child's act--if the sin was not really a sin, but only some perverted
action, the intention of which was not sinful, but designed for good
in the faulty reasoning of the child. A little girl, in bed with a
feverish cold, was found shivering, with her night-dress wet and
muddy. It was an understanding mother who found that her little
brother, having heard somehow that ice was good for fevered heads, had
brought in several handfuls of snow from the garden, not of the
cleanest, and had offered them to aid his sister's recovery. It need
hardly be said that punishment should always be deliberate. The hasty
slap is nothing else than the motor discharge provoked by the
irritability of the educator, and the child, who is a good observer on
such points, discerns the truth and measures the frailty of his judge.

The frequent repetition of words of reproof and acts of punishment has
a further disadvantage that the older children are quick to practise
both upon their younger brothers and sisters. There is something wrong
in the nursery where the lives of the little ones are made a burden to
them by the constant repression of the older children. But although
set and artificial punishments are as a general rule to be used but
sparingly, the mother can see to it that the child learns by
experience that a foolish or careless act brings its own punishment.
If, for example, a child breaks his toy, or destroys its mechanism,
she need not be so quick in mending it that he does not learn the
obvious lesson. If the baby throws his doll from the perambulator, in
sheer joy at the experience of imparting motion to it, she need not
prevent him from learning the lesson that this involves also some
temporary separation from it. Throughout all his life he is to learn
that he cannot eat his cake and have it too. The use of rewards is
also beset with difficulties. Their coming must be unexpected and
occasional. They must never degenerate into bribes, to be bargained