LIB R ARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. Revived SEP .13.1 8?3. Related Sciences (1) Grammar (2) Logic ........ (3) Esthetics (4) Psychology.... 19 IS 19 30 21 24 24 24 25 25 (5) Elocution D 10 Departments of Rhetoric 29 29 30 81 32 3 33 34 34 34 34 34 35 36 3? 37 38 38 38 38 38 38 39 BOOK L LAWS OF MIND. 1. Method of Treatment Explained .................................. 43 2. Classification of Mental Phenomena ........................ ..... 43 8. Relations of these Phenomena ..... ............................... 43 4. Division of this Book .............................. ............... 44 10 ANALYSIS. CHAPTER I. THE GENERAL LAWS OF MIND. SECTION I. INTELLECT. PAOI REASON 45 1. Nature of the Laws of Thought 45 2. Rhetorical Use of the Laws of Thought 46 3. Direct Address to the Reason 47 4. General Confidence in Reason 47 5. Permanence of Fallacious Notions . . , 48 6. Importance of the Laws of Thought 48 I ! .IMAGINATION 49 1. Attention 49 2. Belief 49 3. Action 50 III. MEMORY 50 1. Conviction 50 2. Persuasion 51 3. Language 51 SECTION II. THE FEELINGS. I. -CLASSIFICATION 52 1. Necessary Imperfection 52 2. Sensations and Sentiments 52 3. Scheme of the Sentiments 53 1 1 , TH K PRODUCTION OF EMOTION 54 1. 'i he Necessity of Feeling 54 2. Emotions Involuntarj' 54 3. Stimulating Circumstances 55 (1 ) Probability 55 0>) Verisimilitude 55 (3) Ideal Presence 55 (4) Minute Details 56 (5) Proximity of Time: 57 (b) Proximity of Place 5? (7) Personal Relation 51 (8) Indirectness 58 (9) General Importance 58 (10) Connection with the Consequences 58 III. THE MODIFICATION OF EMOTION 5 ( J 1. The Law of Change 5 ( j 2. Dominant States of Feeling 59 A Temporary Emotions '. W) (1) Allaying the Feelings n (2) Diverting the Feelings 'i i CHAPTER II. THE PARTICULAR LAWS OF MIND. SECTION I. AGE. i. Youth fJ (1) Passionate 63 (2) Sanguine 63 (3) Spirited 64 (4) Social 64 (5) Mischievous 64 ANALYSIS. 11 PAOB I. Old Age ......................................... .................. M (1) Calculating .................................................. W (2) Desponding .................................................. (>l (3) Humble ....... ............................................. 65 (4; Gentle ...................................................... 05 I, Middle A ire ........................................................ 65 (1) Moderate ..................................................... 66 (2) Powerful .................................................... 65 SECTION II. EXPERIENCE. 1. The Nature of Experience ......................................... 66 2. General and Specific Experience .. ............................... 67 3. Inferred Experience ................................................ 67 SECTION III. AFFILIATION. 1. Relation of the Speaker to his Audience ........................... 68 (1) Good Sense ................................................... 68 (2) Good Will .................................................... 68 (3) Good Principles ............................................... 69 2. Party Spirit ........................................................ 69 (1) Ae a Motive ................................................... 69 (2) As a Means of Self-commendation ............................ 70 (3) Method of Counteracting ..................................... 70 BOOK II. LAWS OF IDEA. ;. Kinds of Ideas ..................................................... 78 (1) Individual Objects ............................................ 73 (2) General Notions .............................................. 73 2. Divisions of this Subject .......................................... 73 CHAPTER I. DESCRIPTION. 1. Describable Objects ......................... - ..................... 75 2. General Laws of Description ...................................... 75 (1) The Law of Purpose ---- ...................................... 75 (2) (3) (4) 8 Kinds of Description ............................................ ... 76 (2) The Law of Unity .................. . .......................... 75 (3) The Law of Completeness ............. . ........ .............. 76 (4) The Law of Brevity . . .', ............................. ......... 76 SECTION I. OBJECTS OF SENSE. I , Purpo s e 78 (1 ) P o i n t o f Vi c w 76 (2) Division 77 I Unity 77 (1) Order 77 (2) Fitness i 75 9 Completeness 78 (1) Location 78 (2) Inner Qualities 78 (3) Time 78 (4) Magnitude 78 t Brevity 79 (1) Comparisons 79 (2) Effects 79 (3) Contrast 75 (4) Fixed Classes TC It ANALYSIS. SECTION II. MENTAL STATES. run I The Mental Vocabulary 80 (1) Metaphorical Character HO (2) Indenniteness Hi (3) Subjective Result v :......... si 1 Various Associations. /A ^ (1) External Expression 8i (2) Actions 82 (3) Surroundings 82 (4) Causes 83 SECTION III. CHARACTER. 1 Individuality./..' 83 2. Inward Principles 84 3. Concrete Form 84 4. Environment 85 CHAPTER II. NARRATION. SECTION I. THE SELECTION OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 1. Purpose 8e 2. Unity .*. 87 3. Completeness T 87 4. Brevity 88 SECTION II. THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS. 1. Time 88 2 Reasons for Violating the Order of Time 89 3. Retrospective References 90 4. Probability 90 SECTION III. THE SYNCHRONISM OF EVENTS. 1 Kinds of Concurrence ,....: '. 91 (1) Plurality of Departments ". 91 (2) Contending Parties 91 (3) Principal and Subordinate Actions , 91 (4) Different Countries 92 t. Means of Expressing Synchronism 92 (1) Sensible Forms U.C 93 (2) Analysis 93 (3) Summary 94 CHAPTER III. EXPOSITION 1. Tbc Nature of Exposition. 9. Forms of Exposition SECTION I. EXPOSITION OF THE NOTION IN ITSELF 1 Comprehension and Extension .,'... , 9f> 2 Natureof a Definition.:. 97 3. Nature of Division. f 9' ANALYSIS. 13 PAGH 4. Difference between Definition and Divisioi 93 6 Kinds of Definition 98 .. (i) Nominal 98 (2) Real , : . 98 (3). Genetic..., 99 2 The Laws of Logical Definition 99 (1) A definition must be adequate 99 (2) A definition must not define by negative or divisive attribute 9ft (3) A definition should not be tautological , 100 (4) The definition must be precise 100 (5) A definition should be perspicuous 100 7. Kinds of Division / % UK) (1) Partition . ; 100 (2) Logical Division 101 8. The Laws of Logical Division 101 (1) Every division should have some principle 101 (2) Every division should have but one principle 101 (3) The principle of division should be an actual and essential character of the divided whole 101 (4) No dividing member must of itself exhaust the subject 101 (5) The dividing members must together exhaust the notion, bat not more te dividing members should not include < division should proceed continuously, wil 9. Exposition of a Proposition 103 (1) By Definition. ... ...... i 103 (2) By Division.. 104 (6) The dividing members should not include one another (7) A division should proceed continuously, without hiatus 102 SECTION II. EXPOSITION OF A NOTION THROUGH ITS RELATIONS. 1. The Method of Particular^ .-. 105 2. The Method of Conditi ons , 105 3. The Method of Similar^ .?...: 106 4. The Method of Contrast 106 CHAPTER IV. ARGUMENTATION. 1. The Rhetorical Use of Arguments 107 2. The Division of Arguments 107 (1) Form 107 (2) Subject-matter 108 (3) Purpose 108 (4) As such 108 SECTION I. A PRIORI ARGUMENTS. 1. Nature of the Argument llf 2. Extent of Inference from a Cause IK 3 The Absence of a Cause Ill 4. The Degree of Connection between Cause and Effect Ill 6. Probability Established by a priori Arguments 11 $ 6. Ambiguity of Causal Words 113 SECTION II. ARGUMENTS FROM SIGN. 1. Nature of the Argument \\'\ 1. Calculation of Chances Ill 8. Proof of a Cause 119 14 ANALYSIS. FAtfl 4 Testimony ..... . ............... ................................... 115 (1) The Number of Witnesses ................................... 116 (2) Character of Witnesses .................... ................... 116 (3) Concurrent Witnesses . .- ........................ ............ 11C (4) Adverse Witnesses..,'. . ...................................... 117 (5) Character of Facs Attested ...:..'.. ...................... -. ..... 318 (6) Tiu; Denial of Testimony ..'. ...... ~ ...................... *:... 118 5 Authority .......................................................... 118 1. The Progressive Argument .................. ...................... lift SECTION III. ARGUMENTS FROM RESEMBLANCE. 1. Nature of the Argument ................... . .................... 120 2. Essential Resemblances ...v...;: ................................ 12C 3. Example .......................................................... 121 (1) Nature of Example . . ................................... ..... 121 (2) Invented Example ............................................ 122 (3) Illustrative Examples ......................................... 122 4. Induction ..-. ............................... . ........ . . . ............ 123 (1) The Method 6f Agreement ........ . ........................... 123 (2) The Method of Difference .......... . . .-j ..'.'.... /"*/. f' r . . . ..... 124 (3) The Method of Residues ...................................... 124 (4) The Method of Concomitant Variations ............ , ...... ~. . 125 5. Analogy .................. ......................................... 125 SECTION IV. THE CONDUCT OF A DISCUSSION. , -THE PREPARATION OF THE QUESTION ............................... 126 1. Necessity of Preparation ............ ,. . . , .......................... 126' t. Exposition . .>. . ................... ..-....'. ........................ 127 3. Concession . . /. ..... , .............................................. 127 4. Contrary Opinions . . ......... . ............ ........................ 128 II TUE INTRODUCTION ................................................. 128 1. Design of an Introduction...* ..................................... 128 2. Kinds of Introduction ............................................. 129 (1) Inquisitive ....... ......................... ................... 129 (2) Paradoxical ..... .............................................. 129 (3) Corrective .................................................... 129 (4) Preparatory .:.... ............................................ 129 (5) Narrative ..................................................... 129 III. CONFIRMATION ..................................................... 130 1. The Uses of the Different Classes of Arguments ................... ISO (1) A Priori ......... ..................... ........................ 130 (2) Sign .......................................................... 130 (3) Resemblance .................................................. 130 2. The Arrangement of Arguments ................................... 131 (1) Importance of Arrangement .................................. 131 (2) Order of Arguments according to Kind ....................... 131 (3) Order of Arguments according to Strength ................... 131 l4) Proving by Installments ...................................... 132 \V. REFUTATION. .". .................................................... 132 1. Mode? of Refutation .............. ................................. 138 (1) Proving the Contradictory ........ . ........................... 133 (2) Overthrowing Arguments .................................... 133 I Treatment of Objections .......................................... 135 (1) Valid Objections on both Sides ............................... 135 (2) Decisive Objections .......................................... 135 (3) Statement of Objections ........... ..... ..................... 136 B Cautions concerning Refutation ................................... 136 <1) Too Forcible Refutation ...................................... 136 (2) Too Great Clearness .......................................... 136 (3) Prior Convictions ............................................ 1 37 (4) Accusations ................................................. 13< (5) Weak Arguments ............................................ 18< sible Authorities. . ..... ................................. IS (6) Accessi <7) Place for Answering Ol jections AKALYSIS. 16 BOOK III. LAWS OF FORM. run 1. Importance of Method 143 I The Process of Interpreting a Sentence 144 (1) Exercise of Presentative Power 144 (2) Exercise of Conservative Power 1 15 (3) Exercise of Representative Power 145 (4) Exorcise of Realizing Power 145 3. Deduction of the General Law of Style 146 (1) Economy of Interpreting Power It6 (2) Economy of the Feelings 146 (3) Summary 147 4. Apparent Exceptions 147 (1) Intentional Obscurity 147 (2) Excessive Perspicuity 148 5. The Composer's Powers not to be Economized 149 & Division of the Subject 149 CHAPTER I. THE ECONOMY OF INTERPRETING POWER IN PLAIN LANGUAGE. 1. The Conditions of Sentential Structure 151 (1) The Time-relation 151 (2) The Truth-relation 15 2. The Style of Legal Acts 152 3. National Types of Style 152 (1) The German Style 153 (2) The French Style. 153 (3) The English Style 153 4. The Equilibrium of these Forces 154 5. Division of the Subject 155 SECTION" I. DICTION, OR THE CHOICE OF WORDS. 1. FAMILIARITY 155 1. Reasons for Familiarity 155 2. Aristotle's Opinion 156 3. The Barbarism 157 (1) Barbarisms from Time 157 (2) Barbarisms from Place 158 4. When Barbarisms are allowable 158 t) Dialectic Compositions 158 ) Technical Persons 158 e Law of Use 159 8. The Formation of New Words 159 LT LENGTH 160 1. Disadvantage of Long Words ^ 160 (1) Difficulty of Perceiving them 160 (2) Difficulty of Remembering them 161 2. Advantages of Long Words 161 (1) Sound and Sense 161 (2) Actual Economy 162 3. Value of Saxon Illustrated from Literature 162 III. INCLUSION Ifr3 1. Definition and Forms of Inclusion 163 2. Specific and General Words 164 (1) Difference between Specific and Genera] Words 16-1 (U) Reasons for the Superior Force of Specific Expressions 165 (3) Choice of Terras Possible lOd 16 ANALYSIS. FAGI 8. Homonyms , 167 (1) Allowable Homonyms 167 (2) Ambiguous Homonyms 168 4 . Analogues . . . 169 (1) Analogues in Form 1G9 (2) A nalogues in Meaning 170 I V ' -IMPLICATION 171 1 The Effect of Words on Thoughts 171 2. The Associations of Words 171 3 The Utilization of Pre-exerted Energies 172 ilSCTION II. SENTENCES, OE THE COMBINATIONS DF WORDS. I THE NUMBER OP WORDS 173 1. Tautology 174 2. Redundancy 175 3. Circumlocution 176 II. THE POSITION OP WORDS 177 1. The Individual Force of Words 177 (1) Emphasis 177 (2) Abstractness 177 2. Tho Modifying Effect of Words Ibl (1) Proximity 181 (2) Parenthetical Expressions lfi 3. The Grammatical Relations of Words 19G III. THE RELATION OP WORDS TO THE IDEA AS A WHOLE 191 1. The Time-relation of Words to the Whole Idea 191 2. The Truth-relation of Words to the W^hole Idea 13 (1) Suffgestiveness 192 (2) Unity 195 IV. THE COMBINATION OF SENTENCES 198 1. Progressive Development 199 2. Explicit Reference . 200 3. Necessity of a Theme 201 4. Value of Analysis 201 CHAPTER II. THE ECONOMY OF INTERPRETING POWER IN FIGURA- TIVE LANGUAGE. 1. Definition of Figures 203 2. Laws of Association 203 3. These Laws Reduced to Three 204 4. Use of these Laws 204 (1) Why Figures Improve Style 204 (2) What Figures are Advantageous 205 SECTION I. FIGURES FOUNDED ON RESEMBLANCE. i B IM ILK 206 !. Fcimsof Simile 206 (!) Direct Resemblance 206 (2) Resemblance of Causes 206 (3) Resemblance of Effect? 207 (4) Resemblance of Ratios 20 t Laws of Simile 20 (1) Similar Objects 210 (2) Vague Resemblances 210 ANALYSIS. 1? FAfil (3) Simpler Objects 211 (4) The Position of Parts in a Simile 211 fl -METAPIIOR 213 t . Nature of Metaphor 213 2. Superiority of Metaphor to Simile 214 3. Metaphor Based on Analog}- 214 4. Laws of Metaphor. 215 (1) Necessity of Clearness 215 (2) Blending Plain and Figurative Language 215 (3) Mixing Metaphors 216 (4) Straining Metaphors 216 (5) Concrete Metaphors 216 1. The Value of Metaphor 217 III. --PERSONIFICATION 218 1 The Nal nre and Origin of Personification , 218 2. Personification Natural to Man 219 3. Personification in Oratory 220 4. Forms of Personification 221 (1) Personality Ascribed 221 (2) Qualities of Life Attributed 222 IV. ALLEGORY 222 1. The Nature of Allegory 222 2. Allegory Distinguished from Allied Forms 223 3. Laws of Allegory 224 (1 ) Development of the Radical Metaphor 224 (2) The Analogy Evident .225 SECTION II. FIGURES FOUNDED ON CONTIGUITY. 1. The Theory Explained 225 2. Forms of Contiguity 226 I . SYNECDOCHE 227 1. Forms of Synecdoche 227 (1) A Part for the Whole 227 (2) The Whole for a Part 227 (3) The Material for the Object 228 II. -METONYMY 228 1. Forms of Metonymy 228 0) Cause and Effect 229 (2) The Sign and the Thing Signified 229 (3) Container and Thing Contained *. . . 230 2. The Law of Selection 230 III. CO-EXISTENT EMOTIONS 230 1 Meaning of Co-existent Emotions 230 2. Figures founded on Co-existent Emotions 231 (1) Exclamation 231 (2) Hyperbole 232 (3) Apostrophe 233 (4) Vision 234 3. Explanation of these Figures 234 4. Laws of these Figures 236 SECTION III. FIGURES FOUNDED ON CONTRAST. 1. The Theory of Contrast '. 287 2. Essentials of a Perfect Contrast 238 3. Figures Founded on Contrast 238 I -EXPRESSED CONTRAST..* 238 1. Antithesis 238 (1) The Nature of Antithesis 238 (2) The Natural Form of Antithesis 239 (3) Laws of Antithesis 240 1 Climax. .*. 240 18 ANALYSIS. Fi.61 (1. IMPLIED CONTRAST 241 1. Epigram 341 2 Interrogation 243 8 Irony 243 CHAPTER III. ECONOMY OF THE FEELINGS. 1 The Effect of Words on the Sensibilities 244 i. Hamilton's Theory of the Peelings 244 3 Application of the Theory to Expression 24* SECTION I. VARIETY. 1. The Necessity of Variety 246 2. The Applications of Variety 246 J .LETTERS 246 1. The Cumulation of Consonants 24T 2. The Cumulation of Vowels 2ft II. WORDS AND SYLLABLES 248 1. Tautophony 248 (1) 'Offensive Tautophony 248 (2) Intentional Tautophony 24S 2. Meter. 25 (1) Proof of the Value of Meter 25i (2) Example 251 (3) Adaptation of Meter to Poetry 252 (4) Rhythm 253 (5) Meter no Violation of Variety 253 111. SENTENCES 254 1. Length 254 2. Structure 254 IV. FIGURES 255 1. Similarity 255 2. Profusion 255 SECTION II. HARMONY. I. SOUNDS 256 1 . Other Sounds 257 2. Time and Motion , 258 3. Size 259 4. Ease and Difficulty 259 5. The Agreeable and Disagreeable 200 6- Climax in Sense 260 1 1 FIGURES 261 1. The Kinds of Figures 261 2 The Number of Figures 261 3. The Source of Figures 362 204 1. Essential Elements of Discourse. Every sentence is designed to communicate an and employs language as the medium of communica- tion. The idea may be definite to the mind of the communicator, but vague to the interpreter of the sen tence. This is because the medium does not always perfectly reveal the idea. There is obviously such a distinction between the idea and the medium as to present two classes of facts for our consideration. 2. The Relations of Thought and Language. A proper conception of the relations of an idea and its medium of expression, is of primary importance. As the question belongs both to Linguistics and to Logic, we shall cite authorities from both sciences. O " (1) Language and Thought Separable. After show- ing that thought is antecedent to expression,, Pro- fessor Whitney says : "Language, then, is the spoken means whereby thought is communicated, and it ia only that. Language is not thought, nor is thought language ; nor is there a mysterious and indisso- luble connection between the two, as there is between goul and body, so that the one cannot exist and manifest itself without the other. There can hardly 20 INTRODUCTION. be a greater and more pernicious error, in linguistics or in metaphysics, than the doctrine that language and tli ought are identical. . . The body would bo neither comfortable nor comely, if not clad ; cotton and wool would be of little use, but for machinery making quick and cheap their conversion into cloth ; and, in a truly analogous way, thought would be awkward, feeble, and indistinct, without the dress, the apparatus, which is afforded by language. Our denial of the identity of thought with its expression does not com- pel us to abate one jot or tittle of the exceeding value of speech to thought ; it only puts that value upon its proper basis." * (2) Language an Aid to Thought. Although thought and its expression are distinct, words furnish an indispensable aid to intricate or long continued thinking. The manner in which assistance is afforded is thus illustrated by Sir William Hamilton : " A coun- try may be overrun by an armed host, but it is only conquered by the establishment of fortresses. Words are the fortresses of thought. They enable us to re- . alize our dominion over what we have already overrun in thought ; to make every intellectual conquest the basis of operations for others still beyond. Or another illustration : You have all heard of the process of tun neling through a sand-bank. In this operation it is impossible to succeed, unless every foot, nay almost every inch in our progress, be secured by an arch of masonry, before we attempt the excavation of another, Now, language is to the mind precisely what the arcli is to the tunnel. The power of thinking and ihe power of excavating are not dependent on the word in * Whitney's Language and the Study of Language. INTRODUCTION. 21 the one case, on the mason- work in the other ; c/u( without these subsidiaries, neither process could bo carried on beyond its rudimentary commencement, Though, therefore, we allow that every movement for- ward in language must be determined by an antecedent movement forward in thought ; still, unless thought be accompanied at each point of evolution, by a corre- sponding evolution of language, its further develop- ment is arrested."* (3) Language Abbreviates Thinking. In addi- tion to their recording power, but growing out of it, is the power of words to take the place of a complex conception, and thus to become an object of thought, or thought itself. Leibnitz was the first to distinguish between symbolical and intuitive conceptions. When our notion of an object consists of a clear insight into all its essential attributes, it is intuitive. When, on the contrary, our notion is so complex that we do not at once realize all its properties, it is symbolical. When we use the words state, clmrcli, deity, designating com- plex notions which we fully realize only after analysis, the ivord, and not what it signifies, is the thought. If we use the word in a single sense, and the propositions containing it are true, such a symbol abbreviates the processes of thought without inaccuracy. (4) Language Vitiates Thought. Meaningless combinations often result from the union of sym- bols instead of things. This was the error of the Schoolmen, who toyed with the signs of things vvith- ut comparing things themselves. Much of the so called "subjective poetry" is of this description. Such is Dry den's stanza : % * Lectures on Logi&. 22 INTRODUCTION. 44 From harmony, from heavenly harmony This universal frame began ; From harmony to harmony Through all the compass of the notes it ran The diapason closing full in man." "In these sonorous lines/' Dr. Campbell " there is not even a glimpse of meaning." (5) Language an Instrument of Analysis. The eye conveys to the mind an impression of an action as a whole, but language is necessarily analytic. This important property of language has been described as follows by Archbishop Thomson : " As the mind does not receive impressions passively, but reflects upon them, decomposes them into their elements, and com- part3S them with notions already stored up, language, the close-fitting dress of our thoughts, is always analyt- ical, it does not body forth a mere picture of facts, but displays the working of the mind upon the facts submitted to it, with the order in which it regards them. This analysis has place even in the simplest descriptions. 4 The bird is flying ' is an account of one object which we behold, and in its present condi- tion. But the object was single, while our description calls up two notions 'bird' and 'flying,' and it is plain that this difference is the result of an analysis which the mind has performed, separating, in thought, the bird from its present action of flying, and then mentioning them together. In painting and sculpture, on the contrary, we have languages that do not employ analysis ; and a picture or statue would be called by some a synthetic, or compositive sign, from the notion that in it all the elements and qualities of the object which would have been mentioned separately in a de- INTRODUCTION. 23 gcription, are thrown together and represented at one view. The statue of the Dying Gladiator gives at one glance all the principal qualities so finely analyzed by the following description,, which, however, includes *lso the poet's reflections upon and inferences from the qualities he observes ; the objective impression ig described, but with a development of the subjective condition into which it throws the narrator. " I see before me the Gladiator lie : He leans upon his hand his manly brow Consents to death but conquers agony, And his drooped head sinks gradually low And through his side the last drops, ebbing slow From the red gash, fall heavy one by one, Like the first of a thunder shower ; and now The arena swims around him he is gone, Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hailed the wretch who won. He heard it, but he heeded not his eyes Were with his heart, and that was far away ; He recked not of the life he lost, nor prize, But where his rude hut by the Danube lay : There were his young barbarians all at play, There was their Dacian mother he, their sire, Butchered to make a Roman holiday ! All this rushed with his blood shall he expire And unavenged ? Arise 1 ye Goths, and glut your ire ! BYBOK. ' Here the analysis of the impression is carried to its farthest; and in the second stanza the object be- comes quite subordinate to the inferences and fancies of the subject. But it is all the more striking as an illustration of the principle, that language presents to 24 IHTRODtJCTlOH. us the analysis, as painting and sculpture the imita- tions, of a sensible impression." * With the progress of the human intellect, language becomes less synthetic and more analytic, in order U express new distinctions. 3. Modes of Expressing Ideas. It is important for the comprehension of discourse to dwell upon the various modes of expressing ideas, and the peculiar advantages and disadvantages of lan- guage as a medium of expression. When a landscape is spread before the eye, we re- ceive impressions of form, relation, color and motion. These, united into a complex whole, give to the mind a conception of the landscape. Now let the observer be removed from the place, and try to convey that conception to another. Memory may retain every feature of the scene. The idea may be complete. The problem is to communicate that idea to another mind. (1) Drawing, This may be done by drawing. If so, the outlines of each object may be perfect. The shading may be an accurate representation of the gra- dation of light on the natural objects. The relations of the parts may be exact. The perspective may be so true as to fulfill all the requirements of optical laws. Yet color and motion, the two vital elements of nature, must be wanting. (2) Painting, In order to convey the idea still more fully, the observer may resort to the painter's brush. As before, outline, shade, perspective, relation of parts, are all true to nature, and now color enlivens the scene. The sky is warmed with the blush of dawn, * Thomson's Outline of the Lvws of Thought. INTRO.WCTION. fe the grass and leaves arc animated witli their own green life, and the curling smoke of the cottage is no longei of the same hue with the cloud. Yet, on closer iu spection, the incessant stii of natural life is wanting, there is no motion in the scene. (3) Sculpture. Next the chisel of the sculptor chips the white dust from the marble, until the scene Is evoked from its smooth surface, and stands out in relief. If now the painter adds color, the work com- bines the skill of the draughtsman, the sculptor and the painter. Formal art has exhausted itself. Still there is no motion. That fisherman has been looking steadily into the water for months and years, and has caught nothing. It is as if a flood of liquid glass had suddenly crept over the scene, holding all in its crys- talline death-grip. To represent a five minutes' view of the landscape would require a hundred pictures. Motion, the most ceaseless and admirable principle of all material existence, baffles the painter and sculptor, and time, the measure of motion, is beyond all the arts of pencil and chisel. (4) Language. See now how Language airily lifts the foot to the step which Painting cannot touch with her longing finger-tips. Even Painting cannot express this idea : " Missing thee I walk unseen On the dry, smooth-shaven green, To behold the wandering moon Riding near her highest noon, Like one that had been led astray, Through the heaven's wide pathless way And oft, as if her head she bowed, Stooping through a fleecy cloud." The poet has described a scene which the paii justi- fication against this limitation : " Loud hissed the sea beneath her lee my little boat flew fas\+ But faster still the rushing storm came borne upon the blast. Lord ! what a roaring hurricane beset the straining sail ! What furious sleet, with level drift, and fierce assaults of hail What darksome caverns yawned before ! what jagged steepa behind ! Like battle steeds, with foamy manes, wild tossing in the wind, Each after each sank down astern, exhausted in the chase, But where it sank another rose and galloped in its place ; As black as night they turned to white, and cast against the cloud A snowy sheet, as if each surge upturned a sailor's shroud." If language is not as impressive as painting in ex- press description, it falls little short of it ; while in the communication of ideas of time, motion, and the results of the penetrative imagination, language surpasses all other means of expression. Nevertheless, with all these excellences, language has serious disadvantages as a medium of expression. (2) The Symbolic Character of Words. Words may be distinguished as presentive or symbolic, accord- * Quoted by Sir Robert Phillimore. INTRODUCTION. 31 ing as they do or do not suggest substantive objects to the mind. Thus at, but, ivhere, and the present no objects to the mind, and are merely symbols foi mental notions. Such words as lamp, post, flag-staff \ .ind house do suggest objects to the mind. But aside from this important distinction, all words are symbolic i a broader sense, although, so strong is the tie of as- sociation between words and things, we are in danger of forgetting the symbolism. " When barbers' poles were first erected, they were pictorial and present! ve, for they indicated by white bands of paint the linei: bandages which were used in blood-letting, an opera- tion performed by the old surgeon-barbers. In oui time we only know (speaking of the popular mind) that the pole indicates a barber's shop, but why or how is unknown. And this is symbolism." * Now most of our words have no more connection with the objects they signify than the barber's pole has with shaving or hair-cutting. The connection is purely arbitrary and accidental ; not natural and necessary. (3) The Uncertainty of Words as a Medium. Words are not, then, images of ideas reflected in a faultless mirror. They are not even photographs re- quiring only the addition of color. They are scarce- ly "fragmentary sketches," furnishing the bare out- lines of an idea, while much must be supplied by the imagination to fill up the picture. However careful and extended our training may have been, it cannot be presumed that we know all the verbal signs in our own language. The child can converse on only a few sub- jects, and can understand only the most common terms. In this respect all men are more or less * Earle's Philology of the English Tonffue. 32 INTRODUCTION-. children. The English language contains over & hundred thousand words. Of this vast number only a few thousand are used hy any single person. To a nucleus of a few hundred common terms every speaker or writer adds many which are peculiar to his profes- sion, his subject, his district, or the social class to which he belongs, but which are unintelligible to the major- ity of those who speak the same tongue. Each mind, too, has feelings, cognitions, and conceptions which other minds do not have. There are various proper styles of expressing the same idea, depending upon the discernment of different relations and analogies. There are distinctions in thought which all have not made. So we do not speak the same words, or attach to them the same meaning. Thus a liability of being misun- derstood or unintelligible belongs to all language, however carefully it may be used. (4) Language an Impediment, Again, language js an actual impediment in the communication of ideas. The shaft which communicates the power ol an engine to the machinery is itself an obstruction-, since some of the power is required to move the shaft. If it can be reduced in size and weight without failing to transmit the force, so much the better ; and, by progressive approach, it follows that it would .best serve the purpose when its weight should be reduced to zero. So in language, words are often an incum- brance. A simple pointing to the door is much moie impressive than to say, "leave the room." A smile of approbation or of contempt is more suggestive than an elaborate sentence. As power cannot be applied to some kinds of machinery except by a complex system of cog-wheels, so some ideas cannot be expressed except INTRODUCTION. 