Introduction to Advanced Mathematics

Randall R. Holmes
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Introduction to
Advanced Mathematics

Randall R. Holmes
Auburn University

Copyright c 2015 by Randall R. Holmes

Last revision: April 10, 2018

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-

NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy
of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
1 Preliminaries

1.1 Set basics

A set is a collection of objects, called elements. A set can be described by

listing its elements. For example,

{a, b, c}

is the set with elements a, b, and c.

A set can be described by listing just some of its elements followed by dots
if the pattern is clear. For example, the set

{1, 2, 3, . . . }

has elements 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and so forth. And the set

{5, 10, 15, . . . , 100}

has elements 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and so forth, ending with 90, 95, 100.
Put A = {1, 2, 3}. (This sentence says that the letter A now serves as a
substitute (a nickname) for the set {1, 2, 3}.) The notation 3 ∈ A says that
3 is an element of A. The notation 4 ∈ / A says that 4 is not an element of
A.
Put

N = {0, 1, 2, 3, . . . } (set of natural numbers),

Z = {. . . , −3, −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . } (set of integers),
+
Z = {1, 2, 3, . . . } (set of positive integers),
R = set of real numbers.

The set R of real numbers is the set of all numbers having a decimal rep-
resentation (with possibly infinitely many digits to the right of the decimal
point). This set comprises all of the familiar numbers. In particular, it√in-
cludes all fractions (and hence all integers) as√well as numbers such as 2,
π, and e (but not the imaginary number i = −1).
The set with no elements is called the empty set. It is denoted ∅.

1
For a natural number n, if a set X has precisely n elements we say that X
has cardinality n, and we write |X| = n. For instance, if X = {a, b, c},
then |X| = 3. Also, |∅| = 0.
The way one reads the notation n ∈ N depends on the context. Here are
some examples:

Since 5 ∈ Z . . . . Since 5 is an element of Z . . . .

Let n ∈ N. Let n be an element of N.
For every x ∈ R . . . . For every x in R . . . .

1.2 String

Put x = 3 and y = 5. We have

x + y = 3 + 5 = 8.
This is an example of what we refer to as a “string.” The point of this string
is to say that the ends are equal, in other words, that x + y = 8. The string
helps the reader verify this equality: x + y equals 3 + 5 (by substitution),
which equals 8 (by simple arithmetic).

1.2.1 Example Put x = 7/2 and y = −2. Use a string to say that
x + y = 3/2.

Solution We have
 
7 7 −4 7−4 3
x + y = + (−2) = + = = .
2 2 2 2 2

Discussion: Note that we do not summarize by writing [ Therefore, x + y =

3/2 ] . The string already says this, so it would be redundant to say it again.

Strings can be used to help the reader see not only equalities but other
relationships as well.

1.2.2 Example Put x = 6 and y = −4. Use a string to say that

2x + y > 7.

2
Solution We have
2x + y = 2(6) + (−4) = 8 > 7.

Discussion: The string shows that 2x + y is greater than 7 by first showing

that 2x + y equals 8 and then pointing out that 8 is greater than 7 so that
2x + y must be greater than 7 as well.

1.2.3 Example Put x = 9/2 and y = 2/3. Use a string to say that
4x + 3y ∈ N.

Solution We have
   
9 2
4x + 3y = 4 +3 = 18 + 2 = 20 ∈ N.
2 3

There are a few exceptions to the rule that a string is meant to express a
relationship between its ends. The context usually makes it clear what is
meant in these cases.

1.2.4 Example The following are exceptions to the rule for reading
strings:

(a) Let x ∈ Z with −2 < x < 5. (Meaning: Let x be an integer such that
x > −2 and x < 5, that is, such that x is between −2 and 5.)
(b) Let m, n ∈ Z with m 6= 0 6= n. (Meaning: Let m and n be integers
with m 6= 0 and n 6= 0. The condition is better expressed by writing
m, n 6= 0.)
(c) Let 0 6= a ∈ Z. (Meaning: Let a ∈ Z with a 6= 0, that is, let a be a
nonzero integer.)

Discussion: In part (b), there is no danger of interpreting the string as

expressing a relationship between m and n. In general, a string that has two
occurrences of 6= cannot say anything meaningful about how the ends relate.
For instance, we have 1 6= 2 6= 1 as well as 1 6= 2 6= 3. In the first case, the ends
are equal, while in the second case they are not equal.

3
1.3 Pattern matching

For n ∈ Z+ , put An = {1, 2, 3, . . . , n}. Then we have, for instance,

A10 = {1, 2, 3, . . . , 10}.

The notation A10 matches the pattern An with 10 playing the role of the n,
so we get this equation by replacing n by 10 in the definition of An .
We are writing 1, 2, 3, . . . , n to mean the list starting with 1 and ending with
n, so the numbers 2 and 3 need not actually appear. For instance, A1 = {1}.

1.3.1 Example For n, m ∈ Z, put n ∗ m = 2nm .

(a) We have 1 ∗ 3 = 21·3 = 23 = 8.

(b) We have (1 ∗ 2) ∗ 0 = (21·2 ) ∗ 0 = 4 ∗ 0 = 24·0 = 1.

2 −m2
(c) For n, m ∈ Z, we have (n − m) ∗ (n + m) = 2(n−m)(n+m) = 2n .

Discussion: In part (a), the expression 1 ∗ 3 matches the pattern n ∗ m with

1 playing the role of the n and 3 playing the role of the m.
In part (c), the letters n and m do not have the same meanings that they have
in the definition of n ∗ m. Rather, the expression (n − m) ∗ (n + m) matches
the pattern n ∗ m with n − m playing the role of the n and n + m playing the
role of the m.

1.3.2 Example For n ∈ Z+ , let P (n) denote the statement

n(n + 1)
1 + 2 + 3 + ··· + n = .
2

4(4 + 1)
(a) P (4) is the statement 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = .
2
1(1 + 1)
(b) P (1) is the statement 1 = .
2

4
 (c) For n ∈ Z+ with n > 1, P (n − 1) is the statement

(n − 1)((n − 1) + 1)
1 + 2 + 3 + · · · + (n − 1) = .
2

Discussion: In part (a), P (4) matches the pattern P (n) with 4 playing the
role of n.
In part (b), 1 plays the role of n and, since 1 + 2 + 3 + · · · + n means to start
with 1 and add successively higher integers up to n, this sum is just 1.
In part (c), n − 1 plays the role of n.

1.3.3 Example For a, b, n ∈ Z we say that a is congruent to b modulo

n if a − b = kn for some k ∈ Z.

(a) Is it true that 10 is congruent to 4 modulo 3? (Yes, since 10 − 4 =

6 = (2)3.)

(b) Is it true that 3 is congruent to 9 modulo 5? (No, since 3 − 9 = −6 6=

k5 for all k ∈ Z.)

Discussion: For a, b, n ∈ Z, the phrase [ a is congruent to b modulo n ] is

meant to be a substitute (a nickname) for the phrase [ a − b = kn for some
k ∈ Z ] . In part (a) the wording

10 is congruent to 4 modulo 3

matches the pattern

a is congruent to b modulo n

with 10 playing the role of a, 4 playing the role of b, and 3 playing the role of
n. So the question is the same as the question [ Is it true that 10 − 4 = k3 for
some k ∈ Z? ] . As observed, this is true since one can let k = 2.

5
1.4 Function basics

The reader is no doubt familiar with the notion of a function, such as the
function f given by f (x) = x2 . The understanding is that if you give this
function the input 3, it gives you the output 32 . If you give it the input −2,
it gives you the output (−2)2 . And so forth. So f can be regarded as a rule
for taking an input and producing an output.
In the formula f (x) = x2 , the letter x represents the input. It can be any
real number. The notation f (x) represents the output corresponding to the
input x. The formula says that, for a given input x, the corresponding
output f (x) is x2 :

f (x) =O x2O .
O

output corres. to x is this

Let X and Y be sets. A function f from X to Y (written f : X → Y )

is a rule that assigns to each element x of X a unique element f (x) of Y ,
depicted using a Venn diagram like this:

X f Y

x f (x)

We regard a function as a device that takes an input and produces an output.

If the function f is given the input x, it produces the output f (x).
The set X is the domain of f and the set Y is the codomain of f .
The codomain of f is a set that contains all of the outputs, but it might also
contain elements that are not outputs. For instance, the function f : R → R
given by f (x) = x2 has codomain R, but this set contains the element −1,
which can never occur as an output. The set of all outputs of f is called the
image of f . So in this example, the image of f is the set of all nonnegative
real numbers.

6
(One sees the term “range” of f . Some authors use this to mean “codomain”
and others use it to mean “image.” Because of the potential confusion the
term has fallen out of favor and it is best not to use it at all.)
The notion of pattern matching discussed in the preceding section applies
to function notation.

