li
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nr-ifc^-rssS r ^ ,fp
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Its Aim
NOT Training in the well-known Arts, Sciences or Businesses,
but Cultivation of the Real Personality for Successful Living in
any Art, Science or Business,
Ita JII)Uos0tif)ij
The Highest Human Science is the Science of Practical Indi-
vidual Culture.
The Highest Human Art it the Art of Making the Most of the
Self and its Career.
One Science- Art stands Supreme: The Science- Art of Success-
ful Being, Successful Living, Successful Doing.
Ills Etgltt Suglmtaijs of Jloiurr
The Highway of Bodily and Mental Health.
The Highway of Dauntless Courage-Confidence.
The Highway of the Controlled Whirlwind.
The Highway of Symmetrically Great Will-Power.
The Highway of Variously Growing Mind-Power.
The Highway of Physical and Psychic Magnetism.
The Highway of Expanding Practical Ability.
The Highway of the Arthurian White Life.
It* imtbl? (goal
Supreme Personal Well-Being and Actual Financial Betterment
110 #ktltoD
Exactly What to Do and How to Do Exactly That
"Power of Will," (Travels Seven Highways).
"Power for Success," (Travels Eight Highways).1
"The Personal Atmosphere," (Suggests all Highways).
"Business Power," (Travels Seven Highways).1
"The Culture of Courage," (Travels Four Highways).1
"Practical Psychology," (Travels Six Highways).8
If mi are tnuttefe to rntrr one or more of f hr Eight
IHghtttaijfi attb to altarr in thr labor ano mmtroB of
ntanu. nom on tlye patlj of ^rrannal betterment
1 See announcement at back of this volume. 2 In preparation.
POWER OF WILL
A PRACTICAL COMPANION-BOOK
FOR UNFOLDMENT OF SELFHOOD
THROUGH DIRECT PERSONAL CULTURE.
BY FRANK CHANNING HADDOCK, PH.D.
Founder of THE POWER-BOOK LIBRARY.
Author of " POWKR FOR SUCCESS," "THE CULTURE OF COURAGB,"
"BUSINESS POWER," &c., &c.,
fn fffve parts:
EMBRACING
THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF A GROWING WILL;
DIRECT CONTROL OF THE PERSONAL " FACULTIES ;"
AND SUCCESS IN THE CONDUCT OF AFFAIRS.
foundation:
Vital Education is the Evolution of Consciousness.
THIRTIETH EDI»ION.
1914
THE PELTON PUBLISHING Co.,
MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT.
L. N. FOWLER & Co. •
7 Imperial Arcade, and 4 & 5 Imperial Buildings,
Ludgate Circus, London, England.
Copyright, 1907, by
FRANK C. HADDOCK,
AUBURKDALB, MASS.
Copyright, 1907,
REGISTERED AT STATIOWBRS HAI
LONDON, ENGLAND.
:?RKSS OP
THK HORTON PRINTING Co.
, CONN.
TO
UNWAVERING FRIBND
MASTER OP INITIATIVB
INSPIRATION
2C4SGU
PREFACE.
THIS book comes to you as a Well- wisher, a Teacher,
and a Prophet.
It will become a Teacher if you will honestly try to
secure mental reaction upon it ; that is, if you will resolve
to THINK — to Think with it and to Think into it.
It will be Prophet of a higher and more successful
living if you will persistently and intelligently follow its
requirements, for this will make yourself a completer
Manual of the Perfected Will.
But remember ! This book cannot think for you ; THAT
IS THE TASK OF YOUR MIND.
This book cannot give you greater power of Will ; THAT
IS FOR YOURSELF TO ACQUIRE BY THE RIGHT USE OF ITS
CONTENTS.
This book cannot hold you to persistence in self-culture ;
THAT IS THE TEST OF YOUR WlLL.
This book is not magical. It promises nothing occult
or mysterious. It is simply a call to practical and scien-
tific work.
If you will steadfastly go on through the requirements
marked out, this book will develop within you highest
wishes of welfare for self, it will make you a teacher of
self, it will inspire you as a prophet of self brought to
largest efficiency.
ALL NOW RESTS WITH YOU ! !
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
a pOWER OF WILL" has been a pioneer in its
I chosen field — the only book of its kind, the
only kind of its class, the only class in the world. A
number of writers, literary and otherwise, have since
followed the pathway thus pointed out, some of them
exhibiting scant regard for magnanimity, that virtue which,
seemingly demanded by the much-exploited " New
Thought," is without spiritual littleness and is ever fair
in acknowledgments. The author bids all such, Take
and confess if they are true knights of the larger age, but,
an' they cannot stand so high, Take for their own that
which birth forbids creating, since our world life is so
great, and in its abundance every mind may claim to live,
even that of the humblest parasite. " Many a frog mas-
querades in the costume of a bird."
In the present edition numerous changes from the
first will appear, and considerable new matter has been
inserted. The substance of the book, however, save for
some minor details, remains practically untouched. It
has seemed best not to recast Part I, as to have done so
would have meant writing a new book ; the working exer*
cises are altogether as they were in the former edition,
except that quite a little useless verbiage and space have
been obviated by condensation.
The kindness with which the book has been received,
its literary deficiencies being overlooked in view of its
practical purpose, and the evidences given by students
vi Preface to the Second Edition.
that the work has helped many to a larger growth and a
better self-handling, have inspired the present revision.
The statement of one, just written to the author, represents
the actual appreciation of a host: "' Power of Will"1 has
been a wonderful help to me in character-building, but I
wish to make an exhaustive study of it, and really need it
on my desk all the time."
The volumes of the Power-Book Library have sought
always to be clear, plain, practical, sane and helpful, and
neither chicanery nor suspicious " occultism " has to the
author been conscious in mind or mood or work.
And so, good fortune attend both the book and the
student
STATEMENT OF GENERAL PRINCIPLES.
i. — The goal of evolution is psychic person.
Person acts behind the mask of body.
The basic idea of person is self-determined unfold-
ment
The central factor in such unfoldment is Will.
Will is a way person has of being and doing.
A certain complex of our ways of being and doing
constitutes mind.
Mind operates on two levels : one on that of aware-
ness, the other on that of the subconscious.
In the subconscious realm of person the evolutionary
phases of heredity, habit, established processes,
exhibit.
In the field of awareness the phase of variation, both
by reason of external stimulus and by reason of
psychic freedom, appears.
But organized person is inherently restless. The
Will exhibits the law of discontent. Restless-
ness of organism develops Will.
Person unfolds by control and use of Will
The Will must take itself in hand for greatest per-
sonal completeness.
2.— Personal life is a play between powers without and
powers within the central function of Will.
Personal life ends in subjection to such external
powers, or rises to mastery over them.
Tii
viii Statement of General Principles.
3. — The Will grows by directed exercise.
Exercise involves the use of its own instruments —
body, mind, the world.
The only method which can strengthen and ennoble
Will is that which puts into action itself in con-
junction with its furniture.
This method, persistently followed, is certain to gire
to the Will mighty power, and to enlarge and
enrich person.
THE SCIENCE OF OUR PRESENT IDEAL.
THE goal of the book before you may be presented
by the following quotations from " Brain and Person-
ality," by William Hanna Thomson, M.D. :
"A stimulus to nervous matter effects a change in
the matter by calling forth a reaction in it. This change
may be exceedingly slight after the first stimulus, but
each repetition of the stimulus increases the change, with
its following specific reaction, until by constant repetition
a permanent alteration in the nervous matter stimulated oc-
curs, which produces a fixed habitual way of working in
it. In other words, the nervous matter acquires a special
way of working, that is, of function, by habit.
" From the facts which we have been reviewing, we
arrive at one of the most important of all conclusions,
namely, that the gray matter of our brains is actually
plastic and capable of being fashioned. It need not be left
with only the slender equipment of functions which
Nature gives it at birth. Instead, it can be fashioned
artificially, that is, by education, so that it may acquire
very many new functions or capacities which never come
by birth nor by inheritance, but which can be stamped
upon it as so many physical alterations in its proplasmic
substance.
"This well-demonstrated truth is of far-reaching
significance, because it gives an entirely new aspect to
the momentous subject of Education." It would seem to
be perfectly evident that the more direct the efforts of
ix
x The Science of Our Present Ideal.
education become, that is to say, the more surely attention
is concentrated upon the alteration for improvement of
nervous matter and the development of mental powers
rather than to the mastering of objective studies, many of
which must prove of little benefit in actual life, the more
nearly will education approach its true goal — power in
self and ability for successful handling of self with all
its powers. This is the method of The Power-Book Lib-
rary, the ideal of which is — not mastery of books, but
sovereign use of the growing self. " Most persons con-
ceive of education vaguely as only mental, a training of
the . mind as such, with small thought that it involves
physical changes in the brain itse/f ere it can become real
and permanent. But as perfect examples of education as
can be named are ultimately dependent upon the sound
condition of certain portions of the gray matter which
have been ' educated ' for each work." " The brain must
be modified by every process of true special education.
" We can make our own brains, so far as special men-
tal functions or aptitudes are concerned, if only we have
Wills strong enough to take the trouble. By practice, practice,
practice, the Will stimulus will not only organize brain
centers to perform new functions, but will project new
connecting, or, as they are technically called, association
fibres, which will make nerve centers work together as they
could not without being thus associated. Each such self-
created brain center requires great labor to make it, because
nothing but the prolonged exertion of the personal Will
can fashion anything of the kind." And, since the use
of any human power tends to its growth, such labor as
that suggested in the pages of this book cannot fail both
to develop brain centers and also to unfold mind's power
in Will.
" It is the masterful personal Will which makes the
The Science of Our Present Ideal. xi
brain human. By a human brain we mean one which
has been slowly fashioned into an instrument by which
the personality can recognize and know all things physi-
cal, from the composition of a pebble to the elements of
a fixed star. It is the Will alone which can make material
seats for mind, and when made they are the most personal
things in the body.
" In thus making an instrument for the mind to use,
the Will is higher than the Mind, and hence its rightful
prerogative is to govern and direct the mind, just as it is
the prerogative of the mind to govern and direct the body.
" It is the Will, as the ranking official of all in man,
who should now step forward to take the command. We
cannot over-estimate the priceless value of such direction,
when completely effective, for the life of the individual in
this world. A mind always broken in to the sway of the
Will, and therefore thinking according to Will, and not
according to reflex action, constitutes a purposive life. A
man who habitually thinks according to purpose, will then
speak according to purpose ; and who will care to measure
strength with such a man ?
" That majestic endowment (the Will) constitutes the
high privilege granted to each man apparently to test how
much the man will make of himself. It is clothed with
powers which will enable him to obtain the greatest of all
possession — self-possession. Self-possession implies the
capacity for self-restraint, self-compulsion and self-direc-
tion ; and he who has these, if he live long enough, can
kav* any other possessions that he wants"
CONTENTS.
CHAPTERS.
PAGE
PART I. — THE WILL AND SUCCESS. i
CHAPTER I. The Will and its Action 3
CHAPTER II. Tests of Will 15
CHAPTER III. The Coaduct of Life 29
CHAPTER IV. Diseases of the Will 43
CHAPTER V. Training of the Will 57
CHAPTER VI. Training of the Will, continued.
A Study of Moods 69
CHAPTER VII. Some General Rules 85
PART II. — THE WILL AND SENSE-CULTURE. 97
CHAPTER VIII. Suggestions for Practice 99
CHAPTER IX. Exercises for the Eye in
CHAPTER X. Exercises for the Ear 123
CHAPTER XI. Exercises in Taste 133
CHAPTER XII. Exercises in Smell 141
CHAPTER XIII. Exercises in Touch 149
CHAPTER XIV. Exercises for the Nerves . . . .157
CHAPTER XV. Exercises for the Hands 167
CHAPTER XVI. Exercises in Steadiness 175
CHAPTER XVII. General Health 183
PART III. — MENTAL REGIME. 193
CHAPTER XVIII. Exercises in Attention 195
CHAPTER XIX. Attention in Reading 205
CHAPTER XX. Attention in Thinking 213
CHAPTER XXI. Exercises in Memory 225
CHAPTER XXII. Exercises in Imagination .... 237
CHAPTER XXIII. Diseases of the Imagination . . 253
xii
Contents. xiii
PAGB
PART IV. — DESTRUCTION OF HABIT. 259
CHAPTER XXIV. Destruction of Immoral Habits . 261
CHAPTER XXV. Correction of Other Habits . . 283
PART V.— CONTACT WITH OTHER PEOPLE. 303
CHAPTER XXVI. The Will in Public Speaking . . 305
CHAPTER XXVII. Control of Others ....... 317
CHAPTER XXVIII. The Child's Will ....... 329
PREFATORY MATTERS.
ing W
ill is
" O Living Will " .................... 2
" The Will is the Man " ................ 14
" Balance " ...................... 28
" Sense Joys " ..................... 42
"Be Master" ..................... 56
" Heed Not Thy Moods " ................ 68
" The Great Psychic Factor " ............. 84
" The King " . ..................... 96
Resolution ...................... 98
"The Riddle" ..................... no
"The Soul and the Ear" ................ 122
"Taste" ........................ 132
"The Fragrance" ................... 140
"Self and Worlds" ................... 148
"Harmony" ...................... 156
"The Hand" ...................... 166
"Bubbles" ...................... 174
"Health" ....................... 182
"Thy Self" ...................... 192
"What Seest Thou?" . . . .............. 194
" Who Reads ? " .................... 204
"Thought" ... ............. ....... 212
" Remembered " .................... 224
"How Came Imagination?" .............. 236
" Who Hath Wisdom ? " ................ 252
Quotation from Field ................. 258
" We Live By Sacrifice Alone " ............. 260
" 'T is Wise Surrender Crowns the King " ........ 282
" Speech " ....................... 302
" Eloquence " ...................... 304
" Knighted " ...................... 316
"The Will of the Child" ................ 328
THE MASTER SPIRIT.
(% faster Spirit wtbtfy none
®f brafamg fora to probe its skill:
It fcat& tfce Stmt of % Sun,
ftt cosimt oto
PART I. — THE WILL AND SUCCESS.
' O living Will, thou shalt endure
When all that seems shall suffer shock."
TlMlfYSOlC.
POWER OF WILL.
CHAPTER I.
THE WILL AND ITS ACTION.
JT APPEARS in mere naked protoplasm as
a self-determined contractility. In zoospores,
spermatozoids, etc., it attains a variety of
action. In animal and vegetal persons it occurs as a
common function, controlling the general movements of
the protoplasms in contact. With the appearance of nerve
cells and muscles, its range both of excitation and of
execution is vastly enlarged. ; — Van Norden.
The human Will involves mysteries which have never
been fathomed. As a " faculty " of mind it is, nevertheless,
a familiar and practical reality. There are those who
deny man's spiritual nature, but no one calls in question
the existence of this power. While differences obtain
among writers as to its source, its constitution, its func-
tions, its limitations, its freedom, all concede that the
Will itself is an actual part of the mind of man, and that
its place and uses in our life are of transcendent impor-
tance.
Disagreements as to interpretations do not destroy
facts.
The Will is sometimes defined as the "faculty of
conscious, and especially of deliberative action." Whether
4. The Will and Its Action.
the word "conscious" is essential to the definition may
be questioned. Some actions which are unconscious are,
nevertheless, probably expressions of the Will ; and some
involuntary acts are certainly conscious. All voluntary
acts are deliberative, for deliberation may proceed " with
the swiftness of lightning," as the saying goes, but both
deliberation and its attendant actions are not always
conscious. A better definition of the Will, therefore, is
"THE POWER OF SELF-DIRECTION."
This power acts in conjunction with feeling and
knowledge, but is not to be identified with them as a
matter of definition. Nor ought it to be confounded with
desire, nor with the moral sense. One may feel without
willing, and one may will contrary to feeling. So the
Will may proceed either with knowledge or in opposition
thereto, or, indeed, in a manner indifferent. Oftentimes
desires are experienced which are unaccompanied by acts
of Will, and the moral sense frequently becomes the sole
occasion of willing, or it is set aside by the Will, what-
ever the ethical dictates in the case.
PRESENT DEFINITIONS.
The Will is a way a person has of being and doing,
by which itself and the body in which it dwells are directed.
It is not the Will that wills, any more than it is the
perceptive powers that perceive, or the faculty of imagi-
nation that pictures mental images.
The Will is « the Soul Itself Exercising Self-direction."
" By the term Will in the narrower sense," says Royce,
"one very commonly means so much of our mental life
as involves the attentive guidance of our conduct."
When person employs this instrumental power, it
puts forth a Volition.
A Volition is the willing power in action.
The Will is the Man. 5
All Volitions are thus secondary mental commands for
appropriate mental or physical acts.
Obedience of mind or body to Volitions exhibits the
power of the Will.
No one wills the impossible for himself. One caa-
not will to raise a paralyzed arm, nor to fly in the air
without machinery. In such cases there may be desire
to act, but always mind refuses to will — that is, to put
forth a Volition, which is a secondary command — when
obedience, of the mind itself, or of the body, is known to
lie beyond the range of the possible.
The Will may be regarded as both Static and
Dynamic.
In the one case- it is a power of person to originate
and direct human activities ; in the other case, it is action
of person for these ends.
Thus, one is said to be possessed of a strong Will
(the static) when he is capable of exerting his mind with
great force in a Volition or in a series of Volitions. The
quality of his Will is manifest in the force and persist-
ence of his Volitions or his acts. The manifested Will
then becomes dynamic ; his Volitions are the actions of
the mind in self-direction.
Hence, the Will is to be regarded as an energy, and,
according to its degree as such, is it weak, or fairly
developed, or very great.
" It is related of Muley Moluc, the Moorish leader,
that, when lying ill, almost worn out by incurable disease,
a battle took place between his troops and the Portuguese,
when, starting from his litter at the great crisis of the
fight, he rallied his army, led them to victory, and then
instantly sank exhausted, and expired."
Here was an exhibition of stored-up Will-power.
So, also, Blondin, the rope-walker, said : " One day
6 The Will and Its Action.
I signed an agreement to wheel a barrow along a rope on
a given day. A day or two before I was seized with
lumbago. I called in my medical man, and told him I
must be cured by a certain day; not only because I
should lose what I hoped to earn, but also forfeit a large
sum. I got no better, and the evening before the day of
the exploit, he argued against my thinking of carrying
out my agreement. Next morning when I was no better,
the doctor forbade my getting up. I told him, ' What do
I want with your advice ? If you cannot cure me, of
what good is your advice ? ' When I got to the place,
there was the doctor, protesting I was unfit for the exploit.
I went on, though I felt like a frog with my back. I got
ready my pole and barrow, took hold of the handles and
wheeled it along the rope as well as ever I did. When I
got to the end I wheeled it back again, and when this
was done I was a frog again. What made me that I could
wheel the barrow ? It was my reserve- Will"
Power of Will is, first, mental capacity for a single
volitional act : A powerful Will, as the saying is, means
the mind's ability to throw great energy into a given com-
mand for action, by itself, or by the body, or by other
beings. This is what Emerson calls " the spasm to collect
and swing the whole man."
The mind may, in this respect, be compared to an
electric battery ; discharges of force depend upon the
size and make-up of the instrument; large amounts of
force may be accumulated within it ; and by proper ma-
nipulation an electric current of great strength may be
obtained. There are minds that seem capable of huge
exercise of Will-power in single acts and under peculiar
circumstances — as by the insane when enraged, or by
ordinary people under the influence of excessive fear, or
by exceptional individuals normally possessed of remark-
The Will is the Man. 7
able mental energy. So, power of Will may, as it were,
be regarded as capable of accumulation. It may be
looked upon as an energy which is susceptible of in-
crease in quantity and of development in quality.
The Will is not only a dynamic force in mind, it is
also secondly, a power of persistent adherence to a purpose,
be that purpose temporary and not remote, or abiding and
far afield in the future ; whether it pertain to a small area
of action or to a wide complexity of interests involving a
life-long career. But what it is in persistence must depend
upon what it is in any single average act of Volition. The
Will may exhibit enormous energy in isolated instances
while utterly weak with reference to a continuous course
of conduct or any great purpose in life. A mind that is
weak in its average Volitions is incapable of sustained
willing through a long series of actions or with reference
to a remote purpose. The cultivation, therefore, of the
Dynamic Will is essential to the possession of volitional
power for a successful life.
" A chain is no stronger than its weakest link."
Development of Will has no other highway than
absolute adherence to wise and intelligent resolutions.
The conduct of life hinges on the Will, but the Will
depends upon the man. Ultimately it is never other than
his own election.
At this point appears the paradox of the Will : —
The Will is the soul's power of self -direction ; yet
the soul must decide how and for what purposes this
power shall be exercised.
It is in such a paradox that questions of moral free-
dom have their origin. The freedom of the Will is a
vexed problem, and can here receive only superficial dis-
cussion. The case seems to be clear enough, but it is too
metaphysical for these pages.
8 The Will and Its Action.
PRESENT THEORY OF WILL.
" The Will," says a French writer, " is to choose in
order to act." This is not strictly true, for the Will does
not choose at all. The person chooses. But in a general
or loose way the Will may be now defined as a power to
choose what the man shall do. The choice is always
followed by Volition, and Volition by appropriate action.
To say that we choose to act in a certain way, while ab-
staining from so doing, is simply to say either that,
at the instant of so abstaining, we do not choose, or that
we cease to choose. We always do what we actually
choose to do, so far as mental and physical ability permit.
When they do not permit, we may desire, but we do not
choose in the sense of willing. In this sense choice in-
volves some reason, and such reason must always be
sufficient in order to induce person to will.
A Sufficient Reason is a motive which the person
approves as ground of action. This approval precedes
the act of willing, that is, the Volition. The act of willing,
therefore, involves choice among motives as its necessary
precedent, and decision based upon such selection. When
the mind approves a motive, that is, constitutes it Suffi-
cient Reason for its action in willing, it has thereby
chosen the appropriate act obedient to willing. The mind
frequently recognizes what, at first thought, might be
regarded as Sufficient Reason for Volition, yet refrains
from putting forth that Volition. In this case other
motives have instantaneously, perhaps unconsciously,
constituted Sufficient Reason for inaction, or for action
opposed to that immediately before considered.
We thus perceive four steps connected with the act
of willing :
i. Presentation in mind of something that may be
done;
The Will is the Man. 9
2. Presentation in mind of motives or reasons re-
lating to what may be done ;
3. The rise in mind of Sufficient Reason ;
4. Putting forth in mind of Volition corresponding
to Sufficient Reason.
As Professor Josiah Royce remarks in " Outlines of
Psychology," " We not only observe and feel our own
doings and attitudes as a mass of inner facts, viewed all
together, but in particular we attend to them with greater
or less care, selecting now these, now those tendencies to
action as the central objects in our experience of our own
desires." "To attend to any action or to any tendency
to action, to any desire, or to any passion, is the same
thing as 'to select,' or 'to choose,' or 'to prefer,' or ' to
take serious interest in,' just that tendency or deed. And
such attentive (and/rar^Va/) preference of one course of
conduct, or of one tendency or desire, as against all
others present to our minds at any time, is called a volun-
tary act." This is in effect the view of the author taken
ten years before the writing of the first edition of the
present work.
A motive is an appeal to person for a Volition.
" A motive cannot be identified with the Volition to act,
for it is the reason of the Volition. The identification of
motives and Volitions would involve us in the absurdity
of holding that we have as many Volitions as motives,
which would result in plain contradiction." And, it may
also be remarked, " a motive is not an irresistible ten-
dency, an irresistible tendency is not a desire, and a
desire is not a Volition. In short, it is impossible to
identify a Volition or act of Will with anything else. It
is an act, sui generis."
But while motives must be constituted Sufficient Rea-
sons for willing, the reason is not a cause ; it is merely an
IO The Will and Its Action.
occasion. The cause of the act of Will is the person, free
to select a reason for Volition. The occasion of the
action of Volition in mind is solely the motive approved.
Motives are conditions ; they are not causes. The testi-
mony that they are not determining conditions stands on
the validity of the moral consciousness. The word
" ought " always preaches freedom, defying gospelers
and metaphysicians of every pagan field.
FREEDOM.
Moreover, the phrase "freedom of will " is tautology,
and the phrase " bondage of will" is contradiction of
terms. To speak of the freedom of the Will is simply to
speak of the Will's existence. A person without power to
decide what he shall do is not a complete organism.
Will may not exist, but if there is any Will in mind,
it is free.
Will may be weak, but within the limitations of
weakness, freedom nevertheless obtains.
No bondage exists in the power of person to will
somewhat. Bondage may obtain in the man, by reason of
physical disorders, or of mental incapacity, or of moral
perversion, or, perhaps, of environment. For the Will
" does not sensate : that is done by the senses ; it does
not cognize : that is done by the intellect ; it does not
crave or loathe an object of choice : that is done by the
affections ; it does not judge of the nature, or value, or
qualities of an object : that is done by the intellect ; it
does not moralize on the right or wrong of an object, or
of an act of choice : that is done by the conscience
(loosely speaking); it does not select the object to be
chosen or to be refused, and set it out distinct and defined,
known and discriminated from all others, and thus made
ready, after passing under the review of all the other
The Will is the Man. II
faculties, to be chosen or refused by the Will : for this
act of selecting has already been done by the intellect."
The operations of the sense perceptions, of the intel-
lect and of the moral powers may thus be inadequate,
and there may be great difficulty in deliberating among
motives, and even inability to decide which motive shall
rule, but these weaknesses obtain in the mind or the man,
they do not inhere in the Will. This does not surrender
the freedom of the Will by shifting it from a faculty the
definition of which makes it free to the person which may
or may not be free, because any bondage of person has
before it actual freedom as the result of development,
education and moral influences. The action of Will is
not determined by motive but by condition of person, and,
to a degree, except under the oppression of disease,
the person may always raise any motive to the dignity of
Sufficient Reason.
Most people experience some bondage to evil, but the
bondage of evil lies in the fact that the evil self tends to
select a motive whose moral quality is of a like character.
Accountability springs from this — that evil has been
permitted to establish that tendency. " A force endowed
with intelligence, capable of forming purposes and pur-
suing self-chosen ends may neglect those rules of action
which alone can guide it safely, and thus at last wholly
miss the natural ends of its being."
As Samuel Johnson says : " By trusting to impres-
sions a man may gradually come to yield to them and at
length be subject to them so as not to be a free agent, or,
what is the same thing in effect, to suppose that he is not
a free agent."
" As to the doctrine of necessity, no man believes it. If
a man should give me arguments that I did not see, though I
could not answer them, should I believe that I did not see ?"
it Tht Witt and Its Action.
Hence the sway and the Talue of moral character in
the arena of Will.
A person of right character tends to constitute right
motives Sufficient Reason for Volitions.
The Will, therefore, is under Jaw, for it is a part of
the universal system of things. It must obey the general
laws of man's being, must be true to the laws of its own
nature. A lawless Will can have no assignable object of
existence. As a function in mind it is subject to the in-
fluences of the individual character, of environment and
of ethical realities. But in itself it discloses that all
Volitions are connected with motives or reasons, that
every Volition has its Sufficient Reason, and that no
Volition is determined solely by any given reason. To
suppose the Will to act otherwise than as required by
these laws is to destroy its meaning. A lawless Volition
is not a free Volition, it is no Volition. Lawless Volition
is caprice. Capricious Volitions indicate a mind subject
to indeterminate influences. When an individual is in
such a state, we say that he is a slave, because he is with-
out power to act intelligently for a definite purpose and
according to a self -chosen end.
Will is not free if k is not self-caused, but to be self-
caused, in any true sense, it must act according to the
laws of its own being. Law is the essence of freedom.
Whatever is free is so because it is capable of acting out
unhindered the laws of its nature.
The Will cannot transcend itself. It is not necessary
that it should transcend its own nature in order to be
free. A bird is free to fly, but not to pass its life under
water. A bird with a broken wing cannot fly ; neverthe-
less flight is of the freedom of bird-nature. And limita-
tions upon bird-nature are not limitations upon such
freedom. Induced limited states of individual minds
The Witt is the Man. 13
cannot set aside the free ability of Will to act according
to its fundamental nature.
The following, written of Howard the philanthropist,
is a good illustration of the Will (a) as static, (&) as dyna-
mic, (c) as an energy, (//) as controlled by the mind, (<•) as
free, and (/) as determined by character — what the in-
dividual makes himself to be :
" The (<:) energy of his («) determination was so great,
that if, instead of being habitual, it had been (£) shown only
for a short time on particular occasions, it would have
appeared a vehement impetuosity ; but, by being uninter-
mitted, it had an equability of manner which scarcely
appeared to exceed the tone of a calm constancy, it was
so totally the reverse of anything like turbulence or agita-
tion. It was the calmness of an intensity, (</) kept uni-
form by the nature of the human mind forbidding it to be
more, and by the (/) character of the individual (e) for-
bidding it to be less."
Howard was an illustration of Emerson's meaning
when he said : "There can be no driving force, except
through the conversion of the man into his Will, making
him the Will, and the Will him." Human nature is a
huge commentary on this remark. Man's driving force,
conquering fate, is the energy of the free Will.
We have now finished our brief survey of the theory
of Will-power.
What this book shall accomplish for the reader depends
solely upon himself.
" THE WILL IS THE MAN."
The Will is God, the Will is man,
The Will is power loosed in Thought;
In Will W Unfathomed Self began,
In Will the lesser mind is wrought :
Nothing is will-less entity :
All one — to act, to will, to be.
He only is who wills to live
The best his nature prophesies:
Master of fate, executive
Of self — a sovereign strong and wise.
Art thou a pigmy f Courage, soul !
For thee, as all, the kingly goal.
— THB AUTHOR.
CHAPTER II.
TESTS OF WILL.
JHE seat of the Will seems to vary with the
organ through which it is manifested; to
transport itself to different parts of the braim
:*s we may wish to recall a picture, a phrase, or a melody ;
to throw its force on the muscles or the intellectual pro-
cesses. Like the general-in-chief, its place is everywhere
in the field of action. It is the least like an instrument
of any of our faculties ; the farthest removed from our
conceptions of mechanism and matter, as we commonly
define them."— O. W. Holmes.
The developed Will manifests itself, as has been sug-
gested, in two general ways :
First. In an energetic single act ; here it may be
called the Dynamic Will. The Will so acting is not
necessarily ideal. "Rosseau," says Carlyle "has not
depth or width, nor calm force for difficulty ; — the first
characteristic of true greatness. A fundamental error, to
call vehemence and rigidity strength 1 A man is not
strong who takes convulsion-fits, though six men cannot
hold him then. He that can walk under the heaviest
weight without staggering, he is the strong man."
Secondly. In a series of acts conducted with force
and related intelligently to a given end ; here the Static
Will discharges in dynamic actions its store of accumu-
lated power.
16 Tests of Will.
Acts of Will may be described as Explosive, Decisive,
Impelling, Restraining, Deliberative, Persistent.
These forms of Will are exhibited in connection with
Physical, Mental, Moral states of the man.
Remembering that the Will is always the mind's
power of self-direction, we now suggest certain
GENERAL FUNCTIONS OF WILL.
I. — The strong Will is master of the body.
II. — The right Will is lord of the mind's several
faculties.
III. — The perfect Will is high priest of the moral self.
I.
The strong Will is master of the body, directing it
according to the dictates of desire or reason. Hamlet's
grave-digger determines his own physical vocation. The
hero Dewey and his sailors send their bodies into Manilla
Bay and forbid flight, while shot and shell are falling.
Martyrs give their bodies to be burned. Paganini directs
his fingers to execute marvels upon the violin. The
trained athlete is the director of an assembly of physical
powers as difficult of original control as the mob that
threatened Beecher at Liverpool. Ignatius uncovered
brute Will when he said : " It is the part of a good athlete
to be flayed with pounding, and yet to conquer." The
psychic investigator of the modern college makes every
physical element and power a tool, a prophet, a revelator
of mental reality.
Mastery of the body is frequently seen in remarkable
instances of physical control. All voluntarily acquired
habits are examples. Though a given habit becomes
automatic, it yet represents a long and persistent appli-
According to Tour Will. 17
cation of Will, and, as often, perhaps, the present exer-
cise of Volition directing and maintaining actions that are
apparently unconscious. The singer's use of his voice
exhibits trained impulse ; the musician's manipulation of
his fingers, habituated movements; the skilled rider's
mastery of his limbs in most difficult feats and unex-
pected situations, spontaneous response to mind ; the
eloquent orator, celerity of muscular obedience to feeling.
In all these and similar cases the Will must act, co-ordi-
nating particular movements with general details of
Volition with the ultimate purpose in view. Indeed, the
specific activities that make up the complex physical uses
of the human body in all trades of skill demand super-
vision of the Will as an adequate explanation. The person
may not be conscious of its sovereign acts, but it is the
power upon the throne.
Underlying those states of the soul of which it is
immediately aware are conditions not formulated in con-
sciousness, which nevertheless constitute its highest
powers. If these exhibitions of " second nature " in-
volved no immediate action of Will, the very exercise and
training of Will which look to their attainment would, so
far forth, defeat the end in view ; — they would weaken
rather than develop Will.
The Unconscious or Subconscious Mind plays a vast
role in human life. The reader is referred to the author's
work " Practical Psychology " for further study of that
important subject.
The mind, again, has the power to summons, as it
were, a special degree of intensity of Will, and to throw
this with great force into a particular act. This may be
done during a repetition of the act, while the repetition is
going on " automatically," as it is said. Does such in-
tensity imply that no Will has hitherto been exerted?
i8 Tests of Will.
We know that in such cases we put forth a more energetic
Volition.
The human eye may be made to blaze by the appli-
cation of Will-power to the act of gazing.
The hearing may be made more acute by willing that
all other sensations shall be ruled out of consciousness.
By focusing the attention upon the terminal nerves
the sense of touch is vastly quickened, as, for example, in
the case of the blind.
Muscular effort accomplishing a certain amount of
work while Will is but lightly applied, becomes terrific
when the whole man wills himself into the act.
Certain stimulations of mind, as fear, or love, or hate,
or hope of reward, or religious excitement, or musical in-
fluence, or insanity, rouse the Will at times to vast pro-
portions in its feats with muscle and limb.
The Olympic contests and modern exhibition games,
rescues from fire or wave, woman's defense of her off-
spring, prolonged exertion of political speakers and evange-
lists, and herculean achievements of enraged inmates of
insane hospitals, furnish examples.
So, also, the Will accomplishes wonders through its
power of inhibition. Under fear of detection the hiding
criminal simulates the stillness of death. Pride often
represses the cry of pain. In the presence of the desper-
ately ill, love refuses the relief of tears. Irritated nerves
are controlled under maddening conditions. Certain
nervous diseases can be cured by the Will. Habits of
the body, such as facial twitching, movements of the
hands or limbs, etc., are controlled, and mannerisms of
private and public life are banished. Sounds are shut
out of consciousness in the act of reading. Strong appe-
tites are denied indulgence. Pronounced tendencies in
According to Your Will. 19
general physical conduct are varied. Attitudes of body
are assumed and maintained at the cost of great pain.
Even more than is ordinarily supposed, the body is
the servant of the Will. The curious thing here is that
so little attention is given to the training of Will in this
capacity.
II.
The right Will is the lord of the .mind' s several facul
ties. A familiar example is seen in the act of attention.
Here the soul concentrates its energies upon a single
object, or upon a number of objects grouped together.
A striking example may be noted in the fact that " we
can smell either one of two odors, brought to the nostrils
by means of paper tubes, in preference to the other, by
simply thinking about it." This is a good illustration of
abstraction induced by the Will. The degree of exclu-
siveness and force with which the mind engages itself
upon a single line of action represents the cultivation of
the persistent Will. If the WTill is strong in this respect,
it is probably strong in what is called " compound attention"
or that considering state of mind in which it holds delib-
erative court among motives, facts, principles, means and
methods relating to some possible end of effort or goal of
conduct.
Thus the person wills intense consciousness of physi-
cal acts or states. One, for example, who studies pro-
foundly the relation of physiology to psychology, exhibits
great powers in willed attention, embracing largest sensa-
tions, and taking note of minutest variations with the
greatest nicety. The child in learning to walk manifests
admirable ability in this regard. Vocal exercises demand
utmost attention of mind to musical notes, their effects
upon the ear, and the manner and method of their
attainment and execution. Musical instruments are also
20 Tests of Will.
mastered in this way alone. All use of tools and instru-
ments makes large demand upon the Will, and in propor-
tion to their delicacy, complexity, and the difficulty of
handling properly, is this demand increased. "Great
skill, great Will," may be written as the general law in
this regard.
So, also, as previously suggested, the power of the
eye, ear and end nerves is frequently increased by appli-
cation of mental energy thrown forcibly into the sense-
perception involved.
The action and capacity of the lungs may be devel-
oped by intelligent attention, a style of walk may be
cultivated, and habits of speech entirely reorganized.
Where pronounced ability in such cases has been ac-
quired, the cost of willed attention has been enormous.
A test of Will may be further seen in the degree of
attention exerted in reading. Much is dignified as read-
ing that is not so. In true reading the mind is focused
upon the printed page. Kossuth said, u I have a certain
rule never to go on in reading anything without perfectly
understanding what I read." That was true reading.
Equally concentrated must be the mind of the artist
in painting, and that of the musician in mastering a diffi-
cult composition. An artist who painted three hundred
portraits during a year, said : " When a sitter came, I
looked at him attentively for half an hour, sketching from
time to time on the canvas. I wanted no more. I put
away my canvas and was ready for another sitter. When
I wished to resume my first portrait, I took the man and
sat him in the chair, when I saw him as distinctly as if he
had been before me in his own proper person." A similar
story is related of the sculptor David. Wishing to exe-
cute the bust of a dying woman without alarming her, he
called upon her as a jeweler's man, and in a few moments
According to Your Will. 21
secured a mental portrait of her features, which he after-
ward reproduced in stone. So blind Tom listened with
" rapt attention " to a complicated musical composition,
and instantly repeated it, exactly as played before him,
including errors. In part, concentrated attention is the
secret of genius.
In sustained thinking the Will manifests one of its
noblest aspects. The mind must now plunge into the
depths of a subject, penetrate by driving force into its
minutest details, and follow out the ramifications of its
utmost complexities, concentrating upon fact, reality,
relation, etc., with great power, and comparing, con-
joining, separating, evolving, with tireless persistency.
Napoleon was gigantic in all these particulars. Senator
Carpenter, of Wisconsin, used to seclude himself in his
law library the night before some important case was
docketed for trial, and feel, think and care for nothing
else until morning, utterly absorbed in the mastery of its
problems. So Byron was wont to immure himself with
brandy and water and write for many consecutive hours
in the elaboration of his poems. " The success of Hegel
is in part explained by the fact that he took a manuscript
to his publishers in Jena on the very day when the battle
of that name was fought, and to his amazement — for he
had heard or seen nothing — he found French veterans,
the victorious soldiers of Napoleon, in the streets.
Mohammed falling into lone trances on the mountains
above Mecca, Paul in Arabia, Dante in the woods of
Fonte Abellana, and Bunyan in prison, form eloquent
illustrations of the necessity of mentaj seclusion and
concentration in order to arrive at great nental results."
It is familiarly known that one of the secrets of con-
centration is interest in the matter in hand. But the
mind's interest may be enhanced by persistent assertion of
22 Tests of Witt.
its power of Will. Study, resolutely continued, bores
into the subject considered, and, discovering new features,
finally induces absorbed attention of an increased degree.
School-work furnishes many illustrations of this reward
of Will. The mind may be wrought up, by long atten-
tion to matters of thought, to a state of great activity.
As with mechanical contrivances, so with Will ; initial
movements of mind, weak at first, acquire by continuance
an enhanced power. " We can work ourselves up," as
one has said, " into a loving mood, by forcing the atten-
tion and the train of ideas upon all the kindness and
affection that we have experienced in the past." Simi-
larly in regard to other emotions and states of the soul.
The activity of reasoning is no exception. It is a mis-
take to suppose that great intellectual achievements are
products alone of what is called " inspiration." The
processes of reasoning, composing, speaking, all exhibit
the power of Will to develop interest and beget a true
inspiration as well as to hold the mind in the grip of a
subject. Lord Macaulay thus sought facility in the prepa-
ration and writing of his History. Anthony Trollope
made it a rule, while writing a work of fiction, to turn off
a fixed number of pages each day, and found his rule not
a hindrance, but a help. In jury trials advocates talk on
for hours against some supposedly obstinate juryman,
and legislative halls frequently witness " speaking against
time." In both cases the orator's mind develops special
and unexpected interest and power.
The strength of the Will is, again, notably shown
in the action of memory. Mental energy usually " charges "
the soul by the process of " memorizing." But some facts
are blazed into the abiding self, as it were, by the power
of great interest. The storing act of mind in education,
as it is commonly understood, requires Will in a very
According to Your Will. 23
especial sense. Listless repetition of lessons accomplishes
little. Attention, concentration, the forcing of interest,
must take this kingdom by a kind of violence. A phrase
like, " Remember ! yes, remember 1 " suggests the victorious
attitude of mind. Macaulay, fearing that his memory
might fail, deliberately set himself to the task of its test
and further development. William H. Prescott, who
wrote his histories with greatly impaired eyesight, trained
his memory so thoroughly that he could perform men-
tally the work required for sixty pages before dictation.
Francis Parkman and Charles Darwin acquired prodig-
ious memories under similar difficulties. Some minds are
naturally endowed with great powers in this respect, but
the really useful memories of the world exhibit the driv-
ing and sustaining action of Will.
Memory is always involved in imagination. The mind
which is a blank as to its past can form no memory
pictures. In its noblest character, the imagination ex-
hibits compulsion, purpose, control. Milton must sum-
mon in luminous array the majestic images of Paradise
Lost. Does Angelo see his immortal shapes without the
direction of Will ? Do the phantoms of the ideal world
come unbidden to the arena of thought ? Undoubtedly
fantasies and hallucinations may troop across the plains
of mental vision in capricious freedom, as when Luther
saw the devil, or Goethe beheld in his sister's home a
picture by Ostade ; and these may frequently tyrannize
over the mind with terrible power, as when Kipling's
civilian of India became " possessed " by the " Phantom
'Rickshaw." But the hallucinations of disease often
yield to treatment of physical improvement and resolute
Will. It is significant that Goethe, relating the experience
above referred to, says : " This was the first time that I
discovered, in so high a degree, the gift, which I qfter>
'24 Tests of Will.
wards used with more complete consciousness, of bring-
ing before me the characteristics of this or that great
artist, to whose works I had devoted great attention."
That the power of creating such luminous mental vision
can be acquired by strenuous Will may be doubted ; but
there are minds that have frequent flashes of clear picto-
rial innersight, in which objects seem to appear with
all the vividness of sunlit reality, although they can never
command this experience at will. If possessed, the gift,
as Goethe calls it, is, however, subject to summons and
control, as seen in his case and in that of many artists.
A secondary quality of mental vision, in which ideas of
things, more or less vague and confused, and similar as-
semblages of objects, arise, is by common testimony a
matter of determined cultivation. Professions which
require regular public speaking, as of the ministry or the
law ; the massing of facts before the mind, as in the trial
of jury cases ; the forming of material shapes and their
organization into imaginary mechanisms, as in invention ;
the grasp of details and comprehensive plans, as in large
business enterprises and military operations ; — all fur-
nish illustrations of the truth that not original endowment
alone, but energetic exercise of Will, is requisite to suc-
cess. Ideas, relations, objects and combinations may be
made more vivid and real by resolution of the mind and
persistent practice. Failures in these fields are frequently
due to the fact that the Will does not force the mind
to see things as details and as complex wholes. The
strong Will enables the mind to recall, with growing
intensity, objects, mechanisms, assemblages of facts and
persons, outlines of territory, complex details and laws of
enterprise, and airy fancies and huge conceptions of the
worlds of real life and of ideal existence. The imagi-
nation is the pioneer of progress — in religion, industry,
According to Your Will. 25
art and science ; but as such it is not a lawless necro-
mancer without deliberate purpose. The spirit that sum-
mons, guides and controls it is the soul's mysterious
power of self-direction. And this power is equally sus-
ceptible of being so developed as to indicate selection
and exclusion or clamoring images.
Hence it would seem that the mind may train and
develop its own power of willing. When cultivation and
improvement of Will are sought, we may say, " I will to
^vill with energy and decision ! I will to persist in willing I
I will to will intelligently and for a goal! I^M to exercise
the Will according to the dictates of reason and of morals ! "
Some men are born with what are called " strong Wills."
If these are to be reasonable Wills as well, they must be
trained. For the most part Will would seem to develop
and to acquire something of the " sweet quality of reason-
ableness," under life-processes which are more or less
unconscious and unpurposed so far as this end is con-
cerned ; nevertheless, the exigencies of " getting on "
are constant and unappreciated trainers. Discipline
knocks men about with ruthless jocularity. "A man
who fails, and will not see his faults, can never improve."
Here is a grim-visaged, and oftentimes humorous school-
master who gives small pity to his pupils. They must
needs acquire some power of Will or demonstrate them-
selves, not human, but blockheads. Much of life's suf-
fering is due to the fact that force of Will is neither
developed nor trained by conscious intelligent effort, and
is more often devoid than possessed of rational moral
quality. This is a curious thing — that the Will is left like
Topsy, " to grow up." Why value this power, yet Uix
it " catch-as-catch-can ? " Why hinge success upon i ,, yet
give it so little conscious attention? Why delegate its
improvement to the indirection of " hard knocks," and dis»
26 Tests of Will.
appointment cankering resolution, and misfortune making
water of life's blooded forces, and all manner of diseases
destroying the fine fibre of mind's divine organism ? Why
neglect the Will until consequence, another name for hell,
oftentimes, has removed "heaven" by the diameter of
the universe ?
James Tyson, a bushman in Australia, died worth
$25,000,000. " But," he said, with a characteristic semi-
exultant snap of the fingers, " the money is nothing. It
was the little game that was the fun ! " Being asked once,
"What was the little game?" he replied with an energy
of concentration peculiar to him : " Fighting the desert.
That has been my work. I have been fighting the desert
all my life, and I have won ! I have put water where was
no water, and beef where was no beef. I have put fences
where there were no fences, and roads where there were no
roads. Nothing can undo what I have done, and millions
will be happier for it after I am long dead and forgotten."
" The longer I live," said Fowell Buxton, whose name
is connected in philanthropy with that of Wilberforce,
" the more certain I am that the great difference between
men, between the feeble and the powerful, the great and
the insignificant, is ENEBGY — INVINCIBLE DETERMINATION
— a purpose once fixed, and then Death or Victory. That
quality will do anything that can be done in this world ; —
and no talents, no circumstances, no opportunities will
make a two-legged creature a MAN without it." The
power, then, ot such resistless energy should with resistless
energy be cultivated.
" When the Will fails, the battle is lost."
III.
The perfect Will is high Priest of the moral self. In-
deed, a tr'i«» cultivation of Will is not possible without
According to Tour Will. 27
reference to highest reason or ideas of right. In the
moral consciousness alone is discovered the explanation
of this faculty of the soul. A great Will may obtain
while moral considerations are ignored, but no perfection
of Will can be attained regardless of requirements of high-
est reason. The crowning phase of the Will is always
ethical.
Here is the empire of man's true constitution. Reso-
lute Will scorns the word " impossible." The strong Will
of large and prolonged persistence condemns whatever is
unreasonable. Nobility of Will is seen in the question,
" What is right ? " Napoleon exhibits the strong continu-
ous Will. Washington illustrates the persistence of moral
resolution. Jesus incarnates the Will whose law is holi-
ness.
The Will that possesses energy and persistence, but
is wanting in reasonableness and moral control, rules in
its kingdom with the fool's industry and the fanatical obsti-
nacy of Philip the Second. " It was Philip's policy and
pride to direct all the machinery of his extensive empire,
and to pull every string himself. . . . The object, alike
paltry and impossible, of this ambition, bespoke the nar-
row mind." Thus has Motley described an incarnation
of perverted wilfulness.
If the "King" will not train himself, how shall he
demand obedience of his subjects, the powers of body,
mind and spirit ? This is the " artist " of whom Lord
Lytton sang : —
" All things are thine estate ; yet must
Thou first display the title deeds,
And sue the world. Be strong ; and trust
High instincts more than all the creeds."
BALANCE.
Full waves, full tides, swing in from out the vast,
Lapping and dashing, breasting up the marge ;
Yet ever gently turned, or backward cast
In sullen wrath. The steadfast shore comes large.
Here meet two infinites, equal, face to face,
In wage titanic for all time and space.
To urge right onward— this the Will's high course;
And this — to stand, a soul of adamant.
The sea recedes : force triumphs over force ;
Crumbles the shore: the waves their vicVry chant.
Lo, at the heart of Power's war untimed
Emerges soul— undaunted and sublimed.
— THE AUTHOR.
CHAPTER III.
THE CONDUCT OF LIFE.
JESOLVE is what makes a man manifest; not
puny resolve, not crude determinations, not
errant purpose — but that strong and inde-
fatigable Will which treads down difficulties and danger,
as a boy treads down the heaving frost-lands of winter ;
which kindles his eye and brain with a proud pulse-beat
toward the unattainable. Will makes men giants.'' — Ike
Marvel.
The thing that is. and creates human power, as the
author remarks in " Business Power," is the Will. Theo-
retically, the Will is the man. Practically, the Will is just
a way the man has of being and doing. The Will is man's
inherent nature-tendency to act — to do something. This
tendency to act in some way must act on itself — take it-
self in hand, so to speak, in order that it may act intelli-
gently, continuously, and with a purpose. Will is itself
power ; but unfolded, controlled and directed power in
man is Will self-mastered, not man-mastered nor nature-
mastered. The man-mastered and nature-mastered Will
goes with the motive or impulse which is strongest. The
self-mastered Will goes with the motive which the self
makes greatest, and with mere impulse in very slight de-
gree so far as the life of intelligence is concerned.
The self-mastered Will can do anything — within
reason ; and reason in this connection should be con-
ceived in its highest human sense. The function of Will
30 The Conduct of Life.
is like that of steam. It must be powerful, under con-
trol, and properly directed. The power of Will may be
developed, but only through controlled and directed ao
tion. The control may be acquired, but only through
willed and directed action. The direction may be de^
termined, but only through willed and controlled action.
When Will is self-developed, self -mastered, self-directed, it
only needs proper application to become practically all-
powerful.
FORMS OF WILL.
In the conduct of life every form in which the normal
Will manifests itself is demanded for success. These forms
are : The Persistent Will ; The Static Will ; The Impel-
ling Will ; The Dynamic Will ; The Restraining Will ; The
Explosive Will ; The Decisive Will.
The Static Will, or Will in reserve, constitutes origi-
nal source of energy. As heat, light, and life are rooted
in the sun, so are varied Volitions sent forth from this
central seat of power, exhibiting the Dynamic Will.
The Explosive Will illustrates the mind's ability for
quick and masterful summoning of all its forces. The
sudden rush of the whole soul in one compelling deed
seems sometimes next to omnipotence.
Persistence of Will involves " standing," sto — stare —
sistere, and " through " — per ; " standing through." The
weakness of otherwise strong men may be revealed in
life's reactions. " Having done all, to stand," furnishes
many a deciding test. This phase of Will is not ex-
hausted in the common saying, "sticking to it," for a
barnacle sticks, and is carried hither and thither on a
ship's bottom. Persistence involves adherence to a pur-
pose clean through to a goal.
The abiding mind necessitates the Impelling Will.
"This One Thing 1 Do" 31
The Impelling Will suggests an ocean "liner," driving
onward, right onward, through calm and storm, for a de-
termined goal. Sixty years of that kind of direct motion
must summon Will to all its varied activities.
It is curious, too, that the noble quality of Will-power
observed in impelling persistence, depends upon the para-
dox of restraint. An engine without control will wreck
itself and its connected machinery. The finest racing
speed is achieved under bit and mastery. In man the
power that drives must hold back. The supremest type
of man exhibits this as a constant attitude. Success in
life depends upon what the writers call the Will's power
of inhibition. Here we have the Restraining Will.
At times the character of Will is also manifest in its
ability to forbid obedience to a thousand appealing mo-
tives, and even to bring all action to a full stop and " back
water," in order to a new decision, a new immediate or
ultimate goal. Hence life is full of demands for quick
decisions and resistless massing of resources squarely upon
the spur of exigency. This suggests the Decisive Will.
Such are some of the forms of Will which are re-
quired for the conduct of affairs, whether ordinary or ex-
traordinary. Even a slight analysis of the matter would
seem to suggest that there can be no tonic like the mental
mood which resolves to will.
Here is a treatment from deepest laboratories of the soul
insuring health. A purposeful mind says, sooner or later,
" I RESOLVE TO WILL." After a time that phrase is in the
air, blows with the wind, shines in star and sun, sings with
rivers and seas, whispers with dreams of sleep and trumpets
through the hurly-burly of day. Eventually it becomes a
feeling of achievement saturating consciousness. The man
knows now the end, because all prophecies have one reading.
He has begotten the instinct of victory.
32 The Conduct of Life.
It is not as a blind man, however, that he walks.
His ineradicable conviction sees with the eye of purpose.
If his purpose is approvable at the court of conscience,
all roads lead to his Rome. «
ONE AIM VICTORIOUS.
Men fail for lack of Some Aim. Their desires cover
the entire little field of life, and what becomes theirs does
so by accident. Multitudes of people are the beneficiaries
of blundering luck.
Everywhere Some Aim would make " hands " foremen,
and foremen superintendents ; would conduct poverty to
comfort, and comfort to wealth ; would render men who are
of no value to society useful, and useful men indispensable.
The man who is indispensable owns the situation.
The world is ruled by its servants. The successful
servant is king.
But better than Somt Aim, which, because it need be
neither long-headed nor long-lived, is a player at a gaming
table, is One Aim, by which all fortune is turned school-
master and good fortune is labeled " reward by divine
right." The true divine right of kings is here alone.
The soul that resolves to will One Aim makes heavy
and imperious call on the nature of things.
For, while many understand that the individual must
needs adjust himself to life, few perceive the greater law,
tha. Jife is forever engaged in a desperate struggle to adjust
itself ic the individual. It is but required of him that he
treat life with some degree of dignity, and make his elec-
tion and plea sure by putting mind in the masterful spell
of some One ultimate Aim to which all things else shall be
subordinated.
Some Aim has luck on its side ; One Aim has law.
Some Aim may achieve large things, and occasionally
"This One Thing I Do." 33
it does ; One Aim cannot fail to make the nature of things
its prime minister.
Life does not always yield the One Aim its boon in
exact terms of desire, because men often fall at cross-
purposes with endowment; but life never fails to grant all
the equities in any given case.
In the long run every man gets in life about what he
deserves. The vision of that truth embraces many things
which the objector will not see. The objector mistakes
what he desires for what he deserves.
Hence the importance of self-discovery in life's con-
duct. It is probably true that every man has some one
supreme possibility within his make-up. The purposeful
Will usually discovers what it is.
Buried talents are always "fool's gold."
One thing settled — the Ultimate Aim — and talents
begin to emerge by a divine fiat.
The revelation of power may, indeed, be made while
Will roams in quest of a purpose, but, that purpose found,
Will looks for its means and methods ; and discovers them
within.
William Pitt was in fact born with a definite aim in
life. " From a child," says a recent writer, " he was made
to realize that a great career was expected of him, worthy
of his renowned father. This was the keynote of all his
instruction."
General Grant is said to have been called " Useless
Grant " by his mother. He discovered himself at Shiloh,
after some pottering with hides and leather which was not
even preliminary. But Grant always " stuck to the thing
in hand," so far as it was worth while doing so. When
war brought his awareness of self to the point of definite
meaning, he found every detail and the largest campaigns
eminently worth the while of a Will which had at last un-
34 The Conduct of Life.
covered its highway. " The great thing about him," said
Lincoln, " is cool persistency of purpose. He is not easily
excited, and he has got the grip of a bulldog. When he
once gets his teeth in, nothing can shake him off."
The One Aim is always a commentary on character.
It is not difficult to see why life needs Some Aim. Why it
should concentrate upon One Aim suggests the whole
philosophy of human existence. Nero had One Aim, and
it destroyed the half of Rome. Alexander the Great had
One Aim, and he died in a debauch. The One Aim may
involve selfishness, crimes, massacres, anarchy, universal
war, civilization hurled to chaos. One Aim assassinated
Garfield, ruined Spain, inaugurated the Massacre of Saint
Bartholomew, gave birth to the " unspeakable Turk," de-
vised a system of enmity against existing orders and insti-
tutions, threatens to throw Europe into revolutionary
carnage, and, in a thousand ways, has power to light the
pyre of civilization's destruction. One Aim is no more
descriptive of Heaven than it is of Hell.
The climax of Will, therefore, is possible under moral
considerations alone. Character, which is the sum total
of a man's good (moral) qualities, furnishes a third phras-
ing for Will's purpose, the Righteous Aim.
THE HIGHEST AIM.
Will with Righteous Aim creates character. Charac-
ter, with Righteous Will, creates Noblest Aim. Character,
with Noblest Aim, creates Righteous Will.
The relation between the man, the aim, the Will, is
dependent and productive. There is really no high justi-
fication for One Aim if it be not best aim. Life is ethical.
Its motives and its means and its achievements justify only
in aims converging to its utmost moral quality.
It is here that possession of Will finds explanation, as
" This One Thing I Do." 35
elsewhere remarked. Below man there is no supreme
sovereignty of Will ; all is relative and reflex. But this
sovereignty furnishes its reason in moral self-development,
in moral community-relations, in moral oneness with Deity.
So true is it that righteousness alone justifies the exist-
ence of the human Will, that the finest development of the
power comes of its moral exercise. Above the martyr who
founds a material government the world places with eager
zeal that soul who establishes by his death a kingdom of
religion.
The Static Will furnishes energy in abnormal life.
The Explosive Will murders. The Persistent Will may
exhibit in obstinacy and national crimes. The Impelling
Will is sometimes hugely reckless. The Restraining Will
has its phases in " mulishness " and stupidity. The De-
cisive Will is frequently guilty of wondrous foolhardiness.
Idiocy, insanity, senility, savagery and various forms of
induced mania represent the Will in disorder, without a
master, and working pathos fathomless or tragic horror.
If, then, we ask, " Why One Aim in life ? " the names
of Socrates, Buddha, Charlemagne, Alfred the Great, Wil-
liam of Orange, Gladstone, Washington, Wilberforce, Lin-
coln, may be offset by those of Caligula, the Medici,
Lucretia Borgia, Philip the Second. Asking, "Why the
Righteous Aim ? " troop before the mind's expanding eye
all holy heroes and movements " i' the tide o' time ; " and
no counterpoise appears, for all is great, all is good.
Moral purpose, however, is no prestidigitator. The
Will, set on all good things for ultimate goal, is still merely
the mind's power of self-direction. All requisites for
strong Will anywhere are demands here. Inasmuch as
the moral aim involves the whole of life, Will, making for
it, requires the ministry of cultivated perceptions : seeing
things as they are, especially right things ; developed sen-
36 The Conduct of Life.
sibilities : sensitive toward evil, capacious for good ; a
large imagination : embracing details, qualities, conse-
quences, reasons and ultimate manifold objects ; active,
trained and just reasoning faculties : apprehending the
incentive, utility and inspiration of truth ; and deep and
rich moral consciousness : nourishing the Will from inex-
haustible fountains of legitimate self-complacency.
In other words, the moral Will, which alone is best
Will, demands of its owner constant and adequate consid-
eration, of plan, of means, of methods, of immediate and
ultimate end.
The successful conduct of life is always hinged upon
" This one thing I do." Where such is really the law of
conduct, the world beholds an aroused soul. " The first
essential of success," said a great bank president, " is the
fear of God."
A live man is like a factory working on full time.
Here is creation ; every power at labor, every function
charged with energy, huge action dominating the entire
situation, and yielding valuable products. This man puts
his body into the thing in hand, mightily confident. His
mental being does not detail itself off in "gangs," but
swarms at it with that tirelessness which makes enthusiasm
a wonder. His intuitions flash, impel, restrain, urge
resistlessly, decide instantly — presiding genii of limited
empires. Reasoning faculties mass upon questions vital,
and hold clear court, till justice be known. If he be
right-souled man, he emerges, Will at the fore, from Deca-
logue and Mountain Sermon daily, squaring enterprise
with the Infinite.
The whole man, swinging a great Will, conserves htm-
self.
Why must there be discussions on selfishness and
self-interest? A sound soul is always a best soul. A
" This One Thing I Do" 37
selfish soul is never sound. But a sound soul must con-
tinue sound. Altruism begins with the self. Society needs
the whole man — all there is of him, and always at his
best. Hence the nature of things makes it law that a man
shall endeavor to make the most of himself in every way
which is not inimical to soundness. This is the first prin-
ciple of holiness — wholeness — soundness. As that is
worked into conduct, the second principle appears —
Service.
For the service of a sound soul the Universe will pay
any price.
And here again emerge some old and common rules.
It is function of Will to resolve on preservation of bodily
health, mental integrity and growth, and moral develop-
ment. In the eye of that high resolution no detail is with-
out importance. A trained Will regards every detail as a
campaign.
DRUDGERY AND THE WILL.
Power of Will is an accretion. Force is atoms ac-
tively aggregated. The strong Will is omnivorous, feed-
ing upon all things with little discrimination. Pebbles,
no less than boulders, compose mountains. The man
who cannot will to stick to trifles and bundle them into
importants, is now defeated. The keynote of success is
drudgery.
Drudgery stands at every factory door, and looks
out of every store window. If drudgery be not some-
where in a book, it is not worth the reading. Inspiration
stands tip-toe on the back of poor drudgery. The ante-
cedents of facile and swift art are the aches and sorrows
of drudgery. The resistance of angels collapses only
after Jacob has found his thigh out of joint, and yet cries :
" I will not let thee go 1 " Jesus had to climb even
Calvary.
38 The Conduct of Life.
An English Bishop said truly : "Of all work that
produces results, nine-tenths must be drudgery." Realty
great poets, prose-writers and artists verify this remark.
Edmund Burke bestowed upon his speeches and addresses
an immense amount of painstaking toil. Macaulay's His-
tory cost almost incalculable labor. The first Emperor of
Germany was an enormous worker. Indeed, taking the
world "by and large," labor without genius is little more
incapable than genius without labor.
Kepler, the astronomer, carried on his investigations
with prodigious labor. In calculating an opposition of
Mars, he filled ten folio pages with figures, and repeated
the work ten times, so that seven oppositions required a
folio volume of 700 pages. It has been said that "the
discoveries of Kepler were secrets extorted from nature by
the most profound and laborious research."
It was the steadiness of Haydn's application to his
art which made him one of the first of modern musicians.
He did not compose haphazard, but proceeded to his work
regularly at a fixed hour every day. These methods, with
the extremest nicety of care in labor, gave him a place by
the side of Mozart, who, while possessed of the genius
of facility, was nevertheless thoroughly acquainted with
drudgery.
And there can be no drudgery without patience, the
ability to wait, constancy in exertion with an eye on the
goal. Here is a complex word which readily splits into
fortitude, endurance and expectation. It is kaleidoscopic
in its variations. In the saint's character patience is a
lamb ; in that which builds an industry or founds an
empire, it is a determined bulldog.
"Genius is patience," said Davy; "What I am I
have made myself." Grant was patient : Once his teeth
got in, they never let go." The assiduous Will is first
"This One Thing I Do." 39
principle in achievement, whether of men or nations.
The indefatigable purpose is prophet of all futures.
But the " King on his Throne " is no dull monarch of
obstinacy. Reason defies inertia. " We say that Will
is strong whose aim," remarks Th. Ribot, "whatever it
be, is fixed. If circumstances change, means are changed ;
adaptations are successfully made, in view of new environ-
ments ; but the centre toward which all converges does
not change. Its stability expresses the permanency of
character in the individual."
All things come to the net of this rational indefatiga-
bility. As Carlyle says of Cromwell : " That such a man,
with the eye to see, with the heart to dare, should advance,
from post to post, from victory to victory, till the Hunting-
ton Farmer became, by whatever name you might call him,
the acknowledged strongest man in England, requires no
magic to explain it. For this kind of man, on a shoe-
maker's bench or in the President's chair, is always ' Rex,
Regulator, Roi;' or still better, 'King, Koennig,' which
means Can-ning, Able-man."
And this same adaptive pursuit of the main thing has
made of Cromwell's and Carlyle's England the First
Power in Europe. As William Mathews has said : " The
'asthmatic skeleton' (William III.) who disputed, sword
in hand, the bloody field of Landon, succeeded at last,
without winning a single great victory, in destroying the
prestige of his antagonist (Louis XIV.), exhausting his
resources, and sowing the seeds of his final ruin, simply
by the superiority of British patience and perseverance.
So, too, in the war of giants waged with Napoleon, when
all the great military powers of the continent went down
before the iron flail of the ' child of destiny,' like ninepins,
England wearied him out by her pertinacity, rather than
by the brilliancy of her operations, triumphing by sheer
40 The Conduct of Life.
dogged determination over the greatest master of combi-
nation the world ever saw."
It was identically this that led, in American history,
to the surrender of Cornwallis to Washington, and to the
last interview between Lee, a great soul, an heroic Chris-
tian fighter, a consummate "Can-ning man, Able-man."
To a Will of this sort defeats are merely new lights
on reason, and difficulties are fresh gymnastics for develop-
ment of colossal resolve, and discouragements are the
goading stimuli of titanic bursts of energy.
" By means of a cord, which passes from his artificial
hand up his right coat-sleeve, then across his back, then
down his left coat-sleeve to the remainder of his left arm,
an American editor has achieved success. He is enabled
to close the fingers of his artificial hand and grasp his
pen. By keeping his left elbow bent, the tension of the
string is continued, and the artificial fingers hold the pen
tightly, while the editor controls its course over the paper
by a movement of the upper arm and shoulder. By this
means, without arms, he has learned to write with the
greatest ease, and more rapidly and legibly than the aver-
age man of his age who has two good hands. For ten
years, he has written with this mechanical hand practi-
cally all of the editorials, and a very large amount of the
local and advertising matter that has gone into his paper."
" Suppose," said Lord Clarendon to Cyrus W. Field,
talking about the proposed Atlantic Cable, "you don't
succeed ? Suppose you make the attempt and fail — your
cable is lost in the. sea — then what will you do ? "
"Charge it to profit and loss, and go to work to lay
another."
To suppose the iron Will to fail is to suppose a con-
tradiction of terms.
