The Russellville Democrat., 1892-03-24
rHe l.AND ANo Is STUDY.

been attributed to the hand as TO the
face, it might almost be called face
without eyes; but even here the
eyes, the windows Of the soul =
have their counterpart IN the hand
clasp, which is parley at the gates,
so to speak. Chiromancy has found
passionate worshippers, yet it could
be wished that they had had more
reason and less folly in their cult.
The origin, nevertheless. Of this
headlong alteration is one that is not
wholly foolish, it is desire for the
full comprehension of the character
as displayed BY individuals. 1t is
so interesting to know all about our
friends, not to say our enemies, and
doubly enchanting to know all about
ourselves. The sublime rule,
know myself, appeals irresistibly
to mankind, and none the less to
womankind, whether Greek has or
has not been included in the curri-
culum of their education. And at
first sight it seems as if chiromancy
is the key to the mystery, the solu-
ton of the enigma.
Herein lies the real difficulty of
this occult science and black art I;
for there is no key to the mystery
of life except religion. But what
deals with the very fountains Of life,
such as the faithful, philosophie,
scientific and artistic study of char
acter as defined in chiromancy, may
well turn the heads of the light and
thoughtles as they touch as if by
magic on the facts and fancies of
then own or others characters. 1t
appears as if, we had but to learn
the meanings of about thirty famili-
lar turns and crinkles Of this ubi-
quitous hand, that feeds and clothes
US, fights our enemies welcomes our
friends, hides our faces IN sorrow,
lifts up our prayers to the skies,
Dupliees tendens sd sidera palmus,
and then we shall walk as gods
knowing good and evil. A reckless
rush is made to the little books which
set forth rags and tatters of the COW
eted information, ike old papyri,
worn out by lying in Egyptian tombs
for thousands of idle years. The
desperate disappointment and disillu-
sion that follogs are scarcely ever
acknowledged. Whereas one book
says line means a good heart if it
is long, another declares that mere
length is itself an evil Of the first
magnitude and thereupon these Gym
ical impostors object on principle to
too much heart. Unless also the
line of the head is long enough, the
owner is to come to bad end; if
too long and of particular shape,
he is miser. What, then, can be
the right length OF either' This is
left in doubt, and narrowing uncer
tainties are likely to take the place
of former happy beliefs in self and
friends. Moreover, every hand is
of a different shape, and the lines
wander about at their own sweet
will, and actually appear and dis
appear from time to time, which is
more occult than agreeable.
Roughly speaking, there are about
$50 to 200 incidents that are likely
to happen to the average man in the
course of his life. Fortune-tellers
of old had plenty of time to count
them up and tabulate them in the
stars-the earliest form of statistics
known-and the rule has been hand
ed down through countless genera
tons that fortune teller must make
a judicious selection of these Incl
dents in prophesying the future.
The power of following that rule
means the possession of lively i'm
agination, sympathetic eye, and a
terribly accurate memory, besides
an amount of natural force of logic
that would win degree in any uni
versity if properly applied. One
thing leads to another, even the un-
expected has its place, perhaps I'M
expectedly to itself. Unless chiro-
mant can lay Ia a store of informa-
ton on the subject of character in
the abstract and of the curious
effects one PERSONS action has on
another's action, no definite fortune
or character can be evolved. Every
line has been made to do duty for its
neighbor in the course of centuries,
thus indicating in a subtly historical
manner the growth of PHILOSOPHERS
and religions and the influence of
the manners of each period. A
strange ethical character runs
through the odd and dogmatic asser-
tons of the ancient chiromants; it
was evident they knew how passions
worked, how peace became strife,
and how, throughout all, wisdom
crieth aloud in the streets and no
man regardeth her
There Is something patheucally
comical in that clever fortune
teller can use any kind of
system with success. Which
system can possibly be the
right onef Is it the latest or
the largest, the Oldest or the sim
plesti We should be inclined to
suggest that the best system Of
delineation of character rests upon
a certain amount of knowledge of
ethnography, ethnology, geography,
history-anthropology in short, in
its widest terms. After observing
the facts with the care demanded by
science and with the eye required by
art, and recollecting them with the
piety of a true and faithful con-