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THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 
 library 
 
 From the collection of 
 Julius Doerner, Chicago 
 Purchased, 1918v“ 
 
 ir^ 
 
 AnSh 
 
UBPARY 
 OF THE 
 
 UMlVERSiTY OF ILiiHOlS 
 
FiftH Edition 
 13,000 
 
 ..How to Win.. 
 
 OR 
 
 Sure Secrets 
 <» Success — 
 
 BY 
 
 PROFESSOR L. H. ANDERSON. 
 
 Arranged particularly for the use of the students of the 
 Chicago College of PyschO“Tl>erapeutics and National 
 Institute of Science 
 
 Our wonderful success in healing and the well known 
 character of our students and patrons has established 
 our reputation. Our methods have received the un- 
 qualified endorsement of the best thinkers and the most 
 experienced physicians the world over 
 
 The truths contained in this book will not teach you all 
 you wish to know about Personal Magnetism, but they 
 will prepare you to receive and profit by our instruction. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE, 
 
 MASONIC TEMPLE, 
 
 CHICAGO. 
 
 1896 
 
according to Act of Gon^ress in the 
 J836 by Prof . L.H.^IMerson'^ica^o JJl 
 ii\ Ihe office of the Librarian of (son^resa , at 
 Washington. 0,6. Afl Rights Reserved. 
 
 fto the Author 
 x3\^f / « Pi/htisheTy phi 
 
 llmeof/m this tloml^rA\ 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 <to«o*o«‘ 
 
 f HE author of this work is perfectly aware that many 
 of the facts in the following pages must appear 
 exceedingly startling to such of his readers as may 
 come to the perusal of these facts without any previous 
 preparation. But he would entreat all such persons, other- 
 wise competent to the investigation, to lay aside all 
 prejudices, and weigh the evidence, with calmness, candor, 
 and impartiality. 
 
 The superstitious man is unable, or afraid, to exercise 
 his reasoning faculties. He is unwilling to inquire, or 
 incapable of directing his intellectual and moral faculties 
 towards the impartial investigation of truth. He is 
 perfectly satisfied with the first partial convictions which 
 his indisciplined mind has once led, however incautiously, 
 to embrace, and obstinately indisposed to suffer them to be 
 disturbed or modified by any other, even more matured 
 views. 
 
 ‘‘ The man who dares to think for himself and act in- 
 dependently, does a service to his race,” says one of the 
 brightest modern thinkers, and daily experience shows that 
 it is energetic individualism which produces the most 
 powerful effects upon the life and action of others, and 
 really constitutes the best practical education. Schools, 
 academies and colleges give but the merest beginnings of 
 culture in comparison with it. 
 
 iii 
 
 
What are the means by which my mental faculties 
 may be best developed and strengthened? What is the 
 most successful mode of study? How much, and when, 
 and how? How shall I learn the principles of politeness, 
 of personal accomplishment — of rendering myself agreeable? 
 What are the errors into which I am most liable to fall? 
 what the habits I should seek to avoid? 
 
 These are questions that come home to everyone, but 
 on which instruction has been greatly neglected. With no 
 word of counsel in his whole course of instruction, the 
 youth is expected to develop for himself mental success 
 and social excellence. 
 
 To present the leading principles of mental and social 
 culture, is the object of this work, a part of which is 
 abridged from Dr. Watts’ inestimable “Improvement of the 
 Mind.” Many of the maxims and rules of conversation and 
 politeness are from Chesterfield’s “ Letters to his Son.” A few 
 paragraphs have been taken from other standard authors. 
 For the remainder of the work, as well as for its general 
 arrangement. Prof. L. H. Anderson, principal of the 
 National Hygienic Institute, Chicago, is responsible. 
 
 Every day witnesses the triumph of Personal Magnet- 
 ism, and men of great intellect are constantly being forced 
 to acknowledge, with surprise, the success of persons whose 
 abilities, in comparison with their own, have been incon- 
 siderable. These men know precisely the scope of their 
 faculties, and never wander beyond them. They wait 
 patiently for opportunities which are the kind they can 
 improve, and they never let one pass unimproved. Being 
 unnoticed, they excite so much the less opposition, and at 
 last they surprise the world by the attainment of an object 
 which others deem as far away from their ambition as it 
 seemed beyond their reach. 
 
 iv 
 
While it is impossible in a world made up of widely 
 differing individuals, to formulate a set of rules by which 
 each could be shown the surest and swiftest way to success 
 in life, still it is possible to call attention to certain qualities 
 of mind and character whose possession has come to be 
 universally looked upon as essential to those who may 
 aspire to struggle into the front rank of the world’s workers. 
 As a matter of fact, it would be as difficult to define the 
 common expression “ success in life ” as it would be to lay 
 down a royal road which leads to it. Given a hundred 
 definitions, from as many men, each treating the subject 
 from his own standpoint, and no two of them would be 
 found alike; and the opinion of each of these, as time passed 
 along with its inevitable ups and downs, would be found 
 to vary considerably. Flushed with recent success, the 
 speculator to-day would see in the possession of millions 
 and in the control of vast interests the only proper goal for 
 a man of his great genius; tamed a few days later by 
 unexpected reverses, and he sees in some conservative 
 enterprise the fittest sphere of his future usefulness. 
 Perhaps, then, without attempting the impossible, in a 
 definition of success in life, which will fit all who are 
 seeking it, it will do to look upon it as the accomplishment 
 of the laudable life-purpose of a man of natural or cultivated 
 parts, who has found an object in life worth living and 
 working for, and has worked honestly and perseveringly to 
 attain it. As a rule, the larger the endowment of those facul- 
 ties which go to build up success in life, the higher the aim 
 which accompanies them; but it must not be forgotten that 
 man is the most-cultivable of all God’s creatures, and that 
 by careful and intelligent study of the qualities which have 
 enabled others to shine, one may acquire them and employ 
 them in building up similar accomplishments. This being 
 
BO, it does not lie in the power of the young man who feels 
 that he possesses only a moderate share of intelligence, force 
 and ability, to decide, on this account, that he is not called 
 upon to fight for one of the front places of his generation. 
 The most brilliant lives have often been those of men of or- 
 dinary gifts, who, exerting to the utmost such power as has 
 been given them, have accomplished more than hundreds of 
 men who were much more bountifully supplied with mental 
 qualifications. 
 
 Among all the mental qualifications which help on to 
 success in life, there is none which is of more importance 
 than self-reliance. If you want a thing well done, do it 
 yourself^ says the old saw, and hence comes it that those 
 who rely most upon themselves for the accomplish- 
 ment of any aim, are the ones who do the best work. 
 “Heaven helps those who help themselves” is a well-tried 
 maxim, embodying in small compass the results of vast 
 human experience. The spirit of self-help is the root of all 
 genuine growth in the individual; and, exhibited in the 
 lives of many, it constitutes the true source of national 
 vigor and strength. Help from without is often enfeebling 
 in its effects, but help from within invaribly invigorates. 
 Whatever is done for men or classes, to a certain extent 
 takes away the stimulus and necessity of doing for them- 
 selves; and where men are subjected to over-guidance and 
 over-government, the inevitable tendency is to render them 
 comparatively helpless. 
 
 Attention, application, accuracy, method, punctuality 
 and dispatch are the principle qualities required for the 
 efficient conducting of business of any sort. These, at first 
 sight, may appear to be small matters; and yet they are of 
 essential importance to human happiness, well-being and 
 usefulness. They are little things, it is true, but human 
 
 vi 
 
life is made up of comparative trifles. It is the repetition 
 of little acts, which constitutes not only the sum of human 
 nature, but which determines the character of nations; and 
 where men or nations have broken down, it will almost 
 invaribly be found that neglect of little things was the 
 rock on which they split. Every human being has duties to 
 be performed, and therefore, has great need of cultivating 
 the capacity for doing them — whether the sphere of action 
 be the man^igement of a household, the conduct of a trade 
 or profession, or the government of a nation. 
 
 It is the result of every day experience that steady 
 attention to matters of detail lies at the root of human 
 progress; and that diligence, above all, is the mother of 
 good luck. Accuracy is also of much importance, and an 
 invariable mark of good training in a man, accuracy in 
 observation, accuracy in speech, accuracy in the transaction 
 of affairs. What is done in business must be well done; 
 for it is better to accomplish perfectly a small amount of 
 work that to half-do ten times as much. (A wise man used 
 to say, ‘‘Stay a little, that we may make an end the sooner.”) 
 The leading idea is, that nothing really succeeds which is 
 not based on reality; that sham, in a large sense, is never 
 successful; that in the life of the individual, as in the more 
 comprehensive life of the state, pretention is nothing and 
 power is everything. 
 
 The author has attempted to state the vital conditions 
 of success, that is, the truth which really prevails. Posssibly 
 his statements, in some cases, may have the extravagance 
 and injustice of epigram; but he still trusts that the idea 
 may be perceived through all the exaggerated modes of its 
 expression. 
 
 Reader, if you have undertaken the study of these 
 sciences, this most sublime and useful of all the sciences, 
 
 vii 
 
m order to gratify merely selfish desires; if you intend to 
 use the information given for your own interest alone, and 
 to the detriment of your fellow men, let us earnestly 
 entreat of you, for the good of others and for yoiir own 
 peace of mind in this world and the next, to close the book 
 when you fimish this sentence, and either commit it to the 
 flames or give it to some one with purer motives, and more 
 benevolent designs. We can place in your hands a most 
 potent agency for good or evil; used for proper purposes, 
 and with a clear appreciation of what you owe to yourself 
 and others, it will cause thousands to rise up and call you 
 blessed. But if, on the other hand, you think only of yourself, 
 if you take advantage of the ignorance of the multitude, and 
 use for dishonest purposes these great powers which are 
 placed at your command, language cannot describe the pun- 
 ishment that you will deserve, and that will surely follow on 
 such a course. It is not for us to point out the direful 
 consequences of such abuse; we will only say that your 
 responsibility is in direct proportion to your knowledge, 
 and if you are wise you will heed our counsel. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 PROF. L. H, ANDERSON. 
 
UCC0SS. 
 
 Nothing Succeeds Like Success.^^ 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 f UCCESS is the favorable termination of an attempt — 
 the crowning attainment of well directed effort. It is 
 the opposite of failure and confers great honor on him who 
 honorably wins it. 
 
 Labor is necessary to the attainment of success and is 
 the child of Ambition fostered by Hope. 
 
 The animating wrays of Hope fill sluggish veins with 
 warm enthusiasm and engender a purpose in life. 
 
 Success is a goal, attractive to ambitious men as load- 
 stone to iron, shining forth as a golden shrine set in the 
 future, illuminated and made resplendent in the brilliant 
 light of Hope. 
 
 Hope is a potent and important factor to the attain- 
 ment of success. 
 
 Find a man without hope and you have found a man 
 fit for the insane asylum or ready to commit suicide. 
 Therefore keep your eye steadily on the shrine of your 
 ambitions and cling to Hope. 
 
 Work with a single purpose. It is the only way you 
 can become absolute master of the situation in any walk of 
 
10 
 
 HOW| TO WIN. 
 
 life. If you are not full master of the situation, Hope will 
 deceive you and your shrine will topple in the dust, a 
 broken and worthless idol. 
 
 Aim high bat be reasonable in what you expect. Re- 
 member that though your ambition of to day may be grat* 
 fied, to-morrow it will but be supplanted by another ambi- 
 tion, whose object is as strongly cherished and as elusive 
 as was the other but yesterday, which will still lead you on. 
 
 Thus is ambition never satisfied and ever keeping you 
 in hot pursuit of something just beyond your reach. This 
 is as it should be. It is a constant stimulus to activity and 
 important to the moulding of a useful life. 
 
 All men should work and each should conscientiously 
 perform his part as a factor to the final consummation of 
 the great plan of the universe. 
 
 We are always grasping for something we do not 
 possess. 
 
 If,' perchance, we get it, its charm is soon lost to us in 
 the pursuit of some other object which seems more desira- 
 ble or perhaps without which it seems that which we do 
 possess will not be perfect. 
 
 Thus are we lead on and on to dizzy heights of knowl- 
 edge, fame or wealth from where looking down and back we 
 wonder how objects of our early desires could ever have 
 been attractive. 
 
 Crave all you can honorably get but don’t ask too 
 much — you can not get all. 
 
 You will nearly always shoot lower than you aim, but 
 remember it is always well to aim high, and that success in 
 this age is only a matter of determination, energy and 
 steadfastness of purpose possible to every man of stability, 
 judgment and honor regardless of the size of the house in 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 11 
 
 which he may have been born or the financial condition of 
 his ancestors. 
 
 Chapin says: Man was sent into the world to be a 
 
 growing and exhaustless force.” 
 
 Bear well in mind the fact that you are a man and 
 think of Emerson’s words: O rich and various man! 
 
 thou palace of sight and sound, carrying in thy senses 
 the morning and night and the unfathomable galaxy; in 
 thy brain the geometry of the city of God; in thy heart 
 the power of love and the realms of right and wrong.” 
 
 You are a man and your life can not approach too near 
 the ideal of Shakespeare when he Fays: What a piece of 
 
 work is man! how infinite in faculty! in apprehension how 
 like a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of ani- 
 mals.” 
 
 HOW TO ATTAIN SUCCESS. 
 
 Rule I. — Deeply posess your mind with the import- 
 ance of a good judgment, and the rich and inestimable 
 advantage of right reasoning. Review the instances of 
 your own misconduct in life; think how many follies and 
 sorrows you might have escaped, and how much guilt and 
 misery you might have prevented, if from your early years 
 you had taken due pains to judge aright concerning persons? 
 times and things. This will awaken you with lively vigor 
 to address yourself to the work of improving your reason- 
 ing powers, and seizing every opportunity and advantage 
 for that end. 
 
 II. Consider the weakness and frailty of human 
 nature in general, which arise from the very constitution of 
 a soul united to a material body. Consider the depth and 
 difficulty of many truths, and the fliattering appearances of 
 
12 
 
 HOW TO WIN. 
 
 falsehood, whence arise an infinite variety of dangers to 
 which we are exposed in our judgement of things. 
 
 III. A slight view of things so momentous is not 
 sufficient. You should therefore contrive and practise 
 proper methods to acquaint yourself with your own igno- 
 rance, and to impress your mind with a sense of the low 
 and imperfect degree of your present knowledge, that you 
 may be incited with labor and activity to pursue after 
 greater measures. Among others you may find methods 
 such as these successful: 
 
 1. Survey at times the vast and unlimited regions of 
 learning. Let your meditations run over the names of all 
 the sciences, with their numerous branchings, and innumer- 
 able particular themes of knowledge; and then reflect how 
 few of them you are acquainted with in any tolerable 
 degree. 
 
 2. Think what a numberless variety of questions and 
 difficulties there are belonging even to that particular 
 science in which you have made the greatest progress, and 
 how few of them there are in which you have arrived at a 
 final and undoubted certainty. 
 
 3. Read the accounts of those vast treasures of 
 knowledge which some of the dead have possessed, and 
 some of the living do possess. Read the almost incredible 
 advances which have been made in science. Acquaint 
 yourself with persons of great learning, that by converse 
 among them, and comparing yourself with them, you may 
 be animated with new zeal to equal them as far as possi- 
 ble, or to exceed: thus let your diligence be quickened by a 
 generous and laudible emulation. 
 
 Remember this, that if upon some few superficial 
 acquirements you value, exalt and swell yourself, as though 
 you were a man of learning already, you are thereby build- 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 13 
 
 ing an impassable barrier against all improvement; you will 
 lie down and indulge idleness, and rest yourself contented 
 in the midst of deep and shameful ignorance. 
 
 IV. Presume not too much upon a bright genius, a 
 ready wit, and good parts, for this, without labor and study, 
 will never make a man of knowledge and wisdom. This 
 has been an unhappy temptation, to persons of a vigorous 
 and lively fancy, to despise learning and study. They have 
 been acknowledged to shine in an assembly, and to sparkle 
 in a discourse of common topics, and thence they took it 
 into their heads to abandon reading and labor, and grow 
 old in ignorance; but when they had lost their vivacity of 
 animal nature and youth, they became stupid and sottish 
 even to contempt and ridicule. 
 
 Witty men sometimes have sense enough to know their 
 own foible, and therefore craftily shun the attacks of argu- 
 ment, or boldly pretend to despise and renounce them, be- 
 cause they are conscious of their own ignorance, and inward- 
 ly confess their want of acquaintance with the skill of 
 reasoning. 
 
 V. As you are not to fancy yourself a learned man 
 because you are blessed with a ready wit, so neither must 
 you imagine that large and laborous reading, and a strong 
 memory, can denominate you truly wise. 
 
 It is meditation and studious thought, it is the exercise 
 of your own reason and judgment upon all you read, that 
 gives you good sense even to the best genius, and affords 
 your understanding the truest improvement. A boy of a 
 strong memory may repeat a whole book of Euclid, yet be 
 no geometrician; for he may nut be able perhaps to demon- 
 strate one single theorem. 
 
 A well furnished library and a capacious memory are 
 indeed of singular use towards the improvement of the 
 mind; out if all your learning br^ nothing but a mere amass- 
 
14 
 
 HOW TO WIN. 
 
 ment of what others have written, without a due penetra- 
 tion into the meaning, and without a judicious choice and 
 determination of your own sentiments, I do not see what 
 title your head has to true learning above your shelves. 
 Though you have read philosophy and theology, morals 
 and metaphysics in abundance, and every other art and 
 science, yet if your memory is the only faculty employed, 
 with the neglect of your reasoning powers, you can justly 
 claim no higher character than that of a good historian of 
 the sciences. 
 
 Here note, many of the foregoing rules are more pecu- 
 liarly proper for those who are conceited of their abilities, 
 and are ready to entertain a high opinion of themselves. 
 But a modest, humble youth, of a good genius, should not 
 suffer himself to be discouraged by any of these considera- 
 tions. They are designed only as a spur to diligence, and a 
 guard against vanity and pride. 
 
 VI. Be not so weak as to imagine that a life of learn- 
 ing is a life of laziness and ease. Dare not give up your- 
 self to any of the learned professions, unless you are resolv- 
 ed to labor hard at study, and can make it your delight, 
 and the joy of your life. 
 
 Vn. Let the hope of new discoveries, as well as] the 
 satisfaction and pleasure of known truths animate your 
 daily industry. Do not think learning in general is arrived 
 at its perfection, or that the knowledge of any particular 
 subject in any science cannot be improved, merely because 
 it has lain five hundred or a thousand years without im- 
 provement. The present age, by the blessing of God on 
 the ingenuity and dili rence of men, has brought to light 
 such truths in natural philosophy, and such discoveries in 
 the heavens and the earth, as seemed to be beyond the 
 reach of man. 
 
 VIII. Do not hover always on the surface of things. 
 
OE SUEE SECEETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 15 
 
 nor take up suddenly with mere appearances; but pene- 
 trate into the depth of matters, as far as your time and cir- 
 cumstances allow, especially in those things which relate to 
 your own profession. Do not indulge yourself to judge of 
 things by the first glimpse, or a short and superficial view 
 of them; for this will fill the mind with errors and preju- 
 dices, and give it a wrong turn and an ill habit of thinkings 
 and make much work for retraction. 
 
 As for those sciences or those parts of knowledge which 
 either your prof ession, your leisure, your inclination, or' 
 your incapacity forbid you to pursue with much application,' 
 or to search far into them, you must be contented with an 
 historical and superficial knowledge of them, and not pre- 
 tend to form any judgement of your own on those subjects 
 which you understand very imperfectly. 
 
 IX. Once a day, especially in the early years of life 
 and study, call yourself to an account, and inquire what 
 new ideas, what new proposition or truth you have gained, 
 ‘what further confirmation of known truths, and what ad- 
 vances you have made in any part of knowledge; and let no 
 day, if possible, p^ss away without some intellectual gain: 
 such a course, well pursued, must certainly advance you in 
 useful knowledge. It is a wise proverb among the learned, 
 borrowed from the lips and practice of a celebrated painter: 
 
 Let no day pass without one line at least;” and it was a 
 sacred rule among the Pythagoreans that they should every 
 evening thrice run over the actions and affairs of the day, 
 and examine what their conduct had been, what they had 
 done, or what they had neglected; and they assured their 
 pupils that by this method they would make a noble pro- 
 gress in the path of virtue. 
 
 X. Maintain a constant watch at all times against a 
 dogmatical spirit ; fix not your assent to any proposition in 
 a firm and unalterable manner, until you have some firm 
 
16 
 
 HOW TO wiisr. 
 
 and unalterable ground for it — until you have arrived at 
 some clear and sure evidence, and have turned the proposi- 
 tion on all sides, and liave searched the matter through and 
 through, so that you cannot be mistaken. And even wheie 
 you may think you have full grounds of assurance, be not 
 too early nor too frequent in expressing this assurance in a 
 positive manner, remembering that human nature is always 
 liable to mistake. 
 
 A dogmatical spirit naturally leads us to arrogance of 
 mind, and gives a man. airs in conversation which are too 
 haughty and assuming. 
 
 A dogmatical spirit inclines a man to be censorious of 
 his neighbors. Every one of his own opinions appears to 
 him written as it were with sunbeams, and he grows angry 
 that his neighbor does not see it in the same light. He is 
 tempted to disdain his correspondents as men of a low and 
 dark understanding, because they will not believe as he 
 does. 
 
 Men of this spirit, when they deal in controversy, de- 
 light in reproaches. They abound in tossing about absurd- 
 ity and stupidity among their brethren; they cast the impu- 
 tation of heresy and nonsense plentifully upon their antag- 
 onists, and in matters of sacred importance they deal out 
 their anathemas in abundance upon Christians better than 
 themselves; they denounce damnation upon their neigh- 
 bors without either justice or mercy; and when they pro- 
 nounce sentences of divine wrath against supposed heretics, 
 they add the r own human fire and indignation. A dog- 
 matist in religion is not a great way off from a bigot, and 
 is in high danger of growing up to be a persecutor. 
 
 XI. Though caution and slow assent will guard you 
 against frequent mistakes, yet you should have courage 
 enough to retract any mistake and confess any error; fre- 
 quent changes are tokens of levity in our first determine • 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 17 
 
 o 
 
 tions, yet you should never be to proud to change your 
 opinion, nor frightened at the name of changeling. Learn 
 to scorn those vulgar bugbears, which confirm foolish man 
 in his old mistakes, for fear of being charged with incon- 
 stancy. I confess it is better not to judge than to judge 
 falsely; it is wiser to withhold our assent till we see com- 
 plete evidence: but if we have too suddenly given our as- 
 sent, as the wisest man sometimes does, if we have professed 
 what we find afterwards to be false, we should never be 
 ashamed nor afraid to renounce the mistake. 
 
 XII. Have a care of trifling with things important 
 and momentious, or of sporting with things awful and 
 sacred: do not indulge in a spirit of ridicule, as some witty 
 men do, on all occasions and subjects. This will as unhap- 
 pily bias the judgment on the other side, and incline you to 
 set a low estimate on the most valuable objects. What- 
 soever evil habit we indulge in will insensibly obtain a 
 power over our understanding and betray us into many 
 errors. 
 
 XIII. Ever maintain a virtuous and pious frame of 
 spirit, for an indulgence of vicious inclinations debases the 
 understanding and perverts the judgement. Sensuality 
 ruins the better faculties of the mind. An indulgence of 
 appetite and passion enfeebles the powers of reason: it 
 makes the judgment weak and susceptible to every false- 
 hood, and especially to such mistakes as have a tendency 
 t3wards the gratification of the animal nature, and it warps 
 the soul aside from the steadfast honesty and integrity 
 that necessarily belong to the pursuit of truth. It is the 
 virtuous man who is in a fair way to wisdom. God gives 
 to those that are good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, 
 and joy:” (Eccles. ii. 26.) 
 
 Piety towards God, as well as sobriety and virtue, are 
 necessary qualifications to make a truly wise and judicious 
 
18 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 man. He that abandons religion must act in such con- 
 tradiction to his own conscience and best judgment, that 
 he abuses and spoils the faculty itself. It is thus in the 
 nature of things, and it is thus by the righteous judgment 
 of God. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE GOOD TO BE OBTAINED FKOM OBSEKYATION 
 BEADING, INSTEUCTION BY LECTUBES, 
 CONVEBSATION AND STUDY, 
 
 COMPABED. 
 
 « HERE are five eminent means or methods whereby the 
 mind is improved in the knowledge of things; and 
 these are observation, reading, instruction by lectures, con- 
 versation, and meditation; the last, in a more peculiar man- 
 ner, is called study. 
 
 Let us survey the general definitions or descriptions of 
 each and all of them. 
 
 HOW TO BE OBSEEVING. 
 
 1. It is owing tu observation that our mind is furn- 
 ished with the first simple and complex ideas. It is this 
 that lays the ground-work and foundation of all knowledge? 
 and makes us capable of using any of the other methods for 
 improving the mind; for if we did not attain a variety of 
 sensible and intellectual ideas by the sensations of outward 
 objects, by the consciousness of our own appetites and pas- 
 sions, pleasures and pains, and by inward experience of the 
 actings of our own spirits, it would be impossible either for 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS- 
 
 19 
 
 men or books to teach us anything. It is observation that 
 must give us our first idea of things, as it includes sense 
 and consciousness. 
 
 2. All our knowledge derived from observation, 
 whether it be of single ideas or of propositions, is knowl- 
 edge gotten at first hand. Hereby we see and know things 
 as they are, or as they appear to us; we take the impres- 
 sions of them on our minds from the original objects them- 
 selves, which give clear and strong conceptions. Whereas 
 the knowldge we derive from lectures, reading, and conver- 
 sation is but the copy of other men’s ideas — that is, a pic- 
 ture of a picture. 
 
 3. Another advantage of observation is, that we may 
 gain knowledge all the day long, and every moment of our 
 lives. Every moment of our existence, except while we are 
 asleep, we may be adding something to our intellectual 
 treasures, and even the remembrance of our dreaming will 
 teach us some truths, and lay a foundation for a better ac- 
 quaintance with human nature, both in the powers and the 
 frailties of it. 
 
 WHAT TO BEAD AND HOW TO PEOFIT BY IT. 
 
 By reading we acquaint ourselves in a very extensive 
 manner with the affairs, actions, and thoughts of the living 
 and the dead in the most remote nations and most distant 
 ages, and that with as much ease as though they lived in 
 our own age and nation. By reading we may learn some- 
 thing from all portions of mankind, whereas by observa- 
 tion we learn all from ourselves, and only what comes 
 within our own direct cognizance; and by our conversation 
 we can enjoy only the assistance of a very few persons — 
 those who are near us and live at the same time, our neigh- 
 bors and contemporaries; but our knowledge is much more 
 narrowed still if we confine ourselves to our own solitary 
 
20 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 reasonings, without observation or reading, for then all our 
 improvement must arise only from our own inward powers 
 and meditations. 
 
 4. By reading we learn not only the actions and the 
 sentiments of different nations and ages, but we transfer to 
 ourselves the knowledge and improvements of the most 
 learned men, the wisest and the best of mankind, when or 
 wheresoever they may have lived; whereas we can obtain 
 the conversation and instruction of those only who are 
 within the reach of our dwelling or our acquaintance, 
 whether they are wise or unwise; and sometimes that nar- 
 row sphere scarce affords any person of eminence in wis- 
 dom or learning, unless our instructor happen to have this 
 character. And as for our study and meditations, even 
 when we arrive at some good degree of learning, our oppor- 
 tunities for further improvement in knowledge by them are 
 still far more contracted than those that may be afforded by 
 reading. 
 
 5. When we read good authors we learn the best, the 
 most labored, and most refined sentiments of wise and 
 learned men, for they have studied hard, and have commit- 
 ted to writing their maturest thoughts, the results of long 
 study and experience; whereas by conversation, and in lec- 
 tures, we often obtain only the present thoughts of our 
 tutors or friends, which, though they may be bright and 
 and useful, are at first perhaps sudden and indigest- 
 ed, and mere hints which have risen to no maturity. 
 
 6. It is another advantage of reading that we may re- 
 view what we have read. We may consult the page again 
 and again, and meditate on it at successive seasons in our 
 serenest and most retired hours, having the book always 
 at hand; but what we obtain by conversation and in lectures 
 is often lost again as soon as the company breaks up or the 
 day vanishes, unless we happen to have a good memory or, 
 
OK SUKE SECEETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 21 
 
 quickly retire and note down what we have found of value. 
 For the same reason, and for the want of retiring and writ- 
 ing, many a learned man has lost useful meditations of his 
 own, and could never recall them. 
 
 HOW TO GET THE GKEATEST POSSIBHE BENEFIT FROM 
 LECTURES. 
 
 1. There is something more sprightly, more delightful 
 and more entertaining in the living discourse of a wise and 
 well-qualified teacher, than there is in the silent and seden- 
 tary practice of reading. The very turn of voice, the good 
 pronunciation, and the polite and alluring manner which 
 some teachers have attained, will engage the attention, 
 keep the soul fixed, tod convey instruction in a more lively 
 and forcible way than is possible in the mere reading of 
 books. 
 
 2. A tutor or instructor, when he paraphrases and ex- 
 plains an author, can mark out the precise point of difficulty 
 or controversy and unfold it. He can show you which par- 
 agraphs are of greatest importance, and which are of less 
 moment. He can teach his hearers what authors or what 
 parts of an author are best worth reading on any particular 
 subject, and thus save his disciples much time and pains by 
 shortening the labors of their private studies. He can show 
 you what were the doctrines of the ancients in a compen- 
 dium which perhaps would cost much labor and the perusal 
 of many books to attain. He can inform you what new 
 doctrines or sentiments are arising in the world before they 
 come to the public, as well as acquaint you with his own 
 private thoughts and his own experiments and observa- 
 tions, which never were and perhaps never will be publish- 
 ed to the world, and yet may be very valuable and useful. 
 
 3. When an instructor in his lectures delivers any 
 matter of difficulty or expresses himself in such a manner 
 
22 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 as seems obscure, so that you do not take up his ideas clear- 
 ly or fully, you have opportunity, when the lecture is fin- 
 ished or at other proper seasons, to inquire how such a sen- 
 tence should be understood, or how such a difficulty may be 
 explained and removed. 
 
 If there be permission g^iven to converse freely with the 
 tutor, either in the midst of a lecture or at the end of it, 
 concerning any doubts or difficulties that occur to the hear- 
 er this brings it very near to conversation or discourse. 
 
 PEOFITxVBIiE OONVEKSATION. 
 
 1. When we converse familiarly with a learned friend, 
 we have his own help at hand to explain to us every word 
 and sentiment that seems obscure in his discourse, and to 
 inform us of his whole meaning, so that we are in much 
 less danger of mistaking his sense; whereas in books what- 
 soever is really obscure may abide always obscure without 
 remedy, since the author is not at hand that we may inquire 
 his meaning. 
 
 2. If we mistake the meaning of our friend in con- 
 versation we are quickly set right again, but in reading we 
 many times go on in the same mistake, and are not capa- 
 ble of recovering ourselves from it. Thence it comes to pass 
 that we have so many contests in all ages about the mean- 
 ing of ancient authors, and especially of the sacred 
 writers. 
 
 3. When we are discoursing upon any theme with a 
 friend, we may propose our doubts and objections against 
 his sentiments and have them solved and answered at once. 
 The difficulties that arise in our minds may be removed by 
 one enlightening word; whereas in reading, if a difficulty 
 or question arise in our thoughts, which the author has not 
 happened to mention, we must be content without a present 
 answer or solution of it. 
 
OB SUBE SECBETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 23 
 
 4. Not only are the doubts which arise in the mind 
 upon any subject or discourse easily proposed and solved in 
 conversation, but the difficulties we meet with * in books 
 and in our private studies may find a relief by friendly 
 conferences. We may pore upon a knotty point in solitary 
 meditation many months without a solution, because per- 
 haps we have gotten into a wrong track of thought, and 
 our labor, while we are pursuing a false scent, is not only 
 useless and unsuccessful, but it leads us perhaps into a long 
 train of error for want of being corrected in the first step. 
 But if we note down the difficulty when we read it, we may 
 propose it to an intelligent friend or teacher when we see 
 him. We may thus be relieved in a moment and find the 
 difficulty vanish : he beholds the object perhaps in a different 
 view, sets it before us in quite a different light, leads us at 
 once into evidence and truth, and that with a delightful 
 surprise. 
 
 5. Conversation calls into light what has been lodged 
 in the recesses and secret chambers of the soul. By occa- 
 sional hints and incidents it brings useful notions into re- 
 membrance: it unfolds and displays the hidden treasures of 
 knowledge with which reading, observation and study, have 
 before furnished the mind. By mutual discourse the soul is 
 awakened and allured to bring forth its hords of knowledge 
 and it learns how to render them most useful to mankind. 
 A man of vast reading without conversation is like a miser 
 who lives only to himself. 
 
 6. In free and friendly conversation our intellectual 
 powers are now animated, and our spirits act with a super- 
 ior* vigor in the quest and pursuit of unknown truths. There 
 is a sharpne«5S and sagacity of thought that attends conver- 
 sation beyond what we fiid whilst we are shut up reading' 
 and musing in our retirement. Our souls may be serene in 
 solitude, but not sparkling, though perhaps we are employed 
 
24 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 in reading the works of the brightest writers. It often 
 happens in free discourse that new thoughts are strangely 
 struck out, which in calm and silent reading would never 
 be excited. By conversation you will both give and re- 
 ceive this benefit, as flints when put into motion and in 
 striking against each other produce living fire on both 
 sides, which would never have arisen from the same hard 
 materials in a state of rest. 
 
 7. In generous conversation amongst ingenious and 
 learned men we have the great advantage of proposing our 
 priva te opinions, and bringing our sentiments to the test, 
 and learning in a safe and compendious way that the world 
 will judge of them, how mankind will receive them, what 
 objections may be raised against them, what defects there 
 are in our scheme, and howto correct our mistakes. These 
 advantages are not so easy to be obtained by our own pri- 
 vate meditations, for the pleasure we take in our own no- 
 tions, and the passion of self love, as well as the narrowness 
 of our views, tempt us to pass too favorable an opinion on 
 our own schemes; whereas the variety 6f genius in our sev- 
 eral associates, will give happy notice how our opinions 
 will stand in the view of mankind. 
 
 8. It is also another considerable advantage of con- 
 versation, that it furnishes the student with a knowledge of 
 men and the affairs of life, as reading furnishes him with 
 book learning. A man who dwells all his days among 
 books may amass a great amount of knowledge, but he 
 may still be a mere scholar, which is a contemptible sort of 
 character in the world. A hermit shut up in his cell in a 
 college contracts a sort of mould and rust upon his soul, 
 and all his airs of behavior, have a certain awkwardness in 
 them; but these awkward airs are worn away by degrees in 
 company. The scholar becomes a citizen or a gentleman, 
 a neighbor and a friend: he learns how to dress his senti- 
 
OK SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 ments, in the fairest colors, as well as to set them in the 
 strongest light. Thus he brings out his notions with honor: 
 he makes some use of them in the world, and improves 
 theory by practice. 
 
 SERIOUS AND PROFOUND MEDITATION. 
 
 Mere lectures, reading and conversation, without think- 
 ing, are not sufficient to make a man of knowledge and 
 wisdom. It is our own thought and reflection, study and 
 me ditation, that must attend all the other methods of im- 
 provement, and perfect them. 
 
 1. Though observation and instruction, reading and 
 conversation, may furnish us with many ideas of men and 
 things, yet it is our own meditation^ and the labor 
 of our own thoughts, that must form our judgment 
 of them. It is our own mind that mus^- judge for ourselves 
 concerning the agreement or disagreement of ideas, and 
 form propositions of truth out of them. Reading and 
 conversation may acquaint us with many truths, and 
 with many arguments to support them; but it is our own 
 study and reasoning that must determine whether the prop- 
 ositions are true, and whether the arguments are just and 
 solid. 
 
 2. It is confessed there are a thousand things which 
 our eyes have not seen, and which would never come within 
 the reach of our ^personal and immediate knowledge and 
 observation, because of the distance of time and place: 
 these must be known by consulting other persons; and that 
 is done either in their writings or in their discourses. But 
 after all, let this be a fixed point with us, that our own re* 
 flection and judgment alone must determine how J‘ar we 
 receive that of which books or men inform us, and how far 
 they are worthy of our assent and credit. 
 
 3. It is meditation and study that transfer and con- 
 
26 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 vey the notions and sentiments of others to ourselves, so 
 as to make them properly our own. It is our own judg- 
 ment upon themy as well as our memory of them^ that makes 
 them become our own property, 
 
 4, By study and meditation we improve the hints that 
 we have acquired by observation, conversation and reading. 
 We take more time in thinking, and by the labor of the 
 mind we penetrate deeper into the themes of knowledge, 
 and carry our thoughts sometimes much further on many 
 subjects than we ever met with in the reflections of- others, 
 either in the books of the dead or the discourses of the liv- 
 ing. It is our own reasoning that draws out one truth from 
 another, and forms a whole scheme or science from a few 
 hints which we borrowed elsewhere. 
 
 5. By a survey of these things we may justly conclude 
 that he who spends all his time in hearing lectures, or por- 
 ing over books, without observation, meditation or con- 
 verse, will have but a mere historical knowledge of learn- 
 ing, and be able only to tell what others have known or 
 said on any subject. He that lets all his time flow away in 
 conversation, without due observation, reading or study, 
 will gain but a slight and superficial knowledge, which will 
 be in danger of vanishing with the voice of the speaker. He 
 that confines himself to his closet and his own narrow obser- 
 vation of things, and is taught only by his own solitary 
 thoughts, will be in danger of a narrow spirit, a vain con- 
 ceit of himself, and an unreasonable contempt of others; 
 and after all he will obtain but a very limited and imper 
 feet view and knowledge of things, and will seldom learn 
 how to make that knowledge useful. 
 
 These five methods of improvement should be pursued 
 jointly, and go hand in hand where our circumstances are 
 so happy as to find opportunity and convenience to enjoy 
 them all; though I must give opinion that two of them. 
 
on SUKE SECKETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 27 
 
 namely, reading and meditation, should employ much more 
 of our time than public lectures or conversation and dis- 
 discourse. As for observation, we may be always acquir- 
 ing knowledge in that way, whether we are alone or in 
 company. 
 
 Let the enlargement of your knowledge be a constant 
 view and end in life, since there is no time or place, no 
 transactions, occurrences, or engagements, which exclude 
 us from this method of improving the mind. When we are 
 alone, even in darkness and silence, we may converse with 
 our own hearts, observe the working of our own spirits, and 
 reflect upon the inward motions of our own passions in 
 some of the latest occurrences in life; we may acquaint 
 ourselves with the powers and properties, the tendencies 
 and inclinations both of body and spirit, and so gain a 
 more intimate knowledge of ourselves. When we are in 
 company, we may discover something more of human na- 
 ture, of human passions and follies, and of human affairs, 
 vices and virtues, by conversing with mankind and observ- 
 ing their conduct. Nor is there anything more valuable 
 than the knowledge of ourselves and the knowledge of 
 men, except it be a knowledge of God who made us, and 
 our relation to Him as our Governor. 
 
 When we are in the house or the city, wheresoever wc 
 turn our eyes we see the works of men: when we are 
 abroad in the country we behold more of the work of God. 
 The skies above and the ground beneath us, the animal and 
 vegetable world around about us, may entertain our ob- 
 servation with ten thousand varieties. 
 
 Endeavor, therefore, to derive some instruction or im- 
 provement of the mind from every thing which you see or 
 hear, from every thing which occurs in human life, from 
 every thing within y^iu or without you. Read the wisdom 
 of God and his admirable contrivance in them all; read his 
 
28 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 almighty power, his rich and various goodness in all the 
 works of his hands. 
 
 2. From the day and the night, the hours and the flying 
 minutes, learn a wise improvement of time, and be watchful 
 to seize every opportunity to increase in knowledge. 
 
 3. From the vicissitudes and revolutions of nations and 
 families, and from the various occurrences of* the world, 
 learn the instability of mortal affairs, the uncertainty of life. 
 
 4. From the vices and follies of others, observe what 
 is hateful in them; consider how such a practice looks in 
 another person, and remember that it looks as ill or worse 
 in yourself. From the virtue of others learn something 
 worthy of your imitation. 
 
 5. From the deformity, the distress, or calamity of 
 others, derive lessons of thankfulness to God, and hymns of 
 grateful praise to your Creator, Governor and Benefactor, 
 who has formed you in a better mould, and guarded you 
 from those evils. Learn also the sacred lesson of content- 
 ment in your own estate, and compassion to your neighbor 
 under his miseries. 
 
 6. From your natural powers make this inference, that 
 they were not given you for nothing, but for some useful 
 employment to the honor of your Maker, and for the good 
 of your fellow-creatures, as well as for your own best inter- 
 est and final happiness. 
 
 7. From the sorrows, the pains, the sicknesses, and 
 sufferings that attend you, learn the evil pf sin and the 
 imperfection of your present state. From your own sins 
 and follies learn the patience of God toward you, and the 
 practice of humility toward God and man. 
 
 8. Thus from every appearance in nature, and from 
 every occurrence of life, you may derive natural, moral and 
 religious observations to entertain your minds, as well as 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 29 
 
 rules of conduct in the affairs relating to this life and that 
 which is to come. 
 
 Among books which are proper and requisite, in order 
 to improve our knowledge in general, or our acquaintance 
 with any particular science, it is necessary that we should 
 be furnished with vocabularies and dictionaries of several 
 sorts, namely, of common words, idioms and phrases, in 
 order to explain their sense; of technical words, or the 
 terms of art, to show their use in arts and sciences; of 
 names of men, countries, towns, rivers, and the like. These 
 are to be consulted and used upon every occasion; and 
 never let an unknown word pass in your reading without 
 seeking for its sense and meaning. 
 
 If such books are not at hand, you must supply the 
 want of them as well as you can, by consulting those who 
 can inform you; and it is useful to note down miatters of 
 doubt and inquiry in some poeket-book, and take the first 
 opportunity to get them resolved, either by person or 
 books. 
 
 B3 not satisfied with a mere knowledge of the best au- 
 thors that treat of any subject, instead of acquainting your- 
 selves thoroughly with the subject itself. There are many 
 young students who are fond of enlarging their knowledge 
 of books, who content themselves with a notice of their 
 title-pages, which is the attainment of a bookseller rather 
 that of a scholar. Such persons are under a great tempta' 
 tion to practi<3e these two follies: To heap up a great num- 
 
 ber of books at a greater expense than most of them can 
 bear, and to furnish their libraries infinitely better than 
 their understanding; and when they have gotten such rich 
 treasures of knowledge upon their shelves, to imagine 
 themselves men of learning, and take a pride in talking of 
 the names of famous authors, and the subjects of which 
 they treat, without any real improvements of their own 
 
30 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 minds in true science or wisdom. At best their learning 
 reaches no further than the indexes and tables of contents, 
 while they know not how to judge or reason concerning the 
 matters contained in those authors. 
 
 And indeed how many volumes of learning soever a 
 man possesses, he is still deplorably poor in his understand- 
 ing, until he has made those several parts of learning hisi 
 own property, by reading and reasoning, by judging for him- 
 self, and remembering what he has read. 
 
OE SUBE SECEETS OP SUCCESS. 
 
 31 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ucc(Z(zd II) j^usir)e-ss, 
 
 “ In battlp or business whatever the game, 
 
 In law, or in love, it is ever the same; 
 
 In the struggle for power, or scramble for pelf, 
 
 Let this be your motto, “Eely. on yourself.” 
 
 For whether the prize be a ribbon or throne, 
 
 The victor is he who can go it alone.” 
 
 — Saxe. 
 
 HETHER your life shall be successful or 
 not, is a question which may be answered by 
 yourself alone. It cannot be done by proxy* 
 Temperance, frugality, honesty, and economy, ac- 
 companied by a strong determination and per- 
 severence, coupled with the power of personal magnetism, 
 will bring you to the goal of success and prosperity, 
 Nothing else will. “Tha longer I live,” said Fowell Bux- 
 ton, ‘‘the more I am certain that the great difference be- 
 tween men, between the feeble and the powerful, the 
 great and the insignificant, is energy — invincible 
 
 determination — a purpose once fixed, and then 
 
 death or victory! That quality will do anything that can 
 be done in this world; and no talents, no circumstances, no 
 opportunities, will make a two legged creature a man with- 
 out it.” The path of success in business is invaribly the 
 path of common sense. The best kind of success in every 
 man’s life is not that which comes by accident, and “lucky 
 hits” often turn out very unlucky in the end. “We may 
 succeed for a time by fraud, by surprise, by violence, but 
 
32 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 we can succeed permanently only by means directly oppo- 
 site.” ^‘Honesty is the best policy,” and it is upheld by 
 the daily experience of liie; uprightness and integrity be- 
 ing found as successful in business as in everything else. 
 It is possible that the scrupulously honest man may not 
 grow rich as fast as the unscrupulous and dishonest man, 
 but the success will be of a truer kind, earned without fraud 
 or injustice. And even though a man should for a time be 
 unsuccessful, still he must be honest; better lose all and 
 save character. For character is itself a fortune, and if the 
 highly principled man will hold in his way courageously, 
 success will surely come — nor will the highest reward of all 
 be withheld from him. 
 
 Success is a science. It may not be so understood. 
 With a majority of failures, why should it be? It is not 
 found in the gaining of millions, for many a beggar at 
 heart has been counted by the world as wealthy. And 
 many a rich man in mind, and life, and enjoyment, has been 
 considered poor. 
 
 All we can go by outwardly is appearence. The doc- 
 tors, lawyers and merchants, build up their custom largely 
 by appearances and partly by being what they claim to be. 
 
 Life is its own success or its own failure. The lover 
 of a million unknown friends is less favored than of a hun- 
 dred well known. A few will remember us; the most will 
 forget and care little; but of the few who do remember, 
 how good to be well thought of, as just, as upright, as 
 earnest, as original, as not having begged our way through, 
 but given to the world some fair compensation for our right 
 to a place in its business. 
 
 The man who succeeds is the popular man - the person 
 who has hosts of acquaintances, and who does not hesitate 
 ask a favor, any more than he does to do one. He culti- 
 vates his acquaintances and blossoms out before each one. 
 
UBRARY 
 Of THE 
 
 ci- 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 33 
 
 He is always glad to see them and always has a smile and 
 a pleasant word. 
 
 Beyond a certain point he is intimate with none, knowing 
 that a man with strong friendships is sure to have some de- 
 cided enemies and an enmity often is most convenient- 
 The popular man knows all the prominent members of society 
 but he never neglects those who fill the ranks of mediocrity; 
 everything that comes to his mill is grist. 
 
 There is nothing hypocritical in all this. The popular 
 man is what he seems to be. He wishes well to ever) one, 
 himself included and he would do no one an ill turn. He 
 wishes no one to do him harm. His desire is to make th ngs 
 pleasant to others, that others may make things pleasant to 
 him. 
 
 What he does, he does well, no matter how small it is. 
 Such a man is sure to command success. He is thorough 
 and can be depended upon in purely business relations and 
 in his social life he charms and attracts his acquaintances, 
 so that everyone wants to help him. 
 
 Women smile on him and his chances of marrying well 
 are tenfold better, even if he is poor than that of a man 
 possessing riches but little personal magnetism. 
 
 One of the most important subjects on which to stand 
 “just right’* is the matter of drinking, for of all the terrible 
 curses that have destroyed humanity, intemperance is the 
 most fearful. 
 
 There is no sin which doth more deface God’s image than 
 drunkenness; it disguiseth a person and doth even unman 
 him. Drunkenness makes him have the throat of a fish, 
 the belly of a swine and the head of an ass. Drunkenness 
 is the shame of nature the extinguisher of reason, the ship- 
 wreck of chastity and the murderer of conscience. 
 
 Drink perverts the appetite, weakens the will, debases 
 the moral nature. It matces a man coarse, brutal and repul- 
 
84 
 
 HOW TO WIN 
 
 sive and seems to cast out every element of manliness and 
 principle of honor. The only safe rule is to let it alone. 
 If there is not sufficient resolution to resist the first glass, 
 what folly to suppose that the tenth or the fiftieth can be 
 put away, when the habit of drinking is more or less formed 
 and an appetite created. 
 
 Young man, as you cherish rll the fond hopes and bright 
 promises of your youth; as you value the lofty aspirations of 
 your manhood, as you would preserve the brain to conceive, 
 the will to direct and the arm to execute in all their might 
 as God has given them to you; as you would fill your obli- 
 gations to society and to your family, as you spare sorrow to 
 the parents who lean upon you, do not tamper with this fear- 
 ful vice. 
 
 We have but one life to live, a few short years are all that 
 is allotted us in which to show of what stuff we are made 
 and how shall we acquit ourselves and then the opportunity 
 for glorious, heroic action is over forever, the harvest-time 
 will have ended and the night will have come when no 
 man can work. 
 
 The man who has resolved to make the most of himself 
 will strive to develop to the utmost all his faculties and im- 
 prove all opportunities for honorable advancement. No mat- 
 ter if he is not gifted with genius, no matter if he is even 
 below the standard of mediocrity, he will be lifted up into 
 the bracing atmosphere of earnestness and roused to a life 
 of activity and devotion to duty. 
 
 Then strive to make the most of yourself, however un- 
 promising you may be in yourself, however discouraging your 
 surroundings and dark may appear yourfuture. The simple re- 
 solve on your part to do this will give you strength and nerve 
 you with new courage and hope. It isencouragingtothedullest 
 mind to see what pluck has done in spite of poverty, obscurity 
 and the most unfavorable cirumstances, and how many of the 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 35 
 
 tvorlds best workers and profoundest thinkers have risen 
 from unpromising beginnings. 
 
 Young man, do not let your heart sink because you 
 have never seen the inside of a college, and possess only a 
 >ommon-school education; because you seem to yourself so 
 lull and stupid, compared to many who appear quick- 
 witted and wise; because you may not be able to ’wear 
 such good clothes, or have not the easy polished address of 
 others who are favorites in society; because your arms 
 seem so short, and the prizes of life so high; remember, 
 that thousands have started in the world witn advantages 
 infinitely poorer than your own, and yet have left their 
 names and deeds on the roll of fame; remember, that the 
 very struggles and obsticles which you think will prevent 
 you from rising, are the tests by which you are measured, 
 and if you have not the pluck and bravery to grapple with 
 (them, you are not worthy to enter into the company of 
 those great, great souls, who have won the victory. 
 
 If we treat others with due respect, and with manners 
 cordial and frank, we are paying them a compliment which 
 they cannot overlook. We show that we have a delicate 
 consideration for their feelings and pleasure, and that we 
 regard them worthy of our confidence and esteem. There 
 are few natures, if any, which will not reciprocate these 
 feelings, and soon assume towards us the same attitude. 
 
 A courteous manner has been the means of bringing 
 thousands of young men to positions of honor, wealth and 
 influence. It is like the ^^sesame” of the ancient story, 
 which opens otherwise impassable barriers. 
 
 HOW TO GET RICH. 
 
 It might be supposed, from the comparatively few who 
 become rich, that there is some mysterious secret which is 
 necessary to know in order to acquire wealth. This is a 
 
HOW TO WIK, 
 
 6Q 
 
 mistake, unless the secret lies in the very simplicity of the 
 matter. 
 
 Franklin said, that ‘‘The way to wealth is as plain as 
 the way to market. It depends chiefly on three words, 
 industry, frugality and economy; that is, waste neither 
 time nor money, but make the best use of both. Without 
 industry and frugality, nothing will do, and with them 
 everything.” 
 
