■ 
 
 ■ < v ' 
 
Class PK*H1U 
 
 Book 
 
 Copyright^ . 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
RHETORIC ^ 
 
 AS AN 
 
 ART OF PERSUASION, 
 
 FROM THE STANDPOINT OF A LAWYER. 
 
 By AN OLD LAWYER. 
 
 •: — , 
 
 m,ss-(£ l 
 
 DES MOINES, IOWA: 
 
 Mills & Company, Law Publishers. 
 
 1880. 
 
 

 Entebed Accobding to Act of Congbess, 
 In the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty. 
 
 By MILLS & COMPANY, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, . 
 at Washington. 
 
 MILLS & COMPANY, 
 
 STEBEOTYPEBS AND PBINTEBS, 
 
 DES MOINES. 
 
To Students of Law, 
 
 AND OTHER YOUNG GENTLEMEN WHOSE TASTE MAY 
 INCLINE THEM TO LEARN SOMETHING CON- 
 CERNING THE ART OF DEBATE 
 AND PUBLIC SPEAKING, 
 
 THIS ESSAY IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 Keokuk, Iowa, a. d. 1880. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION IN ITS APPLICA- 
 TION TO FORENSIC DISCUSSIONS SPECIALLY, AND TO 
 PUBLIC SPEAKING GENERALLY, FROM THE STAND- 
 POINT OF A LAWYER. 
 
 Having been engaged in the almost constant study of 
 the law and kindred subjects since the autumn of 1835, 
 and in the practice of the law since the spring of 1S39, it 
 occurred to me several years ago, that my long experience 
 at the bar might perhaps enable me to write something of 
 practical utility and benefit not only to students of law 
 and younger members of the legal fraternity, but also to 
 other young gentlemen of literary tendencies and honor- 
 able ambition. 
 
 Eeflecting upon a theme to write upon, I wondered at 
 the fact that there are so many gentlemen of liberal edu- 
 cation and good reasoning capacity, who yet cannot ex- 
 press themselves in public on the most trite subject with- 
 out stammering and being abashed ; and, especially, how 
 many lawyers there are, who, though learned and skilled 
 in the principles and precepts of law, are indifferent as 
 advocates ; and believing thafc acuteness in argument, and 
 eloquence in speech, are, as a general rule, rather ac- 
 quired powers than natural gifts, it occurred to me that 
 if I could write with credit on any subject at all, I could 
 use my pen to no greater advantage than to express my 
 ideas briefly, but generally, concerning public speeches, 
 whether at the bar or elsewhere; to instruct the student 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 of oratory with the statement of a few plain and practi- 
 cal rules,- which if properly noted and observed, will the 
 most speedily conduct him successfully to the goal of his 
 ambition. 
 
 Accordingly in the spring of A. D. 1877, 1 embraced the 
 opportunity to withdraw for a short period from profes- 
 sional and other business engagements, and wrote the 
 essay, following, to-wit : 
 
 " Rhetoric as an art of persuasion in its application to 
 forensic discussions specially, and to public speaking gen- 
 erally, from the standpoint of a lawyer." 
 
 Although the state of Ohio is now justly distinguished 
 for the efficiency of its common school system, and its 
 many seminaries for instruction in the higher depart- 
 ments of literature, yet, when I resided there in my school- 
 boy days, the system of common schools had not been 
 adopted, and our means of education were very limited, 
 being such only as could be got at private schools, which 
 were usually taught in log buildings, and seldom longer 
 than during the winter months of the year. Little or no 
 attention was given by our teachers of those days to 
 either elocution or rhetoric ; and, indeed, I have no recol- 
 lection of ever having received a lesson or heard a lecture 
 in reference to tones and modulations of voice, or of the 
 arrangement of words and sentences into a discourse or 
 argument, until after I had passed into the years of man- 
 hood. 
 
 Indeed, in those days, in the section of country referred 
 to, the speaking of the pulpit (where the preacher, with 
 white neck-tie, stood erect in his dress of black, and read 
 his sermon in monotonous tones from a manuscript be- 
 fore him, with one arm hanging at his side, and the other 
 engaged in turning over sheets of paper), was considered 
 the par excellence of attitude, gesticulation, and oratory; 
 and an impassioned speaker, especially if he indulged in 
 
PREFACE. 7 
 
 much gesticulation, however graceful and natural it might 
 be, would hardly have been tolerated. 
 
 The consequence was, that when I came to the bar, I 
 was very deficient in the art of public speaking, and es- 
 pecially so in elocution, or mode of utterance with proper 
 gestures ; defects which still exist in me of which I am 
 often painfully impressed. And I soon saw that if a 
 lawyer would secure good retainers and win popular ap- 
 plause, it is not sufficient for him to be learned in the ele- 
 ments and practice of his profession, and to be enabled to 
 explain the difference between the subject and predicate 
 of a legal proposition; but he must also be enabled to 
 advocate his client's cause in " thoughts that breathe, and 
 words that burn." 
 
 I was then too far advanced in life, besides being too 
 much hampered with business affairs, to attempt the 
 study of elocution, which requires much practice and the 
 aid of a competent teacher; but I still thought I saw 
 some hope of my success at the bar, if I made a specialty 
 of the study of rhetoric, and accordingly I devoted such 
 time to its study as I could spare from my professional 
 and other engagements during the first several years after 
 my admission to the bar. I studied many American and 
 English authors on the subject of rhetoric, but found 
 nothing in them to compare in usefulness and thorough- 
 ness of instruction to Quintillian's Institutes of Oratory. 
 He, it appears to me, has left nothing unsaid on the sub- 
 ject of rhetoric which can be profitable to study or know. 
 His work is quite extensive, and it requires months of 
 severe study to fully understand and appreciate it; but 
 whoever will undergo the necessary labor, will find the 
 rules and principles there laid down a never-ending source 
 of both pleasure and profit. 
 
 Pope in his " Essay on Criticism," says : 
 
 u In grave Quintillian's copious works we find 
 The justest rules and clearest method joined." 
 
8 PREFACE. 
 
 For illustration of ideas and precepts, numerous quota- 
 tions have been introduced into the essay. Quotations in 
 frequent use, and the authors of which are supposed .to be 
 generally known, are indicated simply by quotation marks ; 
 but where supposed to be not generally known, the names 
 of the authors are stated. 
 
 To aid the memory in its recollection of details, and 
 also for advantage of reference, the essay is divided and 
 subdivided into chapters and sections. 
 
 DANIEL F. MILLER, Sr. 
 Keoktjk, Iowa, A. D. 1880. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Preface, -------5 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 What Rhetoric is, - - - - - 11 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Divisions of a Speech, - - - - - 13 
 
 Section 1. 
 Exordium, ------ 13 
 
 Section 2. 
 Statement of the case, - - - - - 23 
 
 Section 3. 
 Argument, ------ 40 
 
 Section 4. 
 Peroration, -.-.-- 79 
 
10 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Figures of Speech, 
 Metonomy, - 
 Syneodoche, 
 Exclamation, 
 Comparison, 
 Metaphor, - 
 Allegory, 
 Hyperbole, - 
 Rhetorical dialogue, 
 Interrogation, 
 Personification, 
 Vision, 
 ^Apostrophe, 
 Antithesis, - 
 Epimone, 
 Irony, 
 Climax, 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 85 
 
 • S6 
 
 87 
 
 - 87 
 
 8S 
 
 93 
 
 05 
 
 99 
 
 100 
 
 124 
 
 124 
 
 134 
 
 136 
 
 140 
 
 146 
 
 149 
 
 152 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 General Reflections on speech delivery, natural 
 and artificial language, and application - - 157 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Concluding Remarks, - 
 
 170 
 
RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 WHAT RHETORIC IS. 
 
 Rhetoric in its most comprehensive sense, 
 is, simply, the art of persuasion, whether by 
 written or printed compositions, by private 
 conversations, or by public speeches; but in 
 its most common signification, it is the art 
 of persuasion by public speaking, commonly 
 called oratory. 
 
 Rhetoric and logic are sometimes con- 
 founded in idea, but they are not the same 
 in signification in all regards. 
 
 Logic in its strict meaning is simply the 
 art of thinking and reasoning correctly. Its 
 purpose is to direct the understanding cor- 
 rectly "in its investigation of truth, and 
 the communication of it to others." But it 
 aims not to influence the will, except so far 
 
12 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 as truth in its simple and unadorned garb 
 can accomplish that purpose. The leading 
 idea of logic is truth for its own sake, and 
 the influencing of the will is only one of its 
 incidents. 
 
 But the chief purpose of rhetoric is to in- 
 fluence the will, and hence logic is neces- 
 sarily a part of rhetoric, since a speech 
 which is not more or less supported by rea- 
 soning, is simple rhapsody. 
 
 Ehetoric arranges arguments in the mode 
 best calculated to make impression, and in- 
 structs how to avoid the devices of the sophist; 
 it calls to its aid the glow of imagination, 
 the brilliancy of wit, the shading of sympa- 
 thy, the flowers of poetry, the graces of elo- 
 cution or delivery, and the figures of speech. 
 In a word it (rhetoric) considers man an 
 emotional as well as rational being, and ad- 
 dresses him accordingly. In the terse lan- 
 guage of Kev. J. G.Wilson, "Conversation is 
 not oratory; lecturing is not oratory; the 
 orator is the effective persuasive speaker. 
 Eloquence is logic set on fire; it quickens 
 the emotions, it incites the sensibilities, it 
 prompts the will to action." 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 
 
 Order and system are God's first law of 
 nature for the government of the material 
 universe, and every one who has devoted 
 much time to literary pursuits, knows, that 
 order and system are equally essential for the 
 successful pursuit of knowledge, and that 
 without them, the effort will be barren of 
 results. Oratory is no exception to these 
 rules, and the simplest order and division of 
 a speech by which it may be most readily 
 and successfully attained, is, into 1st. Exor- 
 dium, 2nd. Statement of the case, 3rd. Argu- 
 ment (consisting of confirmation and confu- 
 tation), and 4th. Peroration. 
 
 Section 1. 
 
 Exordium. 
 
 The Exordium is the commencement of 
 the speech ; it is the self introduction of the 
 speaker to the audience, and its purpose is 
 
14 EHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 to conciliate them, and prepare their minds 
 to give the cause he advocates, if not a 
 favorable, at least an impartial hearing. 
 The exordium can be seldom dispensed with 
 to advantage, since if it is judiciously han- 
 dled, it not only secures an impartial recep- 
 tion from the hearers, but also constitutes 
 an embellishment of what is to follow, the 
 same as a stately building shows to more 
 architectural advantage, with a properly ad- 
 justed portico at its front external opening 
 or entrance. 
 
 When the audience is laboring under a 
 high pressure of mental excitement, and 
 especially if in known sympathy with the 
 speaker, he may often with advantage omit 
 the exordium altogether, as Cicero did in his 
 famous speech against Cataline, commenc- 
 ing; "How far, ! Cataline ! wilt thou abuse 
 our patience? How long shall thy frantic 
 fury baffle the ends of justice? " 
 
 A proper respect for the audience requires 
 that the exordium should, as a general rule, 
 be spoken in a low, modest, and subdued 
 tone of voice; but common sense and expe- 
 rience are the only true guides of what should 
 constitute the subject-matter of the exor- 
 dium. If the audience is favorably disposed, 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 15 
 
 a few words generally suffice for an exordium ; 
 but if otherwise, a longer introduction of 
 conciliatory ideas and expressions is neces- 
 sary. 
 
 Able logicians, so far as dry argument is 
 concerned, often fail as advocates and popu- 
 lar speakers, because of not approaching 
 their hearers with a becoming introduction; 
 while others with less logical ability, but 
 more practical sense, by proper words of 
 conciliation at the start, carry off the palm 
 of victory. 
 
 And although the exordium is the com- 
 mencement of the speech, it should seldom 
 if ever be prepared until the other parts of 
 the address are fully matured and settled 
 upon. As in building a house the portico is 
 the last thing to be erected, and must be 
 constructed to bear a proper relation to the 
 other parts of the main edifice, so the exor- 
 dium though placed at the front of the 
 speech, cannot be judiciously prepared until 
 what is to follow shall be fully matured and 
 known. In hearing a set speech the edu- 
 cated mind can generally tell before the ad- 
 dress is half through whether the exordium 
 is prepared first or last; and if first, in nine 
 cases out of ten there will be such an incon- 
 
16 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 gruity in the several parts of the discourse, 
 that it will be pronounced a failure. On 
 several occasions I have heard speakers of con- 
 siderable celebrity commence with lengthy 
 and stately exordiums, and follow with ar- 
 guments which had hardly a good or solid 
 idea in them. A grandiloquent or flashy 
 opening, followed by a dearth of argument, 
 is always offensive to the intelligent ear, and 
 should be avoided. 
 
 Cicero was particularly careful in the pre- 
 paration of his exordiums. And it would «be 
 well for the student of oratory to study him 
 in this regard with special attention. His 
 plan, usually, was first to mature his argu- 
 ment, and then prepare the exordium, though 
 he sometimes commenced without an exor- 
 dium, as in his speech against Cataline, here- 
 tofore referred to, where the excitement of 
 the occasion engaged him in debate, without 
 regard to the formal parts of oratory. 
 
 Whoever is able to speak at all in public, 
 and will go to the trouble of studying the 
 exordiums of the eminent orators of modern 
 and ancient times, will hardly ever fail when 
 he arises to address an audience, in saying 
 such things in his opening remarks as will 
 secure him a favorable hearing. Orators are 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 17 
 
 not born such, but made by severe study; 
 and though the two great orators of anti- 
 quity (Cicero and Demosthenes) were each 
 unquestionably endowed with good natural 
 genius, yet it was their application and study 
 of the masters who preceded them, united 
 with their gifts of nature, which enabled them 
 to reach the pinnacle of oratorical character 
 and fame. The world is full of instances 
 where men of but moderate intellectual 
 endowments, have by study and application 
 excelled others in the field of oratory, whose 
 natural genius was indisputable, but who 
 were too idle to properly improve the facul- 
 ties with which God had blessed them. 
 
 EXAMPLES OF EXORDIUM. 
 
 American Declaration of Independence. 
 
 The Declaration of Independence contains 
 
 in its first paragraph a most pertinent and 
 
 elegantly expressed exordium; thus: 
 
 "When in the course of human events, it becomes nec- 
 essary for one people to dissolve the political bands which 
 have connected them with another, and to assume among 
 the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to 
 which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle 
 them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind re- 
 quires that they should declare the causes which impel 
 them to the separation." 
 2 
 
18 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 Next follows a specification of the causes 
 and justification of separation, which in 
 rhetorical idea, is, simply, a a statement of 
 the case," (which will be explained hereafter) 
 commencing: "We hold these truths to be 
 self-evident," etc., etc. 
 
 CICERO. 
 
 During the rule and proscription of Sylla 
 when great personal danger followed any 
 opposition to the wishes or measures of that 
 cruel and relentless tyrant, one of his freed- 
 men, and a favorite, too, of the tyrant, wish- 
 ing to get possession of a farm owned by one 
 Roscius, fabricated against him the charge 
 that he had been guilty of parricide, and 
 not only prosecuted him for that alleged 
 crime, but, also, even produced a witness 
 who swore, though falsel} 7 , to the truth of 
 the allegation. The case was tried to judges, 
 there being no jury trial known to Roman 
 jurisprudence, and had Roscius been con- 
 victed, his life would have been sacrificed, 
 and his property would have been seques- 
 trated for the benefit of his accuser. 
 
 Roscius applied for assistance to old and 
 experienced advocates, but who declined to 
 defend him for fear of the displeasure of 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 19 
 
 Sylla, and as a last resort he applied to Cic- 
 ero, who nobly undertook his defense and 
 defended him, and by his eloquence procured 
 an acquittal. 
 
 This defense was made soon after Cicero 
 first appeared as a pleader of causes in law 
 proceedings, and it is alleged that the speech 
 from which the following example of exor- 
 dium is taken, was the first ever made by 
 him in a criminal proceeding: 
 
 " I imagine that you, judges, are marveling why it is 
 that when so many most eminent orators and most noble 
 men, are sitting still, I, above all others, should get up, 
 who neither for age, nor for ability, nor for influence, am 
 to be compared with those who are sitting still. For all 
 these men whom you see present at this trial, think that 
 a man ought to be defended against an injury contrived 
 against him by unrivaled wickedness; but through the 
 sad state of the times they do not dare to defend him 
 themselves. So it comes to pass they are present here be- 
 cause they are attending to their business, but they are 
 silent because they are afraid of danger. What then? 
 Am I the boldest of all these men ? By no means. Am 
 I then so much more attentive to my duties than the rest? 
 I am not so covetous of even that praise, as to wish to 
 rob others of it. What is it then which lias impelled me 
 beyond all the rest to undertake the cause of Roscius ? 
 Because if any one of those men, men of the greatest 
 weight and dignity, whom you see present, had spoken, 
 had said one word about public affairs, as must be done in 
 this cause, he would be thought to have said much more 
 than he really had said; but if I should say all the things 
 
20 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 which must be said, with ever so much freedom, yet my 
 speech will never go forth, or be diffused among the peo- 
 ple in the same manner. Secondly, because anything said 
 by the others cancot be obscure, because of their nobility 
 and dignity, and cannot be excused as being spoken care- 
 lessly, on account of their age and prudence ; but if I say 
 anything with too much freedom, it may either be alto- 
 gether concealed, because I have not yet mixed in public 
 affairs, or pardoned on account of my youth; although 
 not only the method of pardoning, but even the habit of 
 examining into the truth is now eradicated from the state- 
 There is this reason, also, that perhaps the request to un- 
 dertake this cause was made to the others so that they 
 thought they could comply or refuse without prejudice to 
 their duty. * * * On these accounts I have stood 
 forward as the advocate in this cause, not as being the 
 one selected who could plead with the greatest ability, but 
 as the one left of the whole body who could do so with 
 the least danger." 
 
 HENRY CLAY. 
 
 Henry Clay usually introduced his speeches 
 with stately and beautifully expressed exor- 
 diums. In 1842 he introduced into the Sen- 
 ate of the United States, several resolutions 
 relative to the revenue, public lands, tariff, 
 etc., as indicative of "A true public policy" ; 
 and in his speech advocating them, com- 
 menced as follows: 
 
 "Mr. President: The resolutions which are to form 
 the subject of the present discussion, are of the greatest im- 
 portance, involving interests of the highest character, and 
 a system of policy, which in my opinion, lies at the bot- 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 21 
 
 torn of any restoration of the prosperity of the country. 
 In discussing them, I would address myself to yo*u in the 
 language of plainness, soberness, and truth. I did not 
 come here as if I were entering a garden full of flowers 
 and of the richest shrubbery, to cull the tea roses, the 
 japonicas, the jasmines and woodbines, and weave them 
 into a garland of the gayest colors, that by the beauty of 
 the assortment, and by their fragrance, I may gratify fair 
 ladies. Xor is it my wish, (it is far, far from my wish) to 
 revive any subjects of a party character, or which might 
 be calculated to renew the animosities which have unhap- 
 pily hitherto prevailed between the two great political 
 parties in the country. My course is far different from 
 this; it is to speak to you of the sad condition of our 
 country ; to point out not the remote and original, but the 
 proximate, the immediate causes which have produced, 
 and are likely to continue our distresses, and to suggest a 
 remedy. 
 
 "If any one, in or out of the Senate has imagined it to 
 be my intention on this occasion to indulge in any ambi- 
 tious display of language, to attempt any rhetorical flights, 
 or to deal in any other figures than figures of arithmetic, 
 he will find himself greatly disappointed. 
 
 "The farmer if he is a judicious man, does not begin to 
 plough until he has first laid off his land, and marked it 
 off at proper distances by planting stakes by which his 
 ploughmen are to be guided in their movements : and the 
 ploughman accordingly fixes his eye upon the stake oppo- 
 site to the end of the destined furrow, and then endeavors 
 to reach it by a straight and direct furrow. These resolu- 
 tions are my stakes." 
 
 DEMOSTHENES. 
 
 When Demosthenes delivered his first 
 speech against the king of Macedon which 
 
22 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 was followed by several others, all of which 
 are now termed his "Philippics/' he was 
 but thirty years of age, which made it nec- 
 essary for him to apologise in his exordium 
 "for his zeal in rising before the other 
 speakers," and which he did in the following 
 terse and expressive terms: 
 
 "Athenians: Had we been convened on some new 
 subject of debate, I had waited until most of the usual 
 persons had declared their opinions. But since those very 
 points on which these speakers have oftentimes been 
 heard already, are, at this time, to be considered, though I 
 have risen first, I presume I may expect your pardon ; for 
 if they on former occasions had advised the necessary 
 measures, ye would not have found it needful to consult 
 at present." 
 
 PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 The great Virginia orator was much op- 
 posed to the change from the Articles of 
 Confederation, to the United States Consti- 
 tution, and in the Virginia Convention of 
 1788, to consider the question of the adop- 
 tion of the Constitution, opposed the change 
 in a speech remarkable for its energy of 
 both thought and language. The following 
 was its exordium: 
 
 " Mr. Chairman : The public mind, as well as my own, 
 is extremely uneasy at the proposed change of govern- 
 ment. Give me leave to form one of those who wish to 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 23 
 
 be thoroughly acquainted with the reasons of this perilous 
 and uneasy situation, and why we are brought hither to 
 decide on this great national question. I consider myself 
 as the servant of the people of this commonwealth, as a 
 sentinel over their rights, liberty, and happiness. I rep- 
 resent their feelings when I say that they are exceedingly 
 uneasy, being brought from that state of full security, 
 which they enjoy, to the present delusive appearance of 
 things. Before the meeting of the late federal convention 
 at Philadelphia, a general peace, and an universal tran- 
 quility prevailed in this country, and the minds of our 
 citizens were at perfect repose ; but since that period they 
 are exceedingly uneasy and disquieted. * * * If 
 our situation be thus uneasy, whence has arisen this fear- 
 ful jeopardy?" 
 
 Section 2. 
 Statement of the Case. 
 
 After the exordium, the next step properly 
 in the course of a speech, is, what is termed a 
 "Statement of the Case," which is defined by 
 Quintillian to be, "An account of a thing 
 done or suffered to be done." Apollodorous, 
 a writer previous to Quintillian, defines it to 
 be, "A narrative to inform the audience 
 what the matter in question is," and which 
 is the more perspicuous and accurate defini- 
 tion. 
 
 Lawyers when addressing a court in a 
 legal proceeding, seldom find difficulty in 
 presenting an appropriate statement of the 
 
24 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 case when it relates simply to a question of 
 law; but when it is one of fact, the ascer- 
 tainment of which requires research into 
 evidence of a complicated or contradictory 
 character, there is nothing probably in the 
 practice of the law more perplexing to com- 
 prehend, or difficult to explain in clear and 
 expressive terms, than a statement of the 
 case; to state it in such terms that they who 
 are to decide the question in controversy, 
 shall properly understand its salient points, 
 and be the better enabled to comprehend 
 the evidence as it is introduced, and arrange 
 it under methodical consideration. 
 
 The clergy usually commence their ser- 
 mons by reading a text or portion of scrip- 
 ture, to be followed by argument, exposition, 
 or exhortation; and, consequently, they find 
 less difficulty in presenting the statement of 
 the case for the consideration of their hear- 
 ers. 
 
 Lecturers on scientific subjects frequently 
 find it quite difficult to find terms suffi- 
 ciently clear and expressive, to enable the 
 common class of hearers to properly com- 
 prehend the point or question to be dis- 
 coursed upon. 
 
 But be the subject matter of the discourse 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 25 
 
 or controversy what it may, it is very certain 
 that no one well versed in the art of rhetoric 
 as applied to public speaking, will engage in 
 a general discussion on the merits of the 
 matter under consideration, until he shall 
 have first made a statement of the case in 
 terms explicit and clear to the most ordinary 
 comprehension. A partial discussion of the 
 question, before a statement of the case, 
 may be, under certain conditions, advisable, 
 as will be explained hereafter in the re- 
 marks concerning argument. 
 
 To argue a matter in detail without hav- 
 ing first defined its parts and general prop- 
 erties in precise and proper terms, is like 
 putting a cart and its load before the horse, 
 and compelling him to push it ahead of him, 
 instead of placing it behind him where he 
 will have the advantage of the draw. And 
 yet how many speeches are delivered where 
 the audience has to listen until it becomes 
 wearied, before it can ascertain the point or 
 points the speaker is aiming to advocate or 
 controvert! 
 
 When the hearer comprehends at the start 
 the question to be discussed, his curiosity 
 will naturally incline him to give a willing 
 ear to learn on which side of the case the 
 
26 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 truth lies, or where the weight of the argu- 
 ment is to be found. 
 
 The sophist when he finds he is most likely 
 to be worsted by legitimate reasoning on the 
 general merits of the matter in controversy, 
 will seek to create a new issue, or to confine 
 the discussion to one or more of its parts or 
 properties, which may be more or less sus- 
 ceptible to unfavorable criticism, and win 
 success, if possible, in a display of words 
 and assumed confidence. Hence the speaker 
 who feels that he has right on his side, should 
 not only confine his remarks closely to the 
 question in controversy, but watch, also, to 
 see that his antagonist does not depart from 
 it, and originate what in law is termed a 
 "false issue," and in logic "a misapprehen- 
 sion of the question," of which more will be 
 said hereafter. 
 
 The rule recommended by Blair, in his 
 treatise on rhetoric, relative to forensic dis- 
 cussions, to-wit: "To show clearly in the 
 statement of the case, what is the point in 
 debate, what we admit, what we deny, and 
 wherein is our disagreement with the ad- 
 verse party," is a rule which applies with 
 equal force to all discourses of a controver- 
 sial character. 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 27 
 
 Mr. Lincoln, though not always very choice 
 or elegant in his language, owing doubtless 
 to his defective early education, yet was one 
 of the most effective public speakers whom 
 the United States has produced. He had a 
 peculiar gift of "putting things," as he 
 termed it, in such shape, that the point he 
 advocated or opposed, would be readily un- 
 derstood by all. /-When asked how it was 
 that he could so readily and clearly state a 
 proposition, he replied: 
 
 "Among my earliest recollections I remember how, 
 when a mere child, I used to get irritated when anybody 
 talked to me in a way I could not understand. I don't 
 think I ever got angry at anything else in my life. But 
 that always disturbed my temper. I can remember going 
 to my little bedroom after hearing the neighbors talk of 
 an evening with my father, and spending no small part of 
 the night walking up and down and trying to make out 
 what was the exact meaning of some of their, to me, dark 
 sayings. I could not sleep, though I often tried to, when 
 I got on such a hunt after an idea until I had caught it, 
 and, when I thought I had got it, I was not satisfied until 
 I had put it into language plain enough, as I thought, for 
 any boy I knew to comprehend. This was a kind of pas- 
 sion with me; it has stuck by me; for I am never easy 
 now, when I am handling a thought, till I have bounded 
 it north, and bounded it south, and bounded it east, and 
 bounded it west." 
 
