APPENDIX.

OUTLINE OF AN INTRODUCTORY COURSE OF INSTRUCTION IN LOGIC;

FOR PUPILS NOT YET COMPETENT TO ENTER ON THE STUDY OF THE WHOLE WORK.

In order to feel what he can, and what he cannot accomplish in developing his knowledge, the learner should at once be set to theme-writing.* * All the instructions immediately required for this purpose will be found between Section 42, Chapter IV., and Section 4, Chapter V., both sections inclusive (pages 171-187). This having been diligently read and well considered, let a subject be chosen either from among those suggested, or from such as may occur in reading or in conversation. Say, that Curiosity is the subject chosen. It is most likely that his first thoughts will perplex and confuse him. He will be disposed to consider curiosity only as a mischief, an impertinence, a meanness, because his attention has been most frequently called to these effects; and yet he will suspect that some higher point of view should be taken, which may discover the good, as well as the bad effects of curiosity. A definition will here be needed, "Curiosity, or eagerness of search after knowledge, is"—what? Let him reflect for a time, and he cannot fail to add something to the following purpose:-" either a good or an evil, according to the purposes to which it is applied." The subject thus branches into two, and his subsequent development will bring forth what his experience and reading make him know, first, of well-directed curiosity, and then of curiosity idly and impertinently directed.

It is not always necessary to begin by a definition. If the name of the subject is at once suggestive of all that it includes,

*We are here supposing the pupil to have passed through the Exercises pertaining to Grammar and to Rhetoric.

it will be best to begin, not by a definition, but by some very general proposition. In treating of Industry, for instance, it would be an obvious thing to say, that "It is the source of all the blessings of life." Having stated this general fact, which is to be developed by particulars, it is very likely that the young thinker will find himself lost amid the multitude that crowd into his mind. He is conscious that it will not do to note them down in heterogeneous order, just as they happen to occur, as in making out a catalogue :-how, then, must he proceed?-He must adopt some general heads, standing, as it were, midway between the first general state ment, and the infinite particulars which still lie beneath :— for instance, he might go on to say, "First, let us see what industry does for the poor man :" and having developed his knowledge under this head, the following might be another: Next, let us see what industry does for the young, and consequently ignorant person." Other heads might be, the effects of industry on sterile land, or on land partially covered by sea; on the people of a whole country; on the arts which refine a people; and on the sciences which improve those His mode of developing this subject would be a guide in developing the opposite,-on Sloth, of which subject, the following is an outline for his guidance; and to it are added a few other outlines, after filling up which, it is hoped that further assistance of the same kind may be discontinued.

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arts.

ON SLOTH. 1. It is the root of all evil: what condition

it brings even a rich man to. 2. What it prevents in the young. 3. What will be the character and condition of a once flourishing farm after years of neglect by a slothful owner. 4. What effect sloth produces, or is likely to produce on a whole people. 5. What effect it has upon the bodily health. 6. What effect on the mind and morals.

ON ENTHUSIASM. Ardour of mind engendered by something that affects the imagination: may be an evil;—may be a good. 2. An evil whenever it operates against reasonfor instance, in certain enterprises; in the religious temper of the mind; in the reception of new opinions. 3. A good, when it is controlled by reason-for instance, in our enterprises, in our religious feelings, in our opinions. 4. It ministers to excellence in the fine arts; it confers the capacity for appreciating and enjoying them.

ON GOOD TEMPER. A greater good than any other personal endowment, or other gift of Providence. For every thing is valuable in proportion to the happiness it secures. Now a good temper, &c. A good temper may be the gift of nature, but it may also be the growth of reason and habit. For let a person be convinced, &c., and let him day by day, nay, hour by hour, watch and control, &c.

ON HAPPINESS. 1. Is the great object of all our actions: the ways are different :-this man imagines it is to be found in, &c.; another in, &c.; a third in, &c. Some suppose,

&c., others, &c.—But though the ways are thus different, the end is ever the same, namely, &c. 2. The greater number of these supposed ways must be wrong; for the greater number of those who follow them confess that, in their several pursuits, they never reach their object. 3. Happiness exists in the mind, and only to a certain extent is it dependent on external circumstances. 4. What the circumstances are, both external and internal, on which happiness depends.

ON LIBERTY. 1. A subject that seldom fails to raise our warmest emotions: we think of the heroes of Greece and of Rome, of Switzerland and of Britain:-say, who they were, and what they attempted. 2. Our love of liberty is justified by the evils that attend a state of slavery: develop these evils. 3. But liberty must not be confounded with licentiousness. Shew that wherever there is real liberty, there is subjection to authority, which controls the evil-intentioned, and protects the good.

