The _will_ is that power of the mind which chooses, decides, and
controls action.
According to psychology there are three distinct activities of the
mind, _knowing_, _feeling_, and _willing_. These three powers are
related to one another on a basis of equality, and yet the will should
become the _monarch of the mind_. It is expected that all the other
activities of the mind will be brought into subjection to the will.
For strong _character_ resides in the will. Strength of character
depends entirely upon the mastery which the will has acquired over the
life; and _the formation of character_, as shown in a strong moral
will, is the highest aim of education.
The _great problem_ for us to solve is: 1. How far can teaching
stimulate and develop such a will?
There is an apparent contradiction in saying that the _will_ is the
monarch of the mind, the power which must control and subject all the
other powers; and yet that it can be trained, educated, moulded, and
chiefly too by a proper cultivation of the other powers, _feeling_ and
_knowing_. Knowledge and feeling, while they are subject to the will,
still constitute its strength, just as the soldiers and officers of an
army are subject to a commander and yet make him powerful.
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