunS
TO occasion amy serious difficulty /" Il
potcr"i mems natures an,; WAYS That
| there i> Il certain force in this considcr.-
ton may be readily granted At the
truth of our contention, that in every
lasty Judgment of character. there is III
way. an element of risk which torli,~
the process being described as an iu,ui-
tive one 80. too, W" may conrrd,' that
q certain few possess IN indiSpurablc fac
ulty of quick perception of the complies
tiles of human character. Vet. when wr
come to analvzr this faculty, we lind
that il resolves itself into Il happy skill
in conjecture, which no doubt includes Il
certain rance Of past observation rs well
rs q"icknc.S of imaginative insight into
'thcr persons feelings, but whi;'h, never
"",HIi ;9'I .c,2E 2E9ways remain. M vi ra!n
wholly destitute of The cxlct crrtainl. Of
scientific inference Those who see in
,nis conirctural skill Il mysterious power
M intuit ion, are tazzlrd by the instances
Of cor,y,; prediction which they happen
to have witnessed and fail to take account
OF the errors to which this process is GER
tain To lead.
1t wOuld probably he an interesting" in
quIry ln trace out the various impulses Of
human nature, which serve to su>lainand
foster this impaticEcc iii the observation
OF others Some OF the principal imilu
cncc> III work, will readily Su@@,'>, them
selves tn Il thoughtful mind. 1t iSoi,vuu>
that the mere qualification of pride which
attends all consciousness OF knowledge.
real orima~inary. will not account tnrthc
peculiar force of this tendency That j.
TO say. though il is true that the motive
ofvanily leads men To imagine that they
are c"nvcr>ant with many matters OF
which they are, iii reality. profoundly i"-
norant. il docs not explain why they
should he especially liable To assume this
appearance of intelligence with respect 10
their fellows. 1t is evident that these
special influences must hr looked for in
the pcculiaritic> OF the relations which
people hold To one another. The follow
ing suggestions may, perhaps, roughly in
dictate the character OF thcS, influences
Firs, Of all, il is maniirStly of practical
importance To everybody to cain some
thing like definite opinion respecting
those whom he has to meet in social inter
4 L.,