ld had not; for some
time after, while I was lecturing the children upon the necessity of
telling truth, and on the wickedness of stealing, the little fellow
approached me, and said, "_Please, sir, you stole my whistle_." "Stole
your whistle!" said I; "did I not give it you again?" "No, teacher,
I asked you for it, and you would not give it to me." I stood
self-convicted, being accused in the middle of my lecture, before all
the children, and really at a loss to know what excuse to make, for
I had mislaid the whistle, and could not return it to the child.
I immediately gave the child a halfpenny, and said all I could to
persuade the children that it was not my intention to keep it.

However, I am satisfied that this trifling mistake of mine did more
harm than I was able to repair during some time; for if we wish to
teach children to be honest, we should never take anything from them
without returning it again. Indeed, persons having charge of children
can never be too cautious, and should not, on any account whatever,
break a promise; for experience has taught me that most children have
good memories, and if you once promise a thing and do not perform it,
they will pay very little attention to what you say afterwards.

4. OBSERVE PUNCTUALITY.

A little girl, whose mother was dead, was often absent from school.
She was never at a loss for excuses, but from their frequency I was at
last induced to suspect their truth. None of the children knew where
she resided; so I was obliged to send the eldest boy in the school
home with her, to ascertain whether or not her stories were true. I
gave the boy positive directions to make haste back; but, much to my
surprise, I saw no more of him for six hours. When he returned, he
told me that the little girl refused to shew him where she lived; and
had taken him so far, that he at last determined to leave her, but
could not find his way back sooner. In the evening I went myself,
according to the direction I had entered in the admission-book, but
found that the family were removed, and the persons in the house could
not tell me where they had gone to reside. I saw nothing of the child
for the five following days, when a woman who had the care of her and
her little brother in arms, came to inquire the reason why the girl
came home at such irregular hours, stating, that sometimes she came
home at half-past eleven, at other times not till two, and sometimes
at three in the afternoon: in