Elements of Rhetoric: Comprising an Analysis of the Laws of Moral Evidence and of Persuasion, with Rules for Argumentative Composition and Elocution

EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION

EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION By Douglas Ehninger CRITICAL OPINION concerning the Elements of Rhet01'ic ranges from J ebb, who thought it "undoubtedly the best modern book on the subject," to Richards, who castigated it as an arch-example of the "limbo" from which rhetoric must be rescued.1 While this spectrum of judgments piques the curiosity it also emphasizes the importance of approaching the work armed with some knowledge of its intended character and purpose, of the intellectual environment in which it was written, and of the rhetorical tradition to which it adheres. I First, and of overriding importance, it should be recognized that the Elements is predominantly an ecclesiastical rhetoric. Whately himself was by profession a churchman and by dedication a life-long defender of religion against the attacks of the rationalists and the scepticism of science. Moreover, the Elements was conceived in the strongly ecclesiastical atmosphere of pre-Tractarian Oxford, where under the influence of such scholar-churchmen as Edward Copleston and John Henry Newman, Whately first "sketched out" the work for "the private use" of some 1. R. C. Jebb, "Rhetoric," Encyclopaedia B1-itwnnica, 14th ed., XIX, 248; 1. A. Richards, The Philosophy of Rhet01'ic (New York, 1936), pp. 1-8 passinn. Cf. lIf01>thly Review, 3rd ser., VII (February, 1828), 221-22; Thomas De Quincey, "Rhetoric," BZaclcwoo(l's lIfa'ga,zine, XXIV (December, 1828), 908; George Saintsbury, A Hist01'y of Or'iticism (New York, 1901-4), II, 4,,70; W. M. Parrish, "Whately and His Rhetoric," QU(wtM'Zy J oU1'nal of Speech, XVIII (February, 1929), 79, etc. x EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION young divinity students. Important later revisions were made while as Archbishop of Dublin Whately was burdened by problems of church administration and immersed in the bitter stl'ife between Anglican and Catholic that rent nineteenth -century Ireland.2 The ecclesiastical O1'ientation of the Elements accounts for many of the subjects singlcd out for tl'eatment within its pages, as well as for the manner in wllich these and other subjects are developed and illustrated. Oral reading is brought within the scope of rhetoric and is handled with a special eye to improving the delivery of the church service (343; 348f1'.), The cognate principles of Presumption and :Burden of Proof are introduced to acquaint the Christian apologist with his rights and obligations in controversy (116). Progressive Approach and Testimony provide Arguments especially adapted to the propagation of doctrine 2. Whately was born February 1, 1787, the son of an Anglican clergyman. After a sickly childhood given to books and the solitary study of nature, he entered Oriel College, Oxford, from which he was graduated B.A. (double second) in 1808. He proceeded M.A. in 1812, took orders, and was granted the B.D. and D.D. in 1825. Appointed tutor of Oriel in 1811, Whately became a leader of the so-called Noetic school, active in reviving the scholarly life of the university and in promoting the reforms by which "old Tory Oxford" was given its modern character. Through close friendship with Pusey, Kebel, Hawkins, and Fronde he was associated with the 'I'ractal'ian movement, although noi; himself a Tractu,rian in the strict sense of the term. In 1822, upon marrying, Whately accepted the living of Halesworth in Sussex, but in 1825 returned to Oxford as principal of St. Alban's Hall, where with Newman who served for a year as vice-principal, hc continued many of the reforms earlier initiated at Oricl. In 1831 Whately was named Archbishop of Dublin, where despite grave difficulties growing out of the economic condition of the country and the "Catholic question"-as well as out of his own brusque manner and eccentric personality-he proved to be an eal'nest and capable administrator, He died October 1, 1863. A voluminous writer, Whately published during his lifetime just short of a hundred books, tracts, and pamphlets. Except for the Elements of Rhetork and the Elmnema of Logic (1826), however, all of his major works deal with church-related subjects. See especially W. J. Fitzpatrick, M'emoi1'S of R. Whately, A1'Cltbishop of Dublin (London, 18(4); W. Tuckwell, P1'o-Tracta1'ian O,vf01'd (London, 1909), Chapter III; E. Jane Whately, '/'he Life and 001'reopondence of R1cJla1'd Whately) D.D., 2 vols. (London, 18(6) j DNB, s.v. "Whately, Richard." EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION xi...