initial commit of ebook 12200HEADmain

1 files changed, 17704 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/old/12200.txt b/old/12200.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..02ad4d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/12200.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,17704 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Delsarte System of Oratory, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Delsarte System of Oratory
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: April 29, 2004 [EBook #12200]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DELSARTE SYSTEM OF ORATORY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+
+DELSARTE SYSTEM OF ORATORY
+
+
+1. The Complete Work of L'Abbe Delaumosne
+
+2. The Complete Work of Mme. Angelique Arnaud
+
+3. All the Literary Remains of Francois Delsarte
+    (Given in his own words)
+
+4. The Lecture and Lessons Given by Mme. Marie
+    Geraldy (Delsarte's Daughter) in America
+
+5. Articles by Alfred Giraudet, Francis A. Durivage,
+    and Hector Berlioz
+
+
+Fourth Edition
+New York
+Edgar S. Werner
+1893
+
+
+
+
+Copyright
+By Edgar S. Werner
+1882, 1884, 1887, 1892
+
+
+
+
+Contents.
+
+
+Delaumosne On Delsarte.
+
+Biographical Sketch
+Preface
+
+
+Part First.
+
+Voice.
+
+
+Chapter I.
+
+    Preliminary Ideas--Criterion of the Oratorical Art.
+
+Chapter II. Of The Voice.
+
+    Organic Apparatus of the Voice--The Voice in Relation to
+    Compass--The Voice in Relation to Vowels--Practical Conclusions
+
+Chapter III. The Voice in Relation to Intensity of Sound.
+
+    What is Understood by Intensity of Sound--Means of Augmenting the
+    Timbre of the Voice--Rules for Intensity of Sound
+
+Chapter IV.
+
+The Voice in Relation to Measure.
+
+    Of Slowness and Rapidity in Oratorical Delivery--Of Respiration and
+    Silence--Inflections--Rules of Inflection--Special Inflections
+
+
+Part Second.
+
+Gesture.
+
+
+Chapter I. Of Gesture in General
+
+Chapter II. Definition and Division of Gesture.
+
+    Gesture is the Direct Agent of the Heart--Gesture is the Interpreter
+    of Speech--Gesture is an Elliptical Language
+
+Chapter III. Origin and Oratorical Value of Gesture
+
+Chapter IV. The Laws of Gesture.
+
+    The Priority of Gesture to Speech--Retroaction--Opposition of
+    Agents--Number of Gestures--Duration of Gesture--The Rhythm of
+    Gesture--Importance of the Laws of Gesture
+
+Chapter V. Of Gesture in Particular.
+
+    The Head--Movements of the head: The Normal State, The Eccentric
+    State, The Concentric State--Of the Eyes--Of the Eyebrows
+
+Chapter VI. Of The Torso.
+
+    The Chest--The Shoulders.
+
+Chapter VII. Of The Limbs.
+
+    The Arms--Inflections of the Forearm--Of the Elbow--Of the Wrist--Of
+    the Hand: The Digital Face, The Back Face, The Palmar Face--Of the
+    Fingers--Of the Legs.
+
+Chapter VIII. Of the Semeiotic, or the Reason of Gesture.
+
+    The Types which Characterize Gesture--Of Gesture Relative to its
+    Modifying Apparatus
+
+Chapter IX. Of Gesture in Relation to the Figures Which Represent It.
+
+
+Part Third. Articulate Language.
+
+Chapter I. Origin and Organic Apparatus of Language.
+
+Chapter II. Elements of Articulate Language.
+
+Chapter III. The Oratorical Value of Speech.
+
+Chapter IV. The Value of Words in Phrases.
+
+    The Conjunction--The Interjection in Relation to its Degree of
+    Value--A Resume of the Degrees of Value
+
+Chapter V. French and Latin Prosody
+
+Chapter VI. Method.
+
+    Dictation Exercises
+
+Chapter VII. A Series Of Gestures For Exercises.
+
+    Preliminary Reflections--The Series of Gestures Applied to the
+    Sentiments Oftenest Expressed by the Orator: (1) Interpellation; (2)
+    Thanks, Affectionate and Ceremonious; (3) Attraction; (4) Surprise
+    and Assurance; (5) Devotion; (6) Interrogative Surprise; (7)
+    Reiterated Interrogation; (8) Anger; (9) Menace; (10) An Order for
+    Leaving; (11) Reiteration; (12) Fright--Important Remarks
+
+
+Appendix
+
+Epilogue
+
+
+
+Arnaud On Delsarte.
+
+
+Part Fourth.
+
+
+Chapter I. The Bases of the Science
+
+Chapter II. The Method.
+
+    Ellipsis--Shades and Inflections--Vocal Music--Respiration--Position
+    of the Tone--Preparation of the Initial Consonant--Exercises--
+    Appoggiatura--Roulades and Martellato--Pronunciation--E mute before a
+    Consonant--E mute before a Vowel.
+
+Chapter III. Was Delsarte a Philosopher?
+
+Chapter IV. Course of Applied AEsthetics.
+
+    Meeting of the Circle of Learned Societies--Theory of the Degrees.
+
+Chapter V. The Recitation of Fables.
+
+Chapter VI. The Law of AEsthetics.
+
+Chapter VII. The Elements of Art.
+
+    The True. The Good. The Beautiful.
+
+Chapter VIII. Application of the Law to Various Arts.
+
+    Dramatic, Lyric and Oratorical Art.
+    Application of the Law to Literature.
+    Application of the Law to Architecture.
+    Application of the Law to Sculpture.
+    Application of the Law to Painting.
+
+Chapter IX. Delsarte's Beginnings.
+
+Chapter X. Delsarte's Theatre and School.
+
+Chapter XI. Delsarte's Family.
+
+Chapter XII. Delsarte's Religion.
+
+Chapter XIII. Delsarte's Friends.
+
+Chapter XIV. Delsarte's Scholars.
+
+Chapter XV. Delsarte's Musical Compositions.
+
+Chapter XVI. Delsarte's Evening Lectures.
+
+Chapter XVII. Delsarte's Inventions.
+
+Chapter XVIII. Delsarte before the Philotechnic Association.
+
+Chapter XIX. Delsarte's Last Years.
+
+Literary Remains Of Francois Delsarte.
+
+
+
+Part Fifth.
+
+Publisher's Note.
+
+Delsarte's Last Letter To The King Of Hanover
+
+Episode I.
+Episode II.
+Episode III.
+Episode IV.
+Episode V.
+
+    Semeiotics of the Shoulder.
+
+Episode VI.
+Episode VII.
+
+What I Propose.
+The Beautiful.
+
+Trinity.
+
+    Reversal of Processional Relations.
+
+Passion of Signs, Signs of Passion.
+
+Definition of Form.
+
+On Distinction and Vulgarity of Motion.
+
+Gesture.
+
+    Definition of Gesture.
+
+Attitudes of the Head.
+
+Attitudes of the Hands.
+
+    Affirmation of the Hand.
+
+    Table of the Normal Character of the Nine Attitudes.
+
+Attitudes of the Legs.
+
+The Holy Trinity Recovered in Sound.
+
+Speech.
+
+Breathing.
+
+    Vocal Respiration.
+    Logical Respiration.
+    Passional Respiration.
+
+Vocal Organ.
+
+Definition Of The Voice.
+
+  What the Register is.
+  On Shading.
+  Pathetic Effects.
+  On the Tearing of the Voice.
+
+Number.
+
+Medallion of Inflection.
+
+The Nature of the Colors of Each Circle in the Color Charts.
+
+The Attributes of Reason.
+
+Random Notes.
+
+
+
+Part Sixth.
+
+The Lecture and Lessons Given by Mme. Marie Geraldy (Delsarte's
+Daughter) in America.
+
+
+
+Part Seventh.
+
+Article by Alfred Giraudet.
+Article by Francis A. Durivage.
+Article by Hector Berlioz.
+
+
+
+
+
+Delaumosne On Delsarte.
+
+
+
+
+The Delsarte System,
+
+by
+
+M. l'Abbe Delaumosne,
+
+(_Pupil of Delsarte._)
+
+Translated by Frances A. Shaw.
+
+
+
+
+Francois Delsarte.
+
+
+
+Francois Delsarte was born November 11, 1811, at Solesme, a little town
+of the Department of the North, in France. His father, who was a
+renowned physician and the author of several inventions, might have
+secured a fortune for his family, had he been more anxious for the
+morrow, but he died in a state bordering upon poverty.
+
+In 1822, Francois was apprenticed to a porcelain painter of Paris, but,
+yielding to a taste and aptitude for music, in the year 1825, he sought
+and obtained admission to the Conservatory as a pensioner. Here a great
+trial awaited him--a trial which wrecked his musical career, but was a
+decided gain for his genius. He had been placed in the vocal classes,
+and in consequence of faults in method and direction, he lost his voice.
+He was inconsolable, but, without making light of his sorrow, we may
+count that loss happy, which gave the world its first law-giver in the
+art of oratory.
+
+The young student refused to accept this calamity without making one
+final effort to retrieve it. He presented himself at the musical contest
+of 1829. His impaired voice rendered success impossible, but kind words
+from influential friends in a great measure compensated for defeat.
+
+The celebrated Nourrit said to him: "I have given you my vote for the
+first prize, and my children shall have no singing-master but you."
+
+"Courage," said Madame Malibran, pressing his hand. "You will one day be
+a great artist."
+
+But Delsarte knew that without a voice he must renounce the stage, and
+yielding to the inevitable, he gave up the role of the actor to assume
+the functions of the professor. After his own shipwreck upon a bark
+without pilot or compass, he summoned up courage to search into the laws
+of an art which had hitherto subsisted only upon caprice and personal
+inspiration.
+
+After several years of diligent study, he discovered and formulated the
+essential laws of all art; and, thanks to him, aesthetic science in our
+day has the same precision as mathematical science. He had numerous
+pupils, many of whom have become distinguished in various public
+careers--in the pulpit, at the bar, on the stage, and at the tribune.
+
+Madame Sontag, when she wished to interpret Gluck's music, chose
+Delsarte for her teacher. Rachel drew inspiration from his counsels, and
+he became her guardian of the sacred fire. He was urgently solicited to
+appear with her at the Theatre-Francais, but religious scruples led him
+to refuse the finest offers.
+
+Madame de Giradin (Delphine Gay), surnamed the Muse of her country,
+welcomed him gladly to her salon, then the rendezvous of the world of
+art and letters, and regretted not seeing him oftener. He was more than
+once invited to the literary sessions of Juilly college, and, under the
+spell of his diction, the pupils became animated by a new ardor for
+study.
+
+Monseigneur Sibour had great esteem and affection for Delsarte, and made
+him his frequent guest. It was in the salon of this art-loving
+archbishop that Delsarte achieved one of his most brilliant triumphs.
+All the notable men of science had gathered there, and the conversation
+took such a turn that Delsarte found opportunity to give, without
+offence, a challenge in these two lines of Racine:
+
+    _L'onde approche, se brise, et vomit a nos yeux,
+    Parmi des flots d'ecume, un monstre furieux._
+
+    ("The wave draws near, it breaks, and casts before our eyes,
+    Amid the floods of foam, a monster grim and dire.")
+
+"Please tell me the most emphatic and significant word here," said
+Delsarte.
+
+All reflected, sought out and then gave, each in turn, his chosen word.
+Every word was selected save the conjunction _et_ (and). No one thought
+of that.
+
+Delsarte then rose, and in a calm and modest, but triumphant tone, said:
+"The significant, emphatic word is the only one which has escaped you.
+It is the conjunction _and_, whose elliptic sense leaves us in
+apprehension of that which is about to happen." All owned themselves
+vanquished, and applauded the triumphant artist.
+
+Donoso Cortes made Delsarte a chosen confidant of his ideas. One day,
+when the great master of oratorical diction had recited to him the _Dies
+Irae_, the illustrious philosopher, in an access of religious emotion,
+begged that this hymn might be chanted at his funeral. Delsarte promised
+it, and he kept his word.
+
+When invited to the court of Louis Philippe, he replied: "I am not a
+court buffoon." When a generous compensation was hinted at, he answered:
+"I do not sell my loves." When it was urged that the occasion was a
+birth-day fete to be given his father by the Duke of Orleans, he
+accepted the invitation upon three conditions, thus stated by himself:
+"1st. I shall be the only singer; 2d. I shall have no accompaniment but
+the opera chorus; 3d. I shall receive no compensation." The conditions
+were assented to, and Delsarte surpassed himself. The king paid him such
+marked attentions that M. Ingres felt constrained to say: "One might
+declare in truth that it is Delsarte who is king of France."
+
+Delsarte's reputation had passed the frontier. The king of Hanover
+committed to his instruction the greatest musical artiste of his realm,
+and was so gratified with her improvement that, wishing to recompense
+the professor, he sent him the much prized Hanoverian medal of arts and
+sciences, accompanied by a letter from his own royal hand. Delsarte
+afterwards received from the same king the cross of a Chevalier of the
+Guelph order.
+
+Delsarte's auditors were not the only ones to sound his praises. The
+learned reviews extolled his merits. Such writers as Laurentie, Riancey,
+Lamartine and Theophile Gautier awarded him the most enthusiastic
+praise. Posterity will perpetuate his fame.
+
+M. Laurentie writes: "I heard Delsarte recite one evening '_Iphigenia's
+Dream_,' which the audience had besought of him. The hall remained
+thrilled and breathless under this impaired and yet sovereign voice. All
+yielded in rapt astonishment to the spell. There was no prestige, no
+theatrical illusion. Iphigenia was a professor in a black frock coat;
+the orchestra was a piano, giving forth here and there an unexpected
+modulation. This was his whole force; yet the hall was mute, hearts
+beat, tears flowed from many eyes, and when the recital ended,
+enthusiastic shouts arose, as if Iphigenia in person had just recounted
+her terrors."
+
+After Delsarte had gathered so abundant a harvest of laurels, fate
+decided that he had lived long enough. When he had reached his sixtieth
+year, he was attacked by hypertrophy of the heart, which left his rich
+organization in ruins. He was no longer the artist of graceful, supple,
+expressive and harmonious movements; no longer the thinker with profound
+and luminous ideas. But in the midst of this physical and intellectual
+ruin, the Christian sentiment retained its strong, sweet energy. A
+believer in the sacraments which he had received in days of health, he
+asked for them in the hour of danger, and many times he partook of that
+sacrament of love whose virtue he had taught so well.
+
+Finally, after having lingered for months in a state that was neither
+life nor death, surrounded by his pious wife, and his weeping, praying
+children, he rendered his soul to God on the 20th of July, 1871.
+
+Delsarte never could be persuaded to write anything upon themes foreign
+to those connected with his musical and vocal work. The author of this
+volume desires to save from oblivion the most wonderful conception of
+this superior intellect: his _Course of AEsthetic Oratory_. He dares
+promise to be a faithful interpreter. If excuse be needed for
+undertaking a task so delicate, he replies that he addresses himself to
+a class of readers who will know how to appreciate his motives.
+
+The merit of Delsarte, the honor of his family, the gratification of his
+numerous friends, the interests of science, the claims of friendship,
+demand that this light should not be left under a bushel, but placed
+upon a candlestick--this light which has shed so brilliant a glow, and
+enriched the arts with a new splendor.
+
+
+
+
+Preface.
+
+
+
+Orators, you are called to the ministry of speech. You have fixed your
+choice upon the pulpit, the bar, the tribune or the stage. You will
+become one day, preacher, advocate, lecturer or actor; in short, you
+desire to embrace the orator's career. I applaud your design. You will
+enter upon the noblest and most glorious of vocations. Eloquence holds
+the first rank among the arts. While we award praise and glory to great
+musicians and painters, to great masters of sculpture and architecture,
+the prize of honor is decreed to great orators.
+
+Who can define the omnipotence of speech? With a few brief words God
+called the universe from nothingness; speech falling from the glowing
+lips of the Apostles, has changed the face of the earth. The current of
+opinion follows the prestige of speech, and to-day, as ever, eloquence
+is universal queen. We need feel no surprise that, in ancient times, the
+multitude uncovered as Cicero approached, and cried: "Behold the
+orator!"
+
+Would you have your speech bear fruit and command honor? Two qualities
+are needful: virtue and a knowledge of the art of oratory. Cicero has
+defined the orator as a good man of worth: _Vir bonus, dicendi peritus_.
+
+Then, above all, the orator should be a man of worth. Such a man will
+make it his purpose to do good; and the good is the true end of
+oratorical art. In truth, what is art? Art is the expression of the
+beautiful in ideas; it is the true. Plato says the beautiful is the
+splendor of the true.
+
+What is art? It is the beautiful in action. It is the good. According to
+St. Augustine, the beautiful is the lustre of the good.
+
+Finally, what is art? It is the beautiful in the harmonies of nature.
+Galen, when he had finished his work on the structure of the human body,
+exclaimed: "Behold this beautiful hymn to the glory of the Creator!"
+
+What, then, is the true, the beautiful, the good? We might answer, it is
+God. Then virtue and the glory of God should be the one end of the
+orator, of the good man. A true artist never denies God.
+
+Eloquence is a means, not an end. We must not love art for its own sake,
+that would be idolatry. Art gives wings for ascent to God. One need not
+pause to contemplate his wings.
+
+Art is an instrument, but not an instrument of vanity or complaisance.
+Truth, alas! compels us to admit that eloquence has also the melancholy
+power of corrupting souls. Since it is an art, it is also a power which
+must produce its effect for good or evil.
+
+It has been said that the fool always finds a greater fool to listen to
+him. We might add that the false, the ugly and the vicious have each a
+fibre in the human heart to serve their purpose. Then let the true
+orator, the good man, armed with holy eloquence, seek to paralyze the
+fatal influence of those orators who are apostles of falsehood and
+corruption.
+
+Poets are born, orators are made: _nascuntur poetae, fiunt oratores_.
+You understand why I have engraved this maxim on the title-page of my
+work. It contains its _raison d'etre_, its justification. Men are poets
+at birth, but eloquence is an art to be taught and learned. All art
+presupposes rules, procedures, a mechanism, a method which must be
+known.
+
+We bring more or less aptitude to the study of an art, but every
+profession demands a period more or less prolonged. We must not count
+upon natural advantages; none are perfect by nature. Humanity is
+crippled; beauty exists only in fragments. Perfect beauty is nowhere to
+be found; the artist must create it by synthetic work.
+
+You have a fine voice, but be certain it has its defects. Your
+articulation is vicious, and the gestures upon which you pride yourself,
+are, in most cases, unnatural. Do not rely upon the fire of momentary
+inspiration. Nothing is more deceptive. The great Garrick said: "I do
+not depend upon that inspiration which idle mediocrity awaits." Talma
+declared that he absolutely calculated all effects, leaving nothing to
+chance. While he recited the scene between Augustus and Cinna, he was
+also performing an arithmetical operation. When he said:
+
+    "Take a chair, Cinna, and in everything
+    Closely observe the law I bid you heed"--
+
+he made his audience shudder.
+
+The orator should not even think of what he is doing. The thing should
+have been so much studied, that all would seem to flow of itself from
+the fountain.
+
+But where find this square, this intellectual compass, that traces for
+us with mathematical precision, that line of gestures beyond which the
+orator must not pass? I have sought it for a long time, but in vain.
+Here and there one meets with advice, sometimes good but very often
+bad. For example, you are told that the greater the emotion, the
+stronger should be the voice. Nothing is more false. In violent emotion
+the heart seems to fill the larynx and the voice is stifled. In all such
+counsels it behooves us to search out their foundation, the reason that
+is in them, to ask if there is a type in nature which serves as their
+measure.
+
+We hear a celebrated orator. We seek to recall, to imitate his
+inflections and gestures. We adopt his mannerisms, and that is all. We
+see these mannerisms everywhere, but the true type is nowhere.
+
+After much unavailing search, I at last had the good fortune to meet a
+genuine master of eloquence. After giving much study to the masterpieces
+of painting and sculpture, after observing the living man in all his
+moods and expressions, he has known how to sum up these details and
+reduce them to laws. This great artist, this unrivaled master, was the
+pious, the amiable, the lamented Delsarte.
+
+There certainly was pleasure and profit in hearing this master of
+eloquence, for he excelled in applying his principles to himself. Still
+from his teachings, even from the dead letter of them, breaks forth a
+light which reveals horizons hitherto unknown.
+
+This work might have been entitled: _Philosophy of Oratorical Art_, for
+one cannot treat of eloquence without entering the domain of the highest
+philosophy.
+
+What, in fact, is oratorical art? It is the means of expressing the
+phenomena of the soul by the play of the organs. It is the sum total of
+rules and laws resulting from the reciprocal action of mind and body.
+Thus man must be considered in his sensitive, intellectual and moral
+state, with the play of the organs corresponding to these states. Our
+teaching has, then, for its basis the science of the soul ministered to
+by the organs. This is why we present the fixed, invariable rules which
+have their sanction in philosophy. This can be rendered plain by an
+exposition of our method.
+
+The art of oratory, we repeat, is expressing mental phenomena by the
+play of the physical organs. It is the translation, the plastic form,
+the language of human nature. But man, the image of God, presents
+himself to us in three phases: the sensitive, intellectual and moral.
+Man feels, thinks and loves. He is _en rapport_ with the physical world,
+with the spiritual world, and with God. He fulfils his course by the
+light of the senses, the reason, or the light of grace.
+
+We call life the sensitive state, mind the intellectual state, and soul
+the moral state. Neither of these three terms can be separated from the
+two others. They interpenetrate, interlace, correspond with and
+embrace each other. Thus mind supposes soul and life. Soul is at the
+same time mind and life. In fine, life is inherent in mind and soul.
+Thus these three primitive moods of the soul are distinguished by nine
+perfectly adequate terms. The soul being the form of the body, the body
+is made in the image of the soul. The human body contains three
+organisms to translate the triple form of the soul.
+
+The phonetic machinery, the voice, sound, inflections, are living
+language. The child, as yet devoid of intelligence and sentiment,
+conveys his emotions through cries and moans.
+
+The myologic or muscular machinery, or gesture, is the language of
+sentiment and emotion. When the child recognizes its mother, it begins
+to smile.
+
+The buccal machinery, or articulate speech, is the language of the
+mind.
+
+Man, neither by voice nor gesture, can express two opposite ideas on the
+same subject; this necessarily involves a resort to speech. Human
+language is composed of gesture, speech and singing. The ancient
+melodrama owed its excellence to a union of these three languages.
+
+Each of these organisms takes the eccentric, concentric, or normal form,
+according to the different moods of the soul which it is called to
+translate.
+
+In the sensitive state, the soul lives outside itself; it has relations
+with the exterior world. In the intellectual state, the soul turns back
+upon itself, and the organism obeys this movement. Then ensues a
+contraction in all the agents of the organism. This is the concentric
+state. In the moral or mystic state, the soul, enraptured with God,
+enjoys perfect tranquility and blessedness. All breathes peace,
+quietude, serenity. This is the normal state,--the most perfect,
+elevated and sublime expression of which the organism is capable.
+
+Let us not forget that by reason of a constant transition, each state
+borrows the form of its kindred state. Thus the normal state can take
+the concentric and eccentric form, and become at the same time, doubly
+normal; that is, normal to the highest degree. Since each state can take
+the form of the two others, the result is nine distinct gestures, which
+form that marvelous accord of nine, which we call the universal
+criterion.
+
+In fine, here is the grand law of organic gymnastics:
+
+The triple movement, the triple language of the organs is eccentric,
+concentric, or normal, according as it is the expression of life, soul
+or spirit.
+
+Under the influence, the occult inspiration of this law, the great
+masters have enriched the world with miracles of art. Aided by this law
+the course followed in this work, may be easily understood.
+
+Since eloquence is composed of three languages, we divide this work into
+three books in which voice, gesture and speech are studied by turns.
+Then, applying to them the great law of art, our task is accomplished.
+
+The advantages of this method are easily understood. There is given a
+type of expression not taken from the individual, but from human nature
+synthetized. Thus the student will not have the humiliation of being the
+slave or ape of any particular master. He will be only himself. Those
+who assimilate their imperfect natures to the perfect type will become
+orators. _Fiunt Oratores._
+
+Success having attended the first efforts, let the would-be orator
+assimilate these rules, and his power will be doubled, aye increased a
+hundredfold. And thus having become an orator, a man of principle, who
+knows how to speak well, he will aid in the triumph of religion, justice
+and virtue.
+
+
+
+
+
+Part First.
+
+Voice
+
+
+
+
+Chapter I.
+
+Preliminary Ideas--criterion of the Oratorical Art.
+
+
+
+Let us note an incontestable fact. The science of the Art of Oratory has
+not yet been taught. Hitherto genius alone, and not science, has made
+great orators. Horace, Quintilian and Cicero among the ancients, and
+numerous modern writers have treated of oratory as an art. We admire
+their writings, but this is not science; here we seek in vain the
+fundamental laws whence their teachings proceed. There is no science
+without principles which give a reason for its facts. Hence to teach and
+to learn the art of oratory, it is necessary:
+
+1. To understand the general law which controls the movements of the
+organs;
+
+2. To apply this general law to the movements of each particular organ;
+
+3. To understand the meaning of the form of each of these movements;
+
+4. To adapt this meaning to each of the different states of the soul.
+
+The fundamental law, whose stamp every one of these organs bears, must
+be kept carefully in mind. Here is the formula:
+
+The sensitive, mental and moral state of man are rendered by the
+eccentric, concentric or normal form of the organism.[1]
+
+Such is the first and greatest law. There is a second law, which
+proceeds from the first and is similar to it:
+
+Each form of the organism becomes triple by borrowing the form of the
+two others.
+
+It is in the application of these two laws that the entire practice of
+the art of oratory consists. Here, then, is a science, for we possess a
+criterion with which all phenomena must agree, and which none can
+gainsay. This criterion, composed of our double formula, we represent in
+a chart, whose explanation must be carefully studied.
+
+The three primitive forms or genera which affect the organs are
+represented by the three transverse lines.
+
+
+           GENUS.                   SPECIES.
+                           1           3            2
+
+         II. Conc.        1-II        3-II         2-II
+                       Ecc. Conc.  Norm. Conc.  Conc. Conc.
+
+         III. Norm.      1-III        3-III        2-III
+                      Ecc. Norm.   Norm. Norm.  Conc. Norm.
+
+         I. Ecc.          1-I          3-I          2-I
+                      Ecc. Ecc.    Norm. Ecc.   Conc. Ecc.
+
+
+The subdivision of the three genera into nine species is noted in the
+three perpendicular columns.
+
+Under the title _Genus_ we shall use the Roman numerals I, III, II.
+
+Under the title _Species_ we employ the Arabic figures 1, 3, 2.
+
+I designates the eccentric form, II the concentric form, III the normal
+form.
+
+The Arabic figures have the same signification.
+
+The normal form, either in the genus or the species, we place in the
+middle column, because it serves as a bond of union between the two
+others, as the moral state is the connecting link between the
+intellectual and vital states.
+
+Thus the first law relative to the primitive forms of the organs is
+applied in the three transverse columns, and the second law relative to
+their compound forms is reproduced in the three vertical columns.
+
+As may be easily proven, the eccentric genus produces three species of
+eccentric forms, marked in the three divisions of the lower transverse
+column.
+
+Since the figure 1 represents the eccentric form, 1-I will designate the
+form of the highest degree of eccentricity, which we call
+_eccentro-eccentric_.
+
+Since the figure 3 represents the normal form, the numbers 3-I will
+indicate the _normo-eccentric_ form.
+
+Since the figure 2 designates the form which translates intelligence,
+the figures 2-I indicate the _concentro-eccentric_ form as a _species_.
+As the species proceeds from the genus, we begin by naming the species
+in order to bring it back to the genus. Thus, in the column of the
+eccentric genus the figure 1 is placed after the numbers 3 and 2, which
+belong to the species. We must apply the same analysis to the transverse
+column of the normal genus, as also to that of the concentric genus.
+
+Following a diagonal from the bottom to the top and from left to right,
+we meet the most expressive form of the species, whether eccentric,
+normal or concentric, marked by the figures 1-I, 3-III, 2-II, and by the
+abbreviations _Ecc.-ecc. (Eccentro-eccentric), Norm.-norm.
+(Normo-normal), Conc.-conc. (Concentro-concentric)_. It is curious to
+remark how upon this diagonal the organic manifestations corresponding
+to the soul, that is to love, are found in the midst, to link the
+expressive forms of life and mind.
+
+This chart sums up all the essential forms which can affect the
+organism. This is a universal algebraic formula, by which we can solve
+all organic problems. We apply it to the hand, to the shoulder, to the
+eyes, to the voice--in a word, to all the agents of oratorical language.
+For example, it suffices to know the _eccentro-eccentric_ form of the
+hand, of the eyes; and we reserve it for the appropriate occasion.
+
+All the figures accompanying the text of this work are only
+reproductions of this chart affected by such or such a particular organ.
+A knowledge of this criterion gives to our studies not only simplicity,
+clearness and facility, but also mathematical precision.
+
+In proposing the accord of nine formed by the figure 3 multiplied into
+itself, it must be understood that we give the most elementary, most
+usual and least complicated terms. Through natural and successive
+subdivisions we can arrive at 81 terms. Thus multiply 9 by 3; the number
+27 gives an accord of 27 terms, which can again be multiplied by 3 to
+reach 81. Or rather let us multiply 9 by 9, and we in like manner obtain
+81 terms, which become the end of the series. This is the alpha and
+omega of all human science. _Huc usque venies, et ibi confringes
+tumentes fluctus tuos._ ("Thus far shalt thou come, and here shall thy
+proud waves be stayed.")
+
+It is well to remark that this criterion is applied to all possible
+phenomena, both in the arts and sciences. This is reason, universal
+synthesis. All phenomena, spiritual as well as material, must be
+considered under three or nine aspects, or not be understood. Three
+genera and nine species; three and nine in everything and everywhere;
+three and nine, these are the notes echoed by all beings. We do not fear
+to affirm that this criterion is divine, since it conforms to the nature
+of beings. Then, with this compass in hand, let us explore the vast
+field of oratorical art, and begin with the voice.
+
+NOTE TO THE STUDENT.--Do not go on without a perfect understanding of
+this explanation of the criterion, as well as the exposition of our
+method which closes the preface.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II.
+
+Of The Voice.
+
+
+
+The whole secret of captivating an audience by the charms of the voice,
+consists in a practical knowledge of the laws of sound, inflection,
+respiration and silence. The voice first manifests itself through sound;
+inflection is an intentional modification of sound; respiration and
+silence are a means of falling exactly upon the suitable tone and
+inflection.
+
+Sound being the first language of man in the cradle, the least we can
+demand of the orator is, that he speak intelligently a language whose
+author is instinct. The orator must then listen to his own voice in
+order to understand it, to estimate its value, to cultivate it by
+correcting its faults, to guide it--in a word, to dispose of it at will,
+according to the inclination of the moment. We begin the study of the
+voice with _Sound;_ and as sound may be viewed under several aspects, we
+divide this heading into as many sections.
+
+
+
+_Compass of the Voice--Organic Apparatus of the Voice._
+
+
+This apparatus is composed of the larynx, the mouth and the lungs. Each
+of these agents derives its value from mutual action with the others.
+The larynx of itself is nothing, and can be considered only through its
+participation in the simultaneous action of the mouth and lungs.
+
+Sound, then, is formed by a triple agent--projective, vibrative and
+reflective.
+
+The lungs are the soliciting agent, the larynx is the vibrative agent,
+the mouth is the reflective agent. These must act in unison, or there is
+no result. The larynx might be called the mouth of the instrument, the
+inside of the mouth the pavilion, the lungs the artist. In a violin, the
+larynx would be the string, the lungs the bow, the mouth the instrument
+itself.
+
+The triple action of these agents produces phonation. They engender
+sounds and inflections. Sound is the revelation of the sensitive life to
+the minutest degree; inflections are the revelation of the same life in
+a higher degree, and this is why they are the foundation and the charm
+of music.
+
+Such is the wonderful organism of the human voice, such the powerful
+instrument Providence has placed at the disposal of the orator. But what
+avails the possession of an instrument if one does not know how to use
+it, or how to tune it? The orator, ignorant of the laws of sound and
+inflection, resembles the debutant who places the trumpet to his lips
+for the first time. We know the ear-torturing tones he evolves.
+
+The ear is the most delicate, the most exacting of all our senses. The
+eye is far more tolerant. The eye resigns itself to behold a bad
+gesture, but the ear does not forgive a false note or a false
+inflection. It is through the voice we please an audience. If we have
+the ear of an auditor, we easily win his mind and heart. The voice is a
+mysterious hand which touches, envelops and caresses the heart.
+
+
+
+_Of the Voice in Relation to Compass._
+
+
+All voices do not have the same compass, or the same range. By range we
+mean the number of tones the voice can produce below and above a given
+note on the staff, say A, second space of the treble clef.
+
+There are four distinct kinds of voices: Soprano, alto, tenor and bass.
+There are also intermediate voices, possessing the peculiar quality of
+the kind to which it belongs, for example: Mezzo-soprano, with the
+quality of the soprano and only differing from the soprano in range, the
+range of this voice being lower than the soprano and a little higher
+than the alto. Then comes the alto or contralto.
+
+In the male voice we have the tenor robusto, a little lower than the
+pure tenor and more powerful; next the baritone, a voice between the
+tenor and bass, but possessing very much the quality of the bass.
+
+The tones in the range of every voice can be divided into three
+parts--the lower, medium and higher. Thus we would say of a performer,
+he or she used the lower or higher tones, or whatever the case may be.
+This applies to every kind of voice.
+
+The soprano voice ranges generally from the middle C, first added line
+below on the treble clef, upwards to A, first added line above the
+staff. Contralto voices range generally from G, below middle C in the
+treble clef, up to F, the upper line of the clef.
+
+The tenor voice ranges from C, second space of the F clef, to D, second
+space in the treble clef.
+
+The bass voice ranges from lower F, first space below of the F or bass
+clef, to D, second space above of this clef.[2]
+
+The first perception of the human voice imperatively demands, 1. That
+the voice be tried and its compass measured in order to ascertain to
+what species it belongs. Its name must be known with absolute certainty.
+It would be shameful in a musician not to know the name of the
+instrument he uses. 2. That the ear be trained in order to distinguish
+the pitch upon which one speaks.
+
+We should be able to name a sound and to sound a name. The Orientals
+could sing eight degrees of tone between C and D. There may be a whole
+scale, a whole air between these two tones. It would be unpardonable
+not to know how to distinguish or at least to sound a semitone.
+
+There is a fact proved by experience, which must not be forgotten. The
+high voice, with elevated brows, serves to express intensity of passion,
+as well as small, trivial and also pleasant things.
+
+The deep voice, with the eyes open, expresses worthy things.
+
+The deep voice, with the eyes closed, expresses odious things.
+
+
+
+_The Voice in Relation to Vowels._
+
+
+As already stated, the vocal apparatus is composed of the lungs, the
+larynx and the mouth; but its accessories are the teeth, the lips, the
+palate and the uvula. The tip and root of the tongue, the arch of the
+palate and the nasal cavities have also their share in perfecting the
+acoustic apparatus.
+
+In classifying the different varieties of voice, we have considered them
+only in their rudimentary state. Ability to name and distinguish the
+several tones of voice is the starting point. We have an image more or
+less perfect, leaving the mould; we have a canvas containing the design,
+but not the embroidery--the mere outline of an instrument, a body
+without a soul. The voice being the language of the sensitive life, the
+passional state must pass entirely into the voice.
+
+We must know then how to give it an expression, a color answering to the
+sentiment it conveys. But this expressive form of the voice depends
+upon the sound of its vowels.
+
+There is a mother vowel, a generative tone. It is _a_ (Italian _a_). In
+articulating _a_ the mouth opens wide, giving a sound similar to _a_ in
+_arm_.
+
+The primitive _a_ takes three forms. The unaccented, Italian _a_
+represents the normal state; _a_ with the acute accent (') represents
+the eccentric state; _a_ with the grave accent (`) represents the
+concentric state.
+
+These three _a_'s derived from primitive _a_ become each in turn the
+progenitor of a family with triple sounds, as may be seen in the
+following genealogical tree:
+
+
+                        A
+             A          A          A
+           ---------------------------
+             e          o          e
+
+             e         au         eu
+
+             i         ou          u
+
+         Eccentric.  Normal.   Concentric.
+
+
+This is the only simple sound, but four other sounds are derived from
+it. The three _a's_ articulated by closing the uvula, give the nasal
+_an_. Each family also gives its special nasal sound: _in_ for the
+eccentric voice, _on_ for the normal state, _un_ for the concentric. All
+other sounds are derived from combinations of these. The mouth cannot
+possibly produce more than three families of sounds, and in each family
+it is _a_ united with the others that forms the trinity.
+
+The variety of sounds in these three families of vowels arises from the
+difference of the opening of the mouth and lips in articulating them.
+These different modes of articulation may be rendered more intelligible
+by the subjoined diagrams:
+
+_a_ is pronounced with the mouth very wide open, the uvula raised and
+the tongue much lowered.
+
+    ---------------------
+   O                     O
+    ---------------------
+
+_e, e, i_ and _in_ are articulated with the lips open and the back part
+of the mouth gradually closed.
+
+      /
+     /
+    /
+    \
+     \
+      \
+
+_a, au, ou_ and _on_ are articulated with the back of the mouth open and
+the lips gradually closed.
+
+    \
+     \
+      \
+      /
+     /
+    /
+
+_e, eu, u_ and _un_ are articulated with the back of the mouth and the
+lips uniformly closed.
+
+    ---------------------
+    ---------------------
+
+The voice takes different names, according to the different sounds in
+each family of vowels: the chest-voice, the medium voice and the
+head-voice.
+
+These names imply no change in the sort of voice, but a change in the
+manner of emission. The head, medium or chest-voice, indicates only
+variety in the emission of vowels, and may be applied to the high as
+well as the deep and medium voice. Thus the deep voice may produce
+sounds in the head-voice, as well as in the medium and chest voices.
+
+The head-voice is produced by lowering the larynx, and at the same time
+raising the uvula. In swallowing, the larynx rises by the elevation of
+the uvula, without which elevation there can be no head-tones.
+
+
+
+_Practical Conclusions._
+
+
+1. It is highly important to know how to assume either of these voices
+at will. The chest-voice is the expression of the sensitive or vital
+life, and is the interpreter of all physical emotions. The medium voice
+expresses sentiment and the moral emotions. The head-voice interprets
+everything pertaining to scientific or mental phenomena. By observing
+the laugh in the vital, moral and intellectual states, we shall see that
+the voice takes the sound of the vowel corresponding to each state.
+
+We understand the laugh of an individual; if upon the _i_ (_e_ long), he
+has made a sorry jest; if upon _e_ (_a_ in _fate_), he has nothing in
+his heart and most likely nothing in his head; if upon _a_ (_a_ short),
+the laugh is forced. _O, a_, (_a_ long) and _ou_ are the only normal
+expressions. Thus every one is measured, numbered, weighed. There is
+reason in everything, even when unknown to man. In physical pain or
+joy, the laugh or groan employs the vowels _e, e, i_.[3]
+
+2. The chest-voice should be little used, as it is a bestial and very
+fatiguing voice.
+
+3. The head-voice or the medium voice is preferable, it being more noble
+and more ample, and not fatiguing. In these voices there is far less
+danger of hoarseness. The head and medium voices proceed more from the
+mouth, while the chest-voice has its vibrating point in the larynx.
+
+4. The articulation of the three syllables, _la, mo_ and _po_, is a very
+useful exercise in habituating one to the medium voice. Besides
+reproducing the tone of this voice, these are the musical consonants
+_par excellence_. They give charm and development to the voice. We can
+repeat these tones without fatiguing the vocal chords, since they are
+produced by the articulative apparatus.
+
+5. It is well to remark that the chest, medium and head voices are
+synonymous with the eccentric, normal or concentric voice.
+
+6. It is only a hap-hazard sort of orator who does not know how to
+attain, at the outset, what is called the white voice, to be colored
+afterward at will. The voice should resemble the painter's pallet, where
+all the colors are arranged in an orderly manner, according to the
+affinities of each. A colorless tint may be attained in the same way as
+a pure tint. It may be well to remark here, although by anticipation,
+that the expressions of the hand and brow belong to the voice. The
+coloring of the larynx corresponds to the movements of the hand or
+brows.
+
+Sound is painting, or it is nothing. It should be in affinity with the
+subject.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter III.
+
+The Voice in Relation to Intensity of Sound.
+
+
+
+_What is Understood by Intensity of Sound._
+
+
+The voice has three dimensions--height, depth and breadth; in other
+terms, diapason, intensity and duration; or in yet other words,
+tonality, timbre and succession.
+
+Intensity may be applied alike to the voice and to sound. The voice is
+strong or weak, according to the mechanism of the acoustic apparatus.
+The strength or weakness of sound depends upon the speaker, who from the
+same apparatus evolves tones more or less strong. It is the _forte,
+piano_ and _pianissimo_ in music. Thus a loud voice can render weak
+tones, and a weak voice loud tones. Hence the tones of both are capable
+of increase or diminution.
+
+
+
+_Means of Augmenting the Timbre of the Voice._
+
+
+1. A stronger voice may be obtained by taking position not upon the heel
+or flat of the foot, but upon the ball near the toes--that attitude
+which further on we shall designate as the third. The chest is
+eccentric; that is, convex and dilated. In this position all the muscles
+are tense and resemble the chords of an instrument whose resonance is
+proportional to their tension.
+
+2. There are three modes of developing the voice. A voice may be
+manufactured. A natural voice is almost always more or less changed by a
+thousand deleterious influences.
+
+1. _In volume_, by lowering the larynx, elevating the soft-palate and
+hollowing the tongue.
+
+2. _In intensity._--A loud voice may be hollow. It must be rendered
+deep, forcible and brilliant by these three methods: profound
+inspiration, explosion and expulsion. The intensity of an effect may
+depend upon expulsion or an elastic movement. Tenuity is elasticity. It
+is the rarest and yet the most essential quality of diction.
+
+3. _In compass._--There are three ways of increasing the compass of the
+voice:
+
+  1. By the determination of its pitch;
+  2. By practicing the vocal scale;
+  3. By the fusion of the registers upon the key-note.
+
+The first of these methods is most effective. The second consists in
+exercising upon those notes which are near the key-note. Upon this
+exercise depends in great measure the homogeneity of the voice. Taking
+_la_ for the diapason, the voice which extends from the lowest notes to
+upper _re_ is the chest-voice, since it suffers no acoustic
+modification. From _mi_ to _la_ the voice is modified; it is the medium
+voice, or the second register, which gives full and supple tones. The
+head or throat-voice, or the third register, extends from _si_ to the
+highest and sharpest notes. Its tones are weak, and should be avoided
+as much as possible. There are then only four good notes--those from
+_mi_ to _la_, upon which the voice should be exercised. By uniting the
+registers, an artificial, homogeneous voice may be created, whose tones
+are produced without compression and without difficulty. This being
+done, it is evident that every note of the voice must successively
+indicate the three registers--that is, it must be rendered in the chest,
+medium and head voices.
+
+There is also a method of diminishing the voice. As the tone is in
+proportion to the volume of air in the lungs, it may be weakened by
+contracting the epiglottis or by suppressing the respiration.
+
+
+
+_Rules for Intensity of Sound._
+
+
+1. The strength of the voice is in an inverse ratio to the respiration.
+The more we are moved, the less loudly we speak; the less the emotion,
+the stronger the voice. In emotion, the heart seems to mount to the
+larynx, and the voice is stifled. A soft tone should always be an
+affecting tone, and consist only of a breath. Force is always opposed to
+power. It is an error to suppose that the voice must be increased as the
+heart is laid bare. The lowest tones are the best understood. If we
+would make a low voice audible, let us speak as softly as we can.
+
+Go to the sea-shore when the tempest rages. The roar of the waves as
+they break against the vessel's side, the muttering thunders, the
+furious wind-gusts render the strongest voice impotent. Go upon a
+battle-field when drums beat and trumpets sound. In the midst of this
+uproar, these discordant cries, this tumult of opposing armies, the
+leader's commands, though uttered in the loudest tones, can scarce be
+heard; but a low whistle will be distinctly audible. The voice is
+intense in serenity and calm, but in passion it is weak.
+
+Let those who would bring forward subtle arguments against this law,
+remember that logic is often in default when applied to artistic facts.
+
+A concert is given in a contracted space, with an orchestra and a
+double-bass. The double-bass is very weak. Logic would suggest two
+double-basses in order to produce a stronger tone. Quite the contrary.
+Two double-basses give only a semitone, which half a double-bass renders
+of itself. So much for logic in this case.
+
+The greatest joy is in sorrow, for here there is the greatest love.
+Other joys are only on the surface. We suffer and we weep because we
+love. Of what avail are tears? The essential thing is to love. Tears are
+the accessories; they will come in time, they need not be sought.
+Nothing so wearies and disgusts us, as the lachrymose tone. A man who
+amounts to anything is never a whimperer.
+
+Take two instruments in discord and remote from each other. Logic
+forbids their approach lest their tones become more disagreeable. The
+reverse is true. In bringing them together, the lowest becomes higher
+and the highest lower, and there is an accord.
+
+Let us suppose a hall with tapestries, a church draped in black. Logic
+says, "sing more loudly." But this must be guarded against lest the
+voice become lost in the draperies. The voice should scarce reach these
+too heavy or too sonorous partitions, but leaving the lips softly, it
+should pulsate through the audience, and go no farther.
+
+An audience is asleep. Logic demands more warmth, more fire. Not at all.
+Keep silent and the sleepers will awaken.
+
+2. Sound, notwithstanding its many shades, should be homogeneous; that
+is, as full at the end as at the beginning. The mucous membrane, the
+lungs and the expiratory muscles have sole charge of its transmission.
+The vocal tube must not vary any more for the loud tone than for the low
+tone. The opening must be the same. The low tone must have the power of
+the loud tone, since it is to be equally understood. The acoustic organs
+should have nothing to do with the transmission of sound. They must be
+inert so that the tone may be homogeneous. The speaker or singer should
+know how to diminish the tone without the contraction of the back part
+of the mouth.
+
+To be homogeneous the voice must be ample. To render it ample, take high
+rather than low notes. The dipthong _eu_ (like _u_ in muff), and the
+vowels _u_ and _o_ give amplitude to sound. On the contrary, the tone
+is meagre in articulating the vowels _e_, _i_ and _a_. To render the
+voice ample, we open the throat and roll forth the sound. The more the
+sound is _circumvoluted_, the more ample it is. To render the voice
+resonant, we draw the tongue from the teeth and give it a hollow form;
+then we lower the larynx, and in this way imitate the French horn.
+
+3. The voice should always be sympathetic, kindly, calm, and noble, even
+when the most repulsive things are expressed. A tearful voice is a grave
+defect, and must be avoided. The same may be said of the tremulous voice
+of the aged, who emphasize and prolong their syllables. Tears are out of
+place in great situations; we should weep only at home. To weep is a
+sure way of making people laugh.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IV.
+
+The Voice in Relation to Measure.
+
+
+
+_Of Slowness and Rapidity in Oratorical Delivery._
+
+
+The third and last relation in which we shall study voice, is its
+breadth, that is, the measure or rhythm of its tones.
+
+The object of measure in oratorical diction is to regulate the interval
+of sounds. But the length of the interval between one sound and another
+is subject to the laws of slowness and rapidity, respiration, silence
+and inflection.
+
+Let us first consider slowness and rapidity, and the rules which govern
+them.
+
+1. A hasty delivery is by no means a proof of animation, warmth, fire,
+passion or emotion in the orator; hence in delivery, as in tone, haste
+is in an inverse ratio to emotion. We do not glide lightly over a
+beloved subject; a prolongation of tones is the complaisance of love.
+Precipitation awakens suspicions of heartlessness; it also injures the
+effect of the discourse. A teacher with too much facility or volubility
+puts his pupils to sleep, because he leaves them nothing to do, and they
+do not understand his meaning. But let the teacher choose his words
+carefully, and every pupil will want to suggest some idea; all will
+work. In applauding an orator we usually applaud ourselves. He says
+what we were just ready to say; we seem to have suggested the idea. It
+is superfluous to remark that slowness without gesture, and especially
+without facial expression, would be intolerable. A tone must always be
+reproduced with an expression of the face.
+
+2. The voice must not be jerky. Here we must keep jealous watch over
+ourselves. The entire interest of diction arises from a fusion of tones.
+The tones of the voice are sentient beings, who love, hold converse,
+follow each other and blend in a harmonious union.
+
+3. It is never necessary to dwell upon the sound we have just left; this
+would be to fall into that jerky tone we wish to avoid.
+
+
+
+_Of Respiration and Silence._
+
+
+We place respiration and silence under the same head because of their
+affinity, for respiration may often be accounted silence.
+
+_Of silence._--Silence is the father of speech, and must justify it.
+Every word which does not proceed from silence and find its vindication
+in silence, is a spurious word without claim or title to our regard.
+Origin is the stamp, in virtue of which we recognize the intrinsic value
+of things. Let us, then, seek in silence the sufficient reason of
+speech, and remember that the more enlightened the mind is, the more
+concise is the speech that proceeds from it. Let us assume, then, that
+this conciseness keeps pace with the elevation of the mind, and that
+when the mind arrives at the perception of the true light, finding no
+words that can portray the glories open to its view, it keeps silent and
+admires. It is through silence that the mind rises to perfection, for
+_silence is the speech of God_.
+
+Apart from this consideration, silence recommends itself as a powerful
+agent in oratorical effects. By silence the orator arouses the attention
+of his audience, and often deeply moves their hearts. When Peter
+Chrysologue, in his famous homily upon the gospel miracle of the healing
+of the issue of blood, overcome by emotion, paused suddenly and remained
+silent, all present immediately burst into sobs.
+
+Furthermore, silence gives the orator time and liberty to judge of his
+position. An orator should never speak without having thought, reflected
+and arranged his ideas. Before speaking he should decide upon his
+stand-point, and see clearly what he proposes to do. Even a fable may be
+related from many points of view; from that of expression as well as
+gesture, from that of inflection as well as articulate speech. All must
+be brought back to a scene in real life, to one stand-point, and the
+orator must create for himself, in some sort, the role of spectator.
+
+Silence gives gesture time to concentrate, and do good execution.
+
+One single rule applies to silence: Wherever there is ellipsis, there
+is silence. Hence the interjection and conjunction, which are
+essentially elliptic, must always be followed by a silence.
+
+_Respiration._--For the act of respiration, three movements are
+necessary: inspiration, suspension and expiration.
+
+_Its importance._--Respiration is a faithful rendering of emotion. For
+example: _He who reigns in the skies_. Here is a proposition which the
+composed orator will state in a breath. But should he wish to prove his
+emotion, he inspires after every word. _He--who--reigns--in--the--skies_.
+Multiplied inspirations can be tolerated on the strength of emotion, but
+they should be made as effective as possible.
+
+Inspiration is allowable:--
+
+  1. After all words preceded or followed by an ellipse;
+  2. After words used in apostrophe, as Monsieur, Madame;
+  3. After conjunctions and interjections when there is silence;
+  4. After all transpositions; for example: _To live, one must work_. Here
+     the preposition _to_ takes the value of its natural antecedent,
+     _work_; that is to say, six degrees, since by inversion it precedes
+     it, and the gesture of the sentence bears wholly on the preposition;
+  5. Before and after incidental phrases;
+  6. Wherever we wish to indicate an emotion.
+
+To facilitate respiration, stand on tip-toe and expand the chest.
+
+Inspiration is a sign of grief; expiration is a sign of tenderness.
+Sorrow is inspiratory; happiness, expiratory.
+
+The inspiratory act expresses sorrow, dissimulation.
+
+The expiratory act expresses love, expansion, sympathy.
+
+The suspensory act expresses reticence and disquietude. A child who has
+just been corrected deservedly, and who recognizes his fault, expires.
+Another corrected unjustly, and who feels more grief than love,
+inspires.
+
+Inspiration is usually regulated by the signs of punctuation, which have
+been invented solely to give more exactness to the variety of sounds.
+
+
+
+_Inflections._
+
+
+_Their importance._--Sound, we have said, is the language of man in the
+sensitive state. We call inflections the modifications which affect the
+voice in rendering the emotions of the senses. The tones of the voice
+must vary with the sensations, each of which should have its note. Of
+what use to man would be a phonetic apparatus always rendering the same
+sound? Delivery is a sort of music whose excellence consists in a
+variety of tones which rise or fall according to the things they have to
+express. Beautiful but uniform voices resemble fine bells whose tone is
+sweet and clear, full and agreeable, but which are, after all, bells,
+signifying nothing, devoid of harmony and consequently without variety.
+To employ always the same action and the same tone of voice, is like
+giving the same remedy for all diseases. "_Ennui_ was born one day from
+monotony," says the fable.
+
+Man has received from God the privilege of revealing the inmost
+affections of his being through the thousand inflections of his voice.
+Man's least impressions are conveyed by signs which reveal harmony, and
+which are not the products of chance. A sovereign wisdom governs these
+signs.
+
+With the infant in its cradle the signs of sensibility are broken cries.
+Their acuteness, their ascending form, indicate the weakness, and
+physical sorrow of man. When the child recognizes the tender cares of
+its mother, its voice becomes less shrill and broken; its tones have a
+less acute range, and are more poised and even. The larynx, which is
+very impressionable and the thermometer of the sensitive life, becomes
+modified, and produces sounds and inflections in perfect unison with the
+sentiments they convey.
+
+All this, which man expresses in an imitative fashion, is numbered,
+weighed and measured, and forms an admirable harmony. This language
+through the larynx is universal, and common to all sensitive beings. It
+is universal with animals as with man. Animals give the identical sounds
+in similar positions.
+
+The infant, delighted at being mounted on a table, and calling his
+mother to admire him, rises to the fourth note of the scale. If his
+delight becomes more lively, to the sixth; if the mother is less pleased
+than he would have her, he ascends to the third minor to express his
+displeasure. Quietude is expressed by the fourth note.
+
+Every situation has its interval, its corresponding inflection, its
+corresponding note: this is a mathematical language.
+
+Why this magnificent concert God has arranged in our midst if it has no
+auditors? If God had made us only intelligent beings, he would have
+given us speech alone and without inflections. Let us further illustrate
+the role of inflection.
+
+A father receives a picture from his daughter. He expresses his
+gratitude by a falling inflection: "Ah well! the dear child." The
+picture comes from a stranger whom he does not know as a painter; he
+will say, "Well now! why does he send me this?" raising his voice.
+
+If he does not know from whom the picture comes, his voice will neither
+rise nor fall; he will say, "Well! well! well!"
+
+Let us suppose that his daughter is the painter. She has executed a
+masterpiece. Astonished at the charm of this work and at the same time
+grateful, his voice will have both inflections.
+
+If surprise predominates over love the rising inflection will
+predominate. If love and surprise are equal, he will simply say, "Well
+now!"
+
+_Kan_ in Chinese signifies at the same time the roof of a house, a
+cellar, well, chamber, bed--the inflection alone determines the meaning.
+Roof is expressed by the falling, cellar by the rising inflection. The
+Chinese note accurately the depth and acuteness of sound, its intervals
+and its intensity.
+
+We can say: "It is pretty, this little dog!" in 675 different ways. Some
+one would do it harm. We say: "This little dog is pretty, do not harm
+it!" "It is pretty because it is so little." If it is a mischievous or
+vicious dog, we use _pretty_ in an ironical sense. "This dog has bitten
+my hand. It is a pretty dog indeed!" etc.
+
+
+
+_Rules of Inflection._
+
+
+1. Inflections are formed by an upward or downward slide of the voice,
+or the voice remains in monotone. Inflections are, then, eccentric,
+concentric and normal.
+
+2. The voice rises in exaltation, astonishment, and conflict.
+
+3. The voice falls in affirmation, affection and dejection.
+
+4. It neither rises nor falls in hesitation.
+
+5. Interrogation is expressed by the rising inflection when we do not
+know what we ask; by the falling, when we do not quite know what we ask.
+For instance, a person asks tidings of his friend's health, aware or
+unaware that he is no better.
+
+6. Musical tones should be given to things that are pleasing. Courtiers
+give musical inflections to the words they address to royalty.
+
+7. Every manifestation of life is a song; every sound is a song. But
+inflections must not be multiplied, lest delivery degenerate into a
+perpetual sing-song. The effect lies entirely in reproducing the same
+inflection. A drop of water falling constantly, hollows a rock. A
+mediocre man will employ twenty or thirty tones. Mediocrity is not the
+too little, but the too much. The art of making a profound impression is
+to condense; the highest art would be to condense a whole scene into one
+inflection. Mediocre speakers are always seeking to enrich their
+inflections; they touch at every range, and lose themselves in a
+multitude of intangible effects.
+
+8. In real art it is not always necessary to fall back upon logic. The
+reason needs illumination from nature, as the eye, in order to see,
+needs light. Reason may be in contradiction to nature. For instance, a
+half-famished hunter, in sight of a good dinner, would say: "I am
+_hungry_" emphasizing _hungry_, while reason would say that _am_ must be
+emphasized. A hungry pauper would say: "I _am_ hungry," dwelling upon
+_am_ and gliding over _hungry_. If he were not hungry, or wished to
+deceive, he would dwell upon _hungry_.
+
+
+
+_Special Inflections._
+
+
+Among the special inflections we may reckon:--
+
+1. _Exclamations._--Abrupt, loud, impassioned sounds, and
+improvisations.
+
+2. _Cries._--These are prolonged exclamations called forth by a lively
+sentiment of some duration, as acute suffering, joy or terror. They are
+formed by the sound _a_. In violent pain arising from a physical cause,
+the cries assume three different tones: one grave, another acute, the
+last being the lowest, and we pass from one to the other in a chromatic
+order.
+
+There are appealing cries which ask aid in peril. These cries are formed
+by the sounds e and o. They are slower than the preceding, but more
+acute and of greater intensity.
+
+3. _Groans._--Here the voice is plaintive, pitiful, and formed by two
+successive tones, the one sharp, the final one deep. Its monotony, the
+constant recurrence of the same inflection, give it a remarkable
+expression.
+
+4. _Lamentation_ is produced by a voice loud, plaintive, despairing and
+obstinate, indicating a heart which can neither contain nor restrain
+itself.
+
+5. _The sob_ is an uninterrupted succession of sounds produced by
+slight, continuous inspirations, in some sort convulsive, and ending in
+a long, violent inspiration.
+
+6. _The sigh_ is a weak low tone produced by a quick expiration
+followed by a slow and deep inspiration.
+
+7. _The laugh_ is composed of a succession of loud, quick, monotonous
+sounds formed by an uninterrupted series of slight expirations, rapid
+and somewhat convulsive, of a tone more or less acute and prolonged, and
+produced by a deep inspiration.
+
+8. _Singing_ is the voice modulated or composed of a series of
+appreciable tones.
+
+
+
+
+
+Part Second.
+
+Gesture.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter I.
+
+Of Gesture in General.
+
+
+
+Human word is composed of three languages. Man says what he _feels_ by
+inflections of the voice, what he _loves_ by gesture, what he _thinks_
+by articulate speech. The child begins with feeling; then he loves, and
+later, he reasons. While the child only feels, cries suffice him; when
+he loves, he needs gestures; when he reasons, he must have articulate
+language. The inflections of the voice are for sensations, gesture is
+for sentiments; the buccal apparatus is for the expression of ideas.
+Gesture, then, is the bond of union between inflection and thought.
+Since gesture, in genealogical order, holds the second rank in human
+languages, we shall reserve for it that place in the series of our
+oratorical studies.
+
+We are entering upon a subject full of importance and interest. We
+purpose to render familiar the _heart language_, the expression of love.
+
+We learn dead languages and living languages: Greek, Latin, German,
+English. Is it well to know conventional idioms, and to ignore the
+language of nature? The body needs education as well as the mind. This
+is no trivial work. Let it be judged by the steps of the ideal ladder we
+must scale before reaching the perfection of gesture. Observe the ways
+of laboring men. Their movements are awkward, the joints do not play.
+This is the first step.
+
+At a more advanced stage, the shoulders play without the head. The
+individual turns around with a great impulse from the shoulders, with
+the leg raised, but the hand and the rest of the body remain inert. Then
+come the elbows, but without the hand. Later come the wrist-joint and
+the torso. With this movement of the wrist, the face becomes mobilized,
+for there is great affinity between these two agents. The face and hand
+form a most interesting unity. Finally, from the wrist, the articulation
+passes to the fingers, and here is imitative perfection. If we would
+speak our language eloquently, we must not be beguiled into any _patois_
+of gesture.
+
+Gesture must be studied in order to render it faultlessly elegant, but
+in such a thorough way as not to seem studied. It has still higher
+claims to our regard in view of the services it has rendered to
+humanity. Thanks to this language of the heart, thousands of deaf-mutes
+are enabled to endure their affliction, and to share our social
+pleasures. Blessed be the Abbe de l'Epee, who, by uniting the science of
+gesture to the conventional signs of dactyology, has made the deaf hear
+and the dumb speak! This beneficent invention has made gesture in a
+twofold manner, the language of the heart.
+
+Gesture is an important as well as interesting study. How beautiful it
+is to see the thousand pieces of the myological apparatus set in motion
+and propelled by this grand motor feeling! There surely is a joy in
+knowing how to appreciate an image of Christ on the cross, in
+understanding the attitudes of Faith, Hope and Charity. We can note a
+mother's affection by the way she holds her child in her arms. We can
+judge of the sincerity of the friend who grasps our hand. If he holds
+the thumb inward and pendant, it is a fatal sign; we no longer trust
+him. To pray with the thumbs inward and swaying to and fro, indicates a
+lack of sacred fervor. It is a corpse who prays. If you pray with the
+arms extended and the fingers bent, there is reason to fear that you
+adore Plutus. If you embrace me without elevating the shoulders, you are
+a Judas.
+
+What can you do in a museum, if you have not acquired, if you do not
+wish to acquire the science of gesture? How can you rightly appreciate
+the beauty of the statue of Antinous? How can you note a fault in
+Raphael's picture of Moses making water gush from the rock? How see that
+he has forgotten to have the Israelites raise their shoulders, as they
+stand rapt in admiration of the miracle? One versed in the science of
+gesture, as he passes before the Saint Michael Fountain, must confess
+that the statue of the archangel with its parallel lines, is little
+better than the dragon at his feet.
+
+In view of the importance and interest of the language of gesture, we
+shall study it thoroughly in the second book of our course.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II.
+
+Definition and Division of Gesture.
+
+
+
+Gesture is the direct agent of the heart, the interpreter of speech. It
+is elliptical discourse. Each part of this definition may be easily
+justified.
+
+1. _Gesture is the Direct Agent of the Heart._--Look at an infant. For
+some time he manifests his joy or sorrow through cries; but these are
+not gesture. When he comes to know the cause of his joy or sorrow,
+sentiment awakens, his heart opens to love or hatred, and he expresses
+his new emotion not by cries alone, nor yet by speech; he smiles upon
+his mother, and his first gesture is a smile. Beings endowed only with
+the sensitive life, have no smile; animals do not laugh.
+
+This marvelous correspondence of the organs with the sentiment arises
+from the close union of soul and body. The brain ministers to the
+operations of the soul. Every sentiment must have its echo in the brain,
+in order to be unerringly transmitted by the organic apparatus.
+
+_Ex visu cognoscitur vir._ ("The man is known by his face.") The role of
+dissimulation is a very difficult one to sustain.
+
+2. _Gesture is the Interpreter of Speech._--Gesture has been given to
+man to reveal what speech is powerless to express. For example: _I
+love_. This phrase says nothing of the nature of the being loved,
+nothing of the fashion in which one loves. Gesture, by a simple
+movement, reveals all this, and says it far better than speech, which
+would know how to render it only by many successive words and phrases. A
+gesture, then, like a ray of light, can reflect all that passes in the
+soul.
+
+Hence, if we desire that a thing shall be always remembered, we must not
+say it in words; we must let it be divined, revealed by gesture.
+Wherever an ellipse is supposable in a discourse, gesture must intervene
+to explain this ellipse.
+
+3. _Gesture is an Elliptical Language._--We call ellipse a hidden
+meaning whose revelation belongs to gesture. A gesture must correspond
+to every ellipse. For example: "This medley of glory and gain vexes me."
+If we attribute something ignominious or abject to the word _medley_,
+there is an ellipse in the phrase, because the ignominy is implied
+rather than expressed. Gesture is then necessary here to express the
+value of the implied adjective, _ignominious_.
+
+Suppress this ellipse, and the gesture must also be suppressed, for
+gesture is not the accompaniment of speech. It must express the idea
+better and in another way, else it will be only a pleonasm, an after
+conception of bad taste, a hindrance rather than an aid to intelligible
+expression.
+
+
+
+_Division of Gesture._
+
+
+Every act, gesture and movement has its rule, its execution and its
+_raison d'etre_. The imitative is also divided into three parts: the
+static, the dynamic and the semeiotic. The static is the base, the
+dynamic is the centre, and the semeiotic the summit. The static is the
+equiponderation of the powers or agents; it corresponds to life.
+
+The dynamic is the form of movements. The dynamic is melodic, harmonic
+and rhythmic. Gesture is melodic by its forms or its inflections. To
+understand gesture one must study melody. There is great affinity
+between the inflections of the voice and gesture. All the inflections of
+the voice are common to gesture. The inflections of gesture are oblique
+for the _life_, direct for the _soul_ and circular for the _mind_. These
+three terms, oblique, direct and circular, correspond to the eccentric,
+normal and concentric states. The movements of flection are direct,
+those of rotation, circular, those of abduction, oblique.
+
+Gesture is harmonic through the multiplicity of the agents which act in
+the same manner. This harmony is founded upon the convergence or
+opposition of the movements. Thus the perfect accord is the consonance
+of the three agents,--head, torso and limbs. Dissonance arises from the
+divergence of one of these agents.
+
+Finally, gesture is rhythmic because its movements are subordinated to
+a given measure. The dynamic corresponds to the _soul_.
+
+The semeiotic gives the reason of movements, and has for its object the
+careful examination of inflections, attitudes and types.
+
+Under our first head, we treat of the static and of gesture in general;
+under our second, of the dynamic, and of gesture in particular; and
+finally, under our third head, of the semeiotic, with an exposition of
+the laws of gesture.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter III.
+
+Origin and Oratorical Value of Gesture.
+
+
+
+_Origin._
+
+
+The infant in the cradle has neither speech nor gesture:--he cries. As
+he gains sensibility his tones grow richer, become inflections, are
+multiplied and attain the number of three million special and distinct
+inflections. The young infant manifests neither intelligence nor
+affection; but he reveals his life by sounds. When he discerns the
+source of his joys or sufferings, he loves, and gesticulates to repulse
+or to invite. The gestures, which are few at first, become quite
+numerous. It is God's art he follows; he is an artist without knowing
+it.
+
+
+
+_Oratorical Value of Gesture._
+
+
+The true aim of art is to move, to interest and to persuade. Emotion,
+interest and persuasion are the first terms of art. Emotion is expressed
+by the voice, by sounds; interest, by language; persuasion is the office
+of gesture.
+
+To inflection belongs emotion through the beautiful; to logic, interest
+through the truth; to plastic art, persuasion through the good.
+
+Gesture is more than speech. It is not what we say that persuades, but
+the manner of saying it. The mind can be interested by speech, it must
+be persuaded by gesture. If the face bears no sign of persuasion, we do
+not persuade.
+
+Why at first sight does a person awaken our sympathy or antipathy? We do
+not understand why, but it is by reason of his gestures.
+
+Speech is inferior to gesture, because it corresponds to the phenomena
+of mind; gesture is the agent of the heart, it is the persuasive agent.
+
+Articulate language is weak because it is successive. It must be
+enunciated phrase by phrase; by words, syllables, letters, consonants
+and vowels--and these do not end it. That which demands a volume is
+uttered by a single gesture. A hundred pages do not say what a simple
+movement may express, because this simple movement expresses our whole
+being. Gesture is the direct agent of the soul, while language is
+analytic and successive. The leading quality of mind is number; it is to
+speculate, to reckon, while gesture grasps everything by
+intuition,--sentiment as well as contemplation. There is something
+marvelous in this language, because it has relations with another
+sphere; it is the world of grace.
+
+An audience must not be supposed to resemble an individual. A man of the
+greatest intelligence finding himself in an audience, is no longer
+himself. An audience is never intelligent; it is a multiple being,
+composed of sense and sentiment. The greater the numbers, the less
+intelligence has to do. To seek to act upon an individual by gesture
+would be absurd. The reverse is true with an audience; it is persuaded
+not by reasoning, but by gesture.
+
+There is here a current none can control. We applaud disagreeable things
+in spite of ourselves--things we should condemn, were they said to us in
+private. The audience is not composed of intellectual people, but of
+people with senses and hearts. As sentiment is the highest thing in art,
+it should be applied to gesture.
+
+If the gestures are good, the most wretched speaking is tolerated. So
+much the better if the speaking is good, but gesture is the
+all-important thing. Gesture is superior to each of the other languages,
+because it embraces the constituent parts of our being. Gesture includes
+everything within us. Sound is the gesture of the vocal apparatus. The
+consonants and vowels are the gesture of the buccal apparatus, and
+gesture, properly so called, is the product of the myological apparatus.
+
+It is not ideas that move the masses; it is gestures.
+
+We easily reach the heart and soul through the senses. Music acts
+especially on the senses. It purifies them, it gives intelligence to the
+hand, it disposes the heart to prayer. The three languages may each
+move, interest and persuade.
+
+Language is a sort of music which moves us through vocal expression; it
+is besides normal through the gesture of articulation. No language is
+exclusive. All interpenetrate and communicate their action. The action
+of music is general.
+
+The mind and the life are active only for the satisfaction of the
+heart; then, since the heart controls all our actions, gesture must
+control all other languages.
+
+Gesture is magnetic, speech is not so. Through gesture we subdue the
+most ferocious animals.
+
+The ancients were not ignorant of this all-powerful empire of gesture
+over an audience. Therefore, sometimes to paralyze, sometimes to augment
+this magic power, orators were obliged to cover their faces with a mask,
+when about to speak in public. The judges of the Areopagus well knew the
+power of gesture, and to avoid its seductions, they adopted the resource
+of hearing pleas only in the darkness.
+
+The sign of the cross made at the opening of a sermon often has great
+effect upon good Catholics. Let a priest with his eyes concentric and
+introspective make deliberately the sign of the cross while solemnly
+uttering these words: "In-the-name-of-the-Father;" then let his glance
+sweep the audience. What do they think of him? This is no longer an
+ordinary man; he seems clothed with the majesty of God, whose orders he
+has just received, and in whose name he brings them. This idea gives him
+strength and assurance, and his audience respect and docility.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IV.
+
+The Laws of Gesture.
+
+
+
+The static treats of the laws of gesture which are six in number, viz.:
+Priority, retroaction, the opposition of agents, unity, stability and
+rhythm.
+
+
+
+_The Priority of Gesture to Speech._
+
+
+Gesture must always precede speech. In fact, speech is reflected
+expression. It must come after gesture, which is parallel with the
+impression received. Nature incites a movement, speech names this
+movement. Speech is only the title, the label of what gesture has
+anticipated. Speech comes only to confirm what the audience already
+comprehend. Speech is given for naming things. Gesture asks the
+question, "What?" and speech answers. Gesture after the answer would be
+absurd. Let the word come after the gesture and there will be no
+pleonasm.
+
+Priority of gesture may be thus explained: First a movement responds to
+the sensation; then a gesture, which depicts the emotion, responds to
+the imagination which colors the sensation. Then comes the judgment
+which approves. Finally, we consider the audience, and this view of the
+audience suggests the appropriate expression for that which has already
+been expressed by gesture.
+
+The basis of this art is to make the auditors divine what we would have
+them feel.
+
+Every speaker may choose his own stand-point, but the essential law is
+to anticipate, to justify speech by gesture. Speech is the verifier of
+the fact expressed. The thing may be expressed before announcing its
+name. Sometimes we let the auditors divine rather than anticipate,
+gazing at them in order to rivet their attention. Eloquence is composed
+of many things which are not named, but must be named by slight
+gestures. In this eloquence consists. Thus a smack of the tongue, a blow
+upon the hand, an utterance of the vowel _u_ as if one would remove a
+stain from his coat. The writer cannot do all this. The mere rendition
+of the written discourse is nothing for the orator; his talent consists
+in taking advantage of a great number of little nameless sounds.
+
+A written discourse must contain forced epithets and adjectives to
+illustrate the subject. In a spoken discourse a great number of
+adjectives are worse than useless. Gesture and inflection of the voice
+supply their place. The sense is not in the words; it is in inflection
+and gesture.
+
+
+
+_Retroaction._
+
+
+We have formulated this general law: The eccentric, normal and
+concentric expression must correspond to the sensitive, moral and
+intellectual state of man. When gesture is concerned, the law is thus
+modified: In the sensitive state, the gesture, which is naturally
+eccentric, may become concentric, as the orator is passive or active.
+
+He is passive when subject to any action whatever, when he depicts an
+emotion.
+
+He is agent when he communicates to the audience the expression of his
+own will or power; in a word, at all times when he controls his
+audience.
+
+When the orator assumes the passive role, that is, when he reflects, he
+gazes upon his audience; he makes a backward (or concentric) movement;
+when he assumes the active role, he makes a forward (or eccentric)
+movement. When one speaks to others, he advances; when one speaks to
+himself, he recoils a step, his thought centres upon himself.
+
+In the passive state, one loves. But when he loves, he does not move
+forward. A being who feels, draws back, and contemplates the object
+toward which the hand extends. Contemplation makes the body retroact.
+
+Hence in the passive state, the orator must step backward. In the
+opposite state he moves forward. Let us apply this law: A spendthrift
+officer meets his landlord, whom he has not yet paid, and greets him
+with an--"Ah, good day, sir!" What will be his movement? It must be
+retroactive. In the joy of seeing a friend again, as also in fright, we
+start back from the object loved or hated. Such is the law of nature,
+and it cannot be ignored.
+
+Whence comes this law? To behold a loved object fully, we must step
+back, remove to some little distance from it. Look at a painter admiring
+his work. It is retroaction at sight of a beloved person, which has led
+to the discovery of the phenomena of life, to this triple state of man
+which is found in like manner, everywhere: Concentric, eccentric, and
+normal.
+
+The concentric is the passive state, for when one experiences a deep
+emotion, he must retroact. Hence a demonstration of affection is not
+made with a forward movement. If so, there is no love. Expiration is the
+sign of him who gives his heart. Hence there is joy and love. In
+inspiration there is retroaction, and, in some sort, distrust. The hand
+extends toward the beloved object; if the hand tend toward itself, a
+love of self is indicated. Love is expressed by a retroactive, never by
+a forward movement. In portraying this sentiment the hand must not be
+carried to the heart. This is nonsense; it is an oratorical crime. The
+hand must tend toward the loved being to caress, to grasp, to reassure
+or to defend. The hand is carried to the heart only in case of suffering
+there.
+
+Take this passage from Racine's Phedre:
+
+    _Dieu--que ne puis-je a l'ombre des forets,
+    Suivre de l'oeil un char fuyant dans la carriere--_
+
+    ("God--may I not, through the dim forest shades,
+    With my glance follow a fleet chariot's course.")
+
+Here the actor does not follow affectionately, but with the eye, and
+then by recoiling and concentrating his thought upon himself.
+
+In the role of _Emilie_:
+
+    "_He may in falling crush thee 'neath his fall_"
+
+at sight of her crushed lover Emilie must recoil in terror, and not seem
+to add the weight of her body to that which crushes the victim.
+
+Augustus, on the contrary, may say:
+
+    "I might in falling crush thee 'neath my fall,"
+
+pausing upon a forward movement, because he is here the agent.
+
+Let us note in passing that the passive attitude is the type of
+energetic natures. They have something in themselves which suffices
+them. This is a sort of repose; it is elasticity.
+
+
+
+_Opposition of Agents._
+
+
+The opposition of the agents is the harmony of gesture. Harmony is born
+of contrasts. From opposition, equilibrium is born in turn. Equilibrium
+is the great law of gesture, and condemns parallelism; and these are the
+laws of equilibrium:
+
+1. The forward inclination of the torso corresponds to the movement of
+the leg in the opposite direction.
+
+2. When one arm is added to the weight of the already inclined torso,
+the other arm must rise to form a counterpoise.
+
+3. In gazing into a well, the two arms must be drawn backward if the
+body is equally supported by the two legs; in like manner the two arms
+may be carried in front if the torso bends backward. This is allowable
+only in the first attitude of the base, or in a similar attitude.
+
+The harmonic law of gesture is the static law _par excellence_.
+
+It is of childlike simplicity. We employ it in walking; also when we
+carry a weight in one hand, the other rises. The law consists in placing
+the acting levers in opposition, and thus realizing equilibrium. All
+that is in equilibrium is harmonized. All ancient art is based upon this
+opposition of levers. Modern art, with but few exceptions, is quite the
+contrary.
+
+Here is an example of the observance of this rule: If the head and arms
+are in action, the head must move in opposition to the arms and the
+hand. If both move in the same direction, there is a defect in
+equilibrium, and awkwardness results.
+
+When the arm rises to the head, the head bends forward and meets it
+half-way. The reverse is true. Every movement in the hand has its
+responsive movement in the head. If the head advances, the hand
+withdraws. The movements must balance, so that the body may be in
+equilibrium and remain balanced.
+
+Here is the difference between ancient and modern art. Let us suppose a
+statue of Corneille reading his works. To-day we should pose it with
+one leg and arm advanced. This is parallelism. Formerly the leg would
+have been opposed to this movement of the arm, because there should be
+here the expansion of the author toward his work, and this expansion
+results precisely from an opposition of levers.
+
+We know the ancient gladiator; we do exactly the opposite from him in
+fencing.
+
+Modern art makes the man walk with leg and arm parallel. Ancient art
+would have the leg opposed to the arm.
+
+It is through opposition that the smile expresses moral sadness. This
+law of opposition must be observed in the same member. For example, the
+hand should be opposed to the arm. Thus we have magnificent spheroidal
+movements which are graceful and also have considerable force. Thus all
+the harmonies occur in one same whole, in one same truth. In a word, all
+truths interpenetrate, and when a thing is true from one point of view,
+it is so from all.
+
+
+
+_Number of Gestures._
+
+
+Many reasons go to prove that gestures need not be multiplied:
+
+A.--We are moved by only one sentiment at a time; hence it is useless to
+multiply gestures.
+
+B.--But one gesture is needed for the expression of an entire thought;
+since it is not the word but the thought that the gesture must announce;
+if it expressed only the word, it would be trivial and mean, and also
+prejudicial to the effect of the phrase.
+
+In these phrases: "What do you seek in the world, happiness? It is not
+there," that which first strikes us is the absence of happiness. Gesture
+must indicate it in advance, and this should be the dominating movement.
+
+The intelligent man makes few gestures. To multiply gestures indicates a
+lack of intelligence. The face is the thermometer of intelligence. Let
+as much expression as possible be given to the face. A gesture made by
+the hand is wrong when not justified in advance by the face.
+Intelligence is manifested by the face. When the intelligent man speaks,
+he employs great movements only when they are justified by great
+exaltation of sentiment; and, furthermore, these sentiments should be
+stamped upon his face. Without expression of the face, all gestures
+resemble telegraphic movements.
+
+C.--The repeated extension of the arms denotes but little intelligence,
+little suppleness in the wrist and fingers. The movement of a single
+finger indicates great _finesse_.
+
+It is easy to distinguish the man of head, heart and actions. The first
+makes many gestures of the head; the second many of the shoulders; the
+last moves the arms often and inappropriately.
+
+D.--Gesture is allowable only when an ellipse of the word or phrase
+admits of an additional value.
+
+E.--Effects must not be multiplied; this is an essential precaution.
+Multiplied movements are detrimental when a graver movement is awaited.
+
+F.--The orator is free to choose between the role of actor or that of
+mere spectator or narrator. Neither the one nor the other can be forced
+upon him. The actor's role arises not from intelligence but simply from
+instinct. The actor identifies himself with the personages he
+represents. He renders all their sentiments. This role is the most
+powerful, but, before making it the object of his choice, there must be
+severe study; he must not run the risk of frivolity.
+
+We can dictate to the preacher and mark out his path. He must not be an
+actor, but a _doctor_. Hence his gestures must never represent the
+impressions of those of whom he speaks, but his own. Hence he should
+proportion the number of his gestures to the number of his sentiments.
+
+G.--If the orator would speak to any purpose, he must bring back his
+discourse to some picture from nature, some scene from real life.
+
+There must be unity in everything; but a role may be condensed in two or
+three traits; therefore a great number of gestures is not necessary.
+
+Let it be carefully noted: the expression of the face should make the
+gesture of the arms forgotten. Here the talent of the orator shines
+forth. He must captivate his public in such a way that his arm gestures
+will be ignored. He must so fascinate his auditors that they cannot ask
+the reason of this fascination, nor remark that he gesticulates at all.
+
+H.--Where there are two gestures in the same idea, one of them must
+come before the proposition, the other in its midst.
+
+If there is but one gesture and it precedes the proposition, the term to
+which it is applied must be precisely indicated.
+
+For example: _Would he be sensible to friendship?_ Although friendship
+may in some degree be qualified as the indirect regimen, gesture should
+portray it in all its attributes.
+
+
+
+_Duration of Gesture._
+
+
+The suspension or prolongation of a movement is one of the great sources
+of effect. It is in suspension that force and interest consist. A good
+thing is worth being kept in sight long enough to allow an enjoyment of
+the view.
+
+The orator should rest upon the preceding gesture until a change is
+absolutely required.
+
+A preoccupied man greets you with a smile, and after you have left, he
+smiles on, until something else occurs to divert his mind.
+
+The orator's abstraction should change the face, but not the gesture. If
+the double change takes place simultaneously, there will be no unity.
+The gesture should be retained and the expression of the face changed.
+
+A variety of effects and inflections should be avoided. While the
+speaker is under the influence of the same sentiment, the same
+inflection and gesture must be retained, so that there may be unity of
+style.
+
+Art proposes three things: to move, to interest, to persuade by unity of
+inflection and gesture. One effect must not destroy another. Divergence
+confuses the audience, and leaves no time for sentiment.
+
+It is well to remember that the stone becomes hollowed by the incessant
+fall of the drop of water in the same place.
