The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1894-03-30
5fliscel lanen1rs.
CHARACTER IN GAIT.

1t is Plutarch who says that can
action of small note, IA short saying or
jest will distinguish a persons real
character more than the greatest
sieges or the most important battles
and Lavater, the father of physiog-
nomy, declares that no man can set a
glass upon a table without betraying
to a certain extent his individuality.
True, no doubt, but one must have
the keen vision, the we'll trained eye,
in order to interpret these mystic signs.
The indications of character as exhibit
ed in the walk of a person, however,
are patent to every beholder and may
be deciphered by the most untutored,
the least astute.
Sit by your window some fine morn
ing and watch the men and women as
they pass to their varied avocations.
Take, for example, the man just APP
preaching. His chin is elevated to an
angle of 20 degrees, a self important
frown corrugates his brow, n compla-
cent smile plays about his mouth, he
struts rather than walks. Need |
point him out as a man of boundless
conceit, of monumental brass, of colos-
sal gall? His amiability is imperturb
able, for one who is absolutely self sat
isfied is apt to take an indulgent view
of the world at large. His faith in
himself is limitless. No traitorous
feeling of self distrust will ever cause
his failure He will undertake with
out the slightest misgiving what a
man of ten times his ability would
hesitate to attempt. His success in
life is assured, and yet one cannot help
feeling that if traced to its roots it
would be found to spring from defects
rather than merits.
The dress of woman coming just
behind him is arranged with mathe-
NAUTICAL exactness. The placing of
each pin has been matter of special
care. Her lips are compressed, her
hands clasped primly before her, her
steps are taken with painful accuracy;
there is not a hairbreadth's difference
in the length of them. If you follow
her to her home, you will find that the
same scrupulousness prevails in the
disposition of everything about her
The furniture is arranged with rectan
gular exactness, there is not pin out
of place in her bureau drawers, and
the jars upon her pantry shelves are
marshaled like soldiers on parade.
She will accomplish no great work in
life, however. She is a precisionist
and spends her time laboriously doing
nothing. And, also, take care of this
woman. She is absolutely uncom-
promising, all about her must be lop-
ped off or stretched out to fit the pro-
crustean idea of order which exists in
her own mind.
But don't-you who are in search of
a wife-fall into the the opposite error
of choosing as a life companion the
-. II hnoI tho cl- nj Of
whose dress dips III points, whose gait
is careless, who swings her arms us
she walks. She is generous, warm
hearted, good natured possessed of
noble traits, but confusion, with all its
hideous train of evils, follows in her
wake. One foresees for her an untidy,
chaotic household, irregular, i'll ar
ranged meals and uncleanly, badly
governed children. If her husband
happens to be a strong, an exception
ally strong man, he will simply be SUI
premely wretched and uncomfortable.
if not, his ambition will be paral yZed,
his disposition spoiled a; he will escape
the physical discomforts of his siLua
ton by every means in his power and
perhaps drown the recollection of them
in drink.
The man with the shutting, uncer-
tain gait, who G steps seem to be di-
rected by no guiding power within, is
weak minded. There is nothing which
more surely betrays feebleness of intel
lect than the walk. And he of the
awkward gait, the restless manner, the
furtive glance, is the morbidly self
conscious man, who cannot for a mo-
ment divest himself of the sense of be
ing observed who lives, so to speak,
under a glass case. And he of the
soft, cautious tread, who gives you the
impression of creeping upon some OBJ
ject as a cat creeps up upon bird, is
| feline in his nature. He is not to be
trusted ; he is treacherous every IA
Guilty of his mind is poised for Il spring.
Let me commend to your confidence
the man just coming into view-the
man with the earnest eye, the manly
carriage, the firm tread, who walks
with simple, straightforward direct
ness, as if toward some given point.
| He is stable in all his ways" He
has a distinctly defined, we'll consider
| ed purpose in life, towards the attain
ment of which he advances with UNI
! swerving steadfastness, never turning
to the right or the left, never allowing
himself to be drawn into by-paths, no
matter how alluring. His victory is
assured, his success merely a question
of time.
And so might one multiply types I'D
ialtfnitun,, for the variety of mankind
| is limitless. Nor is it to be wondered
| at that the characteristics of men and
women exhibit themselves in the gait,
for the motive power, the propelling
| force, is from within.
| In his account of Cataline, Sallust,
| the great master of the nature, has
not forgotten to remark that his walk
was now quick and again Slow" as an
| indication of a mind revolving with
violent emotions.-PbiLd. Times.
Uncle Ephraim Aycede (as he peers
anxiously into the cable slvt.) Pm
afraid we're swindled, Jemima. :
Aunt Jemima. "How's that, Eph-
raim?'' Uncle Ephraim Aycede.-
II dropped the nickel in all right, but
don't see no cable car COMM"