The sound of the cane was no longer heard, and yet the lessons were far better done than had been the case before.

Then the whole work had fallen on the boys; the principal part of the day's lessens had been the repeating of tasks learned by heart, and the master simply heard them and punished the boys who were not perfect.
There was comparatively little of this mechanical work now; it was the sense and not the wording which had to be mastered.

Thus geography was studied from an atlas and not by the mere parrot-like learning of the names of towns and rivers.

In grammar the boys had to show that they understood a rule by citing examples other than those given in their books.

History was rather a lecture from the master than a repetition of dry facts and dates by the boys.