E-text prepared by Ruth Hart (ruthhart@twilightoracle.com)
Transcriber's note:
In the Introduction, I have changed "yet is is a very literal
truth" to "yet it is a very literal truth". Also in the
Introduction, I changed the spelling of "faculities" to
"faculties" (other spelling remains unchanged). Finally, while
most of the proper names are capitalized, not all of them are,
and I have left the uncapitalized names as they appeared in
the original.
THE MYSTIC WILL
A Method of Developing and Strengthening the Faculties of the Mind,
through the Awakened Will, by a Simple, Scientific Process Possible
to Any Person of Ordinary Intelligence
by
CHARLES G. LELAND
American Edition
Published by
The Progress Company
515-519 Rand McNally Building
Chicago, Illinois
English Representatives:
L. N. Fowler & Co.
7, Imperial Arcade, Ludgate Circus,
London, E. C.
In Memorium
Charles Godfrey Leland
AMERICAN AUTHOR
WHO DIED MARCH 20, 1903
AT FLORENCE, ITALY
AGED 79
"_The good that men do lives after them_."
PUBLISHER'S NOTICE.
This wonderful treatise was first published in England several years
ago, under the title of "_Have You a Strong Will_?" and has run
through several editions there. In its original form, it was printed
in quite large type, double-leaded, and upon paper which "bulked out"
the book to quite a thick volume. Some copies have been sold in
America, but the price which dealers were compelled to charge for it,
in its original shape, prevented the wide circulation that it merited,
and which its author undoubtedly desired for it, for it seems to
have been a labor of love with him, the interest of the race in his
wonderful theories evidently being placed above financial returns by
Mr. Leland. Believing that the author's ideas and wishes would be well
carried out by the publication of an American edition printed in the
usual size type (without the expedient of "double-leading" unusually
large type in order to make a large volume), which allows of the book
being sold at a price within the reach of all, the publisher has
issued this edition along the lines indicated.
The present edition is identical with the original English edition
with the following exceptions:
(1) There has been omitted from this edition a long, tiresome chapter
contained in the original edition, entitled "On the Power of the Mind
to master disordered Feelings by sheer Determination. As Set forth by
Immanuel Kant in a letter to Hufeland," but which chapter had very
little to say about "the power of the mind," but very much indeed
about Hygiene, Dietetics, Sleep, Care of Oneself in Old Age,
Hypochondria, Work, Exercise, Eating and Drinking, Illness, etc.,
etc., from the point of view of the aged German metaphysician, which
while interesting enough in itself, and to some people, was manifestly
out of place in a book treating upon the development of Mental
Faculties by the Will, etc. We think that Mr. Leland's admirers will
find no fault with this omission.
(2) The word "Suggestion" has been substituted for the word
"Hypnotism" in several places in the original text, where the
former word was manifestly proper according to the present views of
psychologists, which views were not so clearly defined when the book
was written.
(3) The chapter headings of the original book have been shortened and
simplified in accordance with the American form.
(4) The title "The Mystic Will" has been substituted in place of that
used in the original edition, which was "Have You a Strong Will?" This
change was made for the reason that the original title did not give
one the correct idea of the nature of the book, but rather conveyed
the idea of an inquiry regarding the "iron-will," etc., which the
author evidently did not intend. The use of the Will, as taught in the
book by Mr. Leland, is not along the lines of "the iron-will," but is
rather in the nature of the employment of a mystic, mysterious, and
almost weird power of the Human Will, and the title of the present
edition is thought to more correctly represent the nature of the book,
and the author's own idea, than the inquiry embodied in the title of
the original edition.
(5) Several unimportant footnotes, references to other books, etc.,
have been omitted after careful consideration.
(Those who would wish to read the book in its original English edition
will be able to procure it from the English publisher, Mr. Philip
Wellby, 6 Henrietta street, Covent Garden, London, W. C, England.)
To the few readers of this book who are not familiar with the author,
Mr. Charles G. Leland, it may be said that this gifted man was an
American by birth, but who lived in Europe for many years before his
death. He died March 20, 1903, at Florence, Italy, at the ripe age of
79 years, active until the last and leaving unpublished manuscripts,
some not completed. He lived up to his ideas and profited by them. His
writings are spread over a period of nearly, or fully, fifty years,
and his range of subjects was remarkable in its variety, style, and
treatment.
