Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1883-09-01
A WILL OF HIS OWN.

One of our best local preachers
preached a sermon on children, and
the way to bring them up. and
speaking of the old idea that a
stubborn child, or a child with Il
will of its own, was a nuisance, the
elder said, IL wouldn't give d.
for child that had not will of his
own,' or words to that effect. 1t is
but justice to say that the good
man used the word "dine" where
the blank is in the above extract.
But the remark is the key note to
the situation. The time has been
when child with q will of its own
has been looked upon by the whole
neighborhood as terror, and moth
ers have sighed and endured sorrow
when they have noticed the spirit
shown by such a child. But when
they, in later years, lave looked
around and seen that the most sue
cessful men and women of the land
grew up from children that had wills
of their own, the sadness and sor-
row of the mother has given place to
pride We do not like to see chill
dren have wills of their own that are
so strong that they cannot be con-
trolled Oy parents, but few children
who have the right kind Of parents
have such wills. Take child with a
will of its own, and guide that will
properly, and not knock the backbone
out of it with barrel stave, and the
child will grow up to be a success in
business. Children with wills of
their own may turn out to be pirates
or highway robbers but it will be
because parents try to break that
will by severe punishment. They
may partially break it, but it will
assert itself sometime in the wrong
way, while if it is guided properly
the will may be a mountain of
strength. The successful men in all
branches of business are men who
had "'wills of their own" in youth.
They were not pet children who never
said their souls were their own.
Such children become milliners or
dudes. The successful men look
with pride upon their children who
have wills of their own, because they
know by experience that such will
is worth millions in the battle of life
A man who had no mind of his own
as q boy, may be good enough to
carry shawls to matinee, or baskets
to picnic, or he may stand on a
corner and chew cane, but he conld
not build a railroad through will
derness or across mountain, and
rather than face a picnic he would
sit down and cry. He could not in
vent anything, unless it was patent
corset or a self fastening hair pin,
while his brother, who had will of
his own, would invent telephone
or a locomotive. The child with a
will of his own may be harder 10
raise, and he may cause some heart
aches and anxiety, but when that
will which was 80 hard to ham
die in youth, gets hold of a
difficult problem of business in later
years, and clinches itself around tho
problem, and begins tc squeeze, it
will never let up until success is
achieved. The stubborn, 'Be sure
you ars right and then go ahead"
boys are in demand, and are worth
their weight in. gold. while the milk
and-water, "baby-mi fellows have
to be done up in lunches like rad
ishes, and got rid OF in a lump, and
half of them turn out to be pithy and
no good. If you, good mother, have
child with will of its own, don't
worry about the child. but thank
God and bend the will by kindness,
and when that child grows up and
succeeds where others fail, write us
q postal card All of the successful
men in the country had wills of their
own, and that was all the capital
they had. When we see a child with
a will of it's OVID, we always want to
take it one side and tell it the good
news, that the will is more valuable
than n rich relative.