33 by words ; yet the cog-wheels are an incumbrance ren- dered necessary by the conditions of the case, and so ire words. They are media of power, but themselyc s absorb some of it. 6. Excellence of Style Relative. The perfection of style is, therefore, merely relative, and not absolute. It cannot be perfect in melody, for while sometimes it may glide along with liquid smooth- ness, at others it must grate upon the ear, or fail to ex- press its contained idea. It cannot be perfect in uni- versality, for, since its signs are conventional, it must change with those to whom it is addressed. The fleet- ing and mutable elements of language render it impos- sible for it to be perfect, or even intelligible, for more than a few generations, except in the most mature and stationary languages ; and a stationary living language is impossible among a progressive people. The poems of Chaucer cannot be said to bo written in a style which we can recognize as good, until, by the help of a glossary, we become Englishmen of the fourteenth century. In all these respects, language is placed at a great disadvantage as a means of expression. All men who have eyes may perceive the genius of Zeuxis and Phid- ias, but Homer and ^Eschylus are nonentities to the masses of men, unless their works are translated ; in other words, their expression must go for naught, uiid their ideas must be revealed anew. 7. The Difference between Prose and Poetry. Prose and Poetry are both forms of discourse, and 34 INTRODUCTION, may be treated together. The distinction between them has been much discussed. Definiteness of view >n this subject is necessary to the comprehension of several principles of expression. (1) Aristotle's Opinion. Aristotle views poeln as consisting in imitation. * But nothing can be fat thcr from imitation than most poetry. (( In the first place," says Professor Masson, "that it is verse at all is a huge deviation in itself from what is in any ordinary sense natural. Men do not talk in good literary prose, much less in blank verse or rhyme. Macbeth, in his utmost strait and horror Lear, when the lightnings scathed his white head did not actually talk in me- ter." f Goethe declared that art is called art simply because it is not nature. (2) Bacon's Opinion. Bacon makes poetry to con- sist in fiction, and says it is "nothing else but feignea history, which may be styled as well in prose as in verse. "J (3) Coleridge's Opinion. Coleridge denies that the true antithesis is between prose and poetry, but asserts that it is between poetry and science.^ (1) Buskin's Opinion. Ruskin, after much re- flection, concludes that poetry is " The suggestion by the imagination of noble grounds for noble emotions.'"^ According to this, Carlyle's Essays and the eighth chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Romans would be poetry of the highest class. (5) Dr. Whately's View. Doctor Whatelj de- flees his views thus : "Any composition in verse (and * Aristotle's Poetic, Chap. I. f PJssays Chiefly on the English Poets. \ Advancement of Learning. Works, vol. ii. T Modern Painter*, vol. H. INTRODUCTION. 35 none that is not) is always called, whether good or bad, a poem, by all who have no favorite hypothesis to maintain."* Mr. De Quincey has invalidated the Archbishop's position by showing that, on a question not of fact but of opinion, those are cited as the best authority who professedly have no opinion. f (6) The True Difference Based on Effects. Failing to find satisfaction from those who have dis- cussed the subject, let us attempt an analysis. If prose and poetry are really distinguished by any difference, it does not lie wholly in the form, since that has changed from age to age. Again, since poetry is recognized by all civilized races, there must be something in man which makes the difference We find in man three classes of powers ; the intellect, the feelings, and the will. If we observe the effect of dis- course upon the mind, we shall find that three distinct kinds of effect are produced, which lead men to dis- tinguish common prose, poetry, and eloquence. When ideas are addressed chiefly to the intellect, we say they are prosaic ; when to the feelings, that they are poet- ical ; when to the will, that they are eloquent. Kus- kin's prose is often poetical ; some of Pope's poetry is confessedly prosaic. Thus far for the distinction of prose and poetry as related to idea. There is another element, form. Strong emotions and eager passions spontaneously express themselves by a rhythmical movement. Love, death, and war move men to whai in ordinary circumstances they wou'^Jl not attempt the writing of verse. Meter, rhythm, and, in unin- flected languages, rhyme, are the natural forms for the * Rhetoric, Part iii, Chap, iii, 3. f De Quincey's Review of Whatety. 36 INTRODUCTION. expression of pure feeling.* Pure thought is content with the irregular forms of prose, and, unless united with feeling in sentiment, seems awkward and absurd in verse. Poetry and prose differ, tlion, in idea and in form. Poetry is emotive ideas in emotive language ; prose is intellective ideas in intellective language. Both are forms of discourse, and may be treated together. (7) The Difference Relative. This difference be- tween prose and poetry is simply relative. There are compositions upon which a conclusive judgment could scarcely be passed, since they possess such a union of thought and feeling, and a form so rhyth- mical without being verse as to defy classification. This, however, is no objection to our offering a defini- tion, or insisting upon the one already given. We all agree that a vegetable is not an animal, yet there are forms of life so closely uniting the characteristic? of each as to puzzle the most expert in classification. Of course, almost any specimen of prose contains some element of feeling. The most heartless, and, there- lore, real prose is, A is B, C is A, therefore C is B. Even this formula has some emotive power when we descend from the airy region of pure abstraction, and make A B and signify objects having human rela- tions. To some minds there is a poetical element in the driest mathematical reasoning, especially when it^ lifts the veil from infinitude, and displays the harmony, order, and benevolence which the science of nnmbei? roveals. So, on the other hand, true poetry is nevci wholly devoid of thought. It appeals to the sensibili- ties through the intellect. What constitutes it poetry is, that, in both form and idea, it aims at and reaches * The reason 5s given in Book III. Chap, iii, Sect. i. INTRODUCTION. 31 the seat of emotion, and does riot stop at the intellect which translates it and unfolds it to the feelings. Kvcry faculty of the intellect is thus addressed by poetry as well as hy prose. Indeed, it is only as it ad- dresses the feelings through the different faculties of the intellect, that poetry is capable of any philosoph- ical classification. (8) Versification a Part of Grammar. Although poetry is here regarded as a form of discourse, versifi- cation is excluded from the province of Rhetoric, since it belongs properly to Grammar. Its rules are given in that science under the fourth division, or Prosody. 8. The Province of Rhetoric. All worthy discourse aims at producing some change in the mind addressed. It may be a change of knowledge, or instruction ; a change of opinions, or conviction ; a change of disposition, or persuasion ; or a change of the passing emotion for its own sake, or mere entertainment Whatever this change be, it is produced by ideas. These ideas are effective in pro- ducing the change only when they are assimilated to the dominant ideas of the mind addressed. The rhet- orical process extends farther than the mere presenta- tion of ideas ; it is complete only when those ideas are referred to the preexisting ideas of the person addressed in such a manner that they will effect the desired change. All mental changes take place in accordance with certain laws. As an art. Rhetoric communicates ideas according to these laws ; as a science, it discovers aud establishes these laws. Rhetoric is, therefore, the science of the laws of effective discourse. 3b IJTTRODUCTIOK. 9. Related Sciences. Rhetoric is closely allied with several sciences which deal in some way with discourse. (1) Grammar. Every language has its peculiar i lioms and forms. These constitute its special gram mar. Universal or philosophical grammar considers language generally as an instrument of thought and expression. Rhetoric is distinct from every form of grammar, and everywhere presupposes grammatical accuracy. (2) Logic. Discourse is governed by certain laws of thought which must be regarded in effective speech. These laws of pure thought are the subject matter of Logic. While Logic deals with the nature and laws of thought, Rhetoric deals with the effective commu- nication of thought. Logic is the statics, Rhetoric the dynamics of thought. (3) JEsthetics. Language, in common with every- thing else which can affect the sensibilities, is the sub- ject-matter of applied ^Esthetics. This science is closely connected with the proper estimate of discourse regarded as a fine art. It is an important auxiliary, but by no means a rival of Rhetoric. (4) Psychology. As the science of effecting mental changes, Rhetoric often borders closely upon the science of Psychology, which treats of the laws of mind. Any effective presentation of ideas to the mind for the purpose of changing it, presupposes some knowledge of its laws. Hence Rhetoric, though dis tinct in its province, borrows many facts and laws from Psychology. (5) Elocution. Vocal delivery has often been re- garded as a part of Rhetoric. Although it is an im- INTRO DUCTIOK. 39 portaiiJ aid to the effectiveness of discourse, several considerations exclude it from this science. Elocution is a bodily exercise requiring a peculiar kind of train- ing. A person may acquire excellence as a writer whilo deficient as a speaker, and hence may be a rhetorician without being an elocutionist. Ideas may be expressed to the eye as well as to the ear, so that elocution has no closer connection with Rhetoric than Penmanship. 10. Departments of Rhetoric. Discourse, then, aims to produce a change (1) in the mind, (2) ~by means of ideas, (3) expressed through language. The science of producing mental changes must include an account of the laws of the mind, the idea, and the form. The laws of mind which affect the change of ideas, the peculiar characteristics of the main classes of ideas, the special properties of language as a medium of expression, all belong to the sphere oi Rhetoric. The remainder of this work, therefore, con- sists of the following main divisions : BOOK I. LAWS or MIKD. BOOK II. LAWS OP IDEA. BOOK III. LAWS OF FOBM. 40 INTKODUCTIOtf. SYNOPSIS. Rhetoric. ' I. Laws of Mind. II. Laws of Idea. HI. Laws of Form. 1 Laws of Iitellecl 1. General Laws. -< 2 Laws of the Fool- ipgs. 11 Effects of Ajre. 2. Effects of Expe- II. Particular Laws. rience. 3. Effects of Affilia- tion. I. Description. il. Objects of Sense 2. Mental States. 3. Character. '1. Selection of Cir cumstances. n. Narration. 2. Sequence of Events. 3. Synchronism of Events. 1. Of a Notion in 1 Itself. in. Exposition. 2. Of a Notion thro Another. 1. A priori Argu- ments. IV. Argumentation " 2. Arguments froie Sfgn. o. Arguments from Resemblance. 4. Conduct of a Discourse. 1. Diction. I. Plain Language. 2. Sentences. '1. Founded on Re- semblance. II. Figures. 2. Founded on Con- tiguity. 3. Founded on Con trast. 1. Variety. m. The Peelings. 2. Harmony. BOOK I. OF MINL THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. BOOK I. LAWS OF MIND. 1. Method of Treatment Explained. The philosophy of the human mind is too vast a theme for even the briefest outline in a work like this. Psychology, ./Esthetics, and Logic are extensive and important sciences, which should receive due attention from the rhetorician. This treatment of the Laws of Mind in their relations to Rhetoric is, accordingly, but an imperfect sketch, designed to direct attention to the necessity of studying mental science, if one would excel in the science of discourse. 2. Classification of Mental Phenomena. The phenomena of the mind may all be referred to the following three classes : (1) Knowledge, or Cognitions ; (2) Pleasures and Pains, or Feelings ; (3) Exertions, or Conations. 3 Relations of these Phenomena. These phenomena are important to the rhetorician, since his purpose of assimilating new ideas to the mind addressed can be accomplished tli rough these only. 44 THE SCIENCE OF RHETOKIC. Without cognition there could be neither feeling noi conation ; and without feeling there could be no cona- (ion. For example, a person is fond of cards. " In a company where he beholds a game in progress, there arises a desire to join in it. Now the desire is hen manifestly kindled by the pleasure which the person had, and has, in the play. The feeling thus connects the cognition of the play with the desire to join in it ; it forms the bridge, and contains the motive, by which we are aroused from mere knowledge to appetency, to conation, by reference to which we move ourselves so as to attain the end in view."* Men are moved to action by three steps : (1) an idea is presented to the mind for cognition ; (2) the idea produces a state of feeling ; (3) the feeling excites action. 4, Division of this Book. There are certain laws of mind which are universal among sane men. In addition to these, there are cer- tain rules of action which grow out of particular modes of life or degrees of mental development. We need, therefore, to consider separately the general laws of mind, and the particular laws depending upon indi- vidual circumstances. * Quoted by Sir William Hamilton Metaphysics THE GENERAL LAWS OF MIND. THE rhetorician must address the mind in accord- ance with its laws of action. This requires him to adapt his ideas to (1) the INTELLECT, or faculty of cognition ; (2) the FEELINGS, or faculty of sensibility. Theso divisions of mind will be considered in the following sections. SECTION I. INTELLECT. IF dividing and classifying the powers of the mind, it should be remembered that the mind is a unit, and that all its powers are contemporaneously exerted. Yet, for purposes of study, we must subject the mind to dissection, as the anatomist does the body. The intellect is occupied with discourse in three ways ; (1) as REASON, (?) as IMAGINATION, and (3) as MEMORY. I. REASON. 1. Nature of the Laws of Thought. When we s^A of laws of thought as the universal and necessary conditions of mental action, it must not be supposed that the necessity is the same as in the material world. The laws of thought may be violated, 46 THE SCIENCE OF KHETORIC. while in the physical world a law signifies a constant mode of action. Logical necessity refers to a precept which we may violate, but not without invalidating our whole mental process. These laws of thought are the necessary conditions of valid thinking, and not necessary modes of action, like the law of gravitation. The treatment of these laws belongs properly to Logic, but they must be kept in mind by the rhetorician. A full discussion of them will be found in most works on Logic. Only a few practical suggestions are given here. 2. Rhetorical Use of the Laws of Thought. The speaker or writer must address the mind in accordance with these laws, or encounter opposition to his ideas. He may, indeed, succeed in imposing falla- cies upon the unthinking, but even the most ignorant possess an intelligence which cannot be wholly disre- garded. Confidence in the authority of another may insure the reception of paradoxical statements to some extent, but the mind is so constituted that it instinct- ively rejects whatever is manifestly inconsistent with its own laws. Fallacies are not open violations of the laws of thought, but subtle evasions of them, which the intelligence does not detect. A fallacy seems to satisfy the conditions of valid thinking without really doing so. Since the rhetorician is subject to the laws of ethics, not as a rhetorician, but as a moral being, he has no more right to use an intentional fallacy than to employ any other kind of deception. The true rhe- torical procedure is to address the understanding in such a manner as to satisfy the requirements of its laws and show a marked respect for its authority. LAWS OF MIND. 4? 3. Direct Address to the Reason. Reason differs from some other faculties of tli3 mind in admitting of direct appeal. Men naturally oppose any avowed attempt on the part of a writer or speaker to dictate to the feelings, but readily accord to him the privilege of assisting them in the operations of reason. Truth is often so many-sided and so diffi- cult of apprehension, that aid in reaching correct judgments is not thought to imply inferiority. It is, therefore, no offense if we announce a proposition to be proved, and invite candid criticism of the argu- ments adduced. It rather gives evidence of fairness in presenting our ideas, and is a compliment to the persons addressed, as if a recognition that they possess a test of truth. 4. General Confidence in Reason. If not universally recognized as an absolute stand- ard of truth, reason is nevertheless the highest tribu- nal to which men may appeal in the affairs of life. It is generally confessed to be correct in its decisions unless deceived by fallacies. However much one may doubt the infallibility of others, most men confide in their own acuteness in detecting sophistry. They are far more distrustful of their feelings, even when these are known to be such as the occasion demands, or even to fall far short of their proper intensity. Even experience is sometimes questioned when it conflict? with rational consistency. Truth is instinctively felt to be a harmony between our conceptions and reali- ties, and consistency is demanded in facts as well as in thought. A plausible theory is often more readily received than an anomalous fact. 48 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. 5. Permanence of Fallacious Notions. It is a fact of great importance to the rhetorician :hat the strongest emotions are generally of brief dura- tion,, while a fallacy may remain undetected long after it begins to deceive the mind. The feelings change with the surroundings, while reason remains the same. Hence a determination based on a temporary emotion may be lost when the emotion has subsided and the mind views the facts in a different aspect. But a con- viction founded on a train of reasoning having once been reached, our confidence in our conclusion often prevents a re-examination of the facts. Even if we revise our former reasoning, a fallacy which once de- ceived may continue to elude us. Emotion dominates over the mind less and less with the progress of time, while a fallacy, if not detected, becomes more and more influential. By being repeatedly assumed as true, a false conclusion at last acquires the force of an undisputed truth, and often propagates itself by being dsed as a premise in other reasoning. 6. Importance of the Laws of Thought. Since the mind is governed by certain laws of thought in which men confide as the highest authority, every presentation of ideas to the mind must recognize the existence of these laws. N"or is it safe to trifle with them, v ;o say nothing of the moral requirements of the case. They are the natural safeguards of the mind, preserving it from delusion and felly. They are the only defense of the unsophisticated against the trickery of the demagogue and the charlatan. However they may be perverted, these laws are the sen* LAWS OF MIXD. 49 duels of the mind, demanding the passport of every new idea which claims admission, and, although they oiay be deceived by sophistry, and enticed from duty oy interest, they generally guard the portals of Truth' temple with vigilance and fidelity. II. IMAGINATION. The imagination is the faculty which represents images to the mind. We shall find it the basis of at- tention, bolief, and action. 1. Attention. Attention is the concentration of the consciousness upon some one idea or class of ideas. Its intensity and duration are influenced by the forms in which ideas are presented. Dry and abstract formulas are generally repulsive except to trained minds. Objects of sense, especially in new combinations, are capable of holding Jie attention through the imagination. Forms and colors engage the attention by pleasing the mind. Accordingly the rhetorician who would hold the atten- tion of either readers or hearers must so present his ideas as to fulfill this condition of mental action. Long and involved processes of argument must be so relieved by an appeal to this faculty, as to occupy it with the subject, or it will spontaneously engage itself with its own creations, and the attention will be lost apon these. 2. Belief. Intensity of belief depends upon a vivid realization of relations. We are often more deeply moved by a poet's fancies than by the most thoroughly established convictions. Although we may yield a cold assent to 3 50 . THE SCIENCE OF KHETGRIG, an abstract proposition which has been proved by ap- parently valid reasoning, still its influence over our life is comparatively slight. The scenes and characters of a fictitious story are much more real to us than the events and heroes of a dry historical compend. For the moment we believe in details purely imaginary, when they are addressed to the power of representation so as to fill the mind. Ideas thus communicated be- come associated strongly in the mind, and belief is often revived by the vivid recurrence of the images which excited it. 3. Action, Action is the product of thought and feeling. An object is presented to the mind, the contemplation of it awakens desires, and the desires lead to action. Without the presentation of objects which excite the feelings, no action can be produced. Hence the im- agination must be employed by the rhetorician as a principal assistant in persuasion. III. MEMORY. Complex ideas can be presented to the mind only by the aid of memory. The action of the mind in some of its more prolonged processes will illustrate this. 1. Conviction. A change in the opinions is generally produced Lj argumentation. This requires a series of propositions to be shown in their relation to one another, and often occupies considerable time. In what is called " moral " or " probable " reasoning, where the conclusion is based LAWS OF MIND. 51 upon a number of particulars which separately are of email value, but which are conclusive when contem- plated together, this exercise of memory is absolutely necessary to the argument. Even in demonstrative reasoning, where the conclusion is obtained from a single proposition by a series of deductions, the pro- cesses are often numerous, and the order of the steps is important. Since the effect of argument upon the mi rid requires the retention of these successive steps, the rhetorician must construct his argument in such a manner as to avoid the danger of missing an impor- tant link in the chain. 2. Persuasion. As we have seen, persuasion depends upon the cognition of some idea which excites feeling, which in turn stimulates action. Usually the will is moved only when a number of motives are presented, either together or in close array. The aggregation of mo- tives in persuasion requires the exercise of memory, in order to keep before the mind the incentives suc- cessively presented. 3. Language. Language, the medium of expression in discourse, is so related to time that the memory must be em- ployed to treasure up its symbols for comparative interpretation. This function of memory is vitally connected with the laws of form, and will be notice*? again in treating of them. 62 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. SECTION II. THE FEELINGS. The second main class of mental phenomena should be studied with great care by the rhetorician. No one would have the presumption to play upon an organ with a score of stops unless he were skilled in their management. The human heing is capable of a greater variety of feelings than an organ is of tones. The orator who does not understand the laws of feeling may not make audible discords, but he is sure to violate the harmonic principles of a far higher and more wonder- ful music. Only a brief outline of the theory of the feelings can be given here. We shall consider (1) the CLASSIFICATION of the feelings ; (2) the PKODUCTION of emotions, and (3) the MODIFICATION of emotions. I. CLASSIFICATION. 1. Necessary Imperfection. Any classification of the feelings must be imperfect from the nature of this mode of mind. It is easy to classify objects which may be pointed out and named, but states of feeling are not so easily distinguished. Any classification must be cumbrous and superficial, and can only supply an outline. 2. Sensations and Sentiments. If the finger be pricked with a pin, apart from the knowledge that the cuticle has been punctured, then/ LAWS OF MIND. 53 is something else which we call pain. Such a, feeling produced in the bodily organism is called a sensation. You stand in the presence of a beautiful painting representing a benevolent act. Apart from the knowl- edge of the skill with which the painting is executed and the utility of the act, you are conscious of beauty in the picture and morality in the act. This sense of beauty and of morality we call sentiments. It is not the part of the rhetorician to deal with sensations, which are bodily affections, but he must understand the sentiments, which are mental affections, or he can never skillfully move to action the mind addressed. 3. Scheme of the Sentiments. The following scheme, modified for our purpose from Hamilton, may be useful in exhibiting the vari- ous sentiments which govern human action : ( Tedium. Contemplative. < Truth. f ^Esthetic emotions. Sentiments. \ ( Self-preservation. I Enjoyment of existence. Practical. -[ Preservation of the species. Self-development. I Moral law. Any existing form of sentiment, simple or complex, may be called an emotion. This term will be used in- terchangeably with the word sentiment. For a full treatment of these sentiments, reference may be n>a the fiction defined from "the genus, and is called the differentia. A definition is ? therefore^ a division of a general notion according to its attribute^ It follows that a simple notion, which "can be relerrcd to*no genus, cannot be defined. Thus being, the highest genus known to the mind, is inde- finable, i 3. Nature of Division. The exposition of the extension of a notion is its division. Thus, the notion man includes under it white men, UacJc men, m/rnen, etc., divided according to color; Africans, Asiatics, Europeans, etc., divided 5 98 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. according to geographical lines ; Jews, Mohan medans t Buddhists, Cfiristiam, etc. divided according to religion It is evident that the character of our division will tie- ,pcnd entirely upon the principle according to which we divide a notion into its constituent objects. It follows that a notion cannot be divided when it includes only one object. 4. Difference between Definition and Division. Definition and division are opposite processes. Comprehension is simply the sum of the qualities, characteristics or attributes of which a notion is com- posed, and is resolved into its parts by definition. Ex- tension is simply the sum or complement of the objects whose resembling characteristics constitute the genera, notion, and is resolved into its parts by division. De filiation is a discrimination of attributes ; division a discrimination of objects. As the list of attributes is lengthened, the list of objects possessing them is shortened ; and vice versa. Being is the maximum of extension and the minimum of comprehension. In- cluding the greatest number of objects, it includes the least number of attributes. 5. Kinds of Definition. Three principal kinds of definition are distinguished by Hamilton. (1) Nominal. Nominal definitions are mere ex plications. The} tire, therefore, generally preliminary to a more precise distinction. Thus the nominal def- inition of a circle is, "The word ' circle ' signifies a uniformly curved line." LAWS OF IDEA. 99 (2) Eeal. In real definitions, the object defined is considered as existing, and the notion precedes the definition. They are merely analytic, nothing being given explicitly in the defining member which is not contained implicitly in the subject defined; as, "A circle is a line returning upon itself, of which all the parts are equi-distant from a given point." (3) Genetic. The genetic definition represents the defined object as in the process of becoming. It is therefore synthetic ; as, "A circle is formed when we draw around, and always at the same distance from a fixed point, a movable point which leaves its trace, until the termination of the movement coincides with its commencement." The genetic definition is possible only when the objects to be defined are quantities rep- resented in time or space. 6. The Laws of Logical Definition. The following are the laws of a strictly logical definition. (1) A definition must be adequate. This neces- sitates a genus and a differentia, A true definition will admit of a transposition of the subject and the predicate. Such a transposition is an easy test of a definition. If " Man is a rational animal" be an ade- quate definition, it must be true that a rational animal is a man ; for otherwise something besides men is in- cluded in the definition. (2) A definition must not define by negative or divisive attributes. We do not say what a notion is 'by saying what it is not ; nor do we define a notion by referring it to one class or another, which is a process af division. These expedients may properly precede LOO THE SCIENCE OF KHETOllIC. and prepare the way for a definition, but they are net definitions. (3) A definition should not be tautological. We cannot define an object by itself. rtfThis is called "de- lining in a circle." This is a very common fault, and is fostered by the bilingual character of the English language, which renders it possible to define an Anglo- Saxon word by a Norman-French equivalent. The verbal form conceals the repetition of thought. This mode of explaining by equivalents is often useful, but must not be mistaken for a logical definition. (4) The definition must be precise. Any attribute not essential to the distinction only confuses it." The looseness of a definition leaves it open to refutation. The Platonic definition, " Man is a two-legged animal without feathers," was refuted by exhibiting a plucked bird, which, by transposition of the subject and predi- cate, would be a man, if the definition were correct. (5) A definition should be perspicuous. The very object of a definition is clearness. That it should itself be perspicuous is, therefore, self-evident. Brevity is generally necessary to perspicuity. Figurative language will often render definitions brilliant, but it will fre- quently expose them to criticism for violating this law. 7. Kinds of Division. (1) Partition. The notion man may be regarded as made up of certain attributes ; as living being, ra- tional^ mortal, etc. This division of a notion into ita component attributes is called partition. It differs from definition in enumerating all the attributes which make up a whole, while definition states only a genus and differentia. It differs from logical division ii: OF IDnlA. 101 being a division of the comprehension, not; of tho extension. (2) Logical Division. A logical division is an ex position of the extension of a notion ; it enumerates, not tho attributes but the species of a notion. Thus man may be divided into the various species togethei comprising the general notion man, and the division, as previously shown, may be according to any one of many principles. The principle of division is the one essential attribute according to which the division is made. The notion is called the divided whole ; its parts are the dividing members ; these with reference to one another are co-ordinates ; with reference to the divided whole, subordinates. 