,transcriber's note3 ,in the ,introduction1 ,i have changed yet is is a very literal truth to yet it is a very literal truth4 ,also in the ,introduction1 ,i changed the spelling of faculities to faculties 7other spelling remains unchanged74 ,finally1 while most of the proper names are capitalized1 not all of them are1 and ,i have left the uncapitalized names as they appeared in the original4 ,,the ,,mystic ,,will ,a ,method of ,developing and ,strengthening the ,faculties of the ,mind1 through the ,awakened ,will1 by a ,simple1 ,scientific ,process ,possible to ,any ,person of ,ordinary ,intelligence by ,,charles ,g4 ,,leland ,american ,edition ,published by ,the ,progress ,company #eae-eai ,rand ,mc,nally ,building ,chicago1 ,illinois ,english ,representatives3 ,l4 ,n4 ,fowler ,co4 #g1 ,imperial ,arcade1 ,ludgate ,circus1 ,london1 ,e4 ,c4 ,in ,memorium ,charles ,godfrey ,leland ,,american ,,author ,,who ,,died ,,march #bj1 #aijc ,,at ,,florence1 ,,italy ,,aged #gi ,the good that men do lives after them4 ,,publisher',s ,,notice4 ,this wonderful treatise was first published in ,england several years ago1 under the title of ,have ,you a ,strong ,will8 and has run through several editions there4 ,in its original form1 it was printed in quite large type1 double-leaded1 and upon paper which bulked out the book to quite a thick volume4 ,some copies have been sold in ,america1 but the price which dealers were compelled to charge for it1 in its original shape1 prevented the wide circulation that it merited1 and which its author undoubtedly desired for it1 for it seems to have been a labor of love with him1 the interest of the race in his wonderful theories evidently being placed above financial returns by ,mr4 ,leland4 ,believing that the author's ideas and wishes would be well carried out by the publication of an ,american edition printed in the usual size type 7without the expedient of double-leading unusually large type in order to make a large volume71 which allows of the book being sold at a price within the reach of all1 the publisher has issued this edition along the lines indicated4 ,the present edition is identical with the original ,english edition with the following exceptions3 7#a7 ,there has been omitted from this edition a long1 tiresome chapter contained in the original edition1 entitled ,on the ,power of the ,mind to master disordered ,feelings by sheer ,determination4 ,as ,set forth by ,immanuel ,kant in a letter to ,hufeland1 but which chapter had very little to say about the power of the mind1 but very much indeed about ,hygiene1 ,dietetics1 ,sleep1 ,care of ,oneself in ,old ,age1 ,hypochondria1 ,work1 ,exercise1 ,eating and ,drinking1 ,illness1 etc41 etc41 from the point of view of the aged ,german metaphysician1 which while interesting enough in itself1 and to some people1 was manifestly out of place in a book treating upon the development of ,mental ,faculties by the ,will1 etc4 ,we think that ,mr4 ,leland's admirers will find no fault with this omission4 7#b7 ,the word ,suggestion has been substituted for the word ,hypnotism in several places in the original text1 where the former word was manifestly proper according to the present views of psychologists1 which views were not so clearly defined when the book was written4 7#c7 ,the chapter headings of the original book have been shortened and simplified in accordance with the ,american form4 7#d7 ,the title ,the ,mystic ,will has been substituted in place of that used in the original edition1 which was ,have ,you a ,strong ,will8 ,this change was made for the reason that the original title did not give one the correct idea of the nature of the book1 but rather conveyed the idea of an inquiry regarding the iron-will1 etc41 which the author evidently did not intend4 ,the use of the ,will1 as taught in the book by ,mr4 ,leland1 is not along the lines of the iron-will1 but is rather in the nature of the employment of a mystic1 mysterious1 and almost weird power of the ,human ,will1 and the title of the present edition is thought to more correctly represent the nature of the book1 and the author's own idea1 than the inquiry embodied in the title of the original edition4 7#e7 ,several unimportant footnotes1 references to other books1 etc41 have been omitted after careful consideration4 7,those who would wish to read the book in its original ,english edition will be able to procure it from the ,english publisher1 ,mr4 ,philip ,wellby1 #f ,henrietta street1 ,covent ,garden1 ,london1 ,w4 ,c1 ,england47 ,to the few readers of this book who are not familiar with the author1 ,mr4 ,charles ,g4 ,leland1 it may be said that this gifted man was an ,american by birth1 but who lived in ,europe for many years before his death4 ,he died ,march #bj1 #aijc1 at ,florence1 ,italy1 at the ripe age of #gi years1 active until the last and leaving unpublished manuscripts1 some not completed4 ,he lived up to his ideas and profited by them4 ,his writings are spread over a period of nearly1 or fully1 fifty years1 and his range of subjects was remarkable in its variety1 style1 and treatment4 ,among his best known works were ,practical ,education1 ,flaxius1 ,the ,breitmann ,ballads 7which introduced his well-known character ,hans ,breitmann71 ,gypsy ,sorcery and ,fortune ,telling1 ,wood ,carving1 ,leather ,work1 ,metal ,work1 ,drawing and ,designing1 ,the ,minor ,arts1 ,twelve ,manuals in ,art ,work1 ,the ,album of ,repouss ,work1 ,industrial ,art in ,education1 ,hints on ,self ,education1 and many other works along the lines of ,manual ,training1 etc41 and the ,development of the ,constructive ,faculties2 ,kulsop the ,master1 and other ,algonquin ,poems and ,legends1 ,the ,alternate ,sex1 and many other works1 some of which are now out of print1 but a number of which may be purchased from1 or through1 any bookseller4 ,there has been recently published a biographical work embodying his memoirs1 written and edited by his beloved niece1 ,mrs4 ,pennell1 to which volume all admirers of this wonderful man are referred4 ,every subject touched upon by ,mr4 ,leland was brightly illuminated by the power of his marvellous mind4 ,he seemed to be able to go right to the heart of the subject1 seizing upon its essential truth and at the same time grasping all of its details4 ,his mind was so full of general information that it fairly oozed out from him in all of his writings4 ,the reader will notice this phenomenon in the present book1 in which the author has evidently had to fight his own mind in order to prevent it from intruding all sorts of valuable and varied general information in among the particular subjects upon which he is treating4 ,while not a professional psychologist1 ,mr4 ,leland has given utterance to some of the most valuable and practical psychological truths of the last fifty years1 his contributions to this branch of human thought is sure to be recognized and appreciated in the near future4 ,it is hoped that this little book will carry some of his valuable precepts and ideas to many who have never had the advantage and pleasure of his acquaintance up to this time4 ,it is believed by the publisher that this popular edition of ,mr4 ,leland's valuable work upon the ,use of the ,will1 issued at a nominal price1 will carry the author's teachings to the homes of many of those whom ,lincoln called the plain people of this ,american land1 who need it so much1 but who would not have been able to have purchased it in its original shape4 ,this work has been well known in ,england1 but here1 in ,america1 the birthplace of the author1 it has been comparatively unheard of4 ,it is to be hoped that this edition will remedy this grievous fault4 ,april #aa1 #aijg ,,the ,,publisher4 ,,contents ,introduction 4 4 4 #ac ,chapter ,i4--,attention and ,interest 4 4 4 #ai ,chapter ,,ii4--,self-,suggestion 4 4 4 #bh ,chapter ,,iii4--,will-,development 4 4 4 #cd ,chapter ,,iv4--,forethought 4 4 4 #dh ,chapter ,v4--,will and ,character 4 4 4 #eh ,chapter ,,vi4--,suggestion and ,instinct 4 4 4 #ff ,chapter ,,vii4--,memory ,culture 4 4 4 #gd ,chapter ,,viii4--,the ,constructive ,faculties 4 4 4 #ha ,chapter ,,ix4--,fascination 4 4 4 #he ,chapter ,x4--,the ,subliminal ,self 4 4 4 #ajj ,chapter ,,xi4--,paracelsus 4 4 4 #aji ,chapter ,,xii4--,last ,words 4 4 4 #aaf ,,the ,,author',s ,,preface4 ,during the past few years the most serious part of the author's study and reflection has been devoted to the subjects discussed in this book4 ,these1 briefly stated1 are as follows3 ,firstly1 that all mental or cerebral faculties can by direct scientific treatment be influenced to what would have once been regarded as miraculous action1 and which is even yet very little known or considered4 ,secondly1 in development of this theory1 and as confirmed by much practical and personal experience1 that the ,will can by very easy processes of training1 or by aid of ,auto-,suggestion1 be strengthened to any extent1 and states of mind soon induced1 which can be made by practice habitual4 ,thus1 as a man can by means of opium produce sleep1 so can he by a very simple experiment a few times repeated--an experiment which ,i clearly describe and which has been tested and verified beyond all denial--cause himself to remain during the following day in a perfectly calm or cheerful state of mind2 and this condition may1 by means of repetition and practice1 be raised or varied to other states or conditions of a far more active or intelligent description4 ,thus1 for illustration1 ,i may say that within my own experience1 ,i have by this process succeeded since my seventieth year in working all day far more assiduously1 and without any sense of weariness or distaste for labour1 than ,i ever did at any previous period of my life4 ,and the reader need only try the extremely easy experiment1 as ,i have described it1 to satisfy himself that he can do the same1 that he can continue it with growing strength ad infinitum1 and that this power will unquestionably at some future time be employed with marvellous results in ,education4 ,for1 beyond all question--since any human being can easily prove or disprove it by a few experiments-- there is no method known by which inattention1 heedlessness1 or negligence in the young can be so promptly and thoroughly cured as by this2 while on the other hand1 ,attention and ,interest by assiduity1 are even more easily awakened4 ,it has indeed seemed to me1 since ,i have devoted myself to the study of ,education from this point of view1 as if it had been like the ,iron ,castle in the ,slavonian legend1 unto which men had for centuries wended their way by a long and wearisome road of many miles1 while there was all the time1 unseen and unknown1 a very short and easy subterranean passage1 by means of which the dwellers in the ,schloss might have found their way to the town below1 and to the world1 in a few minutes4 ,to this ,i have added a succinct account of what is1 ,i believe1 the easiest and most comprehensive ,art of ,memory ever conceived4 ,there are on this subject more than five hundred works1 all based1 without exception1 on the ,associative system1 which may be described as a stream which runs with great rapidity for a very short time but is soon choked up4 ,this1 ,i believe1 as a means applied to learning1 was first published in my work1 entitled ,practical ,education4 ,in it the pupil is taught the direct method2 that is1 instead of remembering one thing by means of another1 to impress the image itself on the memory1 and frequently revive it4 ,this process soon becomes habitual and very easy4 ,in from one year to eighteen months a pupil can by means of it accurately recall a lecture or sermon4 ,it has the immediate advantage1 over all the associate systems1 of increasing and enlarging the scope and vigour of the memory1 or indeed of the mind1 so that it may truly bear as a motto1 ,vires acquirit eundo--it gains in power as it runs long4 ,finally1 ,i set forth a system of developing the ,constructive ,faculty-- that which involves ,ingenuity1 ,art1 or manual making--as based on the teaching of the so-called ,minor ,arts to the young4 ,the principle from which ,i proceed is that as the fruit is developed from the flower1 all ,technical ,education should be anticipated4 ,or begun in children by practicing easy and congenial arts1 such as light embroidery1 wood-carving or repouss1 by means of which they become familiar with the elements of more serious and substantial work4 ,having found out by practical experience1 in teaching upwards of two thousand children for several years1 that the practice of such easy work1 or the development of the constructive faculty1 invariably awakened the intellectual power or intelligence1 ,i began to study the subject of the development of the mind in general4 ,my first discovery after this was that ,memory1 whether mental1 visual1 or of any other kind1 could1 in connection with ,art1 be wonderfully improved1 and to this in time came the consideration that the human ,will1 with all its mighty power and deep secrets1 could be disciplined and directed1 or controlled with as great care as the memory or the mechanical faculty4 ,in a certain sense the three are one1 and the reader who will take the pains1 which are1 ,i trust1 not very great1 to master the details of this book1 will readily grasp it as a whole1 and understand that its contents form a system of education1 yet one from which the old as well as young may profit4 ,it is worth noting that1 were it for nervous invalids alone1 or those who from various causes find it difficult to sleep1 or apply the mind to work1 this book would be of unquestionable value4 ,in fact1 even while writing this chapter1 a lady has called to thank me for the substantial benefit which she derived from my advice in this respect4 ,and1 mindful of the fact that ,attention and ,unwearied ,perseverance are most necessary to succeed in such processes as are here described1 ,i have taken pains to show or explain how they may be rendered more attractive1 tolerable1 and habitual to the fickle or light-minded2 this1 too1 being a subject which has been very little considered from a practical point of view4 ,but1 above all things1 ,i beg the reader1 laying aside all prejudice or preconceived opinion1 and neither believing nor disbelieving what he reads1 to simply try it--that is to test it in his own person to what degree he can influence his will1 or bring about subsequent states of mind1 by the very easy processes laid down4 ,if ,i could hope that all opinion of my book would be uttered only by those who had thus put it to the test1 ,i should be well assured as to its future4 ,and also ,i beg all readers1 and especially reviewers1 to note that ,i advise that the auto-suggestive process1 by aid of sleep1 shall be discontinued as soon as the experimenter begins to feel an increase in the power of the will2 the whole object of the system being to acquire a perfectly free clear ,will as soon as possible4 ,great injustice was done1 as regards the first edition of this work1 by a very careless though eminent critic1 who blamed the author for not having done what the latter had carefully recommended in his book4 ,there are four stages of advance towards the truth3 firstly1 ,disbelief2 secondly1 ,doubt1 which is1 in fact1 only a fond advance towards ,disbelief2 thirdly1 ,agnosticism1 which is ,doubt mingled with ,inquiry2 and1 finally1 pure and simple ,inquiry or ,search1 without any preconceived opinion or feeling whatever4 ,it is1 ,i trust1 only in the spirit of the latter1 that ,i have written2 therefore ,i say to the reader1 ,neither1 believe nor disbelieve in anything which ,i have said1 but1 as it is an easy thing to try1 experiment for yourself1 and judge by the result4 ,in fact1 as a satisfactory and conclusive experiment will not require more time1 and certainly not half the pains which most people would expend on reading a book1 ,i shall be perfectly satisfied if any or all my critics will do so1 and judge the system by the result4 ,,introduction4 ,unto many ,fortune comes while sleeping4--,latin ,proverb4 ,few know what is really going on in the world4-- ,american ,proverb4 ,it is but a few years since it suddenly struck the gay world of comic dramatists and other literary wits1 that the ,nineteenth ,century was drawing to an end1 and regarding it as an event they began to make merry over it1 at first in ,paris1 and then in ,london and ,new ,york1 as the fin-de-sicle4 ,unto them it was the going-out of old fashions in small things1 such as changes in dress1 the growth of wealth1 or the mighty bicycle1 with a very prevalent idea that things are getting mixed or checquered1 or the old conditions of life becoming strangely confused4 ,and then men of more thought or intelligence1 looking more deeply into it1 began to consider that the phrase did in very truth express far more serious facts4 ,as in an old ,norman tale1 he who had entered as a jester or minstrel in comic garb1 laid aside his disguise1 and appeared as a wise counsellor or brave champion who had come to free the imprisoned emperor4 ,for it began to be seen that this fin-de-sicle was developing with startling rapidity changes of stupendous magnitude1 which would ere long be seen careering with thunder speed along1 and that all the revolutions and reforms recorded in history were only feeble or partial1 scattered or small1 compared to the world-wide unification of human interests1 led by new lights1 which has begun to manifest itself in every civilized country4 ,that well nigh every person or real culture1 or education guided by pure science1 has within a very few years advanced to a condition of liberal faith which would have been in my university days generally reprobated as infidelity1 is not to be denied1 and the fact means1 beyond all question1 that according to its present rate of advance1 in a very few years more1 this reform will end in the annulling of innumerable traditions1 forms of faith and methods4 ,upharsin is writ on the wall4 ,more than this1 is it not clear that ,art and ,romance1 ,poetry and ,literature1 as hitherto understood or felt1 are either to utterly vanish before the stupendous advances of science1 or what is perhaps more probable1 will1 coalescing with it1 take new forms1 based on a general familiarity with all the old schools or types8 ,a few years ago it seemed1 as regarded all sthetic creation1 that man had exhausted the old models1 and knew not where to look for new4 ,now the aim of ,art is to interest or please1 by gratifying the sense or taste for the beautiful or human genius in making2 also to instruct and refine2 and it is evident that ,science is going to fulfill all these conditions on such a grand scale in so many new ways1 that1 when man shall be once engaged in them1 all that once gratified him in the past will seem as childish things1 to be put away before pursuits more worthy of manly dignity4 ,if ,art in all forms has of late been quiet1 it has been because it has drawn back like the tiger in order to make the greater bound4 ,one of the causes why some are laying aside all old spiritualism1 romance and sentiment1 is that their realisation takes up too much time1 and ,science1 which is the soul of business1 seeks in all things brevity and directness4 ,it is probable that the phrase1 but to the point1 has been oftener repeated during the past few years1 than it ever was before1 since ,time begun1 of which directness ,i shall have more to say anon4 ,and this is the end to which these remarks on the fin-de-sicle were written1 to lay stress upon the fact that with the year ,nineteen ,hundred we shall begin a century during which civilized mankind will attain its majority and become manly1 doing that which is right as a man should1 because it is right and for no other reason1 and shunning wrong for as good cause4 ,for while man is a child he behaves well1 or misbehaves1 for reasons such as the fear of punishment or hope of reward1 but in a manly code no reasons are necessary but only a persuasion or conviction that anything is right or wrong1 and a principle which is as the earth unto a seed4 ,for as the world is going on1 or getting to be1 it is very evident that as it is popularly said1 he who will tell a lie will generally not hesitate to commit perjury1 so he who cannot be really honest1 per se1 without being sustained by principle based only on tradition and the opinion of others1 is a poor creature1 whose morality or honesty is in fact merely theatrical1 or acted1 to satisfy certain conditions or exigencies from which he were better freed4 ,this spirit of scientific directness1 and economy of thought and trouble by making the principle of integrity the basis of all forms1 and cutting all ethical theories down to be good because you ought1 is rapidly astonishing us with another marvellous fact which it illustrates1 namely1 that as in this axiom--as in man himself-- there are latent undiscovered powers1 so in a thousand other sayings1 or things known to us all1 used by us all1 and regarded as common-place1 there are astounding novelties and capacities as yet undreamed of4 ,for1 as very few moralists ever understood in full what is meant by the very much worn or hackneyed saying1 we ought to do what is right1 so the world at large little suspects that such very desirable qualities as ,attention1 ,interest1 ,memory and ,ingenuity1 have that within them which renders them far more attainable by man than has ever been supposed4 ,even the great problem of ,happiness itself1 as really being only one of a relative state of mind1 may be solved or reached by some far simpler or more direct method than any thinker has ever suggested4 ,it all depends on exertion of the ,will4 ,there are in this world a certain number of advanced thinkers who1 if they knew how to develope the ,will which exists in them1 could bring this reform to pass in an incredibly short time4 ,that is to say1 they could place the doctrine or religion of ,honesty for its own sake so boldly and convincingly before the world that its future would be assured4 ,now the man who can develope his will1 has it in his power not only to control his moral nature to any extent1 but also to call into action or realize very extraordinary states of mind1 that is1 faculties1 talents or abilities which he has never suspected to be within his reach4 ,it is a stupendous thought2 yes1 one so great that from the beginning of time to the present day no sage or poet has ever grasped it in its full extent1 and yet is is a very literal truth1 that there lie hidden within us all1 as in a sealed-up spiritual casket1 or like the bottled-up djinn in the ,arab tale1 innumerable ,powers or ,intelligences1 some capable of bestowing peace or calm1 others of giving ,happiness1 or inspiring creative genius1 energy and perseverance4 ,all that ,man has ever attributed to an ,invisible ,world without1 lies1 in fact1 within him1 and the magic key which will confer the faculty of sight and the power to conquer is the ,will4 ,it has always been granted that it is a marvellously good thing to have a strong will1 or a determined or resolute mind1 and great has been the writing thereon4 ,i have by me the last book on the subject1 in which the faculty is enthusiastically praised1 and the reader is told through all the inflexions of sentiment1 that he ought to assert his ,will1 to be vigorous in mind1 etcetera1 but unfortunately the ,how to do it is utterly wanting4 ,it will be generally admitted by all readers that this ,how to do it has been always sought in grandly heroic or sublimely vigorous methods of victory over self4 ,the very idea of being resolute1 brave1 persevering or stubborn1 awakens in us all thoughts of conflict or dramatic self-conquering4 ,but it may be far more effectively attained in a much easier way1 even as the ant climbed to the top of the tree and gnawed away and brought down the golden fruit unto which the man could not rise4 ,there are easy methods1 and by far the most effective1 of awakening the ,will2 methods within the reach of every one1 and which if practised1 will lead on ad infinitum1 to marvellous results4 ,the following chapters will be devoted to setting forth1 ,i trust clearly and explicitly1 how by an extremely easy process1 or processes1 the will may be1 by any person of ordinary intelligence and perseverance1 awakened and developed to any extent1 and with it many other faculties or states of mind4 ,i can remember once being told by a lady that she thought there ought to be erected in all great cities temples to the ,will1 so as to encourage mankind to develop the divine faculty4 ,it has since occurred to me that an equal number of school-houses1 however humble1 in which the art of mastering the ,will by easy processes seriatim should be taught1 would be far more useful4 ,such a school-house is this work1 and it is the hope of the author that all who enter1 so to speak1 or read it1 will learn therefrom as much as he himself and others have done by studying its principles4 ,to recapitulate or make clear in brief what ,i intend1 ,i would say ,firstly1 that the advanced thinkers at this end of the century1 weary of all the old indirect methods of teaching ,morality1 are beginning to enquire1 since ,duty is an indispensable condition1 whether it is not just as well to do what is right1 because it is right1 as for any other reason8 ,secondly1 that this spirit of directness1 the result of ,evolution1 is beginning to show itself in many other directions1 as we may note by the great popularity of the answer to the question1 ,how not to worry1 which is briefly1 ,don't6 ,thirdly1 that enlightened by this spirit of scientific straightforwardness1 man is ceasing to seek for mental truth by means of roundabout metaphysical or conventional ethical methods 7based on old traditions and mysticism71 and is looking directly in himself1 or materially1 for what ,immaterialism or ,idealism has really never explained at all--his discoveries having been within a few years much more valuable that all that a priori philosophy or psychology ever yielded since the beginning4 ,and1 finally1 that the leading faculties or powers of the mind1 such as ,will1 ,memory1 the ,constructive faculty1 and all which are subject to them1 instead of being entirely mysterious gifts1 or inspirations bestowed on only a very few to any liberal extent1 are in all1 and may be developed grandly and richly by direct methods which are moreover extremely easy1 and which are in accordance with the spirit of the age1 being the legitimate results of ,evolution and ,science4 ,and1 that ,i may not be misunderstood1 ,i would say that the doctrine of ,duty agrees perfectly with every form of religion--a man may be ,roman ,catholic1 ,church of ,england1 ,presbyterian1 ,agnostic1 or what he will2 and1 if a form aids him in the least to be sincerely honest1 it would be a pity for him to be without it4 ,truly there are degrees in forms1 and where ,i live in ,italy ,i am sorry to see so many abuses or errors in them4 ,but to know and do what is right1 when understood1 is recognising ,god as nearly as man can know him1 and to do this perfectly we require ,will4 ,it is the true ,logos4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,attention ,,and ,,interest4 ,to the fairies1 ,determination and ,good-,will1 all things are possible4--,the ,man of the ,family1 by ,c4 ,,reid4 ,it happened recently to me1 as ,i write1 to see one afternoon lying on the side walk in the ,via ,calzaioli in ,florence what ,i thought was a common iron screw1 about three inches in length1 which looked as if it had been dropped by some workman4 ,and recalling the superstition that it is lucky to find such an object1 or a nail1 ,i picked it up1 when to my astonishment ,i found that it was a silver pencil case1 but made to exactly resemble a screw4 ,hundreds of people had1 perhaps1 seen it1 thought they knew all about it1 or what it was1 and then passed it by1 little suspecting its real value4 ,there is an exact spiritual parallel for this incident or parable of the screw-pencil in innumerable ideas1 at which well-nigh everybody in the hurrying stream of life has glanced1 yet no one has ever examined1 until someone with a poetic spirit of curiosity1 or inspired by quaint superstition1 pauses1 picks one up1 looks into it1 and finds that ,it has ingenious use1 and is far more than it appeared to be4 ,thus1 if ,i