ulty; of
penetrating, by steady and persevering effort, into regions, from which
the idle and the inefficient are debarred; and that it is your province
to lead them forward, not to carry them. They will soon understand this,
and like it.

Never underrate the difficulties which your pupils will have to
encounter, or try to persuade them that what you assign is _easy_. Doing
easy things is generally dull work, and it is especially discouraging
and disheartening for a pupil to spend his strength in doing what is
really difficult for him, when his instructer, by calling his work easy,
gives him no credit, for what may have been severe and protracted labor.
If a thing is really hard for the pupil, his teacher ought to know it,
and admit it. The child then feels that he has some sympathy.

It is astonishing how great an influence may be exerted over a child, by
his simply knowing that his efforts are observed and appreciated. You
pass a boy in the street, wheeling a heavy load, in a barrow; now simply
stop to look at him, with a countenance which says, "that is a heavy
load; I should not think that boy could wheel it;" and how quick will
your look give fresh strength and vigor to his efforts. On the other
hand, when, in such a case, the boy is faltering under his load, try the
effect of telling him, "Why, that is not heavy; you can wheel it easily
enough; trundle it along." The poor boy will drop his load, disheartened
and discouraged, and sit down upon it, in despair. No, even if the work
you are assigning to a class is easy, do not tell them so, unless you
wish to destroy all their spirit and interest in doing it; and if you
wish to excite their spirit and interest, make your work difficult, and
let them see that you know it is so. Not so difficult as to tax their
powers too heavily, but enough so, to require a vigorous and persevering
effort. Let them distinctly understand too, that you know it is
difficult,--that you mean to make it so,--but that they have your
sympathy and encouragement, in the efforts which it calls them to make.

You may satisfy yourself that human nature is, in this respect, what I
have described, by some such experiment as the following:--Select two
classes, not very familiar with elementary arithmetic, and offer to each
of them the following example in Addition:--

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 2
&c. &c.

The numbers may be