Many other illustrations of the same principle might be given. Thus the fact, instances of which are collected by Mr. Tylor in his work on “Primitive Culture,” that the insane, the idiotic, and the epileptic are reverenced by primitive peoples, may be interpreted in a similar manner.[89] Those who are mentally abnormal present in a striking form the inscrutable in personality; they seem to be men, but are not such men as we; our imaginations are alarmed and baffled, so that it is not unnatural that before science has shown us definite relations between these persons and ourselves, they should serve as one of the points about which crystallize our imaginations of unknown power. In the same way a strange and somewhat impassive physiognomy is often, perhaps, an advantage to an orator, or leader of any sort, because it helps to fix the eye and fascinate the mind. Such a countenance as that of Savonarola may have counted for much toward the effect he produced. Another instance of the prestige of the inscrutable is the fascination of silence, when power is imagined to lie behind it. The very name of William the Silent gives one a sort of thrill, whether he knows anything of that distinguished character or not. One seems to see a man darkly potent, mysteriously dispensing with the ordinary channel of self-assertion, and attaining his ends without evident means. It is the same with Von Moltke, “silent in seven languages,” whose genius humbled France and Austria in two brief campaigns. And General Grant’s taciturnity undoubtedly fascinated the imagination of the people—after his earlier successes had shown that there was really something in him—and helped to secure to him a trust and authority much beyond that of any other of the Federal generals. It is the same with personal reserve in every form: one who always appears to be his own master and does not too readily reveal his deeper feelings, is so much the more likely to create an impression of power. He is formidable because incalculable. And accordingly we see that many people deliberately assume, or try to assume, an appearance of inscrutability, “And do a wilful stillness entertain, With purpose to be dressed in an opinion Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit;” Disraeli, it is said, “was a mystery man by instinct and policy,” and we all know others in our own circle of acquaintances.