ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTH LESSON.

DIALOGUE ON PHYSIOGNOMY.

Frank. Ir appears strange to me that people can be so imposed upon. There is no difficulty in judging folks by their looks. I profess to know as much of a man, at the first view, as by a half dozen years' acquaintance.

Henry. Pray, how is that done? I should wish to learn such

an art.

Fr. Did you never read Lavater on Physiognomy?

Hen. No. What do you mean by such a hard word ? Fr. Physiognomy means a knowledge of men's hearts, thoughts, and characters, by their looks. For instance, if you see a man with a forehead jutting over his eyes like a piazza; with a pair of eyebrows heavy like the cornice of a house; with full eyes, and a Roman nose,-depend on it, he is a great scholar, and an honest man.

Hen. It seems to me I should rather go below his nose, to discover his scholarship.

Fr. By no means: if you look for beauty, you may descenů to the mouth and chin; otherwise never go below the region of the brain.

Enter George.

George. Well, I have been to see the man hanged. And he has gone to the other world, with just such a great forehead, and Roman nose, as you have always been praising.

Fr. Remember, George, all signs fail in dry weather.

Geor. Now, be honest, Frank, and own that there is nothing in all this science of yours. The only way to know men is by their actions. If a man commit burglary, think you a Roman nose ought to save him from punishment?

Fr. I don't carry my notions so far as that; but it is certain that all the faces in the world are different; and equally true that each has some marks about it, by which one can discover the temper and character of the person.

Enter Peter.

Peter [to Frank]. Sir, I have heard of your fame from Dan to Beersheba; that you can know a man by his face, and can tell his thoughts by his looks. Hearing this, I have visited you, without the ceremony of an introduction.

Fr. Why, indeed, I profess something in that way.

Pet. By that forehead, nose, and those eyes of yours, one might be sure of an acute, penetrating mind.

Fr. I see that you are not ignorant of Physiognomy.

Pet. I am not; but still I am so far from being an adept in the art, that unless the features are very remarkable, I cannot determine with certainty. But yours is the most striking face I ever saw. There is a certain firmness in the lines which lead from the outer verge to the centre of the apple of your eye, which denotes great forecast, deep thought, bright invention, and a genius for great purposes.

Fr. You are a perfect master of the art. And to show you that I know something of it, permit me to observe, that the form of your face denotes frankness, truth, and honesty. Your heart is a stranger to guile, your lips to deceit, and your hands to fraud.

Pet. I must confess that you have hit upon my true character, though a different one from what I have sustained in the view of the world.

Fr. [to Henry and George.] Now see two strong examples of the truth of physiognomy. [While he is saying this, Peter takes out his pocket-book, and makes off with himself.] Now, can you conceive, that, without this knowledge, I could fathom the character of a total stranger?

Hen. Pray, tell us by what marks you discovered that in his heart and lips were no guile, and in his hands no fraud !

Fr. Ay, leave that to me; we are not to reveal our secrets. But I will show you a face and character which exactly suit nim. [Feels for his pocket-book in both pockets, looks wild and concerned.]

Geor. [Tauntingly.] Ay, "in his heart is no guile, in his lips no deceit, and in his hands no fraud! Now we see a strong example of the power of physiognomy!"

Fr. He is a wretch! a traitor against every good sign! I'll pursue him to the ends of the earth. [Offers to go.]

Hen. Stop a moment. His fine, honest face is far enough before this time. You have not yet discovered the worst injury he has done you.

Fr. What's that?

steal.

I had no watch or money for him to

Hen. By his deceitful lips, he has robbed you of any just conception of yourself; he has betrayed you into a foolish belief that you are possessed of most extraordinary genius and talents. Whereas, separate from the idle whim about physiognomy, you have no more pretence to genius or learning than a common school-boy. Learn henceforth to estimate men's hands by their deeds, their lips by their words, and their hearts by their lives.

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH LESSON.

THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON.-Cooper.

Lincoln.

MAJOR LINCOLN,

CAPTAIN MCFUSE, British Officers.

SETH SAGE, a shrewd Yankee Prisoner.
JOB PRAY, a Simpleton.

WHAT have we here?

Of what offence has Mr.

Sage been guilty, that he bears those bonds?

Mc Fuse. Of the small crimes of tr'ason and homicide, if shooting at a man, with a hearty mind to kill him, can make a murder.

Sage. It can't. A man must kill, with wicked intent, to

commit murder.

Mc Fuse. Hear to the blackguard, datailing the law, as if he were my Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench! And what was your own wicked intention, ye skulking vagabond, but to kill me? I'll have you tried and hung for the same

act.

Sage. It's ag'in reason to believe that any jury will convict one man for the murder of another that ain't dead. There's no jury to be found in the Bay colony to do it.

Mc Fuse. Bay colony! ye murdering thief and rebel! I'll have ye transported to England; ye shall be both transported and hung. I'll carry ye back to Ireland with me, and I'll hang ye up in the green island itself, and bury ye, in the heart of winter, in a bog!

Lincoln. But what is the offence that calls forth these severe threats?

Mc Fuse. Ay, out, and be hanged to him, sir! Has not the whole country been like so many bees in search of a hive? Is your memory so short, that ye forget, already, Major Lincoln, the tramp the blackguards have given you over hill and dale, through thick and thin?

Lincoln. And was Mr. Sage, then, found among our enemies to-day?

Mc Fuse. Didn't I see him pull trigger on my own stature three times within as many minutes? and didn't he break the handle of my sword? and have not I a bit of lead he calls a buck-shot in my shoulder, as a present from the thief? Job. It's ag'in all law to call a man a thief, unless you can prove it upon him.

Mc Fuse. Do you hear the rascals? They know every angle of the law as well, or better than I do myself. who am the son of a Cork counsellor. I dare to say you were among them too, and that ye deserve the gallows as well as your commendable companion, there.

Lincoln. How is this? Did you not only mingle in this rebellion, Mr. Sage, but also attempt the life of a gentleman who may be said, almost, to be an inmate of your own house?

Sage. I conclude it's best not to talk too much, seeing that no one can foretell what may happen.

Mc Fuse.

Hear to the cunning reprobate! He has not the grace to acknowledge his own sins, like an honest man. But I can save him that small trouble. I brought him in, as you see, intending to hang him the first favorable oppor tunity.

Lincoln. If this be true, we must give him into the hands of the proper authorities; for it remains to be seen yet what course will be adopted with the prisoners in this singular contest.

Mc Fuse. I should think nothing of the matter, if the reprobate had not tr'ated me like a beast of the field with his buckshot; and taking his aim each time, as though I had been a mad dog. Ye villain! do you call yourself a man, and aim at a fellow-creature as you would at a brute?

Sage. Why, when a man has pretty much made up his mind to fight, I conclude it's best to take aim, in order to save ammunition and time.

Lincoln. You acknowledge the charge, then?

Sage. As the major is a moderate man, and will hear to reason, I will talk the matter over with him rationally. You see I had a small call to Concurd, early this morningLincoln. Concord!

Sage. Yes, Concurd; it lies here-away, say twenty or one-and-twenty miles

Mc Fuse. Hang your Concords and your miles too! Is there a man in the army who can forget the desateful place? Go on with your defence, without talking to us of the distance, who have measured the road by inches.

Sage. The captain is hasty and rash!-But, being there, I went out of town with some company that I happened in with; and, after a time, we concluded to return. And so, as we came to a bridge, about a mile beyond the place, we received considerable rough treatment from some of the king's troops, who were standing there

Lincoln. What did they?