Do all you can--and we think you might do much if
you would--to ameliorate his physical condition, and you will improve
his moral one at the same time. For ourselves, we can only say that we
ever shall own Poor Jack as a messmate and a brother, and while we
have a shot in the locker, he shall freely share it, God help him!
INFLUENCE OF EXAMPLE.
In a certain village in Switzerland, some years ago, there were heavy
complaints among all who possessed trees, that no fruit was safe; that
the children plundered it perpetually before it came to maturity; and
not only that, but that the green saplings had no security against
them. Another serious complaint was the barbarity of the children
towards all living creatures in their power. The clergyman, teacher,
and elders, often laid their heads together, to find some remedy for
this inhuman spirit, by which every child in the place was more or
less affected. They could not conceive why such a spirit should
prevail so specially in _this_ village; but they could find neither
cause nor remedy: all exhortations, all punishments, were in vain.
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