~\RY 
 
 Nl 1 0F 
 
 CA rORNIA 
 
 ;AN DIEGO
 
 11 +
 
 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF 
 PERSUASION
 
 " Oh, what poor creatures we are, what poor 
 creatures ! " — Brieux. 
 
 "What a piece of work is man! How noble in 
 reason ! How infinite in faculty ! In form and 
 moving how express and admirable ! In action 
 how like an angel ! In apprehension how like a 
 god ! The beauty of the world ! The paragon of 
 animals ! — Shakespeare.
 
 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF 
 PERSUASION 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM MAGPHERSON, M.A. 
 
 METHUEN& GO. LTD. 
 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. 
 LONDON
 
 First Published in igso
 
 PREFACE 
 
 IN the first three chapters of this book the ele- 
 ments of persuasion as a mental process are dis- 
 tinguished, and various forms of false persuasion 
 in individuals and groups are described ; it is 
 shown how, from the very nature of the process 
 involved, our persuasion of ourselves is only too apt 
 to degenerate into self-deception, and how our per- 
 suasion of others may easily assume the form of a 
 deliberate attempt to exploit their mental or moral 
 weaknesses. Chapter IV indicates how the ten- 
 dencies of false persuasion may be counteracted, 
 and on what lines persuasion may be rightly 
 directed. Up to this point the subject is treated 
 mainly in its psychological aspect. 
 
 The subsequent chapters, which are closely re- 
 lated to, and follow naturally, the study of persua- 
 sion as a mental process, deal with persuasion more 
 exclusively as a form of expression. In this part 
 of the book special attention is given to such modern 
 forms of propaganda as advertisements, newspapers, 
 the cinematograph, the novel, and the drama. 
 Chapter VII discusses the more formal persuasion 
 of books and speeches, and in the last chapter an 
 attempt is made to define the typical features that 
 are likely to mark the persuasion of the future. 
 
 5
 
 6 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 The subject is illustrated throughout by frequent 
 reference to the situations of everyday life and 
 recent public events. 
 
 Since we are all, throughout our lives, continually 
 persuading, or trying to persuade, ourselves or other 
 people, and are inevitably, whether we will or no, 
 played upon by innumerable persuasive influences, 
 it may be claimed that the subject of the book is 
 of general and vital interest. In these days of 
 insistent propaganda, when the " publicist ' : is 
 knocking loudly at the doors of all and sundry, it 
 would seem to be of especial importance that we 
 should be able to judge his claims dispassionately 
 and justly. 
 
 Some of the chapters may appeal, perhaps, more 
 intimately to politicians, lawyers, preachers, 
 journalists, pamphleteers, and the many other 
 writers and speakers among us who have an axe to 
 grind in public : these, possibly — at least, such is 
 the author's pious hope — may be assisted by the 
 perusal of the book to put a keener and a truer 
 edge on their weapons. 
 
 The book may be regarded, from a certain stand- 
 point, as being a contribution to the literature of 
 reconstruction. If we are to reconstruct our insti- 
 tutions effectively, we must first reconstruct our 
 methods of thinking and learn how to persuade our- 
 selves and others rightly.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I page 
 
 The Process and Elements of Persuasion . 11 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 The Gentle Art of Camouflage ... 35 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 Group Pressure and the Sense of Power — 
 
 Methods of Impression and Exploitation . 69 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 The Right Direction of Persuasion . . 97 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Persuasion as a Form of Expression — Wordless 
 Persuasion : Gesture and Action, Prestige, 
 Personality ; Music and Painting, the 
 Cinematograph . . . . . .125 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Verbal Persuasion — Conversation, Salesman- 
 ship, Advertisements, Newspapers . .147 
 
 7
 
 8 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 CHAPTER VII page 
 
 Formal Persuasion in Speeches and Books . 171 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Persuasion in the Novel and the Drama . 209 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 The Persuasion of the Future . . . 233 
 
 Index ........ 253
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE PROCESS AND ELEMENTS OF 
 PERSUASION
 
 THE PSYCHOLOGY 
 OF PERSUASION 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE PROCESS AND ELEMENTS OF 
 PERSUASION 
 
 MAN has been described as a reasoning 
 animal ; and every one likes to think that 
 the description is applicable to himself. 
 The instinctive and impulsive side of our nature, as 
 contrasted with the rational, has been apt to be 
 ignored both by the man in the street and by the 
 writer on psychology : it has been considered, 
 perhaps, to be not quite respectable. In recent 
 years, however, writers on psychology have come 
 to recognise fully the important part that impulse 
 and emotion play in human life. As a matter of 
 fact, men do not, usually, act rationally in the sense 
 that they first carefully calculate the means that 
 will enable them to realise their end, and only then 
 act ; and, whether they calculate thus or not, the 
 fundamental source of their actions is always some 
 instinct or emotion that they seek to satisfy. To 
 say this is to say nothing derogatory to human 
 nature ; indeed, as we all know, to act on impulse 
 is often much more respectable than to act from 
 
 11
 
 12 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 calculation. If much of the wrong-doing of the 
 world may be attributed to the uncontrolled working 
 of selfish impulses, it should also be remembered 
 that impulse is the source of art and science, and of 
 many of the best things in life. 
 
 Impulse is one of the non-rational elements in 
 our nature, but this does not imply that it is neces- 
 sarily irrational, or that it works against reason. 
 In this chapter an attempt will be made to show 
 that the process of persuasion is, fundamentally, a 
 non-rational process, dominated much more by the 
 emotional and impulsive part of our nature than 
 by the rational. But this circumstance, while it 
 accounts, partially, for the extreme ease with 
 which we are able to delude ourselves and others, 
 must not be regarded as in itself a condemnation of 
 the process, or as implying that it is, of necessity, 
 irrational. 
 
 The starting-point of all persuasion, of ourselves 
 or others, is a belief or wish. Holding a certain 
 belief, or desiring that a certain course of action 
 shall be pursued, we set out to justify our belief and 
 the conduct that it implies. Thus, before he begins 
 to speak, the orator whose aim is persuasion has 
 already present in his mind a belief or wish, fully 
 formed, from which all his arguments and appeals 
 flow ; and the effectiveness of his persuasion will 
 be proportionate to the clearness and fulness with 
 which the belief has been defined, and the degree 
 of conviction with which it is held. When we 
 persuade ourselves, also, it is no less true that the 
 belief or wish we seek to confirm is given before- 
 hand. In this respect persuasion differs from the 
 process of rational logic.
 
 PROCESS AND ELEMENTS 13 
 
 When we employ the process of rational logic our 
 object is either to discover or to demonstrate. 
 We may desire, for instance, to discover the con- 
 ditions under which a candle will burn, and this we 
 may do by a process of induction from a series of 
 experiments. The mere fact that here we are 
 seeking to discover a true conclusion indicates that 
 it is not given beforehand. Again, when logical 
 demonstration is our aim, a proposition is advanced 
 hypothetically, no pre-supposition being made as 
 to its truth or falsity, and the whole course of the 
 reasoning is directed to furnish proofs of its inherent 
 validity. The methods of logical discovery and 
 demonstration are most successful when they are 
 applied to natural phenomena on which we can 
 experiment, but they are also applicable to human 
 affairs : men do reason logically and disinterestedly 
 about human conduct (especially other people's 
 conduct), discriminate between alternatives, and 
 refuse to assent to beliefs the implications of which 
 they have not investigated. The method of per- 
 suasion, however, is much more common. In it 
 we start from a belief or wish that is given before- 
 hand : instead of following, the belief precedes 
 the process. Superficially, indeed, the logic of 
 persuasion may resemble, or simulate, a logical 
 demonstration, but in reality, starting not from a 
 hypothesis but from a belief already fully formed 
 and accepted, and destined to dominate it through- 
 out, it is quite different. 
 
 Our effective beliefs regarding human life and 
 conduct are determined not by reasoning but by 
 many unconscious and frequently irrational fac- 
 tors. We believe because we wish to believe, so
 
 14 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 that we may satisfy our instincts and emotions and 
 sentiments, because our environment and education 
 have made certain beliefs seem necessary, because 
 our fathers have believed before us, or because it is 
 convenient and expedient to think as our neigh- 
 bours do. In self-persuasion the belief from which 
 the process starts is often held by us quite uncon- 
 sciously, having its origin in many remote factors, 
 and the process itself may be to a large extent un- 
 conscious. In the persuasion of others we begin 
 with a conscious belief, and the subsequent process 
 is a conscious, deliberate, and more or less system- 
 atic attempt to impress our belief on others. But 
 always, alike in the persuasion of ourselves and 
 others, our purpose is to gain approval, our own or 
 that of other people, for beliefs or wishes already 
 formed and accepted by us. 
 
 We have used the terms ' belief ' and ' wish ' as 
 if they were synonymous. Our beliefs and our 
 wishes, indeed, are inextricably interwoven ; or 
 rather, they are not really to be distinguished. The 
 state of mind from which persuasion starts implies 
 an intellectual element, which we may express 
 by the term ' belief,' and at the same time a practical 
 element, a reference to conduct and action, which 
 we may express by the term ' wish ' ; but in an ulti- 
 mate analysis those elements are seen to coalesce, 
 the essence of both being that they are latent courses 
 of action by which our environment may be modi- 
 fied. When a politician makes a speech in which he 
 advocates the nationalisation of land, we may 
 indicate the state of mind from which his 
 persuasion starts by the term ' belief,' or by the 
 term ' wish,' indifferently ; he believes, and also
 
 PROCESS AND ELEMENTS 15 
 
 wishes, that land should be nationalised ; the 
 fundamental character of his belief or wish is that 
 it is a latent course of action. The object of per- 
 suasion is to make explicit and definite the course 
 of action implied in the initial belief or wish, and 
 to furnish adequate motives and justification for 
 it. 
 
 A distinctive characteristic of the process of 
 persuasion is the more or less direct reference that 
 it implies to human conduct and action. John 
 Jones, having pondered deeply on the evils pro- 
 duced by man's love of beer, considers the remedies, 
 and decides in favour of Prohibition. He makes 
 propaganda, and persuades Samuel Smith that 
 Prohibition is desirable. Smith's conversion could 
 not be described as effectual if, having in Jones's 
 presence joyously assented to Prohibition, later 
 in the evening he had proceeded ruddily to the pub- 
 lic-house and consumed his customary pint. His 
 opinions having been changed, his behaviour too 
 will be modified. His imagination has been caught, 
 his emotional nature has been touched, his will 
 moved, by Jones's eloquence. In the face of that 
 vivid picture of the degradation of life in the slums, 
 fallen so low through the consumption of beer, in 
 despite of the sympathy and pity it has evoked, 
 how possibly could he consume the customary pint 
 again ? He will drink beer no more, the accursed 
 thing must be prohibited, he too will make propa- 
 ganda. Not merely his belief, but his behaviour, 
 has been modified ; he has been really persuaded. 
 By this direct relation to conduct the funda- 
 mental character of persuasion is largely deter- 
 mined.
 
 16 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 Our beliefs and wishes, from which the process of 
 persuasion starts, our latent and premeditated 
 courses of action, depend mainly on the emotional 
 elements in our nature. The motive force that 
 impels men to action is always some instinct, 
 tendency, emotion, sentiment, or passion. We 
 accept a belief or wish, and act so that it may be 
 realised, primarily with a view to satisfying some 
 aspect of our emotional nature. Take, for instance, 
 the case of a man who, his country being at war, 
 wishes to volunteer for service in the Army. Under- 
 lying his wish there may be one or several emotional 
 tendencies : he may have a nagging wife at home 
 and anticipate escape and relief in foreign service, 
 he may be actuated mainly by vanity, by the desire 
 to appear worthily in the eyes of his neighbours 
 and relatives, or by the desire for change and the 
 love of adventure, or he may be prompted by the 
 purest motives of patriotism and ideal duty ; 
 but, whatever his particular motives may be, if 
 he is to act in accordance with his wish, his mind 
 must be possessed and dominated not by the mere 
 intellectual perception of a certain situation or 
 state of affairs, but by some more or less powerful 
 emotional tendency. The fundamental character 
 of persuasion, as a process that aims at modifying 
 conduct and inducing action, is that it is an emo- 
 tional process. In this respect, again, it differs 
 from the process of rational logic, which should have 
 no tincture of emotion, or so little, and of such a 
 character, as, having exercised no diverting influ- 
 ence on the course of the reasoning and on the con- 
 clusion ultimately reached, may be considered 
 negligible.
 
 PROCESS AND ELEMENTS 17 
 
 Persuasion resembles rational logic in that it 
 consists essentially in a series of judgments, but 
 there the resemblance ends. Its judgments are 
 quite different in kind from those of rational logic, 
 in which the terms and propositions are related to 
 one another solely in so far as the intellect perceives 
 a resemblance between the things they denote : 
 underlying the reasoning is the principle that things 
 that are alike in some points will be alike in others. 
 For example, if we argue that " all material sub- 
 stances have weight, and atmospheric air is a 
 material substance, therefore it has weight," the 
 conclusion depends on the point of resemblance 
 (materiality) stated to exist between atmospheric 
 air and substances that have weight ; or, again, 
 our reasoning may sometimes be based on the 
 assumption that, since particular examples belong- 
 ing to the same class, or due to the same cause, 
 resemble one another, a relation between them 
 may be postulated. The cogency of rational logic 
 depends on our being made to perceive and admit 
 an inherent and significant resemblance between 
 the terms and propositions employed, compelling 
 us to acknowledge the truth of the conclusion. The 
 process starts from a general or a particular pro- 
 position, and travels to its conclusion through a 
 series of propositions strictly related to one another 
 by the principle of resemblance, and constituting 
 a rigorous chain of reasoning. 
 
 The logic of persuasion, on the other hand, starts 
 from a belief or wish, and proceeds to its conclusion, 
 which is really given beforehand in the initial belief 
 or wish, through a series of judgments related to 
 one another, essentially, only in so far as each serves 
 2
 
 18 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 to promote the realisation of our belief or wish, 
 and the consequent satisfaction of its underlying 
 emotion. In persuasion the attitude of the subject 
 is exclusive and one-sided : all his judgments 
 assign value to objects, persons, and actions only in 
 so far as they tend towards the satisfaction of the 
 emotions, sentiments, or passions underlying the 
 initial belief or wish. For instance, lately (vide 
 News of the World) Gwendoline Guinevere, an attrac- 
 tive young lady, had made the acquaintance of 
 a number of young officers, and, prompted mainly 
 by vanity and the love of pleasure (vide headline, 
 " Vanity her Downfall "), she desired the acquaint- 
 anceship to continue. To realise her purpose she 
 must make herself as attractive as possible and 
 adorn herself with the latest things in fashionable 
 attire. Unfortunately she has no money. No 
 matter : for ready money ready wit may serve. 
 In the course of a walk through the West-end, she 
 visits several millinery establishments, where she 
 explains that she is the scion of a noble house, and, 
 by what are afterwards described (in the newspaper 
 report of the proceedings) as " fraudulent represent- 
 ations," succeeds in obtaining " large quantities 
 of ladies' clothing ". In this instance the belief 
 from which the persuasions of Guinevere started 
 was that to preserve her friendship with the officers 
 a supply of fashionable clothing was necessary — 
 in her own simple and emphatic words : "I have 
 met with a number of officers during the past 
 fortnight, and wanted to get better clothing to 
 keep in their company ". This belief or wish 
 would be followed by a mental process in which all 
 considerations unfavourable to the realisation of
 
 PROCESS AND ELEMENTS 19 
 
 the wish would be swept aside as being of no value, 
 and means devised for the satisfaction of the egoistic 
 emotions or sentiments involved. 
 
 In the more conscious and systematic forms of 
 persuasion the same process is implied. A speaker 
 whose aim is to persuade an audience to act in 
 accordance with his beliefs propounds a series of 
 judgments essentially related to one another only 
 by the circumstance that they will assist him to 
 realise his object. There may be little or no logical 
 connection between them ; they may be, and often 
 are, even logically inconsistent with one another ; 
 but they will be accepted by him as valuable in 
 proportion to the closeness of their relation, real or 
 apparent, to his ultimate aim, in proportion to their 
 capacity to satisfy the emotions, sentiments, or 
 passions by which he is animated. For this reason 
 there will always be found, in the arguments of a 
 speaker or writer whose end is persuasion, however 
 cool or dispassionate he may be, an appeal to the 
 emotions and sentiments that seem likely to lead to 
 the action he desires. Before a man will act he 
 must be persuaded that the action will answer some 
 end ; and that which gratifies no emotion or senti- 
 ment in his nature can never be an end for him. 
 The judgments, then, that constitute the process of 
 persuasion, are judgments of approval or disap- 
 proval, or judgments of value, in which we estimate 
 the value of things relatively to the emotion that 
 underlie our beliefs or wishes. Underlying or 
 motivating our judgments of approval there may 
 be admiration, gratitude, self-regard, honour, pride, 
 interest, patriotism, or any other emotion or 
 sentiment induced through sympathy ; while our
 
 20 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 judgments of disapproval are prompted most fre- 
 quently by shame, reproach, scorn, anger, or fear. 
 
 So far we have not distinguished between 
 ' emotions ' and ' sentiments ', considered as the 
 basis of persuasion and the motive force of all 
 our beliefs and actions ; but it is of more than 
 theoretic interest for our purpose that we should 
 do so. 
 
 The emotions, as distinguished from the senti- 
 ments, are sudden reactions of our egoistic and 
 altruistic instincts : they endure only for a short 
 time, and their influence is more or less fleeting. 
 They prompt to action ; but their motive power 
 is not sufficiently lasting and not of such a kind as 
 to result in a deliberate, sustained, or organised 
 course of action. Persuasion rings the changes on 
 all the emotions ; fear, disgust, wonder, anger, 
 subjection, elation, tender emotion, admiration, 
 awe, reverence, scorn, contempt, loathing, envy — 
 all may serve to vitalise our beliefs and motivate 
 our actions, but they fulfil this function more effec- 
 tively when they are aroused within the circle of 
 such a more widely organised system of emotional 
 tendencies as is denoted by the term sentiment. 
 A sentiment, such as love or hate, differs from an 
 emotion, as, for instance, anger or fear, in that 
 it is not merely a transient mental state, but an 
 enduring tendency to experience certain emotions. 
 Thus, as is pointed out by Mr. McDougall in his 
 Social Psychology, 1 we may be said to love or hate 
 a person even when he is not actually present to 
 our thought ; and the sentiment with which we 
 
 1 An Introduction to Social Psychology. By William 
 McDougall, F.R.S., Ninth Edition. Methuen & Co., 1915.
 
 PROCESS AND ELEMENTS 21 
 
 regard him, being a potential source of emotions, 
 may appear in anger, fear, jealousy, reproach, etc., 
 according to the situation in which he occurs to our 
 minds. The persuasions of a speaker who aims at 
 recruiting volunteers for the army of a nation at 
 war starts from the belief that men are required 
 and the wish to help in obtaining them. Under- 
 lying this belief and wish, guiding and governing 
 it in all its directions, may be the sentiment of 
 patriotism. The emotions potentially comprised 
 within this sentiment are many, and the speaker 
 may weave a wide circle of appeal. He may move 
 his hearers to anxiety and fear : ' our enemies are 
 strong, and may defeat us in the field, or starve us 
 to surrender. He may arouse pity, disgust, scorn, 
 contempt, loathing, and horror : our enemies have 
 maltreated women, killed children, massacred the 
 innocent, done deeds unspeakable. He may stir 
 up anger, moral indignation, and revenge : shall 
 the enemy not be made to pay for treaties broken, 
 rights disregarded, lands plundered and ravaged ? 
 He may appeal to pride (itself a sentiment and 
 nursery-ground of emotion), recalling to his hearers 
 the glorious achievements of their ancestors. He 
 may invoke curiosity and expectation, the spirit of 
 adventure, the tendency in man to dare all in defi- 
 ance of danger. Those feelings in themselves would 
 be potent to induce the action that the speaker 
 desires ; but, being related and unified within the 
 more stable and abiding sentiment of patriotism, 
 the product, in part, of years or centuries of national 
 life, their effect will be all the more pointed and 
 weighty. Beliefs that have become crystallized 
 into widely prevalent or national sentiments, and
 
 22 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 that are not the product of merely passing emotions, 
 are the most powerful sources of appeal in persuasion. 
 It is sometimes said that a speaker, if he would 
 move men to act, must appeal to their passions. If, 
 however, the term ' passion ' be used not loosely 
 but in its stricter and more scientific meaning, the 
 statement can hardly be accepted as correct. Pas- 
 sion differs from emotion in being more enduring 
 and more dominating ; and, on first consideration, 
 it might therefore be thought to be a more potent 
 source of appeal than emotion. But, for the orator 
 or writer who seeks to persuade a large number of 
 people, it cannot be so regarded. For so dominating 
 is a real passion that comparatively few people 
 are capable of experiencing it ; and, when it is 
 experienced, it generally operates only during some 
 particular or limited period. Again, the passions 
 vary with individuals to a much greater extent 
 than do the emotions and sentiments ; and the 
 number of passions that can coexist in the same 
 individual is limited. While the emotions, and 
 many sentiments, are common to almost all men, 
 or to all of a particular race or nation, the passions 
 are more individual marks of character, and there- 
 fore do not constitute so universal a ground of 
 appeal. Nevertheless, in self-persuasion, or in the 
 persuasion of another individual whom we know to 
 be dominated by a certain passion, its impulse may 
 be compelling indeed. Under the influence of the 
 fixed idea which passion pre-supposes, an individual 
 will persuade himself, or may be persuaded, to 
 any course of action that seems likely to satisfy it, 
 and will interpret the most trifling and irrelevant 
 incidents as justif}dng his conduct. While, then,
 
 PROCESS AND ELEMENTS 23 
 
 passion prompts powerfully to belief and action 
 in individuals, when our aim is to influence large 
 numbers of people our appeal must, strictly speak- 
 ing, be rather to the emotions and sentiments. 
 
 The distinction that has been drawn above 
 between emotion, sentiment, and passion is of both 
 theoretic and practical interest ; but the main 
 point to be emphasised here is that in all cases of 
 persuasion the emotional element in one form or 
 another, working by way of instinct, tendency, 
 emotion, sentiment, or passion, is fundamental and 
 essential. This, however, does not imply that 
 there are no intellectual elements in persuasion. 
 The judgment of value itself involves an intellectual 
 representation whose function is to give concrete- 
 ness and stability to the more variable and unstable 
 emotional element. Further, the logic of persuasion 
 frequently expresses itself in the form of rational 
 inference. 
 
 The belief or wish from which persuasion starts 
 necessarily involves the intellectual perception of a 
 certain situation or state of affairs which the sub- 
 ject desires to modify. According to the degree 
 in which his representation of that situation has 
 been detailed and complete, his persuasion will be 
 more or less effective. If the situation has been 
 conceived only vaguely and generally, the subse- 
 quent persuasion will also be of a vague and general 
 character. If, on the other hand, the whole situa- 
 tion has been clearly denned, with all its conditions 
 and consequences, the subsequent persuasion is 
 more likely to be definite, detailed, and effective. 
 The persuasions of a narrow-minded puritan, who 
 had been in a theatre on one occasion, and, judging
 
 24 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 from that single experience, had pronounced all 
 theatrical performances to be immoral in tendency, 
 could not be definite and detailed, and would appeal 
 effectively only to those who had approved of his 
 opinions from the beginning. 
 
 In the persuasion of others, the presentation of 
 the situation assumes the form of expression known 
 as narration. It plays an important part always, 
 but is perhaps of more special importance in the 
 persuasion of the law-courts : there, especially, 
 the " statement of facts ", as it is called, is seen to 
 be a necessary foundation of persuasion. The essen- 
 tial qualities that mark the statement of facts by 
 an able advocate are completeness, accuracy, pro- 
 portion, coherence, and unity. All the leading 
 facts of the case, even those apparently adverse 
 or unfavourable to his conclusions, should be stated : 
 the concealment or the glossing over of important 
 facts will be injurious to his pleading. And the 
 details must be stated accurately : it is obvious, 
 for example, that in a criminal case details of time 
 and place may be of vital importance, and that any 
 errors in the statement of them may invalidate the 
 reasoning and lead to an unfavourable verdict. 
 A proper proportion between the facts must be 
 observed, the more significant being emphasised ; 
 and the narrative must be sequent and coherent. 
 Those are, fundamentally, intellectual qualities, 
 and they are involved, in various degrees, in all 
 organised and rightly directed persuasion : a 
 necessary element in its composition being the 
 complete, balanced, exact, and coherent presenta- 
 tion, to ourselves or others, of a certain situation 
 or state of affairs.
 
 PROCESS AND ELEMENTS 25 
 
 The intellectual factor in persuasion appears also 
 in the form of rational inference. Having conceived 
 an end to be attained, we may seek to devise means 
 for its realisation ; alternative means of procedure 
 may present themselves as being possible ; and 
 among those a definite choice and decision must 
 be made. Brown has become aware that he is 
 " run down," and desires to do something to 
 improve the state of his health. He considers 
 the matter : shall he go for a holiday in the 
 country, or take a ' rest-cure ' for a few weeks in 
 a nursing home ? His decision will depend on a 
 series of judgments in which the respective capacity 
 of the two proposals to realise his object will be 
 gauged. If his disorder has been caused by intense 
 and prolonged exertion in the open air, he may 
 decide in favour of the nursing home ; if it has been 
 caused by mental strain and confinement indoors, 
 his decision may be for the alternative plan ; in 
 either case, it involves a process of intellectual 
 reasoning. 
 
 In the persuasion of others, especially, it is clear 
 that the mechanism of rational logic is employed. 
 We express the relations between our judgments 
 in an apparently logical form, and the order and 
 arrangement of our arguments are based to a large 
 extent on reflective reasons. If we examine a 
 political speech, or any other instance of verbal 
 persuasion, we shall find in it arguments of all kinds, 
 deductive and inductive, from principles and from 
 examples, analogy, cause to effect, or effect to cause. 
 
 But, while the forms and mechanism of rational 
 logic are employed in the logic of persuasion, their 
 use, it must be added, is often more apparent than
 
 26 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 real. In persuasion the ultimate value of the series 
 of judgments that constitutes the process is relative 
 to its capacity to realise the dominant belief or wish 
 and satisfy the emotions and sentiments underlying 
 it. If we analyse any concrete instance of per- 
 suasion, it is nearly always possible to express the 
 arguments in the form of rational logic ; but, when 
 we have done so, the resulting forms differ essentially 
 from persuasion, because they do not express in 
 any way the emotions by which all its judgments 
 are inspired. 
 
 The intellectual and the emotional elements of 
 persuasion do not work separately, but are inter- 
 fused, and react on one another. The emotions 
 that we seek to satisfy modify both our presentation 
 of the case, to ourselves or others, and the reasoning 
 that we bring to bear on it. On the other hand, 
 too, the intellect reacts on the emotions. By the 
 apt representation of an event or a situation we may 
 arouse emotion in ourselves or other people. Rea- 
 soning, too, may enable us to control better our 
 emotions and sentiments, by assigning to them a 
 proper relative value, setting one against another. 
 Thus anger may be restrained by fear of the conse- 
 quences of our proposed action, or by thinking of 
 the object of our anger as somehow worthy of 
 respect, as when Lord Chatham, in his speech on 
 the employment of foreign troops in America, 
 suggested to his hearers, in support of a conciliatory 
 policy, the fear of an English defeat, and asserted 
 that the resistance of the colonists was " the struggle 
 of free and virtuous patriots ", with which in some 
 respects Englishmen should sympathise. 
 
 A third constituent element in the process of
 
 PROCESS AND ELEMENTS 27 
 
 persuasion is the imaginative element, which is 
 closely related to the intellectual and emotional 
 elements, modifying both the presentation of the 
 case and the reasoning that we bring to bear 
 on it, and stimulating and strengthening the emo- 
 tions. 
 
 Every belief or wish with which our persuasions 
 concern themselves generates a series of images 
 appropriate to it. John Jones, who believes in 
 Prohibition, may enliven and add force to his belief 
 by imagining in detail the environment amid which 
 the drink traffic flourishes and works most harm — 
 the drunkard's home, its poverty and squalid 
 surroundings, the suffering and misery caused to 
 women and children by excessive drinking. 
 
 At the same time, every belief tends to eliminate 
 from consciousness images that are inconsistent 
 with it. The picture of a group of working men, 
 enjoying a glass of beer and, with their wives and 
 children, finding rational relaxation amid pleasant 
 surroundings, if it occurred at all to John Jones, 
 would be at once rejected : it would not harmonize 
 with his particular belief or wish. 
 
 And as the imagination plays an important part in 
 elaborating and making concrete and vivid the past 
 or present situation with which our persuasions 
 deal, so it assists us to picture in detail the changed 
 situation that will result from the realisation of 
 our plans. For instance, in his speech on Negro 
 Emancipation, 1 Lord Brougham described in the 
 following imaginative passage the results that, as 
 he said, would follow the abolition of slavery : — 
 " From the instant that glad sound (the proclama- 
 1 House of Lords, 20th February, 1838.
 
 28 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 tion of complete emancipation) is wafted across the 
 ocean, what a blessed change begins ; what an 
 enchanting prospect unfolds itself ! . . . Where 
 the driver and the gaoler once bore sway, the lash 
 resounds no more, nor does the clank of the chain 
 any more fall upon the troubled ear ; the fetter 
 has ceased to gall the vexed limb, and the very 
 mark disappears which for a while it had left. All 
 races and colours run together the same glorious 
 race of improvement. Peace unbroken, harmony 
 uninterrupted, calm unruffled, reigns in mansion 
 and in field, in the busy street and in the fertile 
 valley, where nature, with the lavish hand she 
 extends under the tropical sun, pours forth all her 
 beauty profusely, because received in the lap of 
 cheerful industry, not extorted by hands cramped 
 with bonds. Delightful pictures of general pros- 
 perity and social progress in all the arts of civility 
 and refinement ! " 
 
 The course of our persuasions is influenced and 
 guided to a large extent by the constructive power 
 of imagination, its capacity to discover methods 
 and adapt means to ends. In the light of past and 
 present we foresee the future, coloured by hope and 
 fear ; and from that prevision we devise plans that, 
 if carried out, may lead to a better state of affairs. 
 The best examples of persuasion, in books and 
 speeches, are marked by a large imaginative quality 
 — convey to the reader or hearer a sense of long 
 vistas, a comprehensive and significant view of past, 
 present, and future, a perception of the far-reaching 
 sequence and connection of cause and effect. 
 
 And the imagination works in conjunction not 
 only with the intellect, stimulating our representa-
 
 PROCESS AND ELEMENTS 29 
 
 tivc and constructive faculties, but also with the 
 emotions : those too it enlivens and strengthens. 
 Lord Brougham's "delightful pictures of general 
 prosperity " add to the force of his persuasion by 
 the stimulus they afford to the sentiment of friend- 
 liness and social solidarity. By picturing vividly 
 the details of a drunkard's home John Jones may 
 excite or intensify in himself the emotions of sym- 
 pathy, pity, and indignation, and so be moved more 
 strongly to advocate the policy of Prohibition. 
 Through the mechanism of the imagination the 
 scope of the emotions is greatly enlarged. The 
 situation that we frame or describe need not be 
 actually present : if we imagine it as being either 
 likely to occur or possible to realise, it may be power- 
 ful to excite in ourselves or others curiosity, exhil- 
 aration, hope, fear, or anger. Nor, for this result, 
 need the consequences involved in the situation 
 affect us personally : by depicting vividly the 
 consequences for others, we may arouse pity, resent- 
 ment, or moral indignation, and so persuade our- 
 selves and our hearers or readers to a particular 
 course of action. 
 
 Vice-versa, our emotional tendencies react on 
 the imagination. The fearful man, seeing, or 
 thinking he sees, danger approaching, invents 
 means to parry or stop it : suspicion, envy, and 
 jealousy are fertile in artifices ; the revengeful 
 man will evolve subtle plans for harming his enemy. 
 So, in persuasion, the emotions by which we are 
 animated draw out our creative activity, and stimu- 
 late us to the discovery and invention of the means 
 to gratify them. 
 
 The intellectual, emotional, and imaginative
 
 30 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 factors of persuasion, therefore, work together. 
 By a characteristic interplay and the organic fusion 
 of the three true persuasion is constituted. As a 
 creative and organic process, it implies a unifying 
 principle, and the principle that unifies the persua- 
 sive activities alike of intellect, emotion, and ima- 
 gination is the end that we seek to realise. The 
 accurate, clear, and complete presentation of situa- 
 tions and events, reasoning from principles and 
 from facts, the mechanism of rational logic ; illus- 
 trative instances and imaginative representation ; 
 the dynamic power of emotion — all are employed 
 in the service of the end towards which we have 
 set ourselves. Interfused with one another, united 
 by the principle of finality, the intellect, the 
 imagination, and the emotions work together and 
 constitute one process. 
 
 This does not mean, however, that there is one 
 kind of persuasion, and one only. The constituent 
 elements of the process are invariable ; but they 
 react upon one another, and combine, in an infinite 
 number of modes. In attempting to understand 
 or explain any complex mental state or process, 
 it is useful to consider separately its various aspects, 
 distinguishing between them somewhat sharply ; 
 but, if we thus distinguish, we must also bear in 
 mind that the mere sum of those aspects does not 
 constitute the process ; since they react variously 
 and subtly upon one another, the process that they 
 constitute is far more varied and complex than a 
 mere enumeration of its single aspects, or any de- 
 scription or explanation of them, can suggest. The 
 varieties of persuasion are infinite, as infinite as the 
 varieties of men and women.
 
 PROCESS AND ELEMENTS 31 
 
 But we may conveniently distinguish three 
 broad types, corresponding to the three main fac- 
 tors, of persuasion. Sometimes the process is more 
 exclusively intellectual in kind, as when the reason- 
 ing faculty of the individual is strongly developed ; 
 in other cases the imaginative element may be pre- 
 dominant ; and in others, again, the emotional. It 
 would be easy to name other types ; but the prin- 
 ciple underlying their differences could always be 
 reduced, ultimately, to the relative predominance, 
 and the quality and mode of interfusion, of the 
 intellectual, the imaginative, and the emotional 
 elements. We might distinguish, for instance, on 
 those lines, between national types of persuasion. 
 When Mr. Lloyd George speaks indiscreetly (even if 
 truly), the character of his persuasion is explained (by 
 his supporters) as being due to the perfervidam ingen- 
 ium of the Kelt ; from the hard-headed Scotsman we 
 expect a coherent and closely reasoned succession 
 of arguments ; and from the typical Irishman a 
 more emotional utterance. Again, the persuasion 
 of the sexes might be differentiated : " feminine 
 logic " is a byword. But such distinctions may not 
 be pressed too far : many Scotsmen are more emo- 
 tional than many Irishmen, many Welshmen more 
 rational and " hard-headed " than many Scotsmen, 
 and many men more incapable of strict logic than 
 many women. It is convenient, for the clearer 
 understanding of our subject, to distinguish broadly 
 between those three types of persuasion ; but within 
 them is comprised an infinite number of variations, 
 in each case the particular character of the process 
 being determined in large measure by the sub- 
 ject's individuality, the predominant features of his 
 mental build.
 
 32 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 And the process varies in the same individual at 
 different times. Some of our persuasions are more 
 vague, more random and uncontrolled, less coherent 
 and rational, than others. In the wakeful hours of 
 night our self-persuasions are apt to follow strange 
 courses, dim, transitional, fragmentary ; meditat- 
 ing, often only half-consciously, over something 
 that has happened, or something we or others have 
 done, our minds easily lapse to gloomy or absurd 
 conclusions. Then, when daylight comes, we may 
 forget those, and presently find ourselves indulg- 
 ing in pleasing day-dreams, imagining ourselves as 
 crowned with a halo of the particular brand we 
 fancy, winning the admiration and praise of our 
 fellows — that, too, is a common kind of self-per- 
 suasion. And a few hours later, having gone down 
 to the City, and met a client with whom there is a 
 prospect of doing business, we may concentrate 
 our whole mind on a deliberate and conscious effort 
 to induce him to " deal ", seeking to convince, 
 allure, and stimulate him to the action we desire. 
 Between such a deliberate and tensely organised 
 process of persuasion, and the more random and 
 loose courses that we sometimes follow in persuading 
 ourselves, there are many differences ; yet in every 
 instance the process and its elements are funda- 
 mentally the same. In all varieties of persuasion 
 there may be discerned an end for the attainment 
 of which, more or less consciously or unconsciously, 
 our minds work, and a fusion, more or less complete 
 and effective, or incomplete and ineffective, of 
 intellect, imagination, and emotion.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 THE GENTLE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE
 
 CHAPTER II 
 THE GENTLE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE 
 
 A CHARACTERISTIC feature of the emo- 
 tions is that they seek only to satisfy them- 
 selves. They tend to absorb consciousness 
 wholly, excluding from it all reasoning as to their 
 quality, and all considerations not immediately 
 connected with their satisfaction. Hence con- 
 tradictory emotions may influence our persuasions 
 and conduct without our experiencing any sense of 
 contradiction. This is sometimes expressed by 
 saying that the principle of Non-Contradiction, 
 which is one of the fundamental laws on which 
 rational logic is based — is not applicable to emo- 
 tional logic. According to the law of Non-Con- 
 tradiction, a thing cannot both be and not be : 
 for instance, in the law-courts it is taken for 
 granted that a man cannot be both guilty and not- 
 guilty. Apart from that principle, rational logic 
 would have no purpose or value : when a proposi- 
 tion had been proved to be true, it would still be 
 open to anyone to say that it might at the same 
 time be not true : one of the basic conditions of 
 reasoning thus removed, the whole fabric would 
 fall to the ground. But to the emotions and senti- 
 ments as such this law is altogether foreign. 
 
 35
 
 36 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 Thus men of the most delicate artistic feeling 
 have been known to indulge the basest and most 
 ugly passions, wholly inconsistent with, and con- 
 trary in nature to, artistic sensibility ; and history 
 shows that Christian peoples, while professing to 
 believe in the law of love towards all, have com- 
 mitted odious acts of cruelty and persecution. 
 During the September massacres in the French 
 Revolution, the most contrary emotions were dis- 
 played by the revolutionists : while cruelly murder- 
 ing the prisoners, they at the same time satisfied 
 their sense of justice by setting up tribunals of a 
 sort, and, when a prisoner was acquitted, manifested 
 a compassionate sympathy, embracing him with 
 transports of joy and applauding frantically. 1 
 Again, such contrary sentiments as self-abasement 
 and elation may coexist without any sense of 
 contradiction being felt : this is particularly common 
 in certain cases of religious excitement, in which the 
 subject, while full of humility and remorse, and 
 submitting himself to all manner of disciplinary 
 austerities, is at the same time secretly elated, 
 possessed by a feeling of holiness and power and 
 of the difference between himself and other mortals. 
 Double moods of this kind, in which we are influenced 
 by contrary emotions without perceiving their 
 essential incompatibility, occur in the emotional 
 life not merely of exceptional persons but of us all. 
 
 They appear even in the lives of the good and 
 great, though for corroboration of this we should 
 not, as a rule, turn to the official biographies, most 
 biographers being followers of the cult of praise, 
 intoned through two volumes. Sometimes a more 
 l V. The Crowd, by Gustave le Bon.
 
 GENTLE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE 37 
 
 discerning, or more impolite, biographer lifts the 
 curtain, and reveals to us the good and great as 
 they really were — that is to say, as good and great, 
 no doubt, but as shot through also with other and 
 different strains. One of the most interesting and 
 characteristic features of Mr. Lytton Strachey's 
 recently published volume, Eminent Victorians, 1 
 is that it brings clearly to view the curiously con- 
 tradictory strains of character that may subsist 
 equably side by side in one and the same person. 
 Mr. Strachey shows us, for instance, that, while 
 Cardinal Manning's dominating passion was personal 
 ambition, it was accompanied by, in some 
 respects, great conscientiousness and strong religious 
 sensibility, and, again, that, despite his other- 
 worldly aspirations, in some incidents of his life 
 he revealed a strongly marked sense of present- 
 worldly values, expressing itself in the employment 
 of astute or even deceitful methods. Thus, when it 
 appeared probable that Newman would be made a 
 Cardinal, and though, from letters in his possession, 
 he possessed absolute knowledge that Newman 
 desired the Cardinalate, Manning acted secretly so 
 as to prevent this consummation, causing a state- 
 ment to be published in the Times to the effect that 
 Newman had refused the Hat. " On Newman's 
 death ", remarks Mr. Strachey, " Manning delivered 
 a funeral oration, which opened thus : ' We have 
 lost our greatest witness for the Faith, and we are 
 all poorer and lower by the loss. When these 
 tidings came to me, my first thought was this, in 
 
 1 Cardinal Manning ; Florence Nightingale ; Dr. Arn- 
 old ; General Gordon. By Lytton Strachey. (London: 
 Chatto and Winclus, 1918.)
 
 38 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 what way can I, once more, show my love and 
 veneration for my brother and friend of more than 
 sixty years ? ' In private, however, the surviving 
 Cardinal's tone was apt to be more . . . direct. 
 ' Poor Newman ! ' he once exclaimed in a moment of 
 genial expansion. ' Poor Newman ! He was a 
 great hater ! ' " 
 
 But there is no need to revert to the chronicles of 
 the past to discover instances of such two-faced or 
 double persuasion ; we may detect them in our- 
 selves, almost daily, and in all whom we meet. 
 The ex- Kaiser of Germany is a notorious instance 
 of a contemporary public character whose utter- 
 ances and actions reflect this state of mind. The 
 speeches he delivered during his reign were always 
 those of a man who regarded himself as being in a 
 very special sense the representative of God and 
 as inspired by the most altruistic and religious 
 motives. " On me as German Emperor ", he 
 remarked on one occasion, " the spirit of God has 
 descended " ; and on another occasion he modestly 
 advertised himself as " a ruler who has a conscience, 
 who feels that he is responsible to God, who has a 
 heart for his own people and those of his enemies ". 
 But, side by side with those religious sentiments 
 and aspirations, there appeared also in his speeches, 
 with a curious effect of incongruity, other and very 
 different sentiments, such as the desire for power 
 and the will to conquer by any means, however 
 unscrupulous or ruthless. 
 
 In such cases it is not necessary to suppose that 
 hypocrisy is involved. There is self-deception, cer- 
 tainly, but it may be largely or wholly unconscious. 
 Since the emotions often work within us uncon-
 
 GENTLE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE 39 
 
 sciously, seeking only their own gratification, and 
 tending to exclude from consciousness all considera- 
 tions likely to interfere with the attainment of 
 their end, it is easy for us to imagine ourselves 
 virtuous even when our effective beliefs and actions 
 are radically vicious. 
 
 The fact that we may be actuated by emotions 
 of which we are quite unconscious, or the power of 
 which we do not accurately gauge, accounts for 
 the numerous cases in which our persuasions make a 
 sudden volte-face ; when, having persuaded our- 
 selves to follow a certain line of conduct, we never- 
 theless, at the moment of action, follow a contrary 
 course. Thus the man addicted to liquor may have 
 persuaded himself, out of self-respect and regard 
 for others, to give up drink ; but when temptation 
 offers, and his boon companions are around him, 
 he may act contrarily to his persuasions. So, too, 
 a man may have apparently persuaded himself that 
 to show indignation or contempt at conduct which 
 he considers vile is, under certain circumstances, 
 wrong and foolish ; he may have fortified himself 
 in his persuasions by many abstract considerations 
 — that he himself is prone to error and wrongdoing, 
 thatscornisamarkoffolly,etc.,etc. ; but, on the very 
 next occasion on which he encounters the conduct 
 that has incensed him, he may act precisely as 
 before, moved by indignation, scorn, and contempt, 
 emotions quite contrary to those that had inspired 
 his previous decision. 
 
 Such sudden reversals of purpose and conduct 
 frequently furnish dramatic themes for the novelist 
 or playwright. In one of the short stories of Mr. 
 James Joyce's Dubliners, the " heroine ", Eveline,
 
 40 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 has consented to elope, to " explore another life 
 with Frank ". At the beginning of the story we 
 see her sitting by the window — awaiting the 
 moment of departure. Down far in the avenue she 
 hears a street organ playing, as she had heard it 
 once before when her mother lay dying. She is 
 thus reminded of a promise she had made her 
 mother, to keep the home together as long as she 
 could, and the voice of duty seems to call to her to 
 relinquish her present purpose. But other motives 
 prevail : repulsion from the sordid conditions of her 
 home, amid which her mother had lived a joyless 
 life, fear of her drunken father's violence, and the 
 longing for happiness. She leaves the house, 
 resolved to fulfil her engagement with her lover. 
 
 " She stood among the swaying crowd in the 
 station at the North Wall. He held her hand, and 
 she knew that he was speaking to her, saying some- 
 thing about the passage over and over again. . . . 
 
 A bell clanged upon her heart. She felt him 
 seize her hand. 
 
 ' Come ! ' 
 
 All the seas of the world tumbled about her 
 heart. He was drawing her into them : he would 
 drown her. She gripped with both hands at the 
 iron railing. 
 
 ' Come ! ' 
 
 No ! No ! No ! It was impossible. Her 
 hands clutched the iron in frenzy. Amid the seas 
 she sent a cry of anguish ! 
 
 ' Eveline ! Evvy ! ' 
 
 He rushed beyond the barrier and called to her 
 to follow. He was shouted at to go on, but he still 
 called to her. She set her white face to him,
 
 GENTLE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE 41 
 
 passive, like a helpless animal. Her eyes gave him 
 no sign of love or farewell or recognition." * 
 
 When people act thus contrarily to their osten- 
 sible persuasions, they are impelled by some 
 motive-force of which they are more or less uncon- 
 scious or the power of which they do not accurately 
 gauge — some suppressed wish, based on an emotion 
 which, while they may be unaware of its existence 
 or strength, possesses for them a high value. So 
 Eveline, in Mr. Joyce's story, when the moment 
 for decisive action arrives, is influenced much more 
 strongly by a sense of duty than by the emotions 
 of repulsion and fear or by the desire for happiness, 
 which had decided the issue of her previous per- 
 suasions. 
 
 Similarly, many cases of what may be called 
 pathological persuasion are due to suppressed 
 wishes, based on emotions of which the subject is 
 unconscious. In such instances the subject is 
 irresistibly impelled to a course of action by a sub- 
 conscious motive that works with morbidly exagger- 
 ated intensity and is often unnatural or sinister in 
 kind ; as when — a not infrequent case this — a 
 mother, prompted really by jealousy, but imagin- 
 ing her motives to be purely disinterested and 
 good, carries on a systematic campaign of persecu- 
 tion against her own daughter. 
 
 Since, then, we are often dominated by emotional 
 tendencies of which we are unconscious, and by 
 tendencies that are opposed in kind, although we 
 do not recognise their incompatibility, self-persua- 
 sion might often be described more accurately as 
 
 1 " Eveline," in Dubliners, by James Joyce. London : 
 Grant Richards, Ltd.
 
 42 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 self-deception. At the same time, it must be added 
 that in the majority of cases, when we deceive 
 ourselves, we are not altogether unconscious of the 
 fact. Despite the manifold aberrations and the 
 infinite frailty of our minds, most of us find it 
 difficult, after all, to hoodwink ourselves absolutely. 
 When, imagining ourselves virtuous, we act wrongly, 
 however strong and compelling the emotion that 
 drives us to action may be, we are generally — 
 that is, if we are normally constituted, assailed by 
 doubts, before, during, and after the action. To 
 meet the situation the role of persuasion is then 
 enlarged. To reconcile our doubts, to satisfy our 
 sense of the contradiction between the beliefs we 
 profess and the deeds we do, we proceed to " reason," 
 with ourselves, determined to justify our beliefs and 
 conduct at any cost, regardless of the claims of con- 
 sistency and truth. And the more conscientious a 
 person is, when his conduct is widely at variance 
 with the moral sense of humanity, or if he feels in 
 any degree uncomfortable when contemplating it, 
 the more deeply does he feel the need for justifica- 
 tion : so that the more likely he is to build an elabor- 
 ate structure of reasoning, often on a very shaky 
 foundation, with a view to retaining his self- 
 respect. How deeply seated, one may reflect, 
 must be the root of righteousness in human nature, 
 to give rise to the travesties of reasoning by which 
 often we succeed in justifying ourselves ! The 
 elaborate persuasions of the German people, 
 attempting to justify many of their actions in the 
 War, may be taken as evidence of the fact that they 
 are a highly moral, if not a respectable, people ! 
 The nature of the false persuasions in which we
 
 GENTLE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE 43 
 
 are apt to indulge under those circumstances is well 
 illustrated in the following passage from a novel by 
 Benjamin Swift. 
 