 Spend less than you earn. Take this rule for your^ 
 guide, and it will lead you to fortune. There are hundreds 
 of men who have been receiving princely revenues for years 
 but who still remain poor, because they allow their expenses 
 to exceed their incomes. 
 
 P. T. Barnum, who acquired a large fortune by his 
 own exertions, and who has had an extraordinary oppor- 
 tunity for observation, says, that the way to get rich is 
 quite simple; all you have to do is to spend less than you 
 earn, and to shun “rum and tobacco.” 
 
 The men who amass wealth are usually men of integ' 
 rity, punctual and methodical in their business habits, and 
 rich also in the kindly impulses of humanity which endear 
 them to hosts of friends. It is true that corrupt men some- 
 times accum^ulate wealth, but it generally slips from them 
 in the end or soon becomes scattered. The only wealth 
 that can give real enjoyment is that which is honestly 
 obtained. 
 
 But it is impossible for every man to be a millionaire, 
 although he have all the qualities and virtues which have 
 been enumerated. The wealth of the world is limited, and 
 where there is one millionaire there must of necessity be 
 thousands of men in moderate circumstances. Fortunately, 
 true r ches are not dependent on the accumilation of a 
 certain amount of money, for many men posessing immense 
 fortunes have fancied themselves on the wa}^ to the poor 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS. 
 
 37 
 
 house and have denied themselves the common necessities 
 of life. 
 
 Said a wise man: “I take him to be a truly rich man 
 
 that lives upon what he has, owes nothing and is conten- 
 ted; for there is no fixed sum of money, nor quantity of 
 estate that can make a man rich, since no man is truly rich 
 that has not so much as perfectly satiates his desire of 
 having more; for the desire for more is want, and want is 
 poverty.” 
 
 So, though it be impossible for every man to acquire an 
 immense fortune, it is possible for him to become rich 
 in this true sense and no other riches are worthy of 
 seeking. 
 
 THE SECRET OF SUCCESS. 
 
 Although there is no privileged road which leads to 
 success in life, yet it is interesting and instructive to gather 
 hints from the conspicuous examples of those who have 
 reached that desired goal. 
 
 It is said that Cornelius Vanderbilt on being asked by 
 a young acquaintance, who was admiring his sumptuous 
 office, how he had managed to acquire such immense 
 wealth,, the great financier looking up from his desk and 
 replied: “By minding my own business and saying nothing 
 about it.*’ 
 
 With industry and economy, I entertain strong confi- 
 dences that you will succeed; but indolence and inattention 
 will be sure to bring ruin and disgrace. 
 
 I beseech you therefore, to give your whole attention to 
 your business. 
 
 Industry and economy in early life, unless some peculiar 
 misfortune overtake you, will secure you support and enjoy- 
 ment when old age or sickness comes. 
 
 “And what is equally important, interest and enterprise 
 
38 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 insures the respect of your fellow- citizens, without which 
 life is scarcely worth preserving. 
 
 Deal justly and honestly with everybody. Money 
 costs too much if not honestly acquired. 
 
 Treat everybody with whom you have business with 
 civilty and attention. Kind words and courteous deport- 
 ment are essential to success in business. 
 
 If your hands can’t be usefully employed, attend to 
 the cultivation of your mind. Always speak the truth. 
 Make few promises. Live up to your engagements. 
 Keep your own secrets, if you have any. When you speak 
 to a person, look him in the face. Good company and 
 good conversation are the sinews of virtue. Good charac- 
 ter is above all things else. Your character cannot be 
 essentially injured except by your own acts. If any one 
 speaks evil of you, let your life be so that none will believe 
 him. Diink no kind of intoxicating liquors. Ever liv® 
 (misfortune excepted) within your income. When you 
 retire to bed, think over what you have done during the 
 day. Make no haste to be rich, if you would prosper 
 Small and steady gains give competency with a tranquil 
 mind. Never play at a game of chance. Avoid tempta- 
 tion, through fear you may not withstand it. Earn money 
 before you spend it. Never run into debt unless you can 
 see a way to get out again. Do not put off until to- 
 morrow that which should be done to-day. 
 
 The following shows how easy it is to accumilate a 
 fortune providing you systematically save money. The 
 figures show what would be the result at the end of fifty 
 years by saving a certain amount each day, and putting it 
 at interest at the rate of six per cent: — 
 
 One cent, $950. Ten cents, $9,504. Twenty cents, 
 $19,006. Thirty cents, $28,512. Forty cents, $38,015. 
 Fifty cents, $47,520. Sixty cents, $57,024. Seventy 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 39 
 
 cents, $66,528. Eighty cents, $75,032. Ninety cents, 
 $85,537. One dollar, $95,041. Five dollars, $475,208. 
 
 Nearly every person wastes enough in twenty or 
 thirty years, which, if saved and carefully invested, would 
 make one quite independent; but the principle of small 
 savings has been lost sight of in the general desire to 
 become wealthy in a short time. 
 
 THE VALUE OF A COMPETENT INSTRUCTOR. 
 
 There are few persons of so penetrating a genius, and 
 so just a judgment, to be capable of learning the arts and 
 sciences without the assistance of teachers. There is 
 scarcely any science that is properly and speedily learned, 
 even by the noblest genius with the best books, without a 
 tutor. Books are a sort of dumb teachers: they point out 
 the way to learning; but if we labor under any doubt or 
 mistake, they cannot always answer sudden questions, or 
 explain present doubts and diflSculties: this is properly the 
 work of a living instructor. 
 
 There are few tutors who are sufficiently learned to 
 sustain all the parts and provinces of instruction. The 
 sciences are numerous, and many of them lie far wide of 
 each other; and it is best to enjoy the instructions of two or 
 three tutors at least. Then we may expect that each will 
 teach the few parts of learning which are committed to his 
 care in greater perfection. But where this advantage 
 cannot be had with convenience, one superior teacher may 
 supply the place of two or three common instructors. 
 
 It is not sufficient that instructors be skilful in those 
 sciences which they profess and teach; thej should also 
 have skill in the art or method of teaching, and patience 
 in the practice of it. There are some very learned men, 
 who know much, yet have not the talent of communicating 
 their knowledge. 
 
40 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 A good tutor is one who can and will apply 
 himself with diligence and concern, and indefatigable 
 patience, to effect what he undertakes: to teach his 
 
 students and see that they learn; to adapt his way and 
 method, as near as may be, to the various dispositions, as 
 well to the capacities of those whom he instructs, and to 
 inquire often into their progress and improvement. 
 
 And he should take particular care of his own temper 
 and conduct, that there be nothing in him or about him 
 which may set a bad example; nothing that may savor of a 
 haughty temper, or a mean and sordid spirit; nothing that 
 may expose him to the averson or to the contempt of his 
 scholars, or create a prejudice in their minds against him 
 and his instructions. If possible, he should have so much 
 of a natural candor and sweetness combined with all the 
 improvements of learning, as may convey knowledge to the 
 minds of his students with a gentle insinuation and 
 soverign delight, and tempt them to the highest improve- 
 ment by a resistless and insensible force. But I shall have 
 occasion to say more on this subject. 
 
 Let the learner endeavor to maintain an honorable 
 opinion of his instructor, and heedfully listen to his instruc- 
 tions, as one willing to be lead by a more experienced 
 guide; and though he is not bound to accept every senti- 
 ment of his tutor, yet he should so far comply with him as 
 to resolve upon a just consideration of the matter, and try 
 and examine it thoroughly with an honest heart, before he 
 presume to determine against him. 
 
 It is a frequent folly in students to fancy themselves 
 wiser than those who teach them. At the first view, or 
 upon a very little thought, they think they can discern 
 weakness or mistake in what their teacher asserts, and 
 reject at once sentiments and doctrines which their teachers 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 41 
 
 have determined, perhaps, after years of mature study, 
 careful observation and much prudent experience. 
 
 It is true teachers and masters are not infallible, nor 
 are they always in the right, and it must be acknowledged, 
 it is a matter of some difficulty for younger minds to main- 
 tain a just veneration for the authority and advice of their 
 parents and the instructions of their tutors, and yet at the 
 same time secure to themselves a just freedom in their own 
 thoughts. 
 
 If we would improve our minds by conversation, it is a 
 great happiness to be acquainted with persons wiser than 
 ourselves and to enjoy their conversation frequently. If 
 they happen to be a little reserved, use all obliging meth- 
 ods to draw out of them what may increase your own 
 knowledge. 
 
 If you happen to be in company with a merchant or a 
 sailor, a farmer or a mechanic, lead them into a discourse 
 of the matters of their peculiar province or profession; for 
 everyone knows, or should know, his own business best. 
 In this sense a common mechanic may be wiser than the 
 philosopher. By this means you may gain some improve- 
 ment in knowledge from everyone you meet. 
 
 Confine not yourself always to one sort of company, 
 or to persons of the same party or opinion, either in matters 
 of learning, religion or civil life, lest if you should happen 
 to be educated in early mistake, you should be confirmed 
 and established in it by conversing only with persons of 
 the same sentiments. A free and general conversation 
 with men of various countries and of different parties, 
 opinions and practices, so far as it may be done safely, 
 is of excellent use to undeceive us in many wrong judg- 
 ments which we may have framed and to lead us to just 
 thoughts. 
 
 In mixed company, among acquaintances and strangers, 
 
42 
 
 HOW TO WINj 
 
 endeavor to learn something from all. Be swift to hear; 
 but be cautious with your tongue, lest you betray your 
 ignorance or offend some who are present. The Scriptures 
 severely censure those who speak evil of the things they 
 know not. Acquaint yourself with persons and parties 
 which are far distant from your common life and customs: 
 this is a way whereby you may form a wiser opinion of 
 men and things. Prove all things, and hold fast that 
 which is good, is a divine rule, and it comes from the 
 Father of light and truth. 
 
 Be not frightened nor provoked at opinions different 
 from your own. Some persons are so confident they are in 
 the right that they will not come within the hearing of any 
 notions but their own: they have their little province in the 
 intellectual world, where they fancy the light shines while 
 all the rest is in darkness. They never venture into the 
 ocean of knowledge, nor survey the riches of other minds, 
 which are as solid and useful, and perhaps are finer gold 
 than what they ever posessed. 
 
 Believe that it is possible to learn something from 
 persons much below yourself. We are all shortsighted, 
 and our views are, at best, narrow and limited. We often 
 see but one side of the matter, not extending our sight far 
 enough to reach every thing that has a connection with 
 the thing we talk of. We see but in part, and know but 
 in part; therefore it is no wonder that we do not form 
 right conclusions Even the proudest admirer of himself 
 might find it useful to consult with others, though of 
 inferior capability and penetration. We have a different 
 prospect of the same thing, if I may so speak, according 
 to the different position of our understandings towards it: 
 a weaker man may sometimes light on notions which have 
 escaped a wiser, and which the wiser man might make a 
 happy use of, if he would condescend to notice them. 
 
f 
 
 OB SUBE SECBETS OF SECCESS. 
 
 48 
 
 To men of business and the genera,’ public I appeal 
 and especially to those who wish to apply personal magnet- 
 ism to business purposes, such as se ling goods, obtaining 
 the confidence of the community, and bettering their con- 
 dition in life by obtaining wealth and consequent pros- 
 perity. 
 
 A great deal has been written by interested parties on 
 the corruptibility of riches; about money being the root of 
 all evil; that riches do not make hapiness; that poor people 
 are happier than rich; that gold is a curse, and the cause of 
 crime etc. Now all this looks very well in theory, but who 
 among my readers do not know that the very opposite is 
 the result, and those who talk so much and preach so per- 
 sistently on the curse of gold, are themselves very anxious 
 to secure as much of this root of evil as possible for them- 
 selves and their families. Money is not a curse but a 
 blessing. Riches is the reward of mankind, the hope of all, 
 and providence intended it to be so, and those only are 
 happy (as far as happiness in this world goes) who, if they 
 are not exactly rich, have at least a sufficiency to make 
 them contented. Poverty is the curse of the world; poverty 
 is nine cases out of ten the cause of crime; poverty fills 
 our prisons and alms houses; poverty makes a man a forger, 
 a drunkard and a murderer; poverty is brutalizing in its 
 effects, makes good men bad ones, and takes the crown of 
 innocence (woman’s virtue) from a pure heart, leaving in 
 place shame, disgrace, agony, indignation, broken hearts? 
 and often the death of the unfortunate victims themselves. 
 The theif and criminal were born such; and the poor, be- 
 trayed, outraged — unfortunate — little more very often, 
 than a child in years, nestled once in its mother’s arms, 
 pure and innocent as the white robed angels, who sing 
 before the throne of God. What made the one a murderer, 
 another a thief and so on through the whole catalogue of 
 
44 
 
 HOW TO WIN 
 
 crime? I say, poverty, will be as a rule, the general 
 answer. The rich, by nature, are ’^no better than the poor, 
 but they have not the temptation to steal, having plenty 
 without; they are surrounded with riches, luxury refine- 
 ment, learning, intelligence and the fine arts and they 
 have no inducement to commit robbery and crime. Pov- 
 erty makes men coarse, vulgar, profane, brutal and lost to 
 all shame, while on the contrary wealth is a civilizer, refines 
 the mind by education and those elegant surroundings 
 that money only can purchase. 
 
 To understand Personal Magnetism, is to understand 
 how to secure wealth and happiness, and is of incalculable 
 benefit to all classes of the community. 
 
 A concentration of a positive, controlling will on a 
 person passive and consequently easily impressed, will do 
 more in selling goods, obtaining favors and gaining confi- 
 dences, than the combined efforts of a dozen men, who use 
 only argument and obliging manners. The clergyman can 
 accomplish more good to his congregation by Personal 
 Magnetism than by mere persuasive or theological discus- 
 sions! The physician can benefit his patient in many 
 cases, more by his influence than by medicine, and the 
 parent can use it so as to benefit both himself and his 
 entire family. 
 
 If you are to be a salesman or solicitor, your power 
 lies in your ability to influence others. Anybody can sell 
 to a man who wants to buy. He would buy anyway. 
 Your success lies in your power to infuse in others a 
 desire, and thus create a demand for your goods. 
 
 Some people seem naturally endowed with a peculiar 
 magnetic force. Many such exercise over their fellows an 
 irresistible power We say they are full of Personal 
 Magnetism, and wonder how they get it. Such persons 
 seem naturally to possess a hypnotic power. By their 
 
OB SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 45 
 
 forcible way of doing things they also possess a great deal 
 of suggestive power. It all comes of enthusiasm, energy 
 and concentration of mind, with a consequent clearness of 
 thought and conception, which may be easily acquired by 
 anyone possessing our great secrets as taught in the full 
 course in Vital and Mental or Personal Magnetism. 
 
 We all Lave this force latent in us. All it needs is 
 developement. Without enthusiasm, energy and concen- 
 tration of thought and steadfastness of purpose our best 
 efforts can but be insipid and impotent. The philosophy 
 of ones influence over others lies in a close study of human 
 nature, personal magnetism, a deep concentration of pur- 
 pose, a ceaseless application to business and an everlasting, 
 unconquerable persistance maintained by full confidence in 
 self, spurred on by limitless ambition and encouraged by a 
 strong hope. 
 
 Exercise your will power, for ‘‘where there’s a will 
 there’s a way.” Never think you cannot. Never allow 
 yourself to be governed by circumstances, but make cir- 
 cumstances to suit yourself. 
 
 Study the actions of persons who are successful, and 
 who control and govern by the will; hold up your head and 
 try to imitate them. 
 
 Recollect that humility is a virtue only when it does 
 not allow you to be trampled under foot. 
 
 All the elements which form a good and attractive 
 character are essential to the art of pleasing. In business 
 affairs we delight to deal with men in whom we fir'd 
 integrity. Truth is so naturally pleasing that we derive 
 great satisfaction from an honest character. Should you 
 be suspected of injustice, malignity perfidy, lying, etc., 
 all the graces and knowledge of the world will never pro- 
 cure you esteem, friendship and respect. The first of the 
 requisites in our intercourse with the world, and the chief 
 
HOW TO WIN, 
 
 giviris^ pleasure to those with whom we associate, is 
 inviolable sincerity of heart, coupled with a knowledge 
 of the power of exerting personal magnetism. 
 
 Would you posess this grand gift, whereby you may 
 rise to pre-eminence and be known as the owner of a 
 master mind? W ould you step out from the rank and file 
 of the mediocrists and brain workers? If so, the road is a 
 short and easy one. If you would travel it — if you would 
 be a pilgrim to the shrine of success — read the prospectus 
 in the latter part of this book, and then “mark, learn, and 
 inwardly digest” what you have read. Think over the 
 contents of this book; follow out other thoughts it may 
 suggest; then act according to your own good judgment. 
 If it has caused you to think, its mission has been accom- 
 plished. 
 
 In conclusion: everything to prove beneficial must be 
 especially adapted to the characteristics of each individual. 
 There is no balm in Gilead, potent enough to cure all 
 evils or to accomplish unanimously good results, without 
 special and personal instructions suited to each individual’s 
 sex, age, condition, temperament, occupation and general 
 natural abilities, which guarantees to all a successful 
 accomplishment of this great work. For this reason you 
 can readdy see that it would be utterly impossible to pub- 
 lish in book form general instructions that would give the 
 most important secrets of the art. 
 
 This is what makes our plan especially valuable, as it 
 deals privately with you and for you, giving you only such 
 methods as will positively make you successful in the 
 shortest possible time. Men who have made their names 
 imperishable for all time are those whose “personal mag- 
 netism,” and whose ability to read character was cultivated 
 in the highest degree. Such knowledge is not born in one, 
 any more than is the learning of the scientist or great jurist 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS. 
 
 47 
 
 or philosopher; it is acquired by study and observation and 
 experiment. Those who are competent to read character 
 from faces, fascinate and comprehend the motives and 
 springs of human conduct at a glance, are like the skillful 
 general who knows the position of the enemy and strength 
 of his equipment, and can, therefore, determine when and 
 where to move his forces and operate to any advantage. 
 
 There are few persons of so penetrating a genius, and 
 so just a judgment, as to be capable of learning the arts and 
 sciences without the assistance of teachers. There is scarcely 
 any science that is properly and speedily learned, even by the 
 noblest genius with the best books, without a tutor. Books 
 are a sort of dumb teacher •, they point out the way to 
 learning ; but if we labor under any doubt or mistake, they 
 cannot always answer sudden questions, or explain present 
 doubts and difficulties : this is properly the work of a living 
 instructor. 
 
 A good tutor is one who can and will apply himself 
 with diligence and concern, and indefatigable patience, to 
 effect what he undertakes ; to teach his students, and see 
 that they learn ; to adapt his way and method, as near as 
 may be, to the various dispositions, as well as to the capaci- 
 ties of those whom he instructs, and to inquire often into 
 their progress and improvement. 
 
 And he should take particular care of his own temper 
 and conduct, that there be nothing in him or about him 
 which may set a bad example; nothing that may savor of a 
 haughty temper, or a mean and sordid spirit; nothing that 
 may expose him to the aversion or to the contempt of his 
 scholars, or create a prejudice in their minds against him 
 and his instructions. If possible, he should have so much 
 of a natural candor and sweetness combined with all the 
 
48 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 improvements of learning, as may convey knowledge to the 
 minds of his students with a gentle insinuation and sovereign 
 delight, and tempt them to the highest improvement by a 
 resistless and insensible force. Bat I shall have occasion 
 to say more on this subject. 
 
 Let the leaxner endeavor to maintain an honorable 
 opinion of his in^tractor, and heedfully listen to his instruc- 
 tions, as one willing to be led by a more experienced guide; 
 and though he is not bound to accept every sentiment of his 
 tutor, yet he should so far comply with him as to resolve 
 upon a just consideration of the matter, and try and examine 
 it thoroughly with an honest heart, before he presume to 
 determine against him. 
 
 If we would improve our minds by conversation, it is a 
 great happiness to be acquainted with persons wiser than 
 ourselves, and to enjoy their conversation frequently. If 
 they happen to be a little reserved, use all obliging methods 
 to draw out of them what may increase your own knowl- 
 edge. 
 
 When a man speaks with much freedom and ease, and 
 gives his opinion in the plainest language of common sense, 
 do not presently imagine you shall gain nothing by his com- 
 pany. Sometimes you will find a person who, in his con- 
 versation or his writings, delivers his thoughts in so plain, 
 so easy, so familiar and perspicuous a manner, that you both 
 understand and assent to everything he says, a^ fast as you 
 read or hear it; hereupon some hearers have been ready to 
 conclude in haste. Surely this man says none but common 
 things; I knew as much before, or I would have said all this 
 myself. This is a frequent mistake. 
 
The Goddess Hygeia. 
 
LIRRS.RY 
 OF- THE 
 
 rr v 
 
 U> <• </ « • Wi <) . 
 
 •ur-jois 
 
OR SURE SECRETS oF SUCCESS. 
 
 49 
 
 And be careful always to remember Solomon’s rule, 
 and let a speaker fairly finish before you reply; “ for he that 
 answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame 
 unto him.” 
 
 As you should carry about with you a constant and 
 sincere sense of your own ignorance, so you should not be 
 afraid nor ashamed to confess this ignorance, by taking all 
 proper opportunities to ask and inquire for further informa- 
 tion. - Never remain in ignorance for want of asking. 
 
 Many a person might have arrived at a considerable 
 degree of knowledge, if he had not been full of self-conceit, 
 and imagined that he knew enough already, or else was 
 ashamed to let others know that he was ignorant. God and 
 man are ready to teach the meek and the humble; but he 
 that fancies himself to know any particular subject well, or 
 that will not venture to ask a question about it, is not likely 
 to put himself into the way of improvement by inquiry and 
 diligence. A fool may be ‘‘ wiser in his own conceit than 
 ten men who can render a reason;” and such a one is very 
 likely to be always a fool. 
 
 Take heed of affecting always to shine in company 
 above the rest, and to display the riches of your own under- 
 standing or your oratory, as though you would render your- 
 self admirable to all that are present. This is seldom well 
 taken in polite company : much less shoul 1 you use such 
 forms of speech as would insinuate the ignorance or dullness 
 of those with whom you converse. 
 
 When you are in company talk often, but never long. 
 In that case^ if you do not please you are sure not to tire 
 your hearers. There are many persons who, though they 
 have nothing to talk of, never know when to leave off talk- 
 ing. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HOW TO SUCCEED IN LOVE. 
 
 •‘Man’s love is of man's life a thing apart, 
 
 ’Tis woman’s whole existence." 
 
 —Byron's Don Juan. 
 
 “ With easy freedom and gay address, 
 
 A pressing lover seldom wants success." 
 
 -Rowe 
 
 S OVE SURPASSES ALL THE OTHER human pas- 
 sions. All ages prove this, by having justly christened 
 it ‘‘ the one grand master-passion.” Other things 
 awaken enthusiasm, this rises to a passion, and renders many 
 fairly mad. Even sharp commercial men, who know how 
 to get over one hundred cents’ worth out of every dollar 
 used, often literally squander money on women they love. 
 What consumes as much of human time and means? Men 
 spend freely on religion, politics, vanities, drink, etc., but 
 on what half as freely as on Love? Even the untold sums 
 lavished on the female toilet and fashions are only so much 
 spent to make women captivating and enamouring to man. 
 Love, or desire to awaken it, prompts all. How many men, 
 women, farmers, mechanics, workmen, merchants, literati, 
 adventurers, etc., work with might and main, suffering 
 untold pains and privations, to make money solely to expend 
 on Love in some form — on wives, daughters, husbands, sons, 
 “ mistresses,” balls, parties, or their paraphernalia, etc. 
 Men spend freely on what yields them most pleasure, and 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 01 
 
 the amount spent on this sentiment, throughout all its forms 
 — conjugal, illicit, and the family — fairly admeasures its 
 relative power over them. Then what human Faculty con- 
 sumes equal means?” Church-goers go to see and be 
 seen by the opposite sex more than to worship. Let each 
 iex worship separately and few would go at all, and those 
 soon return disappointed. The untold sums spent on 
 church toilets have their chief object, not increased Wor- 
 ship, for one can pray as fervently in homespun as in bro- 
 cade, and without jewelry as with, but to appear charming 
 and captivating to the other sex. Not that we oppose Love 
 going to church ; for it has as good a right there as Wor- 
 ship ; and young folks to court going home from meeting 
 Sunday evening, as from singing-school or party ; yet Love 
 goes there the most. 
 
 WHAT ONE LIFE EMOTION ever took a hold so 
 deep, or wielded a power half as magical over your soul, or 
 permeated the very rootlets of your entire being, as did 
 your Love? Wherever you went it followed you. What- 
 ever you did it haunted you, or compelled you, willing or 
 unwilling, to succumb to its power, and muse night and 
 day on your loved one? What equally revolutionized your 
 whole life, or ever made you half as happy? How infat' 
 uated, spellbound, and perfectly beside themselves, it 
 always renders its “love-sick” victims! To enforce its 
 necessity by repeating its rationale. 
 
 Capacity to love and awaken this tender passion is as 
 much a gift, a real genius, as any other ; and the basis of 
 all conjugal excellence. On it rests the entire superstruct- 
 ure of wedlock. Out of it, like limbs and fruit from their 
 trunk, grow all marital virtues and enjoyments. 
 
52 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 LOVE IS STRONGER IN SOME, AND WEAKER 
 IN OTHERS. As some excel in one gift, yet lack another, 
 are good in music, but poor in figures, etc., so this loving, 
 lovable capacity is strong in some, but weak in others. 
 The difference between different persons in this respect is 
 indeed heaven-wide. Those in whom it is large and normal 
 instinctively make good husbands and wives without effort, 
 yet those who lack it make poor ones, though they try their 
 best. A man ever so industrious, steady, provident, liberal, 
 pious, moral, intelligent, etc., if this Faculty is weak, is 
 only a poor, commonplace husband, unloving and unloved ; 
 comparatively soulless, withered, barren, indifferent, cold- 
 hearted, rigid, uncouth, and cares little for woman in gen- 
 eral, or wife in particular, and is cared little for by either ; 
 while he in whom it is healthy and normal is like a per- 
 petually overflowing fountain, constantly bubbling up with 
 sparkling waters of conjugality. He loves woman in gen- 
 eral, and wife in particular, which both awakens their love, 
 and teaches him instinctively just how to comport himself 
 toward both. He is all warmth, glowing, gushing, and rich 
 in all masculine attributes ; while he in whom it is deficient 
 is unmanned, emasculated in soul and body, and propor- 
 tionally worthless as a husband. 
 
 A WOMAN whose Love is weak is cold, spiritless, 
 passive, tame and barren in all feminine attractions and 
 virtues ; half dead and alive ; like leather as compared 
 with skin, having the female groundwork, but lacking its 
 life and soul ; may indeed be a great worker and a good 
 housekeeper ; the kindest and best of neighbors ; refined, 
 proper and much besides ; but will be barren in womanli- 
 ness, and therefore lack this one thing needful in conju- 
 gality, this very heart’s core of female nature and the lova- 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS, 
 
 53 
 
 ble wife. Though good in all other respects, yet as a wife 
 proper she is proportionally good for nothing. I would 
 as soon marry a post as her,’’ said a well-sexed man of an 
 extra nice, refined, intellectual, squeamish, unmarried 
 woman of thirty, in whom this Faculty was wanting. 
 
 How HSfFlNlTELY GLORIOUS this loving, lovable 
 capacity! What sacrifices for its object it inspires! What 
 faults it hides! What virtues it develops! What other 
 felicity equals it! What ecstasy as ecstatic! What a zest 
 it imparts to every other life function and enjoyment! 
 What joy in being loved! Girl, you little realize the 
 intrinsic worth of that tender regard for you existing in 
 your lover’s soul, or you would not trifle with it. No emo- 
 tion, not even worship, is any more sacred. Ye who have 
 never loved stand aside, for novices are counted out ; as are 
 ye who have loved only indifferently. But all ye who have 
 loved HEARTILY, was not that love-season your most 
 sacred life-epoch? Were you not regenerated by it? Not 
 sprinkled, but baptized ALL OVER. To love and be 
 loved tamely, passively, is something ; but to love and be 
 loved with a whole-souled and a POWERFUL affection, is 
 life’s most luxurious and delicious feast perpetually served 
 up. Have and prize musical gift, poetical talent, or any 
 other you may possess ; but to whatsoever other gift I 
 possess let me superadd an intense, a doting- devoted 
 LOVE-NATURE, and a lovable object. Be rich, yet un- 
 loving, if you will, but let »ME be affectionate, though poor. 
 Give me a clear head along with a warm heart, yet if but 
 one, the warm, doting, loving heart first. 
 
 LOVE ! How inexpressibly sacred! Less so than 
 divine worship only. What other human emotion except 
 divine worship penetrates quite as deeply into the very 
 
54 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 rootlets and soul of numan existence as does this tender 
 sentiment? For what does a man launch out so freely 
 as to the devoted, affectionate, responsive wife whom he 
 loves so tenderly and devotedly? She usually gets more 
 of his time, money, feelings and affection generally, than 
 does his Saviour, though that is not quite right. 
 
 The practical importance of this problem is almost 
 infinite, because the lessons it teaches are proportionately 
 valuable. None more so. It teaches men how to render 
 themselves acceptable to women and women to men; any 
 given man how to fascinate the woman he selects, and any 
 woman just what to do and how to feel and act, what traits 
 to manifest and what not, in order to make herself lovely 
 and loved, selectable and selected in marriage — girls, old 
 maids, how munh is all that worth? — the married know how 
 to retain each other's affections, and by converse what dis • 
 pleases and alienates, and many other like invaluable 
 lessons. 
 
 LOVE’S MESSENGER IS MAGNETIC, because love 
 itself is; as is also that life it initiates. Cupid’s darts 
 are not material forms, faces eyes, tones, etc., because its 
 work is not. Magnetism is the more immediate instrument 
 of life, and its two positive and negative forces obviously 
 embrace its modus operandi of both its creation, and all its 
 functions, thus: 
 
 TWO BODIES POSITIVELY CHARGED REPEL 
 each other, as do two negatively; while one positive 
 mutually attract. 
 
 The male is positive, the female negative; and their 
 Love consists in their mutual attraction, which is greater or 
 less as each is more or less magnetically charged, abso- 
 lutely, and as regards each other. Two men may love 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 65 
 
 each other, so may two women when one is strongly mas- 
 culinized, takes mostly after father, and the other strongly 
 feminized. A man and a woman both strongly masculine 
 or feminine may dislike each other, at least feel no mag- 
 netic attraction, because both are positive to each other, or 
 both negative ; but one fully masculine and the other 
 feminine will be powerfully attracted to each other. 
 
 Falling in Love is perfectly explainable on this mag- 
 netic theory, but on no other. To meet at a party, in 
 church, or steamboat, and instantly, on sight, mutually 
 become perfectly smitten,” ‘‘ mashed,” ‘‘ electrified,” 
 ‘‘enamoured,” “ Love-struck,” “dead in-Love.” Mutually 
 “ delighted ” is too tame to express their passion ; for their 
 delight in each other is ecstatic. Each electrifies the other 
 from head to foot, physically and spiritually. Neither ever 
 felt anything like it. Their two entities rush together and 
 blend like positive and negative galvanic forces, enraptur- 
 ing both. Their very proximity thrills each other, because 
 their magnetisms are interchanged through air Each spell- 
 binds and is spell-bound by the other. Both embarrass 
 and are embarrassed by the other, perhaps too much for 
 utterance. Both were full of this Personal Magnetism, 
 which both gave off and received from the other. 
 
 ALL MEN, ALL WOMEN HAVE SOME of this 
 Personal Magnetism, 
 
 If two of opposite sex are well charged and take hands, 
 each can distinctly feel a magnetic current streaming up 
 their own arms and shoulders ; each giving and receiving 
 it, to their mutual benefit. This male and female magnet- 
 ism is the soul of gender, and its interchange, in which 
 loving consists, is Nature’s creative instrumentality. 
 
HOW TO WIN, 
 
 Novels describe it ; but what predecessor or contem- 
 porary has ever before - - touched its analysis? Mark 
 how many love Facts it explains and lessons it teaches. 
 
 Throw yourself, O courting youth, upon your own 
 interior sense of propriety and right, as to both the begin- 
 ning and conducting of courtship, after learning all you can 
 of Personal Magnetism and have no fears as to results, but 
 quietly bide them, in the most perfect assurance of their 
 happy eventuality! 
 
 CULTIVATE AND MANIFEST WHATEVER 
 QUALITIES YOU WOULD AWAKEN. You inspire 
 in the one you court the precise feelings and traits you 
 yourself experience. This law effects this result. Every 
 Faculty in either awakens itself in the other. This is just 
 as sure as gravity itself. Hence your success must come 
 from within, depends upon yourself, and not the one courted. 
 MEN can le irn in j ist what attributes in them ‘Hake 
 with women in general, and their own admired one in par- 
 ticular ; while women are told in what traits in them awaken 
 masculine appreciation and Love. 
 
 ANY MAN WHO CAN BEGIN to elicit any woman’s 
 Love can perfectly infatuate her more and more, solely by 
 Personal Magnetism ; and all women who once start a 
 man’s Love — no very difficult achievement — can get out of 
 him, and do with him, anything possible she pleases. The 
 charming and fascinating power of serpents over birds is as 
 nothing compared with that a woman can wield over a man 
 and he over her. Ladies, recall your Love heyday. You 
 had your lover perfectly spell-bound. He literally knew 
 not what he did or would do. 
 
 The love-making art which can effect all this and much 
 more, thus becomes well worth knowing ; yet is on© of 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 5 ^ 
 
 ' cfae lost arts.” Since the art of gallantry is thus valuable, 
 how much more that of Love-making? — only its perfection. 
 
 DISSEMINATING SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 
 concerning this much joked-about subject of Love-making 
 thus becomes a work of philanthropy and social reform far 
 transcending all others. 
 
 Why not give and take lessons in courtship as much 
 as in music or grammar? Is it less important? Parents 
 should teach their children early, and those taught by sad 
 experience ” should instruct those not yet maritally spoiled. 
 
 ABOUT WINNING THE AFFECTIONS OF THE OPPOSITE 
 SEX, AND A HAPPY MARRIAGE. 
 
 It would be a waste of words to insist on a truth which 
 all sensible people admit without argument, that marriage 
 is the natural relation of the sexes. Ever since the begin- 
 ning of time, the philosophers, sages, historians, romancers 
 and poets have endeavored to explain the subtle, mysteri- 
 ous influence which draws or inclines two of the opposite 
 sex toward each other in a mystic unity of mutual prefer- 
 ence and favor, until in the expressive language of Holy 
 Writ, ‘‘ the twain become one flesh.” Mingling with the 
 first breezes of Paradise, laden with the first fresh perfumes 
 of Eden, glowing with the beauteous hues of Eve’s first 
 blush when Adam whispered words of rapture in her ear — 
 one sentiment, one passion pervades all animated nature, 
 which the whole world recognizes by one sweet word only 
 — and that word is love. The inspired poets have vied 
 with each other for many ages in profusion and opulence of 
 description endeavoring to convey in language the peculi- 
 arities of intense affection — the thoughts which crowd the 
 
58 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 brain when proffered love, accepted and requited^ is sealed 
 by “ one long- kiss, the kiss of youth and love,” But, 
 while we know that there are very many separate exis^^nces 
 which naturally glide together — as naturally as moon- 
 beams meet the sea — yet there are innumerable instances 
 of those whose blissful experience after marriage shows that 
 they were manifestly intended for each other, and made to 
 make each other happy; and still, were it not that some in- 
 fluence, unknown to one of them, had brought them to- 
 gether, they would forever have remained unmarried. And 
 I will here state, since there are thousands who are prob- 
 ably unacquainted with the fact, that there is now claimed 
 to be a Secret of winning (for any one who may wish) the 
 sincere and unchanging affection of any one of the opposite 
 sex whose love may be desired. This extends not only to 
 the single of either sex who love and would have that love 
 returned, with a view of being united in wedlock; but it is 
 also equally potent to reconcile and make happy those who 
 have loved, wooed and married, and between whom there 
 may be unhappy differences, quarrels, or matrimonial cool- 
 ness and dislike. Personal Magnetism enables the opera- 
 tor to acquire the necessary controlling, positive mind, 
 while the one on whom it is to be tried, and whose affec- 
 tions or confidence you wish to gain, being ignorant of the 
 operator intending to subject them to this mighty influence 
 is, as a matter of necessity, quite passive, and easily con- 
 trolled, receiving an impression of love, esteem, confidence 
 or respect, by the use of which men and women can gain 
 the sincere and undivided affection of each other perma- 
 nently, and that is all that ought to be required. In love- 
 matters, therefore, it should never be used with improper 
 motives. A poor male may quickly win the permanent af- 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 59 
 
 fections of, and marry a wealthy lady upon whom he may 
 rest his affections, and in spite of any resistance. And so 
 may a lady thus win a husband, and this, I say, is enough, 
 without using this wonderful combination of natural forces 
 for licentious or improper motives. But I am advising 
 the people to do good — I really have no other object 
 in offering personal magnetism to the public. I know, 
 from a profound experience, that these arts will do much in 
 establishing among men the sublime doctrine of love one 
 another,” or, which is the same thing, love thy neighbor 
 as thyself.” 
 
 You can be successful in all matters regarding busi- 
 ness, courtship, marriage, etc.; how a man can obtain the 
 love of a woman, or the woman that of the man; how to 
 make any one act just as you desire them to do; also, how 
 to accomplish all wonderful things. 
 
 It speedily dispels all nervous fear, awakens the slug- 
 gish lover, quickens the unappreciating friend, removes the 
 bashfulness of the maiden, develops the heart-strings equal 
 to love, makes the rough path of peevish nature even, and 
 opens in each breast a little heaven. To wives who feel or 
 fear their husband’s love decay, it commends itself beyond 
 all words. To lovers, or those who would be loved, its si- 
 lent influence is hourly exerted with the happiest results. 
 Its effects are irresistible. To those who mourn an absent 
 dear one its effect is like a soothing balm. No walk in life 
 so gloomy, no nature so uncouth, no heart so pulseless, as 
 not to acknowledge the sunshine of its presence. 
 
 It has often been said personal magnetism can be used 
 for bad or wicked purposes. To this I would say, so can 
 everything else in nature; fire can be used to destroy prop- 
 erty, poison to destroy life, wine and spirits to intoxicate, 
 
60 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 and so on. But this is no argument. We should not be 
 restricted in their proper use, or discard them because ot 
 their sometimes dangerous properties. Personal magnet- 
 ism cannot be used for evil purposes more than any other 
 science. A good, correct person will not use any thing 
 improperly, and a bad one can only be restrained by the 
 fear of the consequences which civilization and law impose 
 on evil doers. 
 
 The great cause of unmarried adults in Christian com- 
 munities is owing to the difficulties young people experi- 
 ence in endeavoring to procure partners. There is, in fact, 
 no bachelor who has been so from choice, and, in nine out of 
 ten cases, the reasons he will give you for his celibacy are 
 not the true causes. 
 
 By far the greater number of old bachelors has been 
 occasioned by circumstances which have kept them aloof 
 from female society, or the bashfulness which would never 
 permit them to bring a lady to the simple answer of Yes ” 
 or “ No.” 
 
 I have known young men with every advantage of 
 person and fortune to be deeply in love, but who, in conse- 
 quence of their backwardness in revealing their passion, 
 have waited until some person without the moiety of their 
 deserts, but with a stock of assurance, carried away the ob- 
 ject of their affections. 
 
 Again, ladies are obliged to remain single for the 
 want of an opportunity to procure husbands. This is gen- 
 erally owing to the selfishness of parents, who exclude 
 young men from their house, except those too insignificant 
 to win their daughter’s affections, till at last the lady is 
 compelled to remain single or favor her inferiors. 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 61 
 
 Homeliness of person is never the cause of want of 
 partners, for every age has its model, and fancies are as 
 various as are the peculiar notions of individuals. 
 
 Although, as I have previously remarked, personal 
 beauty is not essential to a successful conquest, cleanliness 
 and a careless comeliness with comely care ” most unmis- 
 takably are. No lady would admire a slovenly swain, with 
 a bad breath and dirty teeth; and with a gentleman vice 
 versa. It is decidedly unromantic to press even very 
 pretty lips in the ardor of a kiss, if the ivory they curtain is 
 coated with a yellow incrustation, which gives a sewer fra- 
 grance to the breath. 
 
 Women are very often led away by the belief that the 
 possession of beauty is indispensably necessary to win the 
 love of man, but this has been proved to be a very erro- 
 neous idea. 
 
 That beauty is all-powerful to attract no one will at- 
 tempt to deny, and in society the owner of the fairest face 
 undoubtedly gains the largest share of admiration, but the 
 admiration is not love, and the man who has been a devoted 
 worshipper at beauty’s shrine for years, very frequently at 
 last falls really and passionately in love with a girl whose 
 plainness of feature makes it a matter of wonderment to 
 the world as to what he could possibly have seen in her to 
 admire, and yet this is not by any means an uncommon in- 
 stance. 
 
 “ Beauty is but skin deep ” is a saying, the truth of 
 which no one will deny, and if a woman depends upon her 
 beauty alone to retain her husband’s love she holds that 
 love by a frail thread indeed, and the day may not be far 
 distant when the good looks upon which she prides herself 
 may be lost. 
 
62 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 We do not wish our fair readers to suppose we do not 
 admire beautiful women, nor should we attempt to censure 
 those who strive to improve their appearance; rather, on 
 the other hand, should we advise that every effort should be 
 tried to ^o so, for in many instances, women after marriage 
 lose a great deal of the desire they formerly possessed to 
 look as well as possible in their husband’s eyes. 
 
 Beauty alone, though it may attract attention, nay^ 
 inspire love, cannot retain a heart by its power alone. It 
 is well known that the handsomest men are not always 
 those who are most admired by women; it is Personal 
 Magnetism, not looks, that is attractive to the fair sex, and 
 it is the same with men. 
 
 The science of Personal Magnetism thus presented is 
 the first development and presentation of such a science. 
 Fragmentary, incomplete and incorrect investigations of 
 portions of this field of science have heretofore produced 
 sciences and theories which have been called Cerebral 
 Localization, Animal Magnetism, Hypnotism, Delsartian 
 Philosophy or Psycology. We correct the errors of these 
 systems and add new sciences, making a harmonious 
 whole. 
 
 A knowledge of this wonderful power will be of im- 
 mense value to all classes. The merchant in selling goods 
 and gaining the confidence and good will of the community. 
 To the LOYER, to gain the affections of his sweetheart; and 
 the LADIES, to secure the love and esteem of men. We tell 
 you how to proceed in order to best accomplish these re- 
 sults. We are pleased to say that the plan of instruction 
 followed, which we believe to be the best possible one, 
 while it produces the results desired, it at the same time 
 develops the health and character of the student. 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 63 
 
 Old age seldom mars personal charms if the cycle of 
 time has not robbed his or her natural adornments. Let 
 him, therefore, who would win the fair hand of the lady he 
 loves, in addition to a proper comeliness of apparel, endea- 
 vor to show a manly face, a cleanly mouth, and an unblem- 
 ished skin. A female, too, should avail herself of every 
 invention of art to preserve those ornaments which the God 
 of Nature originally bestowed upon her. 
 
 Do not hastily misjudge and despise small matters. 
 Trifles, my friends, are not to be despised with impunity, 
 for they oftentimes make or mar a human being’s destiny. 
 We know that all great discoveries and inventions have 
 been originated by the merest of trifles, the paltriest of ac- 
 cidents. An apple falling suggested to Sir Isaac Newton 
 his invaluable discovery with regard to the laws of gravita- 
 tion. The telescope was suggested by the accidental 
 placing of a couple of pieces of glass together in an opti- 
 cian’s shop, and a careless examination of them in that acci- 
 dental position by a lounging apprentice boy. Trifles form 
 the material of everything vast. The coral reefs and is- 
 lands of the seas are the work of animalculae scarcely per- 
 ceptible to the naked eye. The globe itself is formed of 
 atoms. If you disregard trifles you will never become 
 prominent or important in any degree, but will vegetate 
 like a plant, and die alone, unloved and uncared for. Life 
 is no trifle, but it is a conglomeration of trifles. Look, 
 therefore, upon the ‘‘ day of small things ” with a watchful 
 an earnest and a curious eye. A spark fires a train of gun- 
 powder and blows up a city. A mouse, remember, freed 
 the netted lion. In all the little details and minutiae which 
 I am constrained to relate to you, and impress upon your 
 attention, there lurks a great consequence — there lingers 
 
HOW TO WIN* 
 
 a gigantic end. It is happiness; that which, to the unre* 
 flective and the ignorant, seems an unattainable shadow. 
 But there is nothing so easily obtained, if pursued in the 
 right way, as happiness. The old saying has it, “ keep 
 your feet warm and your head cool and defy the physician*’' 
 There is an equal amount of substantial truth in my theory, 
 viz.: preserve your health, acquire Personal Magnetism, 
 win the woman you love, if possible, and make yourself as 
 agreable in looks as care and ingenuity will allow you* 
 This will enable you to win and retain the aff3ctions of the 
 one you adore, and will make you hosts of friends beside. 
 What more is requisite to attain perfect contentment. How 
 strange it is that simple truths, so plain and ingenuous that 
 a child can appreciate them to their full extent, escape the 
 knowledge of nine -tenths of mankind! How remarkable 
 that the first intimation you have ever had of their force 
 and value is received from the pages of this humble vol- 
 ume! Verily, we walk in darkness in the midst of light! 
 Aaron Burr, one of the greatest of reprobates, completely 
 and most desperately infatuated a great number of the 
 “first,” most aristocratic, refined, intelligent, and pious 
 ladies; rendering them literally beside themselves, and 
 always enamoured every lady he met. His biographer has 
 more than once advertised to publish the love-letters Burr 
 received from these ladies, which were the most meiting 
 and loving imaginable, but was each time deterred by 
 threats that if he di<l he would be murdered. They well 
 remembered how spellboud Burr had rendered them, and 
 how exstatic their expressions of Love. Why? Simply 
 because the extreme and intensity and power of Personal 
 Magnetism in him enimoured them. Here is a masculo- 
 feminine law. We have given its rationale. 
 
The Soul’s Awakening. 
 
UBRARY 
 OF THE 
 univzBSiTV G? 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 65 
 
 Natural laws govern all Nature, and reduce all they 
 govern to eternal right. Therefore Love, by being one of 
 her departments, is reduced by its governing laws to the 
 same scientific rules to which mathematical and other 
 natural laws reduce whatsoever appertains to either. 
 
 COURT SCIENTIFICALLY THEN, all ye who 
 court at all. Bungle whatever else you will, but do not 
 dare bungle courtship: because its right management will 
 conduct all to that happiest issue of life, a happy marriage ; 
 v/hilst its wrong is commensurately disastrous. Its august 
 mission is to establish between two that eternal affiliation 
 which will ever constitute them ‘‘ one flesh ” cement each 
 other’s affections past all possibility of future rupture; and 
 render them one in object, doctrine, feeling, spirit, every* 
 thing. 
 
 ITS BEGINNING is equally regulated by these 
 laws; so that all the power wielded by Love over man 
 barely admeasures the blessings conferred by its right 
 initiation, and the miseries inflicted by its wrong. Indeed, 
 its first stage is by far its most eventful, for good and evil. 
 When begun and conducted just right it waxes better and 
 better? but worse and worse when started wrongly. SO 
 COMMENCE BY RULE, and learn how beforehand. 
 Personal Magnetism as taught by us, should be your guide. 
 
 Generally speakings both sexes are desirous of enter- 
 ing the matrimonial state; but, considering the hundreds of 
 thousands who wear out a lonely and miserable existence 
 as old maids and bachelors, it becomes quite evident that 
 there is something wrong in the existing state of society, 
 which debars so many respectable persons from marital 
 felicity, and the remedy for all these disappointments we 
 undertake to point out, and that remedy is Personal Mag- 
 
66 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 NETiSM, one of the most simple and wonderful sciences in 
 mental nature, enabling the possessor of it to fascinate, 
 CONTROL the MIND and win the love and affection of an- 
 other. It is very simple and easily performed, and is as 
 RELIABLE AS ANY OTHER KNOWN PRINCIPLE OF SCIENCE. It 
 is nothing new, as many suppose, but was known and prac- 
 ticed centuries ago, though looked upon as the effects of 
 magic and supernatural agency, and it has only been 
 within the last few years that this extraordinary power has 
 been rightly understood and reduced to the unerring 
 
 PRINCIPLES OF SCIENCE. 
 
 We claim that this science is the principle of all at- 
 traction. We also claim to possess the ability of impart- 
 ing TO others this power of fascination, and enable either 
 sex, arrived at the age of puberty, to fascinate and win the 
 UNDYING LOVE and affection of another. Faithless lovers 
 can thus be reclaimed, friendships cemented, confidence 
 established, and general happiness secured. The condi- 
 tions are simple and easily understood, so that any ordinary 
 intelligent person may comprehend, acquire and exert 
 this extraordinary power, and gain the affections, love, con- 
 fidence and esteem of another, making that person love and 
 admire you more than any one else in the world. 
 
 This no is abstract theory,” but a reliable 
 SCIENCE, producing these results as a matter of neces- 
 sity, the SUCCESS of which WE WILL GUARANTEE. A 
 moment’s reflection will clearly show the great and CER- 
 TAIN advantages that can be obtained through a knowl- 
 edge of this wonderful science. 
 
 It may be asked if all are possessed of this science, why 
 are not all successful. I answer, all are possessed of, but 
 few are aware of it, and of course do not understand its usCf 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 67 
 
 Sympathy often produces a strong attraction between 
 two persons who see each other for the first time. Neither 
 of them can explain it, but both feel it, and thus love at 
 first sight is no fancy, but a reality. It arises from a pleas- 
 ing correspondence between the magnetic influences of the 
 parties, and, when this is the case, it is as durable as 
 strong. Nay, it is well known that there are many persons 
 who frequently quarrel after being long together, yet are 
 quite wretched if separated, and infallibly come together, 
 till a new quarrel again forces them asunder, again to feel 
 miserable apart. 
 
 Not only do such sympathies exist, but there are an- 
 tipathies equally strong. Every one must have seen or felt 
 the repulsion exercised on himself or others by certain individ- 
 uals, which, even in spite of reason, often continues for life. 
 
 There are many who possess, either naturally or 
 through cultivation, an abundance of Personal Magnetism, 
 which renders them irresistibly winning, and this charm is 
 not derived from mere beauty, for it is not an unusual case 
 to find a beautiful person lost to a certain extent beside 
 one who is possessed of the charm we speak of. 
 
 By following our instructions as given in rules for 
 acquiring and exerting Personal Magnetism, lovers will be 
 rewarded with that greatest blessing — true love on the 
 part of those upon whom they have cast their affections 5 
 and a life of domestic happiness will reward them. 
 
 We could never weary of dwelling upon this theme, 
 knowing as we do the importance which attaches to it, for 
 the subject cannot be overrated, and where true love exists, 
 there, undoubtedly, will a happy home be found, and the chil- 
 dren of such a union will grow up to respect those who have 
 shown such wisdom in the management of their own affairs. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 HOW TO SUCCEED IN SOCIETY. 
 
 “ Society is now one polish’d horde, 
 
 Form’d of two mighty tribes, the Bores and Bor’d.” 
 
 -—Byron . 
 
 t N society, each individual is esteemed in proportion 
 to the pleasure he bestows on others ; or, in other 
 ^ words, to the extent he renders himself agreeable ; and 
 hence, every person desires to possess as pleasing an address 
 and manner as possible. We are conscious of pleasure 
 when we listen to refined conversation, or behold elegant 
 manners, or when we think others observe them in our- 
 selves. This pleasure is the origin and chief bond of polite 
 intercourse. The elegant and refined are always sought by 
 those of like sentiments, because both are mutually made 
 happier. As , = has been well said, “ good manners are a 
 perpetual letter of introduction.” 
 
