As the will should ultimately control all the mental powers,
its proper maturity is a later outcome of education. Even supposing
that the will has considerable original native power, it is a power
that is likely to lie dormant or be used in some ill-direction, unless
proper incentives are brought to bear upon it. The will is so
constituted that it is open to appeal, and in all the affairs of school
and life, incentives of all sorts are constantly brought to bear upon
it. Why not make an effort to bring to bear the incentives that spring
out of interest, that steady force, which is able to give abiding
tendency and direction to the efforts? Why not cultivate those nobler
incentives that spring out of culture-bringing-knowledge? There are,
therefore, important preliminaries to full will energy, which are
secured by the cultivation of knowledge, the sensibilities, and desires.
There is a common belief that any subject can be made interesting if
only the teacher knows the secret of the how; if only he has proper
_skill_. But it is hard even for a skillful workman "to make bricks
without straw," to awaken mental effort where interest in the subject
is entirely lacking.
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