ld stop
him at the close of the very first sentence, and would master the
meaning of that, before we would advance with him another step; and then
we would make him proceed at such a pace as we could keep up with him.
If he left us again behind, there would be but one remedy. He must
return and repeat the sentence where he left us, till we had
comprehended his master's meaning; and if he refused to do this, he
could not conscientiously say to him on his return, that he had
delivered his message. By following this plan, and adopting this branch
of the natural principle of individuation in such a case, two benefits
would arise. We would first become perfectly acquainted with the will
and message of our superior; and next, we would, at the close of the
exercise, be so much more familiar with the language in which it was
delivered, as that it would require less effort on a future occasion, to
comprehend the meaning of the same speaker. If this method had not been
adopted, and the message had been given entire and without a pause, it
might have been rehearsed in our hearing a hundred times, but the
meaning would neither have been mastered, nor would our knowledge of the
language have been in the least improved.

The application of this principle of individuation in the early stages
of a child's learning to read, suggests the propriety also of making
some preparation for his reading every new lesson in succession. We have
seen that it is chiefly the new words in a lesson that create
difficulty, and prevent the operation of that important law in Nature
which induces the mind at once to lay hold of the ideas. To obviate this
distraction of mind therefore beforehand, the new words which _are to
occur_ in the lesson should be selected, and made familiar to the child
previously, and by themselves;--he should be taught to read them easily
by the combination of their letters, and clearly to understand their
meaning, in precisely the same shade in which they are used in the
lesson he is to read. When this is done, the lesson will be read with
ease and with profit;--while, without this, the difficulty will be much
greater, if not beyond his powers. In accordance with this plan, the
"First Class Book," before referred to, has been constructed, and its
efficiency on that account is greatly increased.

The neglect of this special application of the principle has been long
and painfully felt in society, and most of all where the young ha