Among his best known works were "Practical Education," "Flaxius," "The
Breitmann Ballads" (which introduced his well-known character "Hans
Breitmann"), "Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling," "Wood Carving,"
"Leather Work," "Metal Work," "Drawing and Designing," "The Minor
Arts," "Twelve Manuals in Art Work," "The Album of Repoussé Work,"
"Industrial Art in Education," "Hints on Self Education," and many
other works along the lines of Manual Training, etc., and the
Development of the Constructive Faculties; "Kulsop the Master, and
other Algonquin Poems and Legends," "The Alternate Sex," and many
other works, some of which are now out of print, but a number of which
may be purchased from, or through, any bookseller. There has been
recently published a biographical work embodying his memoirs, written
and edited by his beloved niece, Mrs. Pennell, to which volume all
admirers of this wonderful man are referred.
Every subject touched upon by Mr. Leland was brightly illuminated by
the power of his marvellous mind. He seemed to be able to go right to
the heart of the subject, seizing upon its essential truth and at the
same time grasping all of its details. His mind was so full of general
information that it fairly oozed out from him in all of his writings.
The reader will notice this phenomenon in the present book, in which
the author has evidently had to fight his own mind in order to prevent
it from intruding all sorts of valuable and varied general information
in among the particular subjects upon which he is treating. While not
a professional psychologist, Mr. Leland has given utterance to some of
the most valuable and practical psychological truths of the last fifty
years, his contributions to this branch of human thought is sure to be
recognized and appreciated in the near future. It is hoped that this
little book will carry some of his valuable precepts and ideas to many
who have never had the advantage and pleasure of his acquaintance up
to this time.
It is believed by the publisher that this popular edition of Mr.
Leland's valuable work upon the Use of the Will, issued at a nominal
price, will carry the author's teachings to the homes of many of those
whom Lincoln called the "plain people" of this American land, who need
it so much, but who would not have been able to have purchased it
in its original shape. This work has been well known in England,
but here, in America, the birthplace of the author, it has been
comparatively unheard of. It is to be hoped that this edition will
remedy this grievous fault.
April 11, 1907 THE PUBLISHER.
CONTENTS
Introduction . . . 13
Chapter I.--Attention and Interest . . . 19
Chapter II.--Self-Suggestion . . . 28
Chapter III.--Will-Development . . . 34
Chapter IV.--Forethought . . . 48
Chapter V.--Will and Character . . . 58
Chapter VI.--Suggestion and Instinct . . . 66
Chapter VII.--Memory Culture . . . 74
Chapter VIII.--The Constructive Faculties . . . 81
Chapter IX.--Fascination . . . 85
Chapter X.--The Subliminal Self . . . 100
Chapter XI.--Paracelsus . . . 109
Chapter XII.--Last Words . . . 116
THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
During the past few years the most serious part of the author's study
and reflection has been devoted to the subjects discussed in this
book. These, briefly stated, are as follows: Firstly, that all mental
or cerebral faculties can by direct scientific treatment be influenced
to what would have once been regarded as miraculous action, and which
is even yet very little known or considered. Secondly, in development
of this theory, and as confirmed by much practical and personal
experience, that the Will can by very easy processes of training, or
by aid of Auto-Suggestion, be strengthened to any extent, and states
of mind soon induced, which can be made by practice habitual. Thus,
as a man can by means of opium produce sleep, so can he by a very
simple experiment a few times repeated--an experiment which I
clearly describe and which has been tested and verified beyond
all denial--cause himself to remain during the following day in a
perfectly calm or cheerful state of mind; and this condition may, by
means of repetition and practice, be raised or varied to other states
or conditions of a far more active or intelligent description.
Thus, for illustration, I may say that within my own experience, I
have by this process succeeded since my seventieth year in working
all day far more assiduously, and without any sense of weariness or
distaste for labour, than I ever did at any previous period of my
life. And the reader need only try the extremely easy experiment, as I
have described it, to satisfy himself that he can do the same, that he
can continue it with growing strength _ad infinitum_, and that this
power will unquestionably at some future time be employed with
marvellous results in Education. For, beyond all question--since any
human being can easily prove or disprove it by a few experiments--
there is no method known by which inattention, heedlessness, or
negligence in the young can be so promptly and thoroughly cured as by
this; while on the other hand, Attention and Interest by assiduity,
are even more easily awakened. It has indeed seemed to me, since I
have devoted myself to the study of Education from this point of view,
as if it had been like the Iron Castle in the Slavonian legend, unto
which men had for centuries wended their way by a long and wearisome
road of many miles, while there was all the time, unseen and unknown,
a very short and easy subterranean passage, by means of which the
dwellers in the Schloss might have found their way to the town below,
and to the world, in a few minutes.
