and, seeing them all busy, should say to me,

"'What are all these boys doing?'

"'They are writing.'

"'What are they writing?'

"'They are writing a piece of poetry.'

"'They seem to be very busy; they are very industrious, good boys.'

"'Oh no! it is not by any means certain that they are _good_ boys.'

"'I mean that they are good boys _now_; that they are doing right at
_this time_."

'_That_ is not certain; some of them are doing right and some are doing
very wrong, though they are all writing the same piece of poetry.'

The stranger would perhaps look surprised while I said this, and would
ask an explanation, and I might properly reply as follows:

'Whether the boys are at this moment doing right or wrong depends not
so much upon what they are doing as upon the feelings of the heart with
which they are doing it. I acknowledge that they are all doing the same
thing outwardly; they are all writing the same extract, and they are all
doing it attentively and carefully, but they are thinking of very
different things.'

'What are they thinking of?'

'Do you see that boy?' I might say, pointing to one of them. 'His name
is M. He is writing for money. He is saying to himself all the time, "I
hope I shall get the quarter of a dollar." He is calculating what he
shall buy with it, and every good or bad letter that he makes, he is
considering the chance whether he shall succeed or fail in obtaining
it.'

'What is the next boy to him thinking of?'

'His name is B. He is copying to oblige a little fellow whom he
scarcely knows, and is trying to make his copy handsome, so as to give
him pleasure. He is thinking how gratified his schoolmate will be when
he receives it, and is forming plans to get acquainted with him.

"'Do you see that boy in the back seat? He has maliciously taken another
boy's place just to spoil his work. He knows, too, that he is breaking
the rules of the school in being out of his place, but he stays
notwithstanding, and is delighting himself with thinking how
disappointed and sad his schoolmate will be when he comes in and finds
his work spoiled by having another handwriting in it, when he was
depending on doing it all himself.'

"'I see,' the stranger might say by this time, 'that there is a great
difference among these boys; have you told me about them all?'

"'No,' I might reply, 'there are several others. I will only mention one
more. He sits in the middle of the second desk. He is