"Well, suppose then it was not his own hat, and he was throwing stones at it without the owner's consent, would it be plain in that case, whether he was doing right or wrong?"
"Yes sir; wrong," was the universal reply.
"Suppose it was his own hat, would he have been right? Has a boy a right to do what he pleases with his own hat?"
"Yes sir," "Yes sir," "No sir," "No sir," answered the boys confusedly.
"I do not know whose hat it was. If the boy who did it is willing to rise and tell me, it will help us to decide this question."
The boy knowing that a severe punishment was not in such a case to be anticipated, and in fact, apparently pleased with the idea of exonerating himself from the blame of wilfully injuring the property of another, rose and said,
"I suppose it was I, sir, who did it, and it was my own hat?"
"Well," said the master, "I am glad you are willing to tell frankly how it was; but let us look at this case. There are two senses in which a hat may be said to belong to any person. It may belong to him because he bought it and paid for it, or it may belong to him because it fits him, and he wears it. In other words a person may have a hat, as his property, or he may have it only as a part of his dress. Now you see, that according to the first of these senses, all the hats in this school, belong to your fathers. There is not in fact a single boy in this school who has a hat of his own."
The boys laughed.
"Is not this the fact?"