declare that by special attention to a subject1 earnestly turning it over and thinking deeply into it1 very remarkable results may be produced1 as regards result in knowledge1 every human being will assent to it as the veriest truism ever uttered2 in the fullest belief that he or she assuredly knows all that4 ,yet it was not until within a very few years that ,i discovered that this idea1 which seemed so commonplace1 had within it mysteries and meanings which were stupendously original or remarkable4 ,i found that there was a certain intensity or power of attention1 far surpassing ordinary observation1 which we may1 if we will1 summon up and force on ourselves1 just as we can by special effort see or hear far better at times than usually4 ,the ,romans show by such a phrase as animum adjicere1 and numerous proverbs and synonyms1 that they had learned to bend their attention energetically4 ,they were good listeners1 therefore keen observers4 ,learning to control or strengthen the ,will is closely allied to developing ,attention and ,interest1 and for reasons which will soon be apparent1 ,i will first consider the latter1 since they constitute a preparation or basis for the former4 ,and as preliminary1 ,i will consider the popular or common error to the effect that everyone has alloted to him or to her just so much of the faculty of attention or interest as it has pleased ,nature to give--the same being true as regards ,memory1 ,will1 the ,constructive or ,artistic abilities1 and so on--when in very truth and on the warrant of ,experience all may be increased ad infinitum4 ,therefore1 we find ignorant men complacently explaining their indifference to art and literature or culture on the ground that they take no interest in such subjects1 as if interest were a special heaven-sent gift4 ,who has not heard the remark1 ,he or she takes such an interest in so many things--,i wish that ,i could4 ,or1 as ,i heard it very recently expressed1 ,it must be delightful to be able to interest one's self in something at any time4 ,which was much the same as the expression of the ,pennsylvania ,german girl1 ,ach ,gott6 ,i wisht ,i hat genius und could make a pudden6 ,no one can be expected to take an interest at once and by mere will in any subject1 but where an earnest and serious ,attention has been directed to it1 ,interest soon follows4 ,hence it comes that those who deliberately train themselves in ,society after the precept enforced by all great writers of social maxims to listen politely and patiently1 are invariably rewarded by acquiring at last shrewd intelligence1 as is well known to diplomatists4 ,that mere stolid patience subdues impatience sounds like a dull common-place saying1 but it is a silver pencil disguised as an iron screw2 there is a deep subtlety hidden in it1 if it be allowed with a little intelligence1 forethought1 and determination towards a purpose4 ,let us now consider the mechanical and easy processes by which attention may be awakened4 ,according to ,,ed4 ,,von ,,hartmann1 ,attention is either spontaneous or reflex4 ,the voluntary fixing our mind upon1 or choosing an idea1 image1 or subject1 is spontaneous attention1 but when the idea for some reason impresses itself upon us then we have enforced1 or reflex attention4 ,that is simply to say1 there is active or passive observation--the things which we seek or which come to us unsought4 ,and the seeking for1 or spontaneous action can be materially aided and made persevering1 if before we begin the search or set about devoting ,attention to anything1 we pause1 as it were1 to determine or resolve that we will be thorough1 and not leave off until we shall have mastered it4 ,for strange as it may seem1 the doing this actually has in most cases a positive1 and very often a remarkable result1 as the reader may very easily verify for himself4 ,this ,forethought is far more easily awakened1 or exerted1 than ,attention itself1 but it prepares it1 just as ,attention prepares ,interest4 ,attention is closely allied to ,memory2 when we would give attention to a subject for continued consideration1 we must memorize it1 or it will vanish4 ,involuntary memory excited by different causes often compels us to attend to many subjects whether we will or not4 ,everyone has been haunted with images or ideas even unto being tormented by them2 there are many instances in which the ,imagination has given them objective form1 and they have appeared visibly to the patient4 ,these haunting ideas1 disagreeable repetitions or obstinate continuances1 assume an incredible variety of forms1 and enter in many strange ways into life4 ,monomania or the being possessed with one idea to the exclusion of others1 is a form of overstrained attention1 sustained by memory4 ,it is enforced4 ,mere repetition of anything to almost anybody1 will produce remarkable results2 or a kind of ,hypnotism ,causing the patient to yield to what becomes an irresistible power4 ,thus it is said that perpetual dropping will wear away stones4 ,dr4 ,,james ,r4 ,,cocke in his ,hypnotism1 in illustrating this1 speaks of a man who did not want to sign a note1 he knew that it was folly to do so1 but yielded from having been over persuaded4 ,i have read a story in which a man was thus simply talked into sacrificing his property4 ,the great power latent in this form of suggestiveness is well known to knaves in ,america where it is most employed4 ,this is the whole secret of the value of advertising4 ,people yield to the mere repetition in time4 ,attention and ,interest may in this way be self-induced from repetition4 ,it is true that an image or idea may be often repeated to minds which do not think or reflect1 without awakening attention2 per contra1 the least degree of thought in a vast majority of cases forms a nucleus1 or beginning1 which may easily be increased to an indefinite extent4 ,a very little exercise of the ,will suffices in most cases to fix the attention on a subject1 and how this can be done will be shown in another chapter4 ,but in many cases ,attention is attracted with little or no voluntary effort4 ,on this fact is based the truth that when or where it is desired1 ,attention and ,interest may be awakened with great ease by a simple process4 ,it may be remarked on the subject of repetition of images or ideas1 that a vast proportion of senseless superstitions1 traditions or customs1 which no one can explain1 originate in this way1 and that in fact what we call habit 7which ranks as second nature7 is only another form or result of involuntary attention and the unconsciously giving a place in the memory to what we have heard4 ,from the simple fact that even a man of plain common-sense and strong will may be driven to sleeplessness1 or well nigh to madness1 by the haunting presence of some wretched trifle1 some mere jingle or rhyme1 or idle memory1 we may infer that we have here a great power which must in some way be capable of being led to great or useful results by some very easy process4 ,i once wrote a sketch1 never completed1 in which ,i depicted a man of culture who1 having lost an old manuscript book which he had regarded in a light1 semi-incredulous manner as a fetish1 or amulet1 on which his luck depended1 began to be seriously concerned1 and awaking to the fact1 deliberately cultivated his alarm as a psychological study1 till he found himself1 even with his eyes wide open as an observer in terrible fear1 or a semi-monomaniac4 ,the recovery of his lost charm at once relieved him4 ,this was a diversion of ,attention for a deliberate purpose1 which might have been varied ad infinitum to procure very useful results4 ,but ,i have myself known a man in the ,united ,states1 who1 having lost--he being an actor or performer--a certain article of theatrical properties on which he believed luck depended1 lost all heart and hope1 and fell into a decline1 from which he never recovered4 ,in this1 as in all such cases1 it was not so much conviction or reason which influenced the sufferer as the mere effect of ,attention often awakened till it had become what is known as a fixed idea4 ,a deliberate reflection on what ,i have here advanced can hardly fail to make it clear to any reader that if he really desires to take an interest in any subject1 it is possible to do so1 because ,nature has placed in every mind vast capacity for attention or fixing ideas1 and where the ,attention is fixed1 ,interest1 by equally easy process1 may always be induced to follow4 ,and note that these preliminary preparations should invariably be as elementary and easy as possible1 this being a condition which it is impossible to exaggerate4 ,in a vast majority of cases people who would fain be known as taking an interest in ,art begin at the wrong end1 or in the most difficult manner possible1 by running through galleries where they only acquire a superficial knowledge of results1 and learn at best how to talk showily about what they have skimmed4 ,now to this end a good article in a cyclopdia1 or a small treatise like that of ,,taine',s sthetic thoroughly read and re-read1 till it be really mastered1 and then verified by study of a very few good pictures in a single collection1 will do more to awaken sincere interest than the loose ranging through all the exhibitions in the world4 ,i have read in many novels thrilling descriptions of the effect and results when all the glories of the ,louvre or ,vatican first burst upon some impassioned and unsophisticated youth1 who from that moment found himself an ,artist-- but ,i still maintain that it would have been a hundred times better for him had his ,attention and ,interest been previously attracted to a few pictures1 and his mind accustomed to reflect on them4 ,be the subject in which we would take an interest artistic or scientific1 literary or social1 the best way to begin herewith is to carefully read the simplest and easiest account of it which we can obtain1 in order that we may know just exactly what it is1 or its definition4 ,and this done1 let the student at once1 while the memory is fresh in mind1 follow it up by other research or reading1 observations or inquiries1 on the same subject1 for three books read together on anything will profit more than a hundred at long intervals4 ,in fact1 a great deal of broken1 irregular or disjointed reading is often as much worse than none at all1 as a little coherent study is advantageous4 ,many people would very willingly take an interest in many subjects if they knew how4 ,it is a melancholy thing to see a man retired from business with literally nothing to do but fritter away his time on nothings when he might be employed at something absorbing and useful4 ,but they hesitate to act because1 as is the rule in life1 they see everything from its most difficult and repulsive side4 ,there is no man who could not easily take an intelligent interest in ,art in some form1 but ,i venture to say that a majority of even educated people who had never taken up the subject would be appalled at it in their secret hearts1 or distrust its use or their own capacity to master it4 ,or again1 many put no faith in easy manuals to begin with1 believing1 in their ignorance1 that a mere collection of rudiments cannot have much in it4 ,we are all surrounded by thousands of subjects in which we might all take an interest1 and do good work1 if we would1 selecting one1 give it a little attention1 and by easy process proceed to learn it4 ,as it is1 in general society the man or woman who has any special pursuit1 accomplishment1 or real interest for leisure hours1 beyond idle gossip and empty time-killing1 is a great exception4 ,and yet ,i sincerely believe that in perhaps a majority of cases there is a sincere desire to do something1 which is killed by simple ignorance of the fact that with a very little trouble indeed interest in something is within the easy reach of all4 ,i have dwelt on this subject that the reader may be induced to reflect on the fact1 firstly1 that if he wishes to learn how to develop his ,will and strengthen it1 it is absolutely necessary to take an interest in it4 ,i beg him to consider how this art of acquiring attention and interest has been1 or is1 obscured in most minds1 and the difficulties of acquiring it1 exaggerated4 ,secondly1 ,i would point out that the method of process for making a ,will is so closely allied to that laid down for ,attention that it will seem like a deduction from it1 both being allied to what may claim to be an original ,art of ,memory1 to which ,i shall devote a chapter in its due place4 ,for as ,i hope clearly to prove it is an easy matter to create a strong will1 or strengthen that which we have1 to a marvelous extent1 yet he who would do this must first give his ,attention firmly and fixedly to his intent or want1 for which purpose it is absolutely necessary that he shall first know his own mind regarding what he means to do1 and therefore meditate upon it1 not dreamily1 or vaguely1 but earnestly4 ,and this done he must assure himself that he takes a real interest in the subject1 since if such be the case ,i may declare that his success is well nigh certain4 ,and here it may be observed that if beginners1 before taking up any pursuit1 would calmly and deliberately consider the virtues of ,attention and ,interest1 and how to acquire them1 or bring them to bear on the proposed study or work1 we should hear much less of those who had begun ,german without learning it1 or who failed in any other attempt4 ,for there would in very truth be few failures in life if those who undertake anything first gave to it long and careful consideration by leading observation into every detail1 and1 in fact1 becoming familiar with the idea1 and not trusting to acquire interest and perseverance in the future4 ,nine-tenths of the difficulty and doubt or ill-at-easeness which beginners experience1 giving them the frightened feeling of a cat in a strange garret1 and which often inspires them to retreat1 is due entirely to not having begun by training the ,attention or awakened an ,interest in the subject4 ,it has often seemed to me that the reason for failure1 or the ultimate failing to attain success1 in a vast number of ,faith cures1 is simply because the people who seek them1 being generally of a gushing1 imaginative nature1 are lacking in deep reflection1 application1 or earnest attention4 ,they are quick to take hold1 and as quick to let go4 ,therefore1 they are of all others the least likely to seriously reflect beforehand on the necessity of preparing the mind to patience and application4 ,now it seems a simple thing to say1 and it is therefore all the harder to understand1 that before going to work at anything which will require perseverance and repeated effort we can facilitate the result amazingly by thinking over and anticipating it1 so that when the weariness comes it will not be as a discouraging novelty1 but as something of course1 even as a fisherman accepts his wet feet1 or the mosquitoes4 ,but how this disposition to grow weary of work or to become inattentive may be literally and very completely conjured away will be more fully explained in another chapter4 ,for this let it suffice to say that earnest forethought1 and the more of it the better1 bestowed on aught which we intend to undertake1 is a thing rarely attempted in the real sense in which ,i mean it1 but which1 when given1 eases every burden and lightens every toil4 ,mere forethought repeated is the easiest of mental efforts4 ,yet even a little of it asserted before undertaking a task will wonderfully facilitate the work4 ,hypnotism1 says ,dr4 ,,james ,r4 ,,cocke1 can be used to train the attention of persons habitually inattentive4 ,but1 in fact1 forethinking in any way is the minor or initiatory stage of ,suggestion4 ,both are gradual persuasion of the nervous system into habit4 ,and on this text a marvelous sermon could be preached1 which1 if understood1 would sink deeply into every heart1 inspiring some while alarming others1 but greatly cheering the brave4 ,and it is this4 ,there are millions of people who suffer from irritability1 want of self-control1 loquacity1 evil in many forms1 or nerves1 who would fain control themselves and stop it all4 ,moralists think that for this it is enough to convince their reason4 ,but this rarely avails4 ,a man may know that he is wrong1 yet not be able to reform4 ,now1 what he wants is to have his attention fixed long enough to form a new habit4 ,find out how this can be done1 and it may in many cases be the simplest and most mechanical thing in the world to cure him4 ,men have been frightened by a scarecrow into thorough repentance4 ,a question of a few vibrations of ether1 more or less1 makes for us all the difference between perception and non-perception1 or between sight and blindness4 ,accustom any such moral invalid to being ,suggested or willed a few times into a calm1 self-controlled state and the habit may be formed4 ,and to those who doubt1 and perhaps would sneer1 ,i have only to say try it4 ,it will do them good4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,self-,,suggestion4 ,in thy soul1 as in a sleep1 ,gods or fiends are hidden deep1 ,awful forms of mystery1 ,and spirits1 all unknown to thee3 ,guard with prayer1 and heed with care1 ,ere thou wak'st them from their lair6 ,the records of the human race1 however written1 show that ,man has always regarded himself as possessed of latent faculties1 or capacities of a mysterious or extraordinary nature3 that is to say1 transcending in scope or power anything within the range of ordinary conscious mental capacity4 ,such for example is the ,dream1 in which there occurs such a mingling of madness with mysterious intuitions or memories that it is no wonder it has always been regarded as allied to supernatural intelligence4 ,and almost as general as the faith in dreams as being weird 7in the true sense of the much-abused word7 or strangely prophetic1 is that in fascination1 or that one human being can exercise over another by a mystic will and power a strong influence1 even to the making the patient do whatever the actor or superior requires4 ,however interesting it may be1 it is quite needless for the purpose which ,i have in view to sketch the history of occultism1 magic or sorcery from the earliest times to the present day4 ,fascination was1 however1 its principal power1 and this was closely allied to1 or the parent of1 what is now known as ,suggestion in ,hypnotism4 ,but ancient magic in its later days certainly became very much mixed with magnetism in many phases1 and it is as an off-shoot of ,animal ,magnetism that ,hypnotism is now regarded1 which is to be regretted1 since it is in reality radically different from it1 as several of the later writers of the subject are beginning to protest4 ,the definition and differences of the two are as follows3 ,animal ,magnetism1 first formulized by ,,anton ,,mesmer from a mass of more or less confused observations by earlier writers1 was the doctrine that there is a magnetic fluid circulating in all created forms1 capable of flux and reflux1 which is specially active or potent in the human body4 ,its action may be concentrated or increased by the human will1 so as to work wonders1 one of which is to cause a person who is magnetized by another to obey the operator1 this obedience being manifested in many very strange ways4 ,still there were thousands of physiologists or men of science who doubted the theory of the action or existence of ,animal ,magnetism1 and the vital fluid1 as declared by the ,mesmerists1 and they especially distrusted the marvels narrated of clairvoyance1 which was too like the thaumaturgy or wonder-working attributed to the earlier magicians4 ,finally1 the ,english scientist1 ,,braid1 determined that it was not a magnetic fluid which produced the recognized results1 but that they were of purely subjective origin1 depending on the nervous system of the one acted on4 ,that is to say1 in ordinary language1 it was all imagination--but here1 as in many other cases1 a very comprehensive and apparently common-sensible word is very far from giving an adequate or correct idea of the matter in question--for what the imagination itself really is in this relation is a mystery which is very difficult to solve4 ,i have heard of an old ,french gentleman who1 when in a circus1 expressed an opinion that there was nothing remarkable in the wonderful performances of an acrobat on a tight-rope1 or trapeze4 ,voyez-vous monsieur he exclaimed2 ,ce n'est que la mathmatique--rien que ca6 ,and only the ,imagination--all your ,imagination is still the universal solvent in ,philistia for all such problems4 ,hypnotism reduced to its simplest principle is1 like the old ,fascination1 the action of mind upon mind1 or of a mind upon itself1 in such a manner as to produce a definite belief1 action1 or result4 ,it is generally effected by first causing a sleep1 as is done in animal magnetism1 during which the subject implicitly obeys the will of the operator1 or performs whatever he suggests4 ,hence arose the term ,suggestion1 implying that what the patient takes into his head to do1 or does1 must first be submitted to his own mental action4 ,very remarkable results are thus achieved4 ,if the operator1 having put a subject to sleep 7which he can do in most cases1 if he be clever1 and the experiments are renewed often enough71 will say or suggest to him that on the next day1 or the one following1 or1 in fact1 any determined time1 he shall visit a certain friend1 or dance a jig1 or wear a given suit of clothes1 or the like1 he will1 when the hypnotic sleep is over1 have forgotten all about it4 ,but when the hour indicated for his call or dance1 or change of garment arrives1 he will be haunted by such an irresistible feeling that he must do it2 that in most cases it will infallibly be done4 ,it is no exaggeration to say that this has been experimented on1 tested and tried thousands of times with success and incredible ingenuity in all kinds of forms and devices4 ,it would seem as if spontaneous attention went to sleep1 but1 like an alarm clock1 awoke at the fixed hour1 and then reflex action4 ,again--and this constitutes the chief subject of all ,i here discuss-- we can suggest to ourselves so as to produce the same results4 ,it seems to be a curious law of ,nature that if we put an image or idea into our minds with the preconceived determination or intent that it shall recur or return at a certain time1 or in a certain way1 after sleeping1 it will do so4 ,and here ,i beg the reader to recall what ,i said regarding the resolving to begin any task1 that it can be greatly aided by even a brief pre-determination4 ,in all cases it is a kind of self-suggestion4 ,there would seem to be some magic virtue in sleep1 as if it preserved and ripened our wishes1 hence the injunction in the proverbs of all languages to sleep over a resolve1 or subject--and that night brings counsel4 ,it is not necessary that this sleep shall be hypnotic1 or what is called hypnotic slumber1 since1 according to very good authorities1 there is grave doubt as to whether the so-called condition is a sleep at all4 ,hypnotism is at any rate a suspension of the faculties1 resembling sleep1 caused by the will and act of the operator4 ,he effects this by fixing the eyes on the patient1 making passes as in ,mesmerism1 giving a glass of water1 or simply commanding sleep4 ,and this1 as ,dr4 ,,cocke has experienced and described1 can be produced to a degree by anyone on himself4 ,but as ,i have verified by experiment1 if we1 after retiring to rest at night1 will calmly yet firmly resolve to do something on the following day1 or be as much as possible in a certain state of mind1 and if we then fall into ordinary natural sleep1 just as usual1 we may on waking have forgotten all about it1 yet will none the less feel the impulse and carry out the determination4 ,what gives authority for this assertion1 for which ,i am indebted originally to no suggestion or reading1 is the statement found in several authorities that a man can hypnotize another without putting him to sleep2 that is1 make him unconsciously follow suggestion4 ,i had read in works on hypnotism of an endless number of experiments1 how patients were made to believe that they were monkeys or madmen1 or umbrellas1 or criminals1 women or men1 volont1 but in few of them did ,i find that it had ever occurred to anybody to turn this wonderful power of developing the intellect to any permanent benefit1 or to increasing the moral sense4 ,then it came to my mind since ,self-,suggestion was possible that if ,i would resolve to work all the next day2 that is1 apply myself to literary or artistic labor without once feeling fatigue1 and succeed1 it would be a marvelous thing for a man of my age4 ,and so it befell that by making an easy beginning ,i brought it to pass to perfection4 ,what ,i mean by an easy beginning is not to will or resolve too vehemently1 but to simply and very gently1 yet assiduously1 impress the idea on the mind so as to fall asleep while thinking of it as a thing to be4 ,my next step was to will that ,i should1 all the next day1 be free from any nervous or mental worry1 or preserve a hopeful1 calm1 or well-balanced state of mind4 ,this led to many minute and extremely curious experiences and observations4 ,that the imperturbable or calm state of mind promptly set in was undeniable1 but it often behaved1 like the ,angel in ,h4 ,g4 ,wells' novel1 ,the ,wonderful ,visit1 as if somewhat frightened at1 or of1 with1 or by its new abode1 and no wonder1 for it was indeed a novel guest1 and the goblins of ,worry and ,tease1 ,fidget and ,fear1 who had hitherto been allowed to riot about and come and go at their own sweet mischievous wills1 were ill-pleased at being made to keep quiet by this new lady of the manor4 ,and indeed no mere state of mind1 however well maintained1 can resist everything1 and the mildest mannered man may cut a throat under great provocation4 ,i had my lapses1 but withal ,i was simply astonished to find how1 by perseverance1 habitual calm not only grew on me1 but how decidedly it increased4 ,i most assuredly have experienced it to such a degree as to marvel that the method is not more employed as a cure for nervous suffering and insomnia4 ,but far beyond perseverance in labor1 or the inducing a calmer and habitually restful state of mind1 was the ,awakening of the ,will1 which ,i found as interesting as any novel or drama1 or series of active adventures which ,i have ever read or experienced4 ,i can remember when most deeply engaged in it1 re-reading ,,de ,,quincey',s ,confessions of an ,opium ,eater4 ,i took it by chance on my birthday1 ,august #ae1 which was also his1 and as ,i read ,i longed from my very heart that he were alive1 that ,i might consult with him on the marvelous ,fairyland which it seemed to me had been discovered--and then ,i remembered how ,dr4 ,,tuckey1 the leading ,english hypnotist1 had once told me how easy it was for his science to completely cure the mania for opium and other vices4 ,and this is the discovery3 ,resolve before going to sleep that if there be anything whatever for you to do which requires ,will or ,resolution1 be it to undertake repulsive or hard work or duty1 to face a disagreeable person1 to fast1 or make a speech1 to say ,no to anything2 in short1 to keep up to the mark or make any kind of effort that you ,,will do it--as calmly and unthinkingly as may be4 ,do not desire to do it sternly or forcibly1 or in spite of obstacles--but simply and coolly make up your mind to do it--and it will much more likely be done4 ,and it is absolutely true--crede experto--that if persevered in1 this willing yourself to will by easy impulse unto impulse given1 will lead to marvelous and most satisfactory results4 ,there is one thing of which the young or oversanguine or heedless should be warned4 ,do not expect from self-suggestion1 nor anything else in this life1 prompt perfection1 or the maximum of success4 ,you may pre-determine to be cheerful1 but if you are very susceptible to bad weather1 and the day should be dismal1 or you should hear of the death of a friend1 or a great disaster of any kind1 some depression of spirits must ensue4 ,on the other hand1 note well that forming habit by frequent repetition of willing yourself to equanimity and cheerfulness1 and also to the banishing of repulsive images