The subject is the thing to be discussed: as, War.
The question is the enunciation of the sub-
ject:

The status is the view of the subject, or the
thing to be established:

The proof is the establishment of the status: The refutation is the establishment of the opposite status:

Is war an evil or not?

That war is an evil.

War is an evil.

War is a good.

The disproof is the overthrow of the status: War is not an evil.

Under certain circumstances the orator is at liberty to decline proof, and throw the burden of it upon the other side. This is the "onus probandi," or "burden of proof."

1. Where existing truths or institutions are assailed, the onus probandi devolves upon the assailant.

2. Where the rights of man are at stake, the onus probandi devolves upon those who may be shown to infringe them.

3. The onus probandi is upon those who seek to establish a positive principle, and not upon those who dissent.

4. In general, where an attack is made, the assailant assumes the onus probandi, and the defendant contents himself with refutation.

$331. THE STATUS WHERE THE AIM IS TO PLEASE. 3. Where the aim is to please.

This includes a large portion of narrative in prose and poetry, as well as dramatic composition, although, as has been said before, the more important part of fiction has also an associated aim to instruct or persuade. The following is a list of representative works of fiction, with the status in each case:

The Pickwick Papers:

creates laughter by his absurdities, but wins affection by the pathos of his nature.

The same. The central figure here is Pickwick, who creates laughter, but wins affection. He is the Don Quixote of the nineteenth century.

In modern novels the status is generally love, but in some of them it is different:

Oliver Twist, Bleak House, and

others of Dickens :

Thackeray's Vanity Fair, and most of his novels:

The Wandering Jew:

The Count of Monte Christo :
Les Miserables:

The religious novels of the age, which are very numerous:

The Prometheus of Eschylus and
The Edipus of Sophocles:
Macbeth:

Hamlet:

Reform of public abuses.

Denunciation of shams.

The effort to win a vast treasure.
Revenge.

The development of a human character from the lowest vice to the highest virtue.

A certain religious view inculcated by the writer-High-Church, LowChurch, Protestant, Catholic, or Antichristian.

The mystery of unmerited suffering.

The progress of an upright man to sin and destruction.

The struggle of an irresolute and meditative nature with a situation that requires prompt and vigorous action.

The status in fiction is called "motif." This is a term which has been derived from the vocabulary of art, where it refers to the purpose, intent, or meaning of the artist's work. As the work of the imaginative writer is analogous to that of the artist, the term "motif" will serve equally well for each.

From the foregoing remarks it will be evident that the status is of the highest importance, and stands at the threshold of all writing. From this the writer has one fixed and well-defined idea of the work before him, and develops his plan accordingly; nor is it possible for any work, either in literature or in art, to be well done unless this is attained.

332. THE TITLE.

The title is generally a condensation of the whole argument, to which it bears the same relation that the argument bears to the complete work.

Sometimes it expresses the subject, as, “War;" "The History of England."

Sometimes it expresses the question, as, "Demosthenes on the Crown;" i.e., whether the crown shall be given to him or not. Sometimes it expresses the status, as, "Sheridan against Warren Hastings."

Sometimes it has no connection either with subject, question, or status; as, Dante's Divina Commedia, which indicates nothing that is to be found in the book, the author's purpose being to fathom the mystery of life, to exhibit the consequences of sin, to show the progress of a soul, guided by earthly and celestial wisdom, through all these scenes of sin and suffering, to a final rest.

In Milton's Paradise Lost the title but suggests the subject, which is the struggle of good and evil. He indicates the status in the opening lines, "Of man's first disobedience;" but this is insufficient, since the true motif of the poem is the display of towering pride of intellect as unfolded in the central figure— Satan-around whom all the action revolves.

CHAPTER V.

CLASSIFICATION.

$333. CLASSIFICATION.

AFTER the subject-matter has been collected, either by accumulation from without or by creation from within, it is necessary, before any use can be made of it, to arrange all in regular divisions according to the character that may belong to each. This is called classification, the general law of which is to determine the general heads, and to arrange the special

under them.

Classification may be considered with reference to the subject-matter, i. e., whether narrative or expository.

§ 334. CLASSIFICATION WHERE THE SUBJECT-MATTER IS NAR

RATIVE.

1. Classification where the subject-matter is narrative.

In whatever way narrative may be set forth, the subject-matter must be classified. There are always great characters, great events, or leading incidents, which serve as centres around which all minor movements may be gathered. Thus in prose narrative the divisions are always plainly marked. An example of this may be found in Gibbon's History. Here there are numerous events, which are narrated in the following divisions: The Decline of the Western Empire.

The Rise of Christianity.

The Northern Races.

The Rise of Mohammedanism.

The Mongol Conquests.

The Crusades.

The Turkish Conquests.

The internal history of Constantinople.

Western European history.

Fiction, whether in prose or poetry, must exhibit the same principle at work. The Iliad is made up of several leading divisions, which consist of acts in connection with Achilles, Diomede, and Hector. Milton's Paradise Lost consists of scenes in hell, scenes in heaven, and scenes on earth. Dante's Divina Commedia exhibits remarkably minute classification. The Inferno, for instance, is divided into cantos, which refer to the classes of sins apportioned to successive circles in hell.

In the drama, which, as we have seen, is another form of narrative, classification is indicated by acts and scenes, and in the judicious arrangement of these the dramatist shows his constructive skill. The most effective thing in the drama is a striking scene, with an important incident, to which the previous action leads up, and from which others are deduced. This is called a "situation." The same thing may be found in narrative, prose or poetry, but it is most perceptible and effective in the drama.

Thus in Macbeth the leading situations are the interviews with the witches, upon which the other acts depend.

The classification of Hamlet is as follows:

The scenes which depend upon the visitations of the Ghost.

The classification of the Merchant of Venice is peculiar. There are two different sets of incidents, each with its own action and its own situations. These are:

Ist. The incidents of the Three Caskets.

"Shylock.

$335. CLASSIFICATION IN DESCRIPTION.

2. Classification in description.

There are two modes of description.

Ist. Where objects are described in detail, as the description. by a traveller of countries through which he has passed. This may be called panoramic. It is found in books of travel, geographical works, histories which contain descriptions of countries, cities, monuments, galleries, etc. The best panoramic descriptions are characterized by great vivacity. Good newspaper correspondence often assumes this form, and may be seen in Russell's Crimean letters, or in those of the correspondent of the London Daily News during the Franco-Prussian War.

2d. Where objects are described as surrounding some centre to which they all stand in subordination, as branches to a tree, or tributaries to a river. This is called scenic description. This is the more artistic mode.

Examples are to be found in the novels of Sir Walter Scott, as in the trial of Effie Deans; and in Milton's Paradise Lost, where he describes the fallen angels, "All these and more came flocking," "He above the rest... stood proudly eminent;" or the description of Eden, ending with, "Two of far nobler shape."

$336. GROUPING.

Classification is seen in description, in the effective way in which the writer gathers together the things which are to be named, so that they shall be assembled around some common