INTRODUCTORY.

Definition of Rhetoric. Rhetoric is the art of adapting discourse, in harmony with its subject and occasion, to the requirements of a reader or hearer.

NOTE.

The word discourse, which is popularly understood of something oral, as a speech or a conversation, will be used throughout this treatise to denote any coherent literary production, whether spoken or written. The term is broad enough to cover all the forms of composition, and deep enough to include all its processes.

I.

Rhetoric as Adaptation. To treat a subject rightly, to say just what the occasion demands, are indeed fundamental to effective discourse; but what more than all else makes it rhetorical is the fact that all the elements of its composition are chosen with implicit reference to the mind of readers or hearers. The writer learns to judge what men will best understand, what they can be made to feel or imagine, what are their interests, their tastes, their limitations; and to these, as subject and occasion dictate, he conforms his work; that is, he adapts discourse to human nature, as its requirements are recognized and skilfully interpreted. The various problems involved in such adaptation constitute the field of the art of rhetoric.

This idea of adaptation is the best modern representative of the original aim of the art. Having at first to deal only

with hearers, rhetoric began as the art of oratory, that is, of convincing and persuading by speech. Now, however, as the art of printing has greatly broadened its field of action, rhetoric must address itself to readers as well, must therefore include more forms of composition and more comprehensive objects; while still the initial character of the art survives, in the general aim of so presenting thought that it shall have power on men, which aim is most satisfactorily defined in the term adaptation.

NOTE. The derived and literary uses of the word rhetoric all start from the recognition of the adaptedness of speech, as wielded by skill and art, to produce spiritual effects. When, for instance, Milton says of Satan,

“the persuasive rhetoric

That sleeked his tongue, and won so much on Eve,"

or speaks, in Comus, of the

"gay rhetoric

That hath so well been taught her dazzling fence,"

he sees, in smoothness of speech and deftness of argument, rhetorical devices that in their place are quite legitimate, and incur reproach only as used unscrupulously. In the line

"Sweet, silent rhetoric of persuading eyes,"

the poet Daniel regards the influencing effect as produced by means other than speech; a not infrequent use of the word.

Distinguished by this Characteristic from the Sciences on which it is founded. The two sciences that mainly constitute the basis of rhetoric are grammar and logic, both of which it supplements in the direction of adaptation.

Grammar, which deals with the forms, inflections, and offices of words, and their relation to each other in phrases and sentences, aims to show what is correct and admissible usage, not what is adapted to men's capacities. A sentence quite unexceptionable in grammar may be feebly expressed, or crudely arranged, or hard to understand; and if so it is to

just that degree unrhetorical. Rhetoric, while making its sentence grammatical as a matter of course, inquires in addition by what choice and arrangement of words it can best work its intended effect. Nor does its inquiry stop with the In every stage and form of composition, wherever the problem of adaptation may be involved, the art of rhetoric has its principles and procedures.

sentence.

Logic, which deals with the laws of thinking, aims to determine what sequences of thought are sound and self-consistent. In so doing it works for the sake of its subject alone, not for the convenience of a reader. A passage whose logic is quite unassailable may be severe, abstruse, forbidding, and therefore unrhetorical. Rhetoric, while its expression must of necessity conform to the laws of sound thinking, aims to bring its thought home to men by making it attractive, vivid, or otherwise easier to apprehend.

Lines of Rhetorical Adaptation. The requirements of a reader or hearer are determined not by his mental capacities alone, but by his whole nature; which, in one way or another, as subject and occasion dictate, is to be acted upon by the power of language. The common psychological division of man's spiritual powers will indicate broadly three main lines of adaptation.

There is first the power of intellect, by which a man knows, thinks, reasons. Discourse that addresses itself to this power aims merely to impart information or convince of truth; and its adaptation consists in giving the reader facilities to see and understand. This practical aim is what gives substance and seriousness to all literary endeavor; but its sole or predominating presence gives rise to the great body of everyday writing, news, criticism, science, history, discussion, all that deals with the common facts and interests of life; which may be included under the general name of Matter-of-fact Prose.

Secondly, there is the power of emotion, by which a man feels and imagines. Discourse that addresses itself to this power aims to make men not only understand a truth but realize it vividly and have a glow of interest in it; and the adaptation is effected by using language that stimulates and thrills. This aim has a large part in the more literary forms of prose; but it appears most unmixedly in Poetry.

Thirdly, there is the power of will, by which a man ventures life and action on what he believes or thinks. Discourse that addresses itself to this power must make men both understand clearly and realize intensely; it must therefore work with both intellect and emotion; but through these it must effect some definite decision in men's sympathies or conduct. Its adaptation consists in making its thought a power on motive and principle; and the aim results in the most complex literary type, Oratory.

From the consideration of these human powers and capacities, with the countless limitations that culture, occupation, and original character impose upon them, it will easily be seen how broad is the field of rhetorical adaptation, and how comprehensive must be the art that masters and applies its

resources.

II.

Rhetoric as Art. In the adapting of discourse to the requirements of reader or hearer, under the various conditions that call for such work, it is evident that there must be all the fine choice of means and fitting of these to ends, all the intimate conversance with material and working-tools, that we associate with any art, fine or useful.

Rhetoric, here called an art, is sometimes defined as a science. Both designations are true; they merely regard the subject in two different aspects. Science is systematized knowledge: if then the laws and principles of discourse are

exhibited in an ordered and interrelated system, they appear in the character of a science. Art is knowledge made efficient by skill; if then rhetorical laws and principles are applied in the actual construction of discourse, they become the working-rules of an art.

From both points of view rhetoric has great practical value in liberal culture. Studied as a science or theory, in which aspect it may be called critical rhetoric, it promotes understanding and appreciation of literature, and thereby not only aids those who have natural literary aptitude but deepens and enriches the reading of those to whom such gift is denied. Cultivated for practical ends, as an art, in which aspect it may be called constructive rhetoric, the study, while it can set up no pretensions to confer the power to write, can do much to steady and discipline powers already present, and keep them from blundering and feeble ways. And each mode of approach so helps the other that in practice the two, science and art, cannot attain their best disjoined.

NOTE. The present manual, because it regards the student always as in the attitude of constructing, of weighing means and procedures not for their mere scientific or curious interest but as adapted to produce practical results, starts from the definition of rhetoric as an art.

Analogies with Other Arts. - What is true of other arts, such as painting, music, sculpture, handicraft, is so exactly paralleled in the art of rhetoric, that it will be useful to trace some of the analogies.

1. Aptitude for masterful expression, like an ear for music or an eye for color and proportion, is an inborn gift. Existing in infinitely various degrees, this aptitude may sometimes be so great as to discover the secret of good writing almost by intuition; while sometimes it may lie dormant and unsuspected, needing the proper impulse of culture to awaken it. In the great majority of cases it exists merely in such moder