and is subject to all the laws which
regulate that act. Now one of the chief laws impressed by Nature on the
act of _hearing_ the speech of others, is the very remarkable one
formerly alluded to, namely, the exclusive occupation of the mind with
the _ideas_ communicated, to the entire exclusion of the _words_, which
are merely the means by which the ideas are conveyed. The words are no
doubt heard, but they are never thought of;--for if they were, the mind
would instantly become distracted, and the ideas would be lost. This law
equally applies to the act of _reading_; and every one feels, that
perfection in this art is never attained, till the mind is exclusively
occupied with the ideas in the book, and never in any case with the
words which convey them. But in learning to read, the difficulty of
decyphering the words, tends to interfere with this law, and this must
be guarded against. The remedy simply is, to allow the child time to
overcome this first difficulty, by repeatedly, if necessary, reading the
sentence till he can read it perfectly; and then, before leaving it, to
discipline the mind to the perception of the ideas it contains, now that
the child can read it well.

The catechetical exercise, as in the "First Class Book on the Lesson
System," will almost always accomplish the object here pointed out; and
the value of the exercise it recommends will be best understood and
appreciated, by observing the evils which invariably follow its neglect.
For if the child be allowed to read on and on, while the difficulty of
decyphering the words in the book remains, the ideas will be left
behind, the attention will be fatigued, and at last exhausted. The child
will continue to read without understanding; and the habit thus acquired
of reading the words, without perceiving the ideas at all, will soon be
established and confirmed. Custom has robbed this relict of a former age
of much of its repulsiveness; but it is not the less hurtful on that
account. Were we to run a parallel with it in any other matter, its true
nature and deformity would at once appear. For example, were we to
suppose ourselves listening to an imperative message from a superior, by
a messenger with whose language we were but partially acquainted, we
would not allow him to proceed with his communication from beginning to
end, while the very first sentence he uttered, had not been understood,
and the mind was unprepared for that which was to follow. We wou