Perhaps no historic character has more perfectly
" This One Thing I Do" 41
illustrated this element of success than William of Orange,
to whom Holland the Wonderful owes more than to any
other son in her brilliant family. " Of the soldier's great
rirtues," writes Motley, "constancy in disaster, devotion
to duty, hopefulness in defeat — no man ever possessed a
larger share. That with no lieutenant of eminent valor or
experience, save only his brother Louis, and with none at
all after that chieftain's death, William of Orange should
succeed in baffling the efforts of Alva, Requesens, Don
John of Austria, and Alexander Farnese — men whose
names are among the most brilliant in the military annals
of the world — is in itself sufficient evidence of his war-
like ability."
These men, great and world-famed, were, however,
»en only. They were but Intellects working with the
" King on his Throne." It is a statement which points
every other man to his ultimate goal that they achieved
through that common endowment, power of Will.
The conduct of life hinges on the strength and
quality of Will more than any other factor. The cry for
"opportunity" is essentially weak; opportunity crowds
upon the imperious Will. The mediocrity of men is too
largely of their own creation.
Gladstone, with large faith in the "commoners,"
said truly:
"In some sense and in some effectual degree, there
is in every man the material of good work in the world ;
in every man, not only in those who are brilliant, not only
in those who are quick, but in those who are stolid, and
eren in those who are dull."
SENSE JOYS.
To see not with a gladsome eye,
Nor own the vibrant ear ;
To sense no fragrance drifting by,
To feel no lover near:
Of such dread loss, oh what choose I
Were either loss my fear f
Now all these gifts of soul a-thrill,
With taste for bread and wine,
And one good servant, Master Will,
And the wide world, are mine!
Lo, riches vast my coffers Jill,
And life 's a joy divine !
—Tun; AUTHOR.
CHAPTER IV.
DISEASES OF THE WILL.
JECH ANIC AL obedience' (in the treatment
of disease — and of mind as well as of body)
is but one-half the battle ; the patient must
not only will, he must believe. The whole nature of man
must be brought to the task, moral as well as physical,
for the seat of the disease is not confined to the body ;
the vital energies are wasted ; the Will, often the mind,
are impaired. Fidelity of the body is as nothing if not
reinforced by fidelity of the soul." — Dr. Salisbury.
The Will may become diseased. Disease is "want
of ease," that is, of comfort, arising from the failure of
functions to act in a normal manner. It is, then, " any
disorder or depraved condition or element," physical,
mental or moral.
A disease of the Will may be defined as a more or
less permanent lack of action, normal, (<z) to the indi-
vidual, (£) to sound human nature in general. When a
person's Will is more or less permanently disordered with
reference to his normal individual activity, we have a case
for medical treatment. When a person's Will is more or
less permanently disordered with reference to the normal
human standard, we have a case for education.
It is now to be observed that a diseased condition of
the Will may result —
44 Diseases of the Witt.
First, from a diseased mind ;
Secondly, from an illy-developed mind ;
Thirdly, from causes resident in the Will considered
as a "faculty" of mind. Strictly speaking, a disease of
the Will is a disease of the self, inasmuch as it is the
self that wills. But there are phases of the Will, practi-
cally to be regarded as diseases, which manifest themselves
in the midst of otherwise normal conditions of mind, and
these are, therefore, mentioned under the third division
above.
CLASSES OF DISEASED WILL.
I.
Class First: Diseases of Will coming under the
head of diseased mind are shown in insanity. In almost
all cases of mental variation from the normal standard,
the Will is more or less affected. This follows because
insanity is "a prolonged departure of the individual's
normal standard of thinking, feeling and acting." The
standard is that of the individual, not that of normal
human nature. Always the action of the Will depends
largely upon the individual's way of thinking and feeling.
Insanity often clearly defines, and thus separates from,
diseases of Will in the so-called normal mind. In cases
of insanity the Will, considered as power in mind to put
forth some kind of Volition, may remain with more or
less strength, but is either weakened or controlled by
physiological conditions or false ideas. The " King " is
here dethroned. In diseases of Will which are subject to
education not medical, the " King " remains in his normal
position as ruler, but is weak, or erratic, or permanently
irrational as to the standard of average human conduct.
As is the Mind, so is the Witt. 45
II.
Class Second : There are some cases of diseased
Will in the illy-developed mind which show paralysis of
power, all other functions remaining normal. Thus, a
sudden great emotion may paralyze the volitional action,
such as fear, or anger, or joy. Inability to will may also
obtain temporarily in reverie or ecstasy, or as seen in
curious experiences common to most people when the
self wishes to act, but seems for the time unable to put
forth the necessary Volition. Such paralysis runs all the
way from momentary to prolonged or total. In the latter
cases we have again subjects for medical treatment, as
when one person was two hours in trying to get his coat
off, or was unable to take a glass of water offered.
Whether the difficulty in cases of illy-developed
mind is physiological, or a mere lack of belief in one's
power to will a given act, the outcome is the same. For
the time-being, the Will is dead, or the mind, as to willing,
is in a state of dead-lock. It cannot put forth a Volition
in the desired direction. Hence it is evident that feeling,
desire, thinking, judgment, conscience, are not always
determinative of Will-action. The action of mind in will-
ing is as distinct as the action of mind in imagining,
recalling, reasoning or apprehending right and wrong.
For example, why, in a state of indecision as to getting
up of a cold winter morning, do you suddenly find your-
self shivering on the floor and wondering how it happened
that you are out of bed ? It needs but to fix that state of
irresolution or inability for a period, to show the mind in
a dead-lock of the Will.
Willing is a matter of mental states. The illy-
developed self may will neither correctly nor strongly.
Whether or not it can do so depends upon many things
which are discussed in the Third Part of this book. Of
46 Diseases of the Will.
the mind in general it is said that *' willing, in intensity
ranges up and down a scale in which are three degrees —
wishing, purposing and determining. Weak Volition
wishes, resolute Volition purposes, while strong Volition
acts." But Volition does not wish; this is an act of
mind. As one has said : " I may desire meat, or ease
from pain ; but to say that I will meat or ease from pain
is not English." Weak Volition is the Will exerting itself
weakly. Strong Volition indicates mental energy in the
act of willing. Resolute Volition is strong Volition con-
tinued. The facts in this connection are as follows :
When the state of mind is predominantly that of
desire merely, its act in willing may be weak or inde-
cisive. When the mind greatly approves a given desire
and determines that to be purpose, its Volition becomes
strong. The energy with which itself or the body obeys
Volition, and if the purpose is remote, continues to obey,
measures the intensity of the willing act
Now, what are called diseases of the Will under our
second division, are simply ill-conditions of the self im-
mediately going out in the act of willing, or of the mind
engaged in the realm of the sensibilities, the imagination,
the reasoning faculties and the moral consciousness, as
realities capable of influencing the action of the Will.
For " the ultimate reason of choice is partly in the
character, that is to say, in that which constitutes the dis-
tinctive mark of the individual in the psychological sense,
and differentiates him from all other individuals in the
same species," and partly in possible ideals, following
which he may more or less change that distinctive char-
acter.
" It is the general tone of the individual's feelings,
the general tone of his organism, that is the first and true
If this is lacking the individual cannot exercise
As is the Mtnd, so is the Will. 47
Will at all It is precisely because this fundamental
state is, according to the individual constitution, stable or
fluctuating, continuous or variable, strong or weak, that
we have three principal types of Will — strong, weak and
intermittent, with all intermediate degrees and shades of
difference between the three. But these differences, we
repeat, spring from the character of the individual, and
that depends upon his special constitution." And it is
precisely because "this fundamental state is, according
to the individual constitution," subject to education and
improvement, so that, if fluctuating, it may become stable,
if variable it may become continuous, if weak, it may be-
come strong, that this book is written.
A good Will may or may not act quickly : that de-
pends upon the individual's constitution ; but it is marked
by power when it does act
A good Will may or may not persist : that depends
upon the constitution and the dictates of personal wisdom ;
but when personal wisdom succeeds in influence, the Will
holds steadfastly to the thing in hand.
The highest type of Will reveals " a mighty, irrepressi-
ble passion which controls all the thoughts of the man.
This passion is the man — the psychic expression of his
constitution as nature made it." Historic examples are
seen in Caesar, Michael Angelo, Napoleon.
In the next lower grade the above harmony between
the outer conduct and the inner purpose is broken by
various groups of tendencies, working together, but oppos-
ing the central purpose. The man is switched off the
main track. Francis Bacon was called ' ' the greatest, the
wisest and the meanest of mankind," having diverged
from the highest line of rectitude, and Leonardo da Vinci,
following Art, yet yielded to the seductions of his inven-
tive genius, and produced but one masterpiece.
48 Diseases of the Will.
A third grade is seen where two or more main pur-
poses alternately sway the individual, none ruling for
long, each influencing the conduct in turn. Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde are two beings in one person, each possess-
ing a strong Will for himself, but unable to cope with
the tendencies of the other. A multiplication of such
diverting purposes denotes a still further degradation of
the Will.
Lastly appear those types of diseased Will peculiar
to insanity.
III.
Class Third: In this division we have before us,
not the mind as acting, but the willing-act of the mind.
Whether the Will be exercised rightly or wrongly, wisely
or foolishly, is not now the question in hand. That
question refers simply to Will-power, or the naked Will ;
just as, if an individual's muscular power were in ques-
tion, the morality or the wisdom of its use might be vari-
ously estimated, itself being swift or slow, weak or strong,
capable of endurance or easily exhausted. The Will is
what it is, regardless of the direction or the quality of its
exercise.
Disease of Will, as considered in the third class, is
limited to two general forms : want of power and want of
stability.
But these general divisions resolve themselves into
more specific cases, as follows : —
i. Want of Volitional Impulse. A state of mind in
which the impulse to will is wanting is illustrated in the
cases already cited, in which one could not get his coat
off ; or in cases of reverie, ecstasy, etc., where the mind
is so fully absorbed by some fanciful condition as to be
momentarily incapable of willing contrary thereto.
As is the Mind, so is the Will. 49
Cure: Of insane cases, medical treatment; of those
of reverie, ecstasy, and the like, good health, full life,
vigorous action. For the mind that suffers the deadlock
of Will there is no other remedy than actual, concrete
life, and practical, strenuous activity.
Cultivate the Moods of Resolution and Decision. (See
Chapter VI.)
2. Inability to Decide. Some people never attain to
a clear view of any situation ; they cannot see the essen-
tial details ; they cannot weigh motives ; they cannot fore-
cast the future ; they are wanting in courage as to possible
consequences ; their imagination is good for evils, but
not for benefits ; hence they can never, or rarely, come to
a definite, decisive determination. They drift ; they do
not act according to specific determinations; they are
creatures of momentary impulse; they are automata, so
far as concerns the ordinary affairs of life, and, in its
extraordinary crises, they are as helpless as driftwood.
Cure : Cultivate the habit of concentrated attention
to the thing in hand, pro and con ; resolve to will, any-
how, somehow, with the best light rapidly examined, con-
fident that such resolution, under the lessons of experience,
will ultimately come out best for individual interests.
" Sometimes a person encounters emergencies where
he must make a decision, although aware that it is not a
mature decision, approved by the whole cabinet of his
mental powers. In that case he must bring all his com-
prehension and comparison into active, instant exercise,
and feel that he is making the best decision he can at the
time, and act. Many important decisions of life are of
this kind — off-hand decisions."
And especially ought it to be remembered that " call-
ing upon others for help in forming a decision is worse
50 Diseases of the Will.
than useless. A man must so train his habit as to rely
upon his own courage in moments of emergency."
Act always on the straight line.
Cultivate the Mood of Decision.
3. Weakness of Volition. The failures of life, which
are innumerable, are largely due to this disorder of the Will.
Whether it be owing to a want of feeling, desire, imagina-
tion, memory or reason, it seems to be universal. The
energetic person is the exception. Thus, a writer on
Mental Philosophy has described a historic example of
this prevalent disease ; speaking of Coleridge :
" There was probably never a man endowed with
such remarkable gifts who accomplished so little that was
worthy of them — the great defect of his character being
the want of Will to turn his gifts to account ; so that,
with numerous gigantic projects constantly floating in the
mind, he never brought himself even seriously to attempt
to execute any one of them. It used to be said of him,
that whenever either natural obligation or voluntary under-
taking made it his duty to do anything, the fact seemed a
sufficient reason for his not doing it."
So De Quincey, the celebrated victim of the opium
habit, said in his " Confessions " :
" I seldom could prevail upon myself to write a letter ;
an answer of a few words, to any that I received, was the
utmost that I could accomplish ; and often that not until the
letter had lain weeks, or even months on my writing-table."
Such are historic examples of Will-power so weak as
to be practically nil. They are common in life, although
seldom in so marked a degree as in the above cases. This
disease is the basis of all grades of poverty.
Cure: Cultivate the sustained mental attitude — "I
Resolve to Will!" The Resolute Mood ought to be
As is the Mind, so is the Will. 51
kept constantly before and in the mind, with inability to
will as the paramount reason for determining now to will
with the greatest energy.
Cultivate the Mood of Energy.
4. Fickleness of Will. In this case the man is per-
sistent so far as he goes, but he never goes far in any
one direction. In certain main or underlying lines of
activity he may show great apparent steadfastness, as in
pursuing the means of a livelihood, but these lines are
necessitated and automatic or habitual, not really the sub-
jects of his Volitions. There are those, too, who exhibit
not even the dumb adherence of labor, but fly from scheme
to scheme, whether main or incidental, as birds fly from
tree to tree, with no long-continued purpose, during the
whole course of life. In this class, the Will is subject to
every new impulse.
Cure: The cautious beginning; the resolute pur-
suit of the undertaking to the end. Minds thus afflicted
should learn to attend to one thing at a time, not in the
sense that only a single iron should be kept in the fire,
but that the iron should not be put there without due delib-
eration, and that once in, it should receive undivided atten-
tion so long as required by the end in view. Generally
speaking, every supposed reason for a change of action
should be made a determining reason for not changing.
The extra schemes need not be given up ; it is not neces-
sary for any person to settle down to the mere drudgery
of existence; but, while following the course of bread-
winning, the mind should determine, resolve, SWEAR, to
work each theory or scheme to the end thereof.
Cultivate the Mood of Continuity.
5. Want of Perseverance. There is a marked differ-
ence between this condition of Will and that of fickleness.
52 Diseases of the Will.
Will is fickle because it yields to sudden or new impulses.
Want of perseverance is due to the fact that the Will
wears out in any given direction. It then becomes like a
tired muscle ; the mind refuses or fails to volitionate
with reference to an old purpose. Its characteristic
phrase is, " I am tired of the thing," or " I can 't hold out
in the effort." Resolution has simply run down ; the Will
has become exhausted.
Cure : The resolution to refrain from yielding per-
manently to such momentary exhaustion ; patience with
the mind's present inertia ; vigorous search, carried on
round-about, for new points of view and new interest. The
saying, " I am tired of it," indicates simply a temporary
lack of interest ; willed interest has failed ; but a new view
or another mental attitude may inspire spontaneous inter-
est ; hence, the matter should be held over until the search
for new interest has awakened a spontaneous action of
the Will, which will almost invariably follow. This cure
is infallible ; but it is by no means easy.
Cultivate the Moods of Understanding, Reason and
Continuity.
6. The Explosive Will. Any explosion indicates
want of equilibrium. Great temper, unpremeditated
crime, volcanic Volitions, are sudden releases of energy
revealing an overcharged or unbalanced nervous tone.
With some men power is always in what may be called a
chemico-psychical state of instability. The Will leaps to
its decisions like an animal upon its prey, or rushes into
action like a torrent from a broken reservoir of water.
There are exigencies of life which demand such eruptive
outgoes of Volition, but they are rare ; and if this kind
of Will is characteristic, it surely indicates want of self-
control. The true Will is a constitutional monarch, and
As is the Mind, so is the Will. 53
is never ruled by mob influences or despotic motives.
The Will must control itself, or it is unfit to reign. It
may decide quickly and irresistibly, but without violent
loosing of its powers. Ordinarily all violence signifies
weakness.
Cure: A healthy tone of the individuality; calm-
ness cultivated, so as to be maintainable in the direst
extremity of feeling; a forecasting and vivid realization
of .the reaction, sure to follow, and which will equal the
•utburst ; a vigorous repression, at the moment of tempt-
ation, of all feelings, letting them out in some unimportant
side-issue ; a determination to recall past experiences,
and to profit thereby.
Cultivate the Mood of Reason and Righteousness.
7. Obstinacy. We have here an excess of Will as
set upon some particular act or state. There are so-called
cases of obstinacy which exhibit a curious want of Will-
power, but true obstinacy is firmness of Will carried
beyond the dictates of reason or right. The obstinate
man always believes himself to be right in the matter at
hand. His weakness is his refusal to consider. He
is willful, not because he is perverse, but because he
does not perceive the need for further investigation ; the
case is with him all settled, and it is rightly settled ; he
alone is right, all others are obstinate in their differ-
ence or their opposition. George the Third and Philip
the Second take first rank among incarnations of obsti-
nacy.
Cure: The most minute, as well as the broadest,
attention to reasons for or against; greater weight given
the judgment of others ; the spirit of concession cultivated ;
determination to swallow pride and yield to wisdom.
54 Diseases of the Will.
Cultivate the Spirit of Concession.
8. The Headstrong Will. The chief characteristic
of this disease may be seen in the expression, "I don't
care." With neither patience, sentiment nor reason, it
rushes the man on to a given act or a line of conduct,
unmindful of warning, regardless of self-conviction. It
is not only a case of obstinacy, but of heedlessness as
well. It is the Will self-hypnotized by senseless desire.
Napoleon on the way to Moscow is the Headstrong Will.
Cure : Cultivation of humility ; review of past ex-
periences ; resolute heed to the advice of others ; elevation
into the field of thought of deepest personal convictions ;
slow, crucifying attention to opposing motives and reasons.
Cultivate the Mood of Reason.
9. Perversity. The perverse Will is obstinate, but
peculiarly set in wrong directions. The Will that is
obstinate merely may be fixed by wisdom and right
(self-conceived), but perversity of Will shows itself in
twisting the dictates of both, notwithstanding the mind's
recognition of the same. Thousands of men are per-
versely willful when they fully know that the course they
are pursuing is foolish and injurious. The Will is here
strong, but it is used in a manner that is consciously
wrong.
Cure : Cultivation of memory as to past experiences,
and of imagination as to future ; resolution to study pre-
vious consequences and to profit by them ; determinatiom
to force attention upon the opinions of others ; persistent
and candid examination of one's own character and of
the basic principles of human conduct — which are few
in number and easily mastered and committed to memory ;
a condition of mind open to conriction kept steadily
As is the Mind, so is the Will. 55
before thought ; each matter thought out, step by step,
mere wish, as much as possible, being put out of the way,
and the question, What is right or best ? substituted ;
willingness held fast to give up when convinced.
As an assistance, the mind should change its point
of view, get into a new atmosphere of life, and bring
about other physical conditions.
Cultivate the Moods of Reason and Righteousness.
i o. In general, the Will may be said to be diseased
when the mind cannot patiently attend ; when the mind
cannot clearly and persistently exercise memory ; when
the mind cannot clearly and persistently exercise the
imagination ; when the mind cannot clearly and per-
sistently exercise the powers of reasoning ; when the mind
will not call up, and reason in regard to, great moral
principles. Because of these failures arise weakness,
indecision, fickleness, want of perseverance, violence,
obstinacy, headstrong willfulness and perversity.
Cure : Resolute cultivation of the willing-mood, and
faithful observance of all exercises suggested in Part III.
BE MASTER.
Be master! Of thy work:
Mayhap "'twill irk
Or nerve or bone
To capture crown and thrones
Still, — master be
Splendidly /
Be master / Of thy place :
In sooth, the case
Must test thy soul —
Ne'er weakling wins the goal;
Still, — bankrupt pa
Lord " Power'" to know.
Be master ! Of one art :
''Twill strain thy heart
And drain life's best
To prove this kingly quest ;
Still, — court tJie dream —
Stand tkou supreme /
CHAPTER V.
TRAINING OF THE WILL.
| HE great thing in all education is to make
our nervous system our ally instead of our
enemy.
" For this we must make automatic and habitual, as
early as possible, as many useful actions as we can, and
as carefully guard against growing into ways that are
likely to be disadvantageous.
" In the acquisition of a new habit, or the leaving
off of an old one, we must take care to launch ourselves
with as strong and decided an initiative as possible.
" Never suffer an exception to occur till the new
habit is securely rooted in your life.
" Seize the very first possible opportunity to act
on every resolution you make, and on every emotional
prompting you may experience in the direction of the
habits you aspire to gain." — Professor William Janus.
The power of person in Will may be trained and
developed, as has been suggested. " By this statement is
meant, not only that it may be exercised and strength-
ened by the various agencies of command, encourage-
ment, and instruction " in the school-room, but that ability
to originate a purposeful action, and to continue a series
of actions with an end in view, may be cultivated and
disciplined by personal attention thereto, and by specific
exercises undertaken by the individual. The need of
58 Training of the Will.
such development and training is evident from the follow-
ing facts :
" Not unfrequently a strong volitional power origin-
ally exists, but lies dormant for want of being called into
exercise, and here it is that judicious training can work
its greatest wonders."
In many persons Will-power is confessedly weak,
life being very largely, so to speak, automatic. And in
multitudes the Will exhibits the disorders mentioned in
the chapter on " Diseases of the Will."
It is singular that so little would seem to have been
written on this important subject, and that the training of
the Will should now receive, as it does, such scant atten-
tion in modern educational methods. In works on psy-
chology and education, paragraphs may be found here and
there indicating the importance of Will-training, but they
are curiously deficient in suggestions of methods referring
the matter to personal effort.
" The education of the Will is really of far greater
importance, as shaping the destiny of the individual, than
that of the intellect. Theory and doctrine, and inculca-
tion of laws and propositions, will never of themselves
lead to the uniform habit of right action. It is by doing,
that we learn to do ; by overcoming, that we learn to
overcome; by obeying reason and conscience, that we
learn to obey ; and every right action which we cause to
spring out of pure principles, whether by authority, pre-
cept or example, will have a greater weight in the forma-
tion of character than all the theory in the world."
Education of the mind's powers should not be left
to hap-hazard methods. If the end of education is the
evolution of these powers, methods of the direct gymna-
sium order are in demand. And, as all mental facultie*
are mutual in interaction, any scientific method whick
" The Will Grows by Exercise" 59
seeks, by specific gymnasium exercises, the development
of one faculty, must result in cultivation of others, whether
immediately or remotely related thereto.
PRINCIPLES IN WILL-TRAINING.
1. Any direct effort to cultivate the perceptive
powers must affect the growth of memory, imagination
and reason.
2. Any direct effort to cultivate the memory must
affect the growth of the perceptive powers, imagination
and reason.
3. Any direct effort to cultivate the imagination
must affect the growth of the perceptive powers, memory
and reason.
4. Any direct effort to cultivate the reasoning
powers must affect the perceptive powers, memory and
imagination.
5. Any direct effort to cultivate the moral faculties
must affect the growth of the perceptive powers, memory,
imagination and reason.
6. And any direct effort to cultivate the perceptive
powers, memory, imagination, reasoning or moral faculties
must affect the growth of the Will.
Yet the application of definite and scientific methods
to the discipline and growth of the perceptive powers,
the imagination, the memory and the reason seems to be
largely wanting in all the schools.
In what school to-day are classes formed for the edu-
cation of the power of observation ? Where is scientific
attention given to the cultivation of the imagination?
What college schedules any definite number of hours to
the strengthening and training of the memory? Prob-
ably nowhere in the world are there any specific effort*
made to increase and train the power of the Will
60 Training of the Will.
It is the claim of the present work that the Will may
be made stronger by the employment of proper methods.
And this, (a) as a static power through deliberated and
intelligent exercises ; (£) as a dynamic energy continuing
through a series of acts by deliberate and intelligent
determination that such shall be the case.
CULTIVATION OF THE WILL MAY BB ACCOMPLISHED:
First, by systematic exercises which shall tend to
strengthen it as a faculty.
Activity of the brain reacts upon the particular fac-
ulty engaged, — to speak more specially, upon the partic-
ular brain element engaged, — modifying it in some
unknown way, and bringing about a subsequent " physi-
ologicaldisposition " to act in a particular manner.
Thus, musicians acquire enormous facility in the use
of hands and fingers. So, people who have lost their
sight are able to picture visible objects independently of
external stimulation, having acquired " a disposition so to
act through previous exercises under external stimulation."
As the seat of the Will is the whole person, so the
exercise of willing brings about its own physiological
disposition. " The different parts of the brain which are
exercised together, acquire in some way a disposition to
conjoint action along lines of ' least resistance,' that are
gradually formed for nervous action by the repeated flow
of nerve-energy in certain definite directions."
" Lines of least resistance " may be formed by con-
stant action of mind in willing, in certain ways and for
certain ends.
" The Cerebrum of man grows to the modes of
thought in which it is habitually exercised."
But the development of Will not only involves estab-
lishment of facility along easiest channels, but an increase
" The Will Grows by Exercise" 61
in power within the person as determining to choose
motives and to put forth Volitions. The willing-act be-
comes more facile, and it also becomes stronger. Increase
of power is not relative alone ; it is equally positive.
" The Will grows by exercise. Each form of its
activity becomes more perfect by practice. And the lower
forms of exercise in bodily movement prepare the way, t*
some extent at least, for the higher exercises"
So it is that habits may be voluntarily or uncon-
sciously formed, and old habits may be voluntarily aban-
doned. All such results involve the Will. Their attain-
ment does not weaken Will, but rather strengthens its
application to general conduct. " It is well for our
actions to grow habituated to a considerable extent. . . .
In this way nerve-energy is economized and the powers
of the mind are left free for other matters. ... At the
same time . . . much of our life consists in modifying our
movements and adapting them to new circumstances.
The growth of Will implies thus a two-fold process : (a)
the deepening of particular aptitudes and tendencies,
that is, the fixing of oft-repeated action in a definite and
unvarying form ; (£) the widening of these active capa-
bilities by a constant variation of old actions, by new
adaptations, or special combinations suited to the particu-
lar circumstances of the time."
Secondly, the Will may be cultivated by general im-
provement of the mind as a whole, giving it greater force
while putting forth Volitions, and larger continuity in a
series of Volitions having an end in view, because of
increased mental pow*./ ".nd wiser treatment of various
motives ; and this especially if, in all intellectual growth,
the purpose of stronger Will-power be kept constantly in
mind.
" The Will can never originate any form of mental
62 Training of the Will.
activity." But it can select among the objects of con-
sciousness, and in thus utilizing the powers of mind can
improve the latter. Its efforts to do so will invariably
improve itself : by cultivating attention, by shutting out
subjects of thought, by developing natural gifts, by insti-
tuting correct habits of thinking and of living.
Exercises for a general development of mind must
present a variety of motives for consideration with a view
to the act of willing, both for the formation of aptitudes,
and for the symmetrical development of the Will as a
function. This involves : —
1 . The perceptive faculties, which may be quickened,
thus increasing the vividness of motives and inducing
Volitions ;
2. The emotions, the intelligent cultivation of which
widens the range of motives and imparts to the mind
facility, and force in selection of reasons for action ;
3. The imagination, which represents, according to
its strength and scope, various remote and contingent, as
well as immediate, reasons for choice of motives, and
adherence to the same ;
4. The deliberative faculty, which requires cultiva-
tion in order adequately to weigh the force and value of
motives ;
5. The intuitive faculty, which, without being able to
furnish its reasons, frequently impels or prohibits choice,
and may wisely be cultivated by intelligent obedience, but
needs strict and constant attention to prevent the reign of
impulse. Thus, women are wont to follow intuitions of
expediency, and business men are often guided by a similar
"feeling " or "judgment." So, also, Socrates possessed
what he called his " Daimonion," an inner voice which
forbade certain actions, but never affirmatively advised an
act or a course of conduct. Such " intuitions " may be
" The Will Grows by Exercise" 63
searched out and examined for the underlying reasons,
and this effort will usually bring to light some hidden
cause for the impulse to act or refrain from action.
Thirdly, the Will may be cultivated by development
of the moral character.
" The greatest man," said Seneca, " is he who chooses
right with the most invincible determination."
Self-development involves the moral quality and
symmetry of the soul as sustaining relations to its fellows
and to Deity. The cultivation of Will in its highest
values, therefore, depends upon its exercise in a moral
sense. This involves every conscious mental function in
action with reference to a moral end. A developed moral
consciousness modifies consideration of motives through
perception, memory, imagination, reason and " intuition,"
and increases the force and continuity of that act of the
mind by which it constitutes any motive a Sufficient
Reason.
Moral development cultivates the Will : —
ist, by bringing to the fore truest motives and goals
in the conduct of life ;
2dly, by presenting in mind for its consideration new
motives, and motives of an unfamiliar nature ;
jdly, by enabling self to deliberate with greater clear-
ness, forethought and wisdom among all possible motives
for action ;
4thly, by prohibiting certain acts or lines of conduct,
and by destroying injurious habits ;
Sthly, by instituting self-control of the highest order ;
6thly, by inspiring a constant search for truth, and
obedience thereto ;
"fthly, by inciting to noblest planes of being and
holding before consciousness the great alternatives of
human destiny for ultimate good or evil.
64 Training of the Will.
Luther said to Erasmus : " You desire to walk upon
eggs without crushing them." The latter replied: "I
will not be unfaithful to the cause of Christ, at least sc
far as the age will permit me." An untruthful Will in a
scholar's brain.
"I will go to Worms," shouted Luther, "though
devils were combined against me as thick as the tiles
upon the housetops ! " A Will which might have become
disordered or illy-developed but for the mighty moral
character of the reformer.
All human powers are interdependent and interactive.
What has righteousness to do with Will-power ? Answer :
What has Will-power to do with righteousness? Will
makes for righteousness ; righteousness makes for Will.
A morally growing life establishes " lines of least
resistance," with consequent aptitudes and habits which
more or less react upon personal power to will. Above
all, at least in this connection, it widens the field of
active capabilities and develops new adaptations and
tendencies by presenting larger and more varied worlds
of motive and conduct, with an ultimate end having
reference to the individual and his relations to others,
which end always appeals to the Will, calling it into
activity, and so adding to its power.
The same truth may be reached from a material start-
ing-point.
The basis of human life is physical. The original
ground of impulse in the volitional nature deals with
sense-impressions. In a healthy body these impressions
are normal, that is, true. When both body and mind are
in a healthy condition, that is to say, are normal and true,
they will invariably co-operate, the one with the other.
Instinct co-ordinates with vital chemistry in normal
animal life. Such life is true ; it is a full realization of
" The Will Grows by Exercise" 65
itself ; it exhibits truth ; hence the instincts are right, be-
cause the physical basis is right and co-operates with
animal intelligence. Instinct and animal intelligence in
turn co-operate with the physical nature to maintain its
normality or truth.
In man, mind ought to co-ordinate similarly with his
physical life. Conversely, the physical life ought to co-
ordinate with mind. Physical health signifies right, that
is, truthful, physical sensations. And truthful, that is,
normal, physical sensations tend always to produce right
or normal action of mind, just as normal or right action
of mind tends to produce good health — truthful physical
sensations. When sound mind co-operates with correct
sense-impressions, the result is health, normality, truth in
the whole man.
Mind is sensation plus perception, plus Will, plus
memory, plus imagination, plus reason, plus conscious-
ness — self-consciousness, sub-consciousness, moral con-
sciousness.
If mind is deficient in any of these respects the per-
sonality is not normal. The end of each function is
nothing more nor less than exhibition of truth ; percep-
tion of things as they are, memory of facts as they have
existed, imagination of reality in true relations, conclu-
sions correctly deduced from correct premises and correct
observation, convictions based in the actual moral nature
of things, sane ideas of self, vigorous action of sub-con-
sciousness, habituating in activities conducive to self-
interest, working of objective consciousness for mental
freedom. Then there is a perfect co-ordination among all
the elements of human nature and character. This co-
ordination produces, and it is, health, normality, truth.
Out of such a truth-condition of being conies always
the highest form of Will-power. The Will is an exhibition
66 Training of the Will.
of the character, the individual constitution. Righteous-
ness — which is right-wiseness toward all powers and all
realities — becomes, then, the sole true developer and
trainer of the human Will. The unrighteous mind is sure
to exhibit disease or disorder of the Will, because the act
of Will, as already seen, involves presentation of motives,
deliberation among the same, constitution of Sufficient
Reason, putting forth of the volitional act, and mental or
bodily obedience thereto ; and the mind which lacks in
right-wiseness cannot properly deliberate among motives,
will miss from its field the best motives, and thus cannot
wisely constitute Sufficient Reason. Hence, such inability
continuing, exercise of Will must surely establish habits
of weak or disordered Volition, as well as Volitions put
forth in wrong directions, so that in time all disorders
must become chronic and settle into types of Will that
fail to manifest normality and truth.
Observe : The law-abiding physical life is absolutely
best ; all below weakens Will. The truth-showing mental
life is absolutely best ; all below disorganizes the Will.
The righteous moral life is absolutely best; all below
destroys the dynamic power of Will.
Will-power issuing from good physical, mental and
moral health, wherein right co-ordination obtains, gives to
life's endeavors resistless force, and finds training in all
intelligent activity. The more it toils, the more it resolves.
No obstacle can deter it, no defeat dismay.
Said John Ledyard, the Explorer: " My distresses
have been greater than I have owned, or will own, to any
man. I have known hunger and nakedness to the utmost
extremity of human suffering ; I have known what it is to
have food given me as charity to a madman ; and I have
at times been obliged to shelter myself under the miseries
of that character to avoid a heavier calamity. Such evils
" The Will Grows by Exercise" 67
are terrible to bear, but they have never yet had the power
to turn me from my purpose." But observe : —
" He is spoken of as a man of iron Will, sure to make
his way, to carry his point, and he thinks himself a man
of strong Will. He is only an egotist, morally unable to
resist, or even to hesitate at, any evil whereby his selfish
aim is assured."
" Energy, without integrity and a soul of goodness,
may only represent the embodied principle of evil. It is
observed by Novalis, in his ' Thoughts on Morals,' that
the ideal of moral perfection has no more dangerous rival
to contend with than the ideal of the highest strength and
the most energetic life, the maximum of the barbarian —
which needs only a due admixture of pride, ambition, and
selfishness, to be a perfect ideal of the devil."
" The powers of the human intellect," says Professor
E. S. Creasy in " Fifteen Decisive Battles," " are rarely
more strongly displayed than they are in the commander
who regulates, arrays, and wields at his Will these masses
of armed disputants (in battle) ; who, cool, yet daring in
the midst of peril, reflects on all and provides for all,
ever ready with fresh resources and designs, as the vicis-
situdes of the storm of slaughter require. But these qual-
ities, however high they may appear, are to be found in
the basest as well as the noblest of mankind. Catiline
was as brave a soldier as Leonidas, and a much better
officer. Alva surpassed the Prince of Orange in the field ;
and Suwarrow was the military superior of Kosciusco.
To adopt the emphatic words of Byron :
" ' 'T is the cause makes all,
Degrades or hallows courage in its fall.' "
The law of the right Will is the law of the all-round
symmetrical character.
HEED NOT THY MOODS.
When tyrant moods their meshes gossamer,
Belied as steely bonds no slave may rend,
Fling o'er thy spirit, oh, my friend,
And ill portend where dreams all goods aver,
Call thou Lord Will : confess, and yet demur ;
Moods fickle from the phantom world ascend,
And ever to that Master-Servant bend.
Shall Will on films a cable's strength confer ?
The clamorous fiesh breeds fantasies unreal ;
E'en psychic states deceive th1 abiding soul.
The things which seem, th' eternal things conceal.
And life is this: to find the deeper whole,
Thy changeless self, the heart of being's wheel,
And in God's silence make all woe thy weal.
— THE AUTHOR.
CHAPTER VI.
TRAINING OF THE WILL, CONTINUED : A STUDY OF MOODS.
HE man who is perpetually hesitating which
of two things he will do first will do neither.
The man who resolves, but suffers his reso-
lution to be changed by the first counter-suggestion of a
friend — who fluctuates from opinion to opinion, from
plan to plan, and veers like a weather-cock to every point
of the compass, with every breath of caprice that blows —
can never accomplish anything real or useful. It is only
the man who carries into his pursuits that great quality
which Lucan ascribes to Caesar, nescia virtus stare loco ; —
who first consults wisely, then resolves firmly, and then
executes his purpose with inflexible perseverance, undis-
mayed by those petty difficulties which daunt a weaker
spirit — that can advance to eminence in any line." —
William Wirt.
Man's conscious life is largely a matter of mood : —
of mind, heart, soul, spirit — a temporary muse inspiring
the individual to be or to do in certain ways. A mood is
a disposition or humor, a morbid condition of mind, a
heat of anger, a kind of zeal, a capricious state of feeling.
" The weaker emotive states," says Titchener in
"An Outline of Psychology," "which persist for some
time together, are termed moods ; the stronger, which ex-
haust the organism in a comparatively short time, are
called passions. Thus the mood of cheerfulness repre-
sents the emotion of joy ; the mood of depression that of
70 A Study of Moods.
sorrow. Like and dislike have the moods of content and
discontent ; sympathy and antipathy, those of kindliness
and sulkiness ; attraction and repulsion, those of 'charm '
and tedium. The mood of care is anxiety ; the mood of
melancholy, gloom. The mood of hatred is 'not getting
on with' a person ; the mood of exasperation is chagrin."
The above are merely examples of a very familiar
subject. Many of our moods are good and indispensable
to our best work, as, the mood of labor, the mood for cre-
ation, the mood of hopefulness, the mood of mastery, and
so on. Every evil mood may be banished from mind and
life. The method is simply that of persistent determina-
tion to conquer and build up only such moods as stand
for personal welfare. Your undesirable moods will vanish
if you multiply yourself faithfully into the pages of this
book. The end requires work, to be sure, but, as Orison
Swett Marden remarks in " Every Man a King," " Train-
ing under pressure is the finest discipline in the world.
You know what is right and what you ought to do, even
when you do not feel like doing it. This is the time to
get a firm grip on yourself, to hold yourself steadily to
your task, no matter how hard or disagreeable it may be.
Keep up this rigid discipline day after day and week after
week, and you will soon learn the art of arts — perfect
self-mastery."
SUMMARY OF MOODS.
Moods are, therefore — First, special states of mental
person in general ; secondly, states of reference to the action
of the Will. Their influence never ceases during con-
sciousness. As the individual is servant or master of his
moods, he is servant or master of himself. The sum-total
of moods exhibits the conscious and the sub-conscious
man. Moods manifest in the objective man, but they
"Know Thyself." 71
originate, in part at least, in that deeper self of which so
little is directly known — the sub-conscious.
No error is greater than that theory which makes
mind the product of matter. The theory is a " fad " and
will soon pass away. An equal error is seen in the notion
that the man's self is an entity absolutely separate as an
existence from the body. The man is spirit bound up in
body ; both entities are real, but exist and manifest the
one through the other. What the connection is between
body and spirit is a fathomless mystery ; but that connec-
tion stands for the mutual dependence of the physical and
the immaterial in man. There is as much evidence of
the reality of the immaterial inner ego as of the existence
of an objective universe. And the demonstration of the
physical man as an actual entity is just as sure as the
demonstration of the inner ego. All evidences go to
show mutual dependence, both for existence and for man-
ifestation, of body and spirit.
These evidences cover — the influence of mind over
body ; the influence of body over mind (over mind directly
and over mind through bodily states) — the mind affecting
itself intermediately by means of its influence upon the
body. It is with the power of mind on the body and
itself that the present chapter deals.
Let it be understood, this book has nothing to do
directly with any so-called " science of healing," whether
" Christian " or " Mental," except as immediately follow-
ing.
All genuine cases of healing by these so-called meth-
ods are results of "suggestion," either by self or by
others, by means of a great law as yet little understood.
" There are but two really distinct fundamental
phases which the doctrine of metaphysical healing has
assumed, and to one or the other of these the varying
72 A Study of Moods.
special claims belong. The first is the pure metaphysical
idealism upon which the original ' Christian Science ' is
based — the non-reality of the material world and sense-
experience, and so of disease. The second is the doctrine
of what is properly called ' Mental Science,' which does
not ignore the reality of the physical world nor of the
body and its sensations in their normal relations to that
world, but is based upon the recognition of the absolute
supremacy of the mind over them."
" Christian Science " denies the material world, sense-
experience, disease, and evil or sin. Herein are its errors
manifest. To deny, yet seek to cure, disease, to deny,
yet seek to eliminate sin, disorganizes a normal dealing
with life. To will that that which one believes or strives
to believe does not exist shall be one thing or another as
to its states, is to dethrone the normal Will. The Will
volitionates only toward that which is believed to exist,
never toward that which is believed to be non-existent.
The fact that body yields to suggestion in genuine cases
of healing, may not show that body exists, but it does
show that one believes it exists. The belief that one
believes it does not exist is pure delusion. It is impos-
sible to will to change any physical condition which is
really believed to be non-existent. It is equally impos-
sible to will to eliminate sin — which is believed to be
non-existent — and to take on holiness — the absence, for
one thing, of that which is believed to have no existence,
and the possession of those moral qualities, for a second
thing, which signify the shunning of that which is believed
to have no existence. In all this we have the willed influ-
ence of mental states over body which is denied and over
mental states that are believed to be without actuality-
In other words, the Will, a power given to man to guide
him through realities, not fictitious imaginations fully
"Know Thyself."' 73
understood to be non-existent as facts, is here dethroned
as a normal faculty.
What is called " Mental Science " asserts the reality
of matter, body, spirit, disease and sin, but bases its
theories upon the power of " mind over matter." Its
error consists in constructing a " science " on partial data
and on laws which are but imperfectly understood, and
in asserting the "absolute supremacy" of "mind over
body." The Will is here set toward a claim which cannot
be substantiated — the " absolute supremacy " of " mind
over body ; " which, indeed, is disproved, unless a multi-
tude of facts in life are to be willed out of the field of
belief. It is no province of Will to will a disbelief in
plain facts. There are innumerable instances which show
that the " supremacy of mind over body " is not absolute.
Moreover, the Will here sets itself to the task of ignoring
what are at least intermediate agencies for assisting per-
son to control bodily conditions. It may be that the
supposed necessity for food is a delusion, but the normal
person at least employs the eating of food as an inter-
mediate means for exerting its influence over the physical
organism. Medical Science may be no true science — as
yet — all and all — but its treatments certainly assist, if
in no other way, in establishing right mental conditions
for the action of self over the body. Of course the neces-
sity for foods is real. A genuine medicine is, in a large
sense, a food — " whatever sustains, augments, or supplies
nourishment to organic bodies." Some foods and some
medicines are false, in themselves, or in particular appli-
cations. It remains for the normal person to select right
foods and to use right medicines as parts of the present
system of things, with the influence of mental states sought
and cultivated as being originated and maintained inter-
mediately through the employment of that which is real
74 -^ Study of Moods.
in itself and real in its power over belief. Medical Sci-
ence needs to become less empirical and materialistic,
and " Mental Science " needs to enlarge its field by recog-
nition of facts and the medicinal utility of nature. We
now return to the discussion of moods.
DIVISION OF MOODS.
I.
First General Division of Moods. Special mental
states of mind in general which exert various influences
over the body.
"A process set up anywhere in the centres reverber-
ates everywhere, and in some way or other affects the
organism throughout, making its activities either greater
or lesser."
Sorrow increases the flow of tears. Anxiety may
induce perspiration or the opposite. Intense nervous
anxiety or fear in a public speaker sometimes almost
totally stops the flow of saliva. It is now disclosed that
great anger poisons the blood. Any great emotion may
increase or retard the circulation. Exaltation of feeling
or thought frequently brings about insensibility to pain.
Great mental depression makes latent disorders patent.
A surgical operation causes some spectators to faint, and
a noisome object may bring on vomiting. By fixing the
attention upon certain parts of the body the blood may be
directed to those parts. Muscular energy is increased by
violent emotions, and is sometimes vastly diminished, and
is always made greater by an exertion of the Will. The
fury of the madman is accompanied by superhuman
strength. Ideas frequently induce actual physical sensa-
tions, as nausea at the thought of disgusting food, or the
setting of the teeth " on edge " at the thought of saw-
filing. Worry cultivates dyspepsia. Incessant mental
"Know Thyself." 75
activity robs the body of assimilated nourishment. Dis-
ease may be incurred through conditions of mind, and is
often warded off by the same agency. Cheerfulness and
hope tend to tone up the entire system.
Similarly with the influence of states of person over
mental activities. Fear quickens some intellects, but dulls
others. Many persons can accomplish large things only
under great excitement, while with others excitement para-
lyzes the powers. Hate blinds all mental faculties not
immediately engaged in its gratification, but quickens the
latter. Musicians, public speakers and exhibitors are
greatly influenced by the psychic atmosphere about them.
Interest always increases the perceptive powers. The
mind's ability to recall past scenes, events and knowledge
is increased by a clear brain and a healthy tone acted
upon by some pleasing emotion. The imagination is
sometimes obscured or confused by disease, sometimes
made more powerful by the same, and is always rendered
vigorous and facile by exalted trains of thought. The
logical faculties are swayed by the passions, and dulled or
sharpened as the mind seems sluggish or keen in other
respects. Consciousness of right or wrong often depends
upon the mental tone of the individual.
Such illustrations disclose the value to life in general
of an intelligent understanding of psychic states. And
among the mind's powers the Will is no exception to the
sway of its various moods. These considerations make
clear the
II.
Second Division of Moods. Mental states having direct
reference to the act of willing.
The Will has its own moods, by which its functions
may be analyzed, and by which it may and ought to be
cultivated and made to regulate itself in the highest man-
76 A Study of Moods.
ner. These volitional moods are of importance because
they are creative states and may be maintained, thus exer-
cising the Will and becoming permanent factors in the
conduct of life. They indicate person's attitude toward
the act of willing, and so reveal, now the individual nature,
now the individual character. Brought into definite and
abiding thought, they will always assist in cultivating both
the Will's power and its stability. It is the function of
Will to regulate them. Hence, no better means of culti-
vating and training the Will itself can be devised than the
deliberate and intelligent control of volitional moods.
For if the will can control such peculiar mental states, a
determination to do so must increase power of Will and
direct it into its legitimate activities.
MOODS OF WILL.
The Moods of Will may now be enumerated as follows :
I.
The Mood of Feeling, or Interest. Feeling may be de-
fined as any pleasurable or painful condition of the person
in mind or body. The steps from such condition to Voli-
tion are four : a mental impression or object of attention
brought to mind ; a feeling with regard to the same ; a
mode of mental action, or attention ; and the Volition.
The degree of attention sometimes depends upon the
Will, but more frequently upon interest in the object or
impression. Interest is of two sorts, spontaneous and
willed. Spontaneous interest is indifferent to the quality
of the feeling involved — whether pleasurable or painful ;
a toothache receives spontaneous interest as truly as a
good dinner. But willed interest, or acquired attention,
always involves the idea of personal pleasure, at least the
gratification of some desire.
"Know Thyself:' 77
The Mood of Feeling or Interest may be cultivated.
One ultimate purpose for doing so, providing constant
gratification, will be the intelligent increase of the Mood
itself, and through that increase, of the mind's steadfast
power of Will. In all large living this Mood of Interest
is ever present and powerful. If it is suffered to collapse
here and there, a loss of Will is sure to follow. The sum-
total of the Will's activities depends upon the sum-total
of its acquired interests. Hence spontaneous interest
should be utilized for the maintenance of acquired, and
above all should be made over into good habits of living.
As a guiding rule for the acquirement of such arti-
ficial interest and the keeping alive of feeling with "go "
in it, a principle of Prof. William James may be followed :
"Any object not interesting in itself may become
interesting through becoming associated with an object in
which interest already exists. The two associated objects
grow, as it were, together ; the interesting portion sheds
its quality over the whole ; and thus things not interesting
in their own right borrow an interest which becomes as
real and as strong as that of any natively interesting
thing."
If such a principle is practically and persistently car-
ried out, the effort will invariably cultivate great volitional
power.
II.
The Mood of Energy, This is a general forceful and
determined state of mind. It is the Mood which carries
things on. It may act swiftly or slowly, depending upon
other characteristics. The energetic man may be swift in
action as compared to the bulk of his mind, while slow as
compared to men of lighter calibre. Energy may exhibit
on the surface of action, or it may hide behind an unmoved
exterior; it may be violent in its manifestations, or as
78 A Study of Moods.
calm as a resistless iceberg. Whatever its characteristics, it
is of vastest importance. To maintain it may draw heavily
on the Will, but its continued possession and control fur-
nish among the surest means of cultivating and training the
Will's power and stability. For further study of this sub-
ject reference may be had to the author's work, "Power
for Success."
III.
The Mood of Permission. The Will, in this Mood,
having originated certain actions of the body or in the
mind, simply permits the movements involved to "go on
of themselves," as it were, without interference, except to
modify or prohibit, at intervals, and as occasion may
require. Examples of such permissive action of the
Will may be seen in walking, carried on automatically
so far as conscious effort is concerned, while the mind is
engaged in thought ; in reading while conversation is in
progress in the vicinity ; in musical performance while
the player converses with others.
In all such cases it is probable that the " under-
ground mind " involves consciousness of the various activ-
ities, but that the objective mind remains a sort of passive
spectator or ruler who does not interpose his power.
The Mood of Permission is also seen when the con-
scious Will refrains from interfering with a state, an
action, or a line of conduct. Thus the Will permits
various mental or bodily conditions, as reverie or rest, or
an act or series of acts to continue, or a habit to remain
undisturbed, or a course in life to proceed — the mind in
all cases being conscious of its own or bodily activities,
and that it may at any moment exert the Will in a con-
trary direction.
This mood should be cultivated, yet always with ref-
erence to the formation of good habits and the growth of
"Know Thyself:' 79
Will. It is especially valuable in permitting rest both of
body and of mind for the sake of psychic tone. But it
must be wisely exercised, for otherwise it will drop to the
line of indolence, and thus destroy rather than build up
power of Will.
IV.
The Mood of Decision. This Mood involves the
Mood of Energy. It signifies promptness with more or
less of force. It is instant in its action, having thus
fulfilled its function. Nevertheless, it is a Mood to be
cultivated and continually possessed, as the emergencies
of life make incessant demands upon its exercise in the
Will.
" The irresolute man is lifted from one place to
another ; so hatcheth nothing, but addles all his actions."
" For indecision brings its own delays,
And days are lost lamenting o'er lost days.
Are you in earnest ? Seize this very minute.
What you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
Only engage, and then the mind grows heated —
Begin, and then the work will be completed."
Every effort to maintain the decisive state of mind
acts directly on the Will. A determined resolution to
decide intelligently and forcefully all questions of life as
they may present themselves — rather than suffer them
to hang for something "to turn up" — will be found to
be a perfect Will- tonic.
V.
The Mood of Continuity. This Mood involves energy
and decision. It is, as it were, a chain of decisions — the
Mood of Decision perpetuated. In evil, it is a man's
8o A Study of Moods.
ruin ; in right conduct, one of the methods of success.
It is a creator of interest, and a prime source of volun-
tary habits.
" Habit is a second nature as regards its importance
in adult life ; for the acquired habits of our training have
by that time inhibited or strangled most of the natural
impulsive tendencies which were originally there. Ninety-
nine hundredths or, possibly, nine hundred and ninety-
nine thousandths, of our activity is purely automatic and
habitual, from our rising in the morning to our lying down
each night." Hence the supreme importance of forming
habits of action which are rational and make for the
mind's education.
"A capricious man is not one man merely ; he is sev-
eral at once ; he multiplies himself as often as he has new
tastes and different behavior."
" Success prompts to exertion, and habit facilitates
success."
" Habit also gives promptness ; and the soul of
despatch is decision."
VI.
The Mood of Understanding. In this Mood the per-
son wills to attend intelligently to the thing in hand. He
concentrates in order to know. He insists upon knowing
that to which he attends. This Mood usually results in
decision and continuity — but not always, for Reason
may dictate inactivity, and the man may refuse to follow
his moral convictions. But the Mood of Understanding
is imperative in an intelligent exercise of power of Will.
It often prohibits action. It provides the ground for
rational endeavors. It is the check of rashness. It is
the inspiration of some of the most resistless exhibitions
of Will-energy known. When Grant was ready, he swept
"Knot* Thyself:' 81
on to victory. Great commercial enterprises are all born
of this Mood. It is the very genius of Science. Faraday,
about to witness an experiment, said, " Wait ; what am I
to expect?" That was the mood of understanding. A
determination to cultivate this mood, and to have it pres-
ent in all deliberations, will obviate innumerable mistakes
in life, and infallibly develop great power and wisdom in
the exercise of the Will.
" Nine men out of every ten," says Professor William
Matthews, " lay out their plans on too vast a scale ; and
they who are competent to do almost anything, do noth-
ing, because they never make up their minds distinctly as
to what they want, or what they intend to be."
VII.
The Mood of Reason. In this Mood the person
employs the preceding, but goes on to ascertain definite
reasons for one action in preference to another. One
may understand a subject, a motive, or the alternatives
of conduct, yet be at a loss for the right decision. The
Mood of Reason asks, Why this action or that ? It holds
the Will back until satisfactory answers are given.
Undoubtedly it is a Mood which may be over-cultivated,
and there are occasions when the inability to discover
determining reasons for action or cessation of action must
furnish the sole reason for decision, as wrong action may
be better than a perpetual deadlock of the Will. Never-
theless, the Mood of Reason stands with that of Right-
eousness in its importance to the conduct of life. Its
development and perennial judgment in the court of
mind are scientific guaranties of a strong and intelligent
Will.
" Count Von Moltke, " writes Orison Swett Marden,
" the great German strategist and general, chose for his
82 A. Study of Moods.
motto, Erst wagen, dann wagen, ' First weigh, then ven-
ture,' and it is to this he owed his great victories. He
was slow, cautious, careful in planning, but bold, daring,
even seemingly reckless in execution the moment his
resolve was made."
VIII.
The Mood of Righteousness. In this Mood person
is bent on ascertaining the moral quality of actions. It
is the loftiest of Moods having reference to Will. It
has developed some of the greatest Wills of the ages. It
clears the mind, uncovers all motives, illumines the judg-
ment, inspires resolution, induces perseverance, arouses
the understanding and guides the reason. By nothing is
the Will so easily disorganized as by the opposite Mood
— that of Evil. The Mood of Righteousness governs the
universe — that is its superiority — and exhibits the
strength of an Almighty Will. He who nourishes and
holds to the fore this Mood is infallibly sure of a good
Will ; — which may err in directions really unimportant,
but cannot err in the direction of an ultimate power of
Will that guarantees success against all the assaults of
evil forever.
Let us now observe : Many people exhibit the
Moods of Feeling, Energy, and Decision.
A less number possess adequately the Moods of
Understanding and Reason.
Few. there are, seemingly, who show the Mood of
intelligent Continuity in life.
Fewer still manifest the Mood of Righteousness as
a permanent factor of conduct.
The Will, then, may be graded according as it dis-
closes these Moods. The perfect Will exhibits them in
symmetrical combination : the Mood of Right Feeling merg-
ing into the Mood of Energy, prompt to act, but pausing for
"Know Thyself:' 83
Understanding, guided by Reason and controlled by Right-
eousness. When all these Moods obtain, there is the perfect
static Will capable of enormous dynamic energy for any
length of time and -working towards the noblest ends in life.
At this point appears a
BASIC PRINCIPLE IN WILL-CULTURE.
Intelligent cultivation of the Will involves exercises
dealing with every department of human nature:
First, Will-bent practice of the perceptive powers —
exercise of feeling and knowing for growth of Will.
Second. Exercise calling the imagination into play
with the idea of strengthening and training the Will by
deliberate activity and by clean consideration of motives
and consequences.
Third1. Practice in memory, as a mind-improver and
as a Will-grower ; and also for the purpose of rendering
experience more vivid, and, hence, a more forceful teacher.
Fourth. Practice in reasoning, for the cultivation of
the whole mind, and in order to develop the habit of acting
according to definite reasons, together with the elimina-
tion of impulse and thoughtless decisions.
Fifth. Exercise in self-perception and self-control, in
the eradication of injurious tendencies and habits and
immoral acts and conduct, in order that all Moods of the
Will may be brought to the fore in a life mastered by
righteousness. For here only is the perfect Will.
Sixth. The persistent state of resolution for Will.
This means the preservation always, and under all circum-
stances of the attitude — I WILL TO WILL. He who
would acquire the perfect Will must carry into all his
thoughts and actions the resolute assertion : I RESOLVE
TO WILL ! This resolution, borne out in persistent
practice, has never been known to fail.
THE GREAT PSYCHIC FLOWER.
See I in fields our dandelions yellow,
And lights in forest vistas warm and mellow,
Flowers of sun on leafage tapestry f
See I the heavenly ships sail lazily
Above, huge shadow-flowers blessed with motion^
And the -white lilies of the restless ocean f
See I in poefs words the efflorescence
Beautiful of spirit, though fs quintessence?
See I illumination in the human face,
Eternal Truth's fair flower in time and space f ,
See I all this and count my soul a clod,
Less than the blooms of sky or sea or sodf
Behold yon cloud-bank drifting toward the West.
Its form is but material force compressed,
Symbol of that vast Cloud, the Universe,
Through which, in which, th" Eternal streams and stirs.
And I, the dust, am also Shape of Him,
But more, a psychic Star-Self on the rim
Of Being Deathless. Count I soul-form least
Among near suns or worlds beyond the Eastt
The mighty Cosmos is one Psychic Flower,
Bloom of the Infinite's exhaustless power.
One Life expands in atom or in mind;
I see, I know, I feel the Undefined,
And, thrilled as willed, life, power, unfoldment, health^
Inherit, seize, from all this boundless wealth.
—THE Auraoa.
CHAPTER VII.
SOME GENERAL RULES.
| HE exercise of the Will, or the lesson of power,
is taught in every event. From the child's
possession of his several senses up to the
hour when he saith, ' Thy will be done 1 ' he is learning
the secret, that he can reduce under his Will, not only
particular events, but great classes, nay the whole series
of events, and so conform all facts to his character." —
Emerson.
Part I. may be closed with some general rules.
The purpose in suggesting a number of practical
rules at this point is two-fold : in the first place, the rules
furnish examples of what is conceived to be the right use
of the Will ; and, in the second place, the effort to employ
them and fix them in mind will bring into play that funda-
mentally important factor of our nature, the sub-conscious
self. A sea captain wrote the author in regard to these
rules: " I found myself during a stormy passage without
effort calling the rules to mind and bringing them into
action, and I never got through bad weather so easily."
" There exists in all intellectual endeavor," says
Jastrow in " The Subconscious," " a period of incubation,
a process in great part sub-conscious, a slow, concealed
maturing through absorption of suitable pabulum. Schop-
enhauer calls it ' unconscious rumination,' a chewing over
and over again of the cud of thought preparatory to its
86 Some General Rules.
assimilation with our mental tissue ; another speaks of it
as the red glow that precedes the white heat. * * * We
develop by living in an atmosphere congenial to the
occupation that we seek to make our own ; by steeping
ourselves in the details of the business that is to be our
specialty, until the judgment is trained, the assimilation
sensitized, the perspective of importance for the special
purpose well established, the keenness for useful improv-
isation brought to an edge. When asked how he came
to discover the law of gravitation, Newton is reported to
have answered, « By always thinking about it.' "
FIRST SET.
Rules pertinent to the exercise of Will in the conduct of
life.
These paragraphs should be studied and thoroughly
fixed in mind. They are born of experience, and should
be practised daily until they become automatic in the
working outfit of character.
1. Be master of your own Will.
2. When in doubt, do nothing ; wait for light.
3. Cultivate perfect calmness.
4. Never become confusingly excited.
5. Never yield to temper, nor entertain irritation.
6. Make no decision when out of temper.
7. If inclined to rashness, cultivate conservatism.
8. If inclined to excessive — injurious — conserv-
atism (experience must decide this), cultivate the prompt
and progressive spirit.
9. Decide nothing without deliberation where delib-
eration is possible.
10. When deliberation is not possible, keep cool.
Confusion is mental anarchy ; it dethrones the " King."
11. After a decision under such circumstances,
All Problems Close in Adjustment. 87
entertain no regrets. The regretful mind is an enemy to
a good Will. If the mind has held itself with an iron
grip and decided on the spur of dire necessity, the gods
could do no more.
12. Make no decision without an adequate purpose.
Rely upon your own intelligent idea of adequacy.
13. Permit no difficulties to turn you aside from an
adequate purpose. Mirabeau called the word "impos-
sible" " that blockhead word."
14. Never try to make a decision the carrying out
of which involves a real impossibility.
15. In the pursuit of an adequate purpose, sift
means according to ends, then shift them intelligently.
It is folly to tunnel a mountain if you can get a better
and cheaper road by going around it. A man in Ohio
spent thousands of dollars in laying a roadbed, and aban-
doned it to purchase another railroad. He should have
made sure about the operating road first. But if it is
necessary to sink money in a new road in order to compel
sale of an old one, that is the thing to do.
1 6. The best Will is not that which pounds through
all circumstances, whether or no, merely for the sake of
persistence, but that which " gets there " by taking advan-
tage of shifting conditions. Ends, not means, are the
goal of a wise Will.
17. Never lose sight of the main thing in hand.
1 8. Admit no motive into court which you do not
clearly see. A motive is like a would-be soldier ; it should
undergo medical examination in the nude.
19. Never permit a motive for a decision to tangle
up with a motive against. Example : This city is a good
business centre ; but then, you have to earn your money
a second time in collecting it. Such a marriage of motives
breeds confusion. Compel every motive to stand alone.
88 Some General Rules.
20. Remember, that a decision of Will involves
judge and lawyer. You are merely and always the judge.
When desire takes the bench and the judge pleads, it is
time to adjourn court. You can get a correct "judgment "
only by sticking to the bench. In other words, never
permit yourself to plead, either with, for or against a
motive.
21. In making an important decision, summons the
whole mind to this one act. I RESOLVE TO WILL 1
ATTENTION ! I
22. Make no decision while the mind is partly occu-
pied with other matters. It is impossible to angle for fish
and shoot buffaloes at the same time.
23. Never work at cross-purposes. Set the Will
either for one thing or for the other. The man who tries
to kill two birds with one stone usually misses both.
Where the two birds are taken a second stone has stolen
into the case.
24. Take all the advice that is offered; — then cut
upon your own judgment.
25. Never discount your own experience. This is
"dollars" — except to the fool. The chief value of the
fooFs experience is its worth to others.
26. Never act upon merely passive resolution. This
is weakness. It may be phrased in these words : " I
guess I will do so and so." One may say thereto, with
Shakespeare, " What a lack-brain is this ! " Nothing comes
of the lackadaisical Will.
27. If this is the general tone of your Will, stimulate
it by imitation of fierce resolution.
28. The first secret of persistence is a good start ;
the second is a constant review of motives.
29. When tempted to discouragement, defer action
to a time of sounder mood.
All Problems Close in Adjustment. 89
30. Never embark in an enterprise in which you do
not thoroughly believe. To do otherwise is to introduce
confusion among the judicial powers. If it turns out that
your want of faith has been wrong, you have nevertheless
kept those judicial powers on the bench. That is worth
more than the success which you have missed.
31. If you have any settled fears in life, consort
with them, resolutely and persistently, until you know
them for liars.
32. Do n't worry! To worry about the past is to
dig up a grave ; let the corpse lie. To worry about the
future is to dig your own grave ; let the undertaker attend
to that. The present is the servant of your Will.
33. Never decide an important matter when the
mind is confused by sickness. Store this rule in your
soul during health ; it will stand by you in disease.
34. Never yield a resolution after three o'clock in
the afternoon. The morning may bring a better thought.
35. Never make an important decision after three
o'clock in the afternoon, nor before ten o'clock in the
forenoon. Before ten you have not "limbered up."
After three you are " unlimbered."
The two preceding rules are merely for suggestion.
36. Never ignore in deliberation a possible conse-
quence.
37. Insist upon seeing clearly all possible conse-
quences.
38. In deliberation, consequences should always be
separated from motives; in judgment, motives should
always be considered with reference to consequences.
39. Before making a decision, magnify all possible
difficulties.
40. After decision, minify every actual difficulty,
and throw out of mind every difficulty which seems to be
po Some General Rules.
imaginary. Here are some things that are hard to decide ;
but then, all life is a taking of chances.
41. If you must take chances, take those that lean
your way.
42. Learn to emphasize in thought, and to see
clearly, remote motives, contingencies and consequences.
Be sure that they are not overshadowed by those which
are near. Example : I wish to economize in order to
secure a home ; but at present, I desire a vacation. The
home is very remote, while the period of rest is very near
and clamorous.
43. In weighing motives, have a care that desire
does not tip the scale. " In making an effort to fix our
mind on a distant good or a remote evil we know that we
are acting in the direction of our true happiness. Even
when the representation of the immediate result is
exerting all its force, and the representation of the dis-
tant one is faint and indistinct, we are vaguely aware
that the strongest desire lies in this direction. And the
resolute direction of attention in this quarter has for its
object to secure the greatest good by an adequate process
of representation."
44. Never lie to yourself in the consideration of
motives and consequences. If you must /if, practise on
other people ; they will find you out ; but if you continue to
lie to yourself, you are a lost fool.
45. Remember always that the lie is the dry rot
of Will.
46. Be absolutely genuine and sincere. Yet, withal,
this gives you no right to ride rough-shod over neighbor-
ing humanity.
47. Never perform an act, nor make a decision, in
opposition to what Socrates called his " Daimonion," —
the inner voice that whispers, " Better not 1 "
AH Problems Cfose tn Adjustment. 91
48. When you write to an enemy a letter in which
you scorch his soul, be happy — but do not mail it until
to-morrow. You will then see that you have written too
much. Condense it by half — but do not mail it until
to-morrow. It will keep. Do not destroy it. It is a
good letter. To-morrow you will again condense it.
When you can write a brief, plain, but courteous letter, in
which you reveal good breeding and disclose reticence,
do so, and instantly mail it, grateful for common sense.
49. Never resolve upon an act which will, or may —
injure other people, or injure yourself.
50. Measure motives by your noblest selfhood.
5 1 . Dismiss without consideration motives or actions
which you clearly recognize to be contrary to your best
instincts.
52. In all conflicts between duty and pleasure, give
duty the benefit of the doubt.
53. Never act contrary to your clearest judgment.
Others may be right ; but, in the long run, better is mis-
take in your own judgment than right on the judgment of
others. Do not abdicate the throne.
