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are found in historical and scientific writings. It appears generally as a bias, or coloring of the facts mentioned. Thus the historian, whether Catholic or Protestant, Whig or Tory, colors his facts so as to convey his own bias. This is seen in the works of Hume and Lingard, Clarendon and Macaulay. Herodotus has for his central thought the glory of the Grecians; Livy, the glory of the Romans; Gibbon, the life of mankind in the Middle Ages. The same thing is exhibited by scientific writers, who, in treating of purely material things, so color the facts as to inculcate opinions with reference to the totally different subject of religion.

In writings of this sort the status may be called the "point of view."

§ 329. THE STATUS WHERE THE AIM IS TO CONVINCE OR

PERSUADE.

2. Where the aim is to convince or persuade. Here the status is very clear, and is held prominently forward as the point to which arguments tend. It is especially manifest in oratory.

Thus in the great struggle between Eschines and Demosthenes, the status of each was the direct opposite of that of his opponent.

The subject was the past policy of Demosthenes.

The question was: Shall Demosthenes receive the honor of a crown?

The status of Æschines was: The policy of Demosthenes has been ruinous.

The status of Demosthenes was: That his policy has been the only one worthy of Athens.

In the following speeches, the status in each case is worthy of notice:

Burke on American Taxation :

"That the tax ought to be repealed, and the policy of taxation abandoned."

Burke on Conciliation with America:

"That the people of the American colonies should be admitted into an interest in the constitution, and allowed the rights of Englishmen.”

Grattan on moving a Declaration of Irish Right:

"That Ireland has the right of making her own laws.”

Erskine on the Rights of Jurors:

"That the jury is supreme in deciding the guilt or innocence of the accused."

Sir James Mackintosh on behalf of Jean Peltier :

"That the freedom of the press should not be restricted out of regard for foreign rulers."

In many cases the titles of speeches suggest the status. Thus one of Lord Chatham's speeches is entitled "On the Right of Taxing America," and the status is that there is no such right. Another is entitled "On the Removal of the Troops from Boston," and the status is that the troops ought to be removed. Lord Brougham delivered a speech on parliamentary reform, and the status is-that such reform is necessary. In Sheridan's speech against Warren Hastings, the title and the status are the same.

The status is often set forth as the main proposition. Thus, in the letter of Junius to the printer of the Public Advertiser, it is given in the following words:

"Ill usage may rouse their indignation and hurry them into excesses, but the original fault is in the government."

In Burke's speech on Conciliation with America it is given. in the same way:

"The proposition is peace. . . . I propose by removing the ground of the difference, and by restoring the former unsuspecting confidence of the colonies in the mother country, to give permanent satisfaction to your people."

In pulpit oratory the status is often contained in the text of Scripture which precedes the sermon.

Where the aim is to convince or persuade, the status is the thing to be established, and the establishment of the status is called proof.

§ 330. LEADING STAGES OF ORATORY.

The leading stages of oratory may be summed up and illustrated as follows:

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:

The disproof is the overthrow of the status:

Is war an evil or not?

:

That war is an evil.
War is an evil.

War is a good.

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: Homer's Iliad :

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The fame of heroes in the Trojan

war.

A description of the world of that age through the wanderings of Ulysses.

The progress of the soul through scenes of sin and punishment up to the rest of heaven.

The same.

This is more than a satire, for its true aim is the portrayal of a simple, high-minded, chivalrous man, who

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 figureSatan-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.

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