The Contraction of the Lips and the scant Look of the Eyes expreffes the Gesture of a diriding and malicious Perfon. Shewing the Teeth, and streightening the Lips on them, fhews Indignation and Anger.

To turn the whole Face to any thing is the Gefture of one, who attends and has a peculiar Regard to that one thing. To bend the Countenance downward argues Confcioufnefs and Guilt; and, on the contrary, to lift up the Face is a Sign of a good Confcience or Innocence, Hope and Confidence.

The Countenance, indeed, is chang'd into many Forms, and is commonly the most certain Index of the Paffions of the Mind. When it is pale it betrays Grief, Sorrow, and Fear, and Envy, when it is very ftrong. A louring and dark Vifage is the Index of Mifery, Labour and vehement Agitations of the Soul.

In fhort, as Quintilian obferves, the Countenance is of very great Power and Force in all that we do. In this we discover when we are fuppliant, when minacious, when kind, when forrowful, when merry; in this we are lifted up and caft down; on this Men depend; this they behold, and this they first take a View of before we speak; by this we love fome, and hate others; and by this we understand a Multitude of things.

The Arm extended and lifted up fignifies the Power of doing and accomplishing something; and is the Gesture of Authority, Vigour, and

4

Victory.

Victory. On the contrary, the holding your Arms clofe is a Sign of Bashfulness, Modefty, and Diffidence.

As the Hands are the most habil Members of the Body, and the moft eafily turn'd to all fides, fo are they the Indexes of many Habits.

But we have two Hands, the Right and the Left, we fometimes make use of one, fometimes of the other, and fometimes of both, to exprefs the Paffion and Habit. The chief Forms of which I fhall mention,

The lifting of one Hand upright, or extending it, expreffes Force, Vigour and Power. The Right Hand is also extended upwards as a Token of Swearing, or taking a folemn Oath; and this Extenfion of the Hand fometimes fignifies Pacification, and Defire of Silence.

The putting of the Hand to the Mouth is the Habit of one, that is filent and acting Modefty; of Admiration and Confideration. The giving the Hand is the Gesture of striking a Bargain, confirming an Alliance, or of delivering ones felf into the Power of another. To take hold of the Hand of another expreffes Admonition, Exhortation, and Encouragement. The reaching out an Hand to another implies Help and Affiftance. The lifting up both Hands on high is the Habit of one who implores, and expreffes his Mifery. And the lifting up of both Hands fometimes fignifies Congratulation to Heaven for a Deliverance, as in Virgil

His Hands now free from Bands be lifts on high,
In grateful Action to th' indulgent Gods.

The holding the Hands in the Bofom is the Habit of the Idle and Negligent. Clapping the Hands, among the Hebrews fignify'd deriding, infulting, and exploding; but among the Greeks and the Romans, it was, on the contrary, the Expreffion of Applaufe. The Impofition of Hands fignifies the imparting a Power, in confecrating of Victims.

In fhort, Quintilian fays of the Hands

"It is a difficult matter to say what a number " of Motions the Hands have, without which all "Action wou'd be maim'd and lame, fince these "Motions are almost as various as the Words we fpeak. For the other Parts may be faid to "help a Man when he speaks, but the Hands " (as I may fay) fpeak themselves. Do we not by the Hands defire a thing? Do we not by these promife? call? difmifs? threaten? "act the Suppliant? exprefs our Abomination "or Abhorrence? our Fear? By thefe do we not afk Questions? deny? fhew our Joy,

t

Grief, Doubt, Confeffion, Penitence, Mode. "ration, Plenty, Number, and Time? Do not "the fame Hands provoke, forbid, make Supplication, approve, admire, and exprefs Shame? "Do they not in fhewing of Places and Persons, fupply the Place of the Adverbs and Pronouns ? "Infomuch that in fo great a Variety or Diver

fity of the Tongues of all Nations, this feems to remain the univerfal Language common "to all.

It were to be wifh'd that this Art were a little reviv'd in our Age, when fuch useful Members, which of old contributed fo much to the Expreffion of Words, fhould now puzzle our Players what to do with them, when they feldom or never add any Grace to the Action of the Body, and never almost any thing to the Explanation or fuller Expreflion of the Words and Paffions. But to go on with my Text a very little farther.

The ftamping of the Feet among the Hebrews fignify'd Derifion and Scoffing. Among the Greeks, &c. Imperioufnefs. A conftant and direct Foot is the Index of a steady, certain, con→ stant, and right Study and Aim of our Designs.

On the contrary, Feet full of Motion are the Habit of the inconftant and fluctuating in their Counfels and Refolves. And the Greeks thought this in Women a fign of a flagitious Temper.

Thus I have gone through my Jefuit's Obfervations of the feveral Geftures and Pofitions of the feveral Parts and Members of the Body. And tho fome of them may to a hafty View feem trifling, and others of no great Importance, yet I am perfuaded, that a Man of true Judgment may find fome fecret Excellencies in them, which may afford him great Helps in the ren dering his Geftures beautiful and expreflive.

There

There is no greater Proof of this, than the Example I have already urg'd of the Pantomime and Demetrius the Cynic Philofopher, who cry'd out to him, I hear Friend what you my act; nor do I only fee them, but methinks you speak with your HANDS. But this Speaking with the Hands, (as 'tis here call'd) I find contain a great deal of the Reprefentation of the dancing dumb Shows of the Mimes and Pantomimes. It may be perhaps objected, that these Motions of the Hands were fo well known to the Frequenters of the Theatres, that, like our talking on our Fingers with those, who understand it, there would be no Difficulty in the Reprefentation; but that if any Stranger or Foreigner should have been there, it would have been nothing but an unintelligible Gefticulation, and what ShakeSpear calls it unexplicable dumb Shews; whereas if these Actions and Gestures were drawn from their Natural Significancy, according to thofe Marks I have already given, or others referr'd to by my Quotation of Quintilian, they muft be intelligible to all Nations, on first Sight to Barbarians, who never faw them before, as well as to Greeks and Romans, who convers'd with them every Day.

I allow the Objection, but shall remove it by a farther Account of the very fame Pantomime, who liv'd in the Time of Nero: The Story is this- "A Barbarian Prince, who came "from Pontus to Rome, about fome Business "with Nero, among other Entertainments faw E "this