Their intellectual progress will, accordingly, suddenly cease the moment they leave school, and so cease to be called upon to recite lessons.

On the other hand, if _instruction_ is all that is aimed at, and _recitation_ (by which I mean, as above explained, such an examination of individuals as is necessary to ascertain that they have faithfully performed the tasks assigned) is neglected, the exercise soon becomes not much more than a lecture, to which those, and those only, will attend who please.
The business, therefore, of a thorough examination of the class must not be omitted.

I do not mean that each individual scholar must every day be examined, but simply that the teacher must, in some way or other, satisfy himself by reasonable evidence that the whole class are really prepared.

A great deal of ingenuity may be exercised in contriving means for effecting this object in the shortest possible time.

I know of no part of the field of a teacher's labors which may be more facilitated by a little ingenuity than this.
One teacher, for instance, has a spelling lesson to hear.