thought together with its associated details a second, etc.; all of
these together composing the whole field. In other words, the student,
instead of making progress in knowledge fact by fact, should advance
by _groups of facts_. His smallest unit of progress should be a
considerable number of ideas so related to one another that they make
a whole; those that are alike in their support of some valuable
thought making up a bundle, and the farther-reaching, controlling idea
itself constituting the band that ties these bits together and
preserves their unity. Such a unit or, "point," as it is most often
called, is the basal element in thinking, just as the family is the
basal element in society.

_The size of such units of advance._

Such units of advance may vary indefinitely in size; but the danger is
that they will be too small. A minister who reaches his thirteenthly
is not likely to be a means of converting many sinners. A debater who
makes fifteen points will hardly find his judges enthusiastic in his
favor, no matter how weak his opponents may be. A chapter that
contains twenty or thirty paragraphs should not be remembered as
having an equal number of points. What is wanted is that the student
shall _feel the force_ of the ideas presented, and a great lot of
little points strung together cannot produce a forceful impression.

Any thought that is worth much must be supported by numerous facts and
will require considerable time or space for presentation. A minister
can hardly establish a half dozen valuable ideas in one sermon; he
does well if he presents two or three with force; and he is most
likely to make a lasting impression if he confines himself to one.
Drummond's _The Greatest Thing in the World_ is an example of the