 On the other hand, want of politeness is always re- 
 garded as discreditable. Wealth or family influence may 
 introduce an unpolished person to the cultivated, but he is 
 simply tolerated, not welcomed. He is not welcomed, be- 
 cause he cannot add to their peculiar pleasure. And more 
 than this, the rudeness and awkwardness of the ill-mannered 
 strike so harshly upon refined sensibilities as to be positively 
 disagreeable. The exclusiveness, therefore, of polite society 
 is nothing more than the exclusion of those who are likely 
 
 68 
 
SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS. 
 
 69 
 
 to add nothing to its pleasure, or whose rudeness would 
 destroy it. The doors to social elegance are open wide, 
 and a welcome awaits every one who is capable of aug- 
 menting social pleasure. 
 
 But there is much indistinctness and error in the pop- 
 ular opinion of the nature of politeness, and consequent 
 misapprehension of its proper culture. It is regarded more 
 as a gift of nature than as an acquirement obtained by 
 effort ; more as an acconplishment of body than of mind. 
 
 We shall find, however^ upon examination, that polite- 
 ness is as truly an acquisition to be gained by study and 
 effort, as is the ability to produce good music. In either 
 case the natural talent may be more or less developed, but 
 in both alike must there be a clear knowledge of principles, 
 and the application of them with faithful and assiduous 
 practice. To look for politeness from the careless and in- 
 attentive, is as irrational as to look for music from one that 
 never touched an instrument. 
 
 Politeness is good-nature expressed with refinement. 
 
 From this definition it appears that politeness in- 
 volves two elements — a state of mind and a mode of ex- 
 pression. 
 
 It is a mistake to consider politeness as having refer- 
 ence only to the mode of expression or address. That mere 
 ceremonious attention, however unexceptionable, is not ac- 
 cepted as genuine courtesy, is evident from the terms ap- 
 plied to it. It is characterized as hollow, insincere, or 
 forced. We accept nothing as courteous which is wanting 
 in heart, nothing done for mere show. Every act which 
 would lay claim to being polite must be prompted by an 
 obliging disposition. 
 
HOW TO WIN, 
 
 70 
 
 To acquire this good-nature, this obliging disposition, 
 some attention to our modes of thought and feeling is 
 requisite. 
 
 One of the first elements of good-nature is generosity — 
 a regard for others. A generous nature esteems the happi- 
 ness of another equally with its own ; and where all have a 
 common right, is willing that others should share equally 
 with itself. It cannot enjoy a pleasure purchased at the 
 expense of another. Whilst seeking its own happiness, it 
 cannot be unmindful of that of its fellows- It stands in 
 entire contrast to the spirit which is ever looking for self ; 
 which never cares for others, never sacrifices a pleasure in 
 their behalf, never accommodates itself to others ; which 
 wants the first, the best, and the most ; which loves “ the 
 uppermost rooms at feasts, and chief seats in the syna- 
 gogues.” Such a spirit is utterly repugnant to true notions 
 of politeness. We can grant no approval to actions 
 begotten of such sentiments, however graceful and punc- 
 tilious. 
 
 But more than this: true generosity is not satisfied 
 with simple justice, with merely giving others an equal 
 opportunity ; it takes a pleasure in assisting them in their 
 purposes and pursuits. It is not indifferent to the success 
 or failure of an individual, because a stranger ; it is re- 
 gardful of the wants of the weak, the infirm, and the help- 
 less; and finds its own reward in the attempt to make 
 others happier. 
 
 Such generous consideration for others always chal- 
 lenges our admiration and esteem. We feel it to be the 
 offspring of a noble heart. It needs but to express itself 
 gracefully to win the meed of true courtesy. 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 71 
 
 We must exercise ^ue care, however, that this interest 
 for our fellow-beings does not degenerate into inquisitive- 
 ness or meddlesomeness. Assisting them in their present 
 circumstances does not imply any right of inquiry into their 
 personal history or their future plans. Who an individual 
 may be, what his business, whence he came, or whither he 
 is going, is no part of our concern, unless such information 
 is directly connected with the assistance we propose to 
 render. 
 
 If a gentleman should assist an invalid or a lady in 
 alighting from a rail-car, he might with great propriety ask 
 if he could be of any further service ; but it would be 
 great rudeness, on no other acquaintance, to make inquiry 
 as to their names or businesSo 
 
 Learn not to. be disturbed at the minor faults of in- 
 dividuals. No human being is perfect. We have our 
 faults, others have theirs. We must excuse, as we hope to 
 be excused. We shall every day meet many disagreeable 
 things, even in our best friends. It is a great lesson to 
 learn not to see them. 
 
 Special care should be taken never to observe personal 
 deformities or defects. A person may unfortunately pos- 
 sess some irregularity of shape, of limb or face, or some 
 peculiarity of manner or speech. To permit our attention 
 to be drawn to any such singularity is highly discourteous, 
 while to make it the subject of remark, would be an inex- 
 cusable incivility. 
 
 Polite society is concerned only with the good, the 
 desirable, and the agreeable in persons and circumstances : 
 the discovery of faults and errors, and their correction, is 
 not its province, but rather that of the tutor and the mor- 
 alist^ 
 
72 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 The second point to be considered is the attainment of 
 refined expression or address. 
 
 One of the most important considerations in this re* 
 spect is artlessness, or naturalness. Simple and unaffected 
 language and manners are always pleasing. We should 
 aim to say what seems fitting to the time and place, in the 
 easiest and simplest way, selecting the best and most deli- 
 cate words in good use ; or if anything is to be done, to do 
 it in the readiest, quietest, and most unobtrusive manner. 
 
 Especially is display to be avoided — the saying or 
 doing of anything to attract attention. High-sounding 
 words, lofty expressions, great parade of learning, or flourish 
 of manners, are accepted as evidence, not of good culture, 
 but of want of it. Many a youth has been spoiled by trying 
 to appear hig ; aud many a Miss, by trying to appear nice. 
 The one leads to a ridiculous pomposity, the other to a silly 
 afiPectedness. It is unobtrusive worth, not glitter, that wins 
 everlasting esteem. Never attempt to appear any thing 
 more nor better than you are. Be your best, and then do 
 your best. 
 
 If we would learn the use and command of refined 
 expression, we must practice it constantly in our daily in- 
 tercourse. It is idle to think of being polite in the parlor 
 to guests, if we are not so to our companions in our 
 private apartments. If our common modes of address are 
 rude and unpolished, if our language is low or vulgar, all 
 attempts at elegance will be ‘but awkward and ilh concealed 
 efforts to appear what we are not. Make it a rule to be as 
 decorous towards friends and home companions as you 
 desire to be to strangers and guests. 
 
 Regard well the language and manners of those whose 
 society seems particularly a^<^^ble. Notice their modes 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 73 
 
 of thought, their happy turns of expression, their readiness 
 to find some good in every individual and occurrence, the 
 ease with which they adapt themselves to the peculiarities 
 of every one, the pleasure which every little attention gives 
 them, and their avoidance of fault-finding or criticism. By 
 accustoming ourselves to observe these excellencies in 
 others, we shall learn to imitate them in our own conduct. 
 
 If the laws of reason, decency, and civility have not 
 been well observed amongst your associates, take notice of 
 those defects for your own improvement; and from every 
 occurrence of this kind remark something to imitate or to 
 avoid, in elegant, polite, and useful conversation. Perhaps 
 you will find that some persons present have really dis- 
 pleased the company, by an excessive and too visible an 
 affectation to please; that is, by giving loose to servile 
 flattery or promiscuous praise: while others were as ready 
 to oppose and contradict everything that was said. 
 
 Some may have deserved just censure for a morose or 
 affected taciturnity, and others have been anxious and care- 
 ful lest their silence should be attributed to a want of sense, 
 and therefore they have ventured to make speeches, though 
 they had nothing to say which was worth hearing. Perhaps 
 you will observe that one was ingenious in his thoughts, and 
 bright in his language, but he was so full of himself that he 
 spoke too long, and did not allow equal liberty or time to 
 his associates. 
 
 You will remark that another was full charged to let 
 out his words before his friends had done speaking, or 
 impatient of the least opposition to any thing he said. You 
 will remember that some persons have talked at large and 
 with great confidence of things which they understood not. 
 and others counted everything tedious and intolerable that 
 
t4 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 was spoken upon subjects of their sphere, and they would 
 fain confine the conference entirely within the limits of 
 their own narrow knowledge and study. The errors of 
 conversation are almost infinite. 
 
 By a review of such irregularities as these you may 
 learn to avoid the follies which spoil good conversation, or 
 make it less agreeable and useful. By degrees you will 
 acquire that delightful and easy manner of address and 
 behavior which will render your company everywhere de- 
 sired and beloved. 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON BEHAVIOR. 
 
 Propriety of deportment always has reference to the 
 occasion and the person with which it is associated. What 
 may be entirely suited to one occasion, or to one person, 
 may be quite out of place under other circumstances. 
 
 I. Behavior towards Superiors. 
 
 First. Towards the Divine Being. 
 
 All civilized beings recognize the goodness of the 
 Giver of life and all its blessings. They recognize, also, 
 the sentiments of thankfulness and gratitude as among the 
 noblest implanted in the human heart. Worship is our 
 expression of this grateful feeling. Its modes may be 
 various, according to the differing tastes and judgments of 
 men; but in every case it is the expression of the same 
 sentiment. And hence, whatever may be the form, it has 
 always, everywhere among enlightened people, been entitled 
 to the highest respect. 
 
 1. Let whatever may seem to you most appropriate as 
 worship be done with decency and becoming attention. To 
 
Oil SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 •?5 
 
 engage in conversation during a service of prayer, to gaze 
 around over the audience, or to sit or lounge upon the floor 
 under pretence of kneeling, are violations of the decencies 
 of the occasion. 
 
 2. Let the acts, the forms, the ceremonies of others, 
 even those distasteful to yourself, be treated v^ith the same 
 respectful consideration you ask for your own. You may 
 not see the propriety of ‘‘ immersion,” of “ the mourners’ 
 bench,” of “sprinkling holy water,” or of the “ rite of con- 
 firmation,” yet if you assemble with those that do, these 
 ceremonies are entitled to the same regard you pay to those 
 of your own faith. 
 
 3. It is also manifestly a dictate of propriety never to 
 disturb an assembly for worship by entering late, or by 
 leaving before the audience is properly dismissed. 
 
 Second. Towards Parents. 
 
 1. Always sustain the honor, the dignity, and the good 
 name of your parents. Let it be understood by all, that 
 you intend to pay deference to their wishes, that you never 
 consent to do what they will not approve. Ever remember 
 that the truest friend you have ever had, or perhaps ever 
 will have, is your mother. 
 
 2. Let your address be respectful. When childhood’s 
 
 tender and mamma give way in advancing years, let 
 
 it be to the worthy and always welcome /aifAer and mother. 
 
 3. Consider how often they have denied themselves 
 pleasures for your happiness, and how incessantly they have 
 toiled for your comfort, and seek to show that you are 
 neither unmindful of it, nor ungrateful for it. Reward their 
 parental love and care by your filial regard. 
 
76 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 Third. Behavior towards Equals. 
 
 First. Companions. 
 
 The first consideration among associates or companions 
 is that of equality of rights and privileges. No one can 
 claim more than another. All stand upon the same foot- 
 ing. From this it is evident that we should ask nothing of 
 others which we would be unwilling to grant them; nor do 
 to them what we would be unwilling to have them do to us. 
 
 2. Where only one of several can enjoy some special 
 privilege, we should not selfishly claim it or seek to secure 
 it for ourselves. That is a very ill disposition, but a far too 
 common one. There are many persons who will join no 
 enterprise if they cannot have a prominent place — who 
 will lend no aid to any scheme if their advice is not fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 3. Consider that each one’s opinions and wishes are 
 entitled to the same regard as your own. Hence if any 
 plan of action is agreed upon, even though you did not 
 think it the best, give it the same cordial support as if your 
 counsel had been followed. 
 
 Fourth. Towards Brothers and Sisters. 
 
 There are few relations in life that afi’ord a serener joy 
 than that of brother and sister; and yet there are few that 
 so often yield no more. Many brothers are given to teas- 
 ing or vexing their sisters, on account of their timidity, 
 their acquaintances, or for some other equally unimportant 
 reason. On the other hand, 
 
 1 . Brothers should remember that their privileges, 
 their strength, and their opportunities are much greater 
 than those cSi their sisters, and that, therefore, they should 
 aid them in all their plans of pleasure or improvement. 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 7 *? 
 
 Assist them to visit every place they desire, even if you 
 have to remain at home, for at best their opportunities will 
 be greatly less than yours. 
 
 2. Converse freely with them upon their affairs, and 
 give them your cordial sympathy. Their wishes and prefer- 
 ences will often be unlike yours; but they will be gratified 
 with your interest and counsel, when given in a friendly 
 spirit. 
 
 3. Sisters should invite this kindly sympathy, and 
 repay it by renewed expressions of sisterly affection. 
 Brothers are always gratified by the kind regard of a sister, 
 and yield more readily to its gentle influence than to almost 
 any other. 
 
 Fifth. Towards the Weak and Infirm. 
 
 Providence has allotted our gifts variously. Some are 
 strong, others are weak; some are vigorous, others feeble. 
 The strong and healthful possess many advantages: they 
 can go wherever they please, enter upon any pursuit, and 
 try every resource of happiness. The feeble can hope for 
 many of these, only as aided by the stronger. Hence — 
 
 1. Where enjoyment can be extended to but one, it 
 should always be yielded by the stronger to the weaker. 
 As in case of a ride or attendance at a pleasure-party, if 
 but one can go, it should be the one whose health or circum- 
 stances permit such pleasures least frequently. 
 
 2. When there is some personal inconvenience to be 
 suffered, and but few can be exempt, these should be of 
 those least able to bear fatigue. Thus in an overcrowded 
 car, seats should be tendered to the aged, the maimed, and 
 the infirm. 
 
78 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 Sixth. Towards the Brute Creation. 
 
 No noble, generous heart ever needlessly gives pain to 
 a dumb animal. Much of our treatment of innocent and 
 harmless creatures is brutal, cruel, and without excuse or 
 palliation. Such is the overloading of beasts of burden, 
 overdriving them, whipping and beating them when the 
 task is beyond their strength, inciting animals to fight, as 
 dogs and game-cocks, or the killing or wanton torturing of 
 innocent and harmless animals. No young man that looks 
 forward to a high and honorable career in life will ever de- 
 base himself by cruelty. Brutality and nobleness keep no 
 companionship. 
 
 Reason and the sense of right were bestowed upon man 
 that he might be the protector of these lower orders of 
 creation, not the oppressor. It is our duty to see that they 
 suffer no harm at our hands. 
 
 Seventh. Behavior in Public. 
 
 First. In Public Assemblies. 
 
 Endeavor to be in season, so as not to trespass upon 
 public attention by entering late; and when such entrance 
 is unavoidable, use the utmost care to make it unobservant 
 and unobtrusive. Never leave but upon the most impera- 
 tive reasons, until the proper dismissal of the audience. 
 
 At a musical entertainment, to converse or otherwise 
 distract attention during the music, would be rudeness. 
 
 Eighth. In the Street, 
 
 Let your deportment be quiet and unostentatious, your 
 conversation in a subdued undertone. Loud talking or 
 violent gesticulation in the street is incompatible with 
 delicacy and refinement. Do not gaze at oddity of dress 
 or peculiarity of persons. Learn to look without staring. 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 79 
 
 Ninth. Behavior in Society. 
 
 First. In the Parlor. 
 
 1. The very nature of a formal gathering or party pre- 
 cludes all idea of special association. Conversation and 
 attention should be distributed among all alike. There 
 should be no separate groupings, no cliques, no favoritism. 
 It should be the care of each to see that no one is neglected 
 or left alone. 
 
 2. It is a misapprehension that we are at liberty on 
 such an occasion to speak only to those to whom we have 
 been introduced. The invitation is, of itself, a sufficient 
 introduction to every one present; and each one is expected, 
 without further formality, to enter at once into conversation 
 with those about him. 
 
 3. Be ready to contribute your share to the general 
 enjoyment, without repeated or urgent solicitation, whether 
 it be to sing, to play upon an instrument, or to take part in 
 some game or amusement. 
 
 4. Consider it a part of your duty to make the occa- 
 sion agreeable and pleasant to all. You should go not so 
 much to be gratified yourself as to contribute to the grati- 
 fication of others. Society is for the pleasure of all, not 
 the few. 
 
 5. Whisperings and private communications are re- 
 garded as offences against decorum. There are also many 
 little disagreeable habits, against which we cannot too 
 sedulously guard: such as putting the hands into the 
 pockets; drumming with the hands or feet; whistling; 
 standinor with the back to the fire, or with the hands be- 
 hind the back under the coat; scratching the head; paring 
 or cleaning nails; picking the nose or ears; blowing the 
 
80 
 
 HOW TO WIN 
 
 nose; spitting; yawning and many others of similar nature, 
 which will suggest themselves to the thoughtful. 
 
 Tenth. At Table. 
 
 The first requisite at a table is neatness of person and 
 apparel, and delicacy of intercourse. 
 
 2. Polite attention to those near you, to assist them to 
 whatever they may desire, and to see that they are not left 
 uncared for. Nothing is more awkward than to sit beside 
 one who is so intent upon his own gratification as to be 
 regardless of the wants of others. 
 
 3. Let the conversation be light, cheerful and abundant. 
 Avoid all unpleasant and disagreeable topics, and all 
 upon which there may be much diversity of opinion. 
 The heat of discussion and argument are not suited to the 
 occasion. 
 
 4. Use the knife for cutting only, never carrying it to 
 the mouth under any circumstances. Never use the tooth- 
 pick at table, unless something should become painfully 
 lodged in a tooth, and then with the utmost unobtrusive- 
 ness, and with the mouth covered. 
 
 5. Never insist upon a person being helped to more, 
 nor to certain dishes; nor make any observations upon their 
 preferences, nor that they have eaten little or much. Be ob- 
 servant that all are abundantly supplied, and then leave them 
 free to the exercise of their own choice and taste, without 
 comment or allusion. 
 
 6. Many little irregularities, which elsewhere would be 
 of trivial importance, become at table unpleasant or dis- 
 agreeable. Use, therefore, the greatest care that your man- 
 ners and habits be pleasing and acceptable. Carelessness 
 and want of propriety at the table are unpardonable. Scru- 
 pulously avoid, every ill-seeming habit, — such as eating 
 
Hope and Despair. 
 

 Of TOE 
 UMWEESiTY CF 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 81 
 
 with rapidity; stuffing the mouth; talking with the mouth 
 full; sipping tea or soup with a guzzling noise; chewing 
 with the mouth open; crunching, gulping, picking the 
 teeth with the fork or fingers; wiping the mouth with the 
 hand, and the like. 
 
 Behavior in the Home Circle. 
 
 1 Each individual has an intelligent and physical con- 
 stitution peculiar to himself. His disposition is not wholly 
 like that of any other person and sometimes quite unlike. 
 Hence the tastes, the pleasures and the modes of play or 
 thought of each one will differ more or less from those of all 
 others; but so far as these peculiarities do not interfere with 
 the enjoyment of others, they should be left without inter- 
 ference. Each one should be left free to amuse and enjoy 
 himself in his own way and at his own will. Elder brothers 
 and sisters may advise, but should never attempt to control 
 or dictate in amusements or harmless play. 
 
 2 Be ready to enter into any sport or amusement that 
 the others may desire, even if you do not particularly care 
 for it yourself. Never permit a pleasure to be declined for 
 want of assistance, if it lies in your power to afford it. 
 
 3 Do not be inquisitive. Never be prying into one 
 another s business. There are some persons who are never 
 content if there is anything, however unimportant, going on 
 till they know all about it and who sometimes take very 
 questionable ways of finding out. Remember, that an in- 
 quisitive person is always feared and always unwelcome. 
 
 4 Be no news-carrier; a busybody is always distrusted. 
 Never permit anyone to fill your mind with news about 
 other people. Such a person will soon fill other people’s 
 
82 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 minds with news about yourself. There is a homely, but 
 truthful maxim, ‘‘the dog that brings a bone will take a bone.” 
 
 5 Guard against fault-finding and censoriousness. Every- 
 one, even the mature and wise, make mistakes sometimes — 
 the young very frequently; but it is an ill-disposition that 
 is ever ready to say, “Didn’t you know any better than that!” 
 ‘‘You have been very foolish,” The young are peculiarly 
 sensitive to blame and we should discriminate with the 
 greatest care between malicious acts and inadvertent actSj 
 and while we may blame the one, the other is to be coun- 
 selled in kindness. 
 
 6 One of the greatest lessons of all is forgiveness. We 
 all sometimes do wrong towards our fellows and companions, 
 yet in our better moments we would gladly' repair the wrong 
 and have it forgotten. In this spirit should we forget and 
 forgive. Never treasure up any of those little trespasses 
 which youth is so liable to commit and which after all, spring 
 more from inexperience than evil intent. 
 
 ‘‘To err is human — to forgiye, divine,*’ 
 
 7 Finally, be kind, open-hearted and generous, with a 
 friendly word and a helping hand for everyone. Kindness 
 costs little and gains much. Be helpful to the aged, respect- 
 ful to those in the prime of life, companionable to the young 
 and useful to all. And if at any time your life should seem 
 monotonous or aimless, and without promise of usefulness, 
 forget not the words of the Great Master, “Whosoever shaU 
 give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold 
 water only, in the name of a disciple, shall in no wise lose 
 his reward.” 
 
 MODESTY is a wonderful virtue in the young, but it 
 has no affinity (although many people assert the contrary) 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 83 
 
 with bashfulness which is a disease. The effects of this 
 disease or wretched embarrassment are of more importance 
 than nine hundred and ninety-nine readers out of a thou- 
 sand imagine. Bashfulness assumes many varieties of form. 
 In the young man, it shows itself in a distaste for society, or 
 rather in a fear to mix socially with his fellow-beings, lest 
 he should make some unfortunate blunder; in a perpetual 
 awe of the female sex, which often prevents him from form- 
 ing a matrimonial alliance where his chances may be good 
 and his heart most deeply engaged; in a nervous dread of 
 speaking in public, which has kept in the dark many a good 
 natural orator and driven from the law courts innumerable 
 men, who might have become good forensic speakers, and as 
 such reaped fame and fortune. 
 
 The failure to profit by the advantage of a good commer- 
 cial connection, which by force of character and self-confi- 
 dence is always to be had, is also too often the result of the 
 same affliction. Hence it is that many a man drudges his 
 life out as a clerk, salesman or bookkeeper, who by proper 
 culture and the practice of ordinary confidence might in due 
 time have become a partner or principal in some large estab- 
 lishment. Even supposing that none of these very serious 
 consequences were the result of the disease mentioned, the 
 mere annoyance of feeling himself awkward and gawkish, 
 in the presence of those who ought to be his familiar asso- 
 ciates and abject and afraid in the presence of those whom 
 chance may have placed above him in the ordinary pursuits 
 of life, is enough to produce positive and permanent un- 
 happiness. 
 
 The effects of bashfulness in ladies are of the same 
 general character as those produced by bashfulness in men. 
 At an evening party, for instance, where a bashful young 
 man and a bashful young lady find themselves tete-a-tete, 
 
84 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 what a deplorable floundering and fluttering they make in 
 their agonized attempt to appear at ease in each other’s com- 
 pany! Although they may be well educated and have abund- 
 ance of wisdom and gaiety stowed away in the recesses of 
 their natures, their tongues cleave to the roof of their mouths 
 and they are, in the eyes of the lookers-on a pair of tortured 
 simpletons. 
 
 It is not hard to give a definition of the term Bashfulness. 
 It is a lack of Personal Magnetism. The greater this force 
 or power, the more attractive and fascinating the manners, 
 and the more brilliant and prosperous the life and progress 
 of the possessor. The world affords examples enough, dead 
 and living, to show that men and women who possess elec- 
 trical power to a great degree, are leaders of their fellow- 
 beings and according to the degree in which they possess it, 
 exercise influence over everybody with whom they come in 
 contact, no matter what may be their purpose. This is the 
 grand secret of fascination. 
 
 I have often felt pained to witness in society the prevalent 
 inability on the part of its constituents to look into the face 
 of one another during conversation. This weakness exists 
 even among neighbors, friends, relations and members of 
 Christian churches. Some writers would have us believe all 
 persons subject to it to be dishonest, deceitful and untrust- 
 worthy, but from long and watchful experience I am con- 
 vinced that this is not the case. 
 
 I am acquainted with good, kind-hearted, Christian men 
 and women, who once had this failing in a great measure, 
 but acting on the advice I gave them have entirely conquered 
 their weakness, and now, instead of shunning society and 
 conversation as being irksome and vexatious, they court 
 both for the pleasure and profit they yield. Now in order to 
 secure the object in view, the person affected with the afore- 
 
OK, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 86 
 
 mentioned disease must not only firmly resolve in his own 
 mind to conquer this infirmity, but also give strict attention 
 to the securing of vigorous bodily health and the accumu- 
 lation of Personal Magnetism. 
 
 Many remarkable phenomena may be, and daily are, pro- 
 duced on persons in the ordinary conscious, or walking state, 
 by the usual magnetic processes, with or without contact 
 or passes, when not pushed so far as to cause magnetic sleep 
 or when the operator wills that the sleep shall not be. 
 
 These phenomena are chiefly such as exhibit the control 
 acquired by the magnetizer over his subject s movements 
 and sensations. 
 
 The adherence for a few months to the simple rules I lay 
 down, will most certainly insure success and will also so 
 thoroughly improve the health and looks of those who follow 
 them, as to cause astonishment both to the individuals them- 
 selves and their friends around them. The vitality of the 
 nervous system will become stronger, the spirits brighter and 
 the countenance animated with health and cheerfulness. 
 Those who are young will retain to a late period in their life, 
 youth, beauty and happy spirits, and the already aged in ap- 
 pearance, in a great measure regain these desirable gifts 
 without the aid of artificial means. 
 
 A person may be highly gifted and well educated, yet if 
 destitute of the art of pleasing, all other accomplishments 
 will be of little account. A winning manner is not so easily 
 described as felt; it is the compound result of different 
 things, not a severality of manners, but of Personal Mag- 
 netism, which everyone should study, as success in life de- 
 pends much upon it. 
 
CHAPTER VI, 
 
 CHARACTER INFLUENCED BY FOOD. 
 
 FLESH EaTING A SIN. 
 
 “Prove all thinga and hold fast that which is good.** 
 
 I N making a general survey of the animal kingdom we 
 find that the carnivorous or flesh-eating, are always 
 ^ savage, spasmodic in their energies, with little capacity 
 for persistent or continuous labor, as notice the lion, tiger 
 bear, wolf, etc. 
 
 On the other hand, the herbivorous animal is compara- 
 tively mild, has large capacity for continuous regulated labor, 
 instance the ox, camel, elephant, horse and reindeer. 
 
 The change wrought in the different species of bears by 
 substituting one kind of food for another well illustrates our 
 subject, “The strength and ferocity of the different species 
 and of the different individuals of the same species seem to 
 depend largely on the nature of their diet, those restricted to 
 vegetable food showing an approach to that mildness of dis- 
 position, characteristic of herbivorous animals.” 
 
 The Grizzly of the Rocky Mountains and the White Polar 
 bear subsist almost wholly on animal food and are corres- 
 pondingly ferocious while some of the black and brown, liv- 
 ing chiefly on vegetable food are correspondingly mild. 
 
 86 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 87 
 
 Our North American Indian furnishes us as good an ex- 
 ample of a flesh eating race as any of which history gives 
 an account. Find him where his food is flesh, fish and game 
 and he exhibits the savage, war-like nature of the carnivor- 
 ous lower animals; like them is good for a dash on his ene- 
 mies or game, but has little or no industrial capacity, manual 
 or mental. 
 
 Turning now to the ancient history of the eastern conti- 
 nents, we find the desert portions of northern Africa and 
 Arabia occupied by migrating tribes living mostly on the 
 products of their flocks and herds and they have remained 
 half civilized and unstable in character. Later, having con- 
 quered and inhabited the fertile valley of the Nile, the natu- 
 ral food having become, in consequence, almost exclusively 
 vegetable, chiefly dates and a species of millet, they attained 
 perhaps the highest degree of culture of any ancient nation 
 and exhibited marked similarity in characteristics to the 
 ancient Mexicans and Peruvians. 
 
 In reviewing the foregoing, we have found that nearly all 
 the civilizations had their origin under very similar condi- 
 tions and have shown a marked likeness to each other, 
 whether on the banks of the Nile or Ganges, Euphrates or 
 Tigris, or the table lands of Mexico or Peru, while kindred 
 tribes occupying neighboring regions not so favorably situa- 
 ted for agricultural pursuits and subsisting chiefly on the 
 more easily procured animal food, have always remained semi- 
 civilized or barbarous, deficient in physical vitality, self- 
 control and energy except when, like the carnivorous ani- 
 mals, they are in pursuit of their prey. They have also a 
 morbid thirst for artificial stimulants and ever fall an easy 
 victim to the effects of firewater, nicotine, etc,, as well as to 
 small-pox and other diseases. 
 
88 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 Having made a general survey of the races of man and of 
 the lower animals we have found that, given similar food, a 
 striking similarity in character has resulted. 
 
 On investigation it may be found that there is a relation 
 between the butcher shop and the liquor saloon; that a meat 
 diet creates a tendency or appetite for alcohol. It is said 
 that seamen who live largely on salt meat are more prone 
 than most classes, to drunkenness. 
 
 We have been told that in the colder latitudes a more 
 highly carbonized or heat producing food is required to sus- 
 tain proper vitality, and we are often assured that alcoholic 
 liquors are needed for somewhat the same purpose. 
 
 The fallacy of the latter assumption is easily seen. Ex- 
 perience has amply demonstrated that those using such stim- 
 ulants are less able to bear an unusual demand in strength 
 or nerve than those abstaining. 
 
 The Scotch peasant on his oatmeal diet is not less well 
 nourished than the Eskimo with his highly carbonized lux- 
 uries It will be hard to find better specimens of manhood, 
 either mentally or physically, than are to be found among the 
 Scotch peasantry. 
 
 As there is a direct and vital sympathy between the stomach 
 and the brain it is not surprising that our food should have 
 a controlling part in the forming of our character. We know 
 that excessive use of alcohol brutalizes us and obscures our 
 moral perceptions, that the dyspeptic is irritable, nervous 
 and melancholy. 
 
 It was on January i, 1892, I eschewed the chewing of 
 meat. I can assign no special reason which prompted me 
 to the act. It surely was not with the intent to diet for any 
 special malady. Neither was it because I had moral or 
 religious scruples against flesh eating. Nor was it because 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OE SUCCESS 
 
 89 
 
 I had been educated to believe any form of animal life 
 other than that of man was in any sense sacred. On the 
 contrary, I had been taught and it was so practiced by my 
 father, that any animal which man desired to slay and eat, 
 had been created for just such purpose. 
 
 Many of my boyhood days have been spent with gun, 
 trap or net to kill for sport, as well as for food and profit. 
 Upon the farm I was often called to kill the fattened ox and 
 cow, which had been faithful in work or generous in milk, or 
 to blot life out of the innocent lamb with the cruel ax. Oft 
 has my hand been dyed by the hot gush from the “great 
 American hog'’ as it followed the murderous knife when 
 withdrawn from the fatal thrust. 
 
 Oft have I laughed to see the blindly frantic leaps of the 
 beheaded fowl which had suffered decapitation at the wood- 
 pile guillotine, or by the more shameful and heartless pro- 
 cess of having its neck wrung. 
 
 By mere chance, or as I may now call it good luck, a 
 copy of the “Laws of Life” and “Food, Home and Garden,” 
 two periodicals published in the interest of vegetarianism, 
 fell into my hands and after perusing their common sense 
 argument in favor of a vegetable diet, I determined to give 
 it a trial; the experiment was a surprise and I can assure 
 anyone that after a three month’s trial they would not return 
 to meat eating for the world, in fact they cannot, the butcher 
 shop and meat platter are positively nauseating. 
 
 It was, perhaps, more of a desire to experiment upon 
 myself than anything else which led me to discontinue meat 
 eating and the special line upon which I desired to 
 experiment was to know what effect such abstaining would 
 have upon my regard for the sacredness of life in general 
 and to ascertain to what degree, if any, such sacredness 
 
90 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 would grow by a practical method of procedure. This, with 
 the further suspicion that I would be improved physically, 
 as well as morally, decided me on the first day of January 
 1892, to discontinue flesh eating. 
 
 No date was fixed as to extent of time or any promise 
 made self that I would go without even a month if I desired 
 to resume. With this slight swearing off, I refused the of- 
 fered steak of New Year’s morning and furthermore I said to 
 wife: “You will please do whatever ordering of meat is done 
 
 from this date, I will be quit of it.” What a blessedness I 
 entered into before one month had passed! I was rid of 
 answering: “What kind of meat shall we have.^” I would 
 
 go by the markets and look in at the criminality of the meat 
 eating world and my inmost soul would rejoice that I could 
 say: “I am clean of this blood guiltiness.” 
 
 I soon began to notice meals were quite frequent without 
 meat. Scarcely any pork came upon the table. The Sun- 
 day dinner did not always demand the use of carving tools. 
 The baked chicken, turkey or rib began to be conspicuously 
 absent and mind you, not because there had been a single 
 command against using any amount of anykind of flesh or 
 fowl. What else.^ I was soon conscious that more had been 
 wrought within me than the joy of guiltlessness. There was 
 a restoration of physical functions to perfectly normal con- 
 ditions. A satisfied feeling given to appetite never known 
 before. That peculiar “goneness” so often felt if meals 
 were not had at exact hours, was no more experienced. My 
 weight has increased ten pounds and health is perfect. My 
 health has well paid for the experiment. My good wife too, 
 seeing that I can subsist on grains, fruits and vegetables, is 
 conforming to my habits and for some months now has been 
 a vegetarian, having almost lost all desire for meat, 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 91 
 
 and we are as healthy a couple as one need wish to see, 
 and our children, when we are blessed with them, shall 
 surely be strict vegetarians. What do we eat? Everything: 
 we use butter, milk, eggs and cheese in limited quantities, 
 all we wish, however. Our appetites are better but provision 
 expense is less. 
 
 What else? I feel conciously that my life is on a 
 higher plane. Physically higher: because purer, therefore 
 healthier. Mentally higher: because clearer. Much of my 
 work is writing, and I experience ability to hold thought 
 better in control with less brain fatigue. Morally higher: 
 I am guiltless of death. Life in its entirety has a sacredness 
 never before thought of. I cannot conceive why, if I had 
 been so educated, I should not enjoy a nicely roasted 
 missionary as well as that of a turkey, ox or hog. The 
 taste is said to be far superior. Of course I should want 
 the missionary healthy, the same as I should the ox, hog or 
 turkey to be. 
 
 I find the horribleness of the slaughtering of animals for 
 food growing upon me daily. It has become so intense, 
 there is not much danger of my ever going back to the 
 “flesh pots,” filled with the boiling and stewing bits of some 
 chopped up corpse of cow, sheep or hog or the embalmed 
 body of mother goose or daughter duck or Sir Gobbler, 
 dripping with the death damp of their own carcasses as they 
 come from the smoking oven. 
 
 With this horribleness of the destruction of life, for the 
 maintenance of life, comes a more vivid sense of the 
 fiendishness of the taking of life to placate the giver of all 
 life; the fountain of life; the only life, for all life must of 
 necessity be of one common source. 
 
92 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 My observations lead me to conclude that meat eating is 
 the cause directly and indirectly of three-fourths of all 
 diseases and sickness. That it is provocative of a desire for 
 stimulants and narcotics. That it nurtures in man vindic- 
 tive, combative, destructive and lustful dispositions. That 
 it is the greatest hinderance to purity of life, mental 
 progress and spiritual development of any known cause. 
 
 Among aquaintances and friends I find that none who 
 are absolutely Vegetarians are intemperate. That all who 
 have discontinued flesh eating have been greatly benefitted 
 in health and all express themselves as well satisfied with 
 the change. 
 
 I am not treating the subject of flesh eating or Vege- 
 tarianism from a scientific standpoint, but from personal 
 experience and observation. Theories do not count, how- 
 ever finely formed, that are contrary to the existing facts; 
 and facts favor a vegetable diet in all cases. 
 
 I adopted the vegetarian diet with the daily cold bath, 
 and other hygenic habits, to the great improvement of my 
 health, and with the result that from that day to this I have 
 never had one hour’s illness, nor evor been hindered one 
 day from my ordinary avocations. As a matter of taste the 
 disuse of flesh meat has been no sacrifice, and I have found 
 a diet of bread, fruit, and vegetables, with some use, for 
 convenience, of milk, sufficient, satisfying, heathful, and 
 delicious. This also has been the experience of millions; in 
 fact, of three-fifths of the human race in all ages. 
 
 The reason why people should adopt a vegetarian diet 
 is, that it is the best in every possible way. This is now 
 admitted by the highest medical and scientific authorities- 
 
 Vegetarianism is best for health, being pure and 
 purifying. Fruits purify the blood. Flesh is always liable 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 93 
 
 to be diseased, and at its best has a diseasing tendency. 
 Cattle and pigs fattened for slaughter are liable to tubercle, 
 scrofula, tape-worm, and other parasites, and the diseases of 
 cattle, sheep, pigs, etc., are transmissible. A vegetable 
 diet alleviates and often cures scrofulous, cancerous, and 
 consumptive tendencies. 
 
 From the earliest times the labour of the world has 
 been done by people living on the simplest vegetable food 
 — on rice, maize, rye, wheat, barley, and oats; on bananas, 
 supposed to be the food of primitive man, dates, figs, grapes, 
 oranges, apples, pears, peaches, acorns, walnuts, chestnuts, 
 cocoanuts, etc., etc. Our ancestors lived on acorns, barley, 
 and various berries and fruits. Scotland and Ireland have 
 raised millions of strong men and beautiful women on 
 oatmeal and potatoes. Until recently the agricultural 
 laborers of England seldom tasted flesh. The great 
 populations of India and China are fed almost entirely upon 
 a vegetable diet. So are the hard-working peasantry all 
 over Europe, from Spain and Portugal to Russia and 
 Turkey, where the strongest and hardiest men in the world 
 may be seen living on brown bread and figs or grapes. 
 
 If a vegetarian diet be cheaper, more healthful, better 
 in every way, why not adopt it? Why not, at least, give it 
 a fair trial? Why waste one dollar a head upon a 
 fashionable dinner when every natural requirement can be 
 supplied for a few cents? And why not put an end to the 
 horrible cruelties in the carriage and slaughter of animals, 
 and all the horrors attending the unhealthy and unbeautiful 
 habit of eating the dead bodies of our fellow-creatures — 
 one step removed from the cannibalism of savages? On 
 one side the beauty of an Eden life cheering every sense; 
 
94 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 on the other the pig* stye, the butchery, and all the cruelties 
 and horrors of a carnivorous diet. 
 
 Vegetarianism Explained, — No task more closely 
 concerns the life and health of man, than that of providing 
 for his norishment and that of his family; and it is highly 
 important that we should possess a scientific foundation on 
 which to establish a pure, natural, and health-giving diet. 
 Experience has proved that fully three-fourths of the dis- 
 eases which afflict the human frame owe their origin to 
 improper diet, and many of them would be absolutely im- 
 possible if the consumption of animal food were given up. 
 
 A vegetarian diet, from its cool, bland, and unstimu- 
 lating effect on the animal passions, is favourable to purity 
 of thought, chastity, and a harmonious and peaceful dis- 
 position. It also tends greatly to temperance, and removes 
 all desire or craving for stimulants — either in the form of 
 alcoholic drinks or tobacco. 
 
 There are homes for confirmed drunkards, where the 
 only diet is bread and fruit; and this diet has cured 
 drunkards when every other means has failed. Vegetar- 
 ianism is a strong ally of total abstinence, and no vegetarian 
 has ever been known to be a drunkard. 
 
 The word “vegetarian” does not mean vegetable eater, 
 but is derived from the Latin word “Vegetus,” which 
 means, “vital — vigorous — healthful — wholesome.” 
 
 Bible Beferences , — God said to Adam (Gen. i. 29) 
 “Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed, which 
 is upon the face of the earth, and every tree, in which is the 
 fruit of a tree yielding seed. To you it shall be for meat.” 
 Other Bible references could be given, as Jacob, Ezekiel 
 Daniel, and John the Baptist. In Isaiah (Ixvi. 3) we fin 
 the verse “He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man.” 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 95 
 
 The natural food of man, judging from his structure, 
 appears to consist principally of the fruits, roots, and 
 vegetables. 
 
 Certainly man by nature was never made to be a 
 carnivorous (feeding on flesh) animal, nor is he armed at all 
 for prey, with jagged and pointed teeth — crooked claws 
 sharpened to rend and tear; but with gentle hands to gather 
 fruit and vegetables, and with teeth to chew and eat them. 
 
 The teeth of a man have not the slightest resemblance 
 to those of the carnivorous animals, and whether we con- 
 sider the teeth and jaws, or the digestive organs, the 
 human structure closely resembles that of the frugivorous 
 animals. 
 
 No physiologist would dispute with those who maintain 
 that man ought to live on vegetables alone, or that many 
 might not be as well or better under such a system as any 
 other. 
 
 Vegetarian food is not — as so many imagine — simply 
 potatoes and cabbage, but consists of; first, “Cereals,” as 
 wheat, barley, rye, oatmeal, maize, rice, sago, tapioca, 
 semolina, macaroni, hominy, etc. 
 
 Fruits, both ripe and dry, as apples, oranges, tomatoes, 
 figs, dates, currants and raisins, etc. There are some 
 hundreds of dilferent kinds of fruit alone. 
 
 “Pulse,” as lentils, haricot beans and peas. 
 
 I might just say in passing, that “pulse” foods should 
 be eaten in moderation, and only about twice a week, as 
 they are so highly nitrogenous. 
 
 Vegetables of all kinds. 
 
 Nuts of all kinds. Vegetable oils, as olive, cotton- 
 seed, etc. 
 
96 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 The above are used with bread, pudding, porridge, 
 soups, salads, fruits — raw and cooked, in fact, an endless 
 variety of dishes may be had. It is a fallacy to suppose that 
 a vegetarian diet is larger in bulk than a mixed, or meat, 
 diet. The foods that are prohibited are fish, flesh, and 
 fowl. 
 
 The theory that fish is valuable brain food is absurd, 
 and has long since been exploded. Apropos of this, Mark 
 Twain replied to a young would-be author as follows: 
 ‘‘Yes, Agassiz does recommend fish as brain food, so far 
 you are correct. But I cannot help you to a decision about 
 the amount you need to eat — at least with certainty. If 
 the specimen of your composition you send is about your 
 usual average, I should judge that about a couple of 
 whales would be all you want for the present; not the 
 largest kind, but simply good, middling-sized whales.” 
 
 Vegetarians depend very largely upon wholemeal 
 bread; in fact, large numbers of the more advanced vege- 
 tarians eat nothing but wholemeal bread and ripe raw fruit. 
 
 In fact, hard-working men can, and do, live to an 
 advanced age, and enjoy good health, on no other food than 
 wholemeal bread and water. In the entire grain of wheat 
 an All-wise Creator has given us every constituent required 
 for the sustenance of man. 
 
 Many people think that because it is fashionable to eat 
 the whitest bread, therefore the whitest bread is the best 
 for food. There cannot be a greater delusion. White 
 bread contains chiefly the starchy part of the flour; it 
 contains very little of the gluten, which is the flesh making 
 part of flour, and it contains next to none of the mineral 
 substance which is the bone making portion of the wheat. 
 By our present mode of making bread we are recklessly 
 

 
 Love in the Fields. 
 

 LiRP4f?Y 
 Of THE 
 
 UHiVERSiTy Qf ;J.!M0!S 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 97 
 
 wasting one half, and that the most nutritious half, of the 
 wheat, in order to secure delicacy of texture and whiteness 
 of colour. The larger portions of the nutritive salts, and 
 the phosphates or bone forming elements are lost. 
 
 Brown bread — so called — is not wholemeal bread, but 
 simply white bread mixed with bran. 
 
 Wholemeal bread is that where the entire grain of 
 wheat is ground and used. 
 
 Baron Leibig says, ‘‘A dog fed on white bread alone 
 will die in 40 days, while his health will not suffer if his 
 food consists of wholemeal bread. In taste and digestion 
 it is preferable, and children like it exceedingly. Whole- 
 meal bread contains 60 per cent, more phosphates and salts 
 than meat, and 200 per cent, more than white bread.” 
 
 White bread is not the ‘‘staff of life,” but merely a 
 broken stick. 
 
 The economy of nature testifies that flesh is an 
 exceedingly wasteful f(^od. For it has been calculated that 
 the annual produce of acres of land will — in the form of 
 mutton — sustain one man. The same under wheat would 
 support 16 men. Corn growing gives employ to three men 
 where meat growing only employs one. One acre of good 
 turf will grow 180 lbs. of meat, and same land would grow 
 in same time, 1,800 lbs. of wheat. 
 
 A vegetarian diet is far more healthful than a mixed 
 diet. I could quote many cases of recovery from severe 
 complaints did time permit. Vegetarians are free frona 
 cholera, and there is no evidence of even a single case of 
 cholera, though it has entered families where part were 
 vegetarians and it had not seized them, whilst flesh eaters 
 in same family were seized. 
 
98 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 Rheumatism, gout, dyspepsia, constipation, liver and 
 kidney complaints, nervous disorders, blood, skin, and 
 other diseases may be prevented and cured by the diet 
 alone, and without the use of drugs in any form. “Whoso 
 is sparing in diet doctors himself.” 
 
 The Turks astonished our doctors by their rapid 
 recovery from severe wounds during the Russio-Turkish 
 war. Their diet was frugivorous. It is significant that no 
 drugs or patent medicines are advertised in vegetarian 
 journals. 
 
 The highest sentiments of humane men and compassion- 
 ate women, revolt at the cruelty, the degrading sights, the 
 distressing cries, and the perpetual bloodshed which 
 inevitably surround the rearing, transit, and slaughter of 
 animals. I can only touch on the question of diseased 
 meat and sausages* The number of convictions for selling 
 meat unfit for food will speak for themselves. How many 
 such cases escape detection? 
 
 One of the Chicago Meat Inspectors declares that 
 eight but of every ten carcases that go into the market are 
 tainted with disease. I could give other starting facts did 
 time permit. 
 
 Then again, some men say “It may suit you but it 
 would not suit me.” It is a fact that some men can stand 
 more than others as regards improper diet, dissipation, 
 hard work, worry, and irregular hours. But when it comes 
 to a question of good, pure, natural and healthy food, we 
 do not differ. As well say that any given poison will kill 
 nine men out of ten, but the tenth — by reason of a different 
 constitution — escapes death. No, the poison kills all; and 
 with a fair trial the vegetarian diet will suit all. 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 99 
 
 Then some say “I have tried the diet and it did not agree 
 with me/' On enquiring into such cases I invariably found 
 that the failure was due to ignorance of the subject and an 
 unfair trial. On going into one such case, I found the 
 speaker had based his trial and rejection of the diet on one 
 meal only and this is only a typical case. 
 
 In closing, I may say that the chief difficulty in the way 
 of the general adoption of what is admitted to be the purest 
 and best food for mankind, is the prejudice of the rich and 
 the want of knowledge of the poor. The ladies, too, are 
 most against it; because they are more conservative — except 
 in fashions — than men. Let me recommend you all to give 
 the diet a fair trial. Of course, at first it is difficult to give 
 up meat, but then the drunkard cannot easily give up his 
 acquired taste for drink. The first taste is also a point, but 
 let me remind you of the first taste of beer, spirits, claret, 
 tomataes and the first smoke. Advance and others will 
 follow. 
 
 Persvere, and your taste will become so pure that you will 
 enjoy your food as you never enjoyed it before. 
 
 The best and surest way to elevate man is to bring his 
 spiritual nature into full operation and while the body is in 
 ill-health and filled with corruption, who could expect a full 
 and healthy growth in grace; it would be interesting indeed 
 to know how many cross and unbe arable husbands and wives 
 were made so by the direct effect of the meat which is part 
 .of their daily diet. Meat acts like a stimulant and its effect 
 when eaten habitually, is to develop unlovely quali- 
 ties of the human character; much of that nature which 
 theology says was inherited because of the fall of Adam, 
 would disappear with the putting away of the tea, coffee» 
 tobacco and all food which requires the sacrifice of life. 
 
100 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 Loving kindness and tender mercy are natural to man 
 when his blood is furnished by natural and healthful 
 foods, which grow around him in such abundance, that he 
 never has the plea of necessity to clear him of the guilt of 
 shedding innocent blood. 
 
 A great cry has arisen that the human race is increasing 
 faster than the means of subsistence, that there is danger of 
 a land famine. Even if this were true, it has been proved 
 by experiment that one acre planted in fruit, vegetables and 
 cereals, will support as many human beings as six acres de- 
 voted to the support of animals for slaughter. It is plain 
 that should everyone become convinced that a vegetarian 
 diet is the proper one, that the vast tract of lands now used 
 for pasture would be mostly devoted to vegetable gardening 
 and the land thus thrown open to cultivation, would support 
 many times the present population of the earth. 
 
 There is a psychological influence possessed by every sub- 
 stance which enters into the composition of the blood, and 
 even when an animal is in perfect health when it is killed, it 
 is mostly terrorized by fear and the smell of blood, and that 
 condition of fear and terror is imparted to those who eat of 
 the carcass; that this cause alone will account for many ail- 
 ments there is no doubt, and when to this is added the meat 
 consumed that is actually diseased, we can conceive of the 
 power of a meat diet to induce diseased conditions in men. 
 These conditions lead to an ignorant use of drugs to coun- 
 teract them and thus flesh eating plays an important part in 
 making the human race sick and in keeping it in that 
 condition. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PERSONAL MAGNETISM. 
 
 “ The Silent Influence of a Magnetic person is irresistible 
 
 f HE term Personal Magnetism has been applied to a subtle 
 force existing in man, which, it was discovered during 
 the last century, was capable of producing upon others, 
 effects similar to those produced by the magnet, hence the 
 name; Personal Magnetism. 
 
 Although much has been said and written upon the subject, 
 and it is generally admitted that such a power resides in man, 
 yet there are not wanting those who, while laying clam to intelli- 
 gen«;e and learning, deny in toto the existence of an\^ such force. 
 
 Not only are the deniers of Personal Magnetism to be found 
 among the people (as distinguished from the schools of Science 
 and Medicine), but among scientists as well ; and by far too fre- 
 quently in the ranks of the medical profession, to whom of all 
 others the subject most strongly commends itself. This is not as 
 it should be, for medical science has not yet attained such a degree 
 of perfection as to render unnecessary the investigation of still 
 further means of cure; far from it: and it is a duty the medical 
 profession owes, not only to itself, but to those whose health and 
 whose lives are confided to its care, that every means which 
 promises to contribute to the greater efficiency of our present 
 therapeia, should be carefully and diligently investigated and if 
 proved worthy, should be accorded its rightful place. 
 
