Back to Children's Moral Instruction
Good Manners and Vice
Sir
Peabody: A child with good manners acts obediently,
has a sense of duty and knows right from wrong.
Such a child has due regard for people in poverty and distress and never
sports with the natural defects of others, be the defect in body or mind.
He is sharing and without fear, especially the fear of losing money.
All that he does is dictated by love and reason.
If a child be blessed with such good manners, it is certain that he is
also blessed with all of the qualities below, for it is these four qualities
that all good manners spring from:
Prudence: Prudence “implies such an orderly
conduct of our words and actions, as keeps us free from those irregularities
which hurt ourselves and offend others.”7
Prudence may be instilled by giving a child a proper notion of his position in
life and making him aware of his true status in relation to those above and
beneath him. This gives children a
due sense of others significance as well as their own. A child with prudence is aware and weary of vice, extravagance
and folly.
Fortitude: Fortitude is patience improved. It allows us to bear and combat sickness, disgrace and poverty.
Love of Justice: A love of justice teaches us
societal obligations. A child with
a love of justice has a clear sense of the obvious rules of right and wrong, he
does not meddle with money or the belongings of others, he has an awareness that
each person, the poor to the high, has a place, and he shuns the villainous.
To achieve a love of justice children must be taught to part with any
material object, especially those they are most fond of, at an early age and
they must avoid deceit, especially when involving money.
Temperance: Temperance can be thought of as “the calmest companion of the heart of man”7 It regulates the uneven appetites we are born with and makes reason our guide.
Sir Peabody: While we should all strive to acquire prudence, fortitude, love of justice and temperance, it is not unusual for temptations to get in the way and block the path of virtue. Temptations are the springs of injustice and vice. These springs may seem at first appealing, but they only lead to destruction. Below are listed a few temptations that all men should be weary of:
Sloth: None are meant to be idle!
Sloth goes directly against the purpose of man.
Rich or poor, providence has created us to labor; the head, the hands,
the feet, all are given to answer in some degree to the same end.
Lust: From first breath all men should be warned
against the allure of lust. Lust is
a deviation from the virtue of innocence. Any
act which deviates from a virtue is an attack on justice.
Whether a maiden be of noble birth or poor, she should not be robbed of
her innocence.
Avarice: Avarice implies an inordinate love of
gain. It is most apparent in the
rich, the old and the gamester. Avarice
blinds the individual from reason, causing him to take what he should not and
hurt when not necessary.
Slander: For slander only one thing can be said: a stolen jewel may be again purchased, but a good name is irreplaceable. To injure a man’s name is to forever injure his life.
'idle 'prentice at play in church yard'--collage.nhil.com
Silence: Silence is an injustice where it brings
wrong and destruction upon others. When
some truth may be spoke to free another from trouble or embarrassment and it is
not mentioned, the silent party acts without virtue.
Revenge: Revenge is not steered by reason, so he who
meditates it is not a good judge of how far it should be carried.
Additionally, revenge disregards morality and its demand that we forgive
all injury. Regardless of the affront, an
act of revenge can never be virtuous.