+
+
+
+_The Rhythm of Gesture._
+
+
+Gesture is at the same time melodic, or rather inflective, harmonic and
+rhythmic. It must embrace the elements of music, since it corresponds to
+the soul; it is the language of the soul, and the soul necessarily
+includes the life with its diverse methods of expression, and the mind.
+Gesture is melodic or inflective through the richness of its forms,
+harmonic through the multiplicity of parts that unite simultaneously to
+produce it. Gesture is rhythmic through its movement, more or less slow,
+or more or less rapid.
+
+Gesture is, then, inevitably synthetic, and consequently harmonic; for
+harmony is but another name for synthesis.
+
+Each of the inflective, harmonic and rhythmic modes has its peculiar
+law.
+
+The rhythmic law of gesture is thus formulated:
+
+"The rhythm of gesture is proportional to the mass to be moved."
+
+The more an organ is restrained, the more vehement is its impulse.
+
+This law is based upon the vibration of the pendulum. Great levers have
+slow movements, small agents more rapid ones. The head moves more
+rapidly when the torso and the eye have great facility of motion. Thus
+the titillations of the eye are rapid as lightning.
+
+This titillation always announces an emotion. Surprise is feigned if
+there is no titillation.
+
+For example, at the unexpected visit of a friend there is a lighting up
+of the eye. Wherefore? Because the image is active in the imagination.
+This is an image which passes within ourselves, which lies in inward
+phenomena.
+
+So in relation to material phenomena: there is a convergence, a
+direction of the eyes toward the object; if the object changes place,
+the eyes cannot modify their manner of convergence; they must close to
+find a new direction, a convergence suited to the distance of the
+object.
+
+There is never sympathetic vision. The phenomena of the imagination are
+in the imagination at a fixed distance. When an image changes place in
+the idea, it produces a titillation equal to that which would be
+produced in the order of material things. For example, let us quote
+these lines:
+
+      "At last I have him in my power,
+    This fatal foe, this haughty conqueror!
+    Through him my captives leave their slavery."
+
+Here the body must be calm; there is a sort of vehemence in the eyes; it
+will be less in the head than in the arms. All these movements are made,
+but the body remains firm. Generally the reverse takes place; the whole
+body is moved; but this is wrong.
+
+In these words: "Where are they, these wretches?" there must be great
+violence in the upper part of the body, but the step is very calm.
+
+To affect a violent gait is an awkward habit. A modified slowness in the
+small agents creates emphasis; if we give them too great facility of
+movement, the gestures become mean and wretched.
+
+Rhythm is in marvelous accord with nature under the impulse of God.
+
+
+
+_Importance of the Laws of Gesture._
+
+
+We never really understand an author's meaning. Every one is free to
+interpret him according to his individual instinct. But we must know how
+to justify his interpretation by gesture. Principles must aid us in
+choosing a point of view in accordance with his individual nature;
+otherwise incoherence is inevitable. Hence rules are indispensable. But
+when the law is known, each applies it in accordance with his own idea.
+
+The author himself cannot read without rules, in such a manner as to
+convey the ideas he intended to express. Only through rules can we
+become free in our interpretation; we are not free without law, for in
+this case we are subject to the caprice of some master.
+
+The student of oratory should not be a servile copyist. In the
+arrangement of his effects, he must copy, imitate and compose. Let him
+first reproduce a fixed model, the lesson of the master. This is to
+copy. Let him then reproduce the lesson in the absence of the master.
+This is to imitate. Finally, let him reproduce a fugitive model. This is
+to compose.
+
+Thus to reproduce a lesson, to give its analysis and synthesis, is to
+disjoint, to unite and to reunite; this is the progressive order of
+work.
+
+The copying and imitative exercises should be followed by compositions,
+applying the principles already known. The orator may be allowed play
+for his peculiar genius; he may be sublime even in employing some
+foolish trick of his art. But whatever he does, he must be guided by
+fixed rules.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter V.
+
+Of Gesture in Particular.
+
+
+
+_The Head._
+
+
+The dynamic apparatus is composed of the head, the torso and the limbs.
+As in the vocal apparatus, we have the lever, the impelling force, and
+the fulcrum.
+
+The dynamic apparatus produces gesture, which renders the moral or
+normal state; as the voice expresses inflection and reveals the
+sensitive state.
+
+The head must be studied under two relations: as the agent of expression
+through its movements, and as the centre of attraction; that is, the
+point of departure or arrival for the different gestures of the arm.
+
+Let us now apply ourselves to the signification of the movements of the
+head and eyes, the face and lips.
+
+
+
+_The Movements of the Head._
+
+
+There are two sorts of movements of the head: movements of attitude and
+fugitive movements.
+
+_Movements of Attitude._--The head has nine primary attitudes, from
+which many others proceed.
+
+In the normal attitude, the head is neither high nor low.
+
+In the concentric attitude the head is lowered; this is the reflective
+state.
+
+In the eccentric attitude the head is elevated; this is the vital
+state.
+
+Soldiers and men of robust physique carry the head high.
+
+Here are three genera, each of which gives three species.
+
+
+
+_The Normal State._
+
+
+When the head is erect, it is passive and neutral.
+
+The head inclining laterally toward the interlocutor indicates
+affection.
+
+If in the inverse direction, opposite the interlocutor, sensualism is
+indicated. This is in fact retroaction; in the first case we love the
+soul, in the latter the form.
+
+
+
+_The Eccentric State._
+
+
+If the head bends backward it is the passional or vehement state.
+
+The head inclined toward the interlocutor, denotes abandon, confidence.
+
+The head turned away from the interlocutor, denotes pride, noble or
+base. This is a neutral expression which says something, but not the
+whole.
+
+
+
+_The Concentric State._
+
+
+The head lowered, that is, inclined forward, denotes the reflective
+state.
+
+If the head inclines toward the interlocutor, it is veneration, an act
+of faith in the object we love.
+
+If the head inclines away from the interlocutor, it is stratagem or
+suspicion.
+
+All other attitudes of the head are modifications of these. These nine
+attitudes characterize states, that is, sentiments, but sentiments which
+are fugitive. Either of these attitudes may be affected until it becomes
+habitual. But there are movements which cannot be habitually affected,
+which can only modify types and attitudes of the inflections of the
+head. These are _fugitive movements_.
+
+There are nine inflections or fugitive movements of the head:--
+
+1. If a forward movement, it ends in an upright one, with elevated chin,
+and indicates interrogation, hope, appellation, desire.
+
+2. The same movement with the chin lowered, indicates doubt,
+resignation.
+
+3. A nod of the head, a forward movement, means confirmation, _yes_, or
+_well_.
+
+4. If the movement is brusque forward, it is the menace of a resolute
+man.
+
+5. The head thrown back means exaltation.
+
+6. If the movement is brusque backward, it is the menace of a weak man.
+
+7. There are rotative inflections from one shoulder to the other; this
+is impatience, regret.
+
+8. The rotary movement of the head alone signifies negation, that is
+_no_.
+
+If the movement ends toward the interlocutor, it is simple negation.
+
+If the movement ends opposite to him, it is negation with distrust.
+
+9. The rotative and forward inflection would denote exaltation.
+
+The sense of this response,--"I do not know," when tidings of a friend
+are asked, may be divined by an inflection of the head.
+
+It is well to note how these movements are transmitted from agent to
+agent.
+
+All movements which severally affect the head, the hand, the body and
+the leg, may affect the whole.
+
+Thus the movement of negation is made by the hand. This movement is
+double. There is negation with direct resolution, and negation with
+inverse resolution, which is elliptical. The hand recoils as the head
+recoils, and when the head makes the movement of impatience, the hand
+rises with the head and says:--"Leave me alone, I do not wish to hear
+you."
+
+It is curious to see an inflection pass successively from the head to
+the hand, from the hand to the eye, from the eye to the shoulders, from
+the shoulders to the arms, from the arms to the legs, from the legs to
+the feet.
+
+For example: Above we have indicated a double menace made by the head.
+One might transfer this menace to the hand and say: "You will have a
+quarrel to settle with me!"
+
+Each agent has its role, and this is why they transmit their movements.
+
+When the head has a serious part to play, it communicates an inflective
+movement to the hand, which renders it terrible.
+
+A man who menaces with the head is not sure of his aim, but he who
+menaces with the hand is sure of striking right. In order to do this,
+the eye must be firmly fixed, as the eye necessarily loses its power and
+accuracy by a movement of the head.
+
+There is great power in the menace communicated to the hand, a power not
+found in the other movement. The head-menace is more physical, and the
+hand-menace more intellectual; in the one the eye says a great deal,
+while in the other it says nothing.
+
+The orator cannot always make these gestures with facility. The menace
+may be elliptical. Then it must be made by the head, and expressed
+through the eyes. This is why the speaker gazes downward as he makes it.
+
+It is the same downward or upward movement which is reproduced when the
+menace is concentric or elliptical.
+
+The menace may be made in yet another way. The speaker does not wish to
+express his opinion, and for fear of compromising himself with his eyes,
+he does not gaze at his interlocutor; he turns aside his glance, and the
+menace is communicated to the shoulder. This has less strength, because
+it is rendered by one of the sensitive agents.
+
+The man who threatens with the shoulder is more passionate; but he is
+not the agent, he is passive.
+
+A simple menace may be made by the knee. The foot is susceptible of
+great mobility. A slight movement quickly changes its significance; in
+passing from one agent to another, it is modified by many ellipses.
+
+                      Criterion of the Head Attitudes.
+
+      GENUS.                      SPECIES.
+
+                  1                  3                     2
+
+                 1-II               3-II                  2-II
+      II       Ecc. Conc.         Norm. Conc.          Conc. Conc.
+              _Stratagem or   _Reflection_.   _Veneration_.
+              cunning_.
+
+                 1-III              3-III                 2-III
+      III      Ecc. Norm.         Norm. Norm.          Conc. Norm.
+             _Sensualism_. _Passive state_. _Affection_.
+
+                  1-I                3-I                   2-I
+      I         Ecc. Ecc.          Norm. Ecc.           Conc. Ecc.
+               _Pride_.    _Vehemence_.    _Confidence_.
+
+These attitudes, being wholly characteristic, cannot be transmitted.
+They characterize the special role of the agent set in motion, while
+inflection is universal.
+
+The head alone expresses trouble, dejection.
+
+Dejection is in the head, as firmness is in the reins and exaltation in
+the shoulders.
+
+All the movements of the head are communicated to all the active organs.
+The head is always in opposition to the arms. The head must be turned
+away from the leg which is advanced.
+
+Men of small brain habitually carry their heads high. The head is
+lowered in proportion to the quantity of intelligence.
+
+Examine the criterion for the fixed attitudes of the head.
+
+
+
+_Of the Eyes._
+
+
+The eye, in common with all the other agents, has nine primary
+expressions, three genera and nine species.
+
+The eye contains three agents: The optic or visual, the palpebral or
+pupil, and the eyebrow agent. Each of these has its peculiar sense, and
+we shall show how they are united.
+
+The optic agent has three direct or convergent glances. The eyes
+converge toward the object they examine, at such a point that if the
+object were there they would squint. A skilled observer can determine
+the distance of the object, upon seeing the two eyes.
+
+There is a revolving or divergent glance. If both eyes project in
+parallel lines, they see double. A drunken man sees double because the
+eyes do not converge.
+
+Between these two glances there is the ecstatic or parallel vision; but
+the object is not so far away that its distance may not be determined.
+The convergence is not appreciable. This is the dreamy expression. We
+shall here treat of one only, to which we refer the three others. Let us
+take the direct glance, passing by the optic agent, since it is direct
+in all the phenomena we have to consider.
+
+There are three phenomena in the eyebrow: eccentric, concentric and
+normal. From these we derive nine terms. If the eye is normal, it is a
+passive expression which determines nothing. If, with the same eye, the
+eyebrow is eccentric, there is a difference; one part of us tends
+vehemently toward something, and the other says: "It is not worth the
+trouble." The sensitive part aspires, while the intellect says, "This
+amounts to nothing."
+
+The concentric eyebrow indicates a mind disconcerted by fatigue or
+_ennui_, a contention of one part of the nature with the other, which
+resists, and says: "I do not wish to be troubled about this; it wearies
+me."
+
+The normal brow and the eccentric eye indicate stupor.
+
+Here there is again contrariety. One part of the being ardently aspires
+toward some object, while the other is powerless to aid it.
+
+The eye is purely an intellectual agent, denoting the various states of
+the mind.
+
+The eccentric eye and the elevated eyebrow denote vehemence. This is an
+active state that will become astonishment. Many phenomena will arise
+and be subordinate to this movement; but it is vehemence _par
+excellence_; it is aspiration.
+
+If the brow lowers vehemently with the eyes open, it is not rage, but a
+state of mind independent of everything the senses or the heart can say.
+
+This is firmness of mind, a state of the will independent of every
+outside influence. It may be attention, or anger, or many other things.
+
+If the eye is concentric and the eyebrow in the normal state, it is
+slumber, fatigue.
+
+If the eyebrow is eccentric and the eye concentric, it will represent
+not indifference only, but scorn, and after saying, "This thing is
+worthless," will add, "I protest against it, I close my eyes."
+
+If both the eye and eyebrow are concentric, there is contention of mind.
+This is a mind which seeks but does not possess.
+
+This explanation may be rendered more clear and easier to retain in mind
+by the following resume:
+
+                           E  Concentric.   Contention of mind.
+       Concentric eyebrow  Y  Normal.       Bad humor.
+                           E  Eccentric.    Firmness
+
+                           E  Concentric.   Grief.
+       Normal eyebrow.     Y  Normal.       Passiveness.
+                           E  Eccentric.    Stupor.
+
+                           E  Concentric.   Scorn.
+       Eccentric eyebrow.  Y  Normal.       Disdain.
+                           E  Eccentric.    Astonishment.
+
+[Illustration: Criterion of the Eyes.]
+
+The nine expressions of the eye correspond to each of the nine
+movements of the head. Thus the eye may give nine types of affection,
+nine of pride, nine of sensualism, etc. This gives eighty-one
+expressions of the eye. Hence, knowing eighteen elements, we inevitably
+possess eighty-one.
+
+The nine expressions of the eye may be verified by the criterion.
+
+As a model, we give the nine expressions of the eye in the subjoined
+chart.
+
+        GENUS.                        SPECIES.
+
+                          1           3             2
+                  Eye eccentric. Eye normal. Eye concentric.
+
+        Eyebrow   Firmness.      Bad humor.  Contention of
+          conc.                                  mind.
+           II
+
+        Eyebrow    Stupor.     Passive state.    Grief.
+           III
+
+        Eyebrow  Inspiration.    Disdain.        Scorn.
+            I
+
+For ordinary purposes it is sufficient to understand the nine primary
+expressions. There are many others which we merely indicate. In sleep
+there may be an inclination either way. The top of the eyebrow may be
+lifted.
+
+Thus in the concentric state, three types may be noted, and these go to
+make twenty-seven primary movements. The lower eyelid may be contracted;
+the twenty-seven first movements may be examined with this, which makes
+2x27.
+
+A movement of the cheek may contract the eye in an opposite direction,
+and this contraction may be total, which makes eighty-one expressions
+belonging to the normal glance alone.
+
+This direct glance may also be direct on the inferior plane, which makes
+2x81; for these are distinct expressions which cannot be confounded.
+
+This movement could again be an upward one, which would make 3x81.
+
+The movement may be outward and superior, or it may be simply outward;
+it may also be outward and inferior. A special sense is attached to each
+of these movements,--a sense which cannot be confounded with any of the
+preceding movements.
+
+By making the same computation for the three glances above noted, we
+shall have from eight to nine hundred movements.
+
+All this may appear complicated, but with the key of the primary
+movements, nothing can be more simple than this deduction.
+
+The above chart with its exposition of the phases of the eye explains
+everything. A small eye is a sign of strength; a large eye is a sign of
+languor. A small oblique eye (the Chinese eye), when associated with
+lateral development of the cranium, and ears drawn back, indicates a
+predisposition to murder.
+
+The eye opens only in the first emotion; then it becomes calm, closing
+gradually; an eye wide open in emotion, denotes stupidity.
+
+
+
+_Of the Eyebrows._
+
+
+There are three thermometers: the eyebrow is the thermometer of the
+mind; the shoulder is the thermometer of the life; the thumb is the
+thermometer of the will.
+
+There is parallelism between the eye and the voice. The voice lowered
+and the brow lifted, indicate a desire to create surprise, and a lack of
+mental depth.
+
+It is very important to establish this parallelism between the movements
+of the brow and voice.
+
+The lowered brow signifies retention, repulsion: It is the signification
+of a closed door. The elevated brow means the open door. The mind opens
+to let in the light or to allow it to escape. The eyebrow is nothing
+less than the door of intelligence. In falling, the voice repels. The
+efforts in repulsion and retention are equal.
+
+The inflections are in accord with the eyebrows. When the brows are
+raised, the voice is raised. This is the normal movement of the voice in
+relation to the eyebrow.
+
+Sometimes the eyebrow is in contradiction to the movement of the voice.
+Then there is always ellipse; it is a thought unexpressed. The
+contradiction between these two agents always proves that we must seek
+in the words which these phenomena modify, something other than they
+seem to say. For instance, when we reply to a story just told us, with
+this exclamation: "_Indeed_!"
+
+If the brow and voice are lowered, the case is grave and demands much
+consideration.
+
+If brow and voice are elevated, the expression is usually mild, amiable
+and affectionate.
+
+If the voice is raised and the brow lowered, the form is doubtful and
+suspicious. With the brow concentric, the hand is repellent.
+
+Both brow and hand concentric denote repulsion or retention; this is
+always the case with a door.
+
+Both brow and hand eccentric mean inspiration, or allowing departure
+without concern.
+
+There is homogeneity between the face, the eyebrow and the hand.
+
+The degree and nature of the emotion must be shown in the face,
+otherwise there will be only grimace.
+
+The hand is simply another expression of the face. The face gives the
+hand its significance. Hand movements without facial expression would be
+purely automatic. The face has the first word, the hand completes the
+sense. There are eighty-one movements of the hand impossible to the
+face; hence, without the hand, the face cannot express everything. The
+hand is the detailed explanation of what the face has sought to say.
+
+There are expressions of the hand consonant with the facial traits, and
+others dissonant: this is the beautiful.
+
+The weak hand and the strong face are the sign of impotence.
+
+The weak hand and the strong face are the sign of perfidy.
+
+The tones of the voice vary according to the expression of the face. The
+face must speak, it must have charm.
+
+In laughing, the face is eccentric; a sombre face is concentric.
+
+The face is the mirror of the soul because it is the most impressionable
+agent, and consequently the most faithful in rendering the impressions
+of the soul.
+
+Not only may momentary emotions be read in the expression of the
+features, but by an inspection of the conformation of the face, the
+aptitude, thoughts, character and individual temperament may be
+determined.
+
+The difference in faces comes from difference in the configuration of
+profiles.
+
+There are three primitive and characteristic profiles, of which all
+others are only derivations or shades. There is the upright, the concave
+and the convex profile. Each of these genera must produce three
+species, and this gives again the accord of _nine_.
+
+These different species arise from the direction of the angles, as also
+from the position of the lips and nose.
+
+Uprightness responds to the perpendicular profile; chastity, to the
+concave; sensualism, to the convex.
+
+Let it be understood that we derogate in no way from the liberty of the
+man who remains always master of his will, his emotions and his
+inclinations.
+
+A criterion of the face is indispensable to the intelligent
+physiognomist, and as the lips and nose have much to do with the
+expression of the face, we offer an unerring diagnosis in the three
+following charts:
+
+                Criterion of the Profile of the Lips.
+
+          SPECIES.     1             3              2
+
+          II           1-II          3-II           2-II
+                    Ecc.-conc.   Norm.-conc.    Conc.-conc.
+
+          III          1-III        3-III          2-III
+                    Ecc.-norm.   Norm.-norm.    Conc.-norm.
+
+          I            1-I          3-I            2-I
+                    Ecc.-ecc.    Norm.-ecc.     Conc.-ecc.
+
+Here the profile of the lower lip indicates the genus, and the profile
+of the upper lip belongs to the species.
+
+                  Criterion of the Profile of the Nose.
+
+          SPECIES.      1            3             2
+
+          II           1-II         3-II          2-II
+                    Ecc.-conc.   Norm.-conc.   Conc.-conc.
+
+
+          III          1-III.       3-III.        2-III.
+                    Ecc.-norm.   Norm.-norm.   Conc.-norm.
+
+
+          I            1-I.         3-I.          2-I.
+                    Ecc.-ecc.    Norm.-ecc.    Conc.-ecc.
+
+For surety of diagnosis the lips must be taken in unison with the nose
+and forehead, as may be seen in the following chart.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VI.
+
+Of the Torso.
+
+
+
+The torso includes the chest, and shares the shoulder movements with the
+arms.
+
+_The Chest._--There are three chest attitudes, eccentric, concentric and
+normal.
+
+1. If the chest is greatly dilated, this is the eccentric state--the
+military attitude, the sign of energy.
+
+2. The normal, when the chest is in a state more homogeneous, less
+contentious, more sympathetic, as in the statue of Antinous.
+
+3. The concentric, when the chest is hollow, with the shoulders elevated
+and inclining forward.
+
+The convex eccentric chest is the sign of the agent, or of him who
+gives.
+
+The convex concentric chest or the pathetic, is the sign of the
+sufferer, or of him who receives.
+
+The chest drawn in with the shoulders elevated, is the expression of the
+sublime.
+
+From these three positions, the eccentric, the concentric and the
+normal, are derived nine degrees or species. Thus in each of these
+genera, the torso is inclined toward the speaker, or away from him,
+hence we have three times three, or nine, or the triple accord.
+
+[Illustration: Criterion of the Face.]
+
+The chest need not be lowered; it is here that all the energy
+concentrates.
+
+_The Shoulders._--Every sensitive, agreeable or painful form is
+expressed by an elevation of the shoulders. The shoulders are the
+thermometer of the sensitive and passional life. If a man's shoulders
+are raised very decidedly, we may know that he is decidedly impressed.
+
+The head tells us whether this impression is joyous or sorrowful. Then
+the species belongs to the head, and the genus to the shoulder.
+
+If the shoulder indicates thirty degrees, the head must say whether it
+is warmth or coldness. The face will specify the nature of the sorrow or
+joy whose value the shoulders have determined.
+
+The shoulder is one of the great powers of the orator.
+
+By a simple movement of the shoulder, he can make infinitely more
+impression than with all the outward gestures which are almost always
+theatrical, and not of a convincing sort.
+
+The shoulder, we have said, is the thermometer of emotion and of love.
+The movement is neutral and suited to joy as well as to sorrow; the eyes
+and mouth are present to specify it.
+
+The shoulder, like all the agents, has three and hence nine distinct
+phases.
+
+The torso is divided into three parts: the thoracic, the epigastric and
+abdominal.
+
+We shall state farther on, the role of these three important centres.
+
+Liars do not elevate their shoulders to the required degree, hence the
+truth or falsity of a sentiment may be known.
+
+Raphael has forgotten this principle in his "Moses Smiting the Rock."
+None of his figures, although joyous, elevate the shoulder.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VII.
+
+Of The Limbs.
+
+
+
+The limbs hold an important place in oratorical action.
+
+The study of the role of the arms and limbs therefore deserves serious
+attention.
+
+
+
+_The Arms._
+
+
+In the arms we distinguish the deltoid or shoulder movement, the
+inflection of the fore-arm, the elbow, the wrist, the hand and the
+fingers.
+
+
+_Inflections of the Fore-Arm_.
+
+
+We have treated of what concerns the shoulder in the chapter upon the
+torso.
+
+The arm has three movements: an upward and downward vertical movement,
+and a horizontal one.
+
+These movements derive their significance from the different angles
+formed by the fore-arm in relation to the arm. Let us first represent
+these different angles, and then we will explain the chart.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+All these different angles have their meaning, their absolute
+significance in affirmation.
+
+The movement at the right angle signifies: To be.
+
+Lower: Perhaps.
+
+Lower still: I doubt if it is so.
+
+Lower: It is improbable.
+
+Lower: It is not.
+
+Lower: It is not possible.
+
+Ascending: This is proven, I have the proof in my hand.
+
+Higher: This is superlatively beautiful.
+
+Higher: It is enchantingly beautiful.
+
+The degree of certainty in the affirmation varies with, the angle which
+the fore-arm forms with the arm.
+
+All these modes of affirmation may be applied to negation. For example:
+
+"It is impossible that this should not be. This cannot be."
+
+Thus all states of being, all forms of affirmation, belong to the
+acuteness or opening of an angle.
+
+The hanging arm signifies depression. The two arms should never extend
+the same way. If they follow each other, one should be more advanced
+than the other. Never allow parallelism. The elementary gestures of the
+arms are represented in the foregoing chart.
+
+
+
+_Of the Elbow._
+
+
+The elbow has nine movements, three primitive, as genera, and nine
+derivative, as species. There are the forward and backward movements of
+the normal state. There are three degrees of height, and finally the
+forward and backward movements of extension.
+
+The elbow movements are relational. The epicondyle is called the eye of
+the arm.
+
+Man slightly moves the torso, then the shoulder, and finally the elbow.
+
+Among persons who would fain crush others, there is an elbow movement
+which seems to say, "I annihilate thee, I am above thee."
+
+The elbow turned outward signifies strength, power, audacity,
+domination, arrogance, abruptness, activity, abundance. The elbow drawn
+inward, signifies impotence, fear, subordination, humility, passiveness,
+poverty of spirit.
+
+Modest people have a slight outward movement of the elbow. The humble
+make an inward movement. The elbow thrust forward or backward, indicates
+a yielding character.
+
+These movements should not be taken alone; they must be verified by the
+torso and the head. The shoulder characterizes the expression of the
+elbow movements, just as the elbow verifies marked exaltation, by the
+elevation of the shoulder.
+
+It is by these little things that we determine millions of movements and
+their meaning. We finally determine and class precisely five million
+movements of the different agents of the arm. This would seem enormous;
+but it is nothing at all; it is childlike simplicity. The elements being
+known, the process is always the same. Hence the advantage of possessing
+a criterion. With this criterion, we have everything. If we possess
+nine, we possess twenty millions, which are no more than nine.
+
+
+
+_Of the Wrist._
+
+
+The wrist is a directing instrument for the forearm and the hand.
+
+The wrist has its three movements.
+
+It is eccentric when the extensor muscles are in motion.
+
+It is normal in the horizontal position.
+
+It is concentric when the flexor muscles are in action.
+
+In the concentric position the wrist is in pronation, for the thumb is
+turned downward; this is the sign of a powerful will, because the
+pronator muscles have more power than the flexors.
+
+In the eccentric position the wrist is in supination; that is, the back
+of the hand is downward; this is the sign of impotence.
+
+The wrist has also forward and backward movements, either in pronation,
+in supination, or the normal state. Thus there are nine phases for the
+wrist.
+
+It is through the aid of the wrist that the aspects of the hand, placed
+upon the cube, receive, as we shall see, their precise signification.
+
+The orator needs great suppleness in wrist movements to give grace to
+the phases of the hand.
+
+
+
+_Of the Hand._
+
+
+Man is perforce painter, poet, inspired dreamer or mystic, and
+scientist.
+
+He is a painter, to reveal the phenomena of the sensitive life; a poet,
+to admire the mysteries of grace; a scientist, to make known the
+conceptions of the mind. Thus the hand has three presentations, neither
+more nor less, to render that which passes in man in the sensitive,
+moral or intellectual state.
+
+Let us now examine the three presentations of an open hand: its palmar,
+dorsal and digital aspect.
+
+The same thing may be expressed by these three presentations, but with
+shades of difference in the meaning.
+
+If we say that a thing is admirable, with the palms upward, it is to
+describe it perfectly. This is the demonstrative aspect.
+
+If we say the same thing, displaying the back of the hand, it is with
+the sentiment of impotence. We have an idea of the thing, but it is so
+beautiful we cannot express it. This is the mystic aspect.
+
+If we present the digital extremity, it is as if we said: "I have seen,
+I have weighed, I have numbered the thing, I understand it from certain
+knowledge; it is admirable, and I declare it so." These are the three
+aspects: the palmar, dorsal and digital.
+
+Each of these attitudes of the hand may be presented under three forms:
+the eccentric, normal and concentric.
+
+Each of these forms as genera, produces three species; this gives the
+hand nine intrinsic attitudes, whose neutral signification will be
+specified and determined by the presentation of the hand upon the cube.
+
+Let us first take the normal state as genus, and we shall have the
+normal hand as species in the normal genus. This will then be the
+normo-normal attitude.
+
+By presenting the hand in pronation or supination horizontally, without
+spreading or folding the fingers, we shall have that attitude which
+signifies abandon.
+
+Let us now take the eccentric species, still in the normal genus.
+
+Raise the hand somewhat with a slight parting of the fingers, and we
+have the eccentro-normal hand, which signifies expansion.
+
+Finally, let us consider the concentric species, still in the normal
+state.
+
+Present the hand lifeless and you have the concentro-normal attitude,
+which signifies prostration.
+
+Let us pass on to the concentric genus.
+
+By closing the fingers with the thumb inward upon the middle one, we
+shall have the normo-concentric hand, which signifies the _tonic_ or
+power.
+
+To close the hand and place the thumb outside upon the index finger,
+signifies conflict. This is the concentro-concentric hand.
+
+To bend the first joint with the fingers somewhat apart, indicates the
+eccentro-concentric hand. This is the convulsive state.
+
+Let us pass on to the eccentric genus.
+
+The fingers somewhat spread, denote the normo-eccentric hand. This is
+exaltation.
+
+To spread the fingers and fold them to the second joint, indicates the
+concentro-concentric hand. This is retraction.
+
+To spread the fingers as much as possible, gives the eccentro-eccentric
+hand. This is exasperation.
+
+In the subjoined charts we can see an illustration of the different
+attitudes of the hand.
+
+[Illustration: Criterion of the Hand.]
+
+                       Recapitulation
+
+
+         II   +--   2   +-- Concentro-concentric.    Conflict.
+              |     3 --+   Normo-concentric.        Tonic or power.
+              |     1   +-- Eccentro-concentric.     Convulsive.
+              |
+              |     2   +-- Concentro-normal.        Prostration.
+        III --+     3 --+   Normo-normal.            Abandon.
+              |     1   +-- Eccentro-normal.         Expansion.
+              |
+              |     2   +-- Concentro-eccentric.     Retraction.
+              |     3 --+   Normo-eccentric.         Exaltation.
+          I   +--   1   +-- Eccentro-eccentric.      Exasperation.
+
+    The nine primitive forms of the hand are, as is seen, undetermined.
+
+                 +---------------------------------------------+
+                /|                                            /|
+               / |                                           / |
+              /  |                                          /  |
+             /   |                                         /   |
+            /    |          UPPER SURFACE.                /    |
+           /     |                                       /     |
+          /      |             To hold.                 /      |
+         /       |                                     /       |
+        +---------------------------------------------+        |
+        |        |                                    |  O     |
+        |  I     |                                    |  U     |
+        |  N     |                                    |  T     |
+        |  W     |                                    |  W     |
+        |  A     |                                    |  A     |
+        |  R     |          FRONT SURFACE.            |  R     |
+        |  D  T  |                           |        |  D     |
+        |     o  |          To retain.       |        |     T  |
+        |  L     |                                    |  L  o  |
+        |  A  w  |          Limit.         --         |  A     |
+        |  T  i  |                                    |  T  b  |
+        |  E  t  |          Obtain.          |        |  E  e  |
+        |  R  h  |                           |        |  R  l  |
+        |  A  d  |          BACK SURFACE.             |  A  o  |
+        |  L  r  |      |                             |  L  n  |
+        |     a  |      |   To maintain.              |     g  |
+        |  S  w  |      |                    |        |  S  .  |
+        |  U  .  |          Contain.         |        |  U     |
+        |  R     |                           |        |  R     |
+        |  F     |                                    |  F     |
+        |  A     |                                    |  A     |
+        |  C     |                                    |  C     |
+        |  E     |                                    |  E     |
+        |  .     |                                    |  .     |
+        |        +------------------------------------+--------+
+        |       /                                     |       /
+        |      /             LOWER SURFACE.           |      /
+        |     /                                       |     /
+        |    /                 To sustain.            |    /
+        |   /                                         |   /
+        |  /                                          |  /
+        | /                                           | /
+        |/                                            |/
+        +---------------------------------------------+
+
+
+The hand is raised. Why? For what purpose? The presentation of the hand
+upon the surfaces of the cube will decide and specify.
+
+By this presentation the nine movements of the hand correspond with the
+expressive movements of the arm.
+
+Take any cube whatever,--a book, a snuff-box, or rather cast your eyes
+upon the foregoing chart, and examine it carefully.
+
+There are three directions in the cube: horizontal, vertical and
+transverse. Hence there are six faces, anterior, superior, inferior,
+interno-lateral and externo-lateral.
+
+Of what use are angles and faces? All this is necessary for those who
+would know the reason of the sentiments expressed by the hand. There are
+twenty-seven sorts of affirmation. We give nine of them with the six
+faces of the cube.
+
+
+
+_The Digital Face._
+
+
+To place the hand, whether eccentric, concentric or normal, upon the
+upper face of the cube, is to hold, to protect, to control; it is to
+say: "I hold this under my protection."
+
+To place the hand upon the external side-face of the cube, signifies to
+belong; it says: "All this belongs to me." It is the affirmation of the
+man who knows, who has had the thing in dispute under his own eyes, who
+has measured it, examined it in all its aspects. It is the affirmation
+of the connoisseur.
+
+To apply the hand to the inner side of the face is to let go. Here is
+the sense of this affirmation: "You may say whatever you will, but I
+affirm in spite of every observation, in spite of all objection; I
+affirm whether or no."
+
+
+
+_The Back Face._
+
+
+There are three ways of touching the front face of the cube with the
+hand.
+
+A.--To touch it with the end of the fingers upward and the thumb inward,
+is to obtain: "I have obtained great benefits, I do not know how to
+express my gratitude." Or rather: "I keep the object for myself; I do
+not care to let it be seen." This is the mystic face. Or yet again: "I
+contemplate."
+
+B.--To place the hand horizontally on the same face of the cube, is to
+restrain, or bound. "Go no farther, if you please; all this belongs to
+me."
+
+C.--To place the hand upon the same anterior face of the cube, but with
+the extremities of the fingers vertically downward, means to retain. It
+says: "I reserve this for myself." Here, then, are three aspects for the
+anterior face of the cube.
+
+
+
+_The Palmar Face._
+
+
+A.--To place the lower face of the cube in the hand, is to sustain. It
+is to say: "I will sustain you in misfortune."
+
+B.--To apply as much as possible the palm upon the same posterior face
+of the cube, with the fingers downward, is to maintain: "I maintain what
+I have said."
+
+C.--To apply the hand upon the same face with the extremities of the
+fingers upward, is to contain, is to show the object--it is to disclose:
+"I affirm; you cannot doubt me; I open my heart; behold me!"
+
+There are, then, nine affirmations, which are explained by a mere view
+of the cube and its faces.
+
+The twelve edges of the cube give a double affirmation; the angles, a
+triple affirmation. Example for the edges: To place the hand on the back
+edge, means: "I protect and I demonstrate."
+
+There are three movements or inflections of the hand which must be
+pointed out: to hover, to insinuate, to envelop.
+
+The three rhythmic actions of the hand must not be passed over in
+silence: to incline, to fall, to be precipitated.
+
+The aspects of the hands would be simply telegraphic movements, were it
+not for the inflections of the voice, and, above all, the expression of
+the eyes. The expressions of the hand correspond to the voice. The hands
+are the last thing demanded in a gesture; but they must not remain
+motionless, as (if they were stiff, for instance) they might say more
+than was necessary.
+
+The hands are clasped in adoration, for it seems as if we held the thing
+we love, that we desire.
+
+The rubbing of the hands denotes joy, or an eager thirst for action; in
+the absence of anything else to caress, we take the hand, we communicate
+our joy to it.
+
+There is a difference between the caress and the rubbing of the hands.
+
+In the caress, the hand extends eagerly, and passes lightly,
+undulatingly, for fear of harming. There is an elevation of the
+shoulders.
+
+The hand is an additional expression of the face. The movement must
+begin with the face, the hand only completes and interprets the facial
+expression. The head and hand cannot act simultaneously to express the
+same sentiment. One could not say _no_ with head and hands at the same
+time. The head commands and precedes the movement of the hand.
+
+The eyes, and not the head, may be parallel with the hand and the other
+agents.
+
+The hand with its palm upward may be caressing, if there is an elevation
+of the eyebrow; repellent with the eyebrow concentric.
+
+The waving hand may have much sense, according to the expression of the
+face.
+
+The eye is the essential agent, the hand is only the reverberatory
+agent; hence it must show less energy than the eye.
+
+
+
+_Of the Fingers._
+
+
+Each finger has its separate function, but it is exclusive of the great
+expressions which constitute the accords of _nine_. These are
+interesting facts, but they do not spring naturally from the fountain of
+gesture. They are more intellectual than moral.
+
+In a synthetic action all the fingers converge. A very energetic will
+is expressed by the clenched fist.
+
+In dealing with a fact in detail, as we say: "Remark this well," all the
+fingers open to bid us concern ourselves only with the part in dispute.
+This is analysis; it is not moral, it is intellectual.
+
+If we speak of condensation we close the hand. If we have to do with a
+granulated object, we test it with the thumb and index finger.
+
+If it is carneous, we touch it with the thumb and middle finger.
+
+If the object is fluid, delicate, impressionable, we express it by the
+third finger.
+
+If it is pulverized, we touch it with the little finger.
+
+We change the finger as the body is solid, humid, delicate, or powdery.
+
+The orator who uses the fingers in gesticulation, gives proof of great
+delicacy of mind.
+
+
+
+_Of the Legs._
+
+
+The legs have nine positions which we call base attitudes.
+
+We shall give a detailed description, summing up in a chart of the
+criterion of the legs at the end of this section.
+
+_First Attitude._--This consists in the equal balance of the body upon
+its two legs. It is that of a child posed upon its feet, neither of
+which extends farther than the other. This attitude is normal, and is
+the sign of weakness, of respect; for respect is a sort of weakness for
+the person we address. It also characterizes infancy, decay.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+_Second Attitude._--In this attitude the strong leg is backward, the
+free one forward. This is the attitude of reflection, of concentration,
+of the strong man. It indicates the absence of passions, or of
+concentred passions. It has something of intelligence;
+
+[Illustration]
+
+it is neither the position of the child nor of the uncultured man. It
+indicates calmness, strength, independence, which are signs of
+intelligence. It is the concentric state.
+
+_Third Attitude._--Here the strong leg is forward, the free leg
+backward. This is the type of vehemence. It is the eccentric attitude.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The orator who would appear passive, that is, as experiencing some
+emotion, or submitting to some action, must have a backward pose as in
+figure 2.
+
+If, on the contrary, he would communicate to his audience the expression
+of his will or of his own thought, he must have a forward poise as in
+figure 3.
+
+_Fourth Attitude._--Here the strong leg is behind, as in the second
+attitude, but far more apart from the other and more inflected.
+
+This is very nearly the attitude of the fencing master, except the
+position of the foot, which is straight instead of being turned outward.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+This is a sign of the weakness which follows vehemence.
+
+Natural weakness is portrayed in figure 1; sudden weakness in figure 4.
+
+_Fifth Attitude._--This is necessitated by the inclination of the torso
+to one side or the other. It is
+
+[Illustration]
+
+a third to one side. It is a passive attitude, preparatory to all
+oblique steps. It is passing or transitive, and ends all the angles
+formed by walking. It is in frequent use combined with the second.
+
+_Sixth Attitude._--This is one-third crossed. It is an attitude of great
+respect and ceremony, and is effective only in the presence of princes.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+_Seventh Attitude._--This is the first position, but the legs are
+farther apart. The free limb is turned
+
+[Illustration]
+
+to one side; both limbs are strong. This denotes intoxication, the man
+overwhelmed with astonishment, familiarity, repose. It is a double
+fifth.
+
+_Eighth Attitude._--This is the second, with limbs farther apart. It is
+the alternative attitude. The body faces one of the two legs. It is
+alternative from the fact that it ends in the expression of two extreme
+and opposite sentiments; that is, in the third or the fourth. It serves
+for eccentricity with reticence, for menace and jealousy. It is the type
+of hesitation. It is a parade attitude. At the same time offensive and
+defensive, its aspect easily impresses and leaves the auditor in doubt.
+What is going to happen? What sentiment is going to arise from this
+attitude which must have its solution either in the third or fourth?
+
+[Illustration]
+
+_Ninth Attitude,_--This is a stiff second attitude, in which the strong
+leg and also the free one are equally rigid. The body in this attitude
+bends backward; it is the sign of distrust and scorn.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The legs have one aspect. If, in the second, the strong leg advances
+slowly to find the other, it is the tiger about to leap upon his prey;
+if, on the contrary, the free leg advances softly, the vengeance is
+retarded.
+
+The menace made in figure 3, with inclination of the head and agitation
+of the index finger, is that of a valet who wishes to play some ill turn
+upon his master; for with the body bent and the arm advanced, there is
+no intelligence. But it is ill-suited to vengeance, because that
+attitude should be strong and solid, with the eye making the indication
+better than the finger.
+
+[Illustration: Criterion of the Legs]
+
+[Illustration. Criterion of the Legs]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VIII.
+
+Of the Semeiotic, or the Reason of Gesture.
+
+
+
+_The Types which Characterize Gesture._
+
+
+The semeiotic is the science of signs, and hence the science of the form
+of gesture. Its object is to give the reason for the forms of gesture
+according to the types that characterize it, the apparatus that modifies
+it, and the figures that represent it.
+
+There are three sorts of types in man: constitutional or formal,
+fugitive or passional, and habitual.
+
+The constitutional type is that which we have at birth.
+
+The passional type is that which is reproduced under the sway of
+passion.
+
+The habitual types are those which, frequently reproduced, come to
+modify even the bones of the man, and give him a particular
+constitution.
+
+Habit is a second nature, in fact, a habitual movement fashions the
+material and physical being in such a manner as to create a type not
+inborn, and which is named habitual.
+
+To recognize constitutional types, we study the movements of the body,
+and the profound action which the habit of these movements exercises
+upon the body; and, as the type produced by these movements is in
+perfect analogy with the formal, constitutional types, we come through
+this analogy to infer constant phenomena from the passional form. Thus
+all the formal types are brought back to the passional types.
+
+Passional types explain habitual types, and these last explain
+constitutional types. Thus, when we know the sum of movements possible
+to an organ, when we know the sense of it, we arrive at that semeiotic
+through which the reason of a form is perfectly given.
+
+
+
+_Of Gesture Relative to its Modifying Apparatus._
+
+
+Every gesture places itself in relation with the subject and the object.
+
+It is rare that a movement tending toward an object does not touch the
+double form. Thus, in saying that a thing is admirable, we start from a
+multitude of physical centres whose sense we are to determine. When this
+sense is known, understanding the point of departure, we understand
+still better that of arrival.
+
+This division, which is not made at random, is reproduced in the
+subjoined diagram.
+
+1 represents the vital expression; 2, the intellectual; 3, the moral. We
+divide the face into three zones: the genal,[4] buccal, and frontal.
+
+The expression is physical, moral and intellectual.
+
+In the posterior section of the head we have the occipital, parietal
+and temporal zones. The life is in the occiput, the soul in the parietal
+zone, and the mind holds the temporal region near the forehead as its
+inalienable domicile.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The chest is divided into the thoracic centre for the mind, into the
+epigastric for the soul, and into the abdominal for the life.
+
+The arm is divided into three sections: the deltoid, brachial and
+carpal.
+
+This division is a rational one. Let us suppose this exclamation: "It is
+admirable!" Some say it starting from the shoulder, others from the
+chest, others from the abdominal focus. These are three very distinct
+modes. There is more intelligence when the movement is from the thoracic
+centre. This concerns the honor, the dignity.
+
+When the movement is from the epigastrium, it is moral in a high
+degree. For example: "This is beautiful! It is admirable! I know not
+why, but this gives me pleasure!"
+
+The movement from the abdomen indicates sensuality, good nature, and
+stupidity.
+
+The movement is the same with the head. In emotion it proceeds from the
+chin; it is the life movement, it is instinct. That from the cheeks,
+indicates sentiments, the most noble affections.
+
+Carrying the hand to the forehead indicates intelligence. Here we seek
+relief from embarrassment, in the other head movements we do not seek
+it. The one is a mental, the others are purely physical efforts. In the
+latter case one becomes violent and would fain give blows with his fist.
+
+An infinite number of movements proceed from these various seats.
+
+We have now reached the semeiotic standpoint, that of these very clear
+plans, the very starting point of gesture.
+
+The articular centres of the arms are called thermometers: the wrist,
+that of the organic physical life; the shoulder, that of the sensitive
+life; and the elbow, that of the relative life.
+
+The thumb has much expression; drawn backward it is a symbol of death,
+drawn forward it is the sign of life. Where there is abundance of life,
+the thumb stands out from the hand. If a friend promises me a service
+with the thumb drawn inward, he deceives. If with the thumb in the
+normal state, he is a submissive but not a devoted friend. He cannot be
+very much counted upon. If the thumb stands outward, we may rely upon
+his promise.
+
+We still find life, soul and mind in each division of the body.
+
+There are also a buccal, an occipital and an abdominal life.
+
+The body of man, with all its active and attractive foci, with all its
+manifestations, may be considered an ellipse.
+
+These well-indicated divisions may be stated in an analytic formula:
+
+                         +-- LIFE: Occipital. -+
+                         |-- MIND: Temporal.   |-
+                         |-- SOUL: Parietal.  -+
+                         |-- MIND: Frontal.   -+ --+
+                         |-- SOUL: Buccal.     |-  |
+                         |-- LIFE: Genal.     -+   |
+                        / -- MIND: Thoracic.  -+   |
+    Attractive centres.-  -- SOUL: Epigastric. |-  |
+                        \ -- LIFE: Abdominal. -+    \
+                         |-- LIFE: Shoulders. -+     - Expressive centres.
+                         |-- SOUL: Elbows.     |-   /
+                         |-- MIND: Wrists.    -+   |
+                         |-- LIFE: Thigh.     -+   |
+                         |-- SOUL: Knee.       |-  |
+                         +-- MIND: Foot.      -+ --+
+
+This is the proper place to fix the definition of each division by some
+familiar illustration.
+
+Let us take an individual in a somewhat embarrassed situation. He is a
+gentleman who has been overcome by wine. We see him touching the
+temporal bone, or the ear, as if to seek some expedient: the strategic
+mind is there.
+
+Let us begin with the descending gamut, and let the hand pass over all
+the divisions of the attractive centres.
+
+At the occiput: Here is an adventure! I have really had too strong a
+dose of them!
+
+At the parietal bone: What a shame!
+
+At the temporal bone: What will the people say of me?
+
+At the forehead: Reason however tells me to pause.
+
+At the buccal zone: How shall I dare reappear before those who have seen
+me in this state!
+
+At the genal zone: But they did serve such good wine!
+
+At the breast: Reason long ago advised temperance to me.
+
+At the epigastrium: I have so many regrets every time I transgress!
+
+At the abdomen: The devil! Gourmandism! I am a wretched creature!
+
+The same illustrations may be reproduced in the rising scale.
+
+When the parietals are touched, the idea and the sentiment are very
+elevated. As the foci rise, they become more exalted.
+
+Let this be considered from another point of view. We shall reproduce
+gratitude by touching all the centres.
+
+They have been centres of attraction, we shall render them points of
+departure.
+
+"I thank you!" The more elevated the movements, the more nobility there
+is in the expression of the sentiment. The exaltation is proportional to
+the section indicated.
+
+The posterior region is very interesting. There are three sorts of
+vertebrae: cervical, dorsal and lumbar.
+
+This apparatus may first be considered as a lever. But taking the
+vertical column alone, we shall have twenty-four special and distinct
+keys whose action and tonality will be entirely specific. From these
+twenty-four vertebrae proceed the nervous plexi, all aiding a particular
+expression; so that the vertebral column forms the keys of the
+sympathetic human instrument.
+
+If the finger is cut, there is a special emotion in one place of the
+vertebral column.
+
+If the finger is crushed by the blow of a hammer, the emotion will
+affect a special vertebra.
+
+The nose is one of the most complex and important agents.
+
+There are here nine divisions to be studied. (See page 82.)
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IX.
+
+Of Gesture in Relation to the Figures which Represent It.
+
+
+
+Gesture through its inflections may reproduce all the figures of
+geometry. We shall confine ourselves to a description of the primary and
+most usual imitative inflections.
+
+These inflections comprise three sorts of movements affected by each
+gesture, which usually unite and constitute a synthetic form. These
+three movements agree with the three primary actions which characterize
+the manifestations of the soul, the mind and the life. These are direct,
+circular and oblique inflections.
+
+The flexor movements are direct, the rotary movements circular, the
+abductory movements oblique. The sum of these movements constitutes nine
+co-essential terms, whose union forms the accord of nine.
+
+There are rising, falling and medium inflections.
+
+Gesture does everything that the voice does in rising. Hence there is
+great affinity between the voice and the arms. Vocal inflection is like
+the gestures of the blind; in fact, with acquaintance, one may know the
+nature of the gesture from the sound of the voice.
+
+We exalt people by a circle. We say that a thing is beautiful, noble,
+grand--making circles which grew higher and broader as the object is
+more elevated.
+
+We choose the circle for exalting and caressing, because the circle is
+the most agreeable form to touch and to caress. For example, an ivory
+ball.
+
+This form applies to all that is great.
+
+For God there is no circle, there can be none. But we outline a portion
+of an immense circle, of which we can touch but one point. We indicate
+only the inner periphery of a circle it is impossible to finish, and
+then retrace our steps.
+
+When the circle is made small, we make it with one, two, three or four
+fingers, with the hand, with the arm. If the circle is vast as can be
+made with the arms, it is homogeneous.
+
+But a small circle made with the arm will express stupidity. Thus we say
+of a witty man: "This is a witty man," employing the fingers.
+
+Stupidity wishing to simulate this, would make a broad movement.
+
+Let us take the fable of _Captain Renard_ as an example of this view of
+the circle.
+
+I depict the cunning nature of this captain with my fingers. Without
+this he would not be a captain; but at most a corporal.
+
+      --"He went in company
+    With his friend He-Goat of the branching horns.
+    The one could see no farther than his nose;
+    The other was past master in deceit."
+
+As they go along, the fox relates all his exploits to the goat, and the
+goat surprised, and wishing an end of the recital, sees fit to make a
+gesture, as he says:
+
+    "I admire people full of sense like you."
+
+In making the small circle, he employs not only the fingers, but the
+arm, the shoulder, the whole body. He is an imbecile. He wastes too much
+effort in making a small circle.
+
+Let us take a situation from an opera. When Robert enters and sees
+Isabella, he says of her:
+
+    "This peaceful sleep, this lull of every sense,
+    Lends a yet sweeter charm to this young face."
+
+The gesture is in the form of a geometrical figure.
+
+In another place, Robert says:
+
+    "Thy voice, proud beauty, few can understand."
+
+Here a spheroidal and then a rectangular movement must be made. We close
+the door. "Her voice will be understood by me, alone." He might say:
+"Thy voice, proud beauty, will not be understood. It will be elevated
+for me, and not for others."
+
+Every sentiment has its form, its plastic expression, and as its form is
+more or less elaborated, we may judge of the elevation of the speaker's
+thought. If we could stereotype gesture, we might say: "This one has the
+more elevated heart, that one the least elevated; this one in the
+matter, that one in the spirit of his discourse."
+
+All gestures may be very well delineated. An orator gesticulating before
+the public, resembles a painter who pencils outlines and designs upon a
+wall.
+
+This reproduction of the figures of gesture is called _Chorography_. We
+give in the subjoined chart some types of gesture. These are a few
+flowers culled from a rich garden.
+
+To express sensual grace the gesture takes the downward spheroidal form.
+The virtuous form would be upward.
+
+If we wish to express many attractive things, we make many spheroidal
+gestures.
+
+What is called the culminating point of the gesture, must not be
+forgotten. This is a ring in the form of the last stroke of the German
+letter D, which is made by a quick, electric movement of the wrist.
+
+We refer the student to the close of the volume, for a model of
+exercises comprising a series of gestures which express the most
+eloquent sentiments of the human heart.
+
+This exercise in gesture has two advantages: it presents all the
+interest of the most fascinating drama, and is the best means of gaining
+suppleness by accustoming ourselves to the laws of gesture.
+
+[Illustration: Criterion of Chorography.]
+
+[Illustration: Inflective Medallion.]
+
+The vertical line 1 expresses affirmation. The horizontal line 2
+expresses negation. The oblique line 3 rejects despicable things. The
+oblique line 4 rejects things which oppress us, of which we would be
+freed.
+
+5. The quarter-circle, whose form recalls that of the hammock, expresses
+well-being, happiness, confidence.
+
+6. The curvilinear eccentric quarter-circle expresses secrecy, silence,
+possession, domination, stability, imposition, inclusion.
+
+7. The curvilinear outside quarter-circle expresses things slender,
+delicate (in two ways); the downward movement expresses moral and
+intellectual delicacy.
+
+8. The outside quarter-circle expresses exuberance, plenitude,
+amplitude, generosity.
+
+9. The circle which surrounds and embraces, characterizes glorification
+and exaltation.
+
+
+
+
+
+Part Third.
+
+
+Articulate Language.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter I.
+
+Origin and Organic Apparatus of Language.
+
+
+
+Man reveals his life through more than four millions of inflections ere
+he can speak or gesticulate. When he begins to reason, to make
+abstractions, the vocal apparatus and gesture are insufficient; he must
+speak, he must give his thought an outside form so that it may be
+appreciated and transmitted through the senses. There are things which
+can be expressed neither by sound nor gesture. For instance, how shall
+we say at the same time of a plant: "It is beautiful, but it has no
+smell." Thought must then be revealed by conventional signs, which are
+articulation. Therefore, God has endowed man with the rich gift of
+speech.
+
+Speech is the sense of the intelligence; sound the sense of the life,
+and gesture that of the heart.
+
+Soul communicates with soul only through the senses. The senses are the
+condition of man as a pilgrim on this earth. Man is obliged to
+materialize all: the sensations through the voice, the sentiments
+through gesture, the ideas through speech. The means of transmission are
+always material. This is why the church has sacraments, an exterior
+worship, chants, ceremonies. All its institutions arise from a principle
+eminently philosophical.
+
+Speech is formed by three agents: the lips, the tongue and the
+soft-palate.
+
+It is delightful to study the special role of these agents, the reason
+of their movements.
+
+They have a series of gestures that may be perfectly understood. Thus
+language resembles the hand, having also its gesture.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II.
+
+Elements of Articulate Language.
+
+
+
+Every language is composed of consonants and vowels. These consonants
+and vowels are gestures. The value of the consonant is the gesture of
+the thing expressed. But as gesture is always the expression of a moral
+fact, each consonant has the intrinsic character of a movement of the
+heart. It is easy to prove that the consonant is a gesture. For example,
+in articulating it, the tongue rises to the palate and makes the same
+movement as the arm when it would repel something.
+
+The elements of all languages have the same meaning. The vowels
+correspond directly to the moral state.
+
+There is diversity of language because the things we wish to express
+vary from difference in usage and difference of manner and climate. What
+we call a shoe, bears among northern people a name indicating that it
+protects the feet from the cold; among southern people it protects the
+feet from the heat. Elsewhere the shoe protects the feet against the
+roughness of the soil; and in yet other places, it exists only as a
+defensive object--a weapon.
+
+These diverse interpretations require diverse signs. This does not prove
+the diversity of language, but the diversity of the senses affected by
+the same object.
+
+Things are perceived only after the fashion of the perceiver, and this
+is why the syllables vary among different peoples.
+
+Nevertheless, there is but one language. We find everywhere these words:
+_I_ an active personality, _me_ a passive personality, and _mine_ an
+awarding personality. In every language we find the subject, the verb
+and the adjective.
+
+Every articulate language is composed of substantive, adjective and
+copulative ideas.
+
+All arts are found in articulation. Sound is the articulation of the
+vocal apparatus; gesture the articulation of the dynamic apparatus;
+language the articulation of the buccal apparatus. Therefore, music, the
+plastic arts and speech have their origin and their perfection in
+articulation.
+
+It is, then, of the utmost importance to understand thoroughly the
+elements of speech, which is at the same time a vocalization and a
+dynamic. Without this knowledge no oratorical art is possible.
+
+Let us now hasten to take possession of the riches of speech.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter III.
+
+The Oratorical Value of Speech.
+
+
+
+The privilege of speech may be considered under a double aspect, in
+itself and in its relations to the art of oratory.
+
+1. _In Itself._--Speech is the most wonderful gift of the Creator.
+Through speech man occupies the first rank in the scale of being. It is
+the language of the reason, and reason lifts man above every creature.
+Man through speech incarnates his mind to unite himself with his
+fellow-men, as the Son of God was incarnated to unite with human nature;
+like the Son of God who nourishes humanity with his body in the
+eucharist, so man makes his speech understood by multitudes who receive
+it entire, without division or diminution.
+
+Eternal thanks to God for this ineffable gift, so great in itself, of
+such value in the art of oratory!
+
+2. What is the oratorical value of speech? In oratorical art, speech
+plays a subordinate but indispensable role.
+
+Let us examine separately the two members of this proposition.
+
+A.--In the hierarchy of oratorical powers, speech comes only in the
+third order. In fact, the child begins to utter cries and to
+gesticulate before he speaks.
+
+The text is only a label. The sense lies not in speech, but in
+inflection and gesture. Nature institutes a movement, speech names the
+movement. Writing is a dead letter.
+
+Speech is only the title of that which gesture has announced; speech
+comes only to confirm what is already understood by the auditors.
+
+We are moved in reading, not so much by what is said, as by the manner
+of reading. It is not what we hear that affects us, but that which we
+ourselves imagine.
+
+An author cannot fully express his ideas in writing; hence the
+interpretation of the hearer is often false, because he does not know
+the writer.
+
+It is remarkable, the way in which we refer everything to ourselves. We
+must needs create a semblance of it. We are affected by a discourse
+because we place the personage in a situation our fancy has created.
+Hence it happens that we may be wrong in our interpretation, and that
+the author might say: "This is not my meaning."
+
+In hearing a symphony we at once imagine a scene, we give it an aspect;
+this is why it affects us.
+
+A written discourse requires many illustrative epithets; in a spoken
+discourse, the adjectives may be replaced by gesture and inflection.
+
+Imitation is the melody of the eye, inflection is the melody of the ear.
+All that strikes the eye has a sound; this is why the sight of the
+stars produces an enchanting melody in our souls.
+
+Hence in a discourse, speech is the letter, and it is inflection and
+gesture which give it life. Nevertheless:--
+
+B.--The role of speech, although subordinate, is not only important, but
+necessary. In fact, human language, as we have said, is composed of
+inflection, gesture and speech.
+
+Language would not be complete without speech. Speech has nothing to do
+with sentiment, it is true, but a discourse is not all sentiment; there
+is a place for reason, for demonstration, and upon this ground gesture
+has nothing to do; the entire work here falls back upon speech.
+
+Speech is the crown of oratorical action; it is this which gives the
+final elucidation, which justifies gesture. Gesture has depicted the
+object, the Being, and speech responds: _God_.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IV.
+
+The Value of Words in Phrases.
+
+
+
+Expression is very difficult. One may possess great knowledge and lack
+power to express it. Eloquence does not always accompany intellect. As a
+rule, poets do not know how to read what they have written. Hence we may
+estimate the importance of understanding the value of the different
+portions of a discourse. Let us now examine intellectual language in
+relation to intensity of ideas.
+
+There are nine species of words, or nine species of ideas. The article
+need not be counted, since it is lacking in several languages. It is the
+accord of nine which composes the language, and which corresponds to the
+numbers. Every word has a determinate, mathematical value.
+
+As many unities must be reckoned on the initial consonant as there are
+values in the word.
+
+Thus the subject has less value than the attribute.
+
+The attribute has a value of six degrees and represents six times the
+intensity of the subject. Why? Because God has willed that we should
+formulate our idea with mathematical intensities.
+
+The value rests only upon the initial consonant of the word. Words have
+only one expressive portion, that is, the initial consonant. It receives
+the whole value, and is the invariable part of the word. It is the root.
+Words are transformed in passing from language to language, and
+nevertheless retain their radical.
+
+How shall we say that a flower is charming?
+
+Do not demand of intensity of sound a value it does not possess. It
+suffices to await the articulation of the consonant.
+
+The most normal phenomena remain true to mechanical laws. The mere
+articulation of the word expresses more than all the vocal and imitative
+effects that can be introduced.
+
+Most speakers dwell upon the final word; this habit is absolutely
+opposed to the nature of heart movements. This school habit is hard to
+correct, and if Rachel became a great artiste, it was because she did
+not have this precedent.
+
+The subject represents one degree; it is the weakest expression.
+
+The verb represents two degrees; the attribute six. Let us illustrate
+the manner of passing from one to six as follows:
+
+A rustic comes to visit you upon some sort of business. This man has a
+purpose. As you are a musician he is surprised by his first sight of a
+piano. He says to himself: "What is this? It is a singular object."
+
+It is neither a table nor a cupboard. He now perceives the ivory keys
+and other keys of ebony. What can this mean? He stands confounded before
+an instrument entirely new to him. If it were given to him, he would not
+know what to do with it; he might burn it. The piano interests him so
+much that he forgets the object of his visit.
+
+He sees you arrive. You occupy for him the place of the verb in relation
+to the object which interests him. He passes from this object to you.
+Although you are not the object which engrosses him, there is a
+progression in the interest, because he knows that through you he will
+learn what this piece of furniture is. "Tell me what this is!" he cries.
+
+You strike the piano; it gives forth an accord. O heavens, how
+beautiful! He is greatly moved, he utters many expressions of delight,
+and now he would not burn the instrument.
+
+Here is a progression. At first the piece of furniture interests him;
+then its owner still more; at last the attributes of the piano give it
+its entire value.
+
+But why six degrees upon the last term? The value of a fact comes from
+its limitation; the knowledge of an idea also proceeds from its
+limitation. A fact in its general and vague expression, awakens but
+little interest. But as it descends from the genus to the species, from
+the species to the individual, it grows more interesting. It comes more
+within our capacity. We do not embrace the vast circle of a generic
+fact.
+
+Let us take another proposition: "A flower is pleasing."
+
+                       1            2        3456
+        --------- Flower           is      pleasing ------
+       |  |   |                                       |   |
+       |  |   |        3                       7      |   |
+       |  |   +-- of the forest               very ---+   |
+       |  |                                               |
+       |  |            4                                  |
+       |  +--------- this                +----------------+
+       |                                 |
+       |               5            8 ---+
+       +----------- little     +-- but
+                               |
+                          +----+
+                       1  |         2         6             9
+                       it-+         is       faded         Oh!
+
+
+The word flower alone says nothing to the imagination. Is it a rose or a
+lily of the valley? The expression is too vague. When the idea of genus
+is modified by that of species, we are better satisfied.
+
+Let us say: "The flower of the forest." This word _forest_ conveys an
+idea to the mind. We can make our bouquet. We think of the lily of the
+valley, of the violet, the anemone, the periwinkle. This restriction
+gives value to the subject. _Forest_ is more important than the verb
+which does not complete the idea, and less important than _pleasing_.
+Therefore we place 3 upon _forest_, and shall rank _pleasing_ from 3 to
+4, since it closes the assertion.
+
+If we individualize by the word _this_, we augment the value by giving
+actuality to the word _flower_. _This_ has more value than _the forest_,
+because it designates the subject. Hence _this_ has four degrees.
+
+As _pleasing_ forms the very essence of our proposition, we are obliged
+to give it five degrees.
+
+The idea is still somewhat vague. If I specify it still further by
+saying _this little flower, little_ has a higher value than all the
+other words.
+
+What value shall we give this adjective? We have reached five, but have
+not yet fully expressed the idea which impresses us. _Little_ must
+therefore have six degrees.
+
+This is the sole law for all the languages of the world. There are no
+two ways of articulating the words of a discourse. When we learn a
+discourse by heart in order to deliver it, and take no account of the
+value of the terms, the divine law is reversed.
+
+Now, if we could introduce an expression here, which would at once
+enhance the value of the word _pleasing_, it would evidently be stronger
+than all the others. In fact, if the way in which a thing is pleasing
+can be expressed, it is evident that this manner of being pleasing will
+rise above the word itself.
+
+We do not know the proportion in which the flower is pleasing. We will
+say that it is _very_ pleasing. This adverb gives the word _pleasing_ a
+new value. It is in turn modified. If we should say _immensely_, or use
+any other adverb of quantity, the value would remain the same. It would
+still be a modification. Thus, when we say of God that he is _good,
+immense, infinite,_ there is always a limitation attached to the idea of
+God,--a limitation necessary to our nature. For God is not good in the
+way we understand goodness or greatness; but our finite minds need some
+expression for our idea.
+
+We see the word _pleasing_ modified in turn, and the term which
+modifies it, is higher than itself. _Very pleasing,_--what value shall
+we give it? We can give it no more than seven here.
+
+A single word may obliterate the effect produced by all these
+expressions. A simple conjunction may be introduced which will entirely
+modify all we have taken pains to say. It is a _but_. _But_ is an entire
+discourse. We no longer believe what has been said hitherto, but what
+follows this word. This conjunction has a value of eight degrees, a
+value possible to all conjunctions without exception. It sums up the
+changes indicated by subsequent expressions, and embraces them
+synthetically. It has, then, a very great oratorical value.
+
+
+
+_The Conjunction._
+
+
+1. We refer here only to conjunctions in the elliptical sense. The
+conjunction is an ellipse, because it is the middle term between two
+members of the sentence which are the extremes; it recalls what has just
+been said, and indicates what is to come. Considered in itself, the word
+_and_, when elliptical, embraces what has just been said, and what is
+about to be said. All this is founded upon the principle that the means
+are equal to the extremes.
+
+2. The copulative or enumerative conjunctions, have only two degrees. We
+see that a conjunction is not elliptical when, instead of uniting
+propositions, it unites only ideas of the same character.
+
+3. Determinative conjunctions have only three degrees. For example: "It
+is necessary that I should work." _That_ has only three degrees.
+
+4. The values indicated can be changed only by additional values
+justified by gesture. Thus in the phrase: "This medley of glory and
+honor,"--the value of the word _medley_ can and must be changed; but a
+gesture is necessary, for speech is only a feeble echo of gesture. Only
+gesture can justify a value other than that indicated in this
+demonstration. This value is purely grammatical, but the gesture may
+give it a superlative idea, which we call additional value. The value of
+consonants may vary in the pronunciation according to their valuation by
+the speakers.
+
+More or less value is given to the degrees noted and to be noted, as
+there is more or less emotion in the speaker. This explains why a
+gesture, which expresses an emotion of the soul, justifies changing the
+grammatical value in the pronunciation of consonants.
+
+5. Even aside from additional values, the gesture must always precede
+the articulation of the initial consonant. Otherwise to observe the
+degree would be supremely ridiculous. The speaker would resemble a
+skeleton, a statue. The law of values becomes vital only through gesture
+and inflection. Stripped of the poetry of gesture and inflection, the
+application of the law is monstrous.
+
+To place six degrees upon _pleasing_ without gesture, is abominable.
+
+We now understand the spirit of gesture, which is given to man to
+justify values. It is for him to decide whether the proposition is true
+or not. If we deprive our discourse of gestures, no way is left to prove
+the truth of values. Thus gesture is prescribed by certain figures, and
+we shall now see from a proposition, how many gestures are needed, and
+to what word the gesture should be given.
+
+
+
+_The Conjunction Continued--Various Examples._
+
+
+The degree of value given to the conjunction, may be represented by the
+figure 8.
+
+Let us justify this valuation by citing these two lines of Racine:
+
+    "The wave comes on, it breaks, _and_ vomits
+      'neath our eyes,
+    Amid the floods of foam, a monster
+      grim and dire."
+
+The ordinary reader would allow the conjunction _and_ to pass
+unperceived, because the word is not sonorous, and we accord oratorical
+effects only to sonorous words. But the man who sees the meaning fully,
+and who adds _and_, has said the whole. The other words are important,
+but everything is implied in this conjunction.
+
+Racine has not placed _and_ here to disjoin, but to unite.
+
+We give another example of the conjunction:
+
+Augustus says to Cinna:
+
+    "Take a chair Cinna, _and_ in all things heed
+    Strictly the law that I lay down for thee."
+
+Let us suppress the isolation and silence of the conjunction, and there
+is no more color.
+
+Augustus adds:
+
+    "Hold thy tongue captive, _and_ if silence deep
+    To thy emotion do some violence"--
+
+Suppress the silence and isolation of the conjunction _and_, and how
+poor is the expression!
+
+In the fable of "The Wolf and the Dog:"
+
+    "Sire wolf would gladly have attacked and slain
+    him, _but_ it would have been necessary to give battle,
+    _and_ it was now almost morning."
+
+The entire significance lies in the silence which follows the
+conjunctions.
+
+We speak of a sympathetic conjunction, and also of one denoting surprise
+or admiration; but this conjunction differs from the interjection, only
+in this respect: it rests upon the propositions and unites its terms.
+Like the interjection, it is of a synthetic and elliptic nature; it
+groups all the expressions it unites as interjectives. It is, then, from
+this point of view, exclamative.
+
+In the fable of "The Wolf and the Lamb," the wolf says:
+
+    "This must be some one of your own race, _for_
+    you would not think of sparing me, you shepherds
+    _and_ you dogs."
+
+Here is an interjective conjunction. Suppress the complaint after _for_,
+and there is no more effect. The conjunction is the _soul_ of the
+discourse.
+
+In the exclamation in "Joseph Sold by his Brethren," we again find an
+interjective conjunction.
+
+    "Alas.......... _and_
+    The ingrates who would sell me!"
+
+Here the conjunction _and_ yields little to the interjection _alas_. It
+has fully as much value.
+
+
+
+_The Interjection in Relation to its Degree of Value._
+
+
+The interjection has 9 degrees; this is admirably suited to the
+interjection, an elliptical term which comprises the three terms of a
+proposition. In summing up the value of a simple proposition, we have (a
+noteworthy thing) the figure 9. This gives the accord of 9. The subject
+1, the verb 2, and 6 upon the attribute, equal 9. Thus the equation is
+perfect.
+
+Gesture is the rendering of the ellipse. Gesture is the elliptical
+language given to man to express what speech is powerless to say.
+
+We have spoken of additional figures. Each of these figures supposes a
+gesture. There is a gesture, an imitative expression wherever there is
+an additional figure. An ellipse in a word, such as is met with in the
+conjunction and the interjection, demands a gesture.
+
+9 is a neutral term which must be sustained by gesture and inflection.
+Gesture would be the inflection of the deaf, inflection the gesture of
+the blind. The orator should, in fact, address himself to the deaf as
+well as to the blind. Gesture and inflection should supplement physical
+and mental infirmities, and God in truth has given man this double means
+of expression. There is also a triple expression, which is double in
+view of this same modification of speech. Let us suppose this
+proposition:
+
+"How much pain I suffer in hearing!"
+
+According to the rules laid down, we have 3 upon pain, 6 upon suffer,
+and 6 again upon hearing.
+
+It is said that Talma brought out the intensity of his suffering by
+resting on the word _pain_. This was wrong. We should always seek the
+expression equivalent to that employed, to attain a certain value.
+
+If, instead of the determinate conjunction _that_, we should have _how
+much (combien)_, this would evidently be the important word. This word
+has an elliptical form. It evidently belongs to a preceding proposition.
+It means: "I could not express all that I suffer." Then 6 must be placed
+upon _how much_ and not upon pain.
+
+But the figure 6 here is a thermometer which indicates a degree of
+vitality; it does not express the degree of vitality; that is reserved
+for gesture. We need not ask what degree this can give; its office is to
+express--and this is a good deal--a value mechanical and material, but
+very significant. A reversion of values may constitute a falsehood.
+Stage actors are sometimes indefinably comic in this way.
+
+
+
+_A Resume of the Degrees of Value._
+
+
+To crown this unprecedented study upon language, we give in a table, a
+resume of the different degrees of value in the various parts of a
+discourse, relative to the initial consonant.
+
+     The object of the preposition                           1
+
+     The verb to be and the prepositions                     2
+
+     The direct or indirect regimen                          3
+
+     The limiting (possessive and demonstrative) adjectives  4
+
+     The qualifying adjectives                               5
+
+     The participles or substantives taken adjectively or
+     attributively; that is to say, every word coming
+     immediately after the verb, in fine, the attribute      6
+
+     The adverbs                                             7
+
+     Conjunctions, superlative ideas or additional figures   8
+
+     The interjection                                        9
+
+The pronoun is either subject or complement, and therefore included in
+the rest. As for the article, it is not essential to a language; there
+is no article in Latin.
+
+Thus the value of our ideas is expressed by figures. We have only to
+reckon on our fingers. We might beat time for the pronunciation of the
+consonants as for the notes of music. Let the pupil exercise his
+fingers, and attain that skill which allows the articulation of a
+radical consonant only after he has marked with his finger the time
+corresponding to its figure. If difficulties present themselves at
+first, so much the better; he will only the more accurately distinguish
+the value of the words.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter V.
+
+French and Latin Prosody.
+
+
+
+_French Prosody._
+
+
+Prosody is the rhythmic pronunciation of syllables according to accent,
+respiration, and, above all, quantity.
+
+In the Italian there are no two equal sounds; the quantity is never
+uniform. Italian is, therefore, the most musical of languages. Where we
+place one accent upon a vowel, the Italians place ten.
+
+There is a euphonic law for every language; all idioms must have an
+accent. In every language there are intense sounds and subdued sounds;
+the Italians hold to this variety of alternate short and long sounds.
+Continuous beauty should be avoided. A beautiful tone must be introduced
+to relieve the others. Monotony in sounds as well as in pronunciation,
+must be guarded against. Harmony lies in opposition.
+
+There is but one rule of quantity in French pronunciation. Here is the
+text of this law:
+
+_There are and can be only long initial or final vowels_--whence we
+conclude:
+
+1. Every final is long and every penultimate is final, since _e_ mute is
+not pronounced.
+
+2. The length of initial vowels depends upon the value of the initial
+consonants which they precede.
+
+A word cannot contain two long vowels unless it begins with a vowel. In
+this case, the vowel of the preceding word is long, and prepares for the
+enunciation of the consonant according to its degree.
+
+Every first consonant in a word is strong, as it constitutes the radical
+or invariable part of the word.
+
+The force of this consonant is subordinate to the ruling degree of the
+idea it is called to decide. But every vowel which precedes this first
+consonant is long, since it serves as a preparation for it. But to what
+degree of length may this initial vowel be carried? The representative
+figure of the consonant will indicate it.
+
+Usually, the first consonant of every word is radical. Still there might
+be other radical consonants in the same word. But the first would rise
+above the others.
+
+The radical designates the substance of being, and the last consonant
+the manner.
+
+The whole secret of expression lies in the time we delay the
+articulation of the initial consonant. This space arrests the attention
+and prevents our catching the sound at a disadvantage.
+
+
+
+_Latin Prosody._
+
+
+1. The final of a word of several syllables is usually short.
+
+2. In words of two syllables, the first is long. In Latin words of two
+syllables, the first almost always contains the radical.
+
+3. In words of three and more syllables, there is one long syllable:
+sometimes the first, sometimes another. We rest only upon this, all the
+others being counted more or less short.
+
+In compound words no account need be made of prefixes; There are many
+compound words; and, consequently, it is often the last or next to the
+last consonant which is the radical.
+
+The last consonant represents always, in variable words, quality,
+person, mode or time. The radical, on the contrary, represents the sum
+and substance.
+
+4. Monosyllables are long, but they have, especially when they follow
+each other, particular rules, which result from the sense of the
+phrases, and from the mutual dependence of words.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VI.
+
+Method.
+
+
+
+_Dictation Exercises._
+
+
+A subject and text being given, notes may be written under the nine
+following heads:
+
+1. Oratorical value of ideas.
+
+2. The ellipse.
+
+3. Vocal inflections.
+
+4. Inflective affinities, or relation to the preceding inflections.
+
+5. Gestures.
+
+6. Imitative affinities.
+
+7. The special rule for each gesture.
+
+8. The law whence this rule proceeds.
+
+9. Reflections upon the portrayal of personal character.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VII.
+
+A Series of Gestures for Exercises.
+
+
+
+_Preliminary Reflections._
+
+
+We know the words of Garrick:
+
+"I do not confide in myself, not I, in that inspiration for which idle
+mediocrity waits."
+
+Art, then, presents a solid basis to the artist, upon which he can rest
+and reproduce at will the history of the human heart as revealed by
+gesture.
+
+This is true, and it is as an application of this truth that we are
+about to consider the series, which is an exposition of the passions
+that agitate man, an initiation into imitative language. It is a poem,
+and at the same time it lays down rules through whose aid the
+self-possessed artist can regain the gesture which arises from sudden
+perturbation of the heart. It is a grammar which must be studied
+incessantly, in order to understand the origin and value of imitative
+expressions.
+
+The development of the series is based upon the static, the semeiotic
+and the dynamic.
+
+The static is the life of gesture; it is the science of the equipoise of
+levers, it teaches the weight of the limbs and the extent of their
+development, in order to maintain the equilibrium of the body. Its
+criterion should be a sort of balance.
+
+The semeiotic is the spirit and _rationale_ of gesture. It is the
+science of signs.
+
+The dynamic is the action of equiponderant forces through the static; it
+regulates the proportion of movements the soul would impress upon the
+body. The foundation and criterion of the dynamic, is the law of the
+pendulum.
+
+The series proceeds, resting upon these three powers. The semeiotic has
+given the signs, it becomes aesthetic in applying them. The semeiotic
+says: "Such a gesture reveals such a passion;" and gesture replies: "To
+such a passion I will apply such a sign." And without awaiting the aid
+of an inspiration often hazardous, deceitful and uncertain, it moulds
+the body to its will, and forces it to reproduce the passion the soul
+has conceived. The semeiotic is a science, the aesthetic an act of
+genius.
+
+The series divides its movements into periods of time, in accordance
+with the principle that the more time a movement has, the more its
+vitality and power; and so every articulation becomes the object of a
+time.
+
+The articulations unfold successively and harmoniously. Every
+articulation which has no action, must remain absolutely pendent, or
+become stiff. Grace is closely united to gesture; the manifold play of
+the articulations which constitutes strength, also constitutes grace.
+Grace subdues only because sustained by strength, and because strength
+naturally subdues. Grace without strength is affectation.
+
+Every vehement movement must affect the vertical position, because
+obliquity deprives the movement of force, by taking from it the
+possibility of showing the play of the articulations.
+
+The demonstration of movement is in the head. The head is the primary
+agent of movement; the body is the medium agent, the arm the final
+agent.
+
+Three agents in gesture are especially affected in characterizing the
+life, mind and soul. The thumb is the index-sign of life; the shoulder
+is the sign of passion and sentiment; the elbow is the sign of humility,
+pride, power, intelligence and sacrifice.
+
+The first gesture of the series is the interpellation, the entrance upon
+the scene. The soul is scarce moved as yet, and still this is the most
+difficult of gestures, because the most complex. It must indicate the
+nature of the interpellation, its degree and the situation of the giver
+and receiver of the summons in regard to each other.
+
+A study of the signs which distinguish these different shades will teach
+us the analysis of gesture.
+
+Aside from simple interpellation, the series passes successively from
+gratitude, devotion, etc., to anger, menace and conflict, leaving the
+soul at the point where it is subdued and asks forgiveness.
+
+The passional or fugitive type forms the constant subject of the study
+of this series.
+
+
+
+The Series of Gestures Applied to the Sentiments Oftenest Expressed by
+the Orator.
+
+
+First Gesture. _Interpellation._
+
+
+Interpellation embraces five steps:
+
+The first consists in elevating the shoulder in token of affection. If
+the right shoulder, as in figure 2 with the right leg weak.
+
+The second step consists in a rotary movement of the arm, its object
+being to present the epicondyle (elbow-joint) to the interlocutor. For
+this reason the epicondyle is called the eye of the arm.
+
+The third stage consists in substituting the articulation of the wrist
+for the epicondyle. In making the forward movement of the body, the
+epicondyle must resume its natural place.
+
+The fourth step consists in extending the hand toward the speaker in
+such a way as to present to him the extremities of the fingers.
+
+The fifth step is formed by a rapid rotation of the hand.
+
+
+
+Second Gesture. _Thanks--Affectionate and Ceremonious._
+
+
+This gesture consists of six steps:
+
+1. Consists in lifting the hand and lowering the head.
+
+2. Consists in raising the hand to the hip.
+
+3. The head inclines to one side, and the elbow at the same time rises
+to aid the hand in reaching the lips.
+
+4. In this, the head resumes its normal position, while the elbow is
+lowered to bring back the hand to the same position.
+
+5. In this, the hand passes from the horizontal to the vertical
+position, rounding toward the arm.
+
+6. In this, the arm is developed, and then the hand.
+
+
+
+
+Third Gesture. _Attraction._
+
+
+In this gesture there are three steps:
+
+1. The hand turns toward the interlocutor with an appealing aspect.
+
+2. The hand opens like a fan with the little finger tending toward the
+chest.
+
+3. The elbow is turned outward, and the hand passes toward the breast.
+
+
+
+
+Fourth Gesture. _Surprise and Assurance._
+
+
+1. This consists in elevating the shoulders, opening the eyes and mouth
+and raising the eyebrow; the whole in token of surprise.
+
+2. Raise the passive hand above the chin, making it turn around the
+wrist.
+
+3. The hand still passive, is directed toward the person addressed, the
+elbow being pressed against the body.
+
+4. The arm is gradually extended toward the person addressed, while the
+hand is given an opposite direction; that is, the palm of the hand is
+toward him.
+
+
+
+Fifth Gesture. _Devotion._
+
+
+This gesture embraces seven movements:
+
+1. This consists in raising the passive hand to the level of the other
+hand, but in an inverse direction.
+
+2. This consists in turning back the hand toward one's self.
+
+3. This consists in drawing the elbows to the body, and placing the
+hands on the chest.
+
+4. This is produced by taking a step backward, and turning a third to
+one side; during the execution of this step, the elbows are raised, and
+the head is lowered.
