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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Mystic Will, by Charles Godfrey Leland
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Mystic Will
+       A Method of Developing and Strengthening the Faculties of the Mind, through the Awakened Will, by a Simple, Scientific Process Possible to Any Person of Ordinary Intelligence
+
+
+Author: Charles Godfrey Leland
+
+
+
+Release Date: February 10, 2006  [eBook #17749]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYSTIC WILL***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Ruth Hart (ruthhart@twilightoracle.com)
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+   In the Introduction, I have changed "yet is is a very literal
+   truth" to "yet it is a very literal truth". Also in the
+   Introduction, I changed the spelling of "faculities" to
+   "faculties" (other spelling remains unchanged). Finally, while
+   most of the proper names are capitalized, not all of them are,
+   and I have left the uncapitalized names as they appeared in
+   the original.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE MYSTIC WILL
+
+A Method of Developing and Strengthening the Faculties of the Mind,
+through the Awakened Will, by a Simple, Scientific Process Possible
+to Any Person of Ordinary Intelligence
+
+by
+
+CHARLES G. LELAND
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+American Edition
+Published by
+The Progress Company
+515-519 Rand McNally Building
+Chicago, Illinois
+English Representatives:
+L. N. Fowler & Co.
+7, Imperial Arcade, Ludgate Circus,
+London, E. C.
+
+
+
+
+
+In Memorium
+
+Charles Godfrey Leland
+
+AMERICAN AUTHOR
+WHO DIED MARCH 20, 1903
+AT FLORENCE, ITALY
+AGED 79
+
+"_The good that men do lives after them_."
+
+
+
+
+PUBLISHER'S NOTICE.
+
+This wonderful treatise was first published in England several years
+ago, under the title of "_Have You a Strong Will_?" and has run
+through several editions there. In its original form, it was printed
+in quite large type, double-leaded, and upon paper which "bulked out"
+the book to quite a thick volume. Some copies have been sold in
+America, but the price which dealers were compelled to charge for it,
+in its original shape, prevented the wide circulation that it merited,
+and which its author undoubtedly desired for it, for it seems to
+have been a labor of love with him, the interest of the race in his
+wonderful theories evidently being placed above financial returns by
+Mr. Leland. Believing that the author's ideas and wishes would be well
+carried out by the publication of an American edition printed in the
+usual size type (without the expedient of "double-leading" unusually
+large type in order to make a large volume), which allows of the book
+being sold at a price within the reach of all, the publisher has
+issued this edition along the lines indicated.
+
+The present edition is identical with the original English edition
+with the following exceptions:
+
+(1) There has been omitted from this edition a long, tiresome chapter
+contained in the original edition, entitled "On the Power of the Mind
+to master disordered Feelings by sheer Determination. As Set forth by
+Immanuel Kant in a letter to Hufeland," but which chapter had very
+little to say about "the power of the mind," but very much indeed
+about Hygiene, Dietetics, Sleep, Care of Oneself in Old Age,
+Hypochondria, Work, Exercise, Eating and Drinking, Illness, etc.,
+etc., from the point of view of the aged German metaphysician, which
+while interesting enough in itself, and to some people, was manifestly
+out of place in a book treating upon the development of Mental
+Faculties by the Will, etc. We think that Mr. Leland's admirers will
+find no fault with this omission.
+
+(2) The word "Suggestion" has been substituted for the word
+"Hypnotism" in several places in the original text, where the
+former word was manifestly proper according to the present views of
+psychologists, which views were not so clearly defined when the book
+was written.
+
+(3) The chapter headings of the original book have been shortened and
+simplified in accordance with the American form.
+
+(4) The title "The Mystic Will" has been substituted in place of that
+used in the original edition, which was "Have You a Strong Will?" This
+change was made for the reason that the original title did not give
+one the correct idea of the nature of the book, but rather conveyed
+the idea of an inquiry regarding the "iron-will," etc., which the
+author evidently did not intend. The use of the Will, as taught in the
+book by Mr. Leland, is not along the lines of "the iron-will," but is
+rather in the nature of the employment of a mystic, mysterious, and
+almost weird power of the Human Will, and the title of the present
+edition is thought to more correctly represent the nature of the book,
+and the author's own idea, than the inquiry embodied in the title of
+the original edition.
+
+(5) Several unimportant footnotes, references to other books, etc.,
+have been omitted after careful consideration.
+
+(Those who would wish to read the book in its original English edition
+will be able to procure it from the English publisher, Mr. Philip
+Wellby, 6 Henrietta street, Covent Garden, London, W. C, England.)
+
+To the few readers of this book who are not familiar with the author,
+Mr. Charles G. Leland, it may be said that this gifted man was an
+American by birth, but who lived in Europe for many years before his
+death. He died March 20, 1903, at Florence, Italy, at the ripe age of
+79 years, active until the last and leaving unpublished  manuscripts,
+some not completed. He lived up to his ideas and profited by them. His
+writings are spread over a period of nearly, or fully, fifty years,
+and his range of subjects was remarkable in its variety, style, and
+treatment.
+
+Among his best known works were "Practical Education," "Flaxius," "The
+Breitmann Ballads" (which introduced his well-known character "Hans
+Breitmann"), "Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling," "Wood Carving,"
+"Leather Work," "Metal Work," "Drawing and Designing," "The Minor
+Arts," "Twelve Manuals in Art Work," "The Album of Repoussé Work,"
+"Industrial Art in Education," "Hints on Self Education," and many
+other works along the lines of Manual Training, etc., and the
+Development of the Constructive Faculties; "Kulsop the Master, and
+other Algonquin Poems and Legends," "The Alternate Sex," and many
+other works, some of which are now out of print, but a number of which
+may be purchased from, or through, any bookseller. There has been
+recently published a biographical work embodying his memoirs, written
+and edited by his beloved niece, Mrs. Pennell, to which volume all
+admirers of this wonderful man are referred.
+
+Every subject touched upon by Mr. Leland was brightly illuminated by
+the power of his marvellous mind. He seemed to be able to go right to
+the heart of the subject, seizing upon its essential truth and at the
+same time grasping all of its details. His mind was so full of general
+information that it fairly oozed out from him in all of his writings.
+The reader will notice this phenomenon in the present book, in which
+the author has evidently had to fight his own mind in order to prevent
+it from intruding all sorts of valuable and varied general information
+in among the particular subjects upon which he is treating. While not
+a professional psychologist, Mr. Leland has given utterance to some of
+the most valuable and practical psychological truths of the last fifty
+years, his contributions to this branch of human thought is sure to be
+recognized and appreciated in the near future. It is hoped that this
+little book will carry some of his valuable precepts and ideas to many
+who have never had the advantage and pleasure of his acquaintance up
+to this time.
+
+It is believed by the publisher that this popular edition of Mr.
+Leland's valuable work upon the Use of the Will, issued at a nominal
+price, will carry the author's teachings to the homes of many of those
+whom Lincoln called the "plain people" of this American land, who need
+it so much, but who would not have been able to have purchased it
+in its original shape. This work has been well known in England,
+but here, in America, the birthplace of the author, it has been
+comparatively unheard of. It is to be hoped that this edition will
+remedy this grievous fault.
+
+April 11, 1907  THE PUBLISHER.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+   Introduction . . . 13
+
+   Chapter I.--Attention and Interest . . . 19
+
+   Chapter II.--Self-Suggestion . . . 28
+
+   Chapter III.--Will-Development . . . 34
+
+   Chapter IV.--Forethought . . . 48
+
+   Chapter V.--Will and Character  . . . 58
+
+   Chapter VI.--Suggestion and Instinct . . . 66
+
+   Chapter VII.--Memory Culture . . . 74
+
+   Chapter VIII.--The Constructive Faculties . . . 81
+
+   Chapter IX.--Fascination . . . 85
+
+   Chapter X.--The Subliminal Self . . . 100
+
+   Chapter XI.--Paracelsus  . . . 109
+
+   Chapter XII.--Last Words . . . 116
+
+
+
+THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
+
+During the past few years the most serious part of the author's study
+and reflection has been devoted to the subjects discussed in this
+book. These, briefly stated, are as follows: Firstly, that all mental
+or cerebral faculties can by direct scientific treatment be influenced
+to what would have once been regarded as miraculous action, and which
+is even yet very little known or considered. Secondly, in development
+of this theory, and as confirmed by much practical and personal
+experience, that the Will can by very easy processes of training, or
+by aid of Auto-Suggestion, be strengthened to any extent, and states
+of mind soon induced, which can be made by practice habitual. Thus,
+as a man can by means of opium produce sleep, so can he by a very
+simple experiment a few times repeated--an experiment which I
+clearly describe and which has been tested and verified beyond
+all denial--cause himself to remain during the following day in a
+perfectly calm or cheerful state of mind; and this condition may, by
+means of repetition and practice, be raised or varied to other states
+or conditions of a far more active or intelligent description.
+
+Thus, for illustration, I may say that within my own experience, I
+have by this process succeeded since my seventieth year in working
+all day far more assiduously, and without any sense of weariness or
+distaste for labour, than I ever did at any previous period of my
+life. And the reader need only try the extremely easy experiment, as I
+have described it, to satisfy himself that he can do the same, that he
+can continue it with growing strength _ad infinitum_, and that this
+power will unquestionably at some future time be employed with
+marvellous results in Education. For, beyond all question--since any
+human being can easily prove or disprove it by a few experiments--
+there is no method known by which inattention, heedlessness, or
+negligence in the young can be so promptly and thoroughly cured as by
+this; while on the other hand, Attention and Interest by assiduity,
+are even more easily awakened. It has indeed seemed to me, since I
+have devoted myself to the study of Education from this point of view,
+as if it had been like the Iron Castle in the Slavonian legend, unto
+which men had for centuries wended their way by a long and wearisome
+road of many miles, while there was all the time, unseen and unknown,
+a very short and easy subterranean passage, by means of which the
+dwellers in the Schloss might have found their way to the town below,
+and to the world, in a few minutes.
+
+To this I have added a succinct account of what is, I believe, the
+easiest and most comprehensive Art of Memory ever conceived. There
+are on this subject more than five hundred works, all based, without
+exception, on the _Associative_ system, which may be described as a
+stream which runs with great rapidity for a very short time but is
+soon choked up. This, I believe, as a means applied to learning, was
+first published in my work, entitled _Practical Education_. In it the
+pupil is taught the _direct method_; that is, instead of remembering
+one thing by means of another, to impress _the image itself_ on the
+memory, and frequently revive it. This process soon becomes habitual
+and very easy. In from one year to eighteen months a pupil can by
+means of it accurately recall a lecture or sermon. It has the
+immediate advantage, over all the associate systems, of increasing and
+enlarging the scope and vigour of the memory, or indeed of the mind,
+so that it may truly bear as a motto, _Vires acquirit eundo_--"it
+gains in power as it runs long."
+
+Finally, I set forth a system of developing the Constructive Faculty--
+that which involves Ingenuity, Art, or manual _making_--as based on
+the teaching of the so-called Minor Arts to the young. The principle
+from which I proceed is that as the fruit is developed from the
+flower, all Technical Education should be anticipated. Or begun
+in children by practicing easy and congenial arts, such as light
+embroidery, wood-carving or repoussé, by means of which they become
+familiar with the elements of more serious and substantial work.
+Having found out by practical experience, in teaching upwards of two
+thousand children for several years, that the practice of such easy
+work, or the development of the constructive faculty, invariably
+awakened the intellectual power or intelligence, I began to study the
+subject of the development of the mind in general. My first discovery
+after this was that Memory, whether mental, visual, or of any other
+kind, could, in connection with Art, be wonderfully improved, and to
+this in time came the consideration that the human Will, with all its
+mighty power and deep secrets, could be disciplined and directed, or
+controlled with as great care as the memory or the mechanical faculty.
+In a certain sense the three are one, and the reader who will take the
+pains, which are, I trust, not very great, to master the details of
+this book, will readily grasp it as a whole, and understand that its
+contents form a system of education, yet one from which the old as
+well as young may profit.
+
+It is worth noting that, were it for nervous invalids alone, or those
+who from various causes find it difficult to sleep, or apply the mind
+to work, this book would be of unquestionable value. In fact, even
+while writing this chapter, a lady has called to thank me for the
+substantial benefit which she derived from my advice in this respect.
+And, mindful of the fact that Attention and Unwearied Perseverance
+are most necessary to succeed in such processes as are here described, I
+have taken pains to show or explain how they may be rendered more
+attractive, tolerable, and habitual to the fickle or light-minded;
+this, too, being a subject which has been very little considered from
+a practical point of view.
+
+But, above all things, I beg the reader, laying aside all prejudice or
+preconceived opinion, and neither believing nor disbelieving what he
+reads, to simply _try it_--that is to test it in his own person to
+what degree he can influence his will, or bring about subsequent
+states of mind, by the very easy processes laid down. If I could hope
+that all opinion of my book would be uttered only by those who had
+thus put it to the test, I should be well assured as to its future.
+
+And also I beg all readers, and especially reviewers, to note that I
+advise that the auto-suggestive process, by aid of sleep, _shall be
+discontinued as soon as the experimenter begins to feel an increase in
+the power of the will_; the whole object of the system being to
+acquire a perfectly free clear Will as soon as possible. Great
+injustice was done, as regards the first edition of this work, by a
+very careless though eminent critic, who blamed the author for not
+having done what the latter had carefully recommended in his book.
+
+There are four stages of advance towards the truth: firstly,
+Disbelief; secondly, Doubt, which is, in fact, only a fond advance
+towards Disbelief; thirdly, Agnosticism, which is Doubt mingled with
+Inquiry; and, finally, pure and simple Inquiry or Search, without any
+preconceived opinion or feeling whatever. It is, I trust, only in the
+spirit of the latter, that I have written; therefore I say to the
+reader, Neither, believe nor disbelieve in anything which I have said,
+but, as it is an easy thing to try, experiment for yourself, and judge
+by the result. In fact, as a satisfactory and conclusive experiment
+will not require more time, and certainly not half the pains which
+most people would expend on reading a book, I shall be perfectly
+satisfied if any or all my critics will do so, and judge the system by
+the result.
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+    "Unto many Fortune comes while sleeping."--_Latin
+    Proverb_.
+
+    "Few know what is really going on in the world."--
+    _American Proverb_.
+
+It is but a few years since it suddenly struck the gay world of comic
+dramatists and other literary wits, that the Nineteenth Century was
+drawing to an end, and regarding it as an event they began to make
+merry over it, at first in Paris, and then in London and New York, as
+the _fin-de-siècle_. Unto them it was the going-out of old fashions in
+small things, such as changes in dress, the growth of wealth, or "the
+mighty bicycle," with a very prevalent idea that things "are getting
+mixed" or "checquered," or the old conditions of life becoming
+strangely confused. And then men of more thought or intelligence,
+looking more deeply into it, began to consider that the phrase did in
+very truth express far more serious facts. As in an old Norman tale,
+he who had entered as a jester or minstrel in comic garb, laid aside
+his disguise, and appeared as a wise counsellor or brave champion who
+had come to free the imprisoned emperor.
+
+For it began to be seen that this _fin-de-siècle_ was developing with
+startling rapidity changes of stupendous magnitude, which would ere
+long be seen "careering with thunder speed along," and that all the
+revolutions and reforms recorded in history were only feeble or
+partial, scattered or small, compared to the world-wide unification of
+human interests, led by new lights, which has begun to manifest itself
+in every civilized country. That well nigh every person or real
+culture, or education guided by pure science, has within a very few
+years advanced to a condition of liberal faith which would have been
+in my university days generally reprobated as "infidelity," is not to
+be denied, and the fact means, beyond all question, that according to
+its present rate of advance, in a very few years more, this reform
+will end in the annulling of innumerable traditions, forms of faith
+and methods. _Upharsin_ is writ on the wall.
+
+More than this, is it not clear that Art and Romance, Poetry and
+Literature, as hitherto understood or felt, are either to utterly
+vanish before the stupendous advances of science, or what is perhaps
+more probable, will, coalescing with it, take new forms, based on a
+general familiarity with all the old schools or types? A few years ago
+it seemed, as regarded all æsthetic creation, that man had exhausted
+the old models, and knew not where to look for new. Now the aim of Art
+is to interest or please, by gratifying the sense or taste for the
+beautiful or human genius in _making_; also to instruct and refine;
+and it is evident that Science is going to fulfill all these
+conditions on such a grand scale in so many new ways, that, when man
+shall be once engaged in them, all that once gratified him in the past
+will seem as childish things, to be put away before pursuits more
+worthy of manly dignity. If Art in all forms has of late been quiet,
+it has been because it has drawn back like the tiger in order to make
+the greater bound.
+
+One of the causes why some are laying aside all old spiritualism,
+romance and sentiment, is that their realisation takes up too much
+time, and Science, which is the soul of business, seeks in all things
+brevity and directness. It is probable that the phrase, "but to the
+point," has been oftener repeated during the past few years, than it
+ever was before, since Time begun, of which directness I shall have
+more to say anon.
+
+And this is the end to which these remarks on the _fin-de-siècle_ were
+written, to lay stress upon the fact that with the year Nineteen
+Hundred we shall begin a century during which civilized mankind will
+attain its majority and become _manly_, doing that which is right
+as a man should, _because it is right_ and for no other reason, and
+shunning wrong for as good cause. For while man is a child he behaves
+well, or misbehaves, for _reasons_ such as the fear of punishment or
+hope of reward, but in a manly code no reasons are necessary but only
+a persuasion or conviction that anything is right or wrong, and a
+principle which is as the earth unto a seed.
+
+For as the world is going on, or getting to be, it is very evident
+that as it is popularly said, "he who will tell a lie will generally
+not hesitate to commit perjury," so he who cannot be really honest,
+_per se_, without being sustained by principle based only on tradition
+and the opinion of others, is a poor creature, whose morality or
+honesty is in fact merely theatrical, or acted, to satisfy certain
+conditions or exigencies from which he were better freed.
+
+This spirit of scientific directness, and economy of thought and
+trouble by making the principle of integrity the basis of all forms,
+and cutting all ethical theories down to "be good because you
+_ought_," is rapidly astonishing us with another marvellous fact which
+it illustrates, namely, that as in this axiom--as in man himself--
+there are latent undiscovered powers, so in a thousand other
+sayings, or things known to us all, used by us all, and regarded as
+common-place, there are astounding novelties and capacities as yet
+undreamed of. For, as very few moralists ever understood in full what
+is meant by the very much worn or hackneyed saying, "we ought to do
+what is right," so the world at large little suspects that such very
+desirable qualities as Attention, Interest, Memory and Ingenuity, have
+that within them which renders them far more attainable by man than
+has ever been supposed. Even the great problem of Happiness itself, as
+really being only one of a relative state of mind, may be solved or
+reached by some far simpler or more direct method than any thinker has
+ever suggested.
+
+It all depends on exertion of the _Will_. There are in this world a
+certain number of advanced thinkers who, if they knew how to develope
+the _Will_ which exists in them, could bring this reform to pass in an
+incredibly short time. That is to say, they could place the doctrine
+or religion of Honesty for its own sake so boldly and convincingly
+before the world that its future would be assured. Now the man who can
+develope his will, has it in his power not only to control his moral
+nature to any extent, but also to call into action or realize very
+extraordinary states of mind, that is, faculties, talents or abilities
+which he has never suspected to be within his reach. It is a
+stupendous thought; yes, one so great that from the beginning of time
+to the present day no sage or poet has ever grasped it in its full
+extent, and yet is is a very literal truth, that there lie hidden
+within us all, as in a sealed-up spiritual casket, or like the
+bottled-up _djinn_ in the Arab tale, innumerable Powers or
+Intelligences, some capable of bestowing peace or calm, others of
+giving Happiness, or inspiring creative genius, energy and
+perseverance. All that Man has ever attributed to an Invisible World
+without, lies, in fact, within him, and the magic key which will
+confer the faculty of sight and the power to conquer is the _Will_.
+
+It has always been granted that it is a marvellously good thing to
+have a strong will, or a determined or resolute mind, and great has
+been the writing thereon. I have by me the last book on the subject,
+in which the faculty is enthusiastically praised, and the reader is
+told through all the inflexions of sentiment, that he _ought_ to
+assert his Will, to be vigorous in mind, _etcetera_, but unfortunately
+the How to do it is utterly wanting.
+
+It will be generally admitted by all readers that this _How to do it_
+has been always sought in grandly heroic or sublimely vigorous
+methods of victory over self. The very idea of being resolute, brave,
+persevering or stubborn, awakens in us all thoughts of conflict or
+dramatic self-conquering. But it may be far more effectively attained
+in a much easier way, even as the ant climbed to the top of the tree
+and gnawed away and brought down the golden fruit unto which the
+man could not rise. There are _easy_ methods, and by far the most
+effective, of awakening the Will; methods within the reach of every
+one, and which if practised, will lead on _ad infinitum_, to
+marvellous results.
+
+The following chapters will be devoted to setting forth, I trust
+clearly and explicitly, how by an extremely easy process, or
+processes, the will may be, by any person of ordinary intelligence and
+perseverance, awakened and developed to any extent, and with it many
+other faculties or states of mind. I can remember once being told by a
+lady that she thought there ought to be erected in all great cities
+temples to the Will, so as to encourage mankind to develop the
+divine faculty. It has since occurred to me that an equal number of
+school-houses, however humble, in which the art of mastering the Will
+by easy processes _seriatim_ should be taught, would be far more
+useful. Such a school-house is this work, and it is the hope of the
+author that all who enter, so to speak, or read it, will learn
+therefrom as much as he himself and others have done by studying its
+principles.
+
+To recapitulate or make clear in brief what I intend, I would say
+_Firstly_, that the advanced thinkers at this end of the century,
+weary of all the old indirect methods of teaching Morality, are
+beginning to enquire, since Duty is an indispensable condition,
+whether it is not just as well to do what is right, _because_ it is
+right, as for any other reason? _Secondly_, that this spirit of
+directness, the result of Evolution, is beginning to show itself in
+many other directions, as we may note by the great popularity of
+the answer to the question, "How not to worry," which is briefly,
+_Don't! Thirdly_, that enlightened by this spirit of scientific
+straightforwardness, man is ceasing to seek for mental truth by means
+of roundabout metaphysical or conventional ethical methods (based on
+old traditions and mysticism), and is looking directly in himself,
+or materially, for what Immaterialism or Idealism has really never
+explained at all--his discoveries having been within a few years much
+more valuable that all that _a priori_ philosophy or psychology ever
+yielded since the beginning. And, finally, that the leading faculties
+or powers of the mind, such as Will, Memory, the Constructive
+faculty, and all which are subject to them, instead of being entirely
+mysterious "gifts," or inspirations bestowed on only a very few to any
+liberal extent, are in all, and may be developed grandly and richly by
+direct methods which are moreover extremely easy, and which are in
+accordance with the spirit of the age, being the legitimate results of
+Evolution and Science.
+
+And, that I may not be misunderstood, I would say that the doctrine of
+Duty agrees perfectly with every form of religion--a man may be Roman
+Catholic, Church of England, Presbyterian, Agnostic, or what he will;
+and, if a form aids him in the least to be _sincerely honest_, it
+would be a pity for him to be without it. Truly there are degrees in
+forms, and where I live in Italy I am sorry to see so many abuses or
+errors in them. But to know and do what is right, when understood, is
+recognising God as nearly as man can know him, and to do this
+perfectly we require _Will_. It is the true _Logos_.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+ATTENTION AND INTEREST.
+
+    "To the fairies, Determination and Good-Will, all things are
+    possible."--_The Man of the Family, by_ C. REID.
+
+It happened recently to me, as I write, to see one afternoon lying on
+the side walk in the Via Calzaioli in Florence what I thought was a
+common iron screw, about three inches in length, which looked as if it
+had been dropped by some workman. And recalling the superstition that
+it is lucky to find such an object, or a nail, I picked it up, when to
+my astonishment I found that it was a silver pencil case, but made to
+exactly resemble a screw. Hundreds of people had, perhaps, seen it,
+thought they knew all about it, or what it was, and then passed it by,
+little suspecting its real value.
+
+There is an exact spiritual parallel for this incident or parable of
+the screw-pencil in innumerable ideas, at which well-nigh everybody in
+the hurrying stream of life has glanced, yet no one has ever examined,
+until someone with a poetic spirit of curiosity, or inspired by quaint
+superstition, pauses, picks one up, looks into it, and finds that It
+has ingenious use, and is far more than it appeared to be. Thus, if I
+declare that by special attention to a subject, earnestly turning it
+over and thinking deeply into it, very remarkable results may be
+produced, as regards result in knowledge, every human being will
+assent to it as the veriest truism ever uttered; in the fullest belief
+that he or she assuredly knows all _that_.
+
+Yet it was not until within a very few years that I discovered that
+this idea, which seemed so commonplace, had within it mysteries and
+meanings which were stupendously original or remarkable. I found that
+there was a certain intensity or power of attention, far surpassing
+ordinary observation, which we may, if we will, summon up and _force_
+on ourselves, just as we can by special effort see or hear far better
+at times than usually. The Romans show by such a phrase as _animum
+adjicere_, and numerous proverbs and synonyms, that they had learned
+to bend their attention energetically. They were good listeners,
+therefore keen observers.
+
+Learning to control or strengthen the Will is closely allied to
+developing Attention and Interest, and for reasons which will soon be
+apparent, I will first consider the latter, since they constitute a
+preparation or basis for the former. And as preliminary, I will
+consider the popular or common error to the effect that everyone has
+alloted to him or to her just so much of the faculty of attention or
+interest as it has pleased Nature to give--the same being true as
+regards Memory, Will, the Constructive or Artistic abilities, and so
+on--when in very truth and on the warrant of Experience all may be
+increased _ad infinitum_. Therefore, we find ignorant men complacently
+explaining their indifference to art and literature or culture on the
+ground that they take no interest in such subjects, as if interest
+were a special heaven-sent gift. Who has not heard the remark, "He or
+she takes such an _interest_ in so many things--I wish that I could."
+Or, as I heard it very recently expressed, "It must be delightful to
+be able to interest one's self in something at any time." Which was
+much the same as the expression of the Pennsylvania German girl, "_Ach
+Gott_! I wisht I hat genius und could make a pudden!"
+
+No one can be expected to take an interest at once and by mere will in
+any subject, but where an earnest and serious Attention has been
+directed to it, Interest soon follows. Hence it comes that those who
+deliberately train themselves in Society after the precept enforced by
+all great writers of social maxims to listen politely and patiently,
+are invariably rewarded by acquiring at last shrewd intelligence, as
+is well known to diplomatists. That mere stolid patience subdues
+impatience sounds like a dull common-place saying, but it is a silver
+pencil disguised as an iron screw; there is a deep subtlety hidden in
+it, if it be allowed with a little intelligence, _forethought_, and
+determination towards a purpose. Let us now consider the mechanical
+and easy processes by which attention may be awakened.
+
+According to ED. VON HARTMANN, Attention is either spontaneous or
+reflex. The voluntary fixing our mind upon, or choosing an idea,
+image, or subject, is _spontaneous attention_, but when the idea for
+some reason impresses itself upon us then we have enforced, or _reflex
+attention_. That is simply to say, there is active or passive
+observation--the things which we seek or which come to us unsought.
+And the "seeking for," or spontaneous action can be materially aided
+and made persevering, if before we begin the search or set about
+devoting Attention to anything, we pause, as it were, to determine or
+resolve that we _will_ be thorough, and not leave off until we shall
+have mastered it. For strange as it may seem, the doing this actually
+has in most cases a positive, and very often a remarkable result, as
+the reader may very easily verify for himself. This Forethought is far
+more easily awakened, or exerted, than Attention itself, but it
+prepares it, just as Attention prepares Interest.
+
+Attention is closely allied to Memory; when we would give attention to
+a subject for continued consideration, we must "memorize" it, or it
+will vanish. Involuntary memory excited by different causes often
+compels us to attend to many subjects whether we will or not. Everyone
+has been haunted with images or ideas even unto being tormented by
+them; there are many instances in which the Imagination has given them
+objective form, and they have appeared visibly to the patient. These
+haunting ideas, disagreeable repetitions or obstinate continuances,
+assume an incredible variety of forms, and enter in many strange ways
+into life. Monomania or the being possessed with one idea to the
+exclusion of others, is a form of overstrained attention, sustained by
+memory. It is _enforced_.
+
+Mere repetition of anything to almost anybody, will produce remarkable
+results; or a kind of Hypnotism Causing the patient to yield to what
+becomes an irresistible power. Thus it is said that perpetual dropping
+will wear away stones. Dr. JAMES R. COCKE in his "Hypnotism," in
+illustrating this, speaks of a man who did not want to sign a note, he
+knew that it was folly to do so, but yielded from having been "over
+persuaded." I have read a story in which a man was thus simply
+_talked_ into sacrificing his property. The great power latent in this
+form of suggestiveness is well known to knaves in America where it is
+most employed. This is the whole secret of the value of advertising.
+People yield to the mere repetition in time. Attention and Interest
+may in this way be self-induced from repetition.
+
+It is true that an image or idea may be often repeated to minds which
+do not think or reflect, without awakening attention; _per contra_,
+the least degree of thought in a vast majority of cases forms a
+nucleus, or beginning, which may easily be increased to an indefinite
+extent. A very little exercise of the Will suffices in most cases to
+fix the attention on a subject, and how this can be done will be shown
+in another chapter. But in many cases Attention is attracted with
+little or no voluntary effort. On this fact is based the truth that
+when or where it is desired, Attention and Interest may be awakened
+with great ease by a simple process.
+
+It may be remarked on the subject of repetition of images or ideas,
+that a vast proportion of senseless superstitions, traditions or
+customs, which no one can explain, originate in this way, and that in
+fact what we call _habit_ (which ranks as second nature) is only
+another form or result of involuntary attention and the unconsciously
+giving a place in the memory to what we have heard.
+
+From the simple fact that even a man of plain common-sense and strong
+will may be driven to sleeplessness, or well nigh to madness, by the
+haunting presence of some wretched trifle, some mere jingle or rhyme,
+or idle memory, we may infer that we have here a great power which
+_must_ in some way be capable of being led to great or useful results
+by some very easy process. I once wrote a sketch, never completed, in
+which I depicted a man of culture who, having lost an old manuscript
+book which he had regarded in a light, semi-incredulous manner as a
+_fetish_, or amulet, on which his luck depended, began to be seriously
+concerned, and awaking to the fact, deliberately cultivated his alarm
+as a psychological study, till he found himself, even with his eyes
+wide open as an observer in terrible fear, or a semi-monomaniac. The
+recovery of his lost charm at once relieved him. This was a diversion
+of Attention for a deliberate purpose, which might have been varied
+_ad infinitum_ to procure very useful results. But I have myself known
+a man in the United States, who, having lost--he being an actor or
+performer--a certain article of theatrical properties on which he
+believed "luck" depended, lost all heart and hope, and fell into a
+decline, from which he never recovered. In this, as in all such cases,
+it was not so much conviction or reason which influenced the sufferer
+as the mere effect of Attention often awakened till it had become what
+is known as a fixed idea.
+
+A deliberate reflection on what I have here advanced can hardly fail
+to make it clear to any reader that if he really desires to take an
+interest in any subject, it is possible to do so, because Nature has
+placed in every mind vast capacity for attention or fixing ideas, and
+where the Attention is fixed, Interest, by equally easy process, may
+always be induced to follow. And note that these preliminary
+preparations should invariably be as elementary and easy as possible,
+this being a condition which it is impossible to exaggerate. In a vast
+majority of cases people who would fain be known as taking an interest
+in Art begin at the wrong end, or in the most difficult manner
+possible, by running through galleries where they only acquire a
+superficial knowledge of results, and learn at best how to _talk_
+showily about what they have skimmed. Now to this end a good article
+in a cyclopædia, or a small treatise like that of TAINE'S "Æsthetic"
+thoroughly read and re-read, till it be really mastered, and then
+verified by study of a very few good pictures in a single collection,
+will do more to awaken sincere _interest_ than the loose ranging
+through all the exhibitions in the world. I have read in many novels
+thrilling descriptions of the effect and results when all the glories
+of the Louvre or Vatican first burst upon some impassioned and
+unsophisticated youth, who from that moment found himself an Artist--
+but I still maintain that it would have been a hundred times better
+for him had his Attention and Interest been previously attracted to a
+few pictures, and his mind accustomed to reflect on them.
+
+Be the subject in which we would take an interest artistic or
+scientific, literary or social, the best way to begin herewith is to
+carefully read the simplest and easiest account of it which we can
+obtain, in order that we may know just exactly what it is, or its
+definition. And this done, let the student at once, while the memory
+is fresh in mind, follow it up by other research or reading,
+observations or inquiries, on the same subject, for three books read
+together on anything will profit more than a hundred at long
+intervals. In fact, a great deal of broken, irregular or disjointed
+reading is often as much worse than none at all, as a little coherent
+study is advantageous.
+
+Many people would very willingly take an interest in many subjects if
+they knew how. It is a melancholy thing to see a man retired from
+business with literally nothing to do but fritter away his time on
+nothings when he might be employed at something absorbing and useful.
+But they hesitate to _act_ because, as is the rule in life, they see
+everything from its most difficult and repulsive side. There is no man
+who could not easily take an intelligent interest in Art in some form,
+but I venture to say that a majority of even educated people who had
+never taken up the subject would be appalled at it in their secret
+hearts, or distrust its "use" or their own capacity to master it. Or
+again, many put no faith in easy manuals to begin with, believing, in
+their ignorance, that a mere collection of rudiments cannot have much
+in it. We are all surrounded by thousands of subjects in which we
+might all take an interest, and do good work, if we would, selecting
+one, give it a little attention, and by easy process proceed to learn
+it. As it is, in general society the man or woman who has any special
+pursuit, accomplishment, or real interest for leisure hours, beyond
+idle gossip and empty time-killing, is a great exception. And yet I
+sincerely believe that in perhaps a majority of cases there is a
+sincere desire to do something, which is killed by simple ignorance of
+the fact that with a very little trouble indeed interest in something
+is within the easy reach of all.
+
+I have dwelt on this subject that the reader may be induced to reflect
+on the fact, firstly, that if he wishes to learn how to develop his
+Will and strengthen it, it is absolutely necessary to take an
+_interest_ in it. I beg him to consider how this art of acquiring
+attention and interest has been, or is, obscured in most minds, and
+the difficulties of acquiring it, exaggerated. Secondly, I would point
+out that the method of process for making a Will is so closely allied
+to that laid down for Attention that it will seem like a deduction
+from it, both being allied to what may claim to be an original Art of
+Memory, to which I shall devote a chapter in its due place.
+
+For as I hope clearly to prove it is an easy matter to create a strong
+will, or strengthen that which we have, to a marvelous extent, yet he
+who would do this must first give his _Attention_ firmly and fixedly
+to his intent or want, for which purpose it is absolutely necessary
+that he shall first _know his own mind regarding what he means to do_,
+and therefore meditate upon it, not dreamily, or vaguely, but
+earnestly. And this done he must assure himself that he takes a real
+interest in the subject, since if such be the case I may declare that
+his success is well nigh certain.
+
+And here it may be observed that if beginners, _before_ taking up
+any pursuit, would calmly and deliberately consider the virtues of
+Attention and Interest, and how to acquire them, or bring them to bear
+on the proposed study or work, we should hear much less of those who
+had "begun German" without learning it, or who failed in any other
+attempt. For there would in very truth be few failures in life if
+those who undertake anything first gave to it long and careful
+consideration by leading observation into every detail, and, in fact,
+becoming familiar with the idea, and not trusting to acquire interest
+and perseverance in the future. Nine-tenths of the difficulty and
+doubt or ill-at-easeness which beginners experience, giving them the
+frightened feeling of "a cat in a strange garret," and which often
+inspires them to retreat, is due entirely to not having begun by
+training the Attention or awakened an Interest in the subject.
+
+It has often seemed to me that the reason for failure, or the ultimate
+failing to attain success, in a vast number of "Faith cures," is
+simply because the people who seek them, being generally of a gushing,
+imaginative nature, are lacking in deep reflection, application, or
+earnest attention. They are quick to take hold, and as quick to let
+go. Therefore, they are of all others the least likely to seriously
+reflect _beforehand_ on the necessity of preparing the mind to
+patience and application. Now it seems a simple thing to say, and it
+is therefore all the harder to understand, that before going to work
+at anything which will require perseverance and repeated effort we can
+facilitate the result amazingly by thinking over and anticipating it,
+so that when the weariness comes it will not be as a discouraging
+novelty, but as something of course, even as a fisherman accepts his
+wet feet, or the mosquitoes. But how this disposition to grow weary of
+work or to become inattentive may be literally and very completely
+conjured away will be more fully explained in another chapter. For
+this let it suffice to say that earnest _forethought_, and the more of
+it the better, bestowed on aught which we intend to undertake, is a
+thing rarely attempted in the real sense in which I mean it, but
+which, when given, eases every burden and lightens every toil.
+
+Mere _forethought_ repeated is the easiest of mental efforts. Yet even
+a little of it asserted before undertaking a task will wonderfully
+facilitate the work.
+
+"Hypnotism," says Dr. JAMES R. COCKE, "can be used to train the
+attention of persons habitually inattentive." But, in fact,
+forethinking in any way is the minor or initiatory stage of
+Suggestion. Both are gradual persuasion of the nervous system into
+habit.
+
+And on this text a marvelous sermon could be preached, which, if
+understood, would sink deeply into every heart, inspiring some while
+alarming others, but greatly cheering the brave. And it is this.
+There are millions of people who suffer from irritability, want of
+self-control, loquacity, evil in many forms, or nerves, who would fain
+control themselves and stop it all. Moralists think that for this it
+is enough to convince their reason. But this rarely avails. A man may
+_know_ that he is wrong, yet _not_ be able to reform. Now, what he
+wants is to have his attention fixed long enough to form a new habit.
+Find out how this can be done, and it may in many cases be the
+simplest and most mechanical thing in the world to cure him. Men have
+been frightened by a scarecrow into thorough repentance. "A question
+of a few vibrations of ether, more or less, makes for us all the
+difference between perception and non-perception," or between sight
+and blindness. Accustom any such moral invalid to being Suggested or
+willed a few times into a calm, self-controlled state and the habit
+may be formed.
+
+And to those who doubt, and perhaps would sneer, I have only to say
+_try it_. It will do them good.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+SELF-SUGGESTION.
+
+    "In thy soul, as in a sleep,
+    Gods or fiends are hidden deep,
+    Awful forms of mystery,
+    And spirits, all unknown to thee:
+    Guard with prayer, and heed with care,
+    Ere thou wak'st them from their lair!"
+
+The records of the human race, however written, show that Man has
+always regarded himself as possessed of latent faculties, or
+capacities of a mysterious or extraordinary nature: that is to say,
+transcending in scope or power anything within the range of ordinary
+conscious mental capacity. Such for example is the Dream, in which
+there occurs such a mingling of madness with mysterious intuitions or
+memories that it is no wonder it has always been regarded as allied to
+supernatural intelligence. And almost as general as the faith in
+dreams as being _weird_ (in the true sense of the much-abused word) or
+"strangely prophetic," is that in _fascination_, or that one human
+being can exercise over another by a mystic will and power a strong
+influence, even to the making the patient do whatever the actor or
+superior requires.
+
+However interesting it may be, it is quite needless for the purpose
+which I have in view to sketch the history of occultism, magic or
+sorcery from the earliest times to the present day. Fascination was,
+however, its principal power, and this was closely allied to, or the
+parent of, what is now known as Suggestion in Hypnotism. But ancient
+magic in its later days certainly became very much mixed with
+magnetism in many phases, and it is as an off-shoot of Animal
+Magnetism that Hypnotism is now regarded, which is to be regretted,
+since it is in reality radically different from it, as several of the
+later writers of the subject are beginning to protest. The definition
+and differences of the two are as follows: Animal Magnetism, first
+formulized by ANTON MESMER from a mass of more or less confused
+observations by earlier writers, was the doctrine that there is a
+magnetic fluid circulating in all created forms, capable of flux and
+reflux, which is specially active or potent in the human body. Its
+action may be concentrated or increased by the human will, so as to
+work wonders, one of which is to cause a person who is magnetized by
+another to obey the operator, this obedience being manifested in many
+very strange ways.
+
+Still there were thousands of physiologists or men of science who
+doubted the theory of the action or existence of Animal Magnetism, and
+the vital fluid, as declared by the Mesmerists, and they especially
+distrusted the marvels narrated of clairvoyance, which was too like
+the thaumaturgy or wonder-working attributed to the earlier magicians.
+Finally, the English scientist, BRAID, determined that it was not a
+magnetic fluid which produced the recognized results, "but that they
+were of purely subjective origin, depending on the nervous system of
+the one acted on." That is to say, in ordinary language, it was "all
+imagination"--but here, as in many other cases, a very comprehensive
+and apparently common-sensible word is very far from giving an
+adequate or correct idea of the matter in question--for what the
+imagination itself really is in this relation is a mystery which is
+very difficult to solve. I have heard of an old French gentleman
+who, when in a circus, expressed an opinion that there was nothing
+remarkable in the wonderful performances of an acrobat on a
+tight-rope, or trapeze. "_Voyez-vous monsieur_" he exclaimed;
+"_Ce n'est que la mathématique--rien que ca_!" And only the
+Imagination--"all your Imagination" is still the universal solvent in
+Philistia for all such problems.
+
+Hypnotism reduced to its simplest principle is, like the old
+Fascination, the action of mind upon mind, or of a _mind upon itself_,
+in such a manner as to produce a definite belief, action, or result.
+It is generally effected by first causing a sleep, as is done in
+animal magnetism, during which the subject implicitly obeys the will
+of the operator, or performs whatever he suggests. Hence arose the
+term Suggestion, implying that what the patient takes into his head to
+do, or does, must first be submitted to his own mental action.
+
+Very remarkable results are thus achieved. If the operator, having put
+a subject to sleep (which he can do in most cases, if he be clever,
+and the experiments are renewed often enough), will say or suggest to
+him that on the next day, or the one following, or, in fact, any
+determined time, he shall visit a certain friend, or dance a jig, or
+wear a given suit of clothes, or the like, he will, when the hypnotic
+sleep is over, have forgotten all about it. But when the hour
+indicated for his call or dance, or change of garment arrives, he will
+be haunted by such an irresistible feeling that he _must_ do it; that
+in most cases it will infallibly be done. It is no exaggeration to say
+that this has been experimented on, tested and tried thousands of
+times with success and incredible ingenuity in all kinds of forms and
+devices. It would seem as if spontaneous attention went to sleep, but,
+like an alarm clock, awoke at the fixed hour, and then _reflex_
+action.
+
+Again--and this constitutes the chief subject of all I here discuss--
+we can _suggest_ to ourselves so as to produce the same results. It
+seems to be a curious law of Nature that if we put an image or idea
+into our minds with the preconceived determination or intent that it
+shall recur or return at a certain time, or in a certain way, after
+sleeping, it will _do so_. And here I beg the reader to recall what I
+said regarding the resolving to begin any task, that it can be greatly
+aided by even a brief pre-determination. In all cases it is a kind of
+self-suggestion. There would seem to be some magic virtue in sleep, as
+if it preserved and ripened our wishes, hence the injunction in the
+proverbs of all languages to sleep over a resolve, or subject--and
+that "night brings counsel."
+
+It is not necessary that this sleep shall be _hypnotic_, or what is
+called hypnotic slumber, since, according to very good authorities,
+there is grave doubt as to whether the so-called condition is a sleep
+at all. _Hypnotism_ is at any rate a suspension of the faculties,
+resembling sleep, caused by the will and act of the operator. He
+effects this by fixing the eyes on the patient, making passes as in
+Mesmerism, giving a glass of water, or simply commanding sleep. And
+this, as Dr. COCKE has experienced and described, can be produced to a
+degree by anyone on himself. But as I have verified by experiment, if
+we, after retiring to rest at night, will calmly yet firmly resolve to
+do something on the following day, or be as much as possible in a
+certain state of mind, and if we then fall into ordinary natural
+sleep, just as usual, we may on waking have forgotten all about it,
+yet will none the less feel the impulse and carry out the
+determination.
+
+What gives authority for this assertion, for which I am indebted
+originally to no suggestion or reading, is the statement found in
+several authorities that a man can "hypnotize" another without putting
+him to sleep; that is, make him unconsciously follow suggestion.
+
+I had read in works on hypnotism of an endless number of experiments,
+how patients were made to believe that they were monkeys or madmen, or
+umbrellas, or criminals, women or men, _à volonté_, but in few of them
+did I find that it had ever occurred to anybody to turn this wonderful
+power of developing the intellect to any permanent benefit, or to
+increasing the moral sense. Then it came to my mind since
+Self-Suggestion was possible that if I would resolve to work _all_ the
+next day; that is, apply myself to literary or artistic labor without
+once feeling fatigue, and succeed, it would be a marvelous thing for
+a man of my age. And so it befell that by making an easy beginning I
+brought it to pass to perfection. What I mean by an easy beginning
+is not to will or resolve _too_ vehemently, but to simply and very
+gently, yet assiduously, impress the idea on the mind _so as to fall
+asleep while thinking of it as a thing to be_. My next step was to
+_will_ that I should, all the next  day, be free from any nervous or
+mental worry, or preserve a hopeful, calm, or well-balanced state of
+mind. This led to many minute and extremely curious experiences and
+observations. That the imperturbable or calm state of mind promptly
+set in was undeniable, but it often behaved, like the Angel in H. G.
+Wells' novel, "The Wonderful Visit," as if somewhat frightened at, or
+of, with, or by its new abode, and no wonder, for it was indeed a
+novel guest, and the goblins of "Worry and Tease, Fidget and Fear,"
+who had hitherto been allowed to riot about and come and go at their
+own sweet mischievous wills, were ill-pleased at being made to keep
+quiet by this new lady of the manor. And indeed no mere state of
+mind, however well maintained, can resist everything, and the
+mildest mannered man may cut a throat under great provocation. I
+had my lapses, but withal I was simply astonished to find how, by
+perseverance, habitual calm not only grew on me, but how decidedly it
+increased. I most assuredly have experienced it to such a degree as to
+marvel that the method is not more employed as a cure for nervous
+suffering and insomnia.
+
+But far beyond perseverance in labor, or the inducing a calmer and
+habitually restful state of mind, was the Awakening of the Will, which
+I found as interesting as any novel or drama, or series of active
+adventures which I have ever read or experienced. I can remember when
+most deeply engaged in it, re-reading DE QUINCEY'S "Confessions of an
+Opium Eater." I took it by chance on my birthday, August 15, which was
+also his, and as I read I longed from my very heart that he were
+alive, that I might consult with him on the marvelous Fairyland which
+it seemed to me had been discovered--and then I remembered how Dr.
+TUCKEY, the leading English hypnotist, had once told me how easy it
+was for his science to completely cure the mania for opium and other
+vices.
+
+And this is the discovery: Resolve before going to sleep that if there
+be anything whatever for you to do which requires Will or Resolution,
+be it to undertake repulsive or hard work or duty, to face a
+disagreeable person, to fast, or make a speech, to say "No" to
+anything; in short, to keep up to the mark or make any kind of effort
+that _you_ WILL _do it_--as calmly and unthinkingly as may be. Do not
+desire to do it sternly or forcibly, or in spite of obstacles--but
+simply and coolly make up your mind to _do it_--and it will much more
+likely be done. And it is absolutely true--_crede experto_--that if
+persevered in, this willing yourself to will by easy impulse unto
+impulse given, will lead to marvelous and most satisfactory results.
+
+There is one thing of which the young or oversanguine or heedless
+should be warned. Do not expect from self-suggestion, nor anything
+else in this life, prompt perfection, or the _maximum_ of success. You
+may pre-determine to be cheerful, but if you are very susceptible to
+bad weather, and the day should be dismal, or you should hear of the
+death of a friend, or a great disaster of any kind, some depression of
+spirits _must_ ensue. On the other hand, note well that forming habit
+by frequent repetition of willing yourself to equanimity and
+cheerfulness, and also to the banishing of repulsive images when they
+come, will infallibly result in a very much happier state of mind. As
+soon as you actually begin to realize that you are acquiring such
+control remember that is the golden hour--and redouble your efforts.
+_Perseverando vinces_.
+
+I have, I trust, thus far in a few words explained to the reader the
+rationale of a system of mental discipline based on the will, and how
+by a very easy process the latter may, like Attention and Interest, be
+gradually awakened. As I have before declared, everyone would like to
+have a strong or vigorous will, and there is a library of books or
+sermons in some form, exhorting the weak to awaken and fortify their
+wills or characters, but all represent it as a hard and vigorous
+process, akin to "storm and stress," battle and victory, and none
+really tell us how to go about it. I have indeed only indicated that
+it is by self-suggestion that the first steps are taken. Let us now
+consider the early beginning of the art or science ere discussing
+further developments.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+WILL DEVELOPMENT.
+
+    "Ce domaine de la Suggestion est immense. Il n'y a pas un
+    seul fait de notre vie mentale qui ne puisse être reproduit et
+    exageré artificiellement par ce moyen."--_Binet et Frère, Le
+    Magnetisme Animal_.
+
+Omitting the many vague indications in earlier writers, as well as
+those drawn from ancient Oriental sources, we may note that
+POMPONATIUS or POMPONAZZO, an Italian, born in 1462, declared in a
+work entitled _De naturalium effectuum admirandorum Causis seu de
+Incantationibus_, that to cure disease it was necessary to use a
+strong will, and that the patient should have a vigorous imagination
+and much faith in the _praê cantator_. PARACELSUS asserted the same
+thing in many passages directly and indirectly. He regarded medicine
+as magic and the physician as a wizard who should by a powerful will
+act on the imagination of the patient. But from some familiarity with
+the works of PARACELSUS--the first folio of the first full edition is
+before me as I write--I would say that it would be hard to declare
+what his marvelous mind did _not_ anticipate in whatever was allied to
+medicine and natural philosophy. Thus I have found that long before
+VAN HELMONT, who has the credit of the discovery, PARACELSUS knew how
+to prepare silicate of soda, or water-glass.
+
+Hypnotism as practiced at the present day, and with regard to its
+common results, was familiar to JOHANN JOSEPH GASSNER, a priest in
+Suabia, of whom LOUIS FIGUIER writes as follows in his _Histoire du
+Merveilleux dans les Temps Modernes_, published in 1860:
+
+"GASSNER, like the Englishman VALENTINE GREAT-RAKES, believed himself
+called by divine inspiration to cure diseases. According to the
+precept of proper charity he began at home--that is to say on himself.
+After being an invalid for five or six years, and consulting, all in
+vain, many doctors, and taking their remedies all for naught, the idea
+seized him that such an obstinate malady as his must have some
+supernatural evil origin, or in other words, that he was possessed by
+a demon.
+
+"Therefore he conjured this devil of a disorder, in the name of Jesus
+Christ to leave him--so it left, and the good GASSNER has put it on
+record that for sixteen years after he enjoyed perfect health and
+never had occasion for any remedy, spiritual or otherwise.
+
+"This success made him reflect whether all maladies could not be cured
+by exorcism . . . The experiment which he tried on the invalids of his
+parish were so successful that his renown soon opened through all
+Suabia, and the regions roundabout. Then he began to travel, being
+called for everywhere."
+
+GASSNER was so successful that at Ratisbon he had, it is said, 6,000
+patients of all ranks encamped in tents. He cured by simply touching
+with his hands. But that in which he appears original was that he not
+only made his patients sleep or become insensible by ordering them to
+do so but caused them to raise their arms and legs, tremble, feel any
+kind of pain, as is now done by the hypnotist. "'In a young lady of
+good family' he caused laughter and weeping, stiffness of the limbs,
+absence of sight and hearing, and _anæsthesia_ so as to make the pulse
+beat at his will."
+
+M. FIGUIER and others do not seem to have been aware that a century
+before GASSNER, a PIETRO PIPERNO of Naples published a book in which
+there was a special exorcism or conjurations, as he calls them, for
+every known disorder, and that this possibly gave the hint for a
+system of cure to the Suabian. I have a copy of this work, which is
+extremely rare, it having been put on the Roman prohibited list, and
+otherwise suppressed. But GASSNER himself was suppressed ere long,
+because the Emperor, Joseph II, cloistered--that is to say, imprisoned
+him for life in the Monastery of Pondorf, near Ratisbon. One must not
+be too good or Apostle-like or curative--even in the Church, which
+discourages _trop de zéle_.
+
+But the general accounts of GASSNER give the impression, which has not
+been justly conveyed, that he owed his remarkable success in curing
+himself and others not to any kind of theory nor faith in magnetism,
+or in religion, so much as unconscious suggestion, aided by a powerful
+Will which increased with successes. To simply _pray_ to be cured of
+an illness, or even to be cured by prayer, was certainly no novelty to
+any Catholic or Protestant in those days. The very nature of his
+experiments in making many people perform the same feats which are now
+repeated by hypnotizers, and which formed no part of a religious cure,
+indicate clearly that he was an observer of strange phenomena or a
+natural philosopher. I have seen myself an Egyptian juggler in Boulak
+perform many of these as professed _tricks_, and I do not think it was
+from any imitation of French clairvoyance. He also pretended that it
+was by an exertion of his Will, aided by magic forms which he read
+from a book, that he made two boys obey him. It was probably for these
+tricks which savored of magic that GASSNER was "retired."
+
+Having in the previous pages indicated the general method by which
+Will may be awakened and strengthened, that the reader may as soon as
+possible understand the simple principle of action, I will now discuss
+more fully the important topic of influencing and improving our
+mental powers by easily induced Attention, or attention guided by
+simple Foresight, and pre-resolution aided by simple _auto_ or
+self-suggestion. And I believe, with reason, that by these very simple
+processes (which have not hitherto been tested that I am aware of by
+any writer in the light in which I view them); the Will, which is the
+power of all powers and the mainspring of the mind, can be by means of
+persuasion increased or strengthened _ad infinitum_.
+
+It is evident that GASSNER'S method partakes in equal proportions
+of the principles of the well-known "Faith Cure," and that of the
+Will, or of the passive and the active. What is wanting in it is
+self-knowledge and the very easily awakened _forethought_ which, when
+continued, leads to far greater and much more certain results.
+Forethought costs little exertion: it is so calmly active that the
+weakest minds can employ it; but wisely employed it can set tremendous
+force in action.
+
+As regards GASSNER, it is admissible that many more cures of disease
+can be effected by what some vaguely call the Imagination, and others
+Mental Action, than is generally supposed. Science now proves every
+year, more and more, that diseases are allied, and that they can be
+reached through the nervous system. In the celebrated correspondence
+between KANT and HUFELAND there is almost a proof that incipient gout
+can be cured by will or determination. But if a merely temporary or
+partial cure can _really_ be obtained, or a cessation from suffering,
+if the ill be really _curable_ at all, it is but reasonable to assume
+that by continuing the remedy or system, the relief will or must
+correspond to the degree of "faith" in the patient. And this would
+infallibly be the case if the sufferer _had_ the will. But
+unfortunately the very people who are most frequently relieved are
+those of the impulsive imaginative kind, who "soon take hold and soon
+let go," or who are merely attracted by a sense of wonder which soon
+loses its charm, and so they react.
+
+Therefore if we cannot only awaken the Will, but also keep it alive,
+it is very possible that we may not only effect great and thorough
+cures of diseases, but also induce whatever state of mind we please.
+This may be effected by the action of the minds or wills of others on
+our own, which influence can be gradually transferred from the
+operator to the patient himself, as when in teaching a boy to swim the
+master holds the pupil up until the latter finds that he is
+unconsciously moving by his own exertion.
+
+What the fickle and "nervous" patients of any kind need is to have the
+idea kept before their minds continuously. They generally rush into a
+novelty without Forethought. Therefore they should be trained or urged
+to forethink or reflect seriously and often on the cure or process
+proposed. This is the setting of the nail, which is to be driven in by
+suggestion. The other method is where we act entirely for ourselves
+both as regards previous preparation and subsequent training.
+
+I here repeat, since the whole object of the book is that certain
+facts shall be deeply and _clearly_ impressed on the reader's mind,
+that if we _will_ that a certain idea shall recur to us on the
+following, or any other day, and if we bring the mind to bear upon it
+just before falling asleep, it may be forgotten when we awake, but it
+will recur to us when the time comes. This is what almost everybody
+has proved, that if we resolve to awake at a certain hour we generally
+do so; if not the first time, after a few experiments, _apropos_ of
+which I would remark that "no one should ever expect full success from
+any first experiment."
+
+Now it is certainly true that we all remember or recall certain things
+to be done at certain hours, even if we have a hundred other thoughts
+in the interval. But it would seem as if by some law which we do not
+understand Sleep or repose acted as a preserver and reviver, nay, as a
+real strengthener of Thoughts, inspiring them with a new spirit. It
+would seem, too, as if they came out of Dreamland, as the children in
+TIECK'S story did out of Fairyland, with new lives. This is, indeed, a
+beautiful conception, and I may remark that I will in another place
+comment on the curious fact that we can add to and intensify ideas by
+thus passing them through our minds in sleep.
+
+Just by the same process as that which enables us to awake at a given
+hour, and simply by substituting other ideas for that of time, can we
+acquire the ability to bring upon ourselves pre-determined or desired
+states of mind. This is Self-Suggestion or deferred determination, be
+it with or without sleep. It becomes more certain in its result with
+every new experiment or trial. The great factor in the whole is
+perseverance or repetition. By faith we can remove mountains, by
+perseverance we can carry them away, and the two amount to precisely
+the same thing.
+
+And here be it noted what, I believe, no writer has ever before
+observed, that as perseverance depends on renewed forethought and
+reflection, so by continued practice and thought, in self-suggestion,
+the one practicing begins to find before long that his conscious will
+is acting more vigorously in his waking hours, and that he can finally
+dispense with the sleeping process.  For, in fact, when we once find
+that our will is really beginning to obey us, and inspire courage or
+indifference where we were once timid, there is no end to the
+confidence and power which may ensue.
+
+Now this is absolutely true. A man may _will_ certain things ere he
+falls asleep. This willing should not be _intense_, as the old animal
+magnetizers taught; it ought rather to be like a quiet, firm desire or
+familiarization with what we want, often gently repeated till we fall
+asleep in it. So the seeker wills or wishes that he shall, during all
+the next day, feel strong and vigorous, hopeful, energetic, cheerful,
+bold or calm or peaceful. And the result will be obtained just in
+proportion to the degree in which the command or desire has impressed
+the mind, or sunk into it.
+
+But, as I have said: Do not expect that all of this will result from a
+first trial. It may even be that those who succeed very promptly will
+be more likely to give out in the end than those who work up from
+small beginnings. The first step may very well be that of merely
+selecting some particular object and calmly or gently, yet
+determinedly directing the mind to it, to be recalled at a certain
+hoar. Repeat the experiment, if successful add to it something else.
+Violent effort is unadvisable, yet mere repetition _without thought_
+is time lost. _Think_ while willing what it is you want, _and above
+all, if you can, think with a feeling that the idea is to recur to
+you_.
+
+This acting or working two thoughts at once may be difficult for some
+readers to understand, though all writers on the brain illustrate it.
+It may be formulated thus: "I wish to remember tomorrow at four
+o'clock to visit my bookseller--bookseller's--four o'clock--four
+o'clock." But with practice the two will become as one conception.
+
+When the object of a state of mind, as, for instance, calmness all day
+long, is obtained, even partially, the operator (who must, of course,
+do all to _help himself_ to keep calm, should he remember his wish)
+will begin to believe in himself sincerely, or in the power of his
+will to compel a certain state of mind. This won, all may be won, by
+continued reflection and perseverance. It is the great step gained,
+the alphabet learned, by which the mind may pass to boundless power.
+
+It may be here interesting to consider some of the states of mind into
+which a person may be brought by hypnotism. When subject to the will
+of an operator the patient may believe anything--that he is a mouse or
+a girl, drunk or inspired. The same may result from self-hypnotism by
+artificial methods which appeal powerfully to the imagination.
+According to Dr. JAMES R. COCKE many of his patients could induce this
+by looking at any bright object, a bed of coals, or at smooth running
+water. It is, of course, to be understood that it is not merely by
+_looking_ that hypnotism is induced. There must be will or determinate
+thought; but when once brought about it is easily repeated.
+
+"They have the ability," writes Dr. COCKE, "to resist this state or
+bring it on at will. Many of them describe beautiful scenes from
+Nature, or some mighty cathedral with its lofty dome, or the
+faces of imaginary beings." This writer's own first experience of
+self-hypnotism was very remarkable. He had been told by a hypnotizer
+to keep the number twenty-six in his mind. He did so, and after
+hearing a ringing in his ears and then a strange roaring he felt that
+spirits were all round him--music sounding and a sensation as of
+expanding.
+
+But self-hypnotizing, by the simple easy process of trusting to
+ordinary sleep, is better adapted to action delayed, or states of
+mind. These may be:
+
+_A desire to be at peace or perfectly calm_. After a few repetitions
+it will be found that, though irritating accidents may countervene,
+the mind will recur more and more to calm.
+
+_To feel cheerful or merry_.
+
+_To be in a brave, courageous, hearty or vigorous mood_.
+
+_To work hard without feeling weary_. This I have fully tested with
+success, and especially mention it for the benefit of students. All of
+my intimate friends can certify what I here assert.
+
+_To keep the faculty of quickness of perception alert_, as, for
+instance, when going out to perceive more than usual in a crowd. A
+botanist or mineralogist may awaken the faculty with the hope of
+observing or finding with success.
+
+_To be susceptible to beauty_, as, for instance, when visiting a scene
+or gallery. In such cases it means to derive Attention from Will. The
+habitually trained Forethought or Attention is here a _great_ aid to
+perception.
+
+_To read or study keenly and observantly_. This is a faculty which can
+be very much aided by forethought and self-suggestion.
+
+_To forgive and forget enemies and injuries_. Allied to it is the
+forgetting and ignoring of all things which annoy, vex, harrass, tease
+or worry us in any way whatever. To expect perfect immunity in this
+respect from the unavoidable ills of life is absurd; but having paid
+great attention to the subject, and experimented largely on it, I
+cannot resist declaring that it seems to me in very truth that no
+remedy for earthly suffering was yet discovered equal to this. I
+generally put the wish into this form: "I will forget and forgive all
+causes of enmity and anger, and should they arise I determine at once
+to cast them aside." It is a prayer, as it were, to the Will to stand
+by me, and truly the will is _Deus in nobis_ to those who believe that
+God helps those who help themselves. For as we can get into the
+fearful state of constantly recalling all who have ever vexed or
+wronged us, or nursing the memory of what we hate or despise, until
+our minds are like sewers or charnel-houses of dead and poisonous
+things, so we can resolutely banish them, at first by forethought,
+then by suggestion, and finally by waking will. And verily there are
+few people living who would not be the better for such exercise. Many
+there are who say that they would fain forget and be serene, yet
+cannot. I do not believe this. We can all exorcise our devils--all of
+them--if we _will_.
+
+_To restrain irritability in our intercourse with others_. It will not
+be quite sufficient as regards controlling the temper to merely will,
+or _wish_ to subdue it. We must also will that when the temptation
+arises it may be preceded by forethought or followed by regret. As it
+often happens to a young soldier to be frightened or run away the
+first time he is under fire, and yet learn courage in the future, so
+the aspirant resolved to master his passions must not doubt because he
+finds that the first step slips. _Apropos_ of which I would note that
+in all the books on Hypnotism that I have read their authors testify
+to a certain false quantity or amount of base alloy in the most
+thoroughly suggested patients. Something of modesty, something of a
+moral conscience always remains. Thus, as Dr. COCKE declares,
+Hypnotism has not succeeded in cases suffering from what are called
+imperative conceptions, or irresistible belief. "Cases suffering from
+various imperative conceptions are, while possessing their reasons,
+either irresistibly led by certain impulses or they cannot rid
+themselves of erroneous ideas concerning themselves and others." This
+means, in fact, that they had been previously _hypnotised_ to a
+definite conception which had become imperative. As in Witchcraft, it
+is a law that one sorcerer cannot undo the work of another without
+extraordinary pains; so in hypnotism it is hard to undo what is
+already established by a similar agent.
+
+_One can will to remember or recall anything forgotten_. I will not be
+responsible that this will invariably succeed at the first time, but
+that it does often follow continued determination I know from
+experience. I believe that where an operator hypnotizes a subject it
+very often succeeds, if we may believe the instances recorded. And
+I am also inclined to believe that in many cases, though assuredly
+not in all, whatever is effected by one person upon another can
+also be brought about in one's self by patience in forethought,
+self-suggestion, and the continued will which they awaken.
+
+_We can revive by this process old well-nigh forgotten trains of
+thought_. This is difficult but possible. It belongs to an advanced
+stage of experience or may be found in very susceptible subjects. I do
+not belong at all to the latter, but I have perfectly succeeded in
+continuing a dream; that is to say, I have woke up three times during
+a dream, and, being pleased with it, wished it to go on, then fallen
+asleep and it went on, like three successive chapters in a novel.
+
+_We can subdue the habit of worrying ourselves and others needlessly
+about every trifling or serious cause of irritation which enters
+our minds_. There are many people who from a mere idle habit or
+self-indulgence and irrepressible loquacity make their own lives and
+those of others very miserable--as all my readers can confirm from
+experience. I once knew a man of great fortune, with many depending on
+him, who vented his ill-temper and petty annoyances on almost everyone
+to whom he spoke. He was so fully aware of this failing that he at
+once, in confessing it to a mutual friend, shed tears of regret. Yet
+he was a millionaire man of business, and had a strong will which
+might have been directed to a cure. All peevish, fretful and
+talkative, or even complaining people, should be induced to seriously
+study this subject.
+
+_We can cure ourselves of the habit of profanity or using vulgar
+language_. No one doubts that a negro who believes in sorcery, if told
+that if he uttered an oath, _Voodoo_ would fall upon him and cause him
+to waste away, would never swear again. Or that a South Sea Islander
+would not do the same for fear of _taboo_. Now both these forms of
+sorcery are really hypnotizing by action on belief, and Forethought
+aided by the sleep process has precisely the same result--it
+establishes a fixed idea in the mind, or a haunting presence.
+
+_We can cure ourselves of intemperance_. This was, I believe, first
+established or extensively experimented on by Dr. CHARLES LLOYD
+TUCKEY. This can be aided by willing that the liquor, if drunk, shall
+be nauseating.
+
+_We can repress to a remarkable degree the sensations of fatigue,
+hunger and thirst_. Truly no man can defy the laws of nature, but it
+is very certain that in cases like that of Dr. TANNER, and the Hindu
+ascetics who were boxed up and buried for many weeks, there must have
+been mental determination as well as physical endurance. As regards
+this very important subject of health, or the body, and the degree to
+which it can be controlled by the mind or will, it is to be observed
+that of late years physiologists are beginning to observe that all
+"mental" or corporeal functions are evidently controlled by the same
+laws or belong to the same organization. If "the emotions, say of
+anger or love, in their more emphatic forms, are plainly accompanied
+by varying changes of the heart and blood-vessels, the viscera and
+muscles," it must follow that changes or excitement in the physical
+organs must react on the emotions. "All modes of sensibility, whatever
+their origin," says LUYS, "are physiologically transported into the
+sensorium. From fiber to fiber, from sensitive element to sensitive
+element, our whole organism is sensitive; our whole sentient
+personality, in fact, is conducted just as it exists, into the
+plexuses of the _sensorium commune_." Therefore, if every sensation in
+the body acts on the brain by the aid of secondary brains or
+ganglions, it must be that the brain in turn can in some way act on
+the body. And this has hitherto been achieved or attempted by
+magicians, "miracle-mongers," thaumaturgists, mesmerists, and the
+like, and by the modern hypnotizer, in which we may observe that there
+has been at every step less and less mysticism or supernaturalism, and
+a far easier process or way of working. And I believe it may be fairly
+admitted that in this work I have simplified the process of physically
+influencing mental action and rendered it easier. The result from the
+above conclusions being that _we can control many disorders or forms
+of disease_. This is an immense subject, and it would be impossible
+within a brief sketch to determine its limits or conditions. That what
+are called nervous disorders, which are evidently the most nearly
+allied to emotions--as, for instance, a headache, or other trouble
+induced by grief--can be removed by joy, or some counteracting emotion
+or mere faith is very well known and generally believed. But of late
+science has established that the affinities between the cerebral and
+other functions are so intimately, extensively and strangely
+sympathetic or identical that it is becoming impossible to say what
+disease may not be temporarily alleviated or cured by new discoveries
+in directing the nervo-mental power or will. The Faith-Cure, Magic,
+Mesmerism, Religious Thaumaturgy and other systems have given us a
+vast number of authentic cures of very positive disorders. But from
+the point of view taken by many people what has been wanting in all
+is, _firstly_, a clear and simple scientific method free from all
+spiritualism or wonder, and, _secondly_, the art of _Perfecting the
+cures by Perseverance_. For what will relieve for an hour can be made
+to cure forever, if we exercise foresight and make perpetuity a part
+of our whole plan.
+
+Now, as regards curing disorders, I beg the reader to specially
+observe that this, like many other works, depends on the state of the
+mind; nor can it be undertaken with hope of success unless the
+operator has by previous practice in easy experiments succeeded in
+perfectly convincing himself that he has acquired control of his will.
+Thus having succeeded in willing himself to work all day without
+fatigue, or to pass the day without being irritable, let him begin to
+consider, reflect and realize that he _can_ make himself do this or
+that, for the more he simply induces the belief and makes himself
+familiar with it, the stronger and more obedient his Will will be.
+However, this is simply true that to any self-suggestionist whatever
+who has had some little practice and attained to even a moderate
+command over his will, a very great degree of the power to relieve
+bodily suffering is easy to develop, and it may be increased by
+practice to an incredible extent. Thus in case of suffering by pain of
+any kind in another, begin by calmly persuading him or her that relief
+has been obtained thousands of times by the process, and endeavor to
+awaken belief, or, at least, so much attention and interest that the
+fact will remain as _forethought_ in the mind. The next step should be
+to promise relief, and then induce sleep by the showing a coin, passes
+with the hands, etc., or allowing the subject to sink into a natural
+slumber. If there be no success the first time, repeat the experiment.
+Gout, headaches, all forms of positive pain, severe colds, _anæmia,
+insomnia, melancholia_, and dyspepsia appear to be among the ills
+which yield most readily to, or are alleviated (to the great
+assistance of a regular cure), by suggestion.
+
+As regards curing disorders, producing insensibility to hunger and
+thirst, heat or cold, and the like, all are aware that to a man who is
+under the influence of some great and overpowering emotion, such as
+rage or surprise, or joy, no pain is perceptible. In like manner, by
+means of persuasion, sleep, a temporary oblivion, and the skillfully
+awakened Will, the same insensibility or ignoring can be effected.
+There is, however, this to be observed, that while in the vast library
+of books which teach mental medicine the stress is laid entirely on
+producing merely a temporary cure I insist that by great Forethought,
+by conducting the cure with a view to permanence, ever persuading the
+patient to think on the future, and finally by a very thorough
+continuation and after-treatment many diseases may be radically
+removed.
+
+To recapitulate and make all clear we will suppose that the reader
+desires during the following day to be in a calm, self-possessed or
+peaceful state of mind. Therefore at night, after retiring, let him
+first completely consider what he wants and means to acquire. This is
+the Forethought, and it should be as thorough as possible. Having done
+this, will or declare that what you want shall come to pass on
+awaking, and repeating this and thinking on it, fall asleep. This is
+all. Do not wish for two things at once, or not until your mind shall
+have become familiar with the process. As you feel your power
+strengthen with success you may will yourself to do whatever you
+desire.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+FORETHOUGHT.
+
+    "Post fata resurgo."
+
+    "What is forethought may sleep--'tis very plain,
+    But rest assured that it will rise again."
+
+    "Forethought is plan inspired by an absolute Will to carry
+    it out."
+
+It may have struck the reader as an almost awful, or as a very
+wonderful idea, that man has within himself, if he did but know it,
+tremendous powers or transcendental faculties of which he has really
+never had any conception. One reason why such bold thought has been
+subdued is that he has always felt according to tradition, the
+existence of superior supernatural (and with them patrician) beings,
+by whose power and patronage he has been effectively restrained or
+kept under. Hence gloom and pessimism, doubt and despair. It may seem
+a bold thing to say that it did not occur to any philosopher through
+the ages that man, resolute and noble and free, might _will_ himself
+into a stage of mind defying devils and phantasms, or that amid the
+infinite possibilities of human nature there was the faculty of
+assuming the Indifference habitual to all animals when not alarmed.
+But he who will consider these studies on Self-Hypnotism may possibly
+infer from them that we have indeed within us a marvelous power of
+creating states of mind which make the idea of Pessimism ridiculous.
+For it renders potent and grand, pleasing or practically useful, to
+all who practice it, a faculty which has the great advantage that it
+may enter into all the relations or acts of life; will give to
+everyone something to do, something to occupy his mind, even in
+itself, and if we have other occupations, Forethought and Induced Will
+may be made to increase our interest in them and stimulate our skill.
+In other words, we can by means of this Art increase our ability to
+practice all arts, and enhance or stimulate Genius in every way or
+form, be it practical, musical or plastic.
