Uw.Cv^'^W^l^^^v ^ ^ . \ — / THE NEW Composition- Rhetoric EWion of 1911 BY ERED NEWTON SCOTT PROFESSOR OF RPIETORIC IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AND JOSEPH VILLIEES DENNEY PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY jXKt A LLYN AND BACON COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY FRED N. SCOTT AND JOSEPH V. DENNEY. ODE J. S. Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. PREFACE. This book, now entirely rewritten and greatly enlarged, embodies all those features of former editions of the Composition-Ehetoric and Composition-Literature which in class-room use have been found most successful and most attractive. Of these features the following are per- haps the most important : — Composition is regarded as a social act, and the student is therefore constantly led to think of himself as writing or speaking for a specified audience. Thus not mere ex- pression but communication as well is made the business of composition. The simple fundamental principles that underlie alike composition, rhetoric, and literature are discovered induc- tively by the study of numerous selections, and when discovered are at once applied in the student's practice. The aim is to keep the student's powers of construction and criticism in proper adjustment. While his chief pur- pose is to produce something readable, interesting, and perhaps valuable, he is led to consider questions of form at the same time. The effect of such criticism by the text, if it is properly supplemented by the teacher's suggestions, is to increase in each student the power and the will to criticise his own writings before giving them any form of publication. Experience having proved that concentration on a smaller unit than the essay and a larger unit than the sentence is conducive to the best results, attention is drawn first to the paragraph. The sentence, phrase, and word are studied iii IV PREFACE. as structuml' (^leniefntjs of the paragraph unit. The transi- tion to essays in the four forms of composition is then made v^itVi C'onip*Ar^ttve'e5iae.^ * Other features of the book are believed to be new though they are not untested : — Composition topics are drawn not only from literature and student life, but from the vocations towards which various classes of students are naturally tending. The teacher is thus enabled to take advantage of a powerful means of interest and incitement in making assignments, and to consult the known tastes and inclinations of the individual student. In the study of the paragraph, attention is called repeat- edly to the predication made by the topic statement, in order that students may learn the difference between gen- eral subject and immediate topic. This is one of the logical features of composition work that can hardly be over- emphasized. Other logical aspects of composition are not neglected. The laws of association of ideas are presented, and practice is afforded in the logical analysis of literary wholes into their constituent units. Especial attention is paid to oral argument, and explicit instructions are given for the conduct of debates, both formal and informal. In conclusion, the authors wish to make here a general acknowledgment of indebtedness to the teachers who have kindly assisted in making the book what it is by sugges- tions drawn from their practical experience. May, 1911. CONTENTS. Chapter I. Units of Composition. SECTION 1. Preliminary Assignments .... 1 2. Independent Units 1 3. Assignments on Independent Units . . 3 4. Eelated Units 7 5. Assignments on Related Units .... Chapter II. How Compositions Grow. 11 6. Introductory ....... . 20 7. How to plan a Composition . . 21 8. Assignments on Planning a Composition . 23 9. How to group Facts . . . . 29 10. Grouping by Association .... . 29 11. Grouping by Contrast or Antithesis . 30 12. Grouping by Cause and Effect . 31 13. Climax 33 14. Overlapping Topics 34 15. Assignments on Grouping Topics . Chapter III. Paragraphs. 35 16. Introductory 44 17. Topic Statement 45 18. Assignments on Topic Statement . 45 19. How Paragraphs Grow 64 20. By Repetition . . • 64 21. Assignments on Development by Repetition 67 22. By Comparison and Contrast 72 23. Assignments on Development by Comparison anc Contrast ....... V 75 VI CONTENTS. 24. By Particulars and Details .... 85 2o. Assignments on Development by Particulars . . 87 26. By Specific Instances 93 27. Assignments on Development by Specific Instances . 95 28. By Cause and Effect 99 29. Assignments on Development by Cause and Effect . 100 30. Combination of Methods 106 31. Assignments on Development by Various Methods . 108 32. Means of Connection 117 33. Assignments on Means of Connection . . . 119 Chapter IV. Sentences. 34. Introduction 35. Complex and Compound Sentences 36. Danger of Overcrowding 37. Long and Short Sentences 38. Loose, Periodic, Balanced, Sentences 39. Arrangement of Parts . 40. Assignments ..... 41. Means of Connection 42. Assignments on Means of Connecting Sentences 125 126 126 128 130 135 138 141 146 Chapter V. Words 43. Choice of Expression . 44. How to Enlarge your Vocabulary 45. Will and Shall . 46. Who, Which, That 47. Assignments on Choice of Words 152 153 155 156 157 Chapter VI. The Forms of Prose Discourse. 48. Kinds of Writing 168 49. Assignments in the Kinds of Writing .... 170 CONTENTS. Vll SECTION 50. Combination of the Kinds of Writing 51. Assignments in the Combination of Kinds PAGE 171 172 Chapter VII. Description. 52. The Effect of Description . . . 53. Assignments on the Effects of Description . 54. Kinds of Images 55. Assignments on the Use of the Concrete 56. Assignments on Kinds of Images 57. The Point of View .... 58. . Assignments on Point of View . 59. The Order of Observation 60. Assignments on the Order of Observation . 61. The Fundamental Image 62. Assignments on the Fundamental Image 63. Number and Selection of Details . 64. Assignments on Selection of Details . 65. Assignments in Description of Voices QQ. Assignments in Description of Sounds 67. Assignments for Details of Life and Movement 68. Sequence and Grouping of Details 69. Assignment in Sequence and Grouping 70. Miscellaneous Assignments Chapter VIII. Narration. 71. Narration and Description . 72. Assignments in Detecting Narration . 73. Effect of Narration 74. Assignments in the Effect of Narration 75. Simple Incident .... 76. Assignments in Relating an Actual Experience 77. Assignment in Narrative partly Invented VIU CONTENTS, 78. Complex Narrative 79. Assignments in Supplying the Obstacle 80. Kinds of Obstacle 81. Assignnnents in the Kind of Obstacle 82. Development of the Plot 83. The Beginning 84. Assignments on the Beginning S5. The Middle . . . . . 86. Assignments on the Middle . 87. The End 88. Assignments on the Plot 89. The Point of the Story 90. Assignment on the Point of the Story 91. Character and Plot 92. Assignments on Character 93. Conversation and Dialogue . 94. Assignments on Conversation and Dialogue 95. Kinds of Narrative 96. Miscellaneous Assignments 97. A Type Study in Narration PAGE 249 253 254 254 255 255 255 257 257 261 262 265 265 267 269 274 275 278 279 292 Chapter IX. Exposition. 98. The Nature of Exposition . . . . .301 99. Assignments on the Nature of Exposition . . . 303 100. Need of Exposition 305 101. Assignments on the Need of Exposition . . . 306 102. Common Methods of Exposition .... 310 103. Why we Fail to Understand . . . ., 310 104. Assignments on Failing to Understand . . . 311 105. Connecting New Ideas with Old .... 315 106. Assignments on Connecting New Ideas with Old . . 318 107. Logical Definition 319 108. Assignments in Supplying or Narrowing the Genus . 322 CONTENTS. IX SECTION PAGE 109. Assignments in Supplying or Completing the Differentia 322 110. Assignments in Abstracting Definitions . . . 323 111. Assignments in Correcting Faulty Definitions . • . 325 112. Assignments in Definition with Explanations . . 325 113. Generalized Narrative 328 114. Assignments in Generalized Narrative . . . 330 115. Comparison or Analogy ..... 331 116. Assignments in Comparison or Analogy . . . 333 117. Reconciling Contradictory Ideas .... 334 118. Assignments on ReconciHng Contradictory Ideas . 336 119. Division 337 120. Assignments in Division ..... 339 121. Types of Expository Writing .... 341 122. A Type Study in Exposition . . . .343 123. Miscellaneous Assignments in Exposition . . . 349 Chapter X. Argumentation. 124. I. Simple Argumentation and Informal Debating 353 125. Assignments on the Work of Argumentation . . 355 126. Argumentation and Exposition .... 360 127. Description and ]S"arration in Argument . . 361 128. Assignments in the Relation of Argumentation to Expo- • sition, Description, and Narration . . . 362 129. The Proposition .371 130. Assignments on the Proposition . . . . 373 131. Arguments for the Proposition based on Perti- nent Facts 375 132. Assignment in Finding Pertinent Facts . . . 375 133. Arguments based on Pertinent Circumstances . 376 134. Assignment in Finding Pertinent Circumstances . . 376 135. Arguments based on Specific Instances . . 377 136. Assignment in Finding Specific Instances . . . 377 137. Arguments based on Principles, Experiences, Authority ....... 378 CONTENTS. SECTION PAGE 138. Assignment in Finding Principles . 379 139. Arguments based on a General Theory . . 379 140. Assignment in Supplying a General Theory . . 381 141. How a Fact or a Theory becomes an Argument . 381 142. Assignments in Relating Facts and Theories to Propo- sitions ..... . 382 143. Assignments on Arguments for the Propos tion . . 386 144. Tests of Arguments for Pertinence . 387 145. Assignments on the Test for Pertinence . 389 146. Tests of Arguments for Strength . 392 147. Assignments on the Test for Strength . 394 148. Tests of Arguments for Consistency . 398 149. Assignments on the Test for Consistency . 400 150. The Order of Arguments . . 402 151. Assignment on the Order of Arguments . . . 403 152. The Brief . 403 153. Miscellaneous Assignments . 406 II. Formal Debate . 408 154. Argumentation and Debate . . 408 155. Debatable Propositions . 413 156. Preparation of Material . 414 157. The Main Issues and the Trial Brief . 416 158. Division of Labor . 416 159. Team Work .... . 417 160. Individual Practice . . 418 161. The Second Team .... .418 162. Practice Debates Chapter XI. Poetry. . 418 163. Introductory . 421 164. Kinds of Poetry . 422 165. Epic Poetry ..... . 422 166. Dramatic Poetry .... . 425 CONTENTS, XI 167. Lyric Poetry , . 427 168. Didactic Poetry 429 169. Assignments ....... 430 170. Versification 431 171. Assignments . . . . . . . 438 Chapter XII. Figures of Speech. 172. Definition . 173. Classes of Figures 174. Figures of Imagery 175. Assignments on Figures of Imagery 176. Figures of Arrangement 177. Assignments 178. Figures of Contradiction 179. General Assignments 439 440 440 446 448 449 450 452 Appendix A. Directions for Written Work . . 454 Appendix B. Capitals and Punctuation . . . 455 Appendix C. Common Faults, with Marks used in Correcting Them . . . . 458 Index 465 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE 1. Marley's Ghost. (F. Barnard) 42 2. Marley's Ghost. (John Leach) 43 3. John Gilpin's Ride. (Stothard) . . .. . . .219 4. L'Alerte. (Detaille) 220 5. Othello telling the Story of his Life. (Becker) . . 285 6. Saved. (Von Roessler) . .' 287 7. Reading the Will. (Becker) 288 8. Before Paris. (Von Werner) 290 9. The Conscripts. (Dagnan-Bouveret) . . . . .291 10. David Copperfield at Peggotty's House. (H. K. Browne) 350 11. David Copperfield at Peggotty's House. (F. Barnard) . 351 12. yEsop. (Velasquez) 407 13. The Martyr's Daughter. (A. Baur) 409 14. Die Priifung. (Kaufmann) 410 xu THE NEW COMPOSITION - RHETORIC. CHAPTER I. UNITS OF COMPOSITION. 1. Preliminary Assignments. A. 1. Make a list of the books and poems that you read last year and in vacation. 2. Mention some that you particularly enjoyed. 3. Why did you like them ? 4. Mention some that you did not enjoy, and give your reasons. B. 1. How much writing have you done in the past year ? 2. Do you enjoy writing ? 3. Is it easier than it used to be, or harder ? Why ? 4. Mention some subject that you are especially interested in. Independent Units. 2. To put one's thoughts into words that are clear, orderly, and connected, is to compose, and the result is called a composition. A composition may consist of a single sentence, a proverb for instance, or a maxim, or an item of news. It may be completed in a single paragraph, — a series of sentences that belong together, or a sentence-group. It may require for completeness a number of these groups or paragraphs. 1 :2 , UNITS. OF COMPOSITION. But, whether complete in one sentence, in one paragraph, or in many paragraphs, the composition is recognized as an independent unit, a unit because it is all about one theme or idea and about nothing else ; independent, because of itself it gives a meaning that is complete and satis- fying. The proverb. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging ; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise (Proverbs xx. 1), is an independent unit ; and so is the following brief composition on the same theme : — Who hath woe ? Who hath sorrow ? Who hath con- tentions ? Who hath redness of eyes ? They that tarry long at the wine ; they that go to seek out mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it goeth down smoothly. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and it stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange things, and thine heart shall utter froward things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of the mast. TJiey have stricken me, shalt thou say, arid I ivas not hurt; they have beaten me and I felt it not; when shall I awake f I will seek it yet again. — Proverbs xxiii. 29-35. The same theme has often been treated on a much larger scale, in sermons, lectures, and stories. The following story by Thackeray is complete in itself, although he might have told it in fifty chapters: — An old Abbe, talking among a party of intimate friends, happened to say, ^' A priest has strange experiences ; why, ladies, my first penitent was a murderer." Upon this, the principal nobleman of the neighborhood enters the room. INDEPENDENT UNITS, 6 " Ah, Abbe, here you are ; do you know, ladies, I was the Abbe's first penitent, and I promise you my confession astonished him/' Evidently, then, it is not any particular length, or any particular number of sentences, or of paragraphs, that entitles a composition to be called an independent unit. It is, as the name suggests, (1) its ability to stand alone and to yield a satisfying meaning without the help of any more words than we find in it; and (2) its quality of unity, which implies one theme or idea to write about, one purpose in writing, and the exclusion of everything irrelevant to the theme and purpose. The writer who would give to his compo- sition these qualities must tell enough to make sure that his reader will understand him, and must keep out of his composition everything that is not connected with his subject or that is only remotely connected with it. A good composition is about one subject and is complete in itself. 3. Assignments on Independent Units. A. Which of the following are evidently independent composi- tions? Which contain words indicating that something must precede or follow ? Which need more words in order to yield an intelligible meaning ? Can you in any case suggest what the new matter should be ? 1. Sweet are the uses of adversity, Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, Wears yet a precious jewel in his head ; And this our life, exempt from public haunt, Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in everything. 4 UNITS OF COMPOSITION, 2. The Sphinx was so mortified at the solving of her "rid- dle that she cast herself down from the rock and perished. 3. Every individual has a place to fill in the world, and is important in some respect, whether he chooses to be so or not. 4. One of the illusions is that the present hour is not the critical, decisive hour. Write it on your heart that every day is the best in the year. 5. From scenes like these old Scotia's grandeur springs, That makes her loved at home, revered abroad : Princes and lords are but the breath of kings, < An honest man's the noblest work of God.' — Burns. 6. Three Poets, in three distant ages born, Greece, Italy, and England did adorn ; The first in loftiness of thought surpass'd, The next in majesty, in both the last. The force of Nature could no further go ; To make a third, she joined the former two. — Dryden. 7. Neither let mistakes nor wrong directions, of which every man, in his studies and elsewhere, falls into many, discourage you. There is precious instruction to be got by finding we were wrong. Let a man try faithfully, manfully, to be right ; he will grow daily more and more right. It is at bottom the condition on which all men have to cultivate themselves. Our very walking is an incessant falling; a falling and a catching of ourselves before we come actually to the pavement ! It is emblematic of all things a man does. 8. Shortly after this event, the city of Thebes was afflicted with a monster which infested the highroad. It was called the Sphinx. It had the body of a lion, and the upper part of a woman. It lay crouched on the top of a rock, and arrested all travellers who came that way, propos- INDEPENDENT UNITS. 5 ing to them a riddle, with the condition that those who could solve it should pass safe, but those who failed should be killed. Not one had yet succeeded in solving it, and all had been slain. (Edipus was not daunted by these alarming accounts, but boldly advanced to the trial. The Sphinx asked him, " What animal is that which in the morning goes on four feet, at noon on two, and in the evening upon three ? " CEdipus replied, " Man, who in childhood creeps on hands and knees, in manhood walks erect, and in old age with the aid of a staff." 9. Seven cities claim old Homer dead Through which the living Homer begged his bread. B. Fill the blanks in the following in such a way as to give a satisfactory meaning. 1. Good manners do not require lying, for . . . 2. A dog, after plunging into a river, comes out wet to the skin, but the fur of a beaver or a mink . . . 3. The chief value and virtue of money consists in its having power over human beings ; without this power large material possessions are useless, and to any person possess- ing such power, comparatively unnecessary. But . . . 4. The humblest mechanic now wields a mightier power^ by means of machinery, than the kings and queens of an- tiquity ever exerted, and a factory boy can perform a task that would have startled Greece and Rome as a miracle of skilful strength. Admit all this ; bat . . . C. Tell in your own words the best anecdote you remember ever to have heard or read. Examine it carefully to see if it has. unity and is complete in itself. D. What is the main idea of the following poem? Try re- ducing it to a single sentence such as might be inscribed on a. banner. UNITS OF COMPOSITION, Old Ireland. Far hence, amid an isle of wondrous beauty, Crouching over a grave, an ancient, sorrowful mother, Once a queen — now lean and tatter'd — seated on the ground, Her old white hair drooping dishevel'd round her shoulders ; At her feet fallen an unused royal harp, Long silent — she, too, long silent — mourning her shrouded hope and heir ; Of all the earth her heart most full of sorrow, because most full of love. Yet a word, ancient mother ; You need crouch there no longer on the cold ground, with forehead between your knees ; O you need not sit there, veiled in your old white hair, so dishevel'd ; For know you, the one you mourn is not in that grave ; It was an illusion — the heir, the son you love, was not really dead; The Lord is not dead — he is risen again, young and strong, in another country ; Even while you wept there by your f all'n harp by the grave, What you wept for, was translated, pass'd from the grave. The wind favor'd, and the sea sail'd it. And now with rosy and new blood. Moves to-day in a new country. — Whitman. E. The following, from The Voiage and Travaile of Sir John Maundeville, shows what written English prose was like in the middle of the fourteenth century. Read it aloud and see how much of it you can understand. Then reread with the help of the footnotes. After you are sure that you understand it all, transform it into the more condensed modern English idiom, noticing where and how you have condensed the original. Imagine j'^ourself a present- day tourist telling these astonishing things to a group of open- BELATED UNITS. 1 mouthed neighbors. The country referred to is "Caldilhe" (Chaldea). And there groweth a maner of fruyt, as though it weren gowrdes : and whan thei ben ^ lype, men kutten hem ^ a-to and men fynden with-inne a lytylle best,^ in flesch, in bon and blode, as though it were a lytille lomb with-outen wolle. And men eten bothe the fruit and the bCvSt : and that is a gret merveylle. Of that frute I have eten ; alle-though it were wondirfulle : but that I knowe wel, that God is merveyllous in his workes. And natheless I tolde hem of als* gret a merveyle to hem, that is amonges us : and that was of the Bernakes.^ For I tolde hem, that in oure contree weren trees, that baren a fruyt, that becomen briddes ^ fleeynge : and tho ^ that fellen in the water, ly ven ; and thei that fallen on the erthe, dyen anon : and thei ben right gode to mannes mete. And here-of had thei als gret mervaylle, that summe of hem trowed, it were an impossible thing to be. In that contre ben longe apples, of gode savour ; where-of ben mo^ than an.c. in a clustre, and als mayne in another: and thei han^ grete longe leves and large, of .ij. fote long or more. And in that contree, and in other contrees there abouten, growen many trees, that beren clowe-gylofres ^° and notemuges,^^ and grete notes of Ynde, and of Canelle^^ and of many other spices. And there ben vynes that beren so grete grapes, that a strong man shoulde have enow to done for to here o ^^ cluster with alle the grapes. Related Units. 4. Not only is a composition as a whole a unit, but if we separate it into its parts and examine each part, we shall discover that it is made up of smaller units. If 1 are ^ beast ^ barnacles, limpets "^ those ^ have ii nutmegs ^^ one 2 them ^ as ^ birds ^ more ^^ cloves ^^ cinnamon 8 UNITS OF COMPOSITION, it is a sentence, it is made up of words. If it is a para- graph, it is made up of sentences. If it is an essay, it is made up of paragraphs. Still further, each of these small units, which together make up the whole composition, is related to all of the other units in a reasonable and necessary -way. EaCh has its part to perform in the service of the whole. Just as the hand must do its peculiar work in helping the body, just as each finger must do its peculiar work in helping the hand, so must each paragraph play its peculiar part in the whole composition, and so must each sentence play its part in the paragraph. Each sentence is somehow necessary to every other sentence, and each paragraph to every other paragraph. All combine to make the meaning of the larger unit complete and satisfying. It follows that in any good composition no one of the smaller units can be taken out without disturbing the connection or removing some necessary part of the larger unit. Thus in the composition from Proverbs quoted on page 2, we find twelve sentences, each of which requires the help of others in order to make the meaning clear. Not one sentence of them all gives the complete mean- ing by itself. The fifth sentence answers the questions asked in the first four ; the sixth gives personal advice which naturally follows from what is said in the five preceding sentences ; and the rest of the composition shows why the advice should be heeded. None can be taken out and none can be added. These are called related sentences because they stand in a reasonable and necessary relation to one another and to the thought expressed by the whole composition. RELATED UNITS. 9 Examine now the paragraphs of the following com- position: — 1. Mr. Lincoln's early athletic struggle with Jack Arm- strong, the representative man of the ^' Clary's Grove Boys/' will be remembered. From the moment of this struggle, which Jack agreed to call " a drawn battle," in consequence of his own foul play, they became strong friends. Jack would fight for Mr. Lincoln at any time, and would never hear him spoken against. Indeed, there were times when young Lincoln made Jack's cabin his home, and here Mrs. Armstrong, a most womanly person, learned to respect the rising man. 2. There was no service to which she did not make her guest abundantly welcome, and he never ceased to feel the tenderest gratitude for her kindness. At length her husband died, and she became dependent upon her sons. The oldest of these, while in attendance upon a camp-meeting, found himself involved in a mMee which resulted in the death of a young man, and young Armstrong was charged by one of his associates with striking the fatal blow. He was arrested, examined, and imprisoned to await his trial. The public mind was in a blaze of excitement, and interested parties fed the flame. 3. Mr. Lincoln knew nothing of the merits of this case ; that is certain. He only knew that his old friend Mrs. Armstrong was in sore trouble; and he sat down at once and volunteered by letter to defend her son. His first act was to procure the postponement and a change of the place of the trial. There was too much fever in the minds of the immediate public to permit of fair treatment. When the trial came on, the case looked very hopeless to all but Mr. Lincoln, who had assured himself that the young man was not guilty. 10 UNITS OF COMPOSITION. 4. The evidence on behalf of the state being all in, and looking like a solid and consistent mass of testimony against the prisoner, Mr. Lincoln undertook the task of analyzing and destroying it, which he did in a manner that surprised every one. The principal witness testified that by the aid of the brightly shining moon he saw the prisoner inflict the death-blow with a slung-shot. Mr. Lincoln proved by the almanac that there was no moon shining at the time. The mass of testimony against the prisoner melted away, until *' Not guilty " was the verdict of every man present in the crowded court room. 5. There is, of course, no record of the plea made on this occasion, but it is remembered as one in which Mr. Lincoln made an appeal to the sympathies of the jury which quite surpassed his usual efforts of the kind, and melted all to tears. The jury were out but half an- hour, when they returned with the verdict of " Not guilty." The widow fainted in the arms of her son, who divided his attention between his services to her and his thanks to his deliverer. And thus the kind woman who cared for the poor young man, and showed herself a mother to him in his need, received as her reward, from the hand of her grateful beneficiary, the life of a son, saved from a cruel conspiracy. — J. G. Holland. The purpose of this story is to illustrate a phase of Lincoln's character. Notice how each paragraph con- tributes to this end. In the first we learn of Lincoln's friendship for the Armstrongs ; in the second, of the charge of murder against young Armstrong ; in the third, of Lincoln's coming to the defence of the accused man ; in the fourth, of the trial; and in the fifth, of the result. The parts of a good composition are related one to another, and to the whole composition, in a reasonable and necessary way. RELATED UNITS, 11 5. Assignments on Related Units. A. Read the following account of a cyclone by the American naturalist, Audubon. Discover its main divisions. In what way is each main division related to the preceding and the following? What lesser divisions do you discover ? How are these related to each other? Make a list of notes and catchwords, such as you would jot down if you had to reproduce the essay orally. Various portions of our country have at different periods suffered severely from the influence of violent storms of wind, some of which have been known to traverse nearly the w^hole extent of the United States, and to leave such deep impressions in their wake as will not easily be for- gotten. Having witnessed one of these awful phenomena, in all its grandeur, I will attempt to describe it. The recol- lection of that astonishing revolution of the ethereal element even now brings with it so disagreeable a sensation, that I feel as if about to be affected by a sudden stoppage of the circulation of my blood. I had left the village of Shawaney, situated on the banks of the Ohio, on my return from Henderson, which is also situated on the banks of the same beautiful stream. The weather was pleasant, and I thought not warmer than usual at that season. My horse was jogging quietly along, and my thoughts were, for once at least in the course of my life, entirely engaged in commercial speculations. I had forded Highland Creek, and was on the eve of entering a tract of bottom-land or valley that lay between it and Canoe Creek, when on a sudden I remarked a great difference in the aspect of the heavens. A hazy thickness had overspread the country, and I for some time expected an earthquake, but my horse exhibited no propensity to stop and pre- pare for such an occurrence. I had nearly arrived at the verge of the valley, when I thought fit to stop near a 12 UNITS OF COMPOSITION. brook, and dismounted to quench the thirst which had come upon me. I was leaning on my knees, with my lips about to touch the water, when from my proximity to the earth, I heard a distant murmuring sound of an extraordinary nature. I drank, however, and as I rose on my feet, looked toward the southwest, where I observed a yellowish oval spot, the ap- pearance of which was quite new to me. Little time was left me for consideration, as the next moment a smart breeze began to agitate the taller trees. It increased to an unex- pected height, and already the smaller branches and twigs were seen falling in a slanting direction towards the ground. Two minutes had scarcely elapsed, when the whole forest before me was in fearful motion. Here and there, where one tree pressed against another, a creaking noise was pro- duced, similar to that occasioned by the violent gusts which sometimes sweep over the country. Turning instinctively toward the direction from which the wind blew, I saw, to my great astonishment, that the noblest trees of the forest bent their lofty heads for a while, and, unable to stand against the blast, were falling into pieces. First, the branches were ^broken oif with a crackling noise ; then went the upper part of the massy trunks ; and in many places whole trees of gigantic size were falling entire to the ground. So rapid was the progress of the storm, that before I could think of taking measures to insure my safety, the hurricane was passing opposite the place where I stood. Never can I forget the scene which at that moment pre- sented itself. The tops of the trees were seen moving in the strangest manner, in the central current of the tempest, which carried along with it a mingled mass of twigs and foliage, that completely obscured the view. Some of the largest trees were seen bending and writhing under the gale ; others suddenly snapped across; and many, after a momen- RELATED UNITS. 13 tary resistance, fell uprooted to the earth. The mass of branches, twigs, foliage, and dust that moved through the air, was whirled onward like a cloud of feathers, and on passing, disclosed a wide space filled with fallen trees, naked stumps, and heaps of shapeless ruins, which marked the path of the tempest. This space was about a fourth of a mile in breadth, and to my imagination resembled the dried-up bed of the Mississippi, with its thousands of planters and sawyers, strewn in the sand, and inclined in various degrees. The horrible noise resembled that of the great cataracts of Niagara, and as it howled along in the track of the desolating tempest, produced a feeling in my mind which it is impossible to describe. The principal force of the hurricane was now over, although millions of twigs and small branches, that had been brought from a great distance, were seen following the blast, as if drawn onwards by some mysterious power. They even floated in the air for some hours after, as if supported by the thick mass of dust that rose high above the ground. The sky had now a greenish lurid hue, and an extremely sulphu- reous odor was diffused in the atmosphere. I waited in amazement, having sustained no material injury, until nature at length resumed her wonted aspect. For some moments I felt undetermined whether I should return to Morgantown, or attempt to force my way through the wrecks of the tempest. My business, however, being of an urgent nature, I ventured into the path of the storm, and after encountering innumerable difficulties, succeeded in cross- ing it. I was obliged to lead my horse by the bridle, to enable him to leap over the fallen trees, whilst I scrambled over or under them in the best way I could, at times so hemmed in by the broken tops and tangled branches, as almost to become desperate. On arriving at my house, I gave an account of what I had seen, when, to my sur- 14 UNITS OF COMPOSITION. prise, I was told that there had been very little wind in the neighborhood, although in the streets and gardens many branches and twigs had fallen in a manner which excited great surprise. Many wondrous accounts of the devastating effect of this hurricane were circulated in the country, after its occur- rence. Some log-houses, we were told, had been overturned and their inmates destroyed. One person informed me that a wire sifter had been conveyed by the gust to a distance of many miles. Another had found a cow lodged in the fork of a half-broken tree. But, as I am disposed to relate only what I have myself seen, I will not lead you into the region of romance, but shall content myself with saying that much damage was done by this awful visitation. The valley is yet a desolate place, overgrown with briers and bushes, thickly entangled amidst the tops and trunks of the fallen trees, and is the resort of ravenous animals, to which they betake themselves when pursued by man, or after they have committed their depredations on the farms of the surround- ing district. I have crossed the path of the storm, at a dis- tance of a hundred miles from the spot where I witnessed its fury, and, again, four hundred miles farther off in the state of Ohio. Lastly, I observed traces of its ravages on the summits of the mountains connected with the Great Pine Forest of Pennsylvania, three hundred miles beyond the place last mentioned. In all these different parts, it appeared to me not to have exceeded a quarter of a mile in breadth. — Audubon. B. The following notes are from a book of manuscript memo- randa kept by Charles Dickens. His biographer, Forster (Life of Dickens, vol. iii, chap. 12), tells us that Dickens used these notes in one of his novels. From these notes think what the description of the house will be, and then look up the passage in Little Dorrit that describes the home of the Barnacles. RELATED UNITS. 15 Our House. Whatever it is, it is a first-rate situation, and a fashionable neighborhood. (Auctioneer called it " a gentlemanly residence.'') A series of little closets squeezed up into the corner of a dark street — but a Duke's Mansion round the corner. The whole house just large enough to hold a vile smell. The air breathed in it, at the best of times, a kind of distillation of Mews. C. Suppose that you were permitted to make just four notes by which to recall the chief contents of the following ; what would they be ? For what sentences in the selection does each of your notes stand? Into, what four successive groups, then, may the sentences of this selection be divided ? If I were a bird, in bij^^lding my nest I should follow the example of the bobolink, placing it in the midst of a broad meadow, where there was no spear of grass, or flower, or growth unlike another to mark its site. I judge that the bobolink escapes the dangers to which I have adverted as few or no other birds do. Unless the mowers come along at an earlier date than she has anticipated, that is, before July 1, or a skunk goes nosing through the grass, which is unusual, she is as safe as a bird well can be in the great open of nature. She selects the most monotonous and uniform place she can find amid the daisies or the timothy and clover, and places her simple structure upon the ground in the midst of it. There is no concealment, except as the great conceals the little, as the desert conceals the pebble, as the myriad conceals the unit. You may find the nest once, if your course chances to lead you across it and your eye is quick enough to note the silent brown bird as she darts quickly away ; but step three paces in the wrong di- rection, and your search will probably be fruitless. My friend and I found a nest by accident one day, and then lost it again one minute afterward. I moved away a few yards 16 UNITS OF COMPOSITION. to be sure of the mother bird, charging my friend not to stir from his tracks. When I returned, he had moved two paces, he said (he had really moved four), and we spent a half hour stooping over the daisies and the buttercups, looking for the lost clew. We grew desperate, and fairly felt the ground all over with our hands, but without avail. I marked the spot with a bush, and came the next day, and with the bush as a centre, moved about it in slowly increasing circles, covering, I thought, nearly every inch of ground with my feet, and laying hold of it with all the visual power that I could com- mand, till my patience was exhausted, and I gave up, bafiSed. I began to doubt the ability of the parent birds themselves to find it, and so secreted myself and watched. After much delay, the male bird appeared w^h food in his beak, and satisfying himself that the coast was clear, dropped into the grass which I had trodden down in my search. Fastening my eye upon a particular meadow-lily, I walked straight to the spot, bent down, and gazed long and intently into the grass. Finally my eye separated the nest and its young from its surroundings. My foot had barely missed them in my search, but by how much they had escaped my eye I could not tell. Probably not by distance at all, but simply by un- recognition. They were virtually invisible. The dark gray and yellowish brown dry grass and stubble of the meadow bottom were exactly copied in the color of the half-fledged young. More than that, they hugged the nest so closely and formed such a compact mass, that though there were five of them, they preserved the unit of expression, — no single head or form was defined ; they were one, and that one was without shape or color, and not separable, except by closest scrutiny, from the one of the meadow bottom. That nest prospered, as bobolinks' nests doubtless generally do ; for, notwithstanding the enormous slaughter of the birds during their fall migrations by Southern sportsmen, the RELATED UNITS, 17 bobolink appears to hold its own, and its music does not diminish in our Northern meadows. — Burroughs, Birds and Bees. D. The following essay, Of Studies, by Lord Bacon (1561-1626) is, like all of his other essays, greatly condensed. It reads like a collection of notes. Many of its words and phrases are used in a different meaning from that which we attach to them to-day. Suppose you wish to make this essay perfectly intelligible to a pupil of the upper grammar grades, who, as you are reading it to him, stops you at each of the places marked by the little numbers and asks for an explanation. What will you say ? Write out the. explanation of one of the phrases, using just such language as you would employ in talking with the pupil. Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability.^ Their chief use for delight, is in privateness ^ and retiring ; for ornament, is in discourse ; and for ability, is in the judg- ment and disposition ' of business. For expert '* men can exe- cute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one ; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling * of affairs, come best from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies, is sloth; to use them too much for orna- ment, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules,^ is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study ; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men con- temn ^ studies ; simple men admire them ; and wise men use them : for they teach not their own use : but that ' is a wis- dom without ^ them, and above them, won by observation. Read not to contradict and confute ; ^^ nor to believe and take for granted ; " nor to find talk and discourse ; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested ; that 18 UNITS OF COMPOSITION. is, some books are to be read only in parts ; others to be read but not curiously ; ^^ and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy ,^^ and extracts made of them by others ; but that would be only in the less important arguments/'* and the meaner sort of books : else distilled ^^ books are like com- mon distilled waters, flashy ^^ things. Reading maketh a full man ; conference ^^ a ready man ; and writing an exact man. And therefore if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a pres- ent wit ; ^* and if he read little, he had need have much cun- ning, to seem to know that he doth not. Histories make men wise ; poets, witty ; the mathematics, subtile ; natural philosophy, deep ; moral, grave ; logic and rhetoric, ^^ able to contend. " Abeunt studia in mores." ^° Nay, there is no stond 2^ or impediment in the wit, but may be wrought ^^ out by fit studies; like as diseases of the body may have appro- priate exercises ; bowling ^^ is good for the stone and reins ; ^^ shooting 25 for the lungs and breast ; gentle walking for the stomach ; riding for the head ; and the like. So if a man's wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away ^^ never so little, he must begin again : if his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the Schoolmen ; ^^ for they are cymini sectores : ^^ if he be not apt to beat over matters, and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers' cases : so every defect of the mind may have a special receipt. E. Make notes for an essay on one of the following subjects (suggested by the paragraphs quoted on preceding pages of this book) or on some other subject that you would like to write about. (1) A quiet street. (2) Dangers of hunting. (3) My best friend. (4) Habits of squirrels. (5) Work to do in a garden. (6) An ideal spot for a home. (7) Uses of studying literature. Now pick RELATED UNITS. 19 out some particular person for whom you will write ; consider his age, his habits of thought, his way of looking at things. Think of the best means of interesting him in the subject that you have chosen. Reject such of your notes as will not be suitable for the particular person you have in mind. Revise the other notes in order the better to adapt them to this person. CHAPTER II. HOW COMPOSITIONS GROW. Introductory. 6. In the preceding chapter we have considered the most important feature of a composition. We have seen that every good composition is a unit made up of smaller units which are closely related. We are now to consider the process by which compositions are pro- duced. Compositions do not come into the mind full-grown, as Minerva was fabled to have burst from the brain of Jupiter. They usually have very humble origins. At the start a composition is merely a vague idea of something we wish to write about. Whether or not this vague idea will develop into anything better depends on the way in which we treat it. The beginner treats it as if it were the completed composition. " I have it ! " says he, as soon as the thought enters his mind, and at once he sits down to write it out. We all know what happens. After a few minutes of furious pen-work the writer sud- denly comes to a dead stop. Where has the idea gone to? A moment ago, large and bright and beautiful, it filled his whole mind like a lumiuous fog-bank. Now it is nowhere. It has dissipated in the process of writ- ing. The experienced writer pursues a different course. He knows that this first vague conception is worthless 20 HOW TO PLAN A COMPOSITION. 21 unless it can be made to grow into some definite form. He also knows that the way to make it grow is to re- flect upon it long and patiently. Instead of beginning to write, he therefore begins to ponder, turning the idea over and over in his mind and looking at it from all sides and from various angles. As he does so the idea grows clearer. It separates into parts, and these parts again separate, until there are numerous divisions. As he continues to reflect, these divisions link them- selves one to another to form natural groups, and these groups arrange themselves in an orderly way. In the end, if he thinks long enough and patiently enough, he finds that the first vague idea has taken on a clear and definite form. How to Plan a Composition. 7. Thinking a vague idea out into its natural and logi- cal divisions and arranging these divisions in an orderly way is called planning. Benjamin Franklin, who made himself an effective writer of plain prose, has described for us in his Autobiography/ his method of planning a composition. Preparatory to writing a composition of his own, Franklin would first set down brief notes and hints of his observations and thoughts upon the subject, in the order in w^hich they occurred to him. Later he w^ould re- arrange his notes according to some plan, discarding those that were not to his present purpose, and combining the remainder into groups. He would put into one group those notes that were most closely related to each other because they had to do with one part of his subject, and into another group those that had to do with another 22 HOW COMPOSITIONS GROW. part, and so on. Thus he kept together the things that belonged together. Finally, he would decide upon the best order in which to arrange the groups. This done, he was ready to write. He thought that this prelimi- nary planning was economical, because, he said, "the mind attending first to the sentiments alone, next to the method alone, each part is likely to be better performed, and, I think, too, in less time." People dift'er much, however, in the amount of pre- liminary planning which they find it necessary to put on paper. One writer will need to set down in his out- line, not only the main topics or events, but also the subordinate topics, all carefully ranked and quite fully stated. Another will manage to keep his thinking and writing orderly with the aid of a few headings or sug- gestive questions, planning the subordinate topics as he writes. A reporter whose work compels haste will get along with a half-dozen catchwords to aid his memory. Each w^riter finds out by experience how minute he needs to make his written plan. . It is best, however, to begin by making the preliminary planning quite thorough and complete. The advantage in so doing is that it keeps us thinking about ways and means of expressing ourselves before the actual writ- ing of the composition begins; it enables us to fore- see difficulties in our proposed arrangement and to pro- vide against them by modifying our plan ; and it reveals to us the relative importance of the topics, indicating what parts of the composition will require greater promi- nence and space by reason of their importance. When these things are not thought out before the writing be- gins, we are frequently compelled to rewrite from the PLANNING A COMPOSITION. 23 very beginning in order to say what we want to say. Thorough planning will reduce the necessity of rewriting to a minimum, though some rewriting is always unavoidable. What Bacon said in his essay, entitled Of Despatch in Business^ is true of planning a composition. "Above all things," said Bacon, "Order and Distribution and Singling out of Parts is the life of Despatch ; So as the Distribution be not too subtile. For he that doth not divide will never enter well into Business ; and he that divideth too much will never come out of it clearly." As Bacon indicates, the plan should be simple and natural, and the divisions of the subject clear and well- marked. Think before you write. Make an orderly and simple plan. 8. Assignments on Planning a Composition. A. The following are a pupil's rough notes on the first part of Mark Antony's speech in Shakespeare's Julius Ccesar (Act III, Scene II). They are set down in the order in which they occurred to him, and of course need to be rearranged and grouped so as to show which are principal ideas and which subordinate. Read the speech, and then from these notes try to make a logical plan for writing the composition. Add any ideas of your own about this speech. Should any of the notes be united ? Should any be dis- carded because they have nothing to do with the speech ? After you have made your plan, write the essay. • 1. Meanings of the word " honorable." 2. Caesar kind to the poor. 3. Occasion- of the speech. 4. Opportunity to arouse sympathy for Csesar. 5. Purpose of the speech. 6. Adroitness of the opening words. 7. Ways 'to. which the word '^honorable" may be uttered. 8. Effect on the hearers. 9. Antony's character. 10. Why was he allowed to speak? 11. Comparison of Antony's speech with that 24 HOW COMPOSITIONS GROW, of Brutus. 12. Did Caesar wish to be king ? 13. How the speech should be delivered on the stage. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears : I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones : So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus Hath told you, Caesar was ambitious : If it were so, it was a grievous fault, And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it. Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest, (For Brutus is an honorable man. So are they all, all honorable men) Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral. He was my friend, faithful and just to me : But Brutus says, he was ambitious ; And Brutus is an honorable man. He hath brought many captives home to Rome, Whose ransom did the general coffers fill. Did this in Caesar seem ambitious ? When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept : Ambition should be made of sterner stuff; Yet Brutus says, he was ambitious ; And Brutus is an honorable man. You all did see, that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him with a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition ? Yet Brutus says, he was ambitious; And, sure, he is an honorable man. I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke But here I am to speak what I do know. You all did love him once, not without cause ; What cause withholds you, then, to mourn for him ? PLANNING A COMPOSITION, 25 judgment ! Thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason. — Bear with me ; My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, And I must pause till it come back to me. B. In his Autobiography Benjamin Franklin tells us of an exer- cise by which he developed his skill in composition. He took, he says, one of the papers of Addison's Spectator, and, making brief notes of each sentence, laid them aside for a few days. Then, without looking at the book, he tried to complete the paper again in his own words. Sometimes also he jumbled his notes into con- fusion and after a few weeks endeavored to bring them into the best order. Following his method, see what you can do with the set of notes below. The first nine notes are in the order of the original essay. Notes 10 to 15 inclusive, and notes 16 to 21, have been thrown into disorder; try to reduce them to a natural and logical arrangement. Then try writing the whole essay. The Character of the Indian. (Each numbered note stands for one sentence.) 1. A stern physiognomy. 2. Ruling passions : ambition, revenge, envy, jealousy ; cold temperament, no effeminate vices. 3. Eevenge an instinct, a point of honor, a duty. 4. Pride excessive. 5. Loathes coercion; no menial. 6. Love of liberty. 7. Yet a hero- worshipper ; especially war heroes. 8. Reverence for sages and heroes ; respect for age, cohesive forces. 9. Love of glory a passion ; even dares torture and death. 10. His warfare : ambuscade and stratagem ; never joy- ous in attack on enemies. 11. Unmirthful in feasts. 12. Generous traits offset by distrust and jealousy. 13. When drunk is maudlin, or crazy. 14. Though brave, will stab secretly. 15. Treacherous, suspicious. 16. Icy coldness to family and friends ; grim defiance to torturing enemies. 17. Dignity in assemblies; quiet in 26 HOW COMPOSITIONS GROW. social life. 18. Like snow-covered volcano; wildfire. 19. Conceals passions. 20. ISTo quarrelling at home ; solem- nity in council. 21. Self-control ; discipline. C. Make a list of the topics discussed in the following; then, without reference to the original, write out in your own words the reasons why you have found the people where you live pleasant people. I come last to the character and ways of the Americans themselves, in which there is a certain charm, hard to con- vey by description, but felt almost as soon as one sets foot on their shore, and felt constantly thereafter. They are a kindly people. Good nature, heartiness, a readiness to render small services to one another, an assumption that neighbors in the country, or persons thrown together in travel, or even in a crowd, were meant to be friendly rather than hostile to one another, seem to be everywhere in the air, and in those who breathe it. Sociability is the rule, isolation and moroseness the rare exception. It is not merely that people are more vivacious or talkative than an Englishman expects to find them, for the Western man is often taciturn and seldom wreathes his long face into a smile. It is rather that you feel that the man next you, whether silent or talkative, does not mean to repel inter- course, or convey by his manner his low opinion of his fellow-creatures. Everybody seems disposed to think well of the world and its inhabitants, well enough at least to wish to be on easy terms with them and serve them in those little things whose trouble to the doer is small in proportion to the pleasure they give to the receiver. To help others is better recognized as a duty than in Europe. Nowhere is money so readily given for any public purpose ; nowhere, I suspect, are there so many acts of private kindness done, such, for instance, as paying the college expenses of a PLANNING A COMPOSITION. 27 promising boy, or aiding a widow to carVy on her husband's farm ; and these are not done with ostentation. People seem to take their troubles more lightly than they do in Europe, and to be more indulgent to the faults by which troubles are caused. It is a land of hope, and a land of hope is a land of good humor. And they have also, though this is a quality more perceptible in women than in men, a remarkable faculty for enjoyment, a power of drawing more happiness from obvious pleasures, simple and innocent pleasures, than one often finds in overburdened Europe. As generalizations like this are necessarily comparative, I may be asked with whom I am comparing the Americans. With the English, or with some other attempted average of European nations ? Primarily I am comparing them with the English, because they are the nearest relatives of the English. But there are other European countries, such as France, Belgium, Spain, in which the sort of cheerful friendliness I have sought to describe is less common than it is in America. Even in Germany and German Austria, simple and kindly as are the masses of the people, the upper classes have that roideur which belongs to countries dominated by an old aristocracy, or a plutocracy trying to imitate aristocratic ways. The upper class in America (if one may use such an expression) has not in this respect differentiated itself from the character of the nation at large. If the view here presented be a true one, to what causes are we to ascribe this agreeable development of the original English type, a development in whose course the sadness of Puritanism seems to have been shed off ? Perhaps one of them is the humorous turn of the Ameri- can character. Humor is a sweetener of temper, a copious spring of charity, for it makes the good side of bad things even more visible than the weak side of good things ; but 28 HOW COMPOSITIONS GROW. humor in Americafts may be as much a result of an easy and kindly turn as their kindliness is of their humor. Another is the perpetuation of a habit of mutual help formed in colonial days. Colonists need one another's aid more constantly than the dwellers in an old country, are thrown more .upon one another, even when they live scattered in woods or prairies, are more interested in one another's welfare. When you have only three neighbors within five miles, each of them covers a large part of your horizon. You want to borrow a plough from one ; you get another to help you to roll your logs ; your children's delight is to go over for an evening's merry-making to the lads and lasses of the third. It is much pleasanter to be on good terms with these few neighbors, and when others come one by one, they fall into the same habits of intimacy. Any one who has read those stories of rustic New England or New York life which delighted the English children of thirty years ago — I do not know whether they delight children still, or have been thrown aside for more highly spiced food — will remember the warm-hearted simplicity and atmosphere of genial good-will which softened the roughness of peasant manners and tempered the sternness of a Calvinistic creed. It is natural that the freedom of inter- course and sense of interdependence which existed among the early settlers, and which have always existed since among the pioneers of colonization in the West as they moved from the Connecticut to the Mohawk, from the Mohawk to the Ohio, from the Ohio to the Mississippi, should have left on the national character traces not effaced even in the more artificial civilization of our own time. Some- thing may be set down to the feeling of social equality, creating that respect for a man as a man, whether he be rich or poor, which was described a few pages back; and something to a regard for the sentiment of the multitude, a GROUPING BY ASSOCIATION. 29 sentiment which forbids any man to stand aloof in the con- ceit of self-importance, and holds up geniality and good fellowship as almost the first of social virtues. I do not mean that a man consciously suppresses his impulses to selfishness or gruffness because he knows that his faults will be ill regarded ; but that, having grown up in a society which is infinitely powerful as compared with the most powerful person in it, he has learnt to realize his individual insignificance, as members of the upper class in Europe never do, and has become permeated by the feeling which this society entertains — that each one's duty is not only to accept equality, but also to relish equality, and to make himself pleasant to his equals. Thus the habit is formed even in natures of no special sweetness, and men become kindly by doing kindly acts. — Bryce, American Common- ivealth, Vol. II, pp. 664-667. How to Group Pacts. 9. In grouping the facts for a composition and put- ting the facts in order, every writer instinctively, if not consciously, tries to observe some principle of arrange- ment. He brings together certain topics (1) because they are closely associated in thought, or (2) because they are contrasted one with another, or (3) because they are related as cause and effect. These three principles we shall now consider in their order. Grouping" by Association. 10. Often in setting down notes for a plan, we bring two topics together simply because one suggests the other ; the topics seem to touch each other as we think about them. This principle of arrangement is by asso- ciation^ or, as it is sometimes called, contiguity. 30 HOW COMPOSITIONS GROW. Arrangement by association is most obvious when the topics are events. Here we adopt the time order, be- cause in that order the events are naturally connected. But the order of association appears almost as plainly when we are preparing to write about objects in space. Here we plan to take up the objects one after another as they are seen by the spectator : first the most conspic- uous objects in the order of their nearness to one an- other, with the details of each; then the less conspicuous, in the same order, with the details of each. The details that are near one another will be brought in so as to indicate their nearness. In like manner ideas, as well as objects and events, are often arranged on the principle of association because they are felt to be near one another. One's first notes of an article on the character of John Quincy Adams might include remarks upon : (1) his industry, (2) his political heroism, (3) his conscientiousness, (4) his energy. In rearranging these before writing, one would be almost certain to exchange the places of 2 and 4, so as to bring the topics, industry and energy, close together. They are felt to be closer to each other in thought than they are to the other two topics. Grouping by Contrast or Antithesis. • 11. A second principle of arrangement is used when zc?ga« are in contrast or antithesis. One about to discuss some of the characters of Scott's Talisman^ and having made note of (1) Richard's frankness, nobility, impulsiveness, impatience, haughtiness, (2) Berengaria's childishness, capriciousness, (3) Saladin's reserve, shrewdness, de- GROUPING BY CAUSE AND EFFECT. 31 liberateness, patience, humility, (4) Edith's maturity, firmness — would in all probability see the advantage of adopting an order that would bring into relief the striking contrast between Richard and Saladin and be- tween Berengaria and Edith, as well as the contrasted characteristics of each person ; thus : — A. The two men contrasted : 1. Richard — (a) Impulsiveness, impatience, haughtiness. (b) Frankness, nobility. 2. Saladin — (a) Deliberation, patience, humility. (h) Reserve, shrewdness. B. The two women contrasted : 1. Berengaria — (a) Capriciousness. (&) Childishness. 2. Edith — (a) Firmness. (6) Maturity. Grouping by Cause and Effect. 12. When two topics are related to one another as cause and effect, it is well to bring them near together in the plan. Suppose, for example, that a pupil, about to write a composition on The Future of Aeroplanes, sets down the following notes : — 1. Aeroplanes necessarily made of fragile materials. 2. Cannot take the place of passenger trains. 3. Easily de- stroyed in time of war by explosive shells. 4. Large per- centage of aviators killed or injured. 5. Passenger capacity 32 HOW COMPOSITIONS GROW. very limited. 6. Cannot carry large guns. 7. Unable to make headway against storms. 8. Of little use in war. On looking over these notes, the writer sees readily that 1 and 4 belong together because the fragile character of the materials is the main cause of accidents. He sees also that 5 and 7 should precede or follow 2 be- cause 2 is the consequence of 5 and 7. Number 8 is also a natural conclusion from 3 and 6. Rearranged in accordance with these ideas, the notes will read as follows : — 1. Aeroplanes cannot take the place of passenger trains. 2. They are made of fragile materials. 3. Accidents are frequent. 4. Their carrying capacity is small. 5. They are unable to make headway against storms. 6. They are of little use in time of war. 7. They cannot carry large guns. 8. They are easily destroyed by explosive shells. From these notes an outline in which the headings are, in the main, grouped on the principle of cause and effect, can easily be constructed. The following will serve as an example : — The Future of Aeroplanes. A. Aeroplanes cannot take the place of passenger trains. 1. They are too fragile. 2. There are too many accidents. 3. Their carrying capacity is too limited. 4. Their schedule would be too much disturbed by storms. B. Aeroplanes will be of little use in war. 1. They cannot carry large guns. 2. They are easily destroyed by explosive shells. CLIMAX. 33 Climax. 13. Whether topics are arranged by association, con- trast, or cause and effect, the writer will also introduce climax into the arrangement wherever this is possible. The general order of topics will be from the less impor- tant to the more important. For instance, in the arrangement of topics in the out- line below, the first topic is put first because it is con- sidered to be of least weight in the argument ; the last topic is put last because it is considered to be of most weight. The other topics are also in the order of their supposed importance. Uses of Novel Reading. 1. It affords relaxation and entertainment. 2. It is a valuable aid to the study of history and geog- raphy. 3. It gives us information about various classes of society. 4. It brings about reforms in law, education, politics, etc. 5. It sharpens our insight into human character. An opportunity for introducing climax was missed by the pupil whose plan for an essay on the persecution of the Jews was arranged as follows : (1) Bodily persecutions, including burning and massacre ; (2) Banishment ; (3) Deprivation of property, by confisca- tion and by destruction. These topics should have been arranged in the reverse order to bring out the natural climax based on the severity of the persecutions. This order, however, will not be allowed in any way to interfere with the arrangement by association, con- 34 HOW COMPOSITIONS GROW, trast, or cause and effect ; it will appear together with those wherever possible. Overlapping Topics. 14. One caution is necessary. The topics in a plan should not overlap. The following plan of a pupil's essay on Prejudices against High SchoolAthletics shows an unusual amount of this overlapping ; — 1. Prejudices of those who think that only a few benefit by athletics. 2. Prejudice of the ^' grinds." 3. Prejudice of those who fear that athletics will interfere with studies. 4. Prejudice of the ignorant. 5. Prejudice of the parents. 6. Prejudice of those who think too much time is spent in athletics. 7. I*rejudice of some teachers. In this plan (to mention only the clearest cases) topics 1 and 2 overlap, and so do topics 2 and 3, 3 and 4, 3 and 5, 6 and 7, as well as several pairs of topics. Since some prej- udices against high school athletics are shared by parents, teachers, and pupils, it will not do to divide the subject into topics ^n that basis. Topics 2, 4, 5, and 7 will have to be dropped, and the principle of topics 1, 3, and 6, which name specific prejudices, will have to be continued, if there are other specific prejudices represented by topics 2, 4, 5, and 7. We see then that the way to prevent overlapping is to adopt but one principle of division in stating the main topics. Sumraary. In grouping topics observe these four principles : — 1. Plan what you mean to write, before you write it. 2. Arrange the facts in a natural order according to some prin- ciple such as association, contrast, or cause and effect. 3. Secure climax by putting the more important facts after the less important. 4. Avoid overlapping topics. GROUPING TOPICS. 35 15. Assig-nments on Grouping Topics. A. In the following discover the plan and write it out fully. What principle of grouping is most often employed ? Can you find cases of cause and effect ? Of contrast and antithesis ? Upon the same plan write a narrative of some experience of your own or of an acquaintance. I was once walking in the streets of a large city, in which I was a stranger, looking around for some striking exhibi- tions of human character or effort, w^hen I saw several persons, of apparently low rank in life, standing before the door of what was apparently some public building. I thought it was probably a court-hoitse, and that these were the men who had been called as witnesses, and that they were waiting for their turn to testify. As courts are always open to the public, I concluded to go in and hear some of the causes. I walked up the steps and entered a spacious hall, and at the foot of a flight of stairs saw a little painted sign, saying that the court-room was above. I passed up and pushed open the light baize door, which admitted me to the room itself. At the end at which I entered there were two rows of seats, one row on each side of an aisle which led up through the centre. These seats seemed to be for spectators; for those on one side were nearly filled with women, and those on the other by men. I advanced up the aisle until I nearly reached the centre of the room, and then took my seat among the spectators, where I could distinctly hear and see all that passed. Before me, at the farther end of the room, sat the judge, in a sort of desk on an elevated plat- form, and in front of him was another desk, lower, which was occupied by the clerk, whose business it was to make a record of all the causes that were tried. There was an area in front of the judge, in which were seats for the various 36 HOW COMPOSITIONS GBOW. lawyers ; and in boxes at the sides were seats for the jury, who were to hear the evidence, and decide what facts were proved. On one side of the room was a door made of iron grating, with sharp points upon the top, which led, I sup- posed, to an apartment where the prisoners were kept. Not long after I had taken my seat, the clerk said that the next cause was the trial of O. B. for housebreaking. The judge commanded an officer to bring the prisoner into court. The officer went to the iron door I have described, unlocked it, and brought out of the room into which it opened, a prisoner; he looked guilty and ashamed; his face was pale — not as though he was afraid, but as if his constitution had been impaired by vice. They brought him into the middle of the room, and placed him in a sort of pew with high sides, and shut him in. He leaned against the front of it, looked at the judge, and began to listen to his trial. The clerk read the accusation. It was, that he had broken open an unoccupied house once or twice, and taken from it articles belonging to the owner of the house. The judge asked him if he pleaded guilty, or not guilty. He said, not guilty. The judge then asked the jury at the side to listen to the evidence, so that they might be prepared to decide whether this man did break open the house or not. Men not accustomed to speak in public assemblies, could not easily give their testimony in such a case, so that it would be fully understood on all the important points. In fact, very few know fully what the important points are. Hence it is proper that there should be lawyers present, who can ask questions, and thus examine the witnesses in such a manner as to bring out fully all the facts in the case. There is one lawyer appointed by the government, whose business it is to bring to view all the facts which indicate GROUPING TOPICS, 37 the prisoner's guilt ; and another appointed by the prisoner, who takes care that nothing is omitted or lost sight of which tends to show his innocence. When the prisoner has not appointed any counsel, the judge appoints some one for him ; this was done in the case before us. The first witness called was the owner of the house. It is necessary that each witness should be a man of good character, and that he should testify only to what he saw or heard. No one is permitted to tell what some one else told him ; for stories are very likely to be altered in repetition ; so that, even in a complicated case, each man goes only so far as his own personal knowledge extends. And, in order to be sure that the jury shall have his own story, he is obliged to come personally into court, and tell the story in presence of all. The owner of this house was probably a man of business ; and a great deal of valuable time would have been saved if he had been permitted to write down his account and send it in. But no : every witness, where it is possible, must actually come into court and present his evidence with his own voice. This remark it is important to remember, as the principle will come to view when we consider the other case. The witness testified that he owned a certain house; that he moved out 6i it, and locked it up, leaving some articles in an upper chamber ; that one day he went in and found that the house had been entered, I believe by a window, and that the chamber-door had been broken open, and some of the articles taken away. He said that he then employed a watchman to sleep in the house, and to try to catch the thief. Here he had to stop ; for, although he knew how the watchman succeeded, he was not permitted to tell, for he did not see it. No man testifies except to what he has seen or heard. 38 HOW COMPOSITIONS GROW. The watchman was next called. The lawyer for the gov- ernment asked him : — " Were you employed by the owner of this house to watch for a thief in it ? " ^'YeSj sir." " What did he tell you when he engaged you ? " " He told me that his house had been broken open, and he wished me to watch for the thief." ^' Did you do it ? " " Yes, sir." "Well, relate to the jury what occurred that night." "I watched several nights. For some nights nothing occurred. All was quiet till morning." '" In what room did you stay ? " " In the room under the chamber from which the articles had been stolen." " Well, go on with your account." " At last, on the 15th of June, as I was then watching, about three o'clock in the morning I heard a noise. Some one was coming softly upstairs. He went up into the room over my head, and after remaining a few minutes there, he began to come down. I immediately went out into the entry and seized him, and took him to the watch-house. The next morning he was put in prison." The lawyer then pointed to the prisoner at the bar, and asked if- that was the man. The witness said it was. The judge then asked the counsel for the prisoner if he had any questions to ask, and he did ask one or two, but they were not material. The jury then consulted together, and all agreed that the prisoner was proved guilty ; and the judge ordered him to be sent back to prison till he should determine what punishment must be assigned. This is substantially the way in which all trials are conducted. — J. Abbott. GROUPING TOPICS. 39 B. Make a plan of the following selection. After completing it, notice in what relation to each other the different topics stand. Compare your plan with the plans made by other members of the class. 1. There was a time when the American mountain-lion was one of the most formidable animals in the world. The cat is the masterpiece of nature ; and the mountain-lion was one of the most terribly armed, and powerful of the cat family. It was a compact mass of hard and tough muscle and gristle, with bones of iron, strong jaws, sharp teeth, and claws like steel penknife-blades. It was prodigiously strong, lithe, and quick, covered with a mail-coat of loose skin that was as tough as leather. It had the temper of a demon, and was insatiably bloodthirsty. Withal, it had the proverbial nine lives of the cat tribe. Against such an animal it was hopeless to match dogs. It- was said, in the school-books of forty years ago, that "three British mastiffs can pull down a full-grown Asiatic lion." Perhaps they could ; but they would have been sorry if they had tackled a full-grown American mountain-lion of that time. He was not to be " pulled down '' by anything ; and if he had been " pulled down," that was exactly the posi- tion in which he fought best. With his back protected by the earth, and all four fearfully armed paws flying free, aided by his terrible teeth, and a body so strong that it could not be held in any position — well, when he was " down " was the time that he was most " up." He once was found in all the Eocky Mountain regions, from the jaguar-haunted tropical forests of the extreme South to the home of the Northern winter blizzard; but he attained his greatest size and ferocity on the sub- tropical plateau of northern Mexico, New Mexico, and Arizona. These animals are no longer what they were. The tourist 40 HOW COMPOSITIONS GROW, or hunter of to-day cannot hope to find any of the old-time power or ferocity. C. Rearrange the propositions in the following outlines so that they shall come in the order of their importance, the most impor- tant last. 1. Why every boy should learn how to cook. (1) Because it will be useful when he camps out. (2) Because it will teach him to be helpful at home. (3) Because good cooking is necessary to good health. (4) Because the cook may leave suddenly. (5) Because he may have a special talent for it. 2. How to make yourself popular. (1) Don't take offence easily. (2) Avoid wrangling over long-standing differences. (3) Let the beliefs and opinions of others alone. (4) Never expose needlessly the weaknesses of others. (5) Follow the golden rule. (6) Never betray a secret. D. Restate and recombine the following, so as to bring out the relationship of cause and effect. Give heed also to the principle of climax. Vacations should be abolished. 1. Saturday and Sunday and the national holidays give plenty of time for rest and recreation. 2. Two or three years of school work could be saved. 3. Hard-working business men get on very well with only ten days of vacation. 4. Young people need recreation less than older people. 5. Pupils forget in vacation what they learned in school- time. 6. There would be time to do more thorough work. GROUPING TOPICS. 41 E. Read Bryant's Thanatopsis and Longfellow's Psalm of Life. Make a plan for a brief essay contrasting these two poems, and write the essay. F. Read Lowell's Vision of Sir Launfal, and make a plan show- ing the contrasts between the hero as he is at the beginning and the hero as he is at the end. G. If you have read Scott's Lady of the Lake, make a plan show- ing all of the contrasts between James Fitz-James and Roderick Dhu. H. Make a plan for an essay on the subject, A Comparison and Contrast between the Flight of a Bird and the Flight of an Aeroplane. I. Figures 1 and 2 (pp. 42 and 43) are two representations, by different artists, of the same scene from Dickens's Christmas Carol. A*fter reading or rereading the story, make a plan for an essay de- scribing the two drawings. See that your plan suggests plainly the points both of likeness and of difference. Then write the essay. J. You are to make a short after-dinner speech at a class ban- quet on the subject, Our School. In your note-book you have set down the following suggestions : — 1. When the school was established. 2. Oar first ac- quaintance with it. 3. Things about the school that we like to remember. 4. Our victories in athletics and oratory. 5. Our teachers. 6. Some amusing incidents. Select from these the topics you can use, add others if necessary, and arrange them in an orderly way. Then write the speech. Beware of trying to say too much. Figure 1. 42 Figure 2. 43 CHAPTER III. PARAGRAPHS. Introductory. 16. We have learned how the larger unit of composi- tion, called the essay or theme, grows from a vague idea into a complete, well-framed structure. We have studied the processes of dividing and grouping by which this growth takes place. We have now to consider a similar growth in the smaller units, called paragraphs, of which the essay is composed. While the composition is being written, each topic in the plan — each fact or group of related facts — grows into a group of sentences that belong together. These groups of related sentences are called paragraphs. Careful writers mark off every such group for the benefit of the reader by beginning the first sentence a little to the right of the left margin. But whether carefully marked off or carelessly run together, the groups are there, and in all good writing are easily recognized by the reader as the related units which make up the whole composition. One writer has said, " Look to the paragraphs and the discourse will look to itself, for, although a discourse as a whole has a method or plan suited to its nature, yet the confining of each paragraph to a distinct topic avoids some of the worst faults of composition, besides 44 TOPIC STATEMENT. 45 which, he that fully comprehends the method of a para- graph will also comprehend the method of an entire work." Topic Statement. 17. In good writing the reader can usually pick out one of the sentences vrhich states the main idea of the paragraph. Usually this sentence, which is called the topic state- ment, is at the very beginning of the paragraph ; some- times it comes later ; occasionally it is left until the very end. Sometimes it occupies two sentences ; again it is found in a single phrase or clause. If the reader finds no topic statement, he can usually make one for himself, from what the paragraph says as a whole. The most important part of the sentence that states the topic is the predicate, or some adverb, or adjective. In the sentence, " The poor are usually ungrateful to those who help them," the topic is not " the poor " but their "ungratefulness." In the sentence, "I made a laughable mistake," the topic is not " mistake," but " laughable mistake." What is said of the subject, in the predicate, or in some modifier, is the all-important thing. The test of a good paragraph is the possibility of expressing all that it stands for in one brief but comprehensive statement. A series of such statements, following the order of the para- graphs, would reproduce the plan or outline of the whole com- position, and would present its leading ideas in brief or abstract. 18. Assignments on the Topic Statement. A. In each of the following paragraphs one sentence or a part of one sentence is devoted to the topic statement. Find it. If it is not stated first, can you think of a reason why the writer de- layed announcing it ? 46 PARAGRAPHS. 1. I made a laughable mistake this morning in giving alms. A man stood on the shady side of the street with his hat in his hand, and as I passed he gave me a*piteous look, though he said nothing. He had such a woe-begone face, and such a threadbare coat, that I at once took him for one of those mendicants who bear the title of poveri vergognosi — bashful beggars ; persons whom pinching want compels to receive the stranger's charity, though pride restrains them from asking it. Moved with compassion, I threw into the hat the little I had to give ; when, instead of thanking me with a blessing, my man with the threadbare coat showered upon me the inost sonorous maledictions of his native tongue, and, emptying his greasy hat upon the pavement, drew it down over his ears with both hands, and stalked away with all the dignity of a Roman senator in the best days of the republic, — to the infinite amusement of a green-grocer, who stood at his shop-door bursting with laughter. No time Was given me for an apology ; but I resolved to be for the future more discriminating in my charities, and not to take for a beggar every poor gentleman who chose to stand in the shade with his hat in his hand on a hot summer's day. — Longfellow : Outre-Mer. 2. We are accustomed to call Washington the ^^ Father of his country." It would be useless, if one desired to do so, to dispute his right to the title. He and no other will bear it through the ages. He established our country's free- dom with the sword, then guided its course during the first critical years of its independent existence. !N"o one can know the figure without feeling how real is its greatness. It is impossible to see how, without Washington, the nation could have ever been. His name is and should be greatest. But after all is ^'Father of America" the best title for TOPIC STATEMENT, 47 Washington ? Where and what was Washington during those long preliminary years while the nation was taking form . . . ? A quiet planter, who in youth as a surveyor had come to know the woods ; who in his young manhood had led bodies of provincials with some efficiency in certain unsuccessful military expeditions ; who in maturity had sat, for the most part in silence, among his tallying colleagues in the House of Burgesses, with scarcely a suggestion to make in all the sharp debate, while the new nation was shaping. There is another character in our history to whom was once given the title, "Father of America," — a man to a large extent forgotten, his reputation overlaid by that of those who followed him, — no other than this man of the town- meeting, Samuel Adams. As far as the genesis of America is concerned, Samuel Adams can more properly be called the "Father of America" than Washington. — HosMER : Samuel Adams. B. In each of the following paragraphs the topic statement, is found in two or more sentences or in parts of two or more sen- tences. Restate it briefly in a single sentence. Remember that the most significant part of the sentence will be the predicate, or some adjective or adverb. 1. There is a general impression in England, that the people of the United States are inimical to the parent country. It is one of the errors which have been diligently propagated by designing writers. There is, doubtless, con- siderable political hostility, and a general soreness at the illiberality of the English press; but, generally speaking, the prepossessions of the people are strongly in favor of England. Indeed, at one time, they amounted, in many parts of the Union, to an absurd degree of bigotry. The bare name of Englishman was a passport to the confidence and hospitality of every family, and too often gave a tran- 48 PARAGRAPHS. sient currency to the worthless and the ungrateful . Through- out the country there was something of enthusiasm con- nected with the idea of England. We looked to it with a hallowed feeling of tenderness and veneration, as the land of our forefathers — the august repository of the monu- ments and antiquities of our race — the birthplace and mausoleum of the sages and heroes of our paternal history. After our own country, there was none in whose glory we more delighted — none whose good opinion we were more anxious to possess — none towards which our hearts yearned with such throbbings of warm consanguinity. Even during the late war, whenever there was the least opportunity for kind feelings to spring forth, it was the delight of the generous spirits of our country to show that, in the midst of hostilities, they still kept alive the sparks of future friend- ship. — Irving : Sketch-Book. 2. To the student of political history, and to the English student above all others, the conversion of the Roman Re- public into a military empire commands a peculiar interest. Notwithstanding many differences, the English and the Romans essentially resemble one another. The early Ro- mans possessed the faculty of self-government beyond any people of whom we have historical knowledge, with the one exception of ourselves. In virtue of their temporal free- dom, they became the most powerful nation in the known world ; and their liberties perished only when Rome became the mistress of the conquered races to whom she was unable or unwilling to extend her privileges. If England was similarly supreme, if all rival powers were eclipsed by her or laid under her feet, the Imperial tendencies, which are as strongly marked in us as our love of liberty, might lead us over the same course to the same end. — Froude : Ccesar ; A Sketch. TOPIC STATEMENT. 49 3. You would think it strange if I called Burns the most gifted British soul we had in all that century of his : and yet I believe the day is coming when there will be little danger in saying so. His writings, all that he did under such obstructions, are only a poor fragment of him. Pro- fessor Stewart remarked very justly, what, indeed, is true of all Poets good for much, that his poetry was not any particular faculty, but the general result of a naturally vigorous original mind expressing itself in that way. Burns's gifts, expressed in conversation, are the theme of all that ever heard him. All kinds of gifts : from the gracefulest utterances of courtesy, to the highest fire of passionate speech ; loud floods of mirth, soft wailings of affection, laconic emphasis, clear, piercing insight ; all was in him. Witty duchesses celebrate him as a man whose speech ^^ led them off their feet.'^ This is beautiful ; but still more beautiful that which Mr. Lockhart has recorded, which I have more than once alluded to. How the waiters and ostilers at inns would get out of bed, and come crowding to hear this man speak ! Waiters and ostlers ; — they too were men, and here was a man ! I have heard much about his speech ; but one of the best things I ever heard of it was, last year, from a venerable gentleman long familiar with him. That it was speech distinguished by always having something in it. " He spoke rather little than much," this old man told me ; " sat rather silent in those early days, as in the company of persons above him ; and al- ways when he did speak, it was to throw new light on the matter." I know not why any one should ever speak other- wise ! — But if we look at his general force of soul, his healthy robustness every way, the rugged downrightness, penetration, generous valor and manfulness that was in him, — where shall we readily find a better-gifted man? — Carlyle : Heroes and Hero- Worship, 50 PARAGRAPHS. C. These paragraphs as originally written contained topic statements. Supply the omission at the place indicated by the dots, and remember that the predicate of the topic statement is of prime importance. 1. School Life away from Home. You are about, sir, to send your son to a public school : Eton or Westminster ; Winchester or Harrow ; Rugby or the Charter House, no matter which. He may come from either an accomplished scholar to the utmost extent that school education can make him so ; he may be the better both for its discipline and its want of discipline ; it may serve him excellently well as a preparatory school for the world into which he is about to enter. But also he may come away an empty coxcomb or a hardened brute — a spendthrift — a profligate — a blackguard or a sot. . . . 2. Pride of the English. . . . They feel superior to the Americans of the- United States by antiquity and by priority of civilization, and they believe themselves to be their superiors in culture and in manners. Besides these differences, which may be more or less imaginary, it is obvious that aristocratic Englishmen must look down upon American democracy, since they look down, impartially, upon all democracies. The English liv- ing in England have a superiority of position over their own colonies, and are surprised to learn from Mr. Froude that a high degree of civilization is to be found at the Antip- odes, ■ffhere are two opposite ways of thinking about the colonies that give equal aliment to the pride of an English- man. He may have something like Mrs. Jameson's first impression of Canadian society, as " a small community of fourth-rate, half-educated, or uneducated people, where local politics of the meanest kind engross the men, and petty TOPIC STATEMENT. 51 gossip and household cares the women/' and in that case the superiority of England must be incontestable; or he may adopt the views of Mr. Froude, and then reflect what a great thing it is for England to be the first among the highly civilized English-speaking communities. He is, be- sides, under no necessity to cross the ocean for subjects of comparison. He feels himself easily superior to the Scotch and Irish, and until recent agitations he had almost forgotten the very existence of the Welsh. All Scotch peo- ple know that the English, though they visit Scotland to admire the lochs and enjoy Highland sports, are as ignorant about what is essentially national in that country as if it were a foreign land. Ireland is at least equally foreign to them, or was so before the burning question of Home Rule directed attention to Irish affairs. This ignorance is not attributable to dulness. It has but one cause, .... 3. The Relations of Birds. ... A few years ago, I was much interested in the house-building of a pair of summer yellowbirds. They had chosen a very pretty site near the top of a white lilac, within easy eye-shot of a chamber window. A very pleasant thing it was to see their little home growing with mutual help, to watch their industrious skill interrupted only by little flirts and snatches of endearment, frugally cut short by the common sense of the tiny housewife. They had brought their work nearly to an end, and had already begun to line it with fern-down, the gathering of which demanded more distant journeys and longer absences. But, alas! the syringa, immemorial manor of the catbirds, was not more than twenty feet away, and these ''giddy neighbors " had, as it appeared, been all along jealously watchful, though silent, witnesses of what they deemed an intrusion of squatters. 52 PARAGRAPHS. No sooner were the pretty mates fairly gone for a new load of lining, than " To their unguarded nest these weasel Scots Came stealing." Silently they flew back and forth, each giving a vengeful dab at the nest in passing. They did not fall-to and delib- erately destroy it, for they might have been caught at their mischief. As it was, whenever the yellowbirds came back, their enemies were hidden in their own sight-proof bush. Several times their unconscious victims repaired damages, but at length, after counsel taken together, they gave it up. Perhaps, like other unlettered folk, they came to the con- clusion that the Devil was in it, and yielded to the invisible persecutions of witchcraft. 4. How Shakespeare regarded his Plays. . . . When his plays had been acted, his hope was at an end ; he solicited no addition of honor from the reader. He therefore made no scruple to repeat the same jests in many dialogues, or to entangle different plots by the same knot of perplexity ; which may be at least forgiven him by those who recollect that of Congreve's four comedies, two are concluded by a marriage in a mask, by a deception which perhaps never happened, and which, whether likely or not, he did not invent. So careless was this great poet of future fame that, though he retired to ease and plenty while he was yet little " declined into the vale of years," before he could be dis- gusted with fatigue, or disabled by infirmity, he made no collection of his works, nor desired to rescue those that had been already published from the depravations that obscured them, or secure to the rest a better destiny, by giving them to the world in their genuine state. TOPIC STATEMENT, 53 Of the plays which bear the name of Shakespeare in the late editions, the greater part were not published till about seven years after his death ; and the few which appeared in his life are apparently thrust into the world without the care of the author, and therefore probably without his knowledge. D. These paragraphs are as they were originally written. They contain no formal topic statement and do not need any. See if you can make a topic statement for each that might be printed as part of the paragraph. The predicate of your topic statement is the main point. 1. Irving had such a small house and such narrow rooms, because there was a great number of people to occupy them. He could only afford to keep one old horse (which, lazy and aged as it was, managed once or twice to ran away with that careless old horseman). He could only afford to give plain sherry to that amiable British paragraph-monger, who saw the patriarch asleep over his modest, blameless cup, and fetched the public into his private chamber to look at him. Irving could only live very modestly, because the wifeless, childless man had a number of children to whom he was as a father. He had as many as nine nieces, I am told — I saw two of these ladies at his house — with all of whom the dear old man had shared the produce of his labor and genius. — Thackeray : .