forth is an organic step toward the accomplishment of a specific
purpose; instead of being passive, it requires the reaction of the
self upon the ideas presented, until they are supplemented, organized,
and tentatively judged, so that they are held well in memory. The
study of a subject has not reached its end until the guiding purpose
has been accomplished and the knowledge has been so assimilated that
it has been used in a normal way and has become experience. And, finally,
since the danger of submergence of self among so much foreign thought
is so great, it is not complete--at least for young students--until
precautions for the preservation of individuality have been included.

The common notion that study should consist of thinking is, therefore,
quite right. In _Hints for Home Reading_ (p. 51) Henry Ward Beecher
says of himself: "Reading with me incites to reflection instantly. I
cannot separate the origination of ideas from the reception of ideas;
the consequence is, as I read I always begin to think in various
directions, and that makes my reading slow; and that being the origin
of it psychologically, it has grown into such a habit that, if I read
a novel even, I read slowly." Later he advises (p. 95), "Never give
more time to reading a book than to reflecting upon its contents." In
criticism of the customary haste in reading, on the other hand, Mr.
Gorschen declares: "Honestly, I must say, I believe that a vast number
of readers do not allow what I may call the frenzied current of their
eyes, as they read, to be stopped by even a moment of calm reflection
or thought." [Footnote: _Aspects of Modern Study,_ by Right Honorable
G.J. Gorschen, D.C.L., M.P., p. 39.] Real assimilation of ideas has to
be slow; and while some reading, owing to the simplicity of subject-
matter, should be as rapid as the eye can travel, the rate at which
ground is usually covered is too great to make assimilation possible.