+
+Since I began this work there fell into my hands an ingenious and
+curious book, entitled "Happiness as found in _Forethought minus
+Fearthought_," by HORACE FLETCHER, in which the author very truly
+declares that _Fear_ in some form has become the arch enemy of Man,
+and through the fears of our progenitors developed by a thousand
+causes, we have inherited a growing stock of diseases, terrors,
+apprehensions, pessimisms, and the like, in which he is perfectly
+right.
+
+But as Mr. FLETCHER declares, if men could take _Forethought_ as their
+principle and guide they would obviate, anticipate or foresee and
+provide for so many evil contingencies and chances that we might
+secure even peace and happiness, and then man may become brave and
+genial, altruistic and earnest, in spite of it all, by _willing_ away
+his Timidity.
+
+I have not assumed a high philosophical or metaphysical position in
+this work; my efforts have been confined to indicating how by a very
+simple and well-nigh mechanical process, perfectly intelligible to
+every human being with an intellect, one may induce certain states of
+mind and thereby create a Will. But I quite agree with Mr. FLETCHER
+that Forethought is strong thought, and the point from which all
+projects must proceed. As I understand it, it is a kind of impulse or
+projection of will into the coming work. I may here illustrate this
+with a curious fact in physics. If the reader wished to ring a
+door-bell so as to produce as much sound as possible he would probably
+pull it as far back as he could and then let it go. But if he would in
+letting it go simply give it a tap with his forefinger he would
+actually redouble the noise.
+
+Or, to shoot an arrow as far as possible, it is not enough to merely
+draw the bow to its utmost span or tension. If just as it goes you
+will give the bow a quick _push_, though the effort be trifling, the
+arrow will fly almost as far again as it would have done without it.
+
+Or, if, as is well known, in wielding a very sharp saber, we make the
+_draw-cut_, that is if we add to the blow or chop, as with an axe, a
+certain slight pull and simultaneously, we can cut through a silk
+handkerchief or a sheep.
+
+Forethought is the tap on the bell, the push of the bow, the draw on
+the saber. It is the deliberate yet rapid action of the mind when
+before falling to sleep or dismissing thought we _bid_ the mind to
+subsequently respond. It is more than merely thinking what we are to
+do; it is the bidding or ordering self to fulfill a task before
+willing it.
+
+Forethought in the senses employed or implied as here described means
+much more than mere previous consideration or reflection, which may be
+very feeble. It is, in fact, "constructive," which, as inventive,
+implies _active_ thought. "Forethought stimulates, aids the success of
+honest aims." Therefore, as the active principle in mental work, I
+regard it as a kind of self-impulse, or that minor part in the
+division of the force employed which sets the major into action. Now,
+if we really understand this and can succeed in employing Forethought
+as the preparation for, and impulse to, Self-Suggestion, we shall
+greatly aid the success of the latter, because the former insures
+attention and interest. Forethought may be brief, but it should always
+be energetic. By cultivating it we acquire the enviable talent of
+those men who take in everything at a glance, and act promptly, like a
+NAPOLEON. This power is universally believed to be entirely innate or
+a gift; but it can be induced or developed in all minds in proportion
+to the will by practice.
+
+Be it observed that as the experimenter progresses in the development
+of will by suggestion, he can gradually lay aside the latter, or all
+_processes_, especially if he work to such an end, anticipating it.
+Then he simply acts by clear will and strength, and Forethought
+constitutes all his stock-in-trade, process or aid. He preconceives
+and wills energetically at once, and by practice and repetition
+_Forethought_ becomes a marvelous help on all occasions and
+emergencies.
+
+To make it of avail the one who frequently practices self-suggestion,
+at first with, and then without sleep, will inevitably find ere long
+that to facilitate his work, or to succeed he _must_ first write, as
+it were, or plan a preface, synopsis, or epitome of his proposed work,
+to start it and combine with it a resolve or decree that it must be
+done, the latter being the tap on the bell-knob. Now the habit of
+composing the plan as perfectly, yet as succinctly as possible, daily
+or nightly, combined with the energetic impulse to send it off, will
+ere long give the operator a conception of what I mean by Foresight
+which by description I cannot. And when grown familiar and really
+mastered its possessor will find that his power to think and act
+promptly in all the emergencies of life has greatly increased.
+
+Therefore Forethought means a great deal more, as here employed, than
+seeing in advance, or deliberate prudence--it rather implies, like
+divination or foreknowledge, sagacity and mental _action_ as well as
+mere perception. It will inevitably or assuredly grow with the
+practice of self-suggestion if the latter be devoted to mental
+improvement, but as it grows it will qualify the operator to lay aside
+the sleep and suggest to himself directly.
+
+All men of great natural strength of mind, gifted with the will to do
+and dare, the beings of action and genius, act directly, and are like
+athletes who lift a tree by the simple exertion of the muscles. He who
+achieves his aim by self-culture, training, or suggestion, is like one
+who raises the weight by means of a lever, and if he practice it often
+enough he may in the end become as strong as the other.
+
+There is a curious and very illustrative instance of Forethought in
+the sense in which I am endeavoring to explain it, given in a novel,
+the "Scalp-Hunters," by MAYNE REID, with whom I was well acquainted in
+bygone years. Not having the original, I translate from a French
+version:
+
+"His aim with the rifle is infallible, and it would seem as if the
+ball obeyed his Will. There must be a kind of _directing principle_ in
+his mind, independent of strength of nerve and sight. He and one other
+are the only men in whom I have observed this singular power."
+
+This means simply the exercise in a second, as it were, of "the tap on
+the bell-knob," or the projection of the will into the proposed shot,
+and which may be applied to any act. Gymnasts, leapers and the like
+are all familiar with it. It springs from resolute confidence and
+self-impulse enforced; but it also creates them, and the growth is
+very great and rapid when the idea is much kept before the mind. In
+this latter lies most of the problem.
+
+In Humanity, mind, and especially Forethought, or reflection, combined
+in one effort with will and energy, enters into all acts, though often
+unsuspected, for it is a kind of unconscious _reflex_ action or
+cerebration. Thus I once discovered to my astonishment in a gymnasium
+that the extremely mechanical action of putting up a heavy weight from
+the ground to the shoulder and from the shoulder to the full reach of
+the arm above the head, became much easier after a little practice,
+although my muscles had not grown, nor my strength increased during
+the time. And I found that whatever the exertion might be there was
+always some trick or knack, however indescribable, by means of which
+the man with a brain could surpass a dolt at _anything_, though the
+latter were his equal in strength. But it sometimes happens that the
+trick can be taught and even improved on. And it is in all cases
+Forethought, even in the lifting of weights or the willing on the
+morrow to write a poem.
+
+For this truly weird power--since "the weird sisters" in "Macbeth"
+means only the sisters who _foresee_--is, in fact, the energy which
+projects itself in some manner, which physiology can as yet only very
+weakly explain, and even if the explanation _were_ perfect, it would
+amount in fact to no more than showing the machinery of a watch, when
+the main object for us is that it should _keep time_, and tell the
+hour, as well as exhibit the ingenuity of the maker--which thing is
+very much lost sight of, even by many very great thinkers, misled by
+the vanity of showing how much they know.
+
+Yes, Foresight or Forethought projects itself in all things, and it is
+a serious consideration, or one of such immense value, that when
+really understood, and above all subjected to some practice--such as I
+have described, and which, as far as I can see, is _necessary_--one
+can bring it to bear _intelligently_ on all the actions of life, that
+is to say, to _much_ greater advantage than when we use it ignorantly,
+just as a genius endowed with strength can do far more with it than an
+ignoramus. For there is nothing requiring Thought in which it cannot
+aid us. I have alluded to Poetry. Now this does not mean that a man
+can become a SHAKESPEARE or SHELLEY by means of all the forethought
+and suggestion in the world, but they will, if well developed and
+directed, draw out from the mystic depths of mind such talent as he
+_has_--doubtless in some or all cases more than he has ever shown.
+
+No one can say what is hidden in every memory; it is like the sounding
+ocean with its buried cities, and treasures and wondrous relics of the
+olden time. This much we may assume to know, that every image or idea
+or impression whichever reached us through any of our senses entered a
+cell when it was ready for it, where it sleeps or wakes, most images
+being in the former condition. In fact, every brain is like a
+monastery of the Middle Ages, or a beehive. But it is built on a
+gigantic scale, for it is thought that no man, however learned or
+experienced he might be, ever contrived during all his life to so much
+as even half fill the cells of his memory. And if any reader should be
+apprehensive lest it come to pass with him in this age of unlimited
+supply of cheap knowledge that he will fill all his cells let him
+console himself with the reflection that it is supposed that Nature,
+in such a case, will have a further supply of new cells ready, she
+never, as yet, having failed in such rough hospitality, though it
+often leaves much to be desired!
+
+Yes, they are all there--every image of the past, every face which
+ever smiled on us--the hopes and fears of bygone years--the rustling
+of grass and flowers and the roar of the sea--the sound of trumpets in
+processions grand--the voices of the great and good among mankind--or
+what you will. Every line ever read in print, every picture and face
+and house is there. Many an experiment has shown this to be true; also
+that by mesmerizing or hypnotizing processes the most hidden images or
+memories can be awakened. In fact, the idea has lost much of its
+wonder since the time of Coleridge, now that every sound can be
+recorded, laid away and reproduced, and we are touching closely on an
+age when all that lies _perdu_ in any mind can or will be set forth
+visibly, and all that a man has ever _seen_ be shown to the world. For
+this is no whit more wonderful than that we can convey images or
+pictures by telegraph, and when I close my eyes and recall or imagine
+a form it does not seem strange that there might be some process by
+means of which it might be photographed.
+
+And here we touch upon the Materialization of Thought, which
+conception loses a part of the absurdity with which Spiritualists and
+Occultists have invested it, if we regard all nature as one substance.
+For, in truth, all that was ever perceived, even to the shadow of a
+dream by a lunatic, had as real an existence while it lasted as the
+Pyramids of Egypt, else it could not have been perceived. Sense
+cannot, even in dreams, observe what is not for the time an effect on
+matter. If a man _imagines_ or makes believe to himself that he has a
+fairy attendant, or a dog, and _fancies_ that he sees it, that man
+does really see _something_, though it be invisible to others. There
+is some kind of creative brain-action going on, some employment of
+atoms and forces, and, if this be so, we may enter it among the
+Possibilities of the Future that the Material in any form whatever may
+be advanced, or further materialized or made real.
+
+It is curious that this idea has long been familiar to believers in
+magic. In more than one Italian legend which I have collected a
+sorceress or goddess evolves a life from her own soul, as a fire emits
+a spark. In fact, the fancy occurs in some form in all mythologies,
+great or small. In one old Irish legend a wizard turns a Thought into
+a watch-dog. The history of genius and of Invention is that of
+realizing ideas, of making them clearer and stronger and more
+comprehensive. Thus it seems to me that the word _Forethought_ as
+generally loosely understood, when compared to what it has been shown
+capable of expressing, is almost as much advanced as if like the fairy
+HERMELINA, chronicled by GROSIUS, it had been originally a vapor or
+mere fantasy, and gradually advanced to fairy life so as to become the
+companion of a wizard.
+
+If an artist, say a painter, will take forethought for a certain
+picture, whether the subject be determined or not, bringing himself to
+that state of easy, assured confidence, as a matter of course that he
+will _retain_ the subject he will, if not at the first effort, almost
+certainly at last find himself possessed of it. Let him beware of
+haste, or of forcing the work. When he shall have secured suggestive
+Interest let him will that Ingenuity shall be bolder and his spirit
+draw from the stores of memory more abundant material. Thus our powers
+may be gradually and gently drawn into our service. Truly it would
+seem as if there were no limit to what a man can evolve out of himself
+if he will take Thought thereto.
+
+Forethought can be of vast practical use in cases where confidence is
+required. Many a young clergyman and lawyer has been literally
+frightened out of a career, and many an actor ruined for want of a
+very little knowledge, and in this I speak from personal experience.
+Let the aspirant who is to appear in public, or pass an examination,
+and is alarmed, base his forethought on such ideas as this, that he
+would not be afraid to repeat his speech to _one_ person or two--why
+should he fear a hundred? There are some who can repeat this idea to
+themselves till it takes hold strongly, and they rise almost feeling
+contempt for all in court--as did the old lady in Saint Louis, who
+felt so relieved when a witness at _not_ feeling frightened that she
+bade judge and jury cease looking at her in that impudent way.
+
+Having read the foregoing to a friend he asked me whether I believed
+that by Forethought and Suggestion a gentleman could be induced
+without diffidence to offer himself in marriage, since, as is well
+known, that the most eligible young men often put off wedding for
+years because they cannot summon up courage to propose. To which I
+replied that I had no great experience of such cases, but as regarded
+the method I was like the Scotch clergyman who, being asked by a
+wealthy man if he thought that the gift of a thousand pounds to the
+Kirk would save the donor's soul, replied: "I'm na prepairet to
+preceesly answer thot question--but I wad vara warmly advise ye to
+_try_ it."
+
+It must be remembered that for the very great majority of cases, if
+really not for all, the practicer of this process must be of temperate
+habits, and never attempt after a hearty meal, or drinking freely, to
+exercise Forethought or Self-Suggestion. Peaceful mental action during
+sleep requires that there shall be very light labor of digestion, and
+disturbed or troublesome dreams are utterly incompatible with really
+successful results. Nor will a single day's temperance suffice. It
+requires many days to bring the whole frame and constitution into good
+fit order. Here there can be no evasion, for more than ordinary
+temperance in food and drink is _absolutely indispensable_.
+
+It is a principle, recognized by all physiologists, that digestion and
+fixed thought cannot go on together; it is even unadvisable to read
+while eating. Thus in all the old magical operations, which were, in
+fact, self-hypnotism, a perfect fast is insisted on with reason. This
+is all so self-evident that I need not dwell on it. It will be
+needless for anyone to take up this subject as a trifling pastime, or
+attempt self-suggestion and development of will with as little
+earnestness as one would give to a game of cards; for in such a
+half-way effort time will be lost and nothing come of it. Unless
+entered on with the most serious resolve to persevere, and make
+greater effort and more earnestly at every step, it had better be let
+alone.
+
+All who will persevere with calm determination cannot fail ere long to
+gain a certain success, and this achieved, the second step is much
+easier. However, there are many people who after doing all in their
+power to get to the gold or diamond mines, hasten away even when in
+the full tide of success, because they are fickle--and it is precisely
+such people who easily tire who are most easily attracted, be it to
+mesmerism, hypnotism, or any other wonder. And they are more wearisome
+and greater foes to true Science than the utterly indifferent or the
+ignorant.
+
+This work will not have been written in vain should it induce the
+reader to reflect on what is implied by patient repetition or
+perseverance, and what an incredible and varied _power_ that man
+acquires who masters it. He who can lead himself, or others, into a
+_habit_ can do anything. Even Religion is, in fact, nothing else.
+"Religion," said the reviewer of "The Evolution of the Idea of God,"
+by GRANT ALLEN, "he defines as Custom or Practice--not theory, not
+theology, not ethics, not spiritual aspirations, but a certain set of
+more or less similar observances: propitiation, prayer, praise,
+offerings, the request for Divine favors, the deprecation of Divine
+anger, or other misfortunes"--in short, Ritual. That is to say, it is
+the aggregate of the different parts of religion, of which many take
+one for the whole. But this aggregation was the result of earnest
+patience and had good results. And it is by the careful analysis and
+all-round examination of Ideas that we acquire valuable knowledge, and
+may learn how very few there are current which are more than very
+superficially understood--as I have shown in what I have said of the
+Will, the Imagination, Forethought, and many other faculties which are
+flippantly used to explain a thousand problems by people who can
+hardly define the things themselves.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+WILL AND CHARACTER.
+
+    "And I have felt
+    A Presence that disturbs me with the joy
+    Of elevated thoughts, a sense sublime
+    Of something far more deeply interposed,
+    Whose dwelling is . . . all in the mind of man;
+    A motion and a spirit that impels
+    All thinking things."--_Wordsworth_.
+
+As the vast majority of people are not agreed as to what really
+constitutes a Gentleman, while a great many seem to be practically, at
+least, very much abroad as to the nature of a Christian, so it will be
+found that, in fact, there is a great deal of difference as regards
+the Will. I have known many men, and some women, to be credited by
+others, and who very much credited themselves, with having iron wills,
+when, in fact, their every deed, which was supposed to prove it, was
+based on brazen want of conscience. Mere want of principle or
+unscrupulousness passes with many, especially its possessors, for
+strong _will_. And even decision of character itself, as MAGINN
+remarks, is often confounded with talent. "A bold woman always gets
+the name of clever"--among fools--"though her intellect may be of a
+humble order, and her knowledge contemptible." Among the vulgar,
+especially those of greedy, griping race and blood, the children of
+the thief, a robber of the widow and orphan, the scamp of the
+syndicate, and soulless "promoter" in South or North America, bold
+robbery, or Selfishness without scruple or timidity always appears as
+Will. But it is not the whole of the real thing, or real will in
+itself. When MUTIUS CAIUS SCAEVOLA thrust his hand into the flames no
+one would have greatly admired his endurance if it had been found that
+the hand was naturally insensible and felt no pain. Nor would there
+have been any plaudits for MARCUS CURTIUS when he leapt into the gulf,
+had he been so drunk as not to know what he was about. The will which
+depends on unscrupulousness is like the benumbed hand or intoxicated
+soul. Quench conscience, as a sense of right and obligation, and you
+can, of course, do a great deal from which another would shrink--and
+therefore be called "weak-minded" by the fools.
+
+There is another type of person who imposes on the world and on self
+as being strong-minded and gifted with Will. It is the imperturbable
+cool being, always self-possessed, with little sympathy for emotion.
+In most cases such minds result from artificial training, and they
+break down in real trials. I do not say that they cannot weather a
+storm or a duel, or stand fire, or get through what novelists regard
+as superlative stage trials; but, in a moral crisis, the gentleman or
+lady whose face is all Corinthian brass is apt like that brass in a
+fire to turn pale. These folk get an immense amount of undeserved
+admiration as having Will or self-command, when they owe what staying
+quality they have (like the preceding class) rather to a lack of good
+qualities than their inspiration.
+
+There are, alas! not a few who regard _Will_ as simply identical with
+mere obstinacy, or stubbornness, the immovability of the Ass, or Bull,
+or Bear--that is, they reduce it to an animal power. But, as this
+often or generally amounts in animal or man to mere insensible
+sulkiness--as far remote as possible from enlightened mental action,
+it is surely unjust to couple it with the _Voluntary_ or pure
+intelligent _Will_, by which all must understand the very acme of
+active Intellect.
+
+Therefore it follows, that the errors, mistakes, and perversions which
+have grown about Will in popular opinion, like those which have
+accumulated round Christianity, are too often mistaken for the truth.
+Pure Will is, and must be by its very nature, perfectly _free_, for
+the more it is hindered, or hampered, or controlled in any way, the
+less is it independent volition. Therefore, pare Will, free from all
+restraint can only act in, or as, Moral Law. Acting in accordance with
+very mean, immoral, obstinate motives is, so to speak, obeying as a
+slave the devil. The purer the motive the purer the Will, and in very
+truth the purer the stronger, or firmer. Every man has his own idea of
+Will according to his morality--even as it is said that every man's
+conception of God is himself infinitely magnified--or, as SYDNEY SMITH
+declared, that a certain small clergyman believed that Saint Paul was
+five feet two inches in height, and wore a shovel-hat. And here we may
+note that if the fundamental definition of a gentleman be "a man of
+perfect integrity," or one who always does simply _what is right_, he
+is also one who possesses Will in its integrity.
+
+Therefore it follows that if the pure will, which is the basis of all
+firm and determined action, be a matter of moral conviction, it should
+take the first place as such. Napoleon the First was an exemplar of a
+selfish corrupted will, CHRIST the perfection of Will in its purity.
+And if I can make my meaning clear, I would declare that he who would
+create within himself a strong and vigorous will by hypnotism or any
+other process, will be most likely to succeed, if, instead of aiming
+at developing a power by which he may subdue others, and make all
+things yield to him, or similar selfish aims, he shall, before all,
+seriously reflect on how he may use it to do good. For I am absolutely
+persuaded from what I know, that he who makes Altruism and the
+happiness of others a familiar thought to be coupled with every effort
+(even as a lamb is always painted with, or appointed unto, St. John),
+will be the most likely to succeed. There is something in moral
+conviction or the consciousness of right which gives a sense of
+security or a faith in success which goes far to secure it. Hence the
+willing the mind on the following day to be at peace, not to yield to
+irritability or temptations to quarrel, to be pleasing and cheerful;
+in short to develop _good_ qualities is the most easily effected
+process, because where there is such self-moral-suasion to a good aim
+or end, we feel, and very justly, that we _ought_ to be aided by the
+_Deus in nobis_, or an over-ruling Providence, whatever its form or
+nature may be. And the experimenter may be assured that if we can by
+any means _will_ or exorcise all envy, vanity, folly, irritability,
+vindictiveness--in short all evil--out of ourselves, and supply their
+place with Love, we shall take the most effective means to secure our
+own happiness, as well as that of others.
+
+All of this has been repeated very often of late years by Altruists;
+but, while the doctrine is accepted both by Agnostics and Christians
+as perfect, there has been little done to show men how to practically
+realize it. But I have ever noted that in this Pilgrim's Progress of
+our life, those are most likely to attain to the Celestial City, and
+all its golden glories, who, like CHRISTIAN, start from the lowliest
+beginnings; and as the learning our letters leads to reading the
+greatest books, so the simplest method of directing the attention and
+the most mechanical means of developing Will, may promptly lead to the
+highest mental and moral effect.
+
+Prayer is generally regarded as nothing else but an asking or begging
+from a superior power. But it is also something which is really very
+different from this. It is a formula by means of which man realizes
+his faith and will. Tradition, and habit (of whose power I have
+spoken) or repetition, have given it the influence or prestige of a
+charm. In fact it is a spell, he who utters it feels assured that if
+seriously repeated it will be listened to, and that the Power to whom
+it is addressed will hear it. The Florentines all round me as I write,
+who repeat daily, "_Pate nostro quis in cell, santi ficeturie nome
+tumme_!" in words which they do not understand, do not pray for daily
+bread or anything else in the formula; they only realize that they
+commune with God, and are being good. An intelligent prayer in this
+light is the concentration of thought on a subject, or a _definite_
+realization. Therefore if when _willing_ that tomorrow I shall be calm
+all day or void of irritation, I put the will or wish into a brief and
+clear form, it will aid me to promptly realize or feel what I want.
+And it will be a prayer in its reality, addressed to the Unknown Power
+or to the Will within us--an invocation, or a spell, according to the
+mind of him who makes it.
+
+Thus a seeker may repeat: "I _will_, earnestly and deeply, that during
+all tomorrow I may be in a calm and peaceful state of mind. I _will_
+with all my heart that if irritating or annoying memories or images,
+or thoughts of any kind are in any way awakened, that they may be
+promptly forgotten and fade away!"
+
+I would advise that such a formula be got by heart till very familiar,
+to be repeated, but not mechanically, before falling to sleeps What is
+of the very utmost importance is that the operator shall feel its
+meaning and at the same time give it the impulse of Will by the dual
+process before described. This, if successfully achieved, will not
+fail (at least with most minds) to induce success.
+
+This formula, or "spell," will be sufficient for some time. When we
+feel that it is really beginning to have an effect, we may add to it
+other wishes. That is to say, be it clearly understood, that by
+repeating the will to be calm and peaceful, day after day, it will
+assuredly begin to come of itself, even as a pigeon which hath been
+"tolled" every day at a certain hour to find corn or crumbs in a
+certain place, will continue to go there even if the food cease.
+However, you may renew the first formula if you will. Then we may add
+gradually the wish to be in a bold or courageous frame of mind, so as
+to face trials, as follows:
+
+"I _will_ with all my soul, earnestly and truly, that I may be on the
+morrow and all the day deeply inspired with courage and energy, with
+self-confidence and hope! May it lighten my heart and make me heedless
+of all annoyances and vexations which may arise! Should such come in
+my way, may I hold them at no more than their real value, or laugh
+them aside!"
+
+Proceed gradually and firmly through the series, never trying anything
+new, until the old has fully succeeded. This is essential, for failure
+leads to discouragement. Then, in time, fully realizing all its
+deepest meaning, so as to impress the Imagination one may will as
+follows:
+
+"May my quickness of Perception, or Intuition, aid me in the business
+which I expect to undertake tomorrow. I _will_ that my faculty of
+grasping at details and understanding their relations shall be active.
+May it draw from my memory the hidden things which will aid it!"
+
+The artist or literary man, or poet, may in time earnestly will to
+this effect:
+
+"I desire that my genius, my imagination, the power which enables man
+to combine and create; the poetic (or artist) spirit, whatever it be,
+may act in me tomorrow, awakening great thoughts and suggesting for
+them beautiful forms."
+
+He who expects to appear in public as an orator, as a lawyer pleading
+a case, or as a witness, will do much to win success, if after careful
+forethought or reflecting on what it is that he really wants, he will
+repeat:
+
+"I will that tomorrow I may speak or plead, with perfect
+self-possession and absence of all timidity or fear!"
+
+Finally, we may after long and earnest reflection on all which I have
+said, and truly not till then, resolve on the Masterspell to awaken
+the Will itself in such a form that it will fill our soul, as it were,
+unto which intent it is necessary to understand what Will really means
+to us in its purity and integrity. The formula may be:
+
+"I _will_ that I may feel inspired with the power, aided by calm
+determination, to do what I desire, aided by a sense of right and
+justice to all. May my will be strong and sustain me in all trials.
+May it inspire that sense of independence of strength which, allied to
+a pure conscience, is the greatest source of happiness on earth!"
+
+If the reader can master this last, he can by its aid progress
+infinitely. And with the few spells which I have given he will need no
+more, since in these lie the knowledge, and key, and suggestion to all
+which may be required.
+
+Now it will appear clearly to most, that no man can long and steadily
+occupy himself with such pursuits, without morally benefiting by them
+in his waking hours, even if auto-hypnotism were all "mere
+imagination," in the most frivolous sense of the word. For he who will
+himself not to yield to irritability, can hardly avoid paying
+attention to the subject, and thinking thereon, check himself when
+vexed. And as I have said, what we summon by Will ere long remains as
+Habit, even as the Elves, called by a spell, remain in the Tower.
+
+Therefore it is of _great_ importance for all people who take up and
+pursue to any degree of success this Art or Science, that they shall
+be actuated by moral and unselfish motives, since achieved with any
+other intent the end can only be the bringing of evil and suffering
+into the soul. For as the good by strengthening the Will make
+themselves promptly better and holier, so he who increases it merely
+to make others feel his power will become with it wickeder, yea, and
+thrice accursed, for what is the greatest remedy is often the
+strongest poison.
+
+Step by step Science has advanced of late to the declaration that man
+_thinks all over_ his body, or at least experiences those reflected
+sensations or emotions which are so strangely balanced between
+intellectual sense and sensation that we hardly know where or how to
+class them. "The sensitive _plexi_ of our whole organism are all
+either isolated or thrown into simultaneous vibration when acted on by
+Thought." So the Will may be found acting unconsciously as an emotion
+or instinct, or developed with the highest forms of conscious
+reflection. Last of all we find it, probably as the result of all
+associated functions or powers, at the head of all, their Executive
+president. But _is_ it "the exponent of correlated forces?" There
+indeed doctors differ.
+
+There is a very curious Italian verb, _Invogliare_, which is thus
+described in a Dictionary of Idioms: "_Invogliare_ is to inspire a
+will or desire, _cupiditatem injicere a movere_. To _invogliare_
+anyone is to awake in him the will or the ability or capacity, an
+earnest longing or appetite, an ardent wish--_alicujus rei cupiditatem
+a desiderium alicni movere_--to bring into action a man's hankering,
+solicitude, anxiety, yearning, ardor, predilection, love, fondness and
+relish, or aught which savors of Willing." Our English word,
+_Inveigle_, is derived from it, but we have none precisely
+corresponding to it which so generally sets forth the idea of
+inspiring a will in another person. "Suggestion" is far more general
+and vague. Now if a man could thus _in-will_ himself to good or moral
+purpose, he would assume a new position in life. We all admit that
+most human beings have defects or faults of which they would gladly be
+freed (however incorrigible they _appear_ to be), but they have not
+the patience to effect a cure, to keep to the resolve, or prevent it
+from fading out of sight. For a _vast_ proportion of all minor sins,
+or those within the law, there is no cure sought. The offender says
+and believes, "It is too strong for me"--and yet these small
+unpunished offenses cause a thousand times more suffering than all the
+great crimes.
+
+Within a generation, owing to the great increase of population,
+prosperity and personal comfort, nervous susceptibility has also
+gained in extent, but there has been no check to petty abuse of power,
+selfishness, which always comes out in some form of injustice or
+wrong, or similar vexations. Nay, what with the disproportionate
+growth of vulgar wealth, this element has rapidly increased, and it
+would really seem as if the plague must spread _ad infinitum_, unless
+some means can be found to _invogliare_ and inspire the offenders with
+a sense of their sins, and move them to reform. And it is more than
+probable that if all who are at heart sincerely willing to reform
+their morals and manners could be brought to keep their delinquencies
+before their consciousness in the very simple manner which I have
+indicated, the fashion or _mode_ might at least be inaugurated. For it
+is _not_ so much a moral conviction, or an appeal to common sense,
+which is needed (as writers on ethics all seem to think), but some
+practical art of keeping men up to the mark in endeavoring to reform,
+or to make them remember it all day long, since "out of sight out of
+mind" is the devil's greatest help with weak minds.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+SUGGESTION AND INSTINCT.
+
+    "Anima non nascitur sed fit," ut ait.--TERTULLIANUS.
+
+    "Post quam loquuti sumus de anima rationali, intellectuali
+    (_immortali_) et quia ad inferiores descendimus jam gradus
+    animæ, scilicet animæ mortalis quæ animalium est."
+    --PETRUS GREGORIUS THOLOSANUS.
+
+It must have struck many readers that the action of a mind under
+hypnotic influence, be it of another or of self, involves strange
+questions as regards Consciousness. For it is very evident from
+recorded facts, that people can actually reason and act without waking
+consciousness, in a state of mind which resembles instinct, which is a
+kind of cerebration, or acting under habits and impressions supplied
+by memory and formed by practice, but not according to what we
+understand by Reason or Judgment.
+
+All things in nature have their sleep or rest, night is the sleep of
+the world, death the repose of Nature or Life--the solid temples, the
+great globe itself, dissolve to awaken again; so man hath in him, as
+it were, a company of workmen, some of whom labor by day, while others
+watch by night, during which time they, unseen, have their fantastic
+frolics known as dreams. The Guardian or Master of the daily hours,
+appears in a great measure to conform his action closely to average
+duties of life, in accordance with those of all other men. He picks
+out from the millions of images or ideas in the memory, uses and
+becomes familiar with a certain number, and lets the rest sleep. This
+master or active agent is probably himself a Master-Idea--the result
+of the correlative action of all the others, a kind of consensus made
+personal, an elected Queen Bee, as I have otherwise described him or
+her.
+
+But he is not the only thinker--there are all over the body ganglions
+which act by a kind of fluid instinct, born of repetition, and when
+the tired master even drowses or nods, or falls into a brown study,
+then a marvelously curious mental action begins to show itself, for
+dreams at once flicker and peer and steal dimly about him. This is
+because the waking consciousness is beginning to shut out the world--
+and its set of ideas.
+
+So consistent is the system that even if Waking Reason abstract
+itself, not to sleep, but to think on one subject such as writing a
+poem or inventing a machine, certain affinities will sleep or dreams
+begin to show themselves. When Genius is really at work, it sweeps
+along, as it were, in a current, albeit it has enough reason left to
+also use the rudder and oars, or spread and manage a sail. The reason
+for the greater fullness of unusual images and associations (_i. e._,
+the action of genius) during the time when one is bent on intellectual
+invention is that the more the waking conscious Reason drowses or
+approaches to sleep, the more do many images in Memory awaken and
+begin to shyly open the doors of their cells and peep out.
+
+In the dream we also proceed, or rather drift, loosely on a current,
+but are without oars, rudder or sail. We are hurtled against, or
+hurried away from the islands of Images or Ideas, that is to say, all
+kinds of memories, and our course is managed or impelled, or guided by
+tricky water-sprites, whose minds are all on mischief bent or only
+idle merriment. In any case they conduct us blindly and wildly from
+isle to isle, sometimes obeying a far cry which comes to them through
+the mist--some echoing signal of our waking hours. So in a vision ever
+on we go!
+
+That is to say that even while we dream there is an unconscious
+cerebration or voluntarily exerted power loosely and irregularly
+imitating by habit, something like the action of our waking hours,
+especially its brown studies and fancies in drowsy reveries or play.
+
+It seems to me as if this sleep-master or mistress--I prefer the
+latter--who attends to our dreams may be regarded as Instinct on the
+loose, for like instinct she acts without conscious reasoning. She
+carries out, or realizes, trains of thought, or sequences with little
+comparison or deduction. Yet within her limits she can do great work,
+and when we consider, we shall find that by following mere Law she has
+effected a great, nay, an immense, deal, which we attribute entirely
+to forethought or Reason. As all this is closely allied to the action
+of the mind when hypnotized, it deserves further study.
+
+Now it is a wonderful reflection that as we go back in animated nature
+from man to insects, we find self-conscious Intellect or Reason based
+on Reflection disappear, and Instinct taking its place. Yet Instinct
+in its marvelous results, such as ingenuity of adaptation, often far
+surpasses what semi-civilized man could do. Or it does the same things
+as man, only in an entirely different way which is not as yet
+understood. Only from time to time some one tells a wonderful story of
+a bird, a dog or a cat, and then asks, "Was not this reason?"
+
+What it was, in a great measure, was an unconscious application of
+memory or experience. Bees and ants and birds often far outdo savage
+men in ingenuity of construction. The red Indians in their persistent
+use of flimsy, cheerless bark wigwams, were far behind the beaver or
+oriole as regards dwellings; in this respect the Indian indicated mere
+instinct of a low order, as all do who live in circles of mere
+tradition.
+
+Now to advance what seems a paradox, it is evident that even what we
+regard as inspired genius comes to man in a great measure from
+Instinct, though as I noted before it is aided by reflection. As the
+young bird listens to its mother and then sings till as a grown
+nightingale it pours forth a rich flood of varying melody; so the poet
+or musician follows masters and models, and then, like them,
+_creates_, often progressing, but is never _entirely_ spontaneous or
+original. When the artist thinks too little he lacks sense, when he
+thinks too much he loses fire. In the very highest and most strangely
+mysterious poetical flights of SHELLEY and KEATS, or WORDSWORTH, I
+find the very same Instinct which inspires the skylark and
+nightingale, but more or less allied to and strengthened by Thought or
+Consciousness. If human Will or Wisdom alone directed _all_ our work,
+then every man who had mere patience might be a great original genius,
+and it is indeed true that Man can do inconceivably more in following
+and imitating genius than has ever been imagined. However, thus far
+the talent which enables a man to write such a passage as that of
+TENNYSON,
+
+    "The tides of Music's golden sea
+    Setting towards Eternity,"
+
+results from a development of Instinct, or an intuitive perception of
+the Beautiful, such as Wordsworth believed existed in all things which
+enjoy sunshine, _life_, and air. The poet himself cannot _explain_ the
+processes, though he may be able to analyze in detail how or why he
+made or found a thousand other things.
+
+It is not only true that Genius originates in something antecedent to
+conscious reflection or intellect, but also that men have produced
+marvelous works of art almost without knowing it, while others have
+shown the greatest incapacity to do so after they had developed an
+incredible amount of knowledge. Thus Mr. WHISTLER reminded RUSKIN that
+when the world had its greatest artists, there were no critics.
+
+And it is well to remember that while the Greeks in all their glory of
+Art and Poetry were unquestionably rational or consciously
+intelligent, there was not among them the thousandth part of the
+anxious worrying, the sentimental self-seeking and examination, or the
+Introversion which worms itself in and out of, and through and
+through, all modern work, action and thought, even as mercury in an
+air-pump will permeate the hardest wood. For the Greeks worked more in
+the spirit of Instinct; that is, more according to certain transmitted
+laws and ideas than we realize--albeit this tradition was of a very
+high order. We have lost Art because we have not developed tradition,
+but have immensely increased consciousness, or reflection, out of
+proportion to art It was from India and Egypt in a _positive_ form
+that Man drew the poison of sentimental Egoism which became
+comparative in the Middle Ages and superlative in this our time.
+
+It is very evident that as soon as men become self-conscious of great
+work, or cease to work for the sake of enjoying Art, or its results,
+and turn all their attention to the genius or cleverness, or character
+or style, self, _et cetera_, of the _artist_, or of themselves, a
+decadence sets in, as there did after the Renaissance, when knowledge
+or enjoyment of Art was limited, and guided by familiarity with names
+and schools and "manners," or the like, far more than by real beauty
+in itself.
+
+Now, out of all this which I have said on Art, strange conclusions may
+be drawn, the first being that even without self-conscious Thought or
+excess of Intellect, there can be a Sense of Enjoyment in any or every
+organism, also a further development of memory of that enjoyment, and
+finally a creation of buildings, music and song, with no reflection,
+in animals, and very little in Man. And when Man gets beyond working
+with simple Nature and begins to think chiefly about himself, his Art,
+as regards harmony with Nature, deteriorates.
+
+We do not sufficiently reflect on the fact that _Natura naturans_, or
+the action of Nature (or simply following Tradition), may, as is the
+case of Transition Architecture, involve the creation of marvelously
+ingenious and beautiful works, and the great enjoyment of them by
+Instinct alone. It is not possible for ordinary man to even understand
+this now in all its fullness. He is indeed trying to do so--but it is
+too new for his comprehension. But a time will come when he will
+perceive that his best work has been done unconsciously, or under
+influences of which he was ignorant.
+
+Hypnotism acts entirely by suggestion, and he who paints or does other
+work entirely according to Tradition, also carries out what is or has
+been suggested to him. Men of earlier times who thus worked for
+thousands of years like the Egyptians in one style, were guided by the
+faith that it had been begun by the Creator or God.
+
+For men cannot conceive of creation as separate from pre-determined
+plan or end, and all because they cannot understand that Creative
+innate force, _potentia_, must have some result, or that the simplest
+Law once set agoing awakens, acquires strength in going and develops
+great Laws, which, with an all-susceptible or _capable_ material to
+work on, may, or _must_, create infinite ingenuities, so that in time
+there may be an organic principle with sentiency, and yet no Will,
+save in its exponents, or working to end or aim, but ever tending to
+further unfolding "a seizing and giving the fire of the living" ever
+onwards into Eternity, in which there may be a million times more
+perfect "mind" than we can now grasp.
+
+Now, having for many years attempted at least to familiarize myself
+with the aspect or sound, of this problem, though I could not solve
+it, it seems at last to be natural enough that even matter (which so
+many persist in regarding as a kind of dust or something resistant to
+the touch, but which I regard as infinite millions of degrees more
+subtle), may _think_ just as well as it may act in Instinct. It is,
+indeed, absurd to admit souls to idiots or savages, who have not the
+sense to live as comfortably as many animals, and yet deny it to the
+latter. When we really become familiar with the idea, it appears
+sensible enough. But its opponents do _not_ become familiar with it,
+it irritates them, they call it Atheistic, although it is nothing of
+the kind, just as if we were to say that a man who bravely and nobly
+pursued his way in life, doing his duty because it was his duty, and
+giving no thought as to future reward or punishment, must needs want
+_soul_ or be an Atheist.
+
+If all men were perfectly good, they would act morally and
+instinctively, without consciousness of behaving well, and if we felt
+a high ideal of Art it would be just the same. When Art was natural
+men never signed their names to their work, but now the Name takes
+precedence of the picture.
+
+Therefore, as we go backward into the night of things, we find, though
+we forget it all the time, that Instinct or the living in the Spirit
+of Law, had its stars or planets which shone more brilliantly than
+now, at least in Faith. Thus, there are two sources of Creation or
+Action, both based on Evolution, one being unconscious and guided by
+Natural Law, and the other which is conscious and grows out of the
+first. Hence _cognito ergo sum_, which well-nigh all men really
+understand as _cogito, ergo sum Deus_. Or we may say that they assume
+
+    "Because _I_ think, then God must _think_ like me!"
+
+Now to come to Hypnotic thought, or suggested mental action. I would
+infer that, according to what I have said, there may be two kinds of
+mentality, or working of the mind--the one under certain conditions as
+effective or resultant as the other; the first being--as it was in the
+order of time--Unconscious or Instinctive; the other, conscious and
+self-observant.
+
+For the man who built a Romanesque Cathedral worked by the
+suggestiveness of minds which went before him, or Tradition. He was
+truly, as it were, in a kind of slumber; indeed, all life was more or
+less of a waking dream in those dim, strange days. "Millions marched
+forth to death scarce knowing why," all because they were _told_ to do
+so--they felt that they must do it, and they did it. "Like turkeys led
+by a red rag," says CARLYLE. And the red rag and the turkey is an
+illustration of Hypnotism in one of the books thereon. Instinct _is_
+Hypnotism.
+
+Now I have found that by suggesting to oneself before sleep, or
+inducing self by Will or Forethought to work gladly and unweariedly
+the next day, we do not _think_ about self or the quality of what we
+do to any degree like what we would in working under ordinary
+conditions. Truly it is not thoroughgoing or infallible in all cases,
+but _then_ it must be helped by a little wide-awake self-conscious
+will. But this is certainly true, that we can turn out _better_ work
+when we urge our creative power to awake in the morn and act or aid,
+than if we do not.
+
+    "For there are many angels at our call,
+    And many blessed spirits who are bound
+    To lend their aid in every strait and turn;
+    And elves to fly the errands of the soul,
+    And fairies all too glad to give us help,
+    If we but know how to pronounce the spell
+    Which calls them unto us in every need."
+
+That spell I have shown or explained clearly enough.
+
+And, finally, to recapitulate, Instinct in its earlier or simpler form
+is the following laws of Nature which are themselves formed by motive
+laws. In Man the living according to Tradition is instinct of a higher
+order, and the one or the other is merely being ruled by Suggestion.
+The more free Will is developed and guided by reflection, or varied
+tradition and experience, the less instinct and the more intellect
+will there be.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+MEMORY CULTURE.
+
+    'Twas wisely said by Plato, when he called
+    Memory "the mother of the Intellect,"
+    For knowledge is to wisdom what his realm
+    Is to a monarch--that o'er which he rules;
+    And he who hath the Will can ever win
+    Such empire to himself--Will can do all.
+
+There is nothing in which the might of the Will can be so clearly set
+forth as in the _making_ of memory. By means of it, as is fully proved
+by millions of examples, man can render his power of recollection
+almost infinite. And lest the reader may think that I here exaggerate,
+I distinctly assert that I never knew a man of science, familiar with
+certain facts which I shall repeat, who ever denied its literal truth.
+
+As I have already stated, there are two methods, and only two, by
+means of which we can retain images, facts or ideas. One of these is
+that which in many varied forms, which are all the same in fact, is
+described in the old _Artes Memorandi_, or Arts of Memory. There are
+several hundreds of these, and to the present day there are professors
+who give instructions according to systems of the same kind. These are
+all extremely plausible, being based on Association of ideas, and in
+most cases the pupil makes great progress for a short time. Thus, we
+can remember the French for bread, _pain_, Italian _Pane_, by thinking
+of the pan in which bread is baked, or the difficult name of the
+inventor, SSCZEPANIK (pronounced nearly _she-panic_) by thinking of a
+crowd of frightened women, and which I remembered by the fact that
+_pane_ is the Slavonian for Mr. or Sir. For there is such a tendency
+of ideas to agglutinate, and so become more prominent, as we can see
+two bubbles together in a pool more readily than one that we can very
+soon learn to recall many images in this way.
+
+But after a time a certain limit is reached which most minds cannot
+transgress. VOLAPUK was easy so long as, like Pidgin-English, it
+contained only a few hundred words and no grammar. But now that it has
+a dictionary of 4,000 terms and a complete grammar it is as hard to
+learn as Spanish. It invariably comes to pass in learning to remember
+by the Associative method that after a time images are referred to
+images, and these to others again, so that they form entire categories
+in which the most vigorous mind gets lost.
+
+The other method is that of _direct_ Memory guided by Will, in which
+no regard is paid to Association, especially in the beginning. Thus to
+remember anything, or rather to learn _how_ to do so, we take
+something which is very easy to retain--the easier the better--be it a
+jingling nursery rhyme, a proverb, or a text. Let this be learned to
+perfection, backwards and forwards, or by permutation of words, and
+repeated the next day. Note that the repetition or _reviewing_ is of
+more importance than aught else.
+
+On the second day add another proverb or verse to the preceding, and
+so on, day by day, always reviewing and never learning another
+syllable until you are sure that you perfectly or most familiarly
+retain all which you have _memorized_. The result will be, if you
+persevere, that before long you will begin to find it easier to
+remember anything. This is markedly the case as regards the practice
+of reviewing, which is invariably hard at first, but which becomes ere
+long habitual and then easy.
+
+I cannot impress it too vividly on the mind of the reader, that he
+cannot make his exercises too easy. If he finds that ten lines a day
+are too much, let him reduce them to five, or two, or one, or even a
+single word, but learn that, and persevere. When the memory begins to
+improve under this process, the tasks may, of course, be gradually
+increased.
+
+An uncle of the present Khedive of Egypt told me that when he was
+learning English, he at first committed to memory fifty words a day,
+but soon felt himself compelled to very much reduce the number in
+order to permanently remember what he acquired. One should never
+overdrive a willing horse.
+
+Where there is a teacher with youthful pupils, he can greatly aid the
+process of mere memorizing, by explaining the text, putting questions
+as to its meaning, or otherwise awaking an interest in it. After a
+time the pupils may proceed to _verbal memorizing_, which consists of
+having the text simply read or repeated to them. In this way, after a
+year or eighteen months of practice, most people can actually remember
+a sermon or lecture, word for word.
+
+This was the process which was discovered, I may say simultaneously,
+by DAVID KAY and myself, as our books upon it appeared at almost the
+same time. But since then I have modified my plan, and made it
+infinitely easier, and far more valuable, as will be apparent to all,
+by the application of the principles laid down in this book. For
+while, according to the original views, Memory depended on Will and
+Perseverance, there was no method indicated by any writer how these
+were to be created, nor was energetic Forethought considered as
+amounting to more than mere Intention.
+
+Now I would say that having the task selected, first give energetic
+forethought, or a considerate determination to master this should
+precede all attempts to learn, by everybody, young or old. And when
+the lesson is mastered, let it be repeated with earnestness and
+serious attention before going to sleep, with the _Will_ that it shall
+be remembered on the morrow. And it will be found that this process
+not only secures the memory desired, but also greatly facilitates the
+whole course and process.
+
+It is to be noted that by this, or any process, we do not remember
+everything, but only what is first considered and measured by
+Forethought. Also that by it the Memory is never overcharged at the
+expense of Intellect, for the exertion of will in any way strengthens
+the mind. To explain the immense power which this all implies, I
+observe:
+
+That previous to the invention of printing, it was usual for students
+to get their text-books by heart. Thus in India, according to MAX
+MULLER, the entire text and glosses of PANINI'S Sanskrit grammar were
+handed down orally for 350 years before being committed to writing.
+This work is about equal in size to the Bible.
+
+There are Indian priests now living who can repeat accurately the
+whole poems of the _Mahabarata_ of 300,000 _slokas_ or lines.
+
+That these incredible feats were the result of a system of memorizing
+similar to what I have explained.
+
+That the _Guzlas_ or Slavonian minstrels of the present day have by
+heart with remarkable accuracy immensely long epic poems. I have found
+the same among Algonkin Indians, whose sagas or mythic legends are
+interminable, and yet are committed word by word accurately.
+
+I have heard in England of a lady ninety years of age whose memory was
+miraculous, and of which extraordinary instances are narrated by her
+friends. She attributed it to the fact that when young she had been
+made to learn a verse from the Bible every day, and then constantly
+review it. As her memory improved, she learned more, the result being
+that in the end she could repeat from memory any verse or chapter
+called for in the whole Scripture. The habit had marvelously developed
+her intelligence as well as memory.
+
+Now I confidently declare that if this lady had submitted what she
+learned to the suggestive-will process she could have spared herself
+half the labor. And it is to be observed that as in time the labor of
+reviewing and the faculty of promptly recalling becomes easier and
+easier till it is simply mechanical, so the memorizing by suggestion
+becomes more _facile_ until it is, so to speak, only a form. And as it
+becomes easier the foresight strengthens till it wields an _absolute_
+power.
+
+If the reader is interested in this subject of developing the memory,
+I would refer him to my work on Practical Education in which it is
+discussed with reference to recalling objects through all the Senses.
+
+No one who has made even a very slight trial of the process of
+impressing on the mind before sleep something which must be
+remembered, can fail to be convinced ere long of the truth that there
+is in it a marvelous power which will with easy and continued practice
+enable him to recall whatever he pleases. It follows as a matter of
+course, that this would be of incredible value in education, but
+notwithstanding the vast discussion of this subject which is ever
+going on, it does not seem to occur to a living man that we should
+develop and train the mental faculties, such as memory and quickness
+of perception, as well as set them to hard work.
+
+It is also safe to say that there is not a man living who was educated
+from boyhood upon this principle, and yet I am confident that no
+scientist in existence, knowing the facts on which my statement is
+based, will deny that it is as easy to develop the mental factors
+alluded to, as to learn a language or play on the piano. It is not a
+matter of theory but of facts. Millions of men have in the past
+acquired the faculty of being able to repeat and remember whatever
+they heard, if they earnestly attended to it. Earnest attention in
+this case means a strong exercise of forethought, or determination to
+an end or given purpose. In Iceland, that which has since become the
+English common law, was at an early date very fully developed, without
+any books or writing. And there were lawyers who had by heart all the
+laws, and incredible numbers of precedents, as appears from several
+sagas, among others, that of The Burnt Njall.
+
+Our present system of Education is that of building houses without
+foundations. No one suspects or dreams what mighty powers there are
+latent in us all, or how easily they may be developed. It would not be
+so reprehensible if men entirely neglected the subject, but they are
+always working hard and spending millions on the old system, and will
+not even make the least experiment to test a new theory. One reason
+for this is the old belief that we are all born with a certain quantum
+of "gifts," as for example memory, capacity, patience, _et cetera_,
+all more or less limited, and in reality not to be enlarged or
+improved. The idea is _natural_, because we see that there are very
+great differences, hereditary or otherwise, in children. But it is
+false. So we go to work to fill up the quantum of memory as soon as
+possible by violent cramming, and in like manner tax to the utmost all
+the mental faculties without making the least effort to prepare,
+enlarge or strengthen them.
+
+I shall not live to see it, but a time will come when this preparation
+of the mental faculties will be regarded as the basis of all
+education.
+
+To recapitulate in a few words. When we desire to fix anything in the
+memory we can do so by repeating it to ourselves before we go to
+sleep, accompanying it with the resolution to remember it in future.
+We must not in the beginning set ourselves any but very easy tasks,
+and the practice must be steadily continued.
+
+It has been often said that a perfect memory is less of a blessing
+than the power of oblivion. Thus THEMISTOCLES (who, according to CATO,
+as cited by CICERO, knew the names and faces of every man in Athens)
+having offered to teach some one the art of memory, received for
+reply, "Rather teach me how to forget"--_esse facturum si se oblivisci
+quæ vellet, quam si meminisse docuisset_. And CLAUDIUS had such an
+enviable power in the latter respect that immediately after he had put
+to death his wife MESSALINA, he forgot all about it, asking, "_Cur
+domina non veniret_?"--"Why the Missus didn't come?"--while on the
+following day, after condemning several friends to death, he sent
+invitations to them to come and dine with him. And again, there are
+people who have, as it were, two memories, one good, the other bad, as
+was the case with CALVISIUS SABRINUS, who could recall anything in
+literature, but never remembered the names of his own servants, or
+even his friends. But he got over the difficulty by naming his nine
+attendants after the nine Muses, while he called his intimates Homer,
+Hesiod, and so on. This scholar would truly seem to have drunk of the
+two fountains sacred to Trophonius, by the river Orchomenus in
+Boeotia, one of which bestowed memory and the other oblivion. And like
+unto them is the power of the Will, aided by Forethought and
+Suggestion, for while it properly directs and aids us to remember what
+we will, it _per contra_ also helps us to forget.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE CONSTRUCTIVE FACULTIES.
+
+    "He who hath learned a single art,
+    Can thrive, I ween, in any part."
+        --_German Proverb_.
+
+    "He would have taught you how you might employ
+    Yourself; and many did to him repair,
+    And, certes, not in vain; he had inventions rare."
+        --WORDSWORTH.
+
+When I had, after many years of study and research in England and on
+the Continent, developed the theory that all practical, technical
+education of youth should be preceded by a light or easy training on
+an æsthetic basis, or the minor arts, I for four years, to test the
+scheme, was engaged in teaching in the city of Philadelphia, every
+week in separate classes, two hundred children, besides a number of
+ladies. These were from the public schools of the city. The total
+number of these public pupils was then 110,000.
+
+My pupils were taught, firstly, simple outline decorative design with
+drawing at the same time; after this, according to sex, easy
+embroidery, wood carving, modeling in clay, leather-work,
+carpentering, inlaying, repoussé modeling in clay, porcelain painting,
+and other small arts. Nearly all of the pupils, who were from ten to
+sixteen years of age, acquired two or three, if not all, of these
+arts, and then very easily found employment in factories or fabrics,
+etc.
+
+Many people believed that this was all waste of money and time, and,
+quite unknown to me, at their instigation an inquiry was made of all
+the teachers in the public schools as to the standing of my art pupils
+in their other classes, it being confidently anticipated that they
+would be found to have fallen behind. And the result of the
+investigation was that the two hundred were in advance of the one
+hundred and ten thousand in every branch--geography, arithmetic,
+history, and so on.
+
+It was not remarkable, because boys and girls who had, at an average
+age of twelve or thirteen, learned the principles of design and its
+practical application to several kinds of handiwork, and knew the
+differences and characteristics of Gothic, Arabesque, or Greek
+patterns, all developed a far greater intelligence in general thought
+and conversation than others. They had at least one topic on which
+they could converse intelligently with any grown-up person, and in
+which they were really superior to most. They soon found this out. I
+have often been astonished in listening to their conversation among
+themselves to hear how well they discussed art. They all well knew at
+least one thing, which is far from being known among æsthetes in
+London, which is that in Decorative Art, however you may end in all
+kinds of mixtures of styles, you must at least begin with organic
+development, and not put roots or flowers at _both_ ends of a branch
+or vine.
+
+The secret of it all is that those who from an early age develop the
+constructive faculty (especially if this be done in a pleasing, easy
+manner, with agreeable work) also develop with it the Intellect, and
+that very rapidly to a very remarkable degree. There are reasons for
+this. Drawing when properly taught stimulates visual perception or eye
+memory; this is strikingly the case when the pupil has a model placed
+in one room, and, after studying it, goes into another room to
+reproduce it from memory. Original design, which when properly taught
+is learned with incredible ease by all children, stimulates
+observation to a remarkable degree. The result of such education is to
+develop a great general quickness of perception and thought.
+
+Now, be it observed, that if anyone desires to learn design or any
+art, it may be greatly facilitated by the application to it of Will
+and Foresight, and in the beginning, Self-Suggestion. He who
+understands the three as one, sees in it a higher or more energetic
+kind of self-discipline than most people practise. In the end they
+come to the same as a vigorous effort of the Will.
+
+Thus, having mastered the very easy principles of design which govern
+all organic development or vegetable growth (as set forth in a plant
+with roots, offshoots, or crochets, and end ornaments, flowers, or
+finials, with the circle, spiral, and offshooting ornaments; rings
+made into vines and wave patterns; all of which can be understood in
+an hour with diagrams), let the beginner attempt a design, the simpler
+the better, and reproduce it from memory. If on going to bed he will
+impress it on his mind that on the morrow he would like to make more
+designs, or that it _must_ be done, he will probably feel the impulse
+and succeed. This is the more likely because patterns impress
+themselves very vividly on the memory or imagination, and when studied
+are easily recalled after a little practice.
+
+The manner in which most artists form an idea, or project their minds
+to a plan or invention, be it a statue or picture; and the way they
+think it over and anticipate it--very often actually seeing the
+picture in a finished state in imagination--all amounts to foresight
+and hypnotic preparation in a crude, imperfect form. If any artist who
+is gifted with resolution and perseverance will simply make trial of
+the method here recommended, he will assuredly find that it is a great
+aid to Invention.
+
+It is probable that half the general average cleverness of men is due
+to their having learned, as boys, games, or the art of making
+something, or mending and repairing. In any case, if they had learned
+to use their hands and their inventiveness or adaptability, they would
+have been the better for it. That the innumerable multitude of people
+who can do nothing of the kind, and who take no real interest in
+anything except spending money and gossiping, are to be really pitied,
+is true. Some of them once had minds--and these are the most pitiful
+or pitiable of all. It is to be regretted that novels are, with rare
+exceptions, written to amuse this class, and limit themselves strictly
+to "life," never describing with real skill, so as to interest
+anything which would make life worth living for--except love--which is
+good to a certain extent, but not absolutely all in all, save to the
+eroto-maniac. And as most novelists now pretend to instruct and convey
+ideas, beyond mere story-telling, or even being "interesting," which
+means the love or detective business, I would suggest to some of these
+writers that the marvelous latent powers of the human mind, and also
+some art which does not consist of the names and guide-book praises of
+a few great painters and the Renaissance _rechauffée_ would be a
+refreshing novelty.
+
+The ancient Romans were thoroughly persuaded that _Exercitatione et
+usu_ (by exercising the physical faculties in every way; by which they
+meant arts as well as gymnastics; and by making such practice
+habitual) they could develop intellect, in illustration of which
+Lycurgus once took two puppies of the same litter, and had the one
+brought up to hunt, while the other was nursed at home in all luxury;
+and when grown, and let loose, the one caught a hare, while the other
+yelped and ran away. So the word _handy_, in old English _hend_,
+meaning quick, alert, or gifted with prompt perception, is derived
+from knowing how to use the hands. BRUSONIUS ("Facetiæ," Lyons, 1562)
+has collected a great number of classic anecdotes to illustrate this
+saying.
+
+_Recapitulation_. Those who desire to become artists, can greatly
+facilitate their work, if beginning for example with very simple
+outline decorative designs, and having learned the principles on which
+they are constructed, they would repeat or revise them to themselves
+before sleep, resolving to remember them. The same principle is
+applicable to all kinds of designs, with the proviso that they be at
+first very easy. This is generally a very successful process.
+
+_Fore thought_, or the projection of conception or attention with
+will, is a marvelous preparation for all kinds of art work. He who can
+form the habit of seeing a picture mentally before he paints it, has
+an incredible advantage, and will spare himself much labor and
+painting out.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+FASCINATION.
+
+    "Quærit _Franciscus Valesius, Delrio, Gutierrus_, et alii,
+    unde vulgaris ilia fascini nata sit opinio de oculo fascinante
+    visione et ore fascinando laudando."--De Faseinatione
+    Fatatus. A. D. 1677.
+
+I have in Chapter Fifth mentioned several of the subjects to attain
+which the Will may be directed by the aid of self-hypnotism, preceded
+by Forethought. If the reader has carefully studied what I have said
+and not merely skimmed it, he must have perceived that if the power be
+fully acquired, it makes, as it were, new existence for its possessor,
+opening to him boundless fields of action by giving him the enviable
+power to acquire interest--that is to say agreeable or profitable
+occupation--in whatever he pleases. In further illustration of which I
+add the following:
+
+_To recall bygone memories or imperfectly remembered sensations,
+scenes and experiences or images_.
+
+This is a difficult thing to describe, and no wonder, since it forms
+the greatest and most trying task of all poets to depict that which
+really depends for its charm on association, emotion and a chiaroscuro
+of the feelings. We have all delightful reminiscences which make
+ridiculous Dante's assertion that
+
+    "There is no greater grief than to recall in pain
+    The happy days gone by;"
+
+which, if true, would make it a matter of regret that we ever had a
+happy hour. However, I assume that it is a great pleasure to recall,
+even in grief, beautiful bygone scenes and joys, and trust that the
+reader has a mind healthy and cheerful enough to do the same.
+
+What constitutes a charm in many memories is often extremely varied.
+Darkly shaded rooms with shutters closed in on an intensely hot
+American summer day. Chinese matting on the floors--the mirrors and
+picture frames covered with _tulle_--silence--the scent of magnolias
+all over the house--the presence of loved ones now long dead and
+gone--all of these combined form to me memory-pictures in which
+nothing can be spared. The very scent of the flowers is like musk in a
+perfume or "bouquet" of odors--it _fixes_ them well, or renders them
+permanent. And it is all like a beautiful vivid dream. If I had my
+life to live over again I would do frequently and with great care,
+what I thought of too late, and now practice feebly--I would strongly
+impress on my mind and very often recall, many such scenes, pictures,
+times or memories. Very few people do this. Hence in all novels and
+poems, especially the French, description generally smacks of
+imitation and mere manufacture. It passes for "beautiful writing," but
+there is always something in really unaffected truth from nature which
+is caught by the true critic. I read lately a French romance which is
+much admired, of this manufactured or second-hand kind. Every third
+page was filled with the usual botany, rocks, skies, colors, fore and
+backgrounds--"all very fine"--but in the whole of it not one of those
+little touches of truth which stir us so in SHAKESPEARE, make us smile
+in HERRICK or naïve PEPYS, or raise our hearts in WORDSWORTH. These
+were true men.
+
+To be true we must be far more familiar with Nature than with scene
+painting or photographs, and to do this we must, so to speak,
+fascinate ourselves with pictures in life, glad memories of golden
+hours, rock and river and greenwood tree. We must also banish
+resolutely from our past all recollections of enemies and wrongs,
+troubles and trials, and throw all our heart into doing so. Forgive
+and forget all enmities--those of Misfortune and Fate being included.
+Depend upon it that the brighter you can make your Past the pleasanter
+will be your Future.
+
+This is just the opposite to what most people do, hence the frequent
+and fond quotation of pessimistic poetry. It is all folly, and worse.
+One result is that in modern books of travel the only truthful or
+vivid descriptions are of sufferings of all kinds, even down to
+inferior luncheons and lost hair brushes. Their joys they sketch with
+an indifferent skill, like HEINE'S monk, who made rather a poor
+description of Heaven, but was "gifted in Hell," which he depicted
+with dreadful vigor.
+
+I find it a great aid to recall what I can of bygone beautiful
+associations, and then sleep on them with a resolve that they shall
+recur in complete condition. He who will thus resolutely clean up his
+past life and clear away from it all sorrow _as well as he can_, and
+refurnish it with beautiful memories, or make it better, _coûte que
+coûte_, will do himself more good than many a doleful moral adviser
+ever dreamed of. This is what I mean by _self-fascination_--the
+making, as it were, by magic art, one's own past and self more
+charming than we ever deemed it possible to be. We thus fascinate
+ourselves. Those who believe that everything which is bygone has gone
+to the devil are in a wretched error. The future is based on the
+past--yes, made from it, and that which _was_ never dies, but returns
+to bless or grieve. We mostly wrong our past bitterly, and bitterly
+does it revenge itself. But it is like the lion of ANDROCLES, it
+remembers those who treat it kindly. "And lo! when ANDROCLES was
+thrown to the lion to be devoured, the beast lay down at his feet, and
+licked his hands." Yes, we have all our lions!
+
+_To master difficult meanings_. It has often befallen me, when I was
+at the University, or later when studying law, to exert my mind to
+grasp, and all in vain, some problem in mathematics or a puzzling
+legal question, or even to remember some refractory word in a foreign
+language which would _not_ remain in the memory. After a certain
+amount of effort in many of these cases, further exertion is
+injurious, the mind or receptive power seems to be seized--as if
+nauseated--with spasmodic rejections. In such a case pass the question
+by, but on going to bed, think it over and _will_ to understand it on
+the morrow. It will often suffice to merely desire that it shall recur
+in more intelligible form--in which case, _nota bene_--if let alone it
+will obey. This is as if we had a call to make tomorrow, when, as we
+know, the memory will come at its right time of itself, especially if
+we employ Forethought or special pressure.
+
+When I reflect on what I once endured from this cause, and how greatly
+it could have been relieved or alleviated, I feel as if I could beg,
+with all my heart, every student or teacher of youth to seriously
+experiment on what I set forth in this book. It is also to be
+observed, especially by metaphysicians and mental philosophers, that a
+youth who has shown great indifference to, let us say mathematics, if
+he has manifested an aptitude for philosophy or languages, will be in
+all cases certain to excel in the former, if he can be brought to
+make a good beginning in it. A great many cases of bad, _i. e._,
+indifferent scholarship, are due to bad teaching of the rudiments by
+adults who took no _interest_ in their pupils, and therefore inspired
+none.
+
+_To determine what course to follow in any Emergency_. Many a man
+often wishes with all his heart that he had some wise friend to
+consult in his perplexities. What to do in a business trouble when we
+are certain that there is an exit if we could only find it--a sure way
+to tame an unruly horse if we had the secret--to do or not to do
+whate'er the question--truly all this causes great trouble in life.
+But, it is within the power of man to be his own friend, yes, and
+companion, to a degree of which none have ever dreamed, and which
+borders on the _weird_, or that which forebodes or suggests mysteries
+to come. For it may come to pass that he who has trained himself to
+it, may commune with his spirit as with a companion.
+
+This is, of course, done by just setting the problem, or question, or
+dilemma, before ourselves as clearly as we can, so as to know our own
+minds as well as possible. This done, sleep on it, with the resolute
+will to have it recur on the morrow in a clear and solved form. And
+should this occur, do not proceed to pull it to pieces again, by way
+of improvement, but rather submit it to another night's rest. I would
+here say that many lawyers and judges are perfectly familiar with this
+process, and use it habitually, without being aware of its connection
+with hypnotism or will. But they could aid it, if they would add this
+peculiar _impulse_ to the action.
+
+What I will now discuss approaches the miraculous, or seems to do so
+because it has been attempted or treated in manifold ways by sorcerers
+and witches. The Voodoos, or black wizards in America, profess
+to be able to awaken love in one person for another by means of
+incantations, but admit that it is the most difficult of their feats.
+Nor do I think that there is any infallible recipe for it, but that
+there are means of _honestly_ aiding such affection can hardly be
+denied. In the first place, he who would be loved must love--for that
+is no honest love which is not sincere. And having thus inspired
+himself, and made himself as familiar as possible, by quietly
+observing as dispassionately as may be all the mental characteristics
+of the one loved, let him with an earnest desire to know how to secure
+a return, go to sleep, and see whether the next day will bring a
+suggestion. And as the old proverb declares that luck comes to many
+when least hoped for, so will it often happen that forethought is thus
+fore-bought or secured.
+
+It is known that gifts pass between friends or lovers, to cause the
+receiver to think of the giver, thus they are in a sense amulets. If
+we believe, as HEINE prettily suggests, that something of the life or
+the being of the owner or wearer has passed into the talisman, we are
+not far off from the suggestion that our feelings are allied. All over
+Italy, or over the world, pebbles of precious stone, flint or amber,
+rough topaz or agate, are esteemed as lucky; all things of the kind
+lead to suggestiveness, and may be employed in suggestion.
+
+What was originally known as Fascination, of which the German,
+FROMANN, wrote a very large volume which I possess, is simply
+Hypnotism without the putting to sleep. It is direct Suggestion. Where
+there is a natural sympathy of like to like, soul answering soul, such
+suggestion is easily established. Among people of a common, average,
+worldly type who are habitually sarcastic, jeering, chaffing, and
+trifling, or those whose idea of genial or agreeable companionship is
+to "get a rise" out of all who will give and take irritations equally,
+there can be no sympathy of gentle or refined emotions. Experiments,
+whose whole nature presupposes earnest thought, cannot be tried with
+any success by those who live habitually in an atmosphere of small
+talk and "rubbishy" associations. Fascination should be mutual; to
+attempt to exert it on anyone who is not naturally in sympathy is a
+crime, and I believe that all such cases lead to suffering and
+remorse.
+
+But where we perceive that there is an undoubted mutual liking and
+good reason for it, fascination, when perfectly understood and
+sympathetically used, facilitates and increases love and friendship,
+and may be most worthily and advantageously employed. Unto anyone who
+could, for example, merely skim over all that I have written, catching
+an idea here and there, and then expect to master all, I can clearly
+say that I can give him or her no definite idea of fascination. For
+Fascination really is effectively what the old philosophers, who
+had given immense study and research to the subject in ages when
+susceptibility to suggestiveness went far beyond anything now known,
+all knew and declared; that is to say, it existed, but that it
+required a peculiar mind, and very certainly one which is not
+frivolous, to understand its nature, and much more to master it.
+
+He who has by foresight, or previous consideration of a subject or
+desire, allied to a vigorous resolution (which is a kind of projection
+of the mind by will--and then submitting it to sleep), learned how to
+bring about a wished-for state of mind, has, in a curious manner, made
+as it were of his hidden self a conquest yet a friend. He has brought
+to life within himself a Spirit, gifted with greater powers than those
+possessed by Conscious Intellect. By his astonishing and unsuspected
+latent power, Man can imagine and then create, even a spirit within
+the soul. We make at first the sketch, then model it in clay, then
+cast it in gypsum, and finally sculpture it in marble.
+
+I read lately, in a French novel, a description of a young lady, by
+herself, in which she assumed to have within her two souls, one good,
+of which she evidently thought very little, and another brilliantly
+diabolical, capricious, vividly dramatic and interesting _esprit_--to
+which she gave a great deal of attention. He who will begin by merely
+_imagining_ that he has within him a spirit of beauty and light, which
+is to subdue and extinguish the other or all that is in him of what is
+low, commonplace, and mean, may bring this idea to exert a marvelous
+influence. He can increase the conception, and give it reality, by
+treating it with forethought and will, by suggestion, until it gives
+marvellous result. This better self may be regarded as a guardian
+angel, in any case it is a power by means of which we can learn
+mysteries. It is also our Conscience, born of the perception of
+Ideals.
+
+The Ideal or Spirit thus evolved should be morally pure, else the
+experimenter will find, as did the magicians of old, that all who
+dealt with any but good spirits, fell into the hands of devils, just
+as ALLAN KARDEC says is the case with Spiritualists. But to speak as
+clearly as I can, he who succeeds in winning or creating a higher Self
+within himself, and fascinating it by sympathy, will find that he has,
+within moral limits, a strange power of fascinating those who are in
+sympathy with him.
+
+Whereupon many will say "of course." Like and like together strike.
+Birds of a feather flock together. _Similis similibus_. But it often
+happens in this life, though they meet they do _not_ pair off. Very
+often indeed they meet, but to part. There must be, even where the
+affinity exists, consideration and forethought to test the affinity.
+It requires long practice even for keen eyes to recognize the amethyst
+or topaz, or many other gems, in their natural state as sea-worn
+pebbles. Now, it is not a matter of fancy, of romance, or imagination,
+that there are men and women who really have, deeply hidden in
+their souls, or more objectively manifested, peculiar or beautiful
+characteristics, or a spirit. I would not speak here merely of
+_naïveté_ or tenderness--a natural affinity for poetry, art, or
+beauty, but the peculiar tone and manner of it, which is sympathetic
+to ours. For two people may love music, yet be widely removed from all
+agreement if one be a Wagnerian, and the other of an older school.
+Suffice it to say that such similarities of mind or mood, of intellect
+or emotion do exist, and when they are real, and not imaginary, or
+merely the result of passional attraction, they suggest and may well
+attract the use of Fascination.
+
+Those who actually develop within themselves such a spirit, regarding
+it as one, that is a self beyond self, attain to a power which few
+understand, which is practical, positive, and real, and not at all a
+superstitious fancy. It may begin in imagining or fancy, but as the
+veriest dream is material and may be repeated till we see it visibly
+and can then copy it, so can we create in ourselves a being, a
+segregation of our noblest thoughts, a superb abstraction of soul
+which looks from its sunny mountain height down on the dark and
+noisome valley which forms our worldly common intellect or mind, or
+the only one known to by far the majority of mankind, albeit they may
+have therein glimpses of light and truth. But it is to him who makes
+for himself, by earnest Will and Thought, a _separate_ and better Life
+or Self that a better life is given.
+
+Those who possess genius or peculiarly cultivated minds of a highly
+moral caste, gifted with pure integrity, and above vulgarity and
+worldly commonplace habits, should never form a tie in friendship or
+love without much forethought. And then if the active agent has
+disciplined his mind by self-hypnotism until he can control or manage
+his Will with ease, he will know without further instruction how to
+fascinate, and that properly and legitimately.
+
+Those who now acquire this power are few and far between, and when
+they _really_ possess it they make no boast nor parade, but rather
+keep it carefully to themselves, perfectly content with what it yields
+for reward. And here I may declare something in which I firmly
+believe, yet which very few I fear will understand as I mean it. If
+this fascination and other faculties like it may be called Magical
+(albeit all is within the limits of science and matter), then there
+are assuredly in this world magicians whom we meet without dreaming
+that they are such. Here and there, however rare, there is mortal who
+has studied deeply--but
+
+    "Softened all and tempered into beauty;
+    And blended with lone thoughts and wanderings,
+    The quest of hidden knowledge, and a mind
+    To _love_ the universe."
