CHAPTER II.

TESTS OF WILL.

HE seat of the Will seems to vary with the organ through which it is manifested; to transport itself to different parts of the brain, as we may wish to recall a picture, a phrase, or a melody; to throw its force on the muscles or the intellectual processes. Like the general-in-chief, its place is everywhere in the field of action. It is the least like an instrument of any of our faculties; the farthest removed from our conceptions of mechanism and matter, as we commonly define them." - O. W. Holmes.

The developed Will manifests itself, as has been suggested, in two general ways:

First. In an energetic single act; here it may be called the Dynamic Will. The Will so acting is not necessarily ideal. "Rosseau," says Carlyle "has not depth or width, nor calm force for difficulty; the first characteristic of true greatness. A fundamental error, to call vehemence and rigidity strength! A man is not strong who takes convulsion-fits, though six men cannot hold him then. He that can walk under the heaviest weight without staggering, he is the strong man."

Secondly. In a series of acts conducted with force and related intelligently to a given end; here the Static Will discharges in dynamic actions its store of accumulated power.

Acts of Will may be described as Explosive, Decisive, Impelling, Restraining, Deliberative, Persistent.

These forms of Will are exhibited in connection with Physical, Mental, Moral states of the man.

Remembering that the Will is always the mind's power of self-direction, we now suggest certain

GENERAL FUNCTIONS OF WILL.

I. The strong Will is master of the body.

III. The perfect Will is high priest of the moral self.

I.

The

The strong Will is master of the body, directing it according to the dictates of desire or reason. Hamlet's grave-digger determines his own physical vocation. The hero Dewey and his sailors send their bodies into Manilla Bay and forbid flight, while shot and shell are falling. Martyrs give their bodies to be burned. Paganini directs his fingers to execute marvels upon the violin. trained athlete is the director of an assembly of physical powers as difficult of original control as the mob that threatened Beecher at Liverpool. Ignatius uncovered brute Will when he said: "It is the part of a good athlete to be flayed with pounding, and yet to conquer." The psychic investigator of the modern college makes every physical element and power a tool, a prophet, a revelator of mental reality.

Mastery of the body is frequently seen in remarkable instances of physical control. All voluntarily acquired habits are examples. Though a given habit becomes automatic, it yet represents a long and persistent appli

cation of Will, and, as often, perhaps, the present exercise of Volition directing and maintaining actions that are apparently unconscious. The singer's use of his voice exhibits trained impulse; the musician's manipulation of his fingers, habituated movements; the skilled rider's mastery of his limbs in most difficult feats and unexpected situations, spontaneous response to mind; the eloquent orator, celerity of muscular obedience to feeling. In all these and similar cases the Will must act, co-ordinating particular movements with general details of Volition with the ultimate purpose in view. Indeed, the specific activities that make up the complex physical uses of the human body in all trades of skill demand supervision of the Will as an adequate explanation. The person may not be conscious of its sovereign acts, but it is the power upon the throne.

Underlying those states of the soul of which it is immediately aware are conditions not formulated in consciousness, which nevertheless constitute its highest powers. If these exhibitions of "second nature" involved no immediate action of Will, the very exercise and training of Will which look to their attainment would, so far forth, defeat the end in view; - they would weaken rather than develop Will.

The Unconscious or Subconscious Mind plays a vast role in human life. The reader is referred to the author's work "Practical Psychology" for further study of that important subject.

The mind, again, has the power to summons, as it were, a special degree of intensity of Will, and to throw this with great force into a particular act. This may be done during a repetition of the act, while the repetition is going on "automatically," as it is said. Does such intensity imply that no Will has hitherto been exerted?

We know that in such cases we put forth a more energetic Volition.

The human eye may be made to blaze by the appiication of Will-power to the act of gazing.

The hearing may be made more acute by willing that all other sensations shall be ruled out of consciousness.

By focusing the attention upon the terminal nerves the sense of touch is vastly quickened, as, for example, in the case of the blind.

Muscular effort accomplishing a certain amount of work while Will is but lightly applied, becomes terrific when the whole man wills himself into the act.

Certain stimulations of mind, as fear, or love, or hate, or hope of reward, or religious excitement, or musical influence, or insanity, rouse the Will at times to vast proportions in its feats with muscle and limb.

The Olympic contests and modern exhibition games, rescues from fire or wave, woman's defense of her offspring, prolonged exertion of political speakers and evangelists, and herculean achievements of enraged inmates of insane hospitals, furnish examples.

So, also, the Will accomplishes wonders through its power of inhibition. Under fear of detection the hiding criminal simulates the stillness of death. Pride often represses the cry of pain. In the presence of the desperately ill, love refuses the relief of tears. Irritated nerves are controlled under maddening conditions. Certain nervous diseases can be cured by the Will. Habits of the body, such as facial twitching, movements of the hands or limbs, etc., are controlled, and mannerisms of private and public life are banished. Sounds are shut out of consciousness in the act of reading. Strong appetites are denied indulgence. Pronounced tendencies in

general physical conduct are varied. Attitudes of body are assumed and maintained at the cost of great pain. Even more than is ordinarily supposed, the body is the servant of the Will. The curious thing here is that so little attention is given to the training of Will in this capacity.

II.

The right Will is the lord of the mind's several facul ties. A familiar example is seen in the act of attention. Here the soul concentrates its energies upon a single object, or upon a number of objects grouped together. A striking example may be noted in the fact that "we can smell either one of two odors, brought to the nostrils by means of paper tubes, in preference to the other, by simply thinking about it." This is a good illustration of abstraction induced by the Will. The degree of exclusiveness and force with which the mind engages itself upon a single line of action represents the cultivation of the persistent Will. If the Will is strong in this respect, it is probably strong in what is called "compound attention," or that considering state of mind in which it holds deliberative court among motives, facts, principles, means and methods relating to some possible end of effort or goal of conduct.

Thus the person wills intense consciousness of physical acts or states. One, for example, who studies profoundly the relation of physiology to psychology, exhibits great powers in willed attention, embracing largest sensations, and taking note of minutest variations with the greatest nicety. The child in learning to walk manifests admirable ability in this regard. Vocal exercises demand utmost attention of mind to musical notes, their effects upon the ear, and the manner and method of their attainment and execution. Musical instruments are also