pations with more care. As soon as he
understands himself and all that relates to him well enough and broadly
enough to discern what is to his advantage and what is becoming in him,
he can appreciate the difference between work and play, and to regard
the one solely as relaxation from the other. Objects really useful may
then be included among his studies, and he will pay more attention to
them than if amusement alone were concerned. The ever-present law of
necessity early teaches us to do what we dislike, to escape evils we
should dislike even more. Such is the use of foresight from which,
judicious or injudicious, springs all the wisdom or all the unhappiness
of mankind.

We all long for happiness, but to acquire it we ought first to know
what it is. To the natural man it is as simple as his mode of life; it
means health, liberty, and the necessaries of life, and freedom from
suffering. The happiness of man as a moral being is another thing,
foreign to the present question. I cannot too often repeat that only
objects purely physical can interest children, especially those who
have not had their vanity aroused and their nature corrupted by the
poison of opinion.

When they provide beforehand for their own wants, their understanding
is somewhat developed, and they are beginning to learn the value of
time. We ought then by all means to accustom and to direct them to its
employment to useful ends, these being such as are useful at their age
and readily understood by them. The subject of moral order and the
usages of society should not yet be presented, because children are not
in a condition to understand such things. To force their attention
upon things which, as we vaguely tell them, will be for their good,
when they do not know what this good means, is foolish. It is no less
foolish to assure them that such things will benefit them when grown;
for they take no interest in this supposed benefit, which they cannot
understand.

Let the child take nothing for granted because some one says it is so.
Nothing is good to him but what he feels to be good. You think it far
sighted to push him beyond his understanding of things, but you are
mistaken. For the sake of arming him with weapons he does not know how
to use, you take from him one universal among men, common sense: you
teach him to allow himself always to be led, never to be more than a
machine in the hands of others. If you will have him docile while he