PHYSIOGNOMY. 
have no kind of data on which to aryue, 
nor can t!ie secret operations of nature 
ever be penetrated wdiicli relate to the for- 
mation of man. Much of tlie general re- 
semblance between members of a family 
depend upon a congeniality of sentiments 
and manners, each turn of thought gives a 
peculiar expression to the features, and as 
those are sufficiently strong to explain to 
what class they belong, to an indifferent 
spectator it is by no means improbable that 
they assist at least in designating a family. 
Very intimate friends are sometimes thought 
to resemble each other, and a real or fan- 
cied resemblance often occurs between 
man and wife ; when it is considered that 
connections of the above descriptions are 
very often formed by persons who had 
never previously seen each other, it is im- 
possible to doubt but that the similarity of 
mind thus generated influences the muscles, 
and disposing them into the same kind of 
expression a muscular likeness occurs, which 
has no influence upon the bones, and would 
probably vanish were the connection dis- 
solved, and the parties examined after long 
separation. Lavater indulged in many 
flights of fancy when treating on this part 
of the science of physiognomy; he even 
imagined, that a person deeply enamoured 
of another, and thinking intensely on the 
form and position of their features, might 
assume a resemblance of the admired ob- 
ject, though miles of space intervened be- 
tween them; and pursuing his mental dream, 
he adds, that it is equally probable an indi- 
vidual meditating revenge in secret may 
compose his countenance into a likeness 
of him who was to be its victim. The in- 
correctness of the latter fancy may be ex- 
posed by merely observing that the person 
under the influence of the passion of revenge, 
must bear in his countenance the lines ex- 
pressive of that restless affection, now as 
the object intended to be injured is uncon- 
scious of the secret machinations against 
him, hi- may at the instant be engaged in 
some benevolent pursuit, or may feel some 
interna! joy which moulds his features into 
an expression directly opposite to that of his 
adversary, who may have generally seen him 
tlius ; for revenge is often aimed, by the 
wicked, at the best of men ; consequently, 
the countenance of a fiend grinning wdth 
malice cannot at the same time beam with a 
complacency arising from a set of features 
entirely unruffled. 
Before we enter upon a description of 
the marks which, according to Lavater, 
point out the character of the possessor, it 
may be proper to give one or two instances 
of the fallacy, and of the truth, of the con- 
clusions drawn from them, in order that our 
readers may form their own conclusions, as 
to the folly, or propriety, of entertaining a 
propensity to form a judgement of mankind 
from the shapes of their noses, eyes, fore- 
heads and chins. 
M. Sturtz declared to Lavater that he 
“ once happened to see a criminal con- 
demned to the wheel, who, with Satanic 
wickedness, had murdered his benefactor, 
and w'ho yet had the benevolent, and open 
countenance of an angel of Guido. It is 
not impossible, adds this gentlemen, to dis- 
cover the head of a Regiilus among guilty 
criminals, or of a vestal in the house of cor- 
rection.” Lavater admits this assertion in 
its fullest extent, but his reasoning to re- 
concile it to his system is by no means con- 
clusive. 
When we hear of any atrocious act, the 
natural abhorrence of vice and cruelty im- 
planted in us, leads the imagination to form 
a portrait of the perpetrator, suited to the 
deformity of the mind capable of commit- 
ting it ; without reflecting, that had such an 
index existed in the countenance of the 
abhorred object, it is most probable, his 
murderous and horrible exterior would have 
placed mankind so far on their guard as to 
detect his intentions. Upon viewing the 
culprit we are perhaps surprized to find 
that there is nothing particularly indicative 
of cruelty in the outlines of his face, and 
we industriously endeavour to force each 
into the immediate form of our pre-conceiv- 
ed portrait, this occasions us to read lurk- 
ing villainy in his eyes, and converts the 
wrinkles of disease, or approaching age, into 
the frown of a dmraon ; and we depart ex- 
claiming against the striking contour of the 
miserable wretch, when, perhaps, many of 
our friends, and even relatives, would suffer 
by a comparison, and yet had led uniformly 
innocent lives. On the other hand it must 
be admitted, that vice generally stamps her 
votaries with marks, which may be known 
at a glance, but this admission applies only 
to the confirmed enemies of virtue, those 
whose habits of living are so uniformly vici- 
ous that very little propriety occurs in their 
conduct. 
The following anecdote, related by La- 
vater, may serve as a partial illustration of 
the assertion, that the features are affected 
by the turn of the mind, or, perhaps, more 
correctly speaking, the muscles of the face. 