+
+5. This consists in drawing the elbows near the body, and placing the
+hands above the shoulders.
+
+6. This consists in developing the arms.
+
+7. This consists in developing the hands.
+
+
+
+Sixth Gesture. _Interrogative Surprise._
+
+
+This surprise is expressed in two movements:
+
+1. This is wholly facial.
+
+2. This is made by advancing the hand and drawing the head backward.
+
+Seventh Gesture. _Reiterated Interrogation._
+
+
+This gesture signifies: I do not understand, I cannot explain your
+conduct to me. It embraces five steps:
+
+1. This consists in placing both hands beneath the chin, and violently
+elevating the shoulders.
+
+2. This consists in bringing the hands to the level of the chest, as if
+in search of something there.
+
+3. This consists in extending both hands toward the interlocutor, as if
+to show him that they contain nothing.
+
+4. This consists in extending one hand in the opposite direction, and
+letting the head and body follow the hand.
+
+5. This consists in turning the head vehemently toward the interlocutor,
+and suddenly lowering the shoulders.
+
+
+
+Eighth Gesture. _Anger._
+
+
+This gesture is made in three movements:
+
+1. This consists in raising the arm.
+
+2. This consists in catching hold of the sleeve.
+
+3. This consists in carrying the clenched hand to the breast, and
+drawing back the other arm.
+
+
+
+Ninth Gesture. _Menace._
+
+
+This gesture consists of a preparatory movement, which is made by
+lowering the hand while the arm is outstretched toward the
+interlocutor, then the finger is extended, and the hand is outstretched
+in menace.
+
+The eye follows the finger as it would follow a pistol; this occasions a
+reversal of the head proportional to that of the hand.
+
+
+
+Tenth Gesture. _An Order for Leaving._
+
+
+This is executed:
+
+1. By turning around on the free limb.
+
+2. By carrying the body with it.
+
+3. By executing a one-fifth sideward movement--the right leg very weak.
+All these movements are made by retaining the gesture of the preceding
+menace. Then only the menacing hand is turned inward at the height of
+the eye, at the moment when it is about to pass the line occupied by the
+head; the elbow is raised to allow the hand a downward movement, which
+ends in an indication of departure. In this indication the hand is
+absolutely reversed, that is, it is in pronation. Then only does the
+head, which has hitherto been lowered, rise through the opposition of
+the extended arm.
+
+
+
+Eleventh Gesture. _Reiteration._
+
+
+1. The whole body tends toward the hand which is posed above the head.
+The right leg passes from weak to strong.
+
+2. The head is turned backward toward the interlocutor.
+
+3. It rises.
+
+4. The arm extends.
+
+5. The hand in supination gives intimation of the order.
+
+
+
+Twelfth Gesture. _Fright._
+
+
+The right hand pendent. The left hand rises. Tremor.
+
+The first movement is executed in one-third; the body gently passes into
+the fourth, and as the fifth is being accomplished, the arm is thrust
+forward as if to repel the new object of terror.
+
+At this moment a metamorphose seems to take place, and the object which
+had occasioned the fright, seems to be transfigured and to become the
+subject of an affectionate impulse. The hands extend toward this object
+not to repel it, but to implore it to remain; it seems to become more
+and more ennobled, and to assume in the astonished eyes of the actor, a
+celestial form--it is an angel. Therefore the body recoils anew
+one-fourth; the hands fall back in token of acquiescence; then, while
+drawing near the body, they extend anew toward the angel (_here a third
+in token of affection and veneration_). Then a prayer is addressed to
+it, and again the arms extend toward it in entreaty. (_Here the orator
+falls upon his knees._)
+
+The series can be executed beginning with the right arm or the left,
+being careful to observe the initial and principal movement, with the
+arms at the side where the scene opened. This gives the same play of
+organs only in an inverse sense.
+
+
+
+_Important Remarks._
+
+
+Should any student despair of becoming familiar with our method, we give
+him three pieces of advice, all easy of application:
+
+1. Never speak without having first expressed what you would say by
+gesture. Gesture must always precede speech.
+
+2. Avoid parallelism of gesture. The opposition of the agents is
+necessary to equilibrium, to harmony.
+
+3. Retain the same gesture for the same sentiment. In saying the same
+thing the gesture should not be changed.
+
+Should the student limit himself to the application of these three
+rules, he will not regret this study of the
+
+Practice of the Art of Oratory.
+
+
+
+
+Appendix.
+
+The Symbolism of Colors Applied to the Art of Oratory.
+
+
+
+We close this book with an appendix which will serve for ornament.
+Before delivering up a suite of rooms, we are wont to embellish them
+with rich decorations. Architects usually color their plans. We also
+wish to give color to our criterion, by explaining the symbolism of
+colors.
+
+                      SPECIES.
+      GENUS.
+                        1            3            2
+
+                      1-II         3-II         2-II
+      II
+                    Ecc.-Conc.   Norm.-Conc.   Conc.-Conc.
+      Concentric.
+                   Violet-blue.  Green-blue.   Indigo.
+
+                     1-III         3-III        2-III
+      Normal.
+                  Ecc.-Norm.    Norm.-Norm.   Cone.-Norm.
+      III
+                  Red-yellow.    Yellow.    Green-yellow.
+
+                     1-I           3-I          2-I
+      Eccentric.
+                  Ecc.-Ecc.    Norm.-Ecc.     Conc.-Ecc.
+      I
+                     Red.      Yellow-red.    Violet-red.
+
+In the literary world, color gives forms of speech consecrated by
+frequent usage. Thus we very often say: a florid style, a brilliant
+orator. This figurative language signifies that in order to shine, the
+orator must be adorned with the lustre of flowers. And as one flower
+excels others and pleases us by the beauty of its colors, so the orator
+must excel, and please by the brilliant shades of his diction. It is as
+impossible to give renown to a monotonous and colorless orator as to a
+faded, discolored flower. Would you give to the phenomena of your
+organism this beautiful corolla of the flower of your garden, throw your
+glance upon nature.
+
+Nature speaks to the eye through an enchanting variety of colors, and
+these colors in turn teach man how he may himself speak to the eyes. The
+whole man might recognize himself under the smiling emblem of colors.
+Imagine him in whatever state you will, a color will give you the secret
+of his aspirations. And so it has been easy for us to show you the
+orator imaged in this colored chart, and we shall have no trouble in
+justifying our choice of colors.
+
+Since man, as to his soul, presents himself in three states: the
+sensitive, intellectual and moral; and in his organism in the eccentric,
+concentric and normal states; _a priori_, you may conclude that nature
+has three colors to symbolize the three states, and experience will not
+contradict you.
+
+In fact, red, yellow and blue are the primitive colors. All others are
+derived from these three rudimentary colors.
+
+Why have we painted the column that corresponds to the life red? Because
+red is the color of blood, and the life is in the blood. But life is the
+fountain of strength and power. Hence red is the proper symbol of
+strength and power in God, in man and in the demon.
+
+Why blue in the column of the concentric state, the mind? Because blue,
+from its transparency, is most soothing to our eyes.
+
+Why yellow in the column of the soul? Because yellow has the color of
+flame; it is the true symbol of a soul set on fire by love. Yellow is,
+then, the emblem of pure love and of impure flames.
+
+Why not use white in our chart? Because white is incandescence in the
+highest degree. We say of iron that it is at a red or a white heat. But
+in this world it is rare to see a heart at a white heat. Earthly
+thermometers do not mark this degree of heat.
+
+It cannot be denied that red, yellow and blue are the three elementary
+colors, whose union gives birth to all the varieties that delight our
+eyes. We have proof of this in one of nature's most beautiful
+phenomena--the rainbow.
+
+The rainbow is composed of seven colors. Here we distinguish the red,
+yellow and blue in all their purity; then from the fusion of these three
+primary colors, we have violet, orange, green and indigo.
+
+This is the order in which the seven colors of the rainbow appear to
+us:
+
+Violet (_red_}, orange (_yellow_), green (_blue_), indigo. Orange is
+composed of yellow and red. Yellow mixed with blue, produces green. Blue
+when saturated, becomes indigo. Upon closer investigation, we may easily
+find the nine shades which correspond perfectly to the nine operations
+of our faculties, and to the nine functions of angelic minds.
+
+By complicating and blending the mixture of these colors, we shall have
+all the tints that make nature so delightful a paradise.
+
+The seven notes of music sound in accord with the seven colors of the
+rainbow. There is a brotherhood between the seven notes and the seven
+colors.
+
+The voice-apparatus, with that of speech and gesture, is for the orator
+a pallet like that upon which the painter prepares and blends those
+colors which, under the brush of a Raphael, would at once glow forth in
+a masterpiece.
+
+Delsarte's criterion is true; still more, it is beautiful, especially so
+with its brilliant adornment of the colors of the rainbow.
+
+We verify our judgment by an explanation of the colored chart.
+
+As may be seen, this chart is an exact reproduction of the criterion
+explained at the beginning of this book, only we have adorned it with
+colors analogous to the different states of the soul that art is called
+upon to reproduce.
+
+Beginning with the three transverse columns corresponding to the
+_genus_, we have painted the lower column red, the middle column yellow,
+and the upper one blue. These are the three colors that symbolize the
+life, soul and mind, as well as the genera.
+
+Passing to the vertical columns which correspond to species, we have
+painted the first column red, the second yellow, and the third blue,
+passing from left to right. The blending of these colors produces the
+variety of shades we might have in this representation.
+
+Blue added to blue gives indigo; blue with yellow gives a deep green;
+with red, violet. Yellow passed over to the middle column, gives bright
+green upon blue; pure yellow, when passed upon yellow, and orange upon
+red.
+
+Thus pure red will be the expression of the sensitive state or the life.
+Orange will render soul from life, and violet will be the symbol of mind
+from life.
+
+Applying this process of examination to the two other columns, we shall
+know by one symbolic color, what the soul wishes at the present hour,
+and these same colors will, besides, serve to regulate the attitude of
+our organs.
+
+Honor and thanks to the genius which gives us this criterion, where is
+reflected the harmony of all worlds!
+
+
+
+
+Epilogue.
+
+
+
+In this rational grammar of the art of oratory, I have given the rules
+of all the fine arts. All arts have the same principle, the same means
+and the same end. They are akin, they interpenetrate, they mutually aid
+and complete each other. They have a common scope and aim. Thus, music
+needs speech and gesture. Painting and sculpture derive their merit from
+the beauty of attitudes. There is no masterpiece outside the rules here
+laid down.
+
+It is not enough to know the rules of the art of oratory. He who would
+become an orator, must make them his own. Even this is not enough for
+the free movement of the agents which reveal the mind, the soul and the
+life. The method must be so familiar as to seem a second nature. Woe to
+the orator if calculation and artifice be divined in his speech! How
+shun this quicksand? By labor and exercise. The instruments and the
+manner of using them are in your hands, student of oratory. Set about
+your work. Practice gymnastics, but let them be gymnastics in the
+service of the soul, in the service of noble thoughts and generous
+sentiments--divine gymnastics for the service of God.
+
+Renew your nature. Lay aside the swaddling-bands of your imperfections,
+conform your lives to the highest ideals of uprightness and truth.
+Exercise your voice, your articulation and your gestures. If need be,
+like Demosthenes, place pebbles in your mouth; repair like that great
+orator to the sea-shore, brave the fury of the billows, accustom
+yourself to the tumult and roar of assemblies. Do not fear the fracture
+or dislocation of your limbs as you seek to render them supple, to
+fashion them after the model, the type you have before your eyes. _Labor
+omnia vincit._
+
+In any event, be persevering. Novitiate and apprenticeship in any
+profession, are difficult. In every state the bitterness of trial is to
+be expected. To arrive at initiation has its joys, to arrive at
+perfection is a joy supreme. Beneath the rind of this mechanism, this
+play of organs, dwells a vivifying spirit. Beneath these tangible forms
+of art, the Divine lies hidden, and will be revealed. And the soul that
+has once known the Divine, feels pain no longer, but is overwhelmed with
+joy.
+
+Art is the richest gift of heaven to earth. The true artist does not
+grow old; he is never too old to feel the charm of divine beauty. The
+more a soul has been deceived, the more it has been chastened by
+suffering, the more susceptible it is to the benefits of art. This is
+why music soothes our sorrows and doubles our joys. Song is the
+treasure of the poor.
+
+Return, then, with renewed enthusiasm to your work! The end is worth the
+pains. The human organism is a marvelous instrument which God has given
+for our use. It is a harmonious lyre, with nine chords, each rendering
+various sounds. These three chords for the voice, and three for both
+gesture and speech, have their thousand resonances at the service of the
+life, the soul and the mind. As these chords vibrate beneath your
+fingers, they will give voice to the emotions of the life, to the
+jubilations of the heart and the raptures of the mind. This delightful
+concert will lend enchantment to your passing years, throwing around
+them all the attractions of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.
+
+We may well salute the three Graces and the nine Muses as gracious
+emblems, but it is far better to discern in art, the reflected image of
+the triple celestial hierarchy with its nine angel choruses.
+
+Honor, then, to the fine arts! Glory to eloquence! Praise to the good
+man who knows how to speak well! Blessed be the great orator! Like our
+tutelary angel, he will show us the path that conducts or leads back to
+God.
+
+
+
+
+
+Part Fourth.
+
+Arnaud on Delsarte.
+
+
+
+
+The Delsarte System.
+
+By
+
+Angelique Arnaud, (_Pupil of Delsarte_).
+
+Translated by Abby L. Alger.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter I.
+
+The Bases of the Science.
+
+
+
+Delsarte published no book upon art. The bases of the science which he
+created are contained in a synthetical table. Other tables develop each
+branch of it considered separately.
+
+Starting from an undeniable law--that which regulates the constitution
+of man,--Delsarte applies it to aesthetics; he designates man as "the
+object of art," and groups in series the organic agents that co-operate
+in the manifestation of human thought, sentiment and passion; declaring
+the purpose of these manifestations, now become artistic, to be the
+amelioration of our being by throwing into relief and light the
+splendors of moral beauty and the horrors of vice.
+
+Delsarte defines art in several ways. He has been reproached for his
+over-amplitude of definition, and his development of it in a sense too
+metaphysical for a science which he himself calls "positive." I give
+here only such definitions as seem to me most clear and important.
+
+"Art is at once the knowledge, the possession and the free direction of
+the agents by virtue of which are revealed the life, soul and mind. It
+is the appropriation of the sign to the thing. It is the relation of
+the beauties scattered through nature to a superior type. It is not,
+therefore, the mere imitation of nature."
+
+The word _life_, in the sense employed above, is the equivalent of
+_sensation_, of _physical manifestations._
+
+Man being the object of art, it is from the working of the various
+faculties of the human organism that Delsarte deduces the task of the
+artist; as from the knowledge of the essential modalities of the _ego_,
+he deduces his law of general aesthetics.
+
+Delsarte teaches, therefore, that man is a triplicity of persons; that
+is, he contains in his indestructible unity, three principles or
+aspects, which he calls _life, soul_ and _mind_; in other words,
+_physical, moral_ and _intellectual_ persons.
+
+In this statement this master agrees with the philosophers who give a
+triplicity of essential principles as the base of ontology. Pierre
+Leroux names them as follows: _sensation, sentiment, consciousness._
+
+That which is personal to Delsarte is the derivation of the law of
+aesthetics from this conception of being.
+
+The primal faculties once ascertained, he devotes himself to an analysis
+of the organism; he describes the harmony of each of these faculties
+with the apparatus which serves it as agent for manifesting itself, and
+demonstrates the fitness of each organ for the task assigned it. The
+master establishes that the inflections of the voice betray more
+especially the sensitive nature; that gesture is the interpreter of
+emotion; that articulation--a special element of speech--is in the
+direct service of intelligence and thought. He gave the name of _vocal_
+to the active apparatus of sensation; _dynamic_ to that of sentiment;
+_buccal_ to that of articulation.
+
+From the union of the faculties and their agents arise three modes of
+expression: the _language of affection_, the _language of ellipsis_ (or
+gesture) and the _language of philosophy_. They respond to the three
+states which Delsarte recognizes in man, and which the artist is to
+translate: the _sensitive state,_ corresponding to the _life_; the
+_moral state_, to the _soul_; the _intellectual state_, to the _mind_.
+
+But this division into three modalities or into three states is far from
+giving the number of the manifestations of being. Nature is not reduced
+to this indigence. From the fusion of these three states, in varying and
+incessant combination, and from the predominance of one of the primitive
+modalities, whether accidental or permanent, countless individualities
+are formed, each with its personal constitution, its shades of
+difference of education, habits, age, character, etc.
+
+It seems at the first glance as if the mind must be confused by these
+varieties, whose possible number fades into infinity; but the teacher
+does not open this labyrinth to his disciples without providing them
+with a clue.
+
+Independently of these modalities, of these states, which form the
+basis of the system, Delsarte traces triune subdivisions, which serve as
+a point of convergence; thus the intermediary rays of the compass or
+mariner's card are multiplied, and receive special names, without
+ceasing to belong to one of the four cardinal points.
+
+Whatever, for instance, may be the tendency of the individual whom we
+desire to portray, or to represent by any art whatsoever, we can think
+of him in his normal state, as well as in a concentric or eccentric
+state: this is a first distinction.
+
+Each of these states is itself subject to shades of difference, to
+modifications. The normal state of a diplomat and that of an artist
+could not be the same. The one, by the very effect of his profession,
+will incline to concentration; the other will tend to expansion, if not
+to eccentration. Hence a _simple normal_ state which is the most common;
+a normal-concentric state, a normal-eccentric state: here we have a
+second distinction.
+
+Delsarte, in order to avoid confusion between the word _state_ applied
+to primordial modalities--which he defines as _sensitive, moral_ and
+_intellectual_ states,--often uses the word _element_ in place of that
+of _state_ in speaking of _concentration, eccentration_ and _normality_,
+which, in this case, he also calls _calm_; but, in teaching, he was
+always accustomed to use these more exact terms: normal state,
+concentric state, eccentric state.
+
+These differences may occur in regard to each of the other terms. Thus
+we may have the simple concentric state, the concentro-concentric state,
+etc.
+
+It is upon this mutual interpenetration of the various states in the
+triple unity, that the master founds the idea which dominates and
+pervades his whole system; the three isolated and independent terms do
+not, to his thinking, constitute the integrality of the human _ego_. To
+constitute, according to Delsarte's theory, three, the vital number, it
+must, by its very essence, and by inherent force, raise itself to its
+multiple nine. This is what the master calls _the ninefold accord_.
+
+Medicine--a science which also derives its justification from the human
+organism--from certain points of view affords us analogies to this
+mixture of primordial components; for example, nervous and sanguine
+temperaments which are blended in the sanguo-nervous, etc.
+
+If we refer to our own faculties, does it not strike us indeed, that
+neither life--nor sensation--nor sentiment, nor intellect can manifest
+itself without the aid of its congeners or co-associates?
+
+Is intelligence evident elsewhere than in a sensitive being (life)? And
+even when considering the most abstract things, does it not bear witness
+of its taste, its power of choice (sentiment)? Can sentiment be
+absolutely disengaged from impression (life)? And if it is not always
+under the sway of the idea, is it not certain that it gives rise to it,
+by provoking observation and reflection (intellect)?
+
+Finally, can an adult--save in the case of absolute idiocy--exist by
+sensitive life alone outside of all sentiment and all thought (soul,
+intellect)?
+
+It is by the harmony of the modalities among themselves, and the
+contribution of each to the unity, that every individual type is formed.
+Delsarte thought that he could fix their numerical scale; but he was not
+permitted to _carry_ his scientific studies thus far; still, it is not
+indispensable to art, which demands above all things very marked types,
+that verification should be carried to its farthest limits. It will not
+be difficult, guided by the knowledge which Delsarte has left us, to
+classify artistic personages as physical, intellectual and moral or
+sentimental types; and, in the same category, to differentiate those
+belonging to the concentric state from those falling more particularly
+into the eccentric or normal states: the Don Juans, Othellos, Counts
+Ory, etc. Delsarte, in practice, excelled in characterizing these shades
+of difference.
+
+These prolegomena would not perhaps alone suffice to give this teacher a
+claim to the title of creator of a science. Although they give the
+theory of the system, they are far from containing all its developments.
+But Delsarte did not stop here.
+
+In appropriate language--wherein new words are not lacking for the new
+science--he takes apart each of the agents of the organism, enumerated
+above; he examines them in their details, and assigns them their part in
+the sensitive, moral, or intellectual transmission with which they are
+charged. Thus gesture--the interpreter of sentiment--is produced by
+means of the head, torso and limbs; and in the functions of the head are
+comprised the physiognomic movements, also classified and described,
+with their proper significance, such as anger, hate, contemplation,
+etc.,--and the same with the other agents.
+
+Each part observed gives rise to a special chart, where we see, for
+instance, what should be the position of the eye in exaltation,
+aversion, intense application of the mind, astonishment, etc. The same
+labor is given to the arms, the hands and the attitudes of the body,
+with the mark, borrowed from nature, of the slightest movement, partial
+or total, corresponding to the sensation, the sentiment, the thought
+that the artist wishes to express.
+
+I hope that these works may yet be recovered entire, for the master was
+lavish of them, and that they may be given to the public.[5]
+
+An exact science at first sight appears contradictory to art. Will it
+not diminish its limits, * * * trammel its transports? Will it not prove
+hostile to its liberty at every point? * * * Will it not check the
+flights of its graceful fancy, its adorable caprice?
+
+No, indeed! as I said in regard to the ideal, the theories of Delsarte,
+far from hampering the free expansion of art, do but enlarge its
+horizons, and prepare a broader field for its harmonies. They leave
+freedom to the opinions most difficult of seizure, the most unforeseen
+creations; because, responding to every faculty of being, this science,
+while it corrects imagination, respects its legitimate power.
+
+Finally, what is this science which analyzes every spring and every part
+brought to play in the manifestation of life? A compass to guide us to
+the desired goal; a measure of proportion to fix each variety in the
+immensity of types; a touchstone by which to judge of each man's
+vocation.
+
+But do not let us forget that if this science holds back, restrains and
+preserves us from parasites, * * * if it prepares proper soil, and
+assists feebly dowered natures to acquire real value, it cannot supply
+the place of those marvelous talents, that personality, which showed us,
+in Delsarte himself, the heights to which a dramatic singer may attain.
+What surprises and subjugates us in these privileged persons is the
+secret of nature; it is not to be written down, not to be demonstrated;
+this unknown quantity, this mystery, reveals itself at its own time by
+flashes, and with different degrees of intensity during the career of
+the same artist. Some have thought to explain the prodigy by that
+superior instinct known as intuition; but the discovery of the word does
+not open the arcanum.
+
+I have said enough, I hope, in regard to the science created by
+Delsarte, to put upon the track such minds as are apt for the subject,
+and endowed with sufficient penetration to assimilate it; but it must
+not be disguised that even should the whole work be collected together,
+the science must still await its examination, its verification and its
+complements; for a science at its birth is like a program given out for
+the study of present and future generations. Delsarte was still working
+on his to the last years of his life. Every day he gained fresh insight;
+he added branches and accessories. Yet the criticisms of details which
+will come later--even when they are justified,--will not rob the
+inventor of the glory of his scientific discovery. Let genius invent,
+scholars pursue its discoveries! * * * If genius works alone, scientists
+work hand in hand,
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II.
+
+The Method.
+
+
+
+I have shown Delsarte as a composer, as pre-eminently an artist, who, as
+a certain critic says, "was never surpassed;" I have insisted upon the
+two titles which form his special glory: that of revealer of the laws of
+aesthetics, and that of creator of a science to support his discoveries;
+a science whose application relates particularly to the dramatic and
+lyric arts, although at its base, and especially when considered as law,
+it embraces all the liberal arts.
+
+It remains for me to speak of his method, properly so called; of his
+precepts, his maxims, his opinions and his judgments; of that, in a
+word, which constitutes the personal manner of each master, and his mode
+of instruction; for if the law is single in its essential and
+constitutive ideas, it radiates into diversity in its individual
+manifestations; _it has infinite possibilities_.
+
+Delsarte considered art as the surest, purest and most constant good in
+life. He required much time to complete the education of a pupil,
+because he knew how long it had taken him to master the methods of
+translating, through that noble interpreter, art, the best and most
+sublime possibilities of the human soul; and because he knew as well all
+that is inherent in our nature of vice and imperfection. He held that
+the truth, be it good or bad, is always instructive.
+
+In regard to truth he says: "A man may possess remarkable qualities, may
+have grace, expression, charm and elegance, but they are all as nothing
+if he does not interpret the truth." He desired the artist to study
+beauty in every form, to seek and discover its secrets. He tells us that
+he himself studied the poses of the statues of antiquity for fifteen
+years.
+
+It was in consequence of this period of study, assuredly, that the
+master condemned the parallel movement of the limbs in gesture, and
+recommended attitudes which he called _inverse_; if, for instance, the
+actor leans on his left leg, the corresponding gesture must necessarily
+be entrusted to the right arm.
+
+The master taught that the gesture--the true interpreter of the
+sentiment--should precede the word. He added: "The word is but an echo,
+the thought made external and visible, the ambassador of intelligence.
+Every energetic passion, every deep sentiment, is accordingly announced
+by a sign of the head, the hand or the eye, before the word expresses
+it." Thus, the actor and the orator, if they do not conform to this
+precept, have failed to attain to art.
+
+Delsarte proves his assertion by giving examples, somewhat overdrawn, in
+a sense the inverse of this theory. Nothing was more amusing than to
+see him execute one of these _dilatory_ gestures; for instance, this
+phrase, uttered by the lackey of some comedy, delivering a message:
+"Sir, here is a letter which I was told to deliver to you at once." The
+hand extending the note unseasonably, produced so ridiculous an effect
+that the heartiest laughter never failed to follow.
+
+
+
+_On Ellipsis._
+
+
+The preceding steps lead us to ellipsis, which plays an important part
+in the method of Delsarte.
+
+All the thoughts and sentiments contained in literature, in one
+comprehensive word, are entrusted to the mimic art of the actor, whose
+essential agent is gesture. The _conjunction_ and _interjection_ are
+alike elliptical; thus in the phrase: "Ah! * * how unhappy I am! * *"
+"Ah!" should imply a painful situation before the explanatory phrase
+begins. In his _course of applied aesthetics_, Delsarte gives us the
+striking effects of the elliptic conjunction.
+
+
+
+_On Shades and Inflections._
+
+
+The shade, that exquisite portion of art, which is rather felt than
+expressed, is the characteristic sign of the perfection of talent; it
+forms a part of the personality of the artist. You may have heard a play
+twenty times with indifference, or a melody as often, only to be bored
+by it; some fine day a great actor relieves the drama of its chill, its
+apparent nullity; the commonplace melody takes to itself wings beneath
+the magic of a well-trained, expressive and sympathetic voice. Delsarte
+possessed this artistic talent to a supreme degree, and it was one of
+the remarkable parts of his instruction; he had established typical
+phrases, where the mere shade of inflection gave an appropriate meaning
+to every variety of impression and sentiment which can possibly be
+expressed by any one set of words. One of these phrases was this: "That
+is a pretty dog!"
+
+A very talented young girl succeeded in giving to these words a great
+number of different modulations, expressing endearment, coaxing,
+admiration, ironical praise, pity and affection. Delsarte, with his
+far-reaching comprehension, conceived of more than 600 ways of
+differentiating these examples; but he stopped midway in the execution
+of them, and certainly no one else will ever pursue this outline to its
+farthest limits.
+
+The second phrase was: "I did not tell you that I would not!"
+
+This time the words were given as a study for adults; they lent
+themselves to other sentiments; they revealed, as the case might be,
+indifference, reproach, encouragement, the hesitation of a troubled
+soul, etc.
+
+It was by means of these manifold shades that the artist-professor
+established characteristic differences in parts wherein so many actors
+had seen but the identical fact of a similar passion or a similar vice.
+To his mind, all misers were not the same miser, nor all seducers the
+same seducer. In singing particularly, with what art Delsarte used the
+inflection!
+
+
+
+_On Vocal Music._
+
+
+In regard to lyric art especially, Delsarte had his peculiar and
+personal theories. Singing was not to him merely a means of displaying
+the singer's voice or person; it was a superior language, charged with
+the rendition, in its individual charm, of all the greatest creations of
+literature and poetry; all the sweet, tender, or cruel sentiments
+possible to humanity.
+
+This exceptional singer attained his effects partly by means of certain
+modifications of the rhythm, which caused inattentive critics to say:
+"Delsarte does not observe the measure." What they themselves failed to
+note, was that the first beat was always given firmly; and that it was
+in the divisions of one measure, and by subtle compensations, that he
+made the difference. Far from having cause for complaint, the composer
+gained thereby, a more clear expression of his thought, a more
+persuasive expansion of his sentiment, and the respiration appeared more
+easy. It was something similar--with a greater value--to that personal
+punctuation with which skilful readers often divide the text which they
+translate.
+
+It was particularly in recitative, the style, moreover, least subject to
+precise laws, that Delsarte used this license; and it was in this style
+that he especially excelled.
+
+And is it not in what remains unwritten that the singer's true greatness
+is revealed? What dilettante has not felt the power of a more incisive
+attack of the note; of that prolongation of the note, held
+imperceptibly, which, having captured it, holds the attention of the
+listener?
+
+But, to hear these things, it is not necessary, as the saying is, "to
+bestride _technique_." In so far as the training of the voice is
+concerned, Delsarte gave himself a scientific basis. He was the first to
+think that it would be well to know the mechanism of the organ, that it
+might be used to the best advantage, both by avoiding injurious methods
+of exercising it, and by aiding the development of the tone by
+appropriate work.
+
+In his rooms were to be seen imitations of the larynx--in pasteboard--of
+various sizes. His pupils, it seems to me, could profit but little by
+these far from pleasing sights. At the utmost it increased their
+confidence in the man who desired an intimate acquaintance with
+everything relating to the art which he taught. It is to teachers
+particularly that the introduction of this auxiliary into the study of
+the vocal mechanism may have been of some value. I have lately learned
+that several singing teachers use these artificial larynxes. Can
+priority be claimed for Delsarte? I can only affirm that he refers to
+them in a treatise signed by himself, and dated in the year 1831.
+
+I shall not enter into the details of this contingent side of the
+method; the statement of the facts is enough to lead all those who are
+interested, to devote thought and study to the matter. I prefer to dwell
+upon the things which Delsarte carried with him into the grave, having
+written them only on the memories of certain adepts destined to
+disappear soon after him.
+
+
+
+_On Respiration._
+
+
+Delsarte established his theory of _diaphragmatic breathing_ in
+accordance with his anatomical knowledge. It consists in restoring the
+breath, without effort, from the commencing lift of the diaphragm to the
+production of the tone. He opposed it to the _costal breathing_, which
+brings the lungs suddenly into action by movements of the chest and
+shoulders, and causes extreme fatigue. "The chest," he says, "should be
+a passive agent; the larynx and mouth, aiding the diaphragm, alone have
+a right to act in breathing; the action of the larynx consists of a
+depression, that of the mouth should produce the canalization
+(concavity) of the tongue and the elevation of the veil of the palate."
+
+To this first idea is attached what the master taught in regard to the
+distinction between _vital breath_ and _artificial breath_. It is
+certain that one may sing with the natural respiration; but it is
+rapidly exhausted if not augmented by additional inhalation; for it
+results in dryness and breathlessness, which cause suffering alike to
+singer and listener. The _artificial breath_, on the contrary, preserves
+the ease and freshness of the voice.
+
+
+
+_On the Position of the Tone._
+
+
+The placing of the tone was one of Delsarte's great anxieties. According
+to his theory, the attack should be produced _by explosion_. He rejected
+that stress which induces the squeezing out of the tone after it is
+produced. The way to avoid it is to prepare rapidly and in anticipation
+of the emission of the note.
+
+These ideas demand oral elucidation; but it is enough to declare them,
+for teachers and singers to recognize their meaning.
+
+
+
+_On the Preparation of the Initial Consonant._
+
+
+The preceding lines refer to vocalization; but Delsarte applied the same
+process to pronunciation. He directed that the _initial consonant_
+should be prepared in the same way as the attack on the tone; it was
+thus produced distinctly and powerfully, that is, in less appreciable
+_extent of time_. Such is the concentration of the archer preparing to
+launch an arrow; of the runner about to leap a ditch. The master, in no
+case permitted that annoying compass of the voice before a consonant, so
+frequently employed by ordinary singers. The Italians justly translate
+this disagreeable performance by the word _strascinato_ (dragged out or
+prolonged).
+
+
+
+_Exercises._
+
+
+Delsarte has been severely blamed for the way in which he trained the
+voice. I have nothing to say in regard to those who imputed to him
+physical and barbarous methods of developing it; but it may be true that
+he endangered it by certain exercises or by failure to cultivate the
+mechanism. I do not feel myself competent to pronounce upon this
+technical point, but I can give an exact account of what was done in his
+school.
+
+Delsarte directed that the tones should be swelled on a single note, E
+flat (of the medium); he claimed that by strengthening this intermediary
+note the ascending and descending scales were sympathetically
+strengthened. He thus avoided, as he said, breaking the high treble
+notes by exercises which would render the cords too severely tense,
+convinced morever, that at a given moment a burst of enthusiasm and
+will-power would take the place of assiduous practice.
+
+He also taught that this special exercise of the medium would prevent
+the separation of the registers, that phylloxera of the vocal organ,
+which wrecks so many singers, and causes them so many sorrows. This was
+the way to gain that mixed voice, the ideal held up to the scholars as
+being the most impressive and the most exquisite; that which at the
+same time ravished the ear and charmed the heart.
+
+This master considered the chest-voice as more particularly physical;
+and the head-voice, it must be confessed, is too much like the voice of
+a bird, to awaken sentiment and sympathy.
+
+Delsarte himself possessed this mixed voice; in him, it seemed to start
+from the heart, and brought tears to eyes which had never known them.
+The power of that tone--allied to the perfection of shading, diction and
+lyric declamation--caused every listening soul to vibrate with latent
+emotion which might never have been waked to life save by that appeal.
+
+I return to the practice of swelled tones upon the note E flat. This
+note certainly acquired broad and powerful tones about which there was
+nothing forced, and which were most agreeable. This development was
+communicated to the neighboring notes. But did not these advantages take
+from the compass of the scale? If so, were they a counterbalance to the
+injury? I repeat that I dare not affirm anything in this respect.
+
+Delsarte, assuredly, did not give as much space to vocalization as other
+teachers, especially those of the Italian school.
+
+It is also undeniable, that dramatic singing--the style which he
+preferred--is dangerous to the vocal organism; particularly when one
+practices the _shriek or scream_, which produces a fine effect when
+skilfully employed, but is most pernicious in excess.
+
+Delsarte was too conscientious an artist not to sacrifice his voice, at
+certain moments, to his pathetic effects; but he was very careful to
+warn his scholars against the abuse of this method; he directed them to
+use it but very rarely, and with the greatest precaution.
+
+I should also say, in his favor, that light voices were very differently
+trained from heavy ones. Madame Carvalho, who began her studies in his
+school, did not alter the flexible but feeble organ she brought there.
+Mlle. Chaudesaigues and Mlle. Jacob, under Delsarte's tuition, attained
+to marvels of flexibility, without losing any of their natural gifts.
+
+
+
+_Appoggiatura._
+
+
+Delsarte brought about a revolution in French music in everything
+relating to appoggiatura, or rather, he restored its primitive meaning.
+The way in which he interpreted it has created a school.
+
+He taught that the root of the word--appoggiatura--being _appuyer_ (to
+sustain), the chief importance should be given in the phrase, to
+appoggiatura, by extent and expression; the more so that this note is
+generally placed on a dissonance; and, according to this master's
+system, it is on the dissonance--and not at random and very frequently,
+as is the habit of many singers--that the powerful effect of the
+vibration of sound should be produced.
+
+Contrary to this opinion, the appoggiatura was for a long time used in
+France as a short and rapid passing note; it thus gave the music a
+vivacious character, wholly discordant with the style of serious
+compositions; the music of Gluck was particularly unsuited to it.
+
+
+
+_Roulade and Martellato._
+
+
+In every school of singing the roulade is effected by means of the
+_staccato_ and _legato_. Delsarte had a marked prejudice in favor of the
+martellato, which partakes of both. He compared it, in his picturesque
+way of expressing his ideas, to pearls united by an invisible thread.
+
+
+
+_Pronunciation._
+
+
+The master's pronunciation was irreproachable; not the slightest trace
+of a provincial accent; never the least error of intonation, the
+smallest mistake in regard to a long or short syllable. What is perhaps
+rarer than may be thought, he possessed, in its absolute purity, the
+prosody of his native language, alike in lyric declamation and in the
+_cantabile_. His penetrating tones added another charm to the many
+merits which he had acquired by study.
+
+Pronunciation, therefore, was skilfully and carefully taught in
+Delsarte's school. The professor's first care was to correct any
+tendency to lisp, which he did by temporarily substituting the syllables
+_te, de_, over and over again, for the faulty R. This substitution
+brought the organ back to the requisite position for the vibration of
+the R.
+
+This process is now in common use; but I cannot say whether it was
+employed before Delsarte's day. He obtained very happy results from it.
+
+
+
+_E mute before a Consonant._
+
+
+Delsarte did not allow that absolute suppression of the E mute before a
+consonant, which seems to prevail at present, and which produces so bad
+an effect in delivery. As the evil, at the time of which I speak, was
+yet comparatively unknown, he did not make it a case of conscience; but
+if he never lent himself to this ellipsis, he, "the lyric Talma," "the
+exquisite singer," as he has frequently been called, should we not
+regard his abstinence as a condemnation from which there is no appeal? I
+do not believe, moreover, that either Nourrit or Dupre authorized by
+their example a habit so contrary to the rules of French versification,
+so disagreeable to the well-trained ear and so opposed to good taste.
+Such young singers as have yielded to it, have only to listen to
+themselves for one moment to abandon it forever.
+
+It is certain that E mute can in no instance be assimilated to the
+accented E; but to suppress it entirely, is to break the symmetry of the
+verse, to put the measure out of time. It is unmistakable that the
+weakness of the vowel, or mute syllable, concerns the sound, not the
+duration. Let it die away gently; but for Heaven's sake, do not murder
+it! Voltaire wrote: "You reproach us with our E mute, as a sad, dull
+sound that dies on our lips, but in this very E mute lies the great
+harmony of our prose and verse." Littre recognizes two forms of the E
+mute: the E mute, faintly articulated as in "_ame_;" and the E mute
+sounded as in _me, ce, le;_ but he does not allude to an E which is
+entirely null.
+
+Once more, then, that there may be no misunderstanding, let me say that
+the word _mute_ added to the E, has but a relative sense, in view of the
+two vowels of the same name and marked with an acute or a grave accent.
+
+One fact throws light on the question: did any author ever make a
+character above the rank of a peasant or a lackey, say:
+
+/ "_J'aime' ben Lisett' J'crois qu'ell' m'en veut!"_ P/
+
+Take an example from Voltaire (tragedy of the Death of Caesar): "_Voila
+vos successeurs, Horace, Decius_." Evidently, if the E mute had not been
+counted, the second hemistich of the Alexandrine verse would have had
+but five syllables instead of six.
+
+Would any one like to know how the heresiarchs of the E mute would
+manage?
+
+In this instance they would repeat the A of the penultimate, aspirating
+it and pronouncing thus: "_Voila vos successeurs, Hora ... as',
+Decius_."
+
+In this way they would have the requisite number of syllables; but they
+would be wholly at odds with the dictionary of the good actors of the
+Theatre Francais.
+
+This falsification is especially common in singing, though it is no less
+revolting in that field of art. How often at concerts--the force of
+tradition saves us at the theatre--do we hear even artists of great
+reputation pronounce:
+
+"_Quel jour prosp'..er' plus de myste..er_," instead of: "_Quel jour
+prospere plus de mystere._" And, in one of the choruses of the opera
+"_La Reine de Chypre_":
+
+    "_Jamais, jamais en Fran ... anc'
+    Jamais l'Anglais ne regnera!_"
+
+Instead of:
+
+    "_Jamais, jamais en France,
+    Jamais l'Anglais ne regnera!_"
+
+This anomaly is most offensive in the final syllable of a verse, because
+there the measure is more impaired than ever, and in this way that
+alternation of male and female rhymes is suppressed, which produces so
+flowing and graceful a cadence in French verse.
+
+
+
+_E mute before a Vowel._
+
+
+The encounter of E mute in a final syllable, with the initial vowel of
+the word which follows it, makes the defect more apparent and
+accordingly easier to fight against.
+
+Delsarte's process was as follows: When a silent syllable is
+immediately followed by a word beginning with another vowel, the E mute
+(by a prolongation of the sound of the penultimate) is suppressed with
+the next letter. Thus in the aria of _Joseph_ (opera by Mehu):
+
+"_Loin de vous a langui ma jeune.. sexilee;_" and in _Count Ory: "Salut,
+o venera ... blermite._"
+
+In these cases, by an unfortunate spirit of compensation, the abettors
+of the innovation, suppressing the grammatical elision, sing thus:
+
+    "_Loin de vous a langui ma jeune ... ess'exilee."
+    "Salut, o venrera ... abl'erm ... it!_"
+
+Littre's Dictionary gives us the same pronunciation as Delsarte; and his
+written demonstration is even more positive. We find _favorables
+auspices, arbres abattus_, written in this way:
+"_fa-vo-ra-ble-z-auspices, arbre-z-abattus._"
+
+It is, however, very difficult to express these differences exactly, in
+type: what Littre expresses _radically_ by typographic characters, is
+blended with most natural delicacy by the voice of a singer.
+
+Thus, according to Delsarte, the E mute of a final syllable should be
+suppressed before a vowel, on condition of a prolongation of the sound,
+in harmony with the penultimate syllable.
+
+According to Delsarte again, according to Voltaire, according to Littre,
+the E mute is weakened, more or less, but never completely suppressed,
+before a consonant.
+
+Finally Legouve, whose voice is preponderant in these matters, whose
+books are in the hands of the whole world, has never entered into this
+_lettricidal_ conspiracy.
+
+I hope to be pardoned this long digression, thinking it my duty to
+protest against such a ludicrous method of treating French prosody; I do
+so both in the name of aesthetics and as a part of my task as biographer
+of Delsarte.[6]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter III.
+
+Was Delsarte a Philosopher?
+
+
+
+If we consider philosophy in the light of all the questions upon which
+it touches, the subjects which it embraces, we must answer "No;" but if
+we concentrate the word within the limits of aesthetics, we may reply in
+the affirmative. Did not Delsarte point out the origin of art, its
+object and its aim?
+
+Not that this master never exceeded the limits of his science and his
+method. He had sketched out a "Treatise on Reason," and had begun to
+classify the faculties of being, entering into the subject more
+profoundly than the categories of Kant; but all this only exists in mere
+outline, in a technology whose terms have not been weighed and connected
+together by a solid chain of reasoning: logic has not uttered its final
+word therein.
+
+A separate volume would be required to give an idea of these _gigantic
+sketches_, which must remain in their rudimentary state.
+
+If Delsarte had finished his work, it would seem that he must have
+leaned toward the scholastic method, now so much out of favor; but
+certainly he would put his own personality into this, as into everything
+that he undertook to investigate; for he was held back on the steeps of
+mysticism by the science which he had created, and which could only
+afford a shelter to the supernatural as an extension of those psychical
+faculties which have been called intuition, imagination, etc.
+
+Then the influence of Raymond Brucker, who died shortly after Delsarte,
+being lessened, and conscientious and patient study having fed the flame
+in that vast brain, we might have obtained affirmations of a new order.
+And Delsarte might have met with thinkers like Leibnitz, Descartes and
+Jean Reynaud, on that height where religion is purged of superstition
+and fanaticism, philosophy set free from atheism and materialism!
+
+If Delsarte had a fault, it was that he regarded all modern philosophy
+as sensuous naturalism; and if reason sometimes seemed to him
+suspicious, it was because he often confounded it with sophistry, which
+reasons indeed, but is far from being _reason_.
+
+Let us regret that Delsarte never finished his complete philosophy; but
+let us be grateful to him for having raised his art and all arts to the
+level of philosophy, by giving them truth as a basis and morality as a
+final aim; which fairly justifies, it seems to me, the title of
+_artist-philosopher_, which I have sometimes applied to him.
+
+I should not neglect, in this connection, to set down the explanation,
+given by Delsarte, of what he meant by the word _trinity_, as used in
+his scientific system. The reader cannot fail to see the elements of a
+system of philosophy in this succinct statement, this outline to be
+filled up:
+
+"The principle of the system lies in the statement that there is in the
+world a universal formula which may be applied to all sciences, to all
+things possible: --this formula is _the trinity_.
+
+"What is requisite for the formation of a trinity?
+
+"Three expressions are requisite, each presupposing and implying the
+other two. Each of three terms must imply the other two. There must also
+be an absolute co-necessity between them; thus, the three principles of
+our being--life, mind and soul--form a trinity.
+
+"Why?
+
+"Because life and mind are one and the same soul; soul and mind are one
+and the same life; life and soul are one and the same mind."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IV.
+
+Course of Applied AEsthetics.
+
+
+
+_Meeting of the Circle of Learned Societies_.
+
+
+Independently of its method, which was especially applicable to dramatic
+and lyric arts, Delsarte's doctrine, as we have seen, drew from the
+primordial sources, which are the law of things, the principles of all
+poetry, all art and all science. The intense light which he brought
+thence was too dazzling for young scholars, whose minds were rarely
+prepared by previous education. It, nevertheless, overflowed into the
+daily lessons, and gave them that peculiar and somewhat singular aspect,
+which acted even upon those whose intelligence could not cope with it.
+Such is the mysterious magic of things which penetrate before they
+convince.
+
+But these lofty problems demanded an audience in harmony with their
+elevation. Delsarte soon attracted such. Under the title "Course of
+Applied AEsthetics," he collected in various places, notably at the
+"Circle of Learned Societies," profane and sacred orators, and learned
+men of all sorts. There he could develop points of view as new as they
+seemed to be strikingly true. It was on leaving one of these meetings,
+that a distinguished painter thus expressed his enthusiasm: "I have
+learned so much to-day, and it is all so simple and so true, that I am
+amazed that I never thought of it before."
+
+The Course of Applied AEsthetics was addressed to painters, sculptors,
+orators, as well as to musicians, both performers and composers; and was
+finally extended to literary men. This audience of scholars was no less
+astonished and enchanted than others had been.
+
+
+
+_Theory of the Degrees_.
+
+
+The theory of degrees was largely developed at these meetings, and I
+have purposely delayed it till this chapter. To understand this
+theory--one of the most striking points in Delsarte's method, and
+original with him,--one should have some idea of the grammar which he
+composed for the use of his pupils.
+
+I will not say that this treatise was complete in the sense usually
+attached to the word grammar. There is no mention of orthography or of
+lexicology; but all that is the very essence of language, that from
+which no language, no idiom can escape--the constituent parts of
+speech--are examined and investigated from a philosophic and psychologic
+point of view. Just as the author examined the constituent modalities of
+our being in the light of aesthetics, he seized the affinities between
+the laws of speech, as far as regards the voice--_logos_--and the moral
+manifestations of art.
+
+This production of Delsarte has undergone the fate of almost all his
+works--it has not been printed. Indeed, I greatly fear that, all his
+notes on the subject can never be collected; nevertheless that which has
+been gathered together presents a certain development. I will not enter
+into the purely metaphysical part, limiting myself, as I have done from
+the beginning of this study, to making known the conceptions of Delsarte
+only in so far as they refer to the special field of aesthetics.
+
+In this category, we find the following definitions which serve to
+classify the quantitative values or degrees: that is the extent assigned
+to each articulation or vocal emission to enable it to express the
+thoughts, sentiments and sensations of our being in their truth and
+proportionate intensity:
+
+1. _Substantive_ is the name given to a group of appearances, to a
+totality of attributes.
+
+2. _Adjective_ expresses ideas, simple, abstract, general and
+medicative; it is an abstraction in the substantive.
+
+3. _Verb_ is the word that affirms the existence and the co-existence
+between the being existing and its manner of existing: that is to say it
+connects the subject with the attribute. The verb is not a sign of
+action, but of affirmation, and existence.
+
+4. The _participle_ alone is a sign of action.
+
+5, 6, 7. The _article, pronoun and preposition_ fit into the common
+definitions.
+
+8. The _adverb_ is the adjective of the adjective and of the participle
+(in so far as it is an attribute of the verb); it modifies them both,
+and is not modifiable by either of them; it is a sign of proportion, an
+intellectual compass.
+
+9. The _conjunction_ has the same function as the preposition: it unites
+one object to another object; but it differs from it, inasmuch as the
+preposition has but a single word for its antecedent, and a single word
+for its objective case, while the conjunction has an entire phrase for
+antecedent, and the same for complement. It characterizes the point of
+view under the sway of which the relations should be regarded:
+restrictive, as _but_; hypothetical or conditional, as _if?_ conclusive,
+as _then_, etc., etc. The conjunction presents a general view to our
+thought, it is the reunion of scattered facts; it is essentially
+elliptical.
+
+10. The _interjection_ responds to those circumstances where the soul,
+moved and shaken by a crowd of emotions at once, feels that by uttering
+a phrase it would be far from expressing what it experiences. It then
+exhales a sound, and confides to gesture the transmission of its
+emotion.
+
+The interjection is essentially elliptical, because, expressing nothing
+in itself, it expresses at the time all that the gesture desires it to
+express, for ellipsis is a hidden sense, the revelation of which belongs
+exclusively to gesture.
+
+It must first be noted that these degrees are numbered from one to nine,
+and that, of all the grammatical values defined, the conjunction,
+interjection and adverb are classed highest.
+
+Delsarte made the following experiment one day in the "Circle of Learned
+Societies," during a lecture:
+
+"Which word," he asked his audience, "requires most emphasis in the
+lines--
+
+     "The wave draws near, it breaks, and vomits up before our eyes,
+     Amid the surging foam, a monster huge of size?"
+
+The absence of any rule applicable to the subject caused the most
+complete anarchy among the listeners. One thought that the word to be
+emphasized must be _monster_--as indicating an object of terror; another
+gave the preference to the adjective _huge_. Still another thought that
+_vomits_ demanded the most expressive accent, from the ugliness of that
+which it expresses.
+
+Delsarte repeated the lines:
+
+     "The wave draws near, it breaks, and ... vomits up before our
+     eyes."
+
+It was on the word _and_ that he concentrated all the force of his
+accent; but giving it, by gesture, voice and facial expression, all the
+significance lacking to that particle, colorless in itself, as he
+pronounced the word, the fixity of his gaze, his trembling hands, his
+body shrinking back into itself, while his feet seemed riveted to the
+earth, all presaged something terrible and frightful. He saw what he was
+about to relate, he made you see it; the conjunction, aided by the
+actor's pantomime, opened infinite perspectives to the imagination; his
+words had only to specify the fact, and to justify the emotion which
+had accumulated in the interval.
+
+But this particle, which here allows of eight degrees, is much
+diminished when it fills the office of a simple copulative. The extent
+of the word or the syllable is always subordinate to the sense of the
+phrase; in the latter case it does not require more than the figure 2.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter V.
+
+The Recitation of Fables.
+
+
+
+Some years before his death Delsarte substituted for his concerts,
+lectures in which he explained his scientific doctrines and his
+philosophy of art. He also supplied the place of song by the recitation
+of certain fables selected from La Fontaine. He was not less perfect in
+this style than in the interpretation of the great roles of tragedy and
+grand lyric poems; but it must be acknowledged, that under this new
+guise, his talent could not display itself in all its amplitude; save
+for the facial expression which gave the lessons of the apologue a
+variety of outline of which La Fontaine himself perhaps never dreamed
+... and in spite of the fine and scholarly accent which he could give to
+all those clever beasts, he was, on many points, deprived of his power
+and his prestige: how endow a lion with the proud poses of Achilles; and
+lend the foolish grasshopper the satanic charm of Armida?
+
+Instead of noble or terrific attitudes, his gesture was confined to a
+few movements of forearm or hand; of his fingers, when the intentions
+were more subtle, more refined ... Still it was always most pleasant to
+hear him. It was Delsarte restrained, but not diminished. If you did not
+recover in his speaking voice that sort of enchantment with which his
+slightly-veiled tone pierced the soul, his accent remained so pure, so
+intelligent, that you were none the less ravished.
+
+When, in the fable of _The Two Pigeons_, he said:
+
+    "Absence is the greatest of ills, ...
+      Not so for you, cruel one!"
+
+He discovered shades, hitherto unknown, with which to paint reproach
+mingled with grief. And when he said:
+
+    "_The ant ... is not a lender!..._"
+
+A more affirmative and striking sense of the character attributed to our
+thrifty friend, was detached from this delay, filled up by a negative
+movement of the narrator's head.
+
+If Delsarte had limited himself in his lectures, to teaching men by
+means of the menagerie, which was a sly burlesque of the courtiers of
+Louis XIV., perhaps he might have made idolatrous partisans there as
+elsewhere; but it seems as if in the exposition of his theory, he posed
+rather as a censor than a teacher; he delighted in baffling the mind by
+paradoxes. By annexes superimposed and ill-blended with his system, he
+sometimes compromised those scientific truths whose splendor bursts
+forth when they are freed from heterogeneous accessories. We cannot
+otherwise explain the resistance of certain minds, distinguished
+otherwise, to the recognition in him of the artist who excited the
+enthusiasm of all the most competent critics and brilliant amateurs.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VI.
+
+The Law of AEsthetics.
+
+
+
+However striking and superior the system of Francois Delsarte has been
+shown to be, however admirable and attractive the manifestation of art
+in his person,--herein lie not his first rights to the grateful sympathy
+which we owe to his memory. His works and discoveries in aesthetics are a
+benefit of general interest, while they disclose to us the fruitful
+resources of his genius.
+
+In the first place, what is a law? We have here to deal, not with the
+legislation decreed by man for the regulation of social and political
+relations, but with those laws deduced from a natural order, as the
+principle of life itself, which govern the relations of beings and of
+things. In religion these laws are its dogmas and mysteries;
+philosophically speaking, the laws of things are the essentials of their
+nature, their specific relations.
+
+Voltaire has written: "Law is the instinct by which we feel justice." In
+Littre's Dictionary we find stated that "laws are conditions imposed by
+circumstances." Another has said: "The constant, uneludable succession
+in which phenomena occur, takes the name of law."
+
+I would here state, that in no one of the last three citations does the
+word "law" seem to me to be precisely defined. From the different
+explanations of the natural laws which I have been able to compare, I
+conclude that laws are forces containing in themselves the reasons, to
+us unknown, of a power and permanence which are unchangeable. Plato
+named them _ideas_. We must now conclude that the nature of a law, in
+the present acceptation of the term, _can_ be but imperfectly
+interpreted by exact formulae. Laws are still much involved in the
+secrets of creation. Here must we seek their origin or origins.
+
+But courage still! Although these formulae but imperfectly define law,
+the facts suffice to establish them. They (facts) show the certain
+action and, as stated heretofore, the uneludable nature of these
+formulae.
+
+But the discovery of Delsarte is the application to aesthetics of a
+natural law, proven and established by science. This law is that which
+governs the system of man's organism. Its present application is
+justified by a series of scientifically cooerdinated facts. Delsarte
+rests upon the principle that man is the object of art. Thus the artist
+should aim to manifest _human nature_ in its three modalities, in its
+three phases which the master named _life, soul_ and _mind_. In other
+words, the beings _physical, moral_ and _mental_.
+
+These three expressions figure in the work of Pierre Leroux (_De
+l'Humanite_) in the following equivalent terms: _sensation, sentiment,
+knowledge._ But Leroux applied to ethics this law of human organism,
+whereas Delsarte derived from it the law of aesthetics. When two minds of
+this stamp are thus led, each in his own way, to the same source of
+analogous principles differently applied, is it not a proof that they
+have stated truth? And in this case it is more than presumable that the
+two men of whom I speak had never worked together. Delsarte was a
+philosopher in spite of himself. With Pierre Leroux art was only an
+element contingent upon a system which he elaborated.
+
+Was Delsarte led to his classification of man's nature by the doctrine
+of the three persons in the Trinity combined in unity? Was he, by his
+observations upon the _human triplicity_, led on to consider their
+infinite development in the divine personalities? I know not, nor is it
+of importance in considering the system.
+
+Leroux affirmed a relation between the unity of man and the universality
+of his pantheism; both relying at the outset upon an idea at once
+religious and philosophical. But the research of Leroux was
+philosophically inclined, while that of Delsarte was of a character more
+especially religious.
+
+Is it necessary to urge that you accept this obviously primitive
+classification of the human faculties? Who, that shall have considered a
+moment to convince himself, can doubt this truth,--that our sensations,
+our sentiments, our understanding, are the principal elements of our
+life, and that all that we are able to know of ourselves is made known
+to us by them directly, or by the result of their combinations? This
+consideration will soon lead us to the rational development of the
+theory of Delsarte. For the present, it suffices to receive these
+principles as they have been presented to us, and to admit that art
+could not go far astray while following a clue leading from a law
+invincible, and guiding to a science as positive as that of the
+astronomer, derived from the law of attraction, or that of the chemist,
+depending upon the law of affinities. Here need be no confusion. The
+science is positive. The mystery of the natural law implies a
+hypothesis,--even were the proposition negative.
+
+Delsarte insisted upon the influence of a religious sentiment in art, as
+a part of the constitutive animating faculties of the human being. In
+the light of this proposition his enemies maintain that he teaches this
+heresy: that success in aesthetics depends upon a definite faith--even
+upon the observance of the _Catholic religion!_ This distinction between
+religion and creed, between sentiment and assertion, I have followed
+carefully since the beginning of my study. Delsarte was able to so
+address his pupils at the beginning of a lecture, as to arouse the
+apathetic, and electrify the passionate; but his teaching was far from
+dogmatic. I do not say that at times, in his aspirations and dreams,
+which he regarded perhaps as intuitions, this religious philosophy did
+not make some incursions into the region of mysticism. I have seen at
+his home charts named from the circumincession,[7] and classifying
+celestial spirits; but these trans-mundane personifications found no
+place in his practical lectures. They are not found in the great
+synthetical chart which I possess, and which recapitulates the system as
+the master arranged it in the strength of his youth and genius, free
+from all mystical element.
+
+When, in 1859, I submitted to Delsarte my treatise containing a succinct
+statement of his method, he said to me: "You have not followed me so far
+as the angels."
+
+I replied: "I have related and recognized as truth all that I have heard
+you teach upon the laws of art as deduced from the relations of the
+human faculties, because I have observed and verified it among people
+and upon myself. But I speak not of things which you have never shown
+me, and whose existence you have never _demonstrated_. The angels are of
+this number."
+
+Yet he received with no less approval my profane work. And it is the
+judgment which he placed upon that essay which authorizes my resuming
+the subject, augmented by further developments and evidence.
+
+I should not state with so great confidence this great truth--the
+application of a natural law to a succession of discoveries constituting
+a science, an incontestable innovation--were I not able to refer to
+competent opinions supporting my statement. A few of these opinions I
+would here quote from some of the journals I have examined, many of
+which thoroughly appreciated Delsarte throughout the long period of his
+teaching.
+
+It was said by Adolphe Gueroult (_Presse_, May 15, 1858): "To discover
+and produce wonderful effects, is preeminently the characteristic of
+great artists, but never, so far as I can learn, has it occurred to any
+one, before Delsarte, to attach these strokes of genius to positive
+laws." And further: "The eloquent secrets of pantomime, the
+imperceptible movements which, in great actors, so forcibly impress us,
+coming under the observation of this discoverer, were by him analyzed
+and synthetized in accordance with laws whose clearness and simplicity
+render them doubly admirable."
+
+I give also some statements from the _Journal des Debats_ (May 10,
+1859). Though in the following the word "law" does not appear, it bears
+interestingly upon the relations of the ideas and expressions under
+consideration. The quotation is:--
+
+"The audience was charmed and instructed. It applauded the new
+definitions. It divined the essence of each art, and comprehended that
+the various manifestations of art are classified according to the
+classifications of the human faculties. It knows why each passion
+produces each accent: 'because the accent is the modulation of the
+soul,' and why a given emotion produces a given expression of the face,
+gesture and attitude of the body."
+
+When we allow that "the classifications of the manifestations of art are
+made according to those of the human faculties," do we not also allow
+that they are derived from one law?
+
+Thus the _fiat lux_ ("let there be light") is pronounced. Art departs
+from chaos, escapes from anarchy; it acts no longer only for the
+so-called artist, but also for the actor and singer, whom we are now to
+consider. Art has to do with the pose of the body, a graceful carriage,
+distinct pronunciation and an unconscious command of dramatic effects.
+For a tenor to phrase agreeably, vocalize skilfully, giving us resonant
+chest-tones, no longer suffices to gain for him the title of great
+singer.
+
+The followers of art should be able, before and above all, to portray
+humanity in its essential truth, and according to the original tendency
+of each type. Mannerism and affectation should forever be
+proscribed--_unless they are imitated as an exercise_--but all the
+excellence that chance has produced up to the present time should be
+incorporated in the new science.
+
+Moreover, by referring to a law the occasional successes which come to
+one, it becomes possible to reproduce them at will.
+
+The essential point is to get back to the truth, to express the passions
+and emotions as nature manifests them, and not to repeat mechanically a
+series of conventional proceedings which are violations of the natural
+law. "Effects should be the echoes of a situation clearly comprehended
+and completely felt,"--such was the import of this teaching.
+
+One of the great benefits arising from the discoveries of Delsarte is
+the reconciliation of freedom and restraint. If it bind the artist by
+determinate rules, it is in order to free him from routine, to recall
+him to the general law of being and of his own individuality. It is in
+order that he may study himself, in the place of submitting to arbitrary
+prescriptions. In such study every marked personality will find itself
+in its native element.
+
+As for those who have no _vocation_, and in whom the "ego" distinguishes
+itself so little from the multitude that it remains lost in it, it is
+best that they should withdraw, since _they are not called_. They have
+in view only vanity or speculation, and must always be intruders in the
+sacred temple of art.
+
+"My glass is not large, but I drink from my glass," said Alfred de
+Musset. Very well! let each one drink from his glass, but observe! it is
+not necessary that in the true artist all should be individual and
+peculiar. It is necessary only that there should exist a degree of
+individuality, something novel, a distinguishing tone and an artistic
+physiognomy peculiarly his own. Servile imitations, plagiarism, stupid
+adaptations, put to death all art and all poetry. In literature
+particularly is such decline most easy.
+
+Hoping that, from what has been said, you have been led more fully to
+appreciate the advantage of seeing all of the branches of intellectual
+culture led out of the ruts of routine, away from plagiarism and from
+disorder and anarchy, one word upon the most distasteful and effectual
+blight to which art is subject--_the loss of naturalness_, viz.,
+_affectation_. Can anything be more irritating than an affected actor or
+singer, caterers to perverted tastes?
+
+In sculpture what is more displeasing than a distorted figure, which
+aimed at grace and is become a caricature? Affectation is in the arts
+the equivalant of sophistry in logic, of the false in morals, of
+hypocrisy in religion. It is not extravagant to assume that affectation,
+being a falsity, an active lie, is a torture to the spirit which
+perceives it, and a wrong to the honest souls who endure it. It should
+be, therefore, for twofold cause, banished without pity from the realm
+of aesthetics. Why should the natural, which is the expression of truth,
+have so great an attraction if affectation--its enemy and
+incumbrance--aroused not our impatience or disdain?
+
+How is it that in children of all classes we find grace, ravishing and
+inimitable? It is because in them the accord is perfect between the
+look, the smile, the gesture and the impression within, of which they
+are the interpreters--the adequate signs, as Delsarte would say--the
+perfidious flexibility of words _never interposing_ to alter the
+harmony.
+
+True grace in adults is not that which is studied, nor that which is
+artistically copied from a badly-chosen type. Grace is born of itself,
+the natural fruit of the culture of the mind, of elevated thoughts and
+noble sentiments. It is a combination of excellences which come
+unconsciously to some privileged beings. To imitate beautiful effects in
+nature, to surprise their expressions, after having observed and
+established the relation of cause to effect,--this is the end to which
+the discovery of Delsarte would lead us.
+
+As it is difficult for each to find ready at his command the elements
+for such research, how can we overestimate the great value of
+establishing schools in which the instruction of students of the great
+art shall be guided in accordance with the established laws of
+aesthetics? The time of greatest necessity is the immediate present,
+since the voice of the people cries loudly through the press, "Art is
+decaying and will surely die!"
+
+"Barriers are also supports," said Madame de Stael; and what more sure
+support in the decadence which threatens us, than a positive science
+deduced from irrefragable law! I say _irrefragable_ with conviction.
+Though human laws be subject to change, the laws of nature are shown to
+be immutable, at least so far as the observations of learned men of all
+ages have been able to establish them.
+
+To such assertions one objection arises: Why, admitting that the human
+organism furnishes exact and complete means of manifesting art in all
+the departments of aesthetics, should not others before Delsarte have
+discovered that correlation? I have conscientiously considered and
+sought light in this direction, and the result of my research furnishes
+me only a negation. Although I do not here attempt a complete study of
+the philosophy of art, nor a general history of the arts, I have sought
+to discover all that could warrant one in presuming the discovery of a
+law of aesthetics in antiquity, particularly among the Greeks.
+
+I find that in the writings of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle--who are
+the best authorities--art was a dependence upon philosophy; that is to
+say, one with it, having no law outside of it. (Whereas, in the work of
+Delsarte, aesthetics occupies the first place, and philosophy becomes
+accessory.)
+
+I will here enter into some details of the ancient teachings.
+
+Socrates gave to his teachings a practical character founded upon the
+knowledge of man. He took for his point of departure man himself, and
+established (according to this idea) a morality with the motto of the
+temple of Delphi,--"Know thyself." This doctrine related more especially
+to ethics than to aesthetics--as later did that of Pierre Leroux--and it
+was far from being able to direct artists in their work.
+
+Plato often discoursed upon the True, the Beautiful, the Good. He strove
+to disengage them from the concrete that he might derive some general
+formulae. To do this he employed the method of "elimination," a form of
+dialectics which I recommend to no one, notwithstanding its great value
+and the services it may render, after all, to those minds endowed with
+patience. What does he conclude in regard to art?
+
+The Socratic and dogmatic dialogues--the _Phaedo_, the _Gorgias_, the
+_Symposium, Protagoras, Ion, Phaedrus_--abound in allegories, aphorisms,
+and in aspirations toward an ideal, more or less clearly defined, which
+end, however, not by any means in a discussion of art, but in such
+affirmations as that which closes the first _Hippias:_--"Beautiful
+things are difficult."
+
+In the _Symposium_ we have a philosophical discussion interposed between
+two orgies. Socrates there maintains his title of sage, but it is surely
+not wisdom which presides at the feast. What light upon my subject? Do
+we here find any conclusive decision regarding art? No! We have instead
+such statements as this: "It is possible for the same man to be both a
+tragic and a comic poet." Then are made some reflections upon time in
+music. We can as yet discover nothing like a law of aesthetics.
+
+In this company, where are assembled the most cultivated of the Athenian
+citizens, they discuss love and jealousy of a kind that the moral
+instinct of modern society can with difficulty comprehend. But these
+dissertations are of no aid in the solution which I seek.
+
+And yet the spirit of Socrates at times attained to great heights. He
+puts into the mouth of a woman of Mantinea the theory which saps the old
+doctrine and presents monotheism. It is but one step thence to
+Christianity, and it was Apollonius of Tyana, disciple of Pythagoras,
+who established a connection between the idealism of the later Greek
+philosophy and the spirituality of the new religion taught by Jesus of
+Nazareth.
+
+Socrates, after a discussion upon those intermediate deities, whom he
+called _daimons_, and among whom he places love, assigns to love an
+origin and strange attributes which, to a certain extent, explain the
+remarkable workings of this passion at that time. He at once exalts and
+seeks to make comprehended the new god--"Beauty eternal, uncreated and
+imperishable, a beauty having nothing sensuous, nothing
+corporeal,--which exists absolutely and eternally." This is all.
+
+Perhaps this ideal of love, as that of philosophy, may have been
+expressed in the foundation of the religious ideal of Delsarte, but this
+encounter in the ethereal regions of theology and psychology--where the
+human consciousness perceives nothing tangible, and whence it derives
+only vague aspirations--implies no knowledge, of anything like a law, a
+science or a method, such as our artist-innovator of the nineteenth
+century conceived and taught.
+
+Aristotle, disciple of the founder of the Academy of Athens, divided
+the sciences into three classes--logic, philosophy and morals. Within
+this classification art is closely bound, but this philosopher made no
+scientific demonstration of it. His workings are not those of
+application and execution. More than his predecessors, it is true, he
+considered the human organism and, in this, his conception bears a
+certain analogy to the system of Delsarte. Aristotle, as well as Plato,
+advised the study of nature, and seeking there the elements of the
+Beautiful; but they had specially in view literature and eloquence.
+Further than this, their precepts are counsels and have reference to no
+definite law. They have not shown the links of connection between the
+human faculties and the mechanism which manifests them; they have not
+taught man the manner of using his organs to express artistically his
+sensations, emotions and thoughts.
+
+The Greeks had every advantage of models and philosophical schools, in
+which art was taught. But they had no school of aesthetics. Artists of
+genius taught the schools more than they learned of them; and these
+artists, so far as I can learn, have left no trace of theoretical works,
+but, as before written, genius precedes and exemplifies law. While Plato
+and Aristotle placed a beacon light upon the road leading to a law, they
+never touched the goal. Delsarte proceeded otherwise. He starts with a
+principle clearly defined and everything harmonizes with it.
+
+Have the historians and critics of the Greek philosophy discovered that
+which I vainly sought in its initiators,--_a law of aesthetics?_ This is
+a question to be answered.
+
+Winkelmann, in his "History of Art," says: "The fine arts, in their rise
+and decadence, may be likened unto great rivers which, at the point of
+fullest greatness, break up into innumerable tiny streams and are lost
+in the sands." Still following this imagery, he compares "Egyptian art
+to a fine tree whose growth is stopped by a sting; Etruscan art to a
+torrent; Greek art to a limpid stream."
+
+Now, the law of life of trees, streams or torrents, is not identical
+with that which governs the unity of a human life.
+
+Like Aristotle, Winkelmann states clearly the principle that man is the
+measure of all things, but he does not follow up the consequences; he
+reaches no scientific demonstration upon any point. Far from
+establishing the existence of a law of aesthetics among the Greeks, he
+simply remarks upon the extreme simplicity of their beginnings, and
+shows by what gropings they came from Hermes to the most perfect works
+of Phidias and Praxiteles.
+
+Mengs states that "the first designs were of forms approaching human
+semblance;" and that the sciences and philosophy must of necessity have
+preceded the Beautiful in the arts. He thinks that the Greeks
+established the proportions of their figures by imitation of beautiful
+nature.
+
+From these two commentators we have a history of the progression of the
+arts toward the Ideal. Mengs states that the Greeks and the Etruscans
+have given rules of proportion and style. But progression, proportion,
+style,--all of which proceeding from a fixed standard of beauty may
+guide artists--the perception even of the ideal which each one
+interprets in his own way--cannot be assimilated to that original law
+which carries in itself all the reasons of the concept, that which
+contains all conditions and means of a true execution,--_individual even
+to the perfection of each type, general and varied as the infinite
+shades of nature_.
+
+In response to the allegation of Mengs, that "the sciences and
+philosophy must necessarily have preceded the Beautiful in the arts," I
+would call attention to the fact that celebrated artists--as Phidias and
+Zeuxis for example--had produced their works long before the dialogues
+between Socrates, Protagoras, Hippias and others, upon the True, the
+Good and the Beautiful. The great painter and the great sculptor could
+only have proceeded by the intuition of their genius, knowing nothing of
+a law of aesthetics.
+
+In that which remains to us of antiquity, I find nothing which implies
+such an application of the human organism to the arts as that whose
+discovery, promulgation, exemplification and teaching we owe to
+Delsarte.
+
+M. Eugene Veron, writer of our day, and author of remarkable works on
+art, far from recognizing among the Greeks a law of aesthetics, writes
+of Plato: "He considered ideas as species of divine beings, intermediate
+between the Supreme Deity and the world. Theirs is the power of creation
+and formation.... Matter unintelligent and self-formed is _nothing_, and
+realizes existence only through the operation of the idea which gives it
+its form. Aristotle begins by rejecting all this phantasmagory of
+eternal and creative ideas. He fills the abyss between matter and
+spirit. God, pure thought and being preeminent, brings all into
+existence by his power of attraction which gives to all activity and
+life."
+
+We wander farther and farther from a law of aesthetics and its means of
+application as established by Delsarte.
+
+Of all the writers who have thoroughly examined antique art, Victor
+Cousin would seem the one with whom Delsarte had most in common, if this
+eminent philosopher were not a contemporary of the master and had not
+attended his lectures, his artistic sessions and his concerts. In his
+manner of treating art, this is often shown bywords and forms and
+flashes of instinctive reminiscence which recall the great school. In
+his book, "The True, the Beautiful and the Good" (edition of 1858), the
+learned professor writes: "The true method gives us a law to start from
+man to arrive at things. All the arts, without exception, address the
+soul _through the body_."
+
+He is on the way, but his position embraces neither the starting-point,
+which is the law, nor any practical means toward an end. For the rest,
+the nearer his propositions approach the law of Delsarte, the easier it
+becomes to establish the radical differences which separate them.
+Delsarte does not say that "the law is to start from man to arrive at
+things," but that "man uses his corporeal organs to manifest himself in
+his three constituent modalities,--physical, mental and moral."
+
+It is very certain that works of art, like all concrete forms, can only
+be perceived by the senses. Who does not know this? But that which is
+most difficult to comprehend, is the just relation of cause to
+effect--as to the faculty and its manifestation,--and it is this which
+Delsarte discovered and made clear. The one stated the action of art
+when perceived; the other, the necessities of the artist in order that
+art respond to the law.
+
+I shall have more than once to render justice to Victor Cousin.
+Inheritor of the Greek philosophers, he allows dialectics too great
+margin. He wanders in his premises and arrives at his conclusions--when
+he can. (Here, of course, I speak only of art.) In philosophy, Cousin,
+beginning with effects, from induction to induction, often arrives at
+causes and states some principles. Delsarte, perhaps, proceeded thus
+while seeking to combine his discoveries, but this accomplished, he
+placed in the first line, synthesis, whence all emanates, and this focus
+of light radiating in all directions, illumines even to its farthest
+limit, the vast field of aesthetics. Cousin, after all, claims neither
+for the Greeks nor for himself the discovery of a law.
+
+Proudhon, who represented the Protagorean school among us, humoring his
+whim, produced a work on art. In this he declares that he has very
+little gift in aesthetics, and asserts himself a dialectician, and we
+cannot deny his power in logic while he regards things from a proper
+stand-point. Very well! Proudhon challenged the Academy "to indicate a
+_method_"--with even more reason might he have said _law_ of aesthetics.
+
+Shall we, at last, find among the true critics of French literature any
+synthetic basis which may guide us in all branches of art? What do I
+find in "The Poetic Art," by Boileau, the great authority of the
+Augustan age,--rhetoric, beautiful verses, full of excellent counsel? I
+find there wisely arbitrated rules, a sieve through which it would be
+well to pass the works of our own times, including the verdicts which
+distribute the glory.
+
+But the means of putting into practice these valuable precepts--the
+criterion to establish their truth, the touchstone which may distinguish
+the pure gold--does not appear! In default of these means of certitude,
+each may, according to his instinct or his pride, insist that he has
+fulfilled the conditions prescribed by the author of the _Lutrin_, and
+judge his rivals by the sole authority of his prejudices.
+
+La Harpe and his followers have distributed praise and blame, and at the
+same time said _what_ should be done, but they have given no _how_.
+
+More grievous still are the meanderings of the critics of our public
+journals. They wander without compass and without rudder, approving or
+condemning according to their friendships and antipathies; save those
+_connoisseurs emerites_, whose fine, sure taste and exceptional
+erudition are rarely able to supply a law and state a reason for their
+judgment.
+
+Among us, as among the Greeks, may be found artists who have given
+proofs of the existence of the supreme theory of which I now write.
+Talma and Malibran--in another order, Dejazet, and Frederick Lemaitre,
+even Theresa herself, have, in a greater or less degree, exemplified
+this law imprescriptable. These artists, marked by nature with the seal
+of their vocation, possessed that force of truth which produces sudden
+bursts of eloquence, great dramatic effects; in a word, as before
+expressed, "the happy strokes of genius."
+
+Yes, before and after Delsarte, there were and shall be beings
+conforming by _instinct_ to his _law_. But with him alone shall rest the
+honor of its discovery and first teaching, and of the establishment of
+the science upon strong foundations.
+
+It remains for me to examine the relations between the workings of
+Delsarte and those who have treated the same questions concerning the
+terms (according to him, accessory), the True, the Good and the
+Beautiful; and also to consider the value of each branch of aesthetics in
+the entirety of the system.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VII.
+
+The Elements Of Art.
+
+
+
+_The True, the Good, the Beautiful._
+
+
+Though Delsarte be acknowledged the discoverer of the law of aesthetics,
+he may have held points in common with many who before him had had
+presentiments of its coming and had instinctively experienced its force.
+Premonitions precede the discovery as complements should follow.
+
+The True, the Good, the Beautiful, constituent elements of aesthetics,
+have been diversely interpreted. From his intellectual observatory, a
+zenith whence the artist-philosopher viewed clearly the whole and the
+details, he may be supposed to have gained light beyond any which could
+have come to his predecessors.
+
+I will, then, resume my parallel from this point of view.
+
+The True, the Good and the Beautiful were not made, in the school of
+Delsarte, objects of special teaching. By definitions, reflections and
+illustrations of the master, they were shown to enter fully into the
+science and method--a part of it distinguishable and inseparable. The
+master, in his demonstrations, commonly employed various well-known
+maxims which were always accredited to their authors. Thus, from Plato:
+"The Beautiful is the splendor of the True." From St. Thomas Aquinas,
+in regard to science: "In creation all is done by number, weight and
+measure." From St. Augustine (for he often quoted from sacred works):
+"Moral beauty is the brilliancy of the Good."
+
+But I must proceed in order. I owe it to the sincerity of my endeavor to
+explain first the aesthetic work of Delsarte as shown me by his own
+teachings.
+
+
+
+_The True._
+
+The True Illuminates the Thought.
+
+
+To determine the signification of the _True_, we must first ask what is
+_truth?_ It has been defined as: "A fixed principle, an axiom." The term
+truth has been applied to such or such maxims; but there are few
+assertions not subject to discussion or which would be accepted as
+decisive without comment. They have not that piercing clearness which
+determines conviction by simple apprehension or at first sight.
+
+The dictionary of the Academy is more explicit in its statement: "Truth
+is the conformity of the idea to its object." But a preferable
+definition is that of Madame Clemence Royer: "Truth is the concept of
+the spirit in regard to the reality of things and the laws which govern
+them." This philosophical statement is readily adapted to the True in
+the arts, which is acquired by the observation of nature and adaptation
+of the lawful ideal.
+
+How, then, may we recognize the True in aesthetics according to this
+definition? The artist, first and above all, should disregard no law of
+nature, but when he aspires to great works, "the concept of his spirit
+in regard to the reality of things and their laws" should lead him to
+idealize what he sees, translating his personal conception of the
+Beautiful and the Sublime, if his flight carry him so far.
+
+The word Art is more comprehensive in that which it expresses, than the
+word True. _Art_ completes itself by its other elements, the _Beautiful_
+and the _Good_. Plato, and the philosophers in general, treated of truth
+from the stand-point of philosophy rather than of art. Still the great
+Athenian seemed to believe in a sort of celestial museum, where the
+artist, penetrating by intuition, was inspired by a vision, more or less
+clear, of the masterpieces of divine conception.
+
+Delsarte approached in a certain sense this very idea, but his doctrine
+of the True in art, although depending upon the mystic basis of a holy
+Trinity, brought forth developments both rational and scientific which
+leave far behind the Platonic hypothesis.
+
+In the system of Delsarte it is no longer a vague ideal dimly
+perceptible, which must guide the artist in the execution of his work,
+for the _innovator_ says expressly that "the divine thought is written
+in man himself." It is therefore at the command of every one who seeks
+truth to make it manifest in art. In the new system, man being at once
+the _artist_ and _object of art_, literary men, sculptors and painters
+proceed from a basis ever to be observed and studied, to rise from the
+True to the Ideal. Here the flight must be more rapid and, above all,
+less deceptive than the purely mystic fancy of Plato.
+
+We shall see in considering the _Beautiful_ in the arts, that far from
+giving rise to arbitrary and fantastic conceptions, the great ideal must
+become, according to the science and method of the master,--the
+aggrandizement and the harmony of the faculties of the human being.
+
+
+
+_The Good._
+
+The Good Sanctifies the Soul.
+
+
+What is the Good in art? Here again the philosophical standard bars the
+way and demands priority. What, then, is _Good_ independent of varied
+feelings and of all the varied and contradictory interests of human
+subjectivity which encumber it in the minds of the multitude of thinking
+people?
+
+The Good, after this elimination, is reduced or rather elevated to one
+simple idea, so general and requisite is it. The Good seems to be that
+which can give to the greatest number of beings, existing in the
+universe (conformably to their hierarchy), the greatest sum of happiness
+and perfection, considering, for humanity, the importance of the mutual
+relations of the faculties. If this be true of the Good in life, is not
+a way clearly traced for art, whose mission is to embellish existence?
+And, further, if it be incontestable, that man cannot transgress the
+laws of his nature without wronging his intelligence and his happiness,
+even his strength and beauty, how shall art merit our love and homage if
+its power be exerted to excite inferior faculties and subversive
+passions? Are not _poise_ and _harmony_ the best conditions of existence
+for the human organism? That which Plato demanded for the _Beautiful_ in
+favor of the _True_--namely, splendor--Delsarte demanded also of _art_
+in favor of the _Good_. His thought is summed up in this formula, "Man
+is the object of art." Man, being artist, becomes the agent of
+aesthetics. Man, in his humanity, is the goal toward which should tend
+all the efforts and experiments of the art-moralizer.
