Beauty of surroundings is another incentive to harmony of action. It
is easier for the child to be naughty in a poor, gloomy room, scanty
of furniture, than in a garden gay with flowers, shaded by full-leafed
trees, and made musical by the voice of running water.
Dr. William T. Harris says: "Beauty cannot create a new heart, but it
can greatly change the disposition," and this seems unquestionable,
especially with regard to the glory of God's handiwork, which makes
goodness seem "the natural way of living." Yet we would not wish our
children to be sybarites, and we must endeavor to cultivate in their
breasts a hardy plant of virtue which will live, if need be, on Alpine
heights and feed on scanty fare.
It is a truism that interesting occupation prevents dissension, and
that idle fingers are the Devil's tools.
A child who is good and happy during school time, with its regular
hours and alternated work and play, often becomes, in vacation,
fretful, sulky, discontented, and in arms against the entire world.
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