^^7 Nisi Bonum. 2. A report is going the rounds of the newspapers — and may, nevertheless, be true — that some Cornell Uni- versity students were ruled out from rowing in the Henley regatta because they had crossed the ocean in a cattle- steamer, and had therefore earned money by the work of their hands. The college oarsmen, it was stated, " must be gentlemen," and no gentleman could have worked with his hands. The rumor looks a little improbable because in 54 PABAGRAPH8. Tom Brown at Eugby, written nearly half a century ago, a college crew is described as being saved by a plebeian student, who had, it is to be presumed, done some manual labor. If, however, the tale be true, it points to a difference, still insurmountable, between the English and American students. — Thomas Wextworth Higginson : English and American Gentlemen. 3. Do you remember the brown suit which you made to hang upon you, till all your friends cried shame upon you, it grew so threadbare, and all because of that folio Beaumont and Fletcher, which you dragged home late that night from Barker's in Covent Garden ? Do you remember how we eyed it for weeks before we could make up our minds to the purchase, and had not come to a determination till it was near ten o'clock of the Saturday night, when you set off from Islington fearing you should be too late — and when the old bookseller, with some grumbling, opened his shop, and by the twinkling taper (for he was setting bedwards), lighted out the relic from his dusty treasures, and when you lugged it home, wishing it were twice as cumbersome, and when you presented it to me, and when we were explor- ing the perfectness of it (collating, you called it), aijd while I was repairing some of the loosed leaves with paste, which your impatience would not suffer to be left till daybreak — v/as there no pleasure in being a poor man ? or can those neat black clothes which you wear now, and are so careful to keep brushed, since we have become rich and finical, give you half the honest vanity with which you flaunted it about in that overworn suit — your old corbeau — for four or five weeks longer than you should have done, to pacify your conscience for the mighty sum of fifteen or sixteen shillings, was it ? — a great affair you thought it then — '- which you had lavished on the old folio ? Now you can afford to buy TOPIC STATEMENT. 55 any book that pleases you, but I do not see that you ever bring me home any nice old purchases now. — Lamb : Essay on Old China. 4. Nothing strikes one more, in the race of life, than to see how many give out in the first half of the course. " Com- mencement day" always reminds me of the start for the " Derby, " when the beautiful high-bred three-year-olds of the season are brought up for trial. That day is the start, and life is the race. . . . This is the start and here they are, — coat bright as silk and manes as smooth as eau lustrale can make them. Some of the best of the colts are pranced round, a few minutes each, to show their paces. What is that old gentleman crying about ? and the old lady by him, and the three girls, what are they all covering their eyes for ? Oh, that is their colt which has just been trotted upon the stage. Do they really think those little thin legs can do anything in such a slashing sweepstakes as is coming off in these next forty years ? . . . Fifty years. Race over. All that are on the course are coming in at a walk ; no more running. Who is ahead ? Ahead? What! and the winning post a slab of white or gray stone standing out from that turf where there is no more jockeying or straining for victory ! Well, the world marks their places in its betting-book ; but be sure that these matter very little, if they have run as well as they know how ! — Holmes : Autocrat. 5. I pray, excellent wife, not to cumber yourself and me to get a rich dinner for this man or this woman who has alighted at our gate, nor a bedchamber made ready at too great a cost. These things, if they are curious in them, they can get for a dollar at any village. But let this stranger, if he will, in your looks, in your accent and be- 56 PARAGRAPHS. havior, read your heart and earnestness, your thought and will, — which he cannot buy at any price in any village or city, and which he may well travel fifty miles, and dine sparely and sleep hard, in order to behold. Certainly let the board be spread, and let the bed be dressed for the traveller, but let not the emphasis of hospitality lie in these things. Honor to the house where they are simple to the verge of hardship, so that there the intellect is awake and reads the laws of the universe, the soul worships truth and love, honor and courtesy flow into all deeds. — Emerson : Domestic Life. E. Four ideas will be found in the following selection : (1) rea- sons for Hamlet's sadness ; (2) the effect upon him of the hasty marriage of the queen ; (3) his varying moods ; (4) his harshness toward Ophelia, the queen, and the king. Where should the second paragraph begin ? the third ? the fourth ? The young prince Hamlet was not happy at Elsinore. It was not because he missed the gay student-life of Witten- berg, and that the little Danish court was intolerably dull. It was not because the didactic lord chamberlain bored him with long speeches, or that the lord chamberlain's daughter was become a shade wearisome. Hamlet had more serious cues for unhappiness. He had been summoned suddenly from Wittenberg to attend his father's funeral ; close upon this and while his grief was green, his mother had married with his uncle Claudius, whom Hamlet had never liked. The indecorous haste of these nuptials — they took place within two months after the king's death, the funeral baked meats, as Hamlet cursorily remarked, furnishing forth the marriage-tables — struck the young prince aghast. He had loved the queen; his mother, and had nearly idolized the late king ; but now he forgot to lament the death of the one in contemplating the life of the other. The billing and cooing TOPIC STATEMENT. 57 of the newly married couple filled him with horror. Anger, shame, pity, and despair seized upon him by turns. He fell into a forlorn condition, forsaking his books, eating little save of the chameleon's dish, the air, drinking deep of Rhenish, letting his long, black locks go unkempt, and neglecting his dress — he who had hitherto been " the glass of fashion and the mould of form,'' as^Ophelia had prettily said of him. Often for half the night he would wander along the ramparts of the castle, at the imminent risk of tumbling off, gazing seaward and muttering strangely to himself, and evolving frightful spectres out of the shadows cast by the turrets. Sometimes he lapsed into a gentle melancholy; but not seldom his mood was ferocious, and at such times the conversational Polonius, with a discretion that did him credit, steered clear of my lord Hamlet. He turned no more graceful compliments for Ophelia. The thought of marrying her, if he had ever seriously thought of it, was gone now. He rather ruthlessly advised her to go into a nunnery. His mother had sickened him of- women. It was of her he spoke the notable words, "Frailty, thy name is woman!" which, some time after- wards, an amiable French gentleman had neatly engraved on the headstone of his wife, who had long been an invalid. Even the king and queen did not escape Hamlet in his dis- tempered moments. Passing his mother in a corridor or on a staircase of the palace, he would suddenly plant a verbal dagger in her heart ; and frequently, in full court, he would deal the king such a cutting reply as caused him to blanch, and gnaw his lip. — T. B. Aldrich : A Midnight Fantasy. F. At what places in the following should there be indentions for the purpose of marking off conversation? At what other places should there be indentions for the purpose of marking off the stages of the story ? Can you give a name to each stage as if the story were a play ? 68 PABAGBAPHS, Then up rose Mrs. Cratchit, Cratchit's wife, dressed out but poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribbons, which are cheap, and make a goodly show for sixpence ; and she laid the cloth, assisted by Belinda Cratchit, second of her daughters, also brave in ribbons, while Master Peter Cratchit plunged a fork into the saucepan of potatoes, and getting the corners of his monstrous shirt-collar (Bob's private property, conferred upon his son and heir in honor of the day) into his mouth, rejoiced to find himself so gallantly attired, and yearned to show his linen in the fashionable parks. And now two smaller Cratchits, boy and girl, came tearing in, screaming that outside the baker's they had smelt the goose, and known it for their own ; and basking in luxurious thoughts of sage and onion, these young Cratchits danced about the table, and exalted Master Peter Cratchit to the skies, while he (not proud, although his collars nearly choked him) blew the fire, until the slow potatoes bubbling up knocked loudly at the saucepan-lid to be let out and peeled. " What has ever got your precious father, then?" said Mrs. Cratchit. "And your brother, Tiny Tim ! And Martha wasn't as late last Christmas Day by half an hour ! " " Here's Martha, mother ! " said a girl, appearing as she spoke. " Here's Martha, mother ! " cried the two young Cratchits. " Hurrah ! There's such a goose, Martha ! " ^* Why, bless your heart alive, my dear, how late you are ! " said Mrs. Cratchit, kissing her a dozen times, and taking off her shawl and bonnet for her with officious zeal. " We'd a deal of work to finish up last night," replied the girl; "and had to clear away this morning, mother." " Well, never mind so long as you are come," said Mrs. Cratchit. " Sit ye down before the fire, my dear, and have a warm. Lord bless ye ! " " No, no ! There's father com- ing," cried the two young Cratchits, who were everywhere at once. " Hide, Martha, hide ! " So Martha hid herself ; TOPIC STATEMENT. 59 and in came little Bob, the father, with at least three feet of comforter, exclusive of the fringe, hanging down before him ; and his threadbare clothes darned up and brushed, to look seasonable; and Tiny Tim upon his shoulder. Alas for Tiny Tim, he bore a little crutch, and had his limbs supported by an iron frame ! *^ Why, where's our Martha ? " cried Bob Cratchit, looking round. "Not coming," said Mrs. Cratchit. "Not coming!" said Bob, with a sudden declension in his high spirits ; for he had been Tim's blood horse all the way from church, and had come home rampant. " Not coming upon Christmas Day ! " Martha didn't like to see him disappointed, if it were only in joke, so she came out prematurely from behind the closet door, and ran into his arms ; while the two young Cratchits hustled Tiny Tim, and bore him off into the wash-house, that he might hear the pudding singing in the copper. "And how did little Tim behave ? " asked Mrs. Cratchit, when she had rallied Bob on his credulity, and Bob had hugged his daughter to his heart's content. "As good as gold," said Bob, "and better. Somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day who made lame beggars walk and blind men see." Bob's voice was tremulous when he told them this, and trembled more when he said that Tiny Tim was growing strong and hearty. His active little crutch was heard upon the floor, and back came Tiny Tim before another word was spoken, escorted by his brother and sister to his stool beside the fire ; and while Bob, turning up his cuffs, — as if, poor fellow, they were capable of being made more shabby, — compounded some hot mixture in a jug with gin and lemons, and stirred it round and round and put it on the hob to simmer. Master 60 PARAGRAPHS. Peter and the two ubiquitous young Cratchits went to fetch the goose, with which they soon returned in high procession. Such a bustle ensued that you might have thought a goose the rarest of all birds, a feathered phenomenon to which a black swan was a matter of course ; and in truth it was something very like it in that house. Mrs. Cratchit made the gravy ready beforehand in a little saucepan, hissing hot; Master Peter mashed the potatoes with incredible vigor ; Miss Belinda sweetened up the apple-sauce ; Martha dusted the hot plates ; Bob took Tiny Tim beside him in a tiny corner at the table ; the two young Cratchits set chairs for everybody, not forgetting themselves, and, mounting guard upon their posts, crammed spoons into their mouths, lest they should shriek for goose before their turn came to be helped. At last the dishes were set on, and grace was said. It was succeeded by a breathless pause, as Mrs. Cratchit, looking slowly all along the carving-knife, pre- pared to plunge it in the breast ; but when she did, and when the long expected gush of stuffing issued forth, one murmur of delight arose all round the board, and even Tiny Tim, excited by the two young Cratchits, beat on the table with the handle of his knife, and feebly cried ^' Hurrah ! '' There never was such a goose. Bob said he didn't believe there ever was such a goose cooked. Its tenderness and flavor, size and cheapness, were the themes of universal admiration. Eked out by apple-sauce and mashed potatoes, it was a sufficient dinner for the whole family ; indeed, as Mrs. Cratchit said with great delight (surveying one small atom of a bone upon the dish), they hadn't ate it all at last ! Yet every one had had enough ; and the youngest Cratchits in particular were steeped in sage and onion to the eyebrows ! But now, the plates being changed by Miss Belinda, Mrs. Cratchit left the room alone, — too nervous to bear witnesses, — to take the pudding up, and bring it in. TOPIC STATEMENT. 61 Suppose it should not be done enough ! Suppose it should break in turning out! Suppose somebody should have got over the wall of the back-yard, and stolen it, while they were merry with the goose, — a supposition at which the two young Cratchits became livid ! All sorts of horrors were supposed. Hallo ! A great deal of steam ! The pudding was out of the copper. A smell like a washing-day ! That was the cloth. A smell like an eating-house and a pastry- cook's next door to each other, with a laundress's next door to that! That was the pudding! In half a minute Mrs. Cratchit entered — flashed, but smiling proudly — with the pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half-a-quartern of ignited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top. Oh, a wonderful pudding! Bob Cratchit said, and calmly too, that he regarded it as the greatest success achieved by Mrs. Cratchit since their marriage. Mrs. Cratchit said that now the weight was off her mind, she would confess she had her doubts about the quantity of flour. Everybody had some- thing to say about it ; but nobody said or thought it was at all a small pudding for a large family. It would have been flat heresy to do so. Any Cratchit would have blushed to hint at such a thing. At last the dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared, the hearth swept, and the fire made up. The compound in the jug being tasted, and considered per- fect, apples and oranges were put upon the table, and a shovelful of chestnuts on the fire. Then all the Cratchit family drew round the hearth, in what Bob Cratchit called a circle, meaning half a one ; and at Bob Cratchit's elbow stood the family display of glass, — two tumblers and a custard-cup without a handle. These held the hot stuff from the jug, however, as well as golden goblets would have done ; and Bob served it out with beaming looks, while the chestnuts on the fire sputtered and cracked noisily. Then 62 PABAGRAPHS. Bob proposed: "A merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us ! " Which all the family reechoed. " God bless us every one ! " said Tiny Tim, the last of all. He sat very close to his father's side, upon his little stool. Bob held his withered little hand in his, as if he loved the child, and wished to keep him by his side, and dreaded that he might be taken from him. . . . Bob Cratchit told them how he had a situation in his eye for Master Peter, which would bring in, if obtained, full five-and-sixpence weekly. The two young Cratchits laughed tremendously at the idea of Peter's being a man of business; and Peter himself looked thoughtfully at the fire from between his collars, as if he were deliberating what particular investments he should favor when he came into the receipt of that bewil- dering income. Martha, who was a poor apprentice at a milliner's, then told them what kind of work she had to do, and how many hours she worked at a stretch, and how she meant to lie abed to-morrow morning for a good long rest ; to-morrow being a holiday she passed at home. Also, how she had seen a countess and a lord some days before ; and how the lord "was much about as tall as Peter." At which Peter pulled up his collars so high that you couldn't have seen his head if you had been there. All this time the chestnuts and the jug went round and round ; and by-and- by they had a song, about a lost child travelling in the snow, from Tiny Tim, who had a plaintive little voice, and sang it very well indeed. There was nothing of high mark in this. They were not a handsome family; they were not well- dressed ; their shoes were far from being waterproof ; their clothes were scanty ; and Peter might have known, and very likely did, the inside of a pawnbroker's. But they were happy, grateful, pleased with one another, and con- tented with the time ; and when they faded, and looked happier yet in the bright sprinklings of the Spirit's torch TOPIC STATEMENT. 63 at parting, Scrooge had his eye i^pon them, and especially on Tiny Tim until the last. G. In Burns's Tam o' Shanter, Longfellow's Hiawatha, Bryant's Tkanatopsis, and other poems, there are indentions indicating the logical divisions of the poem. Each division corresponds to a prose paragraph. Read one of these poems (or the portion of it assigned by the teacher), and ask yourself why the indention is in each case made where you find it. Find or make a topic statement for each division. Then make statements for the lesser divisions and arrange the whole so as to show the plan of the poem. H. The stanzas of a poem do not usually mark off equally im- portant logical divisions. The important divisions are groups of stanzas. In Coleridge's Ancient Mariner there are seven stanza- groups, or parts. Account for this division. What is the topic of each part? Are there lesser groups in each part? If so, make topic statements for all of them, and arrange the whole so as to show the plan of the poem. I. If you should be asked to reproduce a poem in which there were no marks of division except the stanzas, one of the first things to do would be to divide the poem into its logical parts, its stanza- groups. Try this with Burns's Cotter's Saturday Night, Macaulay's Horatius, or any other poem of your own selection. J. In the following short poem by Tennyson, as in many short poems, the stanzas do mark off logical divisions of equal impor- tance. What is the topic of each stanza? What is the main thought of the poem ? Home they brought her warrior dead ; She nor swooned, nor uttered cry. All her maidens, watching, said, " She must weep, or she will die. " ^ Then they praised him, soft and low ; Called him worthy to be loved : Truest friend and noblest foe. Yet she neither spoke nor moved 64 PABAGBAPHS. Stole a maid on from her place, Lightly to the warrior stept, Took the face-cloth from the face ; Yet she neither moved nor wept. Rose a nurse of ninety years, Set his child upon her knee. Like summer tempest came her tears : " Sweet my child, I live for thee ! " How Paragraphs Grow. 19. We may develop a topic statement into a para- graph in five principal ways : — 1. By repeating the topical idea in other forms, 2. By making comparisons or contrasts, 3- By adding particulars and details, 4. By giving specific instances, 5. By showing the effects of which the topic is the cause. We shall now illustrate each of these methods of development. By Repetition. 20. 1. A tree is an underground creature, with its tail in the air. 2. All its intelligence is in its roots. 3. All the senses it has are in its roots. 4. Think what sagacity it shows in its search after food and drink ! 5. Somehow or other, the rootlets, which are its tentacles, find out that there is a brook at a moderate distance from the trunk of the tree, and they make for it with all their might. 6. They find every crack in the rocks where there are a few grains of the nourishing substance they care for, and insinuate them- selves in its deepest recesses. 7. When spring and summer come, they let their tails grow, and delight in whisking them REPETITION, 65 about in the wind, or letting them be whisked about by it ; for these tails are poor passive things, with very little will of their own, and bend in whatever direction the wind chooses to make them. 8. The leaves make a deal of noise whispering. 9. I have sometimes thought I could under- stand them, as they talk with each other, and that they seemed to think they made the wind as they wagge'd forward and back. 10. Eemember what I say. 11. The next time you see a tree waving in the wind, recollect that it is the tail of a great underground, many-armed, polypus-like creature, which is as proud of its caudal appendage, especially iij summer-time, as a peacock of his gorgeous expanse of plumage. — Holmes: Over the Teacups. In the foregoing paragraph the topic statement occu- pies the first two sentences : A tree is an underground creature with its tail in the air and all its intelligence in its roots. A statement so surprising naturally calls for some explanation. Notice, now, how the explana- tion is made, that is^ how the topic idea is developed. In sentence 3, the writer says over again, in slightly different words, what he said in sentence 2, "All the senses it has [that is, all its intelligence] are in its roots." In like manner in sentence 4 he says over again what he has said in sentences 2 and 3, " Think what sagacity [that is, what intelligence, what sense] it shows in its search after food and drink " [that is, in its roots]. Just so sentences 7-9 are a kind of repeti- tion of the idea, " An underground creature with its tail in the air," and sentence 11 repeats in expanded form the ideas of sentences 1 and 2. Plainly, then, this method of paragraph growth is by repetition, the principal idea being repeated in detail. It should be 66 PARAGRAPHS. noticed, however, that the repetition amounts to more than merely putting one word in place of another ; the idea grows by each repetition. Every repeated form of the thought adds to its clearness, its concreteness, or its emphasis. Frequently a writer seems to have said to himself, " I will say this thing in another way, so that my pre- cise meaning cannot fail to be understood." Then his explanations, whether they apparently repeat the topic idea or not, have the force of a definition, setting limits to his idea, making it narrower or broader; and he is likely to tell, in di£Eerent -ways, not only -what the thing is, but also what the thing is not. In the following, for example, Ruskin, evidently wishing to make us under- stand precisely what a piece of English ground should have in order to be beautiful, peaceful, and fruitful, really defines these three terms both affirmatively and negatively. The parts in which he tells what the piece of English ground should not have are here printed in italics. We will try to make some small piece of English ground beautiful, peaceful, and fruitful. We will have no steam- engines upon it, and no railroads; we will have no untended or u7ithought-of creatures on it; none wretched, but the sick; none idle, but the dead. We will have no liberty upon it; but instant obedience to known law, and appointed persons ; no equality upon it; but recognition of every betterness that we can find, and reprobation of every worseness. When we want to go anywhere, we will go there quietly and safely, not at forty miles an hour in the risk of our lives; when we want to carry anything anywhere, we will carry it either on the backs of beasts, or on our own, or in carts, or in REPETITION. 67 boats ; we will have plenty of flowers and vegetables in our gardens, plenty of corn and grass in our fields, — and few bricks. We will have some music and poetry; the children shall learn to dance to it, and sing it ; perhaps some of the old people, in time, may also. We will have some art, moreover ; we will at least try if, like the Greeks, we can't make some pots. — Ruskin : Fors Clavigera, Letter V. 21. Assignments on Development by Repetition. A. In the following paragraphs find the sentences or parts of sentences which repeat in whole or in part the thought of the topic statement. In each case determine whether the repetition is or is not of a kind to make the thought grow. If it is, point out the new element of thought which the repetition adds to the thought of the topic statement. Does the thought thus repeated grow broader, or more definite, or more emphatic? Not all of the sentences of these paragraphs are sentences of repetition ; it is seldom that a topic statement is developed by repe- titions alone. The uses of the other sentences will appear in subsequent lessons. 1. \^Topic'] 1. Nihilism, so far as one can find out, ex- presses rather a method, or a means, than an end. 2. It is difficult to say just what Nihilism does imply. 3. So much appears reasonably certain — that the primary object of the Nihilists is destruction ; that the abolition of the existing order, not the construction of a new order, is in their view ; that, whatever their ulterior designs, or whether or no they have any ultimate purpose in which they are all or generally agreed, the one object which now draws and holds them^to- gether, in spite of all the terrors of arbitrary power, is the abolition, not only of all existing governments, but of all political estates, all institutions, all privileges, all forms of authority ; and that to this is postponed whatever plans, purposes, or wishes the confederation, or its members indi- 68 PABAGBAPHS. vidually, may cherish concerning the reorganization of society. — Francis A. Walker: Socialism. 2. \^Topic'] 1. From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books. 2. Pleased with the Pilgrim's Progress, my first collection was of John Bunyan's works, in separate little volumes. 3. I afterwards sold them to enable me to buy R. Burton's Historical Collections ; they were small chapmen's books, and cheap, forty or fifty in all. 4. My father's little library consisted chiefly of books in polemic divinity, most of which I read, and have since often regretted that, at a time when I had such a thirst for knowledge, more proper books had not fallen in my way, since it was now resolved I should not be a clergyman. 5. Plutarch's Lives there was, in which I read abundantly, and I still think that time spent to great advantage. 6. There was also a book of De Foe's, called An Essay on Projects, and another of Dr. Mather's, called Essays to do Good, which perhaps gave me a turn of thinking that had an influence on some of the principal future events of my life. — Franklin : Autobiography. 3. 1. All the triumphs of truth and genius over prejudice and power, in every country and in every age, have been the triumphs of Athens. 2. Wherever a few great minds have made a stand against violence and fraud in the cause of liberty and reason, there has been her spirit in the midst of them : inspiring, encouraging, consoling ; — by the lonely lamp of Erasmus ; by the restless bed of Pascal ; in the tri- bune of Mirabeau ; in the cell of Galileo ; on the scaffold of Sidney. \^Topic] 3. But who shall estimate her influence on private happiness ? 4. Who shall say how many thou- sa'nds have been made wiser, happier, and better, by those pursuits in which she has taught mankind to engage ; to how BEPETITION. 69 many the studies that took their rise from her have been wealth in poverty, — liberty in bondage, — health in sick- ness, — society in solitude ? 5. Her power is indeed mani- fested at the bar, in the senate, in the field of battle, in the schools of philosophy. 6. But these are not her glory. 7. Wherever literature consoles sorrow, or assuages pain — wherever it brings gladness to eyes which fail with wake- fulness and tears, and ache for the dark house and the long sleep, — there is exhibited in its noblest form the immortal influence of Athens. — Macaulay : Athenian Orators. 4. \_Topic] 1. The honorable member complained that I had slept on his speech. 2. I must have slept on it, or not slept at all. 3. The moment the honorable member sat down, his friend from Missouri rose, and, with much honeyed commendation of the speech, suggested that the impressions which it had produced were too charming and delightful to be disturbed by other sentiments, or other sounds, and pro- posed that the Senate should adjourn. 4. Would it have been quite amiable in me. Sir, to interrupt this excellent good feeling ? 5. Must I not have been absolutely malicious, if I could have thrust myself forward to destroy sensations thus pleasing ? 6. Was it not much better and kinder, both to sleep upon them myself, and to allow others also the pleasure of sleeping upon them ? 7. But if it be meant, by sleeping upon his speech, that I took time to prepare a reply to it, it is quite a mistake. 8. Owing to other engagements, I could not employ even the interval between the adjourn- ment of the Senate and its meeting the next morning in attention to the subject of this debate. 9. Nevertheless, Sir, the mere matter of fact is undoubtedly true. 10. I did sleep on the gentleman's speech, and slept soundly. 11. And I slept equally well on his speech of yesterday, to which 70 PARAGRAPHS. I am now replying. 12. It is quite possible that in this respect, also, I possess some advantage over the honorable member, attributable, doubtless, to a cooler temperament on my part ; for, in truth, I slept upon his speeches remarkably well. — Webster : Reply to Hayne. 5. [^Topic] 1. But the gentleman inquires why 7ie was made the object of such a reply ? 2. Why was he singled out ? 3. If an attack has been made on the East, he, he assures us, did not begin it; it' was made by the gentleman from Mis- souri. 4. Sir, I answered the gentleman's s-peech because I happened to hear it; and because, also, I chose to give an answer to that speech, which, if unanswered, I thought most likely to produce injurious impressions. 5. I did not stop to inquire who was the original drawer of the bill. 6. I found a responsible indarser before me, and it was my purpose to hold him liable, and to bring him to his just responsibility without delay. — Webster : Reply to Hayne. 6. \_Topic] 1. Mountains are to the rest of the body of the earth what violent muscular -action is to the body of man. 2. The muscles and tendons of its anatomy are, in the mountain, brought out with fierce and convulsive energy, full of expression, passion, and strength ; the plains and the lower hills are the repose and the effortless motion of the frame, when its muscles lie dormant and concealed beneath the lines of its beauty, yet ruling. those lines in their every undulation. 3. This, then, is the first grand principle of the truth of the earth. 4. The spirit of the hills is action ; that of the lowlands, repose ; and between these there is to be found every variety of motion and of rest; from the inac- tive plain, sleeping like the firmament, with cities for stars, to the fiery peaks, which, with heaving bosoms and exulting limbs, with the clouds drifting like hair from their bright REPETITION. 71 foreheads, lift up their Titan hands to Heaven, saying, *' I live forever ! " — RusKiN : Modern Painters, vol. I, pt. ii, sec. iv, chap. i. 7. [ Topic'] 1. Nor must I forget the suddenly changing seasons of the Northern clime. 2. There is no long and lingering spring, unfolding leaf and blossom one by one ; no long and lingering autumn, pompous with many-colored leaves and the glow of Indian summers. 3. But winter and sum- mer are wonderful, and pass into each other. 4. The quail has hardly ceased piping in the corn, when winter from the folds of trailing clouds sows broadcast over the land snow, icicles, and rattling hail. 5. The days wane apace. 6. Ere- long the sun hardly rises above the horizon, or does not rise at all. 7. The moon and the stars shine through the day ; only, at noon, they are pale and wan, and in the southern sky a red, fiery glow as of sunset burns along the horizon and then goes out. 8. And pleasantly under the silver moon, and under the silent, solemn stars, ring the steel shoes of the skaters on the frozen sea, and voices, and the sound of bells. — Longfellow: Note to the Children of the Lord^s Supper. 8. 1. The troops were now to be disbanded. 2. Fifty thousand men, accustomed to the profession of arms, were at once thrown on the world ; and experience seemed to warrant the belief that this change would produce much misery and crime, that the discharged veterans would be seen begging in every street, or would be driven by hunger to pillage. \^Topic'] 3. But no such result followed. 4. In a few months there remained not a trace indicating that the most formidable army in the world had just been ab- sorbed into the mass of the community. 5. The Royalists themselves confessed that in every department of honest industry, the discarded warriors prospered beyond other 72 PARAGRAPHS. men ; that none was charged with any theft or robbery ; that none was heard to ask an alms ; and that, if a baker, a mason, or a wagoner attracted notice by his diligence and sobriety, he was in all probability one of Oliver's old soldiers. — Macaulay: History of England , I, chap. ii. B. Develop each of the following topic statements into a brief paragraph by repetition of the idea. Remember that in the repe- tition it is not enough to put one word in place of another. There must be not only a change of words but a growth of ideas. With each sentence the thought should become larger, or more definite, or more emphatic. If the repetition does not immediately suggest itself, the use of such phrases as " in other words," " to speak more plainly," "to put the matter more briefly (precisely, definitely, concretely, specifically, forcibly)," will sometimes start the train of thought. Note that the significant part of each topic statement is the thing predicated of the topic : in 1, " sustained effort" ; in 2, " jumped at conclusions " ; in 3, " forever changing " ; in 4, " no hero " ; in 5, " reforming." These voi'ds of predication give the cue for the repetition. 1. It requires sustained effort to make a good writer. 2. In stating his reasons, he never jumped at conclusions. 3. Fashions in dress are forever changing. 4. The play As Tou Like It has no hero. 5. City governments in America need reforming. 6. There are books and books. 7. Emerson says, " The boy is a Greek ; the youth ro- mantic ; the adult, reflective." 8. Physical training should be compulsory in schools. 9. There will always be need of charity in the world. 10. A good partisan is not always a good citizen. By Comparison and Contrast. 22. Instead of telling what a thing is or is not, a writer may tell what it is like or ivhat it is not like. COMPARISON AND CONTRAST. 73 Thus Macaulay, in his essay on history, develops the idea " Effect of historical reading upon the student's mind," by comparing it to the effect of foreign travel. 1. The effect of historical reading is analogous, in many respects, to that produced by foreign travel. 2. The student, like the tourist, is transported into a new state of society. 3. He sees new fashions. 4. He hears new modes of expres- sion. 5. His mind is enlarged by contemplating the wide diversities of laws, of morals, and of manners. 6. But men may travel far, and return with minds as contracted as if they had never stirred from their own market-town. 7. In the same manner, men may know the dates of many battles and the genealogies of many royal houses, and yet be no wiser. 8. Most people look at past times as princes look at foreign countries. 9. More than one illustrious stranger has landed on our island amidst the shouts of a mob, has dined with the King, has hunted with the master of the stag-hounds, has seen the Guards reviewed, and a Knight of the Garter installed, has cantered along Regent Street, has visited St. PauPs, and noted down its dimensions ; and has then departed, thinking that he has seen England. 10. He has, in fact, seen a few public buildings, public men, and public ceremonies. 11. But of the vast and complex system of society, of the fine shades of national character, of the practical operation of government and laws, he knows noth- ing. 12. He who would understand these things rightly must not confine his observations to palaces and solemn days. 13. He must see ordinary men as they appear in their ordinary business and in their ordinary pleasures. 14. He must mingle in the crowds of the exchange and the coffee-house. 15. He must obtain admittance to the convivial table and the domestic hearth. 16. He must bear with vulgar expressions. 17. He must not shrink from 74 PARAGRAPHS. exploring even the retreats of misery. 18. He who wishes to understand the condition of mankind in former ages must proceed on the same principle. 19. If he attends only to public transactions, to wars, congresses, and debates, his studies will be as unprofitable as the travels of those imperial, royal, and serene sovereigns who form their judg- ment of our island from having gone in state to a few fine sights and from having held formal conferences with a few great officers. It should be noted that, while making the comparison between the effect of historical reading and the effect of foreign travel, Macaulay also employs a contrast. The good effects as seen in the thorough student and traveller (sentences 2 to 5 and 12 to 18) are in con- trast with the bad as seen in the careless or hasty student and traveller (sentences 6 to 11, and 19). Whenever an idea is developed both positively and negatively, as in the last two quotations, the result is, of course, a contrast. This method of developing ideas by comparison and^ contrast is used in various ways, but those just indicated are the most common. In the following we gain a clearer idea both of Whit- tier and of Franklin by being told in what respects they were alike and in what respects they differed. In this, no attempt is made to conceal the method employed. It is announced in the very first sentence, the topic statement. Unlike as Whittier and Franklin were in many respects, they were alike in others. Both had the sympathy with the lowly which comes of early similar experience. Both learned a handicraft, for Franklin set type and worked a printing- press, and Whittier made slippers. To both of them litera- COMPARISON AND CONTRAST. 75 ture was a means, rather than an end in itself. Verse to Whittier, and prose to Franklin, was a weapon to be used in the good fight. In Whittier's verse, as in Franklin's prose, there was the same pithy directness which made their words go home to the hearts of the plain people, whom they both understood and represented. To Franklin was given the larger life and the greater range of usefulness ; but Whittier always did with all his might the duty that lay before him. While Franklin gained polish by travel and by association with citizens of the world, Whittier was the only one of the greater American authors who never went to Europe, and he kept to the end not a little of his rustic simplicity. While Whittier was practical, as becomes a New Eng- lander, he had not the excessive common sense which char- acterizes Franklin, and he lacked also Franklin's abundant humor. But the poet was not content, as Franklin was, with showing that honesty is the best policy, and that in the long run vice leads to ruin ; he scourged evil with the wrath of a Hebrew prophet. Except one or another of his ballads, none of his poems was written for its own sake ; they were nearly all intended to further a cause he held dear, or to teach a lesson he thought needful. — Brander Matthews : St. Nicholas, 22 : 773. 23. Assignments on Development by Comparison and Contrast. A. Point out the comparisons and contrasts by which the topic idea is developed in the following selections. 1. Of ghosts I have seldom dreamed, so far as I can remember; in fact I have never dreamed of the kind of ghosts that we are all more or less afraid of, though I have dreamed rather often of the spirits of departed friends. But I once dreamed of dying, and the reader, who has 76 PARAGRAPHS. never died yet, may be interested to know what it is like. According to this experience of mine, w^hich I do not claim is typical, it is like a fire kindling in an air-tight stove with paper and shavings ; the gathering smoke and gases sud- denly burst into flame, and puff the door out, and all is over. — W. D. Howells : Harper's Magazine, 90 : 840. 2. The vast results obtained by science are won by no mystical faculties, by no mental processes, other than those which are practised by every one of us in the humblest and meanest affairs of life. A detective policeman discovers a burglar from the marks made by his shoe, by a mental pro- cess identical with that by which Cuvier restored the extinct animals of Montmartre from fragments of their bones. Kor does that process of induction and deduction by which a lady, finding a stain of a particular kind upon her dress, concludes that somebody has upset the inkstand thereon, differ in any way from that by which Adams and Leverrier discovered a new planet. The man of science, in fact, simply uses with scrupulous exactness the methods which we all habitually and at every moment use carelessly. — Huxley : Lay Sermons, 78. 3. You of the North have had drawn for you with a master's hand the picture of your returning armies. Ypu have heard how, in the pomp and circumstance of war, they came back to you, marching with proud and victorious tread, reading their glory in a nation's eyes ! Will you bear with me while I tell you of another army that sought its home at the close of the late war — an army that marched home in defeat and not in victory, in pathos and not in splendor, but in glory that equalled yours, and to hearts as loving as ever welcomed heroes home ? Let me picture to you the foot- sore Confederate soldier, as, buttoning up in his faded gray jacket the parole which was to bear testimony to his chil- COMPARISON AND CONTRAST, 77 dren of his fidelity and faith, he turned his face southward from Appomattox, in April, 1865. Think of him as, ragged, half -starved, heavy-hearted, enfeebled by want and wounds, having fought to exhaustion, he surrenders his gun, wrings the hands of his comrades in silence, and lifting his tear- stained and pallid face for the last time to the graves that dot the old Virginia hills, pulls his gray cap over his brow and begins the slow and painful journey. What does he find — let me ask you, who went to your homes eager to find in the welcome you had justly earned, full payment for four years' sacrifice — what does he find when, having fol- lowed the battle-stained cross against overwhelming odds, dreading death not half so much as surrender, he reaches the home he left so prosperous and beautiful ? He finds his house in ruins, his farm devastated, his slaves free, his stock killed, his barns empty, his trade destroyed, his money worthless ; his social system, feudal in its mag- nificence, swept away; his people without law or legal status, his comrades slain, and the burdens of others heavy on his shoulders. Crushed by defeat, his very traditions are gone; without money, credit, employment, material, or training ; and beside all this, confronted with the gravest problem that ever met human intelligence — the estab- lishing of a status for the vast body of his liberated slaves. — Grady: Speeches. 4. The Life of Johnson is assuredly a great, a very great work. Homer is not more decidedly the first of heroic poets, Shakespeare is not more decidedly the first of drama- tists, Demosthenes is not more decidedly the first of orators, than Boswell is the first of biographers. He has no second. He has distanced all his competitors so decidedly that it is not worth while to place them. Eclipse is first, the rest nowhere. — Macaulay: BosweWs Life of Johnson. 78 PARAGBAPHS. ' 5. A constitutional statesman is in general a man of common opinions and uncommon abilities. The reason is obvious. When we speak of a free government, we mean a government in which the sovereign power is divided, in which a single decision is not absolute, where argument has an office. The essence of the " gouvernement des avocats," as the Emperor Nicholas called it, is that you must persuade so many persons. The appeal is not to the solitary decision of a single statesman ; not to Eichelieu or Nesselrode alone in his closet; but to the jangled mass of men with a thou- sand pursuits, a ' thousand interests, a thousand various habits. Public opinion, as it is said, rules ; and public opinion is the opinion of the average man. Fox used to say of Burke : " Burke is a wise man ; but he is wise too soon." The average man will not bear this. He is a cool, common person, with a considerate air, with figures in his mind, with his own business to attend to, with a set of ordinary opinions arising from and suited to ordinary life. He can't bear novelty or originalities. He says : " Sir, I never heard such a thing before in my life " ; and he thinks this a reductio ad absurdu7n. You may see his taste by the reading of which he approves. Is there a more splendid monument of talent and industry than the Times? No wonder that the average man — that any one — ^ believes in it. As Carlyle observes : " Let the highest intellect able to write epics try to write such a leader for the morning newspapers, it cannot do it; the highest intellect will fail." But did you ever see anything there you had never seen before ? Out of the million articles that everybody has read, can any one person trace a single marked idea to a single article ? Where are the deep theories, and the wise axioms, and the everlasting sentiments which the writers of the most influential publication in the world have been the first to communicate to an ignorant species ? Such writers COMPARISON AND CONTRAST. 79 are far too shrewd. The two million, or whatever number of copies it may be, they publish are not purchased because the buyers wish to know new truth. The purchaser desires an article which he can appreciate at sight ; which he can lay down and say : ^' An excellent article, very excellent ; exactly my ovm sentiments." Original theories give trouble ; besides, a grave man on the Coal Exchange does not desire to be an apostle of novelties among the contemporaneous dealers in fuel ; — he wants to be provided with remarks he can make on the topics of the day which will not be known not to be his; which are not too profound; which he can fancy the paper only reminded him of. And just in the same way, precisely as the most popular political paper is not that which is abstractedly the best or most instructive, but that which most exactly takes up the minds of men where it finds them, catches the floating sentiment of so- ciety, puts it in such a form as society can fancy would con- vince another society which did not believe, — ^ so the most influential of constitutional statesmen is the one who most felicitously expresses the creed of the moment, who admin- isters it, who embodies it in laws and institutions, who gives it the highest life it is capable of, who induces the average man to think : " I could not have done it any better, if I had had time myself." — Bagehot : The English Constitution, p. 421. 6. When the example in our Latin Grammar tells us that Mors communis est omnibus, it states a truism of considerable interest, indeed, to the person in whose particular case it is to be illustrated, but neither new nor startling. No one would think of citing it, whether to produce conviction or to heighten discourse. Yet mankind are agreed in finding something more poignant in the same reflection when Horace tells us that the palace as well as the hovel shudders at the 80 PARAGRAPHS, indiscriminating foot of Death. Here is something more than the dry statement of a truism. The difference between the two is that between a lower and a higher ; it is, in short, the difference between prose and poetry. The oyster has begun, at least, to secrete its pearl, something identical with its shell in substance, but in sentiment and association how unlike ! Malherbe takes the same image and makes it a little more picturesque, though, at the same time, I fear, a little more Parisian, too, when he says that the sentinel pacing before the gate of the Louvre cannot forbid Death an entrance to the King. And how long had not that com- parison between the rose's life and that of the maiden dying untimely been a commonplace when the same Malherbe made it irreclaimably his own by mere felicity of phrase. We do not ask where people got their hints, but what they made out of them. The commonplace is unhappily within reach of us all, and unhappily, too, they are rare who can give it novelty and even invest it with a kind of grandeur as Gray knew how to do. — Lowell : Essay on Gray. 7. The modern type-writing machine has the advantage of making all words equally legible, but the receiver of the printed letter is likely to feel on opening it a slight per- ceptible shock of the kind always caused by a want of con- sideration. The letter so printed is undoubtedly easier to read than all but the very clearest manuscript, and so far it may be considered a politeness to use the instrument ; but unluckily it is impersonal, so that the performer on the in- strument seems far removed from the receiver of the letter and not in that direct communication with him which would be apparent in an autograph. The effect on the mind is almost like that of a printed circular, or at the least of a letter which has been dictated to a shorthand writer. — Hamerton : Human Intercourse. COMPARISON AND CONTRAST, 81 8. Mr. Beecher went on to show how the North could not help fighting when it was attacked, and to give the reasons that made it necessary to fight, reasons which none but a consistent Friend, or avowed non-resistant, can pretend to dis- pute. His ordinary style in speaking is pointed, staccatoed, as is that of most successful extemporaneous speakers ; he is " short-gaited '^ ; the movement of his thoughts is that of the chopping sea, rather than the long, rolling, rhythmical wave-procession of phrase-balancing rhetoricians. But when the lance has pricked him deep enough, when the red flag has flashed in his face often enough, when the fireworks have hissed and sputtered around him long enough, when the cheers have warmed him so that all his life is roused, then his intellectual sparkle becomes a steady glow, and his nimble sentences change their form and become long-drawn, stately periods. — O. W. Holmes: Atlantic Monthly, January, 1864. 9. Certainly, gentlemen, it ought to be the happiness and glory of a representative to live in the strictest union, the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved communica- tion with his constituents. Their wishes ought to have great weight with him ; their opinion high respect ; their business unremitted attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his pleasures, his satisfactions, to theirs ; and above all, ever, and in all cases, to prefer their interest to his own. But, his unbiassed opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set of men living. These he does not derive from your pleasure ; no, nor from the law and the constitution. They are a trust from Providence, for the abuse of which he is deeply answerable. Your representative owes you not his industry only, but his judgment ; which he betrays, in- stead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion. 82 PARAGRAPHS, My worthy colleague says, his will ought to be subservi- ent to yours. If that be all, the thing is innocent. If gov- ernment were a matter of will upon any side, yours, without question, ought to be superior. But government and legis- lation are matters of reason and judgment, and not of inclination ; and what sort of reason is that, in which the determination precedes the discussion ; in which one set of men deliberate, and another decide ; and where those who form the conclusion are perhaps three hundred miles distant from those who hear the arguments ? To deliver an opinion, is the right of all men ; that of constituents is a weighty and respectable opinion, which a representative ought always to rejoice to hear ; and which he ought always most seriously to consider. But autJiorita- tive instructions, mandates issued, which the member is bound blindly and implicitly to obey, to vote, and to argue for, though contrary to the clearest conviction of his judg- ment and conscience, — these are things utterly unknown to the laws of this land, and which arise from a funda- mental mistake of the whole order and tenor of our constitu- tion. — Burke : Speech to the Electors of Bristol. 10. Madison spoke in the same strain. He saw no danger in a title. He did not believe that a President, clothed with all the powers of the Constitution and loaded down with all the titles of Europe and Asia, would be a dangerous person to American liberty. He objected to the principle. If, said he, we give titles, we must either borrow or invent them. If we invent and deck out an airy being of our creation, it is a great chance, but its fantastic properties render the empty phantom ridiculous and absurd. If we borrow, our servile imitation will be odious. We must copy from the pompous monarchs of the East, or we must follow the inferior monarchs of Europe. In either case the COMPARISON AND CONTRAST. 83 splendid tinsel and the gorgeous robe will disgrace the manly shoulders of our chief. — McMaster : History of the People of the United States, 1,542. » B. These paragraphs as originally written contained two ideas in contrast. Supply the omitted portion. 1. Some persons are very reluctant to admit that any race of men is marked by a fixed and permanent character- istic of inferiority to the others, for fear that this will be made an excuse by unjust and wicked men for treating them oppressively and cruelly. But . 2. There is one thing very curious about this class of animals that get their living in a great measure under water, and are consequently obliged to be often submerged, even in the coldest winter weather, and that is that their fur becomes very little wet by such immersion. A dog, after plunging into a river, comes out wet to the skin, but the fur of a beaver or a mink . 3. We all know how beautiful and noble modesty is ; how we all admire it ; how it raises a man in our eyes to see him afraid of boasting ; never showing off ; never push- ing himself forward. Whenever, on the other hand . 4. A Venetian who enters or leaves any place of public resort touches his hat to the company, and one day at the restaurant some ladies, who had been dining there, said " Complimenti ! " on going out with a grace that went near to make the beef-steak tender. It is this uncostly gentle- ness of bearing which gives a winning impression of the whole Venetian people, whatever selfishness or real dis- courtesy lie beneath it. At home [in the United States] it sometimes seems . 84 PARAGRAPHS. 5. Whittier was a born poet. He was not an artist in verse as Longfellow was ; and he was often as careless in rhyme and as rugged in rhythm as was Emerson. Yet to some of his stanzas . 6. There are four different kinds of running : sprinting, which includes all distances up to the quarter mile ; middle- * distance running — from the quarter to the mile; and long- distance running, which includes the mile and all distances beyond. Besides these there is cross-country running. This last is best of all for growing boys. The first three are track races, and it is monotonous work trotting round and round a cinder path. But . 7. I have sometimes been puzzled in Venice to know why churches should keep cats, church-mice being proverbi- ally so poor, and so little capable of sustaining a cat in good condition; yet . 8. There is a common notion that animals are better meteorologists than men, and I have little doubt that in immediate weather-wisdom they have the advantage of our sophisticated senses (though I suspect a sailor or shepherd ' would be their match), but . 9. Any slave of the mine may find the rough gem ; but . If Gray cull his words and phrases here, there, and everywhere, it is he who charges them with the imagina- tion or picturesque touch which only he could give and wjiich makes them magnetic. 10. The universal dead-level of plainness and homeliness, the lack of all beauty and distinction in form and feature, the slowness and clumsiness of the language, the eternal beer, sausages, and bad tobacco, the blank commonness every- where, pressing at last like a weight on the spirits of the traveller in Northern Germany, and making him impatient to be gone, — this is the weak side; , — PARTICULARS AND DETAILS, 85 this is the strong side ; and through this side of her genius, Germany has already obtained excellent results. C. In each of the following topic statements pick oat the sig- nificant words of predication ; then develop each statement into a paragraph by presenting contrasting ideas : — 1. It is seldom that a pupil succeeds equally well in all his studies. 2. Lincoln's early advantages were extremely limited. 3. Novel reading seems to be on the increase. 4. The world is growing more humane. 5. The good will triumph over w^rong. 6. Slavery was an unmixed evil. 7. The war against Mexico was not begun with un* selfish motives. 8. There have been temporary evils connected with the introduction of labor-saving machinery. 9. Lynching should be suppressed. 10. Jackson and Lincoln present points of similarity. 11. There are books that may be dismissed with a single reading. By Particulars and Details. 24. When at the beginning of a paragraph we find a topic stated like this, "- Every traveller going south from St. Louis can recall the average Arkansas village in winter," we can readily guess what the writer will say next. We know, at any rate, what we want him to say- We want more information about the Arkansas village. We want to know something about its houses, its streets, its surroundings, its inhabitants. We want and we ex- pect the particulars of the scene in winter which will enable us to see it as the writer saw it, or as the traveller is supposed to recall it. One way, then, in which an 86 PARAGRAPHS. idea may grow into a paragraph is by the addition of the particulars and details -v^rhich are naturally promised by the topic statement. The following will illustrate this method of growth : — ITopic] Every traveller going south from St. Louis can recall the average Arkansas village in winter. [^Particulars'] Little strings of houses spread raggedly on both sides of the rails. A few wee shops, that are likely to have a mock rec- tangle of fagade stuck against a triangle of roof, in the man- ner of children's card houses, parade a draggled stock of haberdashery and groceries. To right or left a mill buzzes, its newness attested by the raw tints of the weather board- ing. There is no horizon; there seldom is a horizon in Arkansas-^ it is cut off by the forest. Pools of water re- flect the straight black lines of tree trunks and the crooked lines of bare boughs, while a muddy road winds through the vista. Generally there are a few lean cattle to stare in a dejected fashion at the train, and some fat black swine to root among the sodden grasses. Bales of cotton are piled on the railway platform, and serve as seats for half a dozen listless men in high boots and soft hats. Occasionally a woman, who has not had the time to brush her hair, calls shrilly to some child who is trying to have pneumonia by sitting on the ground. No one seems to have anything to do, yet every one looks tired, and the passenger in the Pull- man wonders how people live in " such a hole.'' — Octave Thanet. If the particulars and details are objects, as they are in the quotation just given, — houses, shops, a mill, a forest, pools, cattle, bales of cotton, men, women, chil- dren, — they are presented in the order in which they are seen b}^ the writer, that is, in the order of their PARTICULARS AND DETAILS. 87 prominence ; if they are events — such as would be called for by the topic statement, " I shall never forget my first day at school," — they are presented in the order of their occurrence in time. 25. Assignments on Development by Particulars. A. Point out in the following paragraphs the particulars and details, first finding the words of predication in the topic statement of each. 1. There are few places more favorable to the study of character than an English country church. I was once pass- ing a few weeks at the seat of a friend, who resided in the vicinity of one, the appearance of which particularly struck my fancy. It was one of those rich morsels of quaint an- tiquity which give such a peculiar charm to English land- scape. It stood in the midst of a country filled with ancient families, and contained, within its cold and silent aisles, the congregated dust of many noble generations. The interior walls were incrusted with monuments of every age and style. The light streamed through windows dimmed with armorial bearings, richly emblazoned in stained glass. In various parts of the church were tombs of knights, and high- born dames, of gorgeous workmanship, with their effigies in colored marble. On every side the eye was struck with some instance of aspiring mortality; some haughty memorial, which human pride had erected over its kindred dust, in this temple of the most humble of all religions. — Irving : /Sketch Book. 2. I shall never forget a proof I myself got, twenty years ago, how serious a thing it is to be a doctor, and how terribly in earnest people are when they want him. It was when cholera first came here in 1832. I was in England at Chatham, which you all know is a great place for ships and 88 PARAGhAPHS. sailors. This fell disease comes on generally in the night ; as the Bible says, " it walks in darkness," and many a morn- ing was I roused at two o'clock to go and see its sudden victims, for then is its hour and power. One morning a sailor came to say I must go three miles down the river to a village where it had broken out with great fury. Off I set. We rowed in silence down the dark river, passing the huge hulks, and hearing the restless convicts turning in their beds in their chains. The men rowed with all their might ; they had too many dying or dead at home to have the heart to speak to me. We got near the place ; it was very dark, but I saw a crowd of men and women on the shore, at the land- ing-place. They were all shouting for the Doctor ; the shrill cries of the women and the deep voices of the men coming across the water to me. We were near the shore, when I saw a big old man, his hat off, his hair gray, his head bald ; he said nothing, but turning them all off with his arm, he plunged into the sea, and before I knew where I was, he had me in his arms. I was helpless as an infant. He waded out with me, carrying me high up in his left arm, and with his right levelling every man or woman who stood in his way. It was Big Joe carrying me to see his grandson, little Joe ; and he bore me off to the poor convulsed boy, and dared me to leave him till he was better. He did get better, but Big Joe was dead that night. He had the disease on him when he carried me away from the boat, but his heart was set upon his boy. I never can forget that night, and how im- portant a thing it was to be able to relieve suffering, and how much Old Joe was in earnest about having the doctor. — John Browx: Horoe Subsecivcej I, 393. 3. The great globe we had left was rolling beneath us. No eye of one in the flesh could see it as I saw or seemed to see it. No ear of any mortal being could hear the sounds PARTICULARS AND DETAILS. 89 that came from it as I heard or seemed to hear them. The broad oceans unrolled themselves before me. I could rec- ognize the calm Pacific and the stormy Atlantic, — the ships that dotted them, the white lines where the waves broke on the shore, — frills on the robes of the continent, — so they looked to my woman's perception ; the vast South American forests; the glittering icebergs about the poles; the snowy mountain ranges, here and there a summit send- ing up fire and smoke; mighty rivers, dividing provinces within sight of each other, and making neighbors of realms thousands of miles apart ; cities ; lighthouses to insure the safety of sea-going vessels, and war-ships to knock them to pieces and sink them. All this, and infinitely more, showed itself to me during a single revolution of the sphere : twenty- four hours it would have been, if reckoned by earthly meas- urements of time. I have not spoken of the sounds I heard while the earth was revolving under us. The howl of storms, the roar and clash of waves, the crack and crash of the falling thunderbolt, — these of course made themselves heard as they do to mortal ears. But there were other sounds which enchained my attention more than these voices of nature. As the skilled leader of an orchestra hears every single sound from each member of the mob of stringed and wind instruments, and above all the screech of the straining soprano, so my sharpened perceptions made what would have been for common mortals a confused murmur audible to me as compounded of innumerable easily distinguished sounds. Above them all arose one continued, unbroken, agonizing cry. It was the voice of suffering womanhood, — a sound that goes up day and night, one long chorus of tortured victims. — O. W. Holmes : Over the Teacups, 4. That was a pretty drive through Annandale. As you leave Moffat the road gradually ascends into the region of 90 PARAGRAPHS. the hills ; and down below you lies the great valley, with the river Annan running through it, and the town of Moffat itself getting smaller in the distance. You catch a glimmer of the blue peaks of Westmoreland lying far away in the blue south, half hid amidst silver haze. The hills around you increase in size, and yet you would not recognize the bulk of the great round slopes but for those minute dots that you can make out to be sheep, and for an occasional wasplike creature that you can suppose to be a horse. The evening draws on. The yellow light on the slopes becomes warmer. You arrive at a great circular chasm which is called by the country folks the Devil's Beef-tub — a mighty hollow, the western sides of which are steeped in a soft purple shadow, while the eastern slopes burn yellow in the sunlight. Far away, down in that misty purple, you can see tents of gray, and these are masses of slate un- covered by grass. , The descent seems too abrupt for cattle, and yet there are faint specks which may be sheep. There is no house, not even a farm-house, near ; and all traces of Moffat and its neighborhood have long been left out of sight. But what is the solitude of this place to that of the wild and lofty region you enter when you reach the summit of the hill? Far away on every side of you stretch miles of lonely moorland, with the shoulders of the more distant hills reaching down in endless succession into the western sky. There is no sign of life in this wild place. The stony road over which you drive was once a mail-coach road ; now it is overgrown with grass. A few old stakes, rotten and tumbling, show where it was necessary at one time to place a protection against the sudden descents on the side of the road ; but now the road itself seehis lapsing back into moor- land. It is up in this wilderness of heather and wet moss that the Tweed takes its rise; but we could hear no trick- ling of any stream to break the profound and melancholy PARTICULARS AND DETAILS. 91 silence. There was not even a shepherd's hut visible ; and we drove on in silence, scarcely daring to break the charm of the utter loneliness of the place. The road twists round to the right. Before us a long valley is seen, and we guess that it receives the waters of the Tweed. Almost immediately afterward we come upon a tiny rivulet some two feet in width — either the young Tweed itself or one of its various sources ; and as we drive on in the gathering twilight, towards the valley, it seems as though we were accompanied by innumerable streamlets trickling down to the river. The fire of sunset goes out in the west, but over there in the clear green-white of the east a range of hills still glows with a strange roseate purple. We hear the low murmuring of the Tweed in the silence of the valley. We get down among the lower-lying hills, and the neighborhood of the river seems to have drawn to it thousands of wild creatures. There are plover calling and whirling over the marshy levels. There are black-cock and gray-hen dusting themselves in the road before us, and waiting until we are quite near them before they wing their straight flight up to the heaths above. Far over us in the clear green of the sky, a brace of wild-ducks go swiftly past. A weasel glides out and over the gray stones by the road- side; and farther along the bank there are young rabbits watching, and trotting, and watching again, as the phaeton gets nearer to them. And then as the deep rose-purple of the eastern hills fades away, and all the dark-green valley of the Tweed lies under the cold silver-gray of the twilight, we reach a small and solitary inn, and are almost surprised to hear once more the sound of a human voice. — Black : Adventures of a Phaeton. 5. The old South rested everything on slavery and agri- culture, unconscious that these could neither give nor main- 92 PARAGRAPHS, tain healthy growth. The new South presents a perfect democracy, the oligarchs leading in the popular movement — a social system compact and closely knitted, less splendid on the surface, but stronger at the core — a hundred farms for every plantation, fifty homes for every palace, and a diversified industry that meets the complex needs of this complex age. The new South is enamoured of her new work. Her soul is stirred with the breath of a new life. The light of a grander day is falling fair on her face. She is thrilling with the consciousness of growing power and prosperity. As she stands upright, full-statured and equal among the people of the earth, breathing the keen air, and looking out upon the expanding horizon, she understands that her emancipation came because in the inscrutable wisdom of God her honest purpose was crossed and her brave armies were beaten. — Henry W. Grady: Speeches, B. The following topic statements are to be developed by giving particulars. Determine in each case, by noting the words of predi- cation, whether the particulars called for are side by side in space, or succeed one another in time. The employment of such phrases as "to go into particulars," "to mention details," will sometimes be found useful in starting the train of thought. 1. The village presented a lively appearance the morn- ing of the election. 2. I shall never forget my first day at school. 3. The court-room was a dingy place. 4. The last game of ball was the best of the season. 5. I once saw, or thought I saw, a ghost! 6. Have you ever watched the effects of moonlight upon clouds ? 7. A new boy h9,s come into our school. 8. What a beautiful character Longfellow has created for us in Evangeline ! SPECIFIC INSTANCES. 93 9. The morning paper brings the news of a terrible accident. 10. Washington's journey to his first inauguration was a triumph. 11. There is an old deserted mill a few miles up the river. 12. The portrait of Daniel Webster shows that he was a man of great firmness and determination. By Specific Instances. 26. When the topic is stated as a general truth or principle, as " Having some favorite physical amuse- ment adds to the popularity of distinguished English- men," we feel that it should be developed by citing one or more cases in point, — illustrations, specific instances, or concrete examples, as they are sometimes called. The reader may be ready enough to believe the topic statement as it stands; but even then he likes to be given at least one specific instance by way of example or illustration. If the reader is inclined to doubt, he demands the specific instance by way of proof, and he may require several instances before he will accept the topic statement as true. Notice the following: — \^Topic] Many distinguished Englishmen have had some favorite physical amusement that we associate with their names. It is almost a part of an Englishman's nature to select a physical pursuit and make it especially his own. His countrymen like him the better for having a taste of this kind. \_Spexific instances] Mr. Gladstone's practised skill in tree-felling is a help to his popularity. The readers of Wordsworth, Scott, and Byron all remember that the first was a pedestrian, the second a keen sportsman, and the third the best swimmer of his time. The readers of Keats are 94 PARAGRAPHS. sorry for the ill health that spoiled the latter years of his short life, but they remember with satisfaction that the ethereal poet was once muscular enough to administer "a severe drubbing to a butcher whom he caught beating a little boy, to the enthusiastic admiration of a crowd of bystand- ers." Shelley's name is associated forever with his love of boating, and its disastrous ending. In our own day, when we learn something about the private life of our celebrated contemporaries, we have a satisfaction in knowing that they enjoyed some physical recreation, as, for example, that Tyn- dall is a mountaineer, Millais a grouse-shooter, John Bright a salmon-fisher ; and it is characteristic of the inveteracy of English physical habits that Mr. Fawcett should have gone on riding and skating after he was blind, and that Anthony Trollope was still passionately fond of fox-hunting when he was old and heavy and could hardly see. The English have such a respect for physical energy that they still remember with pleasure how Palmerston hunted in his old age, and how, almost to the last, he would go down to Epsom on horseback. There was a little difficulty about getting him into the saddle, but, once there, he was safe till the end of his journey. — Hamerton: French and English. If a writer should begin a paragraph with the topic statement, "The Greeks did not understand athletics at all so well as the English do," many readers would question the truth of the statement. They would say that the Greeks both understood athletics and practised athletics better than any other people in the history of the world, and they would want to know^ on what ground so preposterous a notion was advanced. It would then be the business of the writer, if he wanted his readers to agree with him, to bring forward the SPECIFIC INSTANCES. 95 grounds or proofs of his assertion. By pointing out defects in the Greek system of training or manner of conducting athletic contests, or, perhaps, by quoting from the opinions of the Greeks themselves, he would endeavor to make his opening sentence seem probable or true. Such is the method employed in the following paragraph : — Though extraordinary feats were sometimes recorded, I believe that the Greeks did not understand athletics at all so well as the English do. Two facts may be mentioned in proof of this. The runners are said to have started shouting. The boxers, who had their fists weighted with loaded leather gloves, swung round at one another's ears, instead of striking straight home. What we hear about their training seems equally stupid ; their trained men are described as generally sleepy, they fed on enormous quan- tities of meat, and and were obliged to swear that they had spent ten months in training before the games. Good generals, such as Alexander and Philopoemen, discounte- nanced athletics as producing bad soldiers. But, neverthe- less, the combination of art contests with athletics made the Greek meetings finer and more imposing than ours. — J. P. Mahaffy : Old Greek Life. 27. Assignments on Development by Specific In- stances. A. Point out the specific instances by means of which the topic is developed in the following paragraphs. 1. The sounds which the ocean makes must be very sig- nificant and interesting to those who live near it. When I was leaving the shore at this place the next summer, and had got a quarter of a mile distant, ascending a hill, I was 96 PARAGRAPHS. startled by a sudden, loud sound from the sea, as if a large steamer was letting off steam by the shore, so that I caught my breath and felt my blood run cold for an instant, and I turned about, expecting to see one of the Atlantic steamers thus far out of her course ; but there was nothing unusual to be seen. There was a low bank at the entrance of the Hollow, between me and the ocean, and suspecting that I might have risen into another stratum of air in ascending the hill, — which had wafted to me only the ordinary roar of the sea, — I immediately descended again, to see if I lost hearing of it ; but, without regard to my ascending or de- scending, it died away in a minute or two, and yet there was scarcely any wind all the while. The old man said that this was what they called the " rut," a peculiar roar of the sea before the wind changes, which, however, he could not account for. He thought that he could tell all about the weather from the sounds which the sea made. — Thoreau : Cape Cod. 2. There has been a capital illustration lately how help- less many English gentlemen are when called 'together on a sudden. The Government, rightly or wrongly, thought fit to intrust the quarter-sessions of each county with the duty of combating its cattle plague ; but the scene in most " shire halls " was unsatisfactory. There was the greatest difficulty in getting, not only a right decision, but any decision. I saw one myself which went thus. The chairman proposed a very complex resolution, in which there was much which every one liked, and much which every one disliked, though, of course, the favorite parts of some were the objectionable parts to others. This resolution got, so to say, wedged in the meeting; everybody suggested amendments; one amend- ment was carried which none were satisfied with, and so the matter stood over. It is a saying in England, " a big SPECIFIC INSTANCES. 97 meeting never does anything " ; and yet we are governed by the House of Commons, — by " a big meeting." — Bagehot : TJie English Constitution, 207. 3. All history is full of revolutions, produced by causes similar to those which are now [March 2, 1831] operating in England. A portion of the community which had been of no account, expands and becomes strong. It demands a place in the system, suited, not to its former weakness, but to its present power. If this is granted, all is well. If this is refused, then comes the struggle between the young energy of one class and the ancient privileges of another. Such was the struggle between the Plebeians and the Patri- cians of Eome. Such was the struggle of the Italian allies for admission to the full rights of Koman citizens. Such was the struggle of our North American colonies against the mother country. Such was the struggle which the Third Estate of France maintained against the aristocracy of birth. Such was the struggle which the Eoman Catholics of Ireland maintained against the aristocracy of creed. Such is the struggle which the free people of color in Jamaica are now maintaining against the aristocracy of skin. Such, finally, is the struggle which the middle classes in England are maintaining against an aristocracy of mere locality, against an aristocracy, the principle of which is to invest a hundred drunken potwallopers in one place, or the owner of a ruined hovel in another, with powers which are withheld from cities renowned to the furthest ends of the earth for the marvels of their wealth and of their industry. — Mac AUL AY : Speech on the Reform Bill of 1832. 4. The circle of human nature is not complete without the arc of feeling and emotion. The lilies of the field have a value for us beyond their botanical ones, — a certain light- ening of the heart accompanies the declaration that " Solo- 98 PARAGRAPHS. mon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." The sound of the village bell which comes mellowed from the valley to the traveller upon the hill has a value beyond its acoustical one. The setting sun when it mantles with the bloom of roses the alpine snows has a value beyond its optical one. The starry heavens, as you know, had for Im- manuel Kant a value beyond their astronomical one. Round about the intellect sweeps the horizon of emotions from which all our noblest impulses are derived. I think it very desirable to keep this horizon open ; not to permit either priest or philosopher to draw down his shutters between you and it. And here the dead languages, which are sure to be beaten by science in the purely intellectual fight, have an irresistible claim. They supplement the work of science by exalting and refining the aesthetic faculty, and must on this account be cherished by all who desire to see human culture complete. There must be a reason for the fascination which these languages have so long exercised upon the most power- ful and elevated minds, — a fascination which will probably continue for men of Greek and Roman mold to the end of time. — Tynd ALL : Addresses. B. The following topic statements are to be developed by specific instances or examples. The expressions "to mention a case in point," " for instance," " a remarkable example of this," will often make clear just what is wanted. 1. One is frequently surprised by the intelligence which the lower animals show. 2. Even very great and very good men usually have some failing. 3. It is often the minor characters in Dickens's novels that are remembered longest. 4. A bad beginning does not necessarily imply a bad ending. CAUSE AND EFFECT. j 99^ 5. Men of great wealth are not all selfish. 6. The demands of labor organizations are frequently- received in the wrong spirit. 7. People are too apt to decide that a person accused of crime is guilty before his case is tried. 8. Sometimes the best statesmen do not know what law is needed. 9. Some queer expressions are used by foreigners learn- ing our language. ' 10. The abolitionist agitators were frequently placed in perilous positions. By Cause and Effect. 28. In his chapter in the American Commonwealth, on " The Position of Women," Mr. Bryce points out that in America women are much more nearly on an equality with men than they are in Europe. He then asks, '' What have been the results on the character and usefulness of women themselves ? " and answers : — " They have opened to them a wider life and more variety of career. While the special graces of the feminine character do not appear to have suffered, there has been produced a sort of independence and a capacity for self-help which are increasingly valuable as the number of unmarried women increases. More resources are opened to an American woman who has to lead a solitary life, not merely in the way of em- ployment but for the occupation of her mind and tastes, than to a European spinster or widow ; while her education has not rendered the American wife less competent for the discharge of household duties." This method of developing an idea is often followed in the paragraph. The topic statement having announced 100 PARAGRAPHS. something that may be regarded as a cause, the remain- ing sentences state the cjffects, consequences, or conclu- sions. This method of growth is illustrated in the following : — When the Romans conquered Greece and the East, \_Caiise'] they saw a great many things which they had never seen before ; and \^Effect^ they began to care more about eating and drinking, and building fine houses. [Oawse] The Greeks were much cleverer than the Romans, or indeed than any people of the time, for all the best books and statues and pictures of th^ old world had been made by the Greek writers and artists. \^Effect^ So the Romans not only learned many new things from the Greeks, but gave up a great many of their own early beliefs. They thought less of their own Roman gods, and altogether they were not so simple or so good as they had been before. — M. Creighton: History of Borne (History Primers), The statement of the effect is commonly preceded by some linking word or phrase such as, So, so that, there- fore, consequently, accordingly, the result is, it follows, the effect is, and the like. 29. Assignments on Development by Cause and Effect. A. In the following paragraphs, point out ideas which are related to one another as cause to effect : — 1. The friction in the minute arteries and capillaries presents a considerable resistance to the flow of blood through them into the small veins. In consequence of this resist- ance, the force of the heart's beat is spent in maintaining the whole of the arterial system in a state of great disten- tion; the arterial walls are put greatly on the stretch by the CAUSE AND EFFECT. 101 pressure of the blood thrust into them by the repeated strokes of the heart ; this is the pressure which we spoke of above as blood-pressure. — Foster : Physiology, chap. iv. 2. There was a salt marsh that bounded part of the mill- pond, on the edge of which, at high-water, we used to stand to fish for minnows. By much trampling, we had made it a mere quagmire. My proposal was to build a wharf there fit for us to stand upon, and I showed my comrades a large heap of stones which were intended for a new house near the marsh, and which would very well suit our purpose. Accordingly, in the evening, when the workmen were gone, I assembled a number of my playfellows, and working with them diligently, like so many emmets, sometimes two or three to a stone, we brought them all away and built our little wharf. The next morning the workmen were surprised at missing the stones, which were found in our wharf. In- quiry was made after the removers ; we were discovered, and complained of ; several of us were corrected by our fathers ; and though I pleaded the usefulness of the work, mine con- vinced me that nothing was useful which was not honest. — Fkanklin : Autobiography. 3. At court, and in the castles of the great nobles, where the pomp and state of a court were emulated, Norman-French was the only language employed ; in courts of law the plead- ings and judgments were delivered in the same tongue. In short, French was the language of honor, of chivalry, and even of justice; while the far more manly and expressive Anglo-Saxon was abandoned to the use of rustics and hinds, who knew no other. Still, however, the necessary intercourse between the lords of the soil and those oppressed inferior beings by whom that soil was cultivated occasioned the grad- ual formation of a dialect compounded betwixt the French and the Anglo-Saxon, in which they could render them- 102 PABAGRAPHS. selves mutually intelligible to each other; and from this necessity arose by degrees the structure of our present Eng- lish language, in which the speech of the victors and the vanquished have been so happily blended together, and which has since been so richly improved by importations from the classical languages, and from those spoken by the southern nations of Europe. — Scott : Ivanlioe, chap. i. 4. The insular form of Great Britain gave it a certain advantage over the continent during the age when the north- ern tribes were plundering Kome and devastating the coun- tries of southern Europe. As their invasions of England could only be by sea, they were necessarily on a compara- tively small scale. They could not at once overrun the whole land, as they did in France, and hence the strife was long maintained by hope of successful resistance ; and thus courage and the virtues that depend on courage were kept alive and transmitted. — Montgomery : The Leading Facts of English History, 7. 5. A warm and moist wind, the southwest of the Atlantic, for example, setting from the tropics, comes in contact with the colder air of the temperate regions ; its temperature is lowered; it can no longer contain as great a quantity of vapor, A portion of its humidity is immediately condensed into clouds, then falls in rain. Or the opposite ; a wind charged with clouds arrives in a warmer and drier air ; comes, for example, from the Medi- terranean to the Sahara, as is the case during three-fourths of the year ; the burning air of the desert, having a much greater capacity for vapor, dissipates instantly all these clouds, that break up, vanish, and disappoint the excited expectgition of the traveller, who hoped for refreshing rains. — Guyot : Earth and Man, 152. CAUSE AND EFFECT. 103 B. These paragraphs as originally written contained a state- ment of a cause followed by a statement of a result of that cause. Supply the omitted portion. 1. Some tribes, especially those that lived in the neigh- borhood of the great lakes, made certain tools and imple- ments of copper, which metal, it is said, they had some means of hardening, so that it would cut wood tolerably well. But they had no iron. Accordingly . 2. The coming of the Europeans to this country brought new races not only of men, but also of plants and animals, into contact and connection with those previously existing here. The result was . 3. Every American boy should learn to run. The English boy is encouraged to run. In fact, at some of the great English public schools, boys of thirteen and fourteen years of age, like Tom Brown and East at Eugby, can cover six and eight miles cross-country in the great hare-and-hounds runs. Every boy is turned out twice a week, out of doors, and made to run, and fill himself full of pure fresh air and sunshine, and gain more strength and life than any amount of weight-pulling or dumb-bell work in stuffy gymnasiums would give him. See the result . 4. By the Articles of Confederation the General Govern- ment had no power to levy taxes, and yet it had power to incur debts. The result was . 5. The relation of trades unions to civilization is much misunderstood, and this misunderstanding has resulted in . 6. Organized labor has for some time been limiting the number of apprentices that may be admitted at any one time to a shop or a factory in order to learn a trade. In some lines of work one boy to four journeymen is the rule ; 104 PARAGRAPHS. in others, where the union influence is strong, not more than one boy for every eight, or ten, or a dozen, mechanics is permitted. The consequence is . 7. That the laws and regulations of the Spartan consti- tution were admirably adapted to the end in view, — the rearing of a nation of skilful and resolute warriors, — the long military supremacy of Sparta among the states of Greece abundantly attests. But when we consider the aim and object of the Spartan institutions, we must pronounce them low and unworthy. The true order of things was just reversed among the Lacedaemonians. Government exists for the individual : at Sparta the individual lived for the state. The body is intended to be the instrument of the mind : the Spartans reversed this, and attended to the education of the mind only so far as its development enhanced the effective- ness of the body as a weapon in warfare. IResults'] . Sparta, in significant contrast to Athens, bequeathed nothing to posterity. 8. During the last fifty years the continents have been covered with a perfect network of railroads, constructed at an enormous cost of labor and capital. The aggregate length of the world's steam railways in 1883 was about 275,000 miles, suflB.cient, to use MulhalPs illustration, to girdle the earth eleven times at the equator, or more than sufficient to reach from the earth to the moon. The con- tinental lines of railways are made virtually continuous round the world by connecting lines of ocean steamers. Telegraph wires traverse the continents in all directions, and cables run beneath all the oceans of the globe. By these inventions . 9. Jefferson's interest in public affairs had become a part of his nature, and could not suddenly cease. Accordingly in his retirement . ^• CAUSE AND EFFECT, 105 10. The people saw, in Washington, the hero of the war for independence, the austere champion of their liberties, the devoted leader of ill-fed, ill-clad armies fighting against fearful odds. They knew that his life had been pure, that under an exterior seemingly cold there beat a warm and hos- pitable heart. What wonder then that . C. Develop each of the following topic statements into a para- graph by presenting the result which seems naturally to flow from each : — 1. The use of narcotics is injurious to the nerves, and stunts the growing body. 2. The school-room was forbidding in appearance : the windows were dirty, the walls were bare and cheerless, and the switch occupied the most prominent place in the room. 3. The framers of the Constitution thought that slavery would die out after a time. 4. Poe believed that every literary production should be short enough to be read at one sitting. 5. Washington knew, better than Braddock, the methods of Indian warfare. 6. People in our crowded cities have at last learned that good sanitary arrangements are absolutely necessary to pub- lic health. 7. The colonists, as English subjects, felt themselves entitled to all the rights guaranteed by the British Consti- tution. 8. No two men diifered more widely than Hamilton and Jefferson in their ideas of government and finance. 9. Whittier felt keenly the national disgrace of slavery. 10. Our forefathers thought that only the wisest men in the nation should choose the President. 11. School authorities have come to see the importance of physical culture. PARAGRAPHS. :2. The people of the North refused to believe that the South was serious in its preparations for war and in its threats of secession. Combination of Methods. 30. A paragraph may grow satisfactorily by a single one of these methods, or it may require the employment of two or more of them in its development. Notice the following : — 1. In few things is the great advance made in this coun- try during the past one hundred years more strikingly apparent than in the change which has taken place in the social and intellectual condition of the schoolmaster. 2. The education of the young has now become a lucrative profession by itself, and numbers among its followers many of the choicest minds of the age. 3. The schoolmaster is specially prepared for his work, and is in receipt of a sum sufficient to maintain him in comfort, to enable him to pro- cure books, and, if he be so inclined, to travel. 4. Book- sellers and publishers make a liberal discount in his behalf. 5. The government allows him to import the text-books and apparatus used in his work duty free. 6. He is every- where regarded as an eminently useful member of society. 7. But the lot of the schoolmaster who taught in the district schoolhouse three generations since fell in a very different time and among a very different people. 8. School was then held in the little red schoolhouse for two months in the winter by a man, and for two months in the summer by a woman. 9. The boys went in the winter, the girls in the summer. 10. The master was generally a divinity student who had graduated at one of the academies, who had scarcely passed out of his teens, and who sought by the scanty profits derived from a winter's teaching to defray the expenses of COMBINATION OF METHODS. 