﻿DON'T BLAME OTHERS FOR WHAT YOU DO YOURSELF. 155 



Do not blame others for what you have done 



yourself. 



" CHARLES, how is this did you turn over the inkstand?" asked 

 his mother. 



" No, Henry did it ; he ran against the table and upset it." 



" I say Charles pushed me, and I could not help it," said Henrv. 



" Well, he would not give me my pen, and I was trying to get it 

 away from him." 



" It seems, then, boys, you had a struggle, and, between you both, 

 the inkstand was upset. But I should have been much better 

 pleased with you, if you had each confessed your share in the acci- 

 dent, without blaming the other." 



" See how John has broke my cart !" says Thomas. 



" John must have been very naughty ; but how did he do it ?" 



" He tripped me up, and made me fall on it, and broke it." 



" Did John mean to trip you up ? " 



Thomas hung down his head. 



" My boy, why did you not say you stumbled over John, and fell 

 on your cart, and broke it ? It would have been more honest, and 

 honorable too." 



" Mary, how did you tear your dress?" inquired her mother. 



"I did not; Jane tore it." 



" I did not think Jane was so bad a girl ; how did she do it?" 



" She made me tear it, and that is just as bad." 



" Certainly. How did she make you tear it ? " 



" She made me run against a nail, and it caught, and was torn." 



"But I do not quite understand how she should make you run 

 against a nail." 



" She was trying to catch me, and I 



" And you ran against the nail and tore your dress ; was it not so ? 

 It was an accident, though I am afraid you are rather careless; and 

 because Jane was playing with you at the time, you blame her for 

 it. Is that a candid little girl ? " 



I am sorry to say, it is very common for children, when they 