 Hon. J. F. Dillon, whose learning as a law- 
 yer, and whose long experience as a judge, 
 
28 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 first of the Supreme Court of Iowa, and next 
 of the Circuit Court of the United States, 
 gave him superior opportunity to judge dis- 
 creetly of whatever relates to forensic speak- 
 ing, has done me the favor in a letter in re- 
 ply to one I had previously sent him, to give 
 me his views in relation to the statement of 
 the case, which are so pertinent, well con- 
 sidered, and elegantly expressed, that I feel 
 quite thankful in having them before me to 
 publish; and which are as follows; to-wit: 
 
 " Nothing can exceed the importance of a proper state- 
 ment of the case in a law speech. Not one lawyer in 
 twenty can state a case neatly, logically, compactly. They 
 begin in the middle, they introduce irrelevant and imma- 
 terial matters, useless details, and everything else that is 
 bad. A case ought to be opened leaf by leaf as a rose un- 
 folds. The late Judge Curtis was a model lawyer, and 
 every student ought to study the cases reported in his two 
 volumes of Circuit Court reports, with the sole aim of 
 learning how to state a case. The opinions of Chief Jus- 
 tice Marshall are admirable in this respect." 
 
 Judges Curtis and Marshall well deserve 
 the compliment extended to their memories 
 by Judge Dillon in the lines above quoted. 
 Their fame as lawyers and upright judges, is 
 the pride and glory of the American bar. 
 Their decisions in cases adjudicated by them, 
 constitute a store house of legal literature, 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECII. 
 
 29 
 
 which the student of law will do well to visit 
 frequently, to gather treasure for use in his 
 future professional career. He may hy close 
 study and application learn from elementary 
 law treatises what the law is, and what rela- 
 tion it bears in general to human affairs; but 
 if he would get to its depths and stand emi- 
 nent as an advocate, he must familiarize 
 himself with judicial decisions which ex- 
 plain the principles on which law is based, 
 and exemplify its reason and spirit by spe- 
 cial examples and illustrations. 
 
 Hedges, in his neat and elegant treatise 
 on logic, says, a "misapprehension of the 
 question," is, "when the arguments employed 
 are of a nature to establish some other 
 point foreign to the question in debate, as if 
 a person should attempt to prove that Alfred 
 the Great was a scholar by affirming only 
 that he founded the University of Oxford, or 
 that Peter the Hermit was not a christian, 
 by proving that he was an ignorant fanatic. 
 Neither of these facts" (continues Hedges, 
 truly) "has any necessary connection with 
 the question to be proved, for a man may be 
 a patron of science without being learned 
 himself, and an ignorant fanatic may b 
 believer in Christianity." 
 
30 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 The "misapprehension of the question," 
 is the reverse in idea, to that rule of law 
 which requires evidence to correspond with 
 the allegations contained in the pleadings of 
 contestants, and to be confined to the point 
 or points in issue between them; and which 
 rule excludes all evidence of collateral mat- 
 ters which do not raise a presumption or in- 
 ference in affirmation or denial of the ques- 
 tion in controversy. 
 
 Examples. 
 
 1. Thus between a landlord and tenant on the question 
 whether the rent was payable quarterly or half yearly, 
 evidence of the mode in which other tenants paid their 
 rent to the same landlord was excluded as irrelevant. 
 
 2. When the question was as to the quality of beer to 
 be furnished by the plaintiff to the defendant, it was held 
 that evidence could not be admitted of the quality of beer 
 supplied by the plaintiff to other persons. But had it been 
 further proved that the beer furnished to the other per- 
 sons, came out of the same cask or vessel as the beer in 
 controversy did, then such evidence would have been 
 competent. 
 
 3. Upon the trial of an issue whether smoke issuing 
 from the manufactory of A, was prejudicial to the prem- 
 ises of B, evidence that A had paid money to C, the owner 
 of premises adjacent to those of B, for alleged damage 
 occasioned by the smoke, is irrelevant and not admis- 
 sible. 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 31 
 
 4. In an action for slander for accusing a teacher of ill 
 treatment of his scholars, evidence of the treatment of 
 scholars In any other particular school, is not relevant. 
 
 5. Thucydides relates that in an assembly of Athenians 
 called to consider on the conduct of the Mitylenians, who 
 had been guilty of revolt. Cleon indulged in severe denun- 
 ciation of the revolters, and demanded they should be put 
 to death. But Diodutus turned the force of the invectives 
 of Cleon, by explaining to the Athenians that they were 
 not sitting in judgment, but in deliberation, of which the 
 proper end is expediency. 
 
 6. A charge that defendant diverted and turned a 
 stream of water, is not sustained by evidence that he in- 
 terrupted its course by a dam, and caused it to flow back 
 upon plaintiffs premises. 
 
 7. Action by husband and wife upon a promise made 
 to them jointly, is not sustained by evidence of a promise 
 made to her before marriage. 
 
 8. Action on alleged contract to build a ship, is not sus- 
 tained by evidence showing the contract was to finish a 
 ship already partly built. 
 
 9. Action on a demise for three years, is not sustained 
 by evidence of a lease for one year certain and two year's 
 further possession, on same terms, by consent of the 
 owner of the land. 
 
 10. A sued B and C for six head of beef cattle, sold and 
 delivered to them jointly. B made no defense, and C de- 
 fended, and by his plea denied he had either separately, 
 by himself, or jointly, with B, bought said cattle. On the 
 trial A introduced evidence tending to show that he had 
 sold and delivered the cattle to B and C jointly ; and C 
 (being a competent witness for himself where the trial 
 occurred) testified that he did not either separately or 
 
32 RHETORIC AS AN ART OP PERSUASION. 
 
 jointly buy said cattle from A. C was then proceeding to 
 testify that he had bought four of the cattle from B, who 
 had bought the cattle from A ; but the court rejected and 
 ruled the evidence in regard to the purchase from B as 
 incompetent for irrelevancy ; the issue being not whether 
 C had purchased of B, but whether B and C had jointly 
 purchased of A. 
 
 11. A, as indorsee of a promissory note, sued B on his 
 indorsement of said note, and in his petition averred de- 
 mand, notice, and protest, which were necessary requisites 
 to be alleged in the petition, and to be proved on the trial, 
 to enable A to maintain his action. But on the trial A 
 failed in his proof of demand, notice, and protest, and 
 then sought to maintain his action by proof that subse- 
 quent to the time for demand, notice, protest, B, with full 
 knowledge of the facts, had agreed to pay the note ; but 
 the court ruled against the admission of that evidence, 
 because it had not been made an issue in the pleadings. 
 
 12. Where in a suit on a written contract for sale and 
 delivery of corn, the only plea of defendant was that he 
 did not execute the writing sued upon. Defendant failing 
 in the evidence on the plea he had made, sought to get rid 
 of the action by an offer to prove that subsequent to the 
 execution of the contract, a new arrangement had been 
 made, which released him from his obligation to deliver 
 the corn ; but the court refused to admit that evidence, 
 because it was not relevant to the issue created by the 
 pleadings. 
 
 13. A sued a railroad company for an injury to his per- 
 son occasioned (as his petition alleged) by the negligence 
 of defendant in not keeping its road-bed where the injury 
 occurred in proper repair, and on the trial offered evidence 
 to prove that the road-bed was out of repair generally, 
 and at other parts as well as where he was injured; but 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 33 
 
 ourt ruled against the evidence, because the issue did 
 not relate to the general character of the road as to its 
 safe or unsafe condition, or whether there were other 
 parts of the road-bed iii an unsafe condition; but whether 
 the road was unsafe where A was injured, and whether 
 it (the place where A was injured) was, under the facts 
 detailed by the evidence, negligence in defendant not to 
 have discovered its condition and have had it repaired 
 before A was injured. 
 
 14. In an action against a railway company for dam- 
 ages for causing the death of plaintiff's intestate, evidence 
 to the effect that the company offered to pay the latters 
 funeral expenses, is not material. 
 
 15. In the trial of a contested election case, evidence 
 respecting mistakes made in the count of votes for other 
 officers voted for at the same election, is immaterial. 
 
 16. Occasionally are to be found clergymen who have 
 had the advantages of a collegiate education, and are well 
 educated in general literature, as well as Bible reading, 
 and, yet, when they preach, will discourse on almost any 
 other point of religious doctrine than the one which the 
 text they have read specially relates to. This comes from 
 negligence of thought, and can be obviated by very little 
 care and attention. To make preaching effective, and 
 leave lasting impression on the minds of the congrega- 
 tion, the clergyman should confine the argumentative 
 part of his discourse, as near as possible, to the idea con- 
 tained in the text, and, especially so, as the peroration in 
 a speech from the pulpit opens a wide field for digression 
 and exhortation. 
 
 » 
 
 "The chief requisite," remarks Quintillian 
 
 in his Institutes of Oratory, "is to keep the 
 point in dispute, an J that which we wish to 
 
 3 
 
34 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASIOX. 
 
 establish, constantly before our eyes; because 
 if we keep to one object, we shall not be led 
 into useless altercation, or waste the time 
 due to the cause in railing." 
 
 What is termed in law " special pleading," 
 which requires each party to state in precise 
 and formal words the fact or facts on which 
 he relies for cause of suit, or for ground of 
 defense, as the case may be, is specially well 
 calculated to educate the mind to the close 
 observance of the issue in controversy, and 
 to the rejection of everything of an irrele- 
 vant character. 
 
 A thorough knowledge of "special plead-, 
 ing," is of special importance to the student 
 of law, because, as expressed by Judge Story, 
 it (special pleading) "contains the quintes- 
 sence of the law, and no man ever mastered 
 it who was not by that very means, made a 
 profound lawyer." 
 
 And when he (the student of law) is ad- 
 mitted to the Bar, and is engaged in the 
 trial of a cause, he should, especially, if the 
 trial be to the jury, watch closely to pre- 
 vent the admission of evidence not strictly 
 relevant to the issue made by the pleading. 
 or which may be incompetent for any other 
 cause. Because though after the admission 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 35 
 
 of evidence which is not legally competent, 
 it should be subsequently ruled out by the 
 court, and the jury be instructed to disregard 
 it, yet, possibly, notwithstanding such ruling 
 by the court, it may make a lodgment more 
 or less in the minds of the jurors, and in a 
 case doubtful on the legitimate evidence, in- 
 fluence them to give the benefit of the doubt 
 to the party whose evidence is ruled out af- 
 ter being heard by them, especially if that 
 evidence inclines to his favor. 
 
 It is difficult for jurors unlearned in law 
 to always appreciate the reasons for the 
 withdrawal of evidence by the court which 
 has once got before them, and the best way 
 to keep them out of that embarrassment, is 
 diligently, to watch and prevent the admis- 
 sion of improper evidence, by objecting to it 
 and resisting it at the threshold. 
 
 The ordinary place for the statement of 
 the case is immediately after the exordium; 
 but sometimes it may be placed with advan- 
 tage before the exordium; and where the 
 question at issue is, from any cause, already 
 properly understood bj r the audience, a formal 
 statement of the case may with propriety be 
 omitted altogether. 
 
 There is no certain rule in oratory as in 
 
36 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 mathematics, and experience and common 
 sense will often nob only allow, but show, 
 an advantage in departure from the ordinary 
 rules of speaking. 
 
 If circumstances require a formal state- 
 ment of the case, but for some special rea- 
 son it is required to precede the exordium, 
 it may be well, after the exordium is deliv- 
 ered, to again re-state the issue, or issues, in 
 controversy; for the exordium and state- 
 ment of the case are parts of the same in- 
 tellectual edifice, u,nd to have their full force 
 and effect in the way of persuasion, should, 
 as a general rule, stand in close proximity 
 with each other, with the exordium in front. 
 
 This essay having at my request been re- 
 viewed by that distinguished divine, and 
 eminent pulpit orator, Rev. W. S. Craig, 
 pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of 
 Keokuk, Iowa, he favored me with several 
 criticisms which I approved, and changed 
 the essay to conform thereto. He also pen- 
 ned a criticism on what is said in the essay 
 several pages back in reference to the state- 
 ment of the case from the pulpit, which 
 though I do not fully acquiesce in, yet be- 
 cause of the learned source from whence the 
 criticism comes, and that it is but fair to 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 37 
 
 let the pulpit speak for itself, I here give a 
 copy of it as follows; to-wit: 
 
 "Touching your statement of the case when you say 
 'The pulpit has less difficulty in the statement of the case,' 
 I would differ with you here. The clergyman has a far 
 more promiscuous audience to deal with than falls to the 
 lot of the lawyer, whose addresses are directed to judges 
 and juries. So it becomes a matter of extreme delicacy 
 and difficulty for the clergyman to strike the proper me- 
 dium in the statement of his case, so as not to offend the 
 delicate taste of the cultivated and refined, nor yet go be- 
 yond the capacity of his humble hearers. 
 
 "Another difficulty arises from the nature of the themes 
 that form the subjects of pulpit discourse; men have got 
 so used to them as to regard them in a great degree as 
 matters of course. In dealing with the great questions 
 of sin and personal holiness, it becomes a task of extreme 
 difficulty, to state them so as they shall reach the individ- 
 uality of the personal conscience. 
 
 " It is a very conceivable tiling, and a matter which the 
 experience of all clergymen can testify as common, for a 
 person to listen to a discourse in which the deformity of 
 sin is portrayed even with graphic power, and yet look 
 upon it as the portraiture of a great abstraction, having 
 no connection with the personal self, and, therefore, excit- 
 ing very little of his interest. But with the subjects of 
 the bar it is altogether different. The concrete form in 
 which they are presented, enables the speaker to arouse 
 the attention with far less effort. The interest of an audi- 
 ence can be far more easily excited in regard to the enor- 
 mity of injustice by seeing it embodied in a human per- 
 sonality; while on the part of the clergyman it requi 
 great amount and fertility of inventive genius, 'to state 
 his case' upon subjects with which men are very familiar 
 in a way that will arouse and compel attention. 
 
38 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 " Then again the clergyman must every week ' project ' 
 his discourse before he can go a single step. The lawyer 
 has his discourse 'projected' by the circumstances and 
 facts of the given case." 
 
 Hon. S. F. Miller, Justice of the Supreme 
 Court of the United States, who stood in the 
 front rank of the advocates and lawyers of 
 Iowa, before he was appointed to the bench, 
 has favored me with a criticism of this essay, 
 which so far as it relates to the statement of 
 the case, I will here copy. Judge Miller's 
 ability as an advocate united with his long 
 experience as a justice of the Supreme 
 Bench of the United States, before which 
 tribunal the best oratorical talent of the 
 United States frequently appears and speaks, 
 give peculiar importance to his views as ex- 
 pressed to me, and here copied, as follows: 
 
 "The meaning of this phrase" (statement of the case) 
 "is such a preliminary statement to the judge or jury of 
 the matters of law or of fact, or of both, as will enable 
 the persons addressed to comprehend the nature of the 
 questions to be discussed, and the main proposition on 
 which the speaker relies to establish his case. These are 
 afterwards amplified, illustrated, and sustained by refer- 
 ences to testimony, to the inferences to be deduced from 
 that testimony, and to principles of law involved in the 
 case, supported by appropriate citations of authority. 
 
 "But to enable the judge or jury to understand fully, 
 and appreciate correctly, the force and value of the more 
 
i 
 
 DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 39 
 
 elaborate argument, it is necessary in the first instance to 
 give a clear view of the aspect of the case; of the matter 
 to be decided, and of the elements of which that decision 
 must be composed. This object is not successfully at- 
 tained either by the announcement that certain abstract 
 questions of law are necessary to be decided in the judg- 
 ment to be rendered, nor that certain items of evidence 
 will be introduced. 
 
 "The counsel whose duty it is to make the opening 
 statement for his side of the case, should have a clear 
 theory of that case; a theory around which he should 
 group all the facts which he admits as established for the 
 other side, and those which he intends to rely on as proved 
 by his own. And while he need not in terms state what 
 that theory is, his statement of the case, should conform 
 to it strictly ; should suggest it to the mind of the court 
 or jury, with such a distinct and clear perception of it, 
 that the legal propositions appropriate to counsel's view 
 of the case seem naturally to arise out of the statement. 
 
 " It is such a statement as this, that has given rise to the 
 remark, almost become trite, of many eminent lawyers: 
 * That their statement of the case is more convincing than 
 the full argument of other men.' The faculty of doing 
 this in perfection is rare ; but cultivation and close atten- 
 tion to the best models, and an effort to discover what 
 such a statement is, and what it is not, will be rewarded 
 with a reasonable degree of success in any well regulated 
 mind. 
 
 " It is also important to understand that a chronological, 
 or other detailed statement of the evidence, with numer- 
 ous dates, and names of witnesses, is not such a state- 
 ment. Xothing is such a statement which the mind of an 
 ordinary man cannot carry with him, and remember with- 
 out taking notes. Xo reference to cases and pages in law 
 books, nor any abstract announcement of legal proposi- 
 
40 KHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 tions unconnected with the facts to which they are to be 
 applied, will answer the requirement. The propositions 
 of law and of fact on which counsel rely must be stated 
 so as to show clearly their relation to each other, and be 
 so plainly expressed as to present a chart of the road to 
 be traveled, without a map in detail of the country 
 through which that road is to go. 
 
 " I wish to express my cordial approval of the remarks 
 under the head of fallacies, as to the effect of counsel 
 being carried away from the strong points of their case 
 by the art of an opponent who insists upon discussing 
 other matters. 
 
 "My experience teaches me that more sound lawyers 
 and able advocates are.misled by this artifice, to the preju- 
 dice of their cases before the court and jury, than by any 
 other. 
 
 "Such has always been my opinion of the value of 
 choosing the ground on which the battle is fought, that 
 when at the bar, it was my practice contrary to that of 
 most lawyers who had the right of choice, to open the ar- 
 gument, rather than close it, where two speeches were to 
 be made on the same side. 
 
 "A skillful lawyer in opening a case will often be able 
 to throw so much doubt around a clear matter, or give so 
 much importance to an immaterial one, that his unwary 
 opponent follows him into the web of sophistry, when he 
 could have stood secure on ground of his own selection." 
 
 Section 3. 
 
 Argument. 
 
 Every statement of a case contains one or 
 more propositions; to-wit: That which is 
 stated or affirmed for discussion, exposition. 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 41 
 
 or illustration; and an argument is a reason, 
 or reasons, for, or against, such proposition, 
 or propositions. 
 
 The argument for the proposition, is, in 
 rhetoric, called "Confirmation," and that 
 against it, "Confutation" 
 
 Natural reason frequently expresses itself 
 with considerable force and clearness, espe- 
 cially on common-place subjects, or such as 
 are simply personal to the speaker. Thus 
 the child in its simple terms can make known 
 its wants and grievances, and at times very 
 effectively; and so can the adult savage. 
 
 But a discourse relative to art or science, 
 requires the aid of cultivated reason always; 
 and there is not perhaps in the whole circle 
 of literature, anything which requires more 
 study and reflection than what pertains to 
 argument generally. 
 
 Cicero draws a comparison between edu- 
 cated and uneducated reason, and shows the 
 advantage of education bestowed upon good 
 natural parts, very expressively, thus: 
 
 "Natow without learning is of greater efficacy towards 
 
 the attainment of glory and virtue, than learning without 
 nature; but when to an excellent natural disposition the 
 embellishments of learning are added, there results from 
 this union something great and extraordinary." 
 
42 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 Whatever infers or deduces consequences 
 from a fact or facts proved or known, or 
 from premises assumed without proof or 
 knowledge, is an argument; and as the 
 sources of inference and deduction are num- 
 berless, so it has been found convenient for 
 purpose of reference and illustration, to di- 
 vide argument into species or classes, and to 
 speak of it under various titles and designa- 
 tions. 
 
 1st. Induction. 
 
 The most common designation of argu- 
 ment is " Induction," which, as defined by 
 Whately, "infecs respecting a whole class, 
 what has been ascertained respecting one or 
 more individuals of that class." From a 
 number of instances it infers some general 
 result or conclusion ; and sometimes from 
 one instance it infers a general result or 
 conclusion. 
 
 Examples. 
 
 1. Having by experiment ascertained that iron or any 
 other special metal when brought under a certain in- 
 fluence of heat will melt, we conclude that each kind of 
 metal of the one or ones experimented upon, will, also, in 
 all cases, melt when placed under a like influence of heat. 
 That is induction from instance, or individual, to indi- 
 vidual. 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 43 
 
 2. Having by experiment ascertained that a certain 
 number of metals; to-wit: gold, silver, lead, iron, and 
 copper, will melt when placed under certain degrees of 
 he.it, we naturally enough infer that all other metals are 
 also fusible. This is induction from particular's to a whole 
 class. 
 
 3. Experience demonstrates that nature is, as a general 
 rule, uniform in its operations ; 
 
 "That it acts by general, not by partial laws;" and 
 hence when we have placed in the fire a number of varie- 
 ties of wood and other vegetables, and find each and all 
 experimented upon Virus, we legitimately infer that all 
 wood and other vegetables will burn ; as well those not 
 experimented upon, as those experimented upon. 
 
 4. From the fact that such material objects as come 
 under our observation, when raised above the earth and 
 their support withdrawn, fall back to the earth, we prop- 
 erly infer the general result, that all material objects are 
 subject to the attraction of gravitation. 
 
 5. We see men daily dying around us, and that no one 
 as far as our acquaintance extends, is exempted from the 
 laws of mortality, and hence infer, very properly, that all 
 men are mortal. 
 
 6. We learn the peculiar traits and habits of a certain 
 limited number of the brute creation, and from them infer 
 that all other animals of their species and class, will, under 
 like conditions, manifest substantially like habits and dis- 
 positions. 
 
 7. Concerning a person whose past life has been noted 
 for good moral principles and application to business, we 
 infer like conduct of him in the future, and entrust him 
 with our most important business affairs. 
 
44 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 8. A defendant in a criminal trial may introduce evi- 
 dence of his general good moral character in the neighbor- 
 hood where he resides, because whatever it may be, it is 
 built on his general conduct and actions in intercourse 
 with his fellow men, and which, when good in general' 
 implies more or less a negative of guilt in any one partic- 
 ular thing; and which though not conclusive evidence of 
 innocence, is yet frequently of much importance to a de- 
 fendant when the evidence is not positive or clear against 
 him. Also, whether in a civil or criminal trial, evidence 
 may be introduced to impeach the credibility of a witness 
 whose general character for truth is bad in the neighbor- 
 hood where he resides, because it is a legitimate inference 
 that one whose general habit is falsehood in business or 
 other relations with his fellow men, is not to be received 
 as a credible witness even in a judicial proceeding; and 
 where a witness has knowingly and corruptly sworn falsely 
 to any one matter material to the issue in a legal contro- 
 versy, his testimony on all points in that trial is to be dis- 
 credited if not discarded, on the idea, that where the 
 fountain is shown to be foul, whatever comes from it will 
 most probably partake of its vileness; the rule being 
 " false in one, false in all," or as it is expressed in Latin 
 from whence the maxim is drawn ; "Falsus in uno, falsus 
 in omnibus" 
 
 9. From a numt>er of particulars in animated nature, 
 where each and all show design and the adaptation of a 
 means to an end, we are led to the irresistible inference of 
 a divine authorship over all. The solar system and the 
 starry world beyond, countless in number, and each gov- 
 erned by fixed and invariable laws, and moving in har- 
 mony, tends to the same inference. 
 
 The psalmist awe-impressed with the wonders of the 
 celestial world, exclaimed : 
 " When I consider the heavens, the work of Thy fingers ; 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECn. 4") 
 
 the moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained; what 
 is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of 
 
 man that Thou visitrst him? For Thou hast made him 
 a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with 
 glory and honor. * * * O Lord, our Lord, how ex- 
 cellent is Thy name in all the earth ! " 8th Psalm. 
 
 10. Lawyers in cases involving questions of fact, argue 
 inductively, when they examine and criticise each item 
 and instrument of evidence separately, and finally press 
 forward their united force as tending to establish the 
 proposition they advocate, or to disprove that to which 
 they are opposed. 
 
 ARISTOTLE AND BACON. 
 
 It has been said and written by some, but 
 not truthfully, that Bacon is the founder of 
 the inductive style of reasoning, and that 
 Aristotle is the author of the syllogism. 
 It is strange that any one should have fallen 
 into such an error when as a matter of fact, 
 induction is now, and has ever been, the 
 common vernacular of human speech, and, 
 besides, there are plenty of books extant 
 which contain numberless instances of the 
 use both of the inductive and syllogistic 
 styles of argument, written ages before the 
 name of either Bacon or Aristotle adorned 
 the page of history. 
 
 Aristotle wrote learnedly concerning the 
 syllogism, and presented what he conceived 
 
46 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 to be its advantages as a mode of argument, 
 in most attractive language ; and Bacon 
 wrote, to convince the world, that the only 
 true style of argument is in induction; but 
 neither is the author of the style with which 
 each one's name seems to be in the mind of 
 the world so intimately connected, unless 
 writing upon a subject already well known, 
 and presenting it in attractive form and 
 language, makes one the author of that sub- 
 ject; an authorship which surely none may 
 justly claim. 
 
 2nd. Syllogism. 
 
 While treating next of the syllogism, I 
 will endeavor by examples and illustrations, 
 to show there is a close relation in idea be- 
 tween Induction and the Syllogism, and that 
 when properly understood they harmonize 
 with each other, and together add grace, 
 force, and beauty, to both argument and 
 display of language. 
 
 Syllogism is a species of argument con- 
 sisting of three propositions, the first two of 
 which are termed the major and minor prem- 
 ises, and the last the conclusion. And it is 
 so expressed that if the premises are true or 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 47 
 
 admitted to be correct, the conclusion or 
 inference claimed, necessarily follows. It is 
 of little or no practical use in the discovery 
 of truth, but assists vastly in the embellish- 
 ment of argument, and in instructing, or 
 conveying truth to others. 
 
 Examples. 
 
 No plant has the power of locomotion ; 
 
 An oak is a plant; 
 
 Therefore an oak has not the power of locomotion. 
 
 No human invention is perfect ; 
 Every language is a human invention; 
 Therefore no language is perfect. 
 
 "Whatever thinks is a spiritual substance ; 
 
 The mind of man thinks; 
 
 Therefore the mind of man is a spiritual substance. 
 
 That which sacrifices truth and kindness to very 
 weak temptations, is above all other vices, inconsistent 
 with the character of a social being; 
 
 Envy sacrifices truth and kindness to very weak temp- 
 tations ; 
 
 Therefore envy is, above all vices, inconsistent with 
 the character of a social being. 
 
 Every indictment in a criminal proceeding, 
 and every declaration or petition in a civil 
 
48 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASI02T. 
 
 action, involves a syllogism, express, or im- 
 plied. 
 
 Example in a criminal proceeding. 
 
 In the indictment are either express or 
 implied, the averments; to-wit: 
 
 Major premiss : Whoever does or perpetrates a certain 
 thing (describing it), violates law, and is guilty of a cer- 
 tain crime (naming it) ; 
 
 31 inor premiss : Such a person (naming him) perpetra- 
 ted the crime named in the major premiss (stating with 
 particularity the act done, with date and place, to identify 
 the accused to a certainty with the offense charged) ; 
 
 Conclusion : Therefore, the person named in the minor 
 premiss, is guilty of the crime named in the major premiss, 
 and is liable to the punishment prescribed by law. 
 
 Examples, in a civil action; to-ivit: a contro- 
 versy at law between private individuals. 
 