To this I have added a succinct account of what is, I believe, the
easiest and most comprehensive Art of Memory ever conceived. There
are on this subject more than five hundred works, all based, without
exception, on the _Associative_ system, which may be described as a
stream which runs with great rapidity for a very short time but is
soon choked up. This, I believe, as a means applied to learning, was
first published in my work, entitled _Practical Education_. In it the
pupil is taught the _direct method_; that is, instead of remembering
one thing by means of another, to impress _the image itself_ on the
memory, and frequently revive it. This process soon becomes habitual
and very easy. In from one year to eighteen months a pupil can by
means of it accurately recall a lecture or sermon. It has the
immediate advantage, over all the associate systems, of increasing and
enlarging the scope and vigour of the memory, or indeed of the mind,
so that it may truly bear as a motto, _Vires acquirit eundo_--"it
gains in power as it runs long."
Finally, I set forth a system of developing the Constructive Faculty--
that which involves Ingenuity, Art, or manual _making_--as based on
the teaching of the so-called Minor Arts to the young. The principle
from which I proceed is that as the fruit is developed from the
flower, all Technical Education should be anticipated. Or begun
in children by practicing easy and congenial arts, such as light
embroidery, wood-carving or repoussé, by means of which they become
familiar with the elements of more serious and substantial work.
Having found out by practical experience, in teaching upwards of two
thousand children for several years, that the practice of such easy
work, or the development of the constructive faculty, invariably
awakened the intellectual power or intelligence, I began to study the
subject of the development of the mind in general. My first discovery
after this was that Memory, whether mental, visual, or of any other
kind, could, in connection with Art, be wonderfully improved, and to
this in time came the consideration that the human Will, with all its
mighty power and deep secrets, could be disciplined and directed, or
controlled with as great care as the memory or the mechanical faculty.
In a certain sense the three are one, and the reader who will take the
pains, which are, I trust, not very great, to master the details of
this book, will readily grasp it as a whole, and understand that its
contents form a system of education, yet one from which the old as
well as young may profit.
It is worth noting that, were it for nervous invalids alone, or those
who from various causes find it difficult to sleep, or apply the mind
to work, this book would be of unquestionable value. In fact, even
while writing this chapter, a lady has called to thank me for the
substantial benefit which she derived from my advice in this respect.
And, mindful of the fact that Attention and Unwearied Perseverance
are most necessary to succeed in such processes as are here described, I
have taken pains to show or explain how they may be rendered more
attractive, tolerable, and habitual to the fickle or light-minded;
this, too, being a subject which has been very little considered from
a practical point of view.
But, above all things, I beg the reader, laying aside all prejudice or
preconceived opinion, and neither believing nor disbelieving what he
reads, to simply _try it_--that is to test it in his own person to
what degree he can influence his will, or bring about subsequent
states of mind, by the very easy processes laid down. If I could hope
that all opinion of my book would be uttered only by those who had
thus put it to the test, I should be well assured as to its future.
And also I beg all readers, and especially reviewers, to note that I
advise that the auto-suggestive process, by aid of sleep, _shall be
discontinued as soon as the experimenter begins to feel an increase in
the power of the will_; the whole object of the system being to
acquire a perfectly free clear Will as soon as possible. Great
injustice was done, as regards the first edition of this work, by a
very careless though eminent critic, who blamed the author for not
having done what the latter had carefully recommended in his book.
There are four stages of advance towards the truth: firstly,
Disbelief; secondly, Doubt, which is, in fact, only a fond advance
towards Disbelief; thirdly, Agnosticism, which is Doubt mingled with
Inquiry; and, finally, pure and simple Inquiry or Search, without any
preconceived opinion or feeling whatever. It is, I trust, only in the
spirit of the latter, that I have written; therefore I say to the
reader, Neither, believe nor disbelieve in anything which I have said,
but, as it is an easy thing to try, experiment for yourself, and judge
by the result. In fact, as a satisfactory and conclusive experiment
will not require more time, and certainly not half the pains which
most people would expend on reading a book, I shall be perfectly
satisfied if any or all my critics will do so, and judge the system by
the result.
INTRODUCTION.
"Unto many Fortune comes while sleeping."--_Latin
Proverb_.
"Few know what is really going on in the world."--
_American Proverb_.
It is but a few years since it suddenly struck the gay world of comic
dramatists and other literary wits, that the Nineteenth Century was
drawing to an end, and regarding it as an event they began to make
merry over it, at first in Paris, and then in London and New York, as
the _fin-de-siècle_. Unto them it was the going-out of old fashions in
small things, such as changes in dress, the growth of wealth, or "the
mighty bicycle," with a very prevalent idea that things "are getting
mixed" or "checquered," or the old conditions of life becoming
strangely confused. And then men of more thought or intelligence,
looking more deeply into it, began to consider that the phrase did in
very truth express far more serious facts. As in an old Norman tale,
he who had entered as a jester or minstrel in comic garb, laid aside
his disguise, and appeared as a wise counsellor or brave champion who
had come to free the imprisoned emperor.
For it began to be seen that this _fin-de-siècle_ was developing with
startling rapidity changes of stupendous magnitude, which would ere
long be seen "careering with thunder speed along," and that all the
revolutions and reforms recorded in history were only feeble or
partial, scattered or small, compared to the world-wide unification of
human interests, led by new lights, which has begun to manifest itself
in every civilized country. That well nigh every person or real
culture, or education guided by pure science, has within a very few
years advanced to a condition of liberal faith which would have been
in my university days generally reprobated as "infidelity," is not to
be denied, and the fact means, beyond all question, that according to
its present rate of advance, in a very few years more, this reform
will end in the annulling of innumerable traditions, forms of faith
and methods. _Upharsin_ is writ on the wall.
More than this, is it not clear that Art and Romance, Poetry and
Literature, as hitherto understood or felt, are either to utterly
vanish before the stupendous advances of science, or what is perhaps
more probable, will, coalescing with it, take new forms, based on a
general familiarity with all the old schools or types? A few years ago
it seemed, as regarded all æsthetic creation, that man had exhausted
the old models, and knew not where to look for new. Now the aim of Art
is to interest or please, by gratifying the sense or taste for the
beautiful or human genius in _making_; also to instruct and refine;
and it is evident that Science is going to fulfill all these
conditions on such a grand scale in so many new ways, that, when man
shall be once engaged in them, all that once gratified him in the past
will seem as childish things, to be put away before pursuits more
worthy of manly dignity. If Art in all forms has of late been quiet,
it has been because it has drawn back like the tiger in order to make
the greater bound.
One of the causes why some are laying aside all old spiritualism,
romance and sentiment, is that their realisation takes up too much
time, and Science, which is the soul of business, seeks in all things
brevity and directness. It is probable that the phrase, "but to the
point," has been oftener repeated during the past few years, than it
ever was before, since Time begun, of which directness I shall have
more to say anon.
And this is the end to which these remarks on the _fin-de-siècle_ were
written, to lay stress upon the fact that with the year Nineteen
Hundred we shall begin a century during which civilized mankind will
attain its majority and become _manly_, doing that which is right
as a man should, _because it is right_ and for no other reason, and
shunning wrong for as good cause. For while man is a child he behaves
well, or misbehaves, for _reasons_ such as the fear of punishment or
hope of reward, but in a manly code no reasons are necessary but only
a persuasion or conviction that anything is right or wrong, and a
principle which is as the earth unto a seed.
For as the world is going on, or getting to be, it is very evident
that as it is popularly said, "he who will tell a lie will generally
not hesitate to commit perjury," so he who cannot be really honest,
_per se_, without being sustained by principle based only on tradition
and the opinion of others, is a poor creature, whose morality or
honesty is in fact merely theatrical, or acted, to satisfy certain
conditions or exigencies from which he were better freed.
This spirit of scientific directness, and economy of thought and
trouble by making the principle of integrity the basis of all forms,
and cutting all ethical theories down to "be good because you
_ought_," is rapidly astonishing us with another marvellous fact which
it illustrates, namely, that as in this axiom--as in man himself--
there are latent undiscovered powers, so in a thousand other
sayings, or things known to us all, used by us all, and regarded as
common-place, there are astounding novelties and capacities as yet
undreamed of. For, as very few moralists ever understood in full what
is meant by the very much worn or hackneyed saying, "we ought to do
what is right," so the world at large little suspects that such very
desirable qualities as Attention, Interest, Memory and Ingenuity, have
that within them which renders them far more attainable by man than
has ever been supposed. Even the great problem of Happiness itself, as
really being only one of a relative state of mind, may be solved or
reached by some far simpler or more direct method than any thinker has
ever suggested.
It all depends on exertion of the _Will_. There are in this world a
certain number of advanced thinkers who, if they knew how to develope
the _Will_ which exists in them, could bring this reform to pass in an
incredibly short time. That is to say, they could place the doctrine
or religion of Honesty for its own sake so boldly and convincingly
before the world that its future would be assured. Now the man who can
develope his will, has it in his power not only to control his moral
nature to any extent, but also to call into action or realize very
extraordinary states of mind, that is, faculties, talents or abilities
which he has never suspected to be within his reach. It is a
stupendous thought; yes, one so great that from the beginning of time
to the present day no sage or poet has ever grasped it in its full
extent, and yet is is a very literal truth, that there lie hidden
within us all, as in a sealed-up spiritual casket, or like the
bottled-up _djinn_ in the Arab tale, innumerable Powers or
Intelligences, some capable of bestowing peace or calm, others of
giving Happiness, or inspiring creative genius, energy and
perseverance. All that Man has ever attributed to an Invisible World
without, lies, in fact, within him, and the magic key which will
confer the faculty of sight and the power to conquer is the _Will_.
