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K.
Q. What letter is this?
A. Letter K, the first letter in kite, &c.
Q. What is the use of the kite?
A. For little children to fly. Please, sir, my big brother has got a
kite.
Q. What does your brother do with his kite?
A. Please, sir, he goes into the fields when he has got time, and flies
it.
Q. How does he fly it?
A. Please, sir, he has got a long string, which he fixes to another
called a loop, and then he unwinds the string, and gets some boy to
hold it up.
Q. What then?
A. Please, sir, then he runs against the wind, and the kite goes up.
Q. What is the use of the tail of the kite? A. Please, sir, it will
not
fly without a tail.
Q. Why not?
A. Please, sir, it goes round and
round without a tail, and comes down.
Q. Then what do you suppose is the use of the tail? Please, sir, I don't
know. Another child will probably supply the answer. Please, sir, to
balance it.
L.
Q. What letter is this?
A. Letter L, the first letter in lion, &c.
Q. Spell lion.
A. L-i-o-n.
Q. What is the size of a full grown lion?
A. A full grown lion stands four feet and a half high, and is eight
feet
long.
Q. How high do you stand?
A. Please, sir, some of us stand two feet, and none of us above three.
Q. Has the lion any particular character among beasts?
A. Yes, he is called the king of beasts on account of his great strength.
Q. When he seizes his prey, how far can he leap?
A. To the distance of twenty feet.
Q. Describe some other particulars concerning the lion.
A. The lion has a shaggy mane, which the lioness has not.
Q. What other particulars?
A. The lion's roar is so loud that other animals run away when they
hear it.
Q. Where are lions found?
A. In most hot countries: the largest are found in Asia and Africa.
M.
Q. What letter is this?
A. Letter M, the first letter in Monday, mouse, &c.
Q. What is the use of the mouse?
A. To make the servants diligent and put the things out of the way.
Q. How can mice make servants diligent?
A. If people do not put their candles in a proper place the mice will
gnaw them.
Q. Are mice of any other service?
A. Please, sir, if the mice did not make a smell, some people would
never
clean their cupboards out.[A]
[Footnote A: This answer was given by a child four years old; and
immediately afterwards another child called out, "Please, sir,
if it
were not for bugs, some people would not clean their bedsteads."]
N.
Q. What letter is this?
A. Letter N, the first letter in nut, &c.
Q. What is a nut?
A. A thing that is hard, and it grows on a tree.
Q. What shape is it?
A. Something in the shape of a marble.
Q. How can it be eaten, if it is like a marble?
A. Please, air, it is the kernel that we eat.
Q. flow are nuts produced?
A. They grow on trees.
O.
Q. What letter is this?
A. Letter O, the first letter in orange.
Q. Of what colour is an orange?
A. An orange is green at first, but afterwards becomes of a colour called
orange-red.
Q. Do they grow in the ground like potatoes?
A. No, they grow on trees like apples.
Q. Can you tell me anything in the shape of an orange?
A. Yes, the earth on which we live is nearly of that shape.
Q. On what part of the earth do we live?
A. The surface.
Q. What do you mean by the surface?
A. The outside.
Q. Who formed the earth, and preserves it in its proper motions?
A. Almighty God.
P.
Q. What letter is this?
A. Letter P, the first letter in pig, plum-pudding, &c.
Q. What is the use of the pig?
A. Its flesh is eaten, and is called pork.
Q. What is the use of the hair or bristles?
A. To make brushes or brooms.
Q. What is the use of a brush?
A. Some brushes are to brush the clothes, and others to brush the dirt
out of the corners of the room.
Q. Does a good servant ever leave the dirt in the corners?
A. No, never; a good servant or any clean little girl would be ashamed
of it.
Q.
Q. What letter is this?
A. Letter Q, the first letter in quill, &c.
Q.
How are quills produced?
A. From the wings of geese and other large birds.
Q. What is the use of the quill?
A. To form into pens and many other things.
Q. What is the use of the pen?
A. To dip into ink and write with it.
Q. What do you write upon?
A. Paper.
Q. What is paper made of?
A. Rags.
R.
