The Story of Willie.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 23, 11 August 1911, Page 6

The Story of Willie.

By ARNOLD GOLDSWORTHY.

This is the true stofyV of; Willie. j Before he Was born, Willie had the responsible ; task y ; of choosing his ;parents. v As he had- a /'perfectly free will, he .CQpld,, of course,, have chosen aVfburglar or a : PassiA r e. <Resister for hiisi father,- as some AAncked-t babies do ; but, like' all unborn men, he knew- the .difference betAveen: right, and wrong, and by, the free, exercise: of his will he carefully selected a. father who was, a rich and respected member of the Church, of England. ", Soon • after his birth, Willie, having perfect freedom of choice, decided- to choose for his : godmother a ..wealthy,, aunt, '.who not only presented him. with a spoen and fork for the christening,, but also invested a large sum in the Funds as a present for Willie on his twenty-first birthday. , Some: babies are so wickedly improvident that' they noVjc-nly choose fathers Avho , are.' practically mere paupers, but they even neglect the provision of rich- relatives Avho • will bequeath them money. Considering how : extremely free the will is, it is such a, pity: that babies should /so obstinately choose to be-born poor. ' 'When■-'Willie was five years old he had to choose,- by the exercise of his. free will,- .'whether he Avould go out into the street's with his := mother, singing hymns on the kerbstone for ha'pennies and hard words, or whether ■he. would-stay in his'nursery and take kindergarten lessons from a French governess. ■. He the' goA-erness. and'thus entirely by his -own efforts Willie was able, by the time he was eight or nine, to read and write well, to" speak a little French, and. to play the piano- quite nicely.Soon after that Willie was _ called upon to exercise his free will in the ■ choice, of his school. Should he, go to the Board, School and mix with, boys Avho did not sound their aspirates, and Avho would very likely choose to be common Avorking men 'when they grew up, or should he go to Harrow and associate Avith boys who spoke so beautifully and 'dressed 'so prettily-, that even their misbehaviour Avas put down to a natural excess of healthy spirits? It'is quite clear that Willie was- absolutely free to choose betAveen these two schools, just as every other boy is, and that in deciding, . after careful deliberation, to go to .HarroAV, he was personally responsible for the influence. of that decision upon his future life. - It is upon leaving school that Aye are. called upon to.use our free.wills in making the momentous decision of our lives. What shall Aye -be? When Willie left HarroAV, he Avas required to exercise his free . will in his choice of a career. Should he be 'a bricklayer or a journeyman carpenter, or should he go "into his father's business as • junior . partner? No reasonable person can doubt that he had absolute freedom of choice. He might have chosen to go into the City as a clerk at twelve shillings a week; but after carefully deliberating on the matter, be decided to accept the junior partnership at five hundred a year. What a pity it is that so many other people do not exercise their undoubted freedom of choice in this excellent manner, instead of deliberately elect-, ing to fill a minor position in life, and wickedly keeping their Avives and children short of luxuries •in consequence. While Willie Avas choosing his parents, he also chose his tempera-" ment. He might have selected a temperament that craved for "racing

specials'' and ; rare liquors and other nameless extravagances, just as. a lot of wicked unborn babies do. Instead, of this, however, he chose a ■quiet.jand domestic temperament, arid then from his babyhood upwards he steadily and deliberately selected companions , _or conventional morality and regular ways. He also, by the full and -free exercise of his will, chose teachers who during his youth impressed upon him the value of habits of prudence and industry.' He very properly reaped the reward of this wise discrimination as.he grew up, and instead of dering liis money on, Mojvte. motor-cars, he invested iVto brmg_ in regular interest. He could, pf- <*«"?, have chosen a father who have initiated him into the horse-racing; and as his. will ... : was quite could, have s™nde,d himself with friends wh Y f given him a liking . for. football matches, which -were, not to>s But by a proper use of his-, tree .will in chasing a prudent father and a temperament that did ■. no* lean ig-. wards: the wilder excitements of hie, he showed a very nice and laudable discretion, for .which he and his friends trustfully expected he would be duly rewarded hereafter. . When Willie was about eight-and-twenty, he met a young lady named Mar Y ; who always made a point ot being very nice to him. Mary.s mother brought her to Willies parents very often -and- _ sometmies Willie woiild be asked to drive Mai,y homo in the family dog-cart. Sometimes Mary's mother would give .a garden party or a picnic, and Willie would be asked to come; and at .these times Mary would mention -quite casually that-she* too,, disliked horseraeirig ""and football matches, and was very fond ■of playing duets on the piano with a cleverer player than her"l -P ""' ' ' ' ' S °Somewhere about tliis time :Willie be«aii to exercise his perfectly .ire;© wiH in the direction ■■ of matrimony. He was obviously free to choose whether he should remain a .bachelor and settle down- to a life of, solitude, which was distasteful to him, or whether he should become a married man with a bright and happy family around him. His decision was = absolutely unrestricted.,,because he had free will, and he was therefore quite at liberty to choose bachelorhood or married , lifo. And after allowing his free will free play, lie decided to 11 The selection of a wife is, as everybody knows, a proceeding of _ the greatest moment, A man's choice is so free that once it is made it 'is a fixture. Willie was a young man of: food appearance and some wealth, and he had a free will. He might, therefore, have chosen a Lancashire factory girl, or an Irish colleen, or,, a Welsh barmaid. Even in his owp native Clapham, there were at least a hundred girls from among whom he could have had an absolute freedom of selection, for they were pretty prid prudent, and domesticated and ladylike. And in the full and unrestricted exercise of his absolute freedom of choice, Willie married— Mary. As the years rolled on, the time came at last for Willie to die. And as his will was perfectly free to choose between heaven and —the other place, he chose heaven. What a pity it is that so many people should deliberately, and of" their own free will, choose —the other place! —"Clarion.''