14509 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Cornell University Library arV14509 The art of orfton 3 1924 031 387 636 olin.anx Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031387636 THE ART OF ORATORY, SYSTEM OF DELSARTE, FROM THE FRENCH OF M. L'ABBE ^ELAUMOSNE (Pupil of Dclsaiie), By FRANCES A. SHAW. ' ' Nascuntur foeltx, Jlunt oratores. '' ALBANY, N. Y. : _^ EDGAR S. WF:RNER. 1882. [All rights reserved. 1 I UNIVERSITY \L[SRARY EDGAR S. WERNER, FRANgOIS DELSARTE. Frangois Delsarte was born November n, iSii, at Solesme, a little town of the Department of the North, in France. His father, who was a renowned physician and the author of several inventions, might have secured a fortune for his family, had lie been more anxious for the morrow, but he died in a state bordering upon poverty. In 1822, Frangois was apprenticed to a porcelain painter of Paris, but, yielding to a taste and aptitude for music, in the year 1825, he sought and obtained admission to the Conservatory as a pensioner. Here a great trial awaited him — a trial which wrecked his musical career, but was a decided gain for his genius. He had been placed in the vocal classes, and in consequence of faults in method and direction, he lost his voice. He was inconsolable, but, without making light of his sorrow, we may count that loss happy, which gave the world its first law-giver in the art of oratory. The young student refused to accept this calamity without making one final effort to retrieve it. He pre- sented himself at the musical contest of 1829. His im- paired voice rendered success impossible, but kind words from influential friends in a great measure compensated for defeat. The celebrated Nourrit said to him : " I have given you IV BIOGRAl'im AL. my vote for the first prize, and my children shall have no singing-master but you." " Courage," said Madame Malibran, pressing his hand. " You will one day be a great artist." But Uelsarte knew that without a voice he must re- nounce the stage, and yielding to the inevitable, he gave up the r(')le of the actor to assume the functions of the professor. After his own shipwreck upon a bark without pilot or compass, he summoned up courage to search into the laws of an art which had hitherto subsisted only upon caprice and personal inspiration. After several years of diligent study, he discovered and formulated the essential laws of all art ; and, thanks to him, Eesthetic science in our day has the same precision as mathematical science. He had numerous pupils, many of whom liuve become distinguished in various public careers — in tlie pulpit, at tlie bar, on the stage, and at the tribune. ^ladame Sontag, when she' wished to interpret Cluck's music, chose Delsarte for her teacher. Rachel drew ins])iration from his counsels, and he became her guardian of the sacred fire. He A\"as urgently solicited to appear A\ith her at the Theatre-P'rancjais, but religious scruples led him to refuse the finest offers. Madame de Ciradin (Delphine Ga\), surnamed the ]\Iu^e of her country, welcomed him gladly to her salon, then tlie rendezvous of the world of art and letters, and regretted not seeing him oftener. He was more than once invited to the literary sessions of Juilly college, and, under the spell of his diction, the pupils became animated I))' a new ardor for study. Monseigneur Sibour had great esteem and aftection for Delsarte, and made him his frequent guest. It ^\asin BIOGRAPHICAL. v the salon of this art-loving archbishop that Delsartf achieved one of his most briUiant triumphs. All the notable men of science had gathered there, and the ( on- versation took .such a turn that Delsarte found opportu- nity to give, without offence, a challenge in these two lines of Racine : L'ondeapproc/te, sc brise^ ftuoniita nos ycnx^ Parmi desjiots d^ecn>?u\ tin vionstre furieux. ('■The wave draws near, it breaks, and casts before our eyes, Amid the floods of foam, a monster grim and dire.") " Please tell me the most emphatic and significant word here," said Delsarte. All reflected, sought out and then gave, each in turn, his chosen word. Every word was selected save the con- junction et (and). No one thought of that. Delsarte then rose, and in a calm and modest, but triumphant tone, said: "The significant, ernphatic word is the only one which has escaped you. It is the con- junction and, whose elliptic sense leaves us in appre- hension of that which is about to happen." All ouned themselves vanquished, and applauded the triumphant artist. Donoso Cortes made Delsarte a chosen confidant of his ideas. One day, when the great master of oratorical diction had recited to him the Dies Irm, the illustrious philosopher, in an access of religious emotion, begged that this hymn might be chanted at his funeral. Delsarte promised it, and he kept his word. When invited to the court of Louis Philippe, he re- phed : " I am not a court buffoon." When a generous compensation was hinted at, he answered : " I do not sell my loves." When it was urged that the occasion was a birth-day fete to be given his father by the Duke of vi BIOGRAPHICAL. Orleans, he accepted the invitation upon three con- ditions, thus stated by himself : " ist. I shall be the only singer; 2d. I shall have no accompaniment but the opera chorus; 3d. I shall receive no compensation." The conditions were assented to, and Delsarte surpassed himself. The king paid him such marked attentions that M. Ingres felt constrained to say : " One might declare in truth that it is Delsarte who is king of France." Delsarte's reputation had passed the frontier. The king of Hanover committed to his instruction the greatest musical artiste of his realm, and was so gratified with her improvement that, wishing to recompense the professor, he sent him the much prized Hanoverian medal of arts and sciences, accompanied by a letter from his own royal hand. Delsarte afterwards received from the same king the cross of a Chevaher of the Guelph order. Delsarte's auditors were not the only ones to sound his praises. The learned reviews extolled his merits. Such writers as Laurentie, Riancey, Lamartine and Theophile Gautier awarded him the most enthusiastic praise. Posterity will perpetuate his fame. M. Laurentie writes : " I heard Delsarte recite one cxening "■ Iphigcnids Dream' which the audience had besought of him. The, hall remained thrilled and breath- less under this impaired and yet sovereign voice. All yielded in rapt astonishment to the spell. There was no prestige, no theatrical illusion. Iphigenia was a professor in a black frock coat ; the orchestra was a piano, giving forth here and there an unexpected modulation. This was his whole force ; yet the hall was mute, hearts beat, tears flowed from many eyes, and when the recital ended, enthusiastic .shouts arose, as if Iphigenia in per.son had ju'it recounted her terrors. BIOGRAPHICAL. vii After Delsarte had gathered so abundant a harvest of laurels, fate decided that he had lived long enough. When he had reached his sixtieth year, he was attacked by hypertrophy of the heart, which left his rich organiza- tion in ruins. He was no longer the artist of graceful, supple, expressive and harmonious movements ; no longer the thinker with profound and luminous ideas. But in the midst of this physical and intellectual ruin, the Christian sentiment retained its strong, sweet energy. A believer in the sacraments which he had received in days of health, he asked for them in the hour of danger, and many times he partook of that sacrament of love whose virtue he had taught so well. Finally, after having lingered for months in a state that was neither life nor death, surrounded by his pious wife, and his weeping, praying children, he rendered his soul to God on the 20th of July, 1871. Delsarte never could be persuaded to write anything upon themes foreign to those connected with his musical and vocal work. The author of this volame desires to save from oblivion the most wonderful conception of this superior intellect: his Course of ^Ssthetic Oratoij. He dares promise to be a faithful interpreter. If excuse be needed for undertaking a task so delicate, he replies that he addresses himself to a class of readers who will know how to appreciate his motives. The merit of Delsarte, the honor of his family, the gratification of his numerous friends, the interests of science, the claims of friendship, demand that this light .should not be left under a bushel, but placed upon a candlestick — this light which has shed so brilliant a glow, and enriched the arts with a new splendor. PREFACE, Orators, you are called to the ministry of speech. You I, have fixed your choice upon the pulpit, the bar, the tri- bune or the stage. You will become one day, preacher, advocate, lecturer or actor ; in short, you desire to em- brace the orator's career. I applaud your design. Vou will enter upon the noblest and most glorious of voca- tions. Eloquence holds the first rank among the arts. While we award praise and glory to great musicians and painters, to great masters of sculpture and architecture, the prize of honor is decreed to great orators. Who can define the omnipotence of speech ? With a few brief words God called the universe from nothing- ness ; speech falling from the glowing lips of the Apostles, has changed the face of the earth. The current of opin- ion follows the prestige of speech, and to-day, as ever, eloquence is universal queen. We need feel no surprise that, in ancient times, the multitude uncovered as Cicero approached, and cried : "Behold the orator ! " Would you have your speech bear fruit and command honor ? Two qualities are needful : virtue and a knowl- edge of the art of oratory. Cicero has defined the ora- tor as a good man of worth : Vir bonus, dicendi peritus. Then, above all, the orator should be a man of worth. Such a man will make it his purpose to do good ; and the / X PREFACE. good is the true end of oratorical art. In truth, what is art ? Art is the expression of the beautiful in ideas ; it is the true. Plato says the beautiful is the splendor of the true. What is art ? It is the beautiful in action. It is the good. According to St. Augustine, the beautiful is the lustre of the good. Finally, what is art ? It is the beautiful in the harmo- nies of nature. Galen, when he had finished his work on the structure of the human body, exclaimed : " Behold this beautiful hymn to the glory of the Creator ! " What, then, is the true, the beautiful, the good ? We might answer, it is God. Then virtue and the glory of God should be the one end of the orator, of the good man. A true artist never denies God. Eloquence is a means, not an end. We must not love art for its own sake, that would be idolatry. Art gives wings for ascent to God. One need not pause to con- template his wings. Art is an instrument, but not an instrument of vanity or complaisance. Truth, alas ! compels us to admit that eloquence has also the melancholy power of corrupting souls. Since it is an art, it is also a power which must produce its effect for good or evil. It has been said that the fool always finds a greater fool to listen to him. We might add that the false, the ugly and the vicious have each a fibre in the human heart to serve their purpose. Then let the true orator, the good man, armed with holy eloquence, seek to paralyze the fatal influence of those orators who are apostles of false- hood and corruption. Poets are born, orators are made: nascunhir poetm, Jinnt unilorrs. N'ou understand wliy I have engraved this max- PREFACE. XI im on the title-page of my work. It contains its raison d'etre, its justification. Men are poets at birth, but elo- quence is an art to be taught and learned. All art pre- supposes rules, procedures, a mechanism, a method which must be known. We bring more or less aptitude to the study of an art, but every profession demands a period more or less pro- longed. We must not count upon natural advantages ; none are perfect by nature. Humanity is crippled ; beauty exists only in fragments. Perfect beauty is nowhere to be found ; the artist must create it by synthetic work. You have a fine voice, but be certain it has its defects. Your articulation is vicious, and the gestures upon which you pride yourself, are, in most cases, unnatural. Do not rely upon the fire of momentary inspiration. Nothing is more deceptive. The great Garrick said : " I do not de- pend upon that inspiration which idle mediocrity awaits." Talma declared that he absolutely calculated all effects, leaving nothing to chance. While he recited the scene between Augustus and Cinna, he was also performing an arithmetical operation. When he said: ** Take a chair, Cinna, and in everything Closely observe the law I bid you heed " — he made his audience shudder. The orator should not even think of what he is doing. The thing should have been so much studied, that all would seem to flow of itself from the fountain. But where find this square, this intellectual compass, that traces for us with mathematical precision, that line of gestures beyond which the oratot must not pass ? I have sought it for a long time, but in vain. Here and there one meets with advice, sometimes good but very often XU PREKACK. bad. For example, you are told that the greater the emotion, the stronger should be the voice. Nothing 1.5 more false. In violent emotion the heart seems to fill the larynx and the voice is stifled. In all such counsels it behooves us to search out their foundation, the reason that is in them, to ask if there is a type in nature which serves as their measure. We hear a celebrated orator. We seek to recall, to imitate his inflections and gestures. We adopt his man- nerisms, and that is all. We see these mannerisms every- where, but the true type is nowhere. After much unavailing search, I at last had the good fortune to meet a genuine master of eloquence. After giving much study to the masterpieces of painting and sculpture, after observing the living man in all his moods and expressions, he has known how to sum up these details anS reduce them to laws. This great artist, this unrivaled master, wns the pious, the anriable, the lamented I )elsarte. There certainly was pleasure and profit in hearing this master of eloquence, for he excelled in applying his prin- ciples to himself. Still from his teachings, even from the dead letter of them, breaks forth a light which reveals horizons hitherto unknown. This work might have been entitled : Philosophy of Oratorical Art, for one cannot treat of eloquence without entering the domain of the highest philosophy. What, in fact, is oratorical art ? It is the means of expressing the phenomena of the soul by the play of the organs. It is the sum total of rules and laws resulting from the reciprocal action of mind and body. Thus man must be considered in his sensitive, intellectual and moral state, with the play of the organs corresponding to these rREKAt'E. xiii states. Our teaching has, then, for its basis the science of the soul ministered to by the organs. This is why we present the fixed, invariable rules which have their sanc- tion in philosophy. This can be rendered plain by an exposition of our method. The art of oratory, we repeat, is expressing mental phenomena by the play of the physical organs. It is the translation, the plastic form, the language of human nature. But man, the image of God, presents himself to us in three phases : the sensitive, intellectual and moral. Man feels, thinks and loves. He is en rapport with the physical world, with the spiritvial ^\'orld, and with God. He fulfils his course by the light of the senses, the reason, or the light of grace. We call life the sensitive state, mind the intellectual state, and soul the moral state. Neither of these three terms can be separated frorn the two others. They inter- penetrate, interlace, correspond with and embrace each other. Thus mind supposes soul and life. Soul is at the .same time mind and life. In fine, life is inherent in mind and soul. Thus these three primitive moods of the soul are distinguished by nine perfectly adequate terms. The soul being the form of the body, the body is made in the image of the soul. The human body contains three organisms to translate the triple form of the soul. The phonetic machinery, the voice, sound, inflections, are living language. The child, as yet devoid of intelli- gence and sentiment, conveys his emotions through cries and moans. The myologic or muscular machinery, or gesture, is the language of sentiment and emotion. When the child recognizes its mother, it begins to smile. xiv PREFACE. The buccal machinery, or articulate speech, is the lan- guage of the mind. Man, neither by voice nor gesture, can express two opposite ideas on the same subject ; this necessarily involves a resort to speech. Human language is com- posed of gesture, speech and singing. The ancient melo- drama owed its excellence to a union of these three lan- guages. Each of these organisms takes the eccentric, concen- tric, or normal form, according to the different moods of the soul which it is called to translate. In the sensitive state, the soul lives outside itself ; it has relations with the exterior world. In the intellectual state, the soul turns back upon itself, and the organism obeys this movement. Then ensues a contraction in all the agents of the organism. This is the concentric state. In the moral or mystic state, the soul, enraptured with God, enjoys perfect tranquility and blessedness. All breathes peace, quietude, serenity. This is the normal state, — the most perfect, elevated and sublime expression of which the organism is capable. Tet us not forget that by reason of a constant transition, each state borrows the form of its kindred state. Thus the normal state can take the concentric and eccentric form, and become at the same time, doubly normal ; that is, normal to the highest degree. Since each state can take the form of the two others, the result is nine distinct gestures, which form that marvelous accord of nine, which we call the universal criterion. In fine, here is the grand law of organic gymnastics : The triple movement, the triple language of the organs is eccentric, concentric, or normal, according as it is the expression of life, soul or spirit. PREFACE. XV Under the influence, the occult inspiration of this law, the great masters have enriched the world with miracles of art. Aided by this law the course followed in this work, may be easily understood. Since eloquence is composed, of three languages, we divide this work into three books in which voice, gesture and speech are studied by turns. Then, applying to them the great law of art, our task is accomplished. The advantages of this method are easily understood. There is given a type of expression not taken from the individual, but from human nature synthetized. Thus the student will not have the humiliation of being the slave or ape of any particular master. He will be only himself. Those who assimilate their imperfect natures to the perfect type will become orators. Fiunt Oratores. Success having attended the first efforts, let the would- be orator assimilate these rules, and his power will be doubled, aye increased a hundredfold. And thus having become an orator, a man of principle, who knows how to speak well, he will aid in the triumph of reUgion, jus- tice and virtue. CONTENTS, PAGE. Biographical Sketch iii Preface ix PART FIRST. VOICE. CHAPTER I. Preliminary Ideas — Criterion of the Oratorical Art .... 3 CHAPTER II. OF THE VOICE. Organic Apparatus of the Voice — The Voice in Relation to Compass — The Voice in Relation to Vowels — Practical Conclusions 9 CHAPTER III. THE VOICE IN RELATION TO INTENSITY OF SOUND. What is Understood by Intensity of Sound — Means of Augmenting the Timbre of the Voice — Rules for Intensity of Sound 19 CHAPTER IV. THE VOICE IN RELATION TO MEASURE. Of Slowness and Rapidity in Oratorical Delivery — Of Respiration and Silence — Inflections — Rules of In- flection — Special Inflections 25 B e(j\rE.\ rs. PART SECOND. GESTURE. CHAPTER I. PAGE. Of Gesture in General 39 CHAPTER II. DEFINITION AND DIVISION OF GESTURE. Gesture is the Direct Agent of the Heart — Gesture is the Interpreter of Speech — Gesture is an Elliptical Language 43 CHAPTER III. Origin and Oratorical Value of Gesture 47 CHAPTER IV. the laws of gesture. The Priority of Gesture to Speech — Retroaction — Op- position of Agents — Number of Gestures — Dura- tion of Gesture — The Rhythm of Gesture — Im- portance of the Laws of Gesture 51 CHAPTER V. OF GESTURE IN PARTICULAR. The Head — Movements of the Head : The Normal State, The Eccentric State, The Concentric State — Of the Eyes — Of the Eyebrows 65 CHAPTER VI. OF THE TORSO. The Chest — The Shoulders 84 CONTENTS. XIX CHAPTER VII. OF THE LIMBS. PAGE. The Arms — Inflections of the Fore-Arm — Of the El- bow — Of the Wrist — Of the Hand: The Digital Face, The Back Face, The Palmar Face — Of the Fingers — ■ Of tlie Legs 87 CHAPTER VIII. OF THE SEMEIOTIC, OR THE REASON OF GESTURE. The Types which Characterize Gesture — Of Gesture Relative to its Modifying Apparatus 107 CHAPTER IX. Of Gesture in Relation to the Figures which Represent it 114 PART THIRD. ARTICULATE LANGUAGE. CHAPTER I. Origin and Organic Apparatus of Language 123 CHAPTER II. Elements of Articulate Language 125 CHAPTER III. The Oratorical Value of Speech 127 CHAPTER IV. the value of words in phrases. The Conjunction — The Interjection in Relation to its Degree of Value — A Resum^ of the Degrees of Value 130 XX CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. PAGE. French and Latin Prosody 143 CHAPTER VI. METHOD. Dictation Exercises 146 CHAPTER Vn. a series of gestures for exercises. Preliminary Reflections — The Series of Gestures Ap- plied to the Sentiments Oftenest Expressed by the Orator: (i) Interpellation; (2) Thanks, Affectionate and Ceremonious ; (3) Attraction ; (4) Surprise and Assurance ; (5) Devotion ; (6) Interrogative Sur- prise ; (7) Reiterated Interrogation; (8) Anger; (9) Menace ; (10) An Order for Leaving ; (i i) Reiter- ation ; (12) Fright — Important Remarks 147 Appendix 157 Epilogue 163 Index 167 PART FIRST. VOICE PART FIRST. CHAPTER I, PRELIMINARY IDEAS — CRITERION OF THE ORA- TORICAL ART. Let US note an incontestable fact. The science of the Art of Oratory has not yet been taught. Hitherto genius alone, and not science, has made great orators. Horace, Quintihan and Cicero among the ancients, and numerous modern writers have treated of oratory as an art. We admire their writ- ings, but this is not science ; here we seek in vain the fundamental laws whence their teachings pro- ceed. There is no science without principles which give a reason for its facts. Hence to teach and to learn the art of oratory, it is necessary : 1 . To understand the general law which controls the movements of the organs ; 2. To apply this general law to the movements of each particular organ ; 3. To understand the meaning of the form of each of these movements; 4 PRELIMINARY IDEAS. 4. To adapt this meaning to each of the different states of the soul. The fundamental law, whose stamp every one of these organs bears, must be kept carefully in mind. Here is the formula : The sensitive, mental and moral state of man are rendered by the eccentric, concentric or normal form of the organism.* Such is the first and greatest law. There is a second law, which proceeds from the first and is similar to it : Each form of the organism becomes triple by borrowing the form of the two others. It is in the application of these two laws that the entire practice of the art of oratory consists. Here, then, is a science, for we possess a criterion with which all phenomena must agree, and which none can gainsay. This criterion, composed of our double formula, we represent in a chart, whose ex- planation must be carefully studied. The three primitive forms or genera which affect the organs are represented by the three transverse lines. * The sensitive is also called the vital, the mental the reflective, and the moral the affective state. The vital sustains, the mental guides, the moral impels. — Trans- lator. CRITERION OF ORATORY. GENUS. SPECIES. 1 3 2 II. Cone 1 -" (. Ecc. Cone. 3-n Norm, Cone. 2-II Cone. Cone. vjM..r.-(^ .....77 ^1 1.♦'^^ III. Norm.... r i-III (, Ecc. Norm. 3-ni Norm. Norm. 2-1 II Cone. Norm. 2-1 Conc.^Ecc. I. Ecc 1 " (. Ecc. Ecc. 3-1 Norm. Ecc. The subdivision of the three genera into nine spe- cies is noted in the three perpendicular columns. Under the title Genus we shall use the Roman numerals I, III, II. Under the title Species we employ the Arabic figures I, 3, 2. I designates the eccentric form, II the concentric form. III the normal form. The Arabic figures have the same signification. The normal form, either in the genus or the spe- cies, we place in the middle column, because it serves as a bond of union between the two others, as the moral state is the connecting link between the intellectual and vital states. 6 PRELIMINARY IDEAS. Thus the hrst law relative to the primitive forms of the organs is applied in the three transverse col- umns, and the second law relative to their com- pound forms is reproduced in the three vertical columns. As may be easily proven, the eccentric genus produces three species of eccentric forms, marked in the three divisions of the lower transverse column. Since the figure i represents the eccentric form, I -I will designate the form of the highest degree of eccentricity, which we call eccentro-eccentric. Since the figure 3 represents the normal form, the numbers 3-I will indicate the normo-eccentric form. Since the figure -2 designates the form which traasiates intelligence, the figures 2-I indicate the concentro-eccentric form as a species. As the species proceeds from the genus, we begin by naming the species in order to bring it back to the genus. Thus, in the column of the eccentric genus the figure I is placed after the numbers 3 and 2, which belong to the species. We must apply the same analysis to the transverse column of the normal genus, as also to that of the concentric genus. Following a diagonal from the bottom to the top and from left to right, we meet the most expressive form of the species, whether eccentric, normal or concentric, marked by the figures i-I, 3-III, 2-II, and by the abbreviations Ecc.