materials is something new. In playing tennis both use the same ball, but one places it better than the other. It might as well be objected that I use current words; as if the same thoughts did not form a different body of discourse by a different arrangement, just as the same words differently disposed form different thoughts."

2. Parts of a Composition.

The usual parts of a composition are three.

(1) There should be an introduction. This is not necessary, but is usually required to bring the discussion into connection with the occasion.

(2) There must be a discussion. By this is meant that we cannot establish anything in the mind of another without using facts, illustrations, or arguments, to assist us.

When we invite

(3) There must be a conclusion. others to accompany us in our thoughts, we are under an obligation to conduct them to some new state of mind. Unless there is some end to be attained, there is no use of writing or speaking. We should always have some definite state of mind in view to which everything should tend.

The ancient rhetoricians regarded an oration as having six essential parts, (1) the Exordium, (2) the Division, (3) the State inent, (4) the Reasoning, (5) the Appeal to the Feelings, and (6) the Peroration. This division is mechanical and arbitrary. The more natural and fully conformed to the subject-matter and the purpose the division is, the better. Sometimes no exordium is needed. Often a formal division is undesirable. A statement is occasionally unnecessary. Reasoning is often needless after a mere recital of facts. An appeal to the feelings is sometimes wholly improper.

3. The Introduction.

The introduction should have the following quali ties :

(1) It should be modest. If you raise great expectations at the outset, you will either be compelled to make a great effort to fulfill your promises, or bear the odium of disappointing your readers.

(2) It should be moderate. Your reader is not likely to feel very deeply until he has given attention to the facts and arguments which may have aroused your mind. Let the feelings develop with the discussion.

(3) It should be short. The object of an introduction is merely to introduce the main discussion. It ought to be proportionally brief. The vestibule should not be larger than the house.

(4) It should be natural. By this is meant that it ought to grow out of both the subject and the occasion, so as to form a convenient bridge between them.

(5) It should excite interest. It is not so necessary that the introduction should be striking in itself as that it should awaken a desire to follow the writer and learn more about the subject. Attention is generally given at the beginning, but it is soon lost, if there be no promise of reward.

Although Cicero laid down the rule, that the introduction should be written last, in order that it might spring naturally from the matter under consideration, he did not always obey his own precept. In one of his Letters to Atticus, we learn that he was accustomed to prepare a quantity of introductions, to be used when needed. Having inadvertently used the same one twice, he was informed by Atticus of his blunder, and, confes

sing his mistake, sent him a new one. Cicero's rule was better than his practice.

4. The Discussion.

The discussion will be improved by keeping in mind two questions:

(1) What, precisely, do I wish to accomplish? If the purpose of the composition be steadily held in mind, every fact, argument, and illustration will probably be appropriate to the subject and add strength and interest to the whole.

(2) How shall I accomplish my object? This question will suggest heads and illustrations, and also help in combining them. Whatever does not contribute to the purpose must at once be rejected. A composition must grow like a tree. A tree is surrounded with materials, but it takes only what it can assimilate.

Much heroism is required to avoid putting thoughts, words, or figures into our writings when their only claim is their intrinsic beauty. At this point the difference between a cultivated and a barbarous taste is evident in writing. The savage paints his face with the brightest and most incongruous colors, and ornaments his person with all the gorgeous articles in his possession. It is because he loves finery for its own sake. A similar taste is often shown in writing. To put all your fine figures and phrases and allusions into a composition which they serve only to ornament, but not to illustrate or strengthen, is like collecting all the fine articles in the house for exhibition in a front window.

5. The Conclusion.

Some rules may be given as regards the conclusion. (1) The conclusion should not be forced. The natural and proper consequences of the discussion may

be stated in the conclusion, but care is necessary to avoid claiming more than has been established.

(2) The conclusion may express more feeling than the introduction. After considering all the facts the reader is better prepared to share your emotions. The conclusion is the place, therefore, for an appeal to the feelings.

(3) A conclusion may consist of a recapitulation of the discussion. This is especially useful if, for any reason, the discussion has been fragmentary or made up of many details. An inverse order is best, if the strongest points have been stated first. The conclusion ought, like a burning-glass, to gather and concentrate into a focal point all the separate rays of the composition.

6. The Two Methods of Arrangement. There are two methods of arrangement which may be used in combining the materials of a composition. They are as follows:

(1) The analytic method begins with facts and derives principles from them. It also begins with a complex whole and resolves it into its elements.

(2) The synthetic method is the reverse of the analytic. It begins with principles and classifies facts under thein. It begins with elements and combines them into a whole. The two methods are fully illustrated below.

Let us start with the question, What are the benefits of rail. roads? From the various sources of information we find the following to be facts. (1) Railroads facilitate purchases. (2) They carry news. (3) They prevent suffering by conveying succor. (4) In travel they save time, which may be used in reading. (5) They make a market for produce. (6) They furnish labor to the

poor. (7) They arrest crime. (8) They render wars less prob able by uniting the interests of men. '9) They make men more charitable by extending their knowledge of one another. If these facts were stated as they are above, they would have considerable force, but they gain something by a more systematic arrangement. Let us see how great an improvement this is.

First, let us try the analytic method. By this method we derive principles from facts. Let us see what principles may be derived from the facts given.

Railroads

a. Facilitate purchases.

b. Make a market for produce.

1. Hence, promote commercial prosperity.

a. Prevent suffering.

b. Furnish labor to the poor.

c. Render wars improbable.

2. Hence, promote physical prosperity.

But since they promote commercial and physical prosperity,

they

I. Promote material prosperity. They also

a. Carry news.

b. Save time for reading.

1. Hence, promote intelligence.

a. Arrest crime.

b. Make men more charitable.

2. Hence, promote morals.

But since they promote intelligence and morals, they II. Promote social prosperity.

RESULT: Since they promote material and social prosperity,

RAILROADS ARE A UNIVERSAL BENEFIT.

Let us now reverse the arrangement and present the same facts according to the synthetic method. First of all we must

state a

THEME: RAILROADS ARE A UNIVERSAL BENEFIT, for

I. They promote material prosperity.

1. By promoting commercial prosperity

a. For they facilitate purchases.

b. And make a market for produce.