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"Friday, Oct. 25th. Laura seemed to me very rude and boisterous, and not easily restrained as usual. It was very discouraging to me, and I gave myself up to sad thoughts. Laura soon perceived it, and asked why. I told her she did not try, so much as I wished, to grow still and gentle, though we had talked so much about it. She sat still some time, and then said, 'I love Mrs. Smith best, she is so gentle.' This was evidently said to trouble me, and did not relieve me any. This is one of the very few instances when there seemed to be unkindness in the child's heart.

"But she soon repented. After dinner she was up stairs, and was gone for some time; when at last she came down and found me, she said she had a nice present for me to make me more happy, and that she would try more to improve. She said this very sadly. I took her present and exerted myself to appear as cheerful as usual.

"The present she brought was a pincushion, one of her choicest treasures.

"Lessons as usual. Talking with Laura about being kind and benevolent. She began to give me a long account of little kind things that she had done. After a time, I told her that sometimes people did kind things that their friends might praise them and think they were very kind and benevolent.

"We talked of it some time, Laura's face growing more and more red, yet half smiling. I could see she was applying the remark to herself, as indeed she does every thing that she hears of this kind. 'Why do I like to be praised?' she soon asked. I told her that every one did, and that it was right for us to like to have our friends love us, and praise us too, if we were good. Supposed the case of two little children, one of whom was very kind to his sisters that his mother might call him good, and the other did the same because he was glad to see all happy, &e. Asked her which she thought was the best child. She hesitated a moment, and replied, The boy who wanted to see other children happy."

There may be better ways of correcting such faults in children, but there are, certainly, many worse ones in frequent use. Punishment of the common kind, even that of rebuke, might have driven Laura into a habit of deceit which would lead to duplicity, and which could hardly be cured except by herself after her conscience had become active and strong. But it will be seen that this very habit prevents the growth of conscience, and too often dwarfs it for ever.

This is a subject which cannot be considered too much or too carefully, for the neglect of it lies at the bottom of much of the evil in society.

The will and the conscience are twin-born; and the exercise of the will should be made to promote the growth and strength of the conscience, as the exercise of the muscles promotes the growth and strength of the bones which support them.

If we forbid children to exercise their own free will, if we command them to heed our will alone, then we should also supply them with our conscience and make that the companion of our will. But this is evidently impossible; consequently, we often punish children because they do not follow our way; and we neglect the training of their conscience, and then punish them because it does not guide them aright.

Parents have a right to expect obedience of their children in all important matters; moreover, it is their duty to require it; but they have no right to forget or neglect their own duty to them. Nature gives to children feebleness of will to fit them for this obedience which we fail not to require; and she gives them feebleness of conscience, that our conscience may be for a while their guide, and keep them from undue temptation, but this latter duty we often neglect.

Truth is plainer and more agreeable to children than falsehood, and right than wrong. They have a conscience, too, which tells them which to prefer; but it is feeble, because nature did not intend they should rely solely upon it at first, any more than, when giving them a will, she intended that they should be independent of us.

They have also many faculties and desires, and if these are abused in any way, they may become passions which the feeble conscience cannot resist. Most children are as pure as Eve was; but the tempting apples are left hanging so thickly around them, that it would be a marvel if they did not eat.

Children incline to tell the truth, and will tell it unless some stronger desire, as fear (that is, temptation), induce them to lie. The general error is in supposing they have no conscience; whereas it has perhaps been neglected, or we have allowed it to suffer a strain greater than it would bear.

Numerous as are the apparent exceptions to this, they do not affect the correctness of the principle. The laws of descent influence the moral tendencies as well as the bodily forms of children; a man may entail his dwarfed conscience, as he may his diminutive nose, upon his descendants. Thousands of parents "have eaten sour grapes," and millions of children "have their teeth set on edge." But take the descendants of truly moral ancestors, in a moral society, and if they are "trained up in the way they should go, they will not depart from it."