But the great advantages of this plan, as a training process, would appear to be—1st. That the mind being thus occupied with an hypothesis has always that to direct its researches in a settled, uniform, and definite course. 2nd. That every new fact accumulated is immediately compared with the hypothesis, and is incorporated or written off as _contra_, after this mental exercise, as occasion may require. Thus no fact ever comes into the mind without being subjected to thought and giving exercise to the important faculty of comparison. And this process of comparing, to which every fact must be subjected, will not only impress the fact and its comparatives on the memory, but will powerfully tend to exercise and strengthen the Cogitative powers; for there is no operation of mind which more actively calls into energy all the faculties at once than comparing, because to compare two things fairly we must (so to speak) know the length, breadth, depth, density and powers of each. 3rd. A steady habit of reading is acquired; we read with a definite aim—the establishment or refutation (we ought not to care which) of our hypothesis, and, however wide and discursive our reading, there is little danger of its becoming desultory—that curse and bane of modern mind. The Baconian process of accumulating facts before hypothesising, almost demands desultory reading, for the mind sees no fixed end towards which it shall arrive; it is not permitted to guess what may be the result of its studies, and hence too often loses all interest in them, and remains content with the barren accumulation of things. What we would suggest may be thus illustrated: Let a man, intending to study history, first adopt an hypothesis—of course he must have some pre-knowledge. It matters not what the hypothesis, so that it is likely to involve a very wide field of inquiry. If he contemplate primæval history, let him adopt some such proposition as this, “Whether we can infer from the institutions of mankind that they all spring from one common ancestor?” Or this, “Whether any nation whose national records have been preserved were the first owners of the soil?” Is it not obvious, that with some such proposition before the mind it will take much more interest in and more steadily direct its studies, and that facts will be more easily remembered, from their bearing on the hypothesis, than if merely received as naked, isolated units? The only precautions to be taken are, not to be too strongly wedded to either side of our hypothesis, nor to sit down too soon satisfied that it is proved or disproved, nor to set up for teachers and discoverers, while we are only learners and making discoveries.