WILL AND CHARACTER.
"And I have felt
A Presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts, a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interposed,
Whose dwelling is . . . all in the mind of man;
A motion and a spirit that impels
All thinking things."--_Wordsworth_.
As the vast majority of people are not agreed as to what really
constitutes a Gentleman, while a great many seem to be practically, at
least, very much abroad as to the nature of a Christian, so it will be
found that, in fact, there is a great deal of difference as regards
the Will. I have known many men, and some women, to be credited by
others, and who very much credited themselves, with having iron wills,
when, in fact, their every deed, which was supposed to prove it, was
based on brazen want of conscience. Mere want of principle or
unscrupulousness passes with many, especially its possessors, for
strong _will_. And even decision of character itself, as MAGINN
remarks, is often confounded with talent. "A bold woman always gets
the name of clever"--among fools--"though her intellect may be of a
humble order, and her knowledge contemptible." Among the vulgar,
especially those of greedy, griping race and blood, the children of
the thief, a robber of the widow and orphan, the scamp of the
syndicate, and soulless "promoter" in South or North America, bold
robbery, or Selfishness without scruple or timidity always appears as
Will. But it is not the whole of the real thing, or real will in
itself. When MUTIUS CAIUS SCAEVOLA thrust his hand into the flames no
one would have greatly admired his endurance if it had been found that
the hand was naturally insensible and felt no pain. Nor would there
have been any plaudits for MARCUS CURTIUS when he leapt into the gulf,
had he been so drunk as not to know what he was about. The will which
depends on unscrupulousness is like the benumbed hand or intoxicated
soul. Quench conscience, as a sense of right and obligation, and you
can, of course, do a great deal from which another would shrink--and
therefore be called "weak-minded" by the fools.
There is another type of person who imposes on the world and on self
as being strong-minded and gifted with Will. It is the imperturbable
cool being, always self-possessed, with little sympathy for emotion.
In most cases such minds result from artificial training, and they
break down in real trials. I do not say that they cannot weather a
storm or a duel, or stand fire, or get through what novelists regard
as superlative stage trials; but, in a moral crisis, the gentleman or
lady whose face is all Corinthian brass is apt like that brass in a
fire to turn pale. These folk get an immense amount of undeserved
admiration as having Will or self-command, when they owe what staying
quality they have (like the preceding class) rather to a lack of good
qualities than their inspiration.
There are, alas! not a few who regard _Will_ as simply identical with
mere obstinacy, or stubbornness, the immovability of the Ass, or Bull,
or Bear--that is, they reduce it to an animal power. But, as this
often or generally amounts in animal or man to mere insensible
sulkiness--as far remote as possible from enlightened mental action,
it is surely unjust to couple it with the _Voluntary_ or pure
intelligent _Will_, by which all must understand the very acme of
active Intellect.
Therefore it follows, that the errors, mistakes, and perversions which
have grown about Will in popular opinion, like those which have
accumulated round Christianity, are too often mistaken for the truth.
Pure Will is, and must be by its very nature, perfectly _free_, for
the more it is hindered, or hampered, or controlled in any way, the
less is it independent volition. Therefore, pare Will, free from all
restraint can only act in, or as, Moral Law. Acting in accordance with
very mean, immoral, obstinate motives is, so to speak, obeying as a
slave the devil. The purer the motive the purer the Will, and in very
truth the purer the stronger, or firmer. Every man has his own idea of
Will according to his morality--even as it is said that every man's
conception of God is himself infinitely magnified--or, as SYDNEY SMITH
declared, that a certain small clergyman believed that Saint Paul was
five feet two inches in height, and wore a shovel-hat. And here we may
note that if the fundamental definition of a gentleman be "a man of
perfect integrity," or one who always does simply _what is right_, he
is also one who possesses Will in its integrity.
Therefore it follows that if the pure will, which is the basis of all
firm and determined action, be a matter of moral conviction, it should
take the first place as such. Napoleon the First was an exemplar of a
selfish corrupted will, CHRIST the perfection of Will in its purity.
And if I can make my meaning clear, I would declare that he who would
create within himself a strong and vigorous will by hypnotism or any
other process, will be most likely to succeed, if, instead of aiming
at developing a power by which he may subdue others, and make all
things yield to him, or similar selfish aims, he shall, before all,
seriously reflect on how he may use it to do good. For I am absolutely
persuaded from what I know, that he who makes Altruism and the
happiness of others a familiar thought to be coupled with every effort
(even as a lamb is always painted with, or appointed unto, St. John),
will be the most likely to succeed. There is something in moral
conviction or the consciousness of right which gives a sense of
security or a faith in success which goes far to secure it. Hence the
willing the mind on the following day to be at peace, not to yield to
irritability or temptations to quarrel, to be pleasing and cheerful;
in short to develop _good_ qualities is the most easily effected
process, because where there is such self-moral-suasion to a good aim
or end, we feel, and very justly, that we _ought_ to be aided by the
_Deus in nobis_, or an over-ruling Providence, whatever its form or
nature may be. And the experimenter may be assured that if we can by
any means _will_ or exorcise all envy, vanity, folly, irritability,
vindictiveness--in short all evil--out of ourselves, and supply their
place with Love, we shall take the most effective means to secure our
own happiness, as well as that of others.
All of this has been repeated very often of late years by Altruists;
but, while the doctrine is accepted both by Agnostics and Christians
as perfect, there has been little done to show men how to practically
realize it. But I have ever noted that in this Pilgrim's Progress of
our life, those are most likely to attain to the Celestial City, and
all its golden glories, who, like CHRISTIAN, start from the lowliest
beginnings; and as the learning our letters leads to reading the
greatest books, so the simplest method of directing the attention and
the most mechanical means of developing Will, may promptly lead to the
highest mental and moral effect.
Prayer is generally regarded as nothing else but an asking or begging
from a superior power. But it is also something which is really very
different from this. It is a formula by means of which man realizes
his faith and will. Tradition, and habit (of whose power I have
spoken) or repetition, have given it the influence or prestige of a
charm. In fact it is a spell, he who utters it feels assured that if
seriously repeated it will be listened to, and that the Power to whom
it is addressed will hear it. The Florentines all round me as I write,
who repeat daily, "_Pate nostro quis in cell, santi ficeturie nome
tumme_!" in words which they do not understand, do not pray for daily
bread or anything else in the formula; they only realize that they
commune with God, and are being good. An intelligent prayer in this
light is the concentration of thought on a subject, or a _definite_
realization. Therefore if when _willing_ that tomorrow I shall be calm
all day or void of irritation, I put the will or wish into a brief and
clear form, it will aid me to promptly realize or feel what I want.
And it will be a prayer in its reality, addressed to the Unknown Power
or to the Will within us--an invocation, or a spell, according to the
mind of him who makes it.
Thus a seeker may repeat: "I _will_, earnestly and deeply, that during
all tomorrow I may be in a calm and peaceful state of mind. I _will_
with all my heart that if irritating or annoying memories or images,
or thoughts of any kind are in any way awakened, that they may be
promptly forgotten and fade away!"
I would advise that such a formula be got by heart till very familiar,
to be repeated, but not mechanically, before falling to sleeps What is
of the very utmost importance is that the operator shall feel its
meaning and at the same time give it the impulse of Will by the dual
process before described. This, if successfully achieved, will not
fail (at least with most minds) to induce success.
This formula, or "spell," will be sufficient for some time. When we
feel that it is really beginning to have an effect, we may add to it
other wishes. That is to say, be it clearly understood, that by
repeating the will to be calm and peaceful, day after day, it will
assuredly begin to come of itself, even as a pigeon which hath been
"tolled" every day at a certain hour to find corn or crumbs in a
certain place, will continue to go there even if the food cease.
However, you may renew the first formula if you will. Then we may add
gradually the wish to be in a bold or courageous frame of mind, so as
to face trials, as follows:
"I _will_ with all my soul, earnestly and truly, that I may be on the
morrow and all the day deeply inspired with courage and energy, with
self-confidence and hope! May it lighten my heart and make me heedless
of all annoyances and vexations which may arise! Should such come in
my way, may I hold them at no more than their real value, or laugh
them aside!"
Proceed gradually and firmly through the series, never trying anything
new, until the old has fully succeeded. This is essential, for failure
leads to discouragement. Then, in time, fully realizing all its
deepest meaning, so as to impress the Imagination one may will as
follows:
"May my quickness of Perception, or Intuition, aid me in the business
which I expect to undertake tomorrow. I _will_ that my faculty of
grasping at details and understanding their relations shall be active.
May it draw from my memory the hidden things which will aid it!"
The artist or literary man, or poet, may in time earnestly will to
this effect:
"I desire that my genius, my imagination, the power which enables man
to combine and create; the poetic (or artist) spirit, whatever it be,
may act in me tomorrow, awakening great thoughts and suggesting for
them beautiful forms."
