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Cornell University Library arV 14520 The art of oratorical cornposijion
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Cornell University Library
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THE ART
ORATORICAL COMPOSITION,
BASED UPON THE
PRECEPTS AND MODELS OF THE OLD MASTERS.
REV. CHARLES COPPENS, S.J.,
Author of "A Practical Introduction to English Rhetoric.''
CATHOLIC SCHOOL BOOK CO.
28 Barclay Street, New York.
A-l \<o^Z<£
Copyright, 1885,
by
THE CATHOLIC PUBLICATION SOCIETY CO.
Transferred to catholic school hook co.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Introductory, n
BOOK I.— SOURCES OF SUCCESS IN ORATORY.
Chapter I. Special Talents, 21
Chapter II. Moral Virtues 26
Chapter III. Knowledge 32
BOOK II.— ON THE INVENTION OF THOUGHT.
Chapter I. A General View of the Intended Speech, . . 38
Chapter II. Sources of Thoughts 49
Chapter III. Intrinsic Topics, 52
Article I. Definition, ....... 52
" II. Enumeration, 56
" III. Genus and Species, 58
" IV. Notation and Conjugates 62
" V. Causes and Effects, 63
' VI. Circumstances, 66
" VII. Antecedents and Consequents, .... 68
" VIII. Contraries, . . • 69
" IX. Likeness or Similitude 71
X. Likelihood or Probability 73
Chapter IV. Extrinsic Topics 76
Article I. Authorities, 7°
II. Examples 77
Chapter V. Moral Topics and Topics of Persons ... 80
Article I. Moral Topics, 80
" II. Topics of Persons, 81
Chapter VI. Use of the Topics, 84
Chapter VII. An Example for Practice, 9°
s
Contents.
BOOK III.— ORDER OR ARRANGEMENT OF THOUGHTS.
Chapter . I. The Natural Order, Article I. The Historical Order, II. The Distributive Order, " III. Logical Order, . Chapter II. The Oratorical Order, . Chapter III. Plan of a Discourse, Chapter IV. Analysis and Synopsis, .
94
94
96
98
100
104
108
BOOK IV.— DEVELOPMENT OF THOUGHT.
Chapter I. The Introduction, Chapter II. Narration and Explanation, . Chapter III. Proposition and Division, CHAPTER IV. Argumentation — Refutation — Pathos Article I. Ways to Produce Conviction,
§ 1. Exposition, ..... § 2. Reasoning, .....
§ 3. Refutation
Article II. Ways to Please or Conciliate, § 1. Oratorical Ornaments, § 2. Politeness, ..... § 3. Oratorical Precautions, . Article III. Ways to Move or Persuade, § 1. On the Passions in Themselves, § 2. The Chief Ways of Arousing the Passions § 3. Of the Expression of Excited Passions Chapter V. Conclusion or Peroration, Chapter VI. On the Style of Speeches,
125 132 137 141 141 142 144 149 156
157 161 164 168
174 177 183 191 194
BOOK V.— MEMORY AND ELOCUTION.
Chapter I. On Memorizing the Oration, .... 202
Chapter II. Elocution or Delivery, . .... 208
Article I. Pronunciation, ....... 209
" II. Gesticulation, ....... 21^
Contents.
BOOK VI.— THE DIFFERENT SPECIES OF ORATORY.
PAGE
Chapter I. Deliberative Oratory, 22a
Article I. The Subjects of Deliberation 223
" II. The Characters of the Hearers, . . . . 226
III. The Orator Himself 229
IV. The Style 232
§ I. Speeches before Promiscuous Assemblies, . . 232
§ 2. Speeches before Select Audiences, .... 234
Chapter II. Forensic Oratory, 239
Article I. The Subjects of Controversy, .... 240
" II. Various Tribunals 243
III. The Orator Himself 248
Chapter III. Demonstrative Oratory, 254
Article I. An Historical Sketch of Demonstrative Oratory, 254
" II. Panegyrics, 257
" III. Academic Lectures, 263
*' IV. Minor Compositions, 266
Chapter IV. Sacred Oratory, 269
Article I. Sources of Success, . . .... 270
§ I. A Virtuous Life 271
§ 2. Abundant Knowledge 272
Article II. The Subjects of Sacred Oratory, . . .276
" III. The Special Topics of Sacred Oratory, . . 279
§ 1. The Holy Scriptures 279
§ 2. The Holy Fathers 282
§ 3. Theological Writings 284
§ 4. The History of the Church and Ascetic Writings, . 285
Article IV. Didactic Speeches 287
§ 1. Familiar Instructions 288
§ 2. Dogmatic Lectures 291
Article V. Exhortatory Discourses, 293
§ 1. The Set Moral Sermon 293
§ 2. The Homily 296
Article VI. Festive Orations, 299
§ 1. On the Mysteries of Religion 3°°
§ 2. Panegyrics 3°2
§ 3. On Special Occasions, 3°4
PREFACE.
In this treatise on oratorical composition it has been the author's aim to present the student with the wisest precepts of the most authoritative writers. Among the ancients Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian are his princi- pal guides ; among modern works he has freely consult- ed the Ars Dicendi of Rev. Jos. Kleutgen, S.J.; the Guide du Jeune Litterateur of Rev. Jos. Broeckaert, S.J.; the Grammar of Eloquence of Rev. M. Barry, and the Sacred Eloquence of Rev. Thomas J. Potter, both of All-Hallows', Dublin ; the Lectures on Elo- quence and Oratory delivered by our great American statesman, John Quincy Adams, when Boylston professor in Harvard University ; the Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres of Rev. Hugh Blair, D.D., of Edinburgh University ; besides a multitude of treatises, reviews, etc., which have furnished abundant matter. In general the author has preferred to let others speak in his stead whenever it could well be done. He has endeavored to illustrate the precepts by numerous extracts from the best productions of ancient and modern orators. The entire treatise is the growth of many years of teaching.
In preparing it for the press one of the principal diffi-
io Preface.
culties has been to combine thoroughness with brevity: to strike a proper medium between the superficial treat- ment so common in modern text-books and that multi- plicity of terms and distinctions which made the satirist exclaim :
" All a rhetorician's rules Teach nothing but to name his tools."
The author does not expect to please every taste — this is impossible ; but he hopes to have written a useful work for the earnest student. If any be disposed to find fault with him for having given so little that is profess- edly his own, he would answer them in these words of J. Q. Adams' Inaugural Oration at Harvard (vol. i. p. 28): " In the theory of the art and the principles of exposi- tion novelty will not be expected ; nor is it, perhaps, to be desired. A subject which has exhausted the genius of Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian can neither require nor admit much additional illustration. To select, com- bine, and apply their precepts is the only duty left for their followers of all succeeding times ; and to obtain a perfect familiarity with their instructions is to arrive at the mastery of the art."
THE AUTHOR.
St. Louis University, St. Louis, Mo., March 1, 1885.
INTRODUCTORY.
i. In a didactic treatise like the present it is both useful and conformable to general practice to begin with a clear definition of the subject treated. Oratory is defined in; Webster's Dictionary : The exercise of rhetorical skill in\ oral discourse. It is not, then, co-extensive with rhetoric, but only a branch of it — that branch, namely, which treats of oral as distinguished from written discourse. As ora- torical compositions are thus a species of " rhetorical com- positions,'' it is necessary next to explain the precise mean- ing of the term rhetoric.
2. Rhetoric, from pew, to flow, originally designated the power or art of using language fluently. Like most other words, it has been employed with some variety of meaning. Aristotle defines rhetoric : The art of inventing whatever^ is persuasive in discourse. Thus, as it regards persuasion, it is distinguished from grammar, which deals with mere correctness of language. Aristotle's definition appears preferable to Webster's, which is, "the art of composi- tion"; for this would include grammar as a branch. Adopting, then, the definition of Aristotle, we may de- velop it more fully by considering the meaning of its terms. Rhetoric invents whatever is persuasive in discourse. Now, to persuade signifies to influence or control the*( minds and wills of others ; and for this purpose not only thoughts, but also the arrangement and proper expression
1 2 Introdiictory.
of thoughts, are to be conceived and invented. Hence the same definition may be thus more fully expressed : Rheto- ric is the art of inventing, arranging, and expressing thought in a manner adapted to influence or control the minds and •wills of others. Oratory is that branch of rhetoric which \ expresses thought orally. As it has so many elements in common with the other species of rhetorical composition, the thorough study of oratory will throw much light upon the entire field of literary productions.
3. Eloquence is a term whose meaning is often confound- ed with oratory and rhetoric. Blair, in his Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres, defines it as "the art of per- suasion," and, in a wider sense, as "the art of speaking in such a manner as to obtain the end for which we speak." We prefer, with Webster's Dictionary, to define eloquence
1 as the expression or utterance of strong emotion in a man- ner adapted to excite correspondent emotions in others. Thus eloquence, inasmuch as it deals with strong emotions only, is less extensive in meaning than oratory ; but as it is not confined to oral discourse, it is, in this respect, more extensive, and applies also to written language ; so that we may say an " eloquent essay," and even, with Webster, an "eloquent history."
4. Oratory, as here explained, is a noble art, worthy of the study of the noblest and the most earnest minds. Cicero thought it worth his while to write seven distinct treatises on this subject ; and the praise which he bestows on it in his first book De Oratore shows how enthusi- astically he admired the power of the orator. " Nothing - appears to me more excellent," he writes, " than the power of holding enchained the minds of an assembly by the charm of speech, of fascinating their hearts, impelling their wills whithersoever you desire, and diverting them from whatsoever you please. This one accomplishment has ever
Introductory. 1 3
exerted the chief attraction and influence among every free people, especially in times of tranquillity and repose. For what is so admirable as that, among an infinite multitude of men, there should rise up one who alone, or almost alone, can do what nature intended to be done by all ? Or what is so pleasing to hear and understand as an oration adorned with wise maxims and noble expressions ? Or what is so powerful and so grand as that the speech of one man should control the movements of the people, the con- sciences of the judges, and the dignity of the senate? What besides is so noble, so honorable, and so glorious as to succor the suppliant, to cheer the afflicted, to free from evil, to save from danger, to retain men in the bonds of society ? . . . Not to name any further advantages — for they are almost innumerable — I shall briefly say I feel con- vinced that on the influence and the wisdom of a perfect orator depends not only his own dignity, but also, to a very great extent, the safety of multitudes and the welfare of the whole republic. Wherefore continue as you are doing, young men, and apply earnestly to that study in which you are engaged, that you may be an honor to your- selves, a help to your friends, and a treasure to your coun- try " {De OrJ^J,).
5. Lord Brougham evidently had this passage in his mind when, in his inaugural discourse pronounced before the University of Glasgow, he bestowed the following en- comium on oratory : " It is but reciting the ordinary praises of the art of persuasion to remind you how sacred truths may be most ardently promulgated at the altar, the cause of oppressed innocence be most powerfully defended, the march of wicked rulers be most triumphantly resisted, defiance most terrible be hurled at the oppressor's head. In great convulsions of public affairs, or in bringing about sajutary changes, every one confesses how important an
1 4 Introductory.
ally eloquence must be. But in peaceful times, when the progress of events is slow and even as the silent and un- heeded pace of time, and the jars of a mighty tumult in foreign and domestic concerns can no longer be heard, then, too, she flourishes, protectress of liberty, patroness of improvement, guardian of all blessings that can be showered on the mass of humankind ; nor is her form ever seen but on ground consecrated to free institutions. ' Pa- ris comes, otiique socia, et jam bene institute reipublica; alumna eloquentia ' — Eloquence is the companion of peace and the associate of leisure, trained up under the auspices of a well-established republic. To me, calmly revolving these things, such pursuits seem far more noble objects of ambition than any upon which the vulgar herd of busy men lavish prodigal their restless exertions. To diffuse useful information ; to further intellectual refinement, sure fore- runner of moral improvement ; to hasten the coming of the bright day when the dawn of general knowledge shall chase away the lazy, lingering mists even from the base of the great social pyramid — this indeed is a high calling, in which the most splendid- talents and consummate virtue may well press onward, eager to bear a part."
6. National Variations. In comparing these two ex- tracts it will, we think, be apparent that Cicero is more taken up with the beauty of eloquence, without, however, ignoring its usefulness ; and Lord Brougham attends more to its utility, without ignoring its beauty. In fact, the great orators of England formed themselves upon the vigorous model of Demosthenes. Now, Demosthenes aimed more at "power and efficiency"; while Cicero, in most of his orations, appears to aim rather at "oratorical effect." Hence the English conception of eloquence is plainer but not less noble, and is even better suited to ordinary use ; on the other hand, the Latin affords finer models of the
Introductory. 1 5
epideictic or demonstrative kind, which has also its proper place. It appears to us that the French, whether led to it by their national character or by special circumstances, have viewed oratory more after the manner of the Latins, and owe in part to this characteristic of their taste the mag- nificence of many of their orations. "In general," says Blair (Lect. xxvi.), " the characteristical difference between the state of eloquence in France and in Great Britain is, that the French have adopted higher ideas both of pleas- ing and persuading by means of oratory, though sometimes in the execution they fail. In Great Britain we have taken up eloquence on a lower key ; but in our execution, as was naturally to be expected, have been more correct. In France the style of their orators is ornamented with bolder figures, and their discourses carried on with more amplifi- cation, more warmth and elevation. The composition is often very beautiful ; but sometimes also too diffuse, and deficient in that strength and cogency which renders elo- quence powerful."
It is, of course, not meant that the English possess no magnificent orations, nor even that magnificent oratory is exceptional with them ; but only that the great British orators have not made splendor so much an object as the Latins and the French, but have rather studied the vigor of the highest model of orators — Demosthenes. We shall see in the chapter on demonstrative oratory that American eloquence aims at the perfection of the Latin.
7. In the study of oratory on which we are about to enter we shall follow the order which appears the most natural. The orator must have acquired certain qualities, which will be the sources of his success. He must then set to work systematically to prepare his speeches. He will first collect materials or thoughts for his oration ; next he will arrange these in suitable order, then proceed to de-
1 6 Introductory.
velop or express them to advantage, afterwards memorize and deliver his discourse.
Hence we have the following division : The first book will treat of the Sources of Success in Oratory ; the second, of the Invention ; the third, of the Arrange- ment ; the fourth, of the Development or Expression of Thoughts ; the fifth, of Memory and Delivery. A sixth book is added on the various Species of Oratory.
This division agrees with Quintilian's in his Institutes, or " Education of an Orator," the most thorough and systematic work ever written on this subject. He de- votes the first portion of his treatise to the early training of the coming orator ; then (b. iii. c. iii. i) he lays down this formal division : " The whole art of oratory, as most of the greatest writers have taught, consists of five parts : invention, arrangement, expression, memory, and delivery." The various species of oratory are explained in the course of his work.
BOOK I.
SOURCES OF SUCCESS IN ORATORY.
8. To attain such eminence in oratory as to deserve the praises above quoted, the highest talents are re- quired. In fact, real ekxiuence, which we have defined the expression of strong emotion in a manner adapted to\ excite correspondent emotions in others, is to a great extent a gift of nature. Our own great orator, Daniel Webster, justly considered it to be such. He said : " When pub- lic bodies are to be addressed on momentous occasions, when great interests are at stake and strong passions ex- cited, nothing is valuable in speech, farther than it is connected with high intellectual and moral endowments. Clearness, force, and earnestness are the qualities which produce conviction. True eloquence, indeed, does not con- sist in speech. It cannot be brought from afar. Labor and learning may toil for it, but they will toil in vain. Words and phrases may be marshalled in every way, but they cannot compass it. It must exist in the man, in the subject, and in the occasion. Affected passion, intense expression, the pomp of declamation, all may aspire after it — they cannot reach it. It comes, if it comes at all, like the out- breaking of a fountain from the earth, or the bursting forth of volcanic fires, with spontaneous, original, native force. The graces taught in the schools, the costly orna- ments and studied contrivances of speech, shock and dis- gust men when their own lives and the fate of their
1 8 Sources of Success in Oratory.
wives, their children, and their country hang on the de- cision of the hour. Then words have lost their power, rhetoric is vain, and all elaborate oratory is contemptible. Even genius itself then feels rebuked and subdued as in the presence of higher qualities. Then patriotism is eloquent, then self-devotion is eloquent. The clear con- ception, outrunning the deductions of logic ; the high pur- pose, the firm resolve ; the dauntless spirit speaking on the tongue, beaming from the eye, informing every fea- ture, and urging the whole man onward, right onward to his object — this, this is eloquence, or rather it is some- thing greater and higher than all eloquence : it is action, noble, sublime, godlike action."
9. But it is not altogether a gift of nature. For even when the occasion is most favorable and the subject most inspiring it is not the uneducated man that can stand forth and control a nation. " Even genius itself then feels rebuked and subdued as in the presence of higher qualities.'' // must exist in the man, says Webster, but in the educated man. The great orator is a genius, but a cultivated .genius, whose every power is developed to its fullest proportion. Such a genius was Daniel Web- ster himself ; such were Calhoun and Clay among us ; such were Chatham, Pitt, Burke, and Fox in England ; Sheridan, Curran, Grattan, and O'Connell in Ireland ; Bossuet, Bourdaloue, Massillon, Flechier, and Fdnelon in France ; such were Cicero himself at Rome, and Demos- thenes and Pericles at Athens. In these and all great orators of every land, without a single exception perhaps, assiduous labor perfected the man ; careful study and training contributed, as well as native power, to raise the orator above his fellows.
10. Even without extraordinary talent a careful train- ing can achieve much towards the formation of an effi-
Sources of Success in Oratory. 19
cient and elegant speaker. For it is not with oratory as it is with poetry and other ornamental arts. In public speaking, even mediocrity has its value. Besides, "be- tween mediocrity and perfection," says Blair (Lect. xxxiv.), "there is a wide interval. There are many intermediate spaces, which may be filled up with honor ; and the more rare and difficult may be complete perfection, the greater is the honor of approaching to it, though we do not fully attain it. The number of orators who stand in the high- est class is, perhaps, smaller than the number of poets who are foremost in poetic fame ; but the study of ora- tory has this advantage over that of poetry : in poetry one must be eminently good or he is insupportable :
" ' Mediocribus esse poetis Non homines, non Di, non concessere columns.'
— Horace. " ' For God and man and lettered post denies That poets ever are of middling size.'
— Francis.
In eloquence this does not hold. There one may hold a moderate station with dignity. Eloquence admits of a great many different forms, plain and simple as well as high and pathetic ; and a genius that cannot reach the latter may shine with much reputation and usefulness in the former."
11. Still it remains true that a considerable amount of natural talent is requisite. "It is my opinion," says Cicero in his first book De Oralore, " that jiature and genius contribute most to the powers of eloquence ; for thlTniind and genius ought to be endowed with certain quick faculties which, rendering invention acute, make ex- pression and its embellishments copious, and memory strong and retentive. It is very well if these faculties be animated or excited by art, but it is not in the power
20 Sources of Success in Oratory.
of art to supply all these qualities — they are the gifts of nature. . . . There are some men so stammering in their expression, so harsh in their tone of voice, so for- bidding in their look, so unwieldy and rustic in person, that neither genius nor art could ever make them orators ; while there are others so happily formed, so endowed by nature with fitness for the same attainments, that they seem not only to be born but moulded by the hand of God for oratory. . . . Natural abilities have been deem- ed so necessary that Apollonius of Alabanda, a master of rhetoric, would not allow those whom he thought could never become orators to lose their time in attending his lectures. He dismissed them to embrace that art or pro- fession for which he judged them to be most fitted by nature."
12. In his second book De Oratore Cicero lays down this practical rule : " Therefore, in forming an orator, I first ascertain the extent of his abilities. He must have acquired a certain amount of learning ; he must have heard some speaking and done some reading ; he must have received special precepts. I would then try what suits him best ; what he can do with his voice, his lungs, his breath, and his tongue. If I think that he can reach the level of eminent speakers I will not only advise him to persevere in labor, but, if I think him a man of prin- ciple and honor, I will urge him to go on — such lustre, in my judgment, does a man who combines integrity with eloquence shed over an entire nation. But if I think, after he has done his best, that he can only rise to me- diocrity in eloquence, I shall then leave him to himself to follow his own inclination, without giving him any great trouble. But if he have anything distinctly unfavorable and shocking in his manner I shall then advise him to discontinue, or direct his views to some other profession."
CHAPTER I.
SPECIAL TALENTS.
13. We shall now consider what natural powers are most necessary for an orator, and what training will aid to de- velop each of them. Among the gifts of nature we may mention first a atrfinjyuiiid, quick to conceive ideas, clear in judging of their agreement or disagreement, unerring in drawing the right conclusions from a train of rea- soning. This is the vis_m£utis spoken of in the familiar maxim of the ancients : Pectus est quod disertos facit, et vis mentis — " It is the heart and mental power that make men eloquent." The mind may be much developed and strengthened by a thorough course of classical and math- ematical studies, by reading polemical works remarkable for cogent reasoning, but especially by the study___of logic_and philosophy. Much meditation will be of the utmost advantage ; and it is, perhaps, one of the greatest drawbacks to the intellectual power of the present gene- ration that, engrossed by a variety of pursuits and whirled along by the excitement of the hour, few men have that leisure for meditation which the great minds of former times enjoyed. ■ " The wisdom of a scribe cometh by his time of leisure," says Ecclesiasticus (xxxviii. 25), "and he that is less in action shall receive wisdom. With what wisdom shall he be furnished that holdeth the plough? " etc.
