INTRODUCTION. 6 



the stable, being of a humane disposition, allows his 

 horse to roam at large in the yard. Not content with 

 this amount of liberty, the animal is always trying to 

 cross the barrier that separates him from the rest of 

 the world, and has contrived, in some way or other, to 

 get his head over the fence, so as to enable him to 

 survey the country at large. Many a lady has been 

 frightened, when walking along the path, to see his 

 great head flung suddenly over the fence ; and even 

 to those who know the animal and his ways, the sight 

 is rather startling on a dusky evening. 



The same feeling holds good with human, beings. 

 I suppose that there never yet was a schoolboy who 

 did not always experience a burning desire to cross 

 he legitimate bounds of the school, no matter whether 

 they be far or near. Indeed, so well is this feeling 

 known, that in more than one school all bounds have 

 been abolished, and in others a quaint sort of com- 

 promise has been virtually agreed upon between the 

 boys and the master. 



If a master happen to meet a boy out of bounds, 

 and the latter conceals himself, even though by pre- 

 tending to hide behind a sapling not an inch thick, or, 

 in default of any such advantage, by turning his back, 

 and making believe not to see the master, the latter 

 also pretends not to see the boy, though they may be 

 close to each other. Should, however, the boy give any 

 recognition of the master, or even look him in the 

 face, he is considered to be in open defiance of the 

 rules, and punished accordingly. 



Men act in just the same manner. All those who 

 have read history, whether ancient or modern, must be 



