The Penn's Grove record., 1884-12-27
The Language OF the Body.

One Is often led TO ask the meaning
and the origin of the attitudes which
we assume, the gestures which have
become to US a second nature. We read
that King Solomon ''spread forth his
hands towards heaven" Why? The
writer asked this question Of a Bible
class of boys. No answer. Then he
asked, Suppose l should hold my
hand, in this way, open, toward John;
what would you think?' THAT you
wanted him to give you something"
"Just so; if | stretch out my hands open
up toward heaven, what does it mean2"
THAT you want God to give you some-
thing"
The %uncovering of the head Is said to
have come from the olden times, when
a knight or warrior by taking off his
helmet and exposing his head defence
less to another, showed perhaps his con-
tidence in the honor of the other, or
threw himself upon his mercy.
Bowling the head was also the way of
putting ones self at the disposal of
another; it showed trust or submission.
Kneeling no doubt had the same signii-
canoe.
just how the usage Of shaking hands
originated, is not quite clear. But
when pugilists shake hands before be-
ginning their combat with the fist; it Is
a survival of the habit of showing in
this way that neither had any heavy lead
or the like in the hand, designed to give
deadly weight to the blow.
The custom of giving the lady the
inside of the sidewalk originated when
the streets were full of mire and filth,
when the passer-by was liable to be
splashed all over by every team, ITO
take the wall" or be willing TO "giye
the wall" marked the man as a bully
or the reverse.
The usage of giving the lady the seat
in the pew farthest from the pew door,
perhaps half a dozen persons rising for
this purpose, originated in New Eng
land when an attack from the savages
not seldom was an episode in the SER
vice, and when each man carried his
musket to church, and stood ii at the
pew poor, ready for use at a moments
warning. Of course, the men must be
at the head of the pew.
1t is said that the custom OF firing u
salute i'll token of respect to a guest,
originally expressed the confidence pla-
ced in him and the friendly intentions
Of the host. The guns were thus emp
tied, and rendered harmless.
Many of the funeral usages in vogue
among the Eastern nations Were ex-
pressiye of abandonment to grief, and
absorption in grief. Thus when the
mOurne tore his clothes, " was as if he
said, 81 have no further delight in life,
no use for beautiful raiment." And
when the hair was torn, when the body
was cut with knives, it was a way OF
bidding the body share the distress of
the mind. The sacrifice of costly OBJ
jects at the grave, expressed the instlnc-
tive desire TO make TO the deceased an
offering as costly as possible. We feel
as though, when we make the sacrifice,
it IN some way benefits the person
who is gone.
The wiping off the dust of the lnhOs-
pitable cities, no doubt signihed that
the apostles would not have SO much as
the dust IN common with them, that
they would not DO indebted to the
cities even so far.
1t is curious to remark how differ.
emily sometimes different nations IN
body the same emotion. Among the
Orientals, reverence is expressed by
covering the head and ~uncovering the
feet. But among Occidentals, a person
who should come into church with bare
feet and his hat on would hardly be
considered as showing reverence. Sim
ilarly, the Orientals despise the dog and
admire the ass; we reverse the estimates.
They write from right to left; we the
contrary.