The Atlanta constitution., 1894-02-27
THE FACE AND SOUL.
r4LMIGE PREACHES ON THE CHAR
ACTERISTICS OF THE FEATURES.
Wisdom Malxeth them to Shine-EveryOne
Wants to be Agreeabe-A Mans Life has
aGreatiIn1uence on His Face.

1.-The Human Face" and held his great
audience fascinated with the charm of his
eloquence, as he discoursed on a subject OF
universal interest. The text was Eccles1as-
tes s: 1. "A mans wisdom maketh his face
to shine and the boldness of his face shall
be changed" or as it may be rendered, 1.-The
sourness of his face shall be sweetened'
Thus little change in our English trans
lation brings out the better meaning OF the
text. which sets forth that the character OF
the face is decided by the character OF the
soul The main features of our countenance
were decided by the Almighty, ana we
cannot change them; but under God we ue-
eide whether we shall have countenances,
benigrant or balefu sour or sweet, wrath
ful or genial, benevolent mean, honest or
scoundrelly. mpudent or modest cour-
ageous or cowardIy, frank sneakins. In
all the works of God there is nothing more
wonderful than the human countenance
Though the longest face is less than twelve
inches from tie hair line OF the forehead
TO the bottom Of the chin. All the oroadeSt
face is less than eight inches from
cheek bone to cheek bone, yet III that
small compass God has wrought such
differences that the sixteen hundred mn
lion OF the human race may be dStinSulSliHd
from each other by their facial appearances.
The face is ordinarily the index of char
acter. II Is the throne of the emotions. II IS
the battlefield Of the passions. 1t is the cata-
fogUe of character. 1t is the map OF the
mind 1T is the geography of the soul Ana
while the Lord decides before our birth
whether we shall be handsome or homely.
we are by the character we form deciding
whether our countenanceS shall be pleasant
or disagreeable. This is SO much so that
some OF the most beautiful faces are unat-
tractive, because of their arrogance or Their
CeceitfuncSS, and some of the most rugged
ard irregular features are attractive be
cause of the kindness that shines through
-,'"'Su' ur sickness. or Scallflca-
ton may veil the face SO that it snail not
express; the soul, but in the majority OF
eases give me a deibe ate look at a mans
c0untenance and | will tell you whether he
IS cynic or an opti!nst, whether he is
miser or a phiianthrorist whether he is
noble or ignCmirious whether he is
good or bad. Our FIRST impression of 2 man
woman is generally the accurate impress
sion. You at the first glance make up
YOUR mind that some man is unworthy of
your friendship. but afterwards by circum-
stances being put into intimate
association with him, you come
TO like him and trust him. Yet stay
with him long enough, and You will be
compelled to return to your original esti-
mate of his ch lracter. but it will he after
could lay his hands on. IT is of
Gods mercy that We have these
outside indicas of character. PhreN-
ology is one index, and while it may
be carried TO an absurd extent there is no
doubt that YOU can judge somewhat of a
mans character by the shape of his head.
Palnistry is another index, and while it
-Vn1.'-- -~-...; - i'rtN the fanciful necroman-
It is true that the old-time singing schoo
was not only where the voice was expected |
to go through certain maneuvers, under
the direction of a man who welded a tdn-
ng fork and bore the title of singing mas
ter. but where amusement ana recreation
were sought for and found. Usually the !
same little rOugh-huilt house, with lis un-
wooden benches and this be-
ng the case. the singing master did not |
hesitate to hold forth when the occasion
seemed most appropriate at ffi1fiEs III COM
No one eve kne| [,it Just Wh social and re-
De sngn ng school, By ono lid of the Bible
iHted in high 55y-h one ~ Vi 'i'?l 'ile i'l?lo
sfops = 1<9physiognomy, and nothing
o,I ha.ya9utefly taken for granted than
.ue power OF the soul TO transtigure the
face. The Bible speaks of the face of
Cod the face of Jesus Christ" the face
Of Esau." the face of Israel" the face of
Job" the face of the old man the
shining face of Moses" the wrathful face
Of Pharoah." the ashes on the face of hu-
initiation. the ressurectonary staff on the
face of the dead chfld, the
and in my text the Bible Declares
aud the sourness of his face shall be sweet
cned." If the Bible has much to say
about physioEnony, we do not wonder that
the world has made il a study from the
early ages. In vain the English parlia
ment in the time of George II. ordered
publicly whipped and imprisoned those who
studied physioGnomy. Intelligent people al
ways have studied it and always will study
st. The pens of Moses. and Joshua. and
job and John and Paul. as well Ho-
-.7ay and ~ Iiyas,n tpS an "a
totIe and Socrates. and Plato, and LaVater
have been dipped into it, and whole libra
ries of wheat and chaff have been garneded
on this theme.
Now what practical religion and eternal
Use would [ make of this subject? | am
going TO show that while We are not re-
sponsble for our features. the Lord Al
mighty having decided what they shall be
pren&turally. as the Psalmist declares when
he writes: In my book all my members
were written which in continuance We're
fashioned when as yet there was none of
them" vet the chara cter which under God
we form will Chisel the face most nightly.
Every man would like to have been made in
appearance an Alc piades, and every wo-
man would like to have been made a JO-
sephine We all want to be agreeable Our
usefulness depends so much upon it that |
consider it important and Christian for
every man and woman to be as agreeable
as possible. The slOuCh the slOVen the
man who does not care how he looks, all
such people lack equipment of usefulness.
A minister who has to throw quid of
tobacco out of his mouth before he begins
10 preach or Christians with beard un-
trimmed, making them look like wild
beasts come out of the lair, yea, unkempt.
uncombeG. unwashed. disagreeable men or
women, are q hindrance to religion more
than a recommendation.
Now. my text suggests how we may. in
dependent of features, make ourselves
agreeable: "A mans wisdom maketh his
face 20 shine and the sourness of his face
shall be sweetened." What | say may come
too late for manv Their coUntenance NAV
ny long years of hardness have been froz-
en- into stolidity; or by long years of cruel
behavior they may have Herodized all the
machinery of expression; or by long years
Of avarice they may have been Shylocked
until their face is hard as the precious
metal they are haordinS. But l am in time
to help multitudes if the Lord will. That it
is possible to overcome disadvantages of
illustrated by one whose life recently closed
after having served in the presidential cab
met at Washington. BY accident of fire
in childhood his face had been more pite-
nuSly SCARED than any human ViSage that
I ever saw. BY hard study he rose from he
ing a poor boy to the very height of the
legal profession. and when an attorney gen
oraI for the United States was needed he
entered the presidential cabinet What a
lr'-,r7nh over DESTROYED human countenance,
] do not wonder that when an opposing at
tornev in PhiladeIphia courtroom cruelty