When building a house it is common for the carpenters to insert
timbers under the ground-sills pending the time when the stone
foundations can conveniently be placed.
Similarly we may employ expedients in character-building. Children may
not be ready as yet to grasp principles of conduct; but meanwhile we
give them rules, detail commands, and minute precepts; these serve to
“shore up” the life while the principles are being formed.
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