LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON, N. J. Presented Ern~OA.urR\'\t:n\(S Snn\'VV^ JT}.1D BR 125 .H72 1919 House, Elwin Lincoln, 1861 1932. The drama of the face THE W Urama ot the b ace AND Other Studies in Apphed Psychology BY ELWIN LINCOLN HOUSE, D.D, Author of " The Psychology of Orthodoxy," "The Mind ofGod" etc. New York Chicaoo Fleming H. Re veil Company London and Edinburgh Copyright, 191 9. by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY New York: 158 Fifth Avenue Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave. London: 21 Paternoster Square Edinburgh: 75 Princes Street TO MOTHER, WHOSE FACE AND LIFE WERE AN INSPIRATION PREFACE THERE is a call today for a practical, Christian application of the principles of Psychology. These lecture sermons have heen given to thou- sands in the churches and on the Chautauqua platform. They have been highly commended by the clergy, laity and the press of the country, and are now sent forth to the larger service of humanity. The author trusts they may bring inspiration, illumination, and help to all who read them, and that greater devotion, more virility and service may be given to Christ and His Church. £• L. H. Hood Rtstbb. Obbgon. [AFTER CONTENTS PAGE I. The Drama of the Face . 11 II. The Man of Eeatjty . . . , 35 III. Life as a Masterpiece 49 IV. The Psychology of Love . 72 V. The Me?^ Who Dared , 95 YL The Atmosphere of a Personality . 110 VII. The Chemistry of the Mind . 128 VIII. The Majesty of Conscience . 143 IX. Damaged Goods .... . 160 X. The Psychology of Conduct . . 179 XI. The Wonderland of Memory . 195 XII. A ^N'ecklace of Pearls 212 XIII. How TO Apply Christian Psychol OGY 231 XIV. The World's Greatest Oratorio . 245 THE DEAMA OF THE FACE JUST as botany collects all discoverable forms of plant life, and describes their roots, foliage, blos- soms and fruit, so the Drama of the Face treats of all the sensations, emotions, and expressions that are to be seen in the countenance of man. And just as there is no limitation to the study of botany because of the new species constantly appearing, so there is no limitation to the study of the face. " There is a story in every face. The face we have at fifteen is the one God has given. Our face at fiity is the one we have made for ourself. The old man's face is a history ; the young man's face is a prophecy. The old man's face is a fact about himself; the young man's face is a theory — a dream in the future." I like old faces because they are almost always true. The old man's face is his autobiography; it is his life in miniature. Watch an old person's face in all its expressions and you will have a complete composite picture of the soul. What is more sad in all the world than the old age which has lived for itself — the face with love and sympathy left out? Such a face is full of thoughts and impulses that were bom and lived a while and were stifled forever. What on the other hand, is more joyous than the face 11 12 THE DRAMA OF THE FACE of a grand old man? It is a kind of God's approval, heaven's benediction of a true life. Some one has said that every face ought to be beautiful at forty, and that no old person has a right to be ugly, because he has had all his life in which to grow beautiful. From our earliest days of conscious life, we begin observing the changes which flit over the countenances of those around us. By a kind of unspoken discourse we come to recognize their feelings and to show sym- pathy or aversion, as our impressions may lead us. ISTow this being true, it is passing strange that through all the centuries men should have held themselves aloof from any study of the face as a method of revelation. The astronomers have studied the heavens to find proof of God's presence; the scientists have endeavoured to systematize their knowledge and to interpret nature's laws, to provide the presence of a presiding intelligence in nature and life. Moralists have shown us how re- ligion within us is profitable for the life without, en- nobling business, exalting life. But the climax of nature's work is the human body. And this temple is an illuminated cathedral, in which the soul dwells. In looking out of the eyes, what signals are waved ? What revelations are made ? If the potter makes his revela- tions of beauty through the clay ; if the inventor shows his genius in the engine, so God makes His revelation of beauty and strength in the face of His child. The power of any face depends on the vividness and variety of expression constantly passing over it. We use the powers in our possession without the con- sciousness that the face is revealing what is going on THE DRAMA OF THE FACE 13 within. All our special senses are employed from early life without any knowledge of the structure we are using. The ear fulfills its function, and the eye, and the tongue without any knowledge on our part. If we stop and think about it, then we realize it. But how much is done by these organs of sense without any apparent thought of what they are doing and accomplishing. And thus is it with the face. From early life it keeps on doing its part in manifesting our feelings, and we are not aware of its work. All this comes from the fact that the special senses have their seat in the face or in close connection with it. With the exception of the organ of touch, all the organs most sensitive to external influence are in the face. The face is close to the nerve centre. The nerves run to the brain and the face is in front of this mighty work- ing power in man. A very large number of nerves pass from the brain to the muscles of the face. Around the eye are ten such nerves; around the cheek and mouth, eleven. If you take both sides of the face you must double the number, hence we see the face reflects through these telegraphic nerves that which is touched on the brain of man. Every face shows the hieroglyphics of time; time being the pen, and