+
+The master maintained the possibility of reaching this end by two
+opposing ways, not contradictory; _i.e._, the production of the
+Beautiful under its physical, mental and moral forms; and by the
+manifestation of the Ugly under the same forms, exhibiting what he
+called the _hideousness of vice_. Immorality may be rendered poetical
+and artistic, because of its being a corruption of the moral, often
+preserving the imprint of its origin, even throughout its greatest
+errors. Its agitation, its combats and its defeats interest the judgment
+and the heart. The Ugly or unseemly, morally speaking, is the synonym of
+vice.
+
+The Ugly in the language of the arts has many diverse significations. It
+is in these shades and variable proportions that it affects our subject,
+but the depicting of repulsive things, foreign to morality, to
+sentiment and to passion, has no right to exist in aesthetics. It may be
+possible to cure a vice by showing its hideousness. But does this
+warrant such exciting of the disgust of the senses? It is an outrage to
+the worship of the Beautiful, without compensation of any kind.
+
+There can be no advantage to humanity in exhibiting the hideousness of
+disease or the monstrosities of certain natural phenomena! Open to them
+the museums of comparative anatomy, but close the galleries consecrated
+to the fine arts! There exist also monstrosities which are not included
+in these categories; they present no moral danger, but are disagreeable
+and repulsive to good taste. They consist of fantastic forms, in
+accordance with the spirit of an inferior civilization, reminding one of
+the misshapen and gigantic prehistoric animals, whose bones astound us,
+and which disappeared from our globe that man might appear.
+
+Among cultivated contemporaries these eccentricities spring from an
+inclination toward originality, caprice, grotesque taste; from a similar
+impulse to that which directs literature toward burlesque and parodies,
+and the plastic arts toward caricature. Such productions may please some
+distinguished and intelligent natures which cannot have been highly
+favored in the distribution of the delicacies of sentiment and the
+exquisite graces of wit. In a word, the art indulging in this class of
+manifestations acts according to the _mode simpliste_. I borrow this
+term from Charles Fourier, and I say once for all, that by it I mean not
+the entire, but the almost exclusive predominance of one or the other of
+the modalities of the human being. Here the _simplisme_ being altogether
+intellectual, while it is inferior to manifestations in which the being
+expands harmoniously, it wounds no essential in the synthesis of the
+_me_; while a predomination of the sensual to the same degree is most
+pernicious to that which delights in it and antipathetic to those who do
+not live solely in the material aspects of existence.
+
+Existing among the elements of aesthetics, as the faculties of man, are
+certain dependencies, connections, affinities, penetrations, which
+render an abstraction of one of them almost impossible. Thus I have
+anticipated allusions to the Beautiful in considering the Good. By thus
+connecting them, the better to distinguish them, I have reached the
+conclusion that moral evil should never be manifested in the arts unless
+with the view of redressing it. In this case the better its real
+characteristics are studied, the more strongly they are accentuated
+throughout, the more successful the work will be from the plastic point
+of view, and the more power it will have to repel those inward wrongs
+which it denounces, and this even though the intention of the artist
+should not touch this result.
+
+
+
+_The Beautiful._
+
+The Beautiful Purifies the Emotions.
+
+
+At first glance, it might seem the privilege of each one to say, "The
+Beautiful is that which appears to me as such." I believe in this
+regard, that the most capable artist, should he be also the most perfect
+logician, would never be able to persuade sainted and simple ignorance
+that it should not remain firmly grounded upon faith in its own
+impressions.
+
+Place Hugo, Mercie, Bonnat, Saint-Saens, Massenet, Joncieres in the
+presence of simple countrymen--or, what is worse still, of inferior
+artists and critics, of pretentious amateurs--and you will see by what
+supercilious, incredulous gestures, being incapable of argument, this
+satisfied ignorance will repel all assertions of the great authorities.
+
+Should we, therefore, disregard this reluctance to recognize the
+features of the Beautiful in great works? We must at least deduce from
+it the fact that the effect of art depends upon some relation between
+the observer and the thing observed.
+
+Notwithstanding the reality of the beauties of such or such a work, in
+the eyes of many appreciators, the subjectivity of each observer should
+remain decisive, _vis-a-vis_ to himself, as long as he cannot be
+convinced by the authority of a law; and, finally, it is imperative that
+his comprehension of that law should be rendered possible by preliminary
+studies. On the contrary, shall that which has been recognized as
+beautiful by the initiated ever since artists created, and enlightened
+criticism discussed and judged it, appear now before uncultivated
+criticism as without authority?
+
+In default of law and science, there is a sort of universal consent
+among competent thinkers; and their appreciation of the highest class of
+works is maintained by a process of adhesion carried on by every
+conversion from ignorant blindness to the light of appreciation.
+
+The question of subjectivity in the declared judgments in aesthetics has
+given rise to incessant controversies which began, perhaps, among the
+Greeks and are going on among us. Though no absolute decision has been
+reached, some excellent maxims have resulted. In default of an
+irrefutable definition of the Beautiful, there have been given us
+images, analogies and thoughts upon the subject which approach and
+prepare for such definitions:
+
+Victor Cousin has said: "It is reason which decides as to the Beautiful
+and reduces it to the sensation of the agreeable, and taste has no
+further law."
+
+"Aversion accompanies the Ugly (unseemly) as love walks hand in hand
+with the Beautiful."
+
+"The Beautiful inspires love profound but not passionate."
+
+"The artist perceives only the Beautiful where the sensual man sees only
+the attractive or frightful."
+
+And, again, "That is sublime which presents the idea of the Infinite."
+
+This last thought brings us to Delsarte, who, perhaps, was its
+inspiration.
+
+The following valuable thoughts of the master, while not related
+scientifically to his system, are still allied to its physical and
+philosophical aspects:
+
+"Form," says the innovator in aesthetics, "is the vestment of substance;
+it is the expressive symbol of a mysterious truth; it is the stamp of a
+hidden virtue, the actuality of being; in a word, form is the plastic of
+the Ideal."
+
+"The Beautiful is the transparency of the aptitudes of the agent, and it
+radiates from the faculties which govern it. It is order which results
+from the dynamical disposition of forms."
+
+"Beauty is the reason which presides at the creation of things; it is
+the invisible power which draws us and subjugates us in them."
+
+"The Beautiful comprises three characters, which we distinguish under
+the following titles: Ideal, moral and plastic beauty."
+
+By the enunciation of these three categories, Delsarte enters upon the
+positive aspect of his system. As the result of the careful examination
+of the aptitudes or faculties of the Ego, approachable by analysis and
+applied to aesthetics, he has established this first class of
+manifestations (ideal beauty) as requisite to art. This must result from
+a combination of the faculties; the possibilities of combination being
+infinite, but always in subjection to the human being. The artist,
+according to this personal power of inspiration, should be able to
+portray a totality of superior and harmonious qualities, such as will
+oblige any competent observer to recognize it as beautiful. We have
+taken a step into the realm of the Ideal; that is to say, we have
+touched that which, without departing from the law, surpasses
+conventional rule and the natural types accepted for the Beautiful.
+
+Before following the Ideal into its ethereal region, we will further
+consider the nature of its foundation, which is a combination of the
+three mother faculties which Delsarte declares to be, in aesthetics, the
+criterion of the law and the foundation of the science. We already
+recognize these as the physical, mental and moral aspects of the human
+being.
+
+The plastic art allies itself particularly to the physical constitution,
+but the physique cannot be perfectly beautiful unless it manifests
+intellectual and moral faculties.
+
+Moral and intellectual beauty reveal themselves in the human being under
+the empire of passion and of sentiment, and the physique is momentarily
+transformed. The artist should seize beauty at this moment of fullest
+perfection, above the normal conditions of human existence and perhaps
+beyond possible plastic beauty.
+
+Behold what glorious possibility for the direction of the artist's
+aspirations toward the Beautiful! But even this happy chance by no means
+includes all of the possible conceptions of the Ideal, and neither does
+it furnish us any absolute idea or definition. This vision of beauty,
+made ideal by exaltation of the intelligence and the emotion, can only
+be perceived by the artist of practiced observation and of that
+intuitive perception which is the gift of nature.
+
+Again considered, the Ideal, being relative as well as the Beautiful, of
+which it is the exuberance, we must remember that the word is far from
+corresponding to an idea of absolute beauty. Thus the Ideal of an
+ordinary taste is not so high as that of a person whose standard of
+beauty is superior, and the two will be very distant from the image
+conceived by the pen, the chisel or the brush of a great artist. In many
+cases the Ideal is nothing but a searching for the intention of nature,
+obliterated by the circumstances and accidents of life. Then the task of
+the artist should be to reestablish the type in his logic--a vulgar face
+may be portrayed by a skilful brush--and, while preserving its features,
+there may be put into it the culture of intellect and noble sentiments.
+
+An artist, for instance, will see in a woman, whom time has tried,
+certain elements of beauty which enable him to portray her nearly as she
+was at the age of twenty years. He should be able to divine in the young
+girl, according to the normal development of her features, her
+appearance at the complete unfolding of her beauty. Yes; in these
+different cases the artist shall have idealized, since he shall have
+comprehended, penetrated, interpreted and rectified nature. Still, he
+may not yet have attained to the comprehension of perfect beauty, such,
+at least, as human emotion and intellect can conceive, and such as we
+love to imagine as inhabiting the superior spheres of the universe of
+which we know nothing further than the dictate of our reason, namely,
+that they are inhabited by beings more or less like ourselves.
+
+When these sublime effects appear in art, it is as though a veil were
+torn, revealing glimpses of a world of ideas, emotions and impressions,
+surpassing our comprehension, approachable only by our aspirations.
+
+Thus, Delsarte, superior to his science, has shown us the artist in full
+possession of all that he has acquired, and the inmost charm of that
+which is revealed to him. In execution he proved this truth: If talent
+may be born of science, it is genius which distinguishes the highest
+personalities, and to merit the title of high artistic personality one
+must contain in himself an essence indescribable, unutterable, which
+constitutes the aureole of grand brows, and the sign luminous of great
+works of art.
+
+    Thus, as virtue, art has its degrees.
+
+Art, in its most simple expression, is the faithful representation of
+nature. If the conception of a work or of a type is elevated to a degree
+of perfection which satisfies at once the plastic sense, the emotion and
+the intellect, we will call it Grand Art.
+
+Finally, if, in the presence of a creation, we recognize perfect
+harmony (which goes beyond perfect proportion); if the work call forth
+in us that contemplative ecstasy which gives us the impression and, as
+it were, the vision of pure beauty, shall we not recognize Supreme Art?
+
+The system of Delsarte responds to all these desiderata of aesthetics. In
+his law he gives us the necessary bases; by his science he indicates the
+practical means, by his method and illustrations he completes the
+science and demonstrates the law. Where is place left for doubt or
+contradiction?
+
+He stated what he knew and how he had learned it. In his recitals
+occurred innumerable beautiful proofs of his greatness and simplicity,
+oftentimes more convincing than lengthy, involved argument could ever
+be.
+
+Some may ask: How can a positive science lead toward an ideal which
+cannot be touched, heard not seen? Would not this science be the
+antipode (some would say _antidote_) of the mystic dreams of Plato and
+of Delsarte himself?
+
+Reply is easy. Delsarte recognized in our mental consciousness that
+desire for research into the unknown which would sound the mysteries of
+nature. He did not disregard that intuitive force of imagination which
+can often form from simple known elements the concept of conditions
+superior to the tangible.
+
+Between this nature, which we hear and see and touch, and that nature
+which the artist feels, imagines, and to which he aspires, Delsarte has
+placed a ladder whose base is among us, and whose summit is lost in the
+infinite spaces of fiction and poesy. By this ascent into the realm of
+liberty, of personality and of genius, the elect of aesthetics shall
+mount and gain, and, still maintaining their relations with the Real,
+shall bring down to us the glorious trophies of their art.
+
+Delsarte, foremost among men, had climbed the magic ladder. His
+exquisite harmonies in the dramatic art and lyric declamation were
+beautiful indeed, but the aesthetic beauties which he brought forth in
+the roles that he interpreted, must, alas! disappear with him. He has
+left us the bases of his science, but who shall so beautifully tread the
+way--reigning by song amidst a thousand accents of devoted enthusiasm!
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VIII.
+
+Application of the Law to the Various Arts.
+
+
+
+We have now to consider each branch of aesthetics in the totality of the
+system, to be assured whether or no this law discovered by Delsarte
+covers all departures in the domain of art. First, then, the
+starting-point around which all is centered and from which flow all
+developments.
+
+"Man is the object of art." This proposition applies as readily to the
+conception of literature, poetry and the plastic art as to the more
+active manifestations of the dramatic, oratorical or lyric art. Man
+being thus the object of art in all of its specialties, the part of the
+artist is to manifest that which is revealed to him, through his three
+essential modalities,--physical, moral and intellectual (in the words of
+Delsarte, life, soul and spirit, with the divisions and subdivisions
+that they allow), as has been clearly stated in the chapter upon "The
+Law of AEsthetics," and further confirmed in the one upon "The Bases of
+the Science." But though all of these primordial modalities appear in
+each concept and in all artistic manifestations, the proportion in which
+each appears is indefinitely variable. It is a predominance of one or
+another of these which classifies and specializes. It is the harmony,
+more or less perfect, of the components of this triple unity which
+determines the value of artistic manifestations. Under this law, then,
+come all of the arts, inasmuch as each, differing in subjects treated
+and in means of execution, still has a common mission, namely, the
+revelation of impressions, the intelligible expression of the thoughts
+and feelings of man. To be more clearly understood, I will from this
+point consider separately the different branches of aesthetics.
+
+
+
+_Art--Dramatic, Lyric and Oratorical._
+
+
+The proclivities necessary to an artist, actor or orator (intelligence
+being the first consideration and beauty of minor importance) are:
+expansion, sensibility or at least impressionability; a ready
+comprehension of the works to be interpreted, if not the requisite
+capacity to execute them. One's particular vocation (or congenial line
+of work) is the first condition in either of these departments of art,
+and into the consideration of this must enter that of physical beauty
+such as the roles demand; always considering what has been named "the
+physique" of the situation. In a word, these three aspects of art
+correspond to the predominance of that modality which Delsarte calls
+"life;" this with the complementary share of the other essentials to
+maintain a symmetry; this for the average "chosen." As to the
+individuality necessary for the creation of a role, general statements
+cannot apply. It is one and entire for each. Should it reproduce itself
+identically, it would no longer be individual. The strength of a
+powerful individuality lies in the revelation of a type _sui generis_.
+
+Thus Delsarte can never be reproduced. If by an impossibility an artist
+having seen him, and being penetrated by his method, could assimilate
+the sum total of his acquired qualities and his inmost purposes, still
+he could be but a copy, however perfect, since personality cannot be
+transmitted. I could not pursue the demonstration of the application of
+the laws of the human organism to the generality of the liberal arts
+without meeting an objection which we will consider just here. Some one
+says: If the law of art is the same as that of the human constitution,
+what need that Delsarte teach that law--will it not suffice for each
+artist-nature to study himself in order to determine satisfactory means
+of transmitting (to spectators, audiences or readers) the thoughts,
+passions or emotions which he would reveal, either by his pen, his
+chisel, his brush, or by the fictitious personages which he incarnates?
+I answer, No! The expression of nature by gesture, face, or voice will
+not come to the artist by inspiration nor by reflection, especially in
+extreme situations. He may chance upon agreeable effects, and even
+moving expressions, but rarely does a just and telling expression of
+that which he would express result from mere chance. Caustic truth or
+knack--more vulgarly, cheek--comes of influence outside of one's self.
+Upon one occasion Madame Pasta was heard to say: "I would be as
+touching as that child in her tears. I should, indeed, be a great
+artist if I could imitate her."
+
+Rare, indeed, are the artists who know how to weep. The sublimity of art
+responds to nature's simplest impulses. By the study and work of
+Delsarte a science has been created, every fleeting sign of emotion has
+been fixed, and may be reproduced at will; and this for the instruction
+of the artist who may never have observed them in another, nor himself
+felt the impressions which give rise to them.
+
+
+
+_Application of the Law to Literature._
+
+
+It is hardly necessary to state that the predominance of one of the
+primordial faculties in the actor would necessarily differ from that in
+the author of the drama or opera which he would interpret. Literary
+capability presupposes more or less of philosophical aptitude and a
+predominance of the intellectual faculties, and this not to the
+exclusion of a certain amount of artistic and moral development in the
+truly great writers. It is in the field of literature especially,
+that man attains to a _creation_; and whether his _object_ be a
+fellow-creature or an extended and enlarged ideal,--in either and any
+case facts have furnished repeated and incontestable evidence, in
+support of the statement of Delsarte, that art is always defective
+unless it be the product of the three essential modalities of being,
+acting in their relative proportions. This statement is not to be
+contested; but here again these relations would vary among the writers
+upon science, ethics and poetry.
+
+The epic, most synthetic of literary productions, is no longer in
+fashion, because, perhaps, of the growing rarity of heroes. On the
+contrary, _simplisme_ is now deforming the greatest germs in the drama
+and romance. The weakness often lies in the morality of the production,
+or rather in its lack of morality, often so lacking that the author
+sinks to the level of producing repulsive works and cynical pictures.
+
+In view also of man's essential faculties, but from another point of
+view, St.-Simonianism classed men as scholars, artists and artisans.
+Then were added the priests of a new order whose nature, more perfectly
+balanced, was to furnish the model type of future humanity. This
+classification had brought thinking people to the consideration and
+criticism of a system isolating and concentrating all development upon
+one or another of the faculties. It was readily seen that thus sentiment
+would rush to folly; sensibility without a corrective would soon become
+weakness; unbalanced industry would lead to disregard of health and
+strength, while the triviality of the sensual nature, unrestrained by
+mental or moral activity, would soon fall into hopeless degradation.
+Herein was _simplisme_ most bitterly condemned. Delsarte, ever studying
+relations between coincidences in art and the revelations of nature,
+arranged a typical demonstration, as ingenious as logical, of the
+action and play of opposing faculties. By most wonderful pantomime he
+showed a man tempted to sin; then, touched by pity for the victim of his
+desire, at last transformed by the intervention of the moral sense, he
+came by slow gradations to most elevated sentiments. One saw clearly the
+courage of resistance and triumph in the sacrifice. Then, taking an
+inverse progression, he slid from this height to the opposite extreme of
+culpable resolutions.
+
+Delsarte was the author of this mute scene which contains the elements
+of a drama. The contemplation of this wonderful effect leads to the
+conviction of the great value to literature of the fundamental law,
+which may be applied to any and all literature, as a permanent criterion
+by which productions may be classified and judged, in their departure
+from the _simpliste_ form and approach to a conception in which the
+constituent modalities of being act in harmonious accord. Here, again,
+we have a fresh distinction between scientific and ethical literature,
+and that which may be termed the _literature of art_. To this latter
+class belong romances, dramatic productions and poems--works made up of
+shades of meaning and just proportions, which should be based on clear
+and sound philosophy, prudently disguised but indisputable and
+imperishable. Here is place for the grace of an agreeable wit and the
+elegant flexibility of a fruitful pen. More imperative than in any other
+class of writing is the demand for individual touch and that harmony of
+construction depending upon the proportionate relations of those
+elements of aesthetics,--_the True, the Good_, and _the Beautiful_. Thus,
+through aesthetics, it is elevated.
+
+To this literature of art belong the sonnet of Arvers, and "The Soul,"
+by Sully-Prudhomme. Musset, in his grace or pathos, is not inferior to
+Victor Hugo. There are, even in his faults, certain effective boldnesses
+to which the author of "Notre Dame de Paris" cannot aspire. Whence,
+then, comes the immense distance between these poets? It lies in the
+fact that Victor Hugo, while he is a finished artist, shows himself also
+a thinker, philosopher, man of science and erudition. Endowed with a
+profound humanitarian feeling, he is preoccupied with the evils of
+society, with its rights, its mistakes, its tendencies and with their
+amelioration; while the poet of "Jacques Rolla"--a refined
+sensualist--devotes his verse to the unbridling of the torments of
+imagination in delirium, to the agitations of hearts which have place
+only for love.
+
+If comparison be made between novelists and dramatists of diverse
+schools, why has not M. Zola, who in so many regards should be
+considered a master, attained the heights of eminence upon which are
+enrolled the names of Shakespeare, Moliere, Corneille, Schiller, Madame
+de Stael, and George Sand? It is because M. Zola, profound analyst and
+charming narrator, even more forcibly than Musset breaks the aesthetic
+synthesis by the _absence of morality_ in his writings. His fatalism
+arrests the flight of that which would be great; he corrupts in the germ
+wonderful creative powers! M. Zola's great lack lies in his considering
+in man his physical nature only. Between mind and matter he holds a
+magnifying lantern full upon the lowest molecules, and rejects
+disdainfully the initiating atom that Leibnitz has signalized as the
+centre of life. M. Zola has created a detestable school which already
+slides into the mire beneath the weight of the crimes which it excites
+and the disgust which it arouses. Should we blame Zola and his disciples
+for the danger and the impotence of this method? Should we not impute
+the wrong in greater measure to philosophical naturalism?
+
+In considering _materialism_ and _naturalism_ let us not lose sight of
+the fact that while materialism is _simpliste_, naturalism (in so much
+as it represents nature) is essentially comprehensive and necessarily
+synthetic; harmony of force and matter being an invariable requisite of
+_life_.
+
+_Realism_, another term strangely compromised, seems to proclaim itself
+under the banner of materialism, while the _Real_, implying the idea of
+the _True_, cannot be contained in _simplisme_. It is a most pernicious
+evil that writers, calling themselves realistic, still concentrate their
+talent upon the painting of vicious types and characters drawn in an
+infernal cycle of repulsive morals.
+
+"Man is the object of art." Never could the words of the master more
+appropriately interpose than before the encroachments of literary
+_simplisme_. The man of whom Delsarte speaks is not confined to such or
+such a category of the species. He proposes that aesthetics should
+interpret an all-comprehensive human nature, which is not made up alone
+of baseness, egotism and duplicity. Though it be subject to perversion,
+it has its luminous aspects, its radiant sides, and we should not too
+long turn our eyes from them.
+
+Artistically, evil or the Hideous (which is also evil) should never be
+used except as a foil. There is no immorality in exhibiting the
+prevailing vices of the epoch, but this is the physician's duty. The
+evil lies in presenting these evils under such forms as may lead many to
+enjoy or tolerate them, giving them the additional power of a charming
+style and the specious arguments of fatality. This is precisely the case
+of M. Zola. The glamor of his disturbing theory, which annihilates free
+will, gives to his works a philosophical appearance. He conceals its
+vacuity beneath forms of a highly-colored style, an amiable negligence
+and a facility that is benumbing to thought. As he asserts nothing, no
+one dreams of contradicting, and one finds himself entwined in a network
+of repulsive depravity without a ray of healthful protection or
+correction. In comparison with the blight of this disastrous system of
+fatality, the coarseness of the writer's language, so loudly censured,
+is relatively unimportant. The _simplisme_ of M. Zola is not absolute,
+as but one of the three constituent modalities is omitted, that one
+being morality. The lack is, however, no less fatal, inasmuch as the
+void produced by the absence of one of the noblest faculties of human
+activity must usually be filled by disturbing forces.
+
+I have heard the theory, "art for art," supported by men otherwise very
+enlightened. "An artistic production need not contain a moral treatise,"
+they say, and this is quite true, provided the artist be a quick
+observer, possessing talent sufficient to handle his subject
+harmoniously. Vice carries its own stigma, and pure beauty surrounds
+itself with light. The author should be able readily to distinguish the
+one as well as the other, and his precepts should come as the harmonious
+result of his experience. But such a work, at the mercy of an
+ill-balanced brain and unhealthful temperament, must yield bad fruit.
+Talent without broad and true knowledge of _reality_, or that which
+_is_, instead of being invented, is incomplete in its workings and
+results. Its creations resemble the light of the foot-lamp, of
+fireworks, of the prodigies of our modern pyrotechnists--pleasing for a
+time, dazzling, captivating, intoxicating! But lost in the life-giving
+beauty of a summer's night or a glorious sunset, we are tempted to cry
+out with the poet,--
+
+    "Nothing is beautiful but the True."
+
+What can be said of the other _simplisme_ which, in its search for the
+True, ignores the Beautiful while it disregards the Good? Again, its
+partisans seek artistic truth in its very worst conditions. Why paint in
+full sunshine, if the intense light obliterates details and confuses the
+shadows? Does it seem a difficulty conquered? It is far oftener a
+disguised insufficiency. If my reference to painting seem premature, it
+is because I wished to borrow an image to show how equally grievous was
+the faulty touch of many of our writers of renown. Many among them seem
+striving to propagate the culture of the Mediocre and Unseemly, as a
+thousandfold easier practice than the religion of the Beautiful.
+
+My present aim is to show clearly the influence of even incomplete
+_simplisme_, in certain pernicious effects upon literature. Edgar A. Poe
+entered the realm of the fanciful after Hoffman, and how is it that the
+initiator is less dangerous than his disciple? It is because of these
+two _simplistes_, who have put reason out of consideration, the first
+addressed himself only to the imagination, while the American poet
+sounded the emotions to depths where terror is awakened and madness
+begins to sting. Hoffman has perhaps upon his conscience some readers
+confined in asylums for the deranged, but the far more perilous
+hallucinations of Poe must account for greater harm. The distance is
+great between imagination and sentiment, and should be so regarded. This
+extravagance should surely not be allowed to usurp the place of
+morality, but this is what is done, and greatness is not for them.
+
+Another illustration lies in the transition intermediate between the
+romances of Balzac, Frederic Soulie, Emile Souvestre, and Eugene Sue,
+and the poetry of Victor Hugo, Lamartine, Beranger, Barbier and the
+_impressionalist_ school whose decline is already at hand.
+
+Of many names, which have acquired notoriety, I select the two which
+afford the best contrast,--Charles Baudelaire and Jules de la Madelene.
+The first, among other eccentric works, has left us "The Blossoms of
+Evil." In the ideas which it embraces it is the successful production of
+an imagination misled and in distress; a pathological experience
+probably prompted the conception. In it one reads beautiful verse of
+scholarly construction, and readily perceives an individuality and
+originality of thought and expression; but no one would predict or
+desire that this production should pass to posterity.
+
+"Le Marquis des Saffras," by Jules de la Madelene, on the contrary,
+gratifies both judgment and feeling. It is a spirited painting, acute
+and profound, as well as true, of human life, especially of provincial
+life. The human being is revealed in all his aspects. Though the author
+disguises neither errors nor weaknesses, he presents clearly the
+redeeming side--the simple manners and the humble devotion of sincere
+hearts. This, then, is the reason _why_, sustained by a style rich in
+grace and strength, full of the breath of poetry which is felt rather
+than described, "Le Marquis des Saffras" holds its place as an
+incontestable masterpiece in the choice libraries that preserve the
+renown of great writers.
+
+A more careful examination of the doctrine of Delsarte--"The necessity
+of the concurrence of the mother modalities of the human organism to
+fulfil the conditions of aesthetics"--but forces the conviction that
+disregard of this requirement renders all sterile and incomplete, if not
+monstrous. Is this equivalent to saying that the deductions from the law
+of Delsarte tend to condemn in French literature its simple gaiety, its
+graceful lightness, and to efface this stamp of the race that our
+ancestors have surely imprinted?
+
+In works of the imagination the omission of moral meaning is often more
+seeming than real, and every good reader should be able to recognize
+this. However, this negligent seeming is far less hurtful than brilliant
+wit concealing crudities and modifying boldnesses. Writers of this class
+do not lose sight of the fact that, while the French character has its
+audacities (contrary to the modifications of aesthetics), our language
+possesses a proverbial chastity, which, even in its farthest wanderings,
+genius comprehends and respects. Tact and taste suffice to him who
+consults them to escape grossness of language. The delicacy of the
+allusions leaves their images in a transparent mist; the very elasticity
+of the equivocation furnishes a refuge for the thought which it
+disquiets.
+
+By art some most delicate subjects, very nearly approaching license,
+have been pardoned. We would surely exhibit a tyrannical and morose
+humor to condemn to be burned _en place de Greve_, by the hand of the
+executioner, the romances of _Manon Lescaut_, and _Daphnis_ and _Chloe_
+by Longus, as they have been transmitted to us by Paul Louis Courier.
+
+But when literature, realistic or materialistic (or whatever they please
+to call it), freeing itself from moral accompaniment, shows itself
+negative or weak in its creations; if it be _simpliste_ to the point of
+appealing exclusively to the senses, limiting its means of action to the
+development of the egotistic and instinctive side of the human
+passions,--its works have no longer right of consideration in aesthetics.
+The consideration of the physical being should surely figure in all
+representations of life, but it is not necessary that from a subordinate
+consideration it should ever be made all-governing. The body, the
+essential part of our personality, is the companion of our higher
+faculties. We should be mindful of it, making it as beautiful as
+possible, but giving it the reins would be even worse than giving power
+absolute to the imagination.
+
+Once more, _impressionalism_, without the control of science and of
+reason, has nothing to claim in the spheres of the _True_, the _Good_,
+the _Beautiful_.
+
+
+
+_Application of the Law to Architecture._
+
+
+The productions of architecture, like those of literature, have their
+origin in the realm of thought. Architecture is not, like the dramatic
+art, in subjection to the person of the artist. It is one of the plastic
+arts, and of them the most synthetic by reason of the number of agents
+concurring in its harmony. Its dependence upon form is akin to that of
+sculpture, while the value of color in its effects is only less than in
+the art of the painter.
+
+This art, essentially comprehensive, demands of its masters varied
+knowledge and that power of cooerdination which, according to the learned
+philosopher Antoine Cros, is the highest function of the human
+intellect. The relation of aesthetics to the totality of the faculties is
+here more evident than ever. After the manifestation of _mind_ in the
+composition of the plan, the architect's next duty is to please the eye.
+To this end he employs marble, stone, wood, bronze or gold, and the
+result is that element of the symphony which responds to sensation. The
+third and only remaining element of the trinity is sentiment. In order
+that, rising above its utilitarian purpose, appropriateness and
+mathematical rules of stability, the architect may fulfil the
+requisition of aesthetics and arrive at the "Grand Art," the remaining
+element as well as the other two must be perfected in result. The
+perfection of this element of sentiment is shown in the work by the
+impression of grandeur or elegance, of grace, severity or delicacy. The
+triple necessity thus filled, the result is truly a work of art.
+
+
+
+_Application of the Law to Sculpture._
+
+
+The relation of Delsarte's system to sculpture has already been alluded
+to. Its application here lies principally in the realm of form. The
+sculptor aims to reproduce finest proportions of face and figure. He
+delights in a beautiful contour and, as Mengs has said, "in lines
+undulating and serpentine," while he studiously avoids all simple
+straight lines.
+
+The more limited range of outlook demands more studied beauties and more
+significant expressions. The statue--unlike the monument, which at once
+arouses spontaneous emotions in the spectator--should express the human
+being, his sensations, his affections, his passions and struggles, and
+should arouse an enthusiasm of admiration while it awakens sympathetic
+echoes in the heart of the observer. Here more strikingly than ever must
+we recognize "Man the object of art." In the light of this truth we
+should demand of sculpture the manifestation of the human life with its
+constituent faculties, not in a perfectly equal accord which is never
+met in nature, but with such predominance as the subject presents.
+
+In Greek art the predominance is of the physical aspect. They had before
+them exquisite models of plastic beauty; not the sensual beauty which is
+fleshly, but a plastic beauty consisting of harmony of line and form.
+Let us further consider this difference as shown in comparison of the
+Apollo and the Bacchus.
+
+The Apollo satisfies alike the intellect and the eye by its beautiful
+outlines. [We are not yet ready to discuss beauty of expression.] The
+Bacchus less ideal and more humanly natural cannot so satisfy a highly
+aesthetic temperament. In neither work is there much of sentiment
+expressed. The distinctively moral side plays a secondary part, unless
+we consider beauty itself a moral factor,--a theory that may be
+sustained. In neither beautiful marble is there revealed any sensual
+dominance, though the Bacchus, notwithstanding its plastic superiority,
+rather inclines that way. The Apollo has been loudly extolled for the
+pride of its attitude and its divine calm in the encounter with the
+serpent Python; and still it is said that "a god could not have cause
+for so great pride in the conquest of a reptile." But the art-critics
+have exaggerated the import of the figure, which is wonderfully
+beautiful without being accurately expressive. The civilization of the
+new era has developed in man moral and physical qualities, which furnish
+new expressions by which the artist may set forth that part of human
+life which Delsarte called "the transluminous obscurities of our inmost
+organism." Dating from this epoch we find in sculpture less of plastic
+beauty and more spiritual and touching expression. Who would compare the
+pathos of the Laocoon to that of Canova's Magdalen? The sculptor
+Marcello (Mme. de Castiglione), too early removed from an artistic
+career, exhibited certain creations which illustrate this difference.
+Among them is a bust, in marble, of an Arab chief, which is after the
+style of the antique, beautiful lines, without expression (a
+predominance of the physical element). In her "Weary Bacchante" she
+shows beauty tarnished by vice, and here the predominant expression is
+sensual. But in her "Marie Antoinette in the Temple Prison," as in
+Mercie's "David" and the "Dying Napoleon," it is not the marvelous
+beauty which entrances us, but first and above this reigns the power of
+_expression_.
+
+Sentiment is become predominant. In the "Marie Antoinette," what bitter
+disappointment! In the "Napoleon," what disillusion with the toys of the
+world in which he had reigned! In the "David"--Biblical subject treated
+by a modern chisel--what strange impressions and reflections are
+suggested by that tranquil head and the wonderful frailty of the body!
+how original the conception of the figure, and the whole a tribute to
+the high personality of the artist! Mercie shows not only the work
+accomplished, but in this are glimpses of promise of greatness to come
+which serve as more valuable proof of greatness than the masterpiece
+completed. This leads me to a reflection already often alluded to, but
+which I would keep ever before you as the foundation of my argument:
+"Man is the object of art." He is also the art-producer, and considering
+relatively the two terms of the proposition, the manifestations of the
+faculties are not necessarily adequate between the producer and the
+production. I will explain.
+
+The best conditions under which an excellent work of art should be
+produced are undoubtedly the following: The conceiver possesses in the
+highest possible degree of development the modalities of being essential
+to the kind of creation undertaken, and these in their most perfect
+harmony; but this perfection of intensity and of the relations of the
+elements of the concept by no means necessitates the artist's formation
+of types at once morally, intellectually and physically artistic. This
+depends upon the truth of his subject. That he embellish it, whatever it
+may be, by his artistic interpretation and execution, is all that we
+should expect.
+
+In the new manifestation which we now consider, where expression of
+sentiment is given predominance, the artist, interpreter of the
+passions, sentiments, weaknesses and vices as well as of the virtues and
+sympathies of humanity, must, in order to interest or chasten, show to
+it its own image, which reflection will be most frequently not an ideal
+of perfection but a type of suffering and vice, of weakness and
+depravity. A work will be successful in proportion as the chisel shall
+be most indefatigable in putting in relief the virtue or the vice which
+characterizes the subject. The greatest artist shall be he who renders
+most striking the characteristic predominance, whatever it may be, of
+the type created or interpreted. To sum up: Art is proportional to the
+faculties of the artist, and the work is the result of an application of
+these faculties to some special manifestation of the human ego.
+
+Impressionalism, as in the other arts, should be considered in two
+aspects: the impression of the artist and that of the public or
+observer. The question then arises, what kind of a public should be
+impressed that the artist may merit a place in the higher ranks of
+aesthetics? While we have recognized that judgments in questions of art
+are the result of a certain sympathy existing between artist and
+observer, we have decided also that in considering such a question, all
+observers cannot be considered equal. In sculpture as in literature,
+where appreciators are possibly more numerous, we must admit that
+knowledge and capability or even sincerity are rarely of any weight in
+the balance of the grand juries of history or in the verdicts of
+contemporaries. The ignorant multitude sanction the grossest works
+because these only come within their understanding. Encouraged by the
+applause of numbers and by the lack of restraint which wins applause,
+artists descend the rounds of the ladder of progress which step by step
+has marked the ascent of the great schools and the great masters, and
+the result inevitably must be the return to mere sketches in sculpture,
+and painting will diminish to imagery. This end is quickly and readily
+reached, so easy and so fatal is the descent in these paths of
+decadence.
+
+"All styles are good except the tedious," a well-known critic has said.
+Pursuing the import of this thought, we are led to the speedy conclusion
+that the _null_ should never enter into competition. Nothing better than
+that the condition of priority should exist between diverse styles and
+opposite schools; but why strive to institute comparison between a
+synthetic idea and the absence of synthesis and idea, between certain
+proportions and harmony and the absence of proportion and harmony,
+between a style and the absence of style? Whatever the subject and
+whatever the mode of treating it, the intelligence of the artist should
+always be visible in his work.
+
+I am more and more thoroughly convinced that the theory of Delsarte,
+fatal to _simplisme_, is the true theory of art. What can be more
+_simpliste_ than impressionalism when viewed as a school? It considers
+no law or science, disregards entirely analysis and logic, the Good and
+the Beautiful; it is given over to sensation; vague impressions which
+are, whatever may be said to the contrary, only the inferior part of
+man's faculties, indispensable surely, but that which we have in common
+with the animals and little children; very interesting to observe among
+animals, a charming grace in children, but a most unimportant factor in
+adult existence, particularly in the artist's life, unless it be
+governed by the intellect and subject to the sanction of feeling.
+
+
+
+_Application of the Law to Painting._
+
+
+If any art should be given over to impressionalism it seems as if it
+should be painting. To see and to transmit what is seen,--is not this
+the true office of the painter, his undoubted mission? Yes, on condition
+that the artist has the requisites for seeing correctly! And if he rises
+to composition, he must also be endowed with a creative intellect, with
+a portion of that mental power which will permit him to embrace a
+conception synthetically, and to cooerdinate its parts.
+
+Among the impressionalists of our time, there are assuredly painters of
+talent; but what talent they possess is, as it were, against their will:
+the influence of tradition, the weight of the medium in which they live
+unconsciously restrain them. Then, it must be confessed, this
+impressionability of the artist has its intrinsic merits, if it is kept
+to its place and degree; but it must be regarded as certain, that if the
+_simpliste_ artist makes himself distinct in his work, it is because he
+contains within himself more of the requisites for what he undertakes,
+and because, without his having summoned them, the faculties of the
+understanding and the aesthetic sense have come to his aid.
+
+If Delsarte admitted the precept that "everything is perceived in the
+manner of the perceiver," he, of course, did not admit that every
+perceiver should make his own law: his conception of the aesthetic
+trilogy would never have permitted him to open this Babel for the vanity
+of ignorance.
+
+To finish with _simplisme_ or naturalism, let us say that, carried to
+its utmost extreme, it becomes a fixed idea, a monomania; has not
+impressionalism attained to this even in the choice of colors? It has
+been said of certain painters that they had only to upset their palette
+on the canvas to compose their pictures! Yet this varicolored chaos is
+not the characteristic of the school On the contrary, certain favorite
+colors prevail; do not green and violet rule almost exclusively in some
+of the most striking pictures from impressionalist brushes?
+
+There are moments when we ask whether the impressionalists and their
+adherents are not obeying an impulse to contradict rather than a serious
+conviction. In either case, it is time for many of them to furnish
+proofs--that is to say, works,--in lack of the reasons which they have
+not even offered.
+
+After this digression, forced upon me by recent scholastic quarrels, let
+us return to Delsarte.
+
+I have given the reasons for his doctrine in other chapters; this
+doctrine will gain strength when I show what I have gathered from his
+science, since science and law mutually testify for each other; since
+all art, acquiring fresh vigor from its source, _law_, and enlightened
+by the aid of these same formulae, must bear the impress of truth, beauty
+and goodness.
+
+Even where color occupies in painting the place attributed to outline in
+sculpture, there are in these two manifestations of mental images--and
+in spite of the synthetism peculiar to painting,--striking similitudes.
+
+As regards physical manifestations, both these arts should seek
+truth--which does not mean literal exactness,--and all that has been
+said of _simplisme_, in regard to sculpture, is perfectly applicable to
+that part of painting which treats of the human figure. Science and law
+lay down the same rules for both,--save for the differing modes of
+execution.
+
+It is another matter when it is a question of representing nature as a
+whole, and under less limited forms: seas, mountains, the atmosphere and
+broad plains--landscapes of vast extent,--subjects forbidden to
+sculpture even more exclusively than simple compositions of several
+figures, which are seldom successful in sculpture. For if sculpture
+sometimes makes a group, if it is used to decorate monuments and tombs,
+it offers nothing analogous to those magnificent phases of nature which
+we find on the canvases of the great masters.
+
+Delsarte, who from the laws of mimetics deduced for painters means of
+expressing correctly every impression and emotion which man can feel,
+taught nothing in regard to this special field of the landscape artist,
+who is not subject to the conditions of the actor, sculptor or orator.
+But, if this aspect of art--save in cases where figures are
+introduced--does not come under the head of certain statements of our
+science, not having to imitate attitude, gesture or voice--in a word,
+anything proceeding from the human organism,--it is, perhaps more
+closely than elsewhere, allied to the innovator's law: to that law which
+prompts the artist to respond to the psychical aspirations of his
+fellowmen, and demands that in satisfying the senses, he should also
+arouse or inspire the thought and feeling of beauty.
+
+Thus the painter of nature, as much of a reality as man, but a reality
+in its own way, if he desires to make nature understood and loved, must
+give it the stamp of his own ideas, his own feelings, his own
+impressions.
+
+Why should I care to be shown trees and waters, valleys and mountains,
+if the tree does not tell me of the coolness of its shade, if the water
+does not reveal the peace of the deep lake, if I cannot divine the
+rippling of the brook, if the valley does not make me long to plunge
+into its depths! Why recall to me the mountain, if its curves do not
+rouse in my mind any ideas of grace, elegance and majesty,--if its peaks
+do not make me dream of the Infinite!
+
+However skilful the artist may be in the reproduction of form and the
+handling of color, he will always be far inferior to nature if his soul
+has never heard the inner murmur of all those mysteries of the
+sensitive, and I will venture to say, spiritual life, contained in
+forests, waterfalls and ravines. Lacking this initiation, he will play
+the cold and flavorless part of one who tells a twice-told tale; for it
+is in landscape especially, that talent consists in revealing the
+painter's own feeling.
+
+The charm of things felt is not produced merely by a grand way of
+looking at things: the mind, the soul, occupy but little space; but
+where they figure, the canvas is well filled, and the brush betrays
+their presence.
+
+I remember, in support of my thesis, that at one of the annual
+expositions at the Salon--which then represented the aristocracy of
+painting,--there was a tiny picture: a hut half hidden in moss and
+flowers. It was almost lost among the portraits of distinguished
+personages, the historic incidents, the scenes taken from fashionable
+life, and almost drowned in the bloody reflections from the vast display
+of battle pictures, which, as was then the custom, monopolized half the
+space.
+
+Well! this canvas, a yard wide and not so long, held you captive, took
+your thought prisoner, and inevitably impressed itself on your memory.
+You longed to ramble over its thick turf; to enter that cottage whose
+open windows gave you the feeling that it was a peaceful shelter; you
+loved that poor simplicity, which seemed to hide happiness.
+
+Certainly the author of this graceful, touching picture practiced
+Delsarte's law, at least from intuition.
+
+Profound emotions are not always due to objective beauty; the beauty of
+the work is a thing apart from what it represents. Who does not recall,
+in another order of talent, this effect, due to the brush of Bonnat: an
+ugly, old Spanish woman is praying in a dark chapel; she prays with
+eyes, lips and soul. There was never seen more complete absorption, more
+complete forgetfulness of self in humble fervor. It was far more
+touching than all the types of sensual beauty, with pink and white and
+perfumed skins--with delicate limbs, in disagreeable attitudes!
+
+This is, yet once again, due to the fact that sentiment is stronger than
+sensualism; and because the artist's skill, taking the place of beauty
+in his subject, becomes genuine aesthetic beauty: so much so that,
+looking at old age and ugliness--as represented by Bonnat,--the
+spectator is enchanted and applauds--_the success of the work!_
+
+If, however, to perfect execution is allied beauty--not sensual, but
+aesthetic,--if it is made manifest from the point of view of form,
+feeling and thought, the enthusiasm will be still greater, because all
+the aims of art are realized at one and the same time.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IX.
+
+Delsarte's Beginnings.
+
+
+
+"The artist, a traveller on this earth, leaves behind imperishable
+traces of his being."--_Francois Delsarte._
+
+We would fain prolong the faintest rays of all that glitters and fades
+too soon, and if intense light is generated in a human brain, we strive
+to retain its every reflection. Nothing is indifferent which concerns
+the nature of the chosen few; great men belong to the annals of their
+nation, and history should be informed regarding them.
+
+Francois Delsarte left this life at the moment when misfortune had
+crushed France beneath her iron heel for some ten years. The date of his
+death--July 20, 1871--partially explains the silence of the press on the
+occasion of so vast a social loss.
+
+The circumstance of an artistic education, which was carried on in my
+presence, gave me opportunity to collect a mass of incidents and
+observations in regard to the great artist who is the object of this
+sketch.
+
+I collected ideas in regard to his instruction, his method and his
+discovery of the laws of aesthetics, which are the more precious that
+nothing, or almost nothing, was published by him touching upon subjects
+of such supreme importance. It is my duty to tell what I know.
+
+I have already established the bases of the work which I now undertake,
+in a pamphlet containing several articles published in various
+newspapers. These articles were written under the inspiration of the
+moment; they won the master's approval. I shall have frequent recourse
+to them to correct the errors of memory and give more vivid life to that
+now distant past.
+
+Delsarte was born at Solesmes (Department of the North), November 9,
+1811. His father was a practicing physician; but tormented by a genius
+for invention, he spent his time and money in studies and experiments.
+Then, when he succeeded in producing some mechanical novelty, some
+capitalist more used to trade and rich enough to start the affair,
+usually reaped all the profits. This condition of things, of course,
+produced great poverty in the family of the inventor, and the children's
+education suffered in consequence, and yet young Francois even then
+showed signs of superior endowments. A missionary, passing through
+Solesmes, said to him: "As for you, I don't know what you will turn out,
+but you will never be an ordinary man!" In spite of this, his parents
+intended him for trade, being unable to direct his talents toward
+science and the liberal arts.
+
+Before proceeding farther, I must consider a question often asked in
+regard to the great artist, and concerning which his family have kindly
+informed me.
+
+For a long time Delsarte signed his name in a single word, as I write
+it now; why, then, should we ever see it written with the separate
+particle, which seems to aim at nobility and which gives us the form,
+del Sarte? I will give you the tradition as it is told in Solesmes, and
+as the artist heard it during a visit to his native place. If it be
+fiction, it is not without interest, and I take pleasure in telling it.
+
+The natives of Solesmes say that at a very remote period a great
+painter, coming from a distance, spent some time in their town. The good
+inhabitants of the place know nothing of the pictures which this master
+must have produced; perhaps they are quite as wide from his name! But
+Delsarte, struck by the probability of this poetic origin, filled with
+brotherly sympathy for the pure and graceful talent of Vannuchi del
+Sarto, doubted not that the latter was the artist whose memory is held
+sacred in Solesmes. Out of respect and veneration for the Italian
+master, he divided the syllables, but still retained the French
+termination of his name.
+
+We can readily see that an imaginative spirit, such as we now have to
+deal with, would be carried away by the legendary side of this story,
+and that he would put full faith in his own commentaries:--he believed
+so many things!
+
+To return to prose and to reality, I must add that Delsarte based his
+sentiment upon partial proof. Before the Revolution, the family did
+indeed sign themselves del Sarte; but an ancestor--imbued with the
+principles of 1789, and anxious to efface all suspicion of noble
+origin--effected a fusion of the two parts of the word, and left us the
+name as we have known it and as, perhaps, we regret it.
+
+Those who regard this change of family name as mere vanity seem to me
+wide of the truth. A strange nobility, moreover, that of Vannuchi,
+surnamed _del Sarto!_ Sarto may be translated as _tailor;_ therefore
+Vannuchi _del Sarto_ would mean: Vannuchi _of the tailor_, short for
+Vannuchi, _son of the tailor_.
+
+What need had he of empty honors, he who was on equal terms with the
+great men of letters, science and the arts, who was surrounded by the
+incense of the most legitimate enthusiasm, and who received the homage
+of kings as of less value than the praises of Spontini and Reber!
+
+I return to my sketch which will, I hope, justify these last remarks.
+
+At the time of which we speak, the poor child was not treated as the
+predestined favorite of art, He had been entrusted to people who ill
+fulfilled their mission. He was scolded and abused; he was left
+destitute of the most necessary things. He felt this injustice, and,
+gifted with a precocious sensibility, he suffered greatly from it.
+
+Francois had as a companion in misfortune, one of his brothers, who
+could not bear the hard life; born feeble, he soon succumbed. This was a
+severe trial to the future artist! When he saw his only friend buried
+in the common grave, he could not contain his grief.
+
+"I rebelled," he tells us, "at the idea of losing all trace of this
+tomb. I shrieked aloud. I would not leave the mournful place!"
+
+The grave-diggers took pity on his despair; they promised to mark the
+spot. The child resigned himself to fate and departed. I will let him
+speak for himself:
+
+"I crossed the plain of St. Denis (it was in December); I had eaten
+little or nothing, and I had wept much. Great weakness combined with the
+dazzling light of the snow, made me dizzy. The fatigue of walking being
+added to this, I fell upon the damp earth and fainted dead away."
+
+What followed may be explained by the ecstatic state often experienced
+on coming out of a fainting-fit.
+
+"Everything seemed to smile into my half-open eyes; the vault of heaven
+and the iridescent snow made magical visions about me; the slight
+roaring in my ears lulled me like a confused melody; the wind, as it
+blew over the deserted plain, brought me distant, vague harmonies."
+
+Delsarte interpreted what he saw in the light of Christian ideas: it
+seemed to him that the angels made this delightful concert to console
+him in his misery and to strengthen him to bear his hard lot.
+
+Rising up, the child felt himself a musician. He soon evinced an utter
+contempt for the china painting to which he had been bound apprentice.
+That too was an art; but of that art, the angels had said nothing.
+
+How was he to learn music?
+
+He knew that by a knowledge of a very small number of signs, one could
+sing and play on instruments. He talked of this to all who would listen;
+he questioned and inquired:--
+
+"Do you know music, you fellows?" he asked some school boys of his own
+age.
+
+"A little," said some.
+
+"Well! what do they teach you?"
+
+"They teach us to know our notes."
+
+"What notes?"
+
+"Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si."
+
+"What else?"
+
+"That is all."
+
+"Are there no more notes?"
+
+"Not one!"
+
+"How happy I am! I know music!" cried the delighted Delsarte.
+
+"Cries of joy have their sorrows," said a poet. The child had uttered
+his cry of joy, and his torments were about to begin. Seven notes! It
+was a whole world; but what was he to do with them? He scarcely knew,
+although he was enchanted to possess the treasure. Could he foresee the
+revelations which art had in store for him? Still less could he predict
+those conquests in the realm of the ideal which cost him so many
+sleepless nights.
+
+It must be confessed, superior talents bring suffering to their
+fortunate possessor. They console him on his journey, along the rough
+road down which they drag him; they sometimes reward one of the elect,
+but it is their nature to cause suffering.
+
+And so Francois Delsarte was tempest-tossed while yet a child. He soon
+saw that his scientific baggage was but small; he felt that something
+unknown, something infinite, barred his passage, so soon as he strove to
+approach the goal which, in an outburst of joy, he fancied within his
+grasp. What hand would guide him to enter on the dazzling career which
+he had dimly foreseen? Where should he get books? Who would advise him?
+
+Well! these _impossible things_ were all found--in scanty measure, no
+doubt, and somewhat capriciously; but still the means for learning were
+provided for his greed of knowledge.
+
+At first, his stubborn will had only the seven notes of the scale to
+contend with. He combined them in every possible way. He derived musical
+phrases from them; at the same time, he listened with all his ears to
+church music, to street musicians, to church organs and hand-organs.
+
+In these first struggles with knowledge--we cannot call it science
+yet,--instead of bowing to the method of some master, Delsarte made a
+method for himself. Had it any resemblance to that which--with the
+progress of time,--his genius revealed to him? I cannot say, and
+probably the thought never occurred to him. However it may be, Delsarte
+said that he learned a great deal by this _autonomic_ process: in fact,
+one who is restrained by nothing, who satisfies a passion instead of
+accomplishing a mere act of obedience, may enlarge his horizon and dig
+to whatever depth he sees fit. In this case, study is called _research_;
+if, by this method, one loses the benefit of the experience of others,
+he becomes more quick at discovery. Is not the puzzle which we work out
+for ourselves more readily remembered than the ideas which are merely
+learned by heart?
+
+A wise man, a disciple of Socrates--who has been greatly ridiculed, but
+by whose lessons the science of pedagogy has greatly profited,--Jacotot,
+gave similar advice to teachers: "Put your questions, but let the
+scholar think and work out his answers instead of putting them into his
+mouth."
+
+The talent of young Francois once established, he left the inhospitable
+house where he had been so misunderstood, and was taken into the family
+of an old musician, "Father Bambini," as Delsarte loved to call him.
+
+Here, finding it in the order of facts, I must repeat almost literally a
+page from the little work quoted before.
+
+Father Bambini was one of those old-fashioned masters, who treat their
+art with love and veneration. He gave concerts at which he was at once
+performer and audience, judge and client. Delsarte was sometimes
+present. He saw the good man take up a Gluck score as one handles a
+sacred book; he surprised him pressing it to his heart, or to his head,
+as if to win a blessing from the great soul which poured itself forth in
+these immortal compositions.
+
+Here we most assuredly have the foundation of the unlimited admiration
+which our great artist felt for the author of "Alcestis" and of
+"Iphigenia." Everyone knows that it was Delsarte who drew Gluck from the
+oblivion in which he had languished since the beginning of the century.
+Delsarte alone could have revived him, his assured and majestic talent
+being amply capable of correctly interpreting those colossal works.
+Delsarte is the equivalent of Gluck, and, if we may say so, the
+_incarnation of his thought_. When the artist sang a part in those lyric
+tragedies of which Gretry says: "They are the very expression of truth,"
+it seemed as if the illustrious chevalier lived again in him to win
+better comprehension than ever before and to be avenged at last for all
+the injustice and bad taste from which he had suffered.
+
+Delsarte received no very regular musical education from Father Bambini.
+The lesson was often given while the teacher was shaving, which did not
+distract the attention of either party. The master, having no hand at
+liberty to hold a book, made his pupil explain all the exercises aloud,
+sing every composition, and read at sight the authors with whom he
+wished him to be familiar. Great progress can be made where there is
+such mutual good will. They had faith in each other: the child, because
+he saw that his master really loved his art; the old musician, because
+he realized that his scholar had a genuine vocation and would be a great
+artist.
+
+One evening they were walking together in the Champs Elysees. Carriages
+rolled by filled with fashionable people. The humble pedestrians were
+surrounded by luxury. Suddenly Father Bambini turned toward his scholar:
+
+"You see," said he, "all these people who have their carriages, their
+liveried lackeys and their fine clothes; well, the day will come when
+they will be only too glad to hear you, and they will envy you because
+you are so great a singer."
+
+The child was deeply moved; not by this promise of future glory; not by
+the thought, that by fame he should gain wealth; but he seemed to see
+his dream realized in a remote future. That dream was the complete
+mastery of his art; it was his ideal attained, or closely approached.
+This mode of feeling already justified the prediction.
+
+Delsarte retained a grateful memory of another teacher. M. Deshayes, he
+said, spurred him on to scientific discovery, as Bambini directed his
+attention and his taste to the works of the great masters.
+
+One day, as the young man was studying a certain role, M. Deshayes,
+busily talking with some one else and not even glancing toward his
+pupil, exclaimed:
+
+"Your gesture is incorrect!"
+
+When they were alone Delsarte expressed his astonishment.
+
+"You said my gesture was incorrect," he exclaimed, "and you could not
+see me."
+
+"I knew it by your mode of singing."
+
+This explanation set the young disciple's brain in a whirl. Were there,
+then, affinities, a necessary concordance between the gesture and the
+inflections of the voice? And, from this slight landmark, he set to
+work, searching, comparing, verifying the principle by the effects, and
+_vice versa_.
+
+He gave himself with such vigor to the task that, from this hint, he
+succeeded little by little in establishing the basis of his system of
+aesthetics and its complete development.
+
+After these beginnings, which Delsarte considered as a favorable
+initiation, Father Bambini--his faithful patron--thought that he
+required a more thorough musical education, and chose the Conservatory
+school. There, that broad and impulsive spirit in its independence ran
+counter to classic paths, to rigid processes; there, that exceptional
+nature, that potent personality, which was already a marked one, that
+vivid intuition--which already went beyond the limits of the traditional
+holy of holies--had little chance of appreciation. Moreover, Delsarte
+was timid; his genius had not yet acquired the audacity which dares.
+Competition followed competition; would he win a prize? In answer to
+this question which he had asked himself throughout the year, he saw
+mediocrity crowned; his soul of light and fire was forced to bow before
+will-o'-the-wisps, most of whom were soon extinguished in merited
+oblivion.
+
+The artist's regret was the more acute because he did not yet know the
+course of human life. He had not proved the strange fatality--which
+seeks to make itself a law--that, in general, success falls to the lot
+of those who servilely follow in the ruts of routine. Happy are the
+worshippers of art and poetry, those who have devoted their lives to
+this sacred cult, if ambition and intrigue--with their attendant train
+of flattery, party rings, and illegal speculation--do not invade the
+stage whence the palms and the crowns are awarded!
+
+Delsarte must also have learned in the course of his life, that genius,
+a rare exception, is more rarely still judged by its peers; and yet, the
+genius of this student was already revealed by various tokens; and for
+his consolation, these premonitory symptoms were noted by other than the
+official judges.
+
+After one of these scholastic contests, Delsarte withdrew confused and
+heavy-hearted: he had received but one vote in the competition; and even
+that exception roused a sort of cheer, as if it were given to some
+contemptible competitor.
+
+The defeated youth walked slowly away, dragging at his heels all the
+sorrow of his discomfiture, when two persons approached him; one was the
+famous Marie Malibran, the other the brilliant tenor, Adolph Nourrit.
+
+"Courage!" said the prima donna, pressing his hand. "I enjoyed hearing
+you very much. You will be a great artist!"
+
+"My friend," added Nourrit, "it was I who cast my vote for you: to my
+mind, you are an incomparable singer. When I have my children taught
+music, you shall certainly be their teacher."
+
+Delsarte blessed the defeat which had brought him such precious
+compensations. These voices which sounded so sweetly in his ear, were
+soon extinguished by death; but they vibrated long in the heart which
+they had comforted. The artist associated their dear memory with every
+success which recalled to him their sympathetic accents and their
+clear-sighted prediction.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter X.
+
+Delsarte's Theatre and School.
+
+
+
+When Delsarte had finished his studies, he entered the world unaided and
+alone; disarmed by the hostilities which could not fail to await him, by
+his very superiority, and by that honesty which refuses to lend itself
+to certain transactions.
+
+At the Opera Comique, where he was engaged, he did not succeed.
+Exceptional talents require an exceptional public who can understand
+them and make them popular by applauding and explaining them.
+
+And yet certain people, gifted with penetration, discovered under the
+artistic innovations peculiar to the beginner, that indescribable
+fascination which hovers round the heads of the predestined favorites of
+art.
+
+Delsarte could not long confine himself to the stage, when everything
+connected with it was so far from sympathetic to him, and seemed so
+contrary to the true object of dramatic art. The theatre, to his mind,
+should be a school of morality; and what did he see? Authors--what would
+he say now-a-days?--absorbed in winning the applause of the masses,
+rather than in feeding them upon wholesome food or in preparing an
+antidote for vice and evil inclinations.
+
+Whatever good intentions happened to be mingled with the play were lost
+in the details of the action--or in the often mischievous interpretation
+of the actors. With his wonderful perspicacity, Delsarte seemed to
+foresee all the excesses of naturalism in certain forerunners of Adolphe
+Belot and Emile Zola.
+
+On the other hand, his comrades, who should have attracted him, showed
+themselves to be envious and malicious. To sum it all up, it was very
+hard for him to live with them. Some of them might please him by their
+simple gaiety, their childlike ease, their lack of affectation, and
+their amiability, but they were far from satisfying his lofty
+aspirations!
+
+An occupation of a higher order, he thought, the elaboration of his
+method, demanded his thoughts. He seemed haunted by a desire to produce
+what his spirit had conceived. He longed fully to enjoy that happiness
+of creation that arises from useful discovery. He aspired to say: "In
+accomplishing the task which I set myself, I have also done much for art
+and artists."
+
+Swayed by such thoughts, Francois Delsarte soon left the profession of
+actor to follow that of teacher of singing and elocution. Then he found
+himself in his element and, as it were, at the centre of all that
+attracted him. His teaching enabled him to verify the value of his
+axioms hourly, in the order of facts and to confirm the truth of his
+observations.
+
+And yet he had not attained to the supreme beatitude. If the elect of
+plastic and practical art have to contend with appraisers of every
+degree, inventors have to deal with enemies who make up in stubborn
+resistance what they lack in numbers, and oppose the iron will of a
+rival who will not see the limit of the _ne plus ultra_ which he
+believes himself to have reached and even exceeded.
+
+In every station of life, the bearers of "good news" are a prey to the
+tyranny of interests and established prejudices. In our time, this
+persecution becomes mockery or indifference. Delsarte did not escape
+this debt of revelatory genius. Humble in regard to art and science, as
+he was conscious of his strength when face to face with rivals and
+competitors, he sometimes felt the doubt of himself, the sudden
+weakness, which overtakes great minds and great hearts in the
+accomplishment of their mission.
+
+A special form of torture attacked our young innovator. He had proved,
+connected and classed a number of psychological facts relating to the
+theory of art, and he did not know the special terms which would make
+them intelligible. Like those phenomenal children, who see countless
+relations before they possess the words to express them, he had
+discovered a law, created a science, and he was still ignorant of the
+language of scientists. If he tried to demonstrate the bases of his
+system and its rational evolution in ordinary words, the ignorant would
+not understand him and the learned would not deign to listen.
+
+Sometimes he did find some one who would hear him, question him, even
+criticize him, and who would go away bearing a fragment of conversation
+or some few notes which he had copied to turn to his own profit.
+
+At this time, there came one day to Delsarte, a pupil who--by a rare
+exception--had been through a course of classical studies.
+
+"Tell me, you who have studied (asked the teacher with the affability of
+a great man), what is metaphysics?"
+
+"Why ... just what you teach us!" said the astonished youth.
+
+Delsarte was enchanted to learn, that he was only divided by words from
+a science which had seemed to him to dwell on inaccessible heights. The
+study of technical words, when intuition had provided him with important
+ideas and new perceptions, was child's play to him; in a short time he
+could teach his philosophy of art in the consecrated expressions.
+
+His lectures grew rapidly in the Rue Montholon. A choice public soon
+assembled to hear them, drawn thither by the admiring cry of the first
+enthusiasts. At this period, the talent of the artist was enhanced by
+the lustre of youth. Nature had endowed him generously. His figure,
+which later assumed rather large proportions, was tall and elegant; his
+gestures were marked by grace and nobleness; his hair, of a very light
+chestnut, gave his face a fair softness; his brown eyes relieved this
+expression and allowed him to give his face--when the interpretation of
+the part required it--the signs of power and vigorous passion. A full
+length portrait painted at this time and in the possession of Madame
+Delsarte, gives us some idea of his grand face and form, allowing for
+the disadvantages of every translation. Although, in singing, the organ
+was often impaired, his speaking-voice was most agreeable in tone,
+correct and persuasive in accent.
+
+In acting various parts, Delsarte transformed himself to suit the
+character that he represented. He was congratulated on bringing to life
+for our age Achilles and Agamemnon, as Homer painted their types. Yet, I
+think he was sometimes told: "You paint that wretch of a Don Juan a
+little too faithfully." Certainly, art would never make that complaint!
+
+If Delsarte was understood in that part of his method addressed
+especially to the ear and the eye, it was not so with the theory which
+prepared these striking demonstrations.
+
+He was surrounded, it is true, by an assembly of men of letters, men of
+the world, and amateur artists, rather than by scientists and
+philosophers. Many in the audience and among the pupils did not pay an
+undivided attention to the scientific part of the instruction. Thus the
+first notes of the piano, announcing that the time for action had come,
+always caused a repressed murmur of satisfaction and pleasure.
+
+Sometimes, after the lecture, a discussion followed, for Delsarte often
+left room for a controversy which was essentially incorrect and caused
+many misunderstandings. This was because the innovator sometimes blended
+with the clear hues of his art-principles certain tints of religious
+mysticism which had no necessary relation with the synthesis of his
+aesthetics.
+
+It was one of the peculiarities of his character, amiable and benevolent
+as it was, to take delight in the conflict of ideas. If he saw, in the
+course of his lecture, a man whom he took for a philosopher or anything
+like it, he never failed to direct some piquant phrase, some aggressive
+sentence or some irritating thought that way--it was the gauntlet which
+he flung for the final combat.
+
+Nor were women exempt from these humorous sallies.
+
+Although the master loved all grandeur--the artistic sense with which he
+was so largely endowed inclining him that way--he had democratic, I
+might almost say plebeian, instincts. The poetry of simple, humble,
+small existences sometimes swayed him.
+
+Thus, if among his hearers, a bright violet or an audacious scarlet gown
+annoyed his taste; if the reflection of a ruby or a diamond vexed his
+eye, he would choose that instant to improvise a rustic idyl or to
+intone a hymn to poverty.
+
+But everything ended well; neither the philosopher whom he had provoked,
+nor the fine lady whom he had reproved, left him as an enemy. His
+nature with its varied riches had quite enough feminine coquetry to
+regain betimes the sympathy which he was on the eve of losing. A
+gracious word, an affectionate clasp of the hand, and all was pardoned.
+
+The opposition manifested outside the lecture-room to his ideas and mode
+of instruction, was less courteous. There rival schools and jealousies,
+ill-disguised under an affectation of disdain, contended against him. He
+was accused of the maddest eccentricities; barbarous processes were
+imputed to him, such as squeezing the chest of singers, his pupils,
+between two boards--the _reason_ was hard to understand. Others claimed
+that before Delsarte accepted a scholar, he required a profession of the
+Catholic faith and an examination in the catechism.
+
+Those were the days when the author of "Les Orientales," in his legend
+of the "Two Archers," spoke of
+
+    "That holy hermit who moved stones
+    By the sign of the cross."
+
+But if, as an artist, Delsarte loved legends and was inspired by faith,
+as a professor he could cut short this poetic part of his art, at the
+point where science and the practical side of his teaching began.
+
+The reproach, therefore, carried no weight.
+
+Delsarte was amused by these exaggerated accusations; in another order
+of criticisms, it was agreeable to him to hear "that he sang without a
+voice, as Ingres painted without colors." The comparison pleased him,
+although inexact.
+
+Yes, I say _inexact_, Delsarte was not without a voice; he had one, on
+the contrary, of great strength and range; of moving tone; eminently
+sympathetic; but it was an invalid organ and subject to caprice. He was
+not always master of it, and this caused him real suffering.
+
+Let me give you the history of his voice as Madame Delsarte herself
+lately told it to me. I must go back to his early days of study and
+debuts.
+
+Delsarte entered the Conservatory at the age of fourteen. Too young to
+endure the fatigue of the regular school-exercises, his voice must have
+received an injury. When the singer offered his services at the Opera
+Comique---then Salle Vantadour--he was told that his voice was hollow,
+that it had no carrying power. This was perhaps partly the fault of the
+building, whose acoustic properties were afterward improved. However,
+thanks to the flexibility which his voice retained and his perfect
+vocalization, the pretended insufficiency was overlooked, and the young
+tenor was admitted.
+
+His mode of singing pleased the skilled public, and the special
+abilities of this strong artistic organism--as I have already
+observed--did not pass unnoted.
+
+A _dilettante_, to whom I mentioned Delsarte long after this time, said:
+"What you tell me does not surprise me, I heard him at his first
+appearance, and he has lingered in my memory as an artist of the
+greatest promise. He was more than a singer; he had that nameless
+quality, which is not taught in any school and which marks a
+personality; a tone of which nothing, before or since, has given me the
+least idea."
+
+The tenor, from the Comic Opera, went to the Ambigu Theatre, and thence
+to the Varietes, where an attempt was being made to introduce lyric
+works. Francois Delsarte's dramatic career did not, however, last more
+than two years. During these various changes--I cannot give the exact
+dates--this artist, on his way to glory, was forced to gain a living by
+the least aristocratic of occupations. If he did not go so far as
+Shakespeare in humility of profession (the English poet was a butcher's
+boy), he strangely stooped from that native nobility--great
+capacity,--which must yet have claimed, in his secret soul, its
+imprescriptible rights.
+
+If this was one more suffering, added to all the rest, it had its good
+side. It was, perhaps, the source of the artist's never failing
+kindness, of that gracious reception which he never hesitated to bestow
+on anyone--from the Princess de Chimay and many other titled lords and
+ladies, down to Mother Chorre, the neighboring milk-woman, whom he held,
+he said, "in great esteem and friendship."
+
+I return to his teaching. His lectures were given in Rue Lamartine and
+Rue de la Pepiniere. There was always--aside from the school--an
+audience made up of certain never failing followers and of a floating
+population. The birds of passage sometimes came with a very distinct
+intention to criticise; but if they did not readily understand the
+learned deductions, they went away fascinated by what the professor had
+shown them of his brilliant changes into every type of the repertory
+which he held up as a model. Enthusiasm soon triumphed over prejudice.
+Envy, alone, persisted in hostility.
+
+These meetings were genuine artistic feasts. They were held at night, at
+the same hour as the theatres, and no play was preferable to them in the
+eyes of the truly initiated. They were a transcendent manifestation of
+all that is most elevated, which art can produce.
+
+Here is an extract from a newspaper, which I find among the notes sent
+me:
+
+"I heard him repeat, one evening, 'Iphigenia's Dream,' at the request of
+his audience. All were held trembling, breathless by that worn and yet
+sovereign voice. We were amazed to find ourselves yielding to such a
+spell; there was no splendor and no theatric illusion. _Iphigenia_ was a
+teacher in a black frock coat; the orchestra was a piano striking, here
+and there, an unexpected modulation; this was all the illusion--and the
+hall was silent, every heart throbbed, tears flowed from every eye. And
+then, when the tale was told, cries of enthusiasm arose, as if
+_Iphigenia_, in person, had told us her terrors."
+
+These lines are signed "Laurentius." I am very glad to come across them
+just as I am giving vent to my own feelings. I also find that Adolphe
+Gueroult, in his paper, the "Press," calls Delsarte _the matchless
+artist_, and recognizes _a law_ in his aesthetic discoveries. I shall
+have occasion to set down, as opportunity offers, a string of
+testimonies no less flattering and no less sincere; but I hasten to
+produce these specimens, lest the suspicion of infatuation follow me.
+
+How was it that amidst such warm plaudits, Delsarte failed to win that
+popularity which, after all, is the supreme sanction? It must be
+acknowledged that he took no great pains to gain the place which was his
+due. If he loved glory like the true artist that he was, "he never tired
+himself in its pursuit." Perhaps he had an instinctive feeling that it
+would come to him some day unsought.
+
+He might, in this regard, be reproached for the tardiness of his
+successes; he himself made difficulties and obstacles which might be
+considered as the effects of extreme pride.
+
+Halevy once suggested his singing at the Tuilleries before King Louis
+Philippe and his family.
+
+"I only sing to my friends," replied the artist.
+
+"That is strange," said the author of "The Jewess," "Lablache and Duprez
+go whenever they are asked."
+
+"Delsarte does not."
+
+"But consider! This is to be a party given by the Crown Prince to his
+father."
+
+This last consideration touched the obstinate heart.
+
+"Well! I will go," he said, "but it is only on three conditions: I must
+be the only singer; I am to have the chorus from the Opera to accompany
+me; and I am not to be paid."
+
+"You will establish a dangerous precedent."
+
+"Those are my irrevocable terms."
+
+All were granted.
+
+From his youth up Delsarte manifested this, perhaps excessive, contempt
+for money. On one occasion it was quite justifiable. Father Bambini had
+taken him to a party where he was to sing on very advantageous terms.
+The scholar was treated with deference; but the teacher who had neither
+a fine face nor the claims of youth to shield him against aristocratic
+prejudice, was received much as a servant would have been who had made a
+mistake in the door.
+
+The young singer felt the blood mantle his brow, and his heart rebelled.
+
+"Take your hat and let us go!" he said to his old master.
+
+"But why?" replied the good man. He had heeded nothing but his pupil's
+success.
+
+Delsarte dragged him away in spite of his protests, and lost by his
+abrupt departure the profits of the evening.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XI.
+
+Delsarte's Family.
+
+
+
+Delsarte married, in 1833, Miss Rosina Andrien. The young husband felt a
+high esteem for his father-in-law (primo basso cantante at the Opera);
+but we must not suppose that this consideration influenced his choice.
+He made a love marriage such as one makes at the age of twenty-two, with
+such a nature as his. Moreover, reason was never in closer accord with
+love.
+
+Miss Andrien was remarkably beautiful. She was fifteen; her talent as a
+pianist had already won her a first prize at the Conservatory. She was
+just the companion, wise and devoted, to counterbalance the flights of
+imagination and the momentary transports inherent in the temperament of
+many artists.
+
+I pause, fearing to wound a modesty which I know to be very sensitive:
+the living cannot bear praise with the indifference of the dead; but I
+must be allowed to insist upon the valuable assistance which the young
+wife lent her husband in his professional duties; this is a special part
+of my subject.
+
+Mme. Delsarte started with a genuine talent. The situation in which she
+was placed, soon made her a perfect accompanist. Never was there more
+perfect harmony between singer and player. Amid the incessant
+interruptions necessary to a lesson, the piano never lagged a second
+either in stopping or in going on again. The note fell promptly,
+identical with the first note of the piece under study. To attain to
+this obedient precision, one must possess indomitable patience, must be
+willing to be utterly effaced. Delsarte appreciated this self-denial in
+proportion to the merit of her who practiced it.
+
+In everything that concerned him, he relied especially upon the opinion
+of his accompanist; he felt her to be an abler and more serious judge
+than the most of those around him. But--with the shy reserve of merit
+unacknowledged even to itself,--the young woman shrank from expressing
+her impressions. If I may judge by the anecdote which follows, the
+artist was at times distressed by this.
+
+One day Delsarte, granting one of those favors of which he was never
+lavish, consented to sing a composition of which he was particularly
+fond, to a few friends. It was the air from Mehul's "Joseph:" "Vainly
+doth Pharaoh ..."
+
+Mme. Delsarte, always ready at the first call, took her seat at the
+piano.
+
+The master was in the mood--that is, in full possession of all his
+powers. His pathos was heartrending.
+
+"You won a great triumph," I said to him; "I saw tears in Mme.
+Delsarte's eyes."
+
+"My wife's eyes," he cried as if struck by surprise, "are you quite
+sure?"
+
+"Perfectly," I replied.
+
+He seemed greatly pleased. Putting aside all other feeling, it was no
+slight triumph to move to such a point one who assisted at and sat
+through his daily lessons for hours at a time.
+
+A few years sufficed to form a family around this very young couple. It
+was soon a charming accessory to see children fluttering about the
+house; slipping in among the scholars; showing a furtive head--dark or
+light--at one of the doors of the lecture-room. Let me recall their
+names: The eldest were Henri, Gustave, Adrien, Xavier, Marie; then came
+after a long interval, Andre and Madeleine.
+
+Delsarte loved them madly; for their future he dreamed all the dreams of
+the Arabian Nights. Meantime, he played with them so happily that he
+seemed to take a personal delight in it.
+
+He gave them all the joys of this life that were within his reach, and
+it was well that he did so! Alas! of the dreams of glory cherished for
+these beloved beings, some few were realized, but many faded promptly
+with the existence of those who called them forth.
+
+But we must not anticipate. At the time of which I speak the children
+were growing and developing, each according to its nature, in full
+freedom. Those who felt a vocation seized on the wing--rather than they
+received from irregular lessons--some fragments of that great art which
+was taught in the school.
+
+Marie learned while very young to reproduce with marvelous skill what
+were called _the attitudes_ and the physiognomic changes. Madeleine
+delighted in making caricatures which showed great talent. The features
+of certain pupils and frequenters of the lectures were plainly
+recognizable in these sketches made by a childish hand.
+
+Gustave was a child of an open face and broad shoulders. One incident
+will show his originality.
+
+A strange lady came to the master's house one day either to ask a
+hearing or offer a pupil. She met this charming boy.
+
+"M. Delsarte?" she asked.
+
+"I am he, madam!" replied Gustave without flinching.
+
+"Very good," said his questioner, laughing, "but I wish to speak to your
+father."
+
+This same Gustave who, to a certain degree, followed in his father's
+footsteps, was struck down a few years after him, at the age of
+forty-two.
+
+What a striking application of Victor Hugo's lines:
+
+    "And both are dead.... Oh Lord, all powerful is thy right hand!"
+
+Gustave's career seemed to open readily and smoothly. Not that he could
+approach his father from a dramatic point of view; he had not his
+absolute synthesis of talents, and his figure was not suited to the
+theatre; as a singer, his voice was weak, but what a charm and what a
+style he had! Although his voice was not adapted to every part,
+although he had not that range of the vocal scale which permits one to
+attack any and every composition, still, its sympathetic, tender and
+penetrating quality did ample justice to all that is most exquisite in
+romance. When you had once heard that voice, guided by the force of his
+father's grand method, you never forgot its sincerity and melancholy; it
+haunted you and left you impatient to hear it again.
+
+As a concert-singer and teacher, Gustave Delsarte might have won high
+rank. An ill-assorted marriage and his misanthropic character prevented.
+As a composer, he left some few songs, masses and religious fragments
+which are not without merit. When he was to produce any of his sacred
+works, the composer-singer never took a part; but he would lead the
+orchestra. If he came to a rehearsal and the performers appeared weak, a
+holy wrath would seize upon Gustave. Then he flung a firm, incisive,
+accentuated note into the midst of the choir, vivid as a spark bursting
+from a fire covered with ashes. He would accompany it with a glance
+which seemed to flash from his father's eye; at such moments, he
+resembled him; but this transformation never lasted more than a second;
+the fictitious power disappeared as all which was Gustave Delsarte was
+doomed to disappear.
+
+At least, his father did not live to mourn his loss. And yet he knew
+that worst of heart-suffering: the loss of a beloved child. Alas! In
+that radiant family, whose mirth, fresh faces and luxuriant health
+seemed to defy death, the implacable foe had already twice swept his
+scythe.
+
+The first to go was Andre, one of the latest born. He was at the age
+when the child leaves no lasting memories behind; but we know the grace
+of innocence, the privilege of impeccability by which infancy atones for
+the lack of acquirements. Then these little creatures have the
+mysterious entrancing smiles, which mothers understand and adore--and
+Delsarte loved his children with a mother's heart.
+
+Time lessens such pangs; but when a fresh sorrow re-opened the era of
+calamity, it seems as if the sad events trod upon each other's heels and
+the interval between seems to have been but one unmitigated agony.
+
+The loss undergone in 1863 was even greater. Xavier Delsarte was a tall,
+handsome young man. The master was content with the profit which his son
+had derived from his tuition. He was successful as a singer and
+elocutionist. He was attacked by cholera during an epidemic. The night
+before he had taken several glasses of iced orgeat in the open air.
+
+Xavier lived in the Rue des Batailles with his family, but not in the
+same apartment. This fact was fatal. Instead of calling help in the
+first stages--unwilling to disturb his relatives--the invalid wandered
+down stairs during the night, and into the court-yard. There he drank
+water from the pump. I can still recall the unhappy father's story of
+that cruel moment.
+
+"It was scarcely day. I was waked by that unexpected, fatal ringing of
+the bell, which, at such an hour, always bodes misfortune. The maid
+heard it also, and opened the door. She uttered a cry of alarm. Almost
+instantly, my poor boy stood at my chamber door. He leaned against the
+frame of the door, his strength not allowing him to advance. From the
+change in his features, I understood all--he was hopelessly lost!"
+
+Delsarte was sensitive and of a very loving nature; but he was endowed
+with great strength. Much absorbed, moreover, in his profession, his
+studies, his innovations, he often found in them a counterpoise to these
+rude blows of fate. So when the thoughts of his friends recur to these
+disasters, they feel that their greatest sympathy and commiseration are
+due to the mother who three times underwent this supreme martyrdom.
+
+Two names remain to be mentioned in this family where artistic callings
+seemed a matter of course. The concerts of Madame Theresa Wartel--sister
+of Madame Delsarte--brought together the _elite_ of Parisian virtuosi,
+and the brilliant pianist took her part in the quatuors in which Sauzay,
+Allard, Franchomme and other celebrities of the period figured.
+
+George Bizet--author of the opera of "Carmen"--prematurely snatched from
+the arts, was the nephew of Francois Delsarte. This young man taught
+himself Sanscrit unaided; he inspired the greatest hopes.
+
+Wartel, who gave Christine Nilsson her musical education, was not of the
+same blood, but we find certain points in his method which recall the
+processes of Delsarte's school.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XII.
+
+Delsarte's Religion.
+
+
+
+I now confront an important and very interesting subject; but one which
+is more difficult to handle than the most prickly briers. There has been
+a confusion, in regard to Delsarte, of two very distinct things: his
+practical devotion and his philosophy of art, which does indeed assume a
+religious character. He himself helped on this confusion. I am desirous
+of doing my best to put an end to it. I hope that, truth and sincerity
+aiding, I shall not find the task too great for me.
+
+I must first grapple with those ill-informed persons who have denied the
+master his high intellectual faculties, and even his scientific
+discoveries, for the sole reason of the mystical side of his beliefs. I
+must also expose the error of those who supposed that to this mysticism
+were attributable the miracles accomplished by Delsarte in his career as
+artist and scholar.
+
+I was the better able to understand these two opposing
+elements--religiousness and strength of understanding--because, if I
+gave in my entire adhesion to the innovator in the arts, he did not find
+me equally docile in what concerned the theosophic part of his doctrine.
+Hence, discussions which illustrated the subject. I speak in presence of
+his memory as I did before him, with perfect frankness and simplicity
+of heart; taking care not to offend the objects of his veneration, but
+examining without regard to his memory, as without prejudice, the
+influence which his convictions exerted upon his intellectual
+conceptions, his ideas, his character, his talent--in a word, his life,
+in so far as it may concern a sketch which lays no claim to be a
+complete biography.
