"Suppose he should meet him in the road and take it away by force?"
"Then it would be robbery."
"Yes; when that which belongs to another is taken secretly, it is called stealing; when it is taken openly or with violence, it is called robbery. Which now do you think is the worst?"
"Robbery."
"Yes, for it is more barefaced and determined--then it gives a great deal more pain to the one who is injured. To-day I saw one of the boys in this school taking away another boy"s sled, openly and with violence."
The boys all look round towards Richard.
"Was that of the nature of stealing or robbery?"
"Robbery," say the boys.
"Was it real robbery?"
They hesitate.
"If any of you think of any reason why it was not real robbery, you may name it."
"He gave the sled back to him," says one of the boys.
"Yes. And therefore to describe the action correctly, we should not say Richard robbed a boy of his sled, but that he robbed him of his sled _for a time_, or he robbed him of the use of his sled. Still, in respect to the nature and the guilt of it, it was robbery."
"There is another thing which ought to be observed about it. Whose sled was it that Richard took away?"
"James Thompson"s."
"James, you may stand up."
"Notice his size, boys,--I should like to have Richard Jones stand up too, so that you might compare them; but I presume he feels very much ashamed of what he has done, and it would be very unpleasant for him to stand up. You all remember, however, how large he is. Now when I was a boy, it used to be considered dishonorable and cowardly for a large, strong boy to abuse a little one who cannot defend himself. Is it considered so now?"
"Yes sir."
"It ought to be, certainly; though, were it not for such a case as this, we should not have thought of considering Richard Jones a coward. It seems he did not dare to try to take away a sled from a boy who was as big as himself, but attacked little James, for he knew he was not strong enough to defend himself."
Now, in some such cases as this, great good may be done both in respect to the individual, and to the state of public sentiment in school, by openly exposing a boy"s misconduct. The teacher must always take care, however, that the state of mind and character in the guilty individual, is such that public exposure is adapted to work well as a remedy, and also that in managing it he carries the sympathies of the other boys with him. To secure this, he must avoid all harsh and exaggerated expressions, or direct reproaches, and while he is mild and gentle and forbearing himself, lead the boys to understand and feel the nature of the sin which he exposes. The opportunities for doing this to advantage will, however, be rare. Generally it will be best to manage cases of discipline more privately, so as to protect the characters of those that offend.
The teacher should thus, in accordance with the directions we have given, commence his labors with careful circ.u.mspection, patience, frankness, and honest good will towards every individual of his charge.
He will find less difficulty at the outset than he would have expected, and soon have the satisfaction of perceiving that a mild but most efficient government is quietly and firmly established in the little kingdom over which he is called to reign.