PHYSICAL CULTURE.

PHYSICAL CULTURE.

In taking up the study of Oratory we thoroughly understand that mind and body are mutually dependent upon each other for the best and most satisfactory progress. One cannot be advanced at the expense of the other and pleasing and lasting results be obtained. The teacher or student who neglects all consideration of Physical or Vocal training while forcing to the utmost mental acquirements, is justly considered an enemy rather than a friend of the very ends desired. We must not secure the development of the one at the expense of the other, and if we do, evils that are indeed lamentable insidiously creep upon us as the result of this error.

The ancient Greeks paid the same attention to physical culture as to mental training. Their gymnasia were schools for the body and mind. The monuments in art, science, and language which have come down to us more than confirm the wisdom of their ancient method. And what a strange inconsistency on our part, that while we pay such tributes to their excellencies, we too often ignore the means by which those excellencies were attained. We praise and copy their statuary, but seem to forget that the models for these classical features were furnished as a result of their physical training.

We go back to them to-day as our great exemplars in oratory, but are we willing to go through the drill which made these men such consummate masters of their art? Since it is not our national custom as it was theirs to give so much attention to the gymnasium and make it a part of our school duties, it devolves upon the student and the teacher to assume extra duties, and see that the body and voice are trained symmetrically with the mind, and

that the highest and most perfect degree of oratory be attained.

Physical culture will first claim our attention, and naturally we ask, What practical results can reasonably be looked for by a system of physical exercises? We answer, Just that degree of improvement with which we judiciously apply ourselves to the task. It is not sufficient that the pupil is taking physical exercises. He must positively be gaining something and making improvement with each exercise taken. He must learn to distinguish between essential and non-essential exercises, and to know that the thorough and persevering practice of a few wisely directed movements is much more beneficent than a random and irregular practice of a large number of vague exercises. It is not enough that he be simply taking physical exercises, but each exercise chosen must have a definite aim and a practical value. He must know the main points to be kept in view, and each exercise that does not promote one or more of these ends should at once be discarded as comparatively useless. He will note the points to be kept in view, which will aid him very much in his training.

SYMMETRY OF FORM.

Nothing can add more to our grace as a speaker or aid us as much in a proper and forcible delivery in public speaking, as this one thing-a symmetrical form. Then our aim should always be to aid nature in a perfect and free development.

Teachers and parents cannot perform a higher service for their pupils and children than by leading them to see that a beneficent Creator has formed them according to His own idea, and that any willful distortion of the body is a sin as well as folly. This they should impress not only by precept but by example. Under this head we will note the following errors to guard against:

SLENDER WAISTS.

Slender waists, especially in women, is one of the most common evils to overcome under this head. This error neither adds health nor beauty, but impairs both, and only an ignorant mind or perverted taste would ever regard it with favor.

ONE-SIDEDNESS,

or an unequal development of the two sides of the body, is another not uncommon fault, ofttimes brought about by habit, sometimes by the duties we have to perform being of such a nature as to task one side of our body more than the other. This can be overcome by being guarded, and the moment we find that one side is being developed or favored to the detriment of the other, we should so shift our work as to equalize the strain, making it come alternately on one side or the other, if it cannot be made to bear equally on each side at the same time.

HOLLOW CHEST,

which involves the pitching forward of the head and shoulders, ofttimes crooking the collar bone, causing the head to droop, and the shoulders to become round.

This can be easily overcome by making a practice every morning, possibly two or three times through the day, of throwing the shoulders back, taking three or four good long breaths, filling the lungs to their utmost, letting them relax slowly as the air passes out. Always walk or sit with head up and shoulders well thrown back.

PROPER POSITION AND CARRIAGE OF THE BODY.

This is a most important duty to be observed to augment and maintain the best results in physical training. Care should be taken that in sitting, standing, or walking, no exercise should be taken which in the least requires