 Why the prejudices of the medical profession should for 
 101 
 
102 
 
 HOW TO WIN 
 
 so long a time, have deprived it of the aid of this most valti- 
 able agent in the cure of disease, is a question most difficult 
 to answer; yet such is a fact, and it redounds little to the credit 
 of the profession, that, to this day, so far as it is concerned, 
 the subject remains almost uiiinvestigated. Nay, more; when 
 the subject is broached, or the physician is consulted by 
 some friend as to the advisability of employing this means, it 
 is generally dismissed with a sneer and the usual epithets of 
 humbug, delusion, and imagination. This manner of dealing 
 with a subject of such vast importance to the sick certainly is 
 not scientific. It is not rational. Is it thus we receive the 
 discovery of a new drug, or some new method of operation in 
 surgery? Not by any means. The drug immediately goes 
 through the proving process, and the surgeon anxiously 
 awaits the opportunity to test the efficacy of the new method; 
 but this force, which is potent where drugs fail and which 
 promises in many cases to dispense with the necessity of sur- 
 gical operation, is neglected and ridiculed, when it should be 
 gladly received and cherished. 
 
 There is also another class of deniers, who, while they em- 
 ploy the Magnetic force in the treatment of disease, ascribe 
 the valuable results accruing therefrom entirely to the 
 method of application, namely. Manipulation. They claim 
 that the benefits derived from this therapeutic means are 
 solely due to the mechanical effects of the treatment, and 
 scout the idea of the action of a vital element. While man- 
 ipulation is, of itself, undoubtedly beneficial, yet, by this 
 means alone, Ave cannot account for the very marked effects 
 so often produced by this treatment; and where mechanical 
 force alone is employed as a remedial agent, as in the move- 
 ment cure, Avhere machinery takes the place of the hands, 
 though the action is much more profound and thorough, I 
 have yet to learn that it has accomplished such valuable re- 
 sults as have been obtained by the hands. But aside from all 
 this, there is ample proof to show that to manipulation alone 
 is not due all of the beneficial effects of this treatment. I have 
 myself treated many cases of an inflammatory character, in* 
 eluding acute rheumatism, where ordinary manipulation was 
 at first impossible, owing to extreme sensitiveness; but where 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 m 
 
 by holding the hands lightly over the inflamed part, the sen- 
 sitiveness has been gradually diminished until full manipula- 
 tory action could be carried on with but little or no suffering, 
 and, I am happy to add, in nearly every such case, so far as 
 my memory serves me, the relief has been prompt and per- 
 manent. 
 
 Is there nothing in all this, then, to prove the action of 
 some force independent of mechanical effect? It certainly 
 seems so to me, and I could give many more instances, within 
 my own experience, all tending to demonstrate this fact, and 
 enough evidence of this kind could be obtained from others, 
 if needed, to fill a volume. 
 
 The qualifications of the author for such an inquiry are of 
 the very highest kind. I possess a fair scientific education, 
 combined with extensive experience. My life has been devoted 
 to this science, and its application to the practical purposes of 
 mankind. All my previous researches bear testimony to this, 
 and at the same time prove that I possess some ingenuity and 
 skill in devising and performing experiments; and more impor- 
 tant than all, extreme caution in adopting conclusions; reserve 
 in propounding theories, and concientiousness in reporting 
 observations. I have been found fault with for to great min- 
 uteness of detail, but this fault, if it be a fault, arises from my 
 love of truth and accuracy; a quality which, when applied to 
 such researches as the present, becomes invaluable and cannot 
 easily be pushed to excess, 
 
 We have the most conclusive evidence of the existence in 
 man of the peculiar force called Personal Magnetism, and also 
 that it is conductible and can be imparted. This testimony 
 is all the more valuable, as the facts here stated can be verified 
 at any time by all who chose to investigate the subject. How 
 ridiculous, then, in the face of such testimony as this, are the 
 denials of those who assume to pronounce upon the subject 
 without in the least having qualified themselves so to do. 
 
 As a therapeutic means, this force has every reason to 
 recommend it to the physician. While it in no way interferes 
 with the action of a drug, it is efficient where drugs most con- 
 spicuously fail; and as an auxiliary to surgical and medical 
 treatment, it will, when better understood, fill a need that has 
 
104 
 
 HOW TO WIN 
 
 long been felt. For instance in those cases wliere surgical 
 interference is necessary, and yet where the condition of the 
 patient is such as to render an operation unsafe, there is no 
 other means that w ill so quickly impart vitality, and that will 
 tend so much to insure a successful result as this. And in 
 those adynamic diseases, where the enfeebled system fails to 
 respond to drug action, this force will prove most valuable. 
 
 While the Magnetic force has proved efficacious in both 
 acute and chronic diseases, it is in the cure of the latter that 
 it has achieved its greatest success; especially in the treat- 
 ment of this class of maladies, it is destined to form an impor- 
 tant part of the therapeutics of the future; and in those 
 diseases which have proved the least amenable to ordinary 
 methods of cure, it will be our chief reliance. 
 
 In the treatment of that fearful and mysterious disease, 
 insanity, I believe that this force is yet to play an important 
 part. Although my experience in this direction has been lim- 
 ited, and I cannot speak with that degree of confidence regard- 
 ing its efficiency in this, as in other ills to which flesh is heir, 
 yet the results so far attained seem to warrant its thorough 
 trial in this disease. 
 
 I could cite many cases, showing the value of this force in 
 various diseases; but the limits of this book will not permit. 
 I wall merely state that by this means I have cured many cases 
 of nervous affections and numerous other forms of disease 
 coming under the head of chronic. Many of these cases hav- 
 ing first tried the ordinary method of cure without success. 
 
 The results attained by this force in those diseases incident 
 to women, especially entitle it to the consideration of the 
 profession as an auxiliary treatment in such cases. 
 
 In fact Personal Magnetism is a scientific fact. If it be 
 not a fact, “then do no facts exist in any department of science.” 
 That it has proved itself a most powerful therapeutic means, 
 is also a fact. Such being the case, the duty of the medical 
 profession in regard to this matter is perfectly plain. 
 
 The origin of Personal Magnetism is coeval with the crea- 
 tion of Eve. The extremely subtile and invisible fluid, which 
 when in contact wdth the animal brain, is capable of perform- 
 ing all the phenomena of this wonderful science, had existed 
 
OB SUBE SEOBETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 105 
 
 millions on millions of years anterior to the creation of man, 
 and is probably coeval with creation itself. The sun’s rays 
 must pass through a suitable medium to cause the phenom- 
 enon of light — so this invisible fluid continued unknown, 
 though not inactive, until some of its inherent properties were 
 developed in passing through a suitable medium, which was 
 found to be the complicate and delicate brain of the highest 
 order in the organized forms of creation. 
 
 The most learned among men are but children in embryo, 
 when their researches in science are compared with the vast 
 and unlimited fleld which remains unexplored. Innumerable 
 are the forms imprinted on the brain in the life time of man. 
 Each form was a phenomenon; each in turn became familiar; 
 the whole becomes monotonous, and the imagination, aided by 
 the inventive genius of the brain, seeks among the countless 
 millions of forms in creation for some new phenomena to feed 
 the insatiate vortex of familiar monotony. 
 
 In the eager desire to reach after phenomena, the reason- 
 ing faculties are dormant, and man is capable only of admiring 
 the wonderful effect on his brain without knowing the cause 
 which produced it; when with less eagerness and more reason, 
 man could refer to his brain which ever retains the impression 
 received from innumerable objects, among which may be dis- 
 covered forms sufficiently analagousto reconcile the most won- 
 derful phenomenon to the knowm and familiar laws of nature, 
 continually in opperation around us; so the effects of Personal 
 Magnetism continued to be seen, felt and admired in its various 
 modifications, long before it received a name among the sci- 
 ences of the earth. In my instructions I give the theory which 
 harmonizes and reconciles all the phenomena attending this 
 science, and show the natural causes continually operating to 
 produce it. I likewise, divest it of every supernatural attrib- 
 ute which its votaries and opposers are so zealous in ascribing 
 to it. Enough for the present chapter will show its origin, 
 its rise, and developments, under the various wrongly applied 
 names of charms, sorcery, beguilements, fortune-telling by 
 the Gipsies, and witchcraft of the ancients and moderns. 
 
 The same fluid which now unperceived by the keenest eye, 
 is flowing through all organized matter, supporting life, when 
 
106 
 
 HOW TO WIN 
 
 ina jnst equilibrium, and producing the effects called Pee- 
 sonaij Magnetism, when forced from its natural channel, was 
 in existence from the creation, and commenced its unnatural 
 effects on our race in the garden of Eden. The beguilement 
 by the serpent was merely the effects of this mysterious fluid 
 operating on the brain and nervous system of Eve. The 
 same fluid held Adam in a magnetic sleep when he commit- 
 ted the unholy deed for which, we, his posterity, are doomed 
 to suffer as penance. The snake at all times has used the same 
 fluid in subduing the f&thered tribe. The charm attributed 
 to this reptile, is the self same magnetism which is now the 
 subject of wonder in its effects on the brain of civilized man. 
 The sorcerers of India knew the power of this fluid, and used 
 it for the vilest purposes of deception. Witchcraft in all 
 countries, was a branch of Personal Magnetism; it was the 
 effect of the magnetic fluid, called a “volition of the will, ema- 
 nating from the witch by the animal force of the nerves;” the 
 “bewitched” was the needle obeying the will of the magnet, 
 and exhibiting all the phenomena common to the present sci- 
 ence of Magnetism. The rat catcher’s charm and the soothing 
 power possessed by many of curing scalded and burned flesh, 
 are volitions of the will, and modified branches of this hereto- 
 fore intricate science. 
 
 Personal Magnetism produces the same and more results, 
 and on persons wide awake, while they are perfectly conscious 
 of relations and things. 
 
 It has the vast advantage of producing the same results 
 on one, or a hundred at the sametime! 
 
 Personal Magnetism produces all the phenomena, often 
 without requiring any conditions of the patient; and it is the 
 only theory that can consistently attempt to do so; it produces 
 results, and tells how they are produced, when no conditions 
 whatever are required of the patient! 
 
 Personal Magnetism operates without always requiring 
 any conditions from the attending spectators! Thus multi- 
 tudes have been affected and brought completely under cen- 
 tre*! while there has been any amount of noise, mirth and ex- 
 citement throughout the entire audience. In thousands of 
 instances persons have been controled immediately in their 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 107 
 
 muscular emotions and mental impressions, in public audi- 
 ences, when they were overwhelmed with emotion, and carried 
 almost to phrenzy in their excitement. 
 
 Personal Magnetism operates on the entire audience at 
 one and the same time, a thing never attempted or done by 
 any other theory, old or new. 
 
 From the earliest times recorded in history we observe 
 well authenticated accounts of persons appearing at various 
 times, who seemed to be endowed with supernatural powers of 
 mind or body, which have enabled them to influence their fel- 
 low men in a manner altogether inexplicable, according to any 
 ordinary" laws of nature. 
 
 Among the evidences of this fact we may mention the his- 
 tory of the ancient oracJes, to which the wisest philosophers 
 of antiquity bowed with a reverence that we now consider 
 superstitious; the power of curing diseases by the touch, car- 
 ried to an extent that seems to ordinary comprehension, abso- 
 lutely miraculous; the influence possessed by great orators and 
 certain religious impostors, who have from time to time led 
 thousands of seemingly intelligent followers into the belief of 
 the grossest absurdities that the imagination of man is capable 
 of inventing; instance the recent case and absurd teachings of 
 Teed in Chicago and Swienfurth in Rockford, the latter mak- 
 ing numerous followers believe that he is a second Christ; the 
 effects on health and conduct produced by what has been 
 termed witchcraft, and attributed to the direct agency of the 
 spirit of evil, with many other mysteries of a similar character. 
 
 However we may endeavor to rid ourselves of all belief in 
 these unusual and seemingly unaccountable phenomena, the 
 force, the multitude and the respectability of the evidence 
 compel us reluctantly to admit the truth of these wonderful 
 stories. We cannot refuse to acknowledge the facts, whatever 
 we may think of theories and opinions based upon them. 
 That man possesses some mysterious power over the feelings, 
 thoughts and even the vital operations of his fellow-man — a 
 power that cannot be resisted and may be employed for good 
 purpose at least, if not for evil ones — is a belief that has pre- 
 vailed from the earliest times down to the present day. But 
 it is only since the progress of physiology, electrical and mag 
 
108 
 
 HOW TO WII^ 
 
 netio science, during the last century, that anything like a 
 theory or philosophical explanation of these curious facts has 
 been attempted. When it was found out that the nerves of an 
 animal could be violently excited by a mere contact of ditfer- 
 ent metals, and that a slight spark of electricity, would pro- 
 duce convulsions in the body of a dead animal, it was very 
 natural that all the unaccountable effects produced upon the 
 human system by external agents should be attributed to 
 the subtile and invisible fluid that could thus seemingly 
 awake the dead! The effects of the electric shock on the liv- 
 ing body, were well calculated to cause a belief that the ner- 
 vous system was constantly under the influence of this fluid; 
 and numerous curious experiments were made which tended 
 to convince many philosophers that life itself was but the re- 
 sult of the action of electricity circulating through the nerves, 
 and probably formed in the brain for this express purpose, 
 
 When the identity of electricity and lightning had been 
 proved by Dr. Franklin, when the strange action of metals 
 upon the nerves was traced to the same general cause, and 
 when it was discovered that the wonderful power of the mag- 
 netic needle to point to one fixed spot in the heavens could 
 be given, taken away, or altered by lightning, electricity or 
 galvanism, it is not surprising that those who considered elec- 
 tricity as the vital principle, should give the name of Personal 
 Magnetism to the power by which one individual appeared to 
 be able to draw or attract another. 
 
 Man has the faculty of excercising over his fellow men a 
 salutary influence in directing towards them, by liis will, the 
 vital principle. 
 
 The name of Personal Magnetism has been given to this 
 faculty; it is an extention of thp power which all living beings 
 have, of acting upon those who submitted to their wTll. 
 
 We perceive this faculty only by its results; and we make 
 no use of it, except so far as we will use it. 
 
 It appears from observation that the rules are subject to 
 some exceptions; for there are a few persons so happily consti- 
 tuted, that they have been known to magnetize others without 
 any intention, and even when tli3y had no faith in the science; 
 but these cases very seldom occur. Many of the wonderful 
 
OB SUBE SECBETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 109 
 
 effects of oratory, and certain religious exercises, as well as 
 the personal influence of some physicians in curing the sick 
 by their manner and presence, almost without medicine, are 
 probably owing to a magnetic influence, of which the actors 
 are themselves unconscious. 
 
 There is a wonderful and all sufficient power in nature 
 operating by its own occult law and living energy; as grand as 
 it is mysterious; surpassing the knowledge of untutored intel- 
 lect; as extensive as the illimitable universe. All space is full 
 of this power, and alive with its omnipotent energy; all na- 
 ture is full of its manifestations, and reveals its power and 
 presence in everything — every moment of time. It is heakd 
 in the murmuring breeze, in the howling winds, in the roar- 
 ing ocean, in the quaking earth, and in the pealing thunder; 
 it is SEEN in the shining sun, in the glistening stars, and in 
 the flashing lightning; it is felt in the balmy air, in the min. 
 eral magnet, in the perfuming vegetable, in the electric eel, 
 in the charming serpent, in the magnetic man, and in the fas- 
 cinating woman. 
 
 This wonderful power has been employed to some extent 
 by the learned, and wise, and brave of all ages — by the African 
 vou-doo, the Chaldean astrologer, the Persian magi, the Hin- 
 doo fakir, the Egyptian priest, the Hebrew prophet, and by 
 the wonder-workers of all ages and climes. But it is only in 
 modern times, and but very recently, that this vast and unlim^ 
 ited power has been known and employed successfully. An- 
 cient sag!-s and medieval philosophers strove in vain to solve 
 the problem and find the power. It remained for the present- 
 day scientists, with their better knowledge, clearer light, and 
 higher perception, to break the seal, unlock the door of 
 nature, discover the power, and reveal its method of opera- 
 tion. This now has been done, making a plain science of 
 what v/as an impenetrable mystery and making its processes 
 so plain that any intelligent man or woman can learn to em- 
 ploy its invincible power with wonderful success, excelling the 
 marvels of the past as far as day excels night. 
 
 Both men and women possess this power in an equal de- 
 gree, but moral and intellectual superiority causes different 
 degrees of power. Good health also increases the power, be- 
 
110 
 
 HOW TO WIN 
 
 cause it is a mark of vital energy. When all these advantages 
 In a high degree are combined in one individual, he is often 
 found to possess such magnetic power that sometimes he may 
 be obliged to modify it. The power is very much increased 
 by practice. 
 
 The magnetic influence flows from all parts of the body, 
 and the will may direct it anywhere; but the hands and the 
 eyes are better fitted than other parts to throw off and direct 
 the current directed by the will. 
 
 Magnetism can be conveyed to great distances when per- 
 sons are in peiTect communication. 
 
 There are some individuals who are sensible of magnetic 
 action; and the same individuals are more or less so, according 
 to their temporary dispositions at that moment. 
 
 We have endeavored to raise human magnetism to a fixed 
 science, ascertain its proper laws and conaitions, and take 
 away the dark veil of obscurity that had heretofore enshroud- 
 ed it, and raise it from the dust in which ignorant pretenders 
 had trailed it, and make it a sublime power available for the 
 promotion of human happiness, and that we have succeeded 
 the many wonderful cures that we have made, and happiness 
 promoted, is incontestible evidence. 
 
 The character of our most earnest patrons is a matter of 
 great satisfaction to us; for while it embraces all classes, yet a 
 very large proportion of our warmest friends are from the 
 learned professions and the shrewd business men of the coun- 
 try — men not to be deceived by the visionary (*r unreal — who, 
 having seen wonders wrought in their own lives or among 
 intimate friends are willing to put pen to iDaper, unsolicited, 
 and deliberately assure us that $1,000 or $5,000 would not 
 tempt them to part with this knowledge if it could not be 
 replaced. 
 
 The author of this wonderful method, while producing 
 and perfecting it, by many years of discovery, invention, and 
 experiment, has established beyond successful contradiction 
 the facts following: 
 
 That all disease is but a decrease of vital force. 
 
 That both health and disease depend upon the electrical 
 conditions of the body. 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 That with this method we absolutely control the electrical 
 condition of the body, overcome the process of disease, and 
 restore the patient to health with a rapidity hitherto unknown 
 and we unhesitatingly pronounce that for safety, certainty, 
 and success, ib has no equal as a curative agent. 
 
 It is a dignified, exalted, fascinating study, health giving- 
 in its nature, producing a pleasant current in the stream of 
 life, giving buoyancy to the health, steadiness to the nerves, 
 activity to the brain, cheerfulness to the disposition, manli- 
 ness and womanliness to the character, kindness to the heart, 
 and influence to the entire person. It might be used basely 
 by the lawyer in handling witnesses and juries, by the speaker 
 in misleading audience;^by the lover to win his choice or the 
 lady to conquer her sweet-heart, but for the fact that such 
 debasement is unworthy the honor of the true student of any 
 art, and beneath the dignity of respectable people. 
 
 The great secrets which I propose to unfold, are arranged 
 in parts, each giving certain exercises which develop Magne- 
 tism, at the same time building up the physical man. To study 
 these lessons is to gain a fund of physiological, pathological 
 and therapeutical knowledge that a hundred times the cost of 
 the lessons would not purchase from its owner could it be 
 given back and blotted from his memory. 
 
 New revelations are taught, enabling any one, as it were, 
 to live a new' or double life, and thus enjoy The Gkeatest 
 Bliss Ever Known to mortals here or elsewhere. To under- 
 stand the art is to gain the very throne of perfection itself. 
 
 With these secrets in one’s possession, everything of a 
 mysterious nature wdll disappear as rapidly as the dew van- 
 ishes before the sun, and this Sublime, Beneflcial and Glorious 
 Science will shine forth in magnificent splendor, adding joy 
 and comfort, as well as long life, health, pleasure and happi- 
 ness. Bear in mind that the science, or art, is here divested 
 of mystery, and made so simple that any one can readily un- 
 derstand, become familiar with, and successfully practice it. 
 
 Some may call me at first an enthusiast, or may think I am 
 afflicted with a species of monomania on the subject. If so, 
 there is some “ method in my madness.” I have a double 
 interest at stake — yours and mine. I devote my time and 
 
112 
 
 HOW TO WIN 
 
 attention wholly to the subject, and seek a reasonable remun. 
 eration for my services. I endeavor to give true value for 
 money paid me — it cannot be expected that all my labor and 
 expenditure is gratuitous. 
 
 You are dealing with one who is not ashamed of his pro- 
 fession, but is proud of being a teacher of this wonderful 
 science. 
 
 This wonderful art which has cost me more than fifteen 
 years of the most careful study and experimentation, is furn- 
 ished with the understanding that outsiders are not entitled 
 to the benefits of its revelations unless they shall procure the 
 same direct from me. 
 
 In divulging these Secrets we are obliged to require a 
 “Pledge of Honor” from those purchasing them, not to show 
 or reveal their contents in any way. This is for our own pro- 
 tection, and is the only means by which our just rights in the 
 discoveries can be maintained. 
 
 This New System should be studied particularly by those 
 whose lives have been failures. Those who acquire Personal 
 Magnetism are “masters of the situation.” Anyone can learn 
 this Wonderful art, and will find in it the secret of success in 
 all matters relating to matrimony, business, social and profes- 
 sional life. 
 
 As there are no two persons exactly alike in the world, 
 there must necessarily be special instructions suited to the 
 condition, temperament, age and heal th of each person, w^hich 
 guarantees to all a successful accomplishment of this work. 
 
 All I need to know to fully understand your case, is to 
 receive answers to certain questions which will be asked you 
 at the proper time; this makes our plan especially valuable, as 
 it deals privately with you. 
 
 Parties interested in the matter should write the author 
 for further particulars. 
 
Declaration of Love, 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 * DIFFERFNT KINDS OF MAGNETISM. 
 
 ‘‘ HE time has come when man’s intellectual powers 
 
 have attained that degree of unfoldment, wherein it is 
 possible, in a measure at least, to consider the orign, the 
 action and the development of human life, dispass.on* 
 ately, without fear of offending those peculiar prejudices, 
 evolved through theological training, that have done so 
 much toward coloring man’s understanding of God, of 
 nature and himself.” 
 
 It must be understood, that all living bodies are sur- 
 rounded by magnetic emanations which, in turn, attract 
 to themselves, or repel, other magnetic spheres with 
 which they are brought in contact; this magnetism being 
 the direct outcome of the animal soul, and bearing no 
 direct relationship to the human spirit, whatever. These 
 spheres are responsive to each other, forming what is 
 called a magnetic attraction, which, until it be under the 
 guidance of a superior itelligence, usually results in dis- 
 aster and misfortune. These attractions are only pleas- 
 ureable while they are unsatisfied ; but, the moment 
 
 *Selected from ^‘Mail’s Spiritual Possibilities” by Dr. J. W. 
 Fletcher; price $1.50. 
 
 113 
 
114 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 “All are parts of one stupenduous whole, 
 
 Whose body nature is, and God the soul.“ 
 
 that one finds a complement in the other, then, such an 
 one is filled to satiety with the element he craved, and, 
 at once, seeks another sphere. Therefore, there will be 
 a continuous changing of relationships of this kind, 
 which, while they are evanescent and fickle in their na- 
 ture, and often leave the individual open to a charge of 
 this kind, are, in no sense, an evidence of the interior 
 life. 
 
 The laws of magnetic attraction and repulsion are ripe 
 for the deepest discussion, analysis and consideration, 
 since, upon them, so much depends relating to human 
 happiness and development. Opposites attract each 
 other; that is to say, a quality most lacking in a person 
 will impress itself, most, when possessed by another. A 
 coarse nature readily reaches out toward a more refined 
 one; and, not infrequently, we find that the more refined 
 seeks that which is beneath it. Not, however, in the 
 first instance; but, the moment it has become responsive 
 to the strong and permeating sway of a powerful, mag- 
 netic sphere, it is enveloped, therein, to such a degree, 
 as to render thought and consequent judgment an im- 
 possibility. This reaches to the brain centers, which 
 are the seat of physical life, and so narcotizes the vari- 
 ous departments as to result in an incapacity for thought 
 or consistent action. To reason with such an one, drunk 
 with magnetism, is the height of folly; he must live out 
 his own experience, which is usually fraught with endless 
 trouble and sorrow to all concerned. 
 
 The magnetic waves ramify the entire physical sys- 
 tem, and will, in nine cases out of ten, result in its com- 
 plete subjection; or, if by trick of circumstance, the 
 spirit of the individual gains the ascendency, it will 
 produce, ultimately, a complete repulsion by an inver- 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 11 
 
 sion of the same law. In illustration of this, we would 
 call attention to the numberless persons who are, daily 
 seen in the closest relationship with each other, between 
 whom there could not be a single thought in common — 
 thought being incongrous with the situation, and is rarely 
 indulged in, under these circumstances. To be sure, 
 when one is absent from the other, there will be, for the 
 time being, a partial awakening; resolves are made, and 
 a line of action determined upon, which is much to the 
 credit of the individual. Friends, who, by strenuous 
 efforts, have opposed the alliance, will be encouraged 
 by the thought that its end is near, and feel that the ob- 
 ject of their sympathy has, at last, come to his or her 
 senses. But, no sooner is there a possibility of the old 
 relation being resumed, than resolves take to themselves 
 wings, and a worse state than before follows. Absence 
 is said to make the heart grow fonder; but, in reality, 
 if transcribed into a common-sense; understanding of 
 the situation, it means that the surplus magnetism re- 
 ceived during the days or months of association has 
 exhausted itself; and, when reunion takes place, there 
 is a greater demand for the element, which found a re- 
 sponsive return in the nature. 
 
 The only way to kill, counteract or destroy magnetic 
 attractions of the purely physical order, is to dominate 
 them by spiritual development, or, allow them to become 
 surfeited with the very element they, apparently, so 
 earnestly seek. Opposition to those who are thus af- 
 fected, will do little towards changing the result, into 
 whatever department of life it may enter. It will, 
 rather, intensify the situation, as a breeze fans the fire, 
 until it bursts into an uncontrollable blaze, consuming 
 all around it. The on-looker can, from his stand-point. 
 
16 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 see the mistake, and endeavor to counteract its effect; 
 but those, who are being engulfed, never see it — nor do 
 they wish to, blindness to them, for the moment, being 
 preferable. 
 
 It may be supposed that we are speaking, wholly, of 
 the relations existing between men and women; but 
 this law is equally apparent in all of the relations of 
 life; and the most practical-minded business man is 
 quite as susceptible to the influnce of his stronger mag- 
 netic associates, as are the young who are just embark- 
 ing upon the mysterious sea of life. Many a man can 
 trace Lis ruin back to the influence of some fascinating 
 adviser who, completely, swayed his judgment and led 
 him into schemes and business ventures which, in a 
 sane moment, uninfluenced, he would have repudiated, 
 almost without thought; and yet under the genial rays 
 of a positive magnetic sphere, he became an enthusi- 
 astic advocate of ventures which carried destruction, 
 like a cyclone, in their path. His friends could all see 
 it; they raised the warning finger, whispered the words 
 of admonitory advice in his ear, and presumed, upon 
 various occasions, to question both his judgment and 
 ability, and, sometimes, his honesty, producing, how- 
 ever, no result, beyond the suggestion that they were 
 no longer his friends or, inspired by jealousy, had not 
 the same acumen and penetration with which he, him- 
 self, was blessed. To him, the failure of the scheme, 
 to-day, means nothing. Quotations of the market are 
 no sign whatever to go by; he will cling to his forlorn 
 hope to the end; and, with the feverish excitement of 
 the gamester, ruin himself, his family and all concerned. 
 Frequently, however, he will awaken to his mistake 
 when it is too late — so he thinks, at least; but will con- 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 117 
 
 tinue to push forward, with the fervor of despair, know- 
 ing too well what the end must be. 
 
 We do not believe that there is as much absolute and 
 intentional dishonesty in the world, as many assert; 
 but, we are prepared to say that men are self-deceived 
 in their sins; that they are so filled with the magnetic 
 elements of their associates, or, of the very scheme it- 
 self, that their judgment and ability are no longer in 
 operation, and are, consequently, sacrificed upon its 
 altar. You see them in the after-years, weary, worn 
 and broken, vainly trying to understand the great cause 
 that worked their ruin, and never quite mastering it. 
 
 Again, there are some persons who are responsive to 
 a purely earthly magnetism, in which the association 
 of individuals plays no part whatever, or, if so, an in- 
 consequential one. This magnetism may emanate, en- 
 tirely, from the physical universe; as a result, men get 
 the land fever, the gold fever, and similar effects, evi- 
 dences of which have marked, to a great degree, some 
 phases of our present civilization. Luck does not play 
 so important a part in the lives of men as is accredited 
 to it; but, if the personal influence of successful men, 
 in the various departments of external life, could be 
 properly understood, it would be found to possess a 
 distinct magnetic quality which attracts, to itself, cer- 
 tain elements, out of which material success is made. 
 Thus, you find men of no parlicular ability, and, cer- 
 tainly, no innate goodness, making the most gigantic 
 fortunes, which they lock up in gilt-edge securities, re- 
 gardless of the bible injunction; and, as members of 
 church organizations, are loudest in their profession of 
 religion. To such men the profit and loss column is 
 their sole religious standard; and, while they loudly 
 
118 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 proclaim the teachings of the Master, they are equally 
 as conspicuous in failing to perform His will. 
 
 The story of the young man who had served the 
 Lord in all things, save one, and was told to go and 
 sell that which he had and give it to the poor, but, instead 
 of doing this, departed, with a sad face, would find a 
 repetition, if the Lord were to give the same command 
 to the Vanderbilts, the Rothschilds or the Sages, of this 
 present time, without any change in their facial expres- 
 sion. He simply could not do it; no more can they. 
 Great w^ealth is attracted to them by a force which can 
 not be broken, even though — if they believe their own 
 assertions — the future welfare of the soul, through eter- 
 nity, is dependent upon it. Arguments, from a spiritu- 
 al basis, have little, if any, effect upon those who have 
 material interests at stake, albeit the line that is fol- 
 lowed is a legitimate sequence to the principles so per- 
 sistantly advocated. There is, apparently, a certain 
 code for business, which does not apply to the religious 
 life of the individual. 
 
 The only way in which this direct magnetic influ- 
 ence can be broken, or partially counteracted, is, by 
 separating one’s self from it, so far as is possible; and, 
 in the silence of your own room, freed from the irrita- 
 tion and, oftentimes, controlling influences of the out- 
 side world, to carefully consider what one’s relation- 
 ship is to one’s self. Sleeping on a subject over night 
 before giving a decision, is the carrying out of this 
 idea, which means, getting away from all external in- 
 fluences and being left alone with the subject in hand. 
 The first impressions of the day are, by far, the best; 
 and, if accepted for guidance, will rarely lead their 
 possessor astray. 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS. 
 
 119 
 
 There is far too little repose in the world; far too lit- 
 tle time devoted to thought, or the purposes that make 
 up the duties of life. Self-examination is seldom in- 
 dulged in; men pride themselves, as a rule, upon their 
 ability to answer, off hand, any question that may pre- 
 sent itself, no matter how important; and one-half of 
 life is, not infrequently, spent in the endeavor to recti- 
 fy the mistakes of the other half. It is not the amount 
 of work done, but the care and efficiency with which 
 it is laid out, that produces the best and most satisfac- 
 tory returns. An effort should always be made to 
 diversify the daily life, as much as possible. Far more 
 recuperation will be found in a variety of employments 
 than would, at first, be imagined; for, this calls into ex- 
 ercise all of the various capacities of the individual, 
 and, consequently, rounds him out, physically and 
 mentally. The general habit of having months of in- 
 cessant labor and a week or two of absolute rest, does 
 not accord with the idea. The former absolutely unfits 
 the individual for the enjoyment of the latter; and, 
 during the few weeks devoted to rest, every man will 
 find his mind continually returning to the Stock Ex- 
 change, to be appalled at the accumulation of work 
 that he feels is awaiting his return to active life. He 
 has been so long susceptible to the positive magnet- 
 ism of the financial world, that, when he walks through 
 the green fields or the shaded wood of the country, he 
 is still amenable to it; and, finding the days are drag- 
 ging along with a snail-like pace, he, absolutely, longs 
 for the excitement of the old life again. If he had 
 diversified the days of his activity with something of 
 rest, he would have been able to do better work, ac- 
 complish higher results, and saved a vast amount of 
 
120 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 ammunition and strength. This is especially written 
 for the business men of the present day; and, if per- 
 chance, their eyes rests upon these words, they would 
 do well to pause and think of their true meaning, and 
 allow it to suggest a remedy for the fret and irritation 
 that afflict them. 
 
 After the end of the day, there is a great diminu- 
 tion of magnetic force — it has been thrown off by 
 thought, and through contact with men and things, and 
 the various interests of life. To swing into another 
 form of more intensified excitement is not to find an 
 avenue by which this lost force can be, readily, made 
 up. Nor, is the living over again of the experiences of 
 the day calculated to produce it; for that, simply, 
 means borrowing from reserved forces. Thus, we see 
 care written all over the faces of our most prosperous 
 men, and the young grown old before their time. If, 
 in place of all this, the business could be left, each day, 
 in the counting-room, where it belongs, and a new state 
 of interests, pleasures, studies, duties and employments 
 taken up, with the home life, we should find that the 
 next generation would be quieter, more self-centered, 
 more honest and more moral than is the present one. 
 Every man should be interested in his family, in music 
 and in animal life; an hour on horseback, an hour with 
 music, an hour with the writers and the philosophers, 
 or, in any direction that the desire may direct, apart 
 from the duties of the day, will do more to further 
 man’s intellectual development, elevate his conception 
 of humanity, and bless his own life, than anything that 
 we could suggest. The objection, that there is no time 
 for these things, is best answered by stating that the 
 time now devoted to considering how worn out and 
 
OR SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS. 
 
 121 
 
 tired you are, can be employed with better results 
 through the introduction of some amusement or em- 
 ployment of this kind, since it will take a man out of 
 himself and, through a sympathetic action of the mind, 
 bring him into magnetic relationship with other spheres 
 of action, which are bound to be helpful and bene- 
 ficial. 
 
 If we have devoted a considerable amount of space 
 to this thought, and seemed to have digressed some- 
 what, it is because there is a great demand for a remedy 
 for the present disease, called unrest, which has become 
 almost epidemic, and is due to a surplus amount of one 
 kind of magnetism, which the individual, through his 
 intensity of purpose, attracts, and the almost absolute 
 dearth of another, which he, with equal force, repels. 
 By attracting, we mean, placing one’s self in a recept- 
 ive state toward the desired condition of result. This 
 can only be done through fixed determination, which 
 places the personality in such relationship with the pur- 
 pose, in view, as to accomplish the desired end. 
 
 Beyond stating that the mind is in general affiliation 
 with the body, we shall not deal with mental conditions 
 here. It, however, becomes necessary to say, that the 
 reason why the mind so seldom evidences its intelli- 
 gence, when the body is under strong magnetic sway, 
 is that this self-same magnetism dispossesses the body 
 of mental control, and, really, throws both the mind 
 and the spirit out of their moral relationship there- 
 with. In criticising a person, thus influenced, you are 
 prone to say he acts without either reason or sense; 
 and you are passing a just conclusion, since the power 
 to reason is lost, almost, and the senses are not in full 
 activity. 
 
122 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 Having made this clear, we now enter in upon the 
 law whereby persons may attract given elements unto 
 themselves. ^‘Seek, and ye shall find/' is particularly 
 applicable to the present situation. With the desire to 
 attain a given purpose, one is enabled to draw the ele- 
 ments of that purpose to himself. Sometimes, this is 
 done without the desire; but that is when the elements 
 are so assertive, within one's sphere, that they are en- 
 abled to act of themselves, without any mental direc- 
 tion whatsoever. If you are ill, weak or worn, physi- 
 cally, association with persons afflicted, in like manner, 
 will not, in any sense, assist in your recuperation. You 
 must place yourself with those who are not disturbed 
 in the direction that you are, yourself; for, health is as 
 contagious as disease — Mr. Ingersoll, to the contrary — 
 and life gives life. 
 
 Much of the disease in the world is caused by the 
 inharmonious arrangement of the magnetic elements 
 within one's self; and anything that will induce har- 
 mony in this direction, will lead to a healthful result. 
 We are inclined to make the authoritative statement, 
 that health means harmony with one's self and the phy- 
 sical universe, and, that disease is, simply, its opposite. 
 The angular, irritable person will, in a short time, pro- 
 duce a debilitating effect upon every one with whom 
 he is brought in contact; while a jolly, happy fund of 
 good nature lightens the life of every one with whom 
 it is brought into association. Age should seek the 
 companionship of youth; music will produce a harmo- 
 ny within, and bring forgetfulness of care and trouble; 
 while association with animals, which are, by the way, 
 especially magnetic, and far more sympathetic than is 
 generally supposed, does much to build up the deple- 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS. 
 
 123 
 
 tion which the wear and tear of the day has produced. 
 But, to these accessories, must be added a desire for 
 the purpose in view. 
 
 It would be impossible to get any amount of good 
 from these associations if, at the same time, there was 
 a turning toward the things one is aiming to forget, or, 
 a lack of interest in obtaining both happiness and 
 health. If, when with your horse, you are still calcu- 
 lating the profits of the day's venture, he can do little, 
 beyond reflecting your own feverish irritability; on the 
 other hand, should you, instead of riding like mad, 
 consider his peculiarities of nature, and physical com- 
 fort, you will bring yourself down to his plane of life, 
 and receive, from him, more health and strength than 
 the most distinguished physician could impart to you, 
 or the strongest stimulants induce. 
 
 If there is much to be gained from magnetic assi- 
 milation, there is, at times, as much to be lost; and, it 
 were well to consider how to repel untoward influences, 
 which will haunt you, for hours and days, after being 
 brought into relationship with them. One needs to be 
 especially careful to preserve one’s sympathetic nature. 
 Indiscriminate listening to the woes of your fellow- 
 men, and the exercise of the, so-called, sympathies 
 which it induces, is deleterious in its results. Your first 
 duty, always, is to yourself; and, by the fulfilment of 
 that duty, in the extreme sense, are you the better able 
 to help and bless humanity. You have no right to load 
 yourself down with the burdens of others, which have, 
 often, been sent to teacha much-neeoed lesson to those 
 who, through their own utter disregard of individual 
 responsibility, are only too willing to rail at Fate, and 
 take every particle of assistance you may be able to 
 
124 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 give. In moving through a crowd, you should avoid 
 letting your mind rest upon any individual in whom 
 yoi have not the least interest. Should an accident 
 occur, and you know that you are quite incapable ot 
 rendering any assistance, instead of rushing to the 
 scene of the disaster, go your appointed way, and leave 
 the unfortunate victim to those who are in a position to 
 perform the required office. A man falls in the street; 
 a thousand other men, inspired by no motive, other 
 than curiosity, gather around him and render it impos- 
 sible for those who have the ability, to minister to his 
 interests. Another, perhaps, receives a severe injury; 
 you cannot do anything for him, as his injuries require 
 the services of a physician, or a surgeon; yet,youstand 
 and look at the broken limbs, or the crushed skull, 
 through which the life-blood is slowly oozing, and go 
 your way, only when the ambulance arrives to bear the 
 victim to the hospital. All day long your mind is 
 haunted by the sickening sight; you have accomplished 
 no good to any one; but have, instead, placed yourself 
 in relationship with a condition that will completely 
 unfit you for the duties and labors of the time. Such, 
 surely, is a most mistaken kindness, since no good ob- 
 ject is served. One must use as much discretion about 
 the exercise of one's sympathies, as anything else. If 
 you are in the presence of those who are ill, and desire 
 to protect yourself from their diseased condition, fear 
 of taking the malady will open the door to it; while, 
 constantly placing your mind and will upon health and 
 life, serves, largely, to protect you. To repel any in- 
 fluence, think of its opposite; to invite it or attract it, 
 dwell directly upon it, in its most intensified form. The 
 former attitude will cut off all lines of connection. 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 125 
 
 while the latter will serve to establish and strengthen 
 them. 
 
 There is a class of men in whom this magnetic ele- 
 ment predominates, to an extraordinary degree. Their 
 mental powers are especially active, but, to them, the 
 thought of anything spiritual is an utter impossibility. 
 These men are largely agnostic in their belief, talk 
 loudly of one world, at a time, and say, with a great 
 degree of truth, that they have never received any in- 
 timations of another state; and, strangely enough, al- 
 though possessed of considerable logical power, smile 
 incredulously at those who assert that, from their 
 individual experiences, this world, instead of being the 
 end is the means to an end. So intense is the sphere 
 around such, that they are able to attract great crowds, 
 who, while they may be opposed to every idea they ex- 
 pect to hear enunciated, remain and listen with respect 
 and go away charmed by, what they are prone to call, 
 the brilliancy of the speaker; but which is nothing 
 more or less than the result of the magnetic sway he 
 has had over them. Ingersoll, for instance, is an illus- 
 tration of this thought. That he is a man of remark- 
 able ability, few will deny; but, when it is remembered 
 that he only calls people together to listen to what he 
 does not know, together with an attack upon systems 
 of belief which, bad as they may be, reveal the attempt 
 of man to interpret the action of spiritual law, it is, to 
 say the least, surprising. We have seen large crowds 
 who were prepared to deride and condemn this elo- 
 quent expounder of the unknowable, who, in spite of 
 themselves, became infected by his peculiar personal- 
 ity, and went forth, after the evening was done, believing 
 no more in the ideas inculcated than before they heard 
 
120 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 them; but, charmed with the peculiar influence of the 
 man, which would cling to them, in spite of their every 
 effort to the contrary. The greatest actors upon the 
 stage, whose names are enrolled upon the tablets of 
 history, are those who were possessed of this magnetic 
 quality, rather than of any peculiar or particular intel- 
 lectual development. There are those before the pub- 
 lic, even now, who may transgress every law, from an 
 artistic standpoint, but, who are able to sway the pub- 
 lic mind, beyond all known limitations. And, there are 
 others at the same time, intellectually, their peers, who 
 are most careful, conscientious and clear in their inter- 
 pretations, who have not the power of quickening the 
 pulse in the least degree. And this something, which 
 produces so marked an effect, without which little, if 
 any, impression can be made, is called magnetism, and 
 is becoming more fully understood each day. 
 
 The scope of magnetism is almost incomprehensi- 
 ble in its vast extensiveness; and, upon this plane of 
 life, it is well-nigh impossible to conceive of any con- 
 dition of activity where it is not. In the lowest walk 
 of life you will find it, as well as in the governmental 
 halls. The gamins, unconsciously, exert its power over 
 each other, and establish a precedent in their midst, 
 quite as pronounced as that which is revealed in the 
 great political factions of the day, that fashion and 
 shape the destiny of nations. It is not the logic of the 
 leader that constitutes his governing power, nor his 
 eloquence or elegance of dictation, nor force of deliv- 
 ery, nor yet, what he says, nor the manner in which his 
 utterances are made. It is his personality, inducted 
 into his thoughts and words, wrapping them with his 
 invisible life-force; which imparts a potency and power 
 
library 
 
 Of THE 
 
 OMiVERSiTY OF LL!KO!S 
 

 I 
 
 i‘. 
 
An Abuse of Personal Magnetism, 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 127 
 
 almost irresistible. This force enabled a man like Na- 
 poleon to become the terror of all Europe, and, in the 
 end, the most easily conquered of its rulers. Joan 
 d’Arc inspired a nation and led an army on to victory, 
 not through knowledge of war, or her ability to cope 
 with the enemy, but through this self-same element 
 that fell upon her followers, as the sun upon the earth, 
 awakening, to activity, every one of their latent ener- 
 gies. The power that Jesus exercised over the sick 
 was, purely a magnetic one; and he, not infrequently, 
 complained that the force had gone out of him, to that 
 extent that he was unable to accomplish direct results. 
 The Apostles, concerning whom so much has been 
 written, were simply the magnetic battery which helped 
 to supply the great loss which he experienced, by be- 
 ing brought in contact with the sick and the afflicted, 
 who, continually, made enormous demands upon him. 
 When his followers, too, were exhausted, he was com- 
 pelled to go into the wilderness, undertake a season of 
 fasting, so as to change the entire elements of his sys- 
 tem, and, thereby, through direct contact with na- 
 ture, re-established conditions that over-use had so 
 seriously impaired. When this was accomplished, he 
 would again return to the world, recuperated; and, 
 with renewed strength, undertake the work of blessing 
 suffering humanity. 
 
 The practical uses to which magnetism could be put 
 are manifold, and are only just beginning to be recog- 
 nized, by a few of the wise men of the world, who are 
 enabled to realize that, behind the seen, there is the un- 
 seen, always silently, but determinedly, at work. As 
 an agent for healing, it stands without a rival, and will, 
 one day, supersede the systems of medicine which, at 
 
128 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 best, are but partially successful in effecting a cure foi 
 the many ills that afflict mankind. 
 
 Every person is susceptible to the influence of some 
 other person; yet, no one is able to affect all. Disease 
 is due, either to a loss of magnetism, or the presence of 
 some foreign magnetic element, which reflects itself 
 upon the physical organization of the individual. The 
 successful physician, of the present day, realizes that, 
 in nine cases out of ten, to say the least, his presence 
 has quite as much to do with the recovery of the patient 
 as his skill, in fact, much more. The most learned men 
 in medical science are usually the poorest practitioners, 
 and are soon relegated to a professorship in the univer- 
 sities; while he who is possessed of good health, a 
 genial and kindly disposition, and sympathetic nature 
 carries the atmosphere of harmony into every home 
 whose threshold he crosses. The suffering patient, who 
 looks appealingly into his face, receives a degree of 
 strength, from the influence that his desire to help en- 
 genders, that far surpasses the influence of any narcotic 
 or tonic. He places his hand upon the head, speaks a 
 few encouraging words, sits quietly for a short time, and 
 the patient is, correspondingly, strengthened. 
 
 There are those who have made magnetism an object 
 of deep study, and who, without understanding exactly 
 why, are able, under ordinary circumstances, with 
 scarcely any effort at all, to impart this life-giving power 
 to such a degree, that they benefit and help, where phy- 
 sicians of high repute, and great skill, have failed. 
 
 This fearful death-rate of the present day, the utter 
 inability of medical science to cope with any form of 
 epidemic, successfully, and the rapidly increasing de- 
 mand for hospital service on all sides, indicate that, how- 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS. 
 
 129 
 
 ever much is known of the ills of the flesh, there is so 
 much more yet to be learned, that no man has the right 
 to say yea or nay to another. Thus, legislative enact- 
 ments against a practitioner, in any opposite line, are 
 the methods that a few learned men employ to strengthen 
 their strong hold upon public sentiment, but which, in 
 no sense of the word, add either power or dignity to 
 their position. Never, until medicine becomes an exact 
 science, and there is a remedy for every untoward phys- 
 ical condition, will the medical men be justified in dub- 
 bing all other systems quackery, or denouncing as fools 
 and idiots those who practice Magnetism, Mesmerism, 
 Hypnotism, Christian Science, Mental Science and the 
 like. All of these have a goodly record of success — so 
 admitted by medical science, and many who, through 
 their ministrations, are enjoying a large measure of 
 health, and consequent happiness. Much more might 
 be said upon this and kindred subjects, but they have 
 been dealt with, somewhat extensively, in the various 
 treatises which have, from time to time, been presented 
 to the public; any one of which contains more truth than 
 this generation, at least, will be able to comprehend. 
 
 As a matter of careful inquiry, it must ever appeal 
 to the intelligent, and is bound to lead them over pre- 
 scribed limits, into the vast laboratory of nature, where 
 the concentration of invisible forces produces the phe- 
 nomena that work the development of the human race, 
 and the outworking of the law of evolution. 
 
 It does not matter whether we use the terms magnet- 
 ism, hypnotism, or psychic force, for so nearly syn- 
 onymous are all of these that, in the employment of 
 any one, the domain of all the others is well-high cov- 
 ered. But we prefer to use the word magnetism, defin- 
 
130 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 ing it as being the invisible force that pervades the entire 
 universe, and through which the human mind acts; in- 
 sisting that every particle of force has a corresponding 
 magnetic counterpart, and that, in the combination of 
 particles, there may be any number of opposite elements, 
 which are attracted and held to a given centre, they like- 
 wise, having a counterpart; and, whatever the visible 
 action maybe, one upon the other, the invisible far ex- 
 ceeds and overreaches it. 
 
 The occult uses to which magnetism can be put 
 are infinite. It can be applied, intelligently, to every 
 business department extant. It can be made to govern 
 and counteract the effect of disease, and, to reveal a 
 thousand marvelous possibilities, which are now latent 
 within the individual. But, this can only be done by 
 subjugating the lower to the higher, and, by bringing 
 all the elements of which the body is composed, into 
 harmonious relationship with each other. The body, 
 then, has an entity, a sphere, a life, absolutely its own, 
 which is governed by laws and affected by conditions, 
 upon which its welfare depends. Repression of self 
 serves no purpose; but, development, and higher direc- 
 tion, lifts all desires into nobler realms, and gives to 
 them a character and a purpose. 
 
 Love, in its largest acceptation, is an attraction 
 towards the beautiful, the good, the true, with a de- 
 sire of possession. 
 
 God, the perfect Being, is all love. He has diffused 
 love through all nature; and He has imposed upon 
 man, the emanation of His divinity, the law of love. 
 
 In man, love manifests itself in many ways. It has 
 many objects for its food. 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 181 
 
 Supreme love is the love of God, — eternal beauty^ 
 sovereign good, truth itself. 
 
 Around the Divine love all the other loves radiate 
 and are resplendent; the love of humanity, which has 
 animated the Socrateses, the Platos, the Augustines, the 
 Vincents de Paul; the love of country which Brutus, 
 Decius, the braves of Thermopylae, the heroes of all 
 countries and all times, have been sacrificed; the love 
 of nature, of art, of science, each of which have had and 
 always will have their passionate lovers, their devoted 
 victims; conjugal love, which attracts man towards wo- 
 man, and woman towards man; love of the family; in 
 fine, self-love, which too often overrules and corrupts 
 the purity of the other sentiments. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 P\nimal Magnetisrr], its Ph|ilosophy, Laws and Pypplication, 
 
 ** Although men are accused for not knowing their own weakness, 
 Yet perhaps as few know their own strength.” 
 
 — Swift. 
 
 MYSTERIOUS sympathy exists between all living 
 ^ I beings. Attraction and repulsion are exerted as v/ell 
 by animals as man. The swarms of modusse in the ocean 
 congregate by the same law as shoals of fishes, herds of 
 bisons and wild horses on the prairie, or man in the com- 
 plex relations of society. 
 
 Love is a fervent manifestation of the same principle. 
 The north and south, the male and female, principles attract. 
 So, from the highest to the lowest; from the mineral atom to 
 the living being; from the cellular proiophyte to the thinking 
 man, attraction and repulsion rule with iron sway. 
 
 When strange herds of animals are mingled, how soon 
 they separate if left to themselves! So in society, how kin- 
 dred spirits unite in bonds of friendship and the bad avoid 
 coming in contact with the good. 
 
 We know of no instance better illustrating the sympathy 
 existing between all individuals than the Siamese twins. 
 
 182 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 188 
 
 They furnish an overdrawn example, it is true, but trace the 
 law of sympathy with lines the more sharply defined. So 
 intimately were they related, that the thought of a surgical 
 operation, which was suggested to them, was met with as 
 much horror as the idea of losing half of the body by the 
 same means would be by the normal individual. The op- 
 eration, if performed, would, from the closeness of the sym- 
 pathy existing between them, undoubtedly prove fatal. 
 Their hunger, thirst, sleeping and waking, were coincident, 
 and their tastes and inclinations the same. They read the 
 same book and both played the same game, but never with 
 each other, for they said that that would be like the right 
 hand playing with the left. When one was sick the other 
 had precisely the same symptoms. So simultaneous was 
 their movements, that it was impossible to decide from which 
 the impulse originated. 
 
