clung to the wisdom of Solomon, in this respect, through centuries
of changing conditions. Solomon said: "Spare the rod and spoil the
child"; Mr. Howells suggests that we might with profit spoil the rod
and spare the child. In the small families of to-day there is no
need to cling to the methods that may have worked well enough with
the Oriental, polygamous despot, who never could know all his
children individually, and it is therefore hardly necessary to use
Solomon as our authority.

It is plain, then, that it is impossible to recommend any punishment
as _the correct one_, or even to recommend any one infallible
rule. This must depend upon the parent, upon the child, and upon the
circumstances. But there are certain definite principles which we
must keep in mind and which will do much toward making our task of
discipline more rational:

We must never punish in anger.

We must consider the _motive_ and the _temptations_ before
the _consequence_ of the deed.

We must condemn the _deed_ and not the child.

We must be sure that the child understands exactly the offence with
which he is charged.

We must be sure that he sees the _relation_ of the
_offence_ to the _punishment_.

We must never administer any _excessive_ or unusual punishment.