A N 
to this fpecious, though falfe notion ; and in every 
age Men have ftartcd up who were ambitious to 
fupport a fcientific divination derived from a pre- 
tended fldll in phyfiognomy : but nothing is more 
evident, than that this fpecies of divination can be 
extended no farther than to the afFedions of the 
mind, when exprefled by the motion of the eyes, 
vifage, and other parts of the body. The form 
of the nofe, of the mouth, and of the other fea- 
tures, has no more conne£tion with the natural 
difpofition, than the ftature, or fize of the limbs, 
has with the faculty of thinking. Hence the di- 
vination of phyfiognomifts is altogether chimeri- 
cal, and void of any real foundation. 
No part of the human head contributes lefs to 
the expreffion of the face than the ears ; they are 
placed too remote, and are frequently concealed 
by the hair. But in quadrupeds, the ears are more 
apparent ; and by them we can difcover whether 
the creatures are in a ftate of vigour or imbecil- 
iityj their motions denote fentiment, and corre- 
fpond with the internal feelings of the animal. 
The human ears, though furnifhed with mufcles, 
have fcarcely any motion, either voluntary or in- 
voluntary. Small ears are generally efteemed 
moil; beautiful ; but large ones are beft calculated 
for hearing. 
Among fome nations, the lobes of the ears are 
artificially enlarged by piercing them, and placing 
in them pieces of wood or metal, which are 
changed fucceflTively for others of greater dimen- 
fions, till the lobes become enormous. It is dif- 
ficult to inveftigate the origin of this fingular 
cuftom; but it is equally fo to trace that of 
piercing the ears, and fometimes the noftrils, in 
order to adorn them with rings, unlefs we afcribe 
it to thofe naked favages who contrived to carry 
in the mod commodious manner whatever ap- 
peared to them to be precious and valuable. 
The whimfical variety in the cuftoms of dif- 
ferent nations is ftill more apparent in the man- 
ner of managing their beards. Some, and among 
others the Turks, ftiave their heads, but allow 
their beards to grow. Moft Europeans, on the 
contrary, fhave their beards ; and wear their own, 
or borrowed hair. The negroes fliave their heads 
in figures at one time; in flars at another, after the 
manner of friars ; and ftill more commonly in al- 
ternate ftripes; while even their little boys are 
trimmed after the fame mode. The Talapoins 
of Siam lhave the heads and eye-brows of fuch 
children as are entrufted to them. Indeed, every 
nation feems to have entertained diftinfl preju- 
dices, at different seras, in favour of fome one part 
of the beard. Some prefer the hair on the upper 
lip to that of the chin ; others efteem hair on the 
cheeks; fome curl it; and others wear it ftraight : 
it has fometimes been cut into a peak ; and, at 
others, whiil<:ers have been in the higheft efti- 
mation. We are informed by a credible authoi', 
that a confiderable part of the religion of the Tar- 
tars confifts in the management of their whifkers j 
and that they waged a long and bloody war with 
the Perfians, declaring them infidels merely be- 
caufe they would not give their beards the orthodox 
cut. The Perfian monarchs carried the care of 
their beards to the moft ridiculous excefs, wearing 
them matted with gold thread; and even the kings 
of France of the firft races had them knotted and 
buttoned with gold. But, of all other nations, 
the A mericans ta ke the greateft p'l^is in cutting 
-their hair, and plucking their beards*, the under 
Vor,. IL 
A N 
pan of the beard, and all except the whifl<er, arc 
carefully eradicated; fo that many have fuppofed 
they were naturally deftitute of hair on thofe parts ; 
and even Linnaeus himfelf has adopted this eiror. 
Their hair is alfo cut into bands; and no fmal! 
care is employed in adjufting the whifker. We 
muft not therefore confider a faftidious attention 
to drefs as a mark of refinement, fince favages are 
more difficult in this particular than the moft 
fafhionable Europeans: the more barbarous the 
people, the fonder of finery. In Europe, theluf- 
tre of jewels, and the fplendor of the moft brilliant 
colours, are generally given up to the women, or 
to the effeminate part of the other fex, who are 
willing to be ridiculous, provided they can be 
fine. But, in Afia, thefe trifling fineries are ea- 
gerly fought after by all conditions of men. The 
paffion for glittering ornaments is ftill ftronger 
among the abfolute barbarians, who often ex- 
change their whole fupply of provifions, and what- 
ever elfe they may be poffefled of, for a few ghfs 
beads, or a fragment of a looking-glafs. 
'But though faftiions feem to be founded on ca- 
price and fancy; yet, when generally adopted, 
they merit examination. Mankind has always 
held in eftimation fuch things as excite attention^ 
and convey flattering ideas of riches, power, and 
grandeur. The value of diamonds, and other 
precious ftones, arifes from their fcarcity or their 
brilliancy. The fame obfervation will apply to 
thofe ftiining metals, the weight and incumbrance 
of which are fo little regarded when fpread over 
our cloaths. Ornaments of this kind are rather 
intended to excite the attention of others, than to 
add to the fum of our own enjoyments; and but 
few are capable of diftinguifhing the perfon from 
the drefs, or of eftimating the man independent of 
his finery. 
Every thing rare and brilliant will, therefore, 
ever continue to be fafhionable, while men derive 
more eminence from riches than from virtue ; and 
while the means of acquiring refpeft are fo widely 
different from real merit. The firft impreffion 
we generally make, arifes from our drefs ; and this 
varies in conformity to our inclinations, and the 
manner in which we wifti to be confidered. The 
modeft man, or he who wifhes to aflume that cha- 
radter, dreflTes with a fimplicity correfponding to 
the nature of that virtue; while the vain-glorious 
neglefls nothing that tends to fupport his pride, 
or to flatter his vanity; and feems willing to incur 
the diflike of the fpeftator, provided he can com- 
mand his notice. 
Another very general objeft of drefs is to in- 
creafe the fize of our figure, and fo to occupv 
more room in the world than nature has allotted 
us. We endeavour to enlarge our dimenfions by 
high-heeled fhoes, and expanded garments; but 
however bulky our drefs, our vanity is ftill more 
enormous. The largenefs of the phyfician's wig 
originates from the fame pride as the fmallnefs of 
the queue of the beau. The former wifties to 
have the extent of his learning meafured by the 
apparent dimenfions of his head; and the latter to 
diminifh his head, in order to dilplay the gaiety 
and fprightlinefs of his genius. 
But there are fome modes which feem to have a 
more rational objefl ; namely, that of concealing 
the defects of nature, or rendering them lefs dif~ 
agreeable. In the general aggregate of mankindj 
there is a greater number of deformed bodies and 
unpleafing faces, than of handfome figures and 
P ' beautiful 
