cipally upon the traditionary accounts of those who saw him in the height of his oratorical fame. He wrought no changes in the science of law; he argued very few great and memorable questions; the greater part of his speeches were passionate harangues to juries, of which even the line of argument has utterly failed to rescue them from oblivion; and yet, while he lived, there was no man in America who could dispute his right to be ranked at the head of the jury-lawyers of this continent. Turn we now to the great monuments that the Judge left behind him. During the thirty-four years of his judicial career, nearly all the great questions of the American system of government passed in review before the court over which he presided, and by uniform consent of all the court, the weightier Constitutional questions were turned over to the Rhadamanthine judgment of the Chief-Justice. However the court might differ in their private discussions, recorded dissents from the judgments of Marshall are hardly to be found. And what volumes of judicial wisdom are there in these celebrated decisions. What a storehouse for the law student and the statesman where they may find the soundest principles established by the most perfect logic. A careful study and frequent reading of Chicf-Justice Marshall's decisions is the best of all discipline for the acquisition of the most thorough and invincible logic. He was a genius in the field of purely legal investigation; his reasoning is not only strong and admirable, but in many cases it is impossible to conceive of a more perfect line of argument. Choate's name will be preserved in the roll of fame among the brightest examples of legal attainment and forensic eloquence. He stands in the past like a beautiful edifice, polished, symmetrical, towering toward the sky. Marshall, on the other hand, reminds us of the Alleghanies of his native State, and his fame and his deeds are a part and parcel of American history as these mountains are a part of the American continent. He laid great blocks of granite, vast, immovable, at the foundation of American jurisprudence, which shall remain there while our civilization endures. It is important, in contemplating these contrasted characters, that our readers, and especially earnest young men who are looking among celebrated lawyers for the best models, should make a wise selection here. When the great Advocate was in the height of his fame, his advent at a county-seat could be traced months after in wildlooking and pale-faced young men, with disheveled hair and midnight in their faces, making gestures like a galvanized manikin, and yoking not less than six adjectives to every noun substantive which they used. The fame as well as the magnetism of the orator had bewitched them. Let it be borne in mind, that while not one young lawyer in a thousand has, or can ever acquire, the peculiar talents of Choate, almost every person of strong natural sense, vigorous understanding, and honest purpose can learn to think and to reason like John Marshall, and leave behind him, to those who shall come after, monuments more useful and more enduring, though less ornate and marvelous, than the bright but It can not be too frequently repeated, that wis- HANDWRITING. L. E. L. The more I compare the different handwritings which pass under my observation, the more I am confirmed in the idea that they are so many expressions-so many em anations from the mind of the writer, by which you can judge of it.-Chateaubriand. SEVERAL Correspondents have inquired if we can tell a person's character by examining his handwriting-if, in other words, chirography affords trustworthy indications of mental qualities. Such a question can not be satisfactorily answered by a yes or a no; and, as we deem the subject one of general interest, we will now give the reader the results of our observation, reading, and thinking with reference to it. Mind precedes, fashions, and directs the physical organization. It determines the shape of the head, the contours of the body, the expression of the countenance, the tones and modulations of the voice, the manner of walking, the mode of shaking hands, the gestures-in short, the appearance and movements of the individual generally, including the shape of the fingers and their motions in forming the characters used in writing. It follows that the latter must differ in the handwriting of different persons, and be in some manner and degree signs of character. This general proposition will, we presume, be almost universally admitted. We, at least, shall not seek to avoid a conclusion so naturally and directly reached. Every general rule, however, has its exceptions-or, more correctly, there are minor laws which modify the action of all general laws, in some cases practically nullifying them. These minor laws or modifying conditions must be understood and applied. The admission that there are indications of character in chirography does not involve a claim to be able in all cases to discover and read them; and the physiognomist who should set up such a claim, in the present state of our knowledge on this subject, would soon find himself involved in