It has always been granted that it is a marvellously good thing to
have a strong will, or a determined or resolute mind, and great has
been the writing thereon. I have by me the last book on the subject,
in which the faculty is enthusiastically praised, and the reader is
told through all the inflexions of sentiment, that he _ought_ to
assert his Will, to be vigorous in mind, _etcetera_, but unfortunately
the How to do it is utterly wanting.
It will be generally admitted by all readers that this _How to do it_
has been always sought in grandly heroic or sublimely vigorous
methods of victory over self. The very idea of being resolute, brave,
persevering or stubborn, awakens in us all thoughts of conflict or
dramatic self-conquering. But it may be far more effectively attained
in a much easier way, even as the ant climbed to the top of the tree
and gnawed away and brought down the golden fruit unto which the
man could not rise. There are _easy_ methods, and by far the most
effective, of awakening the Will; methods within the reach of every
one, and which if practised, will lead on _ad infinitum_, to
marvellous results.
The following chapters will be devoted to setting forth, I trust
clearly and explicitly, how by an extremely easy process, or
processes, the will may be, by any person of ordinary intelligence and
perseverance, awakened and developed to any extent, and with it many
other faculties or states of mind. I can remember once being told by a
lady that she thought there ought to be erected in all great cities
temples to the Will, so as to encourage mankind to develop the
divine faculty. It has since occurred to me that an equal number of
school-houses, however humble, in which the art of mastering the Will
by easy processes _seriatim_ should be taught, would be far more
useful. Such a school-house is this work, and it is the hope of the
author that all who enter, so to speak, or read it, will learn
therefrom as much as he himself and others have done by studying its
principles.
To recapitulate or make clear in brief what I intend, I would say
_Firstly_, that the advanced thinkers at this end of the century,
weary of all the old indirect methods of teaching Morality, are
beginning to enquire, since Duty is an indispensable condition,
whether it is not just as well to do what is right, _because_ it is
right, as for any other reason? _Secondly_, that this spirit of
directness, the result of Evolution, is beginning to show itself in
many other directions, as we may note by the great popularity of
the answer to the question, "How not to worry," which is briefly,
_Don't! Thirdly_, that enlightened by this spirit of scientific
straightforwardness, man is ceasing to seek for mental truth by means
of roundabout metaphysical or conventional ethical methods (based on
old traditions and mysticism), and is looking directly in himself,
or materially, for what Immaterialism or Idealism has really never
explained at all--his discoveries having been within a few years much
more valuable that all that _a priori_ philosophy or psychology ever
yielded since the beginning. And, finally, that the leading faculties
or powers of the mind, such as Will, Memory, the Constructive
faculty, and all which are subject to them, instead of being entirely
mysterious "gifts," or inspirations bestowed on only a very few to any
liberal extent, are in all, and may be developed grandly and richly by
direct methods which are moreover extremely easy, and which are in
accordance with the spirit of the age, being the legitimate results of
Evolution and Science.
And, that I may not be misunderstood, I would say that the doctrine of
Duty agrees perfectly with every form of religion--a man may be Roman
Catholic, Church of England, Presbyterian, Agnostic, or what he will;
and, if a form aids him in the least to be _sincerely honest_, it
would be a pity for him to be without it. Truly there are degrees in
forms, and where I live in Italy I am sorry to see so many abuses or
errors in them. But to know and do what is right, when understood, is
recognising God as nearly as man can know him, and to do this
perfectly we require _Will_. It is the true _Logos_.
CHAPTER I.
ATTENTION AND INTEREST.
"To the fairies, Determination and Good-Will, all things are
possible."--_The Man of the Family, by_ C. REID.
It happened recently to me, as I write, to see one afternoon lying on
the side walk in the Via Calzaioli in Florence what I thought was a
common iron screw, about three inches in length, which looked as if it
had been dropped by some workman. And recalling the superstition that
it is lucky to find such an object, or a nail, I picked it up, when to
my astonishment I found that it was a silver pencil case, but made to
exactly resemble a screw. Hundreds of people had, perhaps, seen it,
thought they knew all about it, or what it was, and then passed it by,
little suspecting its real value.
