fill
her place.

V. THE COURT.

I have already described how all serious cases of doing wrong or neglect
of duty are managed in the school. I manage them myself, by coming as
directly and as openly as I can to the heart and conscience of the
offender. There are, however, a number of little transgressions, too
small to be individually worthy of serious attention, but which are yet
troublesome to the community when frequently repeated. These relate
chiefly to _order in the school-rooms_. These misdemeanors are tried,
half in jest and half in earnest, by a sort of _court_, whose forms of
process might make a legal gentleman smile. They, however, fully answer
our purpose. I can best give you an idea of the court by describing an
actual trial. I ought, however, first to say that any young lady who
chooses to be free from the jurisdiction of the court can signify that
wish to me, and she is safe from it. This, however, is never done. They
all see the useful influence of it, and wish to sustain it.

Near the close of school, I find, perhaps, on my desk a paper, of which
the following may be considered a copy. It is called the indictment.

We accuse Miss A.B. of having waste papers in the aisle opposite her desk,
at 11 o'clock, on Friday, Oct. 12.
C.D.}
E.F.} Witnesses.

I give notice after school that a case is to be tried. Those interested,
twenty or thirty perhaps, gather around my desk, while the sheriff goes
to summon the accused and the witnesses. A certain space is marked off
as the precincts of the court, within which no one must enter in the
slightest degree, on pain of imprisonment, that is, confinement to her
seat until court adjourns.

"Miss A.B., you are accused of having an untidy floor about your desk.
Have you any objection to the indictment?"

While she is looking over the indictment to discover a misspelled word,
or an error in the date, or some other latent flaw, I appoint any two of
the by-standers jury. The jury come forward to listen to the cause.

The accused returns the indictment, saying she has no objection, and the
witnesses are called upon to present their testimony.

Perhaps the prisoner alleges in defense that the papers were out _in the
aisle_, not _under her desk_, or that she did not put them there, or
that they were too few or too small to deserve attention.

My charge to the jury would be somewhat as follows:

"You are to consider and decide whether she was guilty of d