guilty of robbery as a man; but perhaps more likely to be concerned in poison. With respect to age, that an old man would most naturally have recourse to fraud, a young man to violence: with respect to nation, that drunkenness would not fo eafily be believed of a Spaniard, as of a German; and that an Italian would more eafily be actuated by outrageous jealousy than a Frenchman. With respect to fortune or condition in life, that it is natural to believe that a rich man is the most likely to be the aggreffor in a quarrel with a poor man; and laftly, with refpect to education, that a perfon educated at St. Omer's would be much more juftly suspected of being difaffected to the English government, than a perfon educated at Oxford or Cambridge.

But I would refer the perfon who is defirous of feeing a specimen of the moft excellent declamation upon a great variety of these topics, to Cicero's accufation of Varres, and defence of Milo also to his invectives against Cataline and Antony, and to Pliny's panegyric upon the emperor Trajan.

As materials for difcourfe may occur to us from confidering the general heads to which they may be referred, fo it is poffible, likewise, that we may take hints of arguments from the manner in which they are generally introduced, or the form into which they are thrown. One form of argument, for instance, is from greater to lefs, or from lefs to greater. Thus a person will be more easily believed to have committed a les infamous action, who is known to have committed a more infamous one; as, on the other hand, if a person have never been known to be guilty of a small tranfgreffion, it will not easily be believed that he hath, all at once, been guilty of a great and flagrant one.

Matter

;

Matter for discourse may also occur to a person who confiders what may be said by way of objection to what he hath advanced, and what conceffions he may make to his opponent. His invention may also be affifted by confidering whether he can, with propriety, introduce any thing in the form of irony, of a queftion, of an exclamation, and of every other poffible form of addrefs. Moreover, what will be advanced in thefe lectures upon the subject of method, will tend greatly to help the invention.

I am aware that this whole business of topics is objected to by some as altogether useless, and what no persons, who are capable of compofing at all, ever stand in need of, or have recourse to. To this I reply, that, in fact, no perfon ever did, or ever can compose at all without having recourse to something of a similar nature. What is recollection but the introduction of one idea into the mind by means of another with which it was previously affociated? Are not ideas affociated by means of their connection with, and relation to one another? And is it not very poffible that particular ideas may be recollected by means of general ideas, which include them?

It is impoffible to endeavour to recollect (or, as we generally say, invent) materials for a discourse, without running over in our minds fuch general heads of discourse as we have found by experience to affift us in that operation. It is even impoffible to conceive in what other manner a voluntary effort to invent, or recollect, can be directed. A person may not have recourse to any particular lift, or enumeration, of topics; or he may never have heard of the artificial diftribution of them by rhetoricians; but if he compofe at all, though he may be ignorant of the name, he must be poffeffed of the thing. And if a person have any regular method in his compofitions, he muft, moreover, have arranged

3

ranged thofe topics in his mind in some kind of order; the feveral particulars of which, being attended to fucceffively, furnishes him with a plan for compofition. Now is it not better to fit down to compofition provided with a tolerably complete lift of those topics, digefted with care and precifion, than make use of such an one as we cafually and without any design form to ourselves from general reading only, or a little practice in composition, which cannot but be very imperfect, and inadequate to the purpose to which it is applied ?

After previously running over fuch a table, a person would be much better able to form an idea of the extent of his fubject, and might conduct his compofition accordingly; or perufing it after reading the compofition of another, he might with much greater certainty know whether any thing of importance had been left unfaid upon the fubject; or whether, if the discourse were neceffarily limited to a few arguments, the writer had selected the best.

I cannot help being of opinion that thofe persons, in particular, whose profeffion obliges them frequently to compose moral effays and fermons, in which the thoughts are not expected to be original (in which, therefore, their chief business is merely to recollect, and digeft the most valuable materials upon each subject) would spend a few minutes to good purpose in pursuing a welldigested table of topics, before they fat down to write. By this means they could seldom be at a lofs for matter; they would more easily select what was most important; and with less trouble arrange it in the most advantageous manner. For want, or through neglect of this, as well as for other reasons, we often hear noble and copious fubjects treated in a jejune and trifling manner, fome parts exceffively overdone, others of equal im

portance

portance wholly omitted, and the whole put together in a moft perplexed order; which exhibits the appearance rather of random indigefted thoughts, than of a compofition which was the result of a previous ftudy of the fubject, and an acquaintance with the whole extent of it. And this previous acquaintance with the whole extent of a fubject can be acquired no other way so easily as by the perufal of a judicious fet of rhetorical topics.

If we pay any regard to the practice of the famous orators of antiquity, we cannot but be difpofed to think favourably of topics; for it is certain that they made great 'ufe of topics, as appears in the writings of Cicero and Quintilian. Too much may be expected from any thing, and an improper ufe may be made of any thing; but this is no argument against the judicious and proper use of it.

It were abfurd for any perfon flavishly to oblige himself to borrow fomething from every topic of difcourfe; much more to fet it down in the order in which they may happen to be enumerated; but, having glanced the whole, let him take what is most to his purpose, and omit every thing that would appear farfetched, or to be introduced for the fake of fwelling the bulk of a difcourfe.

I am very ready, however, to acknowledge, that rhetorical topics are more useful in the composition of fet declamations on trite fubjects, and to young perfons, than in the communication of original matter, and to perfons much used to compofition. Original thoughts cannot but fuggeft themselves, fo that all the affiftance any perfon can want in this cafe, is a proper manner of arranging them. And a perfon much ufed to compofition will have acquired a habit of recollection, without any exprefs attention to topics; just as a person used to the harpsichord, or

any

other inftrument of mufic, will be able to perform without an express attention to rules, or even to the manner of placing his fingers. His idea of the tune in general, is so closely affociated with all the motions of his fingers neceffary to the playing of it, and these motions are also so closely affociated together, that they follow one another mechanically, in what Dr. Hartley calls a Secondarily automatic manner, which is almoft as certain as a motion originally and properly automatic.