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BERKELEY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2007 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/applicationsofloOOrobirich 
 
THE APPLICATIONS OF LOGIC 
 
THE APPLICATIONS 
 OF LOGIC 
 
 A TEXT-BOOK 
 FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS 
 
 BY 
 
 A. T. I ROBINSON, A.B. 
 
 ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH AT THE MASSACHUSETTS 
 INSTITUTE OP TECHNOLOGY 
 
 LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 
 
 FOURTH AVENUE & 30TH STREET, NEW YORK 
 LONDON, BOMBAY, & CALCUTTA 
 
MA(N L!D!^ARY 
 
 REPLACING 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY 
 LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO, 
 
 THB.PLIMPTOH .PRESS 
 
 [W • D • O] 
 NORWOOD. MASS'U-S -A 
 
BCioS 
 
 PKEFACE 
 
 This book is based on ten years of class-room experi- 
 ence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, first 
 with courses in formal logic, and latterly with an attempt 
 to adapt some of the more fundamental theories of logic 
 to the practical aim of instruction in the expression and 
 the criticism of thought. Such an attempt has seemed 
 not out of place with any class of students, but particu- 
 larly important in connection with the work of a technical 
 school, the graduates of which are likely to find in their 
 professional life more use for an orderly structure of ideas 
 than for the niceties of expression. The purpose of the 
 book is to treat the whole subject of logic in so far as it 
 bears on the practical work of thinking and of expressing 
 thought; it is intended as a text-book of applied logic, 
 suitable for use as an introduction to the subject with 
 college classes. To some extent, therefore, the exercises 
 proposed take the form of work in composition; but at 
 the same time many of them are intended rather to culti- 
 vate the critical faculty by a direct exercise of the judg- 
 ment. These, too, have a bearing on expression, but 
 their immediate effect is designed to be the ordering and 
 control of ideas within the mind itself. The exercises in 
 composition may be classed as elementary or advanced 
 according to the knowledge and experience of the pupils 
 who undertake them. They might follow a course in the 
 elements of rhetoric; but also there is no reason why 
 they should not precede it. 
 
 The study of logic has been from its earliest appearance 
 connected with the practice of thinking and of expressing 
 
 M862578 
 
vi PREFACE 
 
 ideas; and in this connection has offered a body of vastly 
 important truth. Yet its teachings in this direction are 
 not even now easily available for class-room use. The 
 best of the modern books are highly technical and argu- 
 mentative; in many of the simpler class-manuals, on the 
 other hand, the exercises are somewhat remote and formal. 
 In view of this situation it appears that there may be room 
 for a simphfied treatment of the fundamental ideas of 
 logic, presented in the practical setting of a series of 
 exercises. Experience has shown that, in being thus 
 taught, the student loses no essential theory. Later, if 
 time permits, he may be given a course in the nice dis- 
 tinctions of the syllogism, and he will come to it with that 
 intelligent appreciation which so abstract and technical a 
 subject demands. 
 
 For the epistemology of the book no excuses are offered. 
 It is, like every theory with a philosophic basis, susceptible 
 of attack. The changes also that could be made in the 
 exposition of it are numberless. These, however, as far 
 as they now occur to me, would lie along the direction of 
 greater accuracy of statement, and might serve merely 
 to confuse the beginner. Again, since the book is not a 
 formal treatise on logic, but deals mainly with the applica- 
 tions of logical principles, no apology need be made for 
 the substitution in some cases of simpler distinctions, 
 such as suited the main lines of thought of the book, for 
 certain familiar terms. The treatment of the syllogism, 
 for instance, is here made to depend upon substance 
 rather than upon form. It therefore loses in relative 
 importance and falls back into its natural position in 
 the whole perspective of the subject. 
 
 A list of my general obligations would be cumbersomely 
 long. I owe special thanks to a short treatise by Mary 
 Boole, to the writings of Bradley and Alfred Sidgwick, 
 
PREFACE vii 
 
 and above all to such parts of Hegel's Logic as I have been 
 able to render into terms of my own thinking. It would 
 be surprising and disconcerting if this book were found to 
 contain any original thought, but I am not aware that the 
 ideas in it have been anywhere put to quite the same use 
 before. 
 
 Simplicity of statement has not been the chief aim in 
 writing. In doubtful cases I have asked myself, not what 
 some ''average" student of such and such attainments 
 would understand, but what seemed from my point of 
 view most vital and inspiring. The reason for this 
 attitude lay partly in my desire that, if possible, the book 
 might interest not only students but teachers, who are, 
 after all, the only thorough readers of text-books. Again, 
 I am by no means convinced that the average pupil is 
 so slow of apprehension as in discouraged moments we 
 incline to think him. Yet, if students were ten times more 
 dull than has ever been asserted of them, I should still 
 not wish to spread among them the impression that educa- 
 tion may be had without work. Each day they must be 
 asked to attempt a little more than they can accomplish; 
 each day their enthusiasm must be stimulated by the 
 presentation of ideas which, because of their large bear- 
 ing on the problems of life, seem worth a sustained effort 
 to master. 
 
 I am indebted to Professor Arlo Bates for having twice 
 read my manuscript, and to Professor Henry L. Seaver 
 for valuable suggestions toward the development of the 
 chapter on classifications and divisions. 
 
 A. T. ROBINSON 
 
 Massachusetts Institute 
 OF Technology. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION 1 
 
 PART I 
 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. The Logical Analysis of Prose 7 
 
 II. The External Connections of Thought . . 32 
 
 III. The Mental Connections of Thought ... 45 
 
 IV. The Logical Outline 53 
 
 PART II 
 TOE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 I. The Subjects of Thought 66 
 
 II. Observation and the Resulting Statements 
 
 ABOUT Facts 71 
 
 III. The Ideas Employed in Observation ... 81 
 
 IV. The Limits of Ideas 91 
 
 V. Ideas and Individuals 102 
 
 VI. Logical Subdivisions 116 
 
 PART III 
 THE VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 I. Statements of Fact and Statements of Theory 129 
 II. Evidence: Testimony and Authorities . . . 137 
 
 [ix] 
 
X CONTENTS 
 
 III. Arguments from Resemblance 146 
 
 IV. Arguments from Cause 163 
 
 V. Arguments from Definition 177 
 
 CONCLUSION: The Point of View 194 
 
 APPENDICES 
 
 A. Example of Logical Analysis 201 
 
 B. The Use of Reference Books 208 
 
 C. A List of Books and Articles Referred to . . 218 
 
THE APPLICATIONS OF LOGIC 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Teachers of composition fall, generally speaking, into 
 two classes. The first is those of artistic temper, admirers 
 of polite Hterature, who like to teach their pupils to imitate 
 the masters of style, and who in their criticisms pay less 
 attention to the meaning than to the form. The second 
 class we may think of as hard-headed, practical men, who 
 lay all the emphasis on clear and accurate statement. 
 Text-books on composition appeal to both these points 
 of view. They contain some directions for acquiring 
 the gentle art of giving pleasure by the use of words, and 
 some which relate to the plain business of saying what you 
 mean. All these latter and purely practical matters are 
 a part of logic, and will be found treated in an elementary 
 way in the chapters which follow. This book, therefore, 
 though not a treatise on how to write, covers some things 
 to be found in manuals used with classes in composition. 
 At the points where these occur, as in Part I for instance, 
 the average student will feel himself most at home. He 
 will recognize much that he has been taught, principles 
 relating to the connection of statements within the para- 
 graph, and to the outhne of the theme. 
 
 At the same time, one who wishes to get to the bottom 
 of the difficulty he experiences in saying what he means 
 must go deeper than the ordinary text-books in composi- 
 tion. He must study the process of thought itself; he must 
 learn to think of ideas as symbols for something which the 
 mind cannot deal with in its original form; and he must 
 become aware how much the symbols leave out of count. 
 
2 THE APPLICATIONS OF LOGIC 
 
 This is the business of Part II. The material here will be 
 considerably less familiar to the average reader, and will 
 demand close attention. Some part of it has hitherto 
 been treated as psychology, and some is a modification 
 of ideas presented in the early chapters of text-books on 
 logic. It is offered in this book as a continuous story, 
 dealing first with the things we try to think about, then 
 with the process of observing these things and giving 
 them names, and finally with the necessary defects of 
 this process. The cautions given in these chapters con- 
 stitute the most valuable part of the book, for they relate 
 to mistakes in thinking which we are constantly making 
 and to which attention has seldom been called. 
 
 The principles laid down in Part III are touched upon 
 in books on argumentation. The same ground is covered 
 also, though in an entirely different way, in what is called 
 inductive or formal logic. In this portion of the book the 
 only unfamiliar material is likely to be the division of 
 statements into two classes, and the way in which argu- 
 ments are treated. The theory of all this, for one who 
 has come through the preceding chapters, will be easy. 
 To apply the theory, however, may be a more difficult 
 matter. For the ordinary student, one of the hardest 
 feats of logical analysis is to detect the essential state- 
 ments of an argument and to see how they are connected. 
 
 In the three parts of this book, then, there is an attempt 
 to answer three questions: first, How shall I arrange my 
 statements as a whole, and what shall be the connections 
 between them; second. What will my statements be worth 
 as a representation of the things I talk about; and, third, 
 Are my statements such as the majority of well-informed 
 people would uphold? The first and third questions, it 
 is evident, must frequently have been asked; daily ex- 
 perience forces them upon us whenever we attempt to 
 
INTRODUCTION 3 
 
 communicate thought. The second, from its very nature, 
 is less likely to arise. Most of us do not even realize that 
 thinking is the manipulation of symbols. It cannot, 
 therefore, occur to us to study the relation between these 
 symbols and what they represent. 
 
 The scope of all this material is evidently wider than 
 the mere teaching of composition. One who is to study 
 this book with any degree of patience, therefore, must 
 give up the idea that all he wants is to learn to write. 
 Skill in writing is a good thing; but it is a better thing, 
 if what you have written is foolish, to be able to see that 
 it is so and to discover the reason. Moreover, we spend 
 only a small part of our time in writing and talking. 
 During most of it we are being written and talked at, 
 and frequently also by people with command of a charming 
 style and much impressive phraseology. If we stand with 
 mouths open, as William in the play stood before Touch- 
 stone, and drink in all that these people give us, it will be 
 because our education has failed to develop our judgment. 
 While a man is in this state, every new word that is added 
 to his vocabulary is only one more means by which the 
 designing may lead him astray. Such a condition will 
 not satisfy the student of this book. He has joined the 
 company of those who want truth, and will fight, if neces- 
 sary, to get it. They fight confusion and disorder; they 
 fight empty phrases; words that are mere symbols but 
 pretend to be Uving things; general ideas that carry 
 implications not justified by the facts they come from; 
 and statements based on a few cases but advanced as 
 though true of all. Such is the task of the logician. He 
 is a student of composition, of course, but only because 
 he is concerned with a broader subject of which it is one 
 branch. His real interest is to study expression in its 
 relation to what it pretends to express. 
 
PART I 
 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 Part I is a study of the order in which one statement 
 follows another in expression. Here we deal with two 
 questions. The first is, How is a particular statement 
 joined with what precedes and what follows? The answer 
 appears to be that sometimes we think of things together 
 because we found them so in nature. They have been 
 associated in our minds, or they relate to events close 
 together in time, or to objects naturally joined in space. 
 These are the external connections of thought, suggested 
 to us in the mere order in which mental material presents 
 itself. Sometimes, again, the relations are those which 
 the mind itself naturally uses in handling ideas, as when 
 we compare one notion with another, or think of one state- 
 ment as a reason for another. These are the mental 
 connections of thought. 
 
 The names of all these methods of connection are, of 
 course, sufficiently familiar. Few people, perhaps, could 
 give a philosophic definition of a reason; but, once our 
 attention is called to the matter, we can all tell with more 
 or less ease when a sentence is supposed to prove some 
 statement that precedes. All these matters, then, are 
 well known to us as theory. Nevertheless we have prob- 
 ably not been trained to put them into practice in the 
 criticism of prose. The first four chapters, therefore, do 
 not attempt to define accurately the relations of thought, 
 but merely remind the reader of their existence. Examples 
 
THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 5 
 
 are then furnished which give opportunity to test one's 
 abihty to apply the distinctions. The real purpose of 
 these early pages is to give enough exercise in the analysis 
 of logical connections so that the student may begin to 
 form a logical habit of mind. 
 
 The second and really fundamental question in this part 
 of the book is the following : How does a particular state- 
 ment fit in with the whole,. or, What good is it going to do 
 if included? Here it is seen that statements cannot be 
 set down in their original chaos, but must be arranged 
 in order, to reach out toward some point definitely located 
 in advance. A story is not a mere sequence of events; a 
 description differs from a photograph; and it is not sufii- 
 cient that each thought should be logically connected to 
 the preceding, unless at the same time one kind of logi- 
 cal connection dominates the whole. Behind the whole 
 operation there must be a purpose; and a logical order of 
 statements may be spoken of as one which clearly shows 
 the point of view of the thinker. 
 
 Chapter I explains the kind of analysis aimed at, 
 and distinguishes it from literary and grammatical criti- 
 cism. There follow certain exercises in note-taking and 
 the drawing up of abstracts. These are included as the 
 kind of work which most quickly tests a student's ability 
 to strip prose to its logical skeleton. 
 
 Chapter II deals with the order in which mental 
 material originally comes to us, and shows how this order 
 must be changed. At this point the exercises are brief, 
 for detailed study of narrative and description must be 
 left to novelists and students of literature. 
 
 Chapters III and IV enumerate the logical relations 
 and attempt to show how they govern, not only the con- 
 nections betw^een sentences, but also long sequences of 
 thought. With the exercises which follow, the student 
 
6 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 will be able for the first time in this book to test the degree 
 of his logical power. The relations with which he is 
 there asked to become familiar are those which form the 
 subjects of the remaining chapters. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 THE LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PROSE 
 
 Thoughts come before us, as students of logic, only in 
 the form of words. There may be a preliminary stage 
 when they exist unclothed in language; but in this condi- 
 tion they are apparently but half formed in the mind, 
 hanging here and there by a phrase. This state does not 
 permit of criticism, and so logic may neglect it. Clear 
 thinking, on the other hand, is for most people inseparable 
 from some sort of expression, written, spoken, or mental, 
 conveyed to others or in soliloquy. This is so true that 
 a man often remains uncertain of his own meaning till 
 he has put it into words. The wise foreman, when obliged 
 to rebuke a troublesome member of his gang, sends him 
 about some piece of work before he can answer. To 
 check a rebellious word often saves making a rebel. For 
 the same reason, the quickest way to master a hard 
 problem in mathematics is usually to attempt to explain 
 it to somebody else. Till a man can express his thought, 
 he can hardly be said to know what he thinks. 
 
 Yet this expression does not always justly represent 
 the real thought. The soul of the idea has taken on bodily 
 form; and in the process it often assumes a rather mean 
 disguise. Ideas come forth, except from well-trained 
 minds, more or less at haphazard. With some thinkers 
 the difficulty is to get started; they must allow for a 
 preliminary period of talking or writing at random, 
 merely that they may discover what they have to say. 
 
8 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 Even when the start has been made, all sorts of dangers 
 still threaten. The quick brain, working more rapidly 
 than the pen, jumps to some new train of thought and 
 leaves the writer stranded. Interesting ideas, remotely- 
 connected with his purpose, drag him out of his path. 
 In blank moments, being able to think of nothing better, 
 he despairingly sets down nonsense. Every writer has 
 these trials; and because of them the reading of his first 
 copy sometimes fills him with disgust. Now suppose 
 him to be unaccustomed to the analysis of written state- 
 ments. Then, in attempting to correct his copy, he sits 
 helpless before his own manuscript, knowing that some- 
 thing is the matter, but unable to tell what. In the 
 beginning, perhaps, his head was clear enough; but now 
 he has dressed his thought in words, and effectually dis- 
 guised it, even from himself. That the thought of other 
 people is equally puzzUng requires no proof. Ordinary 
 talk, and even much that gets into print, fills the mind 
 with a crowd of words, some of plain meaning, but many 
 ill-chosen or vague, and some even intended to deceive. 
 There are illustrations, digressions, meanings faintly 
 hinted, and figures of speech. All these express ideas; 
 but it often requires some keenness to determine which 
 of the ideas are for the moment most important, and how 
 they fit together to form a whole. 
 
 Thus there comes a time when the relative value of 
 expressions — our own as well as those of others — must 
 be judged. To be equal to this task, the thinker must 
 first acquire the abihty to analyze what he has written or 
 what he reads. He must be capable at each step of 
 detecting the leading thought, and of seeing its rela- 
 tion to what has preceded. Amid all the smoke and 
 confusion, he must stand by the guns. , This is the logi- 
 cal habit of mind; and to form it is the end of all logical 
 
THE LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PROSE 9 
 
 study. It is, in a familiar phrase, the abihty to see the 
 point^j 
 
 This logical habit of mind cannot be exactly described 
 in words, and no specific rules can be laid down for the 
 guidance of one who wishes to acquire it. Habits of mind 
 are not particular acts, but tendencies to act in particular 
 ways. A definite rule can be given for the extraction of 
 the square root, but not for acquiring a business sense 
 or a taste for good literature. So with the logical habit. 
 It is in reality a special way of thinking as you read; that 
 is, a particular way of analyzing prose. It should grow 
 up unconsciously in the student's mind as he reads this 
 book and works with the exercises; but it cannot even 
 begin in the conscious following of specific rules. 
 
 There are, however, some negative cautions; these 
 relate chiefly to the necessity of removing other habits 
 that interfere with the development of the logical sense. 
 One difficulty in thinking logically is that we have been 
 trained already to some other methods of analysis. The 
 sense of grammar and sentence structure is the result of 
 training in analysis; so too is all literary judgment of 
 the good taste or aptness of expressions. These habits, 
 as students of logic, we must for the moment lay aside. 
 The grammatical form is not necessarily a key to the 
 thought, and the literary form often serves merely to 
 disguise it. 
 
 Our earliest attempts at analysis were in the grammar 
 grades. They accustomed us to look upon written or 
 printed matter as a collection of sentences. These 
 sentences we think of as formed essentially in two parts: 
 a subject, a statement of the thing you are talking of, and 
 a predicate, a statement of the thing you mean to say. 
 In logic too there are subjects and statements about them, 
 but these seldom correspond to the grammatical subjects 
 
10 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 and predicates. In a carefully drawn outline or brief 
 of a passage, the successive statements and headings will 
 represent closely the thought involved. For mathemati- 
 cal writing, again, a simple and direct presentation is 
 possible. All mathematical conceptions have been de- 
 fined in advance; they were created simple and clear. 
 Ordinary prose, however, presents the student of logic 
 with a problem quite different. When there are a thou- 
 sand possible ways of viewing and developing one idea, 
 and the writer is anxious to choose the most striking and 
 novel, he does not go about his work directly. Under 
 such conditions we need to study his meaning, not his 
 accidental grammatical form. 
 
 In the same way we must not permit ourselves to be 
 distracted by the details of expression. Most writing 
 deals with real life; it attempts to represent experiences 
 highly confusing and complex. For such a purpose the 
 writer requires a mass of illustrations and tributary ideas, 
 which the logical critic must grasp, not independently, 
 but in their relation to something else. He strives first 
 to see the thought in its simplest form, and knows that, 
 if he can only discover the point, the other ideas will fall 
 into place and stay there, like a regiment of soldiers that 
 respect their colonel. 
 
 No charm in the expression of secondary ideas, and no 
 attraction in their meaning, must interfere with their 
 being taught thus to know their place. For an untrained 
 thinker some imimportant illustration is often the most 
 conspicuous statement on a page. It entertains him, it 
 amuses him; and in his pleasure he forgets the point it 
 was intended to convey. In intellectual processes there 
 is, however, no valid reason why one should expect to be 
 entertained or amused. If a lecturer tells a good story, 
 if a speaker makes us laugh or cry, he has undoubtedly 
 
THE LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PROSE 11 
 
 added to our emotional experience; but it remains for a 
 calmer moment to determine how far he may have fur- 
 thered the real business of thought. The feelings, in short, 
 are no reliable guide to the value of ideas. The critical 
 mind is safest, at least in the beginning of its training, 
 in that alert and unemotional attitude which we call 
 "businesslike." It is on this account, perhaps, that one 
 so often hears logic described as "cold." 
 
 The growth of this same businesslike habit of mind 
 is perhaps the chief gain from a logical training. One 
 grows accustomed to watch the drift, to pick out_t]ie 
 essential and to cling to it. The formation of these habits 
 increases the power of critical attention; and upon this 
 power, l3oth in the drawing-room and in the business 
 office, all success depends. The mood of attention must 
 necessarily be self-suppressed, and collected and brisk. 
 The se qualities a man may cultivate, so far as any formal 
 exercise will cultivate them, if he does all his reading, 
 and listens to such set speeches as come in his way, with 
 the attitude of one who seeks to estimate ideas and to 
 discover their relative values, that he may see the rela- 
 tions between them. Neglecting to do this, he will remain 
 all his life a broken and empty vessel ; no amount of pump- 
 ing can fill him. Doing it, he will be by way of acquiring 
 a trustworthy judgment and accumulating information 
 which, since he has made it his own, will become part of 
 his permanent mental equipment. 
 
 EXERCISES 
 
 Note-Taking. For developing the power of seeing 
 the point no training can be better adapted than a pro- 
 longed and carefully graded set of exercises in note- 
 taking. With this work the student's training in logic 
 should begin. He may first draw up abstracts from simple 
 
12 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 passages in print, and then take notes, first from the slow 
 reading of such passages, and then from lectures and 
 addresses. This practice, also, should react favorably 
 on the student's other courses. In view of these facts 
 there follow certain suggestions for a brief course of 
 exercises. 
 
 1. Compare the following selection with the outline 
 which accompanies it. How far does the outline repre- 
 sent the essential thoughts, their connections, and as 
 much of the details as is necessary to a grasp of the leading 
 ideas? 
 
 To THE Editor of the 
 
 Our institution is now undergoing a great transition. Whether 
 she ynH emerge from it a rich and powerful university of engi- 
 neering, or whether she will fall in the struggle with adverse 
 conditions is as yet uncertain. The outcome depends entirely 
 on the loyalty of the students, past, present, and future, and 
 upon her reputation for turning out men who do everything 
 they attempt better than anyone else can do it. 
 
 Under these conditions no more important step could have 
 been taken by the students than that of entering major inter- 
 collegiate sports. A really fine baseball team could not help 
 strengthening the position of the school. It would show to begin 
 ^ith that our students are proud of representing the school, 
 a fact which the public (not without cause) is beginning to 
 doubt. It would show that an engineer graduated from here 
 would at least be likely to have a physique which would com- 
 mand the respect of his men, a consideration which is injuring 
 us not a little at present. It would give men a chance of rep- 
 resenting their college without having to submit to the one- 
 sided development demanded by the track. Above all it would 
 show the prep, school boys that we have some spirit. It is this 
 quality in a college more than anything else which attracts the 
 best men to it. 
 
 The team might do even more. It might be able to aid as 
 
THE LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PROSE 13 
 
 did the Carlisle football team some years ago, when it built the 
 University a new lecture hall and gymnasium from the proceeds 
 of its games. It would certainly have an influence in keeping 
 the school in touch with the alumni through bringing the latter 
 back to the games. A really good team would be invaluable. 
 
 If a good team will help the school, it hardly needs to be said 
 that a poor one will injure it. A half-coached, ill-equipped, 
 and unsupported team, well- whipped for one season, will dis- 
 gust more alumni, cast more discredit on the ability of the stu- 
 dents, and generally injure our reputation more than any other 
 one thing which could be devised. Everyone will agree, I 
 think, that rather than this we might better have left things 
 as they were. 
 
 What have we, however, done? All men interested in var- 
 sity baseball are asked to sign sHps. An enormous number 
 did S9. A meeting was then called. An attendance of about 
 four hundred was expected, and it was supposed that those 
 opposed would be on hand to argue against the organization 
 of a team. As a matter of fact there were only about thirty 
 men there. Of these one was opposed to the measures taken, 
 but he said not a word. The men who had signed the lists, 
 the members of the athletic association, the members of other 
 teams, and even many of our best ball players, were conspicu- 
 ous by their absence. Under these conditions it is not surprising 
 that a team was organized by a body composed half of enthu- 
 siastic baseballists and half of freshmen who did not know any 
 reason for not organizing it. 
 
 The men who were not at that meeting have two courses 
 now open to them. They can express their desire to have that 
 team aboHshed by writing to the athletic association; if they 
 do not write, they must stand ready with every bit of their 
 share of time, energy, and money to make that team the finest 
 in the country. 
 
 I imagine some will do neither. If a very large number 
 do not take the necessary interest to express their opinion, it 
 seems to me that something is radically WTong with the educa- 
 tion given by our college. 
 
14 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 Will the man who cannot delay his lunch five minutes to 
 vote on a question that may involve the honor of his Alma 
 Mater turn over his hand to save an employer's property? 
 Will he ever contribute as an alumnus to the support of his 
 Alma Mat€r? Should we then continue to graduate such men? 
 
 Student's letter to a school paper 
 
 ^ 
 
 Outline 
 
 \(1) The school needs help from the students. 
 
 (a) It is at a critical period in its history. 
 
 (2) This help can best take the form of competition in 
 
 major athletic sports. 
 
 (a) Such competition would show the pubhc our 
 spirit. 
 
 (6) It would assure employers of the physical fit- 
 ness of graduates. 
 
 (c) It would give a better training than track-work. 
 
 (rf) It would attract students. 
 
 (c) It would bring financial support. 
 
 (3) This competition must be heartily and generally sup- 
 
 ported. 
 
 (4) The steps already taken have not the support of the 
 
 student body at large. 
 
 (5) It is not too late to oppose or support. 
 
 (6) Men who do neither show no promise of future use- 
 
 fulness. 
 
 2. Compare the two following outlines with the text 
 of Briggs, "School, College and Character," Chapter V 
 (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1902). Which 
 seems the more nearly to represent the real structure of 
 the essay? Let the portions of the essay corresponding 
 to Sections 3 and 8 in Outline B be read aloud while the 
 student attempts to note down briefly the missing sub- 
 headings. This book has been selected as likely to be 
 found on the shelves of most college libraries. 
 
THE LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PROSE 15 
 
 The Transition from School to College 
 
 (A) 
 
 (1) College is a privilege. 
 
 (a) It is not, therefore, to be attempted without 
 
 preparation. 
 (6) This preparation is the diflficult preparation of 
 
 a boy for manhood. 
 
 (2) The freshman's predicament. 
 
 (a) He may now for the first time "go out into the 
 
 world." 
 
 (b) A gradual adjustment, properly begun in school, 
 
 should accomplish for him this transition. 
 
 (3) The freshman's helps. 
 
 (a) An element of gradual and continuous adjust- 
 
 ment in athletics. 
 
 (b) Another in study, but this is effective only for 
 
 the exceptional, for 
 
 (1) The average fellow, regarding study as an obli- 
 
 gation, is unequal to it as a privilege; and 
 
 (2) He has to learn the hard lesson of the re- 
 
 sponsibility of freedom. 
 
 (3) The inspiration of study as a privilege is a great 
 
 help. 
 
 (c) Another help is the interest and advice of col- 
 
 lege offic6rs. 
 (rf) Another, protective agencies in school and 
 
 college, 
 (e) The best, friendly supervision in college. 
 
 (B) 
 
 (1) College life is a privilege not to be entered into hghtly. 
 
 (2) It is often undertaken with insufficient preparation. 
 
 (3) To give the right sort of preparation is difficult, for 
 
 (a) 
 (6) 
 (c) 
 
16 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 (4) There should be a gradual increase of responsibility 
 
 through school and college. 
 
 (5) It is the time of going out into the world (though 
 
 sometimes earher). 
 
 (6) The best school training ought to make the tran- 
 
 sition easier by instiUing principles (for the 
 freshman's ideas are in many things irra- 
 tional). 
 
 (7) Continuity is the solution. 
 
 (a) Seen in athletics (in spite of faults): illustra- 
 
 tion of its helpfulness in the first danger of 
 the year, — "seeing life." 
 
 (b) Summary of its effects. 
 
 (8) The incentive of study is not strong enough to be very 
 
 helpful, for 
 (o) 
 (b) 
 (c) 
 (d) 
 (e) 
 
 (/) 
 
 (9) Summary of difficulties; tendency to neglect work. 
 
 (10) (a) More restrictions in college perhaps of advantage. 
 (6) More responsibihty in later years of school cer- 
 tainly so. Example of the prefects. 
 
 (11) The best protective agency is friendly supervision in 
 
 college. 
 
 3. The following selection is from Bryce, "The Ameri- 
 can Commonwealth," Vol. II, p. 210 (Macmillan and 
 Company, London, 1889).^ The student should attempt 
 to take notes from hearing it read aloud. Here there is 
 no strongly marked division of main headings. The 
 chief object of the note-taker ought to be to jot down 
 enough characteristic phrases to suggest the substance. 
 
 * Reprinted by permission. 
 
THE LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PROSE 17 
 
 Whenever possible, he should avoid the attempt to put 
 ideas into his own words, and content himself with writing 
 parts of what he actually hears. The notes should not 
 be crowded; nothing is more surely fatal to the legibility 
 of notes than the attempt to economize paper. 
 
 A business man reads in his newspaper at breakfast the events 
 of the preceding day. He reads that Prince Bismarck has 
 announced a policy of protection for German industry, or that 
 Mr. Henry George has been nominated for the mayoralty of 
 New York. These statements arouse in his mind sentiments 
 of approval or disapproval, which may be strong or weak accord- 
 ing to his previous predilection for or against protection or Mr. 
 Henry George, and of course according to his personal interest 
 in the matter. They rouse also an expectation of certain con- 
 sequences likely to follow. Neither the sentiment nor the 
 expectation is based on processes of conscious reasoning — our 
 business man has no time to reason at breakfast — they are 
 merely impressions formed on the spur of the moment. He 
 turns to the leading article in the newspaper and his sentiments 
 and expectations are confirmed or weakened according as he 
 finds that they are or are not shared by the newspaper writer. 
 He goes down to his office in the train, talks there to two or 
 three acquaintances, and perceives that they agree or do not 
 agree with his own still faint impressions. In his counting- 
 house he finds his partner and a bundle of other newspapers 
 which he glances at; their words further affect him, and thus by 
 the end of the day his mind is beginning to settle down into a 
 definite view, which approves or condemns Prince Bismarck's 
 declaration or the nomination of Mr. George. Meanwhile a 
 similar process has been going on in the minds of others, and 
 particularly of the journalists, whose business it is to discover 
 what people are thinking. The evening paper has collected 
 the opinions of the morning papers, and is rather more posi- 
 tive in its forecast of results. Next morning the leading 
 party journals have articles still more definite and positive in 
 approval or condemnation and in prediction of consequences 
 
18 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 to follow; and the opinion of ordinary minds, which in most of 
 such minds has been hitherto fluid and undetermined, has begun 
 to crystalhze into a solid mass. This is the second stage. Then 
 debate and controversy begin. The men and the newspapers 
 who approve Mr. George's nomination argue with those who do 
 not; they find out who are friends and who opponents. The 
 effect of controversy is to drive the partisans on either side 
 from some of their argmnents, which are shown to be weak; 
 to confirm them in others, which they think strong; and to make 
 them take up a definite position on one side. This is the third 
 stage. The fourth is reached when action becomes necessary. 
 When a citizen has to give a vote, he votes as a member of a 
 party; his party prepossessions and party allegiance lay hold 
 on him and generally stifle any individual doubts or repul- 
 sions he may feel. Bringing men up to the polls is like passing 
 a steam roller over stones newly laid on a road: the angularities 
 are pressed down and an appearance of smooth and even uni- 
 formity is given which did not exist before. When a man has 
 voted, he is committed; he has thereafter an interest in backing 
 the view which he has sought to make prevail. Moreover, 
 opinion, which may have been manifold till the polling, is there- 
 after generally two-fold only. There is a view which has tri- 
 umphed and a view which has been vanquished. 
 
 Study the following set of notes taken from the same 
 selection. Are the abbreviations such as the note-taker 
 will recall after a reasonable interval? Are there any 
 phrases that suggest merely the subject, not the idea 
 expressed? Are the connections suflftciently indicated? 
 What is the importance of punctuation in such notes? 
 What would be the objections to the plan of writing such 
 notes in complete sentences? 
 
 The form of notes here represented is probably the most 
 common, and certainly the easiest to produce. There is 
 no reason why the student should not make such notes more 
 serviceable after the lecture by underscoring important 
 
THE LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PROSE 19 
 
 words or placing headings in the margin. The important 
 quaUties in notes used for review are that they should 
 catch the eye quickly and prove suggestive enough to set 
 the mind working on the subject. 
 
 Small part of our political opinion based on original thinking. 
 
 Business man, breakfast. Bismarck, mayor, sentiments 
 aroused, various degree. Expectation of consequences, not 
 based on conscious reasoning. No time to reason. 
 
 Sees n.p. ed. Train, friends, their opinions, counting-house, 
 more newspapers. End of day, definite view. 
 
 Other men the same, particularly journaHsts, evening papers 
 more definite, next morning more papers, solid opinion. 
 
 Then debate begins in n.p. Partisans appear, arguments. 
 
 Polls. Man votes as member of party, individual feeling 
 repressed. Steam roller, stone road. When vote cast, man com- 
 mitted to his views. 
 
 4. The two outlines which follow were handed in by 
 students to show what sort of essays they intended to 
 write on the topic: "The Teacher's Share of Responsi- 
 bility in the Development of Social Life at College." 
 
 Study them in contrast. The first (A) shows one of the 
 most common and serious faults in outlines and briefs; 
 the second is free from this fault. What is the fault, 
 and why is it serious? 
 
 (A) 
 
 (1) Should we have any social life at College? If so, 
 
 should the instructors help to attain this condition? 
 
 (2) There should be social life at College. 
 
 (3) The duty of the teachers concerning the increase of 
 social life. 
 
 (4) How can the instructors help? 
 
 (5) The difficulties they would be obliged to overcome to 
 assist to increase such hfe. 
 
2a THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 (6) Attitude of instructors towards students. 
 
 (7) Manner in which instructors might conduct classes. 
 
 (8) Relations between students and instructors. 
 
 (9) General opinion of instructors among the students. 
 
 (10) Ck)nclusion: Social life a failure and the reasons. 
 
 (B) 
 
 (1) The value of social relations between students and 
 teachers is questionable because of the conditions here. 
 
 (2) The position in which the teacher is placed puts intimate 
 acquaintance out of the question. 
 
 (3) The nature of the student activities tends to discourage 
 association between students and instructors. 
 
 (4) The teacher can bring himself closer to students by 
 introducing a more personal element into the class-room. 
 
 (5) The entertaining of students by teachers is generally 
 impossible for financial reasons. 
 
 (6) Conditions in general seem to discourage the associa- 
 tion of students and teachers. 
 
 5. The two sets of notes which follow were taken from 
 a lecture on ^'The Common Sense of the Principle of 
 Unity." Some work was done on each set of notes im- 
 mediately after the lectm-e. Compare the two styles of 
 note-taking, especially in regard to physical form. In 
 (A) pick out the spots that show faulty method. 
 
 (A) 
 
 Unity. Necessary because supposed to have a purpose. 
 Certain amoimt of exertion called for on reader's part; repay. 
 So in talk, Point. Point in a larger sense is to have one thing 
 to do and stick to it. 
 
 It is always possible. A requirement of themes and a special 
 annoyance for freshmen. In novels; in magazine article by a 
 scientific man; in letter home. Yet best novels have unity. 
 Newcomes. David Harum. The play. Letters have still a 
 
THE LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PROSE 
 
 21 
 
 better sort of unity. Show the personality. Our work may do 
 the same. 
 
 Mechanical unity. Not wander to other subjects. 
 
 Unity of purpose. As of the play. A logical connection. 
 
 Unity of p. of view. Show personahty. The interest thus 
 increased in all work, — even text-books. 
 
 In paragraphs especially. *'One thing I do." 
 
 (a) To rest the reader; a natural pause indicated to the eye. 
 
 (6) The logic demands it. We must get on, from step to step. 
 
 An absolute requirement in all clear, business-hke writing. 
 Examples. 
 
 How developed. From within, a growth. Any length, from 
 sentence to chapter. Scale and proportion. Convenience for 
 reader. Let it be a development around one sentence. 
 
 (B) 
 
 In the whole 
 composition. 
 
 Necessary 
 
 Possible 
 always. 
 
 In the paragraph. 
 
 Kinds. 
 
 An absolute 
 necessity. 
 
 because the reader expects 
 return for his effort, i.e. 
 point. 
 
 U. of the short theme a 
 special adaptation of the 
 general rule. Some sort of 
 unity always in good writ- 
 ing, as: in a novel central 
 interest; in a letter, unity 
 of point of view, etc. 
 Mechanical 
 of point of view. 
 of purpose. 
 
 (1) To rest the reader. Nat- 
 ural pause, indicated to the 
 eye. 
 
 (2) For logical reasons. 
 Gives the feehng of prog- 
 ress, step by step. 
 
22 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 As to length 
 
 of paragraph. Amount contained depends 
 upon 
 
 (1) Length of whole. 
 
 (2) Expedience, for "a 
 single idea" may be ex- 
 pressed in a sentence or 
 a whole essay. 
 
 6. The following extract is an account of the virtues 
 proper to student life. The note-taker will attempt to 
 get the main headings as they occur, to express them briefly 
 and clearly, and to place them on paper in a conspicuous 
 position; then under each to set down important details. 
 
 Love of truth for truth's sake is intellectual virtue. It pro- 
 motes, it is the basis of, indeed it is morality. This is the tem- 
 per of students in all colleges. Some are lazy, taking the line 
 of least resistance; some regard study as a hardship and go 
 about it doggedly; but to a man our students are truth-seekers, 
 indignant towards falsehood and deceit. 
 
 A teacher who is ignorant is not respected. It is a fatal 
 verdict " He does not know his subject." A teacher who evades 
 facts, who is not downright honest in his opinions, is despised. 
 
 I said that intellectual coascientiousness promotes morality. 
 It certainly promotes truthfulness in all relations. College 
 men, whatever their faults and wrong-doing, will not tell lies. 
 A man's word is sacred. A student who lies to a fellow-student 
 might as well leave college. However damaging to himself, 
 he will not put No in place of Yes to a president or a professor. 
 This ^^^tue, which is associated with the English gentleman, 
 has become as distinctively the virtue of the American gentle- 
 man and scholar. 
 
 You will find that students mean to regard themselves as 
 gentlemen. The ideal of everyone is the ideal of a gentleman — 
 of an honorable, generous, courteous man. There is no place 
 where meanness has so little toleration as in a college. You 
 
THE LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PROSE 23 
 
 will search long to discover a student who intentionally hurts 
 the feelings of a fellow-student, or one who does not applaud 
 the success of a comrade. A student must be a gentleman in 
 all relations. Sports must be gentlemanly. There are queer 
 notions, to be sure, of the manners, the speech, and the dress of 
 a gentleman student; but the ideal in the essential moral quality 
 is there. 
 
 Another virtue is the democratic spirit. Students consti- 
 tute a democracy of merit and culture. In a university or 
 college the rich and poor of all sections meet together and 
 " earth's poor distinctions vanish here." Everyone stands upon 
 his merit, not upon wealth or parentage. There are self-con- 
 stituted, artificial aristocracies in some universities, but they 
 are sneered at by real worth. The sturdy Kansas scholar is 
 not impressed by, if he has even heard of, the blue book of 
 Boston. Every college hkes to boast that it is democratic 
 and regards the reputation of being aristocratic as a slur. It is 
 a distinct disadvantage to be wealthy. "He's rich, biU he is a 
 good fellow." 
 
 Loyalty is a virtue of students — loyalty to the college or 
 university. One who excels in any respect must run, row, play 
 ball, sing, write, debate, for the glory of the college. A student 
 who will not come out is disloyal. He must make sacrifices for 
 his college, his class, his fraternity. He will be a good citizen 
 by and by, a patriot. 
 
 The college is imbued with the idea that the educated man is 
 to render service. The colleges were founded to train men for 
 service to the state and the world, and I doubt whether in any 
 generation the aim has been more distinct than it is to-day. 
 Success in occupation and profession, indeed, and in specific 
 training for it, yet through success the promotion of righteous- 
 ness. Our students intend to be leaders and helpers in the 
 communities in which they will five, in education, citizenship, 
 religion. Especially is the ci\dc conscience awake. In the 
 college is a mighty impulse to service. The university settle- 
 ment is one expression of it. Training for intelligent citizen- 
 ship is another expression. Educated men may be selfish; yet 
 
24 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 a broad education is always understood to be, not for its own 
 sake, not for personal culture merely, but to make teachers, 
 leaders, ministers in society. The strongest impulse to social, 
 pohtical, philanthropic service has come from the college.* 
 
 7. The best way to test one*s understanding of a passage 
 and the value of the notes taken on it is to attempt to 
 report it for some particular purpose. A lectiu-e reported 
 for the college paper is the most useful exercise. The 
 notes should be studied in connection with the finished 
 report, and the advice and criticism of the editors of the 
 college paper will be helpful. If no such lecture is avail- 
 able, some public speech that happens to be reported in 
 the newspap)ers may be read aloud. 
 
 Study as an example the following newspaper report 
 of a speech by President Taft, together with the students' 
 notes and reports which follow. Are the defects in the 
 students' work due to a lack of imderstanding of the 
 divisions of the talk, to scanty notes, or to other causes? 
 
 Salt Lake City, Utah, Sept. 26. — In the pulpit of the famous 
 Mormon Tabernacle in this city, where, four years ago, Theo- 
 dore Roosevelt, then President, preached a long sermon on right 
 living and the duties of good citizenship. President Taft faced 
 an audience which he said inspired him . . . "with higher 
 thoughts of country and patriotism." 
 
 "A soft answer tumeth away wrath, but grievous words stir 
 up anger " was the text Mr. Taft selected from the Book of 
 Proverbs. The sermon was a homely utterance, largely made 
 up of a relation of stories to give emphasis to the points. 
 
 When Senator Smoot introduced the President to the audi- 
 ence in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, the cheering was so great that 
 Mr. Taft could not begin his address for several minutes. 
 
 'Harris, "Shall the University Concern Itself More Directly 
 with the Morals and Manners of the Students ? " Proceedings of 
 the National Educational Association, 1903. 
 
THE LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PROSE 25 
 
 "I am told that my distinguished predecessor, under the 
 inspiration of an audience Hke this, dehvered an address in 
 the nature of a sermon upward of two hours in length. Now, he 
 had the capacity, he had the spirit, and he had the mission to 
 make such a preachment of moral force and inspiration. He 
 knew how to appeal to the best that is in a man and a woman 
 and arouse them to lift themselves to higher standards and higher 
 ideals. 
 
 "But it has not been given to me to exercise that great influ- 
 ence which was his, and which shone forth from him as he stood 
 before men upon a platform. And yet I have felt that on this 
 Sunday morning it was necessary for me to make such effort 
 as I could to follow him in something that may sound a bit hke 
 a sermon. And as sermons are begun with a quotation of a 
 text having more or less relation to what follows, I am going to 
 give you the words from Proverbs, 'A soft answer turneth away 
 wrath, but grievous words stir up anger.' 
 
 "It is a text that has forced itself upon my mind during the 
 last ten years with especial vigor, because I have come into con- 
 tact with oriental peoples and with those descended from the 
 Latin races of Europe, and I have had a chance to compare 
 their views of life and their methods of speech and their social 
 conventions and amenities with those of the Anglo-Saxon race. 
 
 "We Anglo-Saxons are, we admit, a great race. We have 
 accomplished wonders in hammering out, against odds that 
 seemed insurmountable, the principles of civil hberty and popular 
 government and making them practical and showing to the 
 world their benefits. But in so doing, and in the course of our 
 life, it seems to me, we have ignored something that our fel- 
 lows of Southern cHmes have studied and made much of; and 
 that is the forms of speech and the methods of every-day treat- 
 ment between themselves and others. At first that seems super- 
 ficial to us, who prefer *No' and 'Yes' and abrupt methods and 
 communications in the shortest and curtest sentences, but we 
 have much to learn from Southern peoples of that kind of 
 courtesy and politeness. 
 
