From the very outset, then, his attitude towards them has been one of suspicion and rising anger.

He is always on the look-out for disobedience, and he is ready to chastise the offender almost before he has had time to commit the offence.

His pupils, brought up in an atmosphere of suspicion, and taught from their earliest days to disbelieve in and condemn themselves, can scarcely be blamed for living _down_ to the evil reputation which they have unfortunately gained.

To persuade a man that he is a miserable sinner is to go some way towards leading him into the path of sin.

Systematic distrust paralyses and demoralises those who live under it, and so tends to justify the cruelty into which it too readily develops.