PART II.

INVENTION.

In the Introduction to the present Treatise, it was remarked that Rhetoric, or the Art of Discourse, is naturally divided into two parts, Invention and Style. Logically, Invention would seem to come first, and Style afterwards. For practical convenience, however, this arrangement has been reversed, and Style has been treated of first.

Invention, as used in Rhetoric, means finding out what to

say.

Invention is divided into two branches: 1. Storing the mind with knowledge; 2. Selecting from this general storehouse the thoughts needed for any particular occasion.

Storing the Mind. - The first of these belongs to education and general intellectual culture, rather than to Rhetoric. If one is to write on any given subject, he can, of course, know better what to say, if he is a man of profound and varied knowledge.

Mistake of the Older Writers. Hence, some of the ancient writers on this subject included under Rhetoric the whole circle of the sciences. But this is to mistake entirely the nature and design of Rhetoric. In order to the practice o this art we need, indeed, varied knowledge, just as we need boards and beams and other materials in order to practise the art of carpentry. It is not a part of the art of carpentry, however, to create these materials; but, the materials being already in existence and in possession, carpentry, having to make some particular structure, finds out which of these materials will be needed for the occasion.

The Office of Invention. -Somewhat similar to this is the office of Invention in rhetoric. When one undertakes to discourse on any particular point,

he must hunt up thoughts in regard to it; and these he will find, partly in his already acquired knowledge, and partly by special study for the occasion; and the more comprehensive is his general knowledge and education, the less of this special study will he have to make when finding materials for discourse.

Comparative Importance. — Invention is, from the necessity of the case, of more importance than Style. It is more important surely to have something of substantial interest and value to say, than to be able to trick out vapid nothings in forms of grace and elegance.

Difficulty. .-As invention is the more important of the two, so it is incomparably the more difficult. Indeed, as to its principal functions, it is not in the power of mere rhetoric to supply what is needed. Invention, except in its lowest and most mechanical details, is not a thing to be taught. It is a part of one's native endowment, and of his general intellectual accumulations. To gather and muster the materials for an essay, as Macaulay would have done, one needs Macaulay's genius and Macaulay's learning. No amount or ingenuity of pumping will draw water from a well that is dry.

The Great Desideratum. - So far as human efforts are concerned, the first and great thing that is needed, in order to be able to produce thoughts which shall be valuable and interesting, is to acquire extensive knowledge and thorough mental discipline, and this is to be accomplished, as already said, by general education and study, not by the application of rhetorical rules.

A Help.

While freely conceding this point, yet think it is in the power of the rhetorical art to help considerably the beginner in the use of such materials as he has. To furnish some such help is the object of the chapters which follow.

Ancient Mode. · - The ancient writers on rhetoric, and some of recent date, have given a great variety of technical rules, some of them exceedingly formal and elaborate, for conducting these processes of invention.

Mode here Adopted. - Instead of producing such a learned array of barren formulas, which, at the best, are only perplexing to the beginner in the art of composition, as they are useless to the expert, the plan here adopted is to give a series of practical examples, in illustration of the actual process of invention, beginning with such as are extremely simple, and proceeding gradually to such as are more difficult.

CHAPTER I.

COMPOSITIONS ON OBJECTS.

TO THE TEACHER.-1. The examples given in the first few pages are for beginners. If your class is already somewhat proficient in composition and in general knowledge, it will be well to skip the first chapter or two, and begin farther on in the book, where the exercises are less simple.

2. Beginners in composition, particularly if quite young, should not be allowed to write on abstract subjects, such as Happiness, Hypocrisy, Intemperance, Procrastination, and the like, but on some concrete, visible object, with which they are familiar. 3. In assigning subjects to a class, it is well at first to help them in making an outline of the things to be said about it. After this has been done for them a few times, they will have no difficulty in doing it for themselves, and finally in writing out their ideas at once, without making the preliminary outline.

4. Try to possess your pupils from the first with the idea that what they have to do is simply to express in words what they know, or what they think, about the subject proposed.

5. At first, aim only at copiousness, correcting no faults except those in grammar and punctuation, and encouraging the pupils to write freely whatever thoughts come up about the subject, and in whatever order they happen to come up.