He who expects to appear in public as an orator, as a lawyer pleading
a case, or as a witness, will do much to win success, if after careful
forethought or reflecting on what it is that he really wants, he will
repeat:
"I will that tomorrow I may speak or plead, with perfect
self-possession and absence of all timidity or fear!"
Finally, we may after long and earnest reflection on all which I have
said, and truly not till then, resolve on the Masterspell to awaken
the Will itself in such a form that it will fill our soul, as it were,
unto which intent it is necessary to understand what Will really means
to us in its purity and integrity. The formula may be:
"I _will_ that I may feel inspired with the power, aided by calm
determination, to do what I desire, aided by a sense of right and
justice to all. May my will be strong and sustain me in all trials.
May it inspire that sense of independence of strength which, allied to
a pure conscience, is the greatest source of happiness on earth!"
If the reader can master this last, he can by its aid progress
infinitely. And with the few spells which I have given he will need no
more, since in these lie the knowledge, and key, and suggestion to all
which may be required.
Now it will appear clearly to most, that no man can long and steadily
occupy himself with such pursuits, without morally benefiting by them
in his waking hours, even if auto-hypnotism were all "mere
imagination," in the most frivolous sense of the word. For he who will
himself not to yield to irritability, can hardly avoid paying
attention to the subject, and thinking thereon, check himself when
vexed. And as I have said, what we summon by Will ere long remains as
Habit, even as the Elves, called by a spell, remain in the Tower.
Therefore it is of _great_ importance for all people who take up and
pursue to any degree of success this Art or Science, that they shall
be actuated by moral and unselfish motives, since achieved with any
other intent the end can only be the bringing of evil and suffering
into the soul. For as the good by strengthening the Will make
themselves promptly better and holier, so he who increases it merely
to make others feel his power will become with it wickeder, yea, and
thrice accursed, for what is the greatest remedy is often the
strongest poison.
Step by step Science has advanced of late to the declaration that man
_thinks all over_ his body, or at least experiences those reflected
sensations or emotions which are so strangely balanced between
intellectual sense and sensation that we hardly know where or how to
class them. "The sensitive _plexi_ of our whole organism are all
either isolated or thrown into simultaneous vibration when acted on by
Thought." So the Will may be found acting unconsciously as an emotion
or instinct, or developed with the highest forms of conscious
reflection. Last of all we find it, probably as the result of all
associated functions or powers, at the head of all, their Executive
president. But _is_ it "the exponent of correlated forces?" There
indeed doctors differ.
There is a very curious Italian verb, _Invogliare_, which is thus
described in a Dictionary of Idioms: "_Invogliare_ is to inspire a
will or desire, _cupiditatem injicere a movere_. To _invogliare_
anyone is to awake in him the will or the ability or capacity, an
earnest longing or appetite, an ardent wish--_alicujus rei cupiditatem
a desiderium alicni movere_--to bring into action a man's hankering,
solicitude, anxiety, yearning, ardor, predilection, love, fondness and
relish, or aught which savors of Willing." Our English word,
_Inveigle_, is derived from it, but we have none precisely
corresponding to it which so generally sets forth the idea of
inspiring a will in another person. "Suggestion" is far more general
and vague. Now if a man could thus _in-will_ himself to good or moral
purpose, he would assume a new position in life. We all admit that
most human beings have defects or faults of which they would gladly be
freed (however incorrigible they _appear_ to be), but they have not
the patience to effect a cure, to keep to the resolve, or prevent it
from fading out of sight. For a _vast_ proportion of all minor sins,
or those within the law, there is no cure sought. The offender says
and believes, "It is too strong for me"--and yet these small
unpunished offenses cause a thousand times more suffering than all the
great crimes.
Within a generation, owing to the great increase of population,
prosperity and personal comfort, nervous susceptibility has also
gained in extent, but there has been no check to petty abuse of power,
selfishness, which always comes out in some form of injustice or
wrong, or similar vexations. Nay, what with the disproportionate
growth of vulgar wealth, this element has rapidly increased, and it
would really seem as if the plague must spread _ad infinitum_, unless
some means can be found to _invogliare_ and inspire the offenders with
a sense of their sins, and move them to reform. And it is more than
probable that if all who are at heart sincerely willing to reform
their morals and manners could be brought to keep their delinquencies
before their consciousness in the very simple manner which I have
indicated, the fashion or _mode_ might at least be inaugurated. For it
is _not_ so much a moral conviction, or an appeal to common sense,
which is needed (as writers on ethics all seem to think), but some
practical art of keeping men up to the mark in endeavoring to reform,
or to make them remember it all day long, since "out of sight out of
mind" is the devil's greatest help with weak minds.