+
+Such beings do not come before the world, but hide their lights,
+knowing well that their magic would defeat itself, and perish if it
+were made common. Any person of the average worldly cast who could
+work any miracles, however small, would in the end bitterly regret it
+if he allowed it to be known. Thus I have read ingenious stories, as
+for instance one by HOOD, showing what terrible troubles a man fell
+into by being able to make himself invisible. Also another setting
+forth the miseries of a successful alchemist. The Algonkin Indians
+have a legend of a man who came to grief and death through his power
+of making all girls love him. But the magic of which I speak is of a
+far more subtle and deeply refined nature, and those who possess it
+are alone in life, save when by some rare chance they meet their kind.
+Those who are deeply and mysteriously interested in any pursuit for
+which the great multitude of all-alike people have no sympathy, who
+have peculiar studies and subjects of thought, partake a little of
+the nature of the _magus_. Magic, as popularly understood, has no
+existence, it is a literal _myth_--for it means nothing but what
+amazes or amuses for a short time. No miracle would be one if it
+became common. Nature is infinite, therefore its laws cannot be
+violated--_ergo_, there is no magic if we mean by that an inexplicable
+contravention of law.
+
+But that there are minds who have simply advanced in knowledge beyond
+the multitude in certain things which cannot at once be made common
+property is true, for there is a great deal of marvelous truth not as
+yet dreamed of even by HERBERT SPENCERS or EDISONS, by RONTGENS or
+other scientists. And yet herein is hidden the greatest secret of
+future human happenings.
+
+    "What I was is passed by,
+    What I am away doth fly;
+    What I shall be none do see,
+    Yet in that my glories be."
+
+Now to illustrate this more clearly. Some of these persons who are
+more or less secretly addicted to magic (I say secretly, because they
+cannot make it known if they would), take the direction of feeling or
+living with inexpressible enjoyment in the beauties of nature. That,
+they attain to something almost or quite equal to life in Fairyland,
+is conclusively proved by the fact that only very rarely, here and
+there in their best passages, do the greatest poets more than
+imperfectly and briefly convey some broken idea or reflection of the
+feelings which are excited by thousands of subjects in nature in many.
+The Mariana of TENNYSON surpasses anything known to me in any language
+as conveying the reality of feeling alone in a silent old house, where
+everything is a dim, uncanny manner, recalled the past--yet suggested
+a kind of mysterious presence--as in the passage:
+
+    "All day within the dreary house
+    The doors upon their hinges creaked,
+    The blue fly sang in the pane, the mouse
+    Behind the mouldering wainscot shrieked,
+    Or from the crevice peered about;
+    Old faces glimmered thro' the doors,
+    Old footsteps trod the upper floors,
+    Old voices called her from without."
+
+Yet even this unsurpassed poem does no more than _partially_ revive
+and recall the reality to me of similar memories of long, long ago,
+when an invalid child I was often left in a house entirely alone, from
+which even the servants had absented themselves. Then I can remember
+how after reading the Arabian Nights or some such unearthly romance,
+as was the mode in the Thirties, the very sunshine stealing craftily
+and silently like a living thing, in a bar through the shutter,
+twinkling with dust, as with infinitely small stars, living and dying
+like sparks, the buzzing of the flies who were little blue imps, with
+now and then a larger Beelzebub--a strange imagined voice ever about,
+which seemed to say something without words--and the very furniture,
+wherein the chairs were as goblins, and the broom a tall young woman,
+and the looking-glass a kind of other self-life--all of this as I
+recall it appears to me as a picture of the absence of human beings as
+described by TENNYSON, _plus_ a strange personality in every object--
+which the poet does not attempt to convey. This is, however, a very
+small or inferior illustration; there are far more remarkable and
+deeply spiritual or æsthetically-suggestive subjects than this, and
+that in abundance, which Art has indeed so reproduced as to amaze the
+many who have only had snatches of such observation themselves.
+
+But the magicians, SHELLEY, or KEATS, or WORDSWORTH, only convey
+_partial_ echoes of certain subjects, or of their specialties. It is
+indeed beautiful to feel what Art can do, but the original is worth
+far more. And if the reader would be such a magician, let him give his
+heart and will to taking an interest in all that is beautiful, good
+and true--or honest. For that it really can be done in all fullness is
+true beyond a dream of doubt. By the ordinary methods of learning one
+may indeed acquire an exact, mechanically drawn picture, which we
+modify with what beauty chance bestows. But he who will learn by the
+process which I have endeavored to describe, or by studying with the
+_will_, cannot fail to experience a strange enchantment in so doing,
+as I have read in an Italian tale of a youth who was sadly weary of
+his lessons, but who, being taken daily by certain kind fairies into
+their school on a hill, found all difficulties disappear and the
+pursuit of knowledge as joyful as that of pleasure.
+
+I have heard hypnotism, with regard to fascination, spoken of with
+great apprehension. "It is dreadful," said one to me, "to think of
+anybody's being able to exercise such an influence on anyone." And
+yet, widely known as it is, instances of its abuse are very rare.
+Thus, when Cremation was first discussed, it was warmly opposed,
+because somebody _might_ be poisoned, and then, the body being burned,
+there could be no autopsy! Nature has decreed some drawback to the
+best things; nothing is perfect. But to balance the immense benefits
+latent in suggestion against the problematic abuses is like condemning
+the ship because a bucket of tar has been spilt on the deck.
+
+Sincere kindness and respect, which are allied unto identity, are
+the best or surest key to love, and they in turn are allied to
+fascination. Here I might observe that the action of the eye, which is
+a silent speech of emotion, has always been regarded as powerful in
+fascination, but those who are not by nature gifted with it cannot use
+it to much good purpose. That emotional, susceptible subjects ready to
+receive suggestion can be put to sleep or made to imagine anything
+terrible regarding anybody's glance is very true, just as an ignorant
+Italian will believe of any man that he has the _malocchio_ if he be
+told so, whence came the idea that Pope Gregory XVI had the evil eye.
+But where there is _sincere_ kindly feeling it makes itself felt in a
+sympathetic nature by what is popularly called magic, only because it
+is not understood. The enchantment lies in this, that unconscious
+cerebration, or the power (or powers), who are always acting in us,
+effect many curious and very subtle mental phenomena, all of which
+they do not confide to the common-sense waking judgment or Reason,
+simply because the latter is almost entirely occupied with common
+worldly subjects. It is as if someone whose whole attention and
+interest had been at all times given to some plain hard drudgery,
+should be called on to review or write a book of exquisitely subtle
+poetry. It is, indeed, almost sadly touching to reflect how this
+innocent and beautiful faculty of recognizing what is good, is really
+acting perhaps in evil and merely worldly minds all in vain, and all
+unknown to them. The more the conscious waking-judgment has been
+trained to recognize goodness, the more will the hidden water-fairies
+rise above the surface, as it were, to the sunshine. So it comes that
+true kindly feeling is recognized by sympathy, and those who would be
+loved, cannot do better than make themselves truly and perfectly
+_kind_ by forethought and will, and with this the process of
+self-hypnotism will be a great aid. For it is not more by winning
+others to us, than in willing ourselves to them that true Love
+consists.
+
+Love or trusting sympathy from any human being, however humble, is the
+most charming thing in life, and it ought to be the main object of
+existence. Yet there are thousands all round us, yes, many among
+our friends or acquaintances, who live and die without ever having
+known it, because in their egotism and folly they conceive of close
+relations as founded on personal power, interest or the weakness of
+others. The only fascination which such people can ever exercise is
+that of the low and devilish kind, the influence of the cat on the
+mouse, the eye of the snake on the bird, which in the end degrades
+them into deeper evil. That there are such people, and that they
+really make captive and oppress weaker minds, by suggestion, is true;
+the marvel being that so few find it out.
+
+But in proportion as this kind of fascination is vile and mean,
+that which may be called altruistic or sympathetic attraction, or
+Enchantment, is noble and pure, because it acquires strength in
+proportion to the purity and beauty of the soul or will which inspires
+it. It is as real and has as much power, and can be exercised by any
+honest person whatever with wonderful effect, even to the performing
+what are popularly called "miracles," which only means wonderful works
+beyond _our_ power of explanation. But this kind of fascination is
+little understood as yet, simply because it is based on purity,
+morality and light, and hitherto the seekers for occult mysteries have
+been chiefly occupied with the gloomy and mock-diabolical rubbish of
+old tradition, instead of scientific investigation of our minds and
+brains.
+
+There is also in truth a Fascination by means of the Voice, which has
+in it a much deeper and stronger power or action than that of merely
+sweet sound as of an instrument. The Jesuit, GASPAR SCHOTT, in his
+_Magio Medica_ treats of Fascination as twofold: _De Fascinatione per
+Visunt et Vocem_. I have found among Italian witches as with Red
+Indian wizards, every magical operation depended on an incantation,
+and every incantation on the feeling, intonation, or manner in which
+it is sung. Thus near Rome any peasant overhearing a _scongiurasione_
+would recognize it from the _sound_ alone.
+
+Anyone, male or female, can have a deep, rich voice by simply subduing
+and training it, and very rarely raising it to a high pitch. _Nota
+bene_ that the less this is affected the more effective it will be.
+There are many, especially women, who speak, as it were, all time in
+italics, when they do not set their speech in small caps or displayed
+large capitals. The result of this, as regards sound, is the so-called
+nasal voice, which is very much like caterwauling, and I need not say
+that there is no fascination in it--on the contrary its tendency is to
+destroy any other kind of attraction. It is generally far more due to
+an ill-trained, unregulated, excitable, nervous temperament than to
+any other cause.
+
+The training the voice to a subdued state "like music in its softest
+key," or to rich, deep tones, though it be done artificially, has an
+extraordinary effect on the character and on others. It is associated
+with a well-trained mind and one gifted with self-control. One of the
+richest voices to which I ever listened was that of the poet TENNYSON.
+I can remember another man of marvelous mind, vast learning, and
+æsthetic-poetic power who also had one of those voices which exercised
+great influence on all who heard it.
+
+There is an amusing parallel as regards nasal-screaming voices in the
+fact that a donkey cannot bray unless he at the same time lifts his
+tail--but if the tail be _tied down_, the beast must be silent. So the
+man or woman, whose voice like that of the erl-king's is "ghostly
+shrill as the wind in the porch of a ruined church," always raise
+their tones with their temper, but if we keep the former down by
+training, the latter cannot rise.
+
+I once asked a very talented lady teacher of Elocution in Philadelphia
+if she regarded shrill voices as incurable. She replied that they
+invariably yielded to instruction and training. Children under no
+domestic restraint who were allowed to scream out and dispute on all
+occasions and were never corrected in intonation, generally had vulgar
+voices.
+
+A good voice acts very evidently on the latent powers of the mind,
+and impresses the æsthetic sense, even when it is unheeded by the
+conscious judgment. Many a clergyman makes a deep impression by his
+voice alone. And why? Certainly not by appealing to the reason.
+Therefore it is well to be able to fascinate with the voice. Now,
+_nota bene_--as almost every human being can speak in a soft or
+well-toned voice, "at least, subdued unto a temperate tone" just as
+long as he or she chooses to do it, it follows that with foresight,
+aided by suggestion, or continued will, we can all acquire this
+enviable accomplishment.
+
+To end this chapter with a curious bit of appropriate folk-lore, I
+would record that while Saxo Grammaticus, Olaus Magnus, and a host of
+other Norsemen have left legends to prove that there were sorcerers
+who by magic of the soft and wondrous voice could charm and capture
+men of the sword, so the Jesuit ATHANASIUS KIRCHER, declares that on
+the seventeenth day of May, 1638, he, going from Messina in a boat,
+witnessed with his own eyes the capture not of swordsmen but of sundry
+_xiphioe_, or sword-fish, by means of a melodiously chanted charm, the
+words whereof he noted down as follows:
+
+    "Mammassudi di pajanu,
+    Palletu di pajanu,
+    Majassu stigneta.
+    Pallettu di pajanu,
+    Palè la stagneta.
+    Mancata stigneta.
+    Pro nastu varitu pressu du
+    Visu, e da terra!"
+
+Of which words Kircher declares that they are probably of mingled
+corrupt Greek and ancient Sicilian, but that whatever they are, they
+certainly are admirable for the catching of fish.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE SUBLIMINAL SELF.
+
+While the previous pages of this work were in the press, I received
+and read a very interesting and able Book, entitled, "Telepathy and
+the Subliminal Self, or an account of recent investigations regarding
+Hypnotism, Automatism, Dreams, Phantoms, and related phenomena," by R.
+OSGOOD MASON, A.M., Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. Dr.
+MASON, on the whole, may be said to follow HARTMANN, since he places
+Thaumaturgy, or working what have been considered as wonders,
+miracles, and the deeds of spiritualists, on the evolutionary or
+material basis. He is also far less superstitious or prone to seek the
+miraculous and mysterious for its own sake, than his predecessors
+in _occulta_, and limits his beliefs to proofs sustained by good
+authority. He recognizes a second, or what he calls a subliminal Self,
+the Spirit of our Soul, acting independently of Waking Conscious
+Judgment, a mysterious _alter ego_, which has marvelous power.
+
+This second or inner self I have also through this work of mine
+recognized as a reality, though it is, like the self-conscious soul,
+rather an aggregate than a distinct unity. Thus we may for convenience
+sake speak of the Memory, when there are in fact millions of memories,
+since every image stored away in the brain is one, and the faculty of
+revising them for the use of the waking soul, is certainly apart from
+the action of bringing them into play in dreams. In fact if we regard
+the action of all known faculties, we might assume with the Egyptians
+that man had not merely eight distinct souls, but eighty, or even a
+countless number. And as the ancients, knowing very little about
+mental action, classed it all as one soul, so we may call that which
+is partially investigated and mysterious, a second or inner "soul,"
+spirit, or subliminal self--that is to say provisionally, till more
+familiar with its nature and relations.
+
+DR. MASON, to his credit be it said, has not accepted for Gospel,
+as certain French writers have done, the tricks of self-confessed
+humbugs. He has only given us the cream of the most strictly attested
+cases, as related by French scientists and people of unquestioned
+veracity. And yet admitting that in every instance the witness
+sincerely believed that he or she spoke the truth, the aggregate is so
+far from confirming the tales told, that consideration and comparison
+would induce very grave doubt. Thus, who could have been more sincere,
+purely honest or pious than JUSTINUS KERNER, whom I knew personally,
+SWEDENBORG, ESCHENMAYER and all of their school? Yet how utterly
+irreconciliable are all their revelations!
+
+Therefore, while I have cited illustration and example as affording
+unproved or hearsay evidence, I, in fact, decidedly reject not only
+all tradition, as proof on occult subjects, but all assertion from any
+quarter, however trustworthy, asking the reader to believe in nothing
+which he cannot execute and make sure unto himself. Tradition and
+testimony are very useful to supply ideas or theories, but to actually
+_believe_ in anything beyond his experience a man should take
+sufficient interest in it to _prove_ it by personal experiment. And,
+therefore, as I have already declared, I not only ask, but hope that
+no reader will put faith in anything which I have alleged or declared,
+until he has fully and fairly proved it to be true in his own person.
+
+The history of true culture, truth, or progress has been that of doubt
+or disbelief in all which cannot be scientifically proved or made
+manifest to sensation and reflection, and even in this the most
+scrupulous care must be exercised, since our senses often deceive us.
+Therefore, in dealing with subjects which have undeniably been made
+the means of deceit and delusion thousands of times to one authentic
+instance, it is not well to accept testimony, or any kind of evidence,
+or proof, save that which we can establish for ourself. The day is not
+yet, but it is coming, when self-evidence will be claimed, and
+granted, as to all human knowledge, and the sooner it comes the better
+will it be for the world.
+
+But I would be clearly understood as declaring that it is only as
+regards making up our minds to absolute faith in what involves what
+may be called our mental welfare, which includes the most serious
+conduct of life, that I would limit belief to scientific proof. As an
+example, I will cite the very interesting case of the hypnotic
+treatment of a patient by DR. VOISIN, and as given by MASON.
+
+"In the summer of 1884, there was at the Salpètrière a young woman of
+a deplorable type, Jeanne S----, who was a criminal lunatic, filthy,
+violent, and with a life history of impurity and crime. M. Auguste
+Voisin, one of the physicians of the staff, undertook to hypnotize
+her, May 31. At that time she was so violent that she could only be
+kept quiet by a straight-jacket and the constant cold douche to her
+head. She would not look at M. Voisin, but raved and spat at him. He
+persisted, kept his face near and opposite to hers, and his eyes
+following hers constantly. In ten minutes she was in a sound sleep,
+and soon passed into a somnambulistic condition. The process was
+repeated many days, and she gradually became sane while in the
+hypnotic condition, but still raved when she woke.
+
+"Gradually then she began to accept hypnotic suggestion, and would
+obey trivial orders given her while asleep, such as to sweep her room,
+then suggestions regarding her general behavior; then, in her hypnotic
+condition, she began to express regret for her past life, and form
+resolutions of amendment to which she finally adhered when she awoke.
+Two years later she was a nurse in one of the Paris hospitals, and her
+conduct was irreproachable. M. Voisin has followed up this case by
+others equally striking."
+
+This is not only an unusually well authenticated instance, but one
+which seems to carry conviction from the manner of narration. Yet it
+would be absurd to declare that the subject neither deceived herself
+nor others, or that the doctor made no mistakes either in fact or
+involuntarily. The whole is, however, extremely valuable from its
+_probability_, and still more from its suggesting experiment in a much
+more useful direction than that followed in the majority of cases
+recorded in most books, which, especially in France, seem chiefly to
+have been conducted from a melodramatic or merely medical point of
+view. Very few indeed seem to have ever dreamed that a hypnotized
+subject was anything but a being to be cured of some disorder,
+operated on without pain, or made to undergo and perform various
+tricks, often extremely cruel, silly, and wicked--the main object of
+all being to advertise the skill of the operator. In fact, if it were
+to be accepted that the main object of hypnotism is to repeat such
+experiments as are described in most of the French works on the
+subject, humanity and decency would join in prohibiting the practice
+of the art altogether. These books point out and make clear in the
+minutest manner, how every kind of crime can be committed, and the
+mind brought to regard all that is evil as a matter of course. The
+making an innocent person attempt to commit a murder or steal is among
+the most usual experiments; while, on the contrary, any case like that
+of the reform of Jeanne S---- is either very rare, or else is treated
+simply as a proof of the skill of some _medico_. The fact that if the
+successes which are recorded are _true_, there exists a _stupendous_
+power by means of which the average morality and happiness of mankind
+can be incredibly advanced and sustained, and Education, Art in every
+branch, and, in a word, all Culture be marvelously developed on a far
+more secure basis than in the old systems, does not seem to have
+occurred to any of those who possessed, as it were, gold, without
+having the least idea of its value or even its qualities.
+
+Happiness in the main is a pleasant, contented condition of the mind,
+that is to say, "a state of mind." To be perfect, as appears from an
+enlarged study of all things or phenomena in their relations (since
+every part must harmonize with the whole), this happiness implies duty
+and altruism, every whit as much as self-enjoyment. This agrees with
+and results from scientific experience. Under the old _a priori_
+psychologic system, _selfishness_ (which meant that every soul was to
+be chiefly or solely concerned in saving itself, guided by hope of
+reward and fear of punishment), it was naturally the basis of
+morality.
+
+Now, accepting the definition of Happiness as a state of mind under
+certain conditions, it follows that it can be realized to a great
+degree, and in all cases to some degree, firstly by forethought or
+carefully defining what it is or what we desire, and secondly by
+making a fixed idea by simple, well-nigh mechanical means, without any
+resource to _les grands môyens_. According to the old and now rapidly
+vanishing philosophy, this was to be effected by sublime morality,
+prayer, or adjuration of supernatural beings and noble heroism, but
+what is here proposed is much humbler, albeit more practical. Reading
+immortal poetry or prose is indeed a splendid power, but to learn the
+letters of the alphabet, and to spell, is very simple and unpoetic,
+yet far more practical. What I have described has been the mere dull
+rudiments. It is most remarkable that the world has always known that
+the art of RAFFAELLE, MICHAEL ANGELO, and ALBERT DURER was based, like
+that of the greatest musicians, on extensive rudimentary study, and
+yet has never dreamed that what far surpasses all art in every way,
+and even includes the desire for it, may all proceed from, or be
+developed by, a process which is even easier than those required for
+the lesser branches.
+
+He who can control his own mind by an iron will, and say to the
+Thoughts which he would banish, "Be ye my slaves and begone into outer
+darkness," or to Peace "Dwell with me forever, come what may," _and be
+obeyed_, that man is a mighty magician who has attained what is worth
+more than all that Earth possesses. Absolute self-control under the
+conditions before defined--since our happiness to be true must agree
+with that of others--is absolutely essential to happiness. There can
+be no greater hero than the man who can conquer himself and think
+exactly as he pleases. That which annoys, tempts, stirs us to being
+irritable, wicked, or mean, is an aggregate of evil thoughts or images
+received by chance or otherwise into the memory, developed there into
+vile unions, and new forms like coalescing animalcule, and so powerful
+and vivid or objective do they become that men in all ages have given
+them a real existence as evil spirits.
+
+Every sane man living, can if he _really_ desires it, obtain complete
+absolute command of himself, exorcise these vile demons and bring in
+peace instead, by developing with determination the simple process
+which I have described. I have found in my own experience a fierce
+pleasure in considering obnoxious and pernicious Thoughts as imps or
+demons to be conquered, in which case Pride and even Arrogance become
+virtues, even as poisons in their place are wholesome medicines. Thus,
+he who is haunted with the fixed idea, even well nigh to monomania,
+that he will never give way to ill temper, that nothing shall disturb
+his equanimity, need not fear evil results any more than the being
+haunted by angels. Now we can all have fixed or haunting ideas, on any
+subject which we please to entertain--but the idea to create good and
+beneficent haunting has not, that I am aware, been suggested by
+philosophers.
+
+That mental influence can be exerted hypnotically most directly and
+certainly by one person upon another is undeniable, but this requires,
+firstly, a susceptible subject, or only one person in three or
+four, and to a degree a specially gifted operator, and very often
+"heaven-sent moments."
+
+    "However greatly mortals may require it,
+    All cannot go to Corinth who desire it."
+
+But forethought, self-suggestion, and the bringing the mind to dwell
+continuously on a subject are absolutely within the reach of all who
+have any strength of mind whatever, without any aid. Those of feebler
+ability yield, however, all the more readily (as in the case of
+children) to the influence of others or of hypnotism by a master.
+Therefore, either subjectively or with assistance, most human beings
+can be morally benefited to a limitless degree, "morally" including
+intellectually.
+
+We often hear it said of a person that he or she would do well or
+succeed if that individual had "application." Now, as Application,
+or "sticking to it," or perseverance in earnest faith, is the main
+condition for success in all that I have discussed, I trust that it
+will be borne in mind that the process indicated provides from
+the first lesson or experiment for this chief requisite. For the
+_fore-thinking_ and hypnotizing our minds to be in a certain state or
+condition all the next day, by what some writers, such as HARTMANN,
+treat as magical process--but which is just so much magical as the use
+of an electrical machine--is simply a beginning in Attention and
+Perseverance.
+
+    "So, like a snowball rolled in falling snow,
+    It gathers size as it doth onward go."
+
+When we make a wish or will, or determine that in future after awaking
+we shall be in a given state of mind, we also include Perseverance for
+the given time, and as success supposes repetition in all minds, it
+follows that Perseverance will be induced gradually and easily.
+
+And here I may remark that while all writers on ethics, duty or
+morals, cry continually "Be persevering, be honest, be enterprising,
+exert your will!" and so on, and waste thousands of books in
+illustrating the advantages of all these fine things, there is not one
+who tells us _how_ to practically execute or do them. To follow the
+hint of a quaint Sunday School picture, they show us a swarm of Bees,
+with hive and honey, but do not tell us how to catch _one_. And yet a
+man may be anything he pleases if he will by easy and simple practice
+as I have shown, make the conception habitual. I do not tell you as
+these good folk do, how to go about it nobly, or heroically, or
+piously; in fact, I prescribe a method as humble as making a fire, or
+a pair of shoes, and yet in very truth and honor I have profited far
+more by it than I ever did from all the exhortations which I ever have
+read.
+
+Now there are many men who are not so bad in themselves in reality,
+but who are so haunted by evil thoughts, impulses, and desires, that
+they, being taught by the absurd old heathenish psychology that the
+"soul" is all one spiritual entity, believe themselves to be as wicked
+as Beelzebub could wish, when, in fact, these sins are nothing but
+evil weeds which came into the mind as neglected seeds, and grew apace
+from sheer carelessness. Regarding them in the light, as one may say,
+of bodily and material nuisances, or a kind of vermin, they can be
+extirpated by the strong hand of Will, much more easily than under the
+old system, whereby they were treated with respect and awe as MILTON
+hath done (and most immorally too), DANTE being no better; and they
+would both have exerted their gigantic intellects to better purpose
+by showing man how to conquer the devil, instead of exalting and
+exaggerating his stupendous power and showing how, as regards Humanity
+(for which expressly the Universe, including countless millions of
+solar systems, was created), Satan has by far the victory, since he
+secures the majority of souls. For saying which thing a holy bishop
+once got himself into no end of trouble.
+
+I say that he who uses his will can crush and drive out vile haunting
+thoughts, and the more rudely and harshly he does it the better. In
+all the old systems, without exception, they are treated with far too
+much respect and reverence, and no great wonder either, since they
+were regarded as a great innate portion of the soul. Whether to be
+cleared out by the allopathic exorcism, or the gentler homoepathic
+prayer, the patient never relied on himself. There is a fine Italian
+proverb in the collection of GUILLO VARRINO, Venice 1656, which
+declares that _Buona volontà supplice à facolta_--"strong will ekes
+out ability"--and before the Will (which the Church has ever weakened
+or crushed) no evil instincts can hold. The same author tells us that
+"The greatest man in the world is he who can govern his own will,"
+also, "To him who wills naught is impossible." To which I would add
+that "Whoever chooses to have a will may do so by culture," or by ever
+so little to begin with. Nay, I have no doubt that in time there will
+be societies, schools, churches, or circles, in which the Will shall
+be taught and applied to all moral and mental culture.
+
+He who wills it sincerely can govern his Will, and he who can govern
+his Will is a thousand times more fortunate than if he could govern
+the world. For to govern the Will is to be without fear, superior and
+indifferent to all earthly follies and shams, idols, cants and
+delusions, it is to be lord of a thousand isles in the sea of life,
+and absolutely greater than any living mortal, as men exist. Small
+need has that man to heed what his birth or station in society may be
+who has mastered himself with the iron will; for he who has conquered
+death and the devil need fear no shadows.
+
+He who masters himself by Will has attained to all that is best and
+noblest in Stoicism, Epicureanism, Christianity, and Agnosticism; if
+the latter be understood not as doubt, but free Inquiry, and could men
+be made to feel what all this means and what power it bestows, and how
+easily it really is to master it, we should forthwith see all humanity
+engaged in the work.
+
+It has been declared by many in the past in regard to schooling their
+minds to moral and practical ends that, leading busy lives, they had
+not time to think of such matters. But I earnestly protest that it is
+these very men of all others who most require the discipline which I
+have taught, and it is as easy for them as for anybody; as it, indeed,
+ought to be easier, yes, and far more profitable. For the one who
+leads by fortune a quiet life of leisure can often school himself
+without a system, while he who toils amid anxious thoughts and with
+every mental power severely taxed, will find that he can do his work
+_far_ more easily if he determines that he _will_ master it. The
+amount of mental action which lies dormant in us all is illimitable
+and it can all be realized by the hypnotism of Will.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+PARACELSUS.
+
+That our ordinary consciousness or Waking Intellect, and what is
+generally recognized as Mind or Soul, includes whatever has been taken
+in by sensation and reflection and assimilated to daily wants, or
+shows itself in bad or good memories and thought, is evident. Not
+less clear is it that there is another hidden Self--a power which,
+recognizing much which is evil in the Mind, would fain reject, or
+rule, or subdue it. This latent, inner Intelligence calls into action
+the Will. All of this is vague, and, it may be, unscientific. It is
+more rational to believe in many faculties or functions, but the
+classification here suggested may serve as a basis. It is effectively
+that of GRASSNER, or of all who have recognized the power of the Will
+to work "miracles," guided by a higher morality. And it is very
+curious that PARACELSUS based his whole system of nervous cure, at
+least, on this theory. Thus, in the _Liber Entium Morborum, de Ente
+Spirituali_, chap, iii, he writes:
+
+"As we have shown that there are two _Subjecta_, this will we assume
+as our ground. Ye know that there is in the Body a Soul. (_Geist_.)
+Now reflect, to what purpose? Just that it may sustain life, even as
+the air keeps animals from dying for want of breath. So we know what
+the soul is. This soul in Man is actually clear, intelligible and
+sensible to the other soul, and, classing them, they are to be
+regarded as allied, even as bodies are. I have a soul--the _other_
+hath also one."
+
+PARACELSUS is here very obscure, but he manifestly means by "the
+other," the Body. To resume:
+
+"The Souls know one another as 'I,' and 'the other.' They converse
+together in their language, not by necessity according to our
+thoughts, but what _they_ will. And note, too, that there may be anger
+between them, and one may belittle or injure the other; this injury is
+in the Soul, the Soul in the body. Then the body suffers and is ill--
+not materially or from a material _Ens_, but from the Soul. For this
+we need spiritual remedy. Ye are two who are dear unto one another;
+great in affinity. The cause is not in the body, nor is it from
+without; it comes from your souls (_Geisten_), who are allied.
+The same pair may become inimical, or remain so. And that ye may
+understand a cause for this, note that the Spirit (_Geist_) of the
+Reasoning Faculty (_Vernunft_) is not born, save from the _Will_,
+therefore the Will and the Reason are separate. What exists and acts
+according to the Will lives in the Spirit; what only according to
+the Reason lives against the Spirit. For the Reason brings forth no
+spirit, only the Soul (_Seel_) is born of it--from Will comes the
+Spirit, the essence of which we describe and let the Soul be."
+
+In this grandly conceived but most carelessly written passage the
+author, in the beginning thereof, makes such confusion in expressing
+both Soul and Spirit with the one word, _Geist_, that his real meaning
+could not be intelligible to the reader who had not already mastered
+the theory. But, in fact, the whole conception is marvelous, and
+closely agreeing with the latest discoveries in Science, while
+ignoring all the old psychological system.
+
+Very significant is what PARACELSUS declares in his _Fragmenta
+Medicina de Morbis Somnii_, that so many evils beset us, "caused by
+the coarseness of our ignorance, because we know not what is born in
+us." That is to say, if we knew our mental power, or what we are
+capable of, we could cure or control all bodily infirmities. And how
+to rule and form this power, and make it obey the _Geist_ or Will
+which PARACELSUS believed was born of the common conscious Soul--that
+is the question.
+
+For PARACELSUS truly believed that out of this common Soul, the result
+of Sensation and Reflection, and all we pick up by Experience and
+Observation (and such as makes all that there is of Life for most
+people), there is born, or results, a perception of Ideas, of right
+and wrong, of mutual interests; a certain subtle, moral conscience
+or higher knowledge. "The Souls may become inimical;" that is, the
+Conscience, or Spirit, may differ or disagree with the Soul, as a son
+may be at variance with his father. So the flower or fruit may oft
+despise the root. The Will is allied to Conscience or a perception of
+the Ideal. When a man finds out that he knows more or better than he
+has hitherto done: as, for instance, when a thief learns that it is
+wrong to steal, and feels it deeply, he endeavors to reform, although
+he _feels_ all the time old desires and temptations to rob. Now, if
+he resolutely subdue these, his Will is born. "The spirit of the
+Reasoning faculty is not born, save of the Will. . . . what exists and
+acts according to the Will lives in the spirit." The perception of
+ideals is the bud, Conscience the flower, and the Will the fruit. A
+pure Will must be _moral_, for it is _the_ result of the perception of
+Ideals, or a Conscience. The world in general regards Will as mere
+blind force, applicable to good or bad indifferently. But the more
+truly and fully it is developed, or as Orson is raised to Valentine,
+the more moral and optimistic does it become. _Will_ in its perfection
+is Genius, spontaneous originality, that is Voluntary; not merely a
+power to lift a weight, or push a load, or force others to yield, but
+the Thought itself which suggests the deed and finds a _reason_ for
+it. Now the merely unscrupulous use of Opportunity and Advantage, or
+Crime, is popularly regarded as having a strong Will; but this, as
+compared to a Will with a conscience, is as the craft of the fox
+compared to that of the dragon, and that of the dragon to Siegfried.
+
+And here it may be observed as a subtle and strange thing, approaching
+to magic apparently, as understood by HARTMANN and his school, that
+the Will sometimes, when much developed, actually manifests something
+like an independent personality, or at least seems to do so, to an
+acute observer. And what is more remarkable, it can have this freedom
+of action and invention delegated to it, and will act on it.
+
+Thus, in conversation with HERKOMER, the Artist, and Dr. W. W.
+BALDWIN, Nov. 2d, 1878, the former explained to me that when he would
+execute a work of art, he just determined it with care or Forethought
+in his mind, and gave it a rest, as by sleep, during which time it
+unconsciously fructified or germinated, even as a seed when planted in
+the ground at last grows upward into the light and air. Now, that the
+entire work should not be too much finished or quite completed, and to
+leave room for after-thoughts or possible improvements, he was wont,
+as he said, to give the Will some leeway, or freedom; which is the
+same thing as if, before going to sleep, we _Will_ or determine that
+on the following day our Imagination, or Creative Force, or Inventive
+Genius, shall be unusually active, which will come to pass after some
+small practice and a few repetitions, as all may find for themselves.
+Truly, it will be according to conditions, for if there be but little
+in a man, either he will bring but little out, or else he must wait
+until he can increase what he hath. And in this the Will _seems_ to
+act like an independent person, ingeniously, yet withal obedient. And
+the same also characterizes images in dreams, which sometimes appear
+to be so real that it is no wonder many think they are spirits from
+another world, as is true of many haunting thoughts which come
+unbidden. However, this is all mere Thaumaturgy, which has been so
+deadly to Truth in the old _à priori_ psychology, and still works
+mischief, albeit it has its value in suggesting very often in Poetry
+what Science afterwards proves in Prose.
+
+To return to PARACELSUS, HEINE complains that his German is harder to
+understand than his Latin. However, I think that in the following
+passages he shows distinctly a familiarity with hypnotism, or
+certainly, passes by hand and suggestion. Thus, chap, x, _de Ente
+Spirituali_, in which the Will is described, begins as follows: "Now
+shall ye mark that the Spirits rule their subjects. And I have shown
+intelligibly how the _Ens Spirituale_, or Spiritual Being, rules so
+mightily the body that many disorders may be ascribed to it. Therefore
+unto these ye should not apply ordinary medicine, but heal the
+spirit--therein lies the disorder."
+
+PARACELSUS clearly states that by the power of Foresight--he uses the
+exact word, _Fürsicht_--Man may, aided by Sleep, attain to knowledge--
+past, present or future--and achieve Telepathy, or communion at a
+distance. In the _Fragmenta, Caput de Morbis Somnii_ he writes:
+
+"Therefore learn, that by Foresight man can know future things; and,
+from experience, the past and present. Thereby is man so highly gifted
+in Nature that he knows or perceives (_sicht_), as he goes, his
+neighbor or friend in a distant land. Yet, on waking, he knows nothing
+of all this. For God has given to us all--Art, Wisdom, Reason--to know
+the future, and what passes in distant lands; but we know it not, for
+we fools, busied in common things, sleep away, as it were, what is in
+us. Thus, seeing one who is a better artist than thou art, do not say
+that he has more gift or grace than thou; for thou hast it also, but
+hast not tried, and so is it with all things. What Adam and Moses did
+was to _try_, and they succeeded, and it came neither from the Devil
+nor from Spirits, but from the Light of Nature, which they developed
+in themselves. But we do _not_ seek for what is in us, therefore we
+remain nothing, and are nothing."
+
+Here the author very obscurely, yet vigorously, declares that we can
+do or learn what we _will_, but it must be achieved by foresight,
+will, and the aid of sleep.
+
+It seems very evident, after careful study of the text, that here, as
+in many other places, our author indicates familiarity with the method
+of developing mental action in its subtlest and most powerful forms.
+Firstly, by determined Foresight, and, secondly, by the aid of sleep,
+corresponding to the bringing a seed to rest a while, and thereby
+cause it to germinate; the which admirable simile he himself uses in a
+passage which I have not cited.
+
+PARACELSUS was the most original thinker and the worst writer of a
+wondrous age, when all wrote badly and thought badly. There is in
+his German writings hardly one sentence which is not ungrammatical,
+confused, or clumsy; nor one without a vigorous idea, which shows the
+mind or character of the man.
+
+As a curious instance of the poetic originality of PARACELSUS we may
+take the following:
+
+"It is an error to suppose that chiromancy is limited to the hand, for
+there are significant lines (indicating character), all over the body.
+And it is so in vegetable life. For in a plant every leaf is a hand.
+Man hath two; a tree many, and every one reveals its anatomy--a
+hand-anatomy. Now ye shall understand that in double form the lines
+are masculine or feminine. And there are as many differences in these
+lines on leaves as in human hands."
+
+GOETHE has the credit that he reformed or advanced the Science of
+Botany, by reducing the plant to the leaf as the germ or type; and
+this is now further reduced to the cell, but the step was a great one.
+Did not PARACELSUS, however, give the idea?
+
+"The theory of signatures," says VAUGHAN, in his _Hours with the
+Mystics_, "proceeded on the supposition that every creatures bears in
+some part of its structure . . . the indication of the character or
+virtue inherent in it--the representation, in fact, of its ideal or
+soul. . . . The student of sympathies thus essayed to read the
+character of plants by signs in their organization, as the professor
+of palmistry announced that of men by lines in the hand." Thus, to a
+degree which is very little understood, PARACELSUS took a great
+step towards modern science. He disclaimed Magic and Sorcery, with
+ceremonies, and endeavored to base all cure on human will. The name of
+PARACELSUS is now synonymous with Rosicrucianism, Alchemy, Elementary
+Spirits and Theurgy, when, in fact, he was in his time a bold
+reformer, who cast aside an immense amount of old superstition, and
+advanced into what his age regarded as terribly free thought. He was
+compared to LUTHER, and the doing so greatly pleased him; he dwells on
+it at length in one of his works.
+
+What PARACELSUS really believed in at heart was nothing more or less
+than an unfathomable Nature, a _Natura naturans_ of infinite resource,
+connected with which, as a microcosm, is man, who has also within him
+infinite powers, which he can learn to master by cultivating the will,
+which must be begun at least by the aid of sleep, or letting the
+resolve ripen, as it were, in the mind, apart from Consciousness.
+
+I had written every line of my work on the same subject and principles
+long before I was aware that I had unconsciously followed exactly in
+the footprints of the great Master; for though I had made many other
+discoveries in his books, I knew nothing of this.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+LAST WORDS.
+
+    "By carrying calves Milo, 'tis said, grew strong,
+    Until with ease he bore a bull along."
+
+It is, I believe, unquestionable that, if he ever lived, a man who had
+attained to absolute control over his own mind, must have been the
+most enviable of mortals. MONTAIGNE illustrates such an ideal being by
+a quotation from VIRGIL:
+
+    "Velut rupes vastum quæ prodit in æquor
+    Obvia ventorum furiis, exposta que ponto,
+        Vim cunctum atque minas perfert cælique marisque
+    Ipsa immota manens."
+
+    "He as a rock among vast billows stood,
+    Scorning loud winds and the wild raging flood,
+        And firm remaining, all the force defies,
+    From the grim threatening seas and thundering skies."
+
+And MONTAIGNE also doubted whether such self-control was possible. He
+remarks of it:
+
+"Let us never attempt these Examples; we shall never come up to them.
+This is too much and too rude for our common souls to undergo. CATO
+indeed gave up the noblest Life that ever was upon this account, but
+it is for us meaner spirited men to fly from the storm as far as we
+can."
+
+Is it? I may have thought so once, but I begin to believe that in this
+darkness a new strange light is beginning to show itself. The victory
+may be won far more easily than the rather indolent and timid Essayist
+ever imagined. MONTAIGNE, and many more, believed that absolute
+self-control is only to be obtained by iron effort, heroic and
+terrible exertion--a conception based on bygone History, which is all
+a record of battles of man against man, or man with the Devil. Now the
+world is beginning slowly to make an ideal of peace, and disbelieve in
+the Devil. Science is attempting to teach us that from any beginning,
+however small, great results are sure to be obtained if resolutely
+followed up and fully developed.
+
+It requires thought to realize what a man gifted to some degree with
+culture and common sense must enjoy who can review the past without
+pain, and regard the present with perfect assurance that come what may
+he need have no fear or fluttering of the heart. Spenser has asked in
+"The Fate of the Butterfly":
+
+    "What more felicity can fall to creature
+    Than to enjoy delight with liberty?"
+
+To which one may truly reply that all delight is fitful and uncertain
+unless bound or blended with the power to be indifferent to
+involuntary annoying emotions, and that self-command is in itself the
+highest mental pleasure, or one which surpasses all of any kind. He
+who does not overestimate the value of money or anything earthly is
+really richer than the millionaire. There is a foolish story told by
+COMBE in his Physiology of a man who had the supernatural gift of
+never feeling any pain, be it from cold, hunger, heat, or accident.
+The rain beat upon him in vain, the keenest north wind did not chill
+him--he was fearless and free. But this immunity was coupled with an
+inability to feel pleasure--his wine or ale was no more to his palate
+than water, and he could not feel the kiss of his child; and so we are
+told that he was soon desirous to become a creature subject to all
+physical sensations as before. But it is, as I said, a foolish tale,
+because it reduces all that is worth living for to being warm or
+enjoying taste. His mind was not affected, but that goes for nothing
+in such sheer sensuality. However, a man without losing his tastes or
+appetites may train his Will to so master Emotion as to enjoy delight
+with liberty, and also exclude what constitutes the majority of all
+suffering with man.
+
+It is a truth that there is very often an extremely easy, simple and
+prosaic way to attain many an end, which has always been supposed to
+require stupendous efforts. In an Italian fairy tale a prince besieges
+a castle with an army--trumpets blowing, banners waving, and all the
+pomp and circumstances of war--to obtain a beautiful heroine who is
+meanwhile carried away by a rival who knew of a subterranean passage.
+Hitherto, as I have already said, men have sought for self-control
+only by means of heroic exertion, or by besieging the castle from
+without; the simple system of Forethought and Self-Suggestion enables
+one, as it were, to steal or slip away with ease by night and in
+darkness that fairest of princesses, La Volonté, or the Will.
+
+For he who wills to be equable and indifferent to the small and
+involuntary annoyances, teasing memories, irritating trifles, which
+constitute the chief trouble in life to most folk, can bring it about,
+in small measure at first and in due time to greater perfection. And
+by perseverance this rivulet may to a river run, the river fall into a
+mighty lake, and this in time rush to the roaring sea; that is to say,
+from bearing with indifference or quite evading attacks of _ennui_, we
+may come to enduring great afflictions with little suffering.
+
+Note that I do not say that we can come to bearing all the
+bereavements, losses, and trials of life with _absolute_ indifference.
+Herein MONTAIGNE and the Stoics of old were well nigh foolish to
+imagine such an impossible and indeed undesirable ideal. But it may be
+that two men are afflicted by the same domestic loss, and one with a
+weak nature is well nigh crushed by it, gives himself up to endless
+weeping and perhaps never recovers from it, while another with quite
+as deep feelings, but far wiser, rallies, and by vigorous exertion
+makes the grief a stimulus to exertion, so that while the former is
+demoralized, the latter is strengthened. There is an habitual state of
+mind by which a man while knowing his losses fully can endure them
+better than others, and this endurance will be greatest in him who has
+already cultivated it assiduously in minor matters. He who has swam in
+the river can swim in the sea; he who can hear a door bang without
+starting can listen to a cannon without jumping.
+
+The method which I have described in this book will enable any person
+gifted with perseverance to make an equable or calm state of mind
+habitual, moderately at first, more so by practice. And when this is
+attained the experimenter can progress rapidly in the path. It is
+precisely the same as in learning a minor art, the pupil who can
+design a pattern (which corresponds to Foresight or plan), only
+requires, as in wood-carving or repoussé, to be trained by very easy
+process to become familiar with the use and feel of the tools, after
+which all that remains to be done is to keep on at what the pupil can
+do without the least difficulty. Well begun and well run in the end
+will be well done.
+
+But glorious and marvelous is the power of him who has habituated
+himself by easy exercise of Will to brush away the minor, meaningless
+and petty cares of life, such as, however, prey on most of us; for
+unto him great griefs are no harder to endure than the getting a coat
+splashed is to an ordinary man.
+
+
+
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+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Mystic Will, by Charles Godfrey Leland</title>
+<style type="text/css">
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+<body>
+<h1 align="center">The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Mystic Will, by Charles Godfrey Leland</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: The Mystic Will</p>
+<p>       A Method of Developing and Strengthening the Faculties of the Mind, through the Awakened Will, by a Simple, Scientific Process Possible to Any Person of Ordinary Intelligence</p>
+<p>Author: Charles Godfrey Leland</p>
+<p>Release Date: February 10, 2006  [eBook #17749]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYSTIC WILL***</p>
+<br><br><center><h3>E-text prepared by Ruth Hart<br>
+                    (ruthhart@twilightoracle.com)</h3></center><br><br>
+
+<center>
+<table width="90%" border=0 cellpadding=10>
+  <tr>
+    <td width="25%" valign="top">
+      Transcriber's note:
+    </td>
+    <td>
+      In the Introduction, I have changed "yet is is a very literal
+	  truth" to "yet it is a very literal truth". Also in the
+	  Introduction, I changed the spelling of "faculities" to
+	  "faculties" (other spelling remains unchanged). Finally, while
+	  most of the proper names are capitalized, not all of them are,
+	  and I have left the uncapitalized names as they appeared in
+      the original.
+	</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</center>
+<br>
+<br>
+<hr noshade>
+<center>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<h1>THE MYSTIC WILL</h1>
+
+<h3>A METHOD OF DEVELOPING AND STRENGTHENING<br>
+THE FACULTIES OF THE MIND,<br>
+THROUGH THE AWAKENED WILL,<br>
+BY A SIMPLE, SCIENTIFIC PROCESS<br>
+POSSIBLE TO ANY PERSON OF ORDINARY INTELLIGENCE</h3>
+<br>
+<h4>BY</h4>
+<h2>CHARLES G. LELAND</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+AMERICAN EDITION<br>
+PUBLISHED BY<br>
+THE PROGRESS COMPANY<br>
+515-519 RAND McNALLY BUILDING<br>
+CHICAGO, ILLINOIS<br>
+<br>
+
+ENGLISH REPRESENTATIVES:<br>
+L. N. FOWLER &amp; CO.<br>
+7, IMPERIAL ARCADE, LUDGATE CIRCUS,<br>
+LONDON, E. C.<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>In Memorium<br>
+<br>
+Charles Godfrey Leland<br>
+<br>
+AMERICAN AUTHOR<br>
+WHO DIED MARCH 20, 1903<br>
+AT FLORENCE, ITALY<br>
+AGED 79
+<br>
+<br>
+<em>&quot;The good that men do lives after them."</em></h3>
+</center>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+PUBLISHER'S NOTICE.
+<br>
+<p>This wonderful treatise was first published in England several years ago,
+under the title of <em>&quot;Have You a Strong Will?&quot;</em> and has run through
+several editions there. In its original form, it was printed in quite large
+type, double-leaded, and upon paper which &quot;bulked out&quot; the book to quite a thick
+volume. Some copies have been sold in America, but the price which dealers were
+compelled to charge for it, in its original shape, prevented the wide
+circulation that it merited, and which its author undoubtedly desired for it,
+for it seems to have been a labor of love with him, the interest of the race in
+his wonderful theories evidently being placed above financial returns by Mr.
+Leland. Believing that the author's ideas and wishes would be well carried out
+by the publication of an American edition printed in the usual size type
+(without the expedient of &quot;double-leading&quot; unusually large type in order to make
+a large volume), which allows of the book being sold at a price within the reach
+of all, the publisher has issued this edition along the lines indicated.</p>
+
+<p>The present edition is identical with the original English edition with the
+following exceptions:</p>
+
+<p>(1) There has been omitted from this edition a long, tiresome chapter
+contained in the original edition, entitled &quot;On the Power of the Mind to master
+disordered Feelings by sheer Determination. As Set forth by Immanuel Kant in a
+letter to Hufeland,&quot; but which chapter had very little to say about &quot;the power
+of the mind,&quot; but very much indeed about Hygiene, Dietetics, Sleep, Care of
+Oneself in Old Age, Hypochondria, Work, Exercise, Eating and Drinking, Illness,
+etc., etc., from the point of view of the aged German metaphysician, which while
+interesting enough in itself, and to some people, was manifestly out of place in
+a book treating upon the development of Mental Faculties by the Will, etc. We
+think that Mr. Leland's admirers will find no fault with this omission.</p>
+
+<p>(2) The word &quot;Suggestion&quot; has been substituted for the word &quot;Hypnotism&quot; in
+several places in the original text, where the former word was manifestly proper
+according to the present views of psychologists, which views were not so clearly
+defined when the book was written.</p>
+
+<p>(3) The chapter headings of the original book have been shortened and
+simplified in accordance with the American form.</p>
+
+<p>(4) The title &quot;The Mystic Will&quot; has been substituted in place of that used
+in the original edition, which was &quot;Have You a Strong Will?&quot; This change was
+made for the reason that the original title did not give one the correct idea of
+the nature of the book, but rather conveyed the idea of an inquiry regarding the
+&quot;iron-will,&quot; etc., which the author evidently did not intend. The use of the
+Will, as taught in the book by Mr. Leland, is not along the lines of &quot;the
+iron-will,&quot; but is rather in the nature of the employment of a mystic,
+mysterious, and almost weird power of the Human Will, and the title of the
+present edition is thought to more correctly represent the nature of the book,
+and the author's own idea, than the inquiry embodied in the title of the
+original edition.</p>
+
+<p>(5) Several unimportant footnotes, references to other books, etc., have
+been omitted after careful consideration.</p>
+
+<p>(Those who would wish to read the book in its original English edition will
+be able to procure it from the English publisher, Mr. Philip Wellby, 6 Henrietta
+street, Covent Garden, London, W. C, England.)</p>
+
+<p>To the few readers of this book who are not familiar with the author, Mr.
+Charles G. Leland, it may be said that this gifted man was an American by birth,
+but who lived in Europe for many years before his death. He died March 20, 1903,
+at Florence, Italy, at the ripe age of 79 years, active until the last and
+leaving unpublished&nbsp; manuscripts, some not completed. He lived up to his
+ideas and profited by them. His writings are spread over a period of nearly, or
+fully, fifty years, and his range of subjects was remarkable in its variety,
+style, and treatment.</p>
+
+<p>Among his best known works were &quot;Practical Education,&quot; &quot;Flaxius,&quot; &quot;The
+Breitmann Ballads&quot; (which introduced his well-known character &quot;Hans Breitmann&quot;),
+&quot;Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling,&quot; &quot;Wood Carving,&quot; &quot;Leather Work,&quot; &quot;Metal
+Work,&quot; &quot;Drawing and Designing,&quot; &quot;The Minor Arts,&quot; &quot;Twelve Manuals in Art Work,&quot;
+&quot;The Album of Repoussé Work,&quot; &quot;Industrial Art in Education,&quot; &quot;Hints on Self
+Education,&quot; and many other works along the lines of Manual Training, etc., and
+the Development of the Constructive Faculties; &quot;Kulsop the Master, and other
+Algonquin Poems and Legends,&quot; &quot;The Alternate Sex,&quot; and many other works, some of
+which are now out of print, but a number of which may be purchased from, or
+through, any bookseller. There has been recently published a biographical work
+embodying his memoirs, written and edited by his beloved niece, Mrs. Pennell, to
+which volume all admirers of this wonderful man are referred.</p>
+
+<p>Every subject touched upon by Mr. Leland was brightly illuminated by the
+power of his marvellous mind. He seemed to be able to go right to the heart of
+the subject, seizing upon its essential truth and at the same time grasping all
+of its details. His mind was so full of general information that it fairly oozed
+out from him in all of his writings. The reader will notice this phenomenon in
+the present book, in which the author has evidently had to fight his own mind in
+order to prevent it from intruding all sorts of valuable and varied general
+information in among the particular subjects upon which he is treating. While
+not a professional psychologist, Mr. Leland has given utterance to some of the
+most valuable and practical psychological truths of the last fifty years, his
+contributions to this branch of human thought is sure to be recognized and
+appreciated in the near future. It is hoped that this little book will carry
+some of his valuable precepts and ideas to many who have never had the advantage
+and pleasure of his acquaintance up to this time.</p>
+
+<p>It is believed by the publisher that this popular edition of Mr. Leland's
+valuable work upon the Use of the Will, issued at a nominal price, will carry
+the author's teachings to the homes of many of those whom Lincoln called the
+&quot;plain people&quot; of this American land, who need it so much, but who would not
+have been able to have purchased it in its original shape. This work has been
+well known in England, but here, in America, the birthplace of the author, it
+has been comparatively unheard of. It is to be hoped that this edition will
+remedy this grievous fault.</p>
+
+<p>April 11, 1907&nbsp; THE PUBLISHER.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<center>
+<h3>CONTENTS</h3>
+<br>
+
+<table>
+<tr><td align="right">&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#0">Introduction</a></td><td align="right">&nbsp;&nbsp;13</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter I.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#1">Attention and Interest</a></td><td align="right">&nbsp;&nbsp;19</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter II.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#2">Self-Suggestion</a></td><td align="right">&nbsp;&nbsp;28</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter III.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#3">Will-Development</a></td><td align="right">&nbsp;&nbsp;34</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter IV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#4">Forethought</a></td><td align="right">&nbsp;&nbsp;48</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter V.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#5">Will and Character</a></td><td align="right">&nbsp;&nbsp;58</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter VI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#6">Suggestion and Instinct</a></td><td align="right">&nbsp;&nbsp;66</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter VII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#7">Memory Culture</a></td><td align="right">&nbsp;&nbsp;74</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter VIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#8">The Constructive Faculties</a></td><td align="right">&nbsp;&nbsp;81</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter IX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#9">Fascination</a></td><td align="right">&nbsp;&nbsp;85</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter X.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#10">The Subliminal Self</a></td><td align="right">&nbsp;&nbsp;100</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter XI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#11">Paracelsus</a></td><td align="right">&nbsp;&nbsp;109</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">Chapter XII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#12">Last Words</a></td><td align="right">&nbsp;&nbsp;116</td></tr>
+</table>
+</center>
+<br>
+
+<br>
+<br>
+THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
+<br>
+<p>During the past few years the most serious part of the author's study and
+reflection has been devoted to the subjects discussed in this book. These,
+briefly stated, are as follows: Firstly, that all mental or cerebral faculties
+can by direct scientific treatment be influenced to what would have once been
+regarded as miraculous action, and which is even yet very little known or
+considered. Secondly, in development of this theory, and as confirmed by much
+practical and personal experience, that the Will can by very easy processes of
+training, or by aid of Auto-Suggestion, be strengthened to any extent, and
+states of mind soon induced, which can be made by practice habitual. Thus, as a
+man can by means of opium produce sleep, so can he by a very simple experiment a
+few times repeated&#8212;an experiment which I clearly describe and which has been
+tested and verified beyond all denial&#8212;cause himself to remain during the
+following day in a perfectly calm or cheerful state of mind; and this condition
+may, by means of repetition and practice, be raised or varied to other states or
+conditions of a far more active or intelligent description.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, for illustration, I may say that within my own experience, I have by
+this process succeeded since my seventieth year in working all day far more
+assiduously, and without any sense of weariness or distaste for labour, than I
+ever did at any previous period of my life. And the reader need only try the
+extremely easy experiment, as I have described it, to satisfy himself that he
+can do the same, that he can continue it with growing strength <em>ad
+infinitum, </em>and that this power will unquestionably at some future time be employed
+with marvellous results in Education. For, beyond all question&#8212;since any human
+being can easily prove or disprove it by a few experiments&#8212;there is no method
+known by which inattention, heedlessness, or negligence in the young can be so
+promptly and thoroughly cured as by this; while on the other hand, Attention and
+Interest by assiduity, are even more easily awakened. It has indeed seemed to
+me, since I have devoted myself to the study of Education from this point of
+view, as if it had been like the Iron Castle in the Slavonian legend, unto which
+men had for centuries wended their way by a long and wearisome road of many
+miles, while there was all the time, unseen and unknown, a very short and easy
+subterranean passage, by means of which the dwellers in the Schloss might have
+found their way to the town below, and to the world, in a few minutes.</p>
+
+<p>To this I have added a succinct account of what is, I believe, the easiest
+and most comprehensive Art of Memory ever conceived. There are on this subject
+more than five hundred works, all based, without exception, on the <em>
+Associative </em>system, which may be described as a stream which runs with
+great rapidity for a very short time but is soon choked up. This, I believe, as
+a means applied to learning, was first published in my work, entitled <em>
+Practical Education. </em>In it the pupil is taught the <em>direct method; </em>
+that is, instead of remembering one thing by means of another, to impress <em>
+the image itself</em> on the memory, and frequently revive it. This process
+soon becomes habitual and very easy. In from one year to eighteen months a pupil
+can by means of it accurately recall a lecture or sermon. It has the immediate
+advantage, over all the associate systems, of increasing and enlarging the scope
+and vigour of the memory, or indeed of the mind, so that it may truly bear as a
+motto, <em>Vires acquirit eundo</em>&#8212;&quot;it gains in power as it runs long.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Finally, I set forth a system of developing the Constructive Faculty&#8212;that
+which involves Ingenuity, Art, or manual <em>making</em>&#8212;as based on the
+teaching of the so-called Minor Arts to the young. The principle from which I
+proceed is that as the fruit is developed from the flower, all Technical
+Education should be anticipated. Or begun in children by practicing easy and
+congenial arts, such as light embroidery, wood-carving or repoussé, by means of
+which they become familiar with the elements of more serious and substantial
+work. Having found out by practical experience, in teaching upwards of two
+thousand children for several years, that the practice of such easy work, or the
+development of the constructive faculty, invariably awakened the intellectual
+power or intelligence, I began to study the subject of the development of the
+mind in general. My first discovery after this was that Memory, whether mental,
+visual, or of any other kind, could, in connection with Art, be wonderfully
+improved, and to this in time came the consideration that the human Will, with
+all its mighty power and deep secrets, could be disciplined and directed, or
+controlled with as great care as the memory or the mechanical faculty. In a
+certain sense the three are one, and the reader who will take the pains, which
+are, I trust, not very great, to master the details of this book, will readily
+grasp it as a whole, and understand that its contents form a system of
+education, yet one from which the old as well as young may profit.</p>
+
+<p>It is worth noting that, were it for nervous invalids alone, or those who
+from various causes find it difficult to sleep, or apply the mind to work, this
+book would be of unquestionable value. In fact, even while writing this chapter,
+a lady has called to thank me for the substantial benefit which she derived from
+my advice in this respect. And, mindful of the fact that Attention and Unwearied
+Perseverance are most necessary to succeed in such processes as are here
+described, I have taken pains to show or explain how they may be rendered more
+attractive, tolerable, and habitual to the fickle or light-minded; this, too,
+being a subject which has been very little considered from a practical point of
+view.</p>
+
+<p>But, above all things, I beg the reader, laying aside all prejudice or
+preconceived opinion, and neither believing nor disbelieving what he reads, to
+simply <em>try it</em>&#8212;that is to test it in his own person to what degree he
+can influence his will, or bring about subsequent states of mind, by the very
+easy processes laid down. If I could hope that all opinion of my book would be
+uttered only by those who had thus put it to the test, I should be well assured
+as to its future.</p>
+
+<p>And also I beg all readers, and especially reviewers, to note that I advise
+that the auto-suggestive process, by aid of sleep, <em>shall be discontinued as
+soon as the experimenter begins to feel an increase in the power of the will;
+</em>the whole object of the system being to acquire a perfectly free clear
+Will as soon as possible. Great injustice was done, as regards the first edition
+of this work, by a very careless though eminent critic, who blamed the author
+for not having done what the latter had carefully recommended in his book.</p>
+
+<p>There are four stages of advance towards the truth: firstly, Disbelief;
+secondly, Doubt, which is, in fact, only a fond advance towards Disbelief;
+thirdly, Agnosticism, which is Doubt mingled with Inquiry; and, finally, pure
+and simple Inquiry or Search, without any preconceived opinion or feeling
+whatever. It is, I trust, only in the spirit of the latter, that I have written;
+therefore I say to the reader, Neither, believe nor disbelieve in anything which
+I have said, but, as it is an easy thing to try, experiment for yourself, and
+judge by the result. In fact, as a satisfactory and conclusive experiment will
+not require more time, and certainly not half the pains which most people would
+expend on reading a book, I shall be perfectly satisfied if any or all my
+critics will do so, and judge the system by the result.</p>
+
+<a name="0"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+INTRODUCTION.
+<br>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Unto many Fortune comes while sleeping.&quot;&#8212;<em>Latin Proverb.</em></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Few know what is really going on in the world.&quot;&#8212;<em>American
+Proverb.</em></p>
+
+<p>It is but a few years since it suddenly struck the gay world of comic
+dramatists and other literary wits, that the Nineteenth Century was drawing to
+an end, and regarding it as an event they began to make merry over it, at first
+in Paris, and then in London and New York, as the <em>fin-de-siècle.</em> Unto
+them it was the going-out of old fashions in small things, such as changes in
+dress, the growth of wealth, or &quot;the mighty bicycle,&quot; with a very prevalent idea
+that things &quot;are getting mixed&quot; or &quot;checquered,&quot; or the old conditions of life
+becoming strangely confused. And then men of more thought or intelligence,
+looking more deeply into it, began to consider that the phrase did in very truth
+express far more serious facts. As in an old Norman tale, he who had entered as
+a jester or minstrel in comic garb, laid aside his disguise, and appeared as a
+wise counsellor or brave champion who had come to free the imprisoned emperor.</p>
+
+<p>For it began to be seen that this <em>fin-de-siècle</em> was developing
+with startling rapidity changes of stupendous magnitude, which would ere long be
+seen &quot;careering with thunder speed along,&quot; and that all the revolutions and
+reforms recorded in history were only feeble or partial, scattered or small,
+compared to the world-wide unification of human interests, led by new lights,
+which has begun to manifest itself in every civilized country. That well nigh
+every person or real culture, or education guided by pure science, has within a
+very few years advanced to a condition of liberal faith which would have been in
+my university days generally reprobated as &quot;infidelity,&quot; is not to be denied,
+and the fact means, beyond all question, that according to its present rate of
+advance, in a very few years more, this reform will end in the annulling of
+innumerable traditions, forms of faith and methods. <em>Upharsin</em> is writ
+on the wall.</p>
+
+<p>More than this, is it not clear that Art and Romance, Poetry and
+Literature, as hitherto understood or felt, are either to utterly vanish before
+the stupendous advances of science, or what is perhaps more probable, will,
+coalescing with it, take new forms, based on a general familiarity with all the
+old schools or types? A few years ago it seemed, as regarded all
+æsthetic creation, that man had exhausted the old models, and knew not where to look for
+new. Now the aim of Art is to interest or please, by gratifying the sense or
+taste for the beautiful or human genius in <em>making;</em> also to instruct
+and refine; and it is evident that Science is going to fulfill all these
+conditions on such a grand scale in so many new ways, that, when man shall be
+once engaged in them, all that once gratified him in the past will seem as
+childish things, to be put away before pursuits more worthy of manly dignity. If
+Art in all forms has of late been quiet, it has been because it has drawn back
+like the tiger in order to make the greater bound.</p>
+
+<p>One of the causes why some are laying aside all old spiritualism, romance
+and sentiment, is that their realisation takes up too much time, and Science,
+which is the soul of business, seeks in all things brevity and directness. It is
+probable that the phrase, &quot;but to the point,&quot; has been oftener repeated during
+the past few years, than it ever was before, since Time begun, of which
+directness I shall have more to say anon.</p>
+
+<p>And this is the end to which these remarks on the <em>fin-de-siècle</em>
+were written, to lay stress upon the fact that with the year Nineteen Hundred we
+shall begin a century during which civilized mankind will attain its majority
+and become <em>manly,</em> doing that which is right as a man should, <em>because
+it is right</em> and for no other reason, and shunning wrong for as
+good cause. For while man is a child he behaves well, or misbehaves, for <em>
+reasons</em> such as the fear of punishment or hope of reward, but in a manly code no reasons
+are necessary but only a persuasion or conviction that anything is right or
+wrong, and a principle which is as the earth unto a seed.</p>
+
+<p>For as the world is going on, or getting to be, it is very evident that as
+it is popularly said, &quot;he who will tell a lie will generally not hesitate to
+commit perjury,&quot; so he who cannot be really honest, <em>per se,</em> without
+being sustained by principle based only on tradition and the opinion of others,
+is a poor creature, whose morality or honesty is in fact merely theatrical, or
+acted, to satisfy certain conditions or exigencies from which he were better
+freed.</p>
+
+<p>This spirit of scientific directness, and economy of thought and trouble by
+making the principle of integrity the basis of all forms, and cutting all
+ethical theories down to &quot;be good because you <em>ought,&quot;</em> is rapidly
+astonishing us with another marvellous fact which it illustrates, namely, that
+as in this axiom&#8212;as in man himself&#8212;there are latent undiscovered powers, so in a
+thousand other sayings, or things known to us all, used by us all, and regarded
+as common-place, there are astounding novelties and capacities as yet undreamed
+of. For, as very few moralists ever understood in full what is meant by the very
+much worn or hackneyed saying, &quot;we ought to do what is right,&quot; so the world at
+large little suspects that such very desirable qualities as Attention, Interest,
+Memory and Ingenuity, have that within them which renders them far more
+attainable by man than has ever been supposed. Even the great problem of
+Happiness itself, as really being only one of a relative state of mind, may be
+solved or reached by some far simpler or more direct method than any thinker has
+ever suggested.</p>
+
+<p>It all depends on exertion of the <em>Will.</em> There are in this world
+a certain number of advanced thinkers who, if they knew how to develope the <em>
+Will</em> which exists in them, could bring this reform to pass in an
+incredibly short time. That is to say, they could place the doctrine or religion
+of Honesty for its own sake so boldly and convincingly before the world that its
+future would be assured. Now the man who can develope his will, has it in his
+power not only to control his moral nature to any extent, but also to call into
+action or realize very extraordinary states of mind, that is, faculties, talents
+or abilities which he has never suspected to be within his reach. It is a
+stupendous thought; yes, one so great that from the beginning of time to the
+present day no sage or poet has ever grasped it in its full extent, and yet is
+is a very literal truth, that there lie hidden within us all, as in a sealed-up
+spiritual casket, or like the bottled-up <em>djinn</em> in the Arab tale,
+innumerable Powers or Intelligences, some capable of bestowing peace or calm,
+others of giving Happiness, or inspiring creative genius, energy and
+perseverance. All that Man has ever attributed to an Invisible World without,
+lies, in fact, within him, and the magic key which will confer the faculty of
+sight and the power to conquer is the <em>Will</em>.</p>
+
+<p>It has always been granted that it is a marvellously good thing to have a
+strong will, or a determined or resolute mind, and great has been the writing
+thereon. I have by me the last book on the subject, in which the faculty is
+enthusiastically praised, and the reader is told through all the inflexions of
+sentiment, that he <em>ought</em> to assert his Will, to be vigorous in mind, <em>
+etcetera,</em> but unfortunately the How to do it is utterly wanting.</p>
+
+<p>It will be generally admitted by all readers that this <em>How to do it</em>
+has been always sought in grandly heroic or sublimely vigorous methods of
+victory over self. The very idea of being resolute, brave, persevering or
+stubborn, awakens in us all thoughts of conflict or dramatic self-conquering.
+But it may be far more effectively attained in a much easier way, even as the
+ant climbed to the top of the tree and gnawed away and brought down the golden
+fruit unto which the man could not rise. There are <em>easy</em> methods, and
+by far the most effective, of awakening the Will; methods within the reach of
+every one, and which if practised, will lead on <em>ad infinitum,</em>
+to marvellous results.</p>
+
+<p>The following chapters will be devoted to setting forth, I trust clearly
+and explicitly, how by an extremely easy process, or processes, the will may be,
+by any person of ordinary intelligence and perseverance, awakened and developed
+to any extent, and with it many other faculties or states of mind. I can
+remember once being told by a lady that she thought there ought to be erected in
+all great cities temples to the Will, so as to encourage mankind to develop the
+divine faculty. It has since occurred to me that an equal number of
+school-houses, however humble, in which the art of mastering the Will by easy
+processes <em>seriatim</em> should be taught, would be far more useful. Such a
+school-house is this work, and it is the hope of the author that all who enter,
+so to speak, or read it, will learn therefrom as much as he himself and others
+have done by studying its principles.</p>
+
+<p>To recapitulate or make clear in brief what I intend, I would say <em>
+Firstly, </em>that the advanced thinkers at this end of the century, weary of all the
+old indirect methods of teaching Morality, are beginning to enquire, since Duty
+is an indispensable condition, whether it is not just as well to do what is
+right, <em>because</em> it is right, as for any other reason? <em>Secondly,</em>
+that this spirit of directness, the result of Evolution, is beginning to
+show itself in many other directions, as we may note by the great popularity of
+the answer to the question, &quot;How not to worry,&quot; which is briefly, <em>Don't!
+Thirdly,</em> that enlightened by this spirit of scientific
+straightforwardness, man is ceasing to seek for mental truth by means of
+roundabout metaphysical or conventional ethical methods (based on old traditions
+and mysticism), and is looking directly in himself, or materially, for what
+Immaterialism or Idealism has really never explained at all&#8212;his discoveries
+having been within a few years much more valuable that all that <em>a priori</em>
+philosophy or psychology ever yielded since the beginning. And, finally, that
+the leading faculties or powers of the mind, such as Will, Memory, the
+Constructive faculty, and all which are subject to them, instead of being
+entirely mysterious &quot;gifts,&quot; or inspirations bestowed on only a very few to any
+liberal extent, are in all, and may be developed grandly and richly by direct
+methods which are moreover extremely easy, and which are in accordance with the
+spirit of the age, being the legitimate results of Evolution and Science.</p>
+
+<p>And, that I may not be misunderstood, I would say that the doctrine of Duty
+agrees perfectly with every form of religion&#8212;a man may be Roman Catholic, Church
+of England, Presbyterian, Agnostic, or what he will; and, if a form aids him in
+the least to be <em>sincerely honest,</em> it would be a pity for him to be
+without it. Truly there are degrees in forms, and where I live in Italy I am
+sorry to see so many abuses or errors in them. But to know and do what is right,
+when understood, is recognising God as nearly as man can know him, and to do
+this perfectly we require <em>Will.</em> It is the true <em>Logos.</em></p>
+
+<a name="1"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+CHAPTER I.
+<br>
+<br>
+ATTENTION AND INTEREST.
+<br>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;To the fairies, Determination and Good-Will, all things are
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; possible.&quot;&#8212;<em>The
+Man of the Family, by </em>C. REID.</p>
+
+<p>It happened recently to me, as I write, to see one afternoon lying on the
+side walk in the Via Calzaioli in Florence what I thought was a common iron
+screw, about three inches in length, which looked as if it had been dropped by
+some workman. And recalling the superstition that it is lucky to find such an
+object, or a nail, I picked it up, when to my astonishment I found that it was a
+silver pencil case, but made to exactly resemble a screw. Hundreds of people
+had, perhaps, seen it, thought they knew all about it, or what it was, and then
+passed it by, little suspecting its real value.</p>
+
+<p>There is an exact spiritual parallel for this incident or parable of the
+screw-pencil in innumerable ideas, at which well-nigh everybody in the hurrying
+stream of life has glanced, yet no one has ever examined, until someone with a
+poetic spirit of curiosity, or inspired by quaint superstition, pauses, picks
+one up, looks into it, and finds that It has ingenious use, and is far more than
+it appeared to be. Thus, if I declare that by special attention to a subject,
+earnestly turning it over and thinking deeply into it, very remarkable results
+may be produced, as regards result in knowledge, every human being will assent
+to it as the veriest truism ever uttered; in the fullest belief that he or she
+assuredly knows all <em>that.</em></p>
+
+<p>Yet it was not until within a very few years that I discovered that this
+idea, which seemed so commonplace, had within it mysteries and meanings which
+were stupendously original or remarkable. I found that there was a certain
+intensity or power of attention, far surpassing ordinary observation, which we
+may, if we will, summon up and <em>force </em>on ourselves, just as we can by
+special effort see or hear far better at times than usually. The Romans show by
+such a phrase as <em>animum adjicere,</em> and numerous proverbs and synonyms,
+that they had learned to bend their attention energetically. They were good
+listeners, therefore keen observers.</p>
+
+<p>Learning to control or strengthen the Will is closely allied to developing
+Attention and Interest, and for reasons which will soon be apparent, I will
+first consider the latter, since they constitute a preparation or basis for the
+former. And as preliminary, I will consider the popular or common error to the
+effect that everyone has alloted to him or to her just so much of the faculty of
+attention or interest as it has pleased Nature to give&#8212;the same being true as
+regards Memory, Will, the Constructive or Artistic abilities, and so on&#8212;when in
+very truth and on the warrant of Experience all may be increased <em>ad
+infinitum.</em> Therefore, we find ignorant men complacently explaining their
+indifference to art and literature or culture on the ground that they take no
+interest in such subjects, as if interest were a special heaven-sent gift. Who
+has not heard the remark, &quot;He or she takes such an <em>interest</em> in so
+many things&#8212;I wish that I could.&quot; Or, as I heard it very recently expressed, &quot;It
+must be delightful to be able to interest one's self in something at any time.&quot;
+Which was much the same as the expression of the Pennsylvania German girl, <em>
+&quot;Ach Gott! </em>I wisht I hat genius und could make a pudden!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>No one can be expected to take an interest at once and by mere will in any
+subject, but where an earnest and serious Attention has been directed to it,
+Interest soon follows. Hence it comes that those who deliberately train
+themselves in Society after the precept enforced by all great writers of social
+maxims to listen politely and patiently, are invariably rewarded by acquiring at
+last shrewd intelligence, as is well known to diplomatists. That mere stolid
+patience subdues impatience sounds like a dull common-place saying, but it is a
+silver pencil disguised as an iron screw; there is a deep subtlety hidden in it,
+if it be allowed with a little intelligence, <em>forethought,</em> and
+determination towards a purpose. Let us now consider the mechanical and easy
+processes by which attention may be awakened.</p>
+
+<p>According to ED. VON HARTMANN, Attention is either spontaneous or reflex.
