Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1894-03-08
THE MIRROR or THE SOUL
rHE FACE REFLECTS THE PURITY
OF THE HEART.
E~odness VIII Make the Face At
xracttve mo Matter How Hfsshapen
h F~eatnres-The Chisels That Dis
Ggure the Couztenancc-

Brooklyn. ". Y. S~pecial-In the
BROOKLYN tabernacle this forenoon, Rev.
DIR TaInage chose for the subject CT
his sermon The Human Face" and
held his great audience fascinated with
the charm OF his eloluance. n he dis
cDrrsei on q subject Of universal in
tereSt- The text WAS Ecclesiastics
VII /: "A mans wisdom maketh bis
face 70 shine and the bol6ness of his
face shall be changed or. as il may be
rendered. the sourness Of bis face
shall be sweetened."
Thus a little change In our English
translation brings out the better mean
fn- Of the text. which sets forth that
the character Of the face is decided 10y
the character of the soul The nain
features Of III coun, nance We're de
cided by the Almighty. and we cannot
change them: but under God we decide
whether we shall have countcnances
hfnignant or baleful. sou or sweet,
wrathfuI or genial. bene yolent .r lnsan,
honest or ~scOundreily, impudent Gr
modest courageous or cowardly, frank
or sneaking. In all The works of God
there Is nothing more wonderful tlan
the human c~ountcnance Though the
longest face is less han twelve inches
ffcm the hair line of the forehead to
the bottom Of the chin. and the broad
est face Is less than eight inches from
cheek bone "a check bone, vet in that
email compass God hath wrought such
differences that the 1.GO0.OO0.OD0 of the
human race may be distinguished from
each other by their facial apr arances.
The face Is ordinarily dhs index nf
character. IL In the thru le OF Tno
lions. 1t is the battleti Id of the PAS
si0ns. II Is the catalogue Of character.
1T is the map of the mind. II 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 cur countenanceS shall be
pleasant or t~isagresabIe. This is SO
fnuch so that some of the most beauti-
fni faces are unattractiye. because OF
their arrogance or their deceitfulness,
and some of the most rugged and ir-
regular features are attractive because
Of the kindness that shines through
them. Accident or sickness. or scarifi-
cation may veil the face so that il
shall not express the soul. but In the
majority Of cases give ne a deliberate
look at a mans coUntenance and /
wfl tell You whether he liz q cynLc or
an optimist, whether he In q miser or
n phiianihrop!st, whether ne is noble
or tGnominious. whether he is good or
bad Our first impression Of a nlan
o wornan Is generally the accurate i'm
preston. You at the first glance make
up your mind that some man is un-
worthy OF your friendship. but after
ward, by circumstances being put into
intimate association with him. you
come u like him and trust him. Yet,
stay with him long enough and you
wIH be compelled TO return to your
original estimate Of his character, but
III viii be after he has cheated you
cut Of everything he could lay his
hands on. IL is Of Gods m arcy that
we have these outside induces Of char
Acter. Phrenology is one indAx. and.
while IL may be carried TO IN absurd
extent. there is no do ibt that you can
Judge somewhat Of a mans cha facter
hy the shape Of his head. PalImistry is
Another index. and. while Ii may he
carried into the fanciful and a%ecrsn,an-
tic, there Is no doubt that certain lines
LIN the palm of the hand are indicative
of mental or moral traits. Physiog-
Sztmy Is another index, and. while the
contour of the human face may some
times mislGad us. we can generally,
after looking into the eye and noticing
Che curve of the lip. and the spread OF
the nostril. and the correlation OF all
the featuies, come TO Il right estimate
of a mans character. If ii were not
50. how would we know whom TO trust
s=a whom to avoid? Whether we viii
or not, ~physiognomy decides a thou
sand things ia commercial INT financial
and social and religious domains. From
one lid of the Bible 10 the other there
Is no science so recognized as that OF
pliysiognomy, and nothing more thor
oughly taken for granted than the pow
er OF the soul to tr1nsfiGure the face.
The Bible speaks OF the face of God,
the face of Jesus Christ. the face Of
Esan. the face of Israel, the face Of
Job. the face of the old man. the shin
ing face of Moses. the wratlful face
OF Phir0ah. the ashes on the face OF
humiliation. the resurrectionary staff
on the face of the dead child. the hyp-
ocrites disfguring their face, and in
my ext the Bible declares. "A mans
wisdom maketh his face TO shine,
and the sourness of his face shall be
sUeetened." IL the Bible has so much
TO say about physiognomy. we do not
wonder that the world has made ii a
study from the early ages. In vain
the English parliament In the time of
George III. ordered publicly whipped
and imprisoned those who studied ply
siognomy. Intelligent people always
have studied ii. and ALWAYS will study
1t The pen of Moses. and Joshua,
md John. and Paul. as wen as OF
Homer, and Hippocrates. and Galen,
and Aristotle. and Socrates. and Plato.
and Lavater have been dipped into 1t.
and whole Libraries Of wheat and chaff
have been garnered IN this theme.
Now, what practical religious and
eternal use would / make of this sub
ject? j am going 10 show that while
we are not responsible for our features.
the Lord Almighty having decided
what they shall be pre-natally. az the
rsalmist declares when he writes: I'm
thy book all my members were written
which in continuance were fashioned
when as yet there was none of them,"
yet the character which under God we
form VIII chisel the face m might
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