The same preference for the concrete and depreciation of the abstract may be found in the following passage from his speech on Conciliation with America:

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They are therefore not only devoted to liberty, but to liberty according to English ideas and principles. Abstract liberty, like other mere abstractions, is not to be found. Liberty inheres in some sensible object, and every nation has formed to itself some favorite point which by way of eminence becomes the criterion of their happiness. It happened, you know, sir, that the great contests for freedom in this country were from the earliest times chiefly upon the question of taxation."

$ 385. DESCRIPTION IN ORATORY.

9. Description is very effective in oratory. It deals with that which is definite and concrete; enlarges upon it, and presents a scene to the imagination of the hearer.

Famous examples occur in the speeches of all great orators. The description by Demosthenes of the panic in Athens after the capture of Elateia; by Sheridan, of the horrors perpetrated in Oude; by Brougham, of the French Revolution, are wellknown instances. No one, however, can surpass the description given by Burke of the descent of Hyder Ali upon the Carnatic, of which the following is a portion:

"While the authors of all these evils were idly and stupidly gazing upon this menacing meteor, which blackened all their horizon, it suddenly burst, and poured down the whole of its contents upon the plains of the Carnatic. Then ensued a scene of woe the like of which no eye had seen, no heart conceived, and which no tongue can adequately tell. All the horrors of war before known or heard of were mercy to that new havoc. A storm of universal fire blasted every field, consumed every house, destroyed every temple. The miserable inhabitants, flying from their flaming villages, in part were slaughtered; others, without regard to age, to sex, to the respect of rank, or sacredness of function; fathers torn from their children, husbands from wives, enveloped in a whirlwind of cavalry, and, amid the goading spears of drivers and the trampling of pursuing horses, were swept into captivity in an unknown and hostile land. Those who were able to evade this tempest fled to the walled cities; but, escaping from fire, sword, or exile, they fell into the jaws of famine."

§ 386. EMPHASIS OF PROPOSITIONS.

The subject of emphasis has already been considered with reference to words. When applied to propositions it gives them greater force, and not only calls attention to them, but also

makes them of more importance in the argument. There are various ways of emphasizing propositions, the chief of which are the following:

§ 387. ASSERTION.

1. Strong emphasis is laid upon propositions when they are put forth with a positive declaration of their truth; for then the speaker assumes that from his assertion there can be no appeal :

"Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission or slavery."-P. HENRY.

"This embargo must be repealed. You cannot enforce it for any important period of time longer."-JOSIAH QUINCEY.

§ 388. DENIAL.

2. Denial is merely another form of assertion, the negative being employed instead of the positive: as

"It was not I who inspired the Hungarian people. No. It was the Hungarian people who inspired me."-KOSSUTH.

$389. APOPHTHEGM.

3. Sometimes a proposition is summed up in the form of an apophthegm, and is thereby rendered more impressive and emphatic. Burke's speeches and writings abound in this :

"The blood of man should never be shed but to redeem the blood of

man.

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'Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wisdom, and a great empire and little minds go ill together."

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'Slavery they can have anywhere. It is a weed that grows in every soil."

"My hold of the colonies is in the close affection that grows from common names, from kindred blood, from similar privileges, and equal protection. These are ties which, though light as air, are strong as links of iron."

"Nothing turns out to be so oppressive and unjust as a feeble govern

4. Digression is often useful. This has already been sufficiently illustrated. Sometimes it is made not so much for

itself as for the purpose of coming back with renewed force; and this is so frequently done that it was formerly set down as a figure of speech under the name of "reditus," or "retrogressio."

Fox, in his speech on the Russian Armament, alludes to Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, and his doctrine of the division of labor, of which he makes a scornful application to the ministry, and then proceeds to a new attack.

Erskine, in his speech on behalf of Hardy, digresses to consider the effect of the accession of Henry IV. on the law of treason, and indulges in a brief summary of the history of the constitution up to that time, after which he returns with fresh vigor to the case in question.