+The voluntary fixing our mind upon, or choosing an idea, image, or subject, is  <em>
+spontaneous attention,</em> but when the idea for some reason impresses itself
+upon us then we have enforced, or <em>reflex attention.</em> That is simply to
+say, there is active or passive observation&#8212;the things which we seek or which
+come to us unsought. And the &quot;seeking for,&quot; or spontaneous action can be
+materially aided and made persevering, if before we begin the search or set
+about devoting Attention to anything, we pause, as it were, to determine or
+resolve that we <em>will</em> be thorough, and not leave off until we shall
+have mastered it. For strange as it may seem, the doing this actually has in
+most cases a positive, and very often a remarkable result, as the reader may
+very easily verify for himself. This Forethought is far more easily awakened, or
+exerted, than Attention itself, but it prepares it, just as Attention prepares
+Interest.</p>
+
+<p>Attention is closely allied to Memory; when we would give attention to a
+subject for continued consideration, we must &quot;memorize&quot; it, or it will vanish.
+Involuntary memory excited by different causes often compels us to attend to
+many subjects whether we will or not. Everyone has been haunted with images or
+ideas even unto being tormented by them; there are many instances in which the
+Imagination has given them objective form, and they have appeared visibly to the
+patient. These haunting ideas, disagreeable repetitions or obstinate
+continuances, assume an incredible variety of forms, and enter in many strange
+ways into life. Monomania or the being possessed with one idea to the exclusion
+of others, is a form of overstrained attention, sustained by memory. It is <em>
+enforced.</em></p>
+
+<p>Mere repetition of anything to almost anybody, will produce remarkable
+results; or a kind of Hypnotism Causing the patient to yield to what becomes an
+irresistible power. Thus it is said that perpetual dropping will wear away
+stones. Dr. JAMES R. COCKE in his &quot;Hypnotism,&quot; in illustrating this, speaks of a
+man who did not want to sign a note, he knew that it was folly to do so, but
+yielded from having been &quot;over persuaded.&quot; I have read a story in which a man
+was thus simply <em>talked</em> into sacrificing his property. The great power
+latent in this form of suggestiveness is well known to knaves in America where
+it is most employed. This is the whole secret of the value of advertising.
+People yield to the mere repetition in time. Attention and Interest may in this
+way be self-induced from repetition.</p>
+
+<p>It is true that an image or idea may be often repeated to minds which do
+not think or reflect, without awakening attention; <em>per contra,</em> the
+least degree of thought in a vast majority of cases forms a nucleus, or
+beginning, which may easily be increased to an indefinite extent. A very little
+exercise of the Will suffices in most cases to fix the attention on a subject,
+and how this can be done will be shown in another chapter. But in many cases
+Attention is attracted with little or no voluntary effort. On this fact is based
+the truth that when or where it is desired, Attention and Interest may be
+awakened with great ease by a simple process.</p>
+
+<p>It may be remarked on the subject of repetition of images or ideas, that a
+vast proportion of senseless superstitions, traditions or customs, which no one
+can explain, originate in this way, and that in fact what we call <em>habit</em>
+(which ranks as second nature) is only another form or result of involuntary
+attention and the unconsciously giving a place in the memory to what we have
+heard.</p>
+
+<p>From the simple fact that even a man of plain common-sense and strong will
+may be driven to sleeplessness, or well nigh to madness, by the haunting
+presence of some wretched trifle, some mere jingle or rhyme, or idle memory, we
+may infer that we have here a great power which <em>must</em> in some way be
+capable of being led to great or useful results by some very easy process. I
+once wrote a sketch, never completed, in which I depicted a man of culture who,
+having lost an old manuscript book which he had regarded in a light,
+semi-incredulous manner as a <em>fetish,</em> or amulet, on which his luck
+depended, began to be seriously concerned, and awaking to the fact, deliberately
+cultivated his alarm as a psychological study, till he found himself, even with
+his eyes wide open as an observer in terrible fear, or a semi-monomaniac. The
+recovery of his lost charm at once relieved him. This was a diversion of
+Attention for a deliberate purpose, which might have been varied <em>ad
+infinitum </em>to procure very useful results. But I have myself known a man in the
+United States, who, having lost&#8212;he being an actor or performer&#8212;a certain article
+of theatrical properties on which he believed &quot;luck&quot; depended, lost all heart
+and hope, and fell into a decline, from which he never recovered. In this, as in
+all such cases, it was not so much conviction or reason which influenced the
+sufferer as the mere effect of Attention often awakened till it had become what
+is known as a fixed idea.</p>
+
+<p>A deliberate reflection on what I have here advanced can hardly fail to
+make it clear to any reader that if he really desires to take an interest in any
+subject, it is possible to do so, because Nature has placed in every mind vast
+capacity for attention or fixing ideas, and where the Attention is fixed,
+Interest, by equally easy process, may always be induced to follow. And note
+that these preliminary preparations should invariably be as elementary and easy
+as possible, this being a condition which it is impossible to exaggerate. In a
+vast majority of cases people who would fain be known as taking an interest in
+Art begin at the wrong end, or in the most difficult manner possible, by running
+through galleries where they only acquire a superficial knowledge of results,
+and learn at best how to <em>talk</em>
+showily about what they have skimmed. Now to this end a good article in a
+cyclopædia, or a small treatise like that of TAINE'S &quot;Æsthetic&quot; thoroughly read
+and re-read, till it be really mastered, and then verified by study of a very
+few good pictures in a single collection, will do more to awaken sincere <em>
+interest</em> than the loose ranging through all the exhibitions in the world.
+I have read in many novels thrilling descriptions of the effect and results when
+all the glories of the Louvre or Vatican first burst upon some impassioned and
+unsophisticated youth, who from that moment found himself an Artist&#8212;but I still
+maintain that it would have been a hundred times better for him had his
+Attention and Interest been previously attracted to a few pictures, and his mind
+accustomed to reflect on them.</p>
+
+<p>Be the subject in which we would take an interest artistic or scientific,
+literary or social, the best way to begin herewith is to carefully read the
+simplest and easiest account of it which we can obtain, in order that we may
+know just exactly what it is, or its definition. And this done, let the student
+at once, while the memory is fresh in mind, follow it up by other research or
+reading, observations or inquiries, on the same subject, for three books read
+together on anything will profit more than a hundred at long intervals. In fact,
+a great deal of broken, irregular or disjointed reading is often as much worse
+than none at all, as a little coherent study is advantageous.</p>
+
+<p>Many people would very willingly take an interest in many subjects if they
+knew how. It is a melancholy thing to see a man retired from business with
+literally nothing to do but fritter away his time on nothings when he might be
+employed at something absorbing and useful. But they hesitate to <em>act</em>
+because, as is the rule in life, they see everything from its most difficult and
+repulsive side. There is no man who could not easily take an intelligent
+interest in Art in some form, but I venture to say that a majority of even
+educated people who had never taken up the subject would be appalled at it in
+their secret hearts, or distrust its &quot;use&quot; or their own capacity to master it.
+Or again, many put no faith in easy manuals to begin with, believing, in their
+ignorance, that a mere collection of rudiments cannot have much in it. We are
+all surrounded by thousands of subjects in which we might all take an interest,
+and do good work, if we would, selecting one, give it a little attention, and by
+easy process proceed to learn it. As it is, in general society the man or woman
+who has any special pursuit, accomplishment, or real interest for leisure hours,
+beyond idle gossip and empty time-killing, is a great exception. And yet I
+sincerely believe that in perhaps a majority of cases there is a sincere desire
+to do something, which is killed by simple ignorance of the fact that with a
+very little trouble indeed interest in something is within the easy reach of
+all.</p>
+
+<p>I have dwelt on this subject that the reader may be induced to reflect on
+the fact, firstly, that if he wishes to learn how to develop his Will and
+strengthen it, it is absolutely necessary to take an <em>interest</em> in it.
+I beg him to consider how this art of acquiring attention and interest has been,
+or is, obscured in most minds, and the difficulties of acquiring it,
+exaggerated. Secondly, I would point out that the method of process for making a
+Will is so closely allied to that laid down for Attention that it will seem like
+a deduction from it, both being allied to what may claim to be an original Art
+of Memory, to which I shall devote a chapter in its due place.</p>
+
+<p>For as I hope clearly to prove it is an easy matter to create a strong
+will, or strengthen that which we have, to a marvelous extent, yet he who would
+do this must first give his <em>Attention</em> firmly and fixedly to his
+intent or want, for which purpose it is absolutely necessary that he shall first <em>
+know his own mind regarding what he means to do, </em>and
+therefore meditate upon it, not dreamily, or vaguely, but earnestly.
+And this done he must assure himself that he takes a real interest in the
+subject, since if such be the case I may declare that his success is well nigh
+certain.</p>
+
+<p>And here it may be observed that if beginners, <em>before</em> taking up
+any pursuit, would calmly and deliberately consider the virtues of Attention and
+Interest, and how to acquire them, or bring them to bear on the proposed study
+or work, we should hear much less of those who had &quot;begun German&quot; without
+learning it, or who failed in any other attempt. For there would in very truth
+be few failures in life if those who undertake anything first gave to it long
+and careful consideration by leading observation into every detail, and, in
+fact, becoming familiar with the idea, and not trusting to acquire interest and
+perseverance in the future. Nine-tenths of the difficulty and doubt or
+ill-at-easeness which beginners experience, giving them the frightened feeling
+of &quot;a cat in a strange garret,&quot; and which often inspires them to retreat, is due
+entirely to not having begun by training the Attention or awakened an Interest
+in the subject.</p>
+
+<p>It has often seemed to me that the reason for failure, or the ultimate
+failing to attain success, in a vast number of &quot;Faith cures,&quot; is simply because
+the people who seek them, being generally of a gushing, imaginative nature, are
+lacking in deep reflection, application, or earnest attention. They are quick to
+take hold, and as quick to let go. Therefore, they are of all others the least
+likely to seriously reflect <em>beforehand</em> on the necessity of preparing
+the mind to patience and application. Now it seems a simple thing to say, and it
+is therefore all the harder to understand, that before going to work at anything
+which will require perseverance and repeated effort we can facilitate the result
+amazingly by thinking over and anticipating it, so that when the weariness comes
+it will not be as a discouraging novelty, but as something of course, even as a
+fisherman accepts his wet feet, or the mosquitoes. But how this disposition to
+grow weary of work or to become inattentive may be literally and very completely
+conjured away will be more fully explained in another chapter. For this let it
+suffice to say that earnest <em>forethought,</em> and
+the more of it the better, bestowed on aught which we intend to undertake,
+is a thing rarely attempted in the real sense in which I mean it, but which,
+when given, eases every burden and lightens every toil.</p>
+
+<p>Mere <em>forethought</em> repeated is the easiest of mental efforts. Yet
+even a little of it asserted before undertaking a task will wonderfully
+facilitate the work.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hypnotism,&quot; says Dr. JAMES R. COCKE, &quot;can be used to train the attention
+of persons habitually inattentive.&quot; But, in fact, forethinking in any way is the
+minor or initiatory stage of Suggestion. Both are gradual persuasion of the
+nervous system into habit.</p>
+
+<p>And on this text a marvelous sermon could be preached, which, if
+understood, would sink deeply into every heart, inspiring some while alarming
+others, but greatly cheering the brave. And it is this. There are millions of
+people who suffer from irritability, want of self-control, loquacity, evil in
+many forms, or nerves, who would fain control themselves and stop it all.
+Moralists think that for this it is enough to convince their reason. But this
+rarely avails. A man may <em>know</em> that he is wrong, yet <em>not</em> be
+able to reform. Now, what he wants is to have his attention fixed long enough to
+form a new habit. Find out how this can be done, and it may in many cases be the
+simplest and most mechanical thing in the world to cure him. Men have been
+frightened by a scarecrow into thorough repentance. &quot;A question of a few
+vibrations of ether, more or less, makes for us all the difference between
+perception and non-perception,&quot; or between sight and blindness. Accustom any
+such moral invalid to being Suggested or willed a few times into a calm,
+self-controlled state and the habit may be formed.</p>
+
+<p>And to those who doubt, and perhaps would sneer, I have only to say <em>
+try it.</em> It will do them good.</p>
+
+<a name="2"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+CHAPTER II.
+<br>
+<br>
+SELF-SUGGESTION.
+<br>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;In thy soul, as in a sleep,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gods or fiends are hidden deep,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Awful forms of mystery,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And spirits, all unknown to thee: <br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Guard with prayer, and heed with care,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ere thou wak'st them from their lair!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The records of the human race, however written, show that Man has always
+regarded himself as possessed of latent faculties, or capacities of a mysterious
+or extraordinary nature: that is to say, transcending in scope or power anything
+within the range of ordinary conscious mental capacity. Such for example is the
+Dream, in which there occurs such a mingling of madness with mysterious
+intuitions or memories that it is no wonder it has always been regarded as
+allied to supernatural intelligence. And almost as general as the faith in
+dreams as being <em>weird</em> (in the true sense of the much-abused word) or
+&quot;strangely prophetic,&quot; is that in <em>fascination,</em> or that one human
+being can exercise over another by a mystic will and power a strong influence,
+even to the making the patient do whatever the actor or superior requires.</p>
+
+<p>However interesting it may be, it is quite needless for the purpose which I
+have in view to sketch the history of occultism, magic or sorcery from the
+earliest times to the present day. Fascination was, however, its principal
+power, and this was closely allied to, or the parent of, what is now known as
+Suggestion in Hypnotism. But ancient magic in its later days certainly became
+very much mixed with magnetism in many phases, and it is as an off-shoot of
+Animal Magnetism that Hypnotism is now regarded, which is to be regretted, since
+it is in reality radically different from it, as several of the later writers of
+the subject are beginning to protest. The definition and differences of the two
+are as follows: Animal Magnetism, first formulized by ANTON MESMER from a mass
+of more or less confused observations by earlier writers, was the doctrine that
+there is a magnetic fluid circulating in all created forms, capable of flux and
+reflux, which is specially active or potent in the human body. Its action may be
+concentrated or increased by the human will, so as to work wonders, one of which
+is to cause a person who is magnetized by another to obey the operator, this
+obedience being manifested in many very strange ways.</p>
+
+<p>Still there were thousands of physiologists or men of science who doubted
+the theory of the action or existence of Animal Magnetism, and the vital fluid,
+as declared by the Mesmerists, and they especially distrusted the marvels
+narrated of clairvoyance, which was too like the thaumaturgy or wonder-working
+attributed to the earlier magicians. Finally, the English scientist, BRAID,
+determined that it was not a magnetic fluid which produced the recognized
+results, &quot;but that they were of purely subjective origin, depending on the
+nervous system of the one acted on.&quot; That is to say, in ordinary language, it
+was &quot;all imagination&quot;&#8212;but here, as in many other cases, a very comprehensive and
+apparently common-sensible word is very far from giving an adequate or correct
+idea of the matter in question&#8212;for what the imagination itself really is in this
+relation is a mystery which is very difficult to solve. I have heard of an old
+French gentleman who, when in a circus, expressed an opinion that there was
+nothing remarkable in the wonderful performances of an acrobat on a tight-rope,
+or trapeze. <em>&quot;Voyez-vous monsieur&quot;</em> he exclaimed; <em>&quot;Ce n'est que la
+mathématique&#8212;rien que ca!&quot;</em> And only the Imagination&#8212;&quot;all your
+Imagination&quot; is still the universal solvent in Philistia for all such problems.</p>
+
+<p>Hypnotism reduced to its simplest principle is, like the old Fascination,
+the action of mind upon mind, or of a <em>mind upon itself,</em> in such a
+manner as to produce a definite belief, action, or result. It is generally
+effected by first causing a sleep, as is done in animal magnetism, during which
+the subject implicitly obeys the will of the operator, or performs whatever he
+suggests. Hence arose the term Suggestion, implying that what the patient takes
+into his head to do, or does, must first be submitted to his own mental action.</p>
+
+<p>Very remarkable results are thus achieved. If the operator, having put a
+subject to sleep (which he can do in most cases, if he be clever, and the
+experiments are renewed often enough), will say or suggest to him that on the
+next day, or the one following, or, in fact, any determined time, he shall visit
+a certain friend, or dance a jig, or wear a given suit of clothes, or the like,
+he will, when the hypnotic sleep is over, have forgotten all about it. But when
+the hour indicated for his call or dance, or change of garment arrives, he will
+be haunted by such an irresistible feeling that he <em>must</em> do it; that
+in most cases it will infallibly be done. It is no exaggeration to say that this
+has been experimented on, tested and tried thousands of times with success and
+incredible ingenuity in all kinds of forms and devices. It would seem as if
+spontaneous attention went to sleep, but, like an alarm clock, awoke at the
+fixed hour, and then <em>reflex</em> action.</p>
+
+<p>Again&#8212;and this constitutes the chief subject of all I here discuss&#8212;we can <em>
+suggest</em> to ourselves so as to produce the same results. It seems to be a
+curious law of Nature that if we put an image or idea into our minds with the
+preconceived determination or intent that it shall recur or return at a certain
+time, or in a certain way, after sleeping, it will <em>do so.</em> And here I
+beg the reader to recall what I said regarding the resolving to begin any task,
+that it can be greatly aided by even a brief pre-determination. In all cases it
+is a kind of self-suggestion. There would seem to be some magic virtue in sleep,
+as if it preserved and ripened our wishes, hence the injunction in the proverbs
+of all languages to sleep over a resolve, or subject&#8212;and that &quot;night brings
+counsel.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It is not necessary that this sleep shall be <em>hypnotic,</em> or what
+is called hypnotic slumber, since, according to very good authorities, there is
+grave doubt as to whether the so-called condition is a sleep at all. <em>
+Hypnotism</em> is at any rate a suspension of the faculties, resembling sleep,
+caused by the will and act of the operator. He effects this by fixing the eyes
+on the patient, making passes as in Mesmerism, giving a glass of water, or
+simply commanding sleep. And this, as Dr. COCKE has experienced and described,
+can be produced to a degree by anyone on himself. But as I have verified by
+experiment, if we, after retiring to rest at night, will calmly yet firmly
+resolve to do something on the following day, or be as much as possible in a
+certain state of mind, and if we then fall into ordinary natural sleep, just as
+usual, we may on waking have forgotten all about it, yet will none the less feel
+the impulse and carry out the determination.</p>
+
+<p>What gives authority for this assertion, for which I am indebted originally
+to no suggestion or reading, is the statement found in several authorities that
+a man can &quot;hypnotize&quot; another without putting him to sleep; that is, make him
+unconsciously follow suggestion.</p>
+
+<p>I had read in works on hypnotism of an endless number of experiments, how
+patients were made to believe that they were monkeys or madmen, or umbrellas, or
+criminals, women or men, <em>à volonté,</em> but in few of them did I find
+that it had ever occurred to anybody to turn this wonderful power of developing
+the intellect to any permanent benefit, or to increasing the moral sense. Then
+it came to my mind since Self-Suggestion was possible that if I would resolve to
+work <em>all</em> the next day; that is, apply myself to literary or artistic
+labor without once feeling fatigue, and succeed, it would be a marvelous thing
+for a man of my age. And so it befell that by making an easy beginning I brought
+it to pass to perfection. What I mean by an easy beginning is not to will or
+resolve <em>too</em> vehemently, but to simply and very gently, yet
+assiduously, impress the idea on the mind <em>so as to fall asleep while
+thinking of it as a thing to be.</em> My next step was to <em>will</em> that
+I should, all the next&nbsp; day, be free from any nervous or mental worry, or
+preserve a hopeful, calm, or well-balanced state of mind. This led to many
+minute and extremely curious experiences and observations. That the
+imperturbable or calm state of mind promptly set in was undeniable, but it often
+behaved, like the Angel in H. G. Wells' novel, &quot;The Wonderful Visit,&quot; as if
+somewhat frightened at, or of, with, or by its new abode, and no wonder, for it
+was indeed a novel guest, and the goblins of &quot;Worry and Tease, Fidget and Fear,&quot;
+who had hitherto been allowed to riot about and come and go at their own sweet
+mischievous wills, were ill-pleased at being made to keep quiet by this new lady
+of the manor. And indeed no mere state of mind, however well maintained, can
+resist everything, and the mildest mannered man may cut a throat under great
+provocation. I had my lapses, but withal I was simply astonished to find how, by
+perseverance, habitual calm not only grew on me, but how decidedly it increased.
+I most assuredly have experienced it to such a degree as to marvel that the
+method is not more employed as a cure for nervous suffering and insomnia.</p>
+
+<p>But far beyond perseverance in labor, or the inducing a calmer and
+habitually restful state of mind, was the Awakening of the Will, which I found
+as interesting as any novel or drama, or series of active adventures which I
+have ever read or experienced. I can remember when most deeply engaged in it,
+re-reading DE QUINCEY'S &quot;Confessions of an Opium Eater.&quot; I took it by chance on
+my birthday, August 15, which was also his, and as I read I longed from my very
+heart that he were alive, that I might consult with him on the marvelous
+Fairyland which it seemed to me had been discovered&#8212;and then I remembered how
+Dr. TUCKEY, the leading English hypnotist, had once told me how easy it was for
+his science to completely cure the mania for opium and other vices.</p>
+
+<p>And this is the discovery: Resolve before going to sleep that if there be
+anything whatever for you to do which requires Will or Resolution, be it to
+undertake repulsive or hard work or duty, to face a disagreeable person, to
+fast, or make a speech, to say &quot;No&quot; to anything; in short, to keep up to the
+mark or make <em>any</em> kind of effort that <em>you</em>
+WILL <em>do it</em>&#8212;as calmly and unthinkingly as may be. Do not desire to do
+it sternly or forcibly, or in spite of obstacles&#8212;but simply and coolly make up
+your mind to  <em>do it</em>&#8212;and it will much more likely be done. And it is
+absolutely true&#8212;<em>crede experto</em>&#8212;that if persevered in, this willing
+yourself to will by easy impulse unto impulse given, will lead to marvelous and
+most satisfactory results.</p>
+
+<p>There is one thing of which the young or oversanguine or heedless should be
+warned. Do not expect from self-suggestion, nor anything else in this life,
+prompt perfection, or the <em>maximum</em> of success. You may pre-determine
+to be cheerful, but if you are very susceptible to bad weather, and the day
+should be dismal, or you should hear of the death of a friend, or a great
+disaster of any kind, some depression of spirits <em>must</em> ensue. On the
+other hand, note well that forming habit by frequent repetition of willing
+yourself to equanimity and cheerfulness, and also to the banishing of repulsive
+images when they come, will infallibly result in a very much happier state of
+mind. As soon as you actually begin to realize that you are acquiring such
+control remember that is the golden hour&#8212;and redouble your efforts.
+<em>Perseverando vinces.</em></p>
+
+<p>I have, I trust, thus far in a few words explained to the reader the <em>
+rationale</em> of a system of mental discipline based on the will, and how by a
+very easy process the latter may, like Attention and Interest, be gradually
+awakened. As I have before declared, everyone would like to have a strong or
+vigorous will, and there is a library of books or sermons in some form,
+exhorting the weak to awaken and fortify their wills or characters, but all
+represent it as a hard and vigorous process, akin to &quot;storm and stress,&quot; battle
+and victory, and none really tell us how to go about it. I have indeed only
+indicated that it is by self-suggestion that the first steps are taken. Let us
+now consider the early beginning of the art or science ere discussing further
+developments.</p>
+
+<a name="3"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+CHAPTER III.
+<br>
+<br>
+WILL DEVELOPMENT.
+<br>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Ce domaine de la Suggestion est immense. Il n'y a pas un
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; seul fait de notre vie mentale qui ne puisse être reproduit et
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; exageré artificiellement par ce moyen.&quot;&#8212;<em>Binet et Frère, Le
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Magnetisme Animal. </em></p>
+
+<p>Omitting the many vague indications in earlier writers, as well as those
+drawn from ancient Oriental sources, we may note that POMPONATIUS or POMPONAZZO,
+an Italian, born in 1462, declared in a work entitled <em>De naturalium
+effectuum admirandorum Causis seu de Incantationibus,</em> that to cure disease
+it was necessary to use a strong will, and that the patient should have a
+vigorous imagination and much faith in the <em>praê cantator.</em>
+PARACELSUS asserted the same thing in many passages directly and indirectly. He
+regarded medicine as magic and the physician as a wizard who should by a
+powerful will act on the imagination of the patient. But from some familiarity
+with the works of PARACELSUS&#8212;the first folio of the first full edition is before
+me as I write&#8212;I would say that it would be hard to declare what his marvelous
+mind did <em>not </em>anticipate in whatever was allied to medicine and natural philosophy. Thus
+I have found that long before VAN HELMONT, who has the credit of the discovery,
+PARACELSUS knew how to prepare silicate of soda, or water-glass.</p>
+
+<p>Hypnotism as practiced at the present day, and with regard to its common
+results, was familiar to JOHANN JOSEPH GASSNER, a priest in Suabia, of whom
+LOUIS FIGUIER writes as follows in his <em>Histoire du Merveilleux dans les
+Temps Modernes,</em> published in 1860:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;GASSNER, like the Englishman VALENTINE GREAT-RAKES, believed himself
+called by divine inspiration to cure diseases. According to the precept of
+proper charity he began at home&#8212;that is to say on himself. After being an
+invalid for five or six years, and consulting, all in vain, many doctors, and
+taking their remedies all for naught, the idea seized him that such an obstinate
+malady as his must have some supernatural evil origin, or in other words, that
+he was possessed by a demon.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Therefore he conjured this devil of a disorder, in the name of Jesus
+Christ to leave him&#8212;so it left, and the good GASSNER has put it on record that
+for sixteen years after he enjoyed perfect health and never had occasion for any
+remedy, spiritual or otherwise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This success made him reflect whether all maladies could not be cured by
+exorcism . . . The experiment which he tried on the invalids of his parish were
+so successful that his renown soon opened through all Suabia, and the regions
+roundabout. Then he began to travel, being called for everywhere.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>GASSNER was so successful that at Ratisbon he had, it is said, 6,000 patients
+of all ranks encamped in tents. He cured by simply touching with
+his hands. But that in which he appears original was that he not only made
+his patients sleep or become insensible by ordering them to do so but caused
+them to raise their arms and legs, tremble, feel any kind of pain, as is now
+done by the hypnotist. &quot;'In a young lady of good family' he caused laughter
+and weeping, stiffness of the limbs, absence of sight and hearing, and <em>
+anæsthesia</em> so as to make the pulse beat at his will.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>M. FIGUIER and others do not seem to have been aware that a century before
+GASSNER, a PIETRO PIPERNO of Naples published a book in which there was a
+special exorcism or conjurations, as he calls them, for every known disorder,
+and that this possibly gave the hint for a system of cure to the Suabian. I have
+a copy of this work, which is extremely rare, it having been put on the Roman
+prohibited list, and otherwise suppressed. But GASSNER himself was suppressed
+ere long, because the Emperor, Joseph II, cloistered&#8212;that is to say, imprisoned
+him for life in the Monastery of Pondorf, near Ratisbon. One must not be too
+good or Apostle-like or curative&#8212;even in the Church, which discourages <em>
+trop de zéle.</em></p>
+
+<p>But the general accounts of GASSNER give the impression, which has not been
+justly conveyed, that he owed his remarkable success in curing himself and
+others not to any kind of theory nor faith in magnetism, or in religion, so much
+as unconscious suggestion, aided by a powerful Will which increased with
+successes. To simply <em>pray</em> to be cured of an illness, or even to be
+cured by prayer, was certainly no novelty to any Catholic or Protestant in those
+days. The very nature of his experiments in making many people perform the same
+feats which are now repeated by hypnotizers, and which formed no part of a
+religious cure, indicate clearly that he was an observer of strange phenomena or
+a natural philosopher. I have seen myself an Egyptian juggler in Boulak perform
+many of these as professed <em>tricks,</em> and I do not think it was from any
+imitation of French clairvoyance. He also pretended that it was by an exertion
+of his Will, aided by magic forms which he read from a book, that he made two
+boys obey him. It was probably for these tricks which savored of magic that
+GASSNER was &quot;retired.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Having in the previous pages indicated the general method by which Will may
+be awakened and strengthened, that the reader may as soon as possible understand
+the simple principle of action, I will now discuss more fully the important
+topic of influencing and improving our mental powers by easily induced
+Attention, or attention guided by simple Foresight, and pre-resolution aided by
+simple <em>auto</em> or self-suggestion. And I believe, with reason, that by
+these very simple processes (which have not hitherto been tested that I am aware
+of by any writer in the light in which I view them); the Will, which is the
+power of all powers and the mainspring of the mind, can be by means of
+persuasion increased or strengthened <em>ad infinitum.</em></p>
+
+<p>It is evident that GASSNER'S method partakes in equal proportions of the
+principles of the well-known &quot;<em>Faith Cure,</em>&quot; and that
+of the Will, or of the passive and the active. What is
+wanting in it is self-knowledge and the very easily awakened <em>forethought</em>
+which, when continued, leads to far greater and much more certain results.
+Forethought costs little exertion: it is so calmly active that the weakest minds
+can employ it; but wisely employed it can set tremendous force in action.</p>
+
+<p>As regards GASSNER, it is admissible that many more cures of disease can be
+effected by what some vaguely call the Imagination, and others Mental Action,
+than is generally supposed. Science now proves every year, more and more, that
+diseases are allied, and that they can be reached through the nervous system. In
+the celebrated correspondence between KANT and HUFELAND there is almost a proof
+that incipient gout can be cured by will or determination. But if a merely
+temporary or partial cure can <em>really</em> be obtained, or a cessation from
+suffering, if the ill be really <em>curable</em> at all, it is but reasonable
+to assume that by continuing the remedy or system, the relief will or must
+correspond to the degree of &quot;faith&quot; in the patient. And this would infallibly be
+the case if the sufferer <em>had</em> the will. But unfortunately the very
+people who are most frequently relieved are those of the impulsive imaginative
+kind, who &quot;soon take hold and soon let go,&quot; or who are merely attracted by a
+sense of wonder which soon loses its charm, and so they react.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore if we cannot only awaken the Will, but also keep it alive, it is
+very possible that we may not only effect great and thorough cures of diseases,
+but also induce whatever state of mind we please. This may be effected by the
+action of the minds or wills of others on our own, which influence can be
+gradually transferred from the operator to the patient himself, as when in
+teaching a boy to swim the master holds the pupil up until the latter finds that
+he is unconsciously moving by his own exertion.</p>
+
+<p>What the fickle and &quot;nervous&quot; patients of any kind need is to have the idea
+kept before their minds continuously. They generally rush into a novelty without
+Forethought. Therefore they should be trained or urged to forethink or reflect
+seriously and often on the cure or process proposed. This is the setting of the
+nail, which is to be driven in by suggestion. The other method is where we act
+entirely for ourselves both as regards previous preparation and subsequent
+training.</p>
+
+<p>I here repeat, since the whole object of the book is that certain facts
+shall be deeply and <em>clearly</em> impressed on the reader's mind, that if
+we <em>will </em>that a certain idea shall recur to us on the following, or any other day,
+and if we bring the mind to bear upon it just before falling asleep, it may be
+forgotten when we awake, but it will recur to us when the time comes. This is
+what almost everybody has proved, that if we resolve to awake at a certain hour
+we generally do so; if not the first time, after a few experiments,
+<em>apropos </em>of which I would remark that &quot;no one should ever expect full success from
+any first experiment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Now it is certainly true that we all remember or recall certain things to
+be done at certain hours, even if we have a hundred other thoughts in the
+interval. But it would seem as if by some law which we do not understand Sleep
+or repose acted as a preserver and reviver, nay, as a real strengthener of
+Thoughts, inspiring them with a new spirit. It would seem, too, as if they came
+out of Dreamland, as the children in TIECK'S story did out of Fairyland, with
+new lives. This is, indeed, a beautiful conception, and I may remark that I will
+in another place comment on the curious fact that we can add to and intensify
+ideas by thus passing them through our minds in sleep.</p>
+
+<p>Just by the same process as that which enables us to awake at a given hour,
+and simply by substituting other ideas for that of time, can we acquire the
+ability to bring upon ourselves pre-determined or desired states of mind. This
+is Self-Suggestion or deferred determination, be it with or without sleep. It
+becomes more certain in its result with every new experiment or trial. The great
+factor in the whole is perseverance or repetition. By faith we can remove
+mountains, by perseverance we can carry them away, and the two amount to
+precisely the same thing.</p>
+
+<p>And here be it noted what, I believe, no writer has ever before observed,
+that as perseverance depends on renewed forethought and reflection, so by
+continued practice and thought, in self-suggestion, the one practicing begins to
+find before long that his conscious will is acting more vigorously in his waking
+hours, and that he can finally dispense with the sleeping process.&nbsp; For, in
+fact, when we once find that our will is really beginning to obey us, and
+inspire courage or indifference where we were once timid, there is no end to the
+confidence and power which may ensue.</p>
+
+<p>Now this is absolutely true. A man may <em>will</em> certain things ere
+he falls asleep. This willing should not be <em>intense,</em> as the old
+animal magnetizers taught; it ought rather to be like a quiet, firm desire or
+familiarization with what we want, often gently repeated till we fall asleep in
+it. So the seeker wills or wishes that he shall, during all the next day, feel
+strong and vigorous, hopeful, energetic, cheerful, bold or calm or peaceful. And
+the result will be obtained just in proportion to the degree in which the
+command or desire has impressed the mind, or sunk into it.</p>
+
+<p>But, as I have said: Do not expect that all of this will result from a
+first trial. It may even be that those who succeed very promptly will be more
+likely to give out in the end than those who work up from small beginnings. The
+first step may very well be that of merely selecting some particular object and
+calmly or gently, yet determinedly directing the mind to it, to be recalled at a
+certain hoar. Repeat the experiment, if successful add to it something else.
+Violent effort is un-advisable, yet mere repetition <em>without thought</em>
+is time lost. <em>Think</em> while willing what it is you want, <em>and
+above all, if you can, think with a feeling that the idea is to recur to
+you.</em></p>
+
+<p>This acting or working two thoughts at once may be difficult for some
+readers to understand, though all writers on the brain illustrate it. It may be
+formulated thus: &quot;I wish to remember tomorrow at four o'clock to visit my
+bookseller&#8212;bookseller's&#8212;four o'clock&#8212;four o'clock.&quot; But with practice the two
+will become as one conception.</p>
+
+<p>When the object of a state of mind, as, for instance, calmness all day
+long, is obtained, even partially, the operator (who must, of course, do all to
+<em>help himself</em> to keep calm, should he remember his wish) will begin to
+believe in himself sincerely, or in the power of his will to compel a certain
+state of mind. This won, all may be won, by continued reflection and
+perseverance. It is the great step gained, the alphabet learned, by which the
+mind may pass to boundless power.</p>
+
+<p>It may be here interesting to consider some of the states of mind into
+which a person may be brought by hypnotism. When subject to the will of an
+operator the patient may believe anything&#8212;that he is a mouse or a girl, drunk or
+inspired. The same may result from self-hypnotism by artificial methods which
+appeal powerfully to the imagination. According to Dr. JAMES R. COCKE many of
+his patients could induce this by looking at any bright object, a bed of coals,
+or at smooth running water. It is, of course, to be understood that it is not
+merely by <em>looking</em> that hypnotism is induced. There must be will or
+determinate thought; but when once brought about it is easily repeated.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They have the ability,&quot; writes Dr. COCKE, &quot;to resist this state or bring
+it on at will. Many of them describe beautiful scenes from Nature, or some
+mighty cathedral with its lofty dome, or the faces of imaginary beings.&quot; This
+writer's own first experience of self-hypnotism was very remarkable. He had been
+told by a hypnotizer to keep the number twenty-six in his mind. He did so, and
+after hearing a ringing in his ears and then a strange roaring he felt that
+spirits were all round him&#8212;music sounding and a sensation as of expanding.</p>
+
+<p>But self-hypnotizing, by the simple easy process of trusting to ordinary
+sleep, is better adapted to action delayed, or states of mind. These may be:</p>
+<p><em>A desire to be at peace or perfectly calm.</em> After a few repetitions
+it will be found that, though irritating accidents may
+countervene, the mind will recur more and more to calm.</p>
+
+<p><em>To feel cheerful or merry.</em></p>
+
+<p><em>To be in a brave, courageous, hearty or vigorous mood.</em></p>
+
+<p><em>To work hard without feeling weary.</em> This I have fully tested with success,
+and especially mention it for the
+benefit of students. All of my intimate friends can certify what I here assert.</p>
+
+<p><em>To keep the faculty of quickness of perception alert,</em> as,
+for instance, when going out to perceive more than usual in a crowd. A
+botanist or mineralogist may awaken the faculty with the hope of observing or
+finding with success.</p>
+
+<p><em>To be susceptible to beauty,</em> as, for instance, when visiting a
+scene or gallery. In such cases it means to derive Attention from Will. The
+habitually trained Forethought or Attention is here a <em>great</em> aid to
+perception.</p>
+
+<p><em>To read or study keenly and observantly.</em> This is a faculty which
+can be very much aided by forethought and self-suggestion.</p>
+
+<p><em>To forgive and forget enemies and injuries.</em> Allied to it is the
+forgetting and ignoring of all things which annoy, vex,
+harrass, tease or worry us in any way whatever. To expect perfect immunity in
+this respect from the unavoidable ills of life is absurd; but having paid great
+attention to the subject, and experimented largely on it, I cannot resist
+declaring that it seems to me in very truth that no remedy for earthly suffering
+was yet discovered equal to this. I generally put the wish into this form: &quot;I
+will forget and forgive all causes of enmity and anger, and should they arise I
+determine at once to cast them aside.&quot; It is a prayer, as it were, to the Will
+to stand by me, and truly the will is <em>Deus in nobis</em> to those who
+believe that God helps those who help themselves. For as we can get into the
+fearful state of constantly recalling all who have ever vexed or wronged us, or
+nursing the memory of what we hate or despise, until our minds are like sewers
+or charnel-houses of dead and poisonous things, so we can resolutely banish
+them, at first by forethought, then by suggestion, and finally by waking will.
+And verily there are few people living who would not be the better for such
+exercise. Many there are who say that they would fain forget and be serene, yet
+cannot. I do not believe this. We can all exorcise our devils&#8212;all of them&#8212;if we
+<em>will.</em></p>
+
+<p><em>To restrain irritability in our intercourse with others.</em> It will not be quite
+sufficient as regards controlling the temper to merely will, or <em>wish</em> to
+subdue it. We must also will that when the temptation arises it may be
+preceded by forethought or followed by regret. As it often happens to a young
+soldier to be frightened or run away the first time he is under fire, and yet
+learn courage in the future, so the aspirant resolved to master his passions
+must not doubt because he finds that the first step slips. <em>Apropos</em> of
+which I would note that in all the books on Hypnotism that I have read their
+authors testify to a certain false quantity or amount of base alloy in the most
+thoroughly suggested patients. Something of modesty, something of a moral
+conscience always remains. Thus, as Dr. COCKE declares, Hypnotism has not
+succeeded in cases suffering from what are called imperative conceptions, or
+irresistible belief. &quot;Cases suffering from various imperative conceptions are,
+while possessing their reasons, either irresistibly led by certain impulses or
+they cannot rid themselves of erroneous ideas concerning themselves and others.&quot;
+This means, in fact, that they had been previously <em>hypnotised</em> to a
+definite conception which had become imperative. As in Witchcraft, it is a law
+that one sorcerer cannot undo the work of another without extraordinary pains;
+so in hypnotism it is hard to undo what is already established by a similar
+agent.</p>
+
+<p><em>One can will to remember or recall anything forgotten.</em> I will
+not be responsible that this will invariably succeed at the first time,
+but that it does often follow continued determination I know from experience. I
+believe that where an operator hypnotizes a subject it very often succeeds, if
+we may believe the instances recorded. And I am also inclined to believe that in
+many cases, though assuredly not in all, whatever is effected by one person upon
+another can also be brought about in one's self by patience in forethought,
+self-suggestion, and the continued will which they awaken.</p>
+
+<p><em>We can revive by this process old well-nigh forgotten trains of thought.</em>
+This is difficult but possible. It belongs to an advanced stage of experience
+or may be found in very susceptible subjects. I do not belong at all to the
+latter, but I have perfectly succeeded in continuing a dream; that is to say, I
+have woke up three times during a dream, and, being pleased with it, wished it
+to go on, then fallen asleep and it went on, like three successive chapters in a
+novel.</p>
+
+<p><em>We can subdue the habit of worrying ourselves and others needlessly about
+every trifling or serious cause of irritation which enters our minds.</em> There
+are many people who from a mere idle habit or self-indulgence and
+irrepressible loquacity make their own lives and those of others very
+miserable&#8212;as all my readers can confirm from experience. I once knew a man of
+great fortune, with many depending on him, who vented his ill-temper and petty
+annoyances on almost everyone to whom he spoke. He was so fully aware of this
+failing that he at once, in confessing it to a mutual friend, shed tears of
+regret. Yet he was a millionaire man of business, and had a strong will which
+might have been directed to a cure. All peevish, fretful and talkative, or even
+complaining people, should be induced to seriously study this subject.</p>
+
+<p><em>We can cure ourselves of the habit of profanity or using vulgar language.</em>
+No one doubts that a negro who believes in sorcery, if told that if he uttered
+an oath, <em>Voodoo</em> would fall upon him and cause him to waste away,
+would never swear again. Or that a South Sea Islander would not do the same for
+fear of <em>taboo.</em> Now both these forms of sorcery are really hypnotizing
+by action on belief, and Forethought aided by the sleep process has precisely
+the same result&#8212;it establishes a fixed idea in the mind, or a haunting presence.</p>
+
+<p><em>We can cure ourselves of intemperance.</em> This was, I believe, first
+established or extensively experimented on by Dr.
+CHARLES LLOYD TUCKEY. This can be aided by willing that the liquor, if drunk,
+shall be nauseating.</p>
+
+<p><em>We can repress to a remarkable degree the sensations of fatigue, hunger and
+thirst.</em> Truly no man can defy the laws of nature, but it is very
+certain that in cases like that of Dr. TANNER, and the Hindu ascetics who were
+boxed up and buried for many weeks, there must have been mental determination as
+well as physical endurance. As regards this very important subject of health, or
+the body, and the degree to which it can be controlled by the mind or will, it
+is to be observed that of late years physiologists are beginning to observe that
+all &quot;mental&quot; or corporeal functions are evidently controlled by the same laws or
+belong to the same organization. If &quot;the emotions, say of anger or love, in
+their more emphatic forms, are plainly accompanied by varying changes of the
+heart and blood-vessels, the viscera and muscles,&quot; it must follow that changes
+or excitement in the physical organs must react on the emotions. &quot;All modes of
+sensibility, whatever their origin,&quot; says LUYS, &quot;are physiologically transported
+into the sensorium. From fiber to fiber, from sensitive element to sensitive
+element, our whole organism is sensitive; our whole sentient personality, in
+fact, is conducted just as it exists, into the plexuses of the <em>sensorium
+commune.</em>&quot; Therefore, if every sensation in the body acts on the brain by
+the aid of secondary brains or ganglions, it must be that the brain in turn can
+in some way act on the body. And this has hitherto been achieved or attempted by
+magicians, "miracle-mongers,&quot; thaumaturgists, mesmerists, and the like, and by
+the modern hypnotizer, in which we may observe that there has been at every step
+less and less mysticism or supernaturalism, and a far easier process or way of
+working. And I believe it may be fairly admitted that in this work I have
+simplified the process of physically influencing mental action and rendered it
+easier. The result from the above conclusions being that <em>we can control
+many disorders or forms of disease.</em> This is an immense subject, and it
+would be impossible within a brief sketch to determine its limits or conditions.
+That what are called nervous disorders, which are evidently the most nearly
+allied to emotions&#8212;as, for instance, a headache, or other trouble induced by
+grief&#8212;can be removed by joy, or some counteracting emotion or mere faith is very
+well known and generally believed. But of late science has established that the
+affinities between the cerebral and other functions are so intimately,
+extensively and strangely sympathetic or identical that it is becoming
+impossible to say what disease may not be temporarily alleviated or cured by new
+discoveries in directing the nervo-mental power or will. The Faith-Cure, Magic,
+Mesmerism, Religious Thaumaturgy and other systems have given us a vast number
+of authentic cures of very positive disorders. But from the point of view taken
+by many people what has been wanting in all is, <em>firstly,</em> a clear
+and simple scientific method free from all spiritualism
+or wonder, and, <em>secondly,</em> the art of <em>Perfecting the cures by
+Perseverance.</em> For what will relieve for an hour can be made to cure
+forever, if we exercise foresight and make perpetuity a part of our whole plan.</p>
+
+<p>Now, as regards curing disorders, I beg the reader to specially observe
+that this, like many other works, depends on the state of the mind; nor can it
+be undertaken with hope of success unless the operator has by previous practice
+in easy experiments succeeded in perfectly convincing himself that he has
+acquired control of his will. Thus having succeeded in willing himself to work
+all day without fatigue, or to pass the day without being irritable, let him
+begin to consider, reflect and realize that he <em>can</em> make himself do
+this or that, for the more he simply induces the belief and makes himself
+familiar with it, the stronger and more obedient his Will will be. However, this
+is simply true that to any self-suggestionist whatever who has had some little
+practice and attained to even a moderate command over his will, a very great
+degree of the power to relieve bodily suffering is easy to develop, and it may
+be increased by practice to an incredible extent. Thus in case of suffering by
+pain of any kind in another, begin by calmly persuading him or her that relief
+has been obtained thousands of times by the process, and endeavor to awaken
+belief, or, at least, so much attention and interest that the fact will remain
+as <em>forethought</em> in the mind. The next step should be to promise
+relief, and then induce sleep by the showing a coin, passes with the hands,
+etc., or allowing the subject to sink into a natural slumber. If there be no
+success the first time, repeat the experiment. Gout, headaches, all forms of
+positive pain, severe colds, <em>anæmia, insomnia, melancholia,</em> and
+dyspepsia appear to be among the ills which yield most readily to, or are
+alleviated (to the great assistance of a regular cure), by suggestion.</p>
+<p>As regards curing disorders, producing insensibility to hunger and thirst,
+heat or cold, and the like, all are aware that to a man who is under the
+influence of some great and overpowering emotion, such as rage or surprise, or
+joy, no pain is perceptible. In like manner, by means of persuasion, sleep, a
+temporary oblivion, and the skillfully awakened Will, the same insensibility or
+ignoring can be effected. There is, however, this to be observed, that while in
+the vast library of books which teach mental medicine the stress is laid
+entirely on producing merely a temporary cure I insist that by great
+Forethought, by conducting the cure with a view to permanence, ever persuading
+the patient to think on the future, and finally by a very thorough continuation
+and after-treatment many diseases may be radically removed.</p>
+
+<p>To recapitulate and make all clear we will suppose that the reader desires
+during the following day to be in a calm, self-possessed or peaceful state of
+mind. Therefore at night, after retiring, let him first completely consider what
+he wants and means to acquire. This is the Forethought, and it should be as
+thorough as possible. Having done this, will or declare that what you want shall
+come to pass on awaking, and repeating this and thinking on it, fall asleep.
+This is all. Do not wish for two things at once, or not until your mind shall
+have become familiar with the process. As you feel your power strengthen with
+success you may will yourself to do whatever you desire.</p>
+
+<a name="4"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+CHAPTER IV.
+<br>
+<br>
+FORETHOUGHT.
+<br>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Post fata resurgo.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;What is forethought may sleep&#8212;'tis very plain,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; But rest assured that it will rise again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Forethought is plan inspired by an absolute Will to
+carry it out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It may have struck the reader as an almost awful, or as a very wonderful
+idea, that man has within himself, if he did but know it, tremendous powers or
+transcendental faculties of which he has really never had any conception. One
+reason why such bold thought has been subdued is that he has always felt
+according to tradition, the existence of superior supernatural (and with them
+patrician) beings, by whose power and patronage he has been effectively
+restrained or kept under. Hence gloom and pessimism, doubt and despair. It may
+seem a bold thing to say that it did not occur to any philosopher through the
+ages that man, resolute and noble and free, might <em>will</em> himself into a
+stage of mind defying devils and phantasms, or that amid the infinite
+possibilities of human nature there was the faculty of assuming the Indifference
+habitual to all animals when not alarmed. But he who will consider these studies
+on Self-Hypnotism may possibly infer from them that we have indeed within us a
+marvelous power of creating states of mind which make the idea of Pessimism
+ridiculous. For it renders potent and grand, pleasing or practically useful, to
+all who practice it, a faculty which has the great advantage that it may enter
+into all the relations or acts of life; will give to everyone something to do,
+something to occupy his mind, even in itself, and if we have other occupations,
+Forethought and Induced Will may be made to increase our interest in them and
+stimulate our skill. In other words, we can by means of this Art increase our
+ability to practice all arts, and enhance or stimulate Genius in every way or
+form, be it practical, musical or plastic.</p>
+
+<p>Since I began this work there fell into my hands an ingenious and curious
+book, entitled &quot;Happiness as found in <em>Forethought minus Fearthought,</em>&quot;
+by HORACE FLETCHER, in which the author very truly declares that <em>Fear</em>
+in some form has become the arch enemy of Man, and through the fears of our
+progenitors developed by a thousand causes, we have inherited a growing stock of
+diseases, terrors, apprehensions, pessimisms, and the like, in which he is
+perfectly right.</p>
+
+<p>But as Mr. FLETCHER declares, if men could take <em>Forethought</em> as
+their principle and guide they would obviate, anticipate or foresee and provide
+for so many evil contingencies and chances that we might secure even peace and
+happiness, and then man may become brave and genial, altruistic and earnest, in
+spite of it all, by <em>willing</em> away his Timidity.</p>
+
+<p>I have not assumed a high philosophical or metaphysical position in this
+work; my efforts have been confined to indicating how by a very simple and
+well-nigh mechanical process, perfectly intelligible to every human being with
+an intellect, one may induce certain states of mind and thereby create a Will.
+But I quite agree with Mr. FLETCHER that Forethought is strong thought, and the
+point from which all projects must proceed. As I understand it, it is a kind of
+impulse or projection of will into the coming work. I may here illustrate this
+with a curious fact in physics. If the reader wished to ring a door-bell so as
+to produce as much sound as possible he would probably pull it as far back as he
+could and then let it go. But if he would in letting it go simply give it a tap
+with his forefinger he would actually redouble the noise.</p>
+
+<p>Or, to shoot an arrow as far as possible, it is not enough to merely draw
+the bow to its utmost span or tension. If just as it goes you will give the bow
+a quick <em>push,</em> though the effort be trifling, the arrow will fly
+almost as far again as it would have done without it.</p>
+
+<p>Or, if, as is well known, in wielding a very sharp saber, we make the
+<em>draw-cut,</em> that is if we add to the blow or chop, as with an axe, a certain
+slight pull and simultaneously, we can cut through a silk handkerchief or a
+sheep.</p>
+
+<p>Forethought is the tap on the bell, the push of the bow, the draw on the
+saber. It is the deliberate yet rapid action of the mind when before falling to
+sleep or dismissing thought we <em>bid</em> the mind to subsequently respond.
+It is more than merely thinking what we are to do; it is the bidding or ordering
+self to fulfill a task before willing it.</p>
+
+<p>Forethought in the senses employed or implied as here described means much
+more than mere previous consideration or reflection, which may be very feeble.
+It is, in fact, &quot;constructive,&quot; which, as inventive, implies <em>active</em>
+thought. &quot;Forethought stimulates, aids the success of honest aims.&quot; Therefore,
+as the active principle in mental work, I regard it as a kind of self-impulse,
+or that minor part in the division of the force employed which sets the major
+into action. Now, if we really understand this and can succeed in employing
+Forethought as the preparation for, and impulse to, Self-Suggestion, we shall
+greatly aid the success of the latter, because the former insures attention and
+interest. Forethought may be brief, but it should always be energetic. By
+cultivating it we acquire the enviable talent of those men who take in
+everything at a glance, and act promptly, like a NAPOLEON. This power is
+universally believed to be entirely innate or a gift; but it can be induced or
+developed in all minds in proportion to the will by practice.</p>
+
+<p>Be it observed that as the experimenter progresses in the development of
+will by suggestion, he can gradually lay aside the latter, or all
+<em>processes,</em> especially if he work to such an end, anticipating it. Then he simply acts by
+clear will and strength, and Forethought constitutes all his stock-in-trade,
+process or aid. He preconceives and wills energetically at once, and by practice
+and repetition <em>Forethought</em> becomes a marvelous help on all occasions
+and emergencies.</p>
+
+<p>To make it of avail the one who frequently practices self-suggestion, at
+first with, and then without sleep, will inevitably find ere long that to
+facilitate his work, or to succeed he <em>must</em> first write, as it were,
+or plan a preface, synopsis, or epitome of his proposed work, to start it and
+combine with it a resolve or decree that it must be done, the latter being the
+tap on the bell-knob. Now the habit of composing the plan as perfectly, yet as
+succinctly as possible, daily or nightly, combined with the energetic impulse to
+send it off, will ere long give the operator a conception of what I mean by
+Foresight which by description I cannot. And when grown familiar and really
+mastered its possessor will find that his power to think and act promptly in all
+the emergencies of life has greatly increased.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore Forethought means a great deal more, as here employed, than
+seeing in advance, or deliberate prudence&#8212;it rather implies, like divination or
+foreknowledge, sagacity and mental <em>action</em> as well as mere perception.
+It will inevitably or assuredly grow with the practice of self-suggestion if the
+latter be devoted to mental improvement, but as it grows it will qualify the
+operator to lay aside the sleep and suggest to himself directly.</p>
+
+<p>All men of great natural strength of mind, gifted with the will to do and
+dare, the beings of action and genius, act directly, and are like athletes who
+lift a tree by the simple exertion of the muscles. He who achieves his aim by
+self-culture, training, or suggestion, is like one who raises the weight by
+means of a lever, and if he practice it often enough he may in the end become as
+strong as the other.</p>
+
+<p>There is a curious and very illustrative instance of Forethought in the
+sense in which I am endeavoring to explain it, given in a novel, the
+&quot;Scalp-Hunters,&quot; by MAYNE REID, with whom I was well acquainted in bygone years.
+Not having the original, I translate from a French version:  </p>
+
+<p>&quot;His aim with the rifle is infallible, and it would seem as if the ball obeyed
+his Will. There must be a kind of <em>directing principle</em> in his
+mind, independent of strength of nerve and sight. He and one other are the
+only men in whom I have observed this singular power.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This means simply the exercise in a second, as it were, of &quot;the tap on the
+bell-knob,&quot; or the projection of the will into the proposed shot, and which may
+be applied to any act. Gymnasts, leapers and the like are all familiar with it.
+It springs from resolute confidence and self-impulse enforced; but it also
+creates them, and the growth is very great and rapid when the idea is much kept
+before the mind. In this latter lies most of the problem.</p>
+
+<p>In Humanity, mind, and especially Forethought, or reflection, combined in
+one effort with will and energy, enters into all acts, though often unsuspected,
+for it is a kind of unconscious <em>reflex</em> action or cerebration. Thus I
+once discovered to my astonishment in a gymnasium that the extremely mechanical
+action of putting up a heavy weight from the ground to the shoulder and from the
+shoulder to the full reach of the arm above the head, became much easier after a
+little practice, although my muscles had not grown, nor my strength increased
+during the time. And I found that whatever the exertion might be there was
+always some trick or knack, however indescribable, by means of which the man
+with a brain could surpass a dolt at <em>anything,</em> though the latter were
+his equal in strength. But it sometimes happens that the trick can be taught and
+even improved on. And it is in all cases Forethought, even in the lifting of
+weights or the willing on the morrow to write a poem.</p>
+
+<p>For this truly weird power&#8212;since &quot;the weird sisters&quot; in &quot;Macbeth&quot; means
+only the sisters who <em>foresee</em>&#8212;is, in fact, the energy which projects
+itself in some manner, which physiology can as yet only very weakly explain, and
+even if the explanation <em>were</em> perfect, it would amount in fact to no
+more than showing the machinery of a watch, when the main object for us is that
+it should <em>keep time,</em> and tell the hour, as well as exhibit the ingenuity of the
+maker&#8212;which thing is very much lost sight of, even by many very great thinkers,
+misled by the vanity of showing how much they know.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, Foresight or Forethought projects itself in all things, and it is a
+serious consideration, or one of such immense value, that when really
+understood, and above all subjected to some practice&#8212;such as I have described,
+and which, as far as I can see, is <em>necessary</em>&#8212;one can bring it to bear
+<em>intelligently</em> on all the actions of life, that is to say, to <em>much</em>
+greater advantage than when we use it ignorantly, just as a genius endowed with
+strength can do far more with it than an ignoramus. For there is nothing
+requiring Thought in which it cannot aid us. I have alluded to Poetry. Now this
+does not mean that a man can become a SHAKESPEARE or SHELLEY by means of all the
+forethought and suggestion in the world, but they will, if well developed and
+directed, draw out from the mystic depths of mind such talent as he <em>has</em>&#8212;doubtless
+in some or all cases more than he has ever shown.</p>
+
+<p>No one can say what is hidden in every memory; it is like the sounding
+ocean with its buried cities, and treasures and wondrous relics of the olden
+time. This much we may assume to know, that every image or idea or impression
+whichever reached us through any of our senses entered a cell when it was ready
+for it, where it sleeps or wakes, most images being in the former condition. In
+fact, every brain is like a monastery of the Middle Ages, or a beehive. But it
+is built on a gigantic scale, for it is thought that no man, however learned or
+experienced he might be, ever contrived during all his life to so much as even
+half fill the cells of his memory. And if any reader should be apprehensive lest
+it come to pass with him in this age of unlimited supply of cheap knowledge that
+he will fill all his cells let him console himself with the reflection that it
+is supposed that Nature, in such a case, will have a further supply of new cells
+ready, she never, as yet, having failed in such rough hospitality, though it
+often leaves much to be desired!</p>
+
+<p>Yes, they are all there&#8212;every image of the past, every face which ever
+smiled on us&#8212;the hopes and fears of bygone years&#8212;the rustling of grass and
+flowers and the roar of the sea&#8212;the sound of trumpets in processions grand&#8212;the
+voices of the great and good among mankind&#8212;or what you will. Every line ever
+read in print, every picture and face and house is there. Many an experiment has
+shown this to be true; also that by mesmerizing or hypnotizing processes the
+most hidden images or memories can be awakened. In fact, the idea has lost much
+of its wonder since the time of Coleridge, now that every sound can be recorded,
+laid away and reproduced, and we are touching closely on an age when all that
+lies <em>perdu</em> in any mind can or will be set forth visibly, and all that
+a man has ever <em>seen</em> be shown to the world. For this is no whit more
+wonderful than that we can convey images or pictures by telegraph, and when I
+close my eyes and recall or imagine a form it does not seem strange that there
+might be some process by means of which it might be photographed.</p>
+
+<p>And here we touch upon the Materialization of Thought, which conception
+loses a part of the absurdity with which Spiritualists and Occultists have
+invested it, if we regard all nature as one substance. For, in truth, all that
+was ever perceived, even to the shadow of a dream by a lunatic, had as real an
+existence while it lasted as the Pyramids of Egypt, else it could not have been
+perceived. Sense cannot, even in dreams, observe what is not for the time an
+effect on matter. If a man <em>imagines</em> or makes believe to himself that
+he has a fairy attendant, or a dog, and <em>fancies</em> that he sees it, that
+man does really see <em>something,</em> though it be invisible to others.
+There is some kind of creative brain-action going on, some employment of atoms
+and forces, and, if this be so, we may enter it among the Possibilities of the
+Future that the Material in any form whatever may be advanced, or further
+materialized or made real.</p>
+
+<p>It is curious that this idea has long been familiar to believers in magic.
+In more than one Italian legend which I have collected a sorceress or goddess
+evolves a life from her own soul, as a fire emits a spark. In fact, the fancy
+occurs in some form in all mythologies, great or small. In one old Irish legend
+a wizard turns a Thought into a watch-dog. The history of genius and of
+Invention is that of realizing ideas, of making them clearer and stronger and
+more comprehensive. Thus it seems to me that the word <em>Forethought</em> as
+generally loosely understood, when compared to what it has been shown capable of
+expressing, is almost as much advanced as if like the fairy HERMELINA,
+chronicled by GROSIUS, it had been originally a vapor or mere fantasy, and
+gradually advanced to fairy life so as to become the companion of a wizard.</p>
+
+<p>If an artist, say a painter, will take forethought for a certain picture,
+whether the subject be determined or not, bringing himself to that state of
+easy, assured confidence, as a matter of course that he will <em>retain</em>
+the subject he will, if not at the first effort, almost certainly at last find
+himself possessed of it. Let him beware of haste, or of forcing the work. When
+he shall have secured suggestive Interest let him will that Ingenuity shall be
+bolder and his spirit draw from the stores of memory more abundant material.
+Thus our powers may be gradually and gently drawn into our service. Truly it
+would seem as if there were <em>no</em> limit to what a man can evolve out of
+himself if he will take Thought thereto.</p>
+
+<p>Forethought can be of vast practical use in cases where confidence is
+required. Many a young clergyman and lawyer has been literally frightened out of
+a career, and many an actor ruined for want of a very little knowledge, and in
+this I speak from personal experience. Let the aspirant who is to appear in
+public, or pass an examination, and is alarmed, base his forethought on such
+ideas as this, that he would not be afraid to repeat his speech to <em>one</em>
+person or two&#8212;why should he fear a hundred? There are some who can repeat this
+idea to themselves till it takes hold strongly, and they rise almost feeling
+contempt for all in court&#8212;as did the old lady in Saint Louis, who felt so
+relieved when a witness at <em>not</em> feeling frightened that she bade judge
+and jury cease looking at her in that impudent way.</p>
+
+<p>Having read the foregoing to a friend he asked me whether I believed that
+by Forethought and Suggestion a gentleman could be induced without diffidence to
+offer himself in marriage, since, as is well known, that the most eligible young
+men often put off wedding for years because they cannot summon up courage to
+propose. To which I replied that I had no great experience of such cases, but as
+regarded the method I was like the Scotch clergyman who, being asked by a
+wealthy man if he thought that the gift of a thousand pounds to the Kirk would
+save the donor's soul, replied: &quot;I'm na prepairet to preceesly answer thot
+question&#8212;but I wad vara warmly advise ye to <em>try</em> it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It must be remembered that for the very great majority of cases, if really
+not for all, the practicer of this process must be of temperate habits, and
+never attempt after a hearty meal, or drinking freely, to exercise Forethought
+or Self-Suggestion. Peaceful mental action during sleep requires that there
+shall be very light labor of digestion, and disturbed or troublesome dreams are
+utterly incompatible with really successful results. Nor will a single day's
+temperance suffice. It requires many days to bring the whole frame and
+constitution into good fit order. Here there can be no evasion, for more than
+ordinary temperance in food and drink is <em>absolutely indispensable.</em></p>
+
+<p>It is a principle, recognized by all physiologists, that digestion and
+fixed thought cannot go on together; it is even unadvisable to read while
+eating. Thus in all the old magical operations, which were, in fact,
+self-hypnotism, a perfect fast is insisted on with reason. This is all so
+self-evident that I need not dwell on it. It will be needless for anyone to take
+up this subject as a trifling pastime, or attempt self-suggestion and
+development of will with as little earnestness as one would give to a game of
+cards; for in such a half-way effort time will be lost and nothing come of it.
+Unless entered on with the most serious resolve to persevere, and make greater
+effort and more earnestly at every step, it had better be let alone.</p>
+
+<p>All who will persevere with calm determination cannot fail ere long to gain
+a certain success, and this achieved, the second step is much easier. However,
+there are many people who after doing all in their power to get to the gold or
+diamond mines, hasten away even when in the full tide of success, because they
+are fickle&#8212;and it is precisely such people who easily tire who are most easily
+attracted, be it to mesmerism, hypnotism, or any other wonder. And they are more
+wearisome and greater foes to true Science than the utterly indifferent or the
+ignorant.</p>
+
+<p>This work will not have been written in vain should it induce the reader to
+reflect on what is implied by patient repetition or perseverance, and what an
+incredible and varied <em>power</em> that man acquires who masters it. He who
+can lead himself, or others, into a <em>habit</em> can do anything. Even
+Religion is, in fact, nothing else. &quot;Religion,&quot; said the reviewer of &quot;The
+Evolution of the Idea of God,&quot; by GRANT ALLEN, &quot;he defines as Custom or
+Practice&#8212;not theory, not theology, not ethics, not spiritual aspirations, but a
+certain set of more or less similar observances: propitiation, prayer, praise,
+offerings, the request for Divine favors, the deprecation of Divine anger, or
+other misfortunes&quot;&#8212;in short, Ritual. That is to say, it is the aggregate of the
+different parts of religion, of which many take one for the whole. But this
+aggregation was the result of earnest patience and had good results. And it is
+by the careful analysis and all-round examination of Ideas that we acquire
+valuable knowledge, and may learn how very few there are current which are more
+than very superficially understood&#8212;as I have shown in what I have said of the
+Will, the Imagination, Forethought, and many other faculties which are
+flippantly used to explain a thousand problems by people who can hardly define
+the things themselves.</p>
+
+<a name="5"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+CHAPTER V.
+<br>
+<br>
+WILL AND CHARACTER.
+<br>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;And I have felt <br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A Presence that disturbs me with the joy <br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Of elevated thoughts, a sense sublime <br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Of something far more deeply interposed, <br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Whose dwelling is . . . all in the mind of man; <br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A motion and a spirit that impels <br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; All thinking things.&quot;<em>&#8212;Wordsworth.</em></p>
+
+<p>As the vast majority of people are not agreed as to what really constitutes
+a Gentleman, while a great many seem to be practically, at least, very much
+abroad as to the nature of a Christian, so it will be found that, in fact, there
+is a great deal of difference as regards the Will. I have known many men, and
+some women, to be credited by others, and who very much credited themselves,
+with having iron wills, when, in fact, their every deed, which was supposed to
+prove it, was based on brazen want of conscience. Mere want of principle or
+unscrupulousness passes with many, especially its possessors, for strong <em>
+will.</em> And even decision of character itself, as MAGINN remarks, is often
+confounded with talent. &quot;A bold woman always gets the name of clever&quot;&#8212;among
+fools&#8212;&quot;though her intellect may be of a humble order, and her knowledge
+contemptible.&quot; Among the vulgar, especially those of greedy, griping race and
+blood, the children of the thief, a robber of the widow and orphan, the scamp of
+the syndicate, and soulless &quot;promoter&quot; in South or North America, bold robbery,
+or Selfishness without scruple or timidity always appears as Will. But it is not
+the whole of the real thing, or real will in itself. When MUTIUS CAIUS SCAEVOLA
+thrust his hand into the flames no one would have greatly admired his endurance
+if it had been found that the hand was naturally insensible and felt no pain.
+Nor would there have been any plaudits for MARCUS CURTIUS when he leapt into the
+gulf, had he been so drunk as not to know what he was about. The will which
+depends on unscrupulousness is like the benumbed hand or intoxicated soul.
+Quench conscience, as a sense of right and obligation, and you can, of course,
+do a great deal from which another would shrink&#8212;and therefore be called
+&quot;weak-minded&quot; by the fools.</p>
+
+<p>There is another type of person who imposes on the world and on self as
+being strong-minded and gifted with Will. It is the imperturbable cool being,
+always self-possessed, with little sympathy for emotion. In most cases such
+minds result from artificial training, and they break down in real trials. I do
+not say that they cannot weather a storm or a duel, or stand fire, or get
+through what novelists regard as superlative stage trials; but, in a moral
+crisis, the gentleman or lady whose face is all Corinthian brass is apt like
+that brass in a fire to turn pale. These folk get an immense amount of
+undeserved admiration as having Will or self-command, when they owe what staying
+quality they have (like the preceding class) rather to a lack of good qualities
+than their inspiration.</p>
+
+<p>There are, alas! not a few who regard <em>Will</em> as simply identical
+with mere obstinacy, or stubbornness, the immovability of the Ass, or Bull, or
+Bear&#8212;that is, they reduce it to an animal power. But, as this often or generally
+amounts in animal or man to mere insensible sulkiness&#8212;as far remote as possible
+from enlightened mental action, it is surely unjust to couple it with the
+<em>Voluntary</em> or pure intelligent <em>Will,</em> by which all must
+understand the very acme of active Intellect.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore it follows, that the errors, mistakes, and perversions which have
+grown about Will in popular opinion, like those which have accumulated round
+Christianity, are too often mistaken for the truth. Pure Will is, and must be by
+its very nature, perfectly <em>free,</em> for the more it is hindered, or
+hampered, or controlled in any way, the less is it independent volition.
+Therefore, pare Will, free from all restraint can only act in, or as, Moral Law.
+Acting in accordance with very mean, immoral, obstinate motives is, so to speak,
+obeying as a slave the devil. The purer the motive the purer the Will, and in
+very truth the purer the stronger, or firmer. Every man has his own idea of Will
+according to his morality&#8212;even as it is said that every man's conception of God
+is himself infinitely magnified&#8212;or, as SYDNEY SMITH declared, that a certain
+small clergyman believed that Saint Paul was five feet two inches in height, and
+wore a shovel-hat. And here we may note that if the fundamental definition of a
+gentleman be &quot;a man of perfect integrity,&quot; or one who always does simply
+<em>what is right,</em> he is also one who possesses Will in its integrity.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore it follows that if the pure will, which is the basis of all firm
+and determined action, be a matter of moral conviction, it should take the first
+place as such. Napoleon the First was an exemplar of a selfish corrupted will,
+CHRIST the perfection of Will in its purity. And if I can make my meaning clear,
+I would declare that he who would create within himself a strong and vigorous
+will by hypnotism or any other process, will be most likely to succeed, if,
+instead of aiming at developing a power by which he may subdue others, and make
+all things yield to him, or similar selfish aims, he shall, before all,
+seriously reflect on how he may use it to do good. For I am absolutely persuaded
+from what I know, that he who makes Altruism and the happiness of others a
+familiar thought to be coupled with every effort (even as a lamb is always
+painted with, or appointed unto, St. John), will be the most likely to succeed.
+There is something in moral conviction or the consciousness of right which gives
+a sense of security or a faith in success which goes far to secure it. Hence the
+willing the mind on the following day to be at peace, not to yield to
+irritability or temptations to quarrel, to be pleasing and cheerful; in short to
+develop <em>good</em> qualities is the most easily effected process, because
+where there is such self-moral-suasion to a good aim or end, we feel, and very
+justly, that we <em>ought</em> to be aided by the <em>Deus in nobis,</em> or
+an over-ruling Providence, whatever its form or nature may be. And the
+experimenter may be assured that if we can by any means <em>will</em> or
+exorcise all envy, vanity, folly, irritability, vindictiveness&#8212;in short all
+evil&#8212;out of ourselves, and supply their place with Love, we shall take the most
+effective means to secure our own happiness, as well as that of others.</p>
+
+<p>All of this has been repeated very often of late years by Altruists; but,
+while the doctrine is accepted both by Agnostics and Christians as perfect,
+there has been little done to show men how to practically realize it. But I have
+ever noted that in this Pilgrim's Progress of our life, those are most likely to
+attain to the Celestial City, and all its golden glories, who, like CHRISTIAN,
+start from the lowliest beginnings; and as the learning our letters leads to
+reading the greatest books, so the simplest method of directing the attention
+and the most mechanical means of developing Will, may promptly lead to the
+highest mental and moral effect.</p>
+
+<p>Prayer is generally regarded as nothing else but an asking or begging from
+a superior power. But it is also something which is really very different from
+this. It is a formula by means of which man realizes his faith and will.