107 his study at Harvard or at Yale. 11. His pay was small, yet lie was never called upon to lay out any portion of it for his keep. 12. If the district were populous and wealthy, a little sum was annually set apart for his board, and he was placed with a farmer who would, for that amount, board and lodge him the longest time. 13. But this was far too expensive a method for many of the districts, and the master was, therefore, expected to live with the parents of his pupils, regulating the length of his stay by the number of the boys in the family attending his school. 14. Thus it happened that in the course of his teaching he became an inmate of all the houses of the district, and was not seldom forced to walk live miles, in the worst of weather over the worst roads, to his school. 15. Yet, mendicant though he was, it would be a great mistake to suppose that he was not always a welcome guest. 16. He slept in the best room, sat in the warmest nook by the lire, and had the best food set before him at the table. 17. In the long winter evenings he helped the boys with their lessons, held yarn for the daughters, or escorted them to spinning matches or quiltings. 18. In return for his miserable pittance and liis board the young student taught what would now be con- sidered as the rudiments of an. education. 19. His daily labors were confined to teaching his scholars to read with a moderate degree of fluency, to write legibly, to spell with some regard for the rules of orthography, and to know as much of the rules of arithmetic as would enable them to calculate the interest on a debt, to keep the family accounts, and to make change in a shop. — McMaster: History of the People of the United States. Taken as a whole the foregoing paragraph illustrates the method of contrast, the condition of the early schoolmaster (sentences 7-19) being contrasted with 108 s PARAGRAPHS. the condition of the modern (sentences 2-6). But in the development of the contrasted ideas, several other methods are exemplified. Thus it is hardly necessary to point out that the contrasted ideas are themselves developed by the method of particulars. Again, the ideas in sentences 13 and 14 are related to each other respectively as cause and effect, and the idea of sentence 15, that the schoolmaster was a welcome guest, is proved by sentence 16. Sentence 19 gives the details necessary to an understanding of sentence 18. Summary. Paragraphs develop from a topic statement : — 1. By repetitions which add to the clearness, concreteness, or emphasis of the idea, or which define its limits positively or negatively ; 2. By comparisons and contrasts both positive and negative ; 3. By means of particulars and details called for by the topic ; 4. By the addition of specific instances or other kinds of proofs ; 5. By the statement of a cause, followed by the statement of an effect of that cause. 31. Assignments on Development by Various Methods. A. What methods of growth and development can you find in each of the following paragraphs ? Can you see other possible methods of growth for the topic statements of these paragraphs? 1. Viewed for a moment dispassionately, as a matter of purely natural history, all animals must eat to live; and life to the animal, as to the man, is a game of reasonably VARIOUS METHODS, 109 even chances between eating and being eaten. All his life long the animal plays the game, and if you watch a fox playing ahead of the dogs, you may conclude that the element of danger probably adds considerable to the ani- mal's joy of living. Peace and rest are comprehensible only after strife and danger. So long, therefore, as a man hunts and fishes for his dinner and observes a reasonable morality in the matter of fair play and moderation, no animal could object to his hunting and fishing. — Long : Brier-Patch Philosophy, p. 162. 2. The animals when not hungry attend severely to their own business ; when they are seeking food they prowl and lie in ambush and watch for anything that may satisfy their hunger. The moment, therefore, any animal finds himself watched he grows uneasy ; because in the woods, when an animal finds eyes fixed steadily upon him, he knows that in a moment the look will be followed by the spring and rush of a hunting animal eager for his life. That is why a wild animal can never look steadily into your eyes, and why he slinks away the moment he finds you are watch- ing him. — Long: Brier-Patch Philosophy, p. 111. 3. You will find in our railroad offices an exact record and working history of every piece of equipment from a spike to a locomotive. Every draw-bar, every coupler, every passenger coach, and practically every engine-tire has to give an account of itself. The performances of these " parts '' are carefully scrutinized and watched. You will be shown all sorts of diagrams, charts, and volumes of statis- tics going to show the care and expense devoted to equip- ment and machinery. But if you happen to ask for a few human statistics you are likely to be disappointed. For in- stance, if a certain train crew runs a freight train two hun- dred times in a year, breaking seventy draw-bars and upon 110 PARAGRAPHS. different occasions delaying thirty-seven passenger trains, and another crew under very similar conditions pulls out only thirteen draw-bars and delays only nine passenger trains, you may consider the records quite important, but in the railroad offices you will find no statistics of this nature, no comparative statements and diagrams illustrative of the workmanship and character of different men and of the value and significance of the human element in the running of a railroad. In a word, you will infer from your investi- gation that if it isn't a machine or a piece of machinery it isn't worth bothering about. 4. The navigator of the air-ship has so far been allowed at his own sweet will to sail hither and thither in any di- rection. There is evidently need of some legal regulations in this matter, especially as to the height above the earth at which he may be free ; perhaps, also, as to the direction in which he may shape his course. For the rights of the landed proprietor must be guaranteed, and his property pro- tected from damage. According to the law now in force the property rights of the landholder are limited to the surface of the ground which he possesses. While he must have in- terests in the atmosphere up to a certain limited height, it is difficult to say how high those rights extend. It is easy to see that the property-holder is exposed to damage, even when the air-ship sails above that limited height. The pro- prietor or occupier of property ought therefore to have some protection against damage or danger from dirigible flying- machines. It is an abominable nuisance, for instance, when an air-ship or dirigible propelled by an ill-smelling motor circles over a man's garden or house at a slight altitude from the earth. "5. The temperature of the sea near the shore varies very greatly, but it is always much below the temperature of the VABIOUS METHODS. Ill body, even during the hottest period of the bathing season. When we first plunge into the sea, the cold water causes more or less of a shock to the system, and we breathe deeply and jerkily for a moment or two. Th^n the surface-blood- vessels contract through the influence of nervous action, in- duced by the action of cold upon the fine terminations of the nerves in the skin, and the blood is retained in the ves- sels of internal organs. Eeaction soon occurs, and a sensa- tion of genial warmth is felt, the blood returning to "the surface. If the immersion is continued, this reaction shortly gives place to depression, the intensity of which depends upon the duration of the immersion and the temperature of the water. After a while the depression may become ex- treme and exhaustion results, from which recovery may only be possible by vigorous medical treatment. The total effect of a cold bath which is not unduly prolonged may, therefore, be briefly described as tonic and bracing. 6. Grant is an uncommon fellow, — the most modest, the most disinterested, and the most honest man I ever knew, with a temper that nothing can disturb, and a judgment that is judicial in its comprehensiveness and wisdom. Not a great man, except morally; not an original or brilliant man, but sincere, thoughtful, deep and gifted with courage that never falters, but when the time comes to risk all, he goes in like a simple-hearted, unaffected, unpretending hero, whom no ill omens can deject, and no triumph unduly elate. A social, friendly man, too, fond of a pleasant joke, and ready with one, too ; but above all, fond of a long chat of an even- ing, and ready to sit up with you all night, talking in the cool breeze in front of his tent. Not a man of sentimen- tality, not demonstrative in friendship, but, I note, always holding to his friends, and just even to the enemies he hates. — C. A. Dana. 112 PARAGRAPHS, B. The following ode by Sir William Jones was written, in 1781, " in a paroxysm of indignation against the American war, the slave trade, and the general decline of British liberty." What methods of developing the thought are employed? What constitutes a State ? Not high-raised battlement or labored mound, Thick wall or moated gate ; Not cities proud with spires and turrets crowned ; Not bays and broad-armed ports, Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride ; Not starred and spangled courts. Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride. No : men, high-minded men, With powers as far above dull brutes endued, In forest, brake, or den. As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude; Men who their duties know. But know their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain, Prevent the long-aimed blow. And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain : These constitute a State, And sovereign Law, that State's collected will, O'er thrones and globes elate Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill ; Smit by her sacred frown. The fiend. Dissension, like a vapor sinks. And e'en the all-dazzling Crown Hides his faint rays, and at her bidding shrinks. Such was this heaven-loved isle. Than Lesbos fairer, and the Cretan shore ! No more shall Freedom smile ? Shall Britons languish, and be men no more ? VARIOUS METHODS, 113 Since all must life resign, Those sweet rewards which decorate the brave 'Tis folly to decline, And steal inglorious to the silent grave. C. Complete the development begun in each of the following paragraphs, with the hints given in connection with each. 1. In business correspondence the value of good usage is still more manifest than in conversation, since the written word is permanent, and correspondence greatly extends the field of one's intercourse. A letter very probably passes through many hands and multiplies the good or bad impres- sions of the writer it produces. If its import is not clear, it may cause disagreement or involve serious financial disad- vantage to the writer. Even bad punctuation will often se- riously alter the entire meaning of a sentence, and partic- ularly bad grammar at once stamps a writer as being more or less of an ignoramus. The art of letter writing . 2. Sounds do not always give us pleasure according to their sweetness and melody; nor do harsh sounds always displease. 3. How differently tenants treat rented property intrusted to their care ! One class seem utterly careless of appear- ances . . . ^particulars'] ... On the other hand, some ten- ants take pride in keeping the property in repair . . . [^otJier particulars] . . . Landlords .are fortunate in securing ten- ants of this class, but they do not expect such to stay long, for such industrious and careful persons usually manage after a time to . . . [_ particular result of industry]. 4. Every boy has somewhere stored away in his mind the memory of some thrilling personal adventure or delightful personal experience. As often as he thinks of it . . . [^result] ... It is as if . . . [^co7nparison to bring out the vividness 114 PARAGRAPHS. of the recollection'] . . . Such was the experience which came to me . . . \^ particular s^ time, place, circumstances'] . . . The upshot of the whole matter was . . . [^i-esult]. 5. It is probable that the southern states would not have begun the Civil War had the southern people realized the great wealth and resources of the populous North. Had they known of the . . . \^ particulars, specifying resources] . . . they would not so hastily . . . [^result] . . . The leaders of the secession movement doubtless did not underestimate the strength of the North, though they did misunderstand its temper. But the plain people of the South who filled the southern armies and bore the heaviest burdens of the conflict . . . [^contrast] . . . They were misled by appeals to their state pride, while the real facts as to the power and spirit of the North were concealed from them. That they maintained a brave and stubborn contest so long was due .... [cause and effect] . . . ; their uniform success at the beginning of the war was mainly owing . . . [cause and effect] . . . Once the North was fully aroused . . . [resi.iU] . . . They were clearly over-matched. 6. There are times in the life of every one when new and strange things occur with such rapidity that one is hardly able to catch one's breath between the happenings. It is as though . . . [analogy to show suddenness of change] . . . To-day one may be ... [contrast] . . . Twenty -four hours may . . . [repetition emphasizing rapidity of events] . . . It was so with . . . [example from history] . . . when he . . . [particulars] . . . From such sudden changes one may come forth much stronger in character, and . . . [result]. 7. During the annual meeting of the Westinghouse Elec- tric Manufacturing Company at Pittsburg recently, a test was made of a new railway electric motor. This motor VARIOUS METHODS, 115 easily drew several loaded freight cars at a rapid rate and with a low supply of electricity, and the opinion was general that in this invention there has been found an economical substitute for steam power on long-distance railways. If this should prove to be the case . . . [res?^?^s] . . . These changes are sure to come in time, because . . . [proofs sliowing their desirability'] . . . The only thing that can delay the substitution of electric for steam power is the question of expense . . . [^particulars'] . . . But . . . [con- trast sliowing that this objection will be overcome] . . . The present situation is somewhat similar to that which existed when . . . [comparison showing that expense did not prevent the adoption of an earlier invention] ... It will be so with this latest invention. The extraordinary de- mand for the new motor will enable the manufacturers to furnish it at rates very much lower than now appear pos- sible ; and we may, therefore, expect . . . [final result]. p. What method of growth and development do you expect from each of the following topic statements? Think what you might say if called upon to write on any or all of them in class. Which of these sentences suggests more than one method of growth ? • 1. Some of the songs of Burns are favorites with all classes of people. 2. Tarn, o' Shanter teaches a valuable lesson. 3. Burns's poetry is characterized by rugged strength and vigor. 4. Christmas is the joy of old and young alike. 5. We should not complain if a man who is both good and great lacks riches and honors. 6. Some people seem to be ashamed of cultivating good manners. 7. Conversation is a fine art. 116 PARAGBAPHS. 8. The other day I heard an amusing blunder in the use of English. 9. There are perils in school life at home as well as away from home. 10. It is hard to say just what true hospitality is, though we all know it when we experience it. 11. This town looked very different twenty years ago. 12. Many pf our soldiers in the Philippines came back with new ideas and habits. 13. It is a very serious thing to be a doctor. E. The following poem is by Wordsworth. Does the title express clearly and fully the theme of the poem ? If not, state the theme in a single compact sentence, avoiding, if you can, the lan- guage of the poet. What, in your opinion, led to the writing of this poem ? What comes into your mind when you read the lines " overflowing with the sound," " old, unhappy, far-off things " ? Do you think "melancholy strain," in the first stanza, is consistent with "welcome notes," in the second? What contrasts in mood do you find in the poem ? What contrasts in idea ? What com- parisons are there, expressed and implied ? What means has the poet used for the development of the main idea? Trace the devel- opment through the four stanzas, expressing in a phrase or sen- tence the idea of each stanza. THE SOLITARY REAPER. Behold her, single in the field, Yon solitary Highland Lass ! Heaping and singing by herself; Stop here, or gently pass ! Alone she cuts and binds the grain. And sings a melancholy strain ; O listen ! for the Vale profound Is overflowing with the sound. MEANS OF CONNECTION. 117 No Nightingale did ever chaunt More welcome notes to weary bands Of travellers in some shady haunt, Among Arabian sands : A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard In springtime from the Cuckoo-bird, Breaking the silence of the seas Among the farthest Hebrides. Will no one tell me what she sings ? — Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow For old, unhappy, far-off things. And battles long ago : Or is it some more humble lay, Familiar matter of to-day ? Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain, That has been, and may be again ? Whatever the theme, the Maiden sang As if her song could have no ending ; I saw her singing at her work. And o'er the sickle bending ; — I listened, motionless and still ; And, as I mounted up the hill. The music in my heart I bore, Long after it was heard no more. Means of Connection. 32. If the topics in the plan have been well managed, the reader will not need much help in passing from one topic to the next. Occasionally, however, in a long essay, we find a brief paragraph of transition inserted between the treatment of two topics and containing a reference back to the topic that precedes, and a reference 118 PARAGRAPHS. forward to the topic that follows. This is seen in the following. The writer has treated of Milton's poetry, and his next topic is the objections that have been urged against Milton's prose. Erom Milton's poetry we turn to his prose ; and first it is objected to his prose writings that the style is difficult and obscure, abounding in involutions, transpositions, and Latin- isms ; that his protracted sentences exhaust and weary the mind, and too often yield it no better recompense than con- fused and indistinct perceptions. -^ Chaining : Milton. Channing's next paragraph is occupied with a consid- eration of these objections to Milton's prose. Usually the transition from one topic to the next re- quires but a single sentence, clause, or phrase. The first words in a paragraph frequently repeat or echo the thought with which the preceding paragraph closed. Thus: — As the education and even the employment of the two sexes are plainly coming nearer together, — contrary to what used to be predicted as the result of advancing civilization, — it would seem that the problem of education must be in this respect much the same for both. Yet there are undoubt- edly many parents who, while able to see the advantages of a more public education for boys, draw, the line there, and demand for their growing daughters what is called " a select school." My own impression is that this distinction is a mistake, and that whatever arguments apply to public school educa- tion for boys must reach girls also. In the first place, girls need, even more than boys, to learn at school the qualities and merits of those in a different social circle, MEANS OF CONNECTION. 119 because if they do not learn it then, they may never learn it, etc. — HiGGiNSON : The Contagion of Manners. In the first of the next two paragraphs De Quincey (^Autobiography^ II, 440) summarizes a long discussion that preceded concerning the number of Wordsworth's friends. His next topic is the touching story of little Catherine Wordsworth. Notice how the summary is managed so as to effect the transition needed. Except, therefore, with the Lloyds, or occasionally with Thomas Wilkinson the Quaker, or very rarely with Southey, Wordsworth had no intercourse at all beyond the limits of Grasmere; and in that valley I was myself, for some years, his sole visiting friend; as, on the other hand, my sole visitors, as regarded that vale, were himself and his family. Among that family . . . was a little girl whose life . . . and whose death . . . connected themselves with the records of my own life by ties of passion so profound, by a grief so frantic, . . . Make clear the connection between related paragraphs, first, by a logical order of topics, second, when necessary, by the use of transitional paragraphs, repetitions, and reference words. 33. Assignments on Means of Connection. A. Find all of the means of paragraph-connection used in the following selection. Name and explain the relationship which each connective indicates. To create for himself an independent position, a man must be young. Unless he is, he cannot confront without flinching — and surmount — the difficulties which bristle at the entrance of all enterprises. Besides, youth is the best age for learning a trade or profession. But the aspiring official is kept in suspense, at least until 120 PARAGRAPHS. he is twenty years of age, very often twenty -five, sometimes thirty and beyond. When he has finally lost all hope of success, a great many careers are closed to him ; he is too late for any, because beginnings are long, arduous, and ill- paid. Besides, the older, the more exacting he is — and the more exacting a man is, the less likely is he to find a situa- tion. Time goes on, the man grows older, and the difficul- ties increase. Youth is not everything, however ; our young man must show natural ability, inclination, technical knowledge. No one is made a farmer, a manufacturer, a merchant, or a tradesman, in one day. All these careers require an ap- prenticeship, and the best is found in practice and family traditions. Our school training does not prepare for any of these avocations. On the contrary, it inspires the young people with disgust, it teaches them the alleged superiority of pub- lic functions. How many heads of families whose positions rest on agriculture, industry, or trade, wonder at hearing their sons — just out of school — declare that they cannot con- tinue the paternal calling ! The school has disgusted them with it. This influence on the part of the school is becoming so general that we have come to deplore nowadays the estrange- ment of French young men from the more usual occupations, which, however, are also the most useful and honorable. In consequence, those young men who, having failed in their examinations, are obliged to throw themselves on such callings, only do so on compulsion, half-heartedly, without natural dispositions or sufficient special education — in short, in the very worst of conditions for assuring success. However, besides official functions, our educational regime particularly predisposes young men to all kinds of office or administrative work as well as the liberal professions. MEANS OF CONNECTION, 121 Any preference for the former is easily accounted for by the analogy with the work of public offices. .The' same apti- tudes are required, and there is as little demand for initia- tive, exercise of will-power, of constant effort ; on the other hand, equal security is offered : advancement is slow and sure, inevitable. So young Frenchmen who have failed in their examina- tions willingly turn to these administrations, as the French word is. We all know that they are besieged by a crowd of candidates, to all of whom it is impossible to give berths. — E. Demolins : Anglo-Saxon Superiority. B. Examine a number of your old essays in order to notice how many of the devices of connection and transition you use in your own composition. C. In the following paragraphs the means of connection have been omitted. Supply them at the points indicated. In reading the Russian papers, the Czar noticed that they were not so outspoken as the papers of other countries. He noticed ^ that, in their guarded utterances,- he never found any reference to official abuses which, he knew, must exist in Russia as in other countries. He knew y^ that there is a censorship of the press in his realm, but he had not the slightest idea of the extent to which the censors suppress independent expressions in the papers. He determined y^ that at least one paper sTiould be perfectly free to criticise the government, y^ he summoned the editor of The St. Petersburg Viedomosti, a paper that has been published for one hundred seventy years, and announced his intention o'f relieving him of censure. When the high officials learned of the Czar's purpose, they j^ advised strongly against it. The Czar yy remained firm. Then the officials had recourse to an old and well-tried method of circumventing their 122 PARAGRAPHS. imperial master, and of saving themselves from exposure. They provided the editor with a position in the Riisso- Chinese Bank at a princely salary, and subscribed for many thousands of copies of the paper. The prosperity of the Viedomosti is yy assured. It is yy a prosperity that depends on continued official favor. The paper is free to criticise ; /y strange to say, it shows less disposition to find fault with the official classes than before it was relieved of censorship, yy its freedom is an illusion. y\ the Czar is puzzled. There is no enlargement, unless there be a comparison^ of ideas one with another, as they come before the mind, and a systematizing of them. We feel our minds to be growing and expanding then, when we not only learn, but refer what we learn to what we know already, /y a truly great intellect is one which takes a connected view of old and new, past and present, far and near, and which has an insight into the influence of all these, one on another ; without which there is no whole, and no centre. It possesses the knowledge, not only of things, but also of their mutual and true relations ; knowledge, not merely considered as an acquirement, but as philosophy. yy when this analytical, distributive, harmonizing process is away, the mind experiences no enlargement, and is not reckoned as enlightened or comprehensive, whatever it may add to its knowledge, yy a great memory, as I have already said, does not make a philosopher, any more than a diction- ary can be called a grammar. There are men who embrace iii their minds a vast multitude of ideas, yy with little sensi- bility about their real relations toward each other. ^ if they are nothing more than well-read men, or men of infor- mation, they have not what specially deserves the name of culture of mind, or fulfills the type of Liberal Education. MEANS OF CONNECTION. 123 A we sometimes fall in with persons who have seen much of the world, and of the men who, in their day, have played a conspicuous part in it, yy who generalize nothing, and have no observation, in the true sense of the word. They abound in information in detail, curious and entertaining, about men and things ; a having lived under the influence of no very clear or settled principles, they speak of every one and every thing, only as so many phenomena, which are complete in themselves, and lead to nothing, not discussing them, or teaching any truth, or instructing the hearer, yy simply talking. There are virtues, ^ which the world is not fitted to judge of or to uphold, such as faith, hope, and charity ; a i^ can judge about truthfulness ; it can judge about the natural virtues, and truthfulness is one of them. Natural virtues a became supernatural ; truthfulness is such, yy that does not withdraw it from the jurisdiction of mankind at large. About this time I met with an odd volume of The Spec- tator. I had never before seen any of them. I bought it, read it over and over, and was much delighted with it. I thought the writing excellent, and wished if possible to imi- tate it. y\ I took some of the papers, and making short hints of the sentiments in each sentence, laid them by a few days, A without looking at the book, tried to complete the papers again, by expressing each hinted sentiment at length, A as fully as it had been expressed before, in any suitable Avords that should occur to me. a I compared my Spectator with the original, discovered some of my faults, and cor- rected them, /y I found I wanted a stock of words, or a readiness in recollecting and using them, which I thought I should have acquired before that time, if I had gone on mak- ing verses ; a ^^^ continual search for words of the same import A of different length to suit the measure, or of differ- 124 PARAGRAPHS. ent sound for the rhyme, would have laid me under a con- stant necessity of searching for variety, a have tended to fix that variety in my mind, and make me master of it. /^ I took some of the tales in The Spectator, /^ turned them into verse ; yy after a time, when I had pretty well forgotten the prose, turned them back again. I yy sometimes jumbled my collection of hints into confu- sion, yy after some weeks endeavored to reduce them into the best order yy I began to form the full sentences and complete the subject. This was to teach me method in the arrangement of the thoughts. By comparing my work with the original, I discovered many faults, and corrected them ; yy I sometimes had the pleasure to fancy that, in certain particulars of small consequence, I had been fortunate enough to improve the method or the language, yy this encouraged me to think that I might in time come to be a tolerable English writer,- of which I was extremely ambitious. CHAPTER IV. SENTENCES. Introduction. 34. Having studied the larger independent units of composition, and the smaller units, called paragraphs, of which they are composed, we are now ready to take up the still minuter elements that go to the making of paragraphs. These last are sentences. Whether standing independently by itself or uniting with other related sentences to make a paragraph, every sentence should be a unit. Both for the reader and for the writer this is a principle of the greatest importance. In order that reader and writer may understand one an- other readily, each must recognize that the capital letter at the beginning and the period at the close always mark off a thought. The reader is disappointed if what is of- fered to him as a sentence is really only a piece of a sentence, or if two sentences are wrongfully united. All readers of novels are familiar with such a furious separation of things belonging together, as is seen in the following : " I acted as if I were angry. Though really I didn't mind what he said." This should be written, " I acted as if I were angry, though really I didn't mind what he said." Not uncommon are wrong combinations, as, " The rain was falling, therefore they hurried in," which is better written : " The rain was 125 126 SENTENCES. falling. Therefore they hurried in," or still better, " Since the rain was falling, they hurried in." Complex and Corapound Sentences. 35. The question whether a thought should be ex- pressed in simple sentences, or in a complex or a com- pound sentence, is a question of logic. Does the sen- tence say what it was intended to say ? Does it express the relation, coordinate or subordinate, that the writer meant to express ? In " I shouted to my companion to jump, and the danger was over," the two facts are joined in a compound sentence by the word " and," as if they were coordinate ; but a moment's reflection shows that the relation intended is a subordinate relation, and there- fore demands a complex sentence for its true expression. We try, " I shouted to my companion to jump, — when the danger was over," but we find that now we have subordinated the principal statement. The sentence should read, " When I shouted to my companion to jump, the danger was over," or, " Before I could shout to my companion to jump, the danger was over." In short, the compound sentence must express a real, and not merely a pretended, coordination of ideas, and a complex sentence must express real subordination, putting the main idea in the principal clause and not in some modifier. Danger of Overcrowding. 36. Even when the sentence is logical and all the details are relevant (as they are in the sentence below), there is danger of overcrowding. It is false economy to try to make one sentence tell too much, for then the main idea is harder to find. DANGER OF OVERCROWDING. 127 Of the French town, properly so called, in which the prod- uct of successive ages, not without lively touches of the present, are blended together harmoniously with a beauty specific — a beauty cisalpine and northern, yet at the same time quite distinct from the massive German picturesque of Ulm, or Freiburg, or Augsburg, and of which Turner has found the ideal in certain of his studies of the rivers of France, a perfectly happy conjunction of river and town being of the essence of its physiognomy — the town of Auxerre is perhaps the most complete realization to be found by the actual wanderer. — Pater. Contrast with the illustration just given, the follow- ing letter by Abraham Lincoln to Mrs. Bixby of Boston. In tliis letter, each sentence stands for one clear thought ; each goes straight to the mark ; and a second reading is not needed for a definite understanding of the thoughts as they come along in orderly succession. Dear Madam : — I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the adjutant general of Mas- sachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cher- ished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. Very respectfully yours, Abraham Lincoln. 128 • SENTENCES. Long and Short Sentences. 37. Lowell's rule is worth remembering: "It was always present to my consciousness that whatever I said must be understood at once by my hearers, or never. Out of this I, almost without knowing it, for- mulated the rule that every sentence must be clear in itself, and never too long to be carried, without risk of losing its balance, on a single breath of the speaker." As Lowell implies, the long sentence is more likely to become confused than the short sentence ; but aside from this danger, the length of a sentence has nothing to do with its unity. The following sentence from Robert Louis Stevenson shows one way of unifying a longtsen- tence ; namely, by keeping the same form of statemeit for the parts that do the same vrork in the sentence. To be honest, to be kind, to earn a little, to spend less ; to make upon the whole a family happier by his presence ; to renounce where that shall be necessary, and not to be embittered ; to keep a few friends, but these without capitu- lation ; above all, on the same grim conditions to keep friends with himself — here is a task for all that a man has of for- titude and delicacy. Both long sentences and short sentences have their peculiar uses. These can best be understood by notic- ing them as they appear in combination in paragraphs. A short sentence among longer ones arrests attention by- its very brevity, abruptness, and directness. Conse- quently, a topic statement, an important transition, or a summary will often be expressed in a short striking sentence, the longer sentences being used for explanii- LONG AND SHOBT SENTENCES. 129 tions and for groups of particulars and details. Notice this in the following paragraphs. [Topic] Our arts are happy hits. [Explanation by illus- tration] We are like the musician on the lake, whose melody is sweeter than he knows, or like a traveller, surprised by a mountain echo, whose trivial word returns to him in roman- tic thunders. — Emerson : Essay on Art. [Topic] I am not going to write the history of La Pucelle; [Explanation] to do this, or even circumstantially to report the history of her persecution and bitter death, of her strug- gle with false witnesses and with ensnaring judges, it would be necessary to have before us all the documents, and there- fore the collection only now forthcoming in Paris. [Tran- sition] But my p)urpose is narrower. [Explanation] There have been great thinkers, disdaining the careless judgments of contemporaries, who have thrown themselves boldly on the judgment of a far posterity, that should have had time to review, to ponder, to compare. There have been great actors on the stage of tragic humanity that might, with the same depth of confidence, have appealed from the levity of compatriot friends — too heartless for the sublime interest of their story, and too impatient for the labor of sifting its perplexities — to the magnanimity and justice of enemies. [Transition] To this class belongs the Maid of Arc. The ancient Eomans were too faithful to the ideal of grandeur in themselves not to relent, after a generation or two, before the grandeur of Hannibal. Mithridates, a more doubtful person, yet merely for the magic perseverance of his indom- itable malice, won from the same Romans the only real honor that ever he received on earth. [Transition] And we English have ever shown the same homage to stubborn enmity. To work unflinchingly for the ruin of England; to say through life, by word and by deed, Delenda est Anglia Victrix I 130 SENTENCES. — that one purpose of malice, faithfully pursued, has quar- tered some people upon our national funds of homage as by a perpetual annuity. ... On the same principle, La Pucelle d'Orleans, the victorious enemy of England, has been des- tined to receive her deepest commemoration from the mag- nanimous justice of Englishmen. — DeQuincey: Joan of Arc. Sir, whilst we held this happy course, we drew more from the Colonies than all the impotent violence of despotism ever could extort from them. We did this abundantly in the last war. It has never been once denied; and what reason have we to imagine that the Colonies would not have proceeded in supplying government as liberally, if you had not stepped in and hindered them from contributing, by interrupting the channel in which their liberality flowed with so strong a course ; by attempting to take, instead of being satisfied to receive? Sir William Temple says that Holland has loaded itself with ten times the impositions, which it revolted from Spain, rather than submit to. [Sum- mary] He says true. Tyranny is a poor provider. It knows neither how to accumulate, nor how to extract. — Burke : American Taxation. A series of short sentences produces the effect of hurried movement, as in the selection just below ; a series of long sentences produces the effect of dignity, grace, and rhythmical movement, as may be seen in the selection beginning at the bottom of page 76. Loose, Periodic, Balanced Sentences. 38. Whether long or short, a sentence may be balanced, periodic, or loose. The term " balanced " is applied to sen- tences in which successive parts have similarity of form. LOOSE, PERIODIC, BALANCED SENTENCES. 131 Thus: "To make us love our country, our country ought to be lovely." This sentence is almost mathe- matically divided. When whole sentences are balanced against one another and similarity of form is maintained through a series, we have what is called parallel con- struction. In the following, sentence 1 is a balanced sentence; sentences 2, 3, and 4 are in parallel construc- tion, as are also sentences 7, 8, 9, and 10. 1. The clergyman of fashion was pale and fragile ; he of the people was florid and muscular. 2. He had no attend- ant to remove his hat and cloak. 3. He had no comfortable study in the church building where he smoothed his hair and arranged his cuffs. 4. He declaimed before no full- length mirror, and never wore a pair of patent leathers in his life. 5. When he ascended the platform, threading his way through the men and women on its steps, and patting the curly hair of boys perched on the ledge, he slung his soft felt hat under a little table, put one leg over the other while he removed his rubbers, threw back his cloak, settled himself in his chair, and gave a sigh of relief as he drew a restful breath after his quick walk from home. 6. In other words, he was a man bent on man's duty. 7. If the air seemed close he said so, called an usher, and had the win- dows lowered. 8. If he desired a special tune sung to the hymn he gave out, he turned to the director and told him so. 9. If he forgot a date or a name, he asked one of the people near him what it was. 10. If strangers sitting close to the platform were unprovided with hymn-books, he leaned forward and handed them several from his desk. 11. As he said: "I am at home ; they are guests. 12. What is proper in my house is eminently proper in the house of the Lord ! " — Jos. Howard : Life of Beecher, p. 158. 132 SENTENCES, It is evident that the use of the accurately balanced sentence is justified only 'when there is a real contrast of ideas to be expressed. Yet it is true that every sentence should possess in a measure the quality of balance, or perhaps we should say the quality of symmetry. When Lowell referred to the danger of a long sentence " losing its balance " (p. 128) he did not mean that every sen- tence should be a mathematically balanced sentence; he referred to the lack of symmetry in such sentences as those in the first column below. The version in the second column restores the symmetry. Clara, upon hearing the thunder-clap, which sounded like the crack of doom, jumped. There are twenty members intending to practice law and who ^ will settle in New York. He was a man of strong mind and sterling character, and who^ had many friends. There was a steaming kettle on the hob, a clean bed, and plenty of fresh air, which was pleasant. II. Upon hearing the thunder- clap, which sounded like the crack of doom, Clara jumped from her seat. There are twenty members who will settle in New York to practice law. He was a man of strong mind and sterling character. He had many friends. There was a steaming kettle on the hob, a clean bed, and plenty of fresh air. This was pleasant. A sentence, whether long or short, will be likely to show firmness of structure and certainty of direction, if 1 The " and who " construction should not be used unless a clause beginning with "who" has already been used in the same sentence. The same rule governs the use of " and which." LOOSE, PERIODIC, BALANCED SENTENCES, 133 it is given the periodic form, that is, if the parts are so arranged that the meaning is suspended until the close. In the following selection every sentence is periodic. This is unusual, for in most paragraphs a majority of the sentences are loose in structure. The effect of a series of periodic sentences is to give an air of formality and dignity to the paragraph. This is not fitting when the thoughts are commonplace. In the following the dignity of the subject justifies the exclusive use of periodic sentences. Notice that suspense is secured in sentence 1 by the, use of comparative words (never, more, than) ; in 2, by the use of a summarizing word (such) after particulars have accumulated by means of the participles (heating, defending, etc.) ; in 3, by putting a phrase first and bringing in the logical sub- ject (qualification) after the copula (is) ; in 4, 5, and 6 by putting a phrase first. In 7, the demonstrative article (a) anticipates the clause (when), the transitive verb (discovered) needs an object (here the that-cVduse), and the object clause is prolonged by the use of a comparative (inferior) ; in 8, the word it anticipates all that follows the word probable; and the part of sentence 8 after the word probable is suspended by the device used in sentence 3. 1. Never, perhaps, was the change which the progress of civilization has produced in the art of war more strikingly illustrated than on that day. 2. Ajax beating down the Trojan leader with a rock which two ordinary men could scarcely lift, Horatius defending the bridge against an army, Richard the Lion-hearted spurring along the whole Saracen line without finding an enemy to withstand his assault, Robert Bruce crushing with one blow the helmet and head 134 SENTENCES. of Sir Henry Bohun in sight of the whole array of England and Scotland, — such are the heroes of a dark age. 3. In such an age, bodily vigor is the most indispensable qualifi- cation of a warrior. 4. At Landen, two poor sickly beings who, in a rude state of society, would have been regarded as too puny to bear any part in combats, were the souls of two great armies. 5. In some heathen countries they would have been exposed while infants. 6. In Christendom they would, six hundred years earlier, have been sent to some quiet cloister. 7. But their lot had fallen on a time when men had discovered that the strength of the muscles is far inferior in value to the strength of the mind. 8. It is prob- able that, among the hundred and twenty thousand soldiers who were marshalled round Neerwinden under all the stand- ards of Western Europe, the two feeblest in body were the hunchbacked dwarf who urged forward the fiery onset of France, and the asthmatic skeleton who covered the slow retreat of England. — Mac AUL AY : History of England, Vol. 1, chap. xx. A loose sentence is one 'w^hich may be broken at some point before the end and up to that point be grammatically a complete sentence. A sentence of this type is in dan- ger of becoming slovenly, — a mere string of clauses and phrases, — unless it is kept well in hand. Yet, when the clauses and phrases are well-placed, as in the follow- ing selection, the effect of loose sentences is the pleas- ing effect of conversation. 1. One afternoon' we visited a cave, some two miles down the stream, which had recently been discovered. 2. We squeezed and wriggled through a big crack or cleft in the side of the mountain for about one hundred feet, when we emerged into a large, dome-shaped passage, the abode, dur- ARRANGEMENT OF PARTS. 135 ing certain seasons of the year, of innumerable bats, and at all times of primeval darkness. 3. There were various other crannies and pit-holes opening into it, some of which we explored. 4. The voice of running water was everywhere heard, betraying the proximity of the little stream by whose ceaseless corroding the cave and its entrance had been worn. 5. This streamlet flowed out of the mouth of the cave, and came from a lake on the top of the mountain ; this accounted for its warmth to the hand, which surprised us all. — BuRKouGHS : Wake- Robin ; Adirondack. Many good sentences, perhaps the majority of good Tvritten sentences, are composite in structure, partly loose and partly periodic. When the phrases and clauses to be brought in are numerous, some will be placed early in the sentence, making it periodic for a time, and one or more will be left to the end, causing the sentence to close as a loose sentence. Thus the following sentence is periodic up to the dash, the added thought making it loose. Poems and noble extracts, whether of verse or prose^ once reduced into possession, and rendered truly our own, may be to us a daily pleasure ; — better far than a whole library unused. The important thing to work for in writing a sentence is not to secure one form rather than another, but to secure such a placing of words, phrases, and clauses that the exact meaning cannot be misunderstood. Arrangement of Parts. 39. Sentences are flexible in the making. Their parts, while being put together, can be turned and adjusted and transposed until the sentence is made to 136 SENTENCES. say precisely what the writer intended, no more and no less. Good sentences are logical and immediately intelligible. The danger besets all kinds of sentences of placing words so that the meaning may^be misunder- stood. Two different things ought to be meant by the two sentences in each pair below : — 1. The theory is now ac- cepted with confidence in the world of science. 2. At first she continued regularly to feed them, not seeming to notice that they were captives. 3. He looked back with regret upon those years which he had spent in wan- dering. 1. In the world of science, the theory is now accepted with confidence. 2. She continued regularly to feed them, not seeming at first to notice that they were captives. 3. He looked back upon those years which he had spent in wandering with re- gret. The following sentences show the correct placing of the expressions in italics. The carets show the points in the sentence at which a careless writer is likely to insert the italicized expression. The condition of the poor is only ameliorated yy by the philanthropy of the rich {i.e. no lasting reform is brought about). The condition of the poor is yy ameliorated only by the philanthropy of the rich (i.e. there is no other ameliorating agency). Sir Walter Scott's works were yy exceedingly popular not only with his countrymen, hut also with the educated classes in every other civilized country. They yy intend y^ to pass not only another high tariff bill, but also a reciprocity bill. ARRANGEMENT OF PARTS. 137 He y^ ought at least to /^ apologize y^ for his conduct. He was now compelled to defer to men /or whose opinions he had never entertained much respect y\. In the best sentences the parts are so placed that a person reading aloud is compelled by the arrangement of the words and phrases to reproduce by his voice the distribution of emphasis which the writer had in mind. It is a good plan to test by the ear what one has writ- ten, and to rearrange the parts of sentences so that the sentence will emphasize itself. The following sentences illustrate how the emphasis of a phrase or a clause shifts with every change of position : — 1. Provided you have plenty of good ideas, it is not very hard to write. 2. The hand of death was upon him ; he knew it ; and the only wish which he ut- tered was that sword in hand he might die. 3. It is always difficult to separate the literary charac- ter of a man who lives in our own time from his personal character. It is peculiarly difficult in the case of Lord Byron to make this separa- tion. 4. Believe me, nothing ex- cept a lost battle is so terrible as a ivon battle. 1. It is not very hard to write, provided you have plenty of good ideas. 2. The hand of death was upon him ; he knew it : and the only wish which he ut- tered was that he might die sword in hand. 3. It is always difficult to separate the literary charac- ter of a man who lives in our own time from his personal character. It is peculiarly difficult to make this separ ration in the case of Lord Byron. 4. Believe me, nothing ex- cept a battle lost is so terrible as a battle won. 138 SENTENCES, 5. The framers of the con- stitution had to give to the government a permanent and conservative form. 6. Knowledge is the indis- pensable condition of expan- sion of mind, and the instru- ment of attaining to it. 5. The framers of the con- stitution had to give to the government a form permanent and conservative. 6. The indispensable con- dition of expansion of mind, and the instrument of attain- ing to it, is knowledge. Summary. I. See that every sentence you write says one thing, and says what you want it to say, — no more, no less. 2. Use short sentences for abruptness and rapidity. 3. Use long sentences for dignity and grace. 4. Use the loose sentence for its easy conversational effect. 5. Use the periodic sentence for its firmness and dignity. 40. Assignments. A. In the paragraph from Burroughs (p. 15), what kinds of sentence are used, and what is their effect respectively? Change any five of the sentences to a different form, and note the resulting change in emphasis. B. In the selection from Bryce (p. 26), underline the words that you are compelled to emphasize most strongly, as you read the selection. C. In the paragraph from Froude (p. 48), what phrase or clause in each sentence is made emphatic by position? D. In the paragraph from Hosmer (p. 46), second sentence, what is the most emphatic word? Change the position of the if-clause and note the change in emphasis. E. In the paragraph from Carlyle (p. 49), explain the use of the colon in the first sentence and in the fourth. Which of the sen- tences are completely periodic? ASSIGNMENTS. 139 F. In the paragraph from Emerson (p. 55), what use of the short sentence is illustrated ? What use of long sentences ? G. In the paragraph from Macaulay (p. 68), what use of the short sentence is seen ? What use of the long sentence ? H. In the paragraph by Longfellow (p. 45), what use is sub- served by the long sentences? I. In the paragraph by Irving (p. 47), mark the words of con- nection. J. In the paragraph by Lamb (p. 54), how is the second sen- tence kept from overlooseness ? What does the sentence structure tell you of the person speaking ? K. Examine the sentences of your last essay. Question each sentence in order to see whether you have made it say what you wanted it to say. If any sentence has failed to do your bidding, remodel it, try it in different forms with the words and phrases in a different order. Place the words and phrases so that a person reading aloud would be compelled to emphasize the important words as you intended they should be emphasized. L. The following from William Hubbard's A General History of New England from the Discovery to 1680, is one of the longest sentences in English literature. *lt contains 556 words. Break it up into paragraphs, and retell it in more connected style, as John Gallop might have related it to his Connecticut friends upon his return. Modernize any old-fashioned spelling that you may notice. One John Gallop, with one man more, and two boys, com- ing from Connecticut, and intending to put in at Long Island, as he came from thence, being at the mouth of the harbor, was forced by a sudden change of the wind to bear up for Block Island, or Fisher's Island, where, as they were sailing along, they met with a pinnace, which they found to be John Oldham's, who had been sent to trade with the Pequods (to make trial of the reality of their pretended friendship after the murder of Capt. Stone) : they hailed the vessel, but had 140 SENTENCES. no answer, although they saw the deck full of Indians (four- teen in all), and a little before that had seen a canoe go from the vessel full of Indians likewise, and goods, whereupon they suspected they had killed John Oldham, who had only two boys and two Narrhaganset Indians in his vessel besides himself, and the rather because they let slip and set up sail (being two miles from the shore, the wind and tide coming off the shore of the island, whereby they drave toward the mainland of Narrhaganset) ; therefore they went ahead of them, and having nothing but two pieces, and two pistols, they bore up near the Indians, who stood on the deck of the vessel ready armed with guns, swords, and pikes ; but John Gallop, a man of stout courage, let fly among them and so galled them that they got all down under hatches, and then they stood off again, and returning with a good gale, th^ stemmed her upon the quarter, and almost overset her,, which so affrightened the Indians, as six of them leaped over- board, and were drowned, yet they durst not board her, but stood off again, and fitted their anchor, so as stemming her the second time, they bored her bow through with their anchor, and sticking fast to her, they made divers shot through the sides of her, and so raked her fore and aft (being but inch board) as they must needs kill or hurt some of the Indians; but seeing none of them come forth, they got loose from her, and then stood off again : then four or five more of the Indians leaped into the sea, and were like- wise drowned ; whereupon there being but four left in her, they boarded her; when an Indian came up and yielded; him they bound and put into the hold : then another yielded ; him they also bound, but Gallop, being well acquainted with their skill to unloose one another, if they lay near together, and having no place to keep them asunder, flung him bound into the sea ; then looking about they found John Oldham under an old sail stark naked, having his head cleft to the MEANS OF CONNECTION. 141 brains ; his hands and legs cut as if they had been cutting them off, yet warm; so they put him into the sea; but could not well tell how to come at the other two Indians (who were in a little room underneath with their swords), so they took the goods which were left, and the sails, and towed the boat away, but night coming on, and the wind rising, they were forced to turn her off, and the wind car- ried her to the Narrhaganset shore, where they left her. M. The following examples are both utterances of public men.i Which do you think is the stronger? 1. Entertaining unlimited confidence in your intelligent and patriotic devotion to the public interest, and being con- scious of no motives on my part which are not inseparable from the honor and advancement of my country, I hope it may be my privilege to deserve and secure, not only your cordial cooperation in great public measures, but also those relations of mutual confidence and regard which it is always so desirable to cultivate between members of coordinate branches of the government. 2. I do not think I am fit for this place. But my friends say I am, and I trust them. I shall take the place, and, when I am in it, I shall do as well as I can. Try restating the first selection in the terse and simple style of the second. Means of Connection. 41. Between.the sentences of a paragraph, as between the paragraphs of a composition, the most useful means of connection is a logical and natural order of ideas. 1 From Edward Everett Hale's How to Do It, — a book which every high school student should read through once a year, and consult frequently between whiles. 142 SENTENCES. When it is necessary, however, to make the connection definite and obvious, a variety of resources are at the writer's command. He may for this purpose use 1. Conjunctions, adverbs, and adverbial phrases, 2. Synonymous expressions and pronouns, 3. The echo. Most often connection is shown by the use of con- junctions, adverbs, and adverbial phrases, as follows : (1) Coordinate : and^ also, likewise, again, further, moreover, so too, in like manner, first, secondly/, lastly ; (2) Adversative ; hut, however, yet, nevertheless, still, otherwise ; (3) Alternative : or and nor, either and or, neither and nor, the one and the other ; (4) Illative : hence, therefore, thus, accordingly; (5) Subordinating: if , for, unless, though; (6) Demonstrative: this, these, that, those, in this case, under those circumstances. The proper use of such words and phrases makes explicit and unmistakable the reference intended, and shows accurately the bearing of each sentence upon what pre- cedes and what follows. The following, from Cardinal Newman, shows a considerable number of these words and phrases of explicit reference. It must not be supposed that, because I so speaJc, therefore I have some sort of fear of the education of the people ; on the contrary, the more education they have, the better, so that it is really education. Nor am I an enemy to the cheap publication of scientific and literary works, which is now in vogue : on the contrary, I consider it a great advantage, con- venience, and gain ; that is, to those to whom education has given a capacity for using them. Further, I consider such innocent recreations as science and literature are able to MEANS OF CONNECTION. 143 furnish will be a very tit occupation of the thoughts and the leisure of young persons, and may be made the means of keeping them from bad employments and bad companions. Moreover, as to that superficial acquaintance with chemistry, and geology, and astronomy, and political economy, and modern history, and biography, and other branches of knowl- edge, which periodical literature and occasional lectures and scientific institutions diffuse through the community, I think it a graceful accomplishment, and a suitable, nay, in this day a necessary accomplishment, in the case of educated men. Nor, lastly, am I disparaging or discouraging the thorough acquisition of any one of these studies, or denying that, as far as it goes, such thorough acquisition is a real education of the mind. All I say is, call things by their right names, and do not confuse together ideas which are essentially different. A thorough knowledge of one science and a superficial acquaintance with many, are not the same thing ; a smattering of a hundred things or a memory for detail, is not a philosophical or comprehensive view. Recrea- tions are not education ; accomplishments are not education. Often the connection is made clear by the employment of synonymous expressions and the careful use of pronouns. In the following paragraph, for example, Webster, de- siring to keep attention fixed upon the idea, " the value of learning, especially of classical learning," proceeds as follows : (1) The idea of learning in general is car- ried from sentence to sentence by means of the synony- mous expressions, " literature," " learning," " literature, ancient as well as modern," and the allied expression " learned men " ; (2) the idea of classical learning is similarly carried on by literal repetition of the words " classical learning," and by the synonymous expression 144 SENTENCES. "scholarship," and the allied expression "scholars"; (3) the pronoun " it " is used to carry on now one, now the other, of these ideas. In the illustration the first series of reference words is put in small capitals, the second in italics, and the word " it " in small capitals, or italics, according as it takes the place of the first or of the second. Literature sometimes disgusts, and pretension to it much oftener disgusts, by appearing to hang loosely on the character, like something foreign or extraneous, not a part, but an ill-adjusted appendage ; or by seeming to overload and weigh it down by its unsightly bulk, like the productions of bad taste in architecture, where there is massy and cum- brous ornament without strength or solidity of column. This has exposed learning, and especially classical learning, to reproach. Men have seen that it might exist without mental superiority, without vigor, without good taste, and without utility. But in such cases classical learning has only not inspired natural talent ; or, at most, it has but made original feebleness of intellect and natural bluntness of perception, something more conspicuous. The question, after all, if it be a question, is, whether literature, ancient as well AS modern, does not assist a good understanding, improve natural good taste, add polished armor to native strength, and render its possessor, not only more capable of deriving private happiness from contemplation and reflection, but more accomplished also for action in the affairs of life, and especially for public action. Those whose memories we now honor were learned men ; but their learning was kept in its proper place, and made subservient to the uses and ob- jects of life. They were scholars^ not common or superficial ; but their scholarship was so in keeping with their character, so blended and inwrought, that careless observers, or bad MEANS OF CONNECTION. 145 judges, not seeing an ostentatious display of it, might infer that it did not exist ; forgetting, or not knowing, that classi- cal learning in men who act in conspicuous public stations, perform duties which exercise the faculty of writing, or ad- dress popular, deliberative, or judicial bodies, is often felt where it is little seen, and sometimes felt more effectually be- cause it is not seen at all. — Webster : Adams and Jefferson. The connection of one sentence with the next may be made clear and emphatic by means of the echo, that is, by the repetition of an important -word from the first sentence at or near the beginning of the second. The effort of a writer to avail himself of this admirable means of connection sometimes results in a commendable in- version of the usual order of words in a sentence. Compare the following, noticing the closer connection secured by the use of the echo in the column at the right ; also noticing the inverted order of words in the last sentence. The old Greek citizen founded cities in his settle- ments beyond the sea, cities free and independent from the beginning. Let us now see what has been founded by the modern European colo- nist, subject of a kingdom. He has founded settlements of various kinds in different cases; but he has nowhere founded cities free and inde- pendent like the Greek and The old Greek citizen, in his settlements beyond the sea, founded cities, cities free and independent from the beginning. Let us now see what the modern European colonist, subject of a kingdom, has founded. He has founded settlements of various kinds in different cases ; but he has nowhere founded free and in- dependent citieslike the Greek and Phoenician before him. 146 SENTENCES, Phoenician before him. He has indeed founded cities in one sense, vast and mighty- cities, busy seats of art and in- dustry and commerce, but not cities in the elder sense, cities independent from their birth, cities that are born the politi- cal equals of the mightiest kingdoms. Cities indeed in one sense he has founded, vast and mighty cities, busy seats of art and industry and commerce, but not cities in the elder sense, cities independent from their birth, cities that are born the political equals of the mighti- est kingdoms. — Freeman. Make clear the connection between sentences, first, by a logical order of ideas, second, by the use of reference-words and repeti- tions. 42. Assignments on Means of Connecting Sentences. A. In the first part of the paragraph from Macaulay, p. 133, the echo is used. Find it. B. In. the paragraph from Ivanhoe, p. 101, the words " still, how- ever " put what two things in adversative relation ? C. In the selection from Maundeville, p. 7, how many " and's ** should be dropped, according to modern standards ? D. In the selection from Bryce, p. 26, what transitions are there? E. In the paragraph from Macaulay, p. 73, what words and phrases of connection are used ? F. In the selection from Holmes, p. 55, what demonstrative pronouns are employed? G. In the paragraph by McMaster, p. 106, mark all the words that refer back to or stand for " schoolmaster." H. Bring to class some good paragraphs you have found in your reading, and point out the connection. I. Study the connectives in the following paragraphs. Be pre- pared to point them out and to explain the relationships which they express. MEANS OF CONNECTING SENTENCES. 147 The principle of copyright is this. It is a tax on readers for the purpose of giving a bounty to writers. The tax is an exceedingly bad one ; it is a .tax on one of the most innocent and most salutary of human pleasures ; and never let us for- get, that a tax on innocent pleasures is a premium on vicious pleasures. I admit, however, the necessity of giving a bounty to genius and learning. In order to give such a bounty, I willingly submit even to this severe and burden- some tax. Nay, I am ready to increase the tax, if it can be shown that by so doing I should proportionally increase the bounty. My complaint is, that my honorable and learned friend doubles, triples, quadruples, the tax, and makes scarcely any perceptible addition to the bounty. Why, Sir, what is the additional amount of taxation which would have been levied on the public for Dr. Johnson's works alone, if my honorable and learned friend's bill had been the law of the land ? 1 have not data sufficient to form an opinion. But I am confident, that the taxation on his dictionary alone would have amounted to many thousands, of pounds. In reckoning the whole additional sum which the holders of his copyrights would have taken out of the pockets of the public during the last half century at twenty thousand pounds, I feel satisfied that I very greatly underrate it. Now, I again say that I think it but fair that we should pay twenty thou- sand pounds in consideration of twenty thousand pounds' worth of pleasure and encouragement received by Dr. John- son. But I think it very hard that we should pay twenty thousand pounds for what he would not have valued at five shillings. — Maoaulay : Speech on Copynght. Of course. Sir, I do not mean to say that a man will not produce more in a week by working seven days than by working six days. But I very much doubt whether, at the end of a year, he will generally have produced more by 148 SENTENCES, working seven days a week than by working six days a week ; and I firmly believe that, at the end of twenty years, he will have produced much less by working seven days a week than by working six days a week. In the same man- ner I do not deny that a factory child will produce more, in a single day, by working twelve hours than by working ten hours, and by working fifteen hours than by working twelve hours. But I do deny that a great society in which chil- dren work fifteen, or even twelve hours a day will, in the lifetime of a generation, produce as much as if those chil- dren had worked less. If we consider man merely in a com- mercial point of view, if we consider him merely as a machine for the production of worsted and calico, let us not forget what a piece of mechanism he is, how fearfully and wonderfully made. We do not treat a fine horse or a sa- gacious dog exactly as we treat a spinning jenny. Nor will any slaveholder, who has sense enough to know his own interest, treat his human chattels exactly as he treats his horses and his dogs. And would you treat the free laborer of England like a mere wheel or pulley ? Rely on it that intense labor, beginning too early in life, continued too long every day, stunting the growth of the body, stunting the growth of the mind, leaving no time for healthful exer- cise, leaving no time for intellectual culture, must impair all those high qualities which have made our country great. Your overworked boys will become a feeble and ignoble race of men, the parents of a more feeble and more ignoble progeny ; nor will it be long before the deterioration of the laborer will injuriously affect those very interests to which his physical and moral energies have been sacrificed. On the other hand, a day of rest recurring in every week, two or three hours of leisure, exercise, innocent amusement or useful study, recurring every day,, must improve the whole man, physically, morally, intellectually ; and the im- MEANS OF CONNECTING SENTENCES. 149 provement of the man will improve all that the man pro- duces. Why is it, Sir, that the Hindoo cotton manufac- turer, close to whose door the cotton grows, cannot, in a bazaar of his own town, maintain a competition with the English cotton manufacturer, who has to send thousands of miles for the raw material, and who has then to send the wrought material thousands of miles to market ? You will say that it is owing to the excellence of our machinery. And to what is the excellence of our machinery owing? How many of the improvements which have been made in our machinery do we owe to the ingenuity and patient thought of working men ? Adam Smith tells us in the first chapter of his great work, that you can hardly go to a fac- tory without seeing some very pretty machine, — that is his expression, — devised by some laboring man. Hargreaves, the inventor of the spinning jenny, was a common artisan. Crompton, the inventor of the mule jenny, was a working man. How many hours of the labor of children would do so much for our manufactures as one of these improvements has done ? And in what sort of society are such improve- ments most likely to be made? Surely in a society in which the faculties of the working people are developed by education. How long will you wait before any negro, work- ing under the lash in Louisiana, will contrive a better ma- chinery for squeezing the sugar canes ? My honorable friend seems to me, in all his reasonings about the commer- cial prosperity of nations, to overlook entirely the chief cause on which that prosperity depends. What is it, Sir, that makes the great difference between country and coun- try ? Not the exuberance of soil ; not the mildness of climate; not mines, nor havens, nor rivers. These things are indeed valuable when put to their proper uses by human intelligence : but human intelligence can do much without them ; and they without human intelligence can do nothing. 150 SENTENCES. They exist in the highest degree in regions of which the inhabitants are few, and squalid, and barbarous, and naked, and starving ; while on sterile rocks, amidst unwholesome marshes, and under inclement skies, may be found immense populations, well fed, well lodged, well clad, well governed. Nature meant Egypt and Sicily to be gardens of the world. They once were so. Is it anything in the earth or the air that makes Scotland more prosperous than Egypt, that makes Holland more prosperous than Sicily? No; it was the Scotchman that made Scotland; it was the Dutchman that made Holland. Look at North America. Two cen- turies agosthe sites on which now arise mills, and hotels, and banks, . and colleges, and churches, and the Senate Houses, of flourishing commonwealths, were deserts aban- doned to the panther and the bear. What has made the change ? Was it the rich mold, or the redundant rivers ? No ; the prairies were as fertile, the Ohio and the Hudson were as broad and as full then as now. Was the improve- ment the effect of some great transfer of capital from the old world to the new ? No ; the emigrants generally carried out with them no more than a pittance ; but they carried out the English heart, and head, and arm ; and the English heart and head and arm turned the wilderness into cornfield and orchard, and the huge trees of the primeval forest into cities and fleets. Man, man is the great instrument that produces wealth. The natural difference between Cam- pania and Spitzbergen is trifling, when compared with the difference between a country inhabited by men of bodily and mental vigor, and a country inhabited by men sunk in bodily and mental decrepitude. Therefore it is that we are not poorer but richer, because we have, through many ages, rested from our labor one day in seven. That is not lost. While industry is suspended, while the plow lies in the fur- row, while the Exchange is silent, while no smoke ascends MEANS OF CONNECTING SENTENCES. 151 from the factory, a process is going on quite as important to the wealth of nations as any process which is performed on more busy days. Man, the machine of machines, the machine compared with which all the contrivances of the Watts and the Arkwrights are worthless, is repairing and winding up, so that he returns to his labors on the Monday with clearer intellect, with livelier spirits, with renewed corporeal vigor. Never will I believe that what makes a population stronger, and healthier, and wiser, and better, can ultimately make it poorer. You try to frighten us by telling us that in some German factories, the young work seventeen hours in the twenty-four, that they work so hard that among thousands there is not one who grows to such a stature that he can be admitted into the army ; and you ask whether, if we pass this bill, we can possibly hold our own against such competition as this ? Sir, I laugh at the thought of such competition. If ever we are forced to yield the foremost place among commercial nations, we shall yield' it, not to a race of degenerate dwarfs, but to some people pre- eminently vigorous in body and in mind. — Macaulay : /Speech on the Ten Hours Bill. CHAPTER V. WORDS. Choice of Expression. 43. The English language has a much larger stock of words than any other language ever used by man. Often a given idea will be represented quite accurately in English by either of two words ; sometimes by any one of three. Thus we speak of a certain class of our population as the poor^ the needy ^ the indigent^ meaning the same thing no matter which one of the three words we use ; we speak of a laboring man's pay^ wages^ earn- ings ; of the meaning^ sense^ signification of a passage of Scripture ; of a fitting^ proper, appropriate exercise ; something hinders, delays, retards us ; we become tired, weary, fatigued. One needs a stock of equivalent words of this kind for the sake of variety. Other sets of words in English represent the same idea, but with different degrees of intensity. Thus empty, vain, futile hopes ; sameness, uniformity, monotony; an unwise, inconsiderate, silly, foolish, absurd, ridiculous statement; to like, admire, love ; wealth, riches, opulence ; to discountenance, deprecate, deplore, lament, bewail an act ; vexed, provoked, indignant, angry ; it is not im- possible, it is possible, it is not unlikely, it is likely, it is not improbable, it is probable, it is certain. We need 152 HOW TO ENLARGE YOUR VOCABULARY. 153 to learn to distinguish degrees of meaning in words, so as not to overstate or understate ourselves. When a familiar word does not quite satisfy us, does not ade- quately or exactly express our meaning, we may be sure that there is another more fitting ; and here a book of synonyms or the dictionary will help us. Other sets of words represent the same idea in differ- ent applications. Thus while the words forgive^ pardon^ condone, excuse, acquit, absolve, remit, overlook, pass over, represent the same idea, each has its particular applica- tion, as will be seen by consulting the dictionary. So with house, residence, habitation, mansion ; wages, salary, fee, stipend ; fright, scare, panic ; dread, dismay, conster- nation ; guess, think, suppose; meeting, assembly, audi- ence, congregation ; choose, prefer^ select ; hanged, hung ; allude, refer; healthy, healthful, wholesome; less, fewer; two, a couple, a pair ; company, gathering, crew, gang, band, party ; avow, acknowledge, confess; only, alone. How to enlarge your Vocabulary. 44. One may enlarge one's stock of words by looking up the new words one reads, by trying to think of equiv- alent expressions for them, and by recalling and using them as they may be needed in one's own writing and speaking. We should try to make use of all of our lan- guage resources; but it should be with a knowledge of the meaning, applications, and implications of the words we use. Some words have formed close associations with other words. Thus, take steps, contract habits, pursue a course, turn to account, bear malice, pass over in silence, win 154 WORDS, prizes. This is especially true of words used in connec- tion with prepositions : agree with a person, agree to a proposition, differ /rom, comply with^ confide in a friend, confide a secret to a friend, call on, dissent from, free from, adapted to a thing, adapted /or a purpose, die of a disease, die bi/ one's own hand, regard for a person, in regard to this, reconcile to. Some words call impera- tively for others : as — so, either — or, neither — nor, hardly — when, the same that I saw, the same as before, such — as, I do not know that I will, different from, other than. Sometimes the choice lies between an idiomatic and a bookish, or between a simple and a pretentious, expres- sion I here the idiomatic or simple expression is prefer- able. Get used to (for become accustomed to), go to pieces (for collapse), get out of the way of (for avoid), get up (for rise), go to bed (for retire), make money (for acquire wealth), burn up (for be consumed), — these ex- pressions are not to be avoided. Again, the choice may lie between a slang expression which rises to the lips only too readily, and a standard expression which requires some effort to recall. Here the choice should fall upon the standard expression; the effort is well spent in calling it to mind. Besides be- ing, in many cases, vulgar in meaning or in implication, slang begets general carelessness in the use of language. It encourages laziness in the user by saving him the trouble of finding exact words for his meaning. It prevents him from increasing his stock of good words. Especial care is needed in the choice of the words will and shall, would and should, who, which, and that. WILL AND SHALL. 155 Will and Shall. 45. In the simple future, shall is used in the first per- son, and will in the second and third persons ; thus, " I, or we, shall enjoy reading the book," and " You, he, or they, will enjoy reading the book." In sentences ex- pressing determination, will is used in the first person, and shall in the second and third persons; thus, "I, or we, will obey," and "You, he, or they, shall obey." In questions, the same distinction between shall and will as expressing simple futurity or determination is seen in the following : " Shall I, or we ? " (simple fu- ture, or equivalent to "do you wish me, or us, to?"); " Will I ? " (ironical) ; " Shall you subscribe ? " (mere information desired) ; "Will you subscribe? " (I want you to) ; "Shall he, or they?" (Do you wish him, or them, to?) ; "Will he or they?" (mere information desired). In secondary clauses the reporter uses will^ if the speaker used or would have used will ; shall if the speaker used or would have used shall. Thus : Speaker, — "I shall enjoy reading the book " ; Reporter, — " He says he shall enjoy reading the book " ; Speaker, — "I will not allow it " ; Reporter, — " He says he will not allow it " ; Speaker, — " You (or they) shall seek in vain for it ; Reporter, — " He says you (or they) shall seek," etc. Should corresponds to shall^ and would to will, follow- ing corresponding rules. Thus, in reporting the sen- tences just given, the correct form would be, " He said he should enjoy reading the book," " He said he would not allow it," " He said you (or they) should seek in 156 WORDS, vain for it." In conditional clauses exceptional care is needed, though the same distinctions are maintained. Who, Which, That. 46. The relative pronoun that is restrictive, and in- troduces a clause that closely defines, limits, or qualifies the antecedent. A ^A^^^-clause affects the antecedent as an adjective would affect the antecedent. Who and which are coordinating relatives, and introduce, not a modifying thought, but an additional thought of equal or greater importance. Who is equivalent to a con- junction plus a personal pronoun, and may be translated by the words and he, and they, though he, though they, for he, since they, etc., which words may often be used, with a gain to clearness, instead of who. Which is equiva- lent to a conjunction plus the word it, this, these, those, and may be translated by the words and this, and it, and these, a fact that, a circumstance that, etc., which words may often be used, with a gain to clearness, instead of which. Who and which are sometimes used restrictively, without loss of clearness, instead of the strictly correct that when the use of that would make a harsh combina- tion, when the word that has already been used in an- other function in the same sentence, and when the use of that would throw a preposition to the end of the sentence. The aid of punctuation may be called in to distinguish restrictive from coordinative who or which. Since a comma is usually inserted before a coordinate relative, the omission of punctuation before who or which will give to the clause a restrictive force. CHOICE OF WORDS. 157 Sumraary. 1 . Choose words that fit your meaning with exactness. 2. Distinguish degrees of intensity in words. 3. Use idiomatic expressions. 4. Avoid slang. 47. Assignments on Choice of Words. A. In the following choose the word in brac^cets that best fits the context. Be ready to give reasons. Consult the dictionary or a book of synonyms. 1. It is a necessary condition of life that has desires at all that these desires should be toward life and not away from it ; seeing how cheap and easy a thing is destruction on all hands, and how hard it is for race or unit to hold fast in the great struggle for existence. Surely our way is paved with the bones of those who have loved life and movement too little, and lost it before their time. If we could think of death without shrinking, it would only mean that this world was no place for us, and that we should \^Jiasten, make haste, hurry'] to be gone to leave room for our betters. And therefore the law of action which would put death out of sight is to be accounted good, as a holy and healthy thing (one word whose meanings have become unduly severed), necessary to the life of men, serving to [^hold, bind, knit, keep, draw, pull, join'] them together and to advance them in the right. Not only is it right and good thus to cover over and dismiss the thought of our own personal end, to keep in mind and heart always the good things that [shall, ivill] be done, rather than ourselves who [shall, will] or [shall, will] not have the doing of them; but also to our friends and loved ones we [shall, will] give the most worthy honor and tribute if we never say nor remember that they are dead, but contrariwise that they have lived; that here- 158 * WORDS, by the brotherly force and flow of their action and work may be carried over the gulfs of death and made [^everlast- ing, immortal, eternal, endless, immutable, perpetual^ in the true and healthy life which they worthily had and used. 2. Sir Thomas Payton came to me and told me my lord [would, should'] fight with me on horseback with single sword ; and, said he, " I [will, shall] be his second ; where is yours ? " I replied that neither his lordship nor myself brought over any great horses with us ; that I knew he might much better borrow one than myself; howbeit, as soon as he showed me the place, he [would, should] find me there on horseback or on foot; whereupon both of us riding together upon two geldiiigs to the side of a wood, Payton said he chose that place, and the time, break of day the next morning. I told him I [would, should] fail neither place nor time, though I knew not where to get a better nag than the horse I rode on ; " and as for a second, I [will, shall] trust to your nobleness, who, I know, [will, shall] see fair play betwixt us, though you come on his side." . . . The lieutenant, though he did not know me, suspected I had some private quarrel, and that I desired this horse to fight on, and thereupon told me, " Sir, whosoever you are, you seem to be a person of worth, and you [will, shall] have the best horse in the stable ; and if you have a quarrel and want a second, I offer myself to serve you upon another horse, and if you [will, shall] let me go along with you upon these terms, I [will, shall] ask no pawn of you for the horse." I told him I [luould, should] use no second, and I desired him to accept one hundred pieces, which I had then about me, in pawn for the horse, and he [woidd, should] hear from me shortly again ; and that though 1 did not take his noble offer of coming along with me, I [would, should] evermore rest much obliged to him : whereupon giving him CHOICE OF WORDS. 159 my purse with the money in it, I got upon his horse, and left my nag besides with him. — Lord Chekbury. 3. The Castello di San Giorgio, or, as it [^should, might, could, would] more properly have been [^designated, called, named], the ^'Casa'' or villa di San Giorgio, was [built, erected, con- structed] upon the summit of a small conical hill, amid the sloping bases of the Apennines, at a [part, portion, point] of their long range where the [tops, summits] were low and green. In that delightful [place, spot, country, neighbor- hood, region, district] the cultivation and richness of the plain is united to the wildness and [prettiness, sublimity, beauty, attractiveness] of the hills. The heat is tempered in the shady valleys and under the [dense, thick, solid, impene- trable] woods. A delicious [humidity, wetness, dampness, moisture] and soft haze hangs about these dewy, grassy places, which the sun has power to [warm, heat] and glad- den, but not to parch. Flowers of every hue cover the ground beneath the oaks and elms. Nightingales sing in the thickets of wild rose and clematis, and the groves of laurel and of the long-leaved olives are [full of, swarming with, crowded with] small creatures in the full enjoyment of life and warmth. Little brooks and rippling streams, half [hidden, concealed, obscured] by the tangled thickets, and turned from their courses by the mossy rocks, flow down from the hill ravines, as joyful and clear as in that old time when each was the care of some [defending, protecting, shield- ing] nymph or rural god. In the waters of the placid lake are reflected the shadows of the hills, and the tremulous shimmer of waving woods. — Shorthouse : John Inglesant. B. Read the following paragraphs until you have complete possession of the thought. Then rewrite, substituting other ex- pressions of equivalent meaning for those italicized. The change in phraseology may compel a change in grammatical structure. 160 WORDS. 1. The effect of the great freedom of the press in England has been, in a great measure, to destroy this distinction [be- tween oratory and other forms of literature], and to leave among us little of what I call Oratory Proper. Our legisla- tors, our candidates, on great occasions even our advocates, address themselves less to the audience than to the reporters. They think less of the few hearers than of the innumerable readers. At Athens the case was different ; there the only object of the speaker was immediate conviction and persua- sion. He, therefore, who would justly appreciate the merit of the Grecian orators should place himself, as nearly as possible, in the situation of their auditors : he should divest himself of his modern feelings and acquirements, and make the prejudices 'and interests of the Athenian citizen his own. He who studies their works in this spirit will find that many of those things which, to an English reader, appear to be blemishes, — the frequent violation of those excellent rules of evidence by which our courts of law are regulated, — the introduction of extraneous matter, — the reference to consider- ations of political expediency in judicial investigations, — the assertions, without proof, — the passionate entreaties, — the furious invectives, — are really proofs of the prudence and address of the speakers. He must not dwell maliciously on arguments or phrases, but acquiesce in his first impressions. It requires repeated perusal and reflection to decide rightly on any other portion of literature. But with respect to w^orks of which the merit depends on their instantaneous effect the most hasty judgment is likely to be best. — Macaulay : Essay on the Athenian Orators. 2. In the Netherlands a man of small capacity, with bits of tvood and leather, will, in a few moments, construct a toy that, with the pressure of the finger and thumb, will cry " cuckoo ! cuckoo ! " With less of ingenuity and inferior CHOICE OF WORDS. 161 materials the people of Ohio have made a toy that will, without much pressure, cry " Previous question, Mr. Speaker ! Previous question, Mr. Speaker ! '^ — John Randolph. C. Fill the blanks with who, ivhom, which, or that, and select the fitting words from the brackets : — December 13 (1710). An old friend of mine being lately come to town, I went to see him on Tuesday last about eight o'clock in the even- ing, with a design to sit with him an hour or two, and talk over old stories ; but upon inquiring after him, I found he was gone to bed. The next morning, as soon as I was up and dressed, and had despatched a little business, I came again to my friend's house about eleven o'clock, with a de- sign to renew m}'- visit ; but upon asking for him, his ser- vant told me he was just sat down to dinner. In short, I found that my old-fashioned friend [zealously, religiously, devotedly^ adhered to the example of his forefathers, and observed the same hours . . . had been kept in the family ever since the Conquest. It is very [certain, plain, obvious, clear, sure, apparent^ that the night was much longer formerly in this island than it is at present. By the night, I mean that portion of' time . . . nature has thrown into darkness, and . . . the wisdom of mankind had formerly dedicated to rest and silence. This used to begin at eight o'clock in the evening and conclude at six in the morning. The curfew or eight o'clock bell was the [sign, token, signal, device'] throughout the nation for putting out their candles and going to bed. Our grandmothers, though they were wont to sit up the last in the family, were all of them fast asleep at the same hours . . . their daughters are busy at crimp and basset. Modern statesmen are concerting schemes, and engaged in 162 WORDS. the depths of politics, at the time when their forefathers were laid down [^calmly, peacefully, quietly'] to rest, and had nothing in their heads but dreams. As we have thus thrown business and pleasure into the hours of rest, and by that means made the natural night but half as long as it should be, we are forced to piece it out with a great part of the morning ; so that near two-thirds of the nation lie fast asleep for several hours in broad daylight. This irregularity has grown so very fashionable at present that there is scarce a lady of quality in Great Britain . . . ever saw the sun rise. And if the humor increases in proportion to what it has done of late years, it is not impossible but our children maj'^ hear the bell-man going about the streets at nine o'clock in the morning, and the watch making their rounds until eleven. This unaccountable [trait, inclination, disposition, idiosyncrasy, pecidiarity, characteristic'] in mankind to con- tinue awake in the night and sleep in sunshine, has made me inquire whether the same change of inclination has hap- pened to any other animals ? For this reason I desired a friend of mine in the country to let me know, whether the lark rises as early as he did formerly and whether the cock [commences, begins, starts] to crow at his usual hour ? My friend has answered me, that his poultry are as regular as ever, and that all the birds and the beasts of his neighbor- hood keep the same hours . . . they have observed in the memory of man ; and the same ... in all probability, they have kept for these five thousand years. If you would see the innovations . . . have been made among us in this particular, you may only look into the hours of colleges, where they still dine at eleven and sup at six, . . . were doubtless the hours of the whole nation at the time when those places were founded. But at present the courts of justice are scarce opened in Westminster Hall at the time when William Rufus used to gQ to dinner in it. CHOICE OF WORDS. 163 All business is driven forward : the landmarks of our fathers (if I may so call them) are removed, and planted further up into the day ; insomuch that I am afraid our clergy will be obliged (if they expect full congregations) not to look any more upon ten o'clock in the morning as a regular canonical hour. In my own memory, the dinner has crept by degrees from twelve o'clock to three, and where it will fix nobody knows. — Goldsmith. D. Use each of the sets of words given in the second paragraph of this chapter, in a brief paragraph, having especial regard to exact statement. In case of doubt consult the dictionary or a book of synonyms. E. Use the sets of words given in the third paragraph of this chapter so as to show that you understand the particular applica- tion of each word. In case of doubt consult the dictionary or a book of synonyms. F. Examine a recent number of a magazine for examples of " disagree with," " different from," and other expressions in the fifth paragraph of this chapter. G. Write brief paragraphs on the following themes, showing the accurate use of (1) may, might: (2) can, could ; (3) raise, raised, has raised, rise, rose, has risen; (4) sit, sat, has sat, set ; (5) lie, lay, has lain, lay, laid, has laid : — 1. A lost opportunity. My choice of a profession. The next presidential nominee. 