-ecc. (Eccentro-eccen- tric), Norm.-norni. (Nor7no -normal), Cone. -cone. CRITERION OF ORATORY. 7 (Concentro- concentric). It is curious to remark how upon this diagonal the organic manifestations corresponding to the soul, that is to love, are found in the midst, to link the expressive forms of life and mind. This chart sums up all the essential forms which can affect the organism. This is a universal alge- braic formula, by which we can solve all organic problems. We apply it to the hand, to the shoul- der, to the eyes, to the voice — in a word, to all the agents of oratorical language. For example, it suf- fices to know the eccentro-eccentric form of the hand, of the eyes ; and we reserve it for the appropriate occasion. All the figures accompanying the text of this work are only reproductions of this chart affected by such or such a particular organ. A knowledge of this criterion gives to our studies not only sim- plicity, clearness and facility, but also mathematical precision. In proposing the accord of nine formed by the figure 3 multiplied into itself, it must be understood that we give the most elementary, most usual and least complicated terms. Through natural and suc- cessive subdivisions we can arrive at 8i terms. Thus multiply 9 by 3 ; the number 27 gives an accord of 27 terms, which can again be multipHed by 3 to reach 81. Or rather let us multiply 9 by 9, and we in like manner obtain 81 terms, which be- come the end of the series. This is the alpha and 8 PRELIMINARY IDEAS. omega of all human science. Hue usque venies, et ibi confringes tmnentes fluctus tuos. (" Thus far shalt thou come, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.") It is well to remark that this criterion is applied to all possible phenomena, both in the arts and sciences. This is reason, universal synthesis. All phenomena, spiritual as well as material, must be considered under three or nine aspects, or not be understood. Three genera and nine species ; three and nine in everything and everywhere ; three and nine, these are the notes echoed by all beings. We do not fear to affirm that this criterion is divine, since it conforms to the nature of beings. Then, with this compass in hand, let us explore the vast field of oratorical art, and begin with the voice. Note to the Student. — Do not go on without a perfect under- standing of this explanation of the criterion, as well as the exposition of our method which closes the preface. CHAPTER II. OF THE VOICE. The whole secret of captivating an audience by the charms of the voice, consists in a practical knowledge of the laws of sound, inflection, respira- tion and silence. The voice first manifests itself through sound; inflection is an intentional modifi- cation of sound ; respiration and silence are a means of falling exactly upon the suitable tone and in- flection. Sound being the first language of man in the cradle, the least we can demand of the orator is, that he speak intelligently a language whose author is instinct. The orator must then listen to his own voice in order to understand it, to estimate its value, to cultivate it by correcting its faults, to guide it — in a word, to dispose of it at will, according to the inclination of the moment. We begin the study of the voice with Sound; and as sound may be viewed under several aspects, we divide this heading into as many sections. Compass of the Voice — Organic Apparatus of the Voice. This apparatus is composed of the larynx, the mouth and the lungs. Each of these agents derives lO VOICE. its value from mutual action with the others. The larynx of itself is nothing, and can be considered only through its participation in the simultaneous action of the mouth and lungs. Sound, then, is formed by a triple agent — pro- jective, vibrative and reflective. The lungs are the soliciting agent, the larynx is the vibrative agent, the mouth is the reflective agent. These must act in unison, or there is no result. The larynx might be called the mouth of the instrument, the inside of the mouth the pavilion, the lungs the artist. In a violin, the larynx would be the string, the lungs the bow, the mouth the in- strument itself. The triple action of these agents produces pho- nation. They engender sounds and inflections. Sound is the revelation of the sensitive life to the minutest degree ; inflections are the revelation of the same life in a higher degree, and this is why they are the foundation and the charm of music. Such is the wonderful organism of the human voice, such the powerful instrument Providence has placed at the disposal of the orator. But what avails the possession of an instrument if one does not know how to use it, or how to tune it? The orator, ignorant of the laws of sound and inflection, resembles the debutant who places the trumpet to his hps for the first time. We know the ear-tortur- ing tones he evolves. The ear is the most delicate, the most exacting THE VOICE IN RELATION TO COMPASS. II of all our senses. The eye is far more tolerant. The eye resigns itself to behold a bad gesture, but the ear does not forgive a false note or a false in- flection. It is through the voice we please an audience. If we have the ear of an auditor, we easily win his mind and heart. The voice is a mys- terious hand which touches, envelops and caresses the heart. Of the Voice in Relation to Compass. All voices do not have the same compass, or the same range. By range we mean the number of tones the voice can produce below and above a given note on the staff, say A, second space of the treble clef. There are four distinct kinds of voices : Soprano, alto, tenor and bass. There are also intermediate voices, possessing the peculiar quality of the kind to which it belongs, for example : Mezzo-soprano, with the quality of the soprano and only differing from the soprano in range, the range of this voice being lower than the soprano and a little higher than the alto. Then comes the alto or contralto. In the male voice we have the tenor robusto, a little lower than the pure tenor and more powerful ; next the baritone, a voice between the tenor and bass, but possessing very much the quality of the bass. The tones in the range of every voice can be divided into three parts — the lower, medium and 12 VOICE. higher. Thus we would say of a performer, he or she used the lower or higher tones, or whatever the case may be. This applies to every kind of voice. The soprano voice ranges generally from the middle C, first added line below on the treble clef, upwards to A, first added line above the staff. Contralto voices range generally from G, below middle C in the treble clef, up to F, the upper line of the clef The tenor voice ranges from C, second space of the F clef, to D, second space in the treble clef. The bass voice ranges from lower F, first space below of the F or bass clef, to D, second space above of this clef.* The first perception of the human voice impera- tively demands, i. That the voice be tried and its compass measured in order to ascertain to what species it belongs. Its name must be known with absolute certainty. It would be shameful in a mu- sician not to know the name of the instrument he uses. 2. That the ear be trained in order to distin- guish the pitch upon which one speaks. We should be able to name a sound and to sound a name. The Orientals could sing eight degrees of tone between C and D. There may be a whole scale, a whole air between these two tones. It would be * The registers here given undoubtedly refer to the singing voice, as the range of notes in the speaking voice is very much more limited. Very frequently voices are found whose range in singing is very much greater than that which the author has given here ; however, on the other hand, many are found with even a more hrtiited range. — Translator. THE VOICE IN RELATION TO VOWELS. 1 3 unpardonable not to know how to distinguish or at least to sound a semitone. There is a fact proved by experience, which must not be forgotten. The high voice, with elevated brows, serves to express intensity of passion, as well as small, trivial and also pleasant things. The deep voice, with the eyes open, expresses worthy things. The deep voice, with the eyes closed, expresses odious things. The Voice in Relation to Vowels. As already stated, the vocal apparatus is com- posed of the lungs, the larynx and the mouth ; but its accessories are the teeth, the lips, the palate and the uvula. The tip and root of the tongue, the arch of the palate and the nasal cavities have also their share in perfecting the acoustic apparatus. In classifying the different varieties of voice, we have considered them only in their rudimentary state. Ability to name and distinguish the several tones of voice is the starting point. We have an image more or less perfect, leaving the mould ; we have a canvas containing the design, but not the embroidery — the mere outline of an instrument, a body without a soul. The voice being the language of the sensitive life, the passional state must pass entirely into the voice. We must know then how to give it an expression, a color answering to the sentiment it conveys. But 14 VOICE. this expressive form of the voice depends upon the sound of its vowels. Thsre is a mother vowel, a generative tone. It is a (Italian a). In articulating a the mouth opens wide, giving a sound similar to a in arm. The primitive a takes three forms. The unac- cented, Italian a represents the normal state ; a with the acute accent ( ' ) represents the eccentric state ; a with the grave accent ( ' ) represents the concen- tric state. These three «'s derived from primitive a become each in turn the progenitor of a family with triple sounds, as may be seen in the following genealogi- cal tree : A A A A € o e k au eu i ou u Eccentric. Nonnal. Concentric. This is the only simple sound, but four other sounds are derived from it. The three rt's articu- lated by closing the uvula, give the rasal an. Each family also gives its special nasal sound : in for the eccentric voice, on for the normal state, un for the concentric. All other sounds are derived from combinations of these. The mouth cannot possibly produce more than three families of sounds, and in each family it is a united with the others that forms the trinity. THE VOICE IN RELATION TO VOWELS. 1 5 The variety of sounds in these three families of vowels arises from the difference of the opening of the mouth and hps in articulating them. These different modes of articulation may be rendered more intelligible by the subjoined diagrams : a is pronounced with the mouth very wide open, the uvula raised and the tongue much lowered. O O e, e, i and in are articulated with the lips open and the back part of the mouth gradually closed. a, au, ou and on are articulated with the back of the mouth open and the lips gradually closed. e, eu, u and un are articulated with the back of the mouth and the lips uniformly closed. The voice takes different names, according to the different sounds in each family of vowels : the chest-voice, the medium voice and the head- voice. These names imply no change in the sort of voice, but a change in the manner of emission. The head, medium or chest-voice, indicates only 1 6 VOICE. variety in the emission of vowels, and may be applied to the high as well as the deep and medium voice. Thus the deep voice may produce sounds in the head-voice, as well as in the medium and chest voices. The head-voice is produced by lowering the lar- ynx, and at the same time raising the uvula. In swallowing, the larynx rises by the elevation of the uvula, without which elevation there can be no head-tones. Practical Conclusions. I . It is highly important to know how to assume either of these voices at will. The chest-voice is the expression of the sensitive or vital life, and is the interpreter of all physical emotions. The medium voice expresses sentiment and the moral emotions. The head-voice interprets everything pertaining to scientific or mental phenomena. By observing the laugh in the vital, moral and intellectual states, we shall see that the voice takes the sound of the vowel corresponding to each state. We understand the laugh of an individual ; if upon the / {e long), he has made a sorry jest; if upon € {a in fate), he has nothing in his heart and most likely nothing in his head ; if upon u ( a short), the laugh is forced. O, a, {a long) and ou are the only normal expressions. Thus every one is measured, numbered, weighed. There is reason in everything, even when unknown to man. In PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS. 1/ physical pain or joy, the laugh or groan employs the vowels i, e, i* 2. The chest-voice should be little used, as it is a bestial and very fatiguing voice. 3. The head-voice or the medium voice is pref- erable, it being more noble and more ample, and not fatiguing. In these voices there is far less dan- ger of hoarseness. The head and medium voices proceed more from the mouth, while the chest-voice has its vibrating point in the larynx. 4. The articulation of the three syllables, la, mo and po, is a very useful exercise in habituating one to the medium voice. Besides reproducing the tone of this voice, these are the musical consonants par excellence. They give charm and development to the voice. We can repeat these tones without fatiguing the vocal chords, since they are produced by the articulative apparatus. 5. It is well to remark that the chest, medium * The sounds here given are those of the- French vowels. A has two sounds, heard in vtat and far. E with the acute accent (6) is like a in fate. E with the grave accent (e) is like e m there. I has two sounds — the first hke ee in reed, the second like ee \n/ecL O has a sound between that of o in rob and rode, O with the circumflex (6) is soundea hke o in no. The exact sound of u is not found in English. Oic is sounded like 00 in cool. The nasal sound an is pronounced nearly like an in 'want. The nasal in is pronounced somewhat like an in crank. The nasal on is pronounced nearly like on in song^. The nasal nn is pronounced nearly like nn in wrung; Consult some work on French pronunciation, or, as is far preferahle, learn these sounds from the living voice of the ieacher — Translator. 1 8 VOICE. and head voices are synonymous with the eccen- tric, normal or concentric voice. 6. It is only a hap-hazard sort of orator who does not know how to attain, at the outset, what is called the white voice, to be colored afterward at will. The voice should resemble the painter's pal- let, where all the colors are arranged in an orderly manner, according to the affinities of each. A colorless tint may be attained in the same way as a pure tint. It may be well to remark here, although by anticipation, that the expressions of the hand and brow belong to the voice. The coloring of the larynx corresponds to the movements of the hand or brows. Sound is painting, or it is nothing. It should be in affinity with the subject. CHAPTER III. THE VOICE IN RELATION TO INTENSITY OF SOUND. What is Understood by Intensity of Sound. The voice has three dimensions — height, depth and breadth ; in other terms, diapason, intensity and duration ; or in yet other words, tonahty, timbre and succession. Intensity may be apphed ahke to the voice and to sound. The voice is strong or weak, according to the mechanism of the acoustic apparatus. The strength or weakness of sound depends upon the speaker, who from the same apparatus evolves tones more or less strong. It is the forte, piano and pianissimo in music. Thus a loud voice can render weak tones, and a weak voice loud tones. Hence the tones of both are capable of increase or diminution. Means of Augmenting tlie Timbre of the Voice. I. A stronger voice may be obtained by taking position not upon the heel or flat of the foot, but upon the ball near the toes — that attitude which further on we shall designate as the third. The chest is eccentric ; that is, convex and dilated. In this position all the muscles are tense and resemble the chords of an instrument whose resonance is pro- portional to their tension. 20 VOICE. 2. There are three modes of developing the voice. A voice may be manufactured. A natural voice is almost always more or less changed by a thousand deleterious influences. 1. In volume, by lowering the larynx, elevating the soft-palate and hollowing the tongue. 2. In intensity. — A loud voice may be hollow. It must be rendered deep, forcible and brilliant by these three methods : profound inspiration, explo- sion and expulsion. The intensity of an effect may depend upon expulsion or an elastic movement. Tenuity is elasticity. It is the rarest and yet the most essential quality of diction. 3. In compass. — There are three ways of increas- ing the compass of the voice : 1. By the determination of its pitch; 2. By practicing the vocal scale; 3. By the fusion of the registers upon the key- note. The first of these methods is most effective. The second consists in exercising upon those notes which are near the key-note. Upon this exercise depends in great measure the homogeneity of the voice. Taking la for the diapason, the voice which extends from the lowest notes to upper re is the chest-voice, since it suffers no acoustic modification. From mi to la the voice is modified ; it is the me- dium voice, or the second register, which gives full and supple tones. The head or throat-voice, or the third register, extends from si to the highest and INTENSITY OF SOUND. 21 sharpest notes. Its tones are weak, and should be avoided as much as possible. There are then only four good notes — those from mi to la, upon which the voice should be exercised. By uniting the reg- isters, an artificial, homogeneous voice may be cre- ated, whose tones are produced without compression and without difficulty. This being done, it is evi- dent that every note of the voice must successively indicate the three registers — that is, it must be rendered in the chest, medium and head voices. There is also a method of diminishing the voice. As the tone is in proportion to the volume of air in the lungs, it may be weakened by contracting the epiglottis or by suppressing the respiration. Rules for Intensity of Sound. I. The strength of the voice is in an inverse ratio to the respiration. The more we are moved, the less loudly we speak ; the less the emotion, the stronger the voice. In emotion, the heart seems to mount to the larynx, and the voice is stifled. A soft tone should always be an affecting tone, and consist only of a breath. Force is always opposed to power. It is an error to suppose that the voice must be in- creased as the heart is laid bare. The lowest tones are the best understood. If we would make a low voice audible, let us speak as softly as we can. Go to the sea-shore when the tempest rages. The roar of the waves as they break against the vessel's side, the muttering thunders, the furious 2 2 VOICE. wind-gusts render the strongest voice impotent. Go upon a battle-field when drums beat and trum- pets sound. In the midst of this uproar, these dis- cordant cries, this tumult of opposing armies, the leader's commands, though uttered in the loudest tones, can scarce be heard ; but a low whistle will be distinctly audible. The voice is intense in seren- ity and calm, but in passion it is weak. Let those who would bring forward subtle argu- ments against this law, remember that logic is often in default when applied to artistic facts. A concert is given in a contracted space, with an orchestra and a double-bass. The double-bass is very weak. Logic would suggest two double-basses in order to produce a stronger tone. Quite the contrary. Two double-basses give only a semitone, which half a double-bass renders of itself. So much for logic in this case. The greatest joy is in sorrow, for here there is the greatest love. Other joys are only on the sur- face. We suffer and we weep because we love. Of what avail are tears? The essential thing is to love. Tears are the accessories ; they will come in time, they need not be sought. Nothing so wearies and disgusts us, as the lachrymose tone. A man who amounts to anything is never a whimperer. Take two instruments in discord and remote from each other. Logic forbids their approach lest their tones become more disagreeable. The reverse is true. In bringing them together, the lowest be- INTENSITY OF SOUND. 23 comes higher and the highest lower, and there is an accord. Let us suppose a hall with tapestries, a church draped in black. Logic says, " sing more loudly." But this must be guarded against lest the voice be- come lost in the draperies. The voice should scarce reach these too heavy or too sonorous partitions, but leaving the lips softly, it should pulsate through the audience, and go no farther. An audience is asleep. Logic demands more warmth, more fire. Not at all. Keep silent and the sleepers will awaken. 2. Sound, notwithstanding its many shades, should be homogeneous ; that is, as full at the end as at the beginning. The mucous membrane, the lungs and the expiratory muscles have sole charge of its trans- mission. The vocal tube must not vary any more for the loud tone than for the low tone. The opening must be the same. The low tone must have the power of the loud tone, since it is to be equally understood. The acoustic organs should have nothing to do with the transmission of sound. They must be inert so that the tone may be homo- geneous. The speaker or singer should know how to diminish the tone without the contraction of the back part of the mouth. To be homogeneous the voice must be ample. To render it ample, take high rather than low notes. The dipthong eu (like u in muff), and the vowels u and give amplitude to sound. On the contrary, 24 VOICE. the tone is meagre in articulating the vowels 6, ? and a. To render the voice ample, we open the throat and roll forth the sound. The more the sound is circmnvoluted, the more ample it is. To render the voice resonant, we draw the tongue from the teeth and give it a hollow form ; then we lower the lar- ynx, and in this way imitate the French horn. 3. The voice should always be sympathetic, kind- ly, calm, and noble, even when the most repulsive things are expressed. A tearful voice is a grave defect, and must be avoided. The same may be said of the tremulous voice of the aged, who em- phasize and prolong their syllables. Tears are out of place in great situations ; we should weep only at home. To weep is a sure way of making people laugh. CHAPTER IV. THE VOICE IN RELATION TO MEASURE. Of Slow7iess and Rapidity in Oratorical Delivery. The third and last relation in which we shall study voice, is its breadth, that is, the measure or rhythm of its tones. The object of measure in oratorical diction is to regulate the interval of sounds. But the length of the interval between one sound and another is sub- ject to the laws of slowness and rapidity, respira- tion, silence and inflection. Let us first consider slowness and rapidity, and the rules which govern them. I. A hasty delivery is by no means a proof of animation, warmth, fire, passion or emotion in the orator ; hence in delivery, as in tone, haste is in an inverse ratio to emotion. We do not glide lightly over a beloved subject ; a prolongation of tones is the complaisance of love. Precipitation awakens suspicions of heartlessness ; it also injures the effect of the discourse. A teacher with too much facility or volubility puts his pupils to sleep, because he leaves them nothing to do, and they do not under- stand his meaning. But let the teacher choose his words carefully, and every pupil will want to suggest some idea ; all will work. In applauding an orator 26 VOICE. we usually applaud ourselves. He says what we were just ready to say; we seem to have suggested the idea. It is superfluous to remark that slowness without gesture, and especially without facial ex- pression, would be intolerable. A tone must always be reproduced with an expression of the face. 2. The voice must not be jerky. Here we must keep jealous watch over ourselves. The entire in- terest of diction arises from a fusion of tones. The tones of the voice are sentient beings, who love, hold converse, follow each other and blend in a harmonious union. 3. It is never necessary to dwell upon the sound we have just left; this would be to fall into that jerky tone we wish to avoid. Of Respiration and Silence. We place respiration and silence under the same head because of their affinity, for respiration may often be accounted silence. Of silence. — Silence is the father of speech, and must justify it. Every word which does not pro- ceed from silence and find its vindication in silence, is a spurious word without claim or title to our regard. Origin is the stamp, in virtue of which we recognize the intrinsic value of things. Let us, then, seek in silence the sufficient reason of speech, and remember that the more enlightened the mind is, the more concise is the speech that proceeds from it. Let us assume, then, that this conciseness keeps OF RESPIRATION AND SILENCE. 