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278 The Farm Boy's Choice of a Vocation 



calling in life, still has a place in the minds of the 

 masses. The kindred belief that some men are 

 "natural-born failures" has also wide currency. 

 A third superstition is the very common opinion 

 that others are "just naturally lucky." All these 

 traditional opinions are the outgrowth of ignorance of 

 human nature such as may be dispelled by means of 

 a course of instruction, or a carefully arranged 

 course of home reading, in modern psychology. 



None of the foregoing superstitions would be 

 worthy of our attention were it not for the gross in- 

 justice which they entail upon children. Parents 

 everywhere in both city and country are dealing 

 with their children upon the assumption that one 

 and all of these fallacies are true. "My oldest boy 

 just naturally has no luck," said the father of three 

 sons and two daughters. "He changes around from 

 one thing to another and fails every time." But 

 what of this particular boy's early training ? Was 

 it the same as that of the others ? Did he enjoy 

 equal advantages ? Did his parents when married 

 really know anything about rearing children? or, did 

 they really mistreat their first-born through ignorance 

 and use him as a sort of practice material from which 

 they learned how to do better by the succeeding ones ? 



Until the foregoing inquiries about the "unlucky" 

 son's boyhood life be fully answered, we cannot 

 reasonably permit ourselves to condemn him. There 

 is nothing more in predestination than this ; namely, 



