Page:The Life and Works of Christopher Dock.djvu/131

Rh confused that one has work enough to straighten it out. I have this rule for its prevention: No pupils are allowed to give away or exchange anything withoutthe previous knowledge of myself or their parents, be it at school, at home or on the road; and if they find anything they should give it to me, for it is not theirs if an owner can be found. If no one claims it for a certain time after being found, it belongs to the finder. In this manner I have succeeded, thank God, in reducing punishments for this offense to a minimum.

Greed for honor is exhibited among children, though not to such extent as among adults, in whom it has often led, for the sake of a title or an honor, to great war and bloodshed, not only among those in high places, but among people of low degree. Much quarrel arises from it; indeed the little word “thou” often creates quarrel and even riot; but among children the evil is much more easily governed. If a child persists in occupying a seat higher than the one he has deserved through merit in reading, writing, &c., and tries to crowd out the rightful occupant, he is placed at the tail of the class, as a warning to the other pupils, and must stay there until he has worked his way up. When the children realize this, the evil is easily remedied. But who will humiliate adults, if they will not humble themselves, as Christ teaches? (Matth. xx, 26, 27; Chap, xxiii, 12; Luke xiv, 11; Chap, xviii, 14.)

In the matter of quarrels, children are also much