years. The child who holds onto his apple, his Candy, or toy, fights
tooth and nail everyone who wants to take it from him, and resists all
coaxing, is liable to become a hard, sordid, grasping man, who stops
at no obstacle to accomplish his purpose.

Yet in the beginning, this fault often hides itself and escapes
attention. The selfish child may be quiet, clean, and under ordinary
circumstances, obedient. He may not even be quarrelsome; and may
therefore come under a much less degree of discipline than his
obstreperous, impulsive, rebellious little brother. Yet, in reality,
his condition calls for much more careful attention than does the
condition of the younger brother.

[Sidenote: The Only Child]

However, the child who has no brother at all, either older or younger,
nor any sister, is almost invited by the fact of his isolation to fall
into this sin. Only children may be--indeed, often are--precocious,
bright, capable, and well-mannered, but they are seldom spontaneously
generous. Their own small selves occupy an undue proportion of the
family horizon, and therefore of their own.

[Sidenote: Kindergarten a Remedy]

This is where the Kindergarten has its great value. In the true
Kindergarten the children live under a dispensation of loving justice,
and selfishness betrays itself instantly there, because it is alien
to the whole spirit of the place. Showing itself, it is promptly
condemned, and the child stands convicted by the only tribunal whose
verdict really moves him--a jury of his peers. Normal children hate