inextricable difficulties. In order that the reader may get a clear idea of the real value of handwriting as an index of character, it will be necessary to consider 1st. The principal styles of caligraphy in connection with the mental and bodily characteristics on which they depend, and which they, therefore, normally indicate; 21. The accidental conditions which often mod ify or render nugatory the action of the general laws involved; and, 8d. Various illustrative examples. STYLES OF HANDWRITING. The various styles of handwriting, so far as they are affected by the mental organization and may be taken as indicative of character, may be thus classified: 1. The Fine and Regular; 2. The Irregular and Unsightly; 6. The Small and Cramped or Weak; 8. The Ornate; 9. The Plain and Legible; and 10. The Dashing and Illegible. 1. THE FINE AND REGULAR.-Large Constructiveness, Form, and Order with a good degree of Ideality, and a calm, cool, equable temper are favorable to the formation of this style of handwriting; and in a person habitually making use of it, we should look for good sense, industry, selfcontrol, taste, neatness, and a mild, patient, even disposition, with little imagination or originality, and moderate executiveness. We shall seek in vain for perfect examples of this style among really great men. 2 THE IRREGULAR AND UNSIGHTLY.-In this style the letters are badly shaped, lack completeness, and manifest general disorder. The lines are usually as irregular as the letters and words, being jumbled together, and seldom keeping the proper horizontal direction. We infer from it a lack of Constructiveness and Order, and a want of harmony in the action of the various faculties. There must be either abstraction and inattention, or indecision and unsteadiness, and perhaps all of them. There may be talent and energy, but we should expect much aimless effort and little per severance. 3. THE ROUNDED AND MEASURED.-Here, as in the first class, large Constructiveness and large Order are indicated, but with more strength and deliberation. The individual to whom this hand is natural should possess clearness, coolness, steadiness, perseverance, patience, and mechanical skill. In disposition he is likely to be calm, resolute, and equable. 4. THE ANGULAR AND POINTED.-The characters in this style seem to be formed, as it were, by sudden jerks, and possess more force than grace. It may be more or less regular and beautiful, de pending for these qualities upon the greater or less development of Constructiveness, Order, and Ideality, but it always has definiteness and directness. It indicates talent and energy. The writer may be rough and uncultivated, but he will be found to have great mental vigor and originality, and a strong will. He is likely to be impatient of restraint, independent, self-reliant, courageous, and steadfast. You can rely on such a one as a friend, but may well beware of him as an eneшny. 5. THE LARGE AND BOLD.-This style is geuerally, but not always regular, and legible as weil as strong. It indicates a mind more manly, broad, and strong than delicate or penetrating; a spirit firm, resolute, and determined, taking hold, with out hesitation and without calculation, and forming many resolutions which are frequently more rash than wise; an independent, daring, courageous, but benevolent, philanthropic, and generous disposition; free without ostentation in prosperity, and patient, spirited, and inflexible in adversity. A person thus characterized is capable of undertaking very difficult, severe, and dangerous enterprises, seldom lacking the necessary power and will to execute them. if there be sufficient talent or genius for their conception. 6. THE SMALL AND CRAMPED.-In this style the letters appear to have been commenced with hesitation, as if there were doubts in the writer's mind of his ability, through a lack of strength or of resolution, to complete them. It seems to indicate weakness either of body or of mind, if not of both. Fearful instincts control a will without power to resist and neutralize their depressing influence-a spirit without intrinsic power, without resolution, and without ability, easily disconcerted and discouraged if hindered in the performance of anything, and even fearful in doing that which it has the power to begin. The disposition is reckless, though not bold, lazy, timid, shy, and irritable; seeing everywhere traps, ambushes, and nameless dangers. There is large Cautiousness, combined with small Hope and little executiveness. 7. THE FORMAL AND PRECISE.-Here the letters are formed and arranged as if by measurement. It is mechanically methodical. Constructiveness and Order are indicated, but there is no exhibition of Ideality. We infer that the mind of the writer is conventional, narrow, precise to a fault, and lacking in taste and imagination as well as in warmth and sensibility. The spirit is positive and exact, but usually contracted, and the tastes, customs, and inclinations few and circumscribed; yet there is a tendency to egotism, and too little susceptibility to the finer feelings and social relationships. 8. THE ORNATE.