y by teaching him to draw the proper lessons from
corresponding subjects, but by making him apply these lessons to his own
case and affairs. The teacher is to suppose circumstances, in which he,
his parents, and companions, are most likely to be placed, and in which
the lessons drawn from the narrative will be required to weaken or to
prevent the influences of temptation. As, for example, it might be
asked, "If you had accidentally broken a pane of glass, and your parents
asked you who did it, what should you do?" There would in this case,
while it was only supposed, be no temptation to stifle conscience, or to
bend to the influences of selfishness or fear, and the child would
accordingly answer readily, that he ought to confess his fault, and tell
that he himself had done it. When again asked, "From what do you get
that lesson?" he will most probably reply, "From Jacob telling a lie to
his parent;--from Ananias and Sapphira telling a lie;--from the command,
'Lie not one to another,' and 'Confess your faults one to another,'" &c.
By this means the child is forewarned;--he is prepared and fortified
against the sin, if the temptation should occur; but which would not
have been the case without this or some similar exercise.

6. We have also seen, in our investigations into the working of the
moral sense, the deplorable effects of stifling conscience, and of the
child's being permitted to repeat his transgressions; while, upon the
same principle, the most beneficial consequences result from the child's
frequently practising self-denial, self-controul, and acts of
benevolence. In the one case, sin and vice lose much of their deformity,
and gain greatly in strength; while, in the other, every act of virtue
makes vice appear more hideous, and excites to a more decided advance in
the paths of rectitude. From these circumstances we are led to
conclude, that every act of sin in the pupil ought to be carefully
guarded against by the parent or teacher, and, if possible, prevented;
while every exertion ought to be made to induce to the performance of
good and kind actions, however humble or unimportant these actions in
themselves may be. If God does "not despise the day of small things,"
neither should we; and one act of kindness by a child, however trifling,
will most assuredly prepare the way for another. This circumstance also
shews the impropriety of attempting to magnify faults, when perhaps no
fault was designed; and the evil