when they come1 will infallibly result in a very much happier state of mind4 ,as soon as you actually begin to realize that you are acquiring such control remember that is the golden hour--and redouble your efforts4 ,perseverando vinces4 ,i have1 ,i trust1 thus far in a few words explained to the reader the rationale of a system of mental discipline based on the will1 and how by a very easy process the latter may1 like ,attention and ,interest1 be gradually awakened4 ,as ,i have before declared1 everyone would like to have a strong or vigorous will1 and there is a library of books or sermons in some form1 exhorting the weak to awaken and fortify their wills or characters1 but all represent it as a hard and vigorous process1 akin to storm and stress1 battle and victory1 and none really tell us how to go about it4 ,i have indeed only indicated that it is by self-suggestion that the first steps are taken4 ,let us now consider the early beginning of the art or science ere discussing further developments4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,will ,,development4 ,ce domaine de la ,suggestion est immense4 ,il n'y a pas un seul fait de notre vie mentale qui ne puisse tre reproduit et exager artificiellement par ce moyen4--,binet et ,frre1 ,le ,magnetisme ,animal4 ,omitting the many vague indications in earlier writers1 as well as those drawn from ancient ,oriental sources1 we may note that ,,pomponatius or ,,pomponazzo1 an ,italian1 born in #adfb1 declared in a work entitled ,de naturalium effectuum admirandorum ,causis seu de ,incantationibus1 that to cure disease it was necessary to use a strong will1 and that the patient should have a vigorous imagination and much faith in the pra cantator4 ,,paracelsus asserted the same thing in many passages directly and indirectly4 ,he regarded medicine as magic and the physician as a wizard who should by a powerful will act on the imagination of the patient4 ,but from some familiarity with the works of ,,paracelsus--the first folio of the first full edition is before me as ,i write--,i would say that it would be hard to declare what his marvelous mind did not anticipate in whatever was allied to medicine and natural philosophy4 ,thus ,i have found that long before ,,van ,,helmont1 who has the credit of the discovery1 ,,paracelsus knew how to prepare silicate of soda1 or water-glass4 ,hypnotism as practiced at the present day1 and with regard to its common results1 was familiar to ,,johann ,,joseph ,,gassner1 a priest in ,suabia1 of whom ,,louis ,,figuier writes as follows in his ,histoire du ,merveilleux dans les ,temps ,modernes1 published in #ahfj3 ,,gassner1 like the ,englishman ,,valentine ,,great-,,rakes1 believed himself called by divine inspiration to cure diseases4 ,according to the precept of proper charity he began at home--that is to say on himself4 ,after being an invalid for five or six years1 and consulting1 all in vain1 many doctors1 and taking their remedies all for naught1 the idea seized him that such an obstinate malady as his must have some supernatural evil origin1 or in other words1 that he was possessed by a demon4 ,therefore he conjured this devil of a disorder1 in the name of ,jesus ,christ to leave him--so it left1 and the good ,,gassner has put it on record that for sixteen years after he enjoyed perfect health and never had occasion for any remedy1 spiritual or otherwise4 ,this success made him reflect whether all maladies could not be cured by exorcism 4 4 4 ,the experiment which he tried on the invalids of his parish were so successful that his renown soon opened through all ,suabia1 and the regions roundabout4 ,then he began to travel1 being called for everywhere4 ,,gassner was so successful that at ,ratisbon he had1 it is said1 #f1jjj patients of all ranks encamped in tents4 ,he cured by simply touching with his hands4 ,but that in which he appears original was that he not only made his patients sleep or become insensible by ordering them to do so but caused them to raise their arms and legs1 tremble1 feel any kind of pain1 as is now done by the hypnotist4 ',in a young lady of good family' he caused laughter and weeping1 stiffness of the limbs1 absence of sight and hearing1 and ansthesia so as to make the pulse beat at his will4 ,m4 ,,figuier and others do not seem to have been aware that a century before ,,gassner1 a ,,pietro ,,piperno of ,naples published a book in which there was a special exorcism or conjurations1 as he calls them1 for every known disorder1 and that this possibly gave the hint for a system of cure to the ,suabian4 ,i have a copy of this work1 which is extremely rare1 it having been put on the ,roman prohibited list1 and otherwise suppressed4 ,but ,,gassner himself was suppressed ere long1 because the ,emperor1 ,joseph ,,ii1 cloistered--that is to say1 imprisoned him for life in the ,monastery of ,pondorf1 near ,ratisbon4 ,one must not be too good or ,apostle-like or curative--even in the ,church1 which discourages trop de zle4 ,but the general accounts of ,,gassner give the impression1 which has not been justly conveyed1 that he owed his remarkable success in curing himself and others not to any kind of theory nor faith in magnetism1 or in religion1 so much as unconscious suggestion1 aided by a powerful ,will which increased with successes4 ,to simply pray to be cured of an illness1 or even to be cured by prayer1 was certainly no novelty to any ,catholic or ,protestant in those days4 ,the very nature of his experiments in making many people perform the same feats which are now repeated by hypnotizers1 and which formed no part of a religious cure1 indicate clearly that he was an observer of strange phenomena or a natural philosopher4 ,i have seen myself an ,egyptian juggler in ,boulak perform many of these as professed tricks1 and ,i do not think it was from any imitation of ,french clairvoyance4 ,he also pretended that it was by an exertion of his ,will1 aided by magic forms which he read from a book1 that he made two boys obey him4 ,it was probably for these tricks which savored of magic that ,,gassner was retired4 ,having in the previous pages indicated the general method by which ,will may be awakened and strengthened1 that the reader may as soon as possible understand the simple principle of action1 ,i will now discuss more fully the important topic of influencing and improving our mental powers by easily induced ,attention1 or attention guided by simple ,foresight1 and pre-resolution aided by simple auto or self-suggestion4 ,and ,i believe1 with reason1 that by these very simple processes 7which have not hitherto been tested that ,i am aware of by any writer in the light in which ,i view them72 the ,will1 which is the power of all powers and the mainspring of the mind1 can be by means of persuasion increased or strengthened ad infinitum4 ,it is evident that ,,gassner',s method partakes in equal proportions of the principles of the well-known ,faith ,cure1 and that of the ,will1 or of the passive and the active4 ,what is wanting in it is self-knowledge and the very easily awakened forethought which1 when continued1 leads to far greater and much more certain results4 ,forethought costs little exertion3 it is so calmly active that the weakest minds can employ it2 but wisely employed it can set tremendous force in action4 ,as regards ,,gassner1 it is admissible that many more cures of disease can be effected by what some vaguely call the ,imagination1 and others ,mental ,action1 than is generally supposed4 ,science now proves every year1 more and more1 that diseases are allied1 and that they can be reached through the nervous system4 ,in the celebrated correspondence between ,,kant and ,,hufeland there is almost a proof that incipient gout can be cured by will or determination4 ,but if a merely temporary or partial cure can really be obtained1 or a cessation from suffering1 if the ill be really curable at all1 it is but reasonable to assume that by continuing the remedy or system1 the relief will or must correspond to the degree of faith in the patient4 ,and this would infallibly be the case if the sufferer had the will4 ,but unfortunately the very people who are most frequently relieved are those of the impulsive imaginative kind1 who soon take hold and soon let go1 or who are merely attracted by a sense of wonder which soon loses its charm1 and so they react4 ,therefore if we cannot only awaken the ,will1 but also keep it alive1 it is very possible that we may not only effect great and thorough cures of diseases1 but also induce whatever state of mind we please4 ,this may be effected by the action of the minds or wills of others on our own1 which influence can be gradually transferred from the operator to the patient himself1 as when in teaching a boy to swim the master holds the pupil up until the latter finds that he is unconsciously moving by his own exertion4 ,what the fickle and nervous patients of any kind need is to have the idea kept before their minds continuously4 ,they generally rush into a novelty without ,forethought4 ,therefore they should be trained or urged to forethink or reflect seriously and often on the cure or process proposed4 ,this is the setting of the nail1 which is to be driven in by suggestion4 ,the other method is where we act entirely for ourselves both as regards previous preparation and subsequent training4 ,i here repeat1 since the whole object of the book is that certain facts shall be deeply and clearly impressed on the reader's mind1 that if we will that a certain idea shall recur to us on the following1 or any other day1 and if we bring the mind to bear upon it just before falling asleep1 it may be forgotten when we awake1 but it will recur to us when the time comes4 ,this is what almost everybody has proved1 that if we resolve to awake at a certain hour we generally do so2 if not the first time1 after a few experiments1 apropos of which ,i would remark that no one should ever expect full success from any first experiment4 ,now it is certainly true that we all remember or recall certain things to be done at certain hours1 even if we have a hundred other thoughts in the interval4 ,but it would seem as if by some law which we do not understand ,sleep or repose acted as a preserver and reviver1 nay1 as a real strengthener of ,thoughts1 inspiring them with a new spirit4 ,it would seem1 too1 as if they came out of ,dreamland1 as the children in ,,tieck',s story did out of ,fairyland1 with new lives4 ,this is1 indeed1 a beautiful conception1 and ,i may remark that ,i will in another place comment on the curious fact that we can add to and intensify ideas by thus passing them through our minds in sleep4 ,just by the same process as that which enables us to awake at a given hour1 and simply by substituting other ideas for that of time1 can we acquire the ability to bring upon ourselves pre-determined or desired states of mind4 ,this is ,self-,suggestion or deferred determination1 be it with or without sleep4 ,it becomes more certain in its result with every new experiment or trial4 ,the great factor in the whole is perseverance or repetition4 ,by faith we can remove mountains1 by perseverance we can carry them away1 and the two amount to precisely the same thing4 ,and here be it noted what1 ,i believe1 no writer has ever before observed1 that as perseverance depends on renewed forethought and reflection1 so by continued practice and thought1 in self-suggestion1 the one practicing begins to find before long that his conscious will is acting more vigorously in his waking hours1 and that he can finally dispense with the sleeping process4 ,for1 in fact1 when we once find that our will is really beginning to obey us1 and inspire courage or indifference where we were once timid1 there is no end to the confidence and power which may ensue4 ,now this is absolutely true4 ,a man may will certain things ere he falls asleep4 ,this willing should not be intense1 as the old animal magnetizers taught2 it ought rather to be like a quiet1 firm desire or familiarization with what we want1 often gently repeated till we fall asleep in it4 ,so the seeker wills or wishes that he shall1 during all the next day1 feel strong and vigorous1 hopeful1 energetic1 cheerful1 bold or calm or peaceful4 ,and the result will be obtained just in proportion to the degree in which the command or desire has impressed the mind1 or sunk into it4 ,but1 as ,i have said3 ,do not expect that all of this will result from a first trial4 ,it may even be that those who succeed very promptly will be more likely to give out in the end than those who work up from small beginnings4 ,the first step may very well be that of merely selecting some particular object and calmly or gently1 yet determinedly directing the mind to it1 to be recalled at a certain hoar4 ,repeat the experiment1 if successful add to it something else4 ,violent effort is unadvisable1 yet mere repetition without thought is time lost4 ,think while willing what it is you want1 and above all1 if you can1 think with a feeling that the idea is to recur to you4 ,this acting or working two thoughts at once may be difficult for some readers to understand1 though all writers on the brain illustrate it4 ,it may be formulated thus3 ,i wish to remember tomorrow at four o'clock to visit my bookseller--bookseller's--four o'clock--four o'clock4 ,but with practice the two will become as one conception4 ,when the object of a state of mind1 as1 for instance1 calmness all day long1 is obtained1 even partially1 the operator 7who must1 of course1 do all to help himself to keep calm1 should he remember his wish7 will begin to believe in himself sincerely1 or in the power of his will to compel a certain state of mind4 ,this won1 all may be won1 by continued reflection and perseverance4 ,it is the great step gained1 the alphabet learned1 by which the mind may pass to boundless power4 ,it may be here interesting to consider some of the states of mind into which a person may be brought by hypnotism4 ,when subject to the will of an operator the patient may believe anything--that he is a mouse or a girl1 drunk or inspired4 ,the same may result from self-hypnotism by artificial methods which appeal powerfully to the imagination4 ,according to ,dr4 ,,james ,r4 ,,cocke many of his patients could induce this by looking at any bright object1 a bed of coals1 or at smooth running water4 ,it is1 of course1 to be understood that it is not merely by looking that hypnotism is induced4 ,there must be will or determinate thought2 but when once brought about it is easily repeated4 ,they have the ability1 writes ,dr4 ,,cocke1 to resist this state or bring it on at will4 ,many of them describe beautiful scenes from ,nature1 or some mighty cathedral with its lofty dome1 or the faces of imaginary beings4 ,this writer's own first experience of self-hypnotism was very remarkable4 ,he had been told by a hypnotizer to keep the number twenty-six in his mind4 ,he did so1 and after hearing a ringing in his ears and then a strange roaring he felt that spirits were all round him--music sounding and a sensation as of expanding4 ,but self-hypnotizing1 by the simple easy process of trusting to ordinary sleep1 is better adapted to action delayed1 or states of mind4 ,these may be3 ,a desire to be at peace or perfectly calm4 ,after a few repetitions it will be found that1 though irritating accidents may countervene1 the mind will recur more and more to calm4 ,to feel cheerful or merry4 ,to be in a brave1 courageous1 hearty or vigorous mood4 ,to work hard without feeling weary4 ,this ,i have fully tested with success1 and especially mention it for the benefit of students4 ,all of my intimate friends can certify what ,i here assert4 ,to keep the faculty of quickness of perception alert1 as1 for instance1 when going out to perceive more than usual in a crowd4 ,a botanist or mineralogist may awaken the faculty with the hope of observing or finding with success4 ,to be susceptible to beauty1 as1 for instance1 when visiting a scene or gallery4 ,in such cases it means to derive ,attention from ,will4 ,the habitually trained ,forethought or ,attention is here a great aid to perception4 ,to read or study keenly and observantly4 ,this is a faculty which can be very much aided by forethought and self-suggestion4 ,to forgive and forget enemies and injuries4 ,allied to it is the forgetting and ignoring of all things which annoy1 vex1 harrass1 tease or worry us in any way whatever4 ,to expect perfect immunity in this respect from the unavoidable ills of life is absurd2 but having paid great attention to the subject1 and experimented largely on it1 ,i cannot resist declaring that it seems to me in very truth that no remedy for earthly suffering was yet discovered equal to this4 ,i generally put the wish into this form3 ,i will forget and forgive all causes of enmity and anger1 and should they arise ,i determine at once to cast them aside4 ,it is a prayer1 as it were1 to the ,will to stand by me1 and truly the will is ,deus in nobis to those who believe that ,god helps those who help themselves4 ,for as we can get into the fearful state of constantly recalling all who have ever vexed or wronged us1 or nursing the memory of what we hate or despise1 until our minds are like sewers or charnel-houses of dead and poisonous things1 so we can resolutely banish them1 at first by forethought1 then by suggestion1 and finally by waking will4 ,and verily there are few people living who would not be the better for such exercise4 ,many there are who say that they would fain forget and be serene1 yet cannot4 ,i do not believe this4 ,we can all exorcise our devils--all of them--if we will4 ,to restrain irritability in our intercourse with others4 ,it will not be quite sufficient as regards controlling the temper to merely will1 or wish to subdue it4 ,we must also will that when the temptation arises it may be preceded by forethought or followed by regret4 ,as it often happens to a young soldier to be frightened or run away the first time he is under fire1 and yet learn courage in the future1 so the aspirant resolved to master his passions must not doubt because he finds that the first step slips4 ,apropos of which ,i would note that in all the books on ,hypnotism that ,i have read their authors testify to a certain false quantity or amount of base alloy in the most thoroughly suggested patients4 ,something of modesty1 something of a moral conscience always remains4 ,thus1 as ,dr4 ,,cocke declares1 ,hypnotism has not succeeded in cases suffering from what are called imperative conceptions1 or irresistible belief4 ,cases suffering from various imperative conceptions are1 while possessing their reasons1 either irresistibly led by certain impulses or they cannot rid themselves of erroneous ideas concerning themselves and others4 ,this means1 in fact1 that they had been previously hypnotised to a definite conception which had become imperative4 ,as in ,witchcraft1 it is a law that one sorcerer cannot undo the work of another without extraordinary pains2 so in hypnotism it is hard to undo what is already established by a similar agent4 ,one can will to remember or recall anything forgotten4 ,i will not be responsible that this will invariably succeed at the first time1 but that it does often follow continued determination ,i know from experience4 ,i believe that where an operator hypnotizes a subject it very often succeeds1 if we may believe the instances recorded4 ,and ,i am also inclined to believe that in many cases1 though assuredly not in all1 whatever is effected by one person upon another can also be brought about in one's self by patience in forethought1 self-suggestion1 and the continued will which they awaken4 ,we can revive by this process old well-nigh forgotten trains of thought4 ,this is difficult but possible4 ,it belongs to an advanced stage of experience or may be found in very susceptible subjects4 ,i do not belong at all to the latter1 but ,i have perfectly succeeded in continuing a dream2 that is to say1 ,i have woke up three times during a dream1 and1 being pleased with it1 wished it to go on1 then fallen asleep and it went on1 like three successive chapters in a novel4 ,we can subdue the habit of worrying ourselves and others needlessly about every trifling or serious cause of irritation which enters our minds4 ,there are many people who from a mere idle habit or self-indulgence and irrepressible loquacity make their own lives and those of others very miserable--as all my readers can confirm from experience4 ,i once knew a man of great fortune1 with many depending on him1 who vented his ill-temper and petty annoyances on almost everyone to whom he spoke4 ,he was so fully aware of this failing that he at once1 in confessing it to a mutual friend1 shed tears of regret4 ,yet he was a millionaire man of business1 and had a strong will which might have been directed to a cure4 ,all peevish1 fretful and talkative1 or even complaining people1 should be induced to seriously study this subject4 ,we can cure ourselves of the habit of profanity or using vulgar language4 ,no one doubts that a negro who believes in sorcery1 if told that if he uttered an oath1 ,voodoo would fall upon him and cause him to waste away1 would never swear again4 ,or that a ,south ,sea ,islander would not do the same for fear of taboo4 ,now both these forms of sorcery are really hypnotizing by action on belief1 and ,forethought aided by the sleep process has precisely the same result--it establishes a fixed idea in the mind1 or a haunting presence4 ,we can cure ourselves of intemperance4 ,this was1 ,i believe1 first established or extensively experimented on by ,dr4 ,,charles ,,lloyd ,,tuckey4 ,this can be aided by willing that the liquor1 if drunk1 shall be nauseating4 ,we can repress to a remarkable degree the sensations of fatigue1 hunger and thirst4 ,truly no man can defy the laws of nature1 but it is very certain that in cases like that of ,dr4 ,,tanner1 and the ,hindu ascetics who were boxed up and buried for many weeks1 there must have been mental determination as well as physical endurance4 ,as regards this very important subject of health1 or the body1 and the degree to which it can be controlled by the mind or will1 it is to be observed that of late years physiologists are beginning to observe that all mental or corporeal functions are evidently controlled by the same laws or belong to the same organization4 ,if the emotions1 say of anger or love1 in their more emphatic forms1 are plainly accompanied by varying changes of the heart and blood-vessels1 the viscera and muscles1 it must follow that changes or excitement in the physical organs must react on the emotions4 ,all modes of sensibility1 whatever their origin1 says ,,luys1 are physiologically transported into the sensorium4 ,from fiber to fiber1 from sensitive element to sensitive element1 our whole organism is sensitive2 our whole sentient personality1 in fact1 is conducted just as it exists1 into the plexuses of the sensorium commune4 ,therefore1 if every sensation in the body acts on the brain by the aid of secondary brains or ganglions1 it must be that the brain in turn can in some way act on the body4 ,and this has hitherto been achieved or attempted by magicians1 miracle-mongers1 thaumaturgists1 mesmerists1 and the like1 and by the modern hypnotizer1 in which we may observe that there has been at every step less and less mysticism or supernaturalism1 and a far easier process or way of working4 ,and ,i believe it may be fairly admitted that in this work ,i have simplified the process of physically influencing mental action and rendered it easier4 ,the result from the above conclusions being that we can control many disorders or forms of disease4 ,this is an immense subject1 and it would be impossible within a brief sketch to determine its limits or conditions4 ,that what are called nervous disorders1 which are evidently the most nearly allied to emotions--as1 for instance1 a headache1 or other trouble induced by grief--can be removed by joy1 or some counteracting emotion or mere faith is very well known and generally believed4 ,but of late science has established that the affinities between the cerebral and other functions are so intimately1 extensively and strangely sympathetic or identical that it is becoming impossible to say what disease may not be temporarily alleviated or cured by new discoveries in directing the nervo-mental power or will4 ,the ,faith-,cure1 ,magic1 ,mesmerism1 ,religious ,thaumaturgy and other systems have given us a vast number of authentic cures of very positive disorders4 ,but from the point of view taken by many people what has been wanting in all is1 firstly1 a clear and simple scientific method free from all spiritualism or wonder1 and1 secondly1 the art of ,perfecting the cures by ,perseverance4 ,for what will relieve for an hour can be made to cure forever1 if we exercise foresight and make perpetuity a part of our whole plan4 ,now1 as regards curing disorders1 ,i beg the reader to specially observe that this1 like many other works1 depends on the state of the mind2 nor can it be undertaken with hope of success unless the operator has by previous practice in easy experiments succeeded in perfectly convincing himself that he has acquired control of his will4 ,thus having succeeded in willing himself to work all day without fatigue1 or to pass the day without being irritable1 let him begin to consider1 reflect and realize that he can make himself do this or that1 for the more he simply induces the belief and makes himself familiar with it1 the stronger and more obedient his ,will will be4 ,however1 this is simply true that to any self-suggestionist whatever who has had some little practice and attained to even a moderate command over his will1 a very great degree of the power to relieve bodily suffering is easy to develop1 and it may be increased by practice to an incredible extent4 ,thus in case of suffering by pain of any kind in another1 begin by calmly persuading him or her that relief has been obtained thousands of times by the process1 and endeavor to awaken belief1 or1 at least1 so much attention and interest that the fact will remain as forethought in the mind4 ,the next step should be to promise relief1 and then induce sleep by the showing a coin1 passes with the hands1 etc41 or allowing the subject to sink into a natural slumber4 ,if there be no success the first time1 repeat the experiment4 ,gout1 headaches1 all forms of positive pain1 severe colds1 anmia1 insomnia1 melancholia1 and dyspepsia appear to be among the ills which yield most readily to1 or are alleviated 7to the great assistance of a regular cure71 by suggestion4 ,as regards curing disorders1 producing insensibility to hunger and thirst1 heat or cold1 and the like1 all are aware that to a man who is under the influence of some great and overpowering emotion1 such as rage or surprise1 or joy1 no pain is perceptible4 ,in like manner1 by means of persuasion1 sleep1 a temporary oblivion1 and the skillfully awakened ,will1 the same insensibility or ignoring can be effected4 ,there is1 however1 this to be observed1 that while in the vast library of books which teach mental medicine the stress is laid entirely on producing merely a temporary cure ,i insist that by great ,forethought1 by conducting the cure with a view to permanence1 ever persuading the patient to think on the future1 and finally by a very thorough continuation and after-treatment many diseases may be radically removed4 ,to recapitulate and make all clear we will suppose that the reader desires during the following day to be in a calm1 self-possessed or peaceful state of mind4 ,therefore at night1 after retiring1 let him first completely consider what he wants and means to acquire4 ,this is the ,forethought1 and it should be as thorough as possible4 ,having done this1 will or declare that what you want shall come to pass on awaking1 and repeating this and thinking on it1 fall asleep4 ,this is all4 ,do not wish for two things at once1 or not until your mind shall have become familiar with the process4 ,as you feel your power strengthen with success you may will yourself to do whatever you desire4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,forethought4 ,post fata resurgo4 ,what is forethought may sleep--'tis very plain1 ,but rest assured that it will rise again4 ,forethought is plan inspired by an absolute ,will to carry it out4 ,it may have struck the reader as an almost awful1 or as a very wonderful idea1 that man has within himself1 if he did but know it1 tremendous powers or transcendental faculties of which he has really never had any conception4 ,one reason why such bold thought has been subdued is that he has always felt according to tradition1 the existence of superior supernatural 7and with them patrician7 beings1 by whose power and patronage he has been effectively restrained or kept under4 ,hence gloom and pessimism1 doubt and despair4 ,it may seem a bold thing to say that it did not occur to any philosopher through the ages that man1 resolute and noble and free1 might will himself into a stage of mind defying devils and phantasms1 or that amid the infinite possibilities of human nature there was the faculty of assuming the ,indifference habitual to all animals when not alarmed4 ,but he who will consider these studies on ,self-,hypnotism may possibly infer from them that we have indeed within us a marvelous power of creating states of mind which make the idea of ,pessimism ridiculous4 ,for it renders potent and grand1 pleasing or practically useful1 to all who practice it1 a faculty which has the great advantage that it may enter into all the relations or acts of life2 will give to everyone something to do1 something to occupy his mind1 even in itself1 and if we have other occupations1 ,forethought and ,induced ,will may be made to increase our interest in them and stimulate our skill4 ,in other words1 we can by means of this ,art increase our ability to practice all arts1 and enhance or stimulate ,genius in every way or form1 be it practical1 musical or plastic4 ,since ,i began this work there fell into my hands an ingenious and curious book1 entitled ,happiness as found in ,forethought minus ,fearthought1 by ,,horace ,,fletcher1 in which the author very truly declares that ,fear in some form has become the arch enemy of ,man1 and through the fears of our progenitors developed by a thousand causes1 we have inherited a growing stock of diseases1 terrors1 apprehensions1 pessimisms1 and the like1 in which he is perfectly right4 ,but as ,mr4 ,,fletcher declares1 if men could take ,forethought as their principle and guide they would obviate1 anticipate or foresee and provide for so many evil contingencies and chances that we might secure even peace and happiness1 and then man may become brave and genial1 altruistic and earnest1 in spite of it all1 by willing away his ,timidity4 ,i have not assumed a high philosophical or metaphysical position in this work2 my efforts have been confined to indicating how by a very simple and well-nigh mechanical process1 perfectly intelligible to every human being with an intellect1 one may induce certain states of mind and thereby create a ,will4 ,but ,i quite agree with ,mr4 ,,fletcher that ,forethought is strong thought1 and the point from which all projects must proceed4 ,as ,i understand it1 it is a kind of impulse or projection of will into the coming work4 ,i may here illustrate this with a curious fact in physics4 ,if the reader wished to ring a door-bell so as to produce as much sound as possible he would probably pull it as far back as he could and then let it go4 ,but if he would in letting it go simply give it a tap with his forefinger he would actually redouble the noise4 ,or1 to shoot an arrow as far as possible1 it is not enough to merely draw the bow to its utmost span or tension4 ,if just as it goes you will give the bow a quick push1 though the effort be trifling1 the arrow will fly almost as far again as it would have done without it4 ,or1 if1 as is well known1 in wielding a very sharp saber1 we make the draw-cut1 that is if we add to the blow or chop1 as with an axe1 a certain slight pull and simultaneously1 we can cut through a silk handkerchief or a sheep4 ,forethought is the tap on the bell1 the push of the bow1 the draw on the saber4 ,it is the deliberate yet rapid action of the mind when before falling to sleep or dismissing thought we bid the mind to subsequently respond4 ,it is more than merely thinking what we are to do2 it is the bidding or ordering self to fulfill a task before willing it4 ,forethought in the senses employed or implied as here described means much more than mere previous consideration or reflection1 which may be very feeble4 ,it is1 in fact1 constructive1 which1 as inventive1 implies active thought4 ,forethought stimulates1 aids the success of honest aims4 ,therefore1 as the active principle in mental work1 ,i regard it as a kind of self-impulse1 or that minor part in the division of the force employed which sets the major into action4 ,now1 if we really understand this and can succeed in employing ,forethought as the preparation for1 and impulse to1 ,self-,suggestion1 we shall greatly aid the success of the latter1 because the former insures attention and interest4 ,forethought may be brief1 but it should always be energetic4 ,by cultivating it we acquire the enviable talent of those men who take in everything at a glance1 and act promptly1 like a ,,napoleon4 ,this power is universally believed to be entirely innate or a gift2 but it can be induced or developed in all minds in proportion to the will by practice4 ,be it observed that as the experimenter progresses in the development of will by suggestion1 he can gradually lay aside the latter1 or all processes1 especially if he work to such an end1 anticipating it4 ,then he simply acts by clear will and strength1 and ,forethought constitutes all his stock-in-trade1 process or aid4 ,he preconceives and wills energetically at once1 and by practice and repetition ,forethought becomes a marvelous help on all occasions and emergencies4 ,to make it of avail the one who frequently practices self-suggestion1 at first with1 and then without sleep1 will inevitably find ere long that to facilitate his work1 or to succeed he must first write1 as it were1 or plan a preface1 synopsis1 or epitome of his proposed work1 to start it and combine with it a resolve or decree that it must be done1 the latter being the tap on the bell-knob4 ,now the habit of composing the plan as perfectly1 yet as succinctly as possible1 daily or nightly1 combined with the energetic impulse to send it off1 will ere long give the operator a conception of what ,i mean by ,foresight which by description ,i cannot4 ,and when grown familiar and really mastered its possessor will find that his power to think and act promptly in all the emergencies of life has greatly increased4 ,therefore ,forethought means a great deal more1 as here employed1 than seeing in advance1 or deliberate prudence--it rather implies1 like divination or foreknowledge1 sagacity and mental action as well as mere perception4 ,it will inevitably or assuredly grow with the practice of self-suggestion if the latter be devoted to mental improvement1 but as it grows it will qualify the operator to lay aside the sleep and suggest to himself directly4 ,all men of great natural strength of mind1 gifted with the will to do and dare1 the beings of action and genius1 act directly1 and are like athletes who lift a tree by the simple exertion of the muscles4 ,he who achieves his aim by self-culture1 training1 or suggestion1 is like one who raises the weight by means of a lever1 and if he practice it often enough he may in the end become as strong as the other4 ,there is a curious and very illustrative instance of ,forethought in the sense in which ,i am endeavoring to explain it1 given in a novel1 the ,scalp-,hunters1 by ,,mayne ,,reid1 with whom ,i was well acquainted in bygone years4 ,not having the original1 ,i translate from a ,french version3 ,his aim with the rifle is infallible1 and it would seem as if the ball obeyed his ,will4 ,there must be a kind of directing principle in his mind1 independent of strength of nerve and sight4 ,he and one other are the only men in whom ,i have observed this singular power4 ,this means simply the exercise in a second1 as it were1 of the tap on the bell-knob1 or the projection of the will into the proposed shot1 and which may be applied to any act4 ,gymnasts1 leapers and the like are all familiar with it4 ,it springs from resolute confidence and self-impulse enforced2 but it also creates them1 and the growth is very great and rapid when the idea is much kept before the mind4 ,in this latter lies most of the problem4 ,in ,humanity1 mind1 and especially ,forethought1 or reflection1 combined in one effort with will and energy1 enters into all acts1 though often unsuspected1 for it is a kind of unconscious reflex action or cerebration4 ,thus ,i once discovered to my astonishment in a gymnasium that the extremely mechanical action of putting up a heavy weight from the ground to the shoulder and from the shoulder to the full reach of the arm above the head1 became much easier after a little practice1 although my muscles had not grown1 nor my strength increased during the time4 ,and ,i found that whatever the exertion might be there was always some trick or knack1 however indescribable1 by means of which the man with a brain could surpass a dolt at anything1 though the latter were his equal in strength4 ,but it sometimes happens that the trick can be taught and even improved on4 ,and it is in all cases ,forethought1 even in the lifting of weights or the willing on the morrow to write a poem4 ,for this truly weird power--since the weird sisters in ,macbeth means only the sisters who foresee--is1 in fact1 the energy which projects itself in some manner1 which physiology can as yet only very weakly explain1 and even if the explanation were perfect1 it would amount in fact to no more than showing the machinery of a watch1 when the main object for us is that it should keep time1 and tell the hour1 as well as exhibit the ingenuity of the maker--which thing is very much lost sight of1 even by many very great thinkers1 misled by the vanity of showing how much they know4 ,yes1 ,foresight or ,forethought projects itself in all things1 and it is a serious consideration1 or one of such immense value1 that when really understood1 and above all subjected to some practice--such as ,i have described1 and which1 as far as ,i can see1 is necessary--one can bring it to bear intelligently on all the actions of life1 that is to say1 to much greater advantage than when we use it ignorantly1 just as a genius endowed with strength can do far more with it than an ignoramus4 ,for there is nothing requiring ,thought in which it cannot aid us4 ,i have alluded to ,poetry4 ,now this does not mean that a man can become a ,,shakespeare or ,,shelley by means of all the forethought and suggestion in the world1 but they will1 if well developed and directed1 draw out from the mystic depths of mind such talent as he has--doubtless in some or all cases more than he has ever shown4 ,no one can say what is hidden in every memory2 it is like the sounding ocean with its buried cities1 and treasures and wondrous relics of the olden time4 ,this much we may assume to know1 that every image or idea or impression whichever reached us through any of our senses entered a cell when it was ready for it1 where it sleeps or wakes1 most images being in the former condition4 ,in fact1 every brain is like a monastery of the ,middle ,ages1 or a beehive4 ,but it is built on a gigantic scale1 for it is thought that no man1 however learned or experienced he might be1 ever contrived during all his life to so much as even half fill the cells of his memory4 ,and if any reader should be apprehensive lest it come to pass with him in this age of unlimited supply of cheap knowledge that he will fill all his cells let him console himself with the reflection that it is supposed that ,nature1 in such a case1 will have a further supply of new cells ready1 she never1 as yet1 having failed in such rough hospitality1 though it often leaves much to be desired6 ,yes1 they are all there--every image of the past1 every face which ever smiled on us--the hopes and fears of bygone years--the rustling of grass and flowers and the roar of the sea--the sound of trumpets in processions grand--the voices of the great and good among mankind--or what you will4 ,every line ever read in print1 every picture and face and house is there4 ,many an experiment has shown this to be true2 also that by mesmerizing or hypnotizing processes the most hidden images or memories can be awakened4 ,in fact1 the idea has lost much of its wonder since the time of ,coleridge1 now that every sound can be recorded1 laid away and reproduced1 and we are touching closely on an age when all that lies perdu in any mind can or will be set forth visibly1 and all that a man has ever seen be shown to the world4 ,for this is no whit more wonderful than that we can convey images or pictures by telegraph1 and when ,i close my eyes and recall or imagine a form it does not seem strange that there might be some process by means of which it might be photographed4 ,and here we touch upon the ,materialization of ,thought1 which conception loses a part of the absurdity with which ,spiritualists and ,occultists have invested it1 if we regard all nature as one substance4 ,for1 in truth1 all that was ever perceived1 even to the shadow of a dream by a lunatic1 had as real an existence while it lasted as the ,pyramids of ,egypt1 else it could not have been perceived4 ,sense cannot1 even in dreams1 observe what is not for the time an effect on matter4 ,if a man imagines or makes believe to himself that he has a fairy attendant1 or a dog1 and fancies that he sees it1 that man does really see something1 though it be invisible to others4 ,there is some kind of creative brain-action going on1 some employment of atoms and forces1 and1 if this be so1 we may enter it among the ,possibilities of the ,future that the ,material in any form whatever may be advanced1 or further materialized or made real4 ,it is curious that this idea has long been familiar to believers in magic4 ,in more than one ,italian legend which ,i have collected a sorceress or goddess evolves a life from her own soul1 as a fire emits a spark4 ,in fact1 the fancy occurs in some form in all mythologies1 great or small4 ,in one old ,irish legend a wizard turns a ,thought into a watch-dog4 ,the history of genius and of ,invention is that of realizing ideas1 of making them clearer and stronger and more comprehensive4 ,thus it seems to me that the word ,forethought as generally loosely understood1 when compared to what it has been shown capable of expressing1 is almost as much advanced as if like the fairy ,,hermelina1 chronicled by ,,grosius1 it had been originally a vapor or mere fantasy1 and gradually advanced to fairy life so as to become the companion of a wizard4 ,if an artist1 say a painter1 will take forethought for a certain picture1 whether the subject be determined or not1 bringing himself to that state of easy1 assured confidence1 as a matter of course that he will retain the subject he will1 if not at the first effort1 almost certainly at last find himself possessed of it4 ,let him beware of haste1 or of forcing the work4 ,when he shall have secured suggestive ,interest let him will that ,ingenuity shall be bolder and his spirit draw from the stores of memory more abundant material4 ,thus our powers may be gradually and gently drawn into our service4 ,truly it would seem as if there were no limit to what a man can evolve out of himself if he will take ,thought thereto4 ,forethought can be of vast practical use in cases where confidence is required4 ,many a young clergyman and lawyer has been literally frightened out of a career1 and many an actor ruined for want of a very little knowledge1 and in this ,i speak from personal experience4 ,let the aspirant who is to appear in public1 or pass an examination1 and is alarmed1 base his forethought on such ideas as this1 that he would not be afraid to repeat his speech to one person or two--why should he fear a hundred8 ,there are some who can repeat this idea to themselves till it takes hold strongly1 and they rise almost feeling contempt for all in court--as did the old lady in ,saint ,louis1 who felt so relieved when a witness at not feeling frightened that she bade judge and jury cease looking at her in that impudent way4 ,having read the foregoing to a friend he asked me whether ,i believed that by ,forethought and ,suggestion a gentleman could be induced without diffidence to offer himself in marriage1 since1 as is well known1 that the most eligible young men often put off wedding for years because they cannot summon up courage to propose4 ,to which ,i replied that ,i had no great experience of such cases1 but as regarded the method ,i was like the ,scotch clergyman who1 being asked by a wealthy man if he thought that the gift of a thousand pounds to the ,kirk would save the donor's soul1 replied3 ,i'm na prepairet to preceesly answer thot question--but ,i wad vara warmly advise ye to try it4 ,it must be remembered that for the very great majority of cases1 if really not for all1 the practicer of this process must be of temperate habits1 and never attempt after a hearty meal1 or drinking freely1 to exercise ,forethought or ,self-,suggestion4 ,peaceful mental action during sleep requires that there shall be very light labor of digestion1 and disturbed or troublesome dreams are utterly incompatible with really successful results4 ,nor will a single day's temperance suffice4 ,it requires many days to bring the whole frame and constitution into good fit order4 ,here there can be no evasion1 for more than ordinary temperance in food and drink is absolutely indispensable4 ,it is a principle1 recognized by all physiologists1 that digestion and fixed thought cannot go on together2 it is even unadvisable to read while eating4 ,thus in all the old magical operations1 which were1 in fact1 self-hypnotism1 a perfect fast is insisted on with reason4 ,this is all so self-evident that ,i need not dwell on it4 ,it will be needless for anyone to take up this subject as a trifling pastime1 or attempt self-suggestion and development of will with as little earnestness as one would give to a game of cards2 for in such a half-way effort time will be lost and nothing come of it4 ,unless entered on with the most serious resolve to persevere1 and make greater effort and more earnestly at every step1 it had better be let alone4 ,all who will persevere with calm determination cannot fail ere long to gain a certain success1 and this achieved1 the second step is much easier4 ,however1 there are many people who after doing all in their power to get to the gold or diamond mines1 hasten away even when in the full tide of success1 because they are fickle--and it is precisely such people who easily tire who are most easily attracted1 be it to mesmerism1 hypnotism1 or any other wonder4 ,and they are more wearisome and greater foes to true ,science than the utterly indifferent or the ignorant4 ,this work will not have been written in vain should it induce the reader to reflect on what is implied by patient repetition or perseverance1 and what an incredible and varied power that man acquires who masters it4 ,he who can lead himself1 or others1 into a habit can do anything4 ,even ,religion is1 in fact1 nothing else4 ,religion1 said the reviewer of ,the ,evolution of the ,idea of ,god1 by ,,grant ,,allen1 he defines as ,custom or ,practice--not theory1 not theology1 not ethics1 not spiritual aspirations1 but a certain set of more or less similar observances3 propitiation1 prayer1 praise1 offerings1 the request for ,divine favors1 the deprecation of ,divine anger1 or other misfortunes--in short1 ,ritual4 ,that is to say1 it is the aggregate of the different parts of religion1 of which many take one for the whole4 ,but this aggregation was the result of earnest patience and had good results4 ,and it is by the careful analysis and all-round examination of ,ideas that we acquire valuable knowledge1 and may learn how very few there are current which are more than very superficially understood--as ,i have shown in what ,i have said of the ,will1 the ,imagination1 ,forethought1 and many other faculties which are flippantly used to explain a thousand problems by people who can hardly define the things themselves4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,will ,,and ,,character4 ,and ,i have felt ,a ,presence that disturbs me with the joy ,of elevated thoughts1 a sense sublime ,of something far more deeply interposed1 ,whose dwelling is 4 4 4 all in the mind of man2 ,a motion and a spirit that impels ,all thinking things4--,wordsworth4 ,as the vast majority of people are not agreed as to what really constitutes a ,gentleman1 while a great many seem to be practically1 at least1 very much abroad as to the nature of a ,christian1 so it will be found that1 in fact1 there is a great deal of difference as regards the ,will4 ,i have known many men1 and some women1 to be credited by others1 and who very much credited themselves1 with having iron wills1 when1 in fact1 their every deed1 which was supposed to prove it1 was based on brazen want of conscience4 ,mere want of principle or unscrupulousness passes with many1 especially its possessors1 for strong will4 ,and even decision of character itself1 as ,,maginn remarks1 is often confounded with talent4 ,a bold woman always gets the name of clever--among fools--though her intellect may be of a humble order1 and her knowledge contemptible4 ,among the vulgar1 especially those of greedy1 griping race and blood1 the children of the thief1 a robber of the widow and orphan1 the scamp of the syndicate1 and soulless promoter in ,south or ,north ,america1 bold robbery1 or ,selfishness without scruple or timidity always appears as ,will4 ,but it is not the whole of the real thing1 or real will in itself4 ,when ,,mutius ,,caius ,,scaevola thrust his hand into the flames no one would have greatly admired his endurance if it had been found that the hand was naturally insensible and felt no pain4 ,nor would there have been any plaudits for ,,marcus ,,curtius when he leapt into the gulf1 had he been so drunk as not to know what he was about4 ,the will which depends on unscrupulousness is like the benumbed hand or intoxicated soul4 ,quench conscience1 as a sense of right and obligation1 and you can1 of course1 do a great deal from which another would shrink--and therefore be called weak-minded by the fools4 ,there is another type of person who imposes on the world and on self as being strong-minded and gifted with ,will4 ,it is the imperturbable cool being1 always self-possessed1 with little sympathy for emotion4 ,in most cases such minds result from artificial training1 and they break down in real trials4 ,i do not say that they cannot weather a storm or a duel1 or stand fire1 or get through what novelists regard as superlative stage trials2 but1 in a moral crisis1 the gentleman or lady whose face is all ,corinthian brass is apt like that brass in a fire to turn pale4 ,these folk get an immense amount of undeserved admiration as having ,will or self-command1 when they owe what staying quality they have 7like the preceding class7 rather to a lack of good qualities than their inspiration4 ,there are1 alas6 not a few who regard ,will as simply identical with mere obstinacy1 or stubbornness1 the immovability of the ,ass1 or ,bull1 or ,bear--that is1 they reduce it to an animal power4 ,but1 as this often or generally amounts in animal or man to mere insensible sulkiness--as far remote as possible from enlightened mental action1 it is surely unjust to couple it with the ,voluntary or pure intelligent ,will1 by which all must understand the very acme of active ,intellect4 ,therefore it follows1 that the errors1 mistakes1 and perversions which have grown about ,will in popular opinion1 like those which have accumulated round ,christianity1 are too often mistaken for the truth4 ,pure ,will is1 and must be by its very nature1 perfectly free1 for the more it is hindered1 or hampered1 or controlled in any way1 the less is it independent volition4 ,therefore1 pare ,will1 free from all restraint can only act in1 or as1 ,moral ,law4 ,acting in accordance with very mean1 immoral1 obstinate motives is1 so to speak1 obeying as a slave the devil4 ,the purer the motive the purer the ,will1 and in very truth the purer the stronger1 or firmer4 ,every man has his own idea of ,will according to his morality--even as it is said that every man's conception of ,god is himself infinitely magnified--or1 as ,,sydney ,,smith declared1 that a certain small clergyman believed that ,saint ,paul was five feet two inches in height1 and wore a shovel-hat4 ,and here we may note that if the fundamental definition of a gentleman be a man of perfect integrity1 or one who always does simply what is right1 he is also one who possesses ,will in its integrity4 ,therefore it follows that if the pure will1 which is the basis of all firm and determined action1 be a matter of moral conviction1 it should take the first place as such4 ,napoleon the ,first was an exemplar of a selfish corrupted will1 ,,christ the perfection of ,will in its purity4 ,and if ,i can make my meaning clear1 ,i would declare that he who would create within himself a strong and vigorous will by hypnotism or any other process1 will be most likely to succeed1 if1 instead of aiming at developing a power by which he may subdue others1 and make all things yield to him1 or similar selfish aims1 he shall1 before all1 seriously reflect on how he may use it to do good4 ,for ,i am absolutely persuaded from what ,i know1 that he who makes ,altruism and the happiness of others a familiar thought to be coupled with every effort 7even as a lamb is always painted with1 or appointed unto1 ,st4 ,john71 will be the most likely to succeed4 ,there is something in moral conviction or the consciousness of right which gives a sense of security or a faith in success which goes far to secure it4 ,hence the willing the mind on the following day to be at peace1 not to yield to irritability or temptations to quarrel1 to be pleasing and cheerful2 in short to develop good qualities is the most easily effected process1 because where there is such self-moral-suasion to a good aim or end1 we feel1 and very justly1 that we ought to be aided by the ,deus in nobis1 or an over-ruling ,providence1 whatever its form or nature may be4 ,and the experimenter may be assured that if we can by any means will or exorcise all envy1 vanity1 folly1 irritability1 vindictiveness--in short all evil--out of ourselves1 and supply their place with ,love1 we shall take the most effective means to secure our own happiness1 as well as that of others4 ,all of this has been repeated very often of late years by ,altruists2 but1 while the doctrine is accepted both by ,agnostics and ,christians as perfect1 there has been little done to show men how to practically realize it4 ,but ,i have ever noted that in this ,pilgrim's ,progress of our life1 those are most likely to attain to the ,celestial ,city1 and all its golden glories1 who1 like ,,christian1 start from the lowliest beginnings2 and as the learning our letters leads to reading the greatest books1 so the simplest method of directing the attention and the most mechanical means of developing ,will1 may promptly lead to the highest mental and moral effect4 ,prayer is generally regarded as nothing else but an asking or begging from a superior power4 ,but it is also something which is really very different from this4 ,it is a formula by means of which man realizes his faith and will4 ,tradition1 and habit 7of whose power ,i have spoken7 or repetition1 have given it the influence or prestige of a charm4 ,in fact it is a spell1 he who utters it feels assured that if seriously repeated it will be listened to1 and that the ,power to whom it is addressed will hear it4 ,the ,florentines all round me as ,i write1 who repeat daily1 ,pate nostro quis in cell1 santi ficeturie nome tumme6 in words which they do not understand1 do not pray for daily bread or anything else in the formula2 they only realize that they commune with ,god1 and are being good4 ,an intelligent prayer in this light is the concentration of thought on a subject1 or a definite realization4 ,therefore if when willing that tomorrow ,i shall be calm all day or void of