EXPRESSION.

It remains to be considered that we comprehend and feel the subject, without which, all delivery is tame and languid, unaffecting and wearisome. What we read or speak unfelt, is like a painting without light or shade, in which symmetry of parts and good colouring occur, but which, unless raised or brought forward on the canvass, die away upon the view. Spirit and feeling are as necessary to idea as to sight.

It is a maxim of Quintilian, that it is not of so much moment what our-compositions are, as how they are pronounced, since it is the munner of delivery by which the audience is moved. An instance is on record of this facility working a surprising effect, in an oration of Cicero's, which, to read, inspires scarce the least interest,-all must have depended on the manner in which it was delivered.

After Cæsar's triumph, several of the adherents of Pompey were proscribed by the victor. Cicero undertook to plead for one of these, by name Ligarius, who was most obnoxious to Cæsar, and who answered-"We may venture to hear Cicero display his eloquence; for I know the person he ventures to plead for, to be both a bad man and my enemy." Nevertheless, the orator proceeded, and he so worked cn Cæsar's feelings, by painting the field of Pharsalia, by which he had gained the empire of the world, that Cæsar shivered in terror and amazement, and let the papers drop from his hand. This was the more remarkable, for Cæsar was himself one of the first orators of the time, and knew all the arts of address; but the conqueror was conquered, and Ligarius pardoned.

Does the pupil look for rules to acquire this? He will look in vain here. Let him go to public meetings in times of political excitement ; let him attend the sanctuary where some faithful servant of God, under deep conviction himself, enforces on a cold and unbelieving world the awful truths of redemption and grace; let him snatch a spark of the fire kindled at the torch of earnest truth, and we venture to say that his compositions and extemporaneous sentiments will not fail in their effect. BE IN EARNEST, says one Elocutionist, whose work is before us; MAKE THE sentiments anD WORDS YOUR OWN, AND SPEAK UNDER THAT IMPRESSION, says another-good injunctions, and we commend them to the attention of the pupil. It is under a conviction that too much time is taken up in acquiring dry rules, to the neglect of the spirit of delivery, which induced us to bestow the labour and patient attention we have, in the marginal indications of this work. We request teachers to see these attended to and exemplified by the pupils under their care; and, if the preceptor feels his own deficiency, let a competent person be called in at least once a week, to read and recite such passages as may be thought judicious: it induces a spirit of emulation which does great things in this respect. In recitation, it is often considered enough that the words be conned by rote. From experience, I would say, let the pupil make himself thoroughly master of all the shades of expression in the passage before it is laid aside for another. If he delivers it with any degree of propriety and spirit, all his subsequent efforts will be brought to a test with the excellence of

his pet piece, for delivering which he may have received the approbation of his instructor, or experienced the, admiration of his schoolfellows.

ACTION.*

The difficulty of describing action by words will be allowed by every one; and if we were never to give any instructions but such as should completely answer our wishes, this difficulty would be a good reason for not attempting to give any description of it. But there are many degrees between conveying a precise idea of a thing, and no idea at all. Besides, in this part of delivery, instruction may be conveyed by the eye. This vehicle is addressed on this occasion; and sketches repre senting the attitudes described, are annexed, which it is hoped will facilitate the pupil's conception.

The accompanying sketch represents the attitude in which a boy should always place himself when he begins to speak. He should rest the whole weight of his body on the right leg; the other just touching the ground, at the distance at which it would naturally fall, if lifted up, to show that the body does not bear upon it. The knees should be

Walker's Elements.

straight and braced; and the body, though perfectly straight, not per pendicular, but inclining as far to the right as a firm position on the right leg will permit. The right arm must then be held out with the palm open, the fingers straight and close, the thumb almost as distant from them as it will go; and the flat of the hand neither horizontal nor vertical, but exactly between both. The position of the arm, perhaps, will be best described, by supposing an oblong hollow square, formed by the measure of four arms, as in the foregoing sketch, where the arm, in its true position, forms the diagonal of such an imaginary figure: so that, if lines were drawn at right angles from the shoulder, extending downwards, forwards, and sideways, the arm will form an angle of fortyfive degrees every way.