2. My friend's accomplishments. Feats of strength. The opportunities of an educated man or woman. 3. What makes the prices of commodities go up and down ? Taking an early train. Bicycling for girls. 164 WORDS. 4. An obstinate old hen, A hot day's fishing. Setting the table for dinner. 5. How bread is made. After the tornado. How a mason builds a brick wall. H. Write a brief account of a tiresome journey or walk, using in different sentences the words sameness, uniformity, monotony, each in a sense that would preclude the use of the other two. I. Write a brief paragraph on manners in the schoolroom, in which you mention some particular thing to be discountenanced, another to be deprecated, another to be deplored. J. Write out the following : — Arrived at school; found I had forgotten book; was \_angry, provoked, vexed'] with myself, for there was not time to go back for it and I needed it; went to class without it; asked a classmate to [loan, lend'] me her book ; she [refasedj declined] ; this made me [^angry, indignant] as she [could, might] have [accommodated, favored] me in this ; was called on to translate as I had [expected, anticipated] that I [imuld, should] he, and failed for [lack, want, need] of a book. I [will, shall] be obliged to make up the lesson. K. Two drafts of portions of Lincoln's first Inaugural Address are printed below in parallel columns.^ After comparing them, give reasons for the changes so far as you are able. It follows from these views that no State, upon its own mere motion, can lawfully It follows from these views that no State, upon its own mere motion, can lawfully 1 From Abraham Lincoln : A History, by John G. Nicolay and John Hay (The Century Co., N.Y., 1890), Vol. Ill, pp. 237-344, by per- mission. CHOICE OF WORDS. 165 get out of the Union ; that resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally noth- ing; and that acts of violence, within any State or States, against the authority of the United States, are insurrec- tionary or treasonable, ac- cording to circumstances. I therefore consider that the Union is unbroken ; and, to the extent of my ability, I shall take care that the laws of the Union be faith- fully executed in all the States. Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty on my part ; and I shall perform it, so far as practicable, un- less my rightful masters, the American people, shall with- hold the requisite means, or in some tangible way direct the contrary. I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the de- clared purpose of the Union that it will have its own and defend itself. . . ". get out of the Union; that resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void; and that acts of violence, within any State or States, against the authority of the United States, are insurrec- tionary or revolutionary, ac- cording to circumstances. I therefore consider that, in view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken ; and to the extent of my ability I shall take care, as the Constitution ex- pressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty on my part ; and I shall perform it, so far as prac- ticable, unless my rightful masters, the American peo- ple, shall withhold the requi- site means, or in some authoritative manner direct the contrary. I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the de- clared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and maintain it- self. . . . 166 WORDS, I close. We are not, we must not be, aliens or ene- mies, but fellow-countrymen an d brethren . Although pas- sion has strained our bonds of affection too hardly, they must not, I am sure they will not, be broken. The mystic chords which, pro- ceeding from so many battle- fields and so many patriot graves, pass through all the hearts and all hearths in this broad continent of ours, will yet again harmonize in their ancient music when breathed upon by the guard- ian angel of the nation.^ L. After reading the following selection carefully, determine from the context the right word for the first and the second parenthe- ses. The word that is used in the first parenthesis will of course be used in the third. At other hours and seasons the general aspect of the plain is monotonous, and in spite of the unobstructed view and the unfailing verdure and sunshine, somewhat Imelayi- I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break, our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle- field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearth- stone, all over this broad laud, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. 1 This suggestion for a closing paragraph was written by Mr. Seward. The original draft by Lincoln ran as follows : " My dissatisfied fellow- countrymen: You can forbear the assault upon it [the Government], I cannot shrink from the defence of it. With you, and not with me, is the solemn question of Shall it be peace or a sword ? " To this Mr. Seward objected on the ground that " something besides or in addition to argument is needful — to ineet and remove prejudice and passion in the South and despondency and fear in the East. Some words of affection — some of calm and cheerful confidence." % CHOICE OF WORDS. 167 choly, sombre^ though never \_melanclioly, sombre] ; and doubt- less the depressed and [melayicholy^ sombre] feeling the Pampa inspires in those who are unfamiliar with it is due in a great measure to the paucity of life, and to the pro- found silence. The wind, as may well be imagined on that extensive level area, is seldom at rest ; there, as in the forest, it is a "bard of many breathings," and the strings it breathes upon give out an endless variety of sorrowful sounds, from the sharp fitful sibilations of the dry, wiry grasses on the barren places, to the long mysterious moans that swell and die in the tall polished rushes of the marsh. CHAPTER VI. THE FORMS OF PROSE DISCOURSE. Kinds of Writing. 48. In Burroughs's Squirrels and Other Fur Bearers there is an interesting little story about a squirrel and a weasel. It holds our attention because events are happening in it in rapid succession. We can easily imagine, too, that events happened just before and just after the part that is told. \_Narrative'] A hunter of my acquaintance was one day sitting in the woods, when he saw a red squirrel run with great speed up g, tree near him, and out upon a branch, from which he leaped to some rocks, disappearing beneath them. In a moment a weasel came in full course upon his trail, ran up the tree, then out along the branch, leaping from these to the rocks, just as the squirrel had done, and pursuing him into their recesses. In the next selection, which is about the same sub- ject-matter, it is the looks of the squirrel and of the weasel that engage our attention. \_Descrlption\ Half opening my eyes at the sound, I see a little red squirrel running with great speed up a tree near me. In a second he is out at the end of the swaying limb. Then I catch a glimpse of him in mid-air, his paws extended, his brush trailing behind him like the luminous tail of a comet. In another second he falls lightly upon a pile of 168 KINDS OF WRITING. 169 stones and is gone in a flash. I close my eyes again, but immediately open them. Another animal is going up the tree, not scampering like the squirrel, but gliding, snakelike, with swift undulating motion. By his wedge-shaped head, his round, thin ears, his prominent, glistening, beadlike eyes, and especially by the serpentine motions of his head and neck, I know him for a weasel. Another moment and he too has made the leap and disappeared from view. In the next our attention is directed, not to a story of a particular squirrel and a particular weasel, nor to a description of either or both of these animals, but to the idea of the enmity which every weasel shows for every red squirrel. This idea is explained or ex- pounded by telling us what any weasel will do to show his hatred for the squirrel kind. l_Exposition^ The weasel is a relentless enemy of the red squirrel. Pursuing his game by scent, he will follow the squirrel with great rapidity, tracking him up the trunks of trees, gliding after him out to the ends of branches, fearlessly leaping into the air when he surmises that the squirrel has leaped before him, and pursuing him into the recesses of the rocks. In the next we have, in the first sentence, a proposi- tion to be proved. The proofs follow in the succeeding sentences. ^Argument'] We know that the weasel is able to track its game by scent. This is proved by the following incident, related to Mr. Burroughs by a hunter of his acquaintance. The hunter was one day sitting in the woods, when he saw a red squirrel run with great speed up a tree near him, and out upon a long branch, from which he leaped to some rocks, disappearing beneath them. In a moment a weasel came in 170 THE FORMS OF PROSE DISCOURSE. full course upon his trail, ran up the tree, then out along the branch, leaping from it to the rocks just as the squirrel had done, and pursuing him into their recesses. Since the weasel did not go directly to the rocks, as he would have done if he had been following the squirrel by sight, and since he went out upon the same branch as the squirrel, it seems obvious that he must have been tracking the squirrel by scent. The four kinds of writing thus illustrated are : — 1 . Narration, in which the writer aims to make people realize events and processes of growth. 2. Description, in which the writer aims to make people see images of objects. 3. Exposition, in which the writer aims to make people under- stand ideas. 4. Argument, in which the writer aims to make people believe truths. 49. Assignments in the Kinds of "Writing. A. Which of the four kinds is the following? Make three other versions of the same material to illustrate the other kinds. The weasel is a subtle and arch enemy of the birds. It climbs trees, and explores them with great ease and nimble- ness. I have seen it do so on several occasions. One day my attention was arrested by the angry notes of a pair of brown thrashers that were flitting from bush to bush along an old stone row in a remote field. Presently I saw what it was that excited them — three large red weasels or ermines coming along the stone wall, and leisurely and half playfully exploring every tree that stood near it. They had probably robbed the thrashers. They would go up the trees with great ease, and glide serpentlike out upon the branches. When they descended the tree they were unable to come straight down, like a squirrel, but went around it spirally. How boldly they thrust their heads out of the wall, and eyed COMBINATION OF THE KINDS OF WRITING. 171 me and sniffed me, as I drew near, — their round, thin ears, their prominent, glistening, beadlike eyes, and the curving, snakelike motions of the head and neck being very notice- able. They looked like blood-suckers and egg-suckers. They suggested something extremely remorseless and cruel. — Burroughs : The Tragedies of the Nests. B. Bring to class a subject that you think can be treated only in the descriptive way, and see if any other member of the class can tell how it might be treated in the expository way. C. Tell an anecdote, and then suggest how it might be turned into description, or used as argument. Combination of the Kinds of Writing. 50. Two or more of these kinds of writing are often used in one piece of literature. The writer of a narra- tive frequently finds it necessary to describe things while telling his story ; but his chief aim is the story. The writer of a narrative or of a description may have a purpose to effect some reform by his narrative or his description, as Dickens had in Nicholas Nicklehy^ but that does not alter the character of the piece as a whole. The story with a purpose remains a story. ^ So, too, a writer explaining or expounding an idea, or arguing a proposition, may tell an anecdote in order to make his meaning clearer. By itself the anecdote is of course narration, but its presence in the exposition or the argument does not change the nature of the compo- sition. Description sometimes disguises itself as narration. Robinson Crusoe's description of his home after the shipwreck reads like narrative, because he adopts the 172 THE FORMS OF PROSE DISCOURSE. plan of telling how he made it instead of telling how it looked when finished. A tennis court would probably be best described to one who has never seen such a thing by telling how it is made — clearing the ground, measur- ing, levelling, marking, placing the net, etc. Wherever motion enters into a description — as in a battle scene or a storm — the narrative method begins to appear ; but the piece remains description, for the aim of arousing images of objects is unchanged. Sketches of travel are usually description, although the scenes are strung on a narrative thread ; for the aim throughout is usually the portrayal of things seen, and the conveying of per- sonal impressions. 51. Assignments in the Combination of Kinds. A. Describe for an acquaintance some object that you have made, by telling how it looks when finished. Describe the same object by telling, step by step, just how you made it. A fence, a dress, a toy for a child, will serve the purpose. B. From the following describe the umbrella as it looked when completed. After this, I spent a great deal of time and pains to make an umbrefla. I was indeed in great want of one, and had a great mind to make one. I had seen them made in the Brazils, where they are very useful in the great heats which are there, and I felt the heats every jot as great here, and greater too, being nearer the equinox; besides, a^ I was obliged to be much abroad, it was a most useful thing to me, as well for the rains as the heats. I took a world of pains at it, and was a great while before I could make anything likely to hold; nay, after I thought I had hit the way, I spoiled two or three before I made one to my mind. But at COMBINATION OF KINDS. 173 last I made one that answered indifferently well ; the main difficulty I found was to make it let down ; I could make it spread, but if it did not let down too, and draw in, it would not be portable for me any way but just over my head, which would not do. However, at last, as I said, I made one to answer. I covered it*with skins, the hair upwards, so that it cast off the rain like a penthouse, and kept off the sun so effectually that I could walk out in the hottest of the weather with greater advantage than I could before in the coolest, and when I had no need of it I could close it, and oarry it under my arm. — Defoe : Robinson Criisoe. CHAPTER VII. DESCRIPTION. The Effect of Description. 52. The effect of good description is to cause clear images of things to start up in the mind. Reading the author's words, we seem to see what the writer saw, to hear what he heard. If he describes the moonlight, we seem to see it sleeping on the bank. If he describes the flight of an express train, we seem to hear it rush- ing by at headlong speed. When description is at its best, its effects are not less powerful than tljose of the things themselves. Every reader of Lorna Doom will recall, as vividly as if he had seen it with the eyes of John Ridd, the quiet home of the outlaws, — " the deep green valley, carved from out the mountains in a perfect oval, with a fence of sheer rock standing round it, eighty feet or a hundred high ; from whose brink black wooded hills swept up to the sky line." He can both see and hear the little river that "glided out from underground with a soft, dark babble, unawares of daylight," and in his mind he can follow its course, as growing brighter it "lapsed away and fell into the valley," where "the val- ley alders stood on either marge, and grass was blading out upon it, and yellow tufts of rushes gathered, look- ing at the hurry." 174 THE EFFECTS OF DESCRIPTION, 175 Just so every one who has read Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe has seen King Richard leading the attack on the castle of Front-de-Boeuf, — "all about him black as the wing of the night raven," rushing to the fray, " as if he were summoned to a banquet." The reason why good description produces these defi- nite effects upon us is twofold : — (1) The writer has observed keenly and accurately the things to be described ; (2) The writer knows just the right words to use for the purpose of producing the vivid images that he wishes to produce. 53. Assignments on the Effects of Description. A. Note the effects of the following. What images appear. be- fore your mind as you read? 1. On arriving at a hill, I would slowly ride to its sum- mit and stand there to survey the prospect. On every side it stretched away in great undulations, wild and irregular. How gray it all was ! 2. The other day, when I walked to Goodman's Hill, it seemed to me that the atmosphere was never so full of fra- grance and spicy odors. There is a great variety in the fra- grance of the apple-blossoms as well as in their tints. Some are quite spicy. The air seemed filled with the odor of ripe strawberries, though it is quite too early for them. The earth was not only fragrant, but sweet and spicy, reminding us of Arabian gales, and what mariners tell of the Spice .Islands. — Thoreau: Summer, 3. No dew-drop is stiller In its lupin-leaf setting Than this water moss-bounded. 176 * DESCRIPTION. 4. He shook hands with the grip of a vise. 5. A little round, fat, oily man of God. 6. I hear the wind among the trees. Playing celestial symphonies ; I see their branches downward bent. Like the keys of some great instrument. — Longfellow : A Perfect Day. 7. At daybreak on the black sea-beach, A fisherman stood aghast, To see the form of a maiden fair Lashed close to a drifting mast. The salt sea was frozen on her breast, The salt tears in her eyes ; And he saw her hair, like the brown searweed. On the billows fall and rise. — Longfellow : The Wreck of the Hesperus. 8. Upon the midsummer woods most of all lay brooding stillness and subtle, relaxing heat. In the depths of one the moo of a restless heifer broke at intervals upon the ear like a faint, far bell of distress. The squirrel was asleep. The cuckoo barely lilted in silky flight among the trees. The mourning moth lay on the thistle with flattened wings as still as death. The blue snake doctor had dropped on the brink of the green pool like a lost jewel. Amid such silence in a forest, the imagination takes on the belief that all things in Nature understand and are waiting for some one to come — for something to happen that they will all feel. Daphne glided like a swift, noiseless shadow into the woods. — James Lane Allen : Summer in Arcady. 9. I gazed upon the schoolroom into which he took me as the most forlorn and desolate place I had ever seen. I KINDS OF IMAGES. 177 « see it now. A long room, with three long rows of desks, and six of forms, and bristling all round with pegs for hats and slates. Scraps of old copy-books and exercises litter the dirty floor. Some silkworms' houses, made of the same ma- terials, are scattered over the desks. Two miserable little white mice, left behind by their owner, are running up and down in a fusty castle made of pasteboard and wire, looking in all the corners with their red eyes for anything to eat. A bird, in a cage very little bigger than himself, makes a mournful rattle now and then in hopping on his perch, two inches high, or dropping from it; but neither sings nor chirps. There is a strange unwholesome smell upon the room, like mildewed corduroys, sweet apples wanting air, and rotten books. There could not well be more ink splashed about it, if it had been roofless from its first construction, and the skies had rained, snowed, hailed, and blown ink through the varying seasons of the year. — Dickens : David Copperfield. B. Try one of the following in a very few sentences : — 1. Describe a piece of chalk so as to make us realize its smoothness. 2. Describe a certain room so as to make us realize its dinginess. 3. Describe a garden in July so as to make us realize its brightness. 4. Describe a walk into the woods especially for colors. 5. Describe a walk into the woods especially for sounds. 6. Describe the best dinner you ever enjoyed. Kinds of Images. 54. A great many of our words and phrases produce in other people no mental images. The prepositions and conjunctions rarely do. General terms will fail to pro- 178 DESCRIPTION, duce an image, whereas specific terms, meaning the same thing, will almost inevitably bring images before the mind : civilization makes no picture, but the churchy the school-house^ the court-house^ make images for us. The animal is less likely to set our minds to making pictures than the mention of the particular animal meant. We have uses, of course, for all of the words in our vocabulary, and the more words that we have of all kinds, the better we are equipped ; but for description, the concrete and the specific term is better than the abstract ; the individual is better than the general, because more likely to produce a mental image for our reader. Images of sights and images of sounds are the most numerous. Of the images of sights the most vivid are those produced when a color is named, or when move- ment is suggested. Most people produce a ' sound- image ' with greater difficulty than they produce a ' sight-image ' ; probably because the eye is better trained than the ear. But there are also 'images' connected with the sense of touch, with the feeling of heat and cold, with smell and with taste. Words which produce such images, as they are needed, make description almost an equivalent of the thing described, at least to people of active imagination. 55. Assignments on the Use of the Concrete. ^ A. Compare the two versions that follow. Which causes images to appear more readily and more vividly ? Why ? Now came on the May-fly season ; the soft hazy summer June was approaching ; summer weather was close KINDS OF IMAGES. 179 at hand ; and there were innumerable May-flies over the water and the land adjacent. This species of insect is apparently not troubled about the brevity of its existence, and is wholly unconcerned with anything except ease and pleasure. weather lay sleepily along the rich meadows by Avctn side, and the green and gray flies flickered with their graceful, lazy, up and down flight over the reeds and the water and the meadows, in myriads upon myriads. The May-flies must surely be the lotus-eaters of the ephemerae — the happiest, laziest, carelessest fly that dances and dreams out his few hours of sunshiny life by English rivers. Ever}' little pitiful coarse fish in the Avon was on the alert for the flies, and gorging his wretched carcass with hundreds daily, the glutton- ous rogues ! and every lover of the gentle craft was out to avenge the poor May- flies. — Tom Brown's Sdiool-days. B. Write a letter to a distant friend describing a certain ride that you have taken. In the course of the letter use some words indicating motions, some indicating sounds, some indicating other sensations. All of the fish in the Avon Avere watching for the flies, and each day ate a great many, perhaps a larger num- ber than was necessary to satisfy hunger. A *great many fishermen were about. C. Compare the two versions that follow, image-making words and phrases. Even Mark all of the 1. The very gnarliest and hardest of hearts has some musical strings in it. 2. But 1. Even the most irre- sponsive person is in some degree susceptible to the in- 180 DESCRIPTION. they are tuned differently in every one of us, so that the self-same strain, which wak- ens a thrill of sympathetic melody in one, may leave another quite silent and un- touched. 3. For whatever I love, my delight amounts to an extravagance. 4. There are verses which I cannot read without tears of exul- tation, which to others are merely indifferent. 5. Those simple touches scattered here and there, by all great writ- ers, which make me feel that I, and every most despised and outcast child of God that breathes, have a common humanity with those glori- ous spirits, overpower me. 6. Poetry has a key which unlocks some more inward cabinet of my nature than is accessible to any other power. 7. I cannot explain it or ac- count for it, or say what faculty it appeals to. 8. The chord which vibrates strong- ly becomes blurred and in- visible in proportion to the intensity of its impulse. 9. Often the mere rhyme, the cadence and sound of the flue nee of poetry. 2. But our susceptibilities are of dif- ferent kinds, so that a poem which affects one person a good deal, may affect another not at all. 3. For whatever I love, my delight amounts to an extravagance. 4. There are verses which I cannot read without a strong feel- ing of exultation, which to others are merely indifferent. 5. Those simple passages oc- curring in various places in the poems of great writers, which make me feel that I and every other person, how- ever humble, have a common humanity with those superior minds, arouse in me very strong emotions. 6. Poetry causes deeper feelings than are caused by anything else. 7. I cannot explain it or account for it, or say what faculty it affects. 8. The stronger the feeling, the harder it is to say what it is or whence it comes. 9. Often the mere rhyme, the cadence and sound of the words, cause this strange feeling in nie. 10. Not only do all the hap- py associations of my early KINDS OF IMAGES. 181 words, awaken this strange feeling in me. 10. Not only do all the happy associations of my early life, that before lay scattered, take beautiful shapes, like iron dust at the approach of the magnet, but something dim and vague be- yond these moves itself in me with the uncertain sound of a far-off sea. — Lowell : Conversations on some of the Old Poets. 56. life, that were before sepa- rated in my mind, now come together in beautiful and symmetrical order, but I am conscious of something un- defined and difficult of appre- hension in addition to these. Assignments on Kinds of Images. A. Read attentively Gray's Elegy, or Burns's The Cotter's Sat- urday Night, or Coleridge's The Ancient Mariner, noticing all of the images. Classify the images. B. In reading the following do you at any place experience a sensation of muscular strain, of holding on to keep from falling? What words produce this effect? Is there also a sight-image? Tell, orally, what you see. 1. The " little cliff '' upon whose edge he had so carelessly thrown himself down to rest that the weightier portion of his body hung over it, while he was only kept from falling by the tenure of his elbow on its extreme and slippery edge — this "little cliff" arose a sheer unobstructed precipice of black shining rock, some fifteen or sixteen hundred feet from the world of crags beneath us. In truth, so deeply was I excited by the perilous position of my companion, that I fell at full length upon the ground, clung to the shrubs around me, and dared not even glance upward at the sky — while I struggled in vain to divest myself of the idea that the very foundations of the mountain were in danger from 182 DESCRIPTION. the fury of the winds. It was long before I could reason myself into sufficient courage to sit up and look out into the distance. — Poe : A Descent into the Maelstrom. C. Describe a wrestling-match with a view to make us realize muscular strain. D. Which of the following words suggest no image to you? Classify those that do suggest images, as sights, sounds, etc. Do any appeal to more than one sense ? Sugary, crawling, vale, serpentine, coo, musty, sticky, shiver, whistle, galling, slimy, oily, rattle, rancid, plunge, gabble, sirupy, ooze, glade, flaming, flags, smouldering, charnel-house, purplish, smudge, blotches, geranium, lily- of-the- valley, new-mown hay, crash, huzzas, farewell, experi- ence, trembling, pallid, dejected, hilarious, browsing. E. Describe the mental image suggested by any one of the preceding words. F. In the following note especially the appeals to the senses of taste and smell. What image -words fail to give you the sug- gestion evidently desired by the writer? What other images are there here? 1. Grace having been said by the doctor, dinner began. There was some nice soup : also roast meat, boiled meat, vegetables, pie, and cheese. 2. The town of Portlossie lay above, still as a country hamlet, with more odors than people about ; of people it was seldom, indeed, that three were to be spied at once in the wide street, while of odors you would always encounter a smell of leather from the saddler's shop, and a mingled message of bacon and cheese from the very general dealer's — in whose window hung what seemed three hams, and only he who looked twice would discover that the middle object was no ham, but a violin — while at every corner lurked a KINDS OF IMAGES. 183 scent of gilly flowers and southernwood. Idly supreme, Port- lossie, the upper, looked down in condescension, that is in half-concealed contempt, on the ant-heap below it. — Macdonald : Malcolm. 3. The smoky kitchen was high and spacious. The cop- per utensils and the crockery shone in the reflection of the hearth. A cat lay asleep on a chair, a dog under the table. One perceived an odor of milk, apples, smoke, that inde- scribable smell peculiar to old farm houses, the odor of the earth, of the walls, of furniture, the odor of spilled stale soup, of former washdays and of former inhabitants, the smell of animals and of human beings combined, of things and of persons, the odor of time, and of things that have passed away. — Maupassant : Tlie Farmer's Wife. G. Describe a bakery shop, emphasizing the appeals to the sense of smell. Or describe a small railway waiting-room on a raijiy morning at train time. Or describe a schoolroom in winter so as to emphasize the need of ventilation. H. Note in the following the images of things in motion. What words especially give motion to the picture? What other images are there ? I can see the wonderful old lady now, as she was then, with her cape pinned awry, rocking her splint-bottom chair nervously while she talked. — Eggleston : The Hoosier Schoolmaster. The home season of the herring-fishery was to commence. The little harbor w^as one crowd of stumpy masts, each with its halyard, the sole cordage visible, rove through the top of it, for the hoisting of a lug sail, tanned to a rich red brown. From this underwood towered aloft the masts of a coasting schooner, discharging its load of coal at the little quay. Other boats lay drawn up on the beach in front of the Sea- ton, and beyond it on the other side of the burn. Men and 184 DESCRIPTION. women were busy with brown nets, laying them out on the short grass of the shore, mending them with netting needles like small shuttles, carrying huge burdens of them on their shoulders in the hot sunlight ; others were mending, calking, or tarring their boats, and looking to their various fittings. All was preparation for the new venture in their own waters, and everything went merrily and hopefully. Wives who had not accompanied their husbands now had them home again, and their anxieties would henceforth endure but for a night — joy would come with the red sails in the morning ; lovers were once more together, the one great dread broken into a hundred little questioning fears ; mothers had their sons again, to watch with loving eyes as they swung their slow limbs at their labor, or in the evenings sauntered about, hands in pocket, pipe in mouth, and blue bonnet cast care- lessly on the head. — George Macdonald : Malcolm. I. Describe a schoolmate reciting, with special reference to words of motion. J. Can you imagine how the different voices described below sounded ? Can you express more fully in words how each sounds to you? 1. All of a sudden, out of the middle of the trees in front of us, a thin, high, trembling voice struck up the well-known air and words : — " Fifteen men on the dead man's chest — Yo — ho — ho, and a bottle of rum ! " 2. . . . a low, muffled, neutral tone, as of a voice heard through cotton wool. . . . 3. The other snarled aloud into a savage laugh. 4. ... a thick voice — a muddy voice that would have made you shudder — a voice like something soft breaking in two. KINDS OF IMAGES, 185 5. A voice like the wail of the banshee. 6. ... to hear her wonder and lament and suggest with soft, liquid inflections, and low, sad murmurs, in tones as full of serious tenderness . . . 7. ... a voice like a blunt saw going through a thick board. . . . 8. ... a hard, sharp, metallic, matter-of-business clink in the accents of the answer, that produces the effect of one of those bells which small tradespeople connect with their shop doors, and which spring upon your ear with such vi- vacity as you enter that your first impulse is to retire at once from the precincts. 9. He had been talking with a vehemence that shook the house. K. In a few words characterize the most remarkable voice that you have ever heard. L. What suggestions of sound and stillness do you find in the following ? Notice the parts of speech that are most serviceable in producing these suggestions. Except on the terrace surrounded with a stone parapet in front of the house, where there was a parterre kept with some neatness, grass had spread itself over the gravel walks, and over all the low mounds once carefully cut as black beds for the shrubs and larger plants. Many of the windows had the shutters closed, and under the grand Scotch fir that stooped towards one corner, the brown fir-needles of many years lay in a small stone balcony in front of two such darkened windows. All round, both .near and far, there were grand trees, motionless in the still sunshine, and, like all large motionless things, seeming to add to the stillness. Here and there a leaf fluttered down ; petals fell in a silent shower ; a heavy moth floated by, and when it settled, seemed to fall wearily ; the tiny birds alighted on the walks, and hopped 186 DESCRIPTION. about in perfect tranquillity ; even a stray rabbit sat nibbling a leaf that was to its liking, in the middle of a grassy space, with an air that seemed quite impudent in so timid a crea- ture. No sound was to be heard louder than a sleepy hum, and the soft monotony of running water hurrying on to the river that divided the park. — George Eliot : Felix Holt. M. Describe the noise of falling waters, or the sounds heard at a football game, or sounds at night. N. Describe some busy scene, — a railway station, a market, a street at 6 o'clock p.m., a store on bargain day, — so as to make us realize continuous motion. 0. Why are so many colors mentioned in the following? — I was afraid of Miss McKenna. She was six feet high, all yellow freckles and red hair, and was simply clad in white satin shoes, a pink muslin dress, an apple-green stuff sash, and black silk gloves, with yellow roses in her hair. Wherefore I fled from Miss McKenna. — Kipling : The Daughter of the Regiment, in Plain Tales from the Hills. P. Describe briefly a county fair with special reference to colors. Or Q. Describe from observation any group of people with special reference to color. Or R. Describe in a letter to a friend a new and attractive gown that you have seen. S. Study the advertisements in the electric cars, and decide whether their relative , effectiveness depends to any extent upon words of motion or words of color. T. Try writing an effective advertisement. The Point of View. 57. In description of any length beyond a few lines, much depends on the choice of a point from which to make our observations of the thing to be described. THE POINT OF VIEW. 187 Those who use a camera know that it is important to choose an advantageous spot from which to take the picture. They know that when once the camera is placed, its position must not be changed during the exposure; for any shifting results in overlapping and confusion in the picture. The photographer may, of course, make a series of exposures from different points of view — at different angles if he chooses, or at closer and closer range. Taken from a remote point, the ob- ject will show only dim general outlines in the picture; taken at closer range, it will show clearly many details that cannot be distinguished in the first picture. One who is making observations with a view to description is much like the photographer. He will choose an advan- tageous point from which to vie-w the object to be de- scribed, and will tell only what can be seen from that point. He will not commit the absurdity of describing the back of a church while he and his reader stand at the front. He will take his reader with him around the church, where they can both see the back of it. If afterward he wishes to describe the interior of the church, he will invite his reader to go in with him. If the object to be described is distant, he will not speak of it as if it were close at hand. He will not put in details that he cannot see from his point of view, even though he knows they are there ; but after describing the impression made by the object as seen from a dis- tance, he will take his reader to a closer point, from which the details that he wishes to mention can be readily seen by both. In some cases it will be necessary to adopt the 188 DESCRIPTION. traveller's point of view^ that is, to change the point of view several times, in order to give attention to a series of objects one after the other. The story-writer was at fault who, writing a description of a building from a viewpoint across an open public square, quoted an in- scription that was cut in the side wall of the vestibule, as if the inscription could be read at that distance. It is alTvays proper to change the point of vie-w, in order that the details that need mention may be seen, but the reader must be made avrare of every change. Evidently it is necessary, if we would avoid faults in writing descrip- tion, to imitate the photographer by making an actual observation of the thing to be described, choosing our point of view so as to justify the introduction of such details as we wish our reader to see. 58. Assignments on Point of View. A. In the following selection, what is probably the point of view at the outset? Is the point of view changed? What indi- cates the change? Is anything mentioned that could not be seen? I had now come in sight of the house. It is a large building of brick, with stone quoins, and is in the Gothic style of Queen Elizabeth's day, having been built in the first year of her reign. The exterior remains very nearly in its original state, and may be considered a fair specimen of the residence of a wealthy country gentleman of those days. A great gateway opens from the park into a kind of courtyard in front of the house, ornamented with a grass plot, shrubs, and flower-beds. The gateway is in imitation of the ancient barbican ; being a kind of outpost, and flanked by towers, though evidently for mere ornament, instead of defence. The front of the house is completely in the old style ; with stone-shafted casements, a great bow-window of THE POINT OF VIEW. 189 heavy stone work, and a portal with armorial bearings over it, carved in stone. At each corner of the building is an octagon tower, surmounted by a gilt ball and weathercock. B. In the following, note the words by which we are made aware of the point of view. The point of view from which I first saw the valley, was not altogether, although it was nearly, the best point from which to survey the house. I will therefore describe it as I afterwards saw it — from a position on the stone wall at the southern extreme of the amphitheatre. The main building was about twenty-four feet long and sixteen broad — certainly not more. Its total height, from the ground to the apex of the roof, could not have exceeded eighteen feet. To the west end of this structure was at- tached one about a third smaller in all its proportions — the line of its front standing back about twa yards from that of the larger house ; and the line of its roof, of course, being considerably depressed below that of the roof adjoining. At right angles to these buildings, and from the rear of the main one — not exactly in the middle — extended a third compartment, very small — being, in general, one-third less than the western wing. The roofs of the two larger were very steep — sweeping down from the ridge-beam with a long concave curve, and extending at least four feet beyond the walls in front, so as to form the roofs of two piazzas. These latter roofs, of course, needed no support ; but as they had the air of needing it, slight and perfectly plain pillars were inserted at the corners alone. The roof of the northern wing was merely an extension of a portion of the main roof. Between the chief building and western wing arose a very tall and rather slender square chimney of hard Dutch bricks, alternately black and red — a slight cornice of projecting bricks at the top. — Poe : Landor''s Cottage. 190 DESCRIPTION. 2. Please leave the little chapel for the moment, and walk down the nave, till you come to two sepulchral slabs near the west end, and then look about you and see what sort of a church Santa Croce is. — Ruskin : Modern Painters. 3. By this time they had come to the end of the street. Here they stopped in their walk and looked about them. Tar off to the left, etc. 4. The baron gazed with a sad eye into the distance at the vast Norman landscape, undulating and melancholy, like an immense English park, where the farmyards, surrounded by two or four rows of trees and full of dwarfed apple-trees which hid the houses, gave a vista as far as the eye could see of forest trees, copses and shrubbery such as landscape gardeners look for in laying out the boundaries of princely estates. — Maupassant : The Farmer^ s Wife. C. By actual observation determine what is the best point from which to view (1) the interior of a certain church, (2) a busy store, (3) an entire village, (4) a winding stream, (5) an old mill, (6) a long avenue, (7) an old orchard, (8) a commencement audience, (9) a railway station on the arrival of a train. D. Suppose that you wanted to describe a picture gallery, and to include brief descriptions of some of the best pictures in it. What substitute for a fixed point of view would you adopt ? E. Suppose that you wished to make a description of a moving circus procession. What would be your best position ? F. Set down from memory in a list the things that you would mention in a description of the exterior of your own home. From what fixed point of view can they all be seen? Try that point of view yourself. Then revise your list. G. Suppose that you wished to describe two very unlike people by a running contrast. What device would you employ in order to secure an advantageous point of view of both ? THE ORDER OF OBSERVATION. 191 The Order of Observation. 59. There is a story of a German professor who, get- ting into an omnibus after a hard day's work, and see- ing his face reflected in the mirror at the front, but not recognizing it as his own, exclaimed mentally, " There's some worn-out old pedagogue ! " He recognized the type before he recognized the individual. His first look reported the class, " worn-out old pedagogue," and only after looking longer, a second or a third time, did he discover the individual traits that enabled him to iden- tify the image as that of a particular "worn-out old pedagogue " — himself. Each of us has had a similar experience when meeting some old friend whom we did not immediately "place" or recognize. The first look reported to us only "one of my old friends"; it re- quired further observations to ruark the traits which identified the particular friend. Examples might be multiplied. Entering a grove, we come upon several groups of people disposed in various ways and engaged in various employments. The first look reports "a picnic party " ; a second, third, or fourth look will be required to enable us to tell what each group is about. On a noisy street we may see a crowd about a man who is mounted on a box and speaking earnestly. Our first look may report nothing more than this. A second look shows us that he holds a bottle in his hand, and we at once register "patent medicine man." Or, if the second look shows us that he holds a leather-covered book and wears a military cap, we as readily make the mental note, " Salvation Army." The oftener we look, or (what is the same thing) the 192 DESCRIPTION. longer we look, the more details do we see. If we stand at the gate of a garden in July, our first look will give us nothing more than a vivid impression of bright colors in profusion. As we continue looking, the masses of color begin to arrange themselves in our mental picture, and we notice perhaps the plan and the extent of the garden. Only after repeated observations do we recog- nize in detail the individual objects and groups that make up the garden. In the presence of a building we are at first aware only of size, color, shape, and height. We must look repeatedly before our mental image will include the numerous lesser details. In all of these instances we notice that our first ob- servation gives us in more or less imperfect outline an image of the whole object or scene, and that this outline fills up with details as we repeat or continue our obser- vations. It is not true that " First we observe the sep- arate parts, then the unison of these parts, and finally the whole." The truth is that first we observe the whole, gaining from this observation a general impression, ac- curate in proportion to our familiarity with the thing observed, and then we notice the parts in their relation to the whole. 60. Assignments on the Order of Observation. A. Look for a moment down a busy street (an unfamiliar street if possible), and then, turning aside, make note of your first impression. Look a second time somewhat longer, and record the details of your second observation. Note especially what elements appear with greater clearness in your picture and what new ele- ments appear. B. Try the same experiment with a deep well, a tall chimney seen first from a distance and next at close quarters, an approach- THE OEDEB OF OBSERVATION. 193 ing street car at night, a freight train slowly disappearing around a curve, a boat coming into port. C. Walk rapidly by a shop-window, and note down the general impression and the things observed. Walk by a second time, and add to your list. D. Do you think that this description is written in the order of the writer's observations ? Give your reasons. The room in which the House meets is the south wing of the Capitol, the Senate and the Supreme Court being lodged in the north wing. It is more than thrice as large as the English House of Commons, with a floor about equal in area to that of Westminster Hall, 139 feet long by 93 feet wide and 36 feet high. Light is admitted through the ceil- ing. There are on all sides deep galleries running back- wards over the lobbies, and capable of holding two thousand five hundred persons. The proportions are so good that it is not till you observe how small a man looks at the farther end, and how faint ordinary voices sound, that you realize its vast size. The seats are arranged in curved concentric rows looking towards the Speaker, whose handsome marble chair is placed on a raised marble platform projecting slightly forward into the room, the clerks and the mace below in front of him, in front of the clerks the official stenographers, to the right the seat of the sergeant-at-arms. Each member has a revolving arm-chair, with a roomy desk in front of it, where he writes and keeps his papers. Behind these chairs runs a railing, and behind the railing is an open space into which some classes of strangers may be brought, where sofas stand against the wall, and where smoking is practised, even by strangers, though the rules forbid it. When you enter, your first impression is of noise and tumult, a noise like that of short, sharp waves in a High- 194 DESCBIPTION. land loch, fretting under a squall against a rocky shore. The raising and dropping of desk lids, the scratching of pens, the clapping of hands to call the pages, keen little boys who race along the gangways, the pattering of many feet, the hum of talking on the floor and in the galleries, make up a din over which the Speaker, with the sharp taps of his hammer, or the orators, straining shrill throats, find it hard to make themselves audible. Nor is it only the noise that gives the impression of disorder. Often three or four mem- bers are on their feet at once, each shouting to catch the Speaker's attention. Others, tired of sitting still, rise to stretch themselves, while the Western visitor, long, lank, and imperturbable, leans his arms on the railing, chews his cigar, and surveys the scene with little reverence. — Bryce : Ame7'ican Commonwealth. E. The next time you take a walk go in some new direction, and note the order of your impressions as you come suddenly upon an unfamiliar scene. F. Note your successive impressions as you ride swiftly through a village after dark, or as you stand in the presence of a waterfall. G. Does the following seem to reproduce the writer's impres- sions in the original order? When we came to the Court, there was the Lord Chan- cellor sitting in great state and gravity, on the bench, with the mace and seals on a red table below him, and an im- mense flat nosegay, like a little garden, which scented the whole Court. Below the table, again, was a long row of solicitors, with bundles of papers on the matting at their feet ; and then there were the gentlemen of the bar in wigs and gowns — some awake and some asleep, and one talking and no one paying much attention to what he said. The Lord Chancellor leaned back in his very easy chair, with his THE FUNDAMENTAL IMAGE. 195 elbow on the cushioned arm, and his forehead resting on his hand; some of those who were present dozed; some read the newspaper; some walked about, or whispered in groups : all seemed perfectly at their ease, by no means in a hurry, very unconcerned, and extremely comfortable. — Dickens : Bleak House. The Fundamental Image. 61. The order of our observation shows us what is the best order in which to describe objects or scenes so that others may see them as we see them. Since we see first, not the separate details, but the whole object or scene, receiving a general impression, more or less definite, of size, color, shape, or of the most striking characteristic, it is evident that we should begin our descriptions with this general impression. By beginning with the general impression we furnish our readers with what is called " the fundamental image " or " the comprehensive out- line." The following furnishes us with the fundamen- tal image resulting from the first glance or two at a harbor. How easy to make the mental picture as we learn at once of the size (in the word " vast "), the shape (in the words " semicircular basin "), the color (in '•'' blue sea "), and then, without delay, of the prom- inent objects that were seen at the same time, — the vessels, palaces, churches, gardens, terraces, etc. Only figure to yourself a vast semicircular basin full of fine blue sea, and vessels of all sorts and sizes, some sailing out, some coming in, and others at anchor ; and all around it palaces and churches peeping over one another's heads, gardens, and marble terraces full of orange and cypress 196 BESCBIPTION, trees, fountains and trellis- works covered with vines, which altogether compose the grandest of theatres. — Thomas Gray to Richard West, Genoa, November 21, 1739. Dickens gives in a single sentence Nicholas Nickleby's first impression of Dotheboys Hall : — While the schoolmaster was uttering these and other impatient cries, Nicholas had time to observe that the school was a long, cold-looking house, one story high, with a few straggling outbuildings behind, and a barn and stable adjoining. The fundamental image for a long description is often presented by means of a graphic comparison which gives at once the comprehensive outline. Sir Walter Scott {Ivanhoe^ chap, iii) explains the arrange- ment of the tables in the hall of Cedric the Saxon by saying that they formed a large T. Creasy com- pares the field of Marathon to a crescent. Shelley compares Lake Como to "a mighty river winding among the mountains and forests." De Quincey {Tlie EnglisJi Mail Coach^ Section 11) helps his reader to locate the scene of a thrilling adventure by the aid of the following note : — Suppose a capital Y : Lancaster at the foot of the letter ; Liverpool at the top of the right branch ; Manchester at the top of the left ; proud Preston at the centre where the two branches unite. It is thirty-three miles along either of the two branches ; it is twenty-two miles along the stem — viz. from Preston in the middle to Lancaster at the root. There's a lesson in geography for the reader. THE FUNDAMENTAL IMAGE. 197 Mark Twain prepares for his description of the cathedral of Milan by picturing it as it appeared at his first glimpse of it from the railway train. At last, a forest of graceful needles, shimmering in the amber sunlight, rose slowly above the pigmy house-tops, as one sometimes sees, in the far horizon, a gilded and pin- nacled mass of cloud lift itself above the waste of waves, at sea. — Innocents Abroad. In the description of a face (a portrait sketch), the fundamental image is often suggested by dwelling upon the most striking characteristic of the face, or by in- dicating the general impression first received by the beholder. Thus Carlyle begins his portrait of Dante, "To me.it is a most touching face." In the following also, the most striking characteristic is dwelt upon : — A carriage, drawn by four horses, dashed round the turn of the road. Within it, thrust partly out of the window, appeared the physiognomy of a little old man with a sMii as yellow as if his own Midas-hand had transmuted it. He had a low forehead, small, sharp eyes, puckered about with innumerable wrinkles, and very thin lips, which he made still thinner by pressing them forcibly together. — Hawthorne : The Great Stone Face. A low-spirited gentleman of middle age, of a meagre habit, and a disconsolate face. — Dickens : The Chimes. This gentleman had a very red face, as if an undue pro- portion of the blood in his body were squeezing up into his head ; which perhaps accounted for his having also the appearance of being rather cold about .the heart. — Dickens: The Chimes. 198 DESCRIPTION. He fixed his single glass in his eye with some difficulty and much gnawing motion of the jaw. — Agnes and Egerton Castle: The Secret Orchard, chap. xiv. Begin the description with the general impression or " funda- mental image " of the object to be described. 62. Assignments on the Fundamental Image. A. What is the fundamental image in the following ? 1. The vehicle sidled round the hill, resembling in its progress a very infirm crab in a hurry. 2. A cordon of blue regiments surrounded the city at first from Carondelet to North St. Louis, like an open fan. The crowds liked best to go to Compton Heights, where the tents of the German citizen-soldiers were spread out like so many slices of white cake on the green beside the city's reservoir. Thence the eye stretched across the town, catching the dome of the Court House and the spire of St. John's. Away to the west, on the line of the Pacific railroad that led halfway across the state, was another camp. Then another, and another, on the circle of the fan, until the river was reached to the northward, far above the bend. Within was a peace that passed understanding, — the peace of martial law ! — Churchill : The Crisis, p. 338. 3. I crossed the Forum at the foot of the Palatine, and ascending the Via Sacra, passed beneath the Arch of Titus. From this point I saw below me the gigantic outline of the Coliseum, like a cloud resting upon the earth. As I de- scended the hillside, it grew more broad and high, — more •definite in its form, and yet more grand in its dimensions, — till, from the vale in .which it stands encompassed by three of the seven hills of Eome, — the Palatine, the Coelian, THE FUNDAMENTAL IMAGE. 199 and the Esquiline, — the majestic ruin in all its solitary grandeur " swelled vast to heaven." — Longfellow : Outre-Mer. 4. The Bay of Monterey has been compared by no less a person than General Sherman to a bent fishing-hook ; and the comparison, if less important than the march through Georgia, still shows the eye of a soldier for topography. Santa Cruz sits exposed at the shank; the mouth of the Salinas River is at the middle of the bend ; and Monterey itself is cosily ensconced beside the barb. Thus the ancient capital of California faces across the bay, while the Pacific Ocean, though hidden by low hills and forest, bombards her left flank and rear with never-dying surf. In front of the town, the long line of sea-beach trends north and northwest, and then westward to enclose the bay. — Stevenson : Across the Plains. 5. As we drove into the great gateway of the inn, I saw on one side the light of a rousing kitchen fire beaming through a window. I entered and admired, for the hun- dredth time, that picture of convenience, neatness, and broad honest enjoyment, the kitchen of an English inn. It was of spacious dimensions, hung round with copper and tin vessels highly polished, and decorated here and there with a Christmas green. Hams, tongues, and flitches of bacon were suspended from the ceiling; a sm'okejack made its ceaseless clanking beside the fireplace, and a clock ticked in one corner. A. well-scoured deal table extended along one side of the kitchen, with a cold round of beef and other hearty viands upon it, over which two foaming tankards of ale seemed mounting guard. Travellers of in- ferior order were preparing to attack this stout repast, while others sat smoking and gossiping over their ale. — Irving : Sketch Book, 200 DIESCRIPTION, 6. The cottage was a quaint place of many rough-cast gables and gray roofs. It had something the air of a ram- bling infinitesimal cathedral, the body of it rising in the midst two stories high, with a steep-pitched roof, and sending out upon all hands (as it were chapter-houses, chapels, and tran- septs) one-storied and dwarfish projections. To add to this appearance, it was grotesquely decorated with crockets and gargoyles, ravished from some mediaeval church. The place seemed hidden away, being not only concealed in the trees of the garden, but, on the side on which I approached it, buried as high as the eaves by the rising of the ground. About the walls of the garden there went a line of well-grown elms and beeches, the first entirely bare, the last still pretty well covered with red leaves, and the centre was occupied with a thicket of laurel and holly, in which I could see arches cut and paths winding. — R. L. Stevenson : St. Ives. B. What indication of effects upon the beholder do you notice in the following ? 1. She glanced at the New Englander against whom she had been in strange rebellion since she had first seen him. His face, thinned by the summer in town, was of the stern- ness of the Puritan. Stephen's features were sharply marked for his age. The will to conquer was there. Yet justice was in the mouth, and greatness of heart. Conscience was graven on the" broad forehead. The eyes were the blue gray of the flint, kindly yet imperturbable. The face was not handsome. Struggling, then yielding to the impulse, Virginia let her- self be Led on into the years. Sanity was the word that best described him. She saw him trusted of men, honored of women, feared by the false. She saw him in high places, simple, reserved, poised evenly as he was now. — Churchill : Tlie Crisis. THE FUNDAMENTAL IMAGE. 201 2. I was coining home from some place at the end of the world, about three o'clock of a black winter morning, and my way lay through a part of town where there was liter- ally nothing to be seen but lamps. Street after street, and all the folks asleep — street after street, all lighted up as if for a procession and all as empty as a church — till at last I got into that state of mind when a man listens and listens and begins to long for the sight of a policeman. All at once, I saw two figures : one a little man who was stumping along eastward at a good walk, and the other a girl of may be eight or ten who was running as hard as she was able down a cross street. Well, sir, the two ran into one another natu- rally enough at the corner ; and then came the horrible part of the thing ; for the man trampled calmly over the child's body and left her screaming on the ground. ... I gave a view halloa, took to my heels, collared my gentleman, and brought him back to where there was already quite a group about the screaming child. He was perfectly cool and made no resistance, but gave me one look, so ugly that it brought out the sweat on me like running. The people who had turned out were the girl's own family ; and pretty soon, the doctor, for whom she had been sent, put in an appearance. Well, the child was not much the worse, more frightened, according to the Sawbones ; and there you might have sup- posed would be an end to it. But there was one curious circumstance. I had taken a loathing to my gentleman at first sight. So had the child's family, which was only natu- ral. But the doctor's case was what struck me. He was the usual cut-and-dry apothecary, of no particular age and color, with a strong Edinburgh accent, and about as emotional as a bagpipe. Well, sir, he was like the rest of us ; every time he looked at my prisoner I saw that Sawbones turn sick and white with the desire to kill him. — Stevenson : Jehyll and Hyde. 202 DESCRIPTION. C. What geometrical figure best expresses the fundamental image of (1) a certain church interior that you have in mind? (2) a baseball field? (3) a face? (4) a room? (5) a picnic ground? (6) a gymnasium floor? (7) a park? (8) a skating rink? (9) a Mexican hat? (10) a swimming pool? D. How is the effect of distance conveyed in the following? (Gloster is blind.) Edgar. Come on, sir ; here's the place. Stand still. How fearful And dizzy 'tis to cast one's eyes so low ! The crows and choughs that wing the midway air Show scarce so gross as beetles. Half way down Hangs one that gathers samphire, dreadful trade ! Methinks he seems no bigger than his head. The fishermen that walk upon the beach Appear like mice ; and yond tall anchoring bark Diminish'd to her cock ; her cock a buoy Almost too small for sight. The murmuring surge, That on the unnumber'd idle pebbles chafes, Cannot be heard so high. I'll look no more. Lest my brain turn and the deficient sight Topple down headlong. Gloster. Set me where you stand. Edgar. Give me your hand. You are now within a foot Of the extreme verge. For all beneath the moon AVould I not leap upright. — King Lear, Act IV, Scene 6. E. Try to express by some comparison the fundamental image for (1) the peculiar way in which a certain person walks, (2) the peculiar manner of speaking that you have noticed in some person, (3) the way in which a heavy, coach climbs a hill, (4) the move- ments of a very large, clumsy person, (5) the way in which a win- ning automobile, runner, or race-horse comes down the home stretch, THE FUNDAMENTAL IMAGE. 203 (6) the way in which a person picks his way across a muddy street, (7) the way in which a crowd enter a hall when the doors are first opened, (8) the approach of a thunder-storm, (9) the rising of the full moon, (10) the handwriting of some friend of yours, (11) the way in which a blue jay looks at you. Number and Selection of Details. 63. Evidently the number of details admitted to a description depends upon the purpose of the descrip- tion. (1) If the purpose is to give the reader complete in- formation, — as when a geographer describes a conti- nent, a scientist a rare plant or animal, a traveller a strange country, — we expect a long inventory of de- tails, both distinctive of the object and common to the class to which the object belongs. (2) If the purpose is to make it possible for the reader to identify -with certainty the object described, — as when a lost article is described to the finder that ownership may be proved, a street to a stranger trying to find a certain house in a large city, a fugitive from justice to an officer of the law, a house to an architect that he may make plans for another like it, — we ex- pect only details that are distinctive, or peculiar to the object described. (3) In most descriptions, how^ever, the purpose is not to give information more or less complete, nor to insure accurate identification ; it is simply to convey the writer's impression of the object, to let the reader know what feel- ings and moods were aroused in the presence of the ob- ject, and what, in a general way, the thing described was like. With this purpose in mind the writer does 204 DESCRIPTION. not aim at complete description. He selects the details that give the impression, or that create the mood, and lets the rest go. Sometimes a single characteristic will suggest to the reader' all that is needed, as when Homer compresses a description of Ulysses into the single epi- thet "crafty." Hawthorne suggests whole pages of detail when he speaks of the " black, moody brow " of Septimius Felton. The reader's imagination supplies what is missing. The writer may, however, give as many details as he pleases in conveying his impressions, provided all of the details, however minute, count towards the effect desired. In Ruskin's description of St. Mark's the reader is helped to some sense of the profusion of beauty in the cathedral by the unusually large number of things mentioned and the splendor of the diction employed. He may forget the details as soon as he has read them, but the impression of the cathedral's magnificence re- mains. In Tennyson's Mariana the details all serve to emphasize Mariana's loneliness. In Poe and Hawthorne the details of description at the outset of each tale all count toward a single impression. In the following ("When the Sap Rose," by "Q" in The Delectable Duchi/}, all the details of color and sound and smell suggest the coming of spring. Note also the verbs ; they suggest "motion — the awakening of spring. The road toward the coast dipped — too steeply for tight boots — down a wooded coombe, and he followed it, tread- ing delicately. The hollow of the V ahead, where the hills overlapped against the pale blue, was powdered with a faint brown bloom, soon to be green — an infinity of bursting buds. SELECTION OF DETAILS. 205 The larches stretched their arms upwards, as men waking. The yellow was on the gorse, with a heady scent like a pine- apple's, and between the bushes spread the gray film of com- ing bluebells. High up, the pines sighed along the ridge, turning paler; and far down, where the brook ran, a mad duet was going on between thrush and chaffinch — " Cheer up, cheer up, Queen ! " " Clip, dip, dip, and kiss me — Sweet ! " — one against the other. The first consideration, then, is the purpose of the description. When once the purpose is determined the writer may employ as many details as he thinks necessary for realizing the purpose; but the careful writer will not admit to his description any detail that does not count toward the purpose that he has in mind. In all kinds of writing it is a general principle to use the fewest means for producing the desired result. This principle is violated in description more often than in any other kind of writing. What to omit, what to leave to suggestion, is often a more important question for the writer of description than what to include. 64. Assignments on Selection of Details. A. From the impression produced on you by once reading, de- termine the purpose of each of the following descriptive passages, and then test each detail by asking what it contributes to the ac- complishment of the purpose. 1. There are seven pillars of Gothic mould In Chillon's dungeons deep and old, There are seven columns, massy and gray, Dim with a dull imprisoned ray, A sunbeam which hath lost its way. And through the crevice and the cleft Of the thick wall is fallen and left ; Creeping over the floor so damp. 206 DESCRIPTION. Like a marsh's meteor lamp : And in each pillar there is a ring, And in each ring there is a chain ; That iron is a cankering thing, , For in these limbs its teeth remain, With marks that will not wear away, Till I have done with this new day. Which now is painful to these eyes, Which have not seen the sun to rise For years — I cannot count them o'er, I lost their long and heavy score When my last brother drooped and died. And I lay living by his side. — Byron : Prisoner of Gliillon. 2. Bill Jenks was Captain Brent's senior pilot. His skin hung on his face in folds, like that of a rhinoceros. It was very much the same color. His grizzled hair, was all lengths, like a worn-out mop ; his hands reminded one of an eagle's claw, and his teeth were a pine yellow. — Churchill : The Crisis, p. 325. 3. I hardly know whether I am more pleased or annoyed with the catbird. Perhaps she is a little too common, and her part in the general chorus a little too conspicuous. If you are listening for the note of another bird, she is sure to be prompted to the most loud and protracted singing, drowning all other sounds ; if you sit , quietly down to observe a favorite or study a newcomer, her curiosity knows no bounds, and you are scanned and ridiculed from every point of observation. Yet I would not miss her; I would only subordinate her a little, make her less conspicuous. — Burroughs : Wake- Robin. 4. Broadway is miles upon miles long, a rush of life such as I never have seen ; not so full as the Strand, but so rapid. SELECTION OF DETAILS. 207 The houses are always being torn down and built up again, the railroad cars drive slap into the midst of the city. There are barricades and scaffoldings banging everywhere. I have not been into a house, except the fat country one but something new is being done to it, and the hammerings are clattering in the passage, or a wall or steps are down, or the family is going to move. Nobody is quiet here, no more am I. The rush and restlessness pleases me, and I like, for a little, the dash of the stream. I am not received as a god, which I like too. There is one paper which goes on every morning saying I am a snob, and I don't say no. Six people were reading it at breakfast this morning, and the man opposite me popped it under the tablecloth. But the other papers roar with approbation. — Letters of Thackeray, p. 159. 5. St. Helena is a conglomeration of rocks, apparently hove, by volcanic fires, from the bosom of the ocean. It is six thousand miles from Europe, and twelve hundred miles from the nearest point of land on the coast of Africa. This gloomy rock, ten miles long and six broad, placed beneath the rays of a tropical sun, emerges like a castle from the waves, presenting to the sea, throughout its circuit, but an immense perpendicular wall, from six hundred to twelve hundred feet high. There are but three narrow openings in these massive cliffs by which a ship can approach the island. These are all strongly fortified. — Abbott: Life of Napoleon. B. What is the significance of the last sentence in the follow- ing? As a fact, the Registrar wore a silk hat, a suit of black West of England broadcloth, a watch-chain made out of his dead wife's hair, and two large seals that clashed together when he moved. His face was wide and round, with a sanguine complexion, gray side whiskers, and a 208 DESCRIPTION. cicatrix across the chin. He had shaved in a hurry that morning, for the wedding was early, and took place on the extreme verge of his district. His is a beautiful office — recording day by day the solemnest and most mysterious events in nature. Yet, standing at the cross-roads, between down and woodland, under an April sky full of sun and southwest wind, he threw the ugliest shadow in the land- scape. — Q : The Delectable Duchy. C. What details of sound, odor, color, would you select if writ- ing a description of a very hot, still summer's day? a blustery March day? a cold, still winter day? Try a brief description of this kind. D. Describe a face, beginning with the general impression, emphasizing the most distinctive feature, but mentioning other features. See if from a number of photographs another person can pick out the one you have described. E. Stand outside of a machine shop or, of a sash factory and describe the different sounds that you hear. F. For purposes of identification describe some article that you have lost, or a book or picture the name of which you have forgotten. G. For purposes of information describe a Chinese mandarin, a new kind of pencil sharpener, a four-cell battery, the walking- beam of an oil derrick, a ghoul, a hay-fork, a T-rail, a postal car, a cruiser, a man-of-war, a still, a canal lock, a banshee, a trap, an automobile, the interior of a switch house, the apparatus for wire- less telegraphy, a spinning wheel, a Roman lamp. 65. Assignments in Description of Voices. A. From the following can you get a sound-image of a voice that is pleasant, and one of a voice that is unpleasant? Note carefully the phrases that suggest qualities of voice, and find, if you can, a word to express each quality suggested. DESCRIPTION OF VOICES. 209 I grieve to say it, but our people, I think, have not generally agreeable voices. The marrowy organisms, with skins that shed water like the backs of ducks, with smooth surfaces neatly padded beneath the velvet linings to their singing-pipes, are not so common among us as that other pattern of humanity with angular outlines and plane sur- faces, arid integuments, hair like the fibrous covering of a cocoanut in gloss and suppleness as well as color, and voices at once thin and strenuous ; acidulous enough to produce effervescence witn alkalis, and stridulous enough to sing duets with the katydids. I think our conversational soprano, as sometimes overheard in the cars, arising from a group of young persons, who may have taken the train at one of our great industrial centres, for instance — young persons of the female sex, we will say, who have bustled in, full-dressed, engaged in loud strident speech, and who, after free discussion, have fixed on two or more double seats, which having secured, they proceed to eat apples and hand round daguerreotypes — I say I think the conversa- tional soprano, heard under these circumstances, would not be among the allurements the old Enemy would put in requisition, were he getting up a new temptation of St. Anthony. — Holmes : TJie Autocrat of the Breakfast Table. B. Can you imagine from the following how Carlyle's laugh sounded ? After the most vehement tirade he would suddenly pause, throw his head back, and give as genuine and kindly a laugh as I ever heard from a human being. It was not the bitter laugh of the cynic, nor yet the big-bodied laugh of the burly joker; least of all was it the thin and rasping cackle of the dyspeptic satirist. But it was a broad, honest, human laugh, which beginning in the brain, took into its action the whole heart and diaphragm, and instantly changed the worn 210 DESCRIPTION. face into something frank and even winning, giving to it an expression that would have won the confidence of any child. Nor did it convey the impression of an exceptional thing that had occurred for the first time that day, and might never happen again. It rather produced the effect of some- thing habitual ; of being the channel, well worn for years, by which the overflow of a strong nature was discharged. It cleared the air like thunder, and left the atmosphere sweet. It seemed to say to himself, if not to us, " Do not let us take this too seriously ; it is my way of putting things. What refuge is there for a man who looks below the surface in a world like this, except to laugh now and then?" The laugh, in short, revealed the humorist; if I said the genial humorist, wearing a mask of grimness, I should hardly go too far for the impression it left. At any rate it shifted the ground, and transferred the whole matter to that realm of thought where men play with things. The instant Carlyle laughed, he seemed to take the counsel of his old friend Emerson, and to write upon the lintels of his doorway, " Whim." — Higginson : Atlantic, 48 : 464. C. Try describing the voice or laugh of some well-known person. Or work into one description a contrast of two ^ very different voices. Or describe the voices in a school reading class, touching each very briefly. 66. Assignments in Description of Sounds. Describe in one sentence, as vividly as you can, (1) the sound made in unloading a coal wagon through a chute, (2) the sound made by the chain of a rapidly moving bicycle, (3) the sound m&de by a bicycle bell sounded unexpectedly behind you, (4) the sound of oars in the water at a distance on a quiet evening, (5) the sound of footsteps on the sidewalk in the dead of night, (6) the sound made by some one walking through autumn leaves, (7) the sound made by a section hand driving spikes on the railroad, (8) the sound made by a large stone thrown into DETAILS OF LIFE AND MOVEMENT. 211 deep water, (9) the sound of cheering heard from a distance, (10) the sound of boisterous laughter coming from another room, (11) the sound of wagon wheels going through a pile of loose gravel, (12) the whinnying of a horse, (13) the sound of a train passing at full speed, (14) the sound of a covey of partridges rising. 67. Assignments for Details of Life and Movement. A. In the following description of a place, what details are introduced to produce the effect of life and movement ? On the coast of Maine, where many green islands and salt inlets fringe the deep cut shore line ; where balsam firs and bayberry bushes send their fragrance far seaward, and song sparrows sing all day, and the tide runs plashing in and out among the weedy ledges ; where cowbells tinkle on the hills and herons stand in the shady coves, — on the lonely coast of Maine stood a small gray house facing the morning light. All the weatherbeaten houses of that region face the sea apprehensively, like the women who live in them. This house of four people was as bleached and gray with wind and rain as one of the pasture rocks near by. There were some cinnamon rose bushes under the window at one side of the door, and a stunted lilac at the other side. It was so early in the cool morning that nobody was astir but some shy birds, that had come in the stillness of dawn to pick and flatter in the short grass. — Sarah Orne Jewett. B. Try writing a brief description of a house, introducing de- tails that produce the effect of life and movement. C. In the following description of a person what details add liveliness by indicating movement and action? He was smallish in stature, but well set and as nimble as a goat ; his face was of a good open expression, but sunburnt very dark, and heavily freckled and pitted with the small- pox ; his eyes were unusually light and had a kind of 212 DESCRIPTION. dancing madness in them, that was both engaging and alarm- ing ; and when he took off his greatcoat, he laid a pair of fine, silver-mounted pistols on the table, and I saw that he was belted with a great .sword. His manners, besides, were elegant, and he pledged the captain handsomely. Altogether I thought of him, at the first sight, that here was a man I would rather call my friend than my enemy. — Stevenson. D. Write a brief description of a person you know, introducing details that indicate movement and action. Sequence and Grouping of Details. 68. Many descriptions stop with the fundamental image, the most striking characteristic, or the result of a first observation. It is not often necessary to carry a description out to the minutest details. When this is necessary or desirable, it can easily be seen what the sequence and grouping of details should be. The fundamental image provides a place for all of the detaUs that can be mentioned. They are suggested by the words that convey the fundamental image ; they drop into place as they are named. The numerous details of Lowell's description of the perfect June day are all sug- gested by the word " rare " in his sentence, " And what is so rare as a day in June ? " The numerous details in Victor Hugo's description of the battle of Waterloo fall into the places provided for them by the fundamen- tal image — the capital letter A — as fast as they are named. Details are grouped, and the groups follow one another, therefore, in the order of their appearance to the observer, those that appear at the second observation being grouped together, then those that appear on each subsequent observation. Notice in the following how, GROUPING OF DETAILS. 213 after being given the fundamental image of two hundred trees standing in little groups or couples, we are asked to make separate observations first of a single tree, then of the groups severally. The author names the object he means to de- scribe. He foreshad- ows what he is going to remark upon, the indi- viduality of the trees and groups of trees. He shows how they are ar- ranged, namely, in groups and couples; and, after picturing a single one, he tells first about the groups — one group on a little hill, an- other out in the fields, a third on the northwest, and a fourth on the east — and then about the couples. I have in mind now a " sugar-bush " nestled in the top of a spur of the Catskills, every tree of which is known to me and assumes a distinct individuality in my thought. I know the look and quality of the whole two hundred ; and when on my annual visit to the old homestead I find one has perished, or fallen before the axe, I feel a personal loss. They are all veterans, and have yielded up their life's blood for the profit of two or three generations. They stand in little groups or couples. One stands at the head of a spring run, and lifts a large dry branch high above the woods, where hawks and crows love to alight. Half a dozen are climbing a little hill ; while others stand far out in the field as if they had come out to get the sun. A file of five or six worthies sentry the woods on the northwest, and confront a steep side-hill where sheep and cattle graze. An equal number crowd up to the line on the east ; and their gray, stately trunks are seen across meadows or fields of grain. Then there is a pair of Siamese twins, with heavy, bushy tops, while at the forks of a wood road stand the two brothers, with their arms aroimd each other's neck, and their bodies in gentle contact for a distance of thirty feet. 214 BE8CBIPTI0N. It is easy to note the stages in the next descrip- tion. The eye of the observer follows the road along the ridge to the church, where it dwells a moment; then it continues to the house, where it stops again ; then it takes in the garden with the hollyhocks and asters ; and finally rests upon the orchard. It is as if the writer unrolled a map before the reader, pausing at four places in order to permit a longer look ; it is like the lifting of four curtains one after another in a theatre. The reader experiences the pleasure of an observer before whom a fog is rolling away, revealing at each stage, as the fog recedes, some new and interesting sight on which his eye may rest. The setting for Miss Dunn's house. The front door opens into the garden. The garden leads to the orchard. Details of the orchard. The main road of the town traversed a long ridge from end to end ; the old church stood at the very top, blown by all the winds of heaven, like a ship on the high seas, and on the southern slope, close at the roadside, was Miss Dunn's house. The front of it faced the south, and the front door opened into a prim little garden, where some sheltered hollyhocks and china asters still lingered; beyond was an or- chard, where many of the old trees had died or been blown down, and had been replaced by young ones. The leaves were falling fast now, but nothing held on better than the apple and lilac leaves, and these were growing browner, and rustling louder when the wind blew, day by day. — Sarah Orne Jewett : A New Parish- ioner. SEQUENCE AND GROUPING. 215 In the following, likewise, the order is from the near to the remote. The approach. The driveway. The house. The orchard. Stubble fields. The river. Half a mile through the cool forest, the black dirt of the driveway flying from Vix- en's hoofs, and there was the Colfax house on the edge of the gentle slope, and beyond it the orchard, and the blue grapes and fields of yellow stubble. The silver smoke of a steamboat hung in wisps above the water. — Churchill: The Crisis, p. 65. 69. Assignment in Sequence and Grouping. In the following a large number of details are presented. On first reading there seems to be no designed order, yet at the end a whole series of clear pictures is impressed on the mind of the reader. Supply the summary in the margin so as to show the grouping of details. There is nothing that burns so resolutely as a hayrick; nothing that catches fire so easily. Children are playing with matches ; one holds the ignited match till it scorches the fingers, and then drops it. The expir- ing flame touches three blades of dry grass, of hay fallen from the rick, these flare im- mediately ; the flame runs along like a train of gunpowder, rushes up the side of the rick, singeing it as a horse's coat is singed, takes the straw of the thatch which black- ens into a hole, cuts its way through, the draught lifts it up the slope of the thatch, and in five minutes the rick is on fire irrecoverably. 216 DESCRIPTION. Unless beaten out at the first start, it is certain to go on. A spark from a pipe, dropped from the mouth of a sleeping man, will do it. Once well alight, and the en- gines may come at full speed, one five miles, one eight, two ten; they may pump the pond dry, and lay hose to the distant brook — it is in vain. The spread of the flames may be arrested, but not all the water that can be thrown will put out the rick. The outside of the rick where the water strikes it turns black, and dense smoke arises, but the inside core continues to burn till the last piece is charred. All that can be done is to hastily cut away that side of the rick — if any remains — yet untouched, and carry it bodily away. A hayrick will burn for hours, one huge mass of concen- trated, glowing, solid fire, not much flame, but glowing coals, so that the farmer may fully understand, may watch and study and fully comprehend the extent of his loss. It burns itself from a square to a dome, and the red dome grows gradually smaller till its lowest layer of ashes strews the ground. It burns itself as it were in blocks : the rick was really homogeneous ; it looks while aglow as if it had been constructed of large bricks or blocks of hay. These now blackened blocks dry and crumble one by one till the dome sinks. Under foot the earth is heated, so intense is the fire ; no one can approach, even on the windward side, within a pole^s length. SEQUENCE AND GROUPING. 217 A- widening stream of dense white smoke flows away upwards, flecked with great sparks, blackening the elms, and carrying flakes of burning hay over outhouses, sheds, and farmsteads. Thus, from the clouds, as it seems, drops further destruction. Nothing in the line of the wind is safe. Fine impalpable ashes drift and fall like rain half a mile away. Sometimes they remain suspended in the air for hours, and come down presently when the Are is out, like volcanic dust drifting from the crater. This dust lies soft and silky on the hand. By the burning rick, the air rushing to the furnace roars aloud, coming so swiftly as to be cold ;^ on one side intense heat, on the other cold wind. The pump, pump, swing, swing of the manual engines ; the quick, short pant of the steam fire-engine ; the stream and hiss of the water ; shouts and answers ; gleaming brass helmets ; fright- ened birds, crowds of white faces, whose frames are in shadow ; a red glow on the black, wet mud of the empty pond ; rosy light on the walls of the homestead, crossed with vast magnified shadows ; windows glistening; men dragging sail-like tarpau- lins and rick cloths to cover the sheds ; constables upright and quiet, but watchful, standing at intervals to keep order ; if by day, the strangest mixture of perfect calm and heated anxiety, the smoke bluish, the floating flakes visible as black specks, the flames tawny, pigeons fluttering round, 218 DESCRIPTION, COWS grazing in idol-like indifference to hu- man fears. Ultimately, rows of flattened and roughly circular layers of blackened ashes whose traces remain for months. — Jefferies : TJie Field-Play. 70. Miscellaneous Assignments. A. Write from actual observation a description on one of the following topics, or on another of similar character chosen by yourself : (1) the river before six o'clock in the morning, (2) the lake at night, (3) by the seaside on a rainy day, (4) football prac- tice at dusk, (5) the approach of fall in the park, (6) a blast-fur- nace at night. B. Are things placed in the following description so that you can make a ment.al picture ? Try a rough drawing or diagram to indicate the relative position of the things mentioned. Where is the describer standing ? Far, far below him, down the wooden steep, shot the crystal Meramec, chafing over the shallow gravel beds and tearing headlong at the deep passes. Beyond, the dimpled green hills rose and fell, and the stream ran indigo and silver. A hawk soared over the water, — the only living creature in all that wilderness. C. Read Cowper's poem, John Gilpin's Ride, and compare with Stothard's picture (Figure 3). What moment of the ride does the picture represent ? From imagination, describe the looks on the faces of John Gilpin's wife and children. D. Try to convey briefly in writing to another your feelings at some critical moment — a time of great danger, terror, joy, a moment when you received momentous news. E. Look at the picture of a landscape. Describe the part of the landscape not visible in the picture — as you know it must be or ought to be. GO eo n^ PS 219 220 DESCRIPTION. F. Describe the appearance of the scout in D^taille's L'Alerte (Figure 4) on his way to carry the news to headquarters. Do not forget movement and gesture. Figure 4. A TYPE STUDY IN DESCRIPTION. 221 A Type Study in Description. The following account of the battle of Gettysburg, written by Charles King {Between the Lines^ pp. 268-282), has been pro- nounced by Lord Wolseley, Lord Beresford, and General Fitz- wygram to be the " most perfect picture of a battle scene in the English language." It is really not one scene, but a succession of scenes, some of which are minutely described, while others are passed over very rapidly. It is like a panorama, one scene giving place to another. The larger divisions of the account may readily be noticed while the piece is being read the first time. The first two paragraphs get things ready ; they give us some idea of the situation before the battle scenes begin, — the character of the coun- try, outline of the field, relative positions of the combatants. The third and fourth paragraphs are occupied with the scenes about Custer's column on its way to the Round Tops across the plateau. The fifth and sixth paragraphs describe the scene about Rummel's barn. Finally comes the main description, — the scenes when Stuart's men encounter the Union forces and are driven back. It would be a good idea for the student, after reading the first three paragraphs and before proceeding further, to try making a rough map showing the positions of the Lutheran Seminary, Culp's Hill, the Round Tops, the peach orchard. Cemetery Ridge, the w^ooded slopes at the north, the plateau at the eastward, the Hanover Pike, Wolf Hill, the York road; then, while reading the rest of the piece, to make such corrections in the map as seem necessary. After completing the reading compare your map with those on pages 109, 160, and 165 in Chancellorsville and Gettysburg by A. Doubleday (^Campaigns of the Civil War), and for the benefit of one about to read King's description write a brief paragraph giving the relative position of the places named above. What figure would give a comprehensive outline of the whole field? The Battle of Gettysburg. [1] The whole brigade seemed to feel that it must do its best to show Major Kearny the pleasure his coming afforded 222 DESCRIPTION. every man. They all knew how he had never ceased his importunities to be sent to the front until the order was granted, and here he was just in time for Gettysburg. [2] Two anxious days had passed since Buford, far over on the left, had discovered the advancing infantry of Petti- grew and Archer; and, true to his instincts, had rushed straight at the throat of his foe and striven to hold and pin him there, west of the Lutheran Seminary, until the Army of the Potomac could come up and man that priceless ridge below the quaint old Pennsylvania town. Now the morning of the 3d had come — the climax of it all. In vain had Ewell forced his columns — Jackson's old men — to the as- sault of the boulder-strewn slopes of Gulp's Hill. In vain had Hood's Texans hurled their charging lines on the Eound Tops at the southern flank. The Union ranks had reeled and staggered under the repeated onsets ; the Union colors had been steadily beaten back from the Pike, and that famous peach orchard at the angle of Sickles's front ; but all the crest of Cemetery Ridge was crowned with black-mouthed batteries, and panting but determined battalions in the grimy blue; all the curving, wooded slopes at the north were watched by keen-eyed northern riflemen ; all the broad plateau to the eastward, far over as Westminster, was pow- dered with the dust of tramping columns, and glistening with sunshine reflected from the canvas covers of countless wagons. Here, too, were parked the reserve batteries ; here, too, the ammunition trains and the scores of ambulances; and all the beautiful, undulating, fertile farm land between them and the north lay open to the advance of hostile cavalry, but for the covering skirmish lines of the Second Division; and of these the old New Jersey was farthest to the front, crouching along the rail fence by the roadside and watching with eager eyes the fringe of wood on yonder opposite slope. " Stuart is back ! " " Stuart has rejoined Lee ! " These were A TYPE STUDY IN DESCRIPTION, 223 the words that passed from mouth to mouth that gorgeous July morning. Now look out for squalls ! Just at noon, when men and horses were gazing longingly at the forest shades along the ridges, and seeking shelter from the fierce rays of the July sun, there came the staff officer galloping over from Meade's headquarters with the stirring message, " Look well to your front ! Howard reports that he can see from Cemetery Hill great masses of cavalry marching out north of you. They must be forming behind those ridges now." [3] All the long, hot morning has been spent in compar- ative quiet. Custer and his " Wolverines " have scouted all the roads for a mile or more above the Hanover Pike. There are skirmishers in gray out beyond Wolf Hill, where Mcintosh and his dragoons joined the extreme right of Howard's corps. There are little scouting parties of Confederate horse twin- kling through the woods and farm enclosures up towards the York road. But just at one o'clock Custer with his fine brigade has started away under orders to march to the Round Tops across the intervening plateau whereon are all those dust-covered reserve batteries, ammunition wagons, and trains. He moves reluctantly, and with a shake of his curly head and a lingering glance over his shoulder at the wooded crest behind those substantial farm buildings a mile away northward across the open fields. " You may be attacked any minute," he says to the brigade commander. " Those woods are full of 'em by this time." And now, just as Kearny is shaking hands with his comrades, there bursts upon the startled ear the roar of the fierce cannonade that ushers in the afternoon of the 3d of July — a roar that speedily swells into the deafening thunder of the most stupendous duel of batteries ever heard on this continent. It is the two hours' prelude to Pickett's memorable and heroic assault, and for a few minutes the cavalry out on the distant flank can only 224 DESCRIPTION. look on and listen, awed by the magnificence of the sight and sound. The western edge of the plateau, three miles or more away, is presently shrouded in a cloud of sulphur smoke which, perpetually being rent and torn by flashing shells, closes promptly over the gaps and only gains in density. Then comes the call to action on the right. '' Skirmishers forward!'' ring the trumpets, and Dayton clasps for an in- stant Kearny's hand, then draws his sabre and gallops over to his advancing squadron. The brigadier has determined not to await attack, but to see for himself what is to be found along those forest-fringed heights across the level field. Whoever occupies them commands a view of the country for miles to the south, and takes " in "reverse " the line of battle of the Army of the Potomac and its parks of reserve batteries and supplies. W^^-t if Stuart should already be there ? What if even now, screened by those woods, he is forming his charging columns and preparing to come sweeping down on these slender lines, brush them to either side, and then go careering madly on, playing havoc among those defence- less trains ? Who can doubt the effect of such a dash when coupled with the grand assault now beginning from the west ? Who can say where ruin and disaster will be checked should this indeed prove to be his plan ? [4] Kearny has ridden back towards the Pike to rejoin the division commander, who comes spurring up with an anxious look overspreading his soldierly, bearded face. To- gether they rein in on a little knoll at the southeastern angle. Behind them in the highway Pennington's rifled guns are still unlimbered, for Custer's column is not yet clear of the field, and he does not move until his cavalry comrades are all on their way . In front is Chester's section, the cannoneers lying or squatting about the guns, the drivers dismounted and resting near their drooping horses. To the left, drawn up in close column of squadrons, are battalions of Union A TYPE STUDY IN DESCRIPTION. 