the writing ours. We talk of the wonderful richness of the world of nature, of its marvellous wealth of flowers and fruits, of its colours and forms; of the ever-changing pattern of its clouds, of its flying shadows, so tender and so swift; of its sunny glories and its troubled gloom ; and we do well to talk of these things, and to delight in them and love 14 THE DRAMA OF THE FACE them. But to me, grand and beautiful as is the world of nature, the world of man is far richer in material and of fuller experience. To watch the faces of a crowd, and to read their probable histories is of great interest. Many life dramas are carried in the face. The smile of affection, the glance of sympathy, the look of love, the arched brow, the expression of surprise, the firm set lips, the look of despair^ the mirror of dead hopes, lines of desolation, toil, hardship, dissipation, and suffering; how much they reveal of the life ! Have they not carried their message quickly and more clearly than words could have done? Emerson, in speaking of the wonderful expressiveness of the human body, observes that if it were made of glass or of air, and the thoughts were written on steel tablets within, it could not publish more truly its mean- ing. A man finds room in the few square inches of the face for the traits of all his ancestors; for the ex- pression of his thoughts and desires. Every face car- ries its credentials with it. Like a drama, it reveals the actors, the plot and the life of its beholder. We can build a face ! Just as we can build a body, a mind, so we can build a face. If it is worth while to build a fine organ, a great building, more worth while is it to build a face. In every man there is a Raphael who works upon living substances ; there is a Wren who constructs living material into a temple for the Spirit ; there is a Beethoven who can harmonize a symphony out of thoughts, imaginations, purposes and aspirations, which is seen but not heard. Every thought is an artist; every purpose cuts like THE DRAMA OP THE FACE 15 a chisel; every passion is a workman's thrust; every emotion is a mason's trowel. Every prayer lends al- titude to the brow; every good deed gives light to the eye ; every square deal gives strength to the jaw. Every bad thought gives weakness to the mouth; every im- pure desire leaves a mark of meanness in the face. " The shew of their countenance doth witness against them/' is the verdict of Scripture. In the crystal caves of Kentucky the water drops from the ceiling. Ap- parently each drop evaporates. But in reality, each drop leaves a little sediment behind, and when a long time is passed these drops have built the stalagmite. 'Not otherwise character is formed, and reveals itself through the face. Thinking, speaking, acting, all regis- ter themselves. " No matter what form and feature may be given to the body at its birth, the soul moulds and cuts and chisels until it shapes its outward presentation. Every living cell of which the body is composed is informed by the spirit within. Each cell does its utmost to give adequate expression to the spirit's desire, and thus the wondrous changes are wrought by which the homely grow handsome and the stolid become energized, the clodlike are imbued with new life." Ruskin says there are four marks of evil that mar and destroy the beauty of the human face — pride, sensuality, cruelty and fear. Well, pride is discord, because it is out of tune with God's perfection. Humility is always a trait of the Godlike. Lust is discord, because it is not in harmony with God's purity. Cleanness of thought and body give clearness of eye, and purity of 16 THE DRAMA OF THE FACE skin. Cruelty is discord because it is out of harmony with God's love. " Love beareth all things." Fear is discord because it is out of harmony with God's trust. " Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you." We should always remember that melody is the product of the heart. Music is a thing of the soul, and the foundation of all perfect work is harmony with God. The face, the voice, the hands, in fact the whole body are but the strains that are singing within. The miners sometimes bring up from the pits pieces of shale, upon which there are the footmarks of beasts or birds that lived in the carboniferous forests of long bygone ages, the very names of which are forgotten, but they have left their mark behind in the soft mud in which they trod. So our deeds imprint themselves upon mind, face and body, to be forgotten perhaps by us, but to be unearthed again sometime, to show how we thought and acted. We have an illustration of this truth that men may build strong or weak faces, in the life of Rembrandt. He was a great painter. Today one of his portraits would bring one hundred thousand dollars in London. Look at two portraits of this man painted by himself. In the first one he stands forth a glorious, handsome youth. The lamps o£ love burn in his eyes ; his face radiates beauty. The whole man exhales strength, and there is nothing for which he cannot hope. We know that he had genius to create and the imagination to beautify the world. Now look at Rembrandt's portrait of himself, twenty years later. " The artist determined to deny himself THE DRAMA OF THE FACE 17 no pleasure. He therefore sought out every delight and followed his appetites. Hence one by one the torches of his life went out. Having been untrue to himself, he lost faith in others, for the penalty of dis- honesty and impurity is the belief that every one else is equally dishonest and impure. In middle age, we see the artist shrunken, an old rag around his throat, weak- ness in his chin^ the mark of the beast upon his brow, the eyes heavy and dull, without vision or beauty. In his youth Eembrandt lived for his ideals, his dreams of love and country, of beauty and God. Then he seemed like some palace on a winter's night, when all the windows are ablaze with light, and laughter and music and perfumed beauty fill the halls, and happiness exhales like a cloud of incense toward God." " But to what shall I liken Rembrandt's age, save a mansion deserted by these angelic guests ? The lights have gone out from these windows that once were full of rich colour ; the halls are empty ; the spider's web is woven over the key-hole of the closed door; the rose garden is a tangle of thorns, and the building is full of things that creep and crawl. The noble mansion is in ruins, given over to darkness and decay. And the ruined mansion is the house of Man's soul. Darkness is in that ruined palace." All this teaches us that a man must be a master- piece within, before he can be a masterpiece without. The faces of Paul, John, Peter and Washington, Lincoln and McKinley, all have the forces within that give strength and expression to the noble faces on canvas. 