The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-02-26
TALMAGE IN HIS PULPIT
"The Human Face" the Subject OF His
Morning Discourse.

AOunLE4AAGE-A ne AAAa08CH " nANA
Make Each OF the 800, 900, 900 Per.
sons in the World DistinEuishable
From the Others.
Brooklyn, Feb. 25.-In the Brooklyn
Tabernacle this forenoon, Rev. DR.. Tai.
mage chose for the subject of his sermon,
"The Human Face, and held his great
sudience fascinated with the charm of his
eloquence, as he discussed on a subject OF
universal interest. The text was Eccle-
siastes viii, l: "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 a little change in our English
translation 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, and we cannot change them
but under God we decide whether we
shall have countenances, benignant or
baleful, sour or sweet, wrathtCl or genial,
benevolent or mean, honest or scoun-
drelly, impudent or modest, coura-
geous or cowardly, frank or sneak
ing. In all the works of God there is
countenance. Though the longest face is
less than twelve inches from the hair line
of the forehead TO the bottom of the chin,
and the broadcast face is less than eight
inches from cheek bone to cheek bone,
yet il that small compass God hath
wrought such differences that the 1,600,-
o00, 900 of the human race may be dis
tinguished from each other by their facial
appearances. The face is ordinarily the
index of character. 1t is the throne Of
the emotions. 1t is the battlefield of the
passions. 1t is he catalogue of charac-
ter 1t is the map of the mind. 1t is the
geography Of the soul And 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 pleas
ant or disagreed BILE. This is SO much
so that some of the most beautiful
faces are unattractive, because of
their arrogance or their deceitful-
ness, and some of the most rugged and
irregular features re attractive because
of the kindness that shines through them.
Accident, or sickness, or sterilization
may veil the face so that it shall not ex-
press the soul. but in the majority of
cases give me deliberate look at a man S
count enance, and | will tell you whether
he is a cynic or an optimist, whether he
Is miser or a philanthropist, whether
he is noble or ignominious, whether he is
good or bad. Our first impression of a
man or woman is generally the accurate
impression. You at the first glance make
up your mind that some man is unworthy
of your friendship, but afterward by cir
cumstances being put into intimate asso-
citation with him, you come to like him,
and trust him. Yet, stay with him long
enough, and you will be compelled to re-
turn TO your original estimate
WF ~ nlNn FrH.a
be after he has cheated you out
OF everything he could lay his
hands on. 1t is of Gods mercy that we
have these outside induces OF character
Phrenology is one index, and while il may
be carried TO an absurd extent, there IS
no doubt that you can Judge somewhat of
mans character by the shape Of his
head. Palmistry is another index, and
while it may be carried into the fanciful
and Decromantic, there is no doubt that
certain lines in the palm of the hand are
Indicative of mental and moral traits.
Physlognomy IS another index, and while
the contour of the human face may some
times mislead US, we can generally, after
looking into the eye ana noticing the
curve of the lip, and the spread of the
nOstril, and the correlation OF ali the feat
ures, come to a right estimate of a mans
character. If it we're not so, how would we
know whom to trust and whom to avoid
whether we will or not physiOgnomy de-
cides a thousand things in commercial and
financial, and social, and religious do
mains. From one lid of the Biole to the
other there is no science so recognized as
that of physiognomy, and nothing more
thoroughly taken for granted than the
power OF the soul 10 trans6gure the face.
The Bible speaks of the face of God, :"
the face of Jesus Christ" the face of
Esau, the face of Israel the face of
job" the face of the old man" the shin
ing face of Noses" the wrathful face
Of Pharaoh" the ashes on the
face of humiliation, the resurrec-
dead child, the hypocrites disfguring
their FACE, and in my text the Bible de-
clares, "A man wisdom maketh his face
TO shine and the sourness of his face shall
be sweetened." If the Bible has so much
to say about physiognomy, we do not
wonder that the world has made it a
study from the early ages. In vain the
English parliament in the time of George
III ordered publicly whipped and i'm
prisoned those who studied physio Snomy.
Intelligent people ALWAYS have studied il
and always will study it. The pens of
Moses. and Joshua, and Job, end John,
and Paul, as well as of Homer, and
Hippocrates, and Galen, and Aristotle
and Socrates, and Plato, and Lavater
AoNC DCNh hAPPto lbO H. anu WHOLE llOrd-
ries of wheat and chat have been gar
nered on this theme
Now, what practical religious and eter-
nal use would l make of this subject I
am going TO show that while we are not
responsible for our features. the Lord Al
mighty having decided what they shall be
pre-natAlly, as the Psa mist declares
when he Writes 'ln my book all my men,
bers were written which in continuance
were fashioned when as yet there was
none of them" yet the character which
under God we form, will chisel the face
most nightly. Every man would like to
have been made in appearance an Alci-
blades, and every woman would like
TO have been made a Josephine. We all
want to be agreeable. Our useful
ness depends so much upon it that con
slider it important and Christian for eeery
man and woman to be as agreea BILE as pos
sible. The SLOUGH, the sloven, the man
who does not care how he looks, all such
people lack equipment for usefulness. A
minister who has TO throw quid of to-
batco out Of his mouth before he begins
TO preach, or Christians with beard I'M
trimmed, making them to look like wild
beasts come outof the lair, yea, unkempt,
uncombed, unwashed, disagreeable men
or women, are a hindrance to religion
more than a recommends ton
Now my text suggests how we NAV, in
dependent OF features, make ourselves
agreeable "A mans wisdom maketh his
1nqn Il shine and the caurpoce Of HE F,,a