 Joseph Ravendale, a professed churchgoer and 
 man of piety, who had made a large fortune by the 
 sale of Bibles, had sinned, many years before the 
 story opens, with the wife of his friend, Mr. Del- 
 more. He is troubled by the contradiction between 
 his professions and his conduct, but manages to 
 convince himself that, after all, his sin was not so 
 grievous as that of many other religious men : so 
 he finds comfort and consolation. " Aware of the 
 paradox of his position as a salesman of the British 
 Bible and the father of three families, his instinct 
 for business made him search for personal comfort 
 and forgiveness in the Book which, together with 
 its satellites, had made his fortune. And he did 
 find ample assurance in the biographies of Biblical 
 Sinners. What sinister figures filled the lantern- 
 slides of that old Jewish Book of war and politics 
 and priestcraft ! Abraham, Jacob, David, and the 
 other patriarchs, who are the founders of European 
 religion, were all polygamous. They took mistress 
 after mistress, and did things which would cause 
 a decent modern man to turn his back on them. 
 Nevertheless they were abundantly blessed, were 
 as prosperous as they were polygamous, and it is 
 out of their mouths that we have learned the 
 mysteries of our religion. The stories of Semitic 
 passion surprised, but comforted, Joseph Raven- 
 dale, for he could ask himself with genuine earnest- 
 ness : ' Am I as bad as Abraham or David ? ' 
 Frequently he perused the history of that royal 
 reprobate who seduced the wife of Uriah the Hittite
 
 44 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 and then sent Uriah into the fore-front of the 
 battle to have him killed. But we still sing David's 
 Psalms. Such facts gave him hope. They proved 
 that the net of the Established Religion has meshes 
 wide enough to receive the greatest scoundrels, 
 ancient and modern. After all, Mr. Delmore had 
 died peaceably in his bed ; whereas poor Uriah was 
 murdered. And then Mr. Delmore's debts had been 
 paid by his nuptial successor. Within two years 
 the widow became Mrs. Ravendale. . . ." 1 
 
 We would appear to possess an infinite capacity 
 for justifying our actions on irrelevant pretexts. 
 We throw a pleasing camouflage over our assailable 
 beliefs and actions, and so enable ourselves to 
 retain a facile self-respect. Life, it is sometimes 
 said, is a warfare ; certainly camouflage plays a 
 conspicuous part in both. The grocer justifies 
 his excessive charges on the ground that he too is 
 a victim of profiteering. The immoral man excuses 
 himself on the plea that he is not so immoral as 
 some other person he knows. The robber may 
 even sanctify his robberies, because, says he, they 
 are good for the shopkeepers, or because he takes 
 only from those who can afford to lose. And high 
 financiers, convicted in court of embezzlement and 
 fraud, have been known to find for themselves 
 justification in the innocent remark : ' What have 
 I got out of it ? ' 
 
 In Brieux's play, The Red Robe, there occurs an 
 excellent illustration of the manner in which, to 
 enforce our previously formed beliefs and wishes 
 and satisfy our emotional nature, we may reason 
 
 1 What lies Beneath. By Benjamin Swift. London : 
 Chapman & Hall, Ltd. 1917.
 
 GENTLE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE 45 
 
 irrelevantly, and exaggerate or distort facts, 
 attempting, too, by this means, not only to justify 
 ourselves but to impose our beliefs and wishes on 
 others. When we attempt to persuade others 
 fallaciously, the process is marked by the same 
 working of unconscious and contrary emotions, 
 and by the same superstructure of irrelevant and 
 inconsistent reasoning, as the fallacious persuasion 
 of ourselves. The chief character in Brieux's play 
 is M. Vagret, an advocate in a French court, who 
 desires to be promoted to a town with a Court of 
 Appeal, where he would be Procureur General and 
 a Councillor, and have the privilege of wearing 
 " the red robe ". His wife and daughter, also, 
 moved chiefly by the thought of the increased 
 income and social status that such a position would 
 confer, are eager for his promotion. A man named 
 Etchepare is about to be tried on a charge of 
 murder, and the court-officials are extremely anxious 
 to secure his condemnation — as one of them explains, 
 during the last year 118 years' less imprisonment 
 have been awarded than in the preceding year, and 
 the provincial authorities are beginning to consider 
 the court as wanting in ability and zeal. Thus the 
 sentiments of self-interest and ambition, as well as 
 the pressure of his family, impel Vagret, as one of 
 the advocates for the prosecution, to do his utmost 
 to secure a verdict against the prisoner. He makes 
 an impassioned speech in court, selecting from the 
 evidence of the witnesses only those facts that are 
 favourable to his case, and deliberately ignoring 
 those unfavourable, figuring as " the spokesman of 
 humanity ", the promoter of tranquillity and 
 security of life, the guardian of justice, while all
 
 46 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 the time he is really animated by other and con- 
 trary emotions and sentiments : by regard for his 
 family, by ambition and self-interest, by vanity, 
 professional pride, and the desire to defeat the 
 advocate opposed to him. After the speech has 
 been delivered be becomes conscious of his real 
 motives, and is ultimately constrained to disclose 
 to the court his doubts as to the guilt of the 
 prisoner, who is acquitted. In the following 
 dialogue, which, despite its length, is worthy of 
 being quoted in its entirety, in view of its aptness 
 as an illustration, he speaks to his wife of the 
 unworthy motives by which he had been actuated : — 
 
 " Vagret. — . . . I tell you there is a series of cir- 
 cumstances in the case of which no one has spoken 
 and the nature of which makes me believe in the 
 innocence of the accused 
 
 Madame Vagret. — But these circumstances — how 
 was it you knew nothing of them till now ? 
 
 Vagret (his head drooping). — Do you think I did 
 know nothing of them ? — My God ! Shall I have 
 the courage to tell you everything ? — I am not a 
 bad man, am I ? I wouldn't wish any one to 
 suffer for a fault of mine — But — Oh, I am ashamed 
 to admit it, to say it aloud, even, when I have 
 admitted it to myself ! — Well, when I was studying 
 the brief, I had got it so firmly fixed in my mind, to 
 begin with, that Etchepare was a criminal, that, 
 when an argument in his favour presented itself 
 to my mind, I rejected it utterly, shrugging my 
 shoulders. — As for the facts of which I am speaking, 
 and which gave rise to my doubts — at first I simply 
 tried to prove that those facts were false, taking, 
 from the depositions of the witnesses, only that
 
 GENTLE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE 47 
 
 which would militate against their truth, and reject- 
 ing all the rest, with a terrible simplicity of bad 
 faith. — And in the end, in order to dissipate my 
 last scruples, I told myself, just as you told me : 
 ' That is the business of the defence ; it isn't 
 mine ! ' Listen, and you'll see to what point the 
 exercise of the magistrate's office distorts our 
 natures, makes us unjust and cruel. At first, I 
 had a feeling of delight, when I saw that the Pre- 
 sident, in his cross-examination, was throwing no 
 light whatever on this series of little facts. It was 
 my profession speaking in me, my profession, do you 
 see ? Oh, what poor creatures we are, what poor 
 creatures ! 
 
 Madame Vagret. — Perhaps the jury won't find 
 him guilty ? 
 
 Vagret. — It will find him guilty. 
 Madame Vagret. — Or it may find there are ex- 
 tenuating circumstances 
 
 Vagret. — No. I adjured them too earnestly to 
 refuse to do so — I was zealous enough, wasn't I ? 
 Violent enough ? 
 
 Madame Vagret. — That's true. — Why did you 
 make your indictment so passionately ? 
 
 Vagret. — Ah, why, why ? Long before the hear- 
 ing of the case it was so clearly understood by 
 everybody that the prisoner was the criminal ! 
 And then it all went to my head, it intoxicated me — 
 the way they talked — I was the spokesman of 
 humanity. I was to reassure the countryside, I 
 was to restore tranquillity to the family, and I 
 don't know what else ! So then — I felt I must 
 show myself equal to the part entrusted to me. — 
 My first indictment was relatively moderate — But
 
 48 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 when I saw the celebrated counsel making the 
 jurymen weep, I thought I was lost ; I felt the 
 verdict would escape me. Contrary to my habit, 
 I replied. When I rose to my feet for the second 
 time I was like a man fighting, who has just had a 
 vision of defeat, and who therefore fights with the 
 strength of despair. From that moment Etchepare, 
 so to speak, no longer existed. I was no longer 
 concerned to defend society or sustain my accusa- 
 tions ; I was contending against the advocate ; it 
 was a trial of orators, a competition of actors ; I 
 had to be the victor at all costs. I had to convince 
 the jury, resume my hold on it, wring from it the 
 double ' yes ' of the verdict. I tell you, Etchepare 
 no longer counted ; it was I who counted, my 
 vanity, my reputation, my honour, my future — 
 It's shameful, I tell you, shameful. At any cost I 
 wanted to prevent the acquittal which I felt was 
 certain. And I was so afraid of not succeeding 
 that I employed every argument, good and bad, even 
 that of representing to the terrified jurymen their own 
 houses in flames, their own flesh and blood murdered. 
 I spoke of the vengeance of God falling on judges 
 without severity. And all this in good faith — or 
 rather unconsciously, in a burst of passion, in an 
 excess of anger against the advocate, whom I 
 hated at that moment with all my might. My 
 success was greater than I hoped ; the jury is ready 
 to obey me ; and I, my dear, I have allowed myself 
 to be congratulated, I have grasped the hands held 
 out to me — that is what it is to be a magistrate ! " x 
 One of the most common occasions on which we 
 
 1 The Red Robe, by Brieux. Translated by A. Bernard 
 Miall. Herbert Jenkins, Ltd, 1916.
 
 GENTLE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE 49 
 
 employ false reasoning to justify our beliefs and 
 wishes is when we argue that "the end justifies the 
 means." Often people propose to themselves an end 
 that they assert to be desirable and good, or for the 
 benefit of their neighbours, and at the same time 
 seek to realise it by means that will injure others. 
 Thus the citizens of a nation at war, arguing that 
 it is their duty to win at all costs, out of love for 
 their country, may easily persuade themselves that 
 any means of success are justifiable. Referring to 
 the " fanatical spirit of patriotism " with which the 
 German people were imbued, Mr. J. M. de Beaufort, 
 in his book, Behind the German Veil, remarks that 
 to them " only the Fatherland counts : you may 
 murder, steal, spy, cheat,— it does not matter if it 
 is for the Fatherland. The end sanctifies all the 
 means , \ 1 
 
 This theory arises in large measure from the idea 
 that out of evil good may come, that in things evil 
 there is " a soul of good ". If we concentrate our 
 thoughts exclusively on that idea, we may plausibly 
 justify to ourselves any evil act. An interesting 
 passage bearing on this point occurs in Mr. 
 Wells' novel, Mr. Br tiling Sees it through. Mr. 
 Britling has been meditating on certain aspects of 
 the great War, and reflects that " most cruelty 
 . . . draws its incentive, however crippled and 
 monstrous the justification may be, from something 
 punitive in man's instinct, something therefore 
 that implies a sense, however misguided, of righte- 
 ousness and vindication. That factor is present 
 even in spite ; when some vile or atrocious thing 
 is done out of envy or malice, that envy and malice 
 1 Behind the German Veil (Hutchinson). 
 4
 
 50 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 has in it always — always ? — Yes, always — a genuine 
 condemnation of the hated thing as an unrighteous 
 thing, as an unjust usurpation, as an inexcusable 
 privilege, as a sinful over-confidence ". This 
 general reflection Mr. Britling proceeds to apply to 
 particular acts of cruelty committed by Germany 
 during the War : — " There was anger in their vile- 
 ness. These Germans were an unsubtle people, a 
 people, in the worst and best sense of the words, 
 plain and honest ; they were prone to moral 
 indignation ; and moral indignation is the mother 
 of most of the cruelty in the world. They per- 
 ceived the indolence of the English and Russians, 
 they perceived their disregard of science and 
 system, they could not perceive the longer reach of 
 these greater races, and it seemed to them that the 
 mission of Germany was to chastise and correct this 
 laxity. Surely, they had agreed, God was not on 
 the side of those who kept an unfilled field. . . . 
 That, in a sense, is the cause of all this killing. Cruel 
 it is and abominable, yes, but is it altogether 
 cruel ? Hasn't it, after all, a sort of stupid right - 
 ness ? Isn't it a stupid reaction to an indolence at 
 least equally stupid ? What was this rightness 
 that lurked below cruelty ? What was the inspira- 
 tion of this pressure of spite, 'this anger that was 
 aroused by ineffective gentleness and kindness ? 
 Was it indeed an altogether evil thing ; was it not 
 rather an impulse, blind as yet, but in its ultimate 
 quality as good as mercy, greater perhaps in its 
 ultimate values than mercy ? " 
 
 In this passage Mr. Britling, or Mr. Wells, led 
 partly, perhaps, by a desire to do justice to German 
 motives and to find some explanation of cruelty not
 
 GENTLE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE 51 
 
 inconsistent with the idea of a moral universe, 
 seems to approach the position of justifying and 
 approving acts of cruelty. Is cruelty, he asks, an 
 altogether evil thing ? To this question it must be 
 replied that while, considered in itself, cruelty is 
 definitely evil, despite this, certain good results 
 may follow it incidentally. It is, for instance, an 
 everyday experience that by meeting and combat- 
 ing evil we may correct or remove defects and 
 weaknesses in our own characters — as when Mr. 
 Wells suggests that by resisting German aggression 
 the British people might correct their tempera- 
 mental tendency to slackness and inefficiency. If, 
 however, we discriminate clearly, the good thus 
 ensuing can be said to proceed from the evil only 
 accidentally and problematically ; if we are to 
 speak accurately, we must say that it proceeds not 
 from the evil in itself but from the resistance offered 
 to the evil. To suggest, as Mr. Britling does, that 
 cruelty is " in its ultimate quality as good as 
 mercy " is simply to annul the distinction between 
 good and evil. The fundamental and ultimate 
 quality of an act of cruelty is, and can be, cruelty 
 and nothing else. The results of cruelty, as 
 cruelty, are the physical or the spiritual injury of 
 others : bodily suffering, resentment, anger, grief, 
 emotional disturbances of various kinds, which, 
 considered in themselves, are radically bad. If, 
 as may happen, certain beneficial results follow, they 
 are not inherent in the act of cruelty, but proceed 
 essentially from certain qualities of character, some 
 strain of goodness, in the person or persons acted 
 upon : it is therefore quite problematic, depending 
 on the character of the persons concerned, whether
 
 52 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 any such beneficial results will follow or not. 
 When we say, with reference to any manifestation 
 of evil, such as cruelty, that it has been the cause 
 of good, we speak loosely and inaccurately. Before 
 we can justly postulate one thing as the cause of 
 another we must be able to show that it is the 
 invariable and unconditional antecedent of that 
 other ; but, obviously, there are many cases in 
 which cruelty, malice, persecution, slander, or any 
 other evil principle in action, are not followed by 
 any good results. We must here remember, also, 
 that every action affects not only those acted upon, 
 but the doers. The belief that " cruelty is as 
 good as mercy ", or " greater in its ultimate 
 qualities than mercy ", neglects altogether the 
 effects that evil action produces on the characters 
 of those committing it. Suppose, for example, 
 that an individual has for some reason or other 
 become obnoxious to a group of people who have 
 agreed under certain circumstances to support one 
 another in joint action. They resolve to victimize 
 the obnoxious person and make his life miserable. 
 Their end, they avow, is to punish him for a fault 
 or sin and lead him to amendment, for the good of 
 society ; but, for the realisation of their end, they 
 do not scruple to act meanly or cruelly. In a case 
 of this kind, it is clear that if the would-be social 
 reformers, to realise their purpose, act meanly or 
 cruelly, they become, in the act, as bad as, or 
 worse than, the man they set out to reform or 
 punish, and, further, that, in so far as their action 
 perverts and prostitutes their own characters, it is 
 anti-social, so that, in reality, their own conduct is 
 in direct antagonism to their professed end, the
 
 GENTLE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE 53 
 
 good of society. In such cases, when actions in 
 themselves base or dishonourable are done to 
 realise a supposed good end, the end actually 
 realised is not the good end that had been proposed, 
 but one infected by the evil of the means adopted ; 
 or — to put the same thing in another way — the end 
 which was supposed to be good was in reality bad, 
 or embraced within itself elements of badness, 
 since the end proposed must be viewed as a whole, 
 including necessarily the means employed, which 
 form a part of the whole action. 
 
 To understand the fallacy involved in the belief 
 that " the end justifies the means ", we must first 
 form a clear conception of the meaning of the 
 terms " end " and " means ". By the " end " of 
 an action is usually denoted a purpose or idea, not 
 yet realised, existing only in the subject's mind ; 
 while by the " means " we usually imply the actions 
 that are afterwards done with a view to its realisa- 
 tion. That, however, is a false opposition ; for, 
 in reality, the end to be attained is no less an action 
 than the means, and in each case the conception of 
 the action or actions involved must have existed 
 previously in the doer's mind. It is obvious, for 
 example, that, if we propose to go into the country 
 for the benefit of our health, and, as a means to 
 enable us to realise our purpose, buy a ticket for 
 Healthville at a railway station, both the primary 
 end, going to the country, and the means adopted, 
 taking out a railway ticket, are alike actions, at 
 first projected in thought, and afterwards realised. 
 Or, again, if a nation at war has taken possession of 
 a conquered country, the primary end of the army 
 of occupation may be to reduce the inhabitants
 
 54 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 to submission ; the means employed may be 
 the indiscriminate murdering of civilians, soldiers, 
 women, and children, and the plunder and devasta- 
 tion of their country : here, again, it is clear that 
 both end and means are essentially, and in the 
 same sense of the word, actions. The distinction 
 usually drawn between end and means is, then, 
 fundamentally illusory. There is a difference 
 between them, but it is a difference not between an 
 idea or purpose conceived and an action performed, 
 but rather between part and whole, the means being 
 merely an action or actions that form a part of, 
 or a moment in, the whole deed which constitutes 
 our end or purpose. Now, it will be readily con- 
 ceded that the whole of anything includes the 
 parts, and that our judgment of the whole must be 
 determined by reference to its parts. If, then, the 
 part deed — that is, the means, be unjust or wicked, 
 its injustice or wickedness cannot but form an 
 essential element of the whole deed. No moral 
 fact in the world is more certain than that, if evil 
 means are employed, the results that follow, the 
 actual end realised, will be evil also. That very 
 common type of persuasion which springs from 
 the idea that the end justifies the means, and that 
 we may do evil that good may ensue, is based on a 
 radical fallacy ; and it is of the highest importance 
 to recognise that a bad act can never, in itself, 
 under any circumstances, produce good results, and 
 that in persuading ourselves to the contrary we 
 deceive ourselves grievously. This does not mean, 
 however, that good and evil are absolutely distinct 
 and separate : good is good, and evil is evil, but 
 it is a significant moral fact that each may be
 
 GENTLE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE 55 
 
 transmuted into the other, both being made of the 
 same stuff of life. In the hope and belief that evil 
 may be transmuted to good lies all the inspiration 
 of the true social reformer. 
 
 We have hitherto been concerned, in this chapter, 
 mainly with the emotional contradictions and the 
 intellectual subterfuges and pretexts, the fallacious 
 reasoning, through which the process of persuasion 
 frequently runs to its destined end. But, equally 
 often, we seek to justify our beliefs and wishes 
 through the vagrant and uncontrolled workings of 
 the imagination. The belief or wish having been 
 given beforehand, the imagination sets to work, and, 
 when not controlled or rightly directed, exaggerates, 
 misinterprets, and distorts the most trifling cir- 
 cumstances to make them consistent with the 
 dominant belief. 
 
 This process of false imagination is often wholly 
 or for the most part unconscious. When our 
 imaginations concern our own selves, especially — 
 when, for instance, we project, for our inward 
 satisfaction, an image of ourselves as thrice blessed, 
 or thrice cursed, or thrice or fifty-fold anything, as 
 is imagination's lurid way, we are, for the time 
 being, wholly unconscious of the process : to 
 become conscious of it would be at once to realise 
 its absurdity. In one of Mr. J. D. Beresford's 
 novels, 1 the hero, who has literary ambitions, 
 having brooded over his past failures, and pictured 
 himself as certainly gravitating at last " to his 
 proper level, the gutter ", and having begun " men- 
 tally to write a realistic account of his descent, that 
 ended surprisingly with his resuscitation on the 
 1 The Invisible Event.
 
 56 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 publication of ' one of the most wonderful pieces 
 of descriptive writing ever given to the world ', as 
 an imaginary reviewer of his described the work ", 
 suddenly realises the ridiculous tenor of his imagina- 
 tions : "he got up then, with a sort of vicious 
 determination, and as it was not of the least 
 consequence what he did that morning, abused 
 himself aloud as he dressed. — ' Silly, dreaming 
 idiot ! ' he said brutally ". 
 
 Sometimes, when our imaginative persuasions 
 concern our relations with others, it is only the 
 hard logic of facts and events, the sharp contact 
 with reality, that reveals to us their vanity. The 
 sad, if trivial, experiences of Mrs. A. and Mrs. B. 
 may be cited to illustrate this point. Mrs. A., a 
 lady of placid disposition, had for some time had 
 in her employment a housemaid, Mary Ann, a 
 slovenly and careless young person, given to play- 
 ing havoc with the household crockery-ware. The 
 lady, however, was reluctant to dismiss Mary Ann, 
 and, enlisting her imagination on the side of her 
 wishes, which inclined always to the maintenance of 
 the status quo, cheerfully concluded, whenever any 
 improvement in the housemaid's work was shown, 
 that all would yet be well, projecting, for her inward 
 satisfaction, the picture of a reformed Mary Ann 
 sweeping and dusting diligently all day and hand- 
 ling the crockery with prudent care. Thus, with 
 the aid of a friendly imagination, she managed to 
 retain Mary Ann's services for quite a long time, 
 until at length the day of the inevitable crash 
 arrived, when most of the pieces in the valuable 
 dinner-set flew with a swoop from the top to the 
 bottom of the kitchen staircase. Mrs. A. then
 
 GENTLE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE 57 
 
 realised abruptly the vanity of her expectations, 
 and the expensive Mary Ann was dismissed. Just 
 then, as it happened, Mrs. B., a lady living in 
 another part of the town, was looking for a house- 
 maid. For some time previously she had had in her 
 employment a really serviceable maid, Sarah Jane, 
 but, being of an excitable disposition, the lady was 
 prone to exaggerate Sarah's occasional failures : 
 when a soup-plate had been broken she conjured 
 up a dreadful picture of a house altogether denuded 
 of crockery, and when a single " follower " called 
 one evening, she imagined that presently a succes- 
 sion of such visitors would have eaten her out of 
 her house and home. Accordingly, Sarah Jane 
 was requested to leave. But when, later in the 
 day of her departure, Mrs. A.'s Mary Ann, that 
 terrific person, duly engaged by the unwary Mrs. 
 B., appeared on the scene, and daily the floors of 
 the house were strewn — " as thick as leaves in 
 Vallombrosa " — with the fragments of broken 
 dishes, Mrs. B., too, began to realise that her 
 imagination had led her astray, and repented, too 
 late, of the self-persuasions that had led her to 
 dismiss the serviceable Sarah. 
 
 It must be added, however, that the imagination 
 is capable of offering strong resistance to the 
 impact of reality : once, twice, three times, ten 
 times, the folly of our persuasions may be demon- 
 strated to us ; and as often we may revert to the 
 same foolish fancies that had misled us previously : 
 of all our faculties, the imagination is perhaps the 
 most pertinaciously gullible. An amusing illustra- 
 tion of this may be quoted from Jane Austen's 
 Northanger Abbey. The heroine, Catherine Mor-
 
 58 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 land, has been reading Mrs. Radcliffe's novels, and 
 is, unconsciously to herself, longing to breathe in 
 her own life the atmosphere of mystery and romance. 
 She has been invited to stay with some friends at 
 Northanger Abbey, an old and historic place round 
 which, she decides, the airs of romance needs must 
 blow. In her room, while she is dressing for 
 dinner on the first night of her visit, the first object 
 that strikes her eye is an immense cedar chest — a 
 receptacle of mystery, she rushingly infers. To it, 
 then, she charges, and, having overcome sundry 
 obstacles thoughtfully provided by the novelist to 
 stimulate her (and the reader's) expectations, " her 
 resolute effort threw back the lid, and gave to her 
 astonished eyes the view of — a white cotton counter- 
 pane, properly folded, reposing at one end of the 
 chest in undisputed possession ". Of course, just 
 at that moment her hostess enters, and ''' to the 
 rising shame of having harboured for some minutes 
 an absurd expectation, was then added the shame 
 of being caught in so idle a search ". But, after 
 dinner, on retiring to her room for the night, 
 perceiving in a corner an old-fashioned black 
 cabinet, she entertains the same curiosity and idle 
 fancies as before, and a similar process of disillusion 
 follows : when at length she has succeeded in 
 opening the last secret drawer of the cabinet, she 
 sees " a roll of paper pushed back into the further 
 part of the cavity, apparently for concealment " 
 — it turns out, however, to be merely an old washing- 
 bill. Again " she felt humbled to the dust. Could 
 not the adventure of the chest have taught her 
 wisdom ? A corner of it catching her eye as she 
 lay, seemed to rise up in judgment against her.
 
 GENTLE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE 59 
 
 Nothing could now be clearer than the absurdity 
 of her recent fancies." For a third time, however, 
 her imagination returns to the charge, full tilt against 
 the dictates of reason and common sense. From a 
 keen (though rather youthful) scrutiny of her host, 
 Catherine comes to the conclusion that his " late " 
 wife is still alive, kept in confinement in a secluded 
 part of the building, and " receiving from the piti- 
 less hands of her husband a nightly supply of coarse 
 food " ! Circumstances lead to an open disclosure 
 of this extraordinary notion, and a humiliat- 
 ing scene of disillusion for Catherine takes place. 
 The novelist's final comment is as follows : — 
 " Nothing could be clearer, than that it had been 
 all a voluntary, self-created delusion, each trifling 
 circumstance receiving importance from an imagina- 
 tion resolved on alarm, and everything forced to 
 bend to one purpose by a mind which, before she 
 entered the Abbey, had been craving to be fright- 
 ened." Just so, in our own lives, daily, we are 
 led astray by our vain imaginings : influenced by 
 some dominant belief or emotion, suspecting, 
 fearing, hating, loving, we project visions and 
 elaborate fanciful theories based on the misinter- 
 pretation, distortion, and exaggeration of the most 
 unimportant and irrelevant circumstances. 
 
 And, besides being a fertile source of self-decep- 
 tion, the imagination may be employed in the 
 attempt consciously to deceive others. Cases of 
 this kind figure frequently in the law-courts. The 
 adventurer and the swindler weave their tales, 
 capture the hearts, and, incidentally, the property 
 of their victims, and their inventions may after- 
 wards be exposed before an interested public in
 
 60 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 the police-court. The ingenious X. was charged 
 lately with giving false information on a registra- 
 tion form, having claimed to be the son of a 
 Russian prince and heir to the title of Prince Boris 
 Romanoff. On being arrested, X. — so ran the 
 police evidence — " had asserted that he was attached 
 to the Russian Secret Service in London, his father 
 being a British subject, his mother a Russian 
 princess, and he himself, he said, would one day 
 inherit the title of Prince Boris Romanoff. He 
 added that he was a detective in the Secret Service 
 of the Russian embassy in London, that he was 
 organising some raids on Germany, and that he had 
 a lot of ideas and inventions that he proposed 
 shortly to bring before the Government. Later he 
 admitted that there was no truth in this remarkable 
 story. He said that he had told it to a naval man 
 so that it would be conveyed to the owner of the 
 house where he was staying, and so prevent pressure 
 for rent he was owing for his lodgings ". In this 
 instance X. desires to persuade his landlady that 
 he is trustworthy : he therefore invents an elabor- 
 ate story, and takes steps to have it conveyed to 
 her indirectly — a subtle touch this last, X. being 
 aware that, on occasion, indirect may be much 
 more effective than direct persuasion : his story, 
 remarkable enough to form a topic of discussion 
 among the inmates of the house, and reaching his 
 landlady's ears through the medium of others, 
 would be less likely to give rise to suspicion than if 
 he had volunteered the information personally. 
 
 One of the most common perversions of imagina- 
 tion in written and spoken persuasion consists in 
 the employment of false analogies and baseless
 
 GENTLE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE 61 
 
 comparisons to support and enforce our contentions. 
 Such analogies are found not only in the exagger- 
 ated and highly coloured rhetoric of the tub- 
 thumper, or in the craftily contrived wiles of the 
 sophist, but in the most serious and otherwise 
 sound writings and speeches. An extreme instance 
 of this use of false analogy is to be found in an 
 article entitled " Germany's Passion ", by Dr. 
 Preuss of Erlangen, which appeared in a German 
 magazine in September, 1915. 1 The writer's object 
 was to persuade his readers that Germany's suffer- 
 ings in the war had arisen solely from her steadfast 
 support of the claims of righteousness and truth. 
 To illustrate and support that contention the article 
 compares the countries " responsible for ' the 
 " passion " of Germany with the persons who 
 brought about the crucifixion of Christ. Thus the 
 Russian Tzar is depicted as playing " the deplorable 
 part of Pilate ", Servia is the modern equivalent 
 of Barabbas, France is Herod, England the San- 
 hedrin, and Roumania " the new Judas ". The 
 detailed statements put forward to support those 
 comparisons are in the highest degree fantastic, 
 yet they would doubtless carry conviction to many 
 of Dr. Preuss's readers, as (we may perhaps suppose) 
 they had previously convinced Dr. Preuss himself. 
 The chief characteristic of false analogy is that 
 merely superficial and accidental resemblances are 
 treated as if they were fundamental and essential, 
 
 1 For an English translation of the whole article see 
 Hurrah & Hallelujah : The spirit of New Germanism. 
 By J. P. Bang, D.D., Professor of Theology at the Univer- 
 sity of Copenhagen. From the Danish by Jessie Brochner. 
 Hodder and Stoughton, 1916.
 
 62 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 and this is obviously the outstanding feature of 
 Dr. Preuss's article. For instance, to justify the 
 comparison between Judas and Roumania, he 
 asserts that Roumania " betrayed " Germany, the 
 modern counterpart of Christ, not for thirty pieces 
 of silver but " for thirty milliards ", and he adds 
 that " the only difference between the old Judas 
 and the new is, that the former went out immedi- 
 ately, while the latter waited three quarters of 
 a year ". Arguing on that basis, however, Dr. 
 Preuss might with equal appropriateness have cast 
 Bulgaria, and not Roumania, for the part of Judas, 
 for she, too, covenanted with a strong power for 
 more than thirty pieces of silver ; nor did she go 
 out ' immediately ', but waited ; etc., etc. This 
 kind of writing is as easy as juggling : and bears a 
 similar relation to reality. 
 
 Mob-orators and the charlatans of the market- 
 place commonly seek to inflame the imagination of 
 their audiences, with a view to persuading them 
 to act as they wish. Their speeches are marked by 
 a varied succession of exaggerated and irrelevant 
 images, depicted in crude and glaring colours, and 
 having no essential connection either with one 
 another or with the subject-matter of their dis- 
 course : the end to be attained is, not right per- 
 suasion, but the exploitation of the multitude. 
 More often, however, the exaggerations and 
 distortions of imagination are employed, not as 
 a deliberate means of exploitation, but uncon- 
 sciously : as when M. Vagret, in the passage quoted 
 above from The Red Robe, acting, as he himself 
 says, " with a terrible simplicity of bad faith ", 
 represents " to the terrified jurymen their own
 
 GENTLE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE 63 
 
 houses in flames, their own flesh and blood 
 murdered ", so that they may be persuaded to 
 condemn the prisoner. 
 
 The various examples of false persuasion that 
 have been cited in this chapter illustrate the fact 
 that in persuading ourselves and others we are 
 often led astray by contrary emotions, fallacious 
 reasoning, and erratic processes of the imagina- 
 tion, intermingled with and assisting one another. 
 
 Our examples indicate, also, that false persuasion 
 tends to run in secret channels. In many cases we 
 are quite unconscious of the real motives that 
 underlie our persuasions, and when we are conscious 
 of them, they may be of such a kind as, in the 
 common phrase, not to bear thinking about, much 
 less speaking about — it is then that reasoning and 
 imagination come to our aid, and enable us to 
 conceal our real motives under a superstructure of 
 irrelevant and specious argument coloured attrac- 
 tively by the imagination. We could not, any of 
 us, without shame, give open utterance at all times 
 to the selfish and contradictory emotions, the vain 
 imaginations, or the fallacious pleas and excuses 
 that misdirect our persuasions and serve as justifica- 
 tion for our conduct. 
 
 And when persuasion thus runs in secret channels, 
 the actions that it prompts are apt to be secret also. 
 When people are influenced by motives that they 
 may not declare openly, or that they will not 
 confess even to themselves, their actions, especially 
 towards others, and if they are opposed to the 
 prevailing standards of right and wrong, are likely 
 to be marked by a corresponding secrecy, sometimes 
 spreading into an elaborate network of deception
 
 64 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 and intrigue. In a novel by Miss Violet Hunt, 1 
 we are shown how Christina Radmall, who wants to 
 get married, but thinks that her chances are pre- 
 judiced by her exceptionally youthful appearance 
 and by the fact that her sister Virgilia, who is 
 really younger, looks older than she does, enters on a 
 campaign of intrigue against her sister. The 
 motive underlying her action is " a blind fury of 
 self-preservation ", but it lies concealed both from 
 herself and others, though not altogether so, 
 beneath the superstructure of fallacious argument 
 that persuasion usually raises in such cases. " She 
 embarked ", says the novelist, " on a crusade 
 to keep Virgilia back and down. She used her 
 influence with Mrs. Radmall to nip in the bud 
 every progressive instinct, every movement of 
 natural growth in her younger sister. And Virgilia 
 knew it. She knew better what Christina was 
 about than Christina herself, possessed as she was 
 by a blind fury of self-preservation. And it was 
 useless. Other people, even the hirelings of the 
 house, helped to fight against the peculiar form of 
 oppression instituted by the elder sister against the 
 younger. Their sense of fairness was outraged by 
 the spider net of intrigue which the cunning 
 adolescent was weaving by means of her power over 
 a partial mother. Christina overlooked no detail by 
 which her sister's grudged but inevitable advance 
 to full social rights could be arrested. She put it 
 into Mrs. Radmall's head that smart American girls 
 wore their frocks quite short until they were 
 
 1 Their Lives. By Violet Hunt. London : Stanley 
 Paul & Co. 1916,
 
 GENTLE ART OF CAMOUFLAGE 65 
 
 actually ' out ' and large black bows in their hair 
 instead of putting it up ". 
 
 Forewarned is forearmed, and the quick-witted 
 Virgilia, who had divined Christina's amiable 
 intentions, contrives, after all, to arrive first in the 
 marriage-race. On the day before that fixed for 
 the wedding, however, news is received of the death 
 of a relative, and it looks as if the ceremony will 
 have to be deferred. But Virgilia resolves that 
 there shall be no postponement, and now in her 
 turn applies her wits to the elaboration of devices 
 by which her wish may be realised. She urges 
 that there is no time to make the necessary arrange- 
 ments for postponement, that she cannot be ex- 
 pected to grieve much for the death of a relative 
 she has never seen, that presents have been sent, 
 servants engaged, people asked, etc., etc. Mrs. 
 Radmall concurs, the real motive of her agreement 
 being the feeling that " nothing in the world of 
 morals and sentiment must be allowed to interfere 
 with the speedy withdrawal of Virgilia ", who is 
 not a favourite in the family, while she justifies her 
 assent explicitly on the ground that " she owed it 
 to her husband, to her daughter whose career was 
 just beginning, not to make a fuss and spoil every- 
 thing for the sake of her own feelings ". To prevent 
 misconception, however, on the part of the wicked 
 world, Mrs. Radmall, prompted by Virgilia, admits 
 that the situation must be handled tactfully, or — 
 tactically ; certain little private arrangements must 
 be made. " Drilled by Virgilia, Mrs. Radmall had 
 agreed not to tell Papa, and to keep the news from 
 everybody, including Trimmer and Grace, until the 
 wedding was over. Then a little juggling with dates 
 
 5
 
 66 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 must be perpetrated. Colour must be given to the 
 theory that the telegram (unproduced) had been 
 delayed. Aunt Philippa was not to be written to 
 for twenty-four hours — It had all been arranged." 
 The wanderings of persuasion find an outlet on 
 each of its three sides : on its emotional side, on 
 its imaginative side, and on its intellectual side. 
 To satisfy the instincts, emotions, sentiments, or 
 passions that rule our persuasions, we often reason 
 falsely and imagine vain things, and often, too, 
 we seek to realise our beliefs or wishes by secret 
 methods of impression and intrigue. We have 
 hitherto considered those tendencies only as they 
 express themselves in individuals ; but they work, 
 also, collectively, and, when they so work, appearing 
 in large or influential groups of people united by a 
 common interest, they modify the lives of com- 
 munities profoundly. In the following chapter an 
 attempt will be made to show how the pressure of 
 groups, labouring to attain their ends, and to pre- 
 serve and increase their power and exclusive privi- 
 leges, expresses itself in the same process of false 
 persuasion as that which we have noted in indi- 
 viduals, marked by intellectual, emotional, and 
 imaginative deception, and by the widespread use 
 of cunningly devised methods of impression and 
 exploitation, affecting perniciously every aspect of 
 social life.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 GROUP PRESSURE AND THE SENSE 
 
 OF POWER— METHODS OF 
 
 IMPRESSION AND EXPLOITATION
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 GROUP PRESSURE AND THE SENSE OF 
 
 POWER— METHODS OF IMPRESSION 
 
 AND EXPLOITATION 
 
 AT no previous period of the world's history 
 has the human tendency to associate in 
 groups been so marked as it is at present, 
 and for this reason the influence exercised by group- 
 pressure on men's persuasions has never before been 
 so widely and deeply operant. In every aspect of 
 life evidences of the increasing tendency towards 
 group-effort may be observed. It exhibits itself 
 even in the domestic arrangements of our homes : 
 the old conception of the Englishman's house as 
 his castle, where he could segregate himself at will, 
 has become modified : many people in large towns 
 have given up the separate houses that they formerly 
 occupied, and live in blocks of flats with public 
 restaurants ; and communal kitchens, the notion 
 of which would once have been repugnant to Eng- 
 lishmen, are now widely patronised. In commerce, 
 again, the co-operative movement has made great 
 progress, big firms tending to monopolise trade, 
 while the ' small shopkeeper ' complains that he is 
 being « pushed out.' The large banks are amalga- 
 
 69
 
 70 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 mating so that they may become larger ; newspaper 
 ' combines ' wield immense power ; and in recent 
 years the most important feature in the development 
 of our industrial life has been the rapid growth of 
 trades-unions and employers' associations. The 
 professions, too, are organised, and each has its own 
 association to protect its interests. Religious sec- 
 tarianism, or combination within separate groups 
 or churches, is still strong ; and in politics, in this 
 country, the party system, or government by the 
 group that is represented by a clear majority in the 
 House of Commons, has prevailed since the days of 
 Queen Anne, while in all countries the effective 
 governing power has always tended to remain in 
 the hands of a small number of men, belonging to a 
 special class, whose prestige, derived from family 
 influence or from ability and character, has enabled 
 them to gain and retain power. 
 
 That the loyal co-operation of individuals within 
 a group is calculated to gain the immediate ends in 
 view cannot be doubted. It makes for practical 
 efficiency. Whether its results will be good or evil 
 depends entirely on the nature of the ends sought 
 and the means employed to realise them. Of 
 co-operation as a mighty influence for good more will 
 be said later ; in this chapter we shall deal mainly 
 with the evil influence that it frequently exercises 
 in the form of organised group-pressure. 
 
 The tendency of man to associate in groups is 
 closely connected with the quality of suggestibility : 
 the capacity that we all possess of accepting beliefs 
 without any rational demonstration of their truth, 
 because they are held, or have been held, by other 
 people. It is man's innate tendency to suggesti-
 
 GROUP PRESSURE 71 
 
 bility that makes social life possible. And this 
 quality operates fundamentally, also, in the process 
 of persuasion : in the first place, it dictates to a 
 large extent the beliefs from which the process 
 starts, while those beliefs, with their underlying 
 emotions, may dominate absolutely the course that 
 the process follows ; and, in the second place, it is 
 mainly on this quality that the speaker or the writer 
 w r ho aims at persuading others relies to enable him 
 to attain his end. The potency of suggestion varies 
 according to the individual, and women are sup- 
 posed to be, in general, more suggestible than men ; 
 but it holds sway over us all, in every individual, 
 and at all places and times. Its power is, however, 
 most strikingly exhibited when people are gathered 
 in crowds. Then the art of suggestion may be 
 employed with immediate or startling effect, and 
 the orator and the demagogue find their profit 
 therein : men's natural kinship declares itself, and 
 they are moved, often impulsively and irrationally, 
 to common action. Similarly, the power of sugges- 
 tion over an individual may be especially strong if 
 he belongs to a particular group having for its aim 
 the promotion of certain interests or supposed inter- 
 ests. In such cases, supported by the opinions of 
 their fellows and by the power behind an organised 
 combination of forces, buoyed by the atmosphere 
 of suggestion that sustains all collective effort, 
 men may easily persuade themselves wrongly : 
 specious arguments, and irrelevant appeals to 
 imagination and emotion, may readily be enlisted 
 in the service of the desired end, any argument, and 
 any appeal, being considered valuable if only it seems 
 likely to promote the realisation of the end. The
 
 72 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 members of a group are united by the bond of a com- 
 mon object to which great importance is attached, 
 and their loyalty as members is proportionate to the 
 thoroughness with which they identify themselves 
 with it. Under those circumstances, it is obvious 
 that there will be a natural human tendency, greatly 
 augmented by the force of suggestion, to reject 
 as of no value any considerations unfavourable 
 to the interests of the group, and to emphasise 
 unduly, as of great value, all favourable consider- 
 ations. 
 
 It is difficult, or impossible, for the members of 
 a group, who are pledged to afford one another 
 mutual support, to exercise complete independence 
 of judgment, or to resist the opinions of the major- 
 ity. An individual member who persists in acting 
 contrary to the opinions or mode of action dictated 
 by his group is liable to be ejected therefrom, and 
 so to lose the comfort and support, and the material 
 advantages, conferred by his membership. Thus 
 the professions of medicine and law, which are 
 practically close corporations, have each its own 
 " etiquette," its system of rules, forming a kind of 
 written or unwritten law which all the members are 
 pledged to obey ; and those who choose not to con- 
 form to the prescribed code, ceasing to be recognised 
 as members of the profession, may lose their means 
 of livelihood — a serious consequence, tending to 
 induce members, even if they should disagree abso- 
 lutely with certain of the prescribed usages, to waive 
 their disagreement, and conform. 
 
 Suggestibility may play its part here also, and 
 encourage the members of a group to abandon, or 
 refrain from stating, their private beliefs. Suppose,
 
 GROUP PRESSURE 73 
 
 for instance, that the activities of a group involve 
 the employment of secret methods of impression, 
 and that the opinions and feelings of some member 
 are wholly opposed to such action : so compelling 
 is the force of suggestion that, meeting his fellow- 
 members frequently and coming under their 
 influence, he will be apt presently to fall into line 
 with them, and end by approving the plans that 
 originally he had condemned. And in this change of 
 front, even if there might still survive in his mind 
 some feeling of repugnance to the methods em- 
 ployed, he would readily be assisted by the specious 
 reflection that, at any rate, he was acting for the 
 support and protection of his fellow members. 
 As we have noted in the preceding chapter, the 
 belief that " the end justifies the means " often 
 serves to justify unscrupulous conduct, not only in 
 groups, but in individuals : on that ground, for 
 instance, Napoleon's arbitrary acts have often 
 been defended. We have already examined this 
 principle, and found it to be radically fallacious. 
 It often serves merely as an excuse to enable 
 people to satisfy their desire for power, or their 
 instincts of cruelty and revenge, under a specious 
 appearance of altruism. 
 
 Suggestion may work in a group through any of 
 the emotions, and sometimes it works through fear : 
 it may happen that the members of a group are 
 positively afraid to commit any action that might 
 seem antagonistic to the general group-principles. 
 This is especially likely to be the case if secret 
 methods of impression or punishment are employed 
 by the group. Mr. J. M. de Beaufort, in Behind the 
 German Veil, remarks that there is no cause for
 
 U THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 wonder in the fact that the Germans were afraid 
 of one another, for even before the war they spent 
 £4,000,000 a year on their spy system ; and he adds 
 that the employment of secret methods had bred in 
 them a kind of subtle reliance on co-operation, 
 quite opposed to freedom of action and personal 
 courage — the single-handed German would adven- 
 ture little, but joined (and watched) by his fellows 
 he would dare almost anything. 
 
 The persuasions of those who have been caught 
 fast in the machinery of a system are almost of 
 necessity stereotyped, and, in some instances, to 
 attempt to escape from the controlling machinery 
 would be even dangerous. There is evidence that 
 at the beginning of the War many of the German 
 soldiers shrank from committing the cruelties and 
 barbarities enjoined on them by the policy of 
 " f rightfulness ", but were constrained to obey, 
 as men inextricably involved in the machinery of a 
 powerful system. 
 
 One of the main characteristics of groups is that 
 they are powerful : from that circumstance, partly, 
 they originate. Most individuals, as individuals, 
 possess but small power to impose their ideas and 
 will on others ; but as members of a group they 
 share a common strength. The desire for power 
 is almost universal ; and, when once power has 
 been acquired, it is not relinquished willingly. As 
 members of a group, many people who, of them- 
 selves, in virtue of their own qualities or capabilities, 
 could never hope to exercise any considerable influ- 
 ence on the opinions and lives of others, are enabled 
 to experience the sense of power, and find it precious 
 — perhaps the more precious in precise proportion
 
 GROUP PRESSURE 75 
 
 to the narrowness of their limitations individually ; 
 yet the most gifted of mortals, too, enjoy, and may 
 be corrupted by, the sense of power, for, as Landor 
 says in one of his Imaginary Conversations, 1 " even 
 the wise become as the unwise in the enchanted 
 chambers of Power, whose lamps make every face 
 of the same colour ". 
 
 In itself, of course, power is to be considered as 
 neither good nor bad : its goodness or badness de- 
 pends on the manner of its use, on the point of view 
 from which it is regarded ; it should be regarded as a 
 means only, not as an end. The corrupting influence 
 of power is due to the fact that, even if at first it may 
 be desired only as a means to the attainment of cer- 
 tain ends, it is apt to become an end valued for its 
 own sake. When once that frame of mind has im- 
 posed itself on us, we may easily persuade ourselves 
 that any conduct tending to challenge or diminish 
 our power is wrong, and that any conduct tending to 
 confirm or increase it is right ; when once power 
 has been accepted as an end, there are no restraints 
 capable of preventing men from acting solely as 
 their own convenience or supposed interests direct. 
 And since, in a sense, the exercise of power, in one 
 form or another, may be regarded as the main object 
 of groups, their persuasions are especially liable 
 to be thus tainted. The members of a group, 
 imagining, perhaps, that they are animated by the 
 purest motives, by desire for the well-being of others, 
 while in reality they are prompted merely by the 
 desire to have and hold power, are under a special 
 temptation to act arbitrarily, unjustly, or tyrannic- 
 ally. Their opponents, and even all those outside 
 1 " Demosthenes and Eubulides."
 
 76 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 of the group, whether they show opposition to it or 
 not, are apt to be regarded as enemies, not as a 
 result of any rational consideration of questions at 
 issue, but simply because their opinions and actions 
 do not explicitly favour, or are positively unfavour- 
 able to, the opinions of the group and the mainten- 
 ance of its power. On this point some apposite re- 
 marks of W. S. Landor may again be quoted. 
 " There is a great deal less of bigotry in the world ", 
 he says, " than is generally supposed, and a great 
 deal more insincerity. Our faith is of little moment 
 to those who declaim against it. They are angry, 
 not at our blindness, but that the blind will 
 trust his own dog and staff rather than theirs ; and, 
 what is worse, that he will carry the scrip. This is 
 wilfulness : they would fain open his eyes to save 
 him from the sin of it ; and they break one or two 
 bones because he will not take them for his ocu- 
 lists ". 1 In powerful organised groups, which pos- 
 sess more facilities than the ordinary individual for 
 the breaking of one or two bones, and which may 
 plausibly cloak their real motives under high-sound- 
 ing phrases, avouching as their aim the moral reform 
 of others, the amelioration of social conditions or the 
 good of humanity, etc., etc., this common human 
 tendency to administer eye-openers may become 
 very marked and very pernicious. In all groups 
 there is some exclusive principle at work, and for 
 this reason they tend to become militant, and to 
 assume a more or less hostile attitude towards all 
 those outside of them. This trait is sometimes 
 amusingly exhibited in a small way in families : 
 have we not all met the agreeable old lady, mother 
 1 Imaginary Conversations — " Washington & Franklin ".
 
