aling or robbery?"

"Robbery," say the boys.

"Was it real robbery?"

They hesitate.

"If any of you think of any reason why it was not real robbery, you may
name it."

"He gave the sled back to him," says one of the boys.

"Yes. And therefore to describe the action correctly, we should not say
Richard robbed a boy of his sled, but that he robbed him of his sled
_for a time_, or he robbed him of the use of his sled. Still, in respect
to the nature and the guilt of it, it was robbery."

"There is another thing which ought to be observed about it. Whose sled
was it that Richard took away?"

"James Thompson's."

"James, you may stand up."

"Notice his size, boys,--I should like to have Richard Jones stand up
too, so that you might compare them; but I presume he feels very much
ashamed of what he has done, and it would be very unpleasant for him to
stand up. You all remember, however, how large he is. Now when I was a
boy, it used to be considered dishonorable and cowardly for a large,
strong boy to abuse a little one who cannot defend himself. Is it
considered so now?"

"Yes sir."

"It ought to be, certainly; though, were it not for such a case as this,
we should not have thought of considering Richard Jones a coward. It
seems he did not dare to try to take away a sled from a boy who was as
big as himself, but attacked little James, for he knew he was not strong
enough to defend himself."

* * * * *

Now, in some such cases as this, great good may be done both in respect
to the individual, and to the state of public sentiment in school, by
openly exposing a boy's misconduct. The teacher must always take care,
however, that the state of mind and character in the guilty individual,
is such that public exposure is adapted to work well as a remedy, and
also that in managing it he carries the sympathies of the other boys
with him. To secure this, he must avoid all harsh and exaggerated
expressions, or direct reproaches, and while he is mild and gentle and
forbearing himself, lead the boys to understand and feel the nature of
the sin which he exposes. The opportunities for doing this to advantage
will, however, be rare. Generally it will be best to manage cases of
discipline more privately, so as to protect the characters of those that
offend.

* * * * *

The teacher should thus, in accordance with the directions we have
given, commence his labo