136 MOEAL CONDITION OF THE CHILD 



express himself before others must likely be based 

 on an appeal to his vanity and may be an injury 

 rather than a benefit. He is now allowing im- 

 pressions to sink down deep into his nature ; after 

 a while they will come to expression. Selfishness 

 now asserts itself very strongly. Acquisitiveness 

 is very active. These qualities make the use of 

 rewards and punishments very effective, and for 

 that very reason they may be misused unduly to 

 accentuate these natural tendencies. It will take 

 great tact to direct them toward good develop- 

 ments. Honor rolls, badges, buttons, grades, and 

 rank are very influential. The feeling of justice 

 is very strong ; playing fair is a standard of great 

 potency. Curiosity, heretofore a strong passion, 

 is now regnant. It is now the time when a boy 

 will shut himself up for half a day and take a 

 clock to pieces to see how it is made. This passion 

 for knowledge should be regarded as God's thirst 

 implanted in the soul to be satisfied to the fullest, 

 possible extent. It would be abortive to crush it ; 

 it is soul-growth to strengthen it. However, it 

 may lead in any moral or immoral direction ; the 

 work of the good guide is to direct it in the in- 

 terests of the higher and eternal life. Authority 

 is now naturally acknowledged. Previously he 

 may have followed inclination without any recog- 

 nition of its contradiction to the will of another; 

 now he recognizes the two wills and, if rightly 

 directed, learns to submit his own without wrench 

 or strain to his nature. The sense of right and 



