the human mind-the feat of all love, all hatred, all fincerity, all falfehood, all humility, all pride, all diffimulation, and all truth?

Oh! with what adoration would I fpeak, and be filent, were I a more perfect man! Oh! difcordant, degraded humanity! Oh! mournful fecret of my mifinformed youth! When, Omniscience, fhalt thou ftand revealed? Unworthy as I am, yet do I adore. Yet worthy I fhall be; worthy as the nature of man will permit: for he who created me, gave me a mouth to glorify him!

Painters and defigners, what fhall I fay that may induce you to study this facred organ, in all its beauteous expreffions, all its harmony and proportion?

Take plafter impreffions of characteristic mouths, of the living and the dead; draw after, pore over them; learn, obferve, continue day after day to ftudy one only; and, having perfectly studied that, you will have ftudied many. Oh! pardon me; my heart is oppreffed. Among ten or twenty draughtfman, to whom for three years I have preached, whom I have inftructed, have drawn examples for, not one have I found who felt as he ought to feel, faw what was to be feen, or could reprefent that which was evident. What can I hope?

Every thing may be expected from a collect of characteristic plafter impreffions, which might so easily be made, were fuch a collection only once formed. But who can fay whether fuch obfervations might not declare too much? The human machine may be incapable of fuffering to be thus analysed. Man, perhaps, might not endure fuch close infpection; and, therefore, having eyes, he fees not.-I fpeak it with tears; and why I

weep,

weep, thou knoweft, who with me inquireft inte the worth of man. And you, weaker, yet candid, though on this occafion unfeeling readers, pardon me!

Obferve the following rules: Diftinguish in each mouth the upper lip fingly; the under lip the fame; the line formed by the union of both when tranquilly clofed, if they can be clofed without constraint; the middle of the upper lip, in particular, and of the under lip; the bottom of the middle line at each end; and, laftly, the extending of the middle line on both fides. For, unless you thus diftinguish, you will not be able to delineate the mouth accurately.

As are the lips, fo is the character. Firm lips, firm character; weak lips, and quick in motion, weak and wavering character.

Well defined, large, and proportionate lips, the middle line of which is equally ferpentine on both fides, and easy to be drawn, though they may denote an inclination to pleasure, are never feen in a bad, mean, common, falfe, crouching, vicious

countenance.

A lipless mouth, resembling a single line, de-notes coldnefs, industry, a love of order, precifion, houfewifery; and if it be drawn upwards at the two ends, affectation, pretenfion, vanity, and, which may ever be the production of cool vanity,. malice.

Very fleshy lips muft ever have to contend with. fenfuality and indolence: the cut-through, fharp-drawn lip, with anxiety and avarice.

Calm lips, well clofed, without constraint, and well delineated, certainly beteken confideration, difcretion, and firmnefs.

A mild overhanging upper lip generally fignifies goodness.

2.

goodness. There are innumerable good perfons alfo with projecting under lips: but the goodness of the latter is rather cold fidelity, and well-meaning, than warm active friendship.

The under lip hollowed in the middle, denotes a fanciful character. Let the moment be remarked, when the conceit of the jocular man defcends to the lip, and it will be feen to be a little hollow in the middle.

A clofed mouth, not fharpened, not affected, always denotes courage and fortitude; and the open mouth always clofes where courage is indifpenfible. Openness of mouth speaks complaint; and clofeness,. endurance.

Though phyfiognomifts have as yet but little noticed, yet much might be faid concerning the lip improper, or the fleshy covering of the upper teeth, on which anatomifts have not, to my knowledge, yet bestowed any name, and which may be called the curtain, or pallium, extending from the beginning of the nofe to the red upper lip proper.

If the upper lip improper be long, the proper is always fort; if it be fhort and hollow, the proper will be large and curved-another certain demonftration of the conformity of the human countenance. Hollow upper lips are much less common than flat and perpendicular: the character they de note is equally uncommon.

CHAP.

CHAP. XI.

Of the Teeth and Chin.

NOTHING is more ftriking, or continually vi

fible, than the characteristics of the teeth, and the manner in which they display themselves. The following are the observations I have made thereon:

Small, fhort teeth, which have generally been held by the old phyfiognomists to denote weakness, I have remarked in adults of extraordinary strength; but they seldom were of a pure white.

Long teeth are certain figns of weakness and pufillanimity. White, clean, well-arranged teeth, vifible as foon as the mouth opens, but not projecting, nor always entirely feen, I have never met with in adults, except in good, acute, honeft, candid, faithful men.

I have also met foul, uneven, and ugly teeth, in perfons of the above good character; but it was always either fickness, or some mental imperfection, which gave this deformity.

Whoever leaves his teeth foul, and does not attempt to clean them, certainly betrays much of the negligence of his character, which does him no honour.

As are the teeth of man, that is to say, their form, pofition, and cleanliness (fo far as the latter depends on himself), fo is his tafte.

Wherever the upper gum is very visible at the firft opening of the lips, there is generally much cold and phlegm.

Much, indeed, might be written upon the teeth, though they are generally neglected in all historical

paintings.

paintings. To be convinced of this, we need but obferve the teeth of an individual during the courfe of a single day, or contemplate an apartment crowded with fools. We fhould not then, for a moment, deny that the teeth, in conjunction with the lips, are very characteristic; or that phyfiognomy has gained another token, which triumphs over all the arts of diffimulation.

The Chin

I am, from numerous experiments, convinced that the projecting chin ever denotes fomething pofitive, and the retreating something negative. The prefence or absence of strength in man is often fignified by the chin.

I have never seen sharp indentings in the middle of the chin but in men of cool understanding, unlefs when fomething evidently contradictory appeared in the countenance.

The pointed chin is generally held to be a fign of acuteness and craft, though I know very worthy perfons with fuch chins. Their craft is the craft of the best dramatic poetry.

The soft, fat, double chin, generally points out the epicure; and the angular chin is feldom found, but in difcreet, well difpofed, firm men.

Flatness of chin speaks the cold and dry; smallnefs, fear; and roundnefs, with a dimple, benevolence.

CHAP.