When the pupil has pronounced one sentence in the position thus described, the hand, as if lifeless, must drop down to the side, the very moment the last accented word is pronounced; and the body, without altering the place of the feet, poise itself on the left leg, while the left hand raises itself into exactly the same position as the right was before, and continues in this position till the end of the next sentence, when it drops down on the side as if dead, and the body poising itself on the right leg, as before, continues with the right arm extended, till the end of the succeeding sentence; and so on, froin right to left, and from left to right, alternately, till the speech is ended. Great care must be taken that the pupil end one sentence completely before he begin another.

He must let the arm drop to the side, and continuing for a moment in that posture in which he concluded, before he poises his body on the other leg, and raises the other arm into the diagonal position before described; both which should be done before he begins to pronounce the next sentence. Care must also be taken, in shifting the body from one leg to the other, that the feet do not alter their distance. In altering the position of the body, the feet will necessarily alter their position a little; but this change must be made by turning the toes in a somewhat different direction, without suffering them to shift their ground. The heels, in this transition, change their place, but not the toes: the toes may be considered as pivots, on which the body turns from side to side.

If the pupil's knees are not well formed, or incline inwards, he must be taught to keep his legs at as great a distance as possible, and to incline his body so much to that side on which the arm is extended, as to oblige him to rest the opposite leg upon the toe; and this will, in a great measure, hide the defect of his make. In the same manner, if the arm be too long, or the elbow incline inwards, it will be proper to make him turn the palm of his hand downwards, so as to make it perfectly horizontal. This will infallibly incline the elbow outwards, and prevent the worst position the arm can possibly fall into, which is that of inclining the elbow to the body: this position of the hand so necessarily keeps the elbow out, that it would not be improper to make the

pupil sometimes practise it, though he may have no defect in his make; as an occasional alteration of the former position to this, may often be necessary, both for the sake of justness and variety. These two last positions of the legs and arms are described in Sketch 2.

When the pupil has got the habit of holding his hand and arm properly, he may be taught to move it. In this motion, he must be careful to keep the arm from the body. He must neither draw the elbow backwards, nor suffer it to approach to the side; but, while the hand and lower joint of the arm are curving towards the shoulder, the whole arm, with the elbow forming nearly an angle of a square, should move upwards from the shoulder, in the same position as when gracefully taking off the hat: that is, with the elbow extended from the side, and the upper joint of the arm nearly on a line with the shoulder, and forming an angle of a square with the body: (see Sketch 3.)this motion of the arm will naturally bring the hand, with the palm downwards, into a horizontal position; and when it approaches to the head, the arm should, with a jerk, be suddenly straightened into its first position, at the very moment the emphatical word is pronounced. This coincidence of the hand and voice will greatly enforce the pronunciation; and, if they keep time, they will be in tune as it were to each other, and to force and energy add harmony and variety.

As this motion of the arm is somewhat complicated, and may be found difficult to execute, it would be advisable to let the pupil, at first, speak without any motion of the arm at all. After some time, he will naturally fall into a small curvature of the elbow, to beat time, as it were, to the emphatic word; and if, in doing this, he is constantly urged to raise the elbow, and to keep it at a distance from the body, the action of the arm will, naturally, grow up into that we have just described so the diagonal position of the arm, though the most graceful and easy when the body is at rest, may be too difficult for boys to fall into at first; and therefore it may be necessary, in order to avoid the worst extreme, for some time, to make them extend the arm as far from the body as they can, in a somewhat similar direction, but higher from the ground, and inclining more to the back. Great care must be taken to keep the hand open, and the thumb at some distance from the fingers; and particular attention must be paid to keeping the hand in an exact line with the lower part of the arm, so as not to bend at the wrist, either when it is held out, without motion, or when it gives the emphatic stroke; and, above all, the body must be kept in a straight line with the leg on which it bears, and not suffered to bend to the opposite side. At first, it may not be improper for the teacher, after placing the pupil in the position, (Sketch 1.) to stand at some distance, exactly opposite to him, in the same position, the right and left sides only reversed; and, while the pupil is speaking, to show him, by example, the action he is to make use of. In this case, the teacher's left hand will correspond to the pupil's right; by which means he will see, as in a looking glass, how to regulate his gesture, and will soon catch the method of doing it by himself.

It is expected the master will be a little discouraged at the awkward figure his pupil makes in his first attempts to teach him: but this is no more than what happens in dancing, fencing, or any other exercise which depends on habit. By practice, the pupil will soon begin to feel