KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



113 



contrary, the multitude are viewed with 

 suspicion. A crafty eye peeps out, nolens 

 volens ; and a sinister countenance shuts up 

 every heart against its owner. 



Most people can judge of a man's phy- 

 siognomy in degree : but, for want of a subtle 

 judgment, and from a too gentle heart, they are 

 more frequently in error than in the right. 

 Hence the many dupes we see in the world 

 of commerce. Our power of discernment is 

 the result of very long experience. Formerly 

 no person was, or could be, more easily 

 deceived than we. Meaning well ourselves, 

 we thought others meant also well; and 

 instead of imagining them to be rogues (as 

 we ought to have done), we imagined them 

 to be honest men, and treated them as such. 

 A mistake this, which sealed our commercial 

 ruin.* 



To pay dearly for experience is the lot — 

 perhaps the happy lot — of some men. It 

 has been ours. We do not regret it, because 

 it has opened our eyes to the knowledge of 

 facts that must otherwise have remained 

 concealed— perhaps for ever. We will now 

 trust no man till we have " proved " him 

 honest. Those who have with well-feigned 

 sincerity professed most for us — promised 

 what they would do for us (unsolicited) — 

 and talked much about true brotherly regard ; 

 these have been the very first to annihilate 

 the hopes, towards which we, in our sim- 

 plicity, had so fondly clung. Ainsi va le 

 monde ! Yet did this unkindness come upon 

 us like a dream 

 a dream. We awoke, 

 man. But we digress. 



Long intercourse with mankind, and a 

 constant association with people of the world, 

 enable a person of observation to judge 

 readily of character by the human face. For 

 the last tAvelve months, in particular, we have 

 been in great practice this way. So very 

 many persons, indeed, have been associated 

 with us — and we with them, during that 

 period, that we now feel quite at home on the 

 subject of "physiognomy." 



It must ever be remembered, that the eye 

 is a very powerful agent in this matter. If 

 your eye meets that of another, with whom 

 there is no sympathy— a single glance, or at 

 all events a second, will determine what you 

 want to know. How often have we been in 

 a room full of company, and made our elec- 

 tion of " favorites " in a few short minutes ! 

 In some instances, we have found positive 

 sympathy with none ; though we have been 

 induced to believe that, on a further acquaint- 



* Wc have yet to learn that it is any " disgrace " 

 for a man to have an honest heart, and not to be 

 able to overreach an accomplished rogue. That 

 " he is not fit for the world," wc readily grant. — 

 Ed. K. J. 



lasted somewhat longer than 

 a better and a wiser 



ance, sympathy might be established with 

 one or two. This is perfectly intelli- 

 gible. The " perception" we allude to, is 

 a kind of gift. In the dog it is innate ; 

 he never errs. We would willingly be 

 guided by his judgment in nineteen cases 

 out of twenty. 



Acting on this principle, by some we are 

 regarded as proud ; by others as supercilious 

 and unsociable. This is not a fair character 

 of us ; nevertheless, we can well understand 

 how we have gained it. Where, however, 

 our heart lies — there we are " at home" in an 

 instant. Wc can prattle away for an hour, 

 and imagine the time but a minute. So much 

 for the " nice distinctions " made by a careful 

 reading of the human countenance. 



We have been frequently asked in a mixed 

 company, to exhibit some proofs of our 

 power in this matter. Of course, for the 

 satisfaction of private inquirers, we have 

 given them readily ; and with the most 

 perfect ease to ourself. It has become 

 habitual with us. Equally well can we tell, 

 even in a public vehicle, whom we may ad- 

 dress in conversation, or whom we may not 

 address. We are therefore conversational or 

 otherwise pro re natd. If we like our com- 

 pany, w r e converse ; if they be doubtful, we 

 keep silence. 



From these few hints, it will be clearly 

 seen that w T e consider it not only possible, 

 but easy by practice, to judge of persons' 

 characters by their countenances and external 

 bearing. Good-temper and ill-temper, good- 

 breeding and ill -breeding, pride, suavity, 

 amiability, and all the virtues — these, and 

 their opposites, are all plainly discoverable by 

 a man or woman of observation. 



It may be asked, " Which preponderate — 

 the good qualities or the bad ones ? " That 

 is a question to which the present inquiry 

 does not extend. If we see what we do not 

 like, we can readily avoid it ; and as readily 

 can we make the most of what is amiable. 



ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE. 



The Cobra-di-Capcllo.— l have just been dis- 

 cussing with some friends, Mr. Editor, the cause 

 and consequences of the man's death at the 

 Zoological Gardens. We none of us can come to 

 a point, as to the way in which the poison was 

 conveyed to the wound. Has the Cobra-di- 

 Capello teeth, through which the poison flows, or 

 is the tongue able to inflict a wound and insert 

 the poison at the same time? Please enlighten 

 us fully on this matter. — H. C. 



[All these venomous serpents, Madame, have 

 teeth; and Mr. Johnson, in his ''India Field 

 Sports," tells us a good deal about them. Speak- 

 ing of the Indians who hunt them, he says, 

 " They discover the hole of the reptile with great 

 ease and certainty; and digging into it, they 

 seize the animal by the tail. This they do with 



