READING AS AN INTELLECTUAL PROCESS. 221 



Furthermore, when wit does strike, it strikes with such effect, that 

 the child himself cannot fail to discover whether he is hit or not ; he 

 cannot help but feel that he does or does not comprehend the idea. 

 He may not be conscious that he does not clearly get an ordinary 

 thought ; but he can hardly remain so in regard to an epigram like 

 this, upon a conceited person. He will either " see it," or know that 

 he does not " see it : " 



" The best speculation the market holds forth 

 To any enlightened lover of pelf, 

 Is to buy Tommy up at the price he is worth, 

 And sell him at that he puts on himself." 



Or in regard to any of Lord Bacon's apothegms like this one. Dionys- 

 ius gave d.o ear to the earnest suit of the philosopher Aristippus until 

 the latter fell at the tyrant's feet. A by-stauder afterward said to 

 Aristippus, " You a philosopher, and to be so base as to throw your- 

 self at the tyrant's feet to get a suit?" Aristippus answered, " The 

 fault is not mine, but the fault is in Dionysius, who carries his ears in 

 his feet." 



What will so bring thought to a focus, and so develop the com- 

 prehension of words from their connections as a riddle like this from 

 Dean Swift, and which Mr. Garvey, in his " Manual of Human Cult- 

 ure," mentions as an illustration upon this point : 



" From heaven I fell, though from earth I begin ; 

 No lady alive can show such a skin. 

 I'm bright as an angel, and light as a feather, 

 But heavy and dai'k when you squeeze me together. 

 Though candor and truth in my aspect I bear. 

 Yet many poor creatures I help to ensnare. 

 Though so much of heaven appears in my make, 

 The foulest impressions I easily take. 

 My parent and I produce one another, 

 The mother the daughter, and the daughter the mother." 



Of course, such material, of which the active teacher will find abun- 

 dance, must be used judiciously. The purpose must be to develop, 

 not simply to entertain. Such specimens must be carefully adapted 

 to the capacity of the class. Time must be given, and encouragement 

 to " weigh and consider." Every contrast, comparison, and lurking 

 sense, must be hunted out. No exercise in science or classics can 

 equal this as a sharpener of the wits (to say nothing of wit). The 

 child is made to realize what real comprehension is. He becomes 

 familiar with the sensation which accompanies a clear perception, and 

 is more sensitive to its absence when dealing with more ordinary 

 thoughts. It is in this way that the study of Shakespeare, now being 

 introduced into our high-schools, is going to do more for good com- 

 mon-sense in the comprehension and use of language, than all the 