ON SELF-KNOWLEDGE. 1. All moral improvement depends upon it. If we know not our defects, we cannot, &c. 2. What are the hindrances to self-knowledge. 3. What will follow in proportion as we improve in it.

ON SELF-DENIAL. 1. Consists in abstaining from some present gratification for the sake of greater expected good: is the great principle of religion, and of morals: of religion; for all the rewards which she holds out, are promised on the condition, &c. of morals; for all the virtues imply that we resist, &c. 2. Self-denial is necessary, in a certain degree, to real enjoyment; for, &c.

ON OBEDIENCE. Our progress in virtue, in knowledge, and in happiness, depends upon it: first in virtue; for we must conform to the laws, &c. 2. Secondly in knowledge; be

cause we learn from others, either by teachers who communicate through the ear, or by books, which communicate through the eye; and if, &c. 3. Thirdly, in happiness; because we are prone to evil courses, in other words, to courses that end in misery, from which we can be preserved only, &c.

ON ADVERSITY. To creatures whose present existence is a state of trial, is calculated to be an ultimate good: first, by opening the heart to fellow feeling with the woes of others. 2. Secondly, by correcting vices engendered by prosperity, namely, &c. 3. Thirdly, by qualifying us to enjoy what is good, when the good returns; for he who knows not, &c., cannot truly know and enjoy, &c.

ON HABIT. 1. Is second nature: whatever is possible to be done, however difficult at first, is made easy by repeated trials, in other words by acquiring the habit: examples from the arts. 2. If it forms our practice in the mechanic and the ornamental arts, it has equal power in forming all our practice; hence our conduct in life will be dependent, &c. 3. However much we may wish to be good, yet if our habits, &c. On the other hand, our temptations to evil will be less strong, if our habits, &c. ON ORDER. 1. Is of the utmost importance in all the concerns of life. It conduces to comfort in a household; for, &c. 2. It is the source of internal prosperity and external strength in a nation; for, &c. 3. It is necessary in our studies, because in all things to be learned there is subordination of one part of knowledge to another; and if, &c. 4. It forms the virtues; for each virtue has its bounds instance, &c.

as, for ON TIME. 1. Is, with regard to every human being, the opportunity for accomplishing the great ends of his existence. These are, happiness here, and immortality hereafter. secure happiness here, we must, &c. 2. To secure happiness hereafter, we must so rule our present conduct, as, &c. 3. The short period of the longest life, calls upon us, &c.

To

ON PREJUDICE. 1. Is the habit or act of thinking and speaking, as if we had certain knowledge, when the subjects are such or so circumstanced, that we know either nothing about them, or very little. All persons are liable to prejudices, sometimes erring by being favourable, sometimes by being unfavourable :-for instance, when we see any one for

the first time, &c. So when we visit foreign countries, and see manners and customs different from our own, &c. Continue with other instances. 2. But though all persons are liable to prejudices, all persons are not governed by them. It is in this respect that people differ, and they differ greatly. One man is unconscious of his prejudices, and accordingly, &c. Another man is quite aware of the different character of his certain and uncertain knowledge, and therefore takes care, &c.

ON TRUTH. 1 (see in the Index). 2. If we speak of Truth under three points of view, we may distinguish it as Moral, Scientific, and Divine. Moral truth is opposed to falsehood: it is the conformity of our words and actions to our thoughts. Thus we are said to speak the truth when, &c. In such a case, what we say may not be scientific truth, yet if, &c. 3. Scientific truth is that which we reach by study and experiment. Its amount will consequently be different at different periods of one's life, and at different periods of the world. Exemplify each observation. 4. Divine truth is that which belongs to the Deity, portions only of which He reveals to his creatures. Where do we find such revelation?

ON YOUTH. 1. It is that part of life which presents the greatest number of enjoyments, the most important opportunities, the dangers most to be apprehended. 2. The enjoyments. 3. The opportunities. 4. The dangers.

ON AGE. 1. Though a state which we may not all attain, is one for which, throughout the previous parts of life, we should all make preparation. The nature of this preparation, that so, old age, if we reach it, may be happy. 2. The blessings of age when the proper preparation has been made.

ON SOLITUDE. 1. Is a state not meant for man, yet, as an occasional state, indispensable to the formation of some of the best qualities of our nature. Its likely effects on the un2. The unreasonable

derstanding, and thence on the heart. ness of devoting life wholly to solitude.

ON SOCIETY. 1. The nature of man is such as to demand society, both for the development of his powers, and for providing his true means of happiness. Prove these points. 2. How we may fail of these effects, though always in society. ON GEOGRAPHY. 1. Define it. 2. It must have begun by the knowledge of small tracts of the earth's surface: