ligion, morals, and manners, but how many does he violate?-IRVING: Traits of Indian Character.

the general principle, upon which everything turns, is in the italicized sentence at the middle. In still another

paragraph:

But if courage intrinsically consists in the defiance of danger and pain, the life of the Indian is a continual exhibition of it. He lives in a state of perpetual hostility and risk. Peril and adventure are congenial to his nature; or rather seem necessary to arouse his faculties and to give an interest to his existence. Surrounded by hostile tribes, whose mode of warfare is by ambush and surprisal, he is always prepared for fight, and lives with his weapons in his hand, etc.-IRVING: Traits of Indian Character.

the subject-sentence is at the beginning.

Usually a general principle is stated before the application to individual cases; a rule is given before the exceptions; a positive assertion before the negative converse. But examples of the opposite arrangement are to be found in good writers.

Before composing an expository paragraph, settle clearly in your mind the leading thought or view that you wish to advance, and make it conspicuous somewhere in the paragraph. If, after the paragraph is written, this thought does not seem conspicuous enough, reconstruct the whole.

See § 122; study also the extracts in Chapter VII.

Argumentation.-As stated in Chapter VIII., the object of an argument is to prove or disprove a definite assertion, called a proposition. This proposition, accordingly, is the essence of the paragraph, and is itself the subject-sentence. It must be stated, therefore, clearly, concisely, and conspicuously.

In very exact reasoning-e. g. in mathematics and physical science the proposition may be placed at the beginning, or at the end, or in both places. In geometry the usual place is at the beginning.

In argumentative writing that is less rigorous in its

method and less accurate in its results, the true place for the proposition is at the end-i. e. as a conclusion. But a very careful writer will frequently state, or at least indicate, it at the beginning also, in order to prepare the reader's mind in advance.

In the following passage Burke is contending that the disestablishment of the Church and the confiscation of its property [French Revolution of 1789] was tyrannical. The direct assertion, however, is not made until the very close:

When men are encouraged to go into a certain mode of life by the existing laws, and protected in that mode as in a lawful occupation— when they have accommodated all their ideas and all their habits to it -when the law had long made their adherence to its rules a ground of reputation, and their departure from them a ground of disgrace and even of penalty,—I am sure it is unjust in legislature, by an arbitrary act, to offer a sudden violence to their minds and their feelings; forcibly to degrade them from their state and condition, and to stigmatize with shame and infamy that character and those customs which before had been made the measure of their happiness and honour. If to this be added an expulsion from their habitations and a confiscation of all their goods, I am not sagacious enough to discover how this despotic sport made of the feelings, consciences, prejudices, and properties of men can be discriminated from the rankest tyranny.—BURKE: Reflections, p. 175. It comes as a quasi-induction from a number of painful details. In another passage, comprising several paragraphs in succession, Burke demonstrates that the English constitution was not established, and cannot be maintained, in disregard of the past. In the first paragraph he shows that the oldest English constitutional document, Magna Charta, has always been considered to be the embodiment of still more ancient rights. In the second he quotes from the Petition of Right addressed by Parliament to Charles I.: "Your subjects have inherited this freedom "--preferring, evidently, a positive, recorded, hereditary title to any vague speculative right. In the third he quotes from the Declaration of Right under William and Mary, in which

Parliament prays the king and queen "that it be declared and enacted that all and singular the rights and liberties asserted and declared are the true ancient and indubitable rights and liberties of the people of this kingdom." The fourth paragraph is here given entire:

You will observe that, from Magna Charta to the Declaration of Right, it has been the uniform policy of our constitution to claim and assert our liberties as an entailed inheritance derived to us from our forefathers, and to be transmitted to our posterity; as an estate specially belonging to the people of this kingdom, without any reference whatever to any other more general or prior right. By this means our constitution preserves an unity in so great a diversity of its parts. We have an inheritable crown, an inheritable peerage, and an house of commons and a people inheriting privileges, franchises, and liberties from a long line of ancestors.-BURKE: Reflections, p. 36.