8. The Laws of Logical Division. The logical division of a notion is regulated by several laws. (1) Every Division should have some Principle, The reason of this is manifest. If there be no attri- bute with reference to which objects are classed, there can be no division. (2) Every Division should have but one Principle. If there are two or more principles of division, there will be no division. Thus, to class men as lolute, Af- rican, English, moral, and Jews, would not be a divis- ion of men, for these classes include one another. (3) The Principle of Division should be an actual and essential character of the divided whole, Unless such a principle be selected, there will be no distinct and recognizable line of demarcation between the sub- ordinates. (4) No dividing member must of itself exhaust 102 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. the subject. This law follows from the axiom that a part is less than the whole. That then must be a faulty division which represents a part as exhausting the whole A division of men into intelligent races and barbarous races, would violate this law, since all men possess some degree of intelligence, and are hence included under the first class. (5) The dividing members must together exhaust the notion, but not more, Leaving out a distinct class violates this law. Thus, if we were to divide all actions into the morally good and the morally lad, excluding those which possess no moral quality, the division would be incorrect. This division would be a correct one of moral actions, but not of actions generally, since some are morally indifferent. If we were to divide geometrical figures into surfaces, solids, lines, and points, we should more than exhaust the notion ex* pressed by the word figures, for lines and points, though elements of figures, are not figures. (6) The dividing members should not include one another. This law is often practically difficult to fol- low. Presenting the same subordinate more than once is a violation of this law. A perfect exposition of a science would so classify its facts that they would ap- pear but once. Practically this is almost impossible. Logic and ^Esthetics, for example, are distinct from Rhetoric, but there could be no science of Ehetoric which should not repeat facts of Logic and ^Esthetics, Again, the laws of Ehetoric are laws of mind, of idea, and of form, but they are all so interdependent that the same fact often reappears under each of these divisions. (7) A division should proceed continuously with- LAVS OF IDEA. 103 Out hiatus. Division may proceed through proximate or remote subdivisions. A perfect division docs not leap over intermediate steps. Mathematicians may 1' 144 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. tences," " Avoid long parentheses/' "Use Saxon rather than Latin words/' would gain a new power over our minds if they were derived from fundamental prin- ciples of mind and language, and grouped according to a scientific ordination. As the law of gravitation, so simple and yet so important, explains all the phe- nomena of celestial motion, so there must be some principle underlying the effects of language upon the mind, some general law of expression, which will explain the phenomena of style. 2. The Process of Interpreting a Sentence. As a general law must be operative in every sen- tence, we must expect to find such a law in what is most central and necessary in converting a sentence into thought, or interpreting its meaning. In this process we perform certain acts and have certain feel- ings. These acts are as follows. (1) Exercise of Preservative Power, In the communication of a word, something from without is obtruded upon the attention through the external senses. The mind is, however, occupied with its own processes. If those processes are very absorbing, as in persons given to abstraction and deep reflection, the at- tention is not readily attracted. If the processes are of small subjective interest, as generally in young and non- reflecting persons, a very slight cause is sufficient to at- tract the attention ; but, for this very reason, it cannot be long retained. From these facts it is evident tha the perception of a sight or sound is an act of the mind requiring the exercise of its powers. When we rend or hear a sentence, a certain amount of presentative power is necessary to put its separate elements before the mind. LAWS OF FORM". 145 (2) Exercise of Conservative Power. Language, written or spoken, depends upon time. When we look at a picture, the eye receives simultaneously rays from ftl I points of its surface, and these form a single image, which the mind receives as one. When we read or hear a sentence, the mind receives through the eye or car certain signs of ideas, not simultaneously, but iu succession. Supposing each word to suggest to the mind a distinct conception, as it must to be of any value to the sentence, the conception conveyed by the first word receives a modification from every additional word. The mind must put forth a new effort with every added syllable, to perceive it and introduce it tc the attention. At the same time it must hold the syllables already perceived for comparison and union Arith those that follow. Here is a duplex act of. mem- ory : first, to recall the significance of each word as it is perceived ; and, secondly, to retain both the sign and the thing signified until the period is ended, so that all the modifications may be made. Here is an expendi- ture of conservative power. (3) Exercise of Representative Power. As the jsigns of thought are introduced into the mind they, if familiar, readily suggest, or, if strange, totally fail to suggest, that which they are designed to represent. Imagination, by its magical power, combines these iso- lated fragments of ideas into complete wholes. Here is another expenditure of power, a representative power, we may almost call it an architectural power, framing together materials which another mind has cut and fitted, so as to construct within our own conscious- ness the edifice which another has first built in his. (!) Exercise of Realizing Power. The mind IB 7 146 THE SCIENCE OF EHETOKIC. now in possession of the idea as a whole, or, more strictly, of its own conception of the idea meant to be expressed.' Three distinct acts have been performed, and yet the mind is not assured of the truth or falsity of the statement. In order to decide this, the assertion must be compared with the stock of ideas previously acquired by experience or instruction. If the imago presented in the sentence be designed to arouse emo- tion, the conception must be contemplated, in order to elicit the desired feeling. These two processes, com- paring and contemplating, require n new expenditure of power, which we may call the power of realization. 3. Deduction of the General Law of Style. (1) Economy of Interpreting Power. The inter- pretation of a sentence requires an expenditure of men- tal power, and the realization of the idea demands the use of more. Since the mind possesses but a limited amount of power at any one time available, it is clear that the more we expend in interpreting a sentence, i. e., in translating it into thought, the less we have available for realizing the idea. But realization is the end of communication -; hence the less power required to interpret a sentence, the more excellent it is as a mode of expression. (2) Economy of the Feelings. But, apart from the effect of the idea upon the feelings, the form of expression produces an effect. If a beautiful idea is expressed in harsh and rude words, it is plain that the resultant feeling will be less agreeable in proportion te the amount of sensitive power wasted on the form of words. In other terms, if ten represent the degree of ty those who suppose their local terms to be generally known to those who speak the same language ; and (3) technical terms belonging to special arts and sciences. 4. When Barbarisms are Allowable. (1) Dialectic Compositions. A proper exception to the principle of avoiding foreign and local expres- sions is found in dialectic composition, where the ob- ject is to illustrate the peculiarities of speech, or to render a character consistent with his surroundings. (2) Technical Persons. The use of technical terms contributes to clearness and accuracy when they are addressed to those who are familiar with them. The very fact that a word is technical excludes from it a host of irrelevant associations usually conveyed by com- mon words, and so renders it more precise. Dr. Campbell says of them, "In strict propriety, technical words should not be considered as belonging to the language ; because not in current use, nor understood by the generality even of readers."* Mr. Marsh ob- serves on the representation of technical characters : "It is better that a character in a play should use professional phrases, by way of indicating his occupa- tion, than that he should tell the audience in set worde ' I am a merchant, a physician, or a lawyer,' but aftet * Campbell's Philosophy of Rhetoric. LAWS OF FORM. 159 all, considered as a, representation of the actual lan- guage of life, it is a violation of truth of costume to rram with technical words the conversation of a tech aical man." * 5. The Law of Use. Horace declared use to be the law and rule of speak- .ug. Dr. Campbell has discussed this criterion of speech with great judgment. His essay on the subject is worthy of universal attention, f He defines author- itative usage to be, I. Reputable) or the practice of intelligent and educated writers ; II. National) as opposed to provincial and foreign III. Present) or the usage of the generation in which one lives. 6. The Formation of New Words. New ideas require the formation of new words. All verbal innovations, however, have not the same justification. Horace defines the proper occasion of coining words in these lines : " If you write of things abstruse or new, Some of your own inventing may be used. So it be seldom and discreetly done." { If words must be coined, it should be "discreetly done,' 7 so that they shall conform to the established usage of the language, both as to their sources and the union of their elements. This is what Horace mean* u these lines : * Lectures on the English Language. f Philosophy of Rhetoric, Book II., Chap. L $ liosconiinon's Translation. 160 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. " An undisputed power Of coining money from the rugged ore, Nor less of coining words, is still confest, If vpith a legal public stamp imprest." * Quin tilian disfavors all verbal innovations. U I1 the new word is well received," says he, "small is the glory ; if rejected, it raises laughter." f II. LENGTH. 1. Disadvantages of Jjong Words, (1) Difficulty of Perceiving them, Another qual- ity of words which deserves attention in their selection is length. Whether addressed to the eye or to the ear, long words require more effort to present them to the mind for cognition than short ones. If they are ad- dressed to the eye, the mind must pass through a process of syllabication, in order to distinguish them from other forms but slightly different. This is, doubtless, an almost unconscious process with those who are accus- tomed to read much, but it is illustrated in the efforts of those who are beginning. Two words very nearly alike can be distinguished only by attention to the dif- ferentiating letter or letters, and this attention is necessary upon each syllable. If the word is addressed to the car, the same is true, with only a slight differ- ence. Every polysyllabic word has one primary accent which gives unity to the word, forcing upon the atten- tion by a vocal stress one syllable which serves as a nucleus around which other syllables hang as mere appendages. The syllables which are subordinate it * Francis* Translation. f Institutes, I, 5 LAWS OF FORM. 161 sound are not always subordinate in sense. In the word demonstrate) the specific meaning is determined, not by the accented syllable, but by a single letter la the very subordinate syllable de, and is distinguished from that of remonstrate only by the initial letter, d, instead of r Most polysyllabic words have several phonetic analogues from which they are distinguished only by a subordinate syllable. It is evident, there fore, that they do not economize the power of percep- tion as much as short words. (2) Difficulty of Remembering them. They often prove too much for the memory also, and thus render it impossible for the other interpreting powers to act, since there is nothing definite for them to act upon. Every one is sensible of this in reading, or in listening to a speech. We may overcome the difficulties pre- sented to the mind by one or two long words in a sen- tence, but when they are piled up in Johnsonian pro- fusion, although we may be familiar with each separate word, in their aggregate they are too heavy for the mind to carry ; they drop out one by one in the progress of the sentence, and at its close we are unable to say whether the proposition is true or false. 2. Advantages of Long Words. (1) Sound and Sense. While long words are less easily interpreted than short ones, there are grounds for their moderate use. Majesty is so connected with magnitude that the length of the word is often natu- rally suggestive of the grandeur of the conception, while little words connect pettiness with the thought. There is an " eternal fitness " in the adaptation of the length of words to the sense ; of which Pope says : 162 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. " A vile conceit in pompous words express'd Is like a clown in regal purple dress'd ; For different styles witli different subjects sort, As several garbs with country, town and court " * (2) Actual Economy. A more important consul eration is, that long words often express what couM IK- otherwise expressed only by a still longer compound, or an awkward circumlocution. It is, doubtless, simpler and more intelligible to say, " the expansibility of gas/' than to say, the "power of gas to be made to fill a greater space;" or, " the indestructibility of matter," than, " the want of power in matter to be put out of being." But long Words are often used not so much on account of their expressiveness, as from ostentation. They give a sonorous fullness to empty thoughts, and an outward majesty to vulgar sentiments. Beranger,f in one of his songs, not unhappily compares preten tious expressions to a big, gaudily dressed drum-major and those of modest simplicity to the quiet little Napo- leon at Austerlitz, clad in his plain gray coat. There is much force in this comparison, and the growing ten- dency to use "long- tailed words in -osity and -ation" merely for the sake of using them, shows a lamentable deficiency of good taste and good sense. 3. Value of Saxon Illustrated from Literature. Even the redemptive feature of their exquisitely musical arrangement and almost unequaled imagery, lias not preserved such writers as Sir Thomas Browne and Jeremy Taylor from neglect by a generation ol * Essay on Criticism, Part II. | Quoted by R. G. Wbite, in Words and their Uses f LAWS OF FORM. 163 readers who are unwilling to trace out such words as, " amorevalezza," " illaqueation," " immarcescible," a^d " salertiousness." Writers must pay the penalty of thoir ambition for " eigh teen-inch words/' as Hor- ace calls them, for the age is impatient with glossaries. The experience of writers and the philosophy of men- tal action confirm the observation of Lord Stanley, that " it is the plain Saxon phrase far more than any term be rrowed from Greek or Latin literature that, whether iii speech or writing, goes straightest and strongest to ^nen's heads and hearts." Yet it is not because words are Saxon that they are forceful ; it is rather because they are centers of significance without useless syllabic appendages. A Latin term is as expressive as any other if it be brief and familiar and well charged with mean ing. It is fashionable to decry all words of Latin origin, but, as Sir Francis Palgrave has said of our language, "the warp may be Anglo-Saxon, but the woof is Ko- man as well as the embroidery, and these foreign ma- terials have so entered into the texture, that, were they plucked out, the web would be torn to rags, unraveled and destroyed." * While, therefore, Saxon terms are often preferable on account of their brevity, Latin de- rivatives are not to be despised. III. INCLUSION. 1. Definition and Forms of Inclusion. By the inclusion of words is meant the extent of their application to objects, not with reference to their numbers, but their kind. Thus stone includes several * History of Normandy and England, Vol. I. 164 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC hundred species, as trap, limestone, quartz, etr., while vnyx includes only stones of a single kind. AY hen we remember that a sign which stands for, or includes, a gnat variety of things is as likely to suggest one as another of them, the question of inclusion becomes of the greatest importance to the economy of interpreting power. With reference to their inclusion, words may be divided into three classes : (1) those which refer to things as members of a species or of a genus, or Specific and Ge n eral Words; (2) those which, without a change of form, stand for entirely different classes of things, or Homonyms ; and (3) those which closely resemble other words, or Analogues. We shall consider these three classes separately. 2. Specific and General Words. (1) Difference between Specific and Genera. Words. We say very different things in the sentences, " Each star is poised on the finger of God ;" and "Every heavenly body is held in the hand of the Di- vine Being ;" yet, the two ideas are not so remote from each other that the one could not be put for the other. The general idea is the same in each, but the one is specific, the other general. In the first, the statement applies to the stars alone ; in the second, to all the heavenly bodies. In the first, -we specify the finger ; in the second the hand. In the first, God stands out as an unclassified and supreme personality ; in the second, He is classed among beings, and distinguished only by the attribute of divinity. The diffeience be- tween the two propositions does not lie in any figura- tive quality, for the figure is of the same kind in each LAWS OF FORM. 165 Yet, the former is plainly the more strikir.^ Xoiiu of expression. On what ground is the iirst more impres- sive : The answer is obvious : the first is more spc- cific. Tlie word "star" instantly suggests a definite image; but "every heavenly body" is vague, since it includes sun,, moon, and stars, and to an educated mind, comets and meteors. " Poised" presents to the mind a specific kind of holding, while " held" is capa ble of a number of specific senses, between which the mind is at a loss which to choose. "Finger " points out the exact part of the hand, while "hand" having a great number of parts, suggests a complex conception. " God" suggests all that the mind has associated with that specific name, as representing a person ; while "Divine Being " is a more diffused notion. Divesting the sentence entirely of its specific character, and put- ting the conception in a still more general form, we have, " All things are sustained by divine power ; " which is so general as not to present any image to the mind, and makes very little impression upon us. (2) Eeasons for the Superior Force of Specific Expressions. The more specific a statement, the less mental power is required to put it before the mind for cognition. The tendency of philosophic minds is to generalize, to reduce all truth to a formula which shall be the concentrated expression of the whole. The difficulty which the human mind has experienced in arriving at any such formula, and the conflicting notions of men. in all ages with respect to the truth or falsity of abstract statements, are sufficient evidence ol the obstacles to be overcome in interpreting such forms of expression. Generic names offer the amplest oppor- tunity for sophistry, because what may be true of some 166 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. members of a class may not be true of other membera of the same class. The Writer may have in mind one subdivision of a class of which his affirmation is true while the generic name may suggest to his reado* another subdivision of the class of which the affirma- tion^ not true. To many minds not habituated to abstract thought, abstract terms suggest no ideas what- ever, but men of all grades of intelligence know the names of specific objects, acts, and relations, and these are at once suggested by the appropriate sign. It is not true that the imagination is more severely taxed by specific and concrete than by general and abstract terms. A dog, a horse, a house, or the moon is pre- sented for cognition on the canvas of the imagination as soon as the verbal sign denoting it is uttered. Terms like animal, building, and heavenly orb are much more taxing on the powers, since they involve the presenta- tion to the mind, not of a thing, an act, or a relation, but of a conception which has no correlative in the actual world, but which is made up of qualities taken from all the individuals of the class which we have ever seen. Scarcely any uneducated man can define the word animal. He will almost certainly exclude man and bird and fish ; he will be sure to exclude oyster and, possibly, he tfill represent all animals as having four legs. The use of specific terms, when possible, obviates much of the difficulty in the interpreting mind, not exacting of it a laborious and probably futile use of the imagination in presenting for cognition a host of irrele- vant objects, which, if presented, would only embarrass and confuse the mind. (3) A Choice of Terms Possible. Those who are LAWS OF FORM. 167 fond of regarding language as the incarnation of thoughts, may consider these facts and principles of small value to style, on the ground that, with a given idea to be expressed, a writer has no choice between generic and specific words. On this question of option Dr. Wbately says : "It might be supposed at first sight, that an author has little or no choice on this point, but must employ either more or less general terms according to the objects he is speaking of. There is, however, in almost every case, great room for such a choice as we are speaking of ; for, in the first place, it depends on our choice whether or not we will employ terms more general than the subject requires ; which may almost always be done consistently with truth and propriety, though not with energy ; if it be true that a man has committed murder, it may correctly be asserted, that he has committed a crime : if the Jews were ' exterminated ' and ' Jerusalem demolished ' by ' Vespasian's arm}', 7 it may be said, with truth, that they were ' subdued ' by ' an enemy/ and their 'capital ' taken." * 3. Homonyms. (1) Allowable Homonyms. Of not less import- ance, but wholly distinct from the general or specific character of words, is their doi(Memeanin^_ It is an effort to make an economical use of a small verbal cap- ital that causes every language to contain many words with several distinct meanings. They begin, doubtless, in metaphor, but finally cannot be distinguished from plain speech. The use of words in a second or third gense affords very little embarrassment to an intelligent * Rhetoric-, Part III. Chap, ii., 1. 168 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. mind, unless the same word appears with more than one sense in the same sentence. The word head ma} mean a part of the body ; a chief or leader ; the large end of anything, as of a nail ; the place where the head should go, as the head of a bed ; the place of command or honor ; the intellect, as distinguished from the feel- ings ; the source, or fountain ; a division of a discourse ; the foam on a pot of beer ; and power, or force, as when Shakespeare says, " My lord, iny lord, the French have gathered head." We seldom mistake the meaning of such a word in. any of its uses, because the connection suggests the sense. (2) AmblgUOUS Homonyms. It is no 1 , so, how- ever, in all cases. Some words signify thins* ^ so nearly alike that we are at a loss to determine whj^h of two are intended. Pope, in his " Essay on Critic ; .sm," uses the word " wit " with at least seven different meanings, and for their shades of distinction we are dependent entirely on the context. The worst variety of the fault appears in the use of the same sound or form in more than one sense in the same connection. This is the principle of the pun and the most common form of fallacy. Its more playful bearing is illustrated in the following advertisement of a baker : "The subscriber, knowing that all men need bread, wishes the public to know that he also kneads it ; and he hopes that the best bred people in the city will find him the best bread man." When the double sense is obvious and is playfully intended, it is regarded as a pun, and passes for innocent wit ; but when the true sense is concealed and the coincidence of sound LAWS OF FORM. 169 or form misleads the understanding, it is called the fallacy of at/ibiguous middle, and becomes a potent in strument of the sophist. Thus in the syllogism, A. plain style is intelligible, This is a plain style ; therefore This style is intelligible ; if in the first premise the word " plain " is used as Dp- posed to obscure, and in the second as opposed to ornamental, the conclusion that the style in question is intelligible may not be correct, for while the absence of obscurity insures intelligibility, the absence of orna- ment does not in any way affect the intelligibility. The use of a word which in its connection is capa- ble of more than one meaning either confuses the thought or has no effect upon the mind. In Swift's expression, " A little after the reformation of Luther," if we really think, we shall be in doubt whether the Dean refers to Luther's personal abandonment of Rom- anism, or to the religious revolution of which he was the leading spirit. In the phrase " the love of God," " of" is ambiguous, since the expression may mean God's love to us, or our love to God. 4. Analogues. Words denoting different things, and yet likely to be confounded on account of their resemblance, may be subdivided into two classes : (1) those which are similar in form; and (2) those which are similar io meaning* (1) Analogues in Form. Mr. SMllaber has won his reputation as a humorist chiefly by his illustrations of the nonsense resulting from the confounding of words which resemble each other in form but not in 8 170 THE SCIENCE OF KHETOKIC. sense- Mrs. Partington is too well known to require a potation. Respectable writers sometimes confound words from trie same radical, but having different meanings ; as falsehood, falseness, ( > > > > > I I I I I I 03 cS cS o3 ri 03 l O 03 03

, 03 03 03 03 .2 .2 .2 .2 s 5 : 1 "i i a wT osT M 5 oT CD I I I I I I * . g g 8 2 ^ * ' * "' ~ 1 , tS fe ** ^ &B 12 g 03 03 S S S o 13 13 13 13 13 13 DO DQ DO CD t/2 CO CO O O O O O O O t ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ d s a a ^ a .a .s O 0303030303C303 fi PQ o LAWS OF FOim. 18a (c) What is technically called the splitting of par/ i cles is forbidden by the law of proximity of related parts Thus the sentence, "The army arrived at, but, foi numerous reasons, could not proceed into, the town ;" is better in the form, " The army arrived at the town, but for numerous reasons, could not proceed into it." When very few words intervene between the preposi- tion and its case, the objection is very slight, since the governing particle is not long suspended. 2) Obscurity. The misplacement of words some- times produces such obscurity that the sentence seems to be nonsense. Most cases of obscurity resulting from a violation of the" law of proximity are really instance? *bf ambiguity so absurd as to seem nonsensical. Lore 1 Bolingbroke says that "The minister who grows les& by his elevation, like a little statue on a mighty pedes- tal, will always have his jealousy strong about him.'' At first glance, we may take the phrase, "like a little statue on a mighty pedestal," with the last clause ; but the idea of a little statue on a pedestal with his jealousy strong about him is nonsensical. The obscurity is wholly removed by destroying the absurd ambiguity, thus : " The minister, who, like a little statue on a mighty pedestal, grows less by his elevation, will al- ways have his jealousy strong about him." The eru- dite Johnson amuses and puzzles his readers with the astonishing statement that, " This work in its full ex- tent, 'being now afflicted with the asthma, and finding the power of life gradually declining, he had no longer courage to undertake/' It was Savage who had the asthma, as the sequel shows, but we do not discover it until we are confused with the thought that th0 "work" was afflicted. 186 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. From these illustrations it seems plain that worth related in thought should be in close proximity. The reason is twofold : (1) the English language being malytic and not formal like the Latin, position decides what words are modified ; and (2) the longer the time Tvhicli elapses between any qualifying expression and the part qualified, the longer the mind must retain something which has yet no force. The more numer- ous the qualifying expressions, and the more widely they are separated from what they qualify, the greater the expenditure of mental power. (2) Parenthetical Expressions. While the time- relation demands proximity of related parts, the truth- relation often requires a separation of them to admit the introduction of a necessary explanation or limita- tion. The frequency of these parenthetical insertions depends on the character of the writer's mind, and their necessity on the nature of his thought. Some minds are troubled with an overwhelming flood of suggestion after the sentence is begun, without possess- ing sufficient generalizing power to seize upon the es- sential points and formulate general truths as they ad- vance. They will introduce innumerable conditions of time, place, and circumstance in the midst of every proposition. Fullness of matter without definiteness of form leads men to the extremity of involved expres- sion. It is indeed a work of art "to break up this huge fasiculus of cycle and epicycle into a graceful suc- cession of sentences, long intermingled with short, each modifying the other, and arising musically by links of spontaneous connection." A reviewer of Coleridge's "Aphorisms" has observed that the aphoristic stjle is an evasion of all the difficulties of composition. It is LAWS OF FOKM. 18? easy to state a general truth in brief compass. "The labor of composition begins when you have to put your separate threads of thought into a loom ; to weave them into a continuous whole ; to connect them; to intro- duce them ; to blow them out or expand them ; to carry them to a close." * The difficulty, when it is real, must evidently be disposed of in one of three ways : (1) by inserting the limitation, modification, or explanation, the Paren- thesis ; (2) by omitting the expression, the Ellipsis ; or (3) by putting what is omitted in another place, the Foot-note. 1) The Parenthesis. In the term "parenthesis" are included all expressions introduced between de- "pendent parts of a sentence, whether embraced by the marks of parenthesis or not. It is a very difficult mat- ter to decide just when these marks should be used, and when they should not. Many writers embrace by com- mas matter which others would enclose within marks of parenthesis. Dr. Whately compares this to a lame man's throwing away his crutches, to conceal his lame- ness. The Doctor maintains that this does not effect a cure. He, at least, hobbles along honestly, for some one has counted over four hundred parentheses in his small treatise on "Logic." Dr. Blair says on the use of parentheses: "On some occasions, these may have a spirited appearance ; as prompted by a certain vivacity of thought, which can glance happily aside as it is going along. But, for the most part, their effect is extremely bad ; being a sort of wheels within wheels ; sentences in the midst of sentences ; the perplexed method of disposing of some * De Quincey. 