EAGLES AND AKT. 
253 
action, lie rather choose those with Eoman noses and large nos- 
trils. This form of speech — Eoman noses — comes of course 
from • the historical identity of the arched nose of the Eo- 
mans with their daring and iron firmness of will. 
Thus the Artist has found that conquerors, warriors, re- 
formers, discoverers carry the sign of the Eagle in their pro- 
files, indicating the aggressive and victorious nnpulses they 
display — while in contrast he perceives that the more passive 
natures — those which are strong to endure, which are the 
prudent, the sagacious and the contemplative — do not carry 
this vaulting sign. These take the signs they bear rather 
from the depressed lines of the lion and the elephant Such 
is peculiarly the face of the Scotch people, who are fa- 
mous the world over for courage, prudence and sagacity. 
Thus while the arched line in the Eagle-face expresses ag- 
gressive daring and sublimity of purpose, the depressed line 
in the lion-face, expresses courage, caution and endurance. 
The Artist in conceiving the face of a daring but savage 
conqueror, like Attila, Charles the Bold, or Charles XII. — 
of a bitter and stern fanatic, like the reformer Knox, must 
think 
" of Eagles on their rocks 
With straining feet and that fierce mouth and drear, 
Answering the strain with downward drag austere 
for to him such an association is irresistible, and by its aid he 
is enabled readily to embody a just conception of either. If, 
on the other hand, he would sculpture the head of the pa- 
tient and courageous sage, as that of Socrates — one 
• 
" Who ponders high and deep, and in whose face 
We see astonied, that severe content 
Which comes of thought and musing," 
he recurs back unconsciously to the face of the lion for sug- 
gestion of outline, while the expression is modified by certain 
characteristics suggested from that of the elephant. 
