ment. For as rising, sinking, and various inflections of the voice must be gradual, so likewise should the motions of the body. It is only on some particular occasions that an hasty vehemence and impetuosity is proper in either case. As to the several parts of the body, the head is the most considerable. To lift it up too high has the air of arrogance and pride; to stretch it out too far, or throw it back, looks clownish and ill-bred; to hang it downwards on the breast shews an unmanly bashfulness and want of spirit; and to suffer it to lean on either shoulder argues sloth and indolence. Wherefore in calm and sedate discourses it ought to keep its natural state and upright posture. However it should not be long without motion, nor yet always moving; but gently turn, sometimes on one side, and sometimes on the other, as occasion requires, that the voice may be heard by all who are present, and then return again to its natural position. It should always accompany the other actions of the body, and turn on the same side with them; except when aversion to any thing is expressed, which is done by stretching out the right hand and turning the head to the left. The ancients erected a statue of Venus in this posture, who was called by the Greeks añosgogia, and by the Latins Verticordia, and in English may be termed the forbidding VeBut nothing is more indecent than violent motions and agitations of the head. And, therefore, when a witty writer, who is well known among us, would convey the most ridiculous idea of a pretender to knowledge, he expresses it thus: nus. "For having three times shook his head, HUDIB. But it is the countenance that chiefly represents both the passions and dispositions of the mind. By this we express love, hatred, joy, sorrow, modesty, and confidence; by this we supplicate, threaten, sooth, invite,. forbid, consent, or refuse; and all this without speaking. Nay, from hence we form a judgment not only of a person's present temper, but of his capacity and natural disposition. And therefore it is common to say, " Such an one has a promising countenance, or that he promises little by his countenance." It is true, this is no certain rule of judging, nor is it in the power of any one to alter the natural make of his countenance; however it may put us upon endeavouring to gain the most pleasing aspect we can, since it is so natural for mankind to draw such conclusions from it, and some persons are so unhappy as to render their countenances more disagreeable than otherwise they would be by ill habits. Bnt the several parts of the face bear their part and contribute to the proper and decent motion of the whole. In a calm and sedate discourse all the features retain their natural state and situation. In sorrow the forehead and eye-brows lour and the cheeks hang down. But in ex-. pressions of joy and cheerfulness, the forehead and eyebrows are expanded, the cheeks contracted, and the corners of the mouth drawn upwards. Anger and resentment contract the forehead, draw the eye-brows together, and thrust out the lips. And terror elevates both the brows and forehead. As these are the natural signs of such passions, the orator should endeavour to conform to them. But as the eyes are most active and significant, it is the advice of Cicero, that the greatest care should be taken in their management. And he gives this reason for it, "Because other parts of the countenance have but few motions; whereas all the passions of the soul are expressed in the eyes, by so many different actions, which cannot possibly be represented by any gestures of the body, if the eyes are kept in a fixed posture," Common experience does, in a great measure, confirm the truth of this observation. We readily guess at a person's intention, or how he is affected towards us, by his eyes. And any sudden change or emotion of the mind, is presently followed by an alteration of the look. In speaking, therefore, upon pleasant and delightful subjects, the eyes are brisk and cheerful; as, on the contrary, they sink and are languid, in delivering any thing melancholy and sorrowful. This is so agreeable to nature, that before a person speaks, we are prepared with the expectation of one or the other from his respective aspect. So likewise in anger, a certain vehemence and intenseness appears in the eyes, which, for want of proper words to express it by, we endeavour to represent by metaphors faken from fire, the most violent and rapid element, and say, in such cases, the eyes burn, sparkle, or are inflamed. In expressions of hatred or detestation, it is natural to alter the look, either by turning the eyes aside or downwards. Virgil has very justly observed this. For when he describes Æneas meeting with Dido, in the Elysian shades, and addressing her, he represents her disregard of him, by saying, "Disdainfully she look'd, then turning round, Still fix'd her eyes unmov'd upon the ground." She shewed her resentment for his former treatment of her, by not vouchsafing to look on him. Indeed, the eyes are sometimes turned downwards upon other occasions, as to express modesty. And if at any time a particular object be addressed, whatever it be, the eyes should be turned that way. And therefore, Philostratus very deservedly ridicules a certain rhetorician, as guilty of a solecism in gesture, who, upon saying, "O Jupiter!" turned his eyes downward; and, when he said, "O Earth!" looked upward. A staring look has the appearance of giddiness, and want of thought; and to contract the eyes, gives suspicion of