sufficient to establish it. Errors in deductive reasoning arise from the falsity of either premise or of the conclusion alleged to be drawn from the premises. Confusion as to the sense of the terms of the proposition is also a fruitful cause of error.

The treatment of the laws and errors of reasoning belongs to an advanced study of Argument. The teacher is referred, for the development of this process of composi tion, to Abbott and Seeley's "English Lessons for English People," Hill's "Principles of Rhetoric," Jevons's "Logic," or Baker's "Principles of Argumentation."

Form of Argument.-The form of an argument may be noted in Euclid's demonstrations. There we find, first, the enunciation of what is to be proved the proposition. Then follow the statements that tend to create belief in the Proposition-the proof. The statement of the result of the proof is the conclusion.

An extended argumentation involving several arguments is generally introduced by an exordium, stating the nature and importance, and forecasting the course of the discussion. This exordium usually precedes the definite enunciation of the Proposition. Such an argumentation generally has likewise at the end of the Proof a recapitulation of the arguments, called the peroration. The Peroration serves as a brief, forcible introduction to the Conclusion.

Proof that consists of reasoned statements of the writer in favour of his own position is direct. Proof that consists of the refutation of the proof of the opposite proposition is indirect. To refute an unsound argument, you may ironically assume the truth of the opposite proposition and push it to the extreme, when it is found to be absurd (reductio ad absurdum). That reading is harmful because it is liable to abuse, would be proved

absurd by showing that this would prove that eating is likewise harmful. Or you may show that the opposite conclusion involves alternatives, each of which you prove erroneous (the dilemma). Or you may take all possible conclusions or theories other than your own, and show one by one that they must be excluded, leaving your own conclusion as alone satisfactory (method of residues).

EXERCISE.-Examine the truth or falsity of the conclusion in the following:-1. All grass is green; leaves are green; therefore leaves are grass. 2. All Frenchmen are fond of frogs' legs; John Bull is not a Frenchman; therefore John Bull is not fond of frogs' legs. 3. Nothing is better than wisdom; bread is better than nothing; therefore bread is better than wisdom (Newcomer). 4. All men are endowed with reason; all fools are men; therefore all fools are endowed with reason (Abbott-Seeley). 5. Some clever men are dishonest; no good man is dishonest; therefore some clever men are good. 6. Football should be stopped because it is the cause of many accidents. 7. He must be guilty, because he blushes. 8. All men should swim because swimming expands the chest. 9. Poverty is the best teacher, for Lincoln, Garfield, Edison, Carlyle, Burns, were all poor. 10. No good man would use such an argument, for it is one employed by Machiavelli himself. 11. That man is an enemy of religion, for he never goes to church. 12. Greek being a dead language, is of no use to living men (Hill). 13. Voluntary competition is a good thing in trade, and so must be a good thing in education; parents should not be forced to send their children to school.

LESSON LXXV.

INDUCTIVE REASONING FROM ANALOGY.—THEME: THAT ANIMALS SUFFER FROM CRUEL TREATMENT.

These poor animals just look, and tremble, and give forth the very indications of suffering that we do. Theirs is the distinct cry of pain. Theirs is the unequivocal physiognomy of pain. They put on the same aspect of terror on the demonstrations of a menaced blow. They exhibit the same distortions of agony after the infliction of it. The bruise, or the burn, or the fracture, or the deep incision, or the fierce encounter with one of equal or superior strength, just affects them similarly to ourselves. Their blood circulates as ours. They have pulsations in various parts of the body like ours. They sicken, and they grow feeble with age, and, finally, they die just as we do. They possess the same feelings; and, what exposes them to like suffering from another quarter, they possess the same instincts with our own species. The lioness robbed of her whelps causes the wilderness to ring aloud with the proclamation of her wrongs; or the bird whose little household has been stolen, fills and saddens all the grove with melodies of deepest pathos. [Therefore, etc.] --Thomas Chalmers. From "Cruelty to Animals.”

COMPOSITION I.-Outline the argument of the preceding passage. Reproduce the arguments in your own. words, stating the probable conclusion.

COMPOSITION 2.- -Write a similar argument concerning the plurality of inhabited planets.

OUTLINE Proposition.-That other planets of our system (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, etc.), are inhabited. Proof.-Points of

similarity between them and the earth; revolution round the sun; their source of light from the sun; revolution on their own axis ; moons; law of gravitation. Conclusion.-From these similarities we conclude a probable further agreement that the other planets are, like the earth, the habitation of living creatures.

COMPOSITION 3.-Prove the proposition: That the Earth is round.

OUTLINE: The Proposition. Cumulative Proof: (i) The appearance of the vessel sinking below the horizon, and of the land rising to the approaching vessel. (ii) The traveller going north or south, seeing new stars and losing old ones. (iii) Sailors circumnavigating the earth. (iv) The phenomenon of dawn, sunrise, etc. (v) Engineers allowing a dip of eight inches in the mile in constructing a canal. (vi) The round shadow of the earth during an eclipse of the moon. (vii) The globular character of the members of the planetary system to which the earth belongs. Conclusion.

COMPOSITION 4.-Show briefly by inductive reasoning the truth of one of the following propositions :1. That Heat expands Bodies and Cold contracts them. 2. That Gravitation affects all Bodies. 3. That Oxygen is necessary to human life. 4. That Light travels faster than Sound. 5. That Cold retards Decomposition..

COMPOSITION 5.—That Electricity will supplant Steam as a motor power.

OUTLINE: The Proposition. The Proof: Noticeable instances of the displacement of steam: city machinery, suburban trolley cars and electric railways, etc. The reasons for the displacement-comparison of expense, convenience, etc. Present limitations in use of electricity -dissipation of energy in long distances, etc. Conclusion.

COMPOSITION 6.-Submit the pure argument in support or refutation of one of the following propositions. That the execution of Charles I. (or Mary

Queen of Scots) was justifiable. 2. That the deposition of James II. was necessary to English freedom. 3. That the American Revolution of 1776 was just and wise. 4. That Queen Elizabeth must be considered a greater sovereign than Queen Victoria. 5. That Boer tyranny justified the British intervention of 1899 in the affairs of the South African Republic.

CHAPTER II. PERSUASION.

LESSON LXXVI.

Pure argument is rarely found except in the propositions of science. The insurance agent, the lawyer seeking to influence the jury, the preacher exhorting his hearers, are not satisfied with mere intellectual conviction. Conviction may result from many things besides argument; it may come from ignorance, superstition, prejudice, passion. Conviction to issue in action must have the support of the feelings. Arguments that appeal to our sympathy, our pride, our honour, that seek to move us to action, are of the nature of PERSUASION. "Deductions have no power of persuasion. The heart is commonly reached, not through the reason, but through the imagination, by means of direct impressions, by the testimony of facts and events, by history, by description. Persons influence us, voices melt us, looks subdue us, deeds inflame us."(Cardinal Newman.) The orator, the preacher, the advocate, found their success on their powers of persuasion.