The Red Cloud chief., 1894-03-09
al THE TABERNACLE.
ev. DR.. TALMAeE's SERMON ON THE
HUMAN FACE.

"a Mans Wisdom Makcth His Face 10
s~hine"-The Great Preacher Again Dis.
courses Upon . Unique subject-A Man
Of the Mind.
BROOKLYN, Feb. 25.-In the BROOKLYN
Tabernacle this forenoon Rev. DR.. Talmaee
chose tor the subject OF his sermon THE
Human Face" and held his great audience
fascinated with the charm of his elouuence
as he d~iscoursed on a subject Of universal
Interest. The text was Ecclesiastes viii, I.
"a man'sw wisdom maketh his face to shine.
and the boldness Of his face shall be chang.
ed" or. az IL may be rendered, "the sour
meas Of his face thall be swectened."
Thus a 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 mai1 features OF our countenance
were decided BY the Almighty, and we can.
not change them, but under God we decide
whether we shall have countenances be-
nignant or bsleful, sour or sweet, wrathful
or genial, benevolent or mean, honest or
~scoundrelly impudent or modest. our
geous or covsrdly, frank or sneaking,
In all the works Of God there Is nothing
more wonderful than the human counte,
nance. Though the longest face Is less than
10 inches tom the hair line of the forehead
TO the bottom Of the chin, and the broadcast
face Is leg than eight inches from cheek
bone to cheek bone, yet in that small com.
pass God hath wrought such differences
chat ths 100000 900 Of the human race
Wrov 10 Atsttnn,t.k.J &c. -. =,
their fssial appearances. The face Is ordi.
narily the index Of character. It il the
throne Of the emotions. 1t Is the battlefield
OF thepassions. Il Is the catalogue Of char
acter 1t is the map Of the mind. 1t is the
geogrsphy Of the soul.
Ard while the Lord decides before II
birth whether we shall be handsome or
hontly, we are by the character we form
deciding whether our c~ountenances shall be
pleasant or disagreeable. This is 30 much
80 hat some Of the most beautiful faces are
uutttractive because Of their arrogance or
thsir deceitfulness, and some Of the most
rugged and irregular features are attractive
because of the kindness that shines through
t1em. Accident or sickness or scarification
may veil the face so that IL shall not ex-
press the soul, but In the majority Of cases
give me a deliberate look at a mans coun.
~tenance, and I will tell you whether he Is q
cynic or an optimist, whether he Is a 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.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
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 character. butt will beafter
he has cheated you out Of everything he
could lay his hands OH. It Is Of Gods
mercy that we have these outside indexes OF
character. Phrenology Is M index, and
while it may be carried to an absurd ex-
tent 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 1t may DO carried into the fanci-
full and necromantic there is no doubt that
certain lines In the palm Of the hand are
indicative Of mental and moral traits.
Physiognomy is another index, and while
the contour of the human face may some
times mislead US we can generally, after
looking into the eye and noticing the curve
Of the lip, and the spread Of the nostril,
and the correlation Of all the features,
come to a right estimate Of a mans charac-
ter. If it were not so, how would VIC know
whom to trust and whom to avoid? Wheth-
er we will or not, physiognomy decides a
thousand things In commercial and flnau-
cial and social and religious domains.
From one lid of the Bible to the other there
Is no science so recognized as that Of physi-
ognomy and nothing more thoroughly tax
en- for granted than the power Of the soul to
transfgure 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
Pharoah," the ashes ON the face Of humilia-
ton, the resurrectionary staff on the face of
the dead child. the hypocrites dis6guring
their face, and in my text the Bible declares,
"a mans wisdom maketh his face to shine,
and the sourness Of his face shall be sweet.
ened." II the Bible has so much to say
about ~physiosnomy, we do not wonder that
the world has made 1t q study from the
early ages.
In vain the English parliament in the
time Of George II ordered publicly whipped
and imprisoned those who studied physiog-
nomy. Intelligent people always have stud.
led it and always will study 1t. The pens Of
Moses and Joshua and Job and John and
Paul, as we'll rs Of Hosmer and Hippoc-
rates and Galen and Aristotle and Socra-
ties and Plato and Lavater, have been dipped
into 1t, and whole libraries OF wheat and
chaff rave been garnered on this theme.
TRIUMPH OWE DISAGREEMENT.
Now, what practical, religious and eter.
nal use would I make Of this subject I
am going to show that while We are not re-
eponsible for our features, the Lord Al
mighty having decided what they shall be
nreuetally, as the psalmist declares when he
writes, I'm my book all my members were
written which In continuance were fashion.
ed when as yet there was none OF them,"
vet the character which under God we form
will chisel the face most nightly. Every
man would liz, to have been made In ap
nearance an Alcibiades, and every woman
would like to nave been made a Josephine.
We all want to be agreeable. Dur use
fitness depends so much upon 1t that con-
sider Il important and Christian for every
man and woman to be as agreeable as pos
nho ,Io,,oh the alOyen. the man who