f school respecting them,--their characters,--their education at
home, &c., so as to become acquainted with them as early and as fully as
possible;--for he must have this full acquaintance with them before he
is prepared to commence any decided course of discipline with them. The
teacher often does irreparable injury by rash action at the outset. He
sees, for instance, a boy secretly eating an apple which he has
concealed in his hand, and which he bites, with his book before his
mouth, or his head under the lid of his desk. It is perhaps the first
day of the school, and the teacher thinks he had better make an example
at the outset, and calls the boy out, knowing nothing about his general
character, and inflicts some painful or degrading punishment before all
the school. A little afterwards, as he becomes gradually acquainted with
the boy, he finds that he is of mild, gentle disposition, generally
obedient and harmless, and that his offence was only an act of momentary
thoughtlessness, arising from some circumstances of peculiar temptation
at the time, a boy in the next seat perhaps had just before handed him
the apple. The teacher regrets, when too late, the hasty punishment. He
perceives that instead of having the influence of salutary example upon
the other boys, it must have shocked their sense of justice, and excited
dislike towards a teacher so quick and severe, rather than of fear of
doing wrong themselves. It would be safer to postpone such decided
measures a little,--to avoid all open collisions if possible for a few
days. In such a case as the above, the boy might be kindly spoken to in
an under-tone, in such a way as to show both the teacher's sense of the
impropriety of disorder, and also his desire to avoid giving pain to the
boy. If it then turns out that the individual is ordinarily a
well-disposed boy, all is right, and if he proves to be habitually
disobedient and troublesome, the lenity and forbearance exercised at
first, will facilitate the effect aimed at by subsequent measures. Avoid
then, for the few first days, all open collision with any of your
pupils, that you may have opportunity for minute and thorough
observation.

And here the young teacher ought to be cautioned against a fault which
beginners are very prone to fall into, that of forming unfavorable
opinions of some of their pupils from their air and manner, before they
see any thing in their conduct which ought to be disapproved. A boy or