54. Cultivate as a permanent habit of mind the
positive Mood of willing.
55. Never will to be an imitator or a follower.
You can so will unconsciously ; therefore resolve to lead
and to invent and move out on new lines.
It is impossible to deliberate over every detail of
conduct. Hence life must become habituated to right
general principles. "A force endowed with intelligence,
capable of forming purposes and pursuing self-chosen
ends, may neglect those rules of action which alone can
guide it safely, and thus at last wholly miss the natural
ends of its being. To such a being, eternal vigilance
would be the price of liberty."
92 Some General Rules.
SECOND SET.
Rules having reference to the Moods of mind.
I. — The Mood of Feeling :
1. Never yield to the Mood of Feeling without
scrutinizing it closely.
2. In cultivating this Mood, be sure that it is wholly
free from wrong desire, fear, hate, prejudice, jealousy,
anger, revenge, nervous disorders, mental depression,
misconceptions and partial views.
3. At no time permit this Mood to explode in
impulse.
4. Keep the Mood constantly at a high, but rational
and controlled, pitch or tone.
II. — The Mood of Energy :
1. Seek every opportunity to intensify conscious-
ness of the determined Will.
2. Maintain the resolute sense of the emphatic
personality.
3. Keep the Mood under firm control.
4. Permit no explosion without deliberate decision
and adequate cause.
5. Bring this Mood to all activities.
6. Hold the eye of energy upon life's ultimate
III. — The Mood of Decision :
1. Precede all decision by deliberation.
2. Cultivate decision in so-called unimportants.
3. Endeavor constantly to reduce the time expended
in arriving at decision. Do everything as swiftly as
possible.
All Problems Close in Adjustment. 93
4. Never defer decided action. Go immediately
into the business determined upon.
5. Always conjoin with this Mood that of energy.
IV.— The Mood of Continuity:
1. Count the cost.
2. Repeat constantly the resolution involved.
3. Do not brood over difficulties.
4. Keep the goal in sight.
5. In all continuous effort hold to the fore the
Mood of utmost energy, and cause decision to act like a
trip-hammer incessantly on the purposed business.
6. Regard each step or stage as a goal in itself.
Act by act — the thing is done !
V. — The Moods of Understanding and Reason :
1. Know, first, what the matter proposed involves.
2. Know, secondly, what defeat means.
3. Know, thirdly, what success signifies.
4. Understand your own weakness.
5. Understand your own powers.
6. Thoroughly understand how to proceed.
7. Become acquainted with all details connected
with an undertaking, and with the reasons for one method
of procedure or another.
VI. — The Mood of Righteousness :
1. Have perfect faith in yourself.
2. Have faith in men.
3. Be honest — absolutely honest — with yourself.
4. Permit nothing in self to hoodwink judgment.
5. Put yourself always in the other man's shoes.
6. Examine all moral traditions.
7. Reject nothing because it is old.
8. Approve nothing because it is new.
94 Some General Rules.
9. Settle no question by expediency.
10. Seek all possible light.
11. Live up to all light possessed.
12. Follow your best instincts.
13. Try your ideas by the opinions of others.
14. Surrender to all good and wise impulses.
15. Love truth supremely,
1 6. Be as anxious to discover duty as you ought to
be to perform it when discovered.
The following remarkable paragraph, by John Stuart
Mill, almost epitomizes the right use of Will-power :
" He who chooses his plan for himself, employs all
his faculties. He must use observation to see, reasoning
and judgment to foresee, activity to gather materials for
decision, discrimination to decide, and when he has decided,
firmness and self-control to hold to his deliberate decision.
And these qualities he requires and exercises exactly in
proportion as the part of his conduct which he determines
according to his own judgment and feeling is a large one.
It is possible that he might be guided in some good path,
and kept out of harm's way, without any of these things.
But what will be his comparative worth as a human
being ? It really is of importance not only what men do,
but also what manner of men they are that do it. Among
the works of man, which human life is rightly employed
in perfecting and beautifying, the first in importance
surely is man himself."
But the work of this chapter will not be finished so
long as dependence is placed on the objective self alone.
There is a deeper self which must be trained to accept
and act on the rules above suggested. It is a mistake to
expect self-development from external activities exclusive-
ly. If you go over the rules until they are thoroughly
All Problems Close in Adjustment. 95
imbedded in the sub-conscious phases of your mind, they
will then " germinate," so to speak, and in time become
" second nature." In the meantime, it will be advisable
to affirm mentally somewhat as follows : " I am absorb-
ing these principles of conduct, and in so doing am
affirming that the moods indicated are surely becoming
mine, actual factors in my every-day life."
For remember, you cannot find reality, truth, life, a
universe, by going forever outside of self nor by gazing
into some imaginary sky. So far as you are concerned,
none of these things exist save as each is given existence
within your selfhood. The Universe passes solemnly
through every growing soul from the region of the
ungrasped and below the ordinary consciousness. No
knowledge comes from upper airs — though half the
reality of any knowledge lies there because every individ-
ual centers Infinite Existence — but all emerges from the
under realm of the unknown in consciousness. No pos-
session is yours until it has swept up from the lower inner
fields of life.
Stand, therefore, for the objective life, of course, but
always as well for the inner existence which allies you
with all worlds. If, taking the outer life as it comes, you
will for long affirm that your deeper self is also in relation
with all right things and growing because of that relation,
you will in this way realize the remarkable quotation from
Mill. Otherwise, it is nothing better than commonplace
school instruction.
THE KING.
Silent the great audience-room. Yet stirs
In all the place a premonition vague
Of imminent events. A breath proclaims
Through swaying curtains Majesty's approach.
Guards stand alert. Low murmuring sounds arise
Of retinues attendant. Then, the pause
Of homage and the Sovereign enters in.
The chamber of the kingly life is nought
Save place expectant till the Lord of all,
Assumptive ever of his rightful throne
Though absent for siesta or the chase,
Stride in and speak his omnipresent Power.
*Tis vacancy whose meaning sole is this:
His coming to au>ait, his presence guard.
And thus, forsooth, all eminent domain,
From chamber to frontier, whose value lies
In his great self. As king is, so the land!
As Will is, so the man / The vacant mind,
Eventless years, breath signifying nought,
Senses as idle as the summer clouds,
Attendants loosed and chattering — all breed
Dread anarchy, or worse, a bankrupt soul.
Lo, if the Will fails, kingdoms baubles are /
But if he reigns, the desert's boundless waste
Bursts into splendor and proclaims his power /
As Will is, so the man ! The brain alert,
The household true, the message bearers swift,
The five great overlords leal servants, friends,
The five good gates co-ordinate and sure,
A song of action in. the sun-charged air,
And those three ministers of glorious life —
Faith tireless, unboisterous Confidence,
And Courage, soft of speech, whose word is hope,
Beside the royal Presence alway. Thus
The realm be when his Majesty, the Will,
Rules, potent. Thus comes Power invisible
From Heaven to company the Sovereign,
To bless the kingdom of the human soul,
To make its Lord imperial, throned on law:
One to outlook the worlds, and conquer them /
— THB AUTHOR.
PART II.— THE WILL AND SENSE-CULTURE.
RESOLUTION.
Realizing the necessity of a strong and well-trained
Will for the largest success in secular affairs and in morals,
and recognizing various defects in my own Will-power, I
hereby RE SOL VE to give the present work a thorough trial
in all its exercises and suggestions ; and to embody these, with
others that may occur to me during such trial, so far as any
of them are evidently designed to be so embodied in conduct,
for the remainder of my life.
[Signed.-]
CHAPTER VIII.
SUGGESTIONS FOR PRACTICE.
jATURE is often hidden, sometimes overcome,
seldom extinguished. He that seeketh victory
over his nature, let him not set himself too
great nor too small tasks ; for the first will make him
dejected by often failings, and the second will make him
a small proceeder, though by often prevailings. Let not
a man force a habit upon himself with a perpetual con-
tinuance, but with some intermission. For both the pause
reinforceth the new onset ; and if a man that is not perfect
be ever in practice, he shall as well practice his errors as
his abilities, and induce one habit of both. And there is
no means to help this but by seasonable intermissions." —
Lord Bacon.
Should the exercises given in this division of our
work, Part II., seem unessential or tedious, you are in-
vited to remember that, as Royce has said (^Outlines of
Psychology " ) : —
" The development and support of mental activities of
every grade is dependent upon the constant and proper use
of the sense organs. Every cultivation 01 even the highest
inner life involves a cultivation of the sense organs.'*
But observe : " The life of the senses does not con-
stitute a sort of lower life, over against which the higher
intellectual, emotional and voluntary life stands, as a
markedly contrasted region relatively independent of the
ioo Suggestions for Practice.
other, and ideally capable of a certain divorce from it.
On the contrary, sensory experience plays its part, and its
essential part, in the very highest of our spiritual existence.
When we wish to cultivate processes of abstract thinking,
our devices must therefore include a fitting plan for the
cultivation of the senses, and must not plan to exclude
sense experience as such, but only to select among sen-
sory experiences those that will prove useful for a purpose.
We are now prepared for the actual work of Will-
culture in Physical Regime. The present chapter is
preliminary yet eminently practical, and it should not
only be carefully read but thoroughly studied until its
suggestions are deeply grounded in daily life.
At this point certain principles appear which form the
basis of all Physical Re'gime.
FIRST PRINCIPLE.
Continuous and intelligent thought on the growth of
any mental power, with exercises carried on to that end,
exert a developing influence upon the function itself. In the
case of the Will this would follow without systematic
practice, but regulated exercise tends to hold attention to
the desired goal and to increase the power of the idea of
Will-culture. The value of the abiding thought, "I
resolve to acquire a strong and well-trained Will I " can
scarcely be overstated.
SECOND PRINCIPLE.
Exercises involving one department of body or mind will
exert various beneficial influences :
Of the body, on other parts of body ;
Of the body, on various powers of mind ;
Of the mind, on other powers of mind ;
Of the mind, on various functions and organs of the
body.
Great is Drill. 101
An illustration of the general law may be seen in
the increased grip-power of one hand caused by daily
practice with the other. Thus, Professor E. W. Scripture,
in " Thinking, Willing, Doing." remarks :
"It is incredible to me how in the face of our general
experience of gymnasium work some writers can assert
that practice makes no change in the greatest possible
effort. At any rate, in experiments made under my
direction the change could be traced day by day.
" Curiously enough, this increase of force is not con-
fined to the particular act. In the experiments referred
to, the greatest possible effort ir gripping was made on
the first day with the left hand singly and then with the
right hand, ten times each. The records were : for the
left, fifteen pounds, for the right, fifteen pounds. There-
after, the right hand alone was practised nearly every
day for eleven days, while the left hand was not used.
The right hand gained steadily day by day; on the
twelfth day it recorded a grip of twenty-five pounds. The
left hand recorded on the same day a grip of twenty-one
pounds. Thus the left hand had gained six pounds, or
more than one-third, by practice of the other hand."
In practice seeking development of Will, what is
true of hands will be true of mental powers. Indeed,
steadfast, purposeful exercise of physical powers in general
•will develop power of Will. The same writer goes on to
say on this point :
"A great deal has been said of the relation of physi-
cal exercise to Will-power. I think that what I have said
sufficiently explains how we can use the force of an act as
an index of Will-power. It is unquestionable that gym-
nastic exercises increase the force of act. The conclusion
seems clear ; the force of Will for those particular acts
must be increased. It has often been noticed that an act
102 Suggestions for Practice.
will grow steadily stronger although not the slightest
change can be seen in the muscle.
" Of course I do not say that the developed muscle
does not give a greater result for the same impulse than
the undeveloped one ; but I do claim that much of the
increase or decrease of strength is due to a change in
Will-power. For example, no one would say that San-
dow, the strong man, has a more powerful Will than any-
body else. But Sandow's strength varies continually,
and, although part of this variation may be due to changes
in the muscles, a large portion is due to a change in force
of Will. When Sandow is weak, make him angry, and
note the result."
THIRD PRINCIPLE.
Lower forms of exercise in bodily movement prepare
the way for higher exercises. "All the higher actions of
life depend on the attainment of a general control of the
bodily organs." This is true even when such control is
left to hap-hazard methods. It is immeasurably truer
when control is intelligently sought. " Consequently," in
the highest sense, "the exercising of these capabilities
involves a rudimentary," and a very complete "training
of the Will, for a definite reaction on the Will itself is
absolutely certain."
FOURTH PRINCIPLE.
Intelligent work in Will-culture must begin with per-
ception. Perception precedes mental growtk. The senses
are our common miners for raw material of mental life.
Yet how few people adequately attend to sensation or
intelligently employ their own senses ! Strange as it may
seem, here is a large terra incognita. One of the chief
differences among men is the matter of vision. By vision
is meant the ability to see, hear and feel reality. Some
people perceive a great deal on the surface of things;
Great is Drill. 103
others catch but little even here. Some perceive not
only the superficial aspects of reality, but also its inner
contents ; others, again, discover neither the surface of
things nor their hidden meaning. Eyes, ears, nerves
they have ; but they see not, hear not, feel not. To such
people a strong Will-power is a stranger. They are gov-
erned largely by caprice.
The first requisite, then, of Will-growth, is observation.
The mind must learn to see things as they are, to hear
things as they are, to feel things as they are.
" Eyes and No-eyes journeyed together," says the
author just quoted. " No-eyes saw only what thrust itself
upon him ; Eyes was on the watch for everything. Eyes
used the fundamental 'method of all knowledge — observation^
or "watching.
" This is the first lesson to be learned — the art of
watching. Most of us went to school before this art was
cultivated, and, alas ! most of the children still go to
schools of the same kind. There are proper ways of
learning to watch, but the usual object lessons in school
result in just the opposite. We, however, cannot go a
step further till we have learned how to watch."
Hence, the watchword all along must be ATTEN-
TION ! The Will must begin its work by resolving upon
persistent ATTENTION. To the various operations of
the senses Will must mightily attend 1 In all exercises
the watchword must never be forgotten : ATTENTION !
But attention for what purpose ? For one sole purpose —
Will-power ! The commanding formula, then, is : —
" I RESOLVE TO WILL ! ATTENTION ! ! "
FIFTH PRINCIPLE.
Systematic exercise, with power of Will constantly
kept in mind as a goal never to be yielded, develops the
104 Suggestions for Practice.
Will-habit. Hence the value of persistence. Practice
develops persistence; persistence perfects practice.
Emerson said truly :
" The second substitute for temperament is drill, the
power of use and routine. The hack is a better roadster
than the Arab barb. ... At West Point, Colonel Buford,
the Chief Engineer, pounded with a hammer on the trun-
nions of a cannon, until he broke them off. He fired a
piece of ordnance some hundred times in swift succession,
until it burst. Now, which stroke broke the trunnion ?
Every stroke. Which blast burst the piece? Every
blast. 'Diligence passe sens,' Henry VIII. was wont to
say, or, ' Great is drill.' . . . Practice is nine-tenths. . . .
Six hours every day at the piano, only to give facility of
touch ; six hours a day at painting, only to give command
of the odious materials, oil, ochres, and brushes. The
masters say that they know a master in music, only by
seeing the pose of the hands on the keys ; — so difficult
and vital an act is the command of the instrument. To
have learned the use of the tools, by thousands of manip-
ulations ; to have learned the arts of reckoning, by end-
less adding and dividing, is the power of the mechanic
and the clerk."
"Not only men," says Thomas Reid, the English
Philosopher, " but children, idiots, and brutes, acquire by
habit many perceptions which they had not originally.
Almost every employment in life hath perceptions of this
kind that are peculiar to it. The shepherd knows every
sheep of his flock, as we do our acquaintance, and can
pick them out of another flock one by one. The butcher
knows by sight the weight and quality of his beeves and
sheep before they are killed. The farmer perceives by
his eye very nearly the quantity of hay in a rick or corn
in a heap. The sailor sees the burden, the build, and the
Great is Drill. 105
distance of a ship at sea, while she is a great way off.
Every man accustomed to writing, distinguishes acquaint-
ances by their handwriting, as he does by their faces.
In a word, acquired perception is very different in differ-
ent persons, according to the diversity of objects about
which they are employed, and the application they bestow
in observing them"
All such acquired powers are the results of long-
continued practice. And back of them lies the persistent
Will. In the most of such and similar instances no great
amount of Will is required at any one time; they are
rather outcomes of steady application to the thing in hand.
Thus, unfailing attention to the exercises here to
follow, with the idea of power of Will constantly in mind,
will impart facility as regards the directions given, and in
turn will develop the controlling faculty of mind to an
astonishing degree.
But this work, to be successful, must be conducted
with labor and patience. Think not to acquire a great
Will without toil. Nor imagine that such a boon can
come of a month's training or of spasmodic effort. There
is but one way to get a good Will ; to will to will, and to
carry out that will with unflinching perseverance.
The insane are sometimes able, for a purpose, to
*' wind themselves up " and act like the sanest, by a
supreme effort of Will. If the present book costs you
many months of endeavor, it will " wind up " the Will to
great power and persistence, and will justify all time and
toil.
SIXTH PRINCIPLE.
The -value of drill depends largely upon system. This
requires not only regular labor, but regular rest-periods
as well.
106 Suggestions for Practice.
In the ten-day exercises continue five days, then rest —
preferably Saturday and Sunday.
From first to last, cultivate and sustain the Mood of
Will. Put the Will at the fore. Here alone is our ne
plus ultra!
Finally, in order that the principles involved may
become an intelligent part of the system carried out, the
following suggestions applicable to the Physical and Men-
tal Regimes should be thoroughly worked into the student's
mind as to :
First. — In Regard to Perception.
1. Keep the perceptive powers always at their best :
eyes, ears, smell, taste, touch, nerves.
2. Attend to the consciousness of each sense.
3. Obsen>e frequent and regular periods of rest. The
law that " voluntary attention comes only in beats," re-
quires this rule.
4. With attainment of facility, invent new methods
of practice.
5. Carry the idea involved in practice into all your
life.
6. While habituated actions that are not naturally
automatic are certainly voluntary, the presence of conscious
Will should be maintained as much as possible in all
such activities. Example : piano playing ; hold the mind
consciously to every movement
7. Continue the practice of the perceptive powers
until the greatest willing power has been acquired.
Secondly. — In Regard to Memory.
i. If the memory is weak all round, resolve to
strengthen it.
Great is Drill. 107
2. Seek to discover the peculiarities of your own
memory. Then make the most of it.
3. If the memory is weak in some particulars, but
strong in others, cultivate it especially where weak, and
compel it where strong to assist in this effort.
4. Subordinate the verbal memory to that of prin-
ciples.
5. Give memory for principles a good foundation
in memorized facts, dates, etc.
6. Rely resolutely upon the ability of your memory
to do your bidding.
7. Frequently review all work of the memory with
great Will-power.
8. Make use, as often as possible, in conversation
and writing, and in public speaking, of all the acquire-
ments of memory.
9. Always put the Will into the effort to remember.
10. Arrange materials by association. Then system-
atize and associate memory's possessions.
11. Resolve to acquire a perfect memory.
12. Abstain from all use of tobacco and alcohol.
13. Put no reliance in mnemonics, or any arbitrary
" helps," but employ natural laws of association, such as
" Contiguity Horse and rider.
Contrast Light and dark.
Resemblance Grant and Sherman.
Cause and effect .... Vice and misery.
Whole and parts .... United States and New York.
Genus and species . . . Dog and greyhound.
Sign and thing signified . Cross and Catholic faith."
Thirdly. — In Regard to Imagination.
1. Do not indulge in revery.
2. Abstain from all evil imaginations.
io8 Suggestions for Practice.
3. Deal, in the imagination, with facts and essential
reality alone.
4. Fill mind with wholly admirable material.
5. Put the Will-sense into the imagination.
6. Make the imagination a conscious and intelligent
instrument. Use it for practical purposes.
7. Beware of the " squint" brain. Look at things
squarely and without prejudice.
8. Do not fall in love with the wonderful for its
own sake.
9. Do not permit the imagination to dwell upon any
one thing, nor upon any one quarter of thought or life,
for long at one time.
10. Provide for the imagination the greatest variety
of material.
11. Rigidly exclude from the realm of fancy all
imaginary ills, and especially misconceptions about men
or reality. Guard against deception here.
Fourthly. — In Regard to Self-perception.
1. Do not suffer mind to become morbid.
2. Subject the testimony of the senses and of mind
to the closest scrutiny of reason.
3. Maintain in all seasons the healthy mood. Keep
up your supply of ozone.
4. Live among wholesome people.
5. Companion only with large and vigorous truths.
6. Thrust the Will into all perception of self.
Banish the dream-mood. Turn a hurricane in on halluci-
nations.
7. Become familiar with self-perception in every
phase : seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touch, muscular
consciousness, nerve-testimony ; feeling, memory, imagi-
Great is Drill. 109
nation, reason, Will, moral states. Be absolute master
here.
Fifthly. — In regard to Self-control.
1. Habituate normal and right actions.
2. Eliminate eccentricities.
3. Study and overcome your personal faults.
4. Destroy immoral, injurious and obnoxious habits.
5. Expend no unnecessary amount of force in legiti-
mate effort, and none at all in illegitimate.
6. Welcome criticism ; but sift it thoroughly, and
then act upon results.
7. Never gratify impulse or desire if either offers a
single chance of permanent injury to the highest tone of
mind.
8. When about to lose self-control, anticipate conse-
quences, and foresee especially what you may be required
to do in order to regain position.
9. Make discipline an ally, not an enemy.
10. Believe mightily in yourself.
n. Unite belief in self with faith in man.
12. Keep the loftiest ideals fresh in thought.
13. Never, for an instant, lose consciousness of self
as a willing centre of power.
SEVENTH PRINCIPLE.
"There is nothing which tends so much to the success of
a volitional effort as a confident expectation of its success"
Cultivate, therefore, the Mood of Expectancy.
THE RIDDLE.
What ho ! Sir Watchman of the eye
Aloft amid the drain,
Denote to me the mighty sky
All round the tumbling main;
Report the vision far and by —
Nought from the truth refrain.
" 'Tis as the captain saith," quoth eye ;
"All round the mighty sky —
No more nor less see I."
Now, tell me, empty hole of life,
Mere socket of the mind,
What is thy office, echo's wife,
If thou thyself art blind f
Is 't thine to see, or bandy strife,
An 't please you to be kind ?
" 'Tis as the captain saith," quoth eye ;
"All round the mighty sky —
No more nor less see I."
Now, Captain, pray the riddle clear ;
Is this great eye a knave f
"'Tis as he holds" quoth captain dear,
"All round the tumbling wave ;
And that's the secret full, I fear,
Of many a good ship's grave."
"/ am the captain's self," quoth eye ;
" Who scans the mighty sky.
No more nor less am I."
CHAPTER IX.
EXERCISES FOR THE EYE.
IS estimated that the human eye is capable
of distinguishing 100,000 different colors, or
hues, and twenty shades or tints of each hue,
making a total of 2,000,000 color sensations which may
be discriminated. If we consider the infinite variations
in the color of earth, of plants and their blossoms, of
clouds, in fact of all natural objects, such an estimate as
this hardly seems excessive." — Dr. Harold Wilson.
THEORY OF THIS CHAPTER.
The whole mind in the eye ;
The eye an index of white honesty ;
The straight line the path of power.
Epictetus said : " Did God give the eyes for noth-
ing ? And was it for nothing that He mingled in them a
spirit of such might and cunning as to reach a long way
off and receive the impression of visible forms — a mes-
senger so swift and faithful ? Was it for nothing that He
gave the intervening air such efficacy, and made it elastic,
so that being, in a manner strained, our vision should
traverse it? Was it for nothing that He made Light,
without which there were no benefit of any other thing ? "
PRELIMINARY.
The eye exists for the supreme power of Will.
Eye, ether, light, are ministers to the soul. The eye
may be brightened in its gaze by energetic summonsing
112 Exercises for the Eye.
of consciousness. Emotions of joy, fear, hate, love, de-
sire, aversion, illustrate this deepening influence of energy
within. These emotions may be simulated, as on the
stage, at the imperious call of Will. If so, one may
acquire a keen eye, without the assistance of these feel-
ings, by sheer and persistent resolution.
The present chapter is to deal with the eye. It may,
nevertheless, be here said that it partakes of a law which
obtains with all the organs of sense : "A process set up
anywhere in the centres reverberates everywhere, and in some
way or other affects the organism throughout"
Effort at Will-growth by means of exercise of the
senses will bring this law into action. Each particular
variety of practice will more or less affect the whole man
— that is, the central Will.
Vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch depend upon
certain stimulations from without — as mechanical (touch),
molecular (taste and smell), physical (sight, hearing),
muscular (muscle sense), vital (sense of life).
But at times the required stimulation may arise within
the nervous system. Examples : In referring to certain
hallucinations, a Boston physician said, " The cerebral
processes by which vision is produced may not only be
started in the brain itself, but when so started, they are
identical with those set going by an objective stimulus in
the ordinary way."
Professor Sully says : " A man who has lost his sight
may be able to picture visible objects. The brain is now
able to act independently of external stimulation, having
acquired a disposition so to act through previous exercises
under external stimulation."
Two remarks may now be made :
The Will has power to concentrate energy upon a
given point in the. organism. "By fixing the attention
The Eye and the World are One. 113
upon certain parts of the body the blood may be directed
to these parts." A strong attention directed to the eye
enriches its various elements. " In looking attentively at
anything, the various ganglia in which the optic nerve is
rooted are richly supplied with blood, and the end organs
of vision and the eye muscles are vigorously innervated."
Similarly attention 'increases the supply of nervous
force at the point where Will is focused.
Vision is intensified by attention, which induces a
degree of muscular effort : — physical energy from within
directed to appropriate muscles. " In all close attention
there is a feeling of tension or strain which appears to
indicate muscular effort. As Fechner says, in looking
steadfastly this feeling is referred to the eye ; in listening
closely, to the ear ; in trying to ' think ' or recollect, to
the head or brain."
" Thus it is presumable that when we attend to a
visible object a stream of (nerve-) energy flows downward
from the motor centres, partly in the direction of the
muscles, and more particularly the ocular muscles which
move the eye, and partly in that of the sensory centre which
is concerned in the reception of nervous impressions."
If a person tries to grip the hand of a paralyzed arm,
he cannot, but muscular effort will manifest in some part
of his body. Energy has been expended.
In other words, " the stimuli that excite the nervous
force or irritability are of two kinds, physical and mental.
Physical stimuli embrace all external excitants of whatever
nature — light, heat, sound, odor, and every variety of
chemical, mechanical, and galvanic irritant. Mental
stimuli result from the exercise of the Will and thought"
The Will is thus the power back of vision.
Professor James cites the case of a girl, born without
arms or legs, who "came as quickly to a right judgment
U4 Exercises for the Eye.
of the size and distance of visible objects as her brothers
and sisters, although she had no use of hands."
Many children have the power of calling up " queer "
forms in the darkness.
Cases like the following are not altogether rare:
" A man in the Greek island of Hydra was accustomed
to take his post every day for thirty years on the summit
of the island, and look out for the approach of vessels ;
and although there were over three hundred sail belonging
to the island, he would tell the name of each one as she
approached with unerring certainty, while she was still at
such a distance as to present to a common eye only a con-
fused white blur upon the clear horizon." The long prac-
tice which resulted in this ability involved volitional acts.
The greater the Will (with a good eye), the greater
our capacity for correct vision.
As exercise with vision improves the eye, so such
exercise augments the flow of energy to the appropriate
muscles and nerve-centres connected with sight.
Hence, conversely, all right exercises with the eyes
tend to growth of that power which controls the eyes —
the Will — provided they are carried on with that end
held intensely in view.
In the following practice, therefore, the mind must
take on energy, and it must energetically, attend to the
thing in hand by the whole of itself, excluding all other
elements of perception. This will at first be difficult ; as
in the case of any muscular or nervous exertion. But to
him who constantly declares, " I RESOLVE TO WILL !
ATTENTION! ! " perfect power of continued and exclu
sive concentration comes at last to be second nature.
'•'•The culminating point in education is the power to
attend to things that are in themselves indifferent, by arousmg
an artificial feeling of interest"
The Eye and the World are One. 115
Hence, in the exercises that follow, the Mood or
feeling of Will should be kept strongly in mind.
REGIMES.
Exercise No. i. Select an object for attention, in the
room, or out of doors, say, a chair or a tree. Gaze at
this object attentively, persistently, steadily. Do not
strain the eyes ; use them naturally. Now note the
object's size. Estimate this. Observe its distance from
yourself, and from other objects around it. Note its shape.
Determine how it differs in shape from other things near
it. Clearly note its color. Does it in this harmonize with
its surroundings ? If so, how ? If not, in what respect.
Make out its material. How was it made ? What is
its true purpose ? Is it serving that purpose ? Could it
in any way be improved ? How might this improvement
be brought about ?
In seeking the above information, hold mind rigidly
to its task. It will be hard at first ; but persistence in
the exercise will ultimately secure ease and swiftness.
Now, without looking further at the object, write out
all results as nearly as you can remember.
Repeat this exercise for ten days, resting two days,
one of which should be Sunday, with the same object,
and on the tenth day look at the object and observe
improvement.
Always keep the Will-idea in mind.
Exercise No. 2. At a moderate gait pass once
through or around a room, observing, quickly and atten-
tively, as many objects as possible. Now, closing the
door so as to shut out the room, write down the names of
all articles which you remember at that time to have seen.
Depend upon your memory, not your knowledge.
n6 Exercises for the Eye.
Repeat this exercise for ten days with rest, as above,
and on the tenth observe improvement.
Finally, go into the room and note carefully every
object which you have not discovered. Estimate the per-
centage of your failures.
Exercise No. 3. Procure twenty-five or thirty marbles,
of medium size. Let eight or ten be red, eight or ten
yellow, eight or ten white. Place in an open box and
thoroughly mingle the colors. Now, seize one handful,
with right and left hand at once, and let the marbles roll
out together onto a covered surface, of a table or the floor.
When they are at rest, glance once at the lot, and, turning
away, write the number, as you recall (do not guess) for
each color.
Repeat this exercise for ten days, with rest, and on
the tenth day, estimate your improvement.
Exercise No. 4. Procure fifty pieces of cardboard,
two inches square, each having one letter printed upon it
in plain, good-sized type. Place them all, scattered, letters
down, upon a table. Take in one hand ten of these
squares, face down, and throw, face up, all at once, but
so as to separate them, upon the table. Now, look at
them sharply one instant. Then turn away, and write
down the letters recalled. Immediately repeat this exer-
cise with ten other cards. Immediately repeat with ten
other cards. Repeat these three exercises for ten days,
with rest, and on the tenth day note improvement for each
successive corresponding throw over first.
The above exercises should all be practised each day,
for ten days, at least. They may be continued indefinitely
with profit, both to attention and to the Will. But the
rest periods must be observed.
The Eye and the World are One. 117
Exercise No. 5. Let the eyes be wide open, but not
disagreeably distended. The gaze should now be directed
straight in front, with every power of attention alert. Try
to observe, without turning the eyes a hair's breadth, all
objects in the field of vision, while gazing ten seconds,
determined by slow counting. Write out the names of all
objects recalled. Depend upon memory, not knowledge.
Repeat the exercise ten days, with rest, as above,
always from the same position, looking in the same direc-
tion, to preserve the same exercise, and on the tenth day
note improvement.
Exercise No. 6. Repeat the above exercise in all
respects except that the position and field of vision of
each day is to be different from those preceding, and on
the tenth day note improvement.
Observe : Counting off the seconds is a slower pro-
cess than is ordinarily supposed. The speed with which
one must count in order to pronounce " sixty " at the end
of a minute may be easily noted by counting while follow-
ing with the eyes the second-hand of a watch as it moves
once around the minute-circle.
Exercise No. 7. Gaze steadily, winking naturally, at
some object not very far away, say, ten or sixty feet.
Keep the mind intently upon the object. Count sixty to
a minute while so gazing intently and observingly. Now,
shut the eyes, and strive to call up a mental image of the
object.
With some people the image may be as vividly
defined as the real object. With most, probably, it will
not be so vivid. Look up that word " vivid." Write a
description of the image, whether clear or indistinct, with
all parts mentally seen. Do not help the writing by look-
ing a second time at the object ; trust the image. Repeat
n8 Exercises for the Eye.
this exercise on ten different objects on the same day.
Repeat these exercises for ten days, with rest, as above,
making and marking records each day, and on the tenth
day note improvement.
Although the time set for practice is ten days, the
exercises may be profitably continued for any length of
time.
Remember: the purpose here is to learn to see
things as they are, and to impress them upon mind.
Great improvement, both in distinctness of vision and in
details of single mental objects may thus be made as
practice goes on. The essential thing, now, is patience
and persistence. Whether the mental image may be cul-
tivated so that the mental objects shall assume the electric
or sunlit tone, seems doubtful. But, within certain limits,
the eye of the soul will come to see more and more clearly
as persistent endeavor continues. Especially will this be
the case if the soul steadfastly wills that it be so.
The value of the end sought — clear perception — con-
nects ultimately with the consideration of motives. This
requires that things shall be seen as they actually are,
that outcomes or consequences shall be vividly noted, in
themselves individually and as comprehended in groups,
in order that their full effect upon mind may be felt, and
that adequate comparison among motives may be insti-
tuted. These exercises cultivate eye-perception, memory,
mental vision and self-control. The end of all is the
developed Will.
Exercise No. 8. Lastly, the eye may be trained to
directness of gaze. Some eyes never look into other eyes
steadily, but glance and shift from eye to object, here and
there, without purpose or gain. Some public speakers
never look squarely into the faces of their auditors, but
The Eye and the World are One. 119
gaze either up at the ceiling or down to the floor, or roam
over all their hearers, seeing none. One of the subtlest
elements of inspiration is thus missed — the face, mouth,
eyes, attitude of eager humanity. As a rule, a large
element in successful personal address lies in the eye.
Directness of gaze is psychological winner. The straight-
forward, frank eye, is a power wherever it is seen — on
the street, in the store, at the social gathering, on the
rostrum.
The might of a good eye can be cultivated. In order
to this, mind must be put into the " windows of the soul."
What men get out of life and nature depends upon the
amount of mind that can be put into the look. If reality
is to be possessed, mind must come forward and take it
"by force." The soul in the eye means power with men.
Cultivate, therefore, with every person met, the habit of
the direct and steady look. Do not stare. Look people
full in the eyes. The soul must always be in the eye for
this exercise. Let the gaze be open, frank, friendly.
And remember, that the vacant stare is a sign of idiocy,
and in the domain of Will is ruled out.
Exercise No. 9. Gaze steadily, but winking naturally,
at a small spot on the wall of a room, eight or ten feet
away. Do not strain the eyes. Count fifty while so gaz-
ing. Keep mind wholly on the thought : The Direct
Eye. Put back of that thought the Mood of a strong
Will : " I WILL ! I AM FORCING WlLL INTO THE EYE."
Repeat this exercise ten times for ten days, with rest,
as above, adding each day to the count fifty, twenty
counts ; thus : first day, fifty ; second day, seventy ; third
day, ninety ; etc.
Exercise No. zo. A dull gaze is akin to the vacant
stare. The steady, direct look ought to be bright and full
I2O Exercises for the Eye.
of energy. The energy of the eye's regard may be devel-
oped, and with profit, if the soul behind it is honest.
Gaze at any object in the room near by, steadily, but
naturally, that is permitting the eyes to wink as they will.
Put the whole soul into the eyes. Observe, the soul is to
be put into the eyes, not into or upon the object. And do
not look at the nose ; look at the object, but bring con-
sciousness forward to its windows. Summons your entire
energy to the act of looking. Do this repeatedly, resting
properly, and never permitting the eyes to grow weary or
to be strained.
Now, think of, and simulate, some emotion, and try to
look that feeling with great power. Examples : Intense
interest — Throw delighted attention into the eyes. Deep
joy — Assume a genuine joyful feeling and expression.
Avoid the grinning mimicry of the clown. Fierce hate —
Blaze a look at the ink-stand sufficient to annihilate its
black shape. Thus with all emotions of the soul.
Repeat these exercises daily for months. It is really
worth while. After a time you will discover that you are
the possessor of a good eye, and that your power of Will
has grown correspondingly.
Meanwhile, having caught the knack of calling the
mind's energy to the act of looking, persist in gazing with
all possible forcefulness at all persons and objects met.
Acquire the habit of throwing, not the eye upon the object,
but the soul into the eye as it regards the object, and the
idea of Will clear forward in the consciousness. In other
words, cultivate the habit of the direct and penetrating
regard, avoiding the stare and all violations of good taste.
The eye of the average interested child is bright, full
of soul-power, " magnetic ; " — unless it happen to be an
infant still in the thraldom of arms, when the human gaze
frequently becomes something uncanny, preternaturally
The Eye and the World are One. 121
capable of disconcerting sinners, and altogether above the
plane of practical illustration. The four-year-old, the
saintly mother, and the righteous police judge, have all
straightforward and powerful eyes. The eye of Saint
Michael is surely like his sword. The regard of the man
Jesus must have been equal to His word — naked verity.
Hence the two secrets of masterful eyes are, directness
and honesty. Here, after all, lies the foundation of Will-
culture : straightforward means — honest purposes.
Exercise No. n. Having acquired the art of putting
soul into the act of vision, straightforward and honest,
now resolve on seeing, naming and knowing the various
objects that exist in your neighborhood, and on any street
or road over which you may pass. Cultivate the habit of
intelligent and accurate observation. It is said that " in
Siberia a traveler found men who could see the satellites
of Jupiter with the naked eye." Multitudes fail to see a
thousand things which they pass daily during life. A
Will-fed eye is a rich minister to the values of life.
Browning's lines are symbolic of the outcome :
"German Boehme never cared for plants
Until it happed, a-walking in the fields,
He noticed all at once that plants could speak,
Nay, turned with loosened tongue to talk with him.
That day the daisy had an eye indeed!"
A great law now emerges : The value of the use of
any sense depends upon the amount and quality of person
thrown into its exercise.
The person who unceasingly asserts to his eyes : " I
RESOLVE TO WILL ! ATTENTION I ! " cannot fail
to develop a look or gaze which is perennially direct and
full of energy.
THE SOUL AND THE EAR.
How marvelous the ' 'great within "
Of mind ! From life's incessant din
It chooses as it will,
With a weaver's skill,
Sounds for its need, and builds a scheme
Of use or thought, or, in the dream
Begotten by sweet reverie,
A flower of heavenly harmony.
Simple motion
Of the vast ocean
Unseen around us breaks on the strand
Of soul — and we understand!
We understand, for we are
SouFs hearing, or love or war.
All knowing'1 s self-made. What self heart
Self is, in concentric spheres
Outrunning on the larger tide;
JVay, giving this its being wide.
The ear but adds ethereal teats,
The self reality completes :
Building a hut of jarring sound,
A prison set with discord round,
A palace royal fit for kings,
A temple meet for worshippings,
Aye, God's great Universe of Truth,
Of beauty, life and deathless youth,
Wherein huge organs thunder,
Filling with wonder
Soul for that it surely is
One with, master of, this.
—THE AUTHOR.
CHAPTER X.
EXERCISES FOR THE EAR.
HAD an opportunity of repeatedly observing
the peculiar manner in which he (Dr. Saun-
derson) arranged his ideas and acquired his
information. Whenever he was introduced into company,
I remarked that he continued some time silent. The
sound directed him to judge of the dimensions of the
room, and the different voices of the number of persons
that were present. His distinction in these respects was
very accurate, and his memory so retentive that he was
seldom mistaken. I have known him instantly recognize
a person on first hearing him, though more than two
years had elapsed since the time of their meeting." —
Manchester Philosophical Memoirs.
THEORY OF THIS CHAPTER.
The discriminating mind in the ear ;
The mind master of hearing ;
Direct improvement of Will through willed employ-
ment of this sense.
"Well, early in autumn, at first winter-warning,
When the stag had to break with his foot, of a morning,
A drinking-hole out of the fresh, tender ice,
That covered the pond till the sun, in a trice,
Loosening it, let out a ripple of gold,
And another and another, and faster,
Till, dimpling to blindness, the wide water rolled."
124 Exercises for the Ear.
PRELIMINARY.
If you can see that picture from Browning, you
probably can hear the sounds that go with it.
Natural defects aside, one good sense-power assists
all the senses. When attention of the eye begins, the
ear often follows. Here is the first communion. Hence
three questions arise :
Do you hear ? Do you hear correctly ? Do you hear
•what you wish to hear ?
Sounds are produced by vibrations in the atmosphere.
The human ear is limited in its ability to respond to these
vibrations. Within such natural limits, the more sounds
one can make out the better one's hearing. Loss of
sounds is due to defects of ear and abstraction of mind.
If one hears all noises does one necessarily hear cor-
rectly ? That is, is the soul always in the ear ? To
distinguish tone, quality, direction, etc., of sounds? Is
any difference obtaining in this respect due to endowment
or education ? Or both ? Probably the latter is true.
The value of exercises, therefore, to train the ear — to
unfold latent powers — is evident.
Hearing what one wishes to hear may involve exclu-
sion : one desires to shut out a noise. Or inclusion : one
wishes to enjoy, truly, deeply, certain sounds, harmonies,
music. All depends, now, on the soul. The nervous
person hears everything. The dull person hears little.
Hearing may be shut out by Will. The door is
closed to a certain sound. Hearing may be rendered
more acute by Will. " Listen ! A far-off bird is singing 1 "
"Sh 1 A burglar is in the house ! " Education in correct-
ness of ear is preeminently a matter of Will ; — but of the
persistent Will. The control of the ear exhibits some of
the highest phases of self direction. The educated soul
now mounts up on wings through the realm of harmony.
"A Harp 0/8,700 Strings" 125
But feeling, thought, imagination, are here the mas-
ters. To hear in the best sense involves the soul. Other
things being equal, the largest soul hears most, most cor-
rectly, and with greatest powers of appreciation and
appropriation.
The purpose of the exercises that follow is, as with
those for the eye, development of ability to consider
motives through discipline of attention, and thus the
growth of intelligent Will-power.
REGIMES.
Exercise No. i. How many sounds are now demand-
ing your attention ? Count them. Listen 1 Try to dis-
tinguish : — Their different directions ; their different
causes ; their different tones ; their difference in strength ;
their different qualities ; their different groupings.
Repeat this exercise for ten days, with rest of two
days, and on the tenth day estimate the improvement
made.
Exercise No. 2. Single out some one prominent
sound, and note everything which you can possibly say
about it.
Repeat this exercise ten times on the first day with a
different sound. Repeat these exercises every day for
ten days, with rest of two days, and on the tenth day note
improvement.
Exercise No. j. Select the faintest sound that con-
tinues coming to you. In doing this try to distinguish
some regular sound which you have not hitherto noticed.
Note everything that can be said concerning it.
Repeat this exercise ten times on the first day, with
a different sound. Repeat these exercises every day for
ten days, with rest, and on the tenth day note improvement.
126 Exercises for the Ear.
Exercise No. 4. Single out some one of the sounds
that come regularly to you. Attend to this sound alone.
Shut out all other sounds. Be filled with it. Become
absorbed in it Note everything which can be said of it.
Repeat this exercise ten times on the first day, with
a different sound. Repeat these exercises every day for ten
days, with rest, and on the tenth day note improvement.
Exercise No. j. Select the most pleasant sound that
continues to come to you. Note all possible reasons for
its pleasantness. Do not fall into revery.
Repeat this exercise ten times on its first day with a
different sound. Repeat these exercises every day for ten
days, with rest, and on the tenth day note improvement.
Exercise No. 6. Listen carefully once to some simple
melody played upon an organ or a piano. Try now to
build up in your soul that melody entirely from memory.
You may remember a note or two, but will forget the most
of it. If, however, you are persistent, you can gradually
reconstruct the lost tune. The author has often accom-
plished this building up of music. Make the exercise a
frequent task.
Exercise No. 7. While one is striking the keys of a
piano, first one, then another, endeavor, without looking
at the player, to distinguish the notes, whether sharp or
flat, position on the board, and name of each note.
Repeat with two keys, one hand striking.
Repeat with four keys, both hands striking.
Repeat with full chord, one hand striking.
Repeat with full chords, both hands striking.
Practice in the above exercises should be continued
until you can detect improvement in compass of hearing,
correctness of hearing, control over hearing. Do not be-
"A Harp 0/8,700 Strings" 127
come discouraged. The purpose is Will. Resolve to go
on to the end. That end is Will-power.
Do nothing without thought. Put the soul into the
ear in all these exercises, willing, with great energy, atten-
tion to all sounds, or to one, or to none, as the case
may be.
Carry the Mood of Will through every exercise.
Exclusion of sound is often an exhibition of Will,
both in the act of shutting sounds out, and in controlling
the nerves in regard to sounds which refuse to vanish.
Why, then, should not a more regulated and conscious
mastery of ear be acquired ?
Perhaps your hearing is defective and you are not
aware of the fact. Or the defect may be due to a want
of acute attention. In order to ascertain the real difficulty,
the following exercise is suggested :
Exercise No. 8. When all is quiet, hold a watch at
arm's length from the right ear. Do you hear it ticking ?
No ? Move the watch gradually nearer the ear until you
hear. Note the distance at which the ticking first becomes
audible. Write the result and mark, " Ear No. 6," and
date. Repeat this exercise ten times on its first day.
Repeat these exercises every day for ten days, with rest,
and on the tenth day note improvement.
Meanwhile induce several other persons to practise
the same exercise so far as to ascertain the distance at
which they can hear the ticking of the same watch.
During the ten days repeat all the exercises with the
left ear, correctly marking results.
If you make no improvement in hearing, this may
still be due to a constitutional limit. Continue the prac-
tice until you are satisfied that your hearing cannot be
improved. Then consult a physician.
128 Exercises for the Ear.
If you do not hear as well as others, this also may be
due to constitutional limit. It will, nevertheless, be wise
to consult a physician.
Perhaps certain sounds which you hear incessantly
are destroying you with the threat of nervous prostration
or insanity. Your dear neighbor's piano played through
everlasting hours, or his dog barking all night long, of
street hawkers, become evidences of civilization's chaos.
Procure the cessation of these sounds, if possible. If not,
resolve to shut them out of mind. Hence :
Exercise No. g. Never fight disagreeable noises by
attending to them. Select some particularly hateful sound
which comes to you regularly. Make this a practice for
the day. Now, by an enormous effort of Will attend so
powerfully to some other sound or many sounds as to shut
out the one you wish to banish. Continue this effort five
minutes. Do not become discouraged. You can do this
act of exclusion if you will to do it. After five minutes,
rest, by turning the attention away from sounds in general.
Then repeat the exercise by shutting out the sound ten
minutes. Give the matter a half-hour, increasing the time
of exclusion of sound with each exercise a few minutes,
and resting between efforts by diverting attention to other
things.
Vary the effort to exclude sound by attending with
great energy to some agreeable thought.
Do not will directly to shut a sound out of the ear.
Will to become directly absorbed in other sounds or in
other matters of thought. Repeat these exercises until
you are master.
Exercise No. 10. At night, when you are disturbed
by hideous noises, stop thinking about them.
Insist that you do not care, anyway.
"A Harp 0/8,700 Strings:' 129
Think of a particularly pleasant tune ; or thought ;
or experience. Do not work : take the matter easily.
Call up, mentally, a sound which is totally different
from the one that disturbs you. Cause it to run in the
mind, taking care that it has a certain regularity and
rhythm. Imagine the loud ticking of a large clock, or
the droning of an old-fashioned water-wheel, or the steady
booming of the sea.
Remember, that all thought about the hateful sound
only intensifies its power over you. To rage at a bark-
ing dog signifies one of two consequences : the death of
the dog (possibly of its owner), or more nervousness on
the part of the man who has no Will. Similarly with other
disturbing noises. The Will that masters them is a grow-
ing Will. The growing Will comes of intelligent exercise,
with the Will-idea always present, " I RESOLVE TO
WILL 1 ATTENTION 1 ! "
Everybody knows how acute the hearing of the blind
becomes, probably as Dr. M. P. Hatfield has observed,
" not because they have any better hearing than the rest
of us, but because their misfortune makes them contin-
ually cultivate their hearing, for like all of our faculties it
is susceptible of very great improvement under culti-
vation."
The power of the soul to become so absorbed in itself
as to lose consciousness of all around it, is illustrated by
an incident in the life of Thomas Aquinas. " Upon one
of the many occasions when he sat at the table of the king,
by invitation, he forgot everything going on about him,
sunk in reflection upon some difficult question in theology,
with which he had been engrossed ; suddenly he cried
out, striking the table with his fist ' I have got it.' " He
had heard and observed nothing but the important thing
in hand.
130 Exercises for the Ear.
So, also, the soul may become so habituated to the
routine of duty that accustomed calls to duty are recog-
nized while all other appeals are made in vain. Thus a
telegraphic operator, overpowered by sleep, could not be
awakened by any ordinary knocking at his door, but
when his station, " Springfield," was rapped out he
immediately aroused. A fire-department chief was said
when asleep to be deaf to his baby's cry, while instantly
alert to the alarm of his gong. Sleeping sentinels some-
times walk their beats, soldiers march when buried in
slumber, and riders guide their horses though the body
rests. These and similar incidents reveal the Will still
dominant. If so, the ear and all senses may be brought
under its perfect control.
Remember : The value of any sense depends upon the
amount and quality of soul thrown into its exercise.
" Not only awaking from sleep do we immediately
recognize what the objects around us are, because, in
fact, we have the memories or images of them already in
our minds," says Edward Carpenter in " The Art of Cre-
ation ;" but the simplest observation of things involves a
similar antecedent condition — the knowing what to look
for. How hard to ' find the cat ' in the picture, or the
wood-cock in the autumn leaves, till the precise image of
what one wants to see is already in the mind, and then,
how easy 1 The townsman walking along the high-road
perceives not the hare that is quietly watching him from
the farther field. Even when the countryman points it
out with all circumstance, he fails ; because the kind of
thing he is to see is not already in his mind. Why is it
so difficult to point the constellations to one who has
never considered them before ? The sky is simply a mass
of stars; it is the mind that breaks it into forms. Or
why, looking down from a cliff upon the sea, do we isolate
"A Harp 0/8,700 Strings" 131
a wave and call it one ? It is not isolated ; no mortal
could tell where it begins or leaves off ; it is just a part
of the sea. It is not one ; it is millions and millions of
drops ; and even these millions are from moment to mo-
ment changing, moving. Why do we isolate it and call it
one ? There is some way of looking at things, some pre-
conception already at work, in all cases, which determines,
or helps to determine, what we see, and how we see it.
All nature thus is broken and sorted by the mind ; and
as far as we can see this is true of the simplest act of dis-
crimination or sensation — the knower selects, supplies,
ignores, compares, contributes something without which
the discrimination or sensation would not be."
Since this statement is law, your sound-world —
that which you construct by your choices and thought-
fecling — depends upon yourself. And the deeper and
richer is your consciousness in a state of harmony, the
larger and richer will be your life in all the products of
sensation. This means that you should cultivate the
mental life in as great and harmonious a variety as possi-
ble, and that the senses should be so trained that through
them you may get the most out of living and put the
most of self into life and Nature. If you will carry the
assertion and the feeling : I am now conscious of myself in
relation to the world — now of sounds, now of vision, etc. —
I am attending to these worlds (one or another), putting
myself into them, drawing from them constant values, you
will find your life-consciousness, your world-conscious-
ness, your soul-consciousness, growing broader, deeper,
more satisfying and more potent for your own good from
month to month and year to year.
TASTE
I pluck an apple front its tree
And taste its perfect meat;
Lo, in the act, Reality
Crosses the gulf of mystery
My self to greet.
The budding ner-ves upon the tongue
Link brain ivith realms unseen :
Mind leaps the void around it flung
And stands a king all kings among,
Equal, serene.
The fruit of life is self matured;
The world is but my thought;
And self comes great as self is lured
From self in lower self immured :
All V mine as sought.
— THE AUTHOR.
CHAPTER XL
EXERCISES IN TASTE.
[E German Physiologist, Valentin, could detect
bitter at ioo,oooth of a solution of quinine.
" Taste can be educated, as the nice discrim-
inations of the professional tea-tasters show. In subcon-
scious conditions it is also abnormally acute." — Text
Book.
THEORY OF THIS CHAPTER.
A discriminating mind in taste ;
A cultivated mind in taste ;
Willed attention habituating the Mood of Will.
PRELIMINARY.
" The ordinary individual, " remarks Mary Whiton
Calkins in "An Introduction to Psychology," " asked to
name what he had tasted at dinner, might respond with
some such list as the following : beef-bouillon, roast duck,
potato, onion, dressed celery, peach ice and coffee. But
the psychologist would conclude at once that some of the
tastes enumerated were complex experiences, made up of
simpler elements. He would take means to isolate, so far
as he could, the conditions of taste, so that other sense-
elements should be shut out from consciousness. He would
select, as subject of the experiments, a person without
smell-sensations, or else he would close the subject's
nostrils, so as to eliminate most of these smell-sensations ;
134 Exercises in Taste.
and he would certainly blindfold the subject, to prevent
his seeing the articles which he tasted. These substances
would be presented to him at an even temperature, and
the solids would be finely minced so as to be indistinguish-
able in form. Judging by the results of actual experi-
ments, the results of such a test as applied to our sug-
gested menu, would be the following: the blindfolded
and anosmic (without smell-sensations) subject would as
likely as not suppose that he had tasted chicken broth,
beef, potato, an unknown sweetish substance, another
unknown material mixed with a thick tasteless oil, a
sweet unflavored substance and a slightly bitter liquid —
perhaps a dilute solution of quinine. A normal person,
also blindfolded, but without closed nostrils, would recog-
nize the onion, the peach, the coffee and often the olive
oil ; but would be as likely to confuse the beef and the duck ;
whereas, if these were unsalted, the anosmic subject would
fail to recognize them even as meats.
" What we know of the different tastes are complex
experiences, made up of odors, motor experiences, pressure
and pain sensations, visual elements and a far more
limited number of taste-elements than we ordinarily sup-
pose. The odor is the significant element in such ' tastes '
as egg, milk, fruit, wine, onion, chocolate, coffee and tea.
Tea and coffee are, indeed, undistinguished from quinine,
when the odor elements are excluded, and are differenti-
ated from each other only by the slight astringency of the
tea, that is by the peculiar pressure-experience, the ' puck-
ering,' which it excites.
" The number of tastes seems to be four : sweet,
salt, sour and bitter. But of the physical stimuli of
taste-sensations we know even less than of the indef-
initely localized physiological organ. Chemically dis-
tinct substances may even arouse the same sensational
Work is the Sitter-Sweet of Success. 135
quality, for example, both sugar and acetate of lead give
a ' sweet ' taste. Only one general statement may be
hazarded : the taste-stimulus is alway in liquid form. If
the tip of the tongue be carefully dried, a crystal of sugar
placed upon it will seem tasteless, until the tongue again
becomes moist enough to dissolve it."
The experiments and investigations which have given
us the meagre knowledge we have on the subject of
taste-sensations and their brain-area (little known), have
all involved attention, discrimination, judgment, and so on.
The object of the exercises in the present chapter have
exactly similar ends in view — but above all, such work
under direction as may make you the better acquainted
with yourself and give to you a greater scope of con-
sciousness and self-control.
The tongue tastes ; it also feels.
The sensation of touch is often confounded with
that of taste. During a heavy cold in one's head the
tongue feels much, but tastes little. Aerated water gives
the tongue a lively sensation of touch or feeling. Alum
" draws " it. Pepper irritates it to burning. Some strong
sweets are slippery. Some strong bitters are smooth.
Cold food is lacking in the taste of warmer. The sen-
sation produced by very cold water is largely that of feel-
ing. Luke-warm coffee is not enjoyable because the
aroma of its steam and the cold of ice are absent. These
facts suggest some experiments.
REGIMES.
Exercise No. I. Procure a piece of alum. Merely
touch it with the tongue. Now try to perceive its taste
in distinction from its feeling. Repeat this exercise with
other " puckery " substances. Repeat these experiments
136 Exercises in Taste.
every day for ten days, with rest of two days, and on the
tenth day observe improvement.
Exercise No. 2. Close the nostrils between the
thumb and forefinger, and, touching the tongue with some
" puckery " substance, try to perceive the taste. Is the
idea of taste real or imaginary? Repeat with various
similar articles. Repeat these exercises every day for ten
days, with rest of two days, and on the tenth day note
improvement.
Exercise No. j. Place a little pepper on the tongue.
Try to distinguish the taste from the irritation. Is there
any difference? Repeat with other substances which
" bum " the tongue. Repeat these exercises every day
for ten days, with rest of two days, and on the tenth day
note improvement.
Exercise No. 4. With white sugar or syrup placed
on the tongue, try to distinguish whether the slippery feel-
ing or the sweet taste is first perceived. Repeat these
exercises every day for ten days, with rest, and on the
tenth day note improvement.
Exercise No. f. Sweeten equally two glasses of water.
Let a friend, while you are not observing, place in one
glass a minute quantity of quinine or other bitter sub-
stance. Now taste and note which glass contains the
drug by observing the greater sweetness of the water in
which it has been placed. The quantity of " bitter " may
be increased until additional sweetness can be perceived.
If the water begins to taste bitter before increased sweet-
ness is perceived, the experiment has failed. But do not
be discouraged. Repeat until success is reached. Repeat
these exercises every day for ten days, with rest, and on the
tenth day note improvement.
Work is the Bitter-Sweet of Success. 137
Exercise No. 6. Try to recall, with great vividness —
with the vividness of reality — from memory, the taste of
various articles — sugar, lemon, quinine, onions, cheese,
etc. Note whether one taste is recalled more vividly than
another. Is such recalled taste always associated with a
mental picture of its object, or is it abstract ? Does the
memory seem to be located in the brain or on the tongue ?
Whether in the brain or on the tongue, is it associated
with some past experience ? Now think of the tongue, and
try to piace the remembered sensation, abstracted from all
past experience, there alone. That is difficult, but it can
be done. Repeat these exercises every day for ten days,
with rest, and on the tenth day note improvement.
Exercise No. 7. Procure six articles that are fra-
grant and six articles that have a pleasant taste. Arrange
in pairs — one article of smell with one of taste, and so on
until all are thus paired. Take one pair, and compare the
sensation of smell with that of taste. Note similarity and
difference between the sensations. Repeat with each pair.
Repeat these experiments with articles that are odor-
iferous but not fragrant, and articles that have not an
agreeable taste. Now note whether, in all tests with pairs
of articles, the effect upon the " mind " is greater when the
sensation is that of smelling than when it is that of tast-
ing. Then note whether the difference or similarity of
sensation is greater in the case of the first six articles
(fragrant and pleasant) or in the case of the second six
articles (odoriferous and unpleasant). What is the reason
for the facts ? Repeat these exercises every day for ten
days, with rest, and on the tenth day note improvement.
Why is a meal of the same kind which is eaten in
solitude with the same degree of hunger vastly less agree-
able in itself than when eaten among pleasant companions ?
138 Exercises in Taste.
If this is not true, you evidently need lessons in sociability.
With most people it is true. Eye, nose, tongue have
changed not. Yet the meal looks better, smells better,
tastes better. Is this due to imagination ? Is there not,
rather, a mutuality of ministration among the senses which
requires the inspiration of friends to bring it fully out ? A
good eye, a good nose and a good tongue make a trinity
of dining felicity. Add, then, a good heart and a pleasant-
ly active soul, and the function of Will-power hi the realm
of vision, hearing and taste is discovered.
Exercise No. 8. While dining with friends, make the
exercises of this chapter the subject of conversation and
experiment so far as consistent with the business in hand,
namely, dining in the most agreeable manner.
Exercise No. 9. It is a human privilege to put the
soul into bodily sensations, or to withdraw it therefrom.
In the one case the word is attention, in the other case it
is abstraction. The following exercise deals with abstrac-
tion.
Secure the sensation of any taste or any smell. Now
resolutely try to recall from memory some other different
sensation so vividly as to banish the first from mind. For
example : smell of a rose, and then think strongly of the
odor of onions. You must entirely forget the flower while
thinking of the vegetable. Or, taste a little sugar, and
then put the sensation out of mind by recalling the memory
of wormwood. Or the senses may, as it were, be crossed.
Smell of a pink and banish the sensation by strong thought
of the taste of pepper. Or taste alum and think about the
smell of ammonia so keenly as to banish the first sen-
sation. Repeat these exercises every day for ten days,
with rest, and on the tenth day note improvement.
Work is the Bitter-Sweet of Success. 139
After all, abstraction is only another name for atten-
tion — withdrawn from one quarter by being massed upon
another. Whoever attends intelligently and masterfully to
eye, nose, tongue, has either new worlds of pleasure or
new guards against displeasure. Above all, has this per-
son Will. Attention cultivated involves Will always pres-
ent.
THE FRAGRANCE,
Across the fields of time and space
Old flowery perfumes drift and beat
Upon my spirifs eager face
With waves of subtle, sensuous grace,
Heavily sweet.
A farmhouse dooryard all aglow
In colors loved by simple eyes,
Restores dear memory's Passing show.
Which life a-now can never know,
Of fields and skies.
So near to sense is life divine,
So quick the soul to pierce the veil:
A lilac's fragrance is like wine,
And, as I quaff, the joys are mine
Of youth's lost trail.
The Nature-World, a mighty rose
Borne on the tree of Chaos vast,
Into my soul its nerve-life throws,
Till I am all that round me grows—
Made one at last.
— THE AUTHOR.
CHAPTER XII.
EXERCISES IN SMELL.
is stated in Mr. Stewart's account of James
Mitchell, who was deaf, sightless and speech-
less, and, of course, strongly induced by his
unfortunate situation to make much use of the sense we are
considering, that his smell would immediately and invari-
ably inform him of the presence of a stranger, and direct
to the place where he might be ; and it is repeatedly
asserted that this sense had become in him extremely
acute. — 'It is related,' says Dr. Abercrombie, ' of the late
Dr. Moyse, the well-known blind philosopher, that he
could distinguish a black dress on his friends by its smell.' "
— Professor Thomas C. Upham.
THEORY OF THIS CHAPTER.
Keenness of attention through discrimination in the
sense of smell ;
Persistently willed attention a feeder of Will;
A neglected sense cultivated and fullness and power of
mind increased.
" In all ages of the world," Dr. William Matthews has
said, " a liberal allowance of proboscis has been admired,
while a niggardly one has been held in contempt. The
Romans liked a large nose, like Julius Caesar's ; and it is
a significant fact that the same word in Latin, Nasutus,
means having a large nose, and acute or sagacious. All
their distinguished men had snuff-taking organs not to be
142 Exercises in Smell.
sneezed at." " In modern days, large noses have been
not less coveted and esteemed than in the ancient. ' Give
me,' said Napoleon, ' a man with a large allowance of nose.
In my observations of men I have almost invariably found
a long nose and a long head go together.' "
PRELIMINARY.
" The faculty of scent may be cultivated like all other
faculties, as is proven by blood-hounds and breeds of dogs
which have been specially trained in this direction until it
becomes an hereditaiy faculty. Those who deal in teas,
coffees, perfumes, wine and butter, often cultivate their
powers to a wonderful degree in their especial lines, but
with the majority of people it is the least cultivated of the
senses, although Dr. O. W. Holmes thinks it the one which
most powerfully appeals to memory."
The sense of smell, it would seem, then, has been
greatly neglected, as is seen in the fact that the names of
odors are almost entirely artificial or derived from associ-
ation. That it may be trained may be proved by any
druggist or manufacturer of perfumes. The druggist does
not recognize the " smell " of his own shop, but he per-
ceives by the nose when he enters that of another. Always
must he discriminate among odors in his business. The
perfumist lives on the acuteness of his olfactory nerves.
The glue-maker and soap-refiner exist in spite of their pur-
suits.
" We have little scientific knowledge of odors," says
Calkins. " Even our names for them are borrowed,
usually from the objects to which we chance to refer them,
and occasionally even from their affective accompaniments.
Thus we know some odors only vaguely as good or bad,
that is, pleasant or unpleasant, and at the best we can say
nothing more definite than ' heliotrope fragrance ' or ' ker-
An Odor or a Perfume — Which? 143
osene odor.' This chaotic state of affairs is largely due
to the limited significance of odors in our intellectual and
our artistic life.
" Many smells are, of course, like tastes, obviously
complex experiences containing elements of taste, touch
and vision, as well as of smell. The pungency of such
smells as that of ammonia is thus a touch quality ; and
such experiences as smelling sour milk are perhaps due
to the entrance of particles through the nose into the
throat.
" The most satisfactory classification of smells, as we
meet them in nature, is that adapted by the Dutch physi-
ologist, Zwaardemaker, from the classification of Linnaeus.
It recognizes the following classes :
" Ethereal smells, including all fruit odors.
"Aromatic smells, for example, those of camphor,
spices, lemon, rose.
" Fragrant smells, for example, those of flowers.
"Ambrosiac smells, for example, all musk odors.
"Alliaceous smells, for example, those of garlic, assa-
fcetida, fish.
" Empyreumatic smells, for example, those of tobacco
and toast.
" Hircine smells, for example, those of cheese and
rancid fat.
" Virulent smells, for example, that of opium.
" Nauseating smells, for example, that of decaying
animal matter.
" We have sensational experiences, known as smells
or odors, distinguished from each other, but not designated
by special names ; they are probably analyzable into a few
distinct elements, but this analysis has never been satis-
factorily made ; and they are often compounded, and some-
times confused with tastes and touches.
144 Exercises in Smell.
"The structure of the physiological end-organs of
smell is not very clearly made out. Two phenomena
indicate, however, that these organs are so distinct that
they correspond both with different physical stimuli and
with different smell-experiences. One of these phenomena
is that of exhaustion. Experimental investigations show,
for example, that a subject ' whose organ is fatigued by
the continuous smelling of tincture of iodine can sense
ethereal oils almost or quite as well as ever, oils of lemon,
turpentine and cloves but faintly, and common alcohol
not at all.' Evidently, therefore, different parts of the end-
organs are affected by these distinct smell-stimuli, else the
nostrils would be exhausted for all smells at the same
time.
" We know little of the physical conditions of smell.
Two statements only can be made with any degree of
assurance. It is highly probable, in the first place, that
the smell-stimulus is always gaseous, not liquid ; and it is
almost certain that the property of stimulating the end-
organs of smell is a function of the physical molecule, not
of the atom, since most of the chemical elements are odor-
less. Summing up both physiological and physical condi-
tions, we may say, therefore, that certain gaseous particles
are carried by inspiration into the nostrils, where they
stimulate cells found in the mucous membrane, and that
these nerve-impulses are conveyed by the olfactory nerves
to the temporal lobes of the brain."
The action of the olfactory nerves may be controlled
by thought — that is by power of Will. Arranging paper
tubes in such a way as to convey separate perfumes to
each nostril, as suggested by Professor Scripture, " we can
smell either one in preference to the other by simply
thinking about it." An experiment may be made of this
fact.
An Odor or a Perfume — Which? 145
REGIMES.
Exercise No. I. Take some fragrant flower. Inhale
its odor. Walk about the room, away from the flower.
Now recall the quality and intensity of the smell. Repeat
this exercise with various extracts and perfumes taken
separately. Care must be had to give the nostrils suffi-
cient rest between whiles, otherwise the sense of smell will
become confused.
Repeat these exercises every day for at least ten
days, with rest of two days. It will be better to go on
until improvement is certainly noted in keenness of scent
and mental power to describe smells or odors. On the
tenth day note improvement.
During all the above and following practice the feel-
ing of strong Will must be kept constantly at the fore.
Put your soul into your nose.
Exercise No. 2. Procure two different kinds of ex-
tracts. Inhale the odor of one. Do the same with the
other. Think strongly of the first odor ; then of the second.
Now try to compare them, noting the difference. Repeat
this exercise every day for ten days, and on the tenth day
note improvement.
Exercise No. j. While sitting erect, gently inhale the
air, and try to name any odor perceived. Is it real?
Where does it originate ? Let friends secrete some odor-
iferous substance in a room — a number of pinks or an
open bottle of perfumery, not known to you, and while you
are in another room. Enter and endeavor by smell alone
to find the article. All other pronounced odors must be
excluded from the place. Repeat these exercises every
day for ten days, and on the tenth day note improvement.
Exercise No. 4. Ask some friend to hold in the hand
an object which is not known to you and is fragrant or
146 Exercises in Smell.
odoriferous. He is to hold the article some distance from
you, and then gradually to move it, held unseen in his two
hands placed together, nearer and nearer, until you perceive
the odor. Note the distance at which )rou perceive the
object by smell. Can you name the smell ? Can you
name the object ? Repeat the experiment with intervals
of rest, with various different " smellable " articles.
Do you perceive some at a less distance than others ?
Why is this ? Is it due to strength of odor or the quality ?
Repeat the exercises every day for ten days, with rest of
two days, and on the tenth day note improvement.
Humboldt declared that Peruvian Indians can, in the
darkest night, determine whether a stranger, while yet far
distant, is an Indian, European or Negro. The Arabs of
the Sahara can detect by smell the presence of a fire forty
miles away.
Exercise No. 3. Each of the five senses has the
power of continually new discoveries in the world of reality.
Impressions appropriate to each may be related to the
huge things of life. High living puts great significance
into even the sense of smell. The present exercise may
be made perpetual. Build up in your life the habit of
associating the agreeable odors perceived in garden, field
or wood, with true and great thoughts. Examples : new-
mown hay — Tennyson's poem, "Maud Muller"; sea-
flats — Sidney Lanier's " Marshes of Glynn " ; fresh-
turned soil — the teeming life of the world ; flowers —
beauty regnant in the earth. Such a habit will open new
worlds, and it will develop energetic attention, and so tend
to build up a strong Will in your life.
This work may be so conducted as to make improve-
ment possible. Its value always depends upon the amount
of soul put into it — that is, into the nose. The exercises
An Odor or a Perfume — Which? 147
will cultivate a neglected sense, but more, will develop a
power of attention that will surprise you, and through this
a power of Will, which is the end sought. The idea of
Will must always be present. In every act preserve the
willing attitude.
SELF AND WORLDS.
If you could touch the outer rim
Of life's huge wheel of being,
Lo, knowledge still would seem but dim,
As now, forever fleeing.
And if your thought could penetrate
Below the last existence,
Still, ignorance would be your fate, —
In vain all such insistence.
The primrose by the river's brim,
This is the wheel of being's rim;
Love it: all life you penetrate;
Love's boundless knowledge then your fate.
You touch in self the farthest bound
Of matter and of spirit :
When the last glory here you've found,
Self only shall insphere it.
For Mind 's below the self, you see,
And Mind's below the flower;
And in Love's touch of harmony
All knowing finds its power.
Great Nature is the outer rim,
But self the deepest centre dim;
If you will farther penetrate,
Knowledge your goal, but love your fate.
—THE AUTHOR.
CHAPTER XIII.
EXERCISES IN TOUCH.
HE sense of touch is the most positive of all
the senses in the character of its sensations.
In many respects it is worthy to be called the
leading sense." — Noah Porter.
"All the senses are modifications of the sense of
touch." — Demosthenes.
THEORY OF THIS CHAPTER.
Mind thrown into or abstracted from physical feeling
at Will;
Will-attention making Will-action deliberative and
second-nature ;
Will prohibitions rendering mind supreme at least
cost.
PRELIMINARY.
" The sensations of contact and temperature," says
Royce, " are due to the excitation of points on the skin
which differ for the various special sorts of experiences in
question. Experiment shows that certain points of the
skin are especially sensitive to stimulations given by cold
objects, while other points are sensitive to disturbances
due to hot objects. Our ordinary sensory experience of
warmth or of cold is due to a complex excitement of many
points of both these types. Still other points on the skin
very wealthily interspersed among the others, give us, if
excited in isolation, sensations of contact or of pressure.
150 Exercises in Touch.
Complex sensory excitations, due to the disturbances of
the skin, sometimes with and sometimes without, notable
accompanying organic disturbances, give us our experi-
ences of hard and soft, of rough and smooth, of dry and
moist objects."
There are many very curious facts to be observed in
connection with touch. The degree of feeling arising from
touch is usually dependent to a great extent upon atten-
tion. We do not, for example, ordinarily feel our clothing,
but when thought turns to the matter it becomes very ap-
parent. If garments do not fit well, the nerves are likely
to take on some habit of twitching or other unnatural
movement. Such habits in children are often due to this
fact. For the same reason tickling sensations plague
sleep away at night. That wise fool who calls himself a
" business man " bolts his dinner in eight minutes, and
tastes and feels nothing until dyspepsia makes taste and
feeling perennial dominators of an unhappy existence.
Another fool consumes alcohol in winter for warmth and
in summer for coolness ; the secret of its " beneficent "
ministry is its paralyzing power over physical conscious-
ness. In latter days this man feels heat and cold with the
keenness of a skeleton veiled in the rotten gauze of ruined
nerves. The orator who is absorbed in his flights regards
not the busy fly upon his nose nor the physical pain which
was insistent before his soul afire took mastery of sense.
The epicure, every sense to the fore, lingers while he dines,
and nourishes delighted boon fellowship with kindred
spirits. When the orator has it before him to listen to
another man's lucubrations, his fly becomes a Dante for
torture, and his pains possess the power of a Spanish In-
quisition. So, too, when Xantippe appears at the philoso-
phers' board, the world must lose in Socratic wisdom.
To attend or not to attend is always with feeling an
The Soul's "Open Sesame11 is Purpose. 151
important question. The end nerves may be brought
under large control of the Will. The soldier frequently
fails to note that his arm has been shot off in the on-
slaught of a charge. Your tooth will cease aching if your
house is afire or your horse is running away with you. If
feeling may be thus dissipated, it may, as well, be called
in and controlled by the exercise of Will. Exercises in
touch are therefore suggested for development of Will.
REGIMES.
Exercise No. I. Pass the ends of each finger of the
right hand in turn very lightly over any flat uncovered
surface. Try first a surface which is rough ; then one
which is smooth. Note the difference in " feel " between
a rough surface and a smooth. This will require a good
deal of attention, for the difference is manifold. Repeat
these exercises with several rough and smooth surfaces.
Repeat as above with the fingers of the left hand. Note
whether the feeling is greater with one hand than with
the other. Now repeat the experiments with cloth — of
linen, cotton, woolen, silk. The " feel " of each material
is peculiar. Compare, by act, the sense of touch as given
by one piece of cloth with that given by another. Con-
tinue these exercises with several pieces of cloth in pairs.
Repeat with one hand, then with the other. What is the
main " feel " of silk ? Of cotton ? Of woolen ? Of linen ?
Have you any sensation other than touch with any of
these kinds of cloth ? If so, is it disagreeable ? Then
resolve to handle that variety of cloth until the aversion
has been mastered. This can be done, as clerks in great
department stores will testify. Repeat all the exercises
here given every day for ten days, and on the tenth day
note improvement in touch — delicacy, kinds of sensations
produced, etc.
152 Exercises in Touch.
Exercise No. 2. Practise touching lightly the surface
of an uncovered table, with the separate fingers, one after
the other, of each hand. Note the degree of steadiness
with which this is done. Now repeat the experiment with
strong pressure upon each finger of the hands separately
applied. What is the difference in sensation between the
light touch and the strong pressure ? Repeat the exercise
every day for ten days, with rest, and on the tenth day
note improvement in discrimination.
Exercise No. 3. Grasp a small object, say, a paper-
weight or a rubber ball, very lightly, just an instant, drop-
ping it immediately. Then grasp it firmly, and instantly
drop. Did you feel the object with each finger in the
first instance ? In the second ? Make no mistake. What,
if any, difference in sensation did you observe? This
requires that the Will command great attention. Hence
it cannot be done carelessly. Repeat every day for ten
days, with rest, and on the tenth day note improvement
in touch and power of discrimination and attention.
Exercise No. 4. Look at the back of either hand.
Now twist the second finger toward you and cross the
first finger behind it. While the fingers are so crossed,
press the unsharpened end of a lead-pencil between the
finger ends. Look sharp 1 Do you seem to feel one
pencil or two ? Shut the eyes and repeat the experiment.
Again, is the sensation of one pencil or two ? Is the
deception stronger with eyes closed or open ? When the
pressure of the pencil between the crossed fingers is light,
or when it is strong? Explain the fact that there are
apparently two pencils. Repeat the experiment with three
pairs of fingers. Repeat every day for ten days, with
rest, and on the tenth day note improvements in the
various respects suggested.
The SouTs "Open Sesame" ts Purpose. 153
The eyes being closed in the first experiment, you
will probably thrust the pencil against the side of the
third finger, which is now on the outside of the hand.
Explain this little mistake.
Exercise No. 5. With eyes closed, place several ob-
jects, promiscuously and separated, upon a table. The
eyes still being closed, move the right hand lightly over
the objects and endeavor to estimate the several distances
which separate them. Do not measure by length of hand
or finger. Repeat the exercise with the left hand. Keep
the question in mind : which hand is more nearly correct
in judgment. Repeat every day for ten days, with rest,
and on the tenth day note improvement.
Exercise No. 6. While your eyes are closed, ask a
friend to present to you, so that you can examine by
touch alone, but not by taking in your hand, several small
objects, one after another. Now try to determine what
the articles are. Examples : small onion, small potato,
flower bulb, piece of dry putty, piece of amber, piece of
wax ; or some sugar, sand, ground pepper, salt, etc.
Repeat every day for ten days, with rest, and on the tenth
day note improvement.
Exercise No. 7. Procure small blocks of any ma-
terial— wood, iron — round in shape, and of exactly the
same size, but differing slightly in weight. Say two blocks
weigh each i ounce, two i^ ounces each, two 2 ounces
each, and so on to a dozen, always having two blocks of
the same weight. Let the weights be stamped or written
on one side of the blocks only.
Place them promiscuously on a table, blank side up.
Close the eyes and at random pick up one block and then
a second, using the same hand. Determine by " feel "
154 Exercises in Touch.
whether the weights so picked up are equal or not. Esti-
mate the weights in each experiment. Repeat with the
left hand. Repeat with both hands, used alternately.
Repeat the experiment in all cases many times. Con-
tinue every day for ten days, with rest, and on the tenth
day note improvement in judgment.
Exercise No. 8. Procure twenty-four small wooden
models of crystals, cut from blocks about three inches
square. Throw them promiscuously all at once upon a
table. With eyes closed, take one in the hand and ob-
serve the mental picture that arises by the sense of touch.
Count the faces, lines, angles. Now open the eyes and
note the difference between this mental picture and the
reality. This experiment will be difficult because you are
not familiar with the forms of crystals, and judgment is
left to touch alone. To assist, therefore, look at the crys-
tal models until you are able to shut the eyes and per-
ceive with the eye of the mind the form just examined.
Repeat every day for ten days, with rest, and on the tenth
day note improvement in judgment.
Exercise No. g. Place a model before you. Now
think of a number of bullets, and, while looking intently
at the model, try mentally to arrange the bullets in such a
way as to build up the outlines of the form of the model.
Repeat every day for ten days, with rest, and on the tenth
day note improvement.
Exercise No. 10. Draw outlines of the models on
paper, without shading. Now gaze steadily at any out-
line and try to fill out in the mind the solid contents of
the model. This requires steadiness of thought and co-
herence and vividness of imagination. It is therefore
difficult, but can be accomplished by persistent effort.
The Soul's "Open Sesame" ts Purpose. 155
The strong Will gives the soul power to see solid mental
pictures. The endeavor so to see will develop the Will
itself. Repeat every day for ten days, with rest, and on
the tenth day note improvement.
The last two exercises do not directly involve touch,
but readily associate therewith in cultivation of ideas of
form. With those that precede them they require keen
attention, which is a secondary end in all these pages.
No one can master his power of attention without acquir-
ing the masterful Will.
Exercise No. n. When you shake hands with
people, note in their grasp any index of their character
that may be suggested. Cultivate the gently-firm grasp.
Instantly rebuke the bone-crusher ; he has a vice whick
needs destruction. Is the touch of some hands disagree-
able to you ? Note in what particulars. Be not ruled by
that aversion, but seek such hands, and resolve to throw
off the feeling. This may be useful to you in the " con-
trol of others." The effort to overcome an aversion al-
ways develops Will. Determine that nothing which you
must touch more or less habitually shall control the sen-
sation which it produces. Let this aversion be a type of
all tyrannous aversions. Such an aversion means the in-
ability of a small mind to divert its attention. The really
large soul masters irritations and dislikes. But the guide
and controller here is Will. Every aversion conquered
signifies power of Will increased.
" I RESOLVE TO WILL 1 ATTENTION ! 1 "
HARMONY.
The mighty whirl of suns and stars
With infinite complexity
Goes ever on. Inflexibly
Law crushes discord's evil wars.
Inflexibly (no less) law links
The vaster movements and the small
Together in harmonic thrall:
Thus evil into welfare shrinks.
Obey ! Not as the slave who hates,
But as the son who loves the sires
So shall the Cosmos life inspire
Worthy high toil — and higher fates /
— THE AUTHOR.
CHAPTER XIV.
EXERCISES FOR THE NERVES.
TANDING at the centre of the universe, a
thousand forces come rushing in to report
themselves to the sensitive soul-centre. There
is a nerve in man that runs out to every room and realm
in the universe.
" Man's mechanism stands at the centre of the uni-
verse with telegraph-lines extending in every direction.
It is a marvelous pilgrimage he is making through life
while myriad influences stream in upon him.
" Some Faraday shows us that each drop of water is
a sheath for electric forces sufficient to charge 800,000
Leyden jars, or drive an engine from Liverpool to London.
Some Sir William Thomson tells us how hydrogen gas
will chew up a large iron spike as a child's molars will chew
off the end of a stick of candy." — Newell Dwight Hillis.
THEORY OF THIS CHAPTER.
Cessation of unnecessary motion conserves force ; ' •
Control of nerves tones up body and mind, and increases
the sum total of personal power ;
Habituated control of nervous energy exercises and
therefore strengthens and regulates the Will,
PRELIMINARY.
Sir Michael Foster once said : " When physiology is
dealing with those parts of the body which we call muscular,
158 Exercises for the Nerves.
vascular, glandular tissues, and the like, rightly handled,
she points out the way, not only to mend that which is
hurt, to repair the damages of bad usage and disease, but
so to train the growing tissues and to guide the grown
ones as that the best use may be made of them for the
purposes of life. She not only heals ; she governs and
educates. Nor does she do otherwise when she comes to
deal with the nervous tissues. Nay, it is the very prerog-
ative of these nervous tissues that their life is, above that
of all the other tissues, contingent on the environment
and susceptibility to education."
We are conscious of sensations apprehended through
the various sense-organs. But we are possessed of what
is called "general consciousness." One may discover
this by sitting a little time in a room that is perfectly still.
The general testimony of the nervous system will then be
perceived. The movement of the heart may be felt ; the
breathing may become audible ; a murmur may perhaps
be noticed in the ears ; a general feeling of warmth or
coolness will be observable. You are alive ! You are
aware of yourself in a physical sense. You are conscious
in particular spots, to be sure, but in a general way also
over almost the entire body. With this " general con-
sciousness" we begin the exercises of the present chap-
ter. They are important. Do not slight them.
REGIMES.
Exercise No. i. Attend to this " general conscious-
ness " a few moments. Sit quietly, exclude from the
mind all external matters, and take cognizance of the
whole body. Put your entire thought upon this one
thing ; it will be difficult, for you will desire to think of a
thousand foreign things ; but it can be done by persist-
ence and patient willing. Now write out every fact that
Ethereal Force Awaits Control. 159
makes itself known to you by the testimony of the body.
Repeat every day for ten days, with rest of two days. On
the tenth day compare the records. Observe the sum
total of facts made known. Note also any improvement
in power of attending to "general consciousness" and
reports of facts or sensations.
Exercise No. 2. Sitting quietly in a room which is
undisturbed, attend as before a few moments to " general
consciousness." Now throw consciousness to some par-
ticular part of the body. Let it be the arm from hand to
elbow. Put the whole mind there. Exclude all sensa-
tions except those that arise there. What are the reports ?
Write these facts for reference.
Repeat this exercise with the hand. With the shoul-
der. With the back. With the foot. And so on, with
different parts of the body. Always get at the facts testi-
fied by consciousness.
Repeat this exercise with the head. Now attend
wholly to hearing — not to sounds, but to the sensation
of hearing — in the ears. Again, give undivided attention
to sight : let the whole mind be at the eyes, not on the
objects of vision.
Now press upon some spot in the body, say, the back
of a hand, or on one cheek, and, while doing so, locate
attention at some other spot so resolutely as to forget the
sensation of pressure. Write the results in each case.
Repeat every day for ten days with rest. On the tenth
day compare the records and note the sum total of facts
reported, together with any improvement in number of
facts observed and power of attention gained.
Exercise No. j. Walk about the room slowly and
quietly, keeping the mind wholly upon ' ' general conscious-
160 Exercises for the Serves,
ness." Now rest a moment. Repeat — always retaining
your hold on consciousness, never allowing it to wander
— ten times. Make a record of the most prominent facts
reported. Repeat every day for ten days, with rest. On
the tenth day compare the records and note results as
before.
Exercise No. 4. Stand erect in a quiet room, and
pass through a regular series of exercises without weights.
(a) Move the right arm, slowly and evenly, directly
up from the shoulder, six times. Keep your mind on the
work.
(£) From the shoulder, directly out in front, six times.
(c) From the shoulder, directly out to the right, six
times.
(d) With the right hand at arm's length above the
shoulder, swing the whole arm in a semi-circle, arm straight,
directly down in front, bringing hand to leg, without
bending the body, six times.
(e) From the original position down to the right side
of leg, six times.
(/) With the right arm extended at the right side
straight out from the shoulder, swing it around in front
until the hand is directly before the face, six times.
(g) With the right hand and arm, reverse all the above
movements.
(K) Repeat the same movements with the left hand,
six times.
(/) With the left hand and arm, reverse all the
movements.
Remember : these movements must be made deliber-
ately and slowly. Attend to each exercise with the whole
mind. Do not permit wandering thoughts. Put the
entire thought of yourself into every act. Be wholly con-
Ethereal Force Awaits Control. 161
scious of what you are doing. Above all, keep the sense
of willing present during each movement. Thrust the
Will out into the very muscles.
Repeat every day for ten days, with rest. Or indefi-
nitely.
(1) Exercise No. jr. Stand erect in a quiet room.
Without supporting yourself with the hands, swing the
right foot directly out in front as far as possible while
retaining the balance of the body. Return it to the floor
in former position. Make these movements deliberately
and slowly, six times.
(2) Swing right foot out to right, sidewise. Return
to former position, six times.
(3) Swing right foot out in front, around to right,
back to position, six times.
(4) Swing right foot back and out and up as far as
possible, preserving balance. Return to position, six times.
(5) Swing right foot back as before, around in a
semi-circle past right side, back to position, six times.
(6) Reverse each movement with right foot, six times.
(7) Repeat all movements with left foot, six times.
(8) Repeat these exercises every day for ten days,
with rest.
The work here suggested must be performed with
great vigor, yet slowly and deliberately, with intense
thoughtfulness.
(a) Exercise No. 6. Stand erect in a quiet room.
Look straight ahead. Slowly turn the face far around to
the right, and return, six times.
(£) Look ahead. Turn the face slowly to the left,
and return, six times.
(f) Bend the head slowly back as far as possible, and
return, six times.
162 Exercises for the Nerves.
(d) Bend the head slowly forward and down, as far
as possible, and return, six times.
(e) Drop the head forward on the chest. Slowly
swing it to the right, in a circle up to the right, to the left
backward down and back to the left shoulder, to the right
in a circle down to former position, six times.
(/) Drop the head back between the shoulders.
Swing it, to the right up in a circle to the right shoulder,
to the left down around in front and up to the left shoulder,
to the right down and back to former position, six times.
(g) Repeat all exercises every day for ten days, with
rest.
(1) Exercise No. 7. Stand erect in a quiet room.
With the mind upon the act, slowly lift the right shoulder
up as far as possible, and return in like manner to natural
position, six times.
(2) Repeat with the left shoulder, six times.
Repeat the exercises ten times for ten days, with rest.
(a) Exercise No. 8. Stand erect in a quiet room. With-
out moving the feet, twist the body slowly around as far as
possible, to the right, then to the left. Practise six times.
(b) Stand erect, hands hanging prone at the sides.
Bend the body at the hips ; straightforward and down in
front ; to the right ; to the left. Practise six times.
(<r) Repeat the exercises every day for ten days, with
rest, as above.
These exercises are designed to be suggestive. They
can be varied. Nevertheless, an order should be deter-
mined upon and rigidly followed. Perform all acts slowly,
deliberately, with the mind intently fixed upon the move-
ment. Keep the Will-idea present. Throw this thought
into the limbs and muscles : " I RESOLVE TO WILL 1
ATTENTION ! ! "
Ethereal Force Awaits Control, 163
(1) Exercise No. g. Stand erect. Concentrate thought
upon self. Now let the mind affirm, quietly, resolutely,
without wandering : " I am receiving helpful forces I I
am open to all good influences ! Streams of power for
body and mind are flowing in ! All is well ! ! " Repeat
these and similar assertions calmly yet forcibly many
times. Do not be passive. Keep the sense of willing
strongly at the fore. Will to be in the best possible moral
condition. Rise to the mood of the three-fold health : —
of body, of mind, of soul.
(2) Continue this exercise fifteen minutes, with brief
intervals of rest, at least every morning of your life.
(3) Whenever worried or perplexed or weary, go into
this assertive mood and welcome the forces of the good.
These directions if followed will prove of priceless value
to you.
(a) Exercise No. 10. Stand erect. Summons a sense
of resolution. Throw Will into the act of standing.
Absorbed in self, think calmly but with power these words :
" I am standing erect. All is well ! I am conscious of
nothing but good ! " Attaining the Mood indicated, walk
slowly and deliberately about the room. Do not strut.
Be natural, yet encourage a sense of forcefulness. Rest
in a chair. Repeat, with rests, fifteen minutes.
(b) Repeat every day indefinitely.
(1) Exercise No. n. Stand erect. In the same Mood
of Will, advance slowly to a table and take a book in the
hand, or move a chair, or go to the window and look out.
Every act must be a willed act, and full of Will.
(2) Repeat fifteen minutes with at least six different
objects.
(3) Continue the exercises indefinitely.
164 Exercises for the Nerves.
(a) Exercise No. 12. After a moment's rest, deliber-
ately walk to a chair and be seated. Force Will into the
act. Do not lop down. Do not seat yourself awkwardly.
Do not sit stiffly, but easily, yet erect. Now, with the
whole mind on the act of getting up, slowly rise. Try to
be graceful, try to be natural, for Will may add grace to
nature. Cultivate the erect posture, whether sitting,
standing or walking. Cultivate the vital sense in all
movements. By the vital sense is meant the feeling, " I
am alive ! Splendidly alive ! " If you are thin-blooded,
dyspeptic and nervous, this may at first be difficult, but
it will help you greatly.
(£) Repeat fifteen minutes.
(c) Continue indefinitely.
Exercise No. 13. The nervous system is very apt to
become a tyrant. When it is shattered, or overtaxed,
rest and a physician are imperative demands. But many
people who regard themselves as well are subject to its
tyranny. This may be due in part to a want of self-
control. The following directions may appear to be ab-
surd ; nevertheless, they suggest a way out of some nervous
difficulties :
Sometimes, when you are restive, you experience,
x>n retiring, "creeping" sensations in the hair of your
head ; the back of your neck " tickles ;" a needle is sud-
denly thrust into your arm, or a feather seems to be roam-
ing here and there over your physiology. Distracted and
robbed of sleep, one spot is slapped, another is pinched,
another rubbed, while slumber merely "hangs around."
How long is this torture to continue ? So long as, and
no longer than, you permit. Why should one be thus
pestered ? One needs not to be. It is simply a matter
of Will and persistence. If you have practised the sug-
Ethereal Force Awaits Control. 165
gestions relating to attention and abstraction, you have
already acquired power over your nerves by the dominance
of mind. In regard to all such matters, therefore, culti-
vate the ability to turn the mind elsewhere. So long as
one slaps and rubs and pinches, so long will sensations
diabolic continue. Cultivate indifference to the fly by
ignoring it. Do not think about it at all. Put the mind
upon some important and absorbing subject of interest.
Will that a particular "tickle" shall appear at some other
place, making choice of the exact spot ; it will obey, and
meanwhile you will forget it. If it does not, will it from
one place to another, and finally will that it shall vanish ;
it will certainly obey in the end. Similarly with regard
to any other distracting " feeling."
As a matter of fact everyone exerts such self-control
in a thousand instances daily. The clock's ticking is
unnoticed ; the railway train is not heard ; the huckster's
voice is not perceived ; cattle low, and birds sing, and
children shout, and a city roars, while the mind continues
unmindful. Busy men who are surrounded by dense
populations, and residents of Niagara, hear neither the
" indistinguishable babble " of life nor the thunder of
Nature. Shakespeare has said :
" The crow doth sing as sweetly as the lark
When neither is attended; and, I think,
The nightingale, if she should sing by day,
When every goose is cackling, would be thought
No better a musician than the wren."
The accustomed ear is deaf to the world. But the
Will hides behind the tympanum to make custom its
beneficent muffler.
" I RESOLVE TO WILL ! ATTENTION ! 1 "
THE HAND.
Wisdom designed it,
Struggle divined it,
Ages refined it.
Low life refused it,
Brute life abused it,
Spirit life used it
Reason restrained it.
Discipline trained it,
Art, the king, gained it.
Put, then, thy Will in it,
Show the mind's skill in if,
Selfhood fulfil. in it.
— TH» AUTHOR
CHAPTER XV.
EXERCISES FOR THE HANDS.
AM, and have been, any time these thirty
years, a man who works with his hands — a
handicraftsman. If the most nimble-fingered
watch-maker among you will come to my workshop, he
may set me to put a watch together, and I will set him to
dissect, say, a blackbeetle's nerves. I do not wish to
vaunt, but I am inclined to think that I shall manage my
job to his satisfaction sooner than he will do his piece of
work to mine." — Thos. H. Huxley.
THEORY OF THIS CHAPTER.
The hand, mind's execute organ ;
The consequent need of a perfect executor ;
Culture of mind through mastery of hands ;
Enormous reaction upon Will-power of culture of mind
resolutely determined in manual training.
The hands are said to indicate, in a general way, the
nature of their owner. The so-called " science of palmis-
try" is based on the inner lines of the hand, and the
delicate curving lines of the finger-ends are now observed
in prison studies for the identification of criminals. Yet
few people know their own hands. This is because few
people really understand the one condition of all knowl-
edge, attention.
Nevertheless, the hand is one of the most perfect and
168 Exercises for the Hands.
obedient of servants. Industry, invention,* science, art,
reveal the range of its nobility, according to the soul be-
hind it. To the ditch-digger it may be a claw only ; to
the painter and sculptor an instrument of creative power.
A catapult or a wound-dresser, a sword-wielder or a
swayer of the pen, a food producer or a mind-revealer, a
tool or an instrument of the noblest humanity, the hand is
servant and king among the senses, an index of spirit-
values, a prophet of all the future.
PRELIMINARY.
The hand is the executive organ of the body.
As the body is the instrument of mind, the hand,
therefore, becomes mind's chief officer in life.
The savage wills to procure flesh for food : the out-
come is the spear, the bow and arrow, the hook and net.
The hunter wills a permanent shelter : the outcome
is the hammer, the axe, the saw, the trowel, nails and
various building materials.
The house-dweller wills agriculture : the outcome is
the spade, the pickaxe, the shovel, the hoe, the plow, the
rake, the sickle, scythe, cradle, mower, reaper, thresher,
mill.
The farmer wills education : the outcome is pen, ink
and paper, the printing-press, the laboratory, the micro-
scope and telescope, the library, the school and college.
The educated soul wills art : the outcome is the
chisel and mallet, the brush and pallet, the canvas and
the museum.
The artistic mind wills music : the outcome is the
reed, string, horn — orchestral talent.
These all will government : the outcome is the throne
and sceptre, the constitution, the court and council-rooms,
the sword, gun, treaty.
The King Must Also Serve. 169
Man wills religion : the outcome is the altar, the
Book, the Church, the Rubric ; the Concrete Philanthropy
of Soul.
Every single step in this long journey, the hand has
been omnipresent as the Executive of the Conquering Will.
Training of the hand always reacts upon the growing
mind. It may become a medium by which to culture the
soul and develop the Will. Like Will — like hand. But
as well, like hand — like Will. Whoever puts his whole
hand to the growth of Will-power, has power of will wholly
in hand.
REGIMES.
The following should be practised :
(a) Exercise No. i. Examine the hands carefully.
Get acquainted with them. Note their peculiarities, so
intently and thoughtfully that you can form a mental
picture of them with closed eyes.
(£) Slowly move the limp ringers of the right hand to-
ward the palm until they touch it, and return in the same
manner, six times.
(f) Repeat while bringing the thumb in the same
manner under to meet the fingers six times.
(</) Repeat with stiffened muscles, each exercise
above, six times.
(<?) With hand extended, open, slowly spread fingers
and thumb from one another, and return to touch, six
times.
(/) Repeat all exercises with the left hand, six times.
(£•) Repeat every day for ten days, with rest of two
days.
What is the value of these directions ? None at all,
unless you think, and above everything else, put Will
into each movement.
170 Exercises for the Hands.
(1) Exercise No. 3. Saw off six inches of an old
broom-handle. Stand erect. Fill the lungs. With the
right hand held straight out in front and at arm's length,
grasp the piece of wood, and slowly and gradually grip
the same, beginning with light pressure and increasing to
the limit of strength. Repeat six times.
(2) Repeat with the arm straight out at the right side,
six times.
(3) Repeat with the arm straight up from the right
shoulder, six times.
(4) Repeat with the arm prone at the right side, six
times.
(5) Repeat with the arm straight back from right
side, and held up as far as possible, six times.
(6) Now exercise the left hand in the same manner,
following the order above indicated. The exercises may
be alternated between the right hand and the left. Exam-
ple : Entire exercise with right hand ; same with left,
twelve times. Also, each part of exercise with right and
left hands, twelve times.
Remember, the lungs should be inflated during each
movement, and a slight rest should be indulged from
time to time. Above all, a sense of Will must be kept
strongly in mind.
(7) Repeat every day for ten days, with rest of two
days.
(a) Exercise No. j. Procure a spring-balance weigh-
ing scale, registering ten or twelve pounds. Insert the
broomhandle in ring. Drive a nail into a table, the length
of the balance from the edge, and enough more to permit
the thumb of the hand grasping the wood to curve under
the table edge and cling. Now throw the balance-hook
over the nail, grasp the wood with fingers of right hand,
The King Must Also Serve. 171
thumb under table edge, and by finger movement only
(do not pull with the arm) draw on the balance as hard
as possible. The balance-hook must pull on nail far
enough from the edge of the table to prevent the fingers
while drawing as suggested from quite touching the palm
of the hand.
(b) Repeat, with intervals of rest, six times.
(f) Make a dated record of pull indicated in pounds
and fractions, mark right hand, and preserve.
(</) Repeat with the left hand, six times.
(e) Continue every day for ten days, with rest.
On the tenth day, compare records and note progress.
In this work, never fail an instant to put Will into
each movement
In particular, note, from time to time, whether or
not you can increase pulling power of fingers by sheer
exercise of Will. Observe which hand registers greater
improvement in given time.
(1) Exercise No. 4. Rest two days from the tenth
day. Repeat the above exercises with right and left hands
alternately, six times in all, while some one is playing
upon any good instrument a strong and rapid musical
composition. Make record as before.
(2) Continue for ten days, with rest. Summons con-
stantly a feeling of the greatest resolution possible, during
all movements.
On the tenth day, compare records and note im-
provement in each hand. Observe which hand has now
made the greatest improvement.
Observe especially whether music has seemed to in-
crease Will-power. Explain that fact.
(a) Exercise No. 5. Imagine that you hold a revolver
in the right hand. Now think of pulling the trigger.
172 Exercises for the Hands.
Throw a sense of great energy into the finger, but do not
move it. Now hold the breath and repeat the imaginary
act. Do you feel energy in the finger as before ? Re-
solve to do so. Will mightily to that end.
(b) Repeat with all fingers in turn. Right hand.
Left hand. Six times.
(c) Repeat for ten days. Observe final improve-
ment.
Exercise No. 6. Set the hands to the learning of
some useful mechanical trade — the skillful use of various
tools, as carving, engraving, cabinet making. If already
so employed, take up some musical instrument, or drawing,
or painting. Resolve to master one thing ! Persist un-
til the goal is yours.
Exercise No. 7. Strive to cultivate and maintain a
feeling of nice and confident skill while engaged in any
manual work, as advised in '•'•Business Power" under the
caption, " Skilled Craftsmanship." " The idea is a sense
in consciousness of nicety, delicacy, perfection, in every
member of the body, used at any time. This gives har-
mony between the conscious and the deeper or subcon-
scious self — a harmony always needful to the best work.
One man is the ' bull in the china closet ;' another is deft-
ness itself. As a matter of fact, the most skillful persons
possess this consciousness without being particularly
aware of it."
Exercise No. 8. " The best results demand a man's
best conscious powers on the matter in hand. You are
urged to multiply yourself into what you do. But in
doing a thing skillfully, having the skilled feeling devel-
oped, you really depend on the acquired habits and
ability which previous thought has ' bedded down ' in the
deeper self. You should, therefore, remember that the
The Xing Must Also Serve. 173
trained deeper self may be trusted. Oftentimes, when
your ordinary thinking becomes over-anxious or ' flurried, '
you confuse your own skill. Some things which we do
perfectly without conscious effort, we immediately ' muss
up ' if we try carefully to attend to all details. Do not
permit the hurried feeling to take possession of your
nerves. When such feeling does occur, quiet yourself by
an act of Will ; turn, if necessary, to other work for a
time, and thus prevent the habit of unsteadiness of spirit
and body, so obviating ' hair-trigger ' conditions and a
thousand blunders."
Exercise No. p. Above all, never permit yourself to
be pushed in your work beyond a pace consistent with
the best results. A young woman was engaged in con-
structing a very decorative piece of lettering and border-
ing, the subjects being the " Creed " of the author and
"The Ten Golden Laws." In her haste to meet his
wishes on time, she pushed herself just beyond her nor-
mal skill and correctness. The result was two rather
serious errors which called for laborious revision. Here
we see the fact of unsteadiness both of hand and mind.
Remember, when the mind is steady the hand is almost
sure to follow that condition.
These exercises may be continued with profit, pro-
vided the idea of Will is everlastingly borne in mind.
BUBBLES.
Bubbles, filmy, evanescent,
Never a moment quite quiescent
Save when day's ethereal breath
Darks their rainbow hues in death
Bubbles, surface ebulitions,
Born of alien attritions;
Rocks at bed and shores at side,
Jealous of the far-off tide.
Soul, thy many souls elusive
Sphere the outer life obtrusive:
Films diaphanous emerge
Where frets hinder, small things urge.
Seek the large life quintessential,
Holding self all reverential.'
Seek thy sea. majestic, vast,
Where the steady stars are glassed.
Sea? Thou art the sea, ne'er river,
Power within is thy life's giver;
Peace be thine on stormless deeps !
Peace whose power thy selfhood keeps.
— THB AUTHO*.
CHAPTER XVI.
EXERCISES IN STEADINESS.
JHE most interesting fact about these experi-
ments in steadiness is that the Will is to
have a steady position, but the execution is
defective. As the Will is exerted the steadiness of
position is increased. This is sometimes so marked as to
be visible to the eye directly. I have seen the scalpel
tremble in a surgeon's hand so that a serious accident ap-
peared inevitable ; yet when the supreme moment came
the hand guided the knife with admirable steadiness." —
Prof. E. W. Scripture.
THEORY OF THIS CHAPTER.
Physical quietness conducive to self-control ;
Self-control the generator of energy ;
Regulation of energy a dynamo of Will.
The importance of steady nerves is everywhere ap-
parent The unsteady duelist is doomed. The nervous
surgeon acquires small practice. The trembling pen
writes a crabbed " hand." The agitated speaker loses
his audience. Great undertakings frequently require per-
fect mastery of the body — in games, in business, in
national affairs. The ninth inning of an even game of
ball will largely depend upon Will and self-control When
the engineer of a fast mail train cannot " hold himself up "
to a mile a minute, he must give way to a better man.
176 Exercises in Steadiness.
Diplomacy, in trade, politics and international councils,
demands the impassive face. The movement of an eye-
lash often involves the destinies of life and of war.
Under fierce provocation men sometimes find the
nerves giving way to pressure of anger or fear ; the soul
then commands itself : " Steady, now ! Steady !" Body
responds to conditions of mind. If mind is a-tremble,
nerves reveal the fact. The panic of fear sets the nervous
system on the edge of collapse, resulting, unless mastered,
in the stampede of a western ranch or the tumultuous
rout of a Bull Run battle. The controlling and fearless
man is one who is " nerved " to the situation. The value
of attention to steadiness is thus indicated. Such value
has a physical relation through mind ; but it may also
affect mind through body.
PRELIMINARY.
Of course " trembly " nerves which are the result of
disease require medical treatment. But this trembling
may frequently be overcome by intelligent practice and
determined Will. In the end any such practice must tend
to increase the power of Will itself. Dr. Scripture asks :
"Can steadiness be increased by practice? This
problem can be answered in respect to the hand." And,
after records of experiments, he says :
" The question of the possibility of gaining in steadi-
ness by practice is thus definitely settled."
The chief object of the following suggestions is
growth of Will. Hence, Will must always be present in
the movements directed. Let the mind constantly affirm :
"Attention! I resolve to will! I am wholly engaged in
willing this act/" REGIMES
(<z) Exercise No. i. Stand erect. Breathe naturally.
In the most resolute mood possible stand perfectly still
Nerve Leakage Saps the Brain. 177
while counting one hundred at a moderate rate. There
should be no movements except those of breathing and
winking. Do not stare. Do not permit thefaody to sway.
Stand firmly, but naturally. Relax and rest one hundred
counts. Repeat, with rests, six times.
(£) Be seated, erect, but in an easy posture. Re-
main perfectly quiet as above directed while you count
one hundred. Rest as before. Repeat with rests, six
times.
(f) Repeat above exercises every day for ten days,
with rest of two days. The time suggested is merely an
example ; practice may well be continued indefinitely.
(1) Exercise No. 2. Stand erect. Breathe and wink
naturally. Fix the eyes upon some small object on the
wall of your room, say a nail-head or the corner of a pic-
ture, or a round spot made with a pencil, and large
enough to be seen at a distance of eight feet. Place the
tip of the forefinger of the right hand, palm toward face,
directly on a line running from the right eye to such ob-
ject or spot. Slowly move the hand, palm toward the
face, from your body along such imaginary line, keeping
the tip of finger rigidly thereon, until the arm is fully ex-
tended, and return to original position in the same man-
ner — six times.
(2) Repeat with edge of hand toward face, six times.
(3) Repeat with back of hand toward face, six times.
(4) Repeat, shutting thumb and first finger, with
second finger, six times.
(5) Repeat with each of the remaining fingers as
above suggested, six times.
(6) Repeat with the fingers of the left hand.
(7) Continue these exercises every day for ten days,
with rest.
178 Exercises in Steadiness.
(a) Exercise No, j. Stand erect. Extend the right
arm, limp, at full length, pointing with the forefinger.
Move the whole limp arm, slowly and evenly, from left to
right, so as to describe a perfect circle of several feet dia-
meter, drawing it with the finger. Six times. Not too
rapidly. Do not jerk. Control trembling and unevenness
of movement.
(b) Reverse, six times.
(c) Repeat with arm stiffened, and reverse, six
times.
(</) Move the limp left arm from left to right, run-
ning tip of finger along an imaginary line as diameter of
the circle, six times.
(e) Reverse, six times.
(/) Repeat with stiffened arm, six times. Reverse,
six times.
(g) Repeat with right arm limp, from right to left, on
a straight line, six times ; stiffened arm, six times.
(X) Reverse, six times.
(/) Repeat and reverse with left arm limp.
(/) Repeat and reverse with right arm stiffened, six
times. Left arm, six times.
(£) Move limp arm — right arm — down perpendic-
ularly, running finger down a line from upper to lower
curve of circle, six times.
(/) Reverse, six times.
(m) Repeat with stiffened right arm, six times, re-
versing, six times.
(«) Repeat exercises with left arm and hand.
(0) Continue for ten days, with rest.
(1) Exercise No. 4. Assume any position with the
entire body, or any part. Maintain it steadily while
counting one hundred. Rest. Repeat six times.
Nerve Leakage Saps the Brain. 179
(2) Repeat with various other positions, each six
times, for ten days.
(3) During all this practice, the mind must not be
permitted to wander in the least. You must think every
act intently. Put the Will-sense into all movements.
The eyes must follow the lines suggested. The head
should not move with the arms. Throw the Will into
the end of the finger. Maintain always the resolute
mood. Remember the goal.
" He who is incapable of controlling his muscles,"
said Maudsley, "is incapable of attention."
Exercise No. 5*. This exercise should be observed
during life. Acquire the habit of physical quietness while
the body is mainly at rest. Whether sitting or standing
eliminate all unnecessary movements of hands, fingers,
legs, feet, eyes, lips. A nervous youth who was subject
to twitching of the hands and features, was cured by the
threat of an old sea-captain, with whom he made a long
voyage, that he would flog him unless the habit was mas-
tered. Fear aroused the Will. Set your Will to the con-
trol of such movements. In order thereto, practise stated
periods of sitting and standing while thinking of these
motions but resolutely forbidding them. Set regular
hours for this exercise, varied in position, in the morning,
fifteen minutes. Always practise when weary or nervous.
Put into the exercise great strength but calmness of Will.
A striking suggestion of your power in this direction
may be seen in the following paragraph :
In the Life of Dr. Elisha Kane, the famous Arctic
explorer, his biographer says : " I asked him for the best
proved instance that he knew of the soul's power over the
body. He paused a moment upon my question as if to
feel how it was put, and then answered as with a spring :
180 Exercises in Steadiness.
'The soul can lift the body out of its boots, sir ! When
our captain was dying — I say dying ; I have seen scurvy
enough to know — every old scar in his body a running
ulcer. I never saw a case so bad that either lived or died.
Men die of it, usually, long before they are as ill as he
was. There was trouble aboard. There might be mutiny
so soon as the breath was out of his body. We might be
at each others' throats. I felt that he owed the repose of
dying to the service. I went down to his bunk, and
shouted in his ear, ' Mutiny ! Captain ! Mutiny ! ' He
shook off the cadaverous stupor. ' Set me up ! ' said he,
* and order these fellows before me ! ' He heard the com-
plaint, ordered punishment, and from that hour conva-
lesced.'"
Exercise No. 6. The surest steadiness of nerves and
muscles must come from poise of soul and tone of health.
You can acquire the first if you will take a few minutes
each day for absolute quietness of mind and body, shut-
ting out all ideas of hurry, worry, business and activity of
every kind, thinking intensely of, and asserting that you
are now in, a state of perfect mental poise.
The tone of health is provided for in the following
chapter and in "Power For Success." A self-controlled,
vigorous person should possess steadiness of nerves,
though occasions may arise in which the Will must be
called on for assertion of existing power. Edward Car-
penter tells a strong story in "The Art of Creation"
which illustrates the value of great physical vigor on
emergency, and suggests what general poise plus power
of Will may achieve under psychic stress equal to that of
the freezing conditions referred to in the incident.
" I knew a miner from Manitoba — and a good
wholesome man he was — who told me that one night a
Nerve Leakage Saps the Brain. 181
stranger knocked at the door of his log-cabin on the edge
of Lake Superior and begged help, saying that he and a
companion had been crossing the lake on the ice, and
that the companion had given out. He who had knocked
at the door had come on alone for assistance. My friend
picked up a lantern, and the two hurried down across the
ice. The night was very cold and dark, but after some
searching they found the man. He was lying stretched
frozen and 'stiff as a log.' They picked him up and
carried him back to the cabin, and sat up all night and
into the next day continually rubbing and chafing his
body. At last he came to and made a complete recovery,
and in a few days — except for some marks of frost-bite
on his skin — showed no sign of damage. Surely that
was a holy man, in whom the frost, though it went right
through his body, could find no sin."
A " holy " man is a whole man, and the latter pos-
sesses nerves and physical tone equal to all demands —
as should be true of every human who is king (or queen)
in the inner and the outer life. For when you are " holy,"
whole, sound, you command both body and mind.
HEALTH.
The sea, the pine, the stars, the forest deep
Bequeath to me their subtle wealth.
Or still days brood, or rough winds round me sweep,
Mine is the earth-man's vibrant health:
All things for love of me their vigils keep —
/ have the health, the wealth.
Run, sea, in my heart!
Pine, sing in my heart /
Stars, glow in my heart /
For ye are mine, and my soul,
Like ye, is a part
Of the wonderful Whole.
TTiere 's no thing dear to me is not my wealth,
No life that seeks me I would distant keep y
For swift possession is my earth-man's health
Or still days brood, or rough winds round me sweep —
I have the health, the wealth.
— THE AUTHOR.
CHAPTER XVII.
GENERAL HEALTH.
ARRYING any business or study in the mind
all the time, day and night, morning and
evening, does not really advance that busi-
ness so much as forgetting it at intervals and letting the
mind rest, as you allow your muscles to rest after any
physical exertion. Mind allowed to rest gains new ideas
and new force to carry out ideas.
" What is the remedy ? More recreation. More
variety of occupation. More selves in our one self. To
attain the highest and happiest life we need to have two,
and possibly three, if not four lives in one — to be mer-
chant in the morning and artist or yachtman or something
else in the afternoon, and in the second life forget for the
time all about the first, and in such forgetfulness rest the
first life or set of faculties, recuperate them, refresh them,
and go back to business, or art, or science, or any occupa-
tion, next day, with more force, plan, idea, thought to put
in it." — Prentice Mulford.
THEORY OF THIS CHAPTER.
State of Will depends upon condition of physical health ;
Physical health is a goal of science, and is reached
through the resolute and persistent Will ;
Every rule of health deliberately followed becomes a
developer of Will-power.
The momentum of a well person thrown into Will-
culture is enormous, and is certain of great attainments.
184 General Health.
A condition of general health is of paramount im-
portance to development of Will. In a sense, Will-power
is emphatic personality, and the emphasis of personal
resolution, which is the strong Will, depends largely upon
physical conditions. There are great Wills in feeble
bodies, but this is probably the exception. The influence
of pain, discouragement, invalidism, upon our power of
willing, is well known. Ordinarily a man's average power
of Will is determined by his average of health. " Hence
vigorous self-determination depends upon plentiful and
wholesome blood supply, or ultimately upon good food
well digested and good air well inhaled. The secret of
energy, and even of ethics, in the last analysis, is largely
in sound digestion and good ventilation. Lessen or viti-
ate the supply of blood, and you may produce any desired
degree of inaction and helplessness. On the contrary,
cerebral congestion in a vigorous person (as in the insane)
may generate tremendous outbursts of muscular activity
and stern resolution."
Undoubtedly the mind exercises a great influence
over the body, and when sufficient Will-power can be
mustered to banish fear and nervousness, and to summons
a strong psychic condition, certain forms of ailing or dis-
ease may be benefited or even cured. " Will to be well !
This, strictly speaking, is the ' mind cure '; is potent in
nerve diseases, and is not useless in other maladies."
Every intelligent physician understands this and seeks to
cultivate in his patients the helpful, assertive and hopeful
mood of mind. " A strong motive to live positively keeps
some people alive," said a noted Scotch physician.
But mind is influenced by body. Frequently such
influence masters the soul before Will can be summoned,
and to such a degree that the necessary sense of Will can
no more be put forth than a determination to perform a
A Temple for Emphatic Personality. 185
physical or religious miracle. Hence, the best advice of
common sense in regard to health would attempt to com-
bine these forces of nature — proper attention to physical
conditions, a resolute state of Will, and tried and proved
medical practice. But see Rule 14 below.
" Nevertheless, it is important fully to understand,"
as Dr. A. T. Schofield remarks in "The Unconscious
Mind," " that when the brain is restored to health by
good nerve tissue and healthy blood, it can be made by
suggestion to exercise as healthy an influence over the
body as previously it exercised a harmful one. If ideal
centres can produce ideal diseases, surely the rational
cure is to bring these ideal centres into a healthy condi-
tion, and then make them the means of curing the ideal
disease. Mental disease requires, and can ultimately
only be cured by, mental medicine."
In time of peace prepare for war. In time of health
fortify against disease. Here notice
SOME IMPORTANT RULES.
Rule /. Food should be regulated according to
peculiarities of body and general work performed. Water
which is pure should be freely drunk. Plenty of sound
sleep should be secured, and slumber should be enhanced
by plenty of pure air. Most people drink too little water.
The air of many sleeping rooms would kill a wild Indian.
Regularity of habits should be cultivated. Sufficient exer-
cise must be taken to keep the muscles from degeneration
and to vitalize the blood by activity of lungs.
Rule 2, Rest is also important. For the laboring
man absolute idleness is not always rest ; interested
activity which brings unused muscles into play is better.
This general truth lies at the bottom of popular employ-
ment of the day called Sunday. But such employment is
186 General Health.
largely injurious rather than beneficial. It frequently in-
volves wrong methods as well as various excesses. The
most wholesome rest as yet discovered for that day is
suggested by religion. If you sneer at this proposition,
that shows that you do not know what real religion is —
or that your Will is set in directions contrary to the deep-
est instincts of mankind. There are people who are al-
ways too tired to attend religious exercises on Sunday,
who nevertheless waste health in other ways, or dawdle
around with listless energies that exercise neither mind
nor muscles. The normally and intelligently religious
person never complains that his observance of the Day
wearies or unfits him for the week following. To be sure,
it is possible to " dissipate " in this matter, and some
people shoulder the universe while church bells are ring-
ing, leaving, apparently little for the Almighty to accom-
plish alone. Nevertheless, testimony agrees that a health-
ful religious use of Sunday tones the system in every
department. This is not Puritanism ; it is common sense.
The laboring man would improve his condition if he
would quit his enemies and ally himself with at least a
little semblance of sound reason.
Rule j. Above all, anger, irritation, jealousy, de-
pression, sour feelings, morose thoughts, worry, should be
forever banished from mind by the resolute, masterful
Will. All these are physiological devils. They not only
disturb the mind, but 'injure the body by developing
poisons and distorting cells. They prevent an even cir-
culation. The poisons which they generate are deadly in
the extreme. They induce more or less permanent
physiological states which are inimical to vigorous Will.
They dispel hopefulness, and obscure high motives, and
lower the mental tone. They should be cast out of life
A Temple for Emphatic Personality. 187
with the resolution that as aliens they shall always be
treated.
REGIMES.
Rule 4. Resolve, then, upon the following perpetual
regimes :
1. Determine to live in a regular manner. Never-
theless, be master of rules, not slave.
2. Shun rich pastries and foods and drinks which
stimulate but do not nourish.
3. Keep the body clean. Bathe frequently, always
rinsing in fresh water, cooler than the first, unless you are
convalescent, and dry thoroughly.
Rule 5. Attention! A bit of perfumery dropped
into the bath, or applied thereafter, will cultivate physical
pride — not vanity — which will prize the body and make
clean flesh a delight.
Rule 6. After vigorous drying rub and knead and
slap for a few minutes. If the bath has been taken dur-
ing the day, keep up a gentle but resolute activity a short
time before going out of the dressing-room. Then assume
a self-possessed and assertive mood of mind, with Will
strongly at the fore.
If the bath is taken before retiring, get into a clean
garment, and then sprawl over every foot of bed-linen, of
a proper temperature, luxuriating, resting, conscious of
being a clean and very good sort of person. Now note
with shut eyes what you see of colors and shapes in the
inky darkness before you, and sleep.
Rule 7. Drink at least four full glasses <Apure water
every day unless you are too fleshy, in which case consult
a physician. For most people more would probably be
better. In addition, drink whenever you want water, ex-
l88 General Health.
cept when heated. If heated, refresh the mouth by rins-
ing, but do not swallow for a time. Of course it is here
supposed that you have stopped exercise in a heated con-
dition. Drink at your meals, before, after. Do n't gulp
ice-water. Do n't boil your stomach with hissing hot
water. A good drink is composed of rather hot water
with milk to color well, and enough salt to taste. Drink
water freely before retiring.
Rule 8. Make sure of pure air in your sleeping
room. Don't sleep in a draft. If possible sleep with
head away from open door or window. Place a light
screen between yourself and the source of air. See to it,
kowever, that the pure air can get to you. Do n't sleep
in a hot room. Do n't sleep in a freezing atmosphere.
Rule p. Keep your sleeping-room clean. Make it
attractive. That room ought to be the best in the house.
It is frequently the poorest. If it is a small hired room,
sacrifice many things for furniture, pictures, ornaments,
articles of toilet. Do not suppose that, because you are
a male biped, you are above these suggestions. You are
occupied with dirt all day ; why not get away from dirt at
might ? Man is an animal with a soul, and therefore may
mot wisely " bunk down " like a dog, or " stall in " like a
korse or an ox.
Rule 10. Keep body and clothing as clean as pos-
sible. Labor, in a clean shirt and blouse, can do better
work than in garments grimy with dirt and grease.
People who do not handle dirt have, of course, no excuse
for being unclean. There is also unnoticed benefit in
occasional change of the outer garments. It rejuvenates
a suit of clothing or a dress to hang it in good air a day
or two. The mind of the wearer in turn gets a fresh feel-
ing by donning different clothing, or by varying the com-
A Temple for Emphatic Personality. 189
bination. Even a fresh necktie or polished shoes make a
man feel new for an hour, and that is eminently worth the
while. Few people are dandies or flirts ; hence a flower
on the person every day would minister to self-respect and
a high-toned consciousness, having a direct bearing upon
the soul's power of Will. A handkerchief touched with
a bit of perfumery, though it be a red bandana in a me-
chanic's hands, would serve a similar purpose. Let fools
laugh ! A good Will has no care for asses' braying. A
real man need be neither a prig nor a boor.
" It is related of Haydn, the musician, that, when he
sat down to compose, he always dressed himself with the
utmost care, had his hair nicely powdered, and put on his
best suit. Frederick II. had given him a diamond ring ;
and Haydn declared that, if he happened to begin without
it, he could not summon a single idea. He could write
only on the finest paper ; and was as particular in forming
his notes, as if he had been engraving them on copper-
plate."
Rule 77. Similarly as to good music. " Take a
music-bath once or twice a week for a few seasons," said
Dr. O. W. Holmes, " and you will find that is to the soul
what the water-bath is to the body." This elevates and
tends to maintain the tone of one's mind. Seek, therefore,
every clean opportunity for hearing it. Purchase some
kind of instrument for the home, and see that its benefi-
cent harmonies are often heard. Let music be as much a
part of the day's routine as eating or reading or working.
Rule 12. Discard, resolutely and forever, everything
thought to be injurious to health.
Rule 7j. Always and everywhere cultivate high-
mindedness. Maintain the resolute Mood of Will. As-
190 General Health.
sert yourself, for every good influence, against every evil
thing. Carry with you in all activities the sense of
nobility, of health, of success.
Rule 14. It should now be added that beyond dis-
pute personal power for maintaining and securing health
is not confined to mere Will as commonly understood.
Below all moods of cheerfulness, hope courage and Will —
in ordinary thought — hides a dynamic psychic force
which is capable even of "miracles," and which will
ultimately rid the earth of disease and death. This
psychic force is expressed partly in mental thought, but
more perfectly and prophetically in a psychic state which
is a complex of assumption, assertion, Will or sovereign
authority — an idea of command in action conquering
illness and securing health — and confidence and profound
realization — that is, thought-feeling of betterment.
The path leading to such state is that of expecting
effort to feel the state within the inner centre of person.
One should affirm that universal good is pouring in ; one
should assume and assert the fact ; one should assume
and assert that the ground of one's existence is the In-
finite Reality, that one has deeply imbedded in the deeps
of soul the idea of self as whole because the Infinite
Ground does not and cannot wish otherwise, and that as
the universal good enters from without and the Infinite
Self emerges from below up into the subconscious per-
sonal self, all inharmonious conditions are necessarily
passing away — being expelled. Those who accept the
Christian religion are referred to the author's lectures on
"The Bible and the New Thought," for a condensed
study, which ought to prove helpful.
The process above suggested cannot be acquired by
brief and haphazard efforts. The soul must essay the
A Temple for Emphatic Personality. 191
process again and again until it discovers the process.
Thereafter it must put the process into action incessantly
until facility and power in its use are acquired.
But observe : In real illness call your physician AND
at the same time bring your psychic power into requisition.
The notion that the physician and psycho-auto treatment
are inconsistent and antagonistic is utterly false. Do not
omit either method. Rise to the highest level of a free
use of anything under heaven which helps life to health.
Make all the above suggestions a perpetual regime of
your life.
« ATTENTION 1 I RESOLVE TO WILL 1 1 "
THY SELF.
7 asked of These revealment of my need:
The Seas, the Hills, the Starry Vault, and Life.
The first cried, "Action I Thou art spirit f reeds ' '
The second, * Poise! Defeat is bred of strifes'"
The third Galactic, "Power in the Deed!"
To war I went with sounding drum and fife—
To faith I turned, with moods receptive rife —
At last stood awed where human empires breed.
But ne'er the thing I urged these Masters taught.
How act? How stand f What power — and how gaint
Seas, Hills and Stars— War, Faith and World in vain !
Then up spoke Life: "Oh, simple soul destraught!
"Poise, Action, Powers for thy rule complain :
"Thou art the King, thyself the king's domain'"
— THE AUTHOR.
PART III. — MENTAL REGIME.
WHAT SEEST THOU?
Tht gracious light, in semi-sphere
Created by the living soul,
Encompasses the -vision's whole
Of worlds afar and atoms near.
The vault of heaven, gemmed and deep,
And earth and sea overwhelmed in light^
Full complements of thought invite
That soul may all its empire keep.
And so the world within the flesh
The larger gains, and grows apace
To Truth's ideal and Beauty 'j grace
With understanding ever fresh.
Yet must the Wider Life emerge
Within the lesser, welling up,
If living spirifs wine-filled cup
Reflect the Drama's drift and urge.
What seest thouf Thy self alone:
Thou art the world and all its parts.
And this is being's Art of Arts :
To know the Vaster Life thine own.
— THB AUTHOR
CHAPTER XVIII.
EXERCISES IN ATTENTION.
IT IS subject to the superior authority of the
Ego. I yield it or I withhold it as I please ;
I direct it in turn to several points ; I con-
centrate it upon each point as long as my Will can stand
the effort." — Dictionaire Philosophiquc.
THEORY OF CHAPTER.
Attention, become habituated, involves constant and
strong action of Will ;
The idea of Will-power, always present in the effort to
habituate attention, will come to possess and dominate the
mind ;
Such domination, by a psychic law, develops the func-
tion which it concerns.
The preceding chapters have had in view the develop-
ment of Will by means of physical exercises. If the sug-
gestions hitherto given have been followed, self-culture
has resulted with marked growth in this direction. While
our work has been physical, the mind has nevertheless
been directly involved, for always the Will has thrust it-
self forward, both as ruler and as object. We are now to
enter more particularly the mental field, with the same
end in view.
196 Exercises in Attention.
PRELIMINARY.
The value to the Will of perseverance in this work
would seem to be evident. A determined effort to develop
the volitional power must certainly result in its growth.
But mental activity having this end in view will generate
unconscious processes making for the same goal. Doctor
Holmes has said : " I was told, within a week, of a busi-
ness man in Boston, who, having an important question
under consideration, had given it up for the time as too
much for him. But he was conscious of an action going
on in his brain which was so unusual and painful as to
excite his apprehensions that he was threatened with
palsy, or something of that sort. After some hours of
this uneasiness, his perplexity was all at once cleared up
by the natural solution of his doubt coming to him —
worked out, as he believed, in that obscure and troubled
interval."
"We are constantly finding results of unperceived
mental processes in our consciousness. Here is a strik-
ing instance, which I borrow from a recent number of an
English journal. It relates to what is considered the
most interesting period of incubation in Sir William
Rowan Hamilton's discovery of quaternions. The time
was the i5th of October, 1843. On that day, he says in
a letter to a friend, he was walking from his observatory
to Dublin with Lady Hamilton, when, on reaching
Brougham Bridge, he ' felt the galvanic circle of thought
close ;' and the sparks that fell from it were the funda-
mental relations between i,j, k, just as he used them ever
afterwards."
If, then, the brain may unconsciously work out
specific results of thought under the influence of a desired
end, the idea of a mighty Will, kept constantly before
the mind and directing given and continuous mental
A Focused Soul fears Nothing. 197
exercises, will undoubtedly generate a process always
tending to build up the volitional powers. And as the
Will is located throughout the entire mind, the latter
must be wholly brought into action for the Will's training
and development.
The secret of our future labor will be found in that
which has been absolutely indispensable all along, to wit :
ATTENTION. But attention is hereafter to be confined
to the intellect. Its direction is not so much outward as
inward ; its subject is not so truly the senses as the mind
and its extension, so to speak, by means of the senses.
"The essential achievement of the Will" says Prof.
William James, " when it is most voluntary, is to attend to
a difficult object and hold it fast before the mind" ' 'Effort
of attention is the essential phenomenon of Will"
But what do we mean by the word Attention ? Pro-
fessor James Sully says : " Attention may be roughly
defined as the active self-direction (this involves Will) of
the mind to any object which presents itself to it at the
moment." He refers to the make-up of the word: ad
tenderc, to stretch towards. " It is somewhat the same as
the mind's ' consciousness ' of what is present to it. The
field of consciousness, however, is wider than that of at-
tention. Consciousness admits of many degrees of dis-
tinctness. I may be very vaguely or indistinctly con-
scious of some bodily sensation, of some haunting recollec-
tion, and so on. To attend is to intensify consciousness by
concentrating or narrowing it on some definite or restricted
area. It is to force the mind or consciousness in a
particular direction so as to make the objects as distinct
as possible."
Now, Dr. Scripture remarks on the same subject:
" The innumerable psychologies attempt to define it, but
when they have defined it, you are sure to know just as
198 Exercises in Attention.
much about it as before." Then, to show the difference
between the " focus " (of the mind) and the " field " of
the present experience (consciousness), he writes : " Ask
your friend, the amateur photographer, to bring around
his camera. He sets it up and lets you look at the pic-
ture on the ground glass. The glass is adjusted so that
the picture of a person in the middle of the room is
sharply seen ; all the other objects are somewhat blurred,
depending on their distance from him. Change the
position of the glass a trifle. The person becomes blurred
and some other object becomes sharp. Thus, for each
position of the glass there is an object, or a group of
objects, distinctly seen while all other objects are blurred.
To make one of the blurred objects distinct, the position
of the glass jnust be changed, and the formerly distinct
object becomes blurred.
" In like manner, we fully attend to one object or
group of objects at a time; all others are only dimly
noticed. As we turn our attention from one object to
another what was formerly distinct becomes dim.
" The illustration with the camera is not quite com-
plete. You can keep the objects quiet in the room, but
you cannot keep your thoughts still. The mental con-
dition would be more nearly expressed by pointing the
camera down a busy street. You focus first on one thing,
then on another. The things in focus pass out of it,
others come in. Only by special effort can you keep a
moving person or wagon in focus for more than a mo-
ment." To "attend," therefore, is to keep the mind
" focused " on the one thing, whether it lies among sub-
jects of thought which correspond to the furniture of a
room or to moving objects seen in a busy street.
Attention is the " effort of the mind to detain the
idea or perception, and to exclude the other objects that
A Focused Soul fears Nothing. 199
solicit its notice." This requires a strong action of the
Will. Resolute exercise of attention, therefore, must
strengthen the Will's power.
RiGIMES.
Exercise No, i. Sit quietly at ease in a room where
you will not be disturbed. By a supreme effort of Will,
drive every thought and fancy out of mind. Hold the
mind blank as long as possible. How long can you sus-
tain this effort successfully ? Be not discouraged. Per-
sistence will win. After a genuine attempt, rest a few
moments. Then try again. Practise the exercise daily
for ten days, with rest of two days, making at least six
attempts each day. Keep a record of results, and at the
end of the period note improvement. The Will must be
taught to be supreme.
Exercise No. 2. Sit quietly as before. When the
mind is a blank, hold it so for a few seconds. Then in-
stantly begin to think of some one thing, and now exclude
every other thought. Keep the attention rigidly upon
this particular subject as long as possible. The direction
does not mean that you are to follow a train of ideas upon
the subject, but that you are to fasten the mind keenly
upon the one thing or idea and retain it in the field of
attention, just as you may look at some object, focusing
sight and observation there, and there alone. Rest.