14. A second gift is a great sensibility of the_passions or the heart, called pectus in the maxim just quoted. "By passion," says Blaif'xLect. xxv.), "I mean that state of
22 Sources of Success in Oratory.
the mind in which it is agitated and fired by some object it has in view. A man may convince, and even persuade, others to act, by mere reason and argument. But that degree of eloquence which gains the admiration of man- kind, and properly denominates one an orator, is never found without warmth or passion. Passion, when in such a degree as to rouse and kindle the mind without throw- ing it out of the possession of itself, is universally found to exalt all the human powers. It renders the mind in- finitely more enlightened, more penetrating, more vigor- ous and masterly than it is in its calm moments. A man actuated by a strong passion becomes much greater than he is at other times. He is conscious of more strength and force ; he utters greater sentiments, conceives higher designs, and executes them with a boldness and a felicity of which, on other occasions, he could not think himself capable." (' But chiefly with respect to persuasion is the
• 'power of passion felt. Almost every man in passion is eloquent. Then he is at no loss for words and arguments. He transmits to others, by a sort of contagious sympathy, the warm sentiments which he feels ; his looks and ges- tures are all persuasive ; and nature here shows herself infinitely more powerful than art. This is the foundation .of that just and noted rule : Si vis me flere, dolendum est firimum ipsi tibi — ' If you wish me to weep you must first
' grieve yourself.' "
15. Sensibility of the passions may be- cultivated by reading the best poets and hearing the greatest orators, but especially by the acquisition of the social and the civil virtues, which will readily enkindle the proper pas- sions when the occasion requires ; thus a man who sin- cerely .loves his country or his fellow-man will feel his
'. passions aroused at the sight of oppression or misfortune. (16. A third gift necessary for an orator is a lively imagi-
r
Special Talents. 23
nation. Quintilian, speaking of one of its effects, remarks : " What the Greeks call Phantasies we call Visions, by which the images of absent things are so represented to the mind that we seem to behold them with our eyes as present be- fore us ; whoever shall be able vividly to conceive those visions with his imagination will have great power to ex- cite the passions.'' "These remarks," as the Grammar of Eloquence justly observes (p. 194), " regard the operations of the imagination generally, and not the mere figure called vision. The imagination creates admiration by its beauties of description, astonishes by its brilliant imagery, delights by the happy resemblance which its painting bears to na- ture, and by its magic spell hurries the hearers into love, pity, grief, terror, desire, aversion, fury, or hatred. It arouses in others the ardent feelings which gave itself birth in the speaker's mind, and opens up at pleasure all the deep fountains of rage, of laughter, and of tears.'' A 17. Power of will is a fourth requisite. This faculty, /which selects good and rejects evil, though free in its [choice, is nevertheless very differently disposed in different persons, partly by nature and partly as a result of habits gradually acquired. "The orator," says Barry (p. 201), "must have a strong, firm, unconquerable will to maintain his personal character by probity of life and fidelity to his cause__and_duty ; to acquire additional knowledge and greater perfection in his profession by unceasing applica- tion ; and to deport himself with respectability, with advan- tage to himself, his clients, and his country. To succeed in this nothing is more useful than to have regular and fixed habits, to husband time by distributing it into sepa- rate hours for study, business, and relaxation." Some one has defined genius to be the power of devoting one's self to an object ; if so, then a strong will is often the source and always the condition of genius.
24 Sources of Success in Oratory.
1 8. Memory is another gift. " What," says Cicero, " shall I say otThat treasury of all knowledge — memory ? For unless this faculty be the faithful repository of all the thoughts and inventions, we know that all the other quali- fications of an orator, even though they be perfect, must be fruitless." " Eloquence displays the power of mem- ory in its full light ; for in eloquence the memory retains the greatest quantity of matter, and not only the order of things but of words, and in such an abundance that patience fails the hearer sooner than memory fails the speaker " (Barry). A faithful memory is a gift of nature, but it can be wonderfully improved by constant exercise and by habits of regularity.
19. That the speaker's outward_ajj|>earance may add ''much to the effect of his words is at once apparent, and
a favorable appearance is evidently a gift of nature ; so likewise is a strong^and melodious voice. The latter can be greatly improved by judicidlis~TrnMvation, as was that of Demosthenes. It may not be improper to recall in this place the energetic and persevering efforts which this greatest of orators made to improve his natural gifts and to remove his natural defects. " He bade adieu,'' says Plutarch in his life of Demosthenes, " to the other stud- ies and exercises in which boys are engaged, and applied himself with great assiduity to declaiming, in hopes of be- ing one day numbered among the orators. . . . He built himself a subterraneous study, which has remained to our times. Thither he repaired every day to form his action and exercise his voice ; and he would often stay there for two or three months together, shaving one side of his head, that if he should happen to be ever so desirous of going abroad the shame of appearing in that condition might keep him in. . . . As for his personal defects, Demetrius the Phalerean gives us an account of the remedies he applied
Special Talents. 25
to them, and he says he had it from Demosthenes himself in his old age. The hesitation and stammering of his tongue he corrected by speaking with pebbles in his mouth ; and he strengthened his voice by running or walking up-hill and pronouncing some passage in an oration or poem dur- ing the difficulty of breathing which that exercise caused. He had, moreover, a looking-glass in his house, before which he used to declaim and adjust all his motions."
CHAPTER II.
MORAL VIRTUES.
20. But far more important than any physical power in the orator are the moral virtues with which nature and his own efforts, with the help of God's grace, have adorned his soul. " In order to be a truly eloquent or persuasive speaker," says Blair (Lect. xxxiv.), " nothing is more neces- sary than to be a virtuous man. This was a favorable posi- tion among the ancient rhetoricians :\JVon posse oratorem esse nisi virum bonum — ' That no one could be an orator except a good man.' " It is the chief duty of education to make men virtuous ; any system of training which does not put virtue in the first place is a false system. Now, the virtues most necessary for an orator are :
21. 1. Elflhity "The greater this power of eloquence is," says Cicero (De Or. iii. 14), " the more strongly does it need to be supported by probity and the greatest prudence ; if you give fluency of speech to a man destitute of these virtues you will not so much have made an orator as have put a sword in the hands of a madman.V " If the power of creation," remarks J. Q. Adams, "could be delegated to mortal hands, and we could make an orator as a sculptor moulds a statue, the first material we should employ for the composition would be integrity of heart. The reason why this quality becomes so essential is that it forms the basis of the hearer's confidence, without which no eloquence can operate upon his belief." This is a reason, but not the chief reason.
26
Moral Virtues. 27
/ 22. 2. Temperance — i.e., habitual moderation with regard to the natural appetites. To this Blair refers when he says : ^^othing is so favorable as virtue to the prosecution of honorable studies. It prompts a generous emulation to ex- cel ; it leaves the mind vacant and free, master of itself, disencumbered of those bad passions and disengaged from those mean pursuits which have ever been found the great- est enemies to true proficiency." And he quotes these words of Quintilian : " If the management of an estate, if anxious attention to domestic economy, a passion for hunting, or whole days given up to public places of amuse- ments, consume so much time that is due to study, how much greater waste must be occasioned by licentious de- sires, avarice, or envy ! Nothing is so much hurried and agitated, so contradictory to itself, or so violently torn and shattered by conflicting passions as a bad heart. Amidst the distractions which it produces what room is left for the cultivation of letters or the pursuit of any honorable art ? No more, assuredly, than there is for the growth of corn in
J Id that is overrun with thorns and brambles." [. 3. Public spirit, or love of country and the high- nterests of society. " On all great subjects and occa- sions there is a dignity, there is an energy in noble senti- ments which is overcoming and irresistible. £. They give an /ardor and a flame to one's discourse which seldom fails to \ kindle a like flame in those who hear, and which, more than any other cause, bestows on eloquence that power, for which it is famed, of seizing and transporting an audience. Here art and imitation will not avail. An assumed char- acter conveys none of this powerful warmth. It is only a native and unaffected glow of feeling which can transmit the emotion to others. Hence the most renowned orators, such as Cicero and Demosthenes, were no less distin- guished for some of the high virtues, as public spirit
28 Sources of Success in Oratory.
and zeal for their country, than for eloquence. Beyond doubt to these virtues their eloquence owed much of its effect ; and those orations of theirs in which there breathes most of the virtuous and magnanimous spirit are those which have most attracted the admiration of ages " (Blair, Lect. xxxiv.)
24. When we mention love of country among the virtues of an orator we do not mean that utilitarianism which looks only to the advantages of the present hour. The an- cient orators often maintained that virtue practised for its own sake is the highest interest of society, as Plutarch teaches when he says (Life of Demosthenes) : " Panatius, the philosopher, asserts that most of Demosthenes' orations are written upon this principle, that virtue is to be chosen for her own sake only ; e.g., the oration on the Crown, that against Aristocrates, that for the Immunities, and the Philippics. In all these orations Demosthenes does not exhort his countrymen to that which is most agreeable or easy or advantageous, but he points out honor and propriety as the first objects, and leaves the safety of the state as a matter of inferior consideration." This conduct of Demos- thenes placed his popularity above the reach of fickle for- tune, so that when the battle of Chaeronea was lost " the people," says Plutarch, " not only acquitted him, but treated him with the same respect as before, and called him to the helm again as a person whom they knew to be a well-wisher of his country."
\__25. 4. Compassion _for_the unfortunate. "Joined with the manly virtues he should at~the same time possess strong and tender sensibility to all the injuries, distresses, and sorrows of his fellow-creatures ; a heart that can easily relent, that can readily enter into the circumstances of others, and can make their case his own " (Blair, xxxiv.) The influence and power which every appearance of public
Moral Virtues, 29
spirit and compassion for the unfortunate imparts to a man who is thought by his hearers to possess these virtues are strikingly exhibited in the case even of unprincipled dema- gogues, such as a Garibaldi, a Mazzini, and the orators of the Reign of Terror in France. Men like these exert a pow- erful influence over their followers. Still it is well to re- mark that they cannot be called orators in the true sense of the word, for we must estimate an orator's greatness by the admirable effects which he produces. Now, such speakers produce nothing admirable ; their work is destruction, and their path is strewn with the ruins of all that is most noble and precious. Instead of raising the people above self- interest, as Demosthenes did, they debase their hearers by" strengthening their selfish inclinations.
26. ^^Beflfiioleiice. " It is the most captivating of all human qualities, for it recommends itself to the selfish pas- sions of every individual. Benevolence is a disposition of the heart universal in its nature, and every single hearer imagines that temper to be kindly affected towards himself which is known to be« actuated by good-will to all. It is the general impulse of human nature to return kindness with kindness, and the speaker whose auditory, at the in- stant of his first address, believes him inspired with a warm benevolence for them, has already more than half obtained his end " (Adams, Lect. xv.)
27. 6. '^JJfldeaty is a kindred virtue to benevolence, and possesses a similar charm over the hearts of men. Modesty always obtains _the mon^precisely because it_asks nothing. Modesty lulls alPtKelrritable passions to sleep. It often disarms, and scarcely ever provokes, opposition. These qualities are so congenial to the best feelings of mankind that they can never be too assiduously cultivated. In them there is no contradiction. If they do not always succeed, they never totally fail. They neutralize malice, they baffle
30 Sources of Success in Oratory.
envy ; they relax the very brow of hatred and soften the features of scorn into a smile. But the purest of virtues border upon pernicious failings. Let your benevolence never degenerate into weakness, nor your modesty into bashfulness " (ib.)
I 28. 7. " A decent Confidence is among the most indis- pensable qualifications of an accomplished orator. Arro- gance stimulates resentment ; vanity opens to derision ; but a mild and determined intrepidity, unabashed by fear, unintimidated by the noise and turbulence of a popular assembly, unawed by the rank or dignity of an auditory, must be acquired by every public speaker aspiring to high distinction. It is as necessaiy to command the respect as to conciliate the kindness of your hearers " (ib.)
29. 8. " This decent and respectful confidence is but a natural result of the perfect and unalterable self-command- which, though last, is far, very far, from being the least ingredient in the composition of an accomplished orator. If it be true of mankind in general that he who ruleth his spirit is greater than he that taketh a city, to no descrip- tion of human beings can this pre-eminence of self-dominion be so emphatically ascribed as to the public speaker. . . When the ebullitions of passion burst in peevish crimina- tion of the audience themselves, when a speaker sallies forth armed with insult and outrage for his instruments of persuasion, you may be assured that this quixotism of rhetoric must eventually terminate like all other modern knight-errantry, and that the fury must always be succeeded by the impotence of the passions " (ib.)
30. 9. To these virtues we may add, with Blair, a habit- of application and Jjadustry : " It is not by starts of appli- cation, or by a Few years' preparation of study afterwards discontinued, that eminence can be attained. No ; it can be attained only by means of regular industry, grown into
Moral Virtues. 31
a habit, and ready to be exerted on every occasion that calls for industry. This is a fixed law of our nature, and he must have a high opinion of his own genius indeed that can believe himself an exception to it. . . . Nothing is so great an enemy both to honorable attainments and to the real, to the brisk and spirited enjoyment of life, as that relaxed state of mind which arises from indolence and dis- sipation. One that is destined to excel in any art, es- pecially in the art of speaking and writing, will be known by this more than by any other mark whatever : an enthu- siasm for that art — an enthusiasm which, firing his mind with the object he has in view, will dispose him to relish every labor which the means require."
CHAPTER III.
KNOWLEDGE.
31. Having spoken of the natural powers of an orator and of his moral virtues, we shall add a few remarks about the knowledge which he should possess.
And, first, he will need a clear and full knowledge of the particular, profession in which his oratorical efforts are to be exerted. If he be a lawyer, let him have a thorough knowledge of the law ; if a divine, let him be a deep theo- logian ; if a statesman, let him be well acquainted with all that concerns the prosperity of nations, particularly of his own country, with its wants, its resources, etc.
32. In addition to this special knowledge every orator needs a considerable amount of general knowledge^ In fact, Cicero insists that omnibus disciplinis et artibus^debet esse instructus orator— ■" An orator shoulcTbe versed in all the branches of learning." By this he means that he should at least have received a liberal education, embrac- ing the thorough study of language, history, philosophy, and a certain familiarity with the finest productions of poetry and with the general circle of polite literature. ^--33. Almost all the great speakers who have reflected so much honor on the English language were classicaljicho- lars, who from boyhood had developed all their powers of mind by a liberal education, and, of course, had studied the masterpieces of ancient oratory in their original tongues. " Burke, Chatham, Fox, and Pitt," says Chauncey A. Good- rich in his Introduction to British Eloquence, " stand, by
32
Knowledge. 33
universal consent, at the head of our eloquence." Now, all these were eminent for classical attainments. Our own Daniel Webster and Calhoun had richly profited by the advantages of a classical education ; and they are un- doubtedly our greatest orators. For of Webster the judg- ment passed on him by Lowndes has been generally ac- cepted, that " the North had not his equal, nor the South his superior,'' and Calhoun was his rival in the South.
34. Of the knowledge of history Cicero says : " Do you not perceive how far history is the business of an orator ? I doubt if it be not his principal business/' " The orator," observes Quintilian, " ought to furnish himself with a great number of examples, as well ancient as modern, and there- fore ought not only to be acquainted with the records of history, with traditions, and with the events of the day, but he should not neglect even the fictions of the more cele- brated poets " (xii. 4). " History," says Dionysius of Hali- carnassus, " is philosophy teaching by example." Now, example is universally acknowledged to be more efficacious than precept. The great orator and statesman Edmund Burke owed much of his success to his historical knowl- edge.
35. As to philosophy, two of its departments — viz., logic and ethics — are indispensable to an orator ; the former " to forge the weapons which oratory is to wield," the latter to guide the statesman and the lawyer, and even the divine, in the studies of their respective professions. For, as J. Q. Adams notices (Lect. xv.), " a truly virtuous orator must have an accurate knowledge of the duties incident to man in a state of civil society. He must have formed a cor- rect estimate of good and evil ; a moral sense which in demonstrative discourse will direct him with the instanta- neous impulse of intuition to the true sources of honor and shame ; in judicial controversy, to those of justice ; in de-
3+ Sources of Success in Oratory.
liberation, to the path of real utility ; in the pulpit, to all the wisdom of man and all that the revelation of heaven have imparted of light for the pursuit of temporal or eter- nal felicity."
36. Familiarity with the finest productions of poetry and with the general circle of polite literature, and especially with the most perfect specimens of ancient and modern oratory, is indispensable to a perfect orator. Hume has somewhere remarked that " he who would teach eloquence must do it chiefly by examples." Without these, precepts would be almost powerless ; and universal practice has sanctioned the reading of Demosthenes' and Cicero's ora- tions in colleges as one of the most direct preparations for an oratorical career. Likewise the most excellent orations of modern orators should be carefully studied, and even their more familiar business speeches will be read with much profit.
37. In a word, "The orator," says Cicero, "must have a forest of materials and thoughts. . . . Indeed, it is my opinion that within the province of an orator everything falls that belongs to the advantage of his countrymen and the manners of various nations, whatever regards the habits of life and the conduct of governments, civil so- ciety and the public feeling, the laws of nature and the morals of mankind. Though he is not obliged to answer distinctly, like a philosopher, on those subjects, he should at least be competent to interweave them dexterously into his oration on the cause at issue ; he ought to be able to speak on such topics in the same manner as the men who founded laws, statutes, and states, in a plain, straightforward manner, with luminous perspicuity, with- out metaphysical disputation, and without dry or profitless cavilling."
38. To induce young men to strive after the highest per-
Knowledge. 35
fection of the ideal orator, such as Cicero conceived him, J. Q. Adams, at the end of his fourth lecture, thus ad- dresses the Sophomores in Harvard University: " To what- ever occupation your future inclinations or destinies may direct you, that pursuit of, ideal-excellence which consti- tuted the plan of Cicero's orator and the principle of Cicero's life, if profoundly meditated and sincerely adopt- ed, will prove a never-failing source of virtue and of hap- piness. ... It must be the steady purpose of a life, ma- turely considered, deliberately undertaken, and inflexibly pursued through all the struggles of human opposition and all the vicissitudes of fortune. It must mark the mea- sure of your duties in the relations of domestic, of social, and of public life ; must guard from presumption your rapid moments of prosperity, and nerve with fortitude your lingering hours of misfortune. It must mingle with you in the busy murmurs of the city, and retire in silence with you to the shades of solitude. Like hope, it must ' travel through, nor quit you when you die ' — your guide amid the dissipations of youth, your counsellor in the toils of manhood, your companion in the leisure of declining age. It must, it will, irradiate the darkness of dissolution, will identify the consciousness of the past with the hope of futurity, will smooth the passage from this to a better world, and link the last pangs of expiring nature with the first xapture of never-ending joy."
BOOK II.
ON THE INVENTION OF THOUGHT.
39. " The power of eloquence can never appear," says Cicero (De Or. i. 11), "but when the orator is a complete masterj>f his subjfifiLIl — Now, it is the aim of the following 'precepts on Invention to aid the orator in " mastering his subject." Hence their importance. " Invention," says Blair (Lect. xxxi.), " is without doubt the most material and the groundwork of the rest." " But with respect to this," he adds, " I am afraid it is beyond the power of art to give any real assistance." It would, indeed, be a great pity if art were so powerless with regard to what is ac- knowledged to be the most important task of an orator. Happily, however, such minds as Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian among the ancients, and many of the greatest rhetoricians among the moderns, judge differently from Dr. Blair. We shall attempt to follow their teachings, both on account of the authority which their writings carry with them, and because the experience of many years devoted to the teaching of rhetoric has convinced us that the study of invention is most efficacious in developing the minds of the young and making them prefer solid thought to idle declamation. The absence of such precepts from the Lectures of Dr. Blair greatly impairs the value of a work so admirable in many other respects, and we are not sur- prised to hear Macaulay designate Blair as a superficial
36
On the Invention of Thought. 37
critic, which epithet applies to him chiefly on account of this very omission. , 40. We shall divide this book on Invention into the following chapters : 1. A General View of the Intend- ed Speech ; 2. Sources of Thought ; 3. Intrinsic Topics ; 4. Extrinsic Topics ; 5. Topics of Persons and Moral Topics ; 6. Use of the Topics ; 7. An Example for Prac- tice.
CHAPTER I.
A GENERAL VIEW OF THE INTENDED SPEECH.
41. Before we proceed to search for thoughts on any- subject or matter it is necessary to fix the following points clearly in our minds.
/ 1. What is the subject on which we are preparing to speak ? Thus, when William Pitt spoke on the abolition of the slave-trade, his subject was the Slave-Trade, not Slavery ; this latter would be a very different matter.