+Tradition, and habit (of whose power I have spoken) or repetition, have given it
+the influence or prestige of a charm. In fact it <em>is</em> a spell, he who
+utters it feels assured that if seriously repeated it will be listened to, and
+that the Power to whom it is addressed will hear it. The Florentines all round
+me as I write, who repeat daily, <em>&quot;Pate nostro quis in cell, santi ficeturie
+nome tumme!&quot;</em> in words which they do not understand, do not pray for daily
+bread or anything else in the formula; they only realize that they commune with
+God, and are being good. An intelligent prayer in this light is the
+concentration of thought on a subject, or a <em>definite</em> realization.
+Therefore if when <em>willing</em> that tomorrow I shall be calm all day or
+void of irritation, I put the will or wish into a brief and clear form, it will
+aid me to promptly realize or feel what I want. And it will be a prayer in its
+reality, addressed to the Unknown Power or to the Will within us&#8212;an invocation,
+or a spell, according to the mind of him who makes it.</p>
+
+<p>Thus a seeker may repeat: &quot;I <em>will,</em> earnestly and deeply, that
+during all tomorrow I may be in a calm and peaceful state of mind. I <em>will</em>
+with all my heart that if irritating or annoying memories or images, or thoughts
+of any kind are in any way awakened, that they may be promptly forgotten and
+fade away!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I would advise that such a formula be got by heart till very familiar, to
+be repeated, but not mechanically, before falling to sleeps What is of the very
+utmost importance is that the operator shall feel its meaning and at the same
+time give it the impulse of Will by the dual process before described. This, if
+successfully achieved, will not fail (at least with most minds) to induce
+success.</p>
+
+<p>This formula, or &quot;spell,&quot; will be sufficient for some time. When we feel
+that it is really beginning to have an effect, we may add to it other wishes.
+That is to say, be it clearly understood, that by repeating the will to be calm
+and peaceful, day after day, it will assuredly begin to come of itself, even as
+a pigeon which hath been &quot;tolled&quot; every day at a certain hour to find corn or
+crumbs in a certain place, will continue to go there even if the food cease.
+However, you may renew the first formula if you will. Then we may add gradually
+the wish to be in a bold or courageous frame of mind, so as to face trials, as
+follows:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I <em>will</em> with all my soul, earnestly and truly, that I may be on
+the morrow and all the day deeply inspired with courage and energy, with
+self-confidence and hope! May it lighten my heart and make me heedless of all
+annoyances and vexations which may arise! Should such come in my way, may I hold
+them at no more than their real value, or laugh them aside!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Proceed gradually and firmly through the series, never trying anything new,
+until the old has fully succeeded. This is essential, for failure leads to
+discouragement. Then, in time, fully realizing all its deepest meaning, so as to
+impress the Imagination one may will as follows:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;May my quickness of Perception, or Intuition, aid me in the business which
+I expect to undertake tomorrow. I <em>will</em> that my faculty of grasping at
+details and understanding their relations shall be active. May it draw from my
+memory the hidden things which will aid it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The artist or literary man, or poet, may in time earnestly will to this
+effect:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I desire that my genius, my imagination, the power which enables man to
+combine and create; the poetic (or artist) spirit, whatever it be, may act in me
+tomorrow, awakening great thoughts and suggesting for them beautiful forms.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He who expects to appear in public as an orator, as a lawyer pleading a
+case, or as a witness, will do much to win success, if after careful forethought
+or reflecting on what it is that he really wants, he will repeat:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I will that tomorrow I may speak or plead, with perfect self-possession
+and absence of all timidity or fear!&quot;  </p>
+
+<p>Finally, we may after long and earnest reflection on all which I have said,
+and truly not till then, resolve on the Masterspell to awaken the Will itself in
+such a form that it will fill our soul, as it were, unto which intent it is
+necessary to understand what Will really means to us in its purity and
+integrity. The formula may be:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I <em>will</em> that I may feel inspired with the power, aided by calm
+determination, to do what I desire, aided by a sense of right and justice to
+all. May my will be strong and sustain me in all trials. May it inspire that
+sense of independence of strength which, allied to a pure conscience, is the
+greatest source of happiness on earth!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>If the reader can master this last, he can by its aid progress infinitely.
+And with the few spells which I have given he will need no more, since in these
+lie the knowledge, and key, and suggestion to all which may be required.</p>
+
+<p>Now it will appear clearly to most, that no man can long and steadily
+occupy himself with such pursuits, without morally benefiting by them in his
+waking hours, even if auto-hypnotism were all &quot;mere imagination,&quot; in the most
+frivolous sense of the word. For he who will himself not to yield to
+irritability, can hardly avoid paying attention to the subject, and thinking
+thereon, check himself when vexed. And as I have said, what we summon by Will
+ere long remains as Habit, even as the Elves, called by a spell, remain in the
+Tower.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore it is of <em>great</em> importance for all people who take up
+and pursue to any degree of success this Art or Science, that they shall be
+actuated by moral and unselfish motives, since achieved with any other intent
+the end can only be the bringing of evil and suffering into the soul. For as the
+good by strengthening the Will make themselves promptly better and holier, so he
+who increases it merely to make others feel his power will become with it
+wickeder, yea, and thrice accursed, for what is the greatest remedy is often the
+strongest poison.</p>
+
+<p>Step by step Science has advanced of late to the declaration that man
+<em>thinks all over</em> his body, or at least experiences those reflected
+sensations or emotions which are so strangely balanced between intellectual
+sense and sensation that we hardly know where or how to class them. &quot;The
+sensitive <em>plexi</em> of our whole organism are all either isolated or thrown into
+simultaneous vibration when acted on by Thought.&quot; So the Will may be found
+acting unconsciously as an emotion or instinct, or developed with the highest
+forms of conscious reflection. Last of all we find it, probably as the result of
+all associated functions or powers, at the head of all, their Executive
+president. But <em>is</em> it &quot;the exponent of correlated forces?&quot; There
+indeed doctors differ.</p>
+
+<p>There is a very curious Italian verb, <em>Invogliare,</em> which is thus
+described in a Dictionary of Idioms: <em>&quot;Invogliare</em> is to inspire a will
+or desire, <em>cupiditatem injicere a movere.</em> To <em>invogliare</em>
+anyone is to awake in him the will or the ability or capacity, an earnest
+longing or appetite, an ardent wish&#8212;<em>alicujus rei cupiditatem a desiderium
+alicni movere&#8212;</em>to bring into action a man's hankering, solicitude, anxiety,
+yearning, ardor, predilection, love, fondness and relish, or aught which savors
+of Willing.&quot; Our English word, <em>Inveigle,</em> is
+derived from it, but we have none precisely corresponding to it which
+so generally sets forth the idea of inspiring a will in another person.
+&quot;Suggestion&quot; is far more general and vague. Now if a man could thus <em>in-will</em>
+himself to good or moral purpose, he would assume a new position in life. We all
+admit that most human beings have defects or faults of which they would gladly
+be freed (however incorrigible they
+<em>appear to</em> be), but they have not the patience to effect a cure, to
+keep to the resolve, or prevent it from fading out of sight. For a <em>vast</em>
+proportion of all minor sins, or those within the law, there is no cure sought.
+The offender says and believes, &quot;It is too strong for me&quot;&#8212;and yet these small
+unpunished offenses cause a thousand times more suffering than all the great
+crimes.</p>
+
+<p>Within a generation, owing to the great increase of population, prosperity
+and personal comfort, nervous susceptibility has also gained in extent, but
+there has been no check to petty abuse of power, selfishness, which always comes
+out in some form of injustice or wrong, or similar vexations. Nay, what with the
+disproportionate growth of vulgar wealth, this element has rapidly increased,
+and it would really seem as if the plague must spread <em>ad infinitum,</em>
+unless some means can be found to <em>invogliare</em> and inspire the
+offenders with a sense of their sins, and move them to reform. And it is more
+than probable that if all who are at heart sincerely willing to reform their
+morals and manners could be brought to keep their delinquencies before their
+consciousness in the very simple manner which I have indicated, the fashion or
+<em>mode</em> might at least be inaugurated. For it is <em>not</em> so much
+a moral conviction, or an appeal to common sense, which is needed (as writers on
+ethics all seem to think), but some practical art of keeping men up to the mark
+in endeavoring to reform, or to make them remember it all day long, since &quot;out
+of sight out of mind&quot; is the devil's greatest help with weak minds.</p>
+
+<a name="6"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+CHAPTER VI.
+<br>
+<br>
+SUGGESTION AND INSTINCT.
+<br>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Anima non nascitur sed fit,&quot; ut ait.&#8212;TERTULLIANUS.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Post quam loquuti sumus de anima rationali,
+intellectuali <em><br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (immortali) </em>et quia ad inferiores descendimus jam gradus
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; animæ, scilicet animæ mortalis quæ animalium est.&quot;<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &#8212;PETRUS
+GREGORIUS THOLOSANUS.</p>
+
+<p>It must have struck many readers that the action of a mind under hypnotic
+influence, be it of another or of self, involves strange questions as regards
+Consciousness. For it is very evident from recorded facts, that people can
+actually reason and act without waking consciousness, in a state of mind which
+resembles instinct, which is a kind of cerebration, or acting under habits and
+impressions supplied by memory and formed by practice, but not according to what
+we understand by Reason or Judgment.</p>
+
+<p>All things in nature have their sleep or rest, night is the sleep of the
+world, death the repose of Nature or Life&#8212;the solid temples, the great globe
+itself, dissolve to awaken again; so man hath in him, as it were, a company of
+workmen, some of whom labor by day, while others watch by night, during which
+time they, unseen, have their fantastic frolics known as dreams. The Guardian or
+Master of the daily hours, appears in a great measure to conform his action
+closely to average duties of life, in accordance with those of all other men. He
+picks out from the millions of images or ideas in the memory, uses and becomes
+familiar with a certain number, and lets the rest sleep. This master or active
+agent is probably himself a Master-Idea&#8212;the result of the correlative action of
+all the others, a kind of consensus made personal, an elected Queen Bee, as I
+have otherwise described him or her.</p>
+
+<p>But he is not the only thinker&#8212;there are all over the body ganglions which
+act by a kind of fluid instinct, born of repetition, and when the tired master
+even drowses or nods, or falls into a brown study, then a marvelously curious
+mental action begins to show itself, for dreams at once flicker and peer and
+steal dimly about him. This is because the waking consciousness is beginning to
+shut out the world&#8212;and its set of ideas.</p>
+
+<p>So consistent is the system that even if Waking Reason abstract itself, not
+to sleep, but to think on one subject such as writing a poem or inventing a
+machine, certain affinities will sleep or dreams begin to show themselves. When
+Genius is really at work, it sweeps along, as it were, in a current, albeit it
+has enough reason left to also use the rudder and oars, or spread and manage a
+sail. The reason for the greater fullness of unusual images and associations
+(<em>i. e.,</em> the action of genius) during the time when one is bent on
+intellectual invention is that the more the waking conscious Reason drowses or
+approaches to sleep, the more do many images in Memory awaken and begin to shyly
+open the doors of their cells and peep out.</p>
+
+<p>In the dream we also proceed, or rather drift, loosely on a current, but
+are without oars, rudder or sail. We are hurtled against, or hurried away from
+the islands of Images or Ideas, that is to say, all kinds of memories, and our
+course is managed or impelled, or guided by tricky water-sprites, whose minds
+are all on mischief bent or only idle merriment. In any case they conduct us
+blindly and wildly from isle to isle, sometimes obeying a far cry which comes to
+them through the mist&#8212;some echoing signal of our waking hours. So in a vision
+ever on we go!</p>
+
+<p>That is to say that even while we dream there is an unconscious cerebration
+or voluntarily exerted power loosely and irregularly imitating by habit,
+something like the action of our waking hours, especially its brown studies and
+fancies in drowsy reveries or play.</p>
+
+<p>It seems to me as if this sleep-master or mistress&#8212;I prefer the latter&#8212;who
+attends to our dreams may be regarded as Instinct on the loose, for like
+instinct she acts without conscious reasoning. She carries out, or realizes,
+trains of thought, or sequences with little comparison or deduction. Yet within
+her limits she can do great work, and when we consider, we shall find that by
+following mere Law she has effected a great, nay, an immense, deal, which we
+attribute entirely to forethought or Reason. As all this is closely allied to
+the action of the mind when hypnotized, it deserves further study.</p>
+
+<p>Now it is a wonderful reflection that as we go back in animated nature from
+man to insects, we find self-conscious Intellect or Reason based on Reflection
+disappear, and Instinct taking its place. Yet Instinct in its marvelous results,
+such as ingenuity of adaptation, often far surpasses what semi-civilized man
+could do. Or it does the same things as man, only in an entirely different way
+which is not as yet understood. Only from time to time some one tells a
+wonderful story of a bird, a dog or a cat, and then asks, &quot;Was not this reason?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>What it was, in a great measure, was an unconscious application of memory
+or experience. Bees and ants and birds often far outdo savage men in ingenuity
+of construction. The red Indians in their persistent use of flimsy, cheerless
+bark wigwams, were far behind the beaver or oriole as regards dwellings; in this
+respect the Indian indicated mere instinct of a low order, as all do who live in
+circles of mere tradition.</p>
+
+<p>Now to advance what seems a paradox, it is evident that even what we regard
+as inspired genius comes to man in a great measure from Instinct, though as I
+noted before it is aided by reflection. As the young bird listens to its mother
+and then sings till as a grown nightingale it pours forth a rich flood of
+varying melody; so the poet or musician follows masters and models, and then,
+like them, <em>creates,</em> often progressing, but is never <em>entirely</em>
+spontaneous or original. When the artist thinks too little he lacks sense, when
+he thinks too much he loses fire. In the very highest and most strangely
+mysterious poetical flights of SHELLEY and KEATS, or WORDSWORTH, I find the very
+same Instinct which inspires the skylark and nightingale, but more or less
+allied to and strengthened by Thought or Consciousness. If human Will or Wisdom
+alone directed <em>all</em> our work, then every man who had mere patience might be a great
+original genius, and it is indeed true that Man can do inconceivably more in
+following and imitating genius than has ever been imagined. However, thus far
+the talent which enables a man to write such a passage as that of TENNYSON,</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;The tides of Music's golden sea <br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Setting towards Eternity,&quot;  </p>
+
+<p>results from a development of Instinct, or an intuitive perception of the
+Beautiful, such as Wordsworth believed existed in all things which enjoy
+sunshine, <em>life,</em> and air. The poet himself cannot <em>explain</em>
+the processes, though he may be able to analyze in detail how or why he made or
+found a thousand other things.</p>
+
+<p>It is not only true that Genius originates in something antecedent to
+conscious reflection or intellect, but also that men have produced marvelous
+works of art almost without knowing it, while others have shown the greatest
+incapacity to do so after they had developed an incredible amount of knowledge.
+Thus Mr. WHISTLER reminded RUSKIN that when the world had its greatest artists,
+there were no critics.</p>
+
+<p>And it is well to remember that while the Greeks in all their glory of Art
+and Poetry were unquestionably rational or consciously intelligent, there was
+not among them the thousandth part of the anxious worrying, the sentimental
+self-seeking and examination, or the Introversion which worms itself in and out
+of, and through and through, all modern work, action and thought, even as
+mercury in an air-pump will permeate the hardest wood. For the Greeks worked
+more in the spirit of Instinct; that is, more according to certain transmitted
+laws and ideas than we realize&#8212;albeit this tradition was of a very high order.
+We have lost Art because we have not developed tradition, but have immensely
+increased consciousness, or reflection, out of proportion to art It was from
+India and Egypt in a <em>positive</em> form that Man drew the poison of
+sentimental Egoism which became comparative in the Middle Ages and superlative
+in this our time.</p>
+
+<p>It is very evident that as soon as men become self-conscious of great work,
+or cease to work for the sake of enjoying Art, or its results, and turn all
+their attention to the genius or cleverness, or character or style, self,
+<em>et cetera,</em> of the <em>artist,</em> or of themselves, a decadence sets
+in, as there did after the Renaissance, when knowledge or enjoyment of Art was
+limited, and guided by familiarity with names and schools and &quot;manners,&quot; or the
+like, far more than by real beauty in itself.</p>
+
+<p>Now, out of all this which I have said on Art, strange conclusions may be
+drawn, the first being that even without self-conscious Thought or excess of
+Intellect, there can be a Sense of Enjoyment in any or every organism, also a
+further development of memory of that enjoyment, and finally a creation of
+buildings, music and song, with no reflection, in animals, and very little in
+Man. And when Man gets beyond working with simple Nature and begins to think
+chiefly about himself, his Art, as regards harmony with Nature, deteriorates.</p>
+
+<p>We do not sufficiently reflect on the fact that <em>Natura naturans,</em>
+or the action of Nature (or simply following Tradition), may, as is the case of
+Transition Architecture, involve the creation of marvelously ingenious and
+beautiful works, and the great enjoyment of them by Instinct alone. It is not
+possible for ordinary man to even understand this now in all its fullness. He is
+indeed trying to do so&#8212;but it is too new for his comprehension. But a time will
+come when he will perceive that his best work has been done unconsciously, or
+under influences of which he was ignorant.</p>
+
+<p>Hypnotism acts entirely by suggestion, and he who paints or does other work
+entirely according to Tradition, also carries out what is or has been suggested
+to him. Men of earlier times who thus worked for thousands of years like the
+Egyptians in one style, were guided by the faith that it had been begun by the
+Creator or God.</p>
+
+<p>For men cannot conceive of creation as separate from pre-determined plan or
+end, and all because they cannot understand that Creative innate force,
+<em>potentia,</em> must have some result, or that the simplest Law once set agoing
+awakens, acquires strength in going and develops great Laws, which, with an
+all-susceptible or <em>capable</em> material to work on, may, or <em>must,</em>
+create infinite ingenuities, so that in time there may be an organic principle
+with sentiency, and yet no Will, save in its exponents, or working to end or
+aim, but ever tending to further unfolding &quot;a seizing and giving the fire of the
+living&quot; ever onwards into Eternity, in which there may be a million times more
+perfect &quot;mind&quot; than we can now grasp.</p>
+
+<p>Now, having for many years attempted at least to familiarize myself with
+the aspect or sound, of this problem, though I could not solve it, it seems at
+last to be natural enough that even matter (which so many persist in regarding
+as a kind of dust or something resistant to the touch, but which I regard as
+infinite millions of degrees more subtle), may <em>think</em> just as well as
+it may act in Instinct. It is, indeed, absurd to admit souls to idiots or
+savages, who have not the sense to live as comfortably as many animals, and yet
+deny it to the latter. When we really become familiar with the idea, it appears
+sensible enough. But its opponents do <em>not</em> become familiar with it, it
+irritates them, they call it Atheistic, although it is nothing of the kind, just
+as if we were to say that a man who bravely and nobly pursued his way in life,
+doing his duty because it was his duty, and giving no thought as to future
+reward or punishment, must needs want <em>soul</em> or be an Atheist.</p>
+
+<p>If all men were perfectly good, they would act morally and instinctively,
+without consciousness of behaving well, and if we felt a high ideal of Art it
+would be just the same. When Art was natural men never signed their names to
+their work, but now the Name takes precedence of the picture.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, as we go backward into the night of things, we find, though we
+forget it all the time, that Instinct or the living in the Spirit of Law, had
+its stars or planets which shone more brilliantly than now, at least in Faith.
+Thus, there are two sources of Creation or Action, both based on Evolution, one
+being unconscious and guided by Natural Law, and the other which is conscious
+and grows out of the first. Hence <em>cognito ergo sum,</em> which well-nigh
+all men really understand as <em>cogito, ergo sum Deus.</em> Or we may say
+that they assume</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Because <em>I</em> think, then God must <em>think</em>
+like me!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Now to come to Hypnotic thought, or suggested mental action. I would infer
+that, according to what I have said, there may be two kinds of mentality, or
+working of the mind&#8212;the one under certain conditions as effective or resultant
+as the other; the first being&#8212;as it was in the order of time&#8212;Unconscious or
+Instinctive; the other, conscious and self-observant.</p>
+
+<p>For the man who built a Romanesque Cathedral worked by the suggestiveness
+of minds which went before him, or Tradition. He was truly, as it were, in a
+kind of slumber; indeed, all life was more or less of a waking dream in those
+dim, strange days. &quot;Millions marched forth to death scarce knowing why,&quot; all
+because they were <em>told</em> to do so&#8212;they felt that they must do it, and
+they did it. &quot;Like turkeys led by a red rag,&quot; says CARLYLE. And the red rag and
+the turkey is an illustration of Hypnotism in one of the books thereon. Instinct <em>
+is</em> Hypnotism.</p>
+
+<p>Now I have found that by suggesting to oneself before sleep, or inducing
+self by Will or Forethought to work gladly and unweariedly the next day, we do
+not <em>think</em> about self or the quality of what we do to any degree like what we
+would in working under ordinary conditions. Truly it is not thoroughgoing or
+infallible in all cases, but <em>then</em> it must be helped by a little
+wide-awake self-conscious will. But this is certainly true, that we can turn out
+<em>better</em> work when we urge our creative power to awake in the morn and
+act or aid, than if we do not.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;For there are many angels at our call,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And many blessed spirits who are bound<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; To lend their aid in every strait and turn;<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And elves to fly the errands of the soul,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And fairies all too glad to give us help,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If we but know how to pronounce the spell<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Which calls them unto us in every need.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>That spell I have shown or explained clearly enough.</p>
+
+<p>And, finally, to recapitulate, Instinct in its earlier or simpler form is
+the following laws of Nature which are themselves formed by motive laws. In Man
+the living according to Tradition is instinct of a higher order, and the one or
+the other is merely being ruled by Suggestion. The more free Will is developed
+and guided by reflection, or varied tradition and experience, the less instinct
+and the more intellect will there be.</p>
+
+
+<a name="7"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+CHAPTER VII.
+<br>
+<br>
+MEMORY CULTURE.
+<br>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 'Twas wisely said by Plato, when he called<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Memory &quot;the mother of the Intellect,&quot;<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For knowledge is to wisdom what his realm<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Is to a monarch&#8212;that o'er which he rules;<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And he who hath the Will can ever win <br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Such empire to himself&#8212;Will can do all.</p>
+
+<p>There is nothing in which the might of the Will can be so clearly set forth
+as in the <em>making</em> of memory. By means of it, as is fully proved by
+millions of examples, man can render his power of recollection almost infinite.
+And lest the reader may think that I here exaggerate, I distinctly assert that I
+never knew a man of science, familiar with certain facts which I shall repeat,
+who ever denied its literal truth.</p>
+
+<p>As I have already stated, there are two methods, and only two, by means of
+which we can retain images, facts or ideas. One of these is that which in many
+varied forms, which are all the same in fact, is described in the old <em>Artes
+Memorandi,</em> or Arts of Memory. There are several hundreds of these, and to
+the present day there are professors who give instructions according to systems
+of the same kind. These are all extremely plausible, being based on Association
+of ideas, and in most cases the pupil makes great progress for a short time.
+Thus, we can remember the French for bread, <em>pain,</em> Italian <em>Pane,</em>
+by thinking of the <em>pan</em> in which bread is baked, or the difficult name
+of the inventor, SSCZEPANIK (pronounced nearly <em>she-panic</em>) by thinking
+of a crowd of frightened women, and which I remembered by the fact that <em>
+pane</em> is the Slavonian for Mr. or Sir. For there is such a tendency of
+ideas to agglutinate, and so become more prominent, as we can see two bubbles
+together in a pool more readily than one that we can very soon learn to recall
+many images in this way.</p>
+
+<p>But after a time a certain limit is reached which most minds cannot
+transgress. VOLAPUK was easy so long as, like Pidgin-English, it contained only
+a few hundred words and no grammar. But now that it has a dictionary of 4,000
+terms and a complete grammar it is as hard to learn as Spanish. It invariably
+comes to pass in learning to remember by the Associative method that after a
+time images are referred to images, and these to others again, so that they form
+entire categories in which the most vigorous mind gets lost.</p>
+
+<p>The other method is that of <em>direct</em> Memory guided by Will, in
+which no regard is paid to Association, especially in the beginning. Thus to
+remember anything, or rather to learn <em>how</em> to do so, we take something
+which is very easy to retain&#8212;the easier the better&#8212;be it a jingling nursery
+rhyme, a proverb, or a text. Let this be learned to perfection, backwards and
+forwards, or by permutation of words, and repeated the next day. Note that the
+repetition or <em>reviewing</em> is of more importance than aught else.</p>
+<p>On the second day add another proverb or verse to the preceding, and so on,
+day by day, always reviewing and never learning another syllable until you are
+sure that you perfectly or most familiarly retain all which you have <em>
+memorized.</em> The result will be, if you persevere, that before long you will
+begin to find it easier to remember anything. This is markedly the case as
+regards the practice of reviewing, which is invariably hard at first, but which
+becomes ere long habitual and then easy.</p>
+
+<p>I cannot impress it too vividly on the mind of the reader, that he cannot
+make his exercises too easy. If he finds that ten lines a day are too much, let
+him reduce them to five, or two, or one, or even a single word, but learn that,
+and persevere. When the memory begins to improve under this process, the tasks
+may, of course, be gradually increased.</p>
+
+<p>An uncle of the present Khedive of Egypt told me that when he was learning
+English, he at first committed to memory fifty words a day, but soon felt
+himself compelled to very much reduce the number in order to permanently
+remember what he acquired. One should never overdrive a willing horse.</p>
+
+<p>Where there is a teacher with youthful pupils, he can greatly aid the
+process of mere memorizing, by explaining the text, putting questions as to its
+meaning, or otherwise awaking an interest in it. After a time the pupils may
+proceed to <em>verbal memorizing,</em> which consists of having the text simply read or
+repeated to them. In this way, after a year or eighteen months of practice, most
+people can actually remember a sermon or lecture, word for word.</p>
+
+<p>This was the process which was discovered, I may say simultaneously, by
+DAVID KAY and myself, as our books upon it appeared at almost the same time. But
+since then I have modified my plan, and made it infinitely easier, and far more
+valuable, as will be apparent to all, by the application of the principles laid
+down in this book. For while, according to the original views, Memory depended
+on Will and Perseverance, there was no method indicated by any writer how these
+were to be created, nor was energetic Forethought considered as amounting to
+more than mere Intention.</p>
+
+<p>Now I would say that having the task selected, first give energetic
+forethought, or a considerate determination to master this should precede all
+attempts to learn, by everybody, young or old. And when the lesson is mastered,
+let it be repeated with earnestness and serious attention before going to sleep,
+with the <em>Will</em> that it shall be remembered on the morrow. And it will
+be found that this process not only secures the memory desired, but also greatly
+facilitates the whole course and process.</p>
+
+<p>It is to be noted that by this, or any process, we do not remember
+everything, but only what is first considered and measured by Forethought. Also
+that by it the Memory is never overcharged at the expense of Intellect, for the
+exertion of will in any way strengthens the mind. To explain the immense power
+which this all implies, I observe:</p>
+
+<p>That previous to the invention of printing, it was usual for students to
+get their text-books by heart. Thus in India, according to MAX MULLER, the
+entire text and glosses of PANINI'S Sanskrit grammar were handed down orally for
+350 years before being committed to writing. This work is about equal in size to
+the Bible.</p>
+
+<p>There are Indian priests now living who can repeat accurately the whole
+poems of the <em>Mahabarata</em> of 300,000 <em>slokas</em> or lines.</p>
+
+<p>That these incredible feats were the result of a system of memorizing
+similar to what I have explained.</p>
+
+<p>That the <em>Guzlas</em> or Slavonian minstrels of the present day have
+by heart with remarkable accuracy immensely long epic poems. I have found the
+same among Algonkin Indians, whose sagas or mythic legends are interminable, and
+yet are committed word by word accurately.</p>
+
+<p>I have heard in England of a lady ninety years of age whose memory was
+miraculous, and of which extraordinary instances are narrated by her friends.
+She attributed it to the fact that when young she had been made to learn a verse
+from the Bible every day, and then constantly review it. As her memory improved,
+she learned more, the result being that in the end she could repeat from memory
+any verse or chapter called for in the whole Scripture. The habit had
+marvelously developed her intelligence as well as memory.</p>
+
+<p>Now I confidently declare that if this lady had submitted what she learned
+to the suggestive-will process she could have spared herself half the labor. And
+it is to be observed that as in time the labor of reviewing and the faculty of
+promptly recalling becomes easier and easier till it is simply mechanical, so
+the memorizing by suggestion becomes more <em>facile</em> until it is, so to
+speak, only a form. And as it becomes easier the foresight strengthens till it
+wields an <em>absolute</em> power.</p>
+
+<p>If the reader is interested in this subject of developing the memory, I
+would refer him to my work on Practical Education in which it is discussed with
+reference to recalling objects through all the Senses.</p>
+
+<p>No one who has made even a very slight trial of the process of impressing
+on the mind before sleep something which must be remembered, can fail to be
+convinced ere long of the truth that there is in it a marvelous power which will
+with easy and continued practice enable him to recall whatever he pleases. It
+follows as a matter of course, that this would be of incredible value in
+education, but notwithstanding the vast discussion of this subject which is ever
+going on, it does not seem to occur to a living man that we should develop and
+train the mental faculties, such as memory and quickness of perception, as well
+as set them to hard work.</p>
+
+<p>It is also safe to say that there is not a man living who was educated from
+boyhood upon this principle, and yet I am confident that no scientist in
+existence, knowing the facts on which my statement is based, will deny that it
+is as easy to develop the mental factors alluded to, as to learn a language or
+play on the piano. It is not a matter of theory but of facts. Millions of men
+have in the past acquired the faculty of being able to repeat and remember
+whatever they heard, if they earnestly attended to it. Earnest attention in this
+case means a strong exercise of forethought, or determination to an end or given
+purpose. In Iceland, that which has since become the English common law, was at
+an early date very fully developed, without any books or writing. And there were
+lawyers who had by heart all the laws, and incredible numbers of precedents, as
+appears from several sagas, among others, that of The Burnt Njall.</p>
+
+<p>Our present system of Education is that of building houses without
+foundations. No one suspects or dreams what mighty powers there are latent in us
+all, or how easily they may be developed. It would not be so reprehensible if
+men entirely neglected the subject, but they are always working hard and
+spending millions on the old system, and will not even make the least experiment
+to test a new theory. One reason for this is the old belief that we are all born
+with a certain quantum of &quot;gifts,&quot; as for example memory, capacity, patience,
+<em>et cetera,</em> all more or less limited, and in reality not to be enlarged or
+improved. The idea is <em>natural,</em> because we see that there are
+very great differences, hereditary or
+otherwise, in children. But it is false. So we go to work to fill up the quantum
+of memory as soon as possible by violent cramming, and in like manner tax to the
+utmost all the mental faculties without making the least effort to prepare,
+enlarge or strengthen them.</p>
+
+<p>I shall not live to see it, but a time will come when this preparation of
+the mental faculties will be regarded as the basis of all education.</p>
+
+<p>To recapitulate in a few words. When we desire to fix anything in the
+memory we can do so by repeating it to ourselves before we go to sleep,
+accompanying it with the resolution to remember it in future. We must not in the
+beginning set ourselves any but very easy tasks, and the practice must be
+steadily continued.</p>
+
+<p>It has been often said that a perfect memory is less of a blessing than the
+power of oblivion. Thus THEMISTOCLES (who, according to CATO, as cited by
+CICERO, knew the names and faces of every man in Athens) having offered to teach
+some one the art of memory, received for reply, &quot;Rather
+teach me how to forget&quot;&#8212;<em>esse
+facturum si se oblivisci quæ vellet, quam si meminisse docuisset.</em> And
+CLAUDIUS had such an enviable power in the latter respect that immediately after
+he had put to death his wife MESSALINA, he forgot all about it, asking, <em>
+&quot;Cur domina non veniret?&quot;</em>&#8212;&quot;Why the Missus didn't come?&quot;&#8212;while on the
+following day, after condemning several friends to death, he sent invitations to
+them to come and dine with him. And again, there are people who have, as it
+were, two memories, one good, the other bad, as was the case with CALVISIUS
+SABRINUS, who could recall anything in literature, but never remembered the
+names of his own servants, or even his friends. But he got over the difficulty
+by naming his nine attendants after the nine Muses, while he called his
+intimates Homer, Hesiod, and so on. This scholar would truly seem to have drunk
+of the two fountains sacred to Trophonius, by the river Orchomenus in B&#339;otia,
+one of which bestowed memory and the other oblivion. And like unto them is the
+power of the Will, aided by Forethought and Suggestion, for while it properly
+directs and aids us to remember what we will, it <em>per contra</em> also
+helps us to forget.</p>
+
+<a name="8"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+CHAPTER VIII.
+<br>
+<br>
+THE CONSTRUCTIVE FACULTIES.
+<br>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;He who hath learned a single art, <br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Can thrive, I ween, in any part.&quot;<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &#8212;<em>German Proverb</em>.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&quot;He would have taught you how you might employ<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Yourself; and many did to him repair,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And, certes, not in vain; he had inventions rare.&quot;<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &#8212;WORDSWORTH.</p>
+
+<p>When I had, after many years of study and research in England and on the
+Continent, developed the theory that all practical, technical education of youth
+should be preceded by a light or easy training on an æsthetic basis, or the
+minor arts, I for four years, to test the scheme, was engaged in teaching in the
+city of Philadelphia, every week in separate classes, two hundred children,
+besides a number of ladies. These were from the public schools of the city. The
+total number of these public pupils was then 110,000.</p>
+
+<p>My pupils were taught, firstly, simple outline decorative design with
+drawing at the same time; after this, according to sex, easy embroidery, wood
+carving, modeling in clay, leather-work, carpentering, inlaying, repoussé
+modeling in clay, porcelain painting, and other small arts. Nearly all of the
+pupils, who were from ten to sixteen years of age, acquired two or three, if not
+all, of these arts, and then very easily found employment in factories or
+fabrics, etc.</p>
+
+<p>Many people believed that this was all waste of money and time, and, quite
+unknown to me, at their instigation an inquiry was made of all the teachers in
+the public schools as to the standing of my art pupils in their other classes,
+it being confidently anticipated that they would be found to have fallen behind.
+And the result of the investigation was that the two hundred were in advance of
+the one hundred and ten thousand in every branch&#8212;geography, arithmetic, history,
+and so on.</p>
+
+<p>It was not remarkable, because boys and girls who had, at an average age of
+twelve or thirteen, learned the principles of design and its practical
+application to several kinds of handiwork, and knew the differences and
+characteristics of Gothic, Arabesque, or Greek patterns, all developed a far
+greater intelligence in general thought and conversation than others. They had
+at least one topic on which they could converse intelligently with any grown-up
+person, and in which they were really superior to most. They soon found this
+out. I have often been astonished in listening to their conversation among
+themselves to hear how well they discussed art. They all well knew at least one
+thing, which is far from being known among æsthetes in London, which is that in
+Decorative Art, however you may end in all kinds of mixtures of styles, you must
+at least begin with organic development, and not put roots or flowers at
+<em>both</em> ends of a branch or vine.</p>
+
+<p>The secret of it all is that those who from an early age develop the
+constructive faculty (especially if this be done in a pleasing, easy manner,
+with agreeable work) also develop with it the Intellect, and that very rapidly
+to a very remarkable degree. There are reasons for this. Drawing when properly
+taught stimulates visual perception or eye memory; this is strikingly the case
+when the pupil has a model placed in one room, and, after studying it, goes into
+another room to reproduce it from memory. Original design, which when properly
+taught is learned with incredible ease by all children, stimulates observation
+to a remarkable degree. The result of such education is to develop a great
+general quickness of perception and thought.</p>
+
+<p>Now, be it observed, that if anyone desires to learn design or any art, it
+may be greatly facilitated by the application to it of Will and Foresight, and
+in the beginning, Self-Suggestion. He who understands the three as one, sees in
+it a higher or more energetic kind of self-discipline than most people practise.
+In the end they come to the same as a vigorous effort of the Will.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, having mastered the very easy principles of design which govern all
+organic development or vegetable growth (as set forth in a plant with roots,
+offshoots, or crochets, and end ornaments, flowers, or finials, with the circle,
+spiral, and offshooting ornaments; rings made into vines and wave patterns; all
+of which can be understood in an hour with diagrams), let the beginner attempt a
+design, the simpler the better, and reproduce it from memory. If on going to bed
+he will impress it on his mind that on the morrow he would like to make more
+designs, or that it <em>must</em> be done, he will probably feel the impulse
+and succeed. This is the more likely because patterns impress themselves very
+vividly on the memory or imagination, and when studied are easily recalled after
+a little practice.</p>
+
+<p>The manner in which most artists form an idea, or project their minds to a
+plan or invention, be it a statue or picture; and the way they think it over and
+anticipate it&#8212;very often actually seeing the picture in a finished state in
+imagination&#8212;all amounts to foresight and hypnotic preparation in a crude,
+imperfect form. If any artist who is gifted with resolution and perseverance
+will simply make trial of the method here recommended, he will assuredly find
+that it is a great aid to Invention.</p>
+
+<p>It is probable that half the general average cleverness of men is due to
+their having learned, as boys, games, or the art of making something, or mending
+and repairing. In any case, if they had learned to use their hands and their
+inventiveness or adaptability, they would have been the better for it. That the
+innumerable multitude of people who can do nothing of the kind, and who take no
+real interest in anything except spending money and gossiping, are to be really
+pitied, is true. Some of them once had minds&#8212;and these are the most pitiful or
+pitiable of all. It is to be regretted that novels are, with rare exceptions,
+written to amuse this class, and limit themselves strictly to &quot;life,&quot; never
+describing with real skill, so as to interest anything which would make life
+worth living for&#8212;except love&#8212;which is good to a certain extent, but not
+absolutely all in all, save to the eroto-maniac. And as most novelists now
+pretend to instruct and convey ideas, beyond mere story-telling, or even being
+&quot;interesting,&quot; which means the love or detective business, I would suggest to
+some of these writers that the marvelous latent powers of the human mind, and
+also some art which does not consist of the names and guide-book praises of a
+few great painters and the Renaissance <em>rechauffée</em> would be a
+refreshing novelty.</p>
+
+<p>The ancient Romans were thoroughly persuaded that <em>Exercitatione et usu</em>
+(by exercising the physical faculties in every way; by which they meant arts as
+well as gymnastics; and by making such practice habitual) they could develop
+intellect, in illustration of which Lycurgus once took two puppies of the same
+litter, and had the one brought up to hunt, while the other was nursed at home
+in all luxury; and when grown, and let loose, the one caught a hare, while the
+other yelped and ran away. So the word <em>handy,</em> in old English
+<em>hend,</em> meaning quick, alert, or gifted with prompt perception, is derived from knowing
+how to use the hands. BRUSONIUS (&quot;Facetiæ,&quot; Lyons, 1562) has collected a great
+number of classic anecdotes to illustrate this saying.</p>
+
+<p><em>Recapitulation.</em> Those who desire to become artists, can greatly
+facilitate their work, if beginning for example with very simple outline
+decorative designs, and having learned the principles on which they are
+constructed, they would repeat or revise them to themselves before sleep,
+resolving to remember them. The same principle is applicable to all kinds of
+designs, with the proviso that they be at first very easy. This is generally a
+very successful process.</p>
+
+<p><em>Fore thought,</em> or the projection of conception or attention with
+will, is a marvelous preparation for all kinds of art work. He who can form the
+habit of seeing a picture mentally before he paints it, has an incredible
+advantage, and will spare himself much labor and painting out.</p>
+
+<a name="9"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+CHAPTER IX.
+<br>
+<br>
+FASCINATION.
+<br>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Quærit <em>Franciscus Valesius, Delrio, Gutierrus,</em>
+et alii, <br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; unde vulgaris ilia fascini nata sit opinio de oculo fascinante
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; visione et ore fascinando laudando.&quot;&#8212;De Faseinatione
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Fatatus. A. D.
+1677.</p>
+
+<p>I have in Chapter Fifth mentioned several of the subjects to attain which
+the Will may be directed by the aid of self-hypnotism, preceded by Forethought.
+If the reader has carefully studied what I have said and not merely skimmed it,
+he must have perceived that if the power be fully acquired, it makes, as it
+were, new existence for its possessor, opening to him boundless fields of action
+by giving him the enviable power to acquire interest&#8212;that is to say agreeable or
+profitable occupation&#8212;in whatever he pleases. In further illustration of which I
+add the following:</p>
+
+<p><em>To recall bygone memories or imperfectly remembered sensations, scenes and
+experiences or images.</em></p>
+
+<p>This is a difficult thing to describe, and no wonder, since it forms the
+greatest and most trying task of all poets to depict that which really depends
+for its charm on association, emotion and a chiaroscuro of the feelings. We have
+all delightful reminiscences which make ridiculous Dante's assertion that</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;There is no greater grief than to recall in pain<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The happy days gone by;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>which, if true, would make it a matter of regret that we ever had a happy
+hour. However, I assume that it is a great pleasure to recall, even in grief,
+beautiful bygone scenes and joys, and trust that the reader has a mind healthy
+and cheerful enough to do the same.</p>
+
+<p>What constitutes a charm in many memories is often extremely varied. Darkly
+shaded rooms with shutters closed in on an intensely hot American summer day.
+Chinese matting on the floors&#8212;the mirrors and picture frames covered with
+<em>tulle</em>&#8212;silence&#8212;the scent of magnolias all over the house&#8212;the presence of
+loved ones now long dead and gone&#8212;all of these combined form to me
+memory-pictures in which nothing can be spared. The very scent of the flowers is
+like musk in a perfume or &quot;bouquet&quot; of odors&#8212;it <em>fixes</em> them well, or
+renders them permanent. And it is all like a beautiful vivid dream. If I had my
+life to live over again I would do frequently and with great care, what I
+thought of too late, and now practice feebly&#8212;I would strongly impress on my mind
+and very often recall, many such scenes, pictures, times or memories. Very few
+people do this. Hence in all novels and poems, especially the French,
+description generally smacks of imitation and mere manufacture. It passes for
+&quot;beautiful writing,&quot; but there is always something in really unaffected truth
+from nature which is caught by the true critic. I read lately a French romance
+which is much admired, of this manufactured or second-hand kind. Every third
+page was filled with the usual botany, rocks, skies, colors, fore and
+backgrounds&#8212;&quot;all very fine&quot;&#8212;but in the whole of it not one of those little
+touches of truth which stir us so in SHAKESPEARE, make us smile in HERRICK or
+naïve PEPYS, or raise our hearts in WORDSWORTH. These were true men.</p>
+
+<p>To be true we must be far more familiar with Nature than with scene
+painting or photographs, and to do this we must, so to speak, fascinate
+ourselves with pictures in life, glad memories of golden hours, rock and river
+and greenwood tree. We must also banish resolutely from our past all
+recollections of enemies and wrongs, troubles and trials, and throw all our
+heart into doing so. Forgive and forget all enmities&#8212;those of Misfortune and
+Fate being included. Depend upon it that the brighter you can make your Past the
+pleasanter will be your Future.</p>
+
+<p>This is just the opposite to what most people do, hence the frequent and
+fond quotation of pessimistic poetry. It is all folly, and worse. One result is
+that in modern books of travel the only truthful or vivid descriptions are of
+sufferings of all kinds, even down to inferior luncheons and lost hair brushes.
+Their joys they sketch with an indifferent skill, like HEINE'S monk, who made
+rather a poor description of Heaven, but was &quot;gifted in Hell,&quot; which he depicted
+with dreadful vigor.</p>
+
+<p>I find it a great aid to recall what I can of bygone beautiful
+associations, and then sleep on them with a resolve that they shall recur in
+complete condition. He who will thus resolutely clean up his past life and clear
+away from it all sorrow <em>as well as he can,</em> and refurnish it with
+beautiful memories, or make it better, <em>coûte que coûte,</em> will do
+himself more good than many a doleful moral adviser ever dreamed of. This is
+what I mean by <em>self-fascination</em>&#8212;the making, as it were, by magic art, one's own past and
+self more charming than we ever deemed it possible to be. We thus fascinate
+ourselves. Those who believe that everything which is bygone has gone to the
+devil are in a wretched error. The future is based on the past&#8212;yes, made from
+it, and that which <em>was</em> never dies, but returns to bless or grieve. We
+mostly wrong our past bitterly, and bitterly does it revenge itself. But it is
+like the lion of ANDROCLES, it remembers those who treat it kindly. &quot;And lo!
+when ANDROCLES was thrown to the lion to be devoured, the beast lay down at his
+feet, and licked his hands.&quot; Yes, we have all our lions!</p>
+
+<p><em>To master difficult meanings.</em> It has often befallen me, when I
+was at the University, or later when studying law, to exert my mind to grasp,
+and all in vain, some problem in mathematics or a puzzling legal question, or
+even to remember some refractory word in a foreign language which would <em>not</em>
+remain in the memory. After a certain amount of effort in many of these cases,
+further exertion is injurious, the mind or receptive power seems to be seized&#8212;as
+if nauseated&#8212;with spasmodic rejections. In such a case pass the question by, but
+on going to bed, think it over and <em>will</em> to understand it on the
+morrow. It will often suffice to merely desire that it shall recur in more
+intelligible form&#8212;in which case, <em>nota bene&#8212;</em>if let alone it will obey.
+This is as if we had a call to make tomorrow, when, as we know, the memory will
+come at its right time of itself, especially if we employ Forethought or special
+pressure.</p>
+
+<p>When I reflect on what I once endured from this cause, and how greatly it
+could have been relieved or alleviated, I feel as if I could beg, with all my
+heart, every student or teacher of youth to seriously experiment on what I set
+forth in this book. It is also to be observed, especially by metaphysicians and
+mental philosophers, that a youth who has shown great indifference to, let us
+say mathematics, if he has manifested an aptitude for philosophy or languages,
+will be in all cases certain to excel in the former, if he can be brought to
+make a good beginning in it. A great many cases of bad, <em>i. e.,</em>
+indifferent scholarship, are due to bad teaching of the rudiments by adults who
+took no <em>interest</em> in their pupils, and therefore inspired none.</p>
+
+<p><em>To determine what course to follow in any Emergency.</em>
+Many a man often wishes with all his heart that he had some wise friend to
+consult in his perplexities. What to do in a business trouble when we are
+certain that there is an exit if we could only find it&#8212;a sure way to tame an
+unruly horse if we had the secret&#8212;to do or not to do whate'er the question&#8212;truly
+all this causes great trouble in life. But, it is within the power of man to be
+his own friend, yes, and companion, to a degree of which none have ever dreamed,
+and which borders on the <em>weird,</em> or that which forebodes or suggests
+mysteries to come. For it may come to pass that he who has trained himself to
+it, may commune with his spirit as with a companion.</p>
+
+<p>This is, of course, done by just setting the problem, or question, or
+dilemma, before ourselves as clearly as we can, so as to know our own minds as
+well as possible. This done, sleep on it, with the resolute will to have it
+recur on the morrow in a clear and solved form. And should this occur, do not
+proceed to pull it to pieces again, by way of improvement, but rather submit it
+to another night's rest. I would here say that many lawyers and judges are
+perfectly familiar with this process, and use it habitually, without being aware
+of its connection with hypnotism or will. But they could aid it, if they would
+add this peculiar <em>impulse</em> to the action.</p>
+
+<p>What I will now discuss approaches the miraculous, or seems to do so
+because it has been attempted or treated in manifold ways by sorcerers and
+witches. The Voodoos, or black wizards in America, profess to be able to awaken
+love in one person for another by means of incantations, but admit that it is
+the most difficult of their feats. Nor do I think that there is any infallible
+recipe for it, but that there are means of <em>honestly</em> aiding such
+affection can hardly be denied. In the first place, he who would be loved must
+love&#8212;for that is no honest love which is not sincere. And having thus inspired
+himself, and made himself as familiar as possible, by quietly observing as
+dispassionately as may be all the mental characteristics of the one loved, let
+him with an earnest desire to know how to secure a return, go to sleep, and see
+whether the next day will bring a suggestion. And as the old proverb declares
+that luck comes to many when least hoped for, so will it often happen that
+forethought is thus fore-bought or secured.</p>
+
+<p>It is known that gifts pass between friends or lovers, to cause the
+receiver to think of the giver, thus they are in a sense amulets. If we believe,
+as HEINE prettily suggests, that something of the life or the being of the owner
+or wearer has passed into the talisman, we are not far off from the suggestion
+that our feelings are allied. All over Italy, or over the world, pebbles of
+precious stone, flint or amber, rough topaz or agate, are esteemed as lucky; all
+things of the kind lead to suggestiveness, and may be employed in suggestion.</p>
+
+<p>What was originally known as Fascination, of which the German, FROMANN,
+wrote a very large volume which I possess, is simply Hypnotism without the
+putting to sleep. It is direct Suggestion. Where there is a natural sympathy of
+like to like, soul answering soul, such suggestion is easily established. Among
+people of a common, average, worldly type who are habitually sarcastic, jeering,
+chaffing, and trifling, or those whose idea of genial or agreeable companionship
+is to &quot;get a rise&quot; out of all who will give and take irritations equally, there
+can be no sympathy of gentle or refined emotions. Experiments, whose whole
+nature presupposes earnest thought, cannot be tried with any success by those
+who live habitually in an atmosphere of small talk and &quot;rubbishy&quot; associations.
+Fascination should be mutual; to attempt to exert it on anyone who is not
+naturally in sympathy is a crime, and I believe that all such cases lead to
+suffering and remorse.</p>
+
+<p>But where we perceive that there is an undoubted mutual liking and good
+reason for it, fascination, when perfectly understood and sympathetically used,
+facilitates and increases love and friendship, and may be most worthily and
+advantageously employed. Unto anyone who could, for example, merely skim over
+all that I have written, catching an idea here and there, and then expect to
+master all, I can clearly say that I can give him or her no definite idea of
+fascination. For Fascination really is effectively what the old philosophers,
+who had given immense study and research to the subject in ages when
+susceptibility to suggestiveness went far beyond anything now known, all knew
+and declared; that is to say, it existed, but that it required a peculiar mind,
+and very certainly one which is not frivolous, to understand its nature, and
+much more to master it.</p>
+
+<p>He who has by foresight, or previous consideration of a subject or desire,
+allied to a vigorous resolution (which is a kind of projection of the mind by
+will&#8212;and then submitting it to sleep), learned how to bring about a wished-for
+state of mind, has, in a curious manner, made as it were of his hidden self a
+conquest yet a friend. He has brought to life within himself a Spirit, gifted
+with greater powers than those possessed by Conscious Intellect. By his
+astonishing and unsuspected latent power, Man can <em>imagine</em> and then
+create, even a spirit within the soul. We make at first the sketch, then model
+it in clay, then cast it in gypsum, and finally sculpture it in marble.</p>
+
+<p>I read lately, in a French novel, a description of a young lady, by
+herself, in which she assumed to have within her two souls, one good, of which
+she evidently thought very little, and another brilliantly diabolical,
+capricious, vividly dramatic and interesting <em>esprit&#8212;</em>to which she gave
+a great deal of attention. He who will begin by merely <em>imagining</em> that
+he has within him a spirit of beauty and light, which is to subdue and
+extinguish the other or all that is in him of what is low, commonplace, and
+mean, may bring this idea to exert a marvelous influence. He can increase the
+conception, and give it reality, by treating it with forethought and will, by
+suggestion, until it gives marvellous result. This better self may be regarded
+as a guardian angel, in any case it is a power by means of which we can learn
+mysteries. It is also our Conscience, born of the perception of Ideals.</p>
+
+<p>The Ideal or Spirit thus evolved should be morally pure, else the
+experimenter will find, as did the magicians of old, that all who dealt with any
+but good spirits, fell into the hands of devils, just as ALLAN KARDEC says is
+the case with Spiritualists. But to speak as clearly as I can, he who succeeds
+in winning or creating a higher Self within himself, and fascinating it by
+sympathy, will find that he has, within moral limits, a strange power of
+fascinating those who are in sympathy with him.</p>
+
+<p>Whereupon many will say &quot;of course.&quot; Like and like together strike. Birds
+of a feather flock together. <em>Similis similibus.</em> But it often happens
+in this life, though they meet they do <em>not</em> pair off. Very often
+indeed they meet, but to part. There must be, even where the affinity exists,
+consideration and forethought to test the affinity. It requires long practice
+even for keen eyes to recognize the amethyst or topaz, or many other gems, in
+their natural state as sea-worn pebbles. Now, it is not a matter of fancy, of
+romance, or imagination, that there are men and women who really have, deeply
+hidden in their souls, or more objectively manifested, peculiar or beautiful
+characteristics, or a spirit. I would not speak here merely of <em>naïveté</em>
+or tenderness&#8212;a natural affinity for poetry, art, or beauty, but the peculiar
+tone and manner of it, which is sympathetic to ours. For two people may love
+music, yet be widely removed from all agreement if one be a Wagnerian, and the
+other of an older school. Suffice it to say that such similarities of mind or
+mood, of intellect or emotion do exist, and when they are real, and not
+imaginary, or merely the result of passional attraction, they suggest and may
+well attract the use of Fascination.</p>
+
+<p>Those who actually develop within themselves such a spirit, regarding it as
+one, that is a self beyond self, attain to a power which few understand, which
+is practical, positive, and real, and not at all a superstitious fancy. It may
+begin in imagining or fancy, but as the veriest dream is material and may be
+repeated till we see it visibly and can then copy it, so can we create in
+ourselves a being, a segregation of our noblest thoughts, a superb abstraction
+of soul which looks from its sunny mountain height down on the dark and noisome
+valley which forms our worldly common intellect or mind, or the only one known
+to by far the majority of mankind, albeit they may have therein glimpses of
+light and truth. But it is to him who makes for himself, by earnest Will and
+Thought, a <em>separate</em> and better Life or Self that a better life is
+given.</p>
+
+<p>Those who possess genius or peculiarly cultivated minds of a highly moral
+caste, gifted with pure integrity, and above vulgarity and worldly commonplace
+habits, should never form a tie in friendship or love without much forethought.
+And then if the active agent has disciplined his mind by self-hypnotism until he
+can control or manage his Will with ease, he will know without further
+instruction how to fascinate, and that properly and legitimately.</p>
+
+<p>Those who now acquire this power are few and far between, and when they <em>
+really</em> possess it they make no boast nor parade, but rather keep it
+carefully to themselves, perfectly content with what it yields for reward. And
+here I may declare something in which I firmly believe, yet which very few I
+fear will understand as I mean it. If this fascination and other faculties like
+it may be called Magical (albeit all is within the limits of science and
+matter), then there are assuredly in this world magicians whom we meet without
+dreaming that they are such. Here and there, however rare, there is mortal who
+has studied deeply&#8212;but</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Softened all and tempered into beauty;<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And blended with lone thoughts and wanderings,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The quest of hidden knowledge, and a mind<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; To <em>love</em> the universe.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Such beings do not come before the world, but hide their lights, knowing
+well that their magic would defeat itself, and perish if it were made common.
+Any person of the average worldly cast who could work any miracles, however
+small, would in the end bitterly regret it if he allowed it to be known. Thus I
+have read ingenious stories, as for instance one by HOOD, showing what terrible
+troubles a man fell into by being able to make himself invisible. Also another
+setting forth the miseries of a successful alchemist. The Algonkin Indians have
+a legend of a man who came to grief and death through his power of making all
+girls love him. But the magic of which I speak is of a far more subtle and
+deeply refined nature, and those who possess it are alone in life, save when by
+some rare chance they meet their kind. Those who are deeply and mysteriously
+interested in any pursuit for which the great multitude of all-alike people have
+no sympathy, who have peculiar studies and subjects of thought, partake a little
+of the nature of the <em>magus.</em> Magic, as popularly understood, has no
+existence, it is a literal <em>myth&#8212;</em>for it means nothing but what amazes
+or amuses for a short time. No miracle would be one if it became common. Nature
+is infinite, therefore its laws cannot be violated&#8212;
+<em>ergo,</em> there is no magic if we mean by that an inexplicable contravention of law.</p>
+
+<p>But that there are minds who have simply advanced in knowledge beyond the
+multitude in certain things which cannot at once be made common property is
+true, for there is a great deal of marvelous truth not as yet dreamed of even by
+HERBERT SPENCERS or EDISONS, by RONTGENS or other scientists. And yet herein is
+hidden the greatest secret of future human happenings.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;What I was is passed by,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; What I am away doth fly;<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; What I shall be none do see,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Yet in that my glories be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Now to illustrate this more clearly. Some of these persons who are more or
+less secretly addicted to magic (I say secretly, because they cannot make it
+known if they would), take the direction of feeling or living with inexpressible
+enjoyment in the beauties of nature. That, they attain to something almost or
+quite equal to life in Fairyland, is conclusively proved by the fact that only
+very rarely, here and there in their best passages, do the greatest poets more
+than imperfectly and briefly convey some broken idea or reflection of the
+feelings which are excited by thousands of subjects in nature in many. The
+Mariana of TENNYSON surpasses anything known to me in any language as conveying
+the reality of feeling alone in a silent old house, where everything is a dim,
+uncanny manner, recalled the past&#8212;yet suggested a kind of mysterious presence&#8212;as
+in the passage:</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;All day within the dreary house<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The doors upon their hinges creaked,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The blue fly sang in the pane, the mouse<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Behind the mouldering wainscot shrieked,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Or from the crevice peered about;<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Old faces glimmered thro' the doors,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Old footsteps trod the upper floors,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Old voices called her from without.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Yet even this unsurpassed poem does no more than <em>partially</em>
+revive and recall the reality to me of similar memories of long, long ago, when
+an invalid child I was often left in a house entirely alone, from which even the
+servants had absented themselves. Then I can remember how after reading the
+Arabian Nights or some such unearthly romance, as was the mode in the Thirties,
+the very sunshine stealing craftily and silently like a living thing, in a bar
+through the shutter, twinkling with dust, as with infinitely small stars, living
+and dying like sparks, the buzzing of the flies who were little blue imps, with
+now and then a larger Beelzebub&#8212;a strange imagined voice ever about, which
+seemed to <em>say</em> something without words&#8212;and the very furniture, wherein
+the chairs were as goblins, and the broom a tall young woman, and the
+looking-glass a kind of other self-life&#8212;all of this as I recall it appears to me
+as a picture of the absence of human beings as described by TENNYSON, <em>plus</em>
+a strange personality in every object&#8212;which the poet does not attempt to convey.
+This is, however, a very small or inferior illustration; there are far more
+remarkable and deeply spiritual or æsthetically-suggestive subjects than this,
+and that in abundance, which Art has indeed so reproduced as to amaze the many
+who have only had snatches of such observation themselves.</p>
+
+<p>But the magicians, SHELLEY, or KEATS, or WORDSWORTH, only convey
+<em>partial</em> echoes of certain subjects, or of their specialties. It is indeed
+beautiful to feel what Art can do, but the original is worth far more. And if
+the reader would be such a magician, let him give his heart and will to taking
+an interest in all that is beautiful, good and true&#8212;or honest. For that it
+really can be done in all fullness is true beyond a dream of doubt. By the
+ordinary methods of learning one may indeed acquire an exact, mechanically drawn
+picture, which we modify with what beauty chance bestows. But he who will learn
+by the process which I have endeavored to describe, or by studying with the
+<em>will,</em> cannot fail to experience a strange enchantment in so doing, as I
+have read in an Italian tale of a youth who was sadly weary of his lessons, but
+who, being taken daily by certain kind fairies into their school on a hill,
+found all difficulties disappear and the pursuit of knowledge as joyful as that
+of pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>I have heard hypnotism, with regard to fascination, spoken of with great
+apprehension. &quot;It is dreadful,&quot; said one to me, &quot;to think of anybody's being
+able to exercise such an influence on anyone.&quot; And yet, widely known as it is,
+instances of its abuse are very rare. Thus, when Cremation was first discussed,
+it was warmly opposed, because somebody
+<em>might</em> be poisoned, and then, the body being burned, there could be no
+autopsy! Nature has decreed some drawback to the best things; nothing is
+perfect. But to balance the immense benefits latent in suggestion against the
+problematic abuses is like condemning the ship because a bucket of tar has been
+spilt on the deck.</p>
+
+<p>Sincere kindness and respect, which are allied unto identity, are the best
+or surest key to love, and they in turn are allied to fascination. Here I might
+observe that the action of the eye, which is a silent speech of emotion, has
+always been regarded as powerful in fascination, but those who are not by nature
+gifted with it cannot use it to much good purpose. That emotional, susceptible
+subjects ready to receive suggestion can be put to sleep or made to imagine
+anything terrible regarding anybody's glance is very true, just as an ignorant
+Italian will believe of any man that he has the <em>malocchio</em> if he be
+told so, whence came the idea that Pope Gregory XVI had the evil eye. But where
+there is <em>sincere</em> kindly feeling it makes itself felt in a sympathetic
+nature by what is popularly called magic, only because it is not understood. The
+enchantment lies in this, that unconscious cerebration, or the power (or
+powers), who are always acting in us, effect many curious and very subtle mental
+phenomena, all of which they do not confide to the common-sense waking judgment
+or Reason, simply because the latter is almost entirely occupied with common
+worldly subjects. It is as if someone whose whole attention and interest had
+been at all times given to some plain hard drudgery, should be called on to
+review or write a book of exquisitely subtle poetry. It is, indeed, almost sadly
+touching to reflect how this innocent and beautiful faculty of recognizing what
+is good, is really acting perhaps in evil and merely worldly minds all in vain,
+and all unknown to them. The more the conscious waking-judgment has been trained
+to recognize goodness, the more will the hidden water-fairies rise above the
+surface, as it were, to the sunshine. So it comes that true kindly feeling is
+recognized by sympathy, and those who would be loved, cannot do better than make
+themselves truly and perfectly <em>kind</em> by forethought and will, and with
+this the process of self-hypnotism will be a great aid. For it is not more by
+winning others to us, than in willing ourselves to them that true Love consists.</p>
+
+<p>Love or trusting sympathy from any human being, however humble, is the most
+charming thing in life, and it ought to be the main object of existence. Yet
+there are thousands all round us, yes, many among our friends or acquaintances,
+who live and die without ever having known it, because in their egotism and
+folly they conceive of close relations as founded on personal power, interest or
+the weakness of others. The only fascination which such people can ever exercise
+is that of the low and devilish kind, the influence of the cat on the mouse, the
+eye of the snake on the bird, which in the end degrades them into deeper evil.
+That there are such people, and that they really make captive and oppress weaker
+minds, by suggestion, is true; the marvel being that so few find it out.</p>
+
+<p>But in proportion as this kind of fascination is vile and mean, that which
+may be called altruistic or sympathetic attraction, or Enchantment, is noble and
+pure, because it acquires strength in proportion to the purity and beauty of the
+soul or will which inspires it. It is as real and has as much power, and can be
+exercised by any honest person whatever with wonderful effect, even to the
+performing what are popularly called &quot;miracles,&quot; which only means wonderful
+works beyond <em>our</em> power of explanation. But this kind of fascination
+is little understood as yet, simply because it is based on purity, morality and
+light, and hitherto the seekers for occult mysteries have been chiefly occupied
+with the gloomy and mock-diabolical rubbish of old tradition, instead of
+scientific investigation of our minds and brains.</p>
+
+<p>There is also in truth a Fascination by means of the Voice, which has in it
+a much deeper and stronger power or action than that of merely sweet sound as of
+an instrument. The Jesuit, GASPAR SCHOTT, in his <em>Magio Medica</em>
+treats of Fascination as twofold: <em>De Fascinatione per Visunt et Vocem.</em>
+I have found among Italian witches as with Red Indian wizards, every magical
+operation depended on an incantation, and every incantation on the feeling,
+intonation, or manner in which it is sung. Thus near Rome any peasant
+overhearing a <em>scongiurasione</em> would recognize it from the <em>sound</em>
+alone.</p>
+
+<p>Anyone, male or female, can have a deep, rich voice by simply subduing and
+training it, and very rarely raising it to a high pitch. <em>Nota bene</em>
+that the less this is affected the more effective it will be. There are many,
+especially women, who speak, as it were, all time in italics, when they do not
+set their speech in small caps or displayed large capitals. The result of this,
+as regards sound, is the so-called nasal voice, which is very much like
+caterwauling, and I need not say that there is no fascination in it&#8212;on the
+contrary its tendency is to destroy any other kind of attraction. It is
+generally far more due to an ill-trained, unregulated, excitable, nervous
+temperament than to any other cause.</p>
+
+<p>The training the voice to a subdued state &quot;like music in its softest key,&quot;
+or to rich, deep tones, though it be done artificially, has an extraordinary
+effect on the character and on others. It is associated with a well-trained mind
+and one gifted with self-control. One of the richest voices to which I ever
+listened was that of the poet TENNYSON. I can remember another man of marvelous
+mind, vast learning, and æsthetic-poetic power who also had one of those voices
+which exercised great influence on all who heard it.</p>
+
+<p>There is an amusing parallel as regards nasal-screaming voices in the fact
+that a donkey cannot bray unless he at the same time lifts his tail&#8212;but if the
+tail be <em>tied down,</em> the beast must be silent. So the man or woman,
+whose voice like that of the erl-king's is &quot;ghostly shrill as the wind in the
+porch of a ruined church,&quot; always raise their tones with their temper, but if we
+keep the former down by training, the latter cannot rise.</p>
+
+<p>I once asked a very talented lady teacher of Elocution in Philadelphia if
+she regarded shrill voices as incurable. She replied that they invariably
+yielded to instruction and training. Children under no domestic restraint who
+were allowed to scream out and dispute on all occasions and were never corrected
+in intonation, generally had vulgar voices.</p>
+
+<p>A good voice acts very evidently on the latent powers of the mind, and
+impresses the æsthetic sense, even when it is unheeded by the conscious
+judgment. Many a clergyman makes a deep impression by his voice alone. And why?
+Certainly not by appealing to the reason. Therefore it is well to be able to
+fascinate with the voice. Now, <em>nota bene&#8212;</em>as almost every human being
+can speak in a soft or well-toned voice, &quot;at least, subdued unto a temperate
+tone&quot; just as long as he or she chooses to do it, it follows that with
+foresight, aided by suggestion, or continued will, we can all acquire this
+enviable accomplishment.</p>
+
+<p>To end this chapter with a curious bit of appropriate folk-lore, I would
+record that while Saxo Grammaticus, Olaus Magnus, and a host of other Norsemen
+have left legends to prove that there were sorcerers who by magic of the soft
+and wondrous voice could charm and capture men of the sword, so the Jesuit
+ATHANASIUS KIRCHER, declares that on the seventeenth day of May, 1638, he, going
+from Messina in a boat, witnessed with his own eyes the capture not of swordsmen
+but of sundry <em>xiphi&#339;,</em> or sword-fish, by means of a melodiously
+chanted charm, the words whereof he noted down as follows:</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Mammassudi di pajanu,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Palletu di pajanu,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Majassu stigneta.<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Pallettu di pajanu,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Palè la stagneta.<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Mancata stigneta.<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Pro nastu varitu pressu du<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Visu, e da terra!&quot;</p>
+<p>Of which words Kircher declares that they are probably of mingled corrupt
+Greek and ancient Sicilian, but that whatever they are, they certainly are
+admirable for the catching of fish.</p>
+
+<a name="10"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+CHAPTER X.
+<br>
+<br>
+THE SUBLIMINAL SELF.
+<br>
+<p>While the previous pages of this work were in the press, I received and
+read a very interesting and able Book, entitled, &quot;Telepathy and the Subliminal
+Self, or an account of recent investigations regarding Hypnotism, Automatism,
+Dreams, Phantoms, and related phenomena,&quot; by R. OSGOOD MASON, A.M., Fellow of
+the New York Academy of Medicine. Dr. MASON, on the whole, may be said to follow
+HARTMANN, since he places Thaumaturgy, or working what have been considered as
+wonders, miracles, and the deeds of spiritualists, on the evolutionary or
+material basis. He is also far less superstitious or prone to seek the
+miraculous and mysterious for its own sake, than his predecessors in
+<em>occulta,</em> and limits his beliefs to proofs sustained by good authority. He
+recognizes a second, or what he calls a subliminal Self, the Spirit of our Soul,
+acting independently of Waking Conscious Judgment, a mysterious <em>alter ego,</em>
+which has marvelous power.</p>
+
+<p>This second or inner self I have also through this work of mine recognized
+as a reality, though it is, like the self-conscious soul, rather an aggregate
+than a distinct unity. Thus we may for convenience sake speak of the Memory,
+when there are in fact millions of memories, since every image stored away in
+the brain is one, and the faculty of revising them for the use of the waking
+soul, is certainly apart from the action of bringing them into play in dreams.
+In fact if we regard the action of all known faculties, we might assume with the
+Egyptians that man had not merely eight distinct souls, but eighty, or even a
+countless number. And as the ancients, knowing very little about mental action,
+classed it all as one soul, so we may call that which is partially investigated
+and mysterious, a second or inner &quot;soul,&quot; spirit, or subliminal self&#8212;that is to
+say provisionally, till more familiar with its nature and relations.</p>
+
+<p>DR. MASON, to his credit be it said, has not accepted for Gospel, as
+certain French writers have done, the tricks of self-confessed humbugs. He has
+only given us the cream of the most strictly attested cases, as related by
+French scientists and people of unquestioned veracity. And yet admitting that in
+every instance the witness sincerely believed that he or she spoke the truth,
+the aggregate is so far from confirming the tales told, that consideration and
+comparison would induce very grave doubt. Thus, who could have been more
+sincere, purely honest or pious than JUSTINUS KERNER, whom I knew personally,
+SWEDENBORG, ESCHENMAYER and all of their school? Yet how utterly irreconciliable
+are all their revelations!</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, while I have cited illustration and example as affording
+unproved or hearsay evidence, I, in fact, decidedly reject not only all
+tradition, as proof on occult subjects, but all assertion from any quarter,
+however trustworthy, asking the reader to believe in nothing which he cannot
+execute and make sure unto himself. Tradition and testimony are very useful to
+supply ideas or theories, but to actually <em>believe</em> in anything beyond
+his experience a man should take sufficient interest in it to <em>prove</em>
+it by personal experiment. And, therefore, as I have already declared, I not
+only ask, but hope that no reader will put faith in anything which I have
+alleged or declared, until he has fully and fairly proved it to be true in his
+own person.</p>
+
+<p>The history of true culture, truth, or progress has been that of doubt or
+disbelief in all which cannot be scientifically proved or made manifest to
+sensation and reflection, and even in this the most scrupulous care must be
+exercised, since our senses often deceive us. Therefore, in dealing with
+subjects which have undeniably been made the means of deceit and delusion
+thousands of times to one authentic instance, it is not well to accept
+testimony, or any kind of evidence, or proof, save that which we can establish
+for ourself. The day is not yet, but it is coming, when self-evidence will be
+claimed, and granted, as to all human knowledge, and the sooner it comes the
+better will it be for the world.</p>
+
+<p>But I would be clearly understood as declaring that it is only as regards
+making up our minds to absolute faith in what involves what may be called our
+mental welfare, which includes the most serious conduct of life, that I would
+limit belief to scientific proof. As an example, I will cite the very
+interesting case of the hypnotic treatment of a patient by DR. VOISIN, and as
+given by MASON.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In the summer of 1884, there was at the Salpètrière a young woman of a
+deplorable type, Jeanne S&#8212;, who was a criminal lunatic, filthy, violent, and
+with a life history of impurity and crime. M. Auguste Voisin, one of the
+physicians of the staff, undertook to hypnotize her, May 31. At that time she
+was so violent that she could only be kept quiet by a straight-jacket and the
+constant cold douche to her head. She would not look at M. Voisin, but raved and
+spat at him. He persisted, kept his face near and opposite to hers, and his eyes
+following hers constantly. In ten minutes she was in a sound sleep, and soon
+passed into a somnambulistic condition. The process was repeated many days, and
+she gradually became sane while in the hypnotic condition, but still raved when
+she woke.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Gradually then she began to accept hypnotic suggestion, and would obey
+trivial orders given her while asleep, such as to sweep her room, then
+suggestions regarding her general behavior; then, in her hypnotic condition, she
+began to express regret for her past life, and form resolutions of amendment to
+which she finally adhered when she awoke. Two years later she was a nurse in one
+of the Paris hospitals, and her conduct was irreproachable. M. Voisin has
+followed up this case by others equally striking.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This is not only an unusually well authenticated instance, but one which
+seems to carry conviction from the manner of narration. Yet it would be absurd
+to declare that the subject neither deceived herself nor others, or that the
+doctor made no mistakes either in fact or involuntarily. The whole is, however,
+extremely valuable from its <em>probability,</em> and still more from its
+suggesting experiment in a much more useful direction than that followed in the
+majority of cases recorded in most books, which, especially in France, seem
+chiefly to have been conducted from a melodramatic or merely medical point of
+view. Very few indeed seem to have ever dreamed that a hypnotized subject was
+anything but a being to be cured of some disorder, operated on without pain, or
+made to undergo and perform various tricks, often extremely cruel, silly, and
+wicked&#8212;the main object of all being to advertise the skill of the operator. In
+fact, if it were to be accepted that the main object of hypnotism is to repeat
+such experiments as are described in most of the French works on the subject,
+humanity and decency would join in prohibiting the practice of the art
+altogether. These books point out and make clear in the minutest manner, how
+every kind of crime can be committed, and the mind brought to regard all that is
+evil as a matter of course. The making an innocent person attempt to commit a
+murder or steal is among the most usual experiments; while, on the contrary, any
+case like that of the reform of Jeanne S&#8212; is either very rare, or else is
+treated simply as a proof of the skill of some
+<em>medico.</em> The fact that if the successes which are recorded are <em>true,</em>
+there exists a <em>stupendous</em> power by means of which the average
+morality and happiness of mankind can be incredibly advanced and sustained, and
+Education, Art in every branch, and, in a word, all Culture be marvelously
+developed on a far more secure basis than in the old systems, does not seem to
+have occurred to any of those who possessed, as it were, gold, without having
+the least idea of its value or even its qualities.</p>
+
+<p>Happiness in the main is a pleasant, contented condition of the mind, that
+is to say, &quot;a state of mind.&quot; To be perfect, as appears from an enlarged study
+of all things or phenomena in their relations (since every part must harmonize
+with the whole), this happiness implies duty and altruism, every whit as much as
+self-enjoyment. This agrees with and results from scientific experience. Under
+the old <em>a priori</em> psychologic system, <em>selfishness</em> (which
+meant that every soul was to be chiefly or solely concerned in saving itself,
+guided by hope of reward and fear of punishment), it was naturally the basis of
+morality.</p>
+
+<p>Now, accepting the definition of Happiness as a state of mind under certain
+conditions, it follows that it can be realized to a great degree, and in all
+cases to some degree, firstly by forethought or carefully defining what it is or
+what we desire, and secondly by making a fixed idea by simple, well-nigh
+mechanical means, without any resource to <em>les grands môyens.</em>
+According to the old and now rapidly vanishing philosophy, this was to be
+effected by sublime morality, prayer, or adjuration of supernatural beings and
+noble heroism, but what is here proposed is much humbler, albeit more practical.
