The
principles of duty can not be inculcated by fear; and though pain and
terror must in many instances be called in to coerce an individual
offender, whom milder measures will not reach, yet these agents, and
others like them, can never be successfully employed as the ordinary
motives to action. They can not produce any thing but mere external and
heartless obedience in the presence of the teacher, with an inclination
to throw off all restraint when the pressure of stern authority is
removed.
We should all remember that our pupils are but for a very short time
under our direct control. Even when they are in school the most untiring
vigilance will not enable us to watch, except for a very small portion
of the time, any one individual. Many hours of the day, too, they are
entirely removed from our inspection, and a few months will take them
away from us altogether. Subjecting them, then, to mere external
restraint is a very inadequate remedy for the moral evil to which they
are exposed. What we aim at is to bring forward and strengthen an
internal principle which will act when both parent and teacher are away,
and control where external circumstances are all unfavorable.
I have thus far, under this head, been endeavoring to show the
importance of securing, by gentle measures, a majority of the scholars
to cooperate with the teacher in his plans. The particular methods of
doing this demand a little attention.
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