42. 2. What quesiiott~is to be answered about the sub- ject? In the example just mentioned the question was,
Whether the slave-trade should be immediately abolished ? For such abolition was the motion then before the House of Commons, and in support of it Pitt delivered his fa- mous speech, " one of the ablest pieces of mingled argu- ment and eloquence which he ever produced," as Chaun- cey A. Goodrich remarks in his British Eloquence (p. 579). To mistake the subject or the question is a disgraceful fault called ignoratio elenchi — i.e., missing the point. For instance, such a mistake was the cause of much misrepre- sentation and useless ill-feeling at the time of the late Vatican Council, when many leading journalists inveighed so vehemently against the infallibility of the Pope. They mistook it for the impeccability of the Pope, and thus confounded a solemn teaching of the Catholic Church with an error which no Catholic believes.
43. 3. What is the end intended in the speech, or what does the speaker hope to accomplish ? For instance, does
38
A General View of the Intended Speech. 39
he aim chiefly at convincing the minds of his hearers ? or does he rather aim at controlling their wills ? or does he wish mainly to please ? Thus Webster in his two speeches at the Bunker Hill Monument aimed at pleasing, in his speech in Knapp's trial at convincing, in that on the Pre- sidential .Protest at convincing and persuading. To aim chiefly at display or pleasure, when there is a more serious task before us, would incur only the contempt of sensible men. Besides, we must not forget what Cicero remarks {De Orat. ii. 77): "While we bring others to our oprffion '"by three means, by explaining, by conciliating, and by moyr ing, we must ever pretend to do but one thing — i.e., we must appear to aim at nothing but explanation ; the other two must permeate the parts of an oration as the blood permeates the body." Certainly it would be improper to tell our hearers that we are going to please or to move them ; but no sensible man can object to have the matter explained to him and proofs presented to convince his mind.
44. 4. What is the exact state oX_the--(jaesJ;ion— i.e., what is the precise point on which the parties differ, or on the decision of which the success of the speech will chiefly depend ? This is also called placing_th«jinestion. on itsjrjTojjer^^fogting, and it is of especial importance in argumentative speeches. In doing this properly the ability of a lawyer or the skill of a debater will often appear to the greatest advantage. Thus in Daniel Web- ster's speech in the Dartmouth College case the gene- ral question was, whether certain acts of the Legisla- ture of New Hampshire " were valid and binding on the plaintiffs, without their acceptance or assent"? The decision of this question Webster causes to turn on this particular point : Whether or not the former trustees had obtained vested rights as sacred as the rights of private pro~
40 On the Invention of Thought.
perty ? If they had, no Legislature could violate them ; and he maintained that they had. His opponents had to maintain either that such was not the fact or that the decision did not depend on this precise point.
45. 5. What are the presirmgtigns in the case — i.e., what may be taken for granted until it is disproved ? The following are some of the principal presumptions, com- mon to many subjects :
(a) In a criminal case the accused party is presumed innocent until his guilt is proved. This throws the bur- den of proof on the accuser ; it is enough for the de- fence to show that the proofs adduced by the prosecu- tion are not conclusive, no matter how plausible.
(6) In civil claims the presumption is in favor of the actual possessor — i.e., the one who holds actual posses- sion need not produce his title till he who wishes to eject him has proved a legal claim ; if a doubt remains as to the validity of this claim the present occupant re- mains in possession.
(c) Legal documents must be supposed to be genuine till they are proved to be counterfeit.
(d) In legislation no new law should be made till it is shown to be an improvement.
(e) Uncertain laws do not bind — i.e., our liberty is not to be hampered by a law whose existence is doubtful.
(/) What is .known -to have been done must be pre- sumed to have been validly done ; e.g., title-deeds, writs issued by officials, are supposed to be valid, unless there is positive proof to the contrary.
(f) The presumption is in favor of morality and the common good ; thus the presumption is against infidel speculations, since these debase man and loosen the bonds of society by removing the highest sanction of the natural law.
A General View of the Intended Speech. 4 1
(It) The presumption is in favor of what .exists and against a change ; thus even the Redeemer, when he came to put an end to Judaism, proved his divine mission by manifest miracles.
46. The various distinctions of subject, end, question, and state of the question are treated by J. Q. Adams under the one name of state of the controversy. His treatment of this matter appears to us so excellent that we shall be excused if we quote him here at some length.
" The first and most important of these (essential par- ticulars)," he says (Lect. viii.), "is what the ancient rhe- toricians term the state of the controversy. ... A full and clear understanding of it, applied to the usages and manners of our own times, is one of the most important points in the whole science. ... It is the quod erat de- monstrandu7ti of the mathematicians. It is the mark at which all the speaker's discourse aims ; the focus to- wards which all the rays of his eloquence should con- verge ; and, of course, varies according to the nature and subject of the speech. In every public oration the speaker ought to have some specific point, to which, as to the goal of his career, all his discourse should be directed. In legislative or deliberative assemblies this is now usually called the question. In the courts of common law it is known as the issue. In polemical writings it is some- times called the point. In demonstrative discourses it is dilated into the general name of the subject j and in the pulpit the proper state is always contained in the preach- er's text. It therefore belongs to every class of public speaking, and is not confined to judicial or deliberative oratory, where alone you would, at first blush, suppose the term controversy could properly be applied. It is, indeed, probable that it first originated in judicial con- tests, where it always remained of most frequent use. To
42 On the Invention of Thought.
the other classes it was transferred by analogy. Whoever speaks in public must have something to prove or to illustrate. Whatever the occasion or the subject may be, the purpose of the orator must be to convince or to move. Every speech is thus supposed to be founded upon some controversy, actual or implied. Conviction is the great purpose of eloquence, and this necessarily presupposes some resistance of feeling or of intellect upon which conviction is to operate."
47. "I told you that the state of the controversy was one of the most important points of consideration in the whole science of rhetoric. As I have explained it to you in its broadest acceptation, it is to the orator what the polar star is to the mariner. It is the end to which every word he utters ought directly or indirectly to be aimed ; and the whole art of speech consists in the per- fect understanding of this end, and the just adaptation of means to effect its accomplishment. This may, per- haps, appear to you to be so obvious and so trivial a truth as to require no illustration. And yet you will find throughout your lives, in the courts of law, in the legisla- ture, in the pulpit, nothing is so common as to see it forgotten. Our laws have found it necessary to provide that in town-meetings nothing shall be done by the in- habitants unless the subject or state of the controversy has been inserted in the warrant that calls them together. In all our legislative bodies rules of order are established for the purpose of confining the speakers to the subjects before them ; and certain forms even of phraseology are adopted, into which every question must be reduced. Yet even this is not sufficient to restrain the wandering propensities of debate. . . ."
" The difficulties of ascertaining the true state are, in- deed, in all practical oratory, much greater than a slight
A General View of the Intended Speech. 43
consideration would imagine. They arise principally from three sources, which, in the language of the science, are called co-ordinate, subordinate, and contingent states.
48. " 1. Cagrdinajff-stateB occur when there are more questions than one, which, separately taken and indepen- dent of all the rest, involve all the merits of the case. Such are the several charges of Cicero against Verres. Such are the impeachments of modern times, both in England and in our own country. Every article contains a co-ordinate state with all the rest ; and they may be met with distinct and separate answers to each charge or by one general answer to all.
49. "2. Subordinate states are questions distinct from the principal poirit7"controvertible in themselves and more or less important to its decision. .... In deliberative elo- quence you will find a remarkable instance of subordinate states, skilfully adapted to the main state, in Burke's speech on his proposal for conciliation between Great Britain and her then American colonies. His main state was the necessity of the conciliation. Why ? Because America could not be subdued by force. This is a sub- ordinate state. But the proof of his main position depend- ed entirely upon its demonstration ; and it was a truth so unwelcome to his audience that it was incumbent upon him to place every part of his argument beyond the power of cavil. The depth and extent of research, the adaman- tine logic, and the splendor of oratory with which he per- forms this task has, in my own opinion, no parallel in the records of modern deliberative eloquence. It was for wise and beneficent purposes that Providence suffered this ad- mirable speech to fail of conviction upon the sordid and venal souls to whom it was delivered. As a piece of elo- quence it has never been appreciated at half its value." (See the analysis of the oration below, Number 147.)
44 On the Invention of Thought.
50. "3. Incidental, states are questions arising occasion- ally, and more or less connected with the main question without being essential to it. They are common to every species of oratory, though of rarer use in the desk, where they generally partake of the nature of digressions. But in legislative assemblies every proposition for an amendment offered on a bill upon its passage, and at the bar every oc- casional motion for the postponement of a trial, the admis- sion of a witness, the disqualification of a juror, or the like, introduces an incidental question having some relation to the main state of the controversy. . . "
51. We shall conclude these extracts with this judicious remark of the same lecturer. Speaking of the state of the question, he says : " But it is also of high importance to the hearer of every public speaker. For although some of you may never intend to follow the practice of public speaking, yet you will all occasionally be hearers ; and, with your ad- vantages of education, all will be expected to be judges of the public orators. You have been justly told that there is an art of silent reading : the art of collecting the kernel from the shell, of selecting the wheat from the tares. Let me add — for it is only another modification of the same truth — that there is an art of hearing. And one of the most elaborate exercises is to ascertain the state of the public speaker's discourse."
52. Examples. We think it useful to exemplify such ex- ercises by applying the explanations of this chapter to some of the most renowned orations of the greatest orators. We shall begin with the Philippics of Demosthenes. Philip, King of Macedon, whom the Athenians at first despised as a barbarian upstart, had acquired considerable power. Partly by skilful intrigue, partly by energetic war-measures, he was constantly extending his dominions and baffling all the efforts of the Athenians to stop his progress through
A General View of the Intended Speech. 4 5
Thessaly into Greece, which was weakened by intestine dissensions. In Athens itself there was a party of poli- ticians who favored his ambition. Demosthenes had made it the constant aim of his public life to defeat the crafty foe and his secret partisans. In several of his speeches, but especially in his three Philippics, the relations of Athens with Philip were the subject under consideration ; the ques- tion, which Adams would call the state of the controversy, was, whether they should adopt certain vigorous war mea- sures to oppose him ; but the state of the question, or what Adams would call the "subordinate state," was not always the same. In the first speech it is whether there is any use in adopting vigorous measures, or, in other words, whether there is any hope of success remaining. In the second and third Philippics the state of the question is, whether Philip is truly an enemy, as the orator maintains he is. " The sub- ject of this speech is simple," says Libanius, referring to the third oration ; " for while Philip spoke words of peace, but did many deeds of war, the orator advises the Atheni- ans to arise and punish the king, since a great danger threatened themselves as well as all the Greeks in com- mon." The end intended in each of the Philippics was to arouse his countrymen to adopt energetic measures. De- mosthenes did not, with the mass of Athenian orators, study to gratify the ear of a refined and fastidious audience by beautiful sentiments clothed in magnificent language ; but to convince and persuade was his great object, to which all other things were made subservient.
53. We shall next examine the speech of Cicero for Milo. Milo, a candidate for the consulship in Rome, and a leader of the conservative party, while on an official journey, ac- companied by his wife and a numerous suite of retainers, had been met by his enemy, Clodius, a violent leader of the radical party, who was attended by a numerous body of
46 On the Invention of Thought.
armed slaves. A quarrel arose and Clodius was slain. How far Milo contributed to this result we do not exactly know ; Asconius gives us one account of it and Cicero an- other. Cicero, who had formerly been driven from Rome by this same Clodius, undertook the defence. His speech on that occasion, as retouched afterwards and published by himself, is one of the most skilful specimens of pleading in existence. The matter, or subject, was the murder of Clo- dius. The question was not whether Milo killed Clodius, but whether he — or rather his slaves acting without his orders — killed the aggressor justly, /.<?.,— in -self-defence. The state of the question, on which Cicero artfully makes the whole question turn, is this : Which of the two waylaid the other ? He presents the accusers as having argued that the murder had evidently been preconcerted, and that Milo had planned it. Cicero fights them on their own ground : supposing the murder had been preconcerted, he clearly shows that Milo could not have planned it ; therefore that Clodius must have waylaid his enemy, and Milo's party have acted in self-defence.
54. Lastly, we shall review one of the best speeches of Daniel Webster. As we shall often have occasion to speak of this great orator, it may not be amiss to quote Orestes A. Brownson's opinion of Webster's Works :
" We shall look in vain," says he {Review, July, 1852, p. 366), " in the whole range of American literature for works that can rival these six volumes before us. In gene- ral the end is just and noble, and, with few exceptions that we could reasonably expect, the doctrines set forth are sound and important. No man has written among us who has given utterance to sounder maxims on politics and law, and no one has done more to elevate political and legal topics to the dignity of science, to embellish them with the charms of a rich and chaste imagination, and to enrich
A General View of the Intended Speech. 47
them with the wealth accumulated from the successful cultivation of the classics of ancient and modern times. The author has received from nature a mind of the highest order, and he has cultivated it with care and success. We see in every page, every sentence of his writings vast intel- lectual power, quick sensibility, deep and tender affection, and a rich and fervid imagination ; but we see also the hard student, the traces of long and painful discipline un- der the tutelage of the most eminent ancient and modern masters. Nature has been bountiful, but art has added its full share in making the author what he is ; and the combi- nation of the two has enabled him to produce works which in their line are certainly unrivalled in this country, and we know not where to look for anything in our language of the kind really superior to him. As an orator Mr. Webster has all the terseness of Demosthenes, the grace and fulness of Cicero, the fire and energy of Chatham, and a dignity and repose peculiarly his own."
55. The circumstances which led to Webster's Speech in the Trial of J. F. Knapp were as follows : A peaceful old man, Mr. White, had been brutally murdered in his bed at night. Four men were suspected of complicity in this foul deed and were arrested. One, probably the ac- tual murderer, committed suicide ; another, by name J. F. Knapp, was accused as a principal in the murder. Mr. Webster was employed as attorney for the prosecution. He proves, in the first part of his masterly oration, that the murder was the result of a conspiracy, to which the culprit was a party. Next he shows that the same culprit ren- dered actual aid to the murderer, or at least was on hand with the purpose of doing so ; this would make him a prin- cipal, in the language of the law. The subject is the murder of Mr. White ; the question, whether Knapp was a principal to it, Webster makes the question hinge on this precise
48 On the Invention of Thought.
point, Whether Knapp was in Brown Street by appointment with the murderer for the purpose of aiding in the murder. The defence had argued that Brown Street was not a good place whence to render aid. Webster argues that it need not be ; it is enough that Knapp was there by appointment with the perpetrator, which supposed fact he endeavors to prove by a most skilful sifting of the circumstantial evi- dence. And the argument is all the more remarkable for its cogency if, as Mr. E. C. Whipple asserts in his late edition of Webster's great speeches, " Knapp was not in Brown Street for that precise purpose which the orator ascribes to him."
CHAPTER II.
SOURCES OF THOUGHTS.
56. When a clear and distinct conception has been formed of the subject on which we are to discourse, and of the precise question to be answered about it ; and when we have determined what point we should select for the state of the question, we can. next proceed to find an abun- dant supply of thoughts on the subject. This will enable us to deal with it so thoroughly, lucidly, and even ele- gantly as to attain the end for which we speak.
Now, a thought which is intended to convince the hearers is called an argument — a word which Webster's Dictionary correctly defines as " a proof or means of proving ; a reason offered in proof to induce belief or convince the mind." However, the word argument has been used by many rhetoricians in a wider sense, and some call an oratorical argument any thoicgh± that suits the orator s purpose, whe- ther it be intended to convince, to please, or to persuade. We are now to consider the sources whence arguments can be derived.
57. These sources are called Topics by the Greeks, Com- mon-Places {Loci Communes'), or Seats of Arguments (Sedes Argumentorum) by the Latins — all figurative expressions, as if the arguments were to be found in certain localities by any one who would know how to look for them. This is exactly the way in which Cicejo-views this matter when he endeavors to show us the importance of such Topics, re- minding us at the same time that it requires a careful
49
50 On the Invention of Thought.
search to discover the arguments which they contain. " If I wished to point out a mass of gold," he says, " that is buried in several places, it would be enough if I should describe the signs and marks of the places where it lies, for then the person to whom I described it might find and dig it up with ease and certainty ; thus, after I have made myself master of these marks which indicate where argu- ments are to be found, I say that all the rest is to be ac- complished by careful searching. For when these sources are impressed upon the mind and upon the reasoning facul- ties, and arranged so as to serve upon all occasions, nothing then can escape the orator, not only in his contests at the bar, but in every kind of public speaking " {De Or. ii. 41).
58. The invention-of these -TopicsJs ascribed to Gorgias, the sophist, which fact is perhaps no great commendation ; but no logical mind will thence conclude that they are mere sophistry. " If it be true," remarks J. Q. Adams, " as by the concurrent testimony of all the ancient rhetoricians we are assured, that Gorgias was the inventor of what are called topics, or common-places, of oratorical numbers, and of a general plan for extemporaneous declamation upon every subject, he must be considered as one of the princi- pal improvers of eloquence. These things are peculiarly liable to be abused ; but they have been of important use to all the celebrated ancient orators, and to none more than to Plato himself" (Lect. iii.)
59. The Topics may be thus defined: Certain leading considerations which can be applied to any subject for the pur- pose of studying it in itself and in all its relations to other things, so as to acquire a clear and full knowledge of the mat- ter under consideration.
60. They may be variously distinguished : some regard /things, others persons, and some the motives of peiseBs^
Sources of Thoughts. 51
The last are called Moral Tojbics. Those regarding things are usually divided into two classes, now commonly called tog>»> anH Extrjjisic. The Intrinsic Topics are found in the matter itself which is treated of ; the Extrinsic exist out- side of it and independent of it. Aristotle called the former Artificial, because it requires art to find the arguments by means of them and bring them out of the nature of the sub- ject ; the latter he called Inartificial, because the arguments furnished by them are not to be skilfully made up by the orator, but exist already — such are deeds, written docu- ments, witnesses, authorities, oaths, etc. {De Orat. ii. 27).
CHAPTER III.
INTRINSIC TOPICS.
61. If any one be inclined to find fault with us for intro- ducing here a number of classifications, distinctions, and technical terms, we can only plead in our own defence that the same is done and must be done wherever accurate knowledge is aimed at, in rhetoric as well as in philosophy, in physics, and chemistry, or in the study of law and medi- cine.
We are studying how to dissect a subject and examine all its parts. In this portion of our task we shall mostly follow in the footsteps of the distinguished modern philoso- pher and rhetorician, Rev. Joseph Kleutgen, S.J., who has treated this matter with equal brevity and clearness,
62. Examining with him, 1st, the Nature of the subject, we find in it these four topics, Definition, Enumeration, Genus, and Species j 2d, the Name of the subject, we find Notation and Conjugates ; 3d, its Relations to other things, we have Cause and Effect, Antecedents and Consequences, and Circumstances ; 4th, its Comparison with other things, we meet with Contrariety, Likeness, and Likelihood. More topics might be mentioned, but these are the principal of the intrinsic kind. On each of these we shall speak with some detail.
Article I. Definition.
63. The ajesfigitfesi states in clear and exact language what is meant by the subject under consideration. This is
Intrinsic Topics, 53
one of the most important topics. Many speeches are vague and ineffectual because the speaker has taken no pains to define his subject clearly to his own mind and to the minds of his audience. Often a debate or a case before a court of justice is gained by a clear definition.
64. As an example of this we may adduce the masterly plea of Erskine in behalf of Lord Gordon. " Lord George Gordon," says C. A. Goodrich {British Eloquence), "a member of the House of Commons, was a young Scottish nobleman of weak intellect and enthusiastic feelings. He had been chosen president of the Protestant Association, whose object was to procure the repeal of Sir George Sa- ville's bill in favor of the Catholics. In this capacity he directed the association to meet him in St. George's Fields, and to proceed thence to the Parliament House with a peti- tion for the repeal of the bill. Accordingly about forty thousand persons of the middle classes assembled on Fri- day, the 2d of June, 1780, and, after forming a procession, moved forward till they blocked up all the avenues to the House of Commons.
" Lord Gordon presented the petition, but the House re- fused to consider it at that time by a vote of 192 to 6. The multitude now became disorderly, and, after the House adjourned, bodies of men proceeded to demolish the Ca- tholic chapels at the residences of the foreign ministers. From this moment the whole affair changed its character. Desperate men, many of them thieves and robbers, took the lead. Not only were Catholic chapels set on fire, but the London prisons were broken open and destroyed ; the town was for some days completely in the power of the multitude.
" When order was at last restored the magistrates, as is common with those who have neglected their duty, endea- vored to throw the blame on others — they resolved to make
54 On the Invention of Thought.
Lord George Gordon the scape-goat. He was accordingly- arraigned for high treason ; and such was the excitement of the public mind, such the eagerness to have some one pun- ished, that he was in imminent danger of being made the victim of public resentment." Kenyon, his senior counsel, had failed in his defence.