+
+Now, it is from the point of view of art itself that I ask the following
+questions: Was Delsarte a devout Catholic? Was he orthodox?
+
+Devout? He gloried in it, he insisted on it; I will not say that he
+_affected_ minute daily acts of devotion, for that word would not accord
+with the spontaneity of his nature; but he accented his demonstrations,
+he spoke constantly of his religion. Without any intention to wrong the
+serious side of his religious feelings, it seemed to be a bravado put on
+for the incredulous, a toy which he converted into a weapon.
+
+Orthodox? He made it his boast, and he certainly intended to be so; he
+loved, in many circumstances, to show his humility of heart. His faith,
+he used to say, "was the charcoal-burner's faith."
+
+And yet, the charcoal-burner would have been strangely puzzled if he had
+had to sustain the ceaseless contests which the artist accepted or
+provoked from philosophers and free-thinkers; and, perhaps, no less
+frequently, from his fellow-religionists, and the priests themselves.
+
+With the former, it was a mere question of dogmatic forms or of the
+necessity for some form of religion; with the latter, he entered upon a
+more peculiarly theological order of ideas, such as the attributes
+proper to each of the three divine persons, and other mystical subjects.
+
+Here, as elsewhere, Delsarte brought to bear his personality, his stamp,
+his breadth of comprehension.
+
+I once asked him what some called _Dominations_ might represent, in the
+celestial classification? He replied: "If any one or anything forces
+itself upon our mind, takes active possession of our soul, do we not
+feel that we are under a certain domination?"
+
+He gave me several other explanations touching the angelic hierarchy. I
+considered them very poetic, very ingenious--but were they also
+orthodox? I am not competent to judge.
+
+It was impossible to say at the first glance, how the influence of this
+theosophy made itself felt in this sensitive character, full as it was
+of surprises. Delsarte was born good, generous, above the petty
+tendencies which deform and degrade the human type. On these diverse
+points, religious faith could scarcely show its effect; but he also
+declared himself to be irritable and violent--he confessed to a
+dangerous fickleness--still, he would readily have slandered himself in
+the interests of his faith.
+
+Whatever the cause of this acquired serenity, Delsarte did not always
+refuse to satisfy his native impulses. I have already alluded to cases
+in which these returns to impetuous vivacity occurred, and how he rose
+above these relapses. Whether his peaceful spirit arose from religious
+feeling, or whether it was the result of moral strength, it breathed the
+spirit of the gospel; but it must also be confessed that our artist
+mingled with it much worldly grace. What matters it? Uncertainty has no
+inconveniences in such a matter.
+
+It was particularly on the occasion of those sudden fits of passion to
+which the human conscience does not always attach due weight, that
+Delsarte laid great stress upon supernatural intervention.
+
+Oh! what would he have done without that powerful aid, with his lively
+sensibilities--with his too loving heart?
+
+I have no opinion to offer in regard to the shield which efficacious
+grace and the palladium of the faith may form for dangerous tendencies;
+for Catholics, that is a matter for the casuist or the confessor to
+decide; but, as far as Delsarte is concerned, had he beaten down Satan
+in a way to rouse the jealousy of St. Michael, had he made the heathen
+Socrates give precedence to him in patience, wisdom and firmness, I
+should regard that victory as the triumph of the sacred principles of
+the eternal morality, of that which sums up, in a single group, all the
+supreme precepts of all religions and all philosophies, rather than as a
+result of external practices.
+
+It is by placing myself at this culminating point, that I have
+succeeded in explaining to my own satisfaction the true stimulus of the
+artist-thinker, in spite of all appearances and all contradictions; and
+everything leads me to believe that the elevation of his mind and the
+inspiration of the art which he taught and practiced, would have
+sufficed, in equal proportion with his faith, "to deliver him from
+evil."
+
+How could a man glide into the lower walks of life, whose mission it was
+to set forth the types of moral beauty by opposing them, to use his
+phrase, "to the hideousnesses of vice?"
+
+Now, talent and faith meet face to face. We are to consider to what
+extent the one was dependent upon the other; and whether, in reality,
+the artist whom so many voices proclaimed "incomparable" owed his vast
+superiority to acts of religious devotion, to his adhesion to the dogmas
+of the church.
+
+It is not arbitrarily that a transcendent intellect pointed out a
+difference between _religion_ and _religions_: every mind devoted to
+philosophy must needs reach this distinction.
+
+I shall keep strictly within the limits of that which concerns art, in a
+question so vast and of such great importance.
+
+_Religion_ is that need which all generations of men have felt for
+establishing a relationship between man and the supreme power or powers
+whence man supposes he proceeded. To some it is an outburst of
+gratitude and homage; to others, an instinct of terror which makes them
+fall prostrate before an unknown being upon whom they feel themselves
+dependent, although they cannot know him, still less define him.
+
+_Religions_ are all which men have established in answer to those
+aspirations of the conscience, to satisfy that intuition which forces
+itself upon our mind so long as sophistry has not warped it. It follows
+from this, that religions vary, are changed, and may be falsified until
+the primitive meaning is lost. But whatever may be the faith and the
+rites of religions--whether fanaticism disfigure them or fetichism make
+a caricature of them, whether politicians use them as an ally, or the
+traces of the apostolate fade beneath the materialism of
+speculation,--there will always remain at the bottom, _religion_: that
+is, the thought which keeps such or such a society alive for a variable
+time, and which, in periods of transition, seeks refuge in human
+consciences awaiting a fresh social upward flight.
+
+Well! it was not the external part of his belief which inspired
+Delsarte, when--to use the expression of the poet Reboul--"he showed
+himself like unto a god!" It was not the long rosary with its large
+beads which often dangled at his side, that gave him the secret of
+heart-tortures and soul-aspirations! The _charcoal-burner's faith_ would
+never have taught him that captivating grace, that supreme elegance of
+gesture and attitude, which made him matchless. Nor did theology and
+dogma teach him the moving effects which made people declare that he
+performed miracles, and led several writers (Henry de Riancey, Hervet)
+to say: "That man is not an artist, he is art itself!" And Fiorentino, a
+critic usually severe and exacting, wrote: "This master's sentiment is
+so true, his style so lofty, his passion so profound, that there is
+nothing in art so beautiful or so perfect!"
+
+_Profound passion, lofty style, art itself_, these are not learned from
+any catechism. That chosen organism bore within its own breast the
+fountains of beauty. An artist, he derived thence an inward
+illumination, and, as it were, a clear vision of the Ideal. If religion
+was blended with it, it was that which speaks directly to the heart of
+all beings endowed with poetry, to those who are capable of vowing their
+love to the worship of sublime things.
+
+What I have just said will become more comprehensible if I apply to
+Delsarte those more especially Christian words: _The spirit and the
+letter_.
+
+Yes, in him there was the spiritual man and the literal man; and if
+either compromised the other, it was not in the eyes of persons who
+attended, regularly enough to understand them, the lectures and lessons
+of the brilliant professor.
+
+This I have already said, and I shall dwell upon this point, hoping to
+establish some harmony between those who taxed Delsarte with madness on
+account of his _positivism_ in the matter of faith, and those who
+strove to connect with his devotional habits everything exceptional
+which that great figure realized in his passage through this world.
+
+In fact, it is only by separating the Delsarte of _the spirit_ from him
+of _the letter_, that we can form any true idea of him.
+
+And the letter, once again--was it not art and poetry that made worship
+so dear to him? The shadowy light of the churches, the stern majesty of
+the vaulted roof, contrasting with the radiant circle of light within
+which reposed the sacred wafer,--all this pomp, of heathen origin,
+warmed for him the severe simplicity and cold austerity of Christian
+sentiment; the chants and prayers uttered in common also stimulated the
+fervid impulses of his heart.
+
+The spirit of proselytism took possession of him later in life. It was
+controversy under a new form, more attractive and more _distracting_.
+There was always some soul within reach to be won to the faith;
+some rebellious spirit to bend to the yoke of the official
+church,--proceeding, under due observance of ostensible forms, from the
+letter! Neophytes were very ready to listen. After all, it pledged them
+to nothing, and they talked of other things often enough to prevent the
+conversation from becoming too much of a sermon. Then, certain
+favors--all of a spiritual nature--were attached to this situation: a
+place nearer the master during lectures, a more affectionate greeting, a
+sweeter smile.
+
+These attempts more than once resulted in disappointment to Delsarte. I
+will not enumerate them all. Often he was heard with increasing
+interest, it seemed as if resistance must yield, and that he might
+speedily plant his flag "in the salutary waters of grace," but at that
+very moment his opponent would become more refractory and more stubborn
+than ever.
+
+Once, he had great hopes. Several young people seemed decided _to enter
+into the paths of virtue_. The master was radiant. "Take heed," said
+skeptic prudence, "perhaps it is only a means of stimulating your zeal,
+of profiting better by your disinterestedness."
+
+He soon acknowledged the truth of these predictions; he confessed it in
+his moments of candor.
+
+One of these feigned converts, especially, scandalized him. The story
+deserves repetition:
+
+The church of the Petits-Peres had ordered the wax figure of a freshly
+canonized saint, from Rome. Delsarte mentioned it to the school, and
+several pupils went to see it.
+
+"Ah, sir!" cried young D. on his return, "now, indeed, I am a Catholic!
+How lovely she is, how fresh and fair after lying underground so long!"
+
+"Unhappy fellow!" said the disappointed artist, "he takes the image for
+the reality, and the beauty of a waxen St. Philomena has converted him."
+
+The young man had heard that the preservation of the flesh, after a
+hundred years' burial, counted for much in canonization, if it did not
+suffice to justify it; and as the place where they had deposited the
+sacred image was dark, D. had taken for life itself the pink and white
+complexion common to such figures before time has yellowed them.
+
+Delsarte ended by being amused at his credulity; he laughed readily and
+was not fond of sulking. Nor must we forget that this preeminent
+tragedian was a perfect comedian, and that this fact entitled him to
+true enjoyment of the humorous side of life. Have I not somewhere read:
+"Beware of those who never laugh!"
+
+Delsarte's piety--I speak of that of the letter--was seldom morose. It
+did not forbid juvenile caprices; it overlooked _venial_ sins.
+
+One Sunday he took his scholars to Nanterre, some to perform, others to
+hear, a mass of his own composition. A few friends joined the party. The
+mass over, they wandered into the country in groups. Some walked; some
+sat upon the grassy turf. The air was pleasant, the conversation
+animated; time passed quickly.
+
+Suddenly the vesper bell was heard. Some one drew Delsarte's attention
+to it--not without a tiny grain of malice.
+
+"Master, what a pity--you must leave us."
+
+He made no answer.
+
+When the second summons sounded, the same voice continued:
+
+"There's no help for it; for us poor sinners, it's no matter! But you,
+master, you cannot miss the mass!"
+
+He put his hand to his head and considered.
+
+"Bah!" he cried boldly, "I'll send my children."
+
+Let me give another trait in illustration of the nature which from time
+to time pierced through and rent the flimsy fabric of his opinions. This
+anecdote is a political one.
+
+Despite the precedent of an ultra democratic grandfather, and all his
+plebeian tendencies as a philanthropist and a Christian, his Catholic
+friends had inclined him toward monarchical ideas--although he never
+actually sided with the militant portion of the party.
+
+On one occasion, it happened that the two wings of this
+politico-religious fusion disagreed. As at Nanterre, Delsarte acted
+independently, and on this occasion politics were the victim. It fell
+out as follows:
+
+A claimant of the throne of France, still young, finding himself in the
+Eternal City, had not, to all appearance, fulfilled his duties to the
+Vatican promptly.
+
+The first time that Delsarte encountered certain of those zealous
+legitimists, who are said to be "more royalist than the king," he
+launched this apostrophe at their heads:
+
+"I hear that _your young man_ was in no haste to pay his respects to His
+Holiness."
+
+Thus, always free--even when he seemed to have forged chains for
+himself--he obeyed his impulse without counting the cost. Never mind!
+This childish outburst must have gladdened the manes of the ancestor who
+connected the syllables in the patronymic name of Delsarte!
+
+I hope I shall not forget, as my pen moves along, any of these memories,
+insignificant to many minds, no doubt, but serving to distinguish this
+figure from the vast mass of creation. If, among my readers, some may
+say "pass on," others will enjoy these trifles, and will thank me for
+writing them.
+
+Thus, Delsarte was always pleased to think he bore the name of Francois
+in memory of Francis of Assisi--not the Spaniard whom we know, but the
+great saint of the twelfth century; he who "appeased quarrels, settled
+differences, taught slaves and common men,--the poor man who was good to
+the poor."
+
+"The fish, the rabbits and the hares," the legend says, "placed
+themselves in this fortunate man's hands." * * * * The birds were silent
+or sang at his command. "Be silent," said the saint to the swallows,
+"'tis my turn to talk now." And again: "My brothers, the birds, you have
+great cause to praise your Creator, who covered you with such fine
+feathers and gave you wings to fly through the clear, broad fields of
+air."
+
+One need not be very devout to be attracted by such graceful simplicity.
+
+Delsarte went farther. Whether he accepted this magnetic attraction as
+true or whether he regarded it as purely symbolic--for this kind of
+miracle is not dependent on faith,--he considered the monk of Assisi as
+a lover of nature, whose heart was big enough to love everything that
+lives, to suffer with all that suffers. He strove to comprehend him by
+placing him upon a pinnacle, well aware that the sublime often lurks
+between the trifling.
+
+It was on such occasions that the man of intellect revived to ennoble
+and illumine everything. If, despite his magnificent rendering of them,
+Delsarte never called legendary fictions in question, let us not refuse
+him that privilege. In such cases the poetry became his accomplice,
+and--"Every poet is the toy of the gods," as Beranger says, a simple
+song-writer, as Delsarte was a simple singer.
+
+There was in him whom Kreutzer called "the apostle of the grand dramatic
+style," a desire, I will not say for realism, but for _realization_, for
+action. Thus he once had a fancy to join the semi-clerical society of
+the third order; it was a way of keeping himself in practice, since
+there were various prescriptions, observances and interdictions attached
+to the office. One must repeat certain prayers every day, and submit to
+a certain severity of costume. No precious metal, not even a thread of
+gold or silver must be seen about one. In the first moments of fervor, a
+beautiful green velvet cap, beautifully embroidered in gold--the loving
+gift of some pupil or admirer,--was interdicted, that is to say, was
+shut up in a closet or reduced to the condition of a mere piece of
+bric-a-brac. Luckily, the association did not require eternal vows, and
+I think I saw the pretty article restored to its proper use later on.
+
+Another attempt--and this was his own creation--tempted this inquiring
+mind; he wished to pay especial homage, under some novel form, to the
+Holy Trinity. The adepts were to be called _the Trinitarians_. In the
+founder's mind, this starting-point was to be the seed for a sort of
+confraternity with the mark of true friendship and unity of faith.
+
+This dream was never realized, apparently, for it seems that the
+association could never number more than three members at a time: so
+that it was in number only that it justified its title. Delsarte was
+very fond of these few adherents. "The Trinitarians--where are the
+Trinitarians?" was sometimes the cry at a lecture. It was the voice of
+the master who had reserved a seat of honor for each of them. This is
+all I ever knew about this society, and I have reason to think that it
+never got beyond a few talks among the members upon the subject which
+united them.
+
+It is not without reluctance that I expose his weaknesses; but timid as
+the steps must ever be which are taken upon historic ground, we must
+walk in daylight. No one, moreover, could regard this effervescence of a
+sentiment noble in its source, as a want of intellectual liberty. It
+was the affectionate side of his nature which at moments dimmed his
+reason, but never went so far as to put out its light. I need not
+attempt to defend on this point one, of whom Auguste Luchet wrote:
+
+"It is by his soul and _his science_ that he lifts you, transports you,
+strikes you, shatters you with terror, anguish and love!"
+
+And Pierre Zaccone says:
+
+"He is an artist, apart, exceptional, perhaps unique! with what finished
+art, what talent, what GENIUS, he uses the resources of his voice!"
+
+That which best atoned in Delsarte for the grain of fanaticism with
+which he was reproached, was the tolerance which prevailed in every
+controversy, in every dissension. If he sometimes blamed free thought,
+he never showed ill will to free-thinkers. In the spirit of the
+gospel--so different from the spirit of the devout party--he was "all
+things to all men." He was on a very friendly footing with a priest
+whom, by his logic and his sincerity, he had prevailed upon to forsake
+the ecclesiastical calling.
+
+In our discussions, which dealt with secondary subjects of various forms
+of belief--for I never denied God, or the soul and its immortality, or
+the freedom of the will which is the honor of the human race, or the
+power of charity, provided it become social and fraternal, instead of
+merely alms-giving as it has been,--in these debates, sometimes rather
+lively, I would end by saying to him: "You know that I love and seek
+truth; very well! if God wished me to join the ranks in which you serve,
+he would certainly give me a sign; but so long as I do not receive His
+summons, what have I to do with it?"
+
+I spoke his own language, and he yielded to my reasoning. "Come," he
+would say, "I prefer your frankness to the pretenses of feigned piety;"
+and he would add sorrowfully: "Alas! I often encounter them!" So we
+always ended by agreeing, and this truce lasted--until our next meeting.
+
+The words which I have just quoted prove that if Delsarte clung to the
+Catholic dogmas, he was particularly touched by the sincere piety and
+active charity of simple, evangelic hearts. I may give yet another proof
+of this.
+
+To satisfy his sympathies as much as to rescue his clan, when attacked,
+he would always quote a father confessor, one Father Pricette--this name
+should be remembered in the present age--who, during the icy nights of
+December, slept in an arm-chair, because he had given his last mattress
+to some one poorer than himself.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIII.
+
+Delsarte's Friends.
+
+
+
+Friendly relations--although disputes often arose--were established
+toward 1840 between Delsarte and Raymond Brucker (known to literature as
+Michel Raymond). Fortunately in spite of the influence of the author of
+"Mensonge," Delsarte's superior rank always prevailed in this intimacy.
+
+Michel Raymond published several novels in the first half of this
+century. Later on, he took his place in the ranks of that militia of
+Neo-Catholics, the fruit of the Restoration. (I do not know whether I am
+justified in giving the name of Neo-Catholic to Brucker; perhaps, on the
+contrary, his dreams were all of the primitive church. But, in spite of
+his Jewish crudities, I suppose he would never have joined the followers
+of Father Loyson.) His keen, sharp and caustic spirit did not forsake
+him when he changed his principles; and never did the Christ--whose
+symbol is a lamb without a stain--have a sterner or more warlike zealot.
+
+In appearance, Brucker had somewhat the look of a Mephistopheles--a
+demon then very much in vogue,--especially when he laughed, his laughter
+being full of sardonic reserves. If Delsarte's mode of proselyting was
+almost always gentle, affectionate, adapted to the spirit he aspired to
+conquer, that of Raymond Brucker had an aggressive fashion; he became
+brutal and cynical when discussion waxed warm.
+
+Once, in reply to one of his vehement attacks against the age, in which
+he used very unparliamentary expressions, he drew upon himself the
+following answer from a woman: "But, sir, I should think that in the
+ardor of your recent convictions, your first act of faith should have
+been to make an _auto-da-fe_ of all the books signed Michel Raymond."
+
+I repeat, this writer, although of undoubted intellectual merit, could
+not annul Delsarte's native tendencies; he could never have led Delsarte
+into any camp which the latter had not already decided to join; but when
+they met on common ground, he influenced, excited and sometimes threw a
+shadow over him.
+
+When they had fought together against the nearest rebel, long and lively
+discussions would often arise between them, but they always agreed in
+the end: the artist's good-nature so willed it.
+
+If dissension continued, if the fiery friend had given cause for
+reproach, Delsarte merely said: "Poor Brucker!" But how much that brief
+phrase could be made to mean in the mouth of a man who taught an actor
+to say, "I hate you!" by uttering the words, "I love you," and who could
+ring as many changes on one sentence as the thought, the feeling, the
+occasion, could possibly require.
+
+Do not suppose, however, that Delsarte abused his power. Contrary to
+many actors who carry their theatrical habits into their private life,
+he aimed at the most perfect simplicity outside of the roles which he
+interpreted. "I make myself as simple as possible," he would say, "to
+avoid all suspicion of posing." But still he could not entirely rid
+himself, in conversation, of those inflections which illuminate words
+and are the genuine manifestation of the inner meaning.
+
+Be this as it may, the relation between our two converts assumed the
+proportions of friendship, doubtless in virtue of the mysterious law
+which makes contrast attractive.
+
+Hegel says: "The identical and the non-identical are identical;" and
+this proposition passes for nonsense. Perhaps if he had said: "May
+become identical," it would be understood that he meant to speak, in
+general, of that reconciliation of contraries which united the calm
+genius of Delsarte and the bristling, prickly spirit of Raymond Brucker.
+
+One motive particularly contributed to the union; Brucker was
+unfortunate in a worldly sense. Delsarte, improvident for the future and
+scorning money, still had, during the best years of his professorship, a
+relatively comfortable home. He loved to have his friend take advantage
+of it. Large rooms, well warmed in winter, a simple table, but one which
+lacked no essential article, were of no small importance to one whose
+scanty household had naught but sorrow and privation to offer.
+
+How many evenings they spent together in dissertations which often ended
+in nothing--and how often the dawn surprised them before they were
+weary!
+
+For Brucker it was a refuge, but for Delsarte, what a waste of time and
+strength taken from his real work! That wasted time might have sufficed
+to fix and produce certain special points in his method. Then, too, his
+health demanded greater care.
+
+Take it for all in all, this intimacy was perhaps more harmful than
+helpful to Delsarte. Yet I have been told that Raymond Brucker urged the
+innovator to elaborate his discovery, and often reproached him with his
+negligence in pecuniary matters. It was he who said: "Francois
+Delsarte's system is an orthopedic machine to straighten crippled
+intellects."
+
+I have also heard in favor of Raymond Brucker, that that mind so full of
+bitterness, that inquisitor _in partibus_, was most tender toward a
+child in his family, and that he bore his poverty bravely. I desire to
+note these eulogies side by side with the less favorable reflections
+which I considered it my duty to write down here. I recall a short
+anecdote which will serve to close the Brucker story.
+
+As we have said, they were seldom parted. One day Delsarte had agreed to
+dine with the family of a pupil. As he was on his way thither, he met
+his inseparable friend. From that moment his only thought was to excuse
+himself from the dinner; but his hosts were reluctant to give up such a
+guest; they insisted"--they were offended.
+
+"Pardon me," said Delsarte; "I really cannot stay! I had forgotten that
+Brucker was to dine with me."
+
+"But that can be arranged! M. Brucker can join us. Suppose we send and
+ask him?"
+
+"You need not," replied the master; "if you are willing, I will call
+him; he is waiting for me below at the corner."
+
+They had acted as children do, when one says to the other on leaving
+school:
+
+"Wait a minute for me, I'll ask mamma if you can come and dine with us."
+
+Brucker, who after all knew how to be agreeable when he chose, took his
+place at the table, and all went well.
+
+This proves yet once again the extent to which Delsarte possessed that
+charming simplicity so well suited to all distinction.
+
+In the dissertations upon religious subjects incessantly renewed about
+Delsarte, it was sometimes declared that "great sinners were surer of
+salvation than the most perfect unbelievers in the world."
+
+A young man, who doubtless felt himself to be in the first category,
+once said to the master:
+
+"My friend, the good God has been too kind to me! I disobey him, I
+offend against his laws.... I repent, and he accepts my prayer! I
+relapse into sin--and he forgives me! Decidedly, the good God is a very
+poltroon!"
+
+This seems to exceed the unrestrained ease and confidence usual toward
+an earthly father; but we must not forget that the inflection modifies
+the meaning of a phrase, and that _poltroon_ may mean _adorable_.
+
+This penitent, now famous, carried his provocation of the inexhaustible
+goodness very far. At one time in his life he tried to blow out his
+brains! By a mere chance--he probably said, by a miracle,--the wound was
+not mortal; but he always retained the accusing scar. I never knew
+whether this unpleasant adventure preceded or followed Mr. L.'s
+conversion, or whether it was coincident with one of the relapses of
+which that repentant sinner accused himself.
+
+Another very religious friend was no less fragile in the observance of
+his firm vow. Becoming a widower, he swore eternal fidelity to the
+"departed angel." Soon after, he was seen with another wife on his arm!
+
+"And your angel?" whispered a sceptic in his ear.
+
+"Oh, my friend!" was the reply, "this one is an archangel."
+
+Another figure haunted Delsarte and afforded yet another proof of his
+tolerance. The Italian, C----, shared neither his political ideas nor
+his religious beliefs; he was one of those refugees whom the defeats of
+the Carbonari have cast upon our soil, and whose necessities
+France--does our neighbor remember this?--for years supplied, as if they
+were her own children. However, she could offer them but a precarious
+living.
+
+Signer C., to give some charm to his wretched existence, desired to add
+to his scanty budget a strong dose of hope and intellectual enjoyment:
+hope in--what came later--the independence and unity of Italy. By way of
+diversion, this stranger gratified himself by indulging in a whim; he
+had dreams of a panacea, a plant whose complex virtues should combat all
+the evils which fall to the lot of poor humanity; but this marvel must
+be sought in America. And how was he to get there, when he could barely
+scrape together the necessary five cents to ride in an omnibus! The
+Isabellas of our day do not build ships for every new Columbus who
+desires to endow the world with some wonderful treasure trove! And yet
+this man was not mad; he was one of those who prove how many insane
+ideas a brain may cherish, without being entitled to a cell in Bedlam or
+Charenton.
+
+While awaiting the realization of his golden dreams, poor C. spent his
+time in perpetual adoration of the Talma of Music--for so Theophile
+Gautier styled Delsarte; he never missed a lecture; he took part in the
+talks which lengthened out the evening when the parlor was at last
+cleared of superfluous guests.
+
+Among his many manias--how many people have this one in common with
+him!--the Italian cherished the idea that he was of exceptional ability,
+and that in more than one direction. He proclaimed that Delsarte went
+far beyond everything that he knew--equal to all that could be imagined
+or desired in regard to art--but as for himself, C., was he not from a
+land where art is hereditary, where it is breathed in at every pore,
+from birth? And more than the mass of his countrymen, did he not feel
+the volcanic heat of the sacred fire burning within him?
+
+One evening, he made a bold venture. He had prepared a tirade written by
+some Italian poet. All that I remember of it is that it began with the
+words: "_Trema--Trema!_" [Tremble--Tremble!]
+
+The impromptu tragedian recited several lines in a declamatory tone
+accompanied by gestures to match. Delsarte listened without a sign of
+praise or blame. Then he rose, struck an attitude appropriate to the
+text, but perfectly natural, and, in his quiet way, said:
+
+"Might not you as well give it in this key?" Then, in a voice of
+repressed harshness, his gestures subdued but expressive of hatred, he
+repeated the two words: "_Trema--Trema!_"
+
+The listeners shuddered. Delsarte had produced one of those effects
+which can never be forgotten. The smouldering ashes did not burn long;
+four syllables were enough to extinguish the flame.
+
+Following, not the chronological order, but that of circumstances and
+incidents calculated to throw light on my subject, I must once more
+retrace the course of years.
+
+C.'s persistency went on before and after 1848. During the second
+period, all minds were greatly agitated by the state of politics. C., in
+spite of his undoubted liberalism--he spent a great part of his leisure
+in making democratic constitutions--thought, like every other claimant,
+that he had _duties to perform_; and that he might as well, to
+facilitate his task, make an ally of the Emperor, without scruple; but
+access to royalty was no less impossible than landing on the American
+shore where his panacea grew. He hit upon the following plan:
+
+A number of ladies were to go in a body and implore Napoleon III to
+pardon certain exiles: for the same calamities always follow civil war,
+and there are always women ready to beg for justice or mercy.
+
+C., who knew their purpose, said to one of the petitioners: "How are you
+going to make the Emperor understand that I am the only man capable of
+saving the situation?"
+
+The petition was not presented; and the world remains to be saved!
+
+Our Italian had another specialty: he was perpetually in search of some
+notorious somnambulist. It is a well-known fact that the mental
+agitation caused by governmental crises is very favorable to these
+pythonesses of modern times. Each wishes to outrun the future and to
+afford himself at least an illusion of the triumph of his party. The
+oracles varied according to the opinion of the person who magnetized
+these ladies, and, often, according to the presumed desire of the
+audience.
+
+Delsarte allowed himself to be drawn into these mysteries. He had time
+for everything. It afforded him relaxation, and a means of observation.
+On one occasion, he followed the refugee to a garden where a person of
+"perfect lucidity" prophesied. The sibyl was a _believer_ as well as a
+_seer_ and pretended to communicate with God in person. I do not know
+exactly what supernal secrets the woman revealed, while she slept, but
+the result was ridiculous.
+
+They had forgotten to fix the hour for the next sitting: so, to repair
+the omission--by means of a few passes--the somnambulist was restored to
+sleep and lucidity. Then in a corner of the garden, in a familiar tone
+and--to use the popular expression--in which, as may well be imagined,
+the voice of Jehovah was not heard:
+
+"My God, what day shall we return?"
+
+"He says Wednesday," announced the lady.
+
+"Thank you, God!"
+
+If the Italian went into ecstasies over this irreverent trifling,
+Delsarte did not disdain to caricature it, and gave us a most comical
+little performance. Here again we see how he could transform everything,
+and make something out of nothing!
+
+Among the frequenters of his lectures was an artist whom I would gladly
+mention for his talent if I did not fear to annoy him by connecting his
+name with an incident concerning him. I relate it in the hope of
+somewhat diverting my readers, to whom I must so often discourse of
+serious things.
+
+Mr. P. painted a portrait of Delsarte as a young man. The features are
+exact, the pose firm and dignified, the eye proud. The painter and the
+model were on very good terms and sympathized in religious matters. It
+must have been the master who brought him over. He still burned with the
+zeal peculiar to recent converts; to such a point that even on a short
+excursion into the country, he could not await his return to Paris to
+approach the stool of repentance. This desire seemed easily satisfied;
+what village is without a father confessor!
+
+So, one fine day, the artist rang at the first parsonage he could find.
+The priest's sister opened the door--offered him a seat--and told him
+that her brother was away. But, after these preliminaries, the lady
+seemed uneasy. She inquired what the stranger wanted.
+
+"To speak with the priest."
+
+What could this stranger have to say to him? Such was the question which
+floated in her eyes, amidst the confused phrases in which she strove to
+gain an explanation. Mr. P. finally told her that he had come to
+confess.
+
+"My brother will not return till very late," said the poor girl, unable
+to disguise her distress.
+
+"I will wait!" replied the traveler.
+
+"Oh, sir, I hope you will not!"
+
+He thought he heard her mutter: "We read such things in the papers!"
+
+The visitor at last perceived that she took him for a thief, and he
+could not depart quickly enough.
+
+One more anecdote:
+
+Francois Delsarte called himself a bad citizen, because he disliked to
+undertake the duties entailed by reason of the national guard--a dignity
+long demanded by the advanced party of the day, but of which they soon
+wearied.
+
+I think that the artist's infractions were often overlooked, and his
+reasons for exemption were never too closely scanned. And yet, the
+soldier-citizen was one day arraigned before a council of discipline,
+which, without regard for this representative of the highest personages
+of fiction, condemned him to three days' imprisonment.
+
+It was as if they had imprisoned saltpetre in company with a bunch of
+matches--but he restrained his rebellious feelings; he would not give
+his judges the satisfaction of knowing his torment. He soon thought only
+of procuring consolation: he summoned his friends, who visited him in
+throngs. Then he made the acquaintance of his companions in misfortune.
+There was one especially, who, alone, would have made up to him for all
+the inconveniences of his forced arrest.
+
+The first time that this prisoner entered the room where the other
+prisoners were assembled, he looked at them with the most solemn air,
+put his hand to his forehead, made a military salute, and in grave
+tones, as if beginning a harangue, he uttered these words:
+
+"Captives--I salute you!"
+
+It was strangely pertinent. Delsarte was not behindhand in comic
+gravity. This little scene enlivened him.
+
+Another compensation fell to the lot of our _captive_. One of the
+prisoners sang him a song, one stanza of which lingered in his memory. I
+transcribe it:
+
+    "I was born in Finisterre,
+    At Quimperlay I saw the light.
+    The sweetest air is my native air,
+    My parish church is painted white!
+    Oh! so I sang, I sighed, I said,--
+    How I love my native air,
+    And parish church so bright!"
+
+These lines, written by some Breton minstrel, inspired one of those
+sweet, plaintive airs which the drawling voice of the drovers sing as
+they return at nightfall; one of those airs which seem to follow the
+brook down the valleys, and which repeat the echoes of the mountains, in
+the far distance.
+
+Oh! how Delsarte used to murmur it; it made one homesick for Brittany!
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIV.
+
+Delsarte's Scholars.
+
+
+
+To get one's bearings in that floating population (where persistency and
+fidelity are rare qualities) which haunts a singing-school, it is well
+to make classifications. In Delsarte's case, the novelty of his
+processes, his extraordinary reputation among the art-loving public, the
+length of time which he insisted was necessary for complete education,
+all combined to produce an incessant ebb and flow of pupils.
+
+Therefore, I must distinguish.
+
+First, there were those, brought by Delsarte's generosity, whose only
+resource was a vocation more or less favored by natural gifts. He would
+say: "Come one, come all." But, of course, many were called, and few
+were chosen, the majority only making a passing visit.
+
+Then there were the finished artists. They took private lessons, coming
+to beg the master to put the finishing touch to their work, hoping to
+gain from him something of that spiritual flame which consecrates
+talent. I shall not undertake to speak of all, but I must quote a few
+names.
+
+One winter day, says _La Patrie_ for June 18, 1857, a woman, beautiful
+and still young, visited Delsarte, begging him to initiate her into the
+mysteries of Gluck's style:
+
+"You are the greatest known singer," she said; "no one can enter into
+the work of the great masters and seize their most secret thought as you
+do; teach me!"
+
+"Who are you?" asked Francois Delsarte.
+
+"Henrietta Sontag," replied the stranger.
+
+Madame Barbot had a moment of great triumph, and was summoned to Russia
+at the period of her success in Paris. She was perhaps the master's best
+imitator; she had somewhat of his tragic emotion, his style, his
+gesture; then what did she lack to equal him? She lacked that absolute
+_sine qua non_ of art and poetry--_personality_. She added little of her
+own.
+
+Even among those who could neither hear his lectures nor follow his
+lessons, Delsarte had disciples. A great singing-teacher, whom I knew at
+Florence, was eager to learn everything concerning the method. I often
+heard him ask a certain young girl, as he read a score: "You were
+Delsarte's pupil; tell me if he would have read this as I have done?"
+
+Even the famous Jenny Lind made the journey from London to Paris,
+expressly to hear the great singer.
+
+At his lectures were seen from time to time: M. and Mme. Amand Cheve,
+Mlle. Chaudesaigues, M. Mario Uchard--who, after his marriage, asked for
+elocution lessons for his wife (Madeleine Brohan),--Mlle. Rosalie
+Jacob, whose brilliant vocalization never won the renown which it
+deserved, Mme. Carvalho, who was not one of the regular attendants, but
+who trained her rare talent as a light singer, there, before the very
+eyes of her fellow pupils,--Geraldon, who was very successful in Italy,
+under the name of Geraldoni.
+
+Then, there was Mme. de B----, who appeared at the opera under the name
+of Betty; a beauty with a fine voice. This artist did not perfect her
+talents, being in haste to join the theatre in Rue Lepelletier, under
+the shield of another master. Although well received by the public, she
+soon gave up the profession.
+
+A memory haunts me, and I cannot deny it a few lines.
+
+Mme. M. may have been eighteen when she began to study singing with
+Delsarte, together with her husband, who was destined for a similar
+career. She had an agreeable voice, but a particularly charming face,
+the freshness of a child in its cradle, a sweet expression of innocence.
+In figure she was tall and slender. The lovely creature always looked
+like a Bengal rose tossing upon its graceful stalk. These young students
+considered themselves finished and made an engagement with the manager
+of a theatre in Brazil.
+
+"Don't do it," said Delsarte to the husband, knowing his suspicious
+nature, "that is a dangerous region; you will never bring your wife back
+alive."
+
+He prophesied but too truthfully.
+
+Soon after, we heard that the fair songstress had been shot dead by the
+hand of the husband who adored her. I like to think that she was
+innocent of more than imprudence. The story which reached us from that
+distant land was, that M. M. threatened to kill his wife if she
+continued to associate with a certain young man.
+
+"You would never do it!" she said.
+
+She did not reckon on the aberrations of jealousy. It was said, in
+excuse for the murderer, that she had defied him, saying:
+
+"I love him, and I do not love you!"
+
+After the catastrophe, the unfortunate husband gave himself up to
+justice. No case was found against him, but how he must have suffered
+when he had forever cut himself off from the sight of that enchanting
+creature!
+
+Three figures stand preeminent in the crowd: Darcier, Giraudet, Madame
+Pasca.
+
+I will proceed in order of seniority.
+
+The first named did not attend the lectures when I did, but I often
+heard him mentioned in society where he attracted attention by his
+rendering of Delsarte's "Stanzas to Eternity," Pierre Dupont's "Hundred
+Louis d'or," and many other impressive or dramatic pieces. I know the
+master considered him possessed of much aptitude and feeling for art.
+
+They met one evening at a large party given by a high official of the
+day. Darcier sang well, in Delsarte's opinion; but it was perhaps too
+well for a public made up of fashionables, not connoisseurs.
+
+"It takes something more than talent to move them," thought the real
+judge, annoyed; and with that accent familiar to well-bred people, which
+transfigures a triviality, he said to the singer:
+
+"Let them have _the bread!_"
+
+He referred to a political song ending with these lines:
+
+    "Ye cannot hush the moan
+    Of the people when they cry: 'We hunger ...'
+    For it is the cry of nature,
+    They want bread, bread, bread!"
+
+The guests were forced to give the attention which it demanded to this
+cry which aroused the idea of recent seditions, and the performer came
+in for his share.
+
+This artist may still be heard, but his talents are displayed in so
+narrow a circle that his reputation is a limited one. Yet it is said
+that his compositions and his mode of singing them attest to great
+vigor.
+
+Darcier, it seems, always retained a strong feeling of devotion for his
+master. He has been heard to say: "I fear but two things--Delsarte and
+thunder."
+
+Alfred Giraudet joined the grand opera as _primo basso cantante_. He was
+warmly received by the press, and had already won a name at the Opera
+Comique and at concerts. In this singer may be noted the firmness of
+accent and scholarly mode of phrasing, always in harmony with the
+prosody of the language, which are part of the tradition of the great
+school. He always bears himself well on the stage, and the sobriety of
+his gesture is a salutary example which some of his present colleagues
+would do well to imitate.
+
+He, too, was a loyal soul; he always regarded it as an honor to bear the
+title of _pupil of Delsarte_, the latter always writing to him as _my
+dear and last disciple_. I owe many of the memories and documents used
+in this volume to his kindness.
+
+Alfred Giraudet always took his audience captive when he sang Malherbe's
+verses--music by Reber--of which each strophe ends with the following
+lines:
+
+    "Leave these vanities, put them far behind us,
+    'Tis God who gives us life,
+    'Tis God whom we should love."
+
+The broad, sustained style, so appropriate to the words of the melody,
+finds a sympathetic interpreter in the young artist.
+
+Delsarte gave this with great _maestria_. The finale, particularly,
+always transports the listeners.
+
+If any one can revive the tradition of the master's teachings, it is
+certainly Giraudet, who understands the method and appreciates its high
+import.
+
+Madame Pasca was one of the latest comers; her advent was an event.
+There were pupils in the school who were destined for the theatre, and
+there were women of society; the future artist of the Gymnase partook
+of both phases. She had the advantages of a vocation and of a careful
+education; her fortune allowed her to dress elegantly, with the
+picturesqueness imparted by artistic taste.
+
+Chance, or a presentiment of speedy success, led her to take her place,
+on the first day, very near the master, in a peculiar seat--a sort of
+small, low easy chair which inspired one with a sense of nonchalance.
+She was in full sight. Her gaze, profound and sombre at times, roamed
+over the room with the natural air of a meditative queen. She inspired
+all beholders with curiosity and interest. The feeling which she aroused
+in her fellow-pupils was less distinct. Her rare advantages caused a
+vague fear in those who hitherto had securely held the foremost rank;
+her beauty created a sense of rivalry, unconscious for the most part,
+and yet betrayed by countless signs.
+
+There was a flutter of excitement throughout the school. This increased
+when the young woman confirmed, by her first efforts, all that her
+agreeable appearance and fascinating voice had promised. She declaimed a
+fragment from Gluck's "Armida" which other pupils sang; a word sufficed
+to change interest to sympathy.
+
+That accent touched all hearts. What visible grief and what a sense of
+suppressed tears when in her grave, slow tones she uttered the phrase:
+
+"You leave me, Rinaldo! Oh, mortal pain!"
+
+The master soon obtained from this marvellous aptness, what is rarely
+acquired, even after long years of study: dramatic effects free from all
+hint of charlatanism. The distinguishing point between Madame Pasca and
+Madame Barbot is, that the latter, while observing all the rules of the
+method avoided servile imitation.
+
+Delsarte was all the more delighted at his success, because he had
+revealed to his scholar her true calling. Madame Pasca came to him for
+singing-lessons, but her large, strongly-marked voice had little range.
+She was directed toward the art which she afterward practiced, and began
+her studies with tragedy. Some idea of what she did in this field may be
+formed from the effect which she produced in pathetic scenes, where the
+comedy allowed her serious voice to show its power and penetrating tone.
+
+I need not speak of Madame Pasca's success at the Gymnase and abroad. It
+is known and undoubted. Still she lacks the consecration of the stage
+where Mars and Rachel shone. When this artist left the school to enter
+upon her career, Delsarte said to her:
+
+"My dear child, you will spend your life in atoning for the crime of
+being my pupil."
+
+He was right, for Madame Pasca has no place at the Francais yet.
+
+I can speak from hearsay merely, of the lessons in elocution and
+declamation intended for preachers--particularly for the fathers of the
+Oratory,--never having been present at them. I only know that Father
+Monsabre and other famous ecclesiastics took lessons from Francois
+Delsarte.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XV.
+
+Delsarte's Musical Compositions.
+
+
+
+Delsarte paid but little attention to musical composition; still his
+musical works prove that he would have succeeded here as elsewhere, had
+he devoted himself particularly to the task.
+
+To say nothing of six fine vocal exercises and a number of songs which
+had their day, his "Stanzas to Eternity" were highly popular. A mass by
+him was performed in several churches; but his "Last Judgment,"
+especially, ranks him among serious composers.
+
+This setting of the _Dies Irae_ is touching and severe; the melody is
+broad, sombre, threatening; the accompaniment reminds one of the dull
+rattling of the skeletons reassuming their original shape. One seems to
+hear the uneasy hum of voices roused from long sleep.
+
+One incident showed the importance of this work. Various pieces of
+concerted music were being rehearsed one night at the church of St.
+Sulpice, for performance during the solemnity of "the work of St.
+Francis de Xavier." A close circle formed around the musicians; private
+conversation added a discordant note to the harmony; the church echoed
+back the footsteps of people walking to and fro.
+
+The _Dies Irae_ came! The music at first imitates the angel trumpets
+which, according to Christian belief, are to be heard when _time shall
+end_. The summons sounded four times.
+
+This mournful chant of reawakening generations instantly silenced every
+voice and every step; all were motionless; and the solemn melody alone
+soared to the vaulted roof.
+
+A touching story is told of this work. At a large and miscellaneous
+gathering, M. Donoso-Cortes, a well-known Spanish publicist, then
+ambassador to Paris, begged Delsarte to sing his _Dies Irae_. A space
+was cleared in the music-room.
+
+The score of the symphony for voice and piano, made by Delsarte himself,
+retains all his intentions and effects, to which his striking voice
+added greatly.
+
+Delsarte began:
+
+    "Dies irae, dies illa,
+    Solvet saeclum in favilla,
+    Teste David cum sybilla."
+
+The whole assembly were taken captive. M. Donoso-Cortes was particularly
+moved. His eyes filled with tears. He was not quite well that night.
+
+A week later the newspapers invited the friends of the illustrious
+stranger to meet at St. Philippe-du-Roule, to witness his funeral rites.
+Delsarte was present; the church was so hung with black that the
+choristers were alarmed for the effect of their motets.
+
+The artist recalled the request made him the previous week by the
+Spanish ambassador. He felt as if that same voice came from the bier and
+begged him for one more hymn to the dead. In spite of his emotion, he
+offered to sing the _Dies Irae_.
+
+To obviate the lack of resonance, Delsarte sang--according to his theory
+in regard to the laws of acoustics,--without expenditure of sound,
+almost _mezza voce_.
+
+No one was prepared. The listeners were all the more overcome by those
+tones in which the friend's regrets pervaded, with their sweet unction,
+the masterly diction of the singer.
+
+When his oldest daughter grew up, Delsarte seemed to take a fancy to a
+different style of composition. He would not give that young soul the
+regular repertory of his pupils, all passion and profane love. He wrote
+for Marie words and music--couplets which were neither romance nor song;
+nor were they quite canticles, although religion always lay at the base
+of them.
+
+I know none but Madame Sand who can be compared to Delsarte in variety
+of feeling and simplicity even unto grandeur. I have often observed a
+likeness and, as it were, a kinship between these great minds. And yet
+these two great souls, these two great spirits, never exchanged ideas.
+The artist never received the plaudits of the distinguished writer. Both
+regretted it.
+
+Delsarte said: "I lack that sanction," and Madame Sand wrote, when he
+had ceased to live: "I knew Delsarte's worth; I often intended to go
+and hear him, and some circumstance, beyond my control, always
+prevented."
+
+The world owes a debt to Delsarte for collecting under the title
+"Archives of Song," the lyric gems of the XVI, XVII, and XVIII
+centuries. And also the songs of the Middle Ages, the prose hymns and
+anthems of the church, arranged conformably to the harmonic type
+consecrated by the oldest traditions.
+
+"All these works," he wrote in his announcement of the work, "faithfully
+copied, arranged for the piano and transposed for concert performance,
+will finally be arranged and classified in separate volumes, to suit
+various voices, ages, styles, schools, etc., thus affording subject
+matter for a complete course of vocal studies."
+
+I do not think that death allowed Delsarte to complete this vast plan,
+but it was partly finished. In the collection, we find the scattered
+treasures of an eminently French muse: old songs picked up in the
+provinces, in which wit and naive sentimentality dispute for precedence.
+All this still exists, but who can sing as he did the song beginning: "I
+was but fifteen," or "Lisette, my love, shall I forever languish?" and
+so many others!
+
+To explain the inexpressible charm which distinguished Delsarte from all
+other singers, a songstress once said: "His singing contrives to give us
+the _soul of the note_. The others are _artists_, but _he_ is _the
+artist_."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XVI.
+
+Delsarte's Evening Lectures.
+
+
+
+In Francois Delsarte's school there were morning classes and evening
+classes. The former were more especially devoted to the theory, to
+lessons. Those of which I shall speak might be compared to lectures, to
+dramatic and musical meetings. A choice public was always present. Among
+them were:
+
+The composers Reber and Gounod;
+
+Doctor Dailly, Madame de Meyendorf--a great Russian lady, the friend of
+art;
+
+The Princess de Chimay and the Princess Czartoriska, who glided modestly
+in and took the humblest place;
+
+Madame Blanchecotte, whose charming verses were crowned by the Academy;
+
+Countess d'Haussonville, a familiar name;
+
+M. Joly de Bammeville, one of the exhibitors at the Exhibition of
+Retrospective Arts, in 1878;
+
+Doriot, the sculptor; Madame de Lamartine, Madame Laure de Leomenil, a
+well-known painter; Madame de Blocqueville, daughter of Marshal Davout,
+and author of his biography; a throng of artists, men of letters and
+scientists; certain original figures of the period.
+
+On one occasion we were joined by a man of some celebrity--the
+chiromancist Desbarolles. Delsarte had the courtesy to base his theory
+lesson upon the latter's system; he pointed out its points of relation
+with the sum total of the constitution of the human being. It was a
+lesson full of spirit and piquant allusions; one of those charming
+impromptus in which Delsarte never failed.
+
+From time to time certain persons in clerical robes appeared in the
+audience; the austerity of their habit contrasting somewhat strangely
+with the attire of the elegant women, men of fashion and young actors in
+their apprenticeship around them; but matters always settled themselves.
+One evening one of these priests was in a neighboring room, the doors of
+which were open into the drawing-room. If the songs seemed too profane,
+he kept out of sight; but so soon as the word _God_ was pronounced or a
+religious thought was mingled with a romance, or operatic aria, the
+servant of the altar appeared boldly, rejoiced at these brief harvests
+which allowed him to enjoy the whole picture.
+
+To give a correct idea of one of these evenings, I will copy an account
+which I have just written under the heading of "Recent Memories."
+
+By half-past eight, almost all the guests have assembled. A stir is
+heard in the next room. "He is coming ... it is he!" is whispered on
+every hand. The master enters, followed by his pupils. Almost at the
+same instant a young woman glides up to the piano. She is to accompany
+the singers; she enters furtively, timidly, as if she were not the
+mistress of the house. She is beautiful, but she does not wish this to
+be noticed; she has much talent, but she disguises it by her calm and
+severe style of playing, which does not prevent critical ears from
+noting her exactitude and precision, combined with that rare spirit of
+abnegation which is the accompanist's supreme virtue.
+
+Delsarte takes his place by the piano; his attentive gaze traverses the
+assembly; he exchanges a smile, a friendly gesture with certain of the
+audience who are always much envied. At this moment he is grave,
+serious, and as it were, penetrated by his responsibility to an audience
+who hang devoutly on his lips.
+
+The professor begins by developing some point in his system; he gives
+the law of pose or of gesture; the reasons for accent, rhythm or some
+other detail connected with the synthesis which he has evolved. He
+questions his scholars.
+
+The first notes of the piano serve to mark the change to practical
+instruction. The pupils sing in turn. The master listens with the
+concentrated attention peculiar to him; the expression of his face
+explains the nature of the remarks he is about to make, even before he
+utters them. He points out mistakes, he illustrates them.
+
+Little by little, however, his dramatic genius is aroused. Achilles
+seems to seize his weapons or Agamemnon his sceptre. The scholar is
+pushed aside, Delsarte takes his place.
+
+Then the artist is seen to the utmost advantage. There, dressed in the
+vast, shapeless coat which drapes itself about him as he gesticulates,
+his neck free from the cravat which puts modern Europeans in the
+pillory, and allowing himself greater space than at his concerts--there,
+and there alone, is Delsarte wholly himself.
+
+The piano strikes the opening notes of the prelude, and before the
+artist has uttered a word, he is transfigured. If he is singing serious
+opera, the oval of his face lengthens, the lines become more fixed, his
+cheeks shrink, his forehead is lighted up and his eye flashes with
+inspiration; the pallor of profound emotion pervades his features, the
+somewhat gross proportions of his figure are disguised by the firmness
+of his pose and the juvenile precision of his gesture.
+
+The part of _Robert the Devil_ is one of those in which Delsarte best
+developed the resources and suppleness of his genius. _Robert_ is the
+son of a demon, but his mother was a saint. He loves with sincere love;
+but even this love is subject to the influence of the evil spirit;
+hence, these outbursts followed by such tender remorse, that heart which
+melts into tears after a fit of rage. _Robert_ is jealous, less so than
+_Othello_ possibly, but _Robert's_ jealousy is stimulated by infernal
+powers and must differ in its manifestation. It was in these shades of
+distinction that Delsarte's greatness was apparent to every eye.
+
+Then came those indescribable inflections--words which pierced your
+heart, cold as a sword-blade: "Come, come!" says _Robert_, striving to
+drag _Isabella_ away, ... and that simple word was made frantic,
+breathless, by the accent accompanying it. No one who has not heard
+Delsarte utter the word _rival_ can conceive of all the mysteries of
+hate and pain contained in the word.
+
+In the trio from "William Tell," after the words, "has cut an old man's
+thread of life," Arnold feels that Gessler has had his father murdered.
+A first and vague suspicion dawned on the artist's face. Little by
+little, the impression became more marked, a clearer idea of this
+misfortune was shown by pantomime; his eye was troubled, it kindled,
+every feature questioned both William and Walter; the actor's hand,
+trembling and contracted, was stretched toward them and implored them to
+speak more clearly. He was horror-stricken at the news he was to hear,
+but uncertainty was intolerable; and when, after these touching
+preparations, Arnold himself tore away the last shred of doubt, when he
+uttered the cry: "My father!" there was not a heart--were it bathed in
+the waters of the Styx--which did not melt from the counter shock of
+such violent despair.
+
+The effects of rage, hate, irony, the terrors of remorse, the bitterness
+of disappointment, were not the only dramatic means in the possession of
+that artist whom Madame Sontag proclaimed as "the greatest known
+singer." None could express as did Delsarte, contemplation, serenity,
+tenderness--the dreams of a sweet and simple soul, and even the divine
+silliness of innocent beings. Wit and malice were equally easy for him
+to render.
+
+In the duet from "Count Ory:"
+
+    "Once more I'll see the beauty whom I love,"
+
+he was quite as apt at interpreting the hypocritical good-nature of the
+false hermit as the sentimental playfulness of the love-lorn page.
+
+In his school the comic style bore an impress of propriety and
+distinction, because it resulted from intellectual perceptions rather
+than it expressed the vulgar sensations manifested by exaggerated
+caricature and grimace.
+
+Delsarte thus put his stamp upon every style which he attempted; he
+renovated every part. He restored Gluck to life; he revealed Spontini to
+himself. The latter--the illustrious author of "Fernando Cortez"--was at
+a musical entertainment where Delsarte, whom he had never known, sang.
+He had drunk deep of the composer's inspiration: he showed this in the
+very first phrase of the great air:
+
+    "Whither do ye hasten? Oh, traitorous race!"
+
+He sang with such vigorous accent, such great _maestria_, that--in the
+mouth of Montezuma--the words must have sufficed to rally the Mexican
+army from its rout. He gave the cantabile:
+
+    "Oh country, oh spot so full of charm!"
+
+with indescribable sadness; desolation and despair seemed to fill his
+soul, and when the conquered man invoked the spirits of his ancestors:
+
+    "Shall I say to the shadows of my fathers,
+    Arise--and leave your gloomy tomb!"
+
+it seemed--so powerful was the adjuration--as if the audience must see
+the sepulchre open on the spot which the singer and actor indicated by
+his gesture and his gaze.
+
+Such profound knowledge, sublime talent, terrifying effects and
+contrasts so skilfully managed, and yet so natural in their transition,
+strongly moved the composer.
+
+"Do you know that you made me tremble?" Delsarte said to him after he
+had sang.
+
+"Do you know that you made me weep?" replied Spontini, charmed to see
+his work raised to such proportions.
+
+Delsarte was always master of himself, however impassioned he appeared.
+
+Often, in his lessons, when every soul hung upon his accents, he would
+stop abruptly and restore the part to his pupil. Then, as if a magic
+wand had touched him, all the attributes of the personage who had lived
+in him, vanished. His face, his form, his bearing resumed their usual
+appearance. The artist disappeared, and the professor quietly resumed
+his place, without seeming to notice that the audience--still shaken by
+the emotions they had felt--blamed him for this too prompt
+metamorphosis.
+
+Yet Delsarte was as agreeable a teacher as he was a marvelous artist.
+His instruction was enlivened by countless unexpected flashes; his
+sallies were as quick as gunpowder.
+
+"_I die!_" languidly sang a tenor.
+
+"You sleep!" said the master.
+
+"_Come, lady fair!_" exclaimed another singer.
+
+"If you call her in that voice, you may believe that she will never
+come!"
+
+"Don't make a public-crier of your Achilles," said the master to some
+one with a rich organ, given over to its own uncultivated power.
+
+All three smiled. The one tried to die more fitly; the other to call his
+lady fair in more seductive accents. The petulant outburst of the master
+taught them more than many a long dissertation.
+
+Delsarte made great use of his power of imitating a defect; he even
+exaggerated it so that the scholar, seeing it reflected as in a
+magnifying-glass, more readily perceived his insufficiency or his
+exaggeration.
+
+If this mode of procedure was somewhat trying to sensitive vanity, it
+was easy to see its advantages. The master's censure, moreover, was of
+that inoffensive and kindly character which is its own justification. It
+was a criticism governed by gaiety. Delsarte laughed at himself quite as
+readily as at the ridiculous performances which he caricatured, if
+opportunity offered. And if by chance any pupil less hardened to these
+assaults was intimidated or distressed, consolation was quick to follow.
+
+I remember that a young girl gave rise to one of these striking
+imitations. Delsarte put such an irresistible comedy into it, that the
+audience was seized with an uncontrolable fit of mirth. The master's
+mimicry had far more to do with this than the poor girl's awkwardness.
+But she did not understand this. Her heart sank at this harsh merriment
+and tears rushed to her eyes.
+
+"What is the matter," asked Delsarte; "why are you so disturbed? Among
+the persons whose laughter you hear, I do not think there is one who
+sings as well as you do! I exaggerated your mistake to make you aware of
+it; but you did your work in a way that was very satisfactory to all but
+your teacher."
+
+Speaking of this irony tempered by mercy, I recollect that Delsarte,
+after a great success, was once complimented by the singer P., whose
+popularity far exceeded that of the "lyric Talma."
+
+"And yet you have given me lessons," said Delsarte, emphasizing the word
+_yet_. Well! in such circumstances Delsarte showed neither the pride nor
+the malicious spirit which might be imputed to him; his mind seized a
+contrast which amused him, and his face interpreted it, but his voice
+remained soft and friendly; for, in spite of his biting wit and cutting
+phrases, his feelings were easily touched and his heart was truly rich
+in sympathy.
+
+Delsarte sang a great deal during his lessons; and perhaps he gained,
+from the point of view of the voice, by confining himself to fragments;
+seizing the opportune moment, and his voice not having had time to be
+tired, he could give, for a relatively long space, the clear, ringing
+tones necessary for brilliant pieces. Then his vocalization--which has
+only a mechanical value with most singers--became sobs, satanic
+laughter, delirium, and terror.
+
+Then, too, thanks to proximity, the most delicate tones could be heard
+to the extreme limits of the _smorzando_, still preserving that slightly
+veiled timbre unique in its charm, the mysterious interpreter of
+infinite sweetness and unspeakable tenderness.
+
+One might perhaps have made a complete analysis of Delsarte from hearing
+him sing some dramatic song, but let him give Eleazar's air from "The
+Jewess:"
+
+    "Rachel, when the Lord,"
+
+or that of Joseph:
+
+    "Paternal fields, Hebron, sweet vale,--"
+
+let the artist give this in a quiet style, as putting a mute upon his
+voice, and the observer forgot his part; he followed the entrancing
+melody as far as it would lead him into the realms of the ineffable
+whence he returned with the fascination of memory and the sorrow of
+exile.
+
+Let no one cry that this is hyperbole! One of the most remarkable
+accompanists in Paris, an attache of the Opera Comique, M. Bazile, was
+once so overcome by emotion in accompanying Delsarte that for some
+seconds the piano failed to do its duty.
+
+I might recount numberless proofs of admiration equal to mine. One
+evening, at a lecture, the lesson turned upon a song from "William
+Tell:"
+
+    "Be motionless, and to the ground
+    Incline a suppliant knee."
+
+For stage effect, Delsarte called in one of his children, about eight or
+nine years old.
+
+The subject is well known: William has been condemned to strike from a
+distance, with the tip of his arrow, an apple placed on the head of his
+child.
+
+William bids the child pray to God, and implores him not to stir.
+Reversing the action of all actors whom we usually see, the artist
+recited the fragment in a wholly concentric fashion; he did not declaim;
+he made no gesture toward the audience; but what emotion in his voice,
+and how his gaze hovered over and around the dear creature who was
+perhaps to be forever lost to him! He called the child to him, he
+pressed him to his heart; he laid his hands on that young head. His
+caresses had the lingering slowness of supreme and final things, the
+solemnity of a last benediction.
+
+    "This point of steel may terrify thine eyes!"
+
+says the text, and the tragedian, enlarging the meaning of the words by
+inflection and accent, showed that this precious life hung on a thread
+and depended on the firmness of his hand.
+
+At the last phrase:
+
+    "Jemmy, Jemmy, think of thy mother,
+    She who awaits us both at home!"
+
+his voice became pathetic to such a degree that it was difficult to
+endure it. The child, who had restrained himself during the tirade,
+began to sob. All eyes were full of tears. One lady fainted.
+
+At concerts his triumph was the same on a larger scale. I will give but
+one anecdote. A man of letters, who was also a skilled physician, said
+to Delsarte:
+
+"Do you know, sir, that I made your acquaintance in a very strange way?
+I was at the Herz Hall, at your concert. Your voice and singing so
+agitated me that I was forced to leave the room, feeling oppressed and
+almost faint."
+
+This impressionable listener referred to a day memorable in the annals
+of the master. Delsarte--he sang certain airs written for women in
+Gluck's operas--had selected Clytemnestra's song:
+
+    "A priest, encircled by a cruel throng,
+    Shall on my daughter lay his guilty hand."
+
+Just as this maternal despair reached its paroxysm, the artist raised
+both hands to his head and remained in the most striking attitude
+possible to overwhelming grief. Loud applause burst from every part of
+the hall; there was a frenzy, a delirium of enthusiasm. At the same
+time, a violent storm burst outside; the roaring thunder, the rain
+beating in floods upon the windows, the flashing lightning which turned
+the gas-lights pale, formed a tremendous orchestra for Gluck's music,
+and a fantastic frame for the sublime actor. Then, as if crushed by his
+glory, he prolonged that marvelous effect, and stood a moment as if
+annihilated by the frantic and tumultuous shouts of the audience.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XVII.
+
+Delsarte's Inventions.
+
+
+
+Delsarte always had his father's propensity to devote himself to
+mechanics that he might apply his knowledge of them to new things. When
+he felt his artistic abilities, not growing less, but their plastic
+expression becoming more difficult, owing to the cruel warnings of his
+departing youth, this tendency toward occupations more especially
+intellectual, became more marked.
+
+It may be helpful here to note that a _machine_--that positive and most
+material of all things--is the thing whose creation requires force of
+understanding in the highest degree.
+
+The brain, that living machine, lends its aid to the intellect; it
+represents the physical side; it is the spot where the work is carried
+on. Feeling has no part in the intellectual acts which work together in
+mechanical production,--mathematics playing the principal part,--it has
+no other share, I say, but to inspire certain persons with a passionate
+taste for abstract studies, which leads them toward useful and glorious
+discoveries.
+
+Thus, this thought of Delsarte and Pierre Leroux seems to be justified:
+that, in no case, can man break his essential triplicity.
+
+Delsarte, moreover, by changing the direction of his faculties, or
+rather by displacing the dominant, affirmed his freedom of will. If he
+did not always class himself with the strong, he still loved to reign
+over himself in the omnipotence of his will.
+
+The artist became an inventor; he took out letters-patent for various
+discoveries, among others for an instrument of precision applicable to
+astronomical observations. Competent persons have recognized the great
+value of this invention, conceived without previous study, and which
+remains hidden among the papers of some official.
+
+Only one of his mechanical conceptions was ever really put to practical
+use, that of the _Guide-accord_; it gained him a gold medal at the
+Exhibition of 1855; Dublin awarded it the same praise.
+
+Berlioz wrote of this invention, in his book entitled, "_A Travers
+Chants_:"
+
+"M. Delsarte has made piano tuning easier by means of an instrument
+which he calls the _phonopticon_. Any one who will take the trouble to
+use it will find that it produces such absolute correctness, that the
+most practiced ear could not attain to similar perfection. This
+_Guide-accord_ cannot fail to gain speedy popularity."
+
+On reading these lines, one is tempted to say: Here is an open-hearted
+writer; one likes this outburst in regard to a man who was in some sense
+his brother-artist. But what are we to think of this critic, when we
+reflect that in this same book, where he exalts the inventor, he never
+seems to remember Delsarte the revealer of a law, the creator of a
+science, the distinguished teacher, the famous artist. "He has rendered
+all pianists a great service by inventing this instrument," says the
+author of "_A Travers Chants_," and that is all. And he calls him
+_Monsieur_ Delsarte, as if he were some unknown musical instrument maker
+or dealer! Had the author of "William Tell" or "Aida" vexed him, he
+would have spoken of them as M. Rossini, M. Verdi!
+
+And yet he knew all about the man whom he seemed anxious to extinguish,
+for it was he who, in a musical criticism, wrote, among other praises:
+"It is impossible to imagine superior execution;" and elsewhere: "He
+renders the thoughts of the great masters with such brilliancy and
+strength, that their masterpieces are made accessible to the most
+stubborn intellect and the most hardened sensibilities are roused by his
+tones."
+
+What had happened to make the author of the "Pilgrims' March" so
+oblivious of his own admiration? I have heard that the two musicians
+quarreled as to the interpretation of a passage by Gluck, and that a
+correspondence much resembling a literary warfare, followed. Could this
+justify defection? Perhaps a desire to stifle this glory, thereby to
+lend more lustre to some _meteor_ or _star_, had some share in this
+supposed motive.
+
+At any rate, the affair is not to the honor of Berlioz. We should never
+deny, whatever may happen, the just judgment which we have uttered.
+Direct or indirect, the rivalries of artists are to be regretted for
+the sake of art itself, which lives on noble sentiments and high
+thoughts. Although we may laugh at the inconsequence of a critic who
+extinguishes with one hand that which the other hand brought to light,
+we cannot repress a deep feeling of sadness when we see upon what
+reputation too often depends, and when we ask ourselves how much we are
+to believe of the opinions of certain chroniclers.
+
+The fact which I have just quoted is the more surprising, inasmuch as
+Berlioz often drew his inspiration from the method of, and from certain
+modes of expression peculiar to Delsarte.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XVIII.
+
+Delsarte before the Philotechnic Association.[8]
+
+
+
+It was in 1865 that Delsarte was heard in public for the last time. The
+meeting took place at the Sorbonne where the lectures of the
+Philotechnic Society were then given.
+
+I see him before me now with his strong personality, his captivating and
+persuasive speech, his mind with its incisive flashes; but a visible
+melancholy swayed him and was to follow him through the variety and
+contrasts of the subjects on his program.
+
+And first, he takes pleasure in proclaiming to all the tale of his
+mistakes. Still young in heart and in mind, it seems as if in giving up
+hope on earth, he tolled the knell of all the enchantments that were
+passed and gone; that creative head fermenting with the ardor of
+discovery seems to doubt the future and bow beneath the burden of a
+sombre submission.
+
+And yet he is surrounded by picked men who admire him, by women, young,
+beautiful, brilliant, eager to hear him, as of old; but he is not
+deceived by all this. A magic spell has vanished; sympathy is not denied
+him, but perhaps he feels it to be less tender, less _affectionate_
+than in the radiant days of his youth.
+
+This explains how, in the course of that evening, a recrudescence of
+Christian feeling more than once tore him away from the undeniable
+assertions of science, not to drag him down to the puerilities of the
+letter, but to draw him up into the clouds of theology, whence hope of a
+future life, the consolation of farewell hours, smiled upon him.
+
+But if Delsarte appeared depressed, he was not to be conquered. His
+restless spirit betrayed him to those whom his mystic fervor might have
+misled.
+
+"Many persons," he said, "feel confident that they are to hear me recite
+or sing.
+
+"Nothing of the sort, gentlemen; I shall not recite, and I shall not
+sing, because I desire less to show you what I can do, than to tell you
+what I know."
+
+Soon a wonderful change passed over him. It seemed as if he had been
+covered with ashes for an instant, only to come forth in a more dazzling
+light. Hardly had his audience felt a slight sense of revolt at the
+words: "I shall not sing," than they found themselves in the presence of
+an orator not inferior to the greatest in the force of his images, and
+who, with all his serious and pathetic eloquence, never forgot the
+studied touches of the poet, or the dainty style of the artist.
+
+But I will not delay my reader to listen to me! It is Delsarte himself
+who should be heard. I will give a few extracts:
+
+"I count," he said, "on the novelty, the absolute novelty, of the
+things which I shall teach you: Art is the subject of this conversation.
+
+"Art is divine in its principle, divine in its essence, divine in its
+action, divine in its aim.
+
+"Ah! gentlemen, there are no pleasures at once more lasting, more noble
+and more sacred than those of Art.
+
+"Let us glance around us: not a pleasure which is not followed by
+disappointment or satiety; not a joy which does not entail some trouble;
+not an affection which does not conceal some bitterness, some grief, and
+often some remorse!
+
+"Everything is disappointing to man. Everything about him changes and
+passes away. Everything betrays him; even his senses, so closely allied
+to his being and to which he sacrifices everything, like faithless
+servants, betray him in their turn; and, to use an expression now but
+too familiar, they go on a strike, and from that strike, gentlemen, they
+never return.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"The constituent elements of the body sooner or later break into open
+rebellion, and tend to fly from each other as if filled with mutual
+horror.
+
+"But under the ashes a youthful soul still lives, and one whose
+perpetual youth is torture; for that soul loves, in spite of the
+disappointments of its hard experience; it loves because it is young; it
+loves just because it is a soul and it is its natural condition to love.
+
+"Such is the soul, gentlemen. Well! for this poor, solitary and
+desolate soul, there are still unutterable joys; joys not to be measured
+by all which this world can offer. These joys are the gift of Art. No
+one grows old in the realms of Art."
+
+After a pungent criticism of the official teaching of art as hitherto
+practiced, Delsarte explained the chief elements of aesthetics. He said:
+
+"AEsthetics, henceforth freed from all conjecture, will be truly
+established under the strict forms of a _positive science_."
+
+But, as in the course of his lecture he had more than once touched the
+giddy regions of supernaturalism, this formula seemed a contradiction to
+certain minds, yet enthusiastic applause greeted the orator from all
+parts of the hall.
+
+One paper, _L'Union_, said in this connection:
+
+     "M. Delsarte is a spontaneous soul, his mind is at once Christian
+     and free, his only passion is the proselytism of the Beautiful, and
+     this is the charm of his speech....I do not assert that everything
+     in it should be of an absolute rigor of philosophy," etc.
+
+The same paper says elsewhere:
+
+     "All these theories are new, original, ingenious, in a word,
+     _felicitous_. Are they undeniably true? What I can affirm is that
+     none doubt it who hear the master make various applications of them
+     by examples. Delsarte is an irresistible enchanter."
+
+The opposition of principles with which he is reproached, these doubts
+of the strength of his logic, will be greatly diminished if this point
+of view be taken: that Delsarte traced back an assured science, that he
+deduced from the faculties of man the hypothesis that these faculties
+are contained in essence and in the full power of their development, in
+an archetype which, to his mind, is no other than the Divine Trinity.
+Plato's ideal in aesthetics and in philosophy was similar although less
+precise.
+
+There is a saying that Italians "have two souls." In Delsarte there were
+two distinct types, the theistic philosopher and the scientist.
+
+Now, the philosopher could give himself up to the study of causes and
+their finality, that faculty being allotted to the mental activity; he
+could even, without giving the scientist cause for complaint, make, or
+admit, speculative theories regarding the end and aim of art, provided
+that the scientific part of the system was neither denied nor diminished
+thereby.
+
+And is there not a certain kinship between science and hypothesis which
+admits of their walking abreast without conflicting?
+
+Delsarte, as we have seen, rarely left his audience without winning the
+sympathy of every member of it. At the meeting of which I speak, he
+vastly amused his hearers by an anecdote. He doubtless wished to clear
+away the clouds caused by that part of his discourse which, by his own
+confession, had a good deal of the sermon about it.
+
+I will repeat the tale, a little exaggerated perhaps, but still very
+piquant, which doubtless won his pardon for those parts of his speech
+which might have been for various reasons blamed, misunderstood or but
+half understood!
+
+The story was of four professors who, having examined him, had each, in
+turn, he said, administered upon his [Delsarte's] cheeks smart slaps to
+the colleagues by whose advice he had profited in previous lessons.
+
+The following lines were the subject of the lesson:
+
+    "Nor gold nor greatness make us blest;
+    Those two divinities to our prayers can grant
+    But goods uncertain and a pleasure insecure."
+
+"The first teacher to whom I turned declared there was but one way to
+_recite them properly_, and this single method, you of course perceive,
+gentlemen, could be only his own.
+
+"'Those lines,' said he, 'must be recited with breadth, with dignity,
+with nobleness. Listen!' Upon which my instructor began to declaim in
+his most sonorous, most magisterial tones. He raised his eyes to heaven,
+rounded his gestures and struck a heroic attitude.
+
+"'Show yourself,' he resumed (after this demonstration), 'by the
+elevation of your manners, worthy of the lessons I have given you.'
+
+"'Ah!' I exclaimed, 'at last I possess the noble manner of rendering
+these fine lines.'
+
+"Next day, having practiced the noble manner to the utmost of my
+ability, I went to my second professor, fully persuaded that I should
+hear nothing but congratulations. Well!... I had hardly ended the
+second line, when a shrug of the shoulders accompanied by a terrible
+burst of laughter, very mortifying to my noble manner, closed my mouth
+abruptly.
+
+"'What do you mean by that emphatic tone? What is all this bombastic
+sermon about? What manners are these? My friend, you are grotesque.
+Those lines should be repeated simply, naturally and with the utmost
+artlessness. Remember that it is _the good La Fontaine_ who speaks!
+[accenting each syllable] _the-good-La-Fon-taine_--do you hear? There is
+but one way possible to render the lines faithfully. Listen to me.'
+
+"Here the professor tapped his snuff-box,--compressed his lips, dropped
+the corners of his mouth in an ironical fashion, slightly contracting
+his eyes, lifting his eyebrows, moving his head five or six times from
+right to left, and began the lines in a firm and somewhat nasal tone.
+
+"Ah!" I cried, amazed, 'there is no other way ... what wonderful
+artlessness, simplicity and truth to nature!'
+
+"So I set to work upon a new basis, saying to myself: 'Now, at last, I
+have got the natural style which fits the spirit of this charming work.
+I am very curious to know the impression which I shall make to-morrow on
+my third teacher.'
+
+"The moment came. I struck an attitude into which I introduced the
+elliptic expressions shown to me the day before, and with the
+confidence inspired in me by a sense of the naturalness with which I was
+pervaded, I began:
+
+    "'Nor gold nor great....'
+
+"'Wretch!' cried my third professor. 'What do you mean by that senile
+manner, that tart voice! What a Cassandra-like tone! You disgrace those
+beautiful lines, miserable fellow!'
+
+'"But, sir....'
+
+"'But, but, but. I will drop you from the list of my pupils, if you dare
+to utter a remark! You can do very well when you wish! But every now and
+then you are subject to certain eccentric flights. You sometimes imitate
+X---- well enough to be mistaken for him; then you are detestable, for you
+change your nature, and I will not permit it. Besides, it is a vulgar
+type. Stay, you looked like him just then, and it was hideous.
+
+"'Now, listen, and bear my lesson well in mind: _there is but one proper
+way of reciting those lines_, do you hear? _There is but one way_, and
+this is it.'
+
+"Here, my professor took a pensive attitude: then, as if crushed by the
+weight of some melancholy memory, he cast slowly around him a look in
+which the bitterness of a deep disappointment was painted. He heaved a
+sigh, raised his eyes to heaven, still keeping his head bent, and began
+in a grave, muffled and sustained voice:
+
+    "'Nor gold nor greatness....'
+
+"'See,' said my master, 'with what art I manage to create a pathetic
+situation out of those lines! That is what you should imitate!'
+
+"'Ah! my dear master, you are right; that is the only reading worthy of
+that masterpiece. Heavens, how beautiful!' I said to myself; 'decidedly,
+my _noble_ teacher and my _natural_ teacher understood nothing about
+this work. What an effect I shall make to-morrow at my fourth
+professor's class!'
+
+"Alas! a fresh disappointment awaited me at the hands of my fourth
+master. He was, perhaps, even more pitiless than the others to all the
+meanings that I strove to express.
+
+"'Why, my poor boy,' said he, 'where the deuce did you hunt up such
+meanings?' What a sepulchral tone! What is the meaning of that cavernous
+voice? And why that mournful dumb show? Heaven forgive me! it is
+melodrama that you offer us! you have done no great thing. You have
+completely crippled poor La Fontaine.'
+
+"'Alas! alas!' said I to myself, 'is my dramatic teacher as absurd as
+the other two?'"
+
+After the three preceding imitations, just as the audience had reached
+the height of merriment, the story-teller stopped.
+
+"I will excuse you, gentlemen, from the reasonings of my fourth
+professor, for I do not wish to prolong my discourse indefinitely."
+
+If this retreat was an orator's artifice--which may well be,--it was a
+complete success.
+
+There was a shout: "_The fourth! the fourth!_"
+
+"Well, gentlemen, the fourth, like the other three, claimed that his was
+the _only correct style_: I made no distinction between verse and prose,
+thus following the false method recently established by the
+Theatre-Francais. To his mind the cadence of the verse and the euphonic
+charm should outweigh every other interest. The pauses which I made
+destroyed its measure. I had no idea of caesura, my gestures destroyed
+its harmony, etc., etc. His pedagogic manner had nothing in common with
+that of his brethren."
+
+This episode was not a mere witticism on Delsarte's part; he intended it
+to prove his constant assertion--and with persistent right,--that
+previous to his discovery, art, destitute of law and of science, had had
+none but chance successes.
+
+Delsarte closed this session by a summary of the law and the science
+which I have set forth in this book; but I must say it was at this
+moment especially that he seemed anxious that his religious convictions
+should profit by his artistic wealth; all outside the sphere of rational
+demonstration is treated from a lofty standpoint, it is true, and is
+freed from the commonplaceness of _the letter_, but we can recognize
+none but a poetic and literary merit in it.
+
+It is to this latter period of his existence that many will doubtless
+try to fasten the synthesis of this great personality; but if any one
+wishes to gain an idea of Francois Delsarte, of his ability, the extent
+of his views, the power of his reason, the graces of his mind, his
+artistic perfection, it is in his law, in his science, in the memories
+which his lectures and his concerts left in the press of the time, that
+such an one must seek to understand him.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIX.
+
+Delsarte's Last Years.
+
+
+
+Before concluding these essays, my homage to the innovating spirit, the
+matchless art, the sympathetic and generous nature of Francois Delsarte,
+I make a final appeal to my memory, and, first, I invoke afresh the
+testimony of others.
+
+_La Patrie_, June 18, 1857, says in an enthusiastic and lengthy article:
+
+"His deep knowledge, his incessant labors, his long and fatiguing
+studies, have not allowed his life to pass unnoted; but although great
+renown, attached in a short space to his name, has sufficed for the
+legitimate demands of his pride, it has done nothing, it must be owned,
+to provide for the wants which the negligences of genius do not always
+foresee."
+
+Then, apropos of Gluck and other unappreciated composers of genius, the
+author of the article, Franck Marie, goes on:
+
+"With the confidence to which I recently referred, Delsarte has
+undertaken the reform. Sure of the success which shall crown his bold
+undertaking, he began almost unaided, a movement which was no less than
+a revolution. Between two snatches from Romagnesi or Blangini, the
+majestic pages of Gluck appeared to the surprise of the auditor. The
+heroes of the great master took the place of Thyrcis and Colin, the
+songs of Pergolese and Handel, coming from the inspired mouth of the
+virtuoso, at once aroused unknown sensations. Lully and Rameau,
+rejuvenated in their turn, surprised by beauties hitherto unsuspected."
+
+Earlier still (in the _Presse_ for December 6, 1840) in an article
+signed Viscount Charles Delaunay are these lines:
+
+"We are, to-night, to hear an admirable singer (Delsarte). He is said to
+be the Talma of music; he makes the most of Gluck's songs, as Talma made
+the most of Racine's verses. We must hasten, for his enthusiastic
+admirers would never pardon us if we arrived in the middle of the air
+from 'Alcestis;' and if all we hear be true, we could never be consoled
+ourselves, for having missed half of it."
+
+March 14, 1860, we read in the _L'Independance Beige:_
+
+"Among the many concerts announced there is one which is privileged to
+attract the notice of the _dilettanti_. We refer to that announced,
+almost naively, by the two lines: Concert by Francois Delsarte, Tuesday,
+April 4.--Nothing more! These two lines tell everything! Why give a
+program? Who is there in the enlightened world who would not be anxious
+to be present at a concert given by Delsarte? For, at _his_ concert, he
+will sing--he who never sings anywhere, at any price. Observe what I
+say: _never anywhere, at any price_, and I do not exaggerate."
+
+This assertion, which shows the indifference of Delsarte to the
+speculative side of art, is not without a certain analogy to the fact
+which follows. At one of his concerts he was to be aided by one of the
+great celebrities of the time; Rachel was to recite a scene from some
+play.
+
+The actress failed to appear. Some few outcries were heard. Delsarte
+considered this a protest: "I beg those who are only here to hear
+Mademoiselle Rachel," said he, "to step to the box-office. The price of
+their tickets will be returned." Applause followed these words, and the
+artist sang in a way to leave no room for regret.
+
+I quote the following lines from an article published by the "_Journal
+des Villes et des Campagnes_" in reference to a lecture given in the
+great amphitheatre of the Medical School, March 11, 1867:
+
+"Should I say lecture? It was rather a chat--simple, and wholly free
+from academic forms. In somewhat odd, perhaps, but picturesque and
+original form, M. Delsarte told us healthy and strengthening
+truths:--'The misery of luxury devours us, but the truth makes no
+display; it is modestly bare.'.... 'Art may convince by deceit; then it
+blinds. When it carries conviction by contemplating truth, it
+enlightens. Art may persuade by evil; then it hardens. When it persuades
+by goodness, it perfects.' These are noble words. Orator, poet,
+metaphysician, artist, M. Delsarte offers new horizons to the soul."
+
+The sources whence I draw are not exhausted, but I must pause.
+
+Thus all have hailed him with applause! Save for some few interested
+critics, without distinction of opinions, political, religious or
+philosophical, all differences were silenced by this admirable harmony
+of the highest aesthetic faculties: the spirit of justice conquered party
+spirit.