Repeat six times. Make record. Continue every day for
ten days, with rest. Then note improvement in power.
Exercise No. 3. Permit the mind to wander whither
it will one minute. Now write out all that you recall of
these wandering thoughts. Then proceed to find and in-
dicate in writing the connections that bind them into a
chain. You will thus discover that mental activities may
2OO Exercises in Attention.
become aimless, but that the mind's roaming is not with-
out explanation. Resolve to keep your thoughts well in
hand. Repeat these exercises six times, and continue for
ten days, with rest. On the tenth day compare records
and note improvement in attention. Try, now, to dis-
cover any general laws that have governed the mind's
uncontrolled action.
Exercise No. 4. Sit at ease for one minute while
thinking of the mind as engaged in reasoning. Do not
entertain fancies. Keep out wandering thoughts and
sensations. Do not reason ; think of the reasoning power
of the mind. Now deliberately pursue some definite line
of reasoning for, say, five minutes. Write results, from
memory. Rest. Repeat six times. Continue for ten
days, with rest. On the tenth day compare records and
note improvement in concentration.
Repeat these exercises with the imagination, thinking
a picture or plot of acting.
Repeat with the power of Will, imagined as to vari-
ous acts.
Exercise No. 5. Summons a resolute state of mind.
Now select some desired goal in life which you believe to
be possible, and will, with all your might, that this shall
be. Do not think of means. Fiercely resolve to over-
come all difficulties. Do not dwell upon the enjoyment
of success, for that will distract the mind. Attend wholly
to the Mood of willing. Repeat six times. Continue at
least ten days, with rest.
Bed the idea of the goal deeply in mind. Carry it
with you into life's activities. Make the resolution a per-
manent matter, not only of Will, but of feeling as well.
Exercise No. 6. Sit at ease a few seconds. Now
think of several acts, as, to walk across the room, or to
A Focused Soul Fears Nothing. 201
take a book from a shelf, or to sit still. Continue about
five minutes. Various impulses will arise to do one thing
or another. Resist them all a little time. Now decide,
quickly and resolutely, what you will do. Do not act
lazily ; do not decide impulsively. Force a real decision.
Then act. Do exactly that one thing. Rest. Repeat six
times, with different actions. During each act, put the
Will into every part thereof. Keep to the fore a strong
personal Mood. Continue for ten days, with rest. At
the end of the period, note improvement in attention and
power of Will.
Exercise No. 7. Set apart by themselves several
small objects ; books, coins, paper-knives, etc. Collect a
miscellaneous lot. Now, after looking these articles over,
decide to arrange them in some particular way according
to a determined order of relations. The order may be
that of similarity, or difference, and the like. Example :
the objects are of many colors ; arrange in a complement-
ary way. Now note the general effect. It is probably
bad. Why is this ? How can the arrangement be im-
proved ? Has color anything to do with the arrangement
of the furniture of your room ? Can it be set into better
order in this respect ? Try that. Repeat with order
according to other resemblances. Repeat with order
according to differences.
Always keep the Mood of Will in the foreground
during these exercises.
Arrange with a different order six times in each exer-
cise. Continue for ten days, with rest. At the end of
the period, observe improvement in attention, together
with facility in making the arrangements.
Exercise No. 8, Select several like objects, say,
books or articles of furniture. Now arrange the books
2O2 Exercises in Attention.
according to titles. Is this the best possible arrangement ?
Try to improve it. Arrange the furniture for finest effect
in the room, having color, shape, style, etc., in mind.
Repeat with other similar articles. With each set of
objects make six different arrangements. Continue for
ten days, with rest. Then note improvement as before.
Exercise No. g. Select several dissimilar objects.
Lay them out conveniently before you. Take one of them
in hand. What does it suggest ? Connect that suggestion
immediately, that is, without any intermediate idea, with
another article. What does this suggest ? Connect the
suggestion with a third article. Continue in this way
until all the objects have been connected. Place the
articles, one after another, according to connecting sug-
gestions, before you. Do everything slowly, deliberately
and with a strong sense of willing. Rest after the first
complete experiment a few seconds. Then repeat with
different articles six times. Continue for ten days, with
rest, and then note improvement in attention and facility
of connections made.
Here is an example : Book — (suggesting) — Per-
son — (suggesting) — Note — (suggesting) — Writer —
(suggesting) — Pen — (suggesting) — Mightier — (sug-
gesting) — Sword — (suggesting) — Sharp — (suggesting)
— Knife — (suggesting) — Point — (suggesting) — Pin —
(suggesting) — Bright — (suggesting) — Gold Watch.
The above exercises are somewhat difficult, and their
practice will require patience and time. But the value of
such work will appear when we remember " that the act
of voluntary attention involves a conscious effort of the
soul." It is the "conscious effort " that this book seeks
to develop. And for two reasons : first, that the reader
may acquire the habit of carrying with him everywhere
the Will-pervaded Mood of the strong personality ; sec-
A Focused Soul Fears Nothing. 203
ondly, that adequate power of attending to motives may
become a permanent factor of his life.
Read, therefore, the following with greatest care :
" Variations in the relative strength of motives mainly
arise from the degree of attention that we give to them re-
spectively" People often act wrongly or unwisely because
they fail here. " Thus, for example, a hungry man, seeing
bread in a baker's window, is tempted to break the glass and
steal a loaf of bread. The motive here is the prospect of sat-
isfying his hunger. But the man is not a mere machine,
impelled by a single force. He knows that if he is caught,
he will be punished as a thief. He knows, too, that this is a
wrong act which he is considering, and that his conscience
will reprove him. Now he can fix his attention upon one of
these restraining motives. The impulse to break the glass thus
loses its power. The element of time is an important factor,
for the longer he delays and deliberates, the more numerous
will be the restraining motives which arise in his consciousness. "
But avoidance of crime is a very small part of most
people's lives. For the majority, " How to get on in all
good ways," is a comprehensive, and the ruling, ques-
tion. The value of attention obtains here in ways similar
to those above suggested. A strong Will is demanded.
Ability to hold the mind to one thing is imperative.
Power of concentrating thought upon motives, and the
best motives, is called for every day of our existence.
The great symbol of all our exercises, therefore, is Atten-
tion ! ATTENTION 1
But the words which we have so often met in the
preceding pages indicate the ultimate and priceless goal :
"I RESOLVE TO WILL! THE MOOD OF
EMPHATIC PERSONALITY IS MINE I"
WHO READS?
Reads "Witless One"?
Behold him run
The race of prose or rhyme/
Reading 's an art
Of head and heart —
Never a thief of time.
Love's "Thought" the pause
On trenchant clause;
'Tis matter hint engages. •
The first has speed
And verbal greed,
Devouring countless pages.
In Browning's book
Or Saturn's nook
Hides God— the Question Mark.
Goes soul all in /
All, soul must win;
Goes less ? The thing is dark.
'Tis Truth's old fashion
To answer Passion ;
''Tis soul's, to grow by giving.
Now if you read
As martyrs bleed,
You know — then — glorious living.
— THE AUTHOR.
CHAPTER XIX.
ATTENTION IN READING.
DISTINGUISHED lawyer of an Eastern city
relates that while engaged in an argument
upon which vast issues depended he suddenly
realized that he had forgotten to guard a most important
point. In that hour of excitement his faculties became
greatly stimulated. Decisions, authorities and precedents
long since forgotten began to return to his mind. Dimly
outlined at first, they slowly grew plain, until at length he
read them with perfect distinctness. Mr. Beecher had a
similar experience when he fronted the mob in Liverpool.
He said that all events, arguments and appeals that he
had ever heard or read or written passed before his mind
as oratorical weapons, and standing there he had but to
reach forth his hand and seize the weapons as they went
smoking by." — Newell Dwight Hillis.
THEORY OF CHAPTER.
Concentrated attention the price of understanding ;
Exhaustive understanding the only true reading ;
Review and discussion the storing methods of memory ;
These exercises, deliberately and persistently followed,
sure developers of the scholar's Will.
PRELIMINARY.
There is at once too much reading and too little.
The great modern dailies are harming the minds of metro-
206 Attention in Reading.
politan peoples. Multitudes read from sheer mental lazi-
ness. Journalism must therefore be sensational in an
evil manner. Even magazine literature scours worlds for
fresh chaff illustrated by " lightning artists." These in-
fluences, and the infinite flood of matter, make genuine
reading among many impossible. For reading, in its real
sense, is a deliberate process by which written thought is
transferred to the mind, and there stored and assimilated.
All this involves power of Will. But power of Will is a.
rare possession in these days of multitudinous distractions.
Hence it is that true reading is almost a lost art. How
shall this lost art be regained ? By development of that
reason-forged but magic gift, Attention.
11 Read not to contradict nor to believe, but to weigh
and consider," said the wise and " woodeny " Bacon.
"To weigh and consider" — that is the open sesame of
right reading. In order to acquire these abilities the
following directions will serve :
REGIMES.
Exercise No. i. Procure any well-written book on
any subject worth knowing. Read the title with great
care. State in your own language exactly what you sup-
pose the title to mean. Look up the definitions of all
words. Examples : " History of the United States."
What is history ? What is a written history ? What is the
difference between the two kinds of " history " ? What is
the main idea in " United States " ? How did this name
originate ?
Now read the author's name. Before proceeding
further, memorize an outline of his life. Ascertain his
place in letters. What value are you to put upon his work ?
This done, read with some care the table of contents.
You ought now to have the general drift of the book, to-
The Will and the Eye Illumine. 207
gather with its purpose. If these do not appear, take
another book and repeat the above exercises. Continue
this exercise during life.
Exercise No. 2, Presuming that, with such exam-
ination, you wish to go on, read the preface very carefully.
Having finished it, ask yourself what the author has here
said. Make sure that you know. Then ask, Why has he
said this in a preface ? Did he need a preface ? Does this
preface really pre-face, so far as you can now judge?
Make this a permanent regime in reading.
Exercise No. 3. If the book has an introduction,
read that with the greatest attention. An author is some-
times misunderstood in many pages because his intro-
duction has not been read. At the end of its reading,
outline from memory what it has brought before you.
Now ask, again, Why should he have written that intro-
duction, or what he has written here as an introduction ?
Very likely, you are at this time as ready to lay the book
aside as you may become later. Make this exercise a
permanent part of serious reading.
Exercise No. 4. To make sure about this, read at-
tentively the first twenty-five pages of the book. In these
pages do you see anything new, anything interesting, any-
thing of value to you ? If nothing new,, interesting or
valuable gets to the fore in twenty-five pages, you are
probably ready to sell that book at a large discount.
The rule, however, is not infallible. Reading is frequently
like gold-mining : the richest veins are not always readily
discovered. Some of George Eliot's works require a yoke
of oxen, so to speak, to drag the mind into them ; but
once in, it cannot escape her spell. Many books which
are perennially acknowledged cannot be rigidly subjected
to these tests. Something, too, depends upon the reader's
208 Attention in Reading.
mind. If the mind " adores " " awfully sweet " dresses
and " perfectly elegant " parties, its judgments may be
taken with a "lot" of "just the tiniest" allowance.
These directions are not dealing with the " punk " order
of intellect, nor the " green corn " era of criticism. They
have in view the ordinary run of minds and the above-
average grade of books. If twenty-five pages of a book
do not get hold of a good mind, the author has done
phenomenally fine work, or else he is n't worth reading.
Make this exercise permanent.
Exercise No. f. Supposing, now, that you resolve to
go on with the volume in hand, it will be necessary, for
our present purpose, to return to the first sentence. Read
that sentence with exceeding care. What is its subject ? —
its predicate ? — its object ? What is the meaning of each
word ? If an abstract-thought, put this thought into your
own language. Think it, resolutely and carefully and
clearly. If it is an object-thought, stop now, and, closing
the eyes, call up a mental picture of the object. If the
word expresses action, ask what kind of action. Think
the act so as to get a mental picture of it, if possible. If
the sentence is involved, take as much of it as expresses
a complete thought exhausted by ideas of " being," or
''condition," or "action." Treat this as your first sen-
tence according to the above directions. Then proceed
with the next complete thought of the sentence, and so on
until you have in this manner read the sentence as a
whole. Then read the sentence again, put the thoughts
together, and get into the mind a complete view of the
entire statement. Always translate the author's thoughts
into your own language. Do not memorize, but THINK.
Proceed in this way through the first paragraph.
Then state in your own manner the connected chain of
thought thus far presented.
The Will and the Eye Illumine. 209
The next day, write, without reading again, the sub-
stance of this first paragraph.
Continue such attentive and analytic reading until
you have mastered the first chapter. Now put aside all
writings hitherto made, and from memory write a connect-
ed statement of the substance of that chapter.
Proceed with the succeeding sentences, paragraphs
and chapters. If these directions are pursued, few books
will require a second reading. And one good book well
read is better than a dozen read as books ordinarily are
read.
Resolve permanently upon this kind of reading.
Such exercises will prove of immense value, because
they are based on certain laws of mind. The eye acquires
great facility in reading, and the reader is apt to content
himself with whole but vague pictures or groups of ideas
presented. In order that the thought contained in the
printed page may be really obtained, it is necessary to
break up these wholes and to put their parts into clear
light. This requires attention to details, which in turn
demands a distinct understanding of the meaning of words.
We may catch the general thought of a sentence without
knowing clearly what some of its words mean, and thus
really miss, perhaps, the best part of our reading.
" Suppose I look out of my window," says Hill in
" Elements of Psychology," " and see a black horse run-
ning swiftly. The whole picture, as presented by the
sense of vision, constitutes one single image. It remains
one and single until I have occasion to describe it in
words. The moment I attempt to do so, an analytic pro-
cess or process of resolution into parts is necessary. I
must name the animal ' horse,' his color ' black,' his act
' running,' his speed ' swiftly,' and I must indicate whether
it is a definite or an indefinite black horse that runs, and
2io Attention in Reading.
so must use an article, ' a ' or ' the.' Putting all together,
I say, 1A black horse is running swiftly? a sentence in
which my one visual image is broken up by five distinc-
tions, each expressed in a separate word. There is truth
in the proverb, ' No one knows a thing until he can tell
it.' "
The object of putting thought into one's own words
is also seen in the fact that the mere study of words, as
the above writer indicates, is of little value. Hence in
real reading it is always necessary to secure mental
images, or mental conceptions clear-cut and pronounced,
of " being," " condition " or " action " involved in each
statement read.
Exercise No. 6. While reading any book worth the
while, mark striking or useful passages, and, as you pro-
ceed, make an index on the rear fly leaf. No matter if
the book has a printed index; your own will prove better
for your purpose.
Exercise No. 7. Analyze chapters, about as you go
on, and mark and number or letter the points made. At
the close of reading the chapter, review these points and
fix in memory. This will facilitate Exercise No. 5.
Exercise No. 8. While some friend reads aloud,
practise mental noting of the points made by the author,
retaining them for a given number of pages. Then state
them consecutively while the reader reviews to correct
your errors. Continue this exercise indefinitely.
Exercise No. p. Repeat the above exercise with con-
versations with the reader, making sure that both thor-
oughly understand the matter in hand. On the following
day, review this work together from memory. Then con-
tinue as before. Practise these exercises indefinitely.
The Will and the Eye Illumine. 211
Exercise No. 10. If an author's name is not a suf-
ficient guaranty for his statements, or if his book is written
from an evident point of view or with a possible bias, and
he is clearly bent on " making his case," bring to the
reading of his work the interrogative attitude of mind. Do
not accept him carelessly. Compel him to "make his
case " fairly. Verify his alleged facts. See that his refer-
erences are correct and rightly interpreted. Detect flaws
in his arguments. Read him from his point of view as
modified by your own. Make sure that your point of
view is good. Therefore, be open to his convictions.
Nevertheless, antagonize him in a fair field. Be not hasty
to contradict, nor to surrender. To-morrow what you
deny may be truth, what you accept may be false. Read
resolutely to gather what he can contribute to your stock
of facts, of realities, of sound reasoning, of sentiment, of
life, of power.
Beware what Ben Jonson called a " humor ":
"A Humour is the bias of the mind,
By which, with violence, 't is one way inclined ;
It makes our action lean on one side still;
And, in all changes, that way bends the Will."
The work here suggested will be tedious at first, and
it demands time and patience. As it proceeds, however,
it will become more and more easy and delightful. Its
justification is the double purpose in hand in all these
pages: right reading and power of persistent Will. A
resolute sense of willing must therefore be preserved from
first to last. Learn to read in the Mood of the emphatic
personality. Your Will shall then dissolve books, and
mastered books shall culture the finest Will.
THOUGHT.
When the self works the miracle, thought^
In the laboratory of brain,
And the matter -with meaning is fraught,
Like the gift to the Widow of Nain,
Or the war-cry of Marathon's Plain,
Tell me, who has the miracle wrought?
And of what is it fashioned, this thing
That upsprings like a ghost of the night •
That evolves like a Saturnine Ring —
This mysterious symbol of might,
Born as well to a god or a wight,
Tell me, what is that sign of a king f
In the faith-haunted seasons of old,
When the soul was diffusively great,
I was claimant, exuberant, bold,
Of the power of thought and its fate;
And I dreamed in the folly, elate,
That myself was its essence unrolled.
Gone the fancy ! The power abides.
Yet the mystery grows on apace :
For the thinker '.$• the spirit that hides,
And the thought is his unrevealed face.
Can a man outrun self in the race ?
Can the sea compass more than its tides f
— THB AUTHOR.
CHAPTER XX.
ATTENTION IN THINKING.
)METHING more reliable than a mere impulse
is needed to make a strong mind. Back of all
must stand a strong Will, with the ability and
disposition to use it. M. Marcel well says, ' The great
secret of education lies in exciting and directing the Will.'
In later mental acquirements we recognize the omnipotence
of Will. Nothing takes its place until we discover that
attention is under the control of the Will, and until, by
perseverance, we acquire the power of thus controlling it."
— Popular Science Monthly.
THEORY OF CHAPTER.
True thinking is a deliberative act of mind held fast
to its task ;
Such impelled action discovers the best use of mind, and
develops and stores the whole man ;
The mind thus improved throws itself into its operations
with greater wisdom and increased energy ;
This action unfolds the Will.
The best thinker is the best reader. This is true
even of " reciters," so far as their work is concerned. To
recite, one must interpret ; to interpret one must think.
Thinking, in its noblest sense, is largely a lost art
among the people. They indulge in a vast deal of mental
jargon, but genuine thought seems a scarce article. A
214 Attention in Thinking.
single " straw " is the fact that new matter presented in the
simplest language is often declared to be " too deep for us."
The difficulty is not depth, but unfamiliarity ; the limits of
popular thinking are narrow ; outside these limits, even
sunlight is opaque, and diamonds are mere quartz pebbles.
People " think," as they say, to be sure, concerning
homes, business, politics, social and state affairs, together
with a smattering of religion ; but in an elevated way, this
" thinking " is a good deal like the " thinking " of animals ;
vague, unconscious as thought, forced, disjointed, spas-
modic, haphazard. Few seem to think out a great reality,
build up a consistent theory, or elaborate a reasonable
system. We have not here, altogether, it must be said,
the pressure of dirt and moil. It is a case of mental
laziness. One must work with muscles in order to exist ;
but one need not labor with the mind for assimilation of
food and development of brawn. House-keepers and
shop-tenders aver a great amount of thinking, " real and
wearisome ; " but we have here very largely the mechanics
of mental routine. The world is flooded with " literature "
every day, and the most of its readers relax in its enervating
tide. Evidence: few "get on," few discover themselves
and the universe about them — infinite globe of dynamic
influences for the elevation of the human soul.
PRELIMINARY.
Nothing affords greater satisfaction than to mine into
a fact or truth and ramify its various connections. Here
is a process that is keenest tonic, a result of which is bank
of deposit paying compound interest. The ability to think
clean through a subject puts a man apart as one of the
victors of life. This power may be developed. Whenever
it is taken in hand, resolutely and persistently, one of its
hugest products is a giant Will.
All Values Yield to Concentration. 215
But remember, true thinking depends upon, (i)
Attention, (2) Knowledge, (3) Memory, (4) Correct Per-
ception of Relations.
The swiftness and value of the process will depend
upon the determined attitude brought into it by the soul.
According to your Will, so be it unto you. In the last
analysis, faith is Will shouting, " I will not let thee
go!"
It is a mistake to suppose that one must be versed
in all the rules of logic in order to become a good thinker.
The mastery of logic is vastly helpful, to be sure; but
after all, it is thinking that has produced logic, rather than
logic thinking. A persistent effort to think correctly will
in time develop a fair logical system, though its possessor
may not be aware of the fact.
Be it remembered that good thinking may, and it
may not, coincide with common sense. " Common sense
is the exercise of the judgment unaided by art or system."
Its only teacher is experience ; but the lessons of experi-
ence seldom repeat themselves — the last has always
some new element. The application of common sense is,
therefore, a matter of inference, of reasoning. The best
thinker ought to possess the greatest common sense.
Practiced thinking rather than common sense, governs
the physician, the lawyer, the sailor, the engineer, the
farmer, the business man, the statesman — though these
must bring common sense to bear in thinking. When so
done it is distinctly thinking.
The power to think, consecutively and deeply and
clearly, is an avowed and deadly enemy to mistakes and
blunders, superstitions, unscientific theories, irrational
beliefs, unbridled enthusiasm, crankiness, fanaticism.
The lack of thought-power creates financial panics
and ruins business, unsettles politics and government,
216 Attention in Thinking.
keeps the masses down, makes the rich intolerant and
unwise, and renders religion non-progressive.
He who cannot think cannot will, in the highest sense.
He who cannot will strongly, cannot think long or
deeply.
All labor in thought involves a measuring capacity
for willing.
All willed thinking develops Will.
REGIMES.
Exercise No, I. Take now, any simple and great
truth. Concentrate attention upon this truth, absolutely
excluding every other thought. Example ; " Man is im-
mortal." Think of man as immortal only. Think of man
in every conceivable way as being immortal. Man is
body; what is body? Is body immortal? Is the body
immortal ? If not, in either case, why not ? If so, in
either case, why ? And in what sense ? Man has mind ;
what is mind ? Is it immortal ? If so, what in mind is
immortal ? Why do you believe as you do ? If mind is
immortal, for what purpose ? Man, again, has moral con-
sciousness. What is this ? Is this immortal ? In what
sense ? What in moral consciousness is immortal ? Why
do you so believe ? For what purpose is man, as moral
consciousness, immortal.
Now think of immortality. What is it? Think of
immortality in every conceivable way as connected with
man. How does it concern him? Has it various sup-
posable or believable states in relation to him ? Where is
he, as you suppose, in immortality ? What is he, according
to your idea, to become in immortality ? What is he to
take with him at death ? With whom is he to exist here-
after ? What is he to do ? What relation have his present
states to any believable states of his future life ? How
All Values Yield to Concentration. 217
does he get his idea of immortality ? What purpose does
the idea serve in his life ? In your life ? Why should
man be immortal ?
When thinking of man, always keep in mind the idea
" immortal," and when thinking of immortality, always
keep in mind the idea " man."
The above is merely an example. These exercises
should be repeated every day, with a different sentence
or thought, indefinitely. It will be well also to preserve
dated records, and to make frequent comparisons in order
to discover improvement in analysis, attention and power
of persistent thought upon a single subject. In six months,
profit and pleasure will be apparent. You will surely find,
as the main result of a faithful compliance with all sugges-
tions, a tremendous power of straightforward Will-action.
There can be no failure with resolute practice.
Exercise No. 2. Take any simple matter of obser-
vation or experience. You are riding, let us suppose, along
a country road. Now look well at the landscape. You
pronounce it beautiful. But what is the beautiful ? Think
that question to an answer. Now bury your mind in
deepest thought concerning the landscape before you.
The landscape — " What is a landscape? " Think that
subject out carefully and distinctly. Proceeding, ask,
" What is this landscape ? " Observe the general outlines
and salient features. What is there about the larger
details which makes them beautiful ? Observe the minor
details. What is their beauty ? How do they contribute
to the beauty of the whole ? How might this landscape
be improved in beauty ? How would this or that change
add to the effect of the beautiful ? Have you discovered
all elements before you of a beautiful nature ? When you
next ride over the road, remember that question. Are
2i8 Attention in Thinking.
you familiar with this country ? Was it ever more beauti-
ful than it is to-day ? Do other people declare it to be
beautiful ? If not, why not, in your opinion ? Ah 1 But
are you certain that your ideas of the beautiful are correct ?
Do you think that the elements of this landscape appeal
in the same way to others who pronounce it beautiful as
they appeal to you ? Do you suppose that they observe
just the same colors, outlines, proportions, contrasts and
blendings as yourself? Do you believe that the same
feelings, thoughts, moods and desires are awakened in
their minds by this landscape as in your own ?
By such a process you may become absorbed in a
deliberate and controlled train of thought. Have a care
that your horse doesn't go over the ditch. If you have
followed these directions, you have had experience in
perfect concentration.
Concentration is the secret of great thinking.
This exercise should be varied at every attempt, with
different subjects, as opportunity may present. It must
be continued six months at least, and practised in some
suggested way every day.
Exercise No. j. Take any simple sentence, say,
" Success in life depends upon nobility of purpose and
persistence of effort." Write the sentence out in full.
Now strip the statement to a mere skeleton : " Success —
depends — purpose — effort." Think clearly the meaning
of each word. Then imagine the modifying words placed
just above these. The sentence will read :
" Life — nobility — persistence."
" Success — depends — purpose — effort."
You have now two skeletons which may be filled out
at your liking, almost, and yet give you the same idea in
essentials. " The value of life consists in its nobility and
All Values Yield to Concentration. 219
its persistence." This sentence suggests the meaning of
true success. That is not success which has no nobility
or persistence. So, the lower skeleton may be filled out
to read : " The quality of success depends upon the qual
ity and abiding nature of its purpose and its effort." Low
purpose and effort, low grade of success. Thus, the
" value of life consists in its nobility of purpose and its
persistence of effort."
Continue this exercise with different sentences for six
months.
Exercise No. 4. Write the sentence used in the pre-
ceding exercise, as an example. " Success in life depends
upon nobility of purpose and persistence of effort." Now
ask the first part of this sentence closing with " purpose,"
a series of questions in which the words " how," " why,"
", which," "when," "where," "whose," are employed.
" How does success depend upon nobility of purpose?"
" Why does success in life depend upon nobility of pur-
pose ? " " What success depends upon nobility of pur-
pose ? " " Where does success depend upon nobility of
purpose ? " And so on until all the words are used.
Write each answer in full. Then substitute " persistence
of effort " for " nobility of purpose," and bombard the
statement again with the same questions. Write each
answer in the latter case in full. Then ask the entire sen-
tence a question containing the word " whose." Finally,
note carefully all that you have written upon the statement,
arrange in logical form, and proceed to write a simple
essay with the material thus gathered. You will find this
to be an excellent way in which to bore into any subject.
Continue six months, at least.
This is merely an example, and it is not a very full
one. Every word and proposition of a sentence or subject
22O Attention in Thinking.
thus may be compelled to give up its contents. In time,
too, the mind will have acquired great facility and power
in such analysis, so that whatever of value is read will
come to offer its secrets to you almost as a free gift. This
alone is worth all labor expended upon the exercise.
Exercise No. 5. The results of attention and concen-
tration will very nearly approach composition. Every one
who thinks can write, at least after a fashion. Writing is
one of the best of aids to thinking. When you attempt to
write, you discover, very likely, that what you supposed
you knew has been apprehended in the vaguest manner.
Take, therefore, any object, fact, truth, law or prop-
osition. Example : the law or force of gravitation. Now
ask as many questions as possible concerning this fact.
Bombard it with "what," "whose," "why," "where,"
" when," " how," " with what conditions," " how long,"
and the like. Thus : what is it ? whose is it ? where is it ?
when is it ? how is it ? etc., until you have exhausted your
power of thought upon it. Turn it about. Look at it from
every side. Examine it under all conditions. Find its
nature, its operation, its source, its purpose, its bearing
upon other natural forces. Ravel it out. Tear it into
pieces. Write all answers in full. Then proceed to
arrange all answers in groups after some logical order.
Now read the material thus arranged, and you will discover
new thought springing up, which will necessitate a re-
arrangement. Write this in full. Then fill out your
synopsis in the best manner possible. Continue this exer-
cise frequently for six months.
Meanwhile, study the cleanest and clearest writers for
details of expression and correctness of statement and form.
Review your work occasionally, and note improvement,
both in composition and ability to get into a subject.
All Values Tield to Concentration. 221
Keep the ideal of straightforward simplicity always in
mind. Declare war upon superlatives, and reduce your
adjectives two-thirds. In all cases use the fewest words
consistent with clean statements and full expression.
Exercise No. 6. Proceed as in former exercise to
completion of synopsis. Now think this out, fully and
clearly, as written. Memorize the thoughts, but never the
words, section by section, taking several days if necessary,
until the entire subject lies in your mind ready to be
spoken or written in full. In doing this, you must think
in words. Let the purpose in mind be to speak the
thoughts as if to an audience. When you are master of
the subject, speak all your thoughts in order to an imagi-
nary gathering of people. Have the audience before you.
Be in earnest. Get excited. Over the law of gravity ?
Certainly. Over anything under the heavens I Make
gestures. Fear nothing. Never mind mistakes. Be
keenly alive to this piece of work. Forget every other
reality in the world. You believe certain things in con-
nection with the law ; deliver your soul on that matter as
if to an audience of people who never have heard of it or
do not think as you do.
This exercise should be continued for many months.
A few moments devoted to it each day will prove of incal-
culable value. Almost any real subject will answer for a
topic. Business, Politics, Farming, Magazines. After
some experience, it will be well to avoid general topics and
to select those of a narrower range, as, The Tides, The
Party, The Raising of Celery, The Liquefaction of Air, etc.
Exercise No. 7. Study unceasingly to detect errors
in your own thinking. Are your main propositions cor-
rect ? Do you employ right words in stating them ? Are
the conclusions really deducible from your propositions ?
222 Attention in Thinking.
Why do you believe certain things ? Are they based on
actual facts ? Are the facts sufficiently numerous to form
a basis for belief? Are you biased in examination of
facts? Do you think as you do because of desire, or
ignorance, or prejudice ? Make sure of your facts I Make
sure that the facts prove one thing, and none other 1
Exercise No. 8. Follow the above suggestions as to
the thinking of other people. They are swearing by a
host of things which are not necessarily so. Do not be-
come a bore, nor a judge. But make sure that arguments
actually prove matters as asserted.
This chapter may well close with a quotation, taken
from the author's prospective work, "The Culture of Cour-
age" concerning mental health.
" When the mental attitude concerns truth, the mind
is sanely intelligent, and, in the long run, will exhibit
reasonableness.
"Any illustration of the attitude will be more or less
incomplete, because the process unfolded uncovers so much
of life. It should, therefore, be remembered that the fol-
lowing are merely specimen leaves from the vast forest of
experience.
"Illustration No. I. A man sees 2 ghost in the high-
way. Our invitation requires that he see ihe fact as it is.
It is some fact ; what is that fact ? It is a tall stump with
two or three naked branches, various lights and shadows
moving upon them. The tzct-thing has now become a fact-
group. It is an appearance — a fact suggesting a supposed
truth. What was the real truth ? The ghostly body was a
stump, the arms were branches, the movements were due to
flickering shadows and varying degrees of light. The sup-
posed truth was a ghost. The real truth was a mental
deception ; back of that a stump under certain conditions.
All Values Yield to Concentration. 223
" Ten thousand applications are possible. I take
one only — cures of all sorts of disease attributed to all
sorts of remedies. We need not deny the cures; there
are millions of cures, blessed be Nature 1 But is the
agency of cure in any given case precisely what it is said
to be ? Is this the ghost fact of Christian Science, Mental
Healing, drugs, or prayer? All the things named contain
values for us. I simply suggest that when you attribute
your cure to one agency or another, you strip all claims
down to naked fact. That is the one sane test of the
question whether a thing is a ghost or a fact.
"Illustration No. 2. Witchcraft had its facts, its sup-
posed truth, and — its real truth. When men insisted on
seeing the real facts, many of the fictitious facts disap-
peared, the supposed truth vanished, and the real truth —
awaited discovery. After science had adopted the above
methods, instead of the old shout, 'superstition' — con-
tentment in which has hurt science more than it has hurt
any other department of our life — the backlying facts be-
gan to emerge, and the truths, clairvoyance, clairaudience,
hypnotism, fear, imagination, etc., etc., came slowly into
light. We are now trying to find out why science should
say, ' all bosh ' to ' mesmerism,' ' occultism,' spiritualism,
religion, or any other thing under the heavens."
The conclusion is this : Make sure of the facts ; get
at the real truth ; keep open house to every proposition
claiming to be real, but accept nothing not clearly demon-
strated to sane but inspired reason.
In every part of the work of this chapter, keep in
mind the sentence : " I am conscious of the sense of
Will." You will not be distracted, but rather helped by
that recollection.
ONLY WILL 1 ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE
TO HIM THAT WILLS.
REMEMBERED.
In ancient (fays, -when hearts were bold,
And courage burned to meet the foe,
The -wandering bard his story told
To eager listeners, young and old,
Of deeds heroic, life sublime,
And gods and humans mighty all,
Till, swept by passion's fiery flow
His soul was lost to sj>ace or time
And theirs in valor's 'clarion call.
We wonder not the leaping words —
The syllables that lilted sweet —
Or the fierce breath that red blood curds-
Or the one Name dark awe engirds,
Should bind men to the singer's will,
Resounding through the windy hall,
Or answered from the wolfs retreat: —
The singer lost in passion's skill,
The listeners swept by -valor's call.
The song was like to gold a-melt;
The -voice a diamond Pen to write;
And souls were wax : the story, felt,
It burned, and left, then, scar and welt
For love and altar, home and friend.
Oh, long the singer's woven thrall !
And high the story's growing might!
His heart in Iliad or in Zend,
And the.irs alost in valor's call.
This is the Tale of Memory,
The living scroll of timeless earth ;
Sung- to the air ; writ facilely
In spirits eager thrilled to be
By love and battle, home and Book; —
Responsive ever to the worth
Of Life, our Bard. All hail his thrall!
For in his passion1 s voice and look
We learn high valor's clarion call.
— THB AUTHOR.
CHAPTER XXI.
EXERCISES IN MEMORY.
RETAIN a clear impression or image of
everything at which I have looked, although
the coloring of that impression is necessarily
vivid in proportion to the degree of interest with which
the object was regarded. I find this faculty of much use
and solace to me. By its aid I can live again at will in
the midst of any scene or circumstance by which I have
been surrounded. By a voluntary act of mind I can in a
moment conjure up the whole of any one out of the in-
numerable scenes in which the slightest interest has at any
time been felt by me." — Dr. John Kitto.
THEORY OF CHAPTER.
Review deepens mental impressions ;
Storing of mind enlarges it, and gives it immense mo-
mentum ;
The effort to secure mental force multiplies Will-energy.
It was John Ruskin who said, " There are but two
strong conquerors of the forgetfulness of men, Poetry and
Architecture." But Ruskin had the far outlook in mind.
There is but one strong conqueror of the personal forget-
fulness, and that is the determined Will. The poem and
the cathedral preserve their age in the world's memory ;
the resolute Will preserves the individual's mind from
becoming a sieve. The Rev. Dwight Hillis once remarked
in a lecture, that he forgot with his memory. This was
226 Exercises in Memory.
an old pleasantry. Men forget at times because of the
rush of thought forbidding the quick grasp of mind neces-
sary to the thing desired. But the real secret of forget-
ting lies in a vaporous condition of Will.
PRELIMINARY.
There is therefore but one " golden rule " for im-
provement of the memory. The " golden rule " is the
iron rule of persistent and intelligent exercise. The first
requisite of memory-cultivation is attention ; the second is
found in the laws of memory. Memory depends upon
mental impressions, and these upon attention, understand-
ing, similarity and contrast, and Will. All elements of
success here call primarily upon the latter.
Professor James has formulated the law : " Whether
or no there be anything else in the mind at the moment when
we consciously will a certain act, a mental conception made
up of memory-images of these sensations, defining which
special act it is, must be there."
The secret of the Will is anticipation based on memory.
Not to refine unduly, it may be said that the power
to remember is measured by the ability to attend. Joy,
pain, and the like are easily recalled because they greatly
impress the mind; to secure an equally adequate degree
of attention in regard to other matters demands that the
soul set itself about the task of deepening its own impres-
sions. Hence we may say, speaking broadly, to attend
is to will ; to will is to attend.
"All determinate recollection," as remarked by Dr.
Carpenter, " involves the exercise of volitional control
over the direction of the thoughts."
RiGIMES.
Exercise No. i. Select the best specimen of con-
densed and simple English that you can find. Read a
Beaten Tracks Become High-ways. 227
paragraph carefully. Begin to read again, defining to
yourself every word. If you are in the slightest doubt,
consult a dictionary. Go hungry a month to possess a
first-class dictionary. After satisfying yourself that you
understand every word in the first sentence, make sure
that you understand the sentence as a whole. Now pro-
ceed, attentively and with strong Will, to repeat the first
few words, keeping words and thought in mind. Do not
repeat like a parrot, but think, resolving to remember —
the words and what they say. Continue until you have
memorized this part of the sentence. Then go on in the
same manner with the next few words. Fix these firmly
in mind. Now recall all words and thought thus far com-
mitted, and repeat, again and again, thinking the thought
as you do so with the utmost attention and energy. Pro-
ceed in this way until the entire sentence is mastered.
It will be better not to try too many words at a time ;
you will easily ascertain the number most convenient to
your mind.
In this method, never for a moment forget to keep in
mind the ideas presented by the language. As words
often represent different shades of meaning, will attention
to the shade here used. Let the work be done with the
utmost concentrated energy.
If you will repeat that sentence frequently during the
day, wherever you chance to be, always thoughtfully and
determinedly, you will fasten it firmly in mind.
If you will repeat the same exercise with another
sentence the following day, and frequently repeat both
sentences, the first will become more deeply impressed
upon memory, and the second will be acquired as fully as
was the first.
The value of repetition is not new. But the point
of this exercise lies not so much in repetition of words as
228 Exercises in Memory.
in concentrated and continuous gripping of their thought.
In all repetition, therefore, study and master the ideas
which they present.
It may be supposed that you are memorizing some
brief poem or bit of prose. When it has been acquired,
you should frequently repeat it as a whole ; say, once in
several days, and later, once during several weeks. In a
comparatively short time it will have become indelibly
stamped upon the mind. Two or three times a year there-
after recall it, which will preserve it from " drifting out "
again.
Read originals now and then for correction of uncon-
scious errors.
If it is the thought that you are mainly concerned
about, use it as often as possible in conversation or writ-
ing ; work it over in your own material ; you will thus
work it thoroughly into your own mind. This done, words
and source are of little importance. Here is plagiarism
defensible before the gods. They, indeed, practise it
more than their worshipers.
Some books are not worth much labor. There are
others which will amply repay a resolve to master them.
If you thoroughly master one small book during a year, as
life and reading go, you will do well.
But there are few books that should be verbally
memorized. You wish the contents rather than the words.
These may be acquired in the following manner, suppos-
ing the book is not largely technical, and to a degree,
perhaps, if it is so :
Exercise No. 2. First, know what the book treats.
Now read a paragraph very carefully, making sure that
you understand every word and its thought as a whole.
Then take the first complete statement of fact or theory,
Beaten Tracks Become Highways. 229
whether involving one sentence or many, and think it out
aloud and in your own words. Read again, and restate
the thought in different language from that employed by
the author or by yourself in the effort just indicated.
Imagine that you are speaking to some person ; recite to
him ; compel him to listen ; act as though trying to teach
him. Seek opportunity to do the same with real people.
Become, without ostentation, a walking instructor. Do n't
be a bore, but resolve to become the most interesting con-
verser among your acquaintances. But remember, it is
always the contents of that book which you are trying to
make your own property.
In addition to the above, say to yourself frequently
during the day : " This book affirms, at such and such a
place, so and so" — stating where and what the matter is.
Do this as often as it may be convenient. When you
make this effort of memory, think backward and forward
in the book from that point. At the close of the day,
repeat all that you have thus far mastered. Then read
the book for correction of errors.
On the following day, repeat the same process with
the next complete statement.
Continue as above until you have passed through an
entire chapter.
Now, without reading, try to make in your mind alone
a mere skeleton of the main thoughts of the chapter.
Then memorize the skeleton. The chapter may reduce
to one or two general statements, or it may involve a
number of general together with subordinate propositions.
Make these in their order your own.
When the skeleton has been firmly fixed in mind,
review from memory the series of statements already
thought out and memorized, and of which the skeleton is
a reduction. This will preserve the filling-in of the
230 Exercises in Memory.
synopsis. Thereafter, at convenient intervals, proceed in
a like manner, now to review the outline, now to recall
the detailed propositions.
Now proceed in the same way to the next chapter.
Always think the written thoughts in your own words.
Repeat during each day all preceding thought-statements
of the chapter in hand, as well as the one of that day.
When the second chapter has been finished, think out
from memory a skeleton of its contents. Meanwhile,
during the exercises with the present chapter, occasionally
recall the thought-statements, in outline and in detail, of
the first chapter, looking well after their order. When the
second chapter has been acquired, think out occasionally
a consecutive statement of the contents of both chapters.
Then construct a new skeleton of all thoughts thus far
presented, and memorize as an everlasting possession.
Continue until you have mastered the book.
In all this work, ignore whatever is not strictly essen-
tial to any sentence-thought, or to any statement-paragraph.
Such labor will tax your patience, but it will surely
make you master of your book, and will in time give you
the greatest facility in reading. Ultimately the mind may
be depended upon to supply all necessary filling-in, if the
skeletons have been well understood and thoroughly mem-
orized. You will have acquired the ability, if your author
is worth reading, when you know his general propositions,
to think the details without further reading, unless the
matter is technical or historical, or the like.
Exercise No. j. While passing slowly through a
room, glance swiftly and attentively around. Then, in
another room, recall as many objects noted as may be
possible. Do nothing languidly. Put your entire energy
into this exercise. Repeat every day for ten days, with
Beaten Tracks Become High-ways. 231
*
rest of two days, making a record of results. On the
tenth day, compare records and note improvement.
Exercise No. 4. When on the street, note, as you
pass along, all objects around you. Having passed a
block, recall as many objects as possible. Repeat fre-
quently every day. Repeat during ten days, with rest,
and on the tenth day, note improvement.
Exercise No. j. Resolve with great Will-power, when
you retire, to awaken at a certain hour, and instantly to
arise. If you fail for a time, be not discouraged; per-
severe and your mind will surely remember. But you
must instantly arise at the appointed time, or yourself
will discover that you do not really mean what you profess
to will. Continue until you have acquired the ability to
awaken at any desired hour.
Exercise No. 6. In the morning resolve to recall a
certain thought at an exact hour. You must think mightily
on this resolution and fix it firmly in mind. Then dismiss
it from immediate thought and attend to other duties as
usual. Do not try to keep it in mind. In time you will
obey your own order. You will probably fail at first, but
perseverance will make you master of appointments of
this kind. The reflex influence in other matters will ap-
pear in due time. Continue at least six months.
Exercise No. 7. When you start for your school or
place of business, intensely resolve to return by a certain
different route from that followed in going. Put your
whole mind into this determination. In time you will not
fail to remember. Never by action contradict any of
these resolutions. Continue at least six months.
Exercise No. 8. Walk or drive to your school or
place of business, and return home, in as many different
232 Exercises in Memory.
and previously planned ways as possible. Never deviate
from the plan. At the end of each, arrange another for
going and coming, and adhere to it as a matter of the ut-
most importance. Continue at least six months.
Exercise No. 9. At the beginning of each day make
a plan for your general conduct until evening. Learn to
have an order for action. Be master of yourself. Having
decided upon such plan for the day, never, if possible to
carry it out, vary its execution. Do not plan for more
than one day at a time, unless the nature of your doings
requires it, and in this event, leave particulars for each
morning. Make your plans with care and strong Will,
but do not burden the mind with them in a way to inter-
fere with details that spring up. Command your mind to
attend to the plan without forcing you to unnecessary
strain of conscious thought. It is always better to arrange
for results, leaving minute details to be decided according
to demands of the moment. Continue six months.
Exercise No. 10. At the close of each day carefully
review your thoughts and doings since morning. What
have been your most valuable ideas ? What your most
emphatic sensations ? What your most important actions ?
Have you carried out your plans? If not, why not ? How
might your thoughts, feelings and doings have been im-
proved ? What have been your motives ? Have they
been wise and worthy ? Resolve upon betterment the
next day, and incorporate this resolution into its plan.
Continue this exercise indefinitely.
The preceding are suggestions only. They are based
upon a law of the mind. If they appear to be unneces-
sary and tedious, that may be an evidence of the inde-
terminate and weak Will. It is a law, as remarked by
Dr. James Sully, " that increase in the power of foreseeing
Beaten Tracks Become High-ways. 233
action tends to widen the area of resolution. Thus, so far
as our daily actions become ordered according to a plan,
they all have a stage of resolution as their antecedent.
We habitually look forward to the succession of actions
making up the business, etc., of the day, and resolve to
perform them in due order as circumstances occur. And
the subordination of action to ruling ends implies, as
hinted above, a habitual state of resolution, that is pre-
paredness to act in certain ways in certain circumstances."
Exercise No. n. Make it a rule of life to learn some
new and useful thing every day. Especially go outside
of your business for such information. This will test the
Will and store the memory.
Exercise No. 12. Frequently commit to memory lists
of dates, and review often enough to hold in memory.
Make groupings of historic dates and commit to
memory. Link each group as a group with other groups
from time to time. Frequently review.
Exercise No. 13. Make lists of objects of public in-
terest in your community, with skeletons of information
concerning them. Commit, and frequently review.
Exercise No. 14. Commit and frequently review lists
of names, as United States Presidents, English Monarchs,
United States Navy Vessels, etc.
Exercise No. 15. Determine thoroughly to study
some subject which lies outside your business. Keep at
it. Remember, growth of mind and Will !
Exercise No. 16. Make the following a perpetual
re'gime :
i. Never be content with any partial acquaintance
with things.
234 Exercises in Memory.
2. Learn to refer items of knowledge to general
principals.
3. Employ all aids suggested by any particular study.
4. Follow some natural or logical order in fixing
facts, propositions, etc., in memory.
5. Cultivate attentive observation wherever you are
placed.
6. Stand squarely and conscientiously on the side
of truth.
MEMORY CHARACTERISTICS.
" In a very general way," as remarked in "Business
Power" a volume in the Power-Book Library, "the mental
characteristics in the matter of memory may be indicated
by the following analysis :
" Mind and memory especially occupied with objec-
tively induced sensations.
" Mind and memory especially given to emotions of
pleasures and pains. .
" Mind and memory especially running to mental
pictures.
" Mind and memory especially good in the matter of
dates and figures.
" Mind and memory especially attentive to abstract
ideas.
" Mind and memory especially interested in principles.
" Mind and memory especially elaborative of laws.
" Mind and memory especially given to details.
" Mind and memory especially given to construction
of wholes.
" Now, all minds and memories of average intelli-
gence possess all the characteristics thus indicated in some
degree, but none of us possesses them in any all-round
equal degree. The type of mind is determined by the pre-
Beaten Tracks Become High-ways. 235
vailing characteristic. Thus also with memories. If your
type of memory is shown above, and if you require im-
provement in some one or more of the particular types por-
trayed, the method consists in persistent attention and the
formation of habits in the desired direction by constant
practice and the constant use of associations. You are
urged especially to observe that the words : Resolution
— Attention — Persistence — Repetition — Association —
Habit, represent the amount and kind of effort demanded.
" Take, for example, the memory of details. Are you
lacking in ability to recall in that respect ? You are urged
to resolve on improvement, to attend to all details with all
your mind, to persist in such labor, to repeat the attention,
to associate the details with recollective ' signs ' of any sort
that you may invent, to form the habit of doing all this in
regard to details.
" The trouble with people who forget is in part the
fact that they fail to fore-get. In some cases the fore-
getting is actual, but it is too easy and quick, for one
thing, so that a good rule will be found in this remark :
' My work really begins when I think it is finished.' With
most of us it is there that we close the work. In other
words, when you are sure that you have a thing, proceed
to hammer it into mind, so to speak, for safe-keeping. But
always should the fore-getting be assimilated by associa-
tion with something already possessed in the mind. In the
process of fore-getting, repetition is also required because
this habituates the mind or the brain-cells in certain ways
so that accompanying mental actions or associations are
developed which assist in memory."
Always, in striving to cultivate the memory, call up
and sustain the Mood of strong and confident personality.
Resolve : " I shall acquire a great memory for the pur-
pose of increasing the power of my Will."
HOW CAME IMAGINATION?
QUESTION.
How came imagination to the brain,
Stirring the fiber ed cells till nerves alert
Sped messages of life to flesh inert,
And all the marvelous things of joy or pain
Filled mind and body ? Came it by the main
Method and law old Nature must assert —
As the blue lotus or the ruby's stain —
Or, by sheer accident law failed t' avert ?
Came it that love might fear and fearless die.
Came it that blood might steal Promethean fires.
Came it that thought might drain the fount of truth.
Came it that self, the spirit-lark, might fly
With the great sun, and sing as night expires.
Came it that soul might know and win itnmortal youth.
—THE AUTHOR.
CHAPTER XXII.
EXERCISES IN IMAGINATION.
JHENEVER a person wills, or, rather, professes
to will, to imagine, he has in fact already
imagined ; and, consequently, there can be no
such thing as imaginations which are exclusively the result
of a direct act of the Will." — Professor Upham.
" I am inclined to think it was his practice, when
engaged in the composition of any work, to excite his vein
by the perusal of others on the same subject or plan, from
which the slightest hint caught by his imagination, as he
read, was sufficient to kindle there such a train of thought
as, but for that spark (and that direction of the Will) had
never been awakened." — Sir Thomas Moore, "Life of
Lord Byron. "
THEORY OF CHAPTER.
The highest imagination involves all the powers of the
mind ;
Willed culture of imagination secures its greatest
efficiency ;
The steadfast application of imagination highly cul-
tured to the concerns of life requires the strongest and best-
regulated exercise of Will-power ;
That means the mighty Will developed all round.
" All the leaders in the world's life have been men of
imagination."
238 Exercises in Imagination.
It is in the action of the imagination that the ques-
tion is presented, whether a man's life shall be governed
by the subconscious mind to take him where it may, or
by the conscious Will in control of that great servant.
The imagination should be cultivated because it has so
important a place in all our affairs, but its cultivation
should always have reference to the sway of reason in
conjunction with a reasonable Will. " The subjective
mind," well said Olston in " Mind Power and Privileges,"
" will feed upon, and create, from the material given it by
the Will. Schopenhauer said, ' My mind draws its food
from the medium of intelligence and thought ; this nour-
ishment gives body to my work.' He, however, directed
the course of his reading and thought to such things as
would bear upon his general theme."
Our task in imagination, then, involves not only
action of Will, but as well education of the deepest seK
in the interest of reason, judgment and right motives in
Hfe.
PRELIMINARY.
Without dwelling upon the various kinds of imagi-
nation, as, the scientific, the mathematical, the inventive,
the philosophical, the artistic, it is to be observed that the
ethical imagination is by far the most important The
imaginative power is indispensable to Will, because willing
involves motives and consequences, and the mind requires
ability to tee motives and consequences clearly, vividly,
and in proper relation.
"/* action at in reasoning, the great thing is the quest
of right conception."
Many persons will badly because they cannot perceive
the full force of antagonizing motives, and they possess
small facility for calling up the possible outcomes of
PropJktt Sftri Thtfyf :jo
actions or courses of conduct Hence development of
Will demands exercise in consideration of desires, reasons
and purposes and in forepicturing of consequences.
**// imp Ar MM? m ftmrmt^ remarks Professor James,
rv Mttonttim «ms**r m M«
/, We begin, first, with simple imagi-
n.-ur srns.u:, \ ..ill .< Nin;:'.r rose, .r.u? imagine ita
fragrance. Now place yourself in mind before a hill of
losi's.aiul im.u;uuMhf .ui to Iv l\f.i\ \ \\itl\lhtM) t'ia£iutu'f
What would be the effect upon yourself ? What would
you do in such a case ? Repeat this exercise with a drop
of musk. Then think of a lake of musk. Repeat with
the notes of a song»bird. Then imagine a forest full of
birds, all singing.
rtu--c- «-wu -isr> Ntu'uM be conducted IM i ,)ir.-i
Hi ins; the- Will to lva« with f.ir.U JMWC-I apM t
MAo the- un.»:;in.itio» .vs N(UM>:; .uu! distill M
Repeat until the imaginary sensations become is vivid
U in life
k J. Stand by the side of some tunning
stream) or near a water-fall, or in % factory in operation,
Now listen attentively to the sounds that assail your ear*.
riu-u- is one i;onri.\l tvmlMiulu»M ol s.nuul VVh.it ,-. tt
like? What does it recall to memory? What mood does
it bring to your soul ? After you have become familiar
with the whole effect, proceed to anal) te it into as many
vhlU-tc-nl MoU-s .is NOVI »-.»n uVltvl. \\ hrn \,«u h.ur dOM
this thoroughly —have separated the whole sound into
its component parts — imagine clearly and powerfully, a
j-.u-.u x.-V.m.- >•; .-M.- , -: I!-..-.,- -.,.....;..,!,. m.i1:. :•.-.:-. .. .v, l.-.u; ..-.
240 Exercises in Imagination.
possible ; then continue with another, and a third, and so
on, until the general combination has been exhausted.
Lastly, go away from a source of real sound to a
quiet place, and recall, first the general harmony, and then
its individual sounds as previously analyzed. Continue
until the exercise may be carried on with perfect ease.
Exercise No. j. Recall to memory some distant and
real landscape. The difficulty will consist in bringing up
the details, but these must be supplied. Resolute prac-
tice will accomplish the result desired. By a supreme
effort make the mental picture as real as life. In doing
this you should try to reinstate the soul's moods occa-
sioned by the original scene. Place yourself, in thought,
on the exact spot where first you saw the landscape, and
resolutely compel the view to rise before you with as
much of detail as possible. Keep the willful mood, and
continue with different landscapes until you can summon
a vivid picture of real scenery with the greatest ease.
Exercise No. 4. Recall some experience which has
made a lasting impression upon your memory. Pass
again in thought through its various phases, slowly, care-
fully, with great intensity of feeling. Dwell upon its
cause, its accessories, and its effect upon you at the time.
Was the effect pleasant or otherwise? In either case,
state why. What influence had it upon your subsequent
life? Would you repeat it? If not, why not? If so,
may it again be secured — and how ? May it be avoided
in the future — and how ?
Continue with various experiences until the lessons
of caution and thoughtful self-interest become permanent
factors in your mind.
Exercise No. j. In a quiet room, construct imaginary
pictures, such as you have never seen : — of a bird,
Does the Prophet Speak Truly ? 241
grotesque and unreal ; of an animal, curious yet beautiful,
or perfectly tame but horrible ; of a building, magnificent
yet mysterious ; of a landscape, weird and entrancing or
wild but not forbidding. Do not allow the mind to wander
into revery. You should preserve the Will-mood as
strongly as possible. Continue until control of the
imagination has been secured.
Exercise No. 6. Gaze at some large object, and try
to discover in or about it a suggestion for the play of
imagination. It is a horse ? Give it wings, and journey
to a distant planet. It is a spool of thread ? Make it to
be a spider's web wherewith to weave a thousand robes
or with which to send messages without unwinding by
charging with intensest Will-power as you breathe upon it.
Continue with other objects and various fanciful imagin-
ings until Will is master of imagination — to call up, to
control or to banish.
Exercise No. 7. Select a sentence from a standard
author, which illustrates the celerity of a trained imagin-
ation, and then will into the mind the complete picture
suggested. Thus, Lowell, in " A Moosehead Journal,"
writes : " Sometimes a root-fence stretched up its bleach-
ing antlers, like the trophies of a giant hunter." The man
who said this tells us that " the divine faculty is to see
what everybody can look at" The "divine faculty" of
"seeing" should be cultivated. And it may become an
Aladdin's Lamp to him whose Will is mighty. Try, now,
to picture this root-fence of Lowell's scene in such a way
as to suggest bleaching antlers. Why did the writer
bleach the antlers ? Why did he not see them poised
upon a row of deer-heads ?
Or, take another sentence from the same author :
" A string of five loons was flying back and forth in long,
242 Exercises in Imagination.
irregular zigzags, uttering at intervals their wild, tremulous
cry, which always seems far away, like the last faint pulse
of echo dying among the hills, and which is one of those
few sounds that, instead of disturbing solitude, only deepen
and confirm it." Now, if you have not heard the cry of
the loon, try to imagine a sound which reminds you of
" the last faint pulse of echo dying among the hills." If
you have heard these birds, call up the scene and its
impressions as vividly as possible. In either case, make
the present impression absolutely real. Keep the mind
from wandering, holding it to the mood suggested. Then
resolutely banish scene and feeling.
Having ascertained what the imaginative element is
in such sentences (you can find similar everywhere), pro-
ceed to write some statement in which a like play of fancy
is obtained. Do not be discouraged. Throw yourself
into the mood of imagination. Practise this entire exer-
cise persistently until you can with ease secure the mood
and write a sentence of imaginative beauty.
The old injunction, " Know thyself," is by most
people sadly neglected. It is worth a deal of labor to
get acquainted with this "unknown land." Lowell writes
that " a man should have traveled thoroughly round him-
self and the great terra incognita just outside and inside
his own threshold, before he undertakes voyages of dis-
covery to other worlds." This is largely true even of
mental voyages. " Who hath sailed about the world of
his own heart," quotes Lowell from Thomas Fuller,
"sounded every creek, surveyed each corner, but that
still there remains much ' terra incognita* to himself?"
It would be well if, before trying to read, we could learn
how to read ; before trying to study, we could learn how
to study. These exercises, therefore, have in view the
cultivation of one of the greatest of human faculties.
Does the Prophet Speak Trtity ? 243
They deal with simple matters because this would seem
to be best, and they aim at suggestiveness only ; but if
they are faithfully followed they will result in a developed
imagination and, which is particularly to the point here,
an increased power of Will of the greatest value in prac-
tical life.
Continue these exercises indefinitely.
Exercise No. 8. Examine a machine of not very
complex construction. Know its purpose. Understand
all its parts and their mutual relations. When you have
thoroughly analyzed the mechanism, close your eyes and
summons it before the mind. Persist in this endeavor
until you are able to form a vivid mental picture of the
whole. Then mentally take it to pieces. Then mentally
put the parts together. Now try to suggest some im-
provement by which some of the parts may be omitted, or
by which parts may be better adjusted, or by which the
machine may be made to accomplish better or less
expensive wort. Continue this exercise with various
mechanisms until you are able to see into machinery, can
call up to mind its inner construction, and can with ease
form mental pictures of its wholes and its parts.
Exercise No. g. Think of some matter in your life
or home or place of business where a simple device or
mechanism would prove valuable by a saving of time or
money. The opportunity being found, proceed to think
out a suitable arrangement for the purpose. Do not be-
come absorbed in this effort to the injury of other interests.
The object here is not to make inventors, but to develop
power of imagination in order that motives of Will and
consequences of action may be clearly perceived. Make
this exercise, therefore, a study to such end. Above all,
keep a strong sense of Will thoroughly in mind. Continue
244 Exercises in Imagination.
until you have acquired facility in the constructive imag-
ination.
Exercise No. 10. Recall one of your great mistakes
in life, review carefully, intensely, the various motives
which appealed to you at that time. Think over their
relations, their force, their persistence. Judge candidly
whether you deliberated sufficiently before acting. Re-
member distinctly that you did not give all motives or
reasons an adequate hearing. Acknowledge exactly why
you yielded to some motives and rejected others. Bring
all these matters before your mind with the vividness of a
present experience. Then review all the consequences
of your then choice. In what respect do you now see
that you ought to have proceeded differently ? Had you
so done, what would probably have been the outcome ?
Suppose you were now to be put back into the former
circumstances. How would you decide with present
knowledge? To avoid a similar mistake in the future,
you must then do what you have failed to do, namely,
deliberate carefully, summon all motives into court, hear
each plea, give to all adequate consideration and weight,
and vividly foresee all consequences of choice as far as
possible. The present exercise is designed to assist you
to these desired ends. Continue such review work until
you have called up for examination all mistakes which
you can remember. Meanwhile mightily resolve to fore-
fend the future by giving every important matter utmost
careful attention.
Exercise No. II. Recall to memory some very attrac-
tive bit of landscape observed in your travels. Let us
say it is a great piece of woods seen in autumn. Picture
this scene to the soul : the undulating ground, covered
Does the Prophet Speak Truly? 245
with fallen leaves and dotted by occasional clumps of
bushes ; the many colors of the foliage still crowning the
trees, whose numberless trunks lift into the canopy above
and afford sunlit vistas in every direction ; the play of the
winds upon the gleaming leaves, fallen and dropping and
still clinging ; the vast quiet which broods over all, save
when broken by the sighing of the breeze or the call of
birds from the open ; the swiftly moving stealth of squir-
rels along the ground or among the branches ; and the
strange and pleasurable moods suggested when you stood
there in nature's haunt of beauty.
Now invent reflections in connection with this scene.
Proceed first, by the law of similarity. Of what does it
remind you ? You are to make the scene you have imag-
ined the basis and cause of other scenes similar in one or
more respects ; and you are deliberately to analyze the
suggestion, the two scenes by comparison, and the moods
of thought occasioned by both, with reasons for the same-
Do not fall into revery. This is downright work. Its
value depends altogether upon the amount of Will which
you put into it, and the intelligence with which you control
the mind during the labor involved.
Proceed, now, to make this scene the basis and cause
of another scene by contrast. You are to repeat the above
exercise in all respects, except that contrast, and not
similarity, is to furnish your material.
Follow these directions daily until their full value is
apparent in imagination entirely under control of Will.
Exercise No. 12. The above directions may be re-
peated by substituting experience for scenery, proceeding,
first, by similarity, and then by contrast In all cases be
strongly conscious of the willing sense. Continue the
exercise indefinitely.
246 Exercises in Imagination.
Exercise No. /j. Read some famous poem of the
imagination. It will be better to commit it to memory.
Having thoroughly mastered it, by understanding every
word, and by vividly picturing in the mind every element
of fancy, go on to analyze it, making a clear statement in
writing of its consecutive thoughts. Then note carefully
every specimen of imagination which it contains. Then
determine its faults and its beauties as a work of the
imagination. Then observe the relation and dependence
of one element upon another. Then ascertain the secret
of its beauty and of its power upon thought and feeling.
Learn why it has lived and exerts its acknowledged influ-
ence. What is that influence ? Continue this exercise
indefinitely until you have mastered many of the world's
great poems.
Exercise No. 14. In a similar manner, read some
famous book (not fiction), and treat its imaginative ele-
ments as secrets to be discovered and explained. Con-
tinue this work with the best in your library.
Exercise No. 75. Take a work of fiction, and give it
a similar analysis. You are now dealing with pictures of
life and human nature. Read so as to obtain a vivid
portrait of each character. Become thoroughly acquainted
with all the personages of the book. Study the reasons
for their actions. Investigate their motives. Note the
influence of ancestry and environment upon them. Ob-
serve whether or not they are acting in a manner that is
true to life. Would you act differently? And why?
Appreciate the fact that they reason falsely and do not
adequately consider all reasons involved in choice, and
hence, do not give due weight to the best motives that
appeal to them. Go on to follow their conduct to conse-
quences. Are these natural — demanded by previous
Does the Prophet Speak Truly? 247
acts and conditions ? Could the characters have been im-
proved ? Or the plot ? Or the general developments of the
persons ? Or the outcome of their actions and relations ?
Make the book a piece of real life, and study it as
above suggested, in order, first, that you may thoroughly
understand it, and, secondly, that you may apply its les-
sons to your own life. Continue until you have mastered
the best works of fiction in English.
In all this remember that you are cultivating the imagi-
nation for the purpose of discovering reasons for or against
conduct and of appreciating consequences. By as much as
you so discover and appreciate in real life must your Will
become strengthened and its determination wiser.
" The determinate exercise of the Judgment" says Pro-
fessor W. B. Carpenter, " which involves the comparison of
ideas, can only take place under the guidance of the Will"
Exercise No 16. Suppose yourself to be about to
take a certain step or to perform a certain act. It is a
matter of vital importance. You wish to make no mistake,
for your happiness and welfare depend upon your decis-
ion. But how are you to proceed ? You may choose one
thing or the other. The wisdom of your choice involves
the adequate consideration of two matters — motives and
consequences. Apprehended consequences are motives,
but this division is convenient. Under motives may be
arranged reasons for and against either choice; under
consequences all outcomes which you can see as likely or
probably to follow your decision. If you have cultivated
memory, the recollection of other similar problems which
you have been compelled to solve will come to your
assistance. If you have cultivated imagination, you will
be enabled to see clearly the motives that appeal to you, and
you will also have power to imagine yourself as entering
248 Exercises in Imagination.
upon one course of procedure, passing through possible
consequent experiences and reaping ultimate outcomes.
Here will appear the values of preceding exercises. But
above all, you should bring to this imaginary problem (a
real problem will serve better) a vivid sense of its reality
and importance, and a feeling of strong resolution to
consider it with all your might, and to solve it in the best
possible manner.
Let us now suppose the problem. You are not fond
of the city or town in which you are living and conducting
your business. You wish to change residence and busi-
ness to another place. But there are difficulties in the
way. These difficulties you are now to consider.
First, recall all previous experiences in similar mat-
ters, and keep them constantly in mind. Secondly, write
in brief every conceivable objection to a change. Ex-
ample : from your present domicile. All your friends and
associates are here. You have here a business standing
of say, twenty years. Your trade or clientage is estab-
lished and certain. The town is growing. Investments
are fairly remunerative, and they are safe. Your property
is located in this place. Taxes are rather high, but not
unreasonable, and they represent improvements. Your
home is good and pleasantly situated. Your family enjoy
fine social relations and are fond of the town. The chil-
dren are taking root. They have opportunities of value.
Schools are first class. Public opinion is sound. Morals
are at least average. The churches are fairly active and
progressive. Your age is forty-five.
On the other hand : Climate is not agreeable. Some
enemies have been developed. Only a moderate business
can be carried on here. Investments do not yield a large
return. Taxes are increasing. The population cannot
exceed a certain rather low estimate. No new railroad
Does the Prophet Speak Truly? 249
facilities need be expected. Manufacturing interests are
not likely to become numerous. The surrounding coun-
try is agricultural, and it no longer yields its old crops.