27 pace with the elevation of the mind, and that when the mind arrives at the perception of the true Hglit, finding no words that can portray the glories open to its view, it keeps silent and admires. It is through silence that the mind rises to perfection, for silence is the speech of God. Apart from this consideration, silence recom- mends itself as a powerful agent in oratorical effects. By silence the orator arouses the attention of his audience, and often deeply moves their hearts. When Peter Chrysologue, in his famous homily upon the gospel miracle of the healing of the issue of blood, overcome by emotion, paused suddenly and remained silent, all present immediately burst into sobs. Furthermore, silence gives the orator time and liberty to judge of his position. An orator should never speak without having thought, reflected and arranged his ideas. Before speaking he should de- cide upon his stand-point, and see clearly what he proposes to do. Even a fable may be related from many points of view; from that of expression as well as gesture, from that of inflection as well as articulate speech. All must be brought back to a scene in real life, to one stand-point, and the orator must create for himself, in some sort, the role of spectator. Silence gives gesture time to concentrate, and do good execution. One single rule applies to silence: Wherever 28 VOICE. there is ellipsis, there is silence. Hence the inter- jection and conjunction, which are essentially ellip- tic, must always be followed by a silence. Respiration. — For the act of respiration, three movements are necessary : inspiration, suspension and expiration. Its importance. — Respiration is a faithful render- ing of emotion. For example : He who reigns in the skies. Here is a proposition which the com- posed orator will state in a breath. But should he wish to prove his emotion, he inspires after every word. He — ivlio — reigns — in — the — skies. Multi- plied inspirations can be tolerated on the strength of emotion, but they should be made as effective as possible. Inspiration is allowable: — 1. After all words preceded or followed by an ellipse ; 2. After words used in apostrophe, as Monsieur, Madame ; 3. After conjunctions and interjections when there is silence ; 4. After all transpositions ; for example : To live, one must loork. Here the preposition to takes the value of its natural antecedent, i^'ork ; that is to sa)', six degrees, since by inversion it precedes it, and the gesture of the sentence bears wholly on the preposition ; 5. Before and after incidental phrases; 6. Wherever we wish to indicate an emotion. INFLECTIONS. 29 To facilitate respiration, stand on tip-toe and ex- pand the chest. Inspiration is a sign of grief; expiration is a sign of tenderness. Sorrow is inspiratory; happiness, expiratory. The inspiratory act expresses sorrow, dissimulation. The expiratory act expresses love, expansion, sympathy. The suspensory act expresses reticence and dis- quietude. A child who has just been corrected de- servedly, and who recognizes his fault, expires. Another corrected unjustly, and who feels more grief than love, inspires. Inspiration is usually regulated by the signs of punctuation, which have been invented solely to give more exactness to the variety of sounds. Inflections. Their importance. — Sound, we have said, is the language of man in the sensitive state. We call inflections the modifications which affect the voice in rendering the emotions of the senses. The tones of the voice must vary with the sensations, each of which should have its note. Of what use to man would be a phonetic apparatus always rendering the same sound ? Delivery is a sort of music whose excellence consists in a variety of tones which rise. or fall according to the things they have to express. Beautiful but uniform voices resemble fine bells whose tone is sweet and clear, full and agreeable, 30 VOICE. but which are, after all, bells, signifying nothing, devoid of harmony and consequently without vari- ety. To employ always the same action and the same tone of voice, is like giving the same remedy for all diseases. " Ennui was born one day from monotony," says the fable. Man has received from God the privilege of re- vealing the inmost affections of his being through the thousand inflections of his voice. Man's least impressions are conveyed by signs which reveal har- mony, and which are not. the products of chance. A sovereign wisdom governs these signs. With the infant in its cradle the signs of sensi- bility are broken cries. Their acuteness, their as- cending form, indicate the weakness, and physical sorrow of man. When the child recognizes the tender cares of its mother, its voice becomes less shrill and broken ; its tones have a less acute range, and are more poised and even. The larynx, which is very impressionable and the thermometer of the sensitive life, becomes modified, and produces sounds and inflections in perfect unison with the sentiments they convey. All this, which man expresses in an imitative fash- ion, is numbered, weighed and measured, and forms an admirable harmony. This language through the larynx is universal, and common to all sensitive be- ings. It is universal with animals as with man. Ani- mals give the identical sounds in similar positions. The infant, delighted at being mounted on a table. INFLECTIONS. 3 1 and calling his mother to admire him, rises to the fourth note of the scale. If his delight becomes more lively, to the sixth ; if the mother is less pleased than he would have her, he ascends to the third minor to express his displeasure. Quietude is expressed by the fourth note. Every situation has its interval, its corresponding inflection, its corresponding note : this is a mathe- matical language. Why this magnificent concert God has arranged in our midst if it has no auditors? If God had made us only intelligent beings, he would have given us speech alone and without inflections. Let us further illustrate the role of inflection. A father receives a picture from his daughter. He expresses his gratitude by a falling inflection : "Ah well ! the dear child." The picture comes from a stranger whom he does not know as a painter ; he will say, " Well now ! why does he send me this?" raising his voice. If he does ' not know from whom the picture comes, his voice will neither rise nor fall ; he will say, "Well! well! well!" Let us suppose that his daughter is the painter. She has executed a masterpiece. Astonished at the charm of this work and at the same time grate- ful, his voice will have both inflections. If surprise predominates over love the rising in- flection will predominate. If love and surprise are equal, he will simply say, "Well now!" 32 VOICE. Kmi in Chinese signifies at the same time the roof of a house, a cellar, well, chamber, bed — the inflection alone determines the meaning. Roof is expressed by the falling, cellar by the rising inflec- tion. The Chinese note accurately the depth and acuteness of sound, its intervals and its intensity. We can say : " It is pretty, this little dog ! " in 675 different ways. Some one would do it harm. We say: "This little dog is pretty, do not harm it!" " It is pretty because it is so little." If it is a mis- chievous or vicious dog, we use pretty in an ironi- cal sense. " This dog has bitten my hand. It is a pretty dog indeed !" etc. Rides of Inflection. 1. Inflections are formed by an upward or down- ward slide of the voice, or the voice remains in monotone. Inflections are, then, eccentric, concen- tric and normal. 2. The voice rises in exaltation, astonishment, and conflict. 3. The voice falls in affirmation, affection and de- jection. 4. It neither rises nor falls in hesitation. 5. Interrogation is expressed by the rising inflec- tion when we do not know what we ask ; by the falling, when we do not quite know what we ask. For instance, a person asks tidings of his friend's health, aware or unaware that he is no better. 6. Musical tones should be given to things that INFLECTIONS. 33 are pleasing. Courtiers give musical inflections to the words they address to royalty. 7. Every manifestation of life, is a song; every sound is a song. But inflections must not be multi- plied, lest delivery degenerate into a perpetual sing- song. The effect lies entirely in reproducing the same inflection. A drop of water falling constantly, hollows a rock. A mediocre man will employ twenty or thirty tones. Mediocrity is not the too little, but the too much. The art of making a pro- found impression is to condense ; the highest art would be to condense a whole scene into one inflec- tion. Mediocre speakers are always seeking to en- rich their inflections ; they touch at every range, and lose themselves in a multitude ot intangible effects. 8. In real art it is not always necessary to fall back upon logic. The reason needs illumination from nature, as the eye, in order to see, needs light. Reason may be in contradiction to nature. For instance, a half-famished hunter, in sight of a good dinner, would say: "I am hungry," emphasizing hungry, while reason would say that am must be emphasized. A hungry pauper would say : " I am hungry," dwelling upon am and gliding over hun- gry. If he were not hungry, or wished to deceive, he would dwell upon hungry. 34 VOICE. Special hiflections. Among the special inflections we may reckon : — 1. Exclamations. — Abrupt, loud, impassioned sounds, and improvisations. 2. Cries. — These are prolonged exclamations called forth by a lively sentiment of some duration, as acute suffering, joy or terror. They are formed by the sound a. In violent pain arising from a physical cause, the cries assume three different tones : one grave, another acute, the last being the lowest, and we pass from one to the other in a chro- matic order. There are appealing cries which ask aid in pen-il. These cries are formed by the sounds e and 5. They are slower than the preceding, but more acute and of greater intensity. 3. Groans. — Here the voice is plaintive, pitiful, and formed by two successive tones, the one sharp, the final one deep. Its monotony, the constant recurrence of the same inflection, give it a remark- able expression. 4. Lamentation is produced by a voice loud, plaintive, despairing and obstinate, indicating a heart which can neither contain nor restrain itself 5. Tlie sob is an uninterrupted succession of sounds produced by slight, continuous inspirations, in some sort convulsive, and ending in a long, vio- lent inspiration. 6. Tlie sigh is a weak low tone produced by a SPECIAL INFLECTIONS. 35 quick expiration followed by a slow and deep inspi- ration. 7. The laugh is composed of a succession of loud, quick, monotonous sounds formed by an un- interrupted series of slight expirations, rapid and somewhat convulsive, of a tone more or less acute and prolonged, and produced by a deep inspiration. 8. Singing is the voice modulated or composed of a series of appreciable tones. PART SECOND. GESTURE PART SECOND, CHAPTER I. OF GESTURE IN GENERAL. Human word is composed of three languages. Man says what he feels by inflections of the voice, what he loves by gesture, what he thinks by articu- late speech. The child begins with feeling; then he loves, and later, he reasons. While the child only feels, cries suffice him ; when he loves, he needs gestures; when he reasons, he must have articulate language. The inflections of the voice are for sensations, gesture is for sentiments ; the buccal apparatus is for the expression of ideas. Gesture; then, is the bond of union between inflec- tion and thought. Since gesture, in genealogical order, holds the second rank in human languages, we shall reserve for it that place in the series of our oratorical studies. We are entering upon a subject full of impor- tance and interest. We purpose to render familiar the heart language, the expression of love. 40 GESTURE. We learn dead languages and living languages: Greek, Latin, German, English. Is it well to know conventional idioms, and to ignore the language of nature? The body needs education as well as the mind. This is no trivial work. Let it be judged by the steps of the ideal ladder we must scale before reaching the perfection of gesture. Observe the ways of laboring men. Their movements are awkward, the joints do not play. This is -the first step. '~ At a more advanced stage, the shoulders play without the head. The individual turns around with a great impulse from the shoulders, with the leg raised, but the hand and the rest of the body remain inert. Then come the elbows, but without the hand. Later come the wrist-joint and the torso. With this movement of the wrist, the face becomes mobilized, for there is great affinity between these two agents. The face and hand form a most inter- esting unity. Finally, from the wrist, the articula- tion passes to the fingers, and here is imitative perfection. If we would speak our language elo- quently, we must not be beguiled into any patois of gesture. Gesture must be studied in order to render it fault- lessly elegant, but in such a thorough way as not to seem studied. It has still higher claims to our regard in view of the services it has rendered to humanity. Thanks to this language of the heart, thousands of deaf-mutes are enabled to endure their OF GESTURE IN GENERAL. 4I affliction, and to share our social pleasures. Blessed be the Abbe de r£p6e, who, by uniting the science of gesture to the conventional signs of dactyology, has made the deaf hear and the dumb speak ! This beneficent invention has made gesture in a twofold manner, the language of the heart. Gesture is an important as well as interesting study. How beautiful it is to see the thousand pieces of the myological apparatus set in motion and propelled by this grand motor feeling ! There surely is a joy in knowing how to appreciate an image of Christ on the cross, in understanding the attitudes of Faith, Hope and Charity. We can note a mother's affection by the way she holds her child in her arms. We can judge of the sincerity of the friend who grasps our hand. If he holds the thumb inward and pendant, it is a fatal sign ; we no longer trust him. To pray with the thumbs inward and swaying to and fro, indicates a lack of sacred fervor. It is a corpse who prays. If you pray with the arms extended and the fingers bent, there is reason to fear that you adore Plutus. If you embrace me without elevating the shoulders, you are a Judas. What can you do in a museum, if you have not acquired, if you do not wish to acquire the science of gesture? How can you rightly appreciate the beauty of the statue of Antinous ? How can you note a fault in Raphael's picture of Moses making water gush from the rock ? How see that he has forgotten to have the Israelites raise their shoulders. 42 GESTURE. as they stand rapt in admiration of the miracle ? One versed in the science of gesture, as he passes before the Saint Michael Fountain, must confess that the statue of the archangel with its parallel lines, is little better than the dragon at his feet. In view of the importance and interest of the lan- guage of gesture, we shall study it thoroughly in the second book of our course. CHAPTER II. DEFINITION AND DIVISION OF GESTURE. Gesture is the direct agent of the heart, the inter- preter of speech. It is elHptical discourse. Each part of this definition may be easily justified. 1 . Gesture is the Direct Agent of the Heart. — Look at an infant. For some time he manifests his joy or sorrow through cries ; but these are not gesture. When he comes to know the cause of his joy or sorrow, sentiment awakens, his heart opens to love or hatred, and he expresses his new emotion not by cries alone, nor yet by speech ; he smiles upon his mother, and his first gesture is a smile. Beings endowed only with the sensitive life, have no smile ; animals do not laugh. This marvelous correspondence of the organs with the sentiment arises from the close union of soul and body. The brain ministers to the opera- tions of the soul. Every sentiment must have its echo in the brain, in order to be unerringly trans- mitted by the organic apparatus. Ex visu cognoscitur vir. ("The man is known by his face.") The role of dissimulation is a very difficult one to sustain. 2. Gesture is the Interpreter of Speech. — Gesture has been given to man to reveal what speech is 44 GESTURE. powerless to express. For example : / love. This phrase says nothing of the nature of the being loved, nothing of the fashion in which one loves. Gesture, by a simple movement, reveals all this, and says it far better than speech, which would know how to render it only by many successive words and phras- es. A gesture, then, like a ray of light, can reflect all that passes in the soul. Hence, if we desire that a thing shall be always remembered, we must not say it in words ; we must let it be divined, revealed by gesture. Wherever an ellipse is supposable in a discourse, gesture must intervene to explain this ellipse. 3. Gesture is an Elliptical Language. — We call ellipse a hidden meaning whose revelation belongs to gesture. A gesture must correspond to every ellipse. For example : " This medley of glory and gain vexes me." If we attribute something igno- minious or abject to the word medley, there is an ellipse in the phrase, because the ignominy is im- plied rather than expressed. Gesture is then neces- sary here to express the value of the implied adjec- tive, ignonmiioiis. Suppress this ellipse, and the gesture must also be suppressed, for gesture is not the accompaniment of speech. It must express the idea better and in another way, else it will be only a pleonasm, an after conception of bad taste, a hindrance rather than an aid to intelligible expression. DIVISION OF GESTURE. 45 Division of Gesture Every act, gesture and movement has its rule, its execution and its raison d'etre. The imitative is also divided into three parts : the static, the dy- namic and the semeiotic. The static is the base, the dynamic is the centre, and the semeiotic the summit. The static is the equiponderation of the powers or agents ; it corresponds to life. The dynamic is the form of movements. The dynamic is melodic, harmonic and rhythmic. Ges- ture is melodic by its forms or its inflections. To understand gesture one must study melody. There is great affinity between the inflections of the voice and gesture. All the inflections of the voice are common to gesture. The inflections of gesture are oblique for the life, direct for the soul and circular for the mind. These three terms, oblique, direct and circular, correspond to the eccentric, normal and concentric states. The movements of flection are direct, those of rotation, circular, those of ab- duction, oblique. Gesture is harmonic through the multiplicity of the agents which act in the same manner. This harmony is founded upon the convergence or oppo- sition of the movements. Thus the perfect accord is the consonance of the three agents, — head, torso and limbs. Dissonance arises from the divergence of one of these agents. Finally, gesture is rhythmic because its move- 46 GESTURE. ments are subordinated to a given measure. The dynamic corresponds to the soul. The semeiotic gives the reason of movements, and has for its object the careful examination of inflections, attitudes and types. Under our first head, we treat of the static and of gesture in general ; under our second, of the dynamic, and of gesture in particular; and finally, under our third head, of the semeiotic, with an ex- position of the laws of gesture. CHAPTER III. ORIGIN AND ORATORICAL VALUE OF GESTURE. Origin. The infant in the cradle has neither speech nor gesture : — he cries. As he gains sensibility his tones grow richer, become inflections, are multiplied and attain the number of three million special and distinct inflections. The young infant manifests neither intelligence nor affection ; but he reveals his life by sounds. When he discerns the source of his joys or sufferings, he loves, and gesticulates to repulse or to invite. The gestures, which are few at first, become quite numerous. It is God's art he follows ; he is an artist without knowing it. Oratorical Value of Gesture. The true aim of art is to move, to interest and to persuade. Emotion, interest and persuasion are the first terms of art. Emotion is expressed by the voice, by sounds ; interest, by language ; persuasion is the office of gesture. To inflection belongs emotion through the beau- tiful ; to logic, interest through the truth ; to plastic art, persuasion through the good. Gesture is more than speech. It is not what we say that persuades, but the manner of saying it. The mind can be interested by speech, it must be 48 GESTURE. persuaded by gesture. If the face bears no sign of persuasion, we do not persuade. Why at first sight does a person awaken our sympathy or antipathy? We do not understand why, but it is by reason of his gestures. Speech is inferior to gesture, because it corre- sponds to the phenomena of mind ; gesture is the agent of the heart, it is the persuasive agent. Articulate language is weak because it is succes- sive. It must be enunciated phrase by phrase ; by words, syllables, letters, consonants and vowels — and these do not end it. That which demands a volume is uttered by a single gesture. A hundred pages do not say what a simple movement may ex- press, because this simple movement expresses our whole being. Gesture is the direct agent of the soul, while language is analytic and successive. The leading quality of mind is number; it is to speculate, to reckon, while gesture grasps every- thing by intuition, — sentiment as well as contempla- tion. There is something marvelous in this lan- guage, because it has relations with another sphere ; it is the world of grace. An audience must not be supposed to resemble an individual. A man of the greatest intelligence finding himself in an audience, is no longer himself An audience is never intelligent; it is a multiple being, composed of sense and sentiment. The greater the numbers, the less intelligence has to do. To seek to act upon an individual by gesture would ORATORICAL VALUE OF GESTURE. 49 be absurd. The reverse is true with an audie-^ce ; it is persuaded not by reasoning, but by gesture. There is here a current none can control. We applaud disagreeable things in spite of ourselves — things we should condemn, were they said to us in private. The audience is not composed of intellec- tual people, but of people with senses and hearts. As sentiment is the highest thing in art, it should be applied to gesture. If the gestures are good, the most wretched speaking is tolerated. So much the better if the speaking is good, but gesture is the all-important thing. Gesture is superior to each of the other languages, because it embraces the constituent parts of our being. Gesture includes everything within us. Sound is the gesture of the vocal apparatus. The consonants and vowels are the gesture of the buccal apparatus, and gesture, properly so called, is the product of the myological apparatus. It is not ideas that move the masses ; it is gestures. We easily reach the heart and soul through the senses. Music acts especially on the senses. It purifies them, it gives intelligence to the hand, it disposes the heart to prayer. The three languages may each move, interest and persuade. Language is a sort of music which moves us through vocal expression ; it is besides normal through the gesture of articulation. No language is exclusive. All interpenetrate and communicate their action. The action of music is general. 4 50 GESTURE. The mind and the hfe are active only for the satisfaction of the heart; then, since the heart con- trols all our actions, gesture must control all other languages. Gesture is magnetic, speech is not so. Through gesture we subdue the most ferocious animals. The ancients were not ignorant of this all-power- ful empire of gesture over an audience. Therefore, sometimes to paralyze, sometimes to augment this magic power, orators were obliged to cover their faces with a mask, when about to speak in public. The judges of the Areopagus well knew the power of gesture, and to avoid its seductions, they adopted the resource of hearing pleas only in the darkness. The sign of the cross made at the opening of a sermon often has great effect upon good Catholics. Let a priest with his eyes concentric and introspec- tive make deliberately the sign of the cross while solemnly uttering these words : "In — the — name - of- the- Father; " then let his glance sweep the audience. What do they think of him? This is no longer an ordinary man ; he seems clothed with the majesty of God, whose orders he has just re- ceived, and in whose name he brings them. This idea gives him strength and assurance, and his audi- ence respect and docility. CHAPTER IV. THE LAWS OF GESTURE. The static treats of the laws of gesture which are six in number, viz. : Priority, retroaction, the oppo- sition of agents, unity, stability and rhythm. The Priority of Gesture to Speech. Gesture must always precede speech. In fact, speech is reflected expression. It must come after gesture, which is parallel with the impression re- ceived. Nature incites a movement, speech names this movement. Speech is only the title, the label of what gesture has anticipated. Speech comes only to confirm what the audience already compre- hend. Speech is given for naming things. Gesture asks the question, "What?" and speech answers. Gesture after the answer would be absurd. Let the word come after the gesture and there will be no pleonasm. Priority of gesture may be thus explained : First a movement responds to the sensation ; then a ges- ture, which depicts the emotion, responds to the imagination which colors the sensation. Then comes the judgment which approves. Finally, we consider the audience, and this view of the audience suggests the appropriate expression for that which has already been expressed by gesture. 