provided for the purpose. When that story is taught, and the
lessons drawn and applied to the ordinary contingencies of life, such as
accident, disease, or distress in a companion; or to circumstances in
which the child himself may hereafter be placed; he will be better
prepared for his duty in such events, or, in the words of Scripture, he
will be "thoroughly furnished" to this good work. If they are to be
taught meekness, the history of Moses, or of other pious men who have
been tried and disciplined as he was, will be found best adapted for the
purpose. And more especially, the life of our Lord, in which all the
virtues concentrate, has been given "as our example, that we may follow
his steps," and which ought especially to be employed in training the
young "to love and to good works." The reason why example is preferable
to precept in teaching children, will be obvious, when we consider the
nature of the principle of grouping, as exercised by the young, and the
difficulty they experience in remembering abstract or didactic subjects.
When a child receives instruction by a story, the imagination is
enlisted in the exercise, the grouping of the persons and circumstances
assists the memory, and the moral and practical lessons which they have
drawn from the narrative, are associated with it, and remain ready at
the command of the will whenever they are required.--It was for this
reason among others, that our Lord taught so frequently by parables;
and, in doing so, has not only set the parent and teacher an important
example, but has, in his teaching, illustrated a principle in our nature
which he himself had long before implanted for this very purpose.

5. In our investigations into the working of the moral sense, we found,
that there was a marked difference between the decisions of conscience
when judging of actions done by _ourselves_, and those which were
performed by _others_. As long as the child is innocent of any
particular vice, he can judge impartially of its nature and demerit; but
when the temptation to commit it has really begun to darken his mind,
and more particularly when he has at last fallen before it, all the
selfish principles of his nature are employed to deceive his better
judgment, and to drown or overbear the voice of conscience within him.
From this we learn the importance of preparing the mind _beforehand_,
for encountering those temptations to which the pupil will most likely
be exposed; not onl