n, that it makes the acquirement of knowledge a pleasure
instead of a task. With these prefatory remarks I shall introduce
a description of the method I have pursued, and a few examples of
geometrical lessons.

We will suppose that the whole of the children are seated in the
gallery, and that the teacher (provided with a brass instrument formed
for the purpose, which is merely a series of joints like those to a
counting-house candlestick, from which I borrowed the idea,[A] and
which may be altered as required, in a moment,) points to a straight
line, asking, What is this? A. A straight line. Q. Why did you not
call it a crooked line? A. Because it is not crooked, but straight. Q.
What are these? A. Curved lines. Q. What do curved lines mean? A. When
they are bent or crooked. Q. What are these? A. Parallel straight
lines. Q. What does parallel mean? A. Parallel means when they are
equally distant from each other in every part. Q. If any of you
children were reading a book. that gave an account of some town which
had twelve streets, and it is said that the streets were parallel,
would you understand what it meant? A. Yes; it would mean that the
streets were all the same way, side by side, like the lines which we
now see. Q. What are those? A. Diverging or converging straight lines.
Q. What is the difference between diverging and converging lines and
parallel lines? A. Diverging or converging lines are not at an equal
distance from each other, in every part, but parallel lines are. Q.
What does diverge mean? A. Diverge means when they go from each other,
and they diverge at one end and converge at the other.[B] Q. What does
converge mean? A. Converge means when they come towards each other.
Q. Suppose the lines were longer, what would be the consequence? A.
Please, sir, if they were longer, they would meet together at the end
they converge. Q. What would they form by meeting together? A. By
meeting together they would form an angle. Q. What kind of an angle?
A. An acute angle? Q. Would they form an angle at the other end? A.
No; they would go further from each other. Q. What is this? A. A
perpendicular line. Q. What does perpendicular mean? A. A line up
straight, like the stem of some trees. Q. If you look, you will see
that one end of the line comes on the middle of another line; what
does it form? A. The one which we now see forms two right angles. Q.
I will make a straight line, and one end of it shall lean on another