shouted at the top of my voice, Prisently an answer came:

"Who? Whoo? Whooo?"

"A lost man!" Thin I listened.

Jamie Butler, the waiver!" sez I, as loud as I could roar, an' snatchin' up me bundle an' stick, I started in the direction of the voice.-Jimmie Butler and the Owl.

It is not growing like a tree

In bulk, doth make man better be;

Or standing long an oak (three hundred year),
To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sear;
A lily of a day

Is fairer far in May,

Although it fall and die that night—
It was the plant and flower of light.

In small proportions we just beauties see;

And in short measures life may perfect be.-Ben Jonson

He clasps the crag with hooked hands:
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

-Tennyson, "The Eagle."

LESSON XL.

Final Hints on Attitudes and Bearings.

The FEET are near together in timidity and weakness; they are separated in active, strong conditions.

The KNEES are relaxed in submission, weakness, fear, horror; they are normally firm in normal conditions; they stiffen in defiance.

The HIPS thrown forward indicate pomposity, arro

gance, vulgarity; drawn back they indicate humility, timidity.

The CHEST expanded denotes strength, activity, nobility of mind; contracted, indicates weakness, either of soul or of body, or of both.

The attitudes of the HEAD have been fully discussed in previous lessons.

The ARMS, in repose, fall naturally at the sides when standing, or in the lap when sitting. The hands may also be carelessly locked together in front, or one or both arms allowed to rest easily on the reading-desk, table, or arm of the chair.

The arms are folded in front in concentration of thought or emotion, control of passion; one or both are behind the back in concealment, reflection. If you fold the arms easily and then raise the forearm that is on the outside, so that the hand is at the lips, or the chin or side of the cheek rest upon it, you have another attitude of reflection or concentration of mind that is very common (Fig. 35). Practise going into this attitude without the preliminary fold of the arms, as soon as you have acquired the correct position.

FIG. 35.

The ELBOW turned out indicates arrogance, self-assertion, conceit; with the hands on the hips these indications are very marked and generally vulgar.

The elbow drawn in indicates weakness, timidity, fear.

The normal attitude of the HAND is that which it assumes when at rest. The hand expands gently in affectionate expressions, as if to caress someone. It opens wide in astonishment, admiration, fear and repulsion. The fingers contract in hatred, jealousy, and like passions, as if you would like to tear the flesh of your antagonist. The hand is clinched firmly in concentration of mind or passion, in rage. The fingers work spasmodically when there is an attempt to conceal strong passions that overpower the will.

The BODY is bent and passive in weakness, submission, meanness, old age; it is erect and active in all vigorous conditions of mind or body.

-

Laws of Attitude.-Continued.

III. An attitude remains unchanged until the emotion that caused it is superseded or modified by a new emotion.

Notice that one attitude of a particular part, for example, the clinched fist, often stands for quite different conditions. These conditions are shown by other parts of the body. For instance, the clinched fist with the body in an attitude of reflection—that is, with the weight on the retired foot, head bowed and thoughtful expression of the face-would indicate strong mental concentration, while the same fist with the body expressing antagonism would convey the impression

that someone in our vicinity was in danger of a bruised eye at least.

Try to have harmony everywhere in your attitudes; do not let one part of the body contradict another.

TO THE TEACHER:-The practice of dialogues is a very useful means of giving pupils confidence and ease before an audience. The study of the bearings and attitudes suitable to different characters in a scene or dialogue is also excellent mental discipline, as it cultivates the powers of observation and analysis. The few hints given above, together with previous instruction in attitude, gesture, and facial expression, will be found to suggest a very wide range of expression in characterization. No attempt has been made in this book to cover the whole ground in any department of oratory. Especially is this true of pantomimic expression, a field that has been very thoroughly explored of late years, and concerning which volumes might be written. If it seems, nevertheless, that an undue proportion of our work has been devoted to pantomime and physical preparation for it, it should be borne in mind that the relation between pantomimic and vocal expression is much closer than is commonly supposed, and that effective action inevitably reacts in favor of effective speech, and is more easily studied and criticised, since the theory of vocal expression, spite of all our gains in the last twenty years, is far from the perfection that pantomime has attained. The laws of the one apply to the other, to be sure; but their application is much more difficult in the department of vocal expression. Freedom of action means freedom of speech.

The following selections have been made for the purpose of furnishing a more extended application of the principles that have been discussed in the preceding lessons. Lessons I., II., and III are all to be used in conjunction with Lesson III. in the Primer. From that point the numbers in both parts correspond.

The intelligent teacher will at once perceive that in following this plan of progressive study (corresponding to the use of études in music) much that is essential to a proper rendition of even the simplest of the earlier selections must necessarily be ignored; but it is impossible to avoid this without confusing the beginner with technicalities with which he is yet unfamiliar. By confining the attention to one new point at a time, however, each will be made clear, while there will be a gradual accumulation of a systematized body of knowledge, and a corresponding assimilation of the technical requirements of more complex and difficult selections, as well as what, after all, should be the chief aim in elocutionary study the worthy expression of his own ideas. avoid monotony, these studies should be supplemented by studies of a similar grade, such as may be found in standard text-books of reading and recitation.

Το

Finally, it should never be forgotten that technique is, after all, but the dry bones of art, and that the proper rendition of even the simplest selection requires a perfect comprehension of the author's thought and the constant exercise of the student's powers of imagination.

F. TOWNSEND SOUTHWICK.