65. Erskine, then a young man, saved him by laying down a clear and correct definition of High Treason, which was the indictment against him. He proved that the crime of high treason, in the only meaning in which it could apply to the case, supposed premeditated open acts of vio- lence, hostility, and force; and he was able to show from copious testimonies that such premeditated open acts were totally foreign to the mind of his client. The whole speech is worthy of careful study. Lord Campbell is enthusiastic in its praise. "Here I find," he says, "not only great acute- ness, powerful reasoning, enthusiastic zeal, and burning eloquence, but the most masterly view ever given of the English law of high treason, the foundation of all our liberties."
66. A speaker should strive to find or make up such defi- nitions as even his adversaries cannot refuse to accept. A lawyer will properly draw his definitions from Blackstone, Kent, etc. For ordinary purposes our great lexicographers, Webster and Worcester, are usually good authorities. It may not be amiss, however, to remark that abstract philo- sophical terms, and in general all words relating to matters about which the English mind is less solicitous, are often very imperfectly defined in these works. There is, perhaps, no class of terms with regard to which this defect is more striking than such as are connected with the Catholic re- ligion, its rites and ceremonies. (See an article on this subject in the American Catholic Review for April, 1880.) For such matters the Catholic Dictionary of Addis and
Intrinsic Topics. 55
Arnold may be relied on as furnishing correct defini- tions.
67. When the orator prepares his own definition he may do so philosophically or oratorically. A philosophical definition gives the genus, or class, to which the subject be- longs, and, along with the genus, it states the specific differ- ence— i.e., the peculiar property or properties by which this subject is distinguished from the other species of the same genus. For instance, " Painting is the fine art which ex- presses the beautiful by means of colors ; music is the fine art which expresses the beautiful by means of sound." The genus is "fine art" — i.e., an art intended to express the beautiful. One fine art differs from another in the method of expressing the beautiful : painting expresses it by means of color, music by means of sound ; color and sound, then, are the specific difference.
68. The oratprical-4efinition aims more at effect than at strictness of meaning or exactness of expression. The Grammar of Eloquence presents the teachings of rhetori- cians on this subject as follows : An oratorical definition or description is made in six ways:
1. By enumerating the parts of which it is composed, as, \Oratory is an art which consists of invention, arrange-
-meiit, style, and delivery."
2TBy effects; as when sin is defined "the pest of the
soul, the stain of conscience, the destroyer of spiritual life, the dishonor of human nature, the ruin of the world."
3. By affirmation. St. John • Chrysostom thus defined the Cross of Christ: "The Cross of Christ is the way to the wandering, the guide to heaven, the hope of those who suffer injury, the bridle of the rich, the army which op- poses the proud, the death of a voluptuous life, a rudder to the seafaring, a haven to the shipwrecked, an asylum to all the world."
Vc
56 On the Invention of Thought.
4. By negation. Such a definition declares what a thing is not, that we may the better know what it is. Af- firmation and negation are sometimes united. Thus Cjceitj"'
/describes Verres : " We have brought before your tribunal, not a thief, but a robber ; not a sacrilegious wretch, but an open enemy to all that is sacred and religious ; not an
' assassin, but the most cruel butcher of our citizens and our allies.''
5. By adjjoncts_prjcircumstances. Of this we can ad- duce no finer example than that quoted by J. Q. Adams (Lect. ix.) He says: " Thus, in the funeral oration of Turenne by Flechier, the orator, to display with greater force the combination of talents required for commanding an army, resorts to an oratorical definition. ' What,' says he — ' what is an army ? An army is a body agitated by an infinite variety of passions, directed by an able man to the defence of his country. It is a multitude of armed men blindly obedient to the orders of a commander and totally ignorant of his designs ; an assembly of base and merce- nary souls for the most part, toiling for the fame of kings and conquerors, regardless of their own ; a motley mass of libertines to keep in order, of cowards to lead into battle, of profligates to restrain, of mutineers to control.' "
6. By comparisons and metaphors. Plutarch defines beauty thus: "A bland enemy, a pleasant ravisher, a de- ceitful torturer, a snare to our feet, a veil to our eyes. '
Article II. Enumeration.
69. This topic furnishes an abundance of striking, and often most appropriate, arguments. Enumeration examines separately and in detail, or passes rapidly in review, the various parts of a subject. " The letters of Junius," says J. Q_. Adams, " ranking in the very first line of elo-
Intrinsic Topics. 5 7
quence, but far lower in moral and political wisdom, make frequent use of enumeration. His first letter, for instance, contains an enumeration of the high offices of state which composed the administration, with a commen- tary to prove that they were all held by weak and worth- less men. In his address to the king he asks him on what part of his subjects he could rely for support if the people of England should revolt ; and then answers by enumerat- ing all the other classes of people then composing the British Empire, and proving that he could depend upon none of them" (Lect. ix.) A similar example is found in the peroration of Edmund 'Burke's opening speech at the trial of Warren Hastings.
70. Enumeration is well suited to open up vast fields of thought on many subjects. Thus Rev. Thomas N. Burke, O.P., enters on his lecture entitled " The Catholic Church the Salvation of Society " with a happy enumeration, say- ing : " We may analyze society, as I intend to view it, from an intellectual standpoint. Then we shall see the society of learning, the society of art and literature. Or we may view it from a moral standpoint. . . . What has this so- ciety produced intellectually, morally, and politically ? "
71. As the parts of a whole subject may be separately considered, so may lesser divisions be more rapidly enu- merated with happy, and often with brilliant, effect. We find mental greatness thus presented : " These sights are grand, whether we behold them in the philosopher, fathom- ing the depths of mind ; in the geologist, quarrying out science from the rock and the fossil ; or in the chemist, deducing the laws of life and death from the crucible and laboratory — whether we see them in the artist, busied in the magnificent creations of the chisel and the pencil ; or in the poet, entering into the treasure-house of imagina- tion and stringing those rosaries of thought, the jewelled
58 On the Invention of Thought.
epic and the sparkling song ; or in the astronomer, soaring to the planets, measuring their paths, weighing their mass, and calling them by their names. But, after all, what is it ? A few systems, a few poems, a few discoveries, the writing of a few names in rubies — and that is all of men- tal greatness " (Dr. Stephens). In a similarly glowing style Cicero, on the Manilian Law, advocating the appointment of Pompey to direct the war against Mithridates, enume- rates the countries over which Pompey had already passed in his rapid conquests.
Article III. Genus and Species.
72. In rhetoric a general proposition is called a thesis, as, " Poets deserve praise " ; a particular proposition is called a hypothesis, as, " Virgil is an excellent poet." Now, it often happens that a speaker, while treating a the- sis, will find it useful to dwell for a while on some special hypothesis, usually in illustration of his thesis. He is then said to draw an argument from the topic of Species. For instance, in Thomson's " Seasons " the poet, describing the effects of heat in the torrid zone, refers thus to the particu- lar pestilence which destroyed the English fleet at Cartha- gena under Admiral Vernon :
" You, gallant Vernon, saw The miserable scene ; you pitying saw To infant weakness sunk the warrior's arm Saw the deep-racking pang, the ghastly form, The lip pale quivering, and the beamless eye No more with ardor bright. You heard the groans Of agonizing ships from shore to shore ; Heard nightly plunged, amid the sullen waves, The frequent corse," etc.
Thus, too, Lord Brougham, in his inaugural discourse,
Intrinsic Topics. 59
turns from his general theme, which is the praise of elo- quence, to extol the merit of Demosthenes, Cicero, etc.
73. On the other hand, when dealing with a hypothesis the orator may speak of the whole class or genus to which his subject belongs. He then draws an argument from the topic of Genus. " These, topics are often employed," says J. Q. Adams, " in argumentative oratory, and the speaker's talent is discerned in the art with which he descends from a general to a special proposition, or ascends from the spe- cial to the general."
74. The most familiar example of the topic of jjenus is that passage of Cicero's oration for the poet Archias in which he ascends from the praise of his client to the praise, of poets and poetry in general, rightly judging that what- ever honors poets in general honors Archias in particular; For, even in the strictest reasoning, whatever can be predi^ cated of a whole class can be predicated of each species and individual of that class.
75. But the reverse of this does not hold : it is a fallacy to reason from a portion or an individual to a whole class. Scientists are guilty of this sophistry when upon some par- ticular observations they build up a general theory and call it a scientific conclusion. For instance, Sir Charles Lyell, calculating the annual increase of the alluvium at the Delta of the Nile, allows thirty thousand years for the formation of the deposit. But Lyell, to justify his calcu- lation, should prove that in former times the deposit was not more rapidly formed than at present. His fallacy con- sists in deducing from the rate of deposit at one time the same rate of deposit at all times. This is fallacious rea- soning.
In further illustration of this fallacy we may, with J. Q. Adams, quote an epigram of Prior ;
60 On the Invention </f Thought.
11 Yes, every poet is a fool —
By demonstration Ned can show it ; Happy could Ned's inverted rule Prove every fool to be a poet."
76. In his oration in Knapp's trial Webster has two beau- tiful passages drawn from the topic of Genus : one when he develops the general thesis, "Murder will out" {Web- ster's Works, vol. vi. pp. 53, 54), and immediately after it when he observes, " Such is human nature that some per- sons lose their abhorrence of crime in their admiration of its magnificent exhibition" (ib. 54, 55) — a passage on which they would do well to meditate who are so fond of adorn- ing the narrative of crime with the richest charms of lan- guage in sensational novels and periodical literature.
77. When the topic of Genus is well managed it always produces a happy effect ; it makes us rise above our subject, as when Webster at Bunker Hill rises from the laying of a corner-stone to a consideration of the mighty changes that had come over the world within the last fifty years {Amer. Oratory, ii. r. 444)- So likewise Edward Everett, speaking at Cambridge on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of our Independence, rises above his subject to consider the nature of all good government (ib. p. 467).
78. Still this topic is to be used with much caution., for it departs from the exact subject to dwell on something more general ; and a speaker who has frequent recourse to it would deal with generalities and fail to produce any definite effect on his audience.
Such generalities as speakers frequently drift into, for want of an intimate acquaintance with their subject, are also called Common-places. They are very objectionable ; and the odium of this particular meaning of the term has often been attached in English literature to the general common-places or topics which we are now explaining.
Intrinsic Topics. 6 1
79. That abuses may be avoided, observe these cautions : 1 st. Never insist long on a genus, unless it be a matter rarely treated.
2d. Never refer a trifle to an important genus ; this fault the poet ridicules, saying :
" Non de vi, neque caede, nee veneno ; Sed lis est mihi de tribus capellis."
— Martial.
" Talk not of arson, rape, nor murder dire ; Give me my kids — 'tis all that I desire."
80. The ancient rhetorician Apthonius mentions this topic of genus as one of the school exercises, or Progym- nasmata, usually given to boys for composition — e.g., the praise of patriots, of orators, of soldiers, etc. It is an easy exercise, and readily lends itself to a declamatory style giving more sound than sense. But when this defect occurs, it is not owing to the topic itself, but to the mis- management of the writer.
81. Lastly, it must be remarked that the meaning of the word hypothesis, explained in this article, is not to be con- founded with another meaning of the same term, equiva- lent to supposition — i.e., something not proved, nor even asserted, but merely assumed for the sake of argument. Adams takes the word in this latter meaning when he says (Lect. ix.) : " The hypothesis of an orator bears the same proportion to his thesis that traverse bears to plain sailing in navigation. It is not included under the topics, but in- cludes them all under a different modification. Hypo- thesis is the potential or subjunctive mood of rhetoric, frequently used in every kind of public discourse. It is peculiarly calculated to excite attention and rivet the im- pression of the topics employed under it. Read, for in- stance, Junius' address which I have already quoted, and
62 On the Invention of Thought.
commonly called his Letter to the King. It is, however, in form a hypothetical speech to the king, introduced in a letter to the printer ; and a considerable part of its force is owing to the hypothesis upon which it is raised. Hypo- thesis is a favorite artifice with all orators of a brilliant imagination. It gives a license of excursions of fancy which cannot be allowed to the speaker while chained to the diminutive sphere of relatives. In deliberative and ju- dicial orations it affords an opportunity to say hypothet- ically what the speaker would not dare to say directly. The artifice is, indeed, so often practised to evade all re- straint in speech that there is at least no ingenuity in its employment. The purposes for which it is resorted to from this motive are often so disingenuous that in seeing it used and abused, as you will upon numberless occasions through- out your lives, you will probably go a step beyond the con- clusion of the philosophical clown in Shakspere and settle in the opinion that there is much vice as well as much vir- tue in If."
Article IV. Notation and Conjugates.
82. Notation draws an argument from the name of the subject, Conjugates from kindred words ; both may be called the topic of Etymology. This topic is not a very copious source of arguments, but when it is applicable it may yield a clear proof. For there is often much virtue in a name. For instance, in a debate " whether Louis XIV. or Charlemagne was the greater man," the very name of the latter, which means Charles the Great, shows that posterity has recognized his uncommon greatness, whereas the efforts of many French writers to attach the same epithet to the name of Louis XIV. have not been generally approved.
83. The virtue that lies in a name arises either from the.
Intrinsic Topics. 63
fact that the name expresses the nature of the subject (e.g., Lutheranism, Calvinism, Protestantism, Church of Eng- land, etc.), or from the fact that the name has been imposed by Almighty God (as Peter, John, etc.) or by general con- sent (as Alexander the Great, Washington the Father of his Country, etc.)
There is a specimen of this topic in the speech of Web- ster " On the Tariff," where he argues thus : " Allow me, sir, in the first place, to state my regret, if, indeed, I ought not to express warmer sentiments, at the names or de- signations which Mr. Speaker has seen fit to adopt for the purpose of describing the advocates or the opposers of the present bill. It is a question, he says, between the friends of an ' American policy ' and those of a ' foreign policy.' This, sir, is an assumption which I take the liberty most directly to deny," etc. The entire passage is well worth studying ; the retorting of the argument is masterly.
For a second example see Bayard's speech on the Ju- diciary, where the orator comments on the words, " The judge holds his office from the President " (American Eloquence, ii. p. 71). Another striking example is found in Father Burke's lecture on Catholic Education (vol. i. p. 363) : " Do they know how to educate ? " etc.
Article V. Causes and Effects.
84. There is scarcely a subject on which the topics of Cause and Effect will not be found suggestive of good ar- guments. The Grammar of Eloquence explains them thus : Cause is that which produces an effect, or that by whose ~p~ower and influence something exists or happens. A cause may be efficient, as fire is the efficient cause of heat ; or material, as a piece of marble is the material cause of a
64 On the Invention of Thought.
statue ; or instrumental, as a sword is the instrumental cause of death inflicted with it ; or formal, as a soul is the formal cause of man's being what he is, as distinguished from all other animals ; or final, as victory, or peace, or territory may be the final cause of war, or the cause of engaging in war.
85. The following example will illustrate all these causes combined : a statue of Washington owes its existence to the artist as the efficient cause ; to his tools as the instrumen- tal ; to the marble, say, as the material ; to the figure of the hero as the formal ; and to the decoration of a hall as the final cause.
86. The way of reasoning from cgjises is :
First, to infer effects from them : He is sowing the whirl- wind : he will reap the storm.
Cicero uses the final cause thus : " If we consider what excellence and dignity belong to human nature, we shall understand how disgraceful is a life of softness and effem- inacy, and how honorable is a frugal, continent, austere, and sober deportment."
Secondly, by denying the causes, to deny the effects ; as, Milo could gain no advantage by attacking Clodius ; there- fore he cannot be supposed to have done it.
Thirdly, by proving the possibility of effects from the power of causes to produce them ; as, Miracles are not impossible to-day, for God's arm is not shortened.
87. Eflect is that which results from a cause, and there- fore the cause is proved by it ; as, There is much order in the world, therefore much wisdom in its Maker. Effects are as numerous and as various as the causes which pro- duce them. Cicero, in his plea for Archias, eulogizes the effects of literature thus : " Other things do not belong to all times, nor to all ages, nor to all places. But studies are the nourishment of youth, the delight of old age ; they adorn
Intrinsic Topics. 65
prosperity, while in adversity they afford a refuge and a consolation ; they delight us at home, they are no burden abroad ; they remain with us by night, on our travels and in the retirement of our villas." In his book De Sen- ectute this eminent writer makes the following admirable observations on the effects of voluptuousness : " Listen, my excellent young friends, to an old speech of the distin- guished Archytas of Tarentum, which was communicated to me when, in my youth, I was staying at Tarentum with Quintus Maximus. He used to say that nature had in- flicted no worse plague on men than the desire of bodily pleasure, because the passions, greedy of this pleasure, were prone to pursue it rashly and with unbridled license. Hence, he said, arose treason, and revolutions, and secret dealings with the enemies of our country ; there was no crime, no great outrage, to the commission of which the love of voluptuous pleasure did not impel. He maintained that adulteries and all such wickedness were brought on by no other enticements than sensuality ; and that while nature or a god had given to men nothing more precious than reason, nothing was more hostile to this divine gift and blessing than the love of pleasure. For where passion reigns there is no room whatever for self-command, nor can virtue exist in the realms of voluptuousness. . . . Therefore nothing was so detestable, so destructive as bodily pleasure."
88. All oratory is full of examples of these topics. The more philosophic the mind, the more it is inclined to seek the causes of all things. Ordinary people trouble themselves little about causes, but they can understand effects ; and few things move an audience more than a clear and forcible statement of the effects which a pro- posed measure is apt to produce. Edmund Burke is always asking, " Why ? whence ? by what means ? for what
66 On the Invention of Thought.
md? with what results? etc." We have a fine specimen of these two topics in a speech of J. C. Calhoun ( Works, vol. iv. p. 450) congratulating France after her Revolution. Why should we congratulate her so soon ? he asks ; she has only pulled down, but what has she built up ? — i.e., he finds no cause for congratulation. Next he examines the effects which such congratulation would produce on other nations. Lord Chatham, in his speech Against Search- Warrants for Seamen, vividly traces the bad effects which such a measure would produce {Brit. Eloq., p. 79). The entire speech is drawn from the topics explained in the present article.
Article VI. Circumstances.
V
89. The topic of Circumstances is another copious source of arguments. Circumstances- are such things as do not necessarily belong to a subject, but happen to attend it on the present occasion ; they may be summed up in the following verse :
Quis ? quid? ubi? per quos ? quoties ? cur? quomodo ? quando ? " Who? where? by whom? how? when? how oft? and why?"
If these be applied — to take an example from sacred ora- tory—to the scene of the Redeemer dying on Calvary, it will appear at once how many appropriate thoughts may be suggested by the topic of circumstances.
90. Four kinds of circumstances are most suggestive of arguments — viz., those of persons, things, places, and times.
1. The persons may be chief agents, accomplices, wit- nesses : we may consider their race, nation, country, sex, age, etc., as will be explained more fully when we come to consider the Topics of Persons (chapter v.)
2. The things may precede, accompany, or follow the event.
Intrinsic Topics. 67
^ 3 and 4. Of the topics of place and time Cicero gives us a good example in his speech for Milo: " Let us now consider which of the two nobles was more favored by the place where they met." " Approach to the city by night should have been avoided rather than sought by Clodius."
Lawyers have constantly to deal with circumstantjai.evi-' dence : for them the sifting of all the circumstances is one of the chief means of success in the defence or in the pro- secution of the culprit.
91. A masterpiece of this study of circumstances is found in the oration of Cicero for Milo. Cicero is trying to prove that Milo could not have waylaid Clodius. It is interesting to observe how clearly and skilfully he pro- ceeds. He shows us Milo starting out, and makes us ac- company him and study all his movements before, during, and after the affray in which Clodius perished. Every circumstance appears to proclaim the innocence of Milo and the guilt of Clodius. The speech of Webster in Knapp's trial displays a similar power in sifting circum- stantial evidence.
92. But it is not only at the bar that circumstances should be carefully studied ; the following extract from Grattan's speech on Moving a Declaration of Irish Rights shows us the efficiency of this topic in another field of elo- quence: " England now smarts under the lesson of the American war. The doctrine of an imperial legislature she feels to be pernicious ; the revenues and monopolies attach- ed to it she found to be untenable. Her enemies are a host pouring upon her from all quarters of the earth ; her armies are dispersed ; the sea is not hers ; she has no min- ister, no ally, no admiral, none in whom she long confides, and no general whom she has not disgraced. The bal- ance of her fate is in the hands of Ireland. You are not
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only her last connection; you are the only nation in Eu- rope that is not her enemy. Besides, there does of late a certain dampness and supineness overcast her arms and councils, miraculous as that vigor which has lately inspired yours. With you everything is the reverse. Never was there a parliament so possessed of the confidence of the people, etc." {Brit. Eloq., p. 387).
Article VII. Antecedents and Consequents.
93. We mean by Antecedents such things as ordinarily and naturally precede an event, and by Consejyiejices, or Consequents, such as are apt to follow. Thus a man's for- mer conduct is called his antecedents, and it furnishes a means to form conjectures regarding his future conduct. For though it does not follow that a person who has once stolen will steal again, still there is a presumption that he may do so. Thus Cicero shows from the violent character of Clodius, on the one side, that he was likely to be the aggressor, and from the usually pacific conduct of Milo, on the other, that the latter did not plan the assault. As to consequents, he proves from the calm behavior of Milo after the affray that he was not conscious of any crime. Thus, too, Demosthenes is ever interpreting the actions of Philip by his antecedents.
94. Politicians bring up the antecedents of rival candi- dates and of rival parties. Henry Clay, in his " Speech' on the New Army Bill," refutes an opponent by an argu- ment drawn from his antecedents in the following words (Amer. Eloq., ii. p. 266) : " But I beg the gentleman's pardon ; he has indeed secured to himself a more imper- ishable fame than I had supposed. I think it was about four years ago that he submitted to the House of Repre- sentatives an initiative proposition for the impeachment of Mr. Jefferson. The House condescended to consider
Intrinsic Topics. 69
it. The gentleman debated it with his usual temper, moderation, and urbanity. The House decided upon it in the most solemn manner ; and although the gentleman had somehow obtained a second, the final vote stood one for, and one hundred and seventeen against, the proposi- tion," etc.
95. Remark that Antecedents and Consequences con- sidered as proofs lie, as it were, in a middle region be- tween causes and effects on the one hand, and circum- stances on the other. For there is a necessary connection between causes and effects, and a merely accidental con- nection between an event and its circumstances ; but there is a natural connection between a man's present conduct and his antecedents, and between a fact and its consequences.
96. In English, Consequents and Consequences are two words often used as mere synonyms of the word effects j they are not so used on the present occasion, unless effect be taken in a looser and wider sense than philosophers assign to that term. True, it matters little by what name you call the topic, provided it furnishes good arguments. But it is very important that a thing should not be con- sidered as an effect or a consequence when it follows an- other only accidentally ; and still this fallacy of JVon causa pro causa, as philosophers call it, is not uncommon. We may mention as an example in- point the insinuation of the infidel historian Gibbon, that the decline of the Roman Empire was owing to the spread of Christianity.
Article VIII. Contraries.
97. The topic of Cojitwcties consists in making a thing more clear and striking by presenting it by the side of another thing entirely different or opposite. A scene of horror is made more impressive by contrasting it with
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a scene of peace and happiness, as black seems darker by the side of white. Thus Cardinal Manning {Miscell., p. 178) makes the revival of Catholicity in England more striking by comparing it with the former prostration of the Church there.
Edward Everett, to extol the glory of a volunteer army, contrasts it with a mercenary army : " It was the people in their first capacity of citizens, and as freemen, starting from their beds at midnight, from their firesides and fields, to take their own cause in their own hands. Such a spec- tacle is the height of the moral sublime, when the want of everything is fully made up by the spirit of the cause, and the soul within stands in place of discipline, organization, and resources. In the prodigious effort of a veteran army, beneath the dazzling splendor of their array, there is some- thing revolting to the reflecting mind. The ranks are filled with the desperate, the mercenary, the depraved ; an iron slavery by the name of subordination merges the free will of one hundred thousand men in the unqualified despotism of one. The humanity, mercy, and remorse which scarce desert the individual bosom are sounds with- out a meaning to that fearful, ravenous, irrational mon- ster of prey, a mercenary army," etc. ("On the First Bat- tles of the Revolution ").
98. This topic is variously usedjiu^aaoniag. Sometimes by proving one point we disprove its opposite ; e.g., " Ros- cius loved his father ; therefore he did not wish to kill him " (Cicero).
Or from opposite causes we argue that opposite effects should be expected ; e.g., " If it is characteristic of bar- barians to live for the present hour only, wise men should provide for all the future, even for eternity " (Cicero). " Philip would advise you to disband your army ; there- fore you ought to retain it " (Demosthenes).
Intrinsic Topics. Ji
Article IX. Likeness or Similitude.
99. Likeness or Similitude, also called Resemblance, is the topic which compares like things. Nothing helps more than a well-chosen similitude to make an abstract argument clear to an audience. The following rules must be observed :
1. We should draw our similitudes from objects well known to the audience.
2. From objects that are noble. Some one has sai'd that the distinction between an elegant and a common writer lies in the association of noble thoughts used by the one and of common thoughts by the other. Dean Swift's "Art of Sinking in Poetry " is worth consulting on this matter.
3. We should make the points of resemblance strik- ingly clear.
100. Edward Everett abounds in similitudes ; he thus proves the necessity of education : " Contemplate at this season of the year one of the many magnificent oak-trees of the forest covered with thousands and thousands of acorns. There is not one of these acorns that does not carry within itself the germ of a perfect oak, as lofty and as wide-spread- ing as the parent stock ; which does not enfold the rudi- ments of a tree that would strike its root in the soil, and lift its branches toward the heavens, and brave the storms of a hundred winters. It needs for this but a handful of soil to receive the acorn as it falls, a little moisture to nourish it, and protection from violence till the root is struck. It needs but these, and these it does need, and these it must have ; and for want of them, trifling as they seem, there is not one out of a thousand of those innumerable acorns which is destined to become a tree. Look abroad through the cities, the towns, the villages of our beloved country, and think of what materials their population, in many parts
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already dense and everywhere rapidly growing, is, for the most part, made up. . When an acorn falls upon an
unfavorable spot and decays there we know the extent of the loss — it is that of a tree, like the one from which it fell; but when the intellect of a rational being, for want of cul- ture, is lost to the great ends for which it was created, it is a loss which no one can measure either for time or for eternity." If applied to moral or religious education these thoughts are strikingly true.
101. There is a charming little volume, called The Hap- piness of Heaven, which in numerous passages exemplifies most happily the power and the beauty of the topic similitude. Here is an example : " What is the diamond ? It is nothing more than crystallized carbon or charcoal. There is nothing in the whole range of science which can be so easily and so positively proved as this. The famous diamond Koh-i-noor, or mountain of light, which now sparkles in the British crown, and which is worth more than half a million of dollars, could in a few moments be reduced to a thimbleful of worthless coal-dust ! Yet how great a difference in appearance and value between that precious gem and a thimbleful of coal-dust ! Again, what are other gems, such as the ruby, the sapphire, the topaz, the emerald, and others ? They are nothing more than crystallized clay or sand, with a trifling quantity of metallic oxide or rust which gives to each one its peculiar color. Yet what a difference between these sparkling and costly jewels and the shapeless clod or sand which we trample under foot ! . . . The most beautiful flowers and their exquisite perfumes, as well as the delicious fruits to which they give birth, are all made of the very same ele- ments of matter as the bark, the wood, and the root of the tree that bears them. . . . Now, if in the natural order God can and does transform coarse and shapeless matter
Intrinsic Topics. J 3
into forms so beautiful and so glorious, what shall we say, of the beauty and perfection into which he will change our vile bodies ? " etc.
102. Fables are specimens of this topic, and they have been used by the wisest men with happy effect. Thus Demosthenes prevented the Athenians from surrendering their orators to Philip by relating the fable, "The sheep giving up their dogs to the wolves to obtain peace." By the fable, " The Stomach and the Hands," Menenius Agrippa brought the plebeians back to Rome from Mons Sacer.
103. A far nobler species of similitude is found in those admirable Parables which our Blessed Saviour used so copiously to instruct his followers, and in which, even to the present day, the wisdom of Heaven is distilled like gentle dew into the highest and the lowest minds on earth.
Article X. Likelihood or Probability.
104. The Comparisqnj)f-P-robabaity-er Likelihood is a topic which proves a conclusion to be probable or im- probable by comparing it with other matters more or less or equally probable. There are three kinds:
1st. The ComparisoA. a Jnajflre argues from a greater probability to a less, thus : If what was more likely did not happen, then that which is less likely is not apt to happen ; e.g., " Our ancestors did not allow even a Grecian state to grow too powerful : will you allow a barbarian to become master of Greece ? " (Demosthenes, Third Phil.) The con- clusion in this kind is always negative.
2d. The Comparisott-aTfiinore argues from a less proba- bility to a greater, thus : If what appeared less likely has nevertheless happened, then what appears more likely may be expected to happen; e.g., "Many persons guilty of less offences were condemned to death ; therefore Catiline
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should be condemned, who is guilty of greater " (Cicero, first Catil.) " Our ancestors waged many wars to punish slighter insults ; therefore we should wage this war to avenge more grievous injuries " (id. Manil. Law). The conclusion is always affirmative.
3d. The Comparison a pari argues equal truth from equal likelihood, thus : If what had a certain probability did hap- pen, then an event of like probability may be expected to hap- pen ; e.g., " If you will restore liberty to the negroes be- cause it was unlawfully taken from them, you must also restore their lands to the Indians " (Pinkney on the Mis- souri Question). The conclusion may be affirmative or negative.
105. It may not be useless to add some further exam- ples. Everett argues : " We tend the body : much more must we tend the mind." He says : " The body is not starved except in cases of cruel necessity. Not starved ! It is nourished and pampered by whatever can provoke or satisfy the appetite ; the healthy child is nursed and nourished up into the healthy man ; the tiny fingers which now weary with the weight of the rattle will be trained up to a grasp of steel ; the little limbs will learn to stretch unfatigued over plain and mountain, while the inward intellectual being will be allowed to remain unnourished neglected, and stinted. A reason capable of being nur- tured into the vigorous apprehension of all truth will re- main uninformed and torpid, at the mercy of low preju- dice and error. A capacity which might have explored all nature, mastered its secrets, and weighed the orbs of heaven in the golden scales of science, shall pass through life clouded with superstition, ignorant of the most familiar truth, unconscious of its own heavenly nature. There is the body of a man, sound, athletic, well proportioned ; but the mind within is puny, dwarfed, and starved. Could
Intrinsic Topics. 75
we perceive it with our bodily sight we should pity it. Could the natural eye measure the contrast between a fully-developed and harmoniously-proportioned intellect on the one hand and a blighted, stunted, distorted, sickly understanding on the other, even as it compares a diseased and shrivelled form with the manly expansion and vigorous development of health, we should be moved with compas- sion ; but so completely do we allow ourselves to be the slaves of material sense that many a parent, who would feel himself incapable of depriving a child of a single meal, will let him grow up without ever approaching the banquet of useful, quickening knowledge " (" On Education the Nurture of the Mind ").
106. " What man is there among you, of whom if his son shall ask bread, will he reach him a stone ? or if he shall ask him a fish, will he reach him a serpent ? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in hea- ven give good things to them that ask him ? " (St. Matt, vii. 9).
" He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how has he not also with him given us all things ? " (Rom. viii. 32).
" If in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry?" (St. Luke xxiii. 31).
107. To the comparison a pari may be referred the nar- ration of single facts. Thus our Blessed Redeemer relates the fate of Dives and of Lazarus. Thus, too, Rev. T. N. Burke {Lectures, vol. ii. p. 169) relates the despair and (p. 170) the death of a drunkard as a warning to all the intemperate. This is a popular and powerful kind of argu- ment.
CHAPTER IV.
EXTRINSIC TOPICS.
108. Of the extrinsic— topics some are common to all eloquence, others peculiar to certain species of oratory. Common extrinsic topics are authorities and examples, which we shall now consider. Of those peculiar to cer- tain species of eloquence we shall treat in connection with each species.
Article I. Authorities.
/ 109. Authorities are the sayings of persons who enjoy great credit for knowledge of a given subject/ Thus Cicero quofes^Demosthenes, who says that the chief point in elo- quence is " elocution " or " delivery." Here Demosthenes is adduced as an authority {and as Cicero quotes this with approbation, he, too, becomesto us an authority.! It will be noticed that the word aiithaxity is used in various senses : sometimes it means a person, sometimes the saying of a person, and sometimes the weight_oi the saying. It is evident that good authorities must have great weight with every sensible audience, since they give us the opinions of men who command esteem and confidence.
no. The highest possible authority is God's word, or the testimony of Holy Writ. This is the chief argument in the pulpit ; it may sometimes be appropriately introduced in profane eloquence, but in such cases it should not be frequently used, nor fully developed, nor minutely dis- cussed, for all feel that such treatment belongs by right to men who are commissioned to interpret the word of God. " How shall they preach, unless they be sent] " asks St. Paul.
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Extrinsic Topics. 77
in. Another weighty authority is that of Common Con- sentr — i.e., the agreement of all sensible men on certain lead- ing truths which reason or experience has taught. Thus reason teaches all men the existence of God, the account- ability of men, the immortality of the soul, etc. Cicero uses this topic in Milo's defence when he says : " There is, then, not a written but an inborn law, which we have not drunk in nor learned, . . . that we may repel violence by violence."
112. Proverbs_are received expressions of general con- victions which have been handed down through genera- tions. They possess great authority, as embodying the wisdom and experience of ages, and evidently not invented for the occasion. Thus Edmund Burke, On the Bristol Election, brings a strong argument to a fine point by a received maxim : " Look, gentlemen, to the whole tenor of your member's conduct. Try whether his ambition or his avarice have jostled him out of the straight line of duty, or whether that grand foe of all offices of active life, that master-vice in men of business — a degenerate and inglorious sloth — has made him flag and languish in his course. This is the object of your inquiry. If your member's conduct can bear this touch, mark it for sterling. He may have fallen into errors, he must have faults ; but our error is greater and our fault is radically ruinous to ourselves if we do not bear, if we do not even applaud, the whole compound and mixed mass of such a character. Not to act thus is folly — I had almost said impiety. He censures God who quarrels with the imperfections of men."
Article II. Examples.
113. ExamjDles,_m the widest sense of the word, may be defined narratives of facts calculated. _jo_ persuade^ They are extrinsic proofs when/besides the resemblance or com-
J 8 On the Invention of Thought.
parison which they contain, they derive additional weight from the person to whom they are attributed ; e.g., " Justus Lipsius, the most learned man of his day, rejoiced on his death-bed that he had belonged to a confraternity or so- dality of the Blessed Virgin Mary." If any dying man were spoken of as having thus rejoiced, the fact would afford an argument a pari to show that practices of de- votion are a source of consolation when life is over ; but the weight of the argument is much increased by the men- tal superiority of Lipsius. It is often proper to add some commendation of the persons whose words or actions are quoted, as is done here with Justus Lipsius by adding "the most learned man of his day."
114. The use of this topic of examples in eloquence is copious_and .very effective. Verba docent, exempla trahunt — " Words convince, examples persuade," says an old proverb. All men can understand examples, but not all can follow a course of reasoning. Both Cicero and Demosthenes constantly quote the examples of the old Romans and Greeks. Thus in his first Catilinian oration Cicero proves thaTCatiline should be put to death, by quoting examples of similar measures adopted by illustrious Romans against
' criminals of the same class.
115. Erskine, prosecuting Williams for publishing Tom Paine's Age of Reason, among many able arguments ex- hibits the examples of great minds that were sincerely Christian : " In running the mind along the numerous list of sincere and devout Christians I cannot help re- gretting that Newton had not lived to this day to have had his shallowness filled up with this new flood of light. But the subject is too awful for irony. Newton was a Christian — Newton, whose mind burst forth from the fetters cast by nature upon our primitive conceptions ; Newton, whose science was truth," etc. He thus continues.
Extrinsic Topics. 79
naming and eulogizing his authorities till he concludes his eloquent enumeration with the following words : " Thus you find all that is great, or wise, or splendid, or illustrious among created beings — all the minds gifted beyond or- dinary nature, if not inspired by their universal Author for the advancement and dignity of the world, though divided by distant ages and by the clashing opinions distinguish- ing them from one another, yet joining, as it were, in one sublime chorus to celebrate the truths of Christianity, and laying upon its holy altars the never-fading offerings of their immortal wisdom " (Goodrich, Brit. Eloq., p. 764).
CHAPTER V.
MORAL TOPICS AND TOPICS OF PERSONS.
Article I. Moral Topics.
116. The moral topics are considerations of the justice and glory, the facility and agreeableness, the utility and necessity, of the measure under discussion.! These do not supply a new crass- of -arguments, "such- as could not have been discovered by the intrinsic and extrinsic sources, but they are a different and often an easier means to the same end ; e.g., the glory and advantages are effects, facility and agreeableness are circumstances, etc. In fact, the moral topics are only a special application of the other topics. They are more frequently used to supply general heads, under which the arguments may be arranged.
117. We shall present a few examples: 1. Grattan, on moving a Declaration of Irish Rights, considers the justice, the facility, and the necessity of this measure. Still, there is not a single argument adduced by him which might not have been found by means of the extrinsic and intrinsic topics. In all cases, however, where a special measure is recommended or opposed, these moral topics should be em- ployed, as it is but right that the speaker should view the measure in connection with its justice, honor, facility, etc.
118. 2. When, in 1788, the first and second sections of the first article of the United States Constitution were under consideration in the convention of Virginia, Ed- mund Randolph advocated the " Union " as advantageous, necessary, and honorable. In his peroration he sums up his
Moral Topics and Topics of Persons. 81
arguments as follows (Amer. Eloq., i. p. 173): "I have labored for the continuance of the Union. I believe that our safety, our political happiness and existence, depend on the union of the States ; and that without this union the people of this and the other States will undergo the un- speakable calamities which discord, faction, turbulence, war, and bloodshed have produced in other countries. The American spirit ought to be mixed with American pride — pride to see the Union magnificently triumphant. Let that glorious pride which once defied the British thunder reanimate you again."
On the same occasion Patrick Henry spoke several times in reply to Randolph, ever insisting that neither advantage, nor necessity, nor honor demanded the acceptance of the Articles of Union, but that all these motives combined to condemn these Articles.
Article II. Topics of Persons.
119. Topics of Persons are, as Blair defines them, the " heads from which any one can_r>e Hcrxiod or pra-t^rri " (Lect. xxxii.) Hence they are especially useful for what is called Demonstrative Oratory, which is chiefly employed in praising and blaming. But as passages containing praise or blame may, to some extent, find an appropriate place in any other species of oratory, we treat of the Topics of Persons in this place among the general topics. Quintilian, in fact, considers them before he treats of any other source of arguments.
120. The following are the principal : 1. Birth. It is honorable to be of a good family, and not less honorable to have risen from an humble parentage to high dis- tinction by one's personal qualities and exertions.
2. Nation or country. All nations have their peculiar
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characters and manners, laws and usages, influencing the life of their citizens.
3. Sex. Some acts are more probable, some are more heroic, in one sex than in another ; as when, among the early Christians, a St. Agnes, a St. Cecilia, or a St. Cathe- rine baffled the combined power and cruelty of their per- secutors.
4. Age. Wisdom is more surprising in a youth than in an aged man, and faults are less excusable in riper years : we do not expect of young Telemachus the maturity of aged Mentor.
5. Education and discipline. From the perfection or defect of these, certain results may be validly presumed, or at least they are made less improbable.
6. Habit of body. A Thersites in form is not apt to be a Cicero in mind or character.
7. Fortune. The parsimony that might grace a Cincin- nati might disgrace a Croesus.
8. Condition or station. It makes a great difference to a jury whether a witness be a professional man or a coun- try lad, a relative or a stranger to the accused ; as is well exemplified in the comments of Webster on the testimony of Knapp's father in the trial of the son.
9. Passions or inclinations. A man's known character for justice or injustice, for avarice or extravagance, for mercy or cruelty, for good or bad principles, often deter- mines belief or disbelief in acts attributed to him.
10. The way ofjiving, Thus a person without any known means of self-support is more readily suspected of petty larceny than a wealthy banker.
11. Profession or occupation. A soldier, a merchant, and a lawyer will not make the same impression upon a jury.
Moral Topics and Topics of Persons. 83
12. Power, iiiflnescer-elo<||Jienc£fc_or reputation. All of these may create presumptions of probable consequences, or they may suggest titles to general esteem.
Such applications of these topics as are peculiar to pane- gyrics will be considered in their proper place under De- monstrative Oratory (b. vi. c. iii. 2).
CHAPTER VI.
USE OF THE TOPICS.
121. We have elsewhere quoted J. Q. Adams as remark- ing of the topics that these things are peculiarly liable to be abused. It is, therefore, necessary to lay down careful di- rections for the employment of such oratorical resources.
122. And first we must remind the student that these topics are not supposed to dispense with talent or extensive knowledge. " But these Common-Places," says Cicero {De
, Or., ii. 30), " can be of use to that orator only who is skilled in business, either by the practice which riper age supplies or by that diligence in listening and thinking which anticipates maturity of years. For if you bring me a man who is a stranger to the customs of our city, to the examples, the laws, the manners, and the predilections of our citizens, no matter how ready a speaker he may be, these topics will be of little use to him for the inven- tion of arguments."
123. Besides, no one should imagine that the topics dispense ^with diligence. " Art will only show you where to search,
and where that lies which you are anxious to find ; the rest depends on care, attention, reflection, watchfulness, assi- duity, labor — in a word, as I have repeatedly said, on dili- gence " {De Or., ii. 35).
1 24. We shall now give a few practical rules for the use of the topics :
Rule 1. A beginner should on every subject apply all the topics ; a practised speaker, especially if he has been trained to this process, will turn at once to those which are most directly fitted to his present purpose.
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Use of the Topics. 85
Rule 2. Of the arguments thus discovered we should reject: (a) All trivial ones, as they make the cause appear weak ; (o) Those not strictly to the point, as only fit for de- clamation ; (c) Incorrect and inconclusive ones, as being un- worthy of us ; besides, being readily refuted, they create a prejudice against our cause ; (d) Such as are sound, but too hard to handle successfully, either because they require rea- soning t<5o subtle for the audience, or because they awak- en too much prejudice, or ill become our person, age, con- dition, or talent.
Rule 3. Among the substantial arguments left we should select the best, being more solicitous to present weighty proofs than to display a long array of speculations: Non numeranda, sed ponderanda — " Arguments are not to be valued by number but by weight," says the proverb. We should also remember that the argument which is best in itself may not be best before the present audience in their present mood and their present circumstances, lest it be said of us, as of Edmund Burke :
" He kept on refining, Thought of convincing, while they thought of dining."
Rule 4. Weak arguments, if used at all, should be accu- mulated or passed over lightly, as not needed but only in- dicative of what might be said ; thus they are apt to make a favorable impression, as if the speaker had an abundance of proofs in reserve.
125. Of this judicious selection of thoughts we may add a few examples :
1. Demosthenes, while anxious to reanimate the con- fidence of the Athenians in the First Philippic, confines himself to these topics :
(A) Cause: " The only cause of your prostration lies in your indolence."
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(B) Antecedents : "You conquered formerly by your activity, and Philip became victorious by his activity."
(C) Effects: "As soon as you begin earnestly many cities will join you ; while if you remain inactive no one will begin."
126. 2. William Pitt, in his speech On the Abolition of the Slave-Trade, dwells chiefly on these topics : {A) The abolition is expedient ; (B) It is just ; (C) The continuance of the trade is unjust. To prove the first point he examines the probable effects of abolition ; in the second he argues that the effects will violate no vested rights ; to prove the third he considers the causes and the circumstances of the slave-trade.
127. When the topics are applied according to the pre- cepts and explanations so far given, there is evidently no danger of the abuse which Blair condemns in his thirty- second lecture, saying : " One who had no other aim but to talk copiously and plausibly, by consulting them (the top- ics) on every subject, and laying hold of all that they sug- gested, might discourse without end ; and that, too, though he had none but the most superficial knowledge of his sub- ject. But such discourses could be no other than trivial." He adds very correctly : " What is truly solid and per- suasive must be drawn ex visceribus causa — from a thorough knowledge of the subject and profound meditation on it." This is just the point : what more thorough knowledge can L^ had of any subject than that which embraces a clear and correct definition of it, a study of all its parts, of its causes and effects, its circumstances, its likeness and points of opposition with other things — in a word, of all that the topics direct us to investigate ? We can scarcely imagine that so judicious an author as Dr. Blair could have failed to set a high value on the Common-Places, if he had ex- amined them with the diligence which they deserve.
Use of the Topics. 87
128. There is no discourse of considerable merit which is not a proof of the applicability of these topics. Blair's own lectures are illustrations of this. Thus, if we sim- ply consult the brief analysis appended to each lecture, we shall find that the author usually considers the definition of each subject, enumerates its parts or species, traces its causes and its effects, etc. ; e.g., in Lecture iv. he examines : 1. The meaning or definition of the sublime ; 2. Its foun- dation or chief cause ; 3. Examples of it ; 4. Its nature or essential requisites; 5. Its sources or special causes; 6. The faults opposed or contrary to it.
129. Lastly, we must observe that the topics do not dis- pense us from reading for information on the subject : no one pretends that they are all-sufficient of themselves. On the contrary, one who applies them to any subject will, by means of them, soon find out what points are not sufficient- ly clear to him, and he will thus be directed by the topics in his reading and consultation. For instance, should one undertake to write a discourse on so familiar a theme as liberty, he is apt soon to find out, perhaps to his own sur- prise, that his ideas on the very nature or definition of liberty are rather vague, and that he needs to consult Blackstone or some other author to clear or to inform his mind.
130. There are even occasions when a speaker knows so little about his intended subject that he finds it neces- sary to begin at once to read on the matter before apply- ing the topics at all. Such reading for information is called by Rev. M. Bautain {Art of Extempore Speaking') the indirect method of studying a subject — the applica- tion of the topics being the direct method, superior to the other. When we thus attempt to read on a subject it is not usually from orations that we are to derive our in- formation on the given matter ; but whatever we may read.
88 On the Invention of Thought.
we shall be benefited by observing the following directions taken from the work just quoted (English translation) :
131. "Always read pencil in hand. Mark the parts which most strike you, those in which you perceive the germ of an idea or of anything new to you. Then when you have finished your reading make a note ; let it be a substantial note, not a mere transcription or extract — a note embodying the very thought which you have appre- hended, and which you have already made your own by digestion and assimilation."
132. "Above all, let these notes be short and lucid ; put them down one under the other, so that you may after- wards be able to run over them at a single glance."
133. "Mistrust long readings from which you carry nothing away. Our mind is naturally so lazy, the labor of thought is so irksome to it, that it gladly yields to the pleasure of reading other people's thoughts in order to avoid the trouble of forming any itself ; and thus time passes in endless reading, the pretext of which is some hunt after materials, and which comes to nothing. The mind ruins its own sap and gets burdened with trash : it is as though overladen with undigested food, which gives it neither force nor light.''
134. " Do not drop a book until you have wrested from it whatever relates the most closely to your subject. After that go on to another and get the cream off, if I may so express myself, in the same manner."
135. " Repeat this labor with several until you find that the same things are beginning to return, or nearly so, and that there is nothing to gain in the plunder ; or until you think that your understanding is sufficiently furnished, and that your mind requires rest to digest the nutriment which it has taken. Rest awhile, for this intellectual di- gestion " (p. 169, etc.)
Use of the Topics. 89
136. Of the selection and the assimilation Bautain uses this neat illustration : " Then will he (the reader) do as the bee does, which rifles the flowers ; for, by an admirable instinct which never misleads it, it extracts from the cup of the flowers only what serves to form the wax and the honey, the aromatic and the oleaginous particles. But, be it well observed, the bee first nourishes itself with these extracts, digests them, transmutes them, and turns them into wax and honey solely by an operation of absorption and assimilation. Just so should the speaker do. Before him lie the fields of science and literature, rich in every description of flower and fruit — every hue, every flavor. In these fields he will seek his booty, but with discern- ment ; and, choosing only what suits his work, he will ex- tract from it, by thoughtful reading and by the process of mental tasting (his thoughts all absorbed in his topic and darting at once upon whatever relates to it), every- thing which can minister nutriment to his intelligence, or fill it, or even perfume it — in a word, the substantial and aromatic elements of his honey, or idea — but ever so as to take in or to digest, like the bee,, in order that there may be a real transformation and appropriation, and conse- quently a production possessed of life and destined to live."
CHAPTER VII.
AN EXAMPLE FOR PRACTICE.
137. We shall conclude our comments on the topics by applying these precepts to a particular subject.
Suppose I am to write a speech, or an essay, or an ar- ticle on Religious Liberty. I must first settle with myself whether I am expected to produce an abstract or philoso- phical discussion, or whether I have a practical end to at- tain— e.g., to instil into my hearers a greater love of such liberty, or perhaps to disabuse them of a wrong concep- tion of it. This clear idea of my purpose or end will, of course, direct me in the choice of my arguments.
138. 1. Applying the topic of Definition, I find it neces- sary to remove all vagueness and to form to myself a clear and correct conception of true religious liberty, distinguish- ing it from religious license, as civil liberty is distinguished from civil license ; for liberty is not the absence of all re- straint, but the absence of undue restraint. On the true con- ception of liberty I may read passages in Balmes" Protest- antism and Catholicity in their Effects on the Civilization of Europe, pp. 79, 80, 228, 229.
2. The praise of all true liberty would give us a speci- men of the topic Genns; a reference to the Magna Charta would be an argument from the Species.
3. Upon the name Liberty I may remark that there are few words which are more abused. Thus the revolution- ists in the Reign of Terror in France deluged Paris with the blood of its noblest and most inoffensive citizens in the name of liberty.
9°
An Example for Practice. 91
4. The causes which have produced religious liberty may next be studied. At one time the maxim generally prevailed, Cujus regio, ejus religio — "The religion of the ruler is binding on his subjects " — and religious liberty was almost unknown. Christianity did not force the pagans or the Jews to become Christians, but it taught that conver- sion must be voluntary and sincere. Christianity, then, is the great source of religious liberty. On the other hand, exaggerated claims in behalf of private judgment would make all due restraint impossible, or at least illogical, thus producing religious license, the absence of all law and order in religion.
5. The effects of religious liberty may be considered philosophically or historically, also as affecting the indi- vidual or society at large, as bearing fruit for this world or for the next.
6. We may consider the opposite condition of society — viz., religious tyranny, giving its history and describing its effects.
7. We may institute a comparison with civil liberty, ar- guing that, if such sacrifices are made by nations to secure the latter, greater sacrifices should be made to secure the former.
8. We may quote the praises of religious liberty as spoken by venerated authorities, and call attention to ex- amples of its existence ; e.g., in the early colony of Mary- land, and in the whole United States subsequently to the first constitutional amendment.
9. The moral topics may show us how just, useful, pleasing, and necessary it is to protect religious liberty.
BOOK III.
ORDER OR ARRANGEMENT OF THOUGHTS.
139. We shall next consider how the thoughts of a speech are to be arranged. All rhetoricians attach great impor- tance to the plan or method of an oration. This plan, however, is not subject to any certain fixed and unvarying rules from which no departure is ever allowed. On the contrary, it will vary with the ever-varying circumstances of the speaker, his subject, and his audience, and especially with the end intended, which must regulate all the details of every task. It is, therefore, impossible to lay down oratorical plans for every conceivable occasion, as no mili- tary academy would presume to lay down plans for fu- ture battles. Still, a general should be familiar with all the evolutions through which an army can be put, and he can derive great advantage from the study of the plans adopted in former battles by military geniuses. Similarly, the student of oratory should make himself familiar with all conceivable dispositions of arguments, and study with great care the plans followed by great minds ; then, when his own oratorical contests begin, on which, perhaps, as much may depend as on many a battle, he will marshal his forces to the-best advantage, being not a little assisted by his familiarity with all manners of combinations.
140. Order- may be defined a disposition of parts suited to obtain a certain effect. \ It implies intelligence, and as such it is not only useful but also beautiful.
Order or Arrangement of Thoughts. 93
141. All order supposes some principle"' of 7>rder — i.e., some leading thought which directs us in disposing the parts. Thus in a library the contents of the books, their sizes, their manner of bindings may be various principles of order ; frequently several principles are combined, some affecting the chief divisions, others the subdivisions.
142. In a speech the principle of order may be natural or oratorical.
CHAPTER I.
THE NATURAL ORDER.
143. The natural order is either historical, distributive, or logical.
Article I. The Historical Order.
144. The Historical Order arranges parts with regard to the time of their occurrence, j It is the obvious or natural order when a succession of facts makes up the matter of a speech. Thus Cicero, in his oration for Milo, examines
]successively : 1. All that led to the slaying of Clodius ; 2. The circumstances of the affray ; 3. The subsequent con- / duct of Milo — i.e., the antecedents, the circumstances, and the ■ ^consequents.
145. We have another specimen of the historical order in Webster's Speech in Knapp's Trial, which we shall briefly analyze.
Introduction. The orator excuses himself for appearing as the prosecutor.
Preparatory Refutation of certain prejudices. Division. Two parts : 1. There was a conspiracy to mur- der White, and the culprit was one of the conspirators. 2. He was a principal in the actual murder. Part I. The Conspiracy.
Proposition : 1. It existed — proved from its effects. 2. Defendant was a party to it. Proof 1. Presumption arising from his supposed in- terest in it. Proof 2. His intention of stealing White's will — proved
by testimony.
94
The Natural Order. 95
Proof 3. His actual connection with the conspiracy. (a) Proved by testimony of what preceded the murder. (/>) Shown by signs after the murder. Part II. He was a Principal in the Murder.
1. General maxims explained — definition of a " princi- pal " fully discussed.
2. Application of these — state of the question clearly put. Proposition : Defendant is a principal — proved from ac- cumulation of circumstantial evidence.
1. He was a party to the conspiracy, as proved.
2. He cannot prove an alibi.
3. Witnesses certify he was there. The orator sums up evidence so far established.
4. Testimony of Rev. Mr. Coleman separately con- sidered.
Peroration : Enumeration of the arguments*
146. The Second Part of Burke's Speech on American Taxation is another fine model of the historical order. He considers : 1. The first period — i.e., the policy of the Navi- gation Act ; 2. The second period, or the attempts to raise a revenue from America ; 3. The third period, or Lord Rock- ingham's administration, with Repeal of the Stamp Act ; 4. The. fourth period — i.e., new taxes raised by Townsend.
147. The French are remarkable for regularity in all their literary productions, particularly in the plans of their orations. " In this respect," says J. Q. Adams, " they mr.st be acknowledged far superior to their British neighbors. The English, indeed, in their literary compositions of all kinds have been generally too inattentive to the principles of method" (Lect. xix.) Here is a sample taken from a lecture of D'Aguessecu, of wh' m Dr. Blair speaks as being one of the most eloquent orators that have adorned the bar in any country. He is treating of the Decay of Judicial Eloquence in Prance.
96 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
Introduction : Eloquence, like all good things, may de- cay— has done so in France.
Preparatory Refutation : The cause is not lack of talents, of aids, of proper subjects.
Proposition: The cause lies in us.
I. In the dispositions with which we come to the bar : 1. Inferior talent ; 2. Low views ; 3. Superficial pre- paration.
II. Our conduct at the bar :
1. In youth, eagerness to appear ; hence no study ; examples ;
2. In manhood, multiplicity of business ; hence ig- norance of principles, neglect of form ;
3. Hence, in old age, tardy regret. Peroration : A short exhortation to remedy the evil.
Article II. The Distributive Order.
,-148. The DisJnbutivejOrder arranges things which are existing at the same time into a number of groups, so that all the thoughts of the same group have some obvious con- nection with one another.
149. Here are a few examples :
I. The Third Philippic of Demosthenes.
Introduction : We have rendered our situation as dis- tressing as possible ; now listen to me, and you may yet re- dress all.
1st Part. Proposition : Punish Philip and his agents. (Distributes motives :)
1. Philip has long been attacking us ;
2. All Greece is in danger, and you must defend it ;
3. His agents among you are deceiving you.
2d Part. Proposition : Set to work with energy. (Dis- tributes motives :)
I. Philip is approaching rapidly ;
The Natural Order. 97
2. His agents are active ;
3. The ruined states ought to be a warning to you ;
4. Till we ourselves begin, no one will join us. Peroration : Whoever has a better advice to give, let him
give it.
^,-*5oT II. Cicero, on the Manilian Law, arranges his praise
of Pompey under four heads : 1. His skill in war ; 2. His
virtue; 3. His authority ; 4. His success.
^-^iSi7 III. D'Aguesseau, to prove that the orator should
know human nature, views man :
1. With regard to his various faculties:
(a) The mind, which is to be convinced ;
(d) The heart, which is to be moved ;
(c) The imagination, which is to be interested.
2. With regard to his different conditions he views human nature :
(a) In the orator — he must adapt his speech to his age and talent ;
(b) In the client — he is to be defended with the ability of a lawyer and the superiority of an orator ;
(c) In the judge — he is to be addressed differently in different ages ;
(d) In the audience — they wish to have their opin- ions respected.
152. IV. Edmund Burke's oration previous to the Bristol election. The orator refutes the charges : 1 st charge, neglect of constituents ; 2d charge, giving free trade to Ireland ; 3d charge, relief of insolvent debtors ; 4th charge, relief of Roman Catholics. This last is developed in the historical order :
(A) Reasons for the persecuting laws ; (jB) Enacting of the laws ;
g 8 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
(C) Execution of the laws ;
(D) Author of the repeal ;
(£) Reasons for the repeal — enumerated in the distributive order :
(a) Generous loyalty of Roman Catholics ; (6) Claims of humanity ;
(c) Beneficial effects on British Empire ;
(d) Beneficial example found in foreign coun- tries.
Refutation of objections.
A more minute analysis of this able speech is found in Goodrich's British Eloquence (p. 292, etc.)
Article III. Logical Order.
153. The Logical Order is the order of reasoning — i.e., it presents the thoughts as links of one connected chain of reasoning. , This reasoning makes up the whole speech, or a considerable part of it. In his Discourse on the Maniliari" Law, Cicero unites all his arguments thus : " An important war needs a great commander ; but this is an important war, therefore it needs a great commander ; but such is Pompey eminently ; hence we should choose Pompey."
154 Edmund Burke, On Conciliation with America, de-^ velops the following enthymeme : " We cannot conquer America; hence we must make certain concessions." It will be noticed that in -the development of the plan the three principles of the natural order are combined. (See above, number 49.)
Introduction: The subject is one that requires systematic views ; reluctance of the speaker to come forward, though invited to do so.
Proposition : Seek peace through conciliation.
Part I. You cannot conquer America.
/. State and circumstances of America. {Distributed :)
The Natural Order. 99
1. Population ; 2. Commerce ; 3. Agriculture ; 4. Fisheries.
II. Inefficiency of force in such a case. (Distributed :) This force is : 1. Only temporary ; 2. Uncertain ; 3.
Injurious ; 4. Unprecedented.
III. Spirit of America and its causes. (Distributed .-)
1. Origin of the colonies ; 2. Form of government ; 3. Religion ; 4. Domestic institutions ; 5. Educa- tion ; 6. Remoteness. Hence the spirit of Ameri- cans, firm and intractable.
IV. Only three ways possible of dealing with this spirit :
1. To remove causes of offence ; 2. To prosecute as criminal ; 3. To make concessions. (The reason- ing here is : Force cannot conquer a powerful nation animated by the spirit of independence, I. IV. But America is such, II. III. Therefore, etc.) Part II. What should be the nature of the concessions ? The right of taxation is not now the question ; but, as an act of policy, Americans should be allowed the rights of Englishmen.
/. Taxation for revenue must be publicly renounced.
1. Inconsistency of insisting on it ; 2. The contest arose from taxation ; 3. Precedents of rights of Englishmen granted to (a) Ireland, (b) Wales, (c) Chester, (d) Durham.
II. America, not represented in Parliament, can aid the crown by grants of provincial assemblies. — To explain clear- ly what will be the status of the colonies he lays down a number of connected resolutions, defending each of them, and refuting objections.
III. Lord North 's scheme not satisfactory ; proposed plan preferable.
IV. No direct revenue ever to be expected from America.
CHAPTER II.
THE ORATORICAL ORDER.
155. The Oratorical Order is that which departs design- edly from the natural order to avoid some special diffi- culty or to gain some special advantage,^ sacrificing regu- larity to usefulness.
--T56. Examples — I. When Demosthenes spoke his First Philippic the natural order of time would have been : 1. Set to work energetically ; 2. Adopt such and such measures against Philip ; 3. The result will be great and certain. But, seeing the Athenians so dispirited, he begins with the last.
157. II. When Hannibal encouraged his troops on the Alps in sight of Italy, Livy makes him speak : 1. Of the circumstance of place : " Here you must conquer or die "; 2. Of the effects: " A rich booty before you"; 3. Of the circumstances of persons in both armies : " Victory is easy " ; 4. Of the causes of the war : " Remember the provocation." The natural order would have been : causes, circumstances, effects.
15%. III. Cicero, in behalf of Milo, uses the natural order : 1. The charge is false ; but, 2. Even if true, Milo should be acquitted as a public benefactor. While Demos- -thenesr-OTTTihe Chersonesus, uses similar arguments, but in- verts their order : 1. Even if the charge were true you should not disband the army ; but, 2. The charge is false.
159. The natural order would require that we keep to- gether arguments bearing on the same moral topic : e.g.,
The Oratorical Order. 101
such as prove a measure just would occupy one group ; such as prove it easy another ; such as prove it necessary a third, etc. But it may occasionally suit the purpose of the orator to depart from this in order to secure some special advantage.
1 60. As to the succession of arguments of fliflfcran* strength, it appears more natural to begin with the least strong and to proceed in the form of a climax ; but the oratorical order readily departs from this for a special reason. " It has been also a subject of inquiry," says Quintilian (b. v. c. 12), "whether the strongest proofs should occupy the foreground, to take immediate posses- sion of the minds of the audience; or should be reserved for the end, to leave the strongest impression upon their minds as they go away ; or should be distributed, some in the beginning and some in the end, the weaker being placed in the middle (an arrangement based on the order of battle described in Homer ; for the Iliad tells us that Nestor placed strong men in front, the weak in the middle, and the best soldiers in the rear) ; or, lastly, whether the orator should begin with the weakest and rise by gradation to the strongest. In my judgment this will depend on the nature and exigencies of the cause, provided always that the discourse shall never fall away from vigor into de- bility."
