The Progress., 1894-03-03
TABERNACLE PULPiN.
The HUMAN FACE IN 4 GER
MON.


Ta!mLgc chose for the subject of hi.
sermon "Thc Human Face" and hello
his great audience fascinated with tho
charm of his cloQucncc, as ne DIS
!, CourSGd on a subject Of universal inter
est The trvt was EccIcSiaStcs ST;
"A mans wisdom makCth his face &c
9hinS and the boldncsS Of his face
-, shall be changed" or, as it may be
rendered, 1.-The SourncSs of his face
) shall be Swcctencd.
Thus a i.tic change in our English
translation brings ont the better
meaning of the text, which p,cts forth
Vat the character Cf the face is de-
cidcd by the character Of the soul.
The main features of our countruancc
were decided by the Almighty, and we
can not change them; but under
God we decide whether we shall
have cOuntcnanc@.. bcnignant or
baleful, sour or sweet, wrath
full or genial, benevolent or
mean, honest or scoundrclly, jmpudcnt
or modest, courageous on co8lrdIV,
frank or sncaliing. In all the works
of God there is nothing more WONDER
full than the human couutcnancc.
Though the longest face is RsS 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 check bone to check bone,
yet in that small compass God hath
wrought such differences that the six
teen hundred million of the human
race may be distinguished from each
other by their facial appearances. The
face is ordinarily the index of tI.arac-
ter, 1t is the throne of the emotions,
1t is the battlefield of the passions
1t is the catalogue of character. 1t IS
the map of the mind, 1t is the geo
graphy of the soul. And while
the Lord decides before our
birth whether we shall be hand
some or homcly, we are by the
character we form deciding whether
Jul oil'ill Jt l)ltdS,iub VI
disagreeable. This is so much so that
some of the most beautiful faces are
unattractive, because of their AFRO
ganCe or their deceitfulncsS, and some
of the most rugged and irregular feat
urcs are attractive because of the
kindness that shines through them.
Accident, or sickness, or Scarification
may veil the face so that it shall not
express the soul, but in the majority
of cases give me a deliberate look at a
mans countenancc and | will tel you
whether he is a cynic or an optimist
whether he is miscr or phian-
thropist, where he is noble or igno-
minious, whether he is good or bad
Our first impression Of 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 circumstances 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 estimate of his charac-
ter, but it will 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 char
acter. Phrenology 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. Palmistry
is another index, and while it may be
carried into the fanciful and NEGRO
mantle, there is no doubt that certain
lines in the palm of the hand are indi-
cative of mental and moral traits.
is another index, and
while the contour of the human face
may sometimes mislead us, we can gen
orally, after looking into the eye and no.
ticing the curve of the lip and the spread
of the nostril, and the correlation of
all the features, come to a right esti-
mate of a mans character. If it were
not SO, how would we know whom to
trust and whom to avoid? Whether
we will or not physiognomy decides
thousand things in commercial and
financial, and social, and religious do
mains From one lid of the Bible to
she other there is no science so rec
ognized as that of physiogonomy, and
nothing more thoroughly taken for
granted than the power of the soul to
the face. The Bible speaks
If the face of God" the face of
Jesus Christ" the face of Esau," the
face of Israel" the face of job"
he face of the old man." the shin ]
ng "face of Noses" the wrathful
face of Pharaoh" the ashes on the {
ace of humiliation, the resurrec- S
ionary staff on the face of the dead j
hid, the hypocrites disfguring {
heir face, and in my text the Bible t
eclares, "a mans wisdom maketh his t
ace to shine and the sourness of his /
ace shall be sweetened." If the Bible t
as so much to say about physiog- S
omy, we do not wonder that the C
7orld has made it a study from the +
arly ages. In vain the English par +
lament in the time of George II. or t
cred publicly whipped and impris- f
ned those who studied physiornomv. Y