But there is this
difference between its view and that of a person looking at us:--we look
from within, and see nothing but the mould formed by the elements in
which we are incased; other observers look from without, and see us as
living statues. To be sure, by the aid of mirrors, we get a few glimpses
of our outside aspect; but this occasional impression is always modified
by that look of the soul from within outward which none but ourselves can
take. A portrait is apt, therefore, to be a surprise to us. The artist
looks only from without. He sees us, too, with a hundred aspects on our
faces we are never likely to see. No genuine expression can be studied
by the subject of it in the looking-glass.
More than this; he sees us in a way in which many of our friends or
acquaintances never see us. Without wearing any mask we are conscious
of, we have a special face for each friend. For, in the first place,
each puts a special reflection of himself upon us, on the principle of
assimilation you found referred to in my last record, if you happened to
read that document.
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