+
+But whatever may have been said--and whatever may still be said,--those
+who never heard Delsarte can never be made to comprehend him: in him,
+feeling, intellect, physical beauty and beauty of expression formed a
+magnificent assemblage of natural gifts and of acquired faculties. In
+this distinguished personality nature became art, to prove to us that
+outside her limits, as outside the limits of science, arbitrary
+agreement and the caprices of imagination can create nothing noble and
+great, persuasive and touching.
+
+With this artist there was never anything to betray the _artificiality_
+of a situation; interpreted by him, the creation, the invention, became
+real. 'From his lips a cry never seemed a studied effect. It was the
+rending of a bosom. A tear seemed to come straight from the heart; his
+gesture was conscious of what it had to teach us; in all these
+applications "of the sign to the thing," there was never an error, never
+a mistake. It was _truth_ adorned by _beauty_. In his singing, roulades
+became true bursts of laughter or true sobs.
+
+Yes, all these things surpass description.
+
+But what any and every mind may appreciate, is the lovable, loving and
+generous nature which invested these transcendant qualities with
+simplicity, with charm and with life. Delsarte had a wealth of
+sentiment which overflowed upon the humble and the outcast, as well as
+upon those favored by nature and by fortune. Without the riches which he
+knew not how to gain, disdainful as he was of petty and sinuous ways, he
+was benevolent in spite of his moderate means.
+
+He gave, perhaps, oftener than he accepted payment for them, his time,
+his knowledge and his advice to all who needed them. He admitted to his
+classes pupils whose beautiful voices were their only wealth, and who
+could pay him only in hope.
+
+We may say of Francois Delsarte, that so sympathetic a nature is rarely
+seen in this world of ours, where still prevail--tyrants to be
+destroyed--so much antagonism, jealousy and rivalry. If some few of the
+weaknesses natural to poor humanity may be laid to his charge, no one
+had a greater right to redemption than he.
+
+He once distressed a fashionable woman by speaking severely to her of
+one of her friends. She was much troubled, but out of respect, dared not
+complain. Delsarte saw tears in her eyes. He instantly confessed his
+fault, and acknowledged, with the utmost frankness, that he spoke from
+hearsay, and very lightly. He added that this mistake should be a lesson
+to him, and that he would think twice before becoming the echo of evil
+report.
+
+If, touching his science and his art, this master often made assertions
+which might seem conceited, aside from those convictions which, to his
+mind, had the character of orthodoxy, he used forms of speech of which
+judges without authority would never have dreamed. I have heard him say:
+
+"I cannot be much of a connoisseur in regard to pianists, for I only
+like to hear Chopin."
+
+He was always ready to praise the amateurs who came to him for a
+hearing, even if they were the pupils of other masters, finding out
+among all their faults, the little acquirements or talent which he could
+from their performance; sure, it is true, to correct them if he
+afterward became their instructor.
+
+Honors and fortune seemed within his grasp when he neared his end.
+America offered him immense advantages, with a yearly salary of $20,000,
+to found a conservatory in one of her cities. A street in Solesmes was
+named for him. The King of Hanover sent him, as an artist, the Guelph
+Cross, and, as a friend, a photograph of himself and family; it was to
+this prince, the patron of art, that Delsarte wrote regarding his
+"Episodes of a Revelator:"
+
+"I am at this moment meditating a book singular for more than one
+reason, which will be no less novel in form than in idea.... I know not
+what fate is in store for this work, or if I shall succeed in seeing it
+in print during my lifetime."
+
+He did not realize this dream.
+
+It was at about this same time that Jenny Lind took a long journey to
+hear him and to consult him about her art.
+
+At the period of the war of 1870-1871, Delsarte took refuge at
+Solesmes, his native place. He left Paris, with his family, Sept. 10,
+1870. Already ill, he lived there sad, and crushed by the misfortunes of
+his country. Nevertheless, during this stay, he developed various points
+in his method, and there his two daughters wrote at his dictation the
+manuscript, "Episodes of a Revelator;" his intellect had lost none of
+its vigor, but his nature was shadowed.
+
+Francois Delsarte returned to Paris March 10, 1871, after his voluntary
+exile. He soon yielded to a painful disease, doubtless regretting that
+he had not finished his work, but courageous and submissive.
+
+As far as it lay in my power, my task is done. I have furnished
+documents for the history of the arts; I have aroused and tried to fix
+attention upon that luminous point which was threatened with oblivion.
+
+Now I call for the aid of all, that the work of memory may be
+accomplished.
+
+There are still among us many admirers of Francois Delsarte, many hearts
+that loved him; a sort of silent freemasonry has been established
+between them; when they meet in society, at the theatre, at concerts,
+they recognize each other by mutual signs of regret or disappointment.
+His name is pronounced, a few words are interchanged.
+
+"Oh! those were happy days. Will his like ever be seen again?"
+
+To these I say: Let us unite to assure him his place in the annals which
+assert the glories of the artist and the man of science! Why should we
+not combine soon to raise a statue on the modest grave where he lies?
+Why should we not do for the innovator in the arts what the country
+daily does for mechanical inventors and soldiers?
+
+
+
+
+
+Part Fifth.
+
+The Literary Remains of Francois Delsarte.
+
+Translated by Abby L. Alger.
+
+
+
+
+Publisher's Note.
+
+
+
+_Part Fifth contains Francois Delsarte's own words._
+
+_The manuscripts were purchased of Mme. Delsarte with the understanding
+that they were all she had of the literary remains of her illustrious
+husband. They are published by her authorisation._
+
+_The reader will probably notice that at times Delsarte talks as if
+addressing an audience. This he really did, and some of the manuscripts
+are headings or draughts of his lectures before learned societies or of
+talks at his own private sessions._
+
+_These writings are given to the public in the same fragmentary
+condition that Delsarte left them in. They were written upon sheets of
+paper, scraps of paper, doors, chairs, window casements and other
+objects. A literal translation has been made, without a word of comment,
+and without any attempt at editing them. The aim has been to let
+Delsarte speak for himself, believing that the reader would rather have
+Delsarte's own words even in this disjointed, incomplete form--mere
+rough notes--than to have them supplemented, annotated, interpreted and
+very likely perverted by another person._
+
+_Edgar S. Werner._
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Francois Delsarte.]
+
+
+
+
+Extract from the Last Letter to the King of Hanover
+
+
+
+I am at this moment meditating a book, singular for more than one
+reason, whose form will be no less novel than its contents. Your majesty
+will read it, I hope, with interest.
+
+The title of this book is to be: "My Revelatory Episodes, or the History
+of an Idea Pursued for Forty Years."
+
+It will be my task to connect and condense into a single narrative all
+the circumstances of my life which had as logical consequences the
+numerous discoveries which it has been granted me to follow up,
+discoveries which my daily occupations left me neither time nor ability
+to set forth as a whole.
+
+I know not what fate is reserved for this book. I know not whether I
+shall succeed in seeing it in print during my lifetime. The minds of men
+are, in these evil days, so little disposed to serious ideas, that it
+seems to me difficult to find a publisher disposed to publish things so
+far removed from the productions of the century.
+
+But, however it may be, if I succeed in getting at least some part of my
+work printed, I crave, sire, your majesty's permission to offer the
+dedication to you. This favor I entreat not only as an honor, but also
+as an opportunity to pay public homage to all the kindnesses which your
+majesty has never ceased to lavish upon me.
+
+Francois Delsarte.
+
+
+
+
+Episode I.
+
+
+
+The subject in question was a scene in the play of the _Maris-Garcons_.
+The young officer, whose part I was studying, met his former landlord
+after an absence of several years, and as he owed him some money, he
+desired to show himself cordial.
+
+"Ah! how are you, papa Dugrand?" he says, on encountering him. This
+apostrophe is, therefore, a mixture of surprise, soldierly bluntness and
+joviality.
+
+At the first words I was stopped short by an almost insurmountable
+difficulty. This difficulty was all in my gesture. Do what I would, my
+manner of accosting papa Dugrand was grotesque; and all the lessons that
+were given me on that scene, all the pains I took to profit by those
+lessons, effected no change. I paced to and fro, saying and resaying the
+words: "How are you, papa Dugrand?" Another scholar in my place would
+have gone on; but the greater the difficulty seemed to me, the higher my
+ardor rose. However, I had my labor for my pains.
+
+"That's not it," said my instructors. Good heavens! I knew that as well
+as they did; but what I did not know was _why_ that was not it. It seems
+that my professors were equally ignorant, since they could not tell me
+exactly in what my way differed from theirs.
+
+The specification of that difference would have enlightened me, but all
+remained, with them as with me, subject to the uncertain views of a
+vague instinct.
+
+"Do as I do," they said to me, one after the other.
+
+Zounds! the thing was easier said than done.
+
+"Put more enthusiasm into your greeting to papa Dugrand!"
+
+The greater my enthusiasm, the more laughable was my awkwardness.
+
+"See here; watch my movements carefully!"
+
+"I do watch, but I don't know how to go to work to imitate you; I don't
+seize the details of your gesture." (It varied with every repetition.)
+"I don't understand why your examples, with which I am satisfied, lead
+to nothing in me."
+
+"You don't understand! You don't understand! It's very simple! Really,
+your wits must have gone wool-gathering, my poor boy, if you are unable
+to do what I have shown you so many times. Watch closely now!"
+
+"I am watching, sir, with all my eyes."
+
+"You certainly see that the first thing is to stretch out your arms to
+your papa Dugrand, since you are so pleased to see him again!"
+
+I stretched out my arms to their utmost extent; but my body, not
+following the movement, still wanted poise, and recoiled into a
+grotesque attitude. My teacher, for lack of basic principles to guide
+him, was unable to correct my awkwardness; and, vexed at his inability
+which he wished to conceal, fell back on blaming my unlucky intellect.
+
+"Fool," said he finally, "you are hopelessly stupid! Why are you so
+embarrassed? Are my examples, then, worthless?"
+
+"Indeed, sir, your examples are perfect."
+
+"Well, then, imitate them, imbecile!"
+
+"I will try, sir."
+
+In this, as in all preceding lessons, I could give only a blind
+imitation, which had not the small merit of being twice alike, even in
+my own eyes, for every time I reproduced them I observed marked
+variations which the master did not perceive.
+
+I went to my room, as I had done many times before, with tears in my
+eyes and despair in my heart, to renew my useless efforts, vainly
+turning and returning in all lights my unfortunate papa Dugrand.
+
+This cruel ordeal lasted five months without the least progress to
+lessen its bitterness.
+
+Heaven knows with what ardor I cultivated my papa Dugrand! I thought of
+him by day, and I dreamed of him by night. I clung to him with all the
+frenzy of despair, for I was determined not to be beaten. I was bound to
+triumph at any cost, for it was life or death to me. I resolved not to
+give up papa Dugrand, even though he should resist me ten years!
+
+My unceasing repetitions of (to them abominable) papa Dugrand caused my
+comrades to call me a bore. In short, I became disagreeable to all
+around me. Alas! all this study, all these efforts, could not overcome
+the stubborn resistance of papa Dugrand. My teachers were at their wits'
+end, and finally refused to give me another lesson on the subject. But
+nothing could daunt the ardor of my zeal.
+
+One day I was measuring the court-yard of the Conservatory, as usual, in
+company with papa Dugrand, and repeating my "how are you?" in every
+variety of tone, when, all at once, having got as far as: "How are you,
+pa--," I stopped short without finishing my phrase. It was interrupted
+by the sight of a cousin of mine, whose visit was most unexpected.
+
+"Ah! how are you?" I said; "how are you, dear cou--"
+
+Here my words were again interrupted by a surprise; but this surprise
+was far greater than that caused by the appearance of my cousin. Struck
+by the analogy between this greeting and the unstudied attitude which I
+had assumed under the action of a genuine emotion, I cried in a
+transport of joy which bewildered my innocent cousin: "Leave me--don't
+disturb me--I've got it--wait for me--stay where you are--I've got it."
+
+"But what is it that you've got?"
+
+"The dickens, papa Dugrand!"
+
+Thereupon I vanished like a flash, to run to my mirror and reproduce to
+my sight papa Dugrand, Judge of my astonishment: not only my gesture,
+until now so persistently awkward, seemed suddenly metamorphosed and
+became harmonious and natural; but, stranger yet, it did not correspond
+in the least to what had been prescribed. However, it was nature herself
+that had revealed this to me. Then, the movements of my body, but a
+moment before so discordant in my eyes, had acquired, under the
+influence of this gesture inspired from above, an ease and a grace that
+filled me with surprise. Without doubt, I now possessed the truth. An
+emotion, spontaneously produced and so deeply felt, could not result in
+an error.
+
+This is what had happened under the action of a natural surprise:
+
+My hands were not extended toward the object of my surprise--not the
+least in the world. By an anterior extension of the arms, they were
+raised high above my head, which, far from being uplifted with the
+exultation which I had hitherto simulated, was lowered to my breast; and
+my body, stranger yet, instead of bending toward the attractive object,
+bent suddenly backward.
+
+What a blow nature had given to my masters! What an overthrowal of all
+conjectures! My reason, before this sovereign decision, was humbled and
+dumbfounded. What arguments could my instructors invoke in the face of
+truth itself?
+
+"What," thought I, "are my masters absolutely ignorant of the laws of
+nature?"
+
+"What, does their reason, as well as mine, know nothing of all this?
+How is it that this much-praised reason has inspired me with effects
+precisely opposite to those that were prescribed? What is reason? Is it,
+then, a blind faculty?"
+
+Let us first see what these strange phenomena, whose importance I cannot
+deny without denying nature herself, signify.
+
+I was in the midst of these reflections when the recollection of my
+cousin came into my mind.
+
+"Good heavens," thought I; "I had forgotten all about my poor cousin;
+what will he think? I will hurry down, and, lest my precious ideas take
+flight, send him away, and return to my reflections.
+
+"Wretch that I am; I think only how to get rid of him, when he has so
+enriched me! This is a lesson to me. Poor boy! What opinion will he have
+of me? Ah, that is he whom I see stretched out on that stone bench. He
+has been patient, indeed. I believe that he is asleep!"
+
+"No, I am not asleep," said he, rising; "I am furious! Explain, if you
+are not too insane to be rational, the extraordinary manner in which you
+received me. Do you know that I have been waiting here for you more than
+an hour?"
+
+"Ah, my dear cousin," said I, embracing him warmly, "you do not know
+what a service you have rendered me. I embrace you now, my good friend,
+for the wonderful lesson you have given me. Without you I should never
+have found it out, and, rest assured, I shall never forget it."
+
+"What? Who? What is it?"
+
+"Zounds, papa Dugrand! I freely acknowledge that I have learned more
+from you in one second than from all my masters during four years."
+
+"Are you in your right senses?"
+
+The matter was finally explained. My cousin then told me about my home
+and my family; but I must confess that I paid little attention to the
+good news that he brought me, so excited and preoeccupied was my mind.
+Even then I could not help thinking of the fragility of the heart in its
+affections. We soon separated, and I hurried to my room, which seemed to
+me on this day-paradise itself.
+
+I gave myself up to my interrupted course of reflections.
+
+I had proved the impotence of my own reason, and also that of my
+masters. Now, as it was not probable that all my teachers and myself
+were more stupid than the rest of mankind--the common herd--I concluded
+that reason is blind in the matter of principles, and that all her
+instructions would be powerless to guide me in my researches. But, from
+another side, it was evident to me that without this reason I could not
+utilize a principle. What is human reason, that faculty at once of so
+little avail and yet so precious? What role does it play in art? I feel
+that this is most important for me to know.
+
+The answer to this question must spring from the study of the phenomena
+of instinct. Let us examine, then, what nature offers us freely.
+
+If these phenomena are directed by a physiological or a spiritual
+necessity, a necessity on which instinct is based, I am forced to admit,
+here, a reason that is not my reason; a superior, infallible reason in
+the disposition of things; a reason that laughs at my reason, which, in
+spite of itself, must submit under pain of falling into absurdity. I
+feel that it is only by this absolute submission of my reason that it
+can rise to the reason of things, since, of itself, it would know
+nothing. [See definition of reason.]
+
+Let us seek, then, without prejudice, the reason of the things that
+interested me, in order that my own reason may be raised to a higher
+plane. And when it shall be illumined with the light that must break
+upon it from the superior reason, I feel that my reason can generalize
+instruction, and will be all-powerful in arranging the conclusions that
+it may deduce. I am aware, from the utter impotence of my reason, that
+all principles must be accepted humbly, in order to understand the
+deductions. My reason does not know how to lead me to principles of
+which it is ignorant; but it knows how to guide me back. In other words,
+it is a blind person _a priori_, it is a luminary _a posteriori_. Though
+it may not know at first, once shown, it readily recognizes; though it
+may not divine, it learns by study; though it may not seize, it
+retains, masters and generalizes.
+
+Reason, then, is a reflex power, and as such, if, in a matter of
+principle, it recognizes itself as impotent and even absurd _a priori_,
+it knows that once in possession of the principle, it borrows from its
+light and becomes identified with it--an incomparable power of
+generalization.
+
+Let the reason of the attitudes that I had observed be once shown me,
+and my individual reason would possess the Archimedean lever with which
+I might open unknown worlds.
+
+My reason! Ah! I will identify it with the reason of things!
+Henceforward this shall be my method, this shall be my law.
+
+But the reason of things--who will give it to me? Is it not my reason
+itself? Oh, mystery! I will follow thee to the depths of thy abyss. Thou
+shalt have no more secrets from me, for God has said that He hides only
+from the wise and prudent man, but reveals Himself to the simple and to
+children. Yes, these things shall be given to me through my reason, if
+it will bow itself and be attentive and humble; if it will patiently
+await the teachings of a mute and persevering observation; if it will
+subordinate itself to the intuitive lights that constitute genius; and,
+finally, if it knows how to estimate things other than itself.
+
+Thus my reason, established, inflamed, consumed by the charm of its
+contemplation, will be transfigured in order to be more closely united
+to the sovereign reason toward which it ever reaches out.
+
+The first fruit of my observation consists in making me recognize, in
+the facts examined, the proof of a superior and infallible reason, and
+then to arm against my individual reason and all its errors. Another
+thing yet more strange, but easily comprehended on reflection, is that
+to this defiance, this contempt of self, I owe the boldness and the
+power of my investigations.
+
+Let us see, now, from which observations the preceding thoughts are the
+direct result.
+
+In the phrase, "How are you, etc.," my reason dictated this triple,
+parallel movement: Advancing the head, and the arms, with the torso on
+the fore-leg. Now, the similar phrase, "How are you, dear cousin,"
+although uttered in a situation identical with that of papa Dugrand,
+produced phenomena diametrically opposed to those that my reason had
+said were the only ones admissible. Is it not reasonable to suppose that
+the sight of an agreeable or loved object will excite in us a genuine
+feeling that before we had vainly striven to simulate? Does it not seem
+natural to extend the hand to a friend when, with affectionate surprise,
+we exclaim: "How are you, dear friend?" And should we ever think of
+drawing the body away from the object that attracts us? Finally, does it
+not seem that the head should be raised, the better to see that which
+charms us?
+
+Ah, no! All these things, apparently so true and so perfectly clear,
+are radically false. Facts prove this beyond a doubt, and with facts
+there can be on discussion, no argument. We must admit them _a priori_
+or renounce the truth. Here, as in all questions of principle, _the
+greatest act of reason consists in an act of faith_. This is absolutely
+undeniable.
+
+In the phrase, "How are you, papa Dugrand," the arms should be raised,
+the head lowered and the torso thrown back, supporting itself on the
+back leg. This was indeed a blow to the presumption of my poor reason,
+but should it complain? No, for it has gained even from its confusion
+most fruitful instruction.
+
+Let us see. In questioning the effects and the analogy, we shall
+doubtless explain their reason of being. Why should the head become
+lowered? I do not see all at first sight; but let us generalize the
+question and probably it will specify itself.
+
+When does a man bow his head before the object which strikes his eye?
+
+When he considers or examines it.
+
+Does he never consider things with head raised?
+
+Yes, when he considers them with a feeling of pride. It is thus that he
+rules them or exalts them; and also when he questions them with his
+glance; in fine, when what he sees astonishes or surprises him.
+
+This last statement contradicts the example in question, and seems to
+condemn it. Not the least in the world. How is this? Thus: when the
+astonishment or the surprise is not intense enough to shake the frame,
+the head wherein all the surprise is concentrated, is lifted and
+exalted. But so soon as that surprise is great enough to raise the
+shoulders and the arms, as by a galvanic shock, the head takes an
+inverse direction, it sinks and seems anxious to become solid to offer
+more resistance to that which might attack it, for the first instinctive
+movement in such a case is to guard against any unpleasant event; then
+if the head is lifted to look at that which surprises it, it is because
+it has no great interest in the recognition of that which it considers;
+but as soon as that interest commands it to examine, to recognize, it is
+instantly lowered and placed in the state of expectation.
+
+O, now it becomes clear.
+
+Now, how does surprise cause us to lift our arms?
+
+The shoulder, in every man who is agitated or moved, rises in exact
+proportion to the intensity of his emotion.
+
+It thus becomes the thermometer of the emotions. Now, the commotion that
+imprints a strong impression, communicates to the arms an ascending
+motion which may lift them high above the head.
+
+But why do not the arms, in an agreeable surprise, tend toward the
+object of that surprise?
+
+The arm should move gently toward the object that it wishes to caress.
+Under the rapid action of surprise, therefore, it could only injure or
+repel that object.
+
+This it does in affright.
+
+But instinct--that marvelous agent of divine reason--in that case turns
+the arms away from the object which they might injure by the rapidity of
+their sudden extension, and directs them toward heaven, leads them to
+rise as if expressing thanks for an unexpected joy, so true it is that
+everything is turned to use and is modified under the empire of our
+instinct. Certainly, there is no similarity between this and the
+superfluous action, the inconsequent movements determined by the working
+of a rule without a reason. And this is so because in all that instinct
+suggests, it is the Supreme Artist himself who disposes of us and acts
+in us, while whatever is suggested by a reason insufficiently inspired
+by the contemplation of the divine handiwork is fatally incoherent, for
+we thus pretend to substitute ourselves for God, and God thenceforth
+leaving us to ourselves, surrenders us to all the discordant effects of
+an inconsequential and vain conception.
+
+It remains to find the justificatory reason for this retroactive
+movement of the body, which seems illogical at first sight.
+
+Let us inquire in what case and under the action of what emotions a man
+may shrink from the object which he is considering.
+
+In the first place, he shrinks back whenever it inspires him with a
+feeling of repulsion. He shrinks from it particularly when it inspires
+him with fright. This is a matter of course and self-evident.
+
+In what case does the body take an inverse direction to the object
+which attracts it? This we must know before we can explain the
+phenomenon in question.
+
+We move away from the thing which we contemplate to prove to it,
+doubtless, the respect and veneration that it inspires. In fact, it
+seems a lack of respect to that which we love to approach it too
+closely; we move away that we may not profane it by a contact which it
+seems might injure its purity.
+
+Thus the retrograde movement may be the sign of reverence and
+salutation, and moreover a token that the object before which it is
+produced is more eminent and more worthy of veneration.
+
+A salutation without moving shows but little reverence, and should only
+occur in the case of an equal or an inferior.
+
+In justification of the actual fact, let me give another observation of
+quite another importance.
+
+When a painter examines his work, he moves away from it perceptibly. He
+moves away in proportion to the degree of his admiration of it, so that
+the retroactive movement of his body is in equal ratio to the interest
+that he feels in contemplating his work, whence it follows that the
+painter who examines his work in any other way, reveals his indifference
+to it.
+
+The picture-dealer usually proceeds in quite another manner. He examines
+it closely and with a magnifying-glass in hand. Why is this? Because it
+is less the picture which he examines than the handiwork of the painter,
+the actual work which is the chief object of his survey.
+
+But why does the artist move away from the work which he contemplates?
+The better to seize the total impression. For instance: if it be a full
+length portrait and the artist studies it too closely he sees, I will
+suppose, the nose of his portrait and nothing more. If he moves a little
+farther off he sees a little more, he sees the head; still farther and
+he sees both the head and the torso which supports it. Finally, moving
+still farther away, he gets a view of the whole and thus seizes its
+harmonious relations. This inspection may be called synthetic vision,
+and in opposition to this, direct vision, which I assumed before
+instinct taught me better, is but short and limited.
+
+To sum up: If instinct did not lead us to retroact, to examine an object
+unexpectedly offered to our gaze, each surprise would expose us to
+error.
+
+Now we must retroact to see an object as a whole and not expose
+ourselves to error, and then, too, does not the love which a creature
+inspires within us naturally extend to the medium which surrounds him,
+and in this way does it not seem as if all that touched him partook of
+his life and thus acquired some title to our contemplation?
+
+Thus my mind, tortured by one preoccupying thought, had, thanks to the
+fixed idea which swayed it, found wondrous lessons in the simple
+incident of my cousin's return, otherwise so devoid of interest; and I
+may truly say that the lesson learned from meeting my cousin taught me
+more than all those I had received in the space of three years. In
+short, I had learned how vain is advice dictated by the caprice of a
+master without a system! I had learned the inanity of individual reason
+in a matter of experience. I knew that certain laws existed, that those
+laws proceeded from a Supreme Reason, an immense centre of light, of
+which each man's reason is but a single ray. I knew without a doubt how
+ignorant my masters were of those laws to the study of which I meant to
+devote my life. I possessed facts which I saw could be applied in
+countless ways, luminous doctrines radiating from the application.
+
+Thenceforth I had the nucleus of the science I had so vainly asked of my
+masters, and I did not despair of formulating it.
+
+Judge of my joy! The facts I then found myself the possessor of, seemed
+to me more valuable than all the treasures of the world.
+
+
+
+
+Episode II.
+
+
+
+Some time later, I again saw my worthy cousin, the innocent cause of all
+my joys. He was a medical student, and came to propose a visit to the
+dissecting-room. I did not hesitate to accept; the proposal harmonized
+with my desire.
+
+I did not go, as so many go to the morgue, merely to see dead bodies.
+No; the curiosity that impelled me, and the avidity with which I pursued
+the object of my study, was not to be so easily satisfied.
+
+Dead bodies only attracted me when they were--if not dissected--at least
+flayed. Children break their dolls to see what there is inside; so I,
+too, wanted to see what there was in a corpse. It seemed to me that
+under the mutilations which the scalpel had inflicted on the body, I
+should find the answer to more than one enigma--might solve some of the
+secrets of life.
+
+The prospect of this visit had the charm of a pleasure party to me. I
+made it a holiday and awaited the hour with impatience.
+
+But, on arriving, when I found myself in that place chill and gloomy as
+the tomb; when I felt choked by the mephitic gases that arose from this
+seat of infection; when I found myself in the presence of a heap of
+corpses mutilated by the scalpel, disfigured by putrefaction and
+partially devoured by rats and worms; when, beneath tables laden with
+these horrible remains, I saw mean tubs filled with human entrails
+mingled with limbs and heads severed from their trunks; when I felt
+fragments of flesh reduced to the state of filthy mud, clinging to my
+feet, my heart throbbed violently, and I was overcome by an
+indescribable sense of repulsion.
+
+"What," I said to myself, "those shapeless and putrifying masses have
+lived! They have thought, they have loved! And, who would believe it
+from the horror and disgust that they inspire, they have been loved,
+cherished, perhaps adored! Ah! if, as some think, the soul is not
+immortal, if so many aspirations, so many schemes, so many hopes are to
+end here--what is man?"
+
+But yet more lamentable food for thought was reserved for me: the
+spectacle of a ruin yet more profound than those which my eyes could
+scarce endure, was to appear before me in all its hideousness.
+
+In fact, there reigns in these gloomy halls where no tear has ever
+fallen, no prayer has ever been heard and no ray of hope has ever
+pierced--there reigns something yet colder than death, something more
+unwholesome, more nauseous, more deleterious than the putrid miasmas
+that infect the air, something more sad to see than the nameless
+fragments of extinct life, something more loathsome than those filthy
+and disgusting remnants, something more repulsive than those noses eaten
+by worms and those empty eyeballs devoured by rats. I mean the cynicism
+of the dwellers in that place; I mean their insensibility, their
+indifference and calm heedlessness in the presence of such grave
+subjects for thought. I mean that lack of perception, that spirit of
+negation and revolt of which those wretched men make a boast and which
+they obstinately oppose to all religious sentiment, all principle of
+tradition or revealed authority. I mean the atheism and ceaseless
+mockery with which they invariably meet any generous impulse aroused in
+an honest soul by a healthy faith.
+
+This struck me even more sensibly than the spectacle of death and
+dissolution which I have striven to describe. Thus the apparently living
+men who haunt this spot are more truly dead than the corpses upon which
+they exercise their pretended science. They seemed to me ruins far more
+terrible than those of the body, ruins which repelled all hope, being
+born of doubt and leading to negation.
+
+If the mutilated and half-devoured bodies that lay before me, filled me
+with horror and disgust, they, at least, left within me a faint
+lingering hope surviving death; but the state of blindness of those
+souls who have lost consciousness of their being and even the feeling of
+their existence, the shadowy abyss into which they allow themselves
+complaisantly to glide, the nullity which they adorn with the title of
+science,--all this filled me with fright, for I felt the doubt and
+despair into which contact with it would inevitably have plunged me,
+if, by a special favor, the tone and mimetics, alike self-sufficient and
+mocking, of these free-thinkers, as they are now styled, had not, from
+the first, inspired me with aversion for them and a salutary hatred of
+their doctrine.
+
+And yet, amidst so many repulsive objects, the faculty of observation to
+which I already owed such fruitful remarks was not dormant in me: I had
+already asked myself by what evident sign one could recognize a recent
+corpse.
+
+From this point of view, I made a rapid exploration, and I questioned
+the various corpses left almost intact; I sought in some portion of the
+body, common to all, a form or a sign invariably found in all.
+
+The hand furnished me that sign and responded fully to my question.
+
+I noticed, in fact, that in all these corpses the thumb exhibited a
+singular attitude--that of adduction or attraction inward, which I had
+never noted either in persons waking or sleeping.
+
+This was a flash of light to me. To be yet more sure of my discovery, I
+examined a number of arms severed from the trunk; they showed the same
+tendency. I even saw hands severed from the forearm; and, in spite of
+this severing of the flexor muscles, the thumb still revealed this same
+sign. Such persistence in the same fact could not allow of the shadow of
+a doubt: I possessed the sign-language of death, the semeiotics of the
+dead.
+
+I rejoiced, foreseeing the service which this discovery would render
+upon a battle-field, for instance, where more than one man risks being
+buried alive. I divined, moreover, something of its artistic importance.
+
+I then questioned my cousin and the other students present in regard to
+the symptomatics of death, and I saw with surprise that, not only had
+the expression of this phenomenon escaped them hitherto, but that they
+had no exact and precise knowledge concerning this grave and important
+question.
+
+There remained, in order to complete my discovery and to deduce useful
+results from it, to verify the symptom on the dying man. It was
+important for me to know in what degree it might become manifest on the
+approach of death.
+
+My wishes were gratified as if by magic, for I was led from the school
+of anatomy to that of clinical medicine. There a house-student, a friend
+of my cousin, placed me beside a dying patient, and I examined with the
+utmost attention the hands of the unhappy man struggling against the
+clutches of inevitable death.
+
+At first I observed something strange in regard to myself, namely that
+the emotion which such a sight would have caused me under any other
+circumstances, was absolutely null at this moment; close attention
+dulled all feeling in me. I then understood the courage which may
+inspire the surgeon in the discharge of his duty; and I drew from this
+observation deductions of great artistic interest.
+
+Now I proved that the thumbs of the dying man contracted at first in
+almost imperceptible degree; but as the last struggle drew near, and in
+the supreme efforts made by the patient to hold fast to the life which
+was slipping from him, I saw all his fingers convulsively directed
+toward the palm of the hand, thus hiding the thumbs which had previously
+approached that centre of convergence. Death speedily followed this
+crisis and soon restored to the fingers a more normal position; but the
+contraction of the thumb persistently conformed to my previous
+observations. The presence and progress of this phenomenon in the dying
+was invariably confirmed by numerous tests which I afterward tried.
+
+Thus, I had acquired the proof that, not only does the total adduction
+of the thumb characterize death, but that this phenomenon indicates the
+approach of death in proportion to its intensity. I, therefore,
+possessed the fundamental principle of a system of semeiotics hitherto
+unknown to physiologists; but this principle, already so full of
+interest, must be made profitable to art.
+
+A multitude of pictures, which in former times I had admired at the
+museum, passed before my mind's eye. I recalled battle-scenes where the
+dying and the dead are represented; descents from the cross where Christ
+is necessarily represented as dead. The idea struck me that I would go
+and verify the action of the thumb in these various representations
+which the painter's fancy has given us of death.
+
+It was on a Sunday. The Louvre was on my way to the Conservatory,
+where, as is well known, I lived as pensioner.
+
+I had often traversed the galleries of the Louvre; but now I was armed
+with a criterion that would give my criticisms indisputable authority.
+
+The ignorance of the fact I sought, even among artists of renown, was
+not long in being made apparent: all those hands, where they thought
+they had depicted death, afforded me nothing but the characteristics of
+a more or less peaceful sleep. The correctness of my criticism may be
+verified anywhere.
+
+Thus, the mere discovery of a law sufficed to elevate a poor boy of
+fifteen years, destitute of all science and deploring the deep ignorance
+in which he had hitherto been left, to the height of an infallible
+critic in whom the greatest artists found no mercy. I then understood
+all the power, all the fertility given by an acquaintance with the laws
+that regulate the nature of man, and in how much even genius itself may
+be rendered sterile by ignorance of those laws which simple observation
+would make them acquainted with. But, I thought, my discovery is not
+complete, for if, thanks to it, I have succeeded in proving that all
+these pictures of death are false, true only as representing sleep, it
+is, on the other hand, impossible for me to prove in how far those
+figures live, in which the painter aims to represent life. I must,
+therefore, seek the sign of life to complete my standard of criticism.
+
+Suddenly, struck with amazement by the dazzling rays of unexpected
+light, I asked myself whether the criterion of death would not reveal to
+me, by the law of contraries, the thermometer of life. It should _a
+priori_--it does!
+
+Still I felt that it was not here that I might be permitted to
+contemplate the vital phenomena attached to the thumb: since death was
+so badly rendered here, I had strong reasons for thinking that life was
+no better treated.
+
+I left the museum, then, where I had nothing more to learn; and, to
+observe living mimetics of the thumb, I went out on the promenade of the
+Tuileries thronged by aristocratic people. I carefully examined the
+hands of this crowd, but I was not long in discovering that these
+elegant idlers had nothing good to offer. "This class," I said to
+myself, "is false from head to foot. They live an artificial, unnatural
+life. I see in them only artifice, or an art dishonored by using it to
+mask their insincerity and artificiality."
+
+The happy idea came to me to mingle with mothers, children and nurses.
+
+"Ah," said I, "in the midst of this throng, laughing and crying at the
+same time--singing, shouting, gesticulating, jumping, dancing--here is
+life! If the contemplation of this turbulent and affectionate little
+world does not instruct me, where shall I find the solution I seek?"
+
+I did not have to wait long for this solution.
+
+I noticed nurses who were distracted and indifferent to the children
+under their charge; in these the thumb was invariably drawn toward the
+fingers, thus offering some resemblance to the adduction which it
+manifests in death. With other nurses, more affectionate, the fingers of
+the hand that held the child were visibly parted, displaying a thumb
+bent outward; but this eccentration rose to still more startling
+proportion in those mothers whom I saw each carrying her own child;
+there the thumb was bent violently outward, as if to embrace and clasp a
+beloved being.
+
+Thus I was not slow to recognize that the contraction of the thumb is
+inversely proportionate, its extension directly proportionate to the
+affectional exaltation of the life. "No doubt," I said to myself, "the
+thumb is the _thermometer of life_ in its extending progression as it is
+of _death_ in its contracting progression."
+
+Countless examples have confirmed this. I could even, on the spot, form
+an idea of the degree of affection felt for the children entrusted to
+their care, by the women who passed before my eyes.
+
+Sometimes I would say: "There is a servile creature whose heart is dead
+to that poor child whom she carries like an inert mass; the position of
+the thumb drawn toward the fingers renders that indifference evident,"
+Again it was a woman in whom the sources of life swelled high at the
+contact with the dear treasure which she clasped; that woman was surely
+the mother of the child she carried, the excessive opening of her thumb
+left no room for doubt.
+
+Thus my diagnostics were invariably confirmed by exact information, and
+I could see to what extent the remarks which I had recorded, were
+justified. I drew from them most interesting applications for my special
+course of study.
+
+Thus, suppose I had asked the same service from three men, and that each
+had answered me with the single word _yes_, accompanied by a gesture of
+the hand. If one of them had let his thumb approach the forefinger, it
+is plain to me that he would deceive me, for his thumb thus placed tells
+me that he is dead to my proposition.
+
+If I observe in the second a slight abduction of the thumb, I must
+believe that he, although indisposed to oblige me, will still do so from
+submission.
+
+But if the third abducts his thumb forcibly from the other fingers, oh!
+I can count on him, he will not deceive me! The abduction of his thumb
+tells me more in regard to his loyalty than all the assurances which he
+might give me.
+
+Behold, then, an intuition whose correctness the experience of forty
+years has not contradicted.
+
+It is hard to imagine the joy I felt at my discovery produced and
+verified in a single day by so many examples, differing so greatly one
+from another and of such diverse interest.
+
+All the emotions of this extraordinary and fertile day had so
+over-excited my imagination that I had great difficulty in calming my
+poor brain, and far from being able to enjoy the rest which I so much
+needed, I was a prey to wakefulness in which the turmoil of my ideas at
+one time made me fear that I was going mad. I then felt for the first
+time the frailty of the instrument of thought in regard to the faculty
+which rules and governs it.
+
+In brief, I was--thanks to my double discovery--in possession of a law
+whose deductions ought to touch the loftiest questions of science and
+art,--and I was enabled thenceforth to affirm upon strong and
+irrefragable proof that the thumb, in its double sphere of action, is
+the thermometer of life as well as of death.
+
+
+
+
+Episode III.
+
+
+
+The day after that which had been so fruitful both in emotions and
+discoveries, a thousand recollections tumultuously besieged my mind and
+still disturbed me. I saw that if I could not contrive to classify them
+in strict order of succession, I should never be able to derive any
+practical value from them. I therefore took up link by link the chain of
+events of the previous day, but in inverse order. That is, I began my
+course where I left off the day before, and thus proceeded toward the
+Tuileries to end at the Medical School.
+
+At the retrospective sight of all that merry, noisy little world, of all
+those fat, cheerful nurses, careless and laughing as they were, of those
+mothers each so tenderly expansive in contemplation of her child, so
+happy in its health and strength, so joyous and so proud of its small
+progress, the recollection of a phenomenon which I had not at first
+observed struck me with all the force of a vivid actuality.
+
+I should say, by the way, that it is much more to the strength of my
+memory than to the present observation of facts, that I owe these
+remarks. Stability is the _sine qua non_ of the things one proposes to
+examine, and the memory must possess the singular power of communicating
+fixity to fugitive things, permanence to instantaneousness, and
+actuality to the past.
+
+Now, the phenomena of life occurring with the rapidity of lightning can
+only be studied retrospectively; that is to say, in the domain of
+memory, except to be verified if the attention, free from all other
+preoeccupation, allows us to seize them on the wing once more. The remark
+suggested to me by memory seemed all the more interesting because it
+formed in a new order of facts a flagrant opposition to the opinion
+formulated by my masters under the title of theory. Thus nature once
+more proved to me that the only point in which I had found them to
+agree, rested upon a fundamental error. I have since recognized that it
+is thus in the majority of cases, so that one may almost certainly
+pronounce erroneous any statement in regard to which all the masters of
+art agree.
+
+This proposition at first seems inexplicable, but its reason is readily
+understood by those who know the sway of falsehood over a society
+perverted in its opinions as in its tastes; to those who know the
+deplorable facility with which error is spread and the tenacity with
+which it clings to our poor mind. Error, moreover, owes to our abasement
+which it flatters and crushes, the privilege of freedom from
+contradiction, and it is only in regard to truth that the minds of men
+are divided and contend.
+
+On retracing in my memory the walks I had taken in the Tuileries, I was
+struck by an important fact amidst the phenomena called up: the voice
+of the nurse or mother, when she caressed her child, invariably assumed
+the double character of tenuity and acuteness. It was in a voice equally
+sweet and high-pitched that she uttered such words as these: "How lovely
+he is!" ... "Smile a little bit for mamma!" Now this caressing
+intonation, impressed by nature upon the upper notes of all these
+voices, forms a strange contrast to the direction which all
+singing-teachers agree in formulating; a direction which consists in
+augmenting the intensity of the sound in direct ratio to its acuteness.
+Thus, to them, strange to say, the entire law of vocal shades would
+consist in augmenting progressively the sound of the ascending phrase or
+scale, and diminishing in the same proportion for a descending scale.
+Now, nature, by a thousand irrefutable examples, directs us to do the
+contrary, that is, she prescribes a decrease of intensity (in music,
+_decrescendo_) proportionate to the ascensional force of the sounds.
+
+Another blow, I thought, for my masters, or rather I receive it for
+them, for they, poor fellows, do not feel it. But how can these
+phenomena of nature have escaped them, and by what indescribable
+aberration can they direct, under the name of law, a process absolutely
+contrary to that so plainly followed by those same phenomena? However, I
+added, every supreme error under penalty of being self-evident, must, to
+endure, necessarily rest upon some truth or other. Now, on what truth do
+so many masters claim to base so manifest an error? This is what we
+must discover.
+
+I was now convinced that caressing, tender and gentle emotions find
+their normal expression in _high_ notes. This is beyond all doubt. Thus,
+according to the foregoing examples, if we propose to say to a child in
+a caressing tone that he is a darling, it would clearly be very bad
+taste to bellow the words at him on the pretext that, according to
+singing-teachers, the intensity of the sound is augmented in direct
+ratio to its acuteness.
+
+But my memory, as if to confirm this principle, and to show its contrast
+with the custom admitted by those gentlemen, suggests to me other
+instances derived from the same source. Let a mother be _angry_ with her
+child and threaten him with punishment; she instantly assumes a grave
+tone which she strives to render powerful and intense. Here, then, on
+the one hand (and nature proclaims it), the voice decreases in intensity
+in proportion as it rises higher; and, on the other hand, it increases
+in proportion as it sinks. This double fact, undeniably established,
+constitutes an unanswerable argument against the system in question. But
+it is not, therefore, necessarily its radical and absolute refutation.
+No, doubtless, whatever may be the significance and the number of the
+facts opposed to the directions of those gentlemen, these facts do not
+seem to exclude exceptions upon which they may be founded. In fact, I
+find in my memory many examples favorable to those masters. Thus, I
+have seen many nurses lose their temper and still use the higher tones
+of their voice; and, on the other hand, I also remark (and the remark is
+important) a certain form, the appellative form, where all the
+characters agree without exception in producing the greatest intensity
+possible upon the high notes.
+
+The professors of singing triumph, for they find in this appellative
+form, always and necessarily sharp and boisterous at the same time, a
+striking confirmation of their system. Here I seem to stray far from the
+solution which I thought I already grasped! Far from it; the light is
+breaking. Hitherto the examples evoked had only increased my obscurity
+by their multiplicity, and I saw nothing in all these remarks but a
+series of contradictions whence it seemed impossible to deduce anything
+but confusion, into which I found myself plunged.
+
+But was this confusion really in the facts which I examined, or was it
+not rather the creation of my own mind? Now, in the matter of principle,
+the weakness of individual reason has been too often proved to me to
+allow of my attaching any other cause to the contradictions which block
+my path and force me to confess my ignorance. I will not, then, here cry
+_mea culpa_ for myself or for others to justify that ignorance or excuse
+its confession. It must be acknowledged that God knows what He does, and
+His omnipotence is assuredly guiltless of the divagations which an
+impotent mind finds it convenient to attribute to it.
+
+Now, let others in the blindness of proud reason, forget this truth,
+which they contest even by opposing to it the quibbles for which
+free-thinkers are never at a loss, and to escape the confusion which
+they inevitably derive from the ill-studied work of the Supreme Artist.
+Let them venture to attribute to it their own darkness. For my part, I
+shall not thereby lose my conviction that all which seems to me
+disordered or contradictory in the expression of the facts which I
+question, is only apparent and only exist in my own brain.
+
+The profound obscurity into which light plunges us does not prevent the
+light from being; and the chaos of ideas which, most generally, results
+from our examination of things, proves nothing against the harmonies of
+their constitution.
+
+The pebble virtually contains the spark, but we must know how to produce
+it. Thus the phenomena of nature contain luminous lessons, but we must
+know how to make them speak; and, what is more, understand their
+language. Now, I would add, the spirit of God is inherent in all things;
+and this spirit should, at a given moment, flash its splendors in the
+eyes of an intellect alike submissive, attentive, patient and suppliant.
+
+Moreover, does not the Gospel show us the way to fertilize
+investigations such as those to which I have given my life? Does it not
+say: "Knock and it shall be opened, ask and it shall be given?" Then
+what must I do to find my way out of the maze in which my reason
+wanders? What must I do in presence of the contradictions which
+nevertheless must needs contain a fecund principle? Finally, what must I
+do in order to see light break from the very heart of those obscurities
+wherein light is lost?
+
+I will seek anew, night and day, if needful; I will knock incessantly at
+the door of the facts which I desire to examine. I will descend into the
+secret depths of their organism; there I will patiently question every
+phenomenon, every organ, and I will entreat their Author to divulge to
+me their purpose, their relations and their very object.
+
+Well! It is thus that those men, proud of their vain knowledge, were
+made dizzy by the splendor of that same light which they thought that
+they could subject to their investigations, and the blindness which has
+fallen upon them is the punishment which God is content to inflict upon
+them in this world.
+
+Having said this, where was I in my investigations? Ah! it was here.
+
+The memory of the high inflections invariably affected by the women whom
+I had seen on the previous day, caressing their infants, struck me with
+the more force that I had learned from my masters that law which had
+hitherto ruled uncontested, and now underwent a refutation which
+demonstrated the falsity of its applications with a clearness and
+minuteness which left no room for doubt.
+
+The examples in virtue of which I saw the errors of my masters,
+unanimously proclaimed the tenuity of the voice to be in proportion to
+its acuteness.
+
+Now this formula is, in letter as in spirit, the reverse of the
+prescription upon which, by a caprice whose cause I have just explained,
+all the masters of art agree.
+
+I then perceived that my first affirmations were no better founded than
+those of the masters, whose theories I had attacked. The truth of the
+matter is that ascending progressions may arise from opposite shades of
+meaning. "Therefore," said I to myself, "it is equally inadmissible to
+exclude either affirmation."
+
+The law is necessarily complex: let us bring together, that we may seize
+them as a whole, both the contrary expressions and the circumstances
+which produce them.
+
+Vulgar and uncultured people, as well as children, seem to act in regard
+to an ascensional vocal progression in an inverse sense to
+well-educated, or, at any rate, affectionate persons, such as mothers,
+fond nurses, etc.
+
+No example has, to my knowledge, contradicted this remark.
+
+But why this difference? What are its motive causes?
+
+"Ha!" I cried, as if struck by lightning, "I've found the law! As with
+the movements of the head, _sensuality_ and _tenderness_, these shades
+of the voice may be traced back to two distinct sources: _sentiment_ and
+_passion_. It is sentiment which I have seen revealed in mothers; it is
+passion which we find in uncultured persons."
+
+Sentiment and passion, then, proceed in an inverse way. Passion
+strengthens the voice in proportion as it rises, and sentiment, on the
+contrary, softens it in due ratio to its intensity. It was the confusion
+of these different sources which caused a momentary obscurity in my
+understanding.
+
+Let us now formulate boldly the law of vocal proportions.
+
+Given a rising form, such as the ascending scale, there will be
+intensitive progression when this form should express passion (whether
+impulse, excitement or vehemence).
+
+There will be, on the other hand, a diminution of intensity where this
+same form should express sentiment.
+
+This law even seems regulated by a quantitative expression, the form of
+which appeared to me like a flash of light. This is the formula:
+
+Under the influence of sentiment the smallest and most insignificant
+things that we may wish to represent proportion themselves to the degree
+of acuteness of the sounds, which become softened in proportion as they
+rise.
+
+Under the influence of passion, on the contrary, the voice rises, with a
+corresponding brilliancy, in proportion to the magnitude of the thing
+it would express, and becomes lowered to express smallness or meanness.
+Thus an ascending scale being given, it must be considered as a double
+scale of proportion, agreeing alternately with an increasing or
+decreasing intensitive progression, increasing under the influence of
+passion and decreasing under the influence of sentiment.
+
+Thus we would not use the same tones for the words: "Oh, what a pretty
+little girl!" "What a lovely little flower!" and: "See that nice, fat
+peasant woman!" "What a comfortable great house!"
+
+By such formulae as these I was able to sum up, in clear and didactic
+form, the multifarious examples suggested by my memory, startled at
+first by their contradiction and then delighted at the light thrown upon
+them by these very formulae, due, not to my own merit, but to the favor
+of Him who holds in His hand the source of all truth.
+
+Thus, I feel and readily acknowledge, that the discovery upon which I am
+at work is not my own work; and, therefore, I pray for it as for a
+signal favor. Nor can it be otherwise with any man. It is, therefore,
+always an impertinence for any man to attribute to his personal genius,
+vast as he may suppose it to be, the discovery of any law. God alone
+discloses His treasures, and, as I have experienced, He only reveals
+them to the eye of reason raised by humility to contemplation.
+
+Man seeks that which he desires to know with attention and patience
+proportioned to the ardor of his desire. The attention of which his mind
+is capable and the constancy of will brought to bear in pursuit of his
+research, constitute his only mark of distinction. Herein lies all the
+merit to which he can lay just claim. But at a moment absolutely
+unforeseen, God reveals to him that which he seeks, I should say that
+for which he does not seek, and for his due edification it is generally
+the opposite of what he seeks which is revealed to him. This is not to
+be contested. Thus the things discovered to him cause him such surprise
+that he never fails to beat his brow when he sees them, as if to prove
+that he is not the author of their discovery, and that he was far from
+foreseeing anything like what has been shown to him; and that there may
+be no possible mistake in the interpretation of the gesture, he
+invariably accompanies it by the phrase: "What a fool I am!" All will
+admit that if a man really believed himself the author of his discovery,
+he takes a very inopportune time to declare his impotence and his
+stupidity so distinctly. But taking none too kindly his avowal which,
+moreover, is but the proclamation of an indisputable truth, let us
+rather say that this act of humility is forced from him by the greatness
+of his surprise.
+
+Happy, very happy is the man whose pride does not instantly react
+against the humble and truthful confession of his folly.
+
+Ever since I made these remarks I have asked myself the cause of the
+sterility of the learned bodies, and I do not hesitate to say to-day,
+that it is because scientists refuse to declare themselves fools, and it
+is to this lack of sincerity that they doubtless owe the punishment that
+paralyzes their genius.
+
+How can these men fail to take seriously the little knowledge to which
+they cling and their fortune and renown; how can these wise men, to whom
+the world pays incessant homage, consent meekly to confess the infirmity
+of their reason? They feign, on the contrary, even when crushed beneath
+the Divine splendor, an air of great importance; and when the Omnipotent
+in His mercy deigns to bend to their low level, to lay open to them the
+treasures of His sovereign thought, do you think that in token of the
+sacred and respectful admiration which they owe in return for such
+goodness, they will prostrate themselves like the Seraphim whose
+knowledge assuredly equals the few notions which they adorn with that
+title? Ah! far from it. You little know these scientists, when you
+impute to them an act which they would qualify as contemptible and would
+declare unworthy of a free-thinker! They stand erect, on the contrary,
+with head held high, insolently laying claim, by virtue of I know not
+what conquest of the human mind, to judge the eternal and immovable
+light of the Divine Reason.
+
+
+
+
+Episode IV.
+
+
+
+My retrospective journey from this point of departure seemed destined to
+be even more full of observations than that which preceded it. My day
+had been so full of work, so fruitful in unexpected discoveries, that it
+was absolutely necessary for me to stop at this first station.
+
+After a few days of rest I naturally resumed my walk, toward the garden
+of the Tuileries, whither I was led by an instinct full of promise.
+There, in fact, fresh re-appearances were not long in adding light to
+that with which I was still dazzled!
+
+I remember that I had been vaguely struck by the contemplative attitude
+of a mother toward her child. The reason why this attitude struck me
+even in the midst of my absorption in search of notes relative to the
+thumb, was, first, because this attitude was a contrast to that assumed
+by most of the nurses under the action of the same feeling; and, in the
+next place, it seemed to deny the contemplative forms which I had
+deduced from my first discovery, and which rested upon such motives as
+the following: That a painter admires his work by throwing back his
+head. Hitherto it had seemed to me clearly proven that admiring
+contemplation entailed this retroaction. I considered this, it will be
+remembered, the characteristic feature of a law, and that for the
+reasons which I had previously given. Well! were all these reasons,
+plausible as they appeared, to be contradicted by a single fact still
+present to my memory, in spite of the observations in the midst of which
+it arose, and which, moreover, should have been more than enough to
+efface it? Strange to say, this fact vaguely noted amidst preoeccupations
+to which it seemed absolutely foreign, had remained persistently in my
+mind! Now this fact, becoming by a reflex act the object of serious
+thought, resulted from this observation:
+
+That a woman, as she contemplated her child, bent her head toward it.
+
+Searching in my memory, I found several similar instances completely
+confirming this principle, opposed to my observations, that
+contemplation tends to push the head toward the object contemplated.
+
+And yet this example does not affect those to which I had at first paid
+exclusive heed. Here, as in the preceding remarks, the law is complex,
+and it must first be recognized that contemplation or simple admiration
+is produced alike by the retreat or advance of the head. This double
+action being admitted, it remained to decide how far they might be
+mingled in a single situation; that is to say, to what point these two
+inverse inclinations might be produced indifferently; and if, as I must
+_a priori_ suppose, these inclinations recognized two distinct causes.
+If so, what were those reasons? The question was not easy of solution,
+and yet it must be decided definitely. I could enjoy no peace until I
+had answered it. The doubt instilled into my mind by this new
+contradiction was intolerable. I set boldly to work, determined not to
+pause until I had found a final solution. I called to mind all my
+memories having any bearing on this double phenomenon. These memories
+were far more numerous and far more striking than I had dared to hope.
+What a magnificent thing are those mysterious reservoirs whence, at a
+given moment, flow thousands of pictures which until then we knew not
+that we possessed? A whole world of prostrate believers adoringly
+turning their heads toward the object of their worship, appeared before
+me to support the example afforded me by the mother lovingly bending her
+head toward the child at which she gazed.
+
+Among other instances, I saw a venerable master affectionately bending
+his head toward the being to whom he thus seemed with touching
+predilection to give luminous instructions.
+
+I saw lovers gazing at their loved one with this attractive pose of the
+head, their tenderness seeming thus to be eloquently affirmed. But, side
+by side with these examples, I saw others totally opposite; thus, other
+lovers presented themselves to my mind's eye with very different aspect,
+and their number seemed far greater than that of the other. These lovers
+delighted to gaze at their sweetheart as painters study their work, with
+head thrown back. I saw mothers and many nurses gazing at children with
+this same retroactive movement which stamped their gaze with a certain
+expression of satisfied pride, generally to be noted in those who
+carried a nursling distinguished for its beauty or the elegance of its
+clothes.
+
+Two words, as important as they are opposite in the sense that they
+determine, are disengaged: _sensuality_ and _tenderness_.
+
+Such are the sources to which we must refer the attitudes assumed by the
+head on sight of the object considered.
+
+Between these inverse attitudes a third should naturally be placed. It
+was easy for me to characterize this latter: I called it _colorless_ or
+_indifferent_.
+
+It is entirely natural that the man who considers an object from the
+point of view of the mere examination which his mind makes of it, should
+simply look it in the face until that object had aroused the innermost
+movements of the soul or of the life.
+
+Whence it invariably follows that from the incitement of these
+movements, the head is bent to the side of the soul or to the side of
+the senses.
+
+"Which is, then, for the head, the side of the soul," you will ask me,
+"and which the side of the senses?"
+
+I will reply simply, to cut short the useless description of the many
+drawbacks that preceded the clear demonstration that I finally
+established, that the side of the heart is the objective side that
+occupies the interlocutor, and that the side of the senses is the
+subjective, personal side toward which the head retroacts; that is to
+say, the side opposed to the object under examination. Thus, when the
+head moves in an inverse direction from the object that it examines, it
+is from a selfish standpoint; and when the examiner bends toward the
+object it is in contempt of self that the object is viewed.
+
+These are the two related looks that I have named Sensuality and
+Tenderness, for these reasons:
+
+The former of these glances is addressed exclusively to the form of its
+object; it caresses the periphery of it, and, the better to appreciate
+its totality, moves away from it. This is what occurs in the retroactive
+attitude of the head.
+
+The other look, on the contrary, aims at the heart of things without
+pausing on the surface, disdaining all that is external. It strives to
+penetrate the object to its very essence, as if to unite itself more
+closely within it; it has the expression of confidence, of faith--in a
+word, the giving up of self.
+
+Thus, when a man presses a woman's hand, we may affirm one of three
+things from the attitude which his head assumes:
+
+1. That he does not love her, if his head remains straight or simply
+bent in facing her.
+
+2. That he loves her tenderly, if he bows his head obliquely toward her.
+
+3. Finally, that he loves her sensually--that is to say, solely for her
+physical qualities--if, on looking at her, he moves his head toward the
+shoulder which is opposite her.
+
+Such are, in brief, the three attitudes of the head and the eyes, which
+I have named _colorless, affectional, sensual_.
+
+Henceforth I possessed completely the law of the inclinations of the
+head, a law which derives from its very complexity the fertility of its
+applications.
+
+
+
+
+Episode V.
+
+Semeiotics of The Shoulder.
+
+
+
+When I found myself the possessor of this law whose triple formula is of
+a nature to defy every objection, I sought to appropriate to myself,
+before the mirror, all its applications.
+
+But there arose yet another difficulty that I had not foreseen.
+
+I, indeed, reproduced, and at the proper time, the movements of the head
+already described, but they remained awkward and lifeless.
+
+What was the cause of this awkwardness and coldness of which I was well
+aware, but which I could not help? I strove unceasingly to reproduce the
+examples that lived so vividly in my memory, but all these laborious
+reproductions, these efforts from memory, were futile. The stubbornness
+of an indomitable will, however, led only to a negative result. I was
+vexed at an awkwardness the reason of which I could not find.
+
+One day, almost discouraged by the lack of success in my researches, I
+sorrowfully said to myself: "What shall I do? Alas! the more I labor,
+the less clearly I see; am I incapable of reproducing nature--is the
+difficulty that holds me back invincible?"
+
+As I uttered the preceding words, I noticed that, under the sway of the
+grief which dictated them, my shoulders were strangely lifted up, and,
+as then I found myself in the attitude which I had previously tried to
+render natural, the unexpected movement of my shoulders, joined to that
+attitude, suddenly impressed it with an expression of life so just, so
+true, so surprising, that I was overwhelmed.
+
+Thus I gained possession of an aesthetic fact of the first rank, and I
+was as amazed at my discovery as I was surprised that I had not observed
+sooner a self-evident movement, whose powerful and expressive character
+seems fundamentally connected with the actions of the head. "How stupid
+I am," I thought, "not to have remarked so evident an action of an agent
+which leads the head itself. How could I let this movement of the
+shoulder escape me!" And I revelled in the pleasurable triumph of
+reproducing and contemplating expressions which I could not have
+rendered previously without dishonoring them. Thenceforth I understood
+without a doubt all the importance of this latest discovery. But this
+importance, clearly proven as it was, was not yet fully explained to me.
+
+Thus, I knew henceforth the necessity for movements of the shoulder, but
+I was still ignorant of their motive cause; and I was reluctant to be
+longer ignorant. I foresaw a concomitance of relations between this
+movement of the shoulder and the expression of the head.
+
+The shoulder, then, became, in its turn, the chief object of my
+studies, and I gained therefrom clear and indisputable principles.
+
+In this way I managed to form the bases of my discovery. The mothers
+whom I had seen bending their heads over the children on whom they
+gazed, thus revealed something unreserved and touching; and in my
+ignorance the important part which the shoulder played in the attitude
+had escaped me. It was indeed from the action of the shoulder, even more
+than from the inclination of the head, that this expression of
+tenderness, so touching to behold, proceeded.
+
+The head, in such a case, accordingly receives its greatest sum of
+expression from the shoulder. That is a fact to be noted.
+
+For instance, let a head--however loving we may suppose it to be
+intrinsically--bend toward the object of its contemplation, and let the
+shoulder not be lifted, that head will plainly lack an air of vitality
+and warm sincerity without which it cannot persuade us. It will lack
+that irresistible character of intensity which, in itself, supposes
+love; in brief, it will be lacking in love.
+
+"Then," I said, "I have found in the shoulder the agent, the centre of
+the manifestations of love."
+
+Yes, if in pressing a friend's hand I raise my shoulders, I shall
+thereby eloquently demonstrate all the affection with which he inspires
+me.
+
+If in looking at a woman I clasp my hands and at the same time raise my
+shoulders, there is no longer any doubt as to the feeling that attaches
+me to her, and instinctively every one will say: "He loves her truly;"
+but if, preserving the same attitude in the same situation, the same
+facial expression, the same movement of the head, I happen to withhold
+the action of the shoulder, instantly all love will disappear from my
+expression and nothing will be left to that attitude but a sentiment
+vague and cold as falsehood.
+
+Once more, then, the inclinations of the head whose law I have
+previously determined, seem, to owe to the shoulder alone the
+affectionate meaning that they express; but the head--as I have
+said,--in its double inclination, characterizes two kinds of love (or
+rather two sources of love) which are not to be confounded: _sensuality_
+and _tenderness_.
+
+What part, then, does the shoulder play in regard to this distinction?
+It will be curious to determine this point. Let us see!
+
+The part played by the shoulder is considerable in tenderness; that is
+not to be doubted. But its role seems to be less in sensuality. Thus the
+shoulder generally rises less when the head retroacts than when it
+advances toward the object of its contemplation. Why is this? Is it
+because sensuality pertains less to love than tenderness? Has it not the
+same title to rank as one of the aspects of love? In a word, why is less
+demand made upon the shoulder in one instance than in the other?
+
+If I do not mistake, the reason is this: love gives more than it lays
+claim to receive, while sensuality asks continually and seeks merely the
+possession of its object. Love understands and loves sacrifice; it
+pervades the whole being; it inspires it to bestow its entire self, and
+that gift admits of no reserve.
+
+Sensuality, on the contrary, is essentially selfish; far from giving
+itself, it pretends to appropriate and absorb in itself the object of
+its desires. Sensuality is, so to speak, but a distorted, narrow and
+localized love; the body is the object of its contemplation, and it
+[sensuality] sees nothing beyond the possession of the object.
+
+But love does not stop at the body--that would be its tomb; it crosses
+the limits of it, to rise to the soul in which it is utterly absorbed.
+Thus love transfigures the being by consuming its personality, whence it
+comes that he who loves, no longer lives his own life, but the life of
+the being whom he contemplates.
+
+Let the vulgar continually confound these two things in their
+manifestations; let lovers themselves fail to distinguish accurately
+between tenderness and sensuality; for me this confusion is henceforth
+forbidden, and I can from the first glance boldly separate them, thanks
+to the lessons taught me by the inflections of the head.
+
+But let us return to the shoulder. Am I not right in saying that in this
+agent I possess the organic criterion of love? Yes, I maintain it. But
+let us follow the action of this organ in its various manifestations.
+
+One thing at first amazed me, in view of the part which I felt I must
+assign to the shoulder. Whence comes, if the designation of that role be
+in conformity with truth,--whence comes the activity so apparent, so
+vehement indeed, which the shoulder displays in a movement of anger or
+of mere impatience? Whence comes its perfect concomitance or relations
+with moral or physical pain? Lastly, whence comes that universal
+application which I just now perceived clearly and which, until now, I
+had confined to such narrow limits? But if the elevation of the shoulder
+is not the criterion of love, if, on the contrary, that movement is met
+with again just as correctly associated with the most contradictory
+impressions, what can it mean?
+
+Here I was, once again, thrown far back from the discovery that I was so
+sure I possessed.
+
+It is very fortunate that I have been neither an author nor a
+journalist, and I bless to-day that distrust of self which has saved me
+from the mania of writing. I highly congratulate myself on the spirit of
+prudence that has invariably made me reply to whoever pressed me to
+publish: "When I am old."
+
+Age has come, and it has found me even less disposed to publicity than
+ever. This work owes its existence solely to the earnest and continual
+solicitations, the sometimes severe demands of deep friendship and
+devotion, which it was impossible for me to refuse. This book is not,
+then, a spontaneous enterprise on my part; it is the work of friendship.
+And if this book has any measure of success, if it accomplishes any
+good, it may be traced back to and acknowledged as rising from the
+never-failing encouragement of my old friend Brucker.
+
+Let us return, now, to where I was in my researches.
+
+It remains, then, for me to specify the true meaning of the shoulders in
+the expression of the passions. Their intervention in all forms of
+emotion being proven to me, it would seem that the very frequency of
+that intervention should exclude the possibility of assigning any
+particular role to this agent.
+
+Fancy my perplexity, placed face to face with an organ infinitely
+expressive, but whose physiognomy is mingled promiscuously with every
+sentiment and every passion!
+
+How, then, are we to characterize the shoulder? What name shall we give
+to its dominant role? How specify that supreme power outside of which
+all expression ceases to exist? Is it allowable for me to call it
+_neutral?_ And if the universal application of that agent apparently
+authorizes that appellation up to a certain point, whence comes its
+importance? Whence the empire that it exerts over the aspect of its
+congeners? Is it admissible for a neutral agent to exert so much action
+upon the totality of the forces to which it is allied?
+
+Assuredly not! The word _neutral_, moreover, excludes the idea of
+action, and even more strongly that of predominant action which belongs
+surpassingly to the shoulder. Truly, here was a treasure-house for me.
+It was, as they say, "to give speech to the dogs."
+
+This new difficulty only increased the determination with which I had
+pursued my researches; and with the confidence arising from the fact
+that no obstacle had yet conquered me, I said to myself that the
+solution of this problem would be due to my perseverance. I could not,
+in view of the importance of its expression, consider the shoulder as a
+neutral agent. After spending a long time in vain study, I was on the
+point of giving up as insoluble the problem that I had set myself. Let
+us see by what simple means I obtained the solution. How much trouble
+and pains one will sometimes give himself in looking for spectacles that
+are on his nose!
+
+The shoulder, in every man who is moved or agitated, rises sensibly, his
+will playing no part in the ascension; the successive developments of
+this involuntary act are in absolute proportion to the passional
+intensity whose numeric measure they form; the shoulder may, therefore,
+be fitly called _the thermometer of the sensibility_.
+
+"Thermometer," I cried, "there is an excellent word, strikingly correct.
+But have I not, in pronouncing it, simply and naturally characterized
+the role that I am striving to define?
+
+"Thermometer of the sensibility! Is not that the solution of the
+enigma? Thermometer; yes, that is it! That is the very expression to
+give to my researches, an expression without which nothing could be
+explained. That, indeed, answers to everything, and makes the
+difficulties against which my reason struggled disappear."
+
+The shoulder is, in fact, precisely the thermometer of passion as well
+as of sensibility; it is the measure of their vehemence; it determines
+their degree of heat and intensity. However, it does not specify their
+nature, and it is certainly in an analogous sense that the instrument
+known by the name of thermometer marks the degrees of heat and cold
+without specifying the nature of the weather--a specification belonging
+to another instrument, the complement of the thermometer--the barometer.
+The parallel is absolute, perfect.
+
+Let us examine this point:
+
+The shoulder, in rising, is not called upon to teach us whether the
+source of the heat or vehemence which mark it, arise from love or hate.
+This specification does not lie within its province; it belongs entirely
+to the face, which is to the shoulder what the barometer is to the
+thermometer. And it is thus that the shoulder and the face enter into
+harmonious relations to complete the passional sense which they have to
+determine mutually and by distinct paths.
+
+Now, the shoulder is limited, in its proper domain, to proving, first,
+that the emotion expressed by the face _is_ or _is not_ true. Then,
+afterward, to marking, with mathematical rigor, the degree of intensity
+to which that emotion rises.
+
+After having finished the formulation of this principle I exultingly
+exclaimed:
+
+"God be praised! I now possess the semeiotics of the shoulder, and
+thereby I hold the criterion of the passional or sensitive powers--a
+criterion outside of which no truth can be demonstrated in the sphere of
+sentiment or feeling."
+
+Thus, a word suggested by chance became my Archimedean lever. The word,
+like a flash of light, flooded my mind with radiance which suddenly
+revealed to me the numerous and fertile applications of a principle
+hitherto unknown. Yes, I henceforth possessed an aesthetic principle of
+the utmost value, the consequences of which, I could readily see, were
+as novel as they were profound.
+
+
+
+
+Episode VI.
+
+First Objection to the Thermometric System of the Shoulder.
+
+
+
+The innate aesthetic principle of the semeiotics of the shoulder was at
+last clearly demonstrated to me, and no more doubt or uncertainty upon
+that point seemed to me possible. I might safely formulate the following
+rule:
+
+When a man says to you in interjective form: "I love, I suffer, I am
+delighted," etc., do not believe him if his shoulder remains in a normal
+attitude. Do not believe him, no matter what expression his face may
+assume. Do not believe him--he lies; his shoulder denies his words. That
+negative form betrays his thoughts; and, if he expresses ardent passion,
+you have merely to consult the thermometer which, all unwittingly, he
+himself offers to your inspection. See, it marks zero! therefore he
+lies; doubt it not, he lies! but his shoulder does not lie. He amiably
+puts it at your disposal--read, read at your ease; it bears inscribed in
+living letters his deceit and craft. It can never cheat you, and when
+the gentleman accosts you with such words as: "Dear friend! how charmed
+I am to see you!" say to yourself as you look at his thermometer:
+"Traitor, your delight as well as your friendship is below zero! You try
+to deceive me, but in vain; henceforth you have no secrets from me,
+clumsy forger! You do not see, as with one hand you proffer the false
+jewel which you would sell me, that the other at the same instant gives
+me the touch-stone which reveals your tricks; your right hand thus
+incessantly exposing to me the secrets of your left hand!"
+
+What an admirable thing is this mechanism of the body working in the
+service of the soul! With what precision it reveals the least movements
+of its master! What magnificent things it lays bare! Voluntarily or
+involuntarily, everything leads to truth under the action of the
+translucid light which breaks forth in the working of each of our
+organs!
+
+And yet, well founded as the preceding theory may be, solid as are the
+bases upon which it rests, is it free from any and all objection? May
+not some oppose to it, for instance, the impassibility of men and women
+of the world, among whom it would be difficult to find the movements of
+the shoulder, which such people deem so ungraceful in others as to
+deprive them of all desire to imitate them? Now what conclusions are we
+to draw from the absence of this movement in those who are known as
+aristocrats? Must we tax them all indiscriminately with falsehood?
+
+Here I might, and without hesitation, answer by the affirmation, Yes,
+all aristocrats lie! The medium which they constitute and which is
+called _the world_ is nothing but a perpetual lie. Civility itself
+rests upon a lie. Nay, more, it insists upon deceit as a duty. Heavens,
+what would become of the world if truth were a necessity! Quarter of an
+hour of sincerity would be intolerable; ... the inhabitants would slay
+each other!
+
+In the world people display their feelings, even the most avowable, with
+great reserve; this prudence, which paralyzes the very springs of
+sensitive life, seems as if it needs must neutralize the role which I
+attribute to the shoulder; and yet, in spite of contrary appearances, I
+deny that the thermometric action of the shoulder undergoes the least
+alteration in the aristocratic world; I deny explicitly that this agent
+proves less expressive and, above all, less truthful there than in the
+street; and that for the following reasons:
+
+In the first place, we cannot reasonably suppose very ardent passions in
+men who are enervated by the perpetual influence of an artificial
+society. Now, here the stationary condition of the thermometer is
+explained: it proves absolutely nothing against the truth of the
+reports; it remains at zero to mark a colorless medium totally destitute
+of vitality. The shoulder would violate its law if it were to rise under
+such circumstances. It is, therefore, perfectly in character here; it
+should be, _a priori_, impassive in a negative society.
+
+But is the shoulder really impassive in that medium which we call
+society?
+
+_Yes_, in the eyes of people who are not of it, and who, from that very
+fact, cannot understand the value of certain expressions which are
+almost imperceptible; _no_, to those who constitute that special world
+of relations called superior.
+
+How many things, in fact, the shoulder reveals by those slight changes
+unseen by ignorant persons, and expressing particularly the delicate and
+exquisite charm of spiritual relations! It is the law of infinitesimal
+quantities, of those scarcely perceptible movements or sensations that
+characterize the finer relations of people of culture, of eloquence, of
+grace, and of refined tastes.
+
+It should be borne in mind, as I have already shown, that the
+manifestations of the shoulder in the street by no means accord with
+those of people ruled by the fashions of society. There is very little
+harmony or relation between the exquisite joints of a refined nature,
+the swift and flexible movements of an elegant organism, and the
+evolutions clumsily executed by torpid limbs, ankylosed, as it were, by
+labor at once hard and constant
+
+This observation logically led me to an important conclusion, namely,
+that the value or importance of a standard is deduced expressly from the
+nature of the being, or the object to which it is applied. Of what
+value, for instance, could a millimeter be when added to the stature of
+a man? That same millimeter, however, would acquire a colossal value
+when added to the proportions of a flea. It would form a striking
+monstrosity.
+
+An imperceptible fraction may, in certain cases, constitute an
+enormity. Again, the value of a standard, not the specific or numerical
+value which is an invariable basis, but the relative or moral value,
+must be deduced from the importance of the medium to which it applies.
+For instance: Five hundred men constitute a very good army in the midst
+of a peaceful population; and this handful of soldiers exerts, indeed,
+more moral power than the multitudes restrained under their government.
+A smile coming from the lips of a sovereign leaves in the soul that it
+penetrates a far deeper trace than all the demonstrations of a common or
+vulgar crowd. The traveler, detained by the winter in the polar regions,
+finds that he is warm and takes pleasure in the discovery, though at the
+time the thermometer marks 10 degrees below zero.
+
+The atmosphere of a cave that we find warm in winter seems to us,
+without being modified in the least, of an icy coldness in summer.
+
+The large quantity of alcohol that laboring people consume would ruin
+the health of less strongly constituted persons.
+
+To conclude, then, these examples prove beyond dispute that one can only
+appreciate the importance of an act when he takes into account the
+nature of its agents, and that without these considerations he will be
+obliged to give up immediately all serious estimation of these
+manifestations.
+
+Here I touch, it seems to me, a law of harmony, a curious law that I
+wish to examine incidentally. I shall, then, occupy myself with the
+objections that may, perhaps, be opposed even yet to the thermometric
+system of the shoulder
+
+
+
+
+Episode VII.
+
+
+
+The foregoing study has, as it seems, established an important fact,
+namely, that among the various classes of men which make up society
+there is no common standard of measure. It, therefore, appears
+impossible, at first sight, to establish a harmonious scale of relations
+between so many various circles.
+
+However, if these circles, whatever their differences may be, were
+specified and sufficiently known; if I could, for example, judge _a
+priori_ of the style and mode of activity adapted to each class of
+society; in a word, if it were possible for me to characterize each of
+its classes dynamically, should I not succeed in ascertaining a
+proportionate gamut or scale among them, and thereby should I not be
+enabled securely to apply the principles established above?
+
+Let us say, to begin with, that if each social sphere affects a
+determinate character in the intensity of its passional evolutions, it
+has, in consequence, its special gamut; then, as many spheres as there
+are, so many gamuts must there be. Now, all these gamuts taken together
+must form a scale of proportion in virtue of which they may be
+characterized. That is obvious. But the difficulty is to prove the mode
+or first tonality of these gamuts. How are we to set to work?
+
+I cut short, for the clearness of my demonstrations, the recital of the
+events through which I have been obliged to pass before realizing even
+my earliest observations. I shall set forth, plainly and simply, the
+final result of my studies; and it will be seen, in spite of the many
+difficulties that may arise, with what absolute certainty the principles
+I have established can be applied.
+
+
+
+
+What I Propose.
+
+
+
+I propose a great, a worthy subject for your study. At those oratorical
+sessions which are rapidly increasing under the name of conferences,
+sessions at which so many distinguished men take the floor, you have
+been told in elegant terms, often in eloquent terms, of the sciences, of
+their application and of their progress. You have listened to discourses
+upon art, its primitive purity, its supposed principles, its decadence,
+its renaissance, its multifarious changes; its masterpieces have been
+pointed out to you; they have been described to you; you have, in some
+degree, been made familiar with their origin. You have heard the story
+of the lives of the great artists. They have been shown to you in their
+weakness and in their strength. The times and manners amid which they
+lived have been painted for you in more or less imaginary colors. I
+propose something better than all this.
+
+I offer you a work superior even to those sciences which have been
+described to you; superior to all which the genius of a Michael Angelo
+or a Raphael could conceive; a work in comparison with which all the
+magnificences of science and of art must pale. I propose that you should
+contemplate yourselves!
+
+Nothing is so unfamiliar to man as himself. I will, therefore, as I have
+promised, show you the marvels which God himself has placed within you,
+in the transluminous obscurities of your being.
+
+Now, if there be more science, more genius in the production of a violet
+or a worm than is revealed by all the combined powers of science and of
+art, how much admiration should we not feel at the sight of all the
+splendors which God has spread broadcast in the privileged work wherein
+He was pleased to reveal his own image! But a light inaccessible to the
+vain demonstrations of your sciences constantly removes this mysterious
+image from your gaze. As light eludes the eye which it illumines, if we
+would seize and contemplate it, we must have two things: we must have a
+special and a supernatural object. There must be light within you, and
+it must pierce the depths wherein that image dwells.
+
+Here there is no question of the light which shines to show us the
+things of the natural world by which we are surrounded. Nor is it a
+question of the intellectual light sometimes visible to scholars. I
+speak of that light which is hidden from those very scholars because
+their eyes could not bear its lustre, a transluminous light which fills
+the soul with beatific visions, and of which it is said that God wraps
+it about Him as a mantle.
+
+Now, three worlds, of the nature of which man partakes, are offered for
+our contemplation. These three worlds are: The _natural_, the
+_intellectual_, and the _supernatural_.
+
+Three sorts of vision have been given man to initiate him into these
+three worlds. These different forms of vision are: _Direct, inward_ and
+_higher_.
+
+By means of direct vision man is made acquainted with the world of
+nature; by inward vision he is shown the world of science; and, lastly,
+by higher vision he sees the world of grace. But as there can be no
+vision where no light penetrates, it follows that between the three
+kinds of vision described and the corresponding worlds there must
+intervene three sorts of light, in order to produce the triple vision
+necessary for the knowledge of man:
+
+Direct vision--sidereal light--natural world.
+
+Inward vision--the light of tradition--the world of science.
+
+Higher vision--revealed light--supernatural world.
+
+Such are the conditions necessary for the understanding of my
+demonstrations.
+
+Having prepared your eye for the vision of these three worlds which
+serve as the bases of art, I shall, then, reveal to you their splendors;
+happy if, thus, I can help to make you bless the author of so many
+marvels, and communicate to you those keen joys which perpetuate in the
+soul a fountain of youth which can never be quenched by the infirmities
+of the body.
+
+
+
+
+The Beautiful
+
+
+
+Beauty is that reason itself which presides at the creation of things.
+It is the invincible power which attracts and subjugates us in it. The
+Beautiful admits of three characters, which we distinguish under the
+titles of _ideal_ beauty, _moral_ beauty, _plastic_ beauty.
+
+Plato defined ideal beauty when he said: "Beauty is the splendor of
+truth." St. Augustine said of moral beauty that it is the splendor of
+goodness. I define plastic beauty as the plastic manifestation of truth
+and goodness.
+
+In so far as it responds to the particular type in accordance with which
+it is formed, every creature bears the crown of beauty; because in its
+correspondence with its type it manifests, according to its capacity,
+the Divine Being who created it.
+
+The Beautiful is an absolute principle; it is the essence of beings, the
+life of their functions. Beauty is a consequence, an effect, a form of
+the Beautiful. It results from the attractions of the form. The
+attraction of the form comes from the nobility of the function. This is
+why all functions not being equally noble, all do not admit of beauty.
+The characteristic of beauty is to be amiable; consequently a thing is
+ugly only in view of the amiable things which we seek in beauty.
+
+Beauty is to the Beautiful what the individual reason is to the Divine
+reason of things. Human reason is but one ray of a vast orb called the
+reason of things,--Divine reason. Let us say of beauty what we have said
+of the individual reason, and we shall understand how the Beautiful is
+to be distintinguished from it. Beauty is one ray of the Beautiful.
+
+Beauty is the expression of the object for which the thing is.
+
+It is the stamp of its functions. It is the transparency of the
+aptitudes of the agent and the radiance of the faculties which it
+governs. It is the order which results from the dynamic disposition of
+forms operated in view of the function.
+
+Beauty is based on three conditions: Clearness, integrity and due
+proportion.
+
+Beauty exists in the practical knowledge of the tendencies affected by
+the form in view of the object for which it is; in view, above all, of
+the action which it exerts upon the beings with whom it is in relation.
+Thus a thing is not only beautiful from the transparency of its
+aptitudes, it is especially so from the beauty of the acts which its use
+determines abroad. This is the reason why beauty is to all creatures an
+object of appetency, of desire and of love.
+
+
+
+
+Trinity.
+
+
+
+There is a mystery full of deep instruction, a mystery whose divine
+obscurities surpass all the light whose splendors dazzle us by their
+supernatural clarity, and which, as a great saint once said, radiates
+splendid beams and floods with the glory of its fires those spirits who
+are blind with the blindness of holiness. This mystery, outside of which
+all is to man dark and incomprehensible, illuminates everything and
+explains it in the sense that it is the cause, the principle and the end
+of all things.
+
+This dazzling mystery is the universal criterion of all truth; it is the
+science of sciences, which is self-defining and whose name is Trinity.
+
+Here we foresee an objection to which we must first reply. Some will be
+surprised that a system declared to be infallible should rest upon a
+mystery; they will ask what a mystery can have to do with a purely
+didactic question. Patience! You shall see that it cannot be otherwise.
