A Plan of Character Building 307 



plex potentialities of learning and achievement 

 each a bundle of latent characters transmitted to 

 him from the ancestral line. Many of these inherited 

 characters are too weak in any given individual ever 

 to show in his life conduct ; many others will come 

 to the surface only in response to proper stimuli and 

 practice ; still others will break out and show a pre- 

 dominance almost in defiance of any training in- 

 tended to counteract them. 



But the teacher and trainer of the infant child may 

 accept the theory that the latter, if taken in time, can 

 be bent and modified many ways in his character 

 formation; that such plasticity is, however, always 

 subject to the relative strength or weakness of the 

 many inherited aptitudes and activities latent within 

 the individual. 



There is no good reason, therefore, why the parent 

 should not begin early to build up the character of 

 his child in accordance with a preconceived plan; 

 provided such plan do no violence to any of nature's 

 stubborn and inexorable laws. The parent may also 

 accept this task as a long and tedious undertaking, 

 and expect to get results in proportion as he works 

 intelligently for them. The farmer does not even 

 think of producing good crop results from his land 

 without hard work and much thought; then, why 

 should he expect so delicate a plant as the human 

 young to reach satisfactory maturity without much 

 care and consideration ? By far the greatest sin 

 against the child is neglect of his training. 