1.4.1 Example Define f : Z → Z by f (n) = 2n + 3.

(a) f (5) = 2(5) + 3 = 13.

(b) For a ∈ Z, f (a) = 2a + 3.

(c) For n ∈ Z, f (n − 4) = 2(n − 4) + 3 = 2n − 5.

(d) For x ∈ Z, f (f (x)) = f (2x + 3) = 2(2x + 3) + 3 = 4x + 9.

2
2
(e) For m ∈ Z, f (m4 ) = 2m4 + 3 = 4m8 + 12m4 + 9.

Discussion: In part (a), f (5) matches the pattern f (n) with 5 playing the
role of the n. In part (b), the letter a plays the role of the n.
In part (c) the n in the notation f (n − 4) does not have the same meaning that
it has in the definition f (n) = 2n + 3. Rather, f (n − 4) matches the pattern
f (n) with n − 4 playing the role of the n.
In part (d), the first step replaces f (x) with what it equals, namely, 2x + 3.
Then f (2x + 3) matches the pattern f (n) with 2x + 3 playing the role of the n.
In part (e), the first step replaces f (m4 ) with what it equals, namely, 2m4 + 3.
Then the expression is expanded and simplified.

1 – Exercises

1–1 Write a sentence using symbols to say that the letter E is to serve as
a substitute (a nickname) for the set of even integers from 2 to 1000.

1–2 Rewrite each of the following sentences replacing the symbols “∈” and
“∈”
/ by appropriate words.

7
 (a) Let r ∈ R.

(b) Therefore, x/2 ∈

/ Z for some x ∈ Z.

(c) If n ∈ N, then n + m ∈ N for every m ∈ N.

1–3 Put x = 4 and y = 7. Use a string to say that 3(x − 2) = y − 1.

1–4 Put a = 1, b = −3, and c = 3. Use a string to say that b2 − 4ac < 0.

1–5 Put a = 1 and b = 2. Use a string to say that (a + b)2 6= a2 + b2 .

s
1–6 Put r = −2/3 and s = 8. Use a string to say that 12sr − 2 ∈
/ N.

1–7 In each case, rewrite the statement to avoid the use of a string.

(a) We have 0 ≤ n ∈ Z.

(b) Let x, y ∈ R with 0 < x ≤ y ≤ 10.

(c) Therefore, z1 = z2 = · · · = zn = 0.

1–8 For m, n ∈ R with m, n > 0, put m  n = nm . In each case below,

rewrite the expression so that  no longer appears, and simplify if possible.
(Write a string beginning with the given expression and ending with the
simplified expression.)

(a) 3  2 = · · · .

(b) (2  (1/2))  16 = · · · .

(c) For l, m, n ∈ R with l, m, n > 0, (m  l)(n  l) = · · · .

1–9 For x, y ∈ N with x ≤ 3y , put Ax,y = {x, x + 1, x + 2, . . . , 3y } and

Bx = Ax,x+2 . Write each of the following sets in list form.

8
 (a) A5,2 = · · · .

(b) A0,0 = · · · .

(c) B2 = · · · .

1–10 For n ∈ Z+ , let P (n) be the statement

n2 ≥ 2n + 3.

(a) Write the statement P (5).

(b) Is the statement P (2) true? Explain.

(c) Let n ∈ Z+ with n > 1. Write the statement P (n − 1).

1–11 For n ∈ Z, put f (n) = n + 1. In each case below, rewrite the

expression so that f no longer appears, and simplify if possible. (Write a
string beginning with the given expression and ending with the simplified
expression.)

(a) f (4) = · · · .

(b) f (f (−1)) = · · · .

(c) For n, m ∈ Z, f (n + m) − n = · · · .

1–12 For n, m ∈ Z we say that n divides m (written n | m) if m = kn for

some k ∈ Z.

(a) Is it true that −3 divides 12? Explain.

(b) Is it true that 6 | 20? Explain.

(c) Is it true that 5 | 0? Explain.

1–13 Define f : R → R by f (x) = 2x x.

(a) Find f (3).

9
(b) Given a ∈ R, find f (a).

(c) Given x, h ∈ R, find f (x + h).

(d) Find (f (−1))2 + 1.

(e) Find f (f (1))f (−2).

(f) Given ♥ ∈ R, find f (♥).

10
2 Proofs - I

2.1 And and Or

Let n ∈ Z and assume that 1 ≤ n ≤ 3. The following is an example of an

and statement and its proof:

Statement: 2n ≥ 2 and n + 4 < 8.

Proof : First, by assumption we have n ≥ 1, so multiplying by 2 gives 2n ≥

2. Second, by assumption we have n ≤ 3, so adding 4 gives n + 4 ≤ 7 < 8.

There are two claims being made in the statement, so the method is to prove
each separately.
Letting P stand for the statement 2n ≥ 2 and letting Q stand for the
statement n + 4 < 8 we see that the statement above has the form [ P and
Q ] . We record here the method for proving a statement of this form, called
an and statement.

Statement: P and Q.
Proof : (Prove P and then prove Q.)

2.1.1 Example Let m, n ∈ Z with n > m. Prove that n − 1 − m ∈ N

and 2n + m > 3m.

Proof First, n is an integer, so n−1 is also an integer. Since n > m it follows

that n − 1 ≥ m. Subtracting m from both sides we get n − 1 − m ≥ 0 and
since the difference of two integers is an integer, we conclude that n − 1 − m
is a nonnegative integer, that is, n − 1 − m ∈ N.
Second, multiplying both sides of n > m by 2 and adding m gives 2n + m >
2m + m = 3m.

Let n ∈ Z and assume that n2 − 3n − 4 ≥ 0. The following is an example of

an or statement and its proof:

11
Statement: n≥4 or n ≤ −1.

Proof : Assume that n  4. We have

(n − 4)(n + 1) = n2 − 3n − 4 ≥ 0.
Now n < 4, so n − 4 is a negative number, and dividing by it gives n + 1 ≤ 0,
so n ≤ −1.

The idea of the proof is that, if n ≥ 4, then the statement holds and there
is nothing to show, so we need only consider the case where n  4.
The statement above has the form [ P or Q ] . We record the method for
proving a statement of this form, called an or statement.

Statement: P or Q.
Proof : Assume that P does not hold. (Prove Q holds.)

As in the example above, there are two cases to consider: Either P holds or
P does not hold. The statement is true when P holds, so we do not need to
consider that case. Therefore, it is enough to assume P does not hold and
then prove that Q must hold.
By symmetry, one could also prove the statement by assuming Q does not
hold and proving P must hold.
Our use here of the word “or” is different from that in everyday language.
If a menu says that dinner comes with soup or salad, it is understood that
the customer cannot have both (without paying extra). This meaning of the
word is called exclusive or. In mathematics, the word “or” always has the
inclusive or sense, meaning that both options are possible.
In the next example, we need the following elementary fact: If x, y, and r
are positive real numbers and x < y, then xr < y r .

2.1.2 Example Let m, n ∈ Z+ with m ≥ 2. Prove that n = 1 or

mn > m.

Proof Assume that n 6= 1. Then n > 1 so n − 1 is positive, implying

mn−1 ≥ 2n−1 > 1n−1 = 1, where we have twice used the fact stated before
the example. Therefore, mn = mn−1 m > 1m = m.

12
2.2 For-every

The following is an example of a for-every statement and its proof:

Statement: For every x ∈ Z+ we have 2x + 3 ≥ 5.

Proof : Let x ∈ Z+ . We have x ≥ 1. Multiplying by 2 gives 2x ≥ 2 and

then adding 3 gives 2x + 3 ≥ 5.

The first sentence in the proof is [ Let x ∈ Z+ ] . This says, in effect, [ Let x
represent an arbitrary positive integer ] . The word “arbitrary” just means
that we make no assumption about x (except that it is a positive integer).
The rest of the proof shows that this x satisfies the inequality 2x + 3 ≥ 5.
Since x is arbitrary, the reader is convinced that the inequality must hold
for every x ∈ Z+ .
The proof can be regarded as a template for showing any particular positive
integer satisfies the condition. For instance, if we wish to see why 4 satisfies
the condition we can replace x by 4 in the argument and follow along: We
have 4 ≥ 1. Multiplying by 2 gives 2(4) ≥ 2 and then adding 3 gives
2(4) + 3 ≥ 5.
For x ∈ Z+ , let P (x) stand for the statement 2x + 3 ≥ 5. For instance,
P (4) is the statement 2(4) + 3 ≥ 5. With this notation, we can write the
statement above as

For every x ∈ Z+ , we have P (x).

We record the method for proving a general statement of this form, called
a for-every statement. Here, X is a set, and P (x) is a statement involving
x ∈ X:

Statement: For every x ∈ X, we have P (x).

