what a man is from the outside. The horny hand tells of
the life of labor; the deep-set brow tells of the thinker. In other
words we have a right to judge a man by his habitation. If the fences
are broken down, the paths are unkept, the flower-beds full of weeds,
we may be pretty sure the inhabitants are idle, thriftless, perhaps
intemperate. So a clear eye, a firm step, an open countenance, tell of
a pure, good soul within. For example, a man of cold exterior or of
formal manner may often have a warm heart under it all; a man of rough
manners may have kindly feelings that he cannot express. We are often
long in the company of men before we really know them, and then the
discovery of what they are comes on us by surprise.

III. Character cannot be always hidden.--There are those who seem to
think that they can have one set of principles for themselves and
another for the outward world; that they can be in their heart one
thing and in society another; that they can have one character and
another reputation. They may be proud, but they can so hide their
pride as to have the reputation of being humble; they can lie, but
still have the reputation of always speaking the truth; they can be
impure, and yet have the reputation of being virtuous. But sooner or
later what they really are generally becomes manifest. Reputation and
character come to be one. That which they would keep secret cannot be
concealed. The mask which men would wear slips aside and discloses the
face beneath it. (1) Time reveals character. As the years pass along,
a man generally gets to be known for what he is. For example, if a man
is a coward and enlists in the army, he may swagger about and look like
a real soldier, but a time will come when the spirit of the man will
show itself, and he will be set down at his real value. Or a young man
in an office may act dishonestly and go on perhaps for long doing so,
and thinking he is carefully concealing his frauds, but, when least
expected, discovery takes place, and ruin and disgrace follow. (2)
Sorrow reveals character. Nothing more truly shows what a man is than
his bearing under the sorrows of life. When the flag is wrapped around
the flag-staff on a calm day, when no breath of wind is moving, we
cannot read the device that is upon it, but when the storm unfurls the
flag, we can read it plainly enough. In the same way when the troubles
of life beat upon men we can read clearly what they a