225 horse almost grilling under the blazing sunshine ; but the eyes of all men follow the movements of that long skirmish line swinging boldly out across the farm fields towards those solid looking buildings of the thriving Pennsylvania hus- bandman. '^ RummePs barn " becomes the object of an in- terest it never knew before. [5] Suddenly up from the earth spring the men at the guns. A murmur of excitement flies along the mounted ranks. "Look at 'em!" "Yonder they come!" are the cries, and all in an instant, out from behind the farm buildings, out from the big, substantial barn, running into line, agile as monkeys, come scores of skirmishers in gray rushing for the low stone wall. In an instant both lines have opened fire, and the cavalry combat at the right flank has begun. [6] " Ha, I thought so ! " exclaims the general. " Look at the guns ! Stuart himself, as a matter of course." And out on the heights in the rear of the farm buildings — those coveted heights from which the whole field can be so plainly seen — two horse batteries trot briskly into view from the leafy shelter in which they have been lurking, and in an instant are whirling around into position. Before a shot can be rammed home, Chester and Pennington have saluted the newcomers, and with spiteful shriek the shells go whizzing over the heads of the intervening skirmishers, and the batteries have joined in the general uproar. Just about the time when the Union guns along Cemetery Ridge are cooling down for the reception of the assault so surely coming, far out here on the right flank their comrades with the cavalry brigades have taken up the chorus, and in a moment every gun is in full song. The Rummel barn is jetting fire-flash and smoke ; it is packed with sharp-shooters, before whose sheltered aim many a gallant fellow of the Jersey regiment is going down. Kearny feels a sudden sense of keen anxiety for Dayton, and longs to be allowed 226 DESCRIPTION. to dash out to the front, but his general knows a more effec- tive plan. A word to the young oflScer commanding the advanced guns, and the muzzles are depressed, the trails whipped suddenly to a slight change of direction, and in the next instant the shells are bursting under the barn roof itself, ripping and tearing the brittle woodwork, firing the haystacks, and emptying it of its human contents in the twinkling of an eye. The whole brigade sets up a cheer and laugh as the discomfited sharp-shooters come tumbling out, and, bending almost double, scurry for the shelter of the low stone wall. Another and a louder cheer bursts forth when, with a blare of trumpets, Custer, "ever ready for a fight," comes galloping back at the head of his gallant Michigan brigade and ploys his excited troopers into close column of squadrons, ready for anything as their sabres flash in air. One regiment he hurriedly orders in, dismounted, to cover the left of his column ; another to aid the thinned and bleeding rank of Jerseymen; a third, in saddle, dashes for the stone wall along the little stream at the western edge, just in time to meet there the flower of Virginia's cavalry and be borne back in the rush. There are ten minutes of wild excitement and stirring battle-cries — ten minutes of rally and countercharge, in which the Virginians in turn are outnumbered and hurled back. A brief breathing-spell for the horsemen while the gunners concentrate their fire on the batteries on the Cress ridge, and then — then comes the glorious episode of a never-to- be-forgotten day. [7] Just as Pickett's devoted lines are breasting the slopes for the final and desperate attempt to pierce the Union cen- tre, Cavalier Stuart, with all his chivalry at his back — six thousand glittering sabres at his beck and call — darts in to carry out his share of the well-planned combination. Watch- ing from his leafy covert at the summit back of Rummel's A TYPE STUDY IN DESCRIPTION. 227 house, he hears the signal guns of the Washington Artillery- far across the plateau ; he notes the mass of trains and wagons down towards the south, shielded only by that thinned and travel-worn division drawn up in front of the Hanover Pike. The time to strike has come, and, like poised falcon, his com- pact columns wait ready for the swoop. Behind him, in the open fields of the Stalsmith farm, are the brigades of Hamp- ton and Fitz-Hugh Lee. No leader on earth need seek for braver men or keener riders. There they sit in saddle, eager for the word — eager for their great part in the drama of the day ; — and now it comes. [8] Kearny has just galloped back to his general's side, his eyes flashing with excitement, the sweat pouring down from his forehead, panting with his exertions in rallying the scattered troopers on the left. Another regiment of the Michigan brigade has just trotted into close column under Custer's eye. The Jerseymen and Pennsylvanians are slowly retiring, with emptied cartridge-boxes, to where their horses await them in the woods by the " Low Dutch " road at the eastern verge, leaving the " Wolverines " to oppose the gray skirmishers along the little stream and among the farm buildings at Rummel's, when, at the very northern edge of the open fields — just at a gap in the forest-covered ridge — there rides into view a pageant at sight of which a murmur of admiration bursts from the Union ranks. Sweeping out upon the gentle slope, with fluttering guidons and waving plumes overhead, with sabres at the carry glistening in the unclouded sunshine, moving with stately ease and delibera- tion, forming squadron front as soon as the columns clear the gap and reach the broad expanse beyond, then closing in mass as they steadily advance, side by side come the fa- mous troopers of Wade Hampton and Fitz-Hugh Lee. Here are the men who have borne the flags of the Carolinas and Virginia to the very borders of the Susquehanna, and made 228 DESCRIPTION. them famous on a score of fields. Here are the raiders who have followed Stuart in many a dash around our jaded flanks and rear. Watch them as squadron after squadron gains its front and distance at the trot. Mark the steadiness and pre- cision of every move. Note that slow, stately half-wheel to their right as they descend the slope. That means they are coming square at Chester's guns, now just one mile away. •[9] See the rush and scurry among the dismounted skir- mishers midway up the field ! Out of the way with you, lads ! Run for your horses, every man of you ! Never heed those peppering riflemen in the barnyard now. Here come foemen worthy of your steel, and all the Union cavalry is athrill with excitement and enthusiasm. '' Mount ! mount ! " are the shouted orders. " Steady, now, men ! " the caution from many a squadron leader as the very horses seem to plunge and tug at the bits as though eager for the fray. Look at Custer, his curls floating in the rising breeze, his eyes kindling like coals of fire, his sinewy hand gripping the sabre-hilt, trotting up and down in front of his heart- throbbing lines, giving quick, terse words of instruction and warning. Bang! bang! go Chester's guns, sending their whirring compliments to the massive gray columns still placidly advancing at the walk ; and a cheer of exultation, not unmingled with low murmurs of soldierly pity, greets the sight of the exploding shells square in the midst of the beautiful division. But not one whit do they swerve or slacken. On still steadily they come, and now the field in front is cleared ; and now all the guns are hurling shell and case-shot ; and now the slow, stately advance becomes sud- denly shimmering and tremulous to the eye ; it only means that the pace has been quickened to the trot. A quarter mile at that gait, another at the gallop, and they will be here. [10] Now for our side ! " Meet them, Mcintosh ! Meet A TYPE STUDY IN DESCRIPTION 229 them, Custer ! " are the general's quick orders ; '^ but let them get well down this way. Do not charge until they are in line with the woods; then we've got 'em on both flanks, too." Capital plan that. Lining the fence by the roadside on the east are hundreds of kneeling troopers ready to open fire as the columns come sweeping by. Over on the west side, too, along the little run, are other skirmishers all ready for the coming host. Possibly Stuart does not see this — possibly does not care. Heedless of bursting shell and hissing lead ; silent, stern, inflexible, in exquisite order and perfect alignment, the Southern horse sweep grandly down the field. " Keep to your sabres, men ! '' is the order passed from rank to rank. Brandy Station, Aldie, and Up- perville have taught them the lesson that the revolver is no weapon to cope with the blade wielded by brawny North- ern arms. On they come, the ground trembling and rum- bling under the quickening tread of these thousands of hoofs. Listen ! " The gallop ! " Now, Michigan ! Now, New York and Pennsylvania! tighten your sabre-knots; take good grip ; touch boot to the centre ; keep your dress ; eyes straight to the front, and forward ! [11] "Major Kearny, gallop round to the New Jer- sey. Mount every man you can find, and order a charge on their left flank the instant we check them here ! Give 'em canister now, Mr. Chester ! " These are the last orders Kearny gets from his general this day of days. Putting spurs to his horse, he darts around the rear of Chester's guns just as "the advance" is ringing from the trumpets; clears the front of the squadrons issuing from the woods at rapid trot, and, glancing over his shoulder, sees the rush of the " Wolverines " up the field ; sees Custer, four lengths ahead, darting straight at the plunging host in gray ; hears the sudden burst of terrific yells with which the men of Stuart welcome the signal, " Charge ! " hears the fearful 230 DESCRIPTION. crash with which the heads of columns come together; marks the sudden silence of the cannon, useless now when friend and foe are mingled in death-grapple at the front, and with a din of savage war-cries, orders, shouts, shots, clashing sabres, and crunching hoofs ringing in his ears, he speeds on his way to the fence and the wood road, wihl with eagerness to rally his old comrades and lead them in. [12] Back among the trees to the right, whither the led horses had been conducted out of range, " there is mounting in hot haste," and thither gallops the young major, flashing his sabre in air, and calling to his old comrades to form their line. Rapidly he rides along the fence. " Mount, men, mount ! Quick, Dayton ! Quick, Hart ! " he shouts. ^' Form your men, and get in here on the edge of the field ! " But all along that fragile barrier are scores of troopers, kneeling or lying prone, blazing away at the dense, dust- covered, struggling mass of gray horsemen only three hun- dred yards away; and in the thunderous din no voice is audible beyond a rod or two. Dayton spurs up and down in the roadway until he has driven a dozen men back in search of their steeds. Hart gallops southward to where his squadron, mounted, is guarding the led horses in among the trees. Half a dozen Pennsylvanians, officers and men, come trotting up to Kearny, eager to be " counted in " if there is to be a charge; other troopers tear down a panel or two of fence, that the forming squadrons may get in from the dusty road. Out in the broad fallow field the uproar of the fierce combat swells and rages, and though the long, compact columns are still pushing on, the headlong speed of the charge is gone, the leading squadrons are swallowed up in cheering clouds of swordsmen dressed in the Union blue. The Southern leaders are hewing their way, fighting like tigers and yelling command and encouragement to their men, but those " Wolverines " of Custer have barred the A TYPE STUDY IN DESCRIPTION. 231 path ; scores of troopers from all over the field are bearing down on front and flanks ; Chester's guns have torn fearful rents in their now beleaguered column ; hundreds of steeds are rolling in agony on the turf, and hundreds of riders are bleeding and thrown. Eager troopers dash from their places in the rearward lines, and rush yelling to join the combat at the front. Hampton's battle-flag is waved on high and spurred through the mass of swaying chargers to animate the Carolinians to renewed effort ; but it is all practically unavailing; the impetus of the attack is done, and now, though outnumbering the horsemen swarming upon them from every side, Lee and Hampton are almost helpless. Relying on dash, weight, and inertia to sweep everything be- fore them, the Southern leaders have failed to provide for just this possibility. Now their gallant men are jammed together in one great, surging mass; only those on the flanks or front can use sabre or pistol ; the rest are useless as so many sheep. In vain their officers shout hoarse com- mands to open out, to cut their way to right or left. ' From east and west every instant fresh parties of Union horse come dashing in with new shock and impetus, hurling men from the saddle, adding to the clamor and confusion, utterly blocking every attempt of the gray troopers to wheel out- ward and hew a path to the relief of their struggling com- rades in the foremost lines. Kearny notes it all with mad exultation; Dayton's half-score of men and the Pennsylvania troopers are hurriedly ranging themselves in rank, when through the dust-cloud they catch sight of the battle-flag of Hampton's struggling forward in the midst of the Con- federate column. " There's our point ! " he shouts, as with flashing eyes he turns to the little troop. '' Come on, men ! " And, with Dayton at his side and the cheering line of horse- men at his back, down he goes in headlong dash upon the surging flank. Another instant and, with crash and shock 232 DESCRIPTION. that hurls many a rider from the saddle among the grind- ing hoofs below and overthrows a dozen plunging steeds, Kearny and his swordsmen are hewing their way into the very heart of Hampton's legion and making straight for the flag. There is a moment of fierce, thrilling battle, of vehe- ment struggling, of yells and curses and resounding blows and clashing steel and sputtering pistol shots ; a moment of mad excitement wherein he sees, but for a second of time, bearded, grimy, sweat-covered faces, lit up with battle-fire, that live in his memory for years ; a moment when every sense seems intensified and every nerve and siuew braced to fivefold force, and in the midst of it all, just as he spurs his charger to the standard-bearer's side and his sabre is raised to cut him down, and all around him is one wild yell and clamor, there springs between him and his prize a face and form he well remembers ; a bearded knight in gray and gold, whose gleaming steel dashes to one side the blow he aims at the standard-bearer's skull, and before he can parry in return has gashed his cheek from ear to chin. Kearny reels from the force of the blow, but firmly keeps his seat ; and though he is half stunned, his practised hand whirls his blade to the point, and sends it straight at the bared and brawny throat before him. An agile twist is all that saves the jugular ; but it is a well-nigh fatal move, unbal- ancing the horseman just as he is struck in flank by a stal- wart sergeant of Kearny's little troop, and down he goes, horse and rider crashing to earth in the centre of the strug- gling mass. Almost at this supreme moment, too, Kearny's buzzing ears are conscious of a tremendous cheer and thun- dering shock behind him. He hears Dayton's exultant yell of welcome to Hart and his charging squadron, and then he hardly knows what happens. He feels that the crowded mass about him is disintegrating, slipping away, edging back up the field. He finds that he is borne helplessly A TYPE STUDY IN DESCRIPTION, 233 with them. He is dizzy, faint, bleeding, and exhausted, and can only drift along ; and he hardly knows how to ac- count for it when, a few minutes later, he is leaning breath- less, against the shoulder of his panting horse, and Dayton, panting too, is at his side bathing and bandaging his muti- lated face. " Have we driven them ? " he gasps. " Driven them ? Look ! '' is the answer as Dayton points exultingly up the field. A cloud of dust is settling back to earth, shrouding many a group of prostrate, stiffening, or struggling men and horses ; but surging up the slopes down which they swept so gallantly but a little time before,*goes a disordered mass of fugitives, with Custer and Mcintosh, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Jersey cheering, hacking, hew- ing at their backs. The great cavalry fight is over, and Stuart is foiled. Even as Pickett's torn and cruelly shattered lines are drifting back from the assault on Hancock's stub- born front, their daring brethren were breaking before the sabres of Gregg's division — they had been sacrificed in a vain attempt. G. What point of view is indicated or implied for each of the scenes in the description given above? Mark every change in the point of view. How is the reader made aware of each change? Has Kearny anything to do with the point of view ? H. There is one instance of description by indication of effects in paragraph 3, one at the close of paragraph 8, one in 9, and several in paragraph 12. Find them all. I. Notice the verbs in paragraphs 6 and 12. Mark those that seem to you to produce the most vivid images. J. Note the order of observation in paragraphs 5 and 8. K. What figure of speech is employed to vivify the description in paragraph 2, in 3, in 7 ? L. Note the character of the adjectives in paragraphs 9 and 10. 234 DESCRIPTION. M. Describe your mental picture of Custer as gained from para- graph 9. What details appear in your picture besides those men- tioned ? N. Notice to what extent images of sounds are employed in the description. Are the sounds merely mentioned? 0. Read the following description by A. Doubleday (Chancel- lorsville and Gettysburg, pp. 199-202). It deals with the same sec- tion of the battle that is described above by King. What is the difference between the two descriptions in method and spirit? What is the difference in purpose ? When Lee learned that Johnson had yielded his position on th% right, and therefore conld not cooperate with Pickett's advance, he sent Stuart's cavalry around to accomplish the same object by attacking the right and rear of our army. Howard saw the Confederate cavalry moving off in that direction, and David McM. Gregg, whose division was near White's Creek where it crosses the Baltimore Pike, received orders about noon to guard Slocum's right and rear. Custer had already been contending with his brigade against portions of the enemy's force in that direction, when Gregg sent forward Mcintosh's brigade to relieve him, and followed soon after with J. Irving Gregg's brigade. Custer was under orders to join Kilpatrick's command, to which he belonged, but the exigencies of the battle soon forced Gregg to detain him. Mcintosh, having taken the place of Custer, pushed forward to develop the enemy's line, which he found very strongly posted, the artillery being on a commanding ridge which overlooked the whole country, and covered by dismounted cavalry in woods, buildings, and behind fences below. Mcintosh became warmly engaged and sent back for Randol's battery to act against the Confederate guns on the crest, and drive the enemy out of the buildings. The guns above were silenced by Pennington's and Randol's batteries, and the force below driven out of the houses by A TYPE STUDY IN DESCRIPTION. 235 Lieutenant Chester's section of the latter. The buildings and fences were then occupied by our troops. The enemy attempted to regain them by a charge against Mcintosh's right flank, but were repulsed. In the meantime Gregg came up with the other brigade, and assumed command of the field. The battle now became warm, for W. H. F. Lee's brigade, under Chambliss, advanced to support the skirmish line, and the First New Jersey, being out of ammunition, was charged and routed by the first Virginia. The Seventh Michigan, a new regiment which came up to support it, was also driven in ; for the enemy's dismounted line reenf orced the First Virginia. The latter regiment, which had held on with desperate tenacity, although attacked on both flanks, was at last compelled to fall back by an attack made by part of the Fifth Michigan. The contending forces were now pretty well exhausted when, to the dismay of our men, a fresh brigade under Wade Hampton, which Stuart had kept in reserve, made its appearance, and new and desperate exer- tions were required to stem its progress. There was little time to act, but every sabre that could be brought forward was used. As Hampton came on, our artillery under Pennington and E-andol made terrible gaps in his ranks. Chester's section kept firing canister until the Confederates were within fifty yards of him. The enemy were tempo- rarily stopped by a desperate charge on their flank, made by only sixteen men of the Third Pennsylvania Cavalry, under Captains Treichel and Rogers, accompanied by Captain New- hall of Mcintosh's staff. This little band of heroes were nearly all disabled or killed, but they succeeded in delaying the enemy, already shattered by the canister from Chester's guns, until Custer was able to bring up the First Michigan and lead them to the charge, shouting, " Come on, you Wol- verines!" Every available sabre was thrown in. General Mcintosh and his staff and orderlies charged into the melee as 236 DESCRIPTION, individuals. Hampton and Fitz-Hiigh Lee headed the enemy, and Custer our troops. Lieutenant Colonel W. Brook-Rawle, the historian of the conflict, who was present, says, " For minutes, which seemed like hours, amid the clashing of the sabres, the rattle of the small arms, the frenzied imprecations, the demands to surrender, the undaunted replies, and the appeals for mercy, the Confederate column stood its ground." A fresh squadron was brought up under Captain Hart of the First New Jersey, and the enemy at last gave way and re- tired. Both sides still confronted each other, but the battle was over, for Pickett's charge had failed, and there was no longer any object in continuing the contest. Stuart was undoubtedly baflSed and the object of his ex- pedition frustrated ; yet he stated in his official report that he was in a position to intercept the Union retreat in case Pickett had been successful. At night he retreated to regain his communications with Ewell's left. This battle, being off the official maps, has hardly been alluded to in the various histories which have been written ; but its results were important and deserve to be commem- orated. CHAPTER VIII. NARRATION. Narration and Description. ,71. It is not always easy to distinguisii narration from description, for one kind of discourse passes into the other by insensible gradations, and the two kinds are frequently mingled in one composition. But if we select a piece of writing that is undeniably description and another that is undeniably narration, and set them side by side, the essential points of difference will easily be seen. Making a comparison of this kind, put- ting, for example, the extract from Stevenson's Master of Ballantrae^ on p. 251 by the side of the description of a ^' sugar-bush," on page 213, we can detect in the nar- rative an element which is obviously lacking in the description. In the description of the sugar-bush the author seems to be painting a picture for us. It is as if we stood before a canvas and watched the lines taking form upon it under the painter's hand. In the narrative we are made aware of something more than a pictured scene. The characters in the narrative are not merely pictured : they live and move ; they talk and fight. More than this, the various particular things that they do form a well-defined series, which, taken as a whole, we may call a single action. We see this action begin ; we see it increase in interest ; we watch it run its course 237 238 NARRATION. and come to a conclusion. It is this life and movement, exhibiting itself in a series of closely connected incidents, which is the distinctive feature of all narration. 72. Assignments in Detecting Narration. A. Are the following selections narratives or descriptions? How much action is there in each of them ? 1. Soon he heard a sound as of a multitudinous scraping and panting, above which tinkled a bell. A cloud of dust rose from the road, showing, as it parted, the yellow fleeces and black legs and muzzles of a flock of Southdown sheep. He stood aside motionless upon the turf, to let them pass without hindrance ; but one of the timid creatures, neverthe- less, took fright at him, and darted down the slope, followed by an unreasoning crowd of imitators. It did not need a low faint cry from the shepherd, who loomed far behind above the cloud of white dust, himself spectral-looking in his long, grayish white smock-frock, to send the sheep-dog sweeping over the turf, with his fringes floating in the wind, and his tongue hanging from his formidable jaws, while he uttered short angry barks of reproof, and drove the truants into the path again. But again and again and yet again some indiscretion on the part of the timid little black-faces demanded the energies of their lively and fussy guardian, who darted from one end of the flock to the other with joyous rapidity, hustling this sheep, grumbling at that, barking here, remonstrating there, and driving the bewil- dered creatures hither and thither with a zeal that was occasionally in excess, and drew forth a brief monosyllable from his master, which caused the dog to fly back and walk sedately behind him with an instant obedience as delightful as his intelligent activity. The actual commander of this host of living things gave little sign of energy, but walked DETECTING NARRATION. 239 heavily behind his charges with a slow and slouching gait, partially supporting himself on his long crooked stick, and carrying under his left arm a lamb which bleated in the purposeless way characteristic of these creatures. Yet the shepherd's gaze was everywhere, and he, like his zealous lieu- tenant, the dog, could distinguish each of these numerous and apparently featureless creatures from the other, and every now and then a slight motion of his crook, or some inarticu- late sound, conveyed a whole code of instructions to the eager watchful dog, who straightway acted upon them. All this the young man motionless on the turf watched with interest as if a flock of sheep were something uncommon or worthy of contemplation ; and when they had all gone by, and the shepherd himself passed in review, his yellow sun- bleached beard shaken by the keen wind he was facing, he transferred his attention to him. "Blusterous," said the shepherd, making his crook approach his battered felt hat, when he came up with him. . " Very blusterous," answered the gentleman, nodding in a friendly manner, and going on his way. This was their whole conversation, and yet the shepherd pondered upon it for miles, and recounted it to his wife as one of the day's chie'f incidents. " And I zez to 'n ' Blusterous,' — I zez ; and he zez to me, ^ Terble blusterous,' he zez. Ay, that's what 'ee zed, zure enough," he repeated with infinitesimal variations, while smoking his after-supper pipe in his chimney-corner. Thus, you see, human intercourse may 1^ carried on in these parts of the earth with a moderate expenditure of words. — Edna Lyall. m 2. It was startlingly dark under the trees, and the alarmed shadows appeared to be hovering there as if to discuss the next move, and to find shelter meanwhile. A bat went by 240 NARRATION. me suddenly, and at that I stood still. I had not thought of bats, and of all creatures they seem most frightful and unearthly, — like the flutter. of a ghost's mantle, or even the wave and touch of its hand. A bat by daylight is a harm- less, crumpled bit of stupidity, but by night it becomes a creature of mystery and horror, an attendant of the powers of darkness. The white light in the sky grew whiter still, and under the thin foliage of a great willow it seemed less solemn. A bright little moon looked dowQ through the slender twigs and fine leaves — it might have been a new moon watching me through an olive-tree ; but I caught the fragrance of the flowers, and hurried toward them. I went back and forth along the garden walk, and I can never tell any one how beautiful it was. The roses were all in bloom, and presently I could detect the different colors. They were wet with dew, and hung heavy with their weight of perfume; they appeared to be sound asleep yet, and turned their faces away after I touched them. — Sarah Orne Jewett : TJie Confession of a Housebreaker, Effect of Narration. 73. Narration is, as a general thing, more interesting than description ; indeed, it surpasses, in power to arouse and hold the interest, all of the other forms of discourse. The other forms may be interesting in small quantities, or at certain seasons, or to particular persons ; but good narrative rarely palls. A large amount of it may be read consecutively, not only w^ithout weariness but with increasing exhilaration. It is so fascinating, indeed, that the appetite for it, like the appetite for strong drink, growing by what it feeds on, needs some- times to be held in check. Sir Philip Sidney recognizes this attractive power of narrative when in his Defence EFFECT OF NARRATION. 241 of Poetry he tells how the poet "coraeth unto you with a tale which holdeth children from play and old men from the chimney corner." One may sometimes see little children, in the sulks, and stubbornly unwilling to be brought out of them, stuff their fingers in their ears when a story is begun, knowing well that if they hear the opening words of it they cannot hold out against its charm. This magnetic and compelling power of narrative is due to two principal causes, both growing out of the fact that narrative is the representation of action. In the first place, action of almost any kind appeals strongly to our curiosity. When we are watching an action taking place before us, we are always curious to know what is to happen next. " We love," says Dr. John- son, " to expect, and when expectation is disappointed or gratified, we want to be again expecting." in nar- rative, since the action is continually going on, there is, until the end is reached, alvrays something to expect. The second cause of interest is found in the persons who appear in the action of the narrative. By acting these persons reveal their characters to us. As they pass before us, we see into their minds and read their thoughts and motives. This discovery of traits of character is a never failing source of pleasure. It is like making new and interesting acquaintances at each turn of the leaf. These two sources of interest, action and character, are used by all -writers of narrative, some depending almost -wholly upon the former, some almost -wholly upon the latter, for their success. Tiie best writers, however, combine the two, revealing to us in the actions of their personages 242 NARRATION. striking traits of character, but enhancing our interest in the personages by making the characteristics appear as the result of amusing or serious or terrible situations in which the actors are involved. 74. Assignments in the Eflfect of Narration. A. Recall a story in which the interest arises mainly from the action. Recall another in which the chief interest is in the characters. B. How is expectation aroused in the following narrative? How is it gratified ? Is the interest greater in the action or in the revelation of character ? On the afternoon of the 14th of June, 1727, two horse- men might have been perceived galloping along the road from Chelsea to Richmond. The foremost, cased in the jack -boots of the period, was a broad-faced, jolly-looking, and very corpulent cavalier ; but by the manner in which he urged his horse, you might see that he was a bold as well as a skilful rider. Indeed, no man loved sport better ; and in the hunting fields of Norfolk no squire rode more boldly after the fox, or cheered Ringwood or Sweettips more lustily than he who now thundered over the Richmond road. He speedily reached Richmond Lodge, and asked to see the owner of the mansion. The mistress of the house and her ladies, to whom our friend was admitted, said he could not be introduced to the master, however pressing the busi- ness might be. The master was asleep after his dinner ; he always slept after his dinner: and woe be to the person who interrupted him ! Nevertheless, our stout friend of the jack-boots put the affrighted ladies asi^e, opened the forbid- den door of the bedroom, wherein upon the bed lay a little SIMPLE INCIDENT. 243 gentleman; and here the eager messenger knelt down in his jack-boots. He on the bed started up; and with many oaths and a strong German accent asked who was there, and who dared to disturb him ? "I am Sir Robert Walpole/^ said the messenger. The awakened sleeper hated Sir Robert Walpole. " I have the honor to announce to your Majesty that your royal father, King George I., di^d at Osnaburg on Saturday last, the 10th instant/' " Dat is one big lie ! '' roared out his sacred Majesty King George II. But Sir Robert Walpole stated the fact, and from that day until three-and-thirty years after, George, the second of the name, ruled over England. — Thackeray : 2Tie Four Georges. Simple Incident. 75. The narrative may be very simple or it may be decidedly complex. The simplest kind of action will suffice for a highly interesting narrative if the vrriter only knows how to use it. A skilful teller of stories will content himself with those familiar, homely inci- dents which the Vicar of Wakefield called " migrations from the blue bed to the brown " ; and yet, by giving life and movement to his narrative, he will hold the interest of his readers from the beginning to the end. In the Confession of a Housebreaker^ for example. Miss Sarah Orne Jewett makes a pleasing story out of the simple fact that once on a summer morning she got up at three o'clock, walked about the garden, and went to bed again. Lowell, in the passage quoted on page 51, has constructed a narrative out of the doings of a pair of 244 NARRATION, yellow-birds who are trying to build a nest. The stories of Mr. Ernest Thompson-Seton, the animal studies of Miss Mary E. Wilkins, and the charming anecdotes of Miss Repplier about the cat, show how the seemingly trivial actions of animals, wild or tame, may be worked up into fascinating stories. The requisites of simple narrative are those of all good prose composition. The narrative must have unity, sequence, and climax ; that is to say, it must be all about dne subject, the various happenings must follow one after another in some regular order and be closely connected together, and the story must increase in interest from the beginning to the end. 76. Assignments in Relating an Actual Experience. A. There are interesting stories handed down in every family. Perhaps the following will make you recall some interesting incident that happened to your grandfather, or grandmother, or uncle, or some other relative. If so, write it out briefly. It was after the Eevolution. Manufactures, trade, all business was flat on its back. A silver dollar was worth seventy-five; corn was seventy-five dollars a bushel, board five hundred dollars a week. Landed property was worth- less, and the taxes were something awful. So the general dissatisfaction turned on the courts and was going to pre- vent collections. Grandfather Cobb was a judge of the probate court ; and when he heard that a mob was howling in front of the courthouse, he put on his old Continental regimentals, the old buff and blue, and marched out alone. " Away with your whining ! '' says he. "If I can't hold this court in peace, I will hold it in blood; if I can't sit as a judge, I will die as a general ! " Though he was one man to hundreds, he drew a line in the green, and told the mob that he would shoot with his own hand the first man that RELATING AN ACTUAL EXPERIENCE. 245 crossed. He was too many for the crowd, standing there in his old uniform in which they knew he had fought for them ; and they only muttered and after a while dispersed. They came again the next term of court ; but he had his militia and his cannon all ready for them, then ; and this time when they got their answer they took it, went off, and never came back. — Octave Thanet : A Son of the Revolution. B. The following may call to mind either a ghost-story that you have heard or some strange coincidence. If so, write it out in the form of a letter to a friend who is interested in such things. A very odd accident this year [1652] befell me, for being come about a law suit to London and lying in a lodging with my door fast locked (and by reason of the great heat that summer, all the side curtains being flung atop of the tester of my bed), I, waking in the morning about eight o'clock, and turning myself with intent to rise, plainly saw within a yard of my bedside, a thing all white like a standing sheet, with a knot atop of it, about four or five feet high, which I considered a good while, and did raise myself up in my bed to view the better. At last I thrust out both my hands to catch hold of it, but, in a moment, like a shadow, it slid to the foot of the bed, out of which I, leaping after it, could see it no more. The little belief I ever had in things of this nature made me the more concerned, and doubting lest some- thing might have happened to my wife, I rid home that day to Petworth in Sussex, where I had left her with her father, the Earl of Northumberland, and as I was going upstairs to her chamber, I met one of my footmen, who told me that he was coming to me with a packet of letters, the which I hav- ing taken from him went to my wife, who I found in good health, being in company with Lady Essex, her sister, and another gentlewoman, one Mrs. Ramsey. And, after the first salutation, they all asked me what made me to come 246 NARRATION. home so much sooner than I intended. Whereupon I told them what had happened to me that morning ; which they all wondering at desired me to open and read the letter that I had taken from the footman, which I immediately did, and read my wife's letter to me aloud, wherein she desired my speedy returning as fearing that some ill would happen to me, because that morning she had seen a thing all in white, with a black face, standing by her bedside, which had frightened her so much as to make her shriek out so loud that her woman came running into her room. I confess this seemed very strange, for by examining all particulars we found that the same day, the same hour, and (as near as can be computed) the same minute, all that had happened to me had befallen her, being forty miles asunder. The Lady Essex and Mrs. Ramsey are witnesses to both our relations. — Letters of Philip, 2d Earl of Chesterfield, p. 11. C. There is nobody but has taken part in, or been the victim or witness of, a practical joke or a well-planned trick. Make a brief story of one. D. Does the following remind you of any strange occurrence in Nature in your part of the country? If so, write it out in a letter to a friend who lives in a distant part of the country. The months of January and February, in the year 1774, were remarkable for great melting snow and vast gluts of rain ; so that by the end of the latter month the land-springs, or lavants, began to prevail and to be near as high as in the memorable winter of 1764. The beginning of March also went on in the same tenor ; when, in the night between the 8th and 9th of that month, a considerable part of the great woody hanger at Hawkley was torn from its place, and fell down, leaving a high free-stone cliff naked and bare, and resembling the steep side of a chalk-pit. It appears that this huge fragment, being perhaps sapped and undermined RELATING AN ACTUAL EXPERIENCE. 241 by waters, foundered, and was ingulfed, going down in a perpendicular direction ; for a gate which stood in the field, on the top of the hill, after sinking with its posts for thirty or forty feet, remained in so true and upright a position as to open and shut with • great exactness, just as in its first situation. Several oaks also are still standing, and in a state of vegetation, after taking the same desperate leap. That great part of this prodigious mass was absorbed in some gulf below, is plain also from the inclining ground at the bottom of the hill, which is free and unencumbered ; but would have been buried in heaps of rubbish, had the frag- ment parted and fallen forward. About a hundred yards from the foot of this hanging coppice stood a cottage by the side of a lane ; and two hundred yards lower, on the other side of the lane, was a farmhouse, in which lived a laborer and his family ; and just by, a stout new barn. The cottage was inhabited by an old woman, and her son, and his wife. These people in the evening, which was very dark and tem- pestuous, observed that the brick floors of their kitchens began to heave and part; and the walls seemed to open, and the roofs to crack ; but they all agree that no tremor of the ground, indicating an earthquake, was ever felt ; only that the wind continued to make a most tremendous roaring in the woods and hangers. The miserable inhabitants, not daring to go to bed, remained in the utmost solicitude and confusion, expecting every moment to be buried under the ruins of their shattered edifices. When daylight came they were at leisure to contemplate the devastations of the night ; they then found that a deep rift, or chasm, had opened under their houses, and torn them, as it were, in two ; and that one end of the barn had suffered in a similar manner : that a pond near the cottage had undergone a strange reverse, becoming deep at the shallow end, and so vice versa ; that many large oaks were removed out of their perpendicu- 248 NARRATION, lar, some thrown down, and some fallen into the heads of neighboring trees ; and that a gate was thrust forward, with its hedge, full six feet, so as to require a new track to be made to it. From the foot of the cliff the general course of the ground, which is pasture, inclines in a moderate descent for half a mile, and is interspersed with some hillocks, which were rifted, in every direction, as well towards the great woody hanger as from it. In the first pasture the deep clefts began ; and running across the lane, and under the buildings, made such vast shelves that the road was impassable for some time ; and so over to an arable field on the other side, which was strangely torn and dis- ordered. The second pasture-field, being more soft and springy, was protruded forward without many fissures in the turf, which was raised in long ridges resembling graves, lying at right angles to the motion. At the bottom of this enclosure the soil and turf rose many feet against the bodies of some oaks that obstructed their farther course, and termi- nated this awful commotion. — White : The Natural History of Selhorne, Letter xlv. E. In the foregoing selections are there any sentences or parts of sentences that might be omitted without hurting the story? At what part of each story were you most interested ? Assignment in Narrative Partly Invented. 77. Complete the following. Rewrite from the beginning and introduce more descriptive detail, if you wish : — One afternoon we visited a cave out of which a little stream found its way, much to our discomfort when we crawled through the doorway. Once inside, however, we were able to walk upright. Sam led, a lighted candle in his hand; George and I followed close after. I didn't like the gloom and the dampness and secretly wished that Sam COMPLEX NARRATIVE. 249 would propose to turn back. All at once, I heard a queer noise ahead, like a rustle. It seemed to be close to the roof and to be coming nearer. Sam stopped — Complex Narrative. 78. Although, as we have seen, the most simple kind of action may suffice for an interesting narra- tive, yet, speaking generally, the interest may be en- hanced by giving to the narrative a more complicated character. This may be accomplished by introducing into the action some obstacle to its further progress, or, what amounts to the same thing, by setting two opposing forces at work. The action then takes on the form of a struggle, combat, or chase. Consider one or two simple illustrations. Let us suppose that a mason is engaged in laying the last course of brick at the top of a tall chimney. It is after six o'clock and the work- man is hungry, but he wishes to finish the course before he stops. So he continues to work. At last the final brick is in place. He throws down his trowel, puts on his coat, descends the scaffold to the ground, and goes to supper. These are incidents of a simple kind which a skilful writer of narrative might weave into a pleas- ing though not very exciting story. Now let us see if by introducing some obstacle we cannot increase the interest. Let us suppose that a high wind has been blowing all day. The workman, as he is placing the last brick, hears a crash and the sound of falling timbers. Looking over the side of the chimney, he discovers to his dismay that the whole structure of the scaffolding, weakened at some point by the buffetings of the wind, has fallen to the ground. There he is, two 250 NARRATION. hundred feet in the air, supperless, with nightfall com- ing on and no means of getting down or even of attract- ing the attention of his fellows. Here, it is obvious, is material for an exciting story. Or, to take an example of a different kind, suppose the case of a boy who walks home through a lonely path in the woods without meet- ing anything except a couple of squirrels ; and suppose again the case of the same boy, who midway of the path encounters a ferocious bear. In both the story of the workman and the story of the boy the introduction of the obstacle — to the descent of the workman in one case, to the further progress of the boy in the other — brings about a situation of an interesting and exciting kind. Our curiosity is strongly aroused to know what is going to happen next, and we wonder what the out- come will be. ^ A narrative in which an obstacle is interposed to interrupt the free action of the chief character or characters of the story, and thus to complicate the incidents, is said to have plot The clash between the character and the obstacle, or between the two opposing forces, is called the collision. The attitude of strained expectancy with which we await the outcome of the struggle is termed suspense. Every story which has plot, or complication of inci- dents, may thus be said to consist of two principal ele- ments : — (1) an actor, or a set of actors, who are trying to carry out some purpose ; and (2) an obstacle, consisting of things or persons, which opposes, either passively or actively, this pur- pose. Since the action goes on in a particular place or in particular places, we may add to the foregoing COMPLEX NARRATIVE. .251 (3) the element of the setting or surroundings of the story. In the following narrative the two opposing charac- ters are the Master and Mr. Henry. Either one may be considered as the chief character, to which the other is the obstacle. The plot arises from the collision be- tween these two characters, the collision in this case taking the form of a duel. As we watch the combat our suspense increases steadily until the fall of the Master, when it reaches its highest point. The setting is indicated in the second, third, and seventh sentences, — "a windless stricture of frost," "^the blackness," " the frozen path," " the frosted trees." I took up the candlestick and went before them, steps that I would give my hand to recall ; but a coward is a slave at the best; and even as I went, my teeth smote each other in my mouth. It was as he had said, there was no breath stirring; a windless stricture of frost had bound the air; and as we went forth in the shine of the candles, the black- ness was like a roof over our heads. Kever a word was said, there was never a sound but the creaking of our steps along the frozen path. The cold of the night fell about me like a bucket of water ; I shook as I went with more than terror; but my companions, bare-headed like myself and fresh from the warm hall, appeared not even conscious of the change. ''Here is the place," said the Master. "Set down the candles." I did as he bid me, and presently the flames went up as steady as in a chamber in the midst of the frosted trees, and I beheld these two brothers take their places. " The light is something in my eyes," said the Master. 252 NARRATION. " I will give you every advantage," replied Mr. Henry, shifting his ground, '^ for I think you are about to die." He spoke rather sadly than otherwise, yet there was a ring in his voice. "Henry Durie," said the Master, "two words before I begin. You are a fencer, you can hold a foil; you little know what a change it makes to hold a sword ! And by that I know you are to fall. But see how strong is my situation ! If you fall, I shift out of this country to where my money is before me. If I fall, where are you? My father, your wife who is in love with me — as you very well know — your child even who prefers me to yourself: — how will those avenge me ! Had you thought of that, dear Henry ? " He looked at his brother with a smile ; then made a fencing-room salute. Never a word said Mr. Henry, but saluted too, and the swords rang together. I am no judge of the play, my head besides was gone with cold, and fear, and horror ; but it seems that Mr. Henry took and kept the upper hand from the engagement, crowding in upon his foe with a contained and glowing fury. Nearer and nearer he crept upon the man till, of a sudden, the Master leaped back with a little sobbing oath ; and I believe the movement brought the light once more against his eyes. To it they went again, on the fresh ground; but now methought closer, Mr. Henry pressing more outrageously, the Master beyond doubt with shaken confidence. For it is beyond doubt he now recognized him- self for lost, and had some taste of the cold agony of fear ; or he had never attempted the foul stroke. I cannot say I followed it, my untrained eye was never quick enough to seize details, but it appears he caught his brother's blade with his left hand, a practice not permitted. Certainly Mr. Henry only saved himself by leaping on one side ; as SUPPLYING THE OBSTACLE. 253 certainly the Master, lunging in the air, stumbled on his knee, and before he could move, the sword was through his body. I cried out with a stifled scream, and ran in ; but the body was already fallen to the ground, where it writhed a moment like a trodden worm, and then lay motionless. — Stevenson : Master of Ballantrae, pp. 137-139. 79. Assignments in Supplying the Obstacle. A. Introduce into the following simple narrative some obstacle that will create suspense and plot-interest. Rewrite from the beginning if you wish. Here I live with tolerable content : perhaps with as much as most people arrive at, and what, if one were properly grateful, one would perhaps call perfect happiness. Here is a glorious sunshiny day : all the morning I read about Nero in Tacitus, lying at full length on a bench in the garden : a nightingale singing, and some red anemones eyeing the sun manfully not far off. A funny mixture all this : Nero, and the delicacy of Spring ; all very human, however. Then at half past one lunch on Cambridge cream cheese ; then a ride over hill and dale ; then spudding up some weeds from the grass ; and then coming in, I sit down to write to you, my sister winding red worsted from the back of a chair, and the most delightful little girl in the world chattering inces- santly. So runs the world away. ---B. Supply some fitting obstacle for one of the following nar- rative subjects and write the story in full. 1. A little journey in an automobile. 2. Going for the mail. 3. How we put up our telephone line. 4. A visit to cousin Frank's. 5. A night in a haunted house. 6. How I paid back ten dollars. 7. Tacking round the Point. 8. Dressing for the party. 254 NARRATION. Blinds of Obstacle. 80. The obstacle to the action of the chief character may be of many different kinds. It may be some physical thing, like a high stone wall, which bars the progress of an escaping prisoner, or a head wind, which, to the dis- tress of two long-parted souls, delays a homeward bound ship. It may be an animal, like the lion in Christian's path or the dragon in Siegfried's. It may be another person, or a group of persons, who by malice or by chance thwart the desires of the hero. Finally, it may be simply a conviction in the mind of the actor himself which fights against his own bad impulses and hinders him from pursuing the path he had hastily chosen. The inward struggles of the hero in chapters XV and XVI of Tom Brown at Oxford are directed against an obstacle of this latter kind. The obstacle sometimes means more than appears on the surface. It may represent hidden laws and forces. For example, a fallen tree pinning a woodman to the ground represents a natural force. The woodman is fighting, not the tree but the law of gravitation. An outlaw surrounded by a sheriff's posse is fighting not merely a company of men, but the law of the land. 81. Assignments in the Kind of Obstacle. A. What is the character of the obstacle In Longfellow's Evangeline f in Scott's Lady of the Lake ? in Hale's Man Without a Country? in Stevenson's Treasure Island? in Shakespeare's Julius Ccesar? or in any other story that you have read? B. Find a short story in one of the magazines ; bring it to class. Be prepared to point out the place where the obstacle is THE BEGINNING, 255 first introduced or hinted at. Let the class guess how the obstacle is overcome. Development of the Plot. 82. Aristotle, writing more than two thousand years ago, laid down the principle that a plot should have a be- ginning, a middle, and an end. He meant that it should begin in a natural and effective way, should grow in interest up to a certain point (usually somewhat beyond the middle), and should come to a fitting conclusion. It will be helpful to consider these three parts, or stages, of the narrative in turn. The Beginning. 83. In the first part of the narrative the characters are introduced, the place in which the action goes on is named and perhaps described, and the action itself is set going. It is often well to begin the action at once, — with the opening sentence if possible. The characters and the setting should be brought in as the action goes on and by means of the action. The narrative quoted on page 242 illustrates well a beginning of this kind. A beginning which prefaces the action by an elaborate description of the characters and the setting is usually tedious, and always less effective than it should be. 84. Assignments on the Beginning. A. What kind of story is predicted by each of the following beginnings, — humorously proposed by Robert Louis Stevenson in one of his letters to W. £. Henley ? Do they give both setting and characters? Propose a fitting obstacle for each. 256 NARRATION. Chapter I. The night was damp and cloudy; the ways foul. The single horseman, cloaked and booted, who pursued his way across Willesden Common had not met a traveller, when the sound of wheels — Chapter I. "Yes, sir," said the old pilot, "she must have dropped into the bay a little afore dawn. A queer craft she looks." "She shows no colors," returned the yojing gentleman, musingly. "They're a-lowering of a quarter-boat, Mr. Mark," re- sumed the old salt. " We shall soon know more of her." "Ay," replied the young gentleman called Mark, "and here, Mr. Seadrift, comes your sweet daughter Nancy trip- ping down the cliff." " God bless her kind heart, sir," ejaculated old Seadrift. Chapter I. The notary, Jean Rossignol, had been summoned to the top of a great house in the Isle of St. Louis to make a will ; and now, his duties finished, wrapped in a warm roquelaure and with a lantern swinging from one hand, he issued from the mansion on his homeward way. Little did he think what strange adventures were to befall him ! — B. Each of the following sentences announces the first appear- ance of the obstacle. Supply an appropriate beginning for one of them. 1. Suddenly right in front of the three girls a vicious- looking tramp sprang from behind the big tree. 2. Their way was blocked by the flames. 3. He was halted by a sudden impulse. THE MIDDLE. 251 4. The ice began to crack all about them. 5. The ladder would not reach. The Middle. 85. After the characters and the setting have been introduced the obstacle usually appears. Then begins the clash of the opposing forces, which may take a variety of forms, according to the character of the chief actor and the nature of the obstacle. When the actor en- counters the obstacle his first impulse, if he is a man of spirit, is to overcome it. He tries to break it down or to destroy it or to move it out of his path. Failing in this, he attempts to get over or around it. These endeavors result in the incidents of the story. As the struggle goes on, the interest grows more and more intense until it reaches its highest point, or, as it is sometimes termed, its climax. The actor puts forth his utmost endeavors. The reader waits with breathless expectancy. Something happens — the most momen- tous thing in the story. The tension is then released, and the story, if it does not end at the climax, goes on to a fitting conclusion. 86. Assignments on the Middle. A. In the following narratives where is the obstacle first brought into play ? What is the climax, or the highest point of the collision ? Where is the climax ? 1. I will describe a single combat of a very terrible nature I once witnessed between two little spiders belonging to the same species. One had a small web against a wall, and of this web the other coveted possession. After vainly trying by a series of strategic movements to drive out the lawful owner. 258 NARRATION. it rushed on to the web, and the two envenomed little duelists closed in mortal combat. They did nothing so vulgar and natural as to make use of their falces, and never once actually touched each other, but the fight was none the less deadly. Eapidly revolving about, or leaping over, or passing under, each other,' each endeavored to impede or entangle his adver- sary, and the dexterity with which each avoided the cun- ningly thrown snare, trying at the same time to entangle its opponent, was wonderful to see. At length, after this equal battle had raged for some time, one of the combatants made some fatal mistake, and for a moment there occurred a break in his motions; instantly the other perceived his advantage and began leaping backward and forward over across his struggling adversary with such rapidity as to confuse the sight, producing the appearance of two spiders attacking a third one lying between them. He then changed his tactics and began revolving round and round his prisoner, and very soon the poor vanquished wretch — the aggressor, let us hope, in the interests of justice — was closely wrapped in a silvery cocoon, which, unlike the cocoon the caterpillar weaves for itself, was also its winding-sheet. — Hudson : The Naturalist in La Plata, p. 193 2. And so the soldiers stand to their arms, or lie within instant reach of their arms, all night; being upon an en- gagement very difficult indeed. The night is wild and wet ; — 2d of September means 12th by our calendar : the Har- vest Moon wades deep among clouds of sleet and hail. Whoever has a heart for prayer, let him pray now, for the wrestle of death is at hand. Pray, — and withal keep his powder dry ! And be ready for extremities, and quit him- self like a man! — Thus they passed the night; making that Dunbar Peninsula and Brock Rivulet long memorable to me. We English have some tents ; the Scots have none. THE MIDDLE. 259 The hoarse sea moans bodeful, swinging low and heavy against these whinstone bays; — the sea and the tempests are abroad, all else asleep but we, — and there is One that rides on the wings* of the wind. . . . And now is the hour when the attack should be, and no Lambert is yet here, he is ordering the line far to the right yet ; and Oliver occasionally, in Hodgson's hearing, is im- patient for him. The Scots, too, on this wing, are awake ; thinking to surprise us ; there is their trumpet sounding, we heard it once ; and Lambert, who was to lead the attack, is not here. The Lord General is impatient ; — behold Lam- bert at last ! The trumpets peal, shattering with fierce clangor Night's silence ; the cannons awaken all along the Line : " The Lord of Hosts ! " " The Lord of Hosts ! '' On, my brave ones ; on ! — The dispute ''on this right wing was hot and stiff, for three-quarters of an hour." Plenty of fire, from field-pieces, snaphances, matchlocks, entertains the Scotch main-battle across the Brock; — poor stiffened men roused from the corn-shocks with their matches all out ! But here on the right, their horse, " with lances in the front rank," charge desperately ; drive us back across the hollow of the Rivu- let; — back a little; but the Lord gives us courage, and we storni home again, horse and foot, upon them, with a shock like tornado tempests ; break them, beat them, drive them all adrift. " Some fled towards Copperspath, but most across their own foot." Their own poor foot, whose matches were hardly well alight yet ! Poor men, it was a terrible awakening for them : field-pieces and charge of foot across the Brocksburn ; and now here is their own horse in mad panic trampling them to death. Above three-thousand killed upon the place : " I never saw such a charge of foot and horse," says one ; nor did I. . Oliver was still near to Yorkshire Hodgson when the shock succeeded; Hodg- 260 NARRATION. son heard him say, " They run ! I profess they run ! '' And over St. Abb's Head and the German Ocean just then burst the first gleam of the level Sun upon us, " and I heard Nol say, in the words of the Psalmist, ^Let^God arise, let His enemies be scattered.'" — Carlyle : Oliver Cromwell^ vol. i, p. 465. B. Continue one of Stevenson's beginnings (p. 256) until you have (1) introduced an obstacle; (2) produced a struggle; (3) reached a climax. Or begin a new story and carry it through these three stages. The following may suggest a story : — 1. A poor tenement district in New York. — Children play on roofs. — A mother, going away to work all day, tethers her four-year-old to one of the chimneys, at end of long clothes- line. — Firemen in engine-house across street startled to see a child dangling high in mid-air at end of a line. — At- tempted rescue. — Longest ladders barely reach. — At last tallest fireman at top of longest ladder manages to get within reach. — Suddenly child slips out of rope and (horror of crowd below) disappears utterly. — Widow Murphy on fire- escape at third floor later discovers a four-year-old playing on a mattress that she had put out on fire-escape to air. 2. Two boys living in an abandoned mining district are walking along a slope when one suddenly sinks through the surface. — Other tries to rescue him and also falls in. — After long exploring, they finally come out in the vegetable- cellar of a house half a mile away. 3. A young girl in a large city is compelled by a drunken mother to beg on the street. — Girl's conscience revolts at the lies she must tell day after day. — Some of her experi- ences. — Hits upon a plan for honest self-support. — A queer profession — repairer of rag dolls. — Final success, and re- form of the mother. THE END. 261 4. Two boys in a big city high school have exactly the same name, though not related — one a fine student; other careless, rich, and a failure. — At end of term, each takes home the other's report card. — How the matter was straight- ened out. The End. 87. A narrative may close in several different ways. The chief actor, after struggle with the obstacle, may succeed in overcoming it and go on his way rejoicing. In that case we have a cheerful conclusion. Or he may struggle with it and be overcome by it and die. In that case we have a painful conclusion. Sometimes it appears in the course of the story that the chief character is himself responsible for the obstacle. With his own hand, however unwittingl}^ he put it there. He dug the pit into which he himself falls. The trap he set for some one else catches him. Some slight defect in his character, or the indulgence of some whim, turns out to be an obstacle to the fulfilment of his dear- est hopes. Then, if the end is the death or ruin of the hero, we have what is called a tragic ending. In a well-constructed plot there is but one main line of incidents. Along this track the action presses right forward to its goal, — the climax. Minor incidents there may be in abundance, but upon examination they will be found to be so used as to contribute in some way to the forward movement of the main action. The incidents of this action are closely bound together. Each one, after the first, grows naturally out of the incident that precedes it, and each one except the last grows naturally into the incident that follows it. The 262 NARRATION. test of a good plot was stated by Aristotle in the fol- lowing words, and no one since his time has improved upon it : ''The plot," says Aristotle, "being a representa- tion of action, must be the representation of one complete action, and the parts of the action must be so arranged that if any be transposed or removed, the Twrhole vrill be broken up and disturbed; for Tvhat proves nothing by its inser- tion or omission is no part of the -whole." 88. Assignments on the Plot. A. Examine the conclusions of the several narratives quoted in the preceding pages of this chapter. Is the conclusion in each case expected? What is its nature? B. Analyze the following narratives, pointing out (1) the ele- ments of the story, that is, the opposing forces, and the setting ; (2) the nature of the obstacle ; (3) the character of the beginning; (4) the means of exciting suspense ; (5) the point of highest in- terest; (6) the nature of the conclusion. Then taking it up sentence by sentence, show how each part of the narrative con- tributes to the development of the plot. See whether any of the sentences can be taken out or transposed without disturbing the unity and sequence of the whole. 1. On topping some rising ground we again sighted ante- lope. 2. The hood was then slipped from the chetah's head. 3. He saw the animals at once ; his body quivered all over with excitement, the tail straightened, and the hackles on his shoiilders stood erect, while his eyes gleamed, and he strained at the cord, which was held short. 4. In a second it was unfastened, there was a yellow streak in the air, and the chetah was crouching low some yards away. 5. In this position, and taking advantage of a certain unevenness of the ground which gave him cover, he stealthily crept forward toward a buck that was feeding some distance THE PLOT. 263 away from the others. 6. Suddenly this antelope saw or scented his enemy, for he was off like the wind. 7. He was, however, too late ; the chetah had been too quick for him. 8. All that was to be seen was a flash, as the supreme rush was made. 9. This movement of the chetah is said to be, for the time it lastfs, the quickest thing in the animal world, far surpassing the speed of a race-horse. 10. Cer- tainly it surprised all of us, who were intently watching the details of the scene being enacted in our view. 11. The pace was so marvellously great that the chetah actually sprang past the buck, although by this time the terrified animal was fairly stretched out at panic speed. 12. This over- shooting the mark by the chetah had the effect of driving the antelope, which swerved off immediately from his line, into running round in a circle, with the chetah on the out- side. 13. The tongas were then galloped up, and the excite- ment of the occupants can scarcely be described. 14. In my eagerness to see the finish, I jumped off and took to run- ning, but the hunt was soon over, for before I could get quite up, the chetah got close to the buck, and with a spring at his haunches, brought him to the ground. 15. The leop- ard then suddenly released his hold, and sprang at his vic- tim's throat, throwing his prey over on its back, where it was held when we arrived on the spot. — Century, 47 : 574. 2. The first interest was attracted toward the combat of Niger with Sporus; for this species of contest, from the fatal result which usually attended it, and from the great science it required in either antagonist, was always pecul- iarly inviting to the spectators. They stood at a considerable distance from each, other. The singular helmet which Sporus wore (the visor of which was down) concealed his face; but the features of Niger attracted a fearful and universal interest from their com- 264 NARRATION. pressed and vigilant ferocity. Thus they stood for some moments, each eyeing each, until Sporus began slowly and with great caution to advance, holding his sword pointed, like a modern fencer's, at the breast of his foe. Niger re- treated as his antagonist advanced, gathering up his net with his right hand, and never taking his small glittering eyes from the movements of the swordsman. Suddenly, when Sporus had approached nearly at arm's length, the retiarius threw himself forward and cast his net. A quick inflection of body saved the gladiator from the deadly snare. He uttered a sharp cry of joy and rage, and rushed upon Niger ; but Niger had already drawn in his net, thrown it across his shoulders, and now fled round the lists with a swiftness which the persecutor in vain endeavored to excel. The people laughed and shouted aloud, to see the ineffectual efforts of the broad-shouldered gladiator to overtake the flying giant. " A Sporus ! a Sporus ! " shouted the populace, as Niger, having now suddenly paused, had again cast his net, and again unsuccessfully. He had not retreated this time with sufficient agility, — the sword of Sporus had inflicted a severe wound upon his right leg ; and, incapacitated to fly, he was pressed hard by the fierce swordsman. His great height and length of arm still continued, however, to give him no despicable advantages ; and steadily keeping his trident at the front of his foe, he repelled him successfully for several minutes. Sporus now tried, by great rapidity of evolution, to get round his antagonist, who necessarily moved with pain and slowness. In so doing, he lost his caution, — he advanced too near to the giant, — raised his arm to strike, and received the three points of the fatal spear full in his breast! He sank on his knee. In a moment more the deadly net was cast over him, he struggled against its meshes in vain. Again, — again, — again he writhed THE POINT OF THE STORY. 265 mutely beneath the fresh strokes of the trident ! His blood flowed fast through -the net and redly over the sand ! He lowered his arms in acknowledgment of defeat. — BuLWER : Last Days of Pompeii, Bk. V, chap. ii. C. Make a plot for a story from one of the following combina- tions : — 1. A careless lawyer, a lost will, two misdirected letters. 2. A fighting dog, a small boy, an organ-grinder with monkey, a policeman. 3. An auction, a picture, a tramp, a rich buyer. 4. A school fire at night, a class flag, a venturesome boy. 5. A school club with nothing to do, a poor widow, a house with leaky roof, a boy, a speech. The Point of the Story. 89. Every good narrative has a "point," a meaning, a central idea, which is its reason for coming into existence and its excuse for being told at all. Sometimes the point is obvious, as in the fable, where it takes the form of a moral plainly stated at the close. But in most cases the point is not stated ; the reader is left to draw it out as best he can from the incidents of the narrative. In still other cases the writer takes pains to conceal the point of his story because he fears that too plain an ex- hibition of it will check the reader's interest. 90. Assignment on the Point of the Story. What is the point of the following story of the Man and the Good People ? State it in a single brief sentence. Alan was the first to come round. He rose, went to the border of the wood, peered out a little, and then returned and sat down. 266 NARRATION. ^^ Well," said he, ''yon was a hot burst, David." I said nothing, nor so much as lifted my face. I had seen murder done, and a great, ruddy, jovial gentleman struck out of life in a moment ; the pity of that sight was still sore within me, and yet that was but a part of my con- cern. Here was murder done upon the man Alan hated; here was Alan skulking in the trees and running from the troops ; and whether his was the hand that fired or only the head that ordered, signified but little. By my way of it, my only friend in that wild country was blood-guilty in the first degree ; I held him in horror ; I could not look upon his face ; I would have rather lain alone in the rain on my cold isle, than in that warm wood beside a murderer. " Are ye still wearied ? " he asked again. "JSTo," said I, still with my face in the bracken; "no, I am not wearied now, and I can speak. You and me must twine," I said. ''I liked you very well, Alan; but your ways are not mine, and they're not God's ; and the short and the long of it is just that we must twine." " I will hardly twine from ye, David, without some kind of reason for the same," said Alan, gravely. " If ye ken anything against my reputation, it's the least thing that ye should do, for old acquaintance' sake, to let me hear the name of it ; and if ye have only taken a distaste to my society, it will be proper for me to judge if I'm insulted." "Alan," said I, "what is the sense of this? Ye ken very well yon Campbell-man lies in his blood upon the road." He was silent for a little ; then, says he, " Did ever ye hear tell of the story of the Man and the Good People ? " — by which he meant the fairies. " No," said I, " nor do I want to hear it." "With your permission, Mr. Balfour, I will tell it you, whatever," says Alan. " The man, ye should ken, was cast upon a rock in the sea, where it appears the Good People CHARACTER AND PLOT. 267 were in use to come and rest as they went through to Ireland. The name of this rock is called the Skerry vore, and it's not far from where we suffered shipwreck. Well, it seems the man cried so sore, if he could just see his little bairn before he died! that at last the king of the Good People took peety on him, and sent one flying that brought back the bairn in a poke ^ and laid it down beside the man where he lay sleeping. So when the man woke, there was a poke be- side him and something into the inside of it that moved. Well, it seems he was one of those gentry that think aye the worst of things ; and for greater security, he stuck his dirk throughout that poke before he opened it, and there was his bairn dead. I am thinking to myself, Mr. Balfour, that you and the man are very much alike." — R. L. Stevenson : Kidnapped, chap, xviii. Character and Plot. 91. Not less interesting than the suspense of the plot is the revelation of striking traits of character. The insides of men's minds are hidden from us. Their words give us but a faint idea of their real thoughts and feelings and motives. We are always eager to probe the mystery. Now comes the novelist, a Thack- eray or a George Eliot, and with a stroke lays bare the inmost recesses of his hero's mind. The effect is star- tling. It is like looking into the depths of the sea and finding there unsuspected beauties and horrors. Certain characters lend themselves more readily to the purposes of plot construction than do other charac- ters. Certain qualities of mind bring people into conflict with their fellow-men. For example, a cautious, unam- 268 NARRATION. bitious man with all his wits about him will manage to slip through the world and into his grave without a single adventure ; but a highly ambitious, impulsive, mettlesome person, with some striking defects of char- acter, will make out of life one long Donny brook Fair. A good illustration of this latter type of character is seen in Alan Breck, the friend of David Balfour, in Stevenson's Kidnapped. No matter what company he is in, he is always on the verge of a quarrel. The springs and impulses to action on the part of the characters are known as their motives. It is important that the motives and the acts should coincide. If the character does something without reason, we say that a motive is lacking. For example, to make a character say something funny just because you happen to think of something funny that you want to put into the story ; to make another commit a crime just because you want a crime committed in that part of the story, is to dis- regard the motives. Sometimes, however, the motives are concealed throughout the course of the narrative, and come to light only at the close. This is illustrated in a rather amusing way by the following selection : — Mr. W. H. Hudson writes agreeably in Longman^ s of Selborne Revisited, and tells incidentally an owl story which Gilbert White himself need not have shamed to own. Mr. Hudson, verifying an admiration of the author of Selhorne, went out at dusk to see Alton Church. A shower came as he stood in the churchyard. " By and by a vague figure appeared out of the clouds, travelling against the wind towards the spire, and looking more like a ragged piece of newspaper whirled about the heavens than any living thing. It was a white owl, and CHARACTER. 269 after watching him for some time I came to the conclusion that he was trying to get to the vane on the spire. A very idle ambition it seemed, for although he succeeded again and again in getting to within a few yards of the point aimed at, he was on each occasion struck by a fresh violent gust and driven back to a great distance, often quite out of sight in the gloom. But presently he would reappear, still struggling to reach the vane. A crazy bird ! but I could not help admiring his pluck, and greatly wondered what his secret motive in aiming at that windy perch could be. And at last, after so many defeats, he succeeded, and grasped the metal cross-bar with his crooked talons. The wind, with all its fury, could not tear him from it, and after a little flapping he was able to pull himself up ; and then, bending down, he deliberately wiped his beak on the bar and flew away ! This, then, had been his powerful, mysteri- ous motive — just to wipe his beak, which he could very well have wiped on any branch or barn roof or fence, and saved himself that tremendous labor ! "This was an extreme instance of the tyrannous effect of habit on a wild animal. Doubtless this bird had been accustomed, after devouring his first mouse, to fly to the vane, where he could rest for a few minutes, taking a general view of the place, and wipe his beak at the same time ; and the habit had become so strong that he could not forego his visit even on so tempestuous an evening. His beak, if he had wiped it anywhere but on that lofty cross-bar, would have seemed not quite clean.'^ 92. Assignments on Character. A. In the following narrative what are the principal traits of character of the registrar? of the registrar's mother? How are these traits brought out in the story ? Can you see the registrar's face as it appeared, first, when he caught up the piece of turf, and 270 NARBATION. second, when his mother rushed out of the cottage ? Describe his expression at each of these junctures. The Eegistrar's mother lived in the fishing-village, two miles down the coombe. Her cottage leant back against the cliff so closely, that the boys, as they follow*ed the path above, could toss tabs of turf down her chimney ; and this was her chief annoyance. Now, it was close on the dinner-hour, and she stood in her kitchen beside a pot of stew that simmered over the wreck-wood fire. Suddenly a great lump of earth and grass came bouncing down the chimney, striking from side to side, and soused into the pot, scattering the hot stew over the hearthstone and splashing her from head to foot. Quick as thought, she caught up a besom and rushed around the corner of the cottage. " You stinking young adders ! " she began. A big man stood on the slope above her. "Mother, cuff my head, that's a dear. I couldn't help doin' it." It was the elderly Registrar. His hat, collar, tie, and w^aistcoat were awry ; his boots were slung on the walking- stick over his shoulder ; stuck in his mouth and lit was a twist of root-fibre, such as country boys use for lack of cigars, and he himself had used, forty years before. The old woman turned to an ash color, leant on her besom and gasped : — "William Henry!" "Pm not drunk, mother; been a Band of Hope these dozen years." He stepped down the slope to her and bent his head low. " Box my ears, mother, quick ! You used ta have a wonderful gift o' cuffin'." " William Henry, I'm bound to do it or die." " Then be quick about it." CHARACTER, 271 Half -Ian gliing, half-sobbing, she caught him a feeble cuff, and next instant held him close to her old breast. The Eegistrar disengaged himself after a minute, brushed his eyes, straightened his hat, picked up the besom, and offered her his arm. They passed into the cottage together. — QuiLLER-CoucH : " When the Sap Eose " (in TJie Delectable Duchy) . B. What traits of character are brought out most clearly in each of the following anecdotes, and by what methods ? Describe the expression and appearance of the little girl when she says, " I don't believe the story about the wolf ; " of William Penn and the king, when the king makes his reply; of Wendell Phillips when the slave gives his reason for remaining ; of the ancient monk when he sees that the lamp has been extinguished. Find for each story a title derived from the traits of character exhibited by the actors. 1. Here is an interesting anecdote of Jacob Grimm. Some of our readers will remember that one of his prettiest tales ends with the words " whoever refuses to believe this story owes me a thaler." One winter morning a little Jewish girl rang the door-bell and asked the servant if Herr Professor Jacob Grimm was at home. When informed that he was not, she said politely, " Will you please hand him this thaler when he returns ? " The servant took the coin, glanced at it curiously, and inquired who sent it and what it was for. " I owe him the money myself," said the little girl. " Why ? What for ? " " Because I don't believe the story about the wolf." 2. Charles the Second once granted an audience to the courtly Quaker, William Penn, who, as was his custom, entered the royal presence with his hat on. The humorous sovereign quietly laid aside his own, which occasioned Penn's inquiry : " Friend Charles, why dost thou remove thy hat ? " 272 NARRATION. " It is the custom/' he replied, " in this place for one person only to remain covered." 3. Before the civil war Wendell Phillips, the di stinguished abolitionist, went to Charlestown, and put up at a hotel. He had breakfast served in his room, and was waited upon by a slave. Mr. Phillips seized the opportunity to represent to the negro in a pathetic way that he regarded him as a man and brother, and, more than that, that he himself was an abolitionist. The negro, however, seemed more anxious about the breakfast than he was about his position in the social scale or the condition of his soul, and finally Mr. Phillips became discouraged and told him to go away, say- ing that he could not bear to be waited on by a slave. '' You must 'sense me, massa," said the negro ; " I is 'bliged to stay here 'cause Pm 'sponsible for de silverware." 4. Mahomet made the people believe that he would call a hill to him, and from the top of it offer up his prayers for the observance of his law. The people assembled. Ma- homet called the hill to come to him again and again ; and when the hill stood still he was never a whit abashed, but said, " If the hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the hill." 5. A certain traveller of practical mind once visited a famous shrine where a holy lamp had been kept burning for five and, as some said, for eight hundred years. An ancient monk showed him the lamp. "Yes, noble Pilgrim," he said, " I have watched it for sixty years, and the good father who was before me, he tended it for seventy- one, so that the everlasting flame has had but two guardians in a hundred and thirty years." " And before that ? " asked the traveller. '' Before that, noble Pilgrim ? Ah ! we do not know. All we know, for the books show it, is that the everlasting CHARACTER. 273 flame has not been out for five hundred years ; it is said, indeed, for eight hundred, but that is tradition. Here is a copy of the book — would his excellency like to see it ? " — and the monk turned to reach down the volume. " Never been out ? " Puff. " Well,'' added the traveller reflectively, "anyway, I guess that it is out now! " C. Observe how the characters of Lord Dudley and Washington are brought out in the anecdotes below. Try to exhibit in an equally striking way, by means of a similar anecdote, the character of an acquaintance. 1. Lord Dudley was regular as clock-work — not only in his hours but also in his habits. He could not dine comfort- ably without apple-pie, which, properly made, is a wholesome and excellent dish. Dining, when Foreign Secretary, at Prince Esterhazy's — a grand dinner — he was terribly put out on finding that his favorite delicacy was wanting, and kept murmuring, pretty audibly, in his absent way, " God bless my soul, no apple-pie ! " 2. When Stuart was painting Washington's portrait, he was rallied one day by the General for his slow work. The painter protested that the picture could not advance until the canvas was dry, and that there must be yet some delay. Upon arriving next morning, Stuart turned his canvas and discovered, to his great horror, that the picture was spoiled. " General," said he, " somebody has held this picture to the fire." Washington summoned his negro valet, Sam, and de- manded of him, in great indignation, who had dared to touch the portrait. The trembling Sam replied, that, chanc- ing to overhear Washington's expression of impatience at the slowness of the work, and the response of the artist that it must dry before he could go on, he had ventured to put the canvas before the fire. Washington, with great 274 NARRATION. anger, dismissed him, and told him not to show his face again. But the next day, after Stuart had arrived and was pre- paring to work, Washington rang the bell, and sent for Sam. He came in abashed and trembling. The President drew a new silver watch from his pocket, and said : — " Come here, Sam. Take this watch, and whenever you look at it, remember that your master, in a moment of pas- sion, said to you what he now regrets, and that he was not ashamed to confess that he had done so." Conversation and Dialogue. 93. The parts of a story in which the characters speak in their own person are always highly interesting. Most readers turn with satisfaction from the solid page in which things are reported by the author in his own words, to the page that is broken by conversation and dialogue of the characters themselves. Good conversa- tion gives added life and significance to the story. It is part of the very genius of narrative since it carries the story forward, whereas descriptive passages (often intentionally and properly) seem to delay the story. Readers who have the bad habit of " skipping " seldom skip the conversations. It is not always possible, or best, to use conversation in a story, and good conversa- tion is the hardest part of a story to write ; yet every story may contain some. conversation, and it is a good plan to use conversation -vvrherever it suggests itself. Good conversation should accomplish one or both of two things for the story. (1) It should give hints of character; the reader makes constant inferences about the speaker's traits CONVERSATION AND DIALOGUE, 275 from his talk. We infer also differences in the cjiarac- ters from what they say. When all of the conversation of a given speaker causes the reader to make harmonious and consistent inferences about that speaker's character, the talk of that speaker is said to be in character. When any remark of a speaker causes an inference not intended by the author, the remark is said to be not in character, because inconsistent with the conception that had been given. To make interesting conversation that shall at the same time be significant is the aim of every story- teller. (2) Conversation should also give hints of action ; it should help on the plot ; if it does not actually carry the plot forward, it should deepen our sense of its sig- nificance. It must be admitted, however, that in some stories the cleverness of the conversation is prized for its own sake, regardless of other considerations. • 94. Assignments on Conversation and Dialogue. A. What inferences of character and personal traits do you make from the conversation of the following story? What lines carry forward the plot ? They nicknamed him Corp because he took fits, when he lay like one dead. He was proud of his fits, was Corp, but they were a bother to him, too, because he could make so little of them. They interested doctors and other carriage folk, who came to his aunt's house to put their fingers into him, and gave him sixpence, and would have given him more, but when they pressed him to tell them what he re- membered about his fits, he could only answer dejectedly, " Not a thing." ^' You might just as well no have them ava," his wrathful 276, NARRATION, aunt, with whom he lived, would say, and she thrashed him until his size forbade it. Soon after the Muckley came word that the Lady of the Spittal was to be brought to see Corp by Mr. Ogilvy, the schoolmaster of Glen Quharity, and at first Corp boasted of it, but as the appointed day drew near, he became uneasy. " The worst o't," he said to any one who would listen, *^ is that my auntie is to be away frae hame, and so they'll put a' their questions to me.'' The Haggerty-Taggertys and Birkie were so jealous that they said they were glad they never had fits, but Tommy made no such pretence. " Oh, Corp, if I had thae fits of yours ! " he exclaimed greedily. " If they were mine to give awa'," replied Corp, sullenly, "you could have them and welcome." Grown meek in his trouble, he invited Tommy to speak freely, with the result that his eyes were partially opened to the superiority of that boy's attainments. Tommy told him a number of in- teresting things to say to Mr. Ogilvy and the lady about his fits, about how queer he felt just before they came on, and the visions he had while he was lying stiff. But though the admiring Corp gave attentive ear, he said hopelessly next day, " Not a dagont thing do I mind. When they question me about my fits, I'll just say I'm sometimes in them and sometimes out o' them, and if they badger me more, I can aye kick." Tommy gave him a look that meant, " Fits are just wasted on you," and Corp replied with another that meant, " I ken they are." Then they parted, one of them to reflect. "Corp," he said excitedly, when next they met, "has Mr. Ogilvy or the lady ever come to see you afore ? " They had not, and Corp was able to swear that they did not even know him by sight. CONVERSATION AND DIALOGUE. 277 " They dinna ken me either," said Tommy. " What does that matter ? " asked Corp, but Tommy was too full to speak. He had " found a way." The lady and Mr. Ogilvy found Corp such a success that the one gave him a shilling and the other took down his reminiscences in a note-book. But if you would hear of the rings of blue and white and yellow Corp saw, and of the other extraordinary experiences he described himself as having when in a fit, you need not search that note-book, for the page has been torn out. Instead of making inquiries of Mr. Ogilvy, try any other dominie in the district, Mr. Cathro, for instance, who delighted to tell the tale. This, of course, was when it leaked out that Tommy had person- ated Corp, by arrangement with the real Corp, who was listening in rapture beneath the bed. — Barrie: Sentimental Tommy. B. Preserving the general form of the following dialogue, supply incidents and motives which will make this commonplace conversation momentous in its significance to both speakers : — The Oeneral. You will see that the prisoner is hanged at daybreak. By the way, have you learned his name ? Tlie Colonel. He still refuses to disclose it. The Oeneral. Oh, does he ? Well, he doubtless wishes to spare the feelings of his relatives. It would be extremely unpleasant to read in the dispatches that a brother or a son had been hanged for a spy — eh ? The Colonel. It would be horrible. The General. But he will let the secret out before he swings. They always do. Perhaps you had better report to me after the affair is over. I am anxious to know who he is. He is not a bad looking fellow. It struck me as I was examining him yesterday — no offence, mind — that he 278 NARRATION. looked something as you. did when I first met you, twenty years ago. . TJie Colonel. I noticed it. The General You did, eh ? Then I was right. Well, I shall expect you before breakfast. You will need some- thing to cheer you up. The Colonel I shall indeed. The General Good night. C. Try one of the following : — 1. A conversation between two girls to show that one feels superior to the other in good taste in dress. Let them comment on a third person, not on one another. 