Proof : Let x ∈ X. (Show that P (x) holds.)

2.2.1 Example Define f : N → Z by f (x) = x3 . Prove: For every

x ∈ N, we have f (x + 2) > 7.

13
Proof Let x ∈ N. We have x ≥ 0, so adding 2 and cubing gives (x + 2)3 ≥
23 = 8. Therefore,
f (x + 2) = (x + 2)3 ≥ 8 > 7.

Discussion: Here is how we might come up with the idea for such a proof:
After writing [ Let x ∈ N ] we turn to the thing we are trying to prove, that is,
f (x+2) > 7. On scratch paper, we write what this means, which is (x+2)3 > 7.
We observe that this inequality does not hold for every number x (it fails for
x = −2, for instance). But then we remember that x is in N so that x ≥ 0.
This gives us the idea for why the claim holds.
The proof, however, does not include an explanation of how we came up with
the idea. In general, proofs do not explain how insight was obtained. Instead,
they simply present a logical sequence of steps that help the reader get from
what is known (here, x ∈ N), to what is being claimed (here, f (x + 2) > 7).

The for-every clause can be moved to the end without changing the meaning.
For instance, the statement in the preceding example can be written

We have f (x + 2) > 7 for every x ∈ N.

√
2.2.2 Example Prove: We have n + 8 − 3 ≥ 0 for every n ∈ Z+ .

Proof Let n ∈ Z+ . Since Z√

+ = {1, 2, 3, . . . }, we have n ≥ 1. Adding 8 and
√ √
taking square roots we get n + 8 ≥ 9 = 3. Therefore, n + 8 − 3 ≥ 0.

In the next example, the for-every statement involves two elements of the
set instead of just one. Our method extends in the natural way to handle
this case.

2.2.3 Example Define f : R → R by f (x) = 7x. Prove: We have

f (x + y) = f (x) + f (y) for every x, y ∈ R.

Proof Let x, y ∈ R. We have

f (x + y) = 7(x + y) = 7x + 7y = f (x) + f (y).

14
Vacuously true

The following statement is true:

For every x ∈ ∅, we have x = x + 1.

This might seem surprising since canceling the x’s in the condition x = x + 1
leaves 0 = 1, which is clearly not true. The reason why the statement is true
is that no one can prove it is false by producing an element x in the empty
set ∅ for which x 6= x + 1. We say that the statement is “vacuously” true.
More generally, if X is a set and P (x) is a statement involving x ∈ X, then
the following statement is vacuously true:

For every x ∈ ∅, we have P (x).

2.3 There-exists

The following is an example of a there-exists statement and its proof:

Statement: There exists x ∈ N such that (x − 5)2 = 4.

Proof : Put x = 7. Then x ∈ N and (x − 5)2 = (7 − 5)2 = 22 = 4.

In the proof we exhibit a single, explicit x in N that satisfies the condition,

and this convinces the reader that the statement is true. To come up with
an x that works, we might have reasoned on scratch paper that such an x
would have to satisfy x − 5 = ±2, so that x = 7, 3. Noting that x = 7
does indeed satisfy the condition, we go back and begin the proof with [ Put
x = 7 ] . Then we show the reader that this x works.
There are two things to note about the proof:

• We did not show the reader how we came up with an x that works. If
we had included in the proof what we did on scratch paper it would
have caused confusion because the logic of the proof requires only that
an x be exhibited.
• We did not mention that x = 3 also works. A single x that works is
all that is required.

15
We record the method for proving a general there-exists statement. Here,
X is a set and P (x) is a statement involving x ∈ X.

Statement: There exists x ∈ X such that P (x).

Proof : Put x = (something worked out on scratch paper). (Show
that x ∈ X and that P (x) holds.)

The method for proving a there-exists statement can be put succinctly: Give
a single, explicit example.

2.3.1 Example Prove: There exists x ∈ Z such that 2x − 9 > 1.

Proof Put x = 6. Then x ∈ Z and 2x − 9 = 2(6) − 9 = 3 > 1.

Discussion: On scratch paper we solve the inequality 2x − 9 > 1 for x to

get x > 5 and this is what gives the idea to use x = 6.
Although it is true that for any integer x with x > 5 the stated inequality
holds, we did not say this. The logic requires only that we exhibit a single x
that works and it is easier for the reader to check if an explicit x is provided.
We could also have used x = 51,384 and the proof would have been perfectly
valid. However, it is preferable to choose something simple and/or optimal.

The there-exists statement in the preceding example can be expressed as

follows:

We have 2x − 9 > 1 for some x ∈ Z.

This is an example of a for-some statement. Every there-exists statement

can be recast as a for-some statement and vice versa.

2.3.2 Example Prove: We have n3 + 2 < 32 and 5n2 > 10 for some
n ∈ N.

16
(Note: The statement can be recast as [ There exists n ∈ N such that
n3 + 2 < 32 and 5n2 > 10 ] .)

Proof Put n = 2. Then n ∈ N and

n3 + 2 = 23 + 2 = 10 < 32
and
5n2 = 5(2)2 = 20 > 10.

Discussion: We need to exhibit an n ∈ N that satisfies the two inequalities.

On scratch paper, we simplify the inequalities to get n3 < 30 and n2 > 2 and
then use inspection to see that n = 2 works. (One sees that n = 3 also works,
but the logic of the proof requires that we exhibit only one n that works.)

2.4 Scope

In the preceding section, we proved the following statement:

For every x ∈ Z+ , we have 2x + 3 ≥ 5.

Is it true that 2x+3 ≥ 5? Actually, the letter x in this question is undefined,

so this question does not even make sense. This is a matter of “scope,” which
is our focus here.
In the for-every statement above, the letter x has meaning just to the end
of the sentence. It has the role of a dummy variable, meaning that x can be
replaced by any other letter without changing the meaning of the statement.
So the statement [ For every y ∈ Z+ , we have 2y + 3 ≥ 5 ] says exactly the
same thing as the statement above. With this new formulation it is clear
that the question [ Is it true that 2x + 3 ≥ 5? ] does not make sense.
When we write a letter to represent a mathematical entity, such as a number
or a set, the scope of that letter refers to the portion of the text that
starts where the letter is introduced and ends where the letter no longer has
meaning.
In the example above, the scope of the letter x ends at the end of the
sentence. We say that the letter x is “in scope” within the sentence and

17
“out of scope” otherwise. It is incorrect to refer to a letter after it has gone
out of scope.
A letter has local scope if its meaning ends at the end of the sentence in
which it is introduced (or earlier).

2.4.1 Example

(a) For every n ∈ N, the number n + 1 is a positive integer. It follows

that 2(n + 1) is an even positive integer.
(Incorrect. The letter n has local scope. It has no meaning in the
second sentence.)

(b) If x is a negative integer, then −x is a positive integer. Therefore,

−x + 1 is also a positive integer.
(Incorrect. The letter x has local scope. It has no meaning in the
second sentence.)

The preceding example illustrates typical ways that letters having local scope
are introduced.

A letter x introduced in either of the following ways has local scope:

• For every x . . . .

• If x . . . .

On the other hand, a letter has global scope if its meaning continues
indefinitely (usually to the end of the proof).

2.4.2 Example

(a) Let n ∈ N. The number n + 1 is a positive integer. It follows that

2(n + 1) is an even positive integer.
(Correct. The letter n has global scope. It represents a fixed element
of N and it retains that meaning indefinitely.)

18
 (b) Put y = −5. The number −y is a positive integer. Therefore −y + 1
is also a positive integer.
(Correct. The letter y has global scope. It refers to the number −5
indefinitely.

The preceding example illustrates typical ways of introducing letters so that

they have global scope.

A letter x introduced in either of the following ways has global scope:

• Let x . . . .

• Put x . . . .

Letters introduced using a for-some phrase (or, equivalently, a there-exists

phrase) can have local scope or global scope depending on the situation.
The following example illustrates some common situations.

2.4.3 Example

(a) If y is a positive integer with y ≤ 10, then y − 2x ≤ 0 for some integer

x with x ≤ 5. We have 3x ≤ 15.
(Incorrect. The letter y is local, and x depends on y so it is local as
well. Therefore x has no meaning in the last sentence.)

(b) Let y be an even integer. Since y is even, y = 2x for some integer x.

We have x = y/2.
(Correct. The letter y has global scope. The letter x introduced in the
next sentence is a particular integer satisfying y = 2x so it has global
scope as well.)

(c) Let y be an even integer. Since y is even, there exists an integer x

such that y = 2x. Therefore, x = y/2.
(Correct. This is identical to part (b).)

In part (b) of the example, the phrase [ We have y = 2x for some integer
x ] is understood to include the follow-up phrase [ Let x be a fixed such

19
integer ] . Actually writing the follow-up phrase is more proper, but it is
usually regarded as being too pedantic.