There are no mineral resources beneath the surface,
The place is far removed from points of interest — the
mountains, the sea, the great cities. You have long been
conscious of a degree of discontent and restlessness.
You believe that a new environment would stir you up to
better achievements. You ought to have a larger return
for your investments of time and money. You desire the
advantages of a larger sphere. Your family might therein
find increased opportunities for enjoyment and a start in
life. You have known better society than that in which
you now move. The church of your choice is not located
in the town where you live.
After these imaginary presentations of reason for
and against a change, a decision is still difficult. You
must now go on to select tentatively some place to which
you may possibly transfer your life. There may be several
in mind. Each location must receive a full and careful
consideration. You are lawyer and judge, and you must
plead honestly as the one, and decide impartially as the
other.
In each contemplated move, you must call up every
possible advantage and disadvantage, especially the
latter, which may be likely to accrue from any choice
that you may make. After each case, for and against,
has been presented, proceed carefully to weigh them as
wholes, taking in the general impression of both. Now
note the balance of judgment: "To go, or not to go."
Then proceed to review each case, and carefully strike
out all reasons that offset one another, noting, again, at
the last, the general balance of judgment : " To go, or
not to go." If the two general judgments disagree, set
250 Exercises in Imagination.
the matter aside for future consideration. If they agree,
hold the matter in abeyance a time, but resolve to decide
definitely after sufficient opportunity for final reflection.
If then you are in doubt, stay where you are.
Proceed in a similar manner with reference to the
place to which you propose to move. If after a full delib-
eration you are in doubt as to one place, try another. If,
having determined to move, you cannot decide upon the
place "to which," remain where you are. If you decide
to move, stir not until the new residence has been prop-
erly determined. If that is fixed, bend every energy to
move to your own advantage. When your opportunity
arrives, seize it quickly. Then dismiss absolutely all
regrets.
Continue these exercises indefinitely.
The above are rough suggestions merely. They set
forth what intelligent people always substantially do with
reference to matters of importance. They are here offered
because many even intelligent men seem wanting in the
power clearly to see motives and possible consequences
connected with momentous decisions. There are strong
Wills which are not wisely exercised because of a simple
lack of imaginative thinking. Many Wills are like guns
set with hair-triggers — they go off before good aim can
be taken. Deliberation is worth gold and stocks, and it
forefends against sorrow. But a good deliberation de-
pends largely upon the imaginative power of the soul.
Our great trouble in life is that we "didn't know it was
loaded." It is the work of the Will-controlled imagination
to know. Here is the great prophet of success.
" Where the Will is healthy the vision must be
correct."
The healthy Will is that which is bent on achieving
right personal success by right methods, because self is a
Does the Prophet Speak Truly? 251
unit in the world's complex whole, which is slowly evolving
the right universal Will.
The law of all this individual evolution is the double
law of self-knowledge and adjustment.
That this law may " come good " in your case, you
need to cultivate, and rightly use, yourself and your re-
lations~with the world. It is here that imagination plays
its part. Who are you ? Find that out. What is your
best adjustment to the world? Find that out. Learn to
see things (in self — in world), first, as they really are;
secondly, as they should be for all-round welfare. Then
carry out the vision.
The Will must not only be strong; it must also act
wisely. Its realest motto is : I RESOLVE TO WILL
— WITH POWER, AND FOR THE BEST. THERE-
FORE, ATTENTION ! TO REASONS AND TO CON-
SEQUENCES!!
WHO HATH WISDOM?
Said a king, one day, to his sober fool,
" Your name, good friend, is far from fit j
Fling cap and bell into yonder pool,
And say me nought of your dead-man's wit,
For a sober fool is the Devil's skit."
Said the grinning fool to the sober king,
" Your name, good friend, is quite misnamed;
Doff sword and sceptre, stand and sing,
And say me nought of your kingcraft famed.
For a foolish king is the Devil shamed."
Niw a fool is king when a fool complete,
But a king all fool is a madman' s freak : —
/ would liefer be the world1 s great jest
Than a grinning ape in purple dressed.
Yet a saner choice of plan or dream
It tke soul that 's king by worth supreme.
— THB AUTBOK.
CHAPTER XXIII.
SOME DISEASES OF THE IMAGINATION.
JHE underlying cause of all weakness and un-
happiness in man, heredity and environment
to the contrary notwithstanding, has always
been, and is still, 7veak habit-of -thought. This is proven
by the observed instances in which strong habit-of-thought
has invariably made its masters superior to heredity, and
to environment, and to illness, and to weakness of all
kinds, and has redeemed them from non-success and
misery, to the enjoyment of success, honor and happi-
ness."— Horace Fletcher,
There are some dangers connected with the imagi-
nation which should be avoided, because they are enemies
of a good Will. These dangers are apparent in the men-
tal life of the majority of people, " Common sense," says
James Sully in " Illusions," " knowing nothing of fine
distinctions, is wont to draw a sharp line between the
region of illusions and that of sane intelligence. To be
the victim of an illusion is, in the popular judgment, to be
excluded from the category of rational men." But " most
men are sometimes liable to illusion. Hardly anybody is
always consistently sober and rational in his perceptions
and beliefs. A momentary fatigue of the nerves, a little
mental excitement, a relaxation of the effort of attention
by which we continually take our bearings with respect
to the real world about us, will produce just the same
254 Some Diseases of the Imagination.
kind of confusion of reality and phantasm which we
observe in the insane."
It is to difficulties of this character that the present
chapter seeks to turn attention, because it is believed that
they are curable by good health and the resolute Will.
One of these enemies of Will is revery, which is not
of a true imagination because not controlled by the mind.
Revery may therefore be banished by the Will, and a true
imagination may be made to take its place.
REGIMES.
Exercise No. i. Whenever the mind exhibits a tend-
ency to wander aimlessly from one thing to another,
instantly check its roving. In order to this, select from
its pictures a single image, and deliberately proceed to
elaborate that, making it vivid, building up its various
elements into a complete whole. In this work, banish the
revery-mood and call up the resolute sense. Or weave
the selected image into some train of purposed thought or
action involving reasoning and an end to be attained.
Consider the various motives and follow out the several
consequences to an ultimate. Insist upon seeing vividly
every picturable thing in the thought-train. Hold the
mind steadily to the line determined on. Continue until
the bent for revery is displaced by a habit of definite
thinking.
Some minds are troubled with various hallucinations.
Here, again, imagination is out of control, and feelings are
made real and images are rendered objective because
such is the case. There are so-called invalids who would
now enjoy perfect health had they not deceived them-
selves originally and thus brought about conditions which
would ruin the health of a savage. It is not " Christian
Science," but common sense, which teaches that the mind
Live in the Open of Right Vision. 255
may, by resolute assertion of Will, throw off many physical
discomforts. The writer once called upon a woman who
had taken to her bed from sheer obstinacy. This was
her only real disease. But it was real enough at that.
Had she been maltreated, neglected, left to go hungry, or
dragged out of her comfortable nest with the injunction
to get well or get out, she would have recovered instantly.
Exercise No. 2. For a thousand imaginary ills the
remedy is a thoroughly " oxidized " state of mind, a mind
saturated with the atmosphere of common sense and good
health, and a resolute contradiction by Will of the im-
portance of the disease or pain. The remedy, thus, is
not reiterated denial that the ill exists, for that is merely
another invitation to insanity, and it often simply intensi-
fies the difficulty ; the soul should resolutely assert that
the matter has no such importance as is suggested, and
then proceed to forget the idea by strenuous engagement
in other considerations.
Exercise No. 3. Visual and auditory hallucinations
may sometimes be banished by a wise assertion of Will.
The soul should intensely insist that itself is master.
Conditions underlying the images or sounds should be
thoroughly investigated. These may be physical, requir-
ing rest and change of scene and diet for correction. Or
they may be mental, in which case the same course may
be pursued, with a complete variation of interest, this
being found in matters far out of the ordinary habits of
life.
Exercise No. 4. In other cases the main thing is to
get control of the hallucination. If it appear under cer-
tain conditions, compel it to appear under other con-
ditions. Persist in substituting a different image or sound.
Then compel it to vanish at will. Finally dismiss it.
256 Some Diseases of the Imagination.
These directions are more easily given than followed, to
be sure ; but the truth is that many of our ills are due to
a weak and fickle Will, and this may be strengthened and
trained by wise application to the difficulties suggested.
These pages do not offer a substitute for medical treat-
ment. They are designed merely for ills of a light and tem-
porary form. When difficulties become more than foolishness
of fickle fancy > the science of experts is called for.
Exercise No. j. There are spirits which do not
manifest to the eye, yet are terrible in power. Their
arena is the heart. These are the spirits of fear. And
these also may be banished by the resolute Will. It is
first necessary to be an honest person. The honest soul
need fear nothing. But the honest soul is not always
wise, and fears do haunt the life of such ; fear of man,
fear of ill-luck, fear of failure, fear of misfortune, fear of
death, fear of hell, fear of God. The name of fear is
legion. It is, therefore, not probable that one who has
been terrorized by these devils may banish them instantly,
bag and baggage, once and for all ; but it is as true as
life that the honest soul may in time, by the persistent
Will, cast them forth forever.
You fear men whom you suppose to be above you.
Proceed, now, to build up a perfectly honest life; then
meet them at every opportunity ; learn their weaknesses
as well as their virtues ; will incessantly to fear them no
more. Remember, especially, that there are other people
who, with equal foolishness, fear yourself, and that those
whom you fear are very likely troubled with fears in turn
for others superior in their thought to themselves. And
possibly they fear you as well. It was Grant's belief that
the enemy was as much afraid as himself; he would
therefore strike first. If, with a politic understanding of
Live in the Open of Right Vision. 257
the word " strike," you can learn to plunge into the feared
atmosphere of those you fear, you will certainly in time
banish this imaginary evil.
Similarly with fear of ill-luck. This is superstition.
The remedy is intelligence — as above. There are few
failures with the honest soul and the persistent Will.
Failure in the life of such a one is made admonition of
experience and lesson for the future. Fear of misfortune
is a coward's attitude. No misfortune ever befell an
honest heart which might not be transformed into a bless-
ing. Fear of death is anticipation of an experience which
will or may bring its own antidote. If thou art right, fear
not now, for thou wilt not then. Nature cares for the
upright in that supreme hour. Fear of hell is either a
ghost of theological making, or a most salutary and truth-
ful incentive to climb out of hell's conditions. So long
as you are out of hell now, fear nothing. If there is any
danger of hell to-morrow, it is the prophecy of hell to-day.
Fear of God dishonors Deity if it is fear of His law, His
way, His goodness. The honest soul fears — stands in
awe and reverence before — the Infinite. You need have
no other fear if you come into harmony with His law.
It is in the power of mind to banish all irrational
fears clean out of court. With a normal mind and a reso-
lute Will, all these illusions of the imagination may be
destroyed. Cultivate the sane and resolute mood.
For further study of the subject you are referred to
the author's work, " The Culture of Courage."
RESOLVE TO WILL FOR MENTAL BAL-
ANCE. ATTENTION 1
"The other day" said Cyrus W. Field, at a banquet
given in his honor in New York on the completion of the
laying of the Atlantic Cable, "Mr. Lattimer Clark telegraphed
from Ireland, across the ocean and back again, WITH A BAT-
TERY FORMED IN A LADY'S THIMBLE ! And now Mr. Collett
writes me from Hearfs Content ; '/ have just sent my com-
pliments to Dr. Gould, of Cambridge, who is at Valentia, with
a battery composed of a gun-cap, with a strip of zinc, EXCITED
BY A DROP OF WATER, THE SIMPLE BULK OF A TEAR.' "
That gun-cap battery is the human IVill — for compressed
energy the wonder of the universe.
PART IV. — DESTRUCTION OF HABIT.
"WE LIVE BY SACRIFICE ALONE.'
All things that toward the heavens grow,
In the huge struggle earth maintains,
Are clutched by power that restrains,
As waves by ocean's undertow.
Yet ever higher life remains,
Or forms decay or death makes moan :
We mark our way by crimson stains —
We live by sacrifice alone.
Betimes high life must feed the low;
Betimes the high by lower gains.
The gnawing mystery ordains
Its cycle of existence so.
And well for him who self constrains
The lesser powers to dethrone :
For thus the One Ideal reigns —
We live by sacrifice alone.
The kingdom of the soul comes slow.
O, long its battles, deep its pains;
And weak Inertia loud complains
That life a rugged way must go,
Fooled by the lie, l'The struggle drains/"
The struggle makes thy self thine own !
Builds thee man-high, ne'er saps thy veins,
We live by sacrifice alone.
Life alway evil's drama feigns^
Yet shall its crowns all loss atone.
The king his conquered foes disdains —
We live by sacrifice alone.
CHAPTER XXIV.
DESTRUCTION OF IMMORAL HABITS.
|UT if having been once defeated, thou shalt
say, The next time I will conquer ; and then
the same thing over again, be sure that in the
end thou wilt be brought to such a sorry and feeble state
that henceforth thou wilt not so much as knojv that thou
art sinning ; but thou wilt begin to make excuses for the
thing, and then confirm that saying of Hesiod to be true :
4 With ills unending strives the putter-off.' "
— Epictetus,
PRELIMINARY.
Francis Bacon said : "A man's nature runs either to
herbs or weeds ; therefore let him seasonably water the
one, and destroy the other." The first part of this advice
we have striven in preceding chapters to follow ; destroy-
ing weeds of a harmful character is to be the business of
the present.
A large portion of our life represents habit. This
is not necessarily an evil ; indeed, the establishment of
habituated action is indispensable to intelligent existence.
But the word " habit " often signifies fixed tendencies to
action, either physical or mental, which are injurious, or
foolish or morally wrong. As the great factor in the for-
mation of all habits is repetition continued until attention
is not required, the repeated assault of the Will directed
by keenest attention and governed by desire until the
262 Destruction of Immoral Habits.
fixed tendency is overcome, seems to be the only method
for rooting out these obnoxious weeds of body and soul.
A strong Will can master many habits at once, if the man
genuinely desires that this be done. A continued effort
to destroy evil habits must develop the Will. But this
effort supposes conflicting desires or impulses — those
running to the habit, and those opposing it. Hence the
value of mental culture, and especially of strength of
memory, imagination and Will, in order that the conflict
may be made to turn in the right direction.
The first difficulty is a general want of self-control ; a
second is a faint or fickle perception of motives and conse-
quences ; a third is a bad memory of an evil past ; a last is
the weak desire for cure.
To overcome habits, then, one must bring his entire
attention to the matter, must think intensely of the mo-
tives and outcomes involved, and must resolve to do all
things necessary to turn the mind away from habit toward
freedom. We affirm that we resolve ; yet perhaps no
resolution has really arisen in the mind. In a time of
great sorrow, or of extreme excitement of pleasure, or of
intense anger or disgust with self, or of fear of results,
resolve sometimes is so deeply cut into the soul that it
has opportunity to discover its ability to perform and to
suffer, and to become habituated a little to the necessary
discomfort of self-denial, and so to take a new hold by
Will for a more persistent effort. By this time the " force
of habit " and the test of continuance have become slightly
less, while the power of Will has correspondingly grown.
Perseverance now is sure prophet of reward.
// is a law, probably, that as much Will-power must
be consciously expended in curing a habit, as unconsciously
has been employed in acquiring it.
The entire matter may be summed up in one word :
Resolve, and Thou art Free. 263
All evil habits may be destroyed by the man who really
DESIRES to master them.
Mark Twain declared to his physician, who had ac-
cused him of using tobacco and coffee immoderately, to-
gether with tea and indigestible food and hot Scotches
every night : " I can't make a reduction in these things
because I lack the Will-power. I can cut them off entire-
ly, but I can't merely modify them." His idea, to be
taken seriously because it is fundamental good sense, is
that the cure of bad habits is to be effected by destruction
of desire for their indulgence. "The desire of course
precedes the act, and should have one's attention ; it can
do but little good to refuse the act over and over again,
always leaving the desire unmolested, unconquered ; the
desire will continue to assert itself, and will be almost
sure to win in the long run. When the desire intrudes,
it should be at once banished out of the mind. One
should be on the watch for it all the time — otherwise it
will get in. It must be taken in time and not allowed
to get a lodgment. A desire constantly repulsed for a
fortnight should die, then. The system of refusing the
mere act, and leaving the desire in full force, is unintelli-
gent war tactics, it seems to me."
Or, to put the matter in another way, the cure of
habit depends upon keeping the right idea before the
mind — either that of the goal or that of the consequence
of yielding.
" The strong-willed man is the man who hears the
still small voice unflinchingly," says Professor James,
" and who, when the death-bringing consideration comes,
looks at its face, consents to its presence (he is speaking
of the cold consideration of reason), clings to it, affirms
it, and holds it fast, in spite of the host of exciting mem-
tal images which rise in revolt against it and would expel
264 Destruction of Immoral Habits.
it from the mind. Sustained in this way by a resolute
effort of attention, the difficult object ere long begins to
call up its own congeries and associates and ends by
changing the disposition of the man's consciousness alto-
gether."
" Everywhere, then, the function of the effort is the
same ; to keep affirming and adopting a thought which,
if left to itself, would slip away. It may be cold and flat
when the spontaneous mental drift is toward excitement,
or great and arduous when the spontaneous drift is to-
ward repose. In the one case the effort has to inhibit an
explosion, in the other to arouse an obstructed Will."
Nevertheless, the function of the Will lies under-
neath the desire ; to keep desire for indulgence out, and
to make desire for freedom stronger. The latter is the
work of right-mindedness, the former of a determined
Will. After all, then, people are slaves to habit simply
because they consent to be slaves.
"Moral action is action in the line of the greatest re-
sistance."
Before going to the following pages, therefore, it will
be well to decide definitely that you honestly wish to
eliminate the evils mentioned. You have sought a strong
Will. For what purpose, if you must yet remain a slave ?
Let the motto of all previous exercises now be firmly held
in mind : I RESOLVE TO WILL 1 ATTENTION 1 I
PROFANITY.
This is a mark of low breeding. In the long run the
best breeding comes up from plebeian blood and common
surroundings. It is the specialization of ordinary ma-
terials. You can contribute better than yourself to the
fruit of your loins. Here is the golden faith of true
Americanism,
Resolve, and Thou art Free. 265
Profanity is useless ; it ruins spoken language ; it
causes trouble ; it is undignified ; it is immoral. There-
fore, away with it !
Regimes, i. Think the whole matter over, and set
out to become a gentleman. Resolve to stop, now and
forever. Keep the thought in mind ; the profane man is
a fool. When you slip again into the habit, do not pass
the fault lightly, but reprove yourself severely. Resolve
with increased fury of Will to banish the evil.
2. Imagine the best woman you have ever known to
be present, and then make your apologies to her offended
dignity.
3. If you feel that you must indulge, proceed with
the foolishness of counting twenty-five, slowly and vicious-
ly because of your dish-water weakness ; do n't think
" swear ; " think twenty-five.
4. If you are very weak in this respect, substitute at
first a code of jargon for your profanity ; when this habit
is formed, break it according to the above instructions.
You can now do this for the reason that you have shown
successful Will in one direction, and there are no words
quite so satisfactory to a profane person as those which
you have ceased to use.
5. Meanwhile, write out a complete list of all the
profanity you are in the habit of using. Carry it about
with you. Frequently read it, take in its significance,
understand its utter folly. At every reading, resolve to
rid your vocabulary of every word. Ten days ought to
cure this habit for all time.
EXAGGERATION.
A good deal of downright lying is due to a bent for
exaggeration. A lively imagination and a vivacious tem-
perament may easily induce enlarged or colored statements
266 Destruction of Immoral Habits.
without intention to deceive. This fault become a habit,
the liar is born, unconscious of his talents. The intended
lie is probably a rarity. Oftentimes people state as facts
what are merely conclusions from their own impressions.
This is especially apt to be the case when themselves are
involved. They do not intend to utter falsehoods ; they
do not assert what they consciously know to be untrue ;
but they do assert what they do not surely know to be the
fact. When a man states a thing or truth as fact, it is his
business to know that it is certainly not false. We gather
from the facts which we do know conclusions which we
think must be true. Then we proclaim our conclusions
as realities. We do 'not take the trouble to tell merely
what we surely know — that is, facts; but we proceed
across lots, because it is easier, and we rather like that
way, to assert our opinions as bald actualities. Here we
have the heart of lying — carelessness as to exact truth.
Few people relate ordinary matters with naked veracity.
" The thing was so and so." " He said." " I said."
Etc., etc. He did not say exactly that, but just a trifle
less. You did not say exactly that, but just a trifle more.
The thing was not absolutely so and so, but just a trifle
different. All this you know well enough ; but you desire
to be interesting, and, before you are aware of it, you are
carried along in the zest of anecdote. And you are con-
scious of this fact, but you thrust the feeling into the
background and go on with " picturesque speech." In
plain English, you are next thing to a liar.
Regimes. I. A partial remedy will be suggested un-
der the habit "Garrulousness." The man who strips his
statements to the fewest possible words is not often an
exaggerator, in the nature of the case, and is seldom a
liar. You should therefore cultivate abbreviated speech,
Resolve, and Thou art Free. 267
however much patience and practice may be required.
It might do you a deal of good to conclude, and to say
softly to yourself a hundred times a day for a month : "I
am a liar ! I am a liar 1 " Confessing this, the next
story you tell will not be so funny — the humorist who
sticks to absolute truth is a laughing grave-yard — but
you will become a great deal " longer " on veracity.
2. Then you should thoroughly free yourself from
the fog of impressions. Imagine your mind to be a judge
and your tongue to be a witness. The witness must con-
fine himself to facts — to what he has seen and heard,
not what he has believed about these matters. Example :
The tongue testifies — " The man was running down the
street. He had a toothache." " Was he really run-
ning ? " " Well, no ; he was walking rapidly, almost in a
run." Now, why didn't you say exactly that ? Because
you wanted your incident to be lively. " How do you
know that the man had a toothache ? " " Why, he had
his hand on his face, and his expression was distorted."
As a matter of fact, the man had bitten his tongue, and
his look merely indicated that he had discovered that this
member was not designed for mastication. It was just
the regular statutory grimace. But you jumped to the
conclusion that his tooth was making chaos of his peace
of mind, and hence his appearance was " awful." Thus
you proceeded to think, not what you saw, but your im-
pression. You have related an inference for facts. It is
necessary, therefore, that you should desperately resolve
never to relate as truth what you do not positively know
to be naked fact. This resolution must be sunk into the
marrow of your soul, and held in mind continuously for
months.
3. You should discard your paint-pot. Your fancy
idealizes or heightens all colors. A good honest blush is
a68 Destruction of Immoral Habits.
"as red as fire." A pleasant smile is "a yellow grin."
"The shade of thought" is "bluer than a whetstone."
A sparkling laugh is " a lightning glare of hilarity."
Now, you must learn to see things as they are, and to tell
tkem as you really see them. You are telling a story,
and in it yourself and a few other people are made to say
a dozen things which you know were never said. You
paint their language in colors that are too high. If you
are not past redemption, you were aware of this fact.
During the entire recital an inner god is whispering,
" No, no ; that is not correct ! Tone it down I Speak
the truth I " But your rush of speech and interest are
like lively fire-works, and everything is doubled and exag-
gerated. You continue to dash on the paint until at last
the sober inner Truth-teller actually joins in the laugh, at
the shock. After a little he rises up and shouts : " You
are a liar 1 A liar ! " At the end, he dies a perfectly
•atural death.
In order to overcome this habit, you should first use
your senses, to know things just as they exist and occur.
And you must practise daily, until it becomes a habit, the
art of telling facts as nakedly as possible. For example :
recall some incident of yesterday, and proceed to narrate
it, coldly and slowly, in the fewest words, and with abso-
lutely no exaggeration. Meanwhile, resolve, and state
your resolution aloud, in the briefest and coldest manner :
I will henceforth reject impressions and all adjective
coloring, and confine myself entirely to actual facts." To
bring this about, you must determine, and begin now, to
employ no adjective word if you can make sense without
it, and when the adjective must appear, to use the weakest
of its kind. In reality, that word will be the very best,
though at first it may look like a featherless bird. The
bird will in time get all the feathers required, and a " per-
Resolve, and Thou art Free. 269
fectly wonderful liar " will have become a man of plain but
reliable speech, a comfort to himself and a support of
" English with a moral quality."
IRRITABILITY AND ANGER.
Irritation is the germ of anger. There are those,
however, who become irritable without explosions of
wrath. Very likely their difficulty is physical. A set of
unstrung nerves is often the result of wrong-doing, but
nevertheless demands the sympathy of the possessors of
good health. Weak and disordered nerves are a misfor-
tune, whatever their cause, and should be so treated.
Regimes, \ . The cure in such a case would seem to be
rest and treatment by medical specialists of unquestioned
standing. Yet here also the Will may find its opportunity.
It can do little without scientific assistance, but, thus aid-
ed, it may and does accomplish much. If the sick may
wisely be exhorted to a resolute fight, much more those
who are irritable because of a " touchy " and fault-finding
disposition. With reasonably well people irritability and
anger are inexcusable. You may thrust these devils out
of your life if you honestly desire to do so. In most cases
this may be done by a sheer exercise of Will. Certainly
with a little artificial assistance the task is sure to end in
success.
2. " Refuse to express a passion and it dies. Count
ten before venting your anger, and its occasion seems
ridiculous."
3. But you must stop violating physical law, and re-
solve to live according to the dictates of a sound judg-
ment. The suggestions of the chapter on " General
Health " should be observed.
4. Cultivate a cheerful state of mind. You can do
this if you will. Entertain only pleasing and elevating
270 Destruction of Immoral Habits.
views and feelings ; all others you must resolutely forego.
Do n't be foolish and brood over wrongs and unpleasant
conditions, whether fancied or real.
5. Don't worry. Whenever you are tempted to do
so, play the buffoon, or recall the funniest story you know.
You will be out of the mood, but it can be forced. Bury
yourself in humor ; laugh ; assert your Will ; shout to
your soul : " I will not worry 1 "
" If you sit all day in a moping posture," remarks
Professor James, "sigh and reply to everything with a
dismal voice, your melancholy lingers. If we wish to con-
quer undesirable emotional tendencies in ourselves, we
must assiduously, and in the first instance cold-bloodedly,
go through the outward motions of those contrary dis-
positions we prefer to cultivate. The reward of persist-
ency will infallibly come, in the fading out of the sullen-
ness or depression and the advent of real cheerfulness
and kindliness in their stead."
In plain, untechnical language, Dr. Geo. W. Jacoby
has said, " Worry works its irreparable injury through cer-
tain cells of the brain, and that delicate mechanism being
the nutritive centre of the body, the other organs become
gradually affected. Thus, some disease of these organs or
a combination of organic maladies arising, death finally
ensues.
" Scientifically, but little is known about those subtle
senses — perception, thought, judgment and reason —
except that they are closeted behind the frontal bones,
and that it is here the Will-power is generated to be com-
municated to every other part of the body. The cells
located here, some of them in constant service, others
acting only now and then, are the most important in the
brain. They are the mental citadel, and it is here the
awful malady we call worry makes its first deadly assault
Resolve ) and Thou art Free. 271
" Considered as a disease, worry, when it does not
kill outright, frequently injures to the extent of inducing
sickness, physical discomfort and the inclination to seek
relief in suicide. It is, perhaps, one of the worst of ills
to which the mind is heir.
" The remedy for the evil lies in the training of the
Will to cast off cares and seek a change of occupation when
the first warning is sounded by Nature in intellectual lassi-
tude and disinterestedness in life. Relaxation is the cer-
tain foe of worry, and 'do n't fret ' one of the healthiest of
maxims''1
6. You should resolve to discover some good, some
bright side, some pleasing element, in everything and in
every situation. You must make this a real pursuit of your
soul.
7. You should keep before your thought, in re-
lation to all those with whom you come in contact, their
virtues and excellence. Cultivate that charity which
thinks no ill.
8. You should read only that which is agreeable and
useful. Shun the blue book, the yellow journal, tainted
fiction, and all that is skeptical toward the wonder and
glory of life.
9. So far as feelings are concerned, live only in the
present The past is done for ; it is not half so bad as
you suppose. Verify this by recalling its pleasures and
successes alone, resolutely ignoring its sadness and fail-
ures. Live in the present of a sunny mood. Anticipate noth-
ing but good in the future. Burn all doleful prophe-
cies ; they are lies. Some evil must befall you, but those
about which you are certain will never " come true."
10. Companion with cheerful thoughts and people
exclusively. Why be friendly with those who are miser-
able for the sake of their deadly comfort ? Let the dead
272 Destruction of Immoral Habits.
bury their dead. This does not contradict the law of
kindness. If your motive is their good, you are then
armed against contagion.
11. On the morning of each day, find some pleasant
or inspiring thought, blaze it deeply into your mind, and
cling to it during the hours. Do not let it escape you
a moment. Repeat it when irritable. Repeat it when
tempted to anger. Repeat it as you perceive the shadows
of melancholy stealing over your soul. Invest it with
magical power. Constitute it an amulet or charm.
12. Preserve a daily record of instances in which
you have shown irritability or anger or melancholy. Be
exact in this ; let it be faithful and honest personal history.
At the close of each day, write it ; then read it ; then re-
solve to improve. At intervals review that record, and
note progress. State the fact in your diary, and remember
it for encouragement. Continue until you are master.
13. On no provocation permit yourself to fall into
melancholy, or to show irritation or anger, in company
with another person. Never forget your self-respect.
You must remember that man is entitled to be happy,
People and things about you are irritating and depressing,
no doubt ; but observe this fact, that many with whom
you become angry will merely exult in your downfall,
deriving unworthy pleasure from your weakness. Why
should you contribute to such enjoyment while rendering
yourself miserable? Why make distress for yourself,
whatever other people may do ? Here is a kind of living
suicide. Resolve to be happy. You are not so when
irritated, and you simply give the unkind an unnecessary
advantage. Your melancholy may be the sole source of
enjoyment for some people who protest, nevertheless,
that you are causing them misery ; why should you play
such a fool's part ?
Resolve, and Thou art Free. 273
14. Don't try to be a martyr! Don't assume the
role of suffering innocence 1 Do n't pity yourself ! The
man who pities himself is lost. Don't nurse your nerves 1
Do n't coddle you whims I Do n't " baby " your sins 1
15. Stand for your rights, control your feelings, in-
sist on a happy frame of mind, take frequently a moral
bath in honest, manful Will-power, and live absolutely
above the feeble-minded expletive, the wretched sarcasm,
the dastardly fling, the cowardly meanness, the cellar of
miasmatic brooding and the psycho-physical poison of
anger I
Brooding o'er ills, the irritable soul
Creates the evils feared and hugs its pain. —
See thou some good in every somber whole,
And, viewing excellence, forget life's dole
In will the last sweet drop of joy to drain.
EVIL IMAGINATIONS.
Opposed to purity, to cleanliness, to personal dignity,
to moral vigor, to health of body and soul, this habit has
its roots in a degraded tone of mind.
Two things are therefore observable : desire for evil,
and a want of proper mental occupation. The desire can
be mastered by improvement in health, and by substitution
of worthy thought in the mind.
Regimes, i. The first general treatment must be
physical. Nerves which are out of tone, must be brought
back to the full condition of health by the varied activities
of inspiring interests. You must co-operate by putting
yourself in a healthful regime of daily living, (a) You
must live regularly, as far as possible, (b) You must bring
yourself to a plain and simple diet, avoiding alcohol in
every form, and, if injurious, tea and coffee. (^) You
should bathe swiftly every day, rinse in clean and gradually
274 Destruction of Immoral Habits..
cooling water, and rub thoroughly with coarse towels until
you are perfectly dry and all aglow. (d~) Your thought
should immediately be taken up with rugged, active affairs.
(e) You should resolutely compel yourself to engage in
systematic, but not violent, exercise. (/) You should ab-
solutely shun every luxury of an enervating nature, (g)
Your amusements should be entirely free from any un-
worthy excitement. (^) You must cultivate an ideal of
womanhood as an ever-present portrait in the gallery of
thought — innocent, dignified, saintly.
2. On occasion, recite heroic poetry or exalted prose,
which you have learned for the purpose. Or recall some
stirring event in your own life, or some humorous incident,
driving the soul into healthful moods.
3. You should make it your business to occupy the
mind with plans, ideas, trains of reasoning, which are prac-
tical, noble and profoundly interesting. It may be well to
take up some problem of real life as a daily subject of
thought, to assail it with questions, to analyze its difficul-
ties, to discover its relations, to bore steadfastly into it,
until you have arrived at a solution which seems to be
reasonable or satisfactory. Then go into another subject
and treat it in the same manner.
4. Whenever an unworthy thought occurs to you,
thrust it aside and replace it by a better.
5. Remember, you are to fight this evil indirectly,
never directly. So long as your mind is upon it to destroy
it, it still remains. Therefore make your main fight by
occupying the field of thought with values and nobilities.
6. It is true here as it is with reference to every other
habit : If you say, " I cannot," you desire not to conquer.
Every habit is rooted in thoughtlessness or desire. Kill
the desire. Or better, reverse the desire. Example : " I
desire this or that indulgence." Substitute for this, " I
Resolve \ and Thou art Free. 275
desire its opposite ; I desire the correlative good ; I desire
freedom 1 " There is nothing which a man cannot do, rea-
sonably speaking, if he actually and profoundly desires it.
TOBACCO AND LIQUOR HABIT.
If there is not enough manhood left in you to desire
reform, you must consult a physician or a " cure "; and if
this will avail nothing, then, to be sure, you must go on as
a slave.
Regime i. But if your manhood is still sufficient
for these things, you must waste no time over these habits,
as such, or directly considered. You must treat with de-
sire, first, middle, last and directly, leaving habit to take
care of itself. Thus, you must banish desire for stimulants
by substituting for it desires of other descriptions. Keep
the first out of mind. Keep the latter forever in thought.
Illustration: The Man Who Failed. One who visits
a " Keely Cure " and is reformed, falls, in a few months,
into the old habit. It is said his case is hopeless ; so it is,
but not for anything in the treatment; the man doesn't
genuinely desire freedom. He drinks now because he
desires indulgence, or because he does not desire reform.
His appetite is his plea ; but his desire lies under his ap-
petite. Were he confronted by a loaded rifle, with the
assurance of a court of law that the instant he drank this
first glass which he holds to his lips he would be shot to
death like a dog, he would defer the indulgence because
desiring life better than one drink. The contrary is as-
serted, but it is simply the exaggeration of deluded mar-
tyrdom.
Illustration : The Man Who Won. A certain man
had put drink in place of wife, family and honor. Awaken-
ed in his bed, after a prolonged " spree," with a fiery crav-
276 Destruction of Immoral Habits.
ing for alcohol, he abjectly begged his wife to fetch him
whiskey. She coldly refused. In his torment, he prom-
ised that if she would grant this one request, he would for-
ever abjure the use of drink. Thereat she yielded. He
drank as a babe drinks milk. But he kept his word.
Here was right desire harnessed to Will. But the wife
furnished ready hot coffee every hour of the day and night
during months. Many men continue to drink whose wives
or mothers lack wit and the power of — simulating affec-
tion. Womanly " coddling " is a divine institution. A
reforming drinker is weak in nerves and a baby in soul ;
let his womanfolk pour wrath upon drink and nurse the
man for what he is — a hero with no legs to stand on.
Illustration : The Man Who Tried Again. A young
man discovered the alternative : drink and a perfect mix-
ture of ruin and disgrace, or total abstinence with large
success. He got into his soul, first of all, a mighty desire
for freedom, and then a great determination to suffer ; he
could suffer if he could not stop the use of alcohol. He
went into the battle — and fell. He sobered, got a new
desire for reform, and went into the fight once again. He
suffered torments beyond description. His body was an
armed enemy. His nervous system massed itself upon
lis resolution with persistent assaults which ceased not,
day or night, during months. He received assistance from
no " cure " and no religious experience, so far as he could
determine. Hourly he held conversations with his stom-
ach, saying to that organ with clenched fists and shut
teeth, " You cannot and shall not have drink." He never
yielded the second time. He triumphed, of course. Here
was desire harnessed to Will.
Illustration: The Man Who Makes Excuses. "How
many excuses does the drunkard find," writes Professor
James, like a scientific reformer, " when each new temp-
Resolve, and Thou art Free. 277
tation comes ! It is a new brand of liquor which the in-
terests of intellectual culture in such matters oblige him to
test ; moreover it is poured out and it is sin to waste it ;
or others are drinking and it would be churlishness to re-
fuse ; or it is but to enable him to sleep, or just to get
through this job of work ; or it is n't drinking, it is because
he feels so cold ; or it is Christmas-day ; or it is a means
of stimulating him to make a more powerful resolution in
favor of abstinence than any he has hitherto made ; or it
is just this once, and once doesn't count, etc., — it is, in
fact, anything you like except being a drunkard. That is
the conception that will not stay before the poor soul's
attention. But if he once gets able to pick out that way
of conceiving from all the other possible ways of con-
ceiving the various opportunities which occur, if through
thick and thin he holds to it that this is being a drunkard
and is nothing else, he is not likely to remain one long."
Regime 2. The drink-habit is partly psychic, partly
physical. In either case the desire must be displaced by
a stronger motive. A mediaeval legend illustrates this
law. The people of Gubio were terrorized by a wolf, and
Saint Francis undertook to tame the animal. He went
outside the walls of the town, and, meeting the wolf,
said to him : " I wish to make peace between you and
these people, Brother Wolf, so that you may offend them
no more, and neither they nor their dogs shall attack you."
Then, as the wolf laid his paw on the saint's hand, in token
of a covenant, he promised that the animal should be fed
during the rest of his life. " For well I know that all your
evil deeds were caused by hunger."
Regime 3. If the drink-habit is caused by a physical
condition, it should be counteracted by a regime of food
and innocent drink that shall maintain a state of physical
2 78 Destruction of Immoral Habits.
satisfaction. A full meal is a sound foundation for a good
Will. If the habit is the result of a psychic desire, the
Will must be bolstered by a new psychic ideal, of any
character whatever. Anything that will introduce to the
soul, and maintain there, a suggestion stronger than that
of liquor, will win — and nothing less can win.
Hugh Miller relates that a man-o'-war sailor in an
engagement had become so exhausted that he could
scarcely lift a marlinspike, but, the enemy renewing the
fight, " a thrill like that of an electric shock passed through
the frame of the exhausted sailor ; his fatigue at once left
him ; and, vigorous and strong as when the action first
began, he found himself able, as before, to run out the one
side of a twenty-four pounder."
The habit-conquering Will must be fed.
Regime 4. Some physicians recommend for the to-
bacco-habit the incessant eating of peanuts, inasmuch as a
condition of the stomach seems to be engendered by them
which revolts against nicotine. If you can nauseate a
man every time he craves tobacco he will cease to desire
it. It is said that milk has the same effect in some cases.
Every person long addicted to these habits needs some
medical assistance, because a physical state is involved
which usually requires counteraction. Having then, a
genuine desire to reform, follow the directions below :
Regime jr. Procure a tonic prescription from a phy-
sician who understands your case. Eat heartily plain
food, especially any kind which does not seem to agree
with tobacco or alcohol, and keep forever in mind the goal
of freedom. Eat peanuts or drink milk instead of indulg-
ing your appetite in habit. Fix deeply in your soul the
conviction that the difficulty is not insuperable, but will
yield in time. This is true, because the entire physical
Resolve^ and Thou art Free. 279
system tends to adapt itself to new conditions. Continue
these reform conditions long enough and you are a free
man.
Regime 6. Don't talk about your effort. Don't
dwell upon your suffering. Keep yourself busy, in out-of-
door activity as much as possible. Contrive to get a great
amount of sound sleep every day. Take a noon nap daily.
Flood your stomach with pure water day after day. If the
weather permits, perspire freely. Put tobacco and liquor
out of sight. Keep them out of mind. When their
thought arises, banish the suggestion instantly. As you
do so, and in order to do so, set the mind upon other
matters.
Regime 7. Don't suffer yourself to fall into the
" dead stare" — that unconscious stand-still of mind which
occasionally seizes men who are fighting these battles.
Anticipate such " spells," and throw yourself into action
requiring no concentration of thought.
RegimeS. Don't pity yourself. Entertain no sym-
pathy for your suffering nor your weakness. Do n't play
martyr. Do n't class yourself with heroic reformers.
Don't nurse your egotism. Don't imagine that you are
doing some great thing. Forget all these temptations.
People have lost track of neuralgia over Mark Twain's
" Innocents Abroad," and have fought on in battle with
shattered arms. You can absolutely forget tobacco and
alcohol, if you determine to do so.
Regime 9. Do n't ask the Divine Being to cure these
habits. All such " cures " have been psychological.
Deity is the author of a true psychology, and religious ex-
perience is psychological, to be sure ; but the Infinite
works through His own laws, one of which, underlying the
crowning achievement of moral realms, soul development,
280 Destruction of Immoral Habits.
is that Divine help is given to no human being in an
especial manner or degree who can achieve success by
obedience to ordinary principles of right living.
A person once declared that " the Lord had taken
away his craving for tobacco." When closely and per-
sistently questioned, he confessed that there had been
times at first wherein his throat and mouth had felt
" raw," one of the symptoms of tobacco denial. He had
forgotten his desire in his intense religious excitement.
Here was " Divine assistance," of course, but without any
distinctively supernatural element.
Some people can get " cured at the altar." It does n't
matter what notions they entertain, so long as they escape
the " beggarly elements." But other people can never
quite surrender to the auto-suggestion necessary, and fre-
quently these fail of achieving what is called " victory "
because they rely upon mistaken ideas and ignore the true
law of these subjects, the curability of habits where there
is genuine desire backed by resolute Will and proper men-
tal conditions. Any method which will create desire for
reform, foster determination, and occupy the mind with
absorbing thought or excitement long enough to enable
the system to readjust itself, will realize the happy results
of the " converted drunkard " or the " sanctified tobacco
user."
In conclusion we may quote from "T/ie Culture of
Courage " suggestions which make for the conquering
spirit. " Faith, conceived as the affirmatively expectant
attitude of the whole self, is one of the mightiest powers in
this world. It is the fundamental element in auto-sugges-
tion. You are therefore invited to make your entire thought
and life a suggestion to self that these directions, faithfully
carried out, will infallibly eliminate from your nature " the
habits indicated.
Resolve , and Thou art Free. 281
But remember, " faith without works is merely a ' say-
so.' Real faith is confident action toward a goal. The
continuation of such action measures the kind and power
of faith supposed. You should, therefore, determine to
persevere — a thousand years if necessary, for you are your-
self everlasting, if you will. But let it be remembered
that mere resolution is only one-half of real determination.
Some people resolve — and then resolve, never achieving
victory. Others put ' bite ' into the matter in hand once
for all, and do not seem to know how to let go. The only
cure for resolution is determination, for determination is
just doing the thing resolved upon.
" The soul that says, ' I am going to overcome,' will
rery likely fail. The leverage runs too far into the future.
A valiant Will always acts on a short lever. You should,
therefore, declare : ' I am overcoming 1 The thing is now
being accomplished 1 The matter in hand is mastered.'
This1 may seem a trifle false, but it is more than a trifle
true if you really mean it. When a man swears the needed
thing now, it is by so much already done in his Will, and a
good deal of it, unknown to him, is accomplished in the con-
crete."
T IS WISE SURRENDER CROWNS THE KING."
Our Mother Life her children slays —
Old earth is but a sepulchre.
Yet has her madness wisdom's ways
That honor and develop her.
Each death decreed unfolds her praise
In law of world-wide ministring :
And so , for man the -victor bays —
''Tis wise surrender crowns the king.
True living counts its passing days.
Not by a globe's diameter,
But by the drama spirit plays
To London Town from ancient Ur.
And when itself its progress stays
In weakling loves that fondly cling,
To cherish must the gods amaze —
Tis wise surrender crowns the king.
No God-soul after impulse strays
Through time as '( Poor Ophelia were,
Nor like a fickle Hamlet prays
For power Will may not confer.
Love well thy pains / Achieve the phase
Of dying which is life at spring;
For if thy self thy self would raise,
'Tis wise surrender crowns the king.
What evil thing may growth defer
If life with death has reckoning?
Why, then, to sorry cost demur?
'Tis wise surrender crowns the king.
— TH* AOTHO*.
CHAPTER XXV.
CORRECTION OF OTHER HABITS.
|MPURE thought, despondent, hopeless, repin-
ing, fault-finding, fretful, slanderous thought,
is certain to make the blood impure and fill
the system with disease.
" So with certain habits of body consequent on such
habits of thought, such as the habit of worry, the habit of
laying undue stress on things not the most needful for the
hour; the habit of trouble borrowing and many others,
which permeate and influence every act of life. Their
combined effect is exhaustion, and exhaustion is the real
mother of most of the ills flesh is heir to." — Prentice
Mulford.
" We are continually denying," said Henry Ward
Beecher, " that we have habits which we have been prac-
tising all our lives. Here is a man who has lived forty or
fifty years ; and a chance shot sentence or word lances
him and reveals to him a trait which he has always pos-
sessed, but which, until now, he had not the remotest idea
that he possessed. For forty or fifty years he has been
fooling himself about a matter as plain as the nose on his
face."
We now take up certain habits not regarded as im-
moral.
SLANG.
Perhaps one such unconscious habit is that of slang.
Some people are, indeed, slaves to the tyrant, " Correct
284 Correction of Other Habits.
Style." There is a golden mean. It is related of a college
professor that his usual manner of speaking was so exces-
sively elegant that he really obscured the natural scintilla-
tions of a bright mind ; he was dull where a slight admix-
ture of the " common parlance " would have imparted
vivacity to his otherwise interesting conversation. He
stands as a type of the few uncanny and " literary fellows."
One may indulge slightly in slang as an agreeable
concession to a work-a-day world, but its habitual use
indicates a want of self-control.
" The use of slang" said Dr. O. W. Holmes, " or
cheap generic terms, as a substitute for differentiated
specific expressions, is at once a sign and a cause of mental
atrophy. It is the way in which a lazy adult shifts the
trouble of finding any exact meaning in his (or her) con-
versation on the other party. If both talkers are indolent,
all their talk lapses into the vague generalities of early
childhood, with the disadvantage of a vulgar phraseology.
It is a prevalent social vice of the time, as it has been of
times that are past."
The habit may be destroyed by following the sugges-
tions relating to profanity and garrulousness.
Remember that slang consisted originally of the
" cant words used by thieves, peddlers, beggars, and the
vagabond classes generally."
Cultivate the society of the best speech. " If you
hear poor English and read poor English," said Richard
Grant White, " you will pretty surely speak poor English
and write poor English."
HESITATION OF SPEECH.
It may be that the stammerer's ancestry could never
get well quit of a clear statement. Many people can
Will Masters the Lord of Misrule. 285
make no smooth headway through a simple utterance of
fact or opinion. With real " stuttering " we have here
nothing to do. Those who stammer, without rhyme or
reason, are but themselves at fault. Perhaps the difficulty
is due to a want of " steam " sufficient to force a clear
expression of thought ; some people do well when excited
or angry, but in calm moments they make sad work of it.
Perhaps, again, the trouble is owing to an amount of
" steam " which they do not control : they speak smoothly
when not disturbed, but excitement causes them to sputter
like a fire-hose out of which water is failing. Persistent
practice of the suggestions below ought to cure this diffi-
culty, whatever its cause, except in case of physical de-
formity.
Regime i. Recall some incident of your experience
or observation occurring within the last twenty-four hours.
Deliberately and rapidly recite, in an ordinary tone of voice,
and as if speaking to some person, a connected account
of the entire transaction. Speak as rapidly as possible.
Do not permit yourself to pause an instant for want of a
proper word ; thrust in any word, as nearly right as may
be, or even one having no related significance — any
word — and go swiftly on to the end.
Regime 2. When you have begun a sentence, plunge
straight through it to the close. Then proceed in the
same manner with the next, and drive yourself to the
finish of your account.
Regime j. Now repeat the process, resolving to
employ better language with each sentence ; but do not
pause an instant ; force yourself to say what you desire in
some way, no matter whether elegant or not.
Continue daily practice of these directions until yo»r
difficulty is overcome.
286 Correction of Other Habits.
Regime 4.. But meanwhile, one fault in your speech
is this : you do not consciously think your thought in
actual words. This you must learn to do. Recall, then,
some subject of thought on which you have an opinion.
Proceed, now, to state that opinion exactly to yourself and
in an ordinary tone of voice. The exercise may be varied
by pronouncing the words mentally, but do not fall into
that imbecile habit of moving the lips. Your opinion
must be uttered rapidly, the Will compelling the thought
to march on without hesitation, no matter what an occa-
sional word may chance to be. You have two things
to learn : to think exact thoughts in actual words ; and to
think them with the greatest speed.
Regime 3. It will assist you, now, if you will begin
to write the opinion or account as swiftly as you can dash
the pen across the page. Work here also with fierce
energy, never pausing an instant, but always, when tempted
to hesitate, writing the best word of which you can think
— or throwing in a dash or any word coming to mind.
When this is done, sentence after sentence, read the
whole, and proceed to criticise and correct: then rewrite
in a better manner but with all possible speed.
Regime 6. Commit to memory and keep in mind the
following rules :
will speak rapidly — or slowly, as required.
will never stop for a word.
will never pause to correct a word or a phrase.
will never leave a sentence unfinished.
will never turn back in a sentence.
will use the best possible language.
will not speak in two styles — one for common life,
and one for uncommon occasions. I will adopt a good
style and always employ this.
Will Masters the Lord of Misrule. 287
I will not speak loosely, and I will not converse like
a prig or a pedant. I will be correct, yet simple ; elegant,
yet unaffected.
MIND-WANDERING.
Elsewhere, in Chapter XVIII, will be found other
pertinent remarks on this fault. The importance of the
topic cannot be overestimated, and it will therefore bear
further suggestions.
The wandering mind is the thoughtless mind.
Thought loves the highway; notions climb the fences.
Thoughts are trained hounds; fancies are puppies — off
for every scent. It would weary the intellect of a Newton
to follow the wanderings of a young dog. Wandering
thoughts waste the brain and they get no " game." The
uncontrolled brain is a fool's paradise. Nothing comes of
the mind which cannot stick. The cure of mind-wander-
ing is control by the Will. The practice here suggested
will cure this senseless fault, and at the same time
strengthen the Will itself.
Regime i. In reading, always proceed slowly, until
you have acquired the power of rapid comprehension.
Select some good sentence for reading. Read it, slowly
carefully, understanding every word. Ten notions have
flitted across the field of thought. Resolve to keep that
field clear. Read the sentence again, proceeding as
before, and willing intensely to hold to its thought and
nothing else. Continue to read that sentence until you
can attend absolutely without a single failure to what it
says. When you can read it, with nothing whatever save
its own thought in mind, take your eyes from the page and
repeat it — the thought not the words — in the best pos-
sible manner. Your mental action has now " wandered."
Go back and read the sentence again, giving it exclusive
288 Correction of Other Habits.
attention ; then state in mental words its thought, holding
yourself to complete absorption in the matter.
Regime 2. Continue the above exercise until you
can confine the mind to that thought with not the shadow
of another idea. Then proceed with further reading in
exactly the same way. You will not make much progress
at the start. Your habit is of long standing, and it will
require great patience and perseverance to destroy it.
But the thing can certainly be done. Remember! For
what are you reading at all ? Really to read — genuinely
to think. Here are goals which are worth untiring labor
and unlimited time. A page a day which the soul bores
its way into is better than a book read carelessly in one
hour.
Rigimc j. When about to read, ask yourself: " Why
am I to read this matter ? " Find that out ; then insist
upon getting what you are after. Read the first sentence,
and ask : " What did that sentence mean and say ? " Read
the sentence until you know and can tell the fact or
truth in your own words. Proceed thus to the close of
the first paragraph, and ask : " Exactly what does this par-
agraph declare ? " Persist in reading the same paragraph
until you can relate its thought. Continue these exercises
to the complete mastery of thoughtful reading. You will
find your mind-wandering slowly vanishing.
Regime 4. While engaged in business or other matters,
pause frequently to note what you are thinking about.
You will meet with many surprises. Catch yourself
indulging some train of fancy, and then ask : " Has this
any value to me ? Am I thinking out the matter in which
I am physically engaged, or on which I set out, or am I
merely running about in it like a puppy in a new field ? "
Keep the mind upon thoughts of value. They need not
Will Masters the Lord of Misrule. 289
relate to death and the judgment ; pleasant thoughts are
not unlawful. Compel your mind to think, not only
thoughts of value, but in a connected way as well. Stand
guard over your own mind. Dispel every fleeting fancy
and uncalled notion not germane to the thing in hand, as
far as possible. Cultivate a reliable and purposeful intel-
lect. Commit the following lines to memory, and make
the verse a talisman against wandering thoughts :
A wandering mind is like a shooting star:
With orbit none, it yields a transient light. —
The mind God launched across Creation's bar
Hath His omnipotence — great Reason's might
GARRULOUSNESS.
The majority of people talk too much, often saying
nothing, or what is perhaps, the worse for themselves,
uttering words which they afterwards wish had been left
unsaid. There are others who are as uncommunicative as
the oyster — and not always, when they open their mouths,
does a pearl fall to your prize. In social life they are
fallen logs, against which the stream of conversation
dashes and from which it turns aside in sparkling agita-
tion. In business they are enigmas, perennial objects of
suspicion. They do not, as a rule, make many friends,
although when they do, these stand by to the death.
The opposite class are numerous, and, because they
talk too much, are objects of a fellow-feeling among men
and are believed to be amenable to improvement. The
following rules will cure garrulousness, if obeyed to the
letter.
Regime I. At the beginning of each day for, say,
three months, run over in your mind all matters that are
of vital importance to your social and business life. You
will discover some things which you ought to keep to
"290 Correction of Other Habits.
yourself. Make an iron-clad resolution to reveal them to
no human being. Remember! Remember! Remember!
When in conversation with others, recall that resolution.
Remember ! yes, remember !! If you fail during the day,
remember ! remember ! and renew the resolution on the
next day. Stand by it ! Carry it in mind every hour.
In the evening review your success or failure, and saturate
your thought with condemnation and with fiercer deter-
mination to reform. Do not yield until you can instantly
repress any impulse to speak on any subject. In three
months you will be master of your tongue.
Regime 2. You are using too many words at all
times. This fault can be corrected. You must, in order
to improvement, cultivate terseness of speech. Practise
every day for a year the following. This is labor, but
the result will amply repay you :
Regime j. Think a fairly long statement concerning
some object, person or event. You must deliberately
think in words, making an intelligible sentence. Now
write it out in full. We will call this statement "A."
Repeat it, attending to your own voice. How does it
sound ? Is the sentence the best that you can make ? If
not, improve it. Now reduce it to its lowest possible
terms as a clear, definite and complete statement. Write
it on another sheet of paper. Repeat it, noting its sound.
Then determine to cut it down one-third, or even one-
half. Persevere until this is done. Write the result on
a third sheet of paper. Now compare the three state-
ments. Compute the per cent, of reduction. You will
be astonished to observe the waste of breath and language
in your ordinary conversation.
Regime 4.. Resolve to carry out the idea of conden-
sation in all your speech. In the course of a few months
Will Masters the Lord of Misrule. 291
you will discover two things : first, your vocabulary will
have become larger and better, because this effort requires
the use of dictionaries and thoughtful practice with words ;
secondly, your manner of speaking will have become sur-
prisingly condensed and intelligent.
Select, further, some author whose style
is chaste and condensed. Read his works carefully, a
little every day. Following the rules for memory, commit
some of your author's best sentences and paragraphs. A
small book which is a condensation of a larger one may
be used in connection with the preceding suggestion. In
time, this practice will, without any special effort on your
part, greatly modify your general style of speech.
Regime 6. No one will affirm that Carlyle's tumult-
uous chaos of words is a finished globe of conventional
economy in the matter of language ; but this Thunderer
has thoughts and is recognized as a wizard with our
mighty English. Read the following, therefore ; cut it
deeply into memory, and live in the atmosphere of its
suggestion :
" The great silent men ! Looking around on the
noisy inanity of the world, words with little meaning,
actions with little worth, one loves to reflect on the great
Empire of Silence. The noble, silent men, scattered here
and there, each in his department ; silently thinking,
silently working; whom no Morning Newspaper makes
mention of 1 They are the salt of the Earth. A country
that has none or few of these is in a bad way. Like a
forest which had no roots; which had all turned into
leaves and boughs ; — which must soon wither and be no
forest. Woe for us if we had nothing but what we can
show or speak. Silence, the great Empire of SILENCE ;
292 Correction of Other Habits.
higher than the stars ; deeper than the Kingdoms of Death t
It alone is great ; all else is small."
THOUGHTLESSNESS.
This is the habit which causes one to miss his train,
forget his wife's message, send an important letter with-
out signature, rush to keep an engagement an hour late,
omit to carry his pocket-book to church, dress for an
evening party without a necktie, leave the comb in her
hair, and cry, when the house is afire : " Where is the
baby ? " It may and ought to be cured. The main
secret of remedy is, of course, the resolute Will. Every
habit which men confess can be broken, if it be thoroughly
willed that the thing must and shall be done.
Regime I. You should resolve every day until it
ceases to be necessary, as soon as you rise, to remember
whatever you ought to remember during that day. It
would be better to so resolve at morning and at noon.
At the close of the time limited, you should recall wherein
you have failed, and spend a few moments in deliberate
thought on the folly of this fault.
Regime 2. You should ask yourself concerning any
particular matter requiring attention : " Why do I wish to
remember this thing ? Who will suffer if I fail ? Who
will be benefited if I succeed? "
Regime j. You should make up your mind abso-
lutely never to defer what ought to be done at some time,
and may be done immediately. The moment you think
of a matter which you wish to attend to, proceed instantly
to do it. If it is impossible at the time, charge your mind
with it again, state why it must be done, and when you
will give it attention. Do it then at almost any cost.
Will Masters the Lord of Misrule. 293
You are fixing a habit of recollection, and this is worth
all inconvenience.
Regime 4.. You should begin now to give your whole
mind to whatever you undertake. Do nothing without
full thought. Repeat to yourself: "I know what I am
doing and why. This one thing I do." When the matter
is finished, and before you allow yourself to think of any-
thing else, review it carefully. Is it all complete ? Is it
exactly to your satisfaction ? If not, go back and do it
over again, following the above directions. This devel-
ops the habit of thinking on what you are doing.
Regime 5. You should never think of one thing while
trying to do another — except in certain habituated tasks.
Regime 6. You should put yourself to inconvenience
to make good any carelessness.
Regime 7. You should never allow yourself to be-
come excited.
Practise daily, for three months, making a different
route which you will follow in going to and returning from
your place of business, and never fail.
Regime 8. Determine every day until unnecessary, to
recall, at a certain exact hour, some particular matter to
which you will then attend. Keep the same hour for
many days ; then change the hour ; continue until you
are master in this respect. This will build up a habit of
obeying your own orders.
Regime 9. At frequent intervals, during each day
until unnecessary, stop all active work, and recall any
particular matter which you ought to have attended to.
Then recall any matter to which you must yet attend. Do
not be hurried. Give your whole thought to these efforts.
Immediately make good your negligence.
294 Correction of Other Habits.
Regime 20. Never trust mere note-books for matters
which a fair memory ought to retain. Never trust any-
thing else for dates and important business transactions.
Put no confidence in mnemonics ; tie no strings to your
fingers ; make no associations (unless of the simplest
kind) as helps. Use your Will. Compel yourself to obey
that power.
INDECISION.
There are those whose Will-power is very good when
they have decided what they will do. But they find it
difficult to arrive at decision. They balance the pros and
cons to weariness, and cannot settle the matter in hand.
That is to say, they believe themselves to be engaged as
indicated. The truth is, their minds are confused, and it
is but vaguely that they think at all. If this is your
habit — that of indecision — you must summon your en-
tire strength to its destruction. The difficulty is more or
less constitutional ; nevertheless it may be overcome.
Regime i. Carry always with you a strong sense of
resolution.
Regime 2. Cultivate consciousness of self and self-
possession.
Regime j. Remember always where you are and
what you are doing.
Regime 4. Under no circumstances permit yourself
to become excited or confused. If you find either of these
conditions obtaining, defer the matter until calmness re-
turns. If it cannot be deferred, summons tremendous
Will ; remember, " I must be calm 1 " and decide as best
you can. At the next emergency profit by this experi-
ence. But waste no energy in useless reviews of mistakes.
Store away the mood of coolness for future use.
Will Masters the Lord of Misrule. 295
Regime 5. Learn to think of but one thing at a time.
When engaged with any matter, put the whole mind upon
that alone.
Regime 6. Make the difficulty and discomfort of
indecision cause for immediate resolution.
Regime 7. When in doubt attend to motives singly.
Think of one at a time clearly and forcibly. Do not be-
come distracted by many considerations. In examining
motives force a vivid conception of each, and then of all
together. Then rapidly review all reasons, for and
against, as nearly at once as possible. Then act 1 De-
cide ! Take some chances. All men must do so more or
less. Waste no time with consequent regrets.
Regime 8. For at least three months resolve every
morning as to how you will dress. Do this quickly. Fix
the exact order of procedure. Adhere strictly to your
plan. Never yield ; never hesitate. Dress as rapidly as
possible. Vary the order each day, as far as may be done
with your combination.
Regime 9. Resolve, when you start for your office, or
any objective point, that you will keep in mind what you
are doing until you arrive. Do not plan the way at the
start. Proceed on your way ; think that you are going ;
at the first opportunity for varying the course, pause an
instant, think of reasons for one way or another, and im-
mediately decide — to take this car or to follow that street ;
at the next opportunity, repeat the process. Continue
until facility in quick decision in the matter is acquired.
Regime 10. You should cultivate the habit of acting
in a rapid, energetic manner. Do everything you under-
take with keen thought and a strong feeling of power.
Regime n. You should above all learn promptness.
296 Correction of Other Habits,
Meet every engagement on the minute. Fulfil each duty
exactly on time. Never dawdle in any matter. Be de-
cisive in all things.
Regime 12. In addition to hours and dates ordinarily
fixed in your life, make many artifical resolutions relating
to time and manner, and religiously carry them out to the
letter. Keep forever in mind the necessity of promptness,
energy, quickness of action, strength of Will.
WANT OF OPINION.
The fundamental difficulty here is lack of thought.
People who think have opinions. Thought can be culti-
vated only by exercise of Will, and in three ways: by
forced efforts, which require Will ; by reading, which re-
quires intelligent comprehension, and by observation, which
requires attention.
Regime i. You do not observe keenly and clearly
what is going on about you. You should resolve and in-
stantly begin to see things. It is a great art, that of see-
ing correctly. The wise man is he who sees what other
people are merely looking at. You should determine to
see things as they are. This means that you are to find
out what they are. You can begin upon any common
object : the ground ; the grass ; household furniture.
After a time you will become interested, and you will then
find yourself thinking. Then you will have opinions, be-
cause you will believe or know many matters.
Regime 2. You need to discover wherein you are
ignorant. That will be comparatively easy. Then you
must set about finding all that you can discover upon some
particular subject. Look around ; ask questions ; read
papers, magazines, books. Keep the end in view, to know
this subject to the bottom. Do not allow yourself to be
Will Masters the Lord of Misrule. 297
diverted from this purpose. Become a walking encyclo-
pedia on this one thing. When you have exhausted the
matter as far as possible, you will possess genuine opinions.
And you will then be eager to take another subject, and
will follow it to the last farthing of value. The result will
be — more opinions.
Regime j. In the meantime, you will have discov-
ered the luxury of intelligent opinions, and of the habit of
forming your own. People accept the opinions of others
because they are aware of their own ignorance. So soon
as they become themselves informed, they decline this
sort of superiority. Want of opinion and want of knowl-
edge are equivalent. The latter is the sole right remedy
for the former. But there is no cure for want of brains.
Without brains so-called opinions are fools' quips. At
the brainless person Nature wrings her helpless hands.
It is a finality of despair.
OPINIONATIVENESS.
This habit is the outcome of a stubborn Will exer-
cised by a blind soul. The opinionated man sees himself
only. His Volitions are not so much strong and active
as set and inert. The Will is here more or less diseased,
because the self has no proper outlook upon life. The
self supposes that it understands things, events and per-
sons, but its real understanding is vague and partial.
Could it know more, it would arrive at different views. It
looks at the silver side of the shield ; it ought to discover
the other side ; but it cannot do this. Certain aspects of
events are presented ; it cannot penetrate to additional
phases. Views of people give it notions which are not
real ideas because true motives of conduct are hidden.
The opinionated person is usually wrong. As woman de-
298 Correction of Other Habits.
pends largely upon intuitions, when she betrays the fault
here under consideration it is well-nigh incurable, for
intuitions are not amenable to reason. They are divine
when right, but the despair of man when wrong. The
difficulty here lies in the fact that the opinionated soul
views all things through itself, and magnifies its own per-
sonality to enormous proportions. It is ruled by sub-
jective conditions which shut out the relations and per-
spective of the world.
Who ne'er concedes the law of truth,
That truth transcends his mind,
Mistakes himself for God, and, sooth,
With open eyes — stands blind :
His soul a world, great "views" he spawns,
While humans laugh and Nature yawns.
Such a conception of self can only be corrected by a
true realization of the personality of other people. There
are those who never actually appreciate the fact that their
fellows are genuine existences. To them human beings
are little more than phantoms, presenting various unsub-
stantial phenomena of life ; they are never bona-fide per-
sons possessed of hearts and brains, and engaged in con-
crete realities. Why should phantoms have opinions?
Themselves are real ; themselves discover reasons for
views ; themselves are therefore entitled to opinions.
This right is not universal because other minds are not by
them apprehended as actual. Hence the remedy for this
species of " insanity " must go to the root of the difficulty.
These people must learn to realize their fellows. If the
habit of opinionativeness is to be cured, humanity must
be made concrete and real in thought,
In order to this, let the following suggestions be
practised during life. After death your happiness will
Will Masters the Lord of Misrule. 299
largely depend upon your power to concede to your fel-
lows a legitimate place in the universe.
Regime i. Select one of your friends or acquaint-
ances, and study that soul with no reference whatever to
yourself. Learn his ways, his sentiments and emotions,
his thoughts and motives. No matter whether these
elements of his life are proper or improper, right or
wrong; you are not to sit in judgment upon him, but
merely to become thoroughly acquainted with his nature
and character. In time you will discover that he thinks
he has various reasons for his opinions, which you are not
to condemn, because that is not the thing in hand, but
which you are vividly to realize as facts in his life. Above
all, you will gradually find yourself thinking of him as a
real being in a real body and engaged in a real life.
