I will tell you, my dear, you must, in the first place, very heartily wish to be good; and that I hope you do. In the next place, you must, when you say your prayers, very earnestly beg of GOD to make you good; and then, instead of doing just what you have a mind to do, you must resolve with yourself, and try upon all occasions, not to do any thing you know is wrong, and which I have told you not to do.
Do you think, if I were to try then, I could always be good, Madam?
Certainly! if you tried you might avoid doing a great many wrong things. Suppose now, when you sat down to breakfast, and felt impatient for your tea or your roll,—do you think, if you considered a minute, that it is greedy and impatient to say any thing about it, that you could not help asking for your tea before any body was helped, or whining if the rolls did not come in directly; and that you could not try to amuse yourself by thinking of something else for a little while?
To be sure you could, my dear; and so in every other instance. If you do not feel disposed to get your lessons, and do your work at the proper times; yet if you did but reflect how fit it is that you should learn and improve yourself, and what a fault idleness is, you may help fretting and saying, I do not like to do this; and you may resolve to keep on and do as well as you can, without making any complaints.
I am not very often naughty about reading, Mamma?
Not very often; but that is because you love reading; now I want you to do every thing, because you think it is right and fit you should do it; and then you will do those duties you do not find any great pleasure in, as well as those you delight in. And above all things, I wish you to watch constantly over your temper, to be ever ready to oblige, and do all innocent things, because you are desired; and keep yourself always in a good-humour.
But sometimes things happen to tease me, and make me fret.
Then is the time to try to get the better of yourself; things may not always go as you like; but nothing can make you fret unless you will: for example, if little _Edwin_ come in and catch up your book, or your doll, we suppose you had rather he let them alone, but you need not make a great noise, and whine, and call him a naughty boy, and run and snatch them roughly from him; you may speak in a good-humoured tone of voice, and say, Pray, _Edwin_, give me my book, or any thing else he has; and if he did not attend to that, as he is but a little boy, you could wait quietly a little while, till he laid it down, though you might know you would have liked better to have it then; and that would not be half so uncomfortable to you as putting yourself in a passion; worrying your spirits, and making yourself disagreeable to every body in the room; do you think it would?