 "The truth is that a man's hfe in his family, with his wife, 
 
26 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 with his children, with his mother, with his neighbors, is not 
 made up of 'grandstand plays' and all that sort of thing. It is 
 made up by a series of httle acts, and those little acts and those 
 little self-restraints are what go to make up the man's character. 
 
 "And so I say that our friends of the Southern cUmes and our 
 oriental friends have touched a point in philosophy, the phil- 
 osophy of life, that we may well learn from them, and intro- 
 duce into our hves more courtesy and more pohteness, more 
 real desire to make everybody happy by the httle things of 
 life, which, after all, constitute all there is in life. 
 
 "Now, another corollary from the text which I should like 
 to draw is that we ought to ascribe to our neighbors and to those 
 with whom we come in contact as high motives as we can. 
 We ought to avoid this acrimonious discussion that consigns 
 everybody who is opposed to our views to perdition, and to hav- 
 ing the most corrupt motives, and ascribe to those who stand 
 with us only the purest motives. Life is too valuable to waste 
 in anger and the charging and denunciation of our fellowmen 
 when they don't deserve it. 
 
 "The truth is, this matter of hatred and resentment which 
 accompanies the attributing of a bad motive to those who differ 
 from you is a waste of nervous strength, of worry, without accom- 
 plishing one single good thing. I don't know how it has been 
 with you, but it has happened time and time again with me that 
 some man has done something that I did not hke, that I thought 
 had a personal bearing, and that I have said in my heart, ' Times 
 will change and I will get even with that gentleman.' 
 
 "I don't profess to be free from those feelings at all. But it 
 has frequently happened, I may say generally, that the time 
 did come when I could get even with that man, and when that 
 time came it seemed to me that I would demean myself and that 
 it would show me no man at all if I took advantage. 
 
 "And so, my friends, what I am urging is less acrimony in 
 pubhc discussion, more charity with respect to each other as 
 to what moves each man to do what he does, and not to 
 charge dishonesty and corruption until you have a real reason 
 for doing so. 
 
THE LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PROSE 27 
 
 "I am the last man to pardon or to mitigate wrongs against 
 the pubhc or against individuals. I believe, and I regret to 
 say, that throughout this country the administration of the 
 criminal law and the prosecution of criminals is a disgrace to 
 our civiUzation; but it is one thing to prosecute a criminal when 
 you have evidence, and it is another thing to ascribe motives 
 to the act of a man when you have not any evidence and are 
 just hving in your imagination in respect to what you say. 
 
 "And now I cannot in the presence of so great an audience as 
 this, an audience that inspires me with higher thought of coun- 
 try and patriotism, fail to refer to the depth of feehng that has 
 been aroused in me of gratitude for your welcome, of an appre- 
 ciation of the basis of that welcome, which is loyalty to your 
 flag and country. 
 
 "I understand that in the great office of President, person- 
 aUty of the man who fills it for the time sinks, and that office 
 typifies the nation, so that all people, of whatever party, ought 
 to feel that for the man who for the time being holds the office 
 they are manifesting a respect for the nation for which they 
 live and for which they would be wilfing to die." 
 
 (A) 
 
 Notes 
 
 TaJVs sermon in the Mormon Temple. — Predecessor in sim- 
 ilar circumstances delivered 2 hour sermon — Had power abifity 
 and — I am not gifted — but it is fitting that I should defiver 
 a short sermon Text soft answer turneth away wrath Has 
 been forced on me by study of European nations — Anglo- 
 Saxons great but have ignored forms of speech courtesies etc. 
 — We have much to learn — A man's fife not made up of grand- 
 stand plays Is made up of httle courtesies sacrifices etc. 
 We ought to ascribe to our neighbors the highest motives pos- 
 sible — Life is too valuable to spend in denunciation — It is 
 waste of time and worry — Personal experiences "I'll get even" 
 spirit. Time came and restrained myself. I urge more charity, 
 less acrimony. I am last man to pardon or mitigate wrong- 
 
28 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 doing — One thing to prosecute criminal, another to ascribe 
 low motives and condemn. 
 
 When a man enters the presidency, his personality typifies 
 the nation — Farewell. 
 
 An Account of President TaJVs Sermon in the Mormon 
 Tabernacle 
 
 At the opening of liis speech the president mentioned the 
 speech of his predecessor two years before. In glowing terms he 
 spoke of the abihty of Theodore Roosevelt, and regretted that 
 he was not gifted with the same eloquence and power. The 
 occasion demanded, he said, that he preach something in the 
 nature of a sermon, and, as sermons are generally begun by 
 some scriptural text which constitutes the body of thought, he 
 announced that he had chosen as a text the following passage: 
 "A soft answer turneth away wrath but a grievous word stir- 
 reth up anger." The truth of this proverb, the president said, 
 had been impressed upon him continually in his study of the 
 nations of southern Europe. We Anglo-Saxons are a great 
 race, but in our strenuous mode of life we have ignored the 
 courtesies and niceties of speech common to the people of the 
 Latin nations. 
 
 A man's life is not made up of grandstand plays, but of the 
 small sacrifices and courtesies the importance of which is fre- 
 quently overlooked. We ought to ascribe to our neighbors 
 the highest possible motives, and not intentionally seek out the 
 lowest and meanest. Life is too short and valuable to spend in 
 denunciation. It is a waste of time and worry. Then the pres- 
 ident cited several instances from his own life. Often, he said, 
 when convinced of the lowness of some act of a fellow man, 
 he had said to himself, "I'll get even!" When an opportunity 
 did present itself, he always felt as if he would be doing some- 
 thing utterly beneath him if he should carry out his original 
 intentions. 
 
 "I urge," he said, "more charity and less acrimony." The 
 president stated that he is the last man in the world to pardon 
 or mitigate wrong-doing. He spoke of the condition of the crim- 
 
THE LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PROSE 29 
 
 inal courts as "a disgrace to the civilization of the United 
 States." It is one thing, argued Mr. Taft, to prosecute a crim- 
 inal, and another to ascribe low motives indiscriminately and 
 to condemn without reason. 
 
 He added that he had faithfully tried to live up to these prin- 
 ciples, for when a man enters the presidency, his personahty 
 typifies the nation. 
 
 With a few words of farewell, the speech was concluded. 
 
 (B) 
 
 Notes 
 Taft "Lay Sermon in Mormon Temple " 
 
 I'm told that predecessor delivered a sermon 2 hrs long. 
 Had capacity — to make inspiring talk. Knew how to be 
 inspiring. I have not his gifts. Yet have felt that I should 
 follow him in a sermon, & — should have a text "Soft answer 
 — grievous words" 
 
 This text impressed on me by contact with Orientals and 
 Latins, & comparison of habits with Anglo-Saxons. 
 
 We are a great race, have overcome obstacles, & have demon- 
 strated popular gov. But have ignored forms of common speech, 
 etc. May seem superficial to some. But we have much to 
 learn in pohteness. In family life — not made up of grandstand 
 plays, and little acts make up character. So L. and 0. have 
 little courtesies, make everybody happy, and make everyone 
 get all there is out of Hfe. 
 
 Another thing — high motives, which condemn those opposed 
 to us, and vice versa. Life too short for charging and hatred. 
 This is a waste of nerve, time, worry, no benefits. My experi- 
 ence, some man hurt me, I wish to get even. But when time 
 came, found that I would be unmanly to do it. 
 
 So I urge less acrimony in pubhc discuss, don't charge graft. 
 Am last man to lessen wrong, & regret to say that prosecution 
 of criminal in this country is awful. To prosecute from evi- 
 dence is all right, but not ascribing false motives. 
 
30 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 I cannot help say in pres. of such audience gathered for 
 welcome, & basis of welcome. In office of Pres. typifies all 
 America, & respect given it is from love of country. 
 
 A Sermon Delivered by President Taft in the Mormon 
 Tabernacle 
 
 "I have been told that my illustrious predecessor in this 
 pulpit deUvered a wonderful sermon tliree hours long, and held 
 an enormous audience spell-bound. He had the capacity for 
 making inspiring talks, but I am sorry to say that I have not 
 his gifts. However, I have felt that I should follow his lead 
 by deUvering a sermon, poor though it may be. 
 
 "A proper sermon should have a text, and for my text I have 
 chosen the passage from Proverbs, * A soft answer turneth away 
 inTath: but grievous words stir up anger.' This text has been 
 especially impressed upon me by contact with oriental races 
 and with the Latin races of Europe, and by a comparison of 
 their habits and modes of expression with similar characteris- 
 tics of the Anglo-Saxon race. 
 
 "We Anglo-Saxons are a great race. We have pushed stead- 
 ily forward through almost insurmountable difficulties, and have 
 above all demonstrated to the world the possibifity of popular 
 government. But one thing we have ignored is the speech we 
 use in our ordinary relations with each other. We also have 
 much to learn in pofiteness to one another. This may seem 
 superficial to some, but nevertheless it is important especially 
 in our family life. This fife is not made up of grandstand plays, 
 and we have to determine a man's character by Httle things. 
 The oriental and Latin races have many Httle courtesies and 
 thoughtful acts, which go to make everybody happy, and let 
 everj^one get all there is out of life. 
 
 "Another trait of ours which we should be well rid of is the 
 tendency to question each other's motives. We are all inclined 
 to see nothing but bad in those opposed to us, and nothing but 
 good in those on our side. But life is too short for all this con- 
 demnation and hatred. It is only a waste of nervous force and 
 
THE LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PROSE 31 
 
 time, and is a constant source of worry. Absolutely no benefit 
 is derived from it. 
 
 "I do not claim to be immune from this same tendency 
 to condemnation and questioning motives. More than once I 
 have felt that some man was dehberately trying to injure me, 
 and have determined to get even. But when my opportunity 
 for this came I found that it would be unmanly of me to take 
 advantage of it. 
 
 ''So I urge less acrimony in public discussion. Don't charge 
 false motives, and try to see that most men are sincere in their 
 actions. I am the last man in the world to try to behttle the 
 injustice and wrong which I know do exist. For example, I 
 regret to say that our method of prosecuting criminals is one of 
 the worst things in this country to-day. It is perfectly just to 
 prosecute a man for his crime according to the evidence, but 
 when we seek to ascribe motives for the crime we are exceeding 
 our rights. 
 
 "I cannot help but express, in the presence of such an audi- 
 ence, the gratitude I feel for the welcome you have extended 
 to me, and for the motive which I know was the basis for this 
 welcome. In showing respect for the office I hold you are but 
 expressing the great love you have for your country." 
 
V CHAPTER II 
 THE EXTERNAL CONNECTIONS OF THOUGHT 
 
 One who has followed through the exercises in the 
 preceding chapter, bending all his energy, perhaps for 
 the first time, upon an attempt to grasp the essential 
 thought in what he hears, will find that his ability to 
 understand a talk depends upon a sense of connection. 
 Once he "loses the thread," he loses all. He then knows, 
 either that he has misunderstood, or that the speaker is 
 incompetent. There must be an evident connection 
 between the separate parts; there must be such an 
 arrangement that from beginning to end things seem to 
 have been composed in accordance with a plan. This 
 connection, however, assumes a variety of forms, some 
 more artificial than others, and each valuable for certain 
 purposes. These we shall next attempt to study and to 
 distinguish, by tracing them back to fundamental princi- 
 ples of the working of the mind. Then, in the exercises, 
 we shall try to detect them as they occur in prose. 
 
 The ability to speak or write connectedly, at the same 
 time following a larger plan for the connection of the whole, 
 is not altogether a gift of nature. Indeed it is acquired, 
 by most people, only at the expense of long training; and 
 usually it demands laborious study. This training in 
 some degree most of us get. In our mature years we are 
 all able to control more or less the action of our minds 
 and to guide them at will into various forms of mental 
 gymnastics. To the end, however, these remain some- 
 what artificial processes. 
 
EXTERNAL CONNECTIONS OF THOUGHT 33 
 
 The normal working of our minds, when not under 
 pressure of the will, is by no means so ambitious. At 
 such moments we are little more than spectators at a 
 panorama. Successive mental states present themselves 
 before our attention without saying **By your leave," 
 and we are controlled by them till they are pushed out by 
 fresh ideas. Between these successive feelings and pic- 
 tures there is always a thread of connection, slight enough 
 in many cases, but still sufficient to enable us to think 
 of each as dragging its successor into the mind by some 
 natural bond of union. Thus the student seats himself 
 at his desk to prepare a lesson. As he opens his book his 
 eye falls upon a penwiper, the gift of a friend. By this 
 suggestion his mind passes to his friend, to their summer 
 trip together, to canoeing, to the need of a new canoe, to 
 the possibility of deserving it by success in his studies, 
 and so, perhaps, back to the task before him. His thought, 
 up to this time, has run naturally, and has been in no way 
 forced or directed. Now, however, he opens his book, 
 and at once the situation changes. From this moment 
 he must exercise his will, summoning, comparing, and 
 arranging ideas as best he may. The former state of 
 mind is sometimes called reverie; the latter is known as 
 thinking. 
 
 Behind the order of mental pictures presented in 
 reverie there is, of course, no rational purpose, but merely 
 accident. Some are suggested by chance associations, 
 mere whims of the mind, depending on the personal 
 character and past experiences. Thus the sight of a 
 beet may suggest to one a fish dinner, to another a chemical 
 formula, and to a third certain arguments for a high 
 tariff on sugar. Again other ideas come through the 
 senses. These, too, occur illogically, in any order in 
 which the relations of time and space may happen to 
 
34 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 present the objects that suggest them. The events of a 
 day, or the sights and sounds of a walk through city 
 streets, have the same sort of relation to one another as 
 have the bricks in a pile dumped from a wagon. Thus 
 our mental material is tumbled in upon us in confusion. 
 Such connection as exists may be due to association. 
 Then, likely enough, it is so roundabout or so whimsical 
 that the thinker could scarcely explain it, even to himself. 
 Again it may be physical connection. In this case it 
 depends upon the pure accident of how events in the 
 worid about us happen to fall out. 
 
 Since there is no purpose behind the order in which 
 ideas occur, if we make use of them for a purpose, — to 
 weave them into a story, for instance, to employ them to 
 prove a point, or to direct them toward the solution of a 
 problem, — we can do so only by selection and arrange- 
 ment. Of all selected orders, the simplest, the least 
 strained, and the most nearly natural is narrative. Here 
 the mind so chooses and arranges ideas that in the main 
 their arrangement is governed by time. Stories, dealing 
 with both fiction and fact, fall within this class; but so in 
 particular cases may a description, an explanation, or an 
 argument. We may, for instance, describe a four-cycle 
 combustion engine in narrative, simply by following the 
 order of events as the piston moves. A large part of our 
 speaking, as well as of our writing, is in this sense the 
 teUing of stories; and it is, indeed, the most effective 
 part. In speaking, particularly, it is often wise to throw 
 the outline of your speech into the narrative form. So you 
 catch and hold your hearers. The one constant subject of 
 thought is the passage of time; the one inevitable connec- 
 tion of thought is the time order. Thus it happens that 
 the simplest and the most common arrangement of thought 
 is that which expresses itself in narrative. 
 
EXTERNAL CONNECTIONS OF THOUGHT 35 
 
 No well-told narrative, however, relies for its order 
 wholly upon the passage of time. The incidents described 
 are usually put together in the sequence in which the 
 events occurred; nevertheless their real bond of union is 
 not time. Stories, for instance, do not reproduce all that 
 took place at the moment, but in the large and intricately 
 woven pattern of life they follow a single thread. The 
 principle which holds them together and gives them the 
 right to be called stories is the purpose which guided 
 the selection of details. Possibly they illustrate character, 
 or prove a point, or further the development of some 
 larger plot. There must be some aim behind them, or 
 else they serve merely to fill the mouth with words. 
 Precisely the same thing is true of all other forms of 
 narrative. We demand that they show an orderly devel- 
 opment and a conclusion. In the effort to secure these 
 we take many ideas and ''compose" them, or put them 
 together into one. Thus even the most elementary of 
 our mental processes is characteristic of all the rest. It 
 shows the real labor of thought to be a labor of unification. 
 
 A second selected order of ideas which comes very 
 near to reality and actual experience is that which depends 
 on the relative position of objects, or parts of objects, 
 in space. This sort of thinking, expressed in words, is 
 called description. Descriptive thinking does not, how- 
 ever, any more than narrative, make use of the crude 
 reality. The eyes and, each in its measure, the other 
 senses are constantly putting the thinker in contact with 
 fresh experiences. He walks from the railway station to 
 his suburban home. He loses his overshoe in a puddle, 
 he is grazed by an automobile, he finds his path blocked 
 by a city gang constructing a sewer. So far there is no 
 material for descriptive thought in his experience. The 
 puddle, the automobile, the excavation, — these by destiny 
 
36^ THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 fall together in the same street at the same moment. 
 Their conjunction is an accident; it is illogical. If now 
 the thinker wants to make logical use of his experiences, 
 he must first discover some principle which will make 
 them one. In the world of events they are not one, but 
 three; his principle, therefore, must be a mental principle, 
 a thought. Perhaps he hits upon the idea that here are 
 three examples of the trials of suburban residence. Then 
 at once he has material for description. If he is a witty 
 fellow, he will make a dinner-table topic of it; if a student, 
 perhaps a theme. In either case the thing most evident 
 to his hearers will be that his description has a point. 
 He has forced his idea on the chaos of nature and created 
 a mental unit. Out of many he has formed one. 
 
 The natural relations of objects in space do not, of 
 course, always appear illogical. It is, for example, for the 
 reasoning faculty an accident that one sees a tree on the 
 top of a hill, but not an accident that the tree bears leaves. 
 The tree is an individual, and all the natural objects that 
 we call individuals, from a crystal to the human body, 
 stand before our minds as representing an organization of 
 details under one idea. The position of their parts, there- 
 fore, may be said to have a kind of necessity for thought; 
 in knowing what function the leaf performs for the tree, 
 or the arms for the body, we see the logic of the situation. 
 In a similar way objects constructed by man convey to 
 our thought notions of the purpose behind their design. 
 With these ideas in mind it is possible to test the con- 
 struction and to find a kind of common sense, a reason- 
 ableness or the lack of it, in the relation of parts. Even 
 the landscape comes through perspective to represent a 
 thought. As its appearance depends upon the position 
 of the observer, it embodies, from whatever point one 
 observes it, a principle of unity. Hence the beginner can 
 
EXTERNAL CONNECTIONS OF THOUGHT 37 
 
 compose more successfully in describing a scene, a build- 
 ing, or a mechanical device, than in relating the incidents 
 of even the most enjoyable outing. When confronted 
 with a series of events, he has not the skill to connect 
 them through a central idea. Things which have de- 
 veloped naturally, however, or been constructed by man, 
 present a simpler problem. Such objects, by their very 
 appearance, impose upon the mind a sense of their unity. 
 
 Thus, if we let our minds take their own course, they 
 lead us round and round in reverie. They merely stray 
 to whatever topic makes the strongest momentary demand 
 upon the attention, and from whatever is unattractive 
 they turn aside. With this method, if we get anywhere, 
 it will be by accident; and so from the formation of our 
 first purposes we begin to see the need of a different proce- 
 dure. After that time the progress of our education may 
 be measured by the degree of our ability to stop these 
 wanderings of the mind. There are some attractive ideas, 
 we learn, which must be shut out, at least for the moment, 
 because they interfere with our work. In this business of 
 keeping order the will must guide; like the driver of a 
 dog-team, it must lash and coax along the whole wavering 
 line. To give it the power and the skill necessary for 
 this strenuous work is the fundamental task of education. 
 
 In this education, as far as logic deals with it, the first 
 step is training in the mental processes most nearly spon- 
 taneous. The student will learn how to tell a story so 
 that something comes of it; giving enough detail to suit 
 his purpose, and yet introducing nothing except what 
 counts. He will attempt to describe things so that they 
 grow up in the mind as wholes. Here, in a way, he follows 
 nature. Yet he learns that, even in the most natural 
 mental processes, though thought sometimes adopts an 
 order suggested by the outside world, it must still modify 
 
38 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 the suggestion to suit its own aim. Behind every order 
 of thought there must be a purpose; and the existence 
 of a purpose should be a sufl&cient guarantee that all the 
 steps in the mental process lead toward it. ~ 
 
 EXERCISES 
 
 1 . The following exercise illustrates the natural relations 
 of ideas. It was the author's purpose, not to write a 
 "theme," a task which at the best he would have thought 
 of as somewhat artificial, but merely to reproduce as 
 fully as he could the ideas which passed through his mind 
 during the time described. Since his memory was good, 
 he succeeded in putting on paper a fair picture of the mind 
 when it is not on dress parade. For our present purpose 
 nothing could be more helpful. Study the sentences to 
 determine how one thought probably suggested another. 
 
 I may as well go hunting. I know I won't get a thing, for 
 there isn't a bird within ten miles of here. Where is my hunt- 
 ing jacket? Oh, yes, it's in the dark closet. I'll probably 
 get into the pond, for the ice must be weak over the springholes 
 after this thaw. I'd better pull my boots up high before I 
 start. Six shells will be enough. 
 
 My! but it's hard walking! Sink way through. I may as 
 well load the gun in case I should scare up anything. Some- 
 one ha^ been along here recently. I'll bet they didn't catch 
 a thing, for there are no fish in the pond since the dam broke 
 last summer and let all the water out. My! but wasn't it 
 fine fishing then when the pond was way down! Shot a par- 
 tridge here last winter. Wish I could see another this year, 
 but there are no tracks of any around. Queer there are no 
 birds this year. What was that? Probably some of those little 
 birds over in that thicket. Wish it were a partridge. Ouch! 
 I didn't see — Whirr-r-r! Oh! it was a partridge! Oh! con- 
 found that stump! Why did I fall? The only one I've seen 
 
EXTERNAL CONNECTIONS OF THOUGHT 39 
 
 this year, but I'll not see it again; it's too thoroughly frightened, 
 and I'm going back to the city to-morrow. Well, if that isn't 
 hard luck! To see the only bird around here and not be able to 
 get even a shot at it! There ought to be another near, but there 
 can't or it would have flown long ago. I may as well go on to 
 the pond and walk around the edge. Bet I break through when 
 I first step on the edge. No, the ice isn't so thin as I thought. 
 Wonder where that partridge flew? I didn't notice the direc- 
 tion. Hello! there are three men fishing through the ice. I'll 
 go over and speak to them. 
 
 ''Hello! Caught anything?" "No. Just come." "How 
 many traps you got out?" "Twenty." "I don't believe 
 you'll get much, because, you know, the dam broke last summer, 
 the pond went way down, many of the fish were caught, and a 
 good many went through the dam. Say, where did you get 
 the minnows for bait?" "Caught them this fall and kept them 
 in a brook behind the house." "I'd like to know where I could 
 get some. Know of any?" "What do you want of minnows 
 if there are no fish in the pond here?" "Oh, I shouldn't fish 
 here." "Where then?" "That's a secret. Well, I wish you 
 luck." 
 
 Those fellows won't catch a fish if they stay there till dooms- 
 day. My! but I'd hke to scare up a bird along here. I couldn't 
 help getting him before he got to the top of that hill. Crack! 
 Oh, but that water's cold! I'll look where I'm going and not 
 get into another springhole. Those look like duck tracks. 
 They are. Must be staying up where the brook comes in from 
 the pond. I'd go up, but the ice is always so thin and treach- 
 erous up that way. I got in there last winter while racing. 
 Wish I hadn't been ahead then; Richards would have gone in 
 instead. I may as well go up and see Richards while I am about 
 it. I wonder how he hkes working in the mill, sawing logs? 
 
 2. The following story, from the fifth chapter of Second 
 Kings, is an admirable example of a narrative nearly per- 
 fect in method. Notice the omissions and try to account 
 for them. Can you state the purpose of the narrative, 
 
40 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 in the form of a moral or otherwise? How far is the form 
 of the narrative governed by this purpose? In particular, 
 is the second incident part of the first in purpose or a 
 separate story? 
 
 Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was 
 a great man with his master, and honourable, because ,by him 
 the Lord had given victory unto Syria: he was also a mighty 
 man of valour, but he was a leper. And the Syrians had gone 
 out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of 
 Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. And 
 she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the 
 prophet that is in Samaria! then would he recover him of his 
 leprosy. And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and 
 thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. And the king 
 of S)rria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king 
 of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of 
 silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of 
 raiment. 
 
 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, And 
 now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have sent Naa- 
 man my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his 
 leprosy. And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read 
 the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill 
 and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover 
 a man of his leprosy? but consider, I pray you, and see how he 
 seeketh a quarrel against me. And it was so, when Elisha 
 the man of God heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, 
 that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy 
 clothes? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that 
 there is a prophet in Israel. So Naaman came with his horses 
 and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of 
 Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, sa5ang. Go and 
 wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to 
 thee, and thou shalt be clean. But Naaman was wroth, and 
 went away, and said, Behold, I thought. He will surely come 
 out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, 
 
EXTERNAL CONNECTIONS OF THOUGHT 41 
 
 and wave his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are 
 not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than 
 all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? 
 So he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came 
 near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet 
 had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done 
 it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee. Wash, and 
 be clean? Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times 
 in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his 
 flesh came again hke unto the flesh of a little child, and he was 
 clean. 
 
 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, 
 and came, and stood before him: and he said. Behold now, I 
 know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now 
 therefore, I pray thee, take a present of thy servant. But he 
 said. As the Lord Hveth, before whom I stand, I will receive 
 none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused. And 
 Naaman said, If not, yet I pray thee let there be given to thy 
 servant two mules' burden of earth; for thy servant will hence- 
 forth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice imto other gods, 
 but unto the Lord. In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant; 
 when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship 
 there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house 
 of Rimmon, when I bow myseK in the house of Rimmon, the 
 Lord pardon thy servant in this thing. And he said unto him. 
 Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way. 
 
 But Gehazi, the servant of Ehsha the man of God, said. 
 Behold, my master hath spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not 
 receiving at his hands that which he brought: as the Lord 
 liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. So Gehazi 
 followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running 
 after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and 
 said, Is all well? And he said. All is well. My master hath sent 
 me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from the hill 
 country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets; 
 give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of 
 raiment. And Naaman said. Be content, take two talents. 
 
42 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, 
 with two changes of raiment, and laid them upon two of his 
 servants; and they bare them before him. And when he came 
 to the hill, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them 
 in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed. But 
 he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto 
 him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant 
 went no whither. And he said unto him. Went not mine heart 
 with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet 
 thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, 
 and ohve-yards and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, and men- 
 servants and maidservants? The leprosy therefore of Naaman 
 shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he 
 went out from his presence a leper as white as snow. 
 
 3. Determine how far the order and connections in the 
 follovsing passage depend upon the natural order of obser- 
 vation. Would any other order — a logical one — be better? 
 
 A bevel grinder is a machine for putting a bevelled edge on 
 planer knives, splitting knives, and any knife which has a long, 
 straight edge. Though at first appearance the machine looks 
 too small to be of any important use, it is a paying machine. 
 That which attracts attention toward the machine is a large 
 emery wheel about three feet ui diameter and two inches in 
 thickness; and a long, narrow iron table in front of the wheel. 
 The shape of the frame is like that of an inverted cow-bell, 
 with two arms at the top which act as supports for the shaft 
 of the emery wheel. 
 
 At the left end of the shaft on which the emery wheel is are 
 two pulleys, one loose, the other fixed to the axis. At the other 
 end is a wide-faced pulley, over which passes a small belt to 
 three one-inch-face pulleys, which are on a second shaft in the 
 lower part of the frame. Two of these three pulleys are attached 
 to gears inside the frame. The inner one, or one next the frame, 
 has a hollow axis which revolves upon the shaft of the outer 
 pulley. The gears of these pulleys act on diametrically oppo- 
 
EXTERNAL CONNECTIONS OF THOUGHT 43 
 
 site points of a large gear, so that, when both pulleys turn in the 
 same direction, they produce opposite motions upon the large 
 gear, since they are two forces acting on diametrically opposite 
 points of a circumference. The shaft of this large gear is perpen- 
 dicular to the shaft of the three pulleys, and extends to the front 
 of the machine, inside the table, and ends in a small gear which 
 acts on a long, geared plate fixed to the inside of the table. This 
 table sHdes upon a projection from the frame, and is furnished 
 with a top which can be tipped to any angle in order to get 
 any length of bevel, and which can be pushed by screws toward 
 or away from the emery wheel. In the front part of the table 
 are two adjustable nuts, which sHde in a horizontal slot and can 
 be adjusted so as to have any distance between them, from six 
 inches to the length of the table. On the inside of the table 
 these nuts are attached to iron knobs. As the table sHdes right 
 and left these knobs alternately strike the arm of a lever which 
 is fixed in the frame of the machine and move the lever first one 
 way, then back. The other arm of this lever ends in a loop 
 through which passes the small belt, so that when the lever is 
 moved back and forth it moves this belt from the inner to the 
 outer of the three small pulleys, thus continually reversing the 
 movement of the large gear, and consequently moving the table 
 back and forth before the emery wheel, and by this means 
 grinding the knife evenly from one end to the other. 
 
 Now let us go over the motion of the whole machine. Sup- 
 pose the knife to be ground is clamped on the table and adjusted, 
 and that the table is as far to the left as it can go. Then the 
 inner arm of the lever is against the right-hand nut of the table 
 and the small belt is on the inner of the three small pulleys. 
 Now start the machine by pushing the main belt upon the main 
 fixed pulley of the emery-wheel shaft, and, at the same time, 
 fix the left-hand nut just below the left-hand end of the knife. 
 As the emery wheel turns, it turns, by means of the small belt 
 on the wide pulley, the inner small pulley. This gives a counter- 
 clockwise motion to the large gear, and this pushes the table 
 to the right. When the emery wheel strikes the knife, it grinds 
 away from the edge and passes along the length of the knife. 
 
44 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 As the table passes to the right, the left iron knob strikes the 
 arm of the lever while the emery wheel passes beyond the left- 
 hand end of the knife, and pushes the small belt from the inner 
 pulley, over the loose middle one, and upon the outer pulley. 
 This pulley gives a clockwise motion to the large gear and the 
 table is pushed back again to the left; the emery wheel grinds 
 backward over the knife, until the wheel passes over the right- 
 hand end of the knife; when the right-hand nut strikes the 
 lever arm and forces the small belt over on the inner pulley. 
 Thus the machine takes care of itself. 
 
'chapter III 
 THE MENTAL CONNECTIONS OF THOUGHT 
 
 If we set a beginner in composition to thinking about 
 some period of time through which he has lived, or about 
 some object which he has seen, he finds it an easy matter 
 to deal with these things part by part, in a connected way. 
 He merely follows the order of time, or explains one thing 
 after another, in accordance with the position in which 
 he saw them. Much of his work is already done for him. 
 Though nature does not suggest the point of his story or 
 description, it at least furnishes a means of connecting 
 the parts. Suppose, however, that his task concerns the 
 treatment of an abstract topic. It may have occurred 
 to him, perhaps, to deal with his own views on national 
 politics. This subject is before him, not as an existing 
 thing to be worked over to suit his purpose, but merely as 
 a possibility. He has read the papers, talked with his 
 father, and argued with his friends; he begins to realize 
 that he will soon be old enough to vote. Here, then, is 
 an idea capable of development. He feels that he can 
 probably join to it enough details to give it some force. 
 The composition of these details is clearly possible, if he 
 can get the right connection. This connection, however, 
 is a purely mental thing. If it satisfies him when achieved, 
 if he thinks it right, that will be merely because it repre- 
 sents one of those steps in thinking which his mind is 
 accustomed to take. 
 
 What, then, are the accustomed steps in thinking? 
 
46 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 Without attempting to exhaust the list, we may call 
 attention to five, so generally employed that with these 
 alone we may analyze any piece of prose and show the 
 relations of its parts, thought by thought, with sufficient 
 accuracy for every practical end. It has occurred, for 
 instance, to our writer on politics that he can develop 
 his subject by bringing out the details. He will speak 
 separately of his views on the two great parties, on the 
 progressive and insurgent movements, and on the place 
 of national politics in local affairs. In such a plan there 
 will be an obvious connection, for the subheadings bear 
 to the main topic the relation of part to whole. This is 
 an accustomed relation of thought. The mind passes 
 easily back and forth between details and a comprehen- 
 sive statement. Through this sort of connection, the 
 parts of a composition are brought together in a summary, 
 or foreshadowed in an introduction; specific instances lead 
 to a general law; and an illustration or concrete example 
 is easily connected with the thought it is supposed to 
 enforce. In short, the relation of whole and part is one 
 of those most commonly used in thinking. 
 
 Again, suppose the writer to have made a statement 
 which he thinks not quite self-explanatory, or which seems 
 too important to be limited to a single sentence. He 
 then proceeds to put the same idea later in another form 
 of words. Perhaps he prefaces the new sentence with 
 some such phrase as, "That is to say." As a rule, how- 
 ever, no connective words are required, for this sort of 
 connection also seems to the mind quite simple and 
 natural. The same relation exists, in a mechanically 
 constructed paragraph, between the introductory state- 
 ment and the conclusion. We may call it, for lack of a 
 better term, the relation of equivalence. 
 
 The third of these accustomed steps in thinking is 
 
MENTAL CONNECTIONS OF THOUGHT 47 
 
 comparison. This may result in a sense of similarity or 
 of contrast. Thus, perhaps, it will occur to the writer on 
 politics to show the apathy of American college students 
 towards political subjects. This he may do by calling 
 attention to the hot-headed activity of certain groups in 
 continental universities. In this method of developing 
 the topic is an instance of contrast. Or again, in speaking 
 of the corrupt politics of recent times, he may show that 
 this condition is not merely a modern evil, and refer to 
 earlier examples, as carpet-bagging or the Tweed ring. 
 These instances will then stand to his subject in the rela- 
 tion of similarity. Comparison, in general, is a powerful 
 mental bond. So far is this true that it has been made 
 the basis of many rhetorical tricks. The balanced sen- 
 tence, for instance, is one of the last of these to retain 
 popular favor. In ordinary prose, also, no relation more 
 frequently occurs than that of contrast; and the most 
 overworked of all connective words is "however." 
 
 The remaining two relations, that of cause and effect, 
 and that of reason and conclusion, though sometimes hard 
 to distinguish, are on the whole easily recognized. If, for 
 instance, the student wishes to explain why he started his 
 political career as a strong Republican, he will perhaps 
 refer to his father's views, or the general feeling among 
 his friends, or the editorial position of the newspaper he 
 used to read. These were causes — that is, preceding con- 
 ditions — which prepared his mind for the attitude he 
 took. If, on the other hand, he were stating a matter of 
 opinion, and not a matter of fact, he might try to justify it 
 with reasons. He might, for instance, attempt to show that 
 the political influence of the newspapers is on the whole 
 good, and back up his assertion with the statement that 
 they give publicity to all minor offenses, and so hold petty 
 graft in check. This is the relation of reason and conclusion. 
 
48 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 There are, then, five important relations of thought: 
 that of whole and part, that of equivalence, that of com- 
 parison, that of cause and effect, and that of reason and 
 conclusion. In their simplest meaning these are all so 
 familiar as to require almost no explanation. They may 
 conveniently be studied in any piece of prose which is 
 not narrative or description. There they will be detected 
 as a kind of principle which binds the preceding idea with 
 that which follows. Reduced to its lowest terms, this 
 principle will generally prove to be one of the relations 
 mentioned above. Consider, for instance, the following 
 passage from Milton. 
 
 " A wealthy man, addicted to his pleasure and to his profits, 
 finds religion to be a traffic so entangled that of all mysteries 
 he cannot skill to keep a stock going upon that trade. What 
 should he do? Fain he would have the name to be religious, 
 fain he would bear up with his neighbours in that. What does 
 he, therefore, but resolves to give over toiling, and to find him- 
 self out some factor, to whose care and credit he may conunit 
 the whole managing of his religious affairs; some divine of note 
 and estimation that must be. To him he adheres, resigns the 
 whole warehouse of his religion, with all the locks and keys, 
 into his custody; and indeed makes the very person of that man 
 his religion; esteems his associating with him a sufficient evi- 
 dence and conunendatory of his own piety! So that a man 
 may say his reUgion is now no more within himself, but is be- 
 come a dividual movable, and goes and comes near him, accord- 
 ing as that good man frequents his house. He entertains him, 
 gives him gifts, feasts him, lodges him; his religion comes home at 
 night, prays, is liberally supped, and sumptuously laid to sleep; 
 rises, is saluted, and after the malmsey, or some well-spiced 
 bruage, and better breakfasted, than He whose morning appetite 
 would have gladly fed on green figs between Bethany and Jeru- 
 salem, his religion walks abroad at eight, and leaves his kind 
 entertainer in the shop trading all day without his religion." 
 
MENTAL CONNECTIONS OF THOUGHT 49 
 
 In this bit of reasoning, the first idea and the second 
 are in contrast. ReHgion is more than he can attend to; 
 yet too important to be given over. The next thought 
 explains a situation which arises from this state of things 
 as a result from a cause. Since he cannot attend to it 
 himself, he turns it over to a factor. The details of his 
 treatment of the factor merely elaborate the thought that 
 he employs one. Here is an illustration of the relation 
 of whole and part. Again, the sentence which begins, 
 *' So that a man may say his religion is now no more within 
 himself, " is developed as a logical consequence of the idea 
 which precedes. It is a conclusion drawn from the reason 
 that he has hired another to impersonate him. Or it may 
 be thought of as equivalent to it, another way of putting 
 the substance of the same idea. 
 
 Such, then, are the logical couplings of thought. Though 
 not always so distinct and evident as in the passage above, 
 they repeat themselves again and again through all prose. 
 With the simple exercise of learning to detect and to dis- 
 tinguish them the practice of logic properly begins. A 
 study of the relations of thought in their general form, 
 and the attempt to apply them to the analysis of written 
 work, should prove a valuable mental training. The 
 general relation of thought is always disguised as the con- 
 nection of two particular ideas, dressed out in particular 
 phrases; and it comes upon you thus when you are 
 thinking of other things. In the exercises which follow 
 this chapter and the next, one must learn to penetrate 
 this disguise. This work should greatly increase the power 
 of abstract thought. At the same time such training has 
 a practical value. When the outline of ideas for an essay 
 is being assembled, and again later, in the attempt to 
 rewrite and improve incoherent passages, no acquirement 
 can be more helpful than the habit of seeing at once the 
 
50 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 general form of the thought relation. It will enable the 
 writer to rearrange his material and to connect it in a 
 logical way. 
 
 EXERCISES 
 
 1, What relation of thought governs the connection 
 between the following sentences? 
 
 (o) He hoped that his work might amount to something 
 more than mere imitatidn. He felt that plenty of people were 
 engaged in that already. 
 
 (6) He maintains that the only way a man of average abil- 
 ity can get on in these days is by having a "pull." This I deny 
 in general and in particular. 
 
 (c) I admit that his manners are awkward and his conversa- 
 tion heavy. Still, whenever he comes into the room, you are 
 glad to see liim. 
 
 (d) The articles of my belief are two. First, no man can 
 thoroughly learn a thing unless he Hkes it; he can know only 
 what his disposition fits him for. Second, no matter how much 
 you commit to memory, you will be none the wiser till you come 
 to use what you have acquired. 
 
 (e) He made no secret of his self-conceit. When a case went 
 against him, he attributed his defeat to the stupidity of the 
 jury. All the cases he won he said were won by pure force 
 of wit. 
 
 (/) It is foolish for us to complain because we fancy our- 
 selves not appreciated by a teacher or an employer. When we 
 consider how busy other people are, and how self-centered, it 
 appears a wonder that they notice us at all unless we force it. 
 We ought constantly to remember how much more important 
 we seem to ourselves than we possibly could be to them. 
 
 (g) The time has passed when people in comfortable circum- 
 stances can manage the government with the main object of 
 keeping comfortable. There are now too many ways in which 
 those who are uncomfortable can combine to make their views 
 prevail. 
 
MENTAL CONNECTIONS OF THOUGHT 51 
 
 {h) If you have never lived near a railroad track, you do 
 not know what noise is. Whistles blow, bells ring, and engines 
 puff from morning to night. 
 
 2: Study the thought relations which connect the 
 sentences in the following paragraphs. Rewrite the 
 paragraphs, supplying connecting words and phrases or 
 recasting sentences so as best to express the thought 
 relations. 
 
 (a) My greatest difficulty is in getting started to write a 
 theme. I find that all my thoughts have spoiled on my hands 
 the minute I sit down to begin. I was intending to write of 
 the last football game, for instance; I can think of nothing except 
 what the Herald said in its editorial. I have to give up that 
 subject. I may have thought that I would tell a funny thing 
 that happened to me lately; I seem to remember that I have 
 read the same joke somewhere in a paper. There is always 
 some scruple to keep me from writing the first sentence. My 
 trouble all vanishes if I can only get through that first sentence. 
 
 (5) Small schools and colleges ought to combine in circuits 
 and hire their teachers in common. < It would enable the pro- 
 fessor to get exercise like a country doctor, riding about in a 
 gig. This would keep his head clear for the lecture. It might 
 necessitate confining the classes to one lecture a day, as Dr. 
 Smith on Tuesday in Greek, Dr. Jones on Wednesday in Cal- 
 culus, and so on; but one clever lecture would be better for 
 them than many dull ones, tfhe advantages would be many. 
 For the pupil, it would mean competent instruction and a fre- 
 quent change of masters. The teachers would get the pay they 
 deserve, and would not be turned into mere police officers. 
 
 3. Analyze and explain the relations of thought which 
 connect the ideas in the following extract. 
 
 There are three places where one may draw the line for get- 
 ting a piece of work done. One man draws it habitually a few 
 minutes or hours or days after it is due. He is always in dis- 
 
52 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 tress, and is a nuisance to everybody else. There is no dignity 
 in a life that is as perpetually behind its opportunities as a tail 
 is in the rear of a dog. 
 
 It is very risky — ethically speaking it is cowardly — to draw 
 the line at the exact date when the work is due; for then one is 
 at the mercy of any accident or interruption that may overtake 
 him at the end of his allotted time. If he is sick or a friend 
 dies, or unforeseen compUcations arise, he is as badly off as the 
 man who deliberately planned to be late, and almost as much 
 to blame. For a man who leaves the possibility of accident 
 and interruption out of account, and stakes the welfare of him- 
 self and others on such miscalculation, is neither wise nor just; 
 he is reckless rather than brave. Even if accidents do not come, 
 he is walking on the perilous edge all the time; his work is done 
 in a fever of haste and anxiety, injurious alike to the quality of 
 the work and the health of the worker. 
 
 The man who puts the courage of punctuality into his work 
 will draw the line for finishing a piece of work a safe period 
 inside the time when it is actually due. If one forms the habit 
 and sticks to it, it is no harder to have work done ten days, or 
 at least one day, ahead of time than to finish it at the last allow- 
 able moment. Then, if anything happens, it does no harm. 
 This habit will save literary workers an incalculable amount 
 of anxiety and worry. And it is the wear and tear of worry and 
 hurry, not the amount of calm, quiet work, that kills such men 
 before their time.' 
 
 ' Hyde, " The College Man and the College Woman." Reprinted 
 by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 THE LOGICAL OUTLINE 
 
 That a piece of prose should be logically connected 
 sentence by sentence is not the whole requirement. We 
 think, in the ordinary sense of the term, whenever our 
 ideas succeed one another in any rational, definite relations, 
 when the individual steps in the process are in accord with 
 some familiar connection of thought. In the deeper sense, 
 however, no thinking is efficient unless logic governs, not 
 only its parts, but its whole extent. It must be, from 
 beginning to end, adapted to produce the result that the ' 
 thinker desires; it must be from beginning to end in some 
 sense a unit. We need to consider, therefore, not only the 
 logic of connection, but the logic of the outline. 
 
