crews, are often decimated, and every tenth man put to death.

The whole clan of the Mac Donalds, which dwelt in Glencoe was put to the sword in the reign of William III., because Mac Jan neglected to deliver in his terms of submission by the first of January, 1692, according to the terms of the proclamation.

The whole city of Athens was destroyed, because one of its inmates irritated Sulla with a personal lampoon.

France suffered great loss from an invasion by William the Conqueror, in 1087, because the French monarch made a scurrilous jest upon the English sovereign.

QUOTATIONS.-I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.— Exod. xx. 5.

The Lord God, merciful and gracious, . . . . visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon children's children.-Exod. xxxiv. 7.

If the people of the land do any wise hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth his seed to Moloch and kill him not; then will I set my face against that man, and against his family.-Lev. xx. 4, 5.

See also Leviticus, xxvi.

As for you your carcasses shall fall in the wilderness, and your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years.-Numb. xiv. 32, 33.

How often is the candle of the wicked put out? . . . God layeth up his iniquity for his children.-Job, xxi. 17. 19.

Thou recompenseth the iniquity of the fathers into the Dosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of Hosts, is his name.-Jer. xxxii. 18.

The seed of evil-doers shall never be renowned.—Isa, xiv. 20.

The light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine: His root shall be dried up

beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.-Job, xviii. 5. 16.

Our fathers have sinned, and we have borne their iniquities.-Lam. v. 7.

David says of a certain man who had spoken evil against him, "Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow Let his children be vagabonds and beg;

Let his posterity be cut off, and let their name be blotted out."-Ps. cix. 2. 9. 13.

:

The least confusion but in one, not all That system only, but the whole must fall Let earth unbalanced from her orbit fly, Planets and suns run lawless through the sky; Let ruling angels from their spheres be hurled, Being on being wrecked, and world on world; Heaven's whole foundations to their centre nod, And Nature trembles to the throne of God.-Pope. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.-1 Cor. v. 6. The tongue defileth the whole body.-James, iii. 6. If thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.-Matt, vi. 23.

Agentes et consentientes pari pœna plectentur.

CONCLUSION.

THEME XLVI. Why should not a whole Class be "turned down" when one or two Boys of it do not know the appointed Lesson?

PART II. "CON."

INTRODUCTION. The custom of punishing an entire class for the fault of one or two idle and disobedient boys, has

often been the subject of severe animadversion. The following arguments are worthy of consideration.

1ST REASON. A class is an assemblage of boys joined together for the advantage of the master, and to promote the progress of each individual by emulation and mutual assistance: This classification of numbers differs widely from a family or a corporation.

2ND REASON.God never punishes the innocent for the guilty, but makes every man bear his own burthen.— Deut. xxiv. 16.

3RD REASON. In the case of human governments, a nation is punished for the offences of a king, because it directly or indirectly participates in his misconduct: Thus, in the Trojan war, though Paris alone committed the offence, yet the people became abettors of his crime by refusing to give up the adulteress at the demand of Menelaus.

4TH REASON. It is unreasonable to punish a number of boys who have been industrious, and have done their duty, because one or two of the same form choose to be idle and disobedient.

5TH REASON. It is disheartening to a class to feel that its success may be marred by the demerit of one or two of its most refractory members.

6TH REASON. It is an act of positive injustice. The master is to instruct and govern, the boys are to learn and obey; so long as any one boy performs his duty, it is positive injustice to subject him to punishment because some one else deserves censure.

7TH REASON. It is very bad policy. It encourages idleness in the idle, is a triumph to the malignant, dispirits the industrious, and makes the punishment of offences more prominent than the reward of merit.

8TH REASON. If a class should be turned down because one or two boys have been negligent, then, a fortiori, those few refractory boys should be rewarded, because the class generally has merited praise.

9TH REASON.-It does the master harm in the opinion of his pupils, when he sacrifices their happiness to his own convenience.

10TH REASON. It creates a bitter persecuting spirit amongst the boys themselves, and sanctions their ill-temper and spiteful humour against a schoolfellow who has involved them in disgrace.

11TH REASON.-If the defaulter were required to write the lesson out, the class would not be made sufferers, but the idle and disobedient alone would be subjected to disgrace and personal labour.

SIMILES. It would be extremely unwise to destroy a whole nest, because one egg is addled.

It would be the act of a madman to cut down a whole forest of trees, because one oak is blasted, or one elm withered.

No one would discard the entire crop of a fruit tree, because one apple is rotten at the core, one cherry bitten by the birds, or one apricot preyed on by ear-wigs and ants.

Almost every tree has one or two withered leaves or sapless branches, yet the tree may be healthy, prolific, and ornamental.

What huntsman would punish a whole pack, because one hound is at fault?

What coachman would punish a whole team, because one horse stumbled and broke his knees?

One tooth may ache from disease, but who would recommend the sufferer to have all his teeth extracted, and not rather to direct the attention of the dentist to the part diseased?

If the fathers have eaten sour grapes, the children's teeth are not set on edge.-Jer. xxxi. 29.

HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS.-It would be most unjust to disband a whole company of soldiers, because one comrade had deserted from the ranks.

It would be intolerable and iniquitous tyranny to send a whole parish to prison, because one of its inhabitants had committed felony.

Amaziah, the son of Joash, king of Judah, "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord," for "he slew his servants which had slain the king, his father, but the children of the murderers he slew not, according unto that which is written in the law of Moses, wherein the Lord commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers, but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.-2 Kings, xiv. 1-6.

It is not customary with kings, in cases of rebellion, even to punish all the rebels, much less the innocent; but the most notorious only of the ringleaders are selected for exemplary punishment.

When a whole city is punished for the insurrection of a few, it is because they become partakers of the crime by refusing to deliver up the delinquents. In this case, the citizens are not put to the sword because some of their number have been guilty of treason, but because they have committed a fresh crime in refusing obedience to a just demand.

Ahaz was a very wicked king, but Hezekiah, his son, trusted in the Lord God of Israel, and the Lord was with him, and he prospered whithersoever he went forth.2 Kings, xviii. 5. 7.

All the apostles were not rejected, because Judas proved a traitor, and betrayed his Master to the soldiers of the high priest.

QUOTATIONS. The soul that sinneth, it shall die.— Ezek. xviii. 4.

The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of his son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.-Ezek. xviii. 20.