in his own character, the teacher needs to employ
moral forces that lie outside of himself, ideals toward which he
struggles and towards which he inspires and leads others. The very
fact that he appreciates and admires a man like Longfellow or Peter
Cooper will stir the children with like feelings. In this sense it is
a mistake to center all attention upon the conduct of the teacher. He
is but a guide, or, like Goldsmith's preacher, he allures to brighter
worlds and leads the way. It is better for pupil and teacher to enter
into the companionship of common aims and ideals. For them to study
together and admire the conduct of Roger Williams is to bring them into
closer sympathy, and what do teachers need more than to get into
_personal sympathy_ with their children? Let them climb the hill
together, and enjoy the views together, and grow so intimate in their
aims and sympathies that afterlife cannot break the bond. When the
inspirations and aims thus gained have gradually changed into
tendencies and habits, the child is morally full-fledged. It is high
ground upon which to land youth, or aid in landing him, but it is
clearly in view.

It is only gradually that moral ideas gain an ascendency, first over
the thoughts and feelings of a child and later still over his conduct.
Many good impressions at first seem to bear no fruit in action. But
examples and experience reiterate the truth till it finds a firm
lodgment and begins to act as a check upon natural impulses. Many a
child reads the stories in the _Youth's Companion_ with absorbing
interest but in the home circle fails noticeably to imitate the conduct
he admires. But moral ideas must grow a little before they can yield
fruit. The seed of example must drop into the soil of the mind under
favorable conditions; it must germinate and send up its shoots to some
height before its presence and nature can be clearly seen. The
application of moral ideas to conduct is very important even in
childhood, out patience and care are necessary in most cases. There
must be timely sowing of the seed and judicious cultivation, if good
fruits are to be gathered later on. There is indeed much anxiety and
painful uncertainty on the part of those who charge themselves with the
moral training of children. Labor and birth pains are antecedent to
the delivery of a moral being. Then again a child must develop
according to what is in him, his nature and peculiar disposition. The