+Reading immortal poetry or prose is indeed a splendid power, but to learn the
+letters of the alphabet, and to spell, is very simple and unpoetic, yet far more
+practical. What I have described has been the mere dull rudiments. It is most
+remarkable that the world has always known that the art of RAFFAELLE, MICHAEL
+ANGELO, and ALBERT DURER was based, like that of the greatest musicians, on
+extensive rudimentary study, and yet has never dreamed that what far surpasses
+all art in every way, and even includes the desire for it, may all proceed from,
+or be developed by, a process which is even easier than those required for the
+lesser branches.</p>
+
+<p>He who can control his own mind by an iron will, and say to the Thoughts
+which he would banish, &quot;Be ye my slaves and begone into outer darkness,&quot; or to
+Peace &quot;Dwell with me forever, come what may,&quot; <em>and be obeyed,</em> that man
+is a mighty magician who has attained what is worth more than all that Earth
+possesses. Absolute self-control under the conditions before defined&#8212;since our
+happiness to be true must agree with that of others&#8212;is absolutely essential to
+happiness. There can be no greater hero than the man who can conquer himself and
+think exactly as he pleases. That which annoys, tempts, stirs us to being
+irritable, wicked, or mean, is an aggregate of evil thoughts or images received
+by chance or otherwise into the memory, developed there into vile unions, and
+new forms like coalescing animalcule, and so powerful and vivid or objective do
+they become that men in all ages have given them a real existence as evil
+spirits.</p>
+
+<p>Every sane man living, can if he <em>really</em> desires it, obtain
+complete absolute command of himself, exorcise these vile demons and bring in
+peace instead, by developing with determination the simple process which I have
+described. I have found in my own experience a fierce pleasure in considering
+obnoxious and pernicious Thoughts as imps or demons to be conquered, in which
+case Pride and even Arrogance become virtues, even as poisons in their place are
+wholesome medicines. Thus, he who is haunted with the fixed idea, even well nigh
+to monomania, that he will never give way to ill temper, that nothing shall
+disturb his equanimity, need not fear evil results any more than the being
+haunted by angels. Now we can all have fixed or haunting ideas, on any subject
+which we please to entertain&#8212;but the idea to create good and beneficent haunting
+has not, that I am aware, been suggested by philosophers.</p>
+
+<p>That mental influence can be exerted hypnotically most directly and
+certainly by one person upon another is undeniable, but this requires, firstly,
+a susceptible subject, or only one person in three or four, and to a degree a
+specially gifted operator, and very often &quot;heaven-sent moments.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;However greatly mortals may require it,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; All cannot go to Corinth who desire it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But forethought, self-suggestion, and the bringing the mind to dwell
+continuously on a subject are absolutely within the reach of all who have any
+strength of mind whatever, without any aid. Those of feebler ability yield,
+however, all the more readily (as in the case of children) to the influence of
+others or of hypnotism by a master. Therefore, either subjectively or with
+assistance, most human beings can be morally benefited to a limitless degree,
+&quot;morally&quot; including intellectually.</p>
+
+<p>We often hear it said of a person that he or she would do well or succeed
+if that individual had &quot;application.&quot; Now, as Application, or &quot;sticking to it,&quot;
+or perseverance in earnest faith, is the main condition for success in all that
+I have discussed, I trust that it will be borne in mind that the process
+indicated provides from the first lesson or experiment for this chief requisite.
+For the <em>fore-thinking</em> and hypnotizing our minds to be in a certain state or
+condition all the next day, by what some writers, such as HARTMANN, treat as
+magical process&#8212;but which is just so much magical as the use of an electrical
+machine&#8212;is simply a beginning in Attention and Perseverance.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;So, like a snowball rolled in falling snow,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It gathers size as it doth onward go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When we make a wish or will, or determine that in future after awaking we
+shall be in a given state of mind, we also include Perseverance for the given
+time, and as success supposes repetition in all minds, it follows that
+Perseverance will be induced gradually and easily.</p>
+
+<p>And here I may remark that while all writers on ethics, duty or morals, cry
+continually &quot;Be persevering, be honest, be enterprising, exert your will!&quot; and
+so on, and waste thousands of books in illustrating the advantages of all these
+fine things, there is not one who tells us <em>how</em> to practically execute
+or do them. To follow the hint of a quaint Sunday School picture, they show us a
+swarm of Bees, with hive and honey, but do not tell us how to catch <em>one.</em>
+And yet a man may be anything he pleases if he will by easy and simple practice
+as I have shown, make the conception habitual. I do not tell you as these good
+folk do, how to go about it nobly, or heroically, or piously; in fact, I
+prescribe a method as humble as making a fire, or a pair of shoes, and yet in
+very truth and honor I have profited far more by it than I ever did from all the
+exhortations which I ever have read.</p>
+
+<p>Now there are many men who are not so bad in themselves in reality, but who
+are so haunted by evil thoughts, impulses, and desires, that they, being taught
+by the absurd old heathenish psychology that the &quot;soul&quot; is all one spiritual
+entity, believe themselves to be as wicked as Beelzebub could wish, when, in
+fact, these sins are nothing but evil weeds which came into the mind as
+neglected seeds, and grew apace from sheer carelessness. Regarding them in the
+light, as one may say, of bodily and material nuisances, or a kind of vermin,
+they can be extirpated by the strong hand of Will, much more easily than under
+the old system, whereby they were treated with respect and awe as MILTON hath
+done (and most immorally too), DANTE being no better; and they would both have
+exerted their gigantic intellects to better purpose by showing man how to
+conquer the devil, instead of exalting and exaggerating his stupendous power and
+showing how, as regards Humanity (for which expressly the Universe, including
+countless millions of solar systems, was created), Satan has by far the victory,
+since he secures the majority of souls. For saying which thing a holy bishop
+once got himself into no end of trouble.</p>
+
+<p>I say that he who uses his will can crush and drive out vile haunting
+thoughts, and the more rudely and harshly he does it the better. In all the old
+systems, without exception, they are treated with far too much respect and
+reverence, and no great wonder either, since they were regarded as a great
+innate portion of the soul. Whether to be cleared out by the allopathic
+exorcism, or the gentler hom&#339;pathic prayer, the patient never relied on himself.
+There is a fine Italian proverb in the collection of GUILLO VARRINO, Venice
+1656, which declares that <em>Buona volontà supplice à facolta&#8212;</em>&quot;strong
+will ekes out ability&quot;&#8212;and before the Will (which the Church has ever weakened
+or crushed) no evil instincts can hold. The same author tells us that &quot;The
+greatest man in the world is he who can govern his own will,&quot; also, &quot;To him who
+wills naught is impossible.&quot; To which I would add that &quot;Whoever chooses to have
+a will may do so by culture,&quot; or by ever so little to begin with. Nay, I have no
+doubt that in time there will be societies, schools, churches, or circles, in
+which the Will shall be taught and applied to all moral and mental culture.</p>
+
+<p>He who wills it sincerely can govern his Will, and he who can govern his
+Will is a thousand times more fortunate than if he could govern the world. For
+to govern the Will is to be without fear, superior and indifferent to all
+earthly follies and shams, idols, cants and delusions, it is to be lord of a
+thousand isles in the sea of life, and absolutely greater than any living
+mortal, as men exist. Small need has that man to heed what his birth or station
+in society may be who has mastered himself with the iron will; for he who has
+conquered death and the devil need fear no shadows.</p>
+
+<p>He who masters himself by Will has attained to all that is best and noblest
+in Stoicism, Epicureanism, Christianity, and Agnosticism; if the latter be
+understood not as doubt, but free Inquiry, and could men be made to feel what
+all this means and what power it bestows, and how easily it really is to master
+it, we should forthwith see all humanity engaged in the work.</p>
+
+<p>It has been declared by many in the past in regard to schooling their minds
+to moral and practical ends that, leading busy lives, they had not time to think
+of such matters. But I earnestly protest that it is these very men of all others
+who most require the discipline which I have taught, and it is as easy for them
+as for anybody; as it, indeed, ought to be easier, yes, and far more profitable.
+For the one who leads by fortune a quiet life of leisure can often school
+himself without a system, while he who toils amid anxious thoughts and with
+every mental power severely taxed, will find that he can do his work <em>far</em>
+more easily if he determines that he <em>will</em> master it. The amount of
+mental action which lies dormant in us all is illimitable and it can all be
+realized by the hypnotism of Will.</p>
+
+<a name="11"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+CHAPTER XI.
+<br>
+<br>
+PARACELSUS.
+<br>
+<p>That our ordinary consciousness or Waking Intellect, and what is generally
+recognized as Mind or Soul, includes whatever has been taken in by sensation and
+reflection and assimilated to daily wants, or shows itself in bad or good
+memories and thought, is evident. Not less clear is it that there is another
+hidden Self&#8212;a power which, recognizing much which is evil in the Mind, would
+fain reject, or rule, or subdue it. This latent, inner Intelligence calls into
+action the Will. All of this is vague, and, it may be, unscientific. It is more
+rational to believe in many faculties or functions, but the classification here
+suggested may serve as a basis. It is effectively that of GRASSNER, or of all
+who have recognized the power of the Will to work &quot;miracles,&quot; guided by a higher
+morality. And it is very curious that PARACELSUS based his whole system of
+nervous cure, at least, on this theory. Thus, in the <em>Liber Entium Morborum,
+de Ente Spirituali,</em> chap, iii, he writes:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As we have shown that there are two <em>Subjecta,</em> this will we
+assume as our ground. Ye know that there is in the Body a Soul. <em>(Geist.)</em>
+Now reflect, to what purpose? Just that it may sustain life, even as the air
+keeps animals from dying for want of breath. So we know what the soul is. This
+soul in Man is actually clear, intelligible and sensible to the other soul, and,
+classing them, they are to be regarded as allied, even as bodies are. I have a
+soul&#8212;the <em>other</em> hath also one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>PARACELSUS is here very obscure, but he manifestly means by &quot;the other,&quot;
+the Body. To resume:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The Souls know one another as 'I,' and 'the other.' They converse together
+in their language, not by necessity according to our thoughts, but what <em>
+they</em> will. And note, too, that there may be anger between them, and one
+may belittle or injure the other; this injury is in the Soul, the Soul in the
+body. Then the body suffers and is ill&#8212;not materially or from a material <em>
+Ens,</em> but from the Soul. For this we need spiritual remedy. Ye are two who
+are dear unto one another; great in affinity. The cause is not <em>in</em> the
+body, nor is it from without; it comes from your souls <em>(Geisten),</em> who
+are allied. The same pair may become inimical, or remain so. And that ye may
+understand a cause for this, note that the Spirit <em>(Geist)</em> of the
+Reasoning Faculty <em>(Vernunft)</em> is not born, save from the <em>Will,</em>
+therefore the Will and the Reason are separate. What exists and acts according
+to the Will lives in the Spirit; what only according to the Reason lives against
+the Spirit. For the Reason brings forth no spirit, only the Soul <em>(Seel)</em>
+is born of it&#8212;from Will comes the Spirit, the essence of which we describe and
+let the Soul be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In this grandly conceived but most carelessly written passage the author,
+in the beginning thereof, makes such confusion in expressing both Soul and
+Spirit with the one word, <em>Geist,</em> that his real meaning could not be
+intelligible to the reader who had not already mastered the theory. But, in
+fact, the whole conception is marvelous, and closely agreeing with the latest
+discoveries in Science, while ignoring all the old psychological system.</p>
+
+<p>Very significant is what PARACELSUS declares in his <em>Fragmenta Medicina
+de Morbis Somnii,</em> that so many evils beset us, &quot;caused by the coarseness
+of our ignorance, because we know not what is born in us.&quot; That is to say, if we
+knew our mental power, or what we are capable of, we could cure or control all
+bodily infirmities. And how to rule and form this power, and make it obey the <em>
+Geist</em> or Will which PARACELSUS believed was born of the common conscious
+Soul&#8212;that is the question.</p>
+
+<p>For PARACELSUS truly believed that out of this common Soul, the result of
+Sensation and Reflection, and all we pick up by Experience and Observation (and
+such as makes all that there is of Life for most people), there is born, or
+results, a perception of Ideas, of right and wrong, of mutual interests; a
+certain subtle, moral conscience or higher knowledge. &quot;The Souls may become
+inimical;&quot; that is, the Conscience, or Spirit, may differ or disagree with the
+Soul, as a son may be at variance with his father. So the flower or fruit may
+oft despise the root. The Will is allied to Conscience or a perception of the
+Ideal. When a man finds out that he knows more or better than he has hitherto
+done: as, for instance, when a thief learns that it is wrong to steal, and feels
+it deeply, he endeavors to reform, although he <em>feels</em> all the time old
+desires and temptations to rob. Now, if he resolutely subdue these, his Will is
+born. &quot;The spirit of the Reasoning faculty is not born, save of the Will. . . .
+what exists and acts according to the Will lives in the spirit.&quot; The perception
+of ideals is the bud, Conscience the flower, and the Will the fruit. A pure Will
+must be <em>moral,</em> for it is <em>the</em> result of the perception of
+Ideals, or a Conscience. The world in general regards Will as mere blind force,
+applicable to good or bad indifferently. But the more truly and fully it is
+developed, or as Orson is raised to Valentine, the more moral and optimistic
+does it become. <em>Will</em> in its perfection is Genius, spontaneous
+originality, that is Voluntary; not merely a power to lift a weight, or push a
+load, or force others to yield, but the Thought itself which suggests the deed
+and finds a <em>reason</em> for it. Now the merely unscrupulous use of
+Opportunity and Advantage, or Crime, is popularly regarded as having a strong
+Will; but this, as compared to a Will with a conscience, is as the craft of the
+fox compared to that of the dragon, and that of the dragon to Siegfried.</p>
+
+<p>And here it may be observed as a subtle and strange thing, approaching to
+magic apparently, as understood by HARTMANN and his school, that the Will
+sometimes, when much developed, actually manifests something like an independent
+personality, or at least seems to do so, to an acute observer. And what is more
+remarkable, it can have this freedom of action and invention delegated to it,
+and will act on it.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, in conversation with HERKOMER, the Artist, and Dr. W. W. BALDWIN,
+Nov. 2d, 1878, the former explained to me that when he would execute a work of
+art, he just determined it with care or Forethought in his mind, and gave it a
+rest, as by sleep, during which time it unconsciously fructified or germinated,
+even as a seed when planted in the ground at last grows upward into the light
+and air. Now, that the entire work should not be too much finished or quite
+completed, and to leave room for after-thoughts or possible improvements, he was
+wont, as he said, to give the Will some leeway, or freedom; which is the same
+thing as if, before going to sleep, we <em>Will</em> or determine that on the
+following day our Imagination, or Creative Force, or Inventive Genius, shall be
+unusually active, which will come to pass after some small practice and a few
+repetitions, as all may find for themselves. Truly, it will be according to
+conditions, for if there be but little in a man, either he will bring but little
+out, or else he must wait until he can increase what he hath. And in this the
+Will <em>seems</em> to act like an independent person, ingeniously, yet withal
+obedient. And the same also characterizes images in dreams, which sometimes
+appear to be so real that it is no wonder many think they are spirits from
+another world, as is true of many haunting thoughts which come unbidden.
+However, this is all mere Thaumaturgy, which has been so deadly to Truth in the
+old <em>à priori</em> psychology, and still works mischief, albeit it has its
+value in suggesting very often in Poetry what Science afterwards proves in
+Prose.</p>
+
+<p>To return to PARACELSUS, HEINE complains that his German is harder to
+understand than his Latin. However, I think that in the following passages he
+shows distinctly a familiarity with hypnotism, or certainly, passes by hand and
+suggestion. Thus, chap, x, <em>de Ente Spirituali,</em> in which the Will is
+described, begins as follows: &quot;Now shall ye mark that the Spirits rule their
+subjects. And I have shown intelligibly how the <em>Ens Spirituale,</em> or
+Spiritual Being, rules so mightily the body that many disorders may be ascribed
+to it. Therefore unto these ye should not apply ordinary medicine, but heal the
+spirit&#8212;therein lies the disorder.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>PARACELSUS clearly states that by the power of Foresight&#8212;he uses the exact
+word, <em>Fürsicht&#8212;</em>Man may, aided by Sleep, attain to knowledge&#8212;past,
+present or future&#8212;and achieve Telepathy, or communion at a distance. In the <em>
+Fragmenta, Caput de Morbis Somnii</em> he writes:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Therefore learn, that by Foresight man can know future things; and, from
+experience, the past and present. Thereby is man so highly gifted in Nature that
+he knows or perceives <em>(sicht),</em> as he goes, his neighbor or friend in
+a distant land. Yet, on waking, he knows nothing of all this. For God has given
+to us all&#8212;Art, Wisdom, Reason&#8212;to know the future, and what passes in distant
+lands; but we know it not, for we fools, busied in common things, sleep away, as
+it were, what is in us. Thus, seeing one who is a better artist than thou art,
+do not say that he has more gift or grace than thou; for thou hast it also, but
+hast not tried, and so is it with all things. What Adam and Moses did was to
+<em>try,</em> and they succeeded, and it came neither from the Devil nor from
+Spirits, but from the Light of Nature, which they developed in themselves. But
+we do <em>not</em> seek for what is in us, therefore we remain nothing, and
+are nothing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Here the author very obscurely, yet vigorously, declares that we can do or
+learn what we <em>will,</em> but it must be achieved by foresight, will, and
+the aid of sleep.</p>
+
+<p>It seems very evident, after careful study of the text, that here, as in
+many other places, our author indicates familiarity with the method of
+developing mental action in its subtlest and most powerful forms. Firstly, by
+determined Foresight, and, secondly, by the aid of sleep, corresponding to the
+bringing a seed to rest a while, and thereby cause it to germinate; the which
+admirable simile he himself uses in a passage which I have not cited.</p>
+
+<p>PARACELSUS was the most original thinker and the worst writer of a wondrous
+age, when all wrote badly and thought badly. There is in his German writings
+hardly one sentence which is not ungrammatical, confused, or clumsy; nor one
+without a vigorous idea, which shows the mind or character of the man.</p>
+
+<p>As a curious instance of the poetic originality of PARACELSUS we may take
+the following:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is an error to suppose that chiromancy is limited to the hand, for
+there are significant lines (indicating character), all over the body. And it is
+so in vegetable life. For in a plant every leaf is a hand. Man hath two; a tree
+many, and every one reveals its anatomy&#8212;a hand-anatomy. Now ye shall understand
+that in double form the lines are masculine or feminine. And there are as many
+differences in these lines on leaves as in human hands.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>GOETHE has the credit that he reformed or advanced the Science of Botany,
+by reducing the plant to the leaf as the germ or type; and this is now further
+reduced to the cell, but the step was a great one. Did not PARACELSUS, however,
+give the idea?</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The theory of signatures,&quot; says VAUGHAN, in his <em>Hours with the
+Mystics, </em>&quot;proceeded on the supposition that every creatures bears in some part of
+its structure . . . the indication of the character or virtue inherent in it&#8212;the
+representation, in fact, of its ideal or soul. . . . The student of sympathies
+thus essayed to read the character of plants by signs in their organization, as
+the professor of palmistry announced that of men by lines in the hand.&quot; Thus, to
+a degree which is very little understood, PARACELSUS took a great step towards
+modern science. He disclaimed Magic and Sorcery, with ceremonies, and endeavored
+to base all cure on human will. The name of PARACELSUS is now synonymous with
+Rosicrucianism, Alchemy, Elementary Spirits and Theurgy, when, in fact, he was
+in his time a bold reformer, who cast aside an immense amount of old
+superstition, and advanced into what his age regarded as terribly free thought.
+He was compared to LUTHER, and the doing so greatly pleased him; he dwells on it
+at length in one of his works.</p>
+
+<p>What PARACELSUS really believed in at heart was nothing more or less than
+an unfathomable Nature, a <em>Natura naturans</em> of infinite resource,
+connected with which, as a microcosm, is man, who has also within him infinite
+powers, which he can learn to master by cultivating the will, which must be
+begun at least by the aid of sleep, or letting the resolve ripen, as it were, in
+the mind, apart from Consciousness.</p>
+
+<p>I had written every line of my work on the same subject and principles long
+before I was aware that I had unconsciously followed exactly in the footprints
+of the great Master; for though I had made many other discoveries in his books,
+I knew nothing of this.</p>
+
+<a name="12"></a>
+<br>
+<br>
+CHAPTER XII.
+<br>
+<br>
+LAST WORDS.
+<br>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;By carrying calves Milo, 'tis said, grew strong, <br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Until with ease he bore a bull along.&quot;</p>
+<p>It is, I believe, unquestionable that, if he ever lived, a man who had
+attained to absolute control over his own mind, must have been the most enviable
+of mortals. MONTAIGNE illustrates such an ideal being by a quotation from
+VIRGIL:</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;Velut rupes vastum quæ prodit in æquor<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Obvia ventorum furiis, exposta que ponto,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Vim cunctum atque minas perfert
+cælique marisque <br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ipsa immota manens.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;He as a rock among vast billows stood,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Scorning loud winds and the wild raging flood,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And firm remaining, all the force defies,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; From the grim threatening seas and thundering skies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>And MONTAIGNE also doubted whether such self-control was possible. He
+remarks of it:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let us never attempt these Examples; we shall never come up to them. This
+is too much and too rude for our common souls to undergo. CATO indeed gave up
+the noblest Life that ever was upon this account, but it is for us meaner
+spirited men to fly from the storm as far as we can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Is it? I may have thought so once, but I begin to believe that in this
+darkness a new strange light is beginning to show itself. The victory may be won
+far more easily than the rather indolent and timid Essayist ever imagined.
+MONTAIGNE, and many more, believed that absolute self-control is only to be
+obtained by iron effort, heroic and terrible exertion&#8212;a conception based on
+bygone History, which is all a record of battles of man against man, or man with
+the Devil. Now the world is beginning slowly to make an ideal of peace, and
+disbelieve in the Devil. Science is attempting to teach us that from any
+beginning, however small, great results are sure to be obtained if resolutely
+followed up and fully developed.</p>
+
+<p>It requires thought to realize what a man gifted to some degree with
+culture and common sense must enjoy who can review the past without pain, and
+regard the present with perfect assurance that come what may he need have no
+fear or fluttering of the heart. Spenser has asked in &quot;The Fate of the
+Butterfly&quot;:</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;What more felicity can fall to creature<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Than to enjoy delight with liberty?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>To which one may truly reply that all delight is fitful and uncertain
+unless bound or blended with the power to be indifferent to involuntary annoying
+emotions, and that self-command is in itself the highest mental pleasure, or one
+which surpasses all of any kind. He who does not overestimate the value of money
+or anything earthly is really richer than the millionaire. There is a foolish
+story told by COMBE in his Physiology of a man who had the supernatural gift of
+never feeling any pain, be it from cold, hunger, heat, or accident. The rain
+beat upon him in vain, the keenest north wind did not chill him&#8212;he was fearless
+and free. But this immunity was coupled with an inability to feel pleasure&#8212;his
+wine or ale was no more to his palate than water, and he could not feel the kiss
+of his child; and so we are told that he was soon desirous to become a creature
+subject to all physical sensations as before. But it is, as I said, a foolish
+tale, because it reduces all that is worth living for to being warm or enjoying
+taste. His mind was not affected, but that goes for nothing in such sheer
+sensuality. However, a man without losing his tastes or appetites may train his
+Will to so master Emotion as to enjoy delight with liberty, and also exclude
+what constitutes the majority of all suffering with man.</p>
+
+<p>It is a truth that there is very often an extremely easy, simple and
+prosaic way to attain many an end, which has always been supposed to require
+stupendous efforts. In an Italian fairy tale a prince besieges a castle with an
+army&#8212;trumpets blowing, banners waving, and all the pomp and circumstances of
+war&#8212;to obtain a beautiful heroine who is meanwhile carried away by a rival who
+knew of a subterranean passage. Hitherto, as I have already said, men have
+sought for self-control only by means of heroic exertion, or by besieging the
+castle from without; the simple system of Forethought and Self-Suggestion
+enables one, as it were, to steal or slip away with ease by night and in
+darkness that fairest of princesses, La Volonté, or the Will.</p>
+
+<p>For he who wills to be equable and indifferent to the small and involuntary
+annoyances, teasing memories, irritating trifles, which constitute the chief
+trouble in life to most folk, can bring it about, in small measure at first and
+in due time to greater perfection. And by perseverance this rivulet may to a
+river run, the river fall into a mighty lake, and this in time rush to the
+roaring sea; that is to say, from bearing with indifference or quite evading
+attacks of <em>ennui,</em> we may come to enduring great afflictions with
+little suffering.</p>
+
+<p>Note that I do not say that we can come to bearing all the bereavements,
+losses, and trials of life with <em>absolute</em> indifference. Herein
+MONTAIGNE and the Stoics of old were well nigh foolish to imagine such an
+impossible and indeed undesirable ideal. But it may be that two men are
+afflicted by the same domestic loss, and one with a weak nature is well nigh
+crushed by it, gives himself up to endless weeping and perhaps never recovers
+from it, while another with quite as deep feelings, but far wiser, rallies, and
+by vigorous exertion makes the grief a stimulus to exertion, so that while the
+former is demoralized, the latter is strengthened. There is an habitual state of
+mind by which a man while knowing his losses fully can endure them better than
+others, and this endurance will be greatest in him who has already cultivated it
+assiduously in minor matters. He who has swam in the river can swim in the sea;
+he who can hear a door bang without starting can listen to a cannon without
+jumping.</p>
+
+<p>The method which I have described in this book will enable any person
+gifted with perseverance to make an equable or calm state of mind habitual,
+moderately at first, more so by practice. And when this is attained the
+experimenter can progress rapidly in the path. It is precisely the same as in
+learning a minor art, the pupil who can design a pattern (which corresponds to
+Foresight or plan), only requires, as in wood-carving or repoussé, to be trained
+by very easy process to become familiar with the use and feel of the tools,
+after which all that remains to be done is to keep on at what the pupil can do
+without the least difficulty. Well begun and well run in the end will be well
+done.</p>
+
+<p>But glorious and marvelous is the power of him who has habituated himself
+by easy exercise of Will to brush away the minor, meaningless and petty cares of
+life, such as, however, prey on most of us; for unto him great griefs are no
+harder to endure than the getting a coat splashed is to an ordinary man.</p>
+
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<hr noshade>
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYSTIC WILL***</p>
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diff --git a/17749.txt b/17749.txt
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/17749.txt
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Mystic Will, by Charles Godfrey Leland
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Mystic Will
+       A Method of Developing and Strengthening the Faculties of the Mind, through the Awakened Will, by a Simple, Scientific Process Possible to Any Person of Ordinary Intelligence
+
+
+Author: Charles Godfrey Leland
+
+
+
+Release Date: February 10, 2006  [eBook #17749]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYSTIC WILL***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Ruth Hart (ruthhart@twilightoracle.com)
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+   In the Introduction, I have changed "yet is is a very literal
+   truth" to "yet it is a very literal truth". Also in the
+   Introduction, I changed the spelling of "faculities" to
+   "faculties" (other spelling remains unchanged). Finally, while
+   most of the proper names are capitalized, not all of them are,
+   and I have left the uncapitalized names as they appeared in
+   the original.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE MYSTIC WILL
+
+A Method of Developing and Strengthening the Faculties of the Mind,
+through the Awakened Will, by a Simple, Scientific Process Possible
+to Any Person of Ordinary Intelligence
+
+by
+
+CHARLES G. LELAND
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+American Edition
+Published by
+The Progress Company
+515-519 Rand McNally Building
+Chicago, Illinois
+English Representatives:
+L. N. Fowler & Co.
+7, Imperial Arcade, Ludgate Circus,
+London, E. C.
+
+
+
+
+
+In Memorium
+
+Charles Godfrey Leland
+
+AMERICAN AUTHOR
+WHO DIED MARCH 20, 1903
+AT FLORENCE, ITALY
+AGED 79
+
+"_The good that men do lives after them_."
+
+
+
+
+PUBLISHER'S NOTICE.
+
+This wonderful treatise was first published in England several years
+ago, under the title of "_Have You a Strong Will_?" and has run
+through several editions there. In its original form, it was printed
+in quite large type, double-leaded, and upon paper which "bulked out"
+the book to quite a thick volume. Some copies have been sold in
+America, but the price which dealers were compelled to charge for it,
+in its original shape, prevented the wide circulation that it merited,
+and which its author undoubtedly desired for it, for it seems to
+have been a labor of love with him, the interest of the race in his
+wonderful theories evidently being placed above financial returns by
+Mr. Leland. Believing that the author's ideas and wishes would be well
+carried out by the publication of an American edition printed in the
+usual size type (without the expedient of "double-leading" unusually
+large type in order to make a large volume), which allows of the book
+being sold at a price within the reach of all, the publisher has
+issued this edition along the lines indicated.
+
+The present edition is identical with the original English edition
+with the following exceptions:
+
+(1) There has been omitted from this edition a long, tiresome chapter
+contained in the original edition, entitled "On the Power of the Mind
+to master disordered Feelings by sheer Determination. As Set forth by
+Immanuel Kant in a letter to Hufeland," but which chapter had very
+little to say about "the power of the mind," but very much indeed
+about Hygiene, Dietetics, Sleep, Care of Oneself in Old Age,
+Hypochondria, Work, Exercise, Eating and Drinking, Illness, etc.,
+etc., from the point of view of the aged German metaphysician, which
+while interesting enough in itself, and to some people, was manifestly
+out of place in a book treating upon the development of Mental
+Faculties by the Will, etc. We think that Mr. Leland's admirers will
+find no fault with this omission.
+
+(2) The word "Suggestion" has been substituted for the word
+"Hypnotism" in several places in the original text, where the
+former word was manifestly proper according to the present views of
+psychologists, which views were not so clearly defined when the book
+was written.
+
+(3) The chapter headings of the original book have been shortened and
+simplified in accordance with the American form.
+
+(4) The title "The Mystic Will" has been substituted in place of that
+used in the original edition, which was "Have You a Strong Will?" This
+change was made for the reason that the original title did not give
+one the correct idea of the nature of the book, but rather conveyed
+the idea of an inquiry regarding the "iron-will," etc., which the
+author evidently did not intend. The use of the Will, as taught in the
+book by Mr. Leland, is not along the lines of "the iron-will," but is
+rather in the nature of the employment of a mystic, mysterious, and
+almost weird power of the Human Will, and the title of the present
+edition is thought to more correctly represent the nature of the book,
+and the author's own idea, than the inquiry embodied in the title of
+the original edition.
+
+(5) Several unimportant footnotes, references to other books, etc.,
+have been omitted after careful consideration.
+
+(Those who would wish to read the book in its original English edition
+will be able to procure it from the English publisher, Mr. Philip
+Wellby, 6 Henrietta street, Covent Garden, London, W. C, England.)
+
+To the few readers of this book who are not familiar with the author,
+Mr. Charles G. Leland, it may be said that this gifted man was an
+American by birth, but who lived in Europe for many years before his
+death. He died March 20, 1903, at Florence, Italy, at the ripe age of
+79 years, active until the last and leaving unpublished  manuscripts,
+some not completed. He lived up to his ideas and profited by them. His
+writings are spread over a period of nearly, or fully, fifty years,
+and his range of subjects was remarkable in its variety, style, and
+treatment.
+
+Among his best known works were "Practical Education," "Flaxius," "The
+Breitmann Ballads" (which introduced his well-known character "Hans
+Breitmann"), "Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling," "Wood Carving,"
+"Leather Work," "Metal Work," "Drawing and Designing," "The Minor
+Arts," "Twelve Manuals in Art Work," "The Album of Repousse Work,"
+"Industrial Art in Education," "Hints on Self Education," and many
+other works along the lines of Manual Training, etc., and the
+Development of the Constructive Faculties; "Kulsop the Master, and
+other Algonquin Poems and Legends," "The Alternate Sex," and many
+other works, some of which are now out of print, but a number of which
+may be purchased from, or through, any bookseller. There has been
+recently published a biographical work embodying his memoirs, written
+and edited by his beloved niece, Mrs. Pennell, to which volume all
+admirers of this wonderful man are referred.
+
+Every subject touched upon by Mr. Leland was brightly illuminated by
+the power of his marvellous mind. He seemed to be able to go right to
+the heart of the subject, seizing upon its essential truth and at the
+same time grasping all of its details. His mind was so full of general
+information that it fairly oozed out from him in all of his writings.
+The reader will notice this phenomenon in the present book, in which
+the author has evidently had to fight his own mind in order to prevent
+it from intruding all sorts of valuable and varied general information
+in among the particular subjects upon which he is treating. While not
+a professional psychologist, Mr. Leland has given utterance to some of
+the most valuable and practical psychological truths of the last fifty
+years, his contributions to this branch of human thought is sure to be
+recognized and appreciated in the near future. It is hoped that this
+little book will carry some of his valuable precepts and ideas to many
+who have never had the advantage and pleasure of his acquaintance up
+to this time.
+
+It is believed by the publisher that this popular edition of Mr.
+Leland's valuable work upon the Use of the Will, issued at a nominal
+price, will carry the author's teachings to the homes of many of those
+whom Lincoln called the "plain people" of this American land, who need
+it so much, but who would not have been able to have purchased it
+in its original shape. This work has been well known in England,
+but here, in America, the birthplace of the author, it has been
+comparatively unheard of. It is to be hoped that this edition will
+remedy this grievous fault.
+
+April 11, 1907  THE PUBLISHER.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+   Introduction . . . 13
+
+   Chapter I.--Attention and Interest . . . 19
+
+   Chapter II.--Self-Suggestion . . . 28
+
+   Chapter III.--Will-Development . . . 34
+
+   Chapter IV.--Forethought . . . 48
+
+   Chapter V.--Will and Character  . . . 58
+
+   Chapter VI.--Suggestion and Instinct . . . 66
+
+   Chapter VII.--Memory Culture . . . 74
+
+   Chapter VIII.--The Constructive Faculties . . . 81
+
+   Chapter IX.--Fascination . . . 85
+
+   Chapter X.--The Subliminal Self . . . 100
+
+   Chapter XI.--Paracelsus  . . . 109
+
+   Chapter XII.--Last Words . . . 116
+
+
+
+THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
+
+During the past few years the most serious part of the author's study
+and reflection has been devoted to the subjects discussed in this
+book. These, briefly stated, are as follows: Firstly, that all mental
+or cerebral faculties can by direct scientific treatment be influenced
+to what would have once been regarded as miraculous action, and which
+is even yet very little known or considered. Secondly, in development
+of this theory, and as confirmed by much practical and personal
+experience, that the Will can by very easy processes of training, or
+by aid of Auto-Suggestion, be strengthened to any extent, and states
+of mind soon induced, which can be made by practice habitual. Thus,
+as a man can by means of opium produce sleep, so can he by a very
+simple experiment a few times repeated--an experiment which I
+clearly describe and which has been tested and verified beyond
+all denial--cause himself to remain during the following day in a
+perfectly calm or cheerful state of mind; and this condition may, by
+means of repetition and practice, be raised or varied to other states
+or conditions of a far more active or intelligent description.
+
+Thus, for illustration, I may say that within my own experience, I
+have by this process succeeded since my seventieth year in working
+all day far more assiduously, and without any sense of weariness or
+distaste for labour, than I ever did at any previous period of my
+life. And the reader need only try the extremely easy experiment, as I
+have described it, to satisfy himself that he can do the same, that he
+can continue it with growing strength _ad infinitum_, and that this
+power will unquestionably at some future time be employed with
+marvellous results in Education. For, beyond all question--since any
+human being can easily prove or disprove it by a few experiments--
+there is no method known by which inattention, heedlessness, or
+negligence in the young can be so promptly and thoroughly cured as by
+this; while on the other hand, Attention and Interest by assiduity,
+are even more easily awakened. It has indeed seemed to me, since I
+have devoted myself to the study of Education from this point of view,
+as if it had been like the Iron Castle in the Slavonian legend, unto
+which men had for centuries wended their way by a long and wearisome
+road of many miles, while there was all the time, unseen and unknown,
+a very short and easy subterranean passage, by means of which the
+dwellers in the Schloss might have found their way to the town below,
+and to the world, in a few minutes.
+
+To this I have added a succinct account of what is, I believe, the
+easiest and most comprehensive Art of Memory ever conceived. There
+are on this subject more than five hundred works, all based, without
+exception, on the _Associative_ system, which may be described as a
+stream which runs with great rapidity for a very short time but is
+soon choked up. This, I believe, as a means applied to learning, was
+first published in my work, entitled _Practical Education_. In it the
+pupil is taught the _direct method_; that is, instead of remembering
+one thing by means of another, to impress _the image itself_ on the
+memory, and frequently revive it. This process soon becomes habitual
+and very easy. In from one year to eighteen months a pupil can by
+means of it accurately recall a lecture or sermon. It has the
+immediate advantage, over all the associate systems, of increasing and
+enlarging the scope and vigour of the memory, or indeed of the mind,
+so that it may truly bear as a motto, _Vires acquirit eundo_--"it
+gains in power as it runs long."
+
+Finally, I set forth a system of developing the Constructive Faculty--
+that which involves Ingenuity, Art, or manual _making_--as based on
+the teaching of the so-called Minor Arts to the young. The principle
+from which I proceed is that as the fruit is developed from the
+flower, all Technical Education should be anticipated. Or begun
+in children by practicing easy and congenial arts, such as light
+embroidery, wood-carving or repousse, by means of which they become
+familiar with the elements of more serious and substantial work.
+Having found out by practical experience, in teaching upwards of two
+thousand children for several years, that the practice of such easy
+work, or the development of the constructive faculty, invariably
+awakened the intellectual power or intelligence, I began to study the
+subject of the development of the mind in general. My first discovery
+after this was that Memory, whether mental, visual, or of any other
+kind, could, in connection with Art, be wonderfully improved, and to
+this in time came the consideration that the human Will, with all its
+mighty power and deep secrets, could be disciplined and directed, or
+controlled with as great care as the memory or the mechanical faculty.
+In a certain sense the three are one, and the reader who will take the
+pains, which are, I trust, not very great, to master the details of
+this book, will readily grasp it as a whole, and understand that its
+contents form a system of education, yet one from which the old as
+well as young may profit.
+
+It is worth noting that, were it for nervous invalids alone, or those
+who from various causes find it difficult to sleep, or apply the mind
+to work, this book would be of unquestionable value. In fact, even
+while writing this chapter, a lady has called to thank me for the
+substantial benefit which she derived from my advice in this respect.
+And, mindful of the fact that Attention and Unwearied Perseverance
+are most necessary to succeed in such processes as are here described, I
+have taken pains to show or explain how they may be rendered more
+attractive, tolerable, and habitual to the fickle or light-minded;
+this, too, being a subject which has been very little considered from
+a practical point of view.
+
+But, above all things, I beg the reader, laying aside all prejudice or
+preconceived opinion, and neither believing nor disbelieving what he
+reads, to simply _try it_--that is to test it in his own person to
+what degree he can influence his will, or bring about subsequent
+states of mind, by the very easy processes laid down. If I could hope
+that all opinion of my book would be uttered only by those who had
+thus put it to the test, I should be well assured as to its future.
+
+And also I beg all readers, and especially reviewers, to note that I
+advise that the auto-suggestive process, by aid of sleep, _shall be
+discontinued as soon as the experimenter begins to feel an increase in
+the power of the will_; the whole object of the system being to
+acquire a perfectly free clear Will as soon as possible. Great
+injustice was done, as regards the first edition of this work, by a
+very careless though eminent critic, who blamed the author for not
+having done what the latter had carefully recommended in his book.
+
+There are four stages of advance towards the truth: firstly,
+Disbelief; secondly, Doubt, which is, in fact, only a fond advance
+towards Disbelief; thirdly, Agnosticism, which is Doubt mingled with
+Inquiry; and, finally, pure and simple Inquiry or Search, without any
+preconceived opinion or feeling whatever. It is, I trust, only in the
+spirit of the latter, that I have written; therefore I say to the
+reader, Neither, believe nor disbelieve in anything which I have said,
+but, as it is an easy thing to try, experiment for yourself, and judge
+by the result. In fact, as a satisfactory and conclusive experiment
+will not require more time, and certainly not half the pains which
+most people would expend on reading a book, I shall be perfectly
+satisfied if any or all my critics will do so, and judge the system by
+the result.
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+    "Unto many Fortune comes while sleeping."--_Latin
+    Proverb_.
+
+    "Few know what is really going on in the world."--
+    _American Proverb_.
+
+It is but a few years since it suddenly struck the gay world of comic
+dramatists and other literary wits, that the Nineteenth Century was
+drawing to an end, and regarding it as an event they began to make
+merry over it, at first in Paris, and then in London and New York, as
+the _fin-de-siecle_. Unto them it was the going-out of old fashions in
+small things, such as changes in dress, the growth of wealth, or "the
+mighty bicycle," with a very prevalent idea that things "are getting
+mixed" or "checquered," or the old conditions of life becoming
+strangely confused. And then men of more thought or intelligence,
+looking more deeply into it, began to consider that the phrase did in
+very truth express far more serious facts. As in an old Norman tale,
+he who had entered as a jester or minstrel in comic garb, laid aside
+his disguise, and appeared as a wise counsellor or brave champion who
+had come to free the imprisoned emperor.
+
+For it began to be seen that this _fin-de-siecle_ was developing with
+startling rapidity changes of stupendous magnitude, which would ere
+long be seen "careering with thunder speed along," and that all the
+revolutions and reforms recorded in history were only feeble or
+partial, scattered or small, compared to the world-wide unification of
+human interests, led by new lights, which has begun to manifest itself
+in every civilized country. That well nigh every person or real
+culture, or education guided by pure science, has within a very few
+years advanced to a condition of liberal faith which would have been
+in my university days generally reprobated as "infidelity," is not to
+be denied, and the fact means, beyond all question, that according to
+its present rate of advance, in a very few years more, this reform
+will end in the annulling of innumerable traditions, forms of faith
+and methods. _Upharsin_ is writ on the wall.
+
+More than this, is it not clear that Art and Romance, Poetry and
+Literature, as hitherto understood or felt, are either to utterly
+vanish before the stupendous advances of science, or what is perhaps
+more probable, will, coalescing with it, take new forms, based on a
+general familiarity with all the old schools or types? A few years ago
+it seemed, as regarded all aesthetic creation, that man had exhausted
+the old models, and knew not where to look for new. Now the aim of Art
+is to interest or please, by gratifying the sense or taste for the
+beautiful or human genius in _making_; also to instruct and refine;
+and it is evident that Science is going to fulfill all these
+conditions on such a grand scale in so many new ways, that, when man
+shall be once engaged in them, all that once gratified him in the past
+will seem as childish things, to be put away before pursuits more
+worthy of manly dignity. If Art in all forms has of late been quiet,
+it has been because it has drawn back like the tiger in order to make
+the greater bound.
+
+One of the causes why some are laying aside all old spiritualism,
+romance and sentiment, is that their realisation takes up too much
+time, and Science, which is the soul of business, seeks in all things
+brevity and directness. It is probable that the phrase, "but to the
+point," has been oftener repeated during the past few years, than it
+ever was before, since Time begun, of which directness I shall have
+more to say anon.
+
+And this is the end to which these remarks on the _fin-de-siecle_ were
+written, to lay stress upon the fact that with the year Nineteen
+Hundred we shall begin a century during which civilized mankind will
+attain its majority and become _manly_, doing that which is right
+as a man should, _because it is right_ and for no other reason, and
+shunning wrong for as good cause. For while man is a child he behaves
+well, or misbehaves, for _reasons_ such as the fear of punishment or
+hope of reward, but in a manly code no reasons are necessary but only
+a persuasion or conviction that anything is right or wrong, and a
+principle which is as the earth unto a seed.
+
+For as the world is going on, or getting to be, it is very evident
+that as it is popularly said, "he who will tell a lie will generally
+not hesitate to commit perjury," so he who cannot be really honest,
+_per se_, without being sustained by principle based only on tradition
+and the opinion of others, is a poor creature, whose morality or
+honesty is in fact merely theatrical, or acted, to satisfy certain
+conditions or exigencies from which he were better freed.
+
+This spirit of scientific directness, and economy of thought and
+trouble by making the principle of integrity the basis of all forms,
+and cutting all ethical theories down to "be good because you
+_ought_," is rapidly astonishing us with another marvellous fact which
+it illustrates, namely, that as in this axiom--as in man himself--
+there are latent undiscovered powers, so in a thousand other
+sayings, or things known to us all, used by us all, and regarded as
+common-place, there are astounding novelties and capacities as yet
+undreamed of. For, as very few moralists ever understood in full what
+is meant by the very much worn or hackneyed saying, "we ought to do
+what is right," so the world at large little suspects that such very
+desirable qualities as Attention, Interest, Memory and Ingenuity, have
+that within them which renders them far more attainable by man than
+has ever been supposed. Even the great problem of Happiness itself, as
+really being only one of a relative state of mind, may be solved or
+reached by some far simpler or more direct method than any thinker has
+ever suggested.
+
+It all depends on exertion of the _Will_. There are in this world a
+certain number of advanced thinkers who, if they knew how to develope
+the _Will_ which exists in them, could bring this reform to pass in an
+incredibly short time. That is to say, they could place the doctrine
+or religion of Honesty for its own sake so boldly and convincingly
+before the world that its future would be assured. Now the man who can
+develope his will, has it in his power not only to control his moral
+nature to any extent, but also to call into action or realize very
+extraordinary states of mind, that is, faculties, talents or abilities
+which he has never suspected to be within his reach. It is a
+stupendous thought; yes, one so great that from the beginning of time
+to the present day no sage or poet has ever grasped it in its full
+extent, and yet is is a very literal truth, that there lie hidden
+within us all, as in a sealed-up spiritual casket, or like the
+bottled-up _djinn_ in the Arab tale, innumerable Powers or
+Intelligences, some capable of bestowing peace or calm, others of
+giving Happiness, or inspiring creative genius, energy and
+perseverance. All that Man has ever attributed to an Invisible World
+without, lies, in fact, within him, and the magic key which will
+confer the faculty of sight and the power to conquer is the _Will_.
+
+It has always been granted that it is a marvellously good thing to
+have a strong will, or a determined or resolute mind, and great has
+been the writing thereon. I have by me the last book on the subject,
+in which the faculty is enthusiastically praised, and the reader is
+told through all the inflexions of sentiment, that he _ought_ to
+assert his Will, to be vigorous in mind, _etcetera_, but unfortunately
+the How to do it is utterly wanting.
+
+It will be generally admitted by all readers that this _How to do it_
+has been always sought in grandly heroic or sublimely vigorous
+methods of victory over self. The very idea of being resolute, brave,
+persevering or stubborn, awakens in us all thoughts of conflict or
+dramatic self-conquering. But it may be far more effectively attained
+in a much easier way, even as the ant climbed to the top of the tree
+and gnawed away and brought down the golden fruit unto which the
+man could not rise. There are _easy_ methods, and by far the most
+effective, of awakening the Will; methods within the reach of every
+one, and which if practised, will lead on _ad infinitum_, to
+marvellous results.
+
+The following chapters will be devoted to setting forth, I trust
+clearly and explicitly, how by an extremely easy process, or
+processes, the will may be, by any person of ordinary intelligence and
+perseverance, awakened and developed to any extent, and with it many
+other faculties or states of mind. I can remember once being told by a
+lady that she thought there ought to be erected in all great cities
+temples to the Will, so as to encourage mankind to develop the
+divine faculty. It has since occurred to me that an equal number of
+school-houses, however humble, in which the art of mastering the Will
+by easy processes _seriatim_ should be taught, would be far more
+useful. Such a school-house is this work, and it is the hope of the
+author that all who enter, so to speak, or read it, will learn
+therefrom as much as he himself and others have done by studying its
+principles.
+
+To recapitulate or make clear in brief what I intend, I would say
+_Firstly_, that the advanced thinkers at this end of the century,
+weary of all the old indirect methods of teaching Morality, are
+beginning to enquire, since Duty is an indispensable condition,
+whether it is not just as well to do what is right, _because_ it is
+right, as for any other reason? _Secondly_, that this spirit of
+directness, the result of Evolution, is beginning to show itself in
+many other directions, as we may note by the great popularity of
+the answer to the question, "How not to worry," which is briefly,
+_Don't! Thirdly_, that enlightened by this spirit of scientific
+straightforwardness, man is ceasing to seek for mental truth by means
+of roundabout metaphysical or conventional ethical methods (based on
+old traditions and mysticism), and is looking directly in himself,
+or materially, for what Immaterialism or Idealism has really never
+explained at all--his discoveries having been within a few years much
+more valuable that all that _a priori_ philosophy or psychology ever
+yielded since the beginning. And, finally, that the leading faculties
+or powers of the mind, such as Will, Memory, the Constructive
+faculty, and all which are subject to them, instead of being entirely
+mysterious "gifts," or inspirations bestowed on only a very few to any
+liberal extent, are in all, and may be developed grandly and richly by
+direct methods which are moreover extremely easy, and which are in
+accordance with the spirit of the age, being the legitimate results of
+Evolution and Science.
+
+And, that I may not be misunderstood, I would say that the doctrine of
+Duty agrees perfectly with every form of religion--a man may be Roman
+Catholic, Church of England, Presbyterian, Agnostic, or what he will;
+and, if a form aids him in the least to be _sincerely honest_, it
+would be a pity for him to be without it. Truly there are degrees in
+forms, and where I live in Italy I am sorry to see so many abuses or
+errors in them. But to know and do what is right, when understood, is
+recognising God as nearly as man can know him, and to do this
+perfectly we require _Will_. It is the true _Logos_.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+ATTENTION AND INTEREST.
+
+    "To the fairies, Determination and Good-Will, all things are
+    possible."--_The Man of the Family, by_ C. REID.
+
+It happened recently to me, as I write, to see one afternoon lying on
+the side walk in the Via Calzaioli in Florence what I thought was a
+common iron screw, about three inches in length, which looked as if it
+had been dropped by some workman. And recalling the superstition that
+it is lucky to find such an object, or a nail, I picked it up, when to
+my astonishment I found that it was a silver pencil case, but made to
+exactly resemble a screw. Hundreds of people had, perhaps, seen it,
+thought they knew all about it, or what it was, and then passed it by,
+little suspecting its real value.
+
+There is an exact spiritual parallel for this incident or parable of
+the screw-pencil in innumerable ideas, at which well-nigh everybody in
+the hurrying stream of life has glanced, yet no one has ever examined,
+until someone with a poetic spirit of curiosity, or inspired by quaint
+superstition, pauses, picks one up, looks into it, and finds that It
+has ingenious use, and is far more than it appeared to be. Thus, if I
+declare that by special attention to a subject, earnestly turning it
+over and thinking deeply into it, very remarkable results may be
+produced, as regards result in knowledge, every human being will
+assent to it as the veriest truism ever uttered; in the fullest belief
+that he or she assuredly knows all _that_.
+
+Yet it was not until within a very few years that I discovered that
+this idea, which seemed so commonplace, had within it mysteries and
+meanings which were stupendously original or remarkable. I found that
+there was a certain intensity or power of attention, far surpassing
+ordinary observation, which we may, if we will, summon up and _force_
+on ourselves, just as we can by special effort see or hear far better
+at times than usually. The Romans show by such a phrase as _animum
+adjicere_, and numerous proverbs and synonyms, that they had learned
+to bend their attention energetically. They were good listeners,
+therefore keen observers.
+
+Learning to control or strengthen the Will is closely allied to
+developing Attention and Interest, and for reasons which will soon be
+apparent, I will first consider the latter, since they constitute a
+preparation or basis for the former. And as preliminary, I will
+consider the popular or common error to the effect that everyone has
+alloted to him or to her just so much of the faculty of attention or
+interest as it has pleased Nature to give--the same being true as
+regards Memory, Will, the Constructive or Artistic abilities, and so
+on--when in very truth and on the warrant of Experience all may be
+increased _ad infinitum_. Therefore, we find ignorant men complacently
+explaining their indifference to art and literature or culture on the
+ground that they take no interest in such subjects, as if interest
+were a special heaven-sent gift. Who has not heard the remark, "He or
+she takes such an _interest_ in so many things--I wish that I could."
+Or, as I heard it very recently expressed, "It must be delightful to
+be able to interest one's self in something at any time." Which was
+much the same as the expression of the Pennsylvania German girl, "_Ach
+Gott_! I wisht I hat genius und could make a pudden!"
+
+No one can be expected to take an interest at once and by mere will in
+any subject, but where an earnest and serious Attention has been
+directed to it, Interest soon follows. Hence it comes that those who
+deliberately train themselves in Society after the precept enforced by
+all great writers of social maxims to listen politely and patiently,
+are invariably rewarded by acquiring at last shrewd intelligence, as
+is well known to diplomatists. That mere stolid patience subdues
+impatience sounds like a dull common-place saying, but it is a silver
+pencil disguised as an iron screw; there is a deep subtlety hidden in
+it, if it be allowed with a little intelligence, _forethought_, and
+determination towards a purpose. Let us now consider the mechanical
+and easy processes by which attention may be awakened.
+
+According to ED. VON HARTMANN, Attention is either spontaneous or
+reflex. The voluntary fixing our mind upon, or choosing an idea,
+image, or subject, is _spontaneous attention_, but when the idea for
+some reason impresses itself upon us then we have enforced, or _reflex
+attention_. That is simply to say, there is active or passive
+observation--the things which we seek or which come to us unsought.
+And the "seeking for," or spontaneous action can be materially aided
+and made persevering, if before we begin the search or set about
+devoting Attention to anything, we pause, as it were, to determine or
+resolve that we _will_ be thorough, and not leave off until we shall
+have mastered it. For strange as it may seem, the doing this actually
+has in most cases a positive, and very often a remarkable result, as
+the reader may very easily verify for himself. This Forethought is far
+more easily awakened, or exerted, than Attention itself, but it
+prepares it, just as Attention prepares Interest.
+
+Attention is closely allied to Memory; when we would give attention to
+a subject for continued consideration, we must "memorize" it, or it
+will vanish. Involuntary memory excited by different causes often
+compels us to attend to many subjects whether we will or not. Everyone
+has been haunted with images or ideas even unto being tormented by
+them; there are many instances in which the Imagination has given them
+objective form, and they have appeared visibly to the patient. These
+haunting ideas, disagreeable repetitions or obstinate continuances,
+assume an incredible variety of forms, and enter in many strange ways
+into life. Monomania or the being possessed with one idea to the
+exclusion of others, is a form of overstrained attention, sustained by
+memory. It is _enforced_.
+
+Mere repetition of anything to almost anybody, will produce remarkable
+results; or a kind of Hypnotism Causing the patient to yield to what
+becomes an irresistible power. Thus it is said that perpetual dropping
+will wear away stones. Dr. JAMES R. COCKE in his "Hypnotism," in
+illustrating this, speaks of a man who did not want to sign a note, he
+knew that it was folly to do so, but yielded from having been "over
+persuaded." I have read a story in which a man was thus simply
+_talked_ into sacrificing his property. The great power latent in this
+form of suggestiveness is well known to knaves in America where it is
+most employed. This is the whole secret of the value of advertising.
+People yield to the mere repetition in time. Attention and Interest
+may in this way be self-induced from repetition.
+
+It is true that an image or idea may be often repeated to minds which
+do not think or reflect, without awakening attention; _per contra_,
+the least degree of thought in a vast majority of cases forms a
+nucleus, or beginning, which may easily be increased to an indefinite
+extent. A very little exercise of the Will suffices in most cases to
+fix the attention on a subject, and how this can be done will be shown
+in another chapter. But in many cases Attention is attracted with
+little or no voluntary effort. On this fact is based the truth that
+when or where it is desired, Attention and Interest may be awakened
+with great ease by a simple process.
+
+It may be remarked on the subject of repetition of images or ideas,
+that a vast proportion of senseless superstitions, traditions or
+customs, which no one can explain, originate in this way, and that in
+fact what we call _habit_ (which ranks as second nature) is only
+another form or result of involuntary attention and the unconsciously
+giving a place in the memory to what we have heard.
+
+From the simple fact that even a man of plain common-sense and strong
+will may be driven to sleeplessness, or well nigh to madness, by the
+haunting presence of some wretched trifle, some mere jingle or rhyme,
+or idle memory, we may infer that we have here a great power which
+_must_ in some way be capable of being led to great or useful results
+by some very easy process. I once wrote a sketch, never completed, in
+which I depicted a man of culture who, having lost an old manuscript
+book which he had regarded in a light, semi-incredulous manner as a
+_fetish_, or amulet, on which his luck depended, began to be seriously
+concerned, and awaking to the fact, deliberately cultivated his alarm
+as a psychological study, till he found himself, even with his eyes
+wide open as an observer in terrible fear, or a semi-monomaniac. The
+recovery of his lost charm at once relieved him. This was a diversion
+of Attention for a deliberate purpose, which might have been varied
+_ad infinitum_ to procure very useful results. But I have myself known
+a man in the United States, who, having lost--he being an actor or
+performer--a certain article of theatrical properties on which he
+believed "luck" depended, lost all heart and hope, and fell into a
+decline, from which he never recovered. In this, as in all such cases,
+it was not so much conviction or reason which influenced the sufferer
+as the mere effect of Attention often awakened till it had become what
+is known as a fixed idea.
+
+A deliberate reflection on what I have here advanced can hardly fail
+to make it clear to any reader that if he really desires to take an
+interest in any subject, it is possible to do so, because Nature has
+placed in every mind vast capacity for attention or fixing ideas, and
+where the Attention is fixed, Interest, by equally easy process, may
+always be induced to follow. And note that these preliminary
+preparations should invariably be as elementary and easy as possible,
+this being a condition which it is impossible to exaggerate. In a vast
+majority of cases people who would fain be known as taking an interest
+in Art begin at the wrong end, or in the most difficult manner
+possible, by running through galleries where they only acquire a
+superficial knowledge of results, and learn at best how to _talk_
+showily about what they have skimmed. Now to this end a good article
+in a cyclopaedia, or a small treatise like that of TAINE'S "AEsthetic"
+thoroughly read and re-read, till it be really mastered, and then
+verified by study of a very few good pictures in a single collection,
+will do more to awaken sincere _interest_ than the loose ranging
+through all the exhibitions in the world. I have read in many novels
+thrilling descriptions of the effect and results when all the glories
+of the Louvre or Vatican first burst upon some impassioned and
+unsophisticated youth, who from that moment found himself an Artist--
+but I still maintain that it would have been a hundred times better
+for him had his Attention and Interest been previously attracted to a
+few pictures, and his mind accustomed to reflect on them.
+
+Be the subject in which we would take an interest artistic or
+scientific, literary or social, the best way to begin herewith is to
+carefully read the simplest and easiest account of it which we can
+obtain, in order that we may know just exactly what it is, or its
+definition. And this done, let the student at once, while the memory
+is fresh in mind, follow it up by other research or reading,
+observations or inquiries, on the same subject, for three books read
+together on anything will profit more than a hundred at long
+intervals. In fact, a great deal of broken, irregular or disjointed
+reading is often as much worse than none at all, as a little coherent
+study is advantageous.
+
+Many people would very willingly take an interest in many subjects if
+they knew how. It is a melancholy thing to see a man retired from
+business with literally nothing to do but fritter away his time on
+nothings when he might be employed at something absorbing and useful.
+But they hesitate to _act_ because, as is the rule in life, they see
+everything from its most difficult and repulsive side. There is no man
+who could not easily take an intelligent interest in Art in some form,
+but I venture to say that a majority of even educated people who had
+never taken up the subject would be appalled at it in their secret
+hearts, or distrust its "use" or their own capacity to master it. Or
+again, many put no faith in easy manuals to begin with, believing, in
+their ignorance, that a mere collection of rudiments cannot have much
+in it. We are all surrounded by thousands of subjects in which we
+might all take an interest, and do good work, if we would, selecting
+one, give it a little attention, and by easy process proceed to learn
+it. As it is, in general society the man or woman who has any special
+pursuit, accomplishment, or real interest for leisure hours, beyond
+idle gossip and empty time-killing, is a great exception. And yet I
+sincerely believe that in perhaps a majority of cases there is a
+sincere desire to do something, which is killed by simple ignorance of
+the fact that with a very little trouble indeed interest in something
+is within the easy reach of all.
+
+I have dwelt on this subject that the reader may be induced to reflect
+on the fact, firstly, that if he wishes to learn how to develop his
+Will and strengthen it, it is absolutely necessary to take an
+_interest_ in it. I beg him to consider how this art of acquiring
+attention and interest has been, or is, obscured in most minds, and
+the difficulties of acquiring it, exaggerated. Secondly, I would point
+out that the method of process for making a Will is so closely allied
+to that laid down for Attention that it will seem like a deduction
+from it, both being allied to what may claim to be an original Art of
+Memory, to which I shall devote a chapter in its due place.
+
+For as I hope clearly to prove it is an easy matter to create a strong
+will, or strengthen that which we have, to a marvelous extent, yet he
+who would do this must first give his _Attention_ firmly and fixedly
+to his intent or want, for which purpose it is absolutely necessary
+that he shall first _know his own mind regarding what he means to do_,
+and therefore meditate upon it, not dreamily, or vaguely, but
+earnestly. And this done he must assure himself that he takes a real
+interest in the subject, since if such be the case I may declare that
+his success is well nigh certain.
+
+And here it may be observed that if beginners, _before_ taking up
+any pursuit, would calmly and deliberately consider the virtues of
+Attention and Interest, and how to acquire them, or bring them to bear
+on the proposed study or work, we should hear much less of those who
+had "begun German" without learning it, or who failed in any other
+attempt. For there would in very truth be few failures in life if
+those who undertake anything first gave to it long and careful
+consideration by leading observation into every detail, and, in fact,
+becoming familiar with the idea, and not trusting to acquire interest
+and perseverance in the future. Nine-tenths of the difficulty and
+doubt or ill-at-easeness which beginners experience, giving them the
+frightened feeling of "a cat in a strange garret," and which often
+inspires them to retreat, is due entirely to not having begun by
+training the Attention or awakened an Interest in the subject.
+
+It has often seemed to me that the reason for failure, or the ultimate
+failing to attain success, in a vast number of "Faith cures," is
+simply because the people who seek them, being generally of a gushing,
+imaginative nature, are lacking in deep reflection, application, or
+earnest attention. They are quick to take hold, and as quick to let
+go. Therefore, they are of all others the least likely to seriously
+reflect _beforehand_ on the necessity of preparing the mind to
+patience and application. Now it seems a simple thing to say, and it
+is therefore all the harder to understand, that before going to work
+at anything which will require perseverance and repeated effort we can
+facilitate the result amazingly by thinking over and anticipating it,
+so that when the weariness comes it will not be as a discouraging
+novelty, but as something of course, even as a fisherman accepts his
+wet feet, or the mosquitoes. But how this disposition to grow weary of
+work or to become inattentive may be literally and very completely
+conjured away will be more fully explained in another chapter. For
+this let it suffice to say that earnest _forethought_, and the more of
+it the better, bestowed on aught which we intend to undertake, is a
+thing rarely attempted in the real sense in which I mean it, but
+which, when given, eases every burden and lightens every toil.
+
+Mere _forethought_ repeated is the easiest of mental efforts. Yet even
+a little of it asserted before undertaking a task will wonderfully
+facilitate the work.
+
+"Hypnotism," says Dr. JAMES R. COCKE, "can be used to train the
+attention of persons habitually inattentive." But, in fact,
+forethinking in any way is the minor or initiatory stage of
+Suggestion. Both are gradual persuasion of the nervous system into
+habit.
+
+And on this text a marvelous sermon could be preached, which, if
+understood, would sink deeply into every heart, inspiring some while
+alarming others, but greatly cheering the brave. And it is this.
+There are millions of people who suffer from irritability, want of
+self-control, loquacity, evil in many forms, or nerves, who would fain
+control themselves and stop it all. Moralists think that for this it
+is enough to convince their reason. But this rarely avails. A man may
+_know_ that he is wrong, yet _not_ be able to reform. Now, what he
+wants is to have his attention fixed long enough to form a new habit.
+Find out how this can be done, and it may in many cases be the
+simplest and most mechanical thing in the world to cure him. Men have
+been frightened by a scarecrow into thorough repentance. "A question
+of a few vibrations of ether, more or less, makes for us all the
+difference between perception and non-perception," or between sight
+and blindness. Accustom any such moral invalid to being Suggested or
+willed a few times into a calm, self-controlled state and the habit
+may be formed.
+
+And to those who doubt, and perhaps would sneer, I have only to say
+_try it_. It will do them good.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+SELF-SUGGESTION.
+
+    "In thy soul, as in a sleep,
+    Gods or fiends are hidden deep,
+    Awful forms of mystery,
+    And spirits, all unknown to thee:
+    Guard with prayer, and heed with care,
+    Ere thou wak'st them from their lair!"
+
+The records of the human race, however written, show that Man has
+always regarded himself as possessed of latent faculties, or
+capacities of a mysterious or extraordinary nature: that is to say,
+transcending in scope or power anything within the range of ordinary
+conscious mental capacity. Such for example is the Dream, in which
+there occurs such a mingling of madness with mysterious intuitions or
+memories that it is no wonder it has always been regarded as allied to
+supernatural intelligence. And almost as general as the faith in
+dreams as being _weird_ (in the true sense of the much-abused word) or
+"strangely prophetic," is that in _fascination_, or that one human
+being can exercise over another by a mystic will and power a strong
+influence, even to the making the patient do whatever the actor or
+superior requires.
+
+However interesting it may be, it is quite needless for the purpose
+which I have in view to sketch the history of occultism, magic or
+sorcery from the earliest times to the present day. Fascination was,
+however, its principal power, and this was closely allied to, or the
+parent of, what is now known as Suggestion in Hypnotism. But ancient
+magic in its later days certainly became very much mixed with
+magnetism in many phases, and it is as an off-shoot of Animal
+Magnetism that Hypnotism is now regarded, which is to be regretted,
+since it is in reality radically different from it, as several of the
+later writers of the subject are beginning to protest. The definition
+and differences of the two are as follows: Animal Magnetism, first
+formulized by ANTON MESMER from a mass of more or less confused
+observations by earlier writers, was the doctrine that there is a
+magnetic fluid circulating in all created forms, capable of flux and
+reflux, which is specially active or potent in the human body. Its
+action may be concentrated or increased by the human will, so as to
+work wonders, one of which is to cause a person who is magnetized by
+another to obey the operator, this obedience being manifested in many
+very strange ways.
+
+Still there were thousands of physiologists or men of science who
+doubted the theory of the action or existence of Animal Magnetism, and
+the vital fluid, as declared by the Mesmerists, and they especially
+distrusted the marvels narrated of clairvoyance, which was too like
+the thaumaturgy or wonder-working attributed to the earlier magicians.
+Finally, the English scientist, BRAID, determined that it was not a
+magnetic fluid which produced the recognized results, "but that they
+were of purely subjective origin, depending on the nervous system of
+the one acted on." That is to say, in ordinary language, it was "all
+imagination"--but here, as in many other cases, a very comprehensive
+and apparently common-sensible word is very far from giving an
+adequate or correct idea of the matter in question--for what the
+imagination itself really is in this relation is a mystery which is
+very difficult to solve. I have heard of an old French gentleman
+who, when in a circus, expressed an opinion that there was nothing
+remarkable in the wonderful performances of an acrobat on a
+tight-rope, or trapeze. "_Voyez-vous monsieur_" he exclaimed;
+"_Ce n'est que la mathematique--rien que ca_!" And only the
+Imagination--"all your Imagination" is still the universal solvent in
+Philistia for all such problems.
+
+Hypnotism reduced to its simplest principle is, like the old
+Fascination, the action of mind upon mind, or of a _mind upon itself_,
+in such a manner as to produce a definite belief, action, or result.
+It is generally effected by first causing a sleep, as is done in
+animal magnetism, during which the subject implicitly obeys the will
+of the operator, or performs whatever he suggests. Hence arose the
+term Suggestion, implying that what the patient takes into his head to
+do, or does, must first be submitted to his own mental action.
+
+Very remarkable results are thus achieved. If the operator, having put
+a subject to sleep (which he can do in most cases, if he be clever,
+and the experiments are renewed often enough), will say or suggest to
+him that on the next day, or the one following, or, in fact, any
+determined time, he shall visit a certain friend, or dance a jig, or
+wear a given suit of clothes, or the like, he will, when the hypnotic
+sleep is over, have forgotten all about it. But when the hour
+indicated for his call or dance, or change of garment arrives, he will
+be haunted by such an irresistible feeling that he _must_ do it; that
+in most cases it will infallibly be done. It is no exaggeration to say
+that this has been experimented on, tested and tried thousands of
+times with success and incredible ingenuity in all kinds of forms and
+devices. It would seem as if spontaneous attention went to sleep, but,
+like an alarm clock, awoke at the fixed hour, and then _reflex_
+action.
+
+Again--and this constitutes the chief subject of all I here discuss--
+we can _suggest_ to ourselves so as to produce the same results. It
+seems to be a curious law of Nature that if we put an image or idea
+into our minds with the preconceived determination or intent that it
+shall recur or return at a certain time, or in a certain way, after
+sleeping, it will _do so_. And here I beg the reader to recall what I
+said regarding the resolving to begin any task, that it can be greatly
+aided by even a brief pre-determination. In all cases it is a kind of
+self-suggestion. There would seem to be some magic virtue in sleep, as
+if it preserved and ripened our wishes, hence the injunction in the
+proverbs of all languages to sleep over a resolve, or subject--and
+that "night brings counsel."
+
+It is not necessary that this sleep shall be _hypnotic_, or what is
+called hypnotic slumber, since, according to very good authorities,
+there is grave doubt as to whether the so-called condition is a sleep
+at all. _Hypnotism_ is at any rate a suspension of the faculties,
+resembling sleep, caused by the will and act of the operator. He
+effects this by fixing the eyes on the patient, making passes as in
+Mesmerism, giving a glass of water, or simply commanding sleep. And
+this, as Dr. COCKE has experienced and described, can be produced to a
+degree by anyone on himself. But as I have verified by experiment, if
+we, after retiring to rest at night, will calmly yet firmly resolve to
+do something on the following day, or be as much as possible in a
+certain state of mind, and if we then fall into ordinary natural
+sleep, just as usual, we may on waking have forgotten all about it,
+yet will none the less feel the impulse and carry out the
+determination.
+
+What gives authority for this assertion, for which I am indebted
+originally to no suggestion or reading, is the statement found in
+several authorities that a man can "hypnotize" another without putting
+him to sleep; that is, make him unconsciously follow suggestion.
+
+I had read in works on hypnotism of an endless number of experiments,
+how patients were made to believe that they were monkeys or madmen, or
+umbrellas, or criminals, women or men, _a volonte_, but in few of them
+did I find that it had ever occurred to anybody to turn this wonderful
+power of developing the intellect to any permanent benefit, or to
+increasing the moral sense. Then it came to my mind since
+Self-Suggestion was possible that if I would resolve to work _all_ the
+next day; that is, apply myself to literary or artistic labor without
+once feeling fatigue, and succeed, it would be a marvelous thing for
+a man of my age. And so it befell that by making an easy beginning I
+brought it to pass to perfection. What I mean by an easy beginning
+is not to will or resolve _too_ vehemently, but to simply and very
+gently, yet assiduously, impress the idea on the mind _so as to fall
+asleep while thinking of it as a thing to be_. My next step was to
+_will_ that I should, all the next  day, be free from any nervous or
+mental worry, or preserve a hopeful, calm, or well-balanced state of
+mind. This led to many minute and extremely curious experiences and
+observations. That the imperturbable or calm state of mind promptly
+set in was undeniable, but it often behaved, like the Angel in H. G.