18 THE DRAMA OF THE FACE Charles Kingsley says : " There are four faces among portraits of modern men which strike us as supremely beautiful, not only in expression, but in form and pro- portion and harmony of feature. Shakespeare, Raphael, Goethe and Bums. One would expect it so; for the mind makes the body, and not the body the mind. Shakespeare combines all the charms of the other three. Raphael's is a face to be kissed, not worshipped. In Goethe there is self-consciousness, power, purpose and self-restraint, and all but scorn upon those glorious lineaments. But Burns, the magic of that countenance making him at once tempter and tempted, may explain many a sad story. The lips ripe, full of passion, and the faculty of enjoyment, and the features rendered rich and tender, the eyes laughing out upon you with benevo- lent good humour and sweetness with simple, eager, gentle surprise, a gleam as of a morning star looking forth on a new-bom world." All these teach us that the heart that turns from God will wither, and as a man is in his heart, so is he in his face. " A wicked man hardeneth his face," says Solomon. " Where there is a high look, there is a proud heart." Jesus, the son of Sirach declares : " The heart of a man changeth his countenance, whether it be good or evil." In Gessner's " Life of Lavater," it is related that a stranger was once introduced to the great physiognomist — whose first thought on seeing him was : " This man is a murderer." Suppressing the thought as hasty and uncharitable, Lavater conversed with the man, and struck by the cultivated understanding, extensive in- THE DRAMA OF THE FACE 19 formation, and easy manner which he discovered in his visitor, was led to disregard the unfavourable impression made upon him. The next day he dined with the stranger by invitation ; but soon afterwards tidings came that his accomplished gentleman was one of the assassins of the late king of Sweden, and he fled the country in great haste. In 1876, when Mr. Moody was holding meetings in Chicago, he called the chief usher in charge of the seating of the people, and pointing to one of his as- sistants, asked : " Who is that man ? To be real frank with you, I do not like his looks — his face repels me ! " The name of the usher was Charles J. Guiteau, who afterwards became the assassin of President James A. Garfield. No doubt the rules of physiognomy, like those of every other science, have their exceptions. Bret Harte in his description of the people in Roaring Camp says : *^ The assemblage numbered about one hundred men. One or two of these were actual fugitives from justice, some were criminals, and all were reckless. Physically, they exhibited no indication of their past lives and character. The greatest scamp had a Raphael face, with a profusion of blonde hair; Oakhurst, a gambler, had the melancholy air, and the intellectual abstraction of a Hamlet. The coolest and most courageous man was scarcely over five feet in height, with a soft voice and embarrassed, timid manner." Some assert with the witty Moore that: " In vain we fondly seek to trace The soul's reflection in the face; 20 THE DRAMA OF THE FACE In vain we dwell on lines and crosses. Crooked mouth, or short proboscis; Boobies have looked as wise and bright As Plato or the Stagyrite; And many a sage and learned sknll Has peeped through windows dark and dull/' Thus, of the ferocious ruffian, Claverhouse, Sir Walter Scott tells us that he had " a beautiful and melancholy visage, worthy of the most pathetic dreams of romance " ; and Lord Byron says that the cruel Ali- Pacha was " the mildest looking gentleman '' he ever saw. The gentle, childish-looking Couthon was one of the most blood-thirsty cut-throats of the French Revolu- tion, and the Greek Phocion, who was wise, witty, fine- tempered and humane, was a man of ill-natured counte- nance and forbidding expression, so much so that he repelled strangers. The heavy brow, coarse, blunt, stone-mason face, and protruding cheek bones of Michael Angelo utterly belied his genius. And Mr. Morely, in describing Gladstone's appear- ance, says : " His eye was extremely bright, though in the rest of the face there was no beauty or even re- finement." And when President Wilson was running for governor in the state of IN'ew Jersey, he was accused of being anything but handsome in face. His retort was : "As a beauty I am not a star; There are others more handsome by far. But my face — I don't mind it, For I am behind it ; The people in front of me get the jar.'' THE DRAMA OF THE FACE 21 But all these are exceptions to the rule, and do not disprove the general proposition, that as Spencer says: " Of the soul the body form doth take." Besides the thoughts, we would name three other builders of the face. They are diet, sleep and sugges- tion. It ig simply a matter of gift as to whether we are tall or short, dark or light. But it is not altogether outside of our own power to determine whether we are strong and healthful, and how our faces build in mature life. Diet is a great fa