 The logic of the outline is often complex, and difficult 
 to state in a simple and general form. This, however, 
 should not be the case with brief trains of thought, and is 
 frequently not the case with effective ones. Simplicity 
 of plan is often of prime importance, particularly in speech; 
 and we shall usually find that compositions which strike 
 us as clear, well-arranged, and well-knit have as their 
 fundamental principle some one of the five mental con- 
 nections of thought already studied. They may be con- 
 cerned, for instance, in comparing two individuals or 
 plans, in giving reasons for a statement, or in illustrating 
 a point. Makers of rhetorics have taken advantage of 
 this fact to subdivide all writing, according to the principle 
 behind its outline, into the four groups of description, 
 
54 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 narration, argument, and exposition. These are difficult 
 to define in theory and impossible to keep separate in 
 practice; and the choice among them was never any part 
 of a literary worker's troubles. One can imagine an en- 
 gineer, put in charge of construction work for a railroad, 
 who should say to himself, "I have heard that suspension 
 bridges are interesting structures, but never had the good 
 luck to build one. I am resolved, therefore, that my work 
 during March and April shall illustrate this type of con- 
 struction." We should be disposed to advise him to 
 find out where the road was going, then look at the lay 
 of the land, and build in each spot accordingly. Such a 
 man, with his recollection of school theory, would be 
 starting at entirely the wrong end of his problem. Pre- 
 cisely so it is with any student who sets to work to fill in 
 an empty logical outline with ideas. 
 
 Such, however, is the style of work usually required of 
 beginners in composition. When they are allowed to 
 graduate from narrative and description, an attempt is 
 made to pin down their wandering speculations to a single 
 relation of thought. They are asked, perhaps, to contrast 
 CsBsar and Napoleon; or to set down all the reasons that 
 occur to them why a public school is inferior to a private. 
 The latter sort of outline is elaborated later into what the 
 dialect of law and argumentation calls a "brief." It 
 represents the relation of reason and conclusion. The 
 relation of whole and part, in particular, is especially well 
 fitted to hold together short pieces of writing which deal 
 with the exposition of ideas. In elementary courses in 
 composition, therefore, this relation is commonly recom- 
 mended to the student, under the name, usually, of the 
 principle of unity. 
 
 The principle of unity, as frequently misunderstood by 
 beginners, is supposed to have the following significance: 
 
THE LOGICAL OUTLINE 55 
 
 if you determine the subject on which you are to write, 
 and then write of nothing else, you may rest assured of 
 producing an efficient sequence of thought. Guided by 
 this half-fight, the student sets forth, and presently 
 stumbles into one form or another of logical nonsense. 
 His mistakes are so characteristic and so general that if 
 in writing we avoid them all we may consider that, for 
 beginners, we have a sufficient mastery of the outline of 
 thought. 
 
 One who has failed to think out his subject clearly, 
 or whose mind naturally lacks order, often turns out his 
 work by a process of addition. As ideas are suggested 
 to him he sets them down; he merely shakes them out 
 on paper in any order in which they come uppermost. 
 They all bear more or less on the subject, but they lack 
 organization. Perhaps there is among them a leading 
 thought which the thinker himself has not recognized; 
 then, as they all struggle together in a mob, sooner or 
 later the dominant idea in some measure subdues the 
 rest. So the reader, as he looks on, can at last discern 
 the main point. Exercise 2 of this chapter gives an 
 example of what may be called the struggling idea. 
 
 Possibly, however, the thinker has in reality no purpose 
 of his own and no reason for writing. His thoughts are, 
 perhaps, all borrowed, all strange, and to him all equally 
 unattractive. Then, in place of making progress, his out- 
 line is discovered to go round and round upon itself. 
 This structure is likely to be illustrated in the work of one 
 who sets out with the intention of covering the whole of 
 a particular subject, merely touching on the main points. 
 In such a case the ideas are not connected in sequence, 
 but parallel. Though they all lead back to the subject, 
 no one develops another or depends upon it. Conse- 
 quently the sentences in which they are expressed, once 
 
56 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 cut apart "w-ith the shears, may be fitted together in any 
 other order whatsoever, without loss of effect. When 
 this structure of thought is adopted from lack of time or 
 space for a more detailed development, it is legitimate. 
 With beginners, however, it usually points to the absence 
 of definite ideas and to stupidity in the choice of an un- 
 suitable subject. The wTiter has been thinking merely 
 of a title. He has got so far as to see that somewhat 
 might be said on this point, and on that too general assur- 
 ance has set forth. Unfortunately, however, the thing 
 which might be said has not been given him, and his work 
 can have no development, because it has had no aim. 
 The thought does not present itself to the reader as a 
 single mental process. Exercise 1 of this chapter shows 
 an example of the interchangeable order. 
 
 Neither of the orders illustrated above is likely to help 
 on materially the progress of thought. The mastery of 
 ideas is not attained till they have been seen in their 
 lowest terms. Then the real relations are evident and one 
 or at most a few stand out as dominant. Round these 
 the others are grouped. They hold together naturally, 
 as a man may carry many parcels, provided he attaches 
 them all to one string. Details, unattached, are next to 
 impossible to retain. The number of individual ideas 
 which the mind can entertain at one time is strictly limited. 
 As the result of an hour's talk or a half-hour's reading, 
 one may hope to acquire and retain not over three or four 
 distinct, main notions. If it so happen that these are 
 the leading ideas of the discourse, then the connecting 
 thread is secure. As for the details, so long as they are 
 firmly tied to these central thoughts, the more the merrier. 
 Thus disposed, they add to the weight of the idea, without 
 increasing the difficulty of handling it. 
 
 This subordination of details may be achieved by 
 
THE LOGICAL OUTLINE 57 
 
 deliberate art; or it may often be attained without special 
 effort through the possession of a purpose. Here, then, 
 the lesson is the same as that of the preceding chapter. 
 He who knows why he speaks or writes is assured of having 
 reduced his ideas to the lowest terms, for he sees them in 
 the light of a single aim. The test question in beginning 
 a series of ideas is not, ''What shall I say?'' or even, 
 ''What do I think?" but, "What do I wish to do?" 
 Clear definition of one's object at the outset is half the 
 battle. A writer who knows what he wished to do with 
 thoughts can hardly suffer from confusion; his purpose 
 will go far to determine the selection, the arrangement, 
 and the expression of every idea. Neither can such a 
 mind be poor in material. Since all thought is related 
 and every idea bears on every other, the power to develop 
 a subject copiously is largely the power to see its connec- 
 tions; and the mind that is animated with a purpose suffi- 
 ciently strong sees everything in the light of its central 
 idea. Thus the mastery of thought depends, fike the 
 mastery of other things, on the possession of a purpose 
 clearly conceived and firmly held. The unifying force 
 behind the thinking is the force of will. 
 
 EXERCISES 
 
 1. The student composition which follows is an ex- 
 ample of the interchangeable order. Try to determine 
 whether any rearrangement of the ideas would make the 
 composition appear as a continuous process of thought. 
 
 A pot should never call a kettle black. It is the custom of 
 many people who have a great many faults always to criticise 
 others. It is a well-known fact that the most grumbling is done 
 by the people who are most at fault. Sometimes people criti- 
 cise other people for faults which they themselves are addicted 
 
58 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 to. Those who have comparatively few faults very seldom 
 are found giving their advice to others. The policy of fault- 
 finding is entirely wTong. People in glass houses should never 
 throw stones. 
 
 2. In the following student composition the order is 
 that of the struggling idea. Determine for yourself what 
 appears to be the leading thought, or assume it to be as 
 follows: **A11 influences will combine at college to make 
 me take my work more seriously." If this is assumed as 
 a central theme, the ideas may then be rearranged and 
 the expression may be improved so as to make every- 
 thing bear on this thought. In some cases the student 
 will need to supply material from his imagination so as 
 to make the rewritten form more full and definite. The 
 following outline is suggested for use in the revision. The 
 numbers in the composition were inserted merely for 
 convenience of use in connection with this outline. 
 
 Influences Tending to Make my Work More Serious 
 
 A more definite aim (1). 
 Differences in the social life (9, 6, 7, 8). 
 An increased reahzation of the value of the instruction 
 (5, 10). 
 
 A change in the subjects taught (2). 
 Differences in methods of instruction (3, 11). 
 A difference in attitude toward my work (4, 12). 
 
 High School and College 
 
 (1) Probably the greatest difference between my life at col- 
 lege and my life at the preparatory school will be the fact that 
 I shall now have a different aim in view. While I was at high 
 school, my aim was simply to prepare to meet the entrance 
 examinations. My aim now is to learn a profession, (2) 
 The subjects of study at college, while they will not differ 
 
THE LOGICAL OUTLINE 59 
 
 much during the first year or so from the subjects taught 
 at high school, will probably differ very much in the 
 following years. (3) The subjects will probably be taught in 
 a different way, (4) and I shall learn them more thoroughly 
 and put more time into them. (5) Whereas everything was 
 free at high school, I have to pay for everything at college, and 
 I shall appreciate my subjects of study more. (6) At college 
 my dealings will be with men more advanced in age than at 
 high school. (7) While at high school a fellow has more time 
 to put into athletics than at college. In high school the hours 
 are from nine o'clock until two, while at college they are scat- 
 tered through the day, from nine o'clock until four or five; 
 thus giving us less time for outdoor life. (8) Everything seems 
 to be of a busier aspect at college than at high school, (9) and, 
 the high school which I attended being in my own neighbor- 
 hood, I felt more at home. (10) I shall probably have to work 
 to earn part of the cost of my education while at college, as I 
 did not while at high school. (11) Another great difference 
 between college life and that of high school is in the fact that 
 things will not be urged upon me so strongly. If I do not learn 
 my assigned lessons, then I shall consider it more my own loss 
 than I should have done at high school, (12) and, as a great 
 deal depends upon passing the mid-year examinations, it will 
 be necessary that I learn each assigned lesson. I know I have 
 to pass certain examinations to get my degree, while less depends 
 upon examinations in getting a diploma from high school. 
 
 What relation of thought is mainly employed through- 
 out the preceding composition? If a single relation of 
 thought is dominant throughout, why is there no con- 
 tinuous line of thought? 
 
 What relation of thought dominates the form rewritten 
 according to the outline suggested above? 
 
 3. The purpose of the following editorial, so far as it 
 may be said to have had any purpose, was to avoid giving 
 offense. Recast it with h view (1) of excusing the action 
 
60 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS 
 
 of the fire department and (2) of throwing blame on the 
 department. Then compare the orders of ideas in the 
 three forms. The following key sentences are suggested 
 as a help in the revision. 
 
 Though the legal responsibil- The firemen were hasty, for, 
 
 ity rests with the corporation, though there is Httle danger 
 
 who have a prompt service in from a live wire and they are 
 
 Buch cases, yet the firemen trained to get to work as 
 
 are trained to get to work as quickly as possible, it is better 
 
 early as possible. Only a to wait for the corporation, 
 
 short time ago the corpora- on whom the legal respon- 
 
 tion service was notably ineffi- sibility rests. They used to be 
 
 cient; and, after all, the danger slow, but are now prompt and 
 
 from prompt action is small, efficient, 
 for men are seldom killed by 
 contact with a live trolley wire. 
 
 A Sensational Fire 
 
 For a smr<ll fire the blaze on Chaimcy street last night devel- 
 oped some quite sensational features. The force first on the 
 ground cut the trolley wire, which was an obstacle to the ele- 
 vation of the aerial ladders, and high jinks followed. The chief 
 of the department, arriving at almost that instant, received a 
 severe but probably not a serious shock from the released elec- 
 trical diablerie. Perhaps the prompt action on the part of the 
 firemen in taking such a summary method of removing an ob- 
 stacle was unnecessary. There was a time when it was difficult 
 to get timely expert assistance in such an emergency. At the 
 Hecht fire, seven years ago, it was as much as three hours 
 before the employees of the West End Road were able to shut 
 off the current from the system in that vicinity, and in the mean- 
 time a writhing mass of live wires was spreading demoraliza- 
 tion on all sides and seriously interfering with the working of 
 some of the more important apparatus. 
 
 But this has now been changed. The emergency corps of 
 
THE LOGICAL OUTLINE 61 
 
 the Boston Elevated Road is prompt, and knows how to do its 
 work without danger to those below. At about every five 
 hundred feet there are switches by which the ciu-rent can be 
 shut off, rendering the wires harmless. Too much blame 
 should not be attached to the firemen who cut the wire. Their 
 predominating impulse is to get to work as soon as possible. 
 But it would be more prudent to await the action of the cor- 
 poration in all such cases. It is there that the responsibihty 
 belongs, and it is there that it can be easily placed if the dan- 
 ger is not promptly removed. There is httle danger, however, 
 of hmnan fatahty by mere contact with a Hve trolley wire. 
 There is no well-authenticated case of death due to that cause 
 in this city. 
 
 4. The following student composition proves on analysis 
 to be: 
 
 (a) An argument from the definition of art and an 
 analogy or argument from resemblance, both tending to 
 show that it takes time to leam to study (first paragraph). 
 
 (6) A portion of an exposition of how to leam to study 
 (first part of second paragraph) . 
 
 (c) A second argument from resemblance, tending to 
 show that study, with proper training, will become a 
 pleasure. 
 
 Which idea would it be best to develop? Is there any 
 one which could be made to include the other two, so 
 that the whole of the present substance might be saved 
 and yet treated as a single line of thought? 
 
 How TO Study Properly 
 
 Studying may well be considered as an art, and to be able 
 to study properly one must be skilled in that art. This neces- 
 sarily takes time, and — what is fully as important — prac- 
 tice. A biUiard player does not become proficient in a week or 
 even in a month. It takes years of practice for him to become 
 
G2 THE ORDER OF STATEMENTS ' 
 
 expert. And as he slowly gains experience the use of his art 
 becomes a second nature to him. This is also true of studying. 
 
 We often hear the statement made that the child is father 
 to the man, and it is undoubtedly true. But a child does not 
 study. Any kind of restraint is irksome to him. Therefore 
 before he can learn to study he must learn to be regular in his 
 play. This done, it is a simple matter to teach him to devote 
 a part of his time to study, and as he grows older it becomes his 
 second nature. He is now in the same stage of development 
 as the billiard player. He has become skilled and enjoys his 
 work. He is also aiming at some goal, and everything that 
 tends to help him along is looked upon as a pleasure, and he 
 has at last learned to study properly. 
 
 This goal can be reached only by long practice and proper 
 training. The football player docs not enjoy the first few prac- 
 tice days, but when he has learned the game and its possibil- 
 ities, he is always eager for it. The same is true of studying. 
 
 5. What is the thought relation which governs the whole 
 of the following extract? 
 
 College life is artificially simple. With the single excep- 
 tion of club Hfe, it is the narrowest life a man can Uve. The 
 great reahties that condition hfe in the outside world — the care 
 of the aged, the rearing of the young, the struggle for daily bread, 
 the strain of business, the stress of poUtics, the weight of pro- 
 fessional and administrative responsibihty — are either entirely 
 absent or present only in artificial miniature. Welcome checks 
 for the wealthy, generous scholarships for those whose fortune 
 is chiefly their own talent and industry, ehminate the fierce 
 struggle for existence from the charmed circle of undergradu- 
 ate hfe. The absence of the fair sex removes at least to a dis- 
 tance the chief source of emotional interest in real hfe. Where 
 men touch each other only at a few points, such as social inter- 
 course, class, college, and society pohtics, college pubhcations, 
 and athletics, the man who can't pass muster on these easy terms ' 
 must be a hopeless case. With health, wealth, youth, leisure, 
 
THE LOGICAL OUTLINE 63 
 
 choice companionship, regular and inspiring but not too diffi- 
 cult tasks, and the enthusiasm of great contests, all provided 
 and thrown into his lap, a man may indeed be dull, selfish, 
 censorious, conceited, cowardly, contemptible. But if he is, 
 sharp eyes are swift to detect and punish him. He is speedily 
 dubbed a "dope" or a "stiff" or a "tripe" or a "berry," or 
 some other of the grotesque, slangy terms, more forcible than 
 elegant, by which college students brand the fellows who are 
 sleepy and tactless, irritable and complaining, self-centred 
 and treacherous. 1 
 
 ' Hyde, " The College Man and the College Woman." Reprinted 
 by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. 
 
PART II 
 
 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 In Part II we turn from the order in which thoughts 
 are expressed to a study of what may be called the effi- 
 ciency of mental processes. There are in the very nature 
 of thinking certain limitations which prevent it from 
 doing full justice to the world about which we think. 
 Ideas, that is to say, are most serviceable when they are 
 exactly defined, sharply distinguished from other ideas, 
 and constant to one form. Existing things, on the other 
 hand, show precisely the opposite of all these require- 
 ments. They are not capable of full description in words, 
 they run into one another indistinguishably, and they 
 are always changing. Thus a person who sets out to 
 think cannot be too frequently reminded of the neces- 
 sarily rough and approximate nature of the work he is 
 likely to do. Again, these differences between ideas and 
 things are constantly leading the untrained thinker into 
 difficulties that he might avoid. Sometimes he uses a 
 wide and general thought when he could be better served 
 with one more definite. He employs ideas based on his 
 own tastes and preferences and does not understand that 
 others have a perfect right to define them differently. 
 He takes notions derived from comparison of a large class 
 of objects and uses them as though they referred only 
 to the cases he has observed. In all these connections 
 and many others the average thinker shows little sense 
 of the true relation between words and things. 
 
THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 65 
 
 Chapter I explains the fluid and indefinite nature of 
 the material furnished us for thought and shows how, to 
 suit our own convenience, we form it into units. Chapter 
 II deals with the comparison of these units with ideas, 
 a process which results in what is called ''facts." In 
 Chapter III facts are classified, according as they depend 
 upon abstract ideas, personal preferences, or notions which 
 cover a class of objects. The next two chapters explain 
 in detail what is implied in the truth that ideas are mental 
 symbols; and they sum up the cautions to be given in the 
 use of such symbols. Finally, in Chapter VI, there is 
 an account of the method of logical division, by which, 
 through the use of many related ideas, the mind attempts 
 to deal comprehensively with all the important aspects of 
 a complex subject. 
 
 The exercises in Part II are almost all of a practical 
 nature. Taken together they constitute an attack on 
 the common habit of using words without stopping to 
 consider what they mean. The student is asked, first of 
 all, to write of what he knows and to compare his state- 
 ments directly with the subjects of his thought. He is 
 directed to distinguish, among all the ideas he uses, those 
 which are supposed to relate to groups of facts. He has 
 some practice in the clear statement of abstract ideas 
 and in the attempt to apply these, in turn, to the observa- 
 tion of particular things. It should follow, if the work has 
 been reasonably successful, that all his life he will be less 
 likely to get carried away with a mere flow of language 
 and more disposed to confine his own talking and writing 
 to occasions when he has some knowledge of the facts. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 THE SUBJECTS OF THOUGHT 
 
 Certain grave difficulties confront us in attempting 
 to think about facts. The most obvious of these is the 
 amazing complexity of even the most familiar objects. 
 They have an infinite number of possible relations and 
 qualities. Here, for instance, is a nail, half starting 
 from the floor. It causes me to trip, and I express 
 my judgment about it in a thought, — "This nail is a 
 nuisance." Such, for the moment, is the only aspect in 
 which this individual thing presents itself to me. In 
 other relations, however, and at other times it may pre- 
 sent itself in a number of other aspects. The physicist, 
 perhaps, will tell me that it has a relation with the stresses 
 and strains of the building. The student of metallurgy 
 will examine its molecular structure and tell me something 
 of the temperature at which it was cast. The machinist 
 knows the processes of its manufacture. Of the thing 
 as it exists for itself, meanwhile, almost nobody knows 
 anything. We observe that it has certain strange habits 
 and unaccountable likes and dislikes: it is coherent, it 
 rusts, it obeys the laws of gravity. Such is an inadequate 
 attempt to hint at a few of the relations and aspects of 
 one subject of thought. It is perhaps as simple a subject 
 as could be chosen. 
 
 What holds true of simple individual objects is perhaps 
 more evident, though certainly not more striking, in a 
 wider view of the matters about which we think. Even 
 
 66 
 
THE SUBJECTS OF THOUGHT 67 
 
 leaving out of count the suggestions of the other senses 
 and of what we call the feelings, a sharp attention is 
 required in dealing with the picture presented by the 
 eye alone. The student enters the chemical laboratory 
 primarily to see. Here every precaution is taken that 
 may simplify his task. He is told precisely what will 
 happen and what aspects of the event it is worth his while 
 to note; yet, what with the excitement of the moment and 
 the various accidental matters that arise, he too often 
 finds himself, after the reaction, without a single experience 
 that he could swear to. Years of practice are necessary 
 before an observer can be sure of himself, even in the very 
 limited field of action of a test tube. The same straining 
 eagerness and sense of final loss are felt in watching the 
 last tableau of a drama. Here the stage manager, if he 
 understands his work, has arranged a significant group; 
 the position of every actor, the expression of every face 
 contributes largely to the general effect, and the whole 
 is to pass, on the fall of the curtain, with something of 
 the fleetness of real events. In face of such a situation 
 the interested spectator sits embarrassed. Some selection 
 must obviously be made; the whole is beyond the com- 
 pass of a brain. So it is, not only with the facts of vision, 
 but with all other experiences and with the inner com- 
 plexity of ideas; we cannot express them, we cannot hope 
 to know them entire. In that direction the progress of 
 logic is hopelessly blocked. 
 
 In dealing mentally with this complex world of real 
 conditions our aim, comprehensively stated, is to simplify. 
 This we accomplish by viewing all that lies about us as 
 an association of units, or individuals, more or less inde- 
 pendent and producing effects upon one another. When 
 the differences by which we distinguish these units relate 
 to position, the mind is led to think in terms of numbers 
 
68 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 and to engage in other forms of purely mathematical 
 reasoning. When the differences relate to qualities, the 
 resulting notion is that of individuality. The method of 
 thinking in numbered units is already sufficiently familiar. 
 Individual units, too, we find everywhere. Such, for 
 instance, are the common objects which are presented to 
 us through the sense of sight, — an animal, a plant from 
 roots to leaves, a mountain, a field surrounded with a 
 hedge, the human body. Where the eyes give no hint of 
 how much shall be included in the unit, the mind attacks 
 the problem alone and produces abstract individuals, 
 sometimes by analysis, sometimes by grouping. A child 
 who trusts you will accept a remark of yours as a simple 
 fact, like the presence of a tree in the garden; but 
 the sophisticated grown person who overhears the same 
 remark may analyze the fact. He distinguishes the words 
 from the meaning; he thinks of the connection in which 
 they were spoken, and of their purpose. Thus out of one 
 unit his mind has created four. These four may be em- 
 ployed separately in his thinking, as individual subjects 
 of thought. They are " abstract " individuals, taken away 
 or "abstracted" by analysis from the whole to which 
 they belonged. Again the observer looks upon a flock of 
 sheep. He thinks of them first in the relation of difference 
 of position, — one here, one there, a number. Then he 
 notes the relation of resemblance. One is clearly like 
 another. Since they are in some respects alike, they may 
 conveniently be considered together as one, a flock. Thus 
 the mind by grouping forms another abstract individual, 
 which in this case also is not so much an existing fact as 
 a mental fiction, an idea. 
 
 These units of which we think, however they may be 
 formed, must fall under the general definition of unity 
 laid down in elementary mathematics, — they are mere 
 
THE SUBJECTS OF THOUGHT 69 
 
 arbitrary divisions, all capable of being again divided at 
 the pleasure of thought into smaller divisions, or combined 
 into larger. This fact is evident enough with the flock 
 of sheep; it is fairly plain in the case of inanimate objects, 
 for we daily see that they are broken up and that their 
 parts are recombined at the will of man: but with a 
 moment's thought it is easy to see that all units have the 
 same quality. Off-hand, for instance, there is nothing 
 which seems more certainly and indisputably a unit than 
 the self. A man's ''I" is one thing, and there's an end 
 of it. On reflection, however, it is found to be formed of 
 at least two quite distinct units, his thoughts, his mental 
 self, and his feelings, his physical self. Or, to be still 
 more exact, these two units are merely possessions of the 
 "I"; any part of them may be got rid of and yet the 
 ''I" will be left intact. So, finally, the personality in its 
 simplest sense comes to seem like a mere peg on which to 
 hang thoughts and feelings, a kind of geometric point of 
 the mind. How much we hang on the peg will be a matter 
 of momentary convenience. Thought may deal with 
 the *'I" as a bare zero, or it may add to this abstraction 
 whatever connected things it chooses from the whole 
 inner and outer world. 
 
 Again, suppose we speak of the Republican party. 
 Careless thinkers deal with this idea as an indivisible 
 unit. They move it round in their brains as though all 
 its parts were as solidly knit as an ivory chessman. A 
 thoughtful person, however, has no sooner used the term 
 in making a statement than he begins to feel that perhaps 
 it needs closer analysis. The party platform and litera- 
 ture are one thing, the ''practical politics" quite another. 
 Historically, too, the idea falls apart: Republicanism 
 under Blaine was not the same as Republicanism under 
 Roosevelt. Thus the lesson becomes immediately evident : 
 
 k 
 
70 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 this unit is held together, like any other unit, only by the 
 power of thought. It is an arrangement which the mind 
 makes, quite arbitrarily, to help it in disposing, more 
 quickly or more effectively, of a group of facts. 
 
 So much, then, for the first step in the problem of 
 simplifying mental material. The mind looks out upon 
 the very complex spectacle of reality and asks, "Where 
 is the particular portion of all this with which we are now 
 to deal? How much of all that lies before us shall we 
 consider at one time? " and the answer is found in the more 
 or less arbitrary choice of an individual unit. The unit 
 becomes the subject of thought. 
 
 EXERCISES 
 
 1. Attempt a narrative which shall cover as much as 
 possible of what happens in a brief period, say three min- 
 utes, of your life. Choose some recent period which you 
 happen to remember, rather than one specially prepared. 
 First describe in the order of events, then according to 
 some classification, as thoughts, feelings, things seen, etc. 
 Consider in each case how much escapes description, and 
 why. 
 
 2. Consider some simple object, as a chalk box. Adopt 
 a convenient point of view and give a full oral description 
 of it as it thus appears. From closer study explain the 
 degree of inaccuracy involved in what you have said of 
 its color and its shape. 
 
 3. Is the story in Exercise 1, Part I, Chapter II, a 
 comprehensive account of the writer's experiences during 
 the time it covers? Consider in what parts and how 
 fully he represents' the thoughts and feelings communi- 
 cated to him by (a) the weather, (6) his clothing, (c) the 
 scenery, {d) the footing, (e) the weight and position of the 
 gun, and (/) ideas brought to his mind through association. 
 
CHAPTER ir 
 
 OBSERVATION AND RESULTING STATEMENTS 
 ABOUT FACTS 
 
 When the mind has selected or formed the unit about 
 which it is to think, it proceeds next to the discovery of 
 what are called the "facts" about the unit. For this 
 process common speech already furnishes a familiar term, 
 — the word "observation." The observer is one who 
 examines carefully and with a purpose. There is in his 
 mind a clearly defined notion of something which he seeks; 
 and his task is, by whatever experiments may be necessary, 
 to inquire whether this something is present in the subject 
 he is observing. 
 
 In attempting to illustrate the essential nature of this 
 process we may analyze two or three common instances 
 of observation. The simplest cases, and the most funda- 
 mental, are drawn from the physical world. There are 
 plenty of facts of a purely mental sort. It is a fact, for 
 instance, that two and two make four, or that in the 
 presence of certain people we feel a sense of irritation. 
 At the same time the material for thinking processes is 
 originally furnished, we must assume, through the senses. 
 They give us evidence of conditions in the outside world, 
 what we call the "real." So we may begin the study of 
 observation with a case in which the senses plainly bear 
 a part. 
 
 Let it be supposed that Farmer Brown, driving in the 
 dusk along a country turnpike, finds that his horse shies 
 at some object beside the road. Being of an inquisitive 
 
72 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 nature, he gets out of his wagon to determine what this 
 object may be. The problem which he sets himself 
 involves, of course, merely one of the simple thinking 
 processes of daily life, and at first appears to have no 
 bearing on science or logic. At the same time it is not 
 essentially different from the work of the analytical chemist 
 or of the engineer who tests materials, for the purpose 
 which animates all these activities is, when simply stated, 
 only the desire to get nearer to facts in order to determine 
 what they resemble. Closer inspection, however, shows 
 that it is possible to divide Farmer Brown's observation 
 into two steps. 
 
 (a) At some ix)int in his preliminary survey of the 
 subject he catches a hint which suggests to his mind an 
 idea. He exclaims to himself, "It is a white stone,'* or, 
 **It is a piece of paper." Being a farmer, Mr. Brown, 
 if he reflects upon this idea at all, will call it a ''guess." 
 If he were a scientist he would in a parallel case c^ll it 
 an hjT^othesis. The main point is that, whatever its 
 name, it furnishes something to go upon, some hint as 
 to where to look. This is the first stage in observation — 
 the selection of the idea. 
 
 (6) After the preliminary guess, if accurate information 
 is required, Farmer Brown moves nearer to the subject, 
 turns it over, passes it between his fingers, and applies 
 what not other experimental tests. His purpose is to 
 examine the thing in the light of what he knows of white 
 stones, or pieces of paper, or whatever other notion he 
 may have formed, and to determine whether the qualities 
 which he has in mind are in any degree represented in 
 this object outside his mind. This is the second step in 
 observation, the comparison of whatever is being observed 
 with the ideas imder which one is observing it. 
 
 Suppose again that the problem of observation were 
 
OBSERVATION AND STATEMENTS 73 
 
 to estimate the value of a piece of property for residence. 
 Here likewise it is first necessary to know what needs to be 
 observed. The house-hunter, for instance, before he can 
 go about his search intelligently, must have formed in his 
 mind more or less distinctly either a notion of what he 
 wants or a conception of the qualities which in general affect 
 the value of a residence. This does for him the same sort 
 of work as the guess or hypothesis does for Farmer Brown, 
 — i.e. it serves as a standard for testing facts, or it tells 
 him in what direction to look for detailed information. 
 
 Finally, suppose that we are attempting to observe 
 the straight line from a to h. In this case again the first 
 question that arises concerns the choice of ideas to be 
 employed. How is the line to be measured? Is it to be 
 considered as a line in a mechanical drawing? Then it 
 will be essential to note the general character of the line, 
 whether solid or broken, the width, and the exact points 
 of application at a and 6. If, on the other hand, the act- 
 ual line ah is to be understood as a mere graphical repre- 
 sentation of the shortest distance between a and 6, then 
 it remains only to inquire whether the observation re- 
 quired relates to direction or to length, and finally, after 
 the adoption of a suitable standard of measurement, as 
 the degree, the inch, or the foot, to compare the fact to 
 be observed with this standard. 
 
 Such are three examples of observation, taken almost 
 at random, two of them from daily life and one from ele- 
 mentary science. Though simple cases, they fairly repre- 
 sent the general character of such processes of thought 
 and may be taken as typical of the whole. The main 
 lesson to be drawn from them is that observation is 
 essentially the comparison of things with ideas. It is 
 the study of subjects of thought, with the aid of the senses 
 and under points of view suggested by certain ideas, 
 
74 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 which thus in a broad sense serve as standards of compari- 
 son. The real situation is compared with a set of qualities, 
 more or less clearly held in mind, in order to determine 
 how it measures against them. The result of this compari- 
 son, stated in words, is what we usually mean when we 
 employ the term "fact." 
 
 The material for thinking processes is, then, not the 
 outside world itself, but the result of countless comparisons 
 of the world with ideas. What these comparisons tell us 
 will depend very largely upon the ideas which dominated 
 our observation. The world of reality appears before us 
 like a witness cross-examined by a badgering lawyer. It 
 must give truthful replies to all the questions that we 
 ask, but aside from that is forced to be dumb. No matter 
 how rich in interest the situation may be, we shall gather 
 knowledge of it only within the limits prescribed by the 
 ideas within our minds. The competent observer, then, 
 requires first of all a mind neither dull nor one-sided, but 
 awake to all phases of existence. For the higher sorts of 
 observation, for invention and discovery, this alertness 
 means breadth of interest. One whose interests are 
 narrow cares only for his profession; he concerns himself 
 only with what is already known to be useful to men of 
 his trade. Outside this range lies the world of what now 
 appear unimportant ideas, and somewhere in that world, 
 waiting to be observed, is the next important discovery. 
 It can reveal itself only to one who watches events with a 
 universal curiosity to which every detail is of importance. 
 
 To this interest in new things the trained observer 
 needs to add the widest possible knowledge of what is 
 already known. Practice and study, professional experi- 
 ence store his mind with points of view for observation. 
 He knows how to take hold of new problems, what particu- 
 lars must be observed, and what may be neglected. From 
 
OBSERVATION AND STATEMENTS 75 
 
 this knowledge of similar things he anticipates events and 
 is ready for them. If a boy of average high-school age is 
 asked to give an account of the town in which he lives, 
 he may mention some details of the social life among the 
 younger people, the nearness to ponds and trout streams, 
 the number of schools, and the like; but hardly of the 
 cost of provisions or the working of political parties. 
 One set of facts may be as accessible to him as the other, 
 but, though the one is easily picked up, the other remains 
 totally hidden. While the necessities of life seem to grow 
 on trees, a boy will never dream that in learning about 
 a town it is essential to hear of the nearness of markets 
 and the price of foods. These facts cannot fit themselves 
 into his system of knowledge because they do not feel 
 themselves welcome and at home among their kind. In 
 the same way a layman sent out to observe an engine 
 stands before a meaningless confusion of small parts. 
 The practical engineer knows the name and function of 
 each. Though as individual pieces of mechanism they are 
 new to him, he has stored in mind a clear ideal of what 
 they should be. For him the work of observation is merely 
 the general task of all acquirement of facts, — the meas- 
 urement of new things against standards derived from 
 things familiar. 
 
 EXERCISES 
 
 1. Study your ability to observe and to record your 
 observations in connection with the following range of 
 subjects. Note particularly what are the reasons for the 
 limits of your power in each case. 
 
 The facade of a large building; a gown in a show window; 
 a city street; a simple mechanical construction, like the central 
 chandelier of a church; general atmospheric tints and their effect 
 on the colors of natural objects or buildings towards evening. 
 
76 
 
 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 2. Examine more carefully the fagade of some large 
 building. Attempt a rough free-hand sketch of the main 
 lines, especially such as serve to indicate structural 
 divisions. Make notes of the details, and then write a 
 description of the whole. 
 
 3. Examine a photograph of a painting or piece of 
 sculpture, making careful notes. A suitable subject is a 
 photograph of the so-called bust of Niccolo da Uzzano 
 ascribed to Donatello. In this case, and in most 
 others, the notes may be taken under the following 
 headings : 
 
 Subject 
 
 How represented 
 
 
 Profile 
 
 
 Point of view 
 
 
 Proportions of 
 
 
 Personality 
 
 
 profile 
 
 Body 
 
 Flesh 
 
 Forehead 
 
 Shape 
 
 
 Muscular develop- 
 
 
 Width 
 
 
 ment 
 
 
 Height 
 
 
 Apparent size 
 
 Eyebrows 
 
 Arch 
 
 GARME>rr 
 
 Style 
 
 
 Height 
 
 
 Arrangement 
 
 
 Thickness 
 
 Neck 
 
 Size 
 
 
 Size 
 
 
 Length 
 
 Eyes 
 
 Distance apart 
 
 
 Muscular develop- 
 
 
 Setting in head 
 
 
 ment 
 
 
 Upper lid 
 
 Skull 
 
 Depth 
 
 
 Eye itself 
 
 
 Breadth 
 
 Nose 
 
 Length 
 
 
 Height above ears 
 
 
 Thickness 
 
 
 Height above eye- 
 
 
 Profile 
 
 
 brows 
 
 Mouth 
 
 Upper Hp 
 
 
 Capacity 
 
 
 Lower lip 
 
 Face 
 
 General shape 
 
 
 Curves 
 
 
 Markings on skin 
 
 
 General line of 
 
 
 Shape of jaw 
 
 
 opening 
 
 
 Cheek bones 
 
 CmN 
 
 Shape 
 
 
 Flesh 
 
 
 Protrusion 
 
OBSERVATION AND STATEMENTS 77 
 
 Work over the information thus obtained into a descrip- 
 tion of the appearance of the person represented, omitting 
 all inferences as to his character. 
 
 4. Attempt a full report (ten or twelve letter sheets) 
 on a town, neighborhood, summer resort, or street as a 
 place of residence. It is needless to point out that each 
 student should take the place which is most familiar to 
 him. Below is given an incomplete list of points of view 
 intended to be useful in thinking out the subject. It 
 will be evident that not all of them apply to any particular 
 case and that the order in which they are given has nothing 
 to do with the order in which the report is to be written. 
 The student should go over the Ust carefully, comparing 
 the headings with what he knows of the place he intends 
 to describe, and making notes of the facts desirable to use. 
 He should then rearrange his notes in the best order that 
 occurs to him and write from them, without further reference 
 to the list of points of view. The report should be written 
 in continuous prose style, with the usual attention to 
 matters of form. 
 
 (A) Surroundings 
 
 I. Natural. 
 
 (1) Land: General topography; elevation; exposure; view; 
 nearness to bodies of water or wooded areas; character of these; 
 walks and drives. (2) Products: Hunting and fishing; soil; 
 vegetation; fitness for grazing, '■ tc; natural water supply. (3) 
 Atmospheric conditions: Climate; rainfall; fog; humidity; 
 healthfulness. 
 
 II. Artificial. 
 
 (1) Nearness to centres: Large cities or important towns; 
 markets; nature of these, prices, etc.; schools; postoffice; 
 churches. (2) Means of transportation: Condition of roads; 
 railroad or street railway lines; walking distance of such lines 
 from house; patronage; scheduled time to important points; 
 
78 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 regularity; service. (3) Public improvements: Parks, play- 
 grounds; libraries; drainage, water, gas, or electric lighting sys- 
 tems. (4) General social and political character of the whole 
 surrounding district. 
 
 (B) The Place Itself 
 
 I. Physical Characteristics. 
 
 (1) Houses: Materials; repair; character of, as single, apart- 
 ment, tenement, etc.; inmiediate surroundings, as yards, gar- 
 dens; condition and size of these. (2) Streets: Arrangement; 
 surface; shade trees; overhead wires; tracks; cleanliness; driv- 
 ing; heavy teaming; foot travel. 
 
 II. Social Characteristics. 
 
 .(1) Social: Nationality; size of families; " social " sets and 
 organizations; number of young people; of children; sports and 
 recreations; street life; treatment of strangers. (2) Economic: 
 Occupations; business or manufacturing interests near by; earn- 
 ings; wealth; scale of expenditure. (3) Political: Party in 
 control locally; character of men in office; effect of their man- 
 agement on the life of the immediate neighborhood. (4) Relig- 
 ious: Church buildings; denominations; membership; activity; 
 moral standard of the community. (5) Intellectual: Schools 
 and schooling; interest in music, art, literature; clubs and plans 
 for social improvement; intelligence of the people. 
 
 5. The following is an instructive list of headings drawn 
 from a consulting engineer's report on the value of an 
 electric light plant. Note the detail and its bearing on 
 the value of the business. 
 
 Incorporation : Franchises : 
 
 State Use of streets 
 
 Date of organization Special regulations 
 
 Bonds and redemption Time limit 
 
 Sinking fund City contract : 
 
 Stock Time of renewal 
 
OBSERVATION AND STATEMENTS 
 
 79 
 
 Number of lamps and price 
 
 Provisions for extension 
 
 Requirement as to under- 
 ground wires 
 
 Price versus cost 
 
 Right of arbitration 
 
 Possibility of municipal 
 plant 
 Street railway contracts: 
 
 Companies involved 
 
 Amount and kind of current 
 
 Cost 
 
 Price versus cost 
 Land and location : 
 
 Position and extent 
 
 Water supply 
 Buildings : 
 
 Materials 
 
 Construction 
 
 Arrangement 
 
 Condition 
 
 Chimney 
 Boilers : 
 
 Number 
 
 Make 
 
 Dimensions 
 
 Pressure 
 
 Horse-power 
 
 Feed pumps 
 Rates : 
 
 Cost 
 
 Discount 
 
 Restrictions 
 Valuation (itemized) 
 Piping : 
 
 Condition 
 
 Amount 
 
 Valves 
 
 Heaters 
 
 Pumps 
 
 Condensers 
 Engines : 
 
 Style 
 
 Size 
 
 Number 
 Belting and shafting: 
 
 How connected 
 
 Thickness of belts 
 
 Nature of shafting 
 
 Pulleys 
 
 Clutches 
 Foundations 
 Dynamos 
 Switch boards 
 Lines : 
 
 Wood in poles 
 
 Painting 
 
 Repair 
 
 Total length of circuits 
 
 Subdivisions of circuits: 
 Arc circuits 
 Incandescent circuits 
 Power circuits 
 Metres 
 Transformers 
 Lamps : 
 
 Direct arc 
 
 Alternating arc 
 
 Incandescent 
 
 Street fixtures 
 Stock on hand 
 Tramway for coal hauling : 
 
 Distance 
 
 Handling at boilers 
 
80 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 Tramway for coal havling : Changes in equipment 
 
 Rolling stock Economy of operation 
 
 Track Condition of accounts 
 
 Suspension Future of the city 
 
 Cost of coal Chance of competition 
 
 General opinion : Real valuation versus bonds 
 
 Opportunity for extension Earnings 
 
 Loss in Unes Probable profit for the year 
 Opening for new business 
 
 6. Students who have the requisite knowledge should 
 attempt a similar, but of course briefer and more informal, 
 report on any small business with which they are ac- 
 quainted. It is understood that the amount of knowledge 
 is likely to be small, unless it can be supplemented through 
 talks with older people. The value of such exercises, 
 however, lies not in their length, but in the serious work 
 required to write even a little, and in the increased knowl- 
 edge of one's own mental range. The subject must be 
 always some actual business, treated with fidelity to fact, 
 though not necessarily with mention of the names and 
 places. Suitable subjects are such as the following: A 
 newspaper route; a retail grocery business; a small 
 manufacturing establishment or machine shop; a summer 
 hotel; a country newspaper; a garage; the equipment 
 and finances of a small private school or academy. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 THE IDEAS EMPLOYED IN OBSERVATION 
 
 Since statements of fact are obtained through an ex- 
 amination of things in the Ught of ideas, the degree of 
 accuracy reached will depend in part upon the observer's 
 sense powers and the use which he makes of them. If 
 one man asserts that the shield was of silver and another 
 is equally certain that it was of gold, the difference of 
 opinion may be due to color blindness, to lack of attention, 
 or to point of view. Thus, much depends upon the senses; 
 but at the same time much depends also upon the mind. 
 The credulous observer may often believe that he has had 
 an experience, as he would contract an infectious disease, 
 merely because he firmly expected to have it. Such a 
 person, sent out to view the fagade of a church, reports 
 that the cross is gilded, when in reality it is of stone. 
 "Churches usually have gilt crosses," says he to himself, 
 and troubles no further to look. This difficulty is the 
 more likely to beset him in proportion as the thing he 
 expects to see is either greatly dreaded or greatly desired, 
 for then the idea looms so large in the mind that it goes 
 far to shut out the comparison entirely. 
 
 Again, even when the comparison actually gets made, 
 its value depends pretty largely on the exactness and 
 clearness of the idea. He who asserts, for instance, that 
 a flower-bed is circular makes a statement easily verifiable, 
 for the idea he uses in comparison has been defined in the 
 science of geometry. If, however, he calls the flower-bed 
 
82 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 "effective," he touches on a personal notion of beauty 
 and opens the way to endless dispute. Considered from 
 the point of view of clearness of meaning, ideas may be 
 roughly divided into three sorts: general ideas, pure 
 ideas, and ideals. 
 
 1. General Ideas. Farmer Brown, whose case was 
 referred to in the preceding chapter, observes on the basis 
 of a general idea, — "a piece of paper." This idea stands 
 for a number of individual objects, whose place it takes 
 in the realm of clear thinking. It is made up, in theory 
 at least, of a group of qualities, which may be thought of 
 as so chosen that all individual things kno"v\Ti to be pieces 
 of paper will have these qualities, and no more than these, 
 in common. General ideas are of such frequent occurrence 
 that they may almost be spoken of as the staple material 
 of thought. Such are, in fact, the notions conveyed by 
 the greater part of our ordinary vocabulary, — such 
 terms as indicate the objects of the senses — "horse," 
 "person," "county fair," "landscape" — and the various 
 distinctions applied to human Ufe — ' ' Democrat," "working 
 man," "college student," "friend," and so on. 
 