A letter x introduced in a proof in either of the following ways has

global scope (unless it depends on a letter having local scope):

• . . . for some x . . . ;

• There exists x . . . ;

We end this section with some practice combining the notions introduced
above.

2.4.4 Example In each case, write “Correct” if there are no attempts

to use a letter that is out of scope. Otherwise, write “Incorrect,” provide an
explanation, and then revise the argument to fix the mistake.

(a) Let y ∈ Z and put z = 2y. If x ∈ Z and x < y, then 2x < 2y = z. It

follows that 2x + 1 < z + 1.
Incorrect. The letter x introduced in the second sentence has local
scope. It has no meaning in the final sentence.
Revision: Let y ∈ Z and put z = 2y. Let x ∈ Z and assume that
x < y. Then 2x < 2y = z. It follows that 2x + 1 < z + 1.
(b) If x ∈ N, then xy ∈ N for every y ∈ N. Let x ∈ N. For every z ∈ N,
we have xz ∈ N.
Correct.
(c) Let n be a positive integer. For every m ∈ N there exists a positive
integer x such that x > n + m. Therefore, if m ∈ N, we have y > n,
where y = x − m.
Incorrect. The letter m introduced in the second sentence has local
scope, and the letter x depends on m so it has local scope as well.
Therefore, x has no meaning in the final sentence.
Revision: Let n be a positive integer. Let m ∈ N. There exists
a positive integer x such that x > n + m. We have y > n, where
y = x − m.

20
 Discussion: In part (b), although the letter x has local scope in the first
sentence, it is redefined in the second sentence and is given global scope.
In the original statement of part (c), the renewal of the letter m in the final
sentence does not cause x to have meaning again.

2 – Exercises

2–1 Let x ∈ Z with 2 ≤ x < 6. Prove that 4 − x > −2 and 3−x ≤ 1/9.

2–2 Let n ∈ Z and assume that (n − 3)2 < 16. Prove that n ≥ 0 and
n ≤ 6.

2–3 Let m, n ∈ Z and assume that mn − m = n2 − 1. Prove that n = 1 or

m = n + 1.

2–4 Let x ∈ Z+ and let y ∈ R with y < 2. Prove: (y − 2)x+3 < 0 or x is

odd.

2–5 Define g : Z → Z by g(x) = 3 − x and let n ∈ Z. Prove: We have

n < 2 or g(n − 1) < 3.

2–6 Prove: For every n ∈ N, we have 4 − 3(n + 2) ≤ −2.

2–7 Define f : N → N by f (n) = n2 . Prove: For every n ∈ N, we have

f (2n+1 ) ≥ 4.

n
2–8 Define h : Z+ → R by h(n) = . Prove: For every n ∈ Z+ with
n+1
n ≥ 9, we have 1 − h(n) < 1/9.

2–9 Prove: We have 5(2n ) − 2 ≥ 3 for every n ∈ N.

21
2–10 Define f : R → R by f (x) = 23x . Prove: We have f (x + y) =
f (x)f (y) for every x, y ∈ R.

2–11 Let X be the empty set. True or false: For every x ∈ X, we have
x2 < −5. Explain.

2–12 Prove: There exists n ∈ Z such that n2 + n = 6.

2–13 Prove: There exists n ∈ Z+ such that |n − 3| < 2.

2–14 Define f : R → R by f (x) = x2 − x. Prove: f (x) < 0 for some

x ∈ R.

√
3
2–15 Define f : Z → R by f (n) = 2 − n.

(a) Prove that 1 < |f (n)| < 2 for some n ∈ Z+ .

(b) Prove that for every n ∈ Z with n > 29, we have f (n) + 3 < 0.

2–16 Let x ∈ N and assume that x3 − 10x ≥ 0. Prove: We have x = 0 or

x > a for some a ∈ A, where A = {3, 4, 5, 6}.

2–17 In each case, write “Correct” if there are no attempts to use a letter
that is out of scope. Otherwise, write “Incorrect,” provide an explanation,
and then revise the argument to fix the mistake.

(a) Let n ∈ Z and put m = 3n − 1. We have n = (m + 1)/3.

(b) We have 5x + 1 > 0 for every x ∈ N. Therefore, x > −1/5.

(c) If n is an odd integer, then n − 1 is even, so n − 1 = 2m for some

integer m. This implies m = (n − 1)/2.

22
2–18 In each case, write “Correct” if there are no attempts to use a letter
that is out of scope. Otherwise, write “Incorrect,” provide an explanation,
and then revise the argument to fix the mistake.

(a) For every m ∈ Z+ , we have m ≥ 1. Let n ∈ N. Then n ≥ 0, so

n + m ≥ 0 + 1 = 1.

(b) Let x ∈ Z and assume that x > 5. There exists y ∈ Z such that y ≥ 0
and y ≤ x. Therefore, x − y ≥ 0 and x − y ≤ x.

(c) Let x ∈ Z. If y ∈ Z and y < x, then x − y ∈ N. Put z = x − y. We

have 2z ∈ N.

23
3 Set

3.1 Set builder notation

The notation
{x | x ∈ N and x < 4}
is read

“The set of all x such that x is in N and x is less than 4.”

(The vertical line corresponds to the words “such that”.)

The number 0 is an element of the set above, because, if we replace x by
0 in the condition, a true statement results, namely, [ 0 ∈ N and 0 < 4 ] .
Reasoning this way, we see that the given set in list form is {0, 1, 2, 3}.
If we let P (x) stand for the statement [ x ∈ N and x < 4 ] , then the notation
becomes
{x | P (x)}.
This is the standard form of set-builder notation. It denotes the set of
all elements x that satisfy the property P (x).
The notation
{x ∈ N | x < 4}
is read

“The set of all x in N such that x is less than 4.”

This variation on the standard form describes the same set as the one given
earlier, but it is more convenient because it makes it clear from the start
that the set consists of certain elements of the set N. So we imagine starting
with the set N = {0, 1, 2, . . . } and removing elements, retaining only those
that are less than 4, to get {0, 1, 2, 3}.

3.1.1 Example Put A = {x ∈ N | 2x + 1 ≥ 10}.

(a) Is 8 ∈ A? (Yes, because 8 ∈ N and 2(8) + 1 = 17 ≥ 10.)

(b) Is 9/2 ∈ A? (No, because 9/2 ∈

/ N.)

24
 (c) Is 4 ∈ A? (No, because 2(4) + 1 = 9  10.)
(d) Write the set A in list form. (We have A = {5, 6, 7, . . . }.)

Discussion: Writing the set A in standard set builder notation we get

{x | x ∈ N and 2x + 1 ≥ 10}.

To show something is in A we need to show that when it plays the role of the
x in the property a true statement results. In part (a), we substitute 8 for x
to get the statement [ 8 ∈ N and 2(8) + 1 ≥ 10 ] , which is true, so we conclude
that 8 ∈ A.

In the notation {x ∈ N | x < 4} the letter x goes out of scope at the closing
brace (see Section 2.4). It functions as a dummy variable, meaning that it
can be replaced by any letter without changing the set. For instance, this
set can also be written {n ∈ N | n < 4}.

3.1.2 Example Put K = {k ∈ Z | |k − 3| ≤ 2}.

(a) Is 2 ∈ K? (Yes, 2 ∈ K because 2 ∈ Z and |2 − 3| = | − 1| = 1 ≤ 2.)

(b) Is it true that |k − 3| ≤ 2? (This question does not make sense. The
letter k has no meaning outside of the braces {. . . }.)
(c) Let k ∈ K. Is it true that |k − 3| ≤ 2? (Yes. The first sentence says
to let k be an arbitrary element of K, so it must be the case that k
satisfies the condition |k − 3| ≤ 2.)

Here is another useful variation on the standard form of set-builder notation.

The notation
{2x | x ∈ N},
is read

“The set of all elements of the form 2x such that x is in N.”

This set is the same as {0, 2, 4, . . . } since, as the variable x ranges through
the set N = {0, 1, 2, . . . }, the expression 2x takes on the values 0, 2, 4, . . . .
As before, the letter x in the notation loses its meaning at the closing brace.
It acts as a dummy variable, so this set can also be written {2n | n ∈ N},
for instance.

25
3.1.3 Example Put B = {3n | n ∈ Z}.

(a) Is 7 ∈ B? (No. This is asking whether 7 is of the form 3n such that

n ∈ Z, which is not the case since there is no integer n for which
7 = 3n.)
(b) Is −12 ∈ B? (Yes. The reason is that −12 = 3(−4) and −4 ∈ Z, so
−12 is of the right form to be in B with −4 playing the role of the n.)
(c) Is 3n a multiple of 3? (This question does not make sense. The letter
n has no meaning outside of the braces {. . . }.)
(d) Write the set B in list form. (We have B = {. . . , −6, −3, 0, 3, 6, . . . }.
To get this, one imagines letting n range through the set Z = {. . . , −2,
−1, 0, 1, 2, . . . } and writing the corresponding elements 3n.)

