FACIAL DEFENCES

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 42, 13 November 1926, Page 24

FACIAL DEFENCES

The kindly magistrate who has just refused to convict a boy because he had such a nice face will become the subject of n good deal of discussion (savs Eldon junior in the “Westminster Gazette”) Can you read the mind and disposition by’ the face ? Is such a test a reliable one to be used tn the administration of justice? Are we safe under its kindly sway ?

• Recently it was mv duty to interview a man with a terrible criminal record; He had already .served .nupierous. terms’ of pehaF .servitude, and he “has - since been sent to another long sentence in those dreadful conditions But I defy anybody to surmise by his personal aspect the true character of his life. He had the appearance of a highminded and respectable member of so-

ciety. You would have guessed by his demeanour and general air that he was a responsible schoolmaster, or, for that matter, a reputable member of Parliament. His face was no guide either to his character or habits, and a judge misled by such signs would not be a safe ornament of tlie Bench. Again, I had to do lately with a man of the working classes who was in an unusuallv shabby condition and spoke with all the native roughness of the cheek v Cocknev Charles Dickens would have considered him a rich find for the picture of a shifty and artful dodger. But was this man’s aspect any sure guide to his disposition and mental equipment? Certainly not. Thinking that I was interested in such matters after hearing me address a meeting, he invited me to attend a philosophical society which lie frequented in order to understand better some social and political facts of an important bearing Onr mistake was referred to by Emerson in his well-known reference to the sort of person who adjusts his conversation to the kind of head he is addressing We shall sadlv miss the lessons of experience if we follow such a foolish rule I fin dit specially inapplicable to “the, mere human boy,” in Plato’s phrase And as for the modern girl, women readers must have strong views on the subject. Faces nr? the most unreliable guiles to conduct.