AS WELL AS FOR THE PERUSAL OF PERSONS OF TASTE. WITH AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING CONCISE LESSONS ON A NEW PLAN, AND PRINCIPLES OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR, BY WILLIAM SCOTT. TO WHICH ARE PREFIXED, ELEMENTS OF GESTURE, Illustrated by FOUR PLATES; and Rules for expressing, with propriet ............. FIFTH HARTFORD EDITION. .Resistless Eloquence Wielded at will the fierce Democracy, HARTFORD: PRINTED AND SOLD BY PETER B. GLEASON AND CO. ELEMENTS OF GESTURE. E SECTION I. On the Speaking of Speeches at Schools. LOCUTION has, for some years past, been an object of attention in the most respectable schools in this country. A laudable ambition of instructing youth, in the pronunciation and delivery of their native language, has made English speeches a very conspicuous part of those exhibitions of oratory, which do our seminaries of learning so much credit. This attention to English pronunciation, has induced several ingenious men to compile exercises in elocution, for the use of schools, which have answered very useful purposes: But none, so far as I have seen, have attempted to give us a regular system of gesture, suited to the wants and capacities of school-boys. Mr. Burgh, in his Art of Speaking, has given us a system of the passions; and has shown us how they appear in the countenance, and operate on the body; but this system, however useful to people of riper years, is too delicate and complicated to be taught in schools. Indeed the exact adaptation of the action to the word, and the word to the action, as Shakespeare calls it, is the most difficult part of delivery, and, therefore, can never be taught perfectly to children; to say nothing of distracting their attention with two very difficult things at the same time. But that boys should stand motionless, while they are pronouncing the most impassioned language, is extremely absurd and unnatural; and that they should sprawl into an awkward, ungain, and desultory action, is still more offensive and disgusting. What then remains, but that such a general style of action be adopted, as shall be easily conceived, and easily |