+Wells' novel, "The Wonderful Visit," as if somewhat frightened at, or
+of, with, or by its new abode, and no wonder, for it was indeed a
+novel guest, and the goblins of "Worry and Tease, Fidget and Fear,"
+who had hitherto been allowed to riot about and come and go at their
+own sweet mischievous wills, were ill-pleased at being made to keep
+quiet by this new lady of the manor. And indeed no mere state of
+mind, however well maintained, can resist everything, and the
+mildest mannered man may cut a throat under great provocation. I
+had my lapses, but withal I was simply astonished to find how, by
+perseverance, habitual calm not only grew on me, but how decidedly it
+increased. I most assuredly have experienced it to such a degree as to
+marvel that the method is not more employed as a cure for nervous
+suffering and insomnia.
+
+But far beyond perseverance in labor, or the inducing a calmer and
+habitually restful state of mind, was the Awakening of the Will, which
+I found as interesting as any novel or drama, or series of active
+adventures which I have ever read or experienced. I can remember when
+most deeply engaged in it, re-reading DE QUINCEY'S "Confessions of an
+Opium Eater." I took it by chance on my birthday, August 15, which was
+also his, and as I read I longed from my very heart that he were
+alive, that I might consult with him on the marvelous Fairyland which
+it seemed to me had been discovered--and then I remembered how Dr.
+TUCKEY, the leading English hypnotist, had once told me how easy it
+was for his science to completely cure the mania for opium and other
+vices.
+
+And this is the discovery: Resolve before going to sleep that if there
+be anything whatever for you to do which requires Will or Resolution,
+be it to undertake repulsive or hard work or duty, to face a
+disagreeable person, to fast, or make a speech, to say "No" to
+anything; in short, to keep up to the mark or make any kind of effort
+that _you_ WILL _do it_--as calmly and unthinkingly as may be. Do not
+desire to do it sternly or forcibly, or in spite of obstacles--but
+simply and coolly make up your mind to _do it_--and it will much more
+likely be done. And it is absolutely true--_crede experto_--that if
+persevered in, this willing yourself to will by easy impulse unto
+impulse given, will lead to marvelous and most satisfactory results.
+
+There is one thing of which the young or oversanguine or heedless
+should be warned. Do not expect from self-suggestion, nor anything
+else in this life, prompt perfection, or the _maximum_ of success. You
+may pre-determine to be cheerful, but if you are very susceptible to
+bad weather, and the day should be dismal, or you should hear of the
+death of a friend, or a great disaster of any kind, some depression of
+spirits _must_ ensue. On the other hand, note well that forming habit
+by frequent repetition of willing yourself to equanimity and
+cheerfulness, and also to the banishing of repulsive images when they
+come, will infallibly result in a very much happier state of mind. As
+soon as you actually begin to realize that you are acquiring such
+control remember that is the golden hour--and redouble your efforts.
+_Perseverando vinces_.
+
+I have, I trust, thus far in a few words explained to the reader the
+rationale of a system of mental discipline based on the will, and how
+by a very easy process the latter may, like Attention and Interest, be
+gradually awakened. As I have before declared, everyone would like to
+have a strong or vigorous will, and there is a library of books or
+sermons in some form, exhorting the weak to awaken and fortify their
+wills or characters, but all represent it as a hard and vigorous
+process, akin to "storm and stress," battle and victory, and none
+really tell us how to go about it. I have indeed only indicated that
+it is by self-suggestion that the first steps are taken. Let us now
+consider the early beginning of the art or science ere discussing
+further developments.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+WILL DEVELOPMENT.
+
+    "Ce domaine de la Suggestion est immense. Il n'y a pas un
+    seul fait de notre vie mentale qui ne puisse etre reproduit et
+    exagere artificiellement par ce moyen."--_Binet et Frere, Le
+    Magnetisme Animal_.
+
+Omitting the many vague indications in earlier writers, as well as
+those drawn from ancient Oriental sources, we may note that
+POMPONATIUS or POMPONAZZO, an Italian, born in 1462, declared in a
+work entitled _De naturalium effectuum admirandorum Causis seu de
+Incantationibus_, that to cure disease it was necessary to use a
+strong will, and that the patient should have a vigorous imagination
+and much faith in the _prae cantator_. PARACELSUS asserted the same
+thing in many passages directly and indirectly. He regarded medicine
+as magic and the physician as a wizard who should by a powerful will
+act on the imagination of the patient. But from some familiarity with
+the works of PARACELSUS--the first folio of the first full edition is
+before me as I write--I would say that it would be hard to declare
+what his marvelous mind did _not_ anticipate in whatever was allied to
+medicine and natural philosophy. Thus I have found that long before
+VAN HELMONT, who has the credit of the discovery, PARACELSUS knew how
+to prepare silicate of soda, or water-glass.
+
+Hypnotism as practiced at the present day, and with regard to its
+common results, was familiar to JOHANN JOSEPH GASSNER, a priest in
+Suabia, of whom LOUIS FIGUIER writes as follows in his _Histoire du
+Merveilleux dans les Temps Modernes_, published in 1860:
+
+"GASSNER, like the Englishman VALENTINE GREAT-RAKES, believed himself
+called by divine inspiration to cure diseases. According to the
+precept of proper charity he began at home--that is to say on himself.
+After being an invalid for five or six years, and consulting, all in
+vain, many doctors, and taking their remedies all for naught, the idea
+seized him that such an obstinate malady as his must have some
+supernatural evil origin, or in other words, that he was possessed by
+a demon.
+
+"Therefore he conjured this devil of a disorder, in the name of Jesus
+Christ to leave him--so it left, and the good GASSNER has put it on
+record that for sixteen years after he enjoyed perfect health and
+never had occasion for any remedy, spiritual or otherwise.
+
+"This success made him reflect whether all maladies could not be cured
+by exorcism . . . The experiment which he tried on the invalids of his
+parish were so successful that his renown soon opened through all
+Suabia, and the regions roundabout. Then he began to travel, being
+called for everywhere."
+
+GASSNER was so successful that at Ratisbon he had, it is said, 6,000
+patients of all ranks encamped in tents. He cured by simply touching
+with his hands. But that in which he appears original was that he not
+only made his patients sleep or become insensible by ordering them to
+do so but caused them to raise their arms and legs, tremble, feel any
+kind of pain, as is now done by the hypnotist. "'In a young lady of
+good family' he caused laughter and weeping, stiffness of the limbs,
+absence of sight and hearing, and _anaesthesia_ so as to make the pulse
+beat at his will."
+
+M. FIGUIER and others do not seem to have been aware that a century
+before GASSNER, a PIETRO PIPERNO of Naples published a book in which
+there was a special exorcism or conjurations, as he calls them, for
+every known disorder, and that this possibly gave the hint for a
+system of cure to the Suabian. I have a copy of this work, which is
+extremely rare, it having been put on the Roman prohibited list, and
+otherwise suppressed. But GASSNER himself was suppressed ere long,
+because the Emperor, Joseph II, cloistered--that is to say, imprisoned
+him for life in the Monastery of Pondorf, near Ratisbon. One must not
+be too good or Apostle-like or curative--even in the Church, which
+discourages _trop de zele_.
+
+But the general accounts of GASSNER give the impression, which has not
+been justly conveyed, that he owed his remarkable success in curing
+himself and others not to any kind of theory nor faith in magnetism,
+or in religion, so much as unconscious suggestion, aided by a powerful
+Will which increased with successes. To simply _pray_ to be cured of
+an illness, or even to be cured by prayer, was certainly no novelty to
+any Catholic or Protestant in those days. The very nature of his
+experiments in making many people perform the same feats which are now
+repeated by hypnotizers, and which formed no part of a religious cure,
+indicate clearly that he was an observer of strange phenomena or a
+natural philosopher. I have seen myself an Egyptian juggler in Boulak
+perform many of these as professed _tricks_, and I do not think it was
+from any imitation of French clairvoyance. He also pretended that it
+was by an exertion of his Will, aided by magic forms which he read
+from a book, that he made two boys obey him. It was probably for these
+tricks which savored of magic that GASSNER was "retired."
+
+Having in the previous pages indicated the general method by which
+Will may be awakened and strengthened, that the reader may as soon as
+possible understand the simple principle of action, I will now discuss
+more fully the important topic of influencing and improving our
+mental powers by easily induced Attention, or attention guided by
+simple Foresight, and pre-resolution aided by simple _auto_ or
+self-suggestion. And I believe, with reason, that by these very simple
+processes (which have not hitherto been tested that I am aware of by
+any writer in the light in which I view them); the Will, which is the
+power of all powers and the mainspring of the mind, can be by means of
+persuasion increased or strengthened _ad infinitum_.
+
+It is evident that GASSNER'S method partakes in equal proportions
+of the principles of the well-known "Faith Cure," and that of the
+Will, or of the passive and the active. What is wanting in it is
+self-knowledge and the very easily awakened _forethought_ which, when
+continued, leads to far greater and much more certain results.
+Forethought costs little exertion: it is so calmly active that the
+weakest minds can employ it; but wisely employed it can set tremendous
+force in action.
+
+As regards GASSNER, it is admissible that many more cures of disease
+can be effected by what some vaguely call the Imagination, and others
+Mental Action, than is generally supposed. Science now proves every
+year, more and more, that diseases are allied, and that they can be
+reached through the nervous system. In the celebrated correspondence
+between KANT and HUFELAND there is almost a proof that incipient gout
+can be cured by will or determination. But if a merely temporary or
+partial cure can _really_ be obtained, or a cessation from suffering,
+if the ill be really _curable_ at all, it is but reasonable to assume
+that by continuing the remedy or system, the relief will or must
+correspond to the degree of "faith" in the patient. And this would
+infallibly be the case if the sufferer _had_ the will. But
+unfortunately the very people who are most frequently relieved are
+those of the impulsive imaginative kind, who "soon take hold and soon
+let go," or who are merely attracted by a sense of wonder which soon
+loses its charm, and so they react.
+
+Therefore if we cannot only awaken the Will, but also keep it alive,
+it is very possible that we may not only effect great and thorough
+cures of diseases, but also induce whatever state of mind we please.
+This may be effected by the action of the minds or wills of others on
+our own, which influence can be gradually transferred from the
+operator to the patient himself, as when in teaching a boy to swim the
+master holds the pupil up until the latter finds that he is
+unconsciously moving by his own exertion.
+
+What the fickle and "nervous" patients of any kind need is to have the
+idea kept before their minds continuously. They generally rush into a
+novelty without Forethought. Therefore they should be trained or urged
+to forethink or reflect seriously and often on the cure or process
+proposed. This is the setting of the nail, which is to be driven in by
+suggestion. The other method is where we act entirely for ourselves
+both as regards previous preparation and subsequent training.
+
+I here repeat, since the whole object of the book is that certain
+facts shall be deeply and _clearly_ impressed on the reader's mind,
+that if we _will_ that a certain idea shall recur to us on the
+following, or any other day, and if we bring the mind to bear upon it
+just before falling asleep, it may be forgotten when we awake, but it
+will recur to us when the time comes. This is what almost everybody
+has proved, that if we resolve to awake at a certain hour we generally
+do so; if not the first time, after a few experiments, _apropos_ of
+which I would remark that "no one should ever expect full success from
+any first experiment."
+
+Now it is certainly true that we all remember or recall certain things
+to be done at certain hours, even if we have a hundred other thoughts
+in the interval. But it would seem as if by some law which we do not
+understand Sleep or repose acted as a preserver and reviver, nay, as a
+real strengthener of Thoughts, inspiring them with a new spirit. It
+would seem, too, as if they came out of Dreamland, as the children in
+TIECK'S story did out of Fairyland, with new lives. This is, indeed, a
+beautiful conception, and I may remark that I will in another place
+comment on the curious fact that we can add to and intensify ideas by
+thus passing them through our minds in sleep.
+
+Just by the same process as that which enables us to awake at a given
+hour, and simply by substituting other ideas for that of time, can we
+acquire the ability to bring upon ourselves pre-determined or desired
+states of mind. This is Self-Suggestion or deferred determination, be
+it with or without sleep. It becomes more certain in its result with
+every new experiment or trial. The great factor in the whole is
+perseverance or repetition. By faith we can remove mountains, by
+perseverance we can carry them away, and the two amount to precisely
+the same thing.
+
+And here be it noted what, I believe, no writer has ever before
+observed, that as perseverance depends on renewed forethought and
+reflection, so by continued practice and thought, in self-suggestion,
+the one practicing begins to find before long that his conscious will
+is acting more vigorously in his waking hours, and that he can finally
+dispense with the sleeping process.  For, in fact, when we once find
+that our will is really beginning to obey us, and inspire courage or
+indifference where we were once timid, there is no end to the
+confidence and power which may ensue.
+
+Now this is absolutely true. A man may _will_ certain things ere he
+falls asleep. This willing should not be _intense_, as the old animal
+magnetizers taught; it ought rather to be like a quiet, firm desire or
+familiarization with what we want, often gently repeated till we fall
+asleep in it. So the seeker wills or wishes that he shall, during all
+the next day, feel strong and vigorous, hopeful, energetic, cheerful,
+bold or calm or peaceful. And the result will be obtained just in
+proportion to the degree in which the command or desire has impressed
+the mind, or sunk into it.
+
+But, as I have said: Do not expect that all of this will result from a
+first trial. It may even be that those who succeed very promptly will
+be more likely to give out in the end than those who work up from
+small beginnings. The first step may very well be that of merely
+selecting some particular object and calmly or gently, yet
+determinedly directing the mind to it, to be recalled at a certain
+hoar. Repeat the experiment, if successful add to it something else.
+Violent effort is unadvisable, yet mere repetition _without thought_
+is time lost. _Think_ while willing what it is you want, _and above
+all, if you can, think with a feeling that the idea is to recur to
+you_.
+
+This acting or working two thoughts at once may be difficult for some
+readers to understand, though all writers on the brain illustrate it.
+It may be formulated thus: "I wish to remember tomorrow at four
+o'clock to visit my bookseller--bookseller's--four o'clock--four
+o'clock." But with practice the two will become as one conception.
+
+When the object of a state of mind, as, for instance, calmness all day
+long, is obtained, even partially, the operator (who must, of course,
+do all to _help himself_ to keep calm, should he remember his wish)
+will begin to believe in himself sincerely, or in the power of his
+will to compel a certain state of mind. This won, all may be won, by
+continued reflection and perseverance. It is the great step gained,
+the alphabet learned, by which the mind may pass to boundless power.
+
+It may be here interesting to consider some of the states of mind into
+which a person may be brought by hypnotism. When subject to the will
+of an operator the patient may believe anything--that he is a mouse or
+a girl, drunk or inspired. The same may result from self-hypnotism by
+artificial methods which appeal powerfully to the imagination.
+According to Dr. JAMES R. COCKE many of his patients could induce this
+by looking at any bright object, a bed of coals, or at smooth running
+water. It is, of course, to be understood that it is not merely by
+_looking_ that hypnotism is induced. There must be will or determinate
+thought; but when once brought about it is easily repeated.
+
+"They have the ability," writes Dr. COCKE, "to resist this state or
+bring it on at will. Many of them describe beautiful scenes from
+Nature, or some mighty cathedral with its lofty dome, or the
+faces of imaginary beings." This writer's own first experience of
+self-hypnotism was very remarkable. He had been told by a hypnotizer
+to keep the number twenty-six in his mind. He did so, and after
+hearing a ringing in his ears and then a strange roaring he felt that
+spirits were all round him--music sounding and a sensation as of
+expanding.
+
+But self-hypnotizing, by the simple easy process of trusting to
+ordinary sleep, is better adapted to action delayed, or states of
+mind. These may be:
+
+_A desire to be at peace or perfectly calm_. After a few repetitions
+it will be found that, though irritating accidents may countervene,
+the mind will recur more and more to calm.
+
+_To feel cheerful or merry_.
+
+_To be in a brave, courageous, hearty or vigorous mood_.
+
+_To work hard without feeling weary_. This I have fully tested with
+success, and especially mention it for the benefit of students. All of
+my intimate friends can certify what I here assert.
+
+_To keep the faculty of quickness of perception alert_, as, for
+instance, when going out to perceive more than usual in a crowd. A
+botanist or mineralogist may awaken the faculty with the hope of
+observing or finding with success.
+
+_To be susceptible to beauty_, as, for instance, when visiting a scene
+or gallery. In such cases it means to derive Attention from Will. The
+habitually trained Forethought or Attention is here a _great_ aid to
+perception.
+
+_To read or study keenly and observantly_. This is a faculty which can
+be very much aided by forethought and self-suggestion.
+
+_To forgive and forget enemies and injuries_. Allied to it is the
+forgetting and ignoring of all things which annoy, vex, harrass, tease
+or worry us in any way whatever. To expect perfect immunity in this
+respect from the unavoidable ills of life is absurd; but having paid
+great attention to the subject, and experimented largely on it, I
+cannot resist declaring that it seems to me in very truth that no
+remedy for earthly suffering was yet discovered equal to this. I
+generally put the wish into this form: "I will forget and forgive all
+causes of enmity and anger, and should they arise I determine at once
+to cast them aside." It is a prayer, as it were, to the Will to stand
+by me, and truly the will is _Deus in nobis_ to those who believe that
+God helps those who help themselves. For as we can get into the
+fearful state of constantly recalling all who have ever vexed or
+wronged us, or nursing the memory of what we hate or despise, until
+our minds are like sewers or charnel-houses of dead and poisonous
+things, so we can resolutely banish them, at first by forethought,
+then by suggestion, and finally by waking will. And verily there are
+few people living who would not be the better for such exercise. Many
+there are who say that they would fain forget and be serene, yet
+cannot. I do not believe this. We can all exorcise our devils--all of
+them--if we _will_.
+
+_To restrain irritability in our intercourse with others_. It will not
+be quite sufficient as regards controlling the temper to merely will,
+or _wish_ to subdue it. We must also will that when the temptation
+arises it may be preceded by forethought or followed by regret. As it
+often happens to a young soldier to be frightened or run away the
+first time he is under fire, and yet learn courage in the future, so
+the aspirant resolved to master his passions must not doubt because he
+finds that the first step slips. _Apropos_ of which I would note that
+in all the books on Hypnotism that I have read their authors testify
+to a certain false quantity or amount of base alloy in the most
+thoroughly suggested patients. Something of modesty, something of a
+moral conscience always remains. Thus, as Dr. COCKE declares,
+Hypnotism has not succeeded in cases suffering from what are called
+imperative conceptions, or irresistible belief. "Cases suffering from
+various imperative conceptions are, while possessing their reasons,
+either irresistibly led by certain impulses or they cannot rid
+themselves of erroneous ideas concerning themselves and others." This
+means, in fact, that they had been previously _hypnotised_ to a
+definite conception which had become imperative. As in Witchcraft, it
+is a law that one sorcerer cannot undo the work of another without
+extraordinary pains; so in hypnotism it is hard to undo what is
+already established by a similar agent.
+
+_One can will to remember or recall anything forgotten_. I will not be
+responsible that this will invariably succeed at the first time, but
+that it does often follow continued determination I know from
+experience. I believe that where an operator hypnotizes a subject it
+very often succeeds, if we may believe the instances recorded. And
+I am also inclined to believe that in many cases, though assuredly
+not in all, whatever is effected by one person upon another can
+also be brought about in one's self by patience in forethought,
+self-suggestion, and the continued will which they awaken.
+
+_We can revive by this process old well-nigh forgotten trains of
+thought_. This is difficult but possible. It belongs to an advanced
+stage of experience or may be found in very susceptible subjects. I do
+not belong at all to the latter, but I have perfectly succeeded in
+continuing a dream; that is to say, I have woke up three times during
+a dream, and, being pleased with it, wished it to go on, then fallen
+asleep and it went on, like three successive chapters in a novel.
+
+_We can subdue the habit of worrying ourselves and others needlessly
+about every trifling or serious cause of irritation which enters
+our minds_. There are many people who from a mere idle habit or
+self-indulgence and irrepressible loquacity make their own lives and
+those of others very miserable--as all my readers can confirm from
+experience. I once knew a man of great fortune, with many depending on
+him, who vented his ill-temper and petty annoyances on almost everyone
+to whom he spoke. He was so fully aware of this failing that he at
+once, in confessing it to a mutual friend, shed tears of regret. Yet
+he was a millionaire man of business, and had a strong will which
+might have been directed to a cure. All peevish, fretful and
+talkative, or even complaining people, should be induced to seriously
+study this subject.
+
+_We can cure ourselves of the habit of profanity or using vulgar
+language_. No one doubts that a negro who believes in sorcery, if told
+that if he uttered an oath, _Voodoo_ would fall upon him and cause him
+to waste away, would never swear again. Or that a South Sea Islander
+would not do the same for fear of _taboo_. Now both these forms of
+sorcery are really hypnotizing by action on belief, and Forethought
+aided by the sleep process has precisely the same result--it
+establishes a fixed idea in the mind, or a haunting presence.
+
+_We can cure ourselves of intemperance_. This was, I believe, first
+established or extensively experimented on by Dr. CHARLES LLOYD
+TUCKEY. This can be aided by willing that the liquor, if drunk, shall
+be nauseating.
+
+_We can repress to a remarkable degree the sensations of fatigue,
+hunger and thirst_. Truly no man can defy the laws of nature, but it
+is very certain that in cases like that of Dr. TANNER, and the Hindu
+ascetics who were boxed up and buried for many weeks, there must have
+been mental determination as well as physical endurance. As regards
+this very important subject of health, or the body, and the degree to
+which it can be controlled by the mind or will, it is to be observed
+that of late years physiologists are beginning to observe that all
+"mental" or corporeal functions are evidently controlled by the same
+laws or belong to the same organization. If "the emotions, say of
+anger or love, in their more emphatic forms, are plainly accompanied
+by varying changes of the heart and blood-vessels, the viscera and
+muscles," it must follow that changes or excitement in the physical
+organs must react on the emotions. "All modes of sensibility, whatever
+their origin," says LUYS, "are physiologically transported into the
+sensorium. From fiber to fiber, from sensitive element to sensitive
+element, our whole organism is sensitive; our whole sentient
+personality, in fact, is conducted just as it exists, into the
+plexuses of the _sensorium commune_." Therefore, if every sensation in
+the body acts on the brain by the aid of secondary brains or
+ganglions, it must be that the brain in turn can in some way act on
+the body. And this has hitherto been achieved or attempted by
+magicians, "miracle-mongers," thaumaturgists, mesmerists, and the
+like, and by the modern hypnotizer, in which we may observe that there
+has been at every step less and less mysticism or supernaturalism, and
+a far easier process or way of working. And I believe it may be fairly
+admitted that in this work I have simplified the process of physically
+influencing mental action and rendered it easier. The result from the
+above conclusions being that _we can control many disorders or forms
+of disease_. This is an immense subject, and it would be impossible
+within a brief sketch to determine its limits or conditions. That what
+are called nervous disorders, which are evidently the most nearly
+allied to emotions--as, for instance, a headache, or other trouble
+induced by grief--can be removed by joy, or some counteracting emotion
+or mere faith is very well known and generally believed. But of late
+science has established that the affinities between the cerebral and
+other functions are so intimately, extensively and strangely
+sympathetic or identical that it is becoming impossible to say what
+disease may not be temporarily alleviated or cured by new discoveries
+in directing the nervo-mental power or will. The Faith-Cure, Magic,
+Mesmerism, Religious Thaumaturgy and other systems have given us a
+vast number of authentic cures of very positive disorders. But from
+the point of view taken by many people what has been wanting in all
+is, _firstly_, a clear and simple scientific method free from all
+spiritualism or wonder, and, _secondly_, the art of _Perfecting the
+cures by Perseverance_. For what will relieve for an hour can be made
+to cure forever, if we exercise foresight and make perpetuity a part
+of our whole plan.
+
+Now, as regards curing disorders, I beg the reader to specially
+observe that this, like many other works, depends on the state of the
+mind; nor can it be undertaken with hope of success unless the
+operator has by previous practice in easy experiments succeeded in
+perfectly convincing himself that he has acquired control of his will.
+Thus having succeeded in willing himself to work all day without
+fatigue, or to pass the day without being irritable, let him begin to
+consider, reflect and realize that he _can_ make himself do this or
+that, for the more he simply induces the belief and makes himself
+familiar with it, the stronger and more obedient his Will will be.
+However, this is simply true that to any self-suggestionist whatever
+who has had some little practice and attained to even a moderate
+command over his will, a very great degree of the power to relieve
+bodily suffering is easy to develop, and it may be increased by
+practice to an incredible extent. Thus in case of suffering by pain of
+any kind in another, begin by calmly persuading him or her that relief
+has been obtained thousands of times by the process, and endeavor to
+awaken belief, or, at least, so much attention and interest that the
+fact will remain as _forethought_ in the mind. The next step should be
+to promise relief, and then induce sleep by the showing a coin, passes
+with the hands, etc., or allowing the subject to sink into a natural
+slumber. If there be no success the first time, repeat the experiment.
+Gout, headaches, all forms of positive pain, severe colds, _anaemia,
+insomnia, melancholia_, and dyspepsia appear to be among the ills
+which yield most readily to, or are alleviated (to the great
+assistance of a regular cure), by suggestion.
+
+As regards curing disorders, producing insensibility to hunger and
+thirst, heat or cold, and the like, all are aware that to a man who is
+under the influence of some great and overpowering emotion, such as
+rage or surprise, or joy, no pain is perceptible. In like manner, by
+means of persuasion, sleep, a temporary oblivion, and the skillfully
+awakened Will, the same insensibility or ignoring can be effected.
+There is, however, this to be observed, that while in the vast library
+of books which teach mental medicine the stress is laid entirely on
+producing merely a temporary cure I insist that by great Forethought,
+by conducting the cure with a view to permanence, ever persuading the
+patient to think on the future, and finally by a very thorough
+continuation and after-treatment many diseases may be radically
+removed.
+
+To recapitulate and make all clear we will suppose that the reader
+desires during the following day to be in a calm, self-possessed or
+peaceful state of mind. Therefore at night, after retiring, let him
+first completely consider what he wants and means to acquire. This is
+the Forethought, and it should be as thorough as possible. Having done
+this, will or declare that what you want shall come to pass on
+awaking, and repeating this and thinking on it, fall asleep. This is
+all. Do not wish for two things at once, or not until your mind shall
+have become familiar with the process. As you feel your power
+strengthen with success you may will yourself to do whatever you
+desire.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+FORETHOUGHT.
+
+    "Post fata resurgo."
+
+    "What is forethought may sleep--'tis very plain,
+    But rest assured that it will rise again."
+
+    "Forethought is plan inspired by an absolute Will to carry
+    it out."
+
+It may have struck the reader as an almost awful, or as a very
+wonderful idea, that man has within himself, if he did but know it,
+tremendous powers or transcendental faculties of which he has really
+never had any conception. One reason why such bold thought has been
+subdued is that he has always felt according to tradition, the
+existence of superior supernatural (and with them patrician) beings,
+by whose power and patronage he has been effectively restrained or
+kept under. Hence gloom and pessimism, doubt and despair. It may seem
+a bold thing to say that it did not occur to any philosopher through
+the ages that man, resolute and noble and free, might _will_ himself
+into a stage of mind defying devils and phantasms, or that amid the
+infinite possibilities of human nature there was the faculty of
+assuming the Indifference habitual to all animals when not alarmed.
+But he who will consider these studies on Self-Hypnotism may possibly
+infer from them that we have indeed within us a marvelous power of
+creating states of mind which make the idea of Pessimism ridiculous.
+For it renders potent and grand, pleasing or practically useful, to
+all who practice it, a faculty which has the great advantage that it
+may enter into all the relations or acts of life; will give to
+everyone something to do, something to occupy his mind, even in
+itself, and if we have other occupations, Forethought and Induced Will
+may be made to increase our interest in them and stimulate our skill.
+In other words, we can by means of this Art increase our ability to
+practice all arts, and enhance or stimulate Genius in every way or
+form, be it practical, musical or plastic.
+
+Since I began this work there fell into my hands an ingenious and
+curious book, entitled "Happiness as found in _Forethought minus
+Fearthought_," by HORACE FLETCHER, in which the author very truly
+declares that _Fear_ in some form has become the arch enemy of Man,
+and through the fears of our progenitors developed by a thousand
+causes, we have inherited a growing stock of diseases, terrors,
+apprehensions, pessimisms, and the like, in which he is perfectly
+right.
+
+But as Mr. FLETCHER declares, if men could take _Forethought_ as their
+principle and guide they would obviate, anticipate or foresee and
+provide for so many evil contingencies and chances that we might
+secure even peace and happiness, and then man may become brave and
+genial, altruistic and earnest, in spite of it all, by _willing_ away
+his Timidity.
+
+I have not assumed a high philosophical or metaphysical position in
+this work; my efforts have been confined to indicating how by a very
+simple and well-nigh mechanical process, perfectly intelligible to
+every human being with an intellect, one may induce certain states of
+mind and thereby create a Will. But I quite agree with Mr. FLETCHER
+that Forethought is strong thought, and the point from which all
+projects must proceed. As I understand it, it is a kind of impulse or
+projection of will into the coming work. I may here illustrate this
+with a curious fact in physics. If the reader wished to ring a
+door-bell so as to produce as much sound as possible he would probably
+pull it as far back as he could and then let it go. But if he would in
+letting it go simply give it a tap with his forefinger he would
+actually redouble the noise.
+
+Or, to shoot an arrow as far as possible, it is not enough to merely
+draw the bow to its utmost span or tension. If just as it goes you
+will give the bow a quick _push_, though the effort be trifling, the
+arrow will fly almost as far again as it would have done without it.
+
+Or, if, as is well known, in wielding a very sharp saber, we make the
+_draw-cut_, that is if we add to the blow or chop, as with an axe, a
+certain slight pull and simultaneously, we can cut through a silk
+handkerchief or a sheep.
+
+Forethought is the tap on the bell, the push of the bow, the draw on
+the saber. It is the deliberate yet rapid action of the mind when
+before falling to sleep or dismissing thought we _bid_ the mind to
+subsequently respond. It is more than merely thinking what we are to
+do; it is the bidding or ordering self to fulfill a task before
+willing it.
+
+Forethought in the senses employed or implied as here described means
+much more than mere previous consideration or reflection, which may be
+very feeble. It is, in fact, "constructive," which, as inventive,
+implies _active_ thought. "Forethought stimulates, aids the success of
+honest aims." Therefore, as the active principle in mental work, I
+regard it as a kind of self-impulse, or that minor part in the
+division of the force employed which sets the major into action. Now,
+if we really understand this and can succeed in employing Forethought
+as the preparation for, and impulse to, Self-Suggestion, we shall
+greatly aid the success of the latter, because the former insures
+attention and interest. Forethought may be brief, but it should always
+be energetic. By cultivating it we acquire the enviable talent of
+those men who take in everything at a glance, and act promptly, like a
+NAPOLEON. This power is universally believed to be entirely innate or
+a gift; but it can be induced or developed in all minds in proportion
+to the will by practice.
+
+Be it observed that as the experimenter progresses in the development
+of will by suggestion, he can gradually lay aside the latter, or all
+_processes_, especially if he work to such an end, anticipating it.
+Then he simply acts by clear will and strength, and Forethought
+constitutes all his stock-in-trade, process or aid. He preconceives
+and wills energetically at once, and by practice and repetition
+_Forethought_ becomes a marvelous help on all occasions and
+emergencies.
+
+To make it of avail the one who frequently practices self-suggestion,
+at first with, and then without sleep, will inevitably find ere long
+that to facilitate his work, or to succeed he _must_ first write, as
+it were, or plan a preface, synopsis, or epitome of his proposed work,
+to start it and combine with it a resolve or decree that it must be
+done, the latter being the tap on the bell-knob. Now the habit of
+composing the plan as perfectly, yet as succinctly as possible, daily
+or nightly, combined with the energetic impulse to send it off, will
+ere long give the operator a conception of what I mean by Foresight
+which by description I cannot. And when grown familiar and really
+mastered its possessor will find that his power to think and act
+promptly in all the emergencies of life has greatly increased.
+
+Therefore Forethought means a great deal more, as here employed, than
+seeing in advance, or deliberate prudence--it rather implies, like
+divination or foreknowledge, sagacity and mental _action_ as well as
+mere perception. It will inevitably or assuredly grow with the
+practice of self-suggestion if the latter be devoted to mental
+improvement, but as it grows it will qualify the operator to lay aside
+the sleep and suggest to himself directly.
+
+All men of great natural strength of mind, gifted with the will to do
+and dare, the beings of action and genius, act directly, and are like
+athletes who lift a tree by the simple exertion of the muscles. He who
+achieves his aim by self-culture, training, or suggestion, is like one
+who raises the weight by means of a lever, and if he practice it often
+enough he may in the end become as strong as the other.
+
+There is a curious and very illustrative instance of Forethought in
+the sense in which I am endeavoring to explain it, given in a novel,
+the "Scalp-Hunters," by MAYNE REID, with whom I was well acquainted in
+bygone years. Not having the original, I translate from a French
+version:
+
+"His aim with the rifle is infallible, and it would seem as if the
+ball obeyed his Will. There must be a kind of _directing principle_ in
+his mind, independent of strength of nerve and sight. He and one other
+are the only men in whom I have observed this singular power."
+
+This means simply the exercise in a second, as it were, of "the tap on
+the bell-knob," or the projection of the will into the proposed shot,
+and which may be applied to any act. Gymnasts, leapers and the like
+are all familiar with it. It springs from resolute confidence and
+self-impulse enforced; but it also creates them, and the growth is
+very great and rapid when the idea is much kept before the mind. In
+this latter lies most of the problem.
+
+In Humanity, mind, and especially Forethought, or reflection, combined
+in one effort with will and energy, enters into all acts, though often
+unsuspected, for it is a kind of unconscious _reflex_ action or
+cerebration. Thus I once discovered to my astonishment in a gymnasium
+that the extremely mechanical action of putting up a heavy weight from
+the ground to the shoulder and from the shoulder to the full reach of
+the arm above the head, became much easier after a little practice,
+although my muscles had not grown, nor my strength increased during
+the time. And I found that whatever the exertion might be there was
+always some trick or knack, however indescribable, by means of which
+the man with a brain could surpass a dolt at _anything_, though the
+latter were his equal in strength. But it sometimes happens that the
+trick can be taught and even improved on. And it is in all cases
+Forethought, even in the lifting of weights or the willing on the
+morrow to write a poem.
+
+For this truly weird power--since "the weird sisters" in "Macbeth"
+means only the sisters who _foresee_--is, in fact, the energy which
+projects itself in some manner, which physiology can as yet only very
+weakly explain, and even if the explanation _were_ perfect, it would
+amount in fact to no more than showing the machinery of a watch, when
+the main object for us is that it should _keep time_, and tell the
+hour, as well as exhibit the ingenuity of the maker--which thing is
+very much lost sight of, even by many very great thinkers, misled by
+the vanity of showing how much they know.
+
+Yes, Foresight or Forethought projects itself in all things, and it is
+a serious consideration, or one of such immense value, that when
+really understood, and above all subjected to some practice--such as I
+have described, and which, as far as I can see, is _necessary_--one
+can bring it to bear _intelligently_ on all the actions of life, that
+is to say, to _much_ greater advantage than when we use it ignorantly,
+just as a genius endowed with strength can do far more with it than an
+ignoramus. For there is nothing requiring Thought in which it cannot
+aid us. I have alluded to Poetry. Now this does not mean that a man
+can become a SHAKESPEARE or SHELLEY by means of all the forethought
+and suggestion in the world, but they will, if well developed and
+directed, draw out from the mystic depths of mind such talent as he
+_has_--doubtless in some or all cases more than he has ever shown.
+
+No one can say what is hidden in every memory; it is like the sounding
+ocean with its buried cities, and treasures and wondrous relics of the
+olden time. This much we may assume to know, that every image or idea
+or impression whichever reached us through any of our senses entered a
+cell when it was ready for it, where it sleeps or wakes, most images
+being in the former condition. In fact, every brain is like a
+monastery of the Middle Ages, or a beehive. But it is built on a
+gigantic scale, for it is thought that no man, however learned or
+experienced he might be, ever contrived during all his life to so much
+as even half fill the cells of his memory. And if any reader should be
+apprehensive lest it come to pass with him in this age of unlimited
+supply of cheap knowledge that he will fill all his cells let him
+console himself with the reflection that it is supposed that Nature,
+in such a case, will have a further supply of new cells ready, she
+never, as yet, having failed in such rough hospitality, though it
+often leaves much to be desired!
+
+Yes, they are all there--every image of the past, every face which
+ever smiled on us--the hopes and fears of bygone years--the rustling
+of grass and flowers and the roar of the sea--the sound of trumpets in
+processions grand--the voices of the great and good among mankind--or
+what you will. Every line ever read in print, every picture and face
+and house is there. Many an experiment has shown this to be true; also
+that by mesmerizing or hypnotizing processes the most hidden images or
+memories can be awakened. In fact, the idea has lost much of its
+wonder since the time of Coleridge, now that every sound can be
+recorded, laid away and reproduced, and we are touching closely on an
+age when all that lies _perdu_ in any mind can or will be set forth
+visibly, and all that a man has ever _seen_ be shown to the world. For
+this is no whit more wonderful than that we can convey images or
+pictures by telegraph, and when I close my eyes and recall or imagine
+a form it does not seem strange that there might be some process by
+means of which it might be photographed.
+
+And here we touch upon the Materialization of Thought, which
+conception loses a part of the absurdity with which Spiritualists and
+Occultists have invested it, if we regard all nature as one substance.
+For, in truth, all that was ever perceived, even to the shadow of a
+dream by a lunatic, had as real an existence while it lasted as the
+Pyramids of Egypt, else it could not have been perceived. Sense
+cannot, even in dreams, observe what is not for the time an effect on
+matter. If a man _imagines_ or makes believe to himself that he has a
+fairy attendant, or a dog, and _fancies_ that he sees it, that man
+does really see _something_, though it be invisible to others. There
+is some kind of creative brain-action going on, some employment of
+atoms and forces, and, if this be so, we may enter it among the
+Possibilities of the Future that the Material in any form whatever may
+be advanced, or further materialized or made real.
+
+It is curious that this idea has long been familiar to believers in
+magic. In more than one Italian legend which I have collected a
+sorceress or goddess evolves a life from her own soul, as a fire emits
+a spark. In fact, the fancy occurs in some form in all mythologies,
+great or small. In one old Irish legend a wizard turns a Thought into
+a watch-dog. The history of genius and of Invention is that of
+realizing ideas, of making them clearer and stronger and more
+comprehensive. Thus it seems to me that the word _Forethought_ as
+generally loosely understood, when compared to what it has been shown
+capable of expressing, is almost as much advanced as if like the fairy
+HERMELINA, chronicled by GROSIUS, it had been originally a vapor or
+mere fantasy, and gradually advanced to fairy life so as to become the
+companion of a wizard.
+
+If an artist, say a painter, will take forethought for a certain
+picture, whether the subject be determined or not, bringing himself to
+that state of easy, assured confidence, as a matter of course that he
+will _retain_ the subject he will, if not at the first effort, almost
+certainly at last find himself possessed of it. Let him beware of
+haste, or of forcing the work. When he shall have secured suggestive
+Interest let him will that Ingenuity shall be bolder and his spirit
+draw from the stores of memory more abundant material. Thus our powers
+may be gradually and gently drawn into our service. Truly it would
+seem as if there were no limit to what a man can evolve out of himself
+if he will take Thought thereto.
+
+Forethought can be of vast practical use in cases where confidence is
+required. Many a young clergyman and lawyer has been literally
+frightened out of a career, and many an actor ruined for want of a
+very little knowledge, and in this I speak from personal experience.
+Let the aspirant who is to appear in public, or pass an examination,
+and is alarmed, base his forethought on such ideas as this, that he
+would not be afraid to repeat his speech to _one_ person or two--why
+should he fear a hundred? There are some who can repeat this idea to
+themselves till it takes hold strongly, and they rise almost feeling
+contempt for all in court--as did the old lady in Saint Louis, who
+felt so relieved when a witness at _not_ feeling frightened that she
+bade judge and jury cease looking at her in that impudent way.
+
+Having read the foregoing to a friend he asked me whether I believed
+that by Forethought and Suggestion a gentleman could be induced
+without diffidence to offer himself in marriage, since, as is well
+known, that the most eligible young men often put off wedding for
+years because they cannot summon up courage to propose. To which I
+replied that I had no great experience of such cases, but as regarded
+the method I was like the Scotch clergyman who, being asked by a
+wealthy man if he thought that the gift of a thousand pounds to the
+Kirk would save the donor's soul, replied: "I'm na prepairet to
+preceesly answer thot question--but I wad vara warmly advise ye to
+_try_ it."
+
+It must be remembered that for the very great majority of cases, if
+really not for all, the practicer of this process must be of temperate
+habits, and never attempt after a hearty meal, or drinking freely, to
+exercise Forethought or Self-Suggestion. Peaceful mental action during
+sleep requires that there shall be very light labor of digestion, and
+disturbed or troublesome dreams are utterly incompatible with really
+successful results. Nor will a single day's temperance suffice. It
+requires many days to bring the whole frame and constitution into good
+fit order. Here there can be no evasion, for more than ordinary
+temperance in food and drink is _absolutely indispensable_.
+
+It is a principle, recognized by all physiologists, that digestion and
+fixed thought cannot go on together; it is even unadvisable to read
+while eating. Thus in all the old magical operations, which were, in
+fact, self-hypnotism, a perfect fast is insisted on with reason. This
+is all so self-evident that I need not dwell on it. It will be
+needless for anyone to take up this subject as a trifling pastime, or
+attempt self-suggestion and development of will with as little
+earnestness as one would give to a game of cards; for in such a
+half-way effort time will be lost and nothing come of it. Unless
+entered on with the most serious resolve to persevere, and make
+greater effort and more earnestly at every step, it had better be let
+alone.
+
+All who will persevere with calm determination cannot fail ere long to
+gain a certain success, and this achieved, the second step is much
+easier. However, there are many people who after doing all in their
+power to get to the gold or diamond mines, hasten away even when in
+the full tide of success, because they are fickle--and it is precisely
+such people who easily tire who are most easily attracted, be it to
+mesmerism, hypnotism, or any other wonder. And they are more wearisome
+and greater foes to true Science than the utterly indifferent or the
+ignorant.
+
+This work will not have been written in vain should it induce the
+reader to reflect on what is implied by patient repetition or
+perseverance, and what an incredible and varied _power_ that man
+acquires who masters it. He who can lead himself, or others, into a
+_habit_ can do anything. Even Religion is, in fact, nothing else.
+"Religion," said the reviewer of "The Evolution of the Idea of God,"
+by GRANT ALLEN, "he defines as Custom or Practice--not theory, not
+theology, not ethics, not spiritual aspirations, but a certain set of
+more or less similar observances: propitiation, prayer, praise,
+offerings, the request for Divine favors, the deprecation of Divine
+anger, or other misfortunes"--in short, Ritual. That is to say, it is
+the aggregate of the different parts of religion, of which many take
+one for the whole. But this aggregation was the result of earnest
+patience and had good results. And it is by the careful analysis and
+all-round examination of Ideas that we acquire valuable knowledge, and
+may learn how very few there are current which are more than very
+superficially understood--as I have shown in what I have said of the
+Will, the Imagination, Forethought, and many other faculties which are
+flippantly used to explain a thousand problems by people who can
+hardly define the things themselves.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+WILL AND CHARACTER.
+
+    "And I have felt
+    A Presence that disturbs me with the joy
+    Of elevated thoughts, a sense sublime
+    Of something far more deeply interposed,
+    Whose dwelling is . . . all in the mind of man;
+    A motion and a spirit that impels
+    All thinking things."--_Wordsworth_.
+
+As the vast majority of people are not agreed as to what really
+constitutes a Gentleman, while a great many seem to be practically, at
+least, very much abroad as to the nature of a Christian, so it will be
+found that, in fact, there is a great deal of difference as regards
+the Will. I have known many men, and some women, to be credited by
+others, and who very much credited themselves, with having iron wills,
+when, in fact, their every deed, which was supposed to prove it, was
+based on brazen want of conscience. Mere want of principle or
+unscrupulousness passes with many, especially its possessors, for
+strong _will_. And even decision of character itself, as MAGINN
+remarks, is often confounded with talent. "A bold woman always gets
+the name of clever"--among fools--"though her intellect may be of a
+humble order, and her knowledge contemptible." Among the vulgar,
+especially those of greedy, griping race and blood, the children of
+the thief, a robber of the widow and orphan, the scamp of the
+syndicate, and soulless "promoter" in South or North America, bold
+robbery, or Selfishness without scruple or timidity always appears as
+Will. But it is not the whole of the real thing, or real will in
+itself. When MUTIUS CAIUS SCAEVOLA thrust his hand into the flames no
+one would have greatly admired his endurance if it had been found that
+the hand was naturally insensible and felt no pain. Nor would there
+have been any plaudits for MARCUS CURTIUS when he leapt into the gulf,
+had he been so drunk as not to know what he was about. The will which
+depends on unscrupulousness is like the benumbed hand or intoxicated
+soul. Quench conscience, as a sense of right and obligation, and you
+can, of course, do a great deal from which another would shrink--and
+therefore be called "weak-minded" by the fools.
+
+There is another type of person who imposes on the world and on self
+as being strong-minded and gifted with Will. It is the imperturbable
+cool being, always self-possessed, with little sympathy for emotion.
+In most cases such minds result from artificial training, and they
+break down in real trials. I do not say that they cannot weather a
+storm or a duel, or stand fire, or get through what novelists regard
+as superlative stage trials; but, in a moral crisis, the gentleman or
+lady whose face is all Corinthian brass is apt like that brass in a
+fire to turn pale. These folk get an immense amount of undeserved
+admiration as having Will or self-command, when they owe what staying
+quality they have (like the preceding class) rather to a lack of good
+qualities than their inspiration.
+
+There are, alas! not a few who regard _Will_ as simply identical with
+mere obstinacy, or stubbornness, the immovability of the Ass, or Bull,
+or Bear--that is, they reduce it to an animal power. But, as this
+often or generally amounts in animal or man to mere insensible
+sulkiness--as far remote as possible from enlightened mental action,
+it is surely unjust to couple it with the _Voluntary_ or pure
+intelligent _Will_, by which all must understand the very acme of
+active Intellect.
+
+Therefore it follows, that the errors, mistakes, and perversions which
+have grown about Will in popular opinion, like those which have
+accumulated round Christianity, are too often mistaken for the truth.
+Pure Will is, and must be by its very nature, perfectly _free_, for
+the more it is hindered, or hampered, or controlled in any way, the
+less is it independent volition. Therefore, pare Will, free from all
+restraint can only act in, or as, Moral Law. Acting in accordance with
+very mean, immoral, obstinate motives is, so to speak, obeying as a
+slave the devil. The purer the motive the purer the Will, and in very
+truth the purer the stronger, or firmer. Every man has his own idea of
+Will according to his morality--even as it is said that every man's
+conception of God is himself infinitely magnified--or, as SYDNEY SMITH
+declared, that a certain small clergyman believed that Saint Paul was
+five feet two inches in height, and wore a shovel-hat. And here we may
+note that if the fundamental definition of a gentleman be "a man of
+perfect integrity," or one who always does simply _what is right_, he
+is also one who possesses Will in its integrity.
+
+Therefore it follows that if the pure will, which is the basis of all
+firm and determined action, be a matter of moral conviction, it should
+take the first place as such. Napoleon the First was an exemplar of a
+selfish corrupted will, CHRIST the perfection of Will in its purity.
+And if I can make my meaning clear, I would declare that he who would
+create within himself a strong and vigorous will by hypnotism or any
+other process, will be most likely to succeed, if, instead of aiming
+at developing a power by which he may subdue others, and make all
+things yield to him, or similar selfish aims, he shall, before all,
+seriously reflect on how he may use it to do good. For I am absolutely
+persuaded from what I know, that he who makes Altruism and the
+happiness of others a familiar thought to be coupled with every effort
+(even as a lamb is always painted with, or appointed unto, St. John),
+will be the most likely to succeed. There is something in moral
+conviction or the consciousness of right which gives a sense of
+security or a faith in success which goes far to secure it. Hence the
+willing the mind on the following day to be at peace, not to yield to
+irritability or temptations to quarrel, to be pleasing and cheerful;
+in short to develop _good_ qualities is the most easily effected
+process, because where there is such self-moral-suasion to a good aim
+or end, we feel, and very justly, that we _ought_ to be aided by the
+_Deus in nobis_, or an over-ruling Providence, whatever its form or
+nature may be. And the experimenter may be assured that if we can by
+any means _will_ or exorcise all envy, vanity, folly, irritability,
+vindictiveness--in short all evil--out of ourselves, and supply their
+place with Love, we shall take the most effective means to secure our
+own happiness, as well as that of others.
+
+All of this has been repeated very often of late years by Altruists;
+but, while the doctrine is accepted both by Agnostics and Christians
+as perfect, there has been little done to show men how to practically
+realize it. But I have ever noted that in this Pilgrim's Progress of
+our life, those are most likely to attain to the Celestial City, and
+all its golden glories, who, like CHRISTIAN, start from the lowliest
+beginnings; and as the learning our letters leads to reading the
+greatest books, so the simplest method of directing the attention and
+the most mechanical means of developing Will, may promptly lead to the
+highest mental and moral effect.
+
+Prayer is generally regarded as nothing else but an asking or begging
+from a superior power. But it is also something which is really very
+different from this. It is a formula by means of which man realizes
+his faith and will. Tradition, and habit (of whose power I have
+spoken) or repetition, have given it the influence or prestige of a
+charm. In fact it is a spell, he who utters it feels assured that if
+seriously repeated it will be listened to, and that the Power to whom
+it is addressed will hear it. The Florentines all round me as I write,
+who repeat daily, "_Pate nostro quis in cell, santi ficeturie nome
+tumme_!" in words which they do not understand, do not pray for daily
+bread or anything else in the formula; they only realize that they
+commune with God, and are being good. An intelligent prayer in this
+light is the concentration of thought on a subject, or a _definite_
+realization. Therefore if when _willing_ that tomorrow I shall be calm
+all day or void of irritation, I put the will or wish into a brief and
+clear form, it will aid me to promptly realize or feel what I want.
+And it will be a prayer in its reality, addressed to the Unknown Power
+or to the Will within us--an invocation, or a spell, according to the
+mind of him who makes it.
+
+Thus a seeker may repeat: "I _will_, earnestly and deeply, that during
+all tomorrow I may be in a calm and peaceful state of mind. I _will_
+with all my heart that if irritating or annoying memories or images,
+or thoughts of any kind are in any way awakened, that they may be
+promptly forgotten and fade away!"
+
+I would advise that such a formula be got by heart till very familiar,
+to be repeated, but not mechanically, before falling to sleeps What is
+of the very utmost importance is that the operator shall feel its
+meaning and at the same time give it the impulse of Will by the dual
+process before described. This, if successfully achieved, will not
+fail (at least with most minds) to induce success.
+
+This formula, or "spell," will be sufficient for some time. When we
+feel that it is really beginning to have an effect, we may add to it
+other wishes. That is to say, be it clearly understood, that by
+repeating the will to be calm and peaceful, day after day, it will
+assuredly begin to come of itself, even as a pigeon which hath been
+"tolled" every day at a certain hour to find corn or crumbs in a
+certain place, will continue to go there even if the food cease.
+However, you may renew the first formula if you will. Then we may add
+gradually the wish to be in a bold or courageous frame of mind, so as
+to face trials, as follows:
+
+"I _will_ with all my soul, earnestly and truly, that I may be on the
+morrow and all the day deeply inspired with courage and energy, with
+self-confidence and hope! May it lighten my heart and make me heedless
+of all annoyances and vexations which may arise! Should such come in
+my way, may I hold them at no more than their real value, or laugh
+them aside!"
+
+Proceed gradually and firmly through the series, never trying anything
+new, until the old has fully succeeded. This is essential, for failure
+leads to discouragement. Then, in time, fully realizing all its
+deepest meaning, so as to impress the Imagination one may will as
+follows:
+
+"May my quickness of Perception, or Intuition, aid me in the business
+which I expect to undertake tomorrow. I _will_ that my faculty of
+grasping at details and understanding their relations shall be active.
+May it draw from my memory the hidden things which will aid it!"
+
+The artist or literary man, or poet, may in time earnestly will to
+this effect:
+
+"I desire that my genius, my imagination, the power which enables man
+to combine and create; the poetic (or artist) spirit, whatever it be,
+may act in me tomorrow, awakening great thoughts and suggesting for
+them beautiful forms."
+
+He who expects to appear in public as an orator, as a lawyer pleading
+a case, or as a witness, will do much to win success, if after careful
+forethought or reflecting on what it is that he really wants, he will
+repeat:
+
+"I will that tomorrow I may speak or plead, with perfect
+self-possession and absence of all timidity or fear!"
+
+Finally, we may after long and earnest reflection on all which I have
+said, and truly not till then, resolve on the Masterspell to awaken
+the Will itself in such a form that it will fill our soul, as it were,
+unto which intent it is necessary to understand what Will really means
+to us in its purity and integrity. The formula may be:
+
+"I _will_ that I may feel inspired with the power, aided by calm
+determination, to do what I desire, aided by a sense of right and
+justice to all. May my will be strong and sustain me in all trials.
+May it inspire that sense of independence of strength which, allied to
+a pure conscience, is the greatest source of happiness on earth!"
+
+If the reader can master this last, he can by its aid progress
+infinitely. And with the few spells which I have given he will need no
+more, since in these lie the knowledge, and key, and suggestion to all
+which may be required.
+
+Now it will appear clearly to most, that no man can long and steadily
+occupy himself with such pursuits, without morally benefiting by them
+in his waking hours, even if auto-hypnotism were all "mere
+imagination," in the most frivolous sense of the word. For he who will
+himself not to yield to irritability, can hardly avoid paying
+attention to the subject, and thinking thereon, check himself when
+vexed. And as I have said, what we summon by Will ere long remains as
+Habit, even as the Elves, called by a spell, remain in the Tower.
+
+Therefore it is of _great_ importance for all people who take up and
+pursue to any degree of success this Art or Science, that they shall
+be actuated by moral and unselfish motives, since achieved with any
+other intent the end can only be the bringing of evil and suffering
+into the soul. For as the good by strengthening the Will make
+themselves promptly better and holier, so he who increases it merely
+to make others feel his power will become with it wickeder, yea, and
+thrice accursed, for what is the greatest remedy is often the
+strongest poison.
+
+Step by step Science has advanced of late to the declaration that man
+_thinks all over_ his body, or at least experiences those reflected
+sensations or emotions which are so strangely balanced between
+intellectual sense and sensation that we hardly know where or how to
+class them. "The sensitive _plexi_ of our whole organism are all
+either isolated or thrown into simultaneous vibration when acted on by
+Thought." So the Will may be found acting unconsciously as an emotion
+or instinct, or developed with the highest forms of conscious
+reflection. Last of all we find it, probably as the result of all
+associated functions or powers, at the head of all, their Executive
+president. But _is_ it "the exponent of correlated forces?" There
+indeed doctors differ.
+
+There is a very curious Italian verb, _Invogliare_, which is thus
+described in a Dictionary of Idioms: "_Invogliare_ is to inspire a
+will or desire, _cupiditatem injicere a movere_. To _invogliare_
+anyone is to awake in him the will or the ability or capacity, an
+earnest longing or appetite, an ardent wish--_alicujus rei cupiditatem
+a desiderium alicni movere_--to bring into action a man's hankering,
+solicitude, anxiety, yearning, ardor, predilection, love, fondness and
+relish, or aught which savors of Willing." Our English word,
+_Inveigle_, is derived from it, but we have none precisely
+corresponding to it which so generally sets forth the idea of
+inspiring a will in another person. "Suggestion" is far more general
+and vague. Now if a man could thus _in-will_ himself to good or moral
+purpose, he would assume a new position in life. We all admit that
+most human beings have defects or faults of which they would gladly be
+freed (however incorrigible they _appear_ to be), but they have not
+the patience to effect a cure, to keep to the resolve, or prevent it
+from fading out of sight. For a _vast_ proportion of all minor sins,
+or those within the law, there is no cure sought. The offender says
+and believes, "It is too strong for me"--and yet these small
+unpunished offenses cause a thousand times more suffering than all the
+great crimes.
+
+Within a generation, owing to the great increase of population,
+prosperity and personal comfort, nervous susceptibility has also
+gained in extent, but there has been no check to petty abuse of power,
+selfishness, which always comes out in some form of injustice or
+wrong, or similar vexations. Nay, what with the disproportionate
+growth of vulgar wealth, this element has rapidly increased, and it
+would really seem as if the plague must spread _ad infinitum_, unless
+some means can be found to _invogliare_ and inspire the offenders with
+a sense of their sins, and move them to reform. And it is more than
+probable that if all who are at heart sincerely willing to reform
+their morals and manners could be brought to keep their delinquencies
+before their consciousness in the very simple manner which I have
+indicated, the fashion or _mode_ might at least be inaugurated. For it
+is _not_ so much a moral conviction, or an appeal to common sense,
+which is needed (as writers on ethics all seem to think), but some
+practical art of keeping men up to the mark in endeavoring to reform,
+or to make them remember it all day long, since "out of sight out of
+mind" is the devil's greatest help with weak minds.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+SUGGESTION AND INSTINCT.
+
+    "Anima non nascitur sed fit," ut ait.--TERTULLIANUS.
+
+    "Post quam loquuti sumus de anima rationali, intellectuali
+    (_immortali_) et quia ad inferiores descendimus jam gradus
+    animae, scilicet animae mortalis quae animalium est."
+    --PETRUS GREGORIUS THOLOSANUS.
+
+It must have struck many readers that the action of a mind under
+hypnotic influence, be it of another or of self, involves strange
+questions as regards Consciousness. For it is very evident from
+recorded facts, that people can actually reason and act without waking
+consciousness, in a state of mind which resembles instinct, which is a
+kind of cerebration, or acting under habits and impressions supplied
+by memory and formed by practice, but not according to what we
+understand by Reason or Judgment.
+
+All things in nature have their sleep or rest, night is the sleep of
+the world, death the repose of Nature or Life--the solid temples, the
+great globe itself, dissolve to awaken again; so man hath in him, as
+it were, a company of workmen, some of whom labor by day, while others
+watch by night, during which time they, unseen, have their fantastic
+frolics known as dreams. The Guardian or Master of the daily hours,
+appears in a great measure to conform his action closely to average
+duties of life, in accordance with those of all other men. He picks
+out from the millions of images or ideas in the memory, uses and
+becomes familiar with a certain number, and lets the rest sleep. This
+master or active agent is probably himself a Master-Idea--the result
+of the correlative action of all the others, a kind of consensus made
+personal, an elected Queen Bee, as I have otherwise described him or
+her.
+
+But he is not the only thinker--there are all over the body ganglions
+which act by a kind of fluid instinct, born of repetition, and when
+the tired master even drowses or nods, or falls into a brown study,
+then a marvelously curious mental action begins to show itself, for
+dreams at once flicker and peer and steal dimly about him. This is
+because the waking consciousness is beginning to shut out the world--
+and its set of ideas.
+
+So consistent is the system that even if Waking Reason abstract
+itself, not to sleep, but to think on one subject such as writing a
+poem or inventing a machine, certain affinities will sleep or dreams
+begin to show themselves. When Genius is really at work, it sweeps
+along, as it were, in a current, albeit it has enough reason left to
+also use the rudder and oars, or spread and manage a sail. The reason
+for the greater fullness of unusual images and associations (_i. e._,
+the action of genius) during the time when one is bent on intellectual
+invention is that the more the waking conscious Reason drowses or
+approaches to sleep, the more do many images in Memory awaken and
+begin to shyly open the doors of their cells and peep out.
+
+In the dream we also proceed, or rather drift, loosely on a current,
+but are without oars, rudder or sail. We are hurtled against, or
+hurried away from the islands of Images or Ideas, that is to say, all
+kinds of memories, and our course is managed or impelled, or guided by
+tricky water-sprites, whose minds are all on mischief bent or only
+idle merriment. In any case they conduct us blindly and wildly from
+isle to isle, sometimes obeying a far cry which comes to them through
+the mist--some echoing signal of our waking hours. So in a vision ever
+on we go!
+
+That is to say that even while we dream there is an unconscious
+cerebration or voluntarily exerted power loosely and irregularly
+imitating by habit, something like the action of our waking hours,
+especially its brown studies and fancies in drowsy reveries or play.
+
+It seems to me as if this sleep-master or mistress--I prefer the
+latter--who attends to our dreams may be regarded as Instinct on the
+loose, for like instinct she acts without conscious reasoning. She
+carries out, or realizes, trains of thought, or sequences with little
+comparison or deduction. Yet within her limits she can do great work,
+and when we consider, we shall find that by following mere Law she has
+effected a great, nay, an immense, deal, which we attribute entirely
+to forethought or Reason. As all this is closely allied to the action
+of the mind when hypnotized, it deserves further study.
+
+Now it is a wonderful reflection that as we go back in animated nature
+from man to insects, we find self-conscious Intellect or Reason based
+on Reflection disappear, and Instinct taking its place. Yet Instinct
+in its marvelous results, such as ingenuity of adaptation, often far
+surpasses what semi-civilized man could do. Or it does the same things
+as man, only in an entirely different way which is not as yet
+understood. Only from time to time some one tells a wonderful story of
+a bird, a dog or a cat, and then asks, "Was not this reason?"
+
+What it was, in a great measure, was an unconscious application of
+memory or experience. Bees and ants and birds often far outdo savage
+men in ingenuity of construction. The red Indians in their persistent
+use of flimsy, cheerless bark wigwams, were far behind the beaver or
+oriole as regards dwellings; in this respect the Indian indicated mere
+instinct of a low order, as all do who live in circles of mere
+tradition.
+
+Now to advance what seems a paradox, it is evident that even what we
+regard as inspired genius comes to man in a great measure from
+Instinct, though as I noted before it is aided by reflection. As the
+young bird listens to its mother and then sings till as a grown
+nightingale it pours forth a rich flood of varying melody; so the poet
+or musician follows masters and models, and then, like them,
+_creates_, often progressing, but is never _entirely_ spontaneous or
+original. When the artist thinks too little he lacks sense, when he
+thinks too much he loses fire. In the very highest and most strangely
+mysterious poetical flights of SHELLEY and KEATS, or WORDSWORTH, I
+find the very same Instinct which inspires the skylark and
+nightingale, but more or less allied to and strengthened by Thought or
+Consciousness. If human Will or Wisdom alone directed _all_ our work,
+then every man who had mere patience might be a great original genius,
+and it is indeed true that Man can do inconceivably more in following
+and imitating genius than has ever been imagined. However, thus far
+the talent which enables a man to write such a passage as that of
+TENNYSON,
+
+    "The tides of Music's golden sea
+    Setting towards Eternity,"
+
+results from a development of Instinct, or an intuitive perception of
+the Beautiful, such as Wordsworth believed existed in all things which
+enjoy sunshine, _life_, and air. The poet himself cannot _explain_ the
+processes, though he may be able to analyze in detail how or why he
+made or found a thousand other things.
+
+It is not only true that Genius originates in something antecedent to
+conscious reflection or intellect, but also that men have produced
+marvelous works of art almost without knowing it, while others have
+shown the greatest incapacity to do so after they had developed an
+incredible amount of knowledge. Thus Mr. WHISTLER reminded RUSKIN that
+when the world had its greatest artists, there were no critics.
+
+And it is well to remember that while the Greeks in all their glory of
+Art and Poetry were unquestionably rational or consciously
+intelligent, there was not among them the thousandth part of the
+anxious worrying, the sentimental self-seeking and examination, or the
+Introversion which worms itself in and out of, and through and
+through, all modern work, action and thought, even as mercury in an
+air-pump will permeate the hardest wood. For the Greeks worked more in
+the spirit of Instinct; that is, more according to certain transmitted
+laws and ideas than we realize--albeit this tradition was of a very
+high order. We have lost Art because we have not developed tradition,
+but have immensely increased consciousness, or reflection, out of
+proportion to art It was from India and Egypt in a _positive_ form
+that Man drew the poison of sentimental Egoism which became
+comparative in the Middle Ages and superlative in this our time.
+
+It is very evident that as soon as men become self-conscious of great
+work, or cease to work for the sake of enjoying Art, or its results,
+and turn all their attention to the genius or cleverness, or character
+or style, self, _et cetera_, of the _artist_, or of themselves, a
+decadence sets in, as there did after the Renaissance, when knowledge
+or enjoyment of Art was limited, and guided by familiarity with names
+and schools and "manners," or the like, far more than by real beauty
+in itself.
+
+Now, out of all this which I have said on Art, strange conclusions may
+be drawn, the first being that even without self-conscious Thought or
+excess of Intellect, there can be a Sense of Enjoyment in any or every
+organism, also a further development of memory of that enjoyment, and
+finally a creation of buildings, music and song, with no reflection,
+in animals, and very little in Man. And when Man gets beyond working
+with simple Nature and begins to think chiefly about himself, his Art,
+as regards harmony with Nature, deteriorates.
+
+We do not sufficiently reflect on the fact that _Natura naturans_, or
+the action of Nature (or simply following Tradition), may, as is the
+case of Transition Architecture, involve the creation of marvelously
+ingenious and beautiful works, and the great enjoyment of them by
+Instinct alone. It is not possible for ordinary man to even understand
+this now in all its fullness. He is indeed trying to do so--but it is
+too new for his comprehension. But a time will come when he will
+perceive that his best work has been done unconsciously, or under
+influences of which he was ignorant.
+
+Hypnotism acts entirely by suggestion, and he who paints or does other
+work entirely according to Tradition, also carries out what is or has
+been suggested to him. Men of earlier times who thus worked for
+thousands of years like the Egyptians in one style, were guided by the
+faith that it had been begun by the Creator or God.
+
+For men cannot conceive of creation as separate from pre-determined
+plan or end, and all because they cannot understand that Creative
+innate force, _potentia_, must have some result, or that the simplest
+Law once set agoing awakens, acquires strength in going and develops
+great Laws, which, with an all-susceptible or _capable_ material to
+work on, may, or _must_, create infinite ingenuities, so that in time
+there may be an organic principle with sentiency, and yet no Will,
+save in its exponents, or working to end or aim, but ever tending to
+further unfolding "a seizing and giving the fire of the living" ever
+onwards into Eternity, in which there may be a million times more
+perfect "mind" than we can now grasp.
+
+Now, having for many years attempted at least to familiarize myself
+with the aspect or sound, of this problem, though I could not solve
+it, it seems at last to be natural enough that even matter (which so
+many persist in regarding as a kind of dust or something resistant to
+the touch, but which I regard as infinite millions of degrees more
+subtle), may _think_ just as well as it may act in Instinct. It is,
+indeed, absurd to admit souls to idiots or savages, who have not the
+sense to live as comfortably as many animals, and yet deny it to the
+latter. When we really become familiar with the idea, it appears
+sensible enough. But its opponents do _not_ become familiar with it,
+it irritates them, they call it Atheistic, although it is nothing of
+the kind, just as if we were to say that a man who bravely and nobly
+pursued his way in life, doing his duty because it was his duty, and
+giving no thought as to future reward or punishment, must needs want
+_soul_ or be an Atheist.
+
+If all men were perfectly good, they would act morally and
+instinctively, without consciousness of behaving well, and if we felt
+a high ideal of Art it would be just the same. When Art was natural
+men never signed their names to their work, but now the Name takes
+precedence of the picture.
+
+Therefore, as we go backward into the night of things, we find, though
+we forget it all the time, that Instinct or the living in the Spirit
+of Law, had its stars or planets which shone more brilliantly than
+now, at least in Faith. Thus, there are two sources of Creation or
+Action, both based on Evolution, one being unconscious and guided by
+Natural Law, and the other which is conscious and grows out of the
+first. Hence _cognito ergo sum_, which well-nigh all men really
+understand as _cogito, ergo sum Deus_. Or we may say that they assume
+
+    "Because _I_ think, then God must _think_ like me!"
+
+Now to come to Hypnotic thought, or suggested mental action. I would
+infer that, according to what I have said, there may be two kinds of
+mentality, or working of the mind--the one under certain conditions as
+effective or resultant as the other; the first being--as it was in the
+order of time--Unconscious or Instinctive; the other, conscious and
+self-observant.
+
+For the man who built a Romanesque Cathedral worked by the
+suggestiveness of minds which went before him, or Tradition. He was
+truly, as it were, in a kind of slumber; indeed, all life was more or
+less of a waking dream in those dim, strange days. "Millions marched
+forth to death scarce knowing why," all because they were _told_ to do
+so--they felt that they must do it, and they did it. "Like turkeys led
+by a red rag," says CARLYLE. And the red rag and the turkey is an
+illustration of Hypnotism in one of the books thereon. Instinct _is_
+Hypnotism.
+
+Now I have found that by suggesting to oneself before sleep, or
+inducing self by Will or Forethought to work gladly and unweariedly
+the next day, we do not _think_ about self or the quality of what we
+do to any degree like what we would in working under ordinary
+conditions. Truly it is not thoroughgoing or infallible in all cases,
+but _then_ it must be helped by a little wide-awake self-conscious
+will. But this is certainly true, that we can turn out _better_ work
+when we urge our creative power to awake in the morn and act or aid,
+than if we do not.
+
+    "For there are many angels at our call,
+    And many blessed spirits who are bound
+    To lend their aid in every strait and turn;
+    And elves to fly the errands of the soul,
+    And fairies all too glad to give us help,
+    If we but know how to pronounce the spell
+    Which calls them unto us in every need."
+
+That spell I have shown or explained clearly enough.
+
+And, finally, to recapitulate, Instinct in its earlier or simpler form
+is the following laws of Nature which are themselves formed by motive
+laws. In Man the living according to Tradition is instinct of a higher
+order, and the one or the other is merely being ruled by Suggestion.
+The more free Will is developed and guided by reflection, or varied
+tradition and experience, the less instinct and the more intellect
+will there be.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+MEMORY CULTURE.
+
+    'Twas wisely said by Plato, when he called
+    Memory "the mother of the Intellect,"
+    For knowledge is to wisdom what his realm
+    Is to a monarch--that o'er which he rules;
+    And he who hath the Will can ever win
+    Such empire to himself--Will can do all.
+
+There is nothing in which the might of the Will can be so clearly set
+forth as in the _making_ of memory. By means of it, as is fully proved
+by millions of examples, man can render his power of recollection
+almost infinite. And lest the reader may think that I here exaggerate,
+I distinctly assert that I never knew a man of science, familiar with
+certain facts which I shall repeat, who ever denied its literal truth.
+
+As I have already stated, there are two methods, and only two, by
+means of which we can retain images, facts or ideas. One of these is
+that which in many varied forms, which are all the same in fact, is
+described in the old _Artes Memorandi_, or Arts of Memory. There are
+several hundreds of these, and to the present day there are professors
+who give instructions according to systems of the same kind. These are
+all extremely plausible, being based on Association of ideas, and in
+most cases the pupil makes great progress for a short time. Thus, we
+can remember the French for bread, _pain_, Italian _Pane_, by thinking
+of the pan in which bread is baked, or the difficult name of the
+inventor, SSCZEPANIK (pronounced nearly _she-panic_) by thinking of a
+crowd of frightened women, and which I remembered by the fact that
+_pane_ is the Slavonian for Mr. or Sir. For there is such a tendency
+of ideas to agglutinate, and so become more prominent, as we can see
+two bubbles together in a pool more readily than one that we can very
+soon learn to recall many images in this way.
+
+But after a time a certain limit is reached which most minds cannot
+transgress. VOLAPUK was easy so long as, like Pidgin-English, it
+contained only a few hundred words and no grammar. But now that it has
+a dictionary of 4,000 terms and a complete grammar it is as hard to
+learn as Spanish. It invariably comes to pass in learning to remember
+by the Associative method that after a time images are referred to
+images, and these to others again, so that they form entire categories
+in which the most vigorous mind gets lost.
+
+The other method is that of _direct_ Memory guided by Will, in which
+no regard is paid to Association, especially in the beginning. Thus to
+remember anything, or rather to learn _how_ to do so, we take
+something which is very easy to retain--the easier the better--be it a
+jingling nursery rhyme, a proverb, or a text. Let this be learned to
+perfection, backwards and forwards, or by permutation of words, and
+repeated the next day. Note that the repetition or _reviewing_ is of
+more importance than aught else.
+
+On the second day add another proverb or verse to the preceding, and
+so on, day by day, always reviewing and never learning another
+syllable until you are sure that you perfectly or most familiarly
+retain all which you have _memorized_. The result will be, if you
+persevere, that before long you will begin to find it easier to
+remember anything. This is markedly the case as regards the practice
+of reviewing, which is invariably hard at first, but which becomes ere
+long habitual and then easy.
