likely to be blamed by those of one's own circle, but simply in the
terror of the unknown and the unfamiliar. It is probably therefore
an old inherited instinct, coming from a time when the sight of a
stranger might contain in it a menace of some hostile usage. If one
questions a shy boy or girl as to what it is they are afraid of in
the presence of strangers, they are quite unable to answer. They are
not afraid of anything that will be said or done; and yet they will
have become intensely conscious of their own appearance and
movements and dress, and will be quite unable to command themselves.
That it is a thing which can be easily cured is obvious from the
fact which I often observed when I was a schoolmaster, that as a
rule the boys who came from houses where there was much
entertaining, and a constant coming and going of guests, very rarely
suffered from such shyness. They had got used to the fact that
strangers could be depended upon to be kind and friendly, and
instead of looking upon a new person as a possible foe, they
regarded him as a probable friend.

I often think that parents do not take enough trouble in this
respect to make children used to strangers. What often happens is
that parents are themselves shy and embarrassed in the presence of
strangers, and when they notice that their children suffer from the
same awkwardness, they criticise them afterwards, partly because
they are vexed at their own clumsy performance; and thus the
shyness is increased, because the child, in addition to his sense
of shyness before strangers, has in the background of his mind the
feeling that any mauvaise honte that he may display may he
commented upon afterwards. No exhibition of shyness on the part of
a boy or girl should ever be adverted upon by parents. They should
take for granted that no one is ever willingly shy, and that it is