 GROUP PRESSURE 77 
 
 of a large family, most respectable of matrons, who 
 regards the world outside of her own immediate 
 relatives as being hardly able to justify its existence, 
 and assumes a kind of superior or aggressive air 
 towards all outside the sacred family-fold ? 
 
 To maintain their power, groups must of neces- 
 sity be organised ; and the complexity and the rigid- 
 ity of their organisation are in proportion to the 
 number of their members and to the degree of power 
 at which they aim. A great deal has been said and 
 written of late concerning the need for a more 
 thorough organisation of our national activities : 
 in this respect, at the beginning of the War, the 
 Britisher was constantly being advised that he 
 would do well to borrow a leaf from the German 
 book of life. Considered from some points of view, 
 however, the capacity for organisation would seem 
 to be a singularly unattractive feature of human 
 nature : most of us, for instance, in recent years, 
 have come to consider the Germans as quite unat- 
 tractive beings. The kingdom of the innocent and 
 unsuspicious, one imagines, if it existed anywhere, 
 would exhibit no desire for, and experience no need 
 of, organised systems and rigid rules of life. Chil- 
 dren have no organising powers ; many women, 
 on the other hand, are excellent organisers, and 
 enjoy managing others. But thus airily to condemn 
 organisation as a thing in itself undesirable or harm- 
 ful would, of course, be unpractical and absurd ; 
 in itself, it is neither good nor evil, its ethical quality 
 depending on the purposes for which it is employed. 
 Nevertheless, we may say truly that in every com- 
 plex organisation the seeds of degeneration are 
 latent, and may produce a rank growth. When,
 
 78 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 as frequently happens, a stereotyped and rigid 
 system of rules is evolved, and is imposed on a 
 number of individuals irrespectively of their differ- 
 ences, in a manner hostile to the development of 
 personality, organisation becomes a mere mechan- 
 ism : being then a force imposed on individuals 
 from without, having no root in their essential 
 nature, and taking no account of their particular 
 modes of thought and feeling, it ceases to be really 
 organisation : its organic quality disappears. This 
 is especially liable to happen in the management of 
 groups, and it happens always when organisation 
 aims at the maintenance and development of power 
 as an end in itself. 
 
 Power is wielded most easily, rapidly, and effec- 
 tively, by an authority which does not require to 
 consider the needs of individuals, which, confident in 
 its strength, is under no necessity to wait to obtain 
 the consent or the conscious and willing co-opera- 
 tion of others, which can treat men as machines, 
 not as human beings, and exact from them a 
 mechanical and sure response. 
 
 And, when organisation is thus employed for the 
 sake of power, its modes of operation are apt to be 
 secret and devious. Men may be, and are, exploited 
 so that the powerful may retain their power, but, 
 if the exploitation is to be quite successful, it must 
 not be open and manifest. And secrecy in action 
 is always accompanied by irresponsibility on the 
 part of the actors. The work of a group is often 
 carried on anonymously and impersonally, through 
 an organisation framed essentially with a view to 
 satisfying the sense of power ; its instigators and 
 managers, as well as the ordinary members, are
 
 GROUP PRESSURE 79 
 
 responsible to no one outside of the group itself — 
 they are in the same position, from a moral point 
 of view, as an individual who works secretly to 
 obtain power for himself, and is irresponsible be- 
 cause no one else is supposed to know, or is in a posi- 
 tion openly to object to, what he is doing. For 
 this reason members of groups which combine great 
 power with secrecy of action and immunity from 
 external criticism are very apt to be animated by 
 interested or bad motives, while at the same time, 
 deriving countenance and support from one another, 
 and arguing that in all they do they are working 
 for the benefit of their group, they may plausibly 
 persuade themselves that their motives are pure and 
 good. 
 
 In the sphere of religion, the interested persua- 
 sions of groups — cliques of priests and politicians 
 and rulers — have frequently appeared in action in 
 the form of persecution. In its essence, all religious 
 persecution is simply the effort of a ruling and estab- 
 lished group to crush elements that are hostile to 
 the maintenance of its power. An obvious instance 
 of this is the persecution of Jesus and his followers. 
 The power of the Sanhedrin and of the Pharisees 
 and Sadducees was threatened by his teaching : 
 they therefore conspired to entrap him by every 
 possible means, lying in wait for him, misinterpret- 
 ing his words and actions, and using their influence 
 with the established political authorities to bring 
 about his downfall. Ultimately, by those means, 
 and taking advantage of Judas's treachery, they 
 procured his death. After the Crucifixion, the doc- 
 trines of Christianity became more and more preva- 
 lent and threatened both the worship of the old gods
 
 80 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 and the religious status of the Emperors : there 
 then ensued the persecution and wholesale massacre 
 of the early Christians. 
 
 The kind of persuasion that is employed by the 
 priests of established religions to preserve their 
 power unimpaired in the face of newer forces of 
 enlightenment is well illustrated in Brieux's play, 
 False Gods. 1 The principal character in the play 
 is Satni, a young priest who has recognised the fact 
 that the worship of the old gods of Egypt had been 
 upheld by the political rulers, working through all 
 kinds of deception and trickery, merely as a means 
 of keeping the people in subjection. Once a year, on 
 an important feast-day, the god miraculously bows 
 his head in the temple, as a token of his intention 
 to bless the people in their labours. Satni declares 
 that he will prevent the miracle, which he knows 
 is done by a mechanical contrivance of the priests. 
 Every effort is made to deter him from his purpose. 
 The High Priest, in a long interview with Satni, 
 urges all the arguments that have been employed 
 by priests throughout the ages to secure conformity 
 and prevent secession. Since he is speaking to one 
 initiated in the " mysteries ", he admits that the 
 people are deceived, but, he adds, the deception 
 is justifiable, nay, meritorious. " We give to a 
 people the gods they can understand . . . there is 
 no happiness for the lower orders without religion. 
 ... If you take away their religion, what will make 
 them virtuous ? . . . Religion is a prop. It soothes — 
 consoles. He does evil who disturbs it ". Satni's 
 teaching, he points out, has already led to disorder 
 
 1 Translated by J. F. Fagan. Herbert Jenkins, Ltd. 
 1916.
 
 GROUP PRESSURE 81 
 
 among the people, to riots, robbery and murder. 
 He appeals, too, to Satni's self-interest, promising 
 his promotion to the highest order of priesthood 
 if only he will declare himself to have erred, and 
 avow publicly his restored belief in the gods. On 
 Satni's more intimate personal feelings, too, he 
 seeks to play : Yaruma, whom Satni loves, has 
 been chosen as a victim by the god, to be sacrificed 
 on the approaching feast-day : " she may be saved 
 from the sacrifice, if she become the wife of a priest." 
 By such reasonings, which are really prompted 
 by the desire to have and hold power, and have no 
 bearing on the Tightness or wrongness of Satni's 
 teaching, and by threatening to employ against him 
 all the weapons that the members of an organised 
 and established group possess, the High Priest 
 attempts to dissuade his former subordinate from 
 the proposed action. 
 
 In the sphere of politics, especially in its military 
 aspects, it has been left to our own time to furnish 
 what may well be termed the most portentous 
 illustration that has ever been witnessed of false 
 group-persuasion. The policy and actions of the 
 ruling class and militarist clique in Germany before 
 and during the War embodied in a striking manner 
 all the degenerate characteristics of group-pressure 
 that have been mentioned above. Those character- 
 istics appeared, in the first place, in the exploitation 
 for the purposes of the ruling group, of the German 
 people themselves, and, in the second place, in the 
 policy and attitude of the group and its agents, 
 the German people, towards other nations. 
 
 The most powerful engine that can be employed 
 in the exploitation of others is organisation ; and 
 
 9
 
 82 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 no nation has ever been so systematically organised, 
 so closely moulded in every detail to the fashion 
 of its rulers' will, as Germany was before and during 
 the War. The process began in the schools, which 
 were mobilised as a means of impressing and exploit- 
 ing the susceptible minds of the young in the inter- 
 ests of the established political authority. Inde- 
 pendence of thought and character was thus stifled 
 at the very outset, and later the same result was 
 secured by the rigid regulation of social life in all 
 its aspects. Many of the German laws that were so 
 much admired by other nations, though ostensibly 
 made for the protection of the people, were in reality 
 merely measures skilfully devised to bind abject 
 subjects to the chariot- wheels of their masters. 
 Autocratic rule is, of necessity, unfavourable to 
 freedom of thought, or to free creative effort of any 
 kind ; when the spirit of absolutism is at work, its 
 inevitable results are the elimination of individual 
 effort and personal leadership, and the standardisa- 
 tion of human beings. For the standardisation of 
 the German people, one of the chief methods em- 
 ployed by the autocracy was the " Rat " system, an 
 elaborately organised and graded scheme having for 
 its object the classification of the people in various 
 degrees of merit recognised by the State. Mr. James 
 W. Gerard gives an amusing account of this system 
 in his book, My Four Years in Germany. x " Rat ", 
 he explains, " means councillor, and is a title of 
 honour given to any one who has attained a certain 
 measure of success or standing in his chosen business 
 
 1 My Four Years in Germany. By James W. Gerard, 
 late United States Ambassador in Berlin. Hodder and 
 Stoughton.
 
 GROUP PRESSURE 88 
 
 or profession. For instance, a business man is made 
 a commerce " rat ", a lawyer a justice " rat ", 
 an architect or builder a building " rat ", a keeper 
 of the archives an archive " rat ", and so on. 
 The ' rats " are created in this way : — First a 
 man becomes a plain " rat ", then later on he 
 becomes a " secret rat ", or privy councillor, still 
 later a " court secret rat " and still later a " wirk- 
 licher ", or " really truly secret court rat ". . . . 
 " Now if a lawyer (for instance) gets to be about forty 
 years old and is not some sort of rat, his wife begins 
 to nag him, and his friends and relations look at him 
 with suspicion. There must be something in his 
 life which prevents his obtaining the coveted dis- 
 tinction, and if there is anything in a man's past, if 
 he has shown at any time any spirit of opposition 
 to the Government, as disclosed by the police regis- 
 ters, which are kept written up to date about every 
 German citizen, then he has no chance of obtaining 
 any of these distinctions, which make up so much 
 of the social life of Germany. It is a means by 
 which the Government keeps a far tighter hold on 
 the intellectual part of its population than if they 
 were threatened with torture and the stake. Those 
 Social Democrats who have declared themselves 
 against the existing system of government and in 
 favour of a republic, can, of course, receive no dis- 
 tinctions from the Government, because they dared 
 to lift their voices and their pens in criticism of the 
 existing order. For them there is the fear of the 
 law. Convictions for the crime of Lese-Majeste are 
 of almost daily occurrence ". 
 
 This passage is of interest as illustrating not only 
 how organisation may be employed as a means of
 
 84 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 exploitation, but also how, within every group that 
 is animated by an overweening desire for power and 
 employs secret methods of impression, there always 
 exist two classes : the exploiters and the exploited. 
 The moving spirits in such a group exploit the ordi- 
 nary members, whom they use as their agents in 
 still wider fields of exploitation, seeking by every 
 available means of organisation to make them obe- 
 dient tools ; and as long as the ordinary members 
 believe that the methods employed really make 
 their group more powerful, and that they themselves 
 derive material or moral benefit therefrom, most of 
 them readily acquiesce even in their own exploita- 
 tion. It is only when such a group fails in its pur- 
 poses that rebellion breaks out among its members. 
 During the War many people were inclined to dis- 
 tinguish sharply between Germany and its rulers : 
 the German people, they maintained, were no less 
 the victims of autocracy and militarism than over- 
 run Belgium or Serbia. But this view of the 
 situation wholly overlooks the fact that the German 
 people had willingly lent themselves to, and iden- 
 tified themselves with, the purposes of their organ- 
 isers : the}'', too, cherished ideals of conquest and 
 power, and were prepared to employ any means, 
 however unscrupulous, that seemed likely to lead 
 to the attainment of their end. 
 
 The same perversion of organisation with a view 
 to the possession of power, the same strain of secret 
 dealing, the same methods of exploitation reaching 
 out to influence and control the lives of others by 
 underhand means, that marked the attitude of the 
 militarist clique towards the German people, for 
 many years also marked its policy towards other
 
 GROUP PRESSURE 85 
 
 nations. All the speeches delivered by President 
 Wilson during the War show an unerring sense of 
 this fact. In his famous Speech to Congress on 
 April 3, 1917, speaking of the origin of the War, he 
 said : — " It was a war determined upon as wars used 
 to be determined upon in old unhappy days, when 
 peoples were nowhere consulted by their rulers and 
 wars were provoked and waged in the interest of 
 dynasties, or little groups of ambitious men, who 
 were accustomed to use their fellow-men as pawns 
 and tools. Self-governed nations do not fill their 
 neighbour States with spies or set in course an 
 intrigue to bring about an opportunity to strike 
 and make a conquest. Such designs can be success- 
 fully worked only under cover where no one has a 
 right to ask questions. Cunningly contrived plans 
 of deception or impression, carried, it may be, from 
 generation to generation, can be worked out and 
 kept from light only within the privacy of Courts, or 
 behind the carefully guarded confidences of a privi- 
 leged class. . . . One of the things that has con- 
 vinced us that Prussian autocracy was not, and 
 could never be, our friend is that, from the very 
 outset of the present war, it filled our unsuspecting 
 communities, and even our offices of government, 
 with spies, and set criminal intrigues everywhere 
 afoot against our national unity of council and our 
 peace within and without our industries and com- 
 merce." In view of the extent to which German 
 intrigue had spread in the United States, large sums 
 of money having been sent to procure a favourable 
 propaganda in the newspapers, to engineer trouble 
 in Mexico, even to bribe the members of the Senate 
 itself, it is no wonder that a prominent American
 
 86 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 newspaper remarked that " the business of a Ger- 
 man diplomat, his chief occupation, is to intrigue 
 against the government which receives him in the 
 interest of the country which sends him. . . . Ger- 
 man diplomacy has borrowed the methods of the 
 Mafia and covered them with the uniform of diplo- 
 macy. It has stolen the historic procedure of the 
 highwayman and sought to transform it by decora- 
 tion bestowed by the Kaiser himself". 1 And the 
 employment of those methods by Germany did not 
 date merely from the beginning of the War. There 
 is evidence that for a long time previously her poli- 
 tical rulers had actively identified themselves 
 with a policy of commercial expansion abroad which 
 was incompatible w T ith the economic development 
 of the world as a whole, which aimed not merely at 
 employing money profitably in countries where 
 capital was relatively scarce, — a perfectly legitimate 
 object, — but at gaining an undue political control 
 over the lives of other nations. 
 
 To those aggressive tendencies the name of 
 " Prussianism " has been given. In the War we 
 fought against Prussianism, and won. Neverthe- 
 less, if we look around us at the activities of certain 
 groups in our own country, or examine our own 
 national institutions, it cannot but be admitted 
 that the same tendencies of false group-persuasion, 
 appearing in other forms, have exercised, and exer- 
 cise, a powerful and pernicious influence over the 
 lives of people in this country also. This need not 
 surprise us, in view of what has been written above : 
 what we call " Prussianism " is nothing more nor 
 less than false group-persuasion, a phenomenon 
 1 New York Tribune, Oct. 1917.
 
 GROUP PRESSURE 87 
 
 peculiar to no one country, but common. In 
 Prussianism, however, its developments reached 
 extreme limits, and assumed the form of " militar- 
 ism ", the issues of which are more serious, more 
 portentous, more terrible in the life of man than 
 those that follow from false group-persuasion 
 applied in other directions or with other specialised 
 motives. But the working of false group-persua- 
 sion may be traced everywhere, in all civilised 
 countries and in every aspect of corporate life : 
 whenever we find men labouring to gain privileges 
 and power, of any kind, for the benefit not of all 
 but of some particular group, whether its aims be 
 political, social, economic, religious, legal, or mili- 
 tary, there, essentially, we find Prussianism. In the 
 economic and political life of our own country, for 
 instance, we may find ample illustration of this fact. 
 It is a matter of common knowledge that since the 
 time of the industrial revolution the economic sys- 
 tem of this country has been organised and directed, 
 mainly, by groups of capitalists, whose paramount 
 aim has been the accumulation of wealth. So far 
 as the working classes have been concerned, the 
 main result of that system, in the past, has been their 
 partial or complete exploitation for the benefit of 
 the masters. The chief aim of those controlling 
 the economic system having been the accumulation 
 of wealth, and the retention of economic power 
 in their own hands, the ideal that they have con- 
 stantly kept in view is productivity, the production 
 of wealth in ever-increasing quantities — an ideal 
 that leads naturally to the treatment of the worker 
 as an automaton, a hand, a tool, to be used, not as 
 an individual with a personality of his own, and as
 
 88 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 such possessing certain rights, but merely as a 
 means of production. Industry has therefore 
 become more and more minutely and rigidly organ- 
 ised in all its details. That the output may be 
 increased, each worker is allotted his particular task, 
 which is concerned often with some very minute 
 portion of the complete product : his work may be 
 to hammer so many rivets in an hour or a day, or 
 to produce some small part of an intricate machine, 
 so that he cannot be expected to take any compre- 
 hensive interest or pride in the complete production, 
 or in the basic idea of the industry that forms his 
 daily occupation. To this automatization of the 
 worker the perfection to which machinery has been 
 brought has largely contributed. The controllers 
 of industry, in the past, have justified their pro- 
 ceedings, their disregard of the personality of the 
 workers, by every kind of arbitrary persuasion : since 
 economic power, the end that they have had in view, 
 cannot be achieved or maintained except through 
 quantity of production, any means that will increase 
 productivity may justifiably be employed, and 
 there is no exploitation of the workers, they have 
 argued to themselves, which cannot be reasonably 
 compensated by an increase of pay — the said 
 increase, however, having been forthcoming, gener- 
 ally, only when some irresistible pressure has been 
 brought to bear upon them. Only within recent 
 times has that pressure been exercised effectively. 
 There are many evidences to-day that a reaction 
 against the forces of capitalism has not only 
 begun, but is in full swing. The capitalists, 
 indeed, have had a long innings, but the workers' 
 turn has now come, and it would appear as if they 
 were likely to knock up a big score.
 
 GROUP PRESSURE 89 
 
 Unfortunately, however, their play is marked by 
 precisely the same tendencies as that of the other 
 side. The same characteristics of false group-per- 
 suasion that have appeared in the actions of the 
 capitalists appear now, in their turn, in the attitude 
 and the organisation of the workers : narrowness 
 and selfishness of outlook, it must be conceded, is 
 not confined to the capitalist groups. That this 
 should be so is almost inevitable. Evil infects 
 everything that it touches, and spreads in ever 
 widening circles. Thus hypocrisy begets hypo- 
 crisy : when we meet any one whom we know to be 
 engaged in some plan of secret impression or exploit- 
 ation, it is, as a rule, impossible to express our know- 
 ledge openly : the hypocrite has only to say that 
 we are labouring under a delusion, and, if his plans 
 have been laid effectively, we stand silenced, if not 
 confuted — he thus imposes on us a kind of conform- 
 ing and passive hypocrisy, not intentional, or meant 
 to deceive, but for that very reason galling. Similar- 
 ly, many of the methods of German militarism, after 
 the outbreak of War, were imposed upon the people 
 of almost every country in Europe : we ourselves, 
 in this country, were driven to adopt conscription, 
 and many of the details of our lives are now organ- 
 ised and ordered for us by officials in a way that, 
 before the War, would have been resented by every 
 Britisher. So, too, confronted by capitalist 
 methods of exploitation, the workers felt themselves 
 impelled to employ similar methods. Their group- 
 organisations work, not for the good of the commun- 
 ity, but to further their own exclusive interests. To 
 gain economic power, which is their end, any means, 
 however hostile to personality, may, they consider,
 
 90 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 be justly employed, if only they are successful. 
 Every worker must be a member of a trades-union, 
 whether he wishes to or not : corresponding to the 
 system of conscription by which militarism seeks 
 to attain its ends, there must be a universal 
 levy of the workers, who must conform to a kind of 
 military discipline, and obey all the orders of their 
 union unquestioningly, whatever their individual 
 opinions may be. ' Blacklegs ' may be victimised, 
 and, just as militarist groups, having made a treaty 
 with other groups, consider themselves justified in 
 breaking it whenever their interests encourage them 
 to do so, so too, in the sphere of industry, agree- 
 ments are made between workers and employers 
 and afterwards disregarded. Thus some of the 
 methods of German militarism, of which the leaders 
 of Labour have expressed their abhorrence, are 
 practised even by their own organisations. Up to 
 the present time, the ultimate appeal, in any contest 
 for power, has always been, in some form or other, 
 force. As long as this state of affairs continues, 
 men will be able to justify plausibly any action, 
 however unscrupulous or dishonourable, which 
 serves their immediate interests. If the opposing 
 forces are for the moment too strong for them, they 
 make a treaty, or sign an agreement, favourable to 
 their opponents, but, they will argue, they do so 
 compelled by force majeure, and, as soon as they are 
 in a position to do so, they will break their promises 
 without hesitation or scruple — as their opponents, 
 in the day of their power, had dealt with them, so 
 will they deal with their opponents. 
 
 In politics, the more ignoble aspects of group- 
 pressure have been prominently displayed in this
 
 GROUP PRESSURE 91 
 
 country for generations and centuries, ever since 
 the introduction of the party system. In the reign 
 of George II, when the Whigs possessed a monopoly 
 of power, they kept themselves in office by an exten- 
 sive system of bribery and borough-jobbing ; and 
 in the reign of George III corruption was even more 
 rife : " the royal revenue ", says J. R. Green, 
 " was employed to buy seats and to buy votes. Day 
 by day George himself scrutinized the voting-list 
 of the two houses, and distributed rewards and 
 punishments as members voted according to his 
 will or no. Promotion in the civil service, prefer- 
 ment in the Church, rank in the army, was reserved 
 for ' the King's friends '. Pensions and court 
 places were used to influence debates. Bribery was 
 employed on a scale never known before ". * 
 
 The politics of to-day are purer ; yet who could 
 assert that the methods employed by the Whigs 
 in the reigns of the early Georges are altogether 
 obsolete ? The political parties still have their 
 secret funds, on which they draw to make propa- 
 ganda and maintain their exclusive interests, the 
 contributors being rewarded, in many cases, by a 
 knighthood, peerage, or other title, according to the 
 extent of their donations. We may smile at the 
 distinctions and artificialities of the German " rat " 
 system ; but our own system of titles and honours, 
 in view of the fact that it has been employed mainly 
 as an instrument to uphold the exclusive interests of 
 powerful groups, and that titles are frequently con- 
 ferred, not for real merit or for services performed 
 in the interests of all, but for subservience to the 
 interests of those established in power, is little less 
 1 A Short History of the English People.
 
 92 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 absurd and pernicious. In recent years a profound 
 distrust of the methods of politicians has arisen, 
 simply because they have been employed primarily 
 in the interests, not of the State, but of the parties. 
 The events of the War, no doubt, modified to a large 
 extent the working of the party system : when the 
 affairs of the country are in a critical state, it is 
 realised that the exclusive interests of the political 
 parties are of comparatively small importance, and 
 that those entrusted with the guidance of affairs 
 must act for the good of the nation as a whole. 
 But even during the War some of the methods of 
 impression and exploitation that not infrequently 
 characterise political group-persuasion kept crop- 
 ping out from time to time. 
 
 On more than one occasion, for instance, leading 
 politicians were accused of trying to gain their ends 
 by a secret collaboration with a section of the Press 
 — a practice that was quite common in autocratic 
 Germany. It was generally recognised in this 
 country that such intrigue, besides being discredit- 
 able in itself, was likely to be, in its effects, damaging 
 to the vital interests of the nation ; and an animated 
 debate on the subject took place in the House 
 of Commons in February, 1917, on the occasion of 
 Sir William Robertson's resignation from the post 
 of Chief of the General Staff. Mr. Austen Chamber- 
 lain expressed the predominating feeling of the 
 House when he said that " what was at the root of 
 half the anxiety and uncertainty and disturbances 
 of the last week was the fact that the functions of 
 the Press and the functions of Government were 
 being exercised by the same persons. Three 
 great newspaper owners were members of, or were
 
 GROUP PRESSURE 93 
 
 intimately associated with, the Administration. 
 The Prime Minister and the Government had sur- 
 rounded themselves, quite unnecessarily, with an 
 atmosphere of suspicion and distrust, because they 
 had allowed themselves to become so intimately 
 associated with these great newspaper proprietors. 
 The Government would never rid themselves of 
 these suspicions until they severed that connection 
 with the Press ". 
 
 In this country distrust of political methods has 
 been felt perhaps most specifically and acutely in re- 
 lation to the management of foreign affairs, and 
 especially in relation to the question of secret diplo- 
 macy. In dealing with other nations, our Foreign 
 Secretary has, in the past, possessed almost unlimited 
 power, Parliament itself exercising no control. Our 
 diplomatic agents, too, have been selected almost 
 exclusively from a particular class ; and there has 
 therefore been a natural tendency on the part of 
 that class so to manage affairs that control should 
 be retained in their own hands : this circumstance, 
 more than any other, has led to the maintenance of 
 the traditional practice of secret diplomacy. There 
 is now, however, a growing feeling that foreign rela- 
 tions should be debated more openly in Parliament, 
 and that the public should be better informed re- 
 garding them. The traditional policy is defended 
 on the ground that great caution and reticence 
 should be exercised in the management of foreign 
 affairs. On a recent occasion Mr. Balfour remarked 
 that " even in the sphere of private life, without 
 caution and reticence domestic life would be impos- 
 sible . . . there was in the public mind a profound 
 illusion as to this so-called secret diplomacy.
 
 94 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 Secret diplomacy was not a criminal operation to 
 cover up some wrong-doing, but was merely an exten- 
 sion of the rules which applied in private life to the re- 
 lations between nations ". To this it may be replied 
 that family life marked by such reticence and incom- 
 municativeness as has prevailed in the conduct of 
 our foreign policy inevitably becomes narrow and 
 warped : each member of the family then pursues 
 his own course without regard to the others, and 
 the reticence which marks their mutual relations 
 soon degenerates into positive hostility. As in 
 family, so in political, life, the surest way to create a 
 healthy atmosphere, and to induce the effective co- 
 operation of each in the interests of all, is by the 
 free and open discussion of all common interests. 
 
 A great deal is now being said and written on the 
 subject of " reconstruction " — this word sounds the 
 keynote of practically all our present discussions of 
 political, social, and economic questions : a new era, 
 it is supposed, is about to dawn, in which the mis- 
 takes of the past will be remedied, and our institu- 
 tions reformed so that their working shall be made 
 more just and effective. If this reconstruction of 
 which we talk so much is to be really effective, our 
 institutions must be thoroughly purged of the 
 malefic influences of false group-persuasion : they 
 must be so modelled that, instead of operating so as 
 to preserve and increase the power merely of influ- 
 ential and privileged groups, they shall promote the 
 welfare of the community. To secure that result, 
 an even more fundamental reconstruction than 
 that of our institutions is necessary : we must first 
 reconstruct our methods of thinking, we must learn 
 how to direct our persuasions rightly,,
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 THE RIGHT DIRECTION OF PERSUASION
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 THE RIGHT DIRECTION OF PERSUASION 
 
 ANY one who studies the process and ele- 
 ments of persuasion, and the manifold 
 aberrations of which it is capable, cannot 
 but be liable to a kind of cynicism ; and, indeed, 
 for that matter, who that looks into his own heart 
 could be other than cynical at times ? The pro- 
 cess of persuasion, as we have analysed it, is seen 
 to be fundamentally a non-rational process. Its 
 very starting-point derives from the non-rational, 
 the beliefs or wishes from which our persuasions 
 start being accepted by us, not because they 
 have been proved by rational demonstration to 
 be true, but, ultimately, to satisfy some aspect 
 of our instinctive nature. For most of us, the 
 strongest motive to belief is furnished by the herd 
 instinct in one form or another. We tend to accept 
 as true the opinions and beliefs of the herd, or that 
 portion of it with which we are in most intimate 
 contact, and to reject antagonistic beliefs as 
 untrue. The most potent factors in the deter- 
 mination of our beliefs are our primal instincts, 
 race and rationality, education, books, newspapers, 
 and the immediate circle of our neighbours and 
 friends. Further, we are, as a rule, entirely un- 
 7 97
 
 98 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 conscious of those, the real, sources of our beliefs, 
 and flatter ourselves that we believe on exclusively 
 rational grounds. The mental process, also, that 
 follows the initial belief in persuasion may be 
 described as being non-rational, since it is essen- 
 tially an emotional process. Consisting in a 
 series of judgments the value of which is propor- 
 tionate to their capacity to reinforce and justify 
 our belief, it follows throughout an emotional 
 bias in the direction of the end proposed : under- 
 lying all the judgments that constitute it are 
 instincts, tendencies, emotions, sentiments, or 
 passions that we seek to satisfy. In the course 
 of our persuasions we are apt to accept unques- 
 tioningly all ideas that harmonise with and rein- 
 force those emotions, while such as appear to be 
 inconsistent with them we reject. 
 
 Described in those terms, the process of persua- 
 sion, on first consideration, might easily be regarded 
 with suspicion, as one not likely to lead us to true 
 conclusions or just actions. In any case, the very 
 birthright of an Englishman entitles him to feel 
 afraid of a process that can be described as emo- 
 tional. In this connection, however, it may be 
 comforting, and it is important, to bear in mind 
 that the non-rational is not necessarily irrational, 
 and that, more often than not, fortunately for us, 
 the non-rational processes of mind work on the 
 side of, and not against, reason. The wisdom of 
 past ages may be none the less wise because it has 
 descended to us from the past ; and the beliefs 
 that we accept through suggestion, not from logical 
 demonstration, may be just and true. Were 
 this not so, humanity would be in a sad plight
 
 RIGHT DIRECTION OF PERSUASION 99 
 
 indeed. Further, because a process is emotional, 
 it is not therefore irrational : the instincts and 
 tendencies that are most deeply rooted in our 
 being may work on the side of reason, and preserve 
 and develop the life both of individuals and 
 communities. The really irrational method of 
 dealing with a human problem is to neglect any 
 of its essential conditions, among which, always, 
 are emotions and sentiments. In the considera- 
 tion of any question bearing on human life and 
 action, it is the merely logical person, not he who 
 includes within his view the emotions and senti- 
 ments inherently involved, whose persuasions are 
 futile. More and more it is coming to be recog- 
 nised that (in Mr. G. K. Chesterton's phrase) from 
 reason in itself nothing rational has ever proceeded. 
 Following out this line of thought, Mr. Benjamin 
 Kidd asserts that the cause of all human progress 
 is " psychic emotion ". " The great secret of the 
 coming age of the world," he says, " is that civilisa- 
 tion rests not on Reason but on Emotion. . . . 
 It is clearly in evidence that the science of creating 
 and transmitting public opinion under the influence 
 of collective emotion is about to become the 
 principal science of civilisation, to the mastery of 
 which all governments and all powerful interests 
 will in the future address themselves with every 
 resource at their command. . . . The immature 
 imaginings of the past about the place of reason 
 in the world will all be put aside. . . . Civilisation 
 has its origin, has its existence, and has the cause 
 of its progress, in the emotion of the ideal." x 
 
 1 The Science of Power. By Benjamin Kidd. Methuen 
 & Co., Ltd. : London, 1918.
 
 100 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 The first requisite, then, for the right direction 
 of persuasion, considered as an emotional process, 
 is that we should be able to discriminate between 
 our emotions. If we fail in this discrimination, 
 our instincts and emotions, dominating our persua- 
 sions, may easily lead us to false conclusions and 
 badly judged or evil actions. All emotion is not 
 worthy of reverence ; it is so only if it is of a certain 
 quality and if it is controlled and rightly directed. 
 In the above quotation from The Science of Power, 
 for example, Mr. Kidd singles out for special 
 mention, as the basis of civilisation, the emotion 
 of the ideal, which in another place he defines as 
 " the highest form of the sum of the Other- 
 Regarding Emotions." 
 
 Outside of the other-regarding emotions, a large 
 part of our emotional life lies, as it were, hidden 
 away, deeply rooted in the unconscious basis of 
 our mental and physical nature. At the heart of 
 all of us lurk primitive love and hatred, combative- 
 ness, craving for power, fear, suspicion, anger, 
 revenge, many dim elemental forces and suppressed 
 wishes that link us to our primal ancestors and 
 work within us unconsciously. It is of the first 
 importance that we should recognise clearly the 
 existence of this unconscious substratum in our 
 nature, and the immense power that it exercises 
 over us even in the most trivial persuasions and 
 acts of our daily lives. From it, fundamentally, 
 proceed most of the manifestations of false per- 
 suasion and the methods of secret impression 
 and exploitation with which we have dealt in the 
 two preceding chapters. 
 
 One of the main features of the Unconscious, as it
 
 RIGHT DIRECTION OF PERSUASION 101 
 
 is also a predominant motive in much false persua- 
 sion, is the desire for power. Almost every day, 
 in the lives of us all, some of our thoughts, words, 
 and actions are prompted by a subconscious wish 
 to feel or to demonstrate our superiority over others, 
 expressing itself often in very petty forms, and 
 concealing itself under the guise of a disinterested 
 desire for the good of our fellows. Even in the 
 question of the genial friend whose habit it is to 
 hail you with an encouraging pat on the back as he 
 enquires : ' Well, and how are you this morning ? ' 
 there may not infrequently be detected a latent 
 tone of would-be superiority ; the Old Adam, the 
 Unconscious, within our genial friend would often 
 be much gratified to hear, in reply, news of some 
 accident or misfortune by which his sense of 
 superiority might be stimulated more keenly 
 than by the mere asking of the question. 
 
 A second characteristic of the Unconscious is 
 that it is often selfish and non-social, or anti- 
 social, in tendency. This accounts for the cir- 
 cumstance, already noted, that our false per- 
 suasions, which generally proceed from the sup- 
 pressed wishes of the Unconscious, tend to work 
 in secret, and to realise themselves by hidden 
 methods of impression and exploitation. When we 
 give ourselves up to unconscious reverie and imagine 
 ourselves in a position of great influence or power, 
 we indulge an unsocial and uncontrolled tendency 
 which we should not like to be revealed openly ; 
 and when, obeying our sub-conscious wishes, we 
 seek to gratify at the expense of others our selfish 
 tendencies and emotions, as desire for comfort, 
 privilege, wealth, or power, we naturally employ
 
 102 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 such methods as will conceal from others (and as 
 far as possible from ourselves) our real motives. 
 Much light has been thrown on the working of 
 the Unconscious by recent medical and psychologi- 
 cal investigations into the nature of certain patho- 
 logical states. These investigations have proved 
 that many cases of mental disorder are due to the 
 unconscious repression of experiences with which 
 intense and disagreeable emotions have been 
 associated. 1 While the tendency to repress and 
 try to forget any unpleasant complex of ideas is 
 perfectly natural and normal, in certain pathological 
 cases not only does the unpleasant complex become 
 more or less completely split off, or dissociated, 
 from the rest of consciousness, but a great part of 
 the patient's previous experience may disappear, 
 resulting in a dissociation of personality. During 
 the War, for instance, this condition was frequently 
 found in cases of " shell-shock." In another 
 variety of neurasthenia, contrasting with the kind 
 previously mentioned in that it is usually caused 
 not by a sudden shock but by long-continued 
 worry or anxiety, the unpleasant experiences and 
 emotions are repressed more imperfectly, and 
 assume various disguised or symbolic forms, 
 such as hallucinations or persecution-mania. But, 
 it should be observed, even when the break of 
 personality is more or less complete, it is never 
 absolutely so : a great deal of the past experience 
 is subconsciously present and may by the employ- 
 ment of appropriate methods be raised to the level 
 
 1 For the facts stated in this paragraph the writer is 
 indebted to Dr. Charles S. Myers' Present-Day Applica- 
 tions of Psychology (Methuen & Co., Ltd., London, 1918).
 
 RIGHT DIRECTION OF PERSUASION 103 
 
 of consciousness. In many such cases of dis- 
 ordered personality, whether the repression be 
 incomplete, due to long-continued mental strain, 
 or more or less complete, as the result of some 
 sudden shock, a cure may be effected by making 
 the patient explicitly conscious of the repressed 
 experiences that have produced his disorder. The 
 physician has to discover, in the first place, what 
 the repressed experiences are ; and this he may do 
 by leading the patient to talk of his troubles, 
 noting words and associations that disturb him, 
 and, if other methods fail, he may employ hypnotic 
 suggestion. When the repressed experiences have 
 been revealed, and when the patient has become 
 fully conscious of them, and of their relation to 
 his disorder, a rapid improvement in his condition 
 generally follows. 
 
 Those facts have a direct bearing on the process 
 of persuasion generally. The line of demarcation 
 between the abnormal and the normal is, it is now 
 recognised, a narrow one, and the study of patholo- 
 gical states has thrown much light on the normal 
 processes of mind. Even in normal persons sub- 
 conscious and repressed wishes and emotions 
 operate powerfully, and, when they do operate, 
 they are usually selfish or unsocial in their tendency, 
 and, besides leading to self-deception, issue often 
 in the employment of secret methods of impression 
 and exploitation. Modern psychology has taught 
 us that pathological states may be combated by 
 bringing explicitly to consciousness the repressions 
 that underlie them. In the same way we may 
 often correct our false persuasions, our self-decep- 
 tions and our attempts to exploit others, by
 
 104 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 analysing our motives more fully, becoming ex- 
 plicitly conscious of their real nature. They will 
 then be seen, in many instances, to proceed from 
 impulses and desires of which we have been un- 
 conscious and which we should be ashamed to 
 reveal, in their reality, to others. We should be 
 ashamed to reveal them, or even to acknowledge 
 them to ourselves, because such impulses and 
 desires, rooted in the Unconscious, are apt to be 
 fantastic, remote from reality. In some modern 
 novels — for instance, those of Dostoevsky, — the 
 characters are dominated almost exclusively by 
 the Unconscious, and are blown hither and thither 
 by gusty impulses that vary from hour to hour 
 and moment to moment : their actions, accord- 
 ingly, are fantastic and inconsistent, and the 
 world in which they move strikes the ordinary 
 reader with a sense of strangeness, as something 
 uncouth, bizarre, phantasmagoric. Significantly 
 enough, most of the characters in novels of this 
 kind are idlers, having no definite occupation in 
 life. They suffer from having nothing particular 
 to do, living in a strange inner world of their own, 
 obsessed by the Unconscious. To bring explicitly 
 into consciousness our hidden feelings and impulses 
 is to bring them into relation with the actual world 
 in which we live, and with the men and women 
 among whom we live ; and this is necessary alike 
 for health of mind and right action. In real life, 
 fortunately, most of us are under the necessity of 
 earning a livelihood ; and this circumstance in 
 itself, bringing us into active relation with the outer 
 world and other people, prevents us from acting 
 always according to our merely subjective and
 
 RIGHT DIRECTION OF PERSUASION 105 
 
 unconscious instincts. None the less, we act thus, 
 
 all of us, much more frequently than we suppose. 
 
 To satisfy our unconscious impulses, to promote 
 
 the realisation of our interested and selfish desires, 
 
 we plan a course of action, and carry it out ; and, 
 
 to justify ourselves, and persuade others that we 
 
 are justified, we construct a baseless fabric of false 
 
 reasoning, substituting for the selfish or mean 
 
 motives that form the real ground of our action 
 
 illusory motives that enable us to pose as persons 
 
 unselfish and altruistic. That is a perfectly 
 
 normal and customary habit of mind ; and, as 
 
 modern psychology has taught us that pathological 
 
 obsessions may vanish when their hidden causes 
 
 are brought to light, so, too, we may learn from it 
 
 that, in the normal functioning of mind, we may 
 
 often correct the falsity of our persuasions and the 
 
 wrongness of our actions by making ourselves 
 
 explicitly aware of the secret wishes and impulses 
 
 underlying them. If, then, our persuasions are 
 
 not to lead us astray, we must become aware of 
 
 the constant solicitations of the Unconscious, 
 
 which draw us on to the secret gratification of 
 
 our primitive and selfish instincts. To be thus 
 
 aware of the promptings and suggestions with which 
 
 the Unconscious plies us is to be on our guard 
 
 against them, and, as a result of that attitude, 
 
 our conduct is more likely to rise to a higher 
 
 plane. The capacity to discriminate between our 
 
 emotions, between, for instance, the inchoate 
 
 mass of primitive instincts that stir uneasily in 
 
 our unconscious nature and the controlled and 
 
 organised sentiments of our higher nature — that 
 
 is of the first importance for right persuasion.
 
 106 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASIO 
 
 In other words, if our persuasions are to be directed 
 rightly, we must be able to form right judgments 
 of value, and, in particular, right moral judgments. 
 While the lower forms of conduct issue directly 
 from the promptings of instinct and the unconscious, 
 the higher forms — those that we term moral — 
 result from the voluntary control of the instincts, 
 and this voluntary control proceeds from the idea 
 of the self and from the sentiment centred about 
 that idea. Moral conduct pre-supposes self-con- 
 sciousness and the exercise of moral judgment. 
 
 Since our moral judgments are ultimately 
 determined by our sentiments, the question natur- 
 ally suggests itself, from what sentiments, more 
 precisely, do moral judgments ensue ? In connec- 
 tion with this question an important distinction 
 to be drawn is that between our concrete and our 
 abstract sentiments. By a concrete sentiment 
 is meant one that is excited by a particular object 
 or objects in our environment, such as the senti- 
 ment of love for children, or for a particular child ; 
 while by an abstract sentiment is meant one that 
 is excited by some general quality or abstraction, 
 such as love of truth, justice, goodness, or beauty. 
 " The abstract sentiments alone," says Mr. Mc- 
 Dougall in his Social Psychology, x " enable us to pass 
 moral judgments of general validity. A man's 
 concrete sentiments are apt to lead him to judg- 
 ments that arc valid only for himself, that have 
 little objective or supra-individual validity : they 
 pervert his judgment." The concrete sentiments, 
 then, as being likely to lead to moral judgments 
 having little or no objective validity, are antagonis- 
 1 Op cit., chap. VIII.
 
 RIGHT DIRECTION OF PERSUASION 107 
 
 tic to right persuasion, whether of ourselves or 
 others ; and the chief mark by which we may 
 distinguish the concrete from the abstract senti- 
 ments is that they are pre-eminently interested, 
 individualistic, self-centred. If the various in- 
 stances of wandering persuasion cited above in 
 Chapter II be examined, it will be readily perceived 
 that the emotions and sentiments underlying them 
 are invariably unsocial and individualistic in 
 tendency. 
 
 The same statement may be applied to the emo- 
 tions and sentiments underlying the methods of 
 impression and exploitation frequently employed 
 by groups, described in Chapter III, despite the 
 fact that, on first consideration, the very idea of a 
 group, or a body of men working for common 
 interests, would appear to be inconsistent with 
 mere individualism. Group effort, indeed, when 
 rightly directed, possesses a moral and social 
 value infinitely greater than could possibly attach 
 to the efforts of individuals working by themselves, 
 however unselfish their aims. The tendency of 
 men to co-operate, which is becoming more and 
 more marked, ought to assist us in realising more 
 fully the higher values of life. The criticisms of 
 group-effort put forward in the preceding chapter 
 were directed, not against true co-operation, but 
 against the imperfect and maimed forms of it. 
 It would appear as if, the higher the potentialities 
 for good contained in any individual or body, 
 the lower are the depths of evil to which it may 
 descend : so the persuasions of groups may lead to 
 the most pernicious results, while, on the other hand, 
 when rightly directed, their potency for good is
 
 108 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 almost incalculable. It has been pointed out 
 that groups, owing to their suggestibility, which is 
 greater than that of individuals considered more 
 or less as units, are apt to discourage independence 
 of judgment, and that they tend to become militant 
 when they regard the possession and increase 
 of power as an end in and for itself, an attitude 
 which frequently leads to a disregard of personality 
 and to the employment of elaborately organised 
 and secret methods of impression and exploitation. 
 The conduct of groups in which those characteris- 
 tics are prominent is not really animated by the 
 spirit of co-operation. Each group then works 
 exclusively for its own interests, disregarding the 
 claims of individuals outside of it ; underlying such 
 an association there is, not the spirit of co-opera- 
 tion, but merely desire for the exclusive comfort, 
 privilege, or power that the association confers ; 
 the interests of the group are indistinguishable 
 from those of the members, each of whom is really 
 labouring for his own advantage. In other words, 
 such a group illustrates the working not of true 
 co-operation, but of individualism or separatism 
 on a large scale, individualism magnified, with its 
 power for evil hugely increased. The conception 
 of co-operation, of which we hear so much at the 
 present time, may inspire in us at once hope and 
 fear ; it is full of encouragement, and it is full of 
 menace, according to the way in which we regard 
 it. There is a strong tendency at present to speak 
 of co-operation in ^discriminating terms of praise, 
 as if it were a thing wholly good in itself. As a 
 matter of fact, its chief result hitherto has been the 
 formation of groups which work together, within
 
 RIGHT DIRECTION OF PERSUASION 109 
 
 themselves, for their own interests, while at the 
 same time they are animated by an exclusive 
 principle which leads to disregard of the interests of, 
 and often to the active exploitation or molestation 
 of, other people. 
 
 If co-operation is not to produce evils even 
 greater than those which result from the purest 
 individualism possible in this world, it must be 
 inspired by a wider principle than that which 
 has hitherto inspired it. The whole trend of recent 
 events leads to that conclusion, which forms the 
 main theme of several of the latest books of Mr. 
 H. G. Wells, than whom no writer has a readier 
 gift for apprehending and interpreting the vital 
 issues and needs of our time. In War and the 
 Future, after remarking that " the spirit of col- 
 lective service was never so strong and never so 
 manifestly spreading and increasing as it is to-day," 
 Mr. Wells proceeds to ask, " But service to what ? ' 
 and replies to his own question as follows : — " I 
 believe that this impulse to collective service can 
 satisfy itself only under the formula that mankind 
 is one State of which God is the undying king, and 
 that the service of men's collective needs is the 
 true worship of God. . . . We need a standard so 
 universal that the plateplayer may say to the 
 barrister or the duchess, or the Red Indian to the 
 Limehouse sailor, or the Anzac soldier to the Sinn 
 Feiner or the Chinaman, ' What are we two doing 
 for it ? ' And to fill the place of that ' it,' no other 
 idea is great enough or commanding enough, 
 but only the world kingdom of God." * 
 
 1 War and the Future : Italy, France, and Britain at 
 War. By H. G. Wells. Cassell & Co., Ltd. 1917.
 
 110 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 The futility and wrongness of our persuasions 
 are due, fundamentally, to the narrowness of our 
 minds. The late Earl Grey's ' Rule of Life ' 
 (borrowed from Mazzini) suggests a criterion that 
 we may usefully apply to our persuasions and 
 actions in so far as they concern our relations with 
 others : — " Ask yourself as to every act you 
 commit, within the circle of family or country : 
 If what I now do were done by and for all men, 
 would it be beneficial or injurious to Humanity ? 
 And if your conscience tell you it would be injuri- 
 ous, desist ; desist, even though it seem that an 
 immediate advantage to your country or family 
 would be the result." * 
 
 Right persuasion is based upon respect for human 
 nature, upon the recognition of the value of 
 humanity as such. When it is so based, the 
 exploitation of the many in the interests of a 
 few becomes impossible. It is worth our while, 
 therefore, deliberately to consider any factors 
 that may tend to foster that spirit. One of them 
 is the circumstance that such pernicious, and some- 
 times terrible, consequences ensue from any failure 
 to recognise the fundamental unity of each with 
 all. The evil of war, for instance, whether mani- 
 festing itself in social and economic conflict be- 
 tween classes or in the military conflict of nations — 
 would that have been so conspicuous and persistent 
 a feature in the world's history if the principle 
 of the value of humanity had been rightly appreci- 
 ated ? It is the contrary spirit of exclusiveness, 
 of separating ourselves from others, our class 
 
 1 Albert, Fourth Earl Grey, A Last Word. By Harold 
 Begbie. (Hodder & Stoughton.)
 
 RIGHT DIRECTION OF PERSUASION 111 
 
 from other classes, our nation from other nations, 
 that has so persistently directed, and still directs, 
 the persuasions of men to evil ends. If we are to 
 persuade ourselves rightly, we must learn to enter 
 more intimately into the lives of others, to under- 
 stand their situations, their needs and feelings, 
 better. 
 