irritation1 ,i put the will or wish into a brief and clear form1 it will aid me to promptly realize or feel what ,i want4 ,and it will be a prayer in its reality1 addressed to the ,unknown ,power or to the ,will within us--an invocation1 or a spell1 according to the mind of him who makes it4 ,thus a seeker may repeat3 ,i will1 earnestly and deeply1 that during all tomorrow ,i may be in a calm and peaceful state of mind4 ,i will with all my heart that if irritating or annoying memories or images1 or thoughts of any kind are in any way awakened1 that they may be promptly forgotten and fade away6 ,i would advise that such a formula be got by heart till very familiar1 to be repeated1 but not mechanically1 before falling to sleeps ,what is of the very utmost importance is that the operator shall feel its meaning and at the same time give it the impulse of ,will by the dual process before described4 ,this1 if successfully achieved1 will not fail 7at least with most minds7 to induce success4 ,this formula1 or spell1 will be sufficient for some time4 ,when we feel that it is really beginning to have an effect1 we may add to it other wishes4 ,that is to say1 be it clearly understood1 that by repeating the will to be calm and peaceful1 day after day1 it will assuredly begin to come of itself1 even as a pigeon which hath been tolled every day at a certain hour to find corn or crumbs in a certain place1 will continue to go there even if the food cease4 ,however1 you may renew the first formula if you will4 ,then we may add gradually the wish to be in a bold or courageous frame of mind1 so as to face trials1 as follows3 ,i will with all my soul1 earnestly and truly1 that ,i may be on the morrow and all the day deeply inspired with courage and energy1 with self-confidence and hope6 ,may it lighten my heart and make me heedless of all annoyances and vexations which may arise6 ,should such come in my way1 may ,i hold them at no more than their real value1 or laugh them aside6 ,proceed gradually and firmly through the series1 never trying anything new1 until the old has fully succeeded4 ,this is essential1 for failure leads to discouragement4 ,then1 in time1 fully realizing all its deepest meaning1 so as to impress the ,imagination one may will as follows3 ,may my quickness of ,perception1 or ,intuition1 aid me in the business which ,i expect to undertake tomorrow4 ,i will that my faculty of grasping at details and understanding their relations shall be active4 ,may it draw from my memory the hidden things which will aid it6 ,the artist or literary man1 or poet1 may in time earnestly will to this effect3 ,i desire that my genius1 my imagination1 the power which enables man to combine and create2 the poetic 7or artist7 spirit1 whatever it be1 may act in me tomorrow1 awakening great thoughts and suggesting for them beautiful forms4 ,he who expects to appear in public as an orator1 as a lawyer pleading a case1 or as a witness1 will do much to win success1 if after careful forethought or reflecting on what it is that he really wants1 he will repeat3 ,i will that tomorrow ,i may speak or plead1 with perfect self-possession and absence of all timidity or fear6 ,finally1 we may after long and earnest reflection on all which ,i have said1 and truly not till then1 resolve on the ,masterspell to awaken the ,will itself in such a form that it will fill our soul1 as it were1 unto which intent it is necessary to understand what ,will really means to us in its purity and integrity4 ,the formula may be3 ,i will that ,i may feel inspired with the power1 aided by calm determination1 to do what ,i desire1 aided by a sense of right and justice to all4 ,may my will be strong and sustain me in all trials4 ,may it inspire that sense of independence of strength which1 allied to a pure conscience1 is the greatest source of happiness on earth6 ,if the reader can master this last1 he can by its aid progress infinitely4 ,and with the few spells which ,i have given he will need no more1 since in these lie the knowledge1 and key1 and suggestion to all which may be required4 ,now it will appear clearly to most1 that no man can long and steadily occupy himself with such pursuits1 without morally benefiting by them in his waking hours1 even if auto-hypnotism were all mere imagination1 in the most frivolous sense of the word4 ,for he who will himself not to yield to irritability1 can hardly avoid paying attention to the subject1 and thinking thereon1 check himself when vexed4 ,and as ,i have said1 what we summon by ,will ere long remains as ,habit1 even as the ,elves1 called by a spell1 remain in the ,tower4 ,therefore it is of great importance for all people who take up and pursue to any degree of success this ,art or ,science1 that they shall be actuated by moral and unselfish motives1 since achieved with any other intent the end can only be the bringing of evil and suffering into the soul4 ,for as the good by strengthening the ,will make themselves promptly better and holier1 so he who increases it merely to make others feel his power will become with it wickeder1 yea1 and thrice accursed1 for what is the greatest remedy is often the strongest poison4 ,step by step ,science has advanced of late to the declaration that man thinks all over his body1 or at least experiences those reflected sensations or emotions which are so strangely balanced between intellectual sense and sensation that we hardly know where or how to class them4 ,the sensitive plexi of our whole organism are all either isolated or thrown into simultaneous vibration when acted on by ,thought4 ,so the ,will may be found acting unconsciously as an emotion or instinct1 or developed with the highest forms of conscious reflection4 ,last of all we find it1 probably as the result of all associated functions or powers1 at the head of all1 their ,executive president4 ,but is it the exponent of correlated forces8 ,there indeed doctors differ4 ,there is a very curious ,italian verb1 ,invogliare1 which is thus described in a ,dictionary of ,idioms3 ,invogliare is to inspire a will or desire1 cupiditatem injicere a movere4 ,to invogliare anyone is to awake in him the will or the ability or capacity1 an earnest longing or appetite1 an ardent wish--alicujus rei cupiditatem a desiderium alicni movere--to bring into action a man's hankering1 solicitude1 anxiety1 yearning1 ardor1 predilection1 love1 fondness and relish1 or aught which savors of ,willing4 ,our ,english word1 ,inveigle1 is derived from it1 but we have none precisely corresponding to it which so generally sets forth the idea of inspiring a will in another person4 ,suggestion is far more general and vague4 ,now if a man could thus in-will himself to good or moral purpose1 he would assume a new position in life4 ,we all admit that most human beings have defects or faults of which they would gladly be freed 7however incorrigible they appear to be71 but they have not the patience to effect a cure1 to keep to the resolve1 or prevent it from fading out of sight4 ,for a vast proportion of all minor sins1 or those within the law1 there is no cure sought4 ,the offender says and believes1 ,it is too strong for me--and yet these small unpunished offenses cause a thousand times more suffering than all the great crimes4 ,within a generation1 owing to the great increase of population1 prosperity and personal comfort1 nervous susceptibility has also gained in extent1 but there has been no check to petty abuse of power1 selfishness1 which always comes out in some form of injustice or wrong1 or similar vexations4 ,nay1 what with the disproportionate growth of vulgar wealth1 this element has rapidly increased1 and it would really seem as if the plague must spread ad infinitum1 unless some means can be found to invogliare and inspire the offenders with a sense of their sins1 and move them to reform4 ,and it is more than probable that if all who are at heart sincerely willing to reform their morals and manners could be brought to keep their delinquencies before their consciousness in the very simple manner which ,i have indicated1 the fashion or mode might at least be inaugurated4 ,for it is not so much a moral conviction1 or an appeal to common sense1 which is needed 7as writers on ethics all seem to think71 but some practical art of keeping men up to the mark in endeavoring to reform1 or to make them remember it all day long1 since out of sight out of mind is the devil's greatest help with weak minds4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,suggestion ,,and ,,instinct4 ,anima non nascitur sed fit1 ut ait4--,,tertullianus4 ,post quam loquuti sumus de anima rationali1 intellectuali 7immortali7 et quia ad inferiores descendimus jam gradus anim1 scilicet anim mortalis qu animalium est4 --,,petrus ,,gregorius ,,tholosanus4 ,it must have struck many readers that the action of a mind under hypnotic influence1 be it of another or of self1 involves strange questions as regards ,consciousness4 ,for it is very evident from recorded facts1 that people can actually reason and act without waking consciousness1 in a state of mind which resembles instinct1 which is a kind of cerebration1 or acting under habits and impressions supplied by memory and formed by practice1 but not according to what we understand by ,reason or ,judgment4 ,all things in nature have their sleep or rest1 night is the sleep of the world1 death the repose of ,nature or ,life--the solid temples1 the great globe itself1 dissolve to awaken again2 so man hath in him1 as it were1 a company of workmen1 some of whom labor by day1 while others watch by night1 during which time they1 unseen1 have their fantastic frolics known as dreams4 ,the ,guardian or ,master of the daily hours1 appears in a great measure to conform his action closely to average duties of life1 in accordance with those of all other men4 ,he picks out from the millions of images or ideas in the memory1 uses and becomes familiar with a certain number1 and lets the rest sleep4 ,this master or active agent is probably himself a ,master-,idea--the result of the correlative action of all the others1 a kind of consensus made personal1 an elected ,queen ,bee1 as ,i have otherwise described him or her4 ,but he is not the only thinker--there are all over the body ganglions which act by a kind of fluid instinct1 born of repetition1 and when the tired master even drowses or nods1 or falls into a brown study1 then a marvelously curious mental action begins to show itself1 for dreams at once flicker and peer and steal dimly about him4 ,this is because the waking consciousness is beginning to shut out the world-- and its set of ideas4 ,so consistent is the system that even if ,waking ,reason abstract itself1 not to sleep1 but to think on one subject such as writing a poem or inventing a machine1 certain affinities will sleep or dreams begin to show themselves4 ,when ,genius is really at work1 it sweeps along1 as it were1 in a current1 albeit it has enough reason left to also use the rudder and oars1 or spread and manage a sail4 ,the reason for the greater fullness of unusual images and associations 7i4 e41 the action of genius7 during the time when one is bent on intellectual invention is that the more the waking conscious ,reason drowses or approaches to sleep1 the more do many images in ,memory awaken and begin to shyly open the doors of their cells and peep out4 ,in the dream we also proceed1 or rather drift1 loosely on a current1 but are without oars1 rudder or sail4 ,we are hurtled against1 or hurried away from the islands of ,images or ,ideas1 that is to say1 all kinds of memories1 and our course is managed or impelled1 or guided by tricky water-sprites1 whose minds are all on mischief bent or only idle merriment4 ,in any case they conduct us blindly and wildly from isle to isle1 sometimes obeying a far cry which comes to them through the mist--some echoing signal of our waking hours4 ,so in a vision ever on we go6 ,that is to say that even while we dream there is an unconscious cerebration or voluntarily exerted power loosely and irregularly imitating by habit1 something like the action of our waking hours1 especially its brown studies and fancies in drowsy reveries or play4 ,it seems to me as if this sleep-master or mistress--,i prefer the latter--who attends to our dreams may be regarded as ,instinct on the loose1 for like instinct she acts without conscious reasoning4 ,she carries out1 or realizes1 trains of thought1 or sequences with little comparison or deduction4 ,yet within her limits she can do great work1 and when we consider1 we shall find that by following mere ,law she has effected a great1 nay1 an immense1 deal1 which we attribute entirely to forethought or ,reason4 ,as all this is closely allied to the action of the mind when hypnotized1 it deserves further study4 ,now it is a wonderful reflection that as we go back in animated nature from man to insects1 we find self-conscious ,intellect or ,reason based on ,reflection disappear1 and ,instinct taking its place4 ,yet ,instinct in its marvelous results1 such as ingenuity of adaptation1 often far surpasses what semi-civilized man could do4 ,or it does the same things as man1 only in an entirely different way which is not as yet understood4 ,only from time to time some one tells a wonderful story of a bird1 a dog or a cat1 and then asks1 ,was not this reason8 ,what it was1 in a great measure1 was an unconscious application of memory or experience4 ,bees and ants and birds often far outdo savage men in ingenuity of construction4 ,the red ,indians in their persistent use of flimsy1 cheerless bark wigwams1 were far behind the beaver or oriole as regards dwellings2 in this respect the ,indian indicated mere instinct of a low order1 as all do who live in circles of mere tradition4 ,now to advance what seems a paradox1 it is evident that even what we regard as inspired genius comes to man in a great measure from ,instinct1 though as ,i noted before it is aided by reflection4 ,as the young bird listens to its mother and then sings till as a grown nightingale it pours forth a rich flood of varying melody2 so the poet or musician follows masters and models1 and then1 like them1 creates1 often progressing1 but is never entirely spontaneous or original4 ,when the artist thinks too little he lacks sense1 when he thinks too much he loses fire4 ,in the very highest and most strangely mysterious poetical flights of ,,shelley and ,,keats1 or ,,wordsworth1 ,i find the very same ,instinct which inspires the skylark and nightingale1 but more or less allied to and strengthened by ,thought or ,consciousness4 ,if human ,will or ,wisdom alone directed all our work1 then every man who had mere patience might be a great original genius1 and it is indeed true that ,man can do inconceivably more in following and imitating genius than has ever been imagined4 ,however1 thus far the talent which enables a man to write such a passage as that of ,,tennyson1 ,the tides of ,music's golden sea ,setting towards ,eternity1 results from a development of ,instinct1 or an intuitive perception of the ,beautiful1 such as ,wordsworth believed existed in all things which enjoy sunshine1 life1 and air4 ,the poet himself cannot explain the processes1 though he may be able to analyze in detail how or why he made or found a thousand other things4 ,it is not only true that ,genius originates in something antecedent to conscious reflection or intellect1 but also that men have produced marvelous works of art almost without knowing it1 while others have shown the greatest incapacity to do so after they had developed an incredible amount of knowledge4 ,thus ,mr4 ,,whistler reminded ,,ruskin that when the world had its greatest artists1 there were no critics4 ,and it is well to remember that while the ,greeks in all their glory of ,art and ,poetry were unquestionably rational or consciously intelligent1 there was not among them the thousandth part of the anxious worrying1 the sentimental self-seeking and examination1 or the ,introversion which worms itself in and out of1 and through and through1 all modern work1 action and thought1 even as mercury in an air-pump will permeate the hardest wood4 ,for the ,greeks worked more in the spirit of ,instinct2 that is1 more according to certain transmitted laws and ideas than we realize--albeit this tradition was of a very high order4 ,we have lost ,art because we have not developed tradition1 but have immensely increased consciousness1 or reflection1 out of proportion to art ,it was from ,india and ,egypt in a positive form that ,man drew the poison of sentimental ,egoism which became comparative in the ,middle ,ages and superlative in this our time4 ,it is very evident that as soon as men become self-conscious of great work1 or cease to work for the sake of enjoying ,art1 or its results1 and turn all their attention to the genius or cleverness1 or character or style1 self1 et cetera1 of the artist1 or of themselves1 a decadence sets in1 as there did after the ,renaissance1 when knowledge or enjoyment of ,art was limited1 and guided by familiarity with names and schools and manners1 or the like1 far more than by real beauty in itself4 ,now1 out of all this which ,i have said on ,art1 strange conclusions may be drawn1 the first being that even without self-conscious ,thought or excess of ,intellect1 there can be a ,sense of ,enjoyment in any or every organism1 also a further development of memory of that enjoyment1 and finally a creation of buildings1 music and song1 with no reflection1 in animals1 and very little in ,man4 ,and when ,man gets beyond working with simple ,nature and begins to think chiefly about himself1 his ,art1 as regards harmony with ,nature1 deteriorates4 ,we do not sufficiently reflect on the fact that ,natura naturans1 or the action of ,nature 7or simply following ,tradition71 may1 as is the case of ,transition ,architecture1 involve the creation of marvelously ingenious and beautiful works1 and the great enjoyment of them by ,instinct alone4 ,it is not possible for ordinary man to even understand this now in all its fullness4 ,he is indeed trying to do so--but it is too new for his comprehension4 ,but a time will come when he will perceive that his best work has been done unconsciously1 or under influences of which he was ignorant4 ,hypnotism acts entirely by suggestion1 and he who paints or does other work entirely according to ,tradition1 also carries out what is or has been suggested to him4 ,men of earlier times who thus worked for thousands of years like the ,egyptians in one style1 were guided by the faith that it had been begun by the ,creator or ,god4 ,for men cannot conceive of creation as separate from pre-determined plan or end1 and all because they cannot understand that ,creative innate force1 potentia1 must have some result1 or that the simplest ,law once set agoing awakens1 acquires strength in going and develops great ,laws1 which1 with an all-susceptible or capable material to work on1 may1 or must1 create infinite ingenuities1 so that in time there may be an organic principle with sentiency1 and yet no ,will1 save in its exponents1 or working to end or aim1 but ever tending to further unfolding a seizing and giving the fire of the living ever onwards into ,eternity1 in which there may be a million times more perfect mind than we can now grasp4 ,now1 having for many years attempted at least to familiarize myself with the aspect or sound1 of this problem1 though ,i could not solve it1 it seems at last to be natural enough that even matter 7which so many persist in regarding as a kind of dust or something resistant to the touch1 but which ,i regard as infinite millions of degrees more subtle71 may think just as well as it may act in ,instinct4 ,it is1 indeed1 absurd to admit souls to idiots or savages1 who have not the sense to live as comfortably as many animals1 and yet deny it to the latter4 ,when we really become familiar with the idea1 it appears sensible enough4 ,but its opponents do not become familiar with it1 it irritates them1 they call it ,atheistic1 although it is nothing of the kind1 just as if we were to say that a man who bravely and nobly pursued his way in life1 doing his duty because it was his duty1 and giving no thought as to future reward or punishment1 must needs want soul or be an ,atheist4 ,if all men were perfectly good1 they would act morally and instinctively1 without consciousness of behaving well1 and if we felt a high ideal of ,art it would be just the same4 ,when ,art was natural men never signed their names to their work1 but now the ,name takes precedence of the picture4 ,therefore1 as we go backward into the night of things1 we find1 though we forget it all the time1 that ,instinct or the living in the ,spirit of ,law1 had its stars or planets which shone more brilliantly than now1 at least in ,faith4 ,thus1 there are two sources of ,creation or ,action1 both based on ,evolution1 one being unconscious and guided by ,natural ,law1 and the other which is conscious and grows out of the first4 ,hence cognito ergo sum1 which well-nigh all men really understand as cogito1 ergo sum ,deus4 ,or we may say that they assume ,because ,i think1 then ,god must think like me6 ,now to come to ,hypnotic thought1 or suggested mental action4 ,i would infer that1 according to what ,i have said1 there may be two kinds of mentality1 or working of the mind--the one under certain conditions as effective or resultant as the other2 the first being--as it was in the order of time--,unconscious or ,instinctive2 the other1 conscious and self-observant4 ,for the man who built a ,romanesque ,cathedral worked by the suggestiveness of minds which went before him1 or ,tradition4 ,he was truly1 as it were1 in a kind of slumber2 indeed1 all life was more or less of a waking dream in those dim1 strange days4 ,millions marched forth to death scarce knowing why1 all because they were told to do so--they felt that they must do it1 and they did it4 ,like turkeys led by a red rag1 says ,,carlyle4 ,and the red rag and the turkey is an illustration of ,hypnotism in one of the books thereon4 ,instinct is ,hypnotism4 ,now ,i have found that by suggesting to oneself before sleep1 or inducing self by ,will or ,forethought to work gladly and unweariedly the next day1 we do not think about self or the quality of what we do to any degree like what we would in working under ordinary conditions4 ,truly it is not thoroughgoing or infallible in all cases1 but then it must be helped by a little wide-awake self-conscious will4 ,but this is certainly true1 that we can turn out better work when we urge our creative power to awake in the morn and act or aid1 than if we do not4 ,for there are many angels at our call1 ,and many blessed spirits who are bound ,to lend their aid in every strait and turn2 ,and elves to fly the errands of the soul1 ,and fairies all too glad to give us help1 ,if we but know how to pronounce the spell ,which calls them unto us in every need4 ,that spell ,i have shown or explained clearly enough4 ,and1 finally1 to recapitulate1 ,instinct in its earlier or simpler form is the following laws of ,nature which are themselves formed by motive laws4 ,in ,man the living according to ,tradition is instinct of a higher order1 and the one or the other is merely being ruled by ,suggestion4 ,the more free ,will is developed and guided by reflection1 or varied tradition and experience1 the less instinct and the more intellect will there be4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,memory ,,culture4 ',twas wisely said by ,plato1 when he called ,memory the mother of the ,intellect1 ,for knowledge is to wisdom what his realm ,is to a monarch--that o'er which he rules2 ,and he who hath the ,will can ever win ,such empire to himself--,will can do all4 ,there is nothing in which the might of the ,will can be so clearly set forth as in the making of memory4 ,by means of it1 as is fully proved by millions of examples1 man can render his power of recollection almost infinite4 ,and lest the reader may think that ,i here exaggerate1 ,i distinctly assert that ,i never knew a man of science1 familiar with certain facts which ,i shall repeat1 who ever denied its literal truth4 ,as ,i have already stated1 there are two methods1 and only two1 by means of which we can retain images1 facts or ideas4 ,one of these is that which in many varied forms1 which are all the same in fact1 is described in the old ,artes ,memorandi1 or ,arts of ,memory4 ,there are several hundreds of these1 and to the present day there are professors who give instructions according to systems of the same kind4 ,these are all extremely plausible1 being based on ,association of ideas1 and in most cases the pupil makes great progress for a short time4 ,thus1 we can remember the ,french for bread1 pain1 ,italian ,pane1 by thinking of the pan in which bread is baked1 or the difficult name of the inventor1 ,,ssczepanik 7pronounced nearly she-panic7 by thinking of a crowd of frightened women1 and which ,i remembered by the fact that pane is the ,slavonian for ,mr4 or ,sir4 ,for there is such a tendency of ideas to agglutinate1 and so become more prominent1 as we can see two bubbles together in a pool more readily than one that we can very soon learn to recall many images in this way4 ,but after a time a certain limit is reached which most minds cannot transgress4 ,,volapuk was easy so long as1 like ,pidgin-,english1 it contained only a few hundred words and no grammar4 ,but now that it has a dictionary of #d1jjj terms and a complete grammar it is as hard to learn as ,spanish4 ,it invariably comes to pass in learning to remember by the ,associative method that after a time images are referred to images1 and these to others again1 so that they form entire categories in which the most vigorous mind gets lost4 ,the other method is that of direct ,memory guided by ,will1 in which no regard is paid to ,association1 especially in the beginning4 ,thus to remember anything1 or rather to learn how to do so1 we take something which is very easy to retain--the easier the better--be it a jingling nursery rhyme1 a proverb1 or a text4 ,let this be learned to perfection1 backwards and forwards1 or by permutation of words1 and repeated the next day4 ,note that the repetition or reviewing is of more importance than aught else4 ,on the second day add another proverb or verse to the preceding1 and so on1 day by day1 always reviewing and never learning another syllable until you are sure that you perfectly or most familiarly retain all which you have memorized4 ,the result will be1 if you persevere1 that before long you will begin to find it easier to remember anything4 ,this is markedly the case as regards the practice of reviewing1 which is invariably hard at first1 but which becomes ere long habitual and then easy4 ,i cannot impress it too vividly on the mind of the reader1 that he cannot make his exercises too easy4 ,if he finds that ten lines a day are too much1 let him reduce them to five1 or two1 or one1 or even a single word1 but learn that1 and persevere4 ,when the memory begins to improve under this process1 the tasks may1 of course1 be gradually increased4 ,an uncle of the present ,khedive of ,egypt told me that when he was learning ,english1 he at first committed to memory fifty words a day1 but soon felt himself compelled to very much reduce the number in order to permanently remember what he acquired4 ,one should never overdrive a willing horse4 ,where there is a teacher with youthful pupils1 he can greatly aid the process of mere memorizing1 by explaining the text1 putting questions as to its meaning1 or otherwise awaking an interest in it4 ,after a time the pupils may proceed to verbal memorizing1 which consists of having the text simply read or repeated to them4 ,in this way1 after a year or eighteen months of practice1 most people can actually remember a sermon or lecture1 word for word4 ,this was the process which was discovered1 ,i may say simultaneously1 by ,,david ,,kay and myself1 as our books upon it appeared at almost the same time4 ,but since then ,i have modified my plan1 and made it infinitely easier1 and far more valuable1 as will be apparent to all1 by the application of the principles laid down in this book4 ,for while1 according to the original views1 ,memory depended on ,will and ,perseverance1 there was no method indicated by