 Major premiss : Whenever one employs another to do 
 certain work under special contract as to the price of 
 wages, and the work is completed according to contract, 
 the employer is liable in law for the wages agreed upon 
 with interest and costs of suit ; 
 
 Minor premiss: B employed A to do certain work for 
 him with an agreed price as to wages, and A did the work 
 according to contract, and B refuses (or neglects) to pay 
 A what is due him ; 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 40 
 
 Cdhclusion: Therefore, A is entitled to prosecute B at 
 law and recover judgment for the amount due him on the 
 
 contract Bpecified in the minor premiss, with interest and 
 costs, and to have process of law to enforce its collection. 
 
 Major premiss: Whoever engages another to work for 
 him without agreement as to price, and the work is done 
 according to contract, is liable in law to pay for the work 
 done what it is reasonably worth; 
 
 Minor premiss: B employed A to work for him with- 
 out agreement as to the amount of wages to be paid, and 
 A did the work according to contract, and his wages are 
 reasonably worth so much money (naming it); 
 
 Conclusion: Therefore, A is entitled to recover judg- 
 ment against B for the reasonable value of his wages as 
 named in the minor premiss, with interest and costs of 
 suit, and to process of law to enforce the collection. 
 
 Induction and the syllogism proceed in 
 opposite directions. Induction from some 
 quality found in certain individuals of a class, 
 infers that same quality to exist in every 
 member of the class; it infers from particu- 
 lars some general conclusion. The syllogism 
 from a certain quality which it assumes to 
 exist in- a class infers that each individual of 
 that class possesses the same quality. 
 
 Induction proves and infers. The syllo- 
 gism assumes and deduces. Hut in moral 
 reasoning, the syllogism is valueless unless 
 its premises are capable of proof, or belong 
 
50 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 to that category of ideas, termed "self-evi- 
 dent truths." 
 
 Illustration. 
 In the Syllogism, 
 
 "All vegetables will burn, 
 Wood is a vegetable, 
 Therefore wood will burn," 
 
 we can know the truth of the premises by 
 the inductive process only, and the worth 
 of our induction depends entirely on the 
 merit of our previous experiments and in- 
 vestigations. This idea is tersely expressed 
 by Bacon in an aphorism of his "Novum Or- 
 ganum;" thus: 
 
 " The syllogism consists of propositions, propositions of 
 words, and words are the signs of notions. If, therefore, 
 the notions (which are the basis of the whole), be confused 
 and carelessly abstracted from things, there is no solidity 
 in the superstructure. Our only hope, then, is in genuine 
 induction." 
 
 The syllogistic and inductive processes of 
 argument are beautifully blended in the 
 celebrated speech of Cicero for Milo who 
 was tried for the murder of Clodius. 
 
 Cicero first announces the idea (major 
 premiss) that whoever lies in wait to murder 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 51 
 
 another, may be lawfully killed by the one 
 whose life is imperiled, if his safety requires 
 it. He then adduces a number of facts and 
 circumstances in nature and history to vin- 
 dicate that idea. That is the inductive pro- 
 cess. He next advances the idea (minor 
 premiss) that Clodius had in fact laid in wait 
 for Milo to murder him, though in the ren- 
 counter which ensued Clodius was killed. 
 This he enforces by referring to a number 
 of special facts, such as that Clodius was on 
 horseback with his sword by his side ; and 
 was surrounded with armed servants when 
 he and Milo met on the highway; that the 
 meeting was at a place where business called 
 Milo and of which Clodius beforehand knew; 
 that Milo was in a carriage with his wife 
 and encumbered with a cloak upon him; 
 that Clodius had on several prior occasions 
 threatened personal violence to Milo, but 
 Milo never to him; and that in fact Clodius 
 commenced the affray. Having thus by the 
 inductive process established the major and 
 minor premises of his argument, he advan- 
 ces the conclusion: to- wit: that Milo was 
 justifiable in killing Clodius; a conclusion 
 which necessarily followed if his premises 
 were well established. 
 
52 KHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 Milo was convicted and sent into banish- 
 ment notwithstanding the beauty of the 
 syllogism, and the ability with which his 
 defense was conducted. But if Cicero stated 
 the facts correctly, it was an erroneous de- 
 cision, and indicates what was charged at 
 the time by the friends of Milo, that it was 
 not an honest decision, but the result of 
 partisan feeling and prejudice on the part' of 
 the judges, instigated by Pompey who under 
 authority of a decree of the Eoman Senate, 
 had selected them, and who was well known 
 to be inimical in feeling to Milo. 
 
 Also the Declaration of Independence be- 
 longs to the syllogistic system of argument, 
 in which its minor premiss is supported in- 
 ductively. 
 
 Thus the major premiss of the Declaration 
 assumes certain things therein named to be, 
 "self-evident truths;" to-wit: that all men 
 are created equal, and are endowed by their 
 creator with certain unalienable rights, 
 among which are life, liberty, and the pur- 
 suit of happiness; that to secure these rights 
 governments are instituted amongst men, 
 deriving their just powers from the consent 
 of the governed; and that whenever a gov- 
 ernment becomes destructive of these rights 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 53 
 
 and ends, it is the right and duty of the peo- 
 ple to alter and abolish it, and to establish 
 a new government, which will give the se- 
 curity required. 
 
 The minor premiss asserts that the gov- 
 ernment of Great Britain (the mother 
 country) had by a long train of abuses and 
 usurpations evinced a design to invalidate 
 the rights named in the major premiss, and 
 to place the people under absolute despot- 
 ism. 
 
 This premiss (the minor) is then supported 
 inductively by the statement of a large 
 number of specified and alleged facts of 
 abuses and usurpations. 
 
 And the conclusion is: 
 
 "We, therefore, the Representatives of the United 
 States of America, in general Congress assembled, ap- 
 pealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the recti- 
 tude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the author- 
 ity of the good people of these oolonies, solemnly publish 
 and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right 
 ought to be, free and independent states," etc., etc. 
 
 The syllogism in the hands of a skillful 
 sophist, is capable of being used to advance 
 many fallacies; thus: 
 
54 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 Examples. 
 
 Every one desires happiness; 
 
 Virtue is happiness ; 
 
 Therefore every one desires virtue. 
 
 ^No evil should be allowed that good may come of it ; 
 
 Punishment is an evil ; 
 
 Therefore no punishment should be allowed. 
 
 White is a color ; 
 Black is a color ; 
 Therefore black is white. 
 
 All quadrupeds are animals; 
 A bird is not a quadruped ; 
 Therefore a bird is not an animal. 
 
 A crusty old bachelor might indulge in 
 the following fallacy: 
 
 "If a wife is beautiful, she excites jealousy; 
 If she is ugly, she gives disgust; 
 Hence, it is best not to marry." 
 
 But a man who knows and can appreciate 
 the worth of a true woman, especially if she 
 be such as is described in the last chapter of 
 Proverbs, will frequently find virtue in 
 beauty, and will, also, often find the most 
 charming characteristics of head and heart 
 united with a homely face. 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 55 
 
 "Whatever is based simply on human testimony is doubt- 
 ful; 
 
 The existence of the pyramids of Egypt rests on human 
 testimony; 
 
 Therefore the existence of the pyramids of Egypt is 
 doubtfuL 
 
 Eating and drinking are necessary to support life; 
 Vitellus expended his wealth in procuring luxuries for 
 his table; 
 
 Therefore Vitellus expended his wealth in procuring 
 what was necessary to support life. 
 
 He who cannot act otherwise than he does, deserves no 
 credit however good his actions may be; 
 
 A benevolent hearted man who has the means to exe- 
 cute his wishes, cannot do otherwise than give alms to the 
 poor; 
 
 Therefore a benevolent hearted man deserves no credit 
 for his charities and alms deeds. 
 
 3d. Analogy. 
 
 Analogical argument is often resorted to 
 when the higher degree of moral evidence 
 is not attainable. Analogy is not a similar- 
 ity of things, but a similarity or agreement 
 of relations. 
 
 When we say as one is to ten, so is ten to 
 a hundred, we reason (says Quintillian) by 
 analogy. Analogy is properly a resemblance 
 
56 EHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 of ratios in which we argue from one thing 
 to another which are not themselves alike, 
 but stand in similar relations to other things. 
 Thus (for an illustration given by Whately), 
 "an egg and a seed are not in themselves 
 alike, but bear a like proportion to' the 
 parent bird and to her future nestling on 
 the one hand, and to the old and young 
 plant on the other respectively." By anal- 
 ogy we compare the fins of a fish to the 
 wings of a bird, both being used for motor 
 power, though the animals they belong to 
 reside in different elements. By analogy we 
 infer that the planets are inhabited, because 
 they get their light from the sun as the 
 earth does, and revolve on their own axis, 
 and revolve around the sun as the earth 
 does; are subject to the laws of gravitation 
 as the earth is, and are supposed to have 
 atmospheres as the earth has; and finding 
 them so similar to the earth in many re- 
 gards, and holding such like relations to the 
 sun, we infer that they, too, through the 
 wisdom of the beneficent Creator of all, are 
 inhabited by various orders of living crea- 
 tures. 
 
 Analogy is an unsafe mode of reasoning, 
 and is allowable only where known facts 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 57 
 
 fail. It is often resorted to by lawyers who 
 when they cannot find a precedent in law 
 exactly in point, aim to find some other case 
 bearing more or less relation in law and ar- 
 gument, to the one in controversy. 
 
 Whoever wishes to become learned in this 
 species of reasoning, may consult "Butler's 
 Analogy" with advantage. 
 
 4th. Various other Designatons of Ar- 
 gument. 
 
 There are other designations of argument, 
 the more prominent of which are as follows; 
 to-wit: 
 
 Argumentum a priori, which is reasoning 
 from cause to effect; thus: knowing the 
 earth is a non-transparent body, we infer, 
 with certainty, that when it gets between 
 the moon and the sun, there will be a lunar 
 eclipse; from our knowledge of the skill of 
 the general, w T e anticipate his success in mil- 
 itary exploits; from the knowledge of a mo- 
 tive, we frequently anticipate the conduct of 
 an individual; from our knowledge of the 
 nature of beasts of prey, we anticipate and 
 avoid their ferocity; knowing that fire burns, 
 we anticipate its consequences, and seek to 
 confine it within safe limits; and, indeed, 
 
58 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 whenever we anticipate anything, we may 
 be said to reason a priori, or by causation; 
 
 Argumentum a posteriori, from effect to 
 cause, by which we look through the won- 
 ders of nature to a Divine ojrigin; by which, 
 from the uniform success of a general, we 
 infer his skill; by which a fact in controversy 
 is inferred by our knowledge of collateral 
 facts which have a connection with it, more 
 or less remote, which in law is termed cir- 
 cumstantial evidence; 
 
 Argumentum ad hominern, based on the 
 character and conduct of an adversary; 
 
 Argumentum ad crumenan, an appeal to the 
 purse, of which the speech of Demetrius, the 
 silversmith, is an apposite example; 
 
 Argumentum ad ignorantium, an exposure 
 of the ignorance of your opponent; 
 
 Argumentum ad verecundium, an appeal to 
 some respectable authority which your op- 
 ponent will be inclined to admit, or cannot 
 contradict without prejudice to his cause: 
 
 Argumentum ad judicium, an appeal to 
 unbiased reason; 
 
 Argumentum ad populum, an appeal to the 
 passions and prejudices' of the multitude, 
 and is generally construed in a bad sense; 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 59 
 
 Arcjumcntum a fortiori, so much the more; 
 with greater reason; to-wit: 
 
 1. "Consider the lilies of the held, how they grow; 
 they toil not ; neither do they spin ; and yet I say unto 
 you, that even Solomon in all his glory, was not arrayed 
 like one of these. 
 
 "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, 
 which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall 
 He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" 
 
 2. "Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, 
 neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your 
 I Ieavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much letter 
 than they f 
 
 3. "If the felon who robs on the highway, deserves the 
 punishment of death, this retribution is due so much the 
 mote to the wretch, who has committed parricide." 
 
 Argumentum bacidiniun, club law, convic- 
 tion (or rather pretence of conviction) which 
 is the result of force; 
 
 Argumentum ab inconveniently unsuited to 
 circumstances, or as St. Paul expressed it, 
 when he said, all things were lawful for him, 
 hut all things were not expedient: 
 
 Argument direct, which shows by immediate 
 and direct evidence, or argument, the agree- 
 ment, or repugnancy, between the subject 
 and predicate of the proposition in question; 
 
 Argument indirect, which establishes the 
 truth of one or more ideas or propositions 
 by showing the error or falsehoods of the 
 
60 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 • 
 
 one or ones to which they are opposed. 
 Thus in a criminal prosecution where the 
 defense rests on an alibi, the proof that the 
 person accused was not present when the 
 crime was perpetrated, but elsewhere, will 
 acquit him, unless it be shown by the prose- 
 cution that he either instigated, or was in 
 some way accessory to the crime committed. 
 An ancient philosopher, under this species 
 of argument, confuted a skeptic who denied 
 the existence of God, by the following apt 
 syllogism: 
 
 "The world is either self -existent, or the work of some 
 finite, or infinite being ; 
 But it is not self-existent, nor the work of a finite being: 
 Therefore it is the work of an infinite being." 
 
 Under this head comes also what is termed 
 in logic a reductio ad absurdum, which leads 
 to, or involves an absurdity, of which the 
 dilemma propounded to Pyrrho, the ancient 
 skeptic, is an example. He had asserted 
 that no one can have certain knowledge of 
 anything. One of his friends answered him, 
 thus: 
 
 " You either know what you say to be true, or you do not 
 know it ; 
 
 "If you do know it to be true, that very knowledge proves 
 your assertion to be false; 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 61 
 
 " If you do not know it to be true, you do wrong to assert 
 it, since no one has ;i right to assert what he does not 
 know to be true ; 
 
 " Therefore, in either case, you do wrong to assert, that 
 no man can have certain knowledge of anything." 
 
 CONFIRMATION. 
 
 The confirmatory part of a speech should 
 be spoken with deliberation, earnestness, 
 and gravity, and the least attempt at wit, or 
 humor, here, is calculated to impair the 
 weight and dignity of argument. But in 
 the confutation part, as the object is to dis- 
 parage and not to magnify, the shafts of wit, 
 irony, ridicule, anecdote, and sarcasm, may 
 be often used to advantage. 
 
 The argument should, as a general rule, 
 follow immediately after the statement of 
 the case; but there may be occasions when 
 it should in part precede the statement of 
 the case. Thus if the exordium shall have 
 failed to procure an attentive and impartial 
 hearing from the audience, it may be advis- 
 able to advance cautiously with arguments 
 of an equivocal character, so expressed as 
 seemingly to coincide at least in part with 
 the notions and prejudices of the hearers, 
 but ultimately tending to the advocacy of 
 
62 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 your side of the question. If this apparently 
 partial yielding of a part of your views to 
 the ideas and prejudices of the audience, 
 shall incline it to give you an impartial hear- 
 ing, then you may state the case and announce 
 the side you intend to advocate; but should 
 be careful to do so in the least offensive man- 
 ner. A little innocent wisdom has often ex- 
 tricated speakers from unpleasant positions. 
 St. Paul turned this idea into good account 
 when about to be torn into pieces by an in- 
 furiated mob, by crying out that he was a 
 Pharisee, and because of his belief in the 
 resurrection of the dead he was called in 
 question and his safety imperiled. This 
 drew a portion of the crowd (and perhaps 
 the larger portion) to his side, who said 
 what, "if a spirit or an angel has spoken to 
 him." Paul was, indeed, a believer in the 
 resurrection of the dead, and hence as far 
 as he spoke, he told the truth to the crowd; 
 but had he added that he believed in the 
 resurrection as taught by the Nazarene and 
 His disciples, he would hardly have escaped 
 from the vengeance of his enemies. 
 
 As already stated, the argument should, as 
 a general rule, follow immediately after the 
 statement of the case; but whether the con- 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 63 
 
 firmation or confutation, shall come first, 
 depends much on the experience and Judg- 
 ment of the speaker. If the speech is of 
 the nature of a lecture, or of a discourse, 
 which is not to be replied to, system and 
 order, seem to require that the affirmative 
 arguments should be advanced before the 
 negative should be considered; and in case 
 of a public discussion, as it is incumbent on 
 the party holding the affirmative to open the 
 discussion, he should, in system and fairness, 
 state fully the confirmatory arguments 
 before he closes his address. 
 
 The speaker should never start out with 
 a weak argument, for first impressions often 
 control, and an unsound argument at the 
 start may impress the hearer with the idea 
 that you are either trying to impose on his 
 credulity, or presuming on his ignorance,, 
 and thereby prejudice him against you. 
 
 Cicero's plan usually was to advance one of 
 his best arguments at the commencement, to 
 be followed by others of a less specious char- 
 acter, and to conclude with a strong argu- 
 ment: and he compared the arrangement of 
 the argumentative part of his speech to a 
 bridge with the massy abutments resting 
 
64 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 against either side of the stream, and the 
 piers or lesser structures between them. 
 
 Quintillian approves of Cicero's plan in 
 regard to the introduction of arguments, 
 and recommends the same order to be ob- 
 served by an advocate in the introduction of 
 evidence; to- wit: "that the strongest be 
 placed first and last; for the former dispose 
 the judge to believe him, and the latter to 
 decide in his favor." 
 
 But if in a general discussion your antag- 
 onist shall have advanced arguments of a 
 formidable character, and yet has been so 
 indiscreet as to have advocated other posi- 
 tions, also, which are unsound and easy of 
 confutation, it will usually be advisable to 
 reserve your confirmatory arguments, and 
 your reply to those of your opponent of ap- 
 parent merit, until you shall have exposed 
 and refuted to the comprehension of all, 
 w T hat he has said of a clearly sophistical 
 character. 
 
 It is dangerous to advance an unsound 
 argument under any circumstances, since if 
 exposed so that the hearer fully compre- 
 hends its untenable points, he will accept 
 whatever else comes from you, however good 
 it may be, with close scrutiny and suspicion. 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 65 
 
 If you choose to commence with an expose 
 and confutation of the arguments of your 
 opponent, you should not pursue them too 
 far, lest you give character to his speech, 
 and induce the audience to suppose there is 
 a good deal of merit in what he said, else 
 you would not expend so much time in op- 
 position. But having answered and confuted 
 in as brief terms as possible what seemed 
 to be his leading ideas, you should pass to 
 your own side of the question, remarking as 
 you do so, that you will hereafter refer again 
 to the arguments of your opponent, if ybu 
 should in the mean time regard them as 
 worthy of further consideration. 
 
 If your opponent has advanced ideas 
 which are not relevant, nor material to the 
 issue in controversy, it is useless to expend 
 time in refuting them, even if they should 
 be ever so sophistical; and the shortest way 
 to get rid of them is to re-state the issue, 
 and then briefly show their inapplicability. 
 
 In all portions of your speech, but espe- 
 cially in the argumentative part, 
 
 •' IV brief, be pointed; let your matter stand, 
 Lucid in order, solid, ami at hand; 
 Spend not y * > u r words on trifles, but condense; 
 
 rike with the mam of thoughts, not drops of sense; 
 5 
 
66 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 Press to the close with vigor once begun, 
 
 And leave (how hard the task!), leave off when done. 
 
 Again, 
 
 "Words are like leaves ; and where they most abound, 
 Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found. 
 False eloquence, like the prismatic glass, 
 Its gaudy colors spread on ev'ry place ; 
 
 ******** 
 
 But true expression, like the unchanging sun, 
 Clears and improves whate'er it shines upon ; 
 It gilds all objects, but it alters none" 
 
 BURDEN OF PROOF. 
 
 There is in all questions of controversy 
 and discussion what is termed the burden of 
 proof, which makes it incumbent on a party 
 advocating the affirmative of an idea or 
 issue, to sustain the same by a preponder- 
 ance of argument or evidence as the case 
 may require. If there be no such prepon- 
 derance in favor of the affirmative it must 
 fail; or if the argument or evidence on 
 either side is simply balanced, and there is 
 no preponderance, yet should the decision 
 be given to the negative, because it is not 
 required to do more than to meet affirma- 
 tion with denial: to hold its own against 
 aggression. 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECn. 07 
 
 In law cases, known as civil causes, or 
 suits simply between private parties, a mere 
 preponderance of evidence though it may 
 not generate full and satisfactory belief, is 
 yet sufficient to authorize a verdict for the 
 party in whose favor the weight and credi- 
 bility of evidence preponderates. But in 
 criminal causes the law in its tenderness 
 and regard for liberty, life, and reputation, 
 will not authorize a verdict of guilty how- 
 ever much the evidence may preponderate 
 against the accused, unless it generates full 
 belief of his guilt to the exclusion of every 
 reasonable doubt. Thus, though the weight 
 of the evidence tend to criminate the ac- 
 cused, yet if there exists in the evidence and 
 fairly deducible from it, any fact, circum- 
 stance, or hypothesis, which may reasonably 
 account for the crime imputed to the ac- 
 cused consistently with his innocence, the 
 existence of such fact, circumstance, or hy- 
 pothesis, creates in law a reasonable doubt 
 which demands an acquittal of the accused. 
 The law in its benignity considers it better 
 that one hundred guilty persons should 
 escape than one innocent man be made to 
 suffer; and the history of criminal jurispru- 
 dence replete as it is with instances of con- 
 
68 EHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 victions of innocent parties on evidence 
 which at the time of trial seemed to war- 
 rant such convictions, but afterwards dis- 
 covered to be erroneous, manifests the wis- 
 dom of the law in requiring an acquittal 
 unless the evidence amounts to "moral cer- 
 tainty," which though not equal to, borders 
 close on mathematical demonstration. 
 
 DUTY OF LAWYERS. 
 
 It may not here be out of place to indulge 
 in a few remarks especially concerning the 
 duty of lawyers in their practice as counsel 
 and advocates. An attorney who properly 
 appreciates the dignity of his profession, 
 will never engage in either the prosecution 
 or defense of a cause at law, unless it com- 
 mends itself to his reason as just and honor- 
 able to so do, irrespective of the fee in- 
 volved. 
 
 But as it is with other occupations and 
 professions, so unfortunately is it also some- 
 times in the practice of the law, that here 
 and there is occasionally to be found a mem- 
 ber of the bar who has no conception of the 
 value of the law beyond its capacity to earn 
 money, and who in his desire for money. 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 69 
 
 when he cannot succeed in a suit by just 
 and honorable means, will resort to every 
 species of rhetorical artifice and subterfuge 
 to win a cause and circumvent an adver- 
 sary. 
 
 "To be as wise as a serpent and harmless 
 as a dove," is a maxim no less applicable to 
 the practice of the law than to that of re- 
 ligion, and no one need expect to arrive at 
 eminence in his profession as a lawyer, nor 
 in any other pursuit of a controversial char- 
 acter, unless he is learned in the artifices 
 and devices which may be resorted to in ar- 
 gument by an unscrupulous opponent. He 
 should learn them not to practice them, but 
 to anticipate and avoid them, or to expose, 
 and by exposure, destroy their influence 
 when they have been perpetrated. 
 
 Examples of Fallacies. 
 
 1. Unquestionably the most important of the fallacies 
 to be guarded against, is the one known in law as a " false 
 issue," and designated in logic as "misapprehension of 
 the question," which, under the head of statement of 
 the case (ante), is sufficiently there commented upon for 
 practical purposes, with examples given for illustration, 
 and need not therefore be here repeated. 
 
 This fallacy is not always perpetrated by design. Fre- 
 quently speakers who have not trained their minds to 
 
70 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 close habits of thought, will unconsciously wander from 
 the question under discussion, and. ramble off into the 
 wildest fields of digression, much to the disgust of intelli- 
 gent hearers. 
 
 2. An execrable fallacy, or more properly speaking, dis- 
 honest artifice, is where a speaker intentionally misrepre- 
 sents the argument of his opponent, or imputes to it a 
 tendency which does not fairly belong to it, but is calcu- 
 lated to excite popular prejudice and odium. 
 
 Speakers unlearned in the meaning of words, or care- 
 less in their expressions, are liable to have this fallacy 
 perpetrated upon them, and hence the student who would 
 aspire to the position of an advocate or teacher, should 
 before he assumes either of those garbs, become learned 
 in the true signification of words and the rules of gram- 
 mar, and habituate himself to think closely, and to speak 
 with precision. 
 
 3. Near allied in idea to the last referred to artifice, is 
 where the advocate selects one or two of the weakest of 
 the arguments of his opponent, and assumes and asserts 
 that on them, and them only, hinge and depend the merits 
 of the case in controversy ; and then engages in a labored 
 confutation of them, and having succeeded to his wish, 
 demands a decision in his favor on the general merits of 
 the case. The danger of this artifice should warn all 
 speakers against risking an imsound argument under any 
 circumstance whatever. 
 
 4. There is a figure of speech termed "Epimone" 
 which will be more specially noticed hereafter, the pur- 
 pose of which is to render some word or thought ridicu- 
 lous by its frequent repetition, and showing its grotesque 
 character as an element of argument. But sometimes 
 from the frequent repetition of a thought, is deduced one 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 71 
 
 of the most subtle fallacies known to language. This 
 fallacy is often resorted to by unscrupulous men during 
 the excitement of political contests, when some idea or 
 point is assumed without proof to the detriment and 
 prejudice of a man or party; and though it may have no 
 just foundation for support, yet is dwelt upon and com- 
 mented on so frequently, that the ignorant assume that 
 the charge must be true, else it would not receive so much 
 consideration; they apply to the matter under considera- 
 tion the old adage: "That where there is so much smoke 
 there must be some fire." 
 
 5. Nearly related in idea to the last mentioned fallacy 
 is where in a law trial the evidence of facts, or questions 
 of law, are complicated, and it requires much research to 
 ascertain which side is entitled to success. Here the un- 
 scrupulous but astute advocate will avoid the point or 
 points which make against him, and seek by every art of 
 language and argument he can command, to turn the in- 
 vestigation into the channel of thought which tends to 
 support his side of the question, repeating it, and pressing 
 it forward, with great apparent candor and earnestness: 
 and here having the vantage ground, he is almost certain 
 of success, if his opponent, less skilled in polemics, ac- 
 cepts the point thus made, or issue, or issues thus tend- 
 ered, as the one or ones on which the result of the contro- 
 versy hinges, and makes a labored argument against them. 
 A prudent soldier will hardly desert the walls of a fortifi- 
 cation to go out and fight with an adversary on equal 
 terms in the open field; nor will a wise advocate neglect 
 to properly present and press the point or points which 
 best support his side of the controversy, to engage in a 
 wrangling dispute over Irrelevant questions presented by 
 his adversary. Many a suit atdaw has been lost through 
 the incompetency of the attorney, in neglecting, or not 
 
72 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 properly appreciating, a certainty, to contend over an un- 
 certainty. 
 
 " What boots success in skirmish or in fray, 
 If rout and ruin following, close the day. 
 ***** 
 
 He who would win his cause, with power must frame, 
 Points of support, and look with steady aim; 
 Attack the weak, defend the strong with art, 
 Strike but few blows, but strike them to the heart.'' 1 
 
 6. Nearly allied to the last named artifice, "is the art of 
 skillfully dropping part of a statement, when the reasoner 
 finds he cannot support it, and going on boldly with the 
 remainder as if he still maintained the whole." 
 
 7. The argumenticm ad hominem is a frequent source 
 of fallacies, especially in legal and political discussions. 
 It occurs w T here one contestant retorts upon his opponent 
 that his own conduct on a prior occasion, or occasions, was 
 in opposition to the rule of conduct, or measure he advo- 
 cates in the present discussion. That retort may be true as 
 regards the individual, but has no argumentative value in 
 regard to the subject under discussion. An inconsistent 
 character may, and often does, advance the most truthful 
 arguments, while others noted for consistency of moral or 
 other conduct, can hardly advance a good argument on any 
 subject, "Where the question under discussion does not in 
 itself relate to the conduct of one of the contestants, any 
 reference to such conduct is irrelevant, and is an attempt 
 to excite prejudice at the expense of truth. 
 