The doctrine of inheritance runs through it all, appearing in every sentence. But the doctrine is formulated at the outset, in the clause, "claim and assert our liberties as an entailed inheritance," and is repeated in the final clause, "from a long line of ancestors."

For further examples see Chapter VIII. This kind of writing is extremely difficult, as is there stated. Nevertheless, the young student may profit greatly from examining argumentative paragraphs in the best authors, and analyzing each one into proposition, proof, and illustration.

C

CHAPTER III.

THE INDEPENDENT OR ISOLATED PARAGRAPH.

14. THIS form of stating one's views or knowledge is comparatively modern. In our day its use is growing rapidly in the daily and weekly newspapers and the monthly magazines. Not only the news-columns, but even the editorial pages, abound in isolated paragraphs, varying in length from two or three lines to thirty or forty, and touching upon every conceivable subject. A few examples will suffice. The first paragraph is one that gained a prize for saying the most upon the subject in two hundred words:

I feel repaid for the expense of my trip to the World's Fair because strengthened in seven ways. 1. Spiritually. I know as never before that we, the people of this world, are brothers, and all need the gospel ; that missionaries should be sent to every land. 2. Mentally. This Fair has caused me to think more intelligently. Before attending the Fair I studied faithfully, to be able to use my time wisely. Since reaching home I have been doubly interested not only in news concerning the Fair, but in the general news and history of all nations. 3. Physically. For several years I had not had one day of freedom from the care of my little ones. That week's outing gave me a complete rest and change. 4. Socially. I have more to talk about, and need not spend time discussing my neighbors' failings. 5. In manners. With few social advantages, I find the travelling and staying at large hotels have been advantages to me. 6. In refinement. The pictures, lectures, concerts, all had a refining influence. 7. In the nursery. I got many ideas in the care and training of children.—The Golden Rule, Dec. 28, 1893.

An exhibition of exceeding interest has just been opened at the Vienna Museum. This consists of a collection of upwards of 10,000 Egyptian papyrus documents, which were discovered at El Fayûm, and purchased by the Austrian Archduke Rainer several years ago. The

collection is unique, and the documents, which are written in eleven different languages, have all been deciphered and arranged scientifically. They cover a period of 2500 years and furnish remarkable evidence as to the culture and public and private life of the ancient Egyptians and other nations. They are also said to contain evidence that printing from type was known to the Egyptians as far back as the tenth century B. C. Other documents show that a flourishing trade in the manufacture of paper from linen rags existed six centuries before the process was known in Europe. Another interesting feature in the collection is a number of commercial letters, contracts, tax-records, wills, novels, tailors' bills, and even love-letters, dating from 1200 B. C.— N. Y. Evening Post.

We may soon expect to see our maidens working mythological characters, and illustrating fables and legends on our bedspreads, with descriptive lines by some of our poets. At least they will do so if they follow English precedent. The idea of a bedspread with a good and appropriate poem embroidered on it is rather a pleasing one, and would, I think, be far more interesting on a cold morning, when one hesitates about rising, or when one is a little ill, than impossible flowers, or a quilt of many colors that puts out the eyes by its brilliance. At the London Society of Arts and Crafts there was lately shown a linen bedspread worked in wools, on which were embroidered verses by the poet William Morris. The work was done by his daughter, a most talented young woman, who is of great assistance to her father in the invention and execution of beautiful things for English households.-N. Y. Evening Post.

From a mixture having the proportions of about one quart of crude petroleum to two ounces of resin, five ounces of powdered soap, and eleven ounces of caustic soda, Engineer Maestracci of the Italian navy produces fuel bricks that he recommends for vessels as being less bulky than coal and safer than liquid fuel. The materials are heated until converted into a thick paste, poured into moulds, and placed for a few minutes in a drying oven. The addition of 20 per cent. of wood sawdust and 20 per cent. of clay is advised as a means of making the briquettes cheaper and more solid. Tried on tugboats, the petroleum briquettes furnished about three times as much heat as coal briquettes, and gave out very little smoke and left little or no ash.

15. Peculiar Conciseness of the Independent Paragraph.-Inasmuch as the independent paragraph is an attempt to dispose of a subject in a few lines, it must be