161. Cicero is more positive (Z>e Or., ii. 77). He says : " I must find fault with those who place their weakest ar- guments first ; and I think that they, too, are in fault who, when they employ many advocates— a custom which I have never approved — always desire the least efficient to speak first. For the very nature of things requires that you reach as soon as possible the expectations of the audience. If they are disappointed in the beginning the orator must labor much harder in the succeeding part of the pleading;
102 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
and a cause is in danger when you do not from the be- ginning prepossess the hearers in its favor. Therefore, as in the case of the advocates one of the best should speak /first, so in pleading your strongest points should be first (urged, provided always, as regards orators and arguments, j that the distinguishing excellence of an advocate or an ar- igument be reserved for the final appeal. Middling argu- iments — for those that are faulty should be rejected — should be thrown into the middle and enforced in a body."
162. The rule ut augeatur sempjx^M-JM^t^scat^axaiw — " that the speech should ever grow and swell " — regards the effect produced on the minds of the hearers ; i.e., that their conviction and impulse be ever strengthened, and their interest never flag. It does not require that each succeeding argument be stronger in itself than the pre- ceding.
163. If there is but one strong argument, let it be stated first, and, after some weaker ones have been treated, let the strong one return in a new shape. " In all grave and diffi- cult cases," says the Grammar of Eloquence (p. 399), "the orator should never fear to repeat, as often as he deems it useful, his strong arguments, provided he repeats them with variety. . . Demosthenes on the Crown, Cicero for Milo, and O'Connell in his numberless speeches on the rights and wrongs of his country, have all had recourse to repetitions with great success."
164. In connection with the proper place for each of the arguments Quintilian makes some remarks about the greater or less distinctness with which they should be de- veloped : " If the proofs be strong and cogent they should be proposed and insisted on separately ; if weak, it will be best to collect them into one body. For it is right not to obscure the strong ones by jumbling them together, that
The Oratorical Order. 103
each may appear distinct in its native vigor ; but those that are intrinsically weak derive strength by mutual support. . . . For example, an advocate may urge against a per- son who is accused of killing another in order to inherit his fortune : ' You expected to come in for the property, and the property was considerable ; you were in pecuniary diffi- culties, and the people to whom you owed money were then pressing you harder than ever ; you had also incurred the displeasure of the man who had appointed you his heir, and you knew that he determined to change his will.' Those arguments taken separately are weak and common ; but collectively their power is felt, not as a peal of thunder, but as a shower of hail" (b. v. c. 12).
CHAPTER III.
PLAN OF A DISCOURSE.
165. Having so far studied the invention of abundant and appropriate thoughts upon the given subject, and the various principles of order or arrangement, we are now ready to determine upon some suitable plan for our speech — a plan which will, as far as circumstances admit, com- bine the beauty of regularity with the higher consideration of greatest efficiency. As Rev. M. Bautain, in his Art of Extempore Speaking, has devoted uncommon care and labor to the composition of the plan, we can do no better than quote freely from his pages. True, he supposes the speech to be extempore j but he means by this term that the speech has been carefully studied, according to all the precepts so far explained, that the sketch or plan is to be traced on paper, but that the oration will remain without a preli- tninary arrangement of phrases. Whether the speech be written in full or thus partly improvised, the preparation of the plan will be the same.
166. " The plan of a discourse is the order of the things which have to be unfolded. You must, therefore, begin by gathering these together, whether facts or ideas, examining each separately in its relation to the subject or purport of the discourse, and all collectively in their mutual bearings on it. Next, after having selected those which suit the subject, and rejected those which do not, you must mar- shal them around the main idea (the state of the ques- tion) in such a way as to arrange them according to their rank and importance with respect to the result which you
Plan of a Discotirse. 105
have in view. But, what is worth still more than even this composition or synthesis, you should try, when possible, to draw forth by analysis or deduction the complete devel- opment of one single idea, which becomes not merely the centre but the very principle of the rest. This is the best manner of explaining or developing, because living things are thus produced by nature, and a discourse, to have its full value and full efficiency, should imitate her in her vital process, and perfect it by idealizing that process. In fact, reason, when thinking and expressing its thought, per- forms a natural function, like the plant which germinates, flowers, and bears fruit " (p. 116).
167. " Sometimes the idea thus conceived is developed and formed rapidly, and then the plan of the discourse arranges itself on a sudden, and you throw it upon paper, warm with the fervor of the conception which has just taken place, as the metal in a state of fusion is formed into the mould and fills at a single turn all its lineaments. It is the case most favorable to eloquence — that is, if the idea has been well conceived and is fraught with life" (p. 178).
168. " But, in general, one must not be in a hurry to form the plan. In nature life always needs a definite time for self-organization, and it is only ephemeral beings which are quickly formed, for they quickly pass away. Everything destined to be durable is of slow jjrowtfr, and both the solidity and the strength of existing things bear a direct ratio to the length of their increase and the matureness of their production. When, therefore, you have conceived an idea, do not hasten — unless it be perfectly clear to you at the first glance — to throw it into shape. Carry it for a time in your mind," etc.
169. " The moment you feel that your idea is mature, and that you are master of it in its centre and in its radiations, its main or trunk lines, take the pen and throw upon paper
106 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
what you see, what you conceive in your mind. If you are young or a novice, allow the pen to have its way and the current of thought to flow on. There is always life in its first rush, and care should be taken not to check its im- petus or cool its ardor. Let the volcanic lava run ; it will become fixed and crystallize of itself" (p. 197). "Never- theless, beware of introducing^ style into the arrangement of your plan ; it bugrTtTobe like an artist's draught, the sketch which, by a few lines unintelligible to everybody save him who has traced them, decides what is to enter into the composition of the picture, and what place each object shall occupy. Light and shadow, coloring and expression, will come later " (p. 196).
170. "Make your plan at the first heat, if you be im- pelled to do so, and follow your inspiration to the end ; after which leave things alone for a few days, or at least for several hours. Then reread attentively what you have written, and give a new form to your plan ; that is, rewrite it from one end to the other, leaving only what is necessary, what is essential. Eliminate inexorably whatever is ac- cessory or superfluous, and trace, engrave with care the leading characteristics which determine the configuration of the discourse and contain within their demarcations the parts which are to compass it. Only take pains to have the principal features well marked, vividly brought out, and strongly connected together, in order that the division of the discourse may be clear and the links firmly welded " (P- !97)-
171. What, however, is to be done if the idea, no matter how long it is carried and revolved in the mind, does not seem to take shape ? The same author answers : " You must take pen in hand. Writing is a whetstone or flattening engine, which wonderfully stretches ideas and brings out all their malleableness and ductility " (p. 194).
Plan of a Discourse. 107
First take note of any thought which may appear suit- able to introduce yourself or your subject to the audience. Next determine whether it will be proper to narrate certain , .facts or explain your position before beginning to reason.
See what proposition you will lay down, whether openly or at least in your own mind.
Study what division you can make of your arguments, and in what order you can marshal your logical forces.
Consider where pathos is apt to find a place naturally.
Reflect whether any objections or difficulties may still remain which will have to be refuted or removed before concluding.
Lastly, find some suitable conclusion for your speech. Take note of each clear thought which then suggests itself to your mind.
z 172. Hence it will be seen that these eight parts may
occur in an oration : The Introduction or Exordium, the
Narration or Explanation, the Proposition, the Division, the
\ i Proofs or Argumentation, the Pathetic, the Refutation, and
\ \ the Conclusion or Peroration.. We have said that these
•> weight parts may occur, but they need not all occur ; some
excellent speeches will contain no more than two or three
of them.
173. When these several parts occur they will usually do so in the order in which they have' just been mentioned. Still, there may be some' variations in this ; e.g., a part, or even the whole, of the Refutation may sometimes be placed right after the Introduction when it is important to clear away prejudices or misconceptions. The Pathetic may occur almost anywhere, and even several times in the same speech. We shall treat of it in connection with Argumen- tation, with which it is usually combined.
CHAPTER IV.
ANALYSIS AND SYNOPSIS.
174. For the thorough study of masterpieces it will be useful to add some further explanation.
To Analyze (ava-Xvco) is to take apart ; thus a chemist is said to analyze a compound substance when he resolves it into the simple elements contained in it. Applied to literary compositions, it means to examine a piece in all its details, seeing what are its divisions and subdivisions ; what it pretends to explain, to prove, or to refute ; what arguments it employs to gain its end ; how these are ar- ranged, developed, etc., etc. — in a word, it is to bring to light all that the composition contains, whether of matter or of form, of truth or of artifice. '
175. To show the importance of analyzing, we may re- mark that it is the most thorough manner of studying a model ; in fact, without such a process the reading of masterpieces is comparatively of little use.
176. A Synopsis (ffvv-6'ipis) is a brief sketch of the entire composition, presenting at one glance all that the analysis has discovered, the skeleton, as it were, of the masterpiece which has been taken apart, or of a new piece which is in course of composition.
177. Its principal advantage is this: that it enables us to see the additional value which each part derives from its combination with the other parts ; and thus we realize the skill displayed by a master-mind in the preparation of his materials to produce the desired composition.
Analysts and Synopsis. 109
178. A good synopsis might contain the following points:
I. A brief statement of the circumstances in which the oration was delivered.
II. Tke End intended and the State of the question.
III. The chief obstacles to be overcome.
179. IV. The plan of the speech — i.e.,
1. The Introduction, stating what special effects are aimed at and how these are attained.
2. The Proposition and Division, very exactly stated, often distinguishing between the apparent and the real proposition.
3. A statement of what is Narrated or Explained.
4. The Arguments, sketching to the eye their divisions and subdivisions, and noting the artifices employed.
5. Pathos — what passions ? and how excited ?
6. Refutation, if any, briefly stating the objections and the answers.
7. Peroration, stating what is aimed at, and how it is ^ attained.
"i8oT~v"7 The effects produced by the speech, with a brief criticism of the chief excellences and the defects of the model analyzed.
181. Examples of Synopses. I. Cicero's Oration on the Manilian Law. 1 I. Pompey had just finished the war against the pirates ; I Manilius had moved the appointment of the same general \ to finish the protracted war against Mithridates, King of IPontus.
I II. End intended: to make the people vote for the ap- pointment of Pompey. \ III. Plan.
1. Introduction: formal, solemn ; gains benevolence by modesty, gratitude, devotedness ; attention by prom- \ jsing a rich theme.
no Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
2. Proposition : I will speak for Pompey (i.e., I advo- cate his appointment).
3. Exposition of distress in Asia (brief and vivid).
4. Division, formal :
1. The war necessary ;
2. Vast ;
3. Needs a great commander.
5. Arguments :
Part I. War necessary, on account of —
1. Our glory :
(a) Insult great ;
(b) Unavenged ;
(c) Enemy powerful ;
(d) Glory of ancestors to be maintained.
2. Our allies: tableau of their distress, their
hope.
3. Our revenues :
(a) Riches of Asia ;
(b) Useless in time of fear.
4. Private fortunes :
(a) In Asia ;
(b) At home.
Fart II. War vast : (transition by way of objection).
1. What has so far been done — cold praise of Lu- cullus.
2 . Why ineffectual :
(a) Mithridates escaped ;
(b) Is reinforced ;
(c) Roman armies restless ;
(d) Sympathy with Mithridates ;
(e) Our defeat ;
(/) Lucullus recalled. Part III. The commander to be chosen needs four quali- ties ':
Analysis and Synopsis. m
i. Knowledge of war :
(a) Pompey has had every chance to acquire
it;
(b) Has proved that he possesses it.
2. Virtue :
(a) Chiefly courage ; rapid sketch of his ex- ploits ; results contrasted with previous dis- tress of Rome ;
(b) Other virtues, contrasted with vices of other generals, chiefly disinterestedness.
3. Authority :
(a) Important ;
(b) Great in Pompey.
4. Success:
(a) A special gift to some ;
(b) That of Pompey extraordinary. Recapitulation of the whole argument of speech.
6. Refutation : appeal from authorities to facts.
I. Hortensius objects :
1. " Give not all to one man."
Answer : " It is well we did not follow your ad- vice before."
2. " At least make not Gabinius his lieuten- ant " (digression) :
(a) As he is a special friend of Pompey ;
(b) As he was lately tribune.
Answer : " The first is the very reason to appoint him ; the second has often been disregarded."
II. Catulus objects :
1. " We cannot afford to expose Pompey." Answer (jocose) : " If he perish we will take you
next."
2. " Our ancestors avoided innovations,"
1 1 2 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
Answer :
(a) " In peace, yes ; in war, no " : examples ;
(b) " Catulus should not oppose the wisdom of the people."
(c) " No one but Pompey is disinterested enough."
(d) " Other weighty authorities balance yours." 7. Peroration : cheers on Manilius— promises help ;
protests disinterestedness in the matter. IV. The speech was successful, but perhaps unfortun- ately for Rome. Cicero here aided to make one man too powerful, unconsciously preparing the way for Csesar's ambition and the civil wars in which Cicero himself per- ished.
This is probably the most regular great speech in exist- ence.
182. II. Cicero's Oration for Milo.
For introductory remarks see Book ii. c. i. Plan.
Introduction . from the circumstances, which were ad- verse to Milo, but which Cicero interprets favora- bly, to inspire the judges with confidence ; appeal to their firmness and compassion. Proposition : Acquit Milo, who acted in self-defence. (Division not stated, because Part II. would have cre- ated prejudice.) Refutation. Objection 1 (implied) : horror of all blood- shed. Answer :
(a) Violence is often lawful — examples ;
(b) Especially in self-defence — examples ; common consent ; wording of the law.
Obj. 2. " The Senate has condemned Milo,"
Analysis and Synopsis. 113
Answer :
(a) Rather the contrary : " they say I rule the Senate."
(b) " It has condemned the violence commit- ted, not the conduct of Milo."
Obj. 3. " Pompey condemns Milo." Answer :
(a) " Why, then, has he appointed a trial ? "
(b) " The exceptional form of this court is due to the dangerous times."
(c) " Pompey has selected friends of Milo as judges."
Narration (most plausible and skilful) of Milo's de- parture ; the affray.
Argumentation :
Part I. Clodius waylaid Milo. Order historical :
I. Antecedent to meeting :
1. Final cause : (a) Cui bono ?
(6) Clodius hated Milo.
2. Antecedents of both rivals — a majore.
3. Journey then and there necessary for Milo ; rash for Clodius.
II. Circumstances of meeting ; place, equip- ment ; objections answered.
III. Subsequent events :
1. Slaves freed in pure gratitude.
2. Testimony of Clodius' slaves unreliable.
3. Milo's return to Rome.
4. Present situation : Pompey not hostile ; Milo his friend (insinuates that Milo may be needed by Pompey) ; fair trial.
1 14 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
Part II Even if Milo had killed him wilfully he should be acquitted.
Proofs : 1 . From Effects : He has freed Rome from a plague (an eloquent prosopopoeia).
2. From Contrary : Could Clodius return to life — I see you shrink from the thought (a happy hypothesis) ; now, a public benefactor merits gratitude.
3. From Causes : Death of Clodius the work of Providence. For there is a Providence, who had reasons to punish Clodius in that very place and manner.
Recapitulation of 2d Part : Clodius, a great plague, could not be resisted except by Milo, who, by de- stroying him, saved Rome. Peroration excites mercy for the sufferings of Milo, and admiration for his unflinching firmness. 183. III. Cicero for Marcellus.
Remark: Ca?sar had just declared in the Senate his will- ingness to let Marcellus, a former adherent of Pompey, re- turn to Rome, and had called on each senator present for some expression of approbation. Cicero is in turn asked his opinion. He takes this occasion to make one of his most eloquent speeches ; it is not very regular, but very art- ful and full of noble sentiments beautifully expressed. It is one of the noblest orations of this great orator. His End is twofold :
1. To acknowledge the favor done to his own friend ;
2. To induce Cassar to put a stop to all resentment, and repair the evils of the civil war. This he strives to accomplish by two means :
1. By extolling the present act of clemency above all military glory ;
2. By explaining the task still remaining.
Analysis and Synopsis. 115
Excellences :
1. The praise is magnificent, a model of panegyrics ;
2. The tact most delicate in lecturing Caesar. Plan.
Introduction brief : reasons to speak after a long si- lence ; fully satisfied with the situation. Part I. Expresses and richly develops his appreciation
of the favor done to himself, to Marcellus, to all. Part II. Extols the act of clemency, both to give Caesar deserved praise and to suggest further leniency. Proposition : This act is more honorable than all your exploits.
Proofs: 1. It is your own entirely ;
2. Most difficult ;
3. Excites more admiration and gratitude
4. Is so highly beneficial. Pathetic recapitulation and amplification :
5. Under the appearance of extolling the fa- vor, he here artfully excuses himself, and Marcellus, and the whole party of Pompey, laying all the blame on some few extremists.
6. Returning to the point, he gives a beau- tiful common-place on the praise of gene- rosity.
Refutation of Caesar's fear of treachery ; danger improbable among the conquered as well as the conquerors ; still, caution is just. Part III. The task remaining to Caesar — -boldly but delicately told.
Proposition : You have still a great work to do. Proofs : 1. Description of existing evils ;
2. You must save your country ;
3. Your glory requires it ;
4. Posterity will exact it ;
ii5 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
5. There is no further reason for hostility. Narration. Still, provide for your safety. Peroration : Thanks. 184. IV. Speech of Cicero for Murena. The end intended is to have Murena, consul-elect, ac- quitted from a charge of bribery brought against him by his rival, Sulpicius, who was supported by Cato and Pos- tumius.
State of the question : Did Murena use illegal means to get voters ?
// had been argued by accusers :
1. That he could not otherwise have defeated Sul- picius in the election, being his inferior in moral qualities and in dignity ;
2. That he had actually used bribes. To refute this, Cicero
1. Disproves his depravity ;
2. Maintains that he was equal to Sulpicius in dignity and more skilled and fortunate in canvassing ;
3. Disproves his illegal proceedings. Cicero had be- sides to spare the feelings of the prosecutors, and to lessen Cato's influence over the minds of the judges.
The principal beauty of the speech lies in the delicate ad- dress with which all this is so happily accomplished that the court was convulsed with laughter, without offence to any one, and the suit was dismissed. Plan.
Introduction wins benevolence and docility by —
r. A prayer for concord ; homage paid to the judges.
2. Excuses :
(a) To Cato ;
(b) To Sulpicius. for undertaking the defence.
Analysis and Synopsis. 1 1 7
Arguments :
Part I. Charges against his morals :
1. His sojourn in Asia was for his father's sake, and blameless ;
2. The charge that he had disgraced himself by dancing is disproved from his antecedents.
Part II Respective claims of the two candidates. Order Historical : 1. Birth — equal enough ;
2. Questorship, too ;
3. Subsequent career as attorney and lieu- tenant ;
4. Prastorship ;
5. Following year ;
6. Canvassing for consulship — mistakes of Sulpicius ;
7. Election day — conduct of Catiline. Part III. Bribery.
Order Distributive : 1. Sad lot of Murena to come near losing all, and to have such op- ponents ;
2. Charges of Postumius and young Sulpicius refuted ;
3. Reply to Cato .
(A) Weakens his influence — no great name should sway the judges ; Cato's rules are too rigid, owing to his Stoic philosophy, which gets all the blame.
(B) Reviews his accusations :
(a) In general, declamations against bribery are useless where there was no bribery, no law violated ; the senate's decree conditional.
(b) As to facts in particular : grand receptions are common, retinues
1 1 8 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
*
proper ; the shows were not his ; besides, these too are common.
(c) Cato's principles are too rigid ; they are useless, unpopular, and refuted by his own conduct ;
(d) Consequences of the trial ; two consuls needed now, as great dan- gers threaten ; even Cato is not safe. The judges are to deter- mine whether there shall be two.
Peroration : Fear and pity, both aroused by tableaux. 185. V. Demosthenes' First Olynthiac ('Eni noWwv fxhv av). The people of Olynthus had asked the Athe- nians for help against Philip, who threatened to enslave them. End intended : to encourage and arouse the Athenians. Introduction : We may thank the gods for this occasion ; profit by it.
Part I. To encourage. Proposition : I will reveal to you Philip's shameful con- dition.
Proof 1. Considering his allies :
(a) He has grown powerful by deceit — facts prove it — hence no one will trust him any longer ; (0) He cannot keep his allies by main force ; (c) Power built on deceit is not lasting. Hence now is the time for us to act, assisting Olynthus,
sending ambassadors to Thessaly. But we must act at once, else no one will mind us ; and energetically — this will reveal his weakness. Proof 2. His own power is little : (a) Macedon by itself is weak ; (&) h is weakened by internal discord, as his
A nalysis and Synopsis. 1 1 q
subjects share not his ambition, and they are the sufferers by these wars ;
(c) Even his army is not what they say, for through jealousy he discards good gene- rals ; honest men cannot bear his dissipa- tion ; hence none but knaves and flatterers surround him — you know some of them ;
(d) His first reverses will show all this ; com- parison with hidden diseases.