188 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. thought, which a writer wants art to introduce in its proper place." * It is clear that explanatory words and clauses must sometimes be introduced between related members. So every form of motion in machinery must be re- tarded by some friction. We may, however, reduce the waste of power to the minimum by making the suspensions as few and brief as possible without im- pairing the sense. Dr. Angus thinks parentheses are more endurable in poetry than in prose. His reason is that poetry has pleasure for its object and " in a pleasant stroll men more readily turn aside than when engaged in business pursuits." f It seems not to have occurred to him that men are more willingly called away from their work than from their enjoyment, which is quite as true, and quite as pertinent. The following lines from Word \ worth illustrate the damaging effects of parenthesr upon poetry : " My voice proclaims How exquisitely the individual mind (And the progressive powers, perhaps, no less Of the whole species) to the external world Is fitted. And how exquisitely too (Theme this but little heard of among men) The external world is fitted to the mind." The truth is, since thought admits of suspension without irreparable damage, while feeling is absolutely dependent upon uninterrupted continuity, poetry, just in proportion as it is true poetry, is affected by paren- thesis much more seriously than prose. * Rhetoric, Lecture XI. \ Hand-Book of the English Tongue. LAWS OF FORM. 189 2) EllipsiSi Ellipsis often contributes to idio- matic terseness of expression, and so becomes an im- portant aid to the economy of interpreting power. On the other hand, its improper use may introduce confu- sion into speech. Addison lias left some very awkward ellipses ; as in the sentence, " But in the temper of mind lie was then, he termed them mercies/' etc. Here he makes Sir Andrew Freeport to be a " temper of mind " when he intended to say "the temper of mind in which he was then." The same writer makes a similar blunder in another instance: "This was a reflection upon the* Pope's sister, who, before the promotion of her brother, was in those circumstances that Pasquin represented her." Was Pasquin her representative) or did he represent her as circum- stances 9 Although ellipsis is a source of confusion in cases where the sense is affected, it contributes to brevity where the construction alone requires that some- thing be supplied : as, " Who steals my purse steals trash." 3) Toot-Notes. Foot-notes often furnish an es- cape from both parenthesis and ellipsis. Such excres- cences are omnipresent reminders of the limitations of language as a medium of expression. Just in propor- tion as an author allows this sign of weakness to exhibit itself, in that proportion he publicly confesses his own insufficiency, or that of his medium. Yet, insuffi- ciency is likely to show itself somewhere. He who always writes short sentences, and puts his whole thought into them, must take a very short sweep of view. He who writes long ones, must tax the inter- preting power of his readers. He who constantly lets 190 THE SCIENCE OF KHETOKIC. his thoughts overflow his sentences, and drip down into foot-notes, virtually abandons an artistic solu- tion of the great problem of style for a coarse ex pedient. We are to consider the foot-note only AS its use is justified or condemned by our general law of style 3 the economy of interpreting power. It is surely very distracting to disturb the progress of thought, and make an excursion to the bottom of the page, or even to the end of the volume, for a scrap of information so alien to the text that it could not be incorporated in it. Although it would be a novelty in book making, it would be an excellent plan for an author who uses foot-notes to state in his preface for what purpose he uses them. If there are two classes of notes, it would be well to refer to each by distinct classes o, characters. If some were references to other books, and others gave details not appropriate for the continuous text, it would be easy to refer to the first class by num- bers, and to the second by the ordinary reference marks. The critical spirit of modern times and the wide range of literature require exact references for quotations and opinions, and the foot-note, unnecessary to the ancients and unused by them, is a convenient contrivance for meeting this demand. Such references however, need not interfere with the continuity of reading, provided it is understood in the beginning for what purpose they are used. 3. The Grammatical Relations of Words. Position is often determined by grammatical prin- ciples. These are, of course, to be strictly observed. ex3ept where a departure from precise grammatical LAWS OF FORM. 19] order conduces greatly to some more important element of effect, as in transpositions for emphasis. With the particulars of grammar we have nothing to do here, aa grammatical propriety is assumed. III. THE RELATION OF WORDS TO THE IDEA AS A WHOLE. We have now to consider words in their relation to the idea as a whole. Here again we find it necessary to view words (l)'in their time-relation, and (2) in their truth-relation. 1. The Time- relation of Words to the Whole Idea. The time-relation of words to the idea as a whole determines the proper length , of a sentence. If we could discover how great a number of wor^ the mind can contain at once, we might hope to name the maxi rnurn allowable length of a sentence. This, however is impossible, since much depends upon the cultivatior of the mind addressed, and much upon the simplicity or complexity of sentential structure. It has been ob- served that some speakers can frame a very long period in which the verb comes last, without losing the nomi- native. Others cannot proceed far without losing sight of it. Cases differ so widely that no definite rule can be laid down. ^Oilg-SC.ntences_are not generally objectionable be- cause of their length ; but more frequently because of a faulty arrangement. Without the.n majestic mo^^e- m en t, full description, climax, variety, and accurately modified thought, cannot be expressed. A succession of short sentences becomes monotonous, unless relieved 192 THE SCIEKCE OF RHETORIC. by unusual sprightliness of utterance or epigrammatic meaning. The reading classes have now become so accustomed to long sentences that, if these are clear, well arranged, and grow as they advance, they occasion little difficulty in the mind of a reader. Unquestion- ably, more interpreting power is required to translate into thought a long sentence than a short one ; but generally less power is needed than would be required to obtain possession of the same thought if expressed in a succession of short sentences. When this is the case economy of power does not preclude the use of long sentences. A statement requiring great modifica- tion in order to ^nake it appear true if put in a short sentence and afterward modified by a series of others, would often so savor of paradox as to evoke the oppo- sition of the reader ; and then more mental power would be expended in overcoming this antagonism than would be required in the interpretation of a sen- tence containing a series of conditions before the full enunciation of the conclusion. A strange stupidity nas been exhibited in the wholesale condemnation of long 'sentences on the ground of length alone. The principal difference between one long sentence and a series of short ones together expressing the same ideaT" is, that in the long sentence the relation of the parts, temporal, causal, or illative. is expressly stated ; while in a series of short ones it is left to be inferred. Holding this in mind, it is plain that the long sentence with a proper arrangement, may often have the advan tage over a series of short ones. The principle which must always determine the length is the idea to be expressed. How this affects the case will present!) appear, LA AYS OF FORM. 193 2. The Truth-relation of Words to the Whole Idea. The truth-relation of words requires us to consider (1) the power of words to indicate collateral and suc- ceeding ideas, or, suggcstiveness ; and (2) the effect of words upon the whole expression, or, unity. (1) Suggestiveness. Suggestiveness relates (l) to the Development of the idea ; and (2) to Collaterals associated more or less loosely. 1) The Development of the Idea.- Mr. Landor makes Phocian say that " Thucydides and Demosthenes lay it down as a rule, never to say what they have rea- son to suppose would occur to the auditor and reader in consequence of anything said before ; knowing that ^very one is more pleased and more easily led by us /vhen we bring forward his thoughts indirectly and im- perceptibly, than when we elbow them and outstrip diem with our own." * Mr. De Quincey thus speaks of Burke's composition : "Under his treatment every truth, be it what it may, every thesis of a sentence, grows in the very act of unfolding it. Take any sentence you please from Dr. Johnson, suppose, and it will be found to contain a thought good or bad fully preconceived. Where as in Burke, whatever may have been the preconcep- tion, it receives a new determination or inflection at every clause of the sentence. Some collateral adjunct of the main proposition, some temperament or restraint, Borne oblique glance at its remote affinities, will invari- ably be found to attend the progress of his sentences like the spray from a waterfall, or the scintillations * Imaginary Conversation* L 9 194 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. from the iron under the blacksmith's hammer. Hence, while a writer of Dr. Johnson's class seems only to looi back upon his thoughts, Burke looks forward and does in fact advance and change his own station con- currently with the advance of the sentence." * The facts noticed by these critics receive an expla- nation from our general law. When a sentence is so framed as to render it possible for the mind of the in- terpreter to outrun the speaker or writer in reacning its conclusion, the mental action is not truly interpre- tive but prophetic. The mind is not occupied with what is said, but with what is to be said. The ease with which this is done leaves a momentary vacuum in the attention, affording opportunity for the intrusion ol some side issue which only diverts the mind from the leading topics, and wastes its powers on irrelevant matters. This is the experience of those who listen to sermons chiefly consisting of Scriptural quotations with which they are familiar. Either sleep ensues, or more interesting subjects crowd upon the attention and lead the thoughts astray. Thus the interpreting powers are not sufficiently exercised to bring the ideas fairly before the mind. 2) Collateral Ideas, The suggestion of collateral ideas is an important element in style. There are many associated ideas which are to be avoided, and many which should be suggested. Consummate skill is necessary in the management of this suggestive prop erty of style. Mr. Spencer says on this point : ' To select from the sentiment, scene, or event de- scribed, those typical elements which carry many others along with them ; and so, by saying a few things buj * Essay on Rhetoric, Note 6. LAWS OF FORM. 195 suggesting man} 7 , to abridge the description ; is the secret of producing a vivid impression. An extract from Tennyson's ( Mariana ' will illustrate this : All day within the dreamy house, The door upon the hinges creaked, The blue fly sung i' the pane ; the mouse Behind the moidering wainscot shrieked, Or from the crevice peered about. "The several circumstances here specified bring with them many appropriate associations. Our atten- tion is rarely drawn by the. buzzing of the fly in the window, save when every thing is still. While the in- mates are moving about the house, mice usually keep silence ; and it is only when extreme quietness reigns that they peep from their retreats. Hence each of the facts mentioned, presupposing numerous others, calls up these with more or less distinctness ; and revives the feeling of dull solitude with which they are con- nected in our experience. Were all these facts detailed instead of suggested, the attention would be so frit- tered away that little impression would be produced. Similarly in other cases. Whatever the nature of the thought to be conveyed, this is the key to success." * (2) Unity. The subject of Unity naturally falls under two divisions : (1) Unity of Idea ; and (2) Uni- ty of Structure. 1) Unity of Idea. If a sentence express more than one principal idea, simple or complex, unity is violated. It is not meant that any part of a sentence may not be indefinitely expanded ; for, so long as ho* * Philosophy of 196 THE SCIEKCE OF KIIETORIC. mogeneity is retained, any sentence may be incredibly extended. Hazlitt is said to have written a sentence of one hundred and ten lines, in which unity is not violated. ]STo matter how short the sentence is, aa loon as heterogeneous ideas appear, unity vanishes. In die following short sentence from Ferguson, we have an account of Cato's death, vigor, age, justice, and philanthropy, all in one confused period : f ' Cato died in the full vigor of life, under fifty ; he was naturally warm and affectionate in his temper, comprehensive and impartial, and strongly possessed with the love of mankind." The principle of unity grows out of the tendency to contemplate conceptions as individuals. Distinctness of view results from looking at one thing'at once, and by itself. Unity of idea in the sentences of a para- graph is what clearness of outline is in a picture. If the outlines are dim, all the objects in the picture are blended and confused ; so the want of unity in a sen- tence renders every image indistinct. This indistinct- ness generally results from one of five causes : (1) changing the subject ; (2) changing the scene ; (3) crowding together things unconnected ; (4) long par- entheses ; and (5) tacking on supplementary clauses. In every such case there is an obvious waste of inter- preting power. 2) Unity of Structure. In considering sentences with reference to their unity of structure, it is neces sary to have a classification of them according to theii structure. Classified on this principle, sentences are : (a) those which suspend the sense to the end, or, Peri- odic; (b) those which give a completed meaning at more than one point, or, Loose; and (c) those whose mem- LAWS OF FORM. 19? bers are similar in form and contrasted in meaning, oj Balanced. (a) The periodic structure holds the attention tc the end of the sentence, but, if it be long, requires I hi suspension of the sense until a part may be lost While it is conducive to unity of idea, its advantage ia relative. It requires an active mind to collect and ar- range a number of preliminaries, and retain them until the period is closed. " Just as it may cost a strong man less effort to carry a hundred-weight from place to place at once, than by a stone at a time ; so, to ar> active mind it may be easier to bear along all the qual- ifications of an idea and at once rightly form it when named, than first imperfectly to conceive such an idea and then cafry back to it, one by one, the details and limitations afterward mentioned. While conversely, as for a boy, the only possible mode of transferring a hundred- weight, is that of taking it in portions ; so, for a weak mind, the only possible mode of forming a compound conception may be that of building it up by carrying separately its separate parts."* Hence we infer that the periodic structure is best adapted to short sentences, and to cultivated hearers. (b) In a language so little inflectional as ours, the touse sentence must be of frequent occurrence. JJb is less favorable to unity than the periodic, since the ad- ditions may easily lapse into digressions. The inter pretation of a loose sentence affects the mind as the body is affected by the pursuit of game which is every mo- ment feigning to halt, but still runs on. If the game be worth catching, the chase is interesting, bui both provoking and exhausting. * Spencer. i98 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. (c) The balanced sentence possesses several impor- tant excellences. It is a kind of ledger-page in mini ature, on which the debit and credit are put before the mind at once. Its force is felt in such a series of sen- tences as this : " The style of Dryden is capricious and varied, that of Pope is cautious and uniform. Dryden obeys the motions of his own will, Pope constrains his mind to his own rule of composition. Dryden is sometimes vehement and rapid, Pope is always smooth uniform, and level. Dryden's page is a natural field, rising into inequalities, and diversified by the varied exuberance of abundant vegetation, Pope's is a velvet lawn, shaven by the scythe, and leveled by the roller." Both the memory and the imagination are aided by the balanced structure. The principle f contrast, which will be explained in another place, renders it a means of economizing mental power. The principle of variety, so important in style, allows the moderate use of each form of structure, and an ingenious combination of all displays much higher attainments in art than a slavish devotion to any single model. The principal advantage accruing from the study of sentential structure is, that we may know the peculiar excellences of each form, and be able to apply that knowledge when we wish to make our words a expressive as possible. No writer or speaker can spend a long time upon every sentence, yet, in elaborate pro- ductions, where care and labor are nothing compared with the result aimed at, these principles will be of practical value. IV. THE COMBINATION OF SENTENCES. We have now considered the various condition affecting the structure of the sentence. " But it is in LA\VS OF FORM. 199 the relation of sentences, in what Horace terms theit *junctv.rd) that the true life of composition resides. The mode of their~7/.r?/,s, the way in which one sen- tence is made to arise out of another, and to prepare the opening for a third, this is the great loom in which the textile process of the moving intellect -reveals itself and prospers. Here the separate clauses of a period become architectural parts, aiding, relieving, supporting one another/'' * in the progress of a paragraph, two tilings jire neces- sary : first, that each sentence express some idea not expressed in the preceding ; and, secondly, that the idea have some relation to the preceding idea. Al- though not necessarily opposed to each other, these two conditions are not always easily fulfilled at the same time, since progress in discourse is a movement away from the ideas already expressed, and yet these preceding ideas must be kept in mind in order to show the connection. Interpreting power is wasted when the connection between successive statements is obscure, and also when there is a full repetition of an idea al- ^ready expressed. Thejhighest excellence consists in a judicious yielding to each condition. This may be done in several ways. 1. Progressive Development. All great writers employ a progressive development ir the succession of their sentences. Thus Carlyle does not say, "Nothing dies, nothing can die," and then leap to the conclusion that, since God knows our con- versation, a Boswell need not shrink from reporting it * De QuiDcey, Essay on Language 200 THE SCIENCE OF KHETOUJC. He docs not leave even so narrow a chasm to cross, but develops his thought by increments : " Nothing dies, nothing can die. No idlest word thou sprak est but is a seed cast into Time, and grows through all Eternity The Recording Angel, consider it well, is no fable, but thetrues\ of truths ; the paper tablet thou canst burn ; of the ' iron leaf ' there is no burning. Truly, if we can permit God Almighty tc note down our conversation, thinking it good enough for Him, any poor Boswell need not scruple to work his will with it." Here the general statement that nothing dies is made to apply specifically to 'words ; the deathlessness of a word is represented under the image of a seed ; the agent of preservation is brought to view by the mention of the recording angel; the means are ex- plained by the allusion to the " iron leaf. 77 It is then an easy step to the assumption that God notes down our conversation. 2. Explicit Reference. The explicit reference is a means of economizing interpreting power in the progress. of discourse. It consists in a running reference to antecedent state- ments. De Quincey is especially distinguished for its felicitous use. The following illustrates it : "If we do submit to this narrow valuation of style, founded JH the interest of the subject to which it is ministerial, still, even on that basis, we English commit a capital blunder which the French earnestly and sincerely escape ; for, assuming that the thought* involve the primary interest, still it must make all the difference in the world to the success of those thoughts, whether they are treated in the way best fitted to expel the doubts or darkness that may have settled on them." The explicit references are marked by italics. In LAWS OF FORM. 201 this example, they are more numerous than necessary, Skillfully used, they often obviate the ambiguous em- ployment of the pronoun. When the pronoun is used for reference, the uncertainty of the true antecedent may require a closer attention and a more frequent re* current movement of the mind than most readers are willing to bestow. 3. Necessity of a Theme. Since the placing of one sentence after another does not constitute progress in discourse, unless the nexus between the succeeding parts is obvious, it is important that sentences should rise out of each other. True progress in discourse involves a constant move- ment, either toward or away from some proposition or state of feeling in the writer's mind. Hence, j^very paragraph should have its theme. This may be stated at the beginning, and from it as a starting point the writer may make an excursion, gathering up facts, illustrations, and arguments, with which to enrich it- or it may be withheld, and these materials may be first collected, and the theme deduced from them. But, in any case, there must be movement, and movement in a given direction, or there is a waste of interpreting power. 4. Value of Analysis. Not only every paragraph, but every group of para- graphs should have a theme^ A progressive and jiethodical analysis 'should, therefore, precede, every synthetic eiloit. "It is from fault of plan," saya Buff on, "it is from not having reflected upon his sub- ject, that a man of mind finds himself embarrassed, and 202 THE SCIEKCE OF RHETORIC. knows not where to commence to write. He perceives at once a great number of ideas ; and, us he lias aeither compared nor subordinated them, nothing de- termines him to prefer some to others ; he still remains x perplexity." * * Discours sur le Style. THE ECONOMY OF INTERPRETING POWER IN FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE. 1. Definition of Figures. A FIGURE of speech is an expression in which one thing is said in the form of another related to it. Figures are usually divided into figures of orthography, etymology, syntax, and rhetoric. The first three classes are grammatical, and will not be treated here. All figures not grammatical may be classed as rhetori- cal, and will be treated in detail. Quintilian's distinc- tion between tropes and figures is of no practical value. 2. Laws of Association. In treating of a train of thought, it was stated that deas are associated in the mind according to certain fixed pwncipies, and that their succession in the mind depends upon that association. " Philosophers, having observed that one thought determined another to arise, and that this determination only took place between thoughts which stood in certain relations to each other, set themselves to ascertain and classify the kinds of correlation under which this occurred, in order to gen- eralize the laws by which the phenomenon of Repro- duction was governed. Accordingly, it has been established, that thoughts are associated, that is, are 204 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. able to excite each other : (1) if coexistent, or imme- diately successive in time ; (2) if their objects are conterminous or adjoining in space ; (3) if they hold the dependence to each other of cause and effect, or of mean and end, or of whole and part ; (4) if they stand in a relation either of contrast or of similarity ; (5) if they are the operations of the same power, or of differ- ent powers conversant about the same object ; (6) if their objects are the sign and the signified ; or (7) even if their objects are accidentally denoted by the same sound."* 3. These Laws Reduced 16 Three. These conditions were reduced by Aristotle to three and may be summed up in one, that " Thoughts that have once coexisted in the mind are afterward associ- ated." Eor our purpose, however, Aristotle's three- fold division will be most convenient. We shall, then, gard these laws of association as three : (1) Resem- blance ; (2) Contiguity; and (3) Contrast. That is, conceptions having resemblance, contiguity, or con- trast, are associated together. 4. Use of these Laws, These being the tracks, so to speak, on which all minds run, it is evident that we may determine from them both why figures improve style, and what figures are advantageous. (1) Why Figures Improve Style. In all minds, objects, acts and relations are associated by resem* blance, contiguity, and contrast ; that is, objects which resemble each other, are contiguous to each other, * Sir Wm. Hamilton's Metaphysics. LAWS OF FOHM. 205 or are contrasted with each other, mutually sug- gest each other. Some names are more specific and concrete than others associated with them through resemblance, contiguity, or contrast in the objects. Hence interpreting power may sometimes bo economized by selecting from associated objects, acts, and relations, the most specific and concrete. This is done by figures, in which the general and the abstract ai'e expressed in the form of the specific and concrete. They are, therefore, to style what diagrams are to Geometry, experiments to Chemistry, or maps to Geog- raphy. They render shadowy abstractions visible and tangible, and so economize interpreting power. (2) What Figures are Advantageous, In order to determine wliat figures are conducive to this end, we must consider these laws of association separately, and note in what manner they may be applied to economize interpreting power. We proceed to do this :n the following sections. SECTION I. FIGURES FOUNDED ON RESEMBLANCE. Figures founded on resemblance may be divided into two main classes : (1) those in which the resem- blance is stated^ and (2) those in which the resem- blance is implied. In the first division falls SIMILE, which explicitly states the resemblance.* In the sec- * Dr. Campbell's distinction between Simile and Comparison is of small practical value. He says : " The difference is tlus: Simile is no more than a comparison suggested in a word 01 206 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. ond are METAPHOR, in which the implied resemblance ia to vividly conceived as to be taken for identity ; PER- bOXiFiCATiox, in which the resemblance of an inanimate object to a person is so forcibly felt as to be assumed and ALLEGORY, in which the resemblance is made to extend to a number of details. These figures will now be considered in separate divisions. I. SIMILE. 1. Forms of Simile. Simile assumes four forms, i. e., it may be founded on (1) direct resemblance ; (2) resemblance of causes , (3) resemblance of effects ; or (4) resemblance of ratios. (1) Direct Resemblance. Direct resemblance, contrary to a natural presupposition, is the leastjcom- mon and the least useful of the four kinds of simile. The reason of this isflbhat, in order to assist the mind in forming a conception, the objects compared must belong to different classes ; but, if of different classes, they are likely to have no direct similitude. This ia not always so. Tennyson thus describes a miller : " Him, like the working bee in blossom dust, Blanched with his mill, they found." Here there is a direct resemblance between blossom dust and the flour on the miller's clothing, yet the two objects compared belong to different classes. (2) Resemblance of Causes. The resemblance two. Comparison is a simile circumstantiated and included in one or more separate sentences." Philosophy of Rlwtorw. LAWS OF FORM. 207 of causes is more common than the direct resemblance. An illustration is furnished byDryden : " I scarcely understand my own intent ; But, silk-worm like, so long within have wroaght That I am lost in iny own web of thought.' 1 If we inquire of what resemblance is here predi- cated, the answer is, not of the poet and a silk-worm, for there is no resemblance between them, but of the internal process of both poet and silk-worm. A mode of intellectual life is compared to a mode of insect life, in order to show a resemblance between the cause of the poet's bewilderment and the cause of the insect's entanglement. As the internal operations of the in- sect result in its own entanglement, so the reflections of the poet result in his bewilderment. (3) Resemblance of Effects. Nothing is more evident than that widely different objects may produce similar effects upon the mind. Few things are more unlike in themselves than painting and poetry, stat- uary and music, yet we often hear allusions to " word- painting," and hear statuary defined as " marble music." All art has* a common basis. "The fountain from which all the fine arts flow is precisely the same. It is the power of creating in our own minds images of beauty or sublimity." Hence the resemblance of effects is a fertile source of simile. Mr. Longfellow's simile in the following lines 1 ship and a pasture ; why and when stars go out tjj * Institutes, Book VIII, III., 73. liWS OP FOftM. 211 grass ; and wherefore having so gone, they should feed on ships and young ladies, these are questions of in- soluble mystery." * (3) Simpler Objects. It is plain that simile jnost economizes mental power when it compares the com- plex to the simple, the mental to the physical. Aris- Totle f cites Plato's comparison of the populace to "a pilot strong, but rather deaf." Here the complex idea of the power and folly of a mob is reduced to a simple one under the figure of a single person guiding a vessel, strong enough to move it at his will, but deaf to the sound of breakers and of warning. The sacrifice of one's self for the benefit of others, and the gradual loss of strength in their service, is a moral conception some- what complex in its nature; but Antisthenes beautifully concreted it into a picture when he likened Cephisido- tus the slim to frankincense, for "in its consumption it spreads universal delight." (4) The Position of Parts in a Simile. The posi- tion of parts in a simile is important to its effect. Both Aristotle and Quintilian overlook this. The former says nothing on the subject, while the latter gives no principle as a guide, simply declaring that the illus- trated or the illustrative member may come first, as circumstances direct. J Mr. Spencer has enunciated a valuable law for the position of the parts of a simile. "As whatever qualifies should precede whatever is qualified, ^orcejvillje-neniny be gained by placing the timile [illustrative member] before the object to which it is applied. That this arrangement is the best, ma) * Essays. f Rhetoric, Book III, Chap, iv., 3 J Institutes, Book VIII, III., 77. 212 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. bo seen in the following passage from the ' Lady of the Lake : f As wreath of sn >w, on mountain breast, Slides from the rock that gave it rest, Poor Ellen glided from her stay, And at the monarch's feet she lay.' " Inverting these couplets will be found to diminish the effect considerably. There are cases, however, even where the simile is a simple one, in which it may with advantage be placed last ; as in these lines from Alexander Smith's ' Life Drama : ' 4 1 see the future stretch All dark and barren as a rainy sea.' " The reason for this seems to be, that so abstract an idea as that attaching to the word 'future,' does not present itself to the mind in any definite form ; mid hence the subsequent arrival at the simile [illus- trative member] entails no reconstruction of the thought. ' ' Such,, however, are not the only cases in which this order is the more forcible. As the advantage of put- ting the simile before the object depends on its being carried forward in the mind to assist in forming an image of the object ; it must happen that if, from length or complexity, it cannot be so carried forward, the advantage is not gained. The annexed sonnet from Coleridge is defective from this cause : 4 As when a child, on some long winter's night, Affrighted, clinging to its grandam's knees, With eager wond'ring and perturb'd delight Listens strange tales of fearful dark decrees, LAWS OF FORM. 213 Muttered to wretch by necromantic spell ; Or of those hags who at the witching time Of murky midnight, ride the air sublime, And mingle foul embrace with fiends of hell ; Cold horror drinks its blood I Anon the tear More gentle starts, to hear the beldame tell Of pretty babes, that loved each other dear, Murdered by cruel uncle's mandate fell : Ev'n such the shiv'ring joys thy tones impart, Ev'n so, thou, Siddons, meltest my sad heart/ "Here, from the lapse of time and accumulation of circumstances, the first part of the comparison is for- gotten before its application is reached ; and requires re-reading. Had the main idea been first mentioned less effort would have been required to retain it, and to modify the conception of it into harmony with the comparison, than to remember the comparison and re- fer back to its successive features for help in forming the final image. " II. METAPHOR. 