 8. A fallacy w T hich is especially dangerous in a discus- 
 sion before a mixed or ignorant audience, is where the 
 proposition under consideration is of a complex character, 
 and some of its terms being valid in argument and others 
 unsound. Here the speaker who advocates the affirmative 
 of the issue in controversy, will, if he discriminates prop- 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 73 
 
 erly, advocate such terms and ideas only us can withstand 
 the crucial test of logical criticism, and disclaim all others. 
 But unfortunately there are no Inconsiderable number of 
 
 men who put themselves forward as speakers, and some 
 of them of considerable education, too, "with heads full 
 of learned lumber," and yet so obtuse in intellect as to be 
 hardly able to discriminate between what is good or bad 
 in argument, or to perceive what is the real point in con- 
 troversy; and who advocate and argue heedlessly every 
 point involved as though the loss of one would involve 
 the defeat of all. 
 
 Here an unscrupulous opponent, if astute in argument, 
 will avoid the strong points of the argument on the affirm- 
 ative of the issue, and seizing on the weak ones only, re- 
 fute them in detail with apparent zeal and confidence, and 
 claim the meed of success on the pretense that all the 
 terms of the proposition discussed constitute unity in 
 idea, and must all stand, or all go down together, as when 
 a link in a chain is broken, the chain must necessarily 
 separate. 
 
 9. There is a fallacy called, " Begging of the question," 
 which consists in assuming as true the question under 
 discussion, or in offering as evidence of its truth a change 
 of words having substantially the same meaning. Thus 
 to the question, Why does morphia produce sleep ? An- 
 swer: Because of its soporific quality. The word "sopor- 
 ific " means sleep-causing. Hence when we say morphia 
 produces sleep because of its soporific quality, we say 
 simply in idea that morphia produces sleep, because it 
 produces sleep. The following are other examples of this 
 fallacy ; to-wit : Why does opium relieve 1 pain V Answer: 
 Because it is an anodyne; to-wit: it relieves pain be 
 it relieves pain; the word anodyne meaning a capacity to 
 relieve pain. Why does grass grow V Answer: Because 
 
74 EHETOEIC AS AN AET OF PEESUASION. 
 
 of its vegetative power; to- wit: it grows because it grows; 
 the word vegetative signifying growing, or having the 
 power to grow. A proper knowledge of the meaning of 
 words, will always readily detect the fallacy of such an- 
 swers, as soon as uttered ; and yet in common conversa- 
 tion there is no impropriety of language more frequently 
 perpetrated. 
 
 10. A fallacy not often resorted to in law debates, but 
 ingenious in its application when used, is called, " Reas- 
 oning in a circle," which "assumes one proposition to 
 prove another, and then rests the proof of the first on the 
 evidence " or argument of the second. The following are 
 examples of this fallacy: A pertinent example was stated 
 by Marcy, Judge, in the case of Starbuck vs. Murray, 5th 
 Wendell R., 148. Plaintiff had sued defendant on a judg- 
 ment of another state for 8393.36, in which there had been 
 no personal service by notice or summons on defendant, 
 but certain of his property had been attached, and the 
 record erroneously certified that defendant had appeared 
 as a party to the suit. Defendant pleaded that he was not 
 served with process and did not appear to the suit. Plain- 
 tiff demurred to this plea because the instrument sued 
 upon says he did appear to the suit, and this he verified 
 " by the record." This said Makcy, " Is reasoning in a 
 circle." The fact which defendant puts in issue is the 
 validity of the record ; and plaintiff replies that the paper 
 declared on is a record because it says the defendant ap- 
 peared, and defendant did appear because the paper is a 
 record. And the court decided that while the record of a 
 sister state is prima fade evidence of the truth of the 
 matters it recites, yet that when the jurisdiction of the 
 court which rendered the judgment is directly put in 
 issue, it is like any other fact, examinable. 
 
 The Mahometans assume that the Koran is the word of 
 God by the traditions and history of Islam, and then 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 75 
 
 claim that Islam is the true religion by the words of the 
 Koran. 
 
 The necessarians insist that everything man does is 
 done of necessity, by assuming that the mind acts me- 
 chanically like the body, and "that it never can act unless 
 the motive which causes the action be greater than any 
 other then existing in the mind. Any particular volition 
 is then declared to be necessary, because the motive which 
 produced it, was the strongest then in the mind." 
 
 Fatalists argue thus : a man must either do a thing, or 
 not do it. If he does it, he does it by compulsion, and if 
 he does not do it, he refrains from doing it by restraint. 
 
 An ancient sect of philosophers insisted that the center 
 of the earth is the center of the universe, by this process 
 of reasoning ; to-wit : Where every physical body tends 
 is the center of the universe. But all bodies tend towards 
 the center of the earth. Therefore the center of the 
 earth is the center of the universe. 
 
 ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS. 
 
 Analysis, which signifies taking apart, and 
 Synthesis which signifies putting together, 
 constitute such important elements in the 
 discovery of truth, and in its communication 
 to others, that one who has not made them 
 a special study, can hardly hope to become 
 acute in argument, or eloquent and popular 
 in speech. 
 
 The purpose of analysis is to investigate; 
 to search for the origin and truth of things; 
 that of synthesis, to teach truth and knowl- 
 
76 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 edge in a systematic and orderly form to 
 others. 
 
 Analysis is regression, or going back; syn- 
 thesis is progressive, or going forward. 
 
 By analysis the chemist disintegrates the 
 particles of any medical mixtures, and dis- 
 covers the properties of each; by synthesis 
 he reunites those particles into their origi- 
 nal compound, or creates, also, if he chooses, 
 other combinations. 
 
 By analysis we discover that water is 
 composed of two gases, united im certain 
 proportions, called oxygen and hydrogen, 
 each of which when in separate condition, 
 is dangerously inflammable; by synthesis 
 we reunite and combine those gases in the 
 same relative proportion in which they ex- 
 isted before their separation, and reproduce 
 water, always grateful to the parched tongue 
 and fevered lips. 
 
 By analysis we discover chemical affinity 
 to exist between substances apparently of 
 the most dissimilar nature and character- 
 istics; and by synthesis we unite them and 
 form a compound essential to the comforts 
 of civilized life. Seldom perhaps does the 
 face of beauty reflect that the sweetly 
 scented toilet soap, which is to be found in 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 77 
 
 her dressing-room, is composed of caustic 
 and the grease used to give easy friction 
 to the axle of the farmer's wagon. 
 
 By analysis we separate the terms of a 
 proposition, and accept the true, and reject 
 the false. Thus, in the proposition, "Caesar 
 was brave and humane," we analyze the in- 
 cidents of his life, and find he truly was a 
 brave man; but also find that he invariably 
 sacrificed humanity to advance his selfish 
 interests; and, we, therefore, conclude, that 
 if he were at times humane, it was only be- 
 cause he supposed it was not his interest to 
 be otherwise. 
 
 Unfortunately for the certainty of lan- 
 guage and argument, the subject and predi-. 
 cate of propositions are not always simple, 
 consisting of but one term or word for each 
 subject, and one term or word for each pred- 
 icate; nor are the terms always univocal, or 
 meaning the same thing. Indeed they are 
 frequently equivocal, or subject to several 
 meanings; sometimes they are relative, or 
 to be understood only by their relationship 
 or reference to some other thing or person; 
 and sometimes they are concrete, which in- 
 dicates a thing, and also its qualities, or a 
 •n, and also his mental characteristics. 
 
78 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 Frequently also terms are complex, con- 
 sisting of several words for a subject, or 
 several words for a predicate, part of which 
 may be true, and the other part false, as is 
 illustrated by the proposition concerning 
 Caesar; and sometimes propositions are what 
 is termed "compound," which consists of 
 two or more simple ones united in one sen- 
 tence or question, a part of which (as in the 
 case of complex terms), may be true, and a 
 part false; and, hence, there is an inevitable 
 necessity for the use of analysis in every 
 species of investigation and reasoning; there 
 is nothing which is, or can be the subject of 
 thought or discussion, but needs its helping 
 hand. 
 
 Lord Chesterfield in a letter to his son in 
 1748, said: 
 
 " Examine carefully and reconsider all your notions of 
 things ; analyze them, and discover their component parts ; 
 weigh the matter upon which you are to form your opin- 
 ion in the equal and impartial scale of reason. It is not 
 to be conceived how many people capable of reasoning, 
 if they would, yet live and die in a thousand errors from 
 laziness; they will rather adopt the prejudices of others, 
 than give themselves the trouble of forming opinions of 
 their own." 
 
divisions of a speech. i \) 
 
 Section 4. 
 
 Peroration. 
 
 The peroration is the concluding portion 
 of the speech, in which is briefly recapitu- 
 lated the arguments advanced, for the pur- 
 pose of impressing them more lastingly on 
 the minds of the hearers; and also, for the 
 purpose of exciting their sympathies and 
 moral sentiments, if the subject and occa- 
 sion be such as legitimately to admit of it. 
 Man is an emotional as well as rational 
 creature, and often when argument con- 
 vinces but fails to move to deeds, a proper 
 appeal to his moral and emotional nature 
 will induce him to the performance of the 
 most honorable and heroic actions. Camp- 
 bell in his "Philosophy of Rhetoric," says: 
 
 "To say that it is possible to persuade without speaking 
 to the passions, is but, at best, a kind of specious non- 
 sense. * * * To make me believe, it is enough 
 to show me that things are so; to make me act. it is nec- 
 essary to show me that the action will answer some end. 
 * * * You assure * me it is for my honor.' Now 
 you solicit my pride. * * * 'You say it is for 
 my interest.' Now you bespeak my self-love. 'It is for 
 the public good.' Now you rouse my patriotism. l It will 
 relieve the miserable.' Now you touch my pity. So far. 
 therefore, is it from being an unfair method of persuasion 
 to move the passions, that there is no persuasion without 
 moving them." 
 
80 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 An appeal then to man's passions and 
 emotional nature, is allowable on proper 
 occasions; such as to advance the cause of 
 truth, honesty, honor, an<l, indeed, all the 
 train of human virtues; but should never be 
 indulged in for purposes not sanctioned by 
 morality and religion. 
 
 The speech of TertuUus against St. Paul, 
 contains a neat and concise exordium and 
 statement of the case. And the speech of 
 St. Paul in his defense before Agrippa, con- 
 tains each of the essential divisions of a 
 speech, expressed in the most touching and 
 animating terms. The rival speeches of 
 Demosthenes and iEschines in their great 
 contest concerning Ctesiphon, commonly 
 called the " Orations on the Crown," and of 
 Cicero in defense of Milo, show wonderful 
 art as well as eloquence, containing each 
 in consecutive order, the exordium, state- 
 ment of the case, argument, and peroration. 
 These speeches should be specially studied 
 by the student of oratory, if for no other 
 purpose than to learn by example the rules 
 of rhetoric. Lord Chesterfield, one of the 
 first orators of his age, in a letter to his son, 
 in 1752, specially commends to him the 
 study of the speeches of Cicero and Demos- 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. 81 
 
 thenes, "to learn by their exordia how to 
 engage the favor of the audience, and by 
 their perorations, how to leave a strong im- 
 pression on the minds and passions of the 
 hearers." 
 
 The speech of Socrates before his judges, 
 as related by Plato, who was present at the 
 trial, contains the essential divisions of an 
 oration, though Socrates had had but little 
 experience in public speaking; his teaching 
 having been mostly conversational. But in 
 vindication of moral conduct and principles; 
 in exposition of human relations and relig- 
 ious duty; in exaltation of good sentiment, 
 and nobility of thought, it probably has 
 never been excelled by speech of mortal 
 man. 
 
 The speech imputed to him which is fre- 
 quently found in school books, is copied 
 from Xenophon, who was in Sparta when 
 the trial occurred, and who wrote it as it 
 was related to him by a third party. It is 
 but an epitome of the speech as delivered, 
 and though it contains several beauties and 
 excellencies, gives but a faint idea of the 
 eloquence and other merits of the original. 
 
 I do not think any one can read the 
 
 Bpeech as found in Plato, without rising from 
 G 
 
82 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 the task, improved and strengthened in his 
 moral and religious principles and nature. 
 
 The perorations of the following speeches 
 sparkle with gems of rhetorical talent; to- 
 wit: Cicero in defense of Cluentius; Cicero 
 against Caecilius; Cicero rn his concluding 
 speech against Verres; Erskine in defense 
 of Hardy; Curran in defense of Rowan; 
 Sheridan on the impeachment of Hastings; 
 Burke on American taxation; Lord Chatham 
 on the removal of troops from Boston ; Camp- 
 bell on the impeachment of Judge Chase; 
 Mr. Pinckney on the treaty making power; 
 Webster on the Panama mission; Webster in 
 his second speech in reply to Hayne on the 
 Foote resolution; Webster in defense of 
 Judge Prescott; Mr. Clay on the "Expunging 
 resolution/' and his address after his resig- 
 nation in Congress, and return to Kentucky, 
 in 1S42. 
 
 It is deemed appropriate to close this 
 portion of the essay, with the following 
 from "Cicero de Oratore," relative to the 
 divisions of a speech and its delivery; thus: 
 
 "An orator must first find out what he has to say ; he 
 must then distribute and range it, not only in order, but 
 also with reference to its importance ; he is next to clothe 
 and embellish it by his expression ; he is then to imprint 
 
DIVISIONS OF A SPEECH. S3 
 
 it in liis memory, and lastly to deliver it with gracefulness 
 and dignity. Before one enters on the main subject, he 
 should endeavor to gain the affections of his hearers. In 
 
 the next place the fact is to be represented, the case is to 
 be stated, and the speaker then proceeds to prove his alle- 
 gations; he next proceeds to confute what has been ad- 
 vanced by the other party; and at the conclusion of his 
 speech whatever makes in his favor he is to magnify and 
 improve, and whatever makes against him he is to weaken 
 and extenuate." 
 
 "But the effect of all these particulars depends upon 
 action. * * For nature has given every passion 
 its peculiar expression in the look, the voice, and the gest- 
 ure ; and the whole frame, the look and the voice of a 
 man, are responsive to the passions of the mind, as the 
 strings of a musical instrument are to the fingers that 
 touch them. For as the musical instrument has its dif- 
 ferent keys, so every voice is sharp, full, quick, slow, loud, 
 or low, and each of these keys have different degrees, 
 which beget other strains, such as the smooth, and the 
 sharp, the contracted and lengthened, the continued and 
 interrupted, the broken and divided, the tender, the shrill, 
 and the swelling; all these require to be managed with 
 art and discretion. And the orator makes use of them, as 
 the painter does of his colors, to give variety to his piece. 
 
 "Anger has a peculiar pronunciation, which is quick, 
 short, and broken :— 
 
 4 My brother gives me his advice 
 To tear my tender children with my teeth. 
 O what a cursed wretch must I be then I ' 
 
 "And the following : 
 
 'Ah ! mark you this quick ! bind him.' 
 
84 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 " The tone of pity and grief is different ; it is full, mov- 
 ing, broken, and mournful. 
 
 4 Where shall I turn me ? Whither shall I fly ? 
 To my paternal seat, or Pelias' daughters ? ' 
 
 "And, 
 
 * O my father ! O my country ! O the house of Priam ! ' 
 
 " Fear is low, diffident, and humble : 
 
 1 With what variety of wretchedness 
 Am I surrounded ! sickness, exile, want.' 
 
 " Vehemence demands a strain that is intense, strong, 
 and majestically threatening. 
 
 "Pleasure is diffusive, soft, tender, cheerful and gay. 
 
 "All action depends upon the passions of which the 
 face is the picture, and the eyes the interpreters. For 
 this is the only part of the body that is expressive of all 
 the passions. 
 
 "If you have not a good voice, whatever nature has 
 given you ought to be cherished. It is certain that in 
 speaking, nothing tends more to acquire an agreeable 
 voice than frequently to relieve it, by passing from one 
 strain to another; and nothing tends more to destroy it, 
 than a continued violent straining." 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 85 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FIGURES OF SPEECH. 
 
 Figures of speech, rhetorically considered, 
 signify a deflection of words from their or- 
 dinary use and signification. They are a 
 departure from the simplicity of language, 
 and may consist in the use of certain words 
 specially to convey an idea different from 
 their ordinary signification, or of a combi- 
 nation of words into a sentence or discourse 
 different from ordinary speech or composi- 
 tion, but calculated to make a startling and 
 vivid impression. 
 
 They are the result usually of ardent feel- 
 ing or active imagination, though sometimes 
 they are used solely for ornament of compo- 
 sition. 
 
 When properly used, they give grace and 
 power to oratory, and, indeed, beautify and 
 strengthen every species of composition. 
 
 Though figures of speech signify a depart- 
 ure from the simplicity of language, gener- 
 
86 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 ally, yet sometimes they are considered in a 
 more limited sense, as tropes or figures of 
 words, and figures of thought 
 
 Figures of words consist in using a word 
 to signify something different from its origi- 
 nal meaning, as, James has a fine taste in 
 wines. Here the word taste has its common 
 literal meaning. James has a fine taste for 
 painting, poetry, or music. Here the word 
 taste is used figuratively. To the upright 
 there ariseth light in darkness; here the 
 word light is used figuratively for comfort, 
 and darkness for adversity. Figures of thought 
 are as follows: 
 
 1. Metonomy. 
 
 Which is used to express, 1st, the cause for 
 the effect; 2d, the effect for the cause; 3d, the 
 container for the thing contained; 4th, sign 
 for the thing signified: 
 
 Examples. 
 
 "They read Milton," meaning Milton's works; "grey 
 hairs should be respected," meaning old age should be re- 
 spected ; " the kettle boils," meaning the water in the ket- 
 tle boils ; "he addressed the chair," meaning the person in 
 the chair ; " they have Moses and the prophets," meaning 
 they have the teachings of Moses and the prophets ; " in 
 the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread," to-wit : by thy 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 87 
 
 labor and industry shalt thou procure thy food; "the 
 earth was also corrupt before God," meaning that the in- 
 habitants of the earth were corrupt; "ray son give me 
 thy heart," i. e., thy affection; "he was the sigh of her 
 secret soul," to-wit : the youth she loved ; " O Jerusalem, 
 Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets," etc., meaning 
 the inhabitants of Jerusalem who killed the prophets, etc. 
 
 2. Synecdoche. 
 
 This expresses a whole for a part, a genus 
 for a species, a species for a genus and an 
 attribute for a subject. 
 
 Examples. 
 
 "I see a fleet of twenty sail," meaning twenty ships; 
 the horse (anrindividual) is a noble animal" (which is a 
 genus) ; " the animal (which is a genus) is a wolf," (which 
 is an individual); "the youth of the village are numer- 
 ous," meaning the young persons of the village are nu- 
 merous ; " they smote the city," meaning that they smote 
 the people of the city. 
 
 3. Exclamation. 
 
 This figure is always the effect of strong 
 emotion or passion. 
 
 Examples. 
 
 "OGod! O joyful day!" 
 
 "Whatapieee of workmanship is man! how noble in 
 reason! how infinite in faculties!" 
 
88 EHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 " that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of way- 
 faring man! O that I had wings like a dove! then would 
 I fly away and be at rest." 
 
 "O sadness thou hast no wisdom for the bereaved!" 
 
 "How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people!" 
 
 " Woe to thee Chorazin ! Woe to thee Bethsaida ! " 
 
 "To arms! they come! the Greek! the Greek! " 
 
 "Remember March; the ides of March remember!" 
 
 "Away slight man ! " 
 
 "Fie, fie, for shame! away! away!" 
 
 4. Comparison. 
 
 This expresses in words the resemblance 
 between two objects, whether real or imag- 
 inary, and the word "like," is generally used 
 to express the simile, though the word " as " 
 is occasionally used for the same purpose. 
 
 Examples. 
 
 " The kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed." 
 
 "Sorrow like a cloud on the sun, shades the soul of 
 Clessamour." 
 
 "Pleasant are the words of the song, said Cuchullin, 
 and lovely are the tales of other times ; they are like the 
 calm dew of the morning on the hill, when the sun is 
 faint on its side, and the lake is settled and blue in the 
 vale." 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 89 
 
 " Sweet are the uses of adversity, 
 Which like the toad ugly and venomous, 
 Wears yet a precious jewel in her head." 
 
 " When I remember all, 
 
 The friends so linked together, 
 I've seen around me fall, 
 
 Like leaves in wintry weather ; 
 I feel like one who treads alone 
 
 Some banquet hall deserted, 
 Whose lights are fled, whose garland's dead, 
 
 And all but he departed." 
 
 " If music be the food of love, play on ; 
 Give me excess of it, that surfeiting. 
 The appetite may sicken, and so die. 
 That strain again ;— it had a dying fall. 
 O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south, 
 That breathes upon a bank of violets, 
 Stealing, and giving odor." 
 
 " I have ventur'd 
 Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, 
 This many summer in a sea of glory, 
 But far beyond my depth." 
 
 " The christian graces are like perfumes, the more they 
 are pressed the sweeter they smell ; like stars that shine 
 brightest in the dark ; like trees, which, the more they are 
 shaken, the deeper root they take, and the more fruit they 
 bear." 
 
 Buckingham's denunciation of Cardinal 
 Wolsey, contains two apt comparisons, and 
 also two metaphors; thus: 
 
 "Buckingham, To the king I'll say it; and make my 
 
90 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 vouch as strong as shore of rock. Attend. This holy fox, 
 or wolf or both, for he is equal ravenous, as he is subtle? 
 
 The following from a work of romance, 
 entitled "Her Lovers," by the gifted Miss 
 Sue Clagett of Keokuk, Iowa, contains a 
 gem of comparison, and is in almost every 
 word highly figurative: 
 
 " The beautiful morning was quite cloudless, save one 
 long rosy finger which stretched along the horizon and 
 pointed to the coming day. Slowly the great red sun slid 
 up from behind the walls of the world. The thistledown 
 as it sleepily swings in the summer air is not so gentle as 
 he ; the tornado as it crashes through forests and sweeps 
 over seas is not so resistless. Like a young God he 
 stepped forth from the caves of the morning, and standing 
 tip-toe upon the quivering edge of the horizon surveyed 
 the dewy delicious world." 
 
 In the following from Wastell are to be 
 found, perhaps, more instances of the figure 
 under consideration than can be found else- 
 where in the same space of English litera- 
 ture: 
 
 " Like as the damask rose you see, 
 Or like the blossom on the tree, 
 Or like the dainty flower of May, 
 Or like the morning to the day, 
 Or like the sun, or like the shade, 
 Or like the gourd which Jonas had, 
 E'en such is man— whose thread is spun, 
 Drawn out and cut, and so is done. 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 91 
 
 The rose withers, the blossom blasteth, 
 
 The flower fades, the morning hasteth, 
 
 The sun sets, the shadow flies, 
 
 The gourd consumes— and man he dies! 
 
 Like to the grass that's newly sprung, 
 
 Or like a tale that's new begun, 
 
 Or like the bird that's here to-day, 
 
 Or like the pearled dew of May, 
 
 Or like an hour, or like a span, 
 
 Or like the singing of a swan, 
 
 E'en such is man ;— who lives by breath, 
 
 Is here, now there, in life and death. 
 
 The grass withers, the tale is ended, 
 
 The bird is flown, the dew's decended, 
 
 The hour is short, the span not long, 
 
 The swan 's near death,— man's life is done!" 
 
 " How fleet is a glance of the mind! 
 
 Compared with the speed of its flight, 
 The tempest itself lags behind, 
 And the swift-winged arrows of light." 
 
 "The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, 
 And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold, 
 And the sheen of their spears, was like stars on the sea, 
 When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee. 
 
 " Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green, 
 That host with their banners at sunset were seen, 
 Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown 
 That host in the morning lay withered and strown." 
 
 " TVhereunto shall we liken the kingdom of heaven ? 
 or witli what comparison shall we compare it? It is like 
 a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the 
 
 earth is less than all the seeds that Ik- in the earth; but 
 when it is sown it groweth up and becometh greater than 
 
92 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 all herbs and shooteth out great branches, so that the 
 fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it." 
 
 "At first like thunder's distant tone, 
 The rattling din came rolling on." 
 
 " Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak ; and hear O 
 earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop 
 as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew ; as the small 
 rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the 
 grass." From the Canticle of Moses. 
 
 "For all flesh is as grass, and the glory of man as the 
 flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower 
 thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth 
 forever." 
 
 "Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as 
 the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with 
 banners ? " From Solomon's Song. 
 
 " Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, 
 and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which 
 built his house upon a rock, and the rain descended, and 
 the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that 
 house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. 
 
 "And everyone who heareth these sayings of mine and 
 doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which 
 built his house upon the sand, and the rains descended, 
 and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon 
 that house, and it fell ; and great was the fall of it." From 
 Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 Note. — Should any one wonder why there are so many scriptural quota- 
 tions in this Essay, the answer is ; I sought the best literary gems I could 
 find for examples and illustrations ; and that considering the Bible simply 
 as a literary work (and aside from all religious bearing), I know of no other 
 work either modern or ancient to compare with it in beauty of sentiment, 
 strength of thought, or ornament of language. I speak this not from re- 
 ligious prejudices, but from a simple regard to truth and fair dealing. 
 
figures of speech. 93 
 
 5. Metaphor. 
 
 A comparison is a similitude expressed 
 in words; a metaphor is a similitude ex- 
 pressed in thought. To say that a certain 
 man is like a fox, is a comparison; to say- 
 that a certain man is a fox, is a metaphor; 
 and both expressions mean the same thing; 
 to- wit: that the person referred to possesses 
 those attributes of craft, treachery, and cun- 
 ning, peculiar to the fox. 
 
 Examples of Metaphor. 
 
 " The soldiers were lions in combat." 
 
 "He is a pillar of state." 
 
 "I am the rose of. Sharon and the lily of the valley." 
 
 "The lion of the tribe of Judah." 
 
 " For I know this, that after my departure, shall griev- 
 ous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock." 
 
 "The proud pillar of their independence has been 
 shaken down, and the whole moral fabric lies in ruins." 
 
 " Ye are the salt of the earth. * * Ye are the light 
 of the world." Matthew, ch. 5, vs. 13, 14. 
 
 Christ to depict in strong terms the lead- 
 ing traits in Herod's character, called him a 
 fox: 
 
 " Op ye and toll that/os," vW. Luke, ch. 13, vs. 31. 
 
94 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 , The following contains a notable example 
 of the figure under consideration, followed 
 by two expressive figures of comparison: 
 
 "York. Of Salisbury, who can report of him ; 
 That winter lion, who, in rage, forgets 
 Aged contusions and all brush of time ; 
 And, like a gallant in the brow of youth; 
 Repairs him with occasion ? This happy day 
 Is not itself, nor have we won one foot 
 If Salisbury be lost." 
 
 "Rich. My noble father, 
 
 Three times to-day I holp him to his horse. 
 Three times bestrid him, thrice I led him off, 
 Persuaded him from any further act: 
 But still where danger was, still there I met him ; 
 And like rich hangings in a homely house, 
 So was his will inliis old feeble body." 
 