+
+I cannot impress it too vividly on the mind of the reader, that he
+cannot make his exercises too easy. If he finds that ten lines a day
+are too much, let him reduce them to five, or two, or one, or even a
+single word, but learn that, and persevere. When the memory begins to
+improve under this process, the tasks may, of course, be gradually
+increased.
+
+An uncle of the present Khedive of Egypt told me that when he was
+learning English, he at first committed to memory fifty words a day,
+but soon felt himself compelled to very much reduce the number in
+order to permanently remember what he acquired. One should never
+overdrive a willing horse.
+
+Where there is a teacher with youthful pupils, he can greatly aid the
+process of mere memorizing, by explaining the text, putting questions
+as to its meaning, or otherwise awaking an interest in it. After a
+time the pupils may proceed to _verbal memorizing_, which consists of
+having the text simply read or repeated to them. In this way, after a
+year or eighteen months of practice, most people can actually remember
+a sermon or lecture, word for word.
+
+This was the process which was discovered, I may say simultaneously,
+by DAVID KAY and myself, as our books upon it appeared at almost the
+same time. But since then I have modified my plan, and made it
+infinitely easier, and far more valuable, as will be apparent to all,
+by the application of the principles laid down in this book. For
+while, according to the original views, Memory depended on Will and
+Perseverance, there was no method indicated by any writer how these
+were to be created, nor was energetic Forethought considered as
+amounting to more than mere Intention.
+
+Now I would say that having the task selected, first give energetic
+forethought, or a considerate determination to master this should
+precede all attempts to learn, by everybody, young or old. And when
+the lesson is mastered, let it be repeated with earnestness and
+serious attention before going to sleep, with the _Will_ that it shall
+be remembered on the morrow. And it will be found that this process
+not only secures the memory desired, but also greatly facilitates the
+whole course and process.
+
+It is to be noted that by this, or any process, we do not remember
+everything, but only what is first considered and measured by
+Forethought. Also that by it the Memory is never overcharged at the
+expense of Intellect, for the exertion of will in any way strengthens
+the mind. To explain the immense power which this all implies, I
+observe:
+
+That previous to the invention of printing, it was usual for students
+to get their text-books by heart. Thus in India, according to MAX
+MULLER, the entire text and glosses of PANINI'S Sanskrit grammar were
+handed down orally for 350 years before being committed to writing.
+This work is about equal in size to the Bible.
+
+There are Indian priests now living who can repeat accurately the
+whole poems of the _Mahabarata_ of 300,000 _slokas_ or lines.
+
+That these incredible feats were the result of a system of memorizing
+similar to what I have explained.
+
+That the _Guzlas_ or Slavonian minstrels of the present day have by
+heart with remarkable accuracy immensely long epic poems. I have found
+the same among Algonkin Indians, whose sagas or mythic legends are
+interminable, and yet are committed word by word accurately.
+
+I have heard in England of a lady ninety years of age whose memory was
+miraculous, and of which extraordinary instances are narrated by her
+friends. She attributed it to the fact that when young she had been
+made to learn a verse from the Bible every day, and then constantly
+review it. As her memory improved, she learned more, the result being
+that in the end she could repeat from memory any verse or chapter
+called for in the whole Scripture. The habit had marvelously developed
+her intelligence as well as memory.
+
+Now I confidently declare that if this lady had submitted what she
+learned to the suggestive-will process she could have spared herself
+half the labor. And it is to be observed that as in time the labor of
+reviewing and the faculty of promptly recalling becomes easier and
+easier till it is simply mechanical, so the memorizing by suggestion
+becomes more _facile_ until it is, so to speak, only a form. And as it
+becomes easier the foresight strengthens till it wields an _absolute_
+power.
+
+If the reader is interested in this subject of developing the memory,
+I would refer him to my work on Practical Education in which it is
+discussed with reference to recalling objects through all the Senses.
+
+No one who has made even a very slight trial of the process of
+impressing on the mind before sleep something which must be
+remembered, can fail to be convinced ere long of the truth that there
+is in it a marvelous power which will with easy and continued practice
+enable him to recall whatever he pleases. It follows as a matter of
+course, that this would be of incredible value in education, but
+notwithstanding the vast discussion of this subject which is ever
+going on, it does not seem to occur to a living man that we should
+develop and train the mental faculties, such as memory and quickness
+of perception, as well as set them to hard work.
+
+It is also safe to say that there is not a man living who was educated
+from boyhood upon this principle, and yet I am confident that no
+scientist in existence, knowing the facts on which my statement is
+based, will deny that it is as easy to develop the mental factors
+alluded to, as to learn a language or play on the piano. It is not a
+matter of theory but of facts. Millions of men have in the past
+acquired the faculty of being able to repeat and remember whatever
+they heard, if they earnestly attended to it. Earnest attention in
+this case means a strong exercise of forethought, or determination to
+an end or given purpose. In Iceland, that which has since become the
+English common law, was at an early date very fully developed, without
+any books or writing. And there were lawyers who had by heart all the
+laws, and incredible numbers of precedents, as appears from several
+sagas, among others, that of The Burnt Njall.
+
+Our present system of Education is that of building houses without
+foundations. No one suspects or dreams what mighty powers there are
+latent in us all, or how easily they may be developed. It would not be
+so reprehensible if men entirely neglected the subject, but they are
+always working hard and spending millions on the old system, and will
+not even make the least experiment to test a new theory. One reason
+for this is the old belief that we are all born with a certain quantum
+of "gifts," as for example memory, capacity, patience, _et cetera_,
+all more or less limited, and in reality not to be enlarged or
+improved. The idea is _natural_, because we see that there are very
+great differences, hereditary or otherwise, in children. But it is
+false. So we go to work to fill up the quantum of memory as soon as
+possible by violent cramming, and in like manner tax to the utmost all
+the mental faculties without making the least effort to prepare,
+enlarge or strengthen them.
+
+I shall not live to see it, but a time will come when this preparation
+of the mental faculties will be regarded as the basis of all
+education.
+
+To recapitulate in a few words. When we desire to fix anything in the
+memory we can do so by repeating it to ourselves before we go to
+sleep, accompanying it with the resolution to remember it in future.
+We must not in the beginning set ourselves any but very easy tasks,
+and the practice must be steadily continued.
+
+It has been often said that a perfect memory is less of a blessing
+than the power of oblivion. Thus THEMISTOCLES (who, according to CATO,
+as cited by CICERO, knew the names and faces of every man in Athens)
+having offered to teach some one the art of memory, received for
+reply, "Rather teach me how to forget"--_esse facturum si se oblivisci
+quae vellet, quam si meminisse docuisset_. And CLAUDIUS had such an
+enviable power in the latter respect that immediately after he had put
+to death his wife MESSALINA, he forgot all about it, asking, "_Cur
+domina non veniret_?"--"Why the Missus didn't come?"--while on the
+following day, after condemning several friends to death, he sent
+invitations to them to come and dine with him. And again, there are
+people who have, as it were, two memories, one good, the other bad, as
+was the case with CALVISIUS SABRINUS, who could recall anything in
+literature, but never remembered the names of his own servants, or
+even his friends. But he got over the difficulty by naming his nine
+attendants after the nine Muses, while he called his intimates Homer,
+Hesiod, and so on. This scholar would truly seem to have drunk of the
+two fountains sacred to Trophonius, by the river Orchomenus in
+Boeotia, one of which bestowed memory and the other oblivion. And like
+unto them is the power of the Will, aided by Forethought and
+Suggestion, for while it properly directs and aids us to remember what
+we will, it _per contra_ also helps us to forget.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE CONSTRUCTIVE FACULTIES.
+
+    "He who hath learned a single art,
+    Can thrive, I ween, in any part."
+        --_German Proverb_.
+
+    "He would have taught you how you might employ
+    Yourself; and many did to him repair,
+    And, certes, not in vain; he had inventions rare."
+        --WORDSWORTH.
+
+When I had, after many years of study and research in England and on
+the Continent, developed the theory that all practical, technical
+education of youth should be preceded by a light or easy training on
+an aesthetic basis, or the minor arts, I for four years, to test the
+scheme, was engaged in teaching in the city of Philadelphia, every
+week in separate classes, two hundred children, besides a number of
+ladies. These were from the public schools of the city. The total
+number of these public pupils was then 110,000.
+
+My pupils were taught, firstly, simple outline decorative design with
+drawing at the same time; after this, according to sex, easy
+embroidery, wood carving, modeling in clay, leather-work,
+carpentering, inlaying, repousse modeling in clay, porcelain painting,
+and other small arts. Nearly all of the pupils, who were from ten to
+sixteen years of age, acquired two or three, if not all, of these
+arts, and then very easily found employment in factories or fabrics,
+etc.
+
+Many people believed that this was all waste of money and time, and,
+quite unknown to me, at their instigation an inquiry was made of all
+the teachers in the public schools as to the standing of my art pupils
+in their other classes, it being confidently anticipated that they
+would be found to have fallen behind. And the result of the
+investigation was that the two hundred were in advance of the one
+hundred and ten thousand in every branch--geography, arithmetic,
+history, and so on.
+
+It was not remarkable, because boys and girls who had, at an average
+age of twelve or thirteen, learned the principles of design and its
+practical application to several kinds of handiwork, and knew the
+differences and characteristics of Gothic, Arabesque, or Greek
+patterns, all developed a far greater intelligence in general thought
+and conversation than others. They had at least one topic on which
+they could converse intelligently with any grown-up person, and in
+which they were really superior to most. They soon found this out. I
+have often been astonished in listening to their conversation among
+themselves to hear how well they discussed art. They all well knew at
+least one thing, which is far from being known among aesthetes in
+London, which is that in Decorative Art, however you may end in all
+kinds of mixtures of styles, you must at least begin with organic
+development, and not put roots or flowers at _both_ ends of a branch
+or vine.
+
+The secret of it all is that those who from an early age develop the
+constructive faculty (especially if this be done in a pleasing, easy
+manner, with agreeable work) also develop with it the Intellect, and
+that very rapidly to a very remarkable degree. There are reasons for
+this. Drawing when properly taught stimulates visual perception or eye
+memory; this is strikingly the case when the pupil has a model placed
+in one room, and, after studying it, goes into another room to
+reproduce it from memory. Original design, which when properly taught
+is learned with incredible ease by all children, stimulates
+observation to a remarkable degree. The result of such education is to
+develop a great general quickness of perception and thought.
+
+Now, be it observed, that if anyone desires to learn design or any
+art, it may be greatly facilitated by the application to it of Will
+and Foresight, and in the beginning, Self-Suggestion. He who
+understands the three as one, sees in it a higher or more energetic
+kind of self-discipline than most people practise. In the end they
+come to the same as a vigorous effort of the Will.
+
+Thus, having mastered the very easy principles of design which govern
+all organic development or vegetable growth (as set forth in a plant
+with roots, offshoots, or crochets, and end ornaments, flowers, or
+finials, with the circle, spiral, and offshooting ornaments; rings
+made into vines and wave patterns; all of which can be understood in
+an hour with diagrams), let the beginner attempt a design, the simpler
+the better, and reproduce it from memory. If on going to bed he will
+impress it on his mind that on the morrow he would like to make more
+designs, or that it _must_ be done, he will probably feel the impulse
+and succeed. This is the more likely because patterns impress
+themselves very vividly on the memory or imagination, and when studied
+are easily recalled after a little practice.
+
+The manner in which most artists form an idea, or project their minds
+to a plan or invention, be it a statue or picture; and the way they
+think it over and anticipate it--very often actually seeing the
+picture in a finished state in imagination--all amounts to foresight
+and hypnotic preparation in a crude, imperfect form. If any artist who
+is gifted with resolution and perseverance will simply make trial of
+the method here recommended, he will assuredly find that it is a great
+aid to Invention.
+
+It is probable that half the general average cleverness of men is due
+to their having learned, as boys, games, or the art of making
+something, or mending and repairing. In any case, if they had learned
+to use their hands and their inventiveness or adaptability, they would
+have been the better for it. That the innumerable multitude of people
+who can do nothing of the kind, and who take no real interest in
+anything except spending money and gossiping, are to be really pitied,
+is true. Some of them once had minds--and these are the most pitiful
+or pitiable of all. It is to be regretted that novels are, with rare
+exceptions, written to amuse this class, and limit themselves strictly
+to "life," never describing with real skill, so as to interest
+anything which would make life worth living for--except love--which is
+good to a certain extent, but not absolutely all in all, save to the
+eroto-maniac. And as most novelists now pretend to instruct and convey
+ideas, beyond mere story-telling, or even being "interesting," which
+means the love or detective business, I would suggest to some of these
+writers that the marvelous latent powers of the human mind, and also
+some art which does not consist of the names and guide-book praises of
+a few great painters and the Renaissance _rechauffee_ would be a
+refreshing novelty.
+
+The ancient Romans were thoroughly persuaded that _Exercitatione et
+usu_ (by exercising the physical faculties in every way; by which they
+meant arts as well as gymnastics; and by making such practice
+habitual) they could develop intellect, in illustration of which
+Lycurgus once took two puppies of the same litter, and had the one
+brought up to hunt, while the other was nursed at home in all luxury;
+and when grown, and let loose, the one caught a hare, while the other
+yelped and ran away. So the word _handy_, in old English _hend_,
+meaning quick, alert, or gifted with prompt perception, is derived
+from knowing how to use the hands. BRUSONIUS ("Facetiae," Lyons, 1562)
+has collected a great number of classic anecdotes to illustrate this
+saying.
+
+_Recapitulation_. Those who desire to become artists, can greatly
+facilitate their work, if beginning for example with very simple
+outline decorative designs, and having learned the principles on which
+they are constructed, they would repeat or revise them to themselves
+before sleep, resolving to remember them. The same principle is
+applicable to all kinds of designs, with the proviso that they be at
+first very easy. This is generally a very successful process.
+
+_Fore thought_, or the projection of conception or attention with
+will, is a marvelous preparation for all kinds of art work. He who can
+form the habit of seeing a picture mentally before he paints it, has
+an incredible advantage, and will spare himself much labor and
+painting out.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+FASCINATION.
+
+    "Quaerit _Franciscus Valesius, Delrio, Gutierrus_, et alii,
+    unde vulgaris ilia fascini nata sit opinio de oculo fascinante
+    visione et ore fascinando laudando."--De Faseinatione
+    Fatatus. A. D. 1677.
+
+I have in Chapter Fifth mentioned several of the subjects to attain
+which the Will may be directed by the aid of self-hypnotism, preceded
+by Forethought. If the reader has carefully studied what I have said
+and not merely skimmed it, he must have perceived that if the power be
+fully acquired, it makes, as it were, new existence for its possessor,
+opening to him boundless fields of action by giving him the enviable
+power to acquire interest--that is to say agreeable or profitable
+occupation--in whatever he pleases. In further illustration of which I
+add the following:
+
+_To recall bygone memories or imperfectly remembered sensations,
+scenes and experiences or images_.
+
+This is a difficult thing to describe, and no wonder, since it forms
+the greatest and most trying task of all poets to depict that which
+really depends for its charm on association, emotion and a chiaroscuro
+of the feelings. We have all delightful reminiscences which make
+ridiculous Dante's assertion that
+
+    "There is no greater grief than to recall in pain
+    The happy days gone by;"
+
+which, if true, would make it a matter of regret that we ever had a
+happy hour. However, I assume that it is a great pleasure to recall,
+even in grief, beautiful bygone scenes and joys, and trust that the
+reader has a mind healthy and cheerful enough to do the same.
+
+What constitutes a charm in many memories is often extremely varied.
+Darkly shaded rooms with shutters closed in on an intensely hot
+American summer day. Chinese matting on the floors--the mirrors and
+picture frames covered with _tulle_--silence--the scent of magnolias
+all over the house--the presence of loved ones now long dead and
+gone--all of these combined form to me memory-pictures in which
+nothing can be spared. The very scent of the flowers is like musk in a
+perfume or "bouquet" of odors--it _fixes_ them well, or renders them
+permanent. And it is all like a beautiful vivid dream. If I had my
+life to live over again I would do frequently and with great care,
+what I thought of too late, and now practice feebly--I would strongly
+impress on my mind and very often recall, many such scenes, pictures,
+times or memories. Very few people do this. Hence in all novels and
+poems, especially the French, description generally smacks of
+imitation and mere manufacture. It passes for "beautiful writing," but
+there is always something in really unaffected truth from nature which
+is caught by the true critic. I read lately a French romance which is
+much admired, of this manufactured or second-hand kind. Every third
+page was filled with the usual botany, rocks, skies, colors, fore and
+backgrounds--"all very fine"--but in the whole of it not one of those
+little touches of truth which stir us so in SHAKESPEARE, make us smile
+in HERRICK or naive PEPYS, or raise our hearts in WORDSWORTH. These
+were true men.
+
+To be true we must be far more familiar with Nature than with scene
+painting or photographs, and to do this we must, so to speak,
+fascinate ourselves with pictures in life, glad memories of golden
+hours, rock and river and greenwood tree. We must also banish
+resolutely from our past all recollections of enemies and wrongs,
+troubles and trials, and throw all our heart into doing so. Forgive
+and forget all enmities--those of Misfortune and Fate being included.
+Depend upon it that the brighter you can make your Past the pleasanter
+will be your Future.
+
+This is just the opposite to what most people do, hence the frequent
+and fond quotation of pessimistic poetry. It is all folly, and worse.
+One result is that in modern books of travel the only truthful or
+vivid descriptions are of sufferings of all kinds, even down to
+inferior luncheons and lost hair brushes. Their joys they sketch with
+an indifferent skill, like HEINE'S monk, who made rather a poor
+description of Heaven, but was "gifted in Hell," which he depicted
+with dreadful vigor.
+
+I find it a great aid to recall what I can of bygone beautiful
+associations, and then sleep on them with a resolve that they shall
+recur in complete condition. He who will thus resolutely clean up his
+past life and clear away from it all sorrow _as well as he can_, and
+refurnish it with beautiful memories, or make it better, _coute que
+coute_, will do himself more good than many a doleful moral adviser
+ever dreamed of. This is what I mean by _self-fascination_--the
+making, as it were, by magic art, one's own past and self more
+charming than we ever deemed it possible to be. We thus fascinate
+ourselves. Those who believe that everything which is bygone has gone
+to the devil are in a wretched error. The future is based on the
+past--yes, made from it, and that which _was_ never dies, but returns
+to bless or grieve. We mostly wrong our past bitterly, and bitterly
+does it revenge itself. But it is like the lion of ANDROCLES, it
+remembers those who treat it kindly. "And lo! when ANDROCLES was
+thrown to the lion to be devoured, the beast lay down at his feet, and
+licked his hands." Yes, we have all our lions!
+
+_To master difficult meanings_. It has often befallen me, when I was
+at the University, or later when studying law, to exert my mind to
+grasp, and all in vain, some problem in mathematics or a puzzling
+legal question, or even to remember some refractory word in a foreign
+language which would _not_ remain in the memory. After a certain
+amount of effort in many of these cases, further exertion is
+injurious, the mind or receptive power seems to be seized--as if
+nauseated--with spasmodic rejections. In such a case pass the question
+by, but on going to bed, think it over and _will_ to understand it on
+the morrow. It will often suffice to merely desire that it shall recur
+in more intelligible form--in which case, _nota bene_--if let alone it
+will obey. This is as if we had a call to make tomorrow, when, as we
+know, the memory will come at its right time of itself, especially if
+we employ Forethought or special pressure.
+
+When I reflect on what I once endured from this cause, and how greatly
+it could have been relieved or alleviated, I feel as if I could beg,
+with all my heart, every student or teacher of youth to seriously
+experiment on what I set forth in this book. It is also to be
+observed, especially by metaphysicians and mental philosophers, that a
+youth who has shown great indifference to, let us say mathematics, if
+he has manifested an aptitude for philosophy or languages, will be in
+all cases certain to excel in the former, if he can be brought to
+make a good beginning in it. A great many cases of bad, _i. e._,
+indifferent scholarship, are due to bad teaching of the rudiments by
+adults who took no _interest_ in their pupils, and therefore inspired
+none.
+
+_To determine what course to follow in any Emergency_. Many a man
+often wishes with all his heart that he had some wise friend to
+consult in his perplexities. What to do in a business trouble when we
+are certain that there is an exit if we could only find it--a sure way
+to tame an unruly horse if we had the secret--to do or not to do
+whate'er the question--truly all this causes great trouble in life.
+But, it is within the power of man to be his own friend, yes, and
+companion, to a degree of which none have ever dreamed, and which
+borders on the _weird_, or that which forebodes or suggests mysteries
+to come. For it may come to pass that he who has trained himself to
+it, may commune with his spirit as with a companion.
+
+This is, of course, done by just setting the problem, or question, or
+dilemma, before ourselves as clearly as we can, so as to know our own
+minds as well as possible. This done, sleep on it, with the resolute
+will to have it recur on the morrow in a clear and solved form. And
+should this occur, do not proceed to pull it to pieces again, by way
+of improvement, but rather submit it to another night's rest. I would
+here say that many lawyers and judges are perfectly familiar with this
+process, and use it habitually, without being aware of its connection
+with hypnotism or will. But they could aid it, if they would add this
+peculiar _impulse_ to the action.
+
+What I will now discuss approaches the miraculous, or seems to do so
+because it has been attempted or treated in manifold ways by sorcerers
+and witches. The Voodoos, or black wizards in America, profess
+to be able to awaken love in one person for another by means of
+incantations, but admit that it is the most difficult of their feats.
+Nor do I think that there is any infallible recipe for it, but that
+there are means of _honestly_ aiding such affection can hardly be
+denied. In the first place, he who would be loved must love--for that
+is no honest love which is not sincere. And having thus inspired
+himself, and made himself as familiar as possible, by quietly
+observing as dispassionately as may be all the mental characteristics
+of the one loved, let him with an earnest desire to know how to secure
+a return, go to sleep, and see whether the next day will bring a
+suggestion. And as the old proverb declares that luck comes to many
+when least hoped for, so will it often happen that forethought is thus
+fore-bought or secured.
+
+It is known that gifts pass between friends or lovers, to cause the
+receiver to think of the giver, thus they are in a sense amulets. If
+we believe, as HEINE prettily suggests, that something of the life or
+the being of the owner or wearer has passed into the talisman, we are
+not far off from the suggestion that our feelings are allied. All over
+Italy, or over the world, pebbles of precious stone, flint or amber,
+rough topaz or agate, are esteemed as lucky; all things of the kind
+lead to suggestiveness, and may be employed in suggestion.
+
+What was originally known as Fascination, of which the German,
+FROMANN, wrote a very large volume which I possess, is simply
+Hypnotism without the putting to sleep. It is direct Suggestion. Where
+there is a natural sympathy of like to like, soul answering soul, such
+suggestion is easily established. Among people of a common, average,
+worldly type who are habitually sarcastic, jeering, chaffing, and
+trifling, or those whose idea of genial or agreeable companionship is
+to "get a rise" out of all who will give and take irritations equally,
+there can be no sympathy of gentle or refined emotions. Experiments,
+whose whole nature presupposes earnest thought, cannot be tried with
+any success by those who live habitually in an atmosphere of small
+talk and "rubbishy" associations. Fascination should be mutual; to
+attempt to exert it on anyone who is not naturally in sympathy is a
+crime, and I believe that all such cases lead to suffering and
+remorse.
+
+But where we perceive that there is an undoubted mutual liking and
+good reason for it, fascination, when perfectly understood and
+sympathetically used, facilitates and increases love and friendship,
+and may be most worthily and advantageously employed. Unto anyone who
+could, for example, merely skim over all that I have written, catching
+an idea here and there, and then expect to master all, I can clearly
+say that I can give him or her no definite idea of fascination. For
+Fascination really is effectively what the old philosophers, who
+had given immense study and research to the subject in ages when
+susceptibility to suggestiveness went far beyond anything now known,
+all knew and declared; that is to say, it existed, but that it
+required a peculiar mind, and very certainly one which is not
+frivolous, to understand its nature, and much more to master it.
+
+He who has by foresight, or previous consideration of a subject or
+desire, allied to a vigorous resolution (which is a kind of projection
+of the mind by will--and then submitting it to sleep), learned how to
+bring about a wished-for state of mind, has, in a curious manner, made
+as it were of his hidden self a conquest yet a friend. He has brought
+to life within himself a Spirit, gifted with greater powers than those
+possessed by Conscious Intellect. By his astonishing and unsuspected
+latent power, Man can imagine and then create, even a spirit within
+the soul. We make at first the sketch, then model it in clay, then
+cast it in gypsum, and finally sculpture it in marble.
+
+I read lately, in a French novel, a description of a young lady, by
+herself, in which she assumed to have within her two souls, one good,
+of which she evidently thought very little, and another brilliantly
+diabolical, capricious, vividly dramatic and interesting _esprit_--to
+which she gave a great deal of attention. He who will begin by merely
+_imagining_ that he has within him a spirit of beauty and light, which
+is to subdue and extinguish the other or all that is in him of what is
+low, commonplace, and mean, may bring this idea to exert a marvelous
+influence. He can increase the conception, and give it reality, by
+treating it with forethought and will, by suggestion, until it gives
+marvellous result. This better self may be regarded as a guardian
+angel, in any case it is a power by means of which we can learn
+mysteries. It is also our Conscience, born of the perception of
+Ideals.
+
+The Ideal or Spirit thus evolved should be morally pure, else the
+experimenter will find, as did the magicians of old, that all who
+dealt with any but good spirits, fell into the hands of devils, just
+as ALLAN KARDEC says is the case with Spiritualists. But to speak as
+clearly as I can, he who succeeds in winning or creating a higher Self
+within himself, and fascinating it by sympathy, will find that he has,
+within moral limits, a strange power of fascinating those who are in
+sympathy with him.
+
+Whereupon many will say "of course." Like and like together strike.
+Birds of a feather flock together. _Similis similibus_. But it often
+happens in this life, though they meet they do _not_ pair off. Very
+often indeed they meet, but to part. There must be, even where the
+affinity exists, consideration and forethought to test the affinity.
+It requires long practice even for keen eyes to recognize the amethyst
+or topaz, or many other gems, in their natural state as sea-worn
+pebbles. Now, it is not a matter of fancy, of romance, or imagination,
+that there are men and women who really have, deeply hidden in
+their souls, or more objectively manifested, peculiar or beautiful
+characteristics, or a spirit. I would not speak here merely of
+_naivete_ or tenderness--a natural affinity for poetry, art, or
+beauty, but the peculiar tone and manner of it, which is sympathetic
+to ours. For two people may love music, yet be widely removed from all
+agreement if one be a Wagnerian, and the other of an older school.
+Suffice it to say that such similarities of mind or mood, of intellect
+or emotion do exist, and when they are real, and not imaginary, or
+merely the result of passional attraction, they suggest and may well
+attract the use of Fascination.
+
+Those who actually develop within themselves such a spirit, regarding
+it as one, that is a self beyond self, attain to a power which few
+understand, which is practical, positive, and real, and not at all a
+superstitious fancy. It may begin in imagining or fancy, but as the
+veriest dream is material and may be repeated till we see it visibly
+and can then copy it, so can we create in ourselves a being, a
+segregation of our noblest thoughts, a superb abstraction of soul
+which looks from its sunny mountain height down on the dark and
+noisome valley which forms our worldly common intellect or mind, or
+the only one known to by far the majority of mankind, albeit they may
+have therein glimpses of light and truth. But it is to him who makes
+for himself, by earnest Will and Thought, a _separate_ and better Life
+or Self that a better life is given.
+
+Those who possess genius or peculiarly cultivated minds of a highly
+moral caste, gifted with pure integrity, and above vulgarity and
+worldly commonplace habits, should never form a tie in friendship or
+love without much forethought. And then if the active agent has
+disciplined his mind by self-hypnotism until he can control or manage
+his Will with ease, he will know without further instruction how to
+fascinate, and that properly and legitimately.
+
+Those who now acquire this power are few and far between, and when
+they _really_ possess it they make no boast nor parade, but rather
+keep it carefully to themselves, perfectly content with what it yields
+for reward. And here I may declare something in which I firmly
+believe, yet which very few I fear will understand as I mean it. If
+this fascination and other faculties like it may be called Magical
+(albeit all is within the limits of science and matter), then there
+are assuredly in this world magicians whom we meet without dreaming
+that they are such. Here and there, however rare, there is mortal who
+has studied deeply--but
+
+    "Softened all and tempered into beauty;
+    And blended with lone thoughts and wanderings,
+    The quest of hidden knowledge, and a mind
+    To _love_ the universe."
+
+Such beings do not come before the world, but hide their lights,
+knowing well that their magic would defeat itself, and perish if it
+were made common. Any person of the average worldly cast who could
+work any miracles, however small, would in the end bitterly regret it
+if he allowed it to be known. Thus I have read ingenious stories, as
+for instance one by HOOD, showing what terrible troubles a man fell
+into by being able to make himself invisible. Also another setting
+forth the miseries of a successful alchemist. The Algonkin Indians
+have a legend of a man who came to grief and death through his power
+of making all girls love him. But the magic of which I speak is of a
+far more subtle and deeply refined nature, and those who possess it
+are alone in life, save when by some rare chance they meet their kind.
+Those who are deeply and mysteriously interested in any pursuit for
+which the great multitude of all-alike people have no sympathy, who
+have peculiar studies and subjects of thought, partake a little of
+the nature of the _magus_. Magic, as popularly understood, has no
+existence, it is a literal _myth_--for it means nothing but what
+amazes or amuses for a short time. No miracle would be one if it
+became common. Nature is infinite, therefore its laws cannot be
+violated--_ergo_, there is no magic if we mean by that an inexplicable
+contravention of law.
+
+But that there are minds who have simply advanced in knowledge beyond
+the multitude in certain things which cannot at once be made common
+property is true, for there is a great deal of marvelous truth not as
+yet dreamed of even by HERBERT SPENCERS or EDISONS, by RONTGENS or
+other scientists. And yet herein is hidden the greatest secret of
+future human happenings.
+
+    "What I was is passed by,
+    What I am away doth fly;
+    What I shall be none do see,
+    Yet in that my glories be."
+
+Now to illustrate this more clearly. Some of these persons who are
+more or less secretly addicted to magic (I say secretly, because they
+cannot make it known if they would), take the direction of feeling or
+living with inexpressible enjoyment in the beauties of nature. That,
+they attain to something almost or quite equal to life in Fairyland,
+is conclusively proved by the fact that only very rarely, here and
+there in their best passages, do the greatest poets more than
+imperfectly and briefly convey some broken idea or reflection of the
+feelings which are excited by thousands of subjects in nature in many.
+The Mariana of TENNYSON surpasses anything known to me in any language
+as conveying the reality of feeling alone in a silent old house, where
+everything is a dim, uncanny manner, recalled the past--yet suggested
+a kind of mysterious presence--as in the passage:
+
+    "All day within the dreary house
+    The doors upon their hinges creaked,
+    The blue fly sang in the pane, the mouse
+    Behind the mouldering wainscot shrieked,
+    Or from the crevice peered about;
+    Old faces glimmered thro' the doors,
+    Old footsteps trod the upper floors,
+    Old voices called her from without."
+
+Yet even this unsurpassed poem does no more than _partially_ revive
+and recall the reality to me of similar memories of long, long ago,
+when an invalid child I was often left in a house entirely alone, from
+which even the servants had absented themselves. Then I can remember
+how after reading the Arabian Nights or some such unearthly romance,
+as was the mode in the Thirties, the very sunshine stealing craftily
+and silently like a living thing, in a bar through the shutter,
+twinkling with dust, as with infinitely small stars, living and dying
+like sparks, the buzzing of the flies who were little blue imps, with
+now and then a larger Beelzebub--a strange imagined voice ever about,
+which seemed to say something without words--and the very furniture,
+wherein the chairs were as goblins, and the broom a tall young woman,
+and the looking-glass a kind of other self-life--all of this as I
+recall it appears to me as a picture of the absence of human beings as
+described by TENNYSON, _plus_ a strange personality in every object--
+which the poet does not attempt to convey. This is, however, a very
+small or inferior illustration; there are far more remarkable and
+deeply spiritual or aesthetically-suggestive subjects than this, and
+that in abundance, which Art has indeed so reproduced as to amaze the
+many who have only had snatches of such observation themselves.
+
+But the magicians, SHELLEY, or KEATS, or WORDSWORTH, only convey
+_partial_ echoes of certain subjects, or of their specialties. It is
+indeed beautiful to feel what Art can do, but the original is worth
+far more. And if the reader would be such a magician, let him give his
+heart and will to taking an interest in all that is beautiful, good
+and true--or honest. For that it really can be done in all fullness is
+true beyond a dream of doubt. By the ordinary methods of learning one
+may indeed acquire an exact, mechanically drawn picture, which we
+modify with what beauty chance bestows. But he who will learn by the
+process which I have endeavored to describe, or by studying with the
+_will_, cannot fail to experience a strange enchantment in so doing,
+as I have read in an Italian tale of a youth who was sadly weary of
+his lessons, but who, being taken daily by certain kind fairies into
+their school on a hill, found all difficulties disappear and the
+pursuit of knowledge as joyful as that of pleasure.
+
+I have heard hypnotism, with regard to fascination, spoken of with
+great apprehension. "It is dreadful," said one to me, "to think of
+anybody's being able to exercise such an influence on anyone." And
+yet, widely known as it is, instances of its abuse are very rare.
+Thus, when Cremation was first discussed, it was warmly opposed,
+because somebody _might_ be poisoned, and then, the body being burned,
+there could be no autopsy! Nature has decreed some drawback to the
+best things; nothing is perfect. But to balance the immense benefits
+latent in suggestion against the problematic abuses is like condemning
+the ship because a bucket of tar has been spilt on the deck.
+
+Sincere kindness and respect, which are allied unto identity, are
+the best or surest key to love, and they in turn are allied to
+fascination. Here I might observe that the action of the eye, which is
+a silent speech of emotion, has always been regarded as powerful in
+fascination, but those who are not by nature gifted with it cannot use
+it to much good purpose. That emotional, susceptible subjects ready to
+receive suggestion can be put to sleep or made to imagine anything
+terrible regarding anybody's glance is very true, just as an ignorant
+Italian will believe of any man that he has the _malocchio_ if he be
+told so, whence came the idea that Pope Gregory XVI had the evil eye.
+But where there is _sincere_ kindly feeling it makes itself felt in a
+sympathetic nature by what is popularly called magic, only because it
+is not understood. The enchantment lies in this, that unconscious
+cerebration, or the power (or powers), who are always acting in us,
+effect many curious and very subtle mental phenomena, all of which
+they do not confide to the common-sense waking judgment or Reason,
+simply because the latter is almost entirely occupied with common
+worldly subjects. It is as if someone whose whole attention and
+interest had been at all times given to some plain hard drudgery,
+should be called on to review or write a book of exquisitely subtle
+poetry. It is, indeed, almost sadly touching to reflect how this
+innocent and beautiful faculty of recognizing what is good, is really
+acting perhaps in evil and merely worldly minds all in vain, and all
+unknown to them. The more the conscious waking-judgment has been
+trained to recognize goodness, the more will the hidden water-fairies
+rise above the surface, as it were, to the sunshine. So it comes that
+true kindly feeling is recognized by sympathy, and those who would be
+loved, cannot do better than make themselves truly and perfectly
+_kind_ by forethought and will, and with this the process of
+self-hypnotism will be a great aid. For it is not more by winning
+others to us, than in willing ourselves to them that true Love
+consists.
+
+Love or trusting sympathy from any human being, however humble, is the
+most charming thing in life, and it ought to be the main object of
+existence. Yet there are thousands all round us, yes, many among
+our friends or acquaintances, who live and die without ever having
+known it, because in their egotism and folly they conceive of close
+relations as founded on personal power, interest or the weakness of
+others. The only fascination which such people can ever exercise is
+that of the low and devilish kind, the influence of the cat on the
+mouse, the eye of the snake on the bird, which in the end degrades
+them into deeper evil. That there are such people, and that they
+really make captive and oppress weaker minds, by suggestion, is true;
+the marvel being that so few find it out.
+
+But in proportion as this kind of fascination is vile and mean,
+that which may be called altruistic or sympathetic attraction, or
+Enchantment, is noble and pure, because it acquires strength in
+proportion to the purity and beauty of the soul or will which inspires
+it. It is as real and has as much power, and can be exercised by any
+honest person whatever with wonderful effect, even to the performing
+what are popularly called "miracles," which only means wonderful works
+beyond _our_ power of explanation. But this kind of fascination is
+little understood as yet, simply because it is based on purity,
+morality and light, and hitherto the seekers for occult mysteries have
+been chiefly occupied with the gloomy and mock-diabolical rubbish of
+old tradition, instead of scientific investigation of our minds and
+brains.
+
+There is also in truth a Fascination by means of the Voice, which has
+in it a much deeper and stronger power or action than that of merely
+sweet sound as of an instrument. The Jesuit, GASPAR SCHOTT, in his
+_Magio Medica_ treats of Fascination as twofold: _De Fascinatione per
+Visunt et Vocem_. I have found among Italian witches as with Red
+Indian wizards, every magical operation depended on an incantation,
+and every incantation on the feeling, intonation, or manner in which
+it is sung. Thus near Rome any peasant overhearing a _scongiurasione_
+would recognize it from the _sound_ alone.
+
+Anyone, male or female, can have a deep, rich voice by simply subduing
+and training it, and very rarely raising it to a high pitch. _Nota
+bene_ that the less this is affected the more effective it will be.
+There are many, especially women, who speak, as it were, all time in
+italics, when they do not set their speech in small caps or displayed
+large capitals. The result of this, as regards sound, is the so-called
+nasal voice, which is very much like caterwauling, and I need not say
+that there is no fascination in it--on the contrary its tendency is to
+destroy any other kind of attraction. It is generally far more due to
+an ill-trained, unregulated, excitable, nervous temperament than to
+any other cause.
+
+The training the voice to a subdued state "like music in its softest
+key," or to rich, deep tones, though it be done artificially, has an
+extraordinary effect on the character and on others. It is associated
+with a well-trained mind and one gifted with self-control. One of the
+richest voices to which I ever listened was that of the poet TENNYSON.
+I can remember another man of marvelous mind, vast learning, and
+aesthetic-poetic power who also had one of those voices which exercised
+great influence on all who heard it.
+
+There is an amusing parallel as regards nasal-screaming voices in the
+fact that a donkey cannot bray unless he at the same time lifts his
+tail--but if the tail be _tied down_, the beast must be silent. So the
+man or woman, whose voice like that of the erl-king's is "ghostly
+shrill as the wind in the porch of a ruined church," always raise
+their tones with their temper, but if we keep the former down by
+training, the latter cannot rise.
+
+I once asked a very talented lady teacher of Elocution in Philadelphia
+if she regarded shrill voices as incurable. She replied that they
+invariably yielded to instruction and training. Children under no
+domestic restraint who were allowed to scream out and dispute on all
+occasions and were never corrected in intonation, generally had vulgar
+voices.
+
+A good voice acts very evidently on the latent powers of the mind,
+and impresses the aesthetic sense, even when it is unheeded by the
+conscious judgment. Many a clergyman makes a deep impression by his
+voice alone. And why? Certainly not by appealing to the reason.
+Therefore it is well to be able to fascinate with the voice. Now,
+_nota bene_--as almost every human being can speak in a soft or
+well-toned voice, "at least, subdued unto a temperate tone" just as
+long as he or she chooses to do it, it follows that with foresight,
+aided by suggestion, or continued will, we can all acquire this
+enviable accomplishment.
+
+To end this chapter with a curious bit of appropriate folk-lore, I
+would record that while Saxo Grammaticus, Olaus Magnus, and a host of
+other Norsemen have left legends to prove that there were sorcerers
+who by magic of the soft and wondrous voice could charm and capture
+men of the sword, so the Jesuit ATHANASIUS KIRCHER, declares that on
+the seventeenth day of May, 1638, he, going from Messina in a boat,
+witnessed with his own eyes the capture not of swordsmen but of sundry
+_xiphioe_, or sword-fish, by means of a melodiously chanted charm, the
+words whereof he noted down as follows:
+
+    "Mammassudi di pajanu,
+    Palletu di pajanu,
+    Majassu stigneta.
+    Pallettu di pajanu,
+    Pale la stagneta.
+    Mancata stigneta.
+    Pro nastu varitu pressu du
+    Visu, e da terra!"
+
+Of which words Kircher declares that they are probably of mingled
+corrupt Greek and ancient Sicilian, but that whatever they are, they
+certainly are admirable for the catching of fish.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE SUBLIMINAL SELF.
+
+While the previous pages of this work were in the press, I received
+and read a very interesting and able Book, entitled, "Telepathy and
+the Subliminal Self, or an account of recent investigations regarding
+Hypnotism, Automatism, Dreams, Phantoms, and related phenomena," by R.
+OSGOOD MASON, A.M., Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. Dr.
+MASON, on the whole, may be said to follow HARTMANN, since he places
+Thaumaturgy, or working what have been considered as wonders,
+miracles, and the deeds of spiritualists, on the evolutionary or
+material basis. He is also far less superstitious or prone to seek the
+miraculous and mysterious for its own sake, than his predecessors
+in _occulta_, and limits his beliefs to proofs sustained by good
+authority. He recognizes a second, or what he calls a subliminal Self,
+the Spirit of our Soul, acting independently of Waking Conscious
+Judgment, a mysterious _alter ego_, which has marvelous power.
+
+This second or inner self I have also through this work of mine
+recognized as a reality, though it is, like the self-conscious soul,
+rather an aggregate than a distinct unity. Thus we may for convenience
+sake speak of the Memory, when there are in fact millions of memories,
+since every image stored away in the brain is one, and the faculty of
+revising them for the use of the waking soul, is certainly apart from
+the action of bringing them into play in dreams. In fact if we regard
+the action of all known faculties, we might assume with the Egyptians
+that man had not merely eight distinct souls, but eighty, or even a
+countless number. And as the ancients, knowing very little about
+mental action, classed it all as one soul, so we may call that which
+is partially investigated and mysterious, a second or inner "soul,"
+spirit, or subliminal self--that is to say provisionally, till more
+familiar with its nature and relations.
+
+DR. MASON, to his credit be it said, has not accepted for Gospel,
+as certain French writers have done, the tricks of self-confessed
+humbugs. He has only given us the cream of the most strictly attested
+cases, as related by French scientists and people of unquestioned
+veracity. And yet admitting that in every instance the witness
+sincerely believed that he or she spoke the truth, the aggregate is so
+far from confirming the tales told, that consideration and comparison
+would induce very grave doubt. Thus, who could have been more sincere,
+purely honest or pious than JUSTINUS KERNER, whom I knew personally,
+SWEDENBORG, ESCHENMAYER and all of their school? Yet how utterly
+irreconciliable are all their revelations!
+
+Therefore, while I have cited illustration and example as affording
+unproved or hearsay evidence, I, in fact, decidedly reject not only
+all tradition, as proof on occult subjects, but all assertion from any
+quarter, however trustworthy, asking the reader to believe in nothing
+which he cannot execute and make sure unto himself. Tradition and
+testimony are very useful to supply ideas or theories, but to actually
+_believe_ in anything beyond his experience a man should take
+sufficient interest in it to _prove_ it by personal experiment. And,
+therefore, as I have already declared, I not only ask, but hope that
+no reader will put faith in anything which I have alleged or declared,
+until he has fully and fairly proved it to be true in his own person.
+
+The history of true culture, truth, or progress has been that of doubt
+or disbelief in all which cannot be scientifically proved or made
+manifest to sensation and reflection, and even in this the most
+scrupulous care must be exercised, since our senses often deceive us.
+Therefore, in dealing with subjects which have undeniably been made
+the means of deceit and delusion thousands of times to one authentic
+instance, it is not well to accept testimony, or any kind of evidence,
+or proof, save that which we can establish for ourself. The day is not
+yet, but it is coming, when self-evidence will be claimed, and
+granted, as to all human knowledge, and the sooner it comes the better
+will it be for the world.
+
+But I would be clearly understood as declaring that it is only as
+regards making up our minds to absolute faith in what involves what
+may be called our mental welfare, which includes the most serious
+conduct of life, that I would limit belief to scientific proof. As an
+example, I will cite the very interesting case of the hypnotic
+treatment of a patient by DR. VOISIN, and as given by MASON.
+
+"In the summer of 1884, there was at the Salpetriere a young woman of
+a deplorable type, Jeanne S----, who was a criminal lunatic, filthy,
+violent, and with a life history of impurity and crime. M. Auguste
+Voisin, one of the physicians of the staff, undertook to hypnotize
+her, May 31. At that time she was so violent that she could only be
+kept quiet by a straight-jacket and the constant cold douche to her
+head. She would not look at M. Voisin, but raved and spat at him. He
+persisted, kept his face near and opposite to hers, and his eyes
+following hers constantly. In ten minutes she was in a sound sleep,
+and soon passed into a somnambulistic condition. The process was
+repeated many days, and she gradually became sane while in the
+hypnotic condition, but still raved when she woke.
+
+"Gradually then she began to accept hypnotic suggestion, and would
+obey trivial orders given her while asleep, such as to sweep her room,
+then suggestions regarding her general behavior; then, in her hypnotic
+condition, she began to express regret for her past life, and form
+resolutions of amendment to which she finally adhered when she awoke.
+Two years later she was a nurse in one of the Paris hospitals, and her
+conduct was irreproachable. M. Voisin has followed up this case by
+others equally striking."
+
+This is not only an unusually well authenticated instance, but one
+which seems to carry conviction from the manner of narration. Yet it
+would be absurd to declare that the subject neither deceived herself
+nor others, or that the doctor made no mistakes either in fact or
+involuntarily. The whole is, however, extremely valuable from its
+_probability_, and still more from its suggesting experiment in a much
+more useful direction than that followed in the majority of cases
+recorded in most books, which, especially in France, seem chiefly to
+have been conducted from a melodramatic or merely medical point of
+view. Very few indeed seem to have ever dreamed that a hypnotized
+subject was anything but a being to be cured of some disorder,
+operated on without pain, or made to undergo and perform various
+tricks, often extremely cruel, silly, and wicked--the main object of
+all being to advertise the skill of the operator. In fact, if it were
+to be accepted that the main object of hypnotism is to repeat such
+experiments as are described in most of the French works on the
+subject, humanity and decency would join in prohibiting the practice
+of the art altogether. These books point out and make clear in the
+minutest manner, how every kind of crime can be committed, and the
+mind brought to regard all that is evil as a matter of course. The
+making an innocent person attempt to commit a murder or steal is among
+the most usual experiments; while, on the contrary, any case like that
+of the reform of Jeanne S---- is either very rare, or else is treated
+simply as a proof of the skill of some _medico_. The fact that if the
+successes which are recorded are _true_, there exists a _stupendous_
+power by means of which the average morality and happiness of mankind
+can be incredibly advanced and sustained, and Education, Art in every
+branch, and, in a word, all Culture be marvelously developed on a far
+more secure basis than in the old systems, does not seem to have
+occurred to any of those who possessed, as it were, gold, without
+having the least idea of its value or even its qualities.
+
+Happiness in the main is a pleasant, contented condition of the mind,
+that is to say, "a state of mind." To be perfect, as appears from an
+enlarged study of all things or phenomena in their relations (since
+every part must harmonize with the whole), this happiness implies duty
+and altruism, every whit as much as self-enjoyment. This agrees with
+and results from scientific experience. Under the old _a priori_
+psychologic system, _selfishness_ (which meant that every soul was to
+be chiefly or solely concerned in saving itself, guided by hope of
+reward and fear of punishment), it was naturally the basis of
+morality.
+
+Now, accepting the definition of Happiness as a state of mind under
+certain conditions, it follows that it can be realized to a great
+degree, and in all cases to some degree, firstly by forethought or
+carefully defining what it is or what we desire, and secondly by
+making a fixed idea by simple, well-nigh mechanical means, without any
+resource to _les grands moyens_. According to the old and now rapidly
+vanishing philosophy, this was to be effected by sublime morality,
+prayer, or adjuration of supernatural beings and noble heroism, but
+what is here proposed is much humbler, albeit more practical. Reading
+immortal poetry or prose is indeed a splendid power, but to learn the
+letters of the alphabet, and to spell, is very simple and unpoetic,
+yet far more practical. What I have described has been the mere dull
+rudiments. It is most remarkable that the world has always known that
+the art of RAFFAELLE, MICHAEL ANGELO, and ALBERT DURER was based, like
+that of the greatest musicians, on extensive rudimentary study, and
+yet has never dreamed that what far surpasses all art in every way,
+and even includes the desire for it, may all proceed from, or be
+developed by, a process which is even easier than those required for
+the lesser branches.
+
+He who can control his own mind by an iron will, and say to the
+Thoughts which he would banish, "Be ye my slaves and begone into outer
+darkness," or to Peace "Dwell with me forever, come what may," _and be
+obeyed_, that man is a mighty magician who has attained what is worth
+more than all that Earth possesses. Absolute self-control under the
+conditions before defined--since our happiness to be true must agree
+with that of others--is absolutely essential to happiness. There can
+be no greater hero than the man who can conquer himself and think
+exactly as he pleases. That which annoys, tempts, stirs us to being
+irritable, wicked, or mean, is an aggregate of evil thoughts or images
+received by chance or otherwise into the memory, developed there into
+vile unions, and new forms like coalescing animalcule, and so powerful
+and vivid or objective do they become that men in all ages have given
+them a real existence as evil spirits.
+
+Every sane man living, can if he _really_ desires it, obtain complete
+absolute command of himself, exorcise these vile demons and bring in
+peace instead, by developing with determination the simple process
+which I have described. I have found in my own experience a fierce
+pleasure in considering obnoxious and pernicious Thoughts as imps or
+demons to be conquered, in which case Pride and even Arrogance become
+virtues, even as poisons in their place are wholesome medicines. Thus,
+he who is haunted with the fixed idea, even well nigh to monomania,
+that he will never give way to ill temper, that nothing shall disturb
+his equanimity, need not fear evil results any more than the being
+haunted by angels. Now we can all have fixed or haunting ideas, on any
+subject which we please to entertain--but the idea to create good and
+beneficent haunting has not, that I am aware, been suggested by
+philosophers.
+
+That mental influence can be exerted hypnotically most directly and
+certainly by one person upon another is undeniable, but this requires,
+firstly, a susceptible subject, or only one person in three or
+four, and to a degree a specially gifted operator, and very often
+"heaven-sent moments."
+
+    "However greatly mortals may require it,
+    All cannot go to Corinth who desire it."
+
+But forethought, self-suggestion, and the bringing the mind to dwell
+continuously on a subject are absolutely within the reach of all who
+have any strength of mind whatever, without any aid. Those of feebler
+ability yield, however, all the more readily (as in the case of
+children) to the influence of others or of hypnotism by a master.
+Therefore, either subjectively or with assistance, most human beings
+can be morally benefited to a limitless degree, "morally" including
+intellectually.
+
+We often hear it said of a person that he or she would do well or
+succeed if that individual had "application." Now, as Application,
+or "sticking to it," or perseverance in earnest faith, is the main
+condition for success in all that I have discussed, I trust that it
+will be borne in mind that the process indicated provides from
+the first lesson or experiment for this chief requisite. For the
+_fore-thinking_ and hypnotizing our minds to be in a certain state or
+condition all the next day, by what some writers, such as HARTMANN,
+treat as magical process--but which is just so much magical as the use
+of an electrical machine--is simply a beginning in Attention and
+Perseverance.
+
+    "So, like a snowball rolled in falling snow,
+    It gathers size as it doth onward go."
+
+When we make a wish or will, or determine that in future after awaking
+we shall be in a given state of mind, we also include Perseverance for
+the given time, and as success supposes repetition in all minds, it
+follows that Perseverance will be induced gradually and easily.
+
+And here I may remark that while all writers on ethics, duty or
+morals, cry continually "Be persevering, be honest, be enterprising,
+exert your will!" and so on, and waste thousands of books in
+illustrating the advantages of all these fine things, there is not one
+who tells us _how_ to practically execute or do them. To follow the
+hint of a quaint Sunday School picture, they show us a swarm of Bees,
+with hive and honey, but do not tell us how to catch _one_. And yet a
+man may be anything he pleases if he will by easy and simple practice
+as I have shown, make the conception habitual. I do not tell you as
+these good folk do, how to go about it nobly, or heroically, or
+piously; in fact, I prescribe a method as humble as making a fire, or
+a pair of shoes, and yet in very truth and honor I have profited far
+more by it than I ever did from all the exhortations which I ever have
+read.
+
+Now there are many men who are not so bad in themselves in reality,
+but who are so haunted by evil thoughts, impulses, and desires, that
+they, being taught by the absurd old heathenish psychology that the
+"soul" is all one spiritual entity, believe themselves to be as wicked
+as Beelzebub could wish, when, in fact, these sins are nothing but
+evil weeds which came into the mind as neglected seeds, and grew apace
+from sheer carelessness. Regarding them in the light, as one may say,
+of bodily and material nuisances, or a kind of vermin, they can be
+extirpated by the strong hand of Will, much more easily than under the
+old system, whereby they were treated with respect and awe as MILTON
+hath done (and most immorally too), DANTE being no better; and they
+would both have exerted their gigantic intellects to better purpose
+by showing man how to conquer the devil, instead of exalting and
+exaggerating his stupendous power and showing how, as regards Humanity
+(for which expressly the Universe, including countless millions of
+solar systems, was created), Satan has by far the victory, since he
+secures the majority of souls. For saying which thing a holy bishop
+once got himself into no end of trouble.
+
+I say that he who uses his will can crush and drive out vile haunting
+thoughts, and the more rudely and harshly he does it the better. In
+all the old systems, without exception, they are treated with far too
+much respect and reverence, and no great wonder either, since they
+were regarded as a great innate portion of the soul. Whether to be
+cleared out by the allopathic exorcism, or the gentler homoepathic
+prayer, the patient never relied on himself. There is a fine Italian
+proverb in the collection of GUILLO VARRINO, Venice 1656, which
+declares that _Buona volonta supplice a facolta_--"strong will ekes
+out ability"--and before the Will (which the Church has ever weakened
+or crushed) no evil instincts can hold. The same author tells us that
+"The greatest man in the world is he who can govern his own will,"
+also, "To him who wills naught is impossible." To which I would add
+that "Whoever chooses to have a will may do so by culture," or by ever
+so little to begin with. Nay, I have no doubt that in time there will
+be societies, schools, churches, or circles, in which the Will shall
+be taught and applied to all moral and mental culture.
+
+He who wills it sincerely can govern his Will, and he who can govern
+his Will is a thousand times more fortunate than if he could govern
+the world. For to govern the Will is to be without fear, superior and
+indifferent to all earthly follies and shams, idols, cants and
+delusions, it is to be lord of a thousand isles in the sea of life,
+and absolutely greater than any living mortal, as men exist. Small
+need has that man to heed what his birth or station in society may be
+who has mastered himself with the iron will; for he who has conquered
+death and the devil need fear no shadows.
+
+He who masters himself by Will has attained to all that is best and
+noblest in Stoicism, Epicureanism, Christianity, and Agnosticism; if
+the latter be understood not as doubt, but free Inquiry, and could men
+be made to feel what all this means and what power it bestows, and how
+easily it really is to master it, we should forthwith see all humanity
+engaged in the work.
+
+It has been declared by many in the past in regard to schooling their
+minds to moral and practical ends that, leading busy lives, they had
+not time to think of such matters. But I earnestly protest that it is
+these very men of all others who most require the discipline which I
+have taught, and it is as easy for them as for anybody; as it, indeed,
+ought to be easier, yes, and far more profitable. For the one who
+leads by fortune a quiet life of leisure can often school himself
+without a system, while he who toils amid anxious thoughts and with
+every mental power severely taxed, will find that he can do his work
+_far_ more easily if he determines that he _will_ master it. The
+amount of mental action which lies dormant in us all is illimitable
+and it can all be realized by the hypnotism of Will.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+PARACELSUS.
+
+That our ordinary consciousness or Waking Intellect, and what is
+generally recognized as Mind or Soul, includes whatever has been taken
+in by sensation and reflection and assimilated to daily wants, or
+shows itself in bad or good memories and thought, is evident. Not
+less clear is it that there is another hidden Self--a power which,
+recognizing much which is evil in the Mind, would fain reject, or
+rule, or subdue it. This latent, inner Intelligence calls into action
+the Will. All of this is vague, and, it may be, unscientific. It is
+more rational to believe in many faculties or functions, but the
+classification here suggested may serve as a basis. It is effectively
+that of GRASSNER, or of all who have recognized the power of the Will
+to work "miracles," guided by a higher morality. And it is very
+curious that PARACELSUS based his whole system of nervous cure, at
+least, on this theory. Thus, in the _Liber Entium Morborum, de Ente
+Spirituali_, chap, iii, he writes:
+
+"As we have shown that there are two _Subjecta_, this will we assume
+as our ground. Ye know that there is in the Body a Soul. (_Geist_.)
+Now reflect, to what purpose? Just that it may sustain life, even as
+the air keeps animals from dying for want of breath. So we know what
+the soul is. This soul in Man is actually clear, intelligible and
+sensible to the other soul, and, classing them, they are to be
+regarded as allied, even as bodies are. I have a soul--the _other_
+hath also one."
+
+PARACELSUS is here very obscure, but he manifestly means by "the
+other," the Body. To resume:
+
+"The Souls know one another as 'I,' and 'the other.' They converse
+together in their language, not by necessity according to our
+thoughts, but what _they_ will. And note, too, that there may be anger
+between them, and one may belittle or injure the other; this injury is
+in the Soul, the Soul in the body. Then the body suffers and is ill--
+not materially or from a material _Ens_, but from the Soul. For this
+we need spiritual remedy. Ye are two who are dear unto one another;
+great in affinity. The cause is not in the body, nor is it from
+without; it comes from your souls (_Geisten_), who are allied.
+The same pair may become inimical, or remain so. And that ye may
+understand a cause for this, note that the Spirit (_Geist_) of the
+Reasoning Faculty (_Vernunft_) is not born, save from the _Will_,
+therefore the Will and the Reason are separate. What exists and acts
+according to the Will lives in the Spirit; what only according to
+the Reason lives against the Spirit. For the Reason brings forth no
+spirit, only the Soul (_Seel_) is born of it--from Will comes the
+Spirit, the essence of which we describe and let the Soul be."
+
+In this grandly conceived but most carelessly written passage the
+author, in the beginning thereof, makes such confusion in expressing
+both Soul and Spirit with the one word, _Geist_, that his real meaning
+could not be intelligible to the reader who had not already mastered
+the theory. But, in fact, the whole conception is marvelous, and
+closely agreeing with the latest discoveries in Science, while
+ignoring all the old psychological system.
+
+Very significant is what PARACELSUS declares in his _Fragmenta
+Medicina de Morbis Somnii_, that so many evils beset us, "caused by
+the coarseness of our ignorance, because we know not what is born in
+us." That is to say, if we knew our mental power, or what we are
+capable of, we could cure or control all bodily infirmities. And how
+to rule and form this power, and make it obey the _Geist_ or Will
+which PARACELSUS believed was born of the common conscious Soul--that
+is the question.
+
+For PARACELSUS truly believed that out of this common Soul, the result
+of Sensation and Reflection, and all we pick up by Experience and
+Observation (and such as makes all that there is of Life for most
+people), there is born, or results, a perception of Ideas, of right
+and wrong, of mutual interests; a certain subtle, moral conscience
+or higher knowledge. "The Souls may become inimical;" that is, the
+Conscience, or Spirit, may differ or disagree with the Soul, as a son
+may be at variance with his father. So the flower or fruit may oft
+despise the root. The Will is allied to Conscience or a perception of
+the Ideal. When a man finds out that he knows more or better than he
+has hitherto done: as, for instance, when a thief learns that it is
+wrong to steal, and feels it deeply, he endeavors to reform, although
+he _feels_ all the time old desires and temptations to rob. Now, if
+he resolutely subdue these, his Will is born. "The spirit of the
+Reasoning faculty is not born, save of the Will. . . . what exists and
+acts according to the Will lives in the spirit." The perception of
+ideals is the bud, Conscience the flower, and the Will the fruit. A
+pure Will must be _moral_, for it is _the_ result of the perception of
+Ideals, or a Conscience. The world in general regards Will as mere
+blind force, applicable to good or bad indifferently. But the more
+truly and fully it is developed, or as Orson is raised to Valentine,
+the more moral and optimistic does it become. _Will_ in its perfection
+is Genius, spontaneous originality, that is Voluntary; not merely a
+power to lift a weight, or push a load, or force others to yield, but
+the Thought itself which suggests the deed and finds a _reason_ for
+it. Now the merely unscrupulous use of Opportunity and Advantage, or
+Crime, is popularly regarded as having a strong Will; but this, as
+compared to a Will with a conscience, is as the craft of the fox
+compared to that of the dragon, and that of the dragon to Siegfried.
+
+And here it may be observed as a subtle and strange thing, approaching
+to magic apparently, as understood by HARTMANN and his school, that
+the Will sometimes, when much developed, actually manifests something
+like an independent personality, or at least seems to do so, to an
+acute observer. And what is more remarkable, it can have this freedom
+of action and invention delegated to it, and will act on it.
+
+Thus, in conversation with HERKOMER, the Artist, and Dr. W. W.
+BALDWIN, Nov. 2d, 1878, the former explained to me that when he would
+execute a work of art, he just determined it with care or Forethought
+in his mind, and gave it a rest, as by sleep, during which time it
+unconsciously fructified or germinated, even as a seed when planted in
+the ground at last grows upward into the light and air. Now, that the
+entire work should not be too much finished or quite completed, and to
+leave room for after-thoughts or possible improvements, he was wont,
+as he said, to give the Will some leeway, or freedom; which is the
+same thing as if, before going to sleep, we _Will_ or determine that
+on the following day our Imagination, or Creative Force, or Inventive
+Genius, shall be unusually active, which will come to pass after some
+small practice and a few repetitions, as all may find for themselves.
+Truly, it will be according to conditions, for if there be but little
+in a man, either he will bring but little out, or else he must wait
+until he can increase what he hath. And in this the Will _seems_ to
+act like an independent person, ingeniously, yet withal obedient. And
+the same also characterizes images in dreams, which sometimes appear
+to be so real that it is no wonder many think they are spirits from
+another world, as is true of many haunting thoughts which come
+unbidden. However, this is all mere Thaumaturgy, which has been so
+deadly to Truth in the old _a priori_ psychology, and still works
+mischief, albeit it has its value in suggesting very often in Poetry
+what Science afterwards proves in Prose.
+
+To return to PARACELSUS, HEINE complains that his German is harder to
+understand than his Latin. However, I think that in the following
+passages he shows distinctly a familiarity with hypnotism, or
+certainly, passes by hand and suggestion. Thus, chap, x, _de Ente
+Spirituali_, in which the Will is described, begins as follows: "Now
+shall ye mark that the Spirits rule their subjects. And I have shown
+intelligibly how the _Ens Spirituale_, or Spiritual Being, rules so
+mightily the body that many disorders may be ascribed to it. Therefore
+unto these ye should not apply ordinary medicine, but heal the
+spirit--therein lies the disorder."
+
+PARACELSUS clearly states that by the power of Foresight--he uses the
+exact word, _Fuersicht_--Man may, aided by Sleep, attain to knowledge--
+past, present or future--and achieve Telepathy, or communion at a
+distance. In the _Fragmenta, Caput de Morbis Somnii_ he writes:
+
+"Therefore learn, that by Foresight man can know future things; and,
+from experience, the past and present. Thereby is man so highly gifted
+in Nature that he knows or perceives (_sicht_), as he goes, his
+neighbor or friend in a distant land. Yet, on waking, he knows nothing
+of all this. For God has given to us all--Art, Wisdom, Reason--to know
+the future, and what passes in distant lands; but we know it not, for
+we fools, busied in common things, sleep away, as it were, what is in
+us. Thus, seeing one who is a better artist than thou art, do not say
+that he has more gift or grace than thou; for thou hast it also, but
+hast not tried, and so is it with all things. What Adam and Moses did
+was to _try_, and they succeeded, and it came neither from the Devil
+nor from Spirits, but from the Light of Nature, which they developed
+in themselves. But we do _not_ seek for what is in us, therefore we
+remain nothing, and are nothing."
+
+Here the author very obscurely, yet vigorously, declares that we can
+do or learn what we _will_, but it must be achieved by foresight,
+will, and the aid of sleep.
+
+It seems very evident, after careful study of the text, that here, as
+in many other places, our author indicates familiarity with the method
+of developing mental action in its subtlest and most powerful forms.
+Firstly, by determined Foresight, and, secondly, by the aid of sleep,
+corresponding to the bringing a seed to rest a while, and thereby
+cause it to germinate; the which admirable simile he himself uses in a
+passage which I have not cited.
+
+PARACELSUS was the most original thinker and the worst writer of a
+wondrous age, when all wrote badly and thought badly. There is in
+his German writings hardly one sentence which is not ungrammatical,
+confused, or clumsy; nor one without a vigorous idea, which shows the
+mind or character of the man.
+
+As a curious instance of the poetic originality of PARACELSUS we may
+take the following:
+
+"It is an error to suppose that chiromancy is limited to the hand, for
+there are significant lines (indicating character), all over the body.
+And it is so in vegetable life. For in a plant every leaf is a hand.
+Man hath two; a tree many, and every one reveals its anatomy--a
+hand-anatomy. Now ye shall understand that in double form the lines
+are masculine or feminine. And there are as many differences in these
+lines on leaves as in human hands."
+
+GOETHE has the credit that he reformed or advanced the Science of
+Botany, by reducing the plant to the leaf as the germ or type; and
+this is now further reduced to the cell, but the step was a great one.
+Did not PARACELSUS, however, give the idea?
+
+"The theory of signatures," says VAUGHAN, in his _Hours with the
+Mystics_, "proceeded on the supposition that every creatures bears in
+some part of its structure . . . the indication of the character or
+virtue inherent in it--the representation, in fact, of its ideal or
+soul. . . . The student of sympathies thus essayed to read the
+character of plants by signs in their organization, as the professor
+of palmistry announced that of men by lines in the hand." Thus, to a
+degree which is very little understood, PARACELSUS took a great
+step towards modern science. He disclaimed Magic and Sorcery, with
+ceremonies, and endeavored to base all cure on human will. The name of
+PARACELSUS is now synonymous with Rosicrucianism, Alchemy, Elementary
+Spirits and Theurgy, when, in fact, he was in his time a bold
+reformer, who cast aside an immense amount of old superstition, and
+advanced into what his age regarded as terribly free thought. He was
+compared to LUTHER, and the doing so greatly pleased him; he dwells on
+it at length in one of his works.
+
+What PARACELSUS really believed in at heart was nothing more or less
+than an unfathomable Nature, a _Natura naturans_ of infinite resource,
+connected with which, as a microcosm, is man, who has also within him
+infinite powers, which he can learn to master by cultivating the will,
+which must be begun at least by the aid of sleep, or letting the
+resolve ripen, as it were, in the mind, apart from Consciousness.
+
+I had written every line of my work on the same subject and principles
+long before I was aware that I had unconsciously followed exactly in
+the footprints of the great Master; for though I had made many other
+discoveries in his books, I knew nothing of this.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+LAST WORDS.
+
+    "By carrying calves Milo, 'tis said, grew strong,
+    Until with ease he bore a bull along."
+
+It is, I believe, unquestionable that, if he ever lived, a man who had
+attained to absolute control over his own mind, must have been the
+most enviable of mortals. MONTAIGNE illustrates such an ideal being by
+a quotation from VIRGIL:
+
+    "Velut rupes vastum quae prodit in aequor
+    Obvia ventorum furiis, exposta que ponto,
+        Vim cunctum atque minas perfert caelique marisque
+    Ipsa immota manens."
+
+    "He as a rock among vast billows stood,
+    Scorning loud winds and the wild raging flood,
+        And firm remaining, all the force defies,
+    From the grim threatening seas and thundering skies."
+
+And MONTAIGNE also doubted whether such self-control was possible. He
+remarks of it:
+
+"Let us never attempt these Examples; we shall never come up to them.
+This is too much and too rude for our common souls to undergo. CATO
+indeed gave up the noblest Life that ever was upon this account, but
+it is for us meaner spirited men to fly from the storm as far as we
+can."
+
+Is it? I may have thought so once, but I begin to believe that in this
+darkness a new strange light is beginning to show itself. The victory
+may be won far more easily than the rather indolent and timid Essayist
+ever imagined. MONTAIGNE, and many more, believed that absolute
+self-control is only to be obtained by iron effort, heroic and
+terrible exertion--a conception based on bygone History, which is all
+a record of battles of man against man, or man with the Devil. Now the
+world is beginning slowly to make an ideal of peace, and disbelieve in
+the Devil. Science is attempting to teach us that from any beginning,
+however small, great results are sure to be obtained if resolutely
+followed up and fully developed.
+
+It requires thought to realize what a man gifted to some degree with
+culture and common sense must enjoy who can review the past without
+pain, and regard the present with perfect assurance that come what may
+he need have no fear or fluttering of the heart. Spenser has asked in
+"The Fate of the Butterfly":
+
+    "What more felicity can fall to creature
+    Than to enjoy delight with liberty?"
+
+To which one may truly reply that all delight is fitful and uncertain
+unless bound or blended with the power to be indifferent to
+involuntary annoying emotions, and that self-command is in itself the
+highest mental pleasure, or one which surpasses all of any kind. He
+who does not overestimate the value of money or anything earthly is
+really richer than the millionaire. There is a foolish story told by
+COMBE in his Physiology of a man who had the supernatural gift of
+never feeling any pain, be it from cold, hunger, heat, or accident.
+The rain beat upon him in vain, the keenest north wind did not chill
+him--he was fearless and free. But this immunity was coupled with an
+inability to feel pleasure--his wine or ale was no more to his palate
+than water, and he could not feel the kiss of his child; and so we are
+told that he was soon desirous to become a creature subject to all
+physical sensations as before. But it is, as I said, a foolish tale,
+because it reduces all that is worth living for to being warm or
+enjoying taste. His mind was not affected, but that goes for nothing
+in such sheer sensuality. However, a man without losing his tastes or
+appetites may train his Will to so master Emotion as to enjoy delight
+with liberty, and also exclude what constitutes the majority of all
+suffering with man.
+
+It is a truth that there is very often an extremely easy, simple and
+prosaic way to attain many an end, which has always been supposed to
+require stupendous efforts. In an Italian fairy tale a prince besieges
+a castle with an army--trumpets blowing, banners waving, and all the
+pomp and circumstances of war--to obtain a beautiful heroine who is
+meanwhile carried away by a rival who knew of a subterranean passage.
+Hitherto, as I have already said, men have sought for self-control
+only by means of heroic exertion, or by besieging the castle from
+without; the simple system of Forethought and Self-Suggestion enables
+one, as it were, to steal or slip away with ease by night and in
+darkness that fairest of princesses, La Volonte, or the Will.
+
+For he who wills to be equable and indifferent to the small and
+involuntary annoyances, teasing memories, irritating trifles, which
+constitute the chief trouble in life to most folk, can bring it about,
+in small measure at first and in due time to greater perfection. And
+by perseverance this rivulet may to a river run, the river fall into a
+mighty lake, and this in time rush to the roaring sea; that is to say,
+from bearing with indifference or quite evading attacks of _ennui_, we
+may come to enduring great afflictions with little suffering.
+
+Note that I do not say that we can come to bearing all the
+bereavements, losses, and trials of life with _absolute_ indifference.
+Herein MONTAIGNE and the Stoics of old were well nigh foolish to
+imagine such an impossible and indeed undesirable ideal. But it may be
+that two men are afflicted by the same domestic loss, and one with a
+weak nature is well nigh crushed by it, gives himself up to endless
+weeping and perhaps never recovers from it, while another with quite
+as deep feelings, but far wiser, rallies, and by vigorous exertion
+makes the grief a stimulus to exertion, so that while the former is
+demoralized, the latter is strengthened. There is an habitual state of
+mind by which a man while knowing his losses fully can endure them
+better than others, and this endurance will be greatest in him who has
+already cultivated it assiduously in minor matters. He who has swam in
+the river can swim in the sea; he who can hear a door bang without
+starting can listen to a cannon without jumping.
+
+The method which I have described in this book will enable any person
+gifted with perseverance to make an equable or calm state of mind
+habitual, moderately at first, more so by practice. And when this is
+attained the experimenter can progress rapidly in the path. It is
+precisely the same as in learning a minor art, the pupil who can
+design a pattern (which corresponds to Foresight or plan), only
+requires, as in wood-carving or repousse, to be trained by very easy
+process to become familiar with the use and feel of the tools, after
+which all that remains to be done is to keep on at what the pupil can
+do without the least difficulty. Well begun and well run in the end
+will be well done.
+
+But glorious and marvelous is the power of him who has habituated
+himself by easy exercise of Will to brush away the minor, meaningless
+and petty cares of life, such as, however, prey on most of us; for
+unto him great griefs are no harder to endure than the getting a coat
+splashed is to an ordinary man.
+
+
+
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