e tolerated, and that close
reading should be required at the proper time and in the proper way. In
the arithmetic or geography lesson the young must always read very
closely, and in their perusal of the classics there are many fine
opportunities for exercises of the same character, that should not be
neglected. Descriptive passages, arguments, and essays of all kinds
require to be read with exceeding care, and often there are passages
even in light fiction that repay this kind of study.

Words and phrases are the subjects of consideration in close reading,
and the mastery of thought is the object to be attained. The study of
words may be made very interesting, and gathering the meaning of phrases
may become a fascinating pastime.

An illustration may prove the case. Take the paragraph from _Rab and His
Friends_ (Volume VI, page 99) in which death approaches Ailie: "The end
was drawing on: the golden bowl was breaking; the silver cord was fast
being loosed--that _animula blandula, vagula, hospes comesque_ was about
to flee. The body and the soul--companions for sixty years--were being
sundered and taking leave. She was walking, alone, through the valley of
the shadow, into which one day we must all enter--and yet she was not
alone, for we knew whose rod and staff were comforting her."

A cursory reading will suggest to any young person that the paragraph
says Ailie is going to die, and that she does not fear death; but how
much more it means to him who can understand it all. _The end was
drawing on_--Ailie was going to her death. _The golden bowl was
breaking; the silver cord was fast being loosed._ Turn to your Bible
(_Ecclesiastes_ xii, 3-7), and read what is said. _That "animula
blandula, vagula, hospes comesque" was about to flee._ That sweet but
fleeting life, friend, companion and sojourner with her, was about to
leave. _She was walking alone through the valley of the shadow._ "Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no
evil." _Into which one day we must all enter._ May we be equally
fearless of evil! _She was not alone._ Her God was with her every
moment, and in her hours of consciousness she knew Him to be present.
_We knew whose rod and staff were comforting her._ "Thy rod and Thy
staff they comfort me."

Like the Psalmist of old she leaned upon the arm of her God and as she
thus approached the dark valley, the light of her faith shone into our
souls.

The Latin quotation