misery on many. Of this class are all games in which property is staked. 3.-To avoid such as expose us to unnecessary temptations, with respect to our virtue; or which dissipate the mind, so as to render a return to civil and religious duties ungrateful. Of this kind, stage entertainments are peculiarly to be avoided, with various other places of public amusement, which have a tendency to corrupt the heart, or to alienate it from the love and fear of God.' "The Doctrines of Friends, by Elisha Bates.

I shall conclude this section by a quotation on the moral effects of the Industrial Exhibition.

"The many friendships that will be established during the existence of the Exhibition between the members of different nations, will be so many powerful motives for resisting war, so many guarantees for quiet and reasonable legislation; the breaking down of unfounded prejudices, a more accurate and enlarged knowledge of the real character of our neighbours, the right appreciation of their talents and other excellences, the perception of those points in which we ourselves are inferior to them,-all these things have the same tendency, and they may rationally be expected to follow from that more close collision with foreigners which will be caused by the Great Exhibition of Industry. It is not enough, therefore, to say that it will, under this aspect, promote the welfare of mankind; we may boldly say, it will promote their moral and religious welfare.”—Mr. Whish's Prize Essay.

SECTION VI.

THE APPLICATION OF THE ART OF REASONING TO THE FORMATION OF HABITS OF REASONING.

THE object of all rules is the formation of habits. Habits can be formed only by repeated acts. The rules direct how the act should be performed. The repetition of the act produces the habit. And when the habit is fixed there is no further occasion for rules. But practice is still necessary in order to confirm and strengthen the habit.

1. To form a habit of reasoning, take care of your health.

The possession of health seems essential to independence of mind. 'Tis those who have a weakly constitution who

are led astray by the persuasion of others. The means that promote health-as temperance, early rising, and exercise in the open air, tend also to produce clearness and cheerfulness of mind. Do not let the love of reading lead you to sit up late, or deprive you of proper rest and exercise. Literary knowledge, valuable as it is, is but a poor compensation for the loss of health. If you are one of the million, one who has employment to attend to during the day, do not in the evening engage in those studies that require strong or continuous mental exertion, such as Greek, Latin, Mathematics, Chemistry, &c.; but rather direct your attention to those sciences which combine amusement with instruction, and the knowledge of which can be obtained with a moderate degree of application. If you are of such a temperament that the state of your health is likely to affect your judgment, I advise you to read frequently those quotations I have made from Dr. Watts in the fourth section of the first part of this work.

Huffland has published a work, upon the art of prolonging life, full of interesting observations. Philosophers, says he, enjoy a delightful leisure. Their thoughts, generally estranged from vulgar interests, have nothing in common with those afflicting ideas with which other men are continually agitated and corroded. Their reflections are agreeable by their variety, their liberty, and sometimes even by their frivolity. Devoted to the pursuits of their choice, the occupations of their taste, they dispose freely of their time. Oftentimes they surround themselves with young people, that their natural vivacity may be communicated to them, and in some sort, produce a renewal of their youth.' We may make a distinction between the different kinds of philosophy, in relation to their influence upon the duration of life. Those which direct the mind towards sublime contemplations, even were they in some degree superstitious, such as those of Pythagoras and Plato, are the most salutary. Next to them, I place those, the study of which, embracing nature, gives enlarged and elevated ideas upon infinity, the stars, the wonders of the universe, the heroic virtues, and the pure and elevated doctrines of Divine revelation. But those systems,' says the writer just quoted, which turn only upon painful subtilties, which are dogmatic and positive, which bend all facts and opinions to form, and adjust them to certain preconceived principles; in fine, such as are thorny, barren, narrow, and contentious, these are fatal in tendency, and cannot but abridge the lives of those who cultivate them. Of this class was the philosophy of the

Peripatetics, and that also of the scholastics.' Tumultuous passions, and corroding cares, are two sources of evil influences, which a true philosophy avoids. Another influence, adverse to life, is that mental feebleness, which renders persons perpetually solicitous about their health, effeminate and unhappy. Fixing their thoughts intensely on the functions of life, those functions that are subjects of this anxious inspection, become wearied. Imagining themselves diseased, they soon become so. The undoubting confidence that we shall enjoy health, is perhaps one of the best means of preserving it."-Art of Being Happy.

2. To form a habit of reasoning, attend to the health of your mind.

Do not exercise any one faculty unduly. Do not indulge the imagination. Read no novels, and but little poetry. Do not overload the memory. Think as well as read; but do not think intensely on any one subject; the reasoning powers then become distracted and enfeebled.