 Some general ideas have been drawn into the vocabulary 
 of the special sciences and may be found somewhat clearly 
 defined in the form of what are called the scientific classes. 
 A student of zoology, for instance, can explain precisely 
 the qualities which are common to all the animals known 
 as moUusks, and a lawyer knows exactly what constitutes 
 a tort. For the most part, however, and except for a 
 few scientists, who make a nice use of terms related to 
 their own subjects, general ideas are sharply defined in 
 theory only. In practice, on the contrary, it usually 
 happens that, though we use the names in common, the 
 ideas which they suggest are based for each thinker, not 
 on the common qualities of the whole class, but on the 
 
IDEAS EMPLOYED IN OBSERVATION 83 
 
 most striking characteristics of the few individuals that 
 he happens to have met. On the whole, but few of the 
 general ideas employed in common discourse have been 
 defined, by those who use them, through a wide knowledge 
 of really representative cases. This fact we shall study 
 further in Chapter V. 
 
 2. Pure Ideas. A few of the conceptions which are 
 used in ordinary thinking have been defined in a way to 
 make them independent of the world of the senses. They 
 establish themselves directly in the mind, and therefore 
 need not rely wholly on illustrations furnished by facts. 
 This type of idea is met in philosophy, but is best illus- 
 trated in the sciences of pure mathematics. Here there 
 is no attempt to treat the actual world as we find it. The 
 mathematical notions of a straight line, a point, and a 
 surface are intended to represent, not facts, but only 
 certain aspects of the physical world carried out to the 
 limit in thought. No body can, by polishing, be given 
 an absolute surface; in the most carefully ground steel 
 plate a powerful microscope will still reveal hollows and 
 depressions. In the same way all the other conceptions 
 of elementary mathematics are idealized. They select 
 merely those aspects of bodies which are useful in the 
 theory of measurement, and then perfect these for the 
 purpose of thought. These ideas, though they took rise 
 in some hint given to the mind by objects, are capable 
 of being perfected thus because they can be explained in 
 terms of other more inclusive ideas; and these in turn, 
 like the conceptions of free movability and of a geometric 
 point when used in defining a surface, have been defined 
 without reference to things or events. They are mere 
 definitions explaining the relations of ideas, or else self- 
 evident truths. 
 
 3. Ideals, There is, finally, a third class of ideas which, 
 
84 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 to indicate that they are based largely on individual taste, 
 we may call ideals. These it is which lie at the back of 
 judgments about what is pleasant or painful, desirable or 
 undesirable, and even, in a sense, about what is right or 
 wrong. A young boy, not too carefully trained, becomes 
 a member of a comer gang and spends his Sunday 
 standing in the doorway of a store. He is having **a 
 good time." Later, perhaps, at the high-school stage, 
 he dresses in his best and occupies himself in a round of 
 calls. Finally, with the seriousness of approaching age, 
 he becomes interested, let us say, in the study of electricity 
 and finds the day more pleasing when spent in his amateur 
 laboratory over the construction of a device for utilizing 
 current. So every age has its notions of the good. With 
 regard to such matters there is, for the wise man, no 
 disputing. In some degree, to be sure, one's ideals are 
 derived from facts, for they are determined partly by 
 the extent of one's knowledge. Low standards are often 
 due to the lack of experience with other things. At the 
 same time, in spite of this partial connection with ex- 
 perience, the formation of ideals is so closely dependent 
 upon the personality that it often seems like a question 
 wholly of personal taste. 
 
 Yet, even if one's beliefs as to the beautiful and the 
 good rested wholly on personality, it would be unnatural 
 not to attempt to justify them by reference to principles. 
 Thus there comes a stage when ideals pass out from under 
 personal auspices and pose as theories of what ought to 
 be true for all men. Reasoning based on ideals of this 
 sort makes up the greater part of what men commonly 
 refer to as "theory." What is the proper scope of the 
 insurance business? Is capital punishment justifiable? 
 What is true religion? Ought the technical school to 
 incline towards theory or towards practice? He who 
 
IDEAS EMPLOYED IN OBSERVATION 85 
 
 discusses weighty matters of this sort attempts to justify 
 his views by referring them to larger principles, self-evident 
 propositions of common sense or of reason. Since the 
 bitterest controversies known to history have arisen over 
 just such questions, there is some reason for supposing that, 
 even when they appear impersonal, ideals are still largely 
 based on personal preferences. 
 
 It goes almost without saying that the three classes of 
 ideas referred to above, though sharply distinguished for 
 the mind, yet in the real cases shade into one another with 
 considerable indefiniteness. To begin with, a single word 
 may serve for any number of different ideas. When, for 
 instance, one speaks of education, the idea back of the 
 word may cover one's own experience, the school systems 
 of America, all formal courses of study, all study, even if 
 self-directed, or the essential element in the mental train- 
 ing which results. These are all general ideas; but they 
 differ widely in the number and character of the individuals 
 that they include. Again one may refer to those ideal 
 results upon mind and character which under the present 
 system are nowhere attained, and indeed would be in 
 their perfection unattainable, on account of the relatively 
 low development of the race. Such a conception is an 
 ideal. 
 
 Aside, however, from the use of one word in several 
 meanings, there is often a real indefiniteness in the char- 
 acter of the ideas themselves. General ideas, particularly 
 in the natural sciences, are capable of a degree of exactness 
 which relates them closely to pure ideas; and pure ideas 
 in their turn are in most cases originally suggested by the 
 familiar qualities of some class of objects. Ideals, like- 
 wise, in proportion as the attempt is made to ground them 
 on general principles, take on something of the authority 
 of pure ideas. Still this indefiniteness of distinction need 
 
86 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 not confuse us as to the main lesson to be derived from 
 the study of ideas. This is, in a word, that in observation 
 we employ, broadly speaking, three sorts of standards: 
 conceptions of the general qualities of objects or events; 
 clearly outlined notions derived from thought; and ideals 
 of worth or value. 
 
 EXERCISES 
 
 1. In the following paragraj^hs distinguish the state- 
 ments based on ideals, the pure matters of opinion, from 
 the statements based on general ideas, and test the latter 
 to determine what would be the difficulty of verifying 
 them. 
 
 In the square bounded by M — Avenue, A — , B — , and C — 
 Streets the last generation has seen many changes. Thirty 
 years ago it was inhabited by the solid families of the town. 
 Men who had made money in trade during the Civil War had 
 built costly houses there. The squares were maintained as 
 parks, the streets were clean, the air was fresh and wholesome. 
 Gradually "down town" has here encroached upon a once 
 fashionable district. The older people in many cases stayed 
 on, and the house was kept as long as they lived. Some few such 
 houses remain, but not many. In all cases, as soon as the last 
 member of the older generation died, the home was broken up. 
 The well-to-do moved to more fashionable districts; others 
 disappeared. 
 
 In these families the second generation, the boys and young 
 men of thirty years ago, was generally unsuccessful. Among 
 the hundred such that I know, not ten have proved economically 
 worth their salt. They were brought up in luxury, usually 
 college-bred, untrained for business. They seldom acquired 
 the habit of work; oftenest fell into dissipation. This left the 
 girls of the set without proper chances to marry. They must 
 either risk shipwreck wdth the men with whom they had been 
 brought up, or marry outside their circle, more successful men 
 
IDEAS EMPLOYED IN OBSERVATION 87 
 
 perhaps, but less congenial. Aside from the danger of ship- 
 wreck, marriage for women of their education was, as for the 
 better sort it remains, a question not of calculation, but of feel- 
 ing. For the most part they remained single. Some few, 
 rather late in life, married widowers of the older generation, 
 and went in as mistress of a house where there were "girls" 
 with whom approximately they might have gone to school. 
 
 2. Note the confusion which is introduced into the 
 following arguments through failure to attend to the 
 difference between what ought to be and what is. 
 
 (a) (From an argument on the benefits of the elective sys- 
 tem.) By means of the elective system a man may better pre- 
 pare himself for his own special end, taking only subjects which 
 apply to it. Almost every man going to college must special- 
 ize shghtly, at least. Look at a college where subjects range 
 from geology to philosophy, and from mathematics to Bible 
 literature. A man must pick some object, and the elective 
 system helps him to carry his hne of study further than the 
 prescribed system. 
 
 (6) The principle of unity does not apply to letter writing 
 so strongly as it does to theme writing. A theme is usually 
 written with the idea of impressing someone with the impor- 
 tance of some subject or interesting someone, and so to make it 
 forcible the writer must make it condensed and to the point. 
 
 In letter writing it is different. Some people write letters 
 more from necessity than from anything else. They write 
 because they think this or that letter should not go unanswered, 
 and so, since their main object is to get the letter written, they 
 do not need to try to keep to the same subject; but can put 
 down anything that comes to mind. 
 
 (c) Military drill is one of the most interesting subjects 
 taken up at the school. A pupil who adapts himself to the 
 different movements of a body of men rapidly will generally 
 like the subject and strive for office. If every man would 
 look forward to holding an office, the work would be found much 
 
88 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 lighter and the drill would be much finer. To accomplish the 
 best work it is necessary for each man to do his best and to 
 feel that he is working in a good cause. Thus far the freshmen 
 have taken hold of the drill with much more vim than usual; 
 and, if this contmues, I feel that the result will be one of the 
 best drilled battalions in the state. 
 
 3. Attempt to give a detailed account of your ideal of 
 the highest form of school spirit. Show, for instance, 
 how it ought to manifest itself in the following directions. 
 
 Athletics Discipline 
 
 Other school acti\4ties Attitude of the teachers 
 
 Social life and good fellowship School customs and traditions 
 Attention to school work 
 
 4. With the above ideal in view, draw up a report on 
 the state of school spirit in your own school, being careful, 
 80 far as possible, to base every statement on observation. 
 Where this is out of the question, state carefully the source 
 of your impressions. 
 
 5. Criticise the following rough and partial statements 
 of ideals to determine how far they are clearly expressed 
 and in what particulars, if any, they seem unreasonable. 
 
 (a) I have often used the word "training." Now what is 
 training, and what is the peculiar characteristic of the trained 
 mind? Training is the discipline that teaches a man to set 
 labor above whim; to develop the less promising parts of his 
 mind as well as the more promising; to make five talents ten and 
 two five; to see that in his specialty he shall work better and enjoy 
 more for kno^sing something outside of his specialty; to recog- 
 nize the connection between present toil and future attainment; 
 so that the hope of future attainment creates pleasure in present 
 toil; to understand that nothing can be mastered without drudg- 
 ery, and that drudgery in preparation for service is not only 
 respectable but beautiful; to be interested in every study, no 
 
IDEAS EMPLOYED IN OBSERVATION 89 
 
 matter how forbidding; to work steadily and resolutely until, 
 through long practice, — and, it may be, after many failures , — 
 he is trusted to do the right thing, or something near it, mechan- 
 ically, just as the trained pianist instinctively touches the right 
 note.i 
 
 (6) A third source of influence for and over the freshmen . . . 
 is found in the presence of proctors, or advisers, or monitors 
 who lodge and live in each dormitory. Such resident officers 
 are supposed to be friends to each freshman living in his (sic) 
 hall or on his stairway. But here is the rub, the point of diffi- 
 culty, in any segregation of freshmen, ... To get friends of 
 the desired character for these freshmen represents the most 
 serious, — and its seriousness cannot be overestimated, — part of 
 the large and complex problem. To get men of the type which 
 Arnold wanted for his teachers at Rugby, of the type which 
 Mr. Robert wanted forty years ago for his international col- 
 lege at Constantinople, has been, is, and I suppose always will 
 be, a mighty struggle. Men whose intellects are large and rich, 
 but whose hearts are neither gushing nor cold, men who are 
 able to differentiate between a principle and a minor rule, men 
 who have a conscience, but who are not obstinately conscientious, 
 men whose love for truth does not cause them to lose their love 
 for boys, men who are great and strong in character, but who 
 also are sympathetic, men who are a proper combination of 
 both the mother and the father: such men it will be gravely 
 difficult to secure.2 
 
 (c) In these two books of satire, it is the business of Horace 
 to instruct us how to combat our virtues, to regulate our 
 passions, to follow nature, to give bounds to our desires, to dis- 
 tinguish betwixt truth and falsehood, and betwixt our concep- 
 tion of things and things themselves: to come back from our 
 prejudicate opinions, to understand exactly the principles and 
 motives of all our actions; and to avoid the ridicule, into which 
 
 ^ Briggs, " School, College and Character." Reprinted by per- 
 mission of Houghton Mifflin Company. 
 
 2 Thwing, " The Proposed Charges at Harvard." North Ameri- 
 can Review J 191:441. Reprinted by permission. 
 
90 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 all men necessarily fall, who are intoxicated with those notions 
 which they have received from their masters; and which they 
 obstinately retain, without examining whether or no they be 
 founded on right reason. 
 
 In a word, he labors to render us happy in relation to our- 
 selves, agreeable and faithful to our friends, and discreet, ser- 
 viceable, and well-bred in relation to those with whom we are 
 obUged to live and to converse. 
 
 Dryden, Essay on Satire 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 THE LIMITS OF IDEAS 
 
 The ideas by means of which we know and judge things 
 and events may be spoken of as produced by our mental 
 power of abstracting. From a group of similar individuals 
 we separate out the common quality and consider it as 
 an independent subject of thought. Thus a function of 
 one group of men suggests the idea of the teacher, that 
 of another the idea of the student. Similarly a boy, 
 reviewing a series of experiences in school, forms ideas 
 about himself. He comes to think of himself as, say, 
 troublesome to teachers, incapable of mastering languages, 
 athletic, a wise man of the world, and so on. These are 
 mental standards, which he has produced. Their meaning, 
 so far as it becomes definite at all, is determined by the 
 resemblance that has been observed to run through many 
 separate instances. 
 
 Some of these standards are simple, others highly com- 
 pound. Such an idea as that of a man's weight could 
 hardly be narrower or easier to define. This idea, how- 
 ever, may either be thought of independently, or it may 
 be combined with countless other simple ideas to form a 
 wider notion, as when one thinks of one's self as a good 
 football player. Yet, whether simple or compound, ideas 
 have certain necessary limitations. These we are now 
 to study, with a view to determine how they affect our 
 thinking. 
 
 Ideas are suggested by actual conditions. Without 
 
92 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 blue objects there can be no thought of blueness, and 
 without men teaching no notion of a teacher. Neverthe- 
 less an idea is not an existing thing and should not be 
 mistaken for it. Because, for instance, in analyzing our 
 feelings, we separate mental from physical relations, it 
 does not follow that mind and body exist independently, 
 or that they can be separated otherwise than in thought. 
 There is perhaps some person whom we call a friend; 
 but his friendship is after all only a quality which, on a 
 review of some of his acts, we have assigned to him. It 
 cannot be analyzed out of his system and weighed; and 
 it cannot with certainty be depended upon to produce the 
 effects that, in our association of ideas, friendship has been 
 supposed to produce. All ideas, in short, are mental 
 sjTnbols. This truth the student of logic can scarcely 
 emphasize too much. Let it be said, at the expense of 
 paradox, that there are in the real world no teachers and 
 no football players; but merely persons who teach or 
 who play football. The process of mind which conceives 
 ideas does not produce things, but merely views of the 
 relations of things. 
 
 As a mental symbol the idea cannot be useful unless 
 it is clear. It must be defined; its limits must be ascer- 
 tained. Mental clearness, however, means merely separa- 
 tion from other ideas, or, practically speaking, distinction 
 between what is of a certain sort and what is not. In the 
 simplest type of thought, then, the idea comes to seem 
 clear in proportion as it is distinguished from its opposite. 
 Mind is not body, says the inexperienced arguer; black 
 is not white, right is not wrong. He fixes his opponent 
 thus upon what is sometimes called a "dilemma." The 
 case imder dispute, he reasons, must be either this or that; 
 and then, disposing of one alternative, he triumphantly 
 confronts you with the other. Such arguments are, in 
 
THE LIMITS OF IDEAS 93 
 
 most cases, wholly misleading. The mental quality of 
 goodness, if clearly defined, does indeed contain no evil; 
 but the same is in no sense true of the degree of the 
 good which is found in existing things and people. The 
 good thing is merely a measurable reality which thought 
 compares with an ideal. The notion of goodness, on the 
 other hand, is, like all other qualities, a standard of the 
 mind. It is no more a part of reality than the system of 
 coordinates used in measurement is part of the measured 
 curve. 
 
 An idea sharply distinguished from its opposite is, 
 moreover, by that very fact raised to the superlative 
 degree. Unselfishness in which there is no trace of self 
 could be asserted only of an angel; it mounts at once into 
 the domain of ideals. The same truth holds of any other 
 notion. Suppose, for instance, two persons engaged in 
 attempting to find the true meaning of the word ''liberty." 
 They may first refer to political history, to discover in 
 what sense men happen to have used the term. Here 
 they find much that is suggestive, but nothing final; for 
 there have been various ideals, from the right to cast a 
 vote which may not be counted to the most unfettered 
 license. Baffled thus in their historical search, they next 
 turn inward, and each expresses to the other his own 
 dreams and conceptions of true freedom. The resulting 
 definition, if one be found, was suggested in part by a 
 study of actual occurrences; but its chief boast is its 
 independence of all facts. It undertakes to teach the 
 world something, and usually of conditions deemed higher 
 than the reality, and more pure. 
 
 The statements of fact obtained by the use of ideas 
 thus sharply defined are sometimes valuable and some- 
 times misleading. The pure ideas of mathematics, applied 
 to facts, have been the instrument of most modem dis- 
 
94 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 covery. Indeed science in general deals only with qualities 
 nicely limited and exact. This it may do with safety, 
 for it looks at real things only in the light of a special 
 purpose. Geometry considers the world as a system of 
 lines and planes, with a view to measurement; chemistry 
 as a group of substances, with a view to analysis, and so 
 on down the list. Then too science is concerned only in 
 conveying matters in which all can determinately agree. 
 Such are merely the simplest qualities and relations of 
 things, those aspects, in short, which can be at least 
 approximately measured. This limitation makes neces- 
 sary the use of a whole set of ideas so sharply defined that, 
 like the circle and the line, they represent nothing in the 
 existing world about us, but only the imaginary result of 
 certain tendencies there. 
 
 With the subjects of sidewalk argumentation, however, 
 the same happy results do not always follow. In such 
 matters it is easily possible, by insisting on a sharply 
 defined ideal, to produce surprising and novel statements 
 about facts. This form of argument usually pretends to 
 base its conclusions on the so-called true meaning of a word; 
 and no reasoning is more common or more inconclusive. 
 When Emerson says, for instance, that a man can suffer 
 no harm which he wills to resist, he merely idealizes the 
 definition of "harm." The real conditions, meanwhile, 
 remain unchanged; the chance is as great as ever of being 
 cheated in a trade or struck with falling timber. The 
 same sort of juggling with meanings can produce state- 
 ments of fact of any desired degree of pessimism. Who 
 can say what might be implied in the highest ideal of 
 literature, technical education, or brotherly love? In 
 such lofty flights speculation can go no further than the 
 guess that, whatever it might turn out to be, it would 
 prove hard to reconcile with the aggregation of make- 
 
THE LIMITS OF IDEAS 95 
 
 shifts and compromises which we call human character. 
 Indeed to find examples of this false use of ideal qualities 
 it is not necessary to go so high. Most chess players, 
 like most hunting dogs and most students, are but mediocre 
 specimens; and this not so much on their own account as 
 because of the loftiness of the standards which the mind 
 conceives for their species. There are in the game of 
 chess, as in the points of dogs and the opportunities of 
 student life, such wide possibilities that only in the rarest 
 cases does the individual do even partial justice to the 
 ideas. These elements, so to say, do not occur free in 
 nature. They are the result of an analysis, which ex- 
 tracts them, often in microscopic quantities, from the 
 real situations it is attempting to study. 
 
 The dangers which arise from these methods of thinking 
 are not so much faults of the individual mind as limitations 
 of thought itself. Our mental processes, when clear, are 
 mathematical. To think, we must, as in mathematics, 
 first state actual conditions in the form of rigid symbols, 
 then solve our problem with these symbols, and finally 
 interpret the results again in terms of facts. Standing 
 before an experience, we are conscious that here is some- 
 thing new. It cannot, however, be wholly new; it must 
 contain qualities already observed in other things. These 
 we seek for. We know they will belong to thought and 
 be capable of clear definition. Having met them before, 
 we shall know what to think of them, what to do with 
 them. So much is natural and inevitable; but, if the idea 
 when found makes us forget the actual experience; if we 
 go on from that point merely juggling with mental symbols, 
 it is the fault not of nature but of our own lack of common 
 sense and logical training. 
 
96 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 EXERCISES 
 
 1. Consider the possible danger involved in using the 
 following words as though they represented existing things: 
 
 The class of 1915, A— B— High School; 
 Harvard College; 
 The Repubhcan party; 
 American education. 
 
 Especially consider the following arguments in this 
 light: 
 
 (a) Harvard College refused me my degree unjustly in 1840. 
 I would not leave them a cent if I had a million. 
 
 (b) The Repubhcan party brought us through the war, so 
 the Repubhcan ticket will always be good enough for me. 
 
 (c) Harvard College will always hold on to intercollegiate 
 sports because they are profitable advertising. 
 
 (d) Harvard College knows no distinction between rich and 
 poor. 
 
 2. Discuss the various possible meanings of "scholar- 
 ship" and "an upper class" and consider whether the 
 following arguments use the ideas always with the same 
 definitions. 
 
 (a) Why not allow the imiversity to deal with a man at 
 the single point of intellectual disciphne to the end of culture, 
 or to some end of utihty? I will not attempt ... to enter 
 broadly into the opposing theory of "direct concern" with the 
 manners and morals of students. I will state at once certain 
 considerations which seem to me to make this the working 
 theory of the American college or university. . . . 
 
 Scholarship is not the first end of the college or even of the 
 university. The common product of each is not the scholar 
 by distinction, but the man who is fitted for the largest uses of 
 society and the state. For every scholar who is to devote his 
 
THE LIMITS OF IDEAS 97 
 
 after-life to pure scholarship there are at least ten graduates 
 who are to give themselves to more general callings. It is not 
 safe to lay too great a burden upon a means through which a 
 comparatively small portion will reach the ends of their college 
 life. It is too much to ask of scholarship to do everything for 
 men who are not by first intention scholars. ^ 
 
 (6) But it is of importance in every country to have an upper 
 class. These should rise like towers and steeples in our towns 
 and villages, hke mountains overtopping the plains, imparting 
 picturesqueness to the scenery, preserving it in the fancy, and 
 enabling us to remember it. First, and in front, we should seek 
 to have a high-toned moral and religious class spread through 
 the community like salt to keep it from corruption. This, 
 under God, is to be the safeguard to our homes and to the coun- 
 try generally. But we need an aristocracy for other and noble 
 ends. We must have a highly educated class, trained at our 
 upper schools and colleges, and diffusing everywhere an elevating 
 influence. Retaining, as most will, the true spirit of science 
 and of learning, they will be ready in their localities to make 
 provision for every good cause, fitted to educate the young and 
 exalt the tastes of the people by means of science, of literature, 
 of art. These men will give the tone to society in their dis- 
 tricts, and keep it from being corrupted by wealth when it 
 would foster extravagance in living, intemperance, and low 
 morality.2 
 
 3. In the following famous working definition test the 
 sharpness with which the amateur is distinguished from 
 his opposite the professional. 
 
 Amateur: One who has not entered in an open competition; 
 or for either a stake, pubUc or admission money, or entrance fee; 
 
 * Tucker, " Shall the University Concern Itself More Directly 
 with the Morals and Manners of the Students ? " Proceedings 
 of the National Educational Association, 1903. 
 
 2 McCosh, " The Phillips Exeter Lectures." Reprinted by per- 
 mission of Houghton Mifflin Company. 
 
98 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 or under a fictitious name; or has not competed with or against 
 a professional for any prize or where admission fee is charged; 
 or who has not instructed, pursued, or assisted in the pursuit 
 of athletic exercises as a means of Uvehhood, or for gain or any 
 emolument; or whose membership of any athletic club of any 
 kind was not brought about, or does not continue because of 
 any mutual understanding, expressed or impHed, whereby his 
 becoming or continuing a member of such club would be of any 
 pecuniary benefit to him whatever, direct or indirect; and who 
 shall in other and all respects conform to the rules and regula- 
 tions of the organization. 
 
 4. Attempt a definition of the term, "A liberal educa- 
 tion." How far may outward marks be used, as the 
 completion of a certain curriculum of studies? If results 
 are used, how far may tangible results be specified? Must 
 these results be moral and physical as well as mental? 
 In how far is the definition thus obtained convenient, i.e. 
 adapted to some particular use of the term, and not so 
 ideal as to shut out actual examples? Outline such a 
 definition carefully in a paragraph of two or three hundred 
 words. The follo^nng suggestions may be helpful in the 
 study of the subject: 
 
 Liberal education in the sense of learning. What acquaint- 
 ance with books? The chief works on every subject by name? 
 The chief facts on every subject in memory? Ability to judge 
 between good and bad books? More definite knowledge of 
 any special subject? General information? 
 
 Moral character? Quickness in action? Decision? Appli- 
 cation and habits of work? Honesty? Toleration? Kind- 
 heartedness? Modesty? 
 
 Love of the fine arts? Appreciation of good literature? 
 Music? Critical appreciation? 
 
 Opinions about poHtics? Why? Interest in municipal and 
 state affairs? Love of country? 
 
THE LIMITS OF IDEAS 99 
 
 Bodily health. Physical training? Habits of body. Fond- 
 ness for sports? Outdoor life? 
 
 Personal traits. Ability to judge men? Tact? Powers of 
 observation? 
 
 5. Review such cases as happen to come to mind of 
 works commonly classed as "good literature" to see how 
 far the tests offered in the following definitions are appli- 
 cable and how sharply the given marks distinguish. 
 
 "Literature, then, is of a personal character; it consists of 
 the enunciations and teachings of those who have a right to 
 speak as representatives of their kind, and in whose words 
 their brethren find an interpretation of their own sentiments, 
 a record of their own experience, and a suggestion of their own 
 judgments." — Newman, Lectures on University Subjects, p. 20. 
 Boston, 1897. 
 
 "To be convincing, literature must express emotion which 
 is genuine; to conamend itself to the best sense of mankind, and 
 thus to take its place in the front rank, it must deal with emo- 
 tion which is wholesome and normal." — Arlo Bates, Talks 
 on the Study of Literature, p. 20. Boston, 1897. 
 
 6. Examine an attempt to fix a scientific definition, as 
 the definition of wealth in Sedgwick, "Political Economy," 
 Book I, Chapter III (London, 1883); or of money, Book 
 II, Chapter IV. 
 
 7. In Exercise 6, Part I, Chapter I, compare the 
 statements of President Harris regarding the moral tone 
 of student life with your own knowledge of the facts in 
 any particular institutions. The extract referred to may 
 be regarded as an attempt to express in words a general 
 idea. 
 
 8. Criticise the following attempt to define the essential 
 elements in studies that give mental training. Each of 
 
100 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 the marks mentioned, if defensible, must show some con- 
 nection with the definition of thinking. 
 
 Thinking is a practical art. It is learned by doing. Yet 
 there are subjects in the course which seem to me to be better 
 fitted than others to teach you this art. I've been trying to 
 find out what are some of the marks or characteristics of these 
 subjects. They are, I think, subjects which require concen- 
 tration of thought; subjects which have clearness in their ele- 
 ments, yet which are comprehensive, which are complex, which 
 are consecutive in their arrangements of parts, each part being 
 closely, rigorously related to every other, which represent con- 
 tinuity, of which the different elements or parts may be pro- 
 longed into far-reaching consequences. Concentration in the 
 thinker, clearness, comprehensiveness, complexedness, consecu- 
 tiveness, continuity — these are the six big C's which are marks 
 of the subjects which tend to create the thinker. 
 
 Mathematics and pure physics eminently represent the larger 
 part of these six elements which I have named. * 
 
 9. What statement about the nature of college life 
 underlies the following piece of reasoning? Is the state- 
 ment true as judged by your knowledge of the facts? 
 Will it be best to regard the idea under which college life 
 is here presented as an ideal or as a general idea? 
 
 There b certainly no excuse for the laxity in morals thus 
 found in our colleges; for there is no place in the world so favor- 
 able for the development of a keen sense of duty as here; men in 
 the contests of conamercial life are apt to make pecuniary 
 rewards the goal of effort, but the man in quest of scientific and 
 literary facts seeks them independent of the warping effects of 
 monetary returns; the statesman is apt to be reduced to the 
 level of the poUtician as a result of inducements incident to secur- 
 
 * Thwing, " Letter from a Father to his Son Entering College." 
 The Independent^ 69:741. Reprinted by permission. 
 
THE LIMITS OF IDEAS 101 
 
 ing office; but the student in search of historic truth is impressed 
 with the fact that largeness of Ufe and high altruistic motive 
 rather than greed for gain or office are the factors that have 
 inscribed names on the roll of fame.^ 
 
 ^ Fordyce, " College Ethics." The Educational Review, 37: 494. 
 Reprinted by permission. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 IDEAS AND INDIVIDUALS 
 
 Ideas, we have seen, are mental symbols, which in the 
 realm of clear thinking represent concrete individuals. 
 By their very nature these symbols are made incapable 
 of reproducing accurately the things they stand for. 
 They are not pictures, but signs; and they no more fully 
 present their subjects than x in the algebraic problem 
 is a photograph of the unknown. The things we wish to 
 think about must first be rendered into terms of these 
 mental a^s^ 6's, and x's. In this process they lay aside 
 for the moment their individuality. Common sense, 
 logically trained, must meanwhile keep track of all that 
 is laid aside, and see that it is brought back into the 
 thinking whenever it becomes essential to accurate results. 
 
 As a first step in this logical training, we must recall 
 that no general idea completely presents an individual 
 existence. With the individuals which most intimately 
 concern us, days, hours, localities, domestic animals, and 
 people, we take care to avoid the difficulty by giving what 
 we call a proper name. This is intended to call to mind 
 one alone, with all its personal traits about it. The 
 general name may, however, represent sufficient detail for 
 present purposes. The piece of chalk which one takes 
 from a box on the desk is only superficially like the rest. 
 The microscope, the fine balance, and on close inspec- 
 tion even the naked eye, — these all enable the accurate 
 observer to give a long description of its personal traits. 
 
IDEAS AND INDIVIDUALS 103 
 
 So far as concerns distinction from the others of its class, 
 it richly deserves a proper name, or at least a number; 
 but it would be foolish to call a piece of chalk "Tom" or 
 ''Harry" when any other piece from the same box will 
 serve as well for writing. This, however, is only half 
 the story. It would be equally foolish to keep on using a 
 mere class idea to represent a thing which requires distinc- 
 tion from the crowd. If a workman has in him the 
 capacity of spreading groundless discontent among his 
 fellows, or of developing into an efficient superintendent, 
 it is wholly unwise to continue thinking of him as merely 
 a cutter, or a stitcher, or a member of Gang Twelve. In 
 other words, the whole question is one of expedience. If 
 we let general terms stand in our minds for particular 
 objects, we must be sure that they represent all the quali- 
 ties of the objects which are for the moment necessary to 
 our thought. 
 
 One method of representing all necessary qualities is 
 to choose a general name which applies to only a limited 
 class; for, as the class grows smaller, the thought becomes 
 more comprehensive. There are in the world, for instance, 
 many government employees, but only one President of 
 the United States. At the same time, though the latter 
 term includes fewer cases than the former, it means much 
 more and requires a longer definition. The smaller the 
 class in which your fact is included, then, the less danger 
 of loss of identity. To deal with facts in classes is at 
 best a rough and approximate method of thinking, and 
 often leads the thinker into danger. The schoolmaster 
 who forgets to study the individuality of his pupils, fike 
 the business man who attempts to handle his trade wholly 
 by circular letters, is not likely to achieve the best results. 
 These men will fail, however, not from adopting a wrong 
 method, but from using a good method with clumsy haste. 
 
104 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 If the complexity of their world prevents them from know- 
 ing individuals, let them at least get men into classes 
 small enough for appropriate handling. One cannot 
 work out details while thinking of individuals under the 
 broadest general terms. If, for instance, a student is 
 asked to write of school spirit as he sees it among his 
 fellows, he summons up one or two hazy recollections of a 
 celebration, writes, "The students of this institution 
 display a high type of loyalty to the school," and falls 
 back exhausted. A moment's thought, however, con- 
 vinces him that his generalization is too sweeping to have 
 much value. He accordingly looks more closely at his 
 experience and beholds the men he knows falling into 
 various minor classes, some pure exceptions to his rule, 
 some willing to contribute money but not to work, 
 some striving to advance the reputation of the school in 
 athletics but not in scholarship, and so on down the list. 
 Even within the smaller groups, each person has his own 
 odd, individual mixture of characteristics. So the sentence 
 in which the matter was first disposed of seems likely 
 to grow into a book, and, worst of all, a book with no 
 central thought. In discouragement the writer lets the 
 original generalization stand, and in the morning offers 
 the extenuating plea that, if he had treated the whole 
 topic, he would have needed to sit up all night. Indeed 
 the excuse has some justification. We must deal with 
 facts in classes; time and knowledge fail us for any other 
 plan; but at the same time we need not accept the first 
 broad general idea that comes into our heads. 
 
 Again, the thinker must be sure that he knows some- 
 thing of the individuals represented by the general idea 
 which he selects. The term he is using relates to subjects 
 of thought, of one kind or another, such as are or may be 
 matters of observation at different times and by different 
 
IDEAS AND INDIVIDUALS 105 
 
 people, as "piece of paper," ''dwelling house," "teacher." 
 One who pretends to employ these terms in the correct, 
 or even the usual, sense must claim at least a representative 
 knowledge of the instances his idea is supposed to cover. 
 The lack of such knowledge, by people who believe they 
 have it, is a fruitful source of bad reasoning. It leads to 
 many absurdities that, to a well-informed mind, would 
 be more amusing than a play. The accident of being 
 beaten in one case at law is deemed sufficient ground for 
 sweeping condemnation of the whole legal system, and 
 especially of all lawyers. One who has in the last month 
 picked up two or three second-rate novels is certain that 
 fiction has greatly declined in these modern times. We 
 talk in the high tone of generalization, as though the 
 world of such things were before us, like an open book. 
 What we really have in mind, meanwhile, is only the 
 scattered instances that have fallen within our own small 
 circle. 
 
 The lack of any wider knowledge is, of course, frequently 
 excusable. Fairly comprehensive acquaintance with the 
 members of a class is always difiicult to attain, and some- 
 times impossible. In the case of pieces of paper, dweUing 
 houses, or teachers, such knowledge might be roughly 
 attainable; one who offered a statement about one of 
 these classes could in time be confronted with the test 
 of fact. So likewise with many common ideas, and with 
 most of the terms in the natural sciences. Most notions, 
 however, are of such a sort that one can get only an occa- 
 sional or a partial glimpse of the things included under 
 them. What statements, for instance, can safely be made 
 of the term "American colleges" ? Even after the elabo- 
 rate researches of recent years, there are not many people 
 who can answer in much detail. Thus, except for a few 
 scientific terms, general ideas either remain indefinite or 
 
106 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 arc defined by each user to agree with the cases he person- 
 ally happens to have met. 
 
 Finally, the thinker must not be surprised at differences 
 of opinion. Since no general idea can exhaust a subject 
 of thought, other people may not like the one he has picked 
 out, and may even prefer its diametrical opposite. The 
 simplest experience has countless relations with other 
 things; it may, therefore, be brought under countless 
 ideas. This truth is observable more especially in the 
 words which register our impressions of things and events. 
 A person unaccustomed to suffering is stricken with pain 
 which he pronounces "unendurable." He sends for a 
 physician, who declares the case **mild," or turns it over 
 to a hospital, where they hold a consultation, and call it 
 "interesting." In the same way the school boy struggles 
 half the evening, with sensations best known to himself, 
 to master a problem which the histories of mathematics 
 describe as "one of the most beautiful demonstrations in 
 the science." So the estimate depends upon the point 
 of view. The character of most things we talk about is 
 wonderfully complex; it falls naturally into whatever 
 class the preoccupation of the moment is disposed to 
 assign to it. 
 
 This truth is notorious even under the more accurate 
 conditions of scientific work. Darwin relates that, visiting 
 Cwm Idwal with a fellow scientist, he spent many hours 
 in a careful examination of the valley in search of fossils. 
 He walked over scored rocks and made his way round 
 perched boulders; round him extended lateral and terminal 
 moraines deposited by glaciers. Yet he did not notice 
 a trace of these glacial phenomena, and it was not till 
 many years later that he came to see the place in this new 
 light. Then it seemed to him that " a house burnt down 
 by fire" could not tell its story more plainly than this 
 
IDEAS AND INDIVIDUALS 107 
 
 valley.* So it is with most conditions, even the simplest; 
 they are in themselves indifferent, "all things to all men.'' 
 Each mind sees in them an instance of this or that class; 
 but the idea under which they are grouped depends upon 
 the observer's knowledge and interests, and is not neces- 
 sarily the same for any two thinkers. 
 
 EXERCISES 
 
 1. Examine your mind carefully and set down your 
 impressions of at least one of the following classes : Maine 
 guides; expert fishermen; sailors; newspaper men; pro- 
 fessional musicians; socialists; city politicians; college 
 athletes; grinds; teachers; teachers of English; self-made 
 men; the newly rich. 
 
 Try to determine how much your views have been 
 influenced by reading and how much by personal experi- 
 ence. Have you known any individuals of quality striking 
 enough to color your views of the whole class? 
 
 2. How shall we criticise the three following composi- 
 tions, considering them from a logical point of view? 
 
 (a) A grind is a sallow-faced, sour-visaged person, usually 
 with spectacles, and of course a high forehead. He takes no 
 interest in games or in the society of his fellows. When any fun 
 is going on, he is to be found hidden away in a comer with a 
 book. He is a cynic, and always sure that his opinion is right 
 and everybody else is wrong. He studies late into the night 
 merely in order that the next morning he may know more than 
 anybody else. Nobody likes him except his teachers. 
 
 (6) Before we call a man a hard name, it is well to examine 
 his motives. Some men appear to work hard just to get the 
 better of their class-mates and show off at the morning recita- 
 
 ^ " Life and Letters," I, pp. 48, 49. Cited also by Cramer, 
 " The Method of Darwin," p. 128. Chicago, 1896. 
 
108 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 tion. Of course it is a crime to want to show off, and it is some- 
 thing that college men who speciahze in atliletics or social Hfe 
 never, never care to do! Such grinds deserve to be held up to 
 ridicule. Other men grind because they need a scholarship, 
 and if fortune had favored them with a Uttle more money, 
 they would be just as good fellows as anybody else. Then there 
 are some who have in mind to make a name in the world, and 
 knowing they are not briUiant have determined to work for it. 
 I cannot see that such men deserve to be called "greasy grinds." 
 Alas! I wish I were one of them. 
 
 (c) My knowledge of grinds is very small, for I never knew 
 but one, and he was probably not a genuine case. He used to go 
 home at once as soon as school was out, and work all the evening 
 and part of the night. But he was not a pale, sickly person as 
 I imagine a grind would be. He had red, fat cheeks, and a 
 laugh that would have done credit to a mule. Neither did 
 he stand at the head of his class, but then, as I have said, he 
 doubtless was not a true grind. 
 
 I should think a true grind might be a most uncomfortable 
 person to have about. 
 
 3. Study the two following expositions in connection 
 with your own experience of the New England farmer. 
 Considering the class as a whole, how many of the state- 
 ments in the first essay seem safe? Could any other 
 general statements be added? Has the second Writer 
 adopted the most useful subdivision of the class? 
 
 The New England Farmer 
 
 The men who make their h\'ing by tilling the soil probably 
 work the hardest and obtain the least apparent result of any 
 class of people in New England. 
 
 Their work continues the whole year, and the regular duties 
 in every season are laborious. There are planting, sowing, and 
 preparing the soil for the crops to do in the spring; in the sum- 
 mer those crops must be cared for, and the work of gathering 
 
IDEAS AND INDIVIDUALS 109 
 
 them continues into the fall. Then in winter they have wood 
 and ice to cut and haul, and repairs to make on the buildings. 
 These tasks do not sound hard, rapidly enumerated, but every 
 one necessitates heavy, tiresome work, and makes those who 
 do it old before their time. 
 
 The farmer's day is very much longer than that of the modern 
 day laborer. His rises, on an average, about five o'clock. His 
 first duty is to attend to the hve-stock. The regular work of 
 the day is carried on till about five in the evening, when the cattle 
 and horses are again tended, and the chores about the buildings 
 are done. Nine o'clock is bedtime in most farmhouses. 
 
 We notice how these people toil, and then we remark, ''So- 
 and-So is a thrifty, hard-working man; he must have a consid- 
 erable amount of money saved up." On closer investigation 
 we find that about ninety per cent of them have difficulty in 
 making both ends meet, not because they are not thrifty or hard- 
 working, but because the results of their labors bring them so 
 little money, and the expenses necessary to keep the place in 
 proper condition are so great. They profit by sale of hay, 
 grain, potatoes, and perhaps occasionally butter and eggs. 
 All of these bring fair prices, for the farmers of to-day cannot 
 be beaten down in seUing prices. The money from these 
 sales is the main part of their income. Now, seed and fertifizer 
 must be purchased. Farm machinery, which saves labor, to 
 be sure, but is expensive, is needed. Every year some impor- 
 tant repairs must be made on the buildings, and lumber is high, 
 not to speak of labor. "Of course," we say, "it doesn't cost 
 the farmer much to live." This is because so many of the things 
 they use are from the farm. This is, indeed, a fortunate thing, 
 because, if they did have to pay as much money out for neces- 
 sities of fife as city people, they really could not exist. Many 
 of them are "land poor." They own so much property that 
 they cannot clear and cultivate all of it, and some rests idle 
 in their possession, because no one else desires it. 
 
 That the men who live on the farms are a healthy class of 
 people is a general opinion. To be sure, they have the great 
 out-doors at their disposal, and plenty of opportunities for 
 
110 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 exercise. To counteract these advantages are the disadvan- 
 tages of improper food and lack of proper care for themselves 
 when working. They become rheumatic, and troubles set in 
 caused by the presence at every meal of sweetmeats. 
 
 Still, these people seem satisfied with their lot. They are 
 jolly, and have a cheerful word for everyone and a welcome to 
 the stranger to share what little they may have. They seldom 
 visit large cities, and, in fact, have no desire to do so, and it 
 must be some event of considerable importance which will cause 
 them to take even a day off. They become extremely narrow 
 in their views with respect to life in general. They read the news- 
 papers very thoroughly, they study affairs related there, but this 
 does not seem enough to broaden their minds. These men are 
 quiet, keep more or less to themselves, and do not pry into the 
 business of others, but in small conmiunities it is almost impos- 
 sible not to know what neighbors are doing. 
 
 The New England Farmer 
 
 The old Yankee type of farmer is, I suppose, famiUar to all 
 of us. This type, however, is slowly disappearing, and it would 
 therefore be fallacious to put all New England farmers in this 
 category. 
 
 Roughly speaking, there are at the present day two main 
 divisions of the farmer folk; namely, the descendants of the 
 original New England stock, and the modern agriculturist. I 
 intend to show, as far as practicable, the past and present con- 
 ditions of each division. 
 
 The Yankee farmer, generally speaking, is a simple, unobtru- 
 sive man; a true son of nature, and a veritable Rip Van Winkle. 
 In the days of his forefathers, ambition was rather severely 
 restricted. Few had any desire to do more than satisfy the 
 wants of the family. Their wants were simple and few: cloth- 
 ing was made at home; food was plentiful; the pleasures of the 
 country were easily obtained, and for money there was httle or 
 no use. They had their cows, sheep, pigs, oxen, perhaps a horse 
 or two, and poultry. The children found pleasure in raising dogs. 
 