Now that we have the requisite notation, we can add the set Q of rational
numbers (fractions) to our list of standard notations:

N = {0, 1, 2, 3, . . . } (set of natural numbers),

Z = {. . . , −3, −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . } (set of integers),
Q = {m/n | m, n ∈ Z, n 6= 0} (set of rational numbers),
R = set of real numbers.

If X is a set consisting of some real numbers (i.e., X is a “subset” of R), we

use the notation X + for the set of positive elements of X:

X + = {x ∈ X | x > 0}.

This defines the sets Z+ , Q+ , and R+ of positive integers, positive rational

numbers, and positive real numbers, respectively. In particular,

Z+ = {1, 2, 3, . . . }.

The empty set, denoted ∅, is the set having no elements. (Note that braces
are not used here. In fact, {∅} is a set having a single element, namely the
empty set.)
The set {1, 1, 1, 2, 2} is the same as the set {1, 2}. In other words, repetitions
of set elements are ignored.

3.1.4 Example Put A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, B = {−1, 0, 1}, and C = {x, y}.
Write each of the following sets using list notation:

26
 (a) D = {a ∈ A | a/2 ∈ / Z}. Answer: D = {1, 3, 5}. (This is the set of
those elements a of A having the property that a/2 is not an integer.)

(b) E = {b ∈ B | 1 − 2b > 0}. Answer: E = {−1, 0}. (This is the set of

those elements b of B having the property that 1 − 2b > 0.)

(c) F = {c∗ | c ∈ C}. Answer: F = {x∗ , y ∗ }. (We let c range through C

and write c∗ .)

(d) G = {ab | a ∈ A and b ∈ B}. Answer:

G = {1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 2, 3, 4, 5}.

(We let a range through A and b range through B and write ab , re-
moving repetitions. The additional step of writing, for instance, 2−1
as 1/2 is not essential.)

3.1.5 Example Write the set S = {(−1)n | n ∈ N} in list form.

Solution We have S = {1, −1}.

Discussion: We initially let n range through N to get

S = {(−1)0 , (−1)1 , (−1)2 , (−1)3 , . . . } = {1, −1, 1, −1, . . . },

but then we remove the repetitions.

3.1.6 Example Put 5Z = {5n | n ∈ Z}. Prove: For every x, y ∈ 5Z,

we have x + y ∈ 5Z.

Proof Let x, y ∈ 5Z. By the definition of 5Z, we have x = 5n and y = 5m

for some n, m ∈ Z. Therefore,

x + y = 5n + 5m = 5(n + m) ∈ 5Z,

the last step due to the fact that n + m ∈ Z.

27
 Discussion: Writing instead [ x = 5n and y = 5n for some n ∈ Z ] would be
assuming that x = y, which might not be the case since x and y are arbitrary
elements of 5Z. Using two letters, n and m, allows for the possibility x 6= y
while still allowing for equality since n = m is possible.
In order to show x + y ∈ 5Z we need to show that x + y = 5k for some k ∈ Z,
so using the method of Section 2.3, we could have written the following:
Put k = n + m. Then k ∈ Z and x + y = 5n + 5m = 5(n + m) = 5k ∈ 5Z.
However, in a simple case like this, the introduction of the auxiliary letter k is
considered unnecessary since the reader sees 5(n + m) ∈ 5Z and understands
that n + m plays the role of n in the definition of 5Z.

3.1.7 Example Prove: For every x, y ∈ Q, we have xy ∈ Q.

Proof Let x, y ∈ Q. Since Q = {m/n | m, n ∈ Z, n 6= 0}, we have x = m/n

and y = m0 /n0 for some m, n, m0 , n0 ∈ Z with n, n0 6= 0. Therefore,

m m0 mm0
xy = · 0 = ∈ Q,
n n nn0
the last step due to the fact that mm0 , nn0 ∈ Z and nn0 6= 0.

3.2 Subset

Put X = {2, 3, 5} and Y = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}:

Y
1
X
7 2
5 3 4
6

Every element of X is also an element of Y . We express this by saying that

X is a “subset” of Y and by writing X ⊆ Y . Here is the precise definition:

28
Another random document with
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 Robespierre looked at them with eyes full of gratitude. He was hoping
that some one would commence an attack, that he might retaliate there and
then, and so accentuate his triumph. He had perceived among the crowd his
adversaries, Billaud-Varennes and Collot d'Herbois. They tried to speak,
and were hissed; they persisted, and were greeted with cries of "To death
with them!" Daggers even were drawn, and they had scarcely time to
escape.

The name of Robespierre was in every mouth in that vast hall,

acclaimed with cries of wild approval that re-echoed to the very Tuileries.

The Duplay family, as may be imagined, beside themselves with joy,

waited for Robespierre outside, but he was nowhere to be seen. It was in
vain they inquired of every likely passer-by. He had completely
disappeared.

Leaving the Assembly-room among the first he had slipped out under
cover of night, taking a short cut to the Tuileries, whose dark mass aided his
further flight. For he was flying from his glorification, escaping from his
rabid admirers, who would have borne him in triumph through the streets of
sleeping Paris, making them ring with thunderous shouts of triumph.
Creeping along the side of the walls, his face muffled in his collar, he
hastened his steps to the Conciergerie, and as he walked his thoughts
reverted to the subject of his reception. The Jacobins' enthusiasm must have
resounded to the chamber of the Committee of Public Safety, and fallen like
a thunderbolt among the traitors in the very midst of their dark plots! The
effect must have been terrible! He already pictured the Convention
appealing to him with servile supplication, delivering the Committee into
his hands, and asking the names of his enemies, that they might pass
sentence on them all. He smiled triumphantly as he crossed the Pont-Neuf,
without casting a glance at the splendid spectacle which lay at his feet on
either side of the bridge; for it was July, and all the glory of a summer sky
studded with stars was mirrored in the stream.

He walked on quickly, wrapt in his own thoughts. Ah! not only did they
wish to ruin him, but they would have sent Olivier to his death! He had
forestalled them, however. The very next day they should take his son's
vacant place in that same Conciergerie, the antechamber of the guillotine!
 Robespierre had reached the quay, and was now at the foot of the Silver
Tower, whose pointed spire stood out in the moonlight like a gigantic finger
raised to heaven. It was in that tower that Fouquier-Tinville, the Public
Prosecutor of the Revolutionary Tribunal—death's henchman—lived.
Robespierre scanned the windows. All lights were out. Fouquier slept, then?
What brute insensibility! But he would sleep also, he told himself. Ah, yes!
the terrors of the scaffold would soon be over! No more butchery, no more
guillotine! He had promised it to the mother of his son, and he would keep
his word ... he would, within three days.

Reaching the side entrance of the Conciergerie, he gave three knocks,

and a grating was opened in the door.

"It is I—Citoyen Robespierre."

The gate swung back on its hinges, and a voice was heard exclaiming—

"Salut et fraternité, citoyen!"

It was Collas, the turnkey, on duty.

"I want Citoyen Fouquier-Tinville."

"He has not returned, citoyen."

Robespierre betrayed impatience.

"Can I do anything for you, citoyen?" said Collas.

"I wish to know if you have among your prisoners a certain Germain,
lately at La Force prison."

"Well, we can see that on the prison register, citoyen. Nothing will be
easier, if the registrar is still here. Let me ascertain through the watchman.
Would you care to follow me? Just wait a moment; I have not the keys."

Collas went back into his lodge, and returned with a bunch of keys.
Then, taking down a lantern from the wall, he commenced threading the
mazy alleys of the Conciergerie, followed by the Incorruptible. It was the
first time Robespierre had entered this prison in which so many of his
victims had been immured. The two men turned into the old banqueting hall
of the Kings of France, a long gallery with a vaulted ceiling of oval arches
supported on massive pillars; keeping to the left, they came upon an iron
trellised gate, which the turnkey opened. Robespierre found himself in a
railed enclosure, a kind of antechamber leading to another vaulted gallery,
which in the dim light seemed of indefinite length. Two towering gates on
the left opened into a court on which the moon shone, lighting up vividly a
pile of buildings surrounded with grey arcades.

As Robespierre and the turnkey advanced they came upon a man

sleeping in a chair, with a lantern at his feet. It was the night watchman.

"Hallo, Barassin!" called the turnkey, shaking his bunch of keys in his
ears.

