would be right. Or he might say, "Sir, you have a right to direct
upon your own grounds, and I do not wish to interfere with your plans;
but I must ask you to obtain another gardener. I have a reputation at
stake, and this work, if I do it even at your direction, will be
considered as a specimen of my taste and of my planning, so that I must
in justice to myself, decline remaining in your employment." This too,
would be right, though probably, both in the business of gardening and
of teaching, the case ought to be a strong one, to render it expedient.

But it would not be right for him, after his employer should have gone
away, to say to himself, with a feeling of resentment at the imaginary
_interference_; "I shall not follow any such directions; I understand my
own trade and shall receive no instructions in it from him;" and then
disobeying all directions, go on and do the work contrary to the orders
of his employer, who alone has a right to decide.

And yet a great many teachers take a course as absurd and unjustifiable
as this would be. Whenever the parents, or the committee, or the
trustees express, however mildly and properly, their wishes in regard to
the manner in which they desire to have their own work performed, their
pride is at once aroused. They seem to feel it an indignity, to act in
any other way, than just in accordance with their own will and
pleasure; and they absolutely refuse to comply, resenting the
interference as an insult. Or else, if they apparently yield, it is with
mere cold civility, and entirely without any honest desires to carry the
wishes thus expressed, into actual effect.

Parents may, indeed, often misjudge. A good teacher will, however, soon
secure their confidence, and they will acquiesce in his opinion. But
they ought to be watchful; and the teacher ought to feel and acknowledge
their authority, on all questions connected with the education of their
children. They have originally entire power in regard to the course
which is to be pursued with them. Providence has made the parents
responsible and wholly responsible for the manner in which their
children are prepared for the duties of this life, and it is interesting
to observe, how very cautious the laws of society are, about interfering
with the parent's wishes, in regard to the education of the child. There
are many cases, in which enlightened governments might make arrangements
which would be better than those made by the pare