I. Innocent persons | deserve protection --------------------------------+-------------------- This person deserves protection | _N. C._ *** 'He who cannot possibly act otherwise than he does, has neither merit nor demerit in his action; a liberal and benevolent man cannot possibly act otherwise than he does in relieving the poor; therefore such a man has neither merit nor demerit in his action.'--To 'have merit in an action' is scarcely intelligible. A man's merit is in his character, and his actions are effects and signs of character. *** 'All the fish that the net inclosed were an indiscriminate mixture of various kinds; those that were set aside and saved as valuable were fish that the net inclosed; therefore those that were set aside and saved as valuable were an indiscriminate mixture of various kinds.' An instance of the fallacy of division: what is true of the whole contents of the net is not necessarily true of a portion of the contents. *** 'A desire to gain by another's loss is a violation of the tenth commandment; all gaming, therefore, since it implies a desire to profit at the expense of another, involves a breach of the tenth commandment.'--A valid argument in inherence. All desire to gain by, &c. | violates ------------------------------------+-------------- Gaming involves this kind of desire | _it violates_ *** 'He that destroys a man who usurps despotic power in a free country, deserves well of his countrymen; Brutus destroyed Caesar, who usurped despotic power in Rome; therefore he deserved well of the Romans.'--If Rome was 'a free country' the conclusion is valid. *** 'No fish suckles its young; the whale suckles its young; the whale is therefore no fish.' I. What suckles | is no-fish --------------|---------------- Whale suckles | _it is no-fish_ *** 'This explosion must have been occasioned by gunpowder, for nothing else would have possessed sufficient force.' V. Explosions of a certain | can only be occasioned by destructiveness | gunpowder ------------------------+-------------------------- This explosion has that | _it must have been destructiveness | occasioned by gunpowder_ *** 'Every man should be moderate, for excess will cause disease.' V. To avoid disease | moderation is requisite -----------------------+------------------------ Every man should avoid | _every man should disease | be moderate_ *** 'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.' I. To obtain mercy | is blessed ---------------------+--------------------- Those who show mercy | _they must be obtain mercy | considered blessed_ ***