to the age in which he lived, at which time the Roman eloquence was sunk into puns, and an af fectation of wit; for he was otherwise a man of fine sense and great learning.

ON LITERARY COMPOSITION.

COMPOSITION is not only a difficult task, but is indeed a miserable drudgery, when you have neither rules to direct you, nor matter to work upon; which is the case with many poor boys, who are obliged to squeeze out of their brains an exercise against the time appointed.

To store the mind with good matter, you must accustom yourself to the reading of good authors, such as historians, poets, orators, philosophers, and controversialists; the last are particularly to be studied for the well managing of an argument. The political and theological controversialists are best; but they seldom fall in the way of the younger sort of readers.

When you are to write upon any subject, the best way of entering upon it, is to set down what your own mind furnishes, and say all you can before you descend to consult books, and read upon it: for if you apply to books before you have laid your plan, your own thoughts will be dissipated, and you will dwindle from a composer to a transcriber.

In thinking upon a subject, you are to consider that every proposition is an answer to some question; so that if you can answer all the questions that can be put to you concerning it, you have a thorough understanding of it: and in order to compose, you have nothing to do but to ask your

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self those questions; by which you will raise from your mind the latent matter, and having once got it, you may dispose of it, and put it into form

afterwards.

Suppose the discovery of America by Columbus were proposed, you might put these questions upon it:-how came he to think of such an expedition? What evidence had he to proceed upon? Did the ancients believe any thing that might lead him to such a discovery? What steps did he take in the affair? How was his opinion received? What happened to him in the attempt? How did it succeed? How was he rewarded afterwards? What were the consequences of this discovery to the old world, and what farther consequences may still be expected? When you have given a circumstantial answer to all these questions, you will have composed a methodical history of the discovery of America.

By this way of asking questions, a subject is drawn out, so that you may view it in all its parts, and treat of it with little difficulty, provided you have acquired a competent knowledge of it by reading or discoursing about it in time past: if not, ex nihilo nil fit; where no water is in the well, you may pump for ever without effect.

Subjects are either single or compounded; in other words, they are either simple or complex. A single subject consists of one notion or idea, which is to be pursued in all its branches. A compound subject is a proposition, in which some one thing is affirmed of another. These two are to be treated after different methods.

If your subject is simple, you may examine it under all the following heads, which are called common-places; as, 1st. Its relation to the senses,

affections, understandings, interests, and expressions of men. 2d. Its several kinds; which are to be described and distinguished. 3d. Its causes or principles. 4th. The effects produced by it, with the ends of good or evil which it does or should aim at. 5th. Its relation to place; which comprehends the state of it in different places, or the places which have been distinguished by it. 6th. Its relation to time; which will include the different state of your subject in different ages.

Thus, for example, suppose the subject to be treated of is war. 1st. It is the scourge of God upon the corruptions of mankind; and being so reputed, is never to be undertaken wantonly and unadvisedly but as things now are, it is, in many cases, unavoidable; so that every nation should be prepared, by having their youth trained to arms, and to all manly exercises, avoiding luxury and effeminacy, by which every nation is weakened, and rendered insufficient for its own defence.

2d. There are several kinds of war: offensive and defensive; a land war and a naval war; an invasion of one's own country by a foreign enemy; but the worst of all is a civil war, in which the people turn their arms against one another, and so make themselves a prey to foreign enemies.

3d. The causes of war are the encroachments and insults of some neighboring kingdom; a want of due authority and subordination at home; the oppression of one part of a nation by another part; improper concessions, which encourage insolence; treaties ill-advised, or not sufficiently explicit, and a want of good faith and honor in observing them.

4th. The end to be obtained by every war is peace, which is often never to be obtained by

lighter methods. But too frequently, the ambition of princes tempts them to make war for the vanity of conquest, or to extend their dominions, or to take revenge upon an old enemy that has unfortunately given some advantage.

In some cases, an invasion has the good effect of rousing a nation sunk in pleasure and dissipation; it brings them to their senses, and restores them, by proper exercise, to a military state.

5th. Its relation to place will give occasion to recount the most memorable wars that have been carried on in different parts of the world, and the places that have been rendered famous in history by battles, and sieges, and victories; such as the wars of Cæsar in Gaul; the battles of Cannæ and Pharsalia; the sacking of Rome by Brennus; the victory of the Christians over the Turks at Lepanto; the conquest of Mexico, and the WestIndies, &c.

6th. Its relation to time will bring in the changes that have taken place in the art of war: the different modes of fighting when the Macedonian phalanx and Roman legion were thought impregnable, from the present way of determining a battle by fire-arms and heavy artillery, which have made defensive armor useless. The difference also may be shown, so far as it is understood, between the Roman galleys and an American man-of-war.

Thus you see, that, by pursuing one simple idea under the several common-places above mentioned, we are led through the whole subject, and may soon throw together so many hints, that it would require a folio volume to handle them all distinctly. But here let me admonish you, that it requires more skill, and learning and judgment,

to contract a subject, than to expand it; and he is the best composer who knows how to prune away all superfluous matter.

If your subject is compound, or made up of more notions than one, it forms a proposition, in which some one thing is predicated (as the logicians speak) of another; as "war is evil; old wine is better than new; old friends are better than new; old music is better than new; old divinity is better than new ;" and such like. Here you have a matter proposed, which it is your business to prove and illustrate. In this case your best method is,

1st. To open and explain the sense of your proposition, and distinguish your subjects, if necessary, from other subjects allied to them.

2d. To give a reason or two, to prove the truth of the proposition.

3d. To confirm your reasons by some observation on men and manners, some proverbial sentence, expressing the public judgment of mankind upon the case, or some sentiment from an author of established reputation.

4th. To illustrate your subject with a simile, which is no other than some parallel case in nature; and this you are to apply to the different parts of your subject, if it is so apposite as to admit of such an accommodation.

5th. To add an example cither from ancient or modern history, or from your own experience.

6th. Then, lastly, you are to sum up your matter, and show the practical use of it; concluding with some pertinent exhortation.

This is the easiest way of treating a subject, and the most effectual. When we were taught to make a theme at school, we had a model of a