 Second part, scene 3d, of King Henry VI. 
 
 In the following, "danger" is first person- 
 ified, and next with Caesar's name is ex- 
 pressed metaphorically: 
 
 "Banger knows full well, 
 That Csesar is more dangerous than he. 
 We were two lions litter'd in one day, 
 And I the elder and more terrible : 
 And Csesar shall go forth." 
 
 Elisha magnifies Elijah metaphorically; 
 thus: 
 
 "My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the 
 horsemen thereof.'" 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 95 
 
 "Life is an isthmus between two eternities." 
 
 6. Allegory. 
 
 A metaphor usually consists of one word. 
 An allegory is really a metaphor in amplifi- 
 cation, or as it is usr.ally expressed, a meta- 
 phor continued. 
 
 To say that a man is a fox, or a lion, or 
 other figurative idea, expressed by a single 
 word, is metaphorical, but to extend the 
 idea, expressive of the various attributes of 
 the character imputed, into a sentence or 
 discourse, is an allegory. The 80th Psalm 
 contains a most beautiful and pertinent ex- 
 ample; thus: 
 
 Examples. 
 
 "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt; Thou hast 
 ■at the heathen and planted it. Thou preparest room 
 before it, and did'st cause it to take deep root, and it filled 
 the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, 
 and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. S7ie 
 sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto 
 the river. Why hast Thou broken down her hedges, so 
 that all they which pass by the way do pluck herf The 
 boar of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the 
 hVid doth devour it. Return, we beseech Thee, O God of 
 Hosts ; look down from Heaven, and behold and visit this 
 vine." 
 
96 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 Longfellow in his poem, entitled "By the 
 Seaside" furnishes a beautiful example of 
 the allegorical species of literature; thus: 
 
 " Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State ! 
 Sail on, O Union, strong and great ! 
 Humanity with all its fears, 
 With all the hopes of future years, 
 Is hanging breathless on thy fate ! 
 We know what Master laid thy keel, 
 What Workmen wrought thy ribs of steel ; 
 Who made each mast, and sail, and rope, 
 What anvils rang, what hammers beat, 
 In what a forge, and what a heat 
 Were shaped the anchors of thy hope ! 
 Fear not each sudden sound and shock, 
 'Tis of the wave and not the rock; 
 'Tis but the napping of the sail, 
 And not a rent made by the gale! 
 In spite of rock and tempest's roar, 
 In spite of false lights on the shore, 
 Sail on nor fear to breast the sea ! 
 Our hearts, our hopes, are with thee, 
 Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, 
 Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, 
 Are all with thee,— are all with thee ! " 
 
 The following from Isaiah is also of the 
 allegorical character: 
 
 "My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful 
 hill, and he fenced it and gathered out the stones thereof* 
 and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in 
 the midst of it, and also made a wine-Dress therein. And 
 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 97 
 
 he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought 
 forth wild grapes. 
 
 "And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of 
 Judah, judge I pray you betwixt me and my vineyard. 
 What could have been done more to my vineyard that I 
 have not done in it? Wherefore when I looked that it 
 should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes ? 
 
 "And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my 
 vineyard; I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall 
 be eaten up, and break down the wall thereof, and it shall 
 be trodden down. And I will lay it waste; it shall not be 
 pruned, nor digged ; but there shall come up briers and 
 thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no 
 rain upon it. 
 
 " For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of 
 Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant; and he 
 looked for judgment, but behold oppression ; for righteous- 
 ness, but behold a cry." 
 
 Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress is generally 
 termed by literary persons an allegory; but 
 can it justly bear that signification? Tt is 
 indeed a fiction, and very elegant in both 
 thought and language, where under assumed 
 names and circumstances, the truths of a 
 religious life are vividly pictured. But fic- 
 tion is not necessarily allegory. If it were, 
 all writings of romance would be more or 
 Irs- of an allegorical character. To be alle- 
 gorical, it must be metaphorical as well as 
 fiction. It seems to me that the "Pilgrim's 
 
98 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 .Progress" is more properly described as a 
 parable, which indicates a supposed history 
 of something real in life or nature, and 
 which though a fiction, contains within it a 
 latent truth, useful especially to enforce and 
 illustrate moral and religious ideas and doc- 
 trines. I feel that I am right in the idea 
 that the work referred to, is not an allegory, 
 but a parable, by the examples of the New 
 Testament, concerning the ten virgins, the 
 man who went to Jericho and fell amongst 
 thieves, the sower who went out to sow, and 
 the rich man and Lazarus, each example of 
 which is conceded universally to be a para- 
 ble. 
 
 There is a marked difference in idea be- 
 tween the fable and allegory, and yet loose 
 thinkers sometimes confound them in speech. 
 A fable is generally expressed in simple lan- 
 guage, without metaphorical or other figur- 
 ative expressions, and indicates a fiction 
 based on the supposed actions of brutes and 
 inanimate things usually to please or amuse, 
 but sometimes to enforce some useful "truth 
 or precept. The alleged conversation be- 
 tween the body and its members, related by 
 Menenius Agrippa to induce the commons 
 to return to Rome, and the assumed talk of 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 99 
 
 the trees inviting the bramble to be king 
 over them related in Judges (Ch. 9), are fa- 
 miliar examples. ^Esop's fables, the delight 
 of every young person, and frequently also 
 the instructor of the old, constitute remark- 
 able instances of the species of composition 
 called, "Fable." 
 
 7. Hyperbole. 
 
 This is an expression which for the pur- 
 pose of giving special significance to an idea, 
 represents things as much greater or less, 
 stronger or weaker, faster or slower, better 
 or worse, than they really are, or will, or 
 can be. 
 
 Examples. 
 
 He is as slow as a snail. 
 He is as strong as an ox. 
 
 "If a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall 
 thy seed also be numbered." 
 
 Cassius to excite the envy and indignation 
 of Brutus, and induce him to engage in the 
 conspiracy against Caesar; thus: 
 
 ■ Why man he doth bestride the narrow world 
 Like a colossus, and we petty men 
 Walk under his huge legs, and peep about 
 To find ourselves dishonorable graves." 
 
100 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 "The sky shrunk upward with unusual dread, 
 And trembling Tiber, dived beneath his bed." 
 
 "Here Orpheus sings; trees moving to the sound, 
 Start from their roots, and form a shade around." 
 
 " With fury driven, 
 The waves mount up and wash the face of Heaven." 
 
 The foregoing figures of speech are gen- 
 erally known and understood by all, being 
 common more or less to every day conver- 
 sation and general literature, and it is there- 
 fore not deemed necessary to expend more 
 time in the selection of examples for their 
 illustration; but those other figures of speech 
 which will be next treated of, belong pecu- 
 liarly to the domain of oratory, especially 
 to what is termed impassioned public speak- 
 ing; and to them more attention will be 
 given and more examples be furnished. And 
 the student of oratory who would wish to 
 attain a high rank in his profession, will do 
 well to study them thoroughly. 
 
 8. Rhetorical Dialogue. 
 
 "Rhetorical dialogue," is a term which I 
 saw some years ago in a French treatise on 
 Rhetoric. I do not remember of having seen 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 101 
 
 it elsewhere. It is a powerful instrument in 
 the hands of an expert orator for both em- 
 bellishment and argument. It is easier to 
 explain by examples, than by definition, and 
 yet I will venture upon one; to-wit: an ar- 
 gument by interrogation and answer, which 
 may relate to the speaker himself, or to some 
 other person or persons. Examples will best 
 illustrate its force and beauty. Thus; De- 
 mosthenes, in an address to the Athenians: 
 
 " Tell me, will you still go about and ask one another, 
 what news ? What can be more astonishing news than 
 this, that the man of Macedon makes war upon the Athe- 
 nians, and disposes of the affairs of Greece? Is Philip 
 dead ? 2s o, but he is sick. W r hat signifies to you whether 
 he be dead or alive? For if anything happens to this 
 Philip, you will immediately raise up another." 
 
 Cicero in his defense of Cluentius de- 
 nounces Stalenus who had received a large 
 sum of money from one Oppianicus to bribe 
 the judges, and represents him as talking to 
 himself, as follows: 
 
 " When the poor perfidious wretch saw so large a sum 
 of money laid up in his house, he began to revolve in his 
 mind every sort of cunning and fraud. Said he, must I 
 give it to the judges? In that case what shall I get my- 
 self but damage and infamy? Can 1 contrive no means 
 by which Oppianicus must be condemned? Why not? 
 There is nothing in the world that cannot be managed 
 
102 EHETOEIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 somehow. If any chance delivers him from danger, must 
 I not return the money ? Let us then drive him on head- 
 long and crush him in utter ruin." 
 
 Cicero m his defense of P. Sylla, nephew 
 of the dictator of the same name, who was 
 being tried for treason; said: 
 
 "When the conspiracy was at its height, when Cataline 
 was starting for the army, and Lentulus was being left in 
 the city, where, 0, Cornelius, was Sylla ? Was he at Rome ? 
 No, he was far away. Was he in those districts to which 
 Cataline was hastening? No, he was at Naples." 
 
 The following from the speech of Patrick 
 Henry before the Virginia House of Burgess 
 in opposition to British encroachments, 
 equals, if it does not excel in spirit and en- 
 ergy, the best efforts of antiquity: 
 
 "Has Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the 
 world to call for all this accumulation of navies and ar- 
 mies? No sir, she has none. They are meant for us; 
 they can be meant for no other. * * Shall we try 
 argument ? We have been trying that for the last ten 
 years. * * Shall we resort to entreaty and humble 
 supplication ? What terms shall we find which have been 
 not already exhausted? * * The war is inevitable, 
 and let it come. I repeat it, let it come. * * Gentle- 
 men may cry peace, peace, but there is no peace. The war is 
 actually begun ! The next gale that s weeps from the north 
 will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms ! Our 
 brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 103 
 
 idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would 
 they have ? Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be pur- 
 chased at the price of chains or slavery? Forbid it, Al- 
 mighty God I I know not what course others may take ; 
 but as for me, give me liberty or give me death." 
 
 Remarking upon the foregoing extract 
 from the speech of Demosthenes, Longinus, 
 in his treatise on the sublime; says: 
 
 "This method of questioning and answering to one's 
 self, imitates the quick emotions of a passion in its birth, 
 * * and is of wonderful efficiency in prevailing upon 
 the hearer, and imposing upon him a belief, that those 
 things wliich are studied and labored, are uttered without 
 premeditation, in the heat and fluency of discourse." 
 
 A notable example is found in the 15th 
 Psalm, which is as truthful in thought as it 
 is beautiful in expression; thus: 
 
 Question. * Lord who shall abide in Thy tabernacle ? 
 Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill? 
 
 Answer. "He that walketh uprighly, and worketh 
 righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart : he that 
 backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his 
 neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor : 
 in whose eyes a vile person is contemned, but he honoreth 
 them that fear the Lord: lie that sweareth to his own 
 hurt, and chaugeth not: he that putteth not out his 
 money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent: 
 he that doeth these things shall never be moved." 
 
104 EHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 Extracts from the Koran: 
 
 " He who taketh his lust for his God ; canst thou be his 
 guardian ? They are no other than like the brute cattle. 
 Dost thou not consider the works of the Lord, how He 
 stretched forth the shadows before sunrise? If He 
 had pleased He would have made it immovable forever." 
 4c * ****** 
 
 " "Woe unto every slanderer and backbiter, who heapeth 
 up riches and prepareth for the time to come. He think- 
 eth that his riches will render him immortal. By no 
 means. He shall surely be cast into al Hotama. And 
 what is al Hotama ? It is the kindled fire of God." 
 
 "What thinkest thou of him who denieth the future 
 judgment as falsehood? It is he who pusheth away the 
 orphan, and stirreth not up others to feed the poor. Woe 
 be unto those who pray, and play the hypocrite, and deny 
 necessaries to the needy." Koran. 
 
 "What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed 
 shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? 
 A man clothed in soft raiment ? Behold, they that wear 
 soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went ye out 
 for to see ? A prophet ? yea, I say unto you, and more 
 than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written, 
 ' Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall 
 prepare thy way before thee.' " Matthew, Ch. 11, vs. 7, 8, 9 t 
 10. 
 
 "Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou 
 find out the Almighty unto perfection ? It is as high as 
 Heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what 
 canst thou know ? Job, Ch. 11. 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 105 
 
 "The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and 
 cried through the lattices: Why is his chariot so long In 
 coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariots? Her 
 wise ladies answered her, yea; she returned answer to her- 
 self; have they not sped ? have they not divided the prey ; 
 to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers 
 colors, a prey of divers colors of needle-work, of divers 
 colors of needle-work on both sides, meet for the necks of 
 them that take the spoil ? So let all thine enemies perish 
 O Lord ; but let them that love Him be as the sun when 
 he goeth forth in his might." Judges, Ch. 5. 
 
 "And I fell unto the ground and heard a voice saying 
 unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I 
 answered, who art thou Lord? And he said unto me, I 
 am Jesus of Nazareth whom thou persecutest. And I 
 said, what shall I do Lord? And the Lord said unto me, 
 arise, and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told 
 thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do." 
 
 ■ King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets ? I know 
 that thou believest." 
 
 " But Zion said, the Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord 
 hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, 
 that she should not have compassion on the son of her 
 womb ? Yea, they may forget, yet will not I forget thee" 
 Isaiah, Ch. 49. 
 
 " What shall we say then ? Shall we continue in sin 
 that grace may abound ? God forbid. How shall we that 
 are dead to sin, live any longer therein ? Know ye not 
 that so many of us as were baptised into Jesus Christ 
 were baptised into his death ?" Romans, Ch. 6. 
 
106 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 "Else what shall they do which are baptised for the 
 dead, if the dead rise not at all ? why are we then baptised 
 for the dead? * * * But some will say how are 
 the dead raised up ? and with what body do they come ? 
 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except 
 it die. * * * So also is the resurrection of the dead. 
 It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. * * 
 * * It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It 
 is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There 
 is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. * * * 
 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this 
 mortal must put on immortality. So when this corrupti- 
 ble shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall 
 have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the 
 saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 
 O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy vic- 
 tory?" 
 
 Bridaine, an eminent French clergyman 
 of the last century, in a sermon on eternity; 
 thus: 
 
 "What foundation, my brethren, have you for supposing 
 your dying day at such a distance? Is it your youth? 
 ' Yes/ you answer, ' I am as yet but twenty, but thirty.' 
 Sirs, it is not you who are twenty or thirty years old ; it is 
 death which has advanced twenty or thirty years towards 
 you. Observe ; Eternity approaches. Do you know what 
 this eternity is ? It is a pendulum whose vibration says 
 continually, — always — ever — ever— always — always ! In 
 the meanwhile a reprobate cries out, 'What o'clock is it?' 
 and the same voice answers, Eternity." 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 107 
 
 Massillon, another eloquent French clergy- 
 man of the last century, in a sermon, " On 
 the mixture of the righteous and the wicked"; 
 thus: 
 
 "The righteous deprive iniquity of every excuse. Do 
 you say you have done no more than to follow established 
 precedents ? But have the righteous who are among you 
 conformed to them ? Do you plead the unavoidable con- 
 sequences of illustrious descent ? You know some, who 
 with a name more distinguished than your own, impart 
 sanctity to splendor. Do you plead the vivacity of your 
 years ? the weakness of your sex ? Every day will show 
 you some who, in the bloom of youth, and with all the 
 talents suited to this world, have their minds supremely 
 bent on Heaven. Is it the distraction of business ? You 
 may see those engaged in the same cares with yourself, 
 who, notwithstanding, make salvation their principal con- 
 cern. Is pleasure your delight? Pleasure is the first desire 
 of all men, and of the righteous, in some of whom it is 
 even stronger, and whose natural dispositions are less 
 favorable to virtue than in you. Do you plead your afflic- 
 tions? There are some good men distressed. Or pros- 
 perity ? There are those to be met with who, amid their 
 abundance, devote themselves to God. Or the state of 
 your health ? You discover some, who, in sickly bodies, 
 possess souls filled with divine fortitude. Turn yourself 
 which way you will, as many righteous, as many the wit- 
 nesses, which testify against you." 
 
 From the same author last copied from: 
 
 " Who has assured you that death will not surprise you 
 in the midst of those years which you intend to devote to 
 the world and your passions? Upon what foundation I 
 
108 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 ask you, do you promise yourself that age shall change 
 your heart, and incline you to embrace a new life ? Did 
 age change the heart of Solomon ? No, it was then that his 
 passions became most violent, that his miserable frailty 
 became most scandalous. Did age prepare Saul for his 
 conversion ? "No, it was then to his other errors he added 
 superstition, impiety, hardness of heart, and despair. 
 * * * Is your youth so precious that it may not be 
 consecrated to the Supreme Being ? Are you to reserve 
 for Him only the remains of your life, and the dregs of 
 your passions ? If you act thus it will be as if you said to 
 Him, 'Lord so long as the world shall be pleased with me 
 I will devote myself to it. When it begins to neglect and 
 forsake me, I will turn towards Thee, then I will say to 
 Thee, Lo, I am here.' * * Ah ! unworthy soul, who 
 thus treatest God with such mockery and insult, dost thou 
 believe that, in thy necessity, He will deign to accept the 
 homage that is thus forced upon Him ; the homage that is 
 as disgraceful to His glory as it is hateful in His sight." 
 
 Junius concerning Lord Mansfield: 
 
 " Lord Hillsborough wisely confines his firmness to the 
 distant Americans. The designs of Mansfield are more 
 subtle, more effectual, and secure. 
 
 "Who attacks the liberty of the press? Lord Mans- 
 field. 
 
 "Who invades the constitutional power of juries? 
 Lord Mansfield. 
 
 "What judge ever challenged a juryman but Lord 
 Mansfield? 
 
 "Who is it makes commissioners of the great seal? 
 Lord Mansfield. 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 109 
 
 "Who is it that forms a decree for those commissioners, 
 deciding against Lord Chatham, and afterwards, finding 
 himself opposed by the judges, declares in parliament, 
 that he never had a doubt that the law was in direct op- 
 position to that decree ? Lord Mansfield. 
 
 " Who is he that has made it the study and practice of 
 his life to undermine and alter the whole system of juris- 
 prudence in the court of king's bench? Lord Mansfield. 
 
 " There never existed a man but himself who answered 
 exactly to so complicated a description." 
 
 THE ORATION ON THE CROWN. 
 
 Demosthenes and iEschines were the two 
 great orators of ancient Athens, and belong- 
 ing to different political parties, they al- 
 lowed their rivalry to run into deep personal 
 ill-will and hatred. Demosthenes had pros- 
 ecuted ^Eschines on a charge of mal-conduct 
 during an embassy to Macedon, and which, 
 though he (iEschines) was acquitted, greatly 
 irritated him, and he watched for an oppor- 
 tunity to retaliate, which he found in the 
 act of Ctesiphon, a partisan of Demosthenes. 
 
 Ctesiphon in order to compliment and 
 honor Demosthenes, presented a decree to 
 the senate, to be subsequently ratified by a 
 popular assembly, reciting generally the 
 public merits of Demosthenes, and specially 
 
110 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 a particular thing lie had done for the good 
 of the public, and ordering that a golden 
 crown (consisting of a chaplet of olive in- 
 terwoven with gold) should be conferred 
 upon him by public authority; it being a 
 custom at Athens to confer such crown 
 upon a citizen who had performed for the 
 republic some important service or services. 
 
 There was a law of Athens which pun- 
 ished severely whoever proposed a decree 
 which contained a falsehood or falsehoods, 
 and iEschines instigated by ill-will to De- 
 mosthenes, immediately instituted a prose- 
 cution against Ctesiphon, alleging, that the 
 statements in his said decree in favor of the 
 services and merits of Demosthenes were 
 not true, but were falsehoods. 
 
 The prosecution was nominally against 
 Ctesiphon, but its merits related to Demos- 
 thenes, because it more or less involved the 
 whole history of his private and public life, 
 and Demosthenes accepted the issue and 
 took the defense of Ctesiphon upon himself. 
 
 The prosecution was commenced eight 
 years before the trial occured, which gave 
 ample time for preparation for trial. 
 
 The trial was had before five hundred 
 judges specially appointed for the occasion, 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. Ill 
 
 and the tribunal was surrounded by an im- 
 mense crowd of the respective partisans of 
 JEschines and Demosthenes; also learned 
 men were there present from all the then 
 parts of the civilized world, to witness the 
 contest between the two most celebrated 
 orators of that period. 
 
 Ctesiphon was acquitted, and^Eschines re- 
 tired to Rhodes, where he established a 
 school of oratory, which became quite fa- 
 mous, and existed several hundred years 
 after his time. It was there Cicero got the 
 touch and finish put to his elocution and 
 oratory. 
 
 Fortunately, the speeches of iEschines and 
 Demosthenes concerning the crown, have es- 
 caped the ravages of time, and display 
 everything that is eloquent, great and grand 
 in oratory; and the student who desires to 
 excel in oratory should study them thor- 
 oughly, not indeed, to approve or imitate 
 the personal invectives in which they 
 abound (which in modern times would be 
 regarded as in bad taste), but to learn by ex- 
 ample the appropriate parts of a speech, and 
 to properly appreciate the beauty and 
 strength of true oratory. 
 
 For further illustration of the figure under 
 
112 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 consideration, a few examples from the 
 speeches just referred to, are as follows: 
 
 From ^Eschines: 
 
 "The Lacedaemonians, in conjunction with their foreign 
 troops had gained a victory, and cut to pieces the Mace- 
 donian forces near Carragus ; the Eleans had gone over 
 to their party, and all the Achseans, except the people of 
 Pellene ; all Arcadia, also, except the Great City ; and this 
 was beseiged, and every day expected to be taken. Alex- 
 ander was at a distance farther than the pole ; almost be- 
 yond the limits of the habitable world; Antipater had 
 been long employed in collecting his forces, and the event 
 was utterly uncertain. 
 
 "In this juncture, say Demosthenes, what were your 
 actions ? What were your speeches ? If you please I will 
 come down and give you an opportunity of informing us. 
 But you are silent. Well, then, I will show some tender- 
 ness to your hesitation, and I myself will tell the Assem- 
 bly how you then spoke. * * * He rose up and cried, 
 'Some men are pruning the city; they are lopping the 
 tendrils of the state ; they cut through the sinews of our 
 affairs; we are packed up and matted; they thread us 
 like needles.' 
 
 " Thou abandoned wretch ! What language is this ? Is 
 it natural or monstrous ? Again you writhed and twisted 
 your body round in the gallery, and cried out, as if you 
 really exerted all your zeal against Alexander. ■ I confess 
 that I prevailed on the Lacedaemonians to revolt ; that I 
 brought over the Thessalians and Perriheans.' 
 
 " Influence the Thessalians ! Could you influence a single 
 village,— you who in time of danger never ventured to 
 stir from the city ; no ; not from your own house ? Indeed, 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 113 
 
 where any money is to l>e obtained, there you are ever 
 ready to seize your prey, but utterly incapable of any ac- 
 tion worthy of a man. If fortune favors us with - 
 instances of success, then, indeed, be assumes the merit 
 to himself; he ascribes it to his own address; if some 
 danger alarms us he flies; if our fears are quieted, he de- 
 mands rewards, he expects golden crowns. 
 ******* * * 
 
 " "When this perjured man comes to demand credit to 
 his oaths, remind him of this, that he who hath frequently 
 sworn falsely, and yet expects to be believed on his oath, 
 should be favored by one of these two circumstances, of 
 which Demosthenes finds neither,— his gods must be new, 
 or his auditors different. As to his tears, as to his pas- 
 sionate exertions of voice, when he cries out, 'Whither 
 shall I fly, ye men of Athens ? You banish me from the 
 city, and, alas! I have no place of refuge'; let this be 
 your reply; 'and where shall the people find refuge? 
 What provision of allies? What treasures are prepared? 
 What resources hath your administration secured? We 
 all see what precautions you have taken for your own se- 
 curity, you who have left the city, not, as you pretend, to 
 take up your residence in the Piraeus, but to seize the first 
 favorable moment of flying from your country; you who 
 to quiet all your dastardly fears, have ample provision 
 secured in the gold of Persia, and all the bribes of your 
 administration." 
 
 From Demosthenes' 
 
 " Here is a decree which .Eschines hath never mentioned, 
 
 never quoted. But beeause I moved in the senate that 
 
 the ambassadors of ICacedon should be introduced, he in- 
 
 dnst me as highly criminal. What should I have 
 
 done? Was I to move that they should not be introduced? 
 
114 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 the men who came purposely to treat with us? Was I to 
 forbid that any seats should be appointed for them in the 
 theatre ? Why they might have purchased seats, at the 
 common trifling price. Was I to show my concern for 
 Athens by such minute savings, while, like him and his 
 accomplices, I sold our capital interests to Philip ? Xo I 
 Take my decree, which he though well acquainted with it. 
 hath passed over in silence. Read. 
 
 * * ******* 
 
 "No! had one of the awful judges of the shades im- 
 peached me, — an iEacus, or a Rhodamanthus, or a Minos, 
 and not this babbling sycophant, this wretched, hackneyed 
 scrivener, he could have used no such language, he could 
 have searched for no such insolent expressions, no such 
 theatrical exclamations as you have now heard from this 
 man. ' Earth ! and thou Sun ! Virtue ! ' And again, 
 those pompous invocations,—' Prudence ! Erudition ! that 
 teaches us the just distinction between good and evil!' 
 Virtue! thou miscreant! What communion can virtue 
 hold with thee or thine ? What acquaintance hast thou 
 with such things ? How didst thou acquire it ? By what 
 right canst thou assume it? And what pretensions hast 
 thou to speak of erudition? Not a man of those who 
 really possess it, could thus presume to speak of his own 
 accomplishments. And here I hesitate, not for want of 
 matter to urge against you and your family, but because 
 I am in doubt where to begin. 
 
 * * ******* 
 " To you, ye judges, the detail must be tedious and dis- 
 gusting. Before I had uttered one word you were well 
 informed of his prostitution. He calls it friendship and 
 intimate connection. Thus hath he just now expressed it ; 
 4 He who reproaches me with the intimacy of Alexander ! ' 
 I reproach thee with the intimacy of Alexander !— how 
 couldst thou aspire to it? I could never call thee the 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 116 
 
 friend of Philip; no, nor the intimate of Alexander. I 
 am not so mad, unless we are to call those menial ser- 
 vants who labor for their wages the friends and intimates 
 of those who hire them. But how can this be V Impossi- 
 ble! No! I formerly called you the hireling of Philip; 
 I now call you the hireling of Alexander ; and so do all 
 these our fellow citizens. If you doubt it ask them, or I 
 shall ask them for you. Ye citizens of Athens, do you 
 account iEschines the hireling or the intimate of Alex- 
 ander ? * * * You hear their answer."* 
 
 Brutus. Remember March, the ides of March re- 
 member! 
 Did not great Julius bleed for justice sake? 
 What villain touch'd his body, that did stab, 
 And not for justice? What, shall one of us, 
 That struck the foremost man of all this world, 
 But for supporting robbers; shall we now 
 Contaminate our fingers with base bribes? 
 And sell the mighty space of our large honors, 
 For so much trash, as may be grasped thus? — 
 I had rather be a dog and bay the moon, 
 Than such a Roman." 
 
