DETERMINISM AND SELF-DIRECTION. 59 



The development of this power was the object of all true 

 education ; and special stress was laid on the appeal to the 

 highest motives within the child s comprehension. 



In laying down these principles, Dr. Carpenter had, in 

 fact, been taking lessons in his own nursery. They were 

 the principles he was himself learning to apply. The reader 

 will perhaps forgive the triviality of an anecdote which 

 throws light on these notions of moral discipline. Re 

 quiring one day a supply of hydrogen for purposes of lecture 

 illustration, he called his three boys into his study to see 

 him granulate the zinc to be employed in its preparation. 

 The melted metal was in an iron ladle on the fire, and he 

 began slowly to pour it into a basin of cold water, with a 

 natural accompaniment of sputtering. The youngest of the 

 trio, famous in the family for a peculiar roar known as the 

 &quot;square mouth,&quot; was frightened, and began to cry. His 

 father bade him control himself and be quiet, but the 

 admonition was without effect. A threat to send him out 

 of the room proved equally vain. &quot; But it shows you don t 

 trust me,&quot; remonstrated his father. The boy checked his 

 cries at once and was still. 



The problem here was reduced to very simple elements. 

 But in more complex cases, the process was, in Dr. Car 

 penter s view, essentially the same. 



The will (he said), by a peculiar effort, represses the 

 vehemence of one class of motives by forcibly withdrawing the 

 attention from them and directing it to another of a higher 

 character. . . . The mind, thus swayed hither and thither by 

 various motives contending for the mastery, is at last decided 

 by those which present themselves most forcibly before it; and 

 it is in keeping some in the background, and bringing others 

 into clearer view, that the power of the will seems to be exerted 

 in modifying the decision. 



Here is the germ of much of his later doctrine as to the 



