happened to know the parts which came
to you. Have I _done_ well? should always be the question, not, Have I
managed to _appear_ well?

"I will say a word here," continued the teacher, "upon a practice which
I have known to be very common in some schools, and which I have been
sorry to notice occasionally in this. I mean that of prompting, or
helping each other along in some way at recitations. Now where a severe
punishment is the consequence of a failure, there might seem to be some
reasonableness in helping your companions out of difficulty, though even
then such tricks are departures from honorable dealing. But, especially
where there is no purpose to be served but that of appearing to know
more than you do, it certainly must be considered a very mean kind of
artifice. I think I have sometimes observed an individual to be prompted
where evidently the assistance was not desired, and even where it was
not needed. To whisper to an individual the answer to a question is
sometimes to pay her rather a poor compliment at least, for it is the
same as saying 'I am a better scholar than you are; let me help you
along a little.'

"Let us then, hereafter, have only fair, open, honest dealings with each
other; no attempts to appear to advantage by little artful manoeuvring;
no prompting; no peeping into books. Be faithful and conscientious, and
then banish anxiety for your success. Do you not think you will find
this the best course?" "Yes, sir," answered every scholar. "Are you
willing to pledge yourselves to adopt it?" "Yes, sir." "Those who are
may raise their hands," said the teacher. Every hand was raised; and the
pledge, there was evidence to believe, was honorably sustained.

16. KEEPING RESOLUTIONS.--The following are notes of a familiar lecture
on this subject, given by a teacher at some general exercise in the
school. The practice of thus reducing to writing what the teacher may
say on such subjects will be attended with excellent effects.

This is a subject upon which young persons find much difficulty. The
question is asked a thousand times, "How shall I ever learn to keep my
resolutions?" Perhaps the great cause of your failures is this. You are
not sufficiently _definite_ in forming your purposes. You will resolve
to do a thing without knowing with certainty whether it is even possible
to do it. Again, you make resolutions which are to run on indefinitely,
so that, of course, they can never be fully kept. For in