There is an exact spiritual parallel for this incident or parable of
the screw-pencil in innumerable ideas, at which well-nigh everybody in
the hurrying stream of life has glanced, yet no one has ever examined,
until someone with a poetic spirit of curiosity, or inspired by quaint
superstition, pauses, picks one up, looks into it, and finds that It
has ingenious use, and is far more than it appeared to be. Thus, if I
declare that by special attention to a subject, earnestly turning it
over and thinking deeply into it, very remarkable results may be
produced, as regards result in knowledge, every human being will
assent to it as the veriest truism ever uttered; in the fullest belief
that he or she assuredly knows all _that_.
Yet it was not until within a very few years that I discovered that
this idea, which seemed so commonplace, had within it mysteries and
meanings which were stupendously original or remarkable. I found that
there was a certain intensity or power of attention, far surpassing
ordinary observation, which we may, if we will, summon up and _force_
on ourselves, just as we can by special effort see or hear far better
at times than usually. The Romans show by such a phrase as _animum
adjicere_, and numerous proverbs and synonyms, that they had learned
to bend their attention energetically. They were good listeners,
therefore keen observers.
Learning to control or strengthen the Will is closely allied to
developing Attention and Interest, and for reasons which will soon be
apparent, I will first consider the latter, since they constitute a
preparation or basis for the former. And as preliminary, I will
consider the popular or common error to the effect that everyone has
alloted to him or to her just so much of the faculty of attention or
interest as it has pleased Nature to give--the same being true as
regards Memory, Will, the Constructive or Artistic abilities, and so
on--when in very truth and on the warrant of Experience all may be
increased _ad infinitum_. Therefore, we find ignorant men complacently
explaining their indifference to art and literature or culture on the
ground that they take no interest in such subjects, as if interest
were a special heaven-sent gift. Who has not heard the remark, "He or
she takes such an _interest_ in so many things--I wish that I could."
Or, as I heard it very recently expressed, "It must be delightful to
be able to interest one's self in something at any time." Which was
much the same as the expression of the Pennsylvania German girl, "_Ach
Gott_! I wisht I hat genius und could make a pudden!"
No one can be expected to take an interest at once and by mere will in
any subject, but where an earnest and serious Attention has been
directed to it, Interest soon follows. Hence it comes that those who
deliberately train themselves in Society after the precept enforced by
all great writers of social maxims to listen politely and patiently,
are invariably rewarded by acquiring at last shrewd intelligence, as
is well known to diplomatists. That mere stolid patience subdues
impatience sounds like a dull common-place saying, but it is a silver
pencil disguised as an iron screw; there is a deep subtlety hidden in
it, if it be allowed with a little intelligence, _forethought_, and
determination towards a purpose. Let us now consider the mechanical
and easy processes by which attention may be awakened.
According to ED. VON HARTMANN, Attention is either spontaneous or
reflex. The voluntary fixing our mind upon, or choosing an idea,
image, or subject, is _spontaneous attention_, but when the idea for
some reason impresses itself upon us then we have enforced, or _reflex
attention_. That is simply to say, there is active or passive
observation--the things which we seek or which come to us unsought.
And the "seeking for," or spontaneous action can be materially aided
and made persevering, if before we begin the search or set about
devoting Attention to anything, we pause, as it were, to determine or
resolve that we _will_ be thorough, and not leave off until we shall
have mastered it. For strange as it may seem, the doing this actually
has in most cases a positive, and very often a remarkable result, as
the reader may very easily verify for himself. This Forethought is far
more easily awakened, or exerted, than Attention itself, but it
prepares it, just as Attention prepares Interest.
Attention is closely allied to Memory; when we would give attention to
a subject for continued consideration, we must "memorize" it, or it
will vanish. Involuntary memory excited by different causes often
compels us to attend to many subjects whether we will or not. Everyone
has been haunted with images or ideas even unto being tormented by
them; there are many instances in which the Imagination has given them
objective form, and they have appeared visibly to the patient. These
haunting ideas, disagreeable repetitions or obstinate continuances,
assume an incredible variety of forms, and enter in many strange ways
into life. Monomania or the being possessed with one idea to the
exclusion of others, is a form of overstrained attention, sustained by
memory. It is _enforced_.
Mere repetition of anything to almost anybody, will produce remarkable
results; or a kind of Hypnotism Causing the patient to yield to what
becomes an irresistible power. Thus it is said that perpetual dropping
will wear away stones. Dr. JAMES R. COCKE in his "Hypnotism," in
illustrating this, speaks of a man who did not want to sign a note, he
knew that it was folly to do so, but yielded from having been "over
persuaded." I have read a story in which a man was thus simply
_talked_ into sacrificing his property. The great power latent in this
form of suggestiveness is well known to knaves in America where it is
most employed. This is the whole secret of the value of advertising.