2. A conversation between two boys on the merits of a certain member of the team, to show that one is prejudiced. If possible, let this in part reproduce an actual conversation. 3. A conversation between a person who uses very precise lan- guage and one who makes shocking blunders unexpectedly. 4. A conversation between a very pompous man who has lost his way, and a policeman. 5. A conversation between two laborers about Halley's Comet. Kinds of Narrative. 95. The account of narrative which has been given thus far is that of the fictitious narrative. We must not overlook the fact that there are real stories as well as fictitious stories. History and biography are as im- portant as novels. But the principles that have been laid down apply with equal force to writing of both kinds. The charm of history and biography arises in large part from the fact that in them the writer shows the struggle of men with men and of men with the obstacles of life, or that he makes striking revelations MISCELLANEOUS ASSIGNMENTS. 279 of character. Selection, unity, culmination of interest, are quite as important in the true story, if it is also to be an interesting story, as in the fictitious story. 96. Miscellaneous Assignments. A. Write the biography of some person unknown to fame whose character you admire. Use a fictitious name but tell a true story. It may be a biography of a near relative. B. Tell some episode in the history of your own city, county, or state. Emphasize the personality of the actors in the story. C. Retell in your own words the following narrative from Pepys's Diary, adding such incidents as may be necessary to make a good story of it. For a longer account of the great fire, see other passages of the Diary, under date of September, 1666, and read Knight's London, vol. i, pp. 492-494. Soon as dined, I and Moone away, and walked through the City, the streets full of nothing but people and horses and carts loaden with goods, ready to run over one another, and removing goods from one burned house to another. They are now removing out of Canning-streete, (which received goods in the morning) into Lumbarde-streete, and further ; and among others I now saw my little goldsmith, Stokes, receiving some friend's goods, whose house itself was burned the day after. We parted at PauPs ; he home, and I to PauPs Wharf where I had appointed a boat to attend me, and took in Mr. Carcasse and his brother, whom I met in the streete, and carried them below and above bridge .to and again to see the lire, which was now got further, both below and above, and no likelihood of stop- ping it. Met with the King and Duke of York in their barge, and with them to Queenhithe, and there called Sir Richard Browne to them. Their order was only to pull down houses apace, and so below bridge at the water-side ; 280 NARRATION, but little was or could be done, the fire coming upon them so fast. Good hopes there was of stopping it at the Three Cranes above, and at Buttolph's Wharf below bridge, if care be used; but the wind carries it into the City, so as we know not by the water-side what it do there. Eiver full of lighters and boats taking in goods, and good goods swim- ming in the water, and only I observed that hardly one lighter in three that had the goods of a house in, but there was a pair of Virginalls in it. Having seen as much as I could now, I .away to White Hall by appointment, and there walked to St. James's Parke, and there met my wife and Creed and Wood and his wife, and walked to my boat ; and there upon the water again, and to the fire up and down, it still increasing and the wind great. So near the fire as we could for smoke ; and all over the Thames, with one's face in the wind, you were almost burned with a shower of fire- drops. This is very true; so as houses were burned by these drops and flakes of fire, three or four, nay five or six houses, one from another. When we could endure no more upon the water, we to a little ale-house on the bank-side, over against the Three Cranes, and there staid until it was dark almost, and saw the fire grow ; and, as it grew darker, appeared more and more, and in corners and upon steeples, and between churches and houses, as far as we could see up the hill of the City, in a most horrid malicious bloody flame, not like the fine flame of an ordinary fire. Barbary and her husband away before us. We staid till, it being darkish, we saw the fire as only one entire arch of fire from this to the other side the bridge, and in a bow up the hill for an arch of above a mile long : it made me weep to see it. The churches, houses, and all on fire and flaming at once ; and a horrid noise the flames made, and the cracking of houses at their ruine. So home with a sad heart, and there find everybody discoursing and lamenting the fire ; and poor MISCELLANEOUS ASSIGNMENTS. 281 Tom Hater come with some few of his goods saved out of his house, which is burned upon Fish-streete Hill. I in- vited him to lie at my house, and did receive his goods, but was deceived in his lying there, the newes coming every moment of the growth of the fire ; so as we were forced to begin to pack up our owne goods, and prepare for their removal; and did by moonshine (it being brave dry, and moonshine and Avarm weather) carry much of my goods into the garden, and Mr. Hater and I did remove my money and iron chests into my cellar, as thinking that the safest place. And got my bags of gold into my office, ready to carry away, and my chief papers of accounts also there, and my tallys into a box by themselves. So great was our fear, as Sir W. Batten hath carts come out of the country to fetch away his goods this night. We did put Mr. Hater, poor man, to bed a little ; but he got but very little rest, so much noise being in my house, taking down of goods. — Diary of Samuel Pepys, Sept. 2, 1666. D. Make a complete story out of the following. In doing so you must (1) invent the characters; (2) find proper names for them ; (3) add such incidents and descriptions as may be needed. " . . . ? " I asked, when, after some delay, the door was opened. "... ," he replied, rather sarcastically. I had half a notion to reply in the same spirit, but better thoughts pre- vailed and I said simply, "... ." He looked at me sharply, and frowned. "...?" he asked, after a moment. I was not prepared for that. "...," I stammered, growing red. A moment more and I should have taken to my heels. He came to my re- lief, as I thought. Alas ! I did not suspect the depths of that man's guile. 282 NARRATION. "... ," he observed reflectively. I caught him up be- fore he had a chance to continue. ".../' I said. And then I ought to have stopped; but my: evil genius was at my elbow prompting me, and on I went. "... /'I added in a wistful tone. "... ," he suggested encouragingly. - Oh, blind that I was ! I thought he meant it. I went on eagerly, fatuously. " . . . ," I continued, and then, to cap the climax, " . . J' He seemed to consider. "...?" he asked, insinuatingly. "... ," I replied. "... ," he rejoined, as cool as brass. It was a knock- down blow. I fairly staggered. "...," I managed to say at last, the prickles starting out on my skin. He smiled — as a blue-steel monkey-wrench might have smiled. "... ," he said quietly, and closed the door, leaving me, in the wet and the dark, to the pleasant company of my thoughts. E. 1. Account for the feeling of suspense with which one reads the following narrative. 2. Where is the suspense greatest? 3. Why? 4. By what little touches does the narrator stir our feel- ings at certain points? 5. What is the character of the chief actor, as you infer it from the narrative? 6. At what points in the story is the character revealed with especial clearness? Gerard took the iron bar and fastened it with the small rope across the large rope, and across the window. He now mounted the chest, and from the chest put his foot through the window, and sat half in and half out, with one hand on that part of the rope which was inside. In the silent night he heard his own heart beat. MISCELLANEOUS ASSIGNMENTS. 283 The free air breathed on his face, and gave him the courage to risk what we must all lose one day — for liberty. Many dangers awaited him, but the greatest was the first — getting on to the rope outside. Gerard reflected. Finally he put himself in the attitude of a swimmer, his body to the waist being in the prison, his legs outside. Then holding the in- side rope with both hands, he felt anxiously with his feei for the outside rope, and, when he had got it, he worked it in between the palms of his feet, and kept it there tight: then he uttered a short prayer, and, all the calmer for it, put his left hand on the sill and gradually wriggled out. Then he seized the iron bar, and for one fearful moment hung outside from it by his right hand, while his left hand felt for the rope down at his knees ; it was too tight against the wall for his fingers to get round it higher up. The moment he had fairly grasped it, he left the bar and swiftly seized the rope with the right hand too ; but in this ma- noeuvre his body necessarily fell about a yard. A stifled cry came up from below. Gerard hung in mid-air. He clenched his teeth, and nipped the rope tight with his feet and gripped it with his hands, and went down slowly^ hand below hand. He passed by one huge rough stone after an- other. He saw there was green moss on one. He looked up and he looked down. The moon shone into his prison window : it seemed very near. The fluttering figures below seemed an awful distance. It made him dizzy to look down : so he fixed his eyes steadily on the wall close to him, and went slowly down, down, down. He passed a rusty, slimy streak on the wall : it was some ten feet long. The rope made his hands very hot. He stole another look up. The prison window was a good way off, now. Down — down — down — down. The rope made his hands sore. 284 NABRATION, He looked up. The window was so distant, he ventured now to turn his eyes downward again : and there not more than thirty feet below him were Margaret and Martin, their faithful hands upstretched to catch him should he fall. He could see their eyes and their teeth shine in the moon- light. For their mouths were open, and they were breath- ing hard. " Take care, Gerard ! Oh, take care ! Look not down." " Fear me not," cried Gerard, joyfully, and eyed the wall, but came down faster. In another minute his feet were at their hands. They seized him ere he touched the ground, and all three clung together in one embrace. — Charles Reade : The Cloister and the Hearth. F. Examine the picture by Becker (Figure 5) of Othello relat- ing to Desdemona and Brabantio his wonderful adventures, of which he says : — "... I spake of most disastrous chances. Of moving accidents by flood and field, Of hair-breadth scapes i' the imminent deadly breach. Of being taken by the insolent foe And sold to slavery, of my redemption thence And portance in my travels' history : Wherein of antres vast and deserts idle, Bough quarries, rocks and hills whose heads touch heaven, It was my hint to speak, — such was the process : And of the Cannibals that each other eat. The Anthropophagi and men whose heads Do grow beneath their shoulders." Make up such a story as Othello might be telling in the scene represented, and tell it as he might have told it. On the cannibals and the misshapen men you will find some curious information in Sir Walter Raleigh's account of his voyage to Guiana. This will 286 NARRATION, show you what the people of that day were wont to accept as true. Sir John Maundeville's travels may also be consulted for the same purpose. G. Rewrite Captain King's story of the charge of Lee and Hampton (page 221), putting the narrative in the mouth of a Confederate cavalryman. ' H. Tell briefly the story of Troy to a child of five, observing the method indicated in the following extract from one of Brown- ing's poems : — My father was a scholar and knew Greek. When I was live years old, I asked him once, " What do you read about ? " " The siege of Troy." " What is a siege, and what is Troy ? " Whereat He piled up chairs and tables for a town. Set me a-top for Priam, called our cat — Helen, enticed away from home (he said) By wicked Paris, who couched somewhere close Under the footstool, being cowardly, But whom — since she was worth the pains, poor puss — Towzer and Tray, — our dogs, the Atreidai, — sought By taking Troy to get possession of — Always when great Achilles ceased to sulk, (My pony in the stable) — forth would prance And put to flight Hector — our page-boy's self. I. Examine carefully Von Roessler's Saved (Figure 6, page 287). Be sure that you understand every detail of it. Then write a narrative to which the picture might be an illustration. J. Look at the picture entitled Before Paris (Figure 8, page 290). See if you can make up from it a story with the title Surprised. 287 MISCELLANEOUS ASSIGNMENTS, 289 K. Make up a story that will account for the sadness of Antonio in the opening scene of the Merchant of Venice. Let Antonio relate the story to Bassanio. L. Retell the story of the tournament in Sir Walter Scott's Tvanhoe. Throw the narrative into the form of a letter from Rowena to one of her friends. M. Write the story suggested by D^taille's VAlerte (Figure 4, page 220). Perhaps the following outline will be helpful : (1) The scout receives orders from the general; (2) he sets out on his perilous mission ; (3) he discovers the enemy and is himself dis- covered ; (4) the pursuit; (5) the scout's trick ; (6) the alarm in the village; (7) the fight; (8) the scout reports at headquarters. Study the picture carefully for the time of day, the season of the year, and the state of the weather. Imagine the conversation between the scout and the officers at the door of the tavern. Think how a man would speak who had been riding for his life and knew that a body of the enemy was following close upon his heels. Think also what the officers would say and do when they heard the news. If you are not sure about the words in which the scout would make his report and the orders that the officers would give, you had better inquire of some one. Anybody who was in the Civil War, or the Spanish War, should be able to tell you. N. Expand the anecdote by Thackeray on page 2. Begin your story, if you wish, at a point of time several months or years before the time of the original, and carry it on as much farther as you think desirable. Invent names for the characters and supply incidents necessary to fill out the plot. 0. Tell the story suggested by Becker's Reading of the Will (Figure 7, page 288), giving appropriate names to the persons represented. Determine first which shall be the leading character and what characters shall be opposed to him. Then block out the incidents of the narrative. mjs^ ^^ " 1 'IHM i 1^ '»"st4fc-?;^ ^ : ft^ ^^^^Hp||r^V^_?^' ''W 1 ^^Hkki" ' < #: ifalHBB m ^ H^ "■*-"P^ .,:■, 1^^^ :<•'«»., -j.^ / : •'«»sis:^ ^^ ^«i§i 290 MISCELLANEOUS ASSIGNMENTS. 291 P. Figure 9 is from a picture by Dagnau-Bouveret entitled The Conscripts. Examine the faces carefully and try to imagine how each one in the little company feels, and what each one is Figure 9. saying to himself as he thinks of the experiences that await him. Then try to weave them all together into a story of which the boy or the drummer is the hero. Do not overlook the woman standing at the door of the cottage. 292 NARRATION. A Type Study in Narration. 97. The following story by Maupassant has been called by good judges a perfect short story, not only because of its faultless structure but because of its truth. It is an immutable social law that a man whose general character and reputation is that of a rogue cannot prove himself guiltless of an offence that fits him. It is a great story too because the law of cause and effect is in full operation ; the events do not make or modify the character ; the character actually creates the events and the plot. A Piece of String. By every road round Goderville the countrymen with their wives were coming toward the town, for it was market-day. The men plodded on, their bodies lurching forward at every movement of their long twisted limbs which were deformed by hard work — by holding the plough, which throws up the left shoulder and twists the figure ; by mowing grain which forces out the knees in the effort to stand quite steady ; in short, by all the tedious and painful toil of the fields. Their blue blouses starched and shining as if they had been var- nished, with collar and cuffs stitched in a neat design, were inflated about their bony forms, exactly like balloons ready to soar, but putting forth a head, two arms, and two legs. Some were leading a cow or a calf by a rope; and, just behind, their wives lashed the animal over the back with a leafy branch, to hasten its pace. On their arms the women carried large baskets, whence protruded the heads of chick- ens or ducks ; and they walked with shorter, quicker steps than the men ; their withered, upright figures wrapped in scanty little shawls pinned over their flat breasts, their hair closely done up in white cloths, with a cap above. Now a cart passed by, jerked along by an ambling nag and it shook up queerly the two men sitting side by side A PIECE OF STRING. 293 and a woman at the bottom of the vehicle who held on to the sides to ease the heavy jolting. In the market-place at Goderville a crowd had gathered, a mingled multitude of men and beasts. The horns of the cattle, the tall, long-napped hats of the rich peasants, and the head-dresses of the peasant women rose above the sur- face of that living sea; and the harsh, shrill, squeaking voices made a continuous and savage roar ; while at times there rose above it a burst of laughter from the husky throat of an amused country fellow, or the long-drawn moo of a cow tied to a wall. Master Hauchecorne, of Breaute, had just arrived at Goderville, and was making his way toward the market- place when he saw on the ground a little piece of string. Master Hauchecorne, economical like all true Normans, con- sidered everything worth picking up which might be of use ; so he stooped painfully down, for he suffered from rheuma- tism, took the bit of twine from the ground, and was prepar- ing to roll it up with care, when he noticed Master Malandain the harness-maker on his door-step, looking at him. They had once had a difference in regard to a halter, and they re- mained angry, with ill-will on both sides. Master Hauche- corne was seized with a feeling of shame at being caught thus by his enemy looking in the dirt for a piece of string. He hastily concealed his find under his blouse, then in the pocket of his trousers ; then he pretended still to be looking on the ground for something he failed to find, and at last went away toward the market-place, his head thrust forward, his body doubled up by his pains. The women had placed their great baskets at their feet ; and they drew out their poultry and placed it on the ground, where it lay with legs tied, scared eye, and scarlet comb. They listened to offers, dryly maintaining their price with 294 NARRATION, impassive countenance ; or, all at once deciding to accept the proposed reduction, they cried out to the customer who was slowly moving away : — "Oh, say, Mas' Anthime, I'll let you have it." Then little by little the market-place was emptied, and when the Angelus sounded noon, those who lived at a dis- tance, scattered to the inns. At Jourdain's the great dining-room was filled with eaters, just as the vast court was filled with vehicles of every kind — carts, gigs, Avagons, tilburies, nameless tilt-carts, yellow with mud, misshapen, patched, their shafts pointing to the skies like two arms, or else their noses to the ground and their tails in the air. Opposite the diners as they sat at table the fire burned freely in the huge chimney, throwing out a lively warmth upon" the backs of the row upon the right. On three spits chickens, pigeons, and legs of lamb were turning before the fire ; and a savory odor of roast meat, and of gravy stream- ing over its crisp, brown surface, floated up from the hearth, kindling the appetite till the mouth watered for the viands. All the aristocracy of the plough were eating there with Master Jourdain, innkeeper and horse-dealer, a knave whose pockets were well lined. The plates went round, and were emptied, as were the jugs of yellow cider. Each told of his affairs, his bargains, and his sales, and all discussed the crops. The season was good for vegetables, but a little wet for grain. All at once the rub-a-dub of the drum sounded in the court before the house. In a moment every man was on his feet (save some of the more indifferent) and rushed to door or windows, his mouth still full, and his napkin in his hand. After he had finished his tattoo, the public crier raised his voice, launching his jerky phrases with pauses quite out of place: f A PIECE OF STRING. 295 "Be it known to the inhabitants of Goderville, and in general to all persons present at the market, that there has been lost this morning, on the road from Beuzeville, between nine and ten o'clock, a black leather pocket-book, containing five hundred francs and business papers. Yon are requested to return it to the mayor's office without delay, or to Master Fortune Houlbreque, of Manneville. There will be a twenty francs reward." So the meal went on. As they were draining their coffee cups, a police officer appeared on the threshold. He asked : " Is Master Hauche- corne, of Breaute, here ? " Master Hauchecorne, who was seated at the opposite end of the table, answered : " That's me." The officer replied : " Master Hauchecorne, will you have the kindness to accompany me to the office of the mayor ? His honor, the mayor, wishes to speak with you." The farmer, surprised, disturbed, finished his glass at a gulp, rose and, even more bent than in the morning, since the first steps after each period of rest were particularly difficult, he started along, saying over and over: "That's me, that's me." So he followed the officer. The mayor was waiting for him, seated in an armchair. He was the notary of the district, a big, severe man, pom- pous in his speech. " Master Hauchecorne," said he, " you were seen this morning to pick up, on the road from Beuze- ville, the pocket-book lost by master Houlbreque, of Manne- ville." The old fellow stood looking at the mayor, speechless, al- ready terrified by the suspicion that rested upon him, with- out in the least knowing why. '• Me, me ! I picked up that pocket-book ? " " Yes, you." 296 NARRATION. " Word of honor, I don't know nothing about it at all.'' " You were seen." " Seen ? Me ? Who says he saw me ? " " M. Malandain, the harness-maker." Then the old man remembered, understood ; and, redden- ing with anger, he said : " Uh ! 'e saw me, did 'e, the rat. 'E saw me pick up this string here; see here, your honor." And, fumbling at the bottom of his pocket, he drew out a little piece of twine. But the mayor incredulously shook his head. '' You will not make me believe, Master Hauchecorne, that M. Malandain, who is a man of his word, has mistaken this string for a pocket-book." The farmer, furious, raising his hand and spitting to attest his good faith, repeated : " Nevertheless, it is the truth of the good God, the solemn truth, your honor. There ! on my soul and salvation, I swear it." The mayor replied : "After you had picked up the object, you even hunted about a long time in the dust, to see if some piece of money had not slipped out of it." The man was stifled with indignation and fear. " How can they tell ! how can they tell ! — such lies as that to libel an honest man ! How can they tell ! " He might protest ; no one believed him. He was confronted with M. Malandain, who repeated and sustained his declaration. They abused one another for an hour. At his request. Master Hauchecorne was searched. Nothing was found on him. At last the mayor, much perplexed, sent him away, warning him that he would lay the matter before the court and ask for instructions. The news had spread. On his leaving the mayor's office, the old man was surrounded and questioned with a curiosity that was serious or jesting, but into which no A PIECE OF STRING. 297 indignation entered. And he proceeded to tell the story of the string. They did not believe him. They laughed. He went along, stopped by every one, stopping his ac- quaintances again and again, going all over his story and repeating his protestations, showing his pockets turned in- side out to prove there was nothing in them. They said to him : " Go on, you old rogue !" And he grew angry, working himself into a fever, desper- ate at not being believed, for he did not know what to do, and kept telling his story over and over. Night came on. It was time to go home. He set out along the road with three of his neighbors to whom he showed the place where he had picked up the bit of cord; and all along the road he kept talking of the incident. That evening he made the round in the village of Breaute, to let everybody know. He told his story only to the in- credulous. He was ill of it all night. The next day, about one o'clock in the afternoon, Marius Paumelle, a laborer on the farm of Master Breton, a gar- dener at Ymauville, returned the pocket-book and its con- tents to Master Houlbreque of Manneville. The news spread. Master Hauchecorne was informed of it. He started off at once, and immediately began to retell the story as completed by the denouement. He was tri- umphant. " I di'n' care so much for the thing itself, you understand," said he, " but it was the lie. There is nothing nastier than being set down for a liar." All day he talked of his adventure ; he told it on the road to the people who passed, at the public house to the people who drank, and the next Sunday to those who gath- ered at the church. He even stopped strangers to tell them 298 naubation, about it. Now he felt easy, and yet something troubled him without his knowing exactly what ; people seemed to smile as they listened. They did not appear convinced. He felt as if they babbled behind his back. On Tuesday of the next week, he went to market at Goderville, impelled solely by the longing to tell his story. Malandain, standing in his doorway, began to laugh when he saw him coming. Why ? He accosted a farmer from Oriquetot, who did not let him finish, but poked him in the pit of his stomach, and shouted in his face : " Go on, you old fox ! '' Then he turned on his heel. Master Hauchecorne was speechless, and more and more disturbed. Why did he call him ^' old fox '^ ? . When he sat down at the table at Jourdain's, he proceeded to explain the affair. A horse-dealer of Montivilliers cried at him : " Come, come, now, you old scamp, we know all about you and your piece of string." " But they found the pocket-book ! " The other went on : " Don't speak of it, daddy ; there is one who finds it and one who takes it back. No one sees, no one knows : but you give yourself away. " The peasant sat dum founded ; he understood at last. They accused him of having sent the pocket-book back by a confederate, by an accomplice. He tried to protest. Every one at the table began to laugh. He could not eat his dinner, and went away amid their ridicule. He went home, ashamed and indigiiant, choking with rage, overcome with confusion, all the more iii despair that he was capable, with his Norman artfulness, of doing that of which they accused him, and even of pluming himself on A PIECE OF STRING. 299 it as a good trick. His innocence dimly seemed to him impossible to prove, his trickiness being so well known, and he felt struck to the heart by the injustice of the suspicion. Then he began again to tell of his adventure, adding new arguments each time, more energetic protests, and more solemn oaths which he thought out in his hours of solitude, his mind being occupied with the story of the string. People believed him the less, the more subtle and compli- cated his argument became. ^•' Ha ! liar's proofs those ! '' they said behind his back. He felt it ; it gnawed at his vitals ; he wore himself out with useless efforts. The jokers now made him tell " The Story of the String " for their amusement, as a soldier who has been on a cam- paign is made to tell of the battle. His mind, deeply affected, grew weak. Toward the end of December he took to his bed. He died early in January, and in the delirium of his death agony he protested his innocence, repeating : — " A li'P string, a li'l' string, — see, here it is, your honor.'* With the help of the following questions study the structure of the story you have just read. Is the obstacle external or internal? What is the real obstacle? In what passages are you made aware of it ? Point out the pas- sage in which we are told that the peasant himself recognizes the true nature of the obstacle. What paragraphs are devoted to the setting or the environment ? Does the description of the people also characterize them? Do their characteristics make the tragic outcome any more plausible ? Where is the chief character introduced ? What is his first act ? In itself the act is harmless; but is it in character? Notice care- fully every detail in the fifth paragraph. What motives are estab- lished? At this point, what is your estimate of Hauchecorne's character as hinted by his actions? Where are your sympathies? The " middle " now begins. What is the purpose of the town- 300 . NARRATION. crier incident — in the matter of movement? Why must there be noise and publicity? Consider the movement of the succeeding incidents, — the arrest, the examination by the magistrate, the defence. What does the elaborate argument of the accused really indicate ? . What does his continual talk about it indicate ? Where is the centre of interest or turning point ? You can tell it by ask- ing at what precise point you are sure that a tragic and not a comic end is inevitable. Where does the solution, the denouement, the end, begin ? Are his mental unbalancing and his death the crisis? The climax? If not, where are these? State the point of the story, the meaning, the significance. Is it anywhere expressed or hinted? Examine the bits of dialogue. What, in character or in action, is hinted by each bit? Are the motives and the acts in harmony everywhere ? Illustrate. Where does suspense begin? How far does it continue? CHAPTER IX. EXPOSITION. The Nature of Exposition. 98. We may begin our study of this type of dis- course, known also as explanation, by examining a good specimen of it : — The word "exact" has a practical and a theoretical meaning. When a grocer weighs you out a certain quantity of sugar very carefully, and says it is exactly a pound, he means that the difference between the mass of the sugar and that of the pound weight he employs is too small to be detected by his scales. If a chemist had made a special investigation, wishing to be as accurate as he could, and told you this was exactly a pound of sugar, he would mean that the mass of the sugar differed from that of a certain standard piece of platinum by a quantity too small to be detected by his means of weighing, which are a thousand- fold more accurate than the grocer's. But what would a mathematician mean, if he made the same statement ? He would mean this. Suppose the mass of the standard pound to be represented by a length, say a foot, measured on a certain line ; so that half a pound would be represented by six inches, and so on. And let the difference between the mass of the sugar and that of the standard pound be drawn upon the same line to the same scale. Then, if that differ- ence were magnified an infinite number of times, it would still be invisible. This is the theoretical meaning of exact- ness. — W. K. Clifford. 301 302 EXPOSITION. One who reads this selection carefully will notice in it the following characteristic features: — (1) The -writer seems to take it for granted that he understands the subject under discussion better than his readers do, and hence that he is prepared to enlighten them upon it. He does not say this anywhere; per- haps we should not like him to say it ; but his way of putting things seems (without offence) to imply it. (2) His chief concern appears to be that those for whom he writes shall understand precisely what the sub- ject means. One can imagine him saying to the reader, " Now I want this idea to be just as clear to you as it is to me. This is the way in which I myself look at it. See if you can't look at it in the same way. If you do, I am sure you cannot fail to understand it." (3) The subject in w^hich the w^riter is interested is a general idea, not a particular thing. He speaks indeed of particular things, as the weight, the scales, and the pound of su'gar ; but it is evident that he is using them only as illustrations. His main interest is not in these objects, but in what they mean — in the law or principle that they exemplify. Other objects, provided that they brought out clearly the same meaning of the general idea " theoretical exactness," would answer his purpose quite as well. This specimen is a typical example of exposition, the kind of discourse in w^hich the w^riter's aim is to make others see the meaning of some idea as clearly as he him- self sees it. Its subject-matter is general ideas, laws, or principles, not (as in description and narration) particular things. Its indispensable quality is clearness. No one. ^THE NATURE OF EXPOSITION. 303 of course, should attempt to write an explanation of any subject unless his ideas upon it are entirely clear. What a writer does not himself understand he is not likely to make intelligible to others. 99. Assignments on the Nature of Exposition. A. Select from the list below the subject that you know the most about, and come to the class prepared to speak on it. First the thing is to be described very briefly ; next its principle or law is to be explained as fully as necessary for clearness. 1. Describe a lump of coal ; then explain how it came to be what it is. 2. Describe yeast ; then explain the principle of its action. 3. Describe baking-powder ; then explain how it acts and why. 4. Describe a pulley ; then explain the principle of its opera- tion. 5. Describe a freshet ; then explain the causes of freshets. 6. Describe voting ; then explain the meaning and significance of voting. 7. Describe a strike ; then explain what strikes signify. 8. Describe a mission Sunday School ; then explain its signifi- cance. 9. Describe a Boy Scout ; then explain the Boy Scout Move- ment. 10. Describe a department store ; then explain the principle of its organization. B. What idea is made clearer by each of the following para- graphs ? 1. One of the best equipped observers of American life, and one of the shrewdest, also, — Professor Giddings, — faces the future fearlessly. He holds that in the coming years a mixture of elements not Anglo-Teuton "will soften the emotional nature" and "quicken the poetic and artistic 304 EXPOSITION, nature " of the American people ; it will make us " gentler in our thoughts and feelings because of the Alpine strain '' (and this includes the Slav). We shall find ourselves " with a higher power to enjoy the beautiful things of life because of the Celtic and the Latin blood." And as if this prophecy of emotional benefit was not heartening enough, Professor Giddings holds up to us the high hope of an intellectual benefit, probably through the commingling of bloods. " We shall become more clearly and more fearlessly rational, — in a word more scientific." — Brander Matthews, The American of the Future, in Century, 74 : 474. 2. In mechanics it is part of the engineer's profession to consider carefully the amount of physical weight and pres- sure which various substances will bear — how many pounds a given girder will sustain ; how much an upright. It is upon this science and its carefully figured mathematical details that the safety and well-being of the housed com- munity so largely depend. Sometimes, to be sure, even the most carefully estimated plans are spoiled by some unfore- seen and unforeseeable weakness in the structural material, and it gives way at a pressure or strain apparently none too great for its endurance. But these occasional obsessions of inanimate nature do not discourage the engineer, or make him abandon his interminable mathematics. In spite of them, or on account of them, he continues his studies so that he may better succeed in placing on the materials which he uses no grievous burden and may not subject them to a stress or strain forbidden by natural law. Col- lapses of buildings are less frequent, and community life becomes safer as this expert knowledge, founded on study and experience, grows broader and surer. — Alger, Moral Overstrain, in Atlantic, 93 : 496. NEED OF EXPOSITION. 305 3. Who would ever think, to look at a dull fragment of steel, that such a piece of metal had an internal history ! But if the same inert, apparently insensible, piece of metal be polished and suitably prepared for examination under the microscope, its internal organism is more clearly and surely shown than the interior skeleton of a man when pierced by the X-ray. — BoYNTON : Anatomy of the Steel Bail, Harper^ s, 112 : 585. Need of Exposition. 100. When we consider how vague and confused are the ideas of the majority of persons upon the important questions of life, such as questions of politics, economics, morals, and art, and also how necessary it is for the conduct of the world's business that their ideas upon these subjects should be clear, we can easily understand why there has sprung up a distinct class of writing which has for its object the explanation of things hard to understand. It may be doubted whether any other kind of discourse is so directly useful as this kind. Without it we might know and communicate to others the particulars of our experience ; but the meaning of these particulars, the general principles that underlie them, could not be" definitely set forth. It is chiefly by means of exposition that the teacher instructs his class, the scientist proclaims his discoveries, the inventor makes known his inventions. That one age is able to surpass the foregoing in knowledge is due, in large part, to the fact that by means of exposition we pass on the results of study and investigation from one generation to the next. 306 EXPOSITION, It is not only in these great matters that exposition is necessary. It is equally true in the small matters of daily life and experience that a clear understanding of what is appropriate, and why it is appropriate, and how it is to be done, avoids thousands of blunders, embarrass- ments, and petty annoyances. The ability to explain the principle involved in the smaller conventionalities of life, and in the common operations that go on in business and in every household, is a daily necessity for somebody. 101. Assignments on the Need of Exposition. A. Explain orally to the class that one of the following about which you are best informed : — 1. How to turn off the water in case the house is in danger of being flooded. 2. What use should be made of the kitchen sink and what use should not be made of it. 3. How to read a water-meter or a gas-meter. 4. How to regulate a hot-air furnace. 5. What to do in case of a severe burn, and the reason. 6. How to tell an oak tree from an elm. 7. What to do and what not to do in making a camp-fire — with reasons. 8. How to proceed in trying to sell a magazine subscription. 9. How to organize a literary club, with reasons for your rec- ommendations. 10. How to breathe, how to swim, how to sit properly, how to stand properly. 11. How to get a history lesson. 12. How to write a news item. 13. How to decorate a library. NEED OF EXPOSITION, 307 B. Name some common thing that you have always wanted to have explained to you. (By so doing you may get an explanation from a classmate in the next set of themes.) C. Name some social custom or conventionality that seems absurd to you, and ask for an explanation. D. Name some great topic in history, in science, in morals, or in government, that you do not understand. E. What is the purpose of the writer of each of the following selections ? Just what is it that he wishes us to understand and appreciate ? Does he make himself clear to you at every point? 1. There should be some myth (but if there is, I know it not) founded on the shivering of the reeds. There are not many things in nature more striking to man's eye. It is such an eloquent pantomime of terror; and to see such a number of terrified creatures taking sanctuary in every nook along the shore is enough to infect a silly human with alarm. Perhaps they are only acold, and no wonder, stand- ing waist deep in the stream. Or, perhaps, they have never got accustomed to the speed and fury of the river's flux, or the miracle of its continuous body. Pan once played upon their forefathers ; and so, by the hands of his river, he still plays upon these later generations down all the valley of the Oise : and plays the same air, both sweet and shrill, to tell us of the beauty and the terror of the world. — Stevenson : TJie Oise in Flood. 2. Whence comes that bashfulness which men of great ability so often feel in addressing a large assembly ? How happens it that a man who never hesitates or stammers in pouring out his thoughts to a friend, is embarrassed or struck dumb if he attempts to say the same things, however suitable, to fifty persons ? Whately finds a solution of the problem in the curious and complex play of sympathies which takes 308 EXPOSITION. place in a large assembly, and which increases in proportion to its numbers. In addressing a large assembly, a person knows that each hearer sympathizes both with his own anxiety to acquit himself well, and also with the same feel- ings in the minds of the rest. He knows that every slip or blunder he may make, tending to excite mirth, pity, or con- tempt, will make a stronger impression on each of the hear- ers from their mutual sympathy and their consciousness of it, — and this doubles his anxiety. Again, he knows that each hearer, putting himself mentally in the speaker's place, sympathizes with this increased anxiety, which is, by this thought, increased still more; and finally, if he becomes at all embarrassed, the knowledge that there are so many to sympathize, not only with that embarrassment, but also with each other's feelings on the perception of it, heightens the speaker's confusion to the extreme, and makes him, perhaps, speechless. — Mathews : The Great Conversers, 249. 3. The learned gentleman has risen in righteous indigna- tion to denounce the restriction of production by trade? unions. The gentleman probably never heard of a " racer " or " pacemaker." He has never seen old men, men weak from sickness or hunger, compelled to keep pace with a highly trained athletic workman, who had, in turn, been bribed to exert himself to the utmost. He has not seen these things take place where such feverish haste means imminent danger of deadly crippling accidents. If he had, he might possibly consider the union regulation limiting output as a simple law against murder. He never worked in the steel mills or in the packing houses, where monstrous and com- plicated mechanism compels the human cog who fits into this mechanical monster to move with it or be crushed — crushed either literally in the iron and steel machines or thrown out of work to be crushed by the equally pitiless NEED OF EXPOSITION. 309 and deadly social machine. He has not seen these " mechani- cal bosses " speeded just a trifle faster each month and year until only the youngest and strongest can stand the pace. This means that when the youth of the race is ground into profits, the manhood and old age are thrown out to die. 4. '^The average judgment" — what sway it bears over us ! Deference to the views of others is the principle of our institutions and actions. Each man wishes to be a "good fellow"; that is, so to act as to meet the approval of the greatest number of other "fellows." He averages himself with the rest by everlastingly exchanging ideas and articles, of the appreciable sort, with his fellow beings. Small wonder that the wholesalers of our food, clothing, medicines, and musical machines know that their products will sweep the land. An article once favored must run its course, like a fad. We buy it because others do; we deceive ourselves into approval of it in imitation of a like self-deception on the part of our acquaintances. Yet we call ourselves the most individual people on earth ! As a whole we have lost the inclination and capacity of separate selfhood. — Knox : Our Lost Individuality, Atlantic, 104 : 818. 5. Nearly every one knows that for rustic cottages an excellent effect for outdoor planting can be had by using clumps of the gigantic fern or brake which grows in wild and swampy places, but it is not as well known that the great tufts of swamp grasses which one finds along the same places are as decorative as the flowering pampas grass. It is a great gain to learn the beauty of common things, and it is surprising how soon it is recognized by every one when they are lifted from the roadside or pasture into a place of honor beside the dwelling-house. — Wheeler : TJie Decoror tive Use of Wild Flowers, Atlantic, 95 : 634. 310 EXPOSITION. Common Methods of Exposition. 102. The common methods of exposition have been fully explained and illustrated on pages 64 to 105 of this book. They are : — (1) Repetition of the idea in other forms. (2) Comparison or contrasts. (3) Particulars and details. (4) Specific instances. (5) Causes and effects. These will be referred to in the present chapter only as they may be needed in connection with the larger problems of exposition to be treated in the following pages. Why we Pail to Understand. 103. The principal reason why people fail to under- stand the subjects with which they have to do in the ordinary business of life, is not that they lack ideas about them, but that the ideas they have are in a state of disorder or confusion. This is indicated by the well- known comment on any difficult subject, that we " can't make head or tail of it," meaning that our ideas about it have no system or unity. Again, we sometimes say that we are " all mixed up " or that our minds are " in a whirl," meaning that we cannot reduce our thoughts to order and regularity. It will be a help to us in our study of exposition to see how this disorder arises and to consider how it may be overcome. There are three principal causes of confusion in peo- ple's ideas about any subject : — FAILING TO UNDERSTAND. 311 1. The subject may be so strange and novel that they are unable to connect it in an orderly way with any of the ideas already in their minds. 2. The subject may appear to contain ideas that are incon- sistent and contradictory. 3. The subject may be too large or too complex for the mind to grasp all at once. These causes will be examined in turn. 104. Assignments on Failing to Understand. A. The following selection has been found difficult to under- stand by many second-year high school pupils. Has the writer of it begun with an easy statement or a hard one ? Is the first sentence clear to you? Would he have done better to begin : " What is a day? When does a day begin ? And when does it end? '* Point out all of the places that are dark to you. Do you think the trouble is with the strangeness of the subject ? Are any ideas inconsist- ent? Or is the subject in itself too complex for you? It seems to me that any person who endeavors to obtain a philosophical idea of the nature of our mode of computing time by days, must see the impossibility of marking any precise limit for the commencement and close of time. Nothing is so indefinite, if we take an enlarged and philo- sophical view of the subject, as the first day. Astronomers commence it at twelve o'clock at noon. Some nations begin it at midnight. On shore it is reckoned as commencing at one hour, and at sea, as at another. The day, too, begins at a different time in every different place, so that a ship at sea, beginning a day in one place and ending it in another, sometimes will have twenty-three and one-half and sometimes twenty-four and one-half hours in her day, and no clock or timepiece whatever can keep her time. An officer of the ship is obliged to determine the beginning of the day every 312 EXPOSITION. noon by astronomical observation. A sea captain can often make a difference of an hour in the length of his day by the direction in which he steers his ship ; because a day begins and ends in no two places, east and west of each other, at the same time. At Jerusalem they are six hours in advance of us in their time, and at the Sandwich Islands six hours behind. In consequence of this, it is evident that the ship, changing her longitude, must every day change her reckoning. These sources of difficulty in marking out the limits of a day, increase as we go toward the pole. A ship, within fifty miles of it, might sail round on a parallel of latitude, and keep it one continual noon or midnight to her all the year ; only noon and midnight would be there almost the same. At the pole itself all distinction between day and night entirely and utterly ceases; summer and winter are the only change. Habitable regions do not indeed extend to the pole, but they extend far beyond any practical distinction between noon and midnight, or even- ing and morning. The difference between the times of commencing and of ending days in different parts of the earth is so great, that a ship, sailing around the globe, loses a whole day in her reckoning, or gains a whole day, according to the direction in which she sails. If she sets out from Boston, and passes round Cape Horn, and across the Pacific Ocean, to China, thence through the Indian and Atlantic oceans home, she will find, on her arrival, that it is Tuesday with her crew, when it is Wednesday on shore. Each of her days will have been a little longer than a day is in any fixed place, and of course she will have had fewer of them. So that if the passengers are Christians, and have endeavored to keep the Sabbath, they will not and cannot have corresponded with any Christian nation whatever in the times of their observ- ance of it. — J. Abbott. FAILING TO UNDERSTAND. 313 B. Name a rather difficult thing that you have mastered and feel prepared to explain to some one. Write the explanation of it. The following may suggest one of your own accomplishments : — 1. How a skater learns to cut a figure 8 in the ice. 2. How an aeroplane is maintained in the air when it is heavier than the air. 3. How a bill in the legislature becomes a law. 4. How to train a dog to sit up and beg for food. 5. How to tread water, or to swim on your back, or to run an automobile. 6. How to distinguish the " absolute construction " in English from the " hanging participle." 7. How to open a savings account at a bank. 8. How to write a promissory note. 9. How to make a telephone system. 10. How to make a willow whistle. 11. The best card trick. 12. How hay is cured, or butter is made, or a sponge-cake, or a Welsh rarebit. C. Do you have any difficulty in understanding parts of the following? If so, mark them and bring them up in class. Almost the only noxious animal of Samoa is the mosquito, but this is truly a fearful pest ; not simply as a buzzing and stinging torment, but as the intermediate host and dissemi- nator of the dreadful scourge elephantiasis. This is a form of iilariasis in which the minute parasitic filarise lodge in the lymphatic glands, and produce a remarkable hypertrophy of the subcutaneous tissue, so that a man's leg may come to weigh as much as all the rest of his body, or his arm be simply a great useless cylindrical mass a foot in diameter. The specific cause of the disease is the parasitic blood-worm Filaria sanguinis hominls, which passes part of its life m 314 EXPOSITION. the body, particularly the thoracic muscles, of the mosquito. The exact mode of migration of the parasite from the mosquito to the man is yet undetermined ; whether by the bite, that is, the piercing of the skin with the oral proboscis, or whether it occurs by the drinking of water in which the dead bodies of the infested mosquitoes have disintegrated, is still undetermined. The filarise have been observed to migrate from the thorax of the mosquito into its labium (the fleshy sheath of the proboscis), and even to escape from the tip of the labium. This points strongly to the possibility of infection at the time of piercing, but the parasites are large, and few could enter the blood at one time. The dis- ease has obtained an amazing prevalency among the natives, almost certainly one-third or more — Manson estimates it at one-half — being afflicted. It is incurable, at least in all cases of a certain length of standing, and even from the first if the patient remains in the tropics. It causes the patient little pain, being attended, however, at certain recurring intervals by fever, but in its advanced stages so deforms the body as to make the sufferer incapable of walking or of almost any other motion. White men are occasionally attacked ; one white patient was seen near Pago-Pago during our stay. If the disease once seated is incurable, remedial measures must be in the nature of a campaign against the in- termediary mosquito, the most abundant species of which is, interestingly enough, the same species, Stegomyia fasciata, so abundant in Cuba, and by the researches of American sur- geons and physicians now practically convicted of breeding and disseminating the (still unknown) parasite of yellow fever. So far as the Samoan people are concerned the most valu- able possible result of American rule would be the stamp- ing out of the mosquito in Tutuila, and steps in this direction have already been taken. — Atlantic, 94 : 632. CONNECTING NEW IDEAS WITH OLD. 315 Connecting New Ideas with Old. 105. When the cause of the difficulty is the strange- ness or disconnectedness of the subject, the aim of the expositor is to discover some connection, now hidden from us, between the new idea and ideas that are old and familiar. He tries to place the new thought in a system of ideas which we already understand. This method of explanation is well illustrated in the selec- tion below. The subject which the author wishes to explain, the fourth dimension, is to most of us wholly strange and mysterious. It has no place, apparently, in the order of ideas with which we are familiar. Hence our notions about it are extremely vague and confused. On the other hand, we are all perfectly familiar with the ordinary geometrical conceptions of parallel lines, spheres, and plane surfaces ; and if the fourth dimension can somehow be connected naturally with these familiar and systematized conceptions, it is very likely to be understood. The connection is made by the writer as follows : — Suppose a world consisting of a boundless flat plane to be inhabited by reasoning beings who can move about at pleasure on the plane, but are not able to turn their heads up or down, or even to see or think of such terms as above them and below them, and things around them can be pushed or pulled about in any direction, but cannot be lifted from the plane. People and things can pass around each other, but cannot step over anything. These dwellers in "flat- land" could construct a plane geometry which would be exactly like ours in being based on the axioms of Euclid. Two parallel straight lines would never meet, though con- tinued indefinitely. 316 EXPOSITION, But suppose that the surface on which these beings live, instead of being an infinitely extended plane, is really the surface of an immense globe, like the earth on which we live. It needs no knowledge of geometry, but only an ex- amination of any globular object — an apple, for example — to show that if we draw a line as straight as possible on a sphere, and parallel to it draw a small piece of a second line, and continue this in as straight a line as we can, the two lines will meet when we proceed in either direction one- quarter of the way around the sphere. For our " flat-land " people these lines would both be perfectly straight, because the only curvature would be in the direction downwards which they could never either perceive or discover. To explain hypergeometry proper we must first set forth what a fourth dimension of space means, and show how natural the way by which it may be approached. We con- tinue our analogy from " flat-land." In this supposed land let us make a cross — two straight lines intersecting at right angles. The inhabitants of this land understand the cross perfectly and conceive of it just as we do. But let us ask them to draw a third line, intersecting in the same point, and perpendicular to both the other lines. They would at once pronounce this absurd and impossible. It is equally absurd and impossible to us if we require the third line to be drawn on the paper. But we should reply, " If you al- low us to leave the paper or flat surface, then we can solve the problem by simply drawing the third line through the paper perpendicular to its surface." Now, to pursue the analogy, suppose that, after we have drawn three mutually perpendicular lines, some being from another sphere proposes to us the drawing of a fourth line through the same point, perpendicular to all three of the lines already there. We should answer him in the same way that the inhabitants of " flat-land " answered us : " The CONNECTING NEW IDEAS WITH OLD. 317 problem is impossible. You cannot draw any such line in space as we understand it." If our visitor conceived of the fouTth dimension, he would reply to us as we replied to the ^'flat-land" people: "The problem is absurd and impossible if you confine your line to space as you understand it. But for me there is a fourth dimension in space. Draw your line through that dimension and the problem will be solved. This is perfectly simple to me ; it is impossible to you solely because your conceptions do not admit of more than three dimensions.'' Supposing the inhabitants of " flat-land " to be intellectual beings as we are, it would be interesting to them' to be told what dwellers of space in three dimensions could do. Let US pursue the analogy by showing what dwellers in four dimensions might do. Place a dweller of " flat-land " inside a circle drawn on his plane, and ask him to step outside of it without breaking through it. He would go all around, and finding every inch of it closed, he would say it was impossible from the very nature of the conditions. " But,'' we would reply, " that is because of your limited conceptions. We can step over it." " Step over it ! " he would exclaim. " I do not know what that means. I can pass around anything if there is a way ope«, but I cannot imagine what you mean by step- ping over it." But we should simply step over the line and reappear on the other side. So, if we confined a being able to move in a fourth dimension in the walls of a dungeon of which the sides, the floor, and the ceiling were all impenetrable, he would step outside of it without touching any part of the building, just as easily as we could step over a circle drawn on the plane without touching it. To do this he would only have to make a little excursion in the fourth dimension. — Harper's Magazine, 104 : 249. 318 EXPOSITION. 106. Assignments on Connecting New Ideas with Old. A. Explain to a pupil in the first year of the high school the meaning of one of the following terms. Try to connect the strange idea with ideas that are familiar to him. Make an effort to put yourself in his place, for in this way you can more readily think of the things he knows about and will be interested in. Beware of using terms that he will not understand. (1) Wireless telegraphy. (2) A trust. (3) Hypnotism. (4) The New England town-meeting. (5) Reciprocity. (6) The canals of Mars. (7) The solar spectrum. (8) The referendum. (9) The shorter catechism. (10) The facial angle. (11) Graft. (12) Mo- nopoly. (13) Monoplane. (14) Political Insurgency. (15) Em- bezzlement. (16) Kleptomania. (17) Volt. (18) Ohm. (19) H.P. (20) F.O.B. B. A boy ten years old wishes to know why it is that a spoon when it is put in a glass of water looks as if it were bent or broken. Explain the phenomenon to him in simple terms. C. Explain to a younger person what you think Emerson meant when he said, " Good manners are made up of petty sacri- fices." Use familiar examples. D. Suppose that a laboring man who has had but little educa- tion has brought to you the following lines of poetry for explana- tion. He has found them in Shakespeare's Julius Ccesar, which he is now, with interest but with difficulty, reading for the first time. What will you say to him? Remember that many things with which you are well acquainted will be to him very new and strange. Between the acting of a dreadful thing And the first motion, all the interim is Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream : The genius and the mortal instruments Are then in council ; and the state of man, Like to a little kingdom, suffers then The nature of an insurrection. — Act II, Sc. 1. LOGICAL DEFINITION. 319 conspiracy, Sham'st thou to show thy dangerous brow by night, When evils are most free ? 0, then, by day Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough To mask thy monstrous visage ? Seek none, conspiracy ; Hide it in smiles and affability ; For if thou path, thy native semblance on, Not Erebus itself were dim enough To hide thee from prevention. — Act II, So. 1. The posture of your blows are yet unknown ; But for your words, they rob the Hybla bees, And leave them honeyless. — Act V, Sc. 1. Logical Definition. 107. Another method of connecting the new idea with old ideas is by the process known as definition. To define an idea is to put it in its appropriate place among the classes of things -with TTvhich w^e are familiar. This we can do most easily by the following method : (1) we mention some large class with which the reader is already acquainted ; then (2) by naming some prominent characteristic of the thing to be defined, we show where, in that large class, it properly belongs. Thus if our purpose is to define the idea hypnotism., we may begin by saying that it is a kind of sleep (sleep being a large class with which we are already familiar), and complete the definition by adding that it is induced by motions of the hand or other suggestions of the operator (this being the essential characteristic which distinguishes this kind from other kinds of sleep). Hypnotism is thus placed definitely among the classes of things with which we are familiar. 320 EXPOSITION. The large class is termed the genus. The distinguishing characteristic is termed the differentia. It is generally best to choose as small a genus as can be used conveniently. To define a gnat as an animal is hardly to define at all; the class is too large. It is better to classify it as an insect, and still better as a fly. So in defining a Pas- toral we may say that it is a piece of literature treat- ing of rural life. Here the genus, "piece of literature," is a very large class including both prose and poetry. The definition will be more accurate as well as more helpful if we say that a Pastoral is a narrative or slightly narrative poem. And it will be still further improved if we add the differentia^ as above, treating of rural life. The following is a convenient method of displaying and separating the parts of a logical definition : — Term to be Defined. Genus or Class. Differentia or Distin- guishing Charac- teristic. Hypnotism is . . A pastoral is . . A gnat is . • • A tariff is . . . Gerrymandering is a kind of sleep a slightly narrative poem a very small fly . a tax Irecombining the po- ' litical subdivisions of a state f induced by motions of the hand or other [ suggestions. treating of rural life. I with pairs of jointed appendages sticking out of its head, [levied on certain goods I brought into a conn- I try. for partisan advantage. LOGICAL DEFINITION. 321 As we meet definitions in our text-books, in the dic- tionaries, and in general reading, we do not always find the parts in the logical order shown above. Thus if we read, " Politics treats of the principles governing the conduct of state affairs ; it is a branch of civics," we see that here the differentia comes before the genus^ and that the normal order would be, " Politics is | that branch of civics, I which treats of the principles governing the conduct of state affairs." Often, too, a definition is incomplete. The genus may be missing as in this, " A pastoral treats of rural life ; " or the differentia may be missing as in this, " A monitor is a sort of battleship." Sometimes, for a given pur- X)ose, an incomplete definition like those just quoted will serve well enough ; but especially in the class room, in- complete definition is a widespread fault which every student should try to overcome in his own practice. A synonym is useful in definition when it is a more familiar word than the word to be defined. Often, how- ever, even in dictionaries, a synonym that is even less familiar than the word it purports to explain will be given. A person who doesn't know what a "tariff" is will probably not be enlightened if told that it is an " impost " or a " duty." If I do not know what " bun- combe " means, I probably do not know what " flap- doodle " means, either. A definition should not employ in the genus or differentia any part or derivative of the w^ord to be defined. It is of no value to be told that " an inheritance is that which is inherited," or that " gerrymandering is the process of applying the gerrymander." In all sorts of exposition, but in definition especially, it 322 EXPOSITION, is necessary to remember the audience, to think of the person for whom you are defining, to consider what he probably knows and what he probably does not know, and to aim at simplifying matters and at making hard things easy. The logical definition is most useful when it is ac- companied by plenty of explanation and illustration. It is the final step in a process of thinking, involving many trials, partial definitions, selections and rejections, and tests of accuracy. 108. Assignments in Supplying or Narrowing the Genus. In the following the genus is missing or else is too large to be of service. Supply it if it is missing ; find a smaller genus, if it is too large ; and perfect the definition. 1. A dog is an animal that eats flesh. 2. A coward is an individual who runs away. 3. A bicycle is a machine with two wheels. 4. A fly has two wings. 5. A novel is written in prose. 6. A pipe organ is played by the use of air currents. 7. A friend is an associate that can be trusted. 8. Clearness is an essential of discourse. 9. Physiography is all about the earth. 109. Assignments in Supplying or Completing the Differentia. In the following the differentia is missing or else is not sufii- ciently specific, that is, fails to give a detail that is distinctive, characteristic, peculiar, and exclusive. Perfect each definition. ABSTRACTING DEFINITIONS. 323 Term. Genus. Differentia. A gentleman is . . . To study is Play is Work is " Manifest Destiny " was " The Stalwarts " were . Quarantine is ... . " 54-40 or fight " was . A mugwump was . . A lyric is The Embargo was . . Law is An "Insurgent" is . . C.O.D. is a man to read and think. activity. activity. a political belief . . those Republicans . . enforced isolation an American cam- paign cry. an independent voter. a song. sovereign prohib tion a rule of action. { a Republican Con- \ gressman.. a commercial term. of honor. f held in the 1 United States. of the sick. on foreign trade. 110. Assignments in Abstracting Definitions. Abstract a logical definition from the following passages ; that is, pick out from each passage the gentLS and the differentia for the word italicized in each. You may have to infer the genus or part of the differentia. 1. " Prophecy " has, for about a century, narrowed itself, in common parlance, to the sense of " prediction " ; and there are many readers of the Bible to whom the terra suggests nothing more than the foretelling of the future. It is, of course, true that the Hebrew prophets dealt with the future, as they dealt with the present and the past. But the refer- ence to future time is not the sole, nor even the chief, func- tion of prophecy. The pro- in prophecy is not the pro- that 324 EXPOSITION. ' means ^before' but the pro- that means 'forth.' Prophecy is 2. In seeking for reliable principles on which just criti- cism may be based, we must, if possible, find those which are broad enough to include all art. Otherwise we should suspect them of not being fundamental principles. For literature is, in fact, one of the fine arts. Not everything that is written, of course, belongs to literature proper ; but when a written product becomes a part of what has well enough been called belles-lettres, — as a poem, for example, in contradistinction from a patent office report, — it belongs to the art of literature, and is closel}^ allied to the other fine arts ; giving us, lijie them, that immediate and direct satisfaction of a high order Avhich we call aesthetic pleasure, or delight. Literature, as we shall see, gives us much more than this, but this it gives us in common with the other arts. Literature is r 3. What is to be a gentleman ? Is it to have lofty aims ; to lead a pure life ; to keep your honor virgin; to have the esteem of your fellow-citizens and the love of your fireside ; to bear good fortune meekly ; to suffer evil with constancy ; and through evil or good to maintain truth always ? Show me the happy man whose life exhibits these qualities, and him we will salute as gentleman, whatever his rank may be. — Thackeray : TJie Four Georges. 4. Side by side with biology arose about this time the modest and almost unnoticed science of the earth, then gen- erally called physical geography, but now known as geology. This was a small seed sown in the eighteenth century, to grow into a large tree only in our time ; yet it was a great step when Scilla insisted that fossils were the remains of living beings, and that the rocks containing them were formed gradually under lakes or seas. And when Werner taught men to study the earth's crust, and Hutton forced them to DEFINITION WITH EXPLANATIONS. 325 see that nature is, and has always been, building up our present world out of the ruins of the past, the foundations were laid for the real study of the earth and its formation. Meanwhile William Smith toiled over England, mapping out the position of each rock as he saw it, and thus led the way to a long series, of careful observations, by which the whole geology of England has been worked out. — Buckley: History of Natural Science, p. 281. 111. Assignments in Correcting Faulty Definitions. The following definitions are faulty either (1) because they repeat some form of the word to be defined and call for synonymous expressions, or (2) because they fail to simplify matters. Correct them. (a) Citizenship is the state, condition, privilege, or duty of being a citizen'. (b) A natural right is a right conferred by nature. (c) Walking is the precipitation of the body forward by means of the lower extremities, without loss of equilibrium or of upright posture. (d) Graduation is the act of being graduated. (e) Passing a course means getting above a certain mark. (/) Preparing for college is going over the studies required. (g) An education is the training you receive in schools. (h) Foreign missions are missions to foreigners. (i) R.S.V.P. means repondez s'il vous plait. (J) P.P.C. vne&ns pour prendre conge, (k) verb. sap. means verbum sat sapienti. 112. Assignments in Definition with Explanations. \ A. Select one of the following questions. Talk with other people about it. Then try to answer it. Write down the first answer that occurs to you and as you continue to think about it, write every thought just as it comes, asking yourself at each step. 326 EXPOSITION. — is this true ? does it need qualification ? are there exceptions to it? can I make a more accurate statement in other words? If you will do this, you will approximate more and more closely to a logical definition as you proceed. At the end set down your final definition in logical form. You may revise this theme for the English, — for clearness, coherence, accuracy, — but in the revision, do not omit any of the steps in your thinking. 1. What is it to study? 2. What is meant by curiosity ? 3. What is a gentleman ? 4. What is a true sport ? 5. What is meant by " the square deal " ? 6. What is meant by " special privileges " in political discussion? 7. What is meant by " the interests " in political discussion? 8. What is meant by " the laboring man " ? 9. What is meant by " the average student " ? 10. What is meant by " the home girl " ? 11. What is meant by " the modern girl " ? 12. What is meant by " the old-f dshpned girl " ? 13. What is meant by " the practical politician "? 14. What is meant by " business methods " ? 15. What is meant by " a purely academic view " ? 16. What is meant by " Americanism " ? 17. What is meant by " public opinion " ? 18. What is meant by " law honest " ? B. What definitions do you infer from the following ? In each generation there have been men of fashion who have mistaken themselves for gentlemen. They are un- interesting enough while in the flesh, but after a generation or two they become very quaint and curious, when considered as specimens. Each generation imagines that it has discov- ered a new variety, and invents a name for it. The dude, the swell, the dandy, the fop, the spark, the macaroni, the blade, DEFINITION WITH EXPLANATIONS. 327 the popinjay, the coxcomb, — these are butterflies of differ- ent summers. There is here endless variation, but no advancement. One fashion comes after another, but we cannot call it better. One would like to see representatives of the different generations together in full dress. What variety in oaths and small talk ! What anachronisms in swords and canes and eyeglasses, in ruffles, in collars, in wigs ! What affluence in powders and perfumes and colors ! But would they " know each other there " ? The real gentlemen would be sure to recognize each other. Abraham and Marcus Aurelius and Confucius would find much in common. Lancelot and Sir Philip Sidney and Chinese Gor- don would need no introduction. Montaigne and Mr. Spec- tator and the Autocrat of the Breakfast Table would fall into delightful chat. But would a " swell " recognize a " spark " ? And might we not expect a " dude " to fall into immoderate laughter at the sight of a "popinjay" ? — Crothers : The Evolution of a Gentleman, Atlantic, 81:715. 2. In his effective answer to Mr. Herbert Spencer's argu- ment against the metric system, — which, oddly enough, is like spelling reform in that it finds its chief opponents in Great Britain, — President Mendenhall remarked that " ignorant prejudice " is not so dangerous an obstacle to human progress, nor so common, as what may be called "intelligent prejudice," meaning thereby "an obstinate con- servatism which makes people cling to what is or has been, merely because it is or has been, not being willing to take the trouble to do better, because already doing well, all the while knowing that doing better is not only the easier, but is more in harmony with existing conditions. Such conserva- tism is highly developed among English-speaking people on both sides of the Atlantic." It is just such conservatism as 328 EXPOSITION. this that must be overcome by those of us who wish to see our English orthography continue its lifelong efforts toward simplification. — Matthews : Simplification of English Spell- ing, Century, 62 : 617. 3. To get the knowledge of individual aptitude and desire, and to help in the resultant choice of school work, is the province of the mysterious being whom I call the Vocation Teacher. The Vocation Teacher, as such, does not exist. A good many regular teachers and parents try to assist the youth with whom they come in contact to choose their life-work wisely ; but this advice and help should not be a merely in- cidental duty : it should occupy the whole time of a care- fully trained vocational expert. In every high school there should be a vocational expert. — Miller : Atlantic, November, 1909. Generalized Narrative. 113. A method of connecting new ideas with old that has often proved useful in expository writing is the narrative method. By this method the writer adopts a plausible time-order for the steps or stages of his exposi- tion. The time-order is for a typical case, not for any particular ease. That is, the events are related not as they actually happened in the experience of a particular person, but as they might have happened, logically, to any person of a certain class under given circumstances. Hence this kind of narrative is said to be generalized. Generalized narrative is frequently used to explain the principle underlying mental development, experiments, processes of manufacture, feats of skill, and the like. The following selection illustrates this method. Mac- GENERALIZED NARRATIVE. 329 aulay wishes to explain to us the rather striking and novel idea that to learn a new language is to acquire a new soul. He makes the thought clear by connecting it with the events in the progress of a scholar — any scholar, not a particular one — who is learning a new language. It was justly said by the Emperor Charles the Fifth, that to learn a new language was to acquire a new soul. He who is acquainted only with the writers of his native tongue, is in perpetual danger of confounding what is accidental with what is essential, and of supposing that tastes and habits of thought, which belong only to his own age and country, are inseparable from the nature of man. Initiated into foreign literature, he finds that principles of politics and morals, directly contrary to those which he has supposed to be unquestionable, because he never heard them questioned, have been held by large and enlightened communities ; that feelings, which are so universal among his contemporaries that he had supposed them instinctive, have been unknown to whole generations ; that images, which have never failed to excite the ridicule of those among whom he has lived, have been thought sublime by millions. He thus loses that Chinese cast of mind, that stupid contempt for everything beyond the wall of his celestial empire, which was the effect of his former ignorance. New associations take place among his ideas. He doubts where he formerly dogmatized. He tolerates where he formerly execrated. He ceases to con- found that which is universal and eternal in human passions and opinions with that which is local and temporary. This is one of the most useful effects which result from studying the literature of other countries ; and it is one which the remains of Greece, composed at a remote period, and in a state of society widely different from our own, are peculiarly calculated to produce. 330 EXPOSITION. The following is a generalized narrative of the sin- gular nervous seizure known as " buck fever " : — In its mysterious attack it gets entire control of a man's nerves, and at a most inopportune time. He may have been standing for an hour or more, with rifle cocked, waiting eagerly for the coming of a buck that in doubling his tracks will be sure to approach within easy reach of his shot. The buck does approach, bounding toward him with such rapidity that the very sight upsets the nerves of the green hunter and throws his anatomy out of gear. His eyes bulge, his teeth chatter, his knees knock together, and even his memory is so far dethroned that he forgets he has a rifle. If he does remember it, and attempt to raise the weapon to his shoulder,, there is nothing in it that is likely to do any damage to the buck, for its wabbling muzzle sends the ball either into the earth or among the clouds. 114. Assignments in Generalized Narrative. A. By means of a generalized narrative explain one of the fol- lowing processes for a person who wishes to make personal use of the information : — (1) Finding the Pole Star. (2) Measuring the height of a tree (or of any other tall object the top of which is inaccessible). (3) Making chocolate creams at home. (4) Teaching a pointer (or setter). (5) Figure skating. (6) Sailing against the wind. B. Imagine yourself to be a visitor at a colonial homestead of two hundred years ago. Explain, as if you had witnessed it, the process of spinning wool with an old-fashioned spinning-wheel. C. By means of a generalized narrative explain the process of drawing a book from the public library. D. By means of a generalized narrative give a clear under- standing of one of the following. Pretend to give the events or experiences of a day, or of a week, in each case. Remember that COMPARISON OR ANALOGY. 331 the events or experiences must be typical, that is, representative of the class, and likely to happen to any one in it. (1) The farm hand. (2) The athlete. (3) The shop-girl. (4) The newsboy. (5) The commuter. (6) The shopper. (7) The borrower. (8) The banker. (9) The village store- keeper. (10) The society girl. E. Suppose George Washington should come back to see how thhigs are going, and should engage in conversation with you ; and suppose you should happen to mention or he should happen to catch sight of some of the following: sewing-machines, phono- graphs, telegrams, automobiles, street-cars, ocean liners, Pullman cars, electric lights, sky-scrapers, gasoline, asphalt, trunk lines, fountain pens, repeating arms. X-rays, breakfast foods, suffragettes, postage stamps, quinine, conservation, Sunday schools, searchlights, Dreadnaughts, subways. Christian Endeavorers, Boy Scouts, hobble- skirts, diet kitchens, composite photographs, roller skates. Do you see how by the narrative method, or by the dialogue method, you could make an exposition of the theme, "Social Change in America during the Last Century " ? Try it. Comparison or Analogy. 115. Sometimes the meaning of the obscure idea can be brought out most effectively by means of comparison or analogy, a specific instance or. an example. The ideas chosen for this comparison should be ideas with which the reader is likely to be familiar. Thus Mr. Bryce, wishing to make clear the dangers of representa- tive government, uses in the following an easily under- stood analogy : — The mass of a nation are, an/i must be, like passengers on board an ocean steamer, who hear the clank of the engine and watch the stroke of the piston, and admire the revolu- tion of the larger wheels, and know that steam acts by ex- pansion, but do not know how the less conspicuous but not 332 EXPOSITION, less essential parts of the machinery play into the other parts, and have little notion of the use of fly-wheels and connecting-rods and regulators. ... In the early stages of national life, the masses are usually as well content to leave governing to a small class, as passengers are to trust the captain and the engineers. But when the masses obtain, and feel that they have obtained, the sovereignty of the country, this acquiescence can no longer be counted on. Men without the requisite knowledge or training; men who, to revert to our illustration, know no more than that steam acts by expansion, and that a motion in straight lines has to be converted into a rotary one ; men who are not even aware of the need for knowledge and training ; men with little respect for precedents, and little capacity for understanding their bearing — may take command of engines and ship, and the representative assembly may be filled by those who have -no sense of the dangers to which an abuse of the vast powers of the assembly may lead. Macaulay, in order to explain the somewhat puzzling statement that freedom is the only cure for the evils of freedom, uses the familiar idea of the prisoner newly released from his cell : — There is only one cure for the evils which newly acquired freedom produces ; and that cure is freedom. When a prisoner first leaves his cell he cannot bear the light of day ; he is unable to discriminate colors or recognize faces. But the remedy is, not to remand him into his dungeon, but to accustom him to the rays of the sun. The blaze of truth and liberty may at first dazzle and bewilder nations which have become half blind in the house of bondage. But let them gaze on, and they will soon be able to bear it. In a few years men learn to reason. The extreme violence of opinion subsides. Hostile theories correct each other. The COMPARISON OR ANALOGY. 333 scattered elements of truth cease to contend, and begin to coalesce. And at length a system of justice and order is educed out of the chaos. 116. Assignments in Comparison or Analogy. A. What comparison, contrast, or analogy is used to explain the main idea of the following? 1. Do you know, the more I look into life, the more things it seems to me I can successfully lack — and continue to grow happier. How many kinds of food I do not need, nor cooks to cook them, how much curious clothing, nor tailors to make it, how many books that I never read, and pictures that are not worth while ! The farther I run the more I feel like casting aside all such impedimenta — lest I fail to arrive at the far goal of my endeavor. I like to think of an old Japanese nobleman I once read about who orna- mented his house with a single vase at a time, living with it, absorbing its message of beauty, and when he tired of it, replacing it with another. I wonder if he had the right way, and we, with so many objects to hang on our walls, place on our shelves, drape on our chairs, and spread on our floors, have mistaken our course and placed our hearts upon the multiplicity rather than the quality of our possessions ! — Gkaysox : A Day of Pleasant Bread. 2. In England athletics are ruled by the spirit of sport ; in the United States, by the spirit of competition. The sweeping popularity of American football is the most con- spicuous feature of a national awakening to the importance of a hardy, outdoor play as a vital part of modern educa- tion. It is true, however, that the young American is not genuinely fond of organized athletic sports unless they carry the chance of ^'whipping" somebody else, which is 334 EXPOSITION. why he makes of them a " problem '' instead of a pastime through his campus years. — Paine : The Spirit of School and College Sports, Century, 71 : 99. B. Think of some good comparison, example, specific instance, or analogy that can be used to explain one of the following. Then write the explanation. 1. Why we dislike certain persons. 2. The musical scale. 3. Telepathy. 4. Taking an examination. 5. Reading. 6. How a bank makes money. J. Laziness. 8. Business methods. 9. Making a speech. 10. Hard work. 11. Learning a trade. 12. Manual training. 13. Domestic science. 14. A system of ventilation. 15. The U. S. postal system. 16. Postal savings. Reconciling Contradictory Ideas. 117. A subject, as was stated above, may be obscure not only because our ideas about it are in a state of confusion, but because it apparently contains ideas tbiit are inconsistent or contradictory, or that do not seem to belong together. When this is the case, it is the business of exposition to find some principle or notion that will reconcile the contradictory ideas and reduce them to unity. A homely illustration of such a contra- RECONCILING CONTRADICTORY IDEAS. 335 diction and the solution of it is seen in the old story of the milkmaid who, having spilled a pailful of milk on the ashes of the hearth, instantly gathered it up again and put it back in the pail without losing a drop. The story at first hearing seems untrue because of the seem- ing contradiction between the known results of spilling milk on ashes and the reported action of the milkmaid. All becomes clear, however, as soon as we learn that the milk was frozen solid. The new idea reconciles the two contradictory terms and reduces them to con- sistency and unity. An interesting example of this method of explanation is presented in the following : — Every one who has collated early books generally, more especially English books of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, must have been puzzled by the minute differences between one copy and another which are often to be found on every sheet. Mr. Aldis Wright has proved that in a few cases, always of books for which there was a sudden and large demand, these differences prove that the text was set up simultaneously from the same copy on two or more different presses. But an explanation of this kind does not apply to such a book as the first quarto of King Lear, of which no two of the extant copies agree, nor to Paradise Lost, of which we know that only 1500 copies were printed. Bibliographers are in the habit of saying that " corrections " were introduced during the process of printing off, but this would imply that the author stood over the pressmen while they were at work, which in the case of the blind Milton is absurd. Moreover, the differ- ences are not of the nature of real corrections ; they are concerned chiefly with punctuation. When they extend 336 EXPOSITION. to letters, the number of letters is mostly the same, and it is impossible so to marshal the differences as to show that any one set of them is a distinct improvement on any other. Mr. Wynne Baxter, addressing the Bibliographical So- ciety of London on " Early Editions of Milton," offered the true explanation of these minor irregularities in old books. A bit of family history came to Mr. Baxter's help. His grandfather was a printer, and precisely because he observed that the leather balls used for more than three centuries to ink the type had a tendency to pull the letters out of the form, he invented the first inking roller. From the time of Shakespeare to that of Milton is the worst and most care- less period of English printing. The more carelessly the forms were locked, the more often would the balls pull out the letters from them, and the more opportunities would the pressman have for replacing any he found lying about in the wrong places. The theory was justly greeted by the society by a round of applause. It may not explain all the differences, and the more it is tested the better ; but it will be surprising if it is not found to explain a great deal. 118. Assignments on Reconciling Contradictory Ideas. Explain one of the following passages to a student in the grade below yours. Find if possible a principle which will recon- cile the seeming contradiction. 1. Laziness is the great motive power of civilization. 2. Verbosity is cured by a wide vocabulary. 3. And peradventure had he seen her first She might have made this and that other world Another world for the sick man ; but now The shackles of an old love straiten'd him. His honor rooted in dishonor stood, And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true. — Tennyson : Lancelot and Elaine. DIVISION, 337 4. Let us be of good cheer, however, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those that never come. — Lowell : Democracy. 5. Treason doth never prosper. What's the reason ? For if it prospers, none dare call it treason. — Harrington (1613). 6. Ward has no heart they say ; but I deny it. He has a heart, and gets his speeches by it. — Samuel Eogers on Lord Dudley ( Ward), 7. The cure for democracy is more democracy. 8. Eools rush in where angels fear to tread. 9. Lest one good custom should corrupt the world. — Tennyson : Tlie Passing of Arthur. Division. 119. When the subject is too large or too complex to be taken in at a single glance, the writer may make use of division. This is a process of separating an idea into its natural parts according to some essential prin- ciple. For example, if we wish to explain to some one the meaning of the term music, we divide it, on the principle of the means employed in producing it, into (1) Vocal Music, (2) Instrumental Music ; if we want to explain the term Public School System, we may divide, on the principle of the stage of development of the pupils, into (1) Primary Grades, (2) Grammar Grades, (3) High School. To obtain a good division it is necessary to divide upon a single principle, otherwise we shall obtain what 338 EXPOSITION. is known as a cross-division. Thus, if we wish to treat of the horse, we may divide horses, on the principle of color, into white, black, and bay horses ; or on the prin- ciple of use, into draught-horses, carriage-horses, and race-horses ; but it will not do, using the principles both of color and of use, to divide into bay horses, black horses, and draught-horses, for in that case the divisions will overlap. Division of some kind is necessary in every form of writing, since the writer must take up ideas one at a time ; but an expository essay may divide and do no more than divide. If well-considered, the division will of itself be instructive and enlightening, and will tend to clear away difficulties. Thus the purpose of the following passage is exhausted in making a twofold division into the literature of knowledge and the litera- ture of power ; yet the division itself is so sound and true that the subject needs hardly any further discussion. The division has answered the question " What is litera- ture?" In that great social organ, which collectively we call literature, there may be distinguished two separate of&ces that may blend, and often do so, but capable severally of a severe insulation, and naturally fitted for reciprocal repulsion. There is, first, the literature of knowledge, and secondly, the literature of power. The function of the first is, to teach; the function of the second is, to move: the first is a rudder, the second an oar or a sail. The first speaks to the mere discursive understanding; the second speaks ultimately, it may happen, to the higher understand- ing or reason, but always through affections of pleasure and sympathy. — De Quince y : Alexander Pope. division;. 339 120. Assignments in Division. A. Look at the table of contents of any text-book on physical geography. On what principle are the main divisions made ? On what principle are the divisions of secondary rank made ? B. Turn to the opening chapter of any text-book on civil government. Do you find a division? On what principle is it made? C. Make a division of all the books at your home, arranging them in classes according to some obvious principle. D. Tell a friend from a distance something about the pupils in your school. Speak of the various kinds of pupils that you have noticed. E. How would you classify horses according to their moral characters ? Try writing an essay on " The Good and Evil Influ- ences of Horses on Men," for a meeting of an imaginary Horses' Rights Association. F. What division of the subject is proposed in the following? 1. Among the many remarkable features of the war be- tween the states the blockade system was perhaps the most extraordinary. For extent and effectiveness it stands with- out a parallel in history. Isolation on the part of one of the belligerents doubtless shaped the result in larger measure than in any preceding war of anything like the same meas- ure. For it is to be questioned if there was ever before a great people so far from self-sustaining as was the South in 1861. Indeed, only by means of the modern facilities of transportation could it have been possible for a territory so large and so populous to have fallen into a state of such absolute dependence on the outside world, ^ot only was steam an indispensable auxiliary of the Federals, rendering the invasion and retention of the revolting territory practi- cable, but it had fostered at the South a fatal economic con- 340 EXPOSITION. dition which made the failure of the Confederacy a foregone conclusion from the first. How this abnormal state told when isolation came, and how desperately the people strove to remedy it forms a curious and pathetic chapter of the war history. — Dodge : Domestic Ecoyiomy m the Confederacy, Atlantic, 58 : 229. 