Sir James Mackintosh also, in the case of Jean Peltier, digresses to consider the state of things on the continent of Europe, and then returns to England as the only country where the press is free.

§ 391. REPETITION OF PROPOSITIONS.

5. The importance of repetition has already been considered with reference to words. It also serves to give emphasis to propositions by impressing them upon the mind with renewed force.

Fox, in his speech on the Westminster Scrutiny, gives a remarkable example. In the course of his exordium he

said:

"But, sir, I have no reason to expect indulgence, nor do I know that I shall meet with bare justice in this House."

Upon this there arose expressions of disapprobation, whereupon he repeated this with greater emphasis:

Sir, I have no reason to expect indulgence, nor do I know that I shall meet with bare justice in this House."

He then went on to show that he was warranted in using these words, and repeated them twice again with additional and increasing emphasis, after which he proceeded in the discussion.

This was a peculiarity of the style of examples may be found in his orations.

Fox, and many other
In the same speech

there occurs the following, which is a repetition of his charge against the high-bailiff, in different words, with greater effect :

"If he has spoken truth in the vestry, he is an arrant liar before the House; or if he vindicated himself before you upon pure principles, he has grossly and wickedly deceived me and all who heard the contempt he expressed in the vestry for that information upon which he expatiated at the bar of this House with such extraordinary reverence."

§ 392. RECAPITULATION.

It re

6. Recapitulation has all the force of repetition. freshes the memory of the hearer, brings up once more those propositions which might be forgotten, and enables the speaker to proceed with renewed force upon the continuation of his argument.

Fox, on the Westminster Scrutiny, makes use of the following recapitulation :

"Having now, Mr. Speaker, gone through the various depositions that have been made before you; having from the evidence shown that the alleged grounds of the high-bailiff's motives were the direct reverse of those he declares to this House to have been his motives-having shown that he was in habits of clandestine intercourse with my opponents-having shown that he was in the constant course of receiving ex parte information in an illicit and shameful secrecy-having shown that he positively and solemnly denied the series of iniquitous proceedings in the vestry which he boldly avows at your bar—having shown that the poll was as much a scrutiny as any poll can possibly be-having explained my views in the event of any demand of a scrutiny-having described the species of intimidation used to this man, and confirmed that, so far from exculpating, it tends greatly to criminate him—having shown this, sir, and shown it by the evidence which you have heard at your bar, I shall conclude this part of my evidence with submitting to every man of honor and candor who hears me, whether he really thinks that the high-bailiff of Westminster exercised a sound and honest discretion in granting a scrutiny, supposing for argument's sake that he actually possessed the power to grant it.”

CHAPTER IX.

THE INTRODUCTION.

$393. INTRODUCTION.

THE object of the introduction is to prepare the way for the presentation of a work, either by general remarks in order to avoid abruptness, or by particular statements which may have reference to the work itself. The introduction is of many different sorts, and these may be classified, either according to the kind of composition to which they belong, or according to the nature of the introduction itself.

Of these let us first consider the introduction in different kinds of composition.

394. IN NARRATIVE.

In most of the great narrative poems, such as the Iliad, the Æneid, and other epics, the introduction consists of an invocation of the muse. In Dante's Divina Commedia the opening is abrupt. This is the case with many metrical romances, as the Lay of the Last Minstrel, and ballads. A piece of description is sometimes made use of, as in the Lady of the Lake, and again a preliminary reflection, as in the Siege of Corinth.

The opening in history is generally explanatory. In Herodotus the introduction proper is remarkably simple: "This is an exposition of the historical researches of Herodotus the Halicarnassian." In Thucydides there is a survey of Greece down to the time of the Peloponnesian War, and a statement of the aim and scope of the work. In Gibbon's History the introduction takes up three chapters, and consists of a comprehensive survey of the Roman world in the age of the Antonines.

In prose fiction the varieties are numerous, but they may be