"WISE WOMEN."

• asks for a photograph or a specimen of handwriting and calls herself a physiognomist or a graphologist before she advises her client upon the same momentous topic, then she has done nothing which is not strictly lawful, even' though she receive as much as a guinea for perfectly useless and unreasonable service. The poor old wretch who slinks down the area steps can hardly be expected to understand so nice a distinction, and constantly finds herself within the clutches of the law. It is a little hard upon her ; for other women, not a whit more "wise" than she is, save in the matter of worldly wisdom, Practise openly a very similar trade among the mistresses of her victims, and flourish on its proceeds.

A weekly contemporary, a lady's journal, which, to judge from its contents, is intended for quite the uppermost class of society, contains several columns of answers to corre. spondents that tend to show how far the same question agitates both the kitchen and the drawing-room. The seal- lery-maid wishes to know whom she shall marry, and so does her young mistress upstairs. The former invites into the kitchen the old woman with her greasy pack of cards, and rewards her afterwards either with her own scanty shillings or perhaps her mistress's old clothes. The latter sends her Photograph or a specimen of her handwriting to the journal 'we have mentioned, together with the photographs or letters of her poseible admirers. Is there any one, we ask, who could reasonably contend that the mistress is likely to get a more reliable answer than the maid P We will give some of these answers, cut from the same issue of the journal, and let our readers judge for themselves Let us first take the case of " Belle," who is apparently Unprovided as yet with a lover's photograph, and only submits her own. This is what the oracle has to say of her character :— " nsia.s.—Love of travelling toindicated b the f • f the f • I ad ilf

Doss by the eyebrows.

37 0 01111 0. .10 01010 , WI A by the nose, love of luxur mnatiou by the eyes, out lostt

man best suited to on weicillbthe and penetration florid complexion, ?ova eyobroyemenLdav;engqfel9e

sym. pa:thy _y the +flair!, The t? bladLogile, itietapbae

strong-willed, courageous, quick-tons'

We trust that " Belle " will not be too anxious ea field sports." o anxious to find all these qualities together, or she may yet have long to wait. "Illinois Central" is more fortunate in that she has already found the desirable person, and only hesitates whether to choose matrimony or a literary career :— " ILLINOIS • CENTRAL.—Your portrait shows vivid intellectuality, tact, and ideality by the forehead, nose, and form of head, but the tenderness shown by the oyes and lips would render you quite as likely to be happy in demos- tie life as in an intolloctued career if it should be necessary to climassooiato the two careers, but that in these days is not necessary, ana I should advise you to follow up tho literary opening offered to you 1 ter on, As regards your friend's portrait, it is pleasant to be able to assure you that he is in every war suited to you, as his face shows lum to be poFsossi.:d of some of the forcible qualities in which your nature is a little deficient. He leas courage, strong will, self-assertion, and good judgment. He is somewhat quick in temper and very resolute. The for forehead shows idealism and artistic feeling."

It is impossible not to notice that this gentleman, with his strong will, courage, and quick temper, is also admirably suited to poor " Belle," If " Illinois " really wished to do a generous thing, she would choose the life of literature, and hand him over as a travelling companion to " Belle ;" but as the journal in question, unlike most lady's newspapers, is unprovided with any column for " Exchange and Barter," we suppose the transfer may be a difficult one to effect. " Gert" is also provided with a lover, and only needs approval of her choice :—

" Gssr.—This photograph indicates a good-tempered :lad sympathetic girl, unselfish but fond of luxury, end rather given to flirtation. The gentle- man's portrait shows him to ho of nu intellectual and rather melancholic nature, gentle in temper but jealous whore be loves He is fond of music, and is of a romantic temperament. finer wood suit him very well, fiS she is of the livoly tomporament his disposition requires."

" Gert " would no doubt suit him admirably ; but that is not the question. How would he suit " Gest "P The flirtatious disposition on one side, and jealousy upon the other, might lead to very serious complications. An even more difficult

case is presented by "Maria." " Maria " has evidently enclosed three photographs, one of the young man, one of herself, and one of her rival; but, in her hurry, has heedlessly omitted to say which portrait is her own. Imagine the difficulty in which the oracle finds itself ! We confess to much admiration of the ingenuity that it displays in giving its answer. :—

"The girl in the white dress shows taste for music, love of art, romance of feeling, generosity, and sympathy. The portrait of the one in the spotted dress shows her to be of volatile and versa- tile nature, witty, and rather sarcastic. She is rather charming in manner, but a little selfish and not very constant. The man would be happier with the girl in white, but he would be much snore attracted by the other."

