his fellow-men. It is the character of man that makes the smile, and the man himself must be improved to improve it. However, there are certain things which can be done to the smile directly. There is, so to speak, technical training for the smile. A lawyer recognizes the fact that he must know every phase of the law thoroughly, but he rarely thinks of his own voice and body,-the tools he must use in pleading every case. The queen of society gives great care to every detail of dress and to her complexion, but rarely gives a thought to her voice, and often leaves it blotched worse than ink could spot her cheek. Even the minister regards his voice and body as of little importance compared with a knowledge of Arabic or Egyptology. Here are the instinctive languages born with us all. Why do we despise them? Here is a mirror in which all may behold the very heart of man, yet how few ever think of it! In a university, the Department of Astronomy is usually the best endowed. Is this because it is easier to secure money for the study of something that is at a great distance from us? Why are we interested in what is far away? Why does the past always look brighter than the present? Why do some people think that all good things lie only in the future or far away? Why is Heaven, by many, located in the remotest nook of the universe? Seemingly, man is more interested in everything else than he is in himself. The use of a child's own face, or body or even speech is about the last thing we think of in its education. People recognize the necessity of these simple acts of expression, but they feel the necessity only through a kind of instinct. When they try to understand these things by reasoning, how rarely do they show any results of true observation-any real grasp of the simplest facts of nature. O ye, who seek so earnestly to help your fellowmen and seem to feel that your efforts are failures, look nearer home for the cause. O ye, who long with a noble yearning to please others, to meet your fellow-men and women and to contribute to their happiness, why ask someone, saying, "Look me over. Am I all right? That is well, but why stop there? Why not study those deep emotions and their outward motions,-those conditions and modes of being and those modulations of voice and actions of body which express them? Why neglect those languages that speak louder and more continuously, and that make a stronger and deeper impression than your dress, your hair, or your skin? Why not study the qualities of the voice and speech that are not external and artificial, but simple and true? Why not eliminate awkwardness from your walk, as well as from your dancing, and the constrictions and affectations from your face and body? Why not study the most simple and most characteristic actions of the human being? In endeavoring to understand something of the primary nature of human expression, let us begin with a simple example. Without an example, you may explain, argue and theorize, and though the listener may say that he understands you, he will make a remark which shows he totally mis understands your point. An example is especially necessary in any subject which is not understood. Although expression is natural to us all, it is something that is little understood. Possibly no subject in the world is so frequently misunderstood as man's own simplest modes of expression, such as the mobility of his face, the simplest movements of his body-their nature, their cause and importance in the development of his character. And what is the best example? From whatever point of view we study it, the smile seems to be the simplest and best specimen for our observation. It is not only first, it is common to the human race. Every human being smiles and is pleased to meet a smile. The smile is distinctive of the human being. The horse and cow, it is true, can show their pleasure to a limited extent. The cat and more particularly the dog can use the tail as a means of expression. But only man can smile. If a man could be found who had never smiled, he certainly would be a curiosity. As an example, therefore, the smile is universal and open to everyone for observation, in all of its many varieties. May we not, reader, you and I together, study some of the means other than words by which human beings come to understand each other? "In each is all." Every true observer has been led to recognize that there is a mysterious relationship everywhere. There is a oneness pervading all objects-all life. It is this unity, possibly, which has caused man to invent the word "universe." We find this co-operation present in exact proportion to the presence of life. The higher any organism, the greater the unity-the higher the race of beings, the more it seems akin to everything else. Everywhere we seem to find a few basic principles which are universal. Accordingly, a true example enables us to look into the very heart of a subject. How quickly does it clear up confusion and help one to see what before was hard to understand! Tennyson's shortest poem, which is possibly his greatest and most significant illustrates this law. "Flower in the crannied wall, I pluck you out of the crannies;- I should know what God and man is." Some scientists try to find the elements of an incipient smile in the monkey; I myself have watched a monkey alone for a long time and tried in every way to discover some faint trace of a smile. Either I was blind or I totally misunderstood the animal's grimaces. This monkey was unusually intelligent. He had been trained to open a box. This box was given to a university president to open and it took him thirty minutes; it took the monkey only five minutes; so its trainers boasted that this monkey could outdo a college president. Accordingly I went in with great expectations. I was alone with the monkey. He regarded me with curiosity. I tried every trick and cut up all kinds of " monkey shines." I think my performance would have "made a horse laugh," but that 66 monkey sat up there and many a ghastly wink he wunk " but not "a sickly smile he smole." Hence, I can see no reason for doubting the old Greek definition of man, as "the animal that laughs." The question, however, whether animals can smile, has nothing to do with the present discussion. The theme before us is the smile of the human being, its nature and importance, its uses in human life, how we can improve it, or how we can use it as a means of improving ourselves. One other question, it will be noticed, will be carefully avoided. Namely, the cause of the smile. Some of the most serious books in the language, some of the driest, some that never can awaken a smile, have been devoted to the question, "What is the cause of laughter?" Books discussing wit and humor are notoriously lacking in that which is discussed. They bring yawns but who ever heard of one awakening a smile unless it be one of derision? They certainly do not teach by example. Several objectors rise as a matter of course. "The smile," says one, "is the most affected action of a human being. As long as the smile is unconscious, involuntary, it is all right but as soon as one thinks about it, or studies it, it becomes artificial and affected." "Observe the smile of many men in business. It is affected, it never changes, it is the same for everybody.' 66 Observe many society people; they have a smile which they put on when they go out to call and a special Sunday face that they wear to church. Many teachers have a professional smile. Speakers, lecturers and even actors wear |