any writer how these were to be created1 nor was energetic ,forethought considered as amounting to more than mere ,intention4 ,now ,i would say that having the task selected1 first give energetic forethought1 or a considerate determination to master this should precede all attempts to learn1 by everybody1 young or old4 ,and when the lesson is mastered1 let it be repeated with earnestness and serious attention before going to sleep1 with the ,will that it shall be remembered on the morrow4 ,and it will be found that this process not only secures the memory desired1 but also greatly facilitates the whole course and process4 ,it is to be noted that by this1 or any process1 we do not remember everything1 but only what is first considered and measured by ,forethought4 ,also that by it the ,memory is never overcharged at the expense of ,intellect1 for the exertion of will in any way strengthens the mind4 ,to explain the immense power which this all implies1 ,i observe3 ,that previous to the invention of printing1 it was usual for students to get their text-books by heart4 ,thus in ,india1 according to ,,max ,,muller1 the entire text and glosses of ,,panini',s ,sanskrit grammar were handed down orally for #cej years before being committed to writing4 ,this work is about equal in size to the ,bible4 ,there are ,indian priests now living who can repeat accurately the whole poems of the ,mahabarata of #cjj1jjj slokas or lines4 ,that these incredible feats were the result of a system of memorizing similar to what ,i have explained4 ,that the ,guzlas or ,slavonian minstrels of the present day have by heart with remarkable accuracy immensely long epic poems4 ,i have found the same among ,algonkin ,indians1 whose sagas or mythic legends are interminable1 and yet are committed word by word accurately4 ,i have heard in ,england of a lady ninety years of age whose memory was miraculous1 and of which extraordinary instances are narrated by her friends4 ,she attributed it to the fact that when young she had been made to learn a verse from the ,bible every day1 and then constantly review it4 ,as her memory improved1 she learned more1 the result being that in the end she could repeat from memory any verse or chapter called for in the whole ,scripture4 ,the habit had marvelously developed her intelligence as well as memory4 ,now ,i confidently declare that if this lady had submitted what she learned to the suggestive-will process she could have spared herself half the labor4 ,and it is to be observed that as in time the labor of reviewing and the faculty of promptly recalling becomes easier and easier till it is simply mechanical1 so the memorizing by suggestion becomes more facile until it is1 so to speak1 only a form4 ,and as it becomes easier the foresight strengthens till it wields an absolute power4 ,if the reader is interested in this subject of developing the memory1 ,i would refer him to my work on ,practical ,education in which it is discussed with reference to recalling objects through all the ,senses4 ,no one who has made even a very slight trial of the process of impressing on the mind before sleep something which must be remembered1 can fail to be convinced ere long of the truth that there is in it a marvelous power which will with easy and continued practice enable him to recall whatever he pleases4 ,it follows as a matter of course1 that this would be of incredible value in education1 but notwithstanding the vast discussion of this subject which is ever going on1 it does not seem to occur to a living man that we should develop and train the mental faculties1 such as memory and quickness of perception1 as well as set them to hard work4 ,it is also safe to say that there is not a man living who was educated from boyhood upon this principle1 and yet ,i am confident that no scientist in existence1 knowing the facts on which my statement is based1 will deny that it is as easy to develop the mental factors alluded to1 as to learn a language or play on the piano4 ,it is not a matter of theory but of facts4 ,millions of men have in the past acquired the faculty of being able to repeat and remember whatever they heard1 if they earnestly attended to it4 ,earnest attention in this case means a strong exercise of forethought1 or determination to an end or given purpose4 ,in ,iceland1 that which has since become the ,english common law1 was at an early date very fully developed1 without any books or writing4 ,and there were lawyers who had by heart all the laws1 and incredible numbers of precedents1 as appears from several sagas1 among others1 that of ,the ,burnt ,njall4 ,our present system of ,education is that of building houses without foundations4 ,no one suspects or dreams what mighty powers there are latent in us all1 or how easily they may be developed4 ,it would not be so reprehensible if men entirely neglected the subject1 but they are always working hard and spending millions on the old system1 and will not even make the least experiment to test a new theory4 ,one reason for this is the old belief that we are all born with a certain quantum of gifts1 as for example memory1 capacity1 patience1 et cetera1 all more or less limited1 and in reality not to be enlarged or improved4 ,the idea is natural1 because we see that there are very great differences1 hereditary or otherwise1 in children4 ,but it is false4 ,so we go to work to fill up the quantum of memory as soon as possible by violent cramming1 and in like manner tax to the utmost all the mental faculties without making the least effort to prepare1 enlarge or strengthen them4 ,i shall not live to see it1 but a time will come when this preparation of the mental faculties will be regarded as the basis of all education4 ,to recapitulate in a few words4 ,when we desire to fix anything in the memory we can do so by repeating it to ourselves before we go to sleep1 accompanying it with the resolution to remember it in future4 ,we must not in the beginning set ourselves any but very easy tasks1 and the practice must be steadily continued4 ,it has been often said that a perfect memory is less of a blessing than the power of oblivion4 ,thus ,,themistocles 7who1 according to ,,cato1 as cited by ,,cicero1 knew the names and faces of every man in ,athens7 having offered to teach some one the art of memory1 received for reply1 ,rather teach me how to forget--esse facturum si se oblivisci qu vellet1 quam si meminisse docuisset4 ,and ,,claudius had such an enviable power in the latter respect that immediately after he had put to death his wife ,,messalina1 he forgot all about it1 asking1 ,cur domina non veniret8--,why the ,missus didn't come8--while on the following day1 after condemning several friends to death1 he sent invitations to them to come and dine with him4 ,and again1 there are people who have1 as it were1 two memories1 one good1 the other bad1 as was the case with ,,calvisius ,,sabrinus1 who could recall anything in literature1 but never remembered the names of his own servants1 or even his friends4 ,but he got over the difficulty by naming his nine attendants after the nine ,muses1 while he called his intimates ,homer1 ,hesiod1 and so on4 ,this scholar would truly seem to have drunk of the two fountains sacred to ,trophonius1 by the river ,orchomenus in ,boeotia1 one of which bestowed memory and the other oblivion4 ,and like unto them is the power of the ,will1 aided by ,forethought and ,suggestion1 for while it properly directs and aids us to remember what we will1 it per contra also helps us to forget4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,the ,,constructive ,,faculties4 ,he who hath learned a single art1 ,can thrive1 ,i ween1 in any part4 --,german ,proverb4 ,he would have taught you how you might employ ,yourself2 and many did to him repair1 ,and1 certes1 not in vain2 he had inventions rare4 --,,wordsworth4 ,when ,i had1 after many years of study and research in ,england and on the ,continent1 developed the theory that all practical1 technical education of youth should be preceded by a light or easy training on an sthetic basis1 or the minor arts1 ,i for four years1 to test the scheme1 was engaged in teaching in the city of ,philadelphia1 every week in separate classes1 two hundred children1 besides a number of ladies4 ,these were from the public schools of the city4 ,the total number of these public pupils was then #aaj1jjj4 ,my pupils were taught1 firstly1 simple outline decorative design with drawing at the same time2 after this1 according to sex1 easy embroidery1 wood carving1 modeling in clay1 leather-work1 carpentering1 inlaying1 repouss modeling in clay1 porcelain painting1 and other small arts4 ,nearly all of the pupils1 who were from ten to sixteen years of age1 acquired two or three1 if not all1 of these arts1 and then very easily found employment in factories or fabrics1 etc4 ,many people believed that this was all waste of money and time1 and1 quite unknown to me1 at their instigation an inquiry was made of all the teachers in the public schools as to the standing of my art pupils in their other classes1 it being confidently anticipated that they would be found to have fallen behind4 ,and the result of the investigation was that the two hundred were in advance of the one hundred and ten thousand in every branch--geography1 arithmetic1 history1 and so on4 ,it was not remarkable1 because boys and girls who had1 at an average age of twelve or thirteen1 learned the principles of design and its practical application to several kinds of handiwork1 and knew the differences and characteristics of ,gothic1 ,arabesque1 or ,greek patterns1 all developed a far greater intelligence in general thought and conversation than others4 ,they had at least one topic on which they could converse intelligently with any grown-up person1 and in which they were really superior to most4 ,they soon found this out4 ,i have often been astonished in listening to their conversation among themselves to hear how well they discussed art4 ,they all well knew at least one thing1 which is far from being known among sthetes in ,london1 which is that in ,decorative ,art1 however you may end in all kinds of mixtures of styles1 you must at least begin with organic development1 and not put roots or flowers at both ends of a branch or vine4 ,the secret of it all is that those who from an early age develop the constructive faculty 7especially if this be done in a pleasing1 easy manner1 with agreeable work7 also develop with it the ,intellect1 and that very rapidly to a very remarkable degree4 ,there are reasons for this4 ,drawing when properly taught stimulates visual perception or eye memory2 this is strikingly the case when the pupil has a model placed in one room1 and1 after studying it1 goes into another room to reproduce it from memory4 ,original design1 which when properly taught is learned with incredible ease by all children1 stimulates observation to a remarkable degree4 ,the result of such education is to develop a great general quickness of perception and thought4 ,now1 be it observed1 that if anyone desires to learn design or any art1 it may be greatly facilitated by the application to it of ,will and ,foresight1 and in the beginning1 ,self-,suggestion4 ,he who understands the three as one1 sees in it a higher or more energetic kind of self-discipline than most people practise4 ,in the end they come to the same as a vigorous effort of the ,will4 ,thus1 having mastered the very easy principles of design which govern all organic development or vegetable growth 7as set forth in a plant with roots1 offshoots1 or crochets1 and end ornaments1 flowers1 or finials1 with the circle1 spiral1 and offshooting ornaments2 rings made into vines and wave patterns2 all of which can be understood in an hour with diagrams71 let the beginner attempt a design1 the simpler the better1 and reproduce it from memory4 ,if on going to bed he will impress it on his mind that on the morrow he would like to make more designs1 or that it must be done1 he will probably feel the impulse and succeed4 ,this is the more likely because patterns impress themselves very vividly on the memory or imagination1 and when studied are easily recalled after a little practice4 ,the manner in which most artists form an idea1 or project their minds to a plan or invention1 be it a statue or picture2 and the way they think it over and anticipate it--very often actually seeing the picture in a finished state in imagination--all amounts to foresight and hypnotic preparation in a crude1 imperfect form4 ,if any artist who is gifted with resolution and perseverance will simply make trial of the method here recommended1 he will assuredly find that it is a great aid to ,invention4 ,it is probable that half the general average cleverness of men is due to their having learned1 as boys1 games1 or the art of making something1 or mending and repairing4 ,in any case1 if they had learned to use their hands and their inventiveness or adaptability1 they would have been the better for it4 ,that the innumerable multitude of people who can do nothing of the kind1 and who take no real interest in anything except spending money and gossiping1 are to be really pitied1 is true4 ,some of them once had minds--and these are the most pitiful or pitiable of all4 ,it is to be regretted that novels are1 with rare exceptions1 written to amuse this class1 and limit themselves strictly to life1 never describing with real skill1 so as to interest anything which would make life worth living for--except love--which is good to a certain extent1 but not absolutely all in all1 save to the eroto-maniac4 ,and as most novelists now pretend to instruct and convey ideas1 beyond mere story-telling1 or even being interesting1 which means the love or detective business1 ,i would suggest to some of these writers that the marvelous latent powers of the human mind1 and also some art which does not consist of the names and guide-book praises of a few great painters and the ,renaissance rechauffe would be a refreshing novelty4 ,the ancient ,romans were thoroughly persuaded that ,exercitatione et usu 7by exercising the physical faculties in every way2 by which they meant arts as well as gymnastics2 and by making such practice habitual7 they could develop intellect1 in illustration of which ,lycurgus once took two puppies of the same litter1 and had the one brought up to hunt1 while the other was nursed at home in all luxury2 and when grown1 and let loose1 the one caught a hare1 while the other yelped and ran away4 ,so the word handy1 in old ,english hend1 meaning quick1 alert1 or gifted with prompt perception1 is derived from knowing how to use the hands4 ,,brusonius 7,faceti1 ,lyons1 #aefb7 has collected a great number of classic anecdotes to illustrate this saying4 ,recapitulation4 ,those who desire to become artists1 can greatly facilitate their work1 if beginning for example with very simple outline decorative designs1 and having learned the principles on which they are constructed1 they would repeat or revise them to themselves before sleep1 resolving to remember them4 ,the same principle is applicable to all kinds of designs1 with the proviso that they be at first very easy4 ,this is generally a very successful process4 ,fore thought1 or the projection of conception or attention with will1 is a marvelous preparation for all kinds of art work4 ,he who can form the habit of seeing a picture mentally before he paints it1 has an incredible advantage1 and will spare himself much labor and painting out4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,fascination4 ,qurit ,franciscus ,valesius1 ,delrio1 ,gutierrus1 et alii1 unde vulgaris ilia fascini nata sit opinio de oculo fascinante visione et ore fascinando laudando4--,de ,faseinatione ,fatatus4 ,a4 ,d4 #afgg4 ,i have in ,chapter ,fifth mentioned several of the subjects to attain which the ,will may be directed by the aid of self-hypnotism1 preceded by ,forethought4 ,if the reader has carefully studied what ,i have said and not merely skimmed it1 he must have perceived that if the power be fully acquired1 it makes1 as it were1 new existence for its possessor1 opening to him boundless fields of action by giving him the enviable power to acquire interest--that is to say agreeable or profitable occupation--in whatever he pleases4 ,in further illustration of which ,i add the following3 ,to recall bygone memories or imperfectly remembered sensations1 scenes and experiences or images4 ,this is a difficult thing to describe1 and no wonder1 since it forms the greatest and most trying task of all poets to depict that which really depends for its charm on association1 emotion and a chiaroscuro of the feelings4 ,we have all delightful reminiscences which make ridiculous ,dante's assertion that ,there is no greater grief than to recall in pain ,the happy days gone by2 which1 if true1 would make it a matter of regret that we ever had a happy hour4 ,however1 ,i assume that it is a great pleasure to recall1 even in grief1 beautiful bygone scenes and joys1 and trust that the reader has a mind healthy and cheerful enough to do the same4 ,what constitutes a charm in many memories is often extremely varied4 ,darkly shaded rooms with shutters closed in on an intensely hot ,american summer day4 ,chinese matting on the floors--the mirrors and picture frames covered with tulle--silence--the scent of magnolias all over the house--the presence of loved ones now long dead and gone--all of these combined form to me memory-pictures in which nothing can be spared4 ,the very scent of the flowers is like musk in a perfume or bouquet of odors--it fixes them well1 or renders them permanent4 ,and it is all like a beautiful vivid dream4 ,if ,i had my life to live over again ,i would do frequently and with great care1 what ,i thought of too late1 and now practice feebly--,i would strongly impress on my mind and very often recall1 many such scenes1 pictures1 times or memories4 ,very few people do this4 ,hence in all novels and poems1 especially the ,french1 description generally smacks of imitation and mere manufacture4 ,it passes for beautiful writing1 but there is always something in really unaffected truth from nature which is caught by the true critic4 ,i read lately a ,french romance which is much admired1 of this manufactured or second-hand kind4 ,every third page was filled with the usual botany1 rocks1 skies1 colors1 fore and backgrounds--all very fine--but in the whole of it not one of those little touches of truth which stir us so in ,,shakespeare1 make us smile in ,,herrick or nave ,,pepys1 or raise our hearts in ,,wordsworth4 ,these were true men4 ,to be true we must be far more familiar with ,nature than with scene painting or photographs1 and to do this we must1 so to speak1 fascinate ourselves with pictures in life1 glad memories of golden hours1 rock and river and greenwood tree4 ,we must also banish resolutely from our past all recollections of enemies and wrongs1 troubles and trials1 and throw all our heart into doing so4 ,forgive and forget all enmities--those of ,misfortune and ,fate being included4 ,depend upon it that the brighter you can make your ,past the pleasanter will be your ,future4 ,this is just the opposite to what most people do1 hence the frequent and fond quotation of pessimistic poetry4 ,it is all folly1 and worse4 ,one result is that in modern books of travel the only truthful or vivid descriptions are of sufferings of all kinds1 even down to inferior luncheons and lost hair brushes4 ,their joys they sketch with an indifferent skill1 like ,,heine',s monk1 who made rather a poor description of ,heaven1 but was gifted in ,hell1 which he depicted with dreadful vigor4 ,i find it a great aid to recall what ,i can of bygone beautiful associations1 and then sleep on them with a resolve that they shall recur in complete condition4 ,he who will thus resolutely clean up his past life and clear away from it all sorrow as well as he can1 and refurnish it with beautiful memories1 or make it better1 cote que cote1 will do himself more good than many a doleful moral adviser ever dreamed of4 ,this is what ,i mean by self-fascination--the making1 as it were1 by magic art1 one's own past and self more charming than we ever deemed it possible to be4 ,we thus fascinate ourselves4 ,those who believe that everything which is bygone has gone to the devil are in a wretched error4 ,the future is based on the past--yes1 made from it1 and that which was never dies1 but returns to bless or grieve4 ,we mostly wrong our past bitterly1 and bitterly does it revenge itself4 ,but it is like the lion of ,,androcles1 it remembers those who treat it kindly4 ,and lo6 when ,,androcles was thrown to the lion to be devoured1 the beast lay down at his feet1 and licked his hands4 ,yes1 we have all our lions6 ,to master difficult meanings4 ,it has often befallen me1 when ,i was at the ,university1 or later when studying law1 to exert my mind to grasp1 and all in vain1 some problem in mathematics or a puzzling legal question1 or even to remember some refractory word in a foreign language which would not remain in the memory4 ,after a certain amount of effort in many of these cases1 further exertion is injurious1 the mind or receptive power seems to be seized--as if nauseated--with spasmodic rejections4 ,in such a case pass the question by1 but on going to bed1 think it over and will to understand it on the morrow4 ,it will often suffice to merely desire that it shall recur in more intelligible form--in which case1 nota bene--if let alone it will obey4 ,this is as if we had a call to make tomorrow1 when1 as we know1 the memory will come at its right time of itself1 especially if we employ ,forethought or special pressure4 ,when ,i reflect on what ,i once endured from this cause1 and how greatly it could have been relieved or alleviated1 ,i feel as if ,i could beg1 with all my heart1 every student or teacher of youth to seriously experiment on what ,i set forth in this book4 ,it is also to be observed1 especially by metaphysicians and mental philosophers1 that a youth who has shown great indifference to1 let us say mathematics1 if he has manifested an aptitude for philosophy or languages1 will be in all cases certain to excel in the former1 if he can be brought to make a good beginning in it4 ,a great many cases of bad1 i4 e41 indifferent scholarship1 are due to bad teaching of the rudiments by adults who took no interest in their pupils1 and therefore inspired none4 ,to determine what course to follow in any ,emergency4 ,many a man often wishes with all his heart that he had some wise friend to consult in his perplexities4 ,what to do in a business trouble when we are certain that there is an exit if we could only find it--a sure way to tame an unruly horse if we had the secret--to do or not to do whate'er the question--truly all this causes great trouble in life4 ,but1 it is within the power of man to be his own friend1 yes1 and companion1 to a degree of which none have ever dreamed1 and which borders on the weird1 or that which forebodes or suggests mysteries to come4 ,for it may come to pass that he who has trained himself to it1 may commune with his spirit as with a companion4 ,this is1 of course1 done by just setting the problem1 or question1 or dilemma1 before ourselves as clearly as we can1 so as to know our own minds as well as possible4 ,this done1 sleep on it1 with the resolute will to have it recur on the morrow in a clear and solved form4 ,and should this occur1 do not proceed to pull it to pieces again1 by way of improvement1 but rather submit it to another night's rest4 ,i would here say that many lawyers and judges are perfectly familiar with this process1 and use it habitually1 without being aware of its connection with hypnotism or will4 ,but they could aid it1 if they would add this peculiar impulse to the action4 ,what ,i will now discuss approaches the miraculous1 or seems to do so because it has been attempted or treated in manifold ways by sorcerers and witches4 ,the ,voodoos1 or black wizards in ,america1 profess to be able to awaken love in one person for another by means of incantations1 but admit that it is the most difficult of their feats4 ,nor do ,i think that there is any infallible recipe for it1 but that there are means of honestly aiding such affection can hardly be denied4 ,in the first place1 he who would be loved must love--for that is no honest love which is not sincere4 ,and having thus inspired himself1 and made himself as familiar as possible1 by quietly observing as dispassionately as may be all the mental characteristics of the one loved1 let him with an earnest desire to know how to secure a return1 go to sleep1 and see whether the next day will bring a suggestion4 ,and as the old proverb declares that luck comes to many when least hoped for1 so will it often happen that forethought is thus fore-bought or secured4 ,it is known that gifts pass between friends or lovers1 to cause the receiver to think of the giver1 thus they are in a sense amulets4 ,if we believe1 as ,,heine prettily suggests1 that something of the life or the being of the owner or wearer has passed into the talisman1 we are not far off from the suggestion that our feelings are allied4 ,all over ,italy1 or over the world1 pebbles of precious stone1 flint or amber1 rough topaz or agate1 are esteemed as lucky2 all things of the kind lead to suggestiveness1 and may be employed in suggestion4 ,what was originally known as ,fascination1 of which the ,german1 ,,fromann1 wrote a very large volume which ,i possess1 is simply ,hypnotism without the putting to sleep4 ,it is direct ,suggestion4 ,where there is a natural sympathy of like to like1 soul answering soul1 such suggestion is easily established4 ,among people of a common1 average1 worldly type who are habitually sarcastic1 jeering1 chaffing1 and trifling1 or those whose idea of genial or agreeable companionship is to get a rise out of all who will give and take irritations equally1 there can be no sympathy of gentle or refined emotions4 ,experiments1 whose whole nature presupposes earnest thought1 cannot be tried with any success by those who live habitually in an atmosphere of small talk and rubbishy associations4 ,fascination should be mutual2 to attempt to exert it on anyone who is not naturally in sympathy is a crime1 and ,i believe that all such cases lead to suffering and remorse4 ,but where we perceive that there is an undoubted mutual liking and good reason for it1 fascination1 when perfectly understood and sympathetically used1 facilitates and increases love and friendship1 and may be most worthily and advantageously employed4 ,unto anyone who could1 for example1 merely skim over all that ,i have written1 catching an idea here and there1 and then expect to master all1 ,i can clearly say that ,i can give him or her no definite idea of fascination4 ,for ,fascination really is effectively what the old philosophers1 who had given immense study and research to the subject in ages when susceptibility to suggestiveness went far beyond anything now known1 all knew and declared2 that is to say1 it existed1 but that it required a peculiar mind1 and very certainly one which is not frivolous1 to understand its nature1 and much more to master it4 ,he who has by foresight1 or previous consideration of a subject or desire1 allied to a vigorous resolution 7which is a kind of projection of the mind by will--and then submitting it to sleep71 learned how to bring about a wished-for state of mind1 has1 in a curious manner1 made as it were of his hidden self a conquest yet a friend4 ,he has brought to life within himself a ,spirit1 gifted with greater powers than those possessed by ,conscious ,intellect4 ,by his astonishing and unsuspected latent power1 ,man can imagine and then create1 even a spirit within the soul4 ,we make at first the sketch1 then model it in clay1 then cast it in gypsum1 and finally sculpture it in marble4 ,i read lately1 in a ,french novel1 a description of a young lady1 by herself1 in which she assumed to have within her two souls1 one good1 of which she evidently thought very little1 and another brilliantly diabolical1 capricious1 vividly dramatic and interesting esprit--to which she gave a great deal of attention4 ,he who will begin by merely imagining that he has within him a spirit of beauty and light1 which is to subdue and