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    ^ tiqmtteMthanhka&j ftifeiiamire&o ^ ^ © gekfeAI < o 4 fed > ID 5 yi » ti governments ( between the bufferings which we ^ en ^^ re && l ^ faiaiisgreesiiMis twm ^ ^ That which the dispensation of Ge ^ ibiiagfi ' Up oii ue iiytbe course of our life , however painful it may be to us , is ^ abov 5 e ^ veTv ; sukpicion of iniustice or passion . * * * * * Not so tfce

    $ uttisimierit& of : mani he as imperfect , liable to error and to passion , and liable ; ! likewise , in the mind of others , to the suspicion of both ; therefore hi ? Eunishments cannot have that effect which those of the Divine Being must a ? e $ ^ tney are not absolutely adequate , not unequivocally just . Hence it is that even well-meaning teachers often produce , by their chastisements , no other effect than that of hardening their pupils still more . Out of the uncertainty which attaches itself to human punishment two dangers arise ; the first , that the pupil may sophistically elude , in his own conscience , the conviction of his guilt : and the other , that the teacher or parent may actually punish in a manner , if not quite undeserved , at least inadequate to the guilt of the child , or to his peculiar character . *******

    " It is generally assumed by teachers ( I think without the slightest foundation ) , that children know what is right and wrong only as far as they are told . I will not argue here the point , whether it is to be called natural conscience , or the internal voice of Divine influence , or whatever else it may be termed ; but I know there is a something in the child which will tell him at once whether that which he does is right or whether it is wrong . I do not mean to say that the child will at once have a sense of what would be his duty in all the most

    complicated positions of life ; but I wish it to be observed , that the child does not stand in need of so extensive ' a knowledge . Having pointed out to you the dangers and the positive evil consequences arising out of the present system of punishment in schools , I shall g ive you , in a few words , an idea of the mode in which restrictive and coercive measures may be employed with success . First of all , it is necessary that the teacher should stand in a position of

    mutual affection with the child : his pupils must know , not from what he has told them , but from the whole course of action which he pursues , that he has their welfare seriously at heart ; that he enters into the individuality of their character ; that he knows their strength and bears with their weakness ; that he wants to enforce nothing but what the child may in time attain , as the next step of his moral and intellectual improvement . If this be the position in which the teacher and the child stand to each other , I am quite sure that , in many cases , a simple hint from the teacher , or a question addressed to the

    child , mil be sufficient to check the latter , if doing wrong , or to encourage him if his-strength or his determination to do good be relaxed . Yet there will be'cases still in which admonitions of this kind are not sufficient , and then the teacher must have recourse , first , to familiar and private conversation with the cliild : he may take him aside for a few moments after school , and ask him how it is that he does not succeed in correcting himself of his fault . The child will , with the less hesitation , the more there is of true affection between

    him and the teacher , give a simple account of the difficulties there are in his way , and the teacher will be enabled to dismiss him with some kind advice , or to suggest some further considerations with regard to his conduct . The teacher must then take care never to lose , sight of his pupil , but from time to time call him to account , whether the means which he has adopted be efficient , and how far he has succeeded in conquering himself . ***** it may , however , happen that the child will not be corrected even through all

    these means ; then the teacher may draw his attention to the circumstance , that conviction seems not to be * sufficient in ) riw to produce improvement : he will easily succeed in convincing- jhe ' . child that j ^ e must adopt some exterior means o | constraint , wluM ought ? : to Ipk 'fctiplv as the child may find from Ms own experience most ifte ^ t ^ raa ^ ct liiS $ Mw < & . ' We ; teacher will do best to ask the child direcflyi , wWt ^ sxn * W fekttielion ' fr 6 will impose upon himself in case he should comhiit * the saShe fault a ^ airi . No doubt the child will feel best what sort of check is likely to be the most powerful ^ and , I re-

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    £ S $ Biber's Lcf&ur&tmi Education .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1828, page 822, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2567/page/22/