The Third Attitude is based on the Excited position likewise. The weight is thrown on the left foot. The right leg is straight; the left, bent at the knee. The right foot is forward and separated from the left by a space of about twice the length of the foot. The body inclines backward. This attitude is generally used in dramatic oratory where horror or extreme terror are to be expressed.

Examples.

From Julius Cæsar. Act IV.

Brutus. How ill this taper burns. Ha! who comes here? I think it is the weakness of my eyes

That shapes this monstrous apparition.

It comes upon me.-Art thou anything?

Art thou some God, some angel, or some devil,

That mak'st my blood cold, and my hair to stare?

From The Spectre Caravan.

Shakespeare.

"Twas at midnight, in the desert, where we rested on the ground;

There my Bedouins were sleeping, and their steeds were stretched around;

In the farness lay the moonlight on the mountains of the Nile,

And the camel bones that strewed the sand for many an arid mile.

When, behold!—a sudden sandquake—and atween the earth and moon

Rose a mighty host of shadows as from out some dim lagoon: Then our coursers gasped with terror, and a thrill shook every man,

And the cry was, "Allah Akbar! 'tis the Spectre Caravan!" J. C. Mangan.

In the Third Position which we call the Military, the heels are together or nearly so. We can describe it best by saying it is the Soldier's Position. The weight of the body is about equally divided on each foot. The elocutionist finds most use for this position in personating characters, and in practicing breathing exercises, Sometimes it is used as the position of respect. When Proculus enters in the first act of the Hidden Gem, he assumes this position and says, "I am at your bidding."

Examples.

From Timon of Athens. Act I.

Servant. Please you, my lord, that honorable gentleman, lord Lucullus, entreats your company to-morrow to hunt with him; and has sent your honour two brace of greyhounds. Shakespeare.

From Antony and Cleopatra. Act I.

[hour,

Messenger. Thy biddings have been done; and every
Most noble Cæsar, shalt thou have report
How 'tis abroad. Pompey is strong at sea;
And it appears, he is beloved of those
That only have feared Cæsar; to the fleets

The discontentents repair, and men's reports
Give him much wronged.

Shakespeare.

The Fourth Attitude is based on the preceding position. It is principally used in personations, and is expressive of impudence, self-assertion, etc. As examples on which to practice, we cite the following:

From King Henry IV. First Part, Act II.

Poins. Come, your reason, Jack, your reason.

Falstaff. What, upon compulsion? No; were I at the strappado or all the racks in the world, I would not tell you on compulsion. Give you a reason on compulsion! if reasons were as plenty as blackberries, I would give no man a reason upon compulsion, I.-Shakespeare.

From Interview with President Lincoln.

"Go home, you miserable men, go home and till the sile! go to peddlin tinware-go to choppin wood-go to bilin' sope -stuff sassengers-black boots-go to lecturin at 50 dollars a nite-imbark in the peanut biziniss-write for the Ledger-sa w off your legs and go round givin concerts, with tuchin appeals to a charitable public, printed on your handbills—anything for a honest living, but don't come round here driven Old Abe crazy by your outrajis cuttings up! Go home. Stand not upon the order of your goin', but go to onct! Ef in five minits from this time," sez I, pullin' out my new sixteen dollar huntin cased watch and brandishin it before their eyes, "Ef in five minits from this time a single sole of you remains on these here premises, I'll go out to my cage near by, and let my Boy Constructor loose! You ought to have seen them scamper, Mr. Fair. They run orf as tho Satan hisself was arter them with a red hot ten pronged pitchfork. In five minits the premises were clear.—Artemus Ward.

GENERAL EXAMPLES.

From Mr. Isaacs.

I came not to bid you forget; I come to bid you remember. Remember all that is past; treasure it in the secret store

house of the soul where the few flowers culled from life's abundant thorn are laid in their fragrance and garnered up. Remember also the future. Think that your time is short, and that the labor shall be sweet; so that in a few quick years you shall reap a harvest of unearthly blooming. Fear not to tread boldly in the tracks of those who have climbed before you, and who have attained and have conquered. Be bold, aspiring, fearless, and firm of purpose. What guerdon can man or Heaven offer higher than eternal communion with the bright spirit that waits and watches for your coming? With her-you said it while she lived-was your life, your light, and your love; it is true tenfold now, for with her is life eternal, light ethereal, and love spiritual.

F. Marion Crawford.

From Living Waters.

Oh, and deeper through the calm rolled the ceaseless ocean psalm,

Oh, and brighter in the sunshine all the meadow stretched

away

And a little lark sang clear from the willow branches near, And the glory and the gladness closed about me where I lay. And I said, "Ay, verily waiteth yet the master key,

All these mysteries that shall open, though to surer hand than mine:

All these doubts of our discerning, to the peace of knowledge turning,

All our darkness, which is human, to the light which is divine!

Ina Coolbrith.

From The Human Tragedy. Act III.

"My children!" when their jubilant welcome waned,
With resonant clear voice he said, "I am here.

The French Jove's minions thought to hold me chained,
Lest I spread fire through his cimmerian sphere.
O! how his eagle rent me, as I strained

To rid me of my rock's enjoying gear!

But herculean destiny, which foils

Olympian counsels, came and cut my toils.
"And lo! I stand among you yet once more,
Sons of my heart and scions of my soul!
I see ye are still, all that ye were of yore,
The valorous stuff Alcmene's self might foal.
Behind, lies shame in ambush,-peril before.
Which do you choose? Speak! whither is our goal?”
He paused; and like a thunderclap, the breath

Of their charged breasts roared loud, "To Rome or
Death!"

From The Poet's Preaching.

Alfred Austin.

See how the day beameth brightly before us!
Blue is the firmament-green is the earth--
Grief hath no voice in the universe-chorus-
Nature is ringing with music and mirth.
Lift up the looks that are sinking in sadness-
Gaze! and if Beauty can capture thy soul,
Virtue herself will allure thee to gladness-
Gladness, Philosophy's guerdon and goal.

Enter the treasuries pleasure uncloses--
List! how she thrills in the nightingale's lay!
Breathe! she is wafting the sweets from the roses;
Feel! she is cool in the rivulet's play;

Taste! from the grape and the nectarine gushing
Flows the red rill in the beams of the sun--
Green in the hills, in the flower-groves blushing,
Look! she is always and everywhere one.

J. C. Mangan.