Now, if " Maria " is the lady of the spots," she will at once re. joice, and make use of her superior attractions ; being a little selfish, she will naturally care nothing for the greater fitness of her rival. If, on the other hand, she is the girl in white, she will either win her prize with a clear conscience, or lose it with the consoling conviction that the wretched man has chosen wrong. We must do the oracle this justice at least,--it is not always favourable ; and to show in what unfavourable terms its answers can be couched, we will turn to the " Graphologist's " column, which we have hitherto neglected. The correspondent in this case has submitted her own hand- writing and that of another for inspection :—

" Msr.—This not so pleasant an example; the mind is erratic and uudiscip. lined, the temper almost quarrelsome, and the moods capricious. No capa- city of deep and constant feeling is visible. The characters do not seem likely to suit. This one would wear the other to pieces with her restless-, nese, want of concentration and tidiness, and general disregard of appear- ances. Such virtues as she has he will not appreciate. She will only

shook him." •

Here arises a really nice case of conscience. Would "May," supposing that she believed in the credibility of the oracle, be justified in linking her fate to that of her friend without warning him of the awful character which she possesses ? Really, we think the " graphologist," in this case, has assumed rather a heavy responsibility in thus crushing the unfortunate inquirer. But the verdict upon "May" is mildness itself compared to that passed upon " Spitfire":— " You are utterly wanting in perseverance, power of concentra- tion, and reflection. Your handwriting is extremely unformed ; but other characteristics are a flexible conscience, egotism, and an uncertain temper. You are not fit to be any man's wife until you have acquired some sense of duty and constancy of feeling.. You are obstinate."

There is something delightfully feminine about the parting shot, "You are obstinate." One cannot but think that "Spitfire" would not be an unsuitable pseudonym for the oracle itself. Now, we know that ever since the days of Lavater there have not been wanting people who pro-

fessed to tell character from the face. Also that, of late years, many books have been written upon graphology, and,

many attempts made to raise it to the rank of an exact science. We are willing to admit that the skilled observer —a physician or a Magistrate, for instance—may make, and very often. does make, very useful deductions from

the face before him ; but even these experts, we fancy, would scoff at the idea of judging an average man or woman's character or temperament from their photographs. They have even better reason than the rest of the world to know the truth of the saying, "Appearances are deceitful." Also, we would admit that it is generally possible to distinguish the handwriting of a child, of an uneducated person, or of a tradesman who encloses a bill. But beyond this we have no more faith in graphology, or in face-reading, than we have in palmistry or any other idle amusement ; and that, we should say, is the opinion of the general public. Nevertheless, here we have some hundred educated women every week consulting these two absurd oracles on the delicate question of love and marriage.

It will, of coarse, be objected that, although we do not happen to believe in the oracles, their chief priestesses do, and that the physiognomist and the graphologist are firmly per- suaded of the reality of their powers of divination, and are absolutely honest in their professions. We hope that they are ; indeed, there is no reason why they should not be, seeing how many other people they have found to believe in them. But might not the same excuse be made for the poor "wise woman" in the kitchen ? It is not always certain that she is a conscious fraud, and she, also, may have a superstitions faith in the cards that she shuffles. But her sincerity avails her nothing in the eyes of the law ; and we do not quite see why the sincerity of the graphologist should add to her credibility. We have not the slightest desire to see the graphologist in the dock by the side of the other "wise woman," but common-sense provokes us to express the opinion that the wisdom of the two is pretty well on a par. Whatever may be the motives of the "wise women," a. more interesting study is that of the motives which prompt the foolish virgins to consult them. Every woman, we take it, desires a certain element of romance in her wooing ; and rather than that her marriage should result from a perfectly prosaic and businesslike arrangement, she would prefer to see in it some element of chance. We all know the story of Portia's choice. Her fate hung upon the blindest chance, and yet we are convinced that Portia would not have had it other- wise, and would never have so welcomed Bassani° as her mate had he come to her unfettered by the obligation of choosing from among her caskets. It is difficult to find that element of romantic chance in the courtship and marriage of to day. Of course, the supreme happiness dreamt of by young girls is the love at first sight, the chance meeting with an affinity. Unfor- tunately, affinities of this kind are hard to find, or else it may be that young women, like Artemus Ward, are slow to recognise them. They have suitors, and they desire to be married, but,—they feel that the romance is not there. They do not apply to the "wise women" because they distrust their own judgment as to the fitness of their future husbands, but in order to invoke upon their union the blessing of the god- dess Chance. That seems but an unsatisfactory explanation to offer, but we are by no means sure that it is not the correct one.