[Footnote 1: _Characters_, c. 27.]
* * * * *
Natural _gesticulation_, such as commonly accompanies any lively talk,
is a language of its own, more widespread, even, than the language of
words--so far, I mean, as it is independent of words and alike in all
nations. It is true that nations make use of it in proportion as they
are vivacious, and that in particular cases, amongst the Italians, for
instance, it is supplemented by certain peculiar gestures which are
merely conventional, and therefore possessed of nothing more than a
local value.
In the universal use made of it, gesticulation has some analogy with
logic and grammar, in that it has to do with the form, rather
than with the matter of conversation; but on the other hand it is
distinguishable from them by the fact that it has more of a moral than
of an intellectual bearing; in other words, it reflects the movements
of the will. As an accompaniment of conversation it is like the bass
of a melody; and if, as in music, it keeps true to the progress of the
treble, it serves to heighten the effect.
In a conversation, the gesture depends upon the form in which the
subject-matter is conveyed; and it is interesting to observe that,
whatever that subject-matter may be, with a recurrence of the form,
the very same gesture is repeated.
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