n will be occupied in
some way, and it is of the utmost importance that they should be early
filled with thoughts that will lead them to noble and pure actions.

Teach Self-Control.--One important part of early training is the
cultivation of self-control, and a habit of self-denial, whenever right
demands it. Another most essential part of a child's moral training
is the cultivation of right motives. To present a child no higher
motives for doing right than the hope of securing some pleasant reward,
or the fear of suffering some terrible punishment, is the surest way
to make of him a supremely selfish man, with no higher aim than to secure
good to himself, no matter what may become of other people. And if he
can convince himself that the pleasure he will secure by the commission
of a certain act will more than counterbalance the probable risk of
suffering, he will not hesitate to commit it, leaving wholly out of
the consideration the question, Is it right? or noble? or pure? A love
of right for its own sake is the only solid basis upon which to build
a moral character. Children should not be taught to do right in order
to avoid a whipping, or imprisonment in a dark closet,--a horrid kind
of punishment sometimes resorted to,--or even to escape "the lake of
fire and brimstone." Neither should they be constantly coaxed to
right-doing by promised rewards,--a new toy, a book, an excursion, nor
even the pleasures of Heaven. All of these incentives are selfish, and
invariably narrow the character and belittle life when made the _chief_
motives of action. But rather begin at the earliest possible moment
to instill into the mind a love for right, and truth, and purity, and
virtue, and an abhorrence for their contraries; then will he have a
worthy principle by which to square his life; then will he be safe from
the assaults of passion, of vice, of lust. A mind so trained stands
upon an eminence from which all evil men and devils combined cannot
displace it so long as it adheres to its noble principles.

Mental Culture.--The cultivation of the physical organization must not
be neglected. Healthful mental discipline should receive equal
attention. By healthful mental discipline is not meant that kind of
superficial "cramming" and memorizing which constitute the training
of the average school, but sound culture; a directing of the mind from
facts to underlying principles; a development of the reasoning powers
so as to bring the emo