Regime 2. Continue this study with reference to
other people about you, until you have formed the habit
of feeling thoroughly the fact that you are dealing with
living men and women.
Regime j. When you have ceased to think of them
as phantoms, a curious thing will occur ; you will regard
some of your old-time opinions as more or less confused,
inadequate and baseless.
Regime 4.. At all times you should remember with
whom you are coming in contact. If your idea of human
life is justifiable, you need look upon no one as your in-
ferior. Many people may be so, indeed, but it is n't
worth while considering. You have, perhaps, been ac-
customed to deference and obedience from your employees.
Such a relation demands politeness on your part for the
sake of your own dignity. The person who is not polite
to servants surrenders moral values. Yet politeness is
3<x> Correction of Other Habits.
merely the veneer of the Golden Rule. That rule, in all
respects, should be practised toward those with whom you
deal. When it governs a man's life, the " maid," the
" man," the employee comes to be regarded as a human
being in an exalted sense. Such an habitual regard trans-
fers from the ranks of servants to those of fellows. You
have fallen into the habit of hurling your opinions at peo-
ple to whom you pay no wages because you have had
authority over those who receive the means of living at
your hands. Were you to look upon your " help " as real
beings, sensitive and possessed of rights, you would not
arrogate to your opinions sole legality and exclusive value.
Whatever you do as to "hands," you do not own the rest
of mankind. It is not " good policy " to forget this
trifling fact.
Regime 5. You should forever strive exactly to un-
derstand opinions opposite to your own. You cannot
thrust them aside as wrong unless you know what they
really are. The opinionated person seldom understands
what he contradicts. A thorough knowledge of another
man's thought will bring you nearer to him, and your
ideas, being then compared with his, will probably not
seem so huge and so unquestionably correct.
Regime 6. The study of opposite opinions involves
the study of reasons. There is a possibility that, when
you fully discover another person's reasons for opinions,
your own reasons may undergo some alteration. It
would diminish your infallibility if you could see the force
with which reasons other than your own make for differing
views.
Regime 7. You should occasionally recall your er-
rors in judgment. It may be ventured with some assur
ance that you will be able to recollect at least one such
Will Masters the Lord of Misrule. 301
error. If once in error, possibly many times. Burn that
into your soul.
Regime 8. You should also recall the mistakes of
your life. You have thus suffered injury. If you can
write this on the retina of your eye, perhaps you may re-
form a little of your cocksure attitude. Some of your
mistakes have injured others. If you do not care about
this, close the present book and "gang your ain gait."
The pig-pen has one remedy — fire and the sword.
CONCLUSION OF PART IV.
In conclusion of the two preceding chapters, it would
be well for every person occasionally to submit to self-
examination as to the reign of habits, whether immoral or
otherwise. Beware of the " devil's palsy of self-appro-
bation." Let a list of personal faults be carefully and
deliberately made. They should be scrutinized severely
to ascertain their power and results. Then resolve to
destroy them, root and branch. Begin at once. Carry
the list with you. Frequently read it. Determine, again
and again, to be rid of them. Give each a definite time
for extirpation. Preserve a record of success and failure
in this respect. Read this at the close of each day of
battle. Continue until free.
Meanwhile, in all things, cultivate the resolute, con-
quering Mood of Will. You can be free /
RESOLVE 1 "ATTENTION TO THE KING
ON HIS THRONE 11"
SPEECH.
All objects of creative power have speech;
Else how her laws might Earth her children teach*
How might the vaster Mother, Universe,
Her ancient Vedas with Lord Time rehearse,
Till Psyche waked and dared life's endless reach ?
The countless atoms threaten or beseech,
In forest, mountain, valley, ocean, beach —
All objects speak in language clear and terse.
Such speech is aye for better, ne'er for worse,
Till man evolves his blessing or his curse.
Yet man with heart afire may beauty preach —
To him the gift of eloquence in speech /
The words of kings do largesses disburse j
The gifts of kings do but their kingdoms nurse:
Let nought unmeet thy sovran -word impeach!
— THB AUTHOX.
PART V.— CONTACT WITH OTHER PEOPLE.
ELOQUENCE.
With self the soul companions through the night,
Mayhap with friends beyond etheric sight,
Nor holds the speech of earth in lust and might,
But language born for service and delight.
,Vow when the world returns to day and toil,
And life is huge activity and moil,
Our words betray our blindness and the soil,
And so we fain must ape them or recoil.
Supreme the task to utter gracious thought,
Diviner yet to have it, nobly sought ;
And only when high passions, swiftly wrought,
Sublime the soul, is powers secret caught.
From labor patient comes the godlike art
Of thought's conveyance, but the burning heart
In eloquence of life plays chief est part —
The master aye of cloister or of mart.
Who craves the golden tongue must lift and climb,
Know lairs of eagles and the look sublime,
Yet fires that purge the valley's dust and grime,
Vast solitudes and yet the mob of time.
With self must he companion through the night,
And with high friends who own the larger sight,
Drink youth' s eternal waters of delight,
And win the human soul for truth and right.
— THE AUTHOR,
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE WILL IN PUBLIC SPEAKING.
[HILE engaged in the composition of my ' Ele-
ments of Chemistry,' I perceived, better than
I had ever done before, the truth of an obser-
vation of Condillac, that we think only through the
medium of words ; and that languages are true analytic
methods. The art of reasoning is nothing more than a
language well arranged." — Lavoisier.
11 In a thousand emergencies men have been obliged
to act with quickness, and, at the same time, with caution ;
in other words, to examine subjects, and to do it with ex-
pedition. The consequence of this is, that the numerous
minute circumstances, involved more or less in all subjects
of difficult inquiry, are passed in review with such rapidity,
and are made in so small a degree the objects of separate
attention, that they vanish and arc forgotten" — Professor
Upham.
The design of this chapter is suggestive only to the
author's elaborate and practical work, "Power for Suc-
ffss." Power of Will is here the central consideration,
and the following pages have mainly to do with that
factor.
The chief difficulties of public speaking relate to
thought, language and imagination. Those who lack one
306 The Will in Public Speaking.
or the other of these talents can, therefore, never acquire
the art. But such talents may exist without discovery,
merely requiring proper cultivation. And the word
"talent" must not be exaggerated. It is not necessary
to possess great abilities in order to speak well before
others. Many who would probably fail in presence of an
audience express themselves with clearness, and some-
times with eloquence, in ordinary conversation. The
difference between conversation and public speaking is
largely the power of sustained effort. As Professor
George H. Palmer remarks : " Talking moves in sen-
tences, and rarely demands a paragraph. I make my
little remark — a dozen or two words — then wait for my
friend to hand me back as many more. . . . The brief
groupings of words which we make up in our talk furnish
capital practice in precision, boldness, and variety ; but
they do not contain room enough for exercising our con-
structive faculties." The constructive faculties must
therefore be cultivated. Any person of average brains
can acquire thought and extend his vocabulary ; and if
he has persistent determination and opportunity, can
force his ideas to put on the orderly clothing of rocal
utterance.
REGIMES.
r. Acquiring Thought. Brains count immensely in
this matter. Your first source of trouble consists in a
lack of sufficient thought. For this deficiencj' there is but
one practical remedy. You should read, study, think, for
the purpose of accumulating facts, acquiring opinions, furnish-
ing the mind with thought. It is not enough to have ideas ;
these must be woven into some actual fabric by real thinking.
When you know and think on any given subject, you can
talk about it before an audience, other things being equal.
The Orator is One Who Knows. 307
2. Developing Language. But other things seldom
are equal. Hence, the next difficulty consists in a lack of
language. You should first of all, now, accumulate a
good stock of words — words — words — as the raw
material of expression. If you are pursuing the directions
previously suggested as to attention in reading and de-
velopment of the power of thought, you are storing up in
memory many words which are not heard in the average
conversation. You should make it your business to en-
large your vocabulary by a large number of unpretentious
and sober-minded words. In order to this, while accu-
mulating thought, keep a good dictionary convenient for
reference, and permit no word which you do not clearly
understand to escape your zeal as collector. But avoid
as much as possible odd words, long words, pedantic
words.
3. Exercising Expression. Meanwhile you should
seize every opportunity for practising the art of expression.
Begin with every-day conversation. Refer to directions
as to hesitation and exaggeration. Do not try to talk like
a magazine article. Avoid the stilted style as strenuously
as the slovenly. Above all, study and strive for natural,
easy expression. At the same time you must employ your
enriched store of words in the utterance of your increased
fund of thought. This demands courage and Will. " We
fall into the way of thinking that the wealthy words are
for others, and that they do not belong to us." " When
we use a word for the first time we are startled, as if a
fire-cracker went off in our neighborhood. We look about
hastily to see if any one has noticed. But finding that
no one has, we may be emboldened. A word used three
times slips off the tongue with entire naturalness. Then
it is ours forever, and with it some phase of life which
308 The Will in Public Speaking.
had been lacking hitherto." You should cultivate, there-
fore, the courage of a speech which is unusual to some of
your circles. But always should you hold in mind the
effort to state with freedom the exact truth or fact in the
least redundant manner. Make this a goal, never for a
moment to be forgotten.
4. Mental Speaking. In the next place, you should
practise thinking in terms of words. Do not be content
with mere notions about things. Think matters out ver-
bally. When alone, think a sentence through, and then
speak it aloud. Proceed immediately to improve the state-
ment. Go on with another related thought ; work it out
mentally in words ; then repeat and improve, as before.
Become accustomed to your own voice under conscious
conditions. In public speaking you are conscious of your
own voice and gesture, and this disturbs you. You should
cease to be aware of self before an audience. To do so,
you should become perfectly familiar with yourself in the
labor of preparation.
5. The Plow of Mental Word- Using. Vary the
above frequently by thinking your way through an entire
subject without the practice of speaking. Do not be con-
tent with supposing that you know an item or phase of
the subject well enough, and may therefore pass it by.
You will often be surprised to discover in public speaking
that the thing has suddenly become as dense as granite,
and at that point you will hesitate and lose control of your
thought. Let this be a rigid rule in all your preparation :
Plow up every inch of ground by the actual use in mind
of words put together to express your thought as you wish
to deliver it on the public occasion. But do not try to
memorize the words employed in preparatory thinking.
This would unsettle your public thinking and rob your
The Orator is One Who Knows. 309
speech of ease, vivacity and force. There is a dangerous
middle between memoriter speaking and prepared extem-
poraneous utterance ; the mind labors to recall words not
thoroughly memorized, and at the same time, strives for
the freedom of the moment, and it thus lacks the exact-
ness of the one thing and the force of the other. Think
in words to prepare, but memorize nothing except the
thought. Recollection of thought, however, must follow
as a result of your labor in thinking, and especially of
some sort of logical association, rather than of deliberate
effort to commit to memory.
6. Making Connecting Links. It may be well to
fasten in the mind a few catch-words, or connecting links,
which come up naturally in thought, as a means of guid-
ance when before an audience. But it is better, after all,
to make your arrangement of thought such that, to your-
self at least, one thing suggests another. Nevertheless,
you should, in preparation, look well to your connections
and transitions. Frequently one paragraph follows an-
other naturally enough, but you find difficulty in letting
go of one and in getting into the other. This is because
you have not thought your way through the transitions,
and you do not on the spur of the moment know how to
do it. Make sure, then, before you begin to speak, that
you are familiar with the links between thoughts and
paragraphs.
7. Actual Practice. Seize every opportunity for
public speaking that comes in your way. Practice in pre-
pared utterance will be of invaluable service to you. Be
equally on the alert for opportunities to speak on the spur
of the moment. Resolve to learn to think on your feet
with your voice in your ears.
310 The Will in Public Speaking.
8. Cultivating Imagination. A further difficulty re-
lates to the imagination. You should cultivate this faculty,
according to directions given for that purpose. You have
now an opportunity for its exercise. Professor Palmer
well says : " Most of us are grievously lacking in imagi-
nation, which is the ability to go outside of ourselves and
take on the conditions of another mind." In your plow-
ing-up process of thought you should strive always to per-
ceive in the mind every detail on which you are to speak.
You must not only think matters out in words, but also
realize all your subjects of discussion. If truth — feel it ;
if love — experience it ; if joy — possess its emotions ;
and thus with all elements of the thing in hand, except evil.
9. Working up Illustrations. This rule is especially
applicable to illustrations. Do not try to talk about an
incident in life without becoming part of it — without see-
ing it clearly and vividly. But you must not be content
with such a realization of the incident — can you relate it?
You are to think it all out, not to memorize, but to assure
yourself that you have the ability to describe it as seen in
mind. Do not be content with a vague picture of nature,
but call up before the mind all necessary details and state
them in words. Only thus may you know that you can
describe that scene. When you have gotten it clearly into
language, determine what salient points you will suggest
to your audience. Avoid the photographic style ; remem-
ber that those to whom you are speaking possess some
imagination ; they resent an opposite assumption ; they
delight in painting, with lightning strokes, a reality which
you have merely sketched.
These suggestions as to thought-preparation in words
may be illustrated in the following manner : Let us sup-
pose your audience to be a woodland lake, with various
The Orator is One Who Knows. 311
objects upon its surface, such as leaves, twigs, pieces of
bark, etc. You wish to set its surface in motion, in
waves and ripples, by striking one of these objects here
and there. But you have no materials with which to do
this. The shore is a clean slope of sand, and not a
throwable thing upon it. You therefore gather such
material from any distant source, making a mound ready
for use. Now, you have not said : " This stone I gather
for the purpose of hurling in a certain direction ; that
piece of bark to toss upon a given leaf ; and that clump
of soil to cause a particular kind of wave." You do not
arrange these details beforehand. You gather abundance
of material, with a given general purpose in view. You
then manipulate that material in the manner best adapted
to the end sought, leaving particulars to be determined by
the demands of the occasion.
Observe. In thought-preparation for public speaking,
you are not to memorize in any arbitrary way ; you are
simply to assure yourself that you know and can express
thought on a given subject. On the public occasion you
find thought and language ready for use because you
have gathered them and they are separated from surround-
ing materials, loosely placed, so to speak, for instant
employment.
Many speakers cease preparation with a general
outline of the subject in hand. This is slovenliness, and
they fail of reaching the highest mark of eloquence be-
cause they are poor in material. As a matter of fact they
have at that point merely gotten ready for honest, hard
work in preparatory thinking. Make sure, therefore, of
details, look well to your illustrations, have a care for the
connections, and, above all, fill the mind with abundance
of thought which has been thoroughly cast into words
and sentences.
312 The Will in Public Speaking.
" When Nestor stood before the Greek generals and
counseled attack upon Troy, he said : ' The secret of
victory is in getting a good ready.' Wendell Phillips was
once asked how he acquired his skill in the oratory of the
Lost Arts. The answer was : ' By getting a hundred
nights of delivery back of me.' "
10. Overcoming Stage-Fright. The difficulty which
seems most prevalent, however, is that of fear of the
audience. Here is a curious thing. You are not afraid
of any particular individual in the audience, perhaps, but
the multitude of ordinary men and women shortens your
breath, causes your heart to pound in your breast, and
dries up the secretions of your mouth, till you are com-
pelled to fashion words, as it were, out of raw cotton.
The difficulty is three-fold.
First, you do not become familiar with your audience
prior to facing it. You must keep it and the coming
occasion constantly in mind while making preparation.
See that crowd of people, here and now ; see it clearly
and vividly. Then think out your subject in words
addressed mentally to that sea of upturned faces. Re-
member forever that you do n't look half as much fright-
ened as you are ; that the people do not gaze into your
skull ; that if you fling in a word with meaningless des-
peration now and then they will not, ninety-nine cases in
the hundred, know the fact ; and that, if you do not abso-
lutely fail and fall flat (and you will not if you fiercely will
otherwise), you will be doing vastly better than seventy-
five per cent, of your auditors could do.
Secondly, you are not in good practice. You must
avail yourself of every opportunity for public speaking.
The more difficult the occasion the better. Never let a
chance slip. Forefend against surprises by preparing for
The Orator is One Who Knows. 313
all occasions wherein you may be called out or secure the
floor. Do n't be a bore — if it is possible to avoid it ; but,
continue this practice, whether or no. Whenever you fail,
laugh the discomfiture off — people will not remember it
forever — and seize the next opportunity. Discover why
you failed, and profit by experience. Analyze your suc-
cess, and make sure of your forte. Follow with the per-
sistence of the fox-hound the determination to win.
Thirdly, you are lacking in good Will-power. You
must summons Will to the mastery of all difficulties.
Changeless resolution is necessary in all preparation.
This is merely a matter of sticking to a purpose. But the
latter does not exhaust the difficulties. You suppose
yourself ready for the trial, and, in a sense, you are. It is
in the concrete act of speaking that your trouble begins.
You are afraid of man. Your Will suddenly becomes
flabby, your force of spirit evaporates, and you cannot
command your preparation. At this point bull-dog deter-
mination is required. Do not deserve defeat before utter-
ing a word. Do n't permit a feeling of collapse at the
start. Put Will at the fore. Mentally defy the entire
crowd. Fetch up all the egotism you possess. Fiercely
challenge all foes. Keep cool at the outset. Take time
to get a good send-off — it is your occasion. Put your
thought into carefully chosen words ; be in no hurry ;
proceed with deliberation enough to gain self-control and
keep it. If you get on the track nicely, you will warm up
after a little, and your audience will come to your assist-
ance. Look the people straight in the eyes. Will to stand
to it then and there. Will to keep your mental vision on
a thought ahead. Resolutely appropriate the occasion as
your own, and willfully use it as such. If the right word
fails you, throw in another as nearly right as may be, or
as meaningless as printers' " pie." If any one looks
JX4 The Will in Public Sneaking.
weary, ignore that person as an imbecile. Cleave to the
friendlj face, though it be that of a fool. Remember,
everybody desires that you should do well, for an audience
suffers under a public collapse. Believe that fact. Keep
faith in yourself. Storm the situation. Resolve to win
on the spot.
If you are called upon to speak at a late hour, when the
people are weary and your enthusiasm is low — do n't speak.
n. Confidence in Audience. Both in preparation
and in delivery, the speaker should have confidence in and
respect for his audience. Austin Phelps, Professor of
Sacred Rhetoric in Andover Theological Seminary, wrote :
" When President Lincoln was once inquired of what was
the secret of his success as a popular debater, he replied,
1 I always assume that my audience are in many things
wiser than I am, and I say the most sensible thing I can
to them.' Two things here were all that Mr. Lincoln was
conscious of — respect for the intellect of his audience,
and the effort to say the most sensible thing. He could
not know how these two things affected the respect of his
audience for Aim, their trust in him as their superior, and
their inclination to obey him on the instant when they
felt the magnetism of his voice. But he saw that, say
what he might in that mood, he got a hearing, he was
understood, he was obeyed."
12. Courage. The mind that would influence others
by public speech must be fearless. In the author's work
" The Culture of Courage" will be found practical direc-
tions for the development of a courageous spirit. Said the
Emperor of Austria to Baron Wesselenyi, a Hungarian
patriot, " Take care, Baron Wesselenyi, take care what
you are about. Recollect that many of your family have
been unfortunate." " Unfortunate, your majesty, they
The Orator is One Who Knows. 315
have been, but ever undeserving of their misfortunes."
And the Baron would not apologize for this bold defense
of his family's honor, even when attacked by his sovereign.
13. Profound Convictions. If you have great feeling
in the beliefs you present, you inspire others with at least
similar emotions. Could anything be more effective than
the following from Louis Kossuth's description of his own
appeal to his people :
" Reluctant to present the neck of the realm to the
deadly stroke which aimed at its very life, and anxious to
bear up against the horrors of fate, and manfully to fight
the battle of legitimate defence, scarcely had I spoken the
word — scarcely had I added that the defence would re
quire 200,000 men, and 80,000,000 of florins, when the
spirit of freedom moved through the hall, and nearly 400
representatives rose as one man, and lifting their right
arms towards God, solemnly said, ' We grant it, freedom
or death 1 ' Thus they spoke, and there they stood in
calm and silent majesty, awaiting what further word might
fall from my lips. And for myself; it was my duty to
speak, but the grandeur of the moment and the rushing
waves of sentiment benumbed my tongue. A burning
tear fell from my eyes, a sigh of adoration to the Almighty
Lord fluttered on my lips ; and, bowing low before the
majesty of my people, as I bow now before you, gentle-
men, I left the tribunal silently, speechless, mute. Pardon
me my emotion — the shadows of our martyrs passed be-
fore my eyes ; I heard the millions of my native land once
more shouting ' liberty or death 1 ' '
In the entire subject, from first to last, keep at the
fore the strong Mood of Will, the sense of resolute per-
sonality. Hold the mind steadily upon the motto of these
pages: " I RESOLVE TO WILL ! ATTENTION ! ! "
KNIGHTED.
Oh, life's perennial Knight, Sir Any Man,
Trust thou nor Opportunity nor Fate :
The one, a mere detail in Nature's Plan,
The other, error's name for Best Estate.
Cornplainer ! Know'st thou not the oath, "7 can"
Shall win brave Kingdoms to thy Will elate
If Good Soul do but scorn their wizard ban ?
On thee, the Master, see, they fawn and -wait!
I sing no Law of Accident or Birth,
No Gift of Fortune by Divine Decree.
I sing the Call of Courage, Honor, Worth,
The world-wide Call of our old Mother, Earth.
Heed thou, Sir Knight, this Golden Prophecy :
The Throne to him who forces Destiny !
—THE AUTHOR.
CHAPTER XXVII.
CONTROL OF OTHERS.
IF YOU would work on any man, you must
either know his nature and fashions, and so
lead him ; or his ends, and so persuade him ;
or his weaknesses and disadvantages, and so awe him ;
or those that have interest in him, and so govern him." —
Francis Bacon.
The preceding directions and illustrations relate to
the control of one's self. Will-power is constantly shown
to embrace others as well. Here is one of the most
interesting of modern subjects of inquiry.
This chapter deals with plain matters. Its subject
will be treated further in the volume on "The Personal
Atmosphere" There are many things in our life that
are not elucidated by what some are pleased to call
" Common Sense," and these will in part appear in the
discussion of that work.
At the outset we may observe certain broad prin-
ciples. Without exception, these principles are possible
to the large and determined Will. According to your
Will-faith, so be it I
GENERAL PRINCIPLES.
First Principle — Belief. Genuine belief in the thing
in hand makes mightily for success in the contact with others.
Said Emerson : " I have heard an experienced counsellor
318 Control of Others.
say, that he never feared the effect upon a jury of a law-
yer who does not believe in his heart that his client ought
to have a verdict. If he does not believe it, his unbelief
will appear to the jury, despite all his protestations, and
will become their unbelief. This is that law whereby a
work of art, of whatever kind, sets us in the same state of
mind wherein the artist was when he made it. That
which we do not believe, we cannot adequately say
though we may repeat the words never so often. It was
this conviction which Swedenborg expressed, when he
described a group of persons in the spiritual world en-
deavoring in vain to articulate a proposition which they
did not believe ; but they could not, though they twisted
and folded their lips even to indignation."
Second Principle — Confidence. A prime element in
personal influence is confidence. Pizarro, the Spanish ad-
venturer, left with one vessel and a few followers on the
island of Gallo, where the greatest dangers and suffering
had been endured, was offered relief by an expedition
from Panama. " Drawing his sword, he traced a line with
it on the sand from east to west. Then, turning towards
the south, ' Friends and comrades ! ' he said, ' on that
side are toil, hunger, nakedness, the drenching storm,
desertion and death ; on this side, ease and pleasure.
There lies Peru with its riches ; here Panama and its pov-
erty. Choose, each man, what best becomes a brave
Castilian. For my part, I go to the south.' So saying,
he stepped across the line." And they followed him.
Third Principle — Enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is also a
large factor in the matter. Samuel Smiles wrote very
practically : " There is a contagiousness in every example
of energetic conduct. The brave man is an inspiration
to the weak, and compels them, as it were, to follow him.
The Golden Rule Wins Empires. 319
Thus Napier relates that at the combat of Vera, when th«
Spanish centre was broken and in flight, a young officer,
named Havelock, sprang forward, and, waving his hat,
called upon the Spaniards to follow him. Putting spurs
to his horse, he leaped the abattis which protected the
French front, and went headlong against them. The
Spaniards were electrified ; in a moment they dashed
after him, cheering for ' El chico bianco!' (the fair boy),
and with one shock they broke through the French and
sent them flying down hill."
Fourth Principle — Self-Mastery , Hence the secret
of a large control of others is found in the moral mastery of
self.
It has been well written : " Keep cool, and you com-
mand everybody." A recent author quotes a good remark
of Clarendon, who said of Hampden : " He was supreme
governor over his passions, and he had thereby great power
over other men's." Man may be controlled in an ignoble
way by studying and ministering to his weaknesses, but a
noble use of self-mastery has sublime privilege in exerting
good influence over the weak spot and the foible of
humanity. In either instance the strong man is that one
whose Will is steady and purposeful. Sooner or later,
however, men discover their degradation in manipulated
weakness, and, resenting the imposition, throw off the
yoke, whenever the motive of fear ceases to restrain them.
Fifth Principle — Motives. The character of man's
influence over his fellows depends upon the motives which he
suggests for their action.
One may dominate multitudes by fear — Nero ruled
Rome as a buffoon and a madman. Or, love may become
the controlling force in personal loyalty — Jesus swayed
thousands by the inspiration of His Divine goodness. IB
320 Control of Others.
the one case influence is coercion, ceasing so soon as fear
disappears, or assuming such power as to break in desper-
ation with its own dictates ; in the other case motives of
fidelity are multiplied, and they become stronger as love's
gracious spell continues.
Sixth Principle — Insight. The control of others
demands ability to penetrate their motives and discover their
plans. Of Mirabeau it was said : " It was by the same
instinctive penetration that Mirabeau so easily detected
the feelings of the assembly, and so often embarrassed his
opponents by revealing their secret motives, and laying
open that which they were most anxious to conceal.
There seemed to exist no political enigma which he
could not solve. He came at once to the most intimate
secrets, and his sagacity alone was of more use to him
than a multitude of spies in the enemy's camp. . . . He
detected in a moment every shade of character ; and, to
express the result of his observations, he had invented a
language scarcely intelligible to any one but himself ; had
terms to indicate fractions of talents, qualities, virtues, or
vices — halves and quarters — and, at a glance, he could
perceive every real or apparent contradiction. No form
of vanity, disguised ambition, or tortuous proceedings
could escape his penetration ; but he could also perceive
good qualities, and no man had a higher esteem for
energetic and virtuous characters." This ability may be
successfully cultivated.
Seventh Principle — Cooperation. Permanent influence
over others flows from the enlistment of their strength. The
supremest individual power in this respect is gauged by
the pleasure which it offers as inducement to surrender,
or by the sense of right to which appeal is made for alli-
ance, or by suggestion of highest self-interest as a reason
The Golden Rule Wins Empires. 321
for loyalty. The best rule in the control of others is the
Golden Rule. In the long run, life reciprocates with
those who do unto others as they would that others should
do unto them. That power of Will which can compel one to
be polite, considerate, patient, helpful, luminously cheerful,
is sure to cast a large and agreeable spell upon our fellows.
It is not to be understood that these suggestions seek
to put a premium upon what is called " policy." Men are
not all selfishness. There is a divine reason in humanity
which makes it amenable to the kingly sway of sincerity,
reality and righteousness. Not a few individuals in high
positions to-day there are whose chief capital is their un-
blemished manliness. The native vigor of down-right
honesty creates a current of attraction which it is hard to
resist. The people put faith in Grant, because, no doubt,
of manifest ability, but also for the reason that they saw
in the silent commander an actual man. When a soul
succeeds in convincing others that it is genuinely possessed
by an eternal truth or principle, the Infinite steps in and
accords him a public coronation as leader. Saul among
the Jews was simply fantastic ; David was a real argu-
ment for a king and a throne. Stephen A. Douglas, with
culture and political machinery behind him, was no match
for Lincoln, because in this man burned the unquenchable
fires which blazed in the heart of the North. It was the
" Little Giant " against " Honest Old Abe " and the great
slavery-hating States. Here the Will, that years before
had shaken its clenched fist at the " Institution," rose to
grandeur and assumed the robes of prophet and deliverer.
Eighth Principle — Will-Power. The resolute Willis
leader by Nature's choice. If itself is throned in righteous-
ness, its sway is certain and permanent — in a modified
sense at times, to be sure, but not infrequently with limits
322 Control of Others.
outlasting the span of its possessor's life. Cromwell's Will
made him " Ironsides." William of Orange competed
with the subtlety, patience and tireless pertinacity of Philip
the Second, and won a lasting influence which the Spanish
king could not destroy by power of wealth, position or
ecclesiastical backing. These historic dramas are huge
representations of smaller affairs in every community. In
the fullest sense, a strong Will for control of others is a
right Will.
Yet it seems true that not all such control is explicable
on the theory of plain means and methods. What is the
secret of the power which cowes the wild beast, compelling
its eye to wander from the steady gaze of man ? What
bows the stubborn purpose of the would-be criminal when
confronted by the resolute fearless gaze of his victim —
"in that deadly Indian hug in which men wrestle with
eyes"? What maintains the mastery of family, school,
prison, when some quiet spirit walks among their inmates ?
It is not always fear, for his punishments may not be un-
duly severe. It is not always love, for he sometimes fails
to inspire affection. It is personality centered in unyield-
ing Will-power. Other elements of explanation are fre-
quently possible, but there are dominant minds whose
only explanation is — themselves.
Mirabeau, speaking at Marseilles, was called " calum-
niator, liar, assassin, scoundrel." He said, " I wait, Mes-
sieurs, till these amenities be exhausted." The Will of
Mirabeau was phenomenal. " His whole person gave
you the idea of an irregular power, but a power such as
you would figure as a Tribune of the People."
Of Wellington, Victor Hugo remarked : " The battle
of Waterloo was won by a captain of the second class."
But, Hugo, who set out to be the greatest man of his time,
and who wrote the greatest work of prose fiction that has
The Golden Jtucc Wins Empires. 323
been produced for an hundred years, was here biased by
the Napoleonic tradition. Wellington's campaigns were
skillfully planned and carried out with a pertinacious
patience calculated to wear to shreds the hostilities of
many Bonapartes. When asked, during Waterloo, what
should be done in case of his death, he replied : lt Do as
I am doing." Here was the culmination of that spirit
which could say to a madman coming into his presence
with the remark, " I am sent to kill you," " Kill me ?
Very odd." In such men the static Will exhibits the
Gibraltar on which mind is fortified in action. It is a
power seemingly capable of achievements by means that
are superior to ordinary appeals. It discharges, as it may
be said, like a battery, either to overwhelm or to win, by
sheer resolution. Unseen, without gesture, it speaks : " I
am your master. I claim you for my friendship, my fol-
lowing, my uses." And the thing is even so.
The phenomena of hypnotism are familiar. It is now
distinctly asserted that " no one can be hypnotized against
his Will ; no one can be hypnotized without he complies
with certain conditions and does his part to bring about
the subjective state. To be hypnotized in no respect
shows a weakness ; weak-minded people (contrary to the
opinion of some) do not make good senskives ; the most
susceptible subjects are intelligent people having strong
minds and Will-power, with the ability to maintain a cer-
tain passivity as to results ; hypnotism is not a conflict of
Will-powers in which the stronger overcomes the weaker.
The person hypnotized may have a very much stronger
Will than the operator."
Hypnotism thus seems to depend largely at least
upon prearranged conditions. But here is the secret of
" personal magnetism." One is truly magnetic who estab-
lishes the best condition of mind among those with whom
324 Control of Others.
he comes in contact. Here arises the necessity for a
good personal address, a right personal atmosphere, a
plausibility of argument, dexterity in avoiding disagreeable
matters, the ability to present pleasing motives for action
by others, and qualifications of the like kind. The real
secrets of results of " personal magnetism " are to be found
not only in yourself, but as well in the " other fellow " ; if
you can readily make him feel as you feel and think as
you think, without suggesting the fact to him that you are
doing so, you are " magnetic." Hence the precepts of
average social and business success, together with indom-
itable Will not to lose control of self and forever to keep
success in mind, constitute a source of real personal mag-
netism which has its illustrations everywhere in our life.
SUGGESTIONS.
The great subject of personal magnetism is elabo-
rately and practically set forth in the author's work,
" Power for Success" to which the student is referred.
If you will make the following suggestions a part of
your working capital, you are on the highway of agreeable
and satisfactory relations with your fellows. Though the
matter seems simple enough in theory, it will tax your
perseverance to the utmost to carry it out to practical
results :
1. Never show temper.
2. Never betray envy or jealousy.
3. Indulge in no sarcasms.
4. Keep unpleasant opinions to yourself.
5. Tell no man an uncomfortable truth, if this can
with honesty be avoided, and make sure that you disclose
the motive of a well-wisher if you must utter the facts.
6. Make no remark about others which you would
not instantly make in their presence.
The Golden Rule Wins Empires. 325
7. Make no remark about others which you must
know will, if instantly reported to them, cause enmity
against you or injure their interests.
8. Never criticise to a man his wife, to a wife her
husband, to a parent the child, to the child its parent, nor
to any person a relative or friend.
9. When conversing with others make sure with
whom you are talking in these respects, and in regard to
all social, business, political and religious matters.
10. Never make a joke that hurts any one present or
absent.
n. Never relate anything which might not with pro-
priety be repeated to a lady just introduced to you.
12. Make no promise without knowing that you can
fulfill it. Then fail not.
13. Make your word good promptly. If you cannot,
explain to the person involved.
1 4. Never dodge a creditor.
15. Don't be a bore.
1 6. Ride your hobby in the back yard.
17. Permit other people to have views.
18. See things as they are; tell them as you see
them — when good sense and kindness allow.
19. Put a heart into your handshake.
20. Be as courteous to " low " as to " high."
21. Be considerate of the rights and feelings of
others. How about your barking dog ? your thrumming
piano ? your lusty boy ?
22. Carry the Golden Rule on your sleeve.
23. Never rub a man the wrong way.
24. Never contradict an irritated person.
25. Never get into an argument in a parlor nor on
the street.
326 Control of Others.
26. Never ridicule a man's pet theory nor a woman's
foible.
27. Never ridicule a person's walk, dress, habit,
speech.
28. Never laugh at weakness.
29. Permit yourself to sneer at nothing. The sneer
is the devil's laugh.
30. Never hold any one in contempt. At least con-
ceal the feeling like a death's-head.
3 1 . Never order people about Your clerk is no dog.
32. Be absolutely honest everywhere.
33. Be gracious and accommodating.
34. Cultivate generosity of pocket and of thought.
35. On sixty dollars a month don't browbeat the
people. You are only a ticket-agent, a steamboat purser,
a hotel clerk, a bank teller. Not much, after all, if you
are to treat the public as though you were a lord. A
good deal if you are decent.
36. Do n't stalk along the street as though you were
superfine, angelic, distilled wonder of imperial blue-blood.
You are exceedingly lovely, to be sure ; yet just a woman
— bones, fat, blood, nerves, weaknesses and blunders —
like the rest of womankind.
37. Never antagonize others unless principle de-
mands. And then, hold the purpose in view, " To win,
not to alienate."
38. Never pass judgment upon others without first
mentally " putting yourself in his place."
39. Never utter that judgment unless you are con-
vinced that this will accomplish some good or satisfy the
reasonable demands of a definite principle.
40. Never permit your general opinion of a person to
blind you to his good qualities.
41. In discussions, never interrupt a speaker, nor
The Golden Rule Wins Empires. 327
talk in a loud tone of voice. If you cannot speak without
interruption, go away, or keep silence. One who will not
hear your views is not worth the trouble of excited con-
versation.
42. Preface all statement of difference of opinion with
a conciliatory word.
43. Never insist upon doing business with a person
who evidently does not wish to see you — unless you are
a policeman, a sheriff, a tax-collector, a lawyer's clerk, a
physician or a messenger of death.
44. If your man is busy, yet makes an effort to be
polite, get out of his presence as quickly and pleasantly
as possible. Go again when he feels better.
45. Don't try to do business with a madman.
46. Don't try to conciliate a pig; it is always best
to let him alone.
47. Don't sell a man what he does n't want.
48. Don't sell a man an inferior article which he
believes to be a superior.
49. Do n't ask a favor from a person whom you
have n't treated properly.
50. Do n't try to fool people whose business it is to
know people.
5 1 . Always grant a favor if reasonably possible.
52. Always use pleasant words ; this is not expensive,
and you know not when the boomerang may return. A
bad word is like a mule's hind feet ; it will wait years for
its one chance — and it usually gets that chance.
53. Treat every man, woman and child as though
you were just about to confer a great favor — but avoid
all condescension.
54. Make sure that your way is best before insisting
upon it. Defer such insisting until you have won over
the other person.
THE WILL OF THE CHILD.
O, the will of a child is the wings of a bird.
And the fragrance and color of flowers,
And the light of a star, and the love-song heard
In a life's most miraculous hours.
Would you banish from air all the -wonder of flight f
Would you exile all beautiful things?
Would you make of youth's morning a Stygian night?
Would you plunder love's crystalline springs?
O, the will of a child is a god in the soul,
And a woe to the world if you vanquish;
When the gods that are human surrender control
All that 's human in living shall languish.
Woo the deity well with your love and your truth,
Give it freedom to come to its own,
And the man shall have power's perennial youth,
And the woman shall honor her throne.
For the will is the self, and the self is a breath
Of the Infinite Breather outgoing.
On the day when the will topples down to its death
Comes disaster surpassing all knowing.
But the self as a sovereign power reveals
By so much of the God undefiled
As it selfhood Perceives, as it liberty feels —
O, be wise with the will of a child.
— THE AUTHOR.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE CHILD'S WILL.
IE ARE all born to be educators, to be parents,
as we are not born to be engineers, or sculp-
tors, or musicians, or painters. Native capa-
city for teaching is therefore more common than native
capacity for any other calling. . . . But in most people
this native sympathy is either dormant or blind or irregular
in its action ; it needs to be awakened, to be cultivated,
and above all to be intelligently directed. . . . The
very fact that this instinct is so very strong, and all but
universal, and that the happiness of the individual and of
the race so largely depends upon its development and
intelligent guidance, gives greater force to the demand
that its growth may be fostered by favorable conditions ;
and that it may be made certain and reasonable in its
action, instead of being left blind and faltering, as it surely
will be without rational cultivation." — Principaljames A.
McClcllan.
The thought of the present chapter is not juvenile
education, but the culture of the child's Will.
In this, the aim is suggestion rather than exhaustive
discussion.
In its actual life the young child is little more than
an animal.
It is endowed with a Will because it is an animal.
It is endowed with reason because it is a moral
animal.
330 The Child's Will.
The Will of the human animal finds sole explanation
in its moral intelligence.
Without moral nature, reason has no purpose. With-
out reason, or instinct, the Will has no significance.
Without the Will, reason is impossible.
Man is justified in his moral nature, and the moral
nature becomes possible in the self-disposing Will.
The first, middle and last idea in all Will-training of
the child, therefore, is the permanent welfare of a moral
being.
At the outset, then, certain basal requirements are to
be noted :
That the parent or teacher understand at least some-
what of child-nature in general.
That the parent or teacher understand as far as
possible the particular child in hand.
That the parent or teacher possess a right Will.
That correct methods be employed in culturing the
child's Will.
It is, moreover, to be remembered that treatment of
the child's Will cannot be reduced to prescribed and
specific rules. This for two reasons :
Child-nature and child-Will are individual.
Specific rules would obscure rather than settle the
problems involved.
At this point appear some
COMMON ERRORS.
First Error : That the child's Will should be con-
formed to a certain standard set up by parent or teacher.
This implies a making over of original nature. Original
nature can be cultivated and improved, but it always
determines the final results.
The true question is this : What is the peculiar
Let the Child Prophesy Fair. 331
Will-character of this particular child ? Or how can this
particular Will be improved ? The child's individual Will
is its personal motive-power. It is not like a boiler in a
factory, connected with a good or bad set of machinery,
and to be replaced by a better, or remodeled, if not satis-
factory. It is a living thing, and is indissolubly related
to its mental mechanism ; it is the mind's power — this
mind's power — to determine,, and therefore cannot be
conformed to any standard not indicated by itself.
. Second Error: That the child's Will should be
broken. " Breaking the Will " is a heresy against the
nature of things and a crime against man. The future
adult's success depends upon his own kind of Will, and
upon some power of that Will as a human function. To
" break the Will " is to destroy the soul's power of self-
direction ; that is, to wreck at the start the child's chances
of success. If the Will is properly understood, no one
will wish to " break " it.
Teaching the child obedience does not demand an
assault upon its Will, either with the calm resistlessness
of an iceberg or the fierce clash of arms in battle. The
sole intrinsic value of obedience is found in the child's
Will ; it does not reside in obedience itself, nor in the
results of obedience disconnected from Will. The one
justifiable goal of enforced obedience is the Will in the
child taught to will the right thing. A Will that is merely
coerced is not with you, and, so long as coercion lasts,
cannot be with you. In other words, enforced obedience
does not in itself strengthen Will, except in the spirit of
resistance. Enforced obedience may lead to reflection
and discovery of the rightfulness of commands, and thus
strengthen the Will indirectly. If it does not, or may not,
lead to such discovery, it is worse than useless; it is
332 The ChildSs Will.
then a positive injury to the child. The child should be
taught the nature of law, but a greater lesson is the nature
and value of reason.
Here may be given
THE MAXIM OF BEST CHILD TRAINING.
force, physical or other, sparing ; reason, abundant,
patient and kind.
The application of this maxim must always depend
upon the nature of the individual child. The more diffi-
cult the case, nevertheless, the more urgent the maxim,
and the greater the demand that grows out of its appli-
cation, to wit :
The parent or teacher must possess reason — be
reasonable — and be able and willing to show the same
with self-control and confidence in reason's power.
Do not, then, attempt to conform the child's Will ;
patiently train it.
Do not try to break the child's Will ; seek its intelli-
gent development.
Do not leave the child's Will-action to its own im-
pulses ; culture it to symmetrical conditions.
Always regard the child's Will as an unspeakably
holy thing.
Do not relegate the child's Will to chance methods ;
give it a thoughtful and deliberate education — the edu-
cation of a Prince Royal of the Blood. Such an education
involves
THREE FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES.
First, the training process ;
Second, the developing process ;
Third, the process of symmetry.
Let the Child Prophesy Fair. 333
FIRST PROCESS OF WILL-CULTURE — TBAINING.
This branch of Will-culture has reference to the
power of Will as now possessed. It is not an abstract
problem ; it is concrete.
Such problem involves two basic principles, Reason
and Interest.
The first basic principal is Reason, or Judgment.
The child's Will requires for its perfect training an
atmosphere of reason, so that its own judgments may be
saturated with the feeling of reasonableness and may
impel corresponding volitions.
This principle of reasonableness attaching to Will-
acts comes, on analysis, to be broken up into certain ques-
tions, which should be kept constantly before the child's
mind, but in a way to encourage rather than to harass
it: —
1. Is this act correct f Is this the correct way to do
the thing in hand ? Example — handling a saw or a
needle.
2. Is this act complete ? Have you left nothing un-
done ? Example — making a toy or stitching an apron.
3. Is this act your best f Example — your best
recitation, or your best manner.
4. Is this act wise 1 Is it likely to be followed by
satisfactory consequences to yourself ? Example — the
desired picnic, or tardiness at school.
5. Is this act understood? Example — the lesson,
or the way of doing a particular thing.
It is primary that arousing the child's understanding
enlists its Will. The average child is an animated and
creative ganglion of interrogations. Here is a huge
opportunity. It may be seized by means of a few familiar
questions— Why, How, Where, When, What, Whosi —
334 The Child s Will.
all sharp openers to the young intellect, because perfectly
in harmony with its own activities. *
Example : A command has been given ; the child's
mind proceeds to enquire — " Why must I do this ? "
" Why must I do this in a particular manner ? " " Why
must I do this at a prescribed time ?" " Why must I do
this at some particular place ? "
Similarly in a different series, as the following:
"ffow must I do this?" " Where must I do this?"
"When must I do this?" "What must I do?" "At
Whose desire or for whose interest must I do this ? "
" What will be the consequences of this act ? " " What
will be the consequences of omitting this act ? " " What
experience have I had in similar cases ? "
This general suggestion may also be employed by
the teacher. It will astonish you to discover how the
child's intellect can be electrified by the touch of the in-
terrogative. It will unearth ignorance thus seen to be
unnecessary both in the child and in the parent or
teacher. Try the following questions as to any common
object :
What is this thing ?
How is this thing ?
Where is this thing ?
When is this thing ?
Whose is this thing ?
Why is this thing ?
The fact is, the child is too largely compelled to dis-
cover for itself the necessity for such questions, is left to
its own impulses for their asking and their answers. This
is the rough-and-tumble education of life.
The amount of unintelligent teaching with which the
child has to contend, at home and at school, is enormous.
Adults do not understand or think ; why should the child
Let the Child Prophesy Fair. 335
understand and think ? The teacher does not draw all
the water out of the well ; why should the child be ex-
pected to do so, or to know what is at the bottom ?
I asked a child how she would ascertain the number
of square feet in a certain wall. She repeated the rule.
Then I asked, " Why do you multiply the number of feet
on one side by the number of feet on the other or longer
side ? " She did not know. It had never occurred to
the teacher to go beyond the rule with the child.
I asked another child why summer is warmer than
winter, notwithstanding the greater distance of the sun.
She answered, " Because in summer the sun's rays are
direct." " But why does that fact make the weather
warmer ? " She did not know. It had never occurred
to the teacher to ask that question.
"A friend of mine," says Professor James, " visiting
a school, was asked to examine a young class in geog-
raphy. Glancing at the book, he said : ' Suppose you
should dig a hole in the ground, hundreds of feet deep,
how should you find it at the bottom — warmer or colder
than at the top ? ' None of the class replying, the teacher
said : * I 'm sure they know, but I think you do n't ask
the question quite rightly. Let me try. So, taking the
book, she asked : ' In what condition is the inferior of
the globe ? ' and received the immediate answer from half
the class at once : l The condition of the globe is in a
condition of igneous fusion.' "
In this case the prime fault lay with the writer of the
geography — or the school committee. But a teacher or
a parent ought to break into pieces the usual forms of
instruction that come the child's way. No marvel that
tasks set to the child's Will train it only imperfectly.
Make doubly sure that the child understands the nature
of things as taught and their main purpose. Understand*
336 The Chiles Will.
ing involves action of the reason, and thus, without direct
effort, trains the Will.
6. Is this act right f Is it right because I have
suggested it, or because of a higher law ? Example — the
use of certain words, or of exaggeration.
It is imperative that Will-training be conducted on
the lines of morality. The absence of ethical quality in
Will-culture, on the part of the parent or teacher, and of
the child, destroys confidence, undermines the foundation
of commands, leaves the child without a sense of authority
other than that of force, and confuses the whole question
of any right use of the Will.
If, now, the basis of Will-training in the child is reason
or understanding, certain attitudes common at home and in
the school require condemnation.
Never dominate the child with that inexcusable
tyranny — " Do as I tell you." " Because I say so."
If the command has no better support, it is a species
of bullying.
If you have better reasons, but will not kindly declare
them, your command is a sure bidder for future anarchy.
The child's reason is an acute questioner and judge. It
obeys, but inwardly rebels because its master is arbitrary,
and its Will is thus demoralized by nursed and secret
resistance. Its power has become hostile both to yourself
and to the child's welfare.
Never put off an answer to the child's questioning for
the reasons connected with a command. The child ought
never to be compelled to act or Will blindly. Your reason-
ableness will develop its faith, always a prime factor of
the right Will.
Seldom draw on the child's Will in the form of a
command. In the long run, if other things are equal,
expressed desire will be doubly efficient. Even when the
Let the Child Prophesy Fair. 337
direct command seems necessary, the reasons which make
it your desire can be urged upon the child's attention, and
will ultimately win the thing you ought to wish — a willed
obedience.
Throughout all engagements of the child's reason,
the element of interest plays an important part. In the
main it is inevitable, for an awakened mind is an interested
mind. The child may, however, perceive the correctness
of an act, its ideal, its present possibility as an ideal, its
wisdom and its moral Tightness, yet be altogether lacking
in the Will-attitude which expends itself in Will-culture.
Such Will-attitude must either be forced, or won. If it is
forced, nothing is directly gained for the Will. If it is
won, it is by so much strengthened and trained. To win
the child's Will, its interest must be excited. This re-
quires infinite trouble and patience, but the method is sure
to justify in a better power and quality of Will-action. A
Will trained through interest becomes finally a Will that
can plod at the goading of necessity or dreary duty, and
hold to purpose after all interest save that of duty has
waned.
The second basic principle, then, is Interest.
The child's interest, now, responds to certain appeals :
To the feeling of curiosity.
To the desire to imitate.
To the desire to emulate.
To the desire to know.
To the desire to benefit itself.
To the desire to please others.
To the desire for independence.
These feelings and desires are incessantly active in
every normal child. They may be turned hither and
thither, always causing the child to will with that Will it
possesses.
338 The Child's Will.
It is curious — and wills to discover.
It wishes to imitate — and wills thought, action,
speech.
It wishes to emulate — and wills to equal others.
It wishes to know, to possess serious knowledge —
and wills the exercise of its faculties.
It wishes to benefit itself — and wills the discovery
and use of means appropriate.
It wishes to please others — and wills its conduct into
line.
It wishes to be independent — and wills judgment and
freedom.
The lessons for parent and teacher are evident :
1. Keep the child's curiosity vigorously alert.
2. Train the imitative desires wisely, in the matter of
selection, avoidance, discrimination and manner of imi-
tating. Is it merely aping? Repress. Is it imitating
poorly ? Improve. Is it imitating unwisely ? Repress.
Is it imitating in a beneficial manner ? Encourage. See
that it has the best possible examples, and incite interest
to do its own best.
3. Imitation may lead to emulation. All the sugges-
tions in regard to imitation apply here. But imitation
may be spontaneous, and if right, should be made volun-
tary. Emulation always involves the Will. The difference
between imitation and emulation may be illustrated. John
repeats the language used by his father, as a parrot might
do, without any act of the Will beyond that required for
the proper control of his vocal organs. This is imitation.
But John may be taught to admire his father's ways, prin-
ciples, purposes ; to think about them, and to desire that
they may appear in himself. His imitation has now be-
come emulation.
Let the Child Prophesy Fair. 339
Is the child emulating a bad example? Turn the
capacity in another direction. Is it emulating a good
example incompletely ? Improve. Is it emulating for
an inferior purpose ? Direct its attention to a higher.
Bring to its mind matters and persons worthy of emula-
tion, and invest the idea of emulation with every possible
interest. You are seeking to train the child's Will ; noble
emulation is one of nature's great provisions.
4. Cultivate the desire to kncnv. Ask a thousand
questions about the child's affairs. Encourage it to bom-
bard you with questions of its own inventing. This thing
has its limit, to be sure, but the limit is large. Questions
are the crackling noises of an opening brain.
Never reply to questions, " Oh, because 1 " " Oh,
never mind 1 " " Oh, don't bother me ! "
If you are too busy to answer just now, make a
future engagement to attend to the matters, and keep the
appointment.
If the child cannot now understand, promise to an-
swer its questions when it can, and fulfil that promise.
If you do not know, honestly confess. Then look up
that matter as a thing of first importance, and give the
child the desired information.
Secure interest in all tasks. The uninteresting is the
unwilled. Example : Sewing aprons merely to keep busy
will very likely be poor work ; sewing on the next party
dress is an intensely interesting thing securing good work,
and is therefore an education. Or, again : The study of
the geography of Spain-ruled Cuba a few years ago
was a dull task poorly performed. " What 's the use 1 "
Studying that Cuba where your brother had gone to fight
Spain's tyranny and plant the Stars and Stripes was
" just fun." The " fun of the thing " awakened the Will
and illuminated geography.
340 The ChildTs Will.
5. Cultivate the child's desire to please and benefit
itself. This desire is one of nature's strongest motors in
man, and should be intelligently developed and regulated.
It works injury only when misunderstood or wrongly
applied. Analyzed, it divides into two impulses, that of
self-interest and that of selfishness. A few characteristics
will reveal the difference between these forms of personal
motive.
Self-interest seeks the best interest of self; Selfish-
ness seeks a false benefit which ultimately injures self.
Self-interest is ascertained by a study of law ; self-
ishness is conceived in indifference to law. The one is
represented by liberty ; the other by license.
Self-interest respects the consensus of opinion ; self-
ishness ignores the general opinion.
Self-interest is always concerned with the highest
welfare of others ; for man's life is a community-organ-
ism, and his highest interest is realized through law-
abiding independence subordinated to service ; selfishness
isolates itself from the demands of relations to others, and
realizes in law-defying independence requiring service for
self regardless of others.
Self-interest is an eternal reality ; selfishness is eter-
nally a denial of that reality.
Self-interest forever fulfils itself and creates larger
capacities and huger worlds of opportunity ; selfishness
forever defeats itself, destroys capacity for welfare, and
ultimates in the world of the infinitely little.
Hence, to cultivate the child's desire for its own
benefit and pleasure is to cultivate true ideals of happi-
ness and welfare. This means a reasonable and kind
process of education resulting in the elimination of
selfishness from life and the substitution therefor of a
true self-interest.
Let the Child Prophesy Fair. 341
How, then, shall the child s desire to please and benefit
itself be trained ?
By appeal to experience. The child has sought to
please itself selfishly ; see to it that disagreeable conse-
quences are emphasized in its thought and memory. If
none are likely to be apparent, bring them about, not
necessarily as punishments, but as natural consequences
and wholesome lessons.
If the child has subordinated itself, bring out clearly
the beneficial results. If none are apparent, manage the
matter in such a way as to secure them, even if artifically.
Always must the child's Will be kept in mind. The
will to do for a real pleasure or benefit will certainly be
stronger after proper experience duly emphasized than the
will to do for fancied happiness or welfare shown in ex-
perience to lead to unhappiness.
By appeal to the love of reward. Reward is a fruit of
the nature of things. It should have a large but regulated
place in the child's life. Here is perfect stimulation to
right exercise of Will. Hence, — Do not reduce the child's
life to the plane of mere duty.
Do not compel it to perform an act simply because
you order it. Suggest rewards of some sort — gifts, or
pleasure promised, or benefits upheld as certain to come
about naturally.
Do not seek to dominate the child's conduct by re-
mote or abstract ideas. Teach the remote through the
present, the abstract through the concrete.
By appeal to theory. Theory builds on the practical
for the practical. It must be made to appear to the child
in a concrete form as a concrete value. If the child does
not perceive such value, its interest ceases and the Will
flags. If it suspects that theories are mere visions and
personal notions, it loses respect for your teaching. It
342 The Child's Will.
must in some way be made to get hold of principles and
their reality, so that it may intuitively apply them to vari-
ous practical cases. The circles called home, street,
school or playground, neighborhood, village or city, are
all ramified by certain general principles which guarantee
welfare. We may suggest them in the word " respect."
Respect for the feelings of others.
Respect for the rights of others.
Respect for the opinions of others.
Respect for the customs of others.
Respect for the beliefs of others.
Respect for the opportunities of others.
Respect for the liberty of others.
Respect for the destiny of others.
Such principles may be thrown into ideals or maxims
and made incessantly prominent in all the child's relations
to the various circles of life.
6. Cultivate the child's desire for the happiness and
welfare of others. The preceding suggestions inevitably
make for these ends. But life ought at times to forget
even self-interest. Encourage, therefore, action for others
which does not think of self. A thousand opportunities
are afforded for this effort. Certain simple rules may be
indicated :
Request the child ; do not order it.
On compliance, express your thankfulness.
For unusual obedience, manifest appreciation.
For voluntary service, exhibit a lively gratification.
Occasionally provide some unexpected pleasure.
For exceptional thoughtfulness, indicate correspond-
ing approbation.
7. Cultivate the child 's desire for independence. With
all safeguards thrown around it, the child must, in count-
Let the Child Prophesy Fair. 343
less ways, think, determine, act for itseK. The more
frequently and fully it does so, under wise supervision, the
more surely will its Will-power be trained, and its future
be mortgaged for the largest success. A right spirit of
independence may be cultivated, —
By appeal to the love of ownership. The child ought
to own many things in " fee simple," as it were. Its
ownership should be thoroughly respected, and seldom
overshadowed by any superior claim. In addition to pos-
session in the ordinary run of life, it should also be made
owner of special things with responsibilities or unusual
opportunities connected therewith, as a piece of land, an
animal, a boat, a set of tools, some kind of mechanism for
making various articles, materials to be worked over, etc.
By the appeal of the practical in society. Under
proper restrictions, stores, shops, factories, farms, public
buildings, and the like, afford fine opportunities to acquire
familiarity with common objects and common ways of
doing things which inevitably minister to the child's sense
and power of independence in times of special need.
By throwing the child upon its own resources and
judgment, as far as may, in any given case, be wise. This
requires that it be given as large a measure of liberty as
is compatible with a long-headed view of its best welfare.
Sooner or later it must depend upon itself. The present
question is, shall its future freedom be that of liberty or
that of license ? The man's liberty must grow out of the
child's law-governed independence.
Do not smother independence, therefore, but regu-
late it.
Do not tie the child to your tether of personal notion.
Cut the apron-string, or get a long rope. This increases
your care, but it builds the child's Will.
If the child gets hurt in its freedom — experience is
344 The Chiltfs Will.
a good teacher. If it falls into error — there is your op-
portunity to preach an illustrated sermon like a story-
teller, with all points suggested above for divisions, and
self-regulated independence as the main lesson.
Never say " No " to a child merely to relieve yourself
of trouble.
Never say " No " to a child without stopping to think.
Do your first thinking silently. If favorable, repeat
the process to the child. If unfavorable, and you wish to
give the child a lesson in experience, repeat the process
aloud and say, " Yes." If you are found to have been
mistaken, reason the matter out to the preservation of the
child's respect for you, notwithstanding. If you were
right, abstain from gloating, but impress the lesson hand-
somely. If your judgment is unfavorable to the child's
desires, and you do not wish to chance the lesson of ex-
perience, repeat the process of thought and say " No."
Always make the " No " as easy as possible.
Never say a reasonable " No " and change to a
thoughtless " Yes."
Never say " No " when " Yes " would be exactly as
•wise. Avoid the habit of senseless objection.
Never say " Yes " and change to a thoughtless " No."
Never say, " Oh, I do n't care 1 " This shows that
you rule or permit without thought.
If the problem will not resolve itself to your thought,
state the case fairly, and win the child's assent to your
doubt. Cultivate independence, again, —
By inducing the child to launch 0uf, now and then, in
some heroic venture, always forefended and watched over.
By encouraging heroic endurance of consequences.
By encouraging frank and heroic assumption of blame
for mistakes of its own.
By encouraging modest appropriation of legitimate
Let the Child Prophesy Fair. 345
praise and satisfaction for favorable outcomes of inde-
pendent decisions, conduct and ventures.
These suggestions will readily recall to mind various
illustrations as to means and methods, and need not be
further elaborated.
Now, the child's interest is usually spontaneous and
natural. But nature constantly indicates that spontaneous
interest maybe invented. It is the possibility of invented
interest that enables Professor James to state the following
LAWS OF INTEREST : —
First law of interest : "Any object not interesting in
itself may become interesting through becoming • associated
with an object in which an interest already exists. The two
associated ideas grow, as it were ; the interesting portion
sheds its quality over the whole ; and thus things not inter-
esting in their own right borrow an interest which becomes
as real and as strong as that of any natively interesting
thing."
This law suggests three practical rules :
1. Associate in the child's life interesting things
with uninteresting things ; or, cause the uninteresting
things to borrow interest from things that are in any way
possessed of interest to the child. As this rule may be
divided, —
2. " Begin with the line of his native interests, and
offer him objects that have some immediate connection
with these.
3. " Step by step connect with these first objects
and experiences the later objects and ideas which you
wish to instil. Associate the new with the old in some
natural and telling way, so that the interest, being shed
along from point to point, finally suffuses the entire system
of objects of thought."
346 The Child's Will.
In a few words, get hold of the child's interest in
some way, immediate or remote, in the subject or task in
hand ; then connect its interest, as it exists, by any round-
about way, with the thing or act desired.
Second law of interest : " Voluntary attention cannot
be continuously sustained; it comes in beats.1'
This is true in the adult mind. Voluntary attention
in the child's mind is much more fickle ; hence the value
of the prescription :
" The subject must be made to show new aspects of
itself ; to prompt new questions ; in a word, to change.
" From an unchanging subject the attention inevi-
tably wanders away. You can test this by the simplest
possible case of sen serial attention. Try to attend stead-
fastly to a dot on the paper or on the wall. You presently
find that one or the other of two things has happened :
either your field of vision has become blurred, so that you
now see nothing distinct at all, or else you have involun-
tarily ceased to look at the dot in question and are look-
ing at something else. But, if you ask yourself successive
questions about the dot — how big it is, how far, of what
shape, what shade of color, etc. ; in other words, if you
turn it over, if you think of it in various ways, and along
with various kinds of associations — you can keep your
mind upon it for a comparatively long time."
Third law of interest . In the child's life the concrete
is always the realest and the most interesting.
All is things. The mind constantly concretes the
abstract. It is this fact that gives life an enormous
fictitious interest ; examples : units = apples, dolls, etc. ;
freedom = eating all the jam you want ; God = a huge
man who is invisible, but, because He is omnipresent, can
L.et the Child Prophesy fair. 347
be caught in an old shoe and tied up — a real case in the
family of a religious professor of physics.
Make the child's Will, therefore, a mover of concrete
realities.
Always is it to be remembered that the child is pre-
eminently a subject of education. And what education is,
let Professor James tell us :
" It cannot be better described than by calling it the
organization of acquired habits of conduct and tendencies to
behavior"
At home or school, this process of " organizing ac-
quired habits " involves a great aphorism :
"JV0 reception without reaction, no impression without
correlative expression"
The preceding basic principles of reason and of in-
terest, with the suggestions noted, simply mean that what-
ever properly goes into the child's mind should be worked
over, by itself, in its concrete life. All such reactions
tend to train the Will. Right reaction equals right Will-
exercise. Similarly, all right impressions upon the child's
mind are to be returned in some kind of expression in
action. If you arouse judgment or reason and interest,
you inevitably secure reaction and expression in life. The
rule is infallible.
SECOND PROCESS OF WILL-CULTURE — DEVELOPMENT.
Right training of the child's Will must, in the nature
of the case, result in more or less increase of its power.
But the specific end, a stronger Will in the child, becomes
now the larger goal.
The Will is merely the mind's ability to put forth
volitions.
The mind, willing repeatedly in any given direction,
acquires greater ability to will in some directions.
348 The Child's
The mind, willing readily and strongly in one direc-
tion, may be so trained in that direction as to will readily
and strongly in other directions. This has been disputed,
but it seems obvious. He who acquires facility in per-
forming a certain kind of mental task may thereby acquire
power for other tasks. He who successfully resists one
temptation prepares himself for successful resistance of
another temptation. A will trained in the use of reason
and by appeals to a true interest, becomes a better and
stronger Will for response to the naked call of duty. It
is not necessary to acquire power for all different kinds of
acts ; the soul stores power adequate to untried cases.
Any general faculty of the mind may be developed as a
general faculty.
Development of Will regards, indirectly its present
state, but primarily the increase of power wherein the
mind lacks. The mind possesses a certain ability to will
at present ; it may be educated, unfolded, so as to acquire
power to put forth volitions more strongly for any purpose.
For such development of Will-power the basic prin-
ciple is now practice. This brings us to the
EXERCISES OF THE PRESENT WORK.
In following these exercises, reason and interest
must be kept constantly at the fore.
I. PHYSICAL REGIME. The exercises for physical
regime should be practised by the parent or teacher with
the child. A small group of children would be preferable.
This will bring out all possible forms of reasoning and in-
terest. It will stimulate curiosity, the desire to imitate, to
emulate, to know, to please self, to please others. The
exercises can be made to appeal to the child's prime in-
terest in the concrete. They may also be made to stimu-
late its love of mastery and its native power of invention
Let the Child Prophesy Fair. 349
in the way of adding other exercises not specified. Here
is an opportunity to develop the child's Will with no fear
of dullness or weariness. If properly conducted, Physical
Regime will become a kind of play. In order to success,
observe the following suggestions :
Manifest yourself a lively interest in the exercises.
Follow the directions carefully, but strive always to
invent new exercises for each thing in hand.
Practise the exercises in the order given.
Set apart a certain time each morning for this prac-
tice. The child's mind should be fresh ; the exercises
will prepare it for other tasks. Do not vary the time
fixed.
Do not pass from one set of exercises to another in a
haphazard way. Finish each set before the next is taken
up. Do not extend the time suggested for each set in the
book.
Do not undertake more than one set of exercises at
a time.
Do not combine practice of Physical Regime with
practice of Mental Regime. Let the rule be : one thing
at a time ; progress step by step.
Begin the work with a little talk on the Will. Give
the class simple outlines, with picturesque illustrations.
From time to time during the progress of the exercises
review this talk.
Occasionally select a rule or two from those given at
the close of Part I, and instil the same into the minds of
the class. Illustrate their use and value.
Now take up the exercises, in the order given.
Exercises for the Eye. Explain the eye. Explain
vision and its media. Explain attention, and show its
necessity in all the exercises. Ask the questions : " How
350 The Child's Will.
do you attend with the eye ? " " What is the value of the
eyes ? " " What is the relation of Will to the right use of
the eyes ? " " What is its place among the organs of
sense ? " " Is it of the most interest to you ? " " Of the
most value' to you ? " Always keep the child's Will at the
fore. Practise the exercises as directed in Chapter IX.
Exercises for the Ear. Repeat, as far as appropriate,
the foregoing explanations and questions. Remember
the Will. Practise the exercises as directed in Chapter X.
Exercises in Smell. Repeat, as before. Practise the
exercises as directed in Chapter XII.
Exercises in Taste. Repeat, as before. Practise the
exercises as directed in Chapter XI.
Exercises in Touch. Repeat, as before. Keep the
Will foremost Practise the exercises as directed in
Chapter XIII.
Exercises for the 2^en-es. Repeat, as with the eyes.
Suggest the importance of preserving the nerves in a good
condition and of controlling them. Practise the exercises
as directed in Chapter XIV.