1. Nature of Metaphor. In the metaphor, resemblance is not formally ex- pressed, but so emphatically implied as to affirm an identity of the objects compared. Thus Byron so vividly realized the resemblance between the swaying of a suspended ball and man's oscillation between joy and sorrow, as to identify the two in his thought in the beautiful line in which he says of man, " Thou pendulum between a smile and tear." 214 THE SCIENCE OP RHETORIC. 2. Superiority of Metaphor to Simile. It is apparent that the metaphor surpasses the simile in fpro& This is owing partly to its greater brevity, and partly to the higher degree of unity in metaphorical expression. Dr. Whately * points out the feebleness of the simile as compared with the meta- phor in the following expressions : " Cromwell treated the laws with the same contempt as a man does any thing which he tramples under his feet ;" and " Crom- well trampled the laws under his feet." He gives no explanation of the cause of the superiority of the meta- phor. The cause seems to be, that the metaphor is brief and suggests a simple imagej while the simile is long and presents a complex image, Cromwell, and a shadowy somebody who is trampling an unknown something under his feet. 3. Metaphor Based on Analogy. Most metaphors are based on analogy, or resem olance of relations. A single illustration will suffice There is no direct resemblance between a lock in a ca nal, and a poet, yet Lowell very forcibly says of Dry den : "He was the lock that let our language down from its point of highest poetry to its level of easiest and most gentle flowing prose." The resemblance here implied is between the rela- tion of the lock to the water level, and Dryden's rela- tion to style. If this obvious principle were more widely understood, many a stupid criticism would be deprived of its sting. * Rhetoric, Part III. Chap. ii. 8. LAWS OF FORM. 215 4. Laws of Metaphor. Some important laws for the use of metaphor arc derived from the economy of interpreting power. * (1) Necessity of Clearness. Since, from the na- ture of metaphor, the resemblance is merely implied it should be easily perceived. " It would be harsh and obscure to say, ' the stranded vessel lay shaken by the waves/ meaning ' the wounded chief tossing on the bed of sickness ;' it is therefore necessary to state the resemblance." * When the case does not admit of pure metaphor, but would also have an air of clumsiness if simile were employed, an ingenious device is to unite the two figures in the same expression. Sir Walter Scott furnishes examples of a simile explained by a series of metaphors, and a metaphor explained by a Bimile. He says of a morbid fancy, " like the bat of Indian brakes, Her pinions fan the wound slie makes, And soothing thus the dreamer's pain, She drinks the life-blood from the vein." " Like "introduces a comparison, and the last three lines are explanatory metaphors. Again, " They melted from the field as snow When streams are swollen, and south winds blow, Dissolves in silent dew." "Here "melted" is a metaphor, explained by the simile introduced by "as." (2) Blending Plain and Figurative Language. Although two figures of cognate import may be thus united in the same expression, confusion results from * Whately. 216 THE SCIEKCE OF RHETORIC. the blending of plain and figurative language. Shake gpearc has exemplified the fault in these lines : " This precious stone set in the sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall, Or as a moat defensive to a house Against the envy of less happier lands." A moat might be a useful defense against an army } but would not be a protection against envy. , (3) Mixing Metaphors. The mixing of metaphors is a common but gross fault, as when the excited advo- cate exclaimed : " I smell a mouse ; it is floating in the air; but we will nip it in the bud." This fault is pointed out with a refinement of sarcasm in the fol- lowing passage of the "Behearsal :'* "Physician. Sir, to conclude, the place you fill has more than amply exacted the talents of a wary pilot ; and all these threatening storms, which, like impreg- nate clouds, hover o'er our heads, will, when they are but grasped by the eye of reason, melt into fruitful showers of blessing on the people. Bayes. Pray, mark that allegory. Is not that good ? Johnson. Yes, that grasping of a storm with the eye is admirable ! " (4) Straining Metaphors. A metaphor loses its value as an aid to interpretation if it is strained beyond its clear and natural application. This is so obvious as not to require illustration. (5) Concrete Metaphors, The metaphor is most useful when it embodies the abstract, intangible, or intellectual in the similitude of the concrete, visible, and material. The whole vocabulary of spiritual and LAWS OF FOKM. 217 moral discourse is derived from roots primarily signifi- cant of physical phenomena. As an example of the exhaustless fund of illustration to be found in the ru- iations of material things, observe how two widely dif- feient notions have been expressed under the similitude of refraction. Burke furnishes the first case : "These metaphysic rights entering into common life, like rays of light which pierce into a dense medi- um, are by the laws of nature refracted from their straight line. Indeed, in the gross and complicated mass of human passions and concerns, the primitive rights of man undergo such a variety of refractions and reflections, that it becomes absurd to talk of them as if they continued in the simplicity of their original direction." Here is another use of the laws of refraction by Herbert Spencer : " The white light of truth, in traversing the many- sided soul of the poet, is refracted into iris-hued poetry." 5. The Value of Metaphor. The skillful use of metaphor is the secret charm of many a famous pen. It not only lends grace and at- tractiveness to style through images of beauty, but it also economizes interpreting power. If metaphors were merely ornaments, as many rhetorical writers seem to regard them, they would have no more place in a composition than gold jewels would have in the nose of a philosopher. They might be admired by the un- tutored barbarian ; but to writers of sense and refine ment they would be tokens of an unnatural taste, Bu metaphors offer the richest mine in which genius ma) seek for unappropriated treasure. Its treasures arc 218 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. absolutely inexhaustible. The resemblances of ratioa- iiave no limits which finite faculties can ever reach. They lie all about us, in every department of creation, from the flower to the star. The dull soul does not perceive them until genius spreads them before us in their beauty and freshness. When America's Milton and Shakespeare come, they will not go with the penny- a-liners to Homer and Virgil for their imagery, but to the hidden quarries of nature, and from their intermin- able depths they will bring materials for castles of diction as grand as the old-time structures from which others steal the moss-grown stones. III. PERSONIFICA TION. -., the Nature and Origin of Personification. Personification consists in attributing personality^ 01 some of the attributes of personality, to an inanimate object, because of a fancied resemblance to a living be- ing. The philosophy of this figure leads us far into the mysteries of mythology, and throws a flood of light upon the genesis of myths. To the inhabitants of the infant world, every thing was animated with an indi- vidual life. " We cannot realize that sentiment with which the eye of antiquity dwelt on these sights of na- ture. To us all is law, order, necessity. We calculate the refractory power of the atmosphere, we measure the possible length of the dawn in every climate, and the rising of the sun is to us no greater surprise than the birth of a child. But if we could believe again, that there was in the sun a being like our own, that in the dawn there was a soul open to human sympathy, if we could bring ourselves to look for a moment upon LAWS OJ? FOKM. 219 these powers as personal, free, and adorable, how dif- ferent would be oar i'eelings at the blush of day. 7 " * But prior to reflection all motion is the product of will, and will implies personality. Consciousness teaches us that our movements emanate from a volition, radiate from a conscious subject, and, before the rise of natural philosophy, it would be easy for man to people the earth, the sea, and the sky with personalities like his own. Thus, say a certain school of comparative my- thologists, every word was a personifying metaphor, and in time, its significance fading from memory, it was supposed to designate a real being a hero or a god. "In the ancient poetical and proverbial language of Elis," says Miiller, " people said, ' Selene [moon] loves and watches Endymion [setting sun'], instead of 6 the sun is setting and the moon is rising ;' ' Selene kisses Endymion into sleep,' instead of, c it is night.' These expressions remained long after their meaning had ceased to be understood ; and as the human mind js generally as anxious for a reason as ready to invent one, a story arose by common consent, and without any personal effort, that Endymion must have been a young lad loved by a young lady Selene." f 2. Personification Natural to Man. This poetic instinct of the earliest men has not wholly died out in the human breast. A spark still survives, and as the feelings are aroused, " And as imagination bodies forth The form of things unknown," * Max Miiller's Chips from a German Workshop, IL f Chips, ii 220 THE SCIENCE OF KHETOKIC. it touches abstractions with its Promethean fire, and breathes into their nostrils the breath of life. Thus Wordsworth gives personality to age : " Age! twine thy brows with fresh spring flowers, And call a f rain of laughing Hours, And bid them dance, and bid them sing ; And thou, too, mingle in the ring 1 " 3. Personification in Oratory. But not in poetry alone is personification a natural form of expression. It vivifies the grandest oratory. Curran, speaking of Irish independence, says, " I sai by her cradle, and I have followed her hearse.' 7 Fired with the noble theme of freedom, he conceives of uni- versal emancipation as a living genius, presiding over British soil, and clothed with all the majesty of beneficent power : "I speak in the spirit of British law, which makes liberty commensurate with and inseparable from the British soil, which proclaims even to the stranger and the sojourner, the me'nent he sets his foot on British earth, that the soil on which he treads is holy, and con- secrated by the genius of Universal Emancipation. No matter in what language his doom may have been pro- nounced; no matter what complexion incompatible with freedom an Indian or an African sun may have burned upon him ; no matter in what disastrous battle his liberties may have been cloven down ; no matter with what solemnities he may have been devoted on the altar of slavery, the moment he touches the sacred toil of Britain, the altar and the god sink together in the dust, his soul walks abroad in her own majesty, his body swells beyond the chains that burst from around LAWS OF FORM. 221 him, and he stands redeemed, regenerated, aaid dis- enthralled by the irresistible genius of Universal Emancipation." A single sentence like this will impress the sub- limity of a sentiment more forcibly than a folio ol abstract propositions logically deduced from an axiom. 4. Forms of Personification. Two forms of personification may be distinguished : (1) that which ascribes personality to inanimate ob- jects ; and (2) that which attributes to an inanimate object some quality of a living being. (1) Personality Ascribed, The first form is likely to seem forced except in the highest flights of poetry and oratory. Milton uses it with power in describing he grief of nature over the sin of Eve : " Earth felt the wound ; and Nature from her seat Sighing, through all her works gave signs of woe, That all was lost." Wordsworth thus invests religion with the terrors of an unnatural maternity : " Sacred Religion, mother of form and fear, Dread arbitress of mutable respect New rites ordaining when the old are wrecked, Or cease to please the fickle worshiper." Shelley breathes a soul into the cloud which makes it seem almost a sister : I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers From the seas and the streams ; I bear light shade for the leaves when laid In their noonday dVeaias 222 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. From my wings are shaken the dews that waken The sweet buds every one, When rocked to rest on their mother's breast, As she dances about the sun. I wield the flail of the lashing hail And whiten the green plains under ; And then again I dissolve it in rain, And laugh as I pass in thunder." (2) dualities of Life Attributed. The second form of personification is more common, and pervades all animated speech and writing. While it does not affirm personality, it implies the possession of life by inanimate objects. It appears in such expressions as, "the thirsty soil/' " ravenous famine," " angry tern pest," and the like. What unutterable loneliness in these lines by Leigh Hunt : " A ghastly castle that eternally Holds its blind visage out to the lone sea." IV. ALLEGORY. 1. The Nature of Allegory. Allegory is commonly defined as "a continued metaphor," or a metaphor developed so as to include a number of details. This definition does not express the whole truth, since it takes a species for a genus. An allegory may consist of a single metaphor expanded, or of several cognate metaphors. In the following beautiful passage by Longfellow, the original metaphor, representing the state under the figure of a ship, is steadily kept in view to the end, without a digression to mar its consistent development : LAWS OF EOKM. 223 M Thou too, sail on, ship of state ! Sail on, O Union, strong and great I Humanity, with all its fears, With all its hopes of future years, Is hanging breathless on thy fate ! We know what master laid thy keel, What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel , Who made each mast, and sail, and rope, What anvils rang, what hammers beat ; In what a forge and what a heat Were shaped the anchors of thy hope! Fear not each sudden sound and shock 'Tis of the wave and not the rock ; Tis but the flapping of the sail, And not a rent made by the gale 1 In spite of rock and tempest roar, In spite of false lights on the shore Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea ! Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee , Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, Are all with thee, are all with thee." Many of the finest allegories do not consist in the deTelopment of a single metaphor, but in the combina- tion of several cognate metaphors. In Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress/' the fundamental metaphor is the representation of a Christian by a pilgrim, but in the course of its development several cognate meta- phors are introduced, and likewise developed. The same is true in Spenser's "Faery Queen," in which personified vices and virtues are made to perform their part in a series of allegoric adventures. 2. Allegory Distinguished from Allied Forms. Great confusion has resulted from a failure to dis- 224 THE SCIEXCE OF RHETORIC. tinguisL tlip allegory from other forms of expression somewhat similar, such as the myth, the fable, and the parable. By some writers they are treated as almost synonymous, by others they are variously distin- guished. Properly considered, they are widely differ- ent. The myth involves the blending of the innei meaning and the outward symbol, presenting itself not as the vehicle of truth, but as truth. Thus the myth of the labors of Hercules does not pretend to be the shadowing forth of some deeper meaning, such as the passage of the sun through the twelve signs of the zodiac, but literal fact. The myth is, therefore, an unconscious allegory.* The allegory proper, the fable, and the parable, agree in not claiming to be tlie truth, but merely vehicles of the truth. The fable and the parable are distinguished chiefly by this difference : the fable recounts what is impossible if literally interpreted; the parable is generally literally possible. This dis- tinction does not hold with those who use the words without discrimination. 3. Laws of Allegory. As the allegory is composed of metaphors, the principles- laid down as governing them separately, apply when they are used in combination. Two prin- ciples need to be more carefully observed. (1) Development of the Eadical Metaphor. The radical metaphor mast be strictly developed, without any blending of plain and figurative expressions, 01 * For the myth of Hercules, see Anthem's Classical Dic- tionary, art. Hercules. For the explanation of the unconscious growth of myths, see Max Miiller's Chips, Vol. II., and Person fication in this book. LAWS OF FORM. 225 mixing o metaphors. The substitution of "girl" for " rose " in the following, illustrates the confusion tb/it would result from neglecting this law : " You took her up a tender little flower, Just sprouted on a bank, which the next frost Had nipped ; and, with a careful loving hand Transplanted her into your own fair garden, Where the sun always shines ; there long she flourished, Grew sweet to sense and lovely to the eye, Till, at the last, a cruel spoiler came, Cropt this fair rose, and rifled all its sweetness, Then cast it like a loathsome weed away." (2) The Analogy Evident. It is not less import- ant that the analogy be evident. Since the resemblance is one of ratios, if the radical metaphor is obscure, its development will render it more so, and interpreting power will not be economized. The allegory and the enigma differ only in degree ; the difference being, that in an enigma the meaning of the metaphorical terms is so obscure as to be unintelligible. An alle- gorical writer may easily become a Sphinx. SECTION II. FIGURES FOUNDED ON CONTIGUITY. 1. The Theory Explained. In order to understand how figures of speech are based on contiguity in time or space, a prefatory ex planation of this form of association is necessary. " la passing along a road which we have formerly traveled in company with a friend, the particulars of the con- versation in which we were then engaged are fre- quently suggested to us by the objects we meet with. 10* 226 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. In such a scone we recollect that a partieiJar subjecl was started ; and in passing the different houses, and .plantations, and rivers, the arguments we were ills- cussing when we last saw them, recur spontaneous!) tc the memory. The connection which is formed in tlu mind between the different words of a discourse wo have committed to memory, the connection between the different notes of a piece of music in the mind of the musician, are all obvious instances of the same law of our nature."* A whole cannot be conceived without parts, nor parts without a whole ; every thing being either a cause or an effect, or both, nothing can be thought of without implying an antecedent or a conse- quent. Thus " local contiguity binds up objects other wise unconnected into a single object of perceptive thought." f Of the objects so united in our thoughts, some are more simple and concrete than others, hence interpreting power is economized by selecting the former for figurative expression. 2. Forms of Contiguity. Contiguity assumes three forms : (1) a whole is related to its parts ; (2) an object is related to its ac- companiments ; and (3) emotions are co- existent in the mind. Each of these forms of contiguity is the basis of one or more figures of speech. The relation of a whole to its parts gives rise to Synecdoche ; the rela- tion of an object to its accompaniments, to Metonymy the co-existence of emotions, to Exclamation, Hyper- bole, Apostrophe, and Vision. * Dugald Stewart, Works, II. f Sir William Hamilton's Metaphysics. LAWS OF FOKM. 22? I. SYNECDOCHE. 1. Forms of Synecdoche. This figure has three forms : (1) a part is put foi the whole of an object ; (2) the whole is put for a part ; and (3) the material is put for the thing itself. (1) A Part for the Whole. There is a clear econ- omy of interpreting power in the first form of synec- doche. Whenever any object is mentioned, some pur- pose is aimed at. The nature of this purpose determines the view taken of the object. Some one part must be more suggestive of this view than any other. Thus man may be variously designated by one of his parts, according to the view taken of him. Considered as a messenger bearing good news, we may say of him, " How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things ;" viewed as demanding bodily sustenance, ''This officer has a thousand mouths to feed ; " contemplated merely as a worker, " All hands were busily occupied;" regarded simply as a human being, " Eight souls were saved." Thus we may continue to abstract this or that part, according to our purpose. In all these cases there is an obvious force resulting from the designation of a part. That which is perti- aent is brought directly to the attention ; that which is irrelevant is kept out of view ; the simple takes the place of the complex, the specific of the abstract. Hence the obvious principle, that the part most sug gestive of the specific view should be selected. (2) The Whole for a Part. Sometimes, on the contrary, there is an economy of interpreting power in 228 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. using the whole for a part. There is here danger of violating the principle, that the specific is more expres- sive than the general. But there are cases where a general word is very important. The breadth of in- clusion renders an expression more forcible when the intention is to heighten the effect by implying vast ex- tent or magnitude. To speak of the " Eoman nation" does not impress the mind with the grandeur and ex- tent of the empire which embraced nearly every civil- ized land, so well as to say, " the Roman world." So " the country is in arms," " the whole land was aglow with excitement," "the nation awoke with indigna- tion," are much more expressive of a universal move- ment than to speak of " men," " patriots," etc. (3) The Material for the Object. The material of an instrument may be more expressive of the idea than the outlines associated with its proper name, and hence the third form of synecdoche often has an economic value. Thus "gold" is often more suggestive than "money." In the following stanza "steel" is better than " stvord," as suggestive of the fineness of edge which a steel blade is capable of taking : ' The wounds that are dealt by that murderous steel Will never yield case for the surgeons to heal." II. METONYMY. 1. Forms of Metonymy. Metonymy is the designation of an object by one ol its accompaniments. Rhetoricians have divided and subdivided metonymies until the most capacious mem- ory would be taxed to retain them. They are as num- erous as the various forms of accompaniment. A tluvt'- LAWS OF FORM. 229 fold classification will furnish Illustrative instances ol this figure. Metonymies may be divided into the fol lowing classes : (1) the effect is put for the cause or the cause for the effect ; (2) the sign is put for the thing signified ; and (3) the container is put for the tiling contained. (1) Cause and Effect. The connection of an effect with a cause is an intuition of the human mind. The effect may be'better or less known than the cause, ac- cording to circumstances. Sometimes a complex and obscure cause produces a simple and obvious effect and, on the other hand, a simple and obvious cause may produce a complex and obscure effect. A proper metonymy uses the better known for the less known, either the cause for the effect, or the effect for the cause. In the words of Junius, " can gray hairs make folly venerable?" the effect, "gray hairs," is pu'- for the cause, old age, because the color of the hair is a visible and inseparable characteristic of old age, while old age is a mere abstraction. On the other hand, the cause may be more suggestive than the effect.. Thus, " They have Moses and the prophets^* is more expres- sive than "They have the law and ihe prophecies," for in this instance the persons are less abstract than the terms "law" and "prophecies." (2) The Sign and the Thing Signified- By as- sociation certain signs and symbols become significant of general notions. Thus "crown," "scepter," and " purple," are indicative of sovereignty, because long associated with it as its external concomitants and iep resentative symbols. Proverbs naturally couch them- selves in this form of metonymy. "The pen [literary power] is mightier than the sword [military power]." 230 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. (3) Container and Thing Contained. An economy of mental processes, but more especially of time and new words, is often secured by putting the container for the contained. Thus we speak of the "table/' meaning the eatables on it; of the "house/' meaning its occupants ; of the "camp," meaning its tents and equipage. 2. The Law of Selection. The principle of economy in all metonymies re quires the selection of that which best suits the pur- pose of the idea. The mind has a tendency to unity of conception, and hence to the rejection of all dis- tracting details. Metonymy satisfies this tendency of the mind by removing particulars that would compli- cate thought, and by furnishing what is most necessary to the conception to be formed. Like most other figures of speech, it is not well adapted to strictly scientific statements. III. CO-EXISTENT EMOTIONS. 1. Meaning of Co-existent Emotions. When two emotions, or an emotion and a percep tion co-exist, they are associated by contiguity of time i. e., as has been explained, by forming parts of the same mental state. Joy, anger, surprise, and other similar emotions, naturally express themselves in ev- chimiitory and exaggerated forms. These forms be- come associated with the emotions to which they corre- spond. Hence, when the forms are used, they recall the emotions with which they are associated in tho mind. Thus they become exponents of the communi- LAWS OF FORM. 23] cator's feelings,, tind assist the interpreter in under standing with what intention the words are used. 2. Figures Founded on Co-existent Emotions. Co-existent emotions give rise to four kinds ol figurative expression : (1) Exclamation, when the idea is associated with strong emotion ; (2) Hyperbole, when exaggerated statement is employed ; (3) Apostrophe, when the idea is so vividly conceived as to lead to direct address ; and (4) Vision, when the past or future is conceived of as present. (1) Exclamation, Not every exclamation is a fig- ure of speech. The expressions Oh ! Alas ! and the like are plain language, because they fail to' fulfill the condition of figures, that one thing is expressed in the f orm of another. Interjections are as natural ex- pressions of feeling as verbs and nouns are respectively of actions and objects. TUe primary and natural expression of strong emotion is not ^proposition, but an interjection. The proposition, subject, copula and predicate, is the intellective form of utterance ; the exclamation is the emotive.* When a proposition is thrown into the interjectional form, i. e., is spoken or written in tho manner of an interjection, the emotive form of that particle is made the medium of expressing an idea primarily intellective ; then it becomes figura- tive. Hamlet, speaking in the prepositional form would have said : "Man is a wonderful work ; noble in reason, infinite in faculties, express and admirable * For a valuable discussion of the Interjection, see Earle's Philology of the English Tongue, Chap. iii. 232 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. in form and moving, in action like an angel, in appre- hension like a god, the beauty of the world, the para gmi of animals." But filled with emotion by tlies* high thoughts, Shakespeare makes him speak in tin ihterjectional form : "What a piece of work is man ! how noble in reason ! how infinite in faculties ! in form and moving, how express and admirable ! in action how like an angel ! in apprehension, how like a god ! the beauty of the world ! the paragon of animals !" (2) Hypsrbole. Emotion once excited, though brief, is cumulative. As the eye runs along the ascend- ing lines of some cathedral spire until it leaps into free space, so emotion rising with indescribable swiftness, is soon far above its primary causes. Hence exaggera- tion is natural to imaginative and emotional people, who conceive more vividly than facts allow, and speak even more vividly than they conceive. The philosophy of the figure is, that facts are measured by the strength of the co-existent emotion, and hence, in expression, are magnified to correspond witli the emotion. The hyperbole is, therefore, a form of expression in which one thing is said under the form of another more im- pressive than itself. The intelligent hearer is aware of this, and makes a due allowance. Saul and Jona- than are represented as " swifter than eagles and stronger than lions." Every intelligent reader knows that this is said in the exaggerated form suggested by strong emotion, and yet he feels, at the same time, that by this very exaggeration that feeling of wonder and admiration which prompted the form of expression is communicated to himself. In this lies the value of the figure in economizing interpreting power. The hyperbole may be made one of the most forci* LAWS OF FORM. 233 ble helps to expression. Milton's fondness for it is everywhere evident. Thus in "Comus" : " I was all ear And took in strains that might create a soul Under the ribs of Death" 111 "II Penseroso" : " Such notes as warbled to the string Drew iron tears doion Pluto's cheek." This happy instance in " Paradise Lost" is but one of hundreds : " He called His legions, angel forms, who lay entranced Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks In Vallornbrosa." Much of the brilliancy of humorous writing is de rived from, hyperbole. Thus, in " Henry IV." Shake speare makes Falstaff say : " There's but a shirt and & half in all my company ; and the half shirt is two nap- kins, tacked together, and thrown over the shoulders like a herald's coat without sleeves." Hood writes of a night so terrible that a Christian farmer would not leave his scarecrow out of shelter ; and Jerrold, of a man so unwisely benevolent that he held his umbrella over a duck in a shower of rain. No high purpose of style is subserved when a lady speaks of a ' ' sublime lemonade," a " heart-rending cup of tea," or "magnificent snup." The whole tendency of such exaggeration is, to weaken the force of every utterance of those who thus abuse speech, and finally to emasculate language. (3) Apostrophe. In the higher flights of imagi mo- tion, the absent arc conceived of as present, the inani 234 THE SCIEKCE OF BHETOBIC. mate as living, the abstract as personal, and are di rectly addressed. This figure is clearly allied to per Bonification, with which it is often combined. Tho national hymn "America" is in the apos trophic form, and how much it owes to this may be seen by con- structing a parody, altering "My country, 'tis of thee," to the third person. The use of this figure presupposes elevated emotion, and would be absurd without it. (4) Vision. Vision has sometimes been confounded with apostrophe, but the two are entirely distinct. While apostrophe consists in a direct address, vision treats the past and the future as if they were the pres- ent. It does not invoke, but describes. A striking illustration is found in Edward Everett's description of the perils of the Mayflower : " Methinks I see it now that one solitary, adventurous ves- sel, the Mayflower of a forlorn hope, freighted with the prospects of a future state, and bound across the unknown sea. I behold it pursuing with a thousand misgivings the uncertain, the tedi- ous voyage. I see them now, scantily supplied with provisions ; crowded almost to suffocation in their ill-stored prison ; delayed by calms, pursuing a circuitous route. The awful voice of the storm howls through the rigging; the laboring masts seem straining from their base; *ne dismal sound of the pump is heard ; the ship leaps, as it were madly from billow to billow; the ocean breaks and settles with ingulfing floods over the floating deck, and beats with deadening, shivering weight against the staggering vessel." 