--This is written with excessive strokes and superfluous ornaments. This style is frequently seen among young writing-masters of bad taste, who are given to brilliant and extravagant flourishes. Such writing, when not professional or a mere matter of education or imitation, denotes a full development of Constructiveness, Form, and Ideality, with less reflective intellect, and a light-hearted, buoyant, enterprising, and adventurous disposition. The individual to whom such a style of writing is natural, will be found to possess great activity of body and mind, to be impatient of inaction, always occupied, but often without results, beginning many things and finishing few. He will have more energy than persistence, and more hopefulness than foresight. 9. THE PLAIN AND LEGIBLE.-This style, though it may not always present the qualities of good writing, is nevertheless traced by a sure, calm, and careful hand, so that he who writes thus, cares more for clearness than for embellishment. It denotes reflective intellect, a firm will, prudence, and a serious, steadfast disposition. We should look to the writer of such a hand for well-directed and profitable labor in any sphere in which he might be placed. He would live for usefulness rather than for show, and if not brilliant or original, will be likely to benefit the world quite as much as many a more aspiring and highly gifted, 10. THE DASHING AND ILLEGIBLE.-In this kind PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS. We claim nothing like absolute correctness on every point for the foregoing remarks on the indications of the various kinds of handwriting. We believe that they will be found in the main theoretically sound-in other words, that supposing a person to trace his letters and words freely, untrammeled by educational bias and uncontrolled by a too active organ of Imitation, he will express something of his character in them, and that its indications are as we have stated them. It does not follow that we (and much less the inexperienced reader) can tell every man's character by inspecting his handwriting. Various incidental conditions modifying our general rules, some of which have already been hinted at, must now be taken into consideration. 1. EDUCATION.-Some persons continue to write through life substantially the hand they originally acquired by imitating the copies set before them by their teacher. If such handwriting express any character, it must be that of the teacher rather than the pupil. It tells us one thing of the latter, however, that is, that he has little character of his own to exhibit at least, little originality, independence, or self-reliance. Most persons who write much soon lose or greatly modify their school-boy caligraphy, though it may have a greater or less influence in the formation of the individual's distinctive handwriting, and must be taken into the account in our estimate of its value as a sign of character As a matter of education as well as of original differences of character, each nation has its peculiar general style of caligraphy, so that an experienced observer can tell a person's nationality by his style of penmanship, irrespective of any difference in their alphabet or language. The Englishman's handwriting is different from that of the American; and the Frenchman's, the German's, the Italian's, the Spaniard's, etc., differ widely from both and from each other. PROFESSIONAL HANDWRITING.-In all our cities and towns there is a large class of persons, including reporters, book-keepers, clerks, and copyists, *In the preparation of this section we have availed our. selves, so far as we deem them correct and appropriate, of the interesting remarks of Lepelletier de la Sarthe in bis Traité Complet de Physiognomonie. They have been so greatly modified, however, that anything more than this general acknowledgment is impracticable. who write in a style that may be called professional, and which, though it does not entirely exclude variety and originality, tends to create a degree of sameness, and to constantly repress all eccentricities. Such writing can be at best only partially characteristic of the individual. It is rather an index of his business or profession than of his personal traits. HANDWRITING OF WOMEN.-In general, women adhere more closely than men to prescribed models, and there is great similiarity in the style of the great mass of feminine writers. The remarks we have made in reference to the preceding classes will apply with still greater force to them. Such remarks, of course, are general, and many exceptions may be pointed out. Strong traits of character, whether in man or woman, will break over conventional rules. IMITATION LARGE.-In some individuals Imitation is so large and active, that is seems easier for them to be "somebody else" than themselves. They assume any character they choose, or any one that is presented for them to copy. Their handwriting is hardly twice alike. If they admire any particular style they at once copy it, but soon abandon it for a new fancy, or in imitation of that of a letter which they may be answering. Of course the chirography of such persons is of no value in physiognomy beyond its use as a sign of dominant Imitation. COMBINATIONS OF STYLES.