The man woke with a start. At the mention of Robespierre he rose in a

tremor of fear at being caught slumbering on duty. He excused himself
profusely—he had been so hard-worked this last month; there was no
sleeping at all with the cart-loads of prisoners coming at every moment.
Then, with officious zeal, he invited Robespierre to remain with him while
Collas went to ascertain if the registrar was still there, though this was very
unlikely at that late hour. The turnkey went on his errand.

"What part of the prison is this?" asked Robespierre, looking around.

"We are between the two gates, citoyen. Have you never been to the
Conciergerie before?"

"No; never."

Now was his chance! Barassin had a subject to interest the

Incorruptible, and he launched forth into a long description, overcrowded
with details.

On the other side of that little door to the right was the ward of the male
prisoners. Here at the end was the women's courtyard, facing the arched
building in which were their cells. Robespierre had but to advance a little,
and he could see through the gate the fountain in which they washed their
linen, for they remained dainty to the last, and wished to ascend the scaffold
in spotless clothes. Barassin laughed a loud brutish laugh, happy at the
seeming interest Robespierre took in his explanations.

"Is the Recorder's office on the left, then?" questioned the Incorruptible,
his eyes fixed on the dark gallery through which the turnkey had
disappeared.

Barassin began another string of details. Yes, that gallery led to it, and
to the exit as well, through the concierge's lodge, where the condemned had
their hair cut after the roll-call.

"The call takes place here, just where you are standing," he explained.

Robespierre started, and moved away. His eyes rested on the long line
of cells, whose doors were lost in long perspective under the vaulted
archway he had noticed on his entrance, and which had seemed so vast
through the iron bars of the second gate. He lowered his voice to ask if
those cells were occupied. Barassin's reply reassured him; there was no one
there just then. Then, indicating a cell opposite Robespierre, the watchman
continued, carried away by his subject—

"This is the cell in which the Queen was locked up."

He opened a panel in the door that Robespierre might glance within.

The Incorruptible hesitated at first, and as he bent over resolutely to look,
Barassin found further material for his questionable wit:

"It's not such a palace as her Versailles, eh?"

Robespierre quickly closed the aperture, on the outside of which he

perceived a black cross.

"What! a cross?" he exclaimed, staring the while at the sign of

redemption.
 The watchman told him that some prisoner had probably daubed this
cross on the panel after the Queen's death. The prisoners always stopped
before it to pray, and it was their habit to scribble in that way over the
prison walls with pencils, or even nails.

"Why, here's your name!" he chuckled, highly amused.

Robespierre shuddered.

"My name?"

Barassin raised his lantern, throwing the light on an inscription in large

letters on the wall, under some prison notices.

The Incorruptible read—

"We shall be avenged, Robespierre, monster! your turn will come!"

The watchman swung his lantern from place to place, lighting up, for
the Incorruptible's benefit, other ominous inscriptions addressed to him.

"Robespierre, the tyrant!"

"Robespierre, the assassin!"

The Incorruptible turned pale.

He was well accustomed to insult and abuse, no doubt, but these

imprecations on the walls, in that gruesome and silent prison, seemed like
the last curses of the dead, written in letters of fire and blood!

"They must occupy themselves, I suppose!" remarked Barassin, still

laughing.

The Incorruptible turned away, feeling ill at ease. Again he questioned

the man, fixing him the while as if he would fathom the depths of his
experience. Did he keep watch every night? He must have witnessed some
heart-rending scenes? Was he not disturbed in his sleep, living thus in
continual contact with the dread spectre of death? Could he really sleep?
Did not the cries of the victims disturb his slumber? Was he not haunted by
their solemn leavetakings and their sobs?

Citoyen Robespierre could rest assured! Barassin slept soundly enough!

Such fancies were very well for women! In the first place, the dead never
returned, and then, after all, it was not Barassin who killed the victims, was
it?

Steps were heard advancing, and the turnkey made his reappearance.
The registrar had gone away and taken the keys with him. It was impossible
to get at the prison register. He then suggested that Robespierre should go
with him to the men's ward.

"Let us awake the prisoners. If the man you seek is there you will easily
recognize him."

The Incorruptible refused, starting involuntarily. He had no wish to be

seen by the prisoners.

Then, there was but one course left. Barrassin might accompany him,
and speak to the men's turnkey, who would look for this Germain from bed
to bed, and Barassin would bring back to Robespierre the result of the
inquiry, as he himself had to return to his post. Robespierre would have to
wait a little while, of course. And Collas moved the watchman's chair
towards him.

"Very good! I will wait, but be quick!"

The two men went away, turning to the left, through the small gate,
which Barassin carefully closed behind him. Robespierre followed the
watchman with his eyes.

"Happy brute! He can sleep in peace!" he exclaimed.

So this man's sleep was not disturbed by such horrible visions as

haunted Robespierre! But then, as the watchman said, he had not killed the
victims; his name had not been inscribed on these walls as a term and brand
of infamy and hatred.
 That writing on the wall seemed to be dancing before his eyes.
"Robespierre, assassin; your turn will come!" So this was the cry which
rose from every breast! If he was vanquished in the morrow's struggle, if he
had to ascend the scaffold without having accomplished the act of social
regeneration of which he had so long dreamt, he would leave behind him
the execrated memory of a despot and bloodthirsty tyrant! His name would
be coupled with all the monsters of history! Robespierre would be cited by
posterity side by side with Nero, Caligula, Tiberius!

Stepping slowly towards the watchman's seat, he sat down sideways, his
eyes fixed, like a somnambulist's, and his arm resting on the back of the
chair, as he repeated in a low murmur—

"Your turn will come!"

Almost the same dread, ominous words had the night before forced him
to start up suddenly, and impelled him to rush towards the window of his
room.

"Arise, Robespierre, arise? Your hour has come!"

It was the shade of Camille Desmoulins that had uttered the grim
summons! Camille, accompanied by his wife, the pale and sweet Lucile,
sought to draw him to them, to drag him along with them on the blood-
strewn way to which they had been doomed! But the phantoms had all
vanished with the refreshing dawn. It was fever, of course! He was subject
to it; it peopled his sleep with harrowing visions and fearful dreams. But
these were nothing but excited hallucinations, creatures of his overwrought
brain....

Robespierre had now closed his eyes, overcome with fatigue, and still
continued the thread of his thoughts and fancies. His ideas were becoming
confused. He was vaguely wondering whether such imaginings were due to
fever after all? If this was not the case, it was perhaps his conscience that
awakened from its torpor, and rose at night to confront him with his
victims? Yes, his conscience that relentlessly gnawed at his heart-strings,
and wrung from him a gasping confession of alarm! Had not Fouquier-
Tinville seen the Seine one night from his terrace rolling waves of blood?
This was also a mere delusion ... the outcome of remorse, perhaps?
Remorse? Why? Remorse for a just deed, for a work of redemption? No! It
sprung rather from a diseased imagination caused by an over-excited and
over-active brain, which, weakened by excess, clothed the simplest objects
with supernatural attributes.

Robespierre's eyes were now half-closed, and wandered dreamily to the

women's courtyard, where grey arches stood out in clear and sharp relief
under the soft moonlight. He was in deep reverie, wondering what could be
the true cause of such strange illusions, and as he wondered, examples from
past history came crowding to his mind.

Yes ... did not Brutus imagine that he saw the shade of Cæsar gliding
into his tent, when it could have been nothing but the flicker of a lamp on
the curtains moved by the wind, or a moonbeam playing, as that one
yonder, on a pillar?

As he gazed his eyes dilated in horror. It was no moonbeam. The

outlines of a woman's form, ethereal and transparent, stood motionless
against the pillar. It moved! Another form, white and shadowy, glided
towards the first, and a third emerged from the dim background and joined
them. Robespierre followed every movement with horror-stricken gaze. He
rose, crept nearer: was he awake, or was it indeed a dream? Had he again
fallen a prey to delusions at the very moment when he was persuading
himself of their unreality? He was not asleep! He was wide awake! He felt
the hot blood coursing through his veins, he walked to and fro, and was
completely self-possessed! He knew he was at the Conciergerie, and had
come to fetch his son Olivier. A little while ago he had conversed with two
men there, on that very spot, the turnkey and the night watchman. And yet
his nervous imagination conjured up before his eyes those chimerical
visions clothed with the semblance of reality! For, of course, he was not
deceived, he knew well enough they were unreal delusions, and yet he felt
nervous and ill at ease!

"What strange beings we are!" he thought. "Poor human nature! We

pride ourselves on our strength of mind, and yet we are subject to such
hallucinations!"
 Again he was startled from his musings. Other forms suddenly appeared
in the white moonlit courtyard, walking slowly up and down, in pairs,
singly, or in groups. They came and went, stopped, conversed with or took
leave of each other, all in a great hush, without seeming to notice the
Incorruptible, who in his fear kept as much as possible aloof, never moving
his eyes from them a moment.