 There are those who predict that, the War 
 having ended, there will now follow a period of 
 conflict between the classes in every European 
 country ; and this prognostication may easily 
 fulfil itself if in the future the various classes of 
 society are not animated more deeply than they 
 have been in the past by a spirit of mutual 
 understanding and accommodation. If discord 
 between class and class should continue, each 
 striving merely for its own so-called interests, 
 nothing, it would seem, will be able to prevent 
 a world-wide social war that will be even more 
 destructive or annihilating in its consequences 
 than the wars of the nations have been. 
 
 It cannot be doubted, however, that the condi- 
 tions and results of the late War have been such 
 as to create and emphasise a sense of, and the 
 need for, unity among men. In this country, 
 for instance, during the War, the different social 
 classes and political groups, to a certain extent, 
 and for the time being, reconciled their differences, 
 realising that if the War was to be won a united 
 effort must be made. Again, the mere fact that, 
 in the actual fields of war, men from all parts of 
 the world — British, French, Belgians, Italians, 
 Portuguese, Greeks, Serbs, Roumanians, Austra- 
 lians, New Zealanders, Canadians, South Africans,
 
 112 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 Americans, Japanese, Indians, and even Chinese — 
 worked side by side on behalf of a common cause, 
 could not but lead to a better natural understanding 
 and promote a sense of community. It is a signifi- 
 cant fact that when men touch the elemental facts 
 of life, stripped of its artificialities, and live in 
 daily contact with death, the differences between 
 them sink out of sight : men then realise inti- 
 mately that each is necessary to every other. 
 The most striking feature of life among the Allied 
 Armies was the cheerful spirit of comradeship 
 by which the men were animated — it was that 
 spirit alone that sustained them amid the dangers 
 and unspeakable hardships, the scenes of utter 
 desolation and ruin, by which they were surrounded. 
 It may be hoped, therefore, that the same 
 unity of endeavour that inspired the Allied Forces 
 in the War may now, before it should be too late, 
 act as a solvent in the settlement of the difficult 
 problems of reconstruction. But that this will 
 prove to be the case is by no means certain. 
 There is, indeed, nothing in the world more difficult 
 of attainment than unity of endeavour and 
 purpose among diverse human beings. The diffi- 
 culty experienced by distinct groups or nations 
 in realising a high degree of unity was illustrated, 
 for instance, during the War, in the length of time 
 that was taken to achieve a unified command of 
 the Allied Armies. History had shown conclu- 
 sively that only through unity of command could 
 a number of allied nations achieve the most 
 successful results in war ; but the jealousies and 
 fears and supposed interests of the several nations 
 forming the Alliance interfered for a long time
 
 RIGHT DIRECTION OF PERSUASION 113 
 
 to prevent the appointment of a supreme comman- 
 der. It was only the stern logic of events that 
 ultimately led to the realisation of this end — the 
 serious crises of life, as has been remarked above, 
 demonstrate with irresistible force the need for 
 unity among men, thus proving that it is a funda- 
 mental law of our being and that it cannot be 
 transgressed with impunity. 
 
 The ultimate criterion of persuasion, as a process 
 involving moral judgment, must be a moral cri- 
 terion ; but false persuasion, we have seen in 
 Chapter II, involves not only defective and wrong 
 standards of moral judgment, but intellectual 
 and logical fallacies. From a moral point of view, 
 false persuasion is always interested, exclusive 
 in tendency, unsocial, selfish. From an intellectual 
 point of view, it may be described as being partial 
 and abstract in tendency. It involves a partial 
 and wrong view of human nature. When, for 
 instance, our persuasions have for their end the 
 exploitation of others, the manipulation of man 
 so as to further our own interests, there is, under- 
 lying them, always, a failure to distinguish between 
 human nature and inanimate nature. It is pos- 
 sible to manipulate inanimate things, to experiment 
 with them and mould them to our purposes ; and 
 modern science has done this with wonderful 
 results. But the very greatness of the results 
 achieved by science has led to a widespread 
 assumption, held for the most part implicitly, that 
 man may be controlled in the same way, by the 
 employment of the same scientific methods of 
 manipulation and experiment. This may be con- 
 sidered as a form of what is sometimes termed 
 8
 
 114 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 " the intellectualist fallacy." There is in man's 
 nature an incalculable element which makes any 
 precise or certain prediction of the effects of our 
 actions impossible : in human affairs we cannot, 
 manipulate and experiment as we will, predict 
 with certainty that such-and-such an effect will 
 follow such-and-such causes. While the forces of 
 inanimate Nature are determined, and the results 
 of their operation may be foreseen, the forces of 
 man's will are self-determined, and the results to 
 which they may lead cannot be accurately pre- 
 dicted. The attempt, therefore, arbitrarily and 
 forcibly to impose our will on other people, to 
 modify, exploit, and turn them to account to serve 
 our supposed interests or " benevolent " designs, 
 is not only morally base ; it is inherently vain 
 and foolish. 
 
 Considered either from the moral or the intel- 
 lectual point of view, right persuasion is seen to be 
 founded on respect for personality, on a recognition 
 of the fact that we are all different, and react 
 differently to the same forces. This consideration 
 has an important bearing on the principle previ- 
 ously enunciated, that persuasion should be based 
 on the other-regarding rather than on the self- 
 regarding sentiments, and that the motive-force 
 of our social activities should be the co-operation 
 of each in the service of all. So much has been 
 written of late regarding the need for social service 
 that we may be in danger of imagining it to be 
 our duty constantly to intervene in the lives of 
 others, with a view to correcting or helping them, 
 whether they wish it or not, to run a tilt, as it 
 were, Don Quixote-like, against any and every
 
 RIGHT DIRECTION OF PERSUASION 115 
 
 instance of misfortune or wrong-doing or oppres- 
 sion that we see, or think we see. But there are 
 practical limits set to the principle of altruism, of 
 working for the good of others. If we reflect that 
 each of us, after all, lives in a world of his own, 
 and that we simply caimui completely understand 
 the situation or case of a single mortal other than 
 ourselves (and how few of us understand even our 
 own situations !), we shall be led to exercise more 
 care and caution in attempting to direct or correct 
 the lives of others, or even to relieve their distresses 
 and right their wrongs. For most of us, the social 
 service that we may be expected to do, and that 
 we may do most effectively, is bounded by the 
 opportunities that come to us, that we do not go 
 out of our way to seek, in the course of our daily 
 lives, as members of a family or as workers in a 
 trade or business or profession. 
 
 We have now to consider persuasion more 
 specifically from a logical standpoint. It was 
 pointed out in Chapter II that false persuasion 
 does not exclude reasoning, or, more correctly, the 
 simulacrum of reasoning. When we view any 
 situation partially, or exclusively in relation to 
 ourselves, our own feelings and interests, we almost 
 invariably seek to justify ourselves by a more or 
 less elaborate process of " reasoning." For in- 
 stance, if we have acted, or are about to act, 
 wrongly, and feel uneasy about it, we may find 
 comfort or justification by comparing ourselves 
 with others who have acted similarly and yet have 
 been esteemed righteous ; or we may excuse 
 ourselves on the ground that, at any rate, we are 
 not so bad as some one else known to us ; or we
 
 116 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 may blame our circumstances ; or argue that, 
 since the end justifies the means, we should not 
 permit ourselves to scrutinise the means too closely. 
 
 We have already seen that the emotional basi' c 
 of many of our false persuasions and loolish or 
 wrong notions lies hidden away in our unconscious 
 nature. Similarly, much of the reasoning in 
 which we indulge to support and justify our beliefs 
 and actions is, relatively, uncontrolled and in- 
 voluntary, and proceeds from the unconscious 
 elements in our being. The reasoning involved 
 in this uncontrolled thinking resembles deliberate 
 and conscious reasoning in that it proceeds by 
 analogy ; but differs from it in being of a crude and 
 primitive kind. The function of reason in human 
 life is to record and systematise the experience 
 of the past, to provide a point of departure from 
 which we may be led to correct past errors and 
 create a better future. When we realise that we 
 have made mistakes in the past, that we have 
 classified wrongly the situations in which we have 
 found ourselves, by reasoning we may correct 
 those mistakes when a similar situation or set of 
 circumstances presents itself. But the reasoning 
 of the Unconscious can afford us no such guidance 
 or help. The analogies that it draws are crude 
 and indiscriminating, inherent not in the circum- 
 stances of the case but in the mass of primitive 
 instincts, desires, needs, and suppressed wishes 
 that constitute it. They are always fantastic, 
 remote from reality, and are sometimes of the 
 weirdest possible description. 
 
 The nature of those false analogies of the Uncon- 
 scious is well demonstrated in dreams, which
 
 RIGHT DIRECTION OF PERSUASION 117 
 
 afford a ready means of investigating the Uncon- 
 scious and for that reason have been minutely 
 studied by writers of the psycho-analytic school. 
 According to those writers, dreams are the ex- 
 pression of experiences or wishes that have been 
 repressed in our conscious lives on account of 
 their disagreeable or painful qualities. In our 
 dreams, the Unconscious, working by analogy, 
 transmutes those experiences and wishes in such 
 a manner as to disguise their specific unpleasant 
 quality ; and the disguises under which they are 
 presented are termed " symbols." The following 
 case is frequently cited as typical — a young woman 
 dreams that a burglar is in her bedroom — this is 
 simply the disguised or symbolic expression of a 
 repressed sexual wish. While the interpretation 
 of dreams on the principle of symbolism has been 
 marked by much hasty generalisation, and by 
 considerable exaggeration and distortion in detail, 
 there can be no doubt of the fundamental correct- 
 ness of the theory. It is borne out by even a 
 superficial acquaintance with the phenomena of 
 dreams ; and no one who has studied carefully 
 his own dreams can entertain any doubt as to the 
 grotesque and often astounding symbolism of 
 dream-procedure. 
 
 The point with which we are here concerned is 
 that the Unconscious works thus not only in dreams, 
 but in the persuasions of our everyday life. 
 Reverie, for instance, which is a kind of random 
 persuasion, exemplifies all the characteristics of 
 the Unconscious. It is primarily selfish and 
 unsocial : the central figure in our reveries is always 
 ourselves, conceived, relatively, as apart from the
 
 118 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 rest of the world. For this reason reverie is always 
 fantastic, since to cut ourselves off from the rest 
 of the world, even in thought, is to cut ourselves 
 off from reality. It shares also the tendency 
 of the Unconscious to bilk the unpleasant, and to 
 create symbolic situations (often grotesque) in 
 which the sharper edges of reality are blunted ; 
 and it exhibits, too, that instinctive craving for 
 superiority over others which is so marked a feature 
 of the Unconscious. And in false persuasion of 
 a more highly organised type the fantastic classi- 
 fication and analogies of the Unconscious exercise 
 an equally potent influence. To deaden the prick 
 of conscience, a Joseph Ravendale imagines him- 
 self as a Scriptural David. To justify his prosecu- 
 tion of a man he knows to be innocent, the dishonest 
 advocate pictures himself in the role of a saviour 
 of society. To stimulate the patriotism of his 
 countrymen and resentment against other nations, 
 the defender of Germany draws a fantastic analogy 
 between the sufferings of his country and the suffer- 
 ings of Christ. In each of these cases the error 
 arises simply from want of discrimination, from a 
 failure to classify correctly or see things as they 
 really are, and from the positive craving of the 
 Unconscious to eliminate the unpleasantness of 
 reality by substituting for it a pleasing illusion. 
 If, then, we are to persuade ourselves rightly, we 
 must not only discriminate between our emotions, 
 distinguishing the primitive and anti-social cravings 
 of the Unconscious from our higher sentiments ; 
 we must also discriminate truly between our 
 images and ideas. 
 
 The fundamental principle underlying every
 
 RIGHT DIRECTION OF PERSUASION 119 
 
 species of reasoning is the principle of resemblance 
 or analogy. 1 Our reasoning is sound when the 
 resemblance postulated between the terms and 
 propositions we employ is significant and essential ; 
 it is fallacious when the resemblance postulated 
 is irrelevant or specious or accidental. Error may 
 be regarded as being simply wrong discrimination, 
 or wrong classification, and all classification is 
 based on the degree of resemblance supposed to 
 exist between the things classified. When we 
 act erroneously, we imagine ourselves to be in a 
 certain situation, while the situation is not what 
 we suppose it to be. An essential condition of 
 right persuasion, considered from a logical stand- 
 point, is that we should see the situation as it 
 really is, or classify it correctly. If our persua- 
 sions are based on false or imperfect analogies, 
 not essentially inherent in the circumstances 
 involved, our resulting actions will not be such as 
 to meet the situation adequately. 
 
 And the correct classification of our ideas and 
 images, essential to sound reasoning, is intimately 
 bound up with the right discrimination of our 
 emotions and sentiments. The selfish and way- 
 ward impulses of the Unconscious are invariably 
 accompanied by fantastic analogies and specious 
 reasoning that proceed from the same source. 
 True persuasion is a self-conscious process marked 
 by the interaction and organic fusion of intellect, 
 imagination, and emotion, the particular mode of 
 their fusion being determined not by the primitive 
 cravings of the Unconscious but by the essential 
 nature of the situation involved. When we per- 
 1 Cp. sup., p. 17.
 
 120 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 suade ourselves or others rightly, the inferences 
 drawn, the images and analogies employed, the 
 emotions excited, are all naturally inherent in the 
 situation. In false persuasion, on the other hand, 
 the intellect, the imagination, and the emotions 
 work uncontrolled, bound by no real relationship 
 to the circumstances of the case : simply because 
 it suits us, because we are determined to justify 
 our beliefs by any means, we reason fallaciously 
 and stimulate the imagination wantonly and 
 unwarrantably, and, to impel to the action desired, 
 we arouse emotions that, though they may achieve 
 their purpose, are yet essentially irrelevant, not 
 arising naturally from, and having no inherent 
 connection with, the subject-matter of our per- 
 suasions. The fallacies of a particular process 
 of persuasion may be more or less purely intellec- 
 tual, or imaginative, or emotional, that is, they may 
 be due more exclusively to aberrations of the in- 
 tellect, or of the imagination, or of the emotions ; 
 but each of those kinds of fallacy implies the other. 
 It is true that persuasion, as a series of judgments 
 of value, is fundamentally based on the emotions 
 and sentiments that constitute the standard of 
 value of those judgments ; and all the fallacies 
 of persuasion may be said to have an effective 
 basis in so far as they are due ultimately to an 
 emotional bias in favour of the end proposed ; 
 but our emotions stimulate and direct and work 
 along with the intellect and imagination. In 
 true persuasion the three work in harmony, 
 and are governed by their essential relation to 
 the subject-matter ; in false persuasion they work 
 at random, without restraint, only to realise
 
 I\IGIIT DIRECTION OF PERSUASION 121 
 
 the desired end. The absolute distinction that 
 is often drawn between reason and passion is 
 illusory •. there is, in reality, no essential antagon- 
 ism between them. As a poet has observed, 
 " reason is highest passion in a soul sublime." 
 Only through persuasion that shall be thus ani- 
 mated by the perfect fusion of high passion and right 
 reason can the hopes now so generally entertained 
 of a better life for individuals and communities 
 ever be realized.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 PERSUASION AS A FORM OF 
 EXPRESSION
 
 CHAPTER V 
 PERSUASION AS A FORM OF EXPRESSION 
 
 WORDLESS PERSUASION: GESTURE AND 
 ACTION, PRESTIGE, PERSONALITY; MUSIC 
 AND PAINTING, THE CINEMATOGRAPH 
 
 WE have now to consider persuasion not so 
 exclusively as a subjective mental process, 
 but rather as a form of expression cal- 
 culated to modify the conduct and actions of 
 others. The principal medium or instrument that 
 we employ ordinarily to attain this end is verbal : 
 we seek to persuade others mainly by our words, 
 which may be either spoken or written. But, 
 besides words, there are other instruments of per- 
 suasion, which generally operate in conjunction 
 with, and as more or less subsidiary to, speech : thus 
 a speaker's gesture and action, his voice, even his 
 appearance, his prestige, and his personality, are 
 potent means of persuasion. Again, we may seek 
 to persuade others without using words at all, as 
 by a pictorial representation of situations and 
 events : the cinematograph, for example, is now 
 frequently used as a means of propaganda. 
 
 The extent to which gesture and action are 
 employed in persuasion varies among different 
 peoples. The Latin peoples, for instance, employ 
 
 125
 
 126 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 them more freely and more naturally and effectively 
 than the Anglo-Saxon. " When the Cardinal in the 
 Vatican," as Mrs. Meynell says, " with his dramatic 
 Italian hands, bids the kneeling groups to arise, 
 he does more than bid them. He lifts them, he 
 gathers them up, far and near, with the gesture of 
 both arms ; he takes them to their feet with the 
 compulsion of his expressive force." x 
 
 The following passage, translated from Cardinal 
 Maury's treatise " On the Eloquence of the Pulpit," 
 illustrates, somewhat elaborately, how the mere 
 modulation of facial expression, the movements of 
 the eyes, even silence itself instead of words, may 
 persuade an assembly. The instance cited is the 
 opening of Massillon's funeral oration on Louis 
 XIV : — " Massillon took for his text these words of 
 Solomon : ' I am become great ; I have surpassed 
 in glory and in wisdom all those who have gone 
 before me in Jerusalem : and I have recognised 
 that therein is nought but vanity and vexation of 
 spirit.' After having delivered slowly a passage so 
 remarkable for the contrast of the beginning with 
 the end, and so well adapted to the effect he wished 
 to produce from the very outset of his discourse, 
 he appeared to be absorbed in the reflections that 
 those divergent ideas of greatness and of misery 
 suggested to his mind. He desired to meditate 
 and commune with his sad thoughts. The emotion 
 that he visibly showed became a happy oratorical 
 preparation for making his hearers share with him 
 the sentiment of silent grief in which he was 
 absorbed. His silence surprised the people, and 
 
 1 Collected Essays. By Alice Meynell. Burns & Oates : 
 19U.
 
 PERSUASION WITHOUT WORDS 127 
 
 excited the liveliest interest. Before uttering a 
 single word, Massillon, as if sunk in a stupor of 
 dejection, his head bent, his hands resting on the 
 pulpit, stood for some moments motionless. His 
 eyes, half-closed, were turned at first on the funereal 
 attire of the congregation around him ; presently 
 he averted his gaze, to find, if he might, in these 
 mournful precincts, other objects less sad and 
 lugubrious ; he perceived on all sides, on the walls 
 of the church, only the trophies and emblems of 
 death. His looks, thus saddened, sought refuge 
 on the altar, which was even more charged with 
 funeral symbols and trappings. He seemed over- 
 whelmed by the spectacle, when, turning with 
 affright to escape from the double pain of those 
 appearances and his own sombre thoughts, his 
 eyes fell upon the catafalque, raised in the middle of 
 the church as the sanctuary of the dead. In con- 
 sternation at seeing around him nothing but sceptres 
 or diadems covered with crape, symbols every- 
 where of the overthrow of all human greatness, 
 Massillon desired to give an account to the assembly 
 of the result of his silence, to make it share in the 
 same impression that he had experienced, to place, 
 by the irresistible power of his first words, his whole 
 audience in harmony with the solitary thoughts that 
 the secret monologue of his grief had inspired in 
 him, and he opened his address by exclaiming, in 
 the midst of all these ruins that had succeeded so 
 much glory : ' God alone is great, my brothers ! ' " x 
 Such elaborately studied rhetorical effects are, in 
 general, distasteful to English audiences : they 
 
 1 Essai stir V Eloquence de la Chaire. Par S. M. le Car- 
 dinal Maury.
 
 128 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 suggest artifice, and may even appear ridiculous. 
 And often, when gesture and action are extensively 
 employed, there are good reasons for our distrust of 
 them. Even in the instance just cited, the reader 
 of Maury's description may feel that the emotion 
 displayed by the preacher must in some respects 
 have been artificial, and was not essentially inherent 
 in the situation from which it arose. It might 
 be considered, for instance, that the " sentiment of 
 silent grief " felt by a religious man, on the death of 
 such a monarch as Louis XIV, could not have been 
 very deep or very personal ; and it may be re- 
 marked, too, by the way, that the very language in 
 which Maury describes the situation is full of 
 artificial and hackneyed phrases, corresponding, 
 perhaps, to a certain artificiality in the situation 
 itself. But in judging on this point we must, of 
 course, bear in mind that the fashions of oratory 
 vary in different countries and at different times, 
 and that an emotional display which may now to us 
 appear artificial and overwrought may have been, 
 in France at the time of Louis XIV, when the idol of 
 kingship commanded a high regard, not only 
 effective but natural. 
 
 As an instance of the striking effect which a 
 dramatic action, as distinct from gesture, may 
 exercise upon an audience, an incident may be 
 mentioned which occurred in the House of Commons 
 on March 5, 1917, in a debate on Home Rule for 
 Ireland. The late Mr. John Redmond had been 
 speaking, and concluded as follows : — " For us to 
 go on and continue the debate after what has been 
 said would be absolutely futile. I therefore appeal 
 to my colleagues not to take further part in the
 
 PERSUASION WITHOUT WORDS 129 
 
 debate, but let the House do what it likes with 
 the resolution and amendment. I ask them not to 
 remain here to continue a futile and humiliating 
 debate, but to withdraw with me and take counsel 
 with me as to the next step we shall take." The 
 newspaper report of the proceedings adds : — " This 
 dramatic statement was delivered in a passionate 
 voice. The Nationalists were greatly excited and 
 cheered Mr. Redmond to the echo. When the 
 Irish leader left his seat he was followed by the 
 whole of the Nationalists, who shouted opprobrious 
 epithets at the Treasury Bench as they left the 
 Chamber. . . . The scene was the most exciting 
 which has occurred since the War broke out, and 
 caused an immense sensation." 
 
 No one would suggest that Mr. Redmond, in the 
 action Math which he concluded his speech, was 
 insincere : his action was, beyond a doubt, the 
 spontaneous and perfectly natural expression of his 
 feelings. But there are many cases in which 
 dramatic gesture and action are employed by 
 speakers insincerely, as a calculated means for the 
 illicit impression and exploitation of their audiences. 
 As the external forms in which emotion expresses 
 itself, they are a natural accompaniment of spoken 
 persuasion, but, like emotion itself, they may be 
 perverted to base purposes. The successful simula- 
 tion of the external forms of emotion by an insin- 
 cere speaker is, under certain circumstances, not 
 difficult. A crowd or an audience, prepossessed or 
 prejudiced in favour of a particular point of view, 
 and apt to be swayed by any suggestion in harmony 
 with its ideas, may be strongly influenced by 
 
 dramatic gestures or actions, even though these may 
 9
 
 130 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 be quite insincere. The mob orator, tearing a 
 passion to tatters, o'erdoing Termagant, may pro- 
 duce a violent and contagious excitement in his 
 audience, solely with the object of realising his 
 end, without regard to its essential nature. The 
 only criteria that we can rightly apply to the use of 
 gesture and action in persuasion are appropriateness 
 and sincerity. The action should be suited to 
 the word and to the speaker's personality, and these 
 should be suited to the action. When the emotions 
 of which gesture and action are the expression are 
 not naturally inherent in the circumstances of the 
 case and in the speaker's personality, the resulting 
 gesture and action cannot but be, in some way or 
 other, artificial or false ; but frequently the 
 suggestibility and indiscrimination of crowds prevent 
 that artificiality or falsity from being perceived. 
 
 To some extent the effect of gesture and action, 
 as of all the other elements of persuasion considered 
 as a form of expression, may depend upon a speaker's 
 prestige, which is one of the most important factors 
 of success in spoken persuasion. Prestige is itself 
 a form of emotional suggestibility, and, as such, is 
 one of the non-rational elements in persuasion. 
 Its influence may be well founded, but more often is 
 not so, inasmuch as it depends usually upon external 
 and superficial, not inner or essentially moral, 
 qualities. For instance, the man of moral prestige, 
 as distinct from the man of moral character, is one 
 who conforms carefully to the external forms of 
 current morality, who walks discreetly when he is 
 in the public eye, and refrains from associating 
 himself in any way with doubtful characters or 
 places. Thus the moral prestige of Jesus, who
 
 PERSUASION WITHOUT WORDS 131 
 
 consorted with publicans and sinners, among those 
 of his contemporaries who adhered strictly to the 
 traditional morality of the Law, must have been 
 small. Again, it is easy for a debater, say a Member 
 of Parliament, to gain logical prestige by always 
 presenting his arguments in an apparently strictly 
 logical form, or by simulating a great regard for 
 verbal accuracy and consistency and the externals 
 of logic ; and, similarly, the prestige of physical 
 strength easily attaches to the man who possesses 
 the external features of strength. W T e are all of 
 us too apt to estimate prestige in terms that have 
 no great value, and to be influenced in our per- 
 suasions by external qualities such as hereditary 
 position and the possession of wealth. The prestige 
 of kings and princes accrues largely from the brilli- 
 ance of great traditions and the splendour of courts, 
 that of the Church and the Law from the outward 
 dignities and solemn associations of long-established 
 ceremonies, that of statesmen from the position of 
 power that they occupy, and that of nations from 
 their wealth and military strength. True prestige, 
 however, should attach only to moral and personal 
 values. 
 
 Prestige is often confused with personality, from 
 which it differs radically. Its essential quality, 
 indeed, is impersonality. When we are carried 
 away by a speaker's moral or logical prestige, 
 resulting from his discreet adherence to the forms 
 of morality or logic, or by his position or wealth 
 or power, or his association with ancient and 
 established institutions, we yield to a non-rational 
 and sentimental enthusiasm that is not based on a 
 consideration of the speaker's real personality.
 
 132 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 The persuasion of newspapers is impressive because 
 it presents ideas with a kind of impersonal authority, 
 calculated to affect readers with the idea that it 
 is too high to be questioned. Similarly, much 
 prestige and authority attach to Acts of Parliament, 
 the edicts of the Law, and the doctrines and 
 practices of the Church, because of their impersonal 
 quality. 
 
 The more superficial aspects of personality are 
 akin to prestige, and also are apt to affect us in 
 persuasion non-rationally and sentimentally. Un- 
 consciously to ourselves, we are influenced in our 
 judgment of a speech by the speaker's voice, his 
 gestures and action, his general appearance, and, 
 above all, by the expressiveness of his features. 
 Many people, when they go to a theatre, make a 
 point of sitting near the stage, knowing that the 
 personality of the actors then works upon them 
 more strongly. A kind of personal magnetism is 
 held to be one of the most effective qualifications 
 of a public speaker. And that we should be 
 influenced by the outward expression of personality 
 is not only inevitable, but right, so long as it is 
 really the expression of personality. When the 
 breezy Captain Scupper, of the Mariners' Union, 
 speaking on an open-air platform, at a suitable 
 moment in his discourse smilingly divests himself 
 of his coat, and proceeds to " rub it in " to his 
 opponents bare-armed, we feel that the action is 
 personal and characteristic, a human gesture, and 
 it attracts us to the speaker, and is in a manner 
 persuasive. But all such manifestations of per- 
 sonality are justifiable only when they correspond 
 to a characteristic inner quality — be it geniality,
 
 PERSUASION WITHOUT WORDS 133 
 
 friendliness, respect for humanity, tolerance, 
 humour, or what not ? If we feel that a speaker is 
 sincere, and a good man, we may listen to him 
 sympathetically, even if we disagree with the 
 opinions he expresses. In our everyday inter- 
 course, we attach value to what a man says not 
 so much according to his actual words as according 
 to what we know of his character ; and it is wise 
 and right to do so. The elder Cato defined an 
 orator as vir bonus peritus dicendi — " the good man 
 skilled in speaking " ; and it would be hard to 
 improve on this definition. Not to be swayed by 
 the externalities of prestige, or by temperamental 
 qualities that may be superficially or even humanly 
 attractive, to discriminate closely between the 
 true and the false, to regard sincerity and personal 
 moral values as the ultimate criteria of all the forms 
 and elements of persuasion — so long as our judg- 
 ments of men and things are not governed by those 
 principles, we are likely to be persuaded wronglj 7 , 
 and to be at the mercy of those who attempt to 
 manipulate their fellow-men to their own purposes 
 by a cunning exploitation of their mental weaknesses 
 and defects. 
 
 The elements of persuasion that we have been 
 considering so far in this chapter — gesture and 
 action, prestige and personality — usually accompany 
 words and add to their effect. But persuasive 
 influence may be exercised without the employment 
 of words at all — for instance, by music and the 
 plastic arts. These are inspired by emotion, and 
 seek to excite it in others. Their emotional appeal, 
 however, differs from the emotion of persuasion 
 proper in that it involves no direct reference to
 
 134 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 action. The fine arts imply, both in the artist and 
 in those whom he addresses, a certain detachment 
 from the practical and active interests of life ; where 
 the tendency to a definite practical action or line 
 of action is strong, it is likely to seek satisfaction 
 in other forms of expression than the purely artistic. 
 In listening to great music, the ordinary person 
 who enjoys music but is not musically educated 
 may be lapped sensuously in warm waves of vague 
 or subtle emotion — his mental state is essentially 
 passive, opposed to activity — he is wrapt, as we say, 
 in his feelings. Yet even in this case there is a 
 reference to practical life and activity. The music 
 mysteriously awakens the hearer to potentialities 
 in his nature, and in human nature, of which he is 
 not aware at ordinary times, and by this spiritual 
 awakening, soft and meditative though it may be 
 at the moment, his outlook and conduct in life 
 may be affected — to that extent the music may be 
 said to influence him persuasively. And, under 
 certain circumstances, music may lead directly to 
 action ; but, when it is consciously employed for 
 this purpose, it ceases to be, strictly, a fine art, 
 and becomes utilitarian, or an artifice, a mechanical 
 device used to elicit a mechanical response. Dance- 
 music is intended to modify and regulate the move- 
 ments of the dancers ; and sensual music heard 
 amid sensual surroundings may lead to sensuality. 
 The playing of a national anthem in a public 
 place may, under certain conditions, lead to riotous 
 action by a crowd. The exile from home, having 
 listened to the strains of " Home, Sweet Home " 
 raucously rendered by the gramophone, may leave 
 the saloon bar and go out to write to his wife. Any
 
 PERSUASION WITHOUT WORDS 135 
 
 of the senses, indeed, may act as an instrument 
 of persuasion, and induce action, in so far as it 
 stimulates instincts and emotions ; as when the 
 sense of smell induces the lazy man to get out of 
 bed and walk downstairs for breakfast. The appeal 
 to sight, especially, in pictorial art, is frequently 
 employed with persuasive intent. In the Roman 
 Catholic and Orthodox Greek Churches, for example, 
 pictures are used not merely for the adornment of 
 the walls but for the more effective persuasion of 
 the congregation. A Russian writer, V. V. Rozan- 
 off , remarks thus on the value of frescoes in religious 
 persuasion : — " In orthodoxy, the wall must not 
 be dumb, it must speak. But the wall cannot 
 speak by texts — for which there are books. The 
 people in the church ought to see themselves 
 surrounded by holy scenes, pictures — of immense 
 content and of immense dimensions. Such are 
 frescoes. . . . Frescoes make the walls live. The 
 soul poured forth on the walls calls to prayer, and 
 says as much to the worshippers as does the 
 reading and singing in church, not less. . . . The 
 worshippers feel around them the great background 
 of historical Christianity. They not only hear but 
 see — Christian history, they not only hear but see 
 — the story of salvation, they not only hear but 
 see — the exploits of the martyrs, the suffering. . . . 
 They see the pageant of orthodoxy, its splendid 
 victories." 1 
 
 A form of pictorial persuasion which is of special 
 interest at the present time is the persuasion of the 
 cinematograph. During the War several Govern- 
 
 1 Quoted in The Way of Martlia and the Way of Mary. 
 By Stephen Graham. Macmillan & Co., Ltd. 1916.
 
 136 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 ment Departments employed the moving picture 
 extensively as a means of conveying information 
 and making propaganda : thus both in our own 
 and in allied countries steps were taken to 
 impress on people, by means of the cinema, the true 
 causes of the War, and the nature of German 
 atrocities in the conduct of the War. Again, such 
 films as " Where are my Children ? " illustrate the 
 value of the cinematograph as a means for 
 presenting social questions in a striking and 
 dramatic form. 
 
 The principal element of persuasion in the 
 representations of the cinema is narration. The 
 film is well adapted to unfold to us vividly a series 
 of actions, events, or incidents : it excites our 
 emotions through the senses and the imagination, 
 depicting imaginary situations or situations that 
 have actually occurred. 
 
 The plastic arts generally, it has been already 
 remarked, contain some of the elements, and may 
 be employed as instruments, of persuasion ; but 
 the cinema has enlarged the boundaries of pictorial 
 art, and created a fresh form of expression, more 
 fully adapted to realise the purposes of persuasion. 
 Painting and sculpture, employing as signs colours 
 and figures in space, can only express properly 
 objects which are coexistent, or the parts of which 
 coexist — that it to say, bodies. They may represent 
 actions, since all bodies exist not only in space, but 
 also in time, and at each moment of their existence 
 may assume a different appearance ; but they can 
 do this only suggestively, through the medium of 
 bodies, and can represent only one particular 
 moment of an action. They cannot represent
 
 PERSUASION WITHOUT WORDS 137 
 
 movement absolutely ; they fix a momentary aspect 
 or arrangement of bodies, and give to it a character 
 of permanence — so that Keats can say appropriately 
 of the lover and the maid carved on the Grecian 
 urn — " for ever wilt thou love and she be fair." 
 The proper domain of the plastic arts, then, is 
 space ; they are strictly limited in regard to the 
 category of time. 
 
 The cinematograph, on the other hand, is not 
 so limited : it may depict a series of events the 
 duration of which is supposed to extend through 
 months or years, and, in a single picture, it may 
 represent the successive appearance of a situation, 
 as seen in the varying groupings and attitudes of 
 the actors. It resembles painting in so far as, the 
 signs it employs being figures in space, it is well 
 adapted to represent bodies, and, through them, 
 simultaneous actions ; but it transcends painting, 
 and approximates to the art of verbal narration, 
 in that it can represent effectively successive action 
 in time. 
 
 In some respects, indeed, the moving picture is 
 even better fitted than narration to exhibit the 
 time-relations of events. For instance, two events 
 significantly related to one another and happening 
 simultaneously may be brought before us with 
 telling effect in almost an instant of time, while in 
 narration lengthy successive explanations would be 
 required to make clear their proper relation. In a 
 propagandist film that has been widely exhibited, 
 " My Four Years in Germany ", one of the pictures 
 having represented a banquet given in honour of 
 the United States ambassador by high political 
 personages in Berlin, who profess the utmost good-
 
 138 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 will towards America, the next picture shows, in 
 effective contrast, a simultaneous meeting of the 
 German military authorities, at which the real 
 hostility and the secret plans of Germany are 
 made clear. This is a typical instance of the 
 methods of persuasion to which cinematographic 
 representation is well adapted : the sequence of the 
 pictures is intended to produce in the spectator a 
 particular emotion favourable to a particular belief. 
 The comparative freedom that the cinema 
 possesses in the representation of time-relations is 
 illustrated in another characteristic device, which 
 expresses also the freedom from time-limitations 
 that is characteristic of thought. We all know 
 how, in a given situation at a particular moment, 
 our thoughts may revert to the past or project 
 themselves into the future, and how this retro- 
 spection and prevision may affect our persuasions : 
 this faculty of mind the film is naturally fitted to 
 illustrate. When the United States ambassador 
 is informed that he will not be handed his passports 
 until he has given an undertaking that all German 
 ships interned in American ports shall be restored, 
 there passes before his mind's eye a vision of the 
 dinner-table, adorned with American flags, at 
 which he had recently sat, and he recalls the cordial 
 professions of friendship made by his hosts and 
 fellow-guests — his memories are represented con- 
 cretely on the film, on which the picture of the 
 banquet again takes visible form, and vanishes, 
 as quickly and silently as it had passed before the 
 ambassador's mental vision. Or, again, in a 
 similar propagandist film, when the hero, a young 
 American, is invited to undertake a dangerous
 
 PERSUASION WITHOUT WORDS 139 
 
 mission in Germany in the character of a German 
 officer returned for service, considering the pro- 
 posal, he sees himself, in imagination, attired in a 
 German uniform, and, in correspondence with this 
 image, the spectator sees his figure gradually merge 
 into that of the officer whose part he is to play ; 
 and when, later on in the same story, the American 
 heroine, at a dinner-party in Berlin, drinks the 
 German toast, " To Victory ", the difference of 
 meaning that may attach to the phrase is pointed 
 by a picture of the American flag appearing above 
 her glass as she raises it. Those devices may be 
 considered to be somewhat crude and theatrical, 
 but as being characteristic of a new and interesting 
 form of expression they give the spectator a certain 
 legitimate pleasure that may even be called artistic. 
 And they are well fitted to produce the effect of 
 persuasion in that they exhibit concretely and 
 vividly, in a manner that may be apprehended at 
 once by the spectator, the inner workings of 
 the actors' minds, and induce in him readily the 
 ideas, feelings, and wishes appropriate to the pur- 
 pose of the representation. 
 
 One of the most effective instruments employed 
 by the cinema to excite emotion is the varied play 
 of expression on the actors' faces. In the changing 
 expressions of the human face there is much that 
 is charming and attractive, and much that is 
 more deeply appealing. The poet says of his 
 mistress that he " loves the sorrows of her changing 
 face," and the outward expression, in feature or 
 gesture, of any fine emotion stirs in us naturally a 
 sympathetic reaction, just as, on the other hand, 
 the expression of a sinister or coarse feeling
 
 140 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 should arouse in us a feeling of repulsion or disgust. 
 In a cinematographic representation of the Massacre 
 of St. Bartholomew, while women and children are 
 being murdered in the streets, the spectator is 
 shown a picture of Catherine de Medici, the instiga- 
 tor of the massacre, in her salon : pleased and 
 passive she sits, meditating on the fulfilment of her 
 plans ; the expression on her face excites the 
 spectator's indignation more effectively than any 
 detailed description in words could do. Painting 
 also is capable of stimulating emotion by this 
 means, but it cannot represent changes of expression 
 — these are more effectively rendered by the cinema 
 than by any other form of verbal or pictorial 
 presentation. So too with gesture and bodily 
 action : when, for instance, a man is depicted by 
 the cinema in the act of treating a woman with 
 brutal violence, not only his facial expression, but 
 his movements and gestures also, combine to arouse 
 disgust. 
 
 As a form of expression through which events and 
 situations may be vividly presented, and through 
 which, by gesture and movement and facial expres- 
 sion as well as by pictorial narrative, the spectator's 
 emotions may be stimulated, the cinematograph 
 may be regarded as an effective instrument of 
 persuasion. It is probably no exaggeration to say 
 of the film above mentioned, " My Four Years in 
 Germany ", that from it two-fifths of the population 
 of this country obtained for the first time some 
 elementary notion of the real causes of the war; 
 and it is certain that in future the cinema will be 
 employed even more extensively than it has been 
 in the past for propagandist purposes.
 
 PERSUASION WITHOUT WORDS 141 
 
 But, while we cannot question the effectiveness, 
 in some respects, of the cinema as a means of 
 persuasion, its limitations and defects are no less 
 marked ; and, indeed, it is largely owing to those 
 very limitations and defects that it is so effective 
 as a means of popular persuasion. In the first place, 
 it can express a thesis or a proposition only in 
 concrete form, exhibiting it in a particular applica- 
 tion or applications : the deeper and more abstract 
 aspects of a question it cannot represent : the 
 spectator's intellect is apt to lie dormant while the 
 film revolves. The persuasion of the cinema is 
 such as to appeal to the most unintellectual of 
 spectators ; and while this is, from one point of 
 view, a source of strength, it is also a weakness, for 
 true persuasion is no facile or passive process, but 
 should involve the activity of the whole mind, as 
 compact of reason, imagination, feeling, and will. 
 
 Further, the persuasion of the cinema is marked, 
 as a rule, though it need not be, by irrelevance, 
 exaggeration, and sensational treatment of its 
 subject-matter. In the propagandist films, which 
 aim not simply at the narration of a story or the 
 representation of events, but at enforcing a belief 
 or a point of view, the underlying principle of con- 
 nection between the pictures is usually by no means 
 a logical one — the principle would seem to be, rather, 
 that any particular picture is relevant at any 
 particular moment if only it will stimulate the 
 desired emotion and urge to the desired belief. 
 It should be possible, one thinks, to combine with 
 attention to propagandist aims a stricter sense of 
 coherence than is sometimes shown : inconsequence 
 and incoherence of presentation generally imply
 
 142 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 some want of truth, or actual falsity, in the subject- 
 matter of our persuasions. 
 
 Again, the actions depicted by the cinema are 
 too frequently sensational or violent in kind, and 
 the gestures and expressions of the actors too often 
 ugly and of exaggerated intensity — the capacity of 
 the cinema to depict gesture, movement, and 
 actions involving large numbers of people, is abused 
 — it is sought to impress and persuade by an 
 accumulation of lurid effects, more fitted to bewilder 
 and tire an intelligent person than really to persuade. 
 The method of true persuasion is different : it pro- 
 ceeds by gradation, by the economical and artistic 
 use of relevant material, rather than by accumula- 
 tion. 
 
 It must be further noted that the method of the 
 cinema is not exclusively pictorial : it involves also 
 the use of words. This circumstance detracts from 
 the value of the cinema considered from an artistic 
 point of view : it means that cinematographic 
 representation does not, so to speak, stand on its 
 own legs as a form of expression ; besides its own 
 characteristic methods, it has to employ also the 
 resources and methods of verbal explanation and 
 narration. But this circumstance adds to the 
 value of the cinema regarded as a means of per- 
 suasion. Through words it is enabled at least to 
 suggest the more abstract aspects of a question ; 
 for instance, in the film, " Where are my Children ? ", 
 when a surgeon is being tried on the charge of 
 having performed an illegal operation, extracts 
 from the reports of a Commission are shown, setting 
 forth the eugenic point of view in relation to the 
 problem under consideration.
 
 PERSUASION WITHOUT WORDS 143 
 
 On the other hand, the circumstance that the 
 cinema produces its effects directly by mechanical 
 contrivances not only detracts from any claim it 
 may have to be considered as an art, but also 
 lessens its value as an instrument of persuasion. 
 Being reproduced by mechanical means, the move- 
 ments and gestures represented on the screen 
 cannot affect the spectator so personally and in- 
 timately as if they were performed directly by 
 living people. Even in the theatre, the emotions 
 produced in the audience are ' second-hand ' ; and 
 therefore likely to be transient and, in their more 
 permanent results, ineffective. But the emotions 
 excited by the representations of the cinema are 
 not only ' second-hand ', but, further, are induced 
 through the interposing medium of a mechanical 
 contrivance ; their effectiveness for persuasion and 
 action is thereby correspondingly diminished.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 VERBAL PERSUASION. 
 
 10
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 VERBAL PERSUASION 
 
 CONVERSATION, SALESMANSHIP, 
 ADVERTISEMENTS, NEWSPAPERS. 
 
 VERBAL persuasion may be either written 
 or spoken. While the purpose of each of 
 those kinds is the same, they differ to some 
 extent in their constituent elements. In written 
 persuasion the intellectual element is sometimes 
 more predominant, and there is less scope for the 
 operation of the non-rational elements. In spoken 
 persuasion, on the other hand, the speaker may 
 influence his hearers unconsciously, and more 
 intimately and subtly, by his personality, and he 
 has at his command the resources of gesture and 
 bodily action, which are not available in written 
 persuasion. Speech, enabling us to bring more 
 fully into play all the elements of persuasion, may 
 be considered to be its most characteristic and 
 appropriate medium. 
 
 All conversation contains some of the elements 
 of persuasion. When people talk merely for fun, 
 or to pass the time, or to make themselves agree- 
 able, or disagreeable, to others, even then a per- 
 suasive and personal influence passes reciprocally 
 
 147
 
 148 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 among the talkers. And there are other kinds of 
 conversation in which we aim directly at modifying 
 the opinions and conduct of others, when our 
 main object is to persuade : as in conversation 
 on scientific, social, economic, political, or religious 
 subjects. In every kind, the qualities that pro- 
 mote most effectively alike good conversation and 
 sound persuasion are the speakers' personal 
 qualities of temperament and character. If we 
 are to be persuasive in talk, we must, above all, be 
 in sympathy with human nature, and have a natural 
 liking and zest for its varied qualities and manifesta- 
 tions (even for its irrationality and perverseness), 
 enjoying the give-and-take of personal human 
 intercourse. This is perhaps especially true of the 
 less serious forms of conversation that have no 
 definitely persuasive object ; but it applies to 
 every form. 
 
 The Irish people, in general, possess a natural 
 gift for conversation, and the reasons for this are 
 delightfully described in the following passage 
 from a recently published volume of essays : — 
 " The great factor in the Irish education is not the 
 school, but the Irish home, unique in its combination 
 of small means, intellect, and ambition with con- 
 versation. Without this conversation the home 
 would not be Irish. From every manor-house and 
 cabin ascends the incense of pleasant talk ; it is 
 that in which we most excel. With us all journeys 
 end in talkers' meeting ; ' we are the greatest 
 talkers since the Greeks ', said Oscar Wilde. When 
 any Irish reform is proposed — and they are in- 
 numerable — I always ask : How zvill it affect our 
 conversation ? France has her art and literature,
 
 VERBAL PERSUASION 149 
 
 England her House of Lords, and America her 
 vast initiative ; we have our conversation. We 
 watch impatiently for the meals because we are 
 hungry and thirsty for conversation ; not for 
 argument's sake or to improve ourselves, but 
 because we spontaneously like one another. We 
 like human voices and faces and the smiles and 
 gestures and all the little drama of household 
 colloquy, varying every moment from serious to 
 gay, with skill, with finesse ; M r e like human nature 
 for its own sake, and we like it vocal — that is why 
 we talk ; we even like our enemies, on the Irish 
 principle that it is ' better to be quarrelsome than 
 lonesome '. Arthur Symons, staying in a pilot's 
 cottage in the west of Ireland, said to my daughter : 
 ' I don't believe these people ever go to bed '. 
 No ; they have so much to say to one another ".* 
 Good talk, like right persuasion, is animated by 
 respect for, and sympathy with, the humanity and 
 the individuality of others. At the same time, 
 this sympathy should be regulated and controlled : 
 otherwise, in serious conversation, it is apt to lead 
 us to assent to propositions and beliefs with which 
 we do not really agree, or to be turned too easily 
 from the point at which we aim. In conversation 
 on serious subjects, if our persuasion is to be 
 effective, we must speak from conviction, and 
 possess a certain amount of confidence, self- 
 assertion, and determination. But those qualities, 
 again, must not be too pronounced ; in any ordinary 
 discussion, we should have at least sufficient 
 sympathy with our company to enable us to under- 
 
 1 Essays, Irish and American. By John Butler Yeats. 
 Talbot Press : 1918.
 
 150 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 stand and^appreciate rightly their mental tendencies 
 or habits of thought and feeling ; on that sympathy, 
 mainly, we must rely to bring those whom we 
 address into any agreement with us on the points at 
 issue. Among people who do not understand one 
 another, or who have absolutely no interests in 
 common, conversation is either impossible or a 
 mere formality. Mutual consideration for and 
 understanding of one another, and a certain unity 
 of endeavour throughout — these, with sincerity, 
 are the fundamental qualities that underlie good 
 conversation, as well as right persuasion, of any 
 kind. 
 