extinguish the other or all that is in him of what is low1 commonplace1 and mean1 may bring this idea to exert a marvelous influence4 ,he can increase the conception1 and give it reality1 by treating it with forethought and will1 by suggestion1 until it gives marvellous result4 ,this better self may be regarded as a guardian angel1 in any case it is a power by means of which we can learn mysteries4 ,it is also our ,conscience1 born of the perception of ,ideals4 ,the ,ideal or ,spirit thus evolved should be morally pure1 else the experimenter will find1 as did the magicians of old1 that all who dealt with any but good spirits1 fell into the hands of devils1 just as ,,allan ,,kardec says is the case with ,spiritualists4 ,but to speak as clearly as ,i can1 he who succeeds in winning or creating a higher ,self within himself1 and fascinating it by sympathy1 will find that he has1 within moral limits1 a strange power of fascinating those who are in sympathy with him4 ,whereupon many will say of course4 ,like and like together strike4 ,birds of a feather flock together4 ,similis similibus4 ,but it often happens in this life1 though they meet they do not pair off4 ,very often indeed they meet1 but to part4 ,there must be1 even where the affinity exists1 consideration and forethought to test the affinity4 ,it requires long practice even for keen eyes to recognize the amethyst or topaz1 or many other gems1 in their natural state as sea-worn pebbles4 ,now1 it is not a matter of fancy1 of romance1 or imagination1 that there are men and women who really have1 deeply hidden in their souls1 or more objectively manifested1 peculiar or beautiful characteristics1 or a spirit4 ,i would not speak here merely of navet or tenderness--a natural affinity for poetry1 art1 or beauty1 but the peculiar tone and manner of it1 which is sympathetic to ours4 ,for two people may love music1 yet be widely removed from all agreement if one be a ,wagnerian1 and the other of an older school4 ,suffice it to say that such similarities of mind or mood1 of intellect or emotion do exist1 and when they are real1 and not imaginary1 or merely the result of passional attraction1 they suggest and may well attract the use of ,fascination4 ,those who actually develop within themselves such a spirit1 regarding it as one1 that is a self beyond self1 attain to a power which few understand1 which is practical1 positive1 and real1 and not at all a superstitious fancy4 ,it may begin in imagining or fancy1 but as the veriest dream is material and may be repeated till we see it visibly and can then copy it1 so can we create in ourselves a being1 a segregation of our noblest thoughts1 a superb abstraction of soul which looks from its sunny mountain height down on the dark and noisome valley which forms our worldly common intellect or mind1 or the only one known to by far the majority of mankind1 albeit they may have therein glimpses of light and truth4 ,but it is to him who makes for himself1 by earnest ,will and ,thought1 a separate and better ,life or ,self that a better life is given4 ,those who possess genius or peculiarly cultivated minds of a highly moral caste1 gifted with pure integrity1 and above vulgarity and worldly commonplace habits1 should never form a tie in friendship or love without much forethought4 ,and then if the active agent has disciplined his mind by self-hypnotism until he can control or manage his ,will with ease1 he will know without further instruction how to fascinate1 and that properly and legitimately4 ,those who now acquire this power are few and far between1 and when they really possess it they make no boast nor parade1 but rather keep it carefully to themselves1 perfectly content with what it yields for reward4 ,and here ,i may declare something in which ,i firmly believe1 yet which very few ,i fear will understand as ,i mean it4 ,if this fascination and other faculties like it may be called ,magical 7albeit all is within the limits of science and matter71 then there are assuredly in this world magicians whom we meet without dreaming that they are such4 ,here and there1 however rare1 there is mortal who has studied deeply--but ,softened all and tempered into beauty2 ,and blended with lone thoughts and wanderings1 ,the quest of hidden knowledge1 and a mind ,to love the universe4 ,such beings do not come before the world1 but hide their lights1 knowing well that their magic would defeat itself1 and perish if it were made common4 ,any person of the average worldly cast who could work any miracles1 however small1 would in the end bitterly regret it if he allowed it to be known4 ,thus ,i have read ingenious stories1 as for instance one by ,,hood1 showing what terrible troubles a man fell into by being able to make himself invisible4 ,also another setting forth the miseries of a successful alchemist4 ,the ,algonkin ,indians have a legend of a man who came to grief and death through his power of making all girls love him4 ,but the magic of which ,i speak is of a far more subtle and deeply refined nature1 and those who possess it are alone in life1 save when by some rare chance they meet their kind4 ,those who are deeply and mysteriously interested in any pursuit for which the great multitude of all-alike people have no sympathy1 who have peculiar studies and subjects of thought1 partake a little of the nature of the magus4 ,magic1 as popularly understood1 has no existence1 it is a literal myth--for it means nothing but what amazes or amuses for a short time4 ,no miracle would be one if it became common4 ,nature is infinite1 therefore its laws cannot be violated--ergo1 there is no magic if we mean by that an inexplicable contravention of law4 ,but that there are minds who have simply advanced in knowledge beyond the multitude in certain things which cannot at once be made common property is true1 for there is a great deal of marvelous truth not as yet dreamed of even by ,,herbert ,,spencers or ,,edisons1 by ,,rontgens or other scientists4 ,and yet herein is hidden the greatest secret of future human happenings4 ,what ,i was is passed by1 ,what ,i am away doth fly2 ,what ,i shall be none do see1 ,yet in that my glories be4 ,now to illustrate this more clearly4 ,some of these persons who are more or less secretly addicted to magic 7,i say secretly1 because they cannot make it known if they would71 take the direction of feeling or living with inexpressible enjoyment in the beauties of nature4 ,that1 they attain to something almost or quite equal to life in ,fairyland1 is conclusively proved by the fact that only very rarely1 here and there in their best passages1 do the greatest poets more than imperfectly and briefly convey some broken idea or reflection of the feelings which are excited by thousands of subjects in nature in many4 ,the ,mariana of ,,tennyson surpasses anything known to me in any language as conveying the reality of feeling alone in a silent old house1 where everything is a dim1 uncanny manner1 recalled the past--yet suggested a kind of mysterious presence--as in the passage3 ,all day within the dreary house ,the doors upon their hinges creaked1 ,the blue fly sang in the pane1 the mouse ,behind the mouldering wainscot shrieked1 ,or from the crevice peered about2 ,old faces glimmered thro' the doors1 ,old footsteps trod the upper floors1 ,old voices called her from without4 ,yet even this unsurpassed poem does no more than partially revive and recall the reality to me of similar memories of long1 long ago1 when an invalid child ,i was often left in a house entirely alone1 from which even the servants had absented themselves4 ,then ,i can remember how after reading the ,arabian ,nights or some such unearthly romance1 as was the mode in the ,thirties1 the very sunshine stealing craftily and silently like a living thing1 in a bar through the shutter1 twinkling with dust1 as with infinitely small stars1 living and dying like sparks1 the buzzing of the flies who were little blue imps1 with now and then a larger ,beelzebub--a strange imagined voice ever about1 which seemed to say something without words--and the very furniture1 wherein the chairs were as goblins1 and the broom a tall young woman1 and the looking-glass a kind of other self-life--all of this as ,i recall it appears to me as a picture of the absence of human beings as described by ,,tennyson1 plus a strange personality in every object-- which the poet does not attempt to convey4 ,this is1 however1 a very small or inferior illustration2 there are far more remarkable and deeply spiritual or sthetically-suggestive subjects than this1 and that in abundance1 which ,art has indeed so reproduced as to amaze the many who have only had snatches of such observation themselves4 ,but the magicians1 ,,shelley1 or ,,keats1 or ,,wordsworth1 only convey partial echoes of certain subjects1 or of their specialties4 ,it is indeed beautiful to feel what ,art can do1 but the original is worth far more4 ,and if the reader would be such a magician1 let him give his heart and will to taking an interest in all that is beautiful1 good and true--or honest4 ,for that it really can be done in all fullness is true beyond a dream of doubt4 ,by the ordinary methods of learning one may indeed acquire an exact1 mechanically drawn picture1 which we modify with what beauty chance bestows4 ,but he who will learn by the process which ,i have endeavored to describe1 or by studying with the will1 cannot fail to experience a strange enchantment in so doing1 as ,i have read in an ,italian tale of a youth who was sadly weary of his lessons1 but who1 being taken daily by certain kind fairies into their school on a hill1 found all difficulties disappear and the pursuit of knowledge as joyful as that of pleasure4 ,i have heard hypnotism1 with regard to fascination1 spoken of with great apprehension4 ,it is dreadful1 said one to me1 to think of anybody's being able to exercise such an influence on anyone4 ,and yet1 widely known as it is1 instances of its abuse are very rare4 ,thus1 when ,cremation was first discussed1 it was warmly opposed1 because somebody might be poisoned1 and then1 the body being burned1 there could be no autopsy6 ,nature has decreed some drawback to the best things2 nothing is perfect4 ,but to balance the immense benefits latent in suggestion against the problematic abuses is like condemning the ship because a bucket of tar has been spilt on the deck4 ,sincere kindness and respect1 which are allied unto identity1 are the best or surest key to love1 and they in turn are allied to fascination4 ,here ,i might observe that the action of the eye1 which is a silent speech of emotion1 has always been regarded as powerful in fascination1 but those who are not by nature gifted with it cannot use it to much good purpose4 ,that emotional1 susceptible subjects ready to receive suggestion can be put to sleep or made to imagine anything terrible regarding anybody's glance is very true1 just as an ignorant ,italian will believe of any man that he has the malocchio if he be told so1 whence came the idea that ,pope ,gregory ,,xvi had the evil eye4 ,but where there is sincere kindly feeling it makes itself felt in a sympathetic nature by what is popularly called magic1 only because it is not understood4 ,the enchantment lies in this1 that unconscious cerebration1 or the power 7or powers71 who are always acting in us1 effect many curious and very subtle mental phenomena1 all of which they do not confide to the common-sense waking judgment or ,reason1 simply because the latter is almost entirely occupied with common worldly subjects4 ,it is as if someone whose whole attention and interest had been at all times given to some plain hard drudgery1 should be called on to review or write a book of exquisitely subtle poetry4 ,it is1 indeed1 almost sadly touching to reflect how this innocent and beautiful faculty of recognizing what is good1 is really acting perhaps in evil and merely worldly minds all in vain1 and all unknown to them4 ,the more the conscious waking-judgment has been trained to recognize goodness1 the more will the hidden water-fairies rise above the surface1 as it were1 to the sunshine4 ,so it comes that true kindly feeling is recognized by sympathy1 and those who would be loved1 cannot do better than make themselves truly and perfectly kind by forethought and will1 and with this the process of self-hypnotism will be a great aid4 ,for it is not more by winning others to us1 than in willing ourselves to them that true ,love consists4 ,love or trusting sympathy from any human being1 however humble1 is the most charming thing in life1 and it ought to be the main object of existence4 ,yet there are thousands all round us1 yes1 many among our friends or acquaintances1 who live and die without ever having known it1 because in their egotism and folly they conceive of close relations as founded on personal power1 interest or the weakness of others4 ,the only fascination which such people can ever exercise is that of the low and devilish kind1 the influence of the cat on the mouse1 the eye of the snake on the bird1 which in the end degrades them into deeper evil4 ,that there are such people1 and that they really make captive and oppress weaker minds1 by suggestion1 is true2 the marvel being that so few find it out4 ,but in proportion as this kind of fascination is vile and mean1 that which may be called altruistic or sympathetic attraction1 or ,enchantment1 is noble and pure1 because it acquires strength in proportion to the purity and beauty of the soul or will which inspires it4 ,it is as real and has as much power1 and can be exercised by any honest person whatever with wonderful effect1 even to the performing what are popularly called miracles1 which only means wonderful works beyond our power of explanation4 ,but this kind of fascination is little understood as yet1 simply because it is based on purity1 morality and light1 and hitherto the seekers for occult mysteries have been chiefly occupied with the gloomy and mock-diabolical rubbish of old tradition1 instead of scientific investigation of our minds and brains4 ,there is also in truth a ,fascination by means of the ,voice1 which has in it a much deeper and stronger power or action than that of merely sweet sound as of an instrument4 ,the ,jesuit1 ,,gaspar ,,schott1 in his ,magio ,medica treats of ,fascination as twofold3 ,de ,fascinatione per ,visunt et ,vocem4 ,i have found among ,italian witches as with ,red ,indian wizards1 every magical operation depended on an incantation1 and every incantation on the feeling1 intonation1 or manner in which it is sung4 ,thus near ,rome any peasant overhearing a scongiurasione would recognize it from the sound alone4 ,anyone1 male or female1 can have a deep1 rich voice by simply subduing and training it1 and very rarely raising it to a high pitch4 ,nota bene that the less this is affected the more effective it will be4 ,there are many1 especially women1 who speak1 as it were1 all time in italics1 when they do not set their speech in small caps or displayed large capitals4 ,the result of this1 as regards sound1 is the so-called nasal voice1 which is very much like caterwauling1 and ,i need not say that there is no fascination in it--on the contrary its tendency is to destroy any other kind of attraction4 ,it is generally far more due to an ill-trained1 unregulated1 excitable1 nervous temperament than to any other cause4 ,the training the voice to a subdued state like music in its softest key1 or to rich1 deep tones1 though it be done artificially1 has an extraordinary effect on the character and on others4 ,it is associated with a well-trained mind and one gifted with self-control4 ,one of the richest voices to which ,i ever listened was that of the poet ,,tennyson4 ,i can remember another man of marvelous mind1 vast learning1 and sthetic-poetic power who also had one of those voices which exercised great influence on all who heard it4 ,there is an amusing parallel as regards nasal-screaming voices in the fact that a donkey cannot bray unless he at the same time lifts his tail--but if the tail be tied down1 the beast must be silent4 ,so the man or woman1 whose voice like that of the erl-king's is ghostly shrill as the wind in the porch of a ruined church1 always raise their tones with their temper1 but if we keep the former down by training1 the latter cannot rise4 ,i once asked a very talented lady teacher of ,elocution in ,philadelphia if she regarded shrill voices as incurable4 ,she replied that they invariably yielded to instruction and training4 ,children under no domestic restraint who were allowed to scream out and dispute on all occasions and were never corrected in intonation1 generally had vulgar voices4 ,a good voice acts very evidently on the latent powers of the mind1 and impresses the sthetic sense1 even when it is unheeded by the conscious judgment4 ,many a clergyman makes a deep impression by his voice alone4 ,and why8 ,certainly not by appealing to the reason4 ,therefore it is well to be able to fascinate with the voice4 ,now1 nota bene--as almost every human being can speak in a soft or well-toned voice1 at least1 subdued unto a temperate tone just as long as he or she chooses to do it1 it follows that with foresight1 aided by suggestion1 or continued will1 we can all acquire this enviable accomplishment4 ,to end this chapter with a curious bit of appropriate folk-lore1 ,i would record that while ,saxo ,grammaticus1 ,olaus ,magnus1 and a host of other ,norsemen have left legends to prove that there were sorcerers who by magic of the soft and wondrous voice could charm and capture men of the sword1 so the ,jesuit ,,athanasius ,,kircher1 declares that on the seventeenth day of ,may1 #afch1 he1 going from ,messina in a boat1 witnessed with his own eyes the capture not of swordsmen but of sundry xiphioe1 or sword-fish1 by means of a melodiously chanted charm1 the words whereof he noted down as follows3 ,mammassudi di pajanu1 ,palletu di pajanu1 ,majassu stigneta4 ,pallettu di pajanu1 ,pal la stagneta4 ,mancata stigneta4 ,pro nastu varitu pressu du ,visu1 e da terra6 ,of which words ,kircher declares that they are probably of mingled corrupt ,greek and ancient ,sicilian1 but that whatever they are1 they certainly are admirable for the catching of fish4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,the ,,subliminal ,,self4 ,while the previous pages of this work were in the press1 ,i received and read a very interesting and able ,book1 entitled1 ,telepathy and the ,subliminal ,self1 or an account of recent investigations regarding ,hypnotism1 ,automatism1 ,dreams1 ,phantoms1 and related phenomena1 by ,r4 ,,osgood ,,mason1 ,a4,m41 ,fellow of the ,new ,york ,academy of ,medicine4 ,dr4 ,,mason1 on the whole1 may be said to follow ,,hartmann1 since he places ,thaumaturgy1 or working what have been considered as wonders1 miracles1 and the deeds of spiritualists1 on the evolutionary or material basis4 ,he is also far less superstitious or prone to seek the miraculous and mysterious for its own sake1 than his predecessors in occulta1 and limits his beliefs to proofs sustained by good authority4 ,he recognizes a second1 or what he calls a subliminal ,self1 the ,spirit of our ,soul1 acting independently of ,waking ,conscious ,judgment1 a mysterious alter ego1 which has marvelous power4 ,this second or inner self ,i have also through this work of mine recognized as a reality1 though it is1 like the self-conscious soul1 rather an aggregate than a distinct unity4 ,thus we may for convenience sake speak of the ,memory1 when there are in fact millions of memories1 since every image stored away in the brain is one1 and the faculty of revising them for the use of the waking soul1 is certainly apart from the action of bringing them into play in dreams4 ,in fact if we regard the action of all known faculties1 we might assume with the ,egyptians that man had not merely eight distinct souls1 but eighty1 or even a countless number4 ,and as the ancients1 knowing very little about mental action1 classed it all as one soul1 so we may call that which is partially investigated and mysterious1 a second or inner soul1 spirit1 or subliminal self--that is to say provisionally1 till more familiar with its nature and relations4 ,,dr4 ,,mason1 to his credit be it said1 has not accepted for ,gospel1 as certain ,french writers have done1 the tricks of self-confessed humbugs4 ,he has only given us the cream of the most strictly attested cases1 as related by ,french scientists and people of unquestioned veracity4 ,and yet admitting that in every instance the witness sincerely believed that he or she spoke the truth1 the aggregate is so far from confirming the tales told1 that consideration and comparison would induce very grave doubt4 ,thus1 who could have been more sincere1 purely honest or pious than ,,justinus ,,kerner1 whom ,i knew personally1 ,,swedenborg1 ,,eschenmayer and all of their school8 ,yet how utterly irreconciliable are all their revelations6 ,therefore1 while ,i have cited illustration and example as affording unproved or hearsay evidence1 ,i1 in fact1 decidedly reject not only all tradition1 as proof on occult subjects1 but all assertion from any quarter1 however trustworthy1 asking the reader to believe in nothing which he cannot execute and make sure unto himself4 ,tradition and testimony are very useful to supply ideas or theories1 but to actually believe in anything beyond his experience a man should take sufficient interest in it to prove it by personal experiment4 ,and1 therefore1 as ,i have already declared1 ,i not only ask1 but hope that no reader will put faith in anything which ,i have alleged or declared1 until he has fully and fairly proved it to be true in his own person4 ,the history of true culture1 truth1 or progress has been that of doubt or disbelief in all which cannot be scientifically proved or made manifest to sensation and reflection1 and even in this the most scrupulous care must be exercised1 since our senses often deceive us4 ,therefore1 in dealing with subjects which have undeniably been made the means of deceit and delusion thousands of times to one authentic instance1 it is not well to accept testimony1 or any kind of evidence1 or proof1 save that which we can establish for ourself4 ,the day is not yet1 but it is coming1 when self-evidence will be claimed1 and granted1 as to all human knowledge1 and the sooner it comes the better will it be for the world4 ,but ,i would be clearly understood as declaring that it is only as regards making up our minds to absolute faith in what involves what may be called our mental welfare1 which includes the most serious conduct of life1 that ,i would limit belief to scientific proof4 ,as an example1 ,i will cite the very interesting case of the hypnotic treatment of a patient by ,,dr4 ,,voisin1 and as given by ,,mason4 ,in the summer of #ahhd1 there was at the ,salptrire a young woman of a deplorable type1 ,jeanne ,s----1 who was a criminal lunatic1 filthy1 violent1 and with a life history of impurity and crime4 ,m4 ,auguste ,voisin1 one of the physicians of the staff1 undertook to hypnotize her1 ,may #ca4 ,at that time she was so violent that she could only be kept quiet by a straight-jacket and the constant cold douche to her head4 ,she would not look at ,m4 ,voisin1 but raved and spat at him4 ,he persisted1 kept his face near and opposite to hers1 and his eyes following hers constantly4 ,in ten minutes she was in a sound sleep1 and soon passed into a somnambulistic condition4 ,the process was repeated many days1 and she gradually became sane while in the hypnotic condition1 but still raved when she woke4 ,gradually then she began to accept hypnotic suggestion1 and would obey trivial orders given her while asleep1 such as to sweep her room1 then suggestions regarding her general behavior2 then1 in her hypnotic condition1 she began to express regret for her past life1 and form resolutions of amendment to which she finally adhered when she awoke4 ,two years later she was a nurse in one of the ,paris hospitals1 and her conduct was irreproachable4 ,m4 ,voisin has followed up this case by others equally striking4 ,this is not only an unusually well authenticated instance1 but one which seems to carry conviction from the manner of narration4 ,yet it would be absurd to declare that the subject neither deceived herself nor others1 or that the doctor made no mistakes either in fact or involuntarily4 ,the whole is1 however1 extremely valuable from its probability1 and still more from its suggesting experiment in a much more useful direction than that followed in the majority of cases recorded in most books1 which1 especially in ,france1 seem chiefly to have been conducted from a melodramatic or merely medical point of view4 ,very few indeed seem to have ever dreamed that a hypnotized subject was anything but a being to be cured of some disorder1 operated on without pain1 or made to undergo and perform various tricks1 often extremely cruel1 silly1 and wicked--the main object of all being to advertise the skill of the operator4 ,in fact1 if it were to be accepted that the main object of hypnotism is to repeat such experiments as are described in most of the ,french works on the subject1 humanity and decency would join in prohibiting the practice of the art altogether4 ,these books point out and make clear in the minutest manner1 how every kind of crime can be committed1 and the mind brought to regard all that is evil as a matter of course4 ,the making an innocent person attempt to commit a murder or steal is among the most usual experiments2 while1 on the contrary1 any case like that of the reform of ,jeanne ,s---- is either very rare1 or else is treated simply as a proof of the skill of some medico4 ,the fact that if the successes which are recorded are true1 there exists a stupendous power by means of which the average morality and happiness of mankind can be incredibly advanced and sustained1 and ,education1 ,art in every branch1 and1 in a word1 all ,culture be marvelously developed on a far more secure basis than in the old systems1 does not seem to have occurred to any of those who possessed1 as it were1 gold1 without having the least idea of its value or even its qualities4 ,happiness in the main is a pleasant1 contented condition of the mind1 that is to say1 a state of mind4 ,to be perfect1 as appears from an enlarged study of all things or phenomena in their relations 7since every part must harmonize with the whole71 this happiness implies duty and altruism1 every whit as much as self-enjoyment4 ,this agrees with and results from scientific experience4 ,under the old a priori psychologic system1 selfishness 7which meant that every soul was to be chiefly or solely concerned in saving itself1 guided by hope of reward and fear of punishment71 it was naturally the basis of morality4 ,now1 accepting the definition of ,happiness as a state of mind under certain conditions1 it follows that it can be realized to a great degree1 and in all cases to some degree1 firstly by forethought or carefully defining what it is or what we desire1 and secondly by making a fixed idea by simple1 well-nigh mechanical means1 without any resource to les grands myens4 ,according to the old and now rapidly vanishing philosophy1 this was to be effected by sublime morality1 prayer1 or adjuration of supernatural beings and noble heroism1 but what is here proposed is much humbler1 albeit more practical4 ,reading immortal poetry or prose is indeed a splendid power1 but to learn the letters of the alphabet1 and to spell1 is very simple and unpoetic1 yet far more practical4 ,what ,i have described has been the mere dull rudiments4 ,it is most remarkable that the world has always known that the art of ,,raffaelle1 ,,michael ,,angelo1 and ,,albert ,,durer was based1 like that of the greatest musicians1 on extensive rudimentary study1 and yet has never dreamed that what far surpasses all art in every way1 and even includes the desire for it1 may all proceed from1 or be developed by1 a process which is even easier than those required for the lesser branches4 ,he who can control his own mind by an iron will1 and say to the ,thoughts which he would banish1 ,be ye my slaves and begone into outer darkness1 or to ,peace ,dwell with me forever1 come what may1 and be obeyed1 that man is a mighty magician who has attained what is worth more than all that ,earth possesses4 ,absolute self-control under the conditions before defined--since our happiness to be true must agree with that of others--is absolutely essential to happiness4 ,there can be no greater hero than the man who can conquer himself and think exactly as he pleases4 ,that which annoys1 tempts1 stirs us to being irritable1 wicked1 or mean1 is an aggregate of evil thoughts or images received by chance or otherwise into the memory1 developed there into vile unions1 and new forms like coalescing animalcule1 and so powerful and vivid or objective do they become that men in all ages have given them a real existence as evil spirits4 ,every sane man living1 can if he really desires it1 obtain complete absolute command of himself1 exorcise these vile demons and bring in peace instead1 by developing with determination the simple process which ,i have described4 ,i have found in my own experience a fierce pleasure in considering obnoxious and pernicious ,thoughts as imps or demons to be conquered1 in which case ,pride and even ,arrogance become virtues1 even as poisons in their place are wholesome medicines4 ,thus1 he who is haunted with the fixed idea1 even well nigh to monomania1 that he will never give way to ill temper1 that nothing shall disturb his equanimity1 need not fear evil results any more than the being haunted by angels4 ,now we can all have fixed or haunting ideas1 on any subject which we please to entertain--but the idea to create good and beneficent haunting has not1 that ,i am aware1 been suggested by philosophers4 ,that mental influence can be exerted hypnotically most directly and certainly by one person upon another is undeniable1 but this requires1 firstly1 a susceptible subject1 or only one person in three or four1 and to a degree a specially gifted operator1 and very often heaven-sent moments4 ,however greatly mortals may require it1 ,all cannot go to ,corinth who desire it4 ,but forethought1 self-suggestion1 and the bringing the mind to dwell continuously on a subject are absolutely within the reach of all who have any strength of mind whatever1 without any aid4 ,those of feebler ability yield1 however1 all the more readily 7as in the case of children7 to the influence of others or of hypnotism by a master4 ,therefore1 either subjectively or with assistance1 most human beings can be morally benefited to a limitless degree1 morally including intellectually4 ,we often hear it said of a person that he or she would do well or succeed if that individual had application4 ,now1 as ,application1 or sticking to it1 or perseverance in earnest faith1 is the main condition for success in all that ,i have discussed1 ,i trust that it will be borne in mind that the process indicated provides from the first lesson or experiment for this chief requisite4 ,for the fore-thinking and hypnotizing our minds to be in a certain state or condition all the next day1 by what some writers1 such as ,,hartmann1 treat as magical process--but which is just so much magical as the use of an electrical machine--is simply a beginning in ,attention and ,perseverance4 ,so1 like a snowball rolled in falling snow1 ,it gathers size as it doth onward go4 ,when we make a wish or will1 or determine that in future after awaking we shall be in a given state of mind1 we also include ,perseverance for the given time1 and as success supposes repetition in all minds1 it follows that ,perseverance will be induced gradually and easily4 ,and here ,i may remark that while all writers on ethics1 duty or morals1 cry continually ,be persevering1 be honest1 be enterprising1 exert your will6 and so on1 and waste thousands of books in illustrating the advantages of all these fine things1 there is not one who tells us how to practically execute or do them4 ,to follow the hint of a quaint ,sunday ,school picture1 they show us a swarm of ,bees1 with hive and honey1 but do not tell us how to catch one4 ,and yet a man may be anything he pleases if he will by easy and simple practice as ,i have shown1 make the conception habitual4 ,i do not tell you as these good folk do1 how to go about it nobly1 or heroically1 or piously2 in fact1 ,i prescribe a method as humble as making a fire1 or a pair of shoes1 and yet in very truth and honor ,i have profited far more by it than ,i ever did from all the exhortations which ,i ever have read4 ,now there are many men who are not so bad in themselves in reality1 but who are so haunted by evil thoughts1 impulses1 and desires1 that they1 being taught by the absurd old heathenish psychology that the soul is all one spiritual entity1 believe themselves to be as wicked as ,beelzebub could wish1 when1 in fact1 these sins are nothing but evil weeds which came into the mind as neglected seeds1 and grew apace from sheer carelessness4 ,regarding them in the light1 as one may say1 of bodily and material nuisances1 or a kind of vermin1 they can be extirpated by the strong hand of ,will1 much more easily than under the old system1 whereby they were treated with respect and awe as ,,milton hath done 7and most immorally too71 ,,dante being no better2 and they would both have exerted their gigantic intellects to better purpose by showing man how to conquer the devil1 instead of exalting and exaggerating his stupendous power and showing how1 as regards ,humanity 7for which expressly the ,universe1 including countless millions of solar systems1 was created71 ,satan has by far the victory1 since he secures the majority of souls4 ,for saying which thing a holy bishop once got himself into no end of trouble4 ,i say that he who uses his will can crush and drive out vile haunting thoughts1 and the more rudely and harshly he does it the better4 ,in all the old systems1 without exception1 they are treated with far too much respect and reverence1 and no great wonder either1 since they were regarded as a great innate portion of the soul4 ,whether to be cleared out by the allopathic exorcism1 or the gentler homoepathic prayer1 the patient never relied on himself4 ,there is a fine ,italian proverb in the collection of ,,guillo ,,varrino1 ,venice #afef1 which declares that ,buona volont supplice facolta--strong will ekes out ability--and before the ,will 7which the ,church has ever weakened or crushed7 no evil instincts can hold4 ,the same author tells us that ,the greatest man in the world is he who can govern his own will1 also1 ,to him who wills naught is impossible4 ,to which ,i would add that ,whoever chooses to have a will may do so by culture1 or by ever so little to begin with4 ,nay1 ,i have no doubt that in time there will be societies1 schools1 churches1 or circles1 in which the ,will shall be taught and applied to all moral and mental culture4 ,he who wills it sincerely can govern his ,will1 and he who can govern his ,will is a thousand times more fortunate than if he could govern the world4 ,for to govern the ,will is to be without fear1 superior and indifferent to all earthly follies and shams1 idols1 cants and delusions1 it is to be lord of a thousand isles in the sea of life1 and absolutely greater than any living mortal1 as men exist4 ,small need has that man to heed what his birth or station in society may be who has mastered himself with the iron will2 for he who has conquered death and the devil need fear no shadows4 ,he who masters himself by ,will has attained to all that is best and noblest in ,stoicism1 ,epicureanism1 ,christianity1 and ,agnosticism2 if the latter be understood not as doubt1 but free ,inquiry1 and could men be made to feel what all this means and what power it bestows1 and how easily it really is to master it1 we should forthwith see all humanity engaged in the work4 ,it has been declared by many in the past in regard to schooling their minds to moral and practical ends that1 leading busy lives1 they had not time to think of such matters4 ,but ,i earnestly protest that it is these very men of all others who most require the discipline which ,i have taught1 and it is as easy for them as for anybody2 as it1 indeed1 ought to be easier1 yes1 and far more profitable4 ,for the one who leads by fortune a quiet life of leisure can often school himself without a system1 while he who toils amid anxious thoughts and with every mental power severely taxed1 will find that he can do his work far more easily if he determines that he will master it4 ,the amount of mental action which lies dormant in us all is illimitable and it can all be realized by the hypnotism of ,will4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,paracelsus4 ,that our ordinary consciousness or ,waking ,intellect1 and what is generally recognized as ,mind or ,soul1 includes whatever has been taken in by sensation and reflection and assimilated to daily wants1 or shows itself in bad or good memories and thought1 is evident4 ,not less clear is it that there is another hidden ,self--a power which1 recognizing much which is evil in the ,mind1 would fain reject1 or rule1 or subdue it4 ,this latent1 inner ,intelligence calls into action the ,will4 ,all of this is vague1 and1 it may be1 unscientific4 ,it is more rational to believe in many faculties or functions1 but the classification here suggested may serve as a basis4 ,it is effectively that of ,,grassner1 or of all who have recognized the power of the ,will to work miracles1 guided by a higher morality4 ,and it is very curious that ,,paracelsus based his whole system of nervous cure1 at least1 on this theory4 ,thus1 in the ,liber ,entium ,morborum1 de ,ente ,spirituali1 chap1 iii1 he writes3 ,as we have shown that there are two ,subjecta1 this will we assume as our ground4 ,ye know that there is in the ,body a ,soul4 7,geist47 ,now reflect1 to what purpose8 ,just that it may sustain life1 even as the air keeps animals from dying for want of breath4 ,so we know what the soul is4 ,this soul in ,man is actually clear1 intelligible and sensible to the other soul1 and1 classing them1 they are to be regarded as allied1 even as bodies are4 ,i have a soul--the other hath also one4 ,,paracelsus is here very obscure1 but he manifestly means by the other1 the ,body4 ,to resume3 ,the ,souls know one another as ',i1' and 'the other4' ,they converse together in their language1 not by necessity according to our thoughts1 but what they will4 ,and note1 too1 that there may be anger between them1 and one may belittle or injure the other2 this injury is in the ,soul1 the ,soul in the body4 ,then the body suffers and is ill-- not materially or from a material ,ens1 but from the ,soul4 ,for this we need spiritual remedy4 ,ye are two who are dear unto one another2 great in affinity4 ,the cause is not in the body1 nor is it from without2 it comes from your souls 7,geisten71 who are allied4 ,the same pair may become inimical1 or remain so4 ,and that ye may understand a cause for this1 note that the ,spirit 7,geist7 of the ,reasoning ,faculty 7,vernunft7 is not born1 save from the ,will1 therefore the ,will and the ,reason are separate4 ,what exists and acts according to the ,will lives in the ,spirit2 what only according to the ,reason lives against the ,spirit4 ,for the ,reason brings forth no spirit1 only the ,soul 7,seel7 is born of it--from ,will comes the ,spirit1 the essence of which we describe and let the ,soul be4 ,in this grandly conceived but most carelessly written passage the author1 in the beginning thereof1 makes such confusion in expressing both ,soul and ,spirit with the one word1 ,geist1 that his real meaning could not be intelligible to the reader who had not already mastered the theory4 ,but1 in fact1 the whole conception is marvelous1 and closely agreeing with the latest discoveries in ,science1 while ignoring all the old psychological system4 ,very significant is what ,,paracelsus declares in his ,fragmenta ,medicina de ,morbis ,somnii1 that so many evils beset us1 caused by the coarseness of our ignorance1 because we know not what is born in us4 ,that is to say1 if we knew our mental power1 or what we are capable of1 we could cure or control all bodily infirmities4 ,and how to rule and form this power1 and make it obey the ,geist or ,will which ,,paracelsus believed was born of the common conscious ,soul--that is the question4 ,for ,,paracelsus truly believed that out of this common ,soul1 the result of ,sensation and ,reflection1 and all we pick up by ,experience and ,observation 7and such as makes all that there is of ,life for most people71 there is born1 or results1 a perception of ,ideas1 of right and wrong1 of mutual interests2 a certain subtle1 moral conscience or higher knowledge4 ,the ,souls may become inimical2 that is1 the ,conscience1 or ,spirit1 may differ or disagree with the ,soul1 as a son may be at variance with his father4 ,so the flower or fruit may oft despise the root4 ,the ,will is allied to ,conscience or a perception of the ,ideal4 ,when a man finds out that he knows more or better than he has hitherto done3 as1 for instance1 when a thief learns that it is wrong to steal1 and feels it deeply1 he endeavors to reform1 although he feels all the time old desires and temptations to rob4 ,now1 if he resolutely subdue these1 his ,will is born4 ,the spirit of the ,reasoning faculty is not born1 save of the ,will4 4 4 4 what exists and acts according to the ,will lives in the spirit4 ,the perception of ideals is the bud1 ,conscience the flower1 and the ,will the fruit4 ,a pure ,will must be moral1 for it is the result of the perception of ,ideals1 or a ,conscience4 ,the world in general regards ,will as mere blind force1 applicable to good or bad indifferently4 ,but the more truly and fully it is developed1 or as ,orson is raised to ,valentine1 the more moral and optimistic does it become4 ,will in its perfection is ,genius1 spontaneous originality1 that is ,voluntary2 not merely a power to lift a weight1 or push a load1 or force others to yield1 but the ,thought itself which suggests the deed and finds a reason for it4 ,now the merely unscrupulous use of ,opportunity and ,advantage1 or ,crime1 is popularly regarded as having a strong ,will2 but this1 as compared to a ,will with a conscience1 is as the craft of the fox compared to that of the dragon1 and that of the dragon to ,siegfried4 ,and here it may be observed as a subtle and strange thing1 approaching to magic apparently1 as understood by ,,hartmann and his school1 that the ,will sometimes1 when much developed1 actually manifests something like an independent personality1 or at least seems to do so1 to an acute observer4 ,and what is more remarkable1 it can have this freedom of action and invention delegated to it1 and will act on it4 ,thus1 in conversation with ,,herkomer1 the ,artist1 and ,dr4 ,w4 ,w4 ,,baldwin1 ,nov4 #b;d1 #ahgh1 the former explained to me that when he would execute a work of art1 he just determined it with care or ,forethought in his mind1 and gave it a rest1 as by sleep1 during which time it unconsciously fructified or germinated1 even as a seed when planted in the ground at last grows upward into the light and air4 ,now1 that the entire work should not be too much finished or quite completed1 and to leave room for after-thoughts or possible improvements1 he was wont1 as he said1 to give the ,will some leeway1 or freedom2 which is the same thing as if1 before going to sleep1 we ,will or determine that on the following day our ,imagination1 or ,creative ,force1 or ,inventive ,genius1 shall be unusually active1 which will come to pass after some small practice and a few repetitions1 as all may find for themselves4 ,truly1 it will be according to conditions1 for if there be but little in a man1 either he will bring but little out1 or else he must wait until he can increase what he hath4 ,and in this the ,will seems to act like an independent person1 ingeniously1 yet withal obedient4 ,and the same also characterizes images in dreams1 which sometimes appear to be so real that it is no wonder many think they are spirits from another world1 as is true of many haunting thoughts which come unbidden4 ,however1 this is all mere ,thaumaturgy1 which has been so deadly to ,truth in the old priori psychology1 and still works mischief1 albeit it has its value in suggesting very often in ,poetry what ,science afterwards proves in ,prose4 ,to return to ,,paracelsus1 ,,heine complains that his ,german is harder to understand than his ,latin4 ,however1 ,i think that in the following passages he shows distinctly a familiarity with hypnotism1 or certainly1 passes by hand and suggestion4 ,thus1 chap1 x1 de ,ente ,spirituali1 in which the ,will is described1 begins as follows3 ,now shall ye mark that the ,spirits rule their subjects4 ,and ,i have shown intelligibly how the ,ens ,spirituale1 or ,spiritual ,being1 rules so mightily the body that many disorders may be ascribed to it4 ,therefore unto these ye should not apply ordinary medicine1 but heal the spirit--therein lies the disorder4 ,,paracelsus clearly states that by the power of ,foresight--he uses the exact word1 ,frsicht--,man may1 aided by ,sleep1 attain to knowledge-- past1 present or future--and achieve ,telepathy1 or communion at a distance4 ,in the ,fragmenta1 ,caput de ,morbis ,somnii he writes3 ,therefore learn1 that by ,foresight man can know future things2 and1 from experience1 the past and present4 ,thereby is man so highly gifted in ,nature that he knows or perceives 7sicht71 as he goes1 his neighbor or friend in a distant land4 ,yet1 on waking1 he knows nothing of all this4 ,for ,god has given to us all--,art1 ,wisdom1 ,reason--to know the future1 and what passes in distant lands2 but we know it not1 for we fools1 busied in common things1 sleep away1 as it were1 what is in us4 ,thus1 seeing one who is a better artist than thou art1 do not say that he has more gift or grace than thou2 for thou hast it also1 but hast not tried1 and so is it with all things4 ,what ,adam and ,moses did was to try1 and they succeeded1 and it came neither from the ,devil nor from ,spirits1 but from the ,light of ,nature1 which they developed in themselves4 ,but we do not seek for what is in us1 therefore we remain nothing1 and are nothing4 ,here the author very obscurely1 yet vigorously1 declares that we can do or learn what we will1 but it must be achieved by foresight1 will1 and the aid of sleep4 ,it seems very evident1 after careful study of the text1 that here1 as in many other places1 our author indicates familiarity with the method of developing mental action in its subtlest and most powerful forms4 ,firstly1 by determined ,foresight1 and1 secondly1 by the aid of sleep1 corresponding to the bringing a seed to rest a while1 and thereby cause it to germinate2 the which admirable simile he himself uses in a passage which ,i have not cited4 ,,paracelsus was the most original thinker and the worst writer of a wondrous age1 when all wrote badly and thought badly4 ,there is in his ,german writings hardly one sentence which is not ungrammatical1 confused1 or clumsy2 nor one without a vigorous idea1 which shows the mind or character of the man4 ,as a curious instance of the poetic originality of ,,paracelsus we may take the following3 ,it is an error to suppose that chiromancy is limited to the hand1 for there are significant lines 7indicating character71 all over the body4 ,and it is so in vegetable life4 ,for in a plant every leaf is a hand4 ,man hath two2 a tree many1 and every one reveals its anatomy--a hand-anatomy4 ,now ye shall understand that in double form the lines are masculine or feminine4 ,and there are as many differences in these lines on leaves as in human hands4 ,,goethe has the credit that he reformed or advanced the ,science of ,botany1 by reducing the plant to the leaf as the germ or type2 and this is now further reduced to the cell1 but the step was a great one4 ,did not ,,paracelsus1 however1 give the idea8 ,the theory of signatures1 says ,,vaughan1 in his ,hours with the ,mystics1 proceeded on the supposition that every creatures bears in some part of its structure 4 4 4 the indication of the character or virtue inherent in it--the representation1 in fact1 of its ideal or soul4 4 4 4 ,the student of sympathies thus essayed to read the character of plants by signs in their organization1 as the professor of palmistry announced that of men by lines in the hand4 ,thus1 to a degree which is very little understood1 ,,paracelsus took a great step towards modern science4 ,he disclaimed ,magic and ,sorcery1 with ceremonies1 and endeavored to base all cure on human will4 ,the name of ,,paracelsus is now synonymous with ,rosicrucianism1 ,alchemy1 ,elementary ,spirits and ,theurgy1 when1 in fact1 he was in his time a bold reformer1 who cast aside an immense amount of old superstition1 and advanced into what his age regarded as terribly free thought4 ,he was compared to ,,luther1 and the doing so greatly pleased him2 he dwells on it at length in one of his works4 ,what ,,paracelsus really believed in at heart was nothing more or less than an unfathomable ,nature1 a ,natura naturans of infinite resource1 connected with which1 as a microcosm1 is man1 who has also within him infinite powers1 which he can learn to master by cultivating the will1 which must be begun at least by the aid of sleep1 or letting the resolve ripen1 as it were1 in the mind1 apart from ,consciousness4 ,i had written every line of my work on the same subject and principles long before ,i was aware that ,i had unconsciously followed exactly in the footprints of the great ,master2 for though ,i had made many other discoveries in his books1 ,i knew nothing of this4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,last ,,words4 ,by carrying calves ,milo1 'tis said1 grew strong1 ,until with ease he bore a bull along4 ,it is1 ,i believe1 unquestionable that1 if he ever lived1 a man who had attained to absolute control over his own mind1 must have been the most enviable of mortals4 ,,montaigne illustrates such an ideal being by a quotation from ,,virgil3 ,velut rupes vastum qu prodit in quor ,obvia ventorum furiis1 exposta que ponto1 ,vim cunctum atque minas perfert clique marisque ,ipsa immota manens4 ,he as a rock among vast billows stood1 ,scorning loud winds and the wild raging flood1 ,and firm remaining1 all the force defies1 ,from the grim threatening seas and thundering skies4 ,and ,,montaigne also doubted whether such self-control was possible4 ,he remarks of it3 ,let us never attempt these ,examples2 we shall never come up to them4 ,this is too much and too rude for our common souls to undergo4 ,,cato indeed gave up the noblest ,life that ever was upon this account1 but it is for us meaner spirited men to fly from the storm as far as we can4 ,is it8 ,i may have thought so once1 but ,i begin to believe that in this darkness a new strange light is beginning to show itself4 ,the victory may be won far more easily than the rather indolent and timid ,essayist ever imagined4 ,,montaigne1 and many more1 believed that absolute self-control is only to be obtained by iron effort1 heroic and terrible exertion--a conception based on bygone ,history1 which is all a record of battles of man against man1 or man with the ,devil4 ,now the world is beginning slowly to make an ideal of peace1 and disbelieve in the ,devil4 ,science is attempting to teach us that from any beginning1 however small1 great results are sure to be obtained if resolutely followed up and fully developed4 ,it requires thought to realize what a man gifted to some degree with culture and common sense must enjoy who can review the past without pain1 and regard the present with perfect assurance that come what may he need have no fear or fluttering of the heart4 ,spenser has asked in ,the ,fate of the ,butterfly3 ,what more felicity can fall to creature ,than to enjoy delight with liberty8 ,to which one may truly reply that all delight is fitful and uncertain unless bound or blended with the power to be indifferent to involuntary annoying emotions1 and that self-command is in itself the highest mental pleasure1 or one which surpasses all of any kind4 ,he who does not overestimate the value of money or anything earthly is really richer than the millionaire4 ,there is a foolish story told by ,,combe in his ,physiology of a man who had the supernatural gift of never feeling any pain1 be it from cold1 hunger1 heat1 or accident4 ,the rain beat upon him in vain1 the keenest north wind did not chill him--he was fearless and free4 ,but this immunity was coupled with an inability to feel pleasure--his wine or ale was no more to his palate than water1 and he could not feel the kiss of his child2 and so we are told that he was soon desirous to become a creature subject to all physical sensations as before4 ,but it is1 as ,i said1 a foolish tale1 because it reduces all that is worth living for to being warm or enjoying taste4 ,his mind was not affected1 but that goes for nothing in such sheer sensuality4 ,however1 a man without losing his tastes or appetites may train his ,will to so master ,emotion as to enjoy delight with liberty1 and also exclude what constitutes the majority of all suffering with man4 ,it is a truth that there is very often an extremely easy1 simple and prosaic way to attain many an end1 which has always been supposed to require stupendous efforts4 ,in an ,italian fairy tale a prince besieges a castle with an army--trumpets blowing1 banners waving1 and all the pomp and circumstances of war--to obtain a beautiful heroine who is meanwhile carried away by a rival who knew of a subterranean passage4 ,hitherto1 as ,i have already said1 men have sought for self-control only by means of heroic exertion1 or by besieging the castle from without2 the simple system of ,forethought and ,self-,suggestion enables one1 as it were1 to steal or slip away with ease by night and in darkness that fairest of princesses1 ,la ,volont1 or the ,will4 ,for he who wills to be equable and indifferent to the small and involuntary annoyances1 teasing memories1 irritating trifles1 which constitute the chief trouble in life to most folk1 can bring it about1 in small measure at first and in due time to greater perfection4 ,and by perseverance this rivulet may to a river run1 the river fall into a mighty lake1 and this in time rush to the roaring sea2 that is to say1 from bearing with indifference or quite evading attacks of ennui1 we may come to enduring great afflictions with little suffering4 ,note that ,i do not say that we can come to bearing all the bereavements1 losses1 and trials of life with absolute indifference4 ,herein ,,montaigne and the ,stoics of old were well nigh foolish to imagine such an impossible and indeed undesirable ideal4 ,but it may be that two men are afflicted by the same domestic loss1 and one with a weak nature is well nigh crushed by it1 gives himself up to endless weeping and perhaps never recovers from it1 while another with quite as deep feelings1 but far wiser1 rallies1 and by vigorous exertion makes the grief a stimulus to exertion1 so that while the former is demoralized1 the latter is strengthened4 ,there is an habitual state of mind by which a man while knowing his losses fully can endure them better than others1 and this endurance will be greatest in him who has already cultivated it assiduously in minor matters4 ,he who has swam in the river can swim in the sea2 he who can hear a door bang without starting can listen to a cannon without jumping4 ,the method which ,i have described in this book will enable any person gifted with perseverance to make an equable or calm state of mind habitual1 moderately at first1 more so by practice4 ,and when this is attained the experimenter can progress rapidly in the path4 ,it is precisely the same as in learning a minor art1 the pupil who can design a pattern 7which corresponds to ,foresight or plan71 only requires1 as in wood-carving or repouss1 to be trained by very easy process to become familiar with the use and feel of the tools1 after which all that remains to be done is to keep on at what the pupil can do without the least difficulty4 ,well begun and well run in the end will be well done4 ,but glorious and marvelous is the power of him who has habituated himself by easy exercise of ,will to brush away the minor1 meaningless and petty cares of life1 such as1 however1 prey on most of us2 for unto him great griefs are no harder to endure than the getting a coat splashed is to an ordinary man4