CHAPTEE II. 



TERMS. 



EVERY proposition expresses the resemblance or differ- 

 ence of the things denoted by its terms. As inference 

 treats of the relation between two or more propositions, so 

 a proposition expresses a relation between two or more 

 terms. In the portion of this work which treats of 

 deduction it will be convenient to follow the usual order 

 of exposition. We will consider in succession the various 

 kinds of terms, propositions, and arguments, and we com- 

 mence in this chapter with terms. 



The simplest and most palpable meaning which can 

 belong to a term consists of some single material object, 

 such as Westminster Abbey, Stonehenge, the Sun, Sirius, 

 &c. It is probable that in early stages of intellect only 

 concrete and palpable things are the objects of thought. 

 The youngest child knows the difference between a hot and 

 a cold body. The dog can recognise his master among a 

 hundred other persons, and animals of much lower intel- 

 ligence know and discriminate their haunts. In all such 

 acts there is judgment concerning the likeness of physical 

 objects, but there is little or no power of analysing each 

 object and regarding it as a group of qualities. 



The dignity of intellect begins with the power of 

 separating points of agreement from those of difference. 

 Comparison of two objects may lead us to perceive that 

 they are at once like and unlike. Two fragments of rock 

 may differ entirely in outward form, yet they may have the 

 same colour, hardness, and texture. Flowers which agree 

 in colour may differ in odour. The mind learns to regard 