 How often, on the other hand, in the conversa- 
 tions we hear around us, we may observe the 
 working of quite opposite qualities, of the qualities 
 characteristic of false persuasion ! Disregard for 
 the personality of others, duplicity of purpose, 
 saying one thing and meaning another, innuendo, 
 talking at instead of to a person, the use of false 
 and fantastic analogies, and of deliberately mis- 
 leading arguments — all those features of false 
 persuasion are very commonly encountered in 
 conversation. Like most of the marks of false 
 persuasion, they are antisocial in their tendency, 
 prompted by interested, selfish, and mean motives ; 
 they do not promote unity, but increase the differ- 
 ences between people ; and they frequently proceed 
 from the unconscious desire, by which we are all 
 at times possessed, to assert in some way, however 
 petty or illusory, our superiority over others. 
 
 A form of conversation in which all of us take 
 part, on one side or the other, is that between the 
 customer and the shopman over the counter. In
 
 VERBAL PERSUASION 151 
 
 this kind of conversation it is the shopman who 
 assumes the active role of persuasion, a role which 
 the modern ideal of " efficiency " has elevated to 
 the dignity of an art, the number of the arts having 
 grown apace of late — whole volumes have been 
 written, chiefly in America, on what is called " the 
 art of salesmanship ". 
 
 As a persuader, the salesman must be admitted 
 to stand in a difficult position. His motives are 
 suspect from the beginning. That blandness and 
 amiability of manner, that extreme deference to the 
 customer's wishes, that manifest desire to please — 
 what else are these, we may say to ourselves, 
 than carefully calculated methods of impression to 
 enable him to realise his object ? And yet in many 
 instances his manner is of quite another kind. 
 Probably from a consciousness of his equivocal 
 position in the customer's eyes, he may assume the 
 bluff and forthright manner, or the distinguished 
 and high-and-haughty manner, the ' take-it-or- 
 leave-it-just-as-you-like' attitude, highly developed, 
 for instance, in many of the waiters in fashionable 
 restaurants, who are sometimes rather alarming. 
 But, whatever manner the vendor of wares may 
 assume, no matter how carefully he may modulate 
 and differentiate his style to meet the case of the 
 individual customer, his motives are apt to be 
 suspected. That suspicion, however, may be 
 considered to be not quite justifiable or fair. Some 
 of the large London stores, aware of the customer's 
 feeling, devote, from time to time, columns of 
 advertisements to the task of dissipating it : the 
 tradesman's interest, it is pointed out, is the 
 customer's interest, and, so far from being out
 
 152 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 merely for gain, the firm desires to perform con- 
 scientiously a necessary social service for the benefit 
 of its clients. In this contention there is a great 
 deal of truth. For one thing, it is not, as a rule, 
 to the salesman's real interests to recommend 
 inferior wares : and again, we are undoubtedly 
 apt to forget that the customer, too. has his duties 
 in relation to the salesman, who is also a man and 
 a brother. 
 
 The books that have been written on salesman- 
 ship would no doubt agree with the remark that 
 the successful salesman must be quick in percep- 
 tion — a connoisseur, in his way, of men and women 
 — able to read them for his purposes at a glance, 
 and to modifv his treatment of them accordingly. 
 His success as a salesman depends upon his ability 
 to influence individual customers, to whose more 
 or less vaguely felt wants or desires he may, on 
 occasion, add definiteness and strength and purpose, 
 leading them to perceive a direct relationship 
 between themselves and the action he has in view. 
 That is obviously true of the persuasion of the 
 salesman, but the same principle holds good in all 
 persuasion. Public speakers often fail in their 
 purpose simply because, while they express 
 sentiments that may be vaguely and generally 
 accepted as true, they sound no note that appeals 
 specifically to the individuals they are addressing. 
 The advocate in the law-courts knows better : in 
 seeking to persuade a jury, he takes particular 
 notice of, and addresses himself implicitly to, its 
 members as individuals. A writer on the art of 
 advocacy advises the budding barrister that " the 
 first thing to do is to pick out from amongst the
 
 VERBAL PERSUASION 153 
 
 twelve ' honest men and true ' the man who seems 
 to you to be the most intelligent, and who appears 
 to take the most interest in the case. Your 
 whole object should now be to capture him. . . . 
 But you must not leave the other eleven gentle- 
 men out in the cold, because if they think you are 
 taking no notice of them, they, decent men as they 
 are, will be hurt and feel slighted at you, a 
 learned limb of the law, giving them no notice ".* 
 The main object of the salesman, too, is to " capture " 
 his client ; and to achieve his purpose he must 
 apply discretion and good judgment, adapting his 
 words and manner to the customer's personality. 
 Above all, remembering that the public are only 
 too ready to impute to him exclusively interested 
 motives, he should not be obtrusive : in some 
 customers, such an attitude would at once arouse 
 ' contrariant ' ideas, hostile forces with which 
 persuasion of every kind frequently has to reckon. 
 Advertisement is similar to salesmanship in 
 many respects as a form of persuasion. The ordin- 
 ary trade advertisement seeks, as a rule, to stimulate 
 and reinforce in individuals some generally felt 
 want or need, and it is prompted, primarily, by the 
 desire for gain. As being written, however, and 
 not spoken, advertisements afford less scope for 
 the exercise of the more personal qualities that may 
 appear in salesmanship. On the other hand, they 
 are more completely, if more formally, organised, 
 and may employ as signs pictures as well as words. 
 They embody, in miniature, all the elements, 
 
 1 Forensic Eloquence ; or, The Eloquence of the Bar. 
 By P. J. Cooke (of the Middle Temple). London : 1897.
 
 154 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 and exemplify many of the principles and methods, 
 of written persuasion generally. 
 
 The aim of most advertising is to induce the 
 reader to buy some particular commodity ; but in 
 recent years its scope has been greatly enlarged. 
 The " advertising agent " is now dubbed a " pub- 
 licity expert ", and he is held to be qualified not 
 only to help traders to sell their wares, but to pro- 
 pagate ideas on questions of public and national 
 interest, to assist, for example, a local authority 
 to carry on a campaign against a public abuse or 
 danger, or a political party to persuade the electors, 
 or the State itself to appeal to its individual 
 members. In this country, some of the " publicity 
 campaigns " that were initiated during the War by 
 Government Departments led to remarkable practi- 
 cal results, demonstrating conclusively the efficacy 
 of advertisement as a means of persuasion. 
 
 With a view to illustrating certain character- 
 istics of advertisement generally, the following 
 typical sentences may be quoted from a lengthy 
 advertisement issued by the Ministry of National 
 Service in 1917 : — 
 
 " NATIONAL SERVICE : INDUSTRIAL ARMY : 
 1917. — Defeat the enemy's attempt to starve you. 
 . . . Place yourselves — free men and uncompclled 
 — at the disposal of National Service. . . . Britain 
 MUST become as nearly self-supporting as pos- 
 sible. . . . Help to bring a speedy peace by releas- 
 ing fit men to fight. Enrol to-day. Go NOW — 
 apply at the nearest Post-Office or National Service 
 Office for Voluntary Service Form — and sign it 
 NOW."
 
 VEIIBAL PERSUASION 155 
 
 It has been stated in Chapter I that the process 
 of persuasion always starts from a belief or wish 
 in the speaker's or writer's mind. In this 
 instance the writer's persuasions set out from the 
 belief or wish that as many men as possible should 
 volunteer for national service. 
 
 Underlying this belief were certain sentiments 
 and tendencies which the writer sought to arouse 
 also in his readers : the individualistic instinct 
 of self-preservation, threatened by the possible 
 curtailment of food-supplies ; the sentiment of 
 patriotism ; anger at Germany's declaration of 
 war on the sea-traffic of the world ; moral indigna- 
 tion at her disregard of law and humanity ; and 
 fear of the consequences. Those emotional ten- 
 dencies formed the motive-power and directing 
 force of all the writer's persuasions, and he sought 
 to induce them in his readers, as being fitted to 
 lead to the desired action. 
 
 A more intellectual element also appears : the 
 writer supports his case by simple arguments. 
 Men who volunteer, he says, will be fulfilling a 
 patriotic duty, since they will be helping to avert 
 starvation and defeat the enemy ; and their 
 action will also assist in bringing peace more 
 quickly. 
 
 In the formal expression of the advertisement 
 the most conspicuous features are the simple, 
 direct, and striking style of presentation, the use 
 of bold type to emphasise the need for immediate 
 action, the repetition of such suggestive words as 
 " the Enemy ", and the frequent employment of 
 urgent and imperative phrases — " defeat the 
 Enemy's attempt to starve you ", " Britain must
 
 156 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 become self-supporting ", " Place yourselves at the 
 disposal of National Service ", " Help to bring a 
 speedy peace ", " Enrol to-day ", " Sign now ". 
 This use of the direct and imperative form of 
 address is in accordance with the principle noted 
 above, that in all effective persuasion a definitely 
 personal note must be struck : the appeal must be 
 driven home to each of the individuals addressed. 
 In any form of national propaganda this principle 
 is specially important, for, while we all acknow- 
 ledge certain social or national duties that are 
 incumbent on us, our acknowledgment of them is 
 often merely passive and implicit : the publicist's 
 function, then, in making national propaganda, is 
 to transmute the vague and general recognition of 
 duty to the State into a particular purpose tending 
 to definite and individual action — he must lead 
 each of his readers to perceive a direct relationship 
 between himself and the obligation predicated. 
 
 Ordinary trade advertisements illustrate the 
 same principles and methods. They appeal, how- 
 ever, mainly to individualistic instincts and ten- 
 dencies, and their essential aim is the gain of the 
 advertiser. Here again the imperative is frequently 
 the mood ; and as the appeal made is often to 
 primitive tendencies, such as the need of food and 
 drink, or the desire for health and enjoyment, 
 little is required in the way of argument to enforce 
 it. But particular instances of the beneficial 
 results produced by the wares advertised, or testi- 
 monies of approval, are often cited. The most 
 common form of " argument " in advertisement is 
 merely strong assertion, which by frequent repeti- 
 tion exercises in itself a suggestive and persuasive
 
 VERBAL PERSUASION 157 
 
 power. Humorous illustrations and letter-press 
 are used to attract and please, and superlatives 
 abound — a feature especially noticeable in American 
 advertisements, but found everywhere. In a 
 tube lift in London there appeared recently advertis- 
 ments of three revues, one being described as " The 
 Super Revue ", another as " The Most Stupendous 
 Revue ever Produced ", and the third as " The 
 Greatest of all Revues " — " the amusing part of 
 it ", commented a cynical observer in a newspaper 
 paragraph, " is that all three come from the same 
 factory. It recalls, with a difference, the story of 
 the three photographers in a Manchester Street. 
 One called himself ' The Best Photographer in 
 Manchester ', another ' The Best Photographer in 
 Great Britain ', but the third, having (probably 
 through seeing so many revues) wit, simply said 
 ' The Best Photographer in this Street.' " 
 
 In the writing of advertisements, as in all 
 persuasion, certain immediate objects should be 
 kept in view : the reader's attention must be 
 caught ; it must be held, the impression first made 
 must be fixed ; and the desired response must be 
 evoked. Mechanical devices are sometimes em- 
 ployed for catching the reader's attention, as in 
 advertisements exhibited on huge or isolated 
 hoardings, or when letterpress or pictures are shown 
 in motion. Such devices, while they are useful 
 for making an immediate impression, do little to 
 sustain the attention. For the attainment of this 
 end, appeals to the reader's interest by means of 
 novelty of expression or idea, pictorial illustration, 
 and, above all, by the stimulation of a fundamental 
 instinct or established habit, are not onlv less
 
 158 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 meretricious in themselves, but more effective. 
 An interesting question that arises in connection 
 with the reading-matter and pictorial illustrations 
 is whether or not these should always be closely 
 related, in their meaning, to the wares advertised. 
 As a matter of fact, both the letterpress and the 
 pictures of advertisements are often irrelevant, in 
 the sense that they are not inherently related to the 
 articles advertised, but are intended merely to catch 
 the attention, or to arouse a pleasant feeling. Thus, 
 an advertisement may begin by setting forth, in 
 large type, some striking statement that has no 
 connection with the real subject-matter ; or it may 
 tell a humorous story, merely to please, or portray 
 a pretty face or a comical situation, equally un- 
 connected with the articles advertised. Letterpress 
 and pictures of this kind serve a useful purpose in 
 so far as they associate the advertiser's wares with 
 a pleasant feeling ; but their effect on the reader's 
 attention is apt to be momentary, and they do 
 little to provoke the desired response. A clever 
 advertisement of a play called " The Chinese 
 Puzzle " may be mentioned, as illustrating how 
 pictorial illustration may be combined effectively 
 with relevant words. The advertisement shows 
 the figure of a Chinaman, drawn with his back to 
 the spectator, and clad in typical Chinese garb, 
 carrying a fan and a parasol so placed that the 
 whole of the upper part of the body is concealed ; 
 round the rim of the parasol appears the title of 
 the play, " The Chinese Puzzle ", symbolised by 
 the figure's posture and dress, while above is 
 written in large letters — " Puts all other plays 
 in the shade ". Such a combination of words
 
 VERBAL PERSUASION 159 
 
 and pictorial illustration significantly related to 
 each other through their common relation to the 
 subject-matter is more likely (other factors, such 
 as pleasantness of feeling-tone, being equal) to 
 catch and retain the attention, and to lead to 
 practical results, than any combination of irrelevant 
 words and pictures. 
 
 For fixing an impression once it has been made, 
 and sustaining attention, as well as for provoking 
 the response, the most effective means is to appeal 
 to some general need or tendency that will be 
 satisfied by the particular article advertised. Many 
 advertisements therefore begin with this appeal, 
 giving prominence to the specific utility or desir- 
 ability of the article, and afterwards connecting 
 with this statement of utility the particular brand 
 or article, in such a way as to dispose the reader 
 to buy it, and not other articles of a similar kind. 
 
 Some interesting experiments have been made 
 with a view to testing the relative value of the 
 instincts and tendencies to which advertisers most 
 frequently appeal. In one instance a set of twenty 
 advertisements, based on actual advertisements of 
 breakfast foods, was prepared, and submitted to 
 fifty undergraduate and graduate students, who 
 were asked to put them in order of merit as regards 
 their persuasive power. The winning advertise- 
 ment was as follows : '' Prepared in clean kitchens, 
 by clean people, with clean equipment. Guaranteed 
 under the Pure Food Law of June 30, 1906. Thou- 
 sands of visitors annually witness its preparation in 
 our model kitchens ". " The appeals made in the 
 advertisements ", says the experimenter, " ranked 
 in the result in the following order : ' Cleanliness '
 
 160 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 is clearly first ; ' Doctor's recommendation ', 
 clearly second ; ' an Aid to Success in Life ', 
 ' Taste \ and ' Health ' tie for third place ; ' Sold 
 by Reliable Firm ', ' Recommendation of Roose- 
 velt ', and ' Cheap ' tie for fourth place ; then 
 follow ' Process of Manufacture ', ' Sold Everywhere', 
 * Patronise Home Industry ', ' Royalty ', ' Magni- 
 ficent Factory ', and finally ' Souvenir Spoon ', 
 which is clearly last "- 1 
 
 The value of such experiments is limited by 
 the fact that they must conform to the prearranged 
 conditions of experiment, and that the cases with 
 which they deal are merely hypothetical — the order 
 in which a group of navvies would have ranked the 
 advertisements would, no doubt, have been quite 
 different. Yet the experiments have not only 
 thrown light on the relative value of some of our 
 simpler instincts and tendencies, but have also 
 been useful as demonstrating that advertisement 
 is more likely to be successful when it is in accord- 
 ance with the laws of suggestion generally. For 
 instance, if a suggestion appears to come spontane- 
 ously from within, and not in response to some 
 obvious external stimulus, it is more likely to be 
 acted upon. Many advertisements, therefore, are 
 now written in the form of supposititious newspaper 
 articles, discussing the relations generally of busi- 
 ness firms to their clients, or even current questions 
 of taste, politics, or economics, and unobtrusively 
 and artfully connecting those discourses with the 
 
 1 v. "The Relative Merit of Advertisements : a Psy- 
 chological and Statistical Study ". By Edward K. Strong, 
 Ph.D. Archives of Psychology, No. 17. New York : the 
 Science Press.
 
 VERBAL PERSUASION 161 
 
 name of the firm from which the advertisement 
 emanates. By this means the blatant tones of the 
 advertising trumpet are subdued, and contrariant 
 ideas are less likely to be aroused. The frequent 
 repetition of an advertisement produces something 
 of the same effect. When the same advertisement 
 has stared a person in the face from all the hoard- 
 ings and newspapers in the country, the suggestion 
 that it makes presently becomes so familiar that 
 it seems to proceed entirely from himself, and he is 
 therefore more likely, at some time or other, to act 
 upon it. 
 
 Like every other kind of persuasion, advertise- 
 ment is liable to degeneration and often seeks to 
 exploit our common mental defects and frailties. 
 All the time, the advertiser is out to make money ; 
 and people so preoccupied are not likely always to 
 be perfectly scrupulous or delicate in the means they 
 employ. He addresses himself to the multitude. 
 His aim is to capture as many as possible, and he 
 therefore appeals often to the pettier desires and 
 emotions, knowing that, if he only vaunts effectively 
 the claims of his wares to be considered as fashion- 
 able, or gentlemanly, or socially advantageous, or 
 bohemian, or sporty, or up-to-date, etc., etc., he 
 will always attract some moths to his candle. 
 The very compression of form incident to advertise- 
 ment leads naturally to sensationalism and exagger- 
 ation. In the confinement of a limited space there 
 is no room for the operation of the more gradual 
 methods of true persuasion. Immediately striking 
 methods, rather, are those that are sought after : 
 the exhibition of huge sky-signs, the defacement of 
 the streets and houses (and even the fields) by 
 11
 
 162 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 huge and ugly posters, exaggerated misstatement, 
 super-smartness and familiarity of phrase, impudent 
 appeals to credulity and vanity. Mr. H. G. Wells, 
 in his fantasy, The Sleeper Awakes, describes the 
 state of affairs to which he considers the baser 
 tendencies of modern advertising may lead. The 
 " sleeper ", Graham, awakened two hundred years 
 hence, is traversing " the religious quarter " of 
 London, when " his attention was vividly arrested 
 by the facade of one of the Christian Sects. . . . 
 It was covered with inscriptions from top to base, in 
 vivid white and blue, save where a vast and glaring 
 kinematographic transparency presented a realistic 
 New Testament scene, and where a vast festoon of 
 black, to show that the popular religion followed 
 the popular politics, hung across the lettering. 
 Graham had already become familiar with the 
 phonotype writing, and these inscriptions arrested 
 him, being to his sense for the most part almost 
 incredible blasphemy. Among the less offensive 
 were ' Salvation on the First Floor and turn to the 
 Right ', ' Put your Money on your Maker '. ' The 
 Smartest Conversion in London, Expert Oper- 
 ators ! Look Slippy ! ' ' What Christ would say 
 to the Sleeper : — Join the Up-to-date Saints ! ' 
 ' Be a Christian — without hindrance to your present 
 Occupation '. 'All the Brightest Bishops on the 
 Bench to-night and Prices as Usual '. ' Brisk 
 Blessings for Busy Business Men '. — ' But this is 
 appalling ! ' said Graham, as that deafening scream 
 of mercantile piety towered above them. — ' What 
 is appalling ? ' asked his little officer, apparently 
 seeking vainly for anything unusual in this shriek- 
 ing enamel. — ' This ! Surely the essence of religion
 
 VERBAL PERSUASION 163 
 
 is reverence \ — ' Oh, that ! ' Asano looked at 
 Graham. ' Does it shock you ? ' he said in the 
 tone of one who makes a discovery. ' I suppose it 
 would, of course. I had forgotten. Nowadays the 
 competition for attention is so keen, and people 
 simply haven't the leisure to attend to their souls, 
 you know, as they used to do ' ". Proceeding 
 through the streets, Graham enters a public dining- 
 hall, where the people are sitting at tables made of a 
 solid substance having the appearance and texture 
 of damask, and " patterned with gracefully designed 
 trade advertisements " ; and he subsequently 
 visits a public creche, where he observes with much 
 wonder " the wet nurses, a vista of mechanical 
 figures, with arms, shoulders, and breasts of 
 astonishingly realistic modulation, but mere 
 brass tripods below, and having in the place of 
 features a flat disc bearing advertisements likely 
 to be of interest to mothers ". 
 
 There may be noted also here another character- 
 istic of modern advertising, which, indirectly, 
 leads to prejudiced and false persuasion. Before 
 the War, the principal newspapers of the country 
 were dependent for their revenue mainly on adver- 
 tisements, which enabled the proprietors to produce 
 a paper that actually cost more to print than the 
 price at which it was sold. This being the case, 
 they found it expedient to refrain from advocating 
 opinions that might affect adversely the interests 
 of the wealthy advertiser. The largest and most 
 prosperous newspapers were pro-capitalist in their 
 opinions, and tended to resist any policy that 
 favoured the interests of the employees rather than 
 of the employers. Similarly, the large advertisers
 
 •161 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 would not advertise in anti-capitalist newspapers, 
 and thus, indirectly, they were able to mould 
 public opinion, by what may be considered illegiti- 
 mate pressure, in an approved capitalistic pattern. 
 The conditions of the War, however, to some extent 
 modified this tendency, and diminished the ad- 
 vertiser's power over public opinion. The scarcity 
 of paper compelled the newspaper proprietor to 
 curtail his advertising space, and the cry of economy 
 obliged the vendors of many useless or worthless 
 wares to refrain from publicly advertising their 
 designs on the pockets of the public. Those condi- 
 tions favoured also a less lavish and garish style of 
 advertisement : the expensive mechanical devices 
 of lighted transparencies, and huge coloured posters, 
 have in recent years been seen more rarely, and 
 the decencies of good taste and good feeling have 
 been less often violated. But this state of affairs 
 is merely a temporary phase : the advertiser will 
 now, no doubt, reassert his influence and power, and 
 the baser tendencies of advertising resume their old 
 sway. 
 
 The influence exercised by the advertiser upon 
 the opinions and policy of newspapers is only one 
 indication of the general commercialisation of the 
 press that has taken place since the beginning of the 
 twentieth century. Commercial considerations 
 now affect the conduct of newspaper enterprise to 
 a much larger extent than they did before that 
 time. Most newspapers are owned by limited 
 companies, responsible to their shareholders and 
 passing from one owner or group of shareholders 
 to another like any other business concern. For 
 this reason the proprietors are less likely to be
 
 VERBAL PERSUASION 165 
 
 animated by the sense of holding a public trust, 
 a sense which should be always highly developed in 
 those who control the sources of public information. 
 It happens not infrequently that a newspaper is 
 sold to an owner or group of owners whose political 
 and social opinions are diametrically opposed to 
 those of their predecessors and whose sole object 
 in the transaction is to acquire a powerful engine of 
 propaganda. Such a transaction might be held 
 to imply some want of principle on the part of the 
 sellers ; but ordinarily, apart from that considera- 
 tion, and from a purely business point of view, 
 perhaps little objection could be made to it. A 
 case occurred recently, however, in which the 
 Government itself was accused of having, indirectly, 
 entered into negotiations for the acquisition of a 
 great newspaper property. 1 An arrangement of 
 this kind would, of course, stand on quite another 
 footing from an ordinary business transaction, and 
 in such a case the public could rightly claim that a 
 parliamentary enquiry should be held, and that 
 the transaction should be declared illegal. We 
 have seen lately, in Germany, the evil effects that 
 arise from a close collaboration of Government 
 and Press. In that country, before the War, the 
 Government had an official organ and a semi- 
 official organ, and every department had its Press 
 Bureau and its news editor. The consequence of 
 this was that during the War the German people 
 had no idea of the real motives or aims of their 
 Government, and, further, that they were kept in 
 ignorance of the actual results of the fighting : the 
 rapidity with which events developed towards the 
 1 v. Debate in the House of Commons, Oct. 15, 1918.
 
 166 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 end of the War was in large measure due, no doubt, 
 to the sudden disillusionment of the German 
 people when it became no longer possible to conceal 
 from them the real state of affairs. 
 
 The need for the rapid mechanical production 
 and distribution of newspapers — another aspect of 
 their commercialisation — has also tended to de- 
 teriorate their quality as instruments of persuasion. 
 Since a newspaper with a large circulation must now 
 be reproduced in millions of copies, and distributed 
 rapidly throughout a wide area, the journalist is 
 obliged to work at high pressure. " Instead of 
 three hours for a considered version of facts or 
 opinion ", says Mr. G. Binncy Dibblee, " the 
 modern writer is often given fifteen minutes, in 
 which to turn out a smart distortion. The more a 
 man can resemble a linotype machine the more 
 useful will he be to the paper of to-morrow. He 
 must of course be complicated in organisation, his 
 mechanism must be ingenious enough to conceal 
 his mental subordination. But, just as the pressing 
 of any key on the composing board brings down 
 always the same letter, so will it be required from 
 the brilliant, up-to-date journalist of the millen- 
 nium, that he must react automatically with the 
 most faithful resemblance to the accuracy of a 
 machine to each stimulus afforded by varying 
 events, popular emotions, and the ideas of the 
 market-place ". 1 
 
 In the near future, the distribution of news- 
 papers will probably be effected to a large extent 
 by flying machines. This prospect raises the 
 
 1 The Nezvspaper. By G. Binney Dibblee, M.A. Lon- 
 don : Williams and Norgate.
 
 VERBAL PERSUASION 167 
 
 question whether newspaper production, and the 
 consequent control of the sources of public informa- 
 tion, will not then be monopolised by a few powerful 
 and wealthy groups able to organise the distribu- 
 tion from large centres, and tending to use their 
 power to promote special group interests rather than 
 the interests of the community. Even at the present 
 time there exist several great newspaper ' combines ' 
 which wield immense power and influence ; but 
 the coming of aerial distribution will be likely 
 to strengthen this already strongly marked tendency 
 to combination. Such a growth of group-interests 
 in newspapers may be considered to be in some 
 respects undesirable, or even dangerous, for it 
 must be admitted that the exclusive control of 
 the sources of public information by a few wealthy 
 groups would not be consistent with the conditions 
 of a truly democratic state.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 FORMAL PERSUASION IN SPEECHES 
 AND BOOKS
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 FORMAL PERSUASION IN SPEECHES AND 
 
 BOOKS 
 
 WE have now to consider verbal persuasion 
 as an organised form of expression, for 
 the propagation of political, social, econo- 
 mic, legal, aesthetic, moral, or religious ideas, in 
 written articles, speeches, and books. Its consti- 
 tuent elements correspond with those of persuasion 
 regarded as a mental process : there are in it 
 three main elements, the intellectual, the imagina- 
 tive, and the emotional, each of which combines 
 and fuses with the others so as to produce a dis- 
 tinctive form of expression. The speaker or 
 writer whose aim is to persuade must not only 
 convince his hearers or readers intellectually, he 
 must also stimulate their imaginative faculty, and 
 stir them to action by appealing to the emotions 
 and sentiments. 
 
 The intellectual element, in so far as its function 
 is to convince others of the truth of the propositions 
 advanced, appears mainly in the form of argument. 
 All arguments may be classified as belonging to 
 either of two kinds, deductive or inductive : a 
 speaker or writer must argue either from general 
 
 171
 
 172 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 principles or from facts. When we argue a priori 
 from the nature of the case, we employ the deduc- 
 tive method. In seeking to establish a proposition, 
 therefore, it is sometimes a useful plan to ask our- 
 selves : What arguments, if any, may be advanced 
 from the nature of the case ? For instance, in 
 support of the proposition that all civilised nation- 
 alities, distinctly denned as nationalities by natural 
 geographical boundaries and by racial affinity, 
 should possess the right of self-determination in 
 government, we might assert that, from the nature 
 of the case, disputes and warfare must inevitably 
 arise when they do not possess that right. On 
 the other hand, in this instance, we might proceed 
 by citing particular cases in which nations ruled 
 by another and alien nation had actually rebelled 
 and disturbed the peace of the world — this would 
 be to proceed by the method of induction, in which 
 we argue from facts or particular cases. The 
 method of deduction is most useful when we may 
 take for granted that those we address will be in 
 agreement with us on the subject of the general 
 principle asserted ; while the method of induction 
 is generally the more effective if the proposition 
 to be established is unfamiliar to them, or likely 
 to be distasteful. But both principles and facts 
 are necessary ; and, in actual discourse, they are 
 used together in a combined method of deduction 
 and induction. 
 
 Until comparatively recently, and even now, the 
 tendency of discussion, in all human affairs, has 
 been predominatingly deductive. The politician, 
 the political economist, the social reformer, the 
 lawyer, the preacher, have each their set of general
 
 IN SPEECHES AND BOOKS 173 
 
 principles which they apply to the solution of par- 
 ticular questions. This procedure, within limits, 
 is perfectly legitimate : within every sphere of 
 thought and discussion there exist certain general 
 principles that are valid. But, especially in popular 
 persuasion, the tendency has been to apply prin- 
 ciples hastily and without adequate examination 
 of the particular facts of the case — this mode of 
 procedure saves time and trouble. The conserva- 
 tive politician tends to assume that any policy 
 that appears, on the face of it, to be inimical to 
 the present constitution of Church and State 
 must necessarily be a bad policy ; and the theolo- 
 gian assumes that, for instance, the present laws of 
 marriage, being based on fundamental and neces- 
 sary Christian principles, have a compelling and 
 permanent validity. Assumptions of this kind 
 are likely to lead to the neglect of lately arisen 
 factors in a situation and to stand in the way of 
 progress. The typical 'professional' outlook, in 
 every field — politics, law, religion, etc. — is particu- 
 larly apt to be distorted by this undue reliance on 
 general principles. The speeches of a party 
 leader, or of a judge in the law courts, or of a 
 clergjmian in the pulpit, will nearly always be 
 found to rest, ultimately, on principles that are 
 assumed to be applicable, as a matter of course, 
 to the particular cases under discussion : the 
 circumstance that the conditions of life are con- 
 stantly changing, and that principles that were 
 generally applicable ten or fifty or a hundred years 
 ago may now no longer be applicable, is neglected. 
 The man who, in a discussion, declares dogmatically 
 that all his arguments are based on unalterable
 
 174 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 principles is a man whom we may be permitted to 
 distrust : very often his professions are merely 
 an excuse for his failure, deliberate or otherwise, 
 to examine the facts of the case properly. James I 
 possessed a considerable aptitude for political 
 speculation, and his theories were based upon 
 principles. " He tried ", says Professor Pollard, 
 " to reduce monarchy to a logical system, and to 
 enforce the system as practical politics." x The 
 results of those theories were not disastrous to 
 James personally, but they proved disastrous to 
 his successor, who followed the same lines of 
 reasoning. On the other hand, as Professor Pollard 
 remarks in another passage, " Parliament had 
 realised that in politics principles consist of details 
 as a pound consists of pence ; and that, if it 
 wanted sound legislative principles, it must take 
 care of the details of administration." Through- 
 out the ages, the method of deduction has always 
 been the strong buttress of tradition and authority, 
 which have often been the most powerful foes of 
 progress and truth. And the efficacy of deductive 
 methods of persuasion has been greatly aided by 
 man's peculiar responsivity to this species of 
 appeal, which saves him from the labour of detailed 
 enquiry and thought. The orator and the tub- 
 thumper, who play on our prepossessions, give 
 us only that for which we crave. All our ideas and 
 beliefs tend to become crystallised and to express 
 themselves in the form of abstract terms and pro- 
 positions — these are coins convenient for currency, 
 and we are apt to forget, because it is expedient 
 to forget, that they have been set in a stereotyped 
 1 History of England (Williams & Norgate).
 
 IN SPEECHES AND BOOKS 175 
 
 mould. At the present time, in politics, if a man 
 characterises a proposal as ' undemocratic ' he is 
 supposed to have damned it at a stroke ; or, 
 in the sphere of education, which is now theore- 
 tically accepted as being of some importance, if a 
 policy is described as being likely to promote 
 industrial productivity, it is assumed, almost as 
 a matter of course, that the policy is worthy of 
 acceptance. Persuasions of this kind rest on the 
 assumption of general principles which may or 
 may not be warranted. 
 
 The most common form of the inductive method 
 is the argument from an example or examples, or, 
 as it is sometimes called, induction by simple 
 enumeration, in which we proceed from the 
 enumeration of one or more cases to the statement 
 of a general proposition. Thus, to establish the 
 statement that Germany during the progress of 
 the War broke recognised international laws and 
 employed methods of warfare that had previously 
 been considered unjustifiable, a list of particular 
 instances, with details of place and date, would 
 have to be cited. 
 
 A second species of inductive argument is 
 induction based on a causal relationship. In 
 this kind of argument the inference may proceed 
 either from cause to effect or from effect to cause. 
 From the circumstance, acting as a cause, that 
 during the last fifty years Germany had found 
 war to be a paying business, resulting in an increase 
 of territory, wealth, and power, we might infer as an 
 effect the recent War ; or, vice-versa, we might 
 reason from the effect, the War, to the gains of 
 Germany in previous wars as a predisposing cause.
 
 176 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 A third kind of induction is the argument from 
 analogy, in which we draw a direct inference from 
 one instance to a similar instance. Thus Burke, 
 in his speech on Conciliation with America, draws an 
 analogy between the situation of Ireland and Wales 
 in the past and that of the American colonies, and 
 infers that a policy of conciliation ought to be 
 pursued. As • soon as Ireland was allowed the 
 privileges of the English Constitution she became 
 peaceful and prosperous. Up to the reign of 
 Henry VIII the Welsh people had no share in 
 English liberties, and their country was in a state 
 of perpetual disorder ; but when they were given 
 the rights and privileges of English subjects, 
 " from that moment, as by a charm, the tumults 
 subsided, obedience was restored, peace, order, 
 and civilisation followed in the train of liberty." 
 
 None of those three kinds of inductive argument, 
 as they are used in ordinary discourse, can afford 
 absolute proof, but demonstrate only a greater or 
 less degree of probability, according to the observa- 
 tion of certain conditions varying with each of the 
 kinds. 1 The methods of induction cannot be 
 applied rigorously in the discussion of human 
 affairs ; they are applicable, in their strictness, 
 only in the discovery and explanation of scientific 
 facts and laws relating to inanimate nature. The 
 subject-matter of persuasion, whether political, 
 social, economic, legal, moral, or religious, is 
 
 1 For a detailed treatment of the various kinds of argu- 
 ment and the conditions of their validity, the reader may 
 be referred to a little book of the present writer's, entitled 
 How to Argue Successfully : a Study of the Principles and 
 Methods of Argument (George Routledge & Sons).
 
 IN SPEECHES AND BOOKS 177 
 
 generally too complex, and the manifestations of 
 human nature are too uncertain, to admit of 
 scientific proof. From the speaker or writer on 
 human affairs we should expect only that degree 
 of proof of which his subject-matter may be 
 capable. For instance, a scientist may often 
 explain the behaviour of natural phenomena by 
 reference to a general law ; but, in suggesting 
 legislation to regulate the action of human beings 
 as members of a State, a politician in his speeches 
 can hardly hope to base his proposals on any 
 universal law of human nature ; he must be satis- 
 fied with some approximate generalisation that 
 will be applicable to the conditions, not of all, 
 but of the greater number of, the people for whom 
 the legislation is intended. The scientist attains 
 a more rigid degree of proof because he is able to use 
 the method of experiment ; but the complexity 
 and uncertainty of the material with which the 
 politician has to deal, and the dangerous results 
 that might follow, make it impossible for him to 
 experiment to any appreciable extent. " From 
 the nature of the Inductive Methods," says Mr. 
 Carveth Read, " it is plain that in such a complex 
 and tangled situation as history presents a satis- 
 factory employment of them is rarely possible ; 
 for they all require the actual or virtual isolation 
 of the phenomenon under investigation. They 
 also require the greatest attainable immediacy of 
 connexion between cause and effect, whereas the 
 causes of social events may accumulate during 
 hundreds of years." x The statement that " there 
 
 1 Logic, Deductive and Inductive. By Carveth Read, 
 M.A. (Alexander Moring.) 
 12
 
 178 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 are two sides to every question " applies pre- 
 eminently to the subjects of ordinary discourse. 
 The speaker's or writer's task is to make his 
 side of the question — the theory or policy that he 
 advances — appear as plausible and true to his 
 audience as it does to himself ; but it is only 
 rhetorical, not scientific, truth that he can de- 
 monstrate. It must be recognised, then, that the 
 inductive methods of logic are applied in persua- 
 sion only in a rough fashion. If a subject under 
 discussion is so complex and varied in its aspects 
 that it cannot be investigated by a rigidly scientific 
 method, obviously we must be content to apply 
 induction only with that degree of strictness which 
 the subject permits. 
 
 The imaginative element in persuasion as a form 
 of expression appears in the frequent use of verbal 
 illustrations and figures of speech, such as exempli- 
 fication, analogy, anecdote, simile, metaphor, 
 antithesis, climax, etc. Very often, however, it 
 is impossible to draw any absolute distinction 
 between argument and illustration. The logical 
 value of many arguments, in books and speeches 
 that aim at popular persuasion, amounts to little 
 more than that of an illustration ; and, vice- versa, 
 many illustrations possess a certain amount of 
 probative or logical value. The primary function 
 of illustration, in writing or speaking, is to make 
 clear some idea or proposition or plan that has been 
 already presented to the reader or hearer, of which 
 he has already some vague knowledge ; and since 
 no proposition can be proved, and no plan of 
 action can be demonstrated to be advisable, unless 
 a clear notion of it has first been presented or
 
 IN SPEECHES AND BOOKS 179 
 
 formed, illustrations in discourse frequently help 
 to produce the same effect of conviction as argu- 
 ments. Further, since ideas tend to realise them- 
 selves in action according to the degree in which 
 they are vividly conceived, illustration, as assisting 
 in the formation of vivid ideas, has the additional 
 value in persuasion that it tends to affect conduct 
 and lead to the action that the speaker or writer 
 desires. Again, illustrations not only impart 
 clearness and vividness to ideas, they induce 
 also in the hearer or reader a feeling of appreciation 
 and enjoyment, an attitude of receptivity and 
 acceptance : they work thus in alliance also with 
 the emotional element in persuasion. Funda- 
 mentally considered, however, they are a function 
 of the imagination rather than of the intellect or of 
 emotion, and it may be said generally that, just as 
 the intellectual element in persuasion appears 
 mainly in the form of argument, so the imaginative 
 element appears mainly in the form of illustration. 
 The following passage from a speech by John 
 Bright contains a good instance of imaginative 
 illustration. The speaker's main proposition was 
 that an aggressive foreign policy necessarily 
 absorbs a large proportion of the earnings of the 
 people, and to illustrate it he remarked : — " I 
 believe that I understate the sum when I say that, 
 in pursuit of this Will-o'-the-wisp (the ' liberties 
 of Europe ' and the ' balance of power ') there has 
 been extracted from the industry of the people 
 of this small island no less an amount than 
 2,000,000,000^. sterling. I cannot imagine how 
 much 2,000, 000 ,000Z. is, and therefore I shall not 
 attempt to make you comprehend it. . . . When
 
 180 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 I try to think of that sum of 2,000,000,000/., there 
 is a sort of vision passing before my mind's eye. I 
 see your peasant labourer delve and plough, sow 
 and reap, sweat beneath the summer's sun, or grow 
 prematurely old before the winter's blast. I see 
 your noble mechanic, with his manly countenance 
 and his matchless skill, toiling at his bench or his 
 forge. I see one of the workers in our factories 
 in the north, a woman — a girl, it may be — gentle 
 and good, as many of them are, as your sisters and 
 daughters are — I see her intent upon the spindle, 
 whose revolutions are so rapid that the eye fails 
 altogether to detect them, or watching the alter- 
 nating flight of the unresting shuttle. I turn again 
 to another portion of your population, which, 
 ' plunged in mines, forgets a sun was made,' and I 
 see the man who brings up from the secret chambers 
 of the earth the elements of the riches and greatness 
 of his country. When I see all this I have before 
 me a mass of produce and of wealth which I am 
 no more able to comprehend than I am that 
 2,000,000,000/. of which I have spoken, but I 
 behold in its full proportions the hideous error 
 of your Governments, whose fatal policy consumes 
 in some cases a half, never less than a third, of 
 all the results of that industry which God intended 
 should fertilise and bless every home in England, 
 but the fruits of which are squandered in every 
 part of the surface of the globe, without producing 
 the smallest good to the people of England." * 
 
 Comparison and contrast often afford useful 
 illustrations in discourse. Their general function, 
 like that of all illustration, is, in the first place, 
 *At Birmingham, October 29, 1858.
 
 IN SPEECHES AND BOOKS 181 
 
 to emphasise and make clear, and, secondly, to 
 add vividness and interest and variety. They are 
 particularly useful because they enable a writer 
 or speaker to repeat and drive home a statement 
 without having recourse to mere repetition ; 
 and they often afford scope for wit and humour, 
 which may be effective elements in persuasion. 
 The main principle to be observed in the use of 
 comparisons and contrasts is to describe what is 
 not well known by what is better known, or by 
 what appeals to the senses of sight, hearing, 
 touch, or taste. Thus many useful and interesting 
 comparisons and contrasts are provided by natural 
 objects, the life of plants and animals, the processes 
 of growth, and the occupations and amusements 
 of human beings. As illustrations they correspond 
 to the use of analogy in argument, and often 
 cannot be easily distinguished from it. Analogy, 
 however, consists rather in the citation of a parallel 
 case or cases that have actually occurred, while 
 comparisons and contrast may present an imaginary 
 or invented situation with which an actual situation 
 is compared or contrasted. Again, when we use 
 analogy as an argument, it is incumbent on us 
 to establish a closer degree of similarity in the 
 relevant points than we need do in an illustrative 
 comparison. Lord Brougham employed this 
 species of illustration effectively when he contended, 
 in his speech to the House of Lords on Negro 
 Emancipation, 1 that if (as his opponents asserted) 
 the negroes as a class had been found to be obdurate, 
 dishonest, and insubordinate, this circumstance 
 should be attributed to the cruelty with which 
 
 iFeb. 20, 1838.
 
 182 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 they had been treated. " If some capricious des- 
 pot," he said, " were, in the career of ordinary- 
 tyranny, to tax his pampered fancy to produce 
 something more monstrous, more unnatural than 
 himself ; were he to graft the thorn upon the 
 vine, or place the dove among vultures to be 
 reared, much as we might marvel at this freak 
 of a perverted appetite, we should marvel still 
 more if we saw tyranny exceed even its own measure 
 of proverbial unreasonableness, and complain 
 because the grape was not gathered from the thorn, 
 or because the dove so trained has a thirst for 
 blood." A similar instance may be quoted from 
 the Rt. Hon. Robert Lowe's speech in opposition 
 to Parliamentary Reform. 1 His opponents had 
 argued that if the franchise were extended there 
 would be less bribery and corruption among the 
 voters. To that contention Lowe replied as 
 follows : — " It is said, Here is a disease ; cure it, 
 dilute its poison by admitting a large number to 
 the franchise. Well, this would be a very good 
 argument if health were catching as well as disease. 
 If I had half-a-dozen diseased cattle, and I turned 
 one hundred sound cattle among them, I might 
 infect the new ones, but I do not think that I 
 should do much good to the sick ones." 
 
 Another form of illustration based on the prin- 
 ciple of resemblance is the anecdote, or brief story, 
 in which a situation or state of affairs similar to 
 the one under consideration is described, with a 
 view to throwing light on the latter. In his 
 speech on Foreign Policy, from which we have 
 quoted above, John Bright argued that the expendi- 
 1 House of Commons, April 26, I860.
 
 IN SPEECHES AND BOOKS 183 
 
 ture of huge sums on armaments " makes us ready 
 to assume offence where none is intended," and 
 supported his argument by reference to the alarm 
 that had been caused in this country by the building 
 of fortifications at Cherbourg. He then narrated 
 the following anecdote by way of illustration : — 
 " I recollect a friend of mine going down from 
 Derby to Leeds in the train with a very quiet and 
 respectable-looking gentleman sitting opposite to 
 him. They had both been staying at the Midland 
 Hotel, and they began talking about it. All at 
 once the gentleman said, ' Did you notice anything 
 particular about the bread at breakfast ? ' ' No,' 
 said my friend, 'I did not,' 'Oh! but I did,' 
 said the poor gentleman, ' and I am convinced there 
 was an attempt made to poison me, and it is a very 
 curious thing that I never go to an hotel without 
 I discover some attempt to do me mischief.' The 
 unfortunate man was labouring under one of the 
 greatest calamities which can befall a human 
 creature. But what are we to say of a nation 
 which lives under a perpetual delusion that it 
 is about to be attacked — a nation which is the most 
 combined on the face of the earth, with little less 
 than 30,000,000 of people all united under a Govern- 
 ment which, though we intend to reform it, we do 
 not the less respect it, and which has mechanical 
 power and wealth to which no other country offers 
 any parallel ? " 
 
 The essential quality of a good illustrative 
 anecdote is that it should be relevant to the case 
 in point. To introduce an anecdote merely to 
 amuse or divert, without establishing a direct 
 relationship between it and the subject-matter
 
 184 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 under consideration, is one of the arts of false 
 persuasion. Illustrations, generally, are from their 
 very nature adapted to arouse interest, and there 
 is therefore a temptation to use them for the sake 
 of their intrinsic interest, apart from any considera- 
 tion as to their relevance. The false rhetorician, 
 yielding to the temptation, cites examples that do 
 not really come under the principle they are sup- 
 posed to illustrate, and introduces comparisons 
 and anecdotes that have merely a superficial or 
 specious reference to the subject-matter. 
 
 As the imaginative element in persuasion finds 
 its most obvious expression in illustrations and 
 imaginative figures of speech, so the emotional 
 element expresses itself in emotional figures, such 
 as Interrogation, Exclamation, Apostrophe, Vision, 
 Prediction, Denunciation, Appeal to God. The 
 more violent of those figures, however, are nowadays 
 employed less frequently : the oratory of our 
 own time and country, for example, is much less 
 explicitly emotional in character than that of, 
 say, the eighteenth century : we are become 
 more sophisticated — practised and pleased in the 
 masking of emotion — so that the speaker of to- 
 day finds it best, as a rule, to tune his note to a 
 minor key. None the less, emotional figures of 
 speech are still characteristic features of persuasion, 
 and especially of spoken persuasion. The emo- 
 tional element, indeed, in some form or other, 
 must necessarily be present if persuasion is to be 
 effective, for it is the driving-force that, having 
 animated the speaker or writer throughout, must 
 in its turn induce the hearer or reader to act in 
 accordance with the beliefs advocated — without
 
 IN SPEECHES AND BOOKS 185 
 
 emotion, no persuasion. When we wish to dis- 
 suade from a certain course of action, we are 
 animated by, and try to arouse in others, sorrow, 
 fear, shame, or humility ; when our object is to 
 persuade, we invoke feelings that will elevate 
 the spirit and stimulate to action, such as hope, 
 patriotism, ambition, emulation, anger ; while 
 those feelings that in themselves neither restrain 
 us from acting nor incite us to act, but may be 
 made conducive to either — as joy, love, esteem, 
 compassion — are equally effective either for per- 
 suading or dissuading. 
 
 But, although all persuasion thus involves 
 emotion, its ostensible and avowed purpose is to 
 produce conviction by force of argument. If we 
 would persuade others, we must avoid, as far as 
 possible, the appearance of deliberately attempting 
 to work upon their feelings. For this reason 
 the emotional appeal of persuasion is made, in 
 general, more or less indirectly, through the im- 
 agination and intellect. By communicating lively 
 and glowing ideas of the subject we excite some 
 desire or emotion in our auditors, and by exhibiting 
 the subject in such relations that the emotion 
 excited seems to be naturally inherent in it we 
 satisfy their judgment that there is a connection 
 between the action to which we would persuade 
 them and the gratification of the desire or emotion. 
 
 Argument itself, which is an appeal to reason, 
 may play no small part in the stimulation of 
 emotion. This it does by inducing a sense of 
 probability or of certainty, based on evidence, and 
 begetting belief. If, in a legal case, the prosecuting 
 counsel succeeds in convincing judge and jury of
 
 18G THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 an accused person's guilt, this belief, of itself, will 
 stimulate their sense of duty and a feeling of 
 resentment against the injurious act, and those 
 feelings they may gratify by establishing a verdict 
 against the prisoner. To invest the presentation 
 of a case with an air of probability is, then, an 
 effective means of exciting emotion indirectly. 
 
