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.