59 



offences, I am inclined to agree with the view expressed in 

 George Arnold's lines : — 



" The rod was hardly known in his school — 



Whipping, to him, was a barbarous rule, 

 And too hard work for his poor old bones : 



' Besides it is painful,' he sometimes said ; 

 ' We should make life pleasant down here below, 



The living need charity more than the dead ' 

 Said the jolly old pedagogue, long ago." 



Respecting c, if the child asks questions merely to attract 

 attention, he does so owing to faulty training in other respects. 

 He has been allowed to become vain and inconsiderate ; or he is 

 naturally but unskilledly striving to relieve himself from the 

 very repression that is thought so suitable. The remedy is 

 obvious. A child who is hungry will cry for food, be it mental 

 or bodily food ; and if habitually hungry will habitually cry ; 

 may get a habit of crying, which he will continue whether 

 hungry or not : but a naturally fed child is likely to be naturally 

 quiet. It is quite true that children should be encouraged at a 

 later period to think out answers to their own problems. This I 

 may say is my plan with my own boys, and it is referred to at 

 p. 14, a part of the Essay which was (but perhaps ought not to 

 have been) omitted when reading it. The questions I meant 

 to refer to begin before the child can speak plainly, so that 

 books are not available to him. I would agree with the opinion 

 expressed in d regarding specialization, but not that there 

 is any moral discipline for true life in " obliging " a boy 

 to do distasteful work : I presume that obliging by threat 

 of punishment is meant. I think Dr. Sheldon rightly objects 

 to the doing only of what one likes, i. e. what one likes 

 irrespective of others, or of future consequences. But likes and 

 dislikes are comparative, and the boy in the case really does 

 the work because he likes it — better than a caning. The need 

 of doing what is not presently easy or agreeable is admitted, 

 but I prefer a higher and more manly motive. I think with 

 Mr. O'Neill that we should make learning as easy as possible. 

 I prefer to boil my peas if I must do penance with them in 

 my shoes. 