 Another means for the attainment of the same 
 end is to make the presentation appear plausible, 
 as distinct from probable. Plausibility is often 
 confused with probability, but they are really 
 different, though resembling one another in that 
 both may be employed to enliven emotion or senti- 
 ment. The sense of probability is produced by 
 argument, while plausibility is a quality that 
 attaches to narration so constructed and coloured 
 as to attract and persuade : as the former, there- 
 fore, pertains to the rational element in persuasion, 
 so the latter pertains rather to the imaginative. 
 When a narrative is coloured in such a way that 
 the events described, and the order and relations 
 in which they are exhibited, appear to be natural 
 or inevitable, and in harmony with general ex- 
 perience, it is said to be plausible : the mind 
 follows such a narrative with pleasure, and is 
 disposed to accept it as true. On the other hand, 
 if the narrative introduces a combination of 
 ideas that runs counter to experience, the mind 
 follows it with difficulty and is disposed to reject 
 it as unnatural, incredible, or untrue. The mere 
 plausibility of a narrative, apart from its probabil- 
 ity, gives pleasure to the hearer or reader, and 
 is persuasive ; so that, for instance, if we meet 
 on the road a beggar who tells a plausible and
 
 IN SPEECHES AND BOOKS 187 
 
 attractive tale of his undeserved misfortunes, 
 we may be induced to help him, even while we 
 doubt the truth of his story : in such a case per- 
 suasion effects its purpose through sheer plausi- 
 bility. As appealing to the imagination, and 
 imparting pleasure, plausibility is generally better 
 fitted than probability to arouse emotions favour- 
 able to the end of persuasion ; but when definite 
 facts are involved and important issues hang on 
 the decision to be reached, as in a legal trial, 
 probability must be considered to be more effec- 
 tive for this purpose than plausibility, which is 
 often used to bolster up a weak case. 
 
 A third expedient that may be employed for the 
 enlivening of emotion indirectly, through the 
 intellect and imagination, is to emphasise the 
 importance of the subject. By this means we fix 
 the attention more closely, and add vividness and 
 strength to the ideas, thus increasing, in turn, the 
 force of the emotions aroused. If, for instance, 
 we are able to represent the actions of an individual 
 or a nation as peculiarly atrocious, and as involving 
 important consequences and great suffering to a 
 large number of people, the feeling of indignation 
 that we intend to arouse in our auditors will be 
 greatly increased. 
 
 Again, the narration of events that have 
 happened recently, or that may be predicted as 
 about to happen soon, will, other factors being 
 equal, excite keener emotion than that of events 
 that happened long since or are not likely to happen 
 for a long time. And even more important in its 
 effect upon emotion than proximity in time is 
 connection of place. The events that happen
 
 188 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 in our own country or the town in which we live 
 are apt to affect us much more intimately than 
 events that happen in distant regions. When, 
 on one day, some incident of world- significance 
 has occurred abroad, and another incident, of 
 trifling import but affecting ourselves nearly and 
 immediately, has occurred in the town where we 
 live, on taking up the newspaper the next day, 
 we are more likely, the statement may be hazarded, 
 to turn to the account of the latter first — to read, 
 for instance, in the first place, the account of the 
 strike of omnibus and Tube employees, which may 
 prevent or delay us in our journey to business, and 
 then, with a more subdued urgency of feeling, to 
 read the account of the world-shaking battles 
 being fought abroad at the same time. 
 
 Another circumstance that should be considered 
 in connection with the emotional appeal in persua- 
 sion is the relation of the writer or speaker, and 
 of the incidents or actions he describes, to the 
 persons addressed. Mark Antony, in Shakespeare's 
 play, adroitly begins his address to the crowd 
 in the forum with the words " Friends, Romans, 
 countrymen" — each word, in a gradually ascending 
 scale, implying, as if by right, a claim to sympathe- 
 tic response from his auditors. An unjust or cruel 
 action will be regarded with less indignation by 
 those who are related to the actors than by those 
 related to the sufferers : where a German, during 
 the War, could easily find reasons or excuses for 
 the destruction of French cathedrals and works of 
 art, a Frenchman saw in such acts merely vandal- 
 ism. If a speaker can demonstrate to his audience 
 that they themselves are intimately concerned with
 
 IN SPEECHES AND BOOKS 189 
 
 the effects of an action, he will evoke a more 
 emotional response. We arc so constituted that 
 we feel more keenly that which affects us personally. 
 In contemplating a wrong done to some one else, 
 we feel indignation, certainly, but the feeling is not 
 usually so acute as it is in the person who has 
 been injured. In the former case the indignation 
 implies resentment, or a desire to retaliate on the 
 wrong-doer so far at least as to make him repent, 
 while in the latter case the resentment is sometimes 
 so strong that it might be more appropriately 
 termed revenge. Similarly, the contemplation 
 of a beneficent action naturally attracts the on- 
 lookers to the benefactor, and induces a feeling of 
 benevolence towards him, or a desire to promote 
 his happiness ; but in the person benefited this 
 feeling may be so strong as to be more accurately 
 termed gratitude. In dealing with actions that are 
 bad or good respectively, a speaker or writer may 
 intensify emotion, transmuting resentment to 
 revenge, and benevolence to gratitude, by exhibiting 
 the actions as, in their consequences, directly 
 affecting the persons addressed. So Mark Antony, 
 having aroused the benevolence of his hearers 
 towards Caesar, and their indignation against 
 the conspirators, in his final appeal works up those 
 feelings into the more acute feelings of gratitude 
 and revenge, by announcing that Csesar in his 
 will has bequeathed a sum of money to every 
 Roman citizen : the mob then rushes forth to 
 satisfy its sense of gratitude and exact retribution 
 by violent means, as the speaker had desired and 
 calculated. 
 Wit and humour are often effective elements in
 
 190 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 persuasion. They may be distinguished from one 
 another, but there is no absolute separation between 
 them. Their various forms are all akin, so that 
 often it would be difficult to classify an instance 
 as belonging specifically to one form or to another. 
 In all their species, wit and humour are closely 
 related alike to the intellectual, the imaginative, 
 and the emotional elements in our nature — to the 
 first in so far as they may produce an effect of 
 conviction, to the second in so far as they involve 
 imaginative comparison and give pleasure, and 
 to the third in so far as they stimulate feeling. 
 The effect of wit and humour depends, as a rule, 
 on the union of apparently unrelated and incongru- 
 ous ideas, in such a way as to produce pleasure 
 and surprise. Humour, however, depends less 
 upon surprise, and is more emotional, more kindly, 
 more sympathetic than wit — Thackeray says that 
 it is " wit and love," Carlyle that its essence is 
 " sensibility — warm, tender fellow-feeling with all 
 forms of existence." For this reason humour has 
 less argumentative but more emotional value than 
 wit : as a characteristic personal trait, it attracts 
 us sympathetically to a speaker or writer. Wit, 
 on the other hand, bears a closer relation to the 
 actual subject-matter of persuasion ; it appeals 
 more exclusively to the intellect, and generally 
 depends more upon surprise, and upon the particu- 
 lar mode of verbal expression employed. It is 
 also, as an instrument of persuasion, sharper and 
 more cutting than humour. This is especially the 
 case when it appears in the forms of innuendo, 
 ridicule, sarcasm, and irony. The nobleman who 
 remarked in his will, " to my steward I have left
 
 IN SPEECHES AND BOOKS 191 
 
 nothing, as he has been with me for the last 
 fifteen years," expressed in a brief, pregnant, 
 cutting, and witty phrase a criticism that would 
 have been far less effectively expressed in a serious 
 and more elaborate statement of his reasons. 
 
 In the following passage, from a speech by Lord 
 Randolph Churchill, 1 ridicule and sarcasm are 
 effectively employed : — " . . . Gentlemen, we live 
 in an age of advertisement, the age of Hollo way's 
 pills, of Colman's mustard, and of Horniman's 
 pure tea ; and the policy of lavish advertisement 
 has been so successful in commerce that the 
 Liberal party, with its usual enterprise, has 
 adapted it to politics. The Prime Minister is the 
 greatest living master of the art of personal political 
 advertisement ; Holloway, Colman, and Horniman 
 are nothing compared with him. . . . For the 
 purpose of an autumn holiday a large transatlantic 
 steamer is specially engaged, the Poet Laureate 
 adorns the suite, and receives a peerage as his 
 reward, and the incidents of the voyage are 
 luncheon with the Emperor of Russia, and tea with 
 the Queen of Denmark. For the purposes of 
 recreation he has selected the felling of trees, and 
 we may usefully remark that his amusements, like 
 his politics, are essentially destructive. Every 
 afternoon the whole world is invited to assist 
 at the crashing fall of some beech or elm or oak. 
 The forest laments in order that Mr. Gladstone may 
 perspire, and full accounts of these proceedings 
 are forwarded by special correspondents to every 
 daily paper every recurring morning. . . . How- 
 ever, these remarks of mine are merely preliminary 
 J At Blackpool, Jan. 24, 1884.
 
 192 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 to a couple of concluding political observations 
 to which I am led by two of the Gladstonian adver- 
 tisements which appeared in the papers the other 
 day. The first described the journey of a deputa- 
 tion of working-men from the pure and immaculate 
 borough of Chester to Hawarden Castle. It has 
 always appeared to me somewhat incongruous 
 and inappropriate that the great chief of the Radical 
 party should reside in a castle. But to proceed. 
 One would have thought that the deputation would 
 have been received in the house, in the study, in the 
 drawing-room, or even in the dining-room. Not 
 at all. That would have been out of harmony 
 with the advertisement ' boom.' Another scene 
 had been arranged. The working-men were guided 
 through the ornamental grounds into the wide- 
 spreading park, strewn with the wreckage and the 
 ruins of the Prime Minister's sport. All around 
 them, we may suppose, lay the rotting trunks 
 of once umbrageous trees ; all around them, 
 tossed by the winds, were boughs and bark and 
 withered shoots. They come suddenly on the 
 Prime Minister and Master Herbert, in scanty 
 attire and profuse perspiration, engaged in the 
 destruction of a gigantic oak, just giving its last 
 dying groans. They are permitted to gaze and to 
 worship and adore, and, having conducted them- 
 selves with exemplary propriety, are each of them 
 presented with a few chips as a memorial of that 
 memorable scene." 
 
 This passage illustrates well both the merits and 
 the defects of ridicule and its allied forms as a 
 method of persuasion. If we consider the passage 
 critically, as it stands, its intrinsic value as argu-
 
 IN SPEECHES AND BOOKS 193 
 
 ment must be pronounced to be small. The 
 speaker attacks his opponent's political proposals 
 on the ground that his opponent is " the greatest 
 living master of the art of political advertisement " : 
 he argues to the wrong point, committing the 
 fallacy that is termed in logic ignoratio elenchi, in 
 the form of a personal argument, or argumentum 
 ad hominem ; he forgets, too, by the way, or 
 chooses to forget, that sound goods, as well as un- 
 sound, may be advertised. But, as a matter of 
 fact, how many of those who heard the speech 
 would be affected by critical considerations of 
 that sort ? Presenting a subject not in the clear 
 light of reason, but in the variegated colours of 
 imagination, wit and humour in all their manifes- 
 tations may be employed to amuse and divert an 
 audience, distracting their attention, in the pleasure 
 they receive, from a purely rational view. Ridi- 
 cule, in particular, which is usually directed against 
 persons, derives a large part of its effectiveness 
 from the fact that it induces in those who hear or 
 read it a petty feeling of superiority. Lord Ran- 
 dolph's presentation of the great Prime Minister of 
 England in the guise of a Horniman or a Colman 
 would not merely provoke the audience to laughter ; 
 for the moment it would (quite illusorily, no doubt) 
 enable them to imagine themselves as posed, 
 patron-like, in an attitude of superiority over the 
 Prime Minister, surveying his movements with the 
 amused smile of one who observes, with knowledge 
 and joy, the antics of an inveterate advertiser 
 playing for custom. Now, this feeling of superi- 
 ority is much prized by most of us (the mere penning 
 of this statement, for instance, ex cathedra, affords a 
 
 13
 
 194 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 certain satisfaction to the writer) ; and to that fact 
 is due part of the value for persuasion of wit, 
 innuendo, ridicule, sarcasm, and irony, which 
 stimulate it. Freud regards wit and humour as the 
 release of suppressed wishes in the mind of the 
 subject, and their expression as leading up to a 
 similar release of suppressed wish in the person who 
 reads or hears. One of the strongest and most 
 common of suppressed wishes, in most people, 
 is the wish to assert a superiority over others ; 
 and any device that will gratify it must therefore 
 be a potent and fertile source of appeal for the 
 writer or speaker. 
 
 It must not be supposed, however, that the appeal 
 of wit and humour in persuasion is merely mere- 
 tricious — that they invariably obscure the point at 
 issue, or stimulate petty and egoistic emotions : 
 they may be used, indeed, like every element in 
 persuasion, to hoodwink and deceive, but this is by 
 no means always the case. Rightly used, they not 
 only enliven the treatment of the subject-matter, 
 but cast on it a truly revealing light ; and they are 
 especially effective when we seek to expose the 
 minor vanities and follies to which human nature 
 is liable — its affectations and pretensions, its petty 
 hypocrisies, its love of display, its boastfulness, its 
 pedantry, its exclusiveness, its capacity for self- 
 deception. They are superficially and meretri- 
 ciously used only when they are introduced purely 
 for their own sake, to arouse laughter, and have no 
 essential relationship to the subject-matter under 
 discussion. In the passage quoted from Lord Ran- 
 dolph Churchill's speech, as it stands above, no 
 such relationship is established. But Lord Ran-
 
 IN SPEECHES AND BOOKS 195 
 
 dolph Churchill, cynical as he was, was too able a 
 speaker to make of his cynicism merely a vehicle 
 of public laughter, and in the sentences that imme- 
 diately follow the quotation he proceeds to link his 
 previous observations to the essential point at 
 issue. Having observed that each of the working- 
 men on the deputation had been presented with a 
 few chips as a memento of their visit, he goes on to 
 elaborate a clever comparison between the chips 
 presented to the deputation and the fragmentary 
 results of Mr. Gladstone's policy. Having amused 
 and diverted the audience by his sarcastic sallies, 
 he brings it back to the point at issue, using a witty 
 similitude drawn from his previous remarks to 
 sharpen and drive home the point — the raillery 
 and ridicule in which he has indulged thus becomes 
 incorporated with the warp and woof of the whole 
 speech. 
 
 A particular form of ridicule that is sometimes 
 used with great effect is irony, in which something 
 different from, or opposite to, what is meant is said, 
 in order to make the truth more effective by con- 
 trast. There is a lighter kind of irony, implying 
 only disapproval or ridicule, in which we often 
 indulge casually in conversation. But in its graver 
 and more elaborate kinds irony implies bitterness of 
 feeling, bitter indignation or contempt ; it is a 
 natural form of expression for the bitter in soul who 
 are also imaginative. Where one person, domin- 
 ated by emotion, might give vent, " in good set 
 terms," to a simple outburst of anger or indignation 
 or contempt, the more imaginative and subtle 
 spirit, while perhaps experiencing those feelings 
 even more deeply, conceals them under a mask,
 
 196 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 pleasing his own imagination and stimulating that 
 of others. In sustained irony the speaker or writer 
 assumes an air of arguing gravely in defence of that 
 which he actually exposes as ridiculous or contemp- 
 tible, so that his very dissimulation is dissembled. 
 He desires that the mask should be seen through, 
 and reveals what lies beneath by his manner or 
 tone, and by the absurd consequences and embar- 
 rassments in which his personated character in- 
 volves him. Considered as an argument, irony 
 bears a close resemblance to the method known to 
 mathematicians as the reductio ad absurdum. The 
 effectiveness of irony in persuasion is strikingly 
 shown in books of the type of Gulliver's Travels. 
 Wit and humour may be regarded as exemplifying 
 in a typical manner the principles and methods of 
 persuasion, in that they involve the co-operation 
 and fusion of its three main elements, the intellec- 
 tual, the imaginative, and the emotional. In 
 persuasion as a form of expression those three 
 elements always work together : no absolute dis- 
 tinction can be drawn between argument and 
 illustration ; they approximate to and merge in one 
 another constantly, and the appeal to the emotions 
 is made to a large extent indirectly, through the 
 intellect and imagination. The product of that 
 fusion, however, the particular form of the persua- 
 sion resulting from it, varies in different cases. In 
 some kinds the intellectual element may predomi- 
 nate, as in a speech consisting mainly of argument ; 
 in other kinds the imaginative appeal may be more 
 conspicuous ; and in others the emotional ; the 
 relative predominance of the three elements being 
 determined not only by the writer's or speaker's
 
 IN SPEECHES AND BOOKS 197 
 
 personality, but, to a considerable extent, by the 
 nature of the subject-matter. 
 
 The subject-matter of persuasion may be broadly 
 classified as being of four kinds : political (including 
 also social and economic subjects), legal, religious, 
 and explanatory. The last-mentioned term must 
 be understood as being wide in its application : it 
 includes all those subjects, not essentially political, 
 legal, or religious, that are treated in a popular 
 style and contain the elements of persuasion. 
 Under this head may be classed, for instance, such 
 discourses as aim at interpreting the meaning of 
 events, at enforcing the lessons of the past, at inaug- 
 urating new movements, commemorating the lives of 
 great men, or simply at giving pleasure. They may 
 be appropriately termed explanatory because the 
 exposition and explanation of ideas is their essential 
 and predominating object. It will be observed that 
 no particular mention has been made of scientific 
 subjects. In so far as these are treated in a popular 
 style, and in such a way as to affect conduct, they 
 belong to the last-mentioned class. But as treated 
 theoretically, in lectures or books addressed to 
 scientific experts, they do not belong in any sense 
 to the subjects of persuasion ; and it may be 
 remarked generally of any and every subject that 
 the consideration of it from a purely theoretical or 
 technical standpoint involves as a consequence its 
 exclusion from the subject-matter of persuasion in 
 the meaning attached to the term throughout this 
 book. 
 
 The essential character of all persuasion is that it 
 deliberately seeks to affect human conduct and 
 action, and, as so doing, has a reference to the future.
 
 198 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 According as this reference to action and the future 
 is more or less direct and predominating, the 
 elements of intellect, imagination, and emotion 
 respectively tend to assume varying proportions in 
 discourse. 
 
 The four forms of persuasion that we have enu- 
 merated — political, legal, religious, and explanatory, 
 — differ from one another in the degree to which 
 they seek to affect conduct. The statesman and 
 politician, and the lawyer, often have in view a 
 particular action to which they would persuade 
 their auditors. The politician's aim may be to 
 induce them to vote for his party or candidate, or to 
 support some definite policy that he advocates ; 
 while the aim of the lawyer in court is to win judge 
 and jury to his side, and to move them to such 
 action as will enable him to gain his case. The 
 preacher's theme, on the other hand, while it also is 
 intimately concerned with action, and in the best 
 sense of the word is supremely practical in ten- 
 dency, is conduct generally rather than a particular 
 action. In explanatory discourse the reference to 
 action is usually more remote, and it is often entirely 
 absent. Many discourses, written or spoken, that 
 may be termed explanatory, cannot be properly 
 described as forms of persuasion. In such instances 
 the -writer's or speaker's appeal is made almost 
 exclusively to the intellect, and not at all, or only 
 in a slight degree, to the imagination, the emotions, 
 or the will. In an essay or a lecture on the life-work 
 of some eminent scientist, for example, the writer 
 or lecturer may deal with his subject from an 
 exclusively technical and scientific point of view, 
 describing and explaining fully and accurately the
 
 IN SPEECHES AND BOOKS 199 
 
 results achieved : such a treatment will afford no 
 opportunity for the art of persuasion, in the strict 
 sense of the word. On the other hand, while dealing 
 adequately with the subject from a scientific stand- 
 point, he may also endeavour to arouse his auditors' 
 curiosity, to stimulate their imagination, and lead 
 them to study the subject more fully for themselves : 
 into this treatment some of the elements of persua- 
 sion will necessarily enter. 
 
 Since, then, all persuasion involves a reference, 
 more or less direct, to conduct and action, it is con- 
 cerned also, more or less directly, with the future. 
 The statesman and politician, whose subjects are 
 war and peace, defence, the finances of the State, 
 commerce, and social and political legislation, pro- 
 poses some practical policy with regard to them, 
 to be carried out in the future with the approval and 
 help of those whom he addresses. His vision is 
 directed mainly to the future, when the mistakes 
 of the past may be retrieved, or a satisfactory ad- 
 justment made to new conditions. Of the preacher, 
 too, it may be said that his main concern is the 
 future : his aim is to secure that the future life of 
 his hearers shall be better than their past, and his 
 vision extends even to a life beyond this. The 
 advocate in the courts desires to move the audience, 
 in this case judge and jury, to future action, and 
 to secure a favourable verdict. In explanatory 
 discourse, the purpose of which generally is to 
 apportion praise or blame, and in which the relation 
 to conduct is as a rule not so determinate or explicit, 
 the reference to the future is not so prominent ; 
 yet it is always present in some degree whenever 
 the effect of persuasion is produced.
 
 200 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 But the present and the past, too, are involved 
 in persuasion. In the persuasion of the law-courts 
 past events and situations, wrongs or crimes that 
 have been committed, debateable points of equity 
 that have arisen, form the principal subject-matter ; 
 and in explanatory discourse, also, the main refer- 
 ence is most often to the past or the present. The 
 politician, again, often considers the past critically, 
 and invites the disapproval of some present unsatis- 
 factory situation to which past events or newly 
 arisen conditions have led ; and the description of 
 actually existing conditions, and the lessons of the 
 past, also form a large part of the preacher's subject- 
 matter. 
 
 In the case of both political and religious persua- 
 sion, however, the main reference is to the future ; 
 and for this reason illustrations by comparison and 
 example, which help us to judge of the future by 
 the past and present, are especially important in 
 those kinds. Again, in discourse in which the main 
 emphasis is laid on the future, there is less scope 
 for narrative, since it is impossible to narrate the 
 future ; yet narration has its place here also, in so 
 far as the future is interpreted from the past and 
 the present. The emotional element, on the other 
 hand, is often prominent in political and in religious 
 persuasion, in the former because it is frequently 
 intended to lead to a particular action, and in the 
 latter both because of the reference to conduct that 
 it implies and because of the inherent importance 
 and dignity of its subject-matter. Since, however, 
 religious persuasion aims not so much at inducing a 
 particular action as at influencing conduct generally, 
 and since its subject-matter is of a deeper and more
 
 IN SPEECHES AND BOOKS 201 
 
 solemn import than that of political persuasion, the 
 range of emotions to which it may appeal is, com- 
 paratively, less wide. For instance, the political 
 speaker may employ fierce invective, ridicule, 
 irony, cutting sarcasm, skilful flattery, and an arti- 
 fice by which the baser as well as the nobler passions 
 of his audience are wrought into a subservience to his 
 purpose. But those methods of exciting emotion 
 are clearly beyond the limits of pulpit eloquence. 
 The preacher, as appealing to permanent and eter- 
 nal interests, must avoid all appearance of sophistry, 
 and cannot be content to arouse a merely temporary 
 or a cheap emotion. Religious persuasion differs 
 from political also in that such reasoning as it em- 
 ploys is based almost exclusively on general prin- 
 ciples. Dealing, as it does, largely with the super- 
 natural and what is beyond our everyday experience, 
 its tendency is to appeal not to facts but to prin- 
 ciples that, derived from authority and tradition, 
 have acquired the sanction of accepted dogmas. 
 From this circumstance has arisen that extreme bit- 
 terness, the odiumthcologicwn, so opposed to the spirit 
 of right persuasion, by which religious controversy 
 has always been marked. Having exhausted all 
 his arguments derived from tradition and authority, 
 the theologian cannot, like the politician or the 
 scientist, proceed to demonstrate new facts, derived 
 from experience or experiment, in support of his 
 conclusions. His attitude is therefore apt to be 
 stubborn and immovable — on this rock, says he, I 
 stand. It may be noted, however, that in recent 
 years there has been a gradually increasing and 
 welcome tendency to base religious discussion on the 
 facts of spiritual experience rather than on tradition
 
 202 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 and authority ; and there is room for a further 
 development of religious discussion on those lines. 
 
 The legal and explanatory kinds of persuasion 
 differ from the political and religious in that their 
 main reference is to the past and the present. 
 Legal persuasion deals principally with things past, 
 and in it, therefore, narrative plays an important 
 part. In explanatory persuasion exposition and 
 illustration are specially important : discourses in 
 this kind should be marked pre-eminently by clear- 
 ness of statement and an imaginative charm that will 
 invest actions with beauty or grandeur. Reasoning 
 is not conspicuous in explanatory discourse, since 
 reasoning forms no essential part of explanation ; 
 but it holds a prominent place in legal persuasion, 
 the past events with which it deals being capable 
 of various interpretations and, from the obscurity 
 of their relations, affording wide scope for proof. 
 Both deductive and inductive methods of proof are 
 employed in the persuasion of the law-courts, but 
 especially the inductive, since proof in a legal case 
 must necessarily consist largely in the citation of 
 relevant facts bearing on the issue. In explana- 
 tory discourse there is, as a rule, less emotional 
 appeal, and less of the element of debate, than in 
 any of the other kinds, the reference to action 
 being here more remote. On the other hand, it 
 might be expected that, as being intended to lead 
 to a particular action, the persuasion of the law- 
 courts would be strongly emotional. It is so at 
 times, and always the emotional appeal is present, 
 even if only implicitly ; but few speeches delivered 
 by counsel in court are outspokenly emotional. 
 One might visit the law-courts daily for weeks on
 
 IN SPEECHES AND BOOKS 203 
 
 end without hearing anything in the nature of an 
 emotional outburst or even of an explicit appeal 
 to emotion ; many of the speeches heard, indeed, 
 would be of the driest and dreariest description. 
 For this several reasons may be assigned. The 
 audience addressed in a court of law is a small one, 
 unlike the large and heterogeneous audiences 
 addressed by politicians and preachers ; the decision 
 of many of the questions that arise may depend 
 largely upon strictly technical and legal details ; 
 when the judge speaks, he must speak impartially, 
 as the representative of the law, an attitude not 
 usually favourable to the expression of deep emo- 
 tion ; and when the advocate speaks, he is aware 
 that one of the most important, if not the most 
 important, of his hearers is the judge, an expert 
 who, from the nature of his position, attaches 
 special importance to legal principles and prece- 
 dents, and will not easily be moved by merely 
 emotional considerations. 
 
 As a form of expression, persuasion of every kind 
 is peculiarly liable to become degenerate and per- 
 verted. The false rhetorician makes of it an art of 
 sophistry, and uses it to exploit his neighbours and 
 serve his own interests. He invokes the aid of 
 arguments that he knows to be flimsy and specious. 
 He drags in illustrations and images merely to 
 attract and allure, or to turn his hearer's attention 
 from the point at issue. He disguises unfavourable 
 or unpleasant facts in the garb of plausibility. He 
 flings ridicule at his opponents that he may stimu- 
 late the unconscious desire of his audience to feel 
 superior. He appeals flamboyantly to emotions 
 that are not inherent in the subject-matter, and
 
 204 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 represents situations and events falsely, in order 
 that he may arouse the emotions favourable to his 
 purpose. And especially he plays upon his hearers' 
 more selfish impulses and desires, which work to a 
 large extent unconsciously — their love of power, 
 their vanity, their greed, their hopes and suspicions 
 and fears. Yet we should not bear too hardly on 
 the false rhetorician : there is something of him in 
 all of us, as soon as we begin to speak. Certainly, 
 most speakers, however honest they may be, and 
 however strongly convinced of the rightness of 
 their cause, even if they should disdain to employ 
 any of the other arts of false persuasion, uncon- 
 sciously feel, and may probably act upon, the 
 impulse to attain their ends at least by some 
 adroit cajolery or flattery of their hearers. It should 
 be added, however, that this impulse often has its 
 origin not in merely interested motives but in a 
 kindly feeling, and in the desire to be on good terms 
 with others, and we may therefore rightly distin- 
 guish between it and the deliberate or elaborately 
 sustained attempts of the false rhetorician to 
 exploit his hearers' mental weaknesses and defects. 
 Our persuasion of others should rest on the same 
 grounds as those on which the persuasion of our- 
 selves has been based. We should try to repeat 
 in others the same mental process that has been 
 effectual in the persuasion of ourselves, disdaining 
 to employ any arguments, any images, any ideas, 
 or to appeal to any emotions, that have not first 
 appealed strongly to ourselves. If we do this, our 
 attitude will be at least sincere, even if our conclu- 
 sions may be illogical or untrue. But the trouble 
 here is that we do not know ourselves truly, that
 
 IN SPEECHES AND BOOKS 205 
 
 self-persuasion is too often dominated by the merely 
 personal and non-soeial instincts of the Unconscious. 
 In persuading others, as in persuading ourselves, 
 we should try to universalise the unconscious 
 personal impulses and desires of the life of instinct, 
 transmuting them by bringing them into relation 
 with the conscious life of mind and spirit. Our 
 aims will then be more impersonal and objective, and 
 it will be impossible for us to call to our aid the arts 
 of false rhetoric, which have for their end the 
 exploitation of our neighbours for the furtherance 
 of exclusive personal interests.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 PERSUASION IN THE NOVEL AND THE 
 
 DRAMA
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 PERSUASION IN THE NOVEL AND THE 
 DRAMA— PERSUASION AND ART 
 
 IT has been noted above 1 that painting, sculp- 
 ture, and music comprise some of the elements 
 of persuasion, and may sometimes serve its pur- 
 poses ; and this is true not only of those but of all 
 the fine arts, and especially of literature. Thus 
 poetry, appealing strongly to the imagination and 
 the emotions, contains some of the elements of 
 persuasion ; but it is more disinterested, less closely 
 related to action, appeals more to the sense of beauty, 
 and soars higher. The novel and the drama are 
 the forms of literary art that are most nearly akin 
 to persuasion as a form of expression. 
 
 The novel and the drama depict action and 
 character and motive in their mutual relations, as 
 conditioning or conditioned by one another. How 
 men and women, worked upon by some emotion 
 or sentiment or passion, by love, hatred, jealousy, 
 fear, courage, anger, revenge, and placed in an en- 
 vironment that feeds and inflames or conflicts with 
 their emotions, commit actions that lead to an 
 emotional or dramatic crisis, and how that crisis is 
 resolved — this is the typical line of development that 
 
 1 v. Cap. V. 
 14 209
 
 210 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 runs through the novel and the drama in their 
 traditional forms. Every novel and play contains 
 some description or indication of the characters' 
 inner persuasions — their ideas, their reasonings, their 
 imaginations, their feelings. This is the case even 
 in those novels and plays that have for their main 
 object the presentation of a stirring story, in which 
 the element of action is most conspicuous : even 
 in these the mental tendencies and characters of the 
 actors, their dominant beliefs, their impulses and 
 desires, must be portrayed naturally and plausibly, 
 so as to exhibit the connection between action and 
 character and motive. 
 
 Embodying thus the processes of inner persuasion 
 in the characters depicted, the novel and the drama 
 are adapted also to affect persuasively the reader 
 or spectator. In reading a novel or seeing a play, 
 the reader's or spectator's view is more compre- 
 hensive than that of any of the characters who 
 figure in the action : he sees, and understands, more 
 than they do, knowing their secret motives, their 
 unconscious impulses and desires, the contradictory 
 or false emotions by which they are animated. 
 Behind the characters, all the time, stands the 
 author, the showman of the place, revealing to us 
 their good and bad qualities, their strength or their 
 weakness, and implicitly inviting us to criticise and 
 judge, while at the same time he may conform our 
 thoughts subtly to the pattern of his own persuasions. 
 If he is sarcastic and ironical in temperament, and 
 is dealing with the minor defects and vanities of 
 human nature, he may throw over the actions of his 
 characters a subtle cloak of ironical comment or 
 suggestion ; or if, exhibiting the injustice of man
 
 IN THE NOVEL AND DRAMA 211 
 
 to man and the tyranny of human institutions, he is 
 animated by fierce indignation, he may fire his 
 readers to a similar indignation. The extent to 
 which the author's personality protrudes itself in 
 fiction and the drama varies in different cases, but 
 even the most detached of novelists and dramatists 
 exercises on those whom he addresses some charac- 
 teristic persuasive influence. 
 
 Until recently, however, the essential purpose of 
 fiction and drama has always been conceived as 
 being radically different from that of persuasion. 
 Fiction and drama, it has been said, while they 
 influence belief and conduct, should not seek to do so 
 consciously and directly : their aim should be the 
 representation of action and character, not with a 
 view of modifying our beliefs, but in and for itself. 
 This attitude is based on a wider theory of the 
 function of art generally, regarded as a human 
 activity that has for its object the communication 
 of emotion. The emotions of the artist, it is pointed 
 out, should be primarily disinterested ; he should 
 regard things from a detached standpoint, thus 
 seeing them more completely, as they are in them- 
 selves ; his emotion should be purified of personal 
 desire, which is apt to distort our vision ; and he 
 should seek to arouse a similar emotion in others. 
 For this point of view, the emotions excited by art 
 should be static, and not kinetic ; they should 
 arrest the mind, raising it above desire, and prompt 
 no direct response in the way of action. But those 
 qualities, essential to artistic emotion thus regarded, 
 obviously find no place in the emotional appeal 
 of persuasion. The speaker or writer whose intent 
 is to persuade others appeals to their emotions with
 
 212 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 the sole object of modifying their beliefs and induc- 
 ing them to act ; his aim is immediately practical ; 
 the emotion that he feels, and seeks to communicate 
 to others, is saturated with personal desire. And 
 for this reason it is frequently maintained that the 
 more the novel and the drama approximate to per- 
 suasion, aiming deliberately at the modification 
 of belief and conduct, the further they recede from 
 art. 
 
 If we consider the older type of novel — those pro- 
 duced, say, before the '70s or '80s of last century, 
 there would seem to be reason for believing that, 
 in them at least, persuasion and art were not per- 
 fectly compatible. Until comparatively recently, 
 the novelist, as a rule, regarded his role as being 
 primarily that of a story-teller : his chief preoccu- 
 pation was the entanglement and unravelling of a 
 " plot ". So regarded, the novel is an organised 
 story having a beginning, a middle, and an end, 
 running through which is a continuous series of 
 situations, all related to, and combined into, the 
 central plot or action. Such was the theory, 
 implicitly or explicitly held, on which, for instance, 
 Dickens and Charles Reade, with most of the other 
 novelists of the nineteenth century, worked ; and, 
 in consistency with that theory, the characteristic 
 modes of expression of the novel were narration and 
 description. Sometimes, however, as in the case 
 of the two novelists we have named, the novel was 
 employed also, incidentally, as a means of persua- 
 sion. Thus, in Nicholas Nickleby, Dickens exposed 
 the evil features of the scholastic system of his time, 
 and Reade, in It's Never Too Late to Mend and 
 Hard Cash, sought to arouse his readers' indigna-
 
 IN THE NOVEL AND DRAMA 213 
 
 tion against the cruelties perpetrated in English 
 prisons and lunatic asylums. But in each of those 
 books, as in nearly all the novels of persuasion of 
 the nineteenth century, the writer's main object 
 was to tell a story — the plot and the characterisation 
 were the essential elements, and the task of persua- 
 sion had to be effected, as well as might be, within 
 the narrative and descriptive style prescribed for the 
 novel as a distinctive form of art. 
 
 That task, however, was in reality, an impossible 
 one, for the continuous and artistic development 
 of a plot by narration and description is inherently 
 inconsistent with the exposition of a thesis or with 
 detailed comment and argument. The writer's 
 attitude in the two cases is essentially different : 
 in telling a story, he should as far as possible stand 
 aloof, not obtruding his own personality to any 
 extent ; while, if his object is to persuade, he must 
 infuse into all his persuasion the emotion and 
 desire he himself feels and must share them with 
 his readers. Seeking to realise two ends inherently 
 incompatible, the novel of persuasion, in the form 
 it commonly assumed in the nineteenth century, 
 certainly lost in artistic quality in so far as the 
 elements of direct persuasion entered into it. It 
 tended to be lacking in continuity and coherence, 
 in unity of treatment, in harmony of atmosphere, in 
 concentration, in intensity, in balance — all essential 
 qualities of a work of art. The main purpose of 
 Charles Reade's Hard Cash, for instance, is to tell 
 an exciting story, and it succeeds in its purpose ; 
 but the story would have been better and more 
 artistically told if its development had not been 
 hampered by the writer's secondary object, to lead
 
 214 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 to the reform of the laws for the regulation of luna- 
 tic asylums. To promote that secondary object, 
 the novelist so manipulates his plot that it becomes 
 in some respects unnatural and improbable. Thus, 
 one after another, as the writer's persuasive pur- 
 pose demands, the characters develop signs of 
 lunacy, and are shifted from one asylum to another 
 merely that the reader may be enabled to study 
 different varieties of treatment in different places ; 
 and, that the emotions stirred in the reader may be 
 as intense as possible, the incidents that occur in 
 the asylums are of the most sensational description, 
 and are often fortuitous, obtruded too obviously by 
 " the long arm of coincidence ", while the charac- 
 ters of the doctors and the attendants are depicted 
 in lurid colours that are not the colours of life. 
 Further, the continuity and coherence of the narra- 
 tive are broken by lengthy disquisitions intended 
 to acquaint the reader with the anomalies and 
 absurdities of the laws regulating the treatment of 
 the insane. All this makes for bad art ; and in this 
 respect Hard Cash is typical of most novels that aim 
 simultaneously at the narration of a complex plot 
 and at the exposition of a thesis. 
 
 But, in recent years, there has arisen another type 
 of the novel of persuasion, exemplified notably in 
 some of Mr. H. G. Wells's later novels. In those the 
 plot is of secondary importance, and the style is not 
 purely, or even mainly, narrative ; persuasion is of 
 the essence of the writer's purpose, and comment 
 and argument — the ' discussion ', as it is sometimes 
 called — hold a fundamental place. In so far as plot 
 enters into the composition of this kind of novel, it 
 is governed throughout by the writer's persuasive
 
 IN THE NOVEL AND DRAMA 215 
 
 purpose ; all the incidents, and their relation to one 
 another, are determined by the beliefs and emotions 
 with which he seeks to affect his readers. Possessing 
 more unity of treatment and harmony of atmo- 
 sphere, novels of this kind are not so liable to artistic 
 deterioration as novels of the type of Hard Cash, in 
 which the development of an elaborate plot through 
 narrative is the fundamental element. In the later 
 novel of persuasion the plot cannot be said to be in- 
 terrupted or marred by the introduction of comment, 
 because there is, in the strict sense of the word, no 
 plot. At the centre of the story is some belief, 
 based on a strong emotion, held by the writer, and 
 from this as centre radiate, in more or less divergent 
 lines, the successive incidents and situations 
 depicted. The ' discussion ' forms an integral part 
 of the central theme, and is essentially interwoven 
 with the incidents, so that it is possible for the writer 
 to produce a fundamental unity of impression. 
 
 It is sometimes objected that this type of book 
 cannot legitimately be called a novel, because its 
 form is radically different. To this objection it 
 may be replied that its form is different, but not 
 radically so : it retains some elements of the older 
 form, modifies others, and adds fresh elements. 
 The objection seems to imply that the forms of art 
 are incapable of development, and must remain 
 fixed. But, as the life of man changes and 
 develops, so too does every vital art. The newer 
 novel of persuasion may be regarded as a natural 
 product of its time. In the days of Jane Austen 
 and Walter Scott the mental outlook of men and 
 women was, necessarily, narrower than that of 
 to-day : there were then no railways and rapid
 
 216 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 steamships, communication was slow and difficult, 
 which made men's minds also move slowly, science 
 and mechanical invention were in their infancy, 
 the conditions of social and industrial life were less 
 complex and disturbed, and religious faith was 
 settled and simple — the problems of life were fewer, 
 and capable of an easier solution. Writing of his 
 own or the even less complex times of the past, the 
 novelist was troubled by no such unrest or doubts 
 as distract our minds to-day. He was able to 
 concentrate on one essential theme, usually the love 
 between man and woman, and the environment of his 
 characters was adapted to a simple and straightfor- 
 ward narrative treatment. To-day the unity of life 
 has been broken for us : we see its scattered lights 
 and flying shadows, and realise, with Heracleitus, 
 that " all things flow " — life is movement, an end- 
 less succession. Seeing it thus, the novelist cannot 
 impart to his expression of it the roundness and 
 finish of the old conventional plot : its restless 
 change, its divergent threads of moving interest, its 
 inconclusiveness, cannot be exhibited in the fixed 
 form of a complete narrative. And since life, being 
 movement, is a movement towards something, in a 
 particular direction, even if it be momentary, the 
 novelist's view comprises, as well as the past and 
 present, the future, which cannot be adequately 
 expressed in a purely narrative style ; in any 
 detailed reference to the future the elements of 
 discussion are necessarily involved. 
 
 The novel of narration, however, in which the 
 writer aims simply at telling a story and depicting 
 life in clear and brilliant colours, will always con- 
 tinue to be written and to find readers. In it there
 
 IN THE NOVEL AND DRAMA 217 
 
 is more repose, less doubt and mental conflict, more 
 grace, and often more unity of treatment ; and 
 those qualities will always attract. There is room 
 both for the novel of narration and for the novel of 
 persuasion ; and each has its characteristic qualities 
 within the novel as a form of art. To say that the 
 modern novel with a purpose, as seeking to com- 
 municate dynamic emotion to the reader, is neces- 
 sarily inartistic and transgresses the limitations of 
 the novel, is to misstate the case ; for dynamic 
 emotion, as well as static, is a part of life, and the 
 contemplation of life, or a picture of it, may arouse 
 in us both those kinds, according to the point of view 
 from which we regard it : the distinction between 
 the two, indeed, is by no means absolute, and both 
 are involved, in varying degrees, in every form of 
 art. It cannot be denied, however, that many 
 novels of persuasion, not only those of a generation 
 or two back, but many of those written to-day, 
 are inartistic in form, wanting in continuity, in 
 coherence, in grace, in harmony. Those qualities, 
 in fiction of this class, can arise only when the ' dis- 
 cussion ' is essentially interwoven with the incidents, 
 and when an artistic balance is preserved between 
 the more directly persuasive and the imaginative 
 elements ; the writer must combine and interfuse 
 essentially the parts of persuader and of narrator, 
 and must not allow either to predominate unduly. 
 Here, however, we are concerned with the novel 
 not so much in its artistic aspects as in its capacity 
 for persuasion ; and in this respect it may be con- 
 sidered to possess certain advantages not shared 
 by other more direct forms of persuasion. Employ- 
 ing the medium of fiction, the writer expresses
 
 218 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 his personal views and emotions, not directly but 
 in relation to, and through, his characters ; his 
 personality obtrudes itself, but only by implica- 
 tion ; he is in the background, not in the foreground, 
 of his picture. The tones of direct persuasion are 
 apt to be more egoistic, more imperative, less collo- 
 quial, and for that reason they may be less convinc- 
 ing. The novel is well fitted to exhibit vividly the 
 human issues of persuasion, the effects produced by 
 a situation or conjunction of events upon the lives 
 of human beings, and thus, by a touch of nature 
 making the whole world kin, to move its readers 
 by the compulsion of a universal appeal. Mr. H. 
 G. Wells, in Mr. Britling Sees it Through and in 
 God the Invisible King, deals with one and the same 
 subject in the forms, respectively, of fiction and of 
 pure discussion ; and these books illustrate well 
 the characteristic advantages and disadvantages 
 of the two forms as means of persuasion. In read- 
 ing the latter we may be repelled by the writer's 
 very insistence and violence, by the partiality of his 
 criticisms, and his obvious proselytising intent ; but 
 at the same time we are enabled to study the sub- 
 ject more fully and in its deeper and more abstract 
 aspects. In the former book the persuasion is more 
 effective in that it presents the issues as they 
 appear to, and as they affect, a particularly human 
 character ; almost unconsciously, through our sym- 
 pathy with Mr. Britling, we are drawn to the side 
 of Mr. Wells. As treated by Mr. Wells and other 
 ' moderns ', the novel of persuasion would appear 
 to be not only a legitimate and inevitable develop- 
 ment of the art of fiction, but also an effective mode 
 of persuasion.
 
 IN THE NOVEL AND DRAMA 219 
 
 The drama, on first consideration, might appear 
 to be even better adapted to the purposes of 
 persuasion than the novel ; and in every drama, 
 certainly, the elements of persuasion are involved. 
 The vital inspiration both of the orator, whose sole 
 aim is to persuade, and of the characters in a play, 
 is the emotion that arises from the particular situa- 
 tion and circumstances in which they speak. The 
 dramatic situation in which the characters of a play 
 are placed creates a dynamic emotion that finds 
 expression in their words and acts. So, too, the 
 orator, as political or moral or social reformer, may be 
 filled with indignation at the wrongs of his times and 
 with an intense desire to right them, and the senti- 
 ment or passion with which he regards the situation 
 is the motive force that inspires his words with life 
 and power. The close relation between emotion 
 and action, which may be termed the pivot on which 
 all persuasion turns, finds continuous expression 
 throughout every play. Frequently the characters 
 address one another with a directly persuasive 
 intention, and, when the ' villain ' speaks, his per- 
 suasions are often sinister in kind, prompted by the 
 motives and leading to the methods of secret impres- 
 sion and exploitation ; in Othello, for instance, 
 Iago's deceitful persuasions, and his exploitation 
 of the leading characters, play an all important part 
 in the development of the action. 
 
 But, in recent years, the dramatist has not been 
 content merely to exemplify the process of persua- 
 sion in the intercourse of his characters. He, too, 
 like the novelist, has attempted more explicitly 
 and directly to modify the beliefs and conduct of 
 his audience. He has assumed the role of preacher
 
 220 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 and prophet, as well as that of the showman of life. 
 The most prominent exponent of this type of drama 
 in this country is Mr. Bernard Shaw, who claims 
 that an essential technical factor in every good play, 
 and the real centre of its interest, is ' the discussion ' 
 and, further, that this " new technique is new only 
 on the modern stage ", since " it has been used by 
 preachers and orators ever since speech was 
 invented 'V In examining this claim, it will be 
 well to institute a short comparison between the 
 technique of the novel, which we have tried to show 
 may be consistent with the purpose of persuasion, 
 and that of the drama. 
 
 An essential difference between the two is that 
 while, in drama, most of the situations are enacted 
 before the spectator's eyes, in the novel, on the 
 other hand, they are only described. The situa- 
 tions that form the subject-matter of fiction and the 
 drama are frequently the results of remote causes 
 that have continued to operate during a long period 
 of time. This slow or gradual development of a 
 situation the drama is not well fitted to represent, 
 though it can present vividly the final result, the 
 actual situation. The novel, in which the inci- 
 dents are not enacted before our eyes, but only 
 described, is much better adapted to exhibit the 
 gradual development of action. While a drama 
 depicts action in a succession of emotional crises, 
 of critical situations linked by a central unity 
 of theme, the novel can depict it not only at its 
 moments of crisis but in its development. The 
 typical dramatic treatment of a subject is rapid, 
 crisp, and forcible, in the nature of a series of sharp 
 1 v. The Quintessence of Ibsenism.
 
 IN THE NOVEL AND DRAMA 221 
 
 strokes intended to touch the spectator's emotions 
 keenly ; while the characteristic style of the novel 
 is smoother, more continuous, and slower in its 
 effects. 
 