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"A quickness of mental perception, a lively and vigorous imagination, and a ready and retentive memory, are highly useful and ornamental qualities; but they are individually limited in their beneficial influence. The reasoning power, however, is of vital use. It is the corner-stone of the intellectual building, giving grace and strength to the whole structure; without it all the other faculties of the soul would be of little or no utility. All the differences in the mental qualifications of men may be traced to the various degrees of original strength in this quality of the mind, or to the successful manner in which it has been cultivated and improved."-Blakey's Essay on Logic.

In order to improve yourself in Logic, I would advise you to avoid, especially in your youth, discussions on those abstract principles of morals and metaphysics, which in every age of the world have puzzled, and which continue to puzzle, the most profound philosophers. Limit your inquiries and investigations to those things respecting which you may hope to arrive at some satisfactory conclusion, and which are also capable of some useful practical application. The absorption of the mind in mysticism tends to impair both the faculty of perception, and the power of reasoning. I would also advise you to avoid reading books written in an obscure or affected style. Such writings tend to injure the perceptive faculty, and to

familiarise the mind with obscure ideas, or with ideas ́ obscurely expressed. Read those works which are remarkable for profound reasoning and clear expression. Read with a pencil in your hand, and mark those paragraphs that contain any examples of clear and beautiful reasoning. If the newspapers you read are your own, cut out with a penknife all the good pieces of argumentation you may find, and after a while read them over again, and classify them according to the principles or forms of reasoning they can be employed to illustrate.

3. To form a habit of reasoning, associate your reasonings with your daily avocations.

Don't imagine that the great end of the art of reasoning is to enable you to refute or to instruct other people. Its chief end is to enable you to teach yourself. "Logic," says Dr. Watts, "is the art of using our reason well in the search after truth and in the communication of it to others." But don't fancy that "to search after truth," means nothing more than reading books, or what is called study. You will find that your daily duties, your own reflections, and the conduct of mankind around you, will supply you with truths quite as interesting and as important as any that you will meet with in books. Think on these. Before performing any action, ask yourself what are the reasons for doing it, and then ask what are the reasons for not doing it. Then consider the principles of your arguments and the various forms in which they may be expressed. When you have acquired the habit of thus reasoning on your own actions, you will soon learn to apply the same mode of reasoning to the actions of other people.

We never hear any one praised for being a good logician. The fact is, that when a man reasons well, he is famed not for his knowledge of logic, but for his knowledge of the art to which his logic is applied. When a lawyer reasons well he is celebrated not as a good logician, but as a good lawyer. The late Sir William Follett owed much of his reputation to the beautiful clearness of his reasoning. It is the same in every other profession. If a tradesman reasons well when talking with his customers, he is never suspected

of being skilled in logic, but, what is of more importance, he gets the character of being a good tradesman. And if a man reasons well upon "matters in general," he is reckoned a sensible man. Never boast of your logic. A reputation as a logician will damage the effect of your reasonings. Your opponent may fancy that his inability to answer your arguments arises, not from the weakness of his cause, but from your superior skill as a disputant.

4. To form a habit of reasoning, rather divide your reading and studies among a variety of subjects, than confine yourself to one subject.

Try to be distinguished in your profession, but do not be distinguished in anything else. If so, those engaged in the same profession will endeavour to detract from your professional reputation, by praising you for other attainments. You had better divide your unprofessional reading and studies among a good many subjects, rather than confine them to one. This will afford you more pleasure, impose less mental labour, and give a more lively exercise to your powers of reasoning. You will get the character of being a well-informed man, and awaken no envy by any special kind of superiority. Lord Bacon was a great lawyer, but he was also a great philosopher. And because he was a philosopher, he was supposed to be no lawyer. This opinion was entertained even by his distinguished contemporaries, the Minister Cecil, and the Attorney General, Coke. Disraeli observes, that "both were mere practical men of business, whose narrow conceptions, and whose stubborn habits, assume that whenever a man acquires much knowledge foreign to his profession, he will have less of professional knowledge than he ought."

Beyond your profession, then, it is better you should know a little about a good many things, than know a great deal about some one thing. This will give a more expansive character to your mind, and greater variety to the exercise of your reasoning powers. Get, therefore, a general acquaintance with every branch of knowledge. You will find that the sciences to which I have more especially directed your attention, History, Political Economy, Statistics. and Moral Philosophy, will supply you with an

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