1884.] 
The Human Face. 
59 1 
V. THE HUMAN FACE. 
By D. Y. Cliff. 
T&j&T HEN men first detected that the voice, sight, hear- 
yW 9 ing, smell, and taste were all situated in and 
^ emanated- from the head, he looked upon it, and 
its contours and proportions became to him comparable 
and beautiful ; he said, grandly, “ It is the image of God !” 
How much does the rest of the body owe to carnal passions 
and “ pride of might ?” Admiration and appreciation have 
surely played a large part in our development. The 
intellect animal looks to the face — has it an idea of beauty ? 
Do we recognise “ beauty ” in the brute creation from long 
inbred association, or have they themselves had a hand (or 
an eye) in it ? The fact that it contains scarcely anything 
to cringe or terrify us, at first sight, would seem to prove 
this inbred familiarity. We find nature to be born in and 
of ourselves. There are more dangers in the artificial pro- 
ductions of Man than in the structures of Nature. _ The 
eye reaches further than the weapon ; and it is easier to 
fall from a window than from a tree. 
Some say the national face does not change, its apparent 
differences being the result of fashion costume, hat, hair, 
&c. For my part it seems that the history of each age is 
painted on the faces of its people. Parents would seem 
generally to anticipate (or form) in fancy the realities of 
their offspring — probably unknowingly. I have, on several 
occasions, been struck by odd faces here and there which 
belonged to a past age. Some will, of course, smile at this. 
Once e <* at a sham parliament in a Cheshire town, I saw 
an exac? reproduction of the face (as generally represented) 
of the Georgian epoch of English history. I he high 
cheeks, the ruddy skin, particularly the wide low forehead 
with its distinctive depression (almost) in the midale of the 
forehead where the head curves downwards, the broad face, 
the peculiar “ look,” &c.” 
The face of Charles I. suggests his artistic taste, his 
theological thoughtfulness (so general then), and a proud 
indifference to vulgar rowdyism. He was to his age what 
“ Farmer George ” was to his, and the Pnnce of Wales is 
to his— types thereof— the men thereof bearing one of its 
varied educations, but the same generally under each 
disguise. 
