The countenance, I grant, on some other occasions, may warrant an opinion of good or evil existing in the mind; but on the momentous events of life and death, it is surely by much too indefinite and hazardous even to listen to for a moment.

The different ways of expressing our various passions are, with many, as variable as the features they wear.

Tears have often been, nay generally are, the relief of excessive joy, while misery and dejection have, many a time, disguised themselves in a smile; and convulsive laughs have betrayed the anguish of an almost broken heart.

To judge, therefore, the principles of the heart, by the barometer of the face, is as erroneous as it would be absurd and unjust.

This matter may likewise be considered in another point of view.