G E S 



G E T 



averllon, wliicli is expreHed by ftretcluiig out tine riglit 

 hand, and tuniiBc; the licad to tlie left. But nothing is 

 more indecent than violent motions and agitations of the 

 head. 



The pafnons are principalK" rcprefentcd by the counte- 

 nance ; and the feveral parts of the face contribute to the 

 proper and decent gelliire of the whole. In a calm and 

 fedate difcourfe, all the features retain their natural fituation. 

 In forrow, the forehead and eve -brows lower, and the 

 cheeks hang down ; but in expreflions of joy and chearful- 

 nofs, the forehead and eye-brows are expanded, the cheeks 

 contracted^ and the corners of the mouth drawn upwards. 

 .Anger and refentmt-nt contract the forehead, draw the brows 

 together, and thruft out the lips ; and terror elevates both 

 the brows and forehead. To thefe natural figns of the 

 paflinns, the orator fliould endeavour to conform. 



The motions of the eyes require the moil careful manage- 

 inciit ; becaule, as Cicero obferves, (De Orat. lib. iii. 

 feap. 59.) other parts of the countenance have but few 

 TOotions ; whereas all the paflions of the foul are cxpreffed 

 in the eyes by i"o many dift'erent aftions, that cannot poffibly 

 be rcprefented by any geilures of the body, if the eyes be 

 kept in a fixed pofturc. Thus, in fpeakiug on pleafant and 

 delightful fubjedls, the eyes are brifk and ciiearfu! ; but 

 they fink and are languid in delivering any thing melanciioly 

 and forrowful. In anger, the eyes difcover a certain vehe- 

 mence and intenfenefs ; hi exprefiions of hatred and detella- 

 tion, the eyes are turned either afide or downwards : thus 

 VJrgil has exprefled Dido's refentmcnt and dil'dain of 

 jEneas, 



" Ilia fulo ft-xos oculos averfa tenebat." 



^n. lib. vi. ver. 469. 



The eyes are alfo fomctimes turned downwards, to ex- 

 prefs-modeily ; and they (liould be always turned towards 

 the object which is addrefled. A gentle and moderate 

 motion of the eyes is commonly moil fuitable, whereby they 

 may be direftcd to fome of the audience with an air of 

 refpect and modcfty ; but their motions ought to vary, ac- 

 cording to the different nature of tlie pafTions which they are 

 defigned to difcover ia the fpeaker, and convey to his 

 hearers. 



The fhoulders fliould neither be elevated nor depreffed : 

 a continued motion of the arms fltould be avoided ; their 

 atlion fhould be very moderate, and follow that of the 

 hands, which need never be idle : Quiutilian Iws great ffirefs 

 on tlie adlion of the hands, when he fays, " The hands, 

 without which all geilure is lame and weak, have a greater 

 variety of motions than can well be exprefled : for they are 

 almoll equal to our words. Do we not deiire with them, 

 proinife, call, difmifs, threaten, befeech, deleft, fear, en- 

 quire, deny ? Do not they exprefs joy, forrow, doubt, 

 confeffion, penitence, meafure, plenty, number, and tune ? 

 Do not they excite reftraint, prove, admire, and fhame ? 

 That in fo great a variety of fpeech among all nations and 

 countries,, this feems to me the common language of man- 

 kind.'' Inft. Orat. lib. xi. cap. 3. 