2. Since the day when the Monitor engaged the Merrimac in Hampton E,oads it has been acknowledged that in the Kevolving Tower a new and powerful element has been in- troduced into naval warfare. We propose in this paper to give the history of the origin and progress of this invention ; to show that only a small portion of its capabilities have been brought into actual use ; and that, as developed in the mind of its inventor, it will not only render practically use- less the ponderous iron-clad vessels which the French and English are constructing at such enormous cost, but will also make all of our great harbors absolutely impregnable to the combined navies of the world. — Guernsey : TJiq Revolving Tower, Harper^ s Magazine, 26 : 241. 3. The purpose of this article is to show the possibilities that lie in developing methods of assembling that will insure accuracy, economy, and standardization, but before giving aiiy concrete examples, it will be well to consider briefly the elements that directly affect the cost of assembling opera- tions. The determination of proper methods and processes of assembling are peculiarly difficult, since the elements of human judgment and skill enter so largely into this work. It is a far more puzzling proposition than that of analyzing and determining the best method for machining any particular part. For this reason the study of assembling work requires particular care and especially keen analysis. — Spaxgen- berg: Elements of Assembling Operations, Machinery, Sep- tember, 1909. TYPES OF EXPOSITORY WRITING. 341 4. The fatality and frequency of tornadoes in the great Central West have recently invested these phenomena with an interest which must continually deepen as the regions they ravage become more thickly populated. The tornado is a local disturbance, its sweep limited, its duration at a given point but a few moments, and it is speedily exhausted, like the raving maniac, by the paroxysmal expenditure of energy. But if it lacks the vast geographical scope, the stately, ponderous tread, and the self-sustaining life of the ocean-hurricane or the regular continental cyclone, its masked, eagle-like movement and concentrated intensity make the fleeting meteor, which strikes and scars the earth as if it were hurled by a " supernal power," a more dreaded visitant and often a greater engine of destruction. There seems to be a widespread impression that, with the deforesting and settlement of the West, tornado visitations have increased, so that a prominent journal recently raised the question whether their frequency and destructiveness will not have " a permanent effect on the settlement and prosperity of the country." We are even told that in some places the alarm created by these storms is so great that '' the people are not only digging holes in the ground and building various cyclone- proof retreats but in many instances persons are preparing to emigrate and abandon the country entirely." Whatever may be thought of such reports, the gravity of the subject warrants the present inquiry into the nature and causes of our interior tornadoes, as well as into the extent to which they can be foreseen and guarded against. — Maury : Tor- nadoes and Their Causes, North American, 135 : 230. Types of Expository "Writing. 121. In certain directions the expository process has been so persistently and systematically applied that 342 EXPOSITION, several types of expository writing are easily recognized, and have been given distinctive names. Each seems to have its preferred methods of exposition, — methods that have been found especially suitable to its usual subject matter, and to its special purpose. Thus we easily identify the following : — The Newspaper Editorial^ even when we find it re- printed and uncredited in a book, with its air of imme- diate contemporaneous comment. The Book Review^ whether serious and thorough, or light and shallow in its contents. The Character Sketchy with its analysis of traits and its ready interpretation of so complex a thing as a life. The Scientific Essay ^ like Mill's essay on Liberty^ or Spencer's essay on The Philosophy of Style^ with its severity of method, its careful accuracy ; its preference for definition, example, and precise division. The G-eneralized Narrative or Description^ which pre- tends to be about a particular person or thing when it is really about the general class to which the person or thing belongs. The Historical Essay^ like Macaulay's Olive or Hastings^ or Froude's Ccesar^ which takes a limited period or an eminent personage for its subject and both describes and explains to us the period or the man. The Familiar or Personal Essay, like some of Thack- eray's Roundahout Papers, with its apparent disregard of method, and its author's whimsical philosophizing and self -confession. Of course these more prominent types do not begin to cover the whole field of expository writing, and, like the other types which have not yet acquired distinctive A TYPE STUDY IN EXPOSITION, 348 names, they depend for their effectiveness upon the use of the universal methods and principles of explanation that have been set forth in this chapter. All alike aim to explain a general idea that is novel, or apparently in contradiction with other ideas, or too complex for a single effort of the mind, and all alike use for that pur- pose, as need may arise, definition partial or complete, division partial or complete, specific instances or ex- amples, comparisons, contrasts, analogies, particulars, and cause and effect. A Type Study in Exposition. 122. The following is from the London (England) Spectator. It illustrates some of the chief excellences of exposition. Is the idea expressed in the title new to you? Is it difficult? What other function of the poet is referred to in the word " Tyrtseus "? What contradictory ideas does Kipling reconcile by his poem " The Native-Born"? What divisions and subdivisions do you discover in this essay ? Make an outline. Does the outline render the sub- ject less complex? Find a partial definition of "True poets." What division of the class, poets, is suggested in connection with this partial definition ? Coipplete the definition. Can you make from this essay a definition of "interpreter"? Which of the common methods of exposition is used most often in this essay ? Point out some other methods of exposition that you find in this essay. Is there a passage of generalized narration ? State in your own words the main thought of this essay. Do you now see how you could easily write an original essay on " The American Poet as Interpreter to Our Nation "? What poems of Whittier, Long- fellow, Emerson, Holmes, Lowell, Julia Ward Howe, and others might you mention as especially in point ? The Poet's Function as Biterpreter. People are apt to talk as if the poet had no function in the modern world, or at any rate as if his only function 344 EXPOSITION. were to amuse and entertain, and as if the State, in its higher and political aspect, had no need of him. But machinery is not everything; nor is it the least true to say that the song of the singer is never something done, some- thing actual. Tennyson put this with splendid insight when in his plea for the poet, he reminded the world that — " The song that stirs a nation's heart Is in itself a deed." While the possible need for a Tyrtseus exists, and that need can never be wholly banished, the poet must always have a real use. But there are other functions no less real, and hardly less important, which a poet may perform in the modern State. He may act as interpreter to the nation, and show it, as only he can, the true relations and the true meaning of the different parts which make up the whole. The great difficulty of every nation is its inability to realize and understand itself. Could it do this truly, a nation could hardly take the wrong road, and bring itself to ruin and confusion. But few nations have this faculty, and therefore they need so sorely an interpreter ; one who by his clear vision shall show them what they are, and whither they tend. And for the mass of mankind, only the poet can do this. The ordinary man, whether rich or poor, educated or uneducated, apprehends very little and very vaguely, save through his senses and his emotions. Maps and figures, dissertations and statistics, fall like water off a duck's back, when you talk to him of the British Empire, of the magnitude of our rule in India, and of the problem of the dark races ; of the growth of the English-speaking people in Canada and in Australia ; and of how our fate, as a nation, is inextricably bound up with the lordship of the sea. He hears, but he does not mark. But the poet, if he has the gift of the interpreter, — and without that gift in some A TYPE STUDY IN EXPOSITION. 345 shape or form he is hardly a poet, — whether he works in prose or verse, can bring home the secrets of Empire and the call of destiny to the hearts of the people. Of course, he cannot touch all, but when he does touch, he kindles. He lays the live coal on men's minds ; and those who are capable of being roused have henceforth a new and different feeling and understanding of what he tells. Mr. Kipling's fascinating poem, " The Native-Born," is a reminder to us of how large a share he possesses of this interpreting power. His work is of extraordinary value in making the nation realize itself, especially as regards the Empire and the oneness of our kin. One of the great diffi- culties of the mere politician who knows himself but cannot interpret, is to. get the people of this country to understand that when the Englishmen born over-sea assert themselves and express their glory in and love for the new land, they are not somehow injuring or slighting the old home. When Englishmen hear of, and but partly understand, the ideas of young Australia, young Canada, or young South Africa, as the case may be, they sadly or bitterly declare that there is no love of England left in the colonies, and that the men of the new lands think only of themselves, and dis- like or are indifferent to the mother country. The way in which the pride and exultation of the " native-born " is conveyed to the reader makes that pride and exultation misunderstood. When we hear people talk a language which we do not know, we are always apt to think that they are full of anger and contempt, and that we are the objects of this anger and contempt. Now the uninspired social analyst or the statis- tic politician might have preached and analyzed for years, and yet not have got the nation to understand the true spirit of the " native-born," and how in reality it neither slights 346 EXPOSITION. the old land nor injures the unity of the Empire. His efforts to prove that the passionate feeling of the " native- born" should be encouraged, not suppressed, fall, for the most part, on empty ears. He may convince a few philoso- phers, but the great world heeds him not. But if and when the true poet comes, he can interpret for the mass of men and make clear and of good omen what before seemed dark and lowering. Take the new poem by Mr. Kipling to which we have just referred. The poet does not reason with us, or argue, or bring proofs — he enables us to enter into the spirit of the " native-born," and by a flash of that light- ning which he brings straight from heaven he makes us understand how the men of Australia, and Canada, and Africa feel towards the land in which they were born. Thus interpreted, their pride ceases to sound harsh to our ears, and we realize that the " native-born " may love their deep-blue hills, their ice-bound lakes and snow-wreathed forests, their rolling uplands, or their palms and canes, and yet not neglect their duty to the motherland or to the Empire and the race. Surely a man who can do this has done something, and something of vast importance, for the whole English kin. He has dropped the tiny drop of solvent acid into the bowl, and made what was before a turbid mix- ture, a clear and lucent liquor. But we must not write of the poem, and not remind our readers of its quality by a quotation. To show its power of interpretation, take the first three stanzas : u "W'e've drunk to the Queen, God bless her ! We've drunk to our mothers' land, We' ve drunk to our English brother (But he does not understand) ; We've drunk to the wide creation And the Cross swings low to the dawn — Last toast, and of obligation — A health to the Native-born ! A TYPE STUDY IN EXPOSITION. 347 " They change their skies above them But not their hearts that roam ! We learned from our wistful mothers To call old England ' home,' We read of the English ^ylark, Of the spring in the English lanes, But we screamed with the painted lories As we rode on the dusty plains ! " They passed with their old-world legends — Their tales of wrong and dearth — Our fathers held by purchase But we by the right of birth ; Our heart's where they rocked our cradle, Our love where we spent our toil, And our faith and our hope and our honor We pledge to our native soil ! " The stanzas, and those that follow, are a positive initiation. As we read them our hearts beat and cheeks glow, and as by fire we realize the feeling of the " native-born " — how he loves his own land, and yet gives his homage to "the dread high altars " of the race. Let no one suppose when we speak thus of this particular poem that we imagine it is going suddenly to become a household word in England, Scotland, and Ireland, or that the world will immediately grasp its meaning. That is given to few poems. But without doing this, the poem, we believe, will have its effect on public opinion. Before it becomes popular in the ordinary sense, it will work its way into the minds, first, of the more imaginative politicians and journalists and men of letters. Then through them and by various channels it will filter down and 'affect the mass of the people. What will happen will be not unlike that which happened in regard to the feeling of the nation toward the privates of the British army. Mr. Kipling, in his capacity of interpreter, and by means of his Barrack-Room Ballads, 348 EXPOSITION, made the nation appreciate and understand its soldiers infinitely better than they had ever done before. Indeed, it is not too much to say that by means of this process of interpretation he changed ^he attitude of the nation. But though many thousands of people read how — *' It's Tommy this an' Tommy that, an' ' chuck him out, the brute ' ; But it's ' saviour of his country ' when the guns begin to shoot," the change was for the most part wrought indirectly. When you let fly into a whole heap of balls, all are moved and af- fected, though only one or two feel the impact direct. It is enough if the poet touches those who can influence the rest. Another example of Mr. Kipling's power of interpretation as a poet is to be seen in his sea-poems. " The Bolivar," " The Clampherdown" and "The Flag of England" are of incalcula- ble value in making Englishmen realize that they have been and are still the lords of the sea, and what that priceless heritage means. You may talk to Robinson, the bill-broker, till you are black in the face, about the command of the sea, and its political, commercial, and moral importance. He agrees, no doubt, and seems quite intelligent, but in reality marks you not. If, however, you can get him to listen to what the four winds made answer when they were asked what and where is the flag of England, who knows but you may have lighted a flame of inspiration which will remain with him, and make him realize the grandeur and high des- tiny of this realm of England. Take, again, the way in which Mr. Kipling has interpreted the native East for Eng- lishmen, and made them understand, as but few of them understood before, the gulf that stretches between the East and West, and realize that East and West, though each has its destiny, can never be one. Yet another example of Mr. Kipling's power of interpretation is to be found in the mar- vellous poem which he wrote on the American spirit, taking ASSIGNMENTS IN EXPOSITION, 349 the Chicago riots as his "peg." The poet, as we pointed out at the time, was not quite as careful as he ought to have been to avoid wounding the feelings of our American kins- folk, but for insight and exposition it was a work of rare genius. It interpreted a certain side of the American char- acter to perfection. And to do this at that moment was a most useful work, for over here men were bewildered and distracted by what was happening in the West. We have spoken above only of Mr. Kipling, but it must not be sup- posed that we regard him as the only poet who acts as in- terpreter to the nation. We chose him because he does so to such practical effect. All true poets are, as we have said, interpreters, each in his own sphere. If they are not, they are mere embroiderers of melodious words. No, as long as States are made and unmade, and men in their communities grope and wander, asking for the light, so long will the world need the poet's help. While there is anything to interpret and make clear to men who will act on what comes to them through their emotions, but will re- main cold to the mere teachings of reason, the poet and his art will survive. When we are all so coldly reasonable that we cannot be stirred by Chevy Chase, then, but not till then, will the poet's occupation be gone. Meantime, let us remem- ber that we lost America because we did not understand the feelings of the " native-born," and thank heaven we have a poet-interpreter to help save us from another such treason to our race as that George III and Lord North incited. 123- Miscellaneous Assignments in Exposition. A. Write an editorial for the school paper on " Why we Lost the Game," or on " A Needed Reform in the Study Hour," or on " Our Prospects in Debate." B. From any newspaper select a news item that stirs you to admiration or indignation, and write a brief editorial on it as if 350 861 352 EXPOSITION, for a city paper. Paste the news item on the first page of your theme. C. Write a brief comment on the last sermon or lecture you have listened to. First state its theme or central idea. Then repro- duce the two or three main ideas. If your own comment is on the sermon or lecture as a whole, reserve your comment until the end. If it is on several things, introduce it piecemeal where it is most pertinent. D. Explain by setting up a series of comparisons and contrasts, one of the following: (1) Men of thought and men of action. (2) Wit and humor. (3) Manual Training School and Trade School. (4) Education and training, (o) Single-entry and double- entry bookkeeping. (6) News writing and editorial writing. (7) Hem-stitch and lock-stitch. E. Explain, by dividing and defining, one of the following: (1) Joints in woodworking. (2) Seams in dressmaking. (3) Strokes in rowing. (4) Door-hinges. (5) Systems of physical, culture. (6) Methods of piano-playing. F. Figures 10 and 11 are illustrations by different artists of a certain passage of Dickens's David Copperjield. If you have read Dmrid Copperjield, find the passage, and point out and explain the differences in the pictures. CHAPTER X. ARGUMENTATION. I. Simple Argumentation and Informal Debating. 124. By argumentation a person tries to convince others that they ought to believe or to act as he wishes them to believe or to act. The very fact that he makes the attempt implies that there are at least two ways, more or less reasonable, of believing or acting in regard to the matter which he has at heart. There would be no room for argument about the matter if all thought alike about it. Suppose that the question has arisen in the school circles of your town whether the single long session with a very short noon and early dismissal, or the double-session plan (such as prevails in the lower grades) is best for your High School ; and suppose that you have thought about it and personally are in favor of the former. Your reasons are sufficient for you, and probably also for others who think as you do. Perhaps they run about in this fashion ; — The Single- Session Plan is Better. Because 1. It wastes less time for nooning. 2. It saves several daylight hours for work at home or for earning money if that is necessary. 3. It gives opportunity for out-of-door exercise at favorable hours. 353 354 ' ARGUMENTATION. 4. It necessitates learning how to study alone, at home, thus increasing self-reliance. These and other good reasons are convincing to your- self, and they may be convincing to some other people who are indifferent about the matter and who have not heard any arguments from those who believe in the double-session plan. But you may be sure that those who believe in the double session have good reasons too, and that if the single-session idea is to prevail, you will have to find out what their reasons are and prepare yourself to deal with these. By talking with people at home and in school about the question, and by reading whatever, has been written on the subject, you find out what reasons the advocates of the double session have for believing as they do. Perhaps you discover that they believe that The Double-Session Plan is Better. Because 1. It gives time for a warm dinner at home, at mid- day. 2. It leaves two hours before six for work at home, or for earning money. 3. It keeps young people off the streets in the after- noon hours. 4. It enables them to get most of their lessons in study periods at school. Now it becomes clear to you that as these reasons cannot be neglected or ignored, the work of argumenta- tion is twofold in dealing successfully with a con- troversy : — assignm£:nts in argumentation. 355 1. It is constructive in part, involving the presentation of reasoDS in favor of your own view. Such reasons are called Direct Proof. 2. It is destructive in part, requiring attention to the doubts and objections that exist in the minds of those who think differently from yourself, and the effort to overthrow or counterbalance the arguments in which these doubts and objections are expressed. This is called Indirect Proof or Refutation. Every question has two sides. Study and understand both sides, no matter which you advocate. 125. Assignments on the Work of Argumentation. A. Select one of the following. Make a list (as above) of reasons for or against the proposition. Also make a list of the reasons which will probably be offered by those who think differ- ently from yourself. Bring both lists to class. 1. The village or township high school gives more thorough training than the big city high school. 2. Monday is better than Saturday for the weekly school holiday. 3. The Commercial Course is better than the Manual Training Course. 4. The study of mathematics is more profitable than the study of English. 5. Physical training is more important than mental training. 6. Football is a better school sport than baseball. 7. The study of history is more profitable than the study of fiction. 8. A five-minute recess every hour is better than one fifteen- minute recess each half-day. 9. Study at home is better than study in school. 10. Bookkeeping is more important than Latin. B. Think of all the reasons you can in favor of the death penalty for murder. As you think of a reason make a written 356 ARGUMENTATION, note of it. Then compare your list of notes with the following brief. Which of your arguments has the writer of this brief an- ticipated? Which has he evidently not thought of? Which of his arguments are direct ? Which are refutation? What answer can you make to sotne of his arguments ? Write your answer. Proposition: Capital punishment should be abolished. Because A. It does not protect society from murder. For 1. Murders are still committed, though the penalty has existed thousands of years. 2. Juries acquit many whom they would con- vict v^^ere the penalty life imprisonment. B. It is immoral in its influence. For 1. It imperils the lives of innocent people wrongfully accused of murder. 2. It destroys the idea that human life is sacred. For a. It takes human life. 3. If an innocent man is convicted and hanged, the mistake cannot be corrected. 4. The penalty is not applied impartially. For a. Much depends on the skill and eloquence of the defendant's lawyer. b. Men of great wealth are rarely convicted, while the friendless criminal is rarely acquitted. 5. There is no reforming influence in capital punishment. For a. It takes no account of heredity and en- vironment as causes of crime. C. Its abolition has been followed by good results. For 1. In Michigan, Maine, and Wisconsin, murders have decreased since it has been abolished. ASSIGNMENTS IN ARGUMENTATION, 357 2. People have turned their thoughts to re- forming criminals instead of killing them. C. What parts of the following plan or brief show that the writer is aware of opposition and is prepared to meet it ? Imagine yourself an advocate of the juiy system. What points in favor of that system are not answered below ? Proposition : Hie jury system should be abolished. Be- cause A. It makes just verdicts hard to secure. For 1. Juries are often ignorant. 2. Juries are often prejudiced. For a. They are influenced by church or society affiliations. b. They are prejudiced against railroad cor- porations. B. The trial of all cases by judges without a jury would be better. For 1. Judges are intelligent and experienced in deciding intricate matters. 2. Judges are not prejudiced by church or so- ciety affiliations. 3. Judges are not moved by the eloquent soph- istry of lawyers. 4. Judges are not easily deceived by witnesses. 5. Judges can be just to corporations as well as to the poorest suitor. C. The substitution of judges for juries would not be a dangerous innovation. For 1. Appellate, Chancery, and Supreme Courts now get along without juries. 2. Many conservative lawyers have long favored the substitution. 358 ARGUMENTATION, D. Find out the meaning of the terms " initiative " and " refer- endum." Then study the following arguments, especially with the purpose of finding answers to some of them if possible. Proposition : The Initiative and Referendum should he made parts of our state constitutions. Because A. They will purify legislation. For I. They will prevent the passage of corrupt and unjust laws. For 1. Legislatures knowing that the people stand ready to repudiate any vicious or unjust act, will make better and wiser laws. II. They are the only complete and specific cure for bribery. For 1. They deprive legislators of their present monopoly of legislative power. The legislator would not be bribed because he can no longer " deliver the goods." They will destroy the lobbyist and overthrow le " boss.'' For 1. Each derives his power from his ability to influence, or even to buy and sell, legislation giving special privileges. IV. They will break the power of trusts and mo- nopolies. For 1. These cannot control legislation through the lobby. 2. The people will by the initiative be able to pass laws to regulate these. V. Refutation. The argument that the voters will be bribed to vote directly for bad laws is unsound. For ASSIGNMENTS IN ARGUMENTATION. 359 1. While it might be easy to bribe the representative of a district, it would be impossible to bribe a whole district or state. For a. A large majority of the people are always eager to be on the side of justice. VI. They will make it easier to elect good men to office. For 1. There will be no incentive to buy men be- fore they are elected or to elect men who can be bought after election. B. They will open the door to legislative progress. For I. They will give the people the power to get the legislation they want without dis- couraging delays. II. They will elevate the press and greatly dimin- ish partisanship. For 1. Attention will then be directed to meas- ures rather than to party or indi- vidual success. III. They will educate the people as no other insti- tution can. For a. They require that the voters study the questions before the people. IV. They will simplify the law and aid in its enforcement. C. They will act as a safety valve against discontent, and as a guarantee against disorder. For I. They will clarify the political atmosphere and settle questions permanently. II. Revolutions have little chan ce where the people can easily change their laws. 360 ARGUMENTATION. Argumentation and Exposition. 126. The chief difference between argumentation and exposition is in the purpose. In exposition the purpose is to explain the subject to those who do not under- stand it clearl}^ In argumentation the purpose is not merely to explain; it is to convince and to persuade others to accept one belief or one course of action rather than another. Again, the vrriter of exposition assumes that there is only- one true explanation of the subject and that people are ready and willing to accept this explanation as fast as he can make it clear to their minds. But the writer of argument can assume no such thing. He knows that some people dissent entirely from his view and will resist accepting it as long as they can. He knows that others are indifferent and must be interested and per- suaded. Yet the -writer of argument must use exposition con- stantly as a help in convincing and persuading. He will feel it necessary to explain carefully every step of his reasoning, and to that end he will use freely any of the means of exposition that we have studied — connect- ing new ideas with old, definition, generalized narration, comparison and analogy, specific instances, examples, contrasts, reconciling contradictory ideas, dividing and subdividing. But he will use these only because they help him to convince and persuade people to believe or to act as he wishes them to believe or to act. Notice with what fullness the writer of the following illustrates his meaning, before he announces his propo- sition in the fourth sentence. DESCRIPTION AND NARRATION IN ARGUMENT, 361 If a servant girl applies for employment in a family, we demand, first of all, a recommendation from her former mistress. If a clerk is searching for work, he carries with him, as the sine qua non of success, certain letters which vouch for his honesty and ability. If a skilled workman becomes discontented and throws up his job, he has a right to ask of his employer an indorsement, and armed with that he feels secure. Why should not every immigrant be re- quired to bring a similar indorsement with him? Why should we allow the whole riffraff of creation to come here, either to become a burden on our charitable institutions, or to lower the wages of our own laborers by a cutthroat com- petition ? We have already had too much of that sort of thing. If a foreigner has notified the nearest United States consul of his intention to emigrate, and the consul, after due examination, has pronounced him a proper person, let him come by all means. W^e have room enough for such persons. But for immigrants who have neither capital nor skill, who never earned a living in their own country and will never earn one here, we have no room whatever. — N. Y. Sun. Description and Narration in Argument. 127. The writer of argument will also use description and narration, to help him win people to his view. If, for instance, he is arguing against long examinations, he will likely find it a good argument to describe the looks of the examination room and of the teacher and pupils after they have been engaged in an examination for two or three hours. If he is arguing in favor of a law to limit the hours of labor for factory women, he will describe some of the scenes that may be witnessed in factories where conditions are bad. He may tell the 362 AUG UMENTA TION. story of one of these overworked women to bring his hearers to his view. But he will use narration and description, as he uses exposition, solely because they help him to convince and persuade people to believe or to act as he wishes them to believe or to act. 128. Assignments in the Relation of Argumentation to Exposition, Description, and Narration. A. With the help of the marginal analysis, decide whether the writer of the following is aware that there are two sides to the question. What methods of exposition does he employ? The proposition: Slang should be eschewed. Slang does not truly character- ize its object. Examples : 'fast,' 'slow,' 'brick,' 'cut up,' ' bore.' Slang fails to discriminate shades of meaning. I think there is one habit, — I said to our company a day or two afterwards, — worse than that of punning. It is the gradual substitution of cant or slang terms for words which truly characterize their ob- jects. I have known several very genteel idiots whose whole vocabulary had deli- quesced into some half dozen expressions. All things fell into one of two great cate- gories, — fast or slow. Man's chief end was to be a brick. When the great calami- ties of life overtook their friends, these last were spoken of as being a good deal cut up. Nine tenths of human existence were summed up in the single word, bore. These expressions come to be the algebraic sym- bols of minds which have grown too weak or indolent to discriminate. They are the blank checks of intellectual bankruptcy ; — you may fill them up with what idea you like ; it makes no difference, for there are no funds in the treasury upon which they ASSIGNMENTS IN ARGUMENTATION. 363 When freely used, it corrupts and starves vocabulary. Its source is contemptible. Objection : The Autocrat sometimes uses slang himself. Reply : (a) On rare occasions a slang phrase may be precisely what is needed. are drawn. Colleges and good-for-nothing smoking clubs are the places where these conversational fungi spring up most luxu- riantly. Don't think I undervalue the proper use and application of a cant word or phrase. It adds piquancy to conversa- tion, as a mushroom does to a sauce. But it is no better than a toadstool, odious to the sense and poisonous to the intellect, when it spawns itself all over the talk of men and youths capable of talking, as it sometimes does. As we hear slang phrase- ology, it is commonly the dish-water from the washings of English dandyism, school- boy or full-grown, wrung out of a three- volume novel which had sopped it up, or decanted from the pictured urn of Mr. Verdant Green, and diluted to suit the provincial climate. The young fellow called John spoke up sharply and said, it was " rum " to hear me ^' pitchin' into fellers " for " goin' it in the slang line," when I used all the flash words myself just when I pleased. I replied with my usual forbearance. — Certainly, to give up the algebraic symbol because a or 6 is often a cover for ideal nihility, would be unwise. I have heard a child laboring to express a certain condi- tion, involving a hitherto undescribed sen- sation (as I supposed), all of which could have been sufficiently explained by the participle — bored. I have seen a country clergyman, with a one-story intellect and a 364 ARG UMENTA TION. (b) Absolute proscription is not advocated by the Autocrat. (c) A slang phrase may be filled with meaning by man of thought. one-horse vocabulary, who has consumed his valuable time (and mine) freely, in developing an opinion of a brother-minis- ter's discourse which would have been abundantly characterized by a peach-down- lipped sophomore in the one word — slow. Let us discriminate, and be shy of absolute proscription. I am omniverbivorous by nature and training. Passing by such words as are poisonous, I can swallow most others, and chew such as I cannot swallow. Dandies are not good for much, but they are good for something. They invent or keep in circulation those conversational blank checks or counters just spoken of, which intellectual capitalists may some- times find it worth their while to borrow of them. — Holmes : The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, II, p. 353. B. Make a careful analysis of the following : To what extent is exposition used ? What sentences are intended to meet possible objections ? 1. The death of Caesar was an irreparable loss. It in- volved the state in civil wars for many a year, until, in the end, it fell again under the supremacy of Augustus, who had neither the talent, nor the will, nor the power to carry out Caesar's beneficent plans. Csesar's murder was a sense- less act. Had it been possible at all to restore the Repmblic, it would have inevitably fallen into the hands of a most profligate aristocracy, who would have sought nothing but their own aggrandizement, would have demoralized the people still more, and would have established their own greatness upon the ruins of the country. It is only necessary EXPOSITION AND ARGUMENT. 365 to recollect the latter years of the Republic, the depravity and corruption of the ruling classes, the scenes of violence and bloodshed which constantly occurred in the streets of Rome, to render it evident that peace and security could not be restored except by the strong hand of a sovereign. The Roman world would have been fortunate if it had sub- mitted to the mild and beneficent sway of Csesar. — ScHMiTz : History of Rome, 2. An abuse like our spoils system does not remain stationary. Either it will be reformed, or it will increase by its own momentum, till we shall see, at first cautiously and under specious pretenses, and finally as a matter of course, all the best offices in the army and navy appropriated at every change of administration on the theory ^' To the victors belong the spoils." And why not ? It would be as reasonable and just to make changes in military and naval offices on party grounds as it is in the civil service. If such changes are good for the civil service, they ought to be good for other branches of the service. This is the way the advocates of rotation would, argue; and although such a development of the spoils system would be deprecated by all friends of good administration, we must not be too con- fident it will not occur. — Andrews : Administrative Reform, 28. 3. Competition is the best security for cheapness, but by no means a security for quality. In former times, when producers and consumers were less numerous, it was a se- curity for both. The market was not large enough nor the means of publicity sufficient to enable a dealer to make a fortune by continually attracting new customers : his success depended on his retaining those that he had ; and when a dealer furnished good articles, or when he did not, the fact was soon known to those whom it concerned, and he ac- 366 ARGUMENTATION. quired a character for honest or dishonest dealing of more importance to him than the gain that would be made by cheating casual purchasers. But on the great scale of mod- ern transactions, with the great multiplication of competition and the immense increase in the quantity of business com- peted for, dealers are so little dependent on permanent customers that character is much less essential to them, while there is also far less certainty of their obtaining the character they deserve. The low prices which a tradesman advertises are known to a thousand, for one who has dis- covered for himself or learned from others that the bad quality of the goods is more than an equivalent for their cheapness. — Mill : Chapters on Socialism. C. Study the following for illustrations of the way description is utilized as argument. The first three paragraphs of description prove what? What does the fourth paragraph prove? It once happened to me to spend a day or two in a coun- try house where the different rooms gave unconscious object- lessons to show the gradual change of taste in household decoration. One room — the sitting room of an elderly invalid — represented what might be called the iron age of furnishing ; everything was dark mahogany and haircloth ; there was not a chair or a sofa on which you could retain your seat without a struggle, so polished and so slippery were they all. The walls were hung with dark portraits in dark frames, or smaller daguerreotypes in circles of black walnut; the only spots of color were found in one faded sampler, and in the gilded circular frame of a very small mirror hung too high for use. It was curious to pass from this sombre abode into the bedroom I occupied, which had been fitted up by an elder sister, long since married, and whose girlhood fell in what might be called the glacial period of thirty years ago. Here DESCRIPTION AS ARGUMENT. 367 everything was white instead of dark — white Parian statu- ettes, white fluffy embroideries, a white cross cut in compli- cated fashion out of paper, surrounded with white flowers and hung in a white frame against a white wall. On the mantlepiece stood a pair of cut-glass vases, bearing great clusters of dried grasses, bleached almost colorless by time. The furniture was of straw, and the counterpane was of white damask. If the room of the iron age was depressing, this was even more so ; it was like passing from an under- ground cave into a chilly world of ice. But a third experience was offered on proceeding to the parlor, which had been given over to the charge of the youngest daughter, fresh from an art school. From this room every article of pure white or jet black had been ban- ished ; the eye wandered from one half tint to another, or if any bit of positive color arrested the gaze, it was some un- expected stroke of bold yellow or regal red. No two chairs were alike ; nothing was paired ; the carved marble mantel- piece was concealed by a lambrequin; there were screens, fans, a knot of some Oriental stuff at the back of every chair, three various vases of bulrushes, and seven seltzer- wgrter jars painted by the young lady herself. This room did not belong to the iron age, nor yet to the glacial, but to the recent or Japanese formation. Considered as a step forward from the earlier stages represented in that house, it indicated a great advance ; regarded as a finality, it was something to appall the human heart. Now all these successive transformations were the work of women, and they suggest the question, If woman is thus the born and appointed decorator of the home, why should she not be trained to do it artistically and professionally ? It is not truly artistic to plunge at once into the most exclu- sive extreme of the present fashion, whether it lead to black, or white, or a multiplicity of hue, but to take what is truly 368 ARGUMENTATION. the best of each, period and adapt it gracefully to modern use and to the needs of each separate family. In many houses this is now exquisitely done: no one can deny the" great improvement in our " interiors " within twenty years. But if it is to be done systematically for the community, it is impossible to leave it wholly to amateurs. The modern decoration implies architects, designers, and artificers of its own. In the foreman of an art-blacksraith*s shop I found the other day one whom I had previously known as a work- ing jeweller; he had simply transferred his energy and skill from gold and silver to brass and iron, and was laboring with hands harder than before, yet no less cunning, upon graceful gas-fixtures and indoor ornamentations of his own designing. It must be the same with women; they must undergo professional training to do their best. Here is this whole continent waiting to be made graceful and beautiful in its indoor homes. It is said by dealers that, outside of a few large cities, there is absolutely no arrange- ment to supply this demand, — no one who can give to a young couple setting up their housekeeping more than that amount of information possessed by the average furniture dealer, which is very little. For want of this many a young pair, as their wedding-day approaches, sit down and ponder helplessly over some book on "The House Beautiful,'' or " Indoor Decoration," until their souls are filled with despair. Where are they to find these ohaLvming portieres, these aes- thetic wall-papers, these delightful Russian wash-bowls that are lighter and prettier and cheaper and more durable than any china? And the dealers receive unavailing letters from a thousand miles away, asking for the wrong things or under the wrong names, and ending in failure. ' What is the remedy ? The remedy is for a few women first, and then a good many women, after training themselves properly, to take up NARRATIVE AS ARGUMENT. 369 decoration as a profession. Let any two bright and capaHe girls who have wearied themselves in painting water-colors that people do not want, or Christmas cards for which the market is waning, try another experiment. Let them, after studying in the art schools of New York or Boston or Cin- cinnati, make also a careful study of the markets and work- shops of those cities, so far as they relate to decoration ; and then go, armed with circulars, price-lists, plans, and patterns, to establish themselves as household decorators in some in- terior city, where the wave of modern improvement has thus far come only as a matter of intelligent interest, not of sys- tematic supply. They will have to wait awhile, no doubt, to command public confidence, or even to make their mission understood ; but they will not have to wait so long as their brothers will wait for clients or for patients. They will need to be very practical, very accurate, very efficient, and very patient. The great dealers in the larger cities will gladly make them their agents, give them letters of intro- duction, and pay them a commission on sales. With a little tact they can learn to cooperate with the local dealers, to whom they will naturally leave the coarser supplies, devoting themselves to the finer touches. If they succeed at all, their circle of clients or correspondents may extend through whole states, and they will help to refine the life and thought of the nation. By all means let us see women take up house- hold decoration as an educated profession. — T. W. Higgin- SON : Women as Household Decorators, from Women and Men, by permission. Copyright, 1887, by Harper and Brothers. D. How could the following narrative be utilized as an argu- ment? Make a proposition that it would fitly illustrate and help to prove. What part is refutation ? I was once met by a little girl on a cross-street in a re- spectable quarter of the town, who burst into tears at sight 370 ARGUMENTATION. of me, and asked for money to buy her sick mother bread. The very next day I was passing through the same street, and I saw the same little girl burst into tears at sight of a benevolent-looking lady, whom undoubtedly she asked for money for the same good object. The benevolent-looking lady gave her nothing, and she tried her woes upon several other people, none of whom gave her anything. I was forced to doubt whether, upon the whole, her game was worth the candle, or whether she was really making a pro- vision for her declining years by this means. To be sure, her time was not worth much, and she could hardly have got any other work, she was so young ; but it seemed hardly a paying industry. By any careful calculation, I do not be- lieve she would have been found to have amassed more than ten or fifteen cents a day; and perhaps she really had a sick mother at home. Many persons are obliged to force their emotions for money, whom we should not account wholly undeserving ; yet I suppose a really good citizen who found this little girl trying to cultivate the sympathies of charitable people by that system of irrigation, would have had her sup- pressed as an impostor. In a way she was an impostor, though her sick mother may have been starving, as she said. It is a nice question. Shall we always give to him that asketh ? Or shall we give to him that asketh only when we know that he has come by his destitution honestly ? In other words, what is a deserv- ing case of charity — or, rather, what is not ? Is a starving or freezing person to be denied because he or she is drunken or vicious ? What is desert in the poor ? What is desert in the rich, I suppose the reader would answer. If this is so, and if we ought not to succor an undeserving poor person, then we ought not to succor an undeserving rich person. It will be said that a rich person, however undeserving, will never be in need of our succor, but this is not so clear. If THE PROPOSITION, 371 we saw a rich person fall in a fit before the horses of a Fifth Avenue omnibus, ought not we to run and lift him up, al- though we knew him to be a man whose life was stained by every vice and excess, and cruel, wanton, idle, luxurious ? — W. D. HowELLS : Harper's, Dec, 1896. The Proposition. 129. That his hearers may know precisely what they are expected to believe or to do, the maker of an argu- ment must express his theme in the form of a definite propo- sition, — that is, ill a complete sentence wdth a subject and a predicate. In no other form of discourse is a proposi- tion an absolute necessity; in argumentation it is. You can write a description of " Our Football Team " ; you can write a narrative of "Our Football Team"; but you cannot argue "Our Football Team." There must be something asserted of it; that is, there must be a proposition, before argument can begin. Thus you can argue for or against the proposition that "Our football team is the best in the state." You can write an expo- sition of "Strikes," but you cannot argue "Strikes." You must make a proposition including the term, " Strikes," before argument can begin ; thus, " Strikes cannot succeed unless supported by public opinion," or " Strikes should be supplanted by Compulsory Arbitra- tion," or any one of a thousand other assertions about strikes. Sometimes, it is true, we speak of a phrase like "Votes for Women " as if it could be argued; but it cannot be argued unless it is turned into a proposi- tion, — "Women should be granted the right to vote," or is understood, by all concerned, to be equivalent to that proposition. The same thing is true of a subject 372 ARG UMENTA TION, for argument that is expressed in the form of a ques- tion. " Shall women be granted the right to vote ? " must be understood to mean one or the other of these propositions, — "Women should be granted the right to vote " or " Women should not be granted the right to vote." The proposition should be the clear and exact state- ment of the conclusion which the writer or speaker has reached in his own thinking, and to which he hopes to bring his audience by means of his arguments. In formal debate the situation requires that the exact proposition be made known beforehand, and that the precise meaning of the terms of the proposition, what it includes and what it does not include, be agreed to by both sides and explained at the outset. In less formal argumentation this is not usually deemed necessary. Nor is it always advisable ; for if the audience is thought to be hostile to the speaker's views, the full statement of the proposition may best be deferred until his hearers have been prepared to receive it. Thus, in Burke's speech on Conciliation with the Colonies, you are made aware in the very first paragraph that Burke desires to conciliate the colonies somehow; in the ninth paragraph you learn that Burke's proposition is peace ; that he proposes, by a simple plan, somehow to remove the ground of the difference betweeh the colonies and the mother country ; but it is not until the ninety-first paragraph that he lets his audience know precisely what he proposes: namely, that Parliament should establish, by passing certain resolutions, the principle of raising money in the colonies by voluntary grants of the colo- nial assemblies rather than by imposing taxes. Burke ASSIGNMENTS ON THE PROPOSITION. 373 knew his audience to be out of sympathy with his propo- sition, and so he deferred its full and exact statement until he was ready to present his resolutions. For similar reasons, doubtless, Hosmer in his Samuel Adams (see p. 46, ante^ for the paragraph in question) delayed announcing the full statement of his propo- sition until the very end of the paragraph had been reached. By this delay he was able to forestall opposi- tion that would inevitably have been offered had the proposition been stated boldly at the outset. Whether the proposition is stated at the beginning or is reserved until necessary explanations have been made, it is kept definitely in mind by the writer all of the time. He knows exactly what it is before he begins to write and holds it before him while writing. ISO. Assignments on the Proposition. A. Read the following and write out the exact proposition that was in the father's mind oa the subject of shooting birds. He went hunting the very next Saturday, and at the first shot he killed a bird. It was a suicidal sapsucker, which had suffered him to steal upon it so close that it could not escape even the vagaries of that wandering gun-barrel, and was blown into such small pieces that the boy could bring only a few feathers of it away. In the evening, when his father came home, he showed him these trophies of the chase, and boasted of his exploit with the minutest detail. His father asked him whether he had expected to eat the sapsucker, if he could have got enough of it together. He said no, sapsuckers were not good to eat. '^ Then you took its poor little life merely for the pleasure of killing it ? " — HowELLS : A Boy^s Town, p. 154. • B. Is the first sentence, or the last, or a combination of the two, the exact proposition in the following? 374 ARGUMENTATION. When men strike, the side which can afford to be idle the longest will win. The masters are usually rich enough to live on their accumulated property for some time. The men often have no savings, and rarely, if ever, have large ones. They may belong to a trade-union which will supply them with, means of subsistence for some time, but the small funds of such a society, divided among a number of men, cannot go far. The masters must have the men work in order to have their capital yield them anything, but the men must work in order to live. It is plain that the mas- ters can, as a rule, stay idle the longest. — Lalor and Mason : A Primer of Political Economy. C. Criticise the wording of the following propositions. The words that are ambiguous or in need of definition or modification are printed in italics. From one of these make a proposition that you would be willing to advocate. 1. United States senators should be elected by the people. (On a general ticket ? Ignoring state lines ?) 2. The elective system should be adopted in our schools. (In all of them? Define elective system.) 3. Sunday recreations should be prohibited by law. (What is included in recreations ?) 4. All anarchists should be deported. (What is an anarchist f) 5. A high school education insures success in life. (Is a liigh school education the same for everybody? What is success in life?) 6. A trade is better than a clerkship. (For whom? in what sense ?) 7. The policy of Conservation should be supported by legisla- tion. (What is Conservation? W^hat legislation is wanted? state or federal ?) D. Make a proposition that precisely expresses some conclusion to which you have come. Word it with extreme care with a view to clearness and accuracy. Bring it to class for criticism of ^^s form. ASSIGNMENT IN FINDING PERTINENT FACTS. 375 E. Think of a proposition that would be unwelcome to your classmates, — something about restricting a certain privilege, for instance, or curtailing a holiday recess, — and consider what you might say before announcing the proposition, in otder to render it less unwelcome when announced. Arguments for the Proposition based on Pertinent Facts. 131. Whatever helps to persuade others to accept a proposition as true is an argument for the proposition, a reason for believing it. The fact that ^ is a financier long accustomed to the safe management of large funds, is an argument for the proposition that " A should be elected city treasurer." The absence of any accusation affecting A's integrity or ability to perform the duties of the office, is a further argument for the same proposi- tion. As an argument for the proposition that " revenue by voluntary grant of the colonial legislatures is the most productive means of obtaining money from the colonies," Burke cited the fact that the colonies had granted voluntarily more than £200,000 sterling for his Majesty's service. As a further argument for the same proposition, he pointed to the absence of revenue from the system of imposing taxes on the colonies. A pertinent fact and the absence of a pertinent fact are alike arguments for a proposition. 132. Assignmeut in finding Pertinent Pacts. Find two or three pertinent facts that tend to prove the affirma- tive or the negative of the following propositions. Make at least one additional argument from the absence of a pertinent fact. 1. The interurban railways hurt retail business in small villages near larger cities. 376 ARGUMENTATION. 2. Smith should be made captain of the baseball nine. 3. Jones should be elected secretary of the literary society. 4. Final examinations should be required of every student in every study. 5. Basket-ball aifords better exercise for a girl than ice-skating. Arguraents based on Pertinent Circumstances. 133. The mayor of a city, a candidate for reelection, was accused of unfriendliness to the working classes because he had vetoed an appropriation for free band concerts. As an argument that the accusation was false, the absence of any motive for unfriendliness was urged, and the circumstance was pointed out that there was no money left in the city treasury to meet that or any other appropriation. The very circumstance that he had ve- toed the measure when a candidate for reelection was cited as an argument for his good faith. A certain house with windows and doors secure has been robbed. After the robbery, the lock on one window is found to have been broken. This circumstance is an argument that the robbery was probably committed by some one from without. If there is no sign that the windows and doors have been tampered with, this circumstance is an argument that the robbery was committed by, or in collusion with, an inmate of the house. A mere circumstance, if pertinent to the proposition, and the absence of a circumstance are alike arguments. 134- Assignment in finding Pertinent Circumstances. For one of the following propositions (or the negative of it) find several pertinent circumstances. Note also the absence of any cir- cumstance that would be significant if present. (Take a real case for each proposition.) ^ SPECIFIC INSTANCES. 377 1. Fear of occupying room 13 in a hotel is foolish. 2. Belief in your luck is rational. 3. The fire was of incendiary origin. 4. The burglar entered by climbing the porch. 5. The ring was lost between home and school. 6. The child is lost, not kidnapped. 7. The book has been mislaid ; it is not stolen. 8. That piece of goods wears unusually well. 9. She is offended about something I have done. 10. The candidate was not sincere in his motives. Arguments based on Specific Instances. 135. Burke in the conciliation speech offered, as an argument that concession was in accordance with Eng- lish policy, four historical instances or examples, — the cases of Ireland, Wales, Chester, and Durham, — show- ing that these had been pacified by giving them full English privileges and rights. Also against Lord North's plan of conciliation, Burke urged that it was " without example of our ancestors." Thus, he virtually made an argument out of Lord North's inability to produce from English history any example or instance. Specific instances, if pertinent, are arguments for a proposition ; and the absence of a specific instance is also an argument, count- ing against a proposition needing such support. Assignment in finding Specific Instances. 136. For one of the first five of the following propositions (or the negative of it) find at least one specific instance. Show how the absence of a specific instance could be used as an argument against any one of the last five propositions. 1. The honor system in examinations should be adopted. 2. Cities should own their lighting plants. 378 ARGUMENTATION. 3. Generosity in diplomacy is the truest wisdom. 4. Patience, perseverance, and skill will teach an animal any- thing. 5. Gratitude is thankfulness for favors expected. 6. Arizona and New Mexico should be united in one state. 7. The ballot should be taken away from ignorant voters. 8. Banks should be allowed to issue circulation without limit. 9. The government should provide work for everybody. 10. All punishments for crime should be abolished. Arguments based on Principles, Experiences, Authority. 137. In favor of the simplicity of his schetiae for concil- iating the colonies, Burke used as arguments the follow- ing principles and maxims : " Refined policy ever has been the parent of confusion ; and ever will be so, as long as the world endures. Plain, good intention, which is as easily discovered at the first view as fraud is surely detected at last, is, let me say, of no mean force in the government of mankind. Genuine simplicity of heart is an healing and cementing principle." In another part of his speech, Burke pointed out the absence of any intelligible principle in Lord North's plan for dealing with the colonies, as an argument against it. " It is," he said, " a mere project. It is a thing new ; unheard of ; supported by no experience ; justified by no analogy ; without example of our ances- tors, or root in the constitution. It is neither regular parliamentary taxation nor colony grant." A principle, a maxim, an appeal to experience or to authority, is an argument for a proposition, if pertinent to it ; and so is the absence of any one of these, if the absence is significant. GENERAL THEORY. 379 138. Assignment in finding Principles. Supply a principle, an appeal to common experience, an appeal to authority, in favor of or against one of the following. If you cannot, show how that fact itself may be used as an argument. 1. This school should have a better ventilating system. 2. The Australian ballot system should be adopted everywhere. 3. No student should be allowed to carry five studies at a time. 4. The curfew ordinance should be enforced. 5. Thanksgiving Day football should be prohibited. 6. Pupils should be allowed to study together. 7. Girls should have a different course of studies from that prescribed for boys. 8. Fishing in a swimming-hole will not bring a catch. 9. Pupils should occupy alternate seats in an examination. 10. The government should own and operate a public telegraph system in connection with the post-office. Arguments based on a General Theory. 139. Back of every proposition there will be found certain theories that will influence, or even determine, a person's attitude toward the proposition as soon as the cheories are recognized, and will lead him to find reasons for or against it. If the proposition is, " -A should be gradu- ated, though he has never studied algebra," those who favor and those who oppose his graduation will betray very quickly conflicting theories of education. If the proposition is, '' This shade tree should be cut down in order to widen the street," we soon discover, from what people say for or against the proposition, that there are many theories of " improvement," '-^ progress," and the 380 ARGUMENTATION, like, on the one hand, and conflicting theories of " beau- tifying the city," " preserving old landmarks," " the du- ties of city ofiicers," on the other. What a person thinks about the proposition, *' Cities should own and operate street railways," may be determined by a theory of government, or by some theory of taxation or of labor. The proposition, " Sunday baseball should be pro- hibited," involves theories of personal, as well as pub- lic rights and morals, and of the state's relation thereto. A person may be fully cognizant of the theory under- lying the proposition, and may present it openly ; or he may be only vaguely conscious of it, and, assuming it to be true, may make appeals to it as if it were accepted by all as an axiom. In either case the theory is pres- ent, and is used as an argument for the proposition. It is important, therefore, in studying a proposition, to penetrate beneath the surface to the various conflicting theories that underlie it. One way of doing this is to ask the question. On what theory or theories could this proposition be attacked and defended? or, if it be a proposition that has long been discussed. On what theory or theories has it been attacked and defended ? How did the proposition come to be discussed ? What was the origin of the controversy ? What must be as- sumed to be true in order that the proposition may be fairly regarded as debatable ? If any one of these ques- tions can be answered by reading and thinking, one or more underlying theories will be discovered with which the proposition will square. A general theory with which the proposition agrees, if ac- cepted as true or proved true, is an argument in favor of the proposition. FACT AND INFERENCE, 381 140. Assignment in supplying a General Theory. What theory is back of each of the following propositions? 1. The city council should appropriate money for free band concerts. 2. The school should provide free noon-lunches. 3. The playing of pianos at midnight should be prohibited by ordinance. 4. A boy should be excused from any study on request of his parent. 5. Newspapers should not be permitted to print criminal news. 6. Novels should be censored for literary form. 7.. Women should be allowed to vote on the same terms as men. How a Fact or a Theory becomes an Argument. 141. Every argument, of whatever kind, involves an element of fact and an element of theory. A fact is adduced because it is supposed to have a certain mean- ing ; that is, because a certain inference may be drawn from it. A theory is adduced because it explains or gives meaning and sanction to certain facts of the case. Thus, the fact that ^ is a financier long accustomed to the safe management of large funds, when used as an argument for electing A city treasurer, involves the theory that " all men who have been accustomed to the safe management of large funds make good city treasurers." The theory that "the state should prevent people from interfering with one another's rights," when used as an argument for the proposition, " Sunday base- ball should be prohibited," raises a question of fact : " Does Sunday baseball interfere with the rights of certain classes of people ? " A fact or a theory becomes an argument because an inference is drawn from it, or an application is made of it. 382 ARGUMENTATION, 142. Assignments in relating Pacts and Theories to Propositions. A. In each of the following (1) Discover the proposition, (2) Note the arguments, whether of fact or of theory, that support the proposition. 1. Many politicians of our time are in the habit of laying it down as a self-evident proposition, that no people ought to be free till they are fit to use their freedom. The maxim is worthy of the fool in the old story, who resolved not to go into the water till he had learned to swim. If men are to wait for liberty till they become wise and good in slavery, they may indeed wait forever. — Macaulay : Milton. 2. It may not seem that the few minutes which are given each day to physical culture in our schools will affect mate- rially, for better or worse, the character and bearing of the children who are subjected to it ; but when it is remembered that this sort of thing goes on day after day for eight or nine years, its influence will be more readily appreciated, and its hygienic importance more fully realized. If the present mental strain is to continue in our schools, then we must strive to overcome the nervousness which it induces through the efficient culture of the body. We must not have as our ideal of the work of physical training the de- velopment of great muscular strength and dexterity, so much as the promotion of health, and rendering the body an unconscious and ready instrument of the mind in the expression of its most gracious qualities. Nor can we hope, under the conditions which exist in our schools, to make the bodies of all our children symmetrical and har- monious by physical training ; for we have to deal there with children in the great average, and it is only by dealing with individual tendencies that we can secure perfect sym- RELATING FACTS AND THEORIES. 383 metry and harmony. But after all, this is not such a serious question : for if we can foster and promote the health of children, and induce in them the right attitude of spirit, the tendency of nature toward symmetry and harmony will produce gratifying results. — School Review, May, 1905. 3. I remember hearing an old gentleman (who repre- sented old English feeling in great perfection) say that it was totally unintelligible to him that a certain member of Parliament could sit on the liberal side of the House of Commons. " I cannot understand it," he said ; " I knew his father intimately, and he was always a good Tory." — Bagehot : The English Constitution. 4. The very mode in which a crowd is formed is highly favorable to its hypnotization, and hence to its becoming a mob. At first a crowd is formed by some strange object or occurrence suddenly arresting the attention of men. Other men coming up are attracted by curiosity : they wish to learn the reason of the gathering; they fix their attention on the object that fascinates the crowd, are fascinated in their turn, and thus the crowd keeps on growing. With the increase of numbers grows the strength of fascination ; the hypnotization increases in intensity, until, when a cer- tain critical point is reached, the crowd becomes completely hypnotized, and is ready to obey blindly the commands of its hero; it is now a mob. Thus a mob is a hypnotized crowd. — Atlantic, 75 : 190. B. Study the two briefs that follow. In the first, what theory of legislation is appealed to by argument A ? On what theory would Chave to be defended? What theory is appealed to in D and 2) I? in jEJ? In the second brief what theory of an ideal im- migration law underlies A, B, and C? Are the theories of the first brief in conflict with those of the second ? 384 ARGUMENTATION. A high restrictive tax should be placed upon all immigrants to the United States. Because A. It is an appropriate remedy. For I. The evil is an industrial one. B. It would sift the immigrants. C. It would abolish transients. D. It would be just to the immigrant. For I. If he is to share the benefits of government, he should contribute to its cost. E. It would greatly benefit American laborers. For I. It would prevent competition of low-grade labor. Proposition : A high tax should not be levied on immigrants to the United States. Because A. A high tax would not exclude undesirable immi- grants as does the present law. For I. Those liable to become a public charge are now prohibited, but might be brought in under a tax law. II. A tax law would not exclude felons or persons who have been convicted of other infa- mous crimes. III. A tax law would not exclude contract laborers. For a. The contractor could easily advance wages to pay the tax. B. A high tax will exclude large numbers of desirable immigrants. For I. The average immigrant has hardly $25 on landing in America. RELATING FACTS AND THEORIES. 385 II. Refutation. The claim that the demand for labor in this country is already over- supplied, cannot stand. For a. There is a constant demand for laborers in the coarser occupations, such as digging canals and repairing rail- roads. h There is a dearth of house servants. c. This country can support ten times its present population. d. Every laborer is a consumer as well as a producer. III. Refutatioyi, The claim that the immigrant is a menace to our free institutions is not supported by the facts. For a. The boss, the boodler, the tax-evader, the corruptionist, the monopolist, is usually a native American. h. The states having the largest percentage of foreign-born voters are the most progressive states in the union. C. The proposed tax has nothing to commend it as a test of the qualifications of good citizenship. For ' I. The poor frequently become the most useful citizens. II. A bill making the ability to read a test for the admission of immigrants was vetoed by the President on the grounds of its not being an adequate test, yet it has more to commend it than a tax on immi- grants. 386 ARGUMENTATION. 143. Assignments on Arguments for the Proposition. A. What considerations probably led to the first discussion of the proposition, " Monday is better than Saturday for the weekly school holiday " ? B. Would a knowledge of how and when the question origi- nated help to an understanding of these propositions? — "Lord Bacon wrote the plays attributed to Shakespeare " ; " The Boer Republic ought to have been given its independence by Eng- land"; "The Panama interoceanic canal should be completed"; " The United States should hold the Philippine Islands perma- nently as colonies." C. Find in the Merchant of Venice at least one argument in favor of one of the following propositions ; also evidence against the others that conflict with it. Write the argument. 1. Shakespeare shared the prejudice of his age against the Jews. 2. Shakespeare meant by this play merely to show the terrible injustice which the Jews suffered in his day. 3. Shakespeare wanted his audience to understand that the worst features of the Jewish character were a natural retribution upon Christians for the centuries of wrong they had heaped upon the Jewish race. 4. The deepest lesson of the play is found in the moral insensi- bility of all the characters, including Portia, to the wrong done Shylock. 5. Shakespeare wanted his audience to sympathize with Shy- lock. D. Find facts and circumstances counting for or against one of the following propositions and write the argument : — 1. Shakespeare intended to belittle Caesar's character in order to exalt Brutus's. 2. In the quarrel between Brutus and Cassius the latter was right. 3. Mark Antony's speech was more eifective than Brutus's. TESTS FOR PERTINENCE. 387 4. Brutus was persuaded on insufficient evidence to join the con- spiracy. 5. Brutus's motive in entering into the conspiracy was more commendable than that of Cassius. E. What specific instances can you adduce in favor of the propo- sition that " Wealthy men are to-day sensible of their obligations to the public," or that "A student who excels in mathematics will excel in physics," or that " The inaccuracy of newspapers is excus- able." Write on one of the foregoing propositions. F. What question of fact or of theory is implied in the follow- ing ?- 1. Women should be given the right to vote because they will purify politics. 2. Women should not be given the right to vote because they do not want it. 3. Portia was merciful because she delivered that fine speech beginning, " The quality of mercy is not strained." 4. Portia was not merciful because she showed no mercy for Shylock after his sentence had been pronounced. G. Find three arguments in favor of one of the following propo- sitions. Which one of the three do you regard as indispensable V Write the arguments, putting the strongest last. 1. Cooking and sewing should be taught in the public schools. 2. Examinations are a true test of scholarship. 3. The education of girls should be the same as the education of boys. , Tests of Argnments for Pertinence. 144. Of course no honest person ever uses anything as an argument without believing that it applies to the proposition to be proved. Yet the dangers of mistake in selecting facts, and especially in using them, making inferences from them, interpreting them so that they will count, are manifold. Hence it was necessary in 388 ARGUMENTATION. enumerating the different things that may count as arguments to make this important qualification : The facts, circumstances, specific instances, appeals to experi- ence or to authorities, precedents, principles, maxims, and theories, must be pertinent to the conclusion that one is trying to establish ; that is, to the proposition. How easy it is to make wrong inferences every one can illustrate in his own experience. In the second paragraph of the following, Howells warns his readers against the equally common danger of making too broad an inference. When I see five or six boys now lying under a tree on the grass, and they fall silent as I pass them, I have no right to say that they are not arranging to go and carry some poor widow's winter wood into her' shed and pile it neatly up for her, and wish to keep it a secret from every- body ; but forty years ago I should have had good reason for thinking that they were debating how to tie a piece of her clothesline along the ground so that when her orphan boy came out for an armload of wood after dark, he would trip on it and send his wood flying all over the yard. This would not be a sign that they were morally any worse than the boys who read Harper's Young People, and who would every one die rather than do such a cruel thing, but that they had not really thought much about it. — Howells : A Boy's Town, p: 207. The bridge was close by the market-house, but for some reason or no reason the children never played in that bridge. Perhaps the tollhouse man would not let them; my boy stood in dread of the tollhouse man; he seemed to have such a severe way of taking the money from the teamsters. — Howells : A Boy's Toivn, p. 58. TEST FOR PERTINENCE. 389 Some of the boys were said to be the beaux of some of the girls. My boy did not know what that meant ; in his own mind he could not disentangle the idea of bows from the idea of arrows. — Howells : A Boifs Town, p. 58. 145. Assig-nments on the Test for Pertinence. A. In the following, point out every instance in which the writer (Macaulay) charges that the arguments of his opponents are not pertinent. The advocates of Charles, like the advocates of other malefactors against whom overwhelming evidence is pro- duced, generally decline all controversy about the facts, and content themselves with calling testimony to character. He had so many private virtues ! And had James the Second no private virtues ? Was Oliver Cromwell, his bitterest enemies themselves being judges, destitute of private virtues ? And what, after all, are the virtues ascribed to Charles ? A religious zeal, not more sincere than that of his son, and fully as weak and narrow-minded, and a few of the ordinary household decencies which half the tombstones in England claim for those who lie beneath them. A good father ! A good husband ! Ample apologies indeed for fifteen years of persecution, tyranny, and falsehood ! We charge him with having broken his coronation oath ; and we are told that he kept his marriage vow ! A¥e accuse him of having given up his people to the merciless inflictions of the most hot-headed and hard-hearted of prelates ; and the defence is, that he took his little son on his knee and kissed him ! We censure him for having violated the articles of the Petition of Right, after having, for good and valuable consideration, promised to observe them; and we are informed that he was accustomed to hear prayers at six o'clock in the morning! It is to such considerations as these, together with his Vandyke dress, his handsome face. 390 ARGUMENTATION, and his peaked beard, that he owes, we verily believe, most of his popularity with the present generation. For ourselves, we own that we do not understand the common phrase, a good man, but a bad king. We can as easily conceive a good man and an unnatural father, or a good man and a treacherous friend. We cannot, in estimat- ing the character of an individual, leave out of consideration his conduct in the most important of all human relations ; and if in that relation we find him to have been selfish, cruel, and deceitful, we shall take the liberty to call him a bad marf in spite of all his temperance at table, and all his regularity at chapel. B. Thomas Campbell was the first editor of Shakespeare to defend Shylock. In his edition of the plays, in 1838, he said : — In the picture of the Jew there is not the tragic grandeur of Richard III, but there is a similar force of mind and the same subtlety of intellect, though it is less selfish. In point of courage I would give the palm to Shylock, for he was an ill-used man and the champion of an oppressed race ; nor is he a hypocrite, like Richard. In fact, Shakespeare, while he lends himself to the prejudices against Jews, draws so philo- sophical a picture of the energetic Jewish character that he traces the blame of its faults to the iniquity of the Chris- tian world. Shylock's arguments are more logical than those of his opponents, and the latter overcome him only by a legal quibble. But he is a usurer and liver on the interest of lent moneys ; and what but Christian persecution forced him to live by these means ? But he is also inhuman and revengeful. Why? Because they called him a (ft)g and spat upon his Jewish gaberdine. They voided their rheum upon him, and he in return wished to void his revenge upon them. All this is natural, and Shylock has nothing un- natural about him. TEST FOR PERTINENCE. • 391 What inference do you draw from the fact that no previous editor of Shakespeare expressed such an opinion about Shylock ? Suppose some one should say : " This inference is not warranted. Previous editors didn't mention it because it was self-evident." How would you make reply ? C. What wrong inference is charged in the following? Now, let me call attention to some other facts which pro- tectionist politicians do not like to discuss pointedly. When comparisons are made of wages paid in this conn- try with wages paid in the same industries in Europe, pro- tectionists compare the amounts earned for a certain time. By this method they conceal the fact that the American working man produces more, in proportion to his pay, than his European brother. American shoe workers, for instance, may get more wages per week than English shoe workers, but they turn out so many more shoes in a week that the labor cost of a pair of shoes here is less than it is in England. And so in many other industries. That is one reason why many American products under- sell European products in Europe and elsewhere. Protectionists forget all about this when they speak of "protecting American industries from the cheap foreign labor clamoring for a chance to climb over the bars." When hat manufacturers plead that it will be unprofit- able for them to continue in the hat business without a tariff, they practically declare that their business is an unnecessary burden on the American people. If the hat business cannot exist without compelling the people to pay it a sum over and above the true value of its products, it is not a benefit to the community. It is an injury. Likewise if Southern growers of cotton, pineapples, or oranges tell the truth in proclaiming that a protective tariff 392 • ARGUMENTATION. is needed for their products, they only inform the American people that the country would be better off without them. To believe them is to believe that the United States is so poor a country that it can produce nothing which can hold its own in an open market, on its own unsupported merits. To believe them, is to believe that American labor is so inefficient, that it cannot produce as much in proportion to wages as the most degraded and poorest paid foreign labor. We know better than that. — The Public, 12 : 584. D. Must we assume that the person who advocates the follow- ing proposition is opposed to all football games? — " Interscholas- tic football games should be prohibited." What other assumption is possible? What other theory may he hold, consistent with the proposition ? Tests of Arguments for Strength. 146. Another test of arguments has to do with their different force and validity. Absolute certainty is not possible. We must usually be content with something less. When we say that a thing is " morally certain," we imply that we are convinced that it is safe to act upon it. The best that most arguments can accomplish is to establish a high degree of probability that the proposition is true. Various degrees of probability may be distinguished in various kinds of arguments, ranging from high to low, and ending with mere pos- sibility. Some arguments only tend to show that the proposition might be or ought to be true. This is illus- trated in the following paragraph on the proposition, Hamlet was really mad. From the natural structure and working of his mind ; from the recent doings in the royal family ; from the state TESTS OF ARGUMENTS FOR STRENGTH, 393 of things at the Court; still more from his interview with the Ghost, and the Ghost's appalling disclosures and in- junctions, "shaking his disposition with thoughts beyond the reaches of his soul " ; above all, from his instant view and grasp of the whole dire situation in which he is now placed ; — from all this, he ought to be crazy ; and it were vastly to his credit, both morally and mentally, to be so : we might well be amazed at the morbid strength or the natural weakness of his mind, if he were not so. We are told that, against stupidity, the gods themselves are power- less. And, sure enough, there are men with hearts so hard, and with heads so stolid and stockish, that even the gods cannot make them mad ; at least, not unless through some physical disease. Hamlet, I think, can hardly be a man of that stamp. — Hudson : Shakespeare's Life, Art, and Characters, II, p. 270. Further arguments or arguments of a different kind may furnish reasons for inferring that the proposition is probable. Thus Professor Hudson continues the argument quoted above by offering the argument that a man after such an experience with a ghost as Hamlet had could hardly continue to be of the same mental soundness as he was before. Then he cites the fact that Hamlet is believed to be really mad by all the other persons in the play, except the King, whose evil conscience makes him suspicious that the madness is assumed to cover some evil design. " Of course," argues Professor Hudson, " this so general belief arises because he acts precisely as madmen often do ; because his conduct displays the proper symptoms and indica- tions of madness. . . . And indeed it seems to be ad- 394 ARGUMENTATION. mitted that if Hamlet were actually mad, he could not enact the madman more perfectly than he does. . . . But if so, then what ground is there for saying it is not a genuine case ? " He also mentions several distin- guished physicians of approved skill in the treatment of insanity, who, in our time, have made a special study of Hamlet's case and have all come to the conclusion that Hamlet was really mad. Evidence like this last tends to show that the case under discussion is not ex- ceptional, many other similar cases being quoted that are not disputed. This greatly heightens the proba- bility that the proposition is true. From all this it is clear that the relative weight of the different argumeuts should be carefully considered, and that the arguments should be the best of w^hich the case is ca- pable. Assignments on the Test for Strength. 147- Compare the two briefs that are given below. Which ar- guments establish only a probability that the proposition is true ? Which are the strongest arguments? Cancel from each brief the arguments which are answered satisfactorily in the other, and decide, from the remainder, which brief is the stronger. Unanimity of Verdict ought to he eliminated from the Jury System. Because A. The requirement of unanimity is destroying the faith of the people in the whole jury system. For I. It results in miscarriage of justice and vast expense to the people. For a. The disagreement of juries renders many trials futile. TESTS FOR STRENGTH. 395 B. The system is inconsistent with the theory of our government and the genius of our free institu- tions. Fo7^ I. We do not require unanimity in our higher courts. II. In all legislation by our government, a ma- jority only is required. III. Unanimity is not required even to impeach the President of the United States. C. The idea of unanimity ignores the fact that all men are not constituted alike. Fo7' 1. Different minds present innumerable shades and degrees of intelligence, education, strength of character, power of observa- tion, and judgment of human nature. II. The opinions of men are influenced to a great \ extent by their preconceived ideas upon • matters of religion, ethics, politics, etc. D. The system is alfeurd. For I. It gives one mind equal weight with that of eleven others. E. The system has been modified in several European countries, and the modification works success- fully. For I. In Sweden only a two-thirds vote of the jury is required, and the people are satisfied with it. II. In Scotland a majority is required. F. Great historians and lawyers condemn the present system. For 396 ARGUMENTATION. I. Hallam refers to the requirement of unanimity as a relic of the middle ages and of bar- barism. II. Judge Cooley condemned the present system. G. The present system should be amended, in criminal cases, at least. For I. A defendant in criminal cases can move time and again for a new trial, while the prose- cution, under the Constitution, cannot do so. H. Refutation. The claim cannot stand that the rule of unanimity secures a full, free, and effective discussion and deliberation of the case by the jurymen. For I. Experience teaches that in most cases the jurors' minds are finally made up before they retire for deliberation. I. Refutation. The claim is unsound that as a nec- essary consequence of the present system, each member of the jury becomes impressed with a sense of his own responsibility. For I. Does not the oath taken by the juror, if he is at all conscientious, impress him with the same sense of his important duty ? J. Refutation. That the system is ancient, is not a convincing argument. For I. Do we think of applying this rule of ancientry to any other department of knowledge ? K. Refutation. The claim is unsound that the con- current opinion of twelve men is, by the doc- trine of chance and probability, more likely to be correct than that of nine. For TESTS FOR STBENGTH. 397 I. It is also true by the law of probability that the verdict of nine or ten is more likely to be correct than that of a minority of three or two. L. Refutation. The argument that unanimity inspires public confidence in the justice of the decision is not convincing. For I. Experience proves that there is little public confidence left in the system as it stands. Unanimity of Verdict ought not to he eliminated from the Jury System. Because A. The theory of our law in regard to criminal justice would be destroyed. For I. Every essential allegation made by the prose- cution must be proved beyond a reason- able doubt in order to entitle the government to a verdict. For a. As long as one juryman disagrees there exists a reasonable doubt. B. It secures a free and full discussion of the case by the jurymen. For I. They must turn the question with the facts concerning it over and over in their pri- vate room until all do agree before they can fulfil the function of a jury. C. The incompetency of some jurors makes unanimous verdicts all the more necessary. For I. By the doctrine of chance and probability twelve are more likely to be right than nine, ten, or eleven. For II. As long as the minority is given weight the " reasonable doubt " is represented. 398 ARGUMENTATION. D. The responsibility upon each member of the body- would be lessened by giving up the requirement of unanimity. E. There would be less public confidence in the justice of decisions if the unanimity requirement were abolished. For I. A unanimous verdict is indisputable. F. Mefutation. The argument that all men are not constituted alike is irrelevant. For I. Every member of a jury has the same facts to deal with and receives them under the same conditions. II. No juryman can carry his religious or politi- cal prejudi-ces with him without violating his solemn obligation. Tests of Arguments for Consistency. 148. A third test of arguments arises from the natural demand for consistency. Inferences drawn by the same person from the same facts must harmonize vrith one another. Thus Burke in the following passage from the Speech on Conciliation makes an argument out of the in- consistency of his opponents when they declare both that the trade laws are worthless and that they must be preserved. The more moderate among the opposers of parliamentary concession freely confess that they hope no good from taxa- tion ; but they apprehend the colonists have further views, and if this point were conceded, they would instantly attack the trade laws. These gentlemen are convinced that this was the intention from the beginning, and the quarrel of TESTS OF ARGUMENTS FOR CONSISTENCY. 399 the Americans with taxation was no more than a cloak and cover to this design. Such has been the language even of a gentleman of real moderation, and of a natural temper well adjusted to fair and equal government. I am, however. Sir, not a little surprised at this kind of discourse whenever I hear it j and I am the more surprised on account of the argu- ments which I constantly find in company with it, and which are often urged from the same mouths, and on the same day. For instance, when we allege that it is against reason to tax a people under so many restraints in trade as the Ameri- cans, the Noble Lord in the Blue Ribbon shall tell you that the restraints on trade are futile and useless ; of no ad- vantage to us, and of no burthen to those on whom they are imposed ; that the trade to America is not secured by the Acts of ]N"avigation, but by the natural and irresistible advantage of a commercial preference. Such is the merit of the trade laws in this posture of the debate. But when strong internal circumstances are urged against the taxes ; when the scheme is dissected ; when ex- perience and the nature of things are brought to prove, and do prove, the utter impossibility of obtaining an effective revenue from the colonies ; when these things are pressed, or rather press themselves, so as to drive the advocates of colony taxes to a clear admission of the futility of the scheme — then, Sir, the sleeping trade laws revive from their trance ; and this useless taxation is to be kept sacred, not for its own sake, but as a counter-guard and security of the laws of trade. Then, Sir, you keep up revenue laws which are mis- chievous, in order to preserve trade laws that are useless. Such is the wisdom of our plan in both its members. They are separately given up as of no value ; and yet one is always to be defended for the sake of the other. 400 ARGUMENTATION. 149. *A.ssigTiinents on the Test for Consistency. A. What inconsistency is charged in the following ? Protectionists get mixed on their own argument when they compare conditions in England and in Germany. If European labor is all that protectionists say it is, how can a protective tariff help it ? Erom whom is it to be protected ? What particular pauper labor will endanger Germany, Italy, Erance, or Russia if they remove their protective tariffs ? What pauper labor is flooding England ? To be sure English protectionists have raised a howl about German goods, but German labor happens just now to be in what passes for a prosperous condition ; and this cannot be on account of the German tariff, since Italy and E-ussia have much higher protective tariffs, without being so benefited. May it not be because the German government has checked railroad monopoly almost entirely, and land monopoly to some extent ? — The Public, 12 : 584. n B. Is there any inconsistency in the following ? 