 They were in a similar relation to each other as the foetus 
 and mother, between which a sympathy is established, which 
 blends both into one entity, and transmits the slightest 
 shade of thought from the mother to the offspring, often 
 stamping the plastic being with the impression of her sen- 
 sations as by the inexorable decree of fate. 
 
 The same sympathy is shown by persons twin-born. In- 
 stances are recorded in which, although at a considerable 
 distance from each other, the same malady appeared in both 
 at the same time, and ran precisely the same course. 
 
 A young lady was suddenly seized with an unaccountable 
 horror, followed by convulsions, which the attending physi- 
 cians, unable to account for, said exactly resembled the 
 strugglings of a person drowning. Soon after, news came 
 that her twin brother had at that identical moment fallen 
 overboard and been drowned. 
 
134 
 
 HOW TO WfN, 
 
 A strong sympathy also exists between parents and chil- 
 dren, husband and wife, and intimate friends, so that when 
 one is in trouble or misfortune, the other becomes conscious 
 of it. This is too well known to require an extended state- 
 ment of facts. How often do the husband and wife think 
 the same thought at the same time, or answer the same 
 question in the same manner. This occurs far too often to 
 be referred to coincidence, A deep principle underlies it. 
 
 Very often persons who are unimpressible when awake are 
 impressible in sleep, and then are conscious of this sympa- 
 thy with others. In illustration of this proposition, one in- 
 stance will he introduced as a sample of its class. 
 
 A gentleman dreamed that on entering his office in the 
 morning, he saw a person formerly in his service as clerk, 
 seated on a certain stool. On asking him the motives of his 
 visit, he is told the circumstance which brought the stran- 
 ger to that part of the country, and that he could not for- 
 bear visiting his old master, and passing a short time in his 
 former occupation. In the morning on entering his office, 
 he finds his dream proves true to the letter. Here the sym- 
 pathy between them was great, and the ardent thoughts of 
 the clerk impress themselves on the master. 
 
 How often do we hear, when entering a company however 
 unexpectedly, ‘^Ah, we were just speaking of you!” And 
 the same is embodied in the old proverb, “The devil is near 
 when you are talking of him,” Our emanation, or sphere 
 reaches our destination before us. 
 
 If we trace the relations of this sympathy, we shall find 
 that: — 
 
 1 Animals can influence animals. 
 
 2 Man can influence animals. 
 
 3 Animals can influence man. 
 
 4 Man can influence man. 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 135 
 
 I The influence animals exert over each other — “Professor 
 Silliman mentions that in June, 1823, he crossed the Hud- 
 son at Catskill, in company with a friend, and was proceed- 
 ing in a carriage by the road along the river, which is very 
 narrow there with the water on one side and a steep bank 
 on the other, covered by bushes. His attention at that 
 moment was arrested by the number cf small birds, of dif- 
 ferent species, flying across the road and then back again, 
 and turning and wheeling in manifold gyrations and with 
 much chirping, yet making no progress from the place over 
 which they fluttered His own and his friend’s curiosity 
 was much excited, but was soon satisfied by observing a 
 black snake of considerable size, partly coiled and partly 
 erect from the ground, with the appearance of great anima- 
 tion, his eyes brilliant, and his tongue rapidly and incessantly 
 brandishing. This reptile they perceived to be the cause 
 and centre of the wild motions of the birds. The excite- 
 ment ceased, however, as soon as the snake, alarmed by the 
 approach of the carriage, retreated. The birds did not, 
 however, escape, but rested on the bushes, probably to await 
 the reappearance of their enemy.” It would seem that 
 they were magnetized and did not immediately recover, or 
 they would have flown away, instead of remaining near the 
 scene of their fright. 
 
 A story is told by a gentleman in Pennsylvania, who, re- 
 turning from a ride, espied a blackbird describing circles, 
 gradually growing smaller, around a large black snake, all 
 the time uttering cries cf distress. As the bird almost 
 rer.ched the open jaws prepared to receive it, the gentleman 
 drove the snake away, when the bird flew off uttering a song 
 of joy. 
 
 Another anecdote is related of a ground squirrel. It 
 was observed running back and forth along the trunk of a 
 
136 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 large tree, his returns being each time shorter. The obser- 
 ver at length saw the cause of the squirrel’s peculiar move^ 
 ments was the fascinating influence of a large rattlesnake, 
 the head of which was thrust out through a hole in the 
 trunk of the tree, which was hollow. The squirrel at length 
 gave over running and laid himself down near the snake, 
 which opened its jaws and took in the head of the passive 
 squirrel. A blow across the neck of the snake caused it to 
 draw in its head, and the squirrel thus released, frisked away 
 with the utmost precipitation. Dr. Good observes this sin- 
 gular power of the rattlesnake, and it is probably possessed 
 by all the larger kinds of snakes. The fascinating serpent 
 appears to exert an irresistible influence over its victim, 
 which cannot for a moment avert its eyes from the object of 
 terror. 
 
 Borrows informs us that, while traveling in the interior of 
 Africa, he saw a large serpent in the very act of fascinating 
 a bird — a species of shrike. The bird, when first observed, 
 was some distance from the snake, but it gradually ap- 
 proached, apparently irresistibly drawn towards the fiery 
 eyes and open jaws, trembling convulsively and uttering 
 piteous cries of distress. He shot the snake, but the bird 
 did not fly away. On approaching, he found the bird dead, 
 although it had not approached within three and a half feet 
 of the snake. This fact shows how intimate the relation of 
 fascinator and the fascinated is even in animals. The nar- 
 rator supposes the bird died of fright — a most inadequate 
 explanation. We know that the magnetized enters into all 
 the phases of feeling of the magnetizer, and whatever affects 
 the latter equally affects the former. The sudden death of 
 the serpent would by sympathy shock the bird in an equally 
 great degree if the influence was perfect. 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUijCESS 
 
 137 
 
 Another anecdote is told of a mouse being placed in the 
 cage of a female viper. It was at first greatly agitated, but 
 in a short time drew gradually near the viper, which, with 
 fixed eyes and exteaded jaws, remained motionless. It con- 
 tinued to approach and at last ran into the viper^s mouth 
 and was devoured. 
 
 2 Mxt can influence animals — Bruce, the African trav- 
 eler, speaks in the most positive manner of the power the 
 blacks of Sennaar exert over the most poisonous serpents, 
 against which they seem armed by nature. They take the 
 horned serpents in their hands aiall times, put them in their 
 bosoms, or throw them at each other like balls. The influ- 
 ence exerted upon them is so great that they scarcely ever 
 attempt resistance, and when they are irritated to bite, no 
 inconvenience arises even from the fangs of the most poi- 
 sonous serpents. ‘T constantly observed/’ said he, “that 
 however lively the viper was before, upon being seized by 
 any of these barbarians it seemed as if taken with sickness 
 and feebleness, frequently shut its eyes, and never turned 
 its mouth towards the arm of the person that held it.” 
 They are often so debilitated by this fascination as to perish 
 as certainly, though not as speedily, as though struck by 
 lightning. 
 
 A gen leman had in his possession a young Syrian bear, 
 about a year old. This bear was generally good-humored, 
 playful and tractable. One morning the bear, from the at- 
 tention of some visitors, became savage and irritable; and 
 the owner, in despair, tied him up in his usual abode and 
 went away to attend to his guests. In a few minutes 
 he was hastily recalled to see his bear. He found him roll- 
 ing about on his haunches, faintly moving his paws, and 
 gradually sinking into a state of quiesence and repose. 
 Above him stood a gentleman well known in the mesmeric 
 
138 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 world, making the usual passes with his hands The pool 
 bear, though evidently unwilling to yield to tliis new influ- 
 ence, gradually sunk to the ground, closed bis eyes, became 
 motionless and insensible to all means used to arouse him. 
 He remained in this state tor some minutes, when he awoke, 
 shook himself and tottered about the court, as though labor- 
 ing under the effects of a strong narcotic. He exhibited 
 evident signs of drowsiness for some hours afterwards. 
 This interesting scene took place in the presence of many 
 distinguished persons. 
 
 This power is used by mai> to disarm the fury of the most 
 savage animals. Robbers have learned to exercise this art 
 on watch-dogs, the most furious of which they reduce to 
 silence. The Laplanders exercise the same power over 
 their dogs. / 
 
 Alexander taming his Bucephalus is paralled in modern 
 times. Sullh^n, Rarey and Gleason, in an hour’s time, 
 could so magnetize the most furious horse, as to make him 
 follow »nd obey like the best trained dog. Rarey and Glea- 
 son tamed in the same manner, not only horses, but that 
 untamed steed of the desert — the wildest, fiercest and most 
 unmanageable of the equine race — the zebra. The lion and 
 tiger are fawning as kittens beneath the gentle yet inexor- 
 able sway of this influence. From the human eye a power 
 goes forth, which, when rightly employed, controls the most 
 savage beasts. 
 
 3 Animals can influence Man — There are well attested 
 instances of animals exerting a magnetic influence on man. 
 A gentleman while walking in his garden, was attracted by 
 a snake he accidentally saw in the bushes. He watched it 
 closely, and soon found himself unable to draw away his 
 eyes. The snake appeared to increase immensely in size. 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 130 
 
 and assume in rapid succession a mixture of the most bril- 
 liant colors. He grew dizzy and would have fallen in the 
 direction of the snake, had not his wife at that instant come 
 to the rescue. 
 
 Two men in Maryland were walking together, when one 
 found that his companion had stopped by the roadside. On 
 turning, he perceived that his eyes were fixed on a rattle- 
 snake, which had its head elevated and eyes glaring at him. 
 He was leaning towards the snake and crying, “He will bite 
 me! he will bite me!’^ “Sure enough, he will,” said his 
 friend, “if you do not run; what are you staying here for.^” 
 Finding he could not draw him away, he struck down the 
 snake with the limb of a tree. The man thus saved was 
 very sick for some hours afterwards. 
 
 4 Man can influence Man — The influence man exerts 
 over man was well known to the ancients. The physician’s 
 prescription to King David in his declining years was based 
 on this principle. And the rights of savage nations, the 
 gestures of the magicians and medicine men over their pa- 
 tients, are founded on personal magnetism and are remark- 
 ably successful. 
 
 The facts of mesmerism are almost universally admitted 
 by thinking men, and to introduce a lot of established inci- 
 dents would be superfluous. The reader is referred to the 
 best works on that subject for evidence. 
 
 The bond which unites the hypnotist with his subject is 
 illustrated with every successive process. The operator 
 exerts despotic sway over his subject. He compels him to 
 think and act as he pleases. If he tells him water is wine, 
 he is implicitly believed, and intoxication follows. He tells 
 him a stick is a snake — he flees from it, or that he is a king, 
 or emperor, or czar, and the character is assumed; or he 
 plunges him to the opposite extreme and he crawls along, a 
 
140 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 degraded outcast. In these fantasies, if we may so call 
 what depends on the will of another, there is something 
 simUar to the operation of narcotics, especially hashish, or 
 Indian hemp, which the Hindoos used to produce the ecstacy 
 in which they communicated with the gods, and learned the 
 course of future events. In short there is very little dis- 
 tinction to be made between the effects of the narcotic and 
 of hypnotism. 
 
 Whatever affects the hypnotist often affects equally the sub- 
 ject. The slightest pain, the least desire is participated in. 
 Whatever the former tastes, hears, or sees, the latter tastes, 
 hears or sees; and there is a partial reflex action . by which 
 the operator is guided to the locality of and sympathizes 
 in the diseases of, his subject. 
 
 The following often quoted instance is taken from the 
 Transactions of the French Academy: 
 
 “On the loth of September, at ten o’clock at night, the 
 commission met at the house of M, Itard, in order to con- 
 tinue its inquiries upon Carat (their mesmeric subject); the 
 latter was in the library, where conversation had been car- 
 ried on with him till half past seven, at which time M. 
 Foissac, (the magnetizer), who had arrived since Carat, and 
 had waited in an ante-chamber separated from the library 
 by two closed doors and an interval of twelve feet, began 
 to magnetize him. Three minutes afterwards. Carat said, 
 ‘T think Foissac is there, for I feel myself oppressed and 
 enfeebled.” At the expiration of eight minutes he was 
 asleep. 
 
 A similar instance is here quoted from the Chicago 
 Graphic oi June 30th, 1894, in refence to our own exper- 
 iments, We quote but briefly from a full page illustrated 
 article. 
 
 “The final test was, however, the most interesting, and 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS. 
 
 141 
 
 one which proves beyond a doubt that there is a power in 
 hypnotism with which man should be more thoroughly con- 
 versant. The test was brought about in the course of an 
 interview which occurred after the “subjects” were brought 
 back to the normal stat e. It has always been a question in 
 the minds of many as to whether the hypnotist has power 
 over an individual when he or she is not aware of the pres- 
 ence of the hypnotist, without being seen or led to think of 
 him. The question was put to the doctor, who thought such 
 a test would be of interest to him, and was satisfied it could 
 be made successfully. Hiving been directed to the proper 
 place to go — about four blocks distant — The Graphic repre- 
 sentative found the “subject,” and both seated themselves 
 in the latter’s office, engaging in conversation. A few mo- 
 ments later Dr. Anderson arrived and approached slowly, 
 stealthily, behind the subject, without the slightest noise, 
 and with hands outstretched. The moment the doctor came 
 near, the “subject” lost speech, his eyes protruded and 
 stared ahead, vacant and glassy. Finally his eyes closed, 
 and he fell back asleep and apparently lifeless.” 
 
 It is often remarked that one is oppressed by a certain 
 member of the family, with whom he resides, whenever he is 
 near, although no enmity exists between them, but their 
 organizations are entirely different. 
 
 One evening, while engaged in conversation. Dr, B 
 
 suddenly paused, and said he could proceed no further, for 
 someone was listening. This was highly improbable; but the 
 next morning tracks were discovered at the gate, in the light 
 fall of snow, as though some person had stopped for a consid- 
 erable time. 
 
 Whatever influence that person exerted it must have passed 
 through the park, yard, and wall of the house, to reach the 
 impressible brain. Shall we call it thought.^ What is thought,^ 
 
142 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 How does it reproduce itself in the mind of another? These 
 are questions which force the close reasoner to the adaptation 
 of an ethereal medium of transference. 
 
 These curious phenomena have long been observed and 
 speculated upon. To extend the list is unnecessary, for 
 almost everyone can recall equally conclusive tacts. 
 
 One thing is determined — they do not arise from imagina- 
 tion, for we see phenomena in animals that cannot be referred 
 to imagination. It is possessed by animals as well as man. 
 Animals can influence man; man, animals; animals, each other 
 and man controls man. 
 
 To produce a result so uniform, we must assume the cause 
 to be common to all. Hence we refer this entire class to 
 magnetism, or what, perhaps, will be better understood, nerve- 
 aura, in which all living beings can excite undulations. 
 
 In the world of mind, theories have ever gone before, as 
 pathfinders, so to express it, long before sufficient facts are 
 gathered for their support. So has it been in the present 
 instance, in an eminent degree. The existence of a nerve- 
 aura has been maintained and denied by eminent psycholo- 
 gists, but the affirmative have considered it as an emanation, 
 a theory w’hich soon leads to its own destruction. 
 
 The nervous system is capable of exciting or conducting 
 these vibrations. It has been said that the nerves are non- 
 conductors of electricity, and it has been supposed that this 
 fact alone destroyed all theories hitherto entertained of the 
 subtile influence persons exert on each other. But we can- 
 not perceive how this fact is related to the subject. We well 
 know that dynamic electricity must have a closed circuit, and 
 that water, the principal ingredient in the composition of 
 nerve, is a bad conductor of this species of electricity, or 
 that generated by the electrical machine. So that it is false 
 that nerves will not conduct electricity. Further, it is mag- 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 148 
 
 netism, and not electricity, of which we treat, and our experi- 
 ments must be with it, and not with any other. We must 
 consider all the facts we have been, and are considering as 
 isolated phenomena, or unitized by magnetism. 
 
 From remotest antiquity the adage has descended, that 
 young people were in danger of becoming unhealthy by living 
 with the aged. The Hebrews acted accordingly in procuring 
 a young damsel for their old king, that he might be invig- 
 orated by her strength. An anecdote is told of an aged 
 female who compelled her servants to retire to the same bed 
 with herself, that she might prolong her life thereby, and 
 carried her horrid vampyrism to < such an extent that, her 
 maids all becoming sickly, after a time, she could induce 
 none of them to work for her, and soon expired. This ex- 
 plains why magnetism so exhausts the magnetizer. Certainly 
 it is not his exertions, for a few passes cannot fatigue. Few 
 persons, however strong and robust, can magnetize to any 
 great extent without feeling exhausted, and persons of feeble 
 constitutions are extremely fatigued. The explanation is self 
 evident. The magnetizer imparts to the magnetized his own 
 state of vibration, and to do so exerts his will so strongly as 
 to exhaust its energy, and, as will is the parent of muscular 
 force, of course, he will become debilitated in proportion to 
 the length and degree of his exertions. 
 
 This is still further proved by the effects of magnetism on 
 the magnetised. When laboring under disease, magnetism 
 invigorates the constitution, and in many cases works a 
 radical cure. 
 
 Though we are surrounded by such an atmosphere, we 
 have no instruments by which to ascertain its presence, as 
 we do that of electricity by the electrometer. The only 
 reliable test is the impressibility of the brain. The brain 
 feels its presence, and is to it what the most delicate elec- 
 
144 
 
 HOW TO WIN. 
 
 trometer is to electricity, or to the finest iodised plate is to 
 light. 
 
 There is an influence exerted by individuals unconsciously 
 on each other which cannot be felt by the nerves in their 
 ordinary state, but which is plainly seen by aid of clairvoy- 
 ance. To the spiritual eye, every individual appears like a 
 luminous centre throwing off magnetic waves in every direc- 
 tion, as a lamp throws off waves of light. 
 
 By the impressibility of the brain a new branch of mental 
 science has been developed, of great interest and importance; 
 and, as it illustrates the subject under consideration we shall 
 devote a chapter to its philosophy. 
 
 The word psychometry^ by which the discoverer designated 
 certain mysterious relations of mind, is derived from the 
 Greek and means, when translated, soul -measure. It is 
 rightly named, for it measures the thoughts, and leads 
 directly into the most secret recesses of mind. 
 
 This science depends on the impressibility of the brain — a 
 faculty already proved to exist by numerous facts. 
 
 In making experiments in this department, or in any other 
 relating to mind or spirit, the greatest care should be used, 
 and the few necessary condit’ons already known complied 
 with in as perfect a manner as possible. The student of the 
 physical sciences deals with elements he can see, feel, and 
 measure. He understands their properties — can combine 
 them, and observe the result. If he places iron and sulphur 
 in a retort, and applies heat, he knows that sulphuret of iron 
 will be produced; and that he will obtain water if he burns 
 oxygen and hydrogen gas together. In all these operations 
 he can pronounce with certainty what the effects will be, for 
 he can fulfil all the necessary conditions. Not so, however, 
 with the student of psychological science. He enters a new 
 and unexplored realm, and deals with elements so ethereal 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 146 
 
 and subtile that they lose all the properties usually attrib- 
 uted to matter, and become more properly agents than ele- 
 ments, He cannot see nor measure them; nor can he fulfil 
 the required conditions, for he does not know what they are. 
 His steps are empirical, and the results obtained subject to 
 great detractions. Suppose the student of chemistry could 
 neither see, feel, nor measure the elements with which he 
 experiments, and knew little of the laws by which they in- 
 fluence each other; how uncertain must be his tests! Yet 
 such is the position of the student of mental science in re- 
 gard to the elements with which he experiments. As he 
 knows but little of his subject, he must rigidly comply with 
 known conditions. This applies equally well to all physical 
 research. Too great care cannot be used in observance of 
 known conditions. 
 
 Psychometry depends on nerve -aura ox magnetism — in fact 
 on the same law as that by which one person influences 
 another. The animal pursuing its prey by its track, and the 
 impressible individual revealing chiracter by a garment or 
 autograph, exercise a kindred faculty. An influence in all 
 such cases has been left, which is felt by the brain. The 
 peculiar state of vibration of one brain is induced in another. 
 It may seem incredible that any influence whatever can be 
 left on paper by simply writing a name on it, and still more 
 incredible that character can be delienaied from it. How 
 this results we will now explain. 
 
 The brain is divided into groups of faculties. The 'dbra- 
 tions from these are as unlike each other as those of red and 
 yellow light. Thus combativeness throws out certain vi- 
 brations and pulsations; destructiveness, acquisitiveness and 
 the intellectual and moral groups, respectively their own. 
 The combined aggregate of all these is the aura, or mag- 
 netic sphere, of the individual. Harmony, correspondence, 
 
146 
 
 HOW TO WIN. 
 
 everywhere prevails. If combativeness is large, it will 
 stamp its influence on the auric sphere; if morality or intel- 
 lect is large, each will originate a larger proportional share 
 of the magnetic vibrations. Let us observe nature. The 
 lion and tiger possess combativeness and destructiveness in 
 an eminent degree. The contour of their bodies speaks this 
 plainer than words. See the flowing mane, strong limbs, the 
 prominent muscles! Hear their terrible roar and harsh growl, 
 which send the affrighted quadrupeds flying over the plain! 
 Do they not indicate a cruel, bloodthirsty disposition? If 
 we turn to human nature, we shall soon meet cousins to 
 these — men who are lions and tigers in every word and deed; 
 with hoarse, harsh voices, and stern, unfeeling actions. 
 
 The squirrel’s prominent front teeth and sly morons, 
 working all day to lay up his winter store, speak his large 
 acquisitiveness. We often see men with just sucb teeth and 
 countenances, contracted like the squirrel’s who do not only 
 work all day, but all night likewise, to lay up a useless 
 hoard 
 
 Before they form the magnetic sphere around the individ- 
 ual, the vibrations of the organs of the brain pass through 
 the body and inipress it with their influence. It acquisitive- 
 ness is the largest or controllin g organ, it throws off more 
 than a due proportion of magnetism, and detracts from all 
 the others; and pervading the body, we find that it yields to 
 its influence, and an acquisitive expression steals over the 
 face, the hands are clinched, the step is cautious and infirm. 
 
 If one organ becomes excessively active, the tendency is to 
 weaken all the others, which gives i t still greater propor- 
 tional strength, as it feeds on their food. Hence it is that 
 they who commit excessive crime s, or are habitual drunk- 
 ards or gormands, seldom reform, for the faculties commit- 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS. 
 
 147 
 
 ing such acts have passed from the control of the mortal, 
 and are the controlling forces of character. 
 
 The size and activity of the various organs of the brain, 
 and their individual proportions of magnetism in the sphere 
 of the brain, are intimately related, and one can be deter- 
 mined by the other. 
 
 Elevated and beautiful thoughts beautify the face and 
 sparkle in the eye. The body is plastic to the touch of 
 thought, for when an individual writes his sphere imparts 
 its state of vibration to the paper; and from what has been 
 said before, it will be undertood that that state represents 
 all the faculties in their true relation, and hence, if analyzed, 
 would give the size of the organs from which it originated, 
 or the character of the writer. 
 
 Fortunately, the brain is the best of analysists, and by its 
 impressibility the very thoughts of the writer, at the time of 
 writing can be determined. That an autograph or scrap of 
 writing, contains the active elements of the writer’s charac- 
 ter, and in their relative proportions, seemingly belongs 
 more to the dreamland of fancy than to philosophical re- 
 search; yet rigid demonstration proves this to be true. 
 
 If a lock of hair or fragment of wearing apparel be em- 
 ployed instead of an autograph, like results are obtained. 
 
 As his magnetic sphere reproduces the thoughts of the 
 magnetizer in the magnetized, so as in the autograph it re- 
 produces the precise action of the brain by which it was 
 produced, and consequently the same thoughts, more or less 
 distinct, according to the impressibility of the psychometrist. 
 
 Not that the individual, while performing these experi- 
 ments, is magnetized — no trace of this can be discovered, 
 but it succeeds best with those who are most sensitive, and 
 the mind is influenced in precisely the same manner, though 
 not in the same degree. The two are identical in nature, 
 varying only in quantity. 
 
)48 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 This is beautifully proved by an impressible person plac- 
 ing his hand on the head of one whose character he wishes 
 to delineate, or taking hold of the hand; and the impressions 
 thus received will arise much sooner than from an autograph 
 and be much more sharply defined. 
 
 This is a very correct method of obtaining the character 
 and far excels phrenology; for, while the latter gives what 
 the result of a given combination of organs should be, psy- 
 chometry tells what they are. It enters the depths of the 
 mind, lays bare all its thoughts and emotions, and with a 
 deep, penetrating gaze, understands the man. Hence it can 
 give better counsel which faculties to control, which culti- 
 vate, and how to form a true and noble character. 
 
 Almost everyone is susceptible to this influence. Not 
 more than one in ten in the middle classes but might feel it 
 tn a greater or lesser degree. We say middle classes, be- 
 cause in the poor and lowly, who suffer from want and star- 
 vation, and the miseries of poverty, this faculty is rarely 
 developed, and in the wealthy, circumstances are almost 
 equally unfavorable. One in twenty- five is capable of ex- 
 celling in impressibility. The organization determines this 
 point The good psychometrist may be known by a full, well 
 balanced brain and nervous temperament. 
 
 When an autograph or letter is taken in the hand, the 
 sensation is first felt in the hand, gradually extending up 
 the arm until it affects the mind. The same sensation is 
 produced when it is placed on the forehead, but is experi- 
 enced more rapidly. The psychometrist should endeavor to 
 remain passive and free from all excitement as possible. 
 
 A word may be profitably said on the choice of autographs 
 for tests. None are as good when long mixed with other 
 writings, as the influences from the other papers, thus 
 brought in contact, blend. This occurs in the most remark- 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 149 
 
 able manner when very negative and positive letters are 
 folded together. The character delineated from either will 
 not be true, but each will be blended with the other. 
 
 The character of the person will be delineated as at the 
 time of writing, and not its general features. If the letter 
 is written under the influence of combativeness, acquisi- 
 tiveness, or morality, of course, these particular organs will 
 be delineated Urger than they really are. 
 
 The organization of the psychometrist affects the deline- 
 ation. If he possess large and active ideality, and the writer 
 of the autograph has it small, he will be very apt to deline- 
 ate it larger than it should be. This error is of little account 
 in the more impressible minds, but is very serious in those of 
 a lower order of impressibility. 
 
 The reading of character is not the only application of 
 this discovery. It is a good barque for the historian and 
 antiquarian, carrying them up the stream of time — far be- 
 yond the confines of written records. How grand would be 
 the true character of Alexander, Caesar, or Napoleon, ob- 
 tained in this manner, free from the prejudices of their biog- 
 raphers and their times! We are guided by fragments in 
 our course. The linen which shrouds the mummies of Egypt 
 reveals the character of that class who were considered 
 worthy of embalming, and a fragment of Herculaneum gives 
 Roman character two thousand years ago. The characters 
 of the men who scattered mounds and fortifications over the 
 American continent may be determined by their relics. 
 
 Nor does this all-penetrating science rest here. It takes 
 the paleontologist by the hand, and leads him down through 
 the carboniferous shales and sandstones, and by aid of a 
 fragment of organic remains gives him a perfect view of the 
 world at that age of development. 
 
150 
 
 HOW TO WIN; 
 
 Geologists have long sought to determine the real aspect 
 of ancient nature; but, having no grounds on which to rest 
 their speculations, of couise, they were only reckless efforts 
 of the imagination. It is said, the world was made for the 
 use of man, and beautified to give him enjoyment. All the 
 beauty and grandeur of previous times, however, is shut out 
 from his gaze; but this science opens to view the vista of the 
 ages. 
 
 By the aid of psychometry the character, appearance and 
 habits of races which have long since vanished from the 
 earth have been accurately described. The aura surround- 
 ing a fragment from a tomb thousands of years old is suffi- 
 cient to impress upon the brain of a sensitive the history of 
 those ancient times. Truly we are led to the conclusion 
 that the marvels of magnetism and the powers of the human 
 soul are far more wonderful than the wildest dreams of the 
 imagination and all the fictions of Fairyland. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Incomprehensibility of Mind. One law holds good in the 
 entire Domains of Magr)etism. 
 
 ^UDSON TUTTLE says: From the normal state to 
 
 the gateway of another sphere, where the silver cord, 
 which unites the mortal with the immortal, is broken, 
 a wide interval exists. In the normal the material has the 
 ascendency, and the spiritual is subordinate. At death the 
 spirit obtains complete ascendency, and the body fades. 
 Between the extremes the two are variously blended, as light 
 and darkness at morning; night representing the body, light 
 the spiritual life, which slowly breaks on the horizon, grad- 
 ually increasing, until the sun at last pours a flood of splen- 
 dor above the grey clouds of morning. Then the spirit is 
 free, and beholds the supernal light of the spheres. 
 
 By Hypnotism and Mesmeric Clairvoyance the phenomena 
 of death are obtained, and its laws can be studied. It is 
 then the right means to employ, for by it the spirit is reached 
 and analyzed. 
 
 Spirit, and its essence, the mind, evade the scalpel of the 
 dissector; it cannot be examined in the crucible or retort; it 
 is unseen by the eye, unheard by the ear, and is only recog- 
 
 161 
 
i52 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 nized by its effects. Yet it must be material in some sub- 
 limated form, or the effect of materiality, for without an 
 adequate cause there can be no effect. 
 
 The phenomena of physical agents cannot unlock its mys- 
 terious domain; and if anything is learned of its nature, it 
 must be by studying the subject, not by the rushlight of 
 metaphysics, but by the clear light of positive facts. 
 
 However dependent it may appear to be on the body, 
 there is an extensive range of facts which prove that under 
 certain conditions it may become independent. When 
 studied on the plane of physical science, it seems to have an 
 exclusive dependence on the body, living where it lives, and 
 dying where it dies. But there is a higher position from 
 which to study mentality. It is unique, and must be studied 
 by the light of itself. The recent discoveries in mental im- 
 pressibility, clairvoyance, etc., open a wide avenue for the 
 student to enter the halls of mind. The opportunity has 
 been eagerly seized. Forsaking the beaten path of the 
 metaphysician, the enquirers have pushed bodily into the 
 realm of facts and causes, and sought to construct theories 
 in harmony with nature. 
 
 The observed facts of magnetism show that mind can in 
 different degrees become independent of the physical body, 
 and in proportion as it becomes independent does its spiritual 
 perceptions become acute. This independence regards the 
 senses and the entire organism, and the mind rises above the 
 aid it furnishes, seeing, hearing, and feeling, independent of 
 its organism. For classification of facts, the mind may be 
 considered in six different states or degrees. 
 
 1. The natural state of activity and rest, 
 
 2. The impressible state. 
 
 3. Magnetic. 
 
 4. Clairvoyant. 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 5 . Super-Clairvoyant. 
 
 6, Death, or the independent spirit condition. 
 
 1. The Natural State of Activity and Rest. — In this state 
 the mind is chained to the body, and its manifestations are 
 limited by the capacity of the latter. It sees with the eyes, 
 hears with the ears, and feels through the agency of the sen- 
 satory nerves. To all appearances it is indissolubly con- 
 nected with it, and from facts elicited, from this state, the 
 sceptic triumphantly exclaims, that it is as rational to look 
 for the hum of the bee, after the insect has passed on its 
 busy wings, as for mind after the death of the body. 
 
 In this state there is a perfect union of the two, and their 
 action is so blended that it is with extreme difficulty that the 
 manifestations of one can be distinguished from those of the 
 other. The mind never grasps anything by intuition while in 
 this state, but is content to plod in the groveling externalisms 
 of life, reiving wholly on the five senses for its knowledge. 
 
 2. The Impressible State or Degree, — By this state we 
 mean that condition in which the individual is susceptible 
 to the influence of surrounding objects and minds. It is the 
 normal condition of nearly one-fourth of the Anglo-Saxon 
 race. It varies in degree from the impressibility which 
 shapes our attractions and repulsions, to that which enters 
 the secret chambers of another’s thoughts, and makes itself 
 familiar with the innermost shadings of character. In the 
 superior conditions of this state, psychometric delineations 
 are made perfect according to the degree of impressibility, 
 and the peculiar influence of individuals become perceptible. 
 
 3. The Magnetic State is a higher degree of the last. It 
 is not necessarily induced by an operator, instances occuring 
 repeatedly where it has been entered spontaneously. 
 
 The mind is one step farther removed from the body, and 
 now first manifests its independence by seeing, hearing, 
 
HOW TO WIN, 
 
 1 54 
 
 feeling without the aid of the bodily organs, and reading the 
 thoughts of those with whom it comes in contact. 
 
 It may be produced by disease. 
 
 Mrs Sanby relates an instance of a young friend who had 
 the regular functions of the nervous system overthrown by 
 the sudden news of the death of her lather. During the at- 
 tacks peculiar to the disease thus induced, which is known 
 to physicians as the Protean disorder, she possessed all the 
 powers of the true somnambulist. The extraordinary powers 
 communicated to the other senses by the temporary suspen- 
 sion of one or two of them, are beyond credibility to those 
 who do not witness it; all colors she can distinguish with the 
 greatest correctness by night or by day; ^ ^ and I may 
 
 safely say as well on any part of her body as with her hands. 
 She can not only read with the greatest rapidity any writing 
 that is legible to us, music, etc., with the mere passing of her 
 fingers over it, whether in a dark or light room, (for her sight 
 is for the most part suspended under the paroxysm,) but she 
 can read any book or writing by simply placing her hand on 
 the page. Such facts not only prove the possible independ- 
 ence of the spirit from the body, but also that it acquires a 
 sense superior to the five bodily senses. 
 
 This state can be produced by a Hypnotist whose positive 
 sphere blends with and over-rules the negative sphere of the 
 impressible subject. 
 
 4. Clairvoyance. — The supremacy of one mind over 
 another is best seen in clairvoyance, in which mind rises 
 entirely above the corporeal senses, sees objects at the 
 remotest distance, hears and feels independent of the body, 
 and of all physical organisms. 
 
 5. The Super-clairvoyant is a state of independent clair- 
 voyance — another step upwards — in which the spirit leaves 
 the body, and, united with it only by the finest cord, traver- 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS 
 
 155 
 
 ses the remotest regions, converses with superior intelli- 
 gences, and after its wanderings again returns to the physical 
 body. During the continuance of this state the body is 
 motionless, vitality almost ceases, the blood scarcely flows in 
 the veins, and all the other appearances are those of death. 
 
 6. Death, or the Independent Spiritual State. — When the 
 cord which unites the spirit with the body is broken, death 
 results, and the spirit cannot again enter its earthly taber- 
 nacle. The vital principle which animates its mechanism 
 has fled, and as a useless garment, it moulders back to earth. 
 
 How closely super- clairvoyance approaches death is seen 
 in Cahagnet’s seance with his ecstatic Adele. She had re- 
 peatedly assured him that there was great danger in her 
 ecstasy, as it might be carried too far, and her spirit be com- 
 pletely severed from her body. He wished to satisfy him- 
 self on this point, and allowed her to sink as deeply into 
 that state as she pleased, having another clairvoyant to 
 watch her, and give the alarm should anything serious occur. 
 
 At length, the latter exclaimed that he had lost sight of 
 her. On examination, not the slightest pulse was discernible; 
 and holding a mirror to her lips it was tarnished. He mag- 
 netized her with the most powerful efforts of his will, but for 
 a long time could not produce the slightest effect. Her first 
 words were. “Why have you called me back? It was all over 
 with me; but God, moved by your prayer, sent me back to 
 you. No more shall I be permitted to return to Heaven. I 
 am punished ^ * I shall no longer be able to ascend to 
 
 Heaven; but, had it not been for you, I should have been 
 there now, and forever.’’ 
 
 Death opens the portals to the next sphere, and the spirit 
 always sees its spirit friends before it departs. In illustration 
 of both the foregoing positions, we introduce the following 
 facts: — 
 
166 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 It has been remarked that when a person faints he loses 
 all remembrance, and passes into a state of total forgetful- 
 ness; but if the syncope be prolonged to the average of death, 
 and the person then recovers, he will remember things which 
 occurred in that state. In other words, the memory is a 
 blank in the first stages of mesmerism, but in the higher 
 stages, bordering on death, it is active. The relation of in- 
 stances to this point will illustrate. 
 
 A lady departed this life under an influence which caused 
 repeated fainting.*^ When she recovered from the first con- 
 dition of syncope, she appeared unconscious of what had 
 transpired. She sunk again, and revived; it was still the 
 same. She fainted still more profoundly, yet, when she 
 revived, could not recall her thoughts. At length she 
 seemed entirely gone, and her friends thought the struggle 
 was passed; but she revived, this time fully conscious of what 
 she saw in the trance state, which now began to dawn, as the 
 spiritual rose above the material, and clasping her hands 
 together, exclaimed, “Ah, I was in an entirely new place!’’ 
 and fell back, this time, into the embrace of death, which 
 transported her immortal spirit to that beautiful place she 
 saw in her previous trance, while the cast off body remained 
 to moulder back to dust. 
 
 Dr. Rush records an instance where a man supposed dead 
 recovered. While in his trance, his mind was extraordinarly 
 active, and he heard and saw unutterable things, St. Paul, 
 in a similar state, could not tell whether he was in the body 
 or out of it, nor could he describe by words what he saw. 
 
 A case is recorded of a revolutionary officer, who, on his 
 death bed, made an agreement with his daughter, that when 
 the new world revealed itself to him he would press her hand. 
 
 *Cause and Cure of Infidelity, by David Nelson, p. 264. 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 157 
 
 He was a good and truthful man, yet his mind was clouded 
 with doubts, and he feared to approach the dark river. Hour 
 after hour she sat holding his hand, waiting the promised 
 signal. The struggle had passed. He lay still and passive, 
 drawing the slow, gurgling breath which proclaims dissolu- 
 tion. One by one his senses were closed, his vision failed, 
 his hearing, his speech; yet life remained. Still the spirit was 
 not sufficiently free to see its future abode. At length that 
 super* clairvoyant stage was reached; he pressed his daugh- 
 ter’s hand; a gleam of light radiated his countenance; and 
 that moment the breath ceased, and the spirit soared to its 
 immortal home. 
 
 These are the fundamental propositions: — Mind can exist 
 independent of the physical body; Mind is referable to the 
 spiritual body. In their support we bring forward the vast 
 volumes of facts of prevision, prophecy, clairvoyance, and 
 magnetism. It is useless to give a detail of facts with which 
 everyone the least versed in psychological science is familiar. 
 Suffice it to glance at the clairvoyant subject, and remark 
 the relations which exists between the mind and the body. 
 
 The subject has entered the impressible or clairvoyant s tate. 
 
 Slowly the vital powers sink until the body becomes as it 
 were dead. It is insensible to pain. Even in the excito-motor 
 nerves when lacerated or burned there is neither sensation 
 nor movement. The mind can see and hear at an immense 
 distance, or else it leaves the body and traverses the regions 
 of space. It reads the thoughts of persons at a great dis* 
 tance, and when it comes back retains a vivid remembrance 
 of the strange scenes it has witnessed; and testifies to the 
 fact that it was really detached, except by a slender connec- 
 tion, from the body. 
 
 From the normal state to the death of the body, or com- 
 plete separation from it of the spirit, are successive steps by 
 
158 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 which the mind leaves the physical form. In the normal 
 state it is inseparably united; then it rises partially above it, 
 and manifests the newly -acquired faculty of impressibility; 
 then it becomes magnetic and clairvoyant, ani exhibits a 
 noble freedom from corporeal restraints. It sees when the 
 eyes are closed, hears the slightest sound when the ears are 
 tightly sealed, and by its superior knowledge conclusively 
 shows that the body is rather detrimental than auxiliary to 
 the expansion of thought. 
 
 In the normal state there is a mutual dependence of the 
 mind and body which qualifies man for the earthly sphere. 
 Bjrn in intimate relations, nourished together, supported by 
 the aid they furnish each other, there is of necessity a remark- 
 able dependence. But on the part of the mind this is only 
 seeming, not real. Back of the nerves and brain, of cell and 
 cell- contents, there is a necessity for higher and superior 
 energy — ^just as beneath all the changing phenomena of 
 external nature great and incontrovertible principles are seen 
 upholding on their Atlas shoulders all created things. We 
 must go farther than matter to account for the phenomena 
 observed. We cannot refer mind entirely to the body. It 
 does not originate in the chemical transformations in the 
 brain; these are means of its manifestations; and, when the 
 complicated nervous structure is described, it is considered 
 as the engine without steam, nicely adjusted for the opera- 
 tions of intelligence, but inert until moved by that superior 
 which composes the spirit body. 
 
 If mind is wholly dependent on the physical body it could 
 not act without it. Clairvoyance would be as impossible for 
 man as for brutes. But clairvoyance is established, and yields 
 a weighty argument that mind can become independent. 
 
 If, in clairvoyance, all means of deception are destroyed, 
 and the subject retains all the senses unimpaired, although 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 150 
 
 the external organs are sealed, then the independent exist- 
 ence of mind is demonstrated. Not only one case, but in- 
 numerable ones have and are occurring of the strictest 
 independent prevision and spirtual sight. 
 
 If the decline of the intellect, in old age, is brought for- 
 ward in support of the dependence of mind on the body, the 
 counterfact can be arrayed against the conclusions deduced 
 therefrom. 
 
 There are men who, like Humboldt, to their oldest age 
 retain their intellectual powers unimpaired, and like him, 
 can note the decay of the physical form, mark each change 
 and calculate with the calm eye of philosophy the period of 
 dissolution. He devoted life exclusively to the cultiva- 
 tion of his intellect and advanced beyond the inflaence of 
 physical decay, While his body was falling into the grave 
 his spirit was unimpaired, and ready to become an independ- 
 ent being as soon as the thread which bound it was broken. 
 
 Mind is an effort of superior causes, and if those causes 
 do not reside in the physical form, there must be some higher 
 source to which it is referable. Beneath the external phe- 
 nomena is the spiritual nature of man, as incarnated in his 
 spiritual body, to which mind must be referred. 
 
 There must be a medium of communication, otherwise no 
 influence could pass from one individual to another. Even 
 intangible motion cannot be communicated without the in- 
 tervention of tangible matter. If one individual influences 
 the thoughts and actions of another in a distant apartment, 
 simply by the effect of his will, then it is self-evident that 
 something passes from one to the other. This proposition 
 does not require proof, for it is self-evident that nothing can- 
 not create something. 
 
 What is this something.^ Facts conflict with hypothesis 
 of its being matter radiated from one individual to another, 
 
160 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 as light was once supposed to be transmitted. On the other 
 hand, all these phenomena show a striking relationship to 
 light, heat and kindred agents, and whatever explains one, 
 is alike applicable to all. We have already discussed this 
 subject, and to the universal ether-ocean referred these phe- 
 nomena, and as waves in this medium, of a certain length, 
 produce light, of another length heat, of another magnetism, 
 so of another length they produce psychological phenomena. 
 As a luminous body is capable of producing waves of light, 
 a living being is capable of producing zoethic waves. These 
 waves are transmitted with greater rapidity than vibrations 
 of light, their velocity being about 250 000 miles per second. 
 
 Now, let us inquire how, by means of these undulations, 
 one individual can influence another. 
 
 According to the above theory, the brain vibrates like the 
 strings of a musical instrument, and as no two brains are 
 exactly alike, so no two vibrate alike. This illustration is 
 more than merely an illustration. Both depend on similar 
 laws, for the strings excite vibrations in the air which are 
 felt by the tympanum of the ear; the brain excites undula- 
 tions in ether which are impressed on other brains. The 
 nervous system alone can feel those waves. The string of 
 the instrument excites similar vibrations in contiguous 
 strings; for the atmosphere transmits the waves of sound, 
 or being set in motion by one string, by its momentum sets 
 the other string in vibration. 
 
 This is very beautifully shown by a simple experiment, 
 which well illustrates the method by which mind influences 
 mind. 
 
 If a plate of glass is strewn with sand, and while held in 
 a horizontal position, a bow be drawn across its edge, a 
 musical sound will be produced from the vibration of the 
 plate, and the sjnd by the vibrat on, will be thrown into. 
 
Art Wins the Heart. 
 
UBRARY 
 OF fM 
 
 -'fHVERsiTY OF lUj^ 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 16U 
 
 various geometric lines, according to the note produced — 
 each note giving rise to a figure peculiar to itself. So inva- 
 riably is this observed, that a piece of music might be ac- 
 curately written from the forms assumed by the sand. 
 
 Now, if a piece of parchment or paper be stretched, with 
 proper precaution, across the top of a large bell glass and 
 strewn with sand, and the glass plate be held horizontally 
 over it, and the bow drawn across its edge, the forms as- 
 sumed by the sand on the paper will accurately correspond 
 with the forms on the glass. If the plate is slowly removed 
 to greater and greater distances, the same correspondence 
 will exist, until the distance is too great for the air to trans- 
 mit the vibrations. 
 
 If the plate, while vibrating, is held perpendicularly to 
 the horizon, the figures on the paper will form into straight 
 lines parallel to the surface of the plate, by creeping along 
 it, instead of dancing up and down. If the plate be made 
 to turn around on its vertical diameter while vibrating, the 
 lines on the^paper will revolve, exactly following the motions 
 of the plate. 
 
 When a slow air is played on a flute near this apparatus, 
 each note calls up a particular form in the sand, which the 
 next note effaces to establish its own. The motion of the 
 sand will even detect sounds that are inaudible. Besieged 
 armies have discovered the direction in which the counter- 
 mine was working, by the vibration of sand on a drumhead. 
 
 Professor Wheatstone has beautifully illustrated this cor- 
 respondence, or rather sympathy. If a sounding-board is 
 placed so as to resound to all instruments of an orchestra, 
 connected by a metallic rod of considerable length, with the 
 sounding-board of a harp or a piano, the latter will respond 
 to the exact notes of the former. 
 
J62 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 The effect of this experiment is very pleasant; the sounds, 
 indeed, have so little intensity as to be scarcely heard at a 
 distance from the reciprocating instrument, but on placing 
 the ear close to it, a diminutive band is heard, in which all 
 the instruments preserve their distinctive qualities and the 
 pianos and fortes, the crescendos and diminuendos, their 
 relative contrasts. 
 
 The nervous system is inconceivably finer organized than 
 the most perfect instrument, and if such delicate sympathy is 
 exhibited by the latter, how much more perfect must we ex- 
 pect it in the former. The nerves, like tense strings, feel 
 the slightest vibration in ether. The brain records each vi- 
 bration so received. Such is the general statement, which 
 teaches that all minds can influence each other. 
 
 Light falls on all substances alike, but is very differently 
 affected. One class of bodies absorb all except the yellow 
 rays; another all but the blue; another all but the red. 
 Why is this? Because these substances are so organized 
 that they respond (sympathize) only to the waves of these 
 colors. 
 
 Some individuals have the ear so organized that they can 
 hear certain sounds, but are totally deaf to others. The 
 waves of sound strike all tympanii alike; yet in these in- 
 stances they are incapable of responding to certain waves. 
 Some persons who delight in music, although the lower notes 
 are plainly heard, as soon as the tune rises to a high key, 
 cannot hear a single sound. In others this is reversed; the 
 high notes are audible, but the low ones are lost. The eye 
 of some individuals is similarly arranged, some colors being 
 undiscernible, while others are perceptible. For the cause 
 of such effects we are not so much to examine the ether as 
 the construction of the nerves. We know that the same 
 vibrations exist in all instances, but owing to peculiarities of 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 163 
 
 organization many of them are not felt. The law is mani- 
 fest in tlie experiment with two musical strings stretched 
 parallel to each other, one being twice or three times the 
 length of the other. If the shorter is set in vibration, the 
 longer will divide into two or three segments and vibrate in 
 the same ratio. In order to have one string cause vibrations 
 in another, there must exist some such relations. There 
 must be a similarity. So, for one brain to transmit its vi- 
 brations to another brain, a similarity must exist. As a 
 musical string extended over a bar of wood or iron cannot 
 transmit its state of vibration, so two brains entirely differ- 
 ently organized cannot respond to the vibrations of each 
 other. All brains throw out vibrations, as all strings when 
 extended give off waves of sound; but as the string must 
 have a corresponding string to receive its vibrations, so the 
 brain must have a harmoniously tuned brain to receive its 
 vibrations. 
 
 Here we arrive at the philosophy of all psychological in- 
 fluence, whether received under the name of magnetism, 
 hypnotism, mental influence or spiritual impression. One 
 law underlies and ramifies through all these diversified 
 effects. 
 
 When two individuals come in contact, if not harmoni- 
 ously organized, at least in some point, they do not exert a 
 mental influence on each other; but if, as previously shown, 
 the necessary conditions of organization are complied with, 
 they will, in a greater or lesser degree, exert such influence 
 on each other. 
 
 This is unavoidable, whether the will is exerted or not: 
 but if the stronger will is exerted, its power is proportion- 
 ally greater and it will subdue and control, that is, mesmer- 
 ize the weaker, and the peculiar phenomena arising from one 
 person having his will controlled by another will result, 
 
164 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 So far we have considered the relations of mind as con- 
 nected with the body. Now let us turn to the relation these 
 facts and theorizings bear to spiritual intercourse. 
 
 It is not the body which magnetizes nor is it magnetized, 
 it is the mind; and it produces these effects outside of the 
 physical system. In proof we need but adduce the fact that 
 one person can magnetize another by the simple power of 
 will, though the two are a thousand miles apart. Here we 
 see unaided mind producing the most startling zoethic phe- 
 nomena, and, as it were, detached from the physical body. 
 
 A mind thus situated is in the same position as a spirit. 
 It is freed from the physical, except that it has a greater 
 freedom, and is more exquisitely susceptible to the influence 
 of other minds. Hence it will be readily perceived that 
 there is not the least obstacle in the way of one spirit im- 
 pressing his thoughts on another harmonious spirit. The 
 same law holds good between them as between magnetizer 
 and magnetized. And as a man is a spirit incarcerated in 
 a body, and in that respect only differing from a disem- 
 bodied spirit, his want of susceptibility alone debars 
 him from intercourse with spirits above him. 
 
 It is remarked as strange that so few can hold this inter- 
 course, but is it not equally strange that so few are capable 
 of passing into the mesmeric state.^ Not one in a thousand 
 possesses this faculty sufficiently to read the thoughts of 
 others, yet it must be possessed in an eminent degree to 
 read sentence after sentence from our minds. How much 
 more susceptible must the mind become to write a volume, 
 word by word. 
 
 Suppose you who doubt, magnetize the most impressible 
 person you can find and when you think him completely 
 under your control, endeavor to make him speak what you 
 think; and how many instances will occur.^ If the subject 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 165 
 
 be very good, the ideas will be given, but the wording will 
 be incorrect. 
 
 The following instance illustrates. The subject was ex- 
 tremely susceptible. It is reported by Capron, in Deleuze. 
 A sealed letter was given to the magnetized who read it: — 
 
 '‘'‘No other than the eye of Omnipotence can read this in this 
 envelope. 1^37* 
 
 The true reading was: — 
 
 '‘'On other than the eye of Omnipotence can read this sen- 
 tence in this envelope Troy, N. Y., August, 1837. 
 
 Many refer this and kindred facts to spiritual intercourse 
 rather than a law of mind; but it is preferable to meet the 
 subject fairly and explain the cause of phenomena, rather 
 than refer such as we cannot account for to spirits, for the 
 sole reason of our own inability to explain them. Such 
 facts as are really spiritual we shall refer to that source, but 
 such as are not, we shall explain by other means. 
 
