•Among the many thousand compositions read by the author as professor of
Rhetoric, only a mere handful have been like young Mr. Brown's.
THE DISCUSSION, 287



(B) THE DISCUSSION-

350. The collection of matter for a composition on any
theme is guided chiefly by the purpose of the writer ;
for it is this purpose, in the main, that determines the
fnode of discussion proper to the given work.* At the
same time, certain general rules can be stated ; though,
of course, no special directions can be given to meet each
theme. Hence, two chief heads of this sub-division of
Invention — I. General Rules ^ II. The Modes of Discus-
sion.
