sensible of having done what
was wrong, said, in broken accents, "He told me to take it,--he hit my
hand,--and he ate the cherry." To which it was necessary to give the
admonition, That he never ought to do wrong, though required to do so
by others; and that such a defence would avail him nothing were he a
man. Both the children were now exceedingly distressed, and hence
this was the time to appeal to the rest, as to the measure of the
punishment that was due. The general opinion was, that the eldest
should be punished, but no one mentioned that the young one should
even have a pat on the hand; the next thing was to appeal to the
higher faculties of the little culprit, who, seeing that he had thus
far got off, required to be softened down in reference to the other,
though he had betrayed him, while the best way of operating on the
elder was a display of love on the part of the younger; he was
therefore asked if he would forgive the other, and shake hands with
him, which he immediately did, to the evident delight and satisfaction
of all the children, while the countenance of the elder showed that he
felt himself unworthy of the treatment he received. I then inflicted
the sentence which had been pronounced,--two pats of the hand, which
the girls asked might be soft ones, and sent him to his seat, while I
concluded the whole with some appropriate exhortations. It is pleasing
to add that the elder proved one of the most useful monitors I ever
had.[A]

[Footnote A: This mode of treatment has succeeded in a number of
instances, several first-rate writers on education have tried it, and
have found it work well; it is one of the most effective methods to
operate upon the minds of young children that I have been able to
discover: I have tried the plan with older children with great
success. Reader! can teachers, who are mere boys and girls, act thus,
in such a case?]

Should any person be disposed to object to such a process, they may
be reminded that the Infant System deals with children as rational
creatures, and is designed to prepare them for future life. I have
seen numerous instances of its beneficial effects? these have induced
me to pursue the plan, and in the strongest terms to recommend it to
others. In all cases, the matter should be stated to the children
simply, calmly, and slowly, and they will seldom, if ever, come to a
wrong conclusion.

A manual trade, or a business, which requires dexterity can never be
le