 Pollock in his "Course of Time," uses this 
 figure with singular beauty and forcibleness 
 in drawing a comparison between a good 
 spent and bad spent life, in regard to their 
 relative enjoyments and pleasures of the 
 
 • Note.— The answer which the audience gave to the question of Demos- 
 thenes concerning iEschines, is not stated in the original; but tho proba- 
 bility is, that the crowd, or the larger portion of the crowd, who were evi- 
 dently on the aide of Demosthenes, shouted in reply the word, "hireling." 
 
116 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 world. He puts the question concerning 
 their relative pleasures, thus: 
 
 " Whether the righteous man or sinner had 
 The greatest share, and relished them the most?" 
 
 He answers: 
 
 "Truth gives the answer thus, gives it distinct, 
 Nor needs to reason long ; the righteous man." 
 
 He then recapitulates the pleasures of the 
 righteous man, mostly in the interrogative 
 style, interspersed with numerous reflections 
 in the didactic style, as follows: 
 
 "For what was he denied of earthly growth, 
 Worthy the name of good ? Truth answers naught. 
 Had he not appetite, and sense, and will ? 
 Might he not eat, if Providence allowed, 
 The finest of the wheat ? Might he not drink 
 The choicest wine ? True, he was temperate ; 
 But, then, was temperance a foe to peace ? 
 Might he not ride, and clothe himself in gold ? 
 Ascend, and stand in palaces of kings ? 
 True he icas honest still, and charitable; 
 Were, then, these virtues foes to human peace ? 
 Might he not do exploits, and gain a name ? 
 Most true, he trode not down a fellow's right, 
 Nor walked up to a throne on slculls of men; 
 Were justice, then, and mercy, foes to peace? 
 Had he not friendships, loves, and smiles, and hopes ? 
 Sat not around his table sons and daughters ? 
 Was not his ear with music pleased ? His eye 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 117 
 
 "With light? His nostrils with perfumes? His lips 
 With pleasant relishes ? Grew not his herds ? 
 Pell not the rain upon his meadows ? Reaped 
 He not his harvests ? And did not his heart 
 Revel at will, through all the charities, 
 And sympathies of nature, unconfined? 
 And were not these all sweetened and sanctified 
 By dews of holiness, shed from above ? 
 Might he not walk through Fancy's airy halls ? 
 Might he not History's ample page survey ? 
 Might he not, finally, explore the depths 
 Of mental, moral, natural, divine ? 
 But why enumerate thus ? One word enough. 
 There was no joy in all created things, 
 No drop of sweet, that turned not in the end 
 To sour, of which the righteous man did not 
 Partake; partake, invited by the voice 
 Of God, his Father's voice, who gave him all 
 His heart's desire; and o'er the sinner still, 
 The christian had this one advantage more, 
 That when his earthly pleasures failed— and fail 
 They always did to every soul of man- 
 He set his hopes on high, looked up and reached 
 His sickle forth, and reaped the yields of heaven, 
 And plucked the clusters from the vines of God" 
 
 The figure of speech called, " Interroga- 
 tion," is closely connected in idea with the 
 rhetorical dialogue; but there is this differ- 
 ence between them, that to the interrogation 
 in its common form, an answer is neither 
 expected nor given, as a few examples will 
 illustrate: 
 
118 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 1. From the answer of Balaam to the 
 king of Moab: 
 
 " God is not a man that He should lie, neither the son of 
 man that He should repent. Hath He said it, and shall 
 He not do it ? Or hath He spoken, and shall He not make 
 it good?" 
 
 2. From the Book of Job: 
 
 " Hast thou an arm like God ? Or canst thou thunder 
 with a voice like him." 
 
 3. From a speech in a criminal prosecu- 
 tion: 
 
 " Has it not been proved beyond all reasonable doubt 
 that defendant perpetrated the crime imputed to bim? 
 Does not the evidence show that he was angry at deceased 
 and had threatened him with personal violence ? Was he 
 not seen in the vicinity where the crime was perpetrated, 
 and at or about the time it was done ? Did not the shoes 
 fouDd on him agree in size with the marks of shoes in- 
 dented in the ground going to and coming from where the 
 remains of the deceased were found ? Were not stains of 
 blood found on his clothes which he has failed to account 
 for ? And more than all, was not a watch found on his 
 person proved to have belonged to deceased? With all 
 these facts and circumstances shown by the evidence, who 
 can doubt the guilt of the accused ? " 
 
 4. From Shakespeare's play of Julius 
 Caesar: 
 
 " Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, 
 than that Caesar were dead, to live all freemen?" 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. Ill) 
 
 5. From Junius: 
 
 The author of Junius indulged in terrible 
 bitterness of expression by interrogations in 
 his attack on Lord Granby, in reply to Sir 
 William Draper, who had volunteered his 
 defense; thus: 
 
 " It is you, Sir William, who make your friend appear 
 awkward and ridiculous, by giving him a laced suit of 
 tawdry qualifications which nature never intended him to 
 wear. You say he has acquired nothing but honor in the 
 field. Is the ordnance nothing ? Are the Blues nothing ? 
 Is the command of the army with all the patronage an- 
 nexed to it nothing ? * * Did he not betray the just 
 interest of the army in permitting Lord Percy to have a 
 regiment? And does he not at this moment give up all 
 character and dignity as a gentleman, in receding from 
 his own repeated declarations in favor of Mr. Wilkes ? " 
 
 6. From the first speech of Cicero against 
 Cataline: 
 
 "How far, Cataline, wilt thou abuse our patience? 
 How long shall thy frantic rage baffle the ends of justice? 
 To what height meanest thou to carry thy daring inso- 
 lence? Art thou not daunted by the nocturnal watch 
 posted to secure the Palatium? Nothing by the city 
 guards? nothing by the consternation of the people? 
 nothing by the union of all the wise and worthy citizens? 
 nothing by the senate's assembling in this place of 
 strength ? nothing by the looks and countenances of all 
 here present? Seest thou not that all thy designs are 
 brought to light? that the senators are thorougly apprized 
 of thy conspiracy? that they are acquainted with thy last 
 
120 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 night's practices ; with the practices of the night before ; 
 with the place of meeting; the company summoned to- 
 gether and the measures concerted ? Alas, for our degen- 
 eracy ! alas, for the depravity of the times! " 
 
 7. St. John Chrysostom, a father of the 
 church of the 4th century, made in his youth 
 a special study of oratory, and ultimately be- 
 came the most eloquent speaker of his day. 
 He was scarcely, if at all, inferior to Cicero in 
 force of thought and liveliness of expression, 
 and like him often indulged in figurative 
 expressions. Eutropas was a patrician, and 
 had been consul and great chamberlain to 
 the Emperor Arcadius. He lived in a style 
 of regal magnificence, and was arrogant in 
 the use of authority. Falling into disfavor 
 with the emperor, he was removed from au- 
 thority, sent to prison, and his life imper- 
 iled. Chrysostom, seized on the occasion 
 of the minister's downfall, to discourse on 
 the vanity of human life, as follows: 
 
 "'Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.' Where is now the 
 splendor of the consulate? where the lictors and their 
 fasces ? where the applauses, dances, banquets, and revels ? 
 where the noise of the city, and the nattering acclama- 
 tions of the circus ? All those things are perished ; a bois- 
 terous wind has blown away the leaves, and left the naked 
 tree tottering, and almost plucked up by the roots. Such 
 was the violence of the storm, that when it had shaken all 
 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 121 
 
 the nerves, it threatened utterly to overthrow the stock. 
 Where are now those masking friends, those health, and 
 suppers? Where that swarm of parasites, and that flood 
 of wine poured out from morning till evening? Where 
 that exquisite and various artifice of cooks, those servants 
 accustomed to say and do all that he pleased? All these 
 were no more than a night's dream, which disappeared 
 with the day; flowers which withered when the spring 
 was ended; a shadow they were and so they passed; a 
 smoke, and so they vanished; bubbles in the water, and so 
 they burst ; spiders' webs, and they were torn asunder. 
 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.' * * Who was 
 more exalted than this man? Was he not famous for his 
 wealth through the world? Was he not mounted up to 
 the height of all human honor ? did not all fear and rev- 
 erence him? But behold him now more miserable than 
 slaves and bondsmen ; more indigent than those who beg 
 their bread from door to door. There is no day when 
 there is not set before his eyes swords drawn and sharp- 
 ened to cut his throat ; precipices, hangmen, and the street 
 which leads to the gallows. 'Vanity of vanities, all is 
 vanity.'" 
 
 8. From the writings of an ancient Brah- 
 min: 
 
 " Who is like unto the Lord in glory ? Who in power 
 shall contend with the Almighty? Hath He any equal in 
 wisdom ? Can any in goodness be compared unto Him ? ' 
 
 Socrates taught his disciples in dialogues, 
 in which his questions were so discreetly 
 put. that the answers thereto necessarily 
 compelled an admission of the truths im- 
 
122 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 plied in them, or had to rest on error or 
 absurdity; and lawyers who would excel in 
 the examination of witnesses, would do well 
 to study the dialogues of Socrates as related 
 in Plato and Xenophon. 
 
 Lawyers frequently become wearisome to 
 both court and jury by unnecessary repeti- 
 tions of the same idea or ideas in the narra- 
 tive or didactic style. If they fear that they 
 have not been properly understood by what 
 they have once said in the common mode of 
 expression, it is better to repeat the idea in 
 the interrogative form, when its novelty 
 and change of language will be very apt to 
 arrest attention, and secure impartial hear- 
 ers. 
 
 Indeed, a lengthy speech, whether at the 
 bar, or elsewhere, shows defective judgment, 
 and should always be carefully avoided. 
 
 Cicero said: 
 
 "An orator should speak concisely lest he shall become 
 wearisome, and brevity is the best recommendation of a 
 speech." 
 
 Confucius said to his disciples when he 
 sent them forth to teach: 
 
 " Let your speeches be short, that the remembrance of 
 them may be long." 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 123 
 
 The Nazarene advised His disciples to 
 make short prayers, and be not like the 
 heathens, who thought they would be heard 
 for their much talk. 
 
 Pope expresses himself thus: 
 
 "Distrustful sense with modest caution speaks, 
 And still looks home and short excursion makes, 
 But rattling nonsense in full volley breaks." 
 
 Washington advised his nephew who was 
 a member of the Virginia House of Burgess, 
 to make short speeches, to be modest in his 
 address, and to confine his remarks closely 
 to the subject under consideration. 
 
 Jefferson said he had been a colleague of 
 both Franklin and Washington in the Con- 
 tinental Congress, and he never knew either 
 of them to speak over ten minutes at one 
 time, and what they said was directed sim- 
 ply to the main point of the matter under 
 discussion. 
 
 Cicero in his speech for M. Tullius, appeals 
 to Lucius Quintius, the opposing advocate, 
 to put some limit to the length of his speech, 
 as follows: 
 
 "One thing, Lucius Quintius. 1 should wish to obtain 
 from you, which, although I desire it because it is useful 
 
124 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 for me, still I request of you because it is reasonable and 
 just— that you would regulate the time that you take to 
 yourself for speaking, so as to leave the judges some time 
 for coming to a decision. For the night before, there was 
 no end to your speech in his defense; night alone set 
 bounds to your oration. Now, if you please, do not do the 
 same ; this I beg of you. Nor do I beg it on this account, 
 because I think it desirable for me that you should pass 
 over some topics, or that you should fail to state them 
 with sufficient elegance, and at sufficient length, but be- 
 cause I do think it enough for you to state each fact only 
 once. And if you do that, I have no fear that the whole 
 day mill be taken up in talking." 
 
 9. Interrogation. 
 
 The interrogation. was rather fully consid- 
 ered under the head of "Rhetorical Dia- 
 logue," in consequence of its near relation- 
 ship to that figure of speech, and I will only 
 add here concerning it, that it is a very ener- 
 getic mode of expression, and is often indul- 
 ged in by impassioned speakers, of which 
 Patrick Henry and Mr. Clay amongst the 
 modern, and Cicero and Demosthenes with 
 the ancients, are striking examples. 
 
 10. Personification. 
 
 Personification is a very bold expression, 
 as it attributes life and sensibility to inani- 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECn. 125 
 
 mate objects. The following are examples 
 of it: 
 
 " The ground thirsts for rain." 
 " The earth smiles with plenty." 
 
 Here life and action are attributed to 
 ground and earth. 
 
 Shakespeare in his play of Julius Caesar, 
 causes Antony to address the dead body of 
 the tyrant as though it were listening to 
 him; thus: 
 
 "O pardon me thou bleeding piece of earth, 
 That I am meek and gentle with these butchers ; 
 Thou art the ruins of the noblest man, 
 That ever lived in the tide of time." 
 
 From Ossian: 
 
 " The sword of Gaul trembles at his side, and longs to 
 glitter in his hand." 
 
 From Thompson's seasons: 
 
 " See Winter comes to rule the varied year. 
 Sullen and sad, with all his rising train, 
 Vapors, and clouds, and storms." 
 
 From the Iliad: 
 
 "Ab when old Ocean roars, 
 And heaves huge surges to the trembling shores.' 
 
126 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 From Milton: 
 
 "With such delay 
 Well pleased, they slack their course, and many a league, 
 Cheer'd with the grateful smell, old Ocean smiles" 
 
 From Lucan's Pharsalia: 
 
 " But a greater power was there in the Grecian weapons 
 against the Roman bodies. For the lance not content to 
 pass through but one side, did not cease its course, but 
 opening a way through both arms and through bones left 
 death behind and flies on ; after the wound a career still 
 remains for the weapon." 
 
 " The mountains look on Marathon— 
 
 And Marathon looks on the sea ; 
 And musing there an hour alone, 
 
 I dreamed that Greece might still be free ; 
 For standing on the Persian's grave 
 
 I could not deem myself a slave." 
 
 David in his poetic lamentation over the 
 deaths of Saul and Jonathan, gives scope to 
 his imagination as follows: 
 
 " From the blood of the slain the bow of Jonathan turned 
 not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty." 
 
 Sophocles in his tragedy of Philoctetes, 
 causes his hero to address material objects 
 near him, in the following plaintive expres- 
 sions: 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 127 
 
 "Ye harbors, ye promontories, ye haunts of the mount- 
 ain beasts, ye precipitous crags, to you I speak, for I know 
 none else to whom I might. I bewail to you the deeds, of 
 the son of Achilles, how cruel he hath been to me." 
 
 The same author, again: 
 
 "Beam of the sun that hath shone the fairest light of all 
 before to seven-gated Thebes ; thou hast at length gleamed 
 forth, oh ! eye of golden day ! " 
 
 I have often admired a beautiful personifi- 
 cation of "night" to be found in "Hervey's 
 Meditations;" thus: 
 
 " The darkness is now at its height, and I cannot but 
 admire the obliging manner of its taking place. It comes 
 not with a blunt and abrupt incivility, but makes gentle 
 and respectful advances. A precipitate transition from 
 the splendors of day to all the horrors of midnight would 
 be inconvenient and frightful. * * Therefore the 
 gloom rushes not upon us instantaneously, but increases 
 by slow degrees; and sending twilight before as its har- 
 binger, decently advertises us of its approach." 
 
 From the speech of the Doge of Venice 
 on his trial before the Council of Ten, in 
 Byron's Marino Faliero: 
 
 " Doge. I speak to Time and to Eternity, 
 Of which I grow a portion, not to man. 
 Ye elements! in which to be resolved 
 I hasten, let my voice be as a spirit 
 Upon you ! Ye blue waves ! which bore my banner, 
 
128 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 Ye winds! which fluttered o'er as if you loved it, 
 
 And filled my swelling sails as they were wafted 
 
 To many a triumph ! Thou my native earth, 
 
 Which I have bled for, and thou foreign earth, 
 
 Which drank this willing blood from many a wound ! 
 
 Ye stones, in which my gore will not sink, but 
 
 Reek up to Heaven! Ye skies which will receive it! 
 
 Thou sun! which shinest on these things, and Thou 
 
 Who kindlest and who quenchest suns! Attest! 
 
 I am not innocent — but are these guiltless ? 
 
 I perish, but not unavenged ; for ages 
 
 Float up from the abyss of time to be, 
 
 And show these eyes, before they close, the doom 
 
 Of this proud city ; and I leave my curse 
 
 On her and hers forever." 
 
 From Goldsmith: 
 
 "As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, 
 Swells from the vale and midway meets the storm, 
 Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, 
 Eternal sunshine settles on its head." 
 
 From Hudibras: 
 
 " The trenchant blade, Toledo trusty. 
 For want of fighting, was grown rusty, 
 And ate into itself, for lack 
 Of somebody to hew and hack." 
 
 From Rogers: 
 
 "Lo, steel-clad War his gorgeous standard rears!" 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 129 
 
 From Shakespeare: 
 
 "King Henry. How many thousands of my poorest 
 
 subjects, 
 
 Are at this hour asleep ! Sleep, gentle sleep, 
 
 Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee, 
 
 That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down, 
 
 And steep my senses in f orgetf ulness ; 
 
 Why rather, sleep, liest thou in sueky cribs, 
 
 Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee, 
 
 And hushed with buzzing night flies to thy slumber; 
 
 Than in the perfumed chambers of the great, 
 
 Under the canopies of costly state, 
 
 And lull'd with sounds of sweetest melody ? 
 
 O thou dull god, why liest thou with the vile 
 
 In loathsome beds, and leav'st the kingly couch, 
 
 A watch case to a common 'larum bell? 
 
 Wilt thou upon the high and giddy mast, 
 
 Seal up the ship-boy's eyes, and rock his brains 
 
 In cradle of the rude impetuous surge; 
 
 And in the visitation of the winds, 
 
 Who take the ruffian billows by the top, 
 
 Curling their monstrous heads, and hanging them 
 
 With deafening clamors in the slippery shrouds, 
 
 That with a hurly death itself awakes? 
 
 Canst thou, partial sleep, give thy repose 
 
 To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude 
 
 And, in the calmest and most stillest night 
 
 With all appliances and means to boot, 
 
 Deny it to a king? Then, happy low! lie down; 
 
 Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." 
 > 
 
 From Milton: 
 
 lying, her rash hand in evil hour 
 Forth reaching t<» the fruit, she plucked, she ate. 
 9 
 
130 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 Earth felt the wound, and Xature, from her seat 
 Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe 
 That all was lost." 
 
 From Percival: 
 
 " The world is full of poetry. The air 
 Is living with its spirit ; and the waves 
 Dance to the music of its melodies, 
 And sparkle in its brightness." 
 
 " THE KE AJPER AND THE FLOWERS. 
 
 " There is a reaper whose name is Death, 
 And, with his sickle keen, 
 He reaps the bearded grain at a breath, 
 And the flowers that grow between. 
 
 •"Shall I have naught that is fair? saith he; 
 Have naught but the bearded grain ? 
 Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me 
 I will give them all back again.' 
 
 H He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes, 
 He kissed their drooping leaves ; 
 It was for the Lord of Paradise, 
 He bound them in his sheaves. 
 
 " 'My Lord hath need of these flowers gay/ 
 The Reaper said, and smiled ; 
 *Dear tokens of the earth are they, 
 Where he was once a child.' 
 
 ■ ■ They shall all bloom in fields of light, 
 Transplanted by my care, 
 And saints upon their garments white, 
 These sacred blossoms wear.' 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 131 
 
 "And the mother gave, in tears and pain, 
 
 The flowers she most did love ; 
 She knew she should find them all again, 
 In the fields of light above. 
 
 " 0, not in cruelty, not in wrath, 
 The Keaper came that day; 
 'Twas an angel visited the green earth, 
 And took the flowers away." 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
 Ossian addresses the sun, and laments his 
 blindness which prevents him from seeing 
 its glory; thus: 
 
 " O thou that rollest above, round as the shield of my 
 fathers ! Whence are thy beams, Sun ! thy everlasting 
 light! Thou comest forth in thy awful beauty ; the stars 
 hide themselves in the sky ; the moon, cold and pale, sinks 
 in the western wave; but thou thyself movest alone. 
 Who can be a companion of thy course? The oaks of the 
 mountain fall; the mountains themselves decay with 
 years ; the ocean shrinks and grows again ; the moon her- 
 self is lost in Heaven : but thou art forever the same, re- 
 joicing in the brightness of thy course. When the world 
 is dark with tempests, when thunder rolls and lightning 
 flies, thou lookest in thy beauty from the clouds, and 
 laughest at the storm. But to Ossian thou lookest in vain, 
 for he beholds thy beams no more ; whether thy yellow 
 hair flows on the eastern clouds, or thou tremblest at the 
 gates of the west. 
 
 " But thou art perhaps like me for a season ; thy years 
 will have an end. Thou shalt sleep in thy clouds careless 
 of the voice of the morning. 
 
 "Exult then, O Sun In the strength of thy youth! age is 
 
132 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 dark and unlovely ; it is like the glimmering light of the 
 moon when it shines through broken clouds and the mist 
 is on the hills; the blast of the north is on the plain; the 
 traveler shrinks in the midst of his journev." 
 
 The following from the pen of Iowa's 
 gifted poetess, "Kate Harrington," is a 
 beautiful example of the figure under con- 
 sideration: 
 
 "WHAT ARE THE SNOW-FLAKES. 
 
 "Say, whence come the snow-flakes— the pure, fleecy 
 snow-flakes, 
 That flutter so softly, so tremblingly by ? 
 Are they foam from the ocean of ether above us, 
 
 Or petals from roses that blow in the sky ? 
 Do seraphs who wander beside the still waters, 
 
 Or linger, entranced, in fair bowers above, 
 Keep culling the leaves of the blossoms around them 
 To scatter them earthward as tokens of love ? 
 
 "Are they down that the beautiful angel of summer, 
 
 At parting, so noiselessly shakes from her wings ? 
 Or heralds sent forth by the glittering Frost King 
 
 To tell of the jewels he so lavishly brings ? 
 Oh! I sometimes half dream, as I watch the flakes 
 falling, 
 That 'tis Purity's self gliding down from the skies, 
 'Till meeting our earth-damps of sin and pollution, 
 They melt her to tears and of pity she dies." 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 133 
 
 " Love," as one of the chief influences of 
 the human mind, is beautifully personified 
 by Scott's "Last Minstrel"; thus: 
 
 " In peace, Love tunes the shepherd's reed, 
 In war, he mounts the warrior's steed ; 
 In halls, in gay attire is seen, 
 In hamlets, dances on the green. 
 Love rules the court, the camp, the grove, 
 And man below and saints above ; 
 For love is heaven, and heaven is love." 
 
 Byron personifies the ocean, and addresses 
 it in the following expressive words and sub- 
 lime thoughts: 
 
 " Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean— roll ! 
 Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain ; 
 Man marks the earth with ruin — his control 
 Stops with the shore ;— upon the watery plain 
 The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth remain 
 A shadow of man's ravage, save his own, 
 When, for a moment, like a drop of rain, 
 He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan, 
 Without a grave, unknelled, uncomned, and unknown." 
 
 1 Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form, 
 Glasses itself in tempests ; in all time, 
 Calm or convulsed— in breeze, or gale, or storm, 
 Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime 
 Dark-heaving ; boundless, endless, and sublime — 
 The image of Eternity— the throne 
 Of the Invisible ; even from out thy slime 
 
134 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 The monsters of the deep are made ; each zone 
 Obeys thee; thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, alone." 
 
 "Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou moon, in 
 the valley of Ajalon." Joshua x, 12. 
 
 The application of sex to what belongs in 
 strict language to the neuter gender, is a 
 frequent source of personified expression. 
 We say of the sun, he shines by the inherent 
 power of his own light, and of the moon, she 
 shines by reflection of the sun's rays. The 
 earth, a country, a city, a ship, while criti- 
 cally neuter in language, are most frequently 
 spoken of under a feminine designation. In 
 strict language the term "virtue" is neuter 
 in gender, and yet in rhetorical language it 
 is often personified. 
 
 Example. 
 
 " Virtue descends from Heaven— she alone confers true 
 honor upon man— her gifts are the only durable rewards.'' 
 
 11. Vision. 
 
 Rhetoric attaches to the term "vision," a 
 meaning somewhat different from its com- 
 mon acceptation. In rhetoric it implies 
 something is taking place now, which in 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 135 
 
 fact belongs to the past, or it represents 
 something as present to the mind now, 
 which is anticipated of the future. 
 
 Examples. 
 
 "The cries of the victims of savage vengeance, have 
 already reached us! Already they seem to sigh in the 
 western wind. Already they mingle with every echo 
 from the mountains." 
 
 Cioero in one of his orations against the 
 Cataline conspirators, says: 
 
 " I seem to behold this city, the light of the universe, 
 and the citadel of all nations, suddenly involved in flames. 
 I figure to myself my country in ruins, and the miserable 
 bodies of slaughered citizens, lying in heaps without bur- 
 ial. The image of Cethegus furiously revelling in your 
 blood is now before my eyes." 
 
 In Campbell's poem entitled "Lochiel's 
 Warning," is a most thrilling example of 
 this figure, commencing with the lines, 
 
 " Lochiel ! Lochiel ! beware of the day, 
 
 When the Lowlands shall meet thee in battle array, 
 For a field of the dead rushes red on my sight, 
 And the clans of Culloden are scattered in flight." 
 
136 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 Voluinnia, in Coriolanus, act 1, scene 3, 
 addresses the wife of her son, thus: 
 
 "MethinTcs, I hear hither your husband's drum, 
 See him pluck Aufidens down by the hair ; 
 Methinks, I see him stamp thus, and call thus- 
 Come on you cowards, you were got in fear, 
 Though you were born in Rome. His bloody brow, 
 With his mailed hand then wiping, forth he goes." 
 
 "Andromache— thy griefs I dread: 
 I see thee trembling, weeping, captive led." 
 
 "Soldiers! from yonder pyramids forty centuries look 
 down upon you." 
 
 "I see the dagger crest of Mar, 
 I see the Moray's silver star 
 Wave o'er the clouds of Saxon war, 
 That up the lake comes winding far." 
 
 "I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep 
 that have not a shepherd." 
 
 12. Apostrophe. 
 
 Apostrophe is an address to some absent 
 or dead person as if he were present and 
 listening to us, and sometimes refers to a 
 personified object. 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 137 
 
 Examples. 
 
 " Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither 
 let there be rain upon you." * * * "Ye daughters of 
 Israel, weep over Saul who clothed you in scarlet." 
 
 "Washington, immortal spirit! revisit and save thy 
 country." 
 
 " death where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy 
 victory ? " 
 
 " O you leaden messengers, 
 That ride upon the violent speed of fire, 
 Fly with false aim ; pierce the still moving air, 
 That stings with piercing ; do not touch my lord." 
 
 "Brutus. O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet! 
 Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns our swords 
 In our own proper entrails." 
 
 " Oh, Hesperus ! thou bringest all good things- 
 Home to the weary, to the hungry cheer, 
 To the young bird the parent's brooding wings, 
 
 The welcome stall to the o'er labored steer ; 
 Whate'er of peace about our hearthstone clings, 
 Whate'er our household gods protect of dear, 
 Are gather'd round us by thy look of rest, 
 Thou bring'st the child, too, to the mother's breast.' 
 
 Byron. 
 
138 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 From the speech of Eobert Emmet on his 
 trial before Lord Norbury: 
 
 " O ever dear and venerated shade of my departed father, 
 look down with scrutiny upon the conduct of your suf- 
 fering son." 
 