Suddenly, he uttered a cry. He had bent forward to examine their

features and had recognised ... Madame Roland! ... Madame Roland! ... and
Madame Elizabeth, the king's sister; ... Good God! and there was Charlotte
Corday, the girl who had killed Marat! The courtyard filled with new forms,
blanched and wan, gliding about with supernatural grace in the pale
moonlight. Robespierre stood rooted to the spot, seized with wild terror.

"Am I mad?" he asked himself.

Ghosts! Yes, they were ghosts! What! was he going to believe in ghosts,
like old women and children? It was folly, crass folly, and he repeated aloud
—"Madness! sheer madness!"

But what did it all mean! What were those wandering forms which
reminded him of beings long dead? Were they subtle effluences of their
bodies that could pass through the prison walls, invisible by day, but
luminous at night, as phosphorescent spectres were said to flit among
tombstones in churchyards by moonlight, to the dismay of the weak and
credulous.

"Yes, the weak and credulous!" he repeated, in a voice which quavered

none the less, "the weak and credulous, easily prone to fear and remorse..."

He went towards the gate of the men's ward livid with fright, in the hope
that the watchman would come and put an end to these harrowing
phantasms.

He cried out in desperation—

"Does the man never mean to come!"

 At that moment a man's form appeared in the gallery to his right, and he
went towards it hopefully. Barassin? But he recoiled. No! it was not he! The
form grew more distinct, others followed. There were now six, eight, ten,
twenty of them, a band of prisoners slowly and silently moving towards the
gate. They were coming, all coming! He recognised them:

"The Girondins! .. Brissot! .. Vergniaud! .."

Were all his victims then going to show themselves behind those iron
bars like avengers, to torture and madden him?

Robespierre was suddenly dazzled by a stream of moonlight

illuminating an iron grating just above him, which he had not noticed on his
entrance. Outlines of fresh forms appeared behind the bars, gradually
growing more distinct. They were the ghosts of other victims! For he
recognised them, while they, apparently, were unconscious of his presence.

He took his eyes off these for a moment to see if the spectres gathered
behind the grating of the ground floor were still there. Yes! They were still
there. They were everywhere then? Everywhere! ... What were they doing?
Why did they come and force the past upon him in this way? After spending
the day in struggling with the living, must his nights be spent in encounters
with the dead? He continued staring in mute and fascinated horror, as
motionless as those ghosts gathered behind the closed grill, and seeming to
await the gruesome roll-call of the condemned.

At their silence he presently took heart. None of them had their eyes
fixed on him. This was proof, he thought, that they existed only in his
imagination. For, after all, if they were real, they would have stared at him
in anger, with terrible and threatening looks ... they would have rushed upon
him, one and all. Those iron barriers would have yielded to their united
effort, and burst asunder!

Even as he thought this the gratings swung back noiselessly.

Robespierre recoiled, his flesh creeping, cold beads of perspiration

starting on his forehead.
 The gates had opened! It was all true then! They were real! The whole
array of spectres was coming down upon him! They were advancing slowly,
they were entering the courtyard! No, they had not seen him! Robespierre
was still retreating, step by step.

"They haven't seen me!" he gasped. If he could gain the passage to the
left of the archway, which was the only exit available, he was safe! He
would escape them! For they were not likely to follow him into the street....

He reached the vaulted passage, stepping cautiously backwards, keeping

them in sight all the while, like a criminal in dread of detection. But at the
entrance of the passage Danton and Camille Desmoulins confronted him.

"Danton! Camille!"

He started back, shaking with fear. Every exit was barred!

These two noted victims were advancing carelessly, conversing

together. They had not noticed him either!

The door of the Queen's cell now moved.

What! was that going to open too?

Marie Antoinette appeared on the threshold, descended the few steps

and joined the others, who all made deep obeisance at the approach of their
sovereign.

The Queen! it was indeed the Queen!

Robespierre felt now that he was lost. Flight had become impossible.
The one remaining means of escape was by the little grating of the men's
courtyard. He tried to reach it, still walking backwards, without once losing
sight of the apparitions, his arms stretched behind him, every muscle
strained, and both hands clenched convulsively. He soon came in contact
with the grating, and tried to push it open with his back. Not succeeding he
abruptly turned round. It was locked! He tried madly to force it, but the
massive iron bars proved too much for his strength. He seized and shook
the lattice in his agony. The rattling noise made him turn quickly, thinking
all the spectres had come down upon him. But no! They stood still in the
same places, motionless, and apparently unconscious of his presence. But
this could not last; ... they must see him sooner or later! And if he were seen
he would surely be the prey of these arisen tenants of the tomb! He wiped
the cold sweat from his brow, panting and breathless, and made a sudden
frantic effort in his overwhelming panic to repel the ghastly vision, turning
away from it.

"It is absurd! The dead never return!" he cried, stamping violently.

He persuaded himself that it was only necessary to disbelieve in it and

the vision would fade, to refuse to look, and he would no longer see the
phantoms. He then turned round boldly, as if to prove his words.

Every eye was upon him. They appeared terrible in the awful majesty of
their wrongs, as if accusing him, as if judging him. He remained
motionless, terror-stricken. Yes, they were all looking at him! Slowly,
silently they glided towards him.

"Oh! no further! no further!" he cried. "I implore you! I am

frightened!..."

Every limb trembled, as he thus prayed them to desist.

"Oh yes! I know what you are going to say, I see the word trembling on
your lips: 'Assassin!'"

The victims seemed to him to bend their heads in mute assent. He

feared they would speak, and hastened to prevent them.... Yes, he was an
assassin, he knew it! ... It was just and right they should call him so! He
knew, yes, he knew, what they wanted of him.... He must set free the
prisoners, overthrow the scaffold?

The victims again nodded approval.

Yes! ... Yes! ... he would do everything, anything they asked. He swore
it to them....
 "But in pity go! I entreat you! Oh go! in pity, go and leave me!"

The spectres remained motionless, their eyes still fixed upon him.

"Mercy!" he cried. "Have mercy!"

Yes, mercy! ... he begged for mercy! Their looks would kill him! He
could not bear it any longer! It was too much! His fright now bordered on
madness, and he cried out: "Let me alone! I am frightened! horribly
frightened!"

So saying he tottered forward, ready to drop from exhaustion, and tried

to grasp the back of the chair for support. But it gave way.

"Help! help!" he screamed.

"Hullo! who's calling?" cried a voice outside.

It was Barassin returning from the registrar's office. He opened the

grating and entered, then drew back in bewilderment at the sight of
Robespierre on the ground, his head buried in his hands. The watchman at
once thought that he must have fallen asleep on the chair, and slipped on to
the paved courtyard. He laid down his lantern, and tried to raise the
Incorruptible. Robespierre awoke and lifted his haggard eyes. At sight of
the man he violently pushed him away.

"I see, you're not quite awake yet!" laughed Barassin.

Robespierre rubbed his eyes, and looked anxiously around.

"You've had a dream? ... A nightmare, eh?"

"Yes!" answered Robespierre, now himself again. "I have had a fearful
dream." Then rising with difficulty, he fell exhausted on the chair which the
watchman held out to him.

Barassin now told Robespierre the result of his quest. They had
interrogated the prisoners, from bed to bed. The young man he sought was
not among them.
 Robespierre, still uneasy, and casting anxious and furtive glances in
every corner, expressed his thanks.

Suddenly he rose and seized Barassin by the arm.

"Are we alone, here?" he asked.

"Why, yes!" answered the man in some surprise.

"Then let us go!" said Robespierre, impatiently, "let us go at once!"

Barassin took his lantern, and walked in front.

"This way!" he said, opening the wicket through which they had
entered.

In the gallery Robespierre again seized the man's arm, and bent forward
to see if the way was clear; then feeling immense relief, he rushed towards
the exit, almost running, and followed with difficulty by Barassin, who with
the lantern dangling in his hand could scarcely keep pace with him.

"Hallo! Citoyen Robespierre!" he panted, "you're going too fast!"

But the Incorruptible continued his headlong flight.

CHAPTER XII

THE EVE OF THE BATTLE

Robespierre could breathe again. He was once more in the open, the
silent stars above him, the Seine flecked with white bars of reflected
moonlight, flowing at his feet. But he dared not linger there. He turned
quickly, and darted along close to the walls, fearing that for him, as once for
Fouquier-Tinville, the water would take the crimson hue of blood. By slow
degrees he became calmer. Refreshing gusts of cool night air fanned his
fevered brow, and restored him to reality. He thought of Olivier again. If he
were not in the Conciergerie, where could he be?