3. Explanation of these Figures. The figures founded on co-existent emotions have been touched hastily, in ordei that their rationale might be explained in one place. LAWS OF FORM. 235 Sir William Hamilton has established the law, enunciated by "Kant, that " v Knowledge and feeling,, though always co-existent, are always in the inverse, ratio of each oilier.' 1 This law explains the figures founded on co-existent emotions,, and furnishes a foundation on which to base laws for their use. All these figures are products of strong emotion. The strength of the emotions obliterates distinctions of fact which are obvious to minds not thus aroused. In hy- perbole, wide differences are overlooked ; in apostrophe, the chasm between life and death, personality and in- sensibility, is crossed with a leap; in vision, centuries are swept out of view, and the past seems to coincide with the present. Emotion of any kind is eclectic, ex- cluding from view all that is not in harmony with it- self, and intensifying and magnifying what is accordant with itself. " When we are under a strong emotion, all things discordant with it," says Bain, " are kept out of sight. A strong volitional urgency will subdue an opposing consideration actually before the mind ; but intense feeling so lords it over the intellectual trains that the opposing considerations are not even allowed to be present. One would think it were enough that the remote considerations should give way to the near and pressing ones, so that the ( video meliora' might still remain with the ' dcteriora sequor' ; but, in truth, the flood of emotion sometimes sweeps away for the moment every vestige of the opposing absent, as if they had at no time been a present reality. Our feelings not merely piay the part of rebels or innovators against the canons of the past, they are like destroying Vandals, who efface and consume the records of what has been." * * The Emotions and the Will 236 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. Originally produced by tlie contemplation of reali ties, emotion stimulates the fancy, which "given tc airy nothing a local habitation and a name ;" then, catch- ing inspiration from its own creations, the dominant emotion wholly influences the trains of thought, until distinctions of space, time, cause and effect, and value, are obliterated or transferred. An angry man sees nc beauty in his foe, a lover no blemish in his mistress, an enthusiast no fallacy in his theory. Thus also the poet and the orator, when the "eye is with fine frenzy roll- ing," construe the universe to suit their mood. Stars and flowers become sisters, the trees and clouds assume personality, the dead are recalled from the world of shades, and are addressed as if living. To the fancy of the poet, all this is momentarily real, and the inade- quate expression of a truth beyond all powers of utter- ance to express ; to the cool critic, who catches no spark of the poetic fire, it is superlative nonsense. Hence the realistic verdict of Bentham, in which he pro- nounces poetry to be "misrepresentation in verse." Hence also what is loudly applauded as oratory when the enthusiasm of the assembly runs at full tide, seems bombastic and insipid to the deliberate reader. 4. Laws of these Figures. Two laws for the use of these strongly emotive fig- ures grow out of their relation to the economy of inter- preting power : (1) they aid the expression of strong emotion, since exaggeration is naturally associated with it ; and (2) they are effective only when preceded by such trains of thought and feeling as will justify exaggeration. LAWS OF FORM. 23? SECTION III. FIGURES FOUNDED ON CONTRAST. 1. The Theory of Contrast. The mind is affected by a change from one state of consciousness to another. The greatness and sudden- ness of the change determine the degree in which the mind is affected. Thus we are shocked by a sudden transition from darkness to a bright light, or from hil- arious joy to profound grief. This effect upon the mind is owing to the principle of contrast. It is a law of the mind that qualities contrasted are rendered more striking:" If, for example, two pictures, one beautiful, tEe~ollTer ugly, are seen at the same time, both the loveliness of the one and the repulsiveness of the other are magnified by the comparison. Contrast is particu- larly adapted to the exhibition of x minute differences. If we hold a candle between us and the noon-day sun, the former will appear dark when compared with the effulgence of the latter. If a piece of black cloth be laid upon a substance truly black, the black cloth will appear relatively gray. So when two thoughts or emo- tions are brought into close proximity, and especially when they are set in opposition by a balanced senten- tial structure, the distinction between them will be greatly magnified by the contrast. Xow, as the jewel- ler displays the brilliancy of his wares by exhibiting them on a black and non-reflecting back-ground, so the writer may add attractiveness to his conceptions, and economize the interpreting ^powers of his reader, by employing the principle of contrast. 238 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. 2. Essentials of a Perfect Contrast. A perfect contrast requires opposition or contrariety. It also requires that the objects contrasted belong tc the same generic class. We cannot contrast heat and light, virtue and pleasure, because they belong to dif ferent categories. The proper opposite of virtue is vice. These belong to the same category, since they are both states of moral character. Heat and cold are in contrast, because they are states of temperature. Hence a perfect contrast requires that the objects con- trasted be of the same generic class, but the most widely different of that class. 3. Figures Founded on Contrast. Contrast gives rise to two classes of figures : (1) those in which there is an expressed contrast ; and (2) those in which a contrast is implied. I. EXPRESSED CONTRAST. The figures in which two expressed ideas are con trasted are Antithesis and Glim ax. 1. Antithesis. (1) Tho Nature of Antithesis. Antithesis is a form of expression which impresses an idea upon the mind by bringing opposites into one conception. Thus, in the sentence, " Gold cannot make a man happy any more than rags can make him miserable ;" " Gold " and ' rags," " happy " and "miserable " are set in opposi- tion, in order to give a double illustration of the senti- tent, " Happiness is not. dependent on what we pos- eis." The resultant idea derived from both members LAWS OF FORM. 23^ / of an antithesis is, in force, not unlike a conclusion that has been established by both negative and affirma- tive proof. (2) The Natural Form of Antithesis. Thejtorm of the antithesis is naturally, but not necessarily, the"" balanced sentence. This form of sentential structure, renders the opposition more evident to the eye or ear thus insuring the perception of the antithetical effect. Thus, in the sentence, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy ;" the opposition of like parts of speech, "faithful" and "deceitful" " wounds" and "kisses" "friend" and "enemy" and the corresponding length of the two members, give additional force to the antithesis of thought. The structure of the sentence has much to do with the effect of the following stanza : " In peace there's nothing so becomes a man As mild be?iavior and humanity ; But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Let us be tigers in our fierce deportment." Sometimes the antithesis lies almost wholly m the structure of the sentence. Thus, in Pope's well-known comparison of Homer and Virgil commencing, " Ho- mer was the greater genius, Virgil the better artist ;" there is no contrast of opposition between "genius" and "artist," "man" and "work," "profusion" and "magnificence." Frequently there is real antithesis without the balanced structure. Thus the innocence of Lucretia and the violence of Sextus are* contrasted in these lines : '* Now look ye where she lies, That beauteous flower, that innocent sweet roae, Torn up by ruthless violence." 240 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. (3) Laws of Antithesis, The nature of antithesis renders easy the deduction of two laws : (1) since the balanced form displays the contrast most clearly, inter- preting power is economized by uniformity in the length and structure of the contrasted members ; and (2) since the antithetical form becomes monotonous from this uniformity, antitheses should not be very frequent. 2. Climax. Climax, or the rhetorical ladder, consists in such an irrangement of ideas in a series as to secure a gradual increase of impressiveness. It is based on the principle Df contrast. Antithesis contrasts objects by bringing them together in opposition ; climax contrasts objects by exhibiting their degrees of difference through a se- ries of intermediates. u It is observed by all travelers who have visited the Alps, or other stupendous moun- tains, that they form a very inadequate notion of the vastness of the greater ones, till they ascend some of the less elevated, (which yet are huge mountains), and thence view the others still towering above them. And the mind, no less than the eye, can not so well take in and do justice to any vast object at a single glance, as by several successive approaches and repeated com- parisons." * Cicero has used the climax with great effect in his " Oration against Verres." Withholding the real crime for a moment, he refers to the atrocity of lesser offenses, thus magnifying the guilt of Verres by a se- ries of contrasts : " It is an outrage to bind a Roman citizen ; to scourge him is an atrocious crime ; to put * Whately's Rhetoric, Part II. Chap. ii. 4. LAWS OF FORM. 241 him to death is almost parricide ; but to CRUCIFY him what shall I call it ?" II. IMPLIED CONTRAST. The figures in which an expressed idea is contrasted with an implied opposite are EPIGRAM, INTERROGA- TION and IRONY. 1. Epigram. The epigram, like the antithesis, is based on an ob- vious contrariety. Primarily the word meant an inscrip- tion- on a monument. It is used also to signify any terse or pointed expression. It is here employed in a special sense, to^ designate those forms of expression in which there is a contradiction between the real and the apparent moaning ; as, " Verbosity is cured by a wide vocabulary ;" " Conspicuous for absence; 99 "Some are too foolish to commit follies." That such apparent contradictions have any tend- ency to economize interpreting power is not clear. They possess two qualities which in part compensate foFtlieTr contradictory character. They are necessarily brief, so that the mind is not confused with a compli- ea'tecl structure ; and, appearing to violate a law of thought, thejjstmmlate to unusual interest.. A series of epigrams rapidly delivered would be unintelligible. A style too epigrammatic is generally wearisome. Such a style is better adapted to be a depository of thought than to be a medium of communication, since, when the sense is once grasped, the brevity and paradox of the form of expression fix it in the memory. The__epi-_ gram, therefore, is the natural garb of the proverb. 11 "~~ 242 THE SCIENCE OE KKE10RIO. 2. Interrogation. An interrogaticua may be a part of plain speech, Ii_ becomes figurative when it is an affirmation in the foj ir of a question. Thus, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ? " is meant to be an emphatic affirma- tion that He will do right. The reason of the empha- sis in the interrogative form is obvious. It has been shown that differences are more evident when contra- ries are brought into one conception. The interroga- tion forces upon the attention at once both an affirm- ative and a negative answer. Thus the affirmative and negative answers are brought into contrast, and the affirmative is admitted from the impossibility of the negative. 3. Irony. Irony also involves the principle of contrast. It consists in putting an assumption in the place of a known truth, that the truth may be made more im- pressive by the contrast. A single example, from Whit tier, will illustrate this : " What has the gray-haired prisoner done? Has murder stained his hands with gore? Not so. His crime's a fouler one God made the old man poor." Here the poet, pleading for the abolition of im prisonment for debt, represents poverty as a crime. That it is not a crime to be born poor is self-evident, bat its guiltlessness is made the clearer by beini.' brought into the same view with murder, from which it "is so different. The contrast is heightened by rep- LAWS OF FORM. 243 resenting poverty as a fouler crime than murder. Hence we may conclude, that irony depends upon the contrast between the truth and an assumption. Con- clusive proof of this is found in the fact, that a state- ment is not recognized as ironical if its untruthfulnesi 'a not apparent ECONOMY OF THE FEELINGS. 1. The Effect of Words on the Sensibilities. WE have seen how language must be framed in order to economize the powers of ii^rpwtgj^nj we have now txTconsider how the power of feeling may be economized. Words as mere sounds, apart from their meaning, have an effect upon the sensibilities. Some combina- tions of words are agreeable, others disagreeable, to the listener, and, by an unavoidable association, even to the silent reader. It is clear, then, that forms of expres- sion, aside from their sense, may mar the realization of the idea, either by producing feelings which divert the attention from it, or which are not in harmony with it. The state of feeling best adapted to interpretation is that of agreeable stimulation derived from the easy and uninterrupted movement of the machinery of expres- sion. As soon as the words grate upon the ear, or the construction halts, we are conscious of a disagreeable feeling, and a consequent inability to use all our powers in realizing the idea. 2. Hamilton's Theory of the Feelings. Sir William HamiljpH^in his theory of pleasure and pain, regards agreeable and disagreeable feelings as the LAWS OP FORM. 245 results respectively of a norma. or an abnormal activity of natural powers. He says : " By relation to the object about which it is con- versant, an energy is perfect, when this object is of such a character as to afford to its power the condition requisite to let it spring to full spontaneous activity ; imperfect, when the object is of such a character as either, on the one hand, to stimulate the power to a continuance of activity beyond its maximum of free exertion ; or, on the other hand, to thwart it in its tendency towards this its natural limit. An object is, consequently, pleasurable or painful, inasmuch as it thus determines a power to perfect or imperfect energy." * 3. Application of the Theory to Expression. Now, since expression exists for the idea merely, and since the realization of the idea affords to the mind its natural play of activity, every diversion of the mind caused by the form of expression which does not assist in revealing the idea, determines an imperfect energy, which is disagreeable. Hence the highest activity in realizing the idea depends on the economy of the feel- ings, by removing all causes of diversion and discord. Any activity prolonged beyond what is customary, be- comes disagreeable ; hence the law of Variety. The simultaneous exertion of the same faculty in contrary directions is disagreeable ; hence the law of Harmony. These two laws will be more fully illustrated in thi following sections. * Metaphysics. 246 THE SCIENCE OF KHETORIO. SECTION I. VARIETY. 1. The Necessity of Variety. Every part of our physical organization has a definite amount of force to be used in sensation, and when, by prolonged exertion, this force is expended, pain takes the place of pleasure. What is true of our bodies is true analogically of our minds. Experience teaches that mental activities which once gave delight, produce pain when greatly prolonged. How great a prolongation may be pleasurably endured, depends greatly on habit. The sounds of many northern dia- lects which are so unpleasant to us, are musical to those who have heard them from childhood. Our own speech would grate upon an Italian ear, unaccustomed to so many and difficult combinations of consonants. But, although habit and training create wide differ- ences in the sensibilities of men, it is a demand of universal human nature that we vary the powers em- ployed " in any activity, and also the mode of their employment. Hence the necessity of variety in style. 2. The Applications of Variety. Variety is necessary in all the elements of expres- sion. We shall notice its application to the following : (1) Letters; (2) Words and Syllables ; (3) Sentences, and (4) Figures. I. LETTERS. In the combination of letters the la?7 of variety ma) LAWS OF FORM. 24* be violated in two ways : (1) by the cumulation of Consonants ; and (2) by the cumulation of Vowels. 1. The Cumulation of Consonants. Too many consonants taken together tax the powers disagreeably, as may be seen in such words as tioelftlis, hundredths, sixthly, strengthenedst. These words are not only difficult to pronounce, but they are unpleasant to the ear. Whether their unpleasantness to the ear is owing wholly to an association of the Found with the difficulty of utterance, or partly to ? straining of a perceptive power beyond its habitual limit, is a curious question whose decision would not practically affect the law of variety. There may be some reason to suppose the latter, from the fact that no ono of these letters is disagreeable if sounded by itself, and that any letter becomes disagreeable if repeated continually. A succession of consonants of different orders ren- ders the effect still more disagreeable. Mutes are di- vided into surd and sonant, according as they are formed of voiced or unvoiced breath. The transition of the vocal organs from the production of a surd to the production of a sonant, is difficult. Thus it is im possible to pronounce the syllable sft/#, without making the "f" a "v," or the "d" a < t." 2. The Cumulation of Vowels. A succession of vowels produces a hiatus which is lisagreeable. Hence the tendency to separate them by the insertion of a consonant- *xs, an ox, an army, rather than, a ox, a army. 248 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. II. WORDS AND SYLLABLES. Variety in the use of words and syllables is violaied (1) by the recurrence of the same sound, Tautophony and (2) by the recurrence of the accent at regula* intervals, Meter. 1. Tautophony. (1) Offensive Tautophony. The unpleasant effect of the repetition of the same sound in the following sentence is felt at once : " The Captain ordered the Orderly to order the ordnance arranged in order." The substitution of synonyms for some of these words improves the effect. The recurrence of the same syllable often be- comes offensive. Thus holily, lowlily, uniform for- mality) are unpleasant to the ear. Dr. Johnson says : " Tediousness is the most fatal of all faults" Here the first two words hiss sharply, and the sentence ends with an unmelodious repetition of " aL" Clearness of meaning sometimes renders such collocations difficult to avoid. (2) Intentional Tautophony. In alliterative and consonantal rhyme, tautophony is purposely employed. How such repetition of sounds becomes subservient to expression will presently appear. 1) Absenoe of Intentional Rhyme in the Classic Languages, Mr. Marsh observes that " It has been thought singular that with the multitude of like ter- minations, and the great sensibility of the Greek and Latin ear, neither rhyme, alliteration, nor accent should have become metrical elements, but that, on the LAWS OP FOUM. 249 contrary, repetition of sound in all its forms should have been sedulously avoided."* He then offers the following explanation of this fact : " The frequent re- urrence of like sounds in those languages was una- /oidable ; ifc was a grammatical necessity, and if such sounds had been designedly introduced as rhymes, and thus made still more conspicuous, they could not but have been as offensive to the delicacy of ancient ears as excessive alliteration is to our own. To them such obvious coincidences appeared too gross to be regarded as proper instrumentalities in so ethereal an art as poetry, and they constructed a prosody depending simply on the subtilest element of articulation, the quantity or relative length of the vowels." 2) Reason of this Absence. The absence of in- tentional rhyme in Greek and Latin poetry results not so much from its grossness as from its inutility. In English, rhyme is a real auxiliary of poetic expression. That there is something persistent in it, is evident from the fact that it has triumphed over the violent opposition of Sir Philip Sidney, Ben Jonson, and Mil- ton. Rhyme came into our language as a constituent element of poetry just at the time when English was passing, or, more strictly, had passed from an inflected to an uninflected form of speech. Latin contain? many more rhyming words than any other spoken Ian guage, but Italian contains four times as many as Eng- lish, and Spanish six times as many as English. Ilhyme becomes subservient to poetical expression by the fewness of rhyming words. In a language so poor in rhymes as English, rhyme economizes expectant at- tention by the regular introduction of corresponding * Lectures on the English Language. 11* 250 THE SCIENCE OF RfiETORtO forms. When one of the rhyming words is given, we can almost predict what its mate will be. We cannot indeed, always name the exact word, but, since the conditions of the case limit the number of possible words, we are prepared for a word of a certain kind. fn Spanish, words have on the average twenty-five rhymes each. It is clear that in Latin the number would be so great as to afford no clew to what word would be given. Hence the Romans never intention- ally or spontaneously wrote rhyme. In English, words average only three rhymes each. Hence, since the language has "lost its inflections, rhyming poems are .he most common. Knowing the ending of a rhyming word before it is given, we are in possession of the ftrhole before it is pronounced, and accordingly have a fraction of time to dwell upon the idea expressed. An experimental test of this prediction of a word may be made by causing some lines of poetry to be read aloud. The regular recurrence of corresponding syllables re- lieves the listener of a certain amount of attention. That economized attention may be devoted to the re- .Jization of the ideas. This economy of expectant attention depends on the regularity of the rhyme. Here is another reason why rhymes are not common iu innVcted languages, since they would occur in the mid- dle of lines as well as at the end. In English, the regularity compensates for the lack of variety. Nor is fcho regular recurrence of rhyme a serious violation of variety, for different sounds intervene between the rhyming words. 3) The Adaptation of Ehyme to Poetry. We find here also an explanation of the adaptation of rhymed verse to poetic ideas. Emotion is a subjective LAWS OF FORM. 251 state, and is interrupted by any objective diversion of the attention. Pain and grief for example are forgot ton when the mind is occupied with externals. But rhyme, hy the economy of expectant attention, reduces the causes of diversion ; for, substituting the regularity of periodic consonance for the irregularity of prose, it leaves the mind more completely absorbed in the contemplation of emotive images. 2. Meter. The regular recurrence of the accent constitutes meter. This regular movement economizes expectant attention by the certainty that a definite structure will follow. (1) Proof of the Value of Meter, A proof that the structure is anticipated is found in the fact that a shock of disappointment is felt when the meter is imperfect. One may descend a flight of steps in the dark with vapidity and safety, if the steps are all equal, but one is sure to be impeded by inequalities. Why is this ? It is evidently owing to the certainty of uniformity in the steps, and the consequent removal of the necessity for constant attention. In other words, it is the economy of expectant attention. So in a metrical composition, die uniformity of structure relieves the mind from ex- pectant attention. (2) Example. An example will illustrate this state- ment. The following description in prose demands some attention to the irregular construction of the sen- tences, which abstracts just so much power from the total ability of the mind to feel the beauty of the scene described : " The sinuous paths of moss and lawn that lie across 252 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. and along through this gai den, some at once ojvn to the breeze and the sun, some lost among bowers of blossoming trees, were all paved with delicate bells and daisies, as fair as the fabulous asphodels, and flowerets, drooping as day drooped, that fell into blue, purple, and white pavilions, to roof the glow-worm from the dew of evening." See now how much more impressive the loveliness oi this scene becomes, when the poet's art, by rhyme and ineter, removes the necessity of attention to the sen- tential structure : " And the sinuous paths of lawn and moss, That led through this garden along and acrosa Some open at once to the sun and the breeze, Some lost among bowers of blossoming trees, Were all paved with daisies and delicate bells As fair as the fabulous asphodels, And flowerets drooping as day drooped too, Fell into pavilions white, purple, and blue, To roof the glow-worm from the evening dew." (3) The Adaptation of Meter to Poetry. It ia evident that meter is not so well adapted to the ex- pression of pure thought as to the expression of pure feeling, or the emotive images which produce feeling. There is an incongruity between pure thought and any uniform structure. A predetermined measure is a fet- ter to the expression of abstract thought, and its stiff- noss appears in the more purely thoughtful passages of diaactic poetry. Meter often necessitates inversions and transpositions which obscure the thought. Bhyme limits the vocabulary too much for the exact expres- sion of pure thought. Hence intellective statements are awkward in verse. The expression of emotion, LAWS OF FORM. 253 however, finds in verse no real barrier. Emotion ia less dependent on exact propositions, and arises more from affecting images, which may be combined as lendily in meter as without it. (1) Rhythm. Rhythm differs from meter in re quiring a less regular recurrence of accent. Aristotle holds that every prose sentence should possess rhythm but not meter. The practice of the best ancient writers evinces an aesthetic perception of rhythmical beauty seldom equaled by the moderns. (5) Meter no Violation of Variety, Meter is an apparent violation of the law of variety, but it is only apparent. Thought requires freedom of movement for its full and natural expression ; hence great variety is essential to prose, and its proper movement is rhyth- mical. Emotion is best produced by contemplating a series of emotive images, without any abstraction of he attention, hence its proper movement is metrical 6 The jerks, the breaks, the inequalities, and harsh nesses of prose, are fatal to the flow of a poetical im- agination, as a jolting road or stumbling horse disturbs the reverie of an absent man. But poetry makes these odds all even. It is the music of language answering to the music of mind ; untying, as it were, ' the secret soul of harmony.' Wherever any object takes such a hold of the mind, by which it seeks to prolong and re- peat the emotion, to bring all other objects into accord with it, and to give the same movement of harmony, sustained and continuous, or gradually varied accord- ing to the occasion, to the sounds that express it this is poetry. There is a deep connection between music and deep-rooted passion. In ordinary speech we arrive at a certain harmony by modulations of the voice ; in 254 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. poetry the same thing is done systematically by a regu- lar collocation of syllables." * Variety is necessary even in verse, but it is variety in uniformity. The cajsuras, emphases, and rhetorical suspensions break the monotony of the measure. The distinction be- tween the variety required in prose and in poetry is based on this : feeling is a state, and must not be dis- turbed ; thought is a process, and lives by motion. III. SENTENCES. Variety applies (1) to the length, and (2) to the structure of sentences. 1. Length. Dr. Blair's observations on this point can scarcely be improved. He says : " If we would keep up the atten- tion of the reader or hearer, if we would preserve vivacity and strength in our composition, we must be very attentive to vary our measures. . . Short sen- tences should be mixed with long and swelling ones, to render discourse sprightly as well as magnificent." f Closeness of attention to musical effect may itself be come a source of monotony by the too frequent repeti- tion of a typical sentence which by itself is melodious. Discords are purposely introduced into music to break the monotony of excessive sweetness. 2. Structure. Sentences similarly constructed soon become weari some. Variety should extend to the distribution oJ members and the cadence of the period. It has been * Hazlitt's Lectures on Poetry, I -ecture I. f RJietoric. LAWS OF FORM. 255 shown ihat the different kinds of sentence, the loose, the periodic, and the balanced, have their peculiai offices in expression. Variety in sentential structure is -XT tain to follow from variety and affluence of ideas, for each succeeding idea will naturally assume a form corresponding to itself. Dr. Blair says truly : " To have only one tune, or measure, is not much better than having none at all. A very vulgar ear will enable a writer to catch some one melody, and to form the run of his sentences according to it; which soon proves disgusting/ 7 * IV. FIGURES. Variety in the use of figures may be violated in two ways : (1) by using such as are similar ; and (2) by using them too profusely. 1. Similarity. The repetition of any one kind of figure, such as metaphor, climax, antithesis, or hyperbole, renders a composition wearisome. This is especially the case when they are drawn from one object. Trite similes and metaphors want the charm of novelty, which is a form of variety. 2. Profusion. Too many figures of whatever kind produce a feel- ing of satiety, as the palate is sated by immoderate indulgence. Cicero says : "In all human things, dis- gust borders so nearly on the most lively pleasures, that we need not be surprised to find this hold in speech. * Rhetoric. 256 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. From reading either poets or orators we may easiljf satisfy ourseh cs, that neither a poem nor an oration, which, without intermission, is showy and sparkling, can please us long."* Quintilian says of figures, that, 'as they beautify composition when they are season- ably introduced, so they deform it greatly, if too fre- quently sought after."! Crowding together many fig- ures is certain to result in confusion, which, aside from the violation of the law of variety, is a sufficient reason for their moderate use. SECTION II. HARMONY. It is a mysterious but universally known fact, that harmony gives pleasure and discord pain. It is so in music, in painting, and in architecture, as well as in speech. This appears to be partly owing to the unity of action of our faculties in receiving impressions. As variety relieves them from too prolonged an exertion, harmony secures unity in their action. There is, there- fore, an economy of sensitive power when the constitu- ents of a compound object so correspond as to allow a harmonious action of the mental powers exerted upon it. Hence the importance of harmony between the idea and the medium in expression. The law of liar mony applies (1) to Sounds, and (2) to Figures. I. SOUNDS. There has been much discussion of the question, How far may sound be an echo to the sense ? Some * De Oratore, L. IIL f Institutes, I. IX. 3. LAWS OF FORM. 257 find numerous correspondences between words and things. Others regard their connection as wholly im- aginary, and, if there be any 'imitation, they deem it as wholly accidental. It seems evident, after a careful study of examples, that speech has an illustrative power which depends on imitation or a very intimate and gen eral mental association. Without attempting an ex- haustive treatment of so technical a subject, we may notice the illustrative effect of articulate language in representing (1) other sounds ; (2) time and motion ; (3) size ; (4) ease and difficulty ; (5) the agreeable and the disagreeable ; and (6) climax in sense. 