The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1882-11-08
assassin. though unhurt, stood

double-quick. and TIL thing goes of
prematurely.'
1t i to men or this class that Lavater
refers. when lie speaks oi individuals
who have such a control over Their iea-
lures that they yrerenf eren rtoteHf pas
SioHs from impre>>ing them with tie
marks they would leave on other faces
A to the question what vices can Ice
detected by the expression OF the Gun
enance. opinions differ Very widely.
PHYSICAL excuses ARRAYS leave Their
mark. aud there i no doubt that an cX-
pert physician can recognize a drunAsrd.
a debauchee. a glutton. or AN 81, un-
eater without any difficulty. AMI even
without c~onfoundng the effects ~ Their
different vices. But. though p~hrenol1-
gists assert. and every lover OF Justice
should wish. II 10 be otherwise. over
whelming evidence obligeS one tC AL
NIT that. "a a rule. moral turpitude
leaves no such traces. II free from
Notwithstanding habits. a plotting tiend
may disarm suspicion with the ideal
forms and soft ewes Of Guido's dream
children. and the records Of history not
less than those OF everyday lite abound
with instances OF such masked Scum
drels. Every large penitentiary in
Anglo-SaXondom has inmates who
might pose for any saint IN the Roman
almanac. while an honest ~village-priest
of Southern Bavaria may combine in
his face the detormities of Breughel's
seven devils by INDUCING in sailed pork,
lager-bier. and sauerkraut. Some Years
ago | passed a few days at Brownsville.
Texas. during the session Of the United
states District Court. The cauSe cete-
bre of the season Was the cas- OF Fran
cisco Hernandez. a Mexican bandit, who
had infested the Rio Grande frontier t)r
more than three Years before he was
caught in his lavorite trick of robbing
the poor f~arm-houses of his countrymen,
whenever the absence of the ~able-bodied
males gave him a chance of executing
his designs with a minimum risk to his
own skin. Though he assured the court
that he had no hard feelings against any
Of his victims. he had been obliged. in
the line of his business. to kill eight diff
ferent persons-all females and minors.
His last enterprise had involved a hand
to-hand fight with a stout old Oma
who broke his left arm before he dis
patched her. He was tracked to the
Rio Grande, and. trying to swim the
river in his crippled condition. saw HIM
self obliged TO turn back into pistol
range of his p%ursuers. was captured. and
arraigned for five murders in the second
and three in the first degree. | strolled
into the court house while his trial was
going on. expecting to see one of those
bull-necked old cut-tbroats of the ne
groid type. who abound in this region of
,,,.1,,. .,h1 rnI\-Al rlrnS He nrnrnI 10
tie a palc-faced creole, of some eighteen
or twenty wears. slender-built. modest
SPOKEN. ana rcsi.ned-looking to a pa
thetic degree. His profile was absC-
lutely perfect. and the same might have
been said of his eyes, if their look had
not been too ghost-like spiritual to leave
an agreeable impression. Caesar Bor-
ola, the natural son of Pope Alexander
VI. was at once the w~ickedeSt and
handsomest MAJ of his time. The tiend
who aggravated the guilt of the most
unheard-of crimes by perpetrating them
in the name OF a sentimental religion
wore a face which, in the words of Della
Porta. might inspire a saint to live up
to every sublime precept of that creed.
The mere sound of his voice succeeded
where the arguments OF Others failed
his eve could beam with the inspiration
OF Il prophet while he meditated those
fath assassin to which the records of
the most barbarous nations furnish
scarcely a parallel. 1t is a pity that his
skull has not been preserved. though
WE need not doubt hat it did exhibit all
those tine developments that were
necessary to harmonic with such a
face.
Cesar Borgia had hostile biographers.
who may have exaggerated his faults.
and artist-friends who. perhaps, tiatter-
ed him in portraits but the same car
not be said Of Mohammed III. the con-
queror of ConStantinople, whose crimes
We're palliated by his abject courtiers
and to whose majestic beauty hi. enc
mics bear witness. The historian
Phranza. who lost his fortune and his
country in the downfall Of the Byzan-
tine Empire. and whose only son was
stabbed by the hand of the Sultan. de-
scribes him as the physical ideal of a
perfect a a potentate of leonine
bearing. with a beard that surrounded
his face like a name, and a pair of Won
derful Oriental eyes, combined with fea-
lures Of classic regularity. he appeared
every inch a king and the enbassa-
doris who visited his court from all parts
Of the world agreed that he wa. the
Notwithstanding man they had ever
seen. Yet this same paragon was an
infidel alike to his faith and his friends.
inhunanly cruel, and mean to the rare
degree of being at once avariciOus and
oyerbearing. But. though his subjects
groaned under his yoke, nc murmur
ever reached his ears, and his presence
inspired the genuine reverence due to a
superior being. He was uXOrious and a
tool in the hands OF his favorites. but
his superintendent always insured the
success Of a campaign he had that Gift
of commanding that can dispense with
personal courage by inspiring it in 9TH
ers. Absalom. Cambyses. the younger
Dionysius, Caligula, Louis lie Debon-
naire. Churchill, King Christian Of Den
mark, Ali Pasha, and Benedict Arnold.
are well-known combinations OF a truth
which. as Goethe observes. the expert
ence of every man. but nobody's in
stinct, teaches him-that beauty and
goodness are not identical. Children
and child-like men. and most men a
priori. are prepossessed by Il handsome
face and repuleed by an ugly one. an,
ear understand Madame de Stae
when she speaks of objectionable faces.
Ugline>s IS something abnormal. and
originally, no doubt. the consequence OF
sin-though, perhaps, quite unconscious
s!n-against the physical laws OF God.
-Popai0r Science .Wonthly.