 Cicero rejoices over the death of Clodius 
 in the following bitter terms: 
 
 " Our sacred places themselves, by heavens, which saw 
 this monster fall, seemed to be interested in his fate, and 
 to vindicate their rights in his destruction. For you, ye 
 Alban mounts and groves, I implore and attest, ye demol- 
 ished altars of the Albans. * * Upon his fall your 
 altars, your rites nourished, your power prevailed, which 
 he had defiled with all manner of villainy. And you, O 
 venerable Jupiter ! from your lofty Latin mount, whose 
 lakes, whose woods and borders, he polluted with the 
 most abominable lust, and every species of guilt, at last 
 opened your eyes to behold his destruction." 
 
 Paterculus in his compendium of Roman 
 history, addresses the dead triumvir, Mark 
 Antony, as if he were present and listening 
 to him; and reproaches him for his treat- 
 ment of Cicero; thus: 
 
 " But you have gained nothing, Mark Antony, you have 
 gained nothing, I say, by paying the hire for closing those 
 divine lips, and cutting off that noble head, and by pro- 
 curing for a fatal reward, the death of a man, once so 
 great a consul, and the preserver of the commonwealth. 
 You deprived Marcus Cicero of a life full of trouble and 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 139 
 
 of a feeble old age; an existence more unhappy under 
 your ascendency, than death under your triumvirate; but 
 of the fame and glory of Jiis actions and writings you have 
 been so far from despoiling him, that you have even in- 
 creased it. He lives and will live in the memory of all 
 succeeding ages. And as long as this body of the universe, 
 whether framed by chance or wisdom, or by whatever 
 means, which he, almost of all the Romans penetrated 
 with his genius, comprehended in his imagination, and 
 illustrated by his eloquence, shall continue to exist, it will 
 carry the praise of Cicero as its companion in duration. 
 All posterity will admire his writings against you, and 
 execrate your conduct towards him ; and sooner shall the 
 race of man fail in the world, than his name decay." 
 
 Martial in one of his epigrams, addresses 
 the dead triumvir, thus: 
 
 "O Antony, thou canst cast no reproach upon the 
 Egyptian Pothinus; thou didst more injury by the mur- 
 der of Cicero, than by all your proscription lists. Why 
 did you draw the sword, madman, against the mouth of 
 Rome! Such a crime not even Cataline himself would 
 have committed. An impious soldier was corrupted by 
 your accursed gold, and for so much money procured you 
 the silence of a single tongue. But of what avail to you 
 is the dearly bought suppression of that sacred eloquence ? 
 On behalf of Cicero the whole world will speak." 
 
 Considering that the body of the dead tri- 
 umvir was hardly cold in its grave when 
 these invectives were uttered, and that all 
 the then civilized world was under the rule 
 
140 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 of the tyranny -which he had been active in 
 establishing, one is at a loss whether most 
 to admire the independent and fearless spirit 
 of the men who thus denounced him, or the 
 thrilling words of eloquence in which their 
 abhorrence of his conduct is expressed. 
 
 13. Antithesis. 
 
 Antithesis signifies contrast or opposition 
 of two or more ideas, sentiments, or concep- 
 tions. It presents arguments in a very sen- 
 tentious, yet energetic style. The speeches 
 of eminent orators abound in the use of this 
 figure. 
 
 Examples. 
 
 Cicero in his second speech against Cata- 
 line, draws a comparison between his fol- 
 lowers and those of Cataline, to the disad- 
 vantage of the latter, as follows: 
 
 " I say, if, omitting all these, we only compare the con- 
 tending parties between themselves, it will soon appear 
 how very low our enemies are reduced. On the one side 
 modesty contends, on the other petulance ; here chastity, 
 there pollution ; here integrity, there treachery ; here piety, 
 there prof aneness ; here resolution, there rage ; here honor, 
 there baseness; here moderation, there unbridled licen- 
 tiousness; in short, equity, temperance, fortitude, pru- 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 141 
 
 dence, struggle with iniquity, luxury, cowardice, rashness ; 
 every virtue with every vice. The contest lies between 
 wealth, and indigence; sound, and depraved reason; 
 strength of understanding, and frenzy; between well 
 grounded hope, and the most absolute despair. In such a 
 conflict and struggle as this, was even human aid to fail, 
 will not the immortal gods enable such illustrious virtue, 
 to triumph over such complicated vice ? " 
 
 Sallust in his history of the Jugurthine 
 war, reports a speech of Marius, in hostility 
 to certain of the nobility of Rome, in which 
 is found the following gem of antithesis: 
 
 "Compare now, my fellow citizens, me, who am a new 
 man, with those haughty nobles. What they have but 
 heard or read, I have witnessed or performed. What they 
 have learned from books, I have acquired in the field. 
 * * * They despise my humbleness of birth ; I con- 
 temn their imbecility. My condition is made an objection 
 to me ; their misconduct is a reproach to them. * * * 
 They envy me the honor that I have received ; let them 
 also envy me the toils, the abstinence, and the perils by 
 which I obtained that honor." 
 
 From Demosthenes in his reply to ^Eschi- 
 nes in the oration on the crown: 
 
 " Take, then, the whole course of your life, ^Esehines- 
 and of mine; compare them without heat or acrimony' 
 You attended on your scholars ; I was myself a scholar 
 You served in the initiations; I was initiated. You were 
 a performer in our public entertainments; I was the di- 
 rector. You took notes of speeches; I was a speaker. 
 
142 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 You were a player; I was a spectator. You failed in 
 your part; I hissed you. Your public conduct was de- 
 voted to our enemies ; mine to my country. * * * 
 Come, then ; hear me while I repeat the several attesta- 
 tions of these public offices which I have discharged ; and 
 in return do you repeat those verses which you spoiled in 
 the delivery : 
 
 1 Forth from the deep abyss, behold I come ! 
 And the dread portal of the dusky gloom.' 
 
 And, 
 
 1 Know, then, howe'er reluctant I must speak 
 Those evils .' 
 
 " 0, ,may the gods inflict ' those evils ' on thee ! may these 
 thy countrymen inflict them to thy utter destruction ! — 
 thou enemy to Athens ! thou traitor ! " 
 
 The proverbs of Solomon, especially the 
 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th chapters, 
 abound with many beautiful and striking 
 instances of antithesis, of which the follow- 
 ing are examples: 
 
 "A wise son maketh a glad father ; but a foolish son is 
 the heaviness of his mother. 
 
 "A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous 
 words stir up anger. 
 
 "He that trusteth in his riches shall fall; but the 
 righteous shall flourish as a branch. 
 
 "The lip of truth shall be established forever; but a 
 lying tongue is but for a moment. 
 
 " When the righteous are in authority, the people re- 
 joice; but when the wicked beareth rule, the people 
 mourn." 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 143 
 
 Extracts from the proverbs of an ancient 
 Brahmin: 
 
 44 The hand of the generous man is like the clouds of 
 Heaven, which drop upon the earth fruits, herbage, and 
 flowers ; but the heart of the ungrateful is like a desert of 
 sand, which swalloweth with greediness the showers that 
 fall, burieth them in its bosom, and produceth nothing. 
 
 44 The tongue of the sincere is rooted in his heart ; he 
 blusheth at falsehood and is confounded ; but the heart of 
 the hypocrite is hid in his breast, he masketh his words 
 in the semblance of truth, while the business of his life is 
 only to deceive. He passeth his days in perpetual con- 
 straint ; his tongue and his heart are ever at variance. 
 
 44 Seest thou not that the angry man looseth his under- 
 standing? Do nothing in a passion. Why wilt thou put 
 to sea in the violence of a storm ? 
 
 "A fool is provoked with insolent speeches, but a wise 
 man laugheth them to scorn." 
 
 From " Pollock's Course of Time": 
 
 44 Wisdom is humble, said the voice of God. 
 ' Tis proud, the world replied. Wisdom, said God, 
 Forgives, forbears and suffers, not for fear 
 Of man, but God, Wisdom revenges, said 
 The world ; is quick and deadly of resentment, 
 Thrusts at the very shadow* of affront, 
 And hastes, by death, to wipe its honor clean. 
 Wisdom, said God, loves enemies, entreats, 
 Solicits, begs for peace. Wisdom, replied 
 The world, hates enemies; will not ask peace, 
 Conditions spurns, and triumphs in their fall. 
 Wisdom mistrusts itself, and leans on Heaven, 
 Said God. It trusts and leans upon itself, 
 
144 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 The world replies. Wisdom retires, said God, 
 And counts it bravery to bear reproach, 
 And shame, and lowly poverty upright ; 
 And weeps with all who have just cause to weep. 
 Wisdom, replied the world, struts forth to gaze ; 
 Treads the broad stage of life with clamrous foot ; 
 Attracts all praises ; counts it bravery 
 Alone to wield the sword, and rush on death ; 
 And never weeps but for its own disgrace. 
 Wisdom, said God, is highest, when it stoops 
 Lowest before the Holy Throne, throws down 
 Its crown abased, forgets itself, admires, 
 And breathes adoring praise. 
 ******** 
 
 Thus did Almighty God, and thus the world, 
 Wisdom define." 
 
 From Goldsmith: 
 
 " Contrasted faults through all their manners reign ; 
 Though poor, luxurious ; though submissive, vain ; 
 Though grave, yet trifling ; zealous, yet untrue ; 
 And e'en in penance, planning sins anew." 
 
 From a sermon of St. Chrysostom: 
 
 "Man troubles himself, and loses his end: he troubles 
 himself, consumes and melts to nothing, as if he had 
 never been born ; he troubles himself, and before he at- 
 tains rest, is overwhelmed ; he is inflamed like a fire, and 
 is reduced to ashes like flax ; he mounts on high like a 
 tempest, and like dust is scattered and disappears ; he is 
 kindled like a flame, and vanishes like smoke ; he glories 
 in his beauty like a flower, and withers like hay; he 
 spreads himself as a cloud, and is contracted as a drop ; 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 145 
 
 ho swells like ;i 1 nibble of water, and goes out like a 
 sparkle; he is troubled and cares nothing about him but 
 the tilth of riches; he is troubled only to gain dirt; he is 
 troubled and dies without fruit of his vexations. His are 
 the troubles, others the joys; his are the cares, others the 
 contents; his are the afflictions, others the fruit; his are 
 the heart-burnings, others the delights; his are the curses, 
 others have the respect and reverence. * * * Man 
 is lie who enjoys a life but lent him, and that but for a 
 short time ; man is but a debt of death, which is to be paid 
 without delay; subtle in wickedness, witty in iniquity, 
 insatiable in the desire of what is anothers; a flame 
 which quickly dies, a light which vanisheth into air, a 
 dead leaf, withered hay, faded grass, a nature which con- 
 sumes itself; to-day abounds in wealth, and is to-morrow 
 in his grave; to-day hath his brows circled with a dia- 
 dem, and to-morrow is with worms; he is to-day, and to- 
 morrow ceases to be ; immeasurably insolent in prosperity, 
 and in adversity admits no comfort; who knows not him- 
 self, yet is curious in searching what is above him ; he 
 who is an open house of perturbation, a game of divers 
 infirmities, a concourse of daily calamities, and a recep- 
 tacle of sorrow. how great is the tragedy of our base- 
 ness ! " 
 
 Seneca's compositions were usually of the 
 antithetical style, of which the following 
 from his treatise on .a " Happy Life," may be 
 considered a fair example and illustration: 
 
 "Whatsoever may be will be. I am to-day safe and 
 happy in the love of my counry: I am to-morrow ban- 
 ished; to-day in pleasure, peace, health; to-morrow broken 
 upon a wheel, led in triumph, and in the agony of sick- 
 10 
 
146 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 ness. Let us therefore prepare for a shipwreck in the 
 port, and for a tempest in a cairn." 
 
 Seneca by the constant contemplation of 
 death and the world of the hereafter, had so 
 educated himself, that he feared no worldly 
 misfortune which is not attended with dis- 
 honor; and when the imperial tyrant (his 
 former pupil) sent his mandate for him to be 
 put to death, he met the summons with the 
 calmness of a child going to sleep on its 
 mother's breast; he died as he lived teaching 
 and practicing virtue. 
 
 14. Epimone. 
 
 " Epimone in rhetoric, signifies the press- 
 ing upon some particular word or point, and 
 repeating it over and over again, until it is 
 made rediculous by the repetition." 
 
 Examples. 
 
 Mr. Sheridan in a part of his speech on 
 his motion in 1793, to consider of certain 
 alleged seditious practices referred to in the 
 king's speech to parliament, replied to Mr. 
 Wyndham, thus: 
 
 "My friend fMr. Wyndham) has been panic struck, 
 and now lie strengthens the hands of government. Xot 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 147 
 
 later than the preceding session, he would pull off the 
 mask of perfidy, and declaimed loudly against that im- 
 plicit confidence which some had argued ought to be 
 placed in ministers. It was owing entirely to this panic 
 that Mr. Wyndham now prevailed with himself to sup- 
 port the minister because he had a bad opinion of him. It 
 was owing to this panic that a noble and learned lord 
 (Loughborough) had given his disinterested support to 
 government ; and it was owing to this panic that he ac- 
 cepted the seals of an administration he had uniformly 
 reprobated. But it was all owing to this panic that 
 a right honorable gentleman (Mr. Burke) had lost his fine 
 taste, and descended to the most ridiculous pantomime 
 tricks, and contemptible juggling— such as to carry knives 
 and daggers to assist him in efforts of description." 
 
 In 1832, during the administration of Pres- 
 ident Jackson, the Congress of the United 
 States passed a bill to re-charter the United 
 States Bank, which had been originally- 
 chartered during the administration of Pres- 
 ident Madison. 
 
 President Jackson vetoed the bill to re- 
 charter, and in his veto message indulged in 
 some remarks to which Mr. Clay, then a 
 member of the United States Senate took 
 exception, and to which he replied from his 
 place in the Senate with much warmth of 
 thought and energy of expression. In the 
 course of his speech addressing the presi- 
 dent of the Senate, he uttered the following, 
 
148 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 which is a very striking example of the 
 figure under consideration: 
 
 "Mr. President : There are some parts of this message 
 that ought to excite alarm ; and that especially in which 
 the President announces that each public officer may in- 
 terpret the Constitution as he pleases. His language is, 
 ' Each public officer who takes an oath to support the Con- 
 stitution swears that he will support it as he understands 
 it, and not as it is understood by others.' 
 
 "Now, Mr. President, I conceive, with great deference, 
 that the President has mistaken the purport of the oath to 
 support the Constitution of the United States. No one 
 swears to support it as he understands it, but to support 
 it simply as it is in truth. All men are bound to obey the 
 laws, of which the Constitution is supreme ; but must they 
 obey them as they are, or as they understand them f If the 
 obligation of obedience is limited and controlled by the 
 measure of information: in other words, if the party is 
 bound to obey the Constitution only as he understands it, 
 what would be the consequence? The judge of an in- 
 ferior court would disobey the mandate of a superior tri- 
 bunal, because it was not in conformity to the Constitu- 
 tion as he understands it; a custom-house officer would 
 disobey a circular from the Treasury department, because 
 contrary to the Constitution as he understands it; an 
 American minister would disregard an instruction from 
 the President communicated through the department of 
 State, because not agreeable to the Constitution as he un- 
 derstands it; and a subordinate officer in the army or 
 navy, would violate the orders of his superior, because 
 they were not in accordance with the Constitution as he 
 understands it. There would be general disorder and con- 
 fusion throughout every branch of administration, from 
 the highest to the lowest officers— universal nullification. 
 * * * * The President independent both of Con- 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 149 
 
 gress and the Supreme Court! Only bound to execute 
 the laws of the one and the decisions of the other, as far 
 as they conform to the Constitution of the United States, 
 as far as he understands it. Then it should be the duty 
 of every President, on his installation into office, to care- 
 fully examine all the acts in the Statute book, approved by 
 his predecessors, and mark out those which he was re- 
 solved not to execute, and to which he meant to apply 
 this new species of veto, because they were repugnant to 
 the Constitution as he understands it. And after the ex- 
 piration of every term of the Supreme Court, he should 
 send for the record of its decisions, and discriminate be- 
 tween those which he would, and those which he would 
 not execute, because they were or were not agreeable to 
 the Constitution as He understands it." 
 
 15. Irony. 
 
 Irony is expressing ourselves contrary to 
 our thoughts, not with a view to deceive, 
 but to add force to our remarks. 
 
 Examples. 
 
 Thus we can reprove one for his negli- 
 gence by saying: 
 " You have taken great care, indeed ! " 
 
 The prophet Elijah adopted this figure 
 when he challenged the priests of Baal to a 
 proof of their deity. 
 
 " He mocked them and said, 'cry aloud, for he is a god; 
 
150 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is on a 
 journey, or peradventure he sleepeth and must be waked.' " 
 
 " They boast, they came but to improve our state, en- 
 large our thoughts, and free us from the yoke of error ! 
 Yes, they will give enlightened freedom to our mind, who 
 are themselves the slaves of passion, avarice, and pride. 
 They offer us their protection. Yes, such protection as 
 vultures give to lambs, covering and devouring them !" 
 
 " Your consul is merciful ; for this all thanks. He dare 
 not touch a hair of Cataline." 
 
 m Such a virtuous and humane prince as Henry the 8th 
 of England!" 
 
 "Orleans. I know him to be valiant. 
 
 Constable. I was told that by one that knows him bet- 
 ter than you. 
 
 Orleans. What 's he ? 
 
 Constable. Marry, he told me so himself, and he said he 
 cafd not who knew it." 
 
 " Oh, admirable laws of Venice ! 
 Which would admit the wife, in the hope 
 That she might testify against the husband. 
 What glory to the chaste Venetian dames ! " 
 
 P. Clodius was the descendant of a long 
 line of illustrious Roman ancestors. He 
 was a patrician by birth, and possessed a 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 151 
 
 versatile genius which he perverted to the 
 vilest purposes, courting the lowest dregs of 
 society and leading them into violent ex- 
 cesses. He was killed in a personal conflict 
 with Milo, and while all good citizens felt 
 that the public morals were benefited by 
 his death, yet such was the clamour of his 
 adherents and followers, that the Senate was 
 compelled to put Milo on trial for the hom- 
 icide. Milo was defended by Cicero who had 
 despised and hated Clodius in his life time, 
 and who in the course of his speech for Milo, 
 reflected on the memory of his dead enemy 
 in the following ironical terms: 
 
 "But it is weak in one to presume to compare Drusus, 
 Africanus, Pompey, or myself, with Clodius. Their lives 
 could be dispensed with ; but as to the death of P. Clodius 
 no one can bear it with any degree of patience. The Sen- 
 ate mourns ; the knights grieve ; the whole state is broken 
 down as if with age; the municipalities are in mourning; 
 the colonies are bowed down ; the very fields even regret 
 so beneticient, so useful, so kind hearted a citizen ! " 
 
 Augustus in reply to a challenge sent him 
 by Mark Antony to fight him in single com- 
 bat: 
 
 "Tell Antony there are many other ways for him to die, 
 than by my sword." 
 
152 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 Junius to Sir Wm. Draper: 
 
 "An academical education has given you an unlimited 
 command over the most beautiful figures of speech. 
 Masks, hatchets, racks, and vipers, dance through your 
 letters in the mazes of metaphorical confusion. These are 
 the gloomy companions of a disturbed imagination; the 
 melancholy madness of poetry without the inspiration. 
 
 " I will not contend with you in point of composition ; 
 you are a scholar, Sir William, and if I am truly informed, 
 you write Latin with almost as much purity as England." 
 
 16. Climax. 
 
 Climax in rhetoric signifies "a sentence, 
 or series of sentences in which the success- 
 ive members or sentences rise in force, im- 
 portance, or dignity, to the close of the sen- 
 tence or series." 
 
 Examples. 
 
 Erskine in his defense of Home Tooke, 
 thus: 
 
 " There still remains that which is even paramount to 
 the law— that great tribunal which the wisdom of our 
 ancestors raised in this country for the support of the 
 people's rights— that tribunal which has made the law— 
 that tribunal which has given me you to look at— that 
 tribunal which is surrounded with an hedge as it were 
 set about it— that tribunal w T hich from age to age has 
 been fighting for the liberties of the people, and without 
 the aid of which it would have been in vain for me to 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 153 
 
 stand up before you, or to think of looking around for 
 
 assistance." 
 
 Cicero in one of his speeches against Yer- 
 res, thus: 
 
 "It is a crime to put a Roman citizen in bonds— it is the 
 height of guilt to scourge him — little less than parricide to 
 put him to death ; what name, then, shall I give the act 
 of crucifying him ? " 
 
 "And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, 
 virtue ; and to virtue, knowledge ; and to knowledge, tem- 
 perance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, 
 godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to 
 brotherly kindness, charity." 2 Peter, Ch. 1, vs. 5, 6, 7. 
 
 Sir George McKenzie, a noted Scotch law- 
 yer, engaged in the prosecution of a woman 
 charged with murdering her own child, in 
 address to the jury, thus: 
 
 "Gentlemen: If one man had anyhow slain another; 
 if an adversary had killed his opposer; or a woman occa- 
 sioned the death of her enemy; even these criminals 
 would have been capitally punished by the Cornelian law ; 
 but, if this guiltless infant, who could make no enemy, 
 had been murdered by its own nurse, what punishments 
 would not then the mother have demanded ? With what 
 cries and exclamations would she have stunned your i 
 What shall we say then when a woman, guilty of homi- 
 cide, a mother, of the murder of her innocent child, hath 
 comprised all these misdeeds in one single crime V a crime 
 
154 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 in its own nature detestable ; in a woman prodigious ; in 
 a mother incredible!" 
 
 The book of Ruth furnishes the following 
 very sentimental and elegantly expressed 
 climax: 
 
 "And Ruth said, ' Entreat me not to leave thee, or to 
 return from following after thee ; for whither thou goest, 
 I will go ; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge ; thy peo- 
 ple shall be my people, and thy God my God ; where thou 
 diest, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do 
 so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and 
 me.'" 
 
 "When we practice good actions awhile they become 
 easy ; and when they are easy we begin to take pleasure 
 in them ; and when they please us we do them frequently ; 
 and, by frequency of acts, they grow into a habit." Tillot- 
 son. 
 
 "Wouldst thou divert thyself from melancholy? 
 Wouldst thou be pleasant, yet be far from folly ? 
 Wouldst thou read riddles and their explanation ? 
 Or else be drowned in thy contemplation ? 
 Dost thou love picking meat ? Or wouldst thou see, 
 A man i ' the clouds, and hear him speak to thee ? 
 Wouldst thou be in a dream, and yet not sleep? 
 Or wouldst thou in a moment laugh and weep ? 
 Wouldst thou lose thyself and catch no harm, 
 And find thyself again without a charm ? 
 Wouldst read thyself, and read thou knowest not what^ 
 And yet know whether thou art blest or not, 
 By reading the same lines ? O then come hither ! 
 And lay my book, thy head, and heart together." 
 
 Banyan's Apology for his Pilgrim's Progress. 
 
FIGURES OF SPEECH. 155 
 
 What rhetoricians of the present day term 
 "climax," Quintillian termed "gradation," 
 which indicates in literature, a form of 
 speech or composition, "in which the ex- 
 pression which ends one member of the pe- 
 riod begins the second, and so on until the 
 period is finished." The following are ex- 
 amples quoted from Quintillian: 
 
 1. "From Jove, as they relate sprung Tantalus, 
 
 From Tantalus sprung Pelops, and from Pelops 
 Came Atreus, who is father of our race." 
 
 2. "Exertion gained merit to Africanus, merit glory 
 and glory rivals." 
 
 3. "Trials for extortion have not, therefore, ceased, 
 more than those for treason ; nor those for treason, more 
 than those under the Plantian law ; nor those under the 
 Plantian law, more than those for bribery ; nor those for 
 bribery, more than those under any law." 
 
 Ante-climax is the reverse of climax or 
 gradation, and signifies a sentence in which 
 its members descend or fall in dignity and 
 importance to the close of the series. 
 
 Examples. 
 
 He is a wise man; wise in small things; wise in hi9 
 own conceit in all things. 
 
156 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 He is distinguished as a military man, having risen to 
 the rank of a 3d corporal in the army of the Potomac. 
 
 "She taught the child to read, and taught so well, 
 That she herself, by teaching, learned to spell." 
 
 "And thou, Dalhousie, thou great god of war, 
 Lieutenant-colonel to the earl of Mar." 
 
 "Some have at first for wit the poet pass'd, 
 Turn'd critic next, and prov'd plain fool at last" 
 
GENERAL REFLECTIONS. 157 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 GENERAL REFLECTIONS, 
 
 CONCERNING SPEECH DELIVERY, NATURAL AND ARTI- 
 FICIAL LANGUAGE, AND THE NECESSITY OF CLOSE 
 APPLICATION TO STUDY, AND TO CONCENTRATION OF 
 THOUGHT. 
 
 " The varying face should every passion show, 
 And words of sorrow wear the look of wo ; 
 Let it in joy assume a vivid air, 
 Fierce, when in rage ; in seriousness, severe ; 
 For nature to each change of fortune forms 
 The secret soul, and all its passions warms : 
 Transports to rage, dilates the heart with mirth, 
 Wrings the sad soul, and bends it down to earth. 
 * * * * * * * * 
 
 "With them who laugh our social joy appears ; 
 
 With them who mourn we sympathize in tears ; 
 
 If you would have me weep, begin the strain, 
 
 Then shall I feel your sorrows, feel your pain ; 
 
 But if your heroes are not w r hat they say, 
 
 I sleep or laugh the lifeless scene away." 
 
 Horace. 
 
 —"The grand debate, 
 
 The popular harangue, the tart reply, 
 
 The logic, and the wisdom, and the wit, 
 
 And the loud laugh— 1 long to know them all." 
 
 (Jowper. 
 
L58 rhetoric as an art of persuasion. 
 
 " There 's a charm in deliv'ry, a magical art, 
 That thrills, like a kiss, from the lip to the heart ; 
 'Tis the glance— the expression— the well chosen word, 
 By whose magic the depths of the spirit are stirr'd— 
 The smile— the mute gesture— the soul stirring pause— 
 The eye's sweet expression, that melts while it awes— 
 The lip's soft persuasion— its musical tone : 
 Oh! such were the charms of that eloquent one." 
 
 Mrs. A. B. Welby. 
 
 "When he speaks, 
 The air, a charter'd libertine, is still, 
 And the mute wonder lurketh in men's ears, 
 To steal his sweet and honey'd sentences." 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 " He ceased ; the solemn silence now was broke, 
 Which reigned triumphant while the hero spoke ; 
 And then was heard, amid the general pause, 
 One simultaneous burst of loud applause." 
 
 /. T. Watson. 
 
 "What shall be said of the attendants that follow the 
 young orator from the bar, and watch his motions to his 
 own house? With what importance does he appear to 
 the multitude ! in the courts of judicature with what ven- 
 eration. When he rises to speak, the audience is hushed 
 in mute attention ; every eye is fixed on him alone ; the 
 crowd presses around him ; he is master of their passions ; 
 they are swayed, impelled, directed, as he thinks proper. 
 These are the fruits of eloquence well known to all. 
 
 " When the orator upon some great occasion, comes with 
 a well digested speech, conscious of his matter, and ani- 
 
GENERAL REFLECTIONS. 159 
 
 mated by his subject, his breast expands, and heaves with 
 emotions not felt before. 
 