As all bodily motion is either upward or downward, to 

 the right or left, forward or backward, or circular, the 

 liar.ds are employed by the orator in all lliefe, except the 

 laft ; and as they (liould correfpond with our ex.preffions, 

 they ought to begin and end with them. In admiration, 

 and addreifes to heaven, they mul be elevated, but never 

 railed above the eyes ; and in fpeaking of tilings below us, 

 they are direfted downwards. Side motion fliould generally 

 begin from the left, and terminate gently on the right ; in 

 Aimonllraticg, addrellJDg, and en icveral other occalions, 



they are moved forward; and in threatening, fometimeS 

 tlirown back : when the orator fpeaks of iiimfelf, liis right- 

 hand fliould be gently laid on his breaft. Wlien no other 

 motion is ncceflary, the hands fliould be kept about as high 

 as the breaft, fo as to make nearly a right angle with the 

 arm. They fliould never be fuffercd to hang down, nor to 

 loll upon the cufliion or bar. The left-hai:d fliould ncTcr 

 move alone, but accommodate itfclf to the motions of the 

 right : in motions to the left, the right-hand fliould not be 

 carried beyond the left flioulder : in promifes and exprcf- 

 fions of compliment, the motion of the hands fliould be 

 gentle and flow ; but in exhortations and applaufe, more 

 Iwift. The hands fltould be generally open ; but in cx- 

 preflJions of conipunftion and anger, they may be clofcd. 

 Neither the breaft nor tlie belly Ihould be thruft out ; the 

 trunk fliuuld be eafy and flexible, fuitlng itfelf to the mo- 

 tions of the head and hands ; and the feet- fliould be kept 

 Iteady. 



There are other geftures, which arifc from im'itaUon, as 

 when tlie orator defcribes fome ai'.tion, or perfonates an- 

 other Ipeaking : but here he iiiould be careful not to overact 

 his part, by running into any ludicrous or theatrical mimi- 

 cry, or changing his aClion or voice in a manner unfuitable 

 to his own character. See fartlv.n- on this fubjeft. Ward's 

 Oratory, vol. ii. p. 344, &c. p. 360, &c. Sheridan's LeCt. 

 on Elocution, led. vii. p. 113, Sec. See alfo Action', 

 Imitation', Pkoxunciaj'iox, and Voice. 



GESTIIS Bonus, in Laiu. See Good a-Ltar'ing. 



GESVALDO, in Geography, a town of Naples, in 

 Principato Ultra ; 13 miles N.W. of Conza. 



GESVES, a river of Africa, which runs into the Atlan- 

 tic, a little to the north of the ifland of BifTagos.- 



GESULA. See Gezula. 



GETA, Septimil'S, in Biography, fecond fon of the 

 emperor Severus, and brother and partner of Caracalla, was 

 born at Milan in 1S9, and was raifed to the title of Au- 

 guftus. Ih the eighth year of his age he was moved with 

 companion at the fate of fome of the partifans of Niger and 

 Albinus, wh» had been ordered to be executed, and his- 

 father, ftruck with the humane feelings of his child, remit- 

 ted the fentences. Though he was not free from the viccb of 

 an heir to the empire, yet the mildnefs of his difpoiition 

 made him a greater favourite with the people than his brother, 

 and this circumllance inflamed their mutual hatred. On the 

 death of Severus both princes fucceetled to a joint fovereigrrt.y, 

 but their union was of fhort duration. Caracalla, jealous 

 of his brother's popularity, ordered him to be poifoned, and 

 when he found the infamoue aft could not be cflccled, he 

 murdered him with his own hands in tiie prefence of his mo- 

 ther Julia, who, in tlw attempt to defend lu-r favourite fon, 

 was feverely wounded in the arm by Car?.ealla. Geta had 

 not reached the twenty-third year of his age wlven he leli a 

 victim to thebrutality of ins brotlier. Before his de.ii.ii, Se- 

 verus had, in the anguifli of a difappoinled father, foretold 

 that the weaker of his fons would fall a facriiice to the 

 ftronger, who, in hi.s turn, would be ruined by iiis owii 

 vices. Univer. Hift. Gibbon's Rom. Hill. Sec alfo the ar- 

 ticle CiiRACALI.A. 



Gfta, in Geography, a town of Sweden, on the N. coall 

 of the ifland of Alan. N. lat. 6o' 25'. E. long. 9^ 



5°'- 



GETiE, or Getes, a tribe of Scythians, who, accord- 

 ing to Herodotus (1. iv.t, inhabited tiv. part of Thrace 

 which is near the lilcr or Danube. Strabo fays (1. vii.) 

 that tliey had the fame language with the Thracians, and he 

 rcprefents them as occupying thoi^e arid and uncultivated- 

 plains wliich lie along the fea-coaft between tbe fn«utbs of 



the 