52 GESTURE. The basis of this art is to make the auditors divine what we would have them feel. Every speaker may choose his own stand-point, but the essential law is to anticipate, to justify speech by gesture. Speech is the verifier of the fact ex- pressed. The thing may be expressed before an- nouncing its name. Sometimes we let the auditors divine rather than anticipate, gazing at them in order to rivet their attention. Eloquence is com- posed of many things which are not named, but must be named by slight gestures. In this elo- quence consists. Thus a smack of the tongue, a blow upon the hand, an utterance of the vowel u as if one would remove a stain from his coat. The writer cannot do all this. The mere rendition of the written discourse is nothing for the orator ; his tal- ent consists in taking advantage of a great number of little nameless sounds. A written discourse must contain forced epithets and adjectives to illustcate the subject. In a spoken discourse a great number of adjectives are worse than useless. Gesture and inflection of the voice supply their place. The sense is not in the words ; it is in inflection and gesture. Retroaction. We have formulated this general law: The eccentric, normal and concentric expression must correspond to the sensitive, moral and intellectual state of man. When gesture is concerned, the law RETROACTION. S3 is thus modified : In the sensitive state, the gesture, which is naturally eccentric, may become concen- tric, as the orator is passive or active. He is passive when subject to any action what- ever, when he depicts an emotion. He is agent when he communicates to the au- dience the expression of his own will or power ; in a word, at all times when he controls his audience. When the orator assumes the passive role, that is, when he reflects, he gazes upon his audience ; he makes a backward (or concentric) movement; when he assumes the active role, he makes a forward (or eccentric) movement. When one speaks to others, he advances ; when one speaks to himself, he recoils a step, his thought centres upon himself In the passive state, one loves. But when he loves, he does not move forward. A being who feels, draws back, and contemplates the object toward which the hand extends. Contemplation makes the body retroact. Hence in the passive state, the orator must step backward. In the opposite state he moves forward. Let us apply this law : A spendthrift officer meets his landlord, whom he has not yet paid, and greets him with an — "Ah, good day, sir ! " What will be his movement? It must be retroactive. In the joy of seeing a friend again, as also in fright, we start back from the object loved or hated. Such is the law of nature, and it cannot be ignored. Whence comes this law? To behold a loved 54 GESTURE. object fully, we must step back, remove to some little distance from it. Look at a painter admiring his work. It is retroaction at sight of a beloved person, which has led to the discovery of the phe- nomena of life, to this triple state of man which is found in like manner, everywhere : Concentric, ec- centric, and normal. The concentric is the passive state, for when one experiences a deep emotion, he must retroact. Hence a demonstration of affection is not made with a forward movement. If so, there is no love. Expiration is the sign of him who gives his heart. Hence there is joy and love. In inspiration there is retroaction, and, in some sort, distrust. The hajid extends toward the beloved object; if the hand tend toward itself, a love of self is indicated. Love is expressed by a retroactive, never by a forward movement. In portraying this sentiment the hand must not be carried to the heart. This is nonsense ; it is an oratorical crime. The hand must tend toward the loved being to caress, to grasp, to reas- sure or to defend. The hand is carried to the heart only in case of suffering there. Take this passage from Racine's Phedre : Dieu — que ne puis-je a F ombre des forets, Suivre de I'ceil tin char fuyant dans la carri^re — (" God — may I not, through the dim forest shades, With my glance follow a fleet chariot's course.") Here the actor does not follow affectionately, but OPPOSITION OF AGENTS. 55 with the eye, and then by recoiling and concentrat- ing his thought upon himself. In the role of Emilie : "He may in falling crush thee 'neath his fall," at sight of her crushed lover Emilie must recoil in terror, and not seem to add the weight of her body to that which crushes the victim. Augustus, on the contrary, may say: " I might in falling crush thee 'neath my fall," pausing upon a forward movement, because he is here the agent. Let us note in passing that the passive attitude is the type of energetic natures. They have some- thing in themselves which suffices them. This is a sort of repose ; it is elasticity. Opposition of Agents. The opposition of the agents is the harmony of gesture. Harmony is born of contrasts. From opposition, equilibrium is born in turn. Equilib- rium is the great law of gesture, and condemns par- allelism ; and these are the laws of equilibrium : 1. The forward inclination of the torso corre- sponds to the movement of the leg in the opposite direction. 2. When one arm is added to the weight of the already inclined torso, the other arm must rise to form a counterpoise. 3. In gazing into a well, the two arms must be 56 GESTURE. drawn backward if the body is equally supported by the two legs ; in like manner the two arms may be carried in front if the torso bends backward. This is allowable only in the first attitude of the base, or in a similar attitude. The harmonic law of gesture is the static law par excellence. It is of childlike simplicity. We employ it in walking ; also when we carry a weight in one hand, the other rises. The law consists in placing the acting levers in opposition, and thus realizing equi- librium. All that is in equilibrium is harmonized. All ancient art is based upon this opposition of levers. Modern art, with but few exceptions, is quite the contrary. Here is an example of the observance of this rule : If the head and arms are in action, the head must move in opposition to the arms and the hand. If both move in the same direction, there is a defect in equilibrium, and awkwardness results. When the arm rises to the head, the head bends forward and meets it half-way. The reverse is true. Every movement in the hand has its responsive movement in the head. If the head advances, the hand withdraws. The movements must balance, so that the body may be in equilibrium and remain balanced. Here is the difference between ancient and modern art. Let us suppose a statue of Corneille reading his works. To-day we should pose it with NUMBER OF GESTURES. 5/ one leg and arm advanced. This is parallelism. Formerly the leg would have been opposed to this movement of the arm, because there should be here the expansion of the author toward his work, and this expansion results precisely from an opposition of levers. We know the ancient gladiator; we do exactly the opposite from him in fencing. Modern art makes the man walk with leg and arm parallel. Ancient art would have the leg opposed to the arm. Tt is through opposition that the smile expresses moral sadness. This law of opposition must be observed in the same member. For example, the hand should be opposed to the arm. Thus we have magnificent spheroidal movements which are grace- ful and also have considerable force. Thus all the harmonies occur in one same whole, in one same truth. In a word, all truths interpenetrate, and when a thing is true from one point of view, it is so from all. Number of Gestures. Many reasons go to prove that gestures need not be multiplied : A. — ^We are moved by only one sentiment at a time ; hence it is useldss to multiply gestures. B. — But one gesture is needed for the expression of an entire thought ; since it is not the word but the thought that the gesture must announce; if it S8 GESTURE. expressed only the word, it would be trivial and mean, and also prejudicial to the effect of the phrase. In these phrases: "What do you seek in the world, happiness? It is not there," that which first strikes us is the absence of happiness. Gesture must indicate it in advance, and this should be the dominating movement. The intelligent man makes few gestures. To multiply gestures indicates a lack of intelligence. The face is the thermometer of intelligence. Let as much expression as possible be given to the face. A gesture made by the hand is wrong when not justified in advance by the face. Intelligence is manifested by the face. When the intelligent man speaks, he employs great movements only when they are justified by great exaltation of sentiment; and, furthermore, these sentiments should be stamped upon his face. Without expression of the face, all gestures resemble telegraphic movements. C. — ^The repeated extension of the arms denotes but little intelligence, little suppleness in the wrist and fingers. The movement of a single finger indi- cates great finesse. It is easy to distinguish the man of head, heart and actions. The first makes many gestures of the head ; the second many of the shoulders ; the last moves the arms often and inappropriately. D. — Gesture is allowable only when an ellipse of the word or phrase admits of an additional value. E. — Effects must not be multiplied ; this is ajn NUMBER OF GESTURES. 59 essential precaution. Multiplied movements are detrimental when a graver movement is awaited. F. — The orator is free to choose between the role of actor or that of mere spectator or narrator. Neither the one nor the other can be forced upon him. The actor's role arises not from intelligence but simply from instinct. The actor identifies himself with the personages he represents. He renders all their sen- timents. This role is the most powerful, but, before making it the object of his choice, there must be severe study ; he must not run the risk of frivolity. We can dictate to the preacher and mark out his path. He must not be an actor, but a ^ocjfor. Hence his gestures must never represent the impressions of those of whom he speaks, but his own. Hence he should proportion the number of his gestures to the number of his sentiments. G. — If the orator would speak to any purpose, he must bring back his discourse to some picture from nature, some scene from real life. There must be unity in everything; but a role may be condensed in two or three traits ; therefore a great number of gestures is not necessary. Let it be carefully noted : the expression of the face should make the gesture of the arms forgotten. Here the talent of the orator shines forth. He must captivate his public in such a way that his arm ges- tures will be ignored. He must so fascinate his auditors that they cannot ask the reason of this fas- cination, nor remark that he gesticulates at all. 6o GESTURE. H. — Where there are two gestures in the same idea, one of them must come before the proposition, the other in its midst. If there is but one gesture and it precedes the proposition, the term to which it is applied must be precisely indicated. For example : Would he be sensible to friendship? Although friendship may in some degree be quali- fied as the indirect regimen, gesture should portray it in all its attributes. Duration of Gesture. ■ The suspension or prolongation of a movement is one of the great sources of effect. It is in suspen- sion that force and interest consist. A good thing is worth being kept in sight long enough to allow an enjoyment of the view. The orator should rest upon the preceding ges- ture until a change is absolutely required. A preoccupied man greets you with a smile, and after you have left, he smiles on, until something else occurs to divert his mind. The orator's abstraction should change the face, but not the gesture. If the double change takes place simultaneously, there will be no unity. The gesture should be retained and the expression of the face changed. A variety of effects and inflections should be avoided. While the speaker is under the influenlce of the same sentiment, the same inflection and ges- THE RHYTHM OF GESTURE. 6 1 ture must be retained, so that there may be unity of style. Art proposes three things : to move, to interest, to persuade by unity of inflection and gesture. One effect must not destroy another. Divergence confuses the audience, and leaves no time for sentiment. It is well to remember that the stone becomes hollowed by the incessant fall of the drop of water in the same place. The Rhythm of Gesture. Gesture is at the. same time melodic, or rather inflective, harmonic and rhythmic. It must em- brace the elements of music, since it corresponds to the soul ; it is the language of the soul, and the soul necessarily includes the life with its diverse methods of expression, and the >mind. Gesture is melodic or inflective through the richness of its forms, har- monic through the multiplicity of parts that unite simultaneously to produce it. Gesture is rhythmic through its movement, more or less slow, or more or less rapid. Gesture is, then, inevitably synthetic, and conse- quently harmonic; for harmony is but another name for synthesis. Each of the inflective, harmonic and rhythmic modes has its peculiar law. The rhythmic law of gesture is thus formu- lated : 62 GESTURE. "The rhythm of gesture is proportional to the < mass to be moved." The more an organ is restrained, the more vehe- ment is its impulse. This law is based upon the vibration of the pen- dulum. Great levers have slow movements, small agents more rapid ones. The head moves more rapidly when the torso and the eye have great facility of motion. Thus the titillations of the eye are rapid as lightning. This titillation always announces an emotion. Surprise is feigned if there is no titillation. For example, at the unexpected visit of a friend there is a lighting up of the eye. Wherefore? Because the image is active in the imagination. This is an image which passes within ourselves, which lies in inward phenomena. So in relation to material phenomena : there is a convergence, a direction of the eyes toward the object ; if the object changes place, the eyes cannot modify their manner of convergence; they must close to find a new direction, a convergence suited to the distance of the object. There is never sympathetic vision. The phe- nomena of the imagination are in the imagination at a fixed distance. When an image changes place in the idea, it produces a titillation equal to that which would be produced in the order of ma- terial things. For example, let us quote theslg lines: ' IMPORTANCE OF THE LAWS OF GESTURE. 63 "At last I have him in my power, This fatal foe, this haughty conqueror ! Through him my captives leave their slavery." Here the body must be calm ; there is a sort of vehemence in the eyes ; it will be less in the head than in the arms. All these movements are made, but the body remains firm. Generally the reverse takes place ; the whole body is moved ; but this is wrong. In these words : " Where are they, these wretch- es?" there must be great violence in the upper part of the body, but the step is very calm. To affect a violent gait is an awkward habit. A modified slowness in the small agents creates emphasis ; if we give them too great facility of movement, the gestures' become mean and wretched. Rhythm is in marvelous accord with nature under the impulse of God. Importance of the Laws of Gesture. We never really understand an author's meaning. Every one is free to interpret him according to his individual instinct. But we must know how to jus- tify his interpretation by gesture. Principles must aid us in choosing a point of view in accordance with his individual nature ; otherwise incoherence is inevitable. Hence rules are indispensable. But when the law is known, each applies it in accordance with his own idea. / / / The author himself cannot read without rules, in (' / / 64 GESTURE. such a manner as to convey the ideas he intended to express. Only through rules can we become free in our interpretation ; we are not free without law, for in this case we are subject to the caprice of some master. The student of oratory should not be a servile copyist. In the arrangement of his effects, he must copy, imitate and compose. Let him first reproduce a fixed model, the lesson of the master. This is to copy. Let him then reproduce the lesson in the absence of the master. This is to imitate. Finally, let him reproduce a fugitive model. This is to com- pose. Thus to reproduce a lesson, to give its analysis and synthesis, is to disjoint, to unite and to reunite ; this is the progressive order«-of work. The copying and imitative exercises should be followed by compositions, applying the principles already known. The orator may be allowed play for his peculiar genius ; he may be sublime even in employing some foolish trick of his art. But what- ever he does, he must be guided by fixed rules. CHAPTER V. OF GESTURE IN PARTICULAR. The Head. The dynamic apparatus is composed of the head, the torso and the limbs. As in the vocal apparatus, we have the lever, the impelling force, and the ful- crum. The dynamic apparatus produces gesture, which renders the moral or normal state ; as the voice expresses inflection and reveals the sensitive state. The head must be studied under two relations : as the agent of expression through its movements, and as the centre of attraction ; that is, the point of departure or arrival for the different gestures of the arm. Let us now apply ourselves to the signification of the movements of the head and eyes, the face and lips. The Movements of the Head. There are two sorts of movements of the head: nlovements of attitude and fugitive movements. Movements of Attitude. — The head has nine pri- mary attitudes, from which many others proceed. In the normal attitude, the head is neither high nor low. In the concentric attitude the head is lowered ; this is tlie reflective state. 5 66 GESTURE. In the eccentric attitude the head is elevated ;o this is the vital state. n Soldiers and men of robust physique carry thei- head high. i Here are three genera, each of which gives three species. T/ie Normal State. When the head is erect, it is passive and neutral. The head inclining laterally toward the interlocu- tor indicates affection. If in the inverse direction, opposite the interlocu- tor, sensualism is indicated. This is in fact retroac- tion ; in the first case we love the soul, in the latter the form. The Eccentric State. If the head bends backward it is the passional or vehement state. The head inclined toward the interlocutor, denotes abandon, confidence. The head turned away from the interlocutor, de- notes pride, noble or base. This is a neutral expression which says something, but not the/ whole. The Concentric State. The head lowered, that is, inclined forward,, de- notes the reflective state. If the head inclines toward the interlocutor, it is veneration, an act of faith in the object we Love. MOVEMENTS OF THE HEAD. 6'J If the head inchnes away from the interlocutor, it is stratagem or suspicion. All other attitudes of the head are modifications of these. These nine attitudes characterize states, that is, sentiments, but sentiments which are fugi- tive. Either of these attitudes may be affected until it becomes habitual. But there are movements which cannot be habitually affected, which can only modify types and attitudes of the inflections of the head. These &re fugitive movements. There are nine inflections or fugitive movements of the head : — 1. If a forward movement, it ends in an upright one, with elevated chin, and indicates interrogation, hope, appellation, desire. 2. The same movement with the chin lowered, indicates doubt, resignation. 3. A nod of the head, a forward movement, means confirmation, yes, or well. 4. If the movement is brusque forward, it is the menace of a resolute man. 5. The head thrown back means exaltation. 6. If the movement is brusque backward, it is the menace of a weak man. 7. There are rotative inflections from one shoul- der to the other ; this is impatience, regret. 8. The rotary movement of the head alone signi- fies negation, that is no. If the movement ends toward the interlocutor, it is simple negation. 68 GESTURE. If the movement ends opposite to him, it is nega- tion with distrust. 9. The rotative and forward inflection would de- note exaltation. The sense of this response, — " I do not know," when tidings of a friend are asked, may be divined by an inflection of the head. It is well to note how these movements are trans- mitted from agent to agent. All movements which severally affect the head, the hand, the body and the leg, may aff"ect the whole. Thus the movement of negation is made by the hand. This movement is double. There is nega- tion with direct resolution, and negation with inverse resolution, which is elliptical. The hand recoils as the head recoils, and when the head makes the movement of impatience, the hand rises with the head and says: — "Leave me alone, I do not wish to hear you." It is curious to see an inflection pass successively from the head to the hand, from the hand to the eye, from the eye to the shoulders, from the shoul- ders to the arms, from the arms to the legs, from the legs to the feet. For example : Above we have indicated a double menace made by the head. One might transfer this menace to the hand and say: "You will have a quarrel to settle with me !" Each agent has its role, and this is why they transmit their movements. MOVEMENTS OF THE HEAD. 69 When the head has a serious part to play, it com- municates an inflective movement to the hand, which renders it terrible. A man who menaces with the head is not sure of his aim, but he who menaces with the hand is sure of striking right. In order to do this, the eye must be firmly fixed, as the eye necessarily loses its power and accuracy by a movement of the head. There is great power in the menace communica- ted to the hand, a power not found in the other movement. The head-menace is more physical, and the hand-menace more intellectual ; in the one the eye says a great deal, while in the other it says nothing. The orator cannot always make these gestures with facility. The menace may be elliptical. Then it must be made by the head, and expressed through the eyes. This is why the speaker gazes downward as he makes it. It is the same downward or upward movement which is reproduced when the menace is concentric or elliptical. The menace may be made in yet another way. The speaker does not wish to express his opinion, and for fear of compromising himself with his eyes, he does not gaze at his interlocutor ; he turns aside his glance, and the menace is communicated to the shoulder. This has less strength, because it is ren- dered by one of the sensitive agents. 70 GESTURE The man who threatens with the shoulder is more passionate ; but he is not the agent, he is passive. A simple menace may be made by the knee. The foot is susceptible of great mobility. A slight movement quickly changes its significance ; in pass- ing from one agent to another, it is modified by many ellipses. Criterion of the Head Attitudes. SPECIES. GENUS. 1 3 2 I -II 3-n 2-II II Ecc. Cone. Norm. Cone. Cone. Cone. Stratagem or Reflection. Veneration. cunning. I-III 3-III 2-III III Ecc. Norm. Norm. Norm. Cone. Norm. Sensualism. Passive state. Affection. I-I 3-1 2-1 I Ecc. Ecc. Norm, Ecc. Cone. Eee. Pride. Vehemence. Confidence. These attitudes, being wholly characteristic, can- not be transmitted. They characterize the special OF THE EYES. 7 1 role of the agent set in motion, while inflection is universal. The head alone expresses trouble, dejection. Dejection is in the head, as firmness is in the reins and exaltation in the shoulders. All the movements of the head are communicated to all the active organs. The head is always in opposition to the arms. The head must be turned away from the leg which is advanced. Men of small brain habitually carry their heads high. The head is lowered in proportion to the quantity of intelligence. Examine the criterion for the fixed attitudes of the head. Of the Eyes. The eye, in common with all the other agents, has nine primary expressions, three genera and nine species. The eye contains three agents: The optic or visual, the palpebral or pupil, and the eyebrow agent. Each of these has its peculiar sense, and we shall show how they are united. The optic agent has three direct or convergent glances. The eyes converge toward the object they, examine, at such a point that if the object were there they would squint. A skilled observer can determine the distance of the object, upon seeing the two eyes. There is a revolving or divergent glance. If 72 GESTURE. both eyes project in parallel lines, they see double. A drunken man sees double because the eyes do not converge. Between these two glances there is the ecstatic or parallel vision; but the object is not so far away that its distance may not be determined. The con- vergence is not appreciable. This is the dreamy expression. We shall here treat of- one only, to which we refer the three others. Let us take the direct glance, passing by the optic agent, since it is direct in all the phenomena we have to consider. There are three phenomena in the eyebrow: eccentric, concentric and normal. From these we derive nine terms. If the eye is normal, it is a pas- sive expression which determines nothing. If, with the same eye, the eyebrow is eccentric, there is a difference ; one part of us tends vehemently toward something, and the other says : " It is not worth the trouble." The sensitive part aspires, while the in- tellect says, " This amounts to nothing." The concentric eyebrow indicates a mind discon- certed by fatigue or ennui, a contention of one part of the nature with the other, which resists, and says : " I do not wish to be troubled about this ; it wearies me." The normal brow and the eccentric eye indicate stupor. Here there is again contrariety. One part of the being ardently aspires toward some object, while the other is powerless to aid it. OF THE EYES. 73 The eye is purely an intellectual agent, denoting the various states of the mind. The eccentric eye and the elevated eyebrow de- note vehemence. This is an active state that will become astonishment. Many phenomena will arise and be subordinate to this movement; but it is vehemence par excellence ; it is aspiration. If the brow lowers vehemently with the eyes open, it is not rage, but a state of mind independent of everything the senses or the heart can say. This is firmness of mind, a state of the will inde- pendent of every outside influence. It may be attention, or anger, or many other things. If the eye is concentric and the eyebrow in the normal state, it is slumber, fatigue. If the eyebrow is eccentric and the eye concen- tric, it will represent not indifference only, but scorn, and after saying, "This thing is worthless," will add, " I protest against it, I close my eyes." If both the eye and eyebrow are concentric, there is contention of mind. This is a mind which seeks but does not possess. This explanation may be rendered more clear and easier to retain in mind by the following resume : . ■ Concentric. Contention of mind. Concentric eyebrow. > < Normal. Bad humor. ' Eccentric. Firmness. .