n,
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
manoeuvering;--no prompting,--no peeping into books. Be faithful and
conscientious, and then banish anxiety for your success. Do you not
think you shall find this the pleasantest 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 instance, one of you will resolve to _rise
earlier in the morning_. You fix upon no definite hour, on any
definite number of mornings, only you are going to "_rise
earlier_." Morning comes and finds you sleepy and disinclined to
rise. You remember your resolution of rising earlier. "But then it
is _very early_," you say. You resolved to rise earlier, but you
didn't resolve to rise just then. And this, it may be, is the last
of your resolution. Or, perhaps you are, for a few mornings, a
little earlier; but then at the end of a week or fortnight, you do
not know exactly, whether your resolution has been broken or kept,
for, you had not decided whether to rise earlier for ten days, or
for ten years.

In the same vague and general manner, a person will resolve to be
_more studious_, or more diligent. In the case of an individual, of
a mature and w