Entering the inner court of the Tuileries, at first he seemed undecided,

and then, as if under a sudden impulse, went straight towards the Pavilion
of Liberty. The Committee of Public Safety held its meetings there, in the
very apartment once occupied by Louis XVI. This committee usually
worked far into the night, and Robespierre was sure of finding some one.
As he expected, he met Billaud-Varennes and Collot d'Herbois, who were
crossing the vestibule of the ground floor at that moment. He accosted them
angrily, for the two men, who had been hissed and hooted at the Jacobin
Club, now seemed to exult, as though they held some secret threat over his
head. The ironical smiles he fancied he saw playing round their lips
aggravated his fury.

"So you have released the prisoner I sent to La Force?" he cried.

"Quite true!" replied Billaud-Varennes, relishing Robespierre's

discomfiture as a set-off against the Jacobins' hooting.

"For what reason?"

"To cross-examine him."

"Where is he?"

"That is for you to find out."

"I command you to send him back immediately to La Force!"

"We receive no orders from you!"

"Then it is to be war between us? You shall have it, scoundrels! war to
the knife! And to-morrow too!" and turning away abruptly, he went towards
the steps, and pushed the door open in a violent rage.
 Billaud-Varennes and Collot d'Herbois retraced their steps to apprise
their colleagues at the Convention of their stormy interview with
Robespierre. But on the threshold of the Assembly-room Billaud stopped
his companion.

"Wait a moment," he said, "let me cross-examine the young man first."

So saying, he went upstairs to the attics, where Olivier had been locked
up ever since five o'clock under the charge of a gendarme, to whom
Coulongeon, the Committee's agent, had confided him, with strict orders
that the prisoner was to be kept entirely out of sight until the Committee
had decided on his fate.

Coulongeon was one of the sharpest detectives of the Committee. It was

he who, disguised as a beggar, had been the object of Blount's sudden barks
in the forest of Montmorency, where he had witnessed the interview
between Robespierre and Vaughan. Driven away by Robespierre's agents,
he had gone immediately to the entrance of the forest, expecting vainly the
Englishman's reappearance.

On his return to Paris the same evening he had reported his discovery at
once to the Committee of Public Safety. Billaud-Varennes rubbed his hands
gleefully. He was on the scent of a plot. An Englishman? That could be no
other than Vaughan, Fox's agent, who was known to have been already two
days in Paris. Ah! Robespierre had secret interviews with him, had he? A
plot, of course! It was splendid! Nothing could be more opportune!

"Run quickly, and ascertain if the Englishman is still at the American

Consulate, while we draw up the warrant of arrest!" was his immediate
order.

But at the Consulate the detective was told that Vaughan had just left
Paris. Suspecting a trick, he took other means to continue his inquiries, only
to find after all that the Englishman had started for Geneva directly after
leaving Montmorency.
 The members of the Committee were greatly disappointed on learning
that the plot must remain unravelled, for how could they prove the
interview without witnesses? Coulongeon was the only one who had seen
Robespierre speaking with Vaughan, but he was in the pay of the
Committee, and no one would believe him. They rested their hopes on the
probable return of the Englishman, but they waited to no purpose, and were
finally obliged to abandon the attempt.

One evening, however, Coulongeon had brought the Committee an

unlooked-for piece of news. Having had a message to take to the prison of
La Bourbe, he had found himself in the Acacia courtyard among the
prisoners just at their supper-hour. Two female prisoners had attracted his
attention. It seemed to him as if it was not the first time he had seen them,
and after searching his memory for a moment, he recognised them as the
two women who were with Vaughan in the forest of Montmorency before
Robespierre arrived on the scene. Yes, he remembered it all now! It was so!
There was not the slightest doubt! The gaoler, when questioned, completely
confirmed his suspicions. The women did come from Montmorency, where
they had been arrested by Robespierre's orders. "Now we have two
witnesses!" Billaud-Varennes cried in delight.

"Three!" the agent interjected. "For, now I come to think of it, there was
a young man with them."

"He must be found also! Quick to Montmorency, and bring him back
with you!"

At Montmorency, after two days of fruitless search, the detective

discovered Clarisse's house in the forest. The gardener on being
interrogated replied that he was completely ignorant of the whereabouts of
Olivier, who had disappeared the very day his mother and his fiancée were
arrested.... Perhaps Leonard the locksmith could tell him. Questioned in his
turn, Leonard replied evasively. Coulongeon then informed him who he
was, and threatened him with the law, so that Leonard ended by owning that
the young man had started the same night for Paris. He swore that was all
he knew. Coulongeon, pretending to be quite satisfied, thanked him and
went away. But returning soon after he adroitly questioned the neighbours
on Leonard's connections and acquaintances. The agent learnt that when the
locksmith went to Paris he took up his abode in furnished apartments in the
Rue de Rocher, kept by a certain widow Beaugrand.

"Now I am on the right track," thought Coulongeon.

Once back in Paris the agent had little difficulty in making the good
woman speak. Did the widow Beaugrand know the young man? Pardieu!
She knew him too well! He was the daring insulter of Robespierre, the
young madman arrested on the Fête of the Supreme Being who was now
imprisoned at La Force.

The joy of the Committee knew no bounds, when they learnt the news
on leaving the hall of the Convention on the 8th Thermidor.

Billaud-Varennes, as can be imagined, was also overjoyed.

"We will have the three prisoners out of gaol, at once, and keep them
here at hand."

Two orders of release had been immediately drafted, one for the prison
of La Bourbe, the other for La Force.

Coulongeon had gone first of all to La Force to fetch Olivier, whom he

conducted straight to the Tuileries and locked in a little chamber above the
Committee-room under charge of a gendarme. But at the prison of La
Bourbe he was too late; the two women had been taken away by Lebas,
under an order of release from Robespierre.

On his return the police-agent had sought Billaud-Varennes to apprise

him of the result of his errand, but finding that he was away until after the
meeting of the Jacobins, he left a sealed note for him with full particulars.

Billaud received this on his return from the Jacobins accompanied by

Collot d'Herbois.

"Out of three witnesses, only one is left to us!" he exclaimed on reading

it. "The most important one, however! We have the man himself who
insulted the traitor! We must cross-examine him directly. It will be
amusing."

Robespierre just then appeared on the scene and hastened the

examination by his violent outburst.

Billaud-Varennes began to cross-examine Olivier in the little chamber

above the Committee-room. The young man knew nothing of the plot.
Robespierre might have had an interview with Vaughan in the forest, this
was very possible, but he, Olivier, had left just after the Englishman's
arrival.

"You spoke to him, I suppose?"

"To whom?"

"To Vaughan."

"Why, yes! I exchanged a few words with him."

"You knew him, then?"

"My mother knew him. He was an old friend of hers."

"She knew then what he came to Montmorency for?"

"Not in the least. It was quite a chance-meeting. He had lost his way,
when they..."

"And you know absolutely nothing of what passed after your

departure?"

"Nothing, except that my mother and my fiancée were arrested by

Robespierre's infamous orders."

Billaud-Varennes left the room greatly disappointed. He wondered if,

after all, Olivier was telling the truth.
 "However, the young man has the night to reflect over it," he said to
himself, as he descended the stair. "I will question him again to-morrow
after having conferred with the Committee, perhaps by that time he will
have decided to speak! And yet I cannot but think he was sincere."

With this he re-entered the room where his colleagues were assembled.
But such an extraordinary scene of animation presented itself when he
opened the door that he forgot the object of his visit.

This Committee-room, like the others next to it, formed part of a suite
of apartments recently belonging to the King. It offered a strange spectacle,
with its mixture of elegance and vulgarity, which said more than words for
the ravages of the Revolution.

Over the five doors, two of which opened on to a long corridor, the
royal arms surmounted by a crown had been roughly erased. The walls and
panels of the doors were covered with printed decrees of the Convention,
and tricolour placards were pasted up everywhere. This array of
Revolutionary literature struck the observer as at once ominous and
pathetic, in the midst of all the grace and beauty of that white and gold
reception-room, decorated in the purest Louis XV. style, with its daintily
carved cornices and painted ceiling, where Nymphs and Cupids sported in
the glowing spring-tide among flowers. The contrast was even more
apparent in the furniture. Gilded armchairs covered with rare tapestry, now
all torn, stood side by side with plain deal seats, some of which were very
rickety. A sideboard laden with eatables and wine-bottles completed the
installation of the Terror in the palace of the Tuileries.

Billaud-Varennes was still standing there on the threshold. Collot

d'Herbois, surrounded by Barère, Carnot, Prieur, and Elie Lacoste, was
violently addressing Saint-Just, Robespierre's friend, who was seated at the
table, engaged in writing the speech he was to deliver before the
Convention on the morrow. Saint-Just, calm and contemptuous, replied to
their insults by a shrug of the shoulders. This disdain exasperated Collot
d'Herbois beyond measure, and Saint-Just aggravated him still more by
ironical inquiries about the Jacobins' meeting.