 Such are the difficulties of spiritual intercourse. The 
 magnetizer will appreciate them when he endeavors to im- 
 press his thoughts on his subject. But he can do so, and so 
 can we and often with complete success. But the sources 
 of error are numerous, the channels imperfect and hence 
 sentences will flow widely different to those we strive to 
 utter. 
 
 The Aladin lamp, ever producing startling apparations, 
 ever overturning and revolutionizing the physical and spirit- 
 ual worlds! It is a mighty word synonymous with progress. 
 The human heart yearns for advancement, and only through 
 this gateway can it go. Well and grandly has many a 
 writer written of mutation, metamorphosis — the ebb and flow 
 of existence. Of it an Arabian writer has told a beautiful 
 story containing a deep, philosophical truth. “One day,' 
 says he, “I passed by a very ancient and populous city, and 
 
166 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 asked one of its inhabitants how long it had been founded.’* 
 ‘It is indeed a mighty city,’ replied he; ‘we know not how 
 long it has existed, and our ancestors on this subject were 
 as ignorant as ourselves.’ ‘Five centuries afterwards, as I 
 passed by the same place, I could not perceive the least ves- 
 tige of a city. I demanded of a peasant who was gathering 
 herbs on its former site, how long it had been destroyed.* 
 ‘In sooth a strange question,* replied he; ‘the ground here 
 has never been different from what you now behold it.’ 
 ‘Was there not of old,’ said I, ‘a splendid city here.^ * 
 ‘Never,’ answered he, ‘so far as we have seen; and never 
 did our fathers speak to us of any such.’ On my return 
 there five hundred years afterwards, I found the sea in the 
 same place, and on its shores were a party of fisher- 
 men, of whom I enquired how long the land had been cov- 
 ered by the water. ‘Is this a question/ said they, for a man 
 like you? This spot has always been what it is now.* I 
 again returned five hundred years afterwards, and the sea 
 had disappeared, I inquired of a man who stood alone 
 upon the spot, how long ago this change had taken place, 
 and he gave me the same answer I had received before. 
 Lastly, on coming back, after an equal lapse of time, I 
 found there a flourishing city, more populous and more rich 
 in beautiful buildings than the city I had seen the first time; 
 and when I would fain have informed myself concerning its 
 origin, the inhabitants answered me, ‘Its rise is lost in re- 
 mote antiquity. We are ignorant how long it has existed; 
 and our fathers were, on this subject, as ignorant as we 
 ourselves.’ 
 
 Such is the perpetual revolution and unrest of the world. 
 Where the miasmatic marsh putrefies in the sun to day, to- 
 morrow the rank flags and loathsome reptiles give place to 
 populous streets and splendid edifices. Where the rude 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 167 
 
 canoe battles the stream, to-morrow its pride shall be con- 
 quered by the broad-chested steamer. The ocean swallows 
 up its coasts in one place, to vomit them in another. Its 
 bed, like the firm land, is unstable. One jar of the earth- 
 quake, and they rise or fall. Mountains jut up, around 
 which clouds nestle or valleys gape, in whose depths reigns 
 eternal night. Continents rear their broad backs from the 
 sea, or disappear. Oceans are formed or converted into dry 
 land. 
 
 The globe, internally and externally, is replete with change. 
 All beneath is a fluctuating sea of fire, spouting through vol- 
 canic vents, or, when confined, rocking the unstable crust. 
 Around us spread oceans with ceaseless tidal flow, and above 
 us expands an atmosphere which never rests. 
 
 The stars of heaven sway hither and thither. The moon 
 periodically grows and fades. The year grows old and dies. 
 Ever is it putting on different robes. In the spring we wel- 
 come a joyous maiden with blushing cheeks and sunny curls, 
 blue laughing eyes, dropping with tears of happiness. She is 
 crowned with flowers, her breath is redolent with the sweet- 
 ness of clover, the increase of flocks and herds are her retinue; 
 the young birds warbling joyfully, and the bleating of lamb- 
 kins, her musical voice. In summer the maid matures and 
 throws aside her flowers. She labors in the field, the orchard, 
 the vineyard. By autumn she has become a dignified matron, 
 with a garb of russet brown; her flower- wreath is exchanged 
 for one of heads of yellow grain and mingled fruits, and she 
 gathers into her lap sheaves of the harvest, the ears of the 
 golden corn, the luscious apple, the peach, and the grape. 
 
 But ere she enjoys the fruits of her toil, she becomes a 
 maniac, and dressed in fantastic garb, hides herself in October 
 haze, and finishes by killing the flowers and disrobing the 
 trees, which she has labored to feed and clothe. The frosts 
 
168 
 
 HOW TO W[N, 
 
 wrinkle her features; the cold winds bend her form; she tot- 
 ters onward awhile a decirpit hag, clad in ragged mourning 
 weeds; totters on through the snow, with the wild winds 
 tossing her silvery hair, and the enraged trees shrieking above 
 her head; totters on through the storm, over frozen streams 
 wrinkled with congealing agony, contorted like serpents 
 frozen, by ice-sheeted lakes, over which the wind raves, tot- 
 ters on by cottages frozen without, ice bound, icicle-eaved, 
 but warm-hearthed and warm-hearted within; stops not, but 
 on in the pine forest, where the snow- laden trees have lost 
 their green tresses, falls down and expires. To-morrow 
 another blooming maiden comes with cheeks as red and 
 breath as fragrant, as though the day was eternal. So, 
 ever phoenix-like, youth springs from the ashes of decay. 
 The fallen tree moulders back to dust, and is absorbed by 
 other trees, by insects burrowing in its structure, by animals 
 cropping the green grass growing above it. 
 
 The atom which existed yesterday in the ear of corn, to-day 
 becomes assimilated in the animal, to-morrow may become a 
 part of man, and thereafter originate an idea, which, may 
 overturn empires and states. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 *QOLDEN GEMS OF LIFE. 
 
 [E CAN conceive of no spectacle better calculated to 
 lead the mind to serious reflections than that of an 
 aged person, who has misspent along life, and who, 
 when standing near the end of life's journey, only to recall op- 
 portunities unimproved. Now that it is all too late, he can 
 plainly see where he passed by in heedless haste the real 
 gems of life in pursuit of the glittering gewgaws of pleasure, 
 but which, when gained, like the apples of Sodom, turned to 
 ashes in his very grasp. What a different course would he 
 pursue would time but turn backwards in its flight and he 
 be allowed to commence anew to weave the “tangled web of 
 life.” But this is not vouchsafed him. Regrets are useless, 
 save when they awaken in the minds of youth a wish to avoid 
 errors and a desire to gather only the true “jewels of life.” 
 Life, with its thousand voices wailing and exulting, reprov- 
 ing and exalting, is calling upon you. Arouse, and gird 
 yourself for the race. Up and onward, and 
 
 ‘‘Waking, 
 
 Be awake to sleep no more.” 
 
 *Selected in part from our large work (608 pages) bearing this title. 
 Price $3.00. 169 
 
170 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 Not alone by its ultimate destiny, but by its immediate 
 obligations, uses, enjoyments, and advantages, must be esti- 
 mated the infinite and untold value of life. It is a great 
 mission on which you are sent. It is the choicest gift in the 
 bounty of heaven committed to your wise and dilligent keep- 
 ing, and is associated with countless benefits and priceless 
 boons which heaven alone has power to bestow. But, alas! 
 its possibilities for woe are equal to those of weal. 
 
 It is a crowning triumph or a disastrous defeat, garlands 
 or chains, a prison or a prize. We need the eloquence of 
 Ulysses to plead in our behalf, the arrows of Hercules to do 
 battle on our side. It is of the utmost importance to you to 
 make the journey of life a successful one. To do so you must 
 begin with right ideas. If you are mistaken in your present 
 estimates it is best to be undeceived at the first, even though 
 it cast a shadow on your brow. It is true that life is not 
 mean, but it is grand. It is also a real and earnest thing. 
 It has homely details, painful passages, and a crown of care 
 for every brow. 
 
 We seek to inspire you with a wish and a will to meet it 
 with a brave spirit. We seek to point you to its nobler mean- 
 ings and its higher results. The tinsel with which your 
 imagination has invested it will all fall of itself so soon as 
 you have fairly entered on its experience. So we say to you, 
 take up life’s duties now, learn something of what life is be- 
 fore you take upon yourself its great responsibilities. 
 
 Great destinies lie shrouded in your swiftly passing hours; 
 great responsibilities stand in the passages of every day life; 
 great dangers- lie hidden in the by-paths of life’s great high- 
 way; great uncertainty hangs over your future history. God 
 has given you existence, with full power and opportunity to 
 improve it and to be happy; he has given you equal power to 
 despise the gift and be wretched; which you will do is the 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 171 
 
 great problem to be solved by your choice and conduct. 
 Your bliss or misery in two worlds hangs pivoted in the 
 balance. 
 
 With God and a wish to do right in human life it becomes 
 essentially a noble and beautiful thing Every youth should 
 form at the outset of his career the solemn purpose to make 
 the most and the best of the powers which God has given 
 him, and so turn to the best possible account every outward 
 advantage within his reach. This purpose must carry with 
 the assent of the reason, the approval of the conscience, the 
 sober judgment of the intellect. It should thus embody 
 within itself whatever is vehement in desire, inspiring in 
 hope, thrilling in enthusiasm, and intense in desperate 
 resolve. To live a life with such a purpose is a peerless 
 privilege, no matter at what cost of transient pain or unre- 
 mitting toil. 
 
 Many people ask for information regarding Personal Mag- 
 netism with but one motive, and that motive is to use it to 
 gain power over others; some desire to use it for success in 
 business, others for success in love and we can in most every 
 case point out the road to them, by means of our knowledge 
 of Occult laws whereby they may gratify their desires. It is 
 natural and right that the desires which spring up unbidden 
 in the human breast should be gratified when the right of 
 no one else is interfered with, and the men who have strong 
 desires and a determination to attain them are always pow- 
 erful levers in society. Ungratified ambitions and unsatis- 
 fied desires are the whips and spurs which give keenness and 
 zest to life, and a life of success means nothing less than a 
 continual overcoming of obstacles and a continual gratifica- 
 tion of desires. 
 
 But leaving out of the question altogether the added 
 power which comes with Personal Magnetism. We hold 
 
172 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 that its best reward is in the added happiness and joy in 
 living which comes with the study itself. It brings with it 
 health, and yet its rewards are far sweeter than health, for 
 with the training necessary to master the study comes a 
 realization of one's own ability to rise above conflicting and 
 harassing conditions into a more serene and tranquil atmos- 
 phere, this alone is worth all the struggle and effort which it 
 costs; it arms those who consciously possess it with a sense 
 of invincible power; a knowledge of higher powers than most 
 men know anything of, and this knowledge brings a cheer- 
 fulness and hopefulness, a serenity and evenness of mind 
 that makes life a never ending pleasure. The rewards of 
 Personal Magnetism lie principally in the consciousness of 
 possessing it. 
 
 Personal Magnetism, is a thing above professions, call- 
 ings and creeds. It is a thing which brings to its nourish- 
 ment all good, and appropriates to its development of power 
 all evil. It is the greatest and best thing under the whole 
 heavens. Place can not enhance its honor; wealth can not 
 add to its value. Its course lies through true manhood and 
 womanhood; through true fatherhood and motherhood; 
 through true friendship and relationship of all legitimate 
 kinds — of all natural sorts whatever. It lies through sorrow 
 and pain and poverty and all earthly discipline. It lies 
 through unswerving trust in God and man It lies through 
 patient and self-denying heroism. It lies through all heaven 
 prescribed and conscientious duty; and it leads as straight 
 to heaven's brightest gate as the path of a sunbeam leads to 
 the bosom of a flower. 
 
 Many of you to-day are just starting on the duties of active 
 life. The volume of the future lies unopened before you. 
 Its covers are illuminated by the pictures of fancy, and its 
 edges are gleaming with the golden tints of hope. Vainly 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 173 
 
 you strive to loosen its wondrous clasp; ^is a task which 
 none but the hand of Time can accomplish. Life is. before 
 you — not earthly life alone, but life; a thread running inter- 
 minably through the warp of eternity. It is a sweet as well 
 as a great and wondrous thing. Man may make life what he 
 pleases and give it as much worth, both for himself and 
 others, as he has energy for. 
 
 The journey is a laborious one, and you must not expect 
 to find the road all smooth. And whether rich or poor, high 
 or low, you will be disappointed if you build on another 
 foundation. Take life like a man; take it just as though it 
 was as it is — an earnest, vital, essential affair. Take it just 
 as though a merry part in it — as though the world had 
 waited for your coming. Live for something, and for some- 
 thing worthy of life and its capabilities and opportunities, 
 for noble deeds and achievements. Every man and every 
 woman has his or her assignments in the duties and respon- 
 sibilities of daily life. We are in the world to make the 
 world better, to lift it up to higher levels of enjoyment and 
 progress, to make the hearts and homes brighter and hap- 
 pier by devoting to our fellows our best thoughts, activities, 
 and influences. 
 
 It is the motto of every true heart and the genius of every 
 noble life that no man liveth to himself — lives chiefly for his 
 own selfish good. It is a law of our intellectual and moral 
 being that we promote our own real happiness in the exact 
 proportions we contribute to the comfort and happiness of 
 others. Nothing worthy the name of happiness is the ex- 
 perience of those who live only for themselves, all oblivious 
 to the welfare of their fellows. That only is true philosophy 
 which recognizes and works out the principle in daily 
 life that— 
 
 ** Life was lent for noble deeds.” 
 
174 
 
 HOW TO WIN. 
 
 Life embraces in its comprehensiveness a just return of 
 failure and success as the result of individual perseverance 
 and labor. Live for something definite and practical; take 
 hold of things with a will, and they will yield to you and be- 
 come the ministers of your own happiness and that of others. 
 Nothing within the realm of the possible can withstand the 
 man or woman who is intelligently bent on success. Every 
 person carries within the key that unlocks either door of 
 success or failure. Which shall it be? All desire success; 
 the problem of life is its winning. 
 
 Strength, bravery, dexterity, and unfaltering nerve and 
 resolution must be the portion and attribute of those who 
 resolve to pursue fortune along the rugged road of life. Their 
 path will often lie amid rocks and crags, and not on lawns 
 and among lilies. A great action is always preceded by a 
 great purpose. History and daily life are full of examples 
 to show us that the measure of human achievements has 
 always been proportional to the amount of human daring 
 and doing. Deal with questions and facts of life as they 
 really are. What can be done, and is worth doing, do with 
 dispatch; what can not be done, or would be worthless when 
 done, leave for the idlers and dreamers along life’s highway. 
 
 Life often presents us with a choice of evils instead of 
 good; and if any one would get through life honorably and 
 peacefully he must learn to bear as well as forbear, to hold 
 the temper in subjection to the judgment, and to practice 
 self-denial in small as well as great things. Human life is 
 a watch-tower. It is the clear purpose of God that every 
 one — the young especially — should take their stand on this 
 tower, to look, listen, learn, wherever they go and where- 
 ever they tarry. Life is short, and yet for you it may be 
 long enough to lose your character, your constitution, or 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS 
 
 175 
 
 your estate; or, on the other hand, by diligence you can ac- 
 complish much within its limits. 
 
 If the sulptor’s chisel can make impressions on marble in 
 a few hours which distant eyes shall read and admire, if 
 the man of genius can create work in life that shall speak 
 the triumph of mind a thousand years hence, then may true 
 men and women, alive to the duty and obligations of exist- 
 ence, do infinitely more. Working on human hearts and 
 destinies, it is the prerogative to do imperishable work, to 
 build within life’s fleeting hours monuments that shall last 
 forever. If such grand possibilities lie within the reach of 
 our personal actions in the world how important that we 
 live for something every hour of our existence, and for some- 
 thing that is harmonious with the di gnity of our present 
 being and the grandeur of our future destiny. 
 
 A steady aim, with a strong arm, willing hands, and a res- 
 olute will, are the necessary requisites to the conflict which 
 begins anew each day and writes upon the scroll of yester- 
 day the actions that form one mighty column wherefrom true 
 worth is estimated. One day’s work left undone causes a 
 break in the great chain that years of toil may not be able 
 to repair. Yesterday was ours, but it is gone; to-day is all 
 we possess, for to-morrow we may never see; therefore, in the 
 hour of the present the seeds are planted whereby the har- 
 vest for good or evil is to be reaped. 
 
 To endure with cheerfulness, hoping for little, asking for 
 much, is, perhaps, tlie true plan. Decide at once upon a 
 noble purpose, then take it up bravely, bear it off joyfully, 
 lay it down triumphantly. Be industrious, be frugal, be 
 honest, deal with kindness with all who come in your way, 
 and if you do not prosper as rapidly as you would wish 
 depend upon it you will be happy. 
 
176 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 The web of life is drawn into the loom for us, but we weave 
 it ourselves. We throw our own shuttle and work our own 
 treadle. The warp is given us, but the woof we furnish — 
 find our own materials, and color and figure it to suit our- 
 selves. Every man is the architect of his own house, his 
 own temple of fame. If he builds one great, glorious, and 
 honorable, the merit and the bliss are his; if he rears a 
 polluted, unsightly, vice-haunted den, to himself the shame 
 and misery belongs. 
 
 Life is often but a bitter struggle from first to last with 
 many who wear smiling faces and are ever ready with a 
 cheerful word, when there is scarcely a shred left of the 
 hopes and opportunities which for years promised happiness 
 and content. But it is human still to strive and yearn and 
 grope for some unknown good that shall send all unrest and 
 troubles to the winds and settle down and over one’s life 
 with a halo of peace and satisfaction. The rainbow of hope 
 is always visible in the future. Life is like a winding lane — 
 on either side bright flowers and tempting fruits, which we 
 scarcely pause to admire or taste, so eager are we to pass to 
 an opening in the distance, which will be more beautiful. 
 
 We creep into childhood, bound into youth, sober into 
 manhood, and totter into old age. But through all let us so 
 live that when in the evening of life the golden clouds rest 
 sweetly and invitingly upon the golden mountains, and the 
 light of heaven streams down through the gathering mists of 
 death, we may have a peaceful and joyous entrance into that 
 world of blessedness, where the great riddle of life, whose 
 meaning, we can only guess at here below, will be unfolded 
 to us in the quick consciousness of a soul redeemed and 
 purified. 
 
 The harp holds in its wires the possibilities of noblest 
 chords; yet, if they be not struck, they must hang dull and 
 
Christmas Time. 
 
LIBRARY 
 OF THE 
 
 UMIVERSiTY OF ILilMOiS 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 177 
 
 useless. So the mind is vested with a hundred powers, that 
 must be smitten by a heavy hand to prove themselves the 
 offspring of divinity. 
 
 Welcome, then, adversity! Thy hand is cold and hard, 
 but it is the hand of a friend! Thy voice is stern and harsh, 
 but it is the voice of a friend! There is something sublime 
 in the resolute, fixed purpose of suffering without complain- 
 ing, which makes disappointment often better than success. 
 
 As full ears load and lay corn, so does too much fortune 
 bend and break the mind. It deserves to be considered, too, 
 as another advantage, that affliction moves pity, and recon- 
 ciles our very enemies; but prosperity provokes envy, and 
 loses us our very friends Again, adversity is a desolate 
 and abandoned state; the generality of people are like those 
 infamous animals that live only upon plenty and rapine; and 
 as rats and mice forsake a tottering house, so do these the 
 falling man. He that has never known adversity is but half 
 acquainted with others or with himself. Constant success 
 shows us but one side of the world; for as it surrounds us 
 with friends who tell us only of our merits, so it silences 
 those enemies from whom only we can learn our defects. 
 
 Adversity, sage, useful guest. 
 
 Severe instructor, but the best; 
 
 It is from thee alone we know 
 Justly to value things below. 
 
 Adversity exasperates fools, dejects cowards, draws out 
 the faculties of the wise and industrious, puts the modest 
 to the necessity of trying their skill, awes the opulent, and 
 makes the idle industrious. A smooth sea never made a 
 skillful mariner, neither do uninterrupted prosperity and 
 success qualify men for usefulness and happiness. The 
 storms of adversity, like those of the ocean, rouse the facul- 
 
178 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 ties, and excite the invention, produce, skill and fortitude 
 of the voyager. The martyrs of ancient times, in bracing 
 their minds to outward calamities, acquired a loftiness of 
 purpose and amoral heroism worth a lifetime of softness 
 and security. 
 
 It is good for man that he bear the yoke in his youth. 
 Oaks are made hard by strong discipline. As a gladiator 
 trained the body, so must we train the mind to self-sacrifice, 
 “to endure all things,’’ to meet and overcome difficulty and 
 danger. We must take the rough and thorny roads as well 
 as the smooth and pleasant; and a portion at least of our 
 daily duty must be hard and disagreeable; for the mind can- 
 not be kept strong and healthy in perpetual sunshine only, 
 and the most dangerous of all states is that of constantly 
 recurring plea sure, ease and prosperity. 
 
 It seems as if man were like the earth. It cannot bask 
 forever in sunshine. The snows of winter and frosts must 
 come and work in the ground and mellow it to make it 
 fruitful. A man upon whom continuous sunshine falls is 
 like the earth in August; he becomes parched and dry, and 
 hard and close-grained. To some men the winter and 
 spring come when they are young; others are born in sum- 
 mer and are only made fit to die by a winter of sorrow com- 
 ing to them when they are middle-aged or old. 
 
 It is not the nursling of wealth or fortune who has been 
 dandled into manhood on the lap of prosperity, that carries 
 away the world’s honors, or wins its mightiest influence, but 
 it is rather the man whose earlier years were cheered by 
 scarcely a single proffer of aid, or smile of approbation, and 
 who has drawn from adversity the elements of greatness. 
 The “talent” which prosperity “folded in a napkin,” the 
 rough hand of adversity shook out, 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 179 
 
 The men who stand boldly for the defense of the truth, in 
 the midst of the flood of errors that surround them, are not 
 the gentlemen of lily fingers who have been rocked in the 
 cradle of indulgence and caressed in the lap of luxury; but 
 they are the men whom necessity has called from the shade 
 of retirement to contend under the scorching rays of the 
 sun, with the stern realities of life with all its vicissitudes. 
 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. 
 The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man per- 
 fected without adversity. 
 
 The patient conquest of difficulties which rise in the reg- 
 ular and legitimate channels of business and enterprise, is 
 not only essential in securing the successes which you seek, 
 but it is essential to the preparation of your mind, requisite 
 for the enjoyment of your successes and for retaining them 
 when gained. 
 
 Adversity is the trial of principle. Without it a man 
 hardly knows whether he be honest or not. Night brings 
 out the stars as adversity shows us truths: we never see the 
 stars till we can see little or naught else; and thus it is with 
 truth. When you feel inclined to cry, just change your 
 mind and laugh. Nothing dries sooner than tears. 
 
 Adversity certainly has its uses and very valuble ones too. 
 It has been truly remarked that many a man, in losing his 
 fortune, has found himself. Adversity flattereth no man. 
 Oft from apparent ills our blessings rise. Who never fasts, 
 no banquet e’er enjoys. In prosperity be humble; in adver- 
 sity, cheerful. If you have the blues, go and see the poor- 
 est and sickest families within your knowledge. To bear 
 the sharp afflictions of life like men, we should also feel 
 them like men. The darker the setting, the brighter the 
 diamond. Probably we might often become reconciled 
 
180 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 to what we consider a hard lot by comparing ourselves with 
 the many who want what we possess rather than with the few 
 who possess what we want. He is happy whose circumstan- 
 ces suit his temper; but he is happier who can suit his tem- 
 per to his circumstances. There is a virtue in keeping up 
 appearances. He is a fool that grumbles at every little mis- 
 chance. Put the best foot forward, is an old and good 
 maxim. Don't run about and tell acquaintances that you 
 have been unfortunate; people do not like to have unfortu- 
 nate men for acquaintances. If the storm of adversity 
 whistles around you, whistle as bravely yourself; perhaps 
 the two whistles may make melody, 
 
 Adversity has no power to crush the spirit or subdue the 
 will of him who has drunk deep from the sources of knowl- 
 edge to develop his own soul forces. With a body thoroughly 
 under the control of the will, with the subtle fire of Magne- 
 tism in his blood, tingling through every vein and artery, 
 with a buoyant spirit that no misfortune can overcome: he 
 can laugh at danger, and resolutely refuse to accept defeat. 
 There is no failure possible for him whose life is upright 
 and who scorns to listen to the temptations of dishonor. 
 Failure only comes to those whose health gives way or 
 whose spirit is broken by temporary misfortune. But the 
 fortunate possessor of Personal Magnetism, though he may 
 for a time be involved in loss, or sorrow, or business depres- 
 sion, can quietly set his own forces to work to bring order 
 out of chaos and make seeming failure the stepping stone to 
 future success. If adversity comes in the form of sickness 
 the magnetic person is always ready to cheer the sorrowing, 
 and by the mere influence of his presence to bring sunshine 
 and cheerfulness to those around him. How blind are those 
 who while possessing this force within themselves fail to 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 181 
 
 acquire a knowledge of how it may be made available in 
 every day life. To those who wish to rise above ignorance 
 and who are ready to believe that there is something real 
 and practical in the Occult Forces of life. We can say press 
 on and success will reward you, and the time will come 
 when you will look back to the time when you first turned 
 your attention toward Personal Magnetism as the red letter 
 day of your life. 
 
 Stepping stones are advantages, auxiliaries, power, etc., 
 and these are attained no other way than through personal 
 experiences. Our trials of life strengthen us, discourage- 
 ments, disappointments, misfortunes, failures, adversities and 
 calamities, are all stepping stones for us; each successive 
 victory raises us higher in strength and power. It is through 
 trials that stout hearts are made. It is through adversity 
 that our patience and courage is increased. 
 
 Men are frequently like tea — the real strength and good- 
 ness are not properly drawn out of them till they have been 
 a short time in hot water The ripest fruit grows on the 
 roughest wall. It is the small wheels of the carriage that 
 come in first. The man who holds the ladder at the bottom 
 is frequently of more service than he who is stationed at the 
 top of it. The turtle, though brought in at a rear gate, 
 takes the head of the table. “Better to be the cat in the 
 philanthropist’s family than a mutton pie at a king’s banquet. 
 
 He who bears adversity well gives the best evidence that 
 he will not be spoiled by prosperity. Many a promising rep- 
 utation has been destroyed by early success. It is far from 
 being true, in the progress of knowledge, that after every 
 failure we must recommence from the beginning. Every 
 failure is a step to success; every detection of what is false 
 directs us toward what is true; every trial exhausts some 
 
182 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 tempting form of error. Not only so, but scarcely any at- 
 tempt is entirely a failure; scarcely any theory, the result of 
 steady thought, is altogether false; no tempting form of error 
 is without some latent charm derived from truth. 
 
 Doubtless a deeper feeling of individual responsibility, 
 and a better adaptation of talent to its fields of labor, are 
 necessary to bring about a better state of society, and a bet- 
 ter condition for the individual members of it. But with the 
 most careful adaptation of talent and means to pursuits, 
 no man can succeed as a general principle, who has not a 
 fixed and regular purpose in his mind and an unwavering 
 faith that he can carry that purpose out. 
 
 Man is born a hero, and it is only by darkness and storms 
 that heroism gains its greatest and best development and 
 illustration; then it kindles the black cloud into a blaze of 
 glory and the storm bears it rapidly to its destiny. Despair 
 not, then, disappointment will be realized. Mortifying fail- 
 ure will attend this effort and that one; but only be honest 
 and struggle on and it will all work well. 
 
 What though once supposed friends have disclaimed and 
 deserted thee — fortune, the jade, deceived thee — and the 
 stern tyrant, adversity, roughly asserted his despotic power 
 to trample thee down? “While there’s life there’s hope.” 
 Has destruction’s busy tongue assailed thy peace, and con- 
 tumely’s venomed shaft poisoned thy happiness, by giving 
 reputation its death blow; destroyed thy confidence in 
 friendly promise, and rendered thee suspicious of selfishness 
 in the exhibition of brotherly kindness; or the tide of public 
 opinion well nigh overwhelmed thee ’neath its angry waves? 
 Never despair. Yield not to the influence of sadness, the 
 blighting power of dejection, which sinks thee in degraded 
 inaction, or drives thee to seek relief in some fatal vice, or 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 183 
 
 to drown recollection in the poisoning bowl. Arouse and 
 shake the oppressive burden from overpowering thee. 
 Quench the stings of slander in the waters of Lethe; bury 
 despondency in oblivion; fling melancholy to the winds, and 
 with firm bearing and a stout heart push on to the attain- 
 ment of a higher goal. The open field for energetic action 
 is large, and the call for vigorous laborers immensely ex- 
 ceed the supply. Much precious time is squandered, val- 
 uable labor lost, mental activity stupified and deadened by 
 vain regrets, useless repinings and unavailing idleness. 
 The appeal for volunteers in the great battle of life, in ex- 
 terminating ignorance and error, and planting high on an 
 everlasting foundation the banner of intelligence and right, 
 is directed to thee, wouldst thou but grant it audience. Let 
 no cloud again darken thy spirit, or weight of sadness op- 
 press thy heart. Arouse ambition’s smouldering fires. The 
 laurel may e’en now be wreathed destined to grace thy brow. 
 Burst the trammels that impede thy progress and cling to 
 hope. The world frowned darkly upon all who have ever 
 yet won fame’s wreath, but on they toiled. Place high thy 
 standard, and with a firm tread and fearless eye press stead- 
 ily onward. Persevere and thou wilt surely reach it. Are 
 there those who have watched, unrewarded, through long 
 sorrowful years, for the dawning of a brighter morrow, when 
 the weary soul should calmly rest? Hope’s bright rays still 
 illume their dark pathways and cheerfully they watch. 
 Never despair! Faint not^ though thy task be heavy, and 
 victory is thine. None should despair. 
 
 All can cultivate a cheerful spirit and when surrounded 
 by false friends and overwhelmed by misfortune, display a 
 calm serenity that nothing can disturb and a perseverance 
 that nothing can daunt. The clouds will surely roll away 
 after the storm and leave the sky all the brighter. Who can 
 
184 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 read without admiration of the spirit which animated Socrates, 
 when, condemned to death by the laws of the country which 
 he loved, he drank the hemlock and died while calmly dis- 
 coursing of Philosophy with his friends. One of the most 
 successful statesmen of England, has overcome all obstacles 
 and won renown by a calm demeanor under all circum- 
 stances, united to great natural ability. It is related oi 
 Chamberlain that to the discomfiture of his enemies he reso- 
 lutely refuses either to lose his temper or to grow old; he 
 meets all attacks with a smiling urbanity which nothing can 
 disturb, and has many times sustained defeat only to rise 
 again and press onward to still greater victories. Then 
 through all the changing fortunes of life, keep ever the Star 
 of Hope in view, and press onward and upward. 
 
/ 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 TRUE N/jANHOOD. 
 
 Be noble ! and the nobleness that lies 
 In other men, sleeping but never dead, 
 
 Will rise in majesty to meet thine own. — Lowell. 
 
 ANHOOD is the isthmus between two extremes — 
 the ripe, the fertile season of action, when alone 
 we can hope lo find the head to contrive united 
 with the hand to execute. 
 
 Each age has its peculiar duties and privileges, pleasures 
 and pains. When young we trust ourselves too much; when 
 old we trust others too little. Rashnessjis the error of youth, 
 timid caution of age. In youth we build castles and plan 
 for ourselves a course of action through life. As we ap- 
 proach old age we see more plainly that we are simply car- 
 ried forward by a mighty torrent, borne here and there against 
 our will. We then perceive how little control we have had 
 in reality over our course; that our actions, resolves, and 
 endeavors, which seemed to give such a guiding course to 
 our life, 
 
 “Are but eddies of the mighty stream 
 That rolls to its appointed end.” 
 
 In childhood time goes by on laden wings, — ten, twenty 
 years, a life-time seems an endless period. At manhood we 
 
 185 
 
186 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 are surprised that time goes so rapidly; we then comprehend 
 the fleeting period of life. In old age the years that are 
 passed seem as a dream of the night, our life as a tale nearly 
 told. Childhood is the season of dreams and high resolves; 
 manhood, of plans and actions; age, of retrospection and 
 regret. 
 
 There is certainly no age more potential for good or evil 
 than that of early manhood. The young men have, with 
 much propriety, been denominated the flower of a country. 
 To be a man and seem to be one or two different things. All 
 young men should carefully consider what is meant by man- 
 hood. It does not consist in years simply, nor in form and 
 figure. It lies above and beyond these things. It is the 
 product of the cultivation of every power of the soul, and of 
 every high spiritual quality naturally inherent or graciously 
 supplemented. It should be the great object of living to 
 attain this true manhood. There is no higher pursuit for 
 the youth to proprose to himself. He is standing at the 
 opening gates of active life. There he catches the first 
 glimpse of the possibilities in store for him. There he first 
 perceives the duties that will shortly devolve upon him. 
 What higher aim can he propose to himself than to act his 
 part in life as becomes a man who lives not only for time 
 but for eternity.^ How earnestly should he resolve to walk 
 worthily in all that true manhood requires! 
 
 There are certain claims, great and weighty, resting upon 
 all young men which they cannot shake off if they would. 
 They grow out of those indissoluble relations which they 
 sustain to society, and those invaluable interests — social, 
 civil, and religious — with all the duties and responsibilities 
 connected with them, which are soon to be transferred to 
 their shoulders from the venerable fathers who have borne 
 the burden and heat of the day. The various departments 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 187 
 
 of business and trust; the pulpit and the bar, our courts of 
 justice and halls of legislation, our civil, religious and liter- 
 ary institutions, all, in short, that constitute society and go 
 to make life useful and happy, are to be in their hands and 
 under their control. 
 
 Society, in commiting to the young her interests and priv- 
 ileges, imposes upon them corresponding claims, and de- 
 mands that they be prepared to fill with honor and usefub 
 ness the places which they are destined to occupy. Young 
 men cannot take a rational view of the station to which they 
 are advancing, or of the duties that are coming upon them, 
 without feeling deeply their need of high and peculiar 
 qualifications, 
 
 Every man should come forward in life with a determina- 
 tion to do all the good he can, and to leave the world the 
 better for his having lived in it. He should consider that 
 he was not made for himself alone, but for society, for man- 
 kind, and for God. He should consider that he is a constit- 
 uent, responsible member of the great family of man, and, 
 while he should pay particular attention to the wants and 
 welfare of those with whom he is immediately connected, he 
 should accustom himself to send his thoughts abroad over 
 the wide field of practical benevolence. 
 
 There is within the young man an uprising of lofty senti- 
 ments which contribute to his elevation, and though there 
 are obstacles to be surmounted and difficulties to be van- 
 quished, yet with truth for his watchword, and relying on 
 his own noble purposes and exertions, he may crown his 
 brow with imperishable honors. He may never wear the 
 warrior^s crimson wreath, the poet's chaplet of bays, or the 
 statesman’s laurels; though no grand, universal truth may at 
 his bidding stand confessed to the world; though it may 
 never be his to bring to a successful issue a great political 
 
188 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 revolution; to be the founder of a republic which shall be a 
 distinguished star in the constellation of nations; even more, 
 though his name may never be heard beyond the narrow 
 limits of his own neighborhood, yet is his mission none the 
 less a high and noble one. 
 
 In the moral and physical world not only the field of bat- 
 tle but also the cause of truth and virtue calls for champions, 
 and the field for doing good is white^unto the harvest. If he 
 enlists in the ranks, and his spirit faint not, he may write his 
 name among the stars of heaven. Beautiful lives have blos- 
 somed in the darkest places, as pure, white lilies, full of 
 fragrance; sometimes bloom on the slimy, stagnant waters. 
 No possession is so productive of real influence as a highly 
 cultivated intellect. Wealth, birth and official station may 
 and do secure an external, superficial courtesy, but they 
 never did and never secure the reverence of the heart. It 
 is only to the man of large and noble soul — to him who 
 blends a cultivated mind with an upright heart — that men 
 yield the tribute of deep and genuine respect. A man should 
 never glory in that which is common to a beast; nor a wise 
 man in that which is common to a fool; nor a good man in 
 that which is common to a wicked man. 
 
 Since it is in the intellect that we trace the source of all 
 that is great and noble in man it follows that if any are 
 ambitious to possess a true manhood they will be men of 
 reflection, men whose daily acts are controlled by their judg- 
 ment, men who recognize the fact that life is a real and 
 earnest affair, that time is fleeting, and, consequently, resolve 
 to waste none of it in frivolities; men whose life and conver- 
 sation are indicative of that serious mien and deportment 
 which well becomes those who have great interests commit- 
 ted to their charge, and who are determined that in so far as 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 189 
 
 in them lies life with them shall be a success, who fully 
 realize the importance of every step they may take; and con- 
 sequently; bring to it the careful consideration of a mind 
 trained to think with precision. 
 
 The man who thinks, reads, studies, and meditates has 
 intelligence cut in his features, stamped on his brow, and 
 gleaming in his eye. Thinking, not growth, makes perfect 
 manhood. There are some who, though they are done grow- 
 ing, are only boys. The constitution maybe fixed while 
 the judgment is immature; the limbs may be strong while 
 the reasoning is feeble. Many who can run and jump and 
 bear any fatigue can not observe, can not examine, can not 
 reason or judge, contrive or execute — they do not think. 
 Such persons, though they may have the figure of a man and 
 the years of a man, are not in possession of manhood; they 
 will not acquire it until they learn to look beyond the pres- 
 ent, and take broad and comprehensive views of their rela- 
 tions to society. 
 
 The strongest men are those who join gentleness, self- 
 control and sociability with vigor and power. It is the glory 
 of a man that he is strong and full of virility; that when some 
 crisis in life comes unexpectedly all his latent power is ready 
 at his call and leaps into action responsive to his will; these 
 are the men whom their fellows instinctively look up to when 
 society is threatened with dangers; these are the men who 
 bring order out of chaos, and whose presence is always a 
 tower of strength on the side of law and order; the qualities 
 of mind and heart which make a man respected, honored 
 and loved, are not stumbled upon by chance; they are won 
 by the careful cultivation of all that is good, and a careful 
 weeding out of every evil impulse and every vicious habit. 
 But the crowning glory of man is strength and without that 
 
190 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 he falls short of our ideal of what a man ought to be. It is 
 the men who are strong in body, strong in will and upright 
 in character, who are a force for good in every community, 
 and are looked up to and honored by all. Such men are 
 true and upright in their business relations and kind loving 
 and thoughtful, when they take the position of husbands 
 and fathers. Women love them and look to them for sup- 
 port and protection in the hour of danger; for where is the 
 woman who does not feel in her heart that 
 
 *‘The bravest are the tenderest; 
 
 The loving are the daring.” 
 
 And a strong, noble, honest, man is God's best legacy to 
 the world. 
 
 When true manhood is valued as it should be, no pains 
 will be spared to attain it. We need more of the spirit that 
 animated the Ancient Spartans, who made beauty and strength 
 of body their study, and held that the citizen belonged to 
 the State. Can any one who loves his country or his fellow 
 men see without heartfelt sorrow, so many promising 
 young men, who started in the race of life with every pros- 
 pect of a useful and prosperous career, forced to retire from 
 the struggle ere it is fairly begun, with health wrecked and 
 hopes blasted. There are hidden rocks lying beneath the 
 surface on which many a ship is wrecked, and many a fond 
 mother sees the noble boy, who was her joy and pride lose 
 his ambition, his fire, force and vigor of character; while she 
 can only dimly guess at the cause and is helpless to avert 
 his doom. Were we to tell the public of facts which have 
 come to us in our capacity of instructor and healer, they 
 would stand aghast at our disclosures; we know that the 
 extent of the devastation wrought by a perversion of the 
 functions of sex is simply appalling. Parents if you love 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS. 
 
 191 
 
 your children see to it that they are instructed in the laws of 
 their own being, and warned of the dangers which will rob 
 them of manhood and rob society of a useful citizen. Now 
 is the time, for a few years later all your regrets will not 
 avail you and your bitter tears will be shed in vain. If you 
 have a shadow of a suspicion that your boy has been tainted 
 with evil habits which will wreck his life, Professor Anderson 
 will gladly show you the way to reach him most effect- 
 ually, and to warn him in such a kindly and effective way 
 that he will see with horror the brink of the precipice where 
 he is standing, and you will save him, to love and bless you 
 for your care. 
 
 It is with heartfelt rejoicing that we see a growing interest 
 in the minds of our people in this subject. Manhood will 
 not much longer be wasted and perverted through ignorance. 
 The choicest treasure of a State is the manhood and char- 
 acter of its citizens, and to-day the laws of life are being 
 studied as they never were before. Already we can see a 
 new race springing into existence, who will bring with them 
 such vigor, such power, such intelligence, such noble man- 
 hood that the golden gates of the future will swing open at 
 their touch, and joy and happiness and conscious power will 
 be the common possession of all the human race; then no 
 longer will life be filled with wrecks, for every boy will be 
 well born, and provided with such surroundings that the 
 promise of his boyhood will result in that most precious 
 possession, a true and noble manhood. 
 
 As we often mistake glittering tinsel for solid gold, so we 
 often mistake specious appearances for true worth and man- 
 hood. We are too prone to take professions and words in 
 lieu of actions; too easily impressed with good clothes and 
 polite bearings to inquire into the character and doings of 
 
19 ? 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 the individual. Man should be rated, not by his hoards of 
 gold, not by the simple or temporary influence he may for a 
 time exert, but by his unexceptionable principles relative 
 both to character and religion. Strike out these and what 
 is he? A savage without sympathy! Take them away, and 
 his manship is gone; he no longer lives in the image of his 
 Creator. No smile gladdens his lips, no look of sympathy 
 illumes his countenance to tell of love and charity for the 
 woes of others. 
 
 But let man go abroad with just principles, and what is he? 
 An exhaustless fountain in a vast desert! A glorious sun, 
 shining ever, dispelling every vestige of darkness. There is 
 love animating his heart, sympathy breathing in every tone. 
 Tears of pity — dew-drops of the soul — gather in his eye, 
 and gush impetuously down his cheek. A good man is 
 abroad, and the world knows and feels it. Beneath his 
 smile lurks no degrading passion; within his heart there 
 slumbers no guile. He is not exalted in mortal pride, not 
 elevated in his own views, but honest, moral, and virtu 
 ous before the world. He stands throned on truth; his for- 
 tress is wisdom, and his dominion is the vast and limitless 
 universe. Always upright, kind, and sympathizing; always 
 attached to just principles, and actuated by the same, gov- 
 erned by the highest motives in doing good; these constitute 
 his only true manliness. 
 
 A proper sense of modesty is a virtue which makes real 
 merit more charming, because seemingly unconscious of ex- 
 cellence. But carried to an excess it will tend to dwarf the 
 powers, cripple the energies and defeat the great purposes of 
 life. When a man is well qualified to do a certain thing, 
 and feels that he can, and ought to do it, but is impelled by 
 modesty to shrink back into obscurity for fear of bringing 
 
A Dream, 
 
Library 
 
 L)F jup 
 ^^IVErsuy 
 
 0^ UINOIS 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 193 
 
 himself into notice, then has his modesty degenerated into 
 cowardice, and instead of consoling himself that he is cher- 
 ishing a great virtue; he needs the lash of stern rebuke for 
 his lack of manliness. Richard Steele, one of the most 
 charming English essayists, says: ‘‘I have noticed that 
 
 under the notion of modesty men have indulged themselves 
 in a spiritless sheepishness, and been forever lost to them- 
 selves, their families, their friends and their country, I have 
 said often, modesty must be an act of the will, and yet it 
 always implies self-denial, for if a man has a desire to do 
 what is laudable for him to perform, and from an unmanly 
 bashfulness shrinks away and lets his merit languish in 
 silence, he ought not be angry with the world that a more 
 unskillful actor succeeds in his part, because he has not 
 confidence to’ come upon the stage himself.’’ 
 
 A lawyer who started in life a poor young man, and had 
 risen to eminence, said that he owed much of his success to 
 the advice which his wife gave to him soon after they were 
 married. She said, “John never make an excuse,” and he 
 never did. If he was called upon to do anything, instead of 
 excusing himself, holding back, or avoiding it altogether, he 
 did it promptly, cheerfully, and to the best of his ability, 
 
 Such men are valued, and often succeed beyond others 
 who have superior qualifications, because of their readiness 
 to do the best they can, while those who make excuses are 
 soon dropped, and sink into the oblivion which they invite. 
 A man must have confidence in himself if he would be worthy 
 of the confidence of others. 
 
 A young man goes to a new home among strangers. He 
 is invited to participate in literary or social entertainments, 
 or to identify himself with the church, or Sunday school, 
 where a place of usefulness awaits him, but from a feeling 
 
194 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 of timidity, or distrust of his powers, he holds himself aloof, 
 and turns himself away from the opportunities of happiness 
 and advancement which are offered. Thus, thousands of 
 deluded people have barred themselves from much of the 
 highest pleasures and service of life. 
 
 If this spectre of false modesty has confronted you with a 
 thousand nameless terrors, turn now, resist it, and call the 
 latent .powers of manhood to your aid to free you from its 
 enthrallment. 
 
 Many times in personal encounters have men been 
 placed in desperate situations where the odds have been 
 overwhelmingly against them, and where it would seem 
 there was not the remotest chance for escape, and nothing 
 left for them but to give up, and submit in the utter hope- 
 lessness of despair to their fate. Under such circumstances 
 there is something grand and sublime when the unfortunate 
 victim, in the face of death, instead of cowering in terror, 
 and letting his arms fall in the palsy of despair, resolves to 
 sell his life as dearly as possible, and with superhuman 
 strength which is born of his strong determination, contests 
 every inch of his ground with as much persistency and 
 enthusiasm as if he were assured of victory. 
 
 The hero in such a conflict simply makes the most of him- 
 self, — realizing that he has but one life, he resolves not to 
 throw it away, but to make it cost his assailants as dearly as 
 possible. 
 
 In the conflict of life, when struggling with trials and mis- 
 fortunes, and at times well nigh overwhelmed, let us also 
 call to our aid the same indomitable heroism. We have but 
 one life to live; a few short years are all that is alloted us in 
 which to show of what stuff we are made, and how we shall 
 acquit ourselves; and then the opportunity for glorious, 
 
on, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 195 
 
 heroic action is over forever, the harvest time will have 
 ended, and the night will have come when no man can work. 
 
 The man who has resolved to make the most of himself 
 will strive to develop to the utmost all his faculties and im- 
 prove all opportunities for honorable advancement. No 
 matter if he is not gifted with genius, — no matter if he is 
 even below the standard of mediocrity, he will be lifted up 
 into the bracing atmosphere of earnestness and aroused to a 
 life of activity and devotion to duty. 
 
 The great educator and noble man. Dr. Arnold of Rugby, 
 said: “If there be one thing on earth which is truly admir- 
 able, it is to see God’s wisdom blessing an inferiority of 
 natural powers, when they have been honestly, truly and 
 zealously cultivated.” Thousands of men who are active in 
 every good work and are the props on which the dearest in- 
 terests of our social order rest, answer to this description, 
 and yet they are common-place men of ordinary intellect 
 and in early life were very unpromising. The hardest and 
 best work of the world is done by men who have had little 
 to help them, except the high resolve that they would make 
 the most of themselves and because of this resolve, and 
 guided by sincere convictions of duty, they have outstripped 
 and left far behind in the race of life, many gifted by genius, 
 favored by fortune, blessed with friends and surrounded by 
 powerful social influences. 
 
 The want of practical talent in men of fine intellectual 
 powers has often excited the wonder of the crowd. They 
 are astonished that a man of such power of thought should 
 be unable to manage his own affairs with dexterity. But 
 this is not strange. Deep thinking and practical talents 
 require habits of mind almost entirely dissimilar A man 
 who sees clearly within certain limits, is more sure of his 
 
196 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 facts, and is more direct and positive in coming to conclu- 
 sions than the man within a wide horizon of thought, who 
 has a many sided capacity of dealing with great subjects. 
 It is energy and self possession that gives a man those 
 practical qualities which win success, mere intellectual 
 ability without force of character counts for little. Men of 
 genius are too apt to waste time in meditating and compar- 
 ing, when action is called for. They who can act with force 
 and vigor when the hour for action is at hand hold the key 
 that will open every door and insure success in life. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 TRUE WOMP^NHOOD 
 
 Heed not the man who would attempt to govern or limit 
 your thoughts or acts. Every soul must do its own work and 
 be a judge unto itself concerning itself.’* 
 
 Jj T should be the highest ambition of every young woman 
 fH to possess a true womanhood. Earth presents no 
 
 ^ higher object of attainment. To be a woman is the 
 truest and best thing beneath the skies. A true woman 
 exists independent of outward adornments. It is not wealth, 
 or beauty of person, or connection, or station, or power of 
 mind, or literary attainments, or variety and richness of out- 
 ward accomplishments, that make the woman. These often 
 adorn womanhood; as the ivy adorns the oak, but they should 
 never be mistaken for the thing they adorn. 
 
 The great error of womankind is that they take the shadow 
 for the substance, the glitter for the gold, the heraldry and 
 trappings of the world for the priceless essence of womanly 
 worth which exists within the mind. Every young man, as a 
 general rule, has some purpose laid down for the grand object 
 of his life — some plan, for the accomplishment of which all his 
 other actions are made to serve as auxiliaries. It is to be 
 regretted that every young woman does not also have a set 
 purpose of life — some grand aim, grand in its character. 
 She should, in the first place, know what she is, what power 
 
 197 
 
198 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 she possesses, what influences are to go out from her, what 
 position in life she was designed to fill, what duties are rest- 
 ing upon her, what she is capable of being, what fields of 
 profit and pleasure are open to her, how much joy and plea- 
 sure she may find in a true life of womanly activity. 
 
 When she has duly considered these things, she shoula 
 then form the high purpose of being a true woman, and 
 make every circumstance bend to her will for the accom- 
 plishment of this noble purpose. There can be no higher 
 aim to set before herself. There is no nobler attainment 
 this side of the spiritland than lofty womanhood. There is 
 no ambition more pure than that which craves this crown 
 for her mortal brow. To be a genuine woman, full of wom- 
 anly instincts and power, forming the intuitive genius of 
 her penetrative soul, the subduing authority of her gentle 
 yet resolute will, is to be a peer of earth’s highest intelli- 
 gence, All young women have this noble prize before them. 
 They may all put on the glorious crown of womanhood. 
 They may make their lives grand in womanly virtues, 
 
 A true woman has a power, something peculiarly her own, 
 in her moral influence, which, when duly developed, makes 
 her queen over a wide realm of spirit. But this she can 
 possess only as her powers are cultivated. It is cultivated 
 women that wield the scepter of authority among men. 
 Wherever cultivated woman dwells, there is refinement, in- 
 tellect, moral power, life in its highest form. To be a culti- 
 vated woman she must commence early, and make this the 
 grand aim of her life. Whether she work or play, travel or 
 remain at home, converse with friends or study books, gaze 
 at flowers or toil in the kitchen, visit the pleasure party or 
 the sanctuary of God, she keeps this object before her mind, 
 and taxes all her powers for its attainment. 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 199 
 
 Every young woman should also determine to do some- 
 thing for the honor and elevation of her sex. Her powers of 
 mind and body should be applied to a good end Let her 
 resolve to help with the weight of her encouragement and 
 counsel her sisters who are striving nobly to be useful, to 
 remove as far as possible the obstacles in their way. Let 
 her call to her aid all the forces of character she can com- 
 mand to enable her to persist in being a woman of the true 
 stamp. In every class of society the young women should 
 awaken to their duty. They have a great work to do. It is 
 not enough that they should be what their mothers were — 
 they must be more. The spirit of the times calls on women 
 for a higher order of character and life. Will they heed the 
 call? Will they emancipate themselves from the fetters of 
 custom and fashion, and come up, a glorious company, to 
 the possession of a vigorous, virtuous, noble womanhood, 
 that shall shed new light upon the world and point the way 
 to a divine life ? 
 
