The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-14

Mr.. I. KnoH' Delicate Suggestions n
Printed y CenturY ARo.

speak for themselves. Here arc q few exam
pies q
Fnultering-How TO get rid Off
BeIlowing-To be avoided.
Mumbling-To no corrected.
Never spit or hem while speaking.
How to vary the voice according 10 the passions.
Never clap your hands.
To place tho right hand on the breast II left
handed. how TO manage.
The hands never or seldom higher than the eyes.
Eyebrows-How thoy should DO managed.
The ips-Not to bite them.
These few examples show that the author. T.
Knox by name. does not waste time in sub
terfuge. He goes right TO the point. He
doesn't soar into metaphysics. Ho gets down
to facts and tells his would-be orators not to
spit or hen" and cuts the Gordian knot Of
how a left-handed speaker can place his right
hand imposingly upon his breast. Mr.. T. Knox
makes much OF action In oratory and says:
How to mellorato gentlemen In this particu-
lar. as well as in others, is the grand object Of
this little treatise
Mr.. T. Knox thought highly OF Demosthenes,
but found himself constrained. nevertheless. to
differ with that illustrious speaker. as we'll rs
with Quintilian. Several things snys 4.
Knox, "Quintilian recommends the practice Of
that cannot now be used-such as beating
the brow. the head. the breast. the thigh
Frequent stamping he also advises. These
motions in his time were much admired, but
in ours could not be endured" I. Knox adj
vises intending orators to select well-bred and
polished company and to take note Of what
they see. Make a point. also. OF remember
ing expressions and try to repeat them III be-
fore a glass the betterl." Then follow specific
rules. of which the following are the most inn
portant:
Never clap your hands; nor ought clergy
men to thump the pulpit or beat the breast
like a mountebank.
Most OF your actions ought to be with the
right hand. and when you mako use OF the
left. let it only be to accompany the other. and
never lift it UP SO high as the right.
THE right hand is naturally placed on the
breast whenever the speaker talks Of himself.
But 1t must be done only by laying the hand
gently upon the breast. and not violently beat it.
But there are SOM men naturally left-handed.
and cannot forbear using the left hand by itself.
In this case l cannot advise better toward con-
cealing the imperfection, II they will not take
the trouble Of breaking themselves of it. than
to let all their action be with both hands to-
gether.
Your action ought to pass from the left to
the right and generally end to the right, but not
in a violent manner. Whenever the sense will
permit it, lay your hand down with great mod
Grafton.
when you lift up the hand it ought seldom,
fever. to be raised higher than the eyes and
not lower than the breast. although there are
many who are very extravagant in this respect,
clergymen 1--WE moan among the Dissenters) in
particular. who sometimes raise the hand so
high as II threatening the heavens. and at other
times dangling it down over the pulpit as If it
were dead.
sVo,1 Nnrhk MT 10 ofHnfnh N,f H,o,,. n rrao
sideways farther than half a foot at most from
your body. or else your action will DO quite out
of your own sight, which is wrong. unless you
turn your head aside to see it. which would be
ridiculous.
Some actions must not be attempted by the
hands. such as fencing. making a bow. present
ing a musket. or playing upon any musical in
THE head ought not to be extravagantly
upon the breast. 1t ought not to lean toward
to continue in one immovable posture. as II
you had no Joint in your neck. nor ought 1t to
As the regulation Of the features is of the
highest Importance. the speaker should care
vate. For this purpose a looking glass may be
recommended: but l am persuaded that moth
f irs az 50 who a'1 viii earefu II 'e obs ssS1s'@ you al and 4
frankly inform you of whatever he sees dis
agreeable or offensive to the eye.
" When you are speaking you ought always
to be casting your, eyes upon some or other OF
your auditors; and rolling them gently about
should always be pleasant and your looks di-
rect. never severe rsour.
THE speaker who wishes to draw tears from
his own as well az his auditors eyes ought to
fSfni within himself a very strong idea OF the
subject OF the passion and the passion itself
immediately in the eyes. and affect the spec
tators with the same tenderness;
The eyebrows should not be. on the one
ton on the other. You must not raise them
both when speaking, with eagernesS and anx-
the other; but 1t is permitted to contract them
in sorrow. to smooth and ,dilate them In Joy;
d deiin Se ns mod iesW a HTY Humility mpite'er you "0u'u
"You must take especial care not to let your
mouth 20 20 IN the least Iis hMt or h uneve eT tb DO not OF
ieaYe OF With the mouth a little open Io'' 9''
when the passion demands it.. Some persons
have a trick OF licking them with, the tongue
which naDit Is e1ceedln9ly low ana itiored ana
Lastly. there are many who shrug up the
themes was addicted to, this custom, but that he
GSS Ss Tia q n i a 9 Gon Hfsins A pIace w 1i4E g a I dasx tim su sc
pended over his shoulders, so that Us often as
he shrugged them up the point, prlcked him,
uil tnVltbJ buO nm III ui.lu VI illS Vlioi' -
These are some OF the chief suggestions of T
Knox, and certainly, It would be a JOY e listen
these precepts. In regard TO tone, 7. Knox
means" he says, THE speaker makes a Kind Of
rumbling noise about the roof Of his mouth. as
4 he were speaking out of a cave or a hogs
head"
a custom, Of, splitting and hemming in theil
speech, which are not only disgusting. but con
slderably interrupt their delivery. The latter
habit 10 vary nnmmnn avQn among tina HFal
! speakers in both the House OF Lords and Com,
mons. The late Lord ;Ashburton, had 1t to Q
very great extent. which rendered him a mos
disagreeable and ngracious del iyerer, although
what he said was always to the purpose anc
logically correct.
1.-THE best way to get rid Of a monotony o
tone is to attend particularly to the, ,chit-chai
Of the tea table or the method Of ordinary dis.
express themselves when they feel a subjec'
they talk upon. such as when they pronounce
their sorrows for the loss Of husband or a child
When you have done this, endeayor to express
yourself, In private. after the same manner al
II upon the same occasions.
DO not be too precipitate in your utterance
for how should q jury be able TO keep up with Q
lawyer whose language may be said to ride