( ' Concentric. Grief. Normal eyebrow. >• < ; Normal. Passiveness. H ( ' Eccentrid. Stupor. .( ' Concentric Scorn. Eccentric eyebrow. > < ! Normal. Disdain. "^ i f Eccentric. Astonishment. 74 GESTURE. Criterion of the Eyes, species. i 3 i-II. Ecc.-conc. Firmness. 3-II. Norm. -cone. Bad humor. 2-II. Cone. -cone. Contention of mind. Ill i-III. Ecc.-norm. Stupor. 3-III. Norm. -norm. Passiv' -III. Cone-norm. Grief. i-I. Ecc.-exc, Astonishment, 3-I. Norm.-eee. Disdain. 2-1. Conc.-ecc. Scorn. OF THE EYES. 75 The nine expressions of the eye correspond to each of the nine movements of the head. Thus the eye may give nine types of affection, nine of pride, nine of sensuaHsm, etc. This gives eighty-one ex- pressions of the eye. Hence, knowing eighteen elements, we inevitably possess eighty-one. The nine expressions of the eye may be verified by the criterion. As a model, we give the nine expressions of the eye in the subjoined chart. GENUS. SPECIES. I Eye eccentric. 3 Eye normal. 2 Eye concentric. Eyebrow cone. II Firmness. Bad humor. Contention of mind. Eyebrow norm. Ill Stupor. Passive state. Grief. Eyebrow ecc. I Inspiration. Disdain. Scorn. For ordinary purposes it is sufficient to under- stand the nine primary expressions. There are many others which we merely indicate. In sleep "]& GESTURE. there may be an inclination either way. The top of the eyebrow may be hfted. Thus in the concentric state, three types may be noted, and these go to make twenty-seven primary movements. The lower eyelid may be contracted ; the twenty-seven first movements may be examined with this, which makes 2 X 27. A movement of the cheek may contract the eye in an opposite direction, and this contraction may be total, which makes eighty-one expressions be- longing to the normal glance alone. This direct glance may also be direct on the infe- rior plane, which makes 2X81; for these are dis- tinct expressions which cannot be confounded. This movement could again be an upward one, which would make 3X81. The movement may be outward and superior, or it may be simply outward ; it may also be outward and inferior. A special sense is attached to each of these movements, — a sense which cannot be con- founded with any of the preceding movements. By making the same computation for the three glances above noted, we shall have from eight to nine hundred movements. All this may appear complicated, but with the key of the primary movements, nothing can be more simple than this deduction. The above chart with its exposition of the phases of the eye explains e\'crything. A small e)'e is a sign of strength ; a large eye is a sign of languor. OF THE EYEBROWS. TJ A small oblique eye (the Chinese eye), when asso- ciated with lateral development of the cranium, and ears drawn back, indicates a predisposition to murder. The eye opens only in the first emotion ; then it becomes calm, closing gradually ; an eye wide open in emotion, denotes stupidity. Of the Eyebrows. There are three thermometers : the eyebrow is the thermometer of the mind ; the shoulder is the thermometer of the life; the thumb is the ther- mometer of the will. There is paralleHsm between the eye and the voice. The voice lowered and the brow lifted, indicate a desire to create surprise, and a lack of mental depth. It is very important to establish this parallelism between the movements of the brow and voice. The lowered brow signifies retention, repulsion : it is the signification of a closed door. The eleva- ted brow means the open door. The mind opens to let in the light or to allow it to escape. The eyebrow is nothing less than the door of intelli- gence. In falling, the voice repels. The efforts in repulsion and retention are equal. The inflections are in accord with the eyebrows. When the brows are raised, the voice is raised. This is the normal movement of the voice in rela- tion to the eyebrow. 78 GESTURE. Sometimes the eyebrow is in contradiction to the movement of the voice. Then there is always ellipse ; it is a thought unexpressed. The contra- diction between these two agents always proves that we must seek in the words which these phe- nomena modify, something other than they seem to say. For instance, when we reply to a story just told us, with this exclamation: "hideed!" If the brow and voice are lowered, the case is grave and demands much consideration. If brow and voice are elevated, the expression is usually mild, amiable and affectionate. If the voice is raised and the brow lowered, the form is doubtful and suspicious. With the brow concentric, the hand is repellent. Both brow and hand concentric denote repulsion or retention ; this is always the case with a door. Both brow and hand eccentric mean inspiration, or allowing departure without concern. There is homogeneity between the face, the eye- brow and the hand. The degree and nature of the emotion must be shown in the face, otherwise there will be only grimace. The hand is simply another expression of the face. The face gives the hand its significance. Hand movements without facial expression would be purely automatic. The face has the first word, the hand completes the sense. There are eighty- one movements of the hand impossible to the face ; OF THE FACE. 79 hence, without the hand, the face cannot express everything. The hand is the detailed explanation of what the face has sought to say. There are expressions of the hand consonant with the facial traits, and others dissonant: this is the beautiful. The weak hand and the strong face are the sign of impotence. The weak hand and the strong face are the sign of perfidy. The tones of the voice vary according to the ex- pression of the face. The face must speak, it must have charm. In laughing, the face is eccentric ; a sombre face is concentric. The face is the mirror of the soul because it is the most impressionable agent, and consequently the most faithful in rendering the impressions of the soul. Not only may momentary emotions be read in the expression of the features, but by an inspection of the conformation of the face, the aptitude, thoughts, character and individual temperament may be determined. The difference in faces comes from difference in the configuration of profiles. There are three primitive and characteristic pro- files, of which all others are only derivations or shades. There is the upright, the concave and the convex profile. Each of these genera must pro- 8o GESTURE. duce three species, and this gives again the accord of nine. These different species arise from the direction of the angles, as also from the position of the lips and nose. Uprightness responds to the perpendicular pro- file ; chastity, to the concave ; sensualism, to the convex. Let it be understood that we derogate in no way from the liberty of the man who remains always master of his will, his emotions and his inclinations. A criterion of the face is indispensable to the intelligent physiognomist, and as the lips and nose have much to do with the expression of the face, we offer an unerring diagnosis in the three following charts : OF THE LIPS. 8l Criterion of the Profile of the Lips, species. i 3 2 i-ii II III Ecc.-conc. I-III 'r Ecc.-norm. i-I e Ecc.-ecc. 3-n y Norm. -cone. 3-ni h Norm. -norm. 3-1 t Norm.-ecc. 2-II >- Cone. -cone. 2-III f Cone. -norm. 2-1 ^ Conc.-ecc. Here the profile of the lower lip indicates the genus, and the pro- file of the upper lip belongs to the species. 82 GESTURE. Criterion of the Profile of the Nose. SPECIES. I 3 2 i-ii. Kcc.-conc. ^-'> Ecc.-norra. Ecc.-«cc. 3-n. S-) Norm. -cone. 3-ni. -r-/ Norm. -norm. ^> Nonn.-ecc. s-II. Lr-'? ConcHxmCt S-III. Conc-nonn. 2-1. i Conc- For surety of diagnosis the lips must be taken in unison with the nose and fore- head, as may be seen in the following chart. Criterion of the Face, species. i 3 2 III i-II. Ecc.-conc. i-I. Ecc.-ecc. i? \ / / '^ v 3-II. Norm. -cone. III. orm.- norm. Normal type. 3-I. Norm.-ecc. 2-1 1. Cone. -cone. Spiritual type. 2-III. Cone. -norm. 2-1, Conc.-eec. CHAPTER VI. OF THE TORSO. The torso includes the chest, and shares the shoulder movements with the arms. The Chest. — There are three chest attitudes, eccen- tric, concentric and normal. 1. If the chest is greatly dilated, this is the eccentric state — the military attitude, the sign of energy. 2. The normal, when the chest is in a state more homogeneous, less contentious, more sympathetic, as in the statue of Antinous. 3. The concentric, when the chest is hollow, with the shoulders elevated and inclining forward. The convex eccentric chest is the sign of the agent, or of him who gives. The convex concentric chest or the pathetic, is the sign of the sufferer, or of him who receives. The chest drawn in with the shoulders elevated, is the expression of the sublime. From these three positions, the eccentric, the con- centric and the normal, are derived nine degrees or species. Thus in each of these genera, the torso is inclined toward the speaker, or away from him, hence we have three times three, or nine, or the triple accord. OF THE TORSO. 85 The chest need not be lowered ; it is here that all the energy concentrates. The Shoulders. — Every sensitive, agreeable or painful form is expressed by an elevation of the shoulders. The shoulders are the thermometer of the sensitive and passional life. If a man's shoul- ders are raised very decidedly, we may know that he is decidedly impressed. The head tells us whether this impression is joy- ous or sorrowful. Then the species belongs to the head, and the genus to the shoulder. If the shoulder indicates thirty degrees, the head must say whether it is warmth or cold- ness. The face will specify the nature of the sor- row or joy whose value the shoulders have deter- mined. The shoulder is one of the great powers of the orator. By a simple movement of the shoulder, he can make infinitely more impression than with all the outward gestures which are almost always theatrical, and not of a convincing sort. The shoulder, we have said, is the thermometer of emotion and of love. The movement is neutral and suited to joy as well as to sorrow; the eyes and mouth are present to specify it. The shoulder, like all the agents, has three and hence nine distinct phases. The torso is divided into three parts : the thoracic, the epigastric and abdominal. 85 GESTURE. We shall state farther on, the role of these three important centres. Liars do not elevate their shoulders to the re- quired degree, hence the truth or falsity of a senti- ment may be known. Raphael has forgotten this principle in his " Moses Smiting the Rock." None of his figures, although joyous, elevate the shoulder. CHAPTER VII. OF THE LIMBS. The limbs hold an important place in oratorical action. The study of the role of the arms and limbs therefore deserves serious attention. The Arms. In the arms we distinguish the deltoid or shoulder movement, the inflection of the fore-arm, the elbow, the wrist, the hand and the fingers. Inflections of the Fore- Arm. We have treated of what concerns the shoulder in the chapter upon the torso. The arm has three movements : an upward and downward vertical movement, and a horizontal one. These movements derive their significance from the different angles formed by the fore-arm in relation to the arm. Let us first represent these different angles, and then we will explain the chart. 88 All these different angles have their meaning, their absolute significance in affirmation. The movement at the right angle signifies : To be. Lower : Perhaps. Lower still : I doubt if it is so. Lower : It is improbable. Lower : It is not. Lower : It is not possible. Ascending: This is proven, I have the proof in my hand. Higher : This is superlatively beautiful. Higher : It is enchantingly beautiful. The degree of certainty in the affirmation varies OF THE ELBOW. 89 with the angle which the fore-arm forms with the arm. All these modes of affirmation may be applied to negation. For example : " It is impossible that this should not be. This cannot be." Thus all states of being, all forms of affirmation, belong to the acuteness or opening of an angle. The hanging arm signifies depression. The two arms should never extend the same way. If they follow each other, one should be more advanced than the other. Never allow parallelism. The ele- mentary gestures of the arms are represented in the foregoing chart. Of the Elbow. The elbow has nine movements, three primitive, as genera, and nine derivative, as species. There are the forward and backward movements of the normal state. There are three degrees of height, and finally the forward and backward movements of extension. The elbow movements are relational. The epi- condyle is called the eye of the arm. Man slightly moves the torso, then the shoulder, and finally the elbow. Among persons who would fain crush others, there is an elbow movement which seems to say, " I annihilate thee, I am above thee." The elbow turned outward signifies strength, pow- er, audacity, domination, arrogance, abruptness. 90 GESTURE. activity, abundance. The elbow drawn inward, signifies impotence, fear, subordination, humility, passiveness, poverty of spirit. Modest people have a slight outward movement of the elbow. The humble make an inward move- ment. The elbow thrust forward or backward, indi- cates a yielding character. These movements should not be taken alone; they must be verified by the torso and the head. The shoulder characterizes the expression of the elbow movements, just as the elbow verifies marked exaltation, by the elevation of the shoulder. It is by these little things that we determine mil- lions of movements and their meaning. We finally determine and class precisely five million move- ments of the different agents of the arm. This would seem enormous ; but it is nothing at all ; it is childlike simplicity. The elements being known, the process is always the same. Hence the advan- tage of possessing a criterion. With this criterion, we have everything. If we possess nine, we possess twenty millions, which are no more than nine. Of the Wrist. The wrist is a directing instrument for the fore- arm and the hand. The wrist has its three movements. It is eccentric when the extensor muscles are in motion. It is normal in the horizontal position. OF THE HAND. 9 I It is concentric when the flexor muscles are in action. In the concentric position the wrist is in prona- tion, for the thumb is turned downward ; this is the sign of a powerful will, because the pronator muscles have more power than the flexors. In the eccentric position the wrist is in supination ; that is, the back of the hand is downward ; this is the sign of impotence. The wrist has also forward and backward move- ments, either in pronation, in supination, or the nor- mal state. Thus there are nine phases for the wrist. It is through the aid of the wrist that the aspects of the hand, placed upon the cube, receive, as we shall see, their precise signification. The orator needs great suppleness in wrist move- ments to give grace to the phases of the hand. Of the Hand. Man is perforce painter, poet, inspired dreamer or mystic, and scientist. He is a painter, to reveal the phenomena of the sensitive life; a poet, to admire the mysteries of grace ; a scientist, to make known the conceptions of the mind. Thus the hand has three presenta- tions, neither more nor less, to render that which passes in man in the sensitive, moral or intellectual state. Let us now examine the three presentations of an open hand : its palmar, dorsal and digital aspect. 92 GESTURE. The same thing may be expressed by these three presentations, but with shades of difference in the meaning. If we say that a thing is admirable, with the palms upward, it is to describe it perfectly. This is the demonstrative aspect. If we say the same thing, displaying the back of the hand, it is with the sentiment of impotence. We have an idea of the thing, but it is so beautiful we cannot express it. This is the mystic aspect. If we present the digital extremity, it is as if we said : " I have seen, I have weighed, I have num- bered the thing, I understand it from certain knowl- edge ; it is admirable, and I declare it so." These are the three aspects : the palmar, dorsal and dig- ital. Each of these attitudes of the hand may be pre- sented under three forms : the eccentric, normal and concentric. Each of these forms as genera, produces three species ; this gives the hand nine intrinsic attitudes, whose neutral signification will be specified and de- termined by the presentation of the hand upon the cube. Let us first take the normal state as genus, and we shall have the normal hand as species in the normal genus. This will then be the normo-normal attitude. By presenting the hand in pronation or supination horizontally, without spreading or folding the fin- OF THE HAND. 93 gers, we shall have that attitude which signifies abandon. Let us now take the eccentric species, still in the normal genus. Raise the hand somewhat with a slight parting of the fingers, and we have the eccentro-normal hand, which signifies expansion. Finally, let us consider the concentric species, still in the normal state. Present the hand lifeless and you have the con- centro-normal attitude, which signifies prostration. Let us pass on to the concentric genus. By closing the fingers with the thumb inward upon the middle one, we shall have the normo-con- centric hand, which signifies the tonic or power. To close the hand and place the thumb outside upon the index finger, signifies conflict. This is the concentro-concentric hand. To bend the first joint with the fingers somewhat apart, indicates the eccentro-concentric hand. This is the convulsive state. Let us pass on to the eccentric genus. The fingers somewhat spread, denote the normo- eccentric hand. This is exaltation. To spread the fingers and fold them to the second joint, indicates the concentro-concentric hand. This is retraction. To spread the fingers as much as possible, gives the eccentro-eccentric hand. This is exasperation. In the subjoined charts we can see an illustration of the different attitudes of the hand. 94 GESTURE. Criterion of the Hand, species. i 3 2 i-II. Ecc.-conc. II Convulsive. I-III. Ecc-nonn. Expansive. i-I. Ecc-ecc. Exasperation. 3-II. Norm. -cone. Tonic or power. 3-III, Norm. -norm. Abandon. 3-1. Norm.-ecc. Exaltation. 3-II. Cone. -cone. Conflict. a-III. Cone. -norm. Prostration. 2-1. Cone.-ecc. Retraction. OF THE HAND. 95 RECAPITULATION. Concentro-concentric. Normo-concentric. Eccentro-concentric. Concentro-normal. Normo-normal. Eccentro-normal. Concentro-eccentric. Normo-eccentric. Eccentro-eccentric. Conflict. Tonic or power. Convulsive. Prostration. Abandon. Expansion. Retraction. Exaltation. Exasperation. The nine primitive forms of the hand are, as is seen, undetermined. / Upper Surface. / / To hold. / 1 i 1 I Front Surface. To retain. ' Limit. Obtam. Back Surface. t t a s •n 1 To maintain. O Contain. Lower Surface. y / To sustain. / The hand is raised. Why? For what purpose? The presentation of the hand upon the surfaces of the cube will decide and specify. g6 GESTURE. By this presentation the nine movements of the hand correspond with the expressive movements of the arm. Take any cube whatever, — a book, a snuff-box, or rather cast your eyes upon the foregoing chart, and examine it carefully. There are three directions in the cube : horizon- tal, vertical and transverse. Hence there are six faces, anterior, superior, inferior, interno-lateral and externo-lateral. Of what use are angles and faces? All this is necessary for those who would know the reason of the sentiments expressed by the hand. There are twenty-seven sorts of affirmation. We give nine of them with the six faces of the cube. T/ie Digital Face. To place the hand, whether eccentric, concentric or normal, upon the upper face of the cube, is to hold, to protect, to control; it is to say: "I hold this under my protection." To place the hand upon the external side-face of the cube, signifies to belong; it says: "All this be- longs to me." It is the affirmation of the man who knows, who has had the thing in dispute under his own eyes, who has measured it, examined it in all its aspects. It is the affirmation of the connoisseur. To apply the hand to the inner side of the face is to let go. Here is the sense of this affirmation : " You may say whatever you will, but I affirm in OF THE HAND. 97 spite of every observation, in spite of all objection ; I affirm whether or no." The Back Face. There are three ways of touching the front face of the cube with the hand. A. — To touch it with the end of the fingers up- ward and the thumb inward, is to obtain : " I have obtained great benefits, I do not know how to ex- press my gratitude." Or rather : " I keep the object for myself; I do not care to let it be seen." This is the mystic face. Or yet again : " I contem- plate." B. — To place the hand horizontally on the same face of the cube, is to restrain, or bound. " Go no farther, if you please ; all this belongs to me." C. — To pjace the hand upon the same anterior face of the cube, but with the extremities of the fingers vertically downward, means to retain. It says : " I reserve this for myself" Here, then, are three aspects for the anterior face of the cube. The Palmar Face. A. — ^To place the lower face of the cube in the hand, is to sustain. It is to say : " I will sustain you in misfortune." B. — To apply as much as possible the palm upon the same posterior face of the cube, with the fingers downward, is to maintain : " I maintain what I have said." C. — To apply the hand upon the same face with 7 98 GESTURE. the extremities of the fingers upward, is to con- tain, is to show the object — it is to disclose: "I affirm; you cannot doubt me; I open my heart; behold me !" There are, then, nine affirmations, which are ex- plained hy a mere view of the cube and its faces. The twelve edges of the cube give a double affir- mation ; the angles, a triple affirmation. Example for the edges : To place the hand on the back edge, means : " I protect and I demonstrate." There are three movements or inflections of the hand which must be pointed out : to hover, to insin- uate, to envelop. The three rhythmic actions of the hand must not be passed over in silence : to incline, to fall, to be precipitated. The aspects of the hands would be simply tele- graphic movements, were it not for the inflections of the voice, and, above all, the expression of the eyes. The expressions of the hand correspond to the voice. The hands are the last thing demanded in a gesture ; but they must not remain motionless, as (if they were stiff", for instance) they might say more than was necessary. The hands are clasped in adoration, for it seems as if we held the thing we love, that we desire. The rubbing of the hands denotes jo}-, or an eager thirst for action ; in the absence of anything else to caress, we take the hand, we communicate our joy to it. OF THE FINGERS. 