source of trouble and annoyance during play-hours by bullying and hectoring every gentle and timid schoolmate.  On another sits a more sly rogue, whose demure and submissive look is assumed to conceal a mischief-making disposition.  Here is one whose giddy spirit is always leading him into difficulty, but who is of so open and frank a disposition that you will most easily lead him back to duty; but there is another who, when reproved, will fly into a passion; and then a third, who will stand sullen and silent before you when he has done wrong, and is not to be touched by kindness nor awed by authority.

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Now all these characters must be studied.  It is true that the caution given in a preceding part of this chapter, against devoting undue and disproportionate attention to such persons, must not be forgotten.  Still, these individuals will require, and it is right that they should receive, a far greater degree of attention, so far as the moral administration of the school is concerned, than their mere numbers would appear to justify.  This is the field in which the teacher is to study human nature, for here it shows itself without disguise.  It is through this class, too, that a very powerful moral influence is to be exerted upon the rest of the school.  The manner in which such individuals are managed, the tone the teacher assumes toward them, the gentleness with which he speaks of their faults, and the unbending decision with which he restrains them from wrong, will have a most powerful effect upon the rest of the school.  That he may occupy this field, therefore, to the best advantage, it is necessary that he should first thoroughly explore it.

By understanding the dispositions and characters of such a class of pupils as I have described, I do not mean merely watching them with vigilance in school, so that none of their transgressions shall go unobserved and unpunished.  I intend a far deeper and more thorough examination of character.  Every boy has something or other which is good in his disposition and character which he is aware of, and on which he prides himself; find out what it is, for it may often be made the foundation on which you may build the superstructure of reform.  Every one has his peculiar sources of enjoyment and objects of pursuit, which are before his mind from day to day.  Find out what they are, that by taking an interest in what interests him, and perhaps sometimes assisting him in his plans, you can bind him to you.  Every boy is, from the circumstances in which he is placed at home, exposed to temptations which have perhaps had far greater influence in the formation of his character than any deliberate and intentional depravity of his own; ascertain what these temptations are, that you may know where to pity him and where to blame.  The knowledge which such an examination of character will give you, will not be confined to making you acquainted with the individual.  It will be the most valuable