craft and design. A fixed look may be occasioned from intenseness of thought, but, at the same time, shews a disregard to the audience; and a too quick and wandering motion of the eyes denotes levity and wantonness. A gentle and moderate motion of the eyes is, therefore, commonly most suitable, always directed to some of the audience, and gradually turning from side to side, with an air of respect and modesty, and looking them decently in the face, as in common discourse. Such a behaviour will of course draw an attention. As in conversation, when a person addresses us in a handsome and becoming manner, we presently put ourselves in a posture to give what he says a proper reception. But, as all the passions are, in the most lively manner, expressed in the eyes, their motions ought to vary, according to the different nature of those. passions which they are suited both to discover in the speaker and convey to his hearers. Since, as the quickest access to the mind is by the sight, a proper well-timed look will sometimes sooner effect this, than it can be ef fected by words; as, in the discharging a cannon, we are struck with the light, before we hear the sound. As to the other parts of the body, distinct from the head; the shoulders ought not to be elevated. For this is not only in itself indecorous, but likewise contracts the neck, and hinders the proper motions of the head. Nor, on the other hand, should they be drawn down, and depressed, because this occasions a stiffness both to the neck and the whole body. Their natural posture, therefore, is best, as being most easy and graceful. To shrug the shoulders has an abject and servile air; and frequently to heave them upwards and downwards occasions a very disagreeable sight. A continued motion of the arms, any way, is by all means to be avoided. Their action should generally be moderate, and follow that of the hands, unless in very pathetic expressions, where it may be proper to give them a more lively spring. The hands need never be idle. Quintilian seems to think them as necessary and powerful in action, as Cicero does the eyes. "The hands," says he, "without which all gesture is lame and weak, have a greater variety of motions than can well be expressed, for they are almost equal to our words. Do we not with them desire, promise, call, dismiss, threaten, beseech, detest, fear, enquire, deny? Do not they express joy, sorrow, doubt, confession, penitence, measure, plenty, number, and time? Do not they excite, restrain, prove, admire, and shame? That, in so great a variety of speech among all nations and countries, this seems to me the common language of all mankind." Thus far Quintilian. Now all bodily motion is either upward or downward, to the right or to the left, forward or backward, or else circular. The hands are employed by the orator in all these, except the last. And as they ought to correspond with our expressions, so they ought to begin and end with them. In admiration, and addresses to heaven, they must be elevated, but never raised above the eyes; and in speaking of things below us, they are directed downwards. Side motion should generally begin from the left, and terminate gently on the right. In demonstra ting, addressing, and on several other occasions, they are moved forward, and, in threatning, sometimes thrown back. But when the orator speaks of himself, his right hand should be gently laid on his breast. When no other. motion is necessary, the hands should be kept about as high as the breast, so as to make near a right angle with the arm. This is not only graceful, but likewise the most easy posture, and gives the least strain to the muscles. They should never be suffered to hang down, or to loll upon the cushion or bar. The left hand should never move alone, but accommodate itself to the motions of the right. In motions to the left side, the right hand should not be carried beyond the left shoulder. In promises and expressions of compliment, the motion of the hands should be gentle and slow; but in exhortations and applause, more swift. The hands should generally be open; but in expressions of compunction and anger they may be closed. All finical and trifling actions of the fingers ought to be avoided; nor should they be stretched out and expanded in a stiff and rigid posture, but kept easy and pliable. Neither the breast nor the belly should be thrust out, which, in itself, looks ungainly, and hinders the free motion of the trunk, which ought not to be kept too stiff and upright, but easy and flexible, always suiting itself to the motions of the head and hands. The feet should continue steady, and not give the body a wavering and giddy motion by frequently shifting; though some persons fall into that habit without moving their feet. Curio, a Roman orator, as Cicero tells us, was addicted to this, which occasioned a friend of his once to pass a jest on him, by asking, "Who that was talking out of a boat?" The jest is too plain to need explication, for every one knows the waving of a boat will give the body such a motion. The gestures we have hitherto discoursed of are such as naturally accompany our expressions. And we believe those we have mentioned, if duly attended to, will be found sufficient to answer all the purposes of our modern pronunciation. The ancients, indeed, used several more vehement actions and gestures than we are accustomed to, as we have formerly shewn. Philip, the Roman orator, as Cicero informs us, did not use to prepare his discourses, but spoke, as we say, off hand. And |