 This difference between the technique of the 
 drama and that of the novel points to the conclusion 
 that the novel may be employed more effectively 
 than the drama as a means of persuasion. Com- 
 ment and discussion may be more easily and natur- 
 ally interwoven with the gradual development of an 
 action through description and narration than with 
 the visible representation of it solely in its moments 
 of crisis. In witnessing a drama of persuasion, 
 as soon as the characters begin openly to expound 
 a thesis or to point a moral, the spectator is apt to 
 lose interest or feel bored ; and this feeling may 
 arise not from any want of intellectual capacity on 
 his part, but from an implicit or explicit perception 
 that the essential form and technique of the drama 
 have been transgressed, that the characteristic 
 effect of drama must inevitably be marred as soon 
 as the characters begin formally to discuss abstract 
 ideas. The spectator at a play demands emotional 
 excitement, and quite properly, because the form 
 of drama and the conditions of stage representation 
 are inherently adapted to produce it ; when he is 
 obliged to listen to a series of speeches that expound 
 a thesis or elaborate a moral, he may rightly feel as 
 if he had been drawn to the theatre under false 
 pretences. Brieux's play, Damaged Goods, illus- 
 trates well the kind of artistic degeneration to 
 which the drama of persuasion is liable. The sub- 
 ject with which it deals is (in the delicately obscure 
 language of the playbill) " the great social evil ",
 
 222 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 and the whole of the first act is devoted to a narra- 
 tive of past events that are destined to lead, in the 
 second act, to the presentment of a dramatic situa- 
 tion. This narration of the past is in itself un- 
 dramatic, but it must be admitted, of course, that 
 there are many plays, not written with a purpose, 
 in which the greater part of the first act is devoted 
 to such narration. In this particular instance, how- 
 ever, there is a great deal of exposition, in which 
 elaborate details of the effects produced by syphilis 
 on the sufferer are given, with lengthy quotations 
 from medical textbooks : the audience, in the 
 meantime, suffering from boredom and extreme 
 depression of spirit. In the second act there is real 
 dramatic interest, and the curtain falls on a strong 
 situation ; but the third act lapses again into pure 
 propaganda and declamation : three new charac- 
 ters are introduced, having no connection with the 
 preceding incidents or the other characters in the 
 play, but, as victims of ' the social evil ', qualified 
 to point, in long-drawn speeches, the moral that the 
 dramatist desires to enforce. Such a sermonic 
 scheme, it is obvious, is quite inconsistent with any 
 theory of the drama as the art of emotional crisis. 
 It would almost seem as if Mr. Shaw himself were 
 conscious of the limitations of the dramatic form 
 as a method of persuasion, despite the ideas 
 expressed in The Quintessence of Ibsenism : else 
 why, one may ask, those lengthy prefaces to his 
 published plays ? Few readers, indeed, would wish 
 the prefaces to be omitted, so full of witty and 
 stimulating writing are they ; but the only theory 
 that can satisfactorily account for their existence 
 is that the plays they introduce are not in them-
 
 IN THE NOVEL AND DRAMA 223 
 
 selves adapted to persuade as effectively as Mr. 
 Shaw would desire. In the prefaces, adopting a 
 form of expression appropriate to persuasion, the 
 writer is enabled to deal with his subject-matter 
 more broadly and deeply, by argument and a 
 sustained intellectual appeal as well as by the appeal 
 to the imagination and the emotions. They may 
 be considered to be the outcome of Mr. Shaw's essen- 
 tially logical habit of thought, prompting him to 
 supply the deficiencies of the plays, considered as 
 instruments of persuasion, by the employment of a 
 form of expression more suitable to his purpose. 
 
 It would be difficult to conceive of any novelist 
 adopting this plan, prefacing his story with a dis- 
 cussion of its theme that should fill as many pages 
 as the story itself. The novel admits more easily 
 than the drama of a fusion of the elements of persu- 
 asion within its own essential form. Lengthy con- 
 troversial prefaces to novels are superfluous, be- 
 cause, if a novelist be bent on persuasion, he can, 
 without unduly straining the characteristic form 
 of the novel, incorporate with its other subject- 
 matter a considerable amount of controversy and 
 argument. This it is impossible for the dramatist 
 to do, for the essence of his art is to exhibit action 
 in its moments of crisis and climax. It may be 
 concluded, therefore, that while, in the novel, owing 
 to its much greater elasticity of form, its capacity 
 for absorbing detail, and its slower movement, 
 the element of discussion may legitimately find a 
 place, in the drama this is not the case. 
 
 Nevertheless, in so far as it is calculated to pro- 
 duce poignant emotion in the spectator, the drama 
 may be regarded as an effective instrument of per-
 
 224 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 suasion. In a play like Galsworthy's The Silver Box. 
 for instance, the dramatist leads to an intense real- 
 isation of the fact that ' there is one law for the rich, 
 and another for the poor ' ; achieving this result 
 not by any abstract comment or discussion, but 
 through the strong emotion of pity that he evokes 
 in the spectator through a series of dramatically 
 contrasted situations or crises. The dramatist him- 
 self is animated and inspired by pity, and his treat- 
 ment of his theme is therefore, in a sense, personal 
 and interested ; but, as an artist, he does not, like 
 Brieux in Damaged Goods, permit his personal 
 feelings to infringe upon or break up the appro- 
 priate form of drama : the emotional presentation 
 of the subject-matter is not marred by the intro- 
 duction of lengthy comment and argument. 
 
 The common ground upon which all art and all 
 persuasion as a form of expression rest is emotion. 
 Art is a human activity that aims at the conscious 
 communication of an emotion to others by means of 
 external signs — movements, lines, colours, sounds, 
 or words. To this statement there may be added a 
 rider to the effect that the emotions experienced by 
 the artist and communicated to others should be, 
 in a sense, disinterested and impersonal, purified of 
 personal desire, resulting from a detached contem- 
 plation and a heightened vision of life. The idea 
 underlying this conception of art is that personal 
 feeling of any kind is apt to distort our interpre- 
 tation of things, tending to make us omit here, and 
 tone down or exaggerate there, so that our repre- 
 sentation of them may be in harmony with our 
 feeling towards them. This is undoubtedly true, 
 and the circumstance accounts for the marked ten-
 
 IN THE NOVEL AND DRAMA 225 
 
 dency to degeneration that may be observed in all 
 the forms of persuasion. Dominated by some 
 powerful emotion that he seeks to satisfy at all 
 costs, the propagandist's vision of truth is very apt 
 to be partial or warped. At the same time it 
 would be a great mistake to suppose that any or 
 every emotion inevitably distorts our view of an 
 object ; it does so only when the emotion we feel 
 towards it is irrelevant. In a sense, it may be said 
 that the artist cannot possibly escape from, and 
 must necessarily be inspired by, personal emotion. 
 Like every one else he is moved to action by his 
 own feelings. Thus animated, he seeks to affect 
 other people similarly, to impart to them his own 
 vision — in some fashion or other to persuade. But, 
 though inspired by personal emotion, he must 
 remain undistracted by it, and represent truly 
 the objects he depicts ; and this he can do only if 
 the emotions that he feels are relevant, proceeding 
 directly from the objects themselves, not from his 
 own momentary moods or fixed prepossessions. 
 In this respect he stands on the same ground as the 
 writer or speaker in direct or formal persuasion. A 
 consideration of the relations of art and persuasion 
 leads us to the same conclusions regarding the 
 criteria of true persuasion as we have previously 
 reached by another road. In false persuasion we 
 represent a situation not as it is in itself, but as we 
 wish it, for our own purposes, to appear. To impel 
 to the action desired, we arouse emotions that are 
 essentially irrelevant, and have no inherent connec- 
 tion with the situation. True persuasion, on the 
 other hand, resembles art in that the emotions 
 
 by which it is inspired, and that it seeks to inspire, 
 15
 
 226 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 proceed directly from the situation or object as it 
 is in itself, not merely from the speaker's or writer's 
 own selfish interests or unconscious impulses and 
 repressed wishes. 
 
 Again, persuasion resembles art in that, as com- 
 municating emotion, it is a means of uniting men. 
 The only effective bond of union among men is that 
 of an emotion shared by them in common. In the 
 ranks of the British Army that fought recently in 
 the various fields of war there were to be found men 
 who, from the different circumstances of their birth 
 and education, varied widely in their opinions and 
 outlook on life ; but, sharing a common life and a 
 common danger, possessed by a common sentiment 
 and purpose, they stood united. 
 
 Tolstoy maintains that the chief difference 
 between good art and bad is that, while the former 
 unites men, the latter separates them. It may be 
 considered, however, that in following out this idea 
 Tolstoy himself takes a somewhat narrow view of 
 the emotions that are specifically adapted to be the 
 subject-matter of art. " Only two kinds of feel- 
 ings," he says, " do unite all men : first, feelings 
 flowing from the perception of our sonship to God 
 and of the brotherhood of man ; and next, the sim- 
 ple feelings of common life, accessible to everyone 
 without exception — such as the feeling of merri- 
 ment, of pity, of cheerfulness, of tranquillity, etc. 
 Only these two kinds of feelings can supply material 
 for art good in its subject-matter. And the action 
 of these two kinds of art, apparently so dissimilar, 
 is one and the same. The feelings flowing from 
 perception of our sonship to God and of the brother- 
 hood of man — such as a feeling of sureness in truth,
 
 IN THE NOVEL AND DRAMA 227 
 
 devotion to the will of God, self-sacrifice, respect 
 for and love of man — evoked by Christian religious 
 perception ; and the simplest feelings — such as a 
 softened or a merry mood caused by a song or 
 an amusing jest intelligible to every one, or by a 
 touching story, or a drawing, or a little doll : both 
 alike produce one and the same effects — the loving 
 union of man with man." 1 
 
 This statement may be applied to persuasion, as 
 well as to art, with equal truth ; but we may accept 
 it without narrowing the field of art to the limits 
 imposed upon it by Tolstoy. He would exclude 
 wholly, for instance, from the purview of art, the 
 exhibition in theatres of feats of jugglery and 
 acrobatic skill, and even the ballet. Yet these 
 exhibitions, too, when the movements that consti- 
 tute their medium of expression are performed easily 
 and gracefully, may in their own fashion be artistic 
 and stir feelings that will unite men. Even the 
 dexterous performance of the acrobat may arouse 
 in us a sense of admiration and almost of reverence 
 for the human body, a kind of religious feeling such 
 as Tolstoy desiderates as the essential effect to be 
 looked for in good art. The acrobat may be an 
 artist in his own kind and degree, and may awaken 
 us, like every artist, to a heightened sense of life, 
 and of the potentialities of man's nature. Again, 
 much of the " so-called " art of our time is excluded 
 by Tolstoy from the province of true art because it 
 deals with what he terms three insignificant and 
 base feelings — " the feeling of pride, the feeling of 
 
 1 What is Art ? By Leo Tolstoy. Translated, with an 
 Introduction, by Aylmer Maude. The Walter Scott Pub- 
 lishing Co., Ltd.
 
 228 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 sexual desire, and the feeling of weariness of life ". 
 In opposition to this view, however, it may be held, 
 and quite consistently with Tolstoy's main position, 
 that those feelings are, in the first place, not neces- 
 sarily insignificant or base, but, on the contrary, 
 are very significant and may have a character of 
 nobility, and, secondly, that they are as capable of 
 artistic treatment, as well fitted to produce the 
 characteristic effect of art, as any other emotions. 
 Art, we should remember, depends not merely on 
 its subject-matter, but also on its form ; any aspect 
 of life, appropriately treated, may be its subject- 
 matter. According to the distinction Tolstoy 
 makes, a novel such as Mr. George Moore's A Mum- 
 mer's Wife could not properly be described as art. 
 Yet it may be considered that this book, by its 
 detached presentment of incident and character, 
 enabling the reader to realise them clearly and 
 significantly, more truly than if he had been an 
 actual spectator of the issues, creates inevitably a 
 feeling of pity, a sense of the limitations of our lives 
 — emotions fitted to unite us all in the realisation of 
 our common weakness. 
 
 Bad art, it is true, as Tolstoy maintains, produces 
 nothing of this unifying effect. It delineates objects 
 not as they are, but as coloured and distorted 
 by the artist's personal desires ; its motives are 
 exclusively interested ; and its typical qualities 
 are insincerity, exaggeration, and lack of truth, 
 which are principles of separation, not of union, 
 between man and man. And in this respect bad 
 persuasion resembles bad art. False persuasion, 
 as has been pointed out in Chapter IV, is based on a 
 principle of exclusiveness : its motives are inter-
 
 IN THE NOVEL AND DRAMA 229 
 
 ested and selfish. Conceiving himself as separate 
 from others, having his own ends, or the ends of his 
 special group, to realise, at the expense of other 
 people if they may not be realised otherwise, the 
 false rhetorician employs any device that will assist 
 him to exploit his neighbours. He reasons falla- 
 ciously, exaggerates and distorts facts, and excites 
 in his hearers irrelevant images and emotions. 
 He sacrifices truth of presentment for the attain- 
 ment of his personal ends. His aim, generally, is 
 to retain or gain power for himself or his group, 
 and this leads to a disregard of the claims and rights 
 of others. True persuasion, like true art, is based 
 on the principles of respect for human nature and 
 human life and personality, and as a form of expres- 
 sion it is marked by the freshness, individuality, 
 and sincerity of its emotional appeal : it is thus, like 
 good art, fitted to promote brotherhood and unity 
 among men.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 THE PERSUASION OF THE FUTURE
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 THE PERSUASION OF THE FUTURE 
 
 THE remark is frequently heard that human 
 nature does not change, the speaker gener- 
 ally implying thereby that never will men 
 and women cease to display their innate frailty or 
 folly or wickedness. There is truth in the remark, 
 no doubt ; but it must not be understood as mean- 
 ing that our mental tendencies are incapable of 
 modification. Recent scientific investigation has 
 established that " nature " works much less power- 
 fully in living organisms than the theories of Dar- 
 winism and post-Darwinism had led us to suppose, 
 and that ' nurture " is correspondingly more 
 powerful. This position is demonstrated and illus- 
 trated in a very interesting fashion by Mr. 
 Benjamin Kidd in the last chapter of his book, The 
 Science of Power ; and in other chapters of the same 
 book he cites the instances of Japan and Germany 
 to show how the mental outlook of whole nations 
 may be profoundly modified in a comparatively 
 short period of time. The persuasions of men and 
 women, as social beings, alter, and the nature of the 
 modifications they undergo is determined by the 
 dominant spirit of time and place. 
 
 233
 
 234 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 In recent years, for example, in all civilised 
 countries, persuasion has been marked by a strong 
 tendency to apply the methods of physical science to 
 the sphere of human interests, a tendency respon- 
 sible for many of the evils that mar to-day the life 
 of both individuals and communities. We have too 
 often failed to realise that men and women differ 
 essentially from inanimate objects as the material 
 of reasoning. Physical objects we can classify 
 and confine in compartments more precisely, subject 
 to experiment, and, as the result of our experiments, 
 predict with certainty their behaviour under speci- 
 fied conditions. The control that we have thus been 
 able to establish over the physical world we have 
 sought to extend to human affairs, forgetting that 
 men are not things, refuse to be classified uniformly, 
 and that no one can predict with absolute certainty 
 the behaviour of any human being under any given 
 circumstances. As a result, our persuasions have 
 been too often animated by the spirit of exclusive- 
 ness, and have expressed themselves in the methods 
 of secret impression and exploitation. Class dis- 
 tinctions have been intensified, and each class has 
 worked to promote its own interests only. Men 
 have been experimented upon, and have been treated 
 as tools and machines, not as human beings, simply 
 in order that the power or wealth of the experi- 
 menters and manipulators might be increased. 
 
 We are now, however, beginning to realise the 
 social consequences that this attitude of thought 
 entails : we begin to see more and more clearly 
 that it leads inevitably to isolation between man 
 and man, disputes between class and class, and war 
 between nation and nation. The logic of recent
 
 PERSUASION OF THE FUTURE 235 
 
 events has helped to bring this truth home to us 
 with a vengeance. The main lesson that the War 
 should have taught us is that neither individuals 
 nor nations are to be treated merely as tools by 
 other individuals or nations, however powerful ; 
 that individuality, alike in men and nations, how- 
 ever weak or helpless, has its paramount claims to 
 respect. By that consideration the persuasion of 
 the future, if it is to lead to an effective reconstruc- 
 tion, more favourable to the principle of growth in 
 individuals and communities, will be powerfully 
 influenced. 
 
 Even before the War many tendencies conducive 
 to that idea were at work. For corroboration of 
 this we may consider the trend of modern art, 
 since art always reflects in some way or other cur- 
 rent ideas and modes of thought. 
 
 One of the main tendencies of modern art is the 
 tendency to realism, the central principle of which 
 is its respect for existence and individuality as such. 
 To look at things with a certain pleasure and joy in 
 them for their own sake, regarding nothing as 
 alien, to contemplate them with so intense and 
 sympathetic an intuition that their essential 
 individuality is vividly realised, to represent life in 
 all its aspects as it really is — that is the fundamental 
 quest and aim of the realistic artist. And, in more 
 recent times, for the spirit of realism has never been 
 wholly absent from art, there has appeared a more 
 specific tendency, leading the artist to turn his 
 vision more exclusively towards humanity, and 
 more exclusively inwards, urging him to penetrate 
 and reveal the inmost thoughts, imaginations, and 
 emotions of men and women — in the contempla-
 
 236 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 tion and representation of these, too, as individual 
 and significant, as well as of the outward aspects of 
 life, he finds the opportunities of his art. This ten- 
 dency is especially marked in the typically modern 
 forms of the novel and the drama, in the develop- 
 ment of which psychological realism has played a 
 large part. The essential aim of the modern novel- 
 ist or dramatist is to depict actual life, not merely 
 in its outward manifestations, but in its inward 
 significance. He reveals to us the hidden as well as 
 the patent springs of our actions — the unconscious 
 impulses, the repressed wishes, the vanities and 
 exclusive ambitions, the hopes and fears and indig- 
 nations that move us to act and that lead to the 
 comedies and tragedies of life. He depicts the 
 differences in the nature of men and women, seeing 
 each of his characters as uniquely distinctive in 
 mind and temperament. All this makes for a 
 better understanding and a more sympathetic reali- 
 sation of the conditions of life both in its ampler 
 prospects and in its limitations. The modern novel 
 and drama have enlarged the scope of our sympa- 
 thies, increased our sensitiveness and capacity for 
 response to the needs of men and women, and height- 
 ened our sense of respect for individuality ; and, 
 as having this effect, they are influences favourable 
 to right persuasion — conducive to gentleness and 
 tolerance, and subversive of the spirit of aggression 
 and exploitation. 
 
 In education, again, which, like art, always repre- 
 sents the tendencies of an epoch, we begin to see 
 reflected to-day the same principle of respect for 
 individuality and revolt against the classification 
 of human beings as similar when they are really
 
 PERSUASION OF THE FUTURE 237 
 
 different. Here, indeed, the reactionary spirit of 
 professionalism may act as a clog on the wheel of 
 progress, but cannot stop its movement. A truer 
 spirit of freedom is now beginning to pervade the 
 work of our schools. The first principle of good 
 teaching, it may be considered, is that the teacher 
 should have respect for his pupils ; and this means 
 that he must know and be in sympathy with them, 
 must be aware of their mental attitudes and impulses 
 and situations, the present conditions of their lives 
 and their future potentialities : only through that 
 knowledge can he really show his respect for them 
 and assist in developing their individuality. In the 
 past, a serious hindrance to true educational work 
 in the schools has been the rigid classification of the 
 pupils in groups, leading to the system of collective 
 teaching more or less regardless of individuality. 
 It is now beginning to be recognised that, when 
 forty or fifty pupils are rigidly classified and taught 
 together, there must always be some who lag 
 behind, while the progress of others will be delayed 
 on account of the laggards. The recognition of this 
 fact has already led to a considerable diminution in 
 the amount of the collective teaching given : the 
 teacher talks less himself, and encourages the pupils 
 to work more actively, and more individually, on 
 the lines suited to them. Under the system of rigid 
 classification of pupils each in some way essentially 
 different from the other the teacher must needs 
 employ against them the methods of repression and 
 force, or discourage rebellion by an artificial system 
 of rewards and punishments ; his teaching is the 
 same for all the pupils ; but, as their attainments 
 and potentialities and character are different in each
 
 238 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 instance, and as individuality will always assert 
 itself despite of, and because of, repression, antag- 
 onism between teacher and pupils is a necessary 
 consequence. In the schools of the future the 
 teaching, hampered and restricted less by the old 
 rigid artificial classifications, will be based on a 
 closer realisation of the differences between the 
 pupils and on a deeper respect for individuality and 
 freedom. 
 
 Some of the more recent developments of science 
 illustrate similar tendencies. We have, it is true, 
 in this and a previous chapter represented the 
 methods of physical science as being inapplicable, 
 in their entirety, to the treatment of human beings, 
 and have attributed to the obsession of the scientific 
 point of view some of the most pernicious tendencies 
 of false persuasion. The reference in those pas- 
 sages, however, was exclusively to physical science. 
 In recent years, science, like art, has turned its 
 vision inwards, and a specifically modern science 
 of psychology is the result. The methods of modern 
 psychology differ from those of the physical sciences 
 in that, in any enquiry into the behaviour of living 
 or of human beings, it takes into account their 
 individual differences and the varying personal 
 factors involved. The difference between the stand- 
 point of the psychologist and that of the physiolo- 
 gist, for instance, who employs purely the methods 
 of physical science, is well illustrated in the follow- 
 ing passage from Dr. Charles S. Myers' little book on 
 Present Day Applications of Psychology : — " Let us 
 suppose that the physiologically trained physician 
 wishes to determine the keenness of vision in a sub- 
 ject. He confronts him with the well-known cards
 
 PERSUASION OF THE FUTURE 239 
 
 of test-types. He is not particular in the use of 
 any well-defined method of procedure. Individual 
 differences of familiarity with letters, due to illiter- 
 acy, are not taken into account. Differences in the 
 ease of recognition of different letters are not con- 
 sidered. The physiologist proceeds in his investiga- 
 tion of sensory experiences just as if he were dealing 
 with the measurement of pure sensation. He takes 
 no account of the psychological complications just 
 mentioned, nor of others such as the influence of 
 excitement, fatigue, and individual differences in the 
 use of interpretation. The psychologist, on the 
 other hand, carefully predetermines his method, 
 choosing one of the established methods which can 
 be precisely repeated on the same subject or on 
 other subjects for comparison of individual differ- 
 ences or of the psychological factors of practice, 
 fatigue, and the like. He chooses an apparatus 
 which shall eliminate, as far as possible, differences 
 due to education, interpretation, etc." 
 
 The scope of the inductive method, as applied in 
 psychology and in the discussion of human affairs, 
 has become greatly enlarged. In those spheres it 
 is now recognised that the ' facts of the case ' 
 include not only material and physical, but 
 psychological, facts, and, in particular, that our 
 instincts, impulses, and emotions are vitally impor- 
 tant factors in the consideration of every human 
 problem. This tendency to consider not merely 
 the material conditions that limit action, but the 
 instincts and feelings that prompt it, is characteris- 
 tic of the realistic attitude towards life, which is as 
 strongly marked a feature of modern thought as it 
 is of modern art. We are beginning to understand
 
 240 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 that in politics, for instance, much might be gained 
 by a closer study of men's political impulses, of the 
 part played in politics by the gregarious instinct, 
 by ambition, by the desire for power, by patriotism, 
 pride, pugnacity, and personal affection, all of which 
 modify men's political beliefs and actions. Under- 
 standing how our attitude to current questions is 
 affected by, and how politicians seek to play upon, 
 those feelings and impulses, we shall be more likely 
 to persuade ourselves rightly and to resist success- 
 fully any attempts made to exploit us through an 
 illicit appeal to emotion. Politicians, too, by taking 
 into consideration the psychological factors 
 involved in their problems, may save themselves 
 from committing serious blunders. If, for instance, 
 the statesmen of victorious nations, before deciding 
 upon and imposing terms of peace upon conquered 
 nations, had always studied carefully the factors of 
 national and racial psychology involved in the 
 situation, the conditions imposed would, in many 
 instances, have been less likely to be resented by 
 the conquered nations, and less likely to lead — as 
 has so often happened in the past — to a renewal of 
 hostilities. Again, in economics, vitally important 
 questions would be solved, or would be well on the 
 way to solution, if we could decide rightly as to the 
 nature and limitations of the desire for property ; 
 and, in religion, the study of mystical feeling, 
 reverence, the desire to convert, to proselytise even 
 by persecution, the love of power, and (in the sphere 
 of missionary endeavour) the love of adventure, 
 will explain much that would otherwise be obscure 
 to us in the history of religion and in the religious 
 life of to-day.
 
 PERSUASION OF THE FUTURE 2!1 
 
 The increasing tendency of all discussion to attach 
 importance to the facts of human nature may be 
 illustrated by a more detailed reference to recent 
 and present-day questions. 
 
 At the beginning of the War many people were of 
 the opinion that the drink traffic in this country 
 ought to be absolutely prohibited. Judged from a 
 purely rational standpoint, the arguments in favour 
 of pursuing this course were extremely strong, and 
 at one time it appeared to be quite possible that the 
 sale of liquor would be prohibited for the duration of 
 the War. But this result did not follow, simply 
 because the ruling politicians came to realise that 
 the predominant feeling of the working- classes, 
 whose labour and support were of the first impor- 
 tance for the successful prosecution of the War, was 
 strongly against such a policy. Many working-men 
 believe, with or without reason, that beer enables 
 them to work more efficiently, adds to the amenities 
 of social life, and that to prohibit absolutely the sale 
 of liquor would be to interfere unduly with the 
 liberty of the individual. Confronted by those 
 sentiments, the politicians, who at first fulminated 
 so fiercely that the brewers must have trembled 
 in their shoes for the very existence of their indus- 
 try, gradually began to concede more and more to 
 the demands of " the trade ", which, so far from 
 being ruined, was never more prosperous financially 
 than during the period of the War. 
 
 Again, later on, it became an urgent question 
 whether conscription should or should not be ex- 
 tended to Ireland. On a priori grounds the question 
 admitted of only one answer. Every consideration 
 
 of principle pointed to the conclusion that Ireland, 
 16
 
 212 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 as an integral part of the (nominally) United King- 
 dom, should be conscripted. The ruling politicians, 
 men of principle all, assumed a determined attitude : 
 conscription it was to be. But presently they 
 showed signs of wavering. They had omitted, it 
 appeared, to take into consideration the sentiments 
 of Catholic Ireland, very important factors in the 
 situation. So important, indeed, on consideration, 
 were those factors perceived to be that conscription 
 was not enforced, and it was deemed advisable, once 
 more, to adopt the attitude of " Wait and See ". 
 
 Most of the opposition to the reform of the 
 Divorce Laws proceeds from the theological belief 
 that to increase the facilities of divorce would be to 
 act against the principles of Christianity and " pro- 
 fane the sanctity of marriage ". As men of prin- 
 ciple, the theologians are entitled to respect ; 
 but, among the general public, a more detailed 
 consideration of the facts of the case, and especially 
 of men and women as emotional beings, distinct and 
 sometimes incompatible in temperament and char- 
 acter, is rapidly leading to the conclusion that the 
 laws laid down by the early Church ought not to be 
 made to apply to people living two thousand years 
 later under entirely different conditions. The 
 following passage dealing with the subject, from a 
 speech by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, may be quoted 
 as an instance of persuasion that is animated by a 
 vivid realisation of the human factors involved, 
 leading to a departure from traditional belief based 
 on the method of a 'priori argument. ' The British 
 workman," he said, " is a migratory person. He is 
 not anchored to his job as most of us are. If a man 
 is an expert carpenter, he is as sure of a job in
 
 PERSUASION OF THE FUTURE 243 
 
 Sydney or in San Francisco as in Manchester. The 
 result is that he very easily moves on if he desires it. 
 He can also leave his wife behind, and I regret to 
 say he very often does. Consider the woman's posi- 
 tion. This is a very common case. She waited a 
 year. No word. She had learned some trade to 
 earn her bread. She made her new life. Five 
 years, ten years, passed. She met some other man 
 who would gladly make her his wife. She learned, 
 perhaps, to love him, and yet she could never marry, 
 for how could she ever be sure that her first husband 
 would not come back into her life ? He might be 
 dead, but she could not prove it, and still she could 
 not marry. She might eat out her heart in solitude, 
 or she might become the other man's mistress. 
 Was that right ? Could that be Christian charity, 
 when the woman, through no fault of her own, could 
 only have such alternatives as that ? Did they 
 think the bonds of Christ were ever made to sustain 
 such a position ? Yet that was the assertion, the 
 blasphemous assertion, as it seemed to him, with 
 which we were eternally confronted." 1 
 
 Even the judges in the law courts, whose decisions 
 are generally based on precedent and tradition, are 
 ceasing to enforce so rigorously the letter of the 
 law, and show an inclination to make concessions 
 to the spirit of the age and the changing conditions 
 of life. An appeal case was tried recently before 
 the House of Lords, involving a decision as to the 
 validity of a legacy that had been made to the 
 Secular Society, the main objects of which, as 
 stated in its memorandum, is "to promote, in such 
 
 1 Manchester Free Trade Hall, October 8, 1917. Daily 
 Telegraph Report.
 
 244 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 ways as may from time to time be determined, 
 the principle that human conduct should be based 
 upon natural knowledge and not upon supernatural 
 belief, and that human welfare in this world is the 
 end of thought and action." The testator's heir-at- 
 law and next-of-kin contested the validity of the 
 gift on the ground that the society was constituted 
 for illegal purposes, namely, the subversion of the 
 Christian and all other religions. Mr. Justice 
 Joyce had decided in favour of the society, and the 
 Court of Appeal had affirmed his decision. When 
 the question came before the House of Lords, the 
 Lord Chancellor was in favour of allowing the 
 appeal, on the ground that " it was difficult to see 
 how a change in the spirit of the age could justify a 
 change in the principle of the law by a judicial 
 decision. They had to deal not with a rule of public 
 policy, which might fluctuate with the ages, but 
 with a definite rule of the law, to the effect that 
 anything hostile to Christianity was illegal. It 
 could never be the duty of a court of law to begin 
 by enquiring what was the spirit of the age, and 
 then, in supposed conformity with that, decide what 
 the law was. If the law was to be altered, the 
 change must be effected, not by judicial decision, 
 but by an Act of Legislature ". This utterance 
 reflects the traditional attitude of the Law to all 
 questions brought before it for decision. None the 
 less, by a majority, the House of Lords, deferring to 
 " the spirit of the age ", upheld the previous judg- 
 ments, and affirmed the validity of the gift. 
 
 The tendency to consider fixed principles as 
 liable to be modified by changed circumstances, or 
 by factors that had previously been neglected, is, on
 
 PERSUASION OF THE FUTURE 245 
 
 the whole, one which makes for right persuasion. 
 A principle which does not comprise, or take into 
 account, essential factors in the situation to which 
 it is applied, is necessarily an imperfect or a false 
 principle : it achieves a facile unity at the expense 
 of truth. But it is possible, on the other hand, 
 to neglect the real truth that may underlie a given 
 principle and to lay undue stress on circumstances 
 that, though appealing strongly to the modern 
 attitude of relativity, may be comparatively unim- 
 portant, or even irrelevant. Thus, in several recent 
 trials for murder, arising from conditions produced 
 by the War, the jury obviously neglected unduly 
 the principles of the law, and based their decision 
 exclusively on sentimental grounds. The situation 
 involved in those cases was, briefly, as follows : — 
 A soldier or sailor had left his wife to serve his 
 country ; in his absence she had proved unfaith- 
 ful ; the husband returned, and the situation 
 moved abruptly to a tragic end. In several such 
 instances, the jury, moved exclusively by the 
 emotional facts of the case, acquitted the prisoner. 
 This may perhaps be justly considered as, in the 
 words used by Mr. Justice Avory in the course 
 of a trial of this kind, " trifling with the crime of 
 murder ". It illustrates an attitude that, in its 
 way, is no less partial and prejudiced than the atti- 
 tude of unconsidered and implicit faith in established 
 principles. An attempt is sometimes made to 
 excuse such " sentimental " verdicts on the plea 
 that they are based upon what is vaguely termed 
 " the unwritten law " ; but such attempts to veil 
 the partiality of our views under the glamour of an 
 alluring phrase should carry little or no conviction
 
 246 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 to our minds. Most established principles, though 
 not all, embody elements of truth in so far as they 
 may have resulted from a consideration of essential 
 facts ; and the neglect of those facts is no less an 
 error than the failure to take into consideration 
 other facts that may have been non-existent, or 
 ignored, at the time when the principles were estab- 
 lished or accepted. To satisfy the claims of truth 
 no less comprehensive a view than one which com- 
 prises all the essential facts of the case will serve. 
 In close harmony with the modern tendency to 
 base persuasion on a wider consideration of facts 
 is the growing tendency to employ quantitative 
 methods of persuasion. Men are no longer to be 
 persuaded by a mere appeal to general principles ; 
 they want facts, and facts definitely and precisely 
 stated, from which they may draw their own con- 
 clusions. The quantitative method finds its most 
 obvious expression in the use of statistics. Every 
 reader of the newspapers must have been impressed 
 by the extent to which detailed statistical calcula- 
 tions have entered into all discussions relating to 
 the War. For a proper consideration of the ques- 
 tions, for instance, of food control and national 
 service, it was found necessary to collect a mass of 
 statistical information which had previously been 
 lacking, and which, no doubt, will prove to be of 
 immense value in the future, when the problems 
 of reconstruction come to be considered. In the 
 past, the pioneers of social reform have been greatly 
 hampered by the lack of precise data and exact 
 measurement of needs and resources — this lack 
 has been to some extent supplied by the numerous 
 " forms " that had to be filled up during the War.
 
 PERSUASION OF THE FUTURE 247 
 
 The persuasive effect of numerical statistics arises 
 from the circumstance that they enable us to form 
 exact ideas of, or to picture concretely and vividly, 
 the facts of a case. Thus, at a certain stage of the 
 War, in a speech before the Reichstag, pleading for 
 a peace by mutual concessions, Herr Scheidemann 
 expressed his point of view effectively in the follow- 
 ing passage : — " Suppose the war carried on for a 
 hundred days beyond the day on which we could 
 have peace by understanding. That would mean 
 extra expenditure of £50,000,000, not counting great 
 burdens on local communities, not counting terrible 
 damage to economic life, without counting the sacri- 
 fices of individual families for their members on the 
 field. If twelve hundred Germans are killed daily 
 and three thousand wounded, we get in a hundred 
 days a total of 300,000 wounded and 120,000 
 killed. That is a brilliant picture of conquest." 
 
 But it is not only in terms of number that the 
 quantitative method of thinking expresses itself. 
 Mr. Graham Wallas, in Human Nature in Politics, 
 points out that a picture, for instance, " may be 
 sometimes nearer to quantitative truth, more easily 
 remembered and more useful for purposes of argu- 
 ment and verification than a row of figures. The 
 most exact quantitative political document that 
 I ever saw was a set of photographs of all the women 
 admitted to an inebriate home. The photographs 
 demonstrated, more precisely than any record of 
 approximate measurement could have done, the 
 varying facts of physical and nervous structure 'V 
 
 The quantitative method, however, it must be 
 
 1 Human Nature in Politics. By Graham Wallas. 
 London : Archibald Constable & Co., Ltd. 1908.
 
 248 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 remarked, is subject to very distinct limitations. 
 It cannot, for instance, enable us to come to a 
 decision in any question involving a comparison 
 between disparate emotions and sentiments. By 
 it we may measure different degrees of strength in 
 similar mental states or operations ; through quan- 
 titative experiment we may gauge accurately a 
 man's power of memory or his quickness of obser- 
 vation ; but when we have to assess the compara- 
 tive value of disparate emotions or sentiments it 
 can afford us no assistance. Its utility in persuasion 
 is therefore limited, since all deliberate choice of 
 action, which is the subject of persuasion, neces- 
 sitates a decision, implicit or explicit, as to the 
 relative value of the sentiments that might be satis- 
 fied by one course of action or another. If a states- 
 man had to decide whether war should or should not 
 be declared against another nation, he might have 
 to consider, on the one hand, the money that would 
 be saved, the material gain that would accrue, 
 through a decision in favour of peace, and, on the 
 other hand, the loss of national honour that might 
 be involved in such a policy. Between those two 
 disparate values no quantitative method of think- 
 ing could enable him to choose. Mr. Graham Wal- 
 las, in the book just referred to, recognises this 
 objection to the quantitative method, but dismisses 
 it rather summarily. " The obvious answer," he 
 says, " is that statesmen have to act, and that 
 whoever acts does somehow balance all the alter- 
 natives which are before him ". The " somehow " 
 of this statement would appear to stand in need of 
 further explanation. The " balancing " of alter- 
 natives, of which Mr. Wallas speaks, is, surely, in
 
 PERSUASION OF THE FUTURE 249 
 
 no sense quantitative, but must be based on a con- 
 sideration of the quality of the alternatives. When 
 we have to make a decision between two or more 
 different actions or between two or more disparate 
 values, we must ultimately have recourse to quali- 
 tative thinking. 
 
 By the quantitative method, however, we may 
 discover suitable means for the attainment of our 
 ends, and it is especially valuable for this purpose 
 because it deals with questions not vaguely but in 
 precise terms, and because it is based on a realisa- 
 tion of the fact that every individual case with 
 which it deals is different from every other, and 
 should be investigated with an eye to all its factors 
 in their relative importance. In this respect it is 
 typical of the inductive spirit of modern persuasion, 
 which approaches questions untrammelled by tra- 
 dition or by the acceptance of principles lightly taken 
 for granted, subjecting all its subject-matter to 
 independent and disinterested enquiry. 
 
 Throughout this book two opposite principles of 
 persuasion have been indicated — the principle of 
 exclusiveness, and the principle of respect for human 
 nature, based on a recognition of the fact that no 
 individual, and no group of individuals, is self- 
 sufficient, and that each has need of every other. 
 The persuasions of individuals and groups will 
 always, no doubt, continue to be moved by both of 
 those principles ; but the tendencies of our time, 
 and recent important events, suggest that in the 
 future a deeper value may be attached to the latter. 
 And this would appear to apply more particularly 
 to group-persuasion. The group organisations of 
 the past have been influenced too much by the
 
 250 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 principle of exclusiveness ; those of the future, it 
 may be hoped, will be animated more deeply by 
 respect for human nature as such. At the present 
 time we would appear to be entering on a period of 
 transition between the two types. Trades Unions 
 in the past, instead of being friendly societies linking 
 men in fellowship, have too often been rather fight- 
 ing units, in conflict with both employers and con- 
 sumers ; but the advisability of forming industrial 
 councils in which representatives of Capital and of 
 Labour will meet as members of one body is now 
 widely recognised. 1 Further, for some time before 
 the war broke out a movement had been made in 
 the direction of international co-operation between 
 Trades Unions, and in this respect they have been 
 the pioneers of a wider movement that may be 
 destined to exercise a profound influence on human 
 life. In view of recent happenings, there can be 
 little doubt that, in the future, joint international 
 action in social, political, and economic affairs 
 will be exercised at least more frequently than in 
 the past. The scheme for a League of Nations 
 indicates that the desirability of inter-state action 
 is being more and more fully recognised ; and it 
 leads logically to an even wider conception, of a 
 world-wide international law, not imposed by any 
 external authority and maintained by military 
 power, but arising out of the essential needs of man, 
 out of a deep inner sense of the value of humanity 
 as such and of the necessary interdependence of 
 each upon all. 
 
 1 v. Report of the Whitley Committee on Joint Stand- 
 ing Industrial Councils.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Advertisements, persuasion 
 
 in, 153-164 
 Analogies, false, 61, 62, 
 
 116-119 
 Anecdotes, as illustrations, 
 
 182-184 
 Argument, deductive, 172- 
 175 
 from analogy, 176 
 from causal relationship, 
 
 175 
 from examples, 175 
 inductive, 175-178 
 its relation to emotion, 
 
 185, 186 
 its relation to illustration, 
 178, 179 
 Art, and persuasion, 211, 
 224-228 
 tendencies of modern, 235 
 Tolstoy on, 226-228 
 Austen, Jane, quoted, 57- 
 59 (passim) 
 
 Behind the German Veil (J. 
 
 M. Beaufort), 49, 73 
 Belief, and wish, 14 
 
 how determined, 13, 14 
 Beresford, Mr. J. D., 55 
 
 Books, persuasion in, 171 
 
 205 
 Brieux, and the drama of 
 
 persuasion, 49, 73 
 quoted, 44-48 (passim), 
 
 80, 81 
 Bright, John, 179, 180, 183 
 Brougham, Lord, 27, 182 
 
 Capitalism, 87, 88 
 Carlyle, on humour, 190 
 Cato, definition of the ora- 
 tor, 133 
 Chatham, Lord, 26 
 Chesterton, G. K., on rea- 
 son, 99 
 Churchill, Lord R., 191, 192 
 Cinematograph, the, as a 
 means of persuasion, 
 135-143 
 Conscription in Ireland, 241 
 Conversation, persuasion in, 
 
 147-150 
 Cooke, Mr. P. J., on advo- 
 cacy, 152, 153 
 Co-operation, and suggesti- 
 bility, 70-74 
 dangers of, 108 
 
 251
 
 252 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 Co-operation, increasing 
 tendency towards, 69 
 in politics, 70 
 value of, 70 
 
 Damaged Goods (Brieux), 
 
 criticised, 221, 222 
 Darwinism, 233 
 Dibblee, Mr. G. B., on 
 
 newspapers, 166 
 Dickens, and the novel of 
 
 persuasion, 212 
 Diplomacy, methods of, 93, 
 
 94 
 Divorce laws, reform of, 
 
 242-243 
 Dostoevsky, obsessed by 
 
 the Unconscious, 104 
 Doyle, Sir A. C, on Divorce 
 
 laws, 242 
 Drama, the, as a means of 
 
 persuasion, 219-224, 
 
 236 
 
 Economics, persuasion in, 
 
 87-90 
 Education, modern tenden- 
 cies of, 236-238 
 Emotion, and art, 211 , 224- 
 228 
 
 and imagination, 29 
 
 and intellect, 26 
 
 and the law of non-con- 
 tradiction, 35, 36 
 
 and the Unconscious, 
 100-106 
 
 contrasted with passion, 
 22 
 
 contrasted with senti- 
 ment, 20-22 
 
 Emotion, in the drama, 
 
 219, 221, 223,224 
 its relation to argument, 
 
 185-186 
 its relation to persuasion, 
 
 16, 18-23, 26, 29, 99, 
 
 239, 240 
 the expression of, 184- 
 
 189 
 End, as justifying means, 
 
 49-54 
 Error, defined, 119 
 Essai sur V Eloquence de la 
 
 Chair e, 126, 127 
 Essays, Irish and American 
 
 (J. B. Yeats), 149 
 Evil and good, relation of, 
 
 54 
 Explanatory persuasion, 
 
 197, 198, 199, 202 
 
 False Gods (Brieux), 80, 81 
 
 False persuasion, in groups, 
 
 69-94 
 
 in individuals, 35-66 
 
 Forensic Eloquence, 152, 153 
 
 Galsworthy, Mr. John, 224 
 Gerard, Mr. J. W., on the 
 
 " Rat " system, 82 
 Germany, 50, 61, 81-86 
 Gesture and action, 125- 
 
 130 
 God the Invisible King (H. 
 
 G. Wells), 218 
 Good and evil, the relation 
 
 of, 54 
 Green, J. R., 91 
 Group -pressure, 69-94
 
 INDEX 
 
 253 
 
 Groups, organisation of, 77, 
 78 
 power of, 74-77 
 suggestibility of, 71-74 
 
 Hard Cash, 213, 214, 215 
 Herd-instinct, the, 97 
 History of England (Prof. 
 
 Pollard), 174 
 Human Nature in Politics 
 
 (Mr. G. Wallas), 247, 
 
 248 
 Humour in persuasion, 190- 
 
 195 
 Hunt, Miss Violet, quoted, 
 
 64-66 (passim) 
 Hypocrisy, 89 
 
 Illustrations, by anecdote, 
 182-184 
 by comparison and con- 
 trast, 180-182 
 in speeches and books, 
 
 178-184 
 their relation to argu- 
 ment, 178, 179 
 Imaginary Conversations, 
 
 75,76 
 Imagination, and emotion, 
 29 
 false processes of, 55-62 
 its relation to persuasion, 
 27, 28 
 Impulse in human life, 11, 
 
 12 
 Inductive method, 175-178, 
 
 239 
 Inference, 25 
 Innuendo, 190 
 Intellect and emotion, 26 
 
 Introduction to Social Psy- 
 chology (McDougall), 
 20, 106 
 
 Invisible Event, The (J. D. 
 Beresford), 55 
 
 Irony, 195, 196 
 
 Ifs Never Too Late to Mend, 
 212 
 
 Joyce, Mr. James, 39, 40 
 Judgments of value, 18, 19, 
 
 106 
 Justification of means by 
 
 end, 49-54 
 
 Kaiser, the ex-, and " dou- 
 ble " emotions, 38 
 quoted, 38 
 Kidd, Mr. B., 99, 233 
 
 Landor, W. S., on power, 
 75, 76 
 
 Legal persuasion, 24, 152, 
 153,198,199,200,202, 
 203, 243, 244, 245 
 
 Lloyd George, Mr., 31 
 
 Logic, Deductive and Induc- 
 tive (Read), quoted, 
 177 
 
 Logic of persuasion, 13, 25, 
 26 
 
 Lowe, Rt. Hon. R., 182 
 
 Manning, Cardinal, 37 
 
 Massillon, 126 
 
 Maury, Cardinal, on gesture 
 
 and action, 126, 127 
 McDougall, Prof. W., 20, 
 
 106
 
 254 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 Means justified by end, a 
 
 fallacy, 49-54 
 Meynell, Mrs., on gesture, 
 
 126 
 Militarism, 84, 85, 87 
 Moore, Mr. George, 228 
 Moral judgments, 106 
 Mr. Br tiling Sees it Through, 
 
 quoted, etc., 49-52, 
 
 218 
 Music, and persuasion, 134 
 Myers, Dr. C. S., 102, 238 
 
 Party -system, 70 
 Pathological persuasion, 41, 
 
 102-106 
 Persecution, 79-81 
 Personality, dissociation of, 
 102, 103 
 effect of, in speech, 131- 
 
 133 
 respect for, 114 
 Persuasion, a non-rational 
 process, 12, 97, 98 
 and Art, 224-229 
 and facial expression, 
 
 139, 140 
 and imagination, 27, 28, 
 
 55-62, 178-184 
 and music, 134 
 and Organisation, 77, 79 
 and personality, 131-133 
 and pictorial art, 135 
 and prestige, 130, 131 
 and psychology, 240 
 and rational logic, 25 
 and respect for human 
 
 nature, 110 
 and science, 113, 114, 234 
 and self-deception, 35-66 
 
 Persuasion and suggesti- 
 bility, 70-74 
 
 and the desire for power, 
 74-79 
 
 and the inductive me- 
 thod, 239 
 
 and the Unconscious, 
 100-106, 116-120 
 
 argument in, 25, 171-178 
 
 as a form of expression, 
 125-251 
 
 as a means of exploita- 
 tion, 63-66, 69-94 
 
 as a mental process, 11- 
 121 
 
 constituent elements of, 
 29,30 
 
 contrasted with rational 
 logic, 13, 17, 19, 26, 42 
 
 dangers of organised, 78, 
 82, 83, 84 
 
 emotion in, 16, 18-23, 26, 
 29, 98-100, 184-189, 
 239, 240 
 
 gesture and action in, 
 125-130 
 
 illustrations in, 178-184 
 
 in advertisements, 153- 
 164 
 
 in conversation, 147-150 
 
 in economics, 87-90, 240 
 
 in newspapers, 164-167 
 
 in poetry, 209 
 
 in politics, 90-94, 198- 
 201 (iJassim), 240 
 
 in religion, 79-81, 135, 
 198-201 (passim), 240 
 
 in salesmanship, 150-153 
 
 in speeches and books, 
 171-205
 
 INDEX 
 
 255 
 
 Persuasion, intellectual fal- 
 lacies in, 113-119 
 
 in the drama, 219-224, 
 236 
 
 in the novel, 212-218 , 236 
 
 in the novel and drama, 
 209-212 
 
 irony in, 195, 196 
 
 its relation to conduct, 
 15, 197-199 
 
 narration in, 24 
 
 of groups, 69-94 
 
 of the cinematograph, 
 135-143 
 
 of the law-courts, 24, 
 152,153,198,199,200, 
 202,203, 243, 244, 245 
 
 one-sided character of, 
 18, 19 
 
 pathological, 41, 102-106 
 
 plausibility in, 186 
 
 quantitative methods of, 
 246-249 
 
 spoken and written forms 
 of, 197-203 
 
 starting-point of, 12 
 
 types of, 31 
 
 varieties of, 30, 32 
 
 wit and humour in, 189- 
 195 
 
 wordless, 125-143 
 Pictorial art and persua- 
 sion, 135 
 Plausibility, 186, 187 
 Poetry, and persuasion, 
 
 209 
 Pollard, Professor, 174 
 Power, as an end in itself, 
 75 
 
 desire for, 74-77 
 
 Present-Day Applications 
 
 of Psychology (Dr. 
 
