from the body. He must neither draw the elbow backwards, nor
suffer it to approach to the side, bur, while the hand and lower joint
of the arm are curving towards the shoulder, the whole arm, with the
elbow forming nearly an angle of a square, should move upwards from the
shoulder, in the same position as when gracefully taking off the hat;
that is, with the elbow extended from the side, and the upper joint of
the arm nearly on a line with the shoulder, and forming an angle of a
square with the body--(see plate III.) This motion of the arm will
naturally bring the hand with the palm downwards, into an horizontal
position, and when it approaches to the head, the arm should with a jerk
be suddenly straitened into its first position, at the very moment the
emphatical word is pronounced. This coincidence of the hand and voice,
will greatly enforce the pronunciation; and if they keep time, they will
be in tune as it were to each other, and to force and energy add harmony
and variety.

As this motion of the arm is somewhat complicated, and may be found
difficult to execute, it would be adviseable to let the pupil at first
speak without any motion of the arm at all. After some time he will
naturally fall into a small curvature of the elbow, to beat time, as it
were, to the emphatic word; and if, in doing this, he is constantly
urged to raise the elbow, and to keep it at a distance from the body,
the action of the arm will naturally grow up into that we have just
described. So the diagonal position of the arm, though the most graceful
and easy when the body is at rest, may he too difficult for boys to fall
into at first; and therefore it may be necessary, in order to avoid the
worse extreme, for some time to make them extend the arm as far from the
body as they can, in a somewhat similar direction, but higher from the
ground, and inclining more to the back. Great care must be taken to keep
the hand open, and the thumb at some distance from the fingers; and
particular attention must be paid to keeping the hand in the exact line
with the lower part of the arm, so as not to bend at the wrist, either
when it is held out without motion, or when it gives the emphatic
stroke. And above all, the body must be kept in a straight line with the
leg on which it bears, and not suffered to bend to the opposite side.

[Illustration: PLATE III.]

At first it may not be improper for the teacher, after placing the pupil
in the position plate I.