IDEAS AND INDIVIDUALS 111 
 
 cats, rabbits, and even woodchucks, crows, and foxes. The 
 house was full of their childish trinkets, and everything com- 
 bined to give the place a cosey, homeUke appearance. Barley, 
 buckwheat, rye, corn, potatoes, hay, beans, pumpkins, fruits, 
 and garden truck were the common and staple products. But, 
 as their occupations were thus many and varied, attention was 
 divided, and they did not achieve any particular success. Since 
 they did not have to depend entirely upon the land for their 
 living, the farming was carried on in a rather desultory and hap- 
 hazard manner. Lumber was cheap, and the buildings were 
 invariably in rather good condition. Not much farm machin- 
 ery was used, and most of that was home-made. The land, 
 being rocky and hilly, was cultivated only in so far as was neces- 
 sary. Even with a few years' neglect, it had a great tendency 
 to turn back into woods. 
 
 The table was suppUed with plenty of good, wholesome food, 
 for wild game and fowl abounded, and most of the farm prod- 
 ucts were consumed. As a result of this, and of the daily 
 outdoor occupations, the people were healthy and vigorous; 
 sickness was rare. 
 
 Such living, and constant companionship with nature, make 
 the perceptions keen. Yet the farmer's mind was narrow. 
 Lack of education had something to do with this. The affairs 
 of the day were not so pressing as to claim his attention, and the 
 only available matters of discussion were matters arising in a 
 community of farmers. In a way, he was isolated from things 
 of current interest. This isolation did not tend to broaden his 
 opinions, which, in the first place, were not original, but handed 
 down. But such ideas as he did have were unshakable, and 
 strictly adhered to. Furthermore, this isolation, and exclusion 
 from all but those of his kind, threw him into a permanent rut 
 of thought, and, besides, made him shy of strangers, and sus- 
 picious of their advances. Perhaps this feeling of reserve and 
 cautiousness was shown more in his treatment of city people than 
 anywhere else. The farmer's diffident manner arose mainly from 
 his very simpleness, since he could not understand the hurry, 
 bustle, feverish activity, and continued striving of the city. 
 
112 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 Yet these people were happy, contented, and thankful to 
 God for their lot. It was from such people that the great men 
 of the times arose. 
 
 Such was the life and such were the conditions surrounding 
 the old Yankee farmer; but his descendants on the farm hve a 
 very different hfe, in a changed atmosphere. 
 
 The most serious problem that a farmer has to solve is the 
 labor problem. In the old times, large famihes were the rule, 
 and the children remained at home and assisted in the labor. 
 Moreover, in the busy season, the neighbors would get together, 
 and, in turn, help one another do the work. When hired help 
 was really needed, it was readily obtained at a low price. Our 
 fanner of to-day, however, cannot rely upon such methods. 
 Statistics show that the number of children in a family is dimin- 
 ishing to an alarming extent. Farmers' boys will. not stay in 
 the country, and the girls cannot, or will not, help out as they 
 used to do. The neighbors cannot assist, for too often they also 
 are in the same position. Hired help is the farmer's last resort. 
 Now, farming demands a certain amount of skill and strength, 
 both of which are absolutely essential. The trained, compe- 
 tent, and responsible man who will work for a reasonable sum 
 cannot be found, for the work is unsteady, hard, and monoto- 
 nous, and there is not much money in it. The farmer cannot 
 pay city wages for farm labor, for he does not get city prices 
 for farm products. The foreigner is available, but he must be 
 taught the language and the American method of agriculture. 
 Moreover, the country people seem to be afraid of him, and, for 
 various reasons which need not be entered into here, don't 
 want him in the house. Machinery might be of service, but the 
 true Yankee does not believe in it and has not the money where- 
 with to purchase it. 
 
 After all, it is perhaps the money question which is at the 
 bottom of farm affairs. The farmer must now buy at high 
 prices articles which formerly came from his farm, as, for in- 
 stance, clothing and flour. Taxes are rising, and the cost of 
 keeping up his property and land is almost discouraging. So 
 he economizes at home and tries to get more out of the farm, 
 
IDEAS AND INDIVIDUALS 113 
 
 which process acts disastrously both on him and on the land. 
 His fathers dabbled in many branches of farming, with but nom- 
 inal success all round. Forced to work alone, he cannot find 
 time for so many different occupations, and so must confine 
 himself to a few. From this necessity have come the various 
 branches of dairying, gardening, cattle-breeding, poultry rais- 
 ing, and general crop growing. 
 
 Here again he is at a disadvantage, for he really does not 
 know enough about any one specific division to make it pay, 
 being hampered by the same old characteristic ways of his prede- 
 cessors. So he is forced to economize still more in the home. 
 In this way I account for the poor table of the present Yankee 
 farmer; in the same way I account for the poor condition of 
 his home, buildings, cattle, and land. The latter, after a few 
 years of neglect, improper care, and strain, deteriorates; and 
 the farmer is so much the deeper in difficulties. Naturally, 
 the inevitable results of such conditions, the continual anxiety 
 of trying to make both ends meet, the thought of impending and 
 ultimate failure, have a deleterious effect upon his mind, opin- 
 ions, and general state of health. He broods continually over 
 his troubles and does not hke to mingle with others. Beyond 
 mere passing notice and comment, he takes no interest in out- 
 side affairs. His home contains only the necessities of fife, 
 with nothing to amuse, cheer, divert, or instruct; and he finds 
 but poor solace in his pipe and cider. This uncongenial atmos- 
 phere, poor fare, hard work with no results, and the never-end- 
 ing worry have their effect finally: his body is broken and his 
 spirits fail him. He loses faith in man, and very often in God, 
 for he comes under no edifying influence, since it is his opinion 
 that going to church is not worth the trouble of dressing, miss- 
 ing his dinner, and neglecting his chores. Plainly, it is hard to 
 get along with such a person, who is not well disposed towards 
 anyone. This ill-feehng is particularly noticeable against city 
 folks, for the farmer believes that they have a good time and the 
 best of life at his expense. He is ridiculed and avoided: the 
 popular description of the queer, cranky old Yankee is a sad 
 reahty. Finally he is forced to give up the struggle in despair. 
 
114 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 and goes to the successful son or daughter in the city. The farm 
 is now abandoned. 
 
 There is where the foreigner steps in. He comes from a coun- 
 try where everyone in the family works, and works hard; where 
 food is extremely high in proportion to wages received and he 
 must live cheaply to live at all; where land is high and the poor 
 own but small portions; and where a general knowledge of farm- 
 ing and economy is more widespread than in America. This 
 man comes over with a large family, a Uttle money, and a lot 
 of good intentions. Land in New England is still comparatively 
 cheap, and for a small amount he gets enough to cultivate. 
 Perhaps two or three other famihes of foreign people come to 
 the neighborhood. What is the result? The conditions now 
 are perhaps comparable to those formerly existing on the farm. 
 There are large famihes of persons, strong, willing, and able to 
 work. Everyone, even the youngest, has a task to perform. 
 Neighbors co-operate, seemingly working together in perfect 
 harmony. That is how they get along with the labor problem. 
 
 Their food is simple, cheap, plain to the extreme, but plenti- 
 ful, and they thrive and work hard with rations on which a 
 Yankee could not exist; the greater part of it comes from the 
 farm, and thus is stopped another source of expense by which 
 a New Englander would be handicapped. 
 
 Another important point is that the foreigner has a better 
 peneral knowledge of agriculture, and of the care of animals, 
 than the American. Of course this helps in many ways. He 
 finds the land in poor condition, but he knows how to build it 
 up, and then how to bring it beyond the stage of productive- 
 ness to which the Yankee was hmited. His animals are better 
 cared for than he himself and he gets more out of them than 
 the old farmer did out of his. Here again is a saving of labor 
 by increased animal efficiency and more produce because of 
 improved land; this means more profit all round. 
 
 Most of this money goes back into the land, for the immi- 
 grant gives his care first to the animals, then to the land, and 
 last to his home and himself. It is easily seen that, living and 
 farming on such a basis, the foreigner is bound to succeed. 
 
IDEAS AND INDIVIDUALS 115 
 
 He is becoming more and more an important factor in the 
 reclamation of New England farms. 
 
 In the last division we have the modern agriculturist. This 
 division may be again divided into three classes: the man who 
 takes up farming as a business, the specialist, and the capital- 
 ist. In any case, there is one essential point of agreement, 
 which is that farming is regarded as a science. 
 
 The foreigner makes mistakes, but he succeeds through his 
 hard work and frugality, almost by main force. The modern 
 farmer succeeds because he knows what to do, when to do it, 
 and how to do it. He understands finance and watches the 
 market for a favorable opportunity to dispose of his produce. 
 He recognizes the value of machinery as a solution of the labor 
 problem; he utiUzes a maximum amount of machinery and ani- 
 mal labor. He profits by the government attempts to help 
 farmers. In short, he studies the subject and, better still, 
 applies what he learns. 
 
 This class is invariably of higher standing in the world and 
 can understand refinement and culture. Their homes show 
 this appreciation of higher things and exert a pleasant and 
 instructive influence. They are business men on a farm and 
 are as interested and take as active a part in everything which 
 concerns the public as does the city business man. Although 
 the extent of this recent system is not very great as yet in New 
 England, the Government Experimental Stations and Agri- 
 cultural Schools are bringing it more and more to the front. 
 If their statistics and bulletins may be beheved, the success of 
 scientific fanning is assured. 
 
j^ 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 LOGICAL SUBDIVISIONS 
 
 In any exhaustive research into the nature of a subject, 
 it is desirable to avoid the one-sidedness of the method of 
 deaUng with individuals in classes, but at the same time 
 to keep its simple and clear distinctions. This is done by- 
 viewing the subject under a series of related classes, and 
 thus developing all that need be said about it from some 
 particular point of view. So the old-fashioned teacher of 
 rhetoric called his pupil's attention to body, introduction, 
 and conclusion of the essay. With those three general 
 headings he undertook to sum up all that need be said 
 of a piece of writing as regards the point of view of its 
 structure. It was a purely mechanical division, as surely 
 complete as dividing a six-inch rule into the first three 
 inches and the last three; and yet it had the advantage 
 of presenting three topics for discussion instead of one. 
 This may be called the analysis of an idea. Again, in 
 order to develop his criticism in greater detail, the rhetoric 
 teacher classified all writing as narrative, exposition, 
 argument, and description. This is, of course, the divi- 
 sion of a class. These two illustrations represent the two 
 methods of logical subdivision. We may analyze an idea 
 into its abstract parts, or we may separate a class into 
 smaller classes. The purpose in either case is the same: 
 to spread out a topic before the mind and to secure a 
 logical and orderly development. 
 
 In such an attempt, the first essential is to find a prin- 
 
LOGICAL SUBDIVISIONS 117 
 
 ciple by which the division may proceed. The easiest 
 principle to handle, and the most surely comprehensive, 
 is time. If, for instance, one tells completely the story 
 of the development of wireless telegraphy, one may be sure 
 that the parts of the subject are treated distinctly, and 
 that nothing essential is left out. Another principle 
 almost as convenient, and more generally useful, is space. 
 To deal with the whole subject of body armor, it is neces- 
 sary only to take the parts of the body one by one and 
 describe the devices for protecting each. The students of 
 a school may, by a similar use of space relations, be clas- 
 sified as those who live in dormitories, those who lodge in 
 the town, and those who come daily from other places. 
 This division covers the whole of space, and so is evi- 
 dently comprehensive. 
 
 When neither time nor space will serve for a division, 
 some other principle must be applied. The most advan- 
 tageous choice will often be found connected with the 
 point of view from which the topic is being considered, 
 or, in other words, the purpose behind the treatment. In 
 the attempt, for instance, to increase the interest in a 
 club or society, the members would be properly divided 
 according to the causes which keep them away from the 
 m.eetings. This happens to be a case in which the principle 
 can easily be expressed in words. In other instances, 
 though the division is felt to be satisfactory, one may be 
 completely baffled in the attempt to state the idea on 
 which it is based. International law recognizes the rights 
 of a country to be three-fold : of sovereignty, independence, 
 and equality. This division evidently covers the whole 
 ground; and yet on what is it based? Perhaps as good a 
 suggestion as any may be that it rests on a space relation. 
 Sovereignty concerns internal activities, independence is 
 freedom from outside interference, and equality means a 
 
118 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 square deal in all reciprocal relations between the interior 
 and the outside world. 
 
 Whatever the principle, it should, in theory, fulfil two 
 requirements: first, its classes must not omit anything 
 important; and second, they must not be of such a sort 
 that the same individuals can fall within two or more. 
 For example, an instructor, studying the motives to which 
 he can appeal to get good work, may divide his students 
 into four classes: those who work to please the teacher; 
 those who enjoy their work; those who wish to learn; 
 and those who work because they are accustomed to obey 
 orders. In attempting to criticise this division, he first 
 asks himself whether there may not be some men not 
 included in any of the groups. This question he cannot 
 answer with certainty. The principle behind the division 
 is cause; and there may be at work a thousand causes of 
 which he has no idea. On this first point, then, he can 
 say only that at present no other important cause occurs 
 to him. The second step in his criticism will be to ascer- 
 tain whether there are students who belong in two classes. 
 If those who wish to learn are also those who enjoy their 
 work, then he will do better to drop one class of the two, 
 or to try some other scheme of division. So he attempts, 
 as far as conditions permit, to secure the two theoretical 
 requirements of comprehensiveness in the whole scheme 
 and mutual exclusiveness in the subdivisions. 
 
 The principle, once selected, may lead to the division of 
 an idea, or to the separation of a class into smaller groups. 
 The simplest method of dividing an idea is to take the 
 qualities which would go to make up a definition or 
 description and develop them separately as subtopics. 
 A student, let us say, wishes to speak before his class on 
 the German theatres. He wants his talk to move ahead 
 by obvious steps, and he wants an outline which will hold 
 
LOGICAL SUBDIVISIONS 119 
 
 his own mind down to details. Therefore he concludes 
 to deal first with the theatre system, second with the 
 actors, and third with the plays. This is obvious logic; 
 one needs no knowledge of Germany to invent the scheme, 
 for it rests merely on the statement of theory that every 
 theatre must have a management and actors and plays. 
 In a similar way, the effects of the atmosphere may be 
 classified as those due to its own nature, as oxidation and 
 carbonation; those due to its state, as freezing and thawing; 
 and those due to associated things, as deposits of dust and 
 loess, light in shadowed places, and colors in the evening 
 sky. The logic, again, is obvious. Even an inhabitant 
 of the moon, wholly unaccustomed to atmosphere, must 
 know that, whatever it is, it has a nature, a state, and 
 relations with other things. This is plainly a division 
 based on the nature of the idea. 
 
 Most divisions of an idea, however, are not of this 
 obvious sort, but call, rather, for knowledge of the special 
 case. Of such a kind, very frequently, is the outline of a 
 book or long special article. In dealing with sugar, for 
 instance, one might treat of its chemistry, its culture, its 
 manufacture, its history, and its statistics. A complete 
 explanation of electric submarine mines would involve an 
 account of the source of the power, the position of the 
 source, the position of the mines, the communication, 
 the method of springing the mines, safety appliances, and 
 the advantages of this type of mine. In both these cases 
 only a few, if any, of the headings can be derived from the 
 idea itself. The others, though important, are accidental 
 qualities. Experience alone can discover what they are. 
 
 The second type of division relates to the individual 
 cases, rather than to the idea. In this kind the off-hand 
 method of pure theory is not frequently to be applied. 
 A good working division of a class presupposes, in most 
 
120 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 subjects, an intimate knowledge of the facts. A layman 
 might divide fungi into edible and non-edible. That 
 would be at least a natural step in thought, though by no 
 means logical or necessary. Further than that he could 
 not go without study of the instances. The next principle 
 of division might turn out to be form, or color, or any one 
 of several other qualities. In the same way a person with- 
 out technical knowledge might assume that earthquakes 
 could be classified according to the nature of the disturb- 
 ance from which they arose. There, however, he must 
 stop. As to the fact and as to the list of causes, if any, 
 he would need the advice of a specialist. 
 
 There is one sort of subdivision of a class which happens 
 to be comprehensive, obvious, and fatally easy to handle. 
 It is the separation of those which are of a particular kind 
 from those which are not. In attempting to use this 
 method the thinker will need, more than anywhere else, 
 to remind himself of what he knows of the relation between 
 ideas and subjects of thought. If the student of this book 
 has not suffered from the distinction, already referred to, 
 between those who are good and those who are not, he 
 must at least have met that between those who have 
 reached years of discretion and those who have not. 
 This classification is at the bottom of the theory of disci- 
 pline in almost every home. Another two-part division 
 no less troublesome is that between those who know a 
 subject and those who do not. We meet it daily in the 
 class-room, and have it forced upon us by teachers who 
 are perhaps not any longer students. The trouble with 
 all such disjunctions is that they are not comprehensive. 
 They leave out of count a third, intermediate class, which 
 usually contains the precise case that is in dispute. 
 
 In the subdivision of a class it is highly important that 
 all the qualities of individuals in the smaller groups be 
 
LOGICAL SUBDIVISIONS 121 
 
 naturally associated with one another, and with the pur- 
 pose of the division. If that be the case, any convenient 
 external sign may be adopted as a badge of distinction. 
 It would be of no consequence, for instance, that a certain 
 group of animals have hoofs, except that this peculiarity 
 is accompanied with others which distinguish this kind 
 clearly from all the remaining classes. Such a combina- 
 tion of an associated group of qualities makes a useful 
 subdivision. Again, it might occur to us to classify 
 weapons according to their material. In that case, how- 
 ever, we should have the stiletto and the automatic pistol 
 incongruously placed together; and the class would be 
 useless as a means of developing thought. Once more, 
 suppose a school in which regular courses of studies were 
 laid down in requirement for the degree. It might then 
 be natural for the cataloguer, thinking only of separating 
 those in line for graduation from the others, to divide the 
 list into regular and special students. This would be 
 purely a business matter, with no purposed implication of 
 praise or blame. Special students, however, would in- 
 clude both those who had failed in the regular courses 
 and those who had never desired to undertake them. 
 If this fact were called to the cataloguer's attention, he 
 would see that one of his classes included qualities not 
 related to his main purpose, and would reform it. He 
 would perhaps group the students thereafter as regular, 
 irregular, and special. Thus a classification must be not 
 only comprehensive and distinct, but adapted through- 
 out, in every minor group of qualities, to the purpose 
 under which it was drawn up. 
 
 Finally, in dealing with these subdivisions, one must 
 observe the general caution that applies to the use of all 
 ideas. Mental distinctions are not always the same as 
 differences of fact. In every classification there will be 
 
^. 
 
 122 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 found individual cases that fall on the line and are cut 
 clean in two by the demarcation. Part of their qualities 
 belong with one group and part with another. The 
 artificial lines which we draw do not exist in nature. They 
 are drawn through thought, and that merely for the pur- 
 pose of rendering the measurement of nature more exact. 
 
 EXERCISES 
 
 1. What is the classification implied in the following 
 statements? Explain the principle when possible and 
 define the words employed in naming the subdivisions. 
 
 (a) Adverbs express either the place of an action, its time, its 
 cause, or its manner. 
 
 (6) In proportion as modem science gets more and more 
 mastery of details, scientists tend to become interested in facts, 
 to the exclusion of a wider view of the theories involved. 
 
 (c) The earlier preachers of this theology set the ideal of tlie 
 Christian life so high that persons obliged to get along in con- 
 tact with the real world thought a long time before allying 
 themselves with the church. 
 
 (d) Scientific management takes the form of the application 
 of mathematics and exact methods to every-day work. Sub- 
 stantially it is nothing more than the use of conmion sense in 
 business. 
 
 (e) Thoughts, emotions, desires, — in short, all the physical and 
 mental states, — are mere qualities of the human spirit. What 
 the thing itself may b fefsubstanHaJl^ we have no way of Knowing. 
 
 Jj) It seemshard treatment to tax a man on the basis of a neces- 
 sary quality, like the mere fact of being alive. Accidents, — 
 such, for instance, as the possession of four-percent bonds, — he 
 may perhaps owe to the protection of government and be bound 
 to pay for. 
 
 2. International law covers the relations between 
 states. Examine the two following subdivisions of such 
 
z. 
 
 LOGICAL SUBDIVISIONS 123 
 
 relations. Is there any principle behind either so that 
 we may judge of its completeness? 
 
 {a) Commerce, travel, govermnent, war. 
 
 (6) Rights against other states; rights of territory; of inter- 
 course; of foreigners within a state; of ambassadors; of treaties; 
 of war. 
 
 3. Divide the subject of transportation according (a) 
 to the nature of the route and (6) to the nature of the 
 vehicle. Which method, or what mixture of the two, is 
 best for a development of the subject? 
 
 4. Study the two following divisions of the primary 
 wants of the race. Consider them first as theoretical 
 divisions and then in the light of their usefulness in de- 
 veloping an account of the useful arts, the trades, manu- 
 factures, and so on, which minister to these wants. 
 
 (a) Necessities, conveniences, comforts, and luxuries. 
 (6) Sustenance, clothing, shelter, transportation, defence and 
 offence, enjoyment. 
 
 5. The following is the list of activities usually assigned 
 to municipal governments. Is there any way of telling 
 whether the list is complete? Is it based, for instance, 
 on the primary wants of the race, or on the definition of 
 city life? Judging by the conclusion which you reach, 
 does the question of adding a new activity, as for in- 
 stance ownership of an electric lighting plant, depend in 
 any degree on logic? 
 
 Ways and means of communication and transportation. 
 Water and hghting supplies. 
 Municipal markets. 
 Disposal of wastes: 
 
 Sewage, garbage, and rubbish. 
 
 Street cleaning. 
 
124 
 
 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 Protection of life, health, and property: 
 
 Police. 
 
 Courts. 
 
 Board of health. 
 
 Fire department. 
 
 Building inspection. 
 Education. 
 Recreation: 
 
 Playgrounds. 
 
 Parks. 
 Charities and correction. 
 
 6. Suppose that the student has read the story of 
 Naaman, as referred to in Part I, Chapter II, and wishes 
 to develop and at the same time to arrange his ideas as 
 to the character of Naaman. He makes three separate 
 outlines, tr^-ing each time a new principle of classification, 
 as follows: 
 
 The Character of Naaman 
 
 I. 
 
 (Time) 
 
 n. 
 
 (QuaUty) 
 
 in. 
 
 (Cause) 
 
 (1) Attitude of mind before hearing of the 
 
 prophet. 
 
 (2) Reasons for taking journey. 
 
 (3) Behavior in the presence of Elisha. 
 
 (4) Reasons for bathing in the Jordan. 
 
 (5) State of mind after the healing. 
 
 (1) Arrogance. 
 
 (2) Willingness to be advised. 
 
 (3) Frankness. 
 
 (4) Generosity. 
 
 (5) Capacity for faith. 
 
 (6) Religious feeling. 
 
 (1) Previous training. 
 
 (2) Religious notions. 
 
 (3) Surroundings. 
 
 (4) Position. 
 
LOGICAL SUBDIVISIONS 125 
 
 (5) Occupation. 
 
 (6) Effect of Elisha's reception. 
 
 (7) Effect of the servants' advice. 
 
 (8) Effect of the cure. 
 
 Study the above outlines to determine: (1) which 
 will give the writer most assurance of having covered 
 the subject thoroughly; (2) which will most expose 
 him to the danger of repetition; and (3) which will be 
 most likely, when filled out, to give a natural and con- 
 vincing character sketch of Naaman. 
 
 7. The points of view suggested in Exercise 4, Part II, 
 Chapter II, should be carefully studied as examples of 
 classification. In each set of headings (as A and B; A, 
 I and II; A, I, 1, 2, 3, etc.) study the completeness of the 
 classification and the idea on which it is founded. Try 
 especially to suggest a more complete set of headings for 
 the social life of the community (B, II). 
 
 8. Study the following division of the results of a lib- 
 eral education. It should be comprehensive and the 
 standards chosen are intended to be useful in developing 
 statements that will be important and characteristic of 
 the liberally educated man. Can you suggest changes or 
 additions? 
 
 Intellectual results: Reason 
 
 Mastery of facts: . Creative power 
 
 Science Application 
 
 Literature Appreciation 
 
 History Moral results: 
 Language Self-restraint 
 
 Development of mind: Unselfishness 
 
 Memory Religious feeUng 
 
 Imagination Manners: 
 Judgment Tact 
 
126 THE MEANING OF STATEMENTS 
 
 mere: 
 
 Physical results: 
 
 Breeding 
 
 Exercise 
 
 Bearing 
 
 Cleanliness 
 
 Speech 
 
 Temperance 
 
 9. The following is an incomplete set of headings 
 designed to apply to the students attending any high 
 school. Try to fill it out by adding all the headings 
 necessary to produce a complete report on the student 
 body. How many of 'the topics on your list would be 
 of interest to the high-school principal? to the athletic 
 manager? to the salesman who visited town with samples 
 of sporting goods? 
 
 Number Occupation of father Religion 
 
 Age Nationality of parents Scholarship standing 
 
 Sex Income of parents Fraternities 
 
 Residence Allowances Support of athletics 
 
 10. Devise a set of headings for a card catalogue, 
 three inches by five inches, on which the scholarship com- 
 mittee of a college may record information regarding its 
 scholarship applicants. 
 
 11. A young engineer has determined to make himself 
 a specialist, with a view of writing and talking on aero- 
 nautics. He is beginning to use a filing cabinet. Suggest 
 as many convenient titles as occur to you for the envelopes. 
 
PART III 
 
 THE VERIFICATION AND PROOF 
 OF STATEMENTS 
 
 In Part III we are to consider the final question of 
 logic, that of the relation between our facts and those 
 of other people. In the conflict of opposing points of 
 view, we are forced, sooner or later, to decide who is right. 
 Philosophically and logically, this question cannot be 
 answered till its form is changed; but practically it can. 
 One may be right in any one of several senses. There is, 
 first, a variety of truth which may be called external. 
 It is in agreement with the experience of the majority of 
 well-informed observers. This kind may rest on direct 
 testimony as to the fact, or on a law of how such facts 
 generally work out. In the latter case the statement is 
 verified only indirectly, through a process of reason, and 
 is not known to be certainly, but only probably true. 
 The second variety of truth is mental. Its statements 
 rest immediately upon ideas, and do not need the evidence 
 of the senses for their support. Finally, both external 
 truth and mental truth demand a social backing. The 
 observation, the law, or the definition must be supported 
 by the majority of intelligent people concerned. There 
 is no other basis on which they can lay claim to be called 
 the truth. 
 
 Chapter I, continuing in the line of Part II, Chapter 
 III, distinguishes statements of physical conditions from 
 statements about ideas. In Chapter II are explained the 
 
128 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 more direct methods of arriving at the truth, observation, 
 already treated, and reports of the observations of other 
 people. In this connection the student's attention is 
 called to the great storehouse of authoritative statement 
 to be found in reference books, and he is asked to examine 
 a few of the compilations most useful in general reading. 
 Chapters III and IV discuss the methods of arriving 
 indirectly at truth which cannot be directly observed. 
 That is, one may judge of its probability on the basis of 
 what is usually true of similar things, or in the light of 
 established sequences of cause and effect. In Chapter V 
 is shown the method of developing theoretical truth, 
 through deduction from larger and more widely inclusive 
 statements of theory. 
 
 The exercises in Part III are almost wholly critical 
 and analytical. Students who have sufficient time to 
 devote to the subject should in addition write arguments 
 and engage in oral debates. In this way they will speedily 
 provide themselves with a multitude of interesting and 
 amusing examples for analysis. The debates should be 
 informal and will require no text-book in argumentation 
 for their guidance. The essentials are merely a suitable 
 subject, as timely and personal as may be, and material 
 for such reading as time permits. The choice of subject 
 must be left to the teacher and his class. In the selection 
 of material, if the subject be one of general public interest, 
 the Appendix on reference books should prove helpful. 
 
/, 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 STATEMENTS OF FACT AND STATEMENTS OF THEORY 
 
 Statements obtained by the use of general ideas, pure 
 ideas, and ideals are of two sorts, each necessary to the 
 process of thought, but each independent of the other 
 and setting up its own standards of accuracy. One of 
 these classes relates to actual conditions, the other to 
 theories. The distinction between the two is in general 
 not difficult of illustration. If, for instance, I allege that 
 during the last municipal election no Democrat voted the 
 independent ticket, I refer to a state of things in the out- 
 side world of experience. In attempting to back up such 
 a statement, I need not rely upon the opinions of an 
 authority, however weighty, and I do not appeal to reason; 
 rather I go out and compile statistics or take testimony. 
 The matter concerns a large group of individual cases, a 
 general idea, and can be finally settled only through an 
 appeal to evidence. Such assertions may be called, for 
 lack of a better name, statements about facts. 
 
 If, on the other hand, I assert that no true Democrat 
 will ever vote the independent ticket, my meaning is, 
 obviously, that no man who bolts from his party is worthy 
 of the name of Democrat. A position of this sort no 
 appeal to facts can finally establish, but only an agree- 
 ment as to the proper meaning of a term. The thought 
 behind the word ''Democrat" is in this case an ideal, 
 but the same sort of reasoning might equally well be based 
 on a pure idea. The point is that, in either case, to prove 
 the assertion recourse would be had to precisely those 
 
130 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 means which were found valueless in establishing the 
 truth of a statement about fact. One would need either 
 to overwhelm an opponent by quoting authorities, or to 
 reason him out of his position by reference to some defini- 
 tion with which he nmst agree. Assertions which need 
 to be supported in this fashion may be called statements 
 about theory. 
 
 The distinction between facts and theories is, like any 
 other distinction made in thought, merely a convenient 
 method of analysis, intended, for greater ease of under- 
 standing, to separate two qualities not always kept 
 separate in reality. In using this distinction we are to 
 remember that any particular statement may on ex- 
 amination prove so ambiguous that no one can exactly 
 determine whether the speaker meant it in a theoretical 
 or in an actual sense. The speaker himself will often be 
 puzzled to know. If we put to him the question, "Are 
 you talking now on the basis of your experience with 
 facts, or do you mean that the thing seems to you in 
 theory likely to be so?" he will probably reply, "It seems 
 to me that it must be so, but at the same time I have had 
 a certain amount of experience which confirms my view." 
 
 Statements of fact, pure and simple, with no admixture 
 of theory, are comparatively infrequent. They would 
 need to be made by what is called a pure observer, one 
 who, like a sensitive plate or a seismograph, makes it his 
 business merely to register what goes on before him. 
 This is the ideal attitude in the beginning of any scientific 
 problem. There the observer attempts to devoid his 
 mind of feeling and of prejudice, so that he may attend 
 strictly to facts. The errors in observation arise in large 
 part from the difl&culty of attaining this mechanical per- 
 fection. The natural man, having been nicely put to 
 sleep, is constantly waking, and sadly interrupts the 
 
STATEMENTS OF FACT AND OF THEORY 131 
 
 working of the machine. He is constantly throwing out 
 disquieting suggestions of what he thinks ought to be, 
 or what he prefers; and the moment the mind attacks 
 these questions it is no longer in a condition to deal with 
 pure statements about facts. Facts belong solely in the 
 world of what is. 
 
 Since the world of facts has appropriated the question 
 of what is, there remain for theory only two other matters : 
 namely, what must be and what ought to be. What must 
 be can never be determined through observation, for 
 nature knows no necessities, or at least, if she knows 
 them, she has not commimicated them to us. The laws 
 of the laboratory are not like those of the legislature; 
 they make no pretence of dictating to facts. If, for in- 
 stance, one says, *' Silver is always tarnished in the presence 
 of sulphur, and when I put my watch in my match-pocket 
 I ought to have known that it would be blackened," one 
 uses an expression sufficiently accurate for common speech, 
 but still not exact. More nicely put, the thought would 
 run, "Silver has always been observed to tarnish, and so 
 the watch will in all probability be blackened. '^ As to 
 the necessity of the case, no man could fairly make an 
 assertion unless he had the thing under his own control. 
 He can say, ** This must be," where his own will is sufficient 
 to produce it; but in regard to changing the chemical 
 properties, — or even guaranteeing them against change, 
 — the will has not the slightest effect. There is one way, 
 and only one, of getting round the obstacle and arriving 
 at a statement of what must necessarily be true; that is 
 to shift the definition till it suits the case. Suppose, for 
 instance, that by a miracle the silver were for once pre- 
 served from tarnishing. Then the owner, who had asserted 
 that it must become discolored, could still save the day 
 by denying that the material was really silver. Even 
 
132 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 when confronted with chemical tests, he might still hold 
 out, with the assertion that nothing could be really silver, 
 in his sense, unless it were found to tarnish. Thus he 
 could remove the whole dispute from the world of facts 
 and take up an impregnable position in the world of defini- 
 tions and theories. 
 
 Such a procedure, though a bit fantastic in this case, 
 is characteristic enough of human nature, and may be 
 matched \vith a thousand instances from daily hfe. A 
 commercial agent sells you a machine which is warranted 
 with proper care to last ten years. If it breaks down on 
 the first day, he has merely to throw you back on the 
 definition, — you did not give it proper care. Or again, 
 another tells you that he has a doctrine, or a medicine, 
 which, if taken in faith, will cure all your ills. You try 
 it without results, but the experiment is inconclusive, for 
 no doubt you lacked the faith. Even if the whole world 
 tried it and failed, it could still be pointed out that there 
 is no true faith this side of Heaven. With such reserva- 
 tions it is quite possible to make assertions about what 
 must be, for they relate, fundamentally, to ideas, which 
 can always be adjusted to suit the speaker. They have 
 on the face of them a guarantee that they belong among 
 theories, for they are in every way independent of the 
 world of facts. 
 
 The second department of theories, the question of 
 what ought to be, relates to the use and definition of ideals. 
 This is a type of thinking in which the mind frees itself 
 from obhgation to the facts given it by experience and 
 produces standards of its own. Theories of this sort cover 
 what, broadly speaking, we call the difference between 
 *'good" and "bad." If, for instance, we permit Farmer 
 Brown to serve us again by way of illustration, we may 
 suppose that, driving home from church in a reasonably 
 
STATEMENTS OF FACT AND OF THEORY 133 
 
 social mood, he desires to make conversation with his 
 wife. He comments on the sermon; it was in his opinion 
 remarkably good. If Mrs. Brown happens to be unre- 
 sponsive, her opening for dissent is clear. She expresses 
 a wish that the preacher would drop his theology and talk 
 a little practical reUgion. After recovering from this 
 rebuff, the farmer may try again. He saw Ruben Wildfire 
 at church with his wife and imagines him to be doing 
 better lately. Mrs. Brown doesn't know what he means 
 by ** doing better." Every time she goes to the store she 
 sees Ruben sitting idle on a soap box. If in an unusually 
 placid frame of mind, Farmer Brown may try a third 
 opening. It was a pretty hat Nelly Grey had on. Again 
 Mrs. Brown is unable to agree. She doesn't know what he 
 means by ''pretty"; it was last summer's hat made over. 
 At the close of such a conversation Farmer Brown is 
 likely to feel that he has been abused. The logical mind, 
 however, can see plainly that his overthrow was due 
 chiefly to an unfortunate choice of subjects. Without in 
 the least intending it, he has invaded the domain of theory, 
 in the department of what ought to be. He has opened 
 up three questions which rest wholly on definitions, — 
 one's ideas, namely, of a good sermon, a decent behavior, 
 and a pretty hat. Indeed the trouble lies deeper still. 
 Before one could come to a rational conclusion on these 
 specific opinions, it would be necessary to answer the 
 fundamental questions on which they rest. These are: 
 What is true rehgion? What is the ideal of manly con- 
 duct? and What is beauty? — three problems not likely 
 to be solved within the limits of a drive from church. 
 Yet, such as these problems are, they illustrate sufficiently 
 well the type of theories that concern what ought to be. 
 Their theoretical character is seen this time, not in the 
 attempt to tell facts what they must do, but in the disposi- 
 
134 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 tion to show them what they ought to be on pain of falling 
 below the ideal. 
 
 The whole distinction between facts and theories can 
 perhaps best be presented, by way of a final word, in the 
 following variety of what is later called the "proof of 
 envy." It has been familiar to most of us, in moments 
 of discouragement, throughout our school days. 
 
 "The Ufe of the student is a hard one, for he is forever 
 under somebody's thumb, forever at tasks which are set 
 by another, and in which often he fails entirely to see 
 anything of interest or of value." 
 
 This, as the presence of the word "for" reveals, is a 
 piece of reasoning; and it is based, therefore, on some sort 
 of general statement connecting freedom and happiness, — 
 the lack of freedom brings unhappiness. If we question 
 the speaker as to his grounds for believing this funda- 
 mental statement, he may say, "People who lack free- 
 dom are seen to be unhappy. History shows this, my own 
 life shows it, and the belief is supported by what I have 
 observed of the lives of other men." 
 
 In such a case the statement relates wholly to facts. 
 It makes no attempt to explain the thing logically, or to 
 show why it must be true, but is content with asserting 
 that it is. On the other hand the speaker when questioned 
 might give a wholly different reply. 
 
 " Anyone can see that a man who lacks freedom cannot be 
 happy. Freedom means the ability to do as one pleases, and 
 to do as one pleases is part of the definition of happiness." 
 
 Here is a matter of pure theory. It is, in the first place, 
 based on the relation between two ideas; the connection 
 behind it is a rational connection of thought. Moreover, 
 it undertakes to dictate to facts as to what they must do. 
 This it effects not, of course, through a power over the 
 facts, but through the ability to refuse them admission 
 
STATEMENTS OF FACT AND OF THEORY 135 
 
 under the terms employed. If the man who asserts that 
 he who lacks freedom must be unhappy is confronted with 
 any troublesome instances to the contrary, he can always 
 rule them out. "The lack of freedom," he can say, "is 
 only apparent, not real." Or again, "This is not true 
 happiness, though outwardly it appears so." He is on 
 safe ground in these assertions, for his words have behind 
 them the authority of the mind over its own ideas. 
 
 Here, then, are two fundamentally different explanations 
 of why the speaker believes that there is a connection 
 between freedom and happiness. The former of these, 
 that which concerns what has been observed, is of the 
 nature of what scientists call a "law," a generalization 
 about facts. The latter, the assertion of a connection 
 between ideas, may be called a rule or principle, and 
 belongs wholly in the world of theories. 
 
 EXERCISES 
 
 ^ The student should review the remarks in Part I, 
 Chapter I, about the difference between a grammatical 
 subject and a logical subject, and then attempt to deter- 
 mine what is the logical subject, the real matter under 
 discussion, in each of the following assertions. 
 
 (a) All art is an imitation of nature. 
 (6) A great fortune is a great slavery. 
 
 (c) Riches for the most part are hurtful to them that possess 
 them. 
 
 (d) We learn not at school, but in life. 
 
 (e) To regulate household affairs and attend to her children 
 is the highest recommendation of woman. 
 
 (/) No expectation can allure a good man to commit evil. 
 
 2. Do the assertions in the list above relate to fact or 
 to theory? Let your answer be determined by the sort 
 of reasoning you would use in attempting to prove them. 
 
136 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 3. Are the following to be regarded as statements of fact 
 or statements of theory? 
 
 (a) It is not strange that there are some differences between 
 the language of the people of England and that of the people of 
 the United States. 
 
 (6) Inflectional languages are those which, as in the Latin, 
 consist largely of stems which change the termination to indi- 
 cate case, tense, number, etc. 
 
 (c) One will always write best about that of which one knows 
 most. 
 
 (cO It is impossible to express ideas unless one has ideas to 
 express. 
 
 (e) After the matter has been gathered, the next thought must 
 be directed upon the manner in which it is to be expressed. 
 
 (/) The natural order and logical sequence in a sentence 
 should be observed. 
 
 ig) The great difference between history and fiction is that 
 the events recorded in history are true, while fiction deals with 
 purely imaginary circumstances. 
 
 (h) By the growth of democracy is meant the admission of the 
 people to a larger share in administering the affairs of the country. 
 
 (i) There are repubhcs in fact which are not so in name, and 
 there are repubhcs in name which are really monarchies or 
 empires. 
 
 {j) Under the right conditions, it is to be expected that the 
 repubUcan form of government will confer upon a people stabil- 
 ity, good order, and such progress as no other form of govern- 
 ment can secure. 
 
 4. In Part I, Chapter III, Exercise 2 (6), which are 
 statements of fact and which statements of theory? 
 
 5. In Part II, Chapter III, review Exercise 1. 
 
 6. In Part II, Chapter V, Exercise 2 (6), distinguish 
 the statements of fact from the statements of theory. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 EVIDENCE: TESTIMONY AND AUTHORITIES 
 
 Statements about facts cannot be verified by reason- 
 ing processes. The objects and events upon which these 
 statements depend have a fashion of behaving as they 
 please, quite independently of all our principles of thought. 
 All that can be done, then, is to watch them and faithfully 
 record whatever, in their own good pleasure, they choose 
 to be. The result of such observation puts us in possession 
 of what we call evidence, and is the only means of testing 
 the correctness of statements about facts. Truth, in such 
 statements, is a conformity between the meaning of words 
 and the actual conditions; and the search for truth is the 
 testing of the value of evidence. 
 
 Evidence may come to the observer directly, through 
 the exercise of his senses, or indirectly, through the testi- 
 mony of others. Direct evidence, and the difiiculty of 
 obtaining it in a trustworthy form, have been spoken of 
 already, in the chapter on Observation. As to the evi- 
 dence that comes indirectly, through the statements of 
 other people, any test of its value involves the attempt 
 to weigh the testimony. Here one brings into practice 
 first the legal principle that the person on trial should be 
 given the benefit of the doubt; unless a motive can be 
 shown for untruthfulness, the speaker must be credited 
 with stating the truth. In a general study of testimony, 
 however, such as a business man might make before 
 crediting a report, it is fair to go much further than would 
 
138 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 be permissible in a court of law. One may justly take into 
 consideration all the conditions under which the words 
 were spoken or written. Much help may be had, too, 
 from a study of human nature, with all its whims and 
 foibles. In Exercise 3 of this chapter, for instance, before 
 deciding to credit or to distrust the student's theory of 
 his character, it is wise to consider not only the condi- 
 tions under which "themes" are usually written, but also 
 the probability, judged from one's general knowledge of 
 character, that a person really ''mulish" would be in a 
 position to understand his own temperament, or would be 
 disposed to boast of it. Even when exact statements are 
 attainable, vanity sometimes leads the mind to despise 
 them. Men have been taught to speak, and especially 
 to write, for effect, rather than with an eye to truth. 
 They feel that guarded statements are undramatic. 
 They fear to put the audience to sleep, or to appear as 
 men of few ideas. Working in this spirit, observers prefer, 
 in lieu of specific assertions, loose statements of preference. 
 They tell you that a face was "pleasant," when they can- 
 not even remember the color of the eyes. They record 
 that a neighborhood is "desirable," without being able to 
 describe a single phase of the social life. Thus the princi- 
 ples of human nature sometimes conspire to damage the 
 value of testimony. It is the standing assumption that 
 our informants are telling the truth; but, as we all know 
 from personal experience, the assumption becomes less 
 and less strong in proportion as conditions are found 
 which might lead the speaker to believe that a little draw- 
 ing of the long bow would be agreeable to others, or 
 benefit himself, or even set him forth as a man of superior 
 intelhgence. 
 
