habits.

The editor has often been a witness of his exertions in this respect; and the accuracy, truth, and spirit of his delineations of character, have again and again excited the astonishment of those to whom he was introduced, and who had opportunities of verifying his decisions. A practical physionomist of this description, would necessarily excite too much attention to remain in obscurity; and Mr. Cooke was, as might be expected, incessantly sought after by wide and ever-growing circles of curious inquirers. During the latter part of his life, he was almost constantly, at his leisure, the centre of one of those circles, where, of course, the subject of his science would constitute the principal charm and interest. The delight he communicated on many of these occasions it is not easy to describe; and among those who were attracted around him, the personally important nature of his communications, in addition to the general interest it excited, secured him many warm and lasting friendships. His science was in itself interesting, but he gave it an importance in its application to individual

character, peculiar to himself, peculiar to a mind at once penetrating, benevolent, and capable of strong individual attachments. All this was combined with manners which had a charm of their own, and which was, perhaps, principally created from the obvious tendency which his strictures and remarks had to communicate the spirit of improvement to those whom he was anxious to benefit. This was especially the case where a personal preference had been excited in his mind, and where his natural benevolence acquired this additional stimulus to do good. He was not, however, forward on any occasion to obtrude himself, or his favourite subject, on the notice of his company; but frequently amused himself for hours, in silent and attentive observation, on the faces of persons to whom he might have been accidentally introduced. In most instances, if he were known, he was called upon to put his knowledge of Physiognomy to the test; and then his wonderful power of discriminating character and talent became apparent. A general sketch was soon supplied, and such a sketch as

the individual and his friends at once recognized as belonging to the person under consideration. His intrinsic good nature, and his zeal for his science, induced him, on such occasions, to present, on the whole, a favourable estimate of any character which passed under his review. He was not bound to reveal the whole truth, so long as he revealed nothing but the truth; the weaknesses and failings of an individual were only so far touched as they were obvious, or as was necessary to produce an identical character. Further than this candour did not require, and politeness forbade him to proceed.

On the subject of the excellencies of an individual, he was at liberty to indulge his characteristic benevolence, and he always did ample justice to those whom he thought deserved his praise. The ingenuous, the tender, the feeling heart, he loved to recognize, and was in immediate sympathy and friendship with its possessor. True sensibility, moral benignity, however unobtrusive, never escaped his penetrating and friendly glance; and to great original capacity,

to intellectual magnificence, to the energies of genius, to a countenance, in which, alas! how rarely he recognized power, passion, and eloquence, he did instant homage. The editor has often heard him maintain his opinion of an individual, who had conciliated his esteem, with great animation and fervor. It was founded, he would say, on the unchangeable characters of nature, in combination with those adventitious signs which moral habits had impressed on the countenance. The balance was easily struck, and his opinions settled; no temporary depression; no cloud which might seem for a moment to cast an ominous shade over a great and good character; no tale of falsehood previously whispered in his ear; no envious re-. proving, disappointed looks of rivals, enemies, or indifferently malignant auditors, could prevent him from expressing his sentiments of such a person in a frank, intrepid, and decisive manner; and if his opinions were disputed from envy, or any other base motive, it was well for the objecting party if he were not presented, by way of contrast, with the character he had described.

When considering the attainments of the author of these Fragments, which, owing to a narrow education, were by no means extraordinary, the editor has often been struck with the power he possessed of forming an estimate of other men. Without being himself apparently distinguished by great intellectual endowments or acquisitions, his discrimination and judgment of others seemed to place him in direct and intimate contact with their minds. Though neither poet, metaphysician, philosopher, nor artist, he estimated at once the degrees and kinds of power, mental and moral, of each; and if all he thought and said could be collected and exhibited, it would furnish materials for a nost interesting dissertation on the varieties of intellectual and moral character. He always maintained that the form of the head and face were the true criteria of intellect, power, and passion; that the degrees and kinds of each were expressed in the countenance and general outline, and that these would, if carefully studied, be found to indicate radical differences between one man and another, over which education