+Nothing is more evident than light, yet light is a mystery, the most
+obscure of all mysteries. Thus light escapes the eye and it does not see
+that by means of which it sees. Now, if light is a mystery, why should
+not mystery be a light? Let us see first what the church teaches us in
+regard to this mystery.
+
+God is a word which serves as a pretext for every Utopia, for every
+illusion and for every human folly. The Trinity is the express
+refutation of all these stupidities; it is their remedy, corrective and
+preservative. Deprive me of the Trinity and I can no longer understand
+aught of God. All becomes dark and obscure to me, and I have no longer a
+rational motive for hope.
+
+The Trinity, the hypostatical basis of beings and things, is the
+reflection of the Divine Majesty in its work. It is, as it were, a
+reflection upon us of its own light. The Trinity is our guide in the
+applied sciences of which it is at once the solution and the enigma.
+
+The Trinity is manifest in the smallest divisions of the Divine work,
+and is to be regarded as the most fertile means of scientific
+investigation; for if it is at once the cause, the principle and the end
+of all science, it is its infallible criterion and we must start from it
+as an immovable axiom.
+
+Every truth is triangular, and no demonstration responds to its object
+save in virtue of a triply triple formula.
+
+_Theory of Processional Relations; or of the Connection between
+Principiants and Principiates._
+
+THEOREM.
+
+Each term in the Trinity is characterized processionally by the
+arrangement of the relations which unite it to its congeners. We will
+represent the nature of these relations by an arrow, the head of which
+starts from the principiant, touching with its point the principiate.
+
+
+
+
+Example.
+
+
+
+    Principiant terms --------------->  Principiate terms
+
+This established, let us see by what sort of relations we are to
+distinguish the persons in the Trinity represented by 1, 2 and 3.
+
+1. The Father--a term exclusively principiant, giving the mission and
+not receiving it.
+
+2. The Son--a term both principiant and principiate, receiving and
+giving the mission.
+
+3. The Holy Ghost--a term exclusively principiate, receiving the mission
+and not giving it.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+              TYPICAL
+            ARRANGEMENTS
+        BASED ON THE KNOWLEDGE
+         OF THE PROCESSIONAL
+       RELATIONS INTERUNITING
+     THE PERSONS IN THE TRINITY.
+
+                  3
+                 / \
+                /   \
+               /     \
+             B/       \C
+             / TRINITY \
+            /           \
+          1/             \2
+           ---------------
+                  A
+
+[Illustration]
+
+_A._ Relation of generation starting from the generator, ending at the
+engendered (2), expressing by its horizontality the co-equality of the
+principiant with the principiate.
+
+_B._ Relation of spiration starting from the spirator or first
+principiant 1, ending at the principiate 3.
+
+_C._ Relation of spiration starting from the spirator or second
+principiant 2, ending at the principiate 3, emanated by way of the
+common spiration of its double principle 1 and 2.
+
+
+
+_Vicious Arrangements._
+
+Reversal of the Processional Relations and Confusion Which Leads to
+Reversals.
+
+
+These first three examples sin from lack of a necessary relationship, in
+default of which the extreme terms cannot be designated. Here,
+therefore, the intermediate term alone can be estimated.
+
+    1  >-------->  2  <--------<  3
+
+Here the Son offers the relational characteristics of the Holy Ghost.
+
+    1  <--------<  2  >-------->  3
+
+Here He plays the part of the Father by the arrangement of His
+relations.
+
+    1  >-------->  3  >-------->  2
+
+Here the Holy Ghost is evidently out of place, for He indicates
+relations which belong only to the Word.
+
+(1.) According to these relations, the Holy Ghost plays the part of the
+Son, and the Son that of the Holy Ghost.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+           3
+          ^ \
+         / 1 \
+        /     v
+       1------>2
+
+(2.) Here all the relations are reversed so that the Father plays the
+part of the Son; the Holy Ghost plays the part of the Father; and,
+finally, the Son that of the Holy Ghost.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+           3
+          / \
+         / 2 \
+        v     v
+       1------>2
+
+(3.) This curious example represents by the identical arrangement of
+the terms that it brings together, three Sons; that is to say, the
+person of the Son three times over.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+           3
+          ^ \
+         / 3 \
+        /     v
+       1<------2
+
+(4.) Another reversal of the relations, which derives the Holy Ghost
+from the Father, the Father from the Son, and the Son from the Holy
+Ghost.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+           3
+          / ^
+         / 4 \
+        v     \
+       1<------2
+
+
+
+
+Passion Of Signs. Signs of Passion.
+
+
+
+These two terms at first sight seem very similar. It is not so. They
+express two wholly distinct things. Therefore to know the meaning of
+words by no means proves one capable of finding words and fitting them
+to the meaning.
+
+It is clearly easier to translate a language than to write it, and just
+as we must learn to translate before we can compose, so we must become
+thoroughly familiar with semeiotics before trying to work at aesthetics;
+and, as the science of semeiotics is still wholly incomplete, it is,
+therefore, absolutely impossible that that which is called aesthetics
+should in the least resemble the science which I have just defined.
+
+I have shown you aesthetics as a science. I have given you its
+definition. I have fixed its special part in the sum total of knowledge
+which goes to make up art; moreover, I have pointed out what this
+science is intended to teach you. I have, by so doing, assumed serious
+obligations toward you. I must needs produce under this title something
+more than mere fantastic reflections upon works of art, or more or less
+attractive stories about their authors and the circumstances in which
+they lived. It will not be so amusing, but assuredly it will be more
+profitable, and that is all for which I aspire.
+
+Art, then, is an act whose semeiotics characterizes the forms produced
+by the action of powers, which action is determined by aesthetics, and
+the causes of which are sought out by ontology.
+
+          / Ontology examines the constituent virtues of the being.
+          |
+    Art. <  AEsthetics examines its powers.
+          |
+          \ Semeiotics characterizes its forces.
+
+          / Inherent form of sentiments . . . . . . AEsthetics.
+          |
+    Art. <  Metaphysical form of the principles . . Ontology.
+          |
+          \ Organic form of signs . . . . . . . . . Semeiotics.
+
+The object of art, therefore, is to reproduce, by the action of a
+superior principle (ontology), the organic signs explained by
+semeiotics, and whose fitness is estimated by aesthetics.
+
+Semeiotics is the science of the organic signs by which aesthetics must
+study inherent fitness.
+
+AEsthetics is the science of the sensitive and passional manifestations
+which are the object of art, and whose psychic form it constitutes.
+
+If semeiotics does not tell us the passion which the sign reveals, how
+can aesthetics indicate to us the sign which it should apply to the
+passion that it studies? In a word, how shall the artist translate the
+passion which he is called upon to express?
+
+AEsthetics determines the inherent forms of sentiment in view of the
+effects whose truth of relation it estimates.
+
+Semeiotics studies organic forms in view of the sentiment which produces
+them.
+
+It is thus that _wisdom_ and _reason_ proceed in inverse sense from the
+principle to the knowledge which is the object of both. Wisdom, in fact,
+studies the principle in its consequences, while reason studies the
+consequences in the principle, hence it comes that wisdom and reason are
+often at war with each other; hence also the obscurity which generally
+prevails as to the distinction between them. Let us say that _wisdom_
+and _reason_ are to intelligence what aesthetics and semeiotics are to
+art. Let us add to this parallel that _wisdom_ and _reason_ are to
+intelligence what aesthetics and semeiotics are to ontology; that is:--
+
+1. If, from a certain organic form, I infer a certain sentiment, that is
+_Semeiotics_.
+
+2. If, from a certain sentiment, I deduce a certain organic form, that
+is _AEsthetics_.
+
+3. If, after studying the arrangement of an organic form whose inherent
+fitness I am supposed to know, I take possession of that arrangement
+under the title of methods, invariably to reproduce that form by
+substituting my individual will for its inherent cause, that is _Art_.
+
+4. If I determine the initial phenomena under the impulsion of which the
+inherent powers act upon the organism, that is _Ontology_.
+
+5. If I tell how that organism behaves under the inherent action, that
+is _Physiology_.
+
+6. If I examine, one by one, the agents of that organism, it is
+_Anatomy_.
+
+7. If, amid these different studies, I seek by means of analogy and
+generalization for light to guide my steps toward my advantage, that is
+_System_.
+
+8. If I make that light profitable to my material and spiritual
+interests, that is _Reason_.
+
+9. If I add to all this the loving contemplation of the Supreme Author
+in His work, that is _Wisdom_.
+
+Let us now leave the abstractions to which you have kindly lent your
+attention. I cannot here avoid casting a rapid glance at those sources
+of science and art, the sources whence I desire to draw applications
+which I am assured will interest you as they interest me. May they
+afford you the same delight!
+
+By listening to me thus far you have passed through the proofs requisite
+for your initiation into science as well as art; into science, whose
+very definition is unknown to the learned bodies, since they have never
+studied aught of it but its specialties; into art, whose very
+fundamental basis is unsuspected by the School of Fine Arts, as I have
+elsewhere demonstrated. Therefore, I now desire in the course of these
+lectures to set aside the terms of a technology which I could not avoid
+at the outset, and by the recital of my labors and my researches, my
+disappointments and my discoveries, to show you the painful birth of a
+science, whose possession entitles me to the honor of addressing you
+to-day.
+
+
+
+Definition of Form.
+
+
+
+Form is the garb of substance. It is the expressive symbol of a
+mysterious truth. It is the trademark of a hidden virtue. It is the
+actuality of the being. In a word, form is the plastic art of the Ideal.
+
+We have to consider three sorts of form: The form assumed by the being
+at birth and which we will call _constitutional_ form. Under the sway of
+custom forms undergo modifications: We will call these forms _habitual_
+forms. Then there are the _fugitive_ forms, modifications of the
+constitutional form, which are produced under the sway of passion. These
+forms, which we will call _accidental, passional_ or _transitory_, are
+fugitive as the things which give them birth.
+
+
+
+
+On Distinction and Vulgarity of Motion.
+
+
+
+Motion generally has its reaection; a projected body rebounds and it is
+this rebound which we call the reaection of the motion.
+
+Rebounding bodies are agreeable to the eye. Lack of elasticity in a body
+is disagreeable from the fact that lacking suppleness, it seems as if it
+must, in falling, be broken, flattened or injured; in a word, must lose
+something of the integrality of its form. It is, therefore, the reaection
+of a body which proves its elasticity, and which, by this very quality,
+gives us a sort of pleasure in witnessing a fall, which apart from this
+reaection could not be other than disagreeable. Therefore, elasticity of
+dynamic motions is a prime necessity from the point of view of charm.
+
+In the vulgar man there is no reaection. In the man of distinction, on
+the contrary, motion is of slight extent and reaection is enormous.
+Reaection is both slow and rapid.
+
+
+
+
+Gesture.
+
+
+
+The artist should have three objects: To _move_, to _interest_, to
+_persuade_. He interests by _language_; he moves by _thought_; he moves,
+interests and persuades by _gesture_.
+
+Language is the weakest of the three agents. In a matter of the feelings
+language proves nothing. It has no real value, save that which is given
+to it by the preparation of gesture.
+
+Gesture corresponds to the soul, to the heart; language to the life, to
+the thought, to the mind. The life and the mind being subordinate to the
+heart, to the soul, gesture is the chief organic agent. So it has its
+appropriate character which is persuasion, and it borrows from the other
+two agents interest and emotion. It prepares the way, in fact, for
+language and thought; it goes before them and foretells their coming; it
+accentuates them.
+
+By its silent eloquence it predisposes, it guides the listener. It makes
+him a witness to the secret labor performed by the immanences which are
+about to burst forth. It flatters him by leading him to feel that he
+partakes in this preparation by the initiation to which it admits him.
+It condenses into a single word the powers of the three agents. It
+represents virtue effective and operative. It assimilates the
+auxiliaries which surround it, and reflects the immanence proper to its
+nature, the contemplation of its subject deeply seen, deeply felt. It
+possesses them synthetically, fully, absolutely.
+
+Artistic gesture is the expression of the physiognomy; it is
+transluminous action; it is the mirror of lasting things.
+
+Lacordaire, that spoiled child of the intellect, spoke magnificently. He
+interested, he aroused admiration, but he did not persuade. His organism
+was rebellious to gesture. He was the artist of language. Ravignan,
+inferior intellectually, prepared his audience by his attitude, touched
+them by the general expression of his face, fascinated them by his gaze.
+He was the artist of gesture.
+
+Thus, if we sing, let us not forget that the prelude, the refrain, is
+the spiritual expression of the song; that we must take advantage of
+this exordium to guide ourselves, to predispose our hearers in our
+favor; that we must point out to them, must make them foresee by the
+expression of our face the thought and the words which are to follow;
+that, in fact, the ravished spectator may be dazzled by a song which he
+has not yet heard, but which he divines or thinks that he divines.
+
+
+
+_Definition of Gesture._ (Compare Delaumosne, page 43.)
+
+
+Gesture is the direct agent of the heart. It is the fit manifestation of
+feeling. It is the revealer of thought and the commentator upon speech.
+It is the elliptical expression of language; it is the justification of
+the additional meanings of speech. In a word, it is the spirit of which
+speech is merely the letter. Gesture is parallel to the impression
+received; it is, therefore, always anterior to speech, which is but a
+reflected and subordinate expression.
+
+Gesture is founded on three bases which give rise to three orders of
+studies; that is, to three sciences, namely: The _static_, the _dynamic_
+and the _semeiotic_.
+
+What are these three sciences, and, first of all, what are they in
+relation to gesture? The semeiotic is its mind; the dynamic is its soul;
+the static is founded on the mutual equilibrium or equipoise of the
+agents.
+
+The dynamic presents the multiple action of three agents; that is to
+say, of the constituent forces of the soul.
+
+The semeiotic presents to our scrutiny a triple object for study. It
+sets forth the cause of the acts produced by the dynamic and the static
+harmonies. Moreover, it reveals the meaning of the types which form the
+object of the system. It offers us a knowledge of the formal or
+constitutional types, of the fugitive or accidental types, and, finally,
+of the habitual types.
+
+The triple object of the dynamic are the _rhythmic, inflective_ and
+_harmonic_ forms. Dynamic rhythm is founded upon the important law of
+mobility, inversely proportionate to the masses moved. Dynamic
+inflections are produced by three movements: Direct movements, rotary
+movements and movements of flexion in the arc of a circle.
+
+Dynamic harmony is founded on the concomitance of the relations existing
+between all the agents of gesture. This harmony is regulated by three
+states, namely: The tonic or eccentric state, the atonic or concentric
+state, and the normal state. It, therefore, remains for us to fix the
+three vital conditions of the static part of gesture. The vital
+condition of the static is based upon the knowledge of the nine
+stations. The spirit of the static entails the study of scenic planes
+which embrace three conditions: The condition of the personage in
+relation to the scenic centre or to the interlocutor whom he addresses;
+in the second place, his situation; and, finally, the direction assumed
+by his body in regard to the conditions already indicated.
+
+The soul of the static is in the harmonic opposition of the surfaces
+moved.
+
+The most powerful of all gestures is that which affects the spectator
+without his knowing it.
+
+From this statement may be deduced the principle that: Outward gesture,
+being only the echo of the inward gesture which gave birth to it and
+rules it, should be inferior to it in development and should be in some
+sort diaphanous.
+
+
+
+
+Attitudes of the Head.
+
+
+
+The head, considered in its three direct poses, presents three
+conditions or states. When facing the object contemplated, it presents
+the normal state; bent forward and in the direction of the object, it
+presents the concentric state; raised and considering the object from
+above, it presents the eccentric state. [Compare Delaumosne, page 65.]
+
+If, now, we consider each of its attitudes in connection with a double
+lateral inclination of which they are capable, we have the following
+nine:
+
+1. The first is normal. The head is neither high nor low, the glance
+being direct.
+
+2. The second is characteristic of tenderness. This attitude consists in
+bending the head obliquely toward the interlocutor. The body, in this
+attitude, should not face the object; thus the head, in bending toward
+it, bends sidewise in relation to the body.
+
+3. The third attitude is characteristic of sensuality. This attitude is
+marked by an inclination quite the reverse of the second; that is to
+say, away from the interlocutor. Naturally, in this attitude, as in the
+preceding one, the glance is oblique; the head being bent forward and
+backward, is here placed obliquely.
+
+4. The fourth is characteristic of scrutiny, reflection. The head in
+this attitude is bent forward as we said in concentration, and the eye,
+from the effort to lower the head, is thrown up to inspect the object.
+
+5. The fifth is characteristic of veneration. This attitude offers the
+same inclination as the second; but here, as the head must be lowered,
+the eye is directed both obliquely and upward.
+
+6. The sixth is characteristic of suspicion. This attitude offers the
+same inclination as the third, with the concentric modifications
+indicated for the preceding one.
+
+7. The seventh is characteristic of exaltation, passion. This attitude
+is eccentric and direct, as we have already said.
+
+8. The eighth attitude is characteristic of abandonment, extreme
+confidence. This attitude presents the inclination of the second and the
+fifth, with this difference, that here the head is thrown back and the
+eye, instead of being bent directly upon the object as in the second and
+upward as in the fifth, here gazes downward.
+
+9. The ninth attitude is characteristic of pride. This last attitude
+takes the inclination of the sixth and eighth attitudes, with the
+differences in gaze indicated in the foregoing.
+
+Thus, to sum up what we have already said, we see that the first, fourth
+and seventh attitudes are directly toward the object; that the second,
+fifth and eighth bend obliquely toward the object; and, finally, that
+the third, sixth and ninth are the result of an oblique inclination away
+from the object.
+
+NOTE.--It is to be understood that the various attitudes of the head are
+asserted only in regard to the direction taken by the eye. Thus it is
+not absolutely true to say that the head is in the eccentric state
+because it is raised; for it may be that, raised as it is, the direction
+of the eye may be even higher than it, and, in that case, the head
+might, although raised, present the aspect of the concentric state. Then
+it would be true to say that the head presents the concentric state in a
+high direction.
+
+
+
+
+Attitudes of the Hands.
+
+
+
+The hands, like the legs, have three kinds of attitudes. They open
+without effort and present the normal state; they close and present the
+concentric state; then they open forcibly and present the eccentric
+state. These three kinds of attitudes produce nine forms.
+
+1. The first is characteristic of acceptance. In this the hand is
+presented open without effort, the fingers close together and the palm
+up.
+
+2. The second is characteristic of caressing. In this attitude the palm
+of the hand faces the object considered and gently follows its forms.
+
+3. The third is characteristic of negation. This attitude is executed in
+the following fashion: The arm and hand are placed as in caressing; but,
+instead of following the form of the object, the hand rids itself of it
+by a rotary movement, thus placing the palm in a lateral direction.
+
+4. This attitude is executed with the closed fist, the arm hanging
+naturally, that is, without any action determined by the will.
+
+5. The fifth is characteristic of will. This attitude consists in
+carrying the fist forward, the back up.
+
+6. The sixth attitude is characteristic of menace. This attitude is
+effected by an outward rotary movement compressed in the fist, so that,
+contrary to the will, the back of the hand is down.
+
+7. The seventh is characteristic of desire. The hand, in this attitude,
+moves forward as in the first, but with the difference that here the
+fingers are spread apart, this spreading signifying "I do not possess,"
+expresses desire. There is, by the fact of the advance of the hand,
+aspiration and not possession.
+
+8. The eighth is characteristic of imprecation. It consists in
+stretching the palm of the hand toward the object as in a caress, but
+with this difference, that the fingers are spread apart, thus offering a
+repulsive aspect.
+
+9. The ninth is characteristic of refusal, repulsion. It consists in
+carrying the hand obliquely as in negation, observing the spreading of
+the fingers which characterizes this species.
+
+
+
+_Affirmation--The Hand._
+
+
+To make the demonstration of the different affirmations of the hand more
+clear, we employ the cube which, as is well known, has six faces, eight
+angles, and twelve edges.
+
+When the hand is placed upon a flat surface the affirmation is simple;
+when the hand is placed upon an angle the affirmation is triple or
+common to three faces or surfaces. There are three directions in the
+cube: Horizontal, vertical and transverse. So, too, there are three
+directions possible for the hand in relation to the body:
+
+  1. Abduction--which removes,
+  2. Adduction--which brings close, and
+  3. The normal direction.
+
+There are three sorts of adduction, three sorts of abduction, and three
+sorts of normal direction.
+
+There are three horizontal, three vertical and three transverse
+directions; hence nine terms applicable to the nine modes of presenting
+the hand in connection with the cube, which are:
+
+[Illustration:
+
+                 +---------------------------------------------+
+                /|                                            /|
+               / |                                           / |
+              /  |                                          /  |
+             /   |                                         /   |
+            /    |          UPPER SURFACE.                /    |
+           /     |                                       /     |
+          /      |             To hold.                 /      |
+         /       |                                     /       |
+        +---------------------------------------------+        |
+        |        |                                    |  O     |
+        |  I     |                                    |  U     |
+        |  N     |                                    |  T     |
+        |  W     |                                    |  W     |
+        |  A     |                                    |  A     |
+        |  R     |          FRONT SURFACE.            |  R     |
+        |  D  T  |                           |        |  D     |
+        |     o  |          To retain.       |        |     T  |
+        |  L     |                                    |  L  o  |
+        |  A  w  |          Limit.         --         |  A     |
+        |  T  i  |                                    |  T  b  |
+        |  E  t  |          Obtain.          |        |  E  e  |
+        |  R  h  |                           |        |  R  l  |
+        |  A  d  |          BACK SURFACE.             |  A  o  |
+        |  L  r  |      |                             |  L  n  |
+        |     a  |      |   To maintain.              |     g  |
+        |  S  w  |      |                    |        |  S  .  |
+        |  U  .  |          Contain.         |        |  U     |
+        |  R     |                           |        |  R     |
+        |  F     |                                    |  F     |
+        |  A     |                                    |  A     |
+        |  C     |                                    |  C     |
+        |  E     |                                    |  E     |
+        |  .     |                                    |  .     |
+        |        +------------------------------------+--------+
+        |       /                                     |       /
+        |      /             LOWER SURFACE.           |      /
+        |     /                                       |     /
+        |    /                 To sustain.            |    /
+        |   /                                         |   /
+        |  /                                          |  /
+        | /                                           | /
+        |/                                            |/
+        +---------------------------------------------+
+
+Table of the Normal Character of These Nine Attitudes.
+
+                   / 2. Concentric . . Conflict.
+                  |
+    2. Concentro.<   3. Normal . . . . Power.
+                  |
+                   \ 1. Eccentric  . . Convulsion.
+
+                   / 2. Concentric . . Prostration.
+                  |
+    3. Normo.    <   3. Normal . . . . Abandon.
+                  |
+                   \ 1. Eccentric  . . Expansion.
+
+                   / 2. Concentric . . Execration.
+                  |
+    1. Eccentro. <   3. Normal . . . . Exaltation.
+                  |
+                   \ 1. Eccentric  . . Exasperation.
+
+These nine physiognomies of the hand modify those of the face, often
+supply their place and sometimes even contradict them. When they are
+appropriate to the hand and face alike, there is homogeneity. The
+expression of the hands results from the cooeperation of three orders of
+phenomena. The first order comprises the intrinsic physiognomies assumed
+by the hand under the influence of the passions. The second order
+comprises the attitudes assumed by the hand toward the object of the
+passion. The third order comprises the evolutions impressed upon the
+hand by the body, fore-arm and shoulder. These evolutions are so many
+inflections.
+
+We know the nine attitudes appropriate to the hand, and the nine
+attitudes designated by the nine modes of presentation of the hand in
+regard to the cubic surfaces. We must examine the nine inflections which
+arise in the first instance from the three directions, antero-posterior,
+vertical and transverse.
+
+These inflections again include three movements of three kinds: Direct
+movements, circular movements and oblique movements. These movements
+are produced by three sorts of action: Sectional action, rotary action
+and translative action.
+
+To recapitulate: These physiognomies, attitudes and inflections form by
+their combination the multifarious expressions of which the hand is
+capable, as are all parts of the body.
+
+Having spoken of the affirmations of the hand, we must speak of its
+degree of certainty of which the arm is the thermometer. This
+affirmation varies with the angle formed by the fore-arm with the arm.
+All these modes of affirmation may be applied to negation.
+
+
+
+
+Attitudes of the Legs.
+
+
+
+1. The first attitude is normal; it consists of an equal balance of the
+weight of the body on the two legs. This attitude is that of the soldier
+carrying arms, without the stiffness assumed by the wilful regularity of
+rigid discipline. It is also that attitude taken by a man in the act of
+salutation; it is also characteristic of the weakness of a child or of
+old age; it is the sign of respect. [Compare Delaumosne, p. 100.]
+
+2. The second attitude is characteristic of repose in strength. The
+weight of the body is thrown upon one hip, the free leg being carried
+forward. This change should be effected without tension or stiffness.
+This attitude is also characteristic of certain concentric passions
+hidden under seeming calm.
+
+3. This attitude is characteristic of vehemence, of which it is the
+type. It is preeminently the eccentric attitude. It consists in carrying
+the whole weight of the body forward, the backward leg extended in equal
+proportion to the forward poise of the torso.
+
+4. This attitude is characteristic of the weakness which follows
+vehemence. It is the type of concentration; it is also in character as
+in species the antipodes of the third attitude, since it is its resolute
+expression. This attitude consists in throwing the whole weight of the
+body backward, contrary to the preceding attitude where the body was
+brought forward, and in bending the leg which bears the weight of the
+body, which is also the reverse of the preceding attitude, where the leg
+is extended. This attitude is nearly that of the fencing-master; it
+differs, however, in the position of the backward foot, which, in
+fencing, is turned outward. The regularity of this attitude may be
+verified by kneeling, which is its paroxysm. If the attitude is well
+done it leads to it naturally.
+
+5. The fifth attitude serves as a preparation for oblique steps; it is
+also colorless, transitive, suspensive. It ends all the angles formed by
+walking. We may define this attitude as a third transversal; that is to
+say, the free leg, instead of being behind as in the third, is
+impassive, so that the body, instead of being advanced, should be
+slightly inclined to one side.
+
+6. The sixth attitude is an attitude of pomp and ceremony. It is only
+assumed in the presence of kings, princes, or persons for whom we have
+great respect. We will define this attitude as a third crossed
+proceeding from the fifth; that is to say, the free leg of the fifth
+becomes the strong leg moving sidewise and slightly forward, thus
+crossing the back leg.
+
+7. The seventh attitude is an attitude characteristic of absolute
+repose. It is the strongest attitude, and, consequently, that assumed by
+intoxication to resist a lack of equilibrium. It is the attitude of
+vertigo, or of extreme trust.
+
+Do not be surprised by the bringing together of these very different and
+opposite terms in one and the same attitude. It is a sufficient
+explanation to say that the strong attitude is sought out by weakness as
+a weak attitude is sought by strength. This attitude consists in the
+division of the weight of the body between both legs, which are spread
+wide apart in parallel directions. This attitude would be improper in a
+parlor.
+
+8. The eighth attitude is an attitude characteristic of the alternation
+between the offender and defender. It is the exact medium between the
+third and fourth; it, therefore, expresses moral as well as physical
+alternation. A man placed between the offensive and the defensive always
+assumes this attitude as if to sound the resources of his courage in
+face of an enemy stronger than himself; in this attitude he may advance
+or recede. This attitude is a seventh, whose direction, instead of being
+lateral, is parallel to the body and antero-posterior. In this position
+the body faces the forward leg, both legs being spread wide apart, as in
+the seventh, both receive an equal portion of the weight of the body.
+
+9. The ninth attitude is characteristic of defiance. This attitude is a
+stiff second. It differs only in that the free leg is rigid instead of
+being bent as in the second. To execute this attitude thoroughly well
+the free leg must be stretched to the very utmost, without allowing the
+strong leg to bend as in the fourth, which is the only attitude where
+the strong leg should be bent. To prevent this flexion, the body must be
+carried well over on the hip of the strong leg, so that the side of the
+free leg may be elongated.
+
+_Chart Considered from the Organic Point of View._
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  2. The Son,
+  3. The Holy Ghost,
+  1. The Father.
+
+Having examined the table organically, we will study it essentially.
+
+
+
+Example.
+
+
+What we have called eccentric, concentric and normal, we will call
+vitality, intellectuality and spirituality; lastly, having established
+this table from the organic and the essential point of view, it remains
+for us to examine it aesthetically and from a practical point of view.
+
+Let us first examine a few gestures, for instance:
+
+_Of the Hand._
+
+                                 3 colorless state abandonment
+                                 /\
+                                /  \
+                               /    \
+                              /   3  \
+                 expansion 1 /________\ 2 prostration
+
+
+
+                 3 exaltation                      3 power
+                /\                                /\
+               /  \                              /  \
+              /    \                            /    \
+             /   1  \                          /   2  \
+          1 /________\ 2                    1 /________\ 2
+    exasperation    execration     convulsive state    struggle
+
+_Of the Eye._
+
+                             abandonment
+                                 /\
+                                /  \
+                               /    \
+                              /   3  \
+                indifference /________\ moroseness
+
+
+
+              stupor                    depression or somnolence
+                /\                                /\
+               /  \                              /  \
+              /    \                            /    \
+             /   1  \                          /   2  \
+          1 /________\ 2                    1 /________\ 2
+    surprise       firmness              contempt   contention of mind
+
+_Of the Torso._
+
+                           dynamic apparatus
+                                 /\
+                                /  \
+                               /    \
+                              /   3  \
+                       limbs /________\ head
+
+
+
+              larynx                      veil of the palate
+                /\                                /\
+               /  \                              /  \
+              /    \                            /    \
+             /   1  \                          /   2  \
+          1 /________\ 2                    1 /________\ 2
+       lungs          mouth              lips           tongue
+
+
+_AEsthetic Division._
+
+                                 3 pure spirituality
+                                 /\
+                                /  \
+                               /    \
+                              /   3  \
+                vital soul 1 /________\ 2 intellectual soul
+
+
+
+                 3 spiritual life                 3 spiritual intellect
+                /\                                /\
+               /  \                              /  \
+              /    \                            /    \
+             /   1  \                          /   2  \
+          1 /________\ 2                    1 /________\ 2
+    animal life  intellectual life   animal intellect  mental intellece
+
+                        / Mind                           / Science
+    Human Hypostases   <  Soul                  Worlds  <  Grace
+                        \ Life                           \ Nature
+
+
+
+
+                        / Light              / The mind  / distinguishes
+    Divine Attributes  <  Love    Functions <  The soul <  reunites
+                        \ Power              \ The life  \ asserts
+
+
+                        / Understanding                  / Speculative
+    Faculties          <  Will                 Reasons  <  Final
+                        \ Memory                         \ Seminal
+
+
+
+                        / Trial generates faith
+    Theological Virtues<  Tribulation generates experience
+                        \ Fulfilment generates charity
+
+
+
+
+The Holy Trinity Recovered in Sound.
+
+
+
+Sound is the reflection of the Divine image. In sound there are three
+reflex images: The reflex of life; of the intellect; and of love. They
+result from the parallel and simultaneous action of three agents: The
+projective (life), reflective (intellect), and vibrative (love).
+
+Sound contains three sounds: That of the _tonic_, the _dominant_, and
+the _mediant_. The tonic (Father) necessarily generates the dominant
+(Son), and the mediant (Holy Ghost) proceeds necessarily from the first
+two.
+
+Pythagoras discovered this law. Passing before a blacksmith's shop, he
+heard the sound of heavy hammer strokes upon a forge. He recognized
+perfectly that each blow gave out beside the principal tone (tonic) two
+other tones, which corresponded to the twelfth and seventeenth of the
+tonic. Now, the twelfth reversed is nothing but the fifth or dominant,
+and the seventeenth becomes, by a double reversion, the third or mediant
+of the tonic.
+
+Let us say, then, that every tone necessarily contains the tonic its
+generator, the dominant its engendered, and the mediant which proceeds
+from the other two. The reuenion of these three tones which makes them
+into one, forms the perfect chord. Full and absolute consonance is the
+expression of union, of love, of order, of harmony, of peace; it is the
+return to the source of goodness, to God.
+
+If a fourth form should be added to the perfect chord, to consonance,
+there would necessarily be a dissonance. This fourth can only enter by
+an effort, almost by violence. It is outside of plenitude, of the calm
+established by the Divine law; it produces a painful sensation, a
+dissonance. As soon as there is a discord, a dissonance, the animal
+cries out, the dog howls, inert bodies suffer and vibrate; but all is
+order and calm again when consonance returns.
+
+
+
+
+Speech.
+
+
+
+Speech is an act posterior to will, itself posterior to love; this again
+posterior to judgment, posterior in its turn to memory, which, finally,
+is posterior to the impression.
+
+Every impression, to become a sensation, must first be perceived by the
+intelligence, and thus we may say of the sensation that it is a definite
+impression. But, to be definite, it must pass into the domain of memory
+and there solicit the reappearance of its congeners with which it may
+identify itself. It is in this apparatus and surrounded by this throng
+of homogeneous impressions which gather round it, as if by magic, or
+rather which it draws about it as the magnet draws the iron, it is, I
+say, in this complex state that it appears before the intelligence to
+receive from the latter a fitting name. For the intelligence could not
+give it a name if the homogeneous impressions in which it has, so to
+speak, arrayed itself, did not serve to point it out.
+
+Now, by this distinction, established by the double operation of the
+memory and the intelligence, a movement takes place in the soul, of
+attraction, if the intelligence approve; or of repulsion, if it
+disapprove. This movement is called the will. The will, therefore,
+becomes the active principle in virtue of which speech is expressed;
+thus speech is the express agent of the will. It is speech, in fact,
+which, under the incubation of this mysterious power, rules, groups and
+moves bodies with the aid of memory.
+
+Inflection is the life of speech; the mind lies in the articulative
+values, in the distribution of these articulations and their
+progressions. The soul of speech is in gesture.
+
+
+
+
+Breathing.
+
+
+
+Breathing, according to its form of production, is: (1) Costal or
+combined; (2) diaphragmatic; (3) costo-diaphragmatic.
+
+Breathing is a triple act based upon three phenomena: Inspiration,
+suspension, expiration. From the successive predominance of each of
+these three phenomena, or from their equal balance, result eighty-one
+respiratory acts, which may be reduced to three terms: The breathing is
+_normal, spasmodic_, or _sibilant_.
+
+There are three questions to be considered in regard to breathing:
+
+1. How should it, the breath, be produced to gain the greatest
+development for the voice?
+
+2. What place should it occupy in speech?
+
+3. What aspect does it assume under the influence of the passions?
+
+In other words, three characters may be attributed to respiration:
+Vocal, logical, pathetic or passional.
+
+
+
+_Vocal Respiration._
+
+
+The lungs constantly contain a quantity of air, which is the source of
+life and with which we cannot dispense without inconvenience to health
+and to the voice. The quantity of air requisite for the renewing of the
+blood, and which is called the breath of life, amounts to a third of
+what the lungs are capable of receiving. In order to sing, therefore,
+it must be increased by two-thirds, and it is this borrowed breath only
+which should be given out in singing. When the lungs are thus filled
+with air, the sound is produced by escapement. From this it receives
+greater force, and its production, far from being a fatigue, becomes a
+relief.
+
+Inspiration should always be followed by a suspensive silence; otherwise
+the lungs, agitated by the act of inspiration, perform the expiration
+badly.
+
+
+
+_Logical Respiration._
+
+
+Logical respiration constitutes the respiration itself. Suspension
+expresses reticence, disquietude. Inspiration is an element of
+dissimulation, concentration, pain. Hence, we have normal, oppressive,
+spasmodic, superior, sibilant, rattling, intermittent, crackling, and
+hiccoughing respiration.
+
+Expiration is an element of trust, expansion, confidence and tenderness.
+If the expression contains both pain and love, the inspiration and
+expiration will both be noisy; but the one or the other will predominate
+according as pain predominates over love, or _vice versa._
+
+
+_Passional Respiration._
+
+The source of passional respiration lies in the agitation of the heart.
+The effect of respiration is most powerful, for the slighter and more
+imperceptible the phenomena are, the more effect they have upon the
+auditors.
+
+
+
+
+Vocal Organ.
+
+
+
+The organ assumes at birth a form; this form is called the timbre or
+tone, This tone corresponds to the constitutional form. Under the sway
+of habit, the form assumes an acquired tone which is called emission.
+The emissive form corresponds to the habitual tone. Under the sway of
+emotion the voice is modulated and assumes forms which we will call
+passional or transitory.
+
+The mouth is normal, concentric and eccentric. [See chart in Delaumosne,
+page 81.]
+
+From these three types we have succeeded in fixing and classifying
+forty-eight million phenomena.
+
+
+
+
+Definition of the Voice.
+
+
+
+The voice is the essential element in singing. It is based upon sound.
+This is based upon three agents:
+
+The _projective_ agent, or the _lungs_.
+
+The _vibrative_ agent, or the _larnyx_.
+
+The _reverberative_ agent, or the _mouth_.
+
+Each of these agents acts in different ways, nine acts resulting
+therefrom, which we will call products of phonetic acts.
+
+The projective agent in its special activities engenders
+
+    Intensities,
+    Shades,
+    Respirations.
+
+The vibrative agent in its special activities engenders
+
+    Prolations,
+    Pathetic effects,
+    Registers.
+
+The reverberative agent in its special activities engenders
+
+    Emissions,
+    Articulations,
+    Vowels.
+
+To recapitulate, the phonetic agents give us nine products; but, when
+studied from the vocal point of view, these products become as many
+elements and must be examined from the triple point of view of
+preparatory, practical and transcendant studies. We must, therefore,
+know first the general definition of these elements, their cause and
+their theoretical history, which constitutes phonology or the
+preparatory study of the voice.
+
+Secondly, we must know the physical order in virtue of which these
+phenomena may be acquired or developed. The various special exercises
+and the vices to be avoided constitute phonation or the practical study
+of the voice.
+
+Thirdly, we must know and appreciate the physiological, intellectual and
+moral meaning of these elements, the different relations of resemblance,
+of opposition and of identity which exist between these different
+phenomena.
+
+The modes of application or principles of style form the transcendent
+study or aesthesiophony, that is, the voice applied to feeling, etc.
+
+
+
+_What the Register is._
+
+
+The register is an intrinsic modification of the sound; a modification
+which is produced in the larynx itself and which does not belong to the
+mouth. Now, we may say of registers that they are to the larnyx what
+emissions are to the mouth. Thus registers form a physiognomy which the
+sound assumes in the larynx, and emissions form the physiognomy which
+that same sound takes on in the mouth.
+
+
+
+_On Shading._
+
+
+Light and shade are not, as has been asserted, subject to the
+arbitration or inspiration of the moment. They are ruled by laws; for in
+art there is not a single phenomenon which is not subject to absolute
+mathematical laws. A knowledge of these laws is important, the art of
+shading forming the basis of style.
+
+The opinion which makes the ascending phrase progressive is false six
+times out of seven. It is only correct in the following cases:
+
+1. If an ascending phrase encounters no repeated and no dissonant note
+it is progressive, and the culminating note is the most intense. It has
+one degree of intensity.
+
+2. If we find a note repeated in the ascending phrase, that note, even
+if it be the lowest of all, must be made more important than the highest
+note and will have two degrees of intensity. In this case, the higher
+the voice rises the softer it must become; for there cannot be more than
+one culminating point in a musical phrase any more than in a logical or
+mimetic phrase. All sounds must, therefore, diminish in proportion to
+their distance from this centre of expression, from this repeated note.
+The reason of the intensity of a repeated note lies in the fact that we
+repeat only that thing which we desire, and this intensity gives it a
+greater value.
+
+3. If the repeated note be at the same time the culminating note, it
+will require a new degree of intensity. It will have three degrees of
+intensity.
+
+4. We may possibly find a dissonant note in the ascending phrase, with a
+repeated culminating note. (This note would, then, be more than an
+indication; it would receive an adjective form from the accident,
+assuming in the musical phrase the value that an adjective would have in
+a logical phrase.) Its intensity, therefore, would be greater than that
+of the highest repeated note, and it would have four degrees of
+intensity.
+
+5. If the dissonant note is also the highest note, it acquires from that
+position a fifth degree of intensity.
+
+6. It may happen that the dissonant note appearing in a rising phrase is
+repeated; by reason of this repetition it would receive a sixth degree
+of intensity.
+
+7. Finally, if the dissonant note is at the same time culminating and
+repeated, it has seven degrees of intensity.
+
+
+
+_Pathetic Effects._
+
+
+Pathetic effects are nine in number, the principal of which are as
+follows: The veiled tone; the flat or compressed tone; the smothered
+tone; the ragged tone; the vibrant tone. The last is the most powerful.
+
+Vibration or tremolo, bad when produced involuntarily by the singer,
+becomes a brilliant quality when it is voluntary and used at an
+opportune time. Every break must be preceded by a vibration, which
+prepares the way for it.
+
+Prolations are laryngeal articulations. Great care must be taken not to
+substitute pectoral articulations for them.
+
+The chest is a passive agent; it should furnish nothing but the breath.
+The mouth and the larynx alone are entitled to act.
+
+
+
+_On the Tearing of the Voice._
+
+
+Exuberance of the contained brings on destruction of that which contains
+it. Tearing of the voice, therefore, should only be associated with an
+excessive extension of the sound whose intensity, as we have
+demonstrated, is in inverse ratio to the dramatic proportion.
+
+
+
+
+Number.
+
+
+
+The figure 1 is characteristic of unity and measure. The figure 2, which
+is the measure in the 1, should become subordinate in its greatness and
+be equal with it. It is another one which gives birth to the idea of
+number.
+
+The idea of number can only arise from the presence of terms of the same
+nature. Thus the idea of number cannot arise from the presence of a cart
+and a toad. We shall thus have two very distinct unities, having no kind
+of relation to each other. There must, therefore, be equality before
+there can be number. This is so true that we cannot say of a man and a
+child that they are two men or two children, because the one is not
+equal to the other. It is, therefore, from the point of an attributive
+equality that we are enabled to say: They are two. But we can say: There
+are two beings, because in regard to being they are equal one to the
+other. We now understand how two equals one, that the two figures have
+an equal importance, and that the figure 1 contains exclusively the idea
+of measure; the figure 2 contains the idea of number, which is not in
+the 1, this being the characteristic feature by which the two terms
+differ.
+
+Now, how are we to form a perfect unity between these two equal but
+distinct terms?
+
+A single operation will suffice to give us the idea we wish, and this
+operation is revealed to us entire in the word _weight_. In fact, the
+two terms can only be united by this word. We feel that 1 and 2 give us
+a common weight, the sum of which is represented by the figure 3. The
+figure 3 is, therefore, equal in importance to 1 and to 2; it maintains
+equality in the terms of which it is the representative, and its
+characteristic feature is equally important with those already
+described.
+
+Thus to the figure 1 belongs the idea of _measure_; to the figure 2
+belongs the idea of _number_; to the figure 3 belongs exclusively the
+idea of reuenion, of community, of unity in fine, which no other figure
+can reveal to us. We may say: 1 and 1 are equal among themselves, in the
+unity of the figure 3; or, in other words: Measure and number find their
+unity in weight.
+
+Medallion of Inflection (Compare Delaumosne, page 119.)
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Explanation.--The vertical line 1 (from top to bottom) expresses
+affirmation, confirmation; 2, the horizontal line, expresses negation.
+The oblique lines, 3 and 4, from within outward and from without inward,
+express rejection. 4, an oblique line from within outward rejects things
+which we despise. 3, a line from within outward, rejects things which
+oppress us and of which we wish to get rid. 5, the quadrant of a circle,
+whose form recalls that of a hammock, expresses well-being, contentment,
+confidence and happiness. 6, a similar quadrant of a circle, an
+eccentric curvilinear, expresses secrecy, silence, domination,
+persuasion, stability, imposition, inclosure. The reentering external
+curvilinear quadrant of a circle, 7, expresses graceful, delicate
+things. Produced in two ways, from above downward, it expresses physical
+delicacy; from below upward, moral and intellectual delicacy. The
+external quadrant of a circle, 8, expresses exuberance and plenitude,
+amplitude and generosity. The circular line surrounding and embracing is
+characteristic of glorification and exaltation.
+
+
+
+Examples.
+
+
+[Illustration]
+1. You may believe
+2. That none, oh Lord
+3. Had such glory
+4. Or such happiness.
+
+[Illustration]
+Thy voice, brother,
+cannot be heard.
+
+[Illustration]
+After such a marvel
+one might believe a thousand
+others
+without raising his eyebrows.
+
+[Illustration] The other was a perfect
+master of the art of cheating.
+
+Remark.--These inflections being produced, it is essential to know the
+centre from which they emanate. The amplitude of the circle described
+must be in harmony with the object in question. Thus a circle may be
+produced with the entire arm, and glorification is the thing in
+question.
+
+[Illustration] grace, elegance
+
+[Illustration] charm, elevation
+
+[Illustration] Light and amiable.
+
+[Illustration] Light and spiritual.
+
+The half quarter of a circle characteristic of exuberance combined with
+the half quarter circle characteristic of delicacy, expreses grace. It
+is delicacy mixed with abundance; tenuity supported by generosity.
+
+[Illustration] The rejection of a
+contemptible thing (4)
+concluded by happiness,
+well-being (5) signifies
+that repose will not be purchased
+at the cost of a contemptible
+thing.
+
+[Illustration] The possession of
+happiness.
+
+[Illustration] The 3 combined
+with the 5 rejection
+of an illusory happiness.
+
+Note.--The figures 3, 4, 5, 6, refer to the corresponding figures in the
+Medallion of Inflection.
+
+The hand placed horizontally, the back uppermost pirouetting on the
+wrist alternately in pronation and supination, thus passing from force
+to feebleness and from feebleness to force, characterizes irritability.
+[Compare Delaumosne, pages 114-118.]
+
+[Illustration: Chart of Man. Human Nature.]
+
+[Illustration: Chart of the Angels. Angelic Nature.]
+
+
+
+
+The Nature of the Colors of Each Circle in the Color Charts.
+
+
+
+_Red, Blue and Yellow._
+
+
+Red is the color of life. Indeed, this is asserted by fire, by the heat
+of the blood.
+
+Blue is the color of the mind. Is not blue the color of the sky, the
+home of pure intellects, set free from the body, who see and know all
+things? To them everything is in the light.
+
+Yellow is the color of the soul. Yellow is the color of flame.
+
+Flame contains the warmth of life and the light of the mind. As the soul
+contains and unites the life and the mind, so the flame warms and
+shines. [Compare Delaumosne, page 157.]
+
+
+
+
+The Attributes of Reason.
+
+
+
+The human reason, that haughty faculty, deified in our age by a myriad
+of perverse and commonplace minds known under the derisive and doubly
+vain title of freethinkers, is but blind, despite its high opinion of
+its own insight. Yes, and we affirm by certain intuition that man's
+reason is not and cannot be otherwise than blind, aside from the
+revealing principle which only enlightens it in proportion to its
+subordination; for, abandoned to itself, reason can only err and must
+fatally fall into an abyss of illusions.
+
+The melancholy age in which we live but too often offers us an example
+of the lamentable mistakes into which we are hurried by misguided
+reason, which, yielding to a criminal presumption, deserts without
+remorse the principle super-abounding in _life, light_ and _glory_.
+
+To understand such an anomaly, to explain how reason, which constitutes
+one of the highest attributes of man, is so far subject to error, it is
+essential to have a thorough apprehension of the complexity of its
+nature. What, then, is the real nature of the reason so little studied
+and so illy known by those very men who raise altars in its honor? Let
+us try to produce a clear demonstration. And let us first say that
+reason does not constitute a primary principle in man; for a primary
+_principle_ could never mistake its object. Neither is it a primary
+_faculty_; it is only the form or the manner of being of such a faculty,
+and thus cannot be a light in itself. The rays by which it shines are
+external to it in the sense that it receives them from the principle
+which governs and fertilizes it. Still, let us say that, although
+neither a principle nor a faculty, reason is none the less, with
+conscience, of which it forms the base, the noblest power of man; for
+this power God created free; free from subjection to the principle that
+enlightens it; free, too, to escape from it. Yet every power necessarily
+recognizes a guiding principle to whose service it needs must bow; but
+to reason alone it is granted to avoid the law which imperiously rules
+the relations of the harmonious subordination of principiant faculties
+to their principles. Hence the error or possible blindness of reason;
+hence also its incomparable grandeur, which lies solely in its free and
+spontaneous subordination. These principles established, let us go still
+farther, and penetrate deeper into the mysterious genius of reason.
+
+authorized to define reason. He did it in terms at once so simple, so
+precise, and of such exquisite clarity, that we may venture to think
+that reason itself could not have better rendered the terms of its own
+entity.
+
+This definition, let no one fail to see, contains in its extreme brevity
+more substance than would fill a voluminous treatise. This, then, is his
+definition:
+
+_Reason is the discursive form of the intellect._
+
+Now by this St. Thomas plainly establishes that reason, distinct from
+the intellect, with which we must beware of confounding it, proceeds
+from it as effect proceeds from cause. Therefore, intellect surpasses
+reason as its principiant and guiding faculty; and reason only figures
+in the intelligential sphere, despite the important part it plays in
+virtue of its adjunctive or supplementing power.
+
+But what is the purpose of this adjunction? Here, in reply to this grave
+and important question, let us refer to what the same scholar says
+elsewhere. "Reason arises," he says, "from the failure of intellect."
+Certainly this is a luminous, and doubtless a very unexpected
+proposition. From it we learn, on the one hand, that the intellect is
+liable to defects and consequently to weaknesses; on the other hand, it
+seems established that the adjunctive power comes to aid the faculty
+which governs it, since here the subjected is born of the failure of
+the subjector.
+
+Let us explain this fresh anomaly. We have in the first place declared
+the preceding proposition luminous in spite of the obscurity into which
+we are plunged by the consequences which we have derived from it; but,
+patience! We are already aware that it is from the very obscurity of
+things that the brightest light sometimes bursts upon contemplative
+eyes; and since faith is the next principle to knowledge, let us have
+faith at least in the trustworthiness of him who addresses us,
+especially as he has given us repeated, unequivocal tokens of sound and
+upright reason. Let us, then, have no doubt that the preceding
+proposition contains a precious precept; and very certainly light will
+soon dawn on our mind.
+
+This settled, and for the better understanding of the meaning attached
+to this proposition, let us call to our aid the powers of analogy.
+
+If reason arises from the failure of intellect it is doubtless to
+rectify the valuations of the ego. Now the _compass_, which is in itself
+very inferior to the hand which fashions it and appropriates it to its
+own use, nevertheless implies a defect in that hand which directs it. So
+there is between the eye and the telescope, which comes to its aid, all
+the distance that divides the faculty from the instrument which it
+governs. Still the telescope joined to the eye communicates to it a
+great power of vision; but the instrument arises from the failure of
+the eye, which is nevertheless infinitely superior to it; for it is the
+eye which sees, and not the telescope.
+
+It is thus that we must understand the relations of reason and
+intellect. Let us say, then, that the reason is to the intellect exactly
+what the telescope is to the eye. This established, we can formulate the
+following definition as well founded.
+
+The intellect is the spiritual eye whose mysterious telescope reason
+forms, or: reason is a necessary appendage of mental optics, or again:
+reason is the glass used by the eye of a defective intellect.
+
+But this is not all. St. Thomas provides us still elsewhere with the
+means of making our analogy more striking. He says, indeed: reason is
+given us to make clear that which is not evident. Is not this, as it
+were, the seal of truth applied to our demonstration? Thus the eye uses
+the telescope absolutely as the intellect employs the reason, to make
+clear that which is not evident.
+
+Of course it is plain that if the sight and the intellect answered
+perfectly to their object, they could do without this adjunct which
+betrays their imperfection. The intellect would thenceforth have no more
+need of reason than the eye of glasses.
+
+This explains the fact, so important to consider, that the clearer the
+mental vision is the less one reasons. The angels do not reason; they
+see clearly what is troubled and confused by our mind. No one reasons in
+heaven, there is no logician there, no--Intelligence is immortal, but
+reason, which serves it here below, will fade away in eternity with the
+senses which like it do but form the conditions of time.
+
+Divine reason alone will endure because it has nothing accidental, and
+it is substantially united to the eternal word. It is that reason toward
+which all blest intelligences will finally gravitate. Hence, we see that
+what already partakes of the celestial life repels reasoning as a cause
+of imperfection or infirmity. It is thus, by its exclusion of reasons,
+that the Gospel supremely proves its celestial origin. It is, indeed, a
+thing well worth remark, especially worthy of our admiration, that there
+is not to be found, in the four Gospels, a single piece of reasoning,
+any more than there is an interjection to be found.
+
+Let us add that faith does not reason: which does not mean, as so many
+misbelievers feign, that faith is fulfilled by blindness or ignorance of
+the objects of its veneration. Quite the contrary. Faith dispenses with
+reason because of the perfection of its sight. It is, finally, because
+it is superior to reason and sees things from a higher plane. This is
+what so many short-sighted people cannot see; and, to return to our
+analogy, it seems to them able to see nothing save through the glasses
+of reason. It seems to them, I say, that any man who does not wear
+glasses must see crooked. Keep your glasses, my good souls! They suit
+short limits of sight. But we, who, thank God, have sound sight, are
+only troubled and clouded by them.
+
+It is thus that reason, which is given us to make clear what is not
+evident, frequently obscures even the very evidence itself. We might
+confirm this declaration by a thousand examples. To cite but one, let us
+point out how plainly the spectacle of the universe of thought and the
+idea of a Divine Creator prove that no glasses are required to
+contemplate God in His works. Well! scientists have felt obliged to
+direct theirs upon these simple notions, and have thus, _i.e._, by force
+of reasoning, succeeded in confusing out of all recognition a question
+sparkling with evidence, so much so that they will fall into such a
+state of blindness that they can no longer see in this world any trace
+of the Supreme Intelligence which is yet manifested with glory in the
+least of His creatures. Consequently, they will bluntly deny the
+existence of God; but as they still must needs admit a creative cause,
+they have to that end invented _moving atoms_ and have made from these
+strange corpuscles something so perfectly invisible that they can spare
+themselves the trouble of providing public curiosity with a living proof
+of their theory.
+
+The scientist is born perverted, as was said of the Frenchman who
+created the vaudeville; and men, too strong-minded and above all too
+full of reason to give any credence to the mysteries taught by the
+church, have displayed a blind faith in respect to _moving atoms_. They
+think thus to set themselves free from what they call the prejudices of
+their fathers. They find no difficulty in attributing to invisible
+corpuscles both the plan and the execution of the beings who people the
+universe.
+
+This is the fine conception attributed to what is called a higher
+reason--a conception before which bow legions of strong minds. To such a
+degree of degradation can reason drag man down.
+
+It is, therefore, dangerous to consult the reason in any case where
+evidence is likely to be called into play. But, before proceeding
+farther in the course of our demonstrations, a question presents itself.
+It may be asked what we think of another kind of reason--_pure reason_;
+for it appears that in the opinion of certain philosophers pure reason
+does exist. I do not know where they authenticated and studied this
+species of reason. For myself I confess in all humility that not only
+have I never seen a pure reason, but it has never even been possible for
+me to raise my mind to the point of comprehending the signification of
+pure reason. I greatly fear that some nonsense lurks within the phrase,
+such transcendental nonsense as belongs to ideological philosophers
+alone. I know not why, but these gentlemen's pure reason always gives me
+the sensation of a strong blast of _moving atoms_. In fact, it is not
+clear; but why require clarity of philosophers and ideologists?
+
+But let us leave these senseless words and pursue the course of our
+demonstrations.
+
+What we have said of reason is quite sufficient to prevent its
+confusion with the faculty whose discursive form it is. But this is not
+enough. We must, by still more delicate distinctions, make any confusion
+between these two terms impossible.
+
+Reason, although essentially allied to intelligence, is not, like it,
+primordial in man. Thus God created man intelligent, and consequently
+susceptible of reason; but we do not see the word reason brought into
+play in Genesis, because it merely expresses a derivation from the mind
+or intellect. Reason, therefore, is secondary and posterior in the
+genetic order. But here to the support of this assertion we have a
+striking and undeniable proof; namely, that the infant is born
+intelligent but not reasonable. Intellect proceeds directly from _that
+true light which shines in every man on his entrance into the world_,
+while reason is merely the fruit of experience. A proof of the
+superiority of intelligence to reason is seen in the fact that it
+partakes of the immutable, and is not like the latter, liable to
+progress.
+
+Thus the child is seen to be as intelligent as an adult man can be. Let
+us rather say that it is in the child especially that intelligence
+displays its brightest rays. Yet he is not furnished with reason. And
+why not? Because he has no experience. Reason, therefore, is an acquired
+power, whose light is borrowed from experience or tradition.
+
+Reason is proportional to the experience acquired. Practical reason or
+rationality is the ration or portion of experience allotted to each
+person.
+
+Reason is to the mental vision exactly what the eye is to optical
+vision, and just as the eye borrows its visual action from external
+light, so reason borrows its power of clear and correct vision from
+traditional experience. The similarity is absolute.
+
+Suppress light, and vision ceases to be possible. Suppress revelation
+from intellectual objects, and reason is thenceforth blind.
+
+Between reason and intelligence, although there be inclusion and
+co-essentiality in these terms, there is a great difference in the mode
+of cognizance; for, as St. Augustine says, intelligence is shown by
+simple perception, and reason by the discursive process. Thus, while
+intelligence acts simply, as in knowing an intelligible truth by the
+light of its own intuition, reason goes toward its end progressively,
+from one thing known to another not yet known.
+
+The latter, as St. Thomas says, implies an imperfection. The former, on
+the contrary, beseems a perfect being. It is, therefore, evident, adds
+the same profound thinker, that reasoning bears the same relation to
+knowledge that motion does to repose, or as acquisition to possession.
+The one is of an imperfect nature, and the other of a perfect nature.
+Boethius compares the intellect to eternity; reason, to time.
+
+Yet human reason, according to the principle which illuminates it,
+offers three degrees of elevation which we will distinguish, for
+readier comprehension, by three special terms, namely: first, tradition
+or the experience of another; second, personal experience; third, the
+reason of things.
+
+Trained by tradition, reason is called _common sense_. Trained by
+personal experience to the knowledge of principles, reason is called
+_science_. Trained by the contemplation of principles to the perfection
+of the intellect, reason is called _wisdom_.
+
+What we call practical reason is based upon the authority of tradition
+and the lessons of other people's experience in regard to the customary
+and moral matters of life.
+
+Speculative or discursive reason judges by the criterion of its own
+experience; thereby inferring consequences more or less in conformity
+with traditional teachings, and arriving by the logical order of its
+deductions and in virtue of the principles which it accepts and which it
+applies to its discoveries, at what we call science.
+
+Transcendental reason pursues, in the effects which it examines, the
+investigation of their cause, and rises thence to the very reason of
+things. Wherefore it silences reasoning, enters into a silent and
+persistent course of observation, consults the facts, examines, studies
+and questions the principles whence it sees them to be deduced; and,
+without yielding to the obscurity in which these principles are
+enveloped, pierces that obscurity by the penetrative force of
+unremitting attention. Inspired by the standard of faith, it knows that
+the spirit of God exists at the root of these mysteries. It clings
+thereto, unites itself thereto by contemplation, and finally draws from
+this union its _strength_, its _light_ and its _joy_.
+
+Such is the course of wisdom, and such are the inestimable advantages of
+faith to reason. It is in fact by faith that reason is aggrandized and
+elevated to the height of the intellect whence it draws its certitude.
+
+Reason believes because it desires to understand, and because it knows
+that faith is the next principle to knowledge.
+
+Thus the grandeur of reason is proportioned to its humility;
+proportioned, I would say, to the efforts which it multiplies to forget
+itself when the truth addresses it. But such is not the method of
+procedure of "strong minds." They have a horror of the mysteries toward
+which they are still urged by correct instincts. The fact is, let us say
+it boldly, they fear lest they find God there.
+
+In these misguided spirits there is so much presumption, self-conceit,
+self-love, that they are, in the nullity of their lofty pride, a worship
+unto themselves, an idolatry of their own reason. They have deified
+it,--that poor, frail reason; and this, while mutilating it, while
+proclaiming it independent and free from all law, from all principle,
+from everything definite.
+
+To what excess of imbecility, then, have we not seen these freethinkers
+fall, these apostles of independent reason, who on principle boast that
+they have no faith and no law! Thence comes the scorn which afflicts
+these unbelievers for all who believe and hope here below; thence, their
+systematic ignorance of fundamental questions; thence, the incurable
+blindness in which they bask; thence, finally, the inconsistencies and
+contradictions which make them a spectacle humiliating to the human
+mind.
+
+But agnostic man labors in vain. He cannot escape the mysteries which
+surround him on every hand, like a gulf in which reason is inevitably
+lost so soon as it ceases to seek the light.
+
+Man stumbles at every turn against the efforts of a stronger reason than
+his own,--the Supreme Reason before which, nilly nilly, his must bow and
+confess the insanity of its judgments.
+
+Logic is not, to reason, a sure guide; and even where it feels its
+foothold most strong, it sometimes trips, to the disgrace of the good
+opinion it had of its own infallibility.
+
+Let us show by a simple example to what rebuffs our reason is exposed
+when counting on the support of its logic, face to face with the reason
+of facts.
+
+Undoubtedly it is logical and perfectly in conformity with reason, to
+say that _one_ and _one_ make _two_. No doubt seems possible on that
+point. Well, this elementary truth, the most undeniable in the eyes of
+all men which can be produced, does not, despite the assurances which
+seem to uphold it, constitute an impregnable axiom; for there are cases
+when _one_ and _one_ do not make _two_! Certainly such a proposition
+seems scarcely reasonable, for its admission would entail the reversal
+of what are called the sound notions of logic! But what will the
+logician say if I affirm that in a certain case, _one_ and _one_ make
+but _one-half_? Would he even take the trouble to refute me? No, he
+would laugh in my face; he would not listen to me; he would tax me with
+absurdity and insanity, preferring thus to lose a chance of instruction
+rather than confess the impotence of his logic.
+
+There is the evil, and it is generally in this way that ignorance is
+perpetuated. But let us return to the fact which we desire to prove,
+contrary to logic and the pretensions of ordinary reason.
+
+Now, it is logical and perfectly in conformity with reason to say that
+two musical instruments make more noise than one; and that thus two
+double basses, for example, tuned in unison and placed side by side,
+produce one sound of a double intensity. This seems an elementary
+matter. It is as clear, you say, as that one and one make two. Well, no,
+it is not so clear as you suppose. It is, on the contrary, a mistake;
+for attentive experiment proves that the result is diametrically
+opposite to the logical conclusion.
+
+This is a fact which no argument can destroy. Two double basses, placed
+in the above-named conditions--conditions of vicinity and tonal
+identity--far from adding up their individual result, are thus reduced
+each to a quarter of its own sonority, which in the sum total, instead
+of producing a double sound, produces a sound reduced to half of that
+given individually by each instrument taken alone. This is how a power
+plus an analogous power equals together with it but half a power; and
+thus we are forced to admit that one and one do not necessarily make
+two.
+
+I have carried the experiment still farther; in the instrument which
+gained me a first-class medal at the exhibition of 1854, I was enabled
+to put thirty-six strings of the same piano into unison at once. Well!
+All these strings, struck simultaneously, did not attain to the
+intensity of sound produced by one of them struck singly. All these
+sounds, far from gaining strength by union, reciprocally neutralized one
+another. This is not logical, I admit; but we must submit to it.
+
+Logic must be silent and reason bow before the brutal force of a fact to
+which there is no objection to be raised.
+
+Since we are on the subject of the phenomena of sonority, let us draw
+another illustration from it, quite as overwhelming in its illogicalness
+as the former.
+
+When two similar phenomena differ from one another on any side, the
+discord brought about by this difference is more apparent and more
+striking by reason of the closer conjunction of these phenomena. By way
+of compensation the dissimilarity is less appreciable in proportion as
+these phenomena are farther apart from each other.
+
+This is rigorously logical and perfectly conformable to reason; yet
+there are cases where we must affirm the contrary. Thus the same sound
+produced, I will suppose, by two flutes not in accord with one another,
+forms those disagreeable pulsations in the air which discordant sounds
+inevitably produce. There seems to be no doubt that by gradually
+bringing these discordant instruments together, the falseness of their
+relation must be more and more striking, more and more intolerable.
+Wrong! For then, and above all if the mouths of these instruments be
+concentrically directed, a mutual translocation is produced between the
+two discordant sounds, which restores the accuracy of their agreement.
+Thus the lower sound is raised, while the higher one is lowered, in such
+a way that the two sounds are mingled on meeting and form a perfect
+unison. Now, here are contrasts, which, contrary to all rational data,
+so far from being exaggerated by contact, diminish gradually, until they
+are utterly annihilated. Thus, then, given two instruments of the same
+nature, if the harmony which they effect be true, they enter by reason
+of their conjunction into a negative state which neutralizes their
+sonority; while the contrary occurs in the case of false unison. Here
+the instruments become identical with one another, the sonority is
+increased and the tonal deviation is corrected to the most perfect
+harmony.
+
+Obstinate rationalists, what is your logic worth here? Has it armed you
+against the surprises held in store for you by a multitude of facts
+inaccordant with your reasonings? Oh, proud and haughty reason, bow your
+head! Confess the inanity of your ways. Bow yet, once again, and
+contemplate the mystery whence luminous instruction shall beam for you!
+
+At bottom these mysteries may surprise and baffle a reason deprived of
+principle; but they are never contrary to it, because they proceed from
+reason itself, from that Supreme Reason which created us in its own
+image; and, by that very fact, is always in accord with individual
+reason in so far as this will consent to sacrifice its own prejudices to
+it, or listen to its infallible lessons.
+
+But man's reason most frequently heeds itself alone. Thence, once again,
+arise its infirmities. Thus, what will happen, if, because the truths
+which I utter here are obscure and do not at the first glance appear to
+conform to the requirements of logic, you hastily reject them with all
+the loftiness of your scornful reason, which would blush to admit what
+it did not understand! Poor reason! which in and of itself understands
+so little, and admits so many follies as soon as a scholar affirms them.
+The consequence will be that you will be strengthened in the error which
+flatters your ignorance. Behold that proud reason which would never
+bend before a mystery revealed, behold it, I say, bowed beneath the
+weight of prejudices, which there will be more than one scholar, more
+than one logician, ready to endorse.
+
+Thus reason will refuse as unworthy itself, all belief in the actions of
+God or of unseen spirits, the angels, heaven, but will not dare to doubt
+the existence of _moving atoms_, invisible corpuscles. This is the
+mental poverty into which the enemies of religious faith unwittingly
+fall. They pervert that instrument of reason whose true use is to
+supplement and fortify imperfect intelligence, and misuse it to
+discredit and overthrow the original intuitions of intelligence.
+
+
+
+
+Random Notes.
+
+
+
+    Type--Man.
+    Prototype--Angel.
+    Archetype--God.
+
+It is within himself that man should find the reason of all he studies.
+In the angels he should find the secret of his being: they are his
+prototypes. Lastly, it is in the Divine archetype that we are to look
+for the universal reason.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_The Senses._
+
+    Taste and smell say: It is _Good_.
+    Sight and touch say: It is _Beautiful_.
+    Hearing and speech say: It is _True_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Every agreeable or disagreeable sight makes the body reaect backward. The
+degree of reaction should be in proportion to the degree of interest
+caused by the sight of the object presented to our sight.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The _soul_ is a triple virtue, which, by means of the powers that it
+governs, forms, develops and modifies the sum total of the constituent
+forces of the body.
+
+The _body_ is that combination of co-penetrating forces whose inherent
+powers govern all acts under the triple impulse of the constituent
+forces of the being.
+
+The _immanences_ are powers which, under the impulse of the constituent
+virtues of the being, govern and modify the co-penetrating forces of the
+body.
+
+The _powers_ govern the forces under the impulse of the virtues.
+
+The _virtues_ are the impulses under the sway of which the powers govern
+and direct the forces.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Light is the symbol of order, of peace, of virtue.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Science and art form two means of assimilation: The one by means of
+absorption, the other by means of emanation. The one, more generous than
+the other, gives and communicates; the other unceasingly receives and
+appeals. Science receives, art gives. By science man assimilates the
+world; by art he assimilates himself to the world. Assimilation is to
+science what incarnation is to art.
+
+If science perpetuates things in us, art perpetuates us in things and
+causes us to survive therein.
+
+If by science man makes himself preeminent in subjugating the things of
+this world, by art he renders them supernatural by impressing upon them
+the living characters of his being and of his soul.
+
+Art is an act by which life lives again in that which in itself has no
+life.
+
+Art should move the secret springs of life, convince the mind and
+persuade the heart.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    Beauty purifies the sense,
+    Truth illuminates the mind,
+    Virtue sanctifies the soul.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The more lofty the intellect, the more simple the speech. (So in art.)
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Accent is the modulation of the soul.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The artist who does not love, is by that fact rendered sterile.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Art is a regenerating or delighting power.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Routine is the most formidable thing I know.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+If you would move others, put your heart in the place of your larynx;
+let your voice become a mysterious hand to caress the hearer.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Nothing is more deplorable than a gesture without a motive.
+
+Perhaps the best gesture is that which is least apparent.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There is always voice enough to an attentive listener.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Persuade yourself that there are blind men and deaf men in your
+audience whom you must _move_, _interest_ and _persuade!_ Your
+inflection must become pantomime to the blind, and your pantomime,
+inflection to the deaf.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The mouth plays a part in everything evil which we would express, by a
+grimace which consists of protruding the lips and lowering the corners.
+If the grimace translates a concentric sentiment, it should be made by
+compressing the lips.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Conscious menace--that of a master to his subordinate--is expressed by a
+movement of the head carried from above downward.
+
+Impotent menace requires the head to be moved from below upward.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Any interrogation made with crossed arms must partake of the character
+of a threat.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When two limbs follow the same direction, they cannot be simultaneous
+without an injury to the law of opposition. Therefore, direct movements
+should be successive, and opposite movements should be simultaneous.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There are three great articular centres: the _shoulder, elbow_ and
+_wrist_. Passional expression passes from the shoulder, where it is in
+the emotional state, to the elbow, where it is presented in the
+affectional state; then to the wrist and the thumb, where it is
+presented in the susceptive and volitional state.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Three centres in the arm: the _shoulder_ for pathetic actions; the
+_elbow_, which approaches the body by reason of humility, and
+reciprocally (that is, inversely) for pride; lastly, the _hand_ for
+fine, spiritual and delicate actions.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The initial forms of movements should be--in virtue of the zones whence
+they proceed--the only explicit, and consequently the only truly
+expressive ones.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Bad actors exert themselves in vain to be moved and to afford a
+spectacle to themselves. On the other hand, true artists never let their
+gestures reveal more than a tenth part of the secret emotion that they
+apparently feel and would hide from the audience to spare their
+sensibility. Thus they succeed in stirring all spectators.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No, art is not an imitation of nature: art is better than nature. It is
+nature illuminated.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There are two kinds of loud voices: the vocally loud, which is the
+vulgar voice; and the dynamically loud, which is the powerful voice. A
+voice, however powerful it may be, should be inferior to the power
+which animates it.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Every object of agreeable or disagreeable aspect which surprises us,
+makes the body recoil. The degree of reaction should be proportionate to
+the degree of emotion caused by the sight of the object.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Without abnegation, no truth for the artist. We should not preoccupy the
+audience with our own personality. There is no true, simple or
+expressive singing without self-denial. We must often leave people in
+ignorance of our own good qualities.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+To use expression at random on our own authority, expression _at all
+hazards_, is absurd.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The mouth is a vital thermometer, the nose a moral thermometer.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dynamic wealth depends upon the number of articulations brought into
+play; the fewer articulations an actor uses, the more closely he
+approaches the puppet.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A portion of a whole cannot be seriously appreciated by any one ignorant
+of the constitution of that whole.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+An abstract having been made of the modes of execution which the artist
+should learn before handling a subject, two things are first of all
+requisite:
+
+1. To know what he is to seek in that subject itself;
+
+2. To know how to find what he seeks.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Is not the essential principle of art the union of truth, beauty and
+good? Are its action and aim anything but a tendency toward the
+realization of these three terms?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We have a right to ask a work of art by what methods it claims to move
+us, by which side of our character it intends to interest and convince
+us.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Speech is external, and visible thought is the ambassadress of the
+intellect.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+How should the invisible be visible when the visible is so little so!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+One cannot be too careful of his articulation. The initial consonant
+should be articulated distinctly; the spirit of the word is contained in
+it.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Two things to be observed in the consonant: its explosion and its
+preparation. The _t, d, p,_ etc., keep us waiting; the _ch, v, j,_
+prepare themselves, as: "_vvvenez_." The vocals _ne, me, re_ are
+muffled.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Rhythm_ is that which asserts; it is the form of movement.
+
+_Melody_ is that which distinguishes.
+
+_Harmony_ is that which conjoins.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Let your attitude, gesture and face foretell what you would make felt.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Be wary of the tremolo which many singers mistake for vibration.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+If you cannot conquer your defect, make it beloved.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A movement should never be mixed with a facial twist.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Things that are said quietly should sing themselves in the utterance.
+
+
+
+
+
+Part Sixth.
+
+Lecture and Lessons Given by Mme. Geraldy (Delsarte's Daughter) in
+America.
+
+[Illustration: Mme. Marie Delsarte-Geraldy.]
+
+
+
+
+Lecture
+
+_Delivered by Mme. Geraldy at the Berkeley Lyceum, New York, February 6,
+1892_.
+
+
+
+Ladies:
+
+When I made up my mind to come to this country it was not with the
+object of exhibiting _myself_, but to speak to you of my father. In your
+country my father is much talked of. In my country, unfortunately, he is
+forgotten. My father did not write anything--that is a terrible thing!
+He expected to do so some day, but he always put it off. At last he
+decided to do so during the war--our unfortunate war! He did not have
+many lessons to give at that time, for nobody thought of taking any.
+This gave him leisure to write. His work was to have borne the title,
+"My Revelatory Episodes." He had only written five chapters when he
+died. It was to bring to you these five chapters that I came to America.
+But as soon as I began to speak of them I was stopped. "Why do you tell
+us this?" they said; "we know all this already." I then discovered that
+the books written on my father by the Abbe Delaumosne and by Mme.
+Angelique Arnaud had been translated and published in this country. Mme.
+Arnaud's book is the better of the two, but it is not practical--not at
+all practical.
+
+I have gathered together what I remember in the form of lectures, which
+I offer to you. I have been asked for examples; I shall give you
+examples. I will begin, however, by giving you a little biographical
+sketch of my father, and by telling you how he happened to make his
+discovery. He was the son of a country doctor, a man poor but original.
+My father was still a very little boy when his father sent him and his
+younger brother to Paris. There they were apprenticed to a jeweler and
+made bands of gold. Soon the little brother died, and my father was the
+only one to follow him to the cemetery. On his way back, after the
+burial, he fell fainting on the plain. When he regained consciousness he
+heard music in the distance, and, not knowing whence it came, thought it
+was the music of the angels. Since then he dreamed of nothing but music;
+he wanted to hear all he could; he longed to study it. One day he heard
+two little urchins singing in the street. He asked them: "Do you know
+music?" The urchins replied: "Yes!" "Will you teach it to me?" "Yes,
+certainly," and they sang a scale for him. "Is that all there is of
+music?" "Why, yes."
+
+Not long after, he made the acquaintance of an old musician, who became
+interested in him, gave him a few lessons, and entered him at the
+Conservatoire. There he attended the elocution classes, and a role was
+given to him to learn in which he had to say: "How do you do, Papa
+Dugrand!" He had no success with this sentence. Each of his four
+professors told him a different way of saying it, and he wondered: "How
+is this? Are there, then, no principles to go by?" One day a cousin of
+his arrived unexpectedly from the country. "How do you do, my dear
+cousin!" And immediately after this warm greeting he ran away from his
+cousin, crying, excitedly, "I have it! I have it!" and did not stop
+until he got to his room and in front of a looking-glass. What he had
+was the right attitude and way to say, "How do you do, Papa Dugrand!"
+and this way was diametrically opposed to the instruction his professors
+had given him on the subject.
+
+My father spent forty-five years in observing. He was the king of
+observers. What remains to us is but one-quarter of all his
+observations. My father's method is comprehensive; it can be applied to
+the arts, to the sciences. His pupils were orators, painters, sculptors,
+comedians, lawyers, doctors, society amateurs.
+
+My father had read in the first chapter of Genesis that God made man in
+His image. God is Trinity. Trinity is the criterion of my father.
+
+Raymond Brucker was an old friend of my father's. "What is this method
+of your friend Delsarte?" was a question often put to him. "Delsarte's
+method," he would reply, "is an orthopedic machine to straighten
+crippled intellects."
+
+My father considered man as the principle of all arts. He used three
+terms to express man: Life, mind and soul. He would compare man to a
+carriage occupied by a traveler. In front sits a coachman, who drives
+the horse. The carriage is the body of man; the horse that makes it move
+is life; the coachman who drives the horse is the mind; the occupant of
+the carriage, who gives orders to the coachman, is the soul. Man feels,
+thinks and loves.
+
+My father made use of three terms to express three states: Concentric,
+normal and excentric. These he would combine with each other. I will
+show you, for example, the three concentric attitudes of the hand: The
+concentro-concentric, expressing struggle; the concentro-normal, meaning
+power; the concentro-excentric, showing convulsion. [_Illustrates._] In
+the same way we have the combinations of the eyes and eyebrows, and,
+again, those of the head. The head is concentro-concentric when the eyes
+look in the same direction as that toward which the head inclines; this
+expresses veneration. Notice how different the words, "I love him!"
+sound when said first with the head inclined from and then inclined
+toward the object.
+
+An interesting series of movements for the arms that my father used to
+give is the following: "It is impossible;" "It is not so;" "It is
+improbable;" "Maybe;" "It is so;" "It is evident;" "There is no doubt
+whatever about it." [_Illustrates._] This series is equally applicable
+to affirmation and to negation. For example, you can begin by, "It is
+impossible that it is not true!" and continue with that meaning.
+
+I have been requested to give the attitudes of the feet. I do not like
+to give them because they are not feminine, and I abhor all that is not
+feminine. However, as I have been asked for them, and as I wish to prove
+that my father had also given his attention to their study, here they
+are: (1) The attitude of little children and of old men, expressing
+weakness; (2) that of absolute repose; (3) vehemence; (4) prostration;
+(5) transitory attitude, preparatory to (6) reverential walk; (7)
+vertigo, intoxication, which is an ignoble vertigo, or familiarity; (8)
+the alternative between the positions of offensive and defensive; (9)
+defiance. [_Applause_.] Oh! I beg of you! [_Deprecatingly_.] It is
+horribly ugly in me; but in a man it is all right.
+
+I shall now speak of the interesting role that the shoulder plays in the
+expression of emotions. My father called the shoulder "the thermometer
+of passion." Indeed, the shoulders rise with every strong emotion. If I
+say, "Oh! how angry I am!" without raising the shoulders, it sounds if
+not false at least weak; but listen, when I raise my shoulders: "Oh! how
+angry I am!" Again, if I say, "How I love you!" the words are cold; but,
+with shoulders raised, listen, "How I love you!" Thus we see actors
+every day who portray different passions, but whose shoulders remain
+"cold;" they do not move us.
+
+There is a very pretty observation to make about the elbow. My father
+called it the "thermometer of pride and humility," and used to call our
+attention to the different ways the soldiers carry their elbows. You
+know we have a great many soldiers in France and we have a good, chance
+to observe them. A corporal--that is, nothing at all--carries his elbows
+like this [_elbows turned outward_]. A sergeant, whose rank is a little
+higher than that of a corporal, carries them this way [_elbows slightly
+drawn in_]. By the time he becomes lieutenant he is used to authority,
+and does not have to show it off so much [_elbows drawn in still more_].
+As for a general, one whose rank is the highest in the army, he walks
+with his arms hanging naturally at his sides.
+
+Now let me tell you about the thumb. My father being the son and the
+nephew of doctors, was interested enough in the science to enter, at one
+time, the school of medicine. Here, while dissecting, he noticed that
+the thumb of a dead man falls inward toward the palm. This led him to
+study the attitude of the thumb in life. He would pass days in the
+garden of the Tuileries watching the nurses and the mammas carrying
+their babes, noting how their thumbs spread out to clasp the precious
+burden, and how the mothers' hands spread wider open than those of hired
+servants; so he called the thumb "the thermometer of life."
+
+My father always used to say to his pupils: "Be warm outwardly, cold
+inwardly." He wanted them to pass suddenly from one great emotion to
+another. All great actors do so. He would point to a portrait of
+Garrick, representing the great actor with one-half of his face
+laughing, the other half weeping. He himself, in his lessons, after
+having given expression to some pathetic sentiment, would become
+immediately his own kind self again. He insisted on self-possession.
+Often when I was a little girl, and would slip into the room during his
+lessons, for I loved to listen to them, and would find him portraying
+some terrible passion, he would stop suddenly, seeing the expression of
+horror on my face, and would burst out laughing and catch me in his
+arms, saying: "Poor little one, are you frightened?"
+
+"The artist," said my father, "must move, interest and convince."
+Gesture is the agent of the heart. Gesture must always precede speech.
+"Make me feel in advance," he used to say; "if it is something
+frightful, let me read it on your face before you tell me of it." To
+illustrate the practice of gesture before speech, I will now recite the
+fable of "The Cock, the Cat and the Mouse." [Here followed the
+recitation of the fable.]
+
+My father once held his whole audience under a spell, showing them,
+through the medium of a little girl of eight, a hundred different ways
+of saying, "That dog is pretty." I will show you one or two ways If I
+really think the dog is pretty, I will say it in this tone, "That dog is
+pretty." If the dog's coat is soiled, I will say in a different tone,
+"That dog is pretty." And if the dog has rubbed against my dress, there
+will be a vexed tone, "That dog is pretty!"
+
+My father used to divide orators into "artists in words and artists in
+gesture." Those who are simply artists in words are those who do not
+move you. Lamartine said of my father, "He is art itself." Theophile
+Gautier said of him that he "took possession" of his public.
+
+In 1848 the National Guard was appointed to guard the public monuments.
+My father, who was a member of the Guard, had his station near an
+archbishopric. A poor fellow was arrested one day who looked suspicious;
+he was searched and a chaplet was found on him. The cry arose
+immediately that he should be drowned. The poor man was being hustled
+off when my father stopped them, saying that he claimed his part of the
+punishment, and he drew from his own pocket a chaplet and showed it to
+them. Oh! my father was kind. He was goodness itself. He was often asked
+to give lectures at the court, but he would answer: "I do not sell my
+talent, I give it." He was especially fond of his poor pupils, those who
+did not pay him; he would often invite them to dine with him.
