The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-02-28

BROOKLYN, Feb. 25.-In the Brook
lyn tabernacle this forenoon the Rev
Dr. Talmage chose for the subject Of
his sermon '.ahe Human Face and
held his great audience fascinated with
the charm of his eloquence as he dis
coursed on a subject of universal in
terest. The text was EccIesiastes viii. l,
A mans wisdom maketh his face TO
shine. and the holiness of his face shall
be changed. or. as it may be rendered,
the sourness of his face shall be
sweetened.'
Thus a little change in our English
translation brings out the better mean
ing 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 countenace were decided
by the Almighty and we cannot change
them, but under God we can decide
whether we shall have countenaces be
nignant or baleful. sour or sweet wrath
full or genial. benevolent or mean. honest
or scoUndrelly, impudent or modest
courageous or cOwardly, frank OF sneak
ing
In all the works of God there * moth
ing more wonderful than the human
cOuntenance Though the longest face
Is less than twelve inches from the hair
line of the forehead to the bottom of
the chin. the broadcast face is less than
eight inches from cheek bone to cheek
bone, yet in that small compass God
hath wrought such differences that the
1.6OO.OOO,0O0 of the human race may be
distinguished from each other by their
facial appearances. The face is ordi-
narily the index Of character IL il the
throne - ie no haft
field of the passions. 1t is the catalogue
of character. 1t is the map Of the
mind It 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 pleasant or disagrecable This
is so much so that some Of the most
beautiful faces are unattractiVe be-
cause Of their arrogance or their deceit
1ulneSS. and some of the most rugged
and irregular features are attractive
because of the Kindness that shines
through them. Accident or sickness or
ScarihCatiOn may veil the face 50 that il
shall not express the soul. but i'm the
majority of cases give me a deliberate
look at mans cOuntenance, 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.
FIRST Impressions.
You at the first glance make UP Your
mind that some man is unworthy of your
friendship. but afterward by circum-
stances 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
return to your original estimate Of his
character. but il 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 indexes %
character. PhrenolOgy is one index and
while il may be carried 10 an absurd eX-
tent there is no doubt that you can
Judge somewhat Of a mans character By
the shape Cf his head Palmistry is an
other index. and while il may be carried
into the fanciful and necromantic there
Is no doubt that certain lines in the
palm of the hand are Indicative of men
tai and moral traits.
PhysiOgnOmN is another index and
while the contour OF the human face
may sometimes mislead us we can gen
orally. after locking into the eye and
noticing the curve Of the lip. and the
spread of the nosIril. and the correlation
of all the features. come 10 Il right eSti-
mate of a mans character. II il We're
not so. how would we know whom TO trust
and whom 10 avOid2 Whether we will
or not, physiOgnOmy decides a thousand
things in CONNIE cial and financial and
social and religious domains. From one
lid Of the bible TO the other there is no
science 50 recognized as that of physi-
OgnOmy and nothing more thoroughly
taken for granted than the power of the
soul to tTansfgure 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
shining face Of Moses" the wrathful
face OF Pharoah. the ashes on the face
OF humiIia ton. the resurrectionary staff
on the face of the dead child. the hypo-
critics disfiguIing their face. and in my
text the bible declares. "A mans wisdom
mal<eth his face to shine. and the sour
ness Of his face shall be sweetened." If
the bible has SO much to say about
physicgnOmy. we do not wonder that
the world has made il a study from the
early ages.
In vain the English parliament in the
time OF George III ordered publicly
whipped ald imprisoned those WHO
studied ply siOgnOmy. Intelligent peOpla
always have studied il and always will
study il. Tie pens Of Moses and Joshua
and Job and John and Paul as well as
of Hosmer and Hippocrates and Galen
and Aristotle and Socrates and Plato
and Lavater. have been dipped into il.
and whole libraries Of wheat and chaff
have been garRered on this theme
Triumph over Disagreement.
Now. what practical. religious and
eternal use would / make Of this sub
jet? I am going 10 show that while
We are not responsible for our features.
the Lord Almighty having decided what
they shall be ICenatally. as the psalmist
declares when he writes, In my book
all my members were written which IN
continuance were fashioned when as vet
there was none Of them vet the char
acter which under God we form will
chisel the fact most nightly. Every
man would like TO have been made i'm
appearance an Alcibiades, and every
woman would like 70 have been made a
Josephine.
We all want 10 be agreeable our
usefulness depends So much upon il that
consider il important and Christian
for every man and woman 10 be as
agreeable as possible 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 a quid Of tobacco out Of his
mouth before he begins % preach ot.
Christians with beard untrimmed, max
ing them 10 look like wild beasts come
out Of the lair-yea. unkempt, uncombed
unwashed. disagreeable men or women
are a hindrance 10 religion more than
a recommendation.
Now, my texts uggests how we NAV.
independent Of features, make ourselves