-Leaving out of view the large classes of exceptional cases which we have named, we have still subjects enough on which to exercise our skill. Here, though we shall meet with many difficulties, we shall be rewarded in the end with satisfactory results; but we must first learn to distinguish the different styles of handwriting and their indications, then we must study them in their combinations (for we seldom find them pure) and give to each element its due weight in our estimates of character. Observation and study will elicit new facts and principles, and in time, perhaps, we may have a science. or at least a system, founded on handwriting, and called GRAPHOMANCY. ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. From several hundred autographs of noted men and women now before us, we select a few with which to illustrate the foregoing remarks. We attempt no classification, and leave the reader to draw his own inferences. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN expressed in his handwriting the vigor, the breadth, the liberality, the independence, and the practical tendencies of his mind. His signature shows a combination of the qualities of our fifth and ninth classes. It is round. bold, plain, and legible. GEORGE WASHINGTON's signature is large, bold, and round, the strokes being heavier and more dashing than those of Franklin. Its main characteristics are those of the fifth class, but it has some of the qualities of the fourth and the tenth. ANDREW JACKSON wrote a strong, bold, angular hand, in every stroke of which may be traced his indomitable will and directness of purpose. His signature is underscored with a heavy straight line, drawn by a firm, steady hand. ZACHARY TAYLOR's autograph is similar to that of Jackson, but somewhat less free and flowing. In striking contrast with both is that of FRANK PIERCE, which is elegant, ornate, and dashing. JOHN RANDOLPH wrote in the angular and pointed style, as did THOMAS JEFFERSON and PATRICK HENRY. HENRY W. LONGFELLOW furnishes us with an elegant autograph, free, rounded, backward sloping, and somewhat dashing, but very legible. LORD BYRON Wrote an angular, dashing, irregular, illegible hand, indicative at the same time of genius and want of mental symmetry and self-control. MADAME OCTAVIA WALTON LE VERT Writes an elegant, regular Italian hand, somewhat ornate, but very beautiful. ABRAHAM LINCOLN's signature shows a good example of the plain, legible, open style, with an approach to the angular. HENRY WARD BEECHER signs his name in a free, dashing, independent style, in which vigor, boldness, and originality are manifest. HORACE GREELEY, as is generally known, writes a most irregular and illegible hand. Contrast it with the handsome, round, bold, regular, and legible caligraphy of WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. Both are men of great talent, but their minds differ as widely as their handwriting. EDWARD EVERETT wrote in an elegant, regular, measured style. EDGAR A. POE's signature is bold, dashing, irregular, and full of originality. LIEUTENANT-GENERAL U. S. GRANT's handwriting is plain and angular; that of GENERAL SHERMAN, angular and dashing; and that of GENERAL MCCLELLAN, angular, but small and slightly cramped. PRESIDENT JOHNSON's signature indicates the plain and legible style. JOHN G. WHITTIER writes in a bold, dashing, but irregular and uneven style. LORD PALMERSTON's autograph shows a combination of styles, which makes it difficult to analyze, but it certainly has angularity and irregularity. It would, perhaps, be dashing, were it not a little constrained. WASHINGTON IRVING Wrote in a small but rather heavy, angular, but legible style. ABBOTT LAWRENCE signed his name in a handsome, round, bold, business-like style. DANIEL WEBSTER's handwriting was bold, strong, and legible; and GEORGE BANCROFT'S has similar characteristics, but, in his signature at least, is more dashing. P. B. SHILLABER (Mrs. Partington) writes in a facile and legible, but irregular style, the letters sloping both ways. PAULINE CUSHMAN's handwriting is large, bold, round, and masculine. FITZ GREENE HALLECK'S autograph is small, elegant, and delicate, but pointed. THOMAS CARLYLE's chirography is strong, as eccentric, and as nervous as his style, and as difficult to describe. THOMAS MOORE's signature is small, round, and graceful; THACKERAY'S is also small and handsome, but more dashing; while TUPPER'S is elegant and measured, if not formal. GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN Writes as he speaks, in a bold, free, spread-cagle" style. N. P. WILLIS writes in a small, but rather heavy, angular, even, firm style. GEORGE CRUICKSHANK's autograph is, perhaps, the most singular one before us. It occupies almost half a common-sized page, and defies all analysis. It seems as full of fun as the man himself. These examples might be extended indefinitely, but these will serve our purpose. Reader, please favor us with a specimen of your undisguised handwriting-in the shape of a subscription to the JOURNAL. QUEEN HORTENSE." TO BE SET TO MUSIC. HER fate is changed-her face is pale- Yet still it