 The time has come for woman to assert her individuality 
 and her equality with man; women are in no respect more 
 dependent on men, than men are on women, and the curse 
 of the human race has been her financial dependence in the 
 past. But the hope of humanity lies with women, for she 
 must give character and power to a new race of men, before 
 the old world can be lifted up to higher levels. There is no 
 need for any unwomanly assumption of the masculine tone 
 and manner, in order that woman may exercise the full 
 measure of her womanly power; she can work with far 
 greater effect while retaining every grace and charm that 
 belongs of right to her sex, while spurning with quiet scorn 
 that sham deference and mock chivalry which would pay all 
 respect and homage to a woman of position and social 
 
200 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 standing and treat with contempt and indignity the poor 
 victim of man s cruelty and lust. The woman of the new 
 era will achieve her financial independence and will then 
 realize the full measure of her power, for without it her life 
 would be nothing but a barren desert All the choicest gifts 
 of life, she has it in her power to bestow; and when she has 
 forever freed herself from the traditions of the past and 
 stands side by side with man, his equal, yet always unlike, 
 mistress of herself and with power to choose her own path in 
 life then she will be in her true position, and when she con- 
 sents to devote the most precious years of her life to the 
 sacred duties of motherhood, it will be under conditions 
 which will give a new race to the world. Every child 
 born of mutual love and conscious power, and knowledge, 
 will be a force working for the redemption of the world, from 
 the prevailing sin, misery and selfishness. 
 
 We find on looking over the history of the past that every 
 man who has left his mark on his own generation, owed 
 much of his success to the fact that his mother was a woman 
 of fine physical powers. Too many of our women are chronic 
 invalids, whose lives are clouded by their nervous state. So 
 that life is a burden to themselves and a source of unhap- 
 piness to those around them. Before women can hope to 
 make her power felt she must understand and practice the 
 laws of health; she must feel vitality and energy in every 
 fibre of her being and they will flow out to everyone with 
 whom she comes in contact. Those who are struggling 
 against some of the complaints peculiar to their sex, striving 
 to perform their daily duties yet unable to do so and feeling 
 a sense of growing weakness day by day, are invited to con- 
 sult Professor Anderson in confidence and they may feel 
 assured that his wide experience and his desire to do good 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 201 
 
 will enable him to do more for them than all the drugs they 
 can take: Our methods are so natural, so reasonable, so 
 
 painless, that the most delicate and sensitive women are in- 
 stinctively inspired with confidence, and to many a weak and 
 nervous woman, we have been able to point out the way to 
 health. 
 
 When women fill the place in society for which nature 
 designed them they exercise a power and influence of which 
 they are only dimly conscious now, the power she wields in 
 the world of thought is almost boundless. Statesmen have 
 been swayed by her social influence and warriors have yielded 
 to her charms. The destinies of nations have often been 
 determined by the influence of a charming magnetic woman 
 over the man who held the sceptre of power. Napoleon I, 
 in the height of his power, testified that he feared the pen 
 and tongue of the brilliant and charming Madam De Stael 
 more than the batallions of the enemy. Lola Montez, by 
 the indescribable power of her magnetism, brought the 
 noblest and the bravest men captives to her feet. 
 
 When women enters earnestly into the work of reform, she 
 will usher in a Grolden Age for Humanity and she is already 
 fast becoming aware of her powers and beginning to bring 
 them into use. A woman who develops her powers of Per- 
 sonal Magnetism to their fullest extent, and knows how to 
 use that grace and charm of manner which invariably ac 
 companies such development, is an almost irresistible force 
 in any movement which she champions. We know that 
 women are deeply interested in the study of Personal Mag- 
 netism, and many are using it to draw more closely to them 
 those of their own home circle, to guide and influence their 
 children and to bring harmony where too often dis- 
 cord reigns, for woman's true kingdom must ever be the 
 
202 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 home circle, where new lives are brought into being, and 
 shaped and moulded by her influence. 
 
 Woman’s influence is the chief anchor of society, and this 
 influence is purifying the world, and the work she has 
 already accomplished will last forever. No costly marble 
 can build a more enduring monument to her memory than 
 the impress she makes on her own household. The chang- 
 ing scenes of life may hurl the genius of man from eminence 
 to utter ruin; for his life hangs on the fabric of public opin- 
 ion, but the honest form of a true mother reigns queen in 
 the hearts of her children forever. 
 
 Man’s admirers may be greater, but woman holds her 
 kindred by a silken cord of familiar kindness, strengthened 
 and extended by each little courtesy of a lifetime. Man 
 may make his monument of granite or of marble, woman 
 hers of immortality, Man may enjoy here, she will enjoy 
 hereafter. Man may move the rough crowd by his eloquence, 
 woman will turn his coarseness into a cheerful life, Man 
 may make laws and control legislatures, woman will 
 mold their minds in the schoolroom and be the author of 
 their grandest achievements. Cruelty she despises and it 
 lessens at her bidding; purity she admires, and it grows in 
 her presence; music she loves, and her home is full of its 
 melody; happiness is her herald, and she infuses a world 
 with a desire for enjoyment. Without her, cabins would be 
 fit for dwellings, furs fit for clothing, and all the arts and 
 improvements would be wanting in stimulus and ambition; 
 for the world is moved and civilization is advanced by the 
 silent influence of woman. 
 
 This influence is due not exclusively to the fascination of 
 her charms, but to the strength, uniformity, and consistency 
 or her virtues, maintained under so many sacrifices and with 
 so much fortitude and heroism. Without these endowments 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS 
 
 203 
 
 and qualifications, external attractions are nothing; but with 
 them, their power is irresistible. Beauty and virtue are the 
 crowding attributes bestowed by nature upon woman, and 
 the bounty of Heaven more than compensates for the injus- 
 tice of man. The possession of these advantages secures to 
 her universally that degree of homage and consideration 
 which renders her independent of the effect of unequal and 
 arbitrary laws. But it is not the incense of idol-worship 
 which is most acceptable to the heart of woman; it is the 
 courtesy, and just appreciation of her proper position, merit, 
 and character. Woman surpasses man in the quickness of 
 her perception in the right direction of her sympathies; and 
 thus it is justly due to her praise that the credit of her 
 acknowledged ascendency is personal amidst the increasing 
 degeneracy of man. 
 
 Woman is the conservator of morality and religion. Her 
 moral worth holds man in some restraint and preserves his 
 ways from becoming inhumanly corrupt. Mighty is the 
 power of woman in this respect. Every virtue in woman 
 has its influence on the world. A brother, husband, friend, 
 or son is touched by its sunshine. Its mild beneficence is 
 not lost. A virtuous woman in the seclusion of her home, 
 breathing the sweet influence of virtue into the hearts and 
 lives of its beloved ones, is an evangel of goodness to the 
 world. She is a pillar of the external kingdom of right. 
 She is a star, shining in the moral firmament. She is a 
 priestess, administering at the fountain of life Every 
 prayer she breaths is answered, in a greater or less degree 
 in the hearts and lives of those she loves. Her heart is an 
 altar-fire, where religion acquires strength to go out on its 
 mission of mercy. 
 
 We cannot overestimate the strength and power of wom- 
 an’s moral and religious character. The world would go 
 
204 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 to ruin without her. With all our ministers and Churches, 
 and Bibles and sermons, man would be a prodigal without 
 the restraint of woman’s virtue and the consecration of her 
 religion. Woman first lays her hand on our young faces; 
 she plants the first seeds; she makes the first impressions; 
 and all along through life she scatters the good seeds of her 
 kindness, and sprinkles them with the dews of her piety. 
 
 A woman of true intelligence is a blessing at home, in her 
 circle of friends and in society. Wherever she goes she 
 carries with her a health-giving influence. There is a 
 beautiful harmony about her character that at once inspires 
 a respect which soon warms into love. The influence of 
 such a woman upon society is of the most salutary kind. 
 She strengthens right principles in the virtuous, incites the 
 selfish and indifferent to good actions, and gives to the light 
 and frivolous a taste after something more substantial than 
 the frothy gossip with which they seek to recreate themselves. 
 
 Many a woman does the work of her life without being 
 noticed or seen by the world. The world sees a family 
 reared to virtue, one child after another growing into Chris- 
 tian manhood or womanhood and at last it sees them gath- 
 ered around the grave where the mother that bore them rests 
 from her labors. But the world has never seen the quiet 
 woman laboring for her children, making their clothes, pro- 
 viding them food, teaching them their prayers and making 
 their homes comfortable and happy. 
 
 A woman’s happiness flows to her from sources and through 
 channels different from those that give origin and conduct to 
 the happiness of man and in a measure will continue to do 
 so forever. Her faculties bend their exercise toward differ- 
 ent issues, her social and spiritual notions demand a differ- 
 ent aliment. Her powers are eminently practical. She has 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 205 
 
 a rich store of practical good sense, an ample fund of tact, 
 shrewdness, inventiveness, and management. It is her work 
 to form the young mind, to give it direction and instruction, 
 to develop its love for the good and true. It is her work to 
 make home happy, to nourish all the virtues, and instill all 
 the sweetness which builds men up into good citizens. She 
 is the consoler of the world, attending it in sickness, her 
 society soothes the world after its toils, and rewards it for its 
 perplexities. She receives the infant when it enters upon 
 its existence, and drape the cold form of the aged when life 
 is passed. She assuage the sorrows of childhood, and min- 
 isters to the poor and distressed. 
 
 Loveliness of spirit is woman's scepter and sword; for it is 
 both the emblem and the instrument of her conquest. Her 
 influence flows from her sensibilities, her gentleness, and her 
 tenderness. It is this which disarms prejudice, and awakens 
 confidence and affection in all who come within her sphere, 
 which makes her more powerful to accomplish what her will 
 has resolved than if nature had endowed her with the strength 
 of a giant. As a wife and mother, woman is seen in her 
 most sacred and dignified aspect. She has great influence 
 over the characters of individuals, over the condition of fam- 
 ilies, and over the destinies of empires. 
 
 How transitory are the days of girlhood! The time when 
 the cheerful smile, the merry laugh, and the exulting voice 
 were so many expressions of happiness, — how quickly it 
 passed! How times has multiplied its scores, and accumu- 
 lated its unwelcome effects against the charms and attractions 
 of youth! But if the heart be chilled, if the cheek be more 
 pale, and the eye less bright; if the outward adornment of 
 the temple of love have become faded and dimmed, there 
 may be yet inwardly preserved the shrine where is laid up 
 
206 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 the sacred treasures of loveliness and purity, gentleness and 
 grace, the attempered qualities of tried and perfected virtues; 
 as if the blossoms of early childhood had ripened into the 
 mellow and precious fruits of autumnal time. 
 
 But in another and better sense a good woman never grows 
 old. Years may pass over her head, but if benevolence and 
 virtue dwell in her heart she is as cheerful as when the spring 
 of life first opened to her view. When we look at a good 
 woman we never think of her age; she looks as happy as 
 when the rose first bloomed on her cheek. In her neighbor- 
 hood she is a friend and benefactor; in the Church, the 
 devout worshiper and exemplary Christian. Who does not 
 love and respect the woman who has spent her days in acts 
 of kindness and mercy, who has been the friend of sorrowing 
 ones, whose life has been a scene of kindness and love 
 devoted to truth and religion. Such a woman cannot grow 
 old; she will always be fresh and beautiful in her spirits and 
 active in her humble deeds of mercy and benevolence. 
 
 If the young lady desires to retain the bloom and beauty 
 of youth, let her not yield to the way of fashion and folly; let 
 her love truth and virtue; and to the close of her life will she 
 retain those feelings which now make life appear a garden of 
 sweets ever fresh and green. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 AIM OF LIFE 
 
 “God always reaches down to all who reach u]|) 
 to Him, provided their motives are right.” 
 
 ! T is the aim that makes the man, and without this he is 
 nothing as far as the utter destitution of force, weight, 
 ^ and even individuality among men can reduce him to 
 nonentity. The strong gusts and currents of the world sweep 
 him this way and that, without steam or sail to impel, or 
 helm to guide him. If he be not speedily wrecked or run 
 aground, it is more his good fortune than good management. 
 We have never heard a more touching confession of utter 
 weakness and misery than these words from one singularly 
 blessed with the endowments of nature and of Providence: 
 “My life is aimless.” 
 
 Take heed, young man, of an aimless life. Take heed, 
 too, of a low and sordid aim. A well-ascertained and gen- 
 erous purpose gives vigor, direction, and perseverance to all 
 man’s efforts. Its concomitants are well-disciplined intel- 
 lect, character, influence, tranquility, and cheerfulness with- 
 in — success and honor without. Whatever a man’s talents 
 and advantages may be, with no aim, or a low one, he is 
 weak and despicable; and he cannot be otherwise than 
 respectable and influential with a high one. Without some 
 
 207 
 
208 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 definite object before us, some standard which we are ear- 
 nestly striving to reach, we cannot expect to attain to any 
 great height, either mentally or morally. Placing for our- 
 selves high standards, and wishing to reach them without 
 any further effort on our part, is not enough to elevate us in 
 any very great degree. 
 
 Some one has said, “Nature holds for each of us all that 
 we need to make us useful and happy; but she requires us 
 to labor for all that we get.’’ God gives nothing of value 
 unto man unmatched by need of labor; and we can expect 
 to overcome difficulties only by strong and determined 
 efforts. Here is a great and noble work lying just before us, 
 just as the blue ocean lies out beyond the rocks which line 
 the shore. In our strivings for “something better than we 
 know” we should work for others’ good rather than our own 
 pleasure. Those whose object in life is their own happiness 
 find at last that their lives are sad failures. 
 
 While the effect of the study of Personal Magnetism is to 
 refine and spiritualize all the thoughts as well as the life, it 
 does not tend to make the student unfit in any way for the 
 common everyday duties of life; on the contrary it renders 
 him more practical and in every way better fitted to succeed 
 in any business. There is no element of success in business 
 more necessary than ability to read character quickly and 
 correctly, and this faculty of intuition is developed by our 
 course in Personal Magnetism in a high degree. Under the 
 influence of our teachings the student finds that his mental 
 power is increased, and he can grasp a situation more quickly 
 and almost instantly decide what action is necessary to take. 
 The ability to read character correctly at a glance is a most 
 valuable acquirement, and we spare no pains to give the 
 necessary knowledge to those who put themselves under 
 
The Secret. 
 
LIBRARY 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 209 
 
 our instructions. What Aim in Life can be more ennobling 
 and inspiring than a determination to develop to the greatest 
 extent every faculty of mind and body; to call out the hidden 
 powers of the soul, and to use those powers to make life 
 happier for one’s fellow men. When the latent powers of 
 man are called into action all barriers are easily overcome, 
 and while worldly power and wealth are within his grasp; 
 the man who has trodden the paths which make him a 
 master of the art of using Personal Magnetism, knows that 
 there are surer and more lasting sources of happiness than 
 wealth and worldly power. Some definite aim a man must 
 have in order to achieve success of any kind; that alone can 
 make a man a positive force in life, and they only live truly 
 who put their heart into their work and do with intensity 
 and earnestness the work to which they turn their attention; 
 whether that work is painting a picture, or writing a book, 
 or making a dress, or building a locomotive, the old adage 
 that it is “worth while to do well what is worth doing at all” 
 will be found to be good advice. 
 
 The student in Personal Magnetism is taught to expect 
 success and how to achieve it, but above and beyond that 
 success which brings with it all of the power which wealth 
 can give, he learns to value those sources of happiness 
 which are far more important. Any Aim in Life which 
 would lead no higher than business success is in its nature 
 defective, and will only result in a very one sided and tran- 
 sient happiness. The highest happiness of life must ever 
 be found in one’s own character and the power to enjoy 
 which comes with perfect health and a well developed 
 mind. The man who has made business his one Aim in 
 Life has no other resource, and when his failing powers 
 oblige him to give that up he is ready for his grave. How 
 
210 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 different is the ending of life for him who has found his 
 chief enjoyment in making others happy; who has cultivated 
 his social and spiritual faculties; who has developed his own 
 powers by the study of magnetism, and has learned to rise 
 superior to disease and advancing age. Friends and kindred 
 surround him and take pleasure in adding to his enjoyment, 
 and his pleasure in living is as keen as in the days of his 
 youth, for life has refined and ennobled him, and prepared 
 him in every way for the higher Spiritual life which awaits 
 us all. 
 
 We need to do something each day that shall help us to a 
 larger life of soul; and every word or deed which brings joy 
 or gladness to other hearts lifts us to a perfect life; for a 
 noble deed is a step toward God. To live for something 
 worthy of life involves the necessity of an intelligent and 
 definite plan of action. More than splendid dreamings or 
 magnificent resolves is necessary to success in the objects 
 and ambitions of life. Men come to the' best results in 
 every department of effort only as they thoughtfully plan 
 and earnestly toil in given directions. Purposes without 
 work is dead. It were vain to hope for good results from 
 mere plans. Random or spasmodic efforts, like aimless 
 shoots, are generally no better than wasted time or strength. 
 The purposes of shrewed men in the business of this life are 
 always followed by careful plans, enforced by work. Whether 
 the object is learning, honor, or wealth, the ways and means 
 are always laid out according to the best rules and methods. 
 The mariner has his chart, the architect his plans, the sculp- 
 tor his model, and all as a means and condition of success. 
 Inventive genius, or even what is called inspiration, can do 
 little in any department of the theoretic or practical science 
 except as it works by a well-formed plan; then every step is 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 211 
 
 an advance towards the accomplishment of its object. Every 
 tack of the ship made in accordance with nautical law 
 keeps her steadily nearing the port. Each stroke of the 
 chisel brings the marble into a clearer likeness to the model. 
 No effort or time is lost, for nothing is done rashly or at 
 random. 
 
 Thus, in the grand Aim of Life, if some worthy purpose 
 be kept constantly in view, and for its accomplishment every 
 effort be made every day of your life, you will, unconsciously, 
 perhaps, approach the goal of your ambition. There can be 
 no question among the philosophic observers of men and 
 events that fixedness of purpose is a grand element of human 
 success. When a man has formed in his mind a great sover- 
 eign purpose, it governs his conduct as the laws of nature 
 govern the operation of physical things 
 
 Every one should have a mark in view, and pursue it 
 steadily. He should not be turned from his course by other 
 objects ever so attractive. Life is not long enough for any 
 one man to accomplish everything. Indeed, but few can at 
 best accomplish more than one thing well. Many — alas! very 
 many — accomplish nothing. Yet there is not a man, endowed 
 with ordinary intellect or accomplishments, but can accom- 
 plish at least one useful, important, worthy purpose. It was 
 not without reason that some of the greatest of men were 
 trained from their youth to choose some definite object in 
 life, to which they were required to direct their thoughts and 
 to devote all their energies It became, therefore, a sole and 
 ruling purpose of their hearts, and was almost certainly the 
 means of their future advancement and happiness in the world. 
 
 Of the thousands of men who are annually coming upon 
 the stage of life there are few who escape the necessity of 
 adopting some profession or calling; and there are fewer still 
 who, if they knew the miseries of idleness — tenfold keener 
 
212 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 and more numerous than those of the most laborious profes- 
 sion — would ever desire such an escape. First of all, a 
 choice of business or occupation should be made, and made 
 early, with a wise reference to capacity and taste. The 
 youth should be educated for it and, as far as possible, in 
 it; and when this is done it should be pursued with industry, 
 energy, and enthusiasm, which will warrant success. 
 
 This choice of an occupation depends partly upon the in- 
 dividual preference and p'cjrtly upon circumstances. It may 
 be that you are debarred from entering upon that business 
 for which you are best adapted. In that case make the best 
 choice in your power, apply yourself faithfully and earnestly 
 to whatever you undertake, and you cannot help achieving 
 a success. Patient application sometimes leads to great 
 results. No man should be discouraged because he does 
 not get on rapidly in his calling from the start. In the more 
 intellectual professions especially it should be remembered 
 that a solid character is not the growth of a day, that the 
 mental faculties are not matured except by long and labor- 
 ious culture. 
 
 To refine the taste, to fortify the reasoning faculty with its 
 appropriate discipline, to store the cells of memory with 
 varied and useful learning, to train all the powers of the 
 mind systematically, is the work of calm and studious years. 
 A young man’s education has been of but little use to him if 
 it has not taught him to check the fretful impatience, the 
 eager haste to drink the cup of life, the desire to exhaust the 
 intoxicating draught of ambition. He should set his aim so 
 high that it will require patient years of toil to reach it. If 
 he can reach it at a bound it is unworthy of him. It should 
 be of such a nature that he feels the necessity of husbanding 
 his resources. 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 213 
 
 You will receive all sorts of the most excellent advice, but 
 you must do your own deciding. You have to take care of 
 yourself in this world, and you may as well take your own 
 way of doing it. But if a change of business is desired be 
 sure the fault is with the business and not the individual. 
 For running hither and thither generally makes sorry work, 
 and brings to poverty ere the sands of life are half run. The 
 North, South, East, and West furnish vast fields for enter- 
 prise; but of what avail for the seeker to visit the four cor- 
 ners of the world if he still is dissatisfied, and returns home 
 with empty pockets and idle hands, thinks that the world is 
 wrong and that he himself is a misused and shamefully im- 
 posed on creature. The world smiling at the rebuff, moves 
 on, while he lags behind, groaning over misusage, without 
 sufficient energy to roll up his sleeves and fight his way 
 through. 
 
 A second profession seldom succeeds, not because a man 
 may not make himself fully equal to its duties, but because 
 the world will not readily believe he is so. The world 
 argues thus; he that has failed in his first profession, to 
 which he dedicated the morning of his life and the Spring- 
 time of his exertion, is not the most likely person to master 
 a second. To this it might be replied that a man's first 
 profession is often chosen for him by others; his second he 
 usually decides upon for himself; therefore, his failure in his 
 first profession may, for what he knows, be mainly owing to 
 the sincere but mistaken attention he was constantly paying 
 to his second. 
 
 Ever remember that it is not your trade or profession that 
 makes you respectable. Manhood and profession or handi- 
 craft are entirely different things. An occupation is never 
 an end of life. It is an instrument put into our hands by 
 which to gain for the body the means of living until sickness 
 
214 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 or old age robs it of life, and we pass on to the world for which 
 this is a preparation. The great purpose of living is twofold 
 in character. The one should never change from the time 
 reason takes the helm; it is to live a life of manliness, of 
 purity and honor. To live such a life, that, whether rich or 
 poor, your neighbors will honor and respect you as a man of 
 sterling principles. The other is to have some business, in 
 the due performance of which you are to put forth all your 
 exertions. It matters not so much what it is as whether it be 
 honorable, and it may change to suit the varying change of 
 circumstances. When these two objects — character and a 
 high aim — are fairly before a youth, what then.^ He must 
 strive to attain those objects. He must work as well as 
 dream, labor as well as pray. His hand must be as stout as 
 his heart, his arm as strong as his head. Purpose must be 
 followed by action. Then is he living and acting worthily, 
 as becomes a human being with great destinies in store 
 for him. 
 
 There is a saying, “Aim high; but not so high as not to be 
 able to hit anything.” 
 
 Some writer has said: “A highly successful career must 
 have some one aim above every other, Jacks-of- all-trades 
 are useful in many ways, but their very versatility operates 
 against their winning great success in any line. The spec- 
 ialists succeed best. Whatever the specialty be, the concen- 
 tration of effort which it demands accomplishes much. True 
 success depends on deciding what really is the highest object 
 in life, and what the relative value of other objects, and on 
 the proportioning of efforts accordingly.” 
 
 It is a sad truth that “The greater part of all the mischief 
 of the world, comes from the fact that men do not sufficiently 
 understand their own aims. They are deficient in tact and 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 216 
 
 labor on the foundation than would be necessary to erect 
 a hut.’* 
 
 Tact has been defined “as the judicious use of our powers 
 at the right time.” It is that priceless discretion which makes 
 the wise man to differ from the fool; that invaluable knowl- 
 edge by which we know how to make the world about us a 
 stepping-stone to our success, and all the conditions around 
 us but so many rounds in the ladder by which we rise. 
 
 Precisely the same quality is needed in the practical con- 
 cerns of life, — a business man comes to an obstacle which 
 appears insurmountable; he must have tact to make use of 
 his resources so as to overcome it, or he may be overwhelmed 
 with destruction. And not only in business affairs, but in 
 the everyday concerns of life, tact is needed to smooth over 
 difficulties and to make the best of untoward circumstances, 
 
 Shakespeare, that “myriad-minded bard,” whose profound 
 knowledge of human nature and marvelous perception of the 
 phases and incidents of daily life have made his immortal 
 works a store-house of wisdom, has truly said: “There is a 
 
 tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on 
 to fortune.” What man who has arrived at maturity does 
 not sometimes sadly look back over the departed years, and 
 mark the many opportunities, rich and golden, which pre- 
 sented themselves to him, but which he let pass beyond his 
 grasp forever, because he was not ready to seize them ! 
 
 Here is the difference between success and failure in life; 
 the successful man is ready to be borne onward by the tide 
 of opportune circumstances, — ready for victories when good 
 fortune consents to be his ally and standard bearer. 
 
 One great secret of success in life is to make ready for 
 opportunity, so that when new preferment and responsi- 
 bilities come to us, we may be able to accept them, and per- 
 
216 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 form the duties they bring, without abusing the trust reposed 
 in us. How many spend their lives groveling in the mire of 
 conscious inferiority, because they have utterly failed to take 
 advantage of favorable opportunities. 
 
 And so there comes a time in the life of every man when 
 a brilliant opportunity is within his reach if he is but ready 
 for it. If not ready, it passes from his sight forever, and 
 leaves him but a stinging recollection of what he has lost. 
 
 A thoughtful essayist has remarked: “Like all the virtues, 
 earnestness is sometimes a natural trait, and sometimes one 
 acquired by the healthy graft of moral and religious princi- 
 ple. It is a positive essential in the structure of character; 
 it is one of the main instruments in all action that is to 
 benefit others. It gives persistency to the unstable, strength 
 to the feeble, ability and skill to the inefficient, and success 
 to all endeavor. There is a might in it that is magical to 
 the vacillating and irresolute. Its possessors are those who 
 stood in the front ranks of life from the schoolroom to the 
 forum; from the child with its first “reward of merit/’ to the 
 matron who presides over the well-ordered household, and 
 gives her blessing to well- trained sons and daughters, as they 
 leave their mother’s home for lives of usefulness to wider 
 spheres. 
 
 Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm; it is the real alle- 
 gory of the lute of Orpheus; it moves stones; it charms 
 brutes. Enthusiasm is the genius of sincerity, and truth 
 accomplishes no victories without it. 
 
 Seize the moment of excited curiosity on any subject to 
 solve your doubts; for if you let it pass, the desire may never 
 return, and you may remain in ignorance. 
 
 With a laudable purpose, enthusiasm, guided by practical 
 good sense, and sustained by tireless industry and persever- 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 217 
 
 ance, will lead to the highest round in the ladder of success. 
 
 People generally get what they pay for, and usually value 
 those articles the most which cost them the highest price, 
 and the greatest sacrifice to obtain. There may be now and 
 then a person who stumbles on success by accident, as a 
 man may stumble on a gold mine, but these instances are 
 exceptional, and seldom happen. Those who succeed in 
 any special department of human action are, as a rule, those 
 who carefully plan for it, expect it, and are willing to pay 
 the full price to attain it. 
 
 Success demands to be bought with a price; it is stern and 
 unyielding in its requirements, inflexible in its terms, and 
 exacts the uttermost farthing. It costs application, diligence, 
 self-sacrifice and enthusiasm; the blandishments of pleasure 
 must be disregarded, the allurements of fashionable society 
 avoided, the quiet and retirement of solitude courted. 
 
 Then labor on patiently, toiler, whatever may be your 
 task — whether of the hand or the brain. Work wisely and 
 steadily, and in due time you will be crowned with that suc- 
 cess which you have so richly earned. 
 
 One of the most important subjects on which to stand 
 “just right’* is the matter of drinking, for of all the terrible 
 curses that have destroyed humanity, intemperance is the 
 most fearful. 
 
 A quaint old writer says: “There is no sin which doth 
 
 more deface God’s image than drunkenness; it disguiselh a 
 person, and doth even unman him. Drunkenness makes 
 him have the throat of a fish, the belly of a swine, and the 
 head of an ass. Drunkenness is the shame of nature, the 
 extinguisher of reason, the shipwreck of chasity, and the 
 murder of conscience. 
 
 Drink perverts the appetite, weakens the will, and debases 
 
218 
 
 HOW TO WIN. 
 
 moral nature. It makes a man coarse, brutal and repul- 
 sive and seems to cast out every element of manliness, and 
 principle of honor. The only safe rule is to let it alone. If 
 there is not sufficient resolution to resist the first glass, what 
 folly to suppose that the tenth or fiftieth can be put away, 
 when the habit of drinking is more or less formed, and an 
 appetite created. 
 
 There are other temptations which come with overwhelm- 
 ing power. One of these is the use of tobacco in some of its 
 forms. It may seem to you a maniy thing to puff a cigar, 
 but depend upon it you will lower yourself in the estimation 
 of your best friends by so doing. There are good physical 
 reasons also why you should let it alone, A writer says of it: 
 “It has utterly ruined thousands. It tends to the softening 
 of the bones, and it greatly injures the brain, the spinal mar- 
 row, and the whole nervous fluid. One who smokes early 
 and frequently, or in any way uses large quantities of tobacco, 
 is never known to make a man of much energy, and gen- 
 erally lacks muscular and physical, as well as mental power. 
 We would warn those who want to be anything in the world, 
 to shun tobacco as a most baneful poison. ’’ 
 
 Then, too, it will be a daily leak in your pocket. Before 
 you begin to imitate the boy or man who is fascinating to 
 you, simply because he has in his mouth a disgusting weed, 
 or a few leaves rolled up, just stop and make an estimate of 
 what this habit costs him daily. Multiply that by three 
 hundred and sixty-five, and then by the number of years 
 between your age and the good old age you hope to attain, 
 and see if it does not look a little less worthy of your admi- 
 ration and approval. Of how many comforts must the 
 laborer and his family be denied that the father may have his 
 pipe. If it is a desirable habit, then it is time that your mother 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 219 
 
 and sisters shared it with you. Above all, boys, you who so 
 enjoy your freedom that you are somtimes almost tempted to 
 be impatient of the home control, which love makes only 
 as a silken cord, consider well before you let this, or any 
 other habit, forge its links about you day by day, until, in- 
 stead of the God-given freedom which should be yours to 
 exercise, you find yourself a slave. 
 
 And so, too, of the intoxicating cup. Let nothing per- 
 suade you to touch, taste, or handle it. Take warning from 
 the fate of others, who once were as strong and promising as 
 yourself. Gough, the great temperance orator, once re- 
 lated this incident to show to what depth our poor 
 humanity could fall when in the power of this debasing 
 vice: A young wife and mother lay in an ill-furnished 
 
 and comfortless room, dying. Years before she had stood 
 at the marriage altar, beside the man of her choice, as 
 fair and hopeful a bride as ever took a vow. Her young 
 husband loved her, at least so he said, and he solemnly vowed 
 to love her to the end; but he loved liquor more than he 
 loved his young and beautiful wife. It soon began to dawn 
 upon her mind that she was in that most horrible of all posi- 
 tions — a position a thousand times worse than widowhood 
 or the grave, — a position than which there are only two 
 worse possible, — Hell, and that of a drunkard’s husband, — I 
 mean the heartrending, degrading position of a drunkard’s 
 wife. She used every means to reform him, but, like too 
 many, others, found her efforts useless. His cruelty and 
 debauchery soon brought her to the grave. 
 
 A little before she died, she asked him to come to her 
 bed-side; and pleaded with him once more for the sake of 
 her children, soon to be motherless, to drink no more. With 
 her thin, long fingers she held his hand, and as she pleaded 
 
220 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 with him he promised in this terribly solemn way: “Mary, 
 
 I will drink no more till I take it out of this hand which I 
 hold in mine.’’ That very night he poured out a tumbler of 
 brandy, stole into the room where she lay cold in her coffin, 
 put the tumbler into her withered hand and then took it out 
 and drained it to the bottom. This is a scene from real life, 
 and it is not more revolting than hundreds of others 
 which are happening in miserable, drink-cursed homes. In 
 this matter do not be content with merely saving yourself, 
 but work to save others. Take sides against this evil, and 
 be a champion for purity, sobriety and a high manhood. 
 Learn early to value your good name, and guard it as you 
 would your life. Your character is your best capital and 
 fortune. 
 
 ■4 
 
 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 SUCCESS OR F/^ILURE 
 
 HO does not desire success? Who does not feel the 
 sting of failure? Who has not felt the thrill of 
 anticipation, as hope painted in rosy colors the joy 
 of fulfilling some long cherished desire? Who among men 
 can say he has no amb’tion that he cherishes as his daily 
 companion? Who can see his cherished hopes come to 
 naught without a bitter pang? 
 
 For success brings with it all that makes life attractive; all 
 that fills the heart with joy. Nature never intended any 
 man to make a failure of life; for him who fails she has a 
 whip of scorpion stings; the scorn and contempt of his fellow 
 men; the loss of bodily ease and comfort; the mental tortures 
 of mean surroundings, and loss of love and friendship, all 
 these follow in the train of failure. 
 
 And for him who succeeds Nature reserves the choicest 
 gifts of life. If his desire is for power he may sway thous- 
 ands at his will. He may see the best and noblest of the 
 land unite to honor him. He m^y realize all the joy, the 
 warmth and color that a woman’s love can bring into a man’s 
 life. He may know the full meaning of domestic happiness; 
 
 221 
 
222 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 he may gather around his own fireside his friends and kin- 
 dred; he may gather around his knee his own healthy and 
 happy children. 
 
 The world honors success because true success always 
 means work well done in some department of the worlds 
 work. Success cannot be inherited, it must be won. It is 
 the fruit of one’s own brain, muscle and will power working 
 together to overcome the barriers which Nature places in the 
 path of him who would succeed. These barriers only serve 
 to prove the fitness of him who aspires to win the royal prizes 
 of life. Every true man who wins success makes the world 
 richer at the same time; he adds something to that glorious 
 legacy of knowledge and achievement, which the generations 
 of the past transmit to the generations to come. 
 
 A true man never yet was born for naught ; 
 
 Wherever any such have lived or died, 
 
 There has been something for true freedom wrought ; 
 
 Some bulwark levelled on the evil side.” 
 
 Success is not a matter of luck or chance; success may be 
 made a certainty. It is simply a matter of proper training 
 and equipment for the race. The goal toward which every 
 energy of mind and body must be directed, should be one 
 which Nature has fitted the aspirant to achieve. 
 
 Steadfastness of purpose is necessary to achieve success, 
 unless those qualities which fit a man to win are accom- 
 panied by intense earnestness he will waver and turn aside, 
 his attention will be directed to other objects, and he will 
 fail to win the prize. Preserve a singleness of aim if you 
 would make yourself master of the situation. 
 
 Know yourself; know your own powers and the needs of 
 your own nature; every man has a place in life which he is 
 fitted to fill, and it is not wise to try to be a poet if Nature 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 223 
 
 has equipped you for a good mechanic. The place which 
 Nature has fitted you for is the only place where you can 
 expect happiness; be wise in your choice. 
 
 Energy, concentration and persistence will bring success 
 in any line of business. Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, said it was 
 not intellectual qualities so much as energy of character, 
 that marked cut a youth as a man who would be successful. 
 Energy is the driving force without the rudder and the skill 
 of the navigator would be useless to bring the ship safely to 
 port. So in the voyage of life, he, who conserves all his 
 forces may safely guide his course over the stormy seas which 
 threaten destruction on every side, while he who dissipates 
 his powers in the pursuit of pleasure or folly will find him- 
 self in the voyage of life, drifting helplessly at the mercy of 
 the waves. 
 
 Every one will meet obstacles and discouragements in his 
 path toward success, but persistence and energy will over- 
 come them all. He who is easily turned aside and diverted 
 from his purpose will rarely be successful. Success in the 
 first attempt will inspire hope, until the habit of succeeding 
 in all you undertake becomes fixed and is a part of your 
 character; it will come as a matter of course because you 
 determine it shall come and prepare for it. 
 
 The truly successful man is he who has achieved power 
 over his fellow men, and who uses that power for good; this 
 is the secret of the rush to get rich; it is because riches give 
 power over the lives of others and their possessor is looked 
 up to, courted, flattered and sought by all men. Let men 
 cease to value money and the race for wealth would cease. 
 The miser would become an object of pity and contempt. 
 Why do men value riches above most everything else.^ It is 
 simply because society so organized that men must have 
 
224 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 money in order to live, and the man who can command it 
 has the power of a king over his fellow men. But a time 
 will surely come, and even now almost here, when compet- 
 ence and plenty will be the rule, and not the exception; then 
 no longer will the rich man be looked up to and courted be- 
 cause of his riches, but the man who has cultivated a higher 
 and nobler way of obtaining power over his fellow men will 
 be the centre of attraction. Then the man who has lived 
 truly, and who is overflowing with Personal Magnetism will 
 be the leader in action, the man who has thought and 
 studied and made himself master of Nature's laws will be 
 the leader in council and he will be the richest who has best 
 served his fellows, and won the love of thousands. 
 
 Mankind everywhere is desirous of achieving a success, 
 of making the most of life. At times, it is true, they act as 
 if they little cared what was the outcome of their exertions. 
 But even in the lives of the most abandoned and reckless 
 there are moments when their good angel points out to them 
 the heights to which they might ascend, that a wish arises for 
 Something better than they have known.” 
 
 But, alas ! they have not the will to make the necessary 
 exertions. 
 
 We are confronted with two ends — success or failure. To 
 win the former it requires of us labor and perseverance. 
 We must remember that those who start for glory must imi- 
 tate the mettled hounds of Acton, and must pursue the game 
 not only where there is a path, but where there is none. 
 They must be able to simulate and to dissimulate; to leap 
 and to creep; to conquer the earth like Caesar; to fall down 
 and kiss it like Brutus; to throw their sword like Brennus, 
 into the trembling scale, or, like Nelson, to snatch the laurels 
 from the doubtful hand of victory while she is hesitating' 
 
Joan of Arc Listening to Voices, 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 22C 
 
 where to bestow them. He that would win success in life 
 must make Perseverance his bosom friend, Experience his 
 wise counselor, Caution his elder brother and Hope his 
 guardian genius. He must not repine because the fates are 
 sometimes against him, but when he trips or falls let him, 
 like Caesar when he stumbled on shore, stumbled forward, 
 and, by escaping the omen, change its nature and meaning. 
 Remembering that those very circumstances which are apt 
 to be abused as the palliatives of failure are the true tests of 
 merit, let him gird up his loins for whatever in the myster- 
 ious economy of the future may await him. Thus will he 
 rise superior to ill-fortune, and becoming daily more and 
 more impassive to its attacks, will learn to force his way in 
 spite of it, till at last he will be able to fashion his luck to 
 his will. 
 
 “Life is too short,’’ says a shrewd thinker, “for us to waste 
 one moment in deploring our lot. We must go after suc- 
 cess, since it will not come to us, and we have no time to 
 spare.” If you wish to succeed, you must do as you would 
 to get in through a crowd to a gate all are anxious to reach — 
 hold your ground and push hard; to stand still is to give up 
 the battle. Give your energies to the highest employment 
 of which your nature is capable. Be alive, be patient, work 
 hard, watch opportunities, be rigidly honest, hope for the 
 best; and if you are not able to reach the goal of your ambi- 
 tion, which is possible in spite of your utmost efforts, you 
 will die with the consciousness of having done your best, 
 which is after all the truest success to which man can aspire. 
 
 As manhood dawns and the young man catches its first 
 lights, the pinnacles of realized dreams, the golden domes of 
 high possibilites, the purpling hills of great delights, and 
 then looks down upon the narrow, sinuous, long and dusty 
 
226 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 paths by which others have reached them, he is apt to be 
 disgusted with the passage, and to seek for success through 
 broader channels and by quicker means. To begin at the 
 foot of the hill and work slowly to the top seems a very dis- 
 couraging process, and here it is that thousands of young 
 men have made shipwreck of their lives. There is no royal 
 road to success. The path lies through troubles and dis- 
 couragements. It lies through fields of earnest, patient 
 labor. It calls on the young man to put forth energy and 
 determination. It bids him build well his foundation, but it 
 promises in reward of this a crowning triumph. 
 
 There never was a time in the world s history when high 
 success in any profession or calling demanded harder or 
 more earnest labor than now. It is impossible to succeed in 
 a hurry. Men can no longer go at a single leap into emi- 
 nent positions. As those articles are most highly prized to 
 attain which requires the greatest amount of labor, so the 
 road that leads to success is long and rugged. What matter 
 if a round does break or a foot slip; such things must be 
 expected, and being expected, they must be overcome. Rome 
 was not built, in a day; but proofs of her magnificent temples 
 are still to be seen. We each prepare a temple to last 
 through all eternity. A structure to last so long, can it take 
 but a day to build it.^ The days of a life-time are necessary 
 to build the monument mightier than Rome and more endur- 
 ing than adamant. It is hard, earnest work, step by step, 
 that secures success; and while energy and perseverance are 
 securing the prize for steady workers, others, sitting down by 
 the wayside, are wondering why they, too, cannot be success- 
 ful. They surely forget that the true key is labor, and that 
 nothing but a strong, resolute will can turn it. 
 
 The secret of one’s success or failure is usually contained 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 227 
 
 in answer to the question, “How earnest is he?” Success is 
 the child of confidence and perseverance. The talent of 
 success is simply doing what you can do well, and doing 
 well whatever you do, without a thought of fame. Success is 
 the best test of capacity, and materially confirms us in a 
 favorable opinion of ourselves. Success in life is the proper 
 and harmonious development of those faculties which God 
 has given us. Whatever you try to do in life, try with all 
 your heart to do it well; whatever you devote yourself to, 
 devote yourself to it completely. ^ Never believe it possible 
 that any natural ability can claim immunity from compan- 
 ionship of the steady, plain, hard-working qualities, and hope 
 to gain its end. There can be no such fulfillment on this 
 earth Some happy talent and some fortunate opportunity 
 may form the sides of the ladder on which some men mount; 
 but the rounds of the ladder must be made of material to 
 stand wear and tear, and there is no substitute for thorough- 
 going, ardent, sincere earnestness. Never put your hand on 
 anything into which you cannot throw your whole self; never 
 affect depreciation of your own work, whatever it is. 
 
 Although success is the guerdon for which all men toil, 
 they have, nevertheless, often to labor on perseveringly with- 
 out any glimmer of success in sight. They have to live, 
 meanwhile, upon their courage. Sowing their seed, it may 
 be in the dark, in the hope that it will yet take root and 
 spring up in achieved result. The best of causes have had 
 to fight their way to triumph through a long succession of 
 failures, and many of the assailants have died in the breach 
 before the fortune has been won. The heroism they have 
 displayed is to be measured, not so much by their immedi- 
 ate successes, as by the opposition they have encountered 
 and the courage with which they have maintained the 
 struggle. 
 
228 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 Among the habits required for the efficient prosecution of 
 business of any kind, and consequent success, the most im- 
 portant are those of application, observation, method, accur- 
 acy, punctuality, and dispatch. Some persons sneer at these 
 virtues as little things, trifles unworthy of their notice. It 
 must be remembered that human life is made up of trifles. 
 As the pence make the pound and the minutes the hour, so 
 it is the repetition of little things, severally insignificant, 
 that make up human character. In the majority of cases 
 where men have failed of success, it has been owing to the 
 neglect of little things deemed too microscopic to need atten- 
 tion to matter of detail is the mother of good fortune. Ac- 
 curacy is also of much importance, and an invariable mark 
 of good training in a man — accuracy in observation, accuracy 
 in speech, accuracy in the transaction of affairs. What is 
 done in business must be done well if you would win the 
 success desired. 
 
 Give a man power, and a field in which to use it, and he 
 must accomplish something. He may not do and become 
 all that he desires and dreams of, but his life cannot well be 
 a failure. God has given to all of us ability and opportunity 
 enough to be moderately successful. If we utterly fail, in 
 the majority of cases, it is our own fault. We have either 
 neglected to improve the talents with which our Creator has 
 endowed us, or we fail to enter the door -that has opened for 
 us. Such is the constitution of human society that the 
 wise person gradually learns not too expect to much 
 from life; while he strives for success by worthy methods, 
 he will be prepared for failure. He will keep his mind 
 open to enjoyment, but submit patiently to suffering. Wail- 
 ings and complainings in life are never ofany use; 
 only cheerful and continuous working in right paths 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS. 
 
 229 
 
 are of real avail. In spite of our best efforts failures are in 
 store for many of us. It remains, then, for you to do the 
 best you can under all circumstances, remembering that the 
 race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong. 
 It is by the right application of swiftness and strength that 
 you are to make your way. It is nor sufficient to do the 
 right thing, it must be done in the right way, and at 
 the right time, if you would achieve success. 
 
 Young man, have you ever considered long and earnestly 
 what you were best capable of doing in the world.^ If not 
 put it off no longer. You expect to do something, you wish 
 to achieve success. Have you ever thought of what success 
 consisted? It does not consist in amassing a fortune; some 
 of the most unsuccessful men have done that. Remember, 
 too, that success and fame are not synonymous terms. You 
 cannot all be famous as lawyers, statesmen, or divines. You 
 may or may not accumulate a fortune. But is it not true 
 that wealth, position and fame are but the accidents of suc- 
 cess, that success may or may not be accompanied by them, 
 that it is something above and beyond them? In this sense 
 of the word you only are to blame if you fall. It is in your 
 power to live a life of integrity and honor. You can so live 
 that all will honor and respect you. You can speak words 
 of cheer to the downhearted, a kindly word of caution to the 
 erring one. You can help remove some obstacle from the 
 paths of the weak. You can incite in the minds of those 
 around you a desire to live a pure, straightforward life. You 
 can bid those who are almost overwhelmed by the billows 
 and waves of sorrow to look up and see the sun shining 
 through the rifts in the dark clouds passing o’er them. All 
 this can you do, and a grand success will be your reward. 
 Away, then, with your lethargy. You are a man; arise in 
 
230 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 your strength and your marihood. Resolve to be in this, its 
 true sense, a successful man. And then if wealth or fame 
 wait on you and men delight to do you honor, these will be 
 but added laurels to your brow, but the gilded frame encas- 
 ing success. 
 
 Would you wish to live without a trial of your own powers? 
 Without trial you cannot know your own strength. It must 
 be measured by comparison with others, and by your ability 
 to endure and overcome hard conditions, before you rdally 
 know your own power. The serene self-poise and impres- 
 sive presence of powerful and influential characters, comes 
 fram a complete knowledge of themselves and their own 
 powers born of conflicts and victories. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 POWER OF CONCENTR/\TION 
 
 “ Concentration is never difiScult when we pay close 
 attention for any length of time to whatever engrosses 
 our affections.*’ — Colville. 
 
 ^ITN this day, when so many things are charming for atten- 
 M tion, the first law of success may be said to be concen, 
 ^ tration. It is impossible to be successful in every branch 
 of business, or renowned in every department of a professional 
 life. We must learn to bend our energies to one point and 
 to go directly to that point, looking neither to the right nor 
 to the left. It has been said that a great deal of the wisdom 
 of a man in this century is shown in leaving things unknown, 
 and a great deal of his practical ability in leaving things 
 undone. The day of universal scholarships is past. Life is 
 short, and art is long. The range of human wisdom has in- 
 creased so enormously that no human brain can grapple with 
 it and the man who would know one thing well must have 
 the courage to be ignorant of a thousand other things, how- 
 ever attractive or interesting. As with knowledge, so with 
 work. The man who would get along must single out his 
 specialty, and into that must pour the whole stream of his 
 activity — all the energies of his hand, eye, tongue, heart and 
 brain. Broad culture, many-sidedness, are beautiful things 
 to contemplate; but it is the narrow-edged men — the men of 
 
 231 
 
232 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 one single and intense purpose — who steel the soul against 
 all things else, that accomplish the hard work of the world. 
 
 The great men of every age who have had the arduous 
 task to shape human destiny have been men of one idea im- 
 pelled by resolute energy. Take those names that are 
 historic, and with the exception of a few great creative 
 minds you find them to be men who are identified with some 
 one achievement upon which their life force was spent. The 
 great majority of men must concentrate their energies upon 
 the complete mastery of some one profession, trade or call- 
 ing or they will experience the disappointment of those 
 whose empire has been lost in the ambition of universal con- 
 quest. A man may have the most dazzling talents, but if 
 they are scattered upon many objects he wilt accomplish 
 nothing. Strength is like gunpowder; to be effective it needs 
 concentration and aim. The marksman who aims at the 
 whole target will seldom hit the center. The literary man 
 or philosopher may revel among the sweetest and most beau- 
 tiful flowers of thought, but unless he gathers or condenses 
 these in the honeycomb of some great thought or work his 
 finest conceptions will be lost or useless. 
 
 The world has few universal geniuses who are capable of 
 mastering a dozen languages, arts, or sciences, or driving a 
 dozen callings abreast. Beginners in life are perpetually 
 complaining of the disadvantages under which they labor 
 but it is an indisputable fact that more persons fail from a 
 multiplicity of pursuits and pretensions than from a poverty 
 of resources. “The one prudence in life,’’ says a shrewd 
 American essayist, “is concentration, the one evil is dissipa- 
 tion; and it makes no difference whether our dissipations 
 are coarse or fine, property and its cares, friends and a 
 social habit, politics, music, or feasting. Everything is 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 233 
 
 good which takes away one plaything and delusion more, 
 and drives us home to add one stroke of faithful work,” The 
 gardener does not suffer the sap to be driven into a thousand 
 channels merely to develop a myriad of profitless twigs. He 
 prunes the branches and leaves the vital juices to be 
 absorbed by a few vigorous, fruit-bearing branches. 
 
 While the highest ability accomplishes but little if scattered 
 on a multiplicity of objects, on the other hand if one has 
 but a thimbleful of brains and concentrates them upon the 
 thing he has in hand, he may achieve miracles. Momentum 
 in physics if properly directed, will drive a tallow candle 
 through an inch board. Just so will oneness of aim 
 and the direction of the energies to a single pursuit, while 
 all others are waived, enable the veriest weakling to make 
 his mark where he strikes. The general who scatters his 
 soldiers all about the country insures defeat; so does he 
 whose attention is diffused through innumerable channels so 
 that it cannot gather in force on any one point. The hu- 
 man mind in short resembles a burning-glass, whose rays 
 are intense only as they are concentrated. As the glass 
 burns only when its rays are converged to a focal point, so 
 the former illumes the world of science, literature or busi- 
 ness only when it is directed to a solitary object. What is 
 more powerless than the scattered clouds of steam as they 
 rise to the sky.^ They are as impotent as the dew-drop that 
 falls nightly upon the earth; but concentrated and con- 
 densed in a steam boiler they are able to cut through solid 
 rock, to hurl mountains into the sea and to bring the anti- 
 podes to our doors. 
 
