Although we have taken up the question of punishment and the manner of dealing with various childish iniquities before the question of character-building, it has only been done in order to clear the mind of some current misconceptions.  In the statements of Froebel’s simple and positive philosophy of child culture, misconception on the part of the reader must be guarded against, and these misconceptions generally arise from a feeling that, beautiful as his optimistic philosophy may be, there are some children too bad to profit by it—­or at least that there are occasions when it will not work out in practice.  In the preceding section we have endeavored to show in detail how this method applies to a representative list of faults and shortcomings, and having thus, we hope, proved that the method is applicable to a wide range of cases—­indeed to all possible cases—­we will proceed to recount the fundamental principles which Froebel, and before him Pestalozzi,[A] enunciated; which times who adhere to the new education are to-day working out into the detail of school-room practice.

[Sidenote:  Object of Moral Training.]

As previously stated, the object of the moral training of the child is the inculcation of the love of righteousness.  Froebel is not concerned with laying down a mass of observances which the child must follow, and which the parents must insist upon.  He thinks rather that the child’s nature once turned into the right direction and surrounded by right influences will grow straight without constant yankings and twistings.  The child who loves to do right is safe.  He may make mistakes as to what the right is, but he will learn by these mistakes, and will never go far astray.

[Sidenote:  The Reason Why]

However, it is well to save him as far as possible from the pain of these mistakes.  We need to preserve in him what has already been implanted there; the love of understanding the reasons for conduct.  When the child asks “Why?” therefore, he should seldom be told “Because mother says so.”  This is to deny a rightful activity of his young mind; to give him a monotonous and insufficient reason, temporary in its nature, instead of a lasting reason which will remain with him through life.  Dante says all those who have lost what he calls “the good of the intellect” are in the Inferno.  And when you refuse to give your child satisfactory reasons for the conduct you require of him, you refuse to cultivate in him that very good of the intellect which is necessary for his salvation.

[Sidenote:  Advantage of Positive Commands]