clings round many a shrine Yet far unseen her mem'ries bring Give grief to every breathing string, And were they true that moved with thee Who proud, yet meekly bent the knee As fades from morn the crimson streak, The roseate light hath left thy check- A CORRESPONDENT writes: "I observe that a good many distinguished men were born when their parents had attained considerable age. Lord Chatham, Alexander Von Humboldt, Lord Bacon, Mahomet, Louis Napoleon, Andrew Jackson, Stonewall Jackson, General Lee, were all, I believe, youngest sons. William Pitt was born when his father was fifty-one years old. Henry Clay was the fifth of seven children. Benjamin Franklin, the fifteenth of seventeen. John C. Calhoun, the fourth of five. Do you think there is anything in it? or are these merely exceptional cases? "I observe, also, that many eminent men are tall; is that frequently the case? and if so, how do you account for it? "Many great men have feeble bodies. Does the brain consume the nutriment which should go to the body if the brain were not so large and active ??? These are good facts and sensible questions, and it gives us pleasure to discuss them. We have scores of questions that ought to be answered in the very asking. The list our friend gives of eminent men, the offspring of matured parents, might be greatly enlarged, but he has given enough to illustrate the point. Youthful parents more frequently transmit emotional life, bodily vigor, and animal feeling. "I left her pale and sad, by the lake of Constance--I left her as if parting from a desert of flowers which I never expected to see again."-French Author (quoted in the Life of Napoleon the Third," by Smucker, LL.D.). 66 As parents ripen in constitution, become solid and strong in body, and well developed in brain, and fully matured in culture, their younger children are likely to take the benefit of these improvements in, the parents. We remember a case in Virginia, while lecturing there some twenty-five years ago. We became acquainted with a couple, the proprietors of a hotel where we were stopping, who had a singular family. The father and mother were noble specimens of humanity—large, handsome, plump, and rosy. They had eight or nine children; the first, a boy, was slim and short, stoop-shouldered, with a narrow chest; his cheeks were fallen in, his eye lacked luster, and his head was small, and though by no means idiotic, he had to be cared for by his father. He had learned his father's trade, and worked with him, so that he might be helped over the rough spots. The second child was an improvement on the first, and so each succeeding child was superior to the preceding; but they did not have a child worthy of themselves till the sixth or seventh, and the youngest was the best of the lot. Besides, the oldest son looked almost as old as the father; he was wrinkled and rusty, and his father fair and ruddy, and they often passed for brothers. During our stay we ascertained that the father was fifteen and the mother thirteen when they were married, and they had no children "worth mentioning," though they had them rapidly till they were of mature age themselves. Many eminent men are tall; and we think largeness-tallness being one of the measurements-is favorable to greatness. We think any deliberative body of men, such for instance as the American Congress, the British or French Parliaments, the men will be found to be taller than the average. In 1841, we remember that Mr. Stanley, of North Carolina, was regarded as the smallest man in Congress-that is, the shortest and slightest built; he certainly looked the shortest on the floor. Happening to be in the East Room of the President's House, Mr. Stanley and others came in; and in order to test the matter we stood alongside of him, to allow our friend to compare the relative height of Mr. Stanley with the writer. He was about five feet and eight or nine inches in height, which is a little above the medium height. It will generally be found that eminent men have large chests, and those who can do the most work and last the longest are those who have & good-sized chest and abdomen. Some of our eminent men, besides, may be arr tioned as being stout. Benton, Silas Wight, Lewis Cass, Daniel Webster, Berrien, the two Adamses, Dr. Franklin, and Dixon H. Lewis wero all eminently working men, tough, strc ag, and earnest. Mr. Calhoun was slim; he occasionally made a speech, but did not keep the crank turning like Benton and the rest of them. Jackson was slim; he was impulsive, not continuous in labor. While we recognize the majority of eminent men as being above the usual tallness, we think it will be found that they are more likely to be large than merely tall. Small men who are well proportioned,wiry, and wide-awake, like Fremont, Dr. Kane, and many others, accomplish a great deal through the mental clearness and activity of their natures. But if we had a wide swath to be mowed, give us the broad-shouldered, roundchested, brawny Benton. If we had a mental battle to wage, give us such a man to hammer at the foe rather than the light, small man to pierce with sharp sayings and scathe with occasional scintillations