 Myers), 102, 238 
 Prestige. 130, 131 
 Preuss, Dr., 61 
 Probability, 185 
 Prohibition, 15, 27, 241 
 Prussianism, 86 
 Psychology, contrasted 
 
 with physical science, 
 
 238-239 
 its relation to persuasion, 
 
 240 
 
 Quantitative methods of 
 persuasion, 246-249 
 
 Quintessence of Ibsenism, 
 The (Shaw), 220-222 
 
 Rational logic, and persua- 
 sion, 25 
 contrasted with persua- 
 sion, 13, 17, 19, 26, 42 
 
 " Rat " system in Ger- 
 many, 82-83 
 
 Read, Mr. C, on inductive 
 methods, 177 
 
 Reade, Charles, and the 
 novel of persuasion, 
 212-214 
 
 Realism , in modern art , 235 
 in the novel and the 
 drama, 236 
 
 Reason and emotion, 26, 99 
 
 Reconstruction, 94, 121, 
 235 
 
 Redmond, Mr. J., 128 
 
 Red Robe, The (Brieux), 
 45-48
 
 256 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION 
 
 Religious persuasion, 79- 
 81, 135, 198-201 (pas- 
 sim), 240 
 
 Repressed wishes, 102, 103 
 
 Ridicule, in persuasion, 
 191-194 
 
 Rozanoff, V. V., 135 
 
 Salesmanship, 150-153 
 Scheidemann, Herr, 247 
 Science and persuasion, 
 
 113, 114,234 
 Science of Poiver (B. Kidd), 
 
 99, 233 
 Secrecy in persuasion, 63- 
 
 66, 93, 94 
 Self-consciousness, 106 
 Self-deception, 35-66 
 Self-persuasion, 14, 22 
 Sentiments, the, abstract 
 and concrete distin- 
 guished, 106 
 and moral judgment, 
 
 106-107 
 distinguished from emo- 
 tions, 20-21 
 Shaw, Mr. Bernard, and 
 the drama of persua- 
 sion, 220, 222, 223 
 quoted , 220 
 Short History of the English 
 People (Green), quoted, 
 91 
 Social service, limitations 
 
 to, 114, 115 
 Speeches, persuasion in, 
 
 171-205 
 Statement of facts, 24 
 
 Statistics, 246, 247 
 Strachey, Mr. Lytton, quot- 
 ed, 37 
 Suggestibility, 70-74 
 Swift, Mr. Benjamin, 43, 44 
 
 Thackeray, on humour, 190 
 
 Their Lives (Miss Violet 
 Hunt), 64 
 
 The Silver Box (Gals- 
 worthy), 224 
 
 The Sleeper Awakes (H. G. 
 Wells), 162, 163 
 
 Tolstoy, on Art, 226-228 
 
 Unconscious, the, 100-106, 
 116-120 
 
 Wallas, Mr. G., on quanti- 
 tative methods, 247, 
 248 
 
 War and the Future (H. G. 
 Wells), 109 
 
 Wells, Mr. H. G., and the 
 novel of persuasion, 
 214, 218 
 quoted, 49, 50, 109, 162, 
 163 
 
 What is Art? (Tolstoy), 
 226, 227 
 
 Whitley Report, the, 250 
 
 Wilson, President, 85 
 
 Wish and belief, 14 
 
 Wit and humour, 189-195 
 
 Women, suggestibility of, 
 71 
 
 Yeats, Mr. J. B., 148, 149 
 Printed in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner, Frome and London.
 
 A SELECTION FROM 
 
 Messrs. Methuen's 
 
 PUBLICATIONS 
 
 This Catalogue contains only a selection of the more important books 
 published by Messrs. Methuen. A complete catalogue of their publications 
 may be obtained on application. 
 
 Alleroft (A. Hadrian). DOWNLAND PATH- 
 WAYS. With an Introduction by E. V. 
 Lucas. Illustrated. Crown 8vo. ys. 6d. 
 net. 
 
 Archer (D.). CORSICA: THE SCENTED 
 ISLE. Illustrated. Demy Svo. ios. 6d. 
 vet. 
 
 Armstrong (W. W.). THE ART OF 
 CRICKET. Second Edition. Cr.8vo. 6s.net. 
 
 Bain (F. W.)— 
 
 A Digit of the Moon : A Hindoo Love 
 Story. The Descent of the Sun : A 
 Cycle of Birth. A Heifer of the Dawn. 
 In the Great God's Hair. A Draught 
 of the Blue. An Essence of the Dusk. 
 An Incarnation of the Snow. A Mine 
 of Faults. The Ashes of a God. 
 Bubbles of the Foam. A Syrup of the 
 Bees. The Livery of Eve. The Sub- 
 stance of a Dream. All Fcap. Svo. 5s. 
 net. An Echo of the Spheres. Wide 
 Demy 8vo. ios. 6d. net. 
 
 Baker (C. H. Collins). CROME. Illus- 
 trated. Quarto. £5, 5s. net. 
 
 Balfour (Sir Graham). THE LIFE OF 
 ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. Twen- 
 tieth Edition. In one Volume. Cr. 8vo. 
 Buckram, 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 Bell (Aubrey F. G.). A PILGRIM IN SPAIN. 
 Illustrated. Demy Svo. 12s. 6d. net. 
 
 Belloc (ID- 
 Paris, 8s. 6d. net. Hills and the Sea, 6s. 
 net. On Nothing and Kindred Sub- 
 jects, 6s. net. On Everything, 6s. net. 
 On Something, 6s. net. First and Last, 6s. 
 net. This and That and the Other, 6s. 
 net. On, 6s. net. Marie Antoinette, 
 18s. net. The Pyrenees. 8s. 6d. net. 
 
 Butler (Kathleen T.). A HISTORY OF 
 FRENCH LITERATURE. Two Vols. 
 Each Cr. 8vo. 10s. (>d. net. 
 
 Campbell (Olwen Ward). SHELLEY AND 
 THE UNROMANTICS. Second Edition. 
 Demy Svo. 16s. net. 
 
 Chandler (Arthur), D.D., late Lord Bishop 
 of Bloemfontein — 
 
 Ara Cceli : An Essay in Mystical Theology, 
 5s. net. Faith and Experience, 5s. net. 
 The Cult of the Passing Moment, 6s. 
 net. The English Church and Re- 
 union, 5s. net. Scala Mundi, 4s. 6d. net. 
 
 Chesterton (G. K.) — 
 
 The Ballad op the White Horse. All 
 Things Considered. Tremendous 
 
 Trifles. Alarms and Discursions. A 
 Miscellany op Men. The Uses of 
 Diversity. Fancies versus Fads. All 
 Fcap. Svo. 6s. net. Wine, Water, and 
 Song. Fcap. Svo. is. 6d. net. 
 
 Clutton-Brock (A.)— 
 What is the Kingdom of Heaven ? Fifth 
 Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 5s. net. Essays on 
 Art. Second Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 5s. net. 
 Essays on Books. Third Edition. Fcap. 
 8vo. 6s. net. More Essays on Books. 
 Fcap. 8vo. 6s. net. Shakespeare's Ham- 
 let. Fcap. 8vo. 5s. net. Shelley : The 
 Man and the Poet. Second Edition, 
 Revised. Fcap. Svo. 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 Conrad (Joseph). THE MIRROR OF THE 
 SEA : Memories and Impressions. Fourth 
 Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. net. 
 
 Dark (Sidney) and Grey (Rowland). W. S. 
 GILBERT : His Life and Letters. Illus- 
 trated. Second Edition. Demy 8vo. 15s. 
 net. 
 
 Dolls' House (The Queen's). THE BOOK OF 
 THE QUEEN'S DOLLS' HOUSE. Vol. I. 
 The Queen's Dolls' House. Edited by 
 A. C Benson, C.V.O., and Sir Lawrence 
 Weaver, K.B.E. Vol. II. The Queen's 
 Dolls' House Library. Edited by E. V. 
 Lucas. Illustrated. A Limited Edition. 
 Crown 4-to. £3, 3s. net, each. 
 
 EVERYBODY'S BOOK OF THE QUEEN'S 
 DULLS' HOUSE. Illustrated. Crown 4/0. 
 
 Drever (James). THE PSYCHOLOGY OF 
 EVERYDAY LIFE. Fourth Edition. 
 
 Cr. 8vo. 6s. net. 
 
 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF INDUSTRY. 
 Cr. Svo. 5s. net. 
 
 Dutt (W. A.). A GUIDE TO THE NOR- 
 FOLK BROADS. Illustrated. Demy Svo. 
 6s. net. 
 
 Edwardes (Tickner). THE LORE OF THE 
 HONEY-BEE. Tenth Edition. Cr. Svo. 
 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 Einstein (A.). RELATIVITY: THE 
 SPECIAL AND THE GENERAL 
 THEORY. Translated by Robert W. 
 Lawson. Eighth Edition. Cr. Svo. 5s. net. 
 
 SIDELIGHTS ON RELATIVITY. Two 
 
 Lectures by Albert Einstein. Cr. Svo. 
 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 THE MEANING OF RELATIVITY. 
 Cr. Svo. 5s. net. 
 
 Other Books on the Einstein Theory. 
 
 SPACE— TIME— MATTER. By Hermann 
 Weyl. Demy 8vo. 18s. net. 
 
 THE PRINCIPLE OF RELATIVITY. By 
 Albert Einstein, H. A. Lorentz, H. Min- 
 kowski, and H. Weyl. With notes by 
 A. SoMMERrELD. Demy Svo, 12s. 6d. 
 net. 
 
 RELATIVITY AND THE UNIVERSE. 
 By Harry Schmidt. Second Edition. 
 Cr. Svo. 5s. net.
 
 Messrs. Methuen's Publications 
 
 THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY. By 
 
 Prof. Erwin Freundlich. Cr. 8vo. $s.net. 
 
 RELATIVITY FOR ALL. By Herbert 
 
 Dingle. Third Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 2S. net. 
 
 Evans (Joan). ENGLISH JEWELLERY. 
 
 Royal iio. £2 12s. 6d. net. 
 Fitzgerald (Edward). THE RUBA'IYAT 
 OF OMAR KHAYYAM. An edition 
 illustrated by Edmund J. Sullivan. Wide 
 Cr. 8vo. 10s. 6d. net. 
 Fylernan (Rose). FAIRIES AND CHIM- 
 NEYS. Fcap. 8vo. Eighteenth Edition. 
 3s. 6d. net. 
 THE FAIRY GREEN. Tenth Edition. 
 
 Fcap. 8vo. 3s. 6d. net. 
 THE FAIRY FLUTE. Sixth Edition. 
 
 Fcap. 8vo. 3s. 6d. net. 
 THE RAINBOW CAT AND OTHER 
 STORIES. Second Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 
 3s. 6d. net. 
 A SMALL CRUSE. Fcap. 8vo. is. 6d. net. 
 FORTY GOOD-NIGHT TALES. Third Edi- 
 tion. Fcap. 8vo. 3s. 6d. net. 
 THE ROSE FYLEMAN FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 Illustrated. Cr. tfo. ios. 6d. net. 
 Geering (Thomas). OUR SUSSEX PARISH. 
 With an Introduction and biographical 
 chapter by Arthur Beckett. Illustrated. 
 Crown 8vo. ios. 6d. net. 
 Gibbins (H. de B.). INDUSTRY IN 
 ENGLAND : HISTORICAL OUTLINES. 
 With Maps and Plans. Tenth Edition. 
 Demy 8vo. 12s. 6d. net. 
 THE INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF 
 ENGLAND. With 5 Maps and a Plan. 
 Twenty-seventh Edition. Cr. 8vo. $s. 
 Gibbon (Edward). THE DECLINE AND 
 FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 
 Edited, with Notes, Appendices, and Maps, 
 by J. B. Bury. Seven Volumes. Demy 
 8vo. Illustrated. Each 12s. 6d. net. 
 Also in Seven Volumes. Unillustrated. 
 Cr. 8vo. Each ys. 6d. net. 
 Glover (T. R.)— 
 The Conflict of Religions in the Early 
 Roman Empire, 105. 6d. net. Poets and 
 Puritans, ios. 6d. net. From Pericles 
 to Philip, ios. 6d. net. Virgil, ios. 6d. net. 
 Graham (Harry). THE WORLD WE LAUGH 
 IN : More Deportmental Ditties. 
 Illustrated by " Fish." Fcap. 8vo. 5s. 
 net. 
 Grahame (Kenneth). THE WIND IN 
 THE WILLOWS. Fourteenth Edition. Cr. 
 8vo. 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 Also, Illustrated by Nancy Barnhart. 
 
 Small i,to. ios. 6d. net. 
 
 Hadueld (J. A.). PSYCHOLOGY AND 
 
 MORALS : An Analysis of Character. 
 
 Fourth Edition. Cr. 810. 6s. net. 
 
 Hall (H. R.). THE ANCIENT HISTORY 
 
 OF THE NEAR EAST FROM THE 
 
 EARLIEST TIMES TO THE BATTLE 
 
 r OF SALAMIS. Illustrated. Sixth Edi* 
 
 tion, Revised. Demy 8vo. 21s. net. 
 Hind (A. M.). A CATALOGUE OF REM- 
 BRANDT'S ETCHINGS. Twovols. Illus- 
 trated. Wide Royal 8vo. £1, 15s. net. 
 
 Holdsworth (W. S.). A HISTORY OP 
 
 ENGLISH LAW. Seven Volumes. Demy 
 
 8vo. Each 25s. net. 
 Hoppe (E. 0.). IN GIPSY CAMP AND 
 
 ROYAL PALACE : Wanderings in 
 
 Rumania. With a Preface by the Queen 
 
 of Rumania. Illustrated. Demy 8vo. 15s. 
 
 net 
 Inge (W. R.). CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM 
 
 (ihe Bampton Lectures of 1899). Fifth 
 
 Edition. Cr. 8vo. Js. 6d. net. 
 Jenks (E.). AN OUTLINE OF ENGLISH 
 
 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. Fifth Edition. 
 
 Cr. 8vo. 5s. net. 
 A SHORT HISTORY OF ENGLISH LAW: 
 
 From the Earliest Times to the End 
 
 of the Year 1919. Third Edition 
 
 Revised. Demv 8vo. 12s. 6d. net. 
 Jones (M. E. Monckton). ANCIENT EGYPT 
 
 FROM THE RECORDS. Illustrated. 
 
 Crown 8vo. ys. 6d. net. 
 Julian (Lady) of Norwich. REVELA- 
 TIONS OF DIVINE LOVE. Edited by 
 
 Grace Warrack. Eighth Edition. Cr. 
 
 8vo. 5s. net. 
 Keats (John). POEMS. Edited, with In- 
 troduction and Notes, by E. de Selin- 
 
 court. With a Frontispiece in Photo- 
 gravure. Fourth Edition. Demy 8vo. 
 
 12 s. 6d. net. 
 KIdd (Benjamin). THE SCIENCE OF 
 
 POWER. Ninth Edition. Cr. 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 
 net. 
 SOCIAL EVOLUTION. Demy 8vo. 8s. 6d. net. 
 Kipling (Rudyard). BARRACK-ROOM 
 
 BALLADS. 233rd Thousand. Cr. 8vo. 
 
 Buckram, ys. 6d. net. Also Fcap. 8vo. 
 
 Cloth, 6s. net ; leather, ys. 6d. net. 
 
 Also a Service Edition. Two Volumes. 
 
 Square Fcap. 8vo. Each 3s. net. 
 THE SEVEN SEAS. 172nd Thousand. 
 
 Cr. 8vo. Buckram, ys. 6d. net. Also 
 
 Fcap. 8vo. Cloth, 6s. net; leather, ys. 6d. 
 
 net. 
 
 Also a Service Edition. Two Volumes. 
 
 Square Fcap. 8vo. Each 3s. net. 
 THE FIVE NATIONS. 138^ Thousand. 
 
 Cr. 8vo. Buckram, ys. 6d. net. Also 
 
 Fcap. 8vo. Cloth, 6s. net ; leather, ys. 6d. net. 
 
 Also a Service Edition. Two Volumes. 
 
 Square Fcap. 8vo. Each 3s. net. 
 DEPARTMENTAL DITTIES. 103rd 
 
 Thousand. Cr. 8vo. Buckram, 7s. 6d. 
 
 net. Also Fcap. 8vo. Cloth, 6s. net; 
 
 leather, ys. 6d. net. 
 
 Also a Service Edition. Two Volumes. 
 
 Square Fcap. 8vo. Each 3s. net. 
 THE YEARS BETWEEN. 05>h Thousand. 
 
 Cr. 8vo. Buckram, ys. 6d. net. Fcap. 
 
 8vo. Cloth, 6s. net ; leather, ys. 6d. net. 
 
 Also a Service Edition. Two Volumes. 
 
 Square Fcap. 8vo. Each 3s. net. 
 A KIPLING ANTHOLOGY— VERSE. 
 
 Third Edition. Fcap. 810. Cloth, 6s. net. 
 
 Leather, ys. 6d. net. 
 TWENTY POEMS FROM RUDYARD 
 
 KIPLING. 395th Thousand. Fcap. 8vo. 
 
 is. net.
 
 Messrs. Methuen's Publications 
 
 Lamb (Charles and Mary). THE COM- 
 PLETE WORKS. Edited by E. V. 
 Lucas. A New and Revised Edition in 
 Six Volumes. With Frontispieces. Fcap. 
 8vo. Each 6s. net. 
 The volumes are : — 
 
 i. Miscellaneous Prose, n. Elia and 
 the Last Essays of Eua. hi. Books 
 for Children, iv. Plays and Poems. 
 v. and vi. Letters. 
 
 Lankester (Sir Ray). SCIENCE FROM AN 
 EASY CHAIR. Illustrated. Fifteenth 
 Edition. Cr. 8vo. ys. 6d. net. 
 
 SCIENCE FROM AN EASY CHAIR. 
 Second Series. Illustrated. Third Edi- 
 tion. Cr. 8vo. 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 DIVERSIONS OF A NATURALIST. 
 Illustrated. Third Edition. Cr. 8vo. 
 ys. 6d. net. 
 
 SECRETS OF EARTH AND SEA. Second 
 Edition. Cr. 8vo. 8s. 6d. net. 
 
 GREAT AND SMALL THINGS. Illus- 
 trated. Cr. 8vo. ys. 6d. net. 
 
 Lodge (Sir Oliver). MAN AND THE 
 UNIVERSE. Ninth Edition. Cr. 8vo. 
 ys. 6d. net. 
 
 THE SURVIVAL OF MAN : A Study in 
 Unrecognized Human Faculty. Seventh 
 Edition. Cr. 8vo. ys. 6d. net. 
 
 RAYMOND REVISED. Cr. 8vo. 6s. net. 
 
 Lorimer (Norma). BY THE WATERS OF 
 EGYPT. Illustrated. Fourth Edition. Cr. 
 8vo. ys. 6d. net. 
 
 Lorlng (F. H.). ATOMIC THEORIES. 
 Second Edition. Demy 8vo. 12s. 6d. net. 
 
 THE CHEMICAL ELEMENTS. Demy 8vo. 
 8s. 6d. net. 
 
 Lucas (E. V.)— 
 
 The Life of Charles Lamb, 2 vols., 2is. 
 net. Edwin Austin Abbey, R.A. 2 vols. 
 £6, 6s. net. Vermeer of Delft, ios. 6d. 
 net. A Wanderer in Holland, ios 6d. 
 net. A Wanderer in London, ios. 6d. 
 net. London Revisited, ios. 6d. net. A 
 Wanderer in Paris, ios. 6d. net. A 
 Wanderer in Florence, ios. 6d. net. 
 A Wanderer in Venice, ios. 6d. net. A 
 Wanderer among Pictures. 8s. 6d. net. 
 The Open Road : A Little Book for Way- 
 farers, 6s. net. Also an edition illustrated by 
 Claude A. Shepperson, ios. 6d. net. Also 
 an edition on India paper, leather, 7s. 6d. 
 net. The Friendly Town : A Little 
 Book for the Urbane, 6s. net. Fire- 
 side and Sunshine, 6s. net. Character 
 and Comedy, 6s. net. The Gentlest Art : 
 A Choice of Letters by Entertaining Hands, 
 6s. 6d. net. The Second Post, 6s. net. 
 Her Infinite Variety : A Feminine 
 Portrait Gallery, 6s. net. Good Company : 
 A Rally of Men, 6s. net. One Day and 
 Another, 6s. net. Old Lamps for New, 
 6s. net. Loiterer's Harvest, 6s. net. 
 Cloud and Silver, 6s. net. A Boswell of 
 Baghdad, and other Essays, 6s. net. 
 Twixt Eagle and Dove, 6s. net. The 
 Phantom Journal, and other Essays 
 and Diversions, 6s. net. Giving and 
 
 Receiving, 6s. net. Luck of the Year, 
 6s. net. Encounters and Diversions, 
 6s. net. Specially Selected : A Choice 
 of Essays, 7s. 6d. net. Urbanities. Illus- 
 trated by G. L. Stampa, 7s. 6d. net. 
 You Know what People Are. 5s. net. 
 The Same Star. A Play. 3s. 6d. net. The 
 British School : An Anecdotal Guide 
 to the British Painters and Paintings in 
 the National Gallery, 6s. net. Little Books 
 on the Great Masters, 4s. 6d. net. each. 
 Roving East and Roving West : Notes 
 gathered in India, Japan, and America. 
 5s.net. Seealso Dolls' House (The Queen's). 
 
 Lynd (Robert). THE BLUE LION and 
 Other Essays. Fcap 8vo. 6s. net. 
 
 THE PEAL OF BELLS. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. net. 
 
 MaseQeld (John). ON THE SPANISH 
 MAIN. A New edition. Cr.8vo. 8s.6d.net. 
 
 A SAILOR'S GARLAND. A New Edition. 
 Fcap. 8vo. 6s. net. 
 
 SEA LIFE IN NELSON'S TIME. Illus- 
 trated. Second Edition. Cr. 8vo. 5s. net. 
 
 Meldrum (D. S.). REMBRANDT'S PAINT- 
 INGS. Wide Royal 8vo. £3, 3s. net. 
 
 Methuen (A.). AN ANTHOLOGY OF 
 MODERN VERSE. With Introduction by 
 Robert Lynd. Sixteenth Edition. Fcap. 
 8vo. 6s. net. Thin paper, leather, 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 SHAKESPEARE TO HARDY : An An- 
 thology of English Lyrics. With an 
 Introduction by Robert Lynd. Third 
 Edition. Fcap. 8vo, 6s. net. Leather, 
 ys. 6d. net. 
 
 McDougall (William). AN INTRODUC- 
 TION TO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY. 
 Eighteenth Edition. Cr. 8vo. 8s. 6d. net. 
 
 NATIONAL WELFARE AND NATIONAL 
 DECAY. Cr. 8vo. 6s. net. 
 
 AN OUTLINE OF PSYCHOLOGY. Demy 
 8vo. 12s. net. 
 
 BODY AND MIND : A History and a 
 Defence of Animism. Fifth Edition. 
 Demy 8vo. 12s. 6d. net. 
 
 ETHICS AND SOME MODERN WORLD 
 PROBLEMS. Crown 8vo. ys. 6d. net. 
 
 Maeterlinck (Maurice) — 
 
 The Blue Bird : A Fairy Play in Six Acts. 
 6s. net. Also an edition illustrated by F. 
 Cayley Robinson, ios. 6d. net. Mary 
 Magdalene : A Play in Three Acts, 5s. 
 net. Death, 3s. 6d. net. Our Eternity, 
 6s. net. The Unknown Guest, 6s. net. 
 Poems, 5s. net. The Wrack of the Storm, 
 6s. net. The Miracle of St. Anthony : 
 A Play in One Act, 3s. 6d. net. The Bur- 
 gomaster of Stilemonde : A Play in 
 Three Acts, 5s. net. The Betrothal ; or, 
 The Blue Bird Chooses, 6s. net. Mountain 
 Paths, 6s. net. The Story of Tyltyl, 
 21s. net. The Great Secret, ys. 6d. net. 
 The Cloud that Lifted, and The Power 
 of the Dead. 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 Milne (A. A.)— 
 
 Not that it Matters. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. 
 net. If I May. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. net. 
 
 Newman (Tom). HOW TO PLAY BIL- 
 LIARDS. Illustrated. Cr. 8vo, 8s. 6d. net.
 
 Messrs. Methuen's Publications 
 
 Oman (Sir Charles). A HISTORY OF THE 
 ART OF WAR IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 
 A.D. 378-1485. Second Edition, Revised 
 and enlarged. In two volumes. Illustrated 
 Demy 8vo. 36s. net. 
 
 Oxenham (John) — 
 
 Bees in Amber ; A Little Book of 
 Thoughtful Verse. Small Pott 8vo. 
 Stiff Boards. 2S. net. All's Well ; 
 A Collection of War Poems. The King's 
 High Way. The Vision Splendid. 
 The Fiery Cross. High Altars : The 
 Record of a Visit to the Battlefields of 
 France and Flanders. Hearts Coura- 
 geous. All Clear! All Small Pott 
 Svo. Paper, is. 3d. net ; cloth boards, 2s. 
 net. Winds of the Dawn. 2s. net. 
 
 Perry (W. J.). THE CHILDREN OF THE 
 SUN : A Study in the Early History 
 of Civilization. With Maps. Demy 8vo. 
 1 8s. net. 
 
 THE ORIGIN OF MAGIC AND RELIGION. 
 Crown 8vo. 6s. net. 
 
 THE GROWTH OF CIVILIZATION. With 
 Maps. Crown 8vo. 6s. net. 
 
 Petrle (Sir Flinders). A HISTORY OF 
 EGYPT. Illustrated. Six Volumes. Cr. 
 8vo. Each 9s. net. 
 
 Vol. I. From the 1st to the XVIth 
 Dynasty. Eleventh Edition. (12s. net.) 
 
 Vol. II. The XVIIth and XVIIIth 
 Dynasties. Seve>ith Edition, Revised. 
 
 Vol. III. XIXth to XXXth Dynasties. 
 Second Edition. 
 
 Vol. IV. Egypt under the Ptolemaic 
 Dynasty. J. P. Mahaffy. Second Edition. 
 
 Vol. V. Egypt under Roman Rule. 
 J. G. Milne. Second Edition. 
 
 Vol. VI. Egypt in the Middle Ages. 
 Stanley Lane Poole. Second Edition. 
 
 SYRIA AND EGYPT, FROM THE TELL 
 EL AMARNA LETTERS. Cr. 8vo. 5s. net. 
 
 EGYPTIAN TALES. Translated from the 
 Papyri. First Series, ivth to xnth 
 Dynasty. Illustrated. Third Edition. Cr. 
 8vo. 5s. net. 
 
 EGYPTIAN TALES. Translated from the 
 Papyri. Second Series, xvmth to xixth 
 Dynasty. Illustrated. Third Edition. 
 Cr. 8vo. 5s. net. 
 
 Pollltt (Arthur W.). THE ENJOYMENT OF 
 MUSIC. Second Edition. Cr. 8vo. 5s. net. 
 
 Ponsonby (Arthur). ENGLISH DIARIES. 
 Second Edition. Demy 8vo. 21s. net. 
 
 Power (Eileen). MEDIEVAL PEOPLE. 
 Illustrated. Crown 8vo. 6s. net. 
 
 Price (L. L.). A SHORT HISTORY OF 
 POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ENGLAND 
 FROM ADAM SMITH TO ARNOLD 
 TOYNBEE. Twelfth Edition. Cr. &vo. 
 5s. net. 
 
 Selous (Edmund) — 
 
 Tommy Smith's Animals. Tommy 
 
 Smith's Other Animals. Tommy Smith 
 at the Zoo. Tommy Smith again at 
 the Zoo. Each 2s. o<2. Tommy Smith's 
 Birds, 2s. 6d. Jack's Insects, 3s. 6i. 
 Jack's Other Insects, 3s. dd. 
 
 Smith (Adam). THE WEALTH OF 
 NATIONS. Edited by Edwin Cannan. 
 Two Volumes. Third Edition. Demy 8vo. 
 £1, 5s. net. 
 
 Smith (C. Fox). 
 
 Sailor Town Days. Sea Songs and 
 Ballads. A Book of Famous Ships. 
 All Illustrated. Cr. 8vo. 6s. net. each. 
 
 Sommerfeld (Arnold). ATOMIC STRUCTURE 
 AND SPECTRAL LINES. Demy 8vo. 
 32s. net. 
 
 Stevenson (R. L.). THE LETTERS OF 
 ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. Edited 
 by Sir Sidney Colvin. A New Re- 
 arranged Edition in four volumes. Fourth 
 Edition. Fcap. 8vo. Each 6s. net. 
 
 Surtees (R. S.)— 
 
 Handley Cross, 7s. 6d. net. Mr. 
 Sponge's Sporting Tour, 7s. 6d. net. 
 Ask Mamma : or, The Richest Commoner 
 in England, 7s. 6d. net. Jorrocks's 
 Jaunts and Jollities, 6s. net. Mr. 
 Facey Romford's Hounds, 7s. 6d. net. 
 Hawbuck Grange ; or, The Sporting 
 Adventures of Thomas Scott, Esq., 6s. 
 net. Plain or Ringlets ? 7s. 6d. net. 
 Hillingdon Hall, 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 Tatchell (Frank). THE HAPPY TRAVEL- 
 LER: A Book for Poor Men. Fourth 
 Edition. Cr. 8vo. ys. td. net. 
 
 Thomson (J. Arthur). WHAT IS MAN ? 
 Second Edition. Cr. 8vo. 6s. 6d. net. 
 
 Tllden (W. T.). THE ART OF LAWN 
 TENNIS. Illustrated. Sitth Edition. 
 Cr. 8vo. 6s. net. 
 
 Tileston (Mary W.). DAILY STRENGTH 
 FOR DAILY NEEDS. Twenty-ninth 
 Edition. Medium i6mo. 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 DnderhiU (Evelyn). MYSTICISM. A 
 Study in the Nature and Development of 
 Man's Spiritual Consciousness. Tenth 
 Edition. Demy 8vo. 15s. net. 
 
 THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT AND THE 
 LIFE OF TO-DAY. Fifth Edition 
 Cr. 8vo. 7s. 6d. net. 
 
 Vardon (Harry). HOW TO PLAY GOLF. 
 Illustrated. Eighteenth Edition. Cr. 8vo. 
 5s. net. 
 
 Waterhouse (Elizabeth). A LITTLE BOOK 
 OF LIFE AND DEATH. Twenty-second 
 Edition. Small Pott 8vo. 2s. 6d. 
 net. 
 
 Wegener (A.). THE ORIGIN OF CON- 
 TINENTS AND OCEANS. Demy 8vo. 
 1 os. 6d. net. 
 
 Wells (J.). A SHORT HISTORY OF 
 ROME. Nineteenth Edition. With 3 Maps. 
 
 Wilde (Oscar).' THE WORKS OF OSCAR 
 WILDE. Fcap. 8vo. Each 6s. td. net. 
 1. Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and 
 the Portrait of Mr. W. H. ii. The 
 Duchess of Padua, hi. Poems, iv. 
 Lady Windermere's Fan. v. A Woman 
 of No Importance, vi. An Ideal Hus- 
 band, vii. The Importance of Being 
 Earnest, viii. A House op Pome- 
 granates, ix. Intentions, x. Db Pro-
 
 Messrs. Methuen's Publications 
 
 Fundis and Prison Letters, xi. Es- 
 says, xii. Salome, A Florentine 
 Tragedy, and La Sainte Courtisane. 
 xiii. A Critic in Pall Mall. xiv. 
 Selected Prose of Oscar Wilde. 
 
 xv. Art and Decoration. xvi. For 
 Love of the King : A Burmese Masque 
 (5s. net.). 
 Yeats (W. B.). A BOOK OF IRISH VERSE. 
 Fourth Edition. Cr. 8vo. 7s. net. 
 
 Part II. — A Selection of Series 
 The Antiquary's Books 
 
 Demy 8vo. ios. 6d. net each volume. With Numerous Illustrations 
 
 Ancient Painted Glass in England. 
 Arch.«ology and False Antiquities. 
 The Bells of England. The Brasses 
 of England. The Castles and 
 
 Walled Towns of England. Church- 
 wardens' Accounts. The Domesday 
 Inquest. English Church Furniture. 
 English Monastic Life. English 
 Seals. Folk-Lore as an Historical 
 Science. The Guilds and Companies of 
 London. The Hermits and Anchor- 
 ites of England. The Manor and 
 Manorial Records. The Medieval 
 
 Hospitals of England. Old English 
 Instruments of Music. Old English 
 Libraries. Old Service Books of 
 the English Church. Parish Life in 
 Mediaeval England. The Parish 
 
 Registers of England. Remains of 
 the Prehistoric Age in England. 
 The Roman Era in Britain. Romano- 
 British Buildings and Earthworks. 
 The Royal Forests of England. 
 The Schools of Medieval England. 
 Shrines of British Saints. 
 
 The Arden Shakespeare 
 
 General Editor, R. H. CASE 
 Demy 8vo. 6s. net each volume 
 
 An edition of Shakespeare in Single Plays ; each edited with a full Intro- 
 duction, Textual Notes, and a Commentary at the foot of the page. 
 
 The Arden Shakespeare has now been completed by the publication of MUCH ADO 
 ABOUT NOTHING. Edited by Grace R. Trenery. 
 
 Classics of Art 
 
 Edited by Dr. J. H. W. LAING 
 
 With numerous Illustrations. Wide Royal 8vo. 
 
 The Art of the Greeks, 21s. net. The 
 Art of the Romans, 16s. net. Chardin, 
 15s. net. Donatello, 16s. net. Floren- 
 tine Sculptors of the Renaissance, 
 21s. net. George Romney, 15s. net. 
 Ghirlandaio, 15s. net. Lawrence, 25s. 
 
 net. Michelangelo, 21s. net. Raphael, 
 15s. net. Rembrandt's Paintings, 63s. 
 net. Rubens, 30s. net. Tintoretto, 
 ids. net. Titian, 16s. net. Turner's 
 Sketches and Drawings, 15s. net. 
 Velasquez, 15s. net. 
 
 The "Complete" Series 
 
 Fully Illustrated. Demy 8vo 
 
 The Complete Airman, 16s. net. The 
 Complete Amateur Boxer, ios. 6d. net. 
 The Complete Athletic Trainer, ios. 6d. 
 net. The Complete Billiard Player, 
 ios. 6d. net. The Complete Cook, ios. 6d. 
 net. The Complete Foxhunter, 16s. net. 
 The Complete Golfer, 12s. 6d. net. 
 The Complete Hockey Player, ios. 6d. 
 net. The Complete Horseman, 15s. 
 net. The Complete Jujitsuan. (O. 8vo.) 
 SS. net. The Complete Lawn Tennis 
 
 Player, 12s. 6d. net. 
 Motorist, ios. 6d. net. 
 Mountaineer, 18s. net. 
 Oarsman, 12s. 6d. net. 
 Photographer, 12s. 6d. net 
 Rugby Footballer, on 
 land System, 12s. 6d. 
 plete Shot, 16s. net. 
 Swimmer, ios. dd. net. 
 Yachtsman, 15s. net. 
 
 The Complete 
 The Complete 
 The Complete 
 The Complete 
 . The Complete 
 the New Zea- 
 net. The Com- 
 The Complete 
 The Completb
 
 Messrs. Methuen's Publications 
 
 The Connoisseur's Library 
 
 With numerous Illustrations. Wide Royal 8vo. £i,ns.6d. net each volume 
 English Coloured Books. Etchings. 
 
 European Enamels. Fine Books. 
 
 Glass. Goldsmiths' and Silversmiths' 
 
 Work. Illuminated Manuscripts. 
 
 Ivories. 
 
 Miniatures. 
 Sculpture. 
 
 Jewellery. 
 Porcelain. 
 
 Mezzotints. 
 Seals. Wood 
 
 Health Series 
 
 Fcap. 8vo. is. 6d. net 
 
 The Baby. The Care of the Body. The 
 Care of the Teeth. The Eyes of our 
 Children. Health for the Middle- 
 Aged. The Health of a Woman. The 
 Health of the Skin. How to Live 
 
 Long. The Prevention of the Common 
 Cold. Staying the Plague. Throat 
 and Ear Troubles. Tuberculosis. Thb 
 Health of the Child, 2s. net. 
 
 The Library of Devotion 
 
 Handy Editions of the great Devotional Books, well edited 
 With Introductions and (where necessary) Notes 
 Small Pott Svo, cloth, 3s. net and 35. 6d. net 
 
 Little Books on Art 
 
 With many Illustrations. Demy i6mo. 55. net each volume 
 Each volume consists of about 200 pages, and contains from 30 to 40 
 
 Illustrations, including a Frontispiece in Photogravure 
 Albrecht Durer. The Arts of Japan 
 Bookplates. Botticelli. Burnf.-Jones, 
 Cellini. Christ in Art. Claude. Con- 
 
 stable. Corot. Early English Water- 
 Colour. Enamels. Frederic Leighton. 
 George Romney. Greek Art. Greuze 
 
 and Boucher. Holbein. Illuminated 
 Manuscripts. Jewellery. John Hopp- 
 ner. Sir Joshua Reynolds. Millet. 
 Miniatures. Our Lady in Art. Raphael. 
 Rodin. Turner. Vandyck. Watts. 
 
 The Little Guides 
 
 With many Illustrations by E. H. New and other artists, and from 
 photographs, Maps and Plans 
 Small Pott 8vo. 4s. net to 75. 6d. net 
 Guides to the English and Welsh Counties, and some well-known districts. 
 The main features of these Guides are (1) a handy and charming form ; 
 (2) illustrations from photographs and by well-known artists ; (3) good 
 plans and maps ; (4) an adequate but compact presentation of everything 
 that is interesting in the natural features, history, archaeology, and archi- 
 tecture of the town or district treated. 
 
 Plays 
 
 Fcap. 8vo. 3s. 6d. net each 
 
 Milestones. Arnold Bennett and Edward 
 
 Knobloek. Eleventh Edition. 
 Ideal Husband, An. Oscar Wilde. Acting 
 
 Edition. 
 Kismet. Edward Knobloek. Fourth Edition. 
 Ware Case, The. George Pleydell. 
 
 The Great Adventure. Arnold Bennett. 
 
 Fifth Edition. 
 General Post. J. E. Harold Terry. 
 
 Second Edition. 
 The Honeymoon. Arnold Bennett. ThirJ 
 
 Edition.
 
 Messrs. Methuen's Publications 
 Sport Series 
 
 Illustrated. Fcap. 8vo 
 
 All About Flying, 3s. net. Alpine 
 Ski-ing at All Heights and Seasons, 
 5s. net. Ski-ing for Beginners, 5s. 
 net. Golf Do's and Dont's, 2s. net. 
 Quick Cuts to Good Golf, 2s. net. 
 Inspired Golf, 2s. 64. net. Driving, 
 Approaching, Putting, 2s. net. Golf 
 Clubs and How to Use Them, 2s. net. The 
 Secret of Golf for Occasional Players, 
 2S. net. The Golfing Swing, 2s. 64. net. 
 Golf Rules and Decisions. 3s. 64. net. 
 Lawn Tennis, 2s. 64. net. Lawn Tennis 
 Do's and Dont's, 2s. 64. net. Lawn Tennis 
 for Young Players, 2s. 6d. net. Lawn 
 
 Tennis for Club Players, 2s. 64. net. 
 Lawn Tennis for Match Players, 2s. 64. 
 net. Lawn Tennis for Public Courts 
 Players, 2S. 64. net. The Technique 
 of Lawn Tennis, 2S. 6d. net. The Lawn 
 Tennis Umpire and Referee, 2s. 6d. net. 
 Hockey, 4s. net. How to Swim, 2s. net. 
 Punting, 3s. 6d. net. Skating, 35. net. 
 Wrestling, 2s. net. Motor Do's and 
 Dont's, 2s. 64. net. Mah Jong Do's and 
 Dont's, 2s. net. Auction Bridge Do's 
 and Dont's. 3s. net. Billiards Do's and 
 Dont's. 2s. 64. net. 
 
 Methuen's Half-Crown Library 
 
 Crown Svo. 
 
 Cheap Editions of Popular Books 
 
 Write for a Complete List 
 
 Methuen's Two-Shilling Library 
 
 Fcap. 8vo. 
 Write for a Complete List 
 
 Part III. — A Selection of Works of Fiction 
 
 Bennett (Arnold) — 
 
 Clayhanger, 8s. net. Hilda Lessways. 
 8s. 6d. net. These Twain. The Card. 
 The Regent : A Five Towns Story of 
 Adventure in London. The Price of 
 Love. Buried Alive. A Man from 
 the North. Whom God hath Joined. 
 A Great Man : A Frolic. Mr. Prohack. 
 All 7s. 6d. net. The Matador of the 
 Five Towns, 6s. net. 
 
 Birmingham (George A.) — 
 
 Spanish Gold. The Search Party. 
 The Bad Times. Up, the Rebels. The 
 Lost Lawyer. The Great-Grandmother. 
 Found Money. All 7s. 6d. net. 
 Inisheeny, 8s. 6d. net. 
 
 Brandon (John G.)— THE BIG HEART. 
 7 hird Edition. Cr. Svo. 3s. 6d. net. 
 
 Burroughs (Edgar Rice) — 
 
 The Return of Tarzan, 6s. net. The 
 Beasts of Tarzan, 6s. net. The Son of 
 Tarzan, 6s. net. Jungle Tales of Tarzan; 
 6s. net. Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar, 
 6s. net. Tarzan the Untamed, 7s. 6d. net. 
 Tarzan and the Golden Lion, 3s. 6d. net. 
 A Princess of Mars, 6s. net. The Gods 
 of Mars, 6s. net. The Warlord of 
 Mars, 6s. net. Thuvia, Maid of Mars, 
 6s. net. Tarzan the Terrible, 2s. 6d. net. 
 The Mucker, 6s. net. The Man without 
 a. Soul, 6s. net. The Chessmen of Mars, 
 
 6s. net. At the Earth's Core, 6s. net. 
 Pellucidar, 7s. 64. net. The Girl from 
 Hollywood, 7s. 64. net. 
 
 Conrad (Joseph) — 
 
 A Set of Six, 7s. 64. net. Victory : An 
 Island Tale. The Secret Agent : A 
 Simple Tale. Under Western Eyes. 
 Chance. All 9s. net. 
 
 Corelll (Marie)— 
 
 A Romance of Two Worlds, 7s. 6d. net. 
 Vendetta : or, The Story of One For- 
 gotten, 7s. 6d. net. Thelma : A Norwegian 
 Princess, 7s. 6d. net. Ardath : The Story 
 of a Dead Self, 7s. 6d. net. The Soul of 
 Lilith, 7s. 6d. net. Wormwood : A Drama 
 of Paris, ys. 6d. net. Barabbas : A Dream of 
 the World's Tragedy, 7s. 6d. net. The Sor- 
 rows of Satan, 7s. 64. net. The Master- 
 Christian, 7s. 64. net. Temporal Power : 
 A Study in Supremacy, 6s. net. God's 
 Good Man : A Simple Love Story, 7s. 6d. 
 net. Holy Orders : The Tragedy of a 
 Quiet Life, 8s. 6d. net. The Mighty Atom, 
 7s. 64. net. Boy : A Sketch, 7s. 64. net. 
 Cameos, 6s. net. The Life Everlasting. 
 8s. 6d. net. The Love of Long Ago, and 
 Other Stories, 7s. 64. net. Innocent, 
 7s. 64. net. The Secret Power : A 
 Romance of the Time, 6s. net. Love — and 
 the Philosopher : A Study in Sentiment, 
 6s. net.
 
 8 
 
 Messrs. Methuen's Publications 
 
 Hlchens (Robert)— 
 
 Felix : Three Years in a Life, 7s. bd. net. 
 
 The Woman with the Fan, 7s. bd. net. 
 
 The Garden of Allah, 8s. bd. net. The 
 
 Call of the Blood, 8s. bd. net. The 
 
 Dweller on the Threshold, 7s. bd. 
 
 net. The Way of Ambition, 7s. bd. net. 
 
 In the Wilderness, 7s. bd. net. After 
 
 the Verdict, 7s. bd. net. 
 Hope (Anthony) — 
 
 A Change of Air. A Man of Mark. 
 
 Simon Dale. The King's Mirror. 
 
 The Dolly Dialogues. Mrs. Maxon 
 
 Protests. A Young Man's Year. 
 
 Beaumaroy Home from the Wars. 
 
 All 7s. bd. net. 
 
 Jacobs (W. W.)— 
 
 Many Cargoes, 5s. net. Sea Urchins, 5s. 
 net and 3*. bd. net. A Master of Craft, 
 6s. net. Light Freights, 6s. net. The 
 Skipper's Wooing, 5s. net. At Sun- 
 wich Port, 5s. net. Dialstone Lane, 
 5s. net. Odd Craft, 5s. net. The Lady 
 of the Barge, 5s. net. Salthaven, 6s. 
 net. Sailors' Knots, 5s. net. Short 
 Cruises, 6s. net. 
 
 Knox (R. A.) — 
 
 Memories of the Future. 7s. bd. net. 
 Sanctions: A Frivolity. 7s. bd. net. 
 
 London (Jack)— WHITE FANG. Nineteenth 
 Edition. Cr. Svo. 7s. bd. net. 
 
 Lucas (E. V.)— 
 
 Listener's Lure : An Oblique Narration, 
 6s. net. Over Bemerton's : An Easy- 
 going Chronicle, 6s. net. Mr. Ingleside, 
 6s. net. London Lavender, 6s. net. 
 Landmarks, 6s. net. The Vermilion 
 Box, 6s. net. Verena in the Midst, 
 8s. bd. net. Rose and Rose, 6s. net. 
 Genevra's Money, 7s. bd. net. Advisory 
 Ben, 7s. bd. net. 
 
 McKenna (Stephen) — 
 Sonia : Between Two Worlds, 8s. net. 
 Ninety-Six Hours' Leave, 7s. bd. net. 
 The Sixth Sense, 6s. net. Midas & Son, 
 8s. net. 
 
 Malet (Lucas)— 
 The History of Sir Richard Calmady : 
 A Romance. 10s. net. The Carissima. 
 
 The Gateless Barrier. Deadham 
 Hard. All 7s. bd. net. The Wages of 
 Sin. 8s. net. Colonel Enderby's Wife, 
 7s. bd. net. 
 Mason (A. E. W.). CLEMENTINA. 
 Illustrated. Ninth Edition. 7s. bd. net. 
 
 Milne (A. A.)— 
 The Day's Play. The Holiday Round. 
 Once a Week. All 7s. bd. net. The 
 Sunny Side. 6s. net. The Red House 
 Mystery. 6s. net. 
 
 Oxenham (John) — 
 
 The Quest of the Golden Rose. Mary 
 All-Alone. 7s. bd. net. 
 
 Parker (Gilbert)— 
 
 The Translation of a Savage. When 
 Valmond came to Pontiac : The Story of 
 a Lost Napoleon. An Adventurer of the 
 North : The Last Adventures of " Pretty 
 Pierre." The Seats of the Mighty. The 
 Battle of the Strong : A Romance of Two 
 Kingdoms. The Trail of the Sword. 
 Northern Lights. All ys. bd. net. 
 
 Phillpotts (Eden)— 
 
 Children of the Mist. The River. 
 The Human Boy and the War. All 
 
 7s. bd. net. 
 
 Rohmer (Sax)— 
 
 The Golden Scorpion. 7s. bd. net. The 
 Devil Doctor. The Mystery of Dr. 
 Fu-Manchu. The Yellow Claw. All 
 3s. bd. net. 
 
 Swinnerton (F.). Shops and Houses. 
 September. The Happy Family. On 
 The Staircase. Coquette. The Chaste 
 Wife. The Three Lovers. All ys. bd. 
 net. The Merry Heart. The Casement. 
 The Young Idea. All bs. net. 
 
 Wells (H. G.). BEALBY. Fourth Edition. 
 Cr. &vo. ys. bd. net. 
 
 Williamson (C. N. and A. M.)— 
 The Lightning Conductor : The Strange 
 Adventures of a Motor-Car. Lady Betty 
 across the Water. It Happened in 
 Egypt. The Shop Girl. My Friend 
 the Chauffeur. Set in Silver. All 
 ys. bd. net. Crucifix Corner. 6s. net. 
 The Grf at Pearl Secret. 3s. bd. net. 
 
 Methuen's Half-Crown Novels 
 
 Crown 8vo. 
 Cheap Editions of many of the most Popular Novels of the day 
 Write /or a Complete List 
 
 Methuen's Two-Shilling Novels 
 
 Fcap. 8vo. 
 Write for Complete List 
 
 634
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 AA 000 359 505 
 
 CENTRAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 University of California, San Diego 
 
 DATE DUE 
 
 JUT" 
 
 ^tt*-^T977 
 
 UCSD Libr.
 
 w,