"When all were up, he said to them, though not with a frown or a scowl, as if they had committed a great offense,
"Suppose a company of soldiers should be ordered to form a line, and instead of simply obeying that order they should all set at work, each in his own way, doing something else. One man at one end of the line begins to load and fire his gun; another takes out his knapsack and begins to eat his luncheon; a third amuses himself by going as fast as possible through the exercise; and another still, begins to march about hither and thither, facing to the right and left, and performing all the evolutions he can think of. What should you say to such a company as that?"
The boys laughed.
"It is better," said the teacher, "when numbers are acting under the direction of one, that they should all act exactly together. In this way we advance much faster than we otherwise should. Be careful, therefore, to do exactly what I command, and nothing more.
"Provide a place on your slates large enough to write a single line," added the teacher, in a distinct voice. I print his orders in Italics, and his remarks and explanations in Roman letters.
"Prepare to write.
"I mean by this," he continued, "that you place your slates before you with your pencils at the place where you are to begin, so that all may commence precisely at the same instant."
The teacher who tries such an experiment as this will find at such a juncture an expression of fixed and pleasant attention upon every countenance in school. All will be intent, all will be interested. Boys love order, and system, and acting in concert, and they will obey with great alacrity such commands as these if they are good-humoredly, though decidedly expressed.
The teacher observed in one part of the room a hand raised, indicating that the boy wished to speak to him. He gave him liberty by pronouncing his name.
"I have no pencil," said the boy.