 "As to myself, if I may allude to my own feelings, the 
 day on which I put on the manly gown, and even the days 
 that followed, when as a new man at Rome, I rose in suc- 
 cession to the offices of quaestor, tribune, and praetor ; those 
 days, 1 say, did not awaken in my breast such exalted 
 raptures as when in the course of my profession I was 
 called forth to defend the accused; to argue a question of 
 law before the centumviri, or in the presence of the prince 
 to plead for his freedmen. Upon those occasions I tow- 
 ered above all places of profit and all preferment ; I looked 
 down on the dignity of tribune, pnetor and consul ; I felt 
 within myself, what neither the favor of the great, nor 
 the wills and codicils of the rich, can give, a vigor of 
 mind, an inward energy, that springs from no external 
 cause, but is altogether your own." 
 
 From the dialogue of Tacitus on oratory. 
 
 WHAT LANGUAGE IS. 
 
 Language is either natural or artificial. 
 Natural language is simply the expression 
 of uneducated nature, and is manifested 
 by different tones of voice; by gesticulation; 
 and by countenance or facial expression. 
 
 By different tones of voice; as to cry or 
 utter plaintive sounds when hurt or op- 
 pressed with sorrow; to laugh aloud when 
 pleased; to utter guttural sounds when dis- 
 pleased. 
 
 By gesticulation or movements of the 
 
160 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 hands and arms and other parts of the body; 
 as to beckon with the hand and arm for a per- 
 son to come to you; to present your open 
 hand with a push towards a person when you 
 want him to go away from you, or when you 
 wish to decline intercourse with him; to 
 stamp with the foot, or to raise the arm in 
 a threatening manner when in anger; to 
 solicit a gift by extending the open hand; 
 to embrace a person w T ith both hands and 
 arms to show your affection for him. 
 
 By countenance or facial expression: as to 
 smile when gratified; to frown when dis- 
 pleased, and so on. 
 
 It is by natural language the brute crea- 
 tion communicate with each other, and ex- 
 press their feelings, affections, desires, and 
 animosities. 
 
 Savages meeting who do not understand 
 each other's artificial language, will, by mo- 
 tions of arms and body, tones of voice, and 
 expressions of countenance, make known to 
 each other with considerable clearness of com- 
 prehension their respective wants, thoughts, 
 and notions. 
 
 Artificial language consists of words 
 adopted by men for their convenience, to 
 represent more perfectly their ideas, feelings, 
 
GENERAL REFLECTIONS. 161 
 
 sentiments, and desires; and in some lan- 
 guages words are more elegant and expres 
 sive than in others, accordingly as men are 
 more or less advanced in civilization, and 
 bestow more or less time upon the study 
 and adornments of speech. 
 
 Numerous words of different formations, 
 especially in the English language, often ex- 
 press the same idea or sentiment, or sub- 
 stantially the same; but they are not each 
 always equally appropriate in the delivery 
 of a speech. Euphony, or agreeableness in 
 sound, is often of material importance in 
 the selection of a word, or words, to create 
 a more striking or lasting impression on the 
 mind of the hearer. 
 
 As a general rule, short words, or words of 
 one and two syllables, are more natural, and 
 expressive than longer ones. Thus where 
 can be found anything more neat, concise 
 and elegant in speech, or more sublime in 
 thought, than the following from the book 
 of Job, which though it contains eighty-four 
 words, has but twelve words beyond one 
 syllable in length, and they of only two syl- 
 lables? to- wit: 
 
 "In thoughts bom the visions of the night, when deep 
 Bleep falleth upon men, fear came upon me, and trembling, 
 
 11 
 
162 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 which made all my bones to shake. Then a spirit passed 
 before my face ; the hair of my flesh stood up ; it stood 
 still ; but I could not discern the form thereof ; an image 
 was before mine eyes; there was silence; and I heard a 
 voice, saying— shall mortal man be more just than God F 
 
 That sublime expression, "God said let 
 there be light and there was light," is com- 
 posed entirely of monosyllables. 
 
 But sometimes longer words are more ap- 
 propriate, especially in the close of a sen- 
 tence, because of sound or euphony. 
 
 Next in importance to the study of words 
 is the study of the structure and conforma- 
 tion of sentences. 
 
 It is said that short sentences best suit 
 "gay and easy subjects "; and the following 
 from Pope is a pertinent example of that 
 species of composition: 
 
 " I writ because it amused me. I corrected because it 
 was as pleasant to me to correct as to write. I published 
 because I was told it might please such as it was a credit 
 to please." 
 
 While gay and easy subjects may be best 
 expressed in short sentences, it is equally 
 true that the most expressive thoughts are 
 often expressed in "brevity of speech." 
 
 Sometimes the proper explication of a 
 
GENERAL REFLECTIONS. 163 
 
 subject requires a sentence of considerable 
 length. 
 
 " When Ajax strives some rock's huge weight to throw, 
 The line too labors and the words move slow." 
 
 Long and short sentences alternating each 
 other give variety to expression, and are 
 usually more agreeable in sound than when 
 short sentences are run together, or when 
 long sentences follow each other in quick 
 succession. 
 
 But there is no certain rule or rules for 
 the structure of sentences in all regards, and 
 good natural judgment aided by literary cul- 
 ture is the only true criterion of the forma- 
 tion of a sentence, either as regards the 
 words to be used, or its length or brevity. 
 
 The student of oratory should carefully 
 familiarize himself with the most expressive 
 words of his language, and in his speeches 
 apply them in such relation as will give 
 them their best efficiency, whether in the 
 narrative, didactic, or interrogative style. 
 
 "Words are the soul's amba. sudors, which go 
 Abroad upon her errands to and fro ; 
 They are the sole expounders of the mind, 
 And correspondence keep 'twixt all mankind." 
 
164 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 Much is to be gained in the art of public 
 speaking, by a careful study of the speeches 
 of the great masters of oratory, and by 
 listening to the speeches of those, who by 
 the common sentiment of community, have 
 become eminent in their vocation as speak- 
 ers. But no one should in his speech at- 
 tempt to imitate the style of speech of any 
 other person. Imitators will always be sec- 
 ondary personages. No one can give free 
 and full vent to his thoughts and feelings, 
 while he is at the same time seeking to 
 clothe them in another person's apparel of 
 expression. 
 
 Study the speeches of others for informa- 
 tion; but let your style of expression be your 
 own, and be as natural in the delivery of 
 your speech as possible, because to be natu- 
 ral is to be graceful and pleasing to the 
 hearers. 
 
 "First follow Nature, and your judgment frame 
 By her just standard, which is still the same ; 
 Unerring nature still divinely bright, 
 One clear, unchanged, and universal light, 
 Life, force, and beauty, must to all impart, 
 At once the source, and end, and test of art. 
 Art from that fund each just supply provides, 
 Works without show, and without pomp presides." 
 
GENERAL REFLECTIONS. 165 
 
 A graceful use of tones and modulations 
 of voice, countenance or facial expression, 
 and gesticulation, add much to the force and 
 beauty of a speech, because they indicate 
 the inner workings of the mind, though 
 they are often resorted to when not felt, es- 
 pecially in stage or theatrical acting. They 
 are very susceptible of improvement, as 
 much so perhaps as anything else that re- 
 lates to the person, or to human conduct or 
 actions generally. Some persons are natu- 
 rally graceful in countenance, tones, and 
 gesticulations; but none are so graceful in 
 these matters, but that they may be the sub- 
 ject of improvement; and. the student of 
 oratory will be careful to avail himself of 
 the instruction of a teacher of elocution, if 
 he can possibly have the opportunity to 
 do so. 
 
 Cicero in his treatise "De Oratore," re- 
 marks: 
 
 "Words affect none but him who understands them; 
 and sentiments, though they may be pointed, yet often 
 escape a discernment that is not quick. But an action 
 which is expressive of the passions of the mind is a lan- 
 guage understood by all the world; for the same express- 
 ions have the same effects through all; all mankind know 
 them in others by the same characters in which he ex- 
 presses them himself." 
 
166 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 Demosthenes amongst the Grecians, and 
 Koscius amongst the Romans, were noted 
 for their proficiency in the practice of natu- 
 ral language in connection with their 
 speeches. Demosthenes when asked what 
 he considered the most important point in 
 oratory, replied, "action"; and when further 
 asked what he considered the next most im- 
 portant point in oratory, again, replied, "ac- 
 tion." He, of course, intended by what he 
 said simply to show the advantage of proper 
 action; to-wit: gesture, tones, modulations 
 of voice, and so on, in the delivery of a 
 speech, and not to disparage argument, nor 
 its dress in appropriate language. 
 
 Cicero said of Roscius that it was a ques- 
 tion amongst learned Romans, whether he 
 by words, or Roscius by pantomime in act- 
 ing in the theatre, could better express a 
 thought, sentiment, or desire. 
 
 Besides naturalness in the use of action, 
 the speaker should studiously seek natural- 
 ness in the selection and use of words, tak- 
 ing and using such only as are perspicuous 
 and unambiguous. Quintillian says, "we 
 must study not only that every hearer may 
 understand us, but that it shall be impossi- 
 ble for him not to understand us." 
 
GENERAL REFLECTIONS. 1G7 
 
 Young speakers, especially if fertile in 
 genius and imagination, are very apt to fall 
 into a tawdry and bombastic style of speech; 
 and to such I would recommend a criticism 
 from the pen of that eminent judge, and be- 
 fore he went on the bench, able advocate, 
 Hon. J. M. Love, in some lines he addressed 
 to me on the general subject of forensic 
 speaking, and which I take the privilege to 
 quote in part as follows: 
 
 "It is the inevitable tendency of every young orator 
 gifted by nature with a vivid imagination to mistake 
 the pomp and glitter of words for true eloquence, instead 
 of that simplicity and naturalness of thought and style 
 which have characterized the efforts of all truly great 
 speakers. 
 
 u The richer the soil the greater necessity for stern cul- 
 ture, to remove the wild exuberance of weeds and flowers, 
 and prepare the ground for the real harvest that is to 
 come. 
 
 " Mr. Webster has stated that when he first came to the 
 bar, his style was florid and somewhat bombastic, and that 
 he corrected this tendency, and reformed his taste, in con- 
 sequence of noticing the extraordinary effects produced 
 by the plain and unadorned simplicity of that great law- 
 yer witli whom he had to contend, the celebrated Jere- 
 miah Mason. 
 
 " I once heard a very eminent lawyer and speaker Bay, 
 that in his young days he was attracted by the gorgeous- 
 ness and splendor which he found in the orations of 
 Charles Phillips, and that when in later years, lie had 
 emancipated himself from that false taste, he could but 
 
168 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 smile at his own youthful folly, and feel a certain degree 
 of contempt for the idol of his uninstructed mind." 
 
 The capacity of the speaker to persuade, 
 also much depends on his reputation for 
 good principles and morals, since it is an in- 
 stinct of the good to be influenced more by the 
 just than the unjust; and such is the natural 
 charm of a good life, that even the worst of 
 men will often admire and respect that vir- 
 tue in others, which they, themselves, do not 
 possess. 
 
 Virgil (iEn. 1, 152), expresses himself, 
 thus: 
 
 " As when sedition fires the ignoble crowd, 
 And the wild rabble storms and thirsts for blood ; 
 Of stones and brands a mingled tempest flies, 
 With all the sudden arms that rage supplies : 
 If some grave sire appears amidst the strife 
 In morals strict and innocence of life, 
 
 . All stand attentive, while the sage controls 
 Their wrath, and calms the tempest of their souls." 
 
 Demosthenes in his oration on the crown, 
 says: 
 
 " Experience hath convinced me that what is called the 
 power of eloquence depends for the most part on the 
 hearers, and that the characters of public speakers are 
 determined by that degree of favor and attention which 
 you vouchsafe to each." 
 
GENERAL REFLECTIONS. 169 
 
 And ill another part of the same speech: 
 
 "But it Is not language, * * it is not the tone of 
 voice which reflects honor on a public speaker ; but such 
 a conformity with his fellow citizens in sentiment and 
 interest, that both his enemies and friends are the same 
 with those of his country." 
 
 But however ardent may be the desire of 
 the student for oratorical success, however 
 fluent he may be in speech, quick in wit, 
 brilliant in imagination, and strong in 
 thought by natural endowment, yet he will 
 never reach the highest round in the ladder 
 of fame, without industry, good morals, and 
 constant, persistent, application. I know a 
 man on whom nature showered the most 
 munificent gifts of oratory; I mean natural 
 capacity for speech-making. Nature gave 
 him a bright imagination, quick and cutting 
 wit, and a large amount of emotional and 
 reasoning power. And his father impressed 
 with the future promise of his son, gave him 
 the advantage of a classical education. He 
 selected the law for his profession, and was 
 just starting on a successful career as a law- 
 yer and advocate, when lured by the excite- 
 ment of politics he stepped aside to engage 
 in public discussions of a partisan character. 
 
170 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 His speeches were greatly applauded, and he 
 was soon known and hailed as the " boy or- 
 ator/' He gained a state reputation as a 
 political speaker, and his services in that 
 line, while yet the beard was ungrown on 
 his chin, procured his appointment to a judi- 
 cial office in the state of his nativity, and 
 which he held for eight years with honor to 
 himself and credit to the public. 
 
 But in the meantime there came a change 
 in politics, and preferring principle to suc- 
 cess, he united with the weaker side and 
 lost his official position. He then went back 
 to the law, and occasionally he would de- 
 liver admirable speeches; enough to show 
 what nature had done for him. But he had 
 while in office lost his application for study, 
 and disinclined to undergo the fatigues of 
 the profession, after a few years effort, with- 
 drew entirely from the bar; withdrew from 
 a forum where, if he had confined himself 
 and given proper application to it, he would 
 probably have arisen to the pinnacle of legal 
 and oratorical fame. If he attained such 
 high position as a speaker without applica- 
 tion, what renown would he have reached 
 with it? 
 
 Let young lawyers profit by his example, 
 
GENERAL REFLECTIONS. 171 
 
 and know that law is a jealous mistress, and 
 accepts of no divided homage. 
 
 The cotemporaries of Demosthenes who 
 envied his fame and superiority, used to 
 urge against him that his speeches smelt of 
 the midnight lamp. True they did. But 
 his fame and speeches remain a monument 
 of honor and glory to his memory, while the 
 names of his rivals are lost mostly to his- 
 tory, except so far as they shine by reflection 
 from him, or as he has casually named them 
 in his orations. 
 
 No common genius however great his in- 
 dustry and application, can hope to attain 
 to the high oratorical capacity of the great 
 Athenian. But when we reflect upon the 
 severe studies which Demosthenes under- 
 went even at the tender age of eighteen 
 years; shutting himself up three months in 
 a cave, to be undisturbed in his practice of 
 speaking and declamation; may we not 
 fairly claim that while nature did much for 
 him, yet study and art gave the finishing 
 touch to his greatness as an orator. 
 
 Cicero would usually when time allowed, 
 write out and commit his speeches to mem- 
 ory before he delivered them, even in law 
 cases, which not one modern lawyer in a 
 
172 RHETORIC AS AN ART OP PERSUASION. 
 
 thousand thinks of doing or ever does; and 
 he would not engage in a law trial until 
 after he had carefully examined the wit- 
 nesses of his client, and sought every honor- 
 able opportunity to learn in advance the ev- 
 idence of the opposite party, that his client 
 should suffer no detriment by his negligence; 
 a thing in which many lawyers of modern 
 times are too often derelict. 
 
 Quintillian in his treatise on the educa- 
 tion of an orator, says: 
 
 "We must frequently watch whole nights; we must 
 imbibe the smoke of the lamp by which we study, and 
 remain long during the day-time in garments moistened 
 with perspiration." 
 
 Alexander Hamilton said: 
 
 "Men give me some credit for genius. All the genius I 
 have lies just in this : when I have a subject I study it 
 profoundly. Day and night it is before me. I explore it 
 in all its bearings. My mind becomes pervaded with it, 
 and the effort I make is the fruit of labor and thought." 
 
 Daniel Webster whe"n a member of the 
 United States Senate replied to a gentleman 
 who pressed him to speak on a subject of 
 great importance, as follows: 
 
 "The subject, sir, interests me deeply, but I have no time. 
 There" (pointing to his table) " is a pile of letters to which 
 
GENERAL REFLECTIONS. 173 
 
 I must reply before the close of the session, and T have no 
 time to master the subject so as to do it justice." " But " 
 (said the gentleman) "a few words from you, Mr. Webster 
 would do much to awaken attention to it." Mr. Webster 
 replied ; " If there be so much weight in my words as you 
 represent, it is because I do not allow myself to speak on 
 any subject until my mind is imbued with it." 
 
 Pindar (the Theban bard), in one of his 
 odes, says; 
 
 " What bliss so 'er to man is known, 
 Laborious efforts gain alone." 
 
 Ovid of Latium fame, thus: 
 
 " Thistles and weeds are all we can expect 
 From the best soil impoverish'd by neglect ; 
 ******* 
 
 What is it tunes the most melodius lays ? 
 'Tis emulation and the thirst of praise." 
 
 Socrates in one of his discourses related 
 by Xenophon; thus: 
 
 " He who is perfectly master of his Subject will always 
 be heard with the greatest applause. The Athenian youth 
 bear away the prize in every contention from those sent 
 by any other republic. Even a chorus of music going 
 from hence to Delos exceeds beyond all comparison what- 
 ever appears from any other place. Yet the Athenians 
 have not naturally voices more sweet, or bodies more 
 strong, than those of other nations; but they are more 
 ambitious of glory which always impels to generous deeds 
 and noble undertakings." 
 
174 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 St. Gregory Nazianzen, said: 
 
 " Nothing that is great is exempt from trial and anxi- 
 ety ; because it is nature that what is small and common 
 can easily be obtained ; but that which is lofty and sub- 
 lime is only obtained at the price of much labor and diffi- 
 culty." 
 
 Plutarch relates of Demosthenes, that in 
 his youth he had a weakness and stammer- 
 ing in his voice and a want of breath, which 
 caused such a distraction in his discourse, 
 that it was difficult for the audience to un- 
 derstand him; and that he cured the defect 
 of stammering by practicing to speak with 
 pebbles in his mouth, and that he strength- 
 ened his voice by running or walking up hill, 
 and pronouncing some passage in an ora- 
 tion or poem, during the difficulty of breath 
 which that caused. 
 
 Plutarch further relates of Demosthenes, 
 that he kept a looking-glass in his house be- 
 fore which he used to declaim and adjust all 
 his motions, and that he could hardly ever 
 be induced to speak in public on any subject, 
 without first preparing his speech and com- 
 mitting it to memory. 
 
 Alas, how many speakers are there of the 
 present day, who presume to speak in pub- 
 

 GENERAL REFLECTIONS. 175 
 
 lie without duo preparation! and how many- 
 are there who after preparation have the 
 foolish vanity to desire that their hearers 
 should believe they speak without premedi- 
 tation! to desire that the audience should 
 impute their utterances rather to genius ex- 
 clusively, than to both genius and study! 
 
176 RHETOEIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 CHAPTER y 
 
 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 
 
 To excel in any art or profession requires 
 not only a thorough knowledge of its ele- 
 ments and principles, but also exercise and 
 experience in its application. Knowledge 
 isolated may bo a source of pleasure to its 
 possessor, but unless united with practical 
 results, it will be valueless to the world at 
 large. The great man in any art or profes- 
 sion, is he who both knows and executes. A 
 knowledge, however thorough, of the art of 
 medicine, does not presuppose practical ca- 
 pacity. A knowledge, however perfect, of the 
 theory and art of war, does not necessarily 
 give the capacity to direct armed squadrons 
 on the field of battle. The most accurate 
 learning concerning agriculture, will not 
 make a farmer without practice and experi- 
 ence. The deepest study of natural elements 
 will not enable its possessor to reduce com- 
 pounds to simples, or to show the wonders 
 
CONCLUDING REMARKS. 177 
 
 of chemistry without long experience at the 
 laboratory. And so of oratory; the most 
 perfect knowledge of words; the most inti- 
 mate acquaintance with the rules of gram- 
 mar, dialectics, attitude, gesticulation; 
 learning however diversified and extended, 
 will not make an orator unless practice is 
 united with rules and theory. 
 
 Before the invention of the art of print- 
 ing, the chief mode of instruction, and giv- 
 ing information to the people was by public 
 speaking. There were books, but they were 
 in writing, and so costly that but few could 
 buy them; and fewer knew how to read 
 them when bought. 
 
 The orator was then one of the leaders of 
 society, and often in competition for public 
 favors and honors carried the palm of suc- 
 cess against the victor of many battle-fields. 
 It is not strange then that the orators of 
 antiquity underwent such severe studies to 
 obtain proficiency in their art, when sue 
 gave them such influence, and encircled 
 their brows with so many public honors. 
 The printing press and the consequent gen- 
 eral diffusion of knowledge, have shorn ora- 
 tory of some of its ancient prerogatives and 
 
 glory. But whoever will notice the eager- 
 12 
 
178 EHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 ness with which the public crowd to hear a 
 speaker who has attained fame in his call- 
 ing, whether in the pupit, at the bar, in the 
 lecture hall, or in a public assembly of any- 
 kind, must realize the fact, that oratory still 
 exists as one of the most exciting and pow- 
 erful influences of social life. 
 
 Knowledge teaches how, but practice 
 makes perfect; and the student of oratory 
 must understand that if he would obtain 
 eminence in his profession, he must not only 
 make himself acquainted with the precepts 
 and rules of public speaking as taught by 
 the best instructors, on the subject, but he 
 must also unite practice with study, and 
 should often practice in private before he 
 speaks in public. 
 
 After Cicero had attained the position in 
 his twenty-sixth year of age, of being con- 
 sidered the equal in oratory of Hortensius 
 who had stood for many years at the head 
 of the Roman bar as an advocate, he felt 
 that he was still the subject of improvement 
 in speaking, and conceived the grand idea of 
 withdrawing from business for a period, and 
 going to Rhodes to become a pupil in the 
 school of oratory established there two hun- 
 dred years before, by ^Eschines, the famous 
 
 i 
 
CONCLUDING REMARKS. 179 
 
 rival of Demosthenes on the contest con- 
 cerning the "crown." He remained in 
 that school engaged in close study and 
 practice of speaking for two years, declaim- 
 ing before his teachers two hours every day; 
 and when he returned to Home and again 
 entered the forum, he stood the acknowl- 
 edged master of oratory in the Roman world. 
 
 Great indeed were the natural mental en- 
 dowments of Cicero; but it was not nature 
 alone, but nature polished and refined by 
 education, that enabled his fame as an ora- 
 tor to survive the marble monuments of im- 
 perial Rome, and to outlive the language 
 which he adorned by his eloquence. 
 
 I do not believe that the human race has 
 degenerated in its gifts of oratory. And on 
 the contrary it is my belief based on many 
 years of advantageous observation, that the 
 American mind is full of oratorical talent, 
 which needs but the spur of ambition, guided 
 by proper study and instruction, to enable it 
 to rival the most famous days of Greece and 
 Rome in oratory. 
 
 Henry of Virginia, whom Byron styled, 
 
 "The forest born Demosthenes, 
 Whose thunder shook the Philip of the St 
 
180 RHETORIC AS AN ART OF PERSUASION. 
 
 and Clay of Kentucky, have obtained a world 
 wide reputation as impassioned speakers; 
 and in depth and strength of argument who 
 has excelled Webster of Massachusetts?! 
 Yet neither studied oratory as an art; and 
 the result is, that their speeches seldom 
 show such graces of expression, and refine- 
 ment of language, as distinguish the orators 
 of antiquity; and as regards attitude, ges- 
 ticulation, and delivery, while Clay with a 
 natural genius peculiar to himself, was easy 
 and graceful, Webster was stiff and formal, 
 and Henry was awkward. 
 
 If the speeches of" Red Jacket and other 
 Indian chiefs, which are reported in the 
 "American Speaker," a work published at 
 Philadelphia in 1814, were in fact delivered 
 by them, it would seem that oratory is in- 
 digenous to American soil. For what is there 
 in history which excels them in impassioned 
 eloquence? And strange as it may appear, 
 the speeches of Red Jacket (untutored sav- 
 age as he was) are each noted for contain- 
 ing in neat and expressive words, the formal 
 parts of an oration; to-wit: exordium, state- 
 ment of the case, argument, and peroration. 
 
 The human mind is a mystery which in 
 its several phases and powers, none but God, 
 
CONCLUDING REMARKS. 181 
 
 its author, can fully comprehend; and the 
 human body with its several senses of hear- 
 ing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and feeling; 
 with its multiplicity of bones, muscles, ten- 
 dons, ligaments, nerves, and other organs, 
 exceeds in curious and well-ordered work- 
 manship, all thoughts and wisdom of man. 
 It is through this instrument (the body) that 
 the mind, spirit, or soul, call the thinking 
 principle and power what we may, manifests 
 itself, at least whilst we exist in earth life. 
 And as a musician cannot bring forth sweet 
 and harmonious tones from a broken or de- 
 fective instrument, so neither can the mind 
 manifestations, be developed to the best ad- 
 vantage through a defective or diseased 
 physical organism, especially if it relates to 
 the brain or nerve system. Hence the stu- 
 dent of oratory should nurse his physical 
 system with the same regard he bestows 
 upon his mental culture. He should exer- 
 cise much in the open air and sunshine, re- 
 tire in seasonable hours to bed, that by sweet 
 and refreshing sleep, and plenty of it, the 
 nerve system may be recuperated for the 
 studies and labors of the ensuing day: be 
 temperate in his diet and drink, and espe- 
 cially as regards intoxicating drink, for els a 
 
182 EHET0EIC AS AN AET OF PEESUASION. 
 
 gifted one of old said, "Wine is a mocker, 
 strong drink is raging, and whosoever is de- 
 ceived thereby is not wise." 
 
 Franklin, the wisest of Americans, advises 
 as follows: 
 
 " Be studious in your profession, and you will be learned. 
 Be industrious and frugal, and you will be rich. Be sober 
 and temperate, and you will be healthy." 
 
 Said Seneca: 
 
 " It is my custom every night so soon as the candle is 
 out, to run over all the words and actions of the past day ; 
 and I let nothing escape me ; for why should I fear the 
 sight of my own errors, when I can admonish and forgive 
 myself. What infirmity have I mastered to-day ? What 
 passion opposed ? What temptation resisted ? What vir- 
 tue acquired ? * * * I was a little hot in such 
 a dispute ; my opinion might have been as well spared, for 
 it gave offense and did no good at all. The thing was 
 true, but all truths are not to be spoken at all times. I 
 would I had held my tongue, for there is no contending 
 either with fools or superiors. I have done ill, but I shall 
 do so no more." 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Eloquence is usually denned to be, " The 
 expression of strong emotion in appropriate 
 language, with fluency, animation, and suit- 
 able action"; and it is here deemed proper 
 
CONCLUDING REMARKS. 1S3 
 
 to conclude this essay with a panegyric upon 
 eloquence, from that most eloquent of all 
 orators, Marcus Tullus Cicero: 
 
 "How charming is eloquence! How divine that 
 mistress of the universe as you call it! It 
 teaches us what we are ignorant of, and makes 
 us capable of teaching what we have learned. By 
 this we exhort others; by this we comfort the 
 afflicted; by this we deliver the affrighted from 
 their fears; by this we moderate excessive joy ; by 
 this we assuage the passions of lust and anger. 
 This it is which bound men by the chains of right 
 and law; formed the bonds of civil society, and 
 made us quit a wild and savage state" 
 
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