6. When the class begin to write freely, and find no difficulty in filling a page or two with their loose remarks, then begin to criticize and correct.

7. In making these corrections, proceed with only one class of faults at a time, and correct no fault except this, until the pupils have become pretty familiar with it. Then take some other fault or excellence, and proceed in like manner.

8. After a class can write with facility and general correctness, then begin to experiment upon the use of figures and other graces of style.

TO THE TEACHER. — In assigning a subject like this to a class of young scholars, the teacher should direct their attention to the various points in regard to it, about which they will be likely to have some idea. In this way a preliminary Outline of the subject may be formed. Thus:

Outline.

1. General appearance of paper.

2. Its color.

3. Some of the forms in which it comes.

4. Materials of which it is usually made. 5. Some of its uses.

6. Ways in which it may be destroyed, or unfitted for

use.

COMPOSITION.

1. The general appearance of paper is that of a thin, light sheet, with a smooth and uniform surface.

2. Its color is various. Sometimes it is white, sometimes pink, sometimes it has a bluish tinge, sometimes it is mottled. Indeed, it may be of any color, but most commonly it is white.

3. Paper usually comes in sheets, and these sheets are of various sizes, such as note paper, letter paper, and foolscap. These sheets are put up in small packages called quires, and the quires are put into larger packages called reams. Twenty-four sheets make a quire, and twenty quires make a ream.

4. Paper is usually made of old rags, but I believe it may be made of many other things, such as straw and bark; but I never saw a paper-mill, and, therefore, I cannot say certainly. Linen rags are said to be better than cotton rags for making paper. Men often go round from house to house to buy old rags, which they sell to the paper-makers. These rag-men never buy woollen rags for this purpose; and if the linen rags are sorted out and kept by themselves, they will bring a higher price than other rags. My mother lets me have all the rags in our house, and I keep them put away in a bag, and the money for which they are sold is mine to spend or to put into the missionary box.

5. Paper is used chiefly for writing and for printing. Compositions are written on paper. Newspapers and books are printed on paper. Bank-bills are made of paper. Paper is used for making boxes and for covering walls. Boys' kites are made of paper; so are men's collars sometimes.

6. Paper is very easily destroyed by fire. It burns sooner than almost anything else. Water also injures it badly. It is not tough like leather, but is easily torn. Paper is damaged by being rumpled. If you want your composition or your letter to look nice, you must take good care of your paper, and keep it smooth and clean. I keep my paper in a portfolio which my father gave me for a Christmas present.

TO THE TEACHER. - In the imaginary composition given above, the paragraphs are for convenience numbered to correspond to the numbers in the outline.

Perhaps, in the first few compositions which a class may write, it may be well for them in like manner to number the topics and paragraphs. After a while, however, the practice should be discontinued.

The plan here adopted, of first making an outline of topics, and then writing something upon each topic, has the important incidental advantage of teaching beginners the difficult art of paragraphing correctly. What is written under each head or topic naturally forms a paragraph by itself, and thus the pupils easily fall into the way of dividing their matter into paragraphs according to the natural divisions of the subject.

Beginners should be encouraged, not merely to state facts on the subjects of which they write, but to mix up their own notions and feelings about these facts, as the writer of the foregoing composition has done at the close of his fourth and sixth paragraphs.

1. Differences between water and wood.
2. Differences between water and air.
3. Effect of extreme cold upon water.
4. Effect of extreme heat upon water.
5. Different kinds of water.

6. Benefits of water.

NOTE.The teacher must prepare similar suggestive outlines on each subject assigned, until the class become familiar with the method, and begin to show signs of being able to make their own outlines. When they do begin thus to make outlines for themselves, the teacher will for a while find it necessary to supplement their attempts by suggestions of his own, to be added to theirs. He must exercise his discretion as to how long this help should be continued, and when the pupils should be required to make the entire outline without help.

The preparation of this outline is of the very essence of invention. It sets the pupil at once to thinking-to gathering thoughts, instead of putting together mere words. The outline, therefore, should be a leading portion of the exercise for a long time, and should in each case be submitted to the teacher for inspection and comment, before the composition is written.

NOTE.

Children should continue for some time to write on subjects like thesenatural objects with which they are daily familiar. In writing upon those topics, however, they should be continually stimulated to do something more than merely