Q. What letter is this?
A. Letter R, the first letter in rabbit, &c.
Q. What is the use of the rabbit?
A. The flesh of the rabbit is eaten, and is very nice.
Q. What does the rabbit eat?
A. Corn, grass, cabbage-leaves, and many different herbs.
Q. What is the use of the skin?
A. To make hats, and to trim boys' caps.
Q. Are they very numerous?
A. They are to be found in almost all countries.
S.
Q. What is this?
A. Letter S, the first letter in shoe, &c.
Q. What is the use of shoes?
A. To keep the feet warm and dry.
Q. Should children walk in the mud or in the kennel?
A. No, because that would spoil the shoes, and wear them out too soon.
Q. And why should little children be careful not to wear them out any
more than they can help?
A. Because our parents must work harder to buy us more.
T.
Q. What letter is this?
A. Letter T, the first letter in tea-kettle.
Q. What are tea-kettles made of?
A. Some are made of tin, and some of copper, and some of iron.
Q. Why are they not made of wood?
A. Because the wood would burn.
Q. What thing is that at the top?
A. The handle.
Q. What is underneath the handle?
A. The lid.
Q. What is in the front of it?
A. The spout.
Q. What is the use of the spout?
A. For the water to come out.
Q. What is the use of the handle?
A. To take hold of.
Q. Why do they not take hold of the spout?
A. Because it is the wrong way.
U.
Q. What letter is this?
A. Letter U, the first letter in umbrella, &c.
Q. Is letter U a vowel or consonant?
A. A vowel.
Q. What is the use of the umbrella?
A. To keep the rain off any body.
Q. What are umbrellas made of?
A. Some of silk and some of cotton.
Q. Which are the best?
A. Those that are made of silk.
Q. Is there any thing else in an umbrella?
A. Yes; whalebone.
Q. Where does whalebone come from?
A. Out of a large fish called a whale.
Q. Who made the whale?
A. Almighty God.
V.
Q. What letter is this?
A. Letter V, the first letter in vine, &c.
Q. What is a vine?
A. A thing that grows against the wall and produces grapes.
Q. Why does it not grow like another tree, and support its own
weight?
A. Because it is not strong enough.
Q. Then it cannot grow and become fruitful in this country without man's
assistance?
A. No; and, please, sir, we cannot grow and become fruitful without
the assistance of Almighty God.[A]
[Footnote A: This answer was given by a child five-years of age.]
W.
Q. What letter is this?
A. It is Letter W, the first letter in wheel.
Q. Spell wheel.
A. W-h-e-e-l.
Q. What is the use of wheels?
A. To make it easier for horses to draw.
Q. How do you know that?
A. Please, sir, I had a little cart full of stones, and the wheel came
off; and, please, sir, I found it much harder to draw.
Q. Then if it was not for wheels, the horses could not draw so great
a weight?
A. No, and, please, sir, people could not go into the country so quick
as they
do.
Q. What trade do they call the persons that make wheels?
A. Wheel-wrights.
X.
Q. What letter is this?
A. Letter X, the first letter in Xenophon, a man's name.
Q. What was the particular character of Xenophon?
A. He was very courageous.
Q. What does courageous mean?
A. To be afraid to do harm, but not to be afraid to do good, or anything
that is right.
Q. What is the greatest courage?
A. To conquer our own bad passions and bad inclinations.
Q. Is he a courageous man that can conquer his bad passions?
A. Yes; because they are the most difficult to conquer.
Y.
Q. What letter is this?
A. Letter Y, the first letter in yoke, &c.
Q. Is it a vowel or consonant?
A. When it begins a word it is called a consonant, but if not, a vowel.
Q. What is a yoke?
A. Please, sir, what the milk people carry the milk pails on.
Q. What is the use of the yoke?
A. To enable the people to carry the milk easier.
Z.
Q. What letter is this?
A. Letter Z, the first letter in Zealander.
Q.
What is a Zealander?
A. A man that lives on an island in the Southern Ocean, called Zealand.
Q. How do they live?
A. Principally by hunting and fishing.
Q. What is hunting?
A. Following animals to catch them.
Q. Who made all the animals?
A. Almighty God.
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