question and answer, that, as they may be completely learned by an
unintelligent exercise of memory, they fail in drawing forth the more
active powers of the mind. It is far otherwise with questions to which
the pupil must find the answers for himself; as, by this mode of
interrogation he is compelled to exert his intellect in considering the
subject of the text on which he is questioned. He is thus prevented from
reading cursorily and remembering vaguely; he can no longer have the
appearance of knowledge without its reality; and if he learns his lesson
at all, he must learn it well.
This book consists of several thousand questions, with indications
of the pages where the answers are to be looked for. Every important
circumstance mentioned in the history is involved in the questions, which
are arranged, as far as possible, in a complete and uninterrupted series.
The answers are not always obvious, the learner being occasionally
expected to elicit them by drawing inferences from the facts stated in
the history; and it is recommended that he should be encouraged, in all
cases, to give the answers rather in his own words than in those of the
author.