Proof 3. He is not the favorite of fortune, which rather favors us. His success arises : (a) From our neglect and his activity ; (d) From our folly, who do more for others
than for ourselves ; (c) From our trifling away precious time. Part II. To arouse the Athenians to action. Proposition : We must change our ways. /. Proofs :
1. The conduct which has ruined all can re- store nothing ;
2. We cannot afford to lose any more. II. Plan proposed :
1. Contribute, march out, etc.,
2. Treat your generals better ;
3. Do away with your party spirit ;
4. Contribute equally ;
5. Hear all alike, then judge.
Conclusion : Do not so much applaud your speaker as act in such a way that you may applaud yourselves.
186. VL Demosthenes' Third Olynthiac ('Avti noWtiov av).
Circumstances similar to preceding.
Introduction : You wish to know what to do ; well, then, listen and judge.
i:20 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
Part I.
Proposition : We must seize the opportunity.
Proofs : i. Philip is so active that we must be on the spot ;
2. The opportunity is a good one ; for the Olyn- thians will be firm allies, as they distrust and hate Philip ;
3. We have been putting it off too long already ;
4. The gods invite, we must co-operate ;
5. It is our last chance ; proved by rapid sketch of Philip's encroachments.
Part II
Introduction : You want to know how ; I am afraid of proposing measures, but I must overlook my danger. Proposition 1. Send some troops to Olynthus, others to Macedon.
Proof : We must divide his power. Proposition 2. Provide money, or rather use well what money you have.
Proof : We must have money for this war. Part III. Enforces these measures by proving : Proposition 1. Success is certain : Proofs :
(a) Philip would not have advanced if he had expected resistance ;
(b) The Thessalonians are unfaithful to him ;
(c) The Paeonians and Illyrians are unreli- able. Hence set to work ; details.
Proposition 2. Action is necessary. Proofs :
1. Else the war will come to us, as no one else will resist ;
2. That will be a great calamity.
Analysis and Synopsis. 121
Conclusion : Let all ranks do their duty. 187. VII. St. John Chrysostom's speech of Flavian to Theodosins. The people of Antioch had insulted the emperor during a tumult ; a severe punishment was order- ed by the latter. The aged Bishop Flavian, in a speech attributed to his deacon, St. John Chrysostom, pleads for pardon and obtains it.
Introduction allays the emperor's anger : (a) By exhibiting humility and love ; (6) By artfully presenting another object for indigna- tion ; (c) By exciting pity for the condemned city. Proposition (implied) : You should pardon. Arguments : I Extrinsic .
i. Example of God pardoning man. This is skilfully treated, showing that in the present case, as in the example cited, the evil spirit is chiefly to blame, and is punished by the act of pardon ;
2. Example of Constantine ; its glory amplified ;
3. Example of Theodosius himself, applying a wish which he once uttered to the present case.
/7. Intrinsic :
1. Glory of pardoning shown from its nature and effects ;
2. Its rewards from God ;
3. The propriety of granting this to a bishop :
(a) It shows more freedom ;
(b) It argues piety ;
(c) The bishop is a messenger from God, the Judge ;
(d) He comes without gifts, inviting the em- peror to imitate God.
122 Order or Arrangement of Thoughts.
Peroration . If you do not pardon I will not return to my people.
The chief beauty lies in the art of insinuation and in ten- derness and elevation of feeling.
1 88. VIII. St. John Chrysostom's Speech on the Disgrace of Eutropius.
Eutropius, as prime minister, had oppressed the faithful of Constantinople ; disgraced, he had sought refuge in the cathedral ; the indignant populace clamored for his death. St. Chrysostom ascends the pulpit to calm them, to make them forgive and intercede for the fallen minister with the Emperor Arcadius.
It is a model of insinuation, as artful as it is noble. He appears at first to insist on nothing but what every one grants — the vanity of honors and riches — thus inspiring pity for a man who had been beguiled by these, and who is already so much punished; thus the orator draws tears from all eyes. Then he ascends to the sublimest senti- ments of Christianity, and persuades all to pardon their enemy and intercede for him. Plan:
Introduction (ex abrupto) : Greatness is vanished, the
foe is prostrate. Prop. I. The vanity of life should be ever remembered ; developed by enumeration, description, contrast ; hence the fall of one should be a lesson for all. Prop. II. Elevation is not only vain, but dangerous.
Proof . See how the minister is fallen — a tableau to move pity. Refutation :
Obf. i. " He has insulted the Church."
Answer : " Therefore God has wished him to feel
her power and her mercy." Ob/. 2. " No glory in pardoning such a wretch."
Analysis and Synopsis. 123
Answer :
{a) " Such was the harlot pardoned by our
Saviour." (&) " Thus Christ forgave his enemies on the cross.'' Peroration contains the main proposition : Let us pray for him and intercede for him with the emperor.
Effect : His life was spared for the present ; some days after, having left the church, he was arrested, banished, and at last executed.
BOOK IV.
DEVELOPMENT OF THOUGHT.
• 189. When the arguments of a speech have been collected and properly arranged, the next task of the orator is to de- velop all the parts of the plan or synopsis which he has prepared, so that every thought may be presented to the best advantage. In this task he may be much assisted by the precepts which rhetoricians have laid down for the several parts of the oration. We shall consider these parts in the order in which they usually occur.
CHAPTER I.
THE INTRODUCTION.
190. The Inti^iwtio»,_i}i_Exq]^um, as Blair remarks, " is not a rhetorical invention. It is founded upon nature and suggested by common sense. When one is going to counsel another, when he takes upon himself to instruct or to reprove, prudence will generally direct him not to do it abruptly, but to use some preparation, to begin with some- what that may incline the persons to whom he addresses himself to judge favorably of what he is about to say, and may dispose them to such a train of thought as will forward and assist the purpose which he has in view. This is, or ought to be, the main scope of an introduction."
191. "Accordingly Cicero and Quintilian mention three ends, to one or other of which it should be subservient : Redder^ auditores benevolos, attentos, dodl&s^ First, to con- ciliate the good-will of the hearers — to render them bene- volent, or well affected, to the speaker and to the subject. Topics for this purpose may, in causes at the bar, be some- times taken from the particular situation of the speaker himself or his client, or from the character and behavior of his antagonist contrasted with his own ; on other oc- casions, from the nature of the subject, as closely con- nected with the interest of the hearers; and in general from the modesty and good intention with which the speaker enters upon his subject. The second end of an introduc- tion is, to obtain the attention of the hearers, which may be done by giving them some hints of the importance, dignity, or novelty of the subject, or some favorable
125
126 Development of Thought.
view of the clearness and precision with which we shall treat it, and of the brevity with which we shall discourse. "fhe third end is to render the hearers docile, or open to per- suasion, for which end we must begin by studying to re- ,'move any particular prepossessions they may have con- : tracted against the cause or the side of the argument which we espouse."
192. " Some one of these ends should be proposed by every introduction. When there is no occasion for aiming at any of them, when we are already secure of the good- will, the attention, and the docility of the audience, as may often be the case, formal introductions may without preju- dice be omitted. And, indeed, when they serve for no pur- pose but mere ostentation, they had, for the most part, better be omitted, unless as far as respect to the audience makes it decent that a speaker should not break in upon them too ab- ruptly, but by a short exordium prepare them for what he is going to say. Demosthenes' introductions are always short and simple ; Cicero's are fuller and more artful." (Lect. xxxi.) "' -J^i,^-~"~'
193. We may distinguish two kinds of Introductions : the Calm and the Passionate. The latter — the exordium exjibrupto, as it is usually called — supposes that not only the speaker but also the hearers are excited by unusual cir-(
/cumstances ; otherwise it would appear unseasonable to b? gm a speech in a passionate manner. The most familiar example of this species is the Exordium of Cicero's first Catilinian oration. In it passion was most opportune. Catiline, a known conspirator against the state, had dared to come into the senate when it had been expressly con- voked to defeat his plans. All shrank from him as from a criminal. Cicero addresses him thus :
" How long, O Catiline, wilt thou abuse our patience ? How long wilt thou baffle justice in thy mad career? To
The Introduction. 127
what extreme wilt thou carry thy audacity ? Art thou no- thing daunted by the nightly watch posted to secure the Palatium ? . . . Seest thou not that all thy plots are ex- posed ? that thy conspiracy is laid bare to every man's knowledge here in the senate ? that we are all well aware of thy proceedings of last night, of the night before ; the place of meeting, the company convoked, the measures concerted ? Alas the times ! alas the public morals ! The senate understands this. The consul sees it. Yet the traitor lives ! Lives ? Ay, truly, and confronts us here in council ; takes part in the public deliberations ; marks and destines every one of us as a victim for the impending butchery," etc.
194. The Calgu Introduction may be of three species : Simple, Solemn, or Insinudting7 Of the Simplfe, which is, of "course, the most common, here is an example : Edmund Burke, speaking on the East India Bill of Mr. Fox, begins thus : " Mr. Speaker, I thank you for pointing to me ; I really wished much to engage your attention in an early stage of the debate. I have been long very deeply, though perhaps imperfectly, engaged in the preliminary in- quiries, which have continued without intermission for some years," etc. So the First Philippic and First Olyn- thiac, the Oration on the Chersonesus, of Demosthenes, and most other introductions of this great orator.
195. Of the So2§HiB-"w'e have examples in the Oration on the Crown, in that on the Maniliaji-iaw, in many of Bossuet's great panegyrics. Webster's Oration at the Lay- ing of the Corner-stone of the Bunker Hill Monument be- gins thus :
" This uncounted multitude before me and around me proves the feeling which the occasion has excited. These thousands of human faces, glowing with sympathy and joy, and, from the impulses of a common gratitude, turned
128 Development of Thought.
reverently to heaven in this spacious temple of the firma- ment, proclaim that the day, the place, and the purpose of our assembling have made a deep impression on our hearts," etc.
196. Of the Insinuating, Cicero's speech against RuJJjis contains a beautiful specimen. We give Blair's comments on the subject. He says (Lect. xxxi.) : " This Rullus was a tribune of the people, and had proposed an agrarian law the purpose of which was to create a decemvirate, or ten commissioners, with absolute power for five years over all the lands conquered by the republic, in order to divide them among the citizens. Such laws had often been pro- posed by factious magistrates, and were always greedily re- ceived by the people. Cicero is speaking to the people ; he had lately been made consul by their interest, and his first attempt is to make them reject this law. The subject was extremely delicate and required much art. He begins with acknowledging all the favors which he has received from the people, in preference to the nobility. He pro- fesses himself the creature of their power, and of all men the most engaged to promote their interest. He declares that he held himself to be consul of the people, and that he would always glory in preserving the character of a popular magistrate. But to be popular, he observes, is an ambiguous word. He understood it to import a steady at- tachment to the real interest of the people, to their liberty, their ease, and their peace ; but by some, he says, it was abused, and made a cover to their own selfish and am- bitious designs. In this manner he begins to draw gradu- ally nearer to his purpose of attacking the proposal of Rullus, but still with great management and reserve. He protests that he is far from being an enemy to agrarian laws ; he gives the highest praise to the Gracchi, those zealous patrons of the people, and assures them that when
The Introduction. 129
he first heard of Rullus' law he had resolved to support it, if he found it for their interest ; but that, upon examining it, he found it calculated to establish a dominion that was inconsistent with liberty, and to aggrandize a few men at the expense of the public; and then terminates his exordium with telling them that he is going to give his reasons for being of this opinion, but that, if his reasons shall not satisfy them, he will give up his own opinion and embrace theirs. In all this there was great art. His eloquence pro- duced the desired effect, and the people with one voice re- jected the agrarian law."
197. But perhaps the finest masterpiece of insinuation is the supposed speech of Mark Antony over the dead body of Caesar, as given in Shakspeare's " Caesar," act iii. sc. 2.
When no advantage is to be obtained by an introduction, none need be used, but the orator may rush " in medias res" as is frequently done in deliberative assemblies. Thus Lord Mansfield, On Taxing America, begins thus : " My Lord, I shall speak to the question strictly as a matter of right."
198. For the Introduction, whatever its kind, rhetori- cians lay down some excellent rules.
The first rule is, that the Introduction should be eagy_ and natural. The subject must always suggest it. It must appear, as Qicero beautifully expresses it, " efflazMisse~£em~ tus e re de qua agitur " — " to have sprung from the matter under consideration as naturally as a flower springs from the stem." In order to render introductions natural and easy, it will be well to follow the practice of Cicero. " When I have planned and digested all the materials of my discourse," he says, " it is my custom to think in the last place of the introduction with which I am to begin."
A secaad-^ule for Introductions is that cairectaess should be carefully studied in the expression. The hearers are
130 Development of Thought.
not as yet occupied with the subject and the arguments ; their attention is wholly directed to the speaker's style and manner. Still, for the same reason, too apparent art is to be avoided. Ut videamur, says Quintilian, accurate, non callide__diiere — " That we may appear to speak wTtfTcare, not with craft."
" In the third place" says Blair, "modegtjr_is another cha- racter whicnttr-mjist carry. All appearances of modesty are favorable and prepossessing. If the orator set out with an air of arrogance and ostentation, the self-love and pride of the hearers will be presently awakened, and will follow him with a very suspicious eye throughout all his progress. His modesty should discover itself not only in his expressions at the beginning, but in his whole manner ; in his looks, in his gestures, in the tone of his voice. Every auditory take in good part those marks of respect and awe which are paid to them by one who addresses them. Indeed, the modesty of an introduction should never betray anything mean or abject. It is always of great use to an orator that, together with modesty and deference to his hearers, he should show a certain sense ofjUgaity, arising from a per- suasion of the justice or importance of the subject on which he is to speak. . . There are cases in which it is allow- able for him to set out from the first in a high and bold tone ; as, for instance, when he rises to defend some cause which has been much run down and decried by the pub- lic."
Fourthly, The Introduction should usually be carried on in a Cj^ni_manner ; the exception of the exordium ex ab- rupto has already been explained.
Fifthly, It is a rule in Introductions not jto anticipate any material part of the subject, lest important arguments lose the charm of novelty.
Sixthly, The Introduction ought to be propojtwmtte,
The Introduction. 131
both in length and in kind, to the discourse which is to fol- low, since good taste requires among the parts of any com- position a certain proportion both in length and spirit.
199. In thejiasej)f repliea— Quintilian makes an observa- tion which is worth inserting here. He says : " An intro- duction which is founded upon the pleading of the opposite party is extremely graceful, for this reason : that it appears not to have been meditated at home, but to have naturally arisen from the discussion and to have been composed on the spot. Hence it gives to the speaker the reputation of a quick invention, and adds weight likewise to his dis- course as artless and unlabored, insomuch that, though all the rest of his oration should be studied and written, yet the discourse appears to be extempore."
CHAPTER II.
NARRATION AND EXPLANATION
200. Narration _ properly regards facts which should suc- ceed each other/ Explanation regards a situation, a doc- trine, a view of what exists simultaneously. Both are treated as separate parts of speeches when they are made the foundation of subsequent reasoning. Thus the lawyer narrates the facts of his case before he begins to reason on them ; the preacher explains a doctrine before he proves it or applies it to his hearers.
20 1. As the Narration or Explanation is to be the foun- dation of subsequent reasoning, this fact, whilst revealing its importance, also determines the rules that should direct it ; for everything is to be adapted to the end intended. Hence we have the following rules: "To be clear and dis- tinct" says Blair, "to be probable and to be concise, are the qualities which critics chiefly require in narration : each of which carries sufficiently the evidence of its im- portance. Distinctness belongs to the whole train of the discourse, but is especially requisite in narration, which ought to throw light on all that follows. A fact or a single circumstance left in obscurity, and misapprehended by the judge, may destroy the effect of all the argument and reasoning which the speaker employs. If his narration be not probable the judge will not regard it, and if it be tedious and diffuse he will be tired of it and forget it. In order to procure distinctness, besides the study of the general rules of perspicuity which were formerly given, narration requires a particular attention to ascertain clearly
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the names, the dates, the places, and every other material circumstance of the facts recounted. In order to be -pre- — bablein narration, it is material to enter into the characters of the persons of whom we speak, and to show that their actions proceeded from such motives as are natural and likely to gain belief. In order to be as concise as the subject will admit, it is necessary to throw out all super- fluous circumstances, the rejection of which will likewise tend to make our narration more forcible and more clear."
202. To the three qualities just mentioned we may add two others, elegance and truthfulness. Of elegance the judi- cious Father Kleutgen remarks (Ars Dicendi, n. 379) : " That the narration may gain credit by conciliating and moving the heart, it should be embellished with all possible charms ; this rule will be modified by the subject. In un- important matters, as private pleadings generally are, let the style be concise. Let there be great care in the choice of words, that they be expressive and attuned to the sense, a concealed but charming melody ; the figures not poetically bold, but varied enough to keep interest alive. For explanation is of itself destitute of all charms, and unless it commend itself by such beauty it will necessarily appear tame and dry. Nor is the hearer ever more atten- tive ; and, therefore, nothing that is well expressed is lost. Besides, some way or other, we believe more readily what is pleasing to the ear, and pleasure obtains credit."
" But when the matter is more important it will be proper to expose crime with indignation, and suffering in strains of pity, not so as to exhaust these passions, but so as to give the hearers a taste of them, that the main tone of the future speech may at once be understood."
203. That truthjfjjlBe8S'~is required of an honest man on all occasions is a general principle from which no depar- ture is ever allowed. But what if a lawyer defends a cul-
134 Development of Thought.
prit whom he knows to be guilty ? Is he to proclaim the full truth ? No, indeed : the culprit's crime is his own secret, which, for the common good, the law respects until the guilt is proved ; and his lawyer is sacredly bound by the duties of his office to protect that secret. When the orator asserts his client's innocence he tells no lie ; for his words mean, in the acceptation of men, that the client is innocent before the court, or not legally guilty — that, as the Scotch express it, the crime is not proven. But this does not entitle the lawyer to state what is positively and un- equivocally false. His skill will consist in presenting all the facts favorable to him in a clear light, while he throws doubt and an air of indistinctness on the facts alleged against him, and treats all that is not proven as not having happened.
204. A beautiful mgjlel of this s4dlful--managom-e«t is found in the narration of Cicero's speech for Milo ; every circumstance making it unlikely that Milo waylaid Clodius is distinctly pointed out, while the affray itself is made con- fused enough, with little light thrown except on the palli- ating circumstances. He says : " Milo, after staying in the senate that day till the senate adjourned, went home. He changed his shoes and dress ; he waited a little, while his wife was getting ready ; then he started at a time when Clodius, if he was to come to Rome at all that day, could already have returned. He is met by Clodius unencum- bered, on horseback, without carriage or baggage, without the Greek companions he was wont to have, without his wife — a rare exception — while this waylayer, who, they pre- tended had planned that journey to commit the murder, was riding with his wife in a carriage, wrapped up in his cloak, attended by a large promiscuous crowd, with a nu- merous suite of women and delicate boys and girls. He meets Clodius before the latter's farm an hour before sun-
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down or thereabouts. At once a numerous armed band rush on him from a higher ground ; those in front slay his driver ; but by the time Milo had thrown off his cloak and jumped from the carriage, and while he was vigorously defending himself, the attendants of Clodius, with drawn swords, ran back to the carriage to attack Milo in the rear, while some, because they thought him already killed, began to slay his slaves who were behind. Of these some, faithful to their master, and preserving their presence of mind, fell in the action ; others, seeing the contest around the car- riage, and unable to help their master, and hearing from Clodius' own lips that Milo was slain, and believing it to be true, did — I will say it not to exculpate him, but as it hap- pened— the slaves of Milo did, without the orders, or know- ledge, or presence of their master, what every man would have wished his own slaves to do under the circumstances.''
205. Another admirable specimen of Narration at the bar is found in Webster's Speech in Knapp's Trial, giving the facts of the murder of Mr. White ; it is, as the occasion required, more ornate and pathetic than Cicero's.
206. The Narration may be omitted if the judge or the audience not only know the facts, but also view them as the speaker desires ; and, in general, when no probable ad- vantage will result from its insertion.
207. The Narration is sometimes divided into parts; such a division is useful :
1. When the whole truth told at once would offend ;
2. When the opponent's narration must be refuted point by point ;
3. When the matter is too intricate; it may then be ex- plained by portions. Thus Webster relates separately : (a) the murder of White ; (l>) all that proves the existence of a conspiracy ; (c) the circumstantial evidence of Knapp's concurrence as a principal in the murder. Demosthenes
136 Development of Thought.
also, in his speech on the Crown, has made several distinct narrations, the ground-work of separate reasonings. Al- most all the rules and remarks which apply to Narration are also suited to Explanation, on which, therefore, we need not comment any further.
CHAPTER III.
PROPOSITION AND DIVISION.
208. After the Introduction and the Narration or Ex- planation it is natural and usual for the speaker to state briefly his Propasitijffi — i.e., what he undertakes to prove or advocate. This statement is generally useful and often necessary. It should be made whenever the hearers do not already know what we are going to maintain, unless there is danger of arousing their prejudices ; in this latter case the Proposition may either be deferred till near the end of