new-york
d. appleton & co. 200 broadway.
frank had a little cousin mary; when mary was six years old, she was brought to live at his father’s house. frank soon grew fond of mary and played with her at whatever she liked; sometimes he was her horse; sometimes she was his horse; sometimes he rolled her in his wheelbarrow, and sometimes she made a cat’s cradle for him.
though mary and frank were good-natured, yet they had faults. frank was sometimes impatient; and mary was sometimes a little cross. frank had not been used to play with children younger and weaker than himself. when he found that he was the strongest, he made use of his strength to force mary to do as he commanded her; and when he wanted any thing she had, he would snatch it rudely from her hands. once frank took a ball from her in this manner, and hurt her so much that she roared out with the pain.
frank’s father, who was in the next room, heard[18] her, and came to inquire what was the matter. mary stopped crying; and frank, though he felt much ashamed, told his father how he had hurt her.
frank’s father was pleased with his honesty, in telling the truth, but he ordered the children into different rooms, and they were not allowed to play together any more that day.
the next morning, at breakfast, frank’s father asked if they liked best to be together, or to be separate.
“to be together,” answered frank and mary.
“then, my children, take care and do not quarrel,” said frank’s father, “for whenever you quarrel, i shall end your dispute at once, by separating you. you, frank, know the use of punishment.”
“yes, i know,” answered frank, “that when i have done wrong, you give me pain; you take away what i like; or hinder me from doing as i like.”
“do you think,” asked his father, “that i like to give pain—for what purpose do i punish you?”
“not because you like to give me pain, but to hinder me from doing wrong again.”
“how will punishment hinder you from doing wrong again?”
“you know, papa, i should be afraid to have the same punishment again, if i were to do the same wrong[19] action; and the pain, and the shame of the punishment, make me remember them a long while. whenever i think of doing the wrong action again, for which i was punished, i recollect the punishment, and then i determine not to do wrong again.”
“is there any other use in punishments, do you think, frank?”
“yes, to prevent other people from doing wrong: when they see a person who has done wrong punished, if they are sure they shall have the same punishment, if they do the same wrong thing, they take care not to do it.”