People yield to the mere repetition in time. Attention and Interest
may in this way be self-induced from repetition.
It is true that an image or idea may be often repeated to minds which
do not think or reflect, without awakening attention; _per contra_,
the least degree of thought in a vast majority of cases forms a
nucleus, or beginning, which may easily be increased to an indefinite
extent. A very little exercise of the Will suffices in most cases to
fix the attention on a subject, and how this can be done will be shown
in another chapter. But in many cases Attention is attracted with
little or no voluntary effort. On this fact is based the truth that
when or where it is desired, Attention and Interest may be awakened
with great ease by a simple process.
It may be remarked on the subject of repetition of images or ideas,
that a vast proportion of senseless superstitions, traditions or
customs, which no one can explain, originate in this way, and that in
fact what we call _habit_ (which ranks as second nature) is only
another form or result of involuntary attention and the unconsciously
giving a place in the memory to what we have heard.
From the simple fact that even a man of plain common-sense and strong
will may be driven to sleeplessness, or well nigh to madness, by the
haunting presence of some wretched trifle, some mere jingle or rhyme,
or idle memory, we may infer that we have here a great power which
_must_ in some way be capable of being led to great or useful results
by some very easy process. I once wrote a sketch, never completed, in
which I depicted a man of culture who, having lost an old manuscript
book which he had regarded in a light, semi-incredulous manner as a
_fetish_, or amulet, on which his luck depended, began to be seriously
concerned, and awaking to the fact, deliberately cultivated his alarm
as a psychological study, till he found himself, even with his eyes
wide open as an observer in terrible fear, or a semi-monomaniac. The
recovery of his lost charm at once relieved him. This was a diversion
of Attention for a deliberate purpose, which might have been varied
_ad infinitum_ to procure very useful results. But I have myself known
a man in the United States, who, having lost--he being an actor or
performer--a certain article of theatrical properties on which he
believed "luck" depended, lost all heart and hope, and fell into a
decline, from which he never recovered. In this, as in all such cases,
it was not so much conviction or reason which influenced the sufferer
as the mere effect of Attention often awakened till it had become what
is known as a fixed idea.
A deliberate reflection on what I have here advanced can hardly fail
to make it clear to any reader that if he really desires to take an
interest in any subject, it is possible to do so, because Nature has
placed in every mind vast capacity for attention or fixing ideas, and
where the Attention is fixed, Interest, by equally easy process, may
always be induced to follow. And note that these preliminary
preparations should invariably be as elementary and easy as possible,
this being a condition which it is impossible to exaggerate. In a vast
majority of cases people who would fain be known as taking an interest
in Art begin at the wrong end, or in the most difficult manner
possible, by running through galleries where they only acquire a
superficial knowledge of results, and learn at best how to _talk_
showily about what they have skimmed. Now to this end a good article
in a cyclopædia, or a small treatise like that of TAINE'S "Æsthetic"
thoroughly read and re-read, till it be really mastered, and then
verified by study of a very few good pictures in a single collection,
will do more to awaken sincere _interest_ than the loose ranging
through all the exhibitions in the world. I have read in many novels
thrilling descriptions of the effect and results when all the glories
of the Louvre or Vatican first burst upon some impassioned and
unsophisticated youth, who from that moment found himself an Artist--
but I still maintain that it would have been a hundred times better
for him had his Attention and Interest been previously attracted to a
few pictures, and his mind accustomed to reflect on them.
Be the subject in which we would take an interest artistic or
scientific, literary or social, the best way to begin herewith is to
carefully read the simplest and easiest account of it which we can
obtain, in order that we may know just exactly what it is, or its
definition. And this done, let the student at once, while the memory
is fresh in mind, follow it up by other research or reading,
observations or inquiries, on the same subject, for three books read
together on anything will profit more than a hundred at long
intervals. In fact, a great deal of broken, irregular or disjointed
reading is often as much worse than none at all, as a little coherent
study is advantageous.
Many people would very willingly take an interest in many subjects if
they knew how. It is a melancholy thing to see a man retired from
business with literally nothing to do but fritter away his time on
nothings when he might be employed at something absorbing and useful.
But they hesitate to _act_ because, as is the rule in life, they see
everything from its most difficult and repulsive side. There is no man
who could not easily take an intelligent interest in Art in some form,
but I venture to say that a majority of even educated people who had
never taken up the subject would be appalled at it in their secret
hearts, or distrust its "use" or their own capacity to master it. Or
again, many put no faith in easy manuals to begin with, believing, in
their ignorance, that a mere collection of rudiments cannot have much
in it. We are all surrounded by thousands of subjects in which we
might all take an interest, and do good work, if we would, selecting
one, give it a little attention, and by easy process proceed to learn
it. As it is, in general society the man or woman who has any special
pursuit, accomplishment, or real interest for leisure hours, beyond
idle gossip and empty time-killing, is a great exception. And yet I
sincerely believe that in perhaps a majority of cases there is a
sincere desire to do something, which is killed by simple ignorance of
the fact that with a very little trouble indeed interest in something
is within the easy reach of all.
