temperance and voluptuousness, may drive from the countenance even distinguished beauty, and may impart to it traits which are not only devoid of all interest, but forbidding and offensive.*

With the power possessed by the countenance of expressing the stronger emotions and passions, oratory rarely has to do. But with its characteristics of grace-those native lineaments which bespeak moral excellence, wisdom, integrity, and discretion, it has much to do.-Pliny has described the mouth of Pompey as a "mouth of probity"-os probum; and a foreign writer has spoken of the mouth of our Washington, as presented in the picture by Stewart, as strongly suggesting the idea of this os probum. The orator then should not be indifferent to the expression of the countenance; he should have even the forehead bare, and should take special care that the mouth and the lips be in no way distorted during delivery, but remain the true emblems of a dignified self-possession.

Among the common errors to which these instructions are opposed, may be mentioned the following:

Errors relating to the Eyes and Countenance.

1. The closing of the eyes; the staring, the vague wandering or the motionless abstraction of the eyes; the fixing of the eyes upon any individual of the audience; or the turning of the eyes away from the audience.-No bad habits would more certainly attract attention than these, and none

*"The parts of the human face the most movable and the most expressive, are the inner extremities of the eyebrow, and the angle of the mouth, and these are precisely the parts of the face which in brutes have least expression; for the brutes have no eyebrows, and no power of elevating or depressing the angle of the mouth. It is in these features therefore that we should expect to find the muscles of expression peculiar to man."-Anatomy of Expression.

would be more universally condemned. In pronouncing an apostrophe however, or addressing some remote object, or speaking of some distant scene, the eye may be for a time withdrawn from the audience.

2. The indulgence in tears, except on occasions worthy of such excitement.-Demosthenes is said often to have wept, when engaged in pleading capital causes. A distinguished Roman writer has said, "It was a common observation in Greece, that worthy men are easily moved, and prone to tears." A greater than the worthy men of Greece, our Lord, wept at the grave of his friend; and again when he approached Jerusalem-that devoted city, he wept over it, as he uttered the inimitably beautiful exclamation so worthy of him "who spake as never man spake." Austin says, in regard to this subject:-"When manly firmness must be supposed to give way, under the irremediable loss of what is most dear; tears are allowed to speak the anguish of the heart. The warlike Richmond in Shakspeare's Richard III. is not lowered in the estimation of the audience, by his effusion of tears on hearing of the murder of his family by the tyrant. The tear of humanity is also a bright gem in the eye of the judge who pronounces the awful sentence of the law upon a criminal, who might have been expected to fulfil better hopes."-Tears being the strongest symbol of emotion, should thus be reserved for occasions worthy of them.

3. The allowing of the forehead or any part of the face to be covered, in consequence of a long growth of the hair.— This bears the marks of effeminacy, and consequently derogates from the dignity of the orator.

4. The unmeaning frown, or any occasional working of the eyebrows. In like manner, the unmeaning smile, or ex

pression of scorn, the retracting of the corners of the mouth, the protrusion or the compression of the lips, the biting them, or folding them upon each other, as with a sort of self-complacency, should be avoided as at least tending to distract the mind of the hearer, and as being often positively offensive.

SECTION V.

OF THE HAND.

THE expressiveness of what is usually called gesture depends on the hand. Next to the tones of the voice and the countenance, the hand perhaps has the greatest variety and power of expression. Says Sheridan:-"Every one knows that with the hands we can demand, or promise; call, dismiss; threaten, supplicate; ask, deny; show joy, sorrow, detestation, fear, confession, penitence, admiration, respect; and many other things now in common use. But how much farther their powers might be carried, through our neglect of using them we little know."

The positions of the hand are described by Austin,* by referring successively to the four following circumstances: 1. The disposition of the fingers. 2. The manner in which the palm is presented. 3. The combined disposition of both hands. 4. The parts of the body on which they are occasionally placed.

1. The Disposition of the Fingers.

The natural state of the fingers, when the arm is hanging freely by the side or employed in unimpassioned gesture, is

Chironomia, chap. xiii.

that in which the hand is fully open, with the fore-finger nearly straight and separated from the middle finger; the middle finger is more bended, and rests partly on the third finger, which it gently touches; the little finger is still more bended, and separated from the third finger; while the thumb is withdrawn entirely from the palm, and without constraint turned a little upward and outward. This posi

Fig. 15.

tion is represented in Fig. 15. This arrangement of the fingers is observed in the Venus de Medicis, and in others of the most eminent specimens of both statuary and painting. Even though it may at first seem difficult to some learners, it will by a little practice become to them as it indeed is the natural state of the hand.

The extended position presents the fingers separated from each other, and nearly straight; and is indicative of warm excitement. (See Fig. 16.)

Fig. 16.

Fig. 17.

Fig. 18.

The clenched state presents the hand closed, and the thumb lapped over the middle finger. (See Fig. 17.)

The collected state is that in which the ends of all the fingers are gently inclined towards, or touch the end of the thumb. (See Fig. 18.) This is the state of the fingers, when the hand in gesture is brought up near to the opposite shoulder, preparatory to being extended in the contrary direction.

The index designates the pointing position, in which the fore-finger is extended, while the others should all be

turned inward, and contracted with a degree of force proportioned to the energy of the speaker. (See Figs. 19,

20, 21.)

Fig. 19.

Fig. 20.

Fig. 21.

2. The manner in which the Palm is presented. The hand is said to be prone, when the palm is turned downward.

It is said to be supine, when the palm is turned upward. It is said to be inward, when the palm is turned toward the breast, and the thumb erect.

It is said to be outward, when the palm is turned from the body, and the thumb downward.

It is said to be vertical, when the plane of the palm is perpendicular to the horizon, the fingers pointing upward.

These positions of the palm, though sufficiently significant and expressive, are seldom employed in ordinary declamation, or sober dignified delivery. For future reference however, they are here noticed. The position of the hand, as regards the palm, most suitable to be adopted by the public speaker, is that which presents an inclination from the supine position of about 45°, and accompanied with a slight bend of the wrist downward, in the direction of the little finger. (See Fig. 22.)—This, possessing the elements of freedom and grace, and being less likely to weary any of the muscles of the hand or wrist, may be designated the natural position of the palm, and should not be deviated from without

Fig. 22.

W