Poullet excludes the kind of indulgence which stands for weakness or flattery. “Indulgence implies an attitude of waiting, tolerating, closing an eye to, forgiving. It is an educative dimension which needs to be joined to all others: to zeal which is always on the alert for action; to vigilance which lets nothing escape the eye; to authority which commands, and to justice which punishes”.221

Indulgence is something required by a boy’s nature, by the limits of his availability to co-operate with his educator. Aboy is a “human being weak in soul, body, will, reason. A boy is a human being who is frivolous, inconstant, ruled by a thousand ideas, a thousand feelings which happen to be contradictory; he is a human being subject to all kinds of impressions coming from inside and from without”. “Boys are boys. Freedom, movement, noise are irresistible needs at a boy's age. When a guilty young man innocently says I didn’t think about it, we can always believe him”.222However, indulgence should be balanced and prudent. “Let us be indulgent when confronted with weakness but let there be no weakness in our indulgence”.223

In particular, indulgence should be measured according to the different stages of education: less is needed when it is a question of disciplinary rules to be observed; more is needed in reference to moral and religious education: “a man cannot be reformed except by means of the heart and we cannot reach the heart except through love.”224

Only in an atmosphere of gentleness can a healthy fear, the beginning of wisdom, come to the fore in particular circumstances, and with great effectiveness. Fear is the beginning of wisdom, and nothing more, as we remember that we are called to be the “friends and fathers of our pupils”.225

The final and overall outcome will be the spirit of a place of education.226 “This spirit is constituted by the prudence, moderation, zeal and heart of the educators but above all, and essentially, by the spirit of the pupils which creates an atmosphere of sincerity, modesty, good behaviour, openness and affection”.227 “ Moreover, this spirit brings true piety towards God, complete loyalty and a cordial benevolence in the pupils’ relationships with their teachers and classmates and the scrupulous observance of the sacred laws of modesty”.228 This is why it is indispensable that a system of freedom, love and trust, of a love regulated and a trust moderated by a just authority, should be preferred to a repressive system”.229

It is not enough to stop evil; we have to develop what is good”.230

This sum total of principles and orientations, Poullet concluded, does not constitute a great theory or complex system or an art reserved only for the initiated. “What is simply needed is to assist constantly and loyally, to instruct solidly, to use frequent reminders, to encourage with kindness, to reward with joy, to punish with due motivation and in moderation, and especially to put up with everything with tireless constancy, and to love with an unalterable tenderness. All of this may require some virtues, but a very small amount of skill; it may require experience but no deep research; it may require the quick glance of a practical observation, but not the genius needed for high speculation. All of the above can and must be done with simplicity”.231

221 Ibid., 87.

222 Ibid. 88-92.

223 Ibid.,. 92.

224 P.-A. Poullet, Discours. 94-95.

225 Ibid., 99-100.

226 Ibid., 158-185. Du bon esprit dans les maisons d’éeducation. 227 Ibid., 162-164, 170.

228 Ibid., 174-175.

229 Ibid.,. 176-177. Cf. again 180-182.

230 Ibid., 179.

231 Ibid., 191-192.