 Fortunately for the literary and scientific worker, there 
 is always available for his specialty a mass of tested evi- 
 
EVIDENCE: TESTIMONY AND AUTHORITIES 139 
 
 dence in the printed books and articles of recognized 
 authorities. In professional subjects, involving an ad- 
 vanced course of school training, a considerable amount 
 of time is devoted to preparing the specialist to handle 
 the literature of his topic. Outside one's specialty, also, 
 there are periodicals and reference books of general in- 
 formation. By the intelligent use of these, it is possible 
 to settle many small questions absolutely, and to get a 
 comprehensive view of many other matters met in current 
 discussion. Such books range from the cyclopaedia down 
 through all sorts of special manuals to the dictionary. 
 Another kind of publication provides abstracts or titles of 
 all important articles appearing in the magazines and re- 
 views. The value of the testimony offered is to be judged 
 by what is known of the writer, or, failing that, the pub- 
 lisher, the purpose of the book, and the date of publication. 
 The second consideration in judging the value of testi- 
 mony is the probability of the statements themselves. 
 This each of us must determine for himself, reasoning from 
 the analogy of his own experience. As a rule a thing 
 which has never been experienced is likely, at least to 
 unimaginative minds, to prove inconceivable; and prob- 
 ability may be sufficiently well described as resemblance 
 to what is already known. In the exercise already referred 
 to, for instance, the student's story of his irritation at 
 "Yale hats and Yale cravats" may strike the enthusiast 
 as absurd, but it is likely to seem convincing enough to 
 one who has himself rebelled at the expansive manners 
 of a certain sort among college students. So it happens 
 that lack of knowledge of life breeds suspicion and shuts 
 out as improbable a lot of testimony which might open 
 up new worlds of fact. As one gains in experience one 
 becomes, not perhaps quicker to believe, but at least 
 slower to reject the statements of others. 
 
140 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 Again the value of testimony may be judged through 
 what can be known, on the face of the matter, of the 
 difficulty or ease of getting at the facts. Experiences 
 are more or less difficult to obtain, according to the nature 
 of the fact to be tested. Often it is necessary to read 
 many books, to interview almost inaccessible people, or 
 to grope for days in a foggy memory, merely to be in a 
 position to write two or three sentences; and even then 
 it must be a lucky or a bold man who can avoid the word 
 "perhaps." Statements which relate to one time and 
 place, when verifiable at all, present the simplest case. 
 If Charles had oatmeal for his breakfast, the fact may 
 easily be established. For himself there is the evidence 
 of the senses; for others, the option of taking his word 
 for it, or obtaining the testimony of the rest of the family. 
 Statements which relate to a general idea, and pretend to 
 tell what has occurred everywhere or always, present a 
 much more difficult problem. Take such a statement as 
 is found in Exercise 1, Part II, Chapter III: "In these 
 families the second generation, the boys and young men 
 of thirty years ago, was generally unsuccessful." If one 
 is disposed to examine closely into the value of evidence, 
 it must be plain at once that here is an assertion extremely 
 hard to verify. Knowledge of the facts presupposes 
 thirty years of close observation of not less, probably, 
 than a hundred famihes, and, toward the end of that 
 period, knowledge by correspondence or verbal report of 
 events in distant places. In simple truth no casual ac- 
 quaintance with a neighborhood will yield this degree of 
 information, but only the systematized effort of a business 
 agency. Here the evidence is under suspicion because of 
 the wide range of facts that it covers; and the case is by 
 no means exceptional. Many of our statements, especially 
 such as are loosely circulated in conversation, have at 
 
EVIDENCE: TESTIMONY AND AUTHORITIES 141 
 
 bottom no better warrant of accuracy. They are offered 
 with the best intentions, and for lack of anything better, 
 to break the silence. In a world where the exact truth is 
 so hard to come by, many assertions pass muster with an 
 "every " or an ''always" which in reality are entitled only 
 to ''in most cases" or "so far as I have observed." 
 Many masquerade as true to facts when their actual veri- 
 fication is in the nature of the case impossible. All we 
 ask of them by way of title to the name "fact" is that in 
 some form or other they shall theoretically be capable of 
 comparison with some condition in the actual world. 
 
 Thus it is no wonder that absolute agreement as to 
 statements of fact is usually beyond hope. In a very 
 few cases, carefully guarded by mathematical theory, the 
 results of different observers correspond closely and show 
 a kind of relative accuracy sufficient for most purposes. 
 Of absolute accuracy there is none. We can never, in 
 the case of matters of fact, be said to attain to that sort 
 of certainty which in matters of theory characterizes 
 proofs.^ We see things with the senses which have devel- 
 oped in us, but these represent by no means the limit 
 of development. In the senses of smell and hearing, at 
 least, many animals excel us. What more highly devel- 
 oped powers might reveal we cannot even imagine, but 
 at least we know that every improvement in instru- 
 ments of observation, like every change in theory, brings 
 to light a new world of fact. Moreover, such part of our 
 knowledge as comes from the testimony of others must 
 be taken for what it is worth, with all the chances of mis- 
 representation. At present, then, when all pains have 
 been taken in observation and all the evidence is in, 
 we must usually content ourselves with the acknowledg- 
 ment that our statements of fact are not absolutely exact, 
 » See Part III, Chapter V. 
 
142 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 but merely an approximation from our present point of 
 view. 
 
 Under these conditions the test of accuracy in state- 
 ments of fact becomes wholly a social one. The final 
 question is not, What is absolutely exact? but, What 
 would be the average conclusion of the most favorably 
 situated and experienced observers? Such a court of 
 final appeal might decide incorrectly, but, provided their 
 decision were unanimous and no one presented a higher 
 type of authority, their verdict would, from the human 
 point of view, be accurate. It is quite possible we may 
 all be wrong, provided we are all wrong in the same 
 degree. 
 
 EXERCISES 
 
 1. In what way does the question of evidence arise 
 in connection with Exercise 1, Part II, Chapter III? 
 
 2. Examine the pretended statements of fact in the 
 following argument. What is their value? Is any of 
 them sufiiciently a matter of common experience to re- 
 quire nothing more than the assertion? 
 
 Some people think that the daily newspapers intrude too 
 much upon the personal affairs and home life of the family. 
 This is perhaps partly right and partly wrong. 
 
 In the first place I think that people should discriminate 
 between the respectable papers and the sensational ones. The 
 reckless papers do often invade the department of private affairs. 
 But these papers are few in number compared with the respect- 
 able papers. 
 
 In the second place we should consider carefully what is 
 really private and what is not. If a person lived entirely alone, 
 all his affairs would be private; but as soon as another person 
 comes and lives with him his individual freedom decreases. 
 
 The authority of the church and perhaps of the state is dimin- 
 ishing, but the daily papers search into and reveal the devices 
 
EVIDENCE: TESTIMONY AND AUTHORITIES 143 
 
 which evade the law; thus their protection far outweighs their 
 evils. 
 
 The relation of journalism to the home has been completely 
 changed by modern conditions. Fifty years ago journahsm 
 was little more than writing political pamphlets, which con- 
 tained a little news. But the newspaper of to-day is entirely 
 different. We are dependent upon it in a great many ways. 
 The merchant must have it for the general news and for the 
 news which relates to his business. The housewife must have 
 it for the reports of the things which interest her. In fact, 
 everyone should read the daily paper if he wishes to keep in 
 touch with the world. 
 
 The newspaper has become the power which controls our 
 standards of living, education, fashion, and almost everything. 
 The best papers have broadened themselves to the modern 
 requirements and offer good incentives to broader knowledge. 
 
 3. In the following student composition test the chances 
 that the student is giving a substantially correct account 
 of his character and past life. The test rests on the answer 
 to two questions: (a) Are the statements consistent and 
 convincing, and (6) Is there probable motive for not tell- 
 ing the truth? 
 
 In spite of the fact that, ever since my childhood, I had done 
 all the tinkering for the house and that I was never so happy 
 as when using tools, my mother was determined to make a 
 minister of me. To please her I went so far, during one of my 
 terms at the high school, as to take up Latin; but I could never 
 get a word of it through my head. After that term my mother 
 gave up her pet notion and began to come round to my father's 
 idea of sending me to the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale. 
 Thus they debated what to do with me. I shut my mouth 
 hard and let them debate; I had always been what they call a 
 "mulish child." 
 
 Naturally as I knew my father had planned to send me to 
 Sheffield, the more I heard of the place the more I was deter- 
 
144 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 mined not to like it. Just at this time there happened unfor- 
 tunately to be in town two of my acquaintances who were 
 attending school at Sheffield. They could talk of nothing but 
 New Haven and Yale. They had Yale hats and Yale cravats 
 and Yale calls to whistle under each other's windows at night. 
 I thought them too much incUned to put on airs before the rest 
 of us who had never been to college, and was more than ever 
 disgusted at the thought of Sheffield. This feehng became so 
 strong that I even thought of trying to make up my Latin 
 and enter college. A disagreeable old uncle of mine, however, 
 urged a college course upon me strongly, and even offered to 
 pay my way through Chicago University. I hated the old 
 gentleman so heartily that I would have given up my turning- 
 lathe if he had approved of my using it. His offer cured the 
 college fever. 
 
 When I was thus undecided what I wanted, I met a gradu- 
 ate of College, who brought me to a decision. He was 
 
 the most discouraging man I ever talked to. He spoke highly 
 of the scientific training here, to be sure, but said the entrance 
 examinations were imconamonly hard. He doubted whether a 
 country boy, with a patchwork schooling such as mine prob- 
 ably was, could ever pass. I saw in this remark a chance to 
 defeat my father's plans and to show the graduate what a 
 country boy can do. I began trying to fit myself for the 
 examinations. 
 
 4. What grounds are there for accepting at their face 
 value the statements made by the author of the letter in 
 Exercise IC, Part III, Chapter IV? 
 
 5. Test the value as evidence of your own opinions 
 on the state of school spirit in your school. Consider 
 especially the following points : your acquaintance among 
 graduates, members of the instructing staff, upper class- 
 men, members of your own class; your place of residence; 
 the persons you meet and talk with during lunch hours 
 and intermissions; your knowledge of school traditions; 
 
EVIDENCE: TESTIMONY AND AUTHORITIES 145 
 
 your participation in school affairs, athletic, social, and 
 literary; your knowledge of other institutions of a similar 
 sort. 
 
 6. Undertake as much of the reference work in Appen- 
 dix B as time and the resources of the school library 
 permit. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 ARGUMENTS FROM RESEMBLANCE 
 
 There are many statements of fact which cannot be 
 touched by evidence or observation. They may concern 
 matters too deeply imbedded in the past or relate to 
 mental phenomena or to possibilities of the future. Yet 
 among such are the most vital questions of the practical 
 life. Will the market go higher or continue to sink? 
 In the present dispute am I more likely to succeed by 
 persuasion or by a show of force? Since immediate 
 action is demanded, I require some sort of probable con- 
 clusion on which to base it. In such cases there is no 
 guide save a knowledge of similar things in the past and 
 the belief that things similar in some respects will tend 
 to be similar in all. 
 
 General statements concerning the behavior or the 
 nature of facts are to be had in abundance. We make 
 them ourselves out of experience; we find them everywhere 
 in print. Indeed one of the most debilitating effects of 
 general reading is due to the common occurrence of these 
 sweeping assertions. Whether gullibly accepted or cyni- 
 cally denied, they tend to form unfortunate habits of 
 mind. Most of them would probably not stand the test 
 of comparison with actual conditions; many are based 
 on an idea but ill adapted to the cases under it. They 
 may be the old saws employed by the fireside weather- 
 prophet, the "rules" for picking out a good horse or a 
 faithful employee, or a summary of the few conspicuous 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM RESEMBLANCE 147 
 
 instances in a series. The most trustworthy and dignified 
 among them are the so-called natural laws. These, at 
 least, are careful compilations, checked by the evidence 
 of men equipped to observe. Ordinary talk and reading, 
 however, furnishes almost no instances of reasoning based 
 on generalizations so worthy of respect as these. 
 
 These general statements from which we draw conclu- 
 sions may, when their meaning is studied, be divided 
 into those which relate to causes and those which relate 
 to qualities. The law that evil living weakens a man's 
 power of application indicates a connection between cause 
 and effect. The waste of energy and the habit of pleasure 
 lead through natural connection to inability to concen- 
 trate the mind. On the other hand the common assertion 
 that a halo round the moon will be followed by stormy 
 weather points to a connection between a sign and a 
 thing signified. The halo is not credited with an influence 
 in producing the storm, but is thought of merely as an 
 earlier effect of that disturbance which will later result in 
 precipitation. It may therefore be used as a sign, a present 
 and outward indication of something which, being absent 
 or hidden, cannot be as yet directly observed. The first 
 of these two sorts of law, the connection of cause and 
 effect, is treated in the following chapter. The second, 
 which is based on the assumption that two qualities once 
 found together will always be found together, leads to the 
 various forms of reasoning from resemblance. 
 
 Reasoning from resemblance may be defined as a use 
 of one's notion of the qualities of a class for the purpose 
 of judging what is likely to be true in a new but similar 
 case. This kind of reasoning may be illustrated with the 
 following instance: 
 
 Law : Persons with small cranial capacity are likely to have 
 a limited mental development. 
 
148 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 Application : Niccolo da Uzzano has a small skull. 
 Conclusion: Niccolo has in all probability an inferior mind. 
 (See Exercise 3, Part II, Chapter II.) 
 
 Stated in more general form, the argument is as follows: 
 
 In most instances previously observed, cases marked X have 
 shown the quality Y. 
 
 The present instance shows the mark X. 
 
 The present instance will in all probability have the quahty 7. 
 
 In this example, then, there is a statement of what is 
 generally true of a class, a statement that the present 
 instance appears to belong to the class, and a conclusion 
 drawn from a combination of these two facts. Such is 
 reasoning from resemblance in its simplest form. It 
 is, in short, an attempt to pass from knowledge of most 
 individuals of a particular kind to knowledge of a special, 
 new instance, which, for some cause or other, has not yet 
 been definitely observed. 
 
 A second form of reasoning from resemblance is that 
 which begins with a particular instance, or with several, 
 and draws a conclusion about the whole class. 
 
 The present instances have the quality Y. 
 
 The present instances show the mark X. 
 
 All instances which show the mark X will have the quality Y, 
 
 The Rugby game has been adopted in California; it 
 would probably be liked in colleges generally. Most of 
 the men recently prominent in English affairs are Irish, 
 Scotch, or Welsh. We may, therefore, conclude that 
 the English mind generally is inferior to that of its neigh- 
 bors. This method of reasoning, as was noted in an 
 earlier chapter, is that by which general ideas grow up in 
 the mind. In this way strangers travel abroad, or visit 
 Cape Cod, and retiun with extravagant notions of the 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM RESEMBLANCE 149 
 
 manners, dialect, and habits of dress of the natives. The 
 force of illustrations and concrete instances in developing 
 an idea is due also to this thought relation. Finally, 
 scientists employ it in the search for natural laws; and 
 in this connection it has received the special title of 
 * * inductive reasoning. ' ' 
 
 By still another variety of reasoning from resemblance, 
 the mind begins with a particular instance, passes to the 
 general law, and then to another particular instance 
 similar to the first. 
 
 The present instance has the quality Y. 
 
 The present instance has the mark X. 
 
 Some other instance which shows the mark X will probably 
 have the quality Y. 
 
 (For, all instances that show the mark X may be assimied 
 to have the quality Y.) 
 
 In the literary form of such reasoning it is common to 
 omit all mention of the general law. If it has been well 
 for Columbia to abolish football, it will probably be well 
 for Harvard. The country went through a financial 
 crisis during the last Democratic administration, and so 
 we may look for trouble if the Democrats should win in 
 19 — . Such are the forms commonly taken by such 
 reasoning. This process, too, is one of very frequent 
 occurrence in thinking. It usually passes under the name 
 of "analogy." 
 
 In all these varieties of reasoning the weakest spot is 
 likely to be the pretended general truth. Since it is a 
 statement about fact, it rests upon observation and evi- 
 dence, and shares all the fallibility which attaches to these. 
 Have all the important cases been noticed? Probably 
 not. When an observer starts with some general con- 
 ception in mind, he naturally picks up such instances as 
 
150 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 agree with his idea and overlooks the rest. The rabid 
 partisan in poUtics can tell you all about the successes 
 of his party; of its failures he knows nothing. The 
 melancholy man has a hundred instances to prove that 
 the world is going wrong. So too with systems of weather 
 prediction. Whatever saw a man believes in, whether it 
 relates to groundworms or to the moon, two or three veri- 
 fications in a lifetime are enough to make him certain that 
 his predictions have always come true. This tendency, 
 so plainly observable in laymen, affects in a measure, 
 no doubt, even trained observers. The law of nature, 
 once suggested, accumulates evidence in its own favor 
 and makes the opposing cases harder to find. On account 
 of these limitations, our generalizations about facts ought 
 not, strictly speaking, to present themselves as statements 
 of invariable truth, but only with the reservation that 
 they represent an impression of what has usually held 
 good in the past. 
 
 The first step in making use of such statements to 
 reason from resemblance is the assertion that the new 
 conditions are in all essential respects like the old. The 
 present instance, because it shows the mark of X, will be 
 like the other instances that have shown the mark of X; 
 it will have the quality Y. Such reasoning would be 
 safe only if you had defined a class marked X in such a 
 way as to shut out all cases that did not have the quality 
 Y. Then, however, you would be dealing with an idea; 
 the occurrence of an opposing instance could leave you 
 stranded on a theory. Outside the domain of ideas, 
 close similarity is accidental rather than assured. Nature 
 in its wealth of conditions never exactly repeats itself. 
 So far is this true that even when manufacturers exert 
 their utmost skill to produce a uniform product, each 
 article that leaves the shop has, when closely considered, 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM RESEMBLANCE 151 
 
 a distinct individuality. Thus men who have studied 
 engines tell us that no two of the same make and dimen- 
 sions are aUke. Each has its whims of action and must 
 be coaxed into doing its best. In connection with natural 
 objects or persons the same truth is far more evident. 
 One who reasons that the world will continue to give him 
 a living merely because it has always done so, or that it is 
 safe to board moving trains because he has never yet been 
 injured, is likely some day to find, hidden beneath ap- 
 parent similarity, an uncomfortable and totally unfamiliar 
 result. To be sure that any present instance, however 
 simple, is in essentials like something already observed is 
 a task requiring unusual knowledge and powers of observa- 
 tion; and it is the lack of this certainty which, more than 
 any other factor, helps to reduce our reasoning from 
 resemblance to the level of probabiUty. 
 
 Sometimes even the pretence of finding a close similarity 
 between the new case and those previously observed is 
 dropped, and we take a rough resemblance for what it is 
 worth. This happens when, for instance, we attempt to 
 interpret other people's purposes or states of mind by 
 their actions. So-and-so smiles; when I smile I am 
 pleased, and he is more or less the same sort of creature 
 as I am: he is probably pleased. A is about to invest 
 his money in unlisted stocks; if I bought that particular 
 stock, it would be because I was out of my head: A is 
 probably crazy. To reasoning of this stamp we owe 
 most of our conclusions as to the inner life of others. 
 We hear words and observe signs which, if they issued 
 from us, would indicate certain ideas, feelings, and pur- 
 poses. We conclude, therefore, that there are similar 
 mental states behind the same expressions in others. 
 Such conclusions, though often enough wide of the mark, 
 are on the whole not a bad guide with persons of our own 
 
152 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 race, particularly if in character and habits they closely 
 resemble ourselves. With other races, and even more with 
 animals, this sort of reasoning is but little to be depended 
 upon. Yet we often try to apply it, even to inanimate 
 objects and to our notions of divinity. 
 
 Our conclusions from facts, then, unless derived from 
 evidence, come to us, first, as the result of a reasoning 
 process based on signs. We compare the facts with what- 
 ever in our past experience seems most to resemble them, 
 and conclude that, as they are alike in one respect, they 
 will be alike in all. This method of reasoning, however, 
 can be safely applied only within narrow limits. Even 
 in nature it is hard to find two objects or two events 
 sufficiently alike to warrant the inference that they will 
 resemble one another in qualities not directly observable; 
 and between lower nature and man so great a gulf is 
 fixed that almost no inference can hope to bridge it. 
 
 EXERCISES 
 
 1. Most of the following general statements of fact are 
 drawn from respectable sources in recent literature and 
 have been made the basis of serious arguments. They 
 are inserted partly to call the student's attention to the 
 nature of what passes among us as fact. Any of them 
 which falls within the range of the reader's knowledge 
 should be tested as to its agreement with actual conditions. 
 
 (a) The efficiency of most of our public school systems is 
 diminished by political influence of some sort. 
 
 (6) The best hterature obeys the laws of paragraph structure. 
 
 (c) It is better for a young man beginning on a salary to 
 rent a house than to buy on a mortgage. 
 
 (d) The most lasting results come to the deepest students, 
 and rarely to the so-called practical man. 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM RESEMBLANCE 153 
 
 (e) A poor student at college is as likely as a good one to be 
 a success in professional work. 
 
 (/) Precocious children are likely to be stupid or commonplace 
 adults. 
 
 {g) It is almost necessarily true that membership in a fra- 
 ternity increases the expenses of college hfe, or at least tends to 
 increase them unduly. 
 
 (h) A man will tell the truth about himself when it is to his 
 advantage. 
 
 (i) If you see the dust blowing about the streets, you will 
 find that stormy weather soon follows. 
 
 ij) A man who never looks you in the eye is not to be trusted. 
 
 (k) In the ordinary undergraduate scheme of morality any 
 faculty rule may be broken and the punishment evaded under 
 two conditions: First, if the rule lacks adequate enforcement, 
 so that ''everybody breaks it"; and, second, if the rule itself 
 seems essentially unfair and unjust. ^ 
 
 (I) The four years of college life form habits from which the 
 youth rarely breaks away in later years; if selfish in college, he 
 is likely to be selfish through hfe; if his impulses are altruistic 
 in college, he will have a deep interest in others ever afterward; 
 if he cheats in the class-room, he paralyzes his conscience and 
 lays the foundation of cheating in business; if he is good only 
 when under the watchful eye of a proctor, he is not hkely to 
 make a safe clerk with whom to intrust another's business; if 
 he bets in the football game, he has laid the foundation for 
 gambUng anywhere and everywhere.^ 
 
 (m) It is even more essential that a student shall have done 
 hard work before coming to college, than that he shall do hard 
 work while in college. The previously trained mind can get 
 a great deal out of college with comparatively httle work. The 
 mind that has not been previously well trained can get very 
 
 ^ Meiklejohn, " The Evils of College Athletics." From Harper's 
 Weekly, 47:1751. Copyright, 1905, by Harper & Brothers. By 
 permission of Harper & Brothers. 
 
 2 Fordyce, " College Ethics." The Educational Review, 37: 494. 
 Reprinted by permission. 
 
154 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 little out of college even by hard work. This may be a stumbling- 
 block to the school man, and foolishness to the university man; 
 but the college man knows that in spite of these criticisms from 
 below and from above an amount of leisure can well be afforded 
 in college which would be fatal in either academy or univer- 
 sity. In order to be profitable, however, it must be the lei- 
 sure of a mind previously subjected to prolonged and thorough 
 disciphne.* 
 
 (/^) Take, for instance, that part of college life into which 
 the average boy throws himself with most enthusiasm, — ath- 
 letic sport, — and see how far our students have fallen below 
 the ideal of honesty, how far they still remain from a clear sense 
 of proportion. I recognize the place of strategy in athletics; 
 and I by no means agree with the gentleman who stigmatized 
 a college catcher as "up to all the professional tricks" because 
 "he made a feint of throwing a ball in one direction and then 
 threw it in another," yet the necessity of trusting a game to what 
 the umpire sees is deplorable. A whole-souled and straight- 
 forward young athlete told me once, ^vith smiling good humor, 
 that a football player in his own college (who had everybody's 
 respect) owed his success in the game to a knack of holding his 
 opponent in such a manner as made liis opponent seem to hold 
 him. Few college catchers, I suspect, systematically resist the 
 temptation of pulling down a "ball" to make it look like a 
 "strike"; and many cultivate skill in this sleight of hand as 
 a cardinal point in the game. Even players who trip others, 
 though in public they may be hissed and in private talked 
 about as "muckers," are likely to remain in the team, and in 
 some colleges may become captains (whereas a freshman who 
 breaks training by smoking a single cigarette may be *' queered" 
 for his whole college course). Many ball players use their 
 tongues to confound or excite their adversaries; and whole 
 armies of students, supported by a well meaning college press, 
 make a business of " rattUng " a rival team by what ought to 
 be an inspiration and not a weapon, defensive or offensive — 
 
 iHyde, "The College Man and the College Woman." Re- 
 printed by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM RESEMBLANCE 155 
 
 organized cheering. The youth who plays a clean game is 
 admired, but not always followed; and the doctrine of Mr. 
 Henry L. Higginson and Mr. R. C. Lehmann, that a clean game 
 comes first and winning comes second, though it strikes under- 
 graduates as faultless in theory and as endearing in the men 
 who preach it, is not always suffered, in a hard game, to in- 
 terfere with ''practical baseball" or "practical football," — 
 expressions used among undergraduates much as "practical 
 politics" is used among men of the world.i 
 
 2. Compare the following selection with the outline 
 which accompanies it and see whether it appears to you 
 that the outline fairly represents the substance. Which 
 of the arguments are based on resemblance? 
 
 The party leader of the Democratic minority, being as a 
 rule uneducated, is unable to understand the principles which 
 underhe his national platform. This is particularly liable to 
 be the case because the party out of power will naturally form 
 its principles in opposition to the practical measures of the 
 government and thus base them on theory, speculatively cor- 
 rect, and dear to the student in politics, but abhorred by the 
 practical man. Thus in years of reaction, when the Demo- 
 cratic party comes, as it were by accident, into power, it is unable 
 to live up to its promises. Most of its leaders know little 
 about the principles which brought them the independent vote, 
 and care less. 
 
 The Democratic party cannot live up to its promises, for 
 The Democratic party has leaders that do not understand 
 
 its principles, for 
 The Democratic party has practical politicians as leaders, 
 
 and 
 Practical pohticians cannot understand the principles, for 
 They cannot understand theory, and 
 The principles of the Democratic party are theory. 
 
 ^ Briggs, " School, College and Character." Reprinted by per- 
 mission of Houghton Mifflin Company. 
 
156 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 3. Study the following instance of analogical reasoning 
 quoted from Darwin by Romanes, ''Mental Evolution in 
 Animals." 
 
 One of these [instances] consisted in a large dog, which, 
 while playing with a stick, accidentally thrust one end of it 
 against his palate, when "giving a yelp, he dropped the stick, 
 rushed to a distance from it, and betrayed a consternation which 
 was particularly laughable in so ferocious-looking a creature. 
 Only after cautious approaches and much hesitation was he 
 induced again to lay hold of the stick. This behavior showed 
 very clearly the fact that the stick, while displaying none but 
 the properties he was familiar with, was not regarded by him as 
 an active agent; but that when it suddenly inflicted a pain in a 
 way never before experienced from an inanimate object, he was 
 led for a moment to class it vsith animate objects, and to regard 
 it as capable of again doing him injury." 
 
 4. Pick out and comment upon the laws which underlie 
 the reasoning in the following attempts to discover 
 through resemblance the character of the writer of the 
 composition in Exercise 3, Part III, Chapter II. 
 
 (a) The fellow who gave as a reason for entering college 
 the statement that he had been a "mulish child" appears to 
 have drawn on his imagination. He may have remembered hear- 
 ing, or taking part in, a family discussion as to where he should 
 go to college, in which his father had been in favor of Yale. He 
 may have opposed this suggestion, as it is natural for all fellows 
 to wish to select their college. Because of this act of opposition 
 and a few other occasions on which he had been rather stubborn, 
 he considered himself a mulish child and prided himself in it. 
 As a matter of fact few children are eager to do as they are told, 
 and they will complain bitterly when they are forced to do what 
 they do not hke. 
 
 His tendency to exaggerate is pronounced, and he is inclined 
 to rash statements. For instance, his statement to the effect 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM RESEMBLANCE 157 
 
 that he would give up one of his favored possessions if a certain 
 relative even approved of it^ use; another remark about Yale 
 being a poor college because certain Yale men did not meet his 
 narrow, countrified ideas. I do not mean that he was incorrect 
 in his opinion of these men personally, but his haste to jump 
 at conclusions from a few bare facts is noticeable. To my mind 
 this is the way he came to imagine himseK a "muhsh child," 
 because of a few contrary acts he had done during his early life. 
 Otherwise there is nothing extraordinary about him, as he 
 appears to have characteristics common to all young fellows, — 
 such as ideas of their own importance and the inabiUty of other 
 people successfully to cross them in their desires. 
 
 (6) A man's opinion of himself is often likely to be different 
 from other people's opinion of him. lience, when we find him 
 describing himself as obstinate or ''bull-headed," we are in- 
 cUned to doubt him; we should believe him more readily if he 
 were talking of another. Now a man or boy whose parents 
 wish to send him to college either has very indulgent parents 
 or else has shown himself w^orthy of being sent to college. But, 
 when he refuses to study Latin, and gives up a chance of assist- 
 ance by an uncle, the second reason falls through, and we must 
 admit that his parents have treated him very leniently, to say 
 the least. And when a person's parents are indulgent, what 
 are we likely to find? The boy grows up, always having his 
 own way, doing what he wants to do and not doing what he dis- 
 likes; his opinion of himself becomes better and better and 
 finally he says, with a good deal of satisfaction, that he always 
 had a muHsh disposition. 
 
 5. With the hints given below, attempt a discussion 
 of the following arguments. Prolonged discussion of 
 each is not desirable; the exercise is intended to train 
 for flexibility and a critical habit of mind, not for argu- 
 mentation. It will be noted by the acute that from other 
 points of view some of these arguments might receive a 
 different criticism from that suggested here. Analysis 
 
15S VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 does not produce facts, but merely views of facts; and 
 the most that can be claimed for any particular view is 
 serviceableness in the light of a particular purpose. 
 
 (a) Nothing else can so get hold of the spirit of the college 
 as the physical struggle of an intercollegiate game. It is war; 
 it is conflict — a trial of skill, of strength, of endurance, in which 
 the chosen champions of either group go forth to battle for the 
 glory of the Alma Mater. What our young men glory in is 
 war — the war of muscle and wit, the fighting of chosen athletes 
 for supremacy. Nothing else can so appeal to the imagination 
 of a body of young Americans.^ 
 
 (What is the general statement on which the argument 
 rests?) 
 
 (6) Of course, the ideal condition would be to have the col- 
 lege world an absolute unit, knowing notliing of cliques or fac- 
 tions or divisions of any sort, recognizing community of interest 
 in all things, each sharing in common prosperity because con- 
 tributing to it, each solicitous as to the welfare of the other, 
 each member of this democratic community a direct and posi- 
 tive blessing to each other member. But it happens that the 
 world is all and quite otherwise; Christian nations contend with 
 pagan and with each other as well; there is strife of creeds in 
 the churches, and of parties in the political world; class makes 
 war upon class in social life, and distinctions of rank or wealth 
 or association are every\vhere manifest — and the college is in 
 the world and of the world. It is no indolent optimism, there- 
 fore, which as to your final decision bids you accept the frater- 
 nity, . . . and make the best of it.^ 
 
 (How far does the resemblance on which this argument rests 
 seem to you to be a real one?) 
 
 (c) We see parents (possibly we are parents) who bring up 
 
 » Meiklejohn, " The Evils of College Athletics." From Harper's 
 Weekly, 49: 1751. By permission of Harper & Brothers. Copy- 
 right, 1905, by Harper & Brothers. 
 
 * Canfield, " The College Student and his Problems." Reprinted 
 by permission of The Macmillan Companj'. 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM RESEMBLANCE 159 
 
 children "along the lines of least resistance"; and we know what 
 the children are. Is it illogical to infer that the children taught 
 at school ''along the lines of least resistance" are intellectually- 
 spoiled children, flabby of mind and will? For any responsible 
 work we want men of character, — not men who from child- 
 hood up have been personally conducted and have had their 
 education warped to the indolence of their minds. ^ 
 
 (In what ways is the case of the spoiled child unlike that of 
 the person educated along the hnes of least resistance?) 
 
 (d) "The practice of assisting young men through college 
 in order that they may strengthen the athletic teams is degrad- 
 ing to amateur sport." This declaration, I repeat, is all-impor- 
 tant; but it needs explanation to the perspective matriculate. 
 It does not commend itseK to his sense of fairness or of con- 
 sistency. He is more likely to see in the offence inhibited, so 
 far as it regards himself, not a malum in se but only a malum 
 prohibitum. He knows that the practice of assisting worthy 
 young men through college that they may strengthen some 
 musical organization, or act as typesetters in the office of the col- 
 lege paper, is perfectly legitimate. "Why may not I," he asks, 
 "pay in part for my education by my physical prowess, if my 
 brother pays in part for his education by his musical talent?" 
 The question is a natural one and should be answered before it 
 
 "is asked. Left unanswered, it tempts the student to evasion 
 and duplicity.2 
 
 (Is the analogy as weak as the writer appears to believe? 
 If so, why?) 
 
 (e) There is no doubt that the democratic spirit in our col- 
 leges is subject to more dangers to-day than it was fifty years 
 ago. The old graduate is right in thinking that it is easier to 
 keep up the democratic spirit where everybody is doing the same 
 thing and where nobody has much money. But the old gradu- 
 ate is wrong in thinking that we can legislate ourselves back to 
 
 1 Briggs, " School, College and Character." Reprinted by per- 
 miesion of Houghton Mifflin Company. 
 
 2 Smith, " Honor in Student Life." The Educational Review, 
 30:390. Reprinted by permission. 
 
160 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 this condition when the world outside has passed beyond it; or 
 that men trained in such a college as he remembers would be 
 able, after they graduated, to meet the demands and the temp- 
 tations of the present age. Lycurgus made Sparta into an 
 old-fashioned college, with no electives and no money. How 
 miserably the Spartans failed when they were called upon to do 
 anything which made for human progress is a matter of history. 
 Our college graduates are going out into a world of poUtical 
 life more complex than anything with which the Lacedajmonians 
 had to deal. It is only by training them for the enjoyment of 
 freedom and the use of wealth in their school days that we shall 
 enable them to deal with the greater problems which freedom 
 and wealth are creating throughout the country. ^ 
 
 (There are two arguments from resemblance here, but the more 
 important is that which asserts that conditions inside the school 
 must resemble those in the life for which the school trains.) 
 
 (/) To the old idea of culture some knowledge of history was 
 indispensable. Now history is a representation of the stream 
 of the world, or of some little portion of that stream, one hun- 
 dred, five hundred, two thousand years ago. Acquaintance with 
 some part of the present stream ought to be more formative of 
 character, and more instructive as regards external nature and 
 the nature of man, than any partial survey of the stream that 
 was flowing centuries ago. We have, then, through the present 
 means of reporting the stream of the world from day to day, 
 material for culture such as no preceding generation of men has 
 possessed. The cultivated man or woman must use the means 
 which steam and electricity have provided for reporting the 
 play of physical forces and of human volitions which make the 
 world of to-day; for the world of to-day suppUes in its immense 
 variety a picture of all stages of human progress, from the Stone 
 Age, through savagery, barbarism, and medisevahsm, to what we 
 now call civihzation. The rising generation should think hard 
 and feel keenly, just where the men and women who constitute 
 
 * Hadley, " Wealth and Democracy in American Colleges." 
 From Harper's Magazine. By permission of Harper & Brothers. 
 Copyright, 1906, by Harper & Brothers. 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM RESEMBLANCE 161 
 
 the actual human world are thinking and feeling most to-day. 
 The panorama of to-day's events is not an accurate or complete 
 picture, for history will supply posterity with much evidence 
 which is hidden from the eyes of contemporaries; but it is never- 
 theless an invaluable and a new means of developing good judg- 
 ment, good feeling, and the passion for social service, or, in 
 other words, of securing cultivation. But someone will say the 
 stream of the world is foul. True in part. The stream is, what 
 it has been, a mixture of foulness and purity, of meanness and 
 majesty; but it has nourished individual virtue and race civiUza- 
 tion. Literature and history are a similar mixture, and yet are 
 the traditional means of culture. Are not the Greek tragedies 
 means of culture? Yet they are full of incest, murder, and 
 human sacrifices to lustful and revengeful gods.^ 
 
 (Study the analogy in the latter lines, and also the argument 
 derived from likening life to a stream.) 
 
 (g) In these days great stress is laid upon what is called Eng- 
 lish, which includes grammar, composition, hterature, etc. A 
 few authors are chosen and children pore over these, commit 
 some pieces to memory, and analyze them until they are tired 
 out and disgusted. I speak from experience and wide observa- 
 tion. How many school children have ever heard a great piece 
 of literature properly read? I was fourteen years old before 
 any such thing came into my life, and I had unusual advantages 
 in this respect. I was brought up on Whittier and knew many 
 of his poems by heart without getting the least inspiration from 
 them. One day I chanced to drop into a class in rhetoric in 
 a neighboring college. The professor recited "Maud MuUer" 
 in a way that was a complete revelation to me. It was like 
 opening the eyes of a bUnd man. I returned to the study of 
 literature with a zest to which I had previously been a stranger. 
 I thoroughly believe in the practice of making children commit 
 to memory many pieces of poetry and prose, largely as a mental 
 discipUne of high value, but also as an aid to Hterary apprecia- 
 tion. I should Uke to have a fine reader spend his time in going 
 
 ^ Eliot, " Present College Questions." Reprinted by permission 
 of D. Appleton & Company. 
 
162 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 from school to school, reciting some of the world's great litera- 
 ture, with appropriate comments. It would do more than all 
 the text-books in existence.^ 
 
 (An example of reasoning from an illustration. Is the expe- 
 rience narrated a fair test of the value of the system proposed?) 
 
 {h) What men were those who held the attention of these 
 New England communities: Edwards, Hopkins, Bellamy, 
 Emmons, Emerson, Parker, Channing, and Orville Dewey! Do 
 not these names stand for the most original contributions to 
 vigorous thought that have been made in the United States? 
 These men were not callous to the finer things of life. On the 
 contrary, they were men of kindly natures and delicate sensi- 
 bihties. They were endowed with not a little of the reformer's 
 zeal. Especially was this true of the remorselessly intellectual 
 Hopkins, of the discriminating Channing, and of the critical 
 Dewey, who all were leaders of the anti-slavery agitation in 
 the days of its inauguration. And how were these men them- 
 selves trained? Not by any soft academic methods, much lees 
 by any modem system of cramming. In a memoir of Hopkins 
 that is included in the collected edition of his writings, there 
 is a significant account of the Yale curriculum of his day. The 
 study of languages was completed in the freshman year, and 
 exercises in logic were begun. During the second year, the first 
 four mornings of every week were given to ethics and meta- 
 physics. The third year was almost wholly devoted to physics, 
 or natural science, and the fourth to mathematics. Here was, 
 indeed, a remorseless system, and one indifferent enough to all 
 super-refinements of sentiment. I should not wish to commend 
 it; but at least it did not make scatter-brains, or dilettantes, 
 or dabbers.' 
 
 (What questions must be satisfactorily answered before this 
 can be accepted as partial proof that the results of the older 
 education were favorable?) 
 
 1 Rogers, *' What is Wrong with our Public Schools ? " Lippin- 
 cotVs Magazine, 85:218. Reprinted by permission. 
 
 *Giddings, "Democracy and Empire." Reprinted by permis- 
 sion of The Macmillan Company. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 ARGUMENTS FROM CAUSE 
 
 When a general statement about fact asserts a con- 
 nection between two events such that the first is believed 
 to be necessary in producing the second, it is said to deal 
 with the relation of cause and effect. Through such a 
 relation it is possible again, as in the case of resemblance, 
 to reach a probable conclusion about facts inaccessible 
 to direct knowledge. One may start with either cause or 
 effect and conclude that, since the one is present, the other 
 probably is. The force of such reasoning depends upon 
 two things : the assurance that A or B is actually present, 
 and the belief that B always follows A. This belief, like 
 any other matter which concerns fact, rests first upon 
 observation; but behind the observation is a theory about 
 the constitution of the world. We take it to be a place 
 in which the sequences of events remain unchanged. If 
 B is once certainly observed to follow A, it will continue 
 to do so, other things being equal, till the end of time. 
 
 In any attempt at reasoning connected with cause and 
 effect, common sense suggests certain characteristic ques- 
 tions. These the reasoner, if his mood be at all serious, 
 must at least attempt to answer. A father, for instance, 
 finds that his son is falling behind in his work and likely 
 to be dropped from college. He suspects laziness, but 
 needs to bring the matter to a test. It occurs to him 
 that laziness is a likely condition. He knows that his son 
 has no particular aim in his college career beyond the 
 
164 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 somewhat vague one of cultivating his mind. Under 
 such circumstances young men sometimes fall into idle 
 habits. Here, then, is the first step in his investigation: 
 the cause is a probable one; it may be deduced from the 
 very idea of the conditions surrounding it. Next he would 
 naturally ask himself whether such a cause is sufficient to 
 produce the effect. In this particular instance, however, 
 he is spared the trouble; all experience is at one in teach- 
 ing that laziness is the death of scholarship. A more im- 
 portant question in the present case is whether there are 
 other conditions that may account for the failure. Has 
 the boy bad habits? Is he occupied excessively with 
 athletics or society? Is his heart in some other kind of 
 work, so that he lacks interest here? Are there evidences 
 of a lack of ability? If all these questions are answered 
 in the negative, if the student appears to try to do his 
 work and keeps regular hours of study, there remains 
 only one other point to consider. It may be still true 
 that the suspected cause is present, but hidden by other 
 conditions. The appearance of studiousness does not 
 always imply the virtue itself. Long hours over a book 
 are not necessarily study, and a man may take no part in 
 social and athletic life merely because he is too lazy to do 
 so. Such questions beset every attempt to reason about 
 causes and results. As shown in the illustration, they 
 occur in an attempt to discover a hidden cause; but they 
 might equally well arise in any reasoning on the basis of 
 a general statement of cause and result. 
 
 Even the simple illustration just referred to shows 
 something of the complex conditions among which the 
 mind works in dealing with sequences of events. Every 
 event in the past is in some sense a cause of whatever 
 action we are studying. Most of these influences are, 
 however, imperceptible, and the mass of them lies outside 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM CAUSE 165 
 
 the range of the observer's interests. As a practical rule, 
 therefore, it is important to remember that every event 
 is preceded by many conditions which are not, in the 
 ordinary sense, cause of it. In the five years following 
 the abolition of football at Columbia the registration 
 there caught up to that of Harvard and passed it; but 
 whether the change in athletic policy caused the increase 
 will be always a debatable point. In this problem, as in 
 many others connected with causation, the reasoner must 
 be contented with a suggestion of proof. A person 
 deeply concerned over such matters will naturally adhere 
 to one conclusion or the other with a firm belief; but his 
 conviction will in no way hinder his opponent from be- 
 lieving the opposite, and often on apparently excellent 
 grounds. 
 
 This complexity in the study of causes is usually some- 
 what simplified by the purpose of the moment. When a 
 man asks, ''What is the cause of this event?" we under- 
 stand him to inquire either what was the chief influence 
 in its production, or what may have happened, along the 
 line of his interests, that played a part in bringing it about. 
 Suppose a young man, in the ordinary phrase, ''goes 
 wrong" and forges his father's name to a check. Nothing 
 in the whole history of his life, perhaps, was without 
 influence on the catastrophe. The inherited weakness of 
 the son, his dread of his father's severity, his choice of 
 companions, and a thousand details, down to the most 
 apparently unimportant incident, all had their part to 
 play. The choice of which of these seems essential will 
 depend largely upon the observer's interests and knowl- 
 edge. The student of heredity will seek for the cause in 
 the character of the boy's father; the student of social 
 laws, in his companions; and the student of ethics, in his 
 principles. In such a problem it is senseless to inquire 
 
166 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 merely for "the cause." The observer may well hope, 
 however, to find either the principal cause or that part 
 of the cause which concerns a particular research. 
 