+
+And now let me show you a series of lines which my father called the
+inflective medallion. Imagine a circle [_describing a circle in the air
+with her hand_]. Within this circle a vertical line, a horizontal line,
+and two oblique lines, all intersecting each other. At both ends of the
+vertical and horizontal lines are small curved lines, the whole forming
+the medallion. This medallion contains all necessary gestures. If the
+vertical line is made from on high downward [Illustration: down arrow], it
+means affirmation; if made from below upward [Illustration: up arrow], it
+means hope. The horizontal line means negation. One oblique line means
+simple rejection [Illustration: top right to bottom left arrow]; the other
+[Illustration: bottom left to top right arrow] means rejection with scorn,
+as in a line from Lafontaine's fable, "The Lion's Court:" "The monarch,
+vexed, sent him to Pluto." The little curve at the top of the vertical
+line [Illustration: upward-facing curve] expresses ease, repose; it has
+the form of a hammock. The opposite curve [Illustration: downward-facing
+curve] means secrecy and mystery. This curve ( means amplitude. The other
+one, when made in this direction [Illustration] expresses admiration for
+physical beauty, and in the other direction [Illustration], admiration for
+moral beauty. The entire circle O expresses glorification. These gestures
+can be made with the whole arm, with the forearm only, or simply with the
+waving hand; the degree of expression varies accordingly.
+
+Lastly, I will speak about the law of opposition. The arm and the head
+should move in inverse directions [_illustrating_]; also the arm and the
+hand. The statue of the Gladiator is a beautiful example of this law of
+opposition. He is what we French call "well based;" you cannot overthrow
+him. In contrast to him, my father used to cite Punchinello, the
+children's toy, an object of ridicule. Punchinello, when the string is
+pulled, raises his right arm and his right leg at the same time.
+
+Notice the different ways in which people scold. The schoolmaster moves
+his head from above downward; the boy threatens back, tossing his head
+upward.
+
+And now, ladies, I hope that what I have said will move you to take a
+deeper interest in my father's work, and enable you to understand his
+methods better than heretofore. I shall then feel, when I return to my
+country, that I have not crossed the Atlantic in vain.
+
+
+
+
+The Course of Lessons Given in America By Mme. Geraldy
+
+
+
+Mme. Geraldy prefaced her course of lessons with the following remarks:
+
+God is Trinity. Man, created in the image of God, bears the seal of the
+Trinity. In these lessons we shall analyze our whole person. We shall
+dwell upon three terms: Concentric, normal, excentric. We find them
+everywhere.
+
+1, excentric; 2, concentric; 3, normal.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+    |--------------------------------|
+    |          |          |          |
+    |          |          |  2   2   |
+    |          |          |          |
+    |          |          |  c.  c.  |
+    |          |          |          |
+    |--------------------------------|
+    |          |          |          |
+    |          |  3   3   |          |
+    |          |          |          |
+    |          |  n.  n.  |          |
+    |          |          |          |
+    |--------------------------------|
+    |          |          |          |
+    |  1    1  |          |          |
+    |          |          |          |
+    | cx.  cx. |          |          |
+    |          |          |          |
+    |--------------------------------|
+
+We will begin with the eye--it is the most difficult.
+
+
+
+
+Lesson I.
+
+The Eye and the Eyebrow.
+
+
+              Concentric  Closed.
+    The Eye.  Normal      Open, without expression.
+              Excentric   Wide open.
+
+                  Concentric  Lowered.
+    The Eyebrow.  Normal      Without expression.
+                  Excentric   Raised.
+
+
+         Combinations of the Eye and Eyebrow.
+
+       Eye.       Eyebrow.     Expression.
+    Concentric  Concentric  In tenseness of thought.
+    Concentric  Normal      Heaviness, or somnolency.
+    Concentric  Excentric   Disdain.
+
+    Normal      Concentric  Moroseness.
+    Normal      Normal      Without expression.
+    Normal      Excentric   Indifference.
+
+    Excentric   Concentric  Firmness.
+    Excentric   Normal      Stupor.
+    Excentric   Excentric   Astonishment.
+
+The expressions of stupor and of astonishment
+are greatly increased when preceded by a quivering
+of the eyelid (blinking). This should be very rapid
+and very energetic. Delsarte always insisted on this
+blinking.
+
+Anxiety calls for a double movement of the eyebrows:
+First, contract them; secondly, raise them.
+
+Vitality is expressed by raising the outer part of
+the eyebrows. This accomplishment is very rare;
+but, then, it is not necessary.
+
+Contraction of the lower eyelid expresses sensitiveness.
+
+
+
+
+Lesson II.
+
+The Head.
+
+
+
+               Concentric    Bent forward.
+    The Head.  Normal        Upright.
+               Excentric     Bent backward.
+
+
+                 Combinations of Head-movements.
+
+    Concentro-concentric  Bent forward and inclined to one side (toward
+                          the person): Veneration.
+
+    Concentro-normal      Bent forward: Examination.
+
+    Concentro-excentric   Bent forward and inclined to the other side
+                          (from the person): Suspicion.
+
+    Normo-concentric      Inclined toward the person: Tenderness.
+
+    Normo-normal          Upright: Without expression.
+
+    Normo-excentric       Inclined from the person: Sensuality.
+
+    Excentro-concentric   Bent backward and inclined to one side (toward
+                          the person): Abandon.
+
+    Excentro-normal       Bent backward, straight: Exaltation, vehemence.
+
+    Excentro-excentric    Bent backward and inclined to the other side
+                          (from the person): Pride.
+
+It is the position of the eye that determines the expression of the
+head, for it is the direction of the eye that tells us on which side the
+object of veneration, suspicion, etc., is supposed to be. The shoulders
+should be observed here. They are the thermometer of passion; the
+stronger the emotion, the higher they should be raised.
+
+
+
+
+Lesson III.
+
+The Hand.
+
+
+               Concentric.......... Closed.
+    The Hand.  Normal.............. Open.
+               Excentric .......... Wide open.
+
+
+                        Combinations of Hand-Movements.
+
+    Concentro-concentric  Fist closed tight, thumb pressing against the
+                          knuckles: Struggle.
+
+    Concentro-normal      Hand closed, thumb resting lightly against the
+                          side of the index finger: Power, authority.
+
+    Concentro-excentric   Hand open, fingers contracted: Convulsion.
+
+    Normo-concentric      Limp, fingers turned slightly inward:
+                          Prostration.[A]
+
+    Normo-normal          Limp: Abandon.
+
+    Normo-excentric       Open, fingers straight: Expansion.
+
+    Excentro-concentric   Wide open, fingers stretched apart and
+                          contracted: Execration.
+
+    Excentro-normal       Fingers stretched apart and straight: Exaltation.
+
+    Excentro-excentric    Fingers stretched wide apart and backward:
+                          Exasperation.
+
+
+
+
+Lesson IV.
+
+The Arms.
+
+
+Let the arms swing backward from their natural position, with the palm
+of the hands turned toward the front; head raised. Say: "It is
+impossible!"
+
+There is no doubt whatever about it.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Arms at the side in their natural position, palms toward the front; head
+straight, Say: "It is not so."
+
+Arms slightly forward; head very slightly bent. Say: "It is
+improbable."
+
+Forearms slightly raised. Say: "Maybe."
+
+Forearms still higher. Say: "It is probable."
+
+Forearms at right angles with upper arms, palms always upward; head
+bent. Say: "It is so."
+
+Forearms higher. Say: "It is certain."
+
+Forearms still higher (upper arms follow); head bent forward. Say: "It
+is evident!"
+
+Forearms still higher (by this time the upper arms are horizontal); head
+bent way forward. Say: "There is no doubt whatever!"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+As will be noticed, the head moves in the opposite direction from the
+arms. The face must express what the words say. The movements of the
+arms alone, without the expression of the face, do not mean anything.
+
+
+
+
+Lesson V.
+
+Inflections of the Hand.--Combinations of the Arm and Hand.
+
+
+1. _Acceptance_. Put the arm out naturally, palm upward.
+
+2. _Caress_. Raise the shoulder; bend the head, keep the elbow close to
+the side; raise the hand as high as the face and, with palm outward,
+bring it slowly down again as if stroking an object, at the same time
+raising the head.
+
+3. _Negation_. Draw a horizontal line in the air, the movement finishing
+in an outward direction.
+
+4. _Self-control_. Arm hanging at the side, hand in the concentro-normal
+condition, denoting authority, power over one's self.
+
+5. _Authority_. Extend the arm and raise it in front a little higher
+than the level of the shoulder; then raise the hand, which should be in
+the concentro-normal state, from the wrist and let it fall again with
+decision.
+
+6. _Menace_. The arm is kept in the same position, the fist clenched
+(hand concentro-concentric).
+
+7. _Execration_. Arm extended from the previous position sideward; hand
+excentro-concentric, palm toward the back; head turned in opposite
+direction,
+
+8. _Horror_. Arm outstretched in front; hand excentric, palm outward;
+head thrown back.
+
+9. _Desire_. Arm in same position; hand assumes the normal condition
+and turns its palm upward; head still thrown back.
+
+These movements should blend one into the other, and should be executed
+without any affectation. The law of opposition should be observed here;
+for example: In the ascending movement of the arm the hand falls from
+the wrist; when the arm descends, the hand points upward.
+
+
+
+Lesson VI.
+
+Basic Attitudes.
+
+
+1. _Weakness_. Feet close together, weight of body on both. This
+attitude is that of childhood and old age.
+
+2. _Perfect calm and repose._ Rest weight on one foot (settling at the
+hip), bend the knee of the other leg and advance the foot.
+
+3. _Vehemence_. Move the body forward so that the weight rests on the
+foot that is in front; the heel of the foot that is behind is thus
+raised.
+
+4. _Prostration_. Throw one foot far behind the other, with the knee
+bent and the weight of the body upon it. This attitude, when properly
+taken, leads to the kneeling position.
+
+5. _Transitive position._ In walking, stop midway between two steps and
+you have the 5th attitude or transitive position. It is the one that
+leads to all kinds of walks, and especially to the reverential or
+oblique walk.
+
+_6. Reverential walk_. Let the foot which is behind take a step forward
+in this manner: With the toe describe on the ground a semi-circle that
+bends inward toward you; this will cause the heel to pass over the
+instep of the other foot. The other foot now takes a straight step
+forward, and you pause in a respectful attitude before the personage of
+importance whom you wish to salute. Several steps may be taken in
+succession before the final pause. The ceremonious step is always taken
+with the foot you begin with (the one toward the person you salute); the
+other foot always takes natural steps. This walk is only meant for men,
+and only on grand occasions.
+
+7. _Intoxication, vertigo_. The feet are planted on the ground and
+apart. This attitude expresses familiarity.
+
+8. _The alternative_. One foot in a straight line behind the other, the
+weight of the body on both. This attitude is offensive and defensive.
+
+9. _Defiance_. The weight of the body on the foot that is behind, the
+other foot diagonally forward; head thrown back.
+
+Delsarte never classed the basic attitudes under the heads of
+concentric, normal or excentric, any more than he so classed gestures.
+He simply gave them in the above sequence.
+
+
+
+
+Lesson VII.
+
+The Medallion of Inflection.
+
+
+"_The Key to all Gestures_"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration: down arrow] Affirmation.
+[Illustration: right arrow on top; left arrow on bottom] Negation.
+[Illustration: up arrow]  Hope.
+[Illustration: top right to bottom left arrow] Rejection of things
+               that harm us.
+[Illustration: bottom left to top right arrow] Rejection of things
+               that we despise.
+[Illustration: upward facing curve] Ease, comfort (resembles a hammock).
+[Illustration: downward facing curve] Silence, secrecy.
+[Illustration: () curves] Plenitude, amplitude.
+[Illustration: )( curves] Delicacy, grace.
+[Illustration] Physical beauty.
+[Illustration] Beauty of intellect.
+
+[Illustration: Example (complex curve)]
+
+[Illustration: down arrow] "You may believe
+[Illustration: right arrow] that no lord
+[Illustration: complex curve]  had as much glory or happiness."
+
+
+
+
+Mme. Geraldy's Lessons On Lafontaine's Fables.
+
+
+
+The Wolf and the Lamb.
+
+
+Might makes right; we shall prove this presently.
+
+A Lamb was quenching his thirst in a stream of pure water. A Wolf, in
+quest of adventures, happened by, drawn to the spot by hunger.
+
+"What makes thee so bold as to pollute the water I drink?" said he,
+angrily. "Thy impudence deserves to be punished."
+
+"Sire," answered the Lamb, "soften your wrath, and consider that I am
+drinking the water more than twenty feet below your Majesty, and can,
+therefore, in no way pollute your Majesty's drink."
+
+"You do pollute it!" replied the savage animal, "and I know that last
+year you slandered me."
+
+"How could I when I was not born?" replied the Lamb. "I am still a
+suckling babe."
+
+"If it was not you, then it was your brother."
+
+"I have none."
+
+"Then it was some member of your family, for you do not spare me--you,
+your shepherds and your dogs. I have been told so. I must revenge
+myself."
+
+Thereupon the Wolf carried him into the depths of the forest, and ate
+him without further trial.
+
+
+Lesson Given By Mme. Geraldy.
+
+In the narrative portions of a recitation, the eyes of the speaker
+should meet the eyes of the audience. In this way he fixes their
+attention and engages their sympathy.
+
+Looking straight at the audience: "Might makes right [deplore the fact].
+We shall prove this presently. A Lamb [by tone of voice and gesture show
+what a weak, gentle creature a lamb is] was quenching his thirst in a
+stream of pure water. A Wolf [a strong, cruel animal], in quest of
+adventures, happened by, drawn to the spot by hunger." [Fold the arms;
+gesture should always precede speech.] "'What makes thee so bold as to
+pollute the water I drink?' said he, angrily. 'Thy impudence deserves to
+be punished.'
+
+"'Sire,' answered the Lamb [humbly], 'soften your wrath
+and--[conjunctions should almost always be followed by a pause] consider
+that I am drinking the water more than _twenty feet_ ["Mark me!"] below
+your Majesty, and can, therefore, in no way pollute your Majesty's
+drink.'
+
+"'You _do_ pollute it!' replied the savage animal, 'and--I know that,
+last _year_, you _slandered_ me.' [With this line Delsarte always gave a
+progressive gesture, which can best be described in this way:
+
+Give the gesture of affirmation [Illustration: down arrow]
+[see Lesson VII.], stopping twice in the downward movement, on the words _that_ and _year_,
+thus:
+
+    |  I
+    |  know
+    v  that
+
+    |     last
+    v    year
+
+    |     you
+    v    slandered me.]
+
+"'How could I when I was not born?' replied the Lamb [gentle voice]. 'I
+am still a suckling babe.'
+
+"'If it was not you, then it was your brother' [gruff voice].
+
+"'I have none.'
+
+"'Then it was some member of your family, for--you do not spare me, you,
+your shepherds and your dogs. [There is no pause after the conjunction
+_and_ here, as it simply joins together words in a list.] I have been
+told so [impatiently; the wolf is tired of parleying so long]. I must
+revenge myself.'
+
+"'Thereupon [lower the voice to fix the attention] the Wolf carried him
+into the depths of the forest and--ate him [deplore the fact] without
+further trial'" [voice low].
+
+
+
+
+The Cat, the Weasel and the Little Rabbit.
+
+
+The palace of a young Rabbit was taken possession of, one fine morning,
+by Dame Weasel; she is a sly one. The master being absent, it was an
+easy thing for her to do. She carried her belongings there one day when
+he had gone to do homage to Aurora, amid the thyme and the dew. After
+having nibbled, and trotted, and made all his rounds, Bunny Rabbit
+returned to his subterranean dwelling. Mrs. Weasel was looking out of
+the window.
+
+"Hospitable gods! what do I see!" exclaimed the animal, who had been
+shut out from his ancestors' home. "Hello there, Madam Weasel, come out
+without delay, or I shall notify all the rats in the country."
+
+The lady with the pointed nose replied that land belonged to the first
+occupant; that a lodging which he himself could enter only on his
+stomach was a fine subject for war. "And even if it were a kingdom, I
+should like to know why," said she, "it should belong forever to John,
+son or nephew of Peter or William, more than to Paul, more than to me?"
+
+Bunny Rabbit alleged the rights of use and custom. "It is these laws,"
+said he, "that have made me lord and master of this dwelling; passing
+from father to son, it was transmitted from Peter to Simon and then to
+me, John. Is the right of the first occupant a wiser law?"
+
+"Oh! well, instead of disputing any more," said she, "let us have the
+matter settled by Raminagrobis Grippeminaud."
+
+The latter was a cat who lived as a devout hermit; a cat whose ways and
+words were smooth; a pious cat, warmly clothed and fat and comfortable;
+an umpire, expert in all cases. Bunny Rabbit accepted him as judge, and
+they both went before his furred Majesty.
+
+Said Grippeminaud to them: "Come nearer, my children, come nearer; I am
+deaf; it is the result of old age."
+
+They both drew nearer, suspecting nothing. As soon as he saw the
+contestants within reach, Grippeminaud, the sly fellow, throwing out his
+paws on both sides at once, caused the two suitors to be of one mind by
+eating them both up.
+
+
+Lesson Given By Mme. Geraldy.
+
+[Begin slowly, making frequent pauses] "The palace--of a young Rabbit [a
+nice little animal]--was taken possession of, one fine morning, by Dame
+Weasel [a personage with nose and manners sharp]; she is a sly one. The
+master being absent, it was an easy thing for her to do. She carried her
+belongings there [without asking by your leave!] one day when he had
+gone to do homage to Aurora, amid the thyme and the dew. [I do not know
+if you see the poetry here, but we French people consider this last line
+one of the loveliest bits of Lafontaine.] After having nibbled, and
+trotted, and made all his rounds, Bunny Rabbit returned to his
+subterranean dwelling. Mrs. Weasel was looking out of the window. [Start
+back in surprise, raise the arms and shoulders high, eyes wide open with
+astonishment, excentro-excentric; see Lesson I.]
+
+"'Hospitable gods! what do I see!' exclaimed the animal who had been
+shut out from his ancestors' home. 'Hello there, Madam Weasel [with one
+arm raised, beckon to her to come down], come out without delay, or--I
+shall notify all the rats in the country.'"
+
+"The lady with the pointed nose replied that land belonged to the first
+occupant; that a lodging which he himself could enter only [scornfully;
+eyes concentro-excentric, see Lesson I.] on his stomach was a fine
+subject for war! 'And even if it were a kingdom [the weasel talks very
+fast], I should like to know why,' said she, 'it should belong forever
+to John, son or nephew of Peter or William [talk very fast, with a great
+many gesticulations], more than to Paul, more than to me? '
+
+"Bunny Rabbit alleged the rights of use and custom. 'It is these laws,'
+said he [the rabbit talks slowly], 'that have made me lord and master of
+this dwelling; passing from father to son [count on your fingers], it
+was transmitted from Peter to Simon, and then--to me, John, Is the right
+of the first occupant a wiser law?'"
+
+"'Oh! well! instead of disputing any more,' said she [it is the weasel
+who disputes; she talks in a high key and very fast] 'let us have the
+matter settled by Raminagrobis Grippeminaud.'"
+
+The latter was a cat who lived as a devout hermit; a cat whose ways and
+words were smooth; a pious cat [assert the fact], warmly clothed and fat
+and comfortable [said with the gesture expressive of plenitude made with
+both arms [Illustration]; see Lesson VII.]; an umpire, expert in all
+cases. Bunny Rabbit accepted him as judge, and--they both went before
+his furred Majesty.
+
+"Said Grippeminaud [the concentric state; take the attitude of one who
+is wrapped up in himself, head bent, shoulders warped, hands holding
+each other; hardly unclasp to make the sign of beckoning] to them: 'Come
+nearer, my children, come nearer; [point to the ears] I am deaf; it is
+the result of old age.'
+
+"They both drew nearer, suspecting nothing. As soon as he saw the
+contestants within reach, [prepare the claws] Grippeminaud, the sly
+fellow [act the following] throwing out his paws on both sides at once,
+caused the two suitors to be of one mind by eating them both up."
+
+
+
+
+Delsarte's Daughter In America.
+
+By Adele M. Woodward.
+
+
+
+Mme. Geraldy being asked, during her recent visit to this country, what
+she thought of the system of gymnastics called "Delsarte," said (to
+translate literally the expressive French): "It makes me jump! And yet
+you have my father's method," she continued, showing two of the
+principal works on the subject published in this country.[9] "All that
+is correct (pointing to some of the charts); what more do you want?"
+
+The trouble lies here: Americans wanted more. They added, they devised,
+they evolved from the few gestures given by the French master a whole
+system of movements which they called by his name, and which has become
+very popular in young ladies' seminaries and young ladies' clubs. The
+name of Delsarte has been so strongly associated with this system, that
+to most people the word "Delsarte" without the word "gymnastics" would
+not mean anything.
+
+Mme. Geraldy came to our country to tell us what the name of Delsarte
+means. Delsarte never taught gymnastics. His whole life was devoted to
+the study of the laws that govern expression. His pupils were men of all
+professions, ministerial and legal orators, actors, singers, etc. "The
+first half of his lesson," said she, "was always devoted to theory, the
+second to practice."
+
+Mme. Geraldy is a tall, dark-haired, middle-aged woman, with an
+interesting face and a charming French manner. She wears mourning for
+her mother, who died in 1891.
+
+"My mother," she said, "was a remarkable woman; she ought to be as well
+known as my father is. I would rather my father were not known at all,"
+she continued, "than to be known as he is in your country, that is, as a
+professor of gymnastics."
+
+She said she had heard of the American "Delsarte gymnastics" while in
+Paris (Americans passing through the city had often come to her and
+asked questions), but she had no idea, until she came here, that they
+were pushed so far. She was quite amused at having dumb-bells given her
+at one of her lectures in a town in Pennsylvania. "In a gymnasium, as
+usual," she said, smiling. Anybody who had ever been through the
+Delsarte gymnastics and afterward followed the course of lessons that
+Mme. Geraldy gave to a class while in New York, would have been struck
+by the beauty and simplicity of her father's method, and her clear and
+direct exposition of it. Here was no affectation. "I abhor all that is
+affected," she said. There were no intricate convolutions, no
+flourishes, and, above all, no "decomposing exercises."
+
+An interesting fact to note is that Mme. Geraldy began by teaching her
+pupils the expressions of the eyes, and when she gave them attitudes or
+gestures, she always called for the facial expression to accompany them.
+A woman, well-known in her profession throughout the country, is said to
+have made the remark that Mme. Geraldy was wrong in beginning with the
+eyes; she should begin with the feet. Only after showing the
+possibilities of expression by face, head, hands, arms and shoulders,
+did Mme. Geraldy give the basic attitudes. She was very patient and
+painstaking with her pupils, and showed herself interested in every one.
+She would often pause, while showing some expressive gestures, and say,
+smiling: "But you Americans do not express yourselves in gestures. You
+do not 'move' as much as we do." And again, when insisting on the
+expressiveness of the shoulders when raised ("the shoulders are the
+thermometer of passion," said Delsarte) she would conclude: "But all
+this is not American; you Americans do not shrug your shoulders."
+
+In giving the gesture of caress, she quoted her father as saying that
+the attitude of the hands in prayer is a certain form of caress. In our
+desire to have the thing we pray for, we clasp our hands together and
+press them to our bosom as if we already held it.[10]
+
+She was sometimes amused at the numerous questions that were asked her
+during the lessons. "What searching minds you Americans have!" she would
+remark, admiringly. "You must know the why and the wherefore of
+everything. We French people are of much lighter mind and take things
+more for granted."
+
+During the lesson on basic attitudes, the following question was put:
+"In the attitude of repose is the mind in a passive state, and in the
+attitude expressive of vehemence is the mind in an active state?" The
+simple answer was: "It is the mind that governs the feet and not the
+feet that govern the mind."
+
+Mme. Geraldy always insisted on the law of opposition in movements,
+nature's and her father's great law. She gave, for example, an
+interesting series of gestures, which might be called the ascending
+scale from doubt to conviction, in which the head moves simultaneously
+with the arms and in an inverse direction. The figure on page 547*
+represents the angles made by the arms and shoulders and, at the same
+time, those made by the head and shoulders to express the accompanying
+ideas.
+
+Delsarte used to say: "When I am speaking, stop me in the moment of my
+greatest exaltation, and I defy you to find me, from my head to my feet,
+in a position contrary to my method."
+
+"Voice-culture for the speaking-voice is not an art that is cultivated
+in France," Mme. Geraldy said, "What can you do to change your voice? It
+was given to you by nature; you cannot change your vocal cords."
+
+Mme. Geraldy returned to France, bearing with her the hope that her
+efforts have not been altogether unsuccessful in making the great work
+of her father's life better known to Americans, better understood and
+appreciated by them.
+
+
+
+
+
+Part Seventh.
+
+Addenda.
+
+
+
+
+Trueness in Singing.
+
+Notes of a Lecture by Delsarte, Taken by His Pupil A. Giraudet, of The
+National Academy of Music, Paris.
+
+By a most reasonable deduction derived from his admirable principles,
+Delsarte reckoned three modes or degrees of correct singing:
+
+1. Absolute trueness;
+
+2. Temperate trueness;
+
+3. Passional trueness.
+
+Absolute trueness is that adopted by theorists, who divide the gamut
+into five notes and two semi-notes; the note into nine commas, or shades
+of tone; the chromatic semi-tone into five, and the diatonic semi-tone
+into four.
+
+Thus from C to C# they count five shades of tone; whereas from C to Db
+they count but four. Likewise, from D to Db they count five shades of
+tone, and from D to C# but four.
+
+[Illustration: Absolute scale]
+
+The difference of a comma between the D flat and the C sharp, seemingly
+a very slight difference, is, nevertheless, most important in singing,
+as we shall see later on. But performers, to simplify our musical
+system, have divided this comma into two, making synonymous notes of D
+flat and C sharp; that is to say, notes having the same sound. The note
+is, therefore, practically divided into two semitones of four commas and
+a half. This is what is known as moderation or temperate trueness.
+
+[Illustration: Temperate scale]
+
+Temperate trueness is defective from many points of view. This is the
+universal opinion, but we are forced to accept this method by the
+absolute impossibility of any improvement, especially with the key-board
+instruments now in vogue; and it must be accepted until some new
+invention shall revolutionize the piano by modulating its tones, a
+transformation which would give that instrument not only the musical
+design, but also the color and warmth which it now lacks.
+
+Let us pass to passional trueness, leaving science to enter the domain
+of art. "Passional trueness," said Delsarte, "consists in giving each
+semitone three, four, five, six, or even seven commas, according to its
+tendency." As we see, the precept is daring, and an inattentive scholar
+would only have to forget the last words of the definition to make
+people say that the great master of lyric art taught his pupils to sing
+false.
+
+Every rule has its reason and its consequences. St. Augustine, who knew
+the Beautiful, of which art is only the expression, and who could
+explain it well, has given us a brief but admirable definition of music:
+"Music is a succession of sounds each calling forth the other." Simple
+yet profound words! The sounds call each other forth, desire and
+mutually attract each other, and in every age this attraction has been
+so clearly evident, that the seventh note in the scale, when it meets
+the others each of which has its particular name relating to its
+particular function, tonic, dominant, etc., is simply called the
+sensitive note, from its tendency to pass into the atonic.
+
+Passional trueness is based upon this tendency of the notes to pass into
+those which succeed them, and upon this reciprocal attraction of sounds.
+Thus, notes, which have a tendency toward the acute or shrill, may be
+raised two commas or more above temperate trueness. Notes which have a
+tendency toward the grave may be lowered in the same proportion.
+(Example, taken from "The Prophet," by Meyerbeer.)
+
+    Ex. No. 1.
+    [Music]
+    Ah! mon fils
+
+    Ex. No. 2
+    [Music]
+    il re-nia ta me-re
+
+Here, the B may be but two commas distant from the C; and in the second
+example given, the A flat may also be but two commas removed from the
+G, and this change far from producing a disagreeable effect upon the
+ear, will make a most striking impression and the accent will be far
+more dramatic than before. Try the reverse, that is, divide the interval
+B sharp-C into seven commas on the semitones A flat-G; it will be
+unendurable. Whence we may deduce the fact that to sing false is to sing
+above or below a note in the inverse direction to its attraction.
+
+Delsarte, in his definition, speaks only of the semitone, and we
+ourselves give examples of that sort of attraction only; but it does not
+follow that the other intervals are not equally subject to the same law.
+Their attraction may not be shown by the same effects.
+
+The master added, in speaking of trueness in singing: "The triad is the
+breathing-place of the tonality; the notes composing it should be
+absolutely true. They are the singer's invariable and necessary law.
+They characterize repose. Their office is that of attraction, and they
+can only be attracted mutually, with the exception of the tonic, which
+is the centre of attraction not only for various notes, but for the
+phrase and the entire composition."
+
+Delsarte was very severe in regard to those who sang false; but to sing
+true was not, to his thinking, a good quality. He said, on this point,
+that no one would compliment an architect because he had built a house
+in accordance with geometrical rules. Whence he concluded that trueness
+is the least of good qualities, and the lack of it the greatest of
+vices, and he added in regard to style: "The most important quality is
+expression, and a lack of expression is the least of vices."
+
+Let us add that the application of passional trueness depends upon a
+thousand conditions of rhythm and harmony, to analyze which would lead
+us much too far. The artist must make use of it according to his
+aptitudes and his tendencies, for he must preserve his individuality. He
+must learn by observation and the study of his own faculties to apply
+theoretical rules founded upon natural laws.
+
+Practical trueness, while it allows us to depart from legitimate
+trueness, has strong analogies with the _tempo rubato_. The _tempo
+rubato_, which Delsarte employed in a remarkable and striking way in
+dramatic passages, actually permits the musician, in certain cases and
+in the desired proportion, to change the value of the notes while
+respecting the principle of time, which is invariable. But the
+application of these rules is subject to the emotional intensity; it is,
+therefore, impossible to determine theoretically and absolutely its
+various bearings.
+
+
+
+
+Delsarte.
+
+[From the _Atlantic Monthly_ for May, 1871, by permission of Houghton,
+Mifflin & Co.]
+
+By Francis A. Durivage.
+
+
+
+It was not until last summer, and then under peculiarly impressive
+circumstances, that I saw, for the first time, a remarkable man whose
+name is indissolubly associated with French art--Francois Delsarte, of
+Paris. My curiosity had been deeply excited by what I had heard of him.
+I was told that, after long years of patient toil and profound thought,
+his genius had discovered and developed a scientific basis for
+histrionic art, that he had substituted law for empiricism in the domain
+of the most potential of the fine arts; and when the names of Rachel and
+Macready were quoted in his list of pupils, I was eager to behold the
+master and to learn something of the system which has yielded such
+fruits to the modern stage.
+
+The kindness of a friend procured me the rare privilege of admission to
+the last session of Delsarte's course, which closed in July. It was on
+one of those weary summer days when the hush of expectation, following
+the fierce excitement caused by the declaration of war, had eclipsed the
+gayety of Paris.
+
+The notes of the Marseillaise had ceased to stir the blood like the
+sound of a trumpet. The glare and glitter of French chivalry, which had
+masked the feebleness of the Imperial military system, had vanished. The
+superb Cent Gardes, the brilliant lancers, the savage Turcos, and the
+dashing Spahis had been replaced by the coarsely clad troops of the
+line. It was "grim-visaged war" and not its pageantry that we beheld;
+heavy guns rumbling slowly across the Place de la Concorde; dark masses
+of men moving like shadows on their funeral march to the perilous edge
+of battle. It was a relief to exchange these sad scenes for that quiet
+interior of the Boulevard de Courcelles, where a little group of persons
+devoted to aesthetic culture were gathered around their teacher, perhaps
+for the last time.
+
+The personal appearance of Delsarte is impressive. Years have not
+deprived his massive form of its vigor, nor dimmed the fire of his eye.
+His head is cast in a Roman mould; indeed, the fine medallion likeness
+executed by his daughter might well pass for an antique in the eyes of a
+stranger. In his personal bearing there is nothing of that
+self-assertion, that posing, which is a common defect of his
+distinguished countrymen.
+
+The pupils whom I met were ladies, with the single exception of a young
+American, Mr. James S. MacKaye, to whom, as his favorite disciple and
+one designated to succeed him in his profession, Delsarte has imparted
+all the minutiae of his science. To this gentleman was assigned the
+honor of opening the _seance_ by a brief exposition of the system, and
+of closing it by reciting in French a brilliant tragic monologue, the
+effect of which, in spite of the absence of appropriate costume and
+scenic illusion, electrified the audience. In this scene, "Les Terreurs
+de Thoas," those rapidly changing expressions of the features, those
+statuesque attitudes melting into each other, which we all remember in
+Rachel, indicated a common origin. It needed not the added eloquence of
+words and the sombre music of the voice to tell the tragic story of the
+victim of the Eumenides. After listening to the recitation, I was not
+surprised to learn that the young student was to appear, under the
+auspices of his teacher, at the Theatre Francais, during the approaching
+winter,--an honor never before conceded to any foreigner. The large
+American colony in Paris was looking forward to this _debut_ with a
+natural pride, and Delsarte with the calm assurance of his favorite's
+triumph. Alas! we all reckoned without taking King William, the Crown
+Prince, the Fed Prince, von Moltke, and von Bismarck into our account.
+We never fancied, on that bright July morning, that Krupp of Essen's
+cannon and the needle-gun were soon to give laws to Paris. But _inter
+arma silent artes_ as well as _leges_. Nearer and deadlier tragedies
+than those of Corneille and Racine were soon to be enacted; and the
+poor players were summoned to perform their parts upon no mimic stage.
+However, "what though the field be lost? all is not lost." The _venue_,
+to borrow a legal phrase, has been changed, but the cause has not been
+abandoned. Our young countryman has returned to his native land,
+bringing with him the fruits of his long studies, to appeal to an
+American audience, and it is quite possible that his teacher may be
+induced to transfer his school of art to the United States.
+
+Although at this _seance_ Delsarte appeared disposed to efface himself
+in favor of his brilliant representative, he kindly consented to speak a
+few words (and what a charming French lesson was his _causerie_!) and to
+present a specimen of his pantomimic powers. The latter exhibition was
+really surprising. He depicted the various passions and emotions of the
+human soul, by means of expression and gesture only, without uttering a
+single syllable; moving the spectators to tears, exciting them to
+enthusiasm, or thrilling them with terror at his will; in a word,
+completely magnetizing them. Not a discord in his diatonic scale. You
+were forced to admit that every gesture, every movement of a facial
+muscle, had a true purpose, a _raison d'etre_. It was a triumphant
+demonstration.
+
+The life of this great master and teacher, hereafter to be known as the
+founder of the Science of Dramatic Art, crowded with strange
+vicissitudes and romantic episodes, forms a record full of interest.
+
+Francois Delsarte was born at Solesmes, Department of the North, France,
+in 1811. His father was a physician, and his mother a woman of rare
+abilities, who taught herself to speak and write several languages.
+
+Shortly after the battle of Waterloo a detachment of the allied troops
+was passing through Solesmes, in the midst of a dead and sullen silence,
+when the commandant's quick ear caught the sound of a childish voice
+crying, "Vive l'Em-pe-weur! Vive Na-po-le-on!" Every one smiled at the
+juvenile speaker's audacity, except the stern officer whose name has,
+unfortunately, escaped the infamous celebrity it deserved. By his
+orders, a platoon of soldiers sought out the child's home and burned it
+to the ground; and thus little Francois Delsarte became the innocent
+cause of the ruin of his family.
+
+The atrocities committed during the White Terror, of which this incident
+is an example, though passed over by history, are not forgotten by the
+survivors of that cruel period. The leaders in the second terror could
+not plead the ignorance of Robespierre's followers in excuse of their
+excesses, for they were nobles, magistrates, priests and officers of
+rank.
+
+Delsarte's early years were passed in the midst of cruel privations and
+domestic troubles, for even love forsook a home blighted by poverty. His
+father, naturally proud and imperious, irritated by straitened
+circumstances, out of which there seemed no issue, crushed by the weight
+of obligations to others, lost heart and hope, became morose, sceptical
+and bitter, and treated his wife and family with such harshness and
+injustice, that Delsarte's mother was finally compelled to abandon her
+husband. She fled with her two boys to Paris, hoping there to make her
+talents available. All her efforts, however, were fruitless, and she
+found herself on the verge of starvation.
+
+One evening, as she sat with her two boys in her wretched room, tortured
+by their questions after their father, she could not suppress her tears.
+Francois, the eldest, then nine years of age, tried to console her. He
+told her that he was almost a man, able to earn his food and to take
+care of her and his little brother. She listened to his prattle with a
+sad smile, kissed him and embraced him.
+
+During all of the sleepless night which followed, Francois was revolving
+his hidden projects of independence, and at gray dawn, confiding his
+purpose only to his brother, and bidding him tell his mother, when she
+awoke, that he would soon be back with money to buy bread for them, the
+child stole forth to seek his fortune in the great dreary world of
+Paris.
+
+He wandered about all day, and at night, hungry and weary, entered a
+jeweler's shop in the Palais Royal, kept by an old woman, to whom he
+appealed for employment--vainly at first. Finally, however, she
+consented to engage him as a drudge and errand boy, allowed him to sleep
+in an _armoire_ over the door, and gave him four pounds of bread a week
+in lieu of wages. Four pounds of bread a week! The allowance appeared
+munificent, and he accepted the offer with gratitude. A brief experience
+dispelled his illusions. He was always weary and always hungry. After a
+few weeks' trial, he left his first benefactress and secured some kind
+of employment at five sous a day, out of which he contrived to save two.
+In two weeks he had saved nearly a franc and a half for his dear mother.
+One day, while executing a commission for his employer, he found his
+little brother alone in the street crying bitterly.
+
+"How is dear mamma?" was his first question.
+
+"Dead, and carried away by ugly men."
+
+The winter of 1821 was unusually severe for Paris. One night Delsarte
+and his brother fell asleep in each other's arms in the wretched loft
+they occupied; but when the former opened his eyes to the morning's
+light he was holding a corpse to his heart. The little boy had perished
+of cold and starvation. Almost mad with terror and grief, the survivor
+rushed into the streets to summon the neighbors.
+
+The next day a little hatless boy, in rags and nearly barefooted,
+followed two men bearing a small pine coffin which they deposited in the
+_fosse commune_ of _Pere la Chaise_.
+
+After seeing the grave covered, Delsarte left the cemetery and wandered
+wearily through the snow, now utterly alone in the world, across the
+plain of St. Denis. Overcome by cold, hunger, and grief, he sank to the
+ground, and then, before he lost consciousness, a strain of music, real
+or imaginary, met his ear and charmed him to a forgetfulness of misery,
+bereavement, all the evils that environed him. It was the first
+awakening of his artist soul, and to this day Delsarte believes that it
+was no earthly music that he heard.
+
+Rousing himself from a sort of stupor into which he had fallen, he saw a
+_chiffonnier_ bending over him. The man had for a moment mistaken the
+prostrate form for a bundle of rags; but taking pity on the half-frozen
+lad, he placed him in his basket and carried him to his miserable home.
+And so the future artist commenced his professional career as a Parisian
+rag-picker.
+
+While wandering about the great city in the interest of his employer,
+his only solace was to listen to the songs of itinerant vocalists and
+the occasional music of a military band. Music became his passion. From
+some of the gamins he learned the seven notes of the scale, and, to
+preserve the melodies that delighted him, he invented a system of
+musical notation. On a certain holiday, when he was twelve years old,
+while listening to the delightful music in the garden of the Tuileries,
+the little _chiffonnier_ busied himself with drawing figures in the
+dust. An old man of eccentric appearance, noticing his earnest
+diligence, accosted him.
+
+"What are you doing there, boy?" he asked.
+
+Terrified at first, but reassured by the kind manner of the stranger,
+Delsarte replied: "Writing down the music, sir."
+
+"Do you mean to say those marks have any significance? That you can read
+them?"
+
+"Certainly, sir."
+
+"Let me hear you."
+
+Encouraged by the interest manifested in him, the lad sang in a sweet
+and pure but sad voice the strains just played by the military band. The
+old man was amazed.
+
+"Who taught you this process?"
+
+"Nobody, sir; found it out myself."
+
+Bambini--for it was the then distinguished, but now almost forgotten,
+professor--offered to take the boy home with him; and he who had entered
+the garden of the Tuileries a rag-picker, left it a recognized musician.
+In the dust of Paris were first written the elements of a system
+destined to regenerate art. Bambini taught his protege all he knew, but
+the pupil soon surpassed the master and became his instructor in turn;
+for if the one had talent, the other possessed genius.
+
+Bambini predicted the future of Delsarte. One day when they were walking
+arm-in-arm in the Avenue des Champs-Elysees, the former said: "Do you
+see all those people in carriages, with their fine liveries and
+magnificent clothes? Well, the day will come when they will only be too
+happy to listen to you, proud of your presence in their _salons_,
+envying your fame as a great artist."
+
+Bambini's death left Delsarte poor and friendless. At fourteen, however,
+he managed to get admitted into the Conservatoire, where, though he
+labored hard, he met with harsh treatment and discouragement. The
+professors disliked him for his reflective nature and persistent
+questionings which brought to light the superficiality of their
+acquirements; his fellow-pupils, for his exclusive devotion to study and
+his reserve, the result of diffidence rather than of _hauteur_. His
+professors were dictators, who, while differing from each other as
+teachers, were yet united in frowning upon any attempt on the part of
+their pupil to emancipate himself from the thraldom of conventionalism
+and routine. Genius was a heresy for which they had no mercy.
+
+Thrown upon his own resources, he soon developed, by careful observation
+of nature and a constant study of cause and effect, a system and a style
+radically differing from those of the professors and their servile
+imitators.
+
+One day, after having sung in his own style at one of the public
+exhibitions--applauded, however, only by a single auditor,--he was
+walking sadly and slowly in the court-yard of the Conservatoire, when a
+lady and a gentleman approached him.
+
+"Courage, my friend," said the lady. "Your singing has given me the
+highest pleasure. You will be a great artist."
+
+So spake Marie Malibran, the queen of song.
+
+"My friend," said her companion, "It was I who applauded you just now.
+In my opinion, you are a singer _hors de ligne_. When my children are
+ready to learn music, you, above all others, shall be their professor."
+
+These were the words of Adolphe Nourrit. The praises of Malibran and
+Nourrit gave Delsarte courage, revived his hopes, and decided him to
+follow implicitly the promptings of his genius. His extreme poverty
+compelled him at last to apply to the Conservatoire for a diploma which
+would enable him to secure a situation at one of the lyric theatres. It
+was refused.
+
+The autumn of 1829 found him a shabby, almost ragged applicant for
+employment at the stage-door of the Opera Comique. Repeated rebuffs
+failed to baffle his desperate pertinacity.
+
+One day the director, hearing of the annoyance to which his
+subordinates were subjected by Delsarte, determined to abate the
+nuisance by one of those cruel _coups-de-main_ of which Frenchmen are
+pre-eminently capable. The next night, during the performance, when
+Delsarte called, he was, to his surprise and delight, shown into the
+great man's presence.
+
+"Well, sir, what do you want?"
+
+"Pardon, Monsieur, I came to seek a place at your theatre."
+
+"There is but one vacant, and you don't seem capable of filling that. I
+want only a call-boy."
+
+"Sir, I am prepared to fill the position of a _premier sujet_ among your
+singers."
+
+"_Imbecile!_"
+
+"Monsieur, if my clothes are poor, my art is genuine."
+
+"Well, sir, if you will sing for me, I will hear you shortly."
+
+He left Delsarte alone, overjoyed at having secured the manager's ear.
+In a few moments a surly fellow told him he was wanted below, and he
+soon found himself with the manager upon the stage behind the green
+curtain.
+
+"You are to sing here," said the director. "There is your piano. In one
+moment the curtain will be rung up. I am tired of your importunities. I
+give you one chance to show the stuff you're made of. If you discard
+this opportunity, the next time you show your face at my door you shall
+be arrested and imprisoned as a vagrant."
+
+The indignation excited in Delsarte by this cruel trick instantly gave
+way before the reflection that success was a matter of life and death
+with him, and that perhaps his last chance lay within his grasp. He
+forgot his rags; every nerve became iron; and when the curtain was rung
+up, a beggar with the bearing of a prince advanced to the foot-lights,
+was received with derisive laughter by some, with glances of surprise
+and indignation by others, and, with a sad and patient smile on his
+countenance, gracefully saluted the brilliant audience. The courtliness
+of his manner disarmed hostility; but when he sat down to the piano, ran
+his fingers over the keys, and sang a few bars, the exquisite voice
+found its way to every heart. With every moment his voice became more
+powerful. Each gradation of emotion was rendered with an ease, an art,
+an expression, that made every heartstring vibrate. Then he suddenly
+stopped, bowed, and retired. The house rang with bravos. The
+dress-circle forgot its reticence and joined in the tumult of applause.
+He was recalled. This time he sang a grand lyric composition with the
+full volume of his voice, aided in effect by those imperial gestures of
+which he had already discovered the secret. The audience were
+electrified. They declared that Talma was resuscitated. But when he was
+a second time recalled, his tragic mood had melted; there were "tears
+in his voice" as well as on his cheeks.
+
+After the fall of the curtain the director grasped his hand, loaded him
+with compliments, and offered him an engagement for a year at a salary
+of ten thousand francs. He went home to occupy his wretched attic for
+the last time, and falling on his knees poured forth his soul in prayer.
+
+The next day Delsarte, neatly dressed, paid a visit to the directors of
+the Conservatoire.
+
+"Gentlemen," said he, "_you_ would not give me a recommendation as a
+_chorister_; the _public_ have accorded me _this_." And he displayed his
+commission as _Comedien du Roi_.
+
+Delsarte remained upon the lyric stage until 1834, when the failure of
+his voice, which had been strained at the Conservatoire, compelled him
+to retire. He continued, however, the study of music, and his
+productions, particularly a "Dies Irae," placed him in the front rank of
+composers. At this period of his life, meditation and study resulted in
+a firm religious faith, which never wavered afterward.
+
+He now applied himself to the task of establishing a scientific basis
+for lyric and dramatic art, and after years of patient labor perfected a
+system on which probably his fame will ultimately rest. His _cours_ for
+instruction in the principles of art was first opened in 1839. From the
+outset he was appreciated by the highly cultivated few, nor was it long
+before the circle extended and the new master won a European
+reputation. Some of his pupils were destined for a professional career;
+but many, men and women of rank and fortune, sought to learn from him
+the means of rendering their brilliant _salons_ yet more attractive.
+Members of most of the reigning families of Europe were numbered among
+his pupils, and his apartments in Paris were filled, when I saw them,
+with pictures, photographs, and other souvenirs of esteem and
+friendship, from the highest dignitaries of Europe. When he consented,
+on one occasion, to appear at a _soiree_ at the Tuileries, Louis
+Philippe received him at the foot of the grand staircase, as if he had
+been his peer, and bestowed on him during the evening the same
+attentions he would have accorded to a fellow-sovereign. The citizen
+king recognized the royalty of art. And it may be noted that Delsarte
+would not have appeared on this occasion, except on the condition that
+no remuneration should be offered to him for the exercise of his
+talents.
+
+Malibran, whose kind word in the courtyard of the Conservatoire had
+revived Delsarte's fainting hopes, attended his early course of
+lectures. I have already mentioned Rachel and Macready as his pupils. I
+now recall the names of Sontag, of the gifted Madeleine Brohan, of
+Carvalho, Barbot, Pasca (who owed everything to Delsarte), and Pajol. He
+was the instructor in pulpit oratory of Pere Lacordaire, Pere
+Hyacinthe, and the present abbe of Notre Dame.
+
+Notwithstanding the labor exacted by his great specialty, he has done
+much good work in various other directions. Among his mechanical
+inventions are a sonotype, a tuning instrument by means of which any one
+can tune a piano accurately, an improved level, theodolite and sextant,
+a scale for measuring the differences in the solidity of fluids, etc.
+
+Of the conscientiousness with which he works, it may be mentioned that
+he devoted five years to the study of anatomy and physiology, to obtain
+a perfect knowledge of all the muscles, their uses and capabilities,--a
+knowledge of which he has utilized with remarkable success.
+
+It is now time to give some idea of his system, which can be done most
+satisfactorily, perhaps, through the medium of an article which appeared
+in the _Gazette Musicale_, from the authoritative pen of A. Gueroult.
+After having analyzed the maestro's theory of vocal art, he says:
+
+"The study of gesture and its agents has been subjected by M. Delsarte
+to an analysis no less profound. Thus he recognizes in the human body
+three principal agents of expression, the head, the torso and the limbs,
+which perform each a distinct part in the economy of a character.
+Gesture, sometimes expressive, sometimes excentric, and sometimes
+compressive, assumes in each case special forms, which have been
+classified and described by M. Delsarte with a care and perspicuity
+which make his labors on this subject entirely new, and for which I know
+no equivalent anywhere. Permit me to explain more fully the utility of
+this study, to cite an application, for examples are always more
+eloquent than generalities. In the play of the physiognomy every portion
+of the face performs a separate part. Thus, for instance, it is not
+useless to know what function nature has assigned to the eye, the nose,
+the mouth, in the expression of certain emotions of the soul. True
+passion, which never errs, has no need of recurring to such studies; but
+they are indispensable to the feigned passion of the actor. How useful
+would it not be to the actor who wishes to represent madness or wrath,
+to know that the eye never expresses the sentiment experienced, but
+simply indicates the object of this sentiment! Cover the lower part of
+your face with your hand, and impart to your look all the energy of
+which it is susceptible, still it will be impossible for the most
+sagacious observer to discover whether your look expresses anger or
+attention. On the other hand, uncover the lower part of the face, and if
+the nostrils are dilated, if the contracted lips are drawn up, there is
+no doubt that anger is written on your countenance. An observation which
+confirms the purely indicative part performed by the eye is, that among
+raving madmen the lower part of the face is violently contracted, while
+the vague and uncertain look shows clearly that their fury has no
+object. It is easy to conceive what a wonderful interest the actor,
+painter, or sculptor must find in the study of the human body thus
+analysed from head to foot in its innumerable ways of expression.
+Hence, the eloquent secrets of pantomime, those imperceptible movements
+of great actors which produce such powerful impressions, are decomposed
+and subjected to laws whose evidence and simplicity are a twofold source
+of admiration.
+
+"Finally, in what concerns articulate language M. Delsarte has assumed a
+yet more novel task. We all know the power of certain inflections; we
+know that a phrase which accented in a certain way is null, accented in
+another way produces irresistible effects upon the stage. It is the
+property of great artists to discover this preeminent accentuation; but
+never, to my knowledge, did anyone think of referring these happy
+inspirations of genius to positive laws. Yet, whence comes it that a
+certain inflection, a certain word placed in relief, affects us? How
+shall we explain this emotion, if not by a certain relation existing
+between the laws of our organization, the laws of general grammar, and
+those of musical inflection? There is always, in a phrase loudly
+enunciated, one word which sustains the passionate accent. But how shall
+we detach and recognize it in the midst of the phrase? How distribute
+the forces of accentuation on all the words of which it is composed? How
+classify and arrange them in relation to that sympathetic inflection,
+without which the most energetic thought halts at our intelligence
+without reaching our heart? M. Delsarte has had recourse to the same
+method which guided him in the study of gesture. He did not study
+declamation on the stage, but in real life, where unpremeditated
+inflections spring directly from feeling; then, fortified by innumerable
+observations, he rearranged grammar and rhetoric from this special point
+of view, and has obtained results as simple in their principles as they
+are fertile in their application.
+
+"If I wished to classify the nature and value of M. Delsarte's labors in
+relation to what has been spoken or written up to this time on the art
+of singing or acting, I should say that the numerous precepts which have
+been formulated on dramatic art have had hardly any object other than
+the manner in which each character ought to be conceived. Ingenious and
+multiplied observations have been employed to bring forth the delicacies
+of the part and its unpcrceived features. The intellectual strength of
+the actor or vocalist has been directed to the author's conception. He
+has been told to be pathetic here, menacing there; here to assume a
+slight tinge of irony transpiercing apparent politeness, or, again, to
+make his gesture a seeming contradiction of his words. Such an analysis
+of the poet's work is certainly imperative, but how far from adequate!
+And what an immense distance there is from the intelligence which
+comprehends to the gesture which translates, from the song which moves
+to the inflection which interprets! It is with the new purpose which M.
+Delsarte has embraced that, without neglecting an understanding of the
+author, he says to the actor: 'This is what you must express. Now, how
+will you do it? What will you do with your arms, with your head, with
+your voice? Do you know the laws of your organization? Do you know how
+to go to work to be pathetic, dignified, comic, or familiar, to
+represent the clemency of Augustus or the drunkenness of a coachman?' In
+a word, he teaches the vocalist or actor the laws of this language, of
+this eloquence which nature places in our eyes, in our gestures, in the
+suppressed or expansive tones of our voice, in the accent of speech. He
+teaches the actor, or, to speak more properly, the man, to know himself,
+to manage artistically that inimitable instrument which is man himself,
+all of whose parts contribute to a harmonious unity. Hence, aware of the
+gravity of such an assertion, I do not hesitate to proclaim here that I
+believe M. Delsarte's work will remain among the fundamental bases; I
+believe that his labors are destined to give a solid foundation to
+theatric art, to elevate and to ennoble it; I believe that there is no
+actor, no singer, however eminent, who cannot derive from the
+acquirements and luminous studies of M. Delsarte, positive germs of
+development and progress. I believe that whoever makes the external
+interpretation of the sentiments of the human soul his business and
+profession, whether painter, sculptor, orator, or actor, that all men of
+taste who support them will applaud this attempt to create the _science
+of expressive man_; a science from which antiquity seems to have lifted
+the veil, and what appears willing to revive in our days, in the hands
+of a man worthy by his patient and conscientious efforts to discover
+some of its most precious secrets."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Delsarte has sought neither fame nor wealth. He could easily have
+secured both by remaining on the stage as an actor, after he had lost
+his power as a vocalist. He preferred to surrender himself in
+comparative retirement to the study of science and art, and the
+instruction of those who sought his aid in mastering the principles of
+the latter. To the needy this instruction was imparted gratuitously, and
+more than one successful actress has been raised from penury to fortune
+by the benevolence of her teacher.
+
+It would be easy to cite many illustrations of the goodness and
+tenderness of this man. Religious fervor has largely influenced his life
+and is the key-note of his character; but his faith is not hampered by
+bigotry. Like all minds of high rank, he holds that science and art are
+the handmaids of religion.
+
+I have said that this remarkable man did not seek fame; it has come to
+him unsought. Pages might be filled with voluntary tributes to his
+genius from the foremost minds of France,--Jules Janin, Theophile
+Gautier, Mme. Emile de Girardin. Lamartine pronounced him "a sublime
+orator." Fiorentino, the keen, delicate, and calm critic, spoke of him
+as "this master, whose feeling is so true, whose style is so elevated,
+whose passion is so profound, that there is nothing in art so beautiful
+and so perfect."
+
+If we hazarded an intrusion into the domestic circle of Delsarte, we
+should find one of those pure and happy family groups, fortunately for
+France by no means rare even in her capital; one of those French homes
+the existence of which nearly all Englishmen and many Americans deny. We
+should find a bond of sympathy and a community of talent uniting father
+and mother, two fair daughters, and three brave sons. Or, rather, we
+should have found this happy gathering, for the iron hand of war has
+broken the charmed ring. The dear old home on the Boulevard de
+Courcelles is deserted. Father, mother, and daughters were compelled to
+seek refuge in the North of France, the sons to march against the
+Prussians. Let us trust that long ere this they have reached home
+unwounded, and that the grand old maestro has no further ills in store
+for his declining years.
+
+
+
+
+Delsarte's Method for Tuning Stringed Instruments Without the Aid of
+The Ear.[11]
+
+By Hector Berlioz.
+
+
+
+Do you hear, you pianists, guitarists, violinists, violoncellists,
+contra-bassists, harpists, tuners, and you, too, conductors of
+orchestras--without the aid of the ear! What a vast, incomparable, nay,
+priceless discovery, especially for the rest of us wretched listeners to
+pianos out of tune, to violins and 'cellos out of tune, to harps out of
+tune, to whole orchestras out of tune! Delsarte's invention will now
+make it your positive duty to cease torturing us, to cease making us
+sweat with agony, to cease driving us to suicide.
+
+Not only is the ear of no use in tuning instruments, but it is even
+dangerous to consult it; it must by no possible chance be consulted.
+What an advantage for those who have no ear! Hitherto, it has been just
+the opposite, and we forgave you the torments that you inflicted on us.
+But in future, if your instruments be out of tune, you will have no
+excuse, and we shall hand you over to public vengeance. Without the aid
+of the ear, mark you--aid so often useless and deceptive.
+
+Delsarte's discovery holds good only for stringed instruments, but this
+is much; this is an enormous gain. Hence, it follows that in orchestras
+directed and tuned without the aid of the ear, there will be no more
+discords, save between the flutes, hautboys, clarionets, bassoons,
+horns, cornets, trumpets, trombones, kettle-drums and bass drums. The
+triangle might, at a pinch, be tuned by the new method; but it is
+generally acknowledged that this is not necessary, just as with bells, a
+discord between the triangle and the other instruments is a good thing;
+it is popular in all lyric theatres.
+
+And the singers, whom you do not mention, someone may ask, will it be
+possible to make them sing true, to put them in tune? Two or three of
+them are naturally in tune. Some few, by great care and exactness, may
+be brought very nearly into tune. But all the others were not, are not,
+and will not be in tune, either individually, or with each other, or
+with the instruments, or with the leader of the orchestra, or with the
+rhythm, or with the harmony, or with the accent, or with the expression,
+or with the pitch, or with the language, or with anything resembling
+precision and good sense.
+
+Delsarte has made it especially easy to tune the piano, by means of an
+instrument that he calls the phonopticon, which it would take too long
+to describe here. Suffice it to say, that it contains an index-hand
+that marks the exact instant when two or more strings are in perfect
+unison. It may be added that the invariable result is so absolutely
+correct, no matter who may try it or under what conditions, that the
+most practiced ear could not possibly attain to similar perfection.
+Acousticians should not fail to examine this invention at once, the use
+of which cannot be long in becoming universal.
+
+
+
+
+Index.
+
+
+
+A.
+
+
+Abdominal centre, the, life,
+Accent,
+Accord of nine, the,
+Actors, bad,
+Adjective, the,
+Adverb, the,
+AEsthetic division, chart of,
+AEsthetic fact of first rank,
+AEsthetics,
+  course of, applied,
+  lay of,
+Alto voice, the,
+Anatomy,
+Angelo, Michael,
+Angels, the,
+Anger,
+Animals do not laugh,
+Ankylosed limbs,
+Apollo, the,
+Appoggiatura,
+Aquinas, St. Thomas,
+Archimedean lever,
+Architecture, application of the law to,
+Aristocrats lie,
+Aristotle,
+Arms, movements of the,
+  five million movements of the agents of the,
+  division of,
+  three centres in the,
+Art,
+  the true aim of,
+  all, has the same principle,
+  definition of,
+  how Delsarte considered,
+  religious sentiment in,
+  the death of,
+  elements of,
+  the plastic,
+  the grand,
+  the supreme,
+  dramatic, lyric and oratorical,
+  best conditions for a work of,
+  object of,
+  sources of fine,
+  not imitation of nature,
+Article, the,
+Articulate language, weakness of,
+  origin and organic apparatus of,
+  elements of,
+Articulation, in the service of thought,
+Articulations, the,
+Artificial breath,
+Artistic personages, classification of,
+Artist, the proclivities necessary to an,
+Art-writings of the Greeks,
+Attraction,
+Attractive centres,
+Attribute, the,
+Attributes of reason, the,
+Audience, an, different from an individual--the greater the numbers the
+  less the intelligence,
+
+
+
+B.
+
+
+Bacchus, the,
+Balzac,
+Bambini, Father,
+Barbier,
+Barbot, Mme.,
+Bass voice, the,
+Baudelaire, Charles,
+Baxile, M.,
+Beautiful, the,
+Beauty exists only in fragments,
+  moral and intellectual,
+Belot, Adolphe,
+Beranger,
+Berlioz,
+Bizet, George,
+Blanchecotte, Mme.,
+Blangini,
+Body, the,
+  divisions of the,
+  retroactive movement of,
+Boileau,
+Bonnat,
+Breathing
+Brohan, Madeleine,
+Brucker, Raymond,
+Buccal (cheek) zone, the,
+  machinery (articulate speech), the language of the mind,
+
+
+
+C.
+
+
+Calculation and artifice, if detected, quicksands to the orator,
+Canova,
+Captain Renard, fable of,
+Captivating an audience, secret of,
+Caress, the,
+Carvalho, Mme.,
+Charts classifying celestial spirits,
+Charts list of,
+Chastity, concave,
+Chaudesaigues, Mlle.,
+Chest, the,
+  the three attitudes of,
+  divisions of,
+Chest, a passive agent
+Chest-voice, the
+  the expression of the sensitive life
+  should be little used
+  the eccentric voice
+Cheve, M. and Mme.
+Children, why are they graceful?
+Chopin
+Chorography
+Chorre, Mother
+Cicero
+Circle, the, for exalting and caressing
+Colin
+Colors, symbolism of
+  the primitive
+  the three that symbolize the life, soul and mind
+Color charts, the
+Concentric state, the
+Conjunction, the
+  the soul of the discourse
+Consonants, musical
+  are gestures
+  the initial
+  variation in the value of
+  beat time for the pronunciation of
+  every first, is strong
+  two things to be observed in
+Contemplation and retroaction
+Corneille
+Costal breathing
+Courier, Paul Louis
+Cousin, Victor
+Cries
+Cros, Antoine
+Czartoriska, Princess
+
+
+
+D.
+
+
+Dailly, Dr.
+Darcier
+Davout, Marshal
+Death, the sign language of
+De Bammeville, July
+De Blocqueville, Mme.
+De Chimay, Princess
+Degrees, theory of
+D'Haussonville, Countess
+Dejazet
+De Lamartine, Mme.
+De la Madelene, Jules
+Delaunay, Charles
+Delivery, a hasty
+De Leomenil, Mme. Laure
+Delsarte, biographical sketch of
+  criterion of
+  method of
+  took much time in educating a pupil
+  was he a philosopher?
+  lectures of
+  teachings of
+  the press on
+  the discoverer of the law
+  can never be reproduced
+  birth, death, name, early history of
+  how he learned music
+  enters the conservatory
+  theatre and school of
+  becomes a teacher of singing and elocution
+  history of the voice of
+  dramatic career of
+  recitations of
+  sings at the Court
+  marriage and family of
+  religion of
+  friends of
+  the "Talma of music"
+  anecdotes of
+  scholars of
+  "Stanzas to Eternity" of
+  "dear and last pupil" of
+  musical compositions of
+  an instance of the singing of
+  shapeless coat of
+  imitating defects
+  singing during lessons
+  inventions of
+  Berlioz's treatment of
+  before the Philotechnic Association
+  and the four professors
+  last years of
+  a concert of
+  character and merit of
+  "Episodes of a Revelator" of
+  America's offer to
+  return to Paris of
+  last letter to the King of Hanover of
+  struggles with his teachers
+  visit to the dissecting room
+  a pensioner of the conservatory
+  mystical or religious musings of
+  the way of making his discovery
+  is grateful because he had not written
+  his book not spontaneous
+  on trueness in singing
+Delsarte, Mme., maiden name of
+  beauty and talent of
+Delsarte, Gustave
+De Meyendorf, Mme.
+Demosthenes
+De Musset, Alfred
+De Riancey, Henry
+Desbarolles
+Descartes
+Deshayes, M.
+De Stael, Mme.
+Devotion
+Diaphragmatic breathing
+Dictation exercises
+Discovery, dawn of Delsarte's
+Dissecting room, Delsarte's visit to the
+Divine Majesty, reflection of the
+Divine reason
+Donoso-Cortes, M.
+Donot
+Dramatic singing
+Dugrand, Delsarte's struggles with papa
+Dupre
+Duprez
+Dynamic apparatus, its composition
+  harmony
+  wealth
+
+
+
+E.
+
+
+Ear, the most delicate sense
+Eccentric state, the
+E flat
+Elbow, the
+  thermometer of the relative life
+  sign of humility, pride, etc.
+Ellipsis
+Eloquence holds  first rank  among the arts
+  to be taught and learned
+  is composed of three languages
+  does not always accompany intellect
+Emotions, tender, expressed by high notes
+Emphasis, example of
+E mute before a consonant
+  before a vowel
+Epic, the
+Epicondyle, the eye of the arm
+Epigastric centre, the, soul
+Epiglottis, contracting the
+Epilogue
+Episodes of a Revelator
+Episode I
+Episode II
+Episode III
+Episode IV
+Episode V
+Episode VI
+Episode VII
+Equilibrium, the laws of
+Error must rest upon some truth
+Etruscans, the
+Evolutions, passional
+Expiration, the sign of
+Exclamations
+Expression, very difficult
+  the whole secret of
+Expressive centres
+Eye, the tolerance of
+Eyes, the
+  the nine expressions of
+  parallelism between the voice and the
+  chart of the
+Eyebrow, the
+  the thermometer of the mind
+
+
+
+F.
+
+
+Fables, recitation of
+Face, divided into three zones
+Fact, the value of a
+Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
+Fingers, the
+Florentine
+Force and interest consist in suspension
+Form, the vestment of substance
+  definition of
+Fourier, Charles
+Free-thinkers, blindness of
+French prosody
+French versification
+Fright
+Frontal (forehead) zone, the
+
+
+
+G.
+
+
+Galen
+Garrick
+Gautier, Theophile
+Genal (chin) zone, the
+Geraldon
+Gesture, in general
+  is for sentiments
+  its services to humanity
+  reveals the inner man
+  the direct agent of the heart
+  the interpreter of speech
+  the interpreter of emotion
+  an elliptical language
+  division of
+  harmony and dissonance of
+  origin and oratorical value of
+  superior to the other languages
+  is magnetic
+  the laws of
+  must always precede speech
+  retroaction
+  joy and fright require backward movement
+  equilibrium the great law of
+  the hirmonic law of
+  parallelism of
+  numbers of
+  lack of intelligence indicated by many
+  duration of
+  the rhythm of
+  importance of the laws of
+  the semeiotic or reason of
+  the types that characterize
+  its modifying apparatus
+  the inflections of
+  delineation of
+  spheroidal form of
+  the sense of the heart
+  the spirit of
+  the inflection of the deaf
+  a series of, for exercises
+  the static the life of
+  the semeiotic the spirit and rationale of
+  the series of, applied to the  sentiments oftenest expressed
+  the, of interpellation
+  the, of thanks, affectionate and ceremonious
+  the, of attraction
+  the, of surprise and assurance
+  the, of devotion
+  the, of interrogative surprise
+  the, of reiterated interrogation
+  the, of anger
+  the, of menace
+  the, of an order for leaving
+  the, of reiteration
+  the, of fright
+  three important rules for
+  how produced
+  dilatory
+  difficulty in
+  object of
+  definition of
+  without a motive
+Giraudet, Alfred
+  report of Delsarte's lecture
+Gluck
+God, the spirit of, in all things
+  how He reveals things
+  a pretext for every Utopia
+  the archetype
+Good, the
+Gospel, the, directs investigation
+Gounod
+Grace
+Great movements for exaltation of sentiment
+Greeks, the, had no school of aesthetics
+Groans
+Gueroult, Adolphe
+Guide-accord, the, of Delsarte
+Gymnastics, the grand law of organic
+  the practice of
+
+
+
+H.
+
+
+Habit
+Halevy
+Hand, the, another expression of the face
+  expressions of the
+  its three presentations
+  criterion of the
+  chart of
+  the digital face
+  the back and the palmar face
+  the three rhythmic actions
+  the, in natural surprise
+  the, in death
+  attitudes of the
+  in affirmation
+  the nine physiognomies of
+Handel
+Harmony
+Harmony, born of contrasts
+  is in opposition
+Head, the, movements of
+  the occipital, parietal and temporal zones
+  the primary agent of movement
+  action of, in surprise
+  which side is for the soul and which for the senses?
+  attitudes of
+Head voice, the
+  how produced
+  interprets mental phenomena
+  the concentric voice
+Heart, when to carry the hand to the
+Hegel
+Hervet
+High head, small brain
+Hippias
+Hoffman
+Horace
+Hugo
+Humanity is crippled
+Human reason
+Human science, the alpha and omega of
+Human triplicity, the
+Human word composed of three languages
+
+
+
+I.
+
+
+Ideal, the
+Imitation, the melody of the eye
+  uselessness of
+Immanences, the
+Impressionalism
+Impressions and sensations
+Individual type, how formed
+Infant, the, has neither speech nor gesture
+Infinitesimal quantities
+Inflection, a modification of sound
+  their importance
+  illustrations of
+  rules of
+  must not be multiplied
+  special
+  life revealed through four millions of
+  the melody of the ear
+  the gesture of the blind
+  differentiating the
+  high
+  life of speech
+  medallion of
+Ingres
+Inspiration, when allowable
+the sign of
+Interjection, the
+Interpellation
+Interrogative surprise
+Intonations, caressing
+Italian, no two equal sounds in
+
+
+
+J.
+
+
+Jacob, Mlle.
+Jacotot
+Jesus of Nazareth
+Joncieres
+Joy, the greatest in sorrow
+Joys, keen
+
+
+
+K.
+
+
+Kant
+King of Hanover
+  Delsarte's last letter to the
+King Louis Philippe
+Kreutzer
+
+
+
+L.
+
+
+Lablache
+Laboring men, the ways of
+Lachrymose tone disgusting
+Lacordaire
+La Fontaine
+La Harpe
+Lamaitre, Frederick
+Lamartine
+Lamentation
+Language
+Laocoon, the
+Larynx, the
+  coloring of
+  lowering the
+  the thermometer of the sensitive life
+Larynxes, artificial
+Latin prosody
+Laugh, signification of the
+  its composition
+Law, definition of
+  application of the, to various arts
+Legouve
+Legs, the, and their attitudes
+Leibnitz
+Leroux, Pierre
+Liars do not elevate their shoulders
+Life, the sensitive state
+  principal elements of
+  the phenomena of
+Light
+Lind, Jenny
+Literary remains of Delsarte
+Literature, the law applied to
+Littre's Dictionary
+Logic often in default
+Longus
+Louvre, false pictures in the
+Love gives more than it receives
+Lovers, the gaze of
+Loyson, Father
+Lucht, Auguste
+Lully
+Lungs, the
+Lyric art
+
+
+
+M.
+
+
+Malherbe
+Malibran
+Man
+  the three phases of
+  either painter, poet, scientist, or mystic
+  three types in
+  the object of art
+  a triplicity of persons
+  the agent of AEsthetics
+  when a man shrinks
+  unfamiliar to himself
+Marcello
+Marie, Franck
+Mars
+Martellato
+Massenet
+Materialism
+Measure
+  in oratorical diction
+Medallion of inflection
+Mediocrity
+Medium voice, the expression of moral emotions
+  the normal voice
+Melody
+Menace, the head and hand
+Mengs
+Mental or reflective state
+Mercie
+Mind, the intellectual state
+Mode simpliste
+Modest people turn out the elbow
+Mohere
+Monsabre, Father
+Moral or affective state
+Mother, the voice of the
+Mother vowel, the
+Motion, distinction and vulgarity of
+Mouth, the
+  no contraction of back part
+  openings of, for various vowels
+  a vital thermometer
+Movements from various centres
+  flexor, rotary, and abductory
+  initial forms of
+Mucous membrane, transmitter of sound
+Muscular machinery (gesture), the language of emotion
+Music, the seven notes of
+  a succession of sounds
+Musset
+
+
+
+N.
+
+
+Napoleon III
+Nasal cavities, the
+Naturalism
+Ninefold accord, the
+Normal state, the
+Nose, a complex and important agent
+  nine divisions of
+Nose, a moral thermometer
+Notes, high, for tender emotions
+Nourrit, Adolph
+Number
+
+
+
+O.
+
+
+Occipital zone, the life
+Ontology
+Opposition of agents
+Orator, the, should be a man of worth
+Oratorical sessions
+Oratory, definition of
+  the science of, not yet taught
+  the essentials
+  the fundamental laws of
+  the criterion of
+  the student of, should not be a servile copyist
+  three important rules for the student of
+  symbolism of colors applied to
+  perseverance and work necessary to the student of
+Order for leaving, an
+Organic chart
+
+
+
+P.
+
+
+Painter, how a, examines his work
+Painting, application of the law to
+Palate, the
+Pantomime, secrets of
+Parietal zone, the soul
+Particle, the
+Pasca, Mme.
+Passion
+  of signs
+Passive attitude, the type of energetic natures
+Pasta, Mme.
+People, vulgar and uncultured
+Pergolesi
+Phenomena, natural, contain lessons
+Phidias
+Philotechnic Association
+Physiology
+Plato
+Poe, Edgar A.
+Poets are born, orators are made
+Poise
+  lack of, in body
+Powers, the
+Praxiteles
+Preacher, a, must not be an actor
+Preposition, the
+Pricette, Father
+Principiants and principiates
+Processional relations, theory of
+  reversal of
+Professors, Delsarte and the four
+Progressions
+Pronoun, the
+Pronunciation
+Proudhon
+Pythagoras
+
+
+
+Q.
+
+
+Quintilian
+
+
+
+R.
+
+
+R, cure of the faulty
+Rachel
+Racine
+Rainbow, the
+  the colors of
+Rameau
+Random notes
+Raphael's picture of Moses, a fault in
+Ravignan
+Reaction
+Realism
+Reason
+  a blind faculty
+  an act of faith
+  the attributes of
+Reber
+Reboul
+Recitative
+Reiterated interrogation
+Reiteration
+Respect, a sort of weakness
+Respiration
+  suppressing the
+  and silence
+  three movements of
+  multiplied
+  to facilitate
+  vocal, logical, passional
+Respiratory acts, their signification
+Retroaction
+Reverence, the sign of
+Reynaud, Jean
+Rhythmus
+Romagnesi
+Rossini
+Roulade
+Routine
+Royer, Mme., Clemence
+
+
+
+S.
+
+
+St. Augustine
+St. Saens
+St.-Simonism
+St. Thomas
+Salutation, the sign of
+Sand, George
+Schiller
+Science, bases of the
+  and art
+Scientists, cause of the failure of
+Sculptor, aims of the
+Sculpture, application of the law to
+Semeiotics
+  of the shoulder
+Senses, the
+Sensibility, thermometer of
+Sensitive nature betrayed by voice
+Sensitive or vital state
+Sensualism, convex
+Sensuality
+Sentiment
+Shades and inflections
+Shakespeare
+Shoulder, the
+  thermometer of love
+    the sensitive life
+  the sign of passion
+  action of, in surprise
+  thermometer of emotions
+  semeiotics of
+  in the aristocratic world
+Sigh, the
+Signs of passion
+Silence, the father of speech
+  the speech of God
+  the rule of
+Simplisme
+Sincerity intolerable
+Singing
+Sob, the
+Societies, meeting of the learned
+Socrates
+Sontag, Mme.
+Soprano voice, the
+Sorbonne, the
+Soul, the moral state
+Souhe, Frederic
+Sound, the first language of man
+  revelation of the sensitive life
+  is painting
+  should be homogeneous
+  every sound is a song
+  the sense of the life
+  reflection of divine image
+Souvestre, Emile
+Speech
+  the omnipotence of
+  inferior to gesture
+  anticipated by gesture
+  the sense of the intelligence
+  the three agents of
+  oratorical value of
+  soul of
+  visible thought
+Spontini
+Standard, value of a
+Subject, the
+Subjectivity in AEsthetics
+Substantive, the
+Sue, Eugene
+Sully-Prudhomme
+Surprise and assurance
+System
+
+
+
+T.
+
+
+Talma
+Teachers, ignorance of the
+Tears, accessory matters
+  to be shed only at home
+Temporal region, the mind
+Tenderness
+Tenor voice, the
+Thanks, affectionate and ceremonious
+Thermometers, the three
+  the articular arm centres called
+Thermometric system of the shoulder
+Theresa
+Thoracic centre, the mind
+Threatening with the shoulder
+Thumb, the thermometer of the will
+  has much expression
+  the sign of life
+  the, in death
+  living mimetics of
+  the thermometer of life and death
+Thyrcis
+Tone, position of
+Tones, the lowest, best understood
+  prologation of
+Torso, the,
+  divisions of
+  chart of
+"Treatise on Reason"
+Tremolo, the
+Trinitarians, the
+Trinity, the
+  the holy, recovered in sound
+True, the
+Trueness in singing
+Truth, men are divided in regard to
+Types, the, in man
+Typical arrangements
+  phrases
+
+
+
+U.
+
+
+Uchard, Mario
+Ugly, the
+Uprightness, perpendicular
+Uvula, raising the
+
+
+
+V.
+
+
+Values, the law of
+  resume of the degrees of
+Verb, the
+Verdi
+Veron, Eugene
+Vertebrae, three sorts of
+Vice, hideousness of
+Vicious arrangements
+Violent emotion, in, the voice stifled
+Virtues, the
+Vision, three sorts of
+Vital breath
+Vocal cords, fatiguing the
+Vocal music
+Vocal organ, the
+Vocal shades, law of
+Vocal tube, the, must not vary for a loud tone
+Voice, the charms of
+  organic apparatus of
+  a mysterious hand
+  the kinds of
+  the registers of
+  meaning of the high and deep
+  the language of the sensitive life
+  the chest, the medium, the head
+  the white
+  dimensions and intensity of
+  how to obtain a stronger
+  three modes of developing
+  method of diminishing
+  the less the emotion, the stronger the
+  how to gain resonance
+  a tearful, a defect
+  the tremulous, of the aged
+  the rhythm of its tones
+  must not be jerky
+  inflections of
+  great affinity between the arms and the
+  exercises for
+  the mixed
+  tenuity and acuteness of
+  shades of
+  definition of the
+  shading of the
+  pathetic effects in the
+  tearing of the
+  two kinds of loud
+Voltaire
+Volubility, too much
+Vowels correspond to the moral state
+  length of the initial
+
+
+W.
+
+
+Wartel
+Weight
+"What I Propose"
+Will, the
+Winkelmann
+Wisdom
+Wolf and the lamb, the fable of the
+Words, the value of, in phrases
+  dwelling on the final
+Worlds, three, presented
+Wrist, the
+  thermometer of the physical life
+Writing, a dead letter
+
+
+Z.
+
+
+Zaccone, Pierre
+Zeuxis
+Zola, M.
+
+
+
+
+Footnotes
+
+
+
+[1] The sensitive is also called the vital, the mental, the reflective,
+and the moral the affective state. The vital sustains, the mental
+guides, the moral impels.--TRANSLATOR.
+
+[2] The registers here given undoubtedly refer to the singing voice, as
+the range of notes in the speaking voice is very much more limited. Very
+frequently voices are found whose range in singing is very much greater
+than that which the author has given here; however, on the other hand,
+many are found with even a more limited range.--TRANSLATOR.
+
+[3] The sounds here given are those of the French vowels.
+
+    _A_ has two sounds, heard in _mat_ and _far_.
+    _E_ with the acute accent (e) is like _a_ in _fate_,
+    _E_ with the grave accent (e) is like _e_ in _there_.
+    _I_ has two sounds--the first like _ee_ in _reed_, the second
+      like _ee_ in _feel_.
+    _O_ has a sound between that of _o_ in _rob_ and _robe_.
+    _O_ with the circumflex (o) is sounded like _o_ in _no_.
+    The exact sound of _u_ is not found in English.
+    _Ou_ is sounded like _oo_ in _cool_.
+    The nasal sound _an_ is pronounced nearly like _an_ in _want_.
+    The nasal _in_ is pronounced somewhat like _an_ in _crank_.
+    The nasal _on_ is pronounced nearly like _on_ in _song_.
+    The nasal _un_is pronounced nearly like _un_ in _wrung_.
+
+Consult some work on French pronunciation, or, as is far preferable,
+learn these sounds from the living voice of the teacher--Translator.
+
+[4] From [Greek: geneiou], the chin.
+
+[5] Many of these papers were entrusted by the family to a former pupil
+of Delsarte, who took them to America.
+
+[6] Notes taken by his pupils, during the latter years of his lessons
+prove that the master touched upon this question. I do not copy them
+because, being somewhat confused, they might give rise to
+misunderstandings; neither do they in any way contradict anything that I
+have said above; they confirm, on the contrary, what remains in my
+memory of the interpretation of Delsarte, who never belied himself.
+
+[7] The existence of the persons of the Trinity, the one in the other.
+These charts and diagrams are given in Part Fifth.
+
+[8] For a fuller report of this lecture, see "Delsarte System of
+Expression," by Genevieve Stebbins, second edition, $2. Edgar S. Werner,
+Publisher, 48 University Place, New York.
+
+[9] "Delsarte System of Oratory" and "Delsarte System of Expression."
+
+[10] See page 549 for complete lesson.
+
+[11] This extract shows that Delsarte was not unknown to Berlioz. Mme.
+Arnaud refers to the coldness with which Berlioz treated Delsarte. The
+article given here has been translated so as to preserve as nearly as
+possible the quaint, half sarcastic style of the author.--PUBLISHER.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Delsarte System of Oratory, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DELSARTE SYSTEM OF ORATORY ***
+
+***** This file should be named 12200.txt or 12200.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/2/0/12200/
+
+Produced by Distributed Proofreaders
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's
+eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII,
+compressed (zipped), HTML and others.
+
+Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over
+the old filename and etext number.  The replaced older file is renamed.
+VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving
+new filenames and etext numbers.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000,
+are filed in directories based on their release date.  If you want to
+download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular
+search system you may utilize the following addresses and just
+download by the etext year.
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org/etext06
+
+    (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99,
+     98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90)
+
+EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are
+filed in a different way.  The year of a release date is no longer part
+of the directory path.  The path is based on the etext number (which is
+identical to the filename).  The path to the file is made up of single
+digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename.  For
+example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234
+
+or filename 24689 would be found at:
+     https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689
+
+An alternative method of locating eBooks:
+     https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL
+
+