1. Saturday should be preserved as a school holiday. For A. All teachers need Saturday for rest and rec- reation. B. All teachers need Saturday for attending in- stitutes and for private study. 2. Free text-books should be provided in the schools. For A. The system puts rich and poor on the same basis. B. Any one may continue to buy his own books, as now, if he likes. 3. Discovery Day should be a school holiday. For TEST FOR CONSISTENCY. 401 A. It would enable us to show reverence for Columbus. B. It comes at the very time when the football games are more numerous than the dates available now. C. Often the question method is used effectively in applying the test for inconsistency. Turn the following questions into the answers expected. Answer the questions in the way evidently not expected and then try to harmonize them. Let me ask a few questions for categorical answers : — First : If all tariffs were abolished, is it true or not that the country would be flooded with foreign goods ? Second : If true, would the foreigners send these goods over free, or would they want to be paid for them ? Third: If they should want to be paid, would' it not be necessary to perform labor of some kind in this country to produce wealth for export to pay for those goods ? Fourth: If the answer to the third question is "yes," does it not necessarily follow that the more goods imported, the more demand there must be for American labor to pro- duce exports ? If not, why not ? Fifth : If, on the other hand, the answer to the third question is " no," where is the wealth to come from to pay for the " flood " of foreign goods ? Sixth: If pay for the goods is not forthcoming, will not the "flood" cease? Seventh: If it should not cease in spite of no pay, wouldn't the foreigners be either an unusually silly or an unusually generous lot? Wouldn't they be voluntarily enabling us to get all the things we need without working ? All the above questions following the first are framed on the supposition of an affirmative answer to the first one. Of course if this supposition is wrong, if any protectionist 402 ARG UMENTA TION. should unexpectedly reply to the first question in the negative, he would thereby deny the protection theory of a " flood of foreign goods." — The Public, 12 : 586. The Order of Arguments. > 150. The strongest argument should be reserved until the last, because what is last said is best remem- bered. But the beginning is a strategic point as well as the end. It will not do then to put the weakest argument first. Appropriate to the beginning is an argument that is supposedly familiar to all. Being familiar, it affords an easy introduction to arguments th^t are not so familiar or so easy of apprehension. It is usually the argument that comes to your mind first, not the one which you have sought out in books or have reached after hard thinking. This most familiar argument will naturally call up the objection that is most commonly made to the proposition. Reasons why the objection is not sound are then in place. The objection being disposed of, one is again face to face with the proposition itself. Arguments establishing probability in favor of the proposition may then be taken up in the order of increasing strength until the strongest of all is reached. This may be an argument showing the desirability of the thing proposed, the effects that are to be expected, the interests that are to be affected beneficially. Objections will be con- sidered and answered in connection with those argu- ments against which they would naturally be urged. The very end is not the place for considering objec- tions. That should be reserved for a concluding sum- THE BRIEF. 403 mary reaffirming the principal arguments that have been made. The order of arguments thus recommended isv about as follows: — (1) A strong argument for the proposition, chosen because it is familiar to the audience. (2) The answer to this argument refuted. (3) Succeeding arguments, with refutation of an- swers, arranged in the order of climax, the conclusion to be a summary. 151. Assignment on the Order of Arguments. Criticise the order of arguments in any one of the longer briefs printed in this chapter. The Brief. 152. After collecting arguments and before writing them out in full, it is highly desirable that they be dis- played to the eye in a manner that will show their logical relationship to each other and to the main propo- sition. In other words, a brief like those printed in this chapter should be made. This is desirable for three reasons: (1) All that is to be said can be seen as a whole, and the soundness of each part can be tested separately before the writing begins; (2) if there are any gaps, or omissions of necessary arguments, they may be detected and filled; (3) the brief supplies a guide while the writing is being done. There are two respects in which a brief differs from an ordinary out- line. 1. The brief is made up of complete sentences. 404 ARGUMENTATION. 2. In the brief each sentence reads as a reason for the sentence of next higher rank. Suppose that some one has decided to write an argu- ment in favor of the proposition, " Interscholastic football promotes the best interests of high schools." His reading and thinking on the proposition will result in an accumulation of notes, having no order or arrange- ment, and showing no clear relationship to each other. The following is such a collection : — 1. Football as proper a game for high schools as colleges. 2. Students need exercise. 3. The team promotes a healthy spirit of loyalty to the high school. 4. The team an object of pride. 5. Those who look at the games are benefited too, — kept in open air. 6. Benefits to players. 7. You can't have football without iuterscholastic games. 8. Football players as good students as the average. 9. Keeps some boys in school longer. 10. Nobody would try for the team if there were no important games coming on. 11. Learn about other high schools. 12. Not so dangerous as repre- sented. 13. Revise the rules to correct evils ; don't abolish the game. Now, if he is wise, the writer of these notes will have accumulated them on separate small sheets of paper or cards, one note to a sheet or card, so that rearrangement can be easily made. He tries several arrangements, put- ting those together that belong together, and discover- ing some that include others as subordinate. He also makes for each group of notes a heading to which the set is subordinate. Then he turns this heading and each of his notes into sentences, indicating their respective rank by numbers and letters and by the THE BRIEF. 405 system of indention shown below. The result is the brief. Proposition : Interscholastic football promotes the best inter- ests of high schools. Because A. Football (interscholastic and otherwise) is a bene- ficial form of athletics. For 1. It promotes the health of the players. For a. The players must observe the rules against smoking and excesses of all kinds. b. They are kept much in the open air at vigorous play. 2. It promotes the health of the onlookers. For a. It brings many into the air who are in- clined to stay indoors too much. 3. Objection answered. The dangers of the game are exaggerated. For a. The injuries to players are few and not usually serious. b. They can be diminished by stricter rules. 4. Interest in the game keeps some boys in school longer. 5. Objection answered. Football players are as good students as the average. 6. It promotes self-control, courage, and obedi- ence in the players. 7. It is beneficial to colleges; why not to high schools ? B. Interscholastic games are advantageous. For 1. They enable visiting students to learn more about other schools. 406 ARGUMENTATION. 2. There would be no football without the inter- scholastic games. 3. They promote loyalty to the high school. The brief does not show the reasons for the arguments of the lowest rank, — those marked a, 5, c, etc., — nor in some cases for the arguments m'arked 1, 2, 3, etc. Yet it is upon these reasons that all the arguments of higher rank must stand or fall. It is evident that facts, circumstances, particulars, illustrations, statistics, au- thorities, must be ready by which to prove the unsup- ported arguments of the lowest rank. 1 a, for example, demands that the rules be mentioned, whereas 3 b re- quires a statement of the stricter rules proposed ; 4 and 6 need explanation and examples to support them ; 5 calls for local examples ; ^ 1, 2, 3, need to be explained by telling how visiting students learn about other schools, and why there would be no football without the inter- scholastic feature. It is usually true of a brief that the real items of fact or theory on which all of the arguments rest do not appear in it. When the writing of the argu- ment is begun, therefore, these final facts must not be forgotten. 153. Miscellaneous Assignments. A. Criticise one of your own briefs for logic and mechanical form. B. Examine the ideal picture of ^sop on p. 407 (Figure 12). Does JEsop as he is there represented look like the sort of person who could compose the well-known fables? Endeavor to convince a classmate that the artist has (or has not) imagined a suitable face and fiorure. 408 ARGUMENTATION. C. The picture entitled the Martyr's Daughter, on p. 409 (Figure 13), may be interpreted in several different ways. After careful study of it, interpret it in your own way, and then attempt to prove that your interpretation is correct. D. Suppose that some question has arisen regarding the rela- tionship of the three characters in the picture on p. 410 (Figure 14). Give your view and defend it by the strongest arguments you can think of. II. Formal Debate. Argumentation and Debate. 154. Debate is argumentation in which the affirma- tive and the negative of a proposition are both repre- sented on one occasion, each by at least one advocate. Sometimes a written debate is conducted in a magazine or in an English class ; but usually debate is oral and requires the bodily presence of the debaters. Debate is formal or informal. It is formal when conducted strictly according to rules previously adopted. Specimen rules are as fol- lows : — 1. In the month of October, 1912, and in alternate years thereafter, school A shall offer a proposition. School B shall have the right to demand definitions of the proposition or of any of its terms, and within three weeks shall choose and announce the side which it will support. The definitions shall be printed on the pro- grammes immediately following the proposition. In October, 1913, and in alternate years thereafter, school B shall offer a proposition and school A shall have the rights and duties assigned above to school B. 1 ,1..'.-;;.^;,'^ :^m ab^ .hhuhMI^H g^%p^^i €r ' '^^^^^B III: «^,'«Br^ ^s^ ma^ ^j^imii^i ^ l» W' s 409 410 ARGUMENTATION AND DEBATE. 411 2. No person shall represent either school on the de- bate team who is not at the time a bona fide member of the school, carrying the full work of his class and not delinquent in his studies. 3. The order of speakers and the length of speeches shall be as follows: — (a) First affirmative speaker 10 minutes. (5) First negative speaker 10 minutes, (c) Second affirmative speaker 10 minutes. (cZ) Second negative speaker 10 minutes, (e) Third affirmative speaker 10 minutes. (/) Third negative speaker 10 minutes. (^) Second negative speaker 5 minutes. (A) Second affirmative speaker 5 minutes. (^) Third negative speaker 5 minutes. (/) Third affirmative speaker 5 minutes. (^) First negative speaker 5 minutes. (^l) First affirmative speaker 5 minutes. 4. In the odd numbered years, at least four weeks before the debate, school A shall propose a list of at least six names for judges, and school B shall have the right and duty to choose the judges from this list or to call for further lists. No alumnus or official of either school shall be proposed as judge, and at least three of the persons named on each list shall be non-residents of the places in which the schools are located. 5. At the close of each debate, each judge, without leaving his seat, shall fill the blank in the following statement with the word "affirmative" or the word 412 ARGUMENTATION, " negative,'* and shall sign the statement with his name and hand it to an usher who shall immediately convey it to the chairman. " Without regard to the merits of the question and to my own convictions thereon, I hereby declare that in my opinion the most effective debating has been done by the ." 6. It shall not be allowable for any speaker to intro- duce into the debate testimony or authority, or letters or other written matter from experts, which has not appeared in print. Informal debate may arise between two people in conversation; it may arise in any class room in the course of a recitation; it may be provided for in an English class with no limit on the number of speakers. The side that each shall take, or the time that each may occupy, is not specified, though there may be a rule on any of these points if desired. Sometimes an informal debate is arranged as follows: — Two leaders are appointed a few days in advance and allowed to prepare as thoroughly as the brief time will permit. At the debate these leaders make the opening and the closing speeches, the intervening time being occupied by two-minute speeches by as many others as can be heard. Informal debate is valuable in cultivating readiness of speech and aptness of reply. Formal debate is valuable in the protracted training that it affords the debaters. We shall treat of Formal Debate in the remainder of this chapter. DEBATABLE PROPOSITIONS. 413 Debatable Propositions. 155. The selection and wording of the proposition for formal debate is the first matter of importance. Not all propositions are debatable in the sense of being available for school or interscholastic debate. Subjects of present-day public interest offer the best propositions. " Labor unions are justified in limiting the number of apprentices "; " Secret societies in public high schools should be prohibited by law," are samples of better propositions than " Public high schools should not be supported by taxation," for the last-named proposition is no longer a live issue in this country. The proposition should be fair to both sides; it should not be stated so that one side is conspicuously weaker than the other. Thus, few would support the negative side of the proposition, "The public high schools should teach good deportment," but many would resist the proposition, " Every public high school should be compelled by law to maintain regular daily classes in the study of good deportment." The proposition should not be ambiguously or trickily worded. " Our present policy in the Philippines should be made permanent," is not a well-worded proposition because the first three words mean different things to different people; but "The United States should grant independence to the Philippines before 1925 " is susceptible of but one meaning, and would set up the same conflict without offering the same chance to quibble. Even when we have done our best to state the propo- sition clearly and fairly, some term may need to be 414 ARGUMENTATION, defined by agreement of both sides. In the case of the proposition, "The elective system should be adopted in our high schools," there would have to be an agreed definition of the term " elective system," as there are many different systems that go by that name. " Church property should be exempt from taxation " would re- quire an agreed definition of the first two words. Be- fore agreeing to a proposition, it is wise to submit it to a number of judicious and keen-minded people, including, if possible, one who knows thoroughly the special field to which the proposition belongs. Preparation of Material. 156. The second matter of importance is the prepa- ration of the material. This includes, as a primary step, finding out what to look for. It helps wonderfully towards this, to make a list of such arguments as you can think out, before you have done any systematic reading at all. Ask yourself the questions, " What ought to be true if my side of the proposition is true ? " " What do I need to find verified by the facts, in order to prove my case ? " "If I find the facts to be as I expect, how can I use them as arguments? That is, What inferences that will count can I draw from them ? " In this preliminary thinking and planning you will be assisted by talking freely with others, especially with older people, about the proposition, and about the gen- eral subject to which it belongs. It will pay even to go so far as to make an orderly brief of these tentative arguments. You may discard this brief later, but it will help your thinking to make it. Besides you will thus PREPARATION OF MATERIAL, 415 guard yourself against adhering too closely to the plans of other people which you will come upon in your read- ing. You will read first for the purpose of answering the questions raised by your own thinking. While doing so, you will gradually get an acquaintance with the whole field of the discussion. By letting people know what the proposition is that you are working at, you will be referred to books and magazine articles on the subject. The librarian of any library will help you ; teachers will help you, and so will your pastor, or any lawyer that you know. Do not hesitate to write for reference-lists on your -proposition to any one who, you think, can help you, — a college president, or professor, or editor, for example. But learn also to help yourself. Learn to use Poole's index, the card catalogue of the nearest library, and the lists that are given .at the ends of articles in the encyclopsedias and in many text-books and treatises. Read as widely as time permits and read on both sides of the proposition. The debater must know the best arguments on both sides and how each argument is answered. Note-taking should accompany the reading at every step. It is economical to use for notes, not a blank- book, but slips of paper about the size of a small post- card ; and it is best to put but one note on a card, mark- ing it as affirmative or negative. When the time comes to make the brief, the notes are easily rearranged by shift- ing the cards. It will save time to write accurately on each card the source of the note. You may need to refer to it later. 416 ARGUMENTATION. The Main Issues and the Trial Brief. 157. The few main points at issue will usually dis- close themselves before the reading has been half com- pleted. If they have not, the process of transforming a collection of notes into a brief, which is illustrated on pp. 404, 405 of this book, ought to disclose the three or four main issues. Grouping together the notes that belong together, you take each group by itself and ask, what does this group prove ? The answer is likely to be one of the chief arguments. The few chief argu- ments thus obtained will prove to be the main issues ; or they will lead to the discovery of these, through the disclosure of gaps in the logic that will have to be filled by further reading or by a complete reorganization of the notes. The main issues are never numerous. The sounder the thinking, the fewer are the main issues discovered. Division of Labor. 158. As soon as the main issues are discovered, but not before, a division of labor may be made, and each member of the team may be assigned one of the issues to work up more thoroughly by reading and briefing. There is danger of beginning the division of labor too early ; that is, before each debater has gained a general acquaintance with the field from which the proposition is taken. It is desirable, of course, that division of labor should be made as early as possible ; and some teams are tempted, by this consideration, to beg, borrow, or steal the statement of the main issues from others, and apportion them for individual work immediately TEAM WORK. ill after the proposition is announced, trusting that each will somehow get acquainted with the whole subject while reading for his own special part of it. The time that is seemingly gained by this is usually lost later when team practice begins. If each debater would begin his conversation, planning, general reading, and note-taking promptly, the need of haste to divide the field would not be so urgent. Team 'Work. 159. Immediately after the proposition is announced, regular weekly meetings of the team should begin. At the first few of these meetings each should read his notes and call for criticism, inform the rest about his progress, and announce his plan of work for the next week. The members should help one another over difiiculties, suggest reading matter and references to one another, and above all bring forward objections that have been discovered to any argument proposed. If there is a lazy member of the team, he should be reformed or compelled. to resign before the work has gone far. The substitute (and every team should have a substitute or two) should be treated as a member of the team and should work as if it were certain that he would have to be called into service in the final debate. When each member has made a brief, showing the main issues as he conceives them to be, these individual briefs at an appointed time should be brought in, compared, criticised, and welded into a single team brief. From this time forward, the com- posite brief having been made, and the issues assigned 418 ARGUMENTATION. severally to the members, individual practice may be- gin at the meetings. Individual Practice. 160. This means that each member should come ^to the meeting with a speech on his part of the brief, to be read from manuscript and not to be memorized until it has undergone severe criticism from the other members, and from some teacher, some old debater of the school, or some mature guest who has been invited to the meet- ing with instructions to interrupt the reading, to doubt, to question, and, if he will, to rise and reply to any argument that seems inconclusive. After this process, the speech should be revised and finally learned. The Second Team. 161. Meanwhile another team of the school has been doing, independently, precisely what the first team has been doing, only on the opposite side of the proposition. Up to the time of completing individual practice it is best for the teams to see nothing of one another. But when each member of both teams has become master of a set speech, the teams should hold frequent meetings together for practice debates. Practice Debates. 162. The first practice debate should be preceded by an exchange of briefs between the two teams. The ob- ject of this is to enable each debater to introduce new matter suggested by a reading of the opponent's brief. The chief purpose of these practice debates is training PRACTICE DEBATES. 419 in rebuttal. After the main speeches have been given at two meetings, and are pretty well in mind, they may be omitted at some of the subsequent meetings, that the whole time may be devoted to the rebuttal speak- ing. This is the crucial test of ability in debate and requires the largest share of the time for training. Successful rebuttal is never an accident. It comes from the thorough study of the question, in the course of which every objection is discovered and a way is found for meeting it. For the well-informed debater there are no surprises in the final debate. Everything that really counts has been foreseen and provided against: some one of the team is ready to answer; and as the objections are brought forward, they look like old friends whose coming is expected. Each speaker should know beforehand what objections he is to attend to personally and at the beginning of his own speech if aq objection has been made that is to be an- swered by some other debater, should not hesitate to say, " My colleague will answer that objection. I wish now to call attention to another," etc. All first speeches, except the opening one on the affirmative, even if mem- orized, should be timed to leave a margin of a minute or two for noticing an objection that has been raised just before, and if it belongs to the speaker to refute it, the most effective plan is to refute first and follow the refutation immediately with the corresponding direct argument. But one should be economical in refuta- tion ; one should not allow one's intended speech to be broken in pieces by attempting too much in the way of refutation. It is sufficient to use the first minute or two or the last minute or two for this 420 ARGUMENTATION, purpose. Otherwise, stick to the speech as planned. The first speaker on the affirmative has the extra duty of explaining the proposition, stating and defining the issues, and thus dividing the work for his colleagues. He will usually have time also to establish one of the chief arguments. At the close of the debate he will summarize the points proved. The leader of the nega- tive will also include a summary in his final speech just preceding. In all of this practice work, each speaker will also practise fairness and courtesy to opponents, especially in restating the objections that they have raised. He will try to keep cool without losing ear- nestness ; and will try to maintain his earnestness with- out losing his good humor. CHAPTER XL POETRY. Introductory. 163. Ruskin says that poetry is " the suggestion by the imagination, in musical words, of noble grounds for noble emotions, — love, veneration, admiration, and joy, with their opposites." The poet working upon the imagination creates or awakens in us new and beautiful conceptions of the world. The object of poetry is the communication of exalted pleasure ; and thus the term poetry implies an antithe- sis to the term science^ since the object of science is not pleasure, but truth, "hard facts." Poetry is usually expressed in verse, and science in prose ; but not every- thing that is written in verse is poetry, and poetic thought is often found in prose form. In style, poetry is rhythmical and regular ; that is, its preferred form is verse arranged in lines of fixed lengths, composed of regularly recurring accented and unaccented syllables. In diction, poetry may employ abbreviated expressions, picturesque expressions, epi- thets, and archaic words, in cases in which these would be out of place in prose. Poetry frequently takes other liberties which would not be permitted to prose, — in an unusual order of words and sentence-elements. The materials of poetry are drawn (1) from external 421 422 POETRY. nature, the sounds, colors, movenients, and. impressive- ness of which we are helped to appreciate by means of poetry ; (2) from human life, — mane's deeds, emotions, intellectual powers, courage, and greatness. Poetry deals with concrete rather than abstract no- tions ; that is, if a poet wishes to hold up for our admi- ration generosity, for instance, he does this by detailing a particular and beautiful instance of generosity, and not by talking about the abstract virtue generosity it- self. He embodies general ideas in particular images, and for this reason he expresses his thought largely in figures, many of which owe their effectiveness to their concreteness. Kind's of Poetry. 164. Poetry is of three kinds : epic, dramatic, and lyric poetry. A fourth division is often made for con- venience, called didactic poetry. Epic and dramatic poetry are alike in one respect : both embody a story ; but they differ in many respects, one of which is this, — in the epic the poet narrates the story himself, whereas in the drama the poet himself does not appear; he makes the actors show what the story is by what they do and say. Epic Poetry. 165. Epic poetry is that kind in which the poet him- self narrates a story as if he were present. In this sense, epic poetry and narrative poetry mean the same thing. Epic poetry is subdivided as follows: — 1. ITie Great Epic, — In this the poet narrates, in stately, uniform verse, a series of great and heroic EPIC POETRY. 423 events, in which gods, demigods, and heroes play the most conspicuous parts. The Great Epic (1) has a noble theme based on mythology, legend, or religion, involving, therefore, a supernatural element ; (2) it has a complete and unified story -plot, the action of which is concentrated in a short time, and the chief events partly or wholly under superhuman control ; (3) it has a hero, of more than human proportions, and other characters human and divine ; (4) it is simple in structure, smooth, uniform, and metrical, dignified and grave in tone ; (5) it employs dialogue, and may employ epi- sode, which is a story not needed for the main plot, although connected with some part of the action ; (6) it enforces no moral ; the moral must be discovered from the story, and the interest centers in the action. The Odyssey and the Iliad are great epics which grew up among the early Greeks ; Beowulf is a great epic which grew up among our remote ancestors. Later poets who made great epic poems are Vergil, who made the j^neid^ and the English poet Milton, who made Paradise Lost. The Mock Epic treats of a trivial subject in the heroic style of the great epic. An example is Pope's Rape of the Lock. Butler's Hudihras is satire in mock- epic style. 2. In the Metrical Romance., or narrative of adven- ture (1) the theme is less noble and grand than in the great epic, and the supernatural element, if occasionally admitted, is less prominent ; (2) the action is less con- centrated, and the chief events are partly or wholly under human control ; (3) the element of love, which 424 POETRY. is almost absent in the great epic, is conspicuous ; (4) the metre is less stately, and the style more easy and familiar. The Romance is a product of the age of chivalry. Spenser's Faery Queene is an example. Mod- ern Romances are Scott's Marmion and The Lady of the Lake. 3. The Tale is a still humbler form of narrative poetry; it tells a complete story, with love or humor predominant. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Long- fellow's Tales of a Wayside Inn furnish some examples. Poe's Maven, Byron's Corsair^ Burns's Tarn o'Shanter^ and Tennyson's Enoch Arden and Dora are tales. 4. The Ballad is generally shorter and is always less discursive than the tale; it tells its story rapidly and simply. Ballads were originally folk-songs; like the oldest epics, they grew up among thq people, and their authors are commonly unknown. Chevy Chase, Sir Patrick Spens, the Robin Hood ballads, and the Battle of Maldon are examples. Later poets made ballads: Campbell's Battle of the Baltic is a martial ballad; Whittier's iHfai^t? Muller, a love ballad; Coleridge's The Ancient Mariner., a superstitious ballad ; Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome are historical ballads. 5. The Pastoral is a slightly narrative poem depict- ing rural life, with a large element of description, but with little action. Keats's Endymion., Goldsmith's De- serted Village., and Thomson's Seasons are examples. 6. The Idyll. — This word means "a little picture." It has been used in two senses: (1) a short narrative poem giving little pictures of simple country life, quiet, homely scenes, and appealing to gentle emotions. In DRAMATIC POETRY. 425 this sense, it is but another name for the short Pastoral. Examples are Longfellow's Evangeline^ Whittier's Snow- Bound., and Burns's Cotter s Saturday Night. (2) A short narrative poem giving pictures of a more highly spectacular life, involving scenes of action, and appeal- ing to strong emotions. Such are Tennyson's Idylls of the King and some of Browning's poems. Dramatic Poetry. 166. The drama, like the epic, deals with the past, but the drama represents the past in the present. It exhibits a story by means of characters speaking and acting in a series of situations so contrived as to de- velop a plot, and show a single controlling purpose. This subordination of all actions to the controlling pur- pose of a play is known as unity of action. The drama, when enacted on the stage, employs scenery and costume to produce the impression of reality. The drama is "imitated human action," but it does not imitate a series of human actions exactly as they occur in actual life ; it selects typical actions and arranges these with a single purpose, as they might occur. - The drama is divided into " acts," usually five in number, the earlier acts exhibiting the causes, starting conflicting lines of action, entangling and developing these to a climax or height of interest which is usually reached in the fourth act, the last act exhibiting the consequences of the action, the denouement. The whole play thus makes a complete story. 1. Tragedy (1) deals with solemn themes showing a mortal will at odds with fate ; (2) produces, in the 426 POETRY. mind of the spectator, pity and terror and awe, driving out trivial and unworthy thoughts ; (3) leads through a complicated plot to a catastrophe, the final overthrow of the mortal who has been either criminal in his motive (^Macbeth) or mistaken in his motive ( Othello} ; and (4) this catastrophe is foreshadowed, is felt to be com- ing, and when it does come is felt to be inevitable, be- yond human power to prevent. Tragedy prefers verse; its language is nobler than that of daily life, so that we are not reminded of common concerns even by the words used, but live for the time in a higher and nobler world, the world of the imagination. Julius Ccesar^ Lear, Hamlet^ Romeo and Juliet, are examples. Such a play as the Merchant of Venice, in which both tragedy and comedy are present in a subdued form, is classified as Reconciling Drama. 2. Comedy (1) deals with lighter themes, with the follies, accidents, or humors of life ; (2) produces no terror or pity, but produces amusement or mirth ; (3) ends not with a catastrophe, but brings the story to a conclusion naturally desired, all ending as we would have it ; (4) does not foreshadow the end, as tragedy does, but frequently surprises us happily. Comedy is nearer to daily life, does not employ verse so often as tragedy does, inclines to prose, and employs less noble language. In Comedy Proper, such as Shakespeare's As You Like It and Twelfth Night, Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer, and Sheridan's Rivals, the amuse- ment may arise both from the characters and from the plot or from either alone. Comedy Proper does not result in continued peals of uproarious laughter. In LYRIC POETRY, 427 the Farce we have a short comedy that does so result. The Farce is "broad" in its effects, and consists of highly ridiculous situations and greatly exaggerated charac- ters. Melodrama introduces music, is partly spoken and partly sung ; in modern melodrama the scenes are highly romantic and sensational. The Mask was a kind of pastoral drama of simple plot, rural, romantic scenes, and masked characters (shepherds and shep- herdesses mainly), with some supernatural personages. Originally it was largely song and dance by masked characters. Milton's Oomus^ the greatest English Mask, showed to what perfection the Mask might be developed, and what a lofty moral tone might be given to it. The Opera is properly a kind of comedy in which the actors sing their parts, the words having less importance than the music, and the whole being of little literary value. But in Grand Opera we have the best music joined to high and serious themes of legendary or romantic character, and sometimes the best poetry. Lyric Poetry. 167. The Lyric is a poem which voices the personal feeling, sentiment, or passion of the poet himself. The word " lyric " shows that such poetry was originally sung to the accompaniment of the lyric or harp. Many lyrics are still set to music, though not primarily written to be sung. (1) The lyric has to do with the inner feelings of the poet, not (like the epic) with outward events, and hence it is said to be subjective. (2) The best lyrics are sincere and imaginative. (3) Lyric Po- etry expresses itself in many different forms of verse and 428 POETRY. metre, and does not have a preferred form, as the Great Epic and the Drama have. Lyric Poetry may be clas- sified as follows : — 1. The Song. — This is usually short, simple in meas- ure, and divided into stanzas each complete in itself but related to the sentiment of the whole. Sacred songs include hymns, psalms, choruses, and anthems. Secular songs may be patriotic, comic, moral, political, or sentimental, may treat of war, love, or death. The song is the simple, natural expression of the poet's immediate feeling. 2. The Ode. — This is the expression of intense feel- ing, feeling which has become enthusiasm in the poet. The Ode has a more elaborate structure and scheme of verse than the song. It is not intended to be sung. Keats's Ode to a Nightingale, Dryden's Ode to St. Cecilia, Wordsworth's Intimations of Immortality/, Sir William Jones's What Constitutes a State f are examples. 3. The Elegy. — This expresses grief mingled with reflection ; regret for the dead is its usual theme, or plaintive reflection on mortality. Gray's Elegy, Mil- ton's Lycidas, Hood's Bridge of Sighs, Shelley's Adonais, Tennyson's In Memoriam, are examples. Whittier's Ichahod laments Webster's fall, his death to a high ideal. 4. The Sonnet, — This is a short poem in fixed form, limited to fourteen lines, and generally with a pre- scribed arrangement of rhymes. It usually deals with a single phase of feeling, but is sometimes less specific, and may be devoted to description. Milton, Words- worth, Keats,. Shakespeare, furnish examples. DIDACTIC POETRY, 429 5. Dramatic Lyric. — This is a lyric which vividly suggests human action. A single character, located by the poet, speaks to an imaginary audience, and, by his suggestive words, pictures a scene, the actors, and what they did. To the imagination of the reader, it is as if a drama were being enacted. Browning's The Patriot^ The Bishop Orders His Tomh^ are examples. 6. Simple Lyric. — A great many lyrics lack the specific aims and characteristics mentioned under the foregoing heads. They are simple lyrics: Words- worth's Cuckoo., Tennyson's St. Agnes' Uve, Burns's To a Mouse. Didactic Poetry. 168. Epic, dramatic, and lyric poetry aim to give refined pleasure; they work on the imagination and the feelings. In their lower forms, however, an element of instruction, an aim to teach, an address to the intel- lect or reason sometimes enters. To describe this element, the adjective didactic is used. Spenser's Faery Queene is a metrical romance with a didactic element expressed in allegory. Wordsworth's Excur- sion is epic in plan and style, but is didactic in much of its philosophical reflection. Bunyan's Pilgrim's Prog- ress is didactic allegory in prose. When the didactic becomes too prominent, and the principal aim is evi- dently to teach, the high title "poetry" is withheld. Pope's Moral Essays and the Essay on Man appeal to the reason and intellect, and not to the imagination at all. Satire assumes the form of poetry (verse) merely to increase its sharpness. Satire aims to belittle men and 430 POETRY. events, to expose vice, weakness, folly, and to effect political or social reforms. Examples, Johnson's Lon- don^ Butler's Hudibras, Lowell's Biglow Papers^ Dry- den's MacFlecknoe and Absalom and Achitophel^ Byron's English Bards and Scottish Reviewers, 169- Assignments. A. Name your favorite poem. To which of the preceding classes does it belong ? B. Turn over a volume of Tennyson's poems and see how many examples you can find of each kind of poetry. Make a complete list of them, classifying them under the divisions and subdivisions given above. C. In a volume of Longfellow's, or Whittier's, or Bryant's poems find two poems the materials of which are drawn, respec- tively, from (1) external nature, (2) human life. D. Assign each of the following poems to its proper class : (1) Bryant's Thanatopsis ; Holmes's Last Leaf, and Nautilus; Longfellow's Golden Legend, Spanish Student, Excelsior, Paul Revere, and Psalm of Life : Whittier's Barbara Frietchie, and Tent on the Beach ; Lowell's Vision of Sir Launfal, and The Cathedral. E. Find in Longfellow's poems examples of all the different varieties of lyric. F. Select the lyric of Whittier's (or Bryant's, or Tennyson's) that you like best. To which class does it belong ? G. Taking some tragedy of Shakespeare's that you have read, point out (1) what its theme is, (2) whose " mortal will " is repre- sented as " at odds with fate," (3) in what part of the play you feel pity and terror, and (4) for what characters you have such feelings. H. Is Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew farce or comedy proper? To which of these two classes does Goldsmith's The Good- Natured Man belong ? I. Could the story of Marmion be used for a tragedy ? VEBSIFICATION. 431 Versification. 170. Versification is the art of making verses; it deals with the mechanical side of poetry. In reading poetry aloud we notice a regular recurrence of accented and unaccented syllables. This is called rhythm. Prose has rhythm, but prose rhythm is not so regular and uniform. Metre is the measure of rhythm. The smal- lest recurring combination of accented and unaccented syllables is called a foot. The smallest recurring com- bination of feet is called a verse. A verse is a line of poetry. The number of feet in English verse varies from one to eight. The number of feet in a line of verse determines its metre ; the kind of foot employed determines the rhythm. The principal feet occurring in English verse are dissyllabic and trisyllabic. Dissyllabic feet are (1) the Iambus^ consisting of an unaccented followed by an accented syllable, as suppose ; it is the favorite foot in English poetry. (2) The Trochee, consisting of an accented followed by an unaccented syllable, as mdrn- ing. Trisyllabic feet are (1) the Dactyl, consisting of an accented syllable followed by two unaccented, as Sdify ; (2) the Anapest, consisting of two unaccented syllables followed by one accented, as persevSre. A foot may take in parts of two words. The accent of a foot coincides with the English word-accent. Metre is doubly named ; first from the kind of foot ; secondly, from the number of feet in the line. Thus a line of one iambic foot is called iambic monometer ; of two iambic feet, iambic dimeter; of three iambic feet, iambic trimeter; of four iambic feet, iambic tetrameter. 432 POETRY, In the following examples we use ^^ to indicate an unaccented syllable, and ' to indicate an accented syl- lable. The vertical lines mark off the feet. I know I a maid | en fair | to see, (iambic tetrameter) Take care ! (iambic monometer) She can | both false | and friend | ly be, (iambic tetrameter) Beware ! | Beware ! (iambic dimeter) His hair | is crisp | and black | and long, (iambic tetrameter) His face | is like | the tan (iambic trimeter) A line of five iambic feet is called iambic pentameter. It is also known as heroic measure. We live | in deeds, | not years : | in thoughts, | not breaths. A line of six iambic feet is called iambic hexameter. It is also known as Alexandrine measure. The things | which I | have seen | I now | can see | no more. A line of seven iambic feet is called iambic heptameter. Now gio I ry to I the Lord | of Hosts | from whom | all glo I ries are. A line of eight iambic feet is called iambic octameter. O all I ye peo | pie, clap | your hands | and with | trium | phant voi | ces sing. The words monometer., dimeter., trimeter.^ tetrameter., etc., are also used with the adjectives trochaic, dactylic, and andpestic, to tell how many trochaic, dactylic, or anapestic feet there are in a line. The following illus- trate some of these : — (trochaic dimeter) VERSIFICATION. 433 Do not I shoot me, | Hi a | wa tha ! (trochaic tetrameter) Like a | high-born | maiden (trochaic trimeter) Turning Burning \ (trochaic monometer) Changing Once up I on a midnight | dreary | as I | pondered | weak and I weary (trochaic octameter) Fancy | viewing Joys en | suing There's a bliss | beyond all | that the min | strel has told (anapestic tetrameter) And we came | to the Bonn | teous Isle | where the heav I ens lean low | on the land (anapestic hexameter) Touch her not | scornfully (dactylic dimeter) Think of her | mournfully (dactylic dimeter) This is the | forest pri | meval ; the | murmuring | pines and the | hemlocks (dactylic hexameter, last foot incomplete) Separating lines into the feet of which they are com- posed (as we have been doing) is called Scansion. Each line that we have scanned has consisted of only one kind of foot. Such lines are called Pure. Some lines show two kinds of feet. Such lines are said to be Mixed. One of I those lit | tie pi a | ces that | have run (first foot, trochee ; the rest iambic) Meanwhile a | mid the | gloom by the | church E | vangeline | lingered. 434 POETRY. In this last, the second, fourth, and sixth feet are trochees, and the rest are dactyls. The line is mixed trochaic and dactylic hexameter. Whene'er | is spo | ken a no \ ble thought (third foot, anapest; the rest, iambic) Frequently a line is incomplete^ an unaccented syllable (most often at the end) being missing, its place being supplied by a pause. In the I market | place of | Bruges | stands the | belfry | old and | brown . This line is trochaic octameter, the last foot incom- plete. Gold !^ Gold r\ Gold !^| Gold ! ^ (each foot incomplete) Bright and | yellow, \ hard and i; cold (last foot incomplete) Listen my | children and | you shall | hear (mixed ; and last foot incomplete) Pauses occur naturally in verse as in prose ; the chief pause (if there is one) occurring in the body of a line is called the ccesura. It may divide a foot, and does not usually come at the same place in successive lines. In the following examples we use double vertical lines to mark the csesura : — Build me | straight, || | worthy | Master ! (dividing a foot) lyr I ic Love ! || half-an | gel and | half-bird (not dividing a foot) VERSIFICATION. 435 The number of syllables and the length of time re- quired to pronounce the separate syllables affect the rhythm of a line, in a marked degree. Long syllables predominating^ produce the effect of slowness ; short syllables, the effect of hurry and liveliness. Alone, alone, all, all alone. Alone on a wide, wide sea ! I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris, and he ; I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three. Rhyme is correspondence of sound. It is most readily seen at the end of lines, but occurs also within the lines. It is assonantal when the vowels alone cor- respond, in the rhyming syllables. It is consonantal when the final consonants also correspond. In the fol- lowing, thou 2indi now are assonantal; last and ^as^ are consonantal also. Yet did I love thee to the last As fervently as tliou, Who didst not change through all the past, And canst not alter now. Rhyme is seen within the first and third lines of the following : — I bring fresh showers for the thij^^ting flowers From the seas and the streams ; I bear light shade for the leaves when laid In their noonday dreams. Alliteration, a kind of rhyme, is the recurrence, at short intervals, of the same initial consonant. And thistles, and nettles, and c?arnels rank, And the c?ock, and the henbane ; and hemlock dank. 436 POETRY. Blank verse is verse without rhyme. In its perfect form it is a continuous metre of iambic pentameter lines. It is the most elevated and dignified measure, and is used for the high themes of epic and drama. Read Portia's " The quality of mercy is not strained," etc. A stanza is part of a poem consisting of a group of lines arranged according to a definite plan. Stanzas of the same poem are usually constructed alike. Two consecutive rhyming lines constitute a couplet ; a couplet is not usually referred to as a stanza. Three consecutive lines (usually, but not always, rhyming together) constitute a Triplet or Tercet. A stanza of four lines rhyming alternately or other- wise is called a Quatrain. A quatrain of four iambic pentameters with alternate rhyme is called Elegiac Stanza, See Gray's Elegy. A quatrain of four iambic tetrameters is called Long Metre. Awake, my soul, and with the sun Thy daily stage of duty run ; Shake off dull sloth, and early rise To pay the morning sacrifice. A quatrain of four iambic trimeters with an addi- tional foot in the third line is called Short Metre. The world can never give The bliss for which we sigh : 'Tis not the whole of life to live, Nor all of death to die. A quatrain of four iambic tetrameters alternating with three is called Common Metre or Ballad Metre (because a favorite in ballads). VERSIFICATION. 437 When all Thy mercies, my God, My rising soul surveys, Transported with the view, I'm lost In wonder, love, and praise. Long, short, and common metre are the favorite hymn- stanzas. Five-line stanzas (Shelley's To a Skylark} and six-line stanzas (Longfellow's The Village Black- smith) are also used. The seven-line stanza of iambic pentameter is called Chaucerian stanza (because used by Chaucer), or Rhyme Royal (because adopted by King James I of Scotland). In this the first four lines are an alternately rhyming quatrain ; the fifth line rhymes with the fourth, and the last two lines form a couplet. Ottava Rima is an eight-line stanza of iambic pentameter, the first six lines rhyming alternately, the last two lines forming a couplet (Byron's Don Juan). The Spenserian stanza^ invented by the author of the Faery Queene, con- sists of nine lines, the first eight being iambic pentameters, and the ninth an Alexandrine (iambic hexameter) ; the first and third lines rhyming together ; also the second, fourth, fifth, and seventh ; also the sixth, eighth, and ninth. Burns used this stanza in the Cotter's Saturday Night. A canto consists of a number of stanzas which together make up a natural division of a long poem. Scott's Lady of the Lake has six cantos. The Sonnet is a lyric of fourteen iambic pentameter lines arranged according to a prescribed order of rhyme, and usually restricted to the expression of a single sentiment. Mr. R. W. Gilder shows the strict order of rhymes in the following ; the column of letters to the right indicating the scheme of end-rhymes : — 438 POETRY. m ^^ What is a sonnet ? 'Tis a pearly shell a That murmurs of the far-off murmuring sea, h A precious jewel carved most curiously; h It is a little picture painted well. a What is a sonnet ? 'Tis the tear that fell a From a great poet's hidden ecstasy ; h A two-edged sword, a star, a song — ah me ! h Sometimes a heavy-tolling funeral bell. a This was the flame that shook with Dante's breath, c The solemn organ whereon Milton played, d And the clear glass where Shakespeare's shadow falls : e A sea this is — beware who ventureth ! c For like a fiord the narrow floor is laid d Deep as mid-ocean to sheer mountain walls. e Sonnet writers do not hold uniformly to this scheme of rhyme-order. Wyatt, Surrey, Shakespeare,- Milton, and other sonneteers since their time, show a variety in the number and ord6r of rhymes. 171. Assignments. A. Name the poem you like best. In what metre is it written ? Scan the first four lines. B. Open at random a volume of Longfellow's poems. Scan the first stanza of four successive poems. Name the metres. C. What was Poe's favorite metre? Bryant's? Thackeray's? Emerson's? Pope's? D. How many different kinds of metre can you find in the poems in this book ? CHAPTER XII. FIGURES OF SPEECH. Definition. 172. A figure of speech is a form of expression which departs widely and strikingly in certain specified ways from what is literal, straightforward, and matter-of-fact. The ways must be specified, otherwise there Avill be no distinction between figurative language and language that is simply picturesque or imaginative. When Shakespeare says, for example : — '^ I saw a smith stand with his hammer, thus, The whilst his iron did on the anvil cool. With open mouth swallowing a tailor's news," the entire passage departs widely and strikingly from what is plain, literal, and matter-of-fact, yet only the last line, because it contains the word " swallowing," would ordinarily be called figurative. The names of the most common figures are as follows : — 1. Metaphor. 2. Simile. 3. Synecdoche. 4. Metonymy. 5. Personification. 10. Anticlimax 439 6. Apostrophe. 11. Irony. 7. Allegory. 12. Epigram. 8. Antithesis. 13. Hyperbole. 9. Climax. 14. Interrogation. 440 FIGURES OF SPEECH. Classes of Figures. 173. These figures fall naturally into the following groups : — 1. Figures of Imagery, — In this class may be placed figurative expressions which differ from the literal in that they arouse in the mind of the reader vivid images of things. Metaphor, simile, synecdoche, metonymy, personification, apostrophe, and allegory may be as- signed to this division. 2. Figures of Arrangement. — These are figures in which there is some peculiar and striking arrangement of words, phrases, clauses, or sentences corresponding to some peculiar succession of ideas in th^ mind. The figures — if they may be called figures — which fall under this head are antithesis and climax. 3. Figures of Contradiction. — This term, in default of a better, may be applied to forms of expression in which there is an apparent contradiction between the thought to be expressed and the form in which it finds expression. Here belong anticlimax (in the good sense), irony, epigram, hyperbole, and interrogation. Hyperbole, however, may be classed also as a figure of imagery. These three groups will be taken up in order, and the separate figures defined and illustrated. Figures of Imagery. 174. Metaphor. — A metaphor is an expression in which one object is spoken of under the image of another. Thus a gust of wind which heralds a storm may be FIGURES OF IMAGERY. 441 spoken of under the image of a frightened man, as in the following from Lowell's Summer Storm : — Now leaps the wind on the sleepy marsn, And tramples the grass with terrified feet. Or the stars may be spoken of under the image of flowers as in Longfellow's Evangeline : — Silently one by one in the infinite meadows of heaven Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels. Or the operations of the memory may be spoken of under the image of the resurrection : — His (Milton's) poetry acts like an incantation. Its merit lies less in its obvious meaning than in its occult power, and there would seem at first sight to be no more in his words than in other words. But they are words of enchantment. No sooner are they pronounced than the past is present and the distant near. New forms of beauty start at once into existence, and all the burial-places of the memory give up their dead. — Macaulay : Essay on Milton. Simile. — In the simile an object is represented to the imagination as being like some other object, or as acting like some other object. In the following passage from Wordsworth, the even- ing is represented as being like a nun at her devotions: — The holy time is quiet as a nun Breathless with adoration. Sir Isaac Newton compared his discoveries in science to the actions of a child picking up pebbles on the beach : — I do not know what I may appear to the world ; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the 442 FIGURES OF SPEECH. seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me. Other examples are : — A fellow that makes no figure in company, and has a mind as narrow as the neck of a vinegar-cruet. — Johnson : Tour to the Hebrides, September 30, 1773. As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. — Proverbs xxv, 25. Dryden's imagination resembled an ostrich. It enabled him to run, but not to soar. — Macaulay: Essay on Dryden. Cautions on the use of Metaphor and Simile. — Per- sons who are learning to write are especially liable to error in the use of these two classes of figures. The following cautions may therefore be useful : — 1. Figures — striking figures at any rate — are not essential to a good prose style. Many eminent writers dispense with them almost entirely. 2. The only recipe for producing good figures is for the pupil to become deeply interested in his subject. If his mind is given to producing figurative images, the im- ages will come unsolicited. If such images do not come of themselves, it is better to get on without them. 3. In revising his written work, the pupil should take care that figurative expressions meet the following requirements : — a. Figures should be fresh and unhackneyed. If an image occurs that has been used a great many times before, consider whether the reader is likely to get any pleasure from it when he comes upon it again. FIGURES OF IMAGERY. 443 b. Figures should grow naturally out of the subject and be appropriate to the purpose for which one is writing. The image of "something else " should differ from and yet curiously and significantly resemble the thing or idea that it pictures. The following passage from Macaulay contains an example of a metaphor that is good and a metaphor that is bad in this respect : — The works of Milton cannot be comprehended or enjoyed unless the mind of the reader cooperate with that of the writer. He does not paint a finished picture or play for a mere passive listener. He sketches, and leaves others to fill up the outline. He strikes the key-note and expects his hearer to make out the melody. The image of a painter sketching a picture and leav- ing us to fill up the outline is natural and appropriate. We see at once its resemblance to the mode of writing employed by Milton. But the image of a musician striking a key-note and expecting his hearers to make out the melody is highly absurd. No musician would do such a thing, and, even if he should, his act would have no resemblance to Milton's poetry. c. Images of things that are familiar are easier to apprehend than images of things that are unfamiliar. "His voice has an odd note in it like the cry of a whaup " does not mean very much to persons brought up in America, because few of them have heard a whaup cry. The following, however, appeals to every one. " Innumerable tawny and yellow leaves skimmed along the pavement, and stole through people's door- ways into their passages, with a hesitating scratch on the floor, like the skirts of timid visitors." 444 FIGURES OF SPEECH, d. In the heat of composition two or more images are sometimes jumbled together in a metaphor in such a way as to be ridiculous. " The strong arm of the law is marching through the land breathing fire and sword" is an example of such a jumble. A similar effect is produced when the reader passes too suddenly from metaphor to literal statement, as in " Appearing above the horizon like a new and resplendent luminary, he entered Parliament the following year. " If the pupil is given to these faults, he should, in his revision, scan each metaphor closely, asking himself such questions as these : " Is there any confusion of images here ?'^' " Will this metaphor make my readers laugh when I do not want them to laugh ? " e. Beware of drawing figures out to tedious length, as in the following : " With the rope of his genius he let the bucket of imagination down into the well of human nature and drew it up brimming over with wit and humor." Synecdoche and Metonymy. — These are varieties of metaphor in which the image chosen to represent the object is something closely connected with it. In synecdoche the image may be related to the object as a part to a whole, or as a whole to a part ; as the genus to the species, or as the species to the genus. The ma- terial may be used for the thing made, a quality for the object possessing the quality, and so on. In the following passage from Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra^ the word " sail " — a part of a ship — is used for the ship itself : — I have sixty sails, Caesar none better. FIGURES OF IMAGERY. 446 In this from Henry the Fourth^ — I have procured thee, Jack, a charge of foot, the word " foot " is used for "foot-soldiers." In the following, the word " blue " — a quality of the sky — is used for the sky itself : — I came and sat Below the chestnuts when their buds * Were glistening in the breezy blue. — Tennyson : The Miller's Daughter. The use of an individual name to designate a class is illustrated in the following : — Most facts are very soon forgotten, but not the noblest Shakespeare or Homer of them can be remembered forever. — Carlyle. This last variety of synecdoche is sometimes termed antonomasia. In metonymy the image used to represent the object is an accompaniment of it, as for example, what con- tains it, what causes it, what stands for it, etc. In the following example, " breath," the accompani- ment and cause of words, is used in the sense of words: — Princes and lords may flourish or may fade, — A breath can make them as a breath has made. ^ Goldsmith : The Deserted Village. In the following, " the sceptre," the accompaniment of kings and sign of their power, is used in the sense of kings, " learning " in the sense of learned men, " physic " in the sense of physicians : — The sceptre, learning, physic must All follow this, and come to dust. — Shakespeare : Cymbeline. 446 FIGURES OF SPEECH. The distinction between synecdoche and metonymy is disregarded by many rhetoricians as being trivial and conventional. Two common literary forms may be classed under the head of allegory ; namely, the fable and the parable. A fable is, in popular speech, a short pointed allegory in which animals are introduced as speaking and acting like human beings. A parable is a short allegory, but the term is now used solely of the biblical stories, or of allegories framed after them. 175. Assignments on Figures of Imagery. A. How many figures in the following selection ? Name them. Kow blessings light on him that first invented this same sleep ! It covers a man all over, thoughts and all, like a cloak; it is meat for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, heat for the cold, and cold for the hot. It is the current coin that purchases all the pleasures of the world cheap, and the balance that sets the king and the shepherd, the fool and the wise man, "even. — Cervantes. B. Look for the figures in the following selections and name them. Which figure pleases you most? What kind of figure is it? Express the same idea in a plain statement. Which seems to you the more forcible — the figure or the plain statement? Which seems the most accurate ? J. H., one of those choice poets who will not tarnish their bright fancies by publication, always insists on a snow- storm as essential to the true atmosphere of whist. Mrs. Battle, in her famous rule for the game, implies winter, and would doubtless have added tempest, if it could be had for the asking. For a good solid read also, into the small hours, there is nothing like that sense of safety against FIGURES OF IMAGERY. 447 having your evening laid waste, which Euroclydon brings, as he bellows down the chimney, making your fire gasp, or rustles snowflakes against the pane with a sound more sooth- ing than silence. Emerson, as he is apt to do, not only hit the nail on the head, but drove it home, in that last phrase of the "tumultuous privacy." Gower has positively raised tediousness to the precision of science, he has made dulness an heirloom for the students of our literary history. As you slip to and fro on the frozen levels of his verse, which give no foothold to the mind, as your nervous ear awaits the inevitable recurrence of his rhyme, regularly pertinacious as the tick of an eight-day clock and reminding you of Wordsworth's " Once more the ass did leno^then out The hard, dry seesaw of his horrible bray," you learn to dread, almost to respect, the powers of this inde- fatigable man. He is the undertaker of the fair mediaeval legend, and his style has the hateful gloss, the seemingly unnatural length, of a coffin. Love, beauty, passion, nature, art, life, the natural and theological virtues, — there is nothing beyond his power to disenchant, nothing out of which the tremendous hydraulic press of his allegory (or whatever it is, for I am not sure if it be not something even worse) will not squeeze all feeling and freshness and leave it a juiceless pulp. It matters not where you try him, whether his story be Christian or pagan, borrowed from his- tory or fable, you cannot escape him. Dip in at the middle or the end, dodge back to the beginning, the patient old man is there to take you by the button and go on with his imperturbable narrative. You may have left off with Cly- temnestra, and you begin again with Samson ; it makes no odds, for you cannot tell one from tother. His tediousness is omnipresent, and like Dogberry he could find in his heart to bestow it all (and more if he had it) on your worship. 448 FIGURES OF SPEECH. The word lengthy has been charged to our American account, but it must have been invented by the first reader of Gower's works, the only inspiration of which they were ever capable. Our literature had to lie by and recruit for more than four centuries ere it could give us an equal vacuity in Tupper, so persistent a uniformity of commonplace in the Recreations of a Country Parson. Let us be thankful that the indus- trious Gower never found time for recreation. C. Does the following passage contain a figure ? If so, what is it ? If there is a figure, do you think it is a good one ? Why ? The actual ether which fills space is so elastic that the slightest possible distortion produced by the vibration of a single atom sends a shudder through it with inconceivable rapidity for billions and billions of miles. This shudder is Light. Figures of Arrangement. 176. Antithesis. — This term is applied to a sentence or part of a sentence in which corresponding words, phrases, or clauses are set over against one another in such a way as to make contrasting ideas conspicuous. The term is also used of contrasting sentences, or even of contrasting paragraphs. The hearing ear is always found close to the speaking tongue. — Emerson: English Traits. Demosthenes told Phocian, " The Athenians will kill you some day when they are in a rage." " And you," said he, "if they are once in their senses." — Plutarch. Our very hopes belied our fears, Our fears our hopes belied ; We thought her dying when she slept. And sleeping when she died. — Hood : The Death-bed. ASSIGNMENTS. 449 There is sometimes antithesis of form without true antithesis of thought. This is called false antithesis, and should be avoided. Climax, — A speaker is said to employ climax when a series of words, phrases, or clauses is so arranged that each in turn surpasses the preceding one in intensity of expression, or importance of meaning. The term may also be used of a series of sentences or of a series of paragraphs similarly arranged. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em. — Shakespeare : Twelfth Night. An unimportant, wandering, sorrow-stricken man. What a chimera, then, is man ! What a novelty, what a monster, what a chaos, what a subject of contradiction, what a prodigy ! — Pascal. When a weaker idea follows a stronger, the result is bathos, or anticlimax (in the bad sense). Mr. Judson was an able lawyer, a shrewd diplomat, and a first-rate after-dinner speaker. For another use of the term anticlimax, see § 178. 177. Assignments. A. Look for instances of antithesis and climax in the following selection. Point out the corresponding words, phrases, and clauses. Does the thought in every case correspond to the form ? There is indeed a remarkable coincidence between the progress of the art of war, and that of the art of oratory, among the Greeks. They both advanced to perfection by 450 FIGURES OF SPEECH. contemporaneous steps, and from similar causes. The early speakers, like the early warriors of Greece, were merely a militia. It was found that in both employments practice and discipline gave superiority. Each pursuit, therefore, became first an art, and then a trade. In proportion as the professors of each became more expert in their particular craft, they became less respectable in their general charac- ter. Their skill had been obtained at too great expense to be employed only from disinterested views. Thus, the soldiers forgot that they were citizens, and the orators that they were statesmen. I know not to what Demos- thenes and his famous contemporaries can be so justly compared as to those mercenary troops who, in their time, overran Greece ; or those who, from similar causes, were some centuries ago the scourge of the Italian republics, — perfectly acquainted with every part of their profession, irresistible in the field, powerful to defend or to destroy, but defending without love, and destroying without hatred. We may despise the characters of these political Condottieri ; but it is impossible to examine the system of their tactics without being amazed at its perfection. B. Find five good examples of antithesis and as many of climax in some of the selections in the preceding or following pages. Figures of Contradiction. 178. Anticlimax. — This is a form of climax in which the last term of the series, although surpassing the preceding terms in intensity, is yet absurdly incongru- ous with them, the effect aimed at being a shock of humorous surprise. The Chief -Justice was rich, quiet, and infamous. — Mac AULA Y : Warren Hastings. FIGURES OF CONTRADICTION. 451 Irony, — An ironical expression is one in which the words of the speaker seem to mean one thing, but in reality mean just the contrary, the real meaning being conveyed to us by the tone of the voice or the rhythm and suggestiveness of the words. Thus Addison, in the following passage, under guise of praising bribery as an efficient means of persuasion, in reality holds it up to condemnation : — There is another way of reasoning which seldom fails, though it be of a quite different nature from that I have last mentioned. I mean convincing a man by ready money, or, as it is ordinarily called, bribing a man to an opinion. This method has often proved successful when all the others have been made use of to no purpose. A man who is furnished with arguments from the mint will convince the antagonist much sooner than one who draws them from reason and philosophy. Gold is a wonderful clearer of the understanding; it dissipates every doubt and scruple in an instant; accommodates itself to the meanest capacities; silences the loud and clamorous, and brings over the most obstinate and inflexible. — Addison : Spectator^ No. 239. Epigram. — According to Professor Bain, an epigram is ''an apparent contradiction in language, which, by causing a temporary shock, rouses our attention to some important meaning underneath." This definition may be supplemented by the statement that the epigram usually takes the form of a brief, pointed, antithetical sentence. Let us be of good cheer, however, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which never come. — Lowell : Democracy. There is nothing new, except what is forgotten. 452 FIGURES OF SPEECH. Hyperbole, — This is a kind of a metaphor in which the object spoken of is greatly exaggerated in size or importance for purpose of emphasis or humor. Falstaff sweats to death, And lards the lean earth as he walks along. — Shakespeare : Henry IV. And panting Time toiled after him in vain. — Johnson: Prologue on the Opening of Drury Lane Theatre. Interrogation. — Attention is sometimes called to an important assertion or denial by throwing it into the form of a question or challenge to which no answer is expected. This figure is known as interrogation, or the rhetorical question. It resembles irony in that the form of the question is the opposite of the meaning it is intended to convey. Much depends on when and where you read a book. In the five or six impatient minutes, before the dinner is quite ready, who would think of taking up the Faerie Queene for a stop-gap, or a volume of Bishop Andre wes' sermons ? — Lamb : Tlioughts on Books and Reading. As I crossed the bridge over the Avon on my return, I paused to contemplate the distant church in which the poet lies buried, and could not but exult in the malediction which has kept his ashes undisturbed in its quiet and hallowed vaults. What honor could his name have derived from being mingled in dusty companionship with the epitaphs and escutcheons and venal eulogiums of a titled multitude ? — Irving : Sketch-Book, Stratford-on-Avon. 179. General Assignments. A. Examine one of your old essays. How many figures did you use? What kinds of figures were they ? GENERAL ASSIGNMENTS. 453 B. Read Webster's First Bunker Hill Oration and take note of each figure used. What do you conclude is Webster's favorite figure of speech ? C. Read a page of one of Shakespeare's plays and select three of the most striking figures. To what class or classes do they be- long? D. What figures do you find in the following passages ? Are they good figures? What pictures do they bring up in your mind ? Michel de Bourges seriously objected. My instinct was to begin at once, his advice was to wait and see. . . . We should not carry the people with us in the first moment. Let us leave the indignation to increase little by little in their hearts. If it were begun prematurely, our manifesta- tion would miscarry. These were the sentiments of all. For myself, while listening to them, I felt shaken. Perhaps they were right. It would be a mistake to give the signal for the combat in vain. Of what use is the lightning that is not followed by the thunderbolt ? Louis Bonaparte is a rebel, he has steeped himself to-day in every crime. We, representatives of the people, declare him an outlaw; but there is no need for our declaration, since he is an outlaw by the mere fact of his treason. Citizens, you have two hands ; take in one your Right, and in the other your gun, and fall upon Napoleon. APPENDIX A. DIRECTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 1. Use only black ink, the blacker the better. 2. Write on one side of the sheet only. 3. Leave the margin blank for the teacher's corrections. 4. Write as legibly as you can, avoiding flourishes and curlicues. 5. Put the title on the first line, and to show what it is, under- line it with three straight lines or one wavy line. Leave one blank line between the title and the body of the essay. 6. By taking pains as you write, avoid the necessity of eras- ures and interlineations. If corrections must be made, make them neatly. To strike out a word draw a horizontal line through it, but do not enclose it in parentheses. In making additions, use the caret. 7. Indent for a paragraph at least one inch. Beware of indent- ing where no paragraph is intended. 8. Except at the end of a paragraph, avoid a noticeable blank space at the end of a sentence. 9. Leave the sheets of your manuscript flat. Do not fold them ; do not fasten them together, or turn down the corners ; above all, do not roll them. 10. Write your name and the number of the page in the upper right-hand corner of each sheet. 11. In making an outline, or skeleton, or analysis, follow the form of outline given on page 31 of this book. Do not disfigure the page by using " braces." 12. Locate your quotations by giving the author's name, the name of the book, the number of the volume, and the page. 454 APPENDIX B. CAPITALS AND PUNCTUATION. General Rules for Capitals. The following words should begin with capitals : — 1. The first word of every book, chapter, letter, and paragraph. 2. The first word after a period ; and, usually, after the interro- gation point and the exclamation point. 3. Divine names; as, God, Jehovah, the Supreme Being. 4. Proper names of persons, places, rivers, oceans, ships; as, Franklin, Chicago, Mississippi, Atlantic, the Monitor. 5. Adjectives derived from the proper names of places ; as, English, French, Roman, American. 6. The first word of an exact quotation in a direct form ; as, he said, " There will be war." 7. The pronoun I and the interjection O ! 8. Terms of great historical importance are usually capitalized; as, the Reformation, the Civil War, the Whigs, the Revolution. General Rules for Punctuation. The comma, semicolon, and colon mark the three degrees of separation in the parts of a sentence; the comma the smallest degree, the semicolon a greater degree, and the colon the greatest degree. To illustrate : — Rhetoric is based upon Logic, Grammar, and ^Esthetics. Rhetoric is based upon Logic, which deals with the laws of thought; upon Grammar, which presents the facts and rules of correct language; and upon ^Esthetics, which investigates the principles of beauty. 455 456 WRITTEN WORK. Rhetoric is based upon the following sciences: Logic, which deals with the laws of thought ; Grammar, which presents the facts and rules of correct language ; and ^Esthetics, which investi- gates the principles of beauty. Rules for the Comma. A comma is used in the following instances : — 1. To separate grammatically independent elements from the context ; as, " Rejoice, young man ! " 2. To separate intermediate, transposed, and parenthetical ele- ments from the context ; as, " Even good men, they say, sometimes act like brutes." 3. To separate expressions in apposition from the context ; as, " Washington, the first President, served tw^o terms." 4. To separate contrasted words or phrases, and words or phrases in pairs; as, "We live in deeds, not years." "Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote." 5. To mark the omission of words ; as, " In war he was warlike ; in peace, peaceable." 6. Before short and informal quotations ; as, " He shouted, < Come in ! ' " Note. — It is quite possible to use the comma too frequently; as, "It is well known, that, when water is cooled, below a certain point, contrac- tion ceases, and expansion begins." Better : "It is well known that when water is cooled below a certain point, contraction ceases and expansion begins." Rules for the Semicolon. A semicolon is used in the following instances : — 1. To separate members of a compound sentence, when they are complex or loosely connected, or when they contain commas. 2. To separate short sentences closely connected in meaning. 3. To introduce an example, before as. 4. To separate clauses having a common dependence. Illustra- tions of these rules : " Science declares that no particle of matter PUNCTUATION, 457 can be destroyed; that each atom has its place in the universe; and that, in seeking that place, each obeys certain fixed laws." " When education shall be made a qualification for suffrage ; when politicians shall give place to statesmen ; — then, and not till then, will the highest development of our country be reached." Rules for the Colon. The colon is used in the following instances : — 1. To introduce several particulars complex in form, in apposi- tion to a general term, and separated from one another by semi- colons. (Already illustrated.) 2. To introduce long formal quotations. If the quotation begins a new paragraph a dash should be used instead of a colon. Rules for the Period. The period is used in the following instances : — 1. To mark the completion of a declarative sentence. 2. After abbreviations ; as, D.D., LL.D., Vt., Ala. Rules for the Interrogation Point. The interrogation point is used 1. After every direct question ; as, '^ Will you come ? " " You have been to Niagara? " " When was such a promise made? By whom ? " 2. In parentheses, to express doubt ; as, " In the time of Homer, 850 (?) B.C." Rules for the Exclamation Point. The exclamation point is used 1. To expreas strong emotion ; as, " He is dead, the sweet musician ! " 2. To express doubt or sarcasm ; as, " That man a poet ! " 3. After interjections ; as, " Oh ! " " O my Country ! " APPENDIX C. COMMON FAULTS, WITH MARKS USED IN CORRECT- ING THEM. a. In the MS. The words, clauses, or sentences to which the marginal correc- tions refer, are indicated by crossing out, by underscoring, or by enclosing in brackets or circles. A caret shows the point at which something is to be supplied. An inverted caret marks the omis- sion of the apostrophe or of quotation marks. 5. In the Margin. Amb. — Ambiguous. Capable of more than one interpretation. (1) JSquinting construction. When a phrase or clause is so placed that it may equally well be understood to refer to what precedes it and to what follows it, it is said to squint. (2) Participle for clause. Supplant a participle by a clause whenever more than one interpretation is possible. Example : " Situated only a few miles from St: Paul, Minneapolis has grown with marvellous rapidity." Write either " Because it is situ- ated," or " Although it is situated," according to the meaning intended. (3) Misrelated participle. The grammatical relation of the participle to the rest of the sentence should not be left in doubt. Examples : " Having dared to take up the cause of the abolitionists his friends would no longer consort openly with him." 458 MARKS USED IN CORRECTING. 459 Does "having dared" belong with "friends" or with " him " ? " Looking across the bay a large ocean steamer was seen headed directly for the harbor." To what word does the participle " looking " belong ? Ant. — Antecedent needs Attention. (An antecedent is any expres- sion to which subsequent reference is made.) (1) Two or more possible antecedents. Be sure that the antecedent to which a relative pro- noun refers is clear and unmistakable. (2) JVb antecedent. Guard against using a relative clause that has no antecedent. (3) Relative and antecedent do not agree. Singular antecedents require singular pronouns of ref- erence ; relative and antecedent should agree in number. " He is one of those men who disapproves of every new idea," should be " He is one of those men who disapprove,'^ etc. "Everybody votes according to their own convic- ^ tions," should be " Everybody votes according to his own convictions." (4) Repeat the antecedent. Repeat an idea when the relative pronoun alone is not sufficient for clearness. " His opponents were at this time involved in expensive litigation, which partly accounts for the feebleness of their opposition." The meaning proba- bly is " a circumstance which partly accounts for," etc. Awk. — Awkward. An ungainly mode of expression ; a harsh sound. Cap. — Capitalize. CI. — Not Clear, Vague, Obscure, Indefinite. (1) Omission of necessary ivord or ivords. (2) Word or idea needs to be 7'epeated. (3) Confusion of ideas. 460 • COMMON FAULTS. Cnst. — Construction Faulty. (1) Wrong construction. Examples : " He found that going to school was differ- ent than (say from what) he expected." " My principal had forfeited the privilege to choose (say of choosing) his own weapons." (2) Unexpected change of construction. In similar parts of the sentence use the same construc- tion. Do not say, " I prefer choosing my own friends and to carry out my own plans," but either, " I prefer choosing my own friends and carrying out my own plans," or " I prefer to choose my own friends and to carry out my own plans." (3) Awkward construction. Avoid awkward constructions, such as, " She inquired of the Superintendent as to the probability of her brother's suspension from the school " (better, " She asked the Su- perintendent if her brother was likely to be suspended from the school "). " Their destination was arrived at by them by daybreak " (" By daybreak they arrived at their destination"). (4) Involved clauses. Beware of involved clauses. (" He said that he was sure that the story that the boy had run away, was false.") Coh. — Not coherent. S. Coh., sentence lacks coherence. ^ Coh., paragraph lacks coherence. C. Coh., the whole composi- tion lacks coherence. Con. — Connection Faulty. (1) Means of explicit reference (conjunctions, demonstra- tives, modifications of sentence-structure) not skillfully man- aged. (2) Wrong conjunction used. Distinguish different degrees and different kinds of connection in such words as yet^ stilly hut, however, and, so, MARKS USED IN CORBECTING. 461 while, whereas, even, together, with, since, hence, because, for, etc. (3) Connectives used where they can be omitted. Connectives may sometimes be omitted with a gain to force. Thus it is less forcible to say " Run and tell your father the house is on fire," than to say " Run ! Tell your father the house is on fire." (4) Transitional phrase or sentence needed. Short summarizing phrases or sentences may be needed, at times, to indicate the direction which the thought is next to take, or the manner of treatment to be pursued. (5) Illogical sequence. Cond. — Condense. Consult. — Bring the composition to the teacher before the next recitation. D. — See the Dictionary, for spelling, etymology, meaning, or stand- ing of the word underlined. E. — Bad English. (1) Diction impure, inaccurate, or unidiomatic. (2) Construction borrowed from some other language. Eu. — Euphony Violated. Sounds bad. Exp. — Expand. Idea important; make more of it. Fig. — Error in the Use of Figurative Language. Mixed metaphor ; or obscure allusion ; or figure not needed. FW. — ' Fine Writing. ' The attempt to give a commonplace idea dignity and force, or humor, by the use of big words and pretentious phrases, is termed ' fine writing.' Thus " An individual designated by the not uncommon cognomen of Smith" is * fine writing ' for " a man named Smith." 6r. — Bad Grammar. 462 COMMON FAULTS, H. — Heading at Fault. 'No heading ; poor heading ; prescribed form not observed. Inv. — Involved Structure. Simplify. Kp. — Out of Keeping. (1) To7ie of the composition not consistently maintained. At no point should the composition vary perceptibly from the level of thought or feeling on which it was begun. A commonplace or colloquial remark in a composition whose prevailing tone is pathetic, a jest or a piece of slang in a composition whose prevailing note is spiritual, are often ruinous to the effect that would otherwise be pro- duced. (2) In bad taste. I.e. — Change Capital to Small Letter. MS. — Manuscript Unsatisfactory. (1) In form. (2) Not neat. (3) Writing hard to read. p. — Bad Punctuation. See Appendix A. Pos. — Wrong Position. (1) Related words separated. Related words, phrases, and clauses should be brought as close as possible to the elements which they modify. (2) Important words in unemphatic positiojis. Important words should occupy^ emphatic positions. (3) Unimportant ivords in emphatic positions. Q. — Quotation at Fault. (1) Quotation incorrect. (2) Incorrect use of quotation marks. Re. — Repetition to be Avoided. Avoid needless repetitions of the same word or soun^. MARKS USED IN CORRECTING. 463 Rel. — Relative Pronoun at Fault. (1) Coordinate for restrictive relative, or vice versa, i.e. who, ivhich, for that; or that for who, which. (2) Relative may he omitted. The restrictive relative, when the object of a verb, may often be omitted without loss of clearness. Thus, " I am the man you seek " is sometimes preferable to " I am the man that you seek." Sent. — Wrong Form of Sentence. (1) Periodic for loose sentence, or vice versa. (2) Monotonous recwTence of the same form of sentence. Beware especially of overuse of and, and, and. SL — Slang. Sp. — Bad Spelling; or omission of apostrophe, or faulty abbre- viation, or spell in full. Sub. — Subordination Faulty. (1) Ideas of unequal rank made coordinate. Subordinate the expression underscored. (2) Expression too emphatic. (3) Wrong idea subor- dinated. Recast the sentence. T. — Tautology, useless repetition. Tr. — Transpose. Ts. — Wrong Tense. U. — Unity Violated. Su., in the sentence ; Tfu., in the paragraph ; Cu., in the whole composition. (1) Sentence contains unrelated ideas or too many ideas. (2) Clauses appended or not properly subordinated. Appended phrases and clauses should be reduced to inconspicuous forms or transferred to inconspicuous posi- tions. Subordinate details should be kept subordinate in form of statement. 464 COMMON FAULTS. W. — Weak. (1) Terms too general. Use particular and concrete expressions. (2) Anti-climax, (3) Hackneyed words or phrases. Avoid trite and meaningless expressions. IF — Paragraph. No ^ — Do not paragraph. 8 or <|) — Omit. X — Error, not specified. O — Join the parts of a word, incorrectly separated. |-| — Hyphen to be supplied. A — Something has been omitted. # — More space needed at point indicated by the caret. p — A surprising assertion. c. At Beginning or End of the MS. One of the above marks placed at the beginning or end of the manuscript warns the writer against a prevailing fault. The gen- eral character of the manuscript is indicated by the following letters : A, excellent ; B, fair ; C, poor ; D, very bad, rewrite. INDEX. The references are to pages. Names of authors whose works are quoted are in Small Capitals. Brtce, J., 26, 99, 193, 331. Buckley, A., 324. BuLWER, E., 263. Burke, E., 81, 130, 898. Burns, R., 4. Burroughs, J., 15, 134, 168, 170, 206. Byron, Lord, 205. 390. Abbott, J., 35, 311. Abbott, J. S. C, 207. Abstract expressions, 177, 178. Addison, J., 451. Aldrich, T. B., 56. Alexandrine, 432. Alger, W. R., 304. > Allegory, 446. Allen, J. L., 176. Alliteration, 435. Analogy, 331-334. Anapest, 431. Andrews, 365. Anticlimax, 449, 450. Antithesis, 448 ; grouping by, 30 31 ; false, 449. Antouomasia, 445. Argumentation, 353-420. Arguments, from authority, 378 ; ! Channing, W. E,, 118. tests of, 387-402 ; strength of, i Characters, 267-274. 392-394 ; order of, 402, 403. Aristotle on plot, 262. Association, grouping by, 29, 30 Audubon, J. J., 11-14. Authority as argument, 378 ; ab- sence of, 378. Caesura, 434. Campbell, T. Canto, 487. Capitals, 455. Carlyle, T., 49, 258, 445. Castle, A. andE., 198. Cause and effect, development by, 99-106 ; grouping by, 31, 32. Cervantes, 446. Bacon, Lord, 17, 23. Bagehot, W., 78, 96, 883. Ballad, the, 424. Barrie, J. M., 276. Bible, 2, 442. Biography, 278. Black, W., 91. Blank verse, 436. Boynton, H. C, 306. Brief, the, 403-406; trial brief, 416. Brown, John, 87. Browning, R., 286. j Cherbury, Lord, 158. Chesterfield, Earl of, 245. Churchill, W., 198, 200, 206, 215. Circumstance as argument, 376 ; absence of, 376. Clifford, W. K., 301. Climax, 33, 257, 449. Collision in narrative, 250, 267. Comedy, 426, 427. Comparison, 331-334. Comparison and contrast, 72-85. Compositions, gro*wth of, 20-43; planning of, 21-29. Concrete terms, 178-181. Connection, means of, 117-124. Consistency in argument, 398-402. Contradictory ideas reconciled, 834-337. Contrast, grouping by, 80, 31 ; development by, 72-85. 465 466 INDEX. Conversation, 274-278. Correction marks, 458-464. Couplet, 436. Creighton, J,, 100. Crothers, S. McC, 326. Dactyl, 431. Dana, C. A., 111. Debates, practice, 418-420. Debates, preparation of material for, 414, 415. Debating, informal, 352-407 ; for- mal, 407-420. Definition, logical, 319-328. Defoe, D., 172. Demolins, E., 119. Description, 174-236. Description in argument, 361-371. DeQuincey, T., 119, 129, 196, 338. Details in description, 203. Dialogue, 274-278. Dickens, C, 15, 58, 176, 194, 196, 197. Didactic poetry, 429, 430. Diiierentia, 320. Dimeter, 431-433. Discourse, forms of, 168-420. Division, 337-341. Dodge, D., 339. Doubleday, a., 234. Dramatic lyric, 429. Dramatic poetry, 425-427. Dryden, J., 4. Echo, the, 145. Eggleston, E., 183. Elegy, the, 428. Eliot, George, 186. Emerson, R. W., 55, 129, 448. Epic, 422-425. Epigram, 451. Experience, appeal to, as argu- ment, 378. Exposition, 301-352. Exposition, types of, 341-349. Fable, the, 446. Fact as argument, 375 ; absence of, 375. Farce, 427. Faults, common, 458-464. Fictitious narrative, 278. Figures of speech, 439-453. Foot, defined, 431 ; dissyllabic and trisyllabic, 431. Forms of prose discourse, 168-420. Foster, M., 101. Franklin, B., 21, 22, 25, 68, 101. Freeman, E., 145. FrOude, J. A., 48. Generalized narrative, 328-331. Genus, 320. Gilder, R. W., 438. Goldsmith, O., 161, 445. Grady, H. W., 76, 91. Gray, T., 195. Grayson, 333. Grouping topics, 29-34. Guernsey, A. H., 340. GuYOT, A., 102. Hale, E. E., 141, note. Hamerton, p. G., 80, 93. Harrington, Sir J., 337. Hawthorne, N., 197. Heptameter, 432." Hexameter, 432, 433. HiGGiNSON, T. W., 53, 118, 209, 366. History, 278. Holland, J. G., 9, 10. Holmes, O. W., 55, 64, 81, 88, 209, 362. Hood, T., 448. Hosmer, J. K., 46. Howard, J., 131. HowELLS, W. D., 75, 369, 373, 388, 389. Hubbard, W., 139. Hudson, H. N., 392. Hudson, W. H., 257, 268. Hughes, T., 178. Huxley, T. H., 76. Hyperbole, 452. Iambus, 431. Idyll, the, 424. Image, fundamental, 195-203. Images, kinds of, 177-186. INDEX. 46T Incident, simple, 243-249. Instances, specific, development by, 93-99. Interrogation, 452. Irony, 451. Irving, W., 47, 87, 188, 199, 452. Jefferies, J. R., 215. Jewett, S.. O., 211, 214, 239. Johnson, S., 442. Jones, Sir W., 112. King, C, 221. Kipling, R., 186. Knox, 309. Lalor and Mason, 374. Lamb, C, 54, 452. Lincoln, A., 127, 164. Lines of poetry, pure, 433 ; mixed, 433 ; incomplete, 434. Long, W. J., 108, 109. Longfellow, H. W., 46, 71, 176, 198. Lowell, J. R., 79, 179, 337, 441, 446, 451. Lyall, Edna, 238. Lyric poetry, 427-429. Macaulay, T. B., 68, 71, 73, 77, 97, 133, 147, 160, 329, 382, 390, 441, 442, 443, 450. Macdonald, G., 182, 183. Mahaffy, J. P., 95. Manuscript, preparation of, 454. Mask, the, 427. Mathews, W., 307. Matthews, B., 74, 303, 327. Maundeville, Sir J., 7. Maupassant, G. db, 183, 190, 292. Maury, T. B., 341. McMaster, J. B., 82, 106. Measure, heroic, 432 ; Alexan- drine, 432. Melodrama, 427. Metaphor, 440-444 ; mixed, 444. Metonymy, 444-446. Metre, 431 ; kinds of, 431-435. Metrical romance, 423, 424. Miller, 328. Mock epic, 423. Monometer, 431-433. Montgomery, D. H., 102. Motives in narrative, 268. Narration, 237-300 ; in exposition, 361-371. Narrative, complex, 249-278 ; gen- eralized, 328-331. Newman, Cardinal, 142. Newton, L, 441. Observation, order of, 191-195. Obstacle, the, in narrative, 250, 254. Octameter, 432, 433. Ode, the, 428. Opera, 427. Ottava rima, 437. Paine, R. D., 333. Parable, the, 446. Paragraphs, 44-124. Particulars and details, develop- ment by, 85-98. Pascal, 449. Pastoral, the, 424. Pater, W., 127. Pentameter, 432. Pepys, S., 279. Pertinence, tests of arguments for, 387-392. Planning compositions, 21-29. Plot, 250, 255-265. Plutarch, 448. Poe, E. a., 181, 189. Poetry, 421-438. Point of view, 186-190. Points at issue, 416. Principle, general, as argument, 379-381. . Pronoun, relative, 156. Proof, direct and indirect, 355. Proposition, the, 371-375. Propositions, debatable, 413, 414. Prose discourse, forms of, 168-420. Punctuation, 465-457. "Q" (A. T. Quiller-Couch), 204, 207, 270. 468 INDEX. Quatrain, 436. Randolph, J., 160. Reade, Charles, 282. Rebuttal, 419. Refutation, 365. Repetition, development by, 64-72. Rhetorical question, 452. Rhyme, 435. Rhyme Royal, 437. Rogers, S., 337. Romance, metrical, 423. Satire, 429. Scansion, 433. SCHMITZ, 364. Scott, Sir W., 101. Sentences, 126-151 ; complex and compound, 126 ; long and short, 128-130; loose, periodic, and balanced, 130-135 r related, 8. Seward, W. H., 166, note. Shakespeare, W., 24, 202, 284, 318, 444, 445, 449. Shall and Will, 165. Shorthouse, J., 159. Simile, 441-444. Song, the, 428. Sonnet, the, 437, 438. Spangenberg, 340. Specific expressions, 177, 178. Specific instances, development by, 93-99. Specific instances as argument, 377 ; absence of, 377. Stanza, 436 ; Chaucerian, 437 ; Elegiac, 436 ; Spenserian, 437. Stevenson, R. L., 128, 199, 200, 201, 211, 251, 256, 265, 307. Strength, tests of arguments for, 392-398. Suspense, 249, 260. Synecdoche, 444-446. Tale, the, 424. Tennyson, A., 63, 336, 337, 445. Tercet, 436. Tests of arguments, 387-402. Tetrameter, 431-433. Thackeray, W. M., 2, 53, 206, 242, 324. Thanet, 0., 86, 244. That, Who, Which, 156. Theory, general, arguments based on, 379-381. Thoreau, H. D., 96, 175. Topic statement, 45. Topics, overlapping, 34. Tragedy, 425, 426. Trimeter, 431-433. Triplet, 436. Trochee, 431. Twain, Mark, 197. Tyndall, J., 97. Units, independent, 1-7 ; related, 7-19. Units of composition, 1-19. Verse, blank, 436. Versification, 431. Walker, F. A., 67. Webster, D., 69,70. Wheeler, C, 309. Which, Who, That, 156. White, G., 246. Whitman, W., 6. Who, Which, That, 156. Will and Shall, 165. 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