Nam ipsum latine loqui, est illud quidem, ut paullo ante dixi, in magna laude ponendum; sed non tam sua sponte, quam quod est a plerisque neglectum: non enim tam praeclarum est scire latine, quam turpe nescire; neque tam id mihi oratoris boni, quam civis romani proprium videtur. CICERO: Brutus, xxxvii. what he has to say in appropriate language. I still believe that rhetoric should be studied at school and in college, not as a science, but as an art with practical ends in view. By supplying deficiencies that time has disclosed, making rough places smooth, and adapting the treatment of each topic to present needs, I have tried to make the book more serviceable to advanced students of English Composition. From Book I. of Part I. some elementary matters have been omitted, but so much material has been added that the total number of pages is increased; in Book II. of Part I. the old material has been rearranged and new material has been introduced. In Part II. still greater changes have been made: Description and Narration, which were originally treated together, are now treated in separate chapters and with greater fulness; the chapters on Argument have been thrown into one and entirely rewritten; and a chapter on Exposition has been added. For valuable assistance in the revision of this volume, I am indebted to Miss E. A. Withey and Miss A. F. Rowe. I have also to thank several of my colleagues for contributions of various kinds, and especially Professor L. B. R. Briggs and Professor G. L. Kittredge, through whose hands the proof-sheets have passed, and by whose learning, acumen, and unsparing criticism I have greatly profited. 1895. A. S. H. |