REFACE THIS book is not designed as an introduction to English composition, but rather as a systematic presentation of the laws of discourse, for advanced classes. Most of the text-books on Rhetoric take a one-sided view of the subject. Dr. Whately has treated Rhetoric as a branch of Logic, making it "the art of inventing and arranging arguments;" Dr. Blair treats it as a department of applied Esthetics, as if it were a purely critical art; Dr. Theremin regards it as belonging to Ethics, as if eloquence were a virtue. This little work aims to explain the whole theory of effective discourse, for whatever purpose and in whatever form it may be used. The specific province of the rhetorician is to render given ideas effective in producing mental changes in others. Rhetoric treats of thought militant. Logic furnishes conceptions which are formally true; Esthetics, conceptions which are beautiful; Ethics, conceptions which are just Rhetoric takes these conceptions and establishes them in the mind. of another. Rhetoricians have frequently regarded Invention as a part of Rhetoric. Invention implies the production of scue particular kind of thought, conditioned by the nature of the subject-matter. What propositions are to be maintained by the lawyer, the theologian, the scientist, or the critic, must depend upon the facts of law, theology, science and criticism. The methods of investigation are different in the various departments of thought. Hence no truly useful rules can be given on this subject. The truth has been forcibly stated by John Stuart Mill. He says: "Invention, though it can be cultivated, cannot be reduced to rule; there is no science which will enable a man to bethink himself of that which will suit his purpose. But when he has thought of something, science will tell him whether that which he has thought of will suit his purpose or not." Disposition has often been made a distinct division of Rhetoric. The arrangement of matter contributes greatly to the effectiveness of discourse, but is so conditioned by the nature of the subject-matter, that it cannot properly be made a distinct department of rhetorical science. The parts of a Description, Narration, Exposition, or Argument should be arranged according to the specific laws of these different kinds of discourse. Disposition has been treated in connection with the different classes of ideas, and not as a distinct topic. No recognition is taken of the traditional division of a Discourse into (1) Introduction, (2) Division, (3) Narration, (4) Explication, and (5) Peroration. This is regarded as mechanical and conventional. There is often nothing to divide, or nothing to narrate, or nothing to explicate. All this depends upon the nature of the subject-matter. As a rule, the less conventional the division of a discourse the better. It has been customary to introduce into works on Rhetoric some discussion of Taste, Beauty, Sublimity, |