It carefully excludes the spirit of perversion; toler ates none of those countless shifts and subtleties that officiously offer their services in the defense of error and prejudice; admits what is true as readily as it denies what is false; guards the speaker against the indulgence of petty personalities; teaches him to exercise every forbearance and every courtesy, but at all hazards, through whatever clouds of words, flashes of wit, assaults of satire, or thunder of oratory, to make his way steadily into the presence of all-enchanting all-satisfying truth.

A third rule of discussion is, to study the subject of debate well beforehand, and, in so doing, take the widest and most liberal views; determining your posi tion only after pondering deeply both sides of the question, and carefully measuring and comparing the forces of each respectively. And when once you have chosen your position, seek to fortify it in your own minds by an orderly and apt arrangement of all your arguments; so that when you come to be put upon the defense, you may have perfectly at command the whole of your re

sources.

This being done, have in readiness for detail and specification, those weak and untenable grounds which, by previous study, you have ascertained to be among the defenses of those who take the opposite side. This will command for you the respect that ever falls to him who is found to be acquainted with his theme, be sides saving you the mortification of confessing ignorance and talking at a venture.

The fourth and last rule which time here allows me to offer, is-ever to observe the rules of order and the

courtesies of debate. "Order," it has been well said, "is Heaven's first law ;" and nowhere, in the universe, is that law more indispensable than in a deliberative assembly.

Every speaker should feel himself under the strictest obligation to maintain in practice, as in precept, the rules and regulations adopted for the government and conduct of our meetings. Nor is this all. Above and beyond all the written requirements of the case, there is a certain educated refinement of manners,-a suavity of look, of word, and of act, without which all discussion savors of insolent contradiction, all debate sinks down into noisy wrangling.

He, then, who indulges much in the use of repartee, or satire, or ridicule, or whose deportment is so shaped as to wound the feelings of his opponent, thereby proves himself a practical enemy to the investigation of truth; since his conduct shuts up all the reliable avenues to conviction, turns the discussion into a contest of abusive utterances, and, instead of friendship, generates a brood of antipathies and resentments, that not only outlast the excitement of the occasion, but often go with us through all subsequent life. It is, therefore, impossible to be too strict in the observance of this last rule; for, in debating societies, as in all others, the precept of the Apostle is equally imperative, "Let all things be done DECENTLY and IN ORDER.”

I forbear, Gentlemen, further to test your patience. I have no apology to offer for thus assuming to myself the office of an adviser; unless it can be found in the well-meant, if not well-considered, endeavor to advance the common interests of our Association.

SECTION XI.

DEBATES IN OUTLINE.

HAT are here called Debates in Outline, are not,

WHAT

nor are they designed to be, elaborate synopses of all the arguments pro and con, that may be adduced in discussing the several questions proposed. They are to serve merely as hints and suggestions, as thoughts likely to beget thoughts.

He, therefore, that consults these outlines with any view to improvement, should consider their design, and act upon it. He should regard them not so much as arguments, as the sources of arguments: keeping always in mind, that what we ourselves excogitate, however humble, and however often thought of by others, is, for all the purposes of mental training, a thousand times more valuable than the best and the most brilliant arguments, if merely borrowed from other people.

Yet, reading and conversation are not, therefore, to be despised or neglected, as useless or injurious. The error to be avoided, is that of substituting reading and talking for the weightier matters of thinking and reasoning.

Can we reasonably indulge the hope of Universal Peace?

FIRST SPEAKER. (Affirmative).-That war is unnec essary, and, therefore, unjustifiable, is a conviction which reflecting men will find it difficult to resist. Every fresh experience serves only to weaken our confidence in the arbitration of the sword, and strengthen that which we have in the decisions of reason. This renders the hope of universal peace quite a rational one.

SECOND SPEAKER. (Negative.)—Wars generally originate in causes inseparable from the character of human nature,-ambition and selfishness. As long as these last, there will be war and bloodshed. You must change the radical nature of man, therefore, before you can hope for universal peace.

THIRD SPEAKER. (Affirmative.)-It is the glory of Christianity, that it changes the heart of man; implanting therein, in place of the evil passions which we by nature.inherit, or, by practice, too readily acquire, those qualities of heart and mind, which cannot, for a moment, tolerate the presence of war.

FOURTH SPEAKER. (Negative.)-Experience shows that Christians do not scruple to go to war. Some of the fiercest and foulest contests have been carried on by Christians, and that, too, under the name of Christianity. Witness the Crusades.

FIFTH SPEAKER. (Affirmative.)-What are often called Christian nations, said an acute and pious

clergyman of New England, should rather be called christened nations. It is not the name and profession of Christ merely, that is to eradicate evil from the world, but the true spirit of his religion. That religion certainly promises the reign of universal peace. It is, therefore, reasonable to expect it.

Ought Emulation in Schools to be encouraged?

FIRST SPEAKER. (Affirmative.)-People never put forth their best efforts without the stimulus of rivalry. There must be something to be gained, as also something to be lost, or all energy will be paralyzed. This is the experience of mankind, and it ought to have weight in our decision.

SECOND SPEAKER. (Negative.)-Emulation is the parent of antipathy. Its presence in schools is fraught with mischief. It defeats all attempts at cultivating the spirit of brotherhood, because it virtually sets one against another.

THIRD SPEAKER. (Affirmative.)-Rivalry, in a school, is not necessarily bitter and vindictive. It must be generous. It must be regarded and used as a healthful incentive. It may be perverted, but this should not lead to its entire disuse.

FOURTH SPEAKER. (Negative.)-All rivalry presupposes, that some must be beaten. Few only can be rewarded as victors; the many must suffer, however