Exercises for the Hands. Describe the hands. Show
how the hand is one of the mind's executive organs.
Show its relation to man's progress. To the child's life.
Practise the exercises as directed in Chapter XV.
Exercises in Steadiness. Repeat, as with the eyes.
Appeal always to Will. Practise the exercises as directed
in Chapter XVI.
During all these exercises, compare the interest and
value of the various organs. Induce the child to put its
mind into the use of the senses.
In the meantime, secure the best possible practice of
all the exercises by inquiring :
Let the Child Prophesy Fair. 351
Have you performed this act correctly ? All of it ?
In your best way ? Is it a good or useful or wise exercise ?
Is it a right exercise ? Is your mind wholly in this exer-
cise ? Do you perform it because I require it, or for its
benefit, or because you are interested in it ?
Seek to bring into play the child's curiosity, its desire
to imitate, to emulate, to know, for present pleasure, the
pleasure of parent or teacher, for mastery, and for inde-
pendence in the invention of other similar exercises.
Above all, try to induce the child to think of and
strive for a better and stronger Will. This idea, brought
into the foreground of its consciousness, will suggest itself
when demands for Will appear on other occasions.
MENTAL REGIME. The suggestions given on page
348 for Physical Regime should be observed here. In
addition, note the following:
This field is more or less abstract, but the exercises
must be kept as far as possible in the concrete.
The child's reason and interest must be appealed to
incessantly.
Begin the work of Mental Regime with a simple talk
on the brain and the mind. Describe the mind's usual
divisions. Show that the Will is not a separate faculty,
any more than is any other mental faculty, but the mind's
ability to originate, or determine upon, some kind of ac-
tion. Indicate the Will's relation to mental powers, and
the importance of its conscious and intelligent use in all
the exercises to be taken up.
Show how that, // we constantly think of our Wills,
and seek the strongest and best Wills, we shall gradually
come to use our present power of Will at its best, and to
strive for its greatest development.
Repeat these and similar talks from time to time,
352 The Child 's Will.
and, by reiteration and reviews, fix them in the minds of
the class.
Now take up the mental exercises.
Exercises in Attention. Explain the nature of atten-
tion by the mind. Give a little talk on mind-wandering,
and show how the Will may cure that habit. Indicate
the importance of real attention under all circumstances.
During the exercises, secure constantly the Will-mood in
the child, urging it by such exclamations as, "Attention 1 "
" I resolve to will 1 " and in any other way suggested to
your mind. Practise the exercises as directed in Chapter
XVIII.
Exercises in Reading. Describe true and false read-
ing. Show the necessity of attention in reading. Let a
child read a passage from some standard author ; then
ask him to state in his own words what the author has
said. Arouse emulation in the class. Practise the exer-
cises as directed in Chapter XIX.
Exercises in Thinking. Describe the common notion
as to thinking, and contrast it with true thinking. Show
the necessary work of attention in thinking. Cause the
child to understand that it is to will to think, and to will
to acquire the habit of willed, that is, true thinking. Seek
to induce the child always to look for reasons, and prin-
ciples, and to know all about the thing in hand. Practise
the exercises as directed in Chapter XX.
Exercises in Memory. Give a little talk on the mem-
ory. Show the imperative necessity of attention for a
good memory. Indicate the value of willed attention in
memorizing. Instil into the child's mind the importance
of frequent reviews, and make such reviews interesting.
Explain the cause of forgetting. Induce the child now
and then to commit selections from the best authors.
Let the Child Prophesy Fair. 353
Let the class commit useful lists of things, as of dates,
states, battles, public buildings, great men, etc. But you
will need to employ the law of interesting associations.
Cultivate the memory for other concrete facts. Do not
forget memory for principles. Call for frequent reviews.
Practise the exercises as directed in Chapter XXI.
Exercises in Imagination. Give a simple talk on the
imagination. Show the need of close and careful atten-
tion here. Introduce lessons in observation, at home, in
the school-room, on the street, in the fields, for the pur-
pose of gathering materials for the imagination. Havt
the class describe imaginary objects, persons, scenes,
plots, journeys, etc. Present imaginary conduct, and ask :
" What would you do in such a case ? " " What would
be the probable consequences of your decision ? " And
so on.
Let a child read a passage in literature involving
imagination ; then bring out what the class feels, sees,
understands, about it. Always maintain the Will-mood
during these exercises. The class are to will to bring the
imagination into action, and for the sake of the Will.
Practise the exercises as directed in Chapter XXII.
Above all, the child should be taught to cultivate the
determination always to will the right and reasonable in
its thought and action.
THIRD PROCESS OF WILL-CULTURE — DESTRUCTION
or HABIT.
Destruction of undesirable habits in the child i*
volves definite appeals to self-interest, to public opinion,
to the desire for happiness in others, to moral ideas.
The aim is now, by incessant appeals as above, to
induce the child to set its Will resolutely against such
habits. This means a genuine desire awakened to replace
354 The Child's Will.
them by good habits. In seeking to arouse the latter
desire, the reason or judgment and the interest must be
brought into the liveliest action. The particular objection-
able habit must be held up so that the child can see it as
a mere habit apart from itself, and thus appreciate its
objectionableness and its injurious tendencies. Show
that it is opposed to the child's own interest. Emphasize
the best public opinion, or the opinion of some admired
friend who would condemn the habit. Many undesirable
habits possess some near or remote moral quality. Make
this appear in the case in hand. If the child doesn't
care, persist until it does. Set the best of examples in
regard to your own habits. The child will probably seek
to imitate or emulate you, and, doing so, will have regard
for your pleasure. Appeal to its natural desire to give
happiness to others. Do not be economical with rewards.
Encourage it to believe that it can overcome. Inspire in
every way its Will to decide against wrong habits, and to
persist in their extermination. At every victory, manifest
the greatest pleasure. Reward it handsomely when the
thing is accomplished.
Take up the various habits discussed in Part IV.
Give simple talks, from time to time, to the class or the
child, on each of the habits mentioned. Apply, little by
little, the suggestions of this book, so far as may be practi-
cable, but without ostentation — tactfully, patiently and
with confidence. Seek to know the habits of the children
under your care, and set about the effort to weed them
out. Carefully guard against the detective spirit, the out-
cropping of superior goodness, and any feeling of dis-
couragement. Study temperament ; handle different cases
according to their natures and flexibility. Remember, you
are seeking the development of the child's Will, not the
realization of your own Will-standard.
Let the Child Prophesy Fair. 355
Second to the need of desire in the cure of habits is
memory of the thing to be done. This may be secured in
many ways, but the following method is suggested :
Select some brief sentence expressing the character
of a habit, and keep it before the child in a striking but
not tiresome manner, as by writing it on a black-board or
in writing-copy, etc., or by having it recited in concert
from time to time. Occasionally substitute a new sen-
tence. Examples :
Profanity. — Profanity spoils language and degrades
holy name
Exaggeration. — Exaggeration is a kind of lying.
Irritability and Anger. — Irritability and anger poison
blood and mind.
The Tobacco Habit. — Tobacco forgets with its mem-
ory. Shun first indulgence ; thus you win !
The Drink Habit. — Alcohol makes the Will crazy.
Slang. — Slang is the language of thieves.
Hesitation in Speech. — Think first ; then speak with
your Will.
Mind-wandering. — Mind- Wandering is the crazy-quilt
of mind.
Garrulousness. — Too much talking betrays secrets.
Thoughtlessness. —
"/ didn't think'11 is just a Poor excuse
For just forgetting. Brains were made for use.
Indecision. —
The boy or girl who can't decide
No horse will own, no carriage ride.
Want of Opinion. —
The mind that fears its thoughts to prise
Must others serve. It ne'er will rise.
356 The Chilfs Will.
Opinionativeness. —
Insist that white is -white, and pink is fink.
But then — admit that others also think /
FOURTH PROCESS OF WILL-CULTURE — RESOLUTION FOR
RIGHT CONTACT WITH OTHERS.
The rules given at the close of Chapter XXVII may
be suggested to the child from time to time, by the voice,
by recitation in concert, by writing on a black-board or on
copy-paper, but above all, by examples observed to which
attention may be called in an interesting way. These
rules should be suggested with discrimination, and in
small doses. The aim should be to inspire rather than
to enforce observance of them. The child's Will must be
enlisted if such precepts are to prove of value.
Parent and teacher should illustrate principles of
right contact with others in their own conduct. The
Golden Rule has always a fair opportunity in child-life, if
judiciously inculcated and actually exemplified by adults.
In a kindergarten way, the general thoughts of the
chapter on the Personal Atmosphere may from time to
time be given to the child, Keep the subject clear of
mere mystery. Suggest only the outlines of the fact that
each person carries with him an " atmosphere," a kind of
influence originating, not in what he says or does, but in
his hidden self, which strikes other people in an agreeable
or a disagreeable way, for their good or their injury, and
that the best way of getting on nicely with others is to
make sure that the inner self is right and honest and
kindly and helpful. The child will recognize this fact as
a matter of his, own personal experience. He will tell
you that he has felt the "influence." He will remember,
when you talk about it, that some things and some places
strike him in a similar way. He will think about the
Let the Child Prophesy Fair. 357
matter in a matter-of-fact manner because it has been a
part of his experience. And, now that it is thrown upon
his attention as a common fact, he will remember its utility,
and profit by its suggestions for his own conduct. The
writer of these pages believes that the most reasonable
being in this world is the little child. Of such is the
kingdom of reason and therefore of Heaven.
Above all, teach the child that its relations with other
people must depend almost wholly upon its own Will.
For the art of expression in conversation and public
speaking, the most of the suggestions in Chapter XXVI
may be profitably followed with the child. Here are op-
portunities for brief and simple talks on the thoughts
brought out and for many interesting class-exercises
adapted from the directions given. The child will need
some ability in this direction in its future career. It
should be trained to will writing and speaking during
its school life. The following would seem generally to
cover the entire subject, so far as the child's education is
concerned :
Teach it to read for the sake of information gained.
Encourage it to talk about what it has learned.
Lead it through analyses of various passages in the
best literature.
Induce it to speak the thoughts set forth in its own
language.
Teach it to reason, connectedly, to a point, for a pur-
pose.
Teach it to do this on its feet and in the presence of
others, orally.
Encourage it in practice, until it acquires self-posses-
sion.
Moderate precocity and vanity.
358 The Chiltfs Witt.
Teach it to control the body when engaged in speak-
ing anywhere.
Teach it to overcome fear of others as an audience.
Inspire in its mind a desire and determination for
excellence.
In every lesson appeal to its sense of Will-power
FIFTH PROCESS IN WILL-CULTURE — DEVELOPMENT OF
SYMMETRY.
The idea of human symmetry in character and devel-
opment is always relative. Education in symmetry, there-
fore, must have the child's nature, endowments, weaknesses
and surroundings always in mind. The fundamental idea
in any existence determines symmetry and makes it pos-
sible. A wild forest may be symmetrical, but not in the
manner of an artistically laid-out garden landscape. No
man has the symmetry of an angel. No child can be sym-
metrical in the sense that an adult may be symmetrical.
Tommy the son of Tim may develop into a very symmetri-
cal citizen, but he will still exhibit dents where the son of
New England's best blood — or, for that matter, of Ire-
land's noblest — shows superior growth and finish. The
child's Will may be never so strong and wise, yet still
reach only its own peculiar possibilities. Individuality
defies theories. The purpose of this or that child's Will
is realized when it is set for the best that this or that child
can be or do, now, and for the future.
Now, the child -wills certain things feebly. If these
are right things, bring its Will-power up to the general
standard of the general ideal as far as may be possible.
If these are wrong things, cultivate the Will to resist until
it determines, even if feebly, in the right direction.
The child wills certain things strongly. If these are
right, encourage that use of the Will. If these things are
Let the Child Prophesy Fair. 359
wrong, induce desire for exercise of Will in opposing
directions. Substitute the ideal of right for wrong, and of
direct desire for right in place of direct opposition to
wrong conduct. Do not coerce, do not conform, do not
destroys the child's Will, but turn its activity. The more
Will, the better. The fault is not Will-power, but wrong
use of Will-power.
After consideration of defects of Will arises treat-
ment of aptitudes and talents. These are the child's
capital stock for life, unless they are its handicaps. If
they are handicaps, you must induce the child in some
way to ignore them, to put them out of its life. And
here, as elsewhere, direct warfare will probably keep them
in the child's mind and inspire a determination to culti-
vate them at the first opportunity. The wise method of
suppression is always indirect and without ostentation.
Any means which will awaken interest in the use of other
better talents, which will call into action better attitudes
and secure interest in their cultivation, will result in the
forgetting and disuse of aptitudes and talents that are
objectionable. Nothing good comes of direct, avowed
war on a child's Will, its talents, its aptitudes or its gen-
eral nature. This is a settled law, for the child's life
depends upon its use of its Will, and this power must
often be caught unawares and set into right action with
the accompanying belief that desire and interest command
that thing alone. Parents and teachers can well afford to
nurse the deception of child-independence and self-direc-
tion when manifest in right ways. As the end is the sym-
metrical child-Will, the child's Will, not yours, must be the
real driving force. Hence the rule : treat objectionable
aptitudes and talents indirectly and seduce the child to un-
dervalue and neglect them while directly trying to awaken
its interest in and desire for other aptitudes and talents.
360 The Child?* Will.
If such talents and aptitudes are desirable, they
should be cultivated. But they should not be made easy
of developnent, for ease of acquisition tends to cheapen
the value of labor and to encourage an overweening
confidence in half grown powers. Discourage precocity.
Throw difficulties in the way of natural gifts. Set up a
very high ideal of excellence as the standard to be ac-
cepted as a matter of course. The Will is here acting
spontaneously ; educate it in action determined upon
deliberately and carried on through difficulties. The
child needs iron as well as culture. Culture is the out-
come of resistance, no less than of opportunity. If you
desire symmetry in the child-Will, remember Emerson's
saying : " Man is a stupendous antagonism, a dragging
together of the poles of the Universe."
There are certain weaknesses in the child which may
hamper it for life. Here are weak perceptions. Follow
the exercises in Physical Regime. You must get this
child to see, hear, feel in a larger and deeper way. Here
is a poor general memory. You must throw yourself upon
that faculty to increase its power. Here is, say, a good
memory for incidents, but none for figures or dates, or
names, or faces, etc. Your ideal now must be the date-
memory, or the memory for faces with names, or the
memory for principles, and so on. The child may, if it
will ! The Will is master, if it desire. Here is a poor
imagination, but perhaps a strong capacity for drudgery.
A life-long drudge without imagination is Markham's
" Man with the Hoe." This halting and blind faculty
must be straightened and given light. Begin now. Read
lively stories of the best kind. Tell stories of your own
making. Excite this mind to see and hear with the inner
eye and ear, by calling attention to beauty in nature and
hidden meanings lurking in all things and all life. Put
Let the Child Prophesy Fair. 361
color and music into this soul. Thrust art into its field.
Bring into the mind great truths. Make existence an
immense and a wonderfully beautiful thing. Lead the
child into the upper world of honor, right and the heroism
of man and God.
These suggestions are samples merely. They are
designed to indicate that symmetry is your care and the
child's privilege.
There are too many Topseys among children ; it is tot
often true that the child " just grows up."
The great fault with child-education to-day is this — it
is left to itself and to indirect methods. Socrates among
the Athenians, Froebel among the Germans, Arnold among
the English, and Elliott among the Americans, have all
demanded educational methods that shall —
Discover to the child at the earliest period, its real
self;
Discover to the child the right use of self.
In order to these discoveries, —
The child must be trained in observation. " The
fundamental method in all knowledge is observation, or
watching."
It must be trained in keeping a correct record t/
knowledge obtained.
It must be trained in the processes of comparison and
inference, or reasoning.
It must be trained in accurate and forceful expression
of thought.
Now these great teachers have asserted, with Froebel,
certain large principles as essential in all mind training :
" All education not founded on religion is unprodnc-
tJYC."
" The starting point of all that appears, of all that
exists, and therefore of all intellectual conception, is act,
362 The Child's Will.
^action." " From the act, from action therefore starts true
human education, the developing education of the man."
Out of these general propositions may now be drawn
four great fundamentals :
1. The child must be recognized as a growing organ-
ism. It is not a mere store-house ; it grows. It not only
grows ; it does so as an organism. It is an individual ;
it must be brought out.
2. "The child-organism grows by creative activity"
The stuffing process and the forced process are alike
against the child's nature. The child is incessantly active ;
it must be made to create by action. To create what ?
Secondarily, a thousand thousand things ; primarily, itself,
its character, its rights, its place, its utility, its happiness.
3. The child, therefore, can only create in the full sense
by as much as it puts the whole of itself into whatever it
does. When it does that, it creates, as certainly as nature
evolves seed and harvest Education, if it be true, secures
creation by the child — creation above all things else.
Mind is power, not receptivity alone. Active power
always creates.
4. " The function of education is to develop the faculties
by arouting voluntary activity. Action proceeding from
inner impulse is the one thing needful." Hence the im-
portance of early training and culture of WilL For if the
child's Will be aroused and regulated, its individual idea,
its true self, will, in the future adult, inevitably appear.
If it also acquire moral character, the realization of that
idea will constitute its highest and all-essential success in
life.
But the end of all educational processes centres in
the Will. Develop in the child a strong Will, a reasonable
Will, a moral Will — and you have created the victorious
human soul. In Kipling's " Brushwood Boy " there is a
Let the Child Prophesy Fair. 363
wise little paragraph looking to that end : " Not for
nothing was it written, ' Let the Consuls look to it that
the Republic takes no harm,' and Georgie was glad to be
back in authority when the holidays ended. Behind him,
but not too near, was the wise and temperate Head, now
suggesting the wisdom of the serpent, now counselling the
mildness of the dove; leading him on to see, more by half
hints than by any direct word, how boys and men are all
of a piece, and how he who can handle the one will assured-
ly in time control the other"
And now, in all our work, it is best to remember that
life is not a judgment to drudgery. It is a glory, a dignity
an opportunity, a prelude and a reward. The true life
has deep content ; —
In itself,
In its worlds,
In its brotherhood,
In its death-swallowing hope.
And it is for the body to rest, as well as to toil.
And it is for mind to relax and change, as well as to
concentrate.
And it is for the man to play, to rejoice with the
hills, to throb with the sea, to laugh with nature, as well
as to struggle and pile up victories.
But it is for the Will to slumber not, to relax never, to
go forth day and night, in the full majesty of conquest,
For, TO THIS END CAMK THE KlNG TO HIS THROW*.
INDEX.
ABERCROMRIE, on blind Dr. Moyse, 141.
ABSTRACTION, and attention, 138, 139.
ACHIEVEMENT, essential of will, 197; of various wills, 35.
ACQUIRING, perceptions, 104; right habits, 57; thought, 100.
ACTION, Mill on independent, 94; subconscious, 196; systematic
and will, 60.
ACTIVITY, mental, influence of personal states on, 75.
ACTS, of will, described, 16; modes of conceiving, 239; of willing,
and moods, 75, 76 ; and states of the man, 16.
ADDRESS, getting materials for, 311.
ADULT life and habit, 80.
AIM, highest, 34; one and some, and ultimate, 32-35.
A LIVE man, 36.
"ALL things are thine estate," verses by Lytton, 27.
"A MOOSEHEAD Journal," Lowell, 241.
ANALYSIS, of will, 6-10.
ANECDOTE, of Blondin, 5; by Kane, 179; by Miller, 278; of Muley
Moluc, 5.
ANGER, and muscular strength, 102 ; regimes for cure of, 269-273.
"AN Introduction to Psychology," Calkins, 133.
APHORISM, on education, 347.
APPLICATION, of common sense, 215.
APPREHENSION, clear, Hill on, 209.
APTITUDES, treatment for wrong in child, 359, 360.
AQUINAS, concentration of, 129.
ARCHITECTURE, and memory, 225.
AREAS, brain, codrdination of, 60.
ARMLESS, editor, 40; and legless girl, 113.
ARNOLD, and education, 361.
ART, and attention, 20; of expression in child, 357; of
103.
A SOUND soul, 37
366 Index.
ASSOCIATION, example of, 202; and interest, 345; laws of, 107.
ATHLETE, Ignatius on, 16.
ATTENDING, is selecting, 9.
ATTENTION, and abstraction, 139; and art, 20; comes in heats,
106; child's, exercises for, 352; compound, 19; controlled by
will, 213; denned, 198; Dictionaire Philosophique on, 195;
and interest, 21; James on steady, 346; and memory, 226;
and motives, 203 ; and muscular control, 17, 19 ; in reading, 20;
regimes in, 199-203; Scripture on, 197, 198; strain in, 113;
Sully on, 197; and touch, 150; Uphamon, 305; the watchword,
103; on will, 19.
ATTITUDE, bad, in child's education, 336, 337, 339, 343-345, 349;
Faraday's, in science, 81; for healing, 43; subconscious, for
health, 190; will, in child, forced or won, 337.
AUDIENCE, confidence in, 314; cooperation of, 320; courage before,
314.
"A WANDERING Mind," verses by author, 289.
BACON, Francis, character of, 47; on conquest of self, 99; on
reading, 206; on weeds in our nature, 261; on method of per-
sonal influence, 317.
"BALANCE," verses by author, 28.
BASIC, principles, first in child's will-culture, 333-337; second,
same, 337-347; of will culture, 83; requirements in educating
child's will, 330.
BATTERY, gun-cap, 258; mind like a, 6.
BEECHER, H. W., on conquest of mob, 16; on habit, 283.
BELIEF, and personal influence, 317, 318.
"BE Master," verses by author, 56.
BEST practice in child exercises, 351.
BLIND, the, the hearing of, 129; and memory, 23; remarkable
powers of, 123, 141; Tom, 21.
BLONDIN, anecdote of, 5.
BODY, controlled by mind, 71, 179, 181, 278; Influence over mind,
71, 184; contra, 184; influence of moods on, 74; will, master
of 16-19.
BCEHME, Browning refers to, 121.
BONDAGE, and the man, 11; and will, 10, 11.
BRAIN areas, coordination of, 60.
"BROODING o'er Ills," verses by author, 273.
BROTHER Wolf, legend of, 277.
Index. 367
BROWNING, lines on Boehme, 121 ; illustration for mental picture,
123.
" BRUSHWOOD Boy," Kipling's, 362.
"BUBBLES," verses by author, 174.
"BUSINESS Power," quoted on memory, 234, 235; on feeling in
craftsmanship, 172; referred to, 29.
BUXTON, Powell, on energy, 26.
BYRON, Lord, concentration of, 21; on courage, 67; his method of
work, 237.
CALKINS, on odors, 142; on taste, 133-135.
CAN-NINO, Able-man, 39.
CAPACITY, all have for teaching, 329.
CAPRICIOUS man is many, 80.
CARLYLE, on Cromwell, 39; on silence, 291 ; on Rosseau, 16.
CARPENTER, Edw., on physical vigor, 180; on "what to look for,"
130; W.B., on judgment, 247; on volitional control of
thought, 226.
CAUSE, of willing, 11, 12 ; of bondage, 11 ; of diseased will, 44, 297.
CENTRAL, nervous processes affect entire body, 112.
CHARACTER, of Bacon, 47; and hand, 167; and influence, 321;
Mirabeau's insight into, 320; moral and will training, 63; and
will, 46, 66.
CHARACTERISTICS, of memory, from "Business Power," 234, 235.
CHILD, and conversation, 357, 358; destruction of habit in, 353-
356; and emulation, 338; and imitation, 338; its nature, 329,
330; and nature of things, 335; and unintelligent teaching,
335.
CHILD'S, aptitudes, treatment of, 360; ear, exercises for, 350; at-
tention, exercises for, 352; contact with others, 356-358;
curiosity, 338; desire for independence, 342-345; desire to
know, 339 ; desire for happiness of others, 342 ; desire to please
self, 340-342; education, bad attitudes in, 336, 337, 339, 343-
347, 349; same, and Froebel, 361; same, errors about, 330,
331; examples of incomplete education, 335; and expression,
357; great fault in education, 361 ; four fundamentals in edu-
cation, 362; fundamental processes in education, 332; habits,
destruction of, 353-356; lessons in education, 338-345; max-
im in education, 332; second basic principle in education,
337-347; education and personal atmosphere, 356; practical
rules in education, 345; eye, exercises for, 349, 350; habit,
368 Index.
In education, 345-361; eye, exercises for, 349, 350; habit,
destruction of, 353-356; suggestive sentences for habitfl,
355, 356; hands, exercises for, 350 ; imagination, exercises for,
353; memory, exercises for, 352; nerves, exercises for, 350;
questions, 339; reading, exercises for, 352; smell, exercises
for, 350; talents, 359; taste, exercises for, 350; thinking, ex-
ercises for, 352; touch, exercises for, 350; will-attitude,
forced or won, 337; will-culture, requirements in, 330; will,
developing, 347-353; will, errors about, 330-332; will, ex-
ercises for, 348-353; will, and judgment, 333-337; will,
mental regimes for, 351-353; will, physical regimes for, 348-
351; will, principles of training, 329; will, and reaction, 347;
will, and reason, 333; will, regimes for, 348-353; will, re-
quirements in training of, 330; will, symmetry, 358-363;
will, war on, 359; will, training, 333-347 (see attitudes);
same, examples in reason, 334; same, fifth process in, 358-
363; same, first basic principle, 333-337; same, fourth
process in, 356-358; same, second process in, 347-353;
same, third process in, 353-356; weaknesses, treatment of,
360.
CHRISTIAN Science, 72.
CLASSES, of diseased will, 44-55; of smells, 143, 144.
CLEAR, apprehension, 209; imagination, 24; perception, 118;
thinking, examples of, 218, 219.
COLERIDGE'S want of will, 50.
COLOR and eye, 111,, :U j^j
COMMANDER, Creasy on, in battle, 67.
COMMON sense, application of, 215; defined, 215; Sully on, 253.
COMPOUND attention, 19.
CONCEIVING acts, modes of, 239
CONCENTRATION, on any function, 113; instances of, 21; and in-
terest, 21 ; results of, 22 ; secret of, 21 ; on will-culture, 351.
CONDUCT, of life, rules for will in, 86-92.
CONFIDENCE, and influence, 318, 319; in audience, 314.
CONFLICTING motives, examples, 203.
CONQUEST of self, Bacon on, 99; of mob, Beecher's, 16.
CONSCIOUS effort, goal of this book, 202.
CONSCIOUSNESS, expansion of. 131 ; "general," 158; and harmony,
131.
CONTACT with others, 303; child's training in, 356-358.
CONTINUITY, mood of, 79 ; rules for same, 93.
Index. 369
CONTROL, of body by mind, 71, 179, 181, 278; child's, with others,
356-358; of mind by body, 184; of hearing, indirect, 128; of
imagination, 23; general principles of control of others,
317-327; of muscles, and will, 179; and Golden Rule, 321; of
self, suggestions for, 109 ; volitional of thought, 226.
CONVERSATION, child's, 357, 358.
CONVERSION, of man into will, 13.
CONVICTIONS, necessary in public speaking, 315, 318.
Co6pERATiON, by audience, and influence, 320; of man and truth,
65.
COORDINATION of brain areas, 60.
CORRECT style, excessively, 284.
COURAGE, Byron on, 67; before an audience, 314; example of
moral, 64, 314; of physical, 16.
CRAFTSMANSHIP, feeling in, 172; Huxley on his own, 167.
CREASY, "Fifteen Decisive Battles," 67.
"CREED," by author, referred to, 173.
CROMWELL, Carlyle on, 39 ; his will, 322.
CULTIVATING, imagination, 310; mood of expectancy, 109; mood
of feeling, 77; will, involves whole man, 83.
CURES, deception about, 223.
CURIOSITY, child's, 338.
DAIMONION, the, of Socrates, 90.
DANGERS, in imagination, 253.
DARWIN, his memory, 23.
DAVID, the sculptor, wonderful memory of, 20.
DAVY, Sir Humphrey, on patience and genius, 38.
"DEADLY Indian Hug of Eyes," 322.
DECEPTION, about cures, 223; visual, 222.
DECIDING a problem of motives, 248-250.
DECISION, hesitation in, 69; inability to make. 49; mood of, 79;
off-hand, 49.
DECISIVE will, 16, 31.
DEFINITION, of attention, 198; of common sense, 215; of disease,
43 ; of feeling, 76 ; of habit, 261 ; of mood, 69, 70, 74 ; of moral
action, 264; of passions, 69; of righteousness, 66; of volition,
4; of will, 3, 4, 7, 29; of education, 347.
DELIBERATIVE will, 16.
DEMOSTHENES, on touch, 149.
DEPRESSION, dispelling, 270.
370 Index.
DEQUINCET, his indecision, 50.
DESIRE (see child's) ; and habit, 263.
DESTRUCTION of habit in child, 353-356; (see ch. 24.)
DETAILS, excessive care for, 27; memory for, 235.
DEWEY, Admiral, his courage, 16.
DICTIONAIRE Philosophique, on attention, 195.
DIFFICULTIES, in curing habits, 262; in overcoming stage-fright,
312-314; in public speaking 305, 306.
DILIGENCE passe sens, maxim of Henry VIII, 104.
DIRECT, gaze, value of, 119; directions for same, 119; methods
of education, 59, 60.
DISCIPLINE, as a teacher, 25.
DISEASES, of imagination, exercises for, 254-257; of will, 43, 55,
297; causes of same, 44; classes of same, 44-55; cure of gen-
eral, 65
DIVISION, of moods, 74-83.
DORMANT will, James on, 58.
DRESS, influence of, on work, 189.
DRILL, Emerson on, 104; and system, 106.
DRUDGERY, work of, in life, 37, 38.
DYNAMIC will, 5, 15, 30.
EAR, exercises for, 125-131; same for child, 350.
EDUCATION, aphorism on, 347 ; defects in modern, 59, 361 ; and
nervous system, 57 ; culminating point in, 114, 343; secret of,
213; what is, 347; of will, importance of, 58 (see child).
EDUCATORS, all are, 329; great, methods of, 361-363.
EIGHTH principle of personal influence, 321.
ELEMENTS, four, of thinking, 215.
"ELEMENTS of Psychology," Hill, 20S.
ELIOT, George, works, 207.
"ELOQUENCE," verses by author, 304.
EMERSON, on conversion of man into will, 13 ; on conviction in
public speaking, 318; on drill, 104; on habit, 104; on man an
antagonism, 360; on will, 6, 85.
EMOTIONS, and eye, 112.
EMULATION, and child, 338.
ENERGY, Buxton on, 26; mood of, 77, 78; rules for mood, 92.
ENGLISH, the best, White on, 284; bishop, on drudgery, 38.
ENTHUSIASM, Havelock's, and the Spaniards, 319; and influence,
318.
Index, 371
EPICTETUS, on the eyes, 111; on putting off, 261.
ERRORS, about child's education, 330, 331.
ERST Wagen, dann wagen, Moltke's motto, 82.
EVIL imagination, regimes for, 273-275.
EXAMINATION, self, and habits, 301.
EXERCISE, indirect influence of, 101; systematic and will-habit,
60; of expression, 307; (see regimes and other topics).
EXPECTANCY, and health, 190; and hearing, 13; influence on
vision, 131; and success, 109; mood of, cultivating, 109; on
volitional effort, 109; in scientific experiment, 81.
EXPERIENCE, and will, 25.
EXPLOSIVE will, 30, 52; cure of, 53.
EXPRESSION, in child's education, 357; and reception, 347; ex-
ercise of, 307.
EYE (in child training), exercises for, 349, 350 (in main book\ and
color, 111; Epictetus on, 111; exercises for, 115-121; good
example of, 121 ; exists for man, 111; influence of emotions on,
112; might of good, 119; soul in, 120.
"EYES and No Eyes," 103; secret of masterful, 121.
FACTS, and truth, 222; curious on touch, 150.
FACULTY of scent, Holmes on, 142.
FAITH, popular, in Grant, 321 ; power of, 280; and public speech,
318.
FARADAY, and scientific experiment, 81.
FAULT, great in child's education, 361.
FEAR, results to nerves, 176; spirits of, 256, 257.
FECHNER, on "strain" in attention, 113.
FEELING, in craftsmanship, "Business Power," 172; inhibited,
151 ; mood of, and will, 76, 77; rules for mood of, 92.
FEELINGS, defined, 76; influence of hurtful, 186.
FICKLENESS of will, 51.
FIELDS, C. W. his persistence, 40; on Atlantic Cable, 258.
FIRST process in child's will-culture, 333-347.
"FIFTEEN Decisive Battles," Creasy, 67.
FIFTH process in child's will-culture, 358-363.
FLETCHER, Horace, on weak habit of thought, 253.
FORE-GETTING and forgetting, 235.
FORESEEING, and area of resolution, 233
FOSTER, on nature's healing power, 157.
372 Index.
FOURTH, principle in regimes, 102 ; process in child's will-culture,
356-358.
FRANCIS, St., legend of, 277.
FREEDOM of will, 9-12; Johnson on, 11; law of, 12.
FRIGHT, stage, 312-314.
FROEBEL, and education, 361, 362.
FULLER, on terra incognita in self, 242.
FUNCTION, indirect influence of, 101: influence of concentration
on, 113.
GARRULOUSNESS, cure of 289-291.
GENERAL, diseases of will, 55; division of moods, 74-76; func-
tion of will, 16, 29; principles of control of others, 317-324;
rules, first set, 86-92; second set, 92-94.
GLADSTONE, on powers in all men, 41.
GOAL, of this book, 202 ; of harmony, 64-66.
GOETHE, on visual memory, 23; on imagination, 24.
GOLDEN Rule, politeness the veneer of, 300; and personal in-
fluence, 321.
GRADES of will, 47, 48.
GRANT, and enemy's fear, 256; popular faith in, 321; his will, 33;
called "Useless Grant," 33.
GRIP-POWER, practice in and will, 101.
GROWTH of will, two-fold process of, 61.
GUN-CAP battery, 258.
HABIT, Beecher on, 283; defined, 261; desire to overcome, 263;
destruction of, in child, 353-356; Emerson on, 104; and hear-
ing, 130; a law of habit-cure, 262; liquor, cure of, 275-281;
Mulford on, 283; Reid on, 104; religion and, 280; second
nature, 80; success facilitated by, 80; of systematic will-
action, 60 ; tobacco, cure of ( see liquor).
HABITS, destruction of in child, 353-356; difficulties in curing,
262; James on, 57, 263, 264; a law of cure of, 262; self-exam-
ination and, 301 ; Mark Twain on, curing, 263; and will, 61.
HAIR-TRIGGER wills, 250.
HALLUCINATIONS, 23, 254, 255.
HAMILTON, Sir W., subconscious action of, 198.
HAMPDEN'S self-mastery, 319.
HAND, the, and progress, 168.
Index. 373
HANDS, exercises for, 169-173; for child's, 350; and one's nature,
167.
" HARMONY," verses by author, 156.
HARMONY, goal of, 64-66; and consciousness, 131.
HASTE, injurious in work, 173.
HATFIELD, Dr. M. P., on acute hearing of blind, 129.
HAYDN, his application to work, 38; his dress and his art, 189.
HEADSTRONG will, 54.
HEALING, mental, by suggestion, 71 ; nature's, 157.
HEALTH, exercises for, 187-191 ; expectancy and, 190; importance
to will, 184; mental effort for, 43; subconscious attitude for,
190; suggestion on, 185.
"HEALTH," verses by author, 182.
HEALTHY will, 250.
HEARING, acute, illustration of, 123 ; and blind, 129 ; and exclusion
of sounds, 124; and expectancy, 130; and habit, 130; height-
ened by will, 131 ; indirect control of, 128 ; limit of human, 124.
"HEED Not Thy Moods," verses by author, 68.
HEGEL, his concentration, 21.
HENRY VIII, his maxim, 104.
HESIOD, on the "putter off," 261.
HESITATION, in decision, 69 ; of speech, cure of, 285-287.
HILL, on breaking up wholes in reading, 209.
HILLIS, on man and universe, 157; on forgetting with memory,
225 ; on subconscious action, 205.
HOLMES, on seat of the will, 15; on faculty of scent, 142; on sub-
conscious action, 196; on music bath, 189; on slang, 284.
HOWARD, his symmetrical will, 13.
"How Came Imagination?" verses by author, 236.
HUGO, on Wellington, 322.
HUXLEY, his manual skill, 167.
HYPNOTISM, and will, 323.
ILLUSIONS, illustrations of, 23; Sully on, 253.
ILLY-DEVELOPED mind, and will, 45.
IMAGES, memory, 24, 225, 226.
IMAGINATION, clear, 24; controlled, 23; cultivation of, 310; dan-
gers of, 253; diseases of, 254-257; Goethe on, 24; diseased,
regimes for, 254-257; evil, regimes for, 273-275; importance
of, 238; involves memory, 23; Palmer on popular lack of,
310; regimes in, 239-251; suggestions for, 107.
374 Index.
IMITATION, and child, 338.
IMPELLING will, 16, 31.
IMPOSSIBILITY, cannot be willed, 5.
IMPULSE, want of volitional, 48.
INABILITY, to decide, 49; to will, 45
INCUBATION, subconscious, 85.
INDECISION, regimes for, 294-296.
INDIRECT, results from training, 59, 348.
INFLUENCE, Bacon on, 317; of belief, 318; body over mind, 184;
and character, 321; concentration on function, 113; of confi-
dence, 314, 318, 319; cooperation by audience, 320; dress on
work, 189; emotions on eye, 112; of enthusiasm, 318; ex-
pectancy on vision, 130; same on volitional effort, 109; hurt-
ful feelings, 186; of exercise, 101; indirect, of function, 100-
102; of insight, 320; mind over body, 71, 184; moods over
body, 74 ; moods over mind, 75 ; mood of f eeling, on will, 76,
77; and motives, 319; principles of, 317-324; secret of, 322;
of self-mastery on mind, 75; of "suggestion," for health, 185;
of thought on any function, 100.
INHIBITION, 18; of feeling, 151.
INNER origin of nervous stimulation, 112.
INSANE, the "windup," 105; and will, 44.
INSIGHT, Mirabeau's, 320; and influence, 320.
INTENSITY, of will, 17, 18.
INTEREST, and concentration, 21; enhanced by attention, 21;
laws of, 345-347; mood of, and will, 22, 76, 77; two varieties
76.
"I RESOLVE," 31.
"IRONSIDES," Cromwell's nickname, 322.
IRON will, 67.
IRRESOLUTE man, the, 79.
IRRITABILITY, regimes for, 269-273.
JACOBY, on worry, 270, 271.
JAMES, on acquiring right habits, 57 ; on case of armless and leg-
less girl, 113; on culminating point in education, 114, 347;
on dispelling depression, 270; on dormant will; 58; on es-
sential achievement of will, 197; on curing habit, 263,
264; on instance of poor teaching, 335; on laws of interest,
345-347; on memory-images, 226; on modes of conceiving
acts, 239; on strength of motives, 203.
Index. 375
JASTROW, on subconscious incubation, 86.
JONSON, Ben, verses on humour, 211 ; Samuel, on free agency, 11.
JUDGMENT, and child's will-culture, 333; of distance by armless
and legless girl, 113; requires will, 247.
KANE, and mind's power over body, 179.
KEPLER, immense labor of, 38.
KIPLING, and wise teacher, 362, 363; "Brushwood Boy;" "Phan-
tom 'Rickshaw," 23.
KITTO, on memory-visions, 225.
"KNIGHTED," verses by author, 316.
KOSSUTH, example of eloquence, 315; his rule for reading, 20.
LANGUAGE, developing, 307.
LAVOISIER, on thinking in words, 305.
LAW, and freedom, 12; of gravitation, and Newton, 86; of habit-
cure, 262; a, of memory, 232; of right will, 67; of sense-use,
121; and will, 12.
LAWS, of association, 107; of interest, 345-347.
LEDYARD, his invincible will, 66.
LEGEND, of Brother Wolf, 277.
LETTER, kind to send, 91.
LIFE, lower and the will, 3; adult and habit, 80; and individual,
32; realizing from within, 95; rules for conduct of, 86-92;
sense, importance of, 94.
LINCOLN, before an audience, 314.
LINES, from Byron, 67; Browning, 121; Jonson, 211; Longfellow,
79; of least resistance, 60.
LINKS, connecting, in speaking, 309.
LIQUOR habit, cure of, 275-281.
LOGIC, knowledge of not necessary to thinking, 215
LONGFELLOW, "Morituri Salutamus," 79.
LOWELL, "A Moosehead Journal," 241; on seeing, 241; on self-
knowledge, 242.
LUTHER, to Erasmus, 64.
LYTTON, verses by, 27.
MACAULAT, developing interest, 22; improving memory, 23.
McCLELLAN, on all are educators, 329.
376 Index.
"MAN With The Hoe," Markham, 360.
MAN, an antagonism, 360; bondage and the, 11; capricious is
many, 80; center of universe, 157; conversion of into will, 13;
eye exists for, 111; is the will, 13, 14.
MANUAL skill, Huxley's, 167; and feeling, 172.
MANCHESTER Philosophical Memoirs, 123.
MARCEL, on the secret of education, 213.
MARDEN, training under pressure, 70.
MARK Twain, on curing habits, 263.
MASTERY, self, influence of, 319.
MARVEL, Ike, on will, 29.
MATERIAL, getting for speech, 311.
MATTHEWS, on the nose, 141; on overplanning, 81.
MAUDSLEY, on control of muscles, 179.
MAXIM, of Henry VIII, 104; in best child training, 332.
MEDICINE, a food, 73.
MEMORY, and architecture, 225; and attention, 226; and the blind,
23; characteristics of, 234, 235; examples of, 23; for details,
235; forgetting with, 225; Goethe's visual, 24; images, 226;
a law of, 232; and motives, 203; regimes in, 226-234; sugges-
tions for, 106; talismanic words for, 235; visions. 225; visual,
23; and will, 22.
MENTAL, actions, influence on person, 75; healing, is by "sugges-
tion," 71; health, 222; medicine, 185; none originated by
will, 61, 62; powers, involved in will-training, 62; regimes,
suggestions for, 106; regimes, for child, 351-353; science, 73;
speaking, 308; states and willing, 75, 76; visions, Goethe's,
24; same, illustration for, 123.
METAPHYSICAL healing, two phases of, 71.
METHOD, of personal influence, Bacon on, 317; of work, Byron's,
237; Haydn's, 189; Trollope's, 22; Schopenhauer's, 238.
MILITARY commander, Creasy, on 67.
MILL, on independence, 94.
MILLER, anecdote of restored vigor, 278.
MyiD, a battery, 6; embraces what, 65; illy-developed and will,
45; influence over body, 5, 71, 130, 179, 181, 184, 278; con-
tra, 184; of moods over, 75; and intensity of will, 17, 18; in
look, 119; and matter, 71 ; rules for moods of, 92-94; strong,
213; subconscious, 17; subjective, 238; unconscious, 17; un-
derground, 78; wandering, 287-289; will, lord of, 16, 19-26.
"Muo> Power and Privileges," Olston, 238.
Index.
377
MIRABEAU, his insight, 320; and "impossible," 87; retort to as-
sailants, 322.
MITCHELL, the blind mute, 141.
MODES, of conceiving acts, 239.
MOHAMMET'S visions, 21.
MOLTKE, his motto, 82.
MOOD, of continuity, 79; rules for same, 93; definition of, 69; of
decision, 79; rules for same, 92; of energy, 77, 78; rules for
same, 92; of expectancy, cultivating, 109; of feeling or inter-
est, 76, 77; rules for, 92; of permission, 78, 79; of reason, 81;
rules for same, 93; of righteousness, 82; rules for, 93; of un-
derstanding, 80; rules for, 93.
MOODS, and acts of willing, 75, 76; author on, 70; division of,
74-76; forced by will, 22; influence on body, 74; same, on
mind, 75; of mind, rules referring to, 92-94; right, and will,
82 ; a study of, 69 ; summary of, 70, 71 ; Titchener on, 69 ; and
will, 22, 75 ; of will, 76-83 ; volitional, 76.
MOORE, on Byron, 237.
MORAL, action, defined, 264; life and will, 63, 64; courage, 314;
self, will high priest of, 16, 26, 27.
MOTIVE, a, what is, 9; restraining, 203; to live, power of, 184.
MOTIVES, and attention, 203; and clear perceptions, 118; con-
flicting, 203 ; occasions, not causes, of volitions, 10 ; considera-
tion of, and regimes, 118; and sufficient reason, 9; near and
remote, 90; and personal influence, 319; problem of, 248-250;
and strength of attention, 203 ; weighing, 90.
MOTLEY, on Philip II, 27; on William of Orange, 41.
MOTSE, Dr., the blind, 141.
MULFORD, on habit, 283; on value of rest, 183.
MUSCULAR strength, and anger, 102.
Music bath, 189.
NAPOLEON, valuation of nose, 142.
NATURE'S healing, Foster on, 157.
NATURE, of child, 329, 330; indicated by hands, 167; complex of
touch, 149; second, habit is in adult life, 80; of things, and
child, 335; of will, 29.
NERVES, importance of steady, 175; olfactory and will, 144;
regimes for, 159-165 ; result of fear on, 176.
NERVOUS, processes affect entire system, 112; system and educa-
tion, 57 ; stimulation, inner origin of, 1 12 ; stimuli, two kinds
of, 113; system, a tyrant, 164; troubles and will, 164, 165.
378 Index.
"NESCIA virtus stare loco," 69.
NESTOR, on getting ready, 312.
NEWTON, how discovered law of gravity, 86
NICKNAMES, of Cromwell, 322 ; Grant, 33.
NORMAL personality, 65.
NOSE, Matthew on, 141.
OBSERVATION, and will-growth, 103.
OBSTINACY, cure of, 53.
ODORS, Calkins on, 142.
OFF-HAND decisions, 49.
OLFACTORY nerves, and will, 144.
OLSTON, on subjective mind, 238, "Mind Power and Privi-
leges."
OPINION, want of, regimes for, 296, 297.
OPINION ATIVENESS, regimes for, 299-301 ; lines on, by author, 298.
OPPORTUNITY and will, 41.
"OXIDIZED" mind, 255.
PALMER, on popular lack of imagination, 310; on talking, 306; on
words first used, 307.
PARALYSIS of will, 45.
PARKMAN, his memory, 23
PASSIONS, defined, 69.
PATIENCE, Davy on, 38; and will, 38.
PERCEPTION, acquired, 104; clear, and motives, 118; suggestions
for, 106; and will-culture, 102.
PERFECT will, and moods, 82.
PERMISSION, mood of, 78, 79.
PERSEVERANCE, want of, 51 ; of C. W. Field, 40; and will, 7, 16, 30.
PERSONAL atmosphere, and child's education, 356 ; magnetism ,
not hypnotism, 323; secret of, 323; (see influence).
PERSONALITY, normal, 65.
PERVERSITY, cure of, 54.
PHILIP II, obstinacy of, 53; his care for petty details, 27; and
William of Orange, 322.
PHYSICIAN, the, and psychic power, 191.
PHYSICAL, conditions, of smell, little known, 144; and will, 184;
regimes for child, 348-351; regimes, principles of, 100-109;
vigor, remarkable, 181, 278; and will, 184.
PHRASE, "Freedom of Will," tautology, 10.
Index. 379
PITT, keynote of his training, 33.
PIZARRO, inspiring his followers, 318.
PLOW, word using is mental, 308.
POLITENESS, the veneer of Golden Rule, 300.
POPULAR, thinking, 214; lack of imagination, 310.
PORTER, Noah, on sense of touch, 149.
POWER, the, of faith, 280; in all men, 41; of motive to live, 184;
of will, analyzed, 6, 7.
PRACTICE, actual, in public speaking, 309; in grip-power, and
will, 101 ; suggestions for, 99.
PREPARATION, Moltke's motto on, 82; Nestor on, 312; Phillips
on, 312; for public speaking, 311, 312.
PRESCOTT, his memory, 23.
PRINCIPLES, of child's will-culture, 361, 362; of personal influence,
317-324; of the regimes, 100-109; basic, of will-culture, 83.
PROBLEM, of motives decided, 248-250; of child's will-culture,
333.
PROCESS, first, in child's will-culture, 333-347; fifth, in same,
358-363; fourth, in same, 356-358; fundamental, in same,
332-364; second, in same, 347-353 ; third, in same, 353-356.
PROCESSES, central, effect whole system, 112; two, in growth of
will, 61.
PROFANITY, regimes for, 265.
PROGRESS, and the hand, 168.
"PSYCHOLOGY, An Introduction to," Calkins, 133; "Elements
of," Hill, 209; "Outlines of," Royce, 99; "An Outline of,"
Titchener, 69.
PUBLIC speaking, connecting links in, 309; conviction in, 315;
difficulties in, 305; actual practice in, 309; preparation for,
311 ; regimes for, 306-315.
PURPOSES, conflicting, 47.
PURPOSIVE mind, what it says, 31.
PUTTING things off, 261.
RAPID attention, Upham on, 305.
READ, how to, 206.
READING, and attention, 20; Bacon on, 206; breaking up wholes
in, 209; Kossuth's rule for, 20; real, 210; regimes in, 206-211;
and thinking, 213.
REAL vision, 102, 103.
REALIZING life from within, 95.
380 Index.
REASON, and child's will-culture, 333; mood of, 81; rules for
mood of, 93 ; motives decide the sufficient reason, 9 ; sufficient,
8, 9, 50.
REGIMES, for child's will, 348-3.55; principles of, 100-109; for
anger, 269-273 ; in attention, 199-203 ; for diseases of imagina-
tion, 254-257; for exaggeration, 266-269; evil imagination,
273-275; for garrulousness, 289-291; for hesitation of
speech, 284-287; in imagination, 239-251; for indecision,
294-296; for irritability, 269-273; for liquor habit, 275-281;
in memory, 226-234; for mind wandering, 287-289; for opin-
ionativeness, 299-301; for profanity, 264, 265; purpose of,
and motive, 118; for slang, 283, 284; for tobacco habit,
275-281; for the eye, 115-121; for the ear, 125-131; for the
hand, 169-173; for health, 187-191; for the nerves, 159-165;
Physical, 97; for public speaking, 306-315; in reading, 206-
211; for smell, 145-147; for steadiness, 176-181 ; suggestion
for all, 106; for taste, 135-139; in thinking, 216-223; for
thoughtlessness, 292-294; for touch, 151-155; for want of
opinion, 296, 297.
REID, on acquired perceptions, 104.
RELATION, of physical exercises to will, 103-105.
RELIGIOUS cure, of tobacco habit, 280.
RESOLUTION, for work of this book, 98; for child's right contact
with others, 356-363.
REST, rule for regimes, 106; value of, 183, 186.
RESTORATION, remarkable cases of, 5, 181, 278.
RIBOT, on individual tone, 146 ; on strong will, 39 ; on the will, 8.
RIGHT conceptions, importance of, 238; habits, acquiring, 57;
moods, and will, 64, 82;
RIGHTEOUSNESS, definition of, 66 ; mood of, 82 ; rules for mood, 93 ;
and will, 35, 64, 66.
ROYCE, on attention and choosing, 9 ; on senses in mental life,
99; on sense points in skin, 149; on will, 4.
RULE, Golden, politeness the veneer of, 300.
RULES, of action, neglect, 1 1 ; in child's education, 361 ; for conduct
of life, 86-92; some, for health, 185-191; of logic and think-
ing, 215; referring to moods of mind, 92-94; for mood of
continuity, 93; for mood of decision, 92; for mood of energy,
92 ; for mood of feeling, 92 ; for mood of reason, 93 ; of rest in
regimes, 106 ; for mood of righteousness, 93 ; for mood of un-
derstanding, 93 ; and subconscious mind, 95.
Index. 381
SAINT Francis, legend of, 277.
SALISBURY, on healing attitude, 43.
SANDOW, strength increased by anger, 102.
SAUNDERSON, blind, his powers, 123.
SCENT, Holmes on faculty of, 142.
SCHOFIELD, on mental medicine, 185.
SCHOPENHAUER, his method of work, 238.
SCIENCE, Christian, 72, 254; mental, 73 ; and superstition, 223.
SCIENTIFIC experiment, Faraday in, 81.
SCRIPTURE, on attention, 197, 198; steadiness, 175; on will in-
creased by physical exercise, 101; on watching, 102; on
steadiness through practice, 176.
SEAT, of will, 15.
SECOND, general division of moods, 75; nature in adult life, 80;
principle of regimes, 100; process in child's will-culture,
347-353 ; set of general rules, 92-94.
SECRET, of concentration, 21 ; of education, 213; of personal mag-
netism, 322, 323; of masterful eyes, 121; of great thinking,
218; of victory, 312; of will, 226.
SEEING, divine faculty of, 241.
SELF, control, suggestions for, 109; conquest of, 90; examina-
tion and habit, 301 ; mastered will, 29; mastery and influence,
319; perception, suggestions for, 108; moral, will high priest
of, 26;
'SELF' and Worlds," verses by author. 148.
SELFISHNESS, and self-interest, 37, 340.
SELF knowledge, Lowell on, 242.
SENECA, on greatest men, 63..
"SENSE Joys," verses by author, 42.
SENSE, all in touch, 149; assists sense, 124; common, 215; life,
importance of, 99; of smell, 142; in soul, 130; soul in, 121;
touch the leading, 149; use, law of, 121.
SENSES, other and taste, 133-135; points of, in skin, 149; and will,
18, 19; work of in development, 99.
SENTENCES, for cure of child's habits, 355, 356; on success,
218, 219.
SEVENTH principle of regimes, 109.
SERVICE, and universe, 37.
SHAKESPEARE, "lack-brain," 88; lines, 165.
SILENCE, Carlyle on, 291.
SIXTH principle of regimes, 105.
382 Index.
SKILL, Huxley, on own, 167; and will, 20.
SKILLED craftsmanship, 172.
SLANG, Holmes on, 284; regimes for, 283, 284.
SMELL, classification of, 143, 144; complex nature of, 143; exer-
cises in, 145-147; Holmes on, 142; conditions of little known,
144; a mute's use of, 141; remarkable power of, 141, 146;
sense of, neglected, 142.
SMILES, on enthusiasm, 318.
SOCRATES, his "daimonion," 90; reference to, 361.
SOME aim and ultimate, 32-35.
SOUL, in eye, 120; in sense, 121, 130; a sound, 37.
"SPASM to collect whole man," 6.
SPEAKING, public, actual practice in, 309; connecting links in,
309; convictions in, 309; cultivating imagination for, 310;
difficulties in, 305, 306; getting materials for, 310; mental,
308; preparation for, 311 ; regimes for, 306-315;
"SPEECH," verses by author, 302.
SPEECH, excessively correct, 284; hesitation of, regimes for,
284-287; by Kossuth, 315.
SPIRITS, of fear, 256, 257.
STAGE fright, overcoming, 312-314.
STATES, of the man, and will, 16; mental and willing, 75, 76;
of person, influence of on mental activity, 75.
STATIC will, 5, 15, 30; perfect, 83.
STEADINESS, importance of, 175; regimes for, 176-181; Scripture
on, 175, 176.
STEAM, like will, 30.
STEPS in willing, 8, 9, 76.
STEWART'S account of Mitchell, the mute, 141.
STIMULATION, inner, of nervous processes, 112.
STIMULI, mental, and will, 113; nervous, two kinds, 113.
STORED will-power, 5, 16.
STRAIN, in attention, 113.
STRENGTH, of motives, James on, 203 ; physical, as ideal, an evil, 67.
STRONG mind, 213; and attention, 213; will, 39.
"SUBCONSCIOUS, The," Jastrow, 85.
SUBCONSCIOUS, action, 196, 205; attitude, for health, 190; in-
cubation, 85; mind, 17.
SUBJECTIVE, mind, Olston on, 238; rules and, 95.
SUCCESS, and expectancy, 109; first essential of, 36; habit facili-
tates, 80; sentences on, 218, 219.
Index. 383
SUFFICIENT Reason, 8, 50; motives constitute, 9.
SUGGESTIONS, for control of others, 324-327; and healing, 71; for
imagination, 107; influence of, for health, 185; for memory,
106; for practice, 99; for perception, 106; for all regimes,
106; for self-control, 109; for self-perception, 108; and will
culture, 103
SULLY, on attention, 197, 198; on the blind picturing objects, 112;
on common sense, 253 ; on foreseeing action and resolution,
233; on a law of memory, 232.
SUMMARY, of moods, 70.
SUNDAY rest, value of, 186.
SYMMETRY of will, 358; child's, 358-363.
SYSTEM, nervous, and education, 57 ; value of, in drill, 105.
SYSTEMATIC exercises, for will, 60.
TALISMANIC sentences, for growing consciousness, 131 ; for hear-
ing, 131 ; for memory, 235; for winning out, 281.
TALKING, Palmer on, 306.
"TASTE," verses by author, 132.
TASTE, Calkins on, 133-135; exercises in, 135-139; number of,
134; and touch, 135; text book on, 133.
TEACHING, unintelligent, 335.
TEMPERAMENT, drill a substitute for, 104.
"TEN Golden Laws," referred to, 173.
TENNYSON, lines from, 2.
TENSION or strain in concentration, 113.
TERRA incognita, in man, 242.
"THE Bible and The New Thought," referred to, 190.
"THE Culture of Courage," 272, 314; quoted, on faith, 280; OB
mental health, 222.
THE Ego, Dictionaire Philosophique on, 195.
"THE Fragrance," verses by author, 140.
"THE Great Psychic Flower," verses by author, 84.
"THE Hand," verses by author, 166.
"THE King," verses by author, 96.
"THE Man Who Failed," illustration, 275.
"THE Man Who Makes Excuses," illustration, 276.
"THE Man Who Tried Again," illustration, 276.
"THE Man Who Won," illustration, 275.
"THE Personal Atmosphere," referred to, 317.
"THE Riddle," verses by author, 110.
384 Index.
"THE Soul and The Ear," verses by author, 122.
"THE Will and The Child,", verses by author, 328.
"THE Will is The Man," verses by author, 14.
THEORY, Author's of Will, 8.
THING-FACTS, 222.
THINKING, clear, examples of, 218, 219; and concentration,
218-220; four elements of, 215; knowledge of logic not neces-
sary to, 215; not popular, 213, 214; and reading, 213; regimes
in, 21&-223; secret of great, 218; and will, 21, 216; in words,
305.
THIRD principle of regimes, 102 ; process in child's will-culture,
353-356.
"THOUGHT," verses by author, 212.
THOUGHT, acquiring, 306; influence of, on functions, 100; prepa-
ration of, for public speaking, 311 ; topics of, for exercise, 220;
volitional control of, 226.
THOUGHTLESSNESS, regimes for, 292-294.
"THY Self," verses by author, 192
"'Tis Wise Surrender Crowns the King," 282
TITCHENER, on moods, 69.
TOBACCO habit, cure, 275-281 ; and religion, 280.
TONIC, of the resolute will, 31.
TOPSEYS, among children, 361.
TOUCH, and attention, 151; complex nature of, 149; confounded
with taste, 135; curious facts about, 150; Demosthenes on,
149; the leading sense (Porter), 149; regimes in, 151-155;
Royce on, 149; and tongue, 135; and will, 151.
TRAINING of child's will, 332-347; of will, 25; Emerson on, 85;
mental powers involved in, 62; and mind, 62; and moral
character, 63; neglected, 58; of Pitt, 33; under pressure, 70;
results of, direct and indirect, 59.
TROLLOPE, method of work, 22.
TROUBLES, nervous, and will, 164.
TRUTH, and facts, 222.
TWITCHING, cure of, 179; and clothing, 150.
TYSON, the bushman, 26.
UNCONSCIOUS, actions, and will, 4; mind, 17, 85, 95, 190, 196, 205,
238.
UNDERGROUND mind, 78.
UNDERSTANDING, mood of, 80; rules for mood of, 93.
Index. 385
UNIVERSE, proceeds through self, 95; each soul center of, 157;
and service, 37.
UPHAM, on the blind and smell, 141; on rapid attention, 305; on
willing to imagine, 237,
"USELESS Grant," nickname, 33.
USE of senses, law of, 121.
VALUE, of direct gaze, 119; of hand, 168; of rest, 183, 186; of soul
in sense, 130; of systematic drill, 105.
VARIETY of interests, Mulford on, 183.
VENEER, politeness the, of Golden Rule, 300.
VERSES, by author, see table of contents; by Browning, 121, 123;
Byron, 67; Jonson, Ben, 211; Longfellow, 79; by Lytton,
27; Shakespeare, 165; Tennyson, 2.
VICTORY, secret of, 312.
VIGILANCE, quotation on, 91.
VIGOR, remarkable case of, 180, 278.
VINCI, Leonardo da, -and invention, 47.
VISION, differences in, 117; illustration for mental, 123; expecta-
tion and, 130; mental, 24; real, 102, 103; remarkable case of,
114, 121; and will, 113.
VISUAL, deception, 222 ; memory, 23, 24, 225.
VOLITION, definition of, 4, 5; not a motive, 9.
VOLITIONAL, control of thought, 226 ; effort, expectancy on, 109,
130 ; impulse, want of, 48 ; moods, 76-82 ; 92-94.
VOLITIONS, and freedom, 12 ; volcanic, 52 ; weak, resolute, strong,
46 ; weakness of, cure, 50.
VOLUNTAKY attention, comes in beats, 106.
WANDERING mind, regimes for, 287-289.
WANT of opinion, regimes, 296, 297; of perseverance, 61.
WAR, on child's will, 359.
WATERLOO, Wellington at, 323.
WATCHING, art of, 103.
WATCHWORD, of this book, 103.
WEAK habit of thought, 253.
WEAKNESS in child, treatment of, 360; of volition, 60.
WEEDS, in our nature, Bacon on, 261.
WILL, will to be, 184.
"WE Live by Sacrifice Alone," verses by author, 260.
WEIGHING motives, quotation, 90.
386 Index.
WBSSBLENYI, his courage, 314.
"W«AT Seest Thou?" Terse* by author, 104.
WHAT to look for, 130-
WHITE, on best and poor English, 284.
"WHO Hath Wisdom?" verses by author, 152.
"WHO Reads?" verses by author, 204.
WHOLENESS, commands body and mind, 181.
WILL, acts of, described, 16; analysis of, 6-10; and attention, 19;
author's theory of, 8; basic principles of culture, 83, and
body, 16; Blondin's, 5; and blood supply, 184; and bondage,
10, 11 ; cannot transcend itself, 12 ; capacity for volitional act,
6; causes of diseased, 44; (see child and child's) and charac-
ter, 66; classes of diseased, 44, 45; controlling attention,
213; controlling hearing, 124; and control of muscles, 179;
cultivation, price of, 83, 105; culture, and perception, 102,
culture, by exercise, 60; decisive, 16, 31; defined, 3, 4, 29,
347; deliberative, 16; description of diseased, 55; how devel-
oped, 60-67; diseased, 43, 297; dormant, 58; and drudgery,
37, 38; dynamic, 5, 15; Emerson on, 13, 85; essential achieve-
ment of, 197; examples of great, 13, 26, 47, 66; and experi-
ience, 25 ; explosive, 16, 30, 52, 53; and eye, 111 ; must be fed,
278; fickleness of, 51; forcing moods of, 22; forms of, 30;
freedom of, 7, 9, 11, 12; general functions of, 16; and general
tone, 46; grades of, 47, 48; graded by moods, 76; Grant's, 33;
and grip-power, 101 ; growth, first requisites of, 103; growth,
two-fold process in, 61; and habits, 61; habit and exercise,
103; hair-trigger, 250; headstrong, 54; healthy, 250; and
hearing, 131; high-priest, 16, 26, 27; highest type of, 13, 47;
and hypnotism, 323 ; illustrations of, 5, 13; and illy-developed
mind, 45; and imagination, 23 ; impelling, 16, 31 ; importance
of health to, 184; same, of education of, 58; indefatigable, 29;
inhibition of, 18; and insanity, 44; intensity of, 17, 18; iron,
67; and judgment, 247; kinds of, 15; and law, 12; Ledyard's,
66; like gun-cap battery, 258; like steam, 30; lord of mind,
16, 19-26; in lower life, 3; is the man, 13, 14; master of body,
16-19; and memory, 22; and mental improvement, 61; and
mental vision, 24 ; and mental stimuli, 1 13 ; and mood of in-
terest, 76, 77; and moods, 22, 75; moods of, 76-83; and right
moods, 82; and moral life, 63, 84; nature of, 29; neglected,
25, 26, 58; and nervous troubles, 164, 165; and olfactory
nenres, 144; and opportunity, 41; paradox of, 7; originate
Index. 387
no mental action, 61, 62; paralysis of, 45; and patience, 38;
perfect, and moods, 82; and persistence, 16; ia persistence, T;
persistent, 30; and physical conditions, 184; power of, an-
alyzed, 6-10; is real, 3; rests never, 363; restraining, the, 16,
31; relation of exercise to, 101-103; right, law of, 67; and
righteousness, 35, 64, 66; seat of, 15; secret of, 226; self-
caused, 12; and skill, 20; the self-mastered, 29; and sense*,
18, 19, 20; not a separate faculty, 4; and states of person, 16;
static, 5, 15, 30; and steadiness, 175; stored will-power, 5, 16;
strong, 39, 213; symmetry of, 358; systematic exercise of, 60;
and thinking, 21, 216; and touch, 151; tonic of, 31; training,
of, 19, 23, 25, 57-67; same, indirect results of, 59, 348;
under law, 12; and unconscious action, 4 ; varieties of good,
47; Coleridge's want of, 50; lack of vision, 113; what it does
not, 10; and worry, 271.
WILL-CULTURE, child's, concentration on, 351; first process in,
333-347; fifth process in, 358-363 ; fourth process in, 356-358;
fundamental processes in, 332-363; and reason, 333; regimes
for, 348-355 ; basal requirements of, 330 ; second process in,
347-353; third process in, 353-356.
WILLIAM of Orange, Motley on, 41; and Philip II, 322,
WILLIAM 111, Matthews on, 39.
WILSON, on powers of the eye, 111.
WIRT, on hesitation of mind, 69.
WITCHCRAFT, 223.
WORDS, first used, 307; mental plow of, 308; thinking in, 305.
WORK, dress and, 189; injurious haste in, 173; Byron's method of,
237; Haydn's, 189; Schopenhauer's, 238; Trollope's, 22.
WORKING up, illustrations, 310; oneself, 22.
WORRY, Jacoby on, 270, 271.
ZWAAKDEMAKEH, Oil KIIK'lls, 143.
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