tantly lost sight of, and
in one sense are never again thought of. As soon as the kernel is
extracted, the shell has lost its value. The pupil having once got sight
of the ideas, tenaciously keeps hold of _them_, and never once thinks
again of the words, which were merely the instrument employed by Nature
to convey them. When the question is asked, and he answers it, the
process consists in his translating the words of the whole sentence into
their several ideas, chusing out the idea which answers the question
from all the others, and then in clothing that idea in words which are
now entirely his own.

In all this there is a long and intricate series of mental exercises, in
every one of which the mind is actively employed, and it is in this, as
before explained, that the value of this exercise, in cultivating the
powers of the mind, really consists. But our present business is with
the acquisition of knowledge by its means; and we have to observe, that
in each of the mental operations required for the answer of a single
question, the ideas contained in the original sentence have repeatedly
to undergo the process of reiteration; by which they are more clearly
perceived, and more permanently fixed on the memory, than they otherwise
could have been. Hence the value of this exercise, even in those cases
where the original sentence has been at the first fully understood. This
will appear obvious by tracing the mental operation of the pupil from
the beginning, when he has to answer the question.

There is first the understanding of the question asked at him. This must
be heard and reiterated by the mind before its purport can be perceived,
and all this before he can commence the proper mental operation upon the
original sentence from which his answer is to be selected. He has then
to review the words of the original sentence, still sounding in his
ears, and to translate them into their several ideas, before he can
begin to select the one required. Then comes the act of selection,
having to chuse out from among all the others the special idea required
as his answer; and lastly, there is the clothing of that idea in words
suitable for the occasion, and the audibly pronouncing of these words as
the answer required. The rapidity with which the mind passes from one
part of this exercise to another, may prevent these several operations
from being perceived, but it is not the less true that they must have
taken place. And hence ari