passage, in the newspaper of to-day, we met with an instance that is
sufficiently striking.

"The accusation against me," says Sir Sidney Smith, in his excellent
letter to Pichegru, expostulating upon his unmerited confinement,
"brought forward by _your_ justice of the peace, was, that I was the
enemy of the republic. You know, general, that with military men, the
word _enemy_ has merely a technical signification, without expressing
the least character of hatred. You will readily admit this principle,
the _result_ of which is, that I ought not to be persecuted for the
injury I have been enabled to do whilst I carried arms against you."

Here the argument between two generals, one of whom is pleading for
his liberty, if not for his life, turns upon the meaning and
construction of a single word. Accuracy of reasoning, and some
knowledge of language, may, it appears, be of essential service in all
professions.

It is not only necessary to attend to the exact meaning which is
avowedly affixed to any terms used in argument, but is also useful to
attend to the thoughts which are often suggested to the disputants by
certain words. Thus, the words happiness and beauty, suggest, in
conversation, very different ideas to different men; and in arguing,
concerning these, they could never come to a conclusion. Even persons
who agree in the same definition of a word, frequently do not
sufficiently attend to the ideas which the word suggests; to the
association of thoughts and emotions which it excites; and,
consequently, they cannot strictly abide by their own definition, nor
can they discover where the errour lies. We have observed,[93] that
the imagination is powerfully affected by words that suggest long
trains of ideas; our reasonings are influenced in the same manner, and
the elliptical figures of speech are used in reasoning as well as in
poetry.

"I would do so and so, if I were Alexander."

"And so would I, if I were Parmenio;"

is a short reply, which suggests a number of ideas, and a train of
reasoning. To those who cannot supply the intermediate ideas, the
answer would not appear either sublime or rational. Young people, when
they appear to admire any compressed reasoning, should be encouraged
to show that they can supply the thoughts and reasons that are not
expressed. Vivacious children, will be disgusted, however, if they are
required to detail upon the subject;[94] all that is necessary, is to
be sure that they