99 There is a difference between the caress and the rubbing of the hands. In the caress, the hand extends eagerly, and passes Hghtly, undulatingly, for fear of harming. There is an elevation of the shoulders. The hand is an additional expression of the face. The movement must begin with the face, the hand only completes and interprets the facial expression. The head and hand cannot act simultaneously to express the same sentiment. One could not say no with head and hands at the same time. The head commands and precedes the movement of the hand. The eyes, and not the head, may be parallel with the hand and the other agents. The hand with its palm upward may be caressing, if there is an elevation of the eyebrow; repellent with the eyebrow concentric. The waving hand may have much sense, accord- ing to the expression of the face. The eye is the essential agent, the hand is only the reverberatory agent; hence it must show less energy than the eye. Of the Fingers. Each finger has its separate function, but it is exclusive of the great expressions which constitute the accords of nine. These are interesting facts, but they do not spring naturally from the fountain of gesture. They are more intellectual than moral. lOO GESTURE. In a synthetic action all the fingers converge. A very energetic will is expressed by the clenched fist. In dealing with a fact in detail, as we say: ■Remark this well," all the fingers open to bid us concern ourselves only with the part in dispute. This is analysis ; it is not moral, it is intellectual. If we speak of condensation we close the hand. If we have to do with a granulated object, we test it with the thumb and index finger. If it is carneous, we touch it with the thumb and middle finger. If the object is fluid, delicate, impressionable, we express it by the third finger. If it is pulverized, we touch it with the little finger. We change the finger as the body is solid, humid, delicate, or powdery. The orator who uses the fingers in gesticulation, gives proof of great delicacy of mind. Of the Legs. The legs have nine positions which we call base attitudes. We shall give a detailed description, summing up in a chart of the criterion of the legs at the end of this section. First Attitude. — This consists in the equal balance of the body upon its two legs. It is that of a child posed upon its feet, neither of which extends farther than the other. This attitude is normal, and is the OF THE LEGS. lOI sign of weakness, of respect ; for respect is a sort of weakness for the person we address. It also characterizes infancy, decay. Second Attitude. — In this attitude the strong leg is backward, the free one forward. This is the attitude of reflection, of concentration, of the strong man. It indicates the absence of passions, or of concen- tred passions. It has something of intelligence; I02 GESTURE. it is neither the position of the child nor of the uncultured man. It indicates calmness, strength, independence, which are signs of intelligence. It is the concentric state. Third Attitude. — Here the strong leg is forward, the free leg backward. This is the type of vehe- mence. It is the eccentric attitude. The orator who would appear passive, that is, as experiencing some emotion, or submitting to some action, must have a backward pose as in figure 2. If, on the contrary, he would communicate to his audience the expression of his will or of his own thought, he must have a forward poise as in figure 3. Fourth Attitude. — Here the strong leg is behind, as in the second attitude, but far more apart from the other and more inflected. This is very nearly the attitude of the fencing OF THE LEGS. 103 master, except the position of the foot, which is straight instead of being turned outward. This is a sign of the weakness which follows vehemence. Natural weakness is portrayed in figure i ; sud- den weakness in figure 4. Fifth Attitude. — This is necessitated by the incli- nation of the torso to one side or the other. It is I04 GESTURE. a third to one side. It is a passive attitude, pre- paratory to all oblique steps. It is passing or transi- tive, and ends all the angles formed by walking. It is in frequent use combined with the second. Sixth Attitude. — This is one-third crossed. It is an attitude of great respect and ceremony, and is effective only in the presence of princes. Seventh Attitude. — This is the first position, but the legs are farther apart. The free limb is turned V,¥ OF THE LEGS. 10$ to one side ; both limbs are strong. This denotes intoxication, the man overwhelmed with astonish- ment, familiarity, repose. It is a double fifth. Eighth Attitude. — This is the second, with limbs farther apart. It is the alternative attitude. The body faces one of the two legs. It is alternative from the fact that it ends in the expression of two extreme and opposite sentiments; that is, in the third or the fourth. It serves for eccentricity with reticence, for menace and jealousy. It is the type of hesitation. It is a parade attitude. At the same time offensive and defensive, its aspect easily im- presses and leaves the auditor in doubt. What is going to happen ? What sentiment is going to arise from this attitude which must have its solution either in the third or fourth? Ninth Attitude. — This is a stiff second attitude, in which the strong leg and also the free one are io6 GESTURE. equally rigid. The body in this attitude bends backward ; it is the sign of distrust and scorn. The legs have one aspect. If, in the second, the strong leg advances slowly to find the other, it is the tiger about to leap upon his prey ; if, on the con- trary, the free leg advances softly, the vengeance is retarded. The menace made in figure 3, with inclination of the head and agitation of the index finger, is that of a valet who wishes to play some ill turn upon his master; for with the body bent and the arm ad- vanced, there is no intelligence. But it is ill-suited to vengeance, because that attitude should be strong and solid, with the eye making the indication better than the finger. SPECIES. i-II. — Ecc.-conc. 3-I I. ^Nonii. -cone. 2d attiiude. — Force c)th attitude — Defiance -111.— Ecc-i 7th attitude. — Intoxication- i-I — E.c -ecc. 3d attitude. — Vehemence. Page IO&. '/ 2-1 1. Cone, cone. 4th attitude. — Terror. -HI —Cone -norm. 8th attitude.— Hesitation 2-1 —Cone, ecc 6th attitude. — Ceremony. CHAPTER VIII. OF THE SEMEIOTIC, OR THE REASON OF GESTURE. The Types which Characterize Gesture. The semeiotic is the science of signs, and hence the science of the form of gesture. Its object is to give the reason for the forms of gesture according to the types that characterize it, the apparatus that modifies it, and the figures that represent it. There are three sorts of types in man : constitu- tional or formal, fugitive or passional, and habitual. The constitutional type is that which we have at birth. The passional type is that which is reproduced under the sway of passion. The habitual types are those which, frequently reproduced, come to modify even the bones of the man, and give him a particular constitution. Habit is a second nature, in fact, a habitual movement fashions the material and physical being in such a manner as to create a type not inborn, and which is named habitual. To recognize constitutional types, we study the movements of the body, and the profound action which the habit of these movements exercises upon the body; and, as the type produced by these movements is in perfect analogy with the formal, I08 GESTURE. constitutional types, we come through this analogy to infer constant phenomena from the passional form. Thus all the formal types are brought back to the passional types. Passional types explain habitual types, and these last explain constitutional types. Thus, when we know the sum of movements possible to an organ, when we know the sense of it, we arrive at that semeiotic through which the reason of a form is per- fectly given. Of Gesture Relative to its Modifying Apparatus. Every gesture places itself in relation with the subject and the object. It is rare that a movement tending toward an object does not touch the double form. Thus, in saying that a thing is admirable, we start from a multitude of physical centres whose sense we are to determine. When this sense is known, understand- ing the point of departure, we understand still better that of arrival. This division, which is not made at random, is reproduced in the subjoined diagram. I represents the vital expression ; 2, the intel- lectual ; 3, the moral. We divide the face into three zones: the genal,* buccal, and frontal. The expression is physical, moral and intellectual. In the posterior section of the head we have the * From yevftov, the chin. DIVISIONS OF THE BODY. 109 occipital, parietal and temporal zones. The life is in the occiput, the soul in the parietal zone, and the mind holds the temporal region near the forehead as its inalienable domicile. The chest is divided into the thoracic centre for the mind, into the epigastric for the soul, and into the abdominal for the life. The arm is divided into three sections : the del- toid, brachial and carpal. This division is a rational one. Let us suppose this exclamation : " It is admirable ! " Some say it starting from the shoulder, others from the chest, others from the abdominal focus. These are three very distinct modes. There is more intelligence when the movement is from the thoracic centre. This concerns the honor, the dignity. When the movement is from the epigastrium, it is no GESTURE. moral in a high degree. For example: "This is beautiful ! It is admirable ! I know not why, but this gives me pleasure ! " The movement from the abdomen indicates sen- suality, good nature, and stupidity. The movement is the same with the head. In emotion it proceeds from the chin ; it is the life movement, it is instinct. That from the cheeks, in- dicates sentiments, the most noble affections. Carrying the hand to the forehead indicates intel- ligence. Here we seek relief from embarrassment, in the other head movements we do not seek it. The one is a mental, the others are purely physical efforts. In the latter case one becomes violent and would fain give blows with his fist. An infinite number of movements proceed from these various seats. We have now reached the semeiotic standpoint, that of these very clear plans, the very starting point of gesture. The articular centres of the arms are called ther- mometers : the wrist, that of the organic physical life ; the shoulder, that of the sensitive life ; and the elbow, that of the relative life. The thumb has much expression ; drawn back- ward it is a symbol of death, drawn forward it is the sign of life. Where there is abundance of life, the thumb stands out from the hand. If a friend promises me a service with the thumb drawn inward, he deceives. If with the thumb in the normal state. DIVISIONS OF THE BODY. Ill he is a submissive but not a devoted friend. He cannot be very mucli counted upon. If the thumb stands outward, we may rely upon his promise. We still find life, soul and mind in each division of the body. There are also a buccal, an occipital and an abdominal life. The body of man, with all its active and attractive foci, with all its manifestations, may be considered an ellipse. These well-indicated divisions may be stated in an analytic formula : Attractive centres. ' Life : Occipital. Mind: Temporal. Soul: Parietal. Mind : Frontal. I Soul : Buccal. I Life: Genal. I Mind : Thoracic. Soul: Epigastric. \LlFE: Abdominal. JLlFE: Shoulders. fSoUL: Elbows. Mind : Wrists. Life: Thigh. Soul: Knee, k Mind : Foot. S Expressive centres. This is the proper place to fix the definition of each division by some familiar illustration. Let us take an individual in a somewhat embar- rassed situation. He is a gentleman who has been overcome by wine. We see him touching the tem- 112 GESTURE. poral bone, or the ear, as if to seek some expedient : the strategic mind is there. Let us begin with the descending gamut, and let the hand pass over all the divisions of the attractive centres. At the occiput : Here is an adventure ! I have really had too strong a dose of them ! At the parietal bone : What a shame ! At the temporal bone : What will the people say of me? At the forehead : Reason however tells me to pause. At the buccal zone : How shall I dare reappear before those who have seen me in this state ! At the genal zone: But they did serve such good wine ! At the breast : Reason long ago advised temper- ance to me. At the epigastrium: I have so many regrets every time I transgress ! At the abdomen : The devil ! Gourmandism ! I am a wretched creature ! The same illustrations may be reproduced in the rising scale. When the parietals are touched, the idea and the sentiment are very elevated. As the foci rise, they become more exalted. Let this be considered from another point of view. We shall reproduce gratitude by touching all the centres. DIVISIONS OF THE BODY. II 3 They have been centres of attraction, we shall render them points of departure. " I thank you ! " The more elevated the move- ments, the more nobility there is in the expression of the sentiment. The exaltation is proportional to the section indicated. The posterior region is very interesting. There are three sorts of vertebrae : cervical, dorsal and lumbar. This apparatus may first be considered as a lever. But taking the vertical column alone, we shall have twenty-four special and distinct keys whose action and tonality will be entirely specific. From these twenty-four vertebrae proceed the nervous plexi, all aiding a particular expression ; so that the vertebral column forms the keys of the sympathetic human instrument. If the finger is cut, there is a special emotion in one place of the vertebral column. If the finger is crushed by the blow of a hammer, the emotion will affect a special vertebra. The nose is one of the most complex and impor- tant agents. There are here nine divisions to be studied. (See page 82.) 8 CHAPTER IX. OF GESTURE IN RELATION TO THE FIGURES WHICH REPRESENT IT. Gesture through its inflections may reproduce all the figures of geometry. We shall confine our- selves to a description of the primary and most usual imitative inflections. These inflections comprise three sorts ot move- ments affected by each gesture, which usually unite and constitute a synthetic form. These three move- ments agree with the three primary actions which characterize the manifestations of the soul, the mind and the life. These are direct, circular and oblique inflections. The flexor movements are direct, the rotary movements circular, the abductor}' movements ob- lique. The sum of these movements constitutes nine co-essential terms, whose union forms the ac- cord of nine. There are rising, falling and medium inflections. Gesture does everything that the voice does in rising. Hence there is great affinity between the voice and the arms. Vocal inflection is like the gestures of the blind ; in fact, with acquaintance, one may know the nature of the gesture from the sound of the voice. THE INFLECTIONS OF GESTURE. IIS We exalt people by a circle. We say that a thing is beautiful, noble, grand — making circles which grow higher and broader as the object is more elevated. We choose the circle for exalting and caressing, because the circle is the most agreeable form to touch and to caress. For example, an ivory ball. This form applies to all that is great. For God there is no circle, there can be none. But we outline a portion of an immense circle, of which we can touch but one point. We indicate only the inner periphery of a circle it is impossible to finish, and then retrace our steps. When the circle is made small, we make it with one, two, three or four fingers, with the hand, with the arm. If the circle is vast as can be made with the arms, it is homogeneous. But a small circle made with the arm will express stupidity. Thus we say of a witty man : " This is a witty man," employing the fingers. Stupidity wishing to simulate this, would make a broad movement. Let us take the fable of Captain Re7iard as an example of this view of the circle. I depict the cunning nature of this captain with my fingers. Without this he would not be a captain ; but at most a corporal. — " He went in company With his friend He-Goat of the branching horns. The one could see no farther than his nose ; The other was past master in deceit" 1 1-6 GESTURE. As they go along, the fox relates all his exploits to the goat, and the goat surprised, and wishing an end of the recital, sees fit to make a gesture, as he says : " I admire people full of sense like you." In making the small circle, he employs not only the fingers, but the arm, the shoulder, the whole body. He is an imbecile. He wastes too much effort in making a small circle. Let us take a situation from an opera. When Robert enters and sees Isabella, he says of her : "This peaceful sleep, this lull of every sense, Lends a yet sweeter charm to this young face." The gesture is in the form of a geometrical figure. In another place, Robert says : " Thy voice, proud beauty, few can understand." Here a spheroidal and then a rectangular move- ment must be made. We close the door. " Her voice will be understood by me, alone." He might say: "Thy voice, proud beauty, will not be under- stood. It will be elevated for me, and not for others.'' Every sentiment has its form, its plastic expres- sion, and as its form is more or less elaborated, we may judge of the elevation of the speaker's thought. If we could stereotype gesture, we might say: " This one has the more elevated heart, that one the DELINEATION OF GESTURE. II 7 least elevated ; this one in the matter, that one in the spirit of his discourse." All gestures may be very well delineated. An orator gesticulating before the pubHc, resembles a painter who pencils outlines and designs upon a wall. This reproduction of the figures of gesture is called Cliorography. We give in the subjoined chart some types of gesture. These are a few flowers culled from a rich garden. To express sensual grace the gesture takes the downward spheroidal form. The virtuous form would be upward. If we wish to express many attractive things, we make many spheroidal gestures. What is called the culminating point of the ges- ture, must not be forgotten. This is a ring in the form of the last stroke of the German letter S', whicli is made by a quick, electric movement of the wrist. We refer the student to the close of the volume, for a model of exercises comprising a series of ges- tures which express the most eloquent sentiments of the human heart. This exercise in gesture has two advantages : it presents all the interest of the most fascinating drama, and is the best means of gaining suppleness by accustoming ourselves to the laws of gesture. Il8 GESTURE. Criterion of Chorography. C 2 e Good day. G X Go ^^^'/-^6 No one will have so much glory, so much honor. Inflective Medallion. The vertical line I expresses affirmation. The horizontal line 2 expresses negation. The oblique line 3 rejects despicable things. The oblique line 4 rejects things wliich oppress us,- of which we would be freed. 5. The quarter-circle, whose form recalls that of the hammock, expresses well-being, happiness, confidence. 6. The curvilinear eccentric quarter-circle expresses secrecy, si- lence, possession, domination, stability, imposition, inclusion, 7. The curvilinear outside quarter-circle expresses things slender, delicate (in two ways); the downward movement expresses moral and intellectual delicacy. 8. The outside quarter-circle expresses exuberance, plenitude, amplitude, generosity. 9. The circle which surrounds and embraces, characterizes glorifi- cation and exaltation. PART THIRD. ARTICULATE LANGUAGE. PART THIRD CHAPTER I. ORIGIN AND ORGANIC APPARATUS OF LANGUAGE. Man reveals his life through more than four mil- lions of inflections ere he can speak or gesticulate. When he begins to reason, to make abstractions, the vocal apparatus and gesture are insufficient ; he must speak', he must give his thought an outside form so that it may be appreciated and transmitted through the senses. There are things which can be expressed neither by sound nor gesture. For in- stance, how shall we say at the same time of a plant: "It is beautiful, but it has no smell." Thought must then be revealed by conventional signs, which are articulation. Therefore, God has endowed man with the rich gift of speech. Speech is the sense of the intelligence ; sound the sense of the life, and gesture that of the heart. Soul communicates with soul only through the senses. The senses are the condition of man as a pilgrim on this earth. Man is obliged to materialize 124 ARTICULAl'E LANGUAGE. all : the sensations'through the voice, the sentiments through gesture, the ideas through speech. The means of transmission are always material. This is why the church has sacraments, an exterior worship, chants, ceremonies. All its institutions arise from a principle eminently philosophical. Speech is formed by three agents : the lips, the tongue and the soft-palate. It is delightful to study the special role of these agents, the reason of their movements. They have a series of gestures that may be per- fectly understood. Thus language resembles the hand, having also its gesture. CHAPTER II. ELEMENTS OF ARTICULATE LANGUAGE. Every language is composed of consonants and vowels. These consonants and vowels are gestures. The value of the consonant is the gesture of the thing expressed. But as gesture is always the expression of a moral fact, each consonant has the intrinsic character of a movement of the heart. It is easy to prove that the consonant is a gesture. For example, in articulating it, the tongue rises to the palate and makes the same movement as the arm when it would repel something. The elements of all languages have the same meaning. The vowels correspond directly to the moral state. ' There is diversity of language because the things we wish to express vary from difference in usage and difference of manner and climate. What we call a shoe, bears among northern people a name indicating that it protects the feet from the cold ; among southern people it protects the feet from the heat. Elsewhere the shoe protects the feet against the roughness of the soil ; and in yet other places, it exists only as a defensive object — a weapon. These diverse interpretations require diverse signs. This does not prove the diversity of language, but 126 ARTICULATE LANGUAGE the diversity of the senses affected by the same object. Things are perceived only after the fashion of the perceiver, and this is why the syllables vary among different peoples. Nevertheless, there is but one language. We find everywhere these words : / an active personality, mc a passive personality, and mine an awarding person- ality. In every language we find the subject, the verb and the adjective. Every articulate language is composed of substan- tive, adjective and copulative ideas. All arts are found in articulation. Sound is the articulation of the vocal apparatus ; gesture the articulation of the dynamic apparatus ; language the articulation of the buccal apparatus. Therefore, music, the plastic arts and speech have their origin and their perfection in articulation. It is, then, of the utmost importance to understand thoroughly the elements of speech, which is at the same time a vocalization and a dynamic. Without this knowledge no oratorical art is possible. Let us now hasten to take possession of the riches of speech. CHAPTER III. THE ORATORICAL VALUE OF SPEECH. The privilege of speech may be considered under a double aspect, in itself and in its relations to the art of oratory. 1. In Itself. — Speech is the most wonderful gift of the Creator. Through speech man occupies the first rank in the scale of being. It is the language of the reason, and reason lifts man above every creature. Man through speech incarnates his mind to unite himself with his fellow-men, as the Son of God was incarnated to unite with human nature ; like the Son of God who nourishes humanity with his body in the eucharist, so man makes his speech understood by multitudes who receive it entire, without division or diminution. Eternal thanks to God for this ineffable gift, so great in itself, of such value in the art of oratory ! 2. What is the oratorical value of speech? In oratorical art, speech plays a subordinate but indis- pensable role. Let us examine separately the two members of this proposition. A. — In the hierarchy of oratorical powers, speech comes only in the third order. In fact, the child 128 ARTICULATE LANGUAGE. begins to utter cries and to gesticulate before he speaks. The text is only a label. The sense lies not in speech, but in inflection and gesture. Nature insti- tutes a movement, speech names the movement. Writing is a dead letter. Speech is only the title of that which gesture has announced ; speech comes only to confirm what is already understood by the auditors. We are moved in reading, not so much by what is said, as by the manner of reading. It is not what we hear that affects us, but that which we ourselves imagine. An author cannot fully express his ideas in writ- ing; hence the interpretation of the hearer is often false, because he does not know the writer. It is remarkable, the way in which we refer every- thing to ourselves. We must needs create a sem- blance of it. We are affected by a discourse because we place the personage in a situation our fancy has created. Hence it happens that we may be wrong in our interpretation, and that the author might say : "This is not my meaning." In hearing a symphony we at once imagine a scene, we give it an aspect ; this is why it affects us. A written discourse requires many illustrative epithets ; in a spoken discourse, the adjectives may be replaced by gesture and inflection. Imitation is the melody of the eye, inflection is the melody of the ear. All that strikes the eye has ORATORICAL VALUE OF SPEECH. 1 29 a sound ; this is why the sight of the stars produces an enchanting melody in our souls. Hence in a discourse, speech is the letter, and it is inflection and gesture which give it life. Never- theless : — B. — The role of speech, although subordinate, is not only important, but necessary. In fact, human language, as we have said, is composed of inflection, gesture and speech. Language would not be complete without speech. Speech has nothing to do with sentiment, it is true, but a discourse is not all sentiment; there is a place for reason, for demonstration, and upon this ground gesture has nothing to do; the entire work here falls back upon speech. Speech is the crown of oratorical action ; it is this which gives the final elucidation, which justifies ges- ture. Gesture has depicted the object, the Being, and speech responds : God. CHAPTER IV. THE VALUE OK WORDS IN PHRASES. Expression is very difficult. One may possess great knowledge and lack power to express it. Elo- quence does not always accompany intellect. As a rule, poets do not know how to read what they have written. Hence we may estimate the importance of understanding the value of the different portions of a discourse. Let us now examine intellectual lan- guage in relation to intensity of ideas. There are nine species of words, or nine species of ideas. The article need not be counted, since it is lacking in several languages. It is the accord of nine which composes the language, and which cor- responds to the numbers. Every word has a deter- minate, mathematical value. As many unities must be reckoned on the initial consonant as there are values in the word. Thus the subject has less value than the attribute. The attribute has a value of six degrees and rep- resents six times the intensity of the subject. Why? Because God has willed that we should formulate our idea with mathematical intensities. The value rests only upon the initial consonant VALUE OF WORDS IN PHRASES. I31 of the word. Words have only one expressive por- tion, that is, the initial consonant. It receives the whole value, and is the invariable part of the word. It is the root. Words are transformed in passing from language to language, and nevertheless retain their radical. How shall we say that a flower is charming? Do not demand of intensity of sound a value it does not possess. It suffices to await the articula- tion of the consonant. The most normal phenomena remain true to mechanical laws. The mere articulation of the word expresses more than all the vocal and imitative effects that can be introduced. Most speakers dwell upon the final word ; this habit is absolutely opposed to the nature of heart movements. This school habit is hard to correct, and if Rachel became a great artiste, it was because she did not have this precedent. The subject represents one degree ; it is the weakest expression. The verb represents two degrees; the attribute six. Let us illustrate the manner of passing from one to six as follows : A rustic comes to visit you upon some sort of business. This man has a purpose. As you are a musician he is surprised by his first sight of a piano. He says to himself: "What is this? It is a singular object." It is neither a table nor a cupboard. He now 132 ARTICULATE LANGUAGE. perceives the ivory keys and other keys of ebony. What can this mean? He stands confounded before an instrument entirely new to him. If it were given to him, he would not know what to do with it; he might burn it. The piano interests him so much that he forgets the object of his visit. He sees you arrive. You occupy for him the place of the verb in relation to the object which interests him. He passes from this object to you. Although you are not the object which engrosses him, there js a progression in the interest, because he knows that through you he will learn what this piece of furniture is. "Tell me what this is !" he cries. You strike the piano ; it gives forth an accord. O heavens, how beautiful ! He is greatly moved, he utters many expressions of delight, and now he would not burn the instrument. Here is a progression. At first the piece of fur- niture interests him ; then its owner still more ; at last the attributes of the piano give it its entire value. But why six degrees upon the last term ? The value of a fact comes from its limitation ; the knowledge of an idea also proceeds from its limitation. A fact in its general and vague expression, awakens but little interest. But as it descends from the genus to the species, from the species to the individual, it grows more interesting. It comes more within our capacity. We do not embrace the vast circle of a generic fact. VALUE OF WORDS IN PHRASES. 133 Let us take another proposition : pleasing." 'A flower is !_ of the forest 4 this S little J 345^ pleasing— 7 very 6 faded 9 Oh! The word flower alone says nothing to the imag- ination. Is it a rose or a lily of the valley? The expression is too vague. When the idea of genus is modified by that of species, we are better satisfied. Let us say : " The flower of the forest." This word forest conveys an idea to the mind. We can make our bouquet. We think of the lily of the valley, of the violet, the anemone, the periwinkle. This restriction gives value to the subject. Forest is more important than the verb which does not com- plete the idea, and less important than pleasing. Therefore we place 3 upon forest, and shall rank pleasing from 3 to 4, since it closes the assertion. If we individualize by the word tJiis, we augment the value by giving actuality to the word flower. This has more value than tlie forest, because it des- ignates the subject. Hence this has four degrees. As pleasing forms the very essence of our prop- osition, we are obliged to give it five degrees. The idea is still somewhat vague. If I specify it 134 ARTICULATE LANGUAGE. Still further by saying this little floiuer, little has a higher value than all the other words. What value shall we give this adjective ? We have reached five, but have not yet fully expressed the idea which impresses us. Little must therefore have six degrees. This is the sole law for all the languages of the world. There are no two ways of articulating the words of a discourse. When we learn a dis- course by heart in order to deliver it, and take no account of the value of the terms, the divine law is reversed. Now, if we could introduce an expression here, which would at once enhance the value of the word pleasing, it would evidently be stronger than all the others. In fact, if the way in which a thing is pleas- ing can be expressed, it is evident that this manner of being pleasing will rise above the word itself We do not know the proportion in which the flower is pleasing. We will say that it is very pleas- ing. This adverb gives the word pleasing a new value. It is in turn modified. If we should say immensely, or use any other adverb of quantity, the value would remain the same. It would still be a modification. Thus, when we say of God that he is good, immense, infinite, there is always a limitation attached to the idea of God, — a limitation necessary to our nature. For God is not good in the way we understand goodness or greatness ; but our finite minds need some expression for our idea. THE CONJUNCTION. 135 We see the word pleasing modified in turn, and the term which modifies it, is higher than itself. Very pleasing, — what value shall we give it? We can give it no more than seven here. A single word may obliterate the effect produced by all these expressions. A simple conjunction may be introduced which will entirely modify all we have taken pains to say. It is a but. But is an entire discourse. We no longer believe what has been said hitherto, but what follows this word. This conjunc- tion has a value of eight degrees, a value possible to all conjunctions without exception. It sums up the changes indicated by subsequent expressions, and embraces them synthetically. It has, then, a very great oratorical value. The Conjunction. 1. We refer here only to conjunctions in the ellip- tical sense. The conjunction is an ellipse, because it is the middle term between two members of the sentence which are the extremes ; it recalls what has just been said, and indicates what is to come. Con- sidered in itself, the word andy when elliptical, em- braces what has just been said, and what is about to be said. All this is founded upon the principle that the means are equal to the extremes. 2. The copulative or enumerative conjunctions, have only two degrees. We see that a conjunction is not elliptical when, instead of uniting propositions, it unites only ideas of the same character. 136 ARTICULATE LANGUAGE. 3. Determinative conjunctions have only three degrees. For example: "It is necessary that I should work." That has only three degrees. 4. The values indicated can be changed only by additional values justified by gesture. Thus in the phrase: "This medley of glory and honor," — the value of the word medley can and must be changed ; but a gesture is necessary, for speech is only a feeble echo of gesture. Only gesture can justify a value other than that indicated in this demonstration. This value is purely grammatical, but the gesture may give it a superlative idea, which we call addi- tional value. The value of consonants may vary in the pronunciation according to their valuation by the speakers. More or less value is given to the degrees noted and to be noted, as there is more or less emotion in the speaker. This explains why a gesture, which expresses an emotion of the soul, justifies changing the gram- matical value in the pronunciation of consonants. 5. Even aside from additional values, the gesture must always precede the articulation of the initial consonant. Otherwise to observe the degree would be supremely ridiculous. The speaker would re- semble a skeleton, a statue. The law of values becomes vital only through gesture and inflection. Stripped of the poetry of gesture and inflection, the application of the law is monstrous. To place six degrees upon pleasing without ges- ture, is abominable. THE CONJUNCTION. 137 We now understand the spirit of gesture, which is given to man to justify values. It is for him to de- cide whether the proposition is true or not. If we deprive our discourse of gestures, no way is left to prove the truth of values. Thus gesture is prescribed by certain figures, and we shall now see from a prop- osition, how many gestures are needed, and to what word the gesture should be given. Tlie Conjunction Continued — Various Examples. The degree of value given to the conjunction, may be represented by the figure 8. Let us justify this valuation by citing these two lines of Racine : " The wave comes on, it breaks, and vomits 'neath our eyes. Amid the floods of foam, a monster grim and dire." The ordinary reader would allow the conjunction and to pass unperceived, because the word is not sonorous, and we accord oratorical effects only to sonorous words. But the man who sees the mean- ing fully, and who adds and, has said the whole. The other words are important, but everything is implied in this conjunction. Racine has not placed and here to disjoin, but to unite. We give another example of the conjunction : Augustus says to Cinna : " Take a chair Cinna, and in all things heed Strictly the law that I lay down for thee." 138 ARTICULATE LANGUAGE. Let US suppress the isolation and silence of the conjunction, and there is no more color. Augustus adds : " Hold thy tongue captive, and if silence deep To thy emotion do some violence" — Suppress the silence and isolation of the conjunc- tion and, and how poor is the expression ! In the fable of " The Wolf and the Dog:" "Sire wolf would gladly have attacked and slain him, but it would have been necessary to give battle, and it was now almost morning." The entire significance lies in the silence which follows the conjunctions. We speak of a sympathetic conjunction, and also of one denoting surprise or admiration; but this conjunction differs from the interjection, only in this respect : it rests upon the propositions and unites its terms. Like the interjection, it is of a synthetic and elliptic nature ; it groups all the expressions it unites as interjectives. It is, then, from this point of view, exclamative. In the fable of "The Wolf and the Lamb," the wolf says : " This must be some one of your own race, for you would not think of sparing me, you shepherds and you dogs." Here is an interjective conjunction. Suppress the complaint after for, and there is no more effect. The conjunction is the soul of the discourse. THE INTERJECTION. 1 39 In the exclamation in "Joseph Sold by his Breth- ren," we again find an interjective conjunction. " Alas and The ingrates who would sell me ! " Here the conjunction and yields little to the inter- jection alas. It has fully as much value. Tlic Interjection in Relation to its Degree of Value. The interjection has 9 degrees ; this is admirably suited to the interjection, an elliptical term which comprises the three terms of a proposition. In summing up the value of a simple proposition, we have (a noteworthy thing) the figure 9. This gives the accord of 9. The subject i, the verb 2, and 6 upon the attribute, equal 9. Thus the equation is perfect. Gesture is the rendering of the ellipse. Gesture is the elliptical language given to man to express what speech is powerless to say. We have spoken of additional figures. Each of these figures supposes a gesture. There is a gesture, an imitative expression wherever there is an addi- tional figure. An ellipse in a word, such as is met with in the conjunction and the interjection, demands a gesture. 9 is a neutral term which must be sustained by gesture and inflection. Gesture would be the inflec- tion of the deaf, inflection the gesture of the blind. The orator should, in fact, address himself to the deaf as well as to the blind. Gesture and inflection I40 ARTICULATE LANGUAGE. should supplement physical and mental infirmities, and God in truth has given man this double means of expression. There is also a triple expression, which is double in view of this same modification of speech. Let us suppose this proposition : " How much pain I suffer in hearing ! " According to the rules laid down, we have 3 upon pain, 6 upon suffer, and 6 again upon hearing. It is said that Talma brought out the intensity of his suffering by resting on the vf or 6. pain. This was wrong. We should always seek the expression equivalent to that employed, to attain a certain value. If, instead of the determinate conjunction that, we should have how much i^combieii) , this would evi- dently be the important word. This word has an elliptical form. It evidently belongs to a preceding proposition. It means : " I could not express all that I suffer." Then 6 must be placed upon how inucli and not upon pain. But the figure 6 here is a thermemeter which indi- cates a degree of vitality ; it does not express the degree of vitality ; that is reserved for gesture. We need not ask what degree this can give ; its office is to express — and this is a good deal — a value me- chanical and material, but very significant. A rever- sion of values may constitute a falsehood. Stage actors are sometimes indefinably comic in this way. DEGREES OF VALUE. 14I A Resume of the Degrees of Value. To crown this unprecedented study upon lan- guage, we give in a table, a resume of the different degrees of value in the various parts of a discourse, relative to the initial consonant. The object of the preposition i The verb to be and the prepositions .... 2 The direct or indirect regimen 3 The limiting (possessive and demonstrative) ad- jectives 4 The qualifying adjectives 5 The participles or substantives taken adjectively or attributively ; that is to say, every word com- ing immediately after the verb, in fine, the at- tribute 6 The adverbs 7 Conjunctions, superlative ideas or additional fig- ures 8 The interjection 9 The pronoun is either subject or complement, and therefore included in the rest. As for the article, it is not essential to a language ; there is no article in Latin. Thus the value of our ideas is expressed by figures. We have only to reckon on our fingers. We might beat time for the pronunciation of the consonants as for the notes of music. Let the pupil exercise his fingers, and attain that skill which allows the articulation of a radical consonant only after he 142 ARTICULATE LANGUAGE. has marked with his finger the time corresponding to its figure. If difficulties present themselves at first, so much the better; he will only the more accurately distinguish the value of the words. CHAPTER V. FRENCH AND LATIN PROSODY. French Prosody. Prosody is the rhythmic pronunciation of syllables according to accent, respiration, and, above all, quan- tity. In the Italian there are no two equal sounds ; the quantity is never uniform. Italian is, therefore, the most musical of languages. Where we place one accent upon a vowel, the Italians place ten. There is a euphonic law for every language ; all idioms must have an accent. In every language there are intense sounds and subdued sounds ; the Italians hold to this variety of alternate short and long sounds. Continuous beauty should be avoided. A beautiful tone must be introduced to relieve the others. Monotony in sounds as well as in pronun- ciation, must be guarded against. Harmony lies in opposition. There is but one rule of quantity in French pro- nunciation. Here is the text of this law : There are and can be only long initial or final vowels — whence we conclude: I. Every final is long and every penultimate is final, since e mute is not pronounced. 144 ARTICULATE LANGUAGE. 2 The length of initial vowels depends upon the value of the initial consonants which they precede. A word cannot contain two long vowels unless it begins with a vowel. In this case, the vowel of the preceding word is long, and prepares for the enun- ciation of the consonant according to its degree. Every first consonant in a word is strong, as it constitutes the radical or invariable part of the word. The force of this consonant is subordinate to the ruling degree of the idea it is called to decide. But every vowel which precedes this first consonant is long, since it serves as a preparation for it. But to what degree of length may this initial vowel be car- ried? The representative figure of the consonant will indicate it. Usually, the first consonant of every word is rad- ical. Still there might be other radical consonants in the same word. But the first would rise above the others. The radical designates the substance of being, and the last consonant the manner. The whole secret of expression lies in the time we delay the articulation of the initial consonant. This space arrests the attention and prevents our catching the sound at a disadvantage. Latin Prosody. 1. The final of a word of several syllables is usually short. 2. In words of two syllables, the first is long. In LATIN PROSODY. 1 45 Latin words of two syllables, the first almost always contains the radical. 3. In words of three and more syllables, there is one long syllable: sometimes the first, sometimes another. We rest only upon this, all the others being counted more or less short. in compound words no account need be made of prefixes. There are many compound words ; and, consequently, it is often the last or next to the last consonant which is the radical. The last consonant represents always, in variable words, quality, person, mode or time. The radical, on the contrary, represents the sum and substance. 4. Monosyllables are long, but they have, espe- cially when they follow each other, particular rules, which result from the sense of the phrases, and from the mutual dependence of words. CHAPTER VI. METHOD. Dictation Exercises. A subject and text being given, notes may be written under the nine following heads : 1 . Oratorical value of ideas. 2. The ellipse. 3. Vocal inflections. 4. Inflective affinities, or relation to the preceding inflections. 5. Gestures. 6. Imitative affinities. 7. The special rule for each gesture. 8. The law whence this rule proceeds. 9. Reflections upon the portrayal of personal character. CHAPTER VII. A SERIES OF GESTURES FOR EXERCISES. Preliminary Reflections. We know the words of Garrick : " I do not confide in myself, not I, in that inspira- tion for which idle mediocrity waits." Art, then, presents a solid basis to the artist, upon which he can rest and reproduce at will the history of the human heart as revealed by gesture. This is true, and it is as an application of this truth that we are about to consider the series, which is an exposition of the passions that agitate man, an ini- tiation into imitative language. It is a poem, and at the same time it lays down rules through whose aid the self-possessed artist can regain the gesture which arises from sudden perturbation of the heart. It is a grammar which must be studied incessantly, in order to understand the origin and value of imita- tive expressions. The development of the series is based upon the static, the semeiotic and the dynamic. The static is the life of gesture ; it is the science of the equipoise of levers, it teaches the weight of the limbs and the extent of their development, in 148 ARTICULATE LANGUAGE. order to maintain the equilibrium of the body. Its criterion should be a sort of balance. The semeiotic is the spirit and rationale of ges- ture. It is the science of signs. The dynamic is the action of equiponderant forces through the static ; it regulates the proportion of movements the soul would impress upon the body. The foundation and criterion of the dynamic, is the law of the pendulum. The series proceeds, resting upon these three pow- ers. The semeiotic has given the signs, it becomes aesthetic in applying them. The semeiotic says : " Such a gesture reveals such a passion; " and ges- ture replies: "To such a passion I will apply such a sign." And without awaiting the aid of an inspira- tion often hazardous, deceitful and uncertain, it moulds the body to its will, and forces it to repro- duce the passion the soul has conceived. The se- meiotic is a science, the aesthetic an act of genius. The series divides its movements into periods of time, in accordance with the principle that the more time a movement has, the more its vitality and power ; and so every articulation becomes the object of a time. The articulations unfold successively and harmo- niously. Every articulation which has no action, must remain absolutely pendent, or become stiff. Grace is closely united to gesture; the manifold play of the articulations which constitutes strength, also constitutes grace. Grace subdues only because SERIES OP' GESTURES FOR EXERCISES. 1 49 sustained by strength, and because strength naturally subdues. Grace without strength is affectation. Every vehement movement must affect the verti- cal position, because obliquity deprives the move- ment of force, by taking from it the possibility of showing the play of the articulations. The demonstration of movement is in the head. The head is the primary agent of movement; the body is the medium agent, the arm the final agent. Three agents in gesture are especially affected in characterizing the life, mind and soul. The thumb is the index-sign of life ; the shoulder is the sign of passion and sentiment ; the elbow is the sign of humility, pride, power, intelligence and sacrifice. The first gesture of the series is the interpellation, the entrance upon the scene. The soul is scarce moved as yet, and still this is the most difficult of gestures, because the most complex. It must indi- cate the nature of the interpellation, its degree and the situation of the giver and receiver of the sum- mons in regard to each other. A study of the signs which distinguish these dif- ferent shades will teach us the analysis of gesture. Aside from simple interpellation, the series passes successively from gratitude, devotion, etc., to anger, menace and conflict, leaving the soul at the point where it is subdued and asks forgiveness. The passional or fugitive type forms the constant subject of the study of this series. 150 articulate language. The Series of Gestures Applied to the Senti- ments Oftenest Expressed by the Orator. FIRST GESTURE. Interpellation. Interpellation embraces five steps : The first consists in elevating the shoulder in token of aff"ection. If the right shoulder, as in figure 2 with the right leg weak. The second step consists in a rotary movement of the arm, its object being to present the epicondyle (elbow-joint) to the interlocutor. For this reason the epicondyle is called the eye of the arm. The third stage consists in substituting the articu- lation of the wrist for the epicondyle. In making the forward movement of the body, the epicondyle must resume its natural place. The fourth step consists in extending the hand toward the speaker in such a way as to present to him the extremities of the fingers. The fifth step is formed by a rapid rotation of the hand. SECOND GESTURE. Thanks — Affectionate and Ceremonious. This gesture consists of six steps : 1. Consists in lifting the hand and lowering the head. 2. Consists in raising the hand to the hip. 3. The head inclines to one side, and the elbow SERIES OF GESTURES FOR EXERCISES. 151 at the same time rises to aid the hand in reaching the lips. 4. In this, the head resumes its normal position, while the elbow is lowered to bring back the hand to the same position. 5. In this, the hand passes from the horizontal to the vertical position, rounding toward the arm. 6. In this, the arm is developed, and then the hand. THIRD GESTURE. Attraction. In this gesture there are three steps : 1 . The hand turns toward the interlocutor with an appealing aspect. 2. The hand opens Hke a fan with the little finger tending toward the chest. 3. The elbow is turned outward, and the hand passes toward the breast. FOURTH GESTURE. Surprise and Assurance. 1. This consists in elevating the shoulders, open- ing the eyes and mouth and raising the eyebrow ; the whole in token of surprise. 2. Raise the passive hand above the chin, making it turn around the wrist. 3. The h^nd still passive, is directed toward the person addressed, the elbow being pressed against the body. I 52 ARTICULATE LANGUAGE. 4. The arm is gradually extended toward the per- son addressed, while the hand is given an opposite direction ; that is, the palm of the hand is toward him. FIFTH GESTURE. Devotion. This gesture embraces seven movements : 1 . This consists in raising the passive hand to the level of the other hand, but in an inverse direction. 2. This consists in turning back the hand toward one's self 3. This consists in drawing the elbows to the body, and placing the hands on the chest. 4. This is produced by taking a step backward, and turning a third to one side ; during the execu- tion of this step, the elbows are raised, and the head is lowered. 5. This consists in drawing the elbows near the body, and placing the hands above the shoulders. 6. This consists in developing the arms. 7. This consists in developing the hands. SIXTH GESTURE. Interrogative Surprise. This surprise is expressed in two movements: 1. This is wholly facial. 2. This is made by advancing the hand and draw- ing the head backward. SERIES OF GESTURES FOR EXERCISES. 1 53 SEVENTH GESTURE. Reiterated Interrogation. This gesture signifies : I do not understand, I cannot explain your conduct to me. It embraces five steps : 1 . This consists in placing both hands beneath the chin, and violently elevating the shoulders. 2. This consists in bringing the hands to the level of the chest, as if in search of something there. 3. This consists in extending both hands toward the interlocutor, as if to show him that they contain nothing. 4. This consists in extending one hand in the opposite direction, and letting the head and body follow the hand. 5. This consists in turning the head vehemently toward the interlocutor, and suddenly lowering the shoulders. EIGHTH GESTURE. Anger. This gesture is made in three movements : 1. This consists in raising the arm. 2. This consists in catching hold of the sleeve. 3. This consists in carrying the clenched hand to the breast, and drawing back the other arm. NINTH GESTURE. Menace. This gesture consists of a preparatory move- ment, which is made by lowering the hand while the 154 ARTICULATE LANGUAGE. arm is outstretched toward the interlocutor, then the finger is extended, and the hand is outstretched in menace. The eye follows the finger as it would follow a pistol ; this occasions a reversal of the head propor- tional to that of the hand. TENTH GESTURE. An Order for Leaving. This is executed : 1. By turning around on the free limb. 2. By carrying the body with it. 3. By executing a one-fifth sideward movement — the right leg very weak. All these movements are made by retaining the gesture of the preceding men- ace. Then only the menacing hand is turned in- ward at the height of the eye, at the moment when it is about to pass the line occupied by the head ; the elbow is raised to allow the hand a downward movement, which ends in an indication of departure. In this indication the hand is absolutely reversed, that is, it is in pronation. Then only does the head, which has hitherto been lowered, rise through the opposition of the extended arm. ELEVENTH GESTURE. Reiteration. I. The whole body tends toward the hand which is posed above the head. The right leg passes from weak to strong. SERIES. OF GESTURES FOR EXERCISES. 