I have dwelt on this subject that the reader may be induced to reflect
on the fact, firstly, that if he wishes to learn how to develop his
Will and strengthen it, it is absolutely necessary to take an
_interest_ in it. I beg him to consider how this art of acquiring
attention and interest has been, or is, obscured in most minds, and
the difficulties of acquiring it, exaggerated. Secondly, I would point
out that the method of process for making a Will is so closely allied
to that laid down for Attention that it will seem like a deduction
from it, both being allied to what may claim to be an original Art of
Memory, to which I shall devote a chapter in its due place.
For as I hope clearly to prove it is an easy matter to create a strong
will, or strengthen that which we have, to a marvelous extent, yet he
who would do this must first give his _Attention_ firmly and fixedly
to his intent or want, for which purpose it is absolutely necessary
that he shall first _know his own mind regarding what he means to do_,
and therefore meditate upon it, not dreamily, or vaguely, but
earnestly. And this done he must assure himself that he takes a real
interest in the subject, since if such be the case I may declare that
his success is well nigh certain.
And here it may be observed that if beginners, _before_ taking up
any pursuit, would calmly and deliberately consider the virtues of
Attention and Interest, and how to acquire them, or bring them to bear
on the proposed study or work, we should hear much less of those who
had "begun German" without learning it, or who failed in any other
attempt. For there would in very truth be few failures in life if
those who undertake anything first gave to it long and careful
consideration by leading observation into every detail, and, in fact,
becoming familiar with the idea, and not trusting to acquire interest
and perseverance in the future. Nine-tenths of the difficulty and
doubt or ill-at-easeness which beginners experience, giving them the
frightened feeling of "a cat in a strange garret," and which often
inspires them to retreat, is due entirely to not having begun by
training the Attention or awakened an Interest in the subject.
It has often seemed to me that the reason for failure, or the ultimate
failing to attain success, in a vast number of "Faith cures," is
simply because the people who seek them, being generally of a gushing,
imaginative nature, are lacking in deep reflection, application, or
earnest attention. They are quick to take hold, and as quick to let
go. Therefore, they are of all others the least likely to seriously
reflect _beforehand_ on the necessity of preparing the mind to
patience and application. Now it seems a simple thing to say, and it
is therefore all the harder to understand, that before going to work
at anything which will require perseverance and repeated effort we can
facilitate the result amazingly by thinking over and anticipating it,
so that when the weariness comes it will not be as a discouraging
novelty, but as something of course, even as a fisherman accepts his
wet feet, or the mosquitoes. But how this disposition to grow weary of
work or to become inattentive may be literally and very completely
conjured away will be more fully explained in another chapter. For
this let it suffice to say that earnest _forethought_, and the more of
it the better, bestowed on aught which we intend to undertake, is a
thing rarely attempted in the real sense in which I mean it, but
which, when given, eases every burden and lightens every toil.
Mere _forethought_ repeated is the easiest of mental efforts. Yet even
a little of it asserted before undertaking a task will wonderfully
facilitate the work.
"Hypnotism," says Dr. JAMES R. COCKE, "can be used to train the
attention of persons habitually inattentive." But, in fact,
forethinking in any way is the minor or initiatory stage of
Suggestion. Both are gradual persuasion of the nervous system into
habit.
And on this text a marvelous sermon could be preached, which, if
understood, would sink deeply into every heart, inspiring some while
alarming others, but greatly cheering the brave. And it is this.
There are millions of people who suffer from irritability, want of
self-control, loquacity, evil in many forms, or nerves, who would fain
control themselves and stop it all. Moralists think that for this it
is enough to convince their reason. But this rarely avails. A man may
_know_ that he is wrong, yet _not_ be able to reform. Now, what he
wants is to have his attention fixed long enough to form a new habit.
Find out how this can be done, and it may in many cases be the
simplest and most mechanical thing in the world to cure him. Men have
been frightened by a scarecrow into thorough repentance. "A question
of a few vibrations of ether, more or less, makes for us all the
difference between perception and non-perception," or between sight
and blindness. Accustom any such moral invalid to being Suggested or
willed a few times into a calm, self-controlled state and the habit
may be formed.
And to those who doubt, and perhaps would sneer, I have only to say
_try it_. It will do them good.