sympathetic
pleasures seek selfish ones; and hence, conversely, the maintenance of
happier relations between parents and children is calculated to diminish
the number of those offences of which selfishness is the origin.

When, however, such offences are committed, as they will occasionally be
even under the best system, the discipline of consequences may still be
resorted to; and if there exists that bond of confidence and affection
above described, this discipline will be efficient. For what are the
natural consequences, say, of a theft? They are of two kinds--direct and
indirect. The direct consequence, as dictated by pure equity, is that of
making restitution. A just ruler (and every parent should aim to be one)
will demand that, when possible, a wrong act shall be undone by a right
one; and in the case of theft this implies either the restoration of the
thing stolen, or, if it is consumed, the giving of an equivalent: which,
in the case of a child, may be effected out of its pocket-money. The
indirect and more serious consequence is the grave displeasure of
parents--a consequence which inevitably follows among all peoples
civilised enough to regard theft as a crime. "But," it will be said,
"the manifestation of parental displeasure, either in words or blows, is
the ordinary course in these cases: the method leads here to nothing
new." Very true. Already we have admitted that, in some directions, this
method is spontaneously pursued. Already we have shown that there is a
tendency for educational systems to gravitate towards the true system.
And here we may remark, as before, that the intensity of this natural
reaction will, in the beneficent order of things, adjust itself to the
requirements--that this parental displeasure will vent itself in violent
measures during comparatively barbarous times, when children are also
comparatively barbarous; and will express itself less cruelly in those
more advanced social states in which, by implication, the children are
amenable to milder treatment. But what it chiefly concerns us here to
observe is, that the manifestation of strong parental displeasure,
produced by one of these graver offences, will be potent for good, just
in proportion to the warmth of the attachment existing between parent
and child. Just in proportion as the discipline of natural consequences
has been consistently pursued in other cases, will it be efficient in
this case. Proof is within the experience of