155 2. The head is turned backward toward the inter- locutor. - 3. It rises. 4. The arm extends. 5. The hand in supination gives intimation of the order. TWELFTH GESTURE. Fright. The right hand pendent. The left hand rises. Tremor. The first movement is executed in one-third ; the body gently passes into the fourth, and as the fifth is being accomplished, the arm is thrust forward as if to repel the new object of terror. At this moment a metamorphose seems to take place, and the object which had occasioned the fright, seems to be transfigured and to become the subject of an affectionate impulse. The hands extend toward this object not to repel it, but to im- plore it to remain ; it seems to become more and more ennobled, and to assume in the astonished eyes of the actor, a celestial form — it is an angel. There- fore the body recoils anew one-fourth; the hands fall back in token of acquiescence ; then, while draw- ing near the body, they extend anew toward the angel {Jiere a third in token of affection and venera- tion'). Then a prayer is addressed to it, and again the arms extend toward it in entreaty. ^ Here the orator falls upon his knees.) 156 ARTICULATE LANGUAGE. The series can hs executed beginning with the right arm or the left, being careful to observe the initial and principal movement, with the arms at the side where the scene opened. This gives the same play of organs only in an inverse sense. Important Remarks. Should any student despair of becoming familiar with our method, we give him three pieces of ad- vice, all easy of application : 1. Never speak without having first expressed what you would say by gesture. Gesture must always precede speech. 2. Avoid parallelism of gesture. The opposition of the agents is necessary to equilibrium, to har- mony. 3. Retain the same gesture for the same senti- ment. In saying the same thing the gesture should not be changed. Should the student limit himself to the application of these three rules, he will not regret this study of the Practice of the Art of Oratory. APPENDIX. THE SYMBOLISM OF COLORS APPLIED TO THE ART OF ORATORY. We close this book with an appendix which will serve for ornament. Before delivering up a suite of rooms, we are wont to embellish them with rich decorations. Architects usually color their plans. We also wish to give color to our criterion, by ex- plaining the symbolism of colors. GENUS. SPECIES. 1 3 2 II Concentric. i-II Ecc.-Conc. Violet-blue. 3-n Norm. -Cone. Green-blue. 2-11 Cone. -Cone. Indigo. Normal. Ill i-III Ecc.-Norm. Red-yellow. 3-III Norm. -Norm. Yellow. 2-III Cone. -Norm. Green-yellow. Eccentric. I i-I Ecc.-Ecc. Red. 3-1 Norm.-Ecc. Yellow-red. 2-1 Conc.-Ecc. Violet-red. 1 5 8 APPENDIX. In the literary world, color gives forms of speech consecrated by frequent usage. Thus we very often say : a florid style, a brilliant orator. This figurative language signifies that in order to shine, the orator must be adorned with the lustre of flowers. And as one flower excels others and pleases us by the beauty of its colors, so the orator must excel, and please by the brilliant shades of his diction. It is as impossible to give renown to a monotonous and colorless orator as to a faded, discolored flower. Would you give to the phenomena of your or- ganism this beautiful corolla of the flower of your garden, throw your glance upon nature. Nature speaks to the eye through an enchanting variety of colors, and these colors in turn teach man how he may himself speak to the eyes. The whole man might recognize himself under the smiling emblem of colors. Imagine him in whatever state you will, a color will give you the secret of his aspirations. And so it has been easy for us to shov/ you the orator imaged in this colored chart, and we shall have no trouble in justifying our choice of colors. Since man, as to his soul, presents himself in three states : the sensitive, intellectual and moral ; and in his organism in the eccentric, concentric and normal states ; a priori, you may conclude that nature has three colors to symbolize the three states, and ex- perience will not contradict you. In fact, red, yellow and blue are the primitive SYMBOLISM OF COLORS. 159 colors. All others are derived from these three rudimentary colors. Why have we painted the column that corresponds to the life red ? Because red is the color of blood, and the life is in the blood. But life is the fountain of strength and power. Hence red is the proper symbol of strength and power in God, in man and in the demon. Why blue in the column of the concentric state, the mind? Because blue, from its transparency, is most soothing to our eyes. Why yellow in the column of the soul? Because yellow has the color of flame ; it is the true symbol of a soul set on fire by love. Yellow is, then, the emblem of pure love and of impure flames. Why not use white in our chart? Because white is incandescence in the highest degree. We say of iron that it is at a red or a white heat. But in this world it is rare to see a heart at a white heat. Earthly thermometers do not mark this degree of heat. It cannot be denied that red, yellow and blue are the three elementary colors, whose union gives birth to all the varieties that delight our eyes. We have proof of this in one of nature's most beautiful phe- nomena — the rainbow. The rainbow is composed of seven colors. Here we distinguish the red, yellow and blue in all their purity ; then from the fusion of these three primary colors, we have violet, orange, green and indigo. l60 APPENDIX. This is the order in which the seven colors of the rainbow appear to us : Violet {red), orange {yellow) , green {blue), indigo. Orange is composed of yellow and red. Yellow mixed with blue, produces green. Blue when satu- rated, becomes indigo. Upon closer investigation, we may easily find the nine shades which correspond perfectly to the nine operations of our faculties, and to the nine functions of angelic minds. By complicating and blending the mixture of these colors, we shall have all the tints that make nature so delightful a paradise. The seven notes of music sound in accord with the seven colors of the rainbow. There is a broth- erhood between the seven notes and the seven colors. The voice-apparatus, with that of speech and ges- ture, is for the orator a pallet like that upon which the painter prepares and blends those colors which, under the brush of a Raphael, would at once glow forth in a masterpiece. Delsarte's criterion is true ; still more, it is beauti- ful, especially so with its brilliant adornment of the colors of the rainbow. We verify our judgment by an explanation of the colored chart. As may be seen, this chart is an exact reproduc- tion of the criterion explained at the beginning of this book, only we have adorned it with colors anal- ogous to the different states of the soul that art is called upon to reproduce. SYMBOLISM OF COLORS. l6l Beginning with the three transverse cokimns cor- responding to the genus, we have painted the lower column red, the middle column yellow, and the upper one blue. These are the three colors that symbol- ize the life, soul and mind, as well as the genera. Passing to the vertical columns which correspond to species, we have painted the first column red, the second yellow, and the third blue, passing from left to right. The blending of these colors produces the variety of shades we might have in this representa- tion. Blue added to blue gives indigo ; blue with yellow gives a deep green ; with red, violet. Yellow passed over to the middle column, gives bright green upon blue ; pure yellow, when passed upon yellow, and orange upon red. Thus pure red will be the expression of the sen- sitive state or the life. Orange will render soul from life, and violet will be the symbol of mind from life. Applying this process of examination to the two other columns, we shall know by one symbolic color, what the soul wishes at the present hour, and these same colors will, besides, serve to regulate the atti- tude of our organs. Honor and thanks to the genius which gives us this criterion, where is reflected the harmony of all -worlds ! EPILOGUE. In this rational grammar of the art of oratory, I have given the rules of all the fine arts. All arts have the same principle, the same means and the same end. They are akin, they interpenetrate, they mutually aid and complete each other. They have a common scope and aim. Thus, music needs speech and gesture. Painting and sculpture derive their merit from the beauty of attitudes. There is no masterpiece outside the rules here laid down. It is not enough to know the rules of the art of oratory. He who would become an orator, must make them his own. Even this is not enough for the free movement of the agents which reveal the mind, the soul and the life. The method must be so familiar as to seem a second nature. Woe to the orator if calculation and artifice be divined in his speech ! How shun this quicksand ? By labor and exercise. The instruments and the manner of using them are in your hands, student of oratory. Set about your work. Practice gymnastics, but let them be gymnastics in the service of the soul, in the serv- 1 64 EPILOGUE. ice of noble thoughts and generous sentiments — divine gymnastics for the service of God. Renew your nature. Lay aside the swaddling- bands of your imperfections, conform your lives to the highest ideals of uprightness and truth. Exercise your voice, your articulation and your gestures. If need be, like Demosthenes, place pebbles in your mouth ; repair like that great orator to the sea-shore, brave the fury of the billows, accustom yourself to the tumult and roar of assemblies. Do not fear the fracture or dislocation of your limbs as you seek to render them supple, to fashion them after the model, the type you have before your eyes. Labor omnia vincit. In any event, be persevering. Novitiate and ap- prenticeship in any profession, are difficult. In every state the bitterness of trial is to be expected. To arrive at initiation has its joys, to arrive at per- fection is a joy supreme. Beneath the rind of this mechanism, this play of organs, dwells a vivifying spirit. Beneath these tangible forms of art, the Divine lies hidden, and will be revealed. ^\nd the soul that has once known the Divine, feels pain no longer, but is overwhelmed with joy. Art is the richest gift of heaven to earth. The true artist does not grow old ; he is never too old to feel the charm of divine beaut)'. The more a soul has been deceived, the more it has been chastened by suffering, the more susceptible it is to the benefits of art. This is why music soothes our EPILOGUE. 165 sorrows and doubles our joys. Song is the treasure of the poor. Return, then, with renewed enthusiasm to your work ! The end is worth the pains. The human organism is a marvelous instrument which God has given for our use. It is a harmonious lyre, with nine chords, each rendering various sounds. These three chords for the voice, and three for both gesture and speech, have their thousand resonances at the service of the life, the soul and the mind. As these chords vibrate beneath your fingers, they will give voice to the emotions of the life, to the jubilations of the heart and the raptures of the mind. This delightful concert will lend enchant- ment to your passing years, throwing around them all the attractions of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. We may well salute the three Graces and the nine Muses as gracious emblems, but it is far better to discern in art, the reflected image of the triple celestial hierarchy with its nine angel cho- ruses. Honor, then, to the fine arts ! Glory to eloquence ! Praise to the good man who knows how to speak well ! Blessed be the great orator ! Like our tutelary angel, he will show us the path that con- ducts or leads back to God. INDEX, A. Abdominal centre, the, life, 109 Accord of nine, the, 7 Adverb, the, 134 Alto voice, the, 11 Anger, 153 Animals do not laugh, 43 Appendix, 157 Arms, movements of the, 87 five million movements of the agents of the, 90 division of, log Art, definition of, ix the true aim of, 47 all, have the same principle, etc , 163 Articulate language, weakness of, 48 origin and organic apparatus of, 123 elements of, 123 Articulations, the, 148 Attraction, 151 Attractive centres, iii Attribute, the, 130 Audience, an, different from an individu- al — the greater thenumbers the less the intelligence, 48 B. Bass voice, the, 1 1 Beauty exists only in fragments, xi Body, divisions of the, 109 Buccal (cheek) zone, the, 108 machinery (articulate speech), the lan- guage of the mindj xiv C. Calculation and artifice, if detected, quick- sands to the orator, 163 Captain Renard, the fable of, 115 Captivating an audience, the secret of, 9 Caress, the, 99 Chastity, concave, 80 Chest, the three attitudes, 84 divisions of, 109 Chest-voice, the expression of the sensi- tive Hfe, 16 should be little used, 1 7 the eccentric voice, 18 Cliorography, 117 Cicero, 3 Circle, the, for exalting and caressing, 115 Colors, symbolism of, 157 the primitive, 158 the three that symbolize the lifi*, soul and mind, 161 Concentric state, the, xiv Conjunction, the, 135 the soul of the discourse, 138 Consonants, musical, 17 are gestures, 12s the initial, 130 variation in the value of, 136 beat time for the pronunciation of, 141 every first, is strong, 144 Cries, 34 D. Delivery, a hasty, 25 Delsarte, biographical sketch o^ iii the criterion of, j6o Demosthenes, 164 Devotion, 152 Dictation exercises, 146 Dynamic apparatus, its composition, 65 E. Ear, the most delicate sense, 10 Eccentric state, the, xiv Elbow, the, 89 thermometer of the relative life, no the sign of humility, pride, etc., 149 Eloquence holds the first rank among the arts, ix to be taught and learned, xi is composed of three languages, xv does not always accompany intellect, 130 Epicondyle, the eye of the arm, 8g, 150 Epigastric centre, the, soul, log Epiglottis, contracting the, 21 Epilogue, 163 Equilibrium, the laws of, ^5 Expiration , the sign of, 54 Exclamations, 34 Expression, very difficult, 130 the whole secret of, 144 i68 INDEX. Kxpressive centres, m i-^ye, the tolerance o^ Ji Eyes, the, 71 the nine expressions of the, 75 parallelism between the voice and the, n , Eyebrow, the, 72, 77 the thermometer of the mind, 77 Fnce, the divided into three zones^ 108 Fact, the value of a, comes from its lim- itation, 132 FingerSj-the, 99 French prosody, 143 Fright, 155 Force and interui^t consist in suspension, 60 Frontal (foreliend) zone, the, 108 Galen, X Garrick, xi, 147 Genal (chin) zone, the, loS Gesture, in general, 39 is for sentiments, 39 its services to humanity, 40 reveals the inner man, 41 the direct agent of the heart, 43 the interpreter of speech, 43 an ellipticallanguage, 44, 139 division of, 45 harmony and dissonance of, 45 origin and oratorical value of, 47 snperior to the other languages, 49 ib magnetic, 50 the laws of, 51 must always precede speech, 51 retroaction, 52 joy and fright require backward move- ment, 53 equilibrium the great law of, 55 the harmonic law of, 56 parallelism of, 57 numbers of, 57 lack of intelligence indicated by many, 58. duration of, 60 the rhythm of, 61 importance of the laws of, 63 the semeiotic or reason of, 107 the types that characterize, 107 its modifying apparatus, loS the inflections of, 114 delineation of, 117 spheroidal form of, 117 the sense of the heart, 123 ihe spirit of, 137 the inflection of the deaf, 139 a series of, for exercises, 147 the static the life of, 147 the semeiotic the spirit and rationale of. 14X the dynamic, 14S Gesture, the series of, applied to the senti- ments oftenest expressed, 150 the, of interpellation, 150 the, of thanks, affectionate and cer- emonious, 150 the, of attraction, 151 the, of surprise and assurance, 151 the, of devotion, 153 the, of interrogative surprise, 152 the, of reiterated interrogation, 153 the, of anger, 153 the, of menace, 153 the, of an order for leaving, 154 the, of reiteration, 154 the, of fright, 155 three important rules for. 156 Grace, 148 Great movements only for great exalta- tion of sentiment, 58 Groans, 3 4 Gymnastics, the grand law of organic, xiv the practice of, 163 H. Habit, 107 Hand, the, another expression of the face, 78 expressions of the. 79 its three presentations, 91 the digital face. 96 the back and the palmar face, 97 the three rhythmic actions, 98 Harmony, born of contrasts, 55 is in opposition, 143 Head, i he movements of, 65 the occipital, parietal and temporal zones of the, 109 the, primary agent of movement, 149 Head-voice, how produced, j6 interprets mental phenomena, 16 the concentric voice, 18 Heart, when to carry the hand to the, 54 High head, small brain, 71 Horace, 3 Humanity is crippled, xi Human science, the alpha and omega of, 7 Human word, composed of three lan- guages, 39, 129 Imitation, the melody of the eye, 128 Infant, the, has neither speech nor ges- ture, 47 Inflection, a modification of sound, 9 their importance, 29 illustrations of) 31 rules of, 32 must not be multiplied, 33 special, 34 life revealed through four millions of, 123 the melody of the ear, 128 the gesture of the blind, 139 Interjection, the, 139 INDEX. 169 Interrogative surprise, i?2 Inspiration, when allowable, 28 the sign of, 54 Interpellation, 150 Italian, no two equal sounds in, 143 J. Joy, the greatest in sorrow, 22 Laboring men, the ways of, 40 Lachrymose tone disgusting, 22 Lamentation, 34 Larynx, the, 9 coloring of, iS lowering the, 24 the thermometer of the sensitive life, 30 Latin prosody, 144 Laucl^ signihcation of the, 16 Its composition, 35 Legs, the, and their attitudes, 100 Liars do not elevate their shoulders, 86 Lifcj the sensitive state, xiii Logic often in default, 22 Lungs, the, 9 M. Man, the three phases of, xiii either painter, poet, scientist, or mys- tic, 91 three types in, 107 Measure in oratorical diction, 25 Mediocrity, 33 Medium voice, the expression of moral emotions, 16 the normal voice, 18 Meance, the head and hand, 69 Mental or reflective state, 4 Mind, the intellectual state, xiii Modest people turn out the elbow, 90 Moral or affective state, 4 Mother vowel, the, 14 Mouth, the, 9 no contraction of back part, 23 openings o^ for the various vowels, 15 Movements from various centres, no flexor, rotary and abductory, 114 Mucous membrane, tlie transmitter of sound, 23 Muscular machinery (gesture), the lan- guage of emotion, xiii Music, the seven notes of, 160 N. Nasal cavities, the, 13 Normal state, the. xiv Nose, a most complex and important agent, 113 nine divisions of the, 113 Occipital zone, the life, 109 Opposition of agents, 55 Orator, the, should be a man of worth, ix Oratory, definition of, xii the science of, not yet taught, 3 the essentials, 3 the fundamental laws of, 4 the criterion of, 5 the student of, should not be a servile copyist, 64 three important rules for the student of. 156 symbolism of colors applied to, 157 perseverance and work necessary to the student of, 164 Order for leaving, an, 1 54 Palate, the, 13 Parietal zone, the soul, 109 Passive attitude, the type of energetic na- tures, 55 Plato, X Poets are bom, orators are made, x Preacher^ a, must not be an actor, 59 Preface, ix Pronoun, the, 141 Quintiliau, 3 Rachel, Iv, 131 Racine, 137 Rainbow, the, 159 order of the colors of the, 160 Raphael's picture of Moses, a fault in, 41, 86 Reiterated interrogation, 153 Reiteration, 154 Respect, a sort of weakness, 101 Respiration, suppressing the, 21 and silence, 9, 26 three movements of, 28 multiplied, zS to facilitate, 29 Respiratory acts, their signification, 29 St, Augustine, X Sensitive or vital state, 4 Sensualism, convex, 80 Shoulders, the. 85 the thermometer of love, 77, 85 the senshive life, 110 the sign of passion, 149 Sigh, the, 34 Silence, the father of speechi 26 the speech of God, 27 its advantages, 27 the rule ot 27 Singing, 35 Sob, the, 34 Sontag, Madame, iv Soprano voice, the, 1 1 Soul, the moral state, xiii I/O INDEX. Sound, the first language of man, g the revelation of the sensitive life, lO is painting, i8 should be homogeneous, 23 every sound is a song, 33 the sense of the life, 123 Speech, the omnipotence of, ix inferior to gesture, 48 anticipated by gesture, 51 the sense of the intelligence, 123 the three agents of, 124 oratorical value of, 127 Subject, the, 130 Surprise and assurance, 151 T. Talma, xi, 140 Tears, accessory matters, 22 to be shed only at home, 24 Temporal region, the mind, 109 Tenor voice, the, 1 1 Thanks, affectionate and ceremonious, 150 Thermometers, the three, 77 the articular arm-centres called, no Thoracic centre, the, mind, log Threatening with the shoulder, 70 Thumb, the thermometer of the will, 77 has much expression, no the sign of life, 149 Tones, the lowest, best understood, 21 prolongation o(, 25 Torso, the, 84 its divisions, 85 Types, the, in man, 107 U. Uprightness, perpendicular, 80 Uvula, raising the, 16 Values, the law of, 136 resum6 of the degrees of, 141 Verb, the, 131 Vertebrst, three sorts of, 113 _ Violent emotion, m, the voice stifled, xii Vocal chords, fatiguing the, 1 7 Vocal tube, the, must not vary for a loud tone, 23 Voice, the charms of, 9 organic apparatus of, 9 a mysteiious hand, n the kinds of. 1 1 the registers of, 12 meaning of the high and deep, 13 the language of the sensitive life, 13 the chest, the medium, the head, 15 the white, 18 dimensions and intensity of, 19 how to obtain a stronger, 19 three modes of developing, 20 method ofdimmishing, 21 the less the emotion, the stronger the, 21 how to gain resonance, 24 a tearful, a defect, 24 the tremulous, of the aged, 24 the rhythm of its tones, 25 must not be jerky, 26 inflections of, 29 great affinity between the arms and the, 114 Volubility, too much, 25 Vowels, the, correspond to the moral state, 125 length of the mitial, 144 W. Wolf and, the Iamb, the fiible of, 138 Words, the value of, in phrases, 130 dwelling on the final, 131 Wrist, the, 90 thermometer of the physical life, 110 Writing, a dead letter, 1 2S Charts, Diagrams, Figures, Etc. Criterion of Oratory, 5 Criterion of the Head, 70 Criterion of the Eyes, 74, 75 Criterion of the Lips, 81 Criterion of the Nose, 82 Criterion of t'^e Face, 83 Angles of the Fore-arm, 88 Criterion of the Hand, 94 Cube for the Hand, 95 Attitudes of the Legs, 101-106 Criterion of the Legs, 106 Zones of the Head, Face and Arm, 109 Criterion of Ch orography, 118 Inflective Medallion, 119 The Relative Degrees of Value of Words in Phrases, 133 Criterion of Colors, 157 T lEI ~pp, COLLEGE OF ORATORY AND ACTING, 23 EAST FOURTEENTH ST., NEW YORK, (Bet. Broadway and Fifth Ave.) J. E. FROBISHER, - - Director. The Only Institution of the Kind in America. 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Prof. Brown will make engagements with Colleges, Schools, Teachers' Institutes, and Literary Associations, for the entire course or for single lectures. Address, St JamBS Hofel, 'Boston, Mass. CONSEmTOBY OF ELOGDTION, Oratory and Philosophy of Dramatic Expression. SAM'L E. WELLS, . . - Director. E'very I»ossll>le A-dvantage. Summer Course begins July 1st and lasts six weelvs (50 class les- sons). Application made at residence, 305 Clinton Ave., between 4 and 5 P. M. Address for circular and all communications, Drawer 88, Albany N. Y. DIALECT AND CHARACTER READING- OF ELOCUT ION AND OR ATORY. MRS. ELIZABETH MANSFIELD IRVING-. Private anti Class Instruction. For Terms Apply in Person or 1)7 Letter. No. in Madison Avenue, Toledo, Ohio. NATIONAL SCHOOL of ELOCUTION AND ORATORY. (J. W. Shoemaker A. M., Founder.) 1416 & 1418 Chestnut St.. Philadelphia, Instituted Sept. 1873. Chartered March, 1875. 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Contains a great deal that is new, abounds in anecdote and is altogether a most spicy and agreeable volume. — Albany Press. Price $3, Postpaid. Address, EDGrAR S. "WERITEK, Editor of THE VOICE, Albany, N. T. yV^M. T. ROSS, A. M.. PROFESSOR OF ELOCUTION, San Francisco, California. Elocutionary Hall and Rooms, Nos. 78. 79, SO and 86 " ST. ANN BITILDINa," Cor. Eddy, Powell and Market Sts,, 0pp. " The Baldwin Hotel." [Twenty-three Years' Successful Experience,] 13^ VOICE CULTURE A SPECIALTY. IN PRESS By OSKLAR GUTTMANN, Professor of .Esthetic Culture, Oratory, Dramatic Reading and Acting, ".ESTHETIC PHYSICAL CULTURE," A Self-Instruetor for all Cultured Circles, and Especially for Dramatic Artists. (i.) Anatomo-Physiological Fundamental Principles; (2.) Physical Gymnastics ; <3.) /Esthetic Gymnastics; (4) Principles of Dancing; {5.) Principles of Fencing ; (6.) Wearing Apparel; (7.) Application of the Rules for Society and Stage Manners. 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THE GREATEST 'WORK ON ELOCUTION. :pXjTj:m::pte.e's TCi -n g's College Xjeo-ti-T -nes on. ELOCUTION; Or the Physiology and Culture of Voice and Speech, and the Expression of the Emotions by Language, Countenance and Gesture. To which is added, a special lecture on the causes and cure of impediments of speech. Being the substance of - the introductory course of lectures annually delivered by Charles John Plumptre, lecturer on public reading and speaking at King's College, London. Dedicated, by permission, to H. R. H. the Pnnce of Wales. New and greatly enlarged illustra- ted edition. 1881. 481 pages, octavo, cloth, with portrait of author. By special arrangements with the publishers (Messrs. TriJbner &; Co.), we can supply this most valuable book for $4, POST-PAID (Regular Price, $6). Address, EDCAR S. ^W^ERNER. Editor of THE VOICE, AlTsaay. N. T. Oicial Organ M nsic Teacliers' Na tional Association. €^t §ntt. An International Review of the SPEAKING and SINGING VOICE. 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