quate way my sense of the honor which has been conferred upon me. I may say, in the words of the German poet, that I am now enjoying the highest moment of my life. After filling such an office over thirty-one years, and to be allowed to leave it with the enjoyment of the approval of a most critical body like the Ontario bar, is indeed gratifying.

I have, during my connection with the bench, striven to live up to the high standard I set for myself on accepting a position on it. I feel it a high honor to be allowed to quit it, not in cold silence of the most critical profession in the world, but with their approval as you have exprest it.

As for the failures I have been guilty of, some were capable of correction and some were not, but I have the happiness of knowing that the court which, while it has the right to pardon, has also the prerogative to condemn, has extended its pardon to me. Let me wish you all happiness and prosperity, and through you to the several associations for their kindness in joining in this expression. And let me now bid you my judicial farewell.

This is both felicitous and touching. These three speeches are somewhat alike in their quality of tender simplicity and directness, and as examples of easy extempore speaking are worthy of close study and analysis.

VIII

GESTURE AND ACTION

The use of gesture must often be determined by the taste and judgment of the speaker. There are simple speeches and informal occasions when much bodily action would be entirely inappropriate, and there are others where an absence of movement would give the impression of weakness and inadequacy. Too little gesture is better than too much, and there are times when a powerful effect is conveyed by speaking with great intensity while standing motionless.

It is said that deep concentrated feeling is never loud, and it may be added that action and gesture of a great speaker are never violent. The purpose of gesture is to emphasize, illustrate, or in some degree add clearness or force to a speaker's thought. If it fails to accomplish one of these objects, it will hinder rather than help the speaker. The whole art of gesture may be summed up in three words: simplicity, appropriateness, and variety.

Simplicity means that a gesture arises from the natural animation of a speaker, and is so inextricably bound up with the thought that it does not attract attention to itself. The arms and hands, if properly trained, move in curves, the straight line movements being reserved for special emphasis. Simplicity means, too, that nothing is overdone. Many men, because of their sedentary lives, are awkward and self-conscious in the attempt to gesticulate while speaking in public, and determined not to appear tame or untu

tored, indulge in all kinds of grotesque and unseemly movements. Simplicity will guard a speaker from many undesirable faults which sometimes go by the plausible name of individuality and mannerism.

Appropriateness implies that a gesture is the one best suited to interpret or enforce a particular thought. There is no valid objection to a student standing before a lookingglass in order to observe his use of gesture and consciously to study those movements most appropriate to the expression of his thought. If he has the fundamental qualities for great speaking, there will be no danger of such practise making him foppish or unduly self-conceited.

Variety of gesture is necessary to the proper expression of varied thought. The speaker does not present merely one phase of his subject, nor does he speak in a monotone. The many-sidedness of his theme demands constant changes of voice and feeling, hence if he uses gesture and action they must be in harmony with his utterance.

The statement that if a man be really in earnest he will gesticulate properly does not hold good in fact. One who is awkward in ordinary conversation will merely exaggerate his awkwardness when he attempts to speak on a larger occasion. The proper study of gesture does not necessarily make a speaker artificial and self-conscious any more than the practise of five-finger exercises makes the pianist mechanical, or the study of dancing renders a man ungainly. All great art must be preceded by a conscious analysis of the right and the wrong thing to do, and the art of expression is no exception to this rule. This deliberate study is intended so to influence and train the student's visible expression that ultimately it will perform its work naturally and involuntarily.

The tendency to gesticulate exclusively with the right hand should be avoided. It gives a one-sided, unvaried effect to gesture, and when long continued, may easily become wearisome to an audience. Neither should gestures be alternated too regularly, as in the well-known expression "on the one hand," and "on the other hand." Variety is the spice of gesture, as it is of life, and the discriminating speaker will give it most careful consideration. Double arm gestures are valuable aids in expressing intensity and breadth of thought, but should be used sparingly since too much action of the kind often suggests bewilderment and lack of poise.

The correct standing position is to place one foot in advance of the other, with the toes slightly turned out. The width of the base must be determined by a man's height, as the taller the man the wider his feet should be apart. The position of the feet should be changed occasionally, not by consciously looking down at them, but preferably during the act of speaking. Too much shifting about is likely to convey an impression of restlessness, and lack of dignity. The legs should be straight, the head erect, and the arms when not in action dropt naturally at the sides.

The importance of what has been urged here regarding the cultivation of gesture is referred to by Addison, when he says:

It is certain that proper gestures and vehement exertions of the voice can not be too much studied by a public orator. They are a kind of comment upon what he utters, and enforce everything he says, with weak hearers, far better than the strongest argument he can make use of. They keep the audience awake, and fix their attention to what is delivered to them; at the same time they show that the speaker is in earnest, and himself

affected with what he so passionately recommends to others. Violent gesture and vociferation naturally shake the hearts of the ignorant, and fill them with a kind of religious horror. Nothing is more frequent than to see women weep and tremble at the sight of a moving preacher, tho he is placed quite out of hearing; as we very frequently see people lulled to sleep with solid and elaborate discourses of piety, who would be warmed and transported out of themselves by the bellowings and distortions of enthusiasm. If nonsense, when accompanied with such an emotion of voice and body, has such an influence on men's minds, what might we not expect from many of those admirable discourses which are printed in our tongue, were they delivered with a becoming fervor and with the most agreeable graces of voice and gesture.

No better advice upon the subject has ever been given than that of Hamlet's instruction to the Players to "suit the action to the word; the word to the action." It is reasonable to think that a man facing an audience will be so animated and inspired as to feel the necessity of using gesture and action in his speaking. Yet how often do we hear men expressing their ideas upon momentous questions with apparently no personal interest in what they are saying. Again, how ridiculous it is to listen to a man who has nothing worth while to say, but who vainly tries to enforce it with wild gesticulation and violent agitation of body.

Gesture should be fast or slow, large or small, as determined by the thought. It is usually made on the word or words to which it particularly refers, and is sustained as long as the thought demands it. The hand should not be jerked back to its place, but be allowed to drop gently and unobtrusively to its natural position. Gestures that are slowly made, and allowed to glide easily one into the other, are most effective and graceful. It is never permis