, acquaintance with
the Scriptures; for, though no person of religious feeling
can read Scripture but he will find those feelings roused,
and gain much knowledge of history into the bargain, yet
historical reading and religious feeling are not a science.
I mean none of these things by Theology. I simply mean the
Science of God, or the truths we know about God put into a
system; just as we have a science of the stars, and call it
astronomy, or of the crust of the earth, and call it
geology."[15]

Third, by Details.

Third, _a common way of explaining a proposition is to go into
particulars about it._ Enough particulars should be given to furnish a
reasonable explanation of the proposition. Macaulay, writing of the
"muster-rolls of names" which Milton uses, goes into details. He
says:--

"They are charmed names. Every one of them is the first link
in a long chain of associated ideas. Like the dwelling place
of our infancy revisited in manhood, like the song of our
country heard in a strange land, they produce upon us an
effect wholly independent of their intrinsic value. One
transports us back to a remote period of history. Another
places us among the novel scenes and manners of a distant
region. A third evokes all the dear classical recollections
of childhood,--the schoolroom, the dog-eared Virgil, the
holiday, and the prize. A fourth brings before us the
splendid phantoms of chivalrous romance, the trophied lists,
the embroidered housings, the quaint devices, the haunted
forests, the enchanted gardens, the achievements of
enamoured knights, and the smiles of rescued
princesses."[16]

Fourth, by Illustrations.

Fourth, _a proposition may be explained by the use of a single example
or illustration._ The value of this method depends on the choice of
the example. It must in no essential way differ from the general case
it is intended to illustrate. Supposing this proposition were advanced
by some woman-hater: "All women are, by nature, liars," and it should
be followed by this sentence, "For example, take this lady of
fashion." Such an illustration is worthless. The individual chosen
does not fairly represent the class. If, on the other hand, a teacher
in physics should announce that "all bodies fall at the same rate in a
vacuum," and should illustrate by saying, "If I place a bullet and a
fe