 So much concerns mere knowledge of the facts con- 
 nected with causal sequences. As to the principle under- 
 lying this sort of reasoning, it is important to observe that 
 there is no logical necessity behind any general statement 
 of cause and effect. No generalization of this kind, even 
 among the scientific laws, can pretend to the sort of cer- 
 tainty that is found in mathematical reasoning. To 
 begin with, it merely covers relations which held good in 
 the past, and so permits only a probable conclusion as to 
 the future. If I have failed three hundred times to digest 
 a breakfast of oatmeal, it is a likely thing that I shall fail 
 on the three hundred and first; but, though it be the 
 likeliest thing in the world, it is no certainty till tried. 
 So it is in every case : we have no assurance that the result 
 is forced to follow the cause; and, from certain knowledge, 
 can assert no other connection save that of the order of 
 time. If on rising for the day a man says to himself, 
 " My life is a failure. This day is to add merely one more 
 to a long series of defeats," he may, if asked, explain his 
 meaning in one of two ways. First, if not well acquainted 
 with the philosophy of life, he may give reasons for his 
 belief. "I shall never learn self-control," we imagine him 
 saying, or " I was bom with so many inherited tendencies 
 towards evil that I shall never reform." Granted either 
 of these statements, the hearer will be able to see a logical 
 connection between them and the speaker's main position, 
 and will understand the hopeless frame of mind. This, 
 however, is not the relation of cause and effect, for the 
 speaker has merely given reasons for a statement of theory, 
 an estimate of his life based on an ideal. He is talking, 
 not of what is, but of what must be true. On the other 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM CAUSE 167 
 
 hand, a more philosophic man in the same position will 
 be likely, when asked why he thinks his life hopeless, to 
 seek for the causes of the feeling. "I have eaten too 
 rashly overnight," he will say, or ^'I have slept in an 
 insufficiently ventilated room." There is no rational 
 connection between these indiscretions and despondency. 
 The most that we can say is that they are observed to 
 produce melancholy, — nobody quite knows why. When 
 they go before in time, the evil frame of mind generally 
 follows; and the generalization which connects the two 
 is merely an unexplained statement of what happens. 
 
 Thus the type of explanation which refers single events 
 to general laws of cause and effect is satisfactory only on 
 a superficial view; when more closely considered it proves 
 empty of reason. All our general statements about facts 
 are mere answers to the question. How? They do not 
 explain, but merely record. This is true even of those 
 derived through careful scientific research. The names 
 applied to some of the better known laws of nature have 
 become so familiar that we tend to mistake them for real 
 qualities and powers, and think of them as explaining 
 the inner nature of events. It requires no great study, 
 however, to see that even the broadest scientific laws are 
 mere records of totally unexplained traits in the character 
 of nature. When Newton summed up Kepler's three 
 laws of planetary action into a single formula and gave it 
 a name, people at once caught up the idea that he had 
 made an analysis of "matter" and found it to contain a 
 somewhat called ''gravitation." The popular imagina- 
 tion would have it that this discovery was comparable to 
 the process of dissecting a body and finding arsenic in the 
 stomach. In the same way men took, and in a measure 
 still take, this gravitation existing in all matter to be the 
 cause of motion, just as the arsenic would have been the 
 
168 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 cause of death. The moment we stop to think, we realize, 
 of course, that gravitation is only a convenient name for 
 mathematical statements which sum up the movements 
 of the planets. It no more explains those movements 
 than a player's score explains why he plays a bad game of 
 golf. So it is with all the laws of nature. They are 
 voluble enough in answer to the question. How? but on 
 the question. Why? completely silent. Hence all infer- 
 ence about the future based on general rules of this char- 
 acter is a step into the dark. Probability it may have 
 in any degree; but it must always lack the certainty of 
 mathematics. 
 
 EXERCISES 
 
 1. Exercise 1, Part I, Chapter I, is an example of 
 reasoning from cause in which nearly every statement of 
 causal sequence is doubtful. Analyze the selection again 
 from this point of view and criticise the laws of cause and 
 result which imderlie the argument. Note especially the 
 following: 
 
 (a) The fate of a school depends upon its students and 
 alumni. 
 
 (6) Success in major intercollegiate sports is helpful to the 
 reputation of a school. (What must be summed up under 
 "the reputation of a school" if the idea is at all accurately 
 employed?) 
 
 (c) Lack of interest in undergraduate athletics (or in the 
 welfare of the school?) is caused by selfishness. 
 
 2. In the following statements of causation, what is put 
 forth as the cause and what as the result? 
 
 (a) If a man is naturally of a formal and pedantic turn of 
 mind, the life of a teacher wiU tend to make him more so. 
 
 (6) Half the weakness and folly of college students comes 
 from their not knowing any better. If they knew where their 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM CAUSE 169 
 
 professors stood on moral questions, they would tend to stand 
 with them. 
 
 (c) The lack of sound individual training in early school 
 years is shown by the number of those who fail and become 
 discouraged in the lower grades and leave school as early as 
 the law permits. 
 
 3. Test the following arguments according to the 
 suggestions in each case. 
 
 (a) There can be no proper working of school spirit without 
 enthusiasm, for only by enthusiasm can the individual be hfted 
 out of his personal selfishness and made to care for the good of 
 the common body. (What is the underlying law of cause?) 
 
 (6) No engineering school can hope to inspire the love of its 
 students as does a classical college, for it stands toward them in 
 a relation merely commercial, and does not hold up the same 
 high ideals of all-round development and service. (What is the 
 underlying law of cause?) 
 
 (c) It is as an amateur that one enjoys sailing the most. 
 Most of us are then in our youth, care-free; and everything 
 appears only from its brightest side. As we grow older our 
 lives become more and more complex, and our pleasures are 
 thrust into the background, from whence they shine bright as 
 ever, but more and more unattainable. 
 
 (What appear to be the writer's notions of the conditions 
 which make enjoyment possible?) 
 
 (d) It is significant that the leaders in almost every avenue 
 of life are the men and women who have had the good fortune 
 to enjoy the blessings of higher education; since these college- 
 bred men hold most places of honor, trust, and influence, it is 
 imperative that the seats of learning should be dominated by 
 the best of moral forces; we should adopt the maxim of the 
 Prussians that "Whatever you would have appear in the life of 
 a nation you must put into its schools." ^ 
 
 ^ Fordyce, " College Ethics." The Educational Review, 37:492. 
 Reprinted by permission. 
 
170 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 (Give this argument in outline form, so as to show the state- 
 ment about schools, the statement about life, and the connec- 
 tion between them.) 
 
 (e) Laziness weakens one morally as well as mentally; a 
 loafer is incapable of ethical growth because his mental fibre 
 is too dormant to assimilate moral nourislmaent; vigorous, per- 
 sistent work of any sort begets concentration, self-reliance, 
 and tenacity of purpose, all of which have a moral import. 
 The principal value of athletics lies in the fact that nothing but 
 the student's best efforts are tolerated on the field; such efforts 
 have a reflex psychic influence of incalculable worth.* 
 
 (Trace also the results of laziness on self-respect.) 
 
 (/) But with all due respect to what kindergarten devices, 
 child-study, and pedagogical predigestion can do to make learn- 
 ing attractive, the school must be essentially a grind on facts 
 and principles the full significance of which the child cannot 
 appreciate and which consequently must appear hard, dry, 
 and dull. The world is so big and complex, the mind of the 
 child is so small and simple, that the process of the application 
 of the one to the other can scarcely be effective without consider- 
 able pain.* 
 
 (The underlying statement here appears to be that lack of 
 understanding of a subject causes it to appear hard and dry. 
 Are there no other causes at work which tend to make the 
 child like his study better than is here asserted?) 
 
 (g) Here comes in to advantage the ambition of the athlete. 
 Football begins with or before the college year. Training for 
 football means early hours, clean life, constant occupation for 
 body and mind. Breach of training means ostracism. That 
 this game tides many a Freshman over a great danger, by keep- 
 ing him healthily occupied, I have come firmly to believe. It 
 supplies what President Ehot calls a "new and effective motive 
 for resisting all sins which weaken or corrupt the body"; it ap- 
 peals to ambition and to self-restraint; it gives to crude youth a 
 
 * See footnote, page 169. 
 
 2 Hyde, "The College Man and the College Woman." Re- 
 printed by permission of Houghton Mifllin Company. 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM CAUSE 171 
 
 task in which crude youth can attain finish and skill, can feel the 
 power that comes of surmounting tremendous obstacles and of 
 recognition for surmounting them; moreover, like war, it affords 
 an outlet for the reckless courage of young manhood, — the 
 same reckless courage that in idle days drives young men head- 
 long into vice.i 
 
 (What is the underlying notion of the influence necessary 
 to keep a young student from evil courses?) 
 
 4. Does the statement of cause announced in the fol- 
 lowing extract agree with your own experience? 
 
 Under the old rdgime it was unquestionably a most serious 
 problem to give the children a full and free use of language. 
 The reason was obvious. The natural motive for language 
 was seldom offered. In the pedagogical text-books language is 
 defined as the medium of expressing thought. It becomes that, 
 more or less, to adults with trained minds, but it hardly needs 
 to be said that language is primarily a social thing, a means 
 by which we give our experiences to others and get theirs 
 again in return. When it is taken from its natural basis, it is 
 no wonder that it becomes a complex and difficult problem to 
 teach language. Think of the absurdity of having to teach 
 language as a thing by itself. If there is anything the child 
 will do before he goes to school, it is to talk of things that inter- 
 est him. But when there are no vital interests appealed to in the 
 school, when language is used simply for the repetition of les- 
 sons, it is not surprising that one of the chief difficulties of school 
 work has come to be instruction in the mother-tongue. Since 
 the language taught is unnatural, not growing out of the real 
 desire to communicate vital impressions and convictions, the 
 freedom of children in its use gradually disappears, until finally 
 the high-school teacher has to invent all kinds of devices to assist 
 in getting any spontaneous and full use of speech. Moreover, 
 when the language instinct is appealed to in a social way, there 
 
 * Briggs, " School, College and Character." Reprinted by per- 
 mission of Houghton Mifflin Company. 
 
172 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 is a continual contact with reality. The result is that the child 
 always has something in his mind to talk about, he has some- 
 thing to say; he has a thought to express, and a thought is not 
 a thought unless it is one's own. On the traditional method, 
 the child must say something that he has merely learned. There 
 is all the difference in the world between having something to 
 say and having to say something.^ 
 
 5. The following is a discussion of the consequences of 
 wealth and poverty; but the author appears to ground 
 his notions on the ideas rather than on the detail of fact. 
 Has he omitted anything essential to notice in the condi- 
 tions surrounding rich men and poor? 
 
 Of the undergraduates that come to us at a place Hke Yale 
 I suppose that about two-thirds may be classed as positively 
 good. I do not mean that they will always abstain from acts 
 of fooUshness; but that they can be counted to stand fast against 
 serious temptation, to come out right of themselves, and to be 
 an active influence in helping those about them to do right. 
 Of the other third, only a small minority could be properly 
 classed as vicious. But half of them are weak, and the other 
 half are selfish to such a degree that they are not a positive 
 force for good, and may readily become subject to serious 
 danger if you give them too much freedom. Looking at these 
 two classes side by side, the selfish and the weak, we find that 
 there are more selfish men among the poor students and more 
 weak men among the rich ones; so that the aggregate amount of 
 evil and danger is just about as great for one class as the other. 
 This condition is just about what one might expect on general 
 grounds. The poor boy by his poverty has been protected from 
 some of the dangers which beset the rich boy; but he has by that 
 very fact been compelled to look out for himself in such a way 
 as to strengthen all selfish impulses. The rich boy has been 
 brought up under conditions which tend to make him generous 
 and free-handed if he has any good stuff in him at all; but these 
 
 ' John Dewey, " The School and Society." By permission. 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM CAUSE 173 
 
 conditions have heightened all the dangers that arise from 
 thoughtlessness or weakness of will. I suspect that the net 
 amount of strain upon the moral character is about the same 
 for rich or poor.^ 
 
 6. Attempt to develop the preceding idea more fully, 
 and in the light of your experience, through a brief essay 
 on the theme: What will be the natural fears and pre- 
 cautions of a wealthy man about to send his son to a 
 large American college? of a poor man? Those who enjoy 
 their work more in a dramatized form may turn this exer- 
 cise into two letters from imaginary fathers to their sons. 
 
 7. Compare the following alleged influences of the size 
 of the. college with your own experiences and those of 
 your friends. 
 
 It is often urged that the college gives a man the oppor- 
 tunity for firmer friendships, that he comes more readily into 
 close contact with his fellows, that he knows more men and 
 knows them better than is possible in the large university. 
 The expression runs this way: "In college, a fellow knows every- 
 body and everybody knows him; in a university, nobody knows 
 anybody." There is much fallacy in this. In the first place, 
 the value of acquaintance and friendship is not to be measured 
 by quantity, but by quaUty. The close and lasting and sincere 
 friendship of even one thoughtful, mature, strong man is of far 
 more value than hail-fellow-well-met relations with twenty boys. 
 The few men who spend hours together each day, intent upon 
 a common task, or who sit about a seminar table, absorbed in 
 common research or in common discussion, are far more stim- 
 ulating and helpful to each other than are the Toms and Jims 
 and Harrys who hurrah on the edge of the athletic field, or who 
 always enjoy the Hght-hearted gayety which follows the close 
 of a recitation — entirely natural and proper and even desir- 
 
 ^ Hadley, " Wealth and Democracy in American Colleges." 
 From Harper's Magazine, 113:450. By permission of Harper & 
 Brothers. Copyright, 1906, by Harper & Brothers. 
 
174 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 able as all this may be. Further, the larger the number of 
 students the larger the opportunity for choice — and choice 
 plays no small part in forming helpful personal relations. And, 
 lastly, there is a sense of common origin and common indebted- 
 ness and common pride which holds together even the thousands 
 of graduates of the largest university. The sense of mutual 
 interest and the wiUingness to exert oneself for a fellow-graduate 
 seem quite as strong among the many as with the few, while 
 the opportunities for helpfulness increase in direct proportion 
 to the number of the graduates. An institution with a thousand 
 alumni in each of the four great professions is more than five 
 times as helpful to each graduate as an institution which has but 
 two hundred representatives in each field; because, all other 
 things being equal, the chances of contact are so increased, and 
 the entire field is so much more completely covered, and the 
 ratio of positively influential men is so much greater. ^ 
 
 8. Study a photograph of a painting or piece of sculp- 
 ture, first collecting the facts and then attempting to 
 interpret them in terms of character. A suitable sub- 
 ject is that already referred to in Exercise 3, Part II, 
 Chapter II. 
 
 9. Reason out carefully the character of Naaman from 
 Exercise 2, Part I, Chapter II. Note the general state- 
 ments on which your conclusions rest. 
 
 An alternative exercise may be found in Stevenson, 
 "The Beach at Fal4sa," in the portion which relates to 
 the first visit of the trader to the devil-work establish- 
 ment and the finding of the "Tyrolean harp"; or in the 
 character of Attwater in "The Ebb Tide" (The Pearl 
 Fisher). 
 
 10. Study the probable character and needs of the 
 writer of the following letter. In the light of the con- 
 
 * Canfield, " The College Student and his Problems." Reprinted 
 by permission of The Macmillan Company. 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM CAUSE 175 
 
 elusions thus drawn attempt to frame a suitable answer. 
 Assume that you know the father, but have never met the 
 son, and that in attending college the son would necessarily 
 leave home during term time. Consider which of your 
 conclusions depend upon cause and which upon analogy, 
 and how the question of evidence needs to be considered 
 in this piece of reasoning.^ 
 
 I wish to apply to you for a little advice regarding my son 
 and his prospects. You know that he has been fitting for col- 
 lege in the local high-school here, and expected to enter in a 
 year more. Lately, however, he has made rather a mess of 
 his studies and has failed conspicuously in his Latin and Greek. 
 Indeed he tells me that he has taken such a dislike to the dead 
 languages that he strongly desires not to be obliged to go on 
 with his college course. This decision is naturally a great dis- 
 appointment to me, for, as you know, I have always desired 
 him to get a college training, the more so as I have seen the need 
 of it in my own work. As I cannot believe that my son is natu- 
 rally idle or vicious, I must conclude him right in saying that loss 
 of interest is the cause of his failure in his studies. His mother 
 believes that misunderstanding on the part of his teachers has 
 had something to do with it; and thinks him of too sensitive a 
 nature to do his best work where he is not appreciated. But that 
 view is partly due, no doubt, to a mother's partiality. At all 
 events we do not feel like forcing him to master subjects 
 which he so strongly dislikes. 
 
 If he does not go to college, a scientific school presents itself 
 as the natural alternative, and the school which you are attend- 
 ing seems most available. I do not know that my son has shown 
 a fondness for any special branch of science, but he has certainly 
 had more luck with mathematics than with other things. Know- 
 
 1 The letter is inserted merely as an illustration of one sort of 
 exercise in logic. The details need careful adaptation to the class. 
 This kind of exercise represents fully a variety of logical problem 
 that business men find confronting them daily in the morning mail. 
 
176 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 ing that you have recently entered on a scientific course at 
 , I thought you might be able to give me ^ome informa- 
 tion. Do you think my son would be able to fall on his feet 
 there and choose a course, even though liis ideas of what he 
 wants are at present quite hazy? Do you think he could find 
 stimulus enough to get him once more into the habit of work? 
 
CHAPTER V 
 ARGUMENTS FROM DEFINITION 
 
 The distinction has been already noted between facts 
 and theories, between what is supposedly true and what 
 ought to be or must be true. With statements concern- 
 ing facts, the defence rests, preferably, on evidence. 
 Facts, if given the opportunity, speak for themselves; and 
 so any dispute as to what they are has a fair prospect of 
 being brought to a conclusion. When we find them so 
 inaccessible as to be unable to speak for themselves, we 
 substitute for evidence one sort or another of reasoning. 
 Knowing what similar facts are, we conclude what these 
 will probably be; or we study them in the light of their 
 causes or effects. 
 
 Statements of what ought to be or what must be, on 
 the other hand, require a wholly different treatment. 
 Nature knows nothing of ought or must; these rest on 
 definitions, in determining which the chief part is played 
 not by facts, but by the mind. Statements of theory, 
 therefore, can be defended only by the assignment of 
 reasons, which deal with ideals or with the relations of 
 ideas. ''No man should fear death" is, for instance, a 
 statement about the true ideal of manly conduct. It 
 would be spoken, if at all, for instruction and encourage- 
 ment, and so presumably to persons who had never 
 learned or had forgotten the true relations between courage 
 and manhood or the true notion of death. In either case 
 the assertion would be impressive in proportion as it was 
 
178 XTCRIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 unfamiliar, and so needed proof. The hearers would take 
 it for granted that the speaker had in mind a reason for 
 his position, which for them was likely to be, after all, the 
 vital part of what he had to say. This reason they might 
 very probably demand, and the speaker, in presenting it, 
 would give his proof. In this CEise the first two steps of 
 the proof may be supplied as follows: the Reason, — 
 Death is but the passage into a higher state; and the 
 Conclusion, which rests upon the Reason, — No man 
 should fear death. This proof, thro^vn into a form better 
 calculated to show the relations of thought, would run as 
 follows: 
 
 Conclusion : The true notion of death has no terrors, for, 
 Reason : It is merely the notion of passage into a higher state. 
 Still further simplified: 
 
 D is not T for 
 D'lsP 
 
 Here are two statements of theory, two expressed rela- 
 tions between ideas. The notion D excludes the notion T 
 because it includes the notion P, Henry is not sitting 
 in the chair, for William is sitting in it. If this is a valid 
 reason for excluding Henry from consideration, it must 
 be so on the basis of some general principle, such as would 
 exclude not only Henry, but Tom and Dick as well. Such 
 a general principle exists in the natural law that two bodies 
 cannot occupy the same place at the same time. In a 
 similar way, if the presence of P in our proof excludes T, 
 it must do so by virtue of some general rule governing the 
 relation of P and T. The rule is that a mere passage to 
 a higher state, in whatever form you take it, is nothing 
 to be afraid of. This rule, like many other rules in 
 arguments from definition, is so simple as scarcely to 
 require statement, and almost to escape notice. Its very 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM DEFINITION 179 
 
 usefulness, indeed, depends upon its being self-evident; 
 for it states a principle which, unless one felt sure that 
 it operated everywhere and always, would have no con- 
 vincing force in a particular argument. 
 
 The whole process of proof, then, embodies three steps. 
 In this case they may be written in generalized form as 
 follows: 
 
 Conclusion : 
 
 D is not T for 
 
 Reason : 
 
 Z) is P and 
 
 Rule: 
 
 P is not T 1 
 
 The process here illustrated is general for all arguments 
 from definition; wherever we study the relation between 
 a statement and a reason, the same steps will be found to 
 occur. Sometimes the Rule, sometimes the Reason is 
 omitted, perhaps because it escapes the attention of the 
 reasoner himself, and perhaps because he wishes to conceal 
 it or thinks it sufficiently obvious; but in testing the 
 validity of the reasoning it is essential to discover and 
 examine both. 
 
 The Reason is often a definition based, or supposed to 
 be based, on relations of fact. In such cases it is necessary 
 to ascertain how far it corresponds to the reality it pretends 
 
 1 It will be noticed that the proof here referred to is a deductive 
 conclusion based on definitions. Treatises on formal logic devote 
 most of their space to the so-called syllogism, somewhat similar to 
 the form above, giving it a treatment as nearly mathematical as 
 the nature of language permits. It is a subject of considerable 
 complexity, which the student may well take up after he has mas- 
 tered the fundamental principles of reasoning. In substance a 
 syllogism may be based on a definition, a statement of the qualities 
 of a class, or a causal law. 
 
 The form of analysis is in this chapter somewhat more precisely 
 indicated than it was in connection with the other forms of argu- 
 ment, but the student's experience with logical analysis ought by 
 this time to be such that he can use a set form without becoming a 
 slave to it. 
 
180 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 to represent. Take, for instance, what might be called 
 the proof of envy or ambition. B's life is a happy one: 
 he lives in a fine house, smokes expensive cigars, does not 
 go to his office till ten o'clock, and then sits all day at his 
 desk in an armchair with leather cushions. In outline 
 this proof would read as follows: 
 
 B's life is happiness for 
 X is happiness and 
 
 B's life is X 
 
 As far as concerns the Rule, that the easy-chair and the 
 cigars stand for happiness, that, from the envious man's 
 point of view, is probably above attack. There still 
 remains, however, the question of how far the facts cited 
 in the Reason are really representative of the life of B. 
 This may be answ^ered by comparing the life as here de- 
 scribed with actual conditions. Happiness with a chair, 
 a house, and a cigar depends less upon the objects them- 
 selves than upon the ability to fill the chair, to rule the 
 house, and to enjoy the cigar. 
 
 Again the Rule rather than the Reason is sometimes 
 at fault. This is a likely condition when, as often happens, 
 the Rule is drawn from what Jaques called "wise saws 
 and modem instances." Men have a habit of justifying 
 their conduct by referring it to so-called principles, which 
 are, often enough, little more than the crystallized thought- 
 lessness of the chimney comer, made dear to them, like 
 Mother Goose, by the associations of childhood. Suppose, 
 for instance, the case of the education of Master Charles. 
 His parents, being easy-going people, averse to the drudg- 
 ery of discipline, let him rim riot, and attempt to justify 
 their conduct by repeating various catchwords about the 
 development of the natural impulses, the freedom and 
 joyousness of childhood, and the danger of ''breaking the 
 
' ARGUMENTS FROM DEFINITION 181 
 
 will." Reduced to its lowest terms, their argument 
 would run as follows: 
 
 Conclusion : Master Charles is as he should be for 
 Reason: Master Charles is natural and 
 
 Rule : Whatever is natural is as it should be 
 
 Whatever one may think of the Reason, the Rule, at 
 least, is open to the charge of absurdity. The same 
 principle may be heard in a thousand different forms: 
 "The appetite is the best test of what is good for you," 
 ''Nature will provide her own cure," ''Boys should not 
 be forced to master subjects that they dislike," "Whatever 
 is is right." The simple sense of the matter is that nature 
 knows nothing of moral distinctions. These belong, not 
 to the actual world, but to the world of theories; and the 
 fact, if such it be, that Master Charles is natural has no 
 bearing whatever on the question of whether he is good. 
 Thus in this case the whole test of the argument may be 
 made to depend on the examination of the Rule, to ascer- 
 tain whether the relation it sets forth is, in reason, as 
 general as the Rule pretends. 
 
 Examination of the Reason and examination of the 
 Rule are the only two methods of attacking an argument 
 from definition; and, conversely, if these two statements 
 are admitted, the Conclusion inevitably follows. If one 
 admits that Master Charles is natural and that to be 
 natural is to be good, it follows, as two and two make 
 four, that Master Charles is good. There is here the 
 precise sort of demonstration which is attained in mathe- 
 matics. It is based on the relations of ideas, and these 
 relations in turn depend upon definitions, which are 
 absolutely under human control. We may rely upon 
 them, for, wherever we put them, there they are obliged 
 to stay. Being creatures of reason, they behave in a 
 
182 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 rational way. The uncertainty of all our other reasoning 
 arises from the unaccountable capriciousness of facts; 
 but in arguments from definition facts play only a minor 
 part. Though they may suggest changes in definition, 
 no one is obliged to make the changes unless he choose. 
 Thus, if we admit the definitions, Master Charles must 
 be credited with goodness whatever the character of his 
 deeds. He may ring the door-bell, and break the windows, 
 and choke the cat. His title to a halo rests on theory, 
 and no mere fact can touch it. Precisely so the relation 
 of diameter to circumference remains unshaken, though 
 there are no circles in the world of fact. 
 
 The certainty derived from argument of this sort is, 
 however, limited to those who are willing to agree with 
 the definitions; and in definitions, as in other matters, 
 to obtain a man's agreement it is necessary to please his 
 tastes and to avoid conflict with his interests. The stable 
 position of mathematics is due chiefly, perhaps, to the 
 fact that it has the same bearing on the lives of all of us, 
 and that this bearing is not too intimate.. As we are not 
 ourselves embodiments of the square or the circle, we care 
 relatively little how these ideas are defined. In philosophy, 
 theology, and political economy, on the other hand, the 
 underlying ideals often touch unpleasantly on our interests, 
 as in art, music, and literature they sometimes conflict 
 with om* tastes. A new theory of taxation may result in 
 lessening one's income by some thousands; a new defini- 
 tion of goodness may remove one from the sheep to the 
 goats. Thus all these subjects present bodies of theory 
 which are and ever must be in constant unrest. Since 
 men cannot agree on the definitions, the conclusions have 
 no uniformity or generally acknowledged force. 
 
 In all such differences of opinion the basis of possible 
 agreement is two-fold. One may appeal to reason or to 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM DEFINITION 183 
 
 authority; one may assert that a statement of theory is 
 nonsense, or that it does not conform to the usage of ideas 
 established by those best fitted to judge. Reason, if the 
 more convincing test, is the more difiicult to apply, for 
 it must rest wholly on an attempt to carry the dispute 
 back to more fundamental definitions; and there the dif- 
 ference of opinion is likely to become even more marked 
 than it was before. If Farmer Brown and his wife can- 
 not agree on the question of what is a pretty hat, it is 
 highly unlikely that they can agree on the definition of 
 beauty. Thus the more hopeful recourse is an appeal to 
 authority. Now and then this authority may be some 
 group of experts, but in the larger view and in most cases 
 it is the common sense of the race. The final test of 
 truth is a social test. The evidence of this broader founda- 
 tion may be seen in all solidly built systems of thought. 
 They are the product less of the thinker than of the age. 
 He attains the most useful theories who expresses in them 
 the ideals of the majority of his fellow-men. 
 
 EXERCISES 
 
 1. Imagine the following arguments of a timid rider 
 who decides not to use his riding-crop on a restive Ken- 
 tucky saddle-horse. Which are based upon resemblance 
 and which upon cause? 
 
 If I whip this horse he will unseat me: 
 
 He is a nervous horse; 
 
 ^ His ears are laid back; 
 
 He threw me last Thursday; 
 
 The last Kentucky thoroughbred I had would not stand 
 the whip. 
 
 2. The following outline presents a variety of inferences 
 as to the character of the writer of the letter in Exercise 
 
184 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 10, Part III, Chapter IV. It shows something of the 
 nature and value of our conclusions about other people. 
 The student should consider in detail as many of the 
 arguments as time permits. What is the rule or definition 
 on which they are based? Are they arguments from 
 resemblance, from cause, or from definition? Where is 
 the weak point in them? 
 
 The writer of the letter is: 
 
 I. A travelling man: {for or because henceforth understood) 
 
 (a) Absent from home. 
 
 Does not know family well. 
 (6) Does not write many letters. 
 
 This one not businesslike, 
 (c) Feels need of college education. 
 
 II. Business man: 
 
 (a) Absent from home. 
 
 (6) Tolerant attitude toward wife and son. 
 
 (c) Can write a letter that arouses sympathy. 
 
 III. Not a business man: 
 
 (a) Letter not formal and stiff. 
 (6) Not compact and direct. 
 
 (c) Without business terms. 
 
 (d) Feels need of college training. 
 rV. Educated man: 
 
 (o) Has seen usefulness of his education in business. 
 (6) Good language. 
 
 (Colloquial because writing to student.) 
 (c) If self-made, would be more severe in training 
 son. 
 
 V. Self-made man; without regular education. 
 
 (a) Feels need of schooling in business. 
 (6) Knows little of schools. 
 
 VI. Knows something of the college about which he asks 
 
 information, 
 (o) Thinks it a desirable school. 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM DEFINITION 185 
 
 (6) Kjiows that mathematics are fundamental to 
 
 scientific studies, 
 (c) Latin and Greek not required. 
 
 VII. Knows nothing of the college: 
 
 (a) Otherwise would not write to student for in- 
 formation. 
 
 VIII. Does not beheve in scientific training: 
 (a) Desired college course. 
 
 (6) "Alternative." 
 
 (c) Does not know influence of scientific school work 
 in stimulating serious activity. 
 
 IX. Cares for boy; sympathetic. 
 
 (a) Willing to believe best; accepts son's statement. 
 (6) Too busy to find out for himself, 
 (c) Tone of letter due to desire to appear impartial. 
 {d) Happy home. 
 
 Deference to wife's views. 
 
 Wife manages the boy. 
 
 X. Indifferent; moved by sense of duty. 
 
 (a) Tone of letter cold. 
 
 (6) Lacks confidence in boy's ability; "luck in 
 mathematics." 
 
 (c) Thinks boy idle. 
 
 "Cannot believe, etc.," is merely formal 
 
 and polite. 
 Does not accept mother's view. 
 
 (d) Has not bothered to consult teachers. 
 
 (e) Student not proper source for one really 
 
 interested. 
 (/) Has not looked into the case: 
 
 No information except from the boy. 
 
 Considers mother's view merely on its gen- 
 eral merits. 
 
 If knew more, would naturally impart it to 
 the one asked to advise. 
 
 Just awake to the difficulty. 
 
 Does not know the boy's tastes. 
 
186 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 XI. Has spoiled his son. 
 
 (a) Much anxiety over the case. 
 
 (6) Favored by mother. 
 
 (c) Not forced to do disagreeable tasks. 
 
 XII. Not spoiled: 
 
 (o) Father desires him to work voluntarily. 
 (6) Knows he cannot succeed without aptitude. 
 
 3. Give each of the following proofs in outline form, 
 and then examine both the Reason and the Rule. 
 
 (o) On the large city dailies all the editor has to do is to hire 
 men who can report events and write them up in an interesting 
 way, to employ reliable workmen to see to the printing of the 
 paper, and then to find people to sell it. If his paper is interest- 
 ing, people in general will buy it. To be sure, these papers 
 have a great deal of advertising, but that will come of itself 
 if the paper is popular. The country editor has no such easy 
 time. ("Proof of envy.") 
 
 (6) The trust is a natural condition, the direct result of the 
 law of evolution. As civiUzation advances, combination be- 
 comes more and more necessary. First the people divide into 
 trades; then two men, engaged in the same trade, find it advan- 
 tageous to combine, and so a partnership is formed. From the 
 partnership comes the corporation; then a combination of cor- 
 porations, called a trust. (From an argument that trusts are 
 beneficial. Compare the education of Master Charles.) 
 
 (c) Freedom in the choice of courses cannot fail to be good 
 for a man. After a man comes from the fitting school, where 
 the work is prescribed and necessarily rather disagreeable, it 
 seems to me that the freedom of thought and seK-reliance de- 
 rived from the free choice of courses will be of great value in 
 forming and moulding his character. Though in school a boy is 
 treated as a boy, would it be right to treat a man in college as 
 a boy? And yet this is what the prescribed course does. 
 
 (d) It is not possible for a student to know much of any- 
 thing when he is required to know a little of everything else. 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM DEFINITION 187 
 
 (e) It is the proper business of the student to study. If the 
 only real requirement is to pass certain examinations twice a 
 year, if the student crams two weeks and loiters thirty weeks, 
 he is demoralized. What is more demoralizing than to substi- 
 tute appearance for reahty? ^ 
 
 (/) Even if our Hfe is a small, sheltered one, even if we have 
 only our house or rooms to look after, things tend to get out of 
 order, to pile themselves up in heaps, to get out of our reach 
 and into each other's way. To leave things in this chaos is 
 both unwise and unjust; for it will trouble us in the future and 
 trouble the people who have to live with us. Yet it costs pain and 
 effort to attack this chaos and subject it to order. Endurance 
 of pain, in the name of wisdom and justice, to secure order for 
 our own future comfort and the comfort of our family and friends, 
 is courage. On the other hand, to leave things lying in confu- 
 sion around us, to let aHen forces come into our domain and 
 encamp there in insolent defiance of ourselves and our friends, 
 is a shameful confession that things are stronger than we. To 
 be thus conquered by dead material things is as ignominious 
 a defeat as can come to a man. The man who can be conquered 
 by things is a coward in the strict ethical sense of the term; 
 that is, he lacks the strength of will to bear the incidental pains 
 which his personal and social interests put upon him.^ 
 
 (g) There are many excellent men who are professionals. 
 I make no criticism of them individually; I could not be inter- 
 preted as reflecting upon their honesty of purpose or their 
 personal character. In the nature of things, in the common 
 sense of things, a man who is employed to coach and make 
 football teams, baseball teams, track teams, crews, what 
 you will, is bound to be governed by the single thought of win- 
 ning. It is his business; it is his reputation, it is his hfe's 
 work, his success, his all in all to turn out teams that beat the 
 
 ^ Harris, " Shall the University Concern Itself More Directly 
 with the Morals and Manners of its Students ? " Proceedings of 
 the National Educational Association, 1903. 
 
 «Hyde, "The College Man and the College Woman." Re- 
 printed by permission of Houghton Miffin Company. 
 
188 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 combinations of a rival university. He must win in order to 
 hold his job.^ 
 
 4. Test the following arguments in accordance with the 
 hints furnished with each. 
 
 (a) After all, athletics is simply one of the student activities. 
 It is more important than the others, in social value, but not 
 essentially different from them in any respect. In these recent 
 years, however, it has been exalted to a place in the general 
 university poUcy — it has become a method of advertising. 
 Winning teams pay, we are told; they attract students, and 
 with more students come better athletics, and so the fame and 
 welfare of Alma Mater are assured. In this scheme of athletics 
 the aim must not be clean, manly sport, but victories. This is 
 the evil which is most fundamental, most subtle, most dan- 
 gerous of all. Until this evil is done away with, httle will be 
 accomplished in the purifying of the athletic system.' 
 
 (Give in outline the reasons here implied for the assertion 
 that intercollegiate athletics make it natural to prefer victory 
 to clean sport.) 
 
 (6) A prescribed course in engineering, or in any field in which 
 one subject follows another, and each is dependent on the pre- 
 ceding, has the respect of the student. He can see the causes 
 w^hich control, and he can see the end to which the work leads. 
 No one complains of prescribed courses when the relation of sub- 
 jects to the final end makes the prescription natural and inevita- 
 ble. No medical student complains because anatomy, psychology, 
 chemistry, pharmacology, and bacteriology are prescribed.' 
 
 (What is the relation to this proof of the statement that 
 respect for a thing involves understanding of its usefulness?) 
 
 ' Whitney, " Who is Responsible for the Commercialism in Col- 
 lege Sport? " Outing Magazine, 46: 485. Reprinted by permission. 
 
 « Meiklejohn, " The Evils of College Athletics." From Harper's 
 Weekly, 49:1751. By permission of Harper & Brothers. Copy- 
 right, 1905, by Harper & Brothers. 
 
 ^Jordan, "The Proposed Changes at Harvard." The North 
 American Review, 191 : 446. Reprinted by permission. 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM DEFINITION 189 
 
 (c) The thorough knowledge of something is the backbone of 
 education. To know some one thing well, it does not so much 
 matter what it is, is to gain self-respect. It gives a base-hne 
 by which one can measure the attainments of others. It helps 
 us to "Know a good man when we see him," which WiUiam 
 James has declared to be one of the greatest aims of higher 
 education. Sound knowledge of any kind preserves its possessor 
 aUke from assertive vanity and from hmp humihty.^ 
 
 (What is the implied ideal of th^ educated man?) 
 
 (d) It certainly is true that the radical point of failure in 
 any life, if there be one, is ethical, and that the life of any col- 
 lege graduate cannot be regarded as successful which is a moral 
 failure. Theoretically, at least, all thoughtful people agree 
 that a noble life is better than one possessed of mere intel- 
 lectual skill and stores of information. The most essential 
 thing in the training of young people is the production of posi- 
 tive morality.2 
 
 (On what characteristic of the definition of true education 
 is this truth based?) 
 
 (e) When we ask ourselves why a knowledge of literature 
 seems indispensable to the ordinary idea of cultivation, we 
 find no answer except this: that in hterature are portrayed all 
 human passions, desires, and aspirations, and that acquaintance 
 with these human feehngs, and with the means of portraying 
 them, seems to be essential to culture. These human qual- 
 ities and powers are also the commonest ground of interesting 
 human intercourse, and therefore literary knowledge exalts the 
 quality and enhances the enjoyment of human intercourse. It 
 is in conversation that cultivation tells as much as anywhere, 
 and this rapid exchange of thoughts is by far the conmaonest 
 manifestation of its power.^ 
 
 1 See footnote 3, page 188. 
 
 2 Slocum, " Shall the University Concern Itself More Directly 
 with the Morals and Manners of its Students?" Proceedings 
 of the National Educational Association, 1903. 
 
 ' Eliot, " Present College Questions." Reprinted by permission 
 of D. Appleton & Company. 
 
190 \^RIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 (What is the definition of culture on which the preceding 
 proof is based?) 
 
 (/) The American college or university stands for social 
 advancement as well as for intellectual discipUne. The univer- 
 sity is the gateway through which democracy passes to the 
 refinement of its strength. Universities in the older countries 
 assume for the most part certain social quahties which are here 
 in the making. It is impossible to ignore the pecuUar respon- 
 sibilities which must be borne by the higher education in a coun- 
 try which is still new. Even in New England, there is a greater 
 preponderance, in all our colleges, of those from new families 
 — families, that is, which have not been represented before in 
 college training. » 
 
 (Is the f ollo\nng a fair statement of the principle behind this 
 reasoning: The school ought to supply all that the student 
 lacks? If so, is the principle a wise one?) 
 
 (g) No game is fit for college uses in which men are often 
 so knocked or crushed into insensibihty or immobihty that it 
 is a question whether by the apphcation of water and stimu- 
 lants they can be brought to and enabled to go on playing. 
 No game is fit for college uses in which recklessness in causing 
 or suffering serious bodily injuries promotes efficiency and so 
 is taught and held up for admiration. An extreme recklessness 
 remains a grave objection to the game of football, and it also 
 makes basketball and hockey as developed in recent years 
 imdesirable games.* 
 
 (W^hat is the ideal of college sport behind this reasoning?) 
 
 (h) Manners cannot be taught — not, at least, the manners 
 of a gentleman. On the inner side it means the training of 
 the spirit, and on the outer side it means association. Manners 
 come to be more and more manner — the whole bearing of a 
 man. And this result — apart from the ceaseless working of 
 the spirit — is a pure matter of form, and therefore the effect 
 
 ^ Tucker, " Shall the University Concern Itself More Directly 
 with the Morals and Manners of its Students?" Proceedings of 
 the National Educational Association, 1903. 
 
 ' President's Report, Harvard University, 1905-6, p. 44. 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM DEFINITION 191 
 
 of environment. It is the subtle distinction of manners that 
 they come to us, not by what we do under our own initiative, 
 but from what others are doing around us. Manners good and 
 bad are communicated. ^ 
 
 (What is the imphed definition of things that can be taught, 
 and what the idea of teaching behind it?) 
 
 (i) But as we went from the field, my friend began to ask me 
 questions. "Do you consider that sport healthy and normal?" 
 he asked. "Did you see the slugging? Did you notice that 
 the boys were cheering to drown out the other team's signals? 
 Is it true that there are men on each team who had no right to 
 play, under the rules? Do the students condone and encourage 
 evasion of the rules? Is it true that preparatory-school players 
 are attracted to the colleges by ' inducements? ' Aren't there 
 lots of other evils?" And when to all these questions I had 
 reluctantly assented, he demanded: "Why, then, do you col- 
 lege men permit these things; why don't you stop athletics 
 altogether? Isn't it better to have no games at all than to have 
 them at the cost of fairness and honesty? " ^ 
 
 (Define the ideal of healthy and normal sport behind this 
 reasoning.) 
 
 (j) First, then, why should we have intercollegiate compe- 
 tition at all? So far as football, baseball, and rowing are 
 concerned, it is neither good exercise nor good fun for the 
 participants. The training to which the men are subjected is 
 far too severe and prolonged to be good exercise for a student. 
 Games within the college, games between classes, dormitories, 
 fraternities — these are far better forms of exercise from the 
 standpoint of health and fun than is intercollegiate competi- 
 tion. But the value of intercollegiate competition is quite dis- 
 tinct from theirs — a value which justifies the sacrifice of fun, 
 
 1 Tucker, "Shall the University Concern Itself More Directly 
 with the Morals and Manners of its Students?" Proceedings 
 of the National Educational Association, 1903. 
 
 " Meiklejohn, " The Evils of College Athletics." From Harper's 
 Weekly, 49: 1751. By permission of Harper & Brothers. Copy- 
 right, 1905, by Harper & Brothers. 
 
192 VERIFICATION AND PROOF OF STATEMENTS 
 
 of time, of strength, and even, to some extent, of health. It is 
 the value of fm-nishing a dominant social interest, of fusing 
 together the members of a college community, of developing a 
 college democracy, of creating a " college spirit." * 
 
 (In tliis instance of reasoning from an ideal can you add 
 other points desirable in college sport?) 
 
 (k) You eat the bread the farmer, the ranchman, the butcher, 
 the grocer prepare for you. You hve in houses the forester, 
 the stone-cutter, the carpenter, the mason, the painter, the 
 upholsterer furnish for you. You wear the clothing which the 
 shepherd, the plantation hand, the mill-operative, the shop- 
 keeper, the seamstress, the tailor provide for you. You sit by 
 the fire the miner, the locomotive engineer, the brakeman, the 
 sailor, the teamster has built in your grate. Have you yet 
 done anything for them that is worth as much as the things 
 they are daily doing for you? If not, then look up to them with 
 heartfelt gratitude and admiration, as the soldier says to the 
 water-carrier in KipUng's Hues: 
 
 "You're a better man than I am, 
 Gunga Din." * 
 
 (What is the principle behind this reasoning? Is the weak 
 spot to be found in that principle or in the Reason?) 
 
 (0 Moderate drinking and smoking undoubtedly have still a 
 long lease of Ufe. . . . That multitudes of people will continue 
 the practice, and will do so under the impression, right or wrong, 
 that they are doing what is wisest and best for themselves, 
 there can be no doubt. Such people are not to be condemned 
 as intemperate. Whatever the final verdict of physiology may 
 be, so long as these people beheve on the testimony of expert 
 authorities whose judgment they trust, and on their own expe- 
 rience so far as they are competent to interpret it, that modera- 
 tion in the use of alcohohc drink is good for them, they are 
 wise and temperate in its use. For moraUty is not a matter of 
 
 *See footnote 2, page 191. 
 
 «Hyde, "The College Man and the College Woman." Re- 
 printed by permission of Houghton Mifl9in Company. 
 
ARGUMENTS FROM DEFINITION 193 
 
 right or wrong opinion about physiological questions. It is a 
 question of personal attitude toward the opinions which one 
 holds.i 
 
 (Give a plainer, fuller statement of the implied principle. 
 Are wisdom and temperance the whole of "morality" in a 
 case of this sort? Or was it not the author's intention to 
 imply that such people are also moral?) 
 
 (m) These two kinds of imagination — Dante's and Lyell's 
 — are not comparable, but both are manifestations of a great 
 human power. Zola, in La Bete Humaine, contrives that ten 
 persons, all connected with the railroad from Paris to Havre, 
 shall be either murderers or murdered, or both, within eighteen 
 months; and he adds two railroad slaughters criminally pro- 
 cured. The conditions of time and place are ingeniously im- 
 agined, and no detail is omitted which can heighten the effect 
 of this homicidal fiction. Contrast this kind of constructive 
 imagination with the kind which conceived the great wells sunk 
 in the soUd rock below Niagara that contain the turbines that 
 drive the dynamos that generate the electric force that turns 
 thousands of wheels and lights thousands of lamps over hun- 
 dreds of square miles of adjoining territory; or with the kind 
 that conceives the sending of human thoughts across three 
 thousand miles of stormy sea instantaneously on nothing more 
 substantial than ethereal waves. There is no crime, cruelty, 
 or lust about these last two sorts of imagining. No lurid fire of 
 hell or human passion illumines their scenes. They are calm, 
 accurate, just, and responsible, and nothing but beneficence 
 and increased human well-being results from them.^ 
 
 (What is the Rule in this proof? Is the Reason a fair state- 
 ment of the facts in the case?) 
 
 1 Hyde, " The College Man and the College Woman." Re- 
 printed by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. 
 
 2 Eliot, " Present College Questions." Reprinted by permission 
 of D. Appleton & Company. 
 
CONCLUSION 
 THE POINT OF VIEW 
 
 It remains only to sum up in a few words the principles 
 already covered. Our experience, our real world, is, as 
 we have seen, too complex and transient to be completely 
 and clearly grasped. Only parts of it, therefore, ever rise 
 to the level of full knowledge and expression. These 
 must first be selected by the attention from the current 
 of half-formed ideas and possible sensations always sweep- 
 ing through our minds. The attention, however, not 
 only chooses and rejects, but it does so on definite and 
 limited principles. That is to say, it takes up only what 
 it has been trained to take, what touches the interest or 
 has in it a familiar strain. The rest of our possible 
 material for thought and expression retreats into the 
 background or entirely fades away. 
 
 Even the parts of our experience which attention has 
 selected do not get into thought unmodified. Our interest 
 in them is strictly limited; we attempt only to measure 
 them against our standards, the ideas derived from pre- 
 vious reasoning or thought, and to determine how far 
 they fall short or exceed. This process brings to light 
 merely such qualities as seem related to the momentary 
 purpose. It gives a limited conception, and one which 
 grows more and more restricted in proportion as we strive 
 for detailed accuracy in observation and exactness in 
 thought. After this examination has been made, we have 
 as a rule no further use for the things themselves, but 
 
THE POINT OF VIEW 195 
 
 substitute in their places the qualities we have found in 
 them. So it happens, for instance, in judging men. Let 
 a man enter the ministry and he becomes, for the thinking 
 of most people, an animated catalogue of the Christian 
 virtues. Let him enter the employ of a bank and he is 
 thought of as a reliable machine for counting money. 
 After these transformations nothing can cause more sur- 
 prise than for the subject to come to life again and un- 
 expectedly show human qualities which thought cannot 
 reconcile with his profession. The same thing happens 
 in all other connections; we use our experience as material 
 for thought, but in thus employing it we disregard entirely 
 whatever is unrelated to the purpose of our thinking. 
 We make our subjects of thought what we please by the 
 wilful selection of the ideas and ideals in the light of which 
 we measure them. 
 
 These mental standards are the system of weights and 
 measures with which we go forth to try the world. They 
 are the character, the self, on the intellectual side. They 
 represent, among other things, all the prejudices of our 
 birth, early training, family history, and place in society. 
 Even education plays its part in the forming of this 
 character, for study fills the closet with new utensils, 
 though it by no means enforces their use. In virtue of 
 this equipment, each of us differs intellectually from all 
 other people in the world. Our thinking is our own, and 
 our facts are as personal as the expression of our faces. 
 
 It therefore follows, as a matter of demonstration and 
 aside from questions of modesty or good taste, that no 
 man can claim to have monopoHzed the truth or said the 
 last word on any subject. The most he can pretend to is 
 to give a clear and exact representation of things as they 
 look from his point of view. There are, indeed, two 
 claims by which a man may seek to dignify his point of 
 
196 THE POINT OF VIEW 
 
 view above that of others. That is to say, he may assert 
 that from his position one sees all that is essential in 
 the reality, or all that is important. Neither assertion, 
 however, should be taken too seriously. Since we do not 
 know reality well enough to be sure which part of itself 
 it would consider essential in the absolute sense, we can 
 judge of the essential only as we judge of the important, 
 in the light of a particular purpose. Moreover life teaches 
 us again and again that, when a man becomes too much 
 absorbed in a particular purpose, he is sure to let slip 
 much truth of which he will later stand sorely in need. 
 Aside from the question of accuracy, then, the whole 
 matter of differences in facts resolves itself into a difference 
 in purposes; and here there should be the broadest tolera- 
 tion. The highly developed mind will avoid the assertion 
 that another's purpose is wrongly chosen, and will wel- 
 come all differences in aim, all varieties of point of view, 
 as invaluable contributions to the activity, and even to 
 the interest, of the world. Here, too, there is consolation 
 for the timid and the self-conscious. The knowledge of 
 the p>ersonal character of thought is likely to frighten 
 such natures and to hold them back from expression. 
 They fear to arouse ridicule, and in their thinking seek the 
 safe level of the commonplace. Let them, on the con- 
 trary, take courage. The interest, and in some degree 
 the value, of all work is dependent upon individuality 
 of purpose and point of view. The attempt to adopt 
 another's point of view, when not useless, is suicidal. 
 The only serious chance of error in such matters lies, not 
 in having a definite and personal point of view, but in 
 lacking it. 
 
 One more consolation may be derived from a knowledge 
 of the personal character of thought. In a mind which 
 has firmly fixed its own centre there can be no confusion, 
 
THE POINT OF VIEW 197 
 
 for no fact can enter there except as it takes its place in 
 an order already established. Nothing can be strange, 
 nothing can come amiss. Neither need there be any 
 lack of material, for the world of mind, like the world of 
 matter, adjusts itself to every point of view. It is perhaps 
 one of the most surprising facts in our whole experience 
 that, as soon as a man becomes thoroughly interested in 
 anything, and wide awake at one point in his life, the 
 universe seems to join in a kindly conspiracy to help him. 
 New facts crowd in upon him, half-forgotten experiences 
 return with a new meaning, chance reading is full of 
 enlightening references, and he meets people whose thought 
 is moving in a similar direction. If he misses any necessary 
 idea, it will be because he has formed, and formed too 
 narrowly, a notion that this or that in no way concerns 
 him. It might even be said, without too much exaggera- 
 tion, that a man has only to know what he wants and life 
 will hasten to bring it to him; only to fix his centre 
 and the world will group itself round him in a beautiful 
 unity. 
 
 One sense there certainly is in which these words hold 
 almost literally true. We have, namely, the power to 
 determine in large measure the character of what we 
 receive, through the point of view in which we look at it. 
 As for people, it is notorious that their behavior toward 
 us is governed by what we expect of them. The quickest 
 way to get cheated is to anticipate deceit; and an open- 
 minded confidence often begets nobility in others. As 
 for facts, or rather the statements through which we know 
 them, these are determined almost wholly by our point 
 of view as observers. Is your life hard and uncongenial? 
 There are open to you two purely mental methods of 
 escape. First lower, for the moment, your ideal. Think 
 less highly of what you deserve, or consider how small 
 
198 THE POINT OF VIEW 
 
 are your actual needs. If this method fails to bring relief, 
 you may "count up your mercies"; you may turn the 
 attention upon those elements of good which are present 
 in even the worst situation. These two means between 
 them ought to be sufficient to transform the most stubborn 
 fact. They rest, at all events, on principles which are 
 fundamental in all thought. 
 
 Beyond the question of what things seem to the in- 
 dividual mind there lies, however, the more troublesome 
 question of what they really are. In the conflict of 
 opposing purposes and points of view we are sometimes 
 obliged in a more or less arbitrary way to determine what 
 is true and what is false, and this we must do on the basis 
 of something more than personal opinion. Individual 
 notions of truth will often need correction. They will 
 require to be supplemented; and, curiously enough, the 
 best source from which to supplement them is the one 
 that most people avoid, — the notions of those that hold 
 diametrically the opposite opinions. This must be true 
 because of the very nature of thought. All thinking 
 polarizes the world of fact and obtains clear conceptions 
 wholly through contrast. Thus temperance is contrasted 
 with indulgence, light with darkness, far with near. It is 
 impossible, for the most part, even to define terms in 
 words except by explaining what they do not mean. 
 Indeed all ideas may be said to be one-sided, and, when 
 they are applied to facts, they give a one-sided result. 
 In such a method of thhiking, used with a full sense 
 of its deficiencies, there can be no harm; but who can 
 boast of possessing such a sense? Under the condi- 
 tions the safest plan seems to be to hunt up what was 
 lost in making yom- own thought clear. Study the oppo- 
 site. Learn constantly to contradict yourself. If you 
 are given over to scientific methods of thinking, try 
 
THE POINT OF VIEW 199 
 
 to understand what there may be of value in an artis- 
 tic and literary point of view. If you are rich, learn of 
 the poor. Find the man who stands at the other end 
 of the diameter and make him your schoolmaster. He 
 doubtless despises you and all your opinions, but this 
 frame of mind in him is only a guarantee that he can offer 
 what you need. 
 
 The attempt to profit by points of view which differ 
 from one's own will be valueless without a degree of 
 sympathy. There must be behind it, not merely the 
 usual state of mind falsely called "openness to conviction,*' 
 but the knowledge that one's opponent is, like one's self, 
 a human being, and the shrewd suspicion that most 
 differences of opinion are apparent rather than real. 
 When the heat of argument has passed, we all do somehow 
 think pretty much alike. This is fortunate, as the case 
 stands, for, after all, the only test we can assign for truth 
 is a social one. Both for facts and for theories, the truth 
 must be defined as the conclusions of what may be called 
 our common sense, the agreement of all those best fitted, 
 in a given case, to know and to judge. This agreement, 
 however, is not something foreign to the individual, but of 
 the very nature of his deeper life; and the common sense 
 is but the voice of the higher self. Within each mind 
 there is an unending debate between the self of the mo- 
 mentary tastes and preferences and the self of the broader 
 principles. The personal self is loud-mouthed, self-assert- 
 ive, and argumentative. He keeps up a din in which the 
 discovery of truth is next to impossible; but sometimes in 
 the quiet one hears another voice. It is to this that the 
 student of logic will desire to listen; for, since it speaks 
 much the same message to all, it shows the only character- 
 istic by which, with our present limits of knowledge, we 
 are able to recognize truth. 
 
200 THE POINT OF VIEW 
 
 We hear it sometimes said that the object of education 
 is to teach us our limitations; and so we should do ill to 
 conclude this book without a glimpse over the hedge into 
 the much fairer fields of thought that lie beyond it. We 
 have attempted to study merely that degree of assurance 
 and that type of truth which may be reached through 
 clear thinking. Beyond this, as everybody knows, is an 
 entirely different method of arriving at conclusions, and 
 one which, for lack of a better name, we sometimes call 
 illumination. It is due, no doubt, to the dimmer and less 
 definable workings of both the senses and the mind, the 
 influence upon us of that large remnant of unbounded 
 reality which our conscious thought has not taken into 
 account. This influence is responsible for the thousand 
 states of mind which caimot be clearly expressed in terms 
 of logic. Here there is room for literature and the arts. 
 Here too belongs what we term belief, that curious mood 
 of denial of doubt which will not come at the call of either 
 evidence or proof. So we may glance over the hedge, as 
 a man casts his eye into a pleasant garden and passes 
 onward to his work. 
 
APPENDIX A 
 
 EXAMPLE OF LOGICAL ANALYSIS 
 
 But few long exercises have been introduced in this book 
 requiring a direct use of the critical faculty. Such work 
 can best be done, under guidance from the teacher, in 
 connection with the student's own writing. Examples of 
 faulty method in the work of others are likely to seem, 
 like the sins discussed in the pulpit, rather remote from 
 one's own experience. At the same time the following 
 theoretical discussion has been annotated and is appended 
 here, in the hope that it may serve for those unaccustomed 
 to logical analysis as a sort of model of critical method, 
 or that it may be useful in review. The discussion is, in 
 a word, an attempt to fix upon an ideal and then to apply 
 that ideal, with negative results, to a range of facts. 
 One thing which comes out in a rather interesting way is 
 the pains which the writer has taken to adjust his ideal so 
 as to provide for a negative result. 
 
 The Honor System 
 
 The discussion about introducing the honor system has had 
 considerable interest, ^ and is justified, if only in reminding us 
 that we have large questions to solve; but it appears not yet 
 to have gone very deep.^ Valuable facts have been brought 
 out to show the workings of the system in other colleges. Some 
 
 1 As is illustrated in the two following sentences. 
 
 2 A proof, completed below, i.e. because it has not yet touched 
 the question of school spirit. 
 
202 EXAMPLE OF LOGICAL ANALYSIS 
 
 hopeful ^ spirits have reasoned persuasively of its probable 
 benefits, in raising the life of the school to an almost ideal stand- 
 ard. As a result of all these arguments most of us admit that 
 it works in some places, and that, when it works, nothing could 
 show a better state of health in a school. The only remaining 
 question « is whether the honor system causes healthy school 
 life or results from it. If it is a cause, we want it; if an effect 
 and we reach for it prematurely, it is likely to be more bitter 
 than a green persimmon. 
 
 The most striking aspect of the honor system is its insta- 
 bility. One man, perhaps, could hardly overthrow it. Six un- 
 questionably could.* Its foundation is a lot of ideas not much 
 heard of these days, except in the pulpit. They are enthusiasm, 
 confidence, and love.* I am almost ashamed to mention them, 
 and certainly should not if I supposed my doing so could be 
 twisted into a personal endorsement.* I hope the breach of 
 good manners maj^ be excused, because I use the words merely 
 as practical signs in the business of what I have to say. I 
 know nothing more about their deeper significance than a 
 barber knows of the history of striped poles. 
 
 *This word, and "ideal" below, are insinuations. They offer 
 an argument from resemblance, based on the following law: The 
 "ideals" of hopeful spirits are not likely to be worth much in 
 practice. 
 
 *0n the general principle that not everything which follows a 
 thing is the effect of it. A question "remaining" in the sense of 
 left over from the arguments referred to; but not, as might appear, 
 to be solved in this essay. The answer would imply a study of 
 school spirit before and during the experiment, in schools where it 
 had succeeded and in schools where it had failed. 
 
 •This statement about fact is nowhere verified. 
 
 *An argument from resemblance, resting on the law: Whatever 
 is founded on remote ideals is unstable. 
 
 'Ironical, of course. At the same time part of the argument: 
 These ideals are remote, for they are almost unknown to the writer, 
 and 
 
 If the writer knows little of them, what must be the case of the 
 average mind! 
 
EXAMPLE OF LOGICAL ANALYSIS 203 
 
 Enthusiasm, — this state of things exists in some schools. ^ 
 It is not merely cheering at a theatre, or passing a loving-cup 
 at a dinner, though these things help.^ It is more hke a demoniac 
 possession, the indweUing of a spirit greater than your own, 
 which hfts you entirely out of yourself.' When a body of men 
 march in a crowd, with however much cheering, the spirit is 
 not necessarily there. It cares nothing for red fire, per se.^ 
 But when the crowd develops an ideal of conduct, and acts hke 
 an organized body to punish those who fall below the standard, 
 the spirit goes before them as in a pillar of fire.' The average 
 man feels touches of this possession but few times in his life 
 — now and then, perhaps, when he rises in a crowd and takes 
 off his hat to sing "America," and once when his father first 
 lays his hand on his shoulder and talks to him as though he were 
 a man.* The member of a great school or college may feel it 
 every day. With him it may become a sustained state of feel- 
 ing which differs from insanity only in working continuously, 
 consistently, and always for good.^ Without this enthusiasm 
 no system of school government will make men more than ordi- 
 nary human beings, strongly tempted to do what is easiest and 
 promises most momentary advantage.^ 
 
 1 Again an insinuation : A place where people need the assurance 
 that it exists is not a place where it thrives. 
 
 2 Here the ideal begins to be defined. Aside from the question 
 of truth, the writer was probably aware that the presence of these 
 things in the definition would spoil his proof. 
 
 'These statements are theoretical and are unsupported. The 
 writer must be allowed to put into his ideal whatever traits he 
 pleases. 
 
 *This is the only argument used in support of the ideal of 
 enthusiasm: 
 
 The ideal is not unreasonably lofty, for 
 
 We have all seen it worked out, at least in some measure, in our 
 own lives. 
 
 5 This statement and the one preceding are not theories about 
 an ideal, but statements about fact. The failure to back them up 
 is therefore totally without excuse. 
 
 5 The fundamental law of all this part of the essay: When men 
 
204 EXAMPLE OF LOGICAL ANALYSIS 
 
 Confidence, — the second requirement for the working of 
 the honor system. Other things being equal, when we are 
 trusted imphcitly, we live up to what is expected of us.^ The 
 man who hves up to the honor system will do so, other things 
 being equal, because he feels either that his instructors trust 
 him or that the eyes of his fellow students are on him, with 
 not the lurking shadow of a doubt that he will be worthy. Do 
 our instructors trust us? Do they know us well enough? Have 
 we given them the opportunity, or have we, perhaps, treated 
 them as bloodless abstractions of the pedantic, suspicious, 
 and thin-skinned school-master kind? Again, do we trust one 
 another? ' This too depends upon the degree of our acquaint- 
 ance? Plenty of men will keep their seats in a car when a lady 
 is standing, — but not if they know the lady. Plenty of men 
 will cheat a railroad company of a fare, — but not if they know 
 the conductor. 1 To know other people is to respect them; to 
 be kno\sTi by other people is to respect yourself. What keeps 
 men straight under the honor system is the steadying sense, 
 like the hand of a friend on one's shoulder, that everybody 
 knows them and trusts them." 
 
 Love, — the third necessity. The man who goes right under 
 
 are left to natural conditions, they will work for their own momentary 
 advantage. The reasoning should be followed backward from this 
 point. 
 
 ^ This is not, as at first might seem, a law, but a Rule. See the 
 implied Reason below (2): 
 
 Confidence with knowledge must beget trustworthiness, for 
 
 It appeals to self-pride. 
 
 Here again the reader is cleverly cheated of his facts. 
 
 * This method of questioning works admirably — when it happens 
 to succeed. Such are our habits in generalization that one fact 
 drawn from our own experience is suflBcient to induce belief about 
 a whole class. 
 
 *In all these paragraphs the author develops his ideal and at 
 the same time attempts to show that it does not exist in the school 
 in question. The former purpose, though not the main end of the 
 essay, is made temporarily to appear so through the structure of 
 the paragraphs. 
 
EXAMPLE OF LOGICAL ANALYSIS 205 
 
 the honor system refrains from cheating, if tempted, because 
 he wiUingly sacrifices his inchnation for something that he 
 loves better. 1 Enthusiasm, confidence, and love, — as in the 
 case of the better-known trio, so here, the greatest is love. 
 Without it the spirit of enthusiasm will not rage, and a school 
 will have no life as a common body, but every man will be try- 
 ing to get the better of every other. 2 Do we love our school? 
 A feehng of some sort there undoubtedly is, growing stronger 
 in recent years, but ^ not comparable to the sweUing in the 
 heart of a graduate of one of the best classical schools or col- 
 leges, when he thinks of the good old times. These men hear 
 of the school from afar and enter it fired mth a great ideal. 
 They enter, in the better cases, not to make a bargain for prac- 
 tical knowledge, but to begin an ideal life.* The outcome of 
 this life, they have always heard, is to be the development of 
 character, the broadening of mind, and all sorts of possibilities 
 for service to the community. ^ Our men also hear of the school 
 from afar, but chiefly as a place where one may buy practical 
 knowledge that can be sold later at a profit, — a first-class 
 jobbing house for mental wares. Many of them enter it, on 
 their own confession, with no stronger preference than that 
 which determines the selection of the shop where they buy 
 shoes." Do they find anything to love here, or do they merely 
 endure, as men endure arm movements in a gymnasium? ' 
 
 1 A proof: 
 
 Love is necessary to the working of the honor system, for 
 Love means willingness to sacrifice one's own desires. 
 2 A repetition of the fundamental law referred to earlier. 
 'Again, the arbitrary definition of the ideal. 
 * An unsupported statement about facts. It is, however, of such 
 a nature that it could never be verified satisfactorily. 
 
 6 To reiterate and elaborate an assertion is not, of course, to verify it, 
 but for the careless reader the one often does as well as the other. 
 
 8 An argument from resemblance, based on the law that profit 
 and love cannot go hand in hand. It would be interesting to 
 inquire why this seems true. 
 
 7 An illustration of one case where the above law is known to 
 hold good. 
 
206 EXAMPLE OF LOGICAL ANALYSIS 
 
 We may or may not be moving in the direction of these 
 great influences; the vital point is that it seems doubtful whether 
 we have arrived. ^ When the new song-book is fifty or a hundred 
 years old; when the union of a Saturday night is a natural gather- 
 ing place for all the outcast, even instructors; when the fresh- 
 man signs liis class constitution, even at the expense of paying 
 his class dues; and when the acts of those whose names appear 
 in this year's catalogue shall be but part of a great tradition 
 of gentlemanly and brotherly hving, — then the persimmons of 
 the honor system may be ripe. As the experience of other 
 schools shows, they can never be picked from the tree but once, 
 and they are uncommonly bitter when they are green. 
 
 Enthusiasm, confidence, love. It is more difficult for an engi- 
 neering school to arouse these feelings in its pupils than for a 
 college. They are aroused only where large bodies of men work 
 together,' but, more than that, only where they work together 
 for the most lofty aims. In this respect the classical college 
 has the advantage of us. Its claims, though indefinite and some- 
 what unsupported by results, are of the highest order. Its 
 ideals wear the aspect of a large unselfishness and devotion to 
 mankind.' If its students mistake the conditions of training 
 and forget to learn anything about the concrete facts with which 
 they hope later to do so much, those accidental mistakes do not 
 at first impair the spirit.* They love their school, because it 
 means to them the greatest things in life, ideals too great to be 
 
 * A fresh attempt to develop the ideal, this time through concrete 
 examples. The notions evolved seem to be: The best school spirit 
 presupFHMes school customs; fellowship; self-sacrifice in work and 
 in money contributions; and high tradition. Here too the method 
 of negatives is followed. 
 
 ' The only support for this statement is found in the illustrations 
 — "America," etc. — on an earlier page. 
 
 * These statements about facts are taken for granted. 
 
 * They do not impair the school spirit, — i.e. they are non- 
 essential, for 
 
 They are merely "accidental," — i.e. non-essential. 
 Such proof as there is here moves in a circle. The Rule is a mere 
 equivalence of terms. 
 
EXAMPLE OF LOGICAL ANALYSIS 207 
 
 intelligible, and therefore all the dearer.^ As opposed to this 
 the technical student has nothing so showy. He points to the 
 material advancement due to science, and is met with the criti- 
 cism, which his own heart almost endorses, that we are not a 
 whit better men than they were in the days of Noah.^ The 
 best he can show is appliances for the comfort of the body and 
 the preservation of health and life. The world feels, and he 
 feels too, to some extent, that, if things are really going to 
 the dogs morally, improvements in the gasoline engine and in the 
 chemical analysis of sugar ' are not much to the point. Then it 
 says to him, ''You are useful in a practical way and you get 
 your pay; but expect no thanks." * And he says to his school, 
 "I shall be glad to make a bargain for some of your best goods, 
 but don't talk to me about the deeper things of life, for they are 
 not in your line." 
 
 Meanwhile both the world and he are, of course, wrong. The 
 man who masters fact is the only one who can hope for power. 
 Not seeing this truth, the classical college has been tried and 
 found wanting. Here, then, is the opportunity for the engineer. 
 He may put forward the most lofty claims, but he must base 
 them on his contributions, not to material progress,'* but to 
 knowledge. Scientific schools must be permeated, even in the 
 most elementary subjects, with the spirit of research. Then 
 men will flock to them, not from commercial motives, but from 
 love." Then they will be ready for the honor system; only it 
 will not then be necessary. 
 
 1 A law: What men cannot understand they tend to worship. 
 
 2 A Rule: "Material" advancement is not real betterment. 
 'Neither of these is a fair sample of "material" advancement. 
 
 The new work is here to be judged by the old standards of thought 
 * It may be profitable to consider in what way, actually, the 
 
 world would make these opinions felt. The statement takes its 
 
 force from its opposite, which is that theoretical reformers are 
 
 received with great signs of public gratitude. 
 
 6 "Power" is the mastery of facts, and yet either does not lead to 
 
 "material progress" or is not valuable on that account. 
 
 8 To what this love will attach itself can be determined only by 
 
 one who understands the difficulty referred to in the preceding note. 
 
APPENDIX B 
 THE USE OF REFERENCE BOOKS 
 
 The best general introduction to the use of reference 
 books is Kroeger, Guide to the Study and Use of Reference 
 Books, American Library Association, Boston, 1903. For 
 the most recent books this is somewhat out of date. The 
 method of study is much the same for all such books. 
 The student should examine the title-page and the intro- 
 duction or preface. These will give him some notion of 
 the authorities quoted, the date of publication, the arrange- 
 ment, and the scope of treatment. He should then study 
 and attempt to use the table of contents and the indexes, 
 noting particularly the system of cross-references, if any. 
 Next should follow the reading of several articles on sub- 
 jects with which he is familiar and a comparison of these 
 with articles on the same subjects in other books. In all 
 books which deal with topics at any length, it is important 
 to note the length of the article, its authorship, if stated, 
 and how it is arranged with regard to other material on the 
 same topic. One should observe whether a bibliography is 
 given and, if so, how extensive and how nearly up to date. 
 
 The following is a list of some important reference 
 works with which the author happens to be familiar. 
 When special methods of study seem advisable, they are 
 indicated in questions and exercises following the various 
 titles. Though most of the books are in common use, the 
 exercises must, of course, be changed as necessary to adapt 
 them to the resources of the school library. 
 
THE USE OF REFERENCE BOOKS 209 
 
 A. DICTIONARIES 
 
 MuRHAY, J. A. H., New English Dictionary on Historical Prin- 
 ciples. Oxford, The Clarendon Press. Completed (1912) 
 through Vol. VIII, Part 1, and portions of later volumes. 
 Words in use for the past seven hundred years, with their 
 origin and history, and abundant quotations. Invaluable 
 for the advanced student of language and literature. Not 
 so well adapted as the other dictionaries for e very-day use. 
 
 Webster, New International Dictionary of the Enghsh Lan- 
 guage. Merriam. Springfield, Mass., 1910. 2 vols. There 
 have been various editions since the first in 1828. The pres- 
 ent one embodies considerable new material and is worthy 
 of special study. The explanations of the words have been 
 enlarged and more attention has been put on the treatment 
 of synonyms. The student should make sure that he under- 
 stands the common abbreviations used in dictionaries: w., 
 v., a., adv., i., L, pL, p.p., p.pr,, imp., cf., obs., F., OF., L., 
 etc. The most usual marks of pronunciation should be 
 studied, as a, a, a, I, I. 
 
 Read, as an instance of the treatment, what is said of 
 ablaze, -able, and able. Compare the treatment of synonyms 
 under able with those for the same word in Crabb and Roget. 
 
 The Century Dictionary. New York, 1889-91. The Cen- 
 tury Co. Supplement, New Vols. I and II, 1909. 
 
 The Century is comprehensive rather than critical, a dic- 
 tionary of the growing language. Compare with Webster 
 the treatment of ablaze, -able, able. Note especially the dif- 
 ference in the kind and length of explanation and in the 
 treatment of synonyms. The Supplement adds 120,000 
 words and phrases, especially in science, the arts, and the 
 common vocabulary. Test this by looking up any recent 
 word, as disassemble, in the New International, the Century, 
 and the Century New Volumes. 
 
210 THE USE OF REFERENCE BOOKS 
 
 B. SPECIAL DICTIONARIES 
 
 Common Dictionary Appendixes. The appendixes at the 
 back of large dictionaries, as for instance Webster's, may be 
 used for a variety of ordinary matters. The list is usually 
 somewhat as follows: 
 
 A dictionary of noted names of fiction. 
 
 A biographical dictionary, with pronunciation. 
 
 A list of Enghsh Christian names. 
 
 A gazetteer of the world, with pronunciation. 
 
 A hst of Scripture proper names. 
 
 A list of Greek and Latin proper names. 
 
 Foreign quotations and phrases. 
 
 Abbreviations, and signs used in writing and printing. 
 Only words in the most conmion use are hkely to be found in 
 such lists. 
 Century Cyclopedia of Names. New York, 1894. The 
 Century Co. 
 
 Names relating to geography, biography, mythology, his- 
 tory, ethics, art, and fiction. Pronunciation given. For 
 epccial information, the student will usually save time by 
 consulting this book first. The articles are concise. The 
 subjects best covered are in geography and biography, which 
 latter includes persons still living. 
 Technological and Scientific Dictionary. Goodchild and 
 Tweeney. Philadelphia, 1906. Lippincott. 
 
 Subjects relating to the sciences, arts, manufactures, and 
 trades. Brief treatment. English authorities. 
 Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Brewer. London, 1896. 
 Cassell. 
 
 The derivation, source, or origin of common phrases, allu- 
 sions, and words of special meaning. There is a multitude 
 of special dictionaries containing "facts for the curious," in 
 various departments of knowledge. As they are of small 
 consequence to the beginner, they are not included here. 
 Familiar Quotations. Bartlett, J. Boston, 1892. Little, 
 Brown and Co. 
 
THE USE OF REFERENCE BOOKS 211 
 
 Quotations from poetry and prose, in both ancient and 
 modern literature. Arranged chronologically, but with an 
 index of authors, and another of important words. 
 Cyclopaedia of Practical Quotations. Hoyt, J. K. New 
 York, 1896. Funic: and Wagnalls. 
 
 Quotations in Enghsh, Latin, and modern foreign languages. 
 Arranged under subjects, except those from the Bible. Top- 
 ical index, and cross-references to allied subjects. 
 A Book of Quotations, Proverbs, and Household Words. 
 Benham, W. G. Philadelphia, 1907. Lippincott. 
 
 The Enghsh quotations are arranged under authors. Index 
 of authors, and ample verbal index of important words. 
 English Synonyms. Crabb, G. New York, 1892. Harpers. 
 
 In alphabetical arrangement. The use of words is illus- 
 trated from the best authors. 
 Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases. Roget, P. M. 
 New York, 1886, Crowell; Longmans. Boston, De Wolfe. 
 
 A recently enlarged edition. The object of the book is to 
 furnish expression when the thought is already in mind in a 
 general form. Classified under abstract relations, as space, 
 matter, intellect, etc. The alphabetical index makes it pos- 
 sible to use the book for synonyms. Valuable for advanced 
 students of composition. 
 
 C. BIOGRAPHY AND AUTHORSHIP 
 The Dictionary of National Biography. Leslie Stephen 
 and Sidney Lee. London, 1885-1900. Smith. 63 vols. 
 Supplement to 1901, 3 vols. 
 
 The most important and comprehensive work of its kind. 
 No living persons. 
 Lippincott's Biographical Dictionary. Philadelphia, 1901. 
 To end of nineteenth century. Sketches of Hves, with bio- 
 graphical references. An interesting introduction gives the 
 general principles of pronunciation in the important languages 
 of Europe and Asia. 
 The National Cyclopedia of American Biography. New 
 York, 1892-1901. White. 
 
212 THE USE OF REFERENCE BOOKS 
 
 Devoted mainly to contemporaries. Especially valuable for 
 less well-known Americans. 
 A Critical Dictionary of English Literature and Biog- 
 KAPHY, AND American Authors, Living and Deceased. 
 Allibone, S. A. Pliiladelpliia. Lippincott. 
 
 To 1SS8. Biographical material of authors, lists of works, 
 and critical notes from authors and reviews. 
 Dictionary of English Literature. Adams, W. D. New 
 York, 1884. CasseU. 
 
 A list of prominent authors, their dates, the dates and 
 titles of their works, and critical extracts. Together with 
 this are pen-names, important quotations, proverbs, the names 
 of characters, and sometimes the first lines of poems. 
 Guide to the Study of Nineteenth Century Authors. 
 Hodgkins, L. M. Boston, 1891. Heath. 
 
 A list of twenty-six Enghsh and American authors, with 
 references to hterature on each. 
 Who's the Author? Peet, L. H. New York, 1901. Crowell. 
 A brief account of novels, stories, speeches, songs, and 
 general writing in America. 
 Who's Who? London. Annual. Macmillan. 
 
 For li\dng celebrities. Brief notices. Some Americans. 
 Who's Who in America, Biennial. Chicago. Marquis. 
 
 D. ENCYCLOPiEDIAS 
 
 ENCYCLOPiEDiA Britannica. Philadelphia, 1875-90. Stod- 
 dart. In this edition the number of articles on America was 
 increased. 
 
 Cambridge, England, 1910. The University Press. 11th 
 edition. 28 vols, and Index. 
 
 The standard work of reference. Indexed under general 
 subjects, except that in the latest edition articles have in 
 some cases been subdivided. Bibhographies. The index 
 gives cross-references. 
 
 Compare the treatment of the following list of representa- 
 tive topics with that in Americana: 
 
THE USE OF REFERENCE BOOKS 213 
 
 Abbey, A. E.; Abbotsford; Abington, Mass.; Absolute; 
 Absolute, Sir Anthony; Abbott, Lyman; Accident Insurance; 
 Acetylene. 
 
 See Aeronautics in the index. Examine some of the cross- 
 references and compare the treatment of this topic with that 
 in the New International Encyclopaedia. 
 The New International Encyclopaedia. New York, 1894. 
 Dodd. 17 vols. 
 
 The exercises suggested are, for convenience, all confined 
 to Vol. XIV. Examine the map of the PhiUppine Islands, 
 p. 20. Is it apparently complete? What does it show of 
 transportation? elevations? Look over the article on the 
 Phihppines, especially Ethnology, Customs, and History, 
 pp. 29, 30. Is the bibliography apparently extensive? 
 recent, considering the date of publication? 
 
 Other articles to be looked over for a comprehensive notion 
 of the scope of the work: Philadelphia (What are the lead- 
 ing newspapers? What was the state of local politics at the 
 date of pubhcation?) ; Pin; Port Arthur; Positivism; Psy- 
 chical Research. 
 Encyclopedia Americana. New York, 1904. Americana 
 Company. 16 vols. 
 
 Under the auspices of the Scientific American. Many 
 signed articles by important specialists. Distinctively Amer- 
 ican, but universal. Biographies of hving men, brief notices 
 of strange names, phrases, and allusions. Pronunciation 
 indicated. 
 
 Note the extent of the article on Abbreviations and com- 
 pare the hst with that in Webster's New International Dic- 
 tionary. See above for a Hst of topics to be looked over in 
 comparison with the Britannica. Glance over the article 
 on Aerial Locomotion. Are any authorities mentioned in 
 this article or in those under cross-references? 
 
214 THE USE OF REFERENCE BOOKS 
 
 E. ANNUALS AND YEAR BOOKS 
 
 (Exercises based on books pitblished in 1911) 
 
 Appleton's Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Impor- 
 tant Events. New York, 1876-1902. (Discontinued.) 
 
 Intended as a summary of events for the year, arranged in 
 logical form, under large headings. History, biography, and 
 literature received especial attention. 
 
 What is meant by a cumulative index? Using the index 
 to the last volume, see what can be learned of the history of 
 some recent matters of interest: Prohibition in Maine; Con- 
 servation; Concrete construction. For the last topic, look 
 under: Concrete, Bridges, Dams (note the heading "Egypt")* 
 Reinforced concrete. Construction, Engineering, Building. 
 
 Using Vol. VII only, look up Education, Schools, Colleges, 
 Harvard, and Massachusetts. 
 The New International Year Book. New York. Dodd. 
 
 Similar in purpose to Appleton's, but arranged under 
 detailed headings. Articles revised each year. Best articles 
 are those on biography, current history, and politics. Alpha- 
 betical index, with hst of titles in volumes for the preceding 
 years. Cross-references. 
 
 Attempt to look up at least one of the following topics, or, 
 better, some similar recent topic in which you are interested. 
 Use also the hst of titles for 1907-09. Note whether there 
 are any references to authorities. 
 
 (a) The events in Maine leading to the vote on prohibi- 
 tion in 1911. (Try Prohibition, Plaisted (governor), Sturgis 
 law. Constitutional amendments, Maine.) 
 
 (6) The Balhnger-Pinchot affair. 
 
 (c) Insurgency in the Repubhcan party. 
 
 (d) Concrete construction. 
 
 (e) The initiative, the referendum, and the recall. 
 The American Year Book. New York, 1911. Appleton. 
 
 The current volume is the first of a proposed series, cover- 
 ing comparative and national statistics, history, law, govern- 
 
THE USE OF REFERENCE BOOKS 215 
 
 ment, economic and social questions, industries, science 
 and engineering, art, literature, and education. Some bibli- 
 ographical references. A list of important events in America, 
 and, separately, in foreign countries. 
 
 Look for mention of your own college under headings where 
 it should occur. Referring to previous studies with other 
 reference books, look up: Concrete, Aeronautics, Conserva- 
 tion. Examine, in connection with the article in the New 
 International Encyclopaedia, the article on the Phihppine 
 Islands. 
 
 The Statesman's Year Book. London. Macmillan. 
 
 Astronomical, official, and other information relating to 
 the British Isles, the Colonies, and other countries. Con- 
 tains a useful, though brief, chronicle of the year through 
 September. Societies, clubs, sporting activities, etc. 
 
 Look up: Land tax. Income tax. What position in the 
 Enghsh nobihty is occupied by Lord Lansdowne, Lord Kitch- 
 ener, Lord Roberts? What were the dates of important pro- 
 ceedings in the House of Commons (1910) relative to the 
 dispute over the veto power of the House of Lords? In what 
 way would these dates be chiefly valuable in looking up the 
 history of the dispute? 
 
 Tribune Almanac and Register. New York Tribune. 
 
 Facts about the United States: election returns, statistics, 
 laws, etc. 
 
 World Almanac. New York World. 
 
 Chiefly statistics. A book much used in all practical lit- 
 erary work. A general index, and an index of important 
 articles in preceding volumes. 
 
 Look up: Conservation, Concrete construction. Engineer- 
 ing, Custom house, examination of baggage. Who holds the 
 record in pole-vaulting for distance? What is it? 
 
 Statistical Abstract of the United States. United States 
 Bureau of Statistics. 
 
 Deals with population, finance, commerce, products, immi- 
 gration, and education. Sometimes comparative tables for 
 preceding years. 
 
216 THE USE OF REFERENCE BOOKS 
 
 F. HISTORICAL SUMMARIES 
 
 Harper's Book of Facts. New York, 1895. Harpers. 
 
 A classified history of the world, embracing science, lit- 
 erature, and art. Useful, concise chronological outlines. 
 Dictionary of Dates, and universal information relative to 
 all ages and nations. Hayden. New York, 1898. Putnam. 
 Arranged alphabetically, under event, place, etc. A full 
 account to the fall of 1898. 
 Time Table of Modern History, 400-1870. Morrison, M. 
 Westminster, 1901. Constable. 
 
 Parallel tables of the history of various countries. A gen- 
 eral chart of history, and historical maps. Index. 
 Tables of European and American History, Literature, 
 Science, and Art, 200-1888. Nichol, J. New York, 1888. 
 Macmillan. 
 
 Arranged by periods, chronologically. 
 Annals of Politics and Culture, 1492-1899. Gooch, G. P. 
 Cambridge, England, 1901. Cambridge, University Press. 
 
 Chronological, with a general index and references to other 
 works. 
 
 G. LISTS OF PUBLICATIONS 
 
 No definite exercises can well be suggested for the use of the 
 finding lists in a hbrary. Each student should choose two or 
 three subjects in which he is interested and follow them through 
 all such lists, confining his attention in the magazine lists to 
 things published during the last year. An exact transcription 
 of the entries into a note-book is important. The student 
 should be sure that he imderstands all abbreviations. No 
 such work can be of much value unless the articles referred to 
 are actually consulted, for acquaintance with the periodicals 
 and knowledge of the kind of material they usually furnish is 
 important. With the book lists, httle more will be possible 
 usually than to know their place on the shelves and to study 
 their abbreviations and methods of arrangement. 
 
THE USE OF REFERENCE BOOKS 217 
 
 Poole's Index to Periodical Literature. 1802-81. Sup- 
 plements, 1882-1901. 
 
 Such general periodicals in the English language as are 
 likely to be found in libraries. Arranged under subjects, 
 with reference to volume and page. 
 
 Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. 1900-1904; 
 1905-1909. Monthly, cumulated in yearly volumes. About 
 ninety periodicals. A current events index. Cross-references 
 on important articles. 
 
 American Literary Index. Fletcher and Bowker. 1892- 
 1904. Continued as: 
 
 American Library Index. Fletcher and Haines. 
 
 About 137 Enghsh and American periodicals, indexed 
 under subjects, with general author index. Each volume 
 includes an annual index to parts of books, essays, etc., an 
 index to dates of the year which may serve as a newspaper 
 finding list, and a list of special bibUographies. The Annual 
 Library Index is under author, title, and subject in one list. 
 
 Publishers' Weekly. American book-trade journal. Books 
 published in America, full titles, descriptive notes. Weekly 
 record, arranged alphabetically, under authors. Lists of 
 the more prominent new English books. Monthly cumu- 
 lated fists under author, title, and subject, with reference to 
 the original notice. Cumulated yearly. 
 
 The American Catalogue of Books. 1876-1900. 
 
 The United States Catalogue of Books in Print in 1899. 
 
 Annual American Catalogue. 1886-1901. New York. 
 Pubfishers' Weekly. 
 
 Indexed by authors, and title and subject. Descriptive 
 notes. 
 
 Annual American Catalogue. Since 1901 appears as cumu- 
 lated volume of Publishers' Weekly, referred to above. 
 
APPENDIX C 
 
 A LIST OF BOOKS AND ARTICLES 
 REFERRED TO 
 
 Briggs, LeB. R. School, College and Character. Houghton, 
 
 Mifflin and Co. Boston, 1892. 
 Canfield, J. H. The College Student and his Problems. The 
 
 Macmillan Company. New York, 1902. 
 Dewey, J. The School and Society. University of Chicago 
 
 Press. 1900. 
 EuoT, C. W. Present College Questions. Appleton and Co. 
 
 New York, 1903. 
 FoRDTCE, C. College Ethics. Educational Review, 37:492. 
 GiDDiNGS, F. H. Democracy and Empire. The Macmillan 
 
 Company. New York, 1900. 
 Hadley, a. T. Wealth and Democracy in American Colleges. 
 
 Harpers, 113:450. 
 Harris, G. Shall the University Concern Itself More Directly 
 
 with the Morals and Manners of its Students? Proceedings 
 
 of the National Educational Association, 1903. 
 Hyde, W. D. The College Man and the College Woman. 
 
 Houghton, Mifflin and Co. Boston, 1906. 
 Jordan, D. S. The Proposed Changes at Harvard. The North 
 
 American Review, 191:433. 
 McCosH, J. The Philhps Exeter Lectures. Houghton, Mifflin 
 
 and Co. Boston, 1887. 
 Meiklejohn, a. The Evils of College Athletics. Harper's 
 
 Weekly, 49:1751. 
 Rogers, J. M. What is Wrong with our Public Schools? Lip- 
 
 pincott's, 85:63. 
 Slocum, W. F. (See Harris.) 
 
LIST OF BOOKS. 219 
 
 Smith, C. A. Honor in Student Life. Educational Review, 
 
 30:384. 
 Thwing, C. F. Letter from a Father to his Son Entering 
 
 College. The Independent, 69:741. 
 Thwing, C. F. (See Jordan.) 
 Tucker, W. J. (See Harris.) 
 
 Whitney, C. Who is Responsible for the Commercialism in 
 College Sport? Outing Magazine, 46:485. 
 
14 DAY USE 
 
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