of wit or genius. We do not approve of very early marriages, nor would we do anything to prevent the fullest bodily growth of every human being. THE TWO PATHS. * THE following contrasts, illustrative of the effects of a right or a wrong course of life upon an individual, are submitted to our readers. They tell their own story. In the one case we see a child, as it were, develop into true manhood; in the other, into the miserable inebriate or the raving maniac. Two boys (figs. 1 and 2) start out in life with fair advantages and buoyant hopes. With them it remains to choose in what direction they shall steer their barks. Fig. 3 represents the first as having chosen the way of righteousness-the upward path. He lives temperately, forms worthy associations, attends the Sunday-school, strives to improve his mind with useful knowledge, and is regarded in the community as a young man of excellent character and promise. In fig. 4, on the contrary, the boy is represented as having unwisely chosen the downward course, thinking he will enjoy himself and not submit to what he considers the strait jacket of moral discipline. He becomes coarse and rough in feature and slovenly in dress; he smokes and chews, drinks, gambles, attends the race-course, spends his nights at the play-house or the tavern, disregards all parental authority and admonition, and develops into the full-grown rowdy, and as such he sets at naught all domestic ties and obligations, leaving his wife and children to beg, starve, or eke out a wretched subsistence by the most exhausting and inadequately compensated toil. Fig. 5 represents the playfellow of his childhood pursuing the straight course, in the full maturity of his faculties and powers, and is constantly rising in the scale of honorable manhood. His habits are regulated by his judgment, and his body and brain are in full vigor and in a high state of development. His features are comely, fresh, and open. Integrity is stamped upon his head and face. He is a loving, cherishing husband, a kind father, an obliging neighbor, a faithful friend, and an esteemed citizen, eligible to any office of trust and honor, and capable of filling any post in civil life with dignity and credit. With increasing years (fig. 7) honors thicken upon him. Beautiful in age, surrounded with *From "Physiognomy, or Signs of Character," Part III. Price for the work complete, $4. Address Fowler and Wells, 389 Broadway, New York. FIG. 5. in a drunken fracas, or in an asylum or prison. an incubus upon society, a terror to the weak FIG. 7. FIG. 6. Hooted at and derided, and delicate, his death FIG. 8. 66 affords gratification, for 'tis a nuisance abated"-a "good riddance." Young man, which of these paths are you treading now? Are you ad vancing in that which constitutes the true man? or are you retrograding, and descending below even the level of the brute? Your course is either upward or downward. There is no middle by-way, and you will become what your habits and conduct make you. Be warned in time; consider these views; take counsel of the good and true; follow your own interior convictions of duty and propriety and your career can not but be honorable. Your features, which are now comely and well formed, may, by boldly pursuing the way of righteousness, become more and more beautiful as you ripen into the glories of Christian manhood, and others, beholding your inflexible integrity and attractive grace, will say, in the words of Pope-behold, "An honest man's the noblest work of God." HOPE. HOPE, heavenly Hope is all serene, Her light springs from the Great Unseen, We see her radiant beams afar, She is the wand'rer's guiding star. She cheers the heart, relieves our pain, No lines of care her fair front stain, Cheer up, sad heart! Away, dull care! HOLDING BACK THE SHOULDERS.For a great number of years, it has been the custom in France to give to young females of the earliest age the habit of holding back the shoulders, and thus expanding the chest. From the observation of anatomists, lately made, it appears that the clavicle, or collar bone, is actually longer in females of the French nation than those of the English. As the two nations are of the Caucasian race, as there is no other remarkable difference in their bones, and this is peculiar to the sex, it may be attributed to the habit above mentioned, which, by the extension of the arms, has gradually produced a national elongation of this bone. Thus we see that habit may be employed to alter and improve the solid bones. The French have succeeded in the development of a part that adds to health and beauty. SIGNIFICANCE OF SHAKING HANDS. THERE is a significance in the different modes of shaking hands which indicates, so far as a single act can do, the character of the person. The reader who has observed may recall the peculiarities of different persons with whom he has shaken hands, and thus note how characteristic was this simple act. How much do we learn of a man or a woman by the shake of the hand? Who would expect to get a handsome donation--or a donation at all-from one who puts out two fingers to be shaken, and keeps the others bent, as upon an "itching palm ?" (Fig 6.) The hand coldly held out to be shaken, and drawn away again as soon as it decently may be, indicates a cold, if not a selfish and heartless character; while the hand which seeks yours and unwillingly relinquishes its warm, hearty clasp, belongs to a person with a genial disposition and a ready sympathy with his fellow-men. In a momentary squeeze of the hand how much of the heart often oozes through the fingers! Who, that ever experienced it, has ever forgotten the feeling conveyed by the eloquent pressure of the hand of a dying friend, when the tongue has ceased to speak! A right hearty grasp of the hand (fig. 1) indicates warmth, ardor, executiveness, and strength of character; while a soft, lax touch, without the grasp (fig 2), indicates the opposite characteristics. In the grasp of persons with large-hearted, generous minds, there is a kind of "whole-soul expression, most refreshing and acceptable to kindred spirits. Fig. 1. Fig. 2.. But when Miss Weakness presents you with a few cold, clammy, lifeless fingers (fig. 4) for you to shake, you will naturally think of a hospital, an infirmary, or the tomb. There are foolish persons who think it pretty to have soft, wet, cold hands, when the fact is, it is only an evidence that they are sick; or that, inasmuch as the circulation of the blood is partial and feeble, they are not well; and unless they bring about a change, and induce warm hands and warra feet, by the necessary bodily exercises, they are on the road to the grave; cold hands, cold feet, and a hot head are indications of anything but health. Action is life; inaction is death. Life, in the human body, is warm. Death is cold. Vigorous bodily action causes the blood to circulate Fig. 8. throughout every part of the body. The want of action causes it, so to speak, to stand still. The blood goes most freely to those parts of the body or brain most exercised. If we swing the sledge-hammer like the blacksmith, or climb the ropes, like the sailor, we get large and strong arms and hands. If we row a boat or swing a scythe, it is the same. But if we use the brain chiefly to the exclusion of the muscles, we may have more active minds but weaker bodies. The better condition in which the entire beingbody and brain-is symmetrically developed, requires the harmonious exercise of all the parts, in which case there will be a happy equilibrium, with no excess, no deficiency-no hot headache, no cold feet. Headache is usually causen by a foul stomach, or a pressure of blood on the brain; cold feet by a limited circulation of blood in those extremities. Fig. 4. There is a habit, among a rude class, growing out of an over-ardent temperament on the part of those who are more strong and vigorous than delicate or refined, who give your hand a crushing grasp, which is often most painful. In these cases there may be great kindness and "strong" affection, but it is as crude as it is hearty. Another gives you a cold, flabby hand, with no energy or warmth in it, and you feel chilled or repelled by the negative influence imparted, and you are expected to shake the inanimate appendage of a spiritless body. Is the grasp warm, ardent, and vigorous? so is the disposition. Is it cool, formal, and without emotion? so is the character. Is it magnetic, electrical, and animating? the disposition is the same. As we shake hands, so we feel, and so we are. Much of our true character is revealed in shaking hands. WHY DO WE SHAKE HANDS? But why do we shake hands at all? It is a very old-fashioned way of indicating friendship. We read in the Book of books that Jehu said to Jehonadab: "Is thine heart right as my heart is with thy heart? If it be, give me thine hand." And it is not merely an old-fashioned custom. It is a natural one as well It is the contact of sensitive and magnetic surfaces through which there is, in something more than merely a figurative sense, an interchange of feeling. The same principle is illustrated in another of our modes of greeting. When we wish to reciprocate the warmer feelings, we are not content with the contact of the hands-we bring the lips into service. A shake of the hands suffices for friendship, among undemonstrative Anglo-Saxons at least, but a kiss is a token of a more tender affection.-" From Physiognomy." A PLEA FOR REUNION. TO D. E., OF AUGUSTA, GA. LEAVE in its grave the buried past; I, o'er them all, dear friend of mine, A hand as warm as e'er of yore I know thou wilt not spurn the pledge, But meet its friendly grasp. And, here though mad fanatics rave, And there hot-headed knaves Would still the hateful strife prolong, Above our sacred graves, The millions of the Northland now On many a late ensanguined field Nor break their rest by fighting o'er Yes, let us join with hearty will God bless the sunny Southern land! BROOKLYN, N. Y. D. H. JACQUES. SOONER OR LATER. BY HARRIET E. PRESCOTT. I shall not heed them where I lie, Sooner or later the sun shall shine I shall not feel, in that deep-laid rest, Chill though that frozen pall shall seem, Sooner or later the bee shall come Ring and chirrup and whistle with glee- Sooner or later, far out in the night, Never a ray shall part the gloom |