1. Other Sounds. Some words unquestionably imitate natural inartir alate sounds. Thus hiss, whiz, crash and splash, a? ordinarily uttered, correspond closely to the noises foi which they stand. There is certainly an onomatopoetk effect in the following lines from Pope : " What ! like Sir Richard, rough and fierce, With arms, and George, and Brunswick crowd the verse Rend with tremendous sounds your ears asunder, With gun, drum, trumpet, blunderbuss, and thunder? Then all your muse's softer art display, Let Carolina smooth the tuneful lay, Lull with Amelia's liquid name the nine, And sweetly flow through all the royal line/' The following is a fine imitation of the sounds mad by falling timber : 14 Deep-echoing groan the thickets brown. Then rustling, crackling, crashing, thunder down." 258 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. 2. Time and Motion. Quick time and lively motion are imitated by a succession of light and tripping syllables ; as in the line, " When the merry bells ring round." The galloping of a horse is suggested by the move- ment of these lines : " At each bound he could feel his scabbard of steel Striking his stallion's flanks." Slow motion is expressed in the line, " Up the high hill he heaves the huge round stone." Slowness of motion and dignity are indicated by ambics, as in the following : The list'ning crowd admire the lofty sound, A present deity, they shout around, A present deity, the vaulted roofs rebound. With ravished ears The monarch hears, Assumes the god, Affects to nod, And seems to shake the spheres/' Quick time and motion are expressed by trochee^ as in this song to the wine god : " Bacchus ever fair and young Drinking joys did first ordain. Bacchus' blessings are a treasure Drinking is the soldier's pleasure. Rich the treasure, Sweet the pleasure, Sweet is pleasure after pain." LAWS OF FORM. 259 Rapidity and impetuosity may be represented in anapaests, as in the following, where the intermingling of iambics imparts a moody quality to the expression " Revenge, revenge, Timotlieus cries, See the furies arise 1 See the snakes that they rear, How they hiss in their hair, And the sparkles that flash from their eyes ! Behold how they toss their torches on high, How they point to the Persian abodes And glittering temples of their hostile gods. The princes applaud with a furious joy ; And the king seized a flambeau with zeal to destroy." 3. Size. Size is capable of some imitation in words. Short and easily sounded words are often expressive of little- ness, while cumbrous and ill-formed words are suggest- ive of bulk, and sonorous combinations sometimes give rise to the feeling of grandeur. The following from Milton illustrates how great bulk may be ex- pressed in verse : " Part, huge of bulk, Wallowing, unwieldy, enormous in their gait, Tempest the ocean." 4. Ease and Difficulty. Pope forcibly illustrates the excessive labor with which a dull writer " makes his barrenness appear," " And strains from hard bound brains eight lines a year." Ease of movement is suggested by these lines : " Soft is the stream when Zephyr gently blows, And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows." 260 T1IE SCIENCE OF RHE10EIC. 5. The Agreeable and the Disagreeable. Agreeable or disagreeable feelings are produced bj melodious or unrnelodious sounds. How delightful are Mic feelings aroused by such music as this of Whittier's f , ' 1 love the old melodious lays Which softly melt the ages through, r l he songs of Spenser's golden days, Arcadian Sidney's silvery phrase, Sprinkling our noon of time with freshest morning dew." With what irritation do we hear such a line as this " Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw." 6. Climax in Sense. Perhaps the most effective correspondence betweer Bound and sense occurs when a climax of meaning and a climax of sound coincide. The following sentence from Sterne admits of a vocal prolongation of the last word, which adds much to the effect : "The accusing spirit which flew up to Heaven's Chancery with the oath, blushed as he gave it in ; and the recording angel, as he wrote it down, dropped a tear upon the word, and blotted it out forever." Notice how completely the effect is lost by intro- ducing a number of small and weak words at the close : "The accusing spirit which flew up to Heaven's Chancery with the oath, blushed as he gave it in ; and the recording angel as he wrote it down, dropped a tear on it, and blotted it out once for all." Since every sentence should grow in the foice of its meaning to the close, the principle forbids the use of insignificant words at the end of a sentence, and re- LAWS OF POUM. 261 quires the longest and most sonorous members to be placed last. II. FIGURES. Figures have various degrees of adaptability to the purposes of expression. This regards (1) the kinds ol figures; (2) their number; and (3) the objects from ivhich they are drawn. 1, The Kinds of Figures, Calm reasoning and deliberate description direct us to the choice of figures founded on resemblance. The simile especially is adapted to what is unimpassioned, since to express a resemblance implies a somewhat de- liberate discrimination. On the other hand, impetu- ous passions, obliterating fine distinctions, and seizing only salient points, impel us to the use of figures founded on contiguity. Of figures founded on resem- blance, the metaphor is most accordant with emotion, especially personification, which is peculiar to an emo- tional state of mind. The figures based on contrast occupy a middle ground, but of these the antithesis is the most deliberate, and climax, irony, and interroga- tion are more emotive. Harmony, therefore, requires the selection of such kinds of figures as correspond with the ideas to be expressed. 2. The Number of Figures. That there is a relation between ideas and the num- ber of figures to be used, is evident.- Many figure? crowded together confuse the understanding by their want of harmony with one another. If constructed for a common effect in producing emotion, they wilJ 262 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. not on account of their number fail to produce that emotion, unless they are greatly confused. Hence in poetry, the language of feeling, we may properly use figures in greater profusion than in prose, the language >f thought. 3. The Source of Figures. The objects from which figures are drawn should be in keeping with the ideas to be expressed. The dignity or meanness of an object from which a metaphor or a simile is drawn, is readily transferred to the object de- scribed. Dean Swift has made an extensive and hu- morous collection of examples, illustrating how authors may degrade instead of exalting their subjects by the character of their figures. * When figures grow out of the subject by what might be called " spontaneous generation," harmony is almost inevitable. Any attempt to lay them on as external ornaments will make the expression seem artificial. In nature, all life develops from a primal cell ; in expres- sion, every thing should proceed by natural evolution from a germ of thought. Thus a composition will nave the unity and symmetry which mark an organic growth. The bestowment of excessive pains on the harmon^ of the idea and the medium, is certain to result in failure, just as a forced smile is certain to degenerate into a foolish grin. Milton speaks of " Thoughts that voluntary move Harmonious numbers." What are these thoughts ? When the feelings of a * The Art of Sinking. Pope may have written this. LAWS OF FORM. 263 musical composer arc feeble and uncertain, lie strikes the notes aimlessly, and his production possesses no ilistinctive character. When his emotions are definite and strong, he sweeps the key-board with a power of expression which holds and thrills his audience. In the first case, the emotions are dependent upon the expression ; in the second, they are free, and use the notes only as a means of utterance. So in verbal ex- pression, thoughts vividly conceived, use the vocabulary us an instrument, while sluggish ideas creep along by the help of the language. Strong feelings and clear thoughts are, therefore, the primary conditions of all harmonious expression. Art may retouch and im- prove in some instances, but such thoughts and feelings will spontaneously assume those forms which harmonizi with the ideas expressed. In the preceding pages the tf r*,ory of elective clis course has been systematically e .plained. The practi- cal application of the laws of discourse is twofold : (1) they maybe used as criteria of judgment in Criticism , or (2) they may be followed as guiding principles in Construction. Skill in any u f t is the result of practice. The ready apprehension of merits and defects in the compositions of others, a:.d facility in applying the principles of rhetorical science in our own works are to be acquired only by careful and protracted exercise in criticism and production. While it is true that prac tice without principles constantly leads into error, it is also true that principles without practice have only a theoretical value. Hence great importance is attached to the practical use of the laws of discourse both in criticising the works of others and in original com- position. After mastering the principles of Ehetoric, the student is prepared to examine literary productions with intelligent discrimination. He will be gratified to find that all truly effective writing and speaking are in accord with the laws which he has learned, and that compositions which ignore these laws are faulty in the degree of their departure from them. He will find also that his own efforts will increase in real value in proportion to his obsi'rvance of these laws. Each day's EXERCISES. W5 practice in criticism and production will contribute somewhat to the improvement of the faithful student, an til he will at length become a master of accurate, methodical and effective composition. To this end two kinds of exercises are added to tho text of this book, the first critical, the second con- structive. The first are intended to help the learner in discovering the faults and excellences of others, the second to assist him to realize in his own productions the highest rhetorical qualities. I. EXERCISES IN CRITICISM. The laws of discourse laid down in the preceding pages are not conditions which simply may be fulfilled in the best writing, but they must be observed in all really excellent discourse. Like the principles of rea- soning of which Logic treats, they are the essential conditions of perfect results. Genius itself is not ex- empt from them, but must ever be tested by them. They are the only criteria of judgment by which we may assign to a writer his true place in the republic of letters. Just as great generals often lose battles, and great statesmen adopt unwise measures, so great writers often fail of a uniform perfection. Criticism, however, alms to discover the merits as well as the defects of a composition, and it is often more profitable to observe how genius surmounts difficulties, than to perceive how readily it stumbles into errors. Hence the critical study of the masterpieces of literature in all departments is of great practical utility. Extracts of considerable length would be necessary to illustrate 12 266 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. the application of the laws of mind, general and par ficular. "Shaw's Choice Specimens of English Lit erature" may be used in classes with great advantage. A few selections may, however, be introduced lieie. 1. Criticise the following as specimens of De /scription. (1) Italy is the central one of the three great peninsulas which project from the south of Europe into the Mediterranean Sea, It is bounded on the north by the chain of the Alp?, which form a natural barrier, and it is surrounded on the other sides by the sea. Its shores are washed on the west by the "Mare Inferum," or the Lower Sea, and on the east by the Adriatic, called by the Romans the "Mare Superum," or the Upper Sea. It may be divided into two parts, the northern consisting of the great plain drained by the River Padus, or "Po," and its tributaries, and the southern being a long tongue of land, with the Apennines as a back-bone running down its whole extent from north to south. The extreme .cngth of the peninsula from the Alps to the Straits of Mes- sina is 700 miles. The breadth of northern Italy is 350 miles, while that of the southern portion is on an average not more than 100 miles. But, till the time of the Empire, the Romans never included the plain of the Po in Italy. To this country they gave the general name of Gallia Cisalpina, or Gaul on this (the Roman) side of the Alps, in consequence of its be- jig inhabited by Gauls. Smith. (2) Greece is deficient in a regular supply of water. Dur- ing the autumnal and winter months the rain, which falls in Urge quantities, fills the crevices in the limestone of the hills ,md is carried off by torrents. In summer rain is almost un- known and the beds of the torrents full of water in the winter then become ravines, perfectly dry and overgrown with shrubs. Even the rivers, which are partly supplied by springs, dwindle in the summer to very insignificant streams. ' None of the Grecian rivers are navigable, and the Achelous, which is the most considerable of all has a course of only 130 miles. EXERCISES. 8fJ? The chief productions of Greece in ancient timcM were wheat, barley, flax, wine, and oil. The hills afforded excel- lent pasture for cattle, and in antiquity were covered with foiests, though they are at present nearly destitute of wood. In almost every part of Greece there were rich veins of marble, affording materials for the architect and the sculptor, such as hardly any other country in the world possesses. The limestone, of which most of its mountains is composed, is well adapted for military architecture ; and it is to this hard and intractable stone that we owe those massive polygonal walls, of which the remains still crown the summits 'of so many Grecian hills. Laurium near the southern extremity of Attica yielded a considerable quantity of silver, but otherwise Greece was poor in the precious rnetals. Iron was found in the range of Taygetus in Laconia, and copper as well as iron near Chal- cis in Eubcea. Smith. (3) The ff/rcher is a kind of dog, somewhat resembling a greyhound, and supposed to derive its origin from some of the old rough-haired races of greyhound crossed with the shep- herd's dog. It is lower, stouter, and less elegant than the greyhound, almost rivals it in fleetness, and much excels it in scent. It is covered with rough wiry hair, is usually of a sandy red color, although sometimes black or grey ; and has half-erect ears and a pendent tail. It is the poacher's favorite dog, possessing all the qualities requisite for his purposes, in sagacity rivaling the most admired dogs, and learning to act on the least hint or sign from his master. Of course it is de- tested by gamekeepers, and destroyed on every opportunity. Chambers' Encyclopedia. (4) In the centre of the court, under the blue Italian sky, and with the hundred windows of the vast palace gazing down upon it, from four sides, appears a fountain. It brims over from one stone basin to another, or gushes from a Naiad's urn, or spirts its many little jets from the mouths of nameless monsters, which were merely grotesque and artificial when Bernini, or whoever was their unnatural father, rirst produced them ; but now the patches of moss, the tufts of grass, the 268 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. trailing maiden-hair, and all sorts of verdant weeds that thrive in the cracks and crevices of moist marble, tell us that Nature takes the fountain back into her great heait, and cherishes it as kindly as if it were a woodland spring. And, hark, the pica 3>iii t murmur, the gurgle, the plash i You might hear just those tinkling sounds from any tiny waterfall in the forest, though here they gain a delicious pathos from the stately echoes that reverberate their natural language. So the fountain is not altogether glad, after all its three centuries ol play ! Hawthorne. (5) A chieftain's daughter seemed the maid ; Her satin snood, her silken plaid, Her golden brooch such birth betrayed. And seldom was a snood amid Such wild luxuriant ringlets hid, Whose glossy black to shame might br^ng The plumage of the raven's wic And seldom o'er a breast so fair Mantled a plaid with modest care ; And never brooch the folds combined Above a heart more good and kind. Her kindness and her worth to spy, You need but gaze on Ellen's eye ; Not Katrine, in her mirror blue, Gives back the shaggy banks more true Than every free-born glance confessed The guileless movements of her breast ; Whether joy danced in her dark eye, Or woe or pity claimed a sigh, Or filial love was glowing there, Or meek devotion poured a prayer, Or tale of inj ury called forth The indignant spirit of the North. One only passion unrevealed With maiden pride the maid concealed, Yet not less purely felt the flame ; O need I tell that passion 's name ! Scott. EXERCISES. 269 (6) Formed in the best proportions of her sex, Ro \vena was tall in stature, but not so much so as to attract observation on account of superior height. Her complexion was exquisi tel y fair, but the noble cast of her head and features prevented the insipidity which sometimes attaches to fair beauties. He clear blue eye, which sate enshrined beneatn a graceful eye brow of brown sufficiently marked to give expression to the forehead, seemed capable to kindle as well as melt, to com- mand as well as to beseech. If mildness were the more iiatura 1 expression of such a combination of features, it was plain that in the present instance, the exercise of habitual superiority, and the reception of general homage, had given to the Saxon lady a loftier character, which mingled with and qualified that bestowed by nature. Her profuse hair, of a color be twixt brown and flaxen, was arranged in a fanciful and grace ful manner in numerous ringlets, to form which art had prob- ably aided nature. These locks were braided with gems, and being worn at full length, intimated the noble birth and free- born condition of the maiden. A golden chain, to which was attached a small reliquary of the same metal hung round her neck. She wore bracelets on her arms, which were bare ; her dress was an undergown and kirtle of pale sea-green silk, over which hung a long loose robe, which reached to the ground, having very wide sleeves, which came down, how- ever, very little below the elbow. This robo was crimson, and manufactured out of the finest wool. A veil of silk, interwoven with gold, was attached to the upper part of it, which could be at the wearer's pleasure either drawn over the face and bosom, after the Spanish fashion, or disposed as a sort of d 1 ipery round the shoulders. Scott. (7) The Romans, originally, were not only frugal, but they dressed with great simplicity. In process of time, they be- came extravagantly fond of elaborately ornamented attire, especially the women. They wore a great variety of rings and necklaces ; they dyed their hair, and resorted to expensive cosmetics ; they wore silks of various colors, magnificently embroidered. Pearls and rubies, for which large estates had 270 THE SCIENCE OF ItHETOEIC. been exchanged, were suspended from their ears. Their hail glistened with a net-work of golden thread. Their slolae were ornamented with purple bands, and fastened with dia mond clasps, while their pallae trailed along the ground. Jewels were embroidered upon their sandals, and golden band?, pins, combs, and pomades .raised the hair in a storied edifice upon the forehead. They reclined on luxurious couches,- and rode in silver chariots. Their time was spent in paying and receiving visits, at the bath, the spectacle, and the banquet. Tables, supported on ivory columns, displayed their costly plate ; silver mirrors were hung against the walls, and curious chests contained their jewels and money. Bronze lamps lighted their chambers, and glass vases, imitating precious stones, stood upon their cupboards. Silken curtains were suspended over the doors and from the ceilings, and lecticae, like palanquins, were borne through the streets by slaves, on which reclined the effeminated wives and daughters of the rich. Their gardens were rendered attractive by green-houses, flower-beds, and every sort of fruit and vine. Lard. 2. Criticise the following as specimens of Narra- tion. (1) Thick as standing corn, and gorgeous as a field of flowers, were the Beloochees in their many-colored garments and turbans. They filled the broad deep bed of the Fullail- lee ; they were clustered on both banks, and covered the plain beyond. Guarding their heads with large dark shields, they shook their sharp swords, gleaming in the sun, and their shouts rolled like a peal of thunder, as with frantic might and gestures, they dashed against the front of the 22d. But with shrieks as wild and fierce, and hearts as big, and arms as strong, the British soldiers met them with the queen of weapons, and laid their foremost warriors wallowing in blood. Then also the few guns that could oe placed in position on the right of the 22d, flanked by Henderson's small band of Mad- ras sappers, swept diagonally the bed of the river, tearing the rushing masses with a horrible carnage. Soon the Sepo} EXERCISES. #71 rgiments, 12th and 25th, prolonged the line of fire to the left, coming into action successively in the same terrille man- ner. Clibborne's grenadiers were distant, skirmishing with the matchlock men in Kottree when they should have charged hem : but that was their commander's fault. Now the Beloochees closed in denser masses, and the dread ful rush of their swordsmen was felt, and their shouts, an- swered by the pealing musketry, were heard along the line, and such a fight ensued as has seldom been told of in the records of war. For ever those wild fierce warriors, with shields held high and blades drawn back, strove with might and valor to break through the British ranks. No fire of small arms, no sweeping discharges of grape, no push of bayonets could drive them back ; they gave their breasts to the shot, their shields to the bayonets, and, leaping at the guns were blown away by twenties at a time ; their dear. rolled down the steep slope by hundreds ; but the gaps wer< continually filled from the rear, the survivors pressed forward with unabated fury, and the bayonet and the sword clashed in full and frequent conflict. Napier. (2) While the Christian princes were thus wasting each others strength, Solyman the Magnificent entered Hungary with a numerous army, and investing Belgrade, which was deemed the chief barrier of that kingdom against the Turk- ish arms, soon forced it to surrender. Encouraged by this success, he turned his victorious arms against the island of Rhodes, the seat, at that time, of the knights of St. John of Jerusalem. This small state he attacked with such a numer- ous army as the lords of Asia have been accustomed, in every age, to bring into the field. Two hundred thousand men, and a fleet of 400 sail, appeared against a town defended by a gar- rison consisting of 5,OOQ soldiers, and 600 knights, under the command of Villiers de I/Isle Adam, the grand master, whose wisdom and valor rendered him worthy of that station at such a dangerous juncture. No sooner did he begin to suspect the destination of Solyman's vast armaments, than he dispatched messengers to all the Christian courts, imploring their aid ^72 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. against the common enemy. But though every prince in that age acknowledged Rhodes to be the great bulwark of Chris- tendom in the East, and trusted to the gallantry of its knights as the best security against the progress of the Ottoman arms ; though Adrian, with a zeal that became the head and father of the Church, exhorted the contending powers to forget their private quarrels, and, by uniting their arms, to prevent the infidels from destroying a society which did honor to the Christian name ; yet so violent and implacable was the ani- mosity of both parties, that, regardless of the danger to which they exposed all Europe, and unmoved by the entreaties of the grand master, they suffered Solyman to carry on his opera- tions against Rhodes without disturbance. The grand mas- ter, after incredible efforts of courage, of patience, and of military conduct, during a siege of six months ; after sustain- ing many assaults, and disputing every post with amazing ob- stinacy, was obliged at last to yield to numbers, and having obtained an honorable capitulation from the Sultan, who ad- mired and respected his virtue, he surrendered the town, which was reduced to a heap of rubbish, and destitute of every resource. Charles and Francis, ashamed of having occasioned such a loss to Christendom by their ambitious contests, endeavored to throw the blame of it on each other ; while all Europe, with greater justice, imputed it equally tu both. The Emperor, by way of reparation, granted the Knights of St. John the small island of Malta, in which they fixed their residence, retaining, though with less power and splendor, their ancient spirit and implacable enmity to th If old, is it OBSOLETE ? (4) Is it formed according to the ANALOGY of the language t (5) Is it either TECHNICAL or LOCAL ? (6) What AUTHORITY can be quoted for it ? (1) The missionary work held Lota by a double chain ; it was a birthright and a vocation that is, as far as other peo- ple can wcate for a girl. Putnam' 1 s Magazine. (2) The young but inactive half Mexican, who smiled at Caleb's infrequent jokes and listened a good deal when Calet orated and the boss of the schooner slept. Ovwland Monthly. (3) As he saith, our whole life is a glucupicron, a bittei sweet passion, honer and gall mixed together. Burton. (4) I was chez moi, inhaling the odeur musquee of my scented "boudoir, when the Prince de Z. entered. He found me in my demi-toilette, blastfe sur tout, and pensively engaged in solitary conjugation of the verb s'ennuyer ; and though he had never been one of my habitufa, or by any means des notres, I was not disinclined, at this moment of ddlassement to glide with him into the crocchio ristretto of familiar chat. New Monthly Magazine. (5) When we came to settle for the wine. Howells. (6) The invention described in yesterday's "Times," and displayed on Saturday in Newark, by which a person who may happen to be buried alive, is enabled to resurrect him- self from the grave, may lead some people to fancy there is actual danger of being buried alive. New York Times. (7) It seems that this State, so quickly enthmed by the generous loyal cause of emancipation, has grown weary of virtuous effort, and again stands still. Baltimore American. (8) The trials of the witches awaken, by turns, pity, in- dignation, disgust, and dread dread at the thought cf what EXERCISES. 28) the human mind can be brought to believe not only prob able, but proven. Imeell. (9) A fardel of never ending misery and suspense.- (10) Mine ancient wound is hardly whole, And lets me from the saddle. Tennyson. &. In the following exercises on Homonyms, the student should give all the possible meanings of the words given. As language was spoken before it was written, a word is a certain sound or combination of sounds without regard to the spelling. (1) Round, (2) Light, (3) Church, (4) Government, (5) Truth, (6) Value, (7) Same, (8) Why, (9) Cause, (10) Reason, (11) Authority, (12) Faith, (13) Time, (14) Person, (15) Cer- tain, (16) One, (17) Experience, (18) Necessity, (19) Possi- bility, (20) Law. 9. In the following groups of words, point out the distinctions of meaning, giving especial attention to the differential part of words having the same radical (1) Corporal, corporeal. (2) Subtle, subtile. (3) Observ ance, observation. (4) Construe, construct. (5) Prediction, predication. (6) Learned, learned. (7) Stationary, station- ery. (8) Inconsistent, incongruous, incoherent. (9) Sym- pathy, compassion, commiseration, condolence. (10) Thwart, oppose, resist, withstand. (11) Oculist, optician, eye-doctor. (12) Custom, habit, usage. (13) Discover, invent. (14) By, with. (15) Sufficient, enough. (16) Thoughtless, remiss, careless, negligent. (17) Tenet, position, doctrine, creed, dogma. (18) Social, sociable. (19) Opinion, belief, sciiti ment, notion, idea. (20) Weak, feeble, infirm. 10. The following specimens of Tautology may be corrected. (1) Particularly as to the affairs of this world, integrity hath many advantages over all the fine and artificial ways A 282 THE SCTEKCE OF dissimulation and deceit-; it is much the plainer and easu-r, much fhe safer and more secure way of dealing with the world ; it has less of trouble and difficulty, of entanglement nd perplexity, of danger and hazard in it. The arts of de- ieit and cunning do continually grow weaker, and less effectual and serviceable to them that use them. Tillotson. (2) It is impossible for us to behold the divine works with coldness or indifference, or to survey so many beauties with- out a secret satisfaction and complacency. Addison. (3) In the Attic commonwealth, it was the privilege and birthright of every citizen and poet, to rail aloud and in pub lie. Swift. (4) He [Pryor] had often infused into it [his style] much knowledge and much thought ; he had often polished it into elegance, often dignified it into splendor, and sometimes heightened it to sublimity ; and did not discover that it wanted the power of engaging attention, and alluring curiosity. Johnson. (5) The very first discovery of it; [beauty] strikes the mind with inward joy, and spreads delight through all its faculties. Addison. (6) How many are there by whom these tidings of good news were never heard. Bolingbroke. (7) Never did Atticus succeed better in gaming the uni- versal love and esteem of all men. Spectator. (8) I could heartily wish there was the same application and endeavors to cultivate and improve our church music as have been lately bestowed on that of the stage. Addiso.i. 11. Correct the Redundancies in the following. (1) Magnanimity and greatness of mind. Ferguson. (2) The mysteries of the arcana of alchemy. I? Israeli. (3) The vice of covetousness is what enters deeper into the BOU! than any other. Guardian. (4) There is such a thing as a man endeavoring to persuade himself and endeavoring to persuade others, that he knows ibout things, when he docs not know more Hum the outside EXEKCISfcS. 283 ikins of them ; and he goes flourishing about with them. Carlyle. (5) He is always delightfully fresh, because lie sets before us the world as it honestly appeared to Geoffry Chaucer, and not a world as it seemed proper to certain persons that it ought to appear. Lowett. (6) Aristotle's style, which is frequently so elliptical as to be dry and obscure, is yet often, at the very same time, un- necessarily diffuse. Whately. (7) As has been formerly remarked, a well-chosen epithet may often suggest, and therefore supply the place of an entire argument. Whately. 12. Avoid the Circumlocution in the following. (1) Pope professed to have learned his poetry from Dry- den, whom, whenever an opportunity was presented, he praised through the whole period of his existence with un- varied liberality ; and perhaps his character may receive some illustration, if a comparison be instituted between him and the man whose pupil he was. Johnson. (2) If one were called on to fix the period in the history sf the world during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, one would, without hesita- tion, name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the succession of Commodus. Gibbon. 13. Criticise the Arrangement of words in the following. (1) All that is favored by good use is not proper to be etained. Lindley Murray. (2; I allude to the article " Blind," in the Encyclopedia Britannica, published at Edinburgh in the year 1783, which was written by him. Mackenzie. (3) And these are inserted by the compositors without the slightest compunction. Alford. (4) \ man does not lose his mother now in the papers. Alford. 284 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. (5) I only bring forward some things. Alford. (6) I remember when the French band of the " Guides * were in this country, reading in the " Illustrated News." Alford. (7) I have noticed the word " party " used for an indi vidual occurring in Shakespeare. Alford. (8) Though some of the European rulers may be females, when spoken of altogether, they may be correctly classified under the denomination " Kings." Alford. (9) Had I but served my God, with half the zeal I served my king, he would not in mine age Have left me naked to mine enemies. Shakespeare. (10) This art can only be obtained by the habitual study of his sensations. D* Israeli. (11) Errors are sometimes committed by the most dis- tinguished writers, with respect to the use of ' * * shall " and "will." Butler's Grammar. (12) Thus I have fairly given you, sir, my own opinion, as well as that of a great majority of both houses here, relat- ing to this weighty affair ; upon which I am confident you may securely reckon. Swift. (13) These forms of conversation by degrees multiplied and grew troublesome. Spectator. 14. In the following exercises, the sentences should be reconstructed, and, if necessary, subdivided, so as to avoid long Parenthetical Expressions. (1) It seems to me, that, in order to maintain the system of the world, at a certain point, far below that of ideal per fection, (for we are made capable of conceiving what we art incapable of attaining) but, however, sufficient, upon the whole, to constitute a state easy and happy, or at the worst, tolerable ; I say, it seems to me, that the Author of Nature has thought fit to mingle, from time to time, among the so- cieties of men, a few, and but a few, of those on whom he is graciously pleased to bestow a larger portion of the ethere&i EXERCISES. 285 spirit, than is given, in the ordinary course of his govern- ment, to the sons of men. Bolingbroke. (2) He (Sir W. Grant) possessed the first great quality ol dispatching business (the real, not the affected dispatch oi Lord Bacon), the power of steadily fixing his attention upon the matter before him. Brougham. (3) The famous poisoned valley of Java (which, as Mr. Loudon, a recent traveler in that region, informs us, is twenty miles in length and is filled with skeletons of men and birds ; and into which it is said that the neighboring tribes are in the habit of driving criminals, as a convenient mode of executing capital punishment) has proved to be the crater of an extinct volcano. (4) This would be the proper place for introducing (if I iid not hesitate to introduce in any connection with merely human instances) the example of him who said, etc. John Foster. 15. In the following exercises such words as are improperly omitted, should be supplied. (1) Arbitrary power I look upon as a greater evil than anarchy itself, as much as a savage is a happier state of life than a galley-slave. (2) He is inspired with a true sense of that function, when chosen from a regard to the interests of piety or virtue. Guardian. (3) I beg of you never let the glory of our nation, who made France tremble, and yet has the gentleness to be unable to bear opposition from the meanest of his own countrymen, be calumniated in so impudent a manner, as in the insinua- tion that he affected a perpetual dictatorship. Stede. (4) He meets with a secret refreshment in a description, ind often feels a greater satisfaction in the prospect of fields and meadows than another does in the possession. Addisou. (5) And while he hesitated, the lady asked him was he come to finish the bust. Charles Reade. 286 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. (6) Ere he thoroughly, recovered the shock a wild cr} arose. Charles Reade. (7) Had Darnley proved the useful Catholic which the Queen intended him to be, they would have sent him to his account with as small compunction as Jael sent the Canaauite captain, or they would have blessed the Jtrni that did it with is much eloquence as Deborah. Fronde. (8) Hence the reason is perspicuous why no French plays whi. 11 translated have, or ever can, succeed on the English stage. Dry den. (9) The following facts may or have been adduced as reasons on the other side. Latham. 16. So divide or reconstruct the sentences in the following exercises as to secure Unity of Idea. Point out in what respect Unity is violated. (1) He [Prior] is supposed to have fallen by his father's death into the hands of his uncle, a vintner near Charing Cross, who sent him for some time to Dr. Busby at West- minster, but not intending to give any education beyond that of the school, took him when lie was well advanced in literature to his own house, where the Earl of Dorset, cele- orated for patronage of genius, found him by chance, as Bur- net relates, reading Horace, and was so well pleased with his proficiency, that he undertook the care and cost of his aca- demical education. Johnson. (2) In this uneasy state, both of his public and private life, Cicero was oppressed by a new and cruel affliction, the death of his beloved daughter Tullia ; which happened soon after her divorce from Dolabella ; whose manners and humors were entirely disagreeable to her. Middleton. (3) It [the sun] breaks the icy fetters of the main, where vast sea-monsters pierce through floating islands, with arms which can withstand the crystal rock ; whilst others, who of themselves seem great as islands, are by their bulk alone armed .igainst all but man ; whose superiority over creatures of such mi pe iido us size and force, should make him mindful of his EXERCISES. 287 privilege of reason, and force him humbly to adore the great composer of these wondrous frames, and the author of hi* ->wn superior wisdom. Shaftesbury. (4) To this succeeded the licentiousness which entcied with the restoration, and from infecting our religion and morals, fell to corrupt our language ; which last was not like to be much improved by those who at that time made up the court of King Charles II. ; either such who had followed him in his banishment, or who had been altogether conversant in the dialect of those fanatic times ; or young men who had been educated in the same company : so that the court which used to be the standard of propriety and correctness of speech was then, and I think hath ever since continued, the worst school in England for that accomplishment, and so will re- main till better care be taken in the education of our young nobility, that they may set out into the world with some foundation of literature, in order to qualify them for patterns of politeness. Swift. (5) The usual acceptation takes profit and pleasure for two different things, and not only calls the followers or votaries of them by the several names of busy and idle men, but dis- tinguishes the faculties of the mind, that are conversant about them ; calling the operation of the first, wisdom, and of the other wit which is a Saxon word, used to express what the Spaniards and Italians call ingenio, and the French, esprit, both from the Latin ; though I think wit more particularly signifies that of poetry, as may occur in remarks on the Runic language. Sir W. Temple. (6) After a short time he came to himself ; and the next day they put him on board his ship, which conveyed him first to Corinth, and thence to the island of Egina. Hook,. (7) The Britons, daily harassed by cruel inroads from the Picts, were forced to call in the Saxons for their defence, who consequently reduced the greatest part of the island to their power, drove the Britons into the most remote and mountain ous parts, and the rest of the country, in customs, religion. ad language, became wholly Saxon. Swift. 288 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. 17. In the following exercises, point out which sen tences are Periodic, which Loose, and which Balanced. If another form would be better suited to the idea, sc modify the structure as to make the form and meaning correspond. (1) Gathering up lately a portion of what I had written lor publication, I have given it as careful a revision as m} leisure would allow, have indeed in many parts rewritten it, seeking to profit by the results of the latest criticism, as fai as I have been able to acquaint myself with them. Trend. 1 2) He was grave, trifling, zealous and untrue. (3) Deep in the shady sadness of a vale Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn, Far from, the fiery noon and eve's one star Sat gray-haired Saturn, quiet as a stone. KeatB. 4) Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal touch Brought death into the world, and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater Man Restore us, and regain the blissful seat, Sing heavenly Muse, that on the secret top Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed, In the beginning how the heaven and earth Rose out of chaos : or, if Sion hill Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flowed Fast by the oracle of God, I thence Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song, That with no middle flight intends to soar Above the Aonian mount, while it pursues Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme. Milton 18. In the following exercises on Figures, th$ student should ask these questions. (1) On what PRINCIPLE is this figure founded ? (8) What is its specific EXERCISES. 289 (8) Is it CORRECT ? (4) If correct, wherein lies its VALUE ? (5) If incorrect, wherein lies its DEFECT ? (6) What OTHER FIGURE would express the same idea ? (1) To Adam, Paradise was a home ; to the good among bia descendants, Home is a paradise. Hare. (2) And pity, like a naked new-born babe, Striding the blast, as heaven's Cherubim horsed Upon the sightless couriers of the air, Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, That tears shall drown the wind. Shakespeare. (3) Fancy sports an airy wing, like a meteor on the bosom of a summer cloud. Burke. (4) We feel the strength of mind through the beauty of the style ; we discern the man in the author, the nation in the man, and the universe at the feet of the nation. De Stall. (5) An elm is A forest waving on a single tree. Holmes. (6) Greece cries to us by the convulsed lips of her poisoned dying Demosthenes ; and Rome pleads with us in the mute persuasion of her mangled Tully. Edward Everett. (7) Even then, before this splendid orb was entirely set, and while the western horizon was in a blaze with his de- scending glory, on the opposite quarter of the heavens arose another luminary, and for his hour became lord of the ascendant. Burke. (8) These institutions attract to themselves the mental strength of the land, forming a focus from which radiates, whether in Theology, Science, Literature or Art, the new world of thought, which finds its way to the remotest regions, often filtered and unacknowledged. Matthew Arnold. (9) There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray, To deck the turf that wraps their clay ; And Freedom shall a while repair To dwell a weeping hermit there. Cotttm. 13 290 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. (10) Belinda smiled, a-nd all the world was gay. Pope. ^11) The poems of Byron are as the scenes of a suminci evening, where all is tender, and grand, and beautiful ; but the damps of disease descend with the dews of heaven, and the pestilent vipors of night are breathed in with the fra grance and the balm, and the delicate and the fair are the surest victims of the exposure. FrisMe. (12) This is the history of the world, and all that is in it. H passes while we look at it. Like as when you watcli the melting tints of the evening sky purple, crimson, gorgeous gold, a few pulsations of quivering light, and it is all gone. Robertson. (13) Of the nineteen tyrants who started up under the reign of Gallienus, there was not one who enjoyed a life of peace or a natural death. Gibbon. (14) A sail ! a sail ! a promised prize to hope, Her nation's flag how speaks the telescope ? No prize, alas ! but yet a welcome sail. Byron. (15) Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay.-* Tennyson. (16) Homer calls words winged ; and the epithet is peculiarly appropriate to his, which do indeed seem to fly, so rapid and light is their motion, and which have been flying ever since over the whole peopled earth, and still hover and brood over many an awakened soul. Latin marches, Italian struts, French hops, English walks, German rumbles along. The music of Klopstock's hexameter is not unlike the tune with which a broad-wheeled wagon tries to solace itself when crawling down a hill. But Greek flies, especially in Homer, Hare. (17) I am a Royalist, I blushed for the degradation of thj crown. I am a Whig, I blushed for the dishonor of Parlia- ment. I am a true Englishman, I felt to the quick for the disgrace of England. I am a man, I felt for the melancholy icverse of human affairs in the fall of the first power i D the world. Bwrke. EXERCISES. 291 18) To one so gifted with the prodigality of heaven can we appioach in any other attitude than of prostration. Qilfillan. (19) Nor durst begin To speak, but wisely kept the fool within. Dryden. (SO) Walk thoughtful on the silent, solemn shore Of that vast ocean it must sail so soon ; And put good works on board ; and wait the wind That shortly blows us unto worlds unknown. Young. (21) I bridle in my struggling muse with pain, That longs to launch into a nobler strain. Addison. (22) I will bury myself in my books, and the Devil may pipe to his own. Tennyson. (23) The mind of Elizabeth was like one of those ancient Druidical monuments called rocking-stones. The finger of Cupid, boy as he is painted, could put her feelings in motion ; but the power of Hercules could not have destroyed their equilibrium. Scott. (24) I was sailing in a vast ocean without other help than the pole-star of the ancients, and the rules of the French stage among the moderns. Dryden. (25) He [Cromwell] set up Parliaments by the stroke of his pen, and scattered them with the breath of his mouth. Cowley. (26) Men may come, and men may go, But I [the brook] go on forever. Tennyson* (27) So frowned the mighty combatants, that hell Grew darker at their frown. Milton. (28) Yon row of visionary pines, By twilight glimpse discovered 1 Mark how they fle From the fierce sea-blast, all their tresses wild Streaming before them. Wordsworth. (29) Talent convinces ; Genius but excites : This tasks the reason ; that the soul delights. Talent from sober judgment takes its birth, And reconciles the pinion to the earth ; 292 . THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. Genius unsettles with desires tte mind, Contented not till earth be left behind. Talent, the sunshine on a cultured soil, Ripens the fruit by slow degrees for toil ; Genius the golden Iris of the skies, On cloud itself reflects its wondrous dyes, And to the earth in tears and glory given, Clasps in its airy arch the pomp of heaven. Bulwer. (30) The moral and political system of Hobbes was u pal- ace of ice : transparent, exactly proportioned, majestic, ad- mired by the unwary as a delightful dwelling ; but gradually undermined by the central warmth of human feeling, before it was thawed into muddy water by the sunshine of true philosophy. Mackintosh. (31) And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, u Cry aloud ; for he is a god : either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked." Bible. (32) The universal host upsent A shout that tore Hell's concave, and beyond Frighted the reign of Chaos and old Night. Milton. (33) There is a period in the history of Europe when every commotion on its surface was occasioned by one cause deeply seated, like the internal fire that is supposed to have produced the earthquake of Lisbon. This cause was the Reformation. From 1520 to 1649 the Reformation was the great lever of Europe. Loi*d John Russell. (34) Wit laughs at things ; Humor laughs with them. Wit lashes external appearances, or cunningly exaggerates single foibles into character ; Humor glides into the heart of its o'bjects, looks lovingly on the infirmities it detects, and represents the whole man. Wit is abrupt, darting, scornful, and tosses its analogies in your face ; Humor is slow and shy, Insinuating its fun into your heart. Wit is negative, analyk ical, destructive ; Humor is creative. WMpple. EXERCISES. 293 (85) As in the hollow breast of Apennine, Beneath the shelter of encircling hills, A myrtle rises, far from human eyes, And breathes its balmy fragrance on the wild So flourished, blooming and unseen by all, The sweet Lavinia. Pope. (36) He [Gower] is the Undertaker of the fair mediaeval legend ; and his style has the hateful, the seemingly un- natural length of a coffin. Lowell. (37) He did not establish a throne surrounded by repub- lican institutions, but a republic surrounded by the ghost ol monarchical institutions. Alison. (38) Language is the amber in which a thousand precious thoughts have been safely imbedded and preserved. Trench. (39) O for a beaker full of the warm South. Keats. 19. Point out the faults in the following sentences in their effect upon the Feelings. (1) That man made me miss my mark. Alison. (2) St. Augustine lived holily and godlily. (3) It is quite proper that a character should be pervaded by a spirit of humility, but this feeling should never be al- lowed to degenerate into servility. (4) Antony has done his part. He holds the gorgeous East in fee. He has revenged Crassus. He will make kings, though he be none. He is amusing himself, and Rome must bear with him. He has his griefs as well as Caesar. Let the sword settle their disputes. But he is no longer the man to leave Cleopatra behind. (5) The general idea of good or bad fortune, therefore, creates some concern for the person who has met with it ; but the general idea of provocation excites no sympathy with the anger of the man who has received it. Nature, it seems, teaches us to be more averse to enter into this passion, and till informed of its cause, to be disposed rather to take part gainst it. 294 THE SCIEKCE OF KHETORIC. (0) And those that leave their valiant bones in Fiance, Dying like men, though buried in your dunghills, They shall be famed ; for there the sun shall greet them, And draw their reeking honors up to heaven. Shakespcart .7 Loud as a bull makes hill and valley ring, So roared the lock when it released the spring. Pope. fc Superior beings, when of late they saw A mortal man unfold all nature's law, Admired such wisdom in an earthly shape, And showed a Newton as we show an ape. Pope. II. EXERCISES IN CONSTRUCTION. WHILE great importance is attached to the preced- ing exercises in criticism, it is believed to be of still greater moment that every student should be able to realize a high degree of excellence in his own composi- tions. To this end the teacher should insist upon a -igid drill in the following constructive exercises. Although not strictly within the province of the rhetorician, filling the mind with valuable ideas should not be overlooked. Facts and'the mental combination of facts by reflection upon them are the forces whicl produce changes in the minds of men. The rhetori cian's art is feeble and even pernicious unless it be joined with a competent understanding of the subject-matter treated. The sources of information are (1) observa- tion, (2) reflection, (3) conversation, and (4) reading. These are the sources of culture, and it is culture which makes rhetorical power truly effective. Rhet- oric is but a method. The artist must have material ot his skill is of little value. EXERCISES. 295 1. Lot the learner mention subjects suitable for the following classes of hearers or readers, and state what chief qualities the treatment should possess. (1) A Sunday school. (2) A political mass-meeting. (3) A philosophical society. (4) An American jury. (5) A collide literary society at its anniversary. (6) An educated Christian church. (7) A workingmen's association. (8) An infuriated mob. (9) Fashionable novel readers. (10) A "popular lec- ture audience." 2. Let the student make an analysis of the follow- ing themes in Description. (1) The Inland Waters of the United States. (2) An Ocean Steamer. (3) The most important Public Building in the town. (4) The Emotion of Patriotism. (5) The Love of Justice. (6) The Sentiment of Friendship. (7) The Character of Julius Csesar. '$) The Character of Xenophon. .9) The Character of Abraham Lincoln. (10) True Manhood. 3. Write an outline of the following thenues in Narration. (1) My School Life. (2) The Punic Wars. (3) The Life of Sir Walter Scott. (4) The Battle of Waterloo. (5) The Literature of the Age of Elizabeth. (6) The Discovery of America. (7) The History of Greece in the Time of Pericles. (8) The Story of the Holy Grail. (9) The Carboniferous Age. (10) The Genesis of Civilization. 296 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. 4. Define the following Terms. (1) Flattery. (2) Printing. (3) Geography. (4) Music, ^5) Procrastination. (6) Education. (7) Philosophy. (8) Science. (9) Generosity. (10) Perception. (11) Language* (12) History. (13) A year. (14) Autobiography. (15) Man, 5. Divide the classes denoted by the following Terms into species, according to some principle of your own selection. (1) Words. (2) Sentences. ^3) Languages. (4) Men. (5) Americans. (6) The Sciences. (7) Merchants. (8) Mechanics. (9) Celestial bodies. (10) Bodies of water. (11) Occupations. (12) Sources of happiness. (13) Sources of value. (14) Gov- ernments. (15) Religions. (16) Amusements. 6. Explicate the following propositions by Defini- tion or Division. (1) Prosperity depends on morality. (2) Models improve practice. (3) Labor is necessary to success. (4) The press ought to be truthful. (5) Luxury is destructive of liberty. (6) Climate affects character. (7) The fine arts are beneficial to civilizatioi (8) Godliness is profitable unto all things. (9) Anxiety shortens life. (10) Love is the strongest bond of union. 7. Prove the following propositions by arguments from Cause to Effect. (1) Aaron Burr was a conspirator against his country. (2) Bonaparte, were he liting, would change the geography of Europe. (3) The Government of the United States will endure forever. (4) The Christian religion will ultimately be universal, (5) Shakespeare could have been a great orator. EXERCISES. 291 8. Prove the following propositions by argument* from Sign, (1) The globe has existed for ages longer than man. (2) There was civilization in Egypt four thousand year* tgo. (3) Man is an infinitely progressive being. (4) It is right to punish the murderer with death. (5) Jesus Christ rose from the dead. 9. Prove the following propositions by argument* from Eesemblance. (1) Every language has its idioms. (2) Many benefits result from Invention. (3) The drama is an early form of literature. (4) Human life is transitory. (5) A precocious genius seldom becomes mature. (6) Perseverance ends in success. 10. The following questions may be discussed ir class, according to the principles given in the text, the teacher presiding as critic, and pointing out errors in the conduct of the discussion. (1) Resolved, That the State should superintend all educa- tion within its borders. (2) Resolved, That the Electoral System of choosing the President of the United States should be abolished. (3 ) Resolved, That the physical sciences are more conducive to the highest prosperity of the race than the mental sciences. (4) Resolved, That the highest development of science and literature in the same individual is impossible. (5) Resolved, That the death penalty should be abolished. 1L While original composition is on the whole the best exercise on tha laws of form, several easier processes are helpful in acquiring skill in expressing ideas. Some of these will be mentioned. (1} A Paraphrase consists in giving the exact thought of a 13* 298 THE SCIENCE OF RHETORIC. writer in different language. When poetry is turned intc prose it is called Metaphrase. If the principles of Style are constantly kept in mind, it may prove a very profitable exer- cise. The extracts given in the Exercises in Criticism maj X3 used foi this purpose. (2) Abridgment consists in giving the substance of a com- position in fewer words. It is an aid in forming a terse, compact style, and should be frequently practiced. The fol- lowing points are necessary to a good abridgment : (a) Give all the essentials, omitting minor details ; (&) Give them accurately and concisely ; (c) Give nothing not in the original work. (3) Translation consists in expressing ideas in another language with the same clearness and force as they possess in the original. A good translation requires the observance of the following rules : (a) The translation must represent the sense of the original without omission or addition. (&) It must be idiomatic ; L e. to an ordinary reader con- versant only with the language in which the translation is made, it should appear to be a native production in word and phrase. (c) It must possess the general spirit of the original, as re- gards simplicity, grace, magnificence, and other qualities. Extemporaneous translation is recommended by Mr. Marsh as a help to the acquisition of a wide vocabulary. 12. The end of all constructive effort is Original Composition. The best way to acquire good habits of expression is to write much and carefully. The Grst efforts in any art must be self-conscious, but habit soon controls us almost entirely, and we write well or ill according as we have been trained. Principles will at first retard our fluency and, possibly, even give an air of artificiality to our expression ; but gracefulness and power will finally vindicate Art, and prove her EXERCISES. 299 only a perfected Nature. A few brief suggestions may assist the composer : (1) Select a theme which interests you. (2) Think about it until you have started questions which fou cannnot answer. (3) Seek these answers froin men and libraries. (4) Form your own opinions distinctly. (5) Prepare a full analysis before you write. (6) Follow faithfully the laws of expression. (7) Lay your composition aside, if possible, until its con tents are out of your mind. (8) Criticise it as if you were not its author, and be sure (hat you understand just what you meant to say. ABBTRACTNESS of words, 177. Accusations in debate, 137. Adverbs, position of, 182. ^Esthetics, its relation to rhetoric, 38. Age, as a modifier of mind, 63. Allegory, forms allied to, 223. laws of, 224. nature of, 222. Ambiguity from position, 182. Analogues, 169. Analogy, argument from, 125. Analysis, value of, 201, 93. Antithesis, laws of, 240. natural form of, 239. nature of, 238. Apostrophe, 233. Arguments, a priori, 110. arrangement of, 131. divisions of, 107. from resemblance, 120. from sign, 113. rhetorical use of, 107. use of different classes, 130. Arrangement of arguments, 131. Art, restrictions of formal, 26. Audience, relation of speaker to, 68. Authority, as an argument, 118, A athority in debate, 138. BALANCED sentences, 198. Barbarism, 157. Beauty, relation of to rhetoric, 5. Blair's treatment of rhetoric, 3. CAUSE, argument from, 110. proof of, 115. Causal words, ambiguity of, lit. Chances, calculation of, 114. Circumlocution, 176. Clearness, 6. too great, 136. Climax, 240. in sound and sense, 260. Collateral ideas, 194. Comprehension, 96. Concession in debate, 127. Confirmation, 130. Consonants, cumulation of, 247. Contiguity, figures founded on, 225. Contrast, essentials of a, 288. figures founded on, 238. the theory of, 237. DEFINITION, kinds of, 98. laws of, 99. nature of, 97. "Description, kinds of, 76. laws of, 75. nature of, 75. Development of an idea, 198, 199, Diction, 155. Discourse, essential elements o 19. 302 INDEX. Discussion, conduct of a, 126; Disposition, relation of to rhet oric, 4. Division, kinds of, IOC. laws of, 101. nature of, 97. Drawing, 24. ELLIPSIS, 189 Elocution, relation of to rhetoric, 5,38. Emotions, co-existent, 230. relation of to knowledge, 235. [see Feelings]. Emphasis, 177. Epigram, 241. Example, argument from, 121. illustrative, 122. invented, 122. Exclamation, 231. Experience, general and special, 67. inferred, 67. nature of, 66. Explicit reference, 200. Exposition, forms of, 95. nature, o^ $5. of question, 127. Expression, modes of, 24. Extension, 96. FABLE, distinguished from alle- gory, 224. Familiarity of words, 155. Feelings, classification of, 52. economy of, 244. involuntary, 54. Hamilton's theory of, 244. modification of, 59. production of, 54. Figures, classes of, 203. definition of, 203. founded on resemblance, 205. Figures, harmony ot, 261. number of, 255, 261 . source of, 262. value of, 204. variety of, 255, 261. Foot-note, 189. GENERAL words, 164. Grammar, its relation to rhetoric 38. Grammatical relations of word*., 190. HARMONY, 256. Homonyms, 167. Hyperbole, 232. IDEAS, kinds of, 73. modes of expressing, 24. Imagination, rhetorical use of, 49 Imitation of sounds, 256 Inclusion of words, 163. Induction, methods, 123. nature of, 123. Interpretation, process of, 144. Interrogation, 242. Introduction, design of, 128. kinds of, 129. Invention, relation of to rhetono. 6. Irony, 242. LANGUAGE, ambiguity of, 118. an impediment in expression, 32. as a mode of expression, 25. its origin and progress, 5. its relation to thought, 19. its symbolic character. 80. of mental states, 80. restrictions of, 29. uncertainty of as a median^ 81. INDEX. 303 Length of words, 160. Lessing's limitation of language, 29. Logic, its relation to rhetoric, 38. Loose sentences, 197. MEMOBY, rhetorical use of, 50. Metaphor, based on analogy, 214. laws of, 215. nature of, 213. superiority of to simile, 214. value of, 217. Meter, adaptation of to poetry, 252 not a violation of variety, 253. value of, 251. Metonymv, forms of, 228. law of, 230. Modifying effect of words, 181. Myth distinguished from allegory, 224. Myths, origin of, 218. NABBATION, laws of, 86. nature of, 86. New words, formation of, 159. use of, 157. OBJECTIONS, place for answering, 138. treatment of, 135. Obscurity from position, 185. intentional, 147. PAINTING, as a mode of expression, 24. Parable distinguished from fable, 224. Parenthesis, 187. Parenthetical expressions, 186. Particles, splitting of, 185. Partition, 100. Party spirit, 69. Periodic sentences, 197. Personification, nature of, 218. in oratory, 220. forms of, 221. natural to man, '2T.. Perspicuity, excessive, 148. Poetry, definitions of, 84. Position of words, 177. Precision, 6. Probability, how established, 112 Progressive development, 199. Pronouns, position of, 183. Propriety, 6. Prose, definition of, 36. Proximity of words, 181. Psychology, its relation to rhet- oric, 38. Purity, 6. QUESTION, preparation of, 126. REDUNDANCY, 175. Refutation, cautions concerning 136. modes of, 133. Resemblance, argument from, 120 essential, 120. Rhetoric, definition of, 37. departments of, 39. province of, 37. synopsis of, 40. Rhyme, absence of in classics, 248 adaptation of to poetry, 250. Rhyming words in English, 249 Italian, 249. Spanish, 249. SAXON, value of, illustrated, 16*. Sculpture, 25. Sentences, balanced, 198. combination of, 198. conditions of their structure, 151. length of, 191, 254. 304 INDEX. Sentences, loose, 197. structure of, 254. periodic, 197. Sentiments, scheme of, 53 Sign, argument from, 113. bimile, kinds of, 20. laws of, 209. Speaker, relation of to audience, 68 Specific words, 164. Squinting construction, 182, 184. Style, excellence of relative, 33. general law of, 147. of legal acts, 152. national types of, 152. Suggeativeness, 193. Summary, value of in history, 94. Synecdoche, 227. TAflTE, relation of to rhetoric, 5. Tautology, 174. Tautophony, 248. Testimony, 115. Theme, necessity of, 201. Theremin's treatment of rhetoric,3. Thought, its relation to language, 19. laws of, 45. UKITY of idea, 195. of structure, 196 Use, law of, 159. VABIBTT, applications oi, 246. in style, 246. necessity of, 246. Versification, apart of grammar, 81 Vision, 234. Vivacity, 6. Vowels, cumulation of, 247. WHATELY'S treatmentof rhetoric,3. Witnesses, adverse, 117. character of, 116. concurrent, 116. number of, 116. Words, abstract, 177. associations of, 171. effect of on thoughts, 171. effect of on sensibilities, 244, emphatic, 177. familiarity of, 155. formation of new, 159. grammatical relations of, 11K implication of, 171. inclusion of, 163. length of, 160. modifying effect of, 181. number of, 173. position of, 177. Saxon, 162. specific and general, 164. use of new, 157. YOUTH as a modifier of mind, 61 RETURN TO the circulation desk of any University of California Library or to the NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station University of California Richmond, CA 94804-4698 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 2-month loans may be renewed by calling (510)642-6753 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books to NRLF Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date. DUE AS STAMPED BELOW DEC 07 1999 12,000(11/95) I U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES C 3 1 1 2 6 5 T 6