 It is the lack of concentration and wholeness which dis- 
 tinguishes the shabby, half-hearted and blundering — the 
 men who make the mob of life — from those who win victories. 
 In slower times success might have been won by the man 
 
234 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 who gave but a corner of his brain to the work in hand, but 
 in these days of keen competition it demands the intensest 
 application of the thinking faculty. Exclusive dealings in 
 worldly pursuits is a principle of hundred-headed power. 
 By dividing his time among too many objects, a man of 
 genius often becomes diamond dust instead of diamond. 
 The time spent by many persons in profitless, desultory 
 reading would, if concentrated upon a single line of study, 
 have made them masters of an entire branch of literature or 
 science. Distraction of pursuits is the rock upon which 
 most unsuccessful persons split in early life. In law, in 
 medicine, in trade, in the mechanical professions the most 
 successful persons have been those who have stuck to 
 one thing Nine out of ten men lay out their plans on too 
 vast a scale and they who are competent to do almost any- 
 thing do nothing, because they never make up their minds 
 distinctly as to what they want or what they intend to be. 
 
 We are often compelled to a choice of acquisitions, for 
 there are some things the possession of which is incompati- 
 ble with the possession of others and the sooner this truth 
 is known and recognized the better the chances of success 
 and happiness. Much material good must be resigned if 
 we would attain the highest degree of moral excellence, and 
 many spiritual joys must be foregone if we resolve at all risks 
 to win great material advantages. To strive for a high per- 
 sonal position and yet expect to have all the delights of 
 leisure; to labor for vast riches, and yet to ask for freedom 
 from anxiety and care, and all the happiness which flows 
 from a contented mind; to indulge in sensual gratifications, 
 and yet demand health, strength and vigor; to live for self, 
 and yet to look for the joys that spring from a virtuous and 
 self-denying life — is to ask for impossibilities. 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 235 
 
 If you start for success you must expect to pay its price. 
 It cannot be won by feeble, half-way efforts, neither is it to 
 be acquired because sought for in a dozen different direc- 
 tions. It demands that you bring to your chosen profession 
 or calling energy, industry, and above all, that singleness of 
 purpose which is willing to devote the energies of a lifetime 
 to its accomplishment. Mere wishing and sighing brings it 
 not. Many little calls of society on your time must pass un- 
 heeded. You cannot expect to live tranquilly and at your 
 eaSe, but to be up and doing, with all your energies devoted 
 to the one point kept constantly in view. Cultivate this 
 habit of concentration if you would succeed in business; 
 make it a second nature. Have a work for every moment, 
 and mind the moment’s work. Whatever your calling, 
 master all its bearings and details, all its principles, instru- 
 ments and applications. We have so much work ahead of 
 us that must be done if we would reach the point desired 
 that we must save our strength as much as possible. Con- 
 centration affords a great safe-guard against exhaustion. He 
 who scatters himself on many objects soon looses his energy, 
 and with his energy his enthusiasm — and how is success 
 possible without enthusiasm.'^ 
 
 It becomes, then, of importance to be sure we have started 
 right in the race for distinction. Every beginner in life 
 should strive early to ascertain the strong faculty of his 
 mind or body fitting him for some special pursuit and direct 
 his utmost energies to bring it to perfection. There is no 
 adaptation or universal applicability in man; but each has 
 his special talent, and the mastery of successful men is in 
 adroitly keeping themselves where and when that turn shall 
 need oftenest to be practiced. 
 
 It is a mistaken notion, that capital, alone is necessary 
 to success in business. If a man has head and hands 
 
236 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 suited to his business, it will soon procure him capital. 
 My observations satisfy me that at least nine-tenths of 
 those most successful in business, start in life without any 
 reliance except upon their own head and hands. All pro- 
 fessions and occupations alike give the field for talent, 
 perseverance, and industry; and these qualities, whether 
 in the East, West or South, sooner or latter, will crown 
 the aspirant with success. But to enable any new begin- 
 ner to succeed, he must not be allured from his course by 
 attractive appearances, nor be driven from it by trifl’ng 
 adverse gales. He must fit himself for the calling he 
 adopts, and then pursue his course with a steady eye. 
 The first and great object in business is to make yourself 
 independent, — to have the means of livelihood without 
 being under obligations to any person; whatever more is 
 acquired increases the power of doing good and extends 
 influence. 
 
 It is found by all men of experience, that in so far as 
 one trusts to his own exertions solely, he will be apt to 
 flourish; and in so far as he leans and depends upon 
 others, he will do the reverse. But there are many who 
 do not recognize this principle. They trust only partially 
 to themselves, and are always poking about after large 
 favors from friends. We find them asking loans of money, 
 or asking acquaintances to interfere to get places for them. 
 If they ask for nothing else, they intrude upon their friends 
 to seek advice. Neither physically nor morally do they 
 seem able to exert themselves in their own behalf. This 
 is so contemptible a mode of living, that it cannot be too 
 severely reprehended. 
 
 Those who depend on others, can never succeed in life. 
 In whatever manner they may be assisted, they can never 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 237 
 
 become front rank men in society. We would earnestly 
 impress upon the young the propriety of depending as 
 little as possible upon prospects of advantages from others, 
 all of whom have enough to do for themselves. It is 
 obviously the duty of every one to think and act for him- 
 self, as soon as he attains manhood, and neither be bur- 
 densome on relatives nor troublesome to acquaintances. 
 The acceptance of a trifling favor from an acquaintance, 
 always lays us under an obligation, which is sometimes 
 difficult to remove. If the acquaintance ever needs similar 
 favors, we feel bound to grant them; and perhaps he 
 estimates the original favor so highly that he thinks we 
 cannot do enough to serve him. In this way hundreds 
 of men are ruined. We would say, as a general maxim, 
 accept no favors, unless upon a principle of common 
 courtesy. 
 
 If you employ others to execute a piece of work, take 
 care to pay them faithfully and promptly, and lie und^tr no 
 obligation to them; otherwise, you may be called upon, 
 when you least expect it, to make payment a hundred-fold. 
 Be liberal, affable and kind; but, know that you can- 
 not do more injury to society than by greatly injuring 
 yourself, exercise a just caution in giving way to the solic- 
 itation of your friends. Never be too ready to convince 
 yourself that it is right to involve yourself largely, in 
 order to help any person into a particular station in society; 
 rather let him begin at the bottom, and he will be all the 
 better fitted for his place when he reaches it, by having 
 fought his way up through the lower stages. 
 
 Those who are not willing to depend on themselves, to 
 stand and walk alone, whenever and wherever required, 
 must be content with the salary of a clerk or some subor- 
 
238 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 dinate position. They can never hope to manage a large 
 business successfully. It will not do to be a mere imitator 
 of others, or to rely upon the advice of business friends. 
 You must know what to do, how to do it, when to do it, 
 and be able to strike the blow at the proper moment, and 
 with the confidence of success. You must be somebody 
 yourself! All great, all successful, men, have been self- 
 reliant. Men are not leaning willows, but can and must 
 detach themselves. With the exercise of self-trust, new 
 powers appear. We grow strong by expending our 
 strength in manly conflict with the labors which confront 
 us, “The gods help those who help themselves.” 
 
 Though one must be wholly absorbed to win success, still 
 singleness of aim by no means implies monotony of action; 
 but if we would be felt on this stirring planet, if we would 
 strike the world with lasting force, we must be men of one 
 thing. Having found the thing we have to do we muse 
 throw into it all the energies of our being, seeking its accom- 
 plishment at whatever hazard or sacrifice. But that does 
 not prevent us from participating in the enjoyments of life. 
 If you are sent on business to some foreign land, though 
 bent on business, still you can admire, as you hurry along, 
 the beautiful scenery from the car windows; you can note the 
 strange places through which you pass; you can observe the 
 wondrous sublimity of the ocean without being distracted 
 from the main objects of your travels. So it is not to be 
 inferred from what has been said that concentration means 
 isolation or self -absorption. There may"* be a hundred 
 accessories in life, provided they contribute to one result. 
 
 In urging the importance of concentration, and of stick- 
 ing to one thing, we do not mean that any man should be a 
 mere lawyer, a mere doctor, or a mere merchant or mechanic, 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 239 
 
 and nothing more. These are cases of one-sidedness 
 pushed too far. There is no more pitiable wreck than the 
 man whose one giant faculty has drowned the rest. Man 
 dwarfs himself if he pushes too far the doctrine of the sub- 
 division of labor. Success is purchased too dear if to attain 
 it one has subordinated all his faculties and taste to one 
 master passion, and become transformed into a head, a 
 hand, or an arm, instead of a man, Every man ought to be 
 something more than a factor in some grand formula of 
 social or economical science, a cog or pulley in some grand 
 machine. 
 
 Let every one take care, first of all, to be a man, cultivat- 
 ing and developing, as far as possible, all of his powers on 
 a symmetrical plan; and then let him expend his chief 
 labors on the one faculty, which nature, by making it 
 prominent, has given a hint should be especially cultivated. 
 There is, indeed, no profession upon which a high degree of 
 knowledge will not continually bear. Things which, at first 
 glance, seem most remote from it will often be brought into 
 close approximation to it, and acquisitions which the nar- 
 row-minded might deem a hindrance will sooner or later 
 yield something serviceable. Nothing is more beautiful 
 than to see a man hold his art, trade, or calling in an easy, 
 disengaged way, wearing it as the soldier does his sw^ord, 
 which, once laid aside, the accomplished soldier gives you 
 no hint that he has ever worn. Too often this is not the 
 case, and the shop-keeper irresistibly reminds you of the 
 shop, and the scholar, who should remind you that he has 
 been on Parnassus only by the odors of the flowers he has 
 crushed, which cling to his feet, affronts you with a nosegay 
 stuck in his bosom. 
 
 One can make all his energies bear on one important 
 
240 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 point and yet show himself a man among men by his interest 
 in matters of public concern. He can endear himself to the 
 community by kindly acts to the distressed, as well as com- 
 pletely mastering in all its bearings, the one great work 
 which he has taken upon himself as his life’s work. Then 
 take up your task. Remember that you must marshall all 
 your forces at one point, and move in one direction, if you 
 would accomplish what your desires have painted; but also 
 remember that you are a human being, and not a machine, 
 and that as you pass on the journey of life you should, as 
 far as possible, without insuring defeat, take more of the 
 wonders which nature has spread before you, should ponder 
 on what history says of the past, should muse over the 
 solemn import of life, and thus, while winning laurels for 
 your brow, and achieving your heart’s desire, develop in you 
 the faculties which go to make, in its complete meaning, a 
 man or woman. 
 
 There is one quality of mind which of all others is most 
 likely to make our fortunes if combined with talents, or to 
 ruin them without it. We allude to that quality of the mind 
 which under given circumstances acts with a mathematical 
 precision. With such minds to resolve and to act is instan- 
 taneous. They seem to precede the march of events, to 
 foresee results in the chrysalis of their causes, and to seize 
 that moment for exertion which others use in deliberation. 
 There are occasions when action must be taken at once. 
 There is no time to long and carefully calculate the chances. 
 The occasion calls for immediate action; and the call must 
 be met, or the time goes by, and our utmost exertions cannot 
 bring it back. At such times is seen the triumph of those 
 who have carefully trained all their faculties to a habit of 
 decision. They seize the occasion, and make the thought 
 start into instant action; they at once plan and perform, 
 resolve and execute. 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 241 
 
 It is but a truism to say there can be no success in life 
 without decision of character. Even brains are secondary 
 in importance to will. The intellect is but the half of a 
 man; the will is the driving-wheel, the spring of motive 
 power. A vacillating man, no matter what his abilities, is 
 invariably pushed aside in the race of life by one deter- 
 mined will. It is he who resolves to succeed, and at every 
 fresh rebuff begins resolutely again, that reaches the goal. 
 The shores of fortune are covered with the stranded wrecks 
 of men of brilliant abilities, but who have wanted courage, 
 faith and decision, and have therefore perished in sight of 
 more resolute, but less capable adventurers, who succeeded 
 in making port. Hundreds of men go to their graves in 
 obscurity who have remained obscure only because they 
 lacked the pluck to make the first effort and who, could they 
 only have resolved to begin, would have astonished the 
 world by their achievements and successes. 
 
 To do anything in this world that is worth doing we must 
 not stand shivering on the bank, and thinking of the cold 
 and the danger, but jump in and scramble through as well 
 as we can. The world was not made for slow, squeamish, 
 fastidious men, but for those who act promptly and with 
 power. Obstacles and perplexities every man must either 
 conquer or they will conquer him. Hesitation is a sign 
 of weakness, for inasmuch as the comparative good and 
 evil of the different modes of action about which we hesitate 
 are seldom equally balanced, a strong mind should perceive 
 the slightest inclination of the beam with the glance of an 
 eagle, particularly as there will be cases where the prepon- 
 derance will be very minute^ even though there should be 
 life in one scale and death in the other. It is better occas- 
 ionally to decide wrong than to be forever wavering and 
 
242 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 hesitating, now veering to this side and then to that, with all 
 the misery and disaster that follow from continual doubt. 
 
 It has been truly said the great moral victories and defeats 
 of the world often turn on minutes. Fortune is proverbially 
 a fickle jade, and there is nothing like promptness of action, 
 the timing of things at the lucky moment, to force her to 
 surrender her favors. Crises come, the seizing of which is 
 triumph, the neglect of which is ruin. It is this lack of 
 promptness, so characteristic of the gladiatorial intellect of 
 this readiness to meet every attack of ill-fortune with counter 
 resources of evasion, which causes so many defeats of life 
 
 There is a race of narrow wits that never succeed for want 
 of courage. Their understanding is of that halting, hesitat- 
 ing kind, which gives just light enough to see difficulties 
 and start doubts, but not enough to surmount the one or 
 remove the other. They do not know what force of char- 
 acter means. They seem to have no backbone, but only the 
 mockery of a vertebral column made of india-rubber, equally 
 pliant in all directions. They come and go like shadows, 
 sandwich their sentences with apologies, are overtaken by 
 events while still irresolute, and let the tide ebb before they 
 feebly push off. Always brooding over their plans, but 
 never executing them. It is scarcely possible to conceive 
 of a more unhappy man than one afflicted with this infirmity. 
 It has been remarked that there are persons who lack decis- 
 ion to such a degree that they seem never to have made up 
 their mind which leg to stand upon; who deliberate in an 
 agony of choice when not a grain’s weight depends upon 
 the decision or the question w”hat road to walk upon, what 
 bundle of hay to munch first; to be undetermined where the 
 case is plain and the necessity so urgent; to be always in- 
 tending to lead a new life, but never finding time to set 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 243 
 
 about it. There is nothing more pitiable in the world than 
 such an irresolute man thus oscillating between extremes, 
 who would willingly join the two, but does not perceive that 
 nothing can unite them. 
 
 Indecision is a slatternly housewife, by whose fault the 
 moth and rust are allowed to make such dull work of life. 
 “A man without decision,’' says John Foster, ‘‘can never be 
 said to belong to himself, since if he dared to assert that he 
 did the puny force of some cause about as powerful, you 
 would have supposed, as a spider, may make a seizure of 
 the unhappy boaster the very next minute, and contempt- 
 uously exhibit the futility of the determinations by which he 
 was to have proved the independence of his understanding 
 and will. He belongs to whatever can make capture of him; 
 and one thing after another vindicates its right to him by 
 arresting him while he is trying to proceed, as twigs and 
 chips floating near the edge of a river are intercepted by 
 every weed, and whirled in every little eddy. Having con- 
 cluded on a design, he may pledge himself to accomplish it, 
 if the hundred diversities of feeling which may come within 
 the week will let him. His character precludes all foresight 
 of his conduct. He may sit and wonder what form and 
 direction his views and actions are destined to take to- 
 morrow, as a farmer has often to acknowledge that next 
 day's proceedings are at the disposal of its winds and clouds. 
 
 A great deal of the unhappiness and much of the vice of 
 the world is owing to weakness and indecision of purpose. 
 The will, which is the central force of character, must be 
 trained to habits of decision; otherwise it will neither be able 
 to resist evil nor to follow good. Decision gives the power 
 of standing firmly when to yield, however slightly, might be 
 only the first step in a down-hill course to ruin. Calling 
 
244 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 upon others for help in forming a decision is worse than use- 
 less. A man must so train his habits as to rely upon his 
 own courage in moments of emergency. Many are the 
 valiant purposes formed that end merely in words; deeds 
 intended that are never done; designs projected that are 
 never begun; and all for the want of a little courageous 
 decision. Better far the silent tongue, but the eloquent 
 deed; and the most decisive answer of all is doing. There is 
 nothing more to be admired than a manly firmness and 
 decision of character. We admire a person who knows his 
 own mind and sticks to it, who sees at once what is to be 
 done in given circumstances, and does it. 
 
 There never was a time in the world's history that called 
 more earnestly upon all persons to cultivate a firm, manly 
 decision of character, to be able to say No to the seductive 
 power of temptation. There is no more beautiful trait of 
 character to be found than that of a determined will guided 
 by 'right motives. To talk beautifully is one thing, but to 
 act with promptitude when the time of action has fully come 
 is as far superior to the former as the brilliant sunlight sur- 
 passes the reflection of the moon. To train the mind to act 
 with decision is of no less consequence than of acting 
 promptly when the decision is reached. Of all intellectual 
 gifts bestowed upon man there is nothing more intoxicating 
 than readiness — the power of calling all the resources of the 
 mind into simultaneous action at a moment’s notice. Noth- 
 ing strikes the unready as so miraculous as this prompti- 
 tude in others; nothing impresses him with so dull and 
 envious a sense of contrast with himself. This want of 
 decision is to be laid on the shelf, to creep where others fly, 
 to fall into permanent discouragement. To possess decision 
 is to have the mind’s intellectual property put out at fifty or 
 one hundred per cent; to be uncertain at the moment of trial 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 245 
 
 is to be dimly conscious of faculties tied up somewhere in a 
 napkin. Decision of mind, like vigor of body, is a gift of 
 God, It cannot be created by human effort; it can only be 
 cultivated. But every mind has the germ of this quality, 
 which can be strengthened by favorable circumstances and 
 motives presented to the mind, and by method and order in 
 the prosecution of duties or tasks. 
 
 But with all that has been urged in favo of decision and 
 dispatch, we would not be understood as advising undue 
 haste. There are occasions when caution and delay are 
 necessary, when to act without long and careful deliberation 
 would be madness. But when the way is clear, when there 
 is no doubt as to what ought to be done, then it is that 
 decision demands that an instant choice be made between 
 the two — not to hesitate too long as to which, but to decide 
 promptly and then move ahead. Even in cases where delib- 
 eration and caution are necessary, decision demands that 
 the mind acts quickly. In a word, decision finds us en- 
 gaged in a life-battle. If the victory is ours, success and 
 fortune wait upon us; if we are overthrown, want and misery 
 stare us in the face; it is well to make our movements only 
 with caution; but when we see a chance we must at once 
 improve it, or it is gone. Occasions also arise when we 
 must rouse our forces on an instant’s warning, and to make 
 movements for which we have no time to calculate the 
 chances. Then is seen the triumph of the decisive, ready 
 man, To falter is to be lost; to move with dispatch is the 
 only safety. 
 
 There should be no faltering when the moment comes for 
 action, the fault lies in action which is not well considered, 
 every act and every word should be the result of well consid- 
 ered thought; it is thoughtlessness that is to blame for many 
 an hour spent in vain regrets over what cannot be unsaid or 
 
246 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 undone. The captain of the ocean steamer cannot lose a 
 moment in giving an order, but he must spend years in pre- 
 paring himself by careful thought and study to decide 
 instantly what that command must be. No act or word of 
 life is too trifling to need thought, and the nature and quality 
 of that thought is most important, for “As a man thinketh- 
 So is he.’* 
 
 The silent processes that are taking place in the thoughts 
 of men are changing the whole force of the earth, man turns 
 his thought in the direction of mechanical invention, and we 
 have the steam engine and the cotton gin. He thinks of 
 jastice and law, and at once all the administration of the 
 courts is reviewed and criticised, and the legislatures make 
 new laws to suit his advanced thought. He directs his 
 thoughts to his own nature and powers unseen before are 
 called into action, and he receives some idea of his own 
 capacities and the possibilities which are within his grasp. 
 This thought and sent out by the human brain is 
 
 the mightiest engine known to man to mould material things 
 to his will. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 CULTiV/\TE SELF-CONFIDENCE 
 
 “I am what I think I am, for what I think I am I gradually 
 grow to be.” , 
 
 OTH poetry and philosophy are prodigal of eulogy over 
 the mind which rescues itself, by its own energy, from 
 a captivity to custom, which breaks the common bonds 
 of empire and cuts a Simplon over mountain s of difficulty for 
 its own purposes, whether of good or of evil. We cannot 
 help admiring such a character. It is a positive relief to 
 turn from a contemplation of those relying on some one else 
 for a solution of the difficulties that surround them to those 
 who are strong in their own self-reliance, who, when con. 
 fronted with fresh trials and difficulties, only put on a more 
 determined mien, and more resolutely apply their own 
 powers to remove the obstacles so unexpectedly put in their 
 way. There is no surer sign of an unmanly and cowardly 
 spirit than a vague desire for help, a wish to depend, to lean 
 upon somebody and enjoy the fruits of the industry of others. 
 
 In the assurance of strength there is strengt h, and they 
 are the weakest, however strong, who have no faith in them- 
 selves or their powers. Men often conquer difficulties be- 
 
 247 
 
248 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 cause they think they can. Their confidence in themselves 
 inspires confidence in others. The man who makes 
 every thing that conduces to happiness to depend upon 
 himself, and not upon other men, on whose good or 
 evil actions his own doings are compelled to hinge, has 
 adopted the very best plan for living happily. This is 
 the man for moderation, the possessor of manly char- 
 acter and wisdom. By self-reliance is not meant self- 
 conceit. The two are widely different. Self-reliance is 
 cognizant of all the ills of earthly existence, and it rests on 
 a rational consciousness of power to contend with them. It 
 counts the cost of the conflict with real life, and calmly con- 
 cludes that it is able to meet the foes which stand in frown- 
 ing array on the world’s great battle-field. Self-conceit, on 
 the other hand, is a vainglorious assertion of power. It 
 knows not the real difficulties it has to contend with, and is 
 too supercilious to inquire into them. It rejects well-meant 
 offers of counsel or assistance. It feels above taking advice. 
 The unhappy possessor of such a trait of character is far 
 from being a self-reliant man. 
 
 It has been said God never intended that strong, indepen- 
 dent beings should be reared by clinging to others, like the 
 ivy to the oak, for support. The difficulties, hardships and 
 trials of life — the obstacles one encounters on the road to 
 fortune — are positive blessings. They knit his muscles 
 firmly, and teach him self-reliance, just as by wrestling with 
 an athlete who is superior to us we increase our own strength 
 and learn the secret of his skill. All difficulties come to us, 
 as Bunyan says of temptation, like the lion which met Samp- 
 son, the first time we encounter them they roar and gnash 
 their teeth, but once subdued we find a nest of honey in 
 them. Peril is the very element in which power is devel- 
 oped, Don’t rely upon your friends, nor rely upon the name 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 249 
 
 of your ancestor. Thousands have spent the prime of life 
 in the vain hope of help from those whom they called friends, 
 and many thousands have starved because they had a rich 
 father. 
 
 Rely upon the good name which is made by your own 
 exertions, and know that better than the best friend you can 
 have is unconquerable determination of spirit, united with 
 decision of character. Seek such attainments as will enable 
 you to confide in yourself, to rise equal to your emergencies. 
 Strive to acquire an inward principle of self-support. Help 
 yourself and heaven will help you, should be the motto of 
 every man who would make himself useful in the world or 
 carve his way to riches and honor. It is an old saying, “He 
 who has lost confidence can lose nothing more.” The man 
 who dares not follow his own independent judgement, but 
 runs perpetually to others for advice, becomes at last a 
 moral weakling and an intellectual dwarf. Such a man has 
 not self within him, and believes in no self, but goes as a 
 suppliant to others and entreats of them, one after another, 
 to lend him theirs. He is, in fact, a mere element of a hu- 
 man being, and is borne about the. world an insignificant 
 cipher, unless he desperately fastens to other floating and 
 supplementary elements, with which he may form a species 
 of incorporation resembling a man. Any young man who 
 will thus part with freedom and the self-respect that grows 
 out of self reliance and self-support is unmanly, neither 
 deserving of assistance nor capable of making good use of it. 
 
 Hardship is the native soil of manhood and self-reliance. 
 Opposition is what we want and must have to be good for 
 anything. Men seem neither to understand their riches nor 
 their own strength. Of the former they believe greater 
 things than they should, of the latter much less. Self- 
 reliance and self-denial will teach a man to drink of his own 
 
250 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 cistern, and eat bread from his own kitchen, and learn to 
 labor truly to get his living, and carefully to expend the good 
 things committed to his care. Every youth should be made 
 to feel that if he would get through the world usefully and 
 happily h*e must rely mainly upon himself and his own inde 
 pendent energies. Young men should never hear any lan- 
 guage but this: “You have your own way to make, and it 
 
 depends upon your exertion whether you starve or not. Out- 
 side help is your greatest curse. It handicaps efforts, stifles 
 aspirations, shuts the door upon emulation, turns the key 
 upon energy.” The custom of making provisions to assist 
 worthy young men in obtaining an education is often a posi- 
 tive evil to the recipient. The germ of self-reliant energy, 
 which else would have done so much for his material good, 
 is stifled in its growth by the mistaken kindness of benevo- 
 lent beings. And no mental acqusitions can compensate 
 any young man for loss of self-reliance. 
 
 It is not the men who have been reared in affluence who have 
 left the most enduring traces on the world. It is not in the 
 sheltered garden or the hot-house, but on the rugged Alpine 
 cliffs, where the storms beat most violently, that the toughest 
 plants are reared. Men who are trained to self-reliance aie 
 ready to go out and contend in the sternest conflicts of life, 
 while those who have always leaned for support on others 
 around them are never prepared to breast the storms of ad- 
 versity that arise. Self-reliance is more than a passive trust 
 in one’s own powers. It shows itself in an active manner; it 
 demonstrates itself in works. It is not ashamed of its pre- 
 tentions, but invites inspection and asks recognition. Be- 
 cause there is danger of invoicing yourself above your real 
 value, it does not follow that you should always underrate 
 your worth. Because to be conspicuous, honored, and known 
 you should not retire upon the center of your own conscious 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 251 
 
 resources, you need not necessarily be always at the circum- 
 ference. An excess of modesty is well-nigh as bad as an 
 excess of pride, for it is, in fact, an excess of pride in another 
 form, though it is questionable if this be not more hurtful to 
 the individual and less beneficial to society than gross and 
 unblushing vanity. 
 
 No man can tell what he can do until he tries. It is im- 
 possible to calculate the extent of human powers; that can 
 only be ascertained by experiment. What has been accom- 
 plished by parties and by solitary individuals in the torrid 
 and frozen regions, under circumstances the most difficult 
 and appalling, should teach us that, when we ought to 
 attempt, we should not despair. The reason why men 
 oftener succeed in overcoming uncommon difficulties than 
 ordinary ones, is, that in the first case they call into action 
 the whole of their resources, and that in the last they act 
 upon calculation, and generally undercalculate. Where 
 there is no retreat, and the whole energy is forward, the 
 chances are in favor of success; but a backward look is full 
 of danger. Confidence of success is almost success, and 
 obstacles often fall of themselves before a determination to 
 overcome them. There is something in confidence which 
 has an influence beyond itself, and it marches on like a 
 mighty lord among its slaves; all is prostration where it 
 appears. When bent on good, it is almost the noblest 
 attribute of man. It is by confidence that men succeed in 
 any great enterprise; impulses are not sufficient. What is 
 done at the moment, is undone the next; and a step forward 
 is nothing gained unless it is followed up. 
 
 To the young v/ho have to make their own way in their 
 avocations, nothing can be more useful than frequent coun- 
 sel on the duty and necessity of regarding all obstacles on 
 the road as things to be grappled with a bold determination 
 
252 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 to coi^quer them manfully. One may not succeed; but if 
 he does, it is sweet to look back upon the heaps of briers 
 and hurdles through which he has forced a passage by. 
 Hence, the greater the difficulty the more glory there is in 
 surmounting it. So skillful pilots gain their reputation from 
 storms and tempests. Difficulty is a severe instructor, set 
 over us by the supreme ordinance of a parental Guardian 
 and Legislator, who knows us better than we know ourselves, 
 as he loves us better, too. He that wrestles with us, 
 strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill; our antagonist 
 is bur helper. This amicable contest with difficulty forces 
 us to an intimate acquaintance with ourselves, a better 
 knowledge of our capacities and our powers. 
 
 Loss of confidence in business men causes failure of banks 
 and commercial crises. Business could not be transacted, 
 the wheels of toil would stop, the furnace fires would go out, 
 and want be everywhere, from hovel to palace, if credit and 
 confidence were lost among business men. It is confidence 
 that sends ships to the dim corners of the world; from the 
 confidence of business men in each other, a little scrap of 
 paper with a name on it, will circulate in and out of a hun- 
 dred business vaults, representing, it may be, thousands of 
 dollars. It is confidence that drives the plane, the chisel^ 
 the brush; that turns the countless wheels of industry; that 
 helps overcome opposition; that is the very essence of pluck 
 and grit, — the angel of your higher powers that leads you 
 down to the sweet, still valley of peace and prosperity. 
 
 The conclusion of the matter is, that in this busy, bustling 
 period of the world's history, confidence is almost an essen- 
 tial trait of character in one who means to get along well in 
 business, and win his way to success and fortune. He must 
 remember that he cannot expect to have people repose con- 
 fidence in his ability and his integrity, unless he displays 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 253 
 
 confidence in himself. If poverty be his lot, and embarrass- 
 ments and discouragements of all kinds press upon him, let 
 him take heart and push resolutely ahead, cultivating a 
 strong, self-reliant disposition, and the confidence of others 
 will soon be acquired. By so doing he will rise superior to 
 misfortune. He will learn to rely on his own resources, to 
 look within himself for the means wherewith to combat the 
 competition that presses upon him. By such a course of 
 action, he takes the road which most surely leads to worth 
 and wealth. 
 
 It is true, we all patronize humility in the abstract, and, 
 when enshrined in another, we admire it. It is a pleasure 
 to meet a man who does not pique our vanity, or thrust 
 himself between us and the object of our pretensions. There 
 is no one who, if questioned, would not be found in the 
 depths of his heart secretly to prefer the modest man, pro- 
 portionally despising the swaggerer “who goes unbidden to 
 the head of the feast.’* But while such is our deliberate 
 verdict when taken to task in the matter, it is not the one 
 we practically give. The man who entertains a good, stout 
 opinion of himself always contrives somehow to cheat us out 
 of a corresponding one, and we are too apt to acquiesce in 
 his assumption, even though they may strike us unpleasantly. 
 Nor need this excite our surprise. The great mass of men 
 have no time to examine the merits of others. They are 
 busy about their own affairs, which claim all their attention. 
 They cannot go about hunting modest worth in every nook 
 and corner. Those who would secure their good opinion 
 must come forward with their claims, and at least show their 
 own confidence by backing them with vigorous assertions. 
 
 If, therefore, a man of fair talents arrays his pretensions 
 before us, if he insists and persists for an admission of his 
 merits, obtruding them upon us, we are forced at last to notice 
 
254 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 them, and, unless he fairly disgusts us by the extravagance 
 of his claims, shocking all sense of decency, we are inclined 
 to admit them, even in preference to superior merits, which 
 their possessor by his own actions seem to underrate. It is 
 too often cant by which indolent and irresolute men seek to 
 lay their want of success at the door of the public. Well- 
 matured and well-disciplined talent is always sure of a 
 market, provided it exerts itself; but it must not cower at 
 home and expect to be sought after. There is a good deal 
 of cant, too, about the successes of forward and impudent 
 men, while men of retiring worth are overlooked. But it 
 usually happens that those forward men have that valuable 
 quality of promptness and activity, without which worth is a 
 mere inoperative quality. 
 
 The conclusion of the whole matter is, that in this busy, 
 bustling period of the world's history self-confidence is almost 
 an essential trait of character in one who means to get along 
 well and win his way to success and fortune. This may 
 exist entirely independent of self-conceit, the two being by 
 no means necessa,rily concomitant. He must remember that 
 he cannot expect to have people repose confidence in his 
 ability unless he displays confidence in them himself. If 
 poverty be his lot, and troubles and discouragements of all 
 kinds press upon him, let him take heart and push resolutely 
 ahead, cultivating a strong, self-reliant disposition. By so 
 doing he will rise superior to misfortune. He will learn to 
 rely on his own resources, to look within himself for the 
 means wherewith to combat the ills that press upon him. By 
 such a course of action he takes the road which most surely 
 leads to success. 
 
 It is a common saying that the man of practical ability 
 far surpasses the theorist. Just what is meant by practical 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 255 
 
 ability is, perhaps, hard to explain. It is more easy to tell 
 what it is not than what it is. It recognizes the fact that life 
 is action; that mere thoughts and schemes will avail nothing 
 unless subsequently wrought out in action. It is an indes - 
 cribable quality which results from a union of worldly 
 knowledge with shrewdness and tact. He that sets out on 
 the journey of life with a profound knowledge of books, but 
 with a shallow knowledge of man, with much of the sense 
 of others, but with little of his own, will find himself 
 completely at a loss on occasions of common and constant 
 recurrence. 
 
 Speculative ability is one thing, and practical ability is 
 another; and the man who in his study or with his pen in 
 hand shows himself capable of forming large views of life 
 and policy, may in the outer world be found altogether un- 
 fitted for carrying them into practical effect. Speculative 
 ability depends on vigorous thinking, practical ability in 
 vigorious acting, and the two qualities are usually found 
 combined in very unequal proportions. The speculative 
 man is prone to indecision; he sees all sides of a question, 
 and his action becomes suspended in nicely weighing the 
 arguments for and against, which are often found nearly to 
 balance each other; whereas the practical man overleaps 
 logical preliminaries and arrives at certain definite convic- 
 tions, and proceeds forthwith to carry his policy into action. 
 The mere theorist rarely displays practical ability; and, con- 
 versely, the practical man rarely displays a high degree of 
 speculative wisdom. If you try to carve a stone with a 
 razor, the razor will lose its edge, and the stone remain 
 uncut. A high education, unless it is practical as well as 
 classical, often unfits a man for contest with his fellow-man. 
 Intellectual culture, if carried beyond a certain point, is too 
 
256 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 often purchased at the expense of moral vigor. It gives 
 edge and splendor to a man, but draws out all his temper. 
 
 In all affairs of life, but more especially in those great 
 enterprises which require the co-operation of others, a knowl- 
 edge of men is indispensable. This knowledge implies not 
 only quickness of penetration and sagacity, but many other 
 superior elements of character; for it is important to perceive 
 not merely in whom we can confide, but to maintain that 
 influence over them which secures their good faith and 
 defeats the unworthy purpose of a wavering and dishonest 
 mind. The world always laughs at those failures which 
 arise from weakness of judgment and defects of penetration 
 Practical wisdom is only to be learned in the school of ex- 
 perience. Precepts and instruction are useful so far as they 
 go; but without the discipline of real life they remain of the 
 nature of theories only. The hard facts of existence give 
 that touch of truth to character which can never be im- 
 parted by reading and tuition, but only by contact with the 
 broad instincts of common men and women. 
 
 Intellectual training is to be prized, but practical knowl- 
 edge is neccessary to make it available. Experience gained 
 from books, however valuable, is of the nature of learning; 
 experience gained from outward life is wisdom; and an ounce 
 of the latter is worth a pound of the former. Rich mental 
 endowments, thorough culture, great genius, brilliant parts 
 have often existed in company with very glaring deficiencies 
 in what may be called good judgment; while there is a cer- 
 tain stability of judgment and soundness of understanding 
 often displayed by those who have not an extensive educa- 
 tion. The old sailor knows nothing of nautical astronomy. 
 Azimuths, right ascensions, and the solution of spherical 
 triangles have no charm and little meaning to him. But he 
 can scan the seas and skies and warn of coming danger with 
 
OR. SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS 
 
 257 
 
 a natural wisdom which all the keen intellect and ready 
 mathematics of the young lieutenant do not afford. The 
 man who has traveled much accumulates a store of useful 
 information, and can give hints of practioal wisdom which 
 no deep study of geological lore or of antiquarian research 
 could afford. The student of life rather than of books 
 gains an understanding by experience for which no store of 
 erudition can prove an adequate compensation. The true 
 order of learning should be, first, what is necessary; second, 
 what is useful; and third, what is ornamental. To reverse 
 this arrangement is like beginning to build at the top of the 
 edifice. Practical ability depends in a large measure on the 
 employment of what is known as common sense, which is 
 the average sensibility and intelligence of men undisturbed 
 by individual peculiarities. Fine sense and exalted sense 
 are not half as useful as common sense. There are forty 
 men of wit for one man of sense, and he that will carry noth- 
 ing but gold will be every day at a loss for readier change. 
 
 The height of ability consists in a thorough knowledge of 
 the real value of things and of the genius of the age we live 
 in, and could we know by what strange circumstances a 
 man’s genius becomes prepared for practical success, we 
 should discover that the most serviceable items in his edu- 
 cation were never entered in the bills his father paid for. 
 That knowledge of the world which inculcates strict vigilance 
 in regard to our individual interests and representation, 
 which recommends the mastery of things to be held in our 
 own hands, or which enables us to live undamaged by the 
 skillful maneuvers and crafty plots of plausible men on the 
 one hand or uncontaminated by the depravities of unprin- 
 cipled ones on the other, is of daily acquisition and equally 
 accessible to all. 
 
258 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 The most learned of men do not always make the best of 
 teachers; the lawyer who has achieved a classical education 
 is not always the most successful. The men who have 
 wielded power have not always been graduates. Brindley 
 and Stephenson did not learn to read and write until they 
 were twenty years old; yet the one gave England her rail- 
 roads, and the other her canals. The great inventor is one 
 who has walked forth upon the industrial world, not from 
 universities, but from hovels, not as clad in silks and decked 
 with honors, hut as clad in fustian and grimed with soot and 
 oiU It is not known where he who invented the plow was 
 born, or where he died; yet he has effected more for the hap- 
 piness of the world than the whole race of heroes and con- 
 querors who drenched it in tears and blood, whose birth, 
 parentage, and education have been handed down to us with 
 a precision proportionate to the mischief they have done. 
 Mankind owes more of its real happiness to this humble in- 
 ventor than to some of the most acute minds in the realm of 
 literature. 
 
 Education, indeed, accomplishes wonders in fitting a man 
 for the work of success, but we sometimes forget that it is of 
 more consequence to have the mind well disciplined rather 
 than richly stored, — strong rather than full. Every day we 
 see men of high culture distanced in the race of life by the 
 upstart who cannot spell. The practical dunce outstrips the 
 theorizing genius. Life teems with such illustrations. Men 
 have ruled well who could not confine a commonwealth; and 
 they who did not understand the shape of the earth have 
 commanded a greater portion of it. The want of practical 
 talent in men of fine intellectual powers has often excited 
 the wonder of the crowd. They are astonished that one who 
 has grasped, perhaps, the mightiest themes, and shed a light 
 on the path to be pursued by others, should be unable to 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 259 
 
 manage his own affairs with dexterity. But this is not 
 strange. Deep thinking and practical talents require habits 
 of mind almost entirely dissimilar, and though they may, and 
 often do, exist conjointly, and while it is the duty of all to 
 strive to cultivate both, yet such is the constitution of the 
 human mind that it is apt to go to extremes. And he who 
 accustoms himself to deep prying into nature’s secrets, to 
 exploring the hidden mysteries of the past, is too apt to for- 
 get the practical details of every-day life, to pass them by 
 with disgust, as altogether beneath his attention. This is an 
 error, and none the less reprehensible on that account than 
 is the conduct of those who become so engrossed with the 
 practical affairs of their calling or profession as to forget that 
 they have a higher nature, and sink the man in the pursuit 
 of their ambitious dreams. 
 
 A man who sees limitedly and clearly is both more sure 
 of himself and is more direct in dealing with circumstances 
 and with men than is a man who has a large horizon of 
 thought, whose many-sided capacity embraces an immense 
 extent of objects, just as the somnambulist treads with safety 
 where the wide-awake man could not hope to follow. Prac- 
 tical men cut the knots which they cannot unite, and, over- 
 leaping all preliminaries, come at once to a conclusion. Men 
 of theoretical knowledge, on the other hand, are tempted to 
 waste time in comparin^and meditating when they should 
 be up and doing. Practical knowledge will not always of 
 itself raise a man to eminence, but for want of it many a 
 man has fallen short of distinction. Without it the best run- 
 ner, straining for the prize, finds himself suddenly tripped up 
 and lying on his back in the midst of the race. Without it 
 the subtlest theologian will live and die in an obscure country 
 village, and the acutest legal mind fail of adorning the bench. 
 
260 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 The man who lacks it may be a great thinker or a great 
 worker. He may be an acute reasoner and an eloquent 
 speaker, and yet, in spite of all this, fail of success. There 
 is a hitch, a stand-still, a mysterious want somewhere. Lit- 
 tle, impalpable trifles weave themselves into a web which 
 holds him back. The fact is, he is not sufficiently in accord 
 with his surroundings. He has never seen the importance 
 of adjusting his scale of weights and measures to the popular 
 standard. In a word, he is not a man of the world, in a 
 popular sense. 
 
 While it may be very difficult to define this practical 
 ability, v/hich is so all-important, yet the path to be pursued 
 by him who would advance therein is visible to all. It 
 requires a shrewd and careful observance of men and things 
 rather than of books. It requires that the judgment be 
 strengthened by being called upon apparently trival affairs. 
 The memory must be trained to recall principles rather than 
 statements. All the faculties of the mind must be trained 
 to act with decision and dispatch. Education must be 
 regarded as a means and not as an end. By these means, 
 while admitting that practical talents are, in their true sense^ 
 a gift of God, still we can cultivate and bring them to per- 
 fection, and by education and experience convert that which 
 before lay dormant in the rough pebble into a dazzling dia- 
 mond. To help you to accomplish this is our desire. We 
 have made this a study and can assure you success. 
 
 We have made it our life work to assist those who desire 
 to develop their own powers; to overcome all habits and 
 tendencies which prevent them from attaining success and 
 happiness in this world. We are deeply imbued with the 
 idea that life was intended by an all wise Creator to be 
 filled with joy and happiness, and we have made a study of 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS 
 
 261 
 
 those causes which too often change it into a scene or suff- 
 ering, discord and pain. We have not been content with a 
 raere surface knowledge; we have lifted the veil which hides 
 the deepest experiences of humanity from the gaze of the 
 world, and we read deeply from the pages of the human 
 heart. We know that the desires and longings of all human- 
 ity for power, for love, for wealth, were not implanted in the 
 human breast without any means of gratifying them. We 
 know that there is a way to make those who are weak strong 
 to heal those who are sick, to teach those who are uncouth 
 and awkward, how to acquire ease and grace. We can guide 
 those who would learn how to replace timidity and self dis- 
 trust with self possession and conscious power. We know 
 the hidden motives which actuate those who would acquire 
 those graces and charms of manner which insure social 
 success. At the bottom of every heart there is a passionate 
 longing for love, and to those who confide in us we can 
 assure success. To all who love and who crave success 
 through a development of their own talents we would say 
 hope for 
 
 It is the heart and not the brain 
 
 That to the highest doth attain, 
 
 And he who follows Love’s behest 
 
 Far surpasses all the rest. 
 
 The cultivation of the intellect gives power to know and 
 analyze, but it does not bring happiness unless it is guided 
 by the moral nature into proper directions. It is only by 
 satisfying the cravings of the heart for love, that the life 
 of man is filled with peace and content. Men miss the 
 best enjoyment of life by restlessly striving for mere baubles 
 which a bad headache would rob of all power to please. 
 One hour of heart life is worth years of discontented striv- 
 ing after low ideals. The poet Burns with hardly a shirt to 
 
262 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 his back, but with his heart filled with love and joy, was a 
 man who enjoyed life more than many a miser whose heart 
 was fixed on riches and on nothing higher. But the posses- 
 sion of riches need not be a bar to the truest and highest 
 enjoyment. Earnest work for humanity and a desire to 
 make others happy, will bring its reward whether surrounded 
 by poverty or riches. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 mental trp^ining 
 
 *‘The development of man, his attributes and possibilities, 
 are largely dependent upon the amount he studies, and the use 
 he makes of hig attainments.*’ 
 
 f HE mind has a certain vegetative power which cannot 
 be wholly idle. If it is not laid out and cultivated 
 into a beautiful garden, it will soon shoot up in weeds 
 and flowers of a wild growth. From this, then, is seen the 
 necessity of careful mental cultivation — a training of all the 
 faculties in the right direction. This should be the first 
 great object in any system of education, public or private. 
 The value of an education depends far less upon varied and 
 extensive acquirements than upon the cultivation of just 
 powers of thought and the general regulation of the faculties 
 of the understanding. That is not the amount of knowledge, 
 but the capacity to apply it, which promises success and 
 usefulness in life, is a truth which cannot be too often incul- 
 cated by instructors and recollected by pupils. If youths 
 are taught how to think, they will soon learn what to think. 
 Exercise is not more necessary to a healthful state of the 
 body then is the employment of the various faculties of the 
 mind to mental efficiency. The practical sciences are as 
 
 263 
 
264 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 barren of useful products as the speculative where facts only 
 are the objects of knowledge, and the understanding is not 
 habituated to a continual process of examination and 
 reflection. 
 
 It is the trained and disciplined intellect which rules the 
 world of literature, science, and art. It is knowledge put in 
 action by trained mental faculties which is powerful. 
 Knowledge merely gathered together, whether in books or in 
 brains, is devoid of power, unless quickened into life by the 
 thoughts and reflections of some practical worker. But 
 when this is supplied knowledge becomes an engine of 
 power. It is this which forms the philosopher’s stone, the 
 true alchemy, that converts everything it touches into gold. 
 It is the scepter that gives us our dominion over nature; the 
 key that unlocks the storehouse of creation, and opens to us 
 the treasures of the universe. It is this which forms the 
 difference between savage and civilized nations, and marks 
 the distinction between men as they appear in society. It is 
 this which has raised men from the humblest walks of life to 
 positions of influence and power. 
 
 The lack of mental training and discipline explains, in a 
 largemeasure, why we so often meet with men who are the 
 possessors of vast stores of erudition, and yet make a failure 
 of everything they try. We shall at all times chance upon 
 men of profound and recondite requirements, but whose 
 qualifications, from a lack of practical application on their 
 owners' part, are as utterly useless them as though they had 
 them not. A person of this class may be compared to a fine 
 chronometer which has no hands to its dial; both are con« 
 stantly right without correcting any that are wrong, and may 
 be carried around the world without assisting one individual 
 either in making a discovery or taking an observation.. 
 Every faculty of the mind is worthy of cultivation; indeed, 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS 
 
 265 
 
 all must be cultivated, if we would round and perfect our 
 mental powers as to secure therefrom the greatest good. 
 Memory must be ready with her stores of useful knowledge, 
 gathered from fields far and near. She must be trained to 
 classify and arrange them, so as to hold them in her grasp. 
 Observation must be quick to perceive the apparently trivial 
 events which are constantly occurring, and diligent to ascer- 
 tain the cause, The judgment must pronounce its decision 
 without undue delay; the will move to execution in accord- 
 ance with the fiat of an enlightened understanding. 
 
 This work of mental training, apparently so vast, is really 
 so pleasant and easy that it sweetens everyday’s life. There 
 is no excuse for the youth who is content to grow up to 
 mature life and its duties with a mind whose powers are 
 untrained, and which has not received the advantages of a 
 practical education. Some may think they are excused by 
 poverty; but lack of means has not robbed them of a single 
 intellectual power. On the contrary, it sharpens them all. 
 Has poverty shut them out from nature, from truth, or from 
 God.^ Wealth cannot convert a dunce into a genius. Gold 
 will not store a mind with wisdom; more likely it will fill it 
 with folly. It may decorate the body, but it cannot adorn 
 the soul. No business is so urgent but that time may be 
 spent in mental training. One cannot well help thinking 
 and studying; for the mind is ever active. What is needful 
 is to direct it to proper objects and in proper channels, and 
 it will cultivate itself. There is nothing to prevent but the 
 will. Who ever forms a resolute determination to cultivate 
 his mind will find nothing in h s way sufficient to stop him. 
 If he finds barriers they only strengthen him by overcoming 
 them. Whoever lives to thirty years of age without culti- 
 vating his mind is guilty of a great waste of time. If during 
 that period he does not form a habit of reading, of observa- 
 
^66 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 
 
 tion, and reflection, he will never form such a habit, but go 
 through the world none the wiser for all the wonders that 
 are spread around him. A small portion of that leisure 
 time which by too many is given to dissipation and idleness, 
 would enable any young man to aquire a very general knowl- 
 edge of men and things. One can live a life-time and get 
 no instruction: but as soon as he begins to look for wisdom 
 it is given him. Even the pursuits of practical, everyday life 
 numberless instances are constantly arising to aid in mental 
 training. There are few persons so engrossed by the cares 
 and labors of their calling that they cannot give thirty min- 
 utes a day to mental training; and even that time, wisely 
 spent, will tell at the end of a year. The affections, it is 
 well known, sometimes crowd years into moments; and the 
 intellect has something of the same power. If you really 
 prize mental cultivation, or are deeply anxious to do any 
 good thing, you will find time or make lime for it sooner or 
 later, however, engrossed with other employments, A fail- 
 ure to accomplish it can only demonstrate the feebleness of 
 your will, not that you lacked time for its execution. 
 
 It is impossible to overestimate the importance of reading 
 as a means of training the mental faculties. It is by this 
 means that you gather food for thoughts, principles and 
 actions. If your books are wisely selected and properly 
 studied, they will enlighten your minds, improve your hearts 
 and establish your character. To acquire useful informa- 
 tion, to improve the mind in knowledge and the heart in 
 goodness, to become qualified to perform with honor and 
 usefulness the duties of life, and prepare for immortality 
 beyond the grave, are the great objects which ought to be 
 kept in view in reading. 
 
 There are four classes of readers. The first is like the 
 hour-glass, and their reading being on the sand, it runs in 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS 
 
 267 
 
 and runs out, and leaves no vestige behind. A second is 
 like a sponge, which imbibes everything and returns it in the 
 same state, only a little dirtier. A third is like a jelly-bag, 
 allowing all that is pure to pass away, retaining only the 
 refuse and the dregs. The fourth is like the slaves in the 
 diamond-mines of Golconda, who, casting away all that is 
 worthless, obtain only pure gems. 
 
 We should read with discrimination. The world is full 
 of books no small portion of which are either worthless or 
 decidedly hurtful in their tendency. And as no man has 
 time to read everything, he ought to make a selection of the 
 ablest and best writers on the subjects which he wishes to 
 investigate, and dismiss wholly from his attention the entire 
 crowd of unworthy and useless ones. Always read with 
 your thoughts concentrated, and your mind entirely engaged 
 on the subject you are pursuing. Any other course tends to 
 form a habit of desultory, indolent thought, and incapacitate 
 the mind from confining its attention to close and accurate 
 investigation. One book read thoroughly and with careful 
 attention will do more to improve the mind and enrich the 
 understanding than skimming over the surface of a whole 
 library. The more one reads in a busy, superficial manner^ 
 the worse. It is like loading the stomach with a great quan- 
 tity of food, which lies there undigested. It enfeebles the 
 intellect, and sheds darkness and confusion over all the 
 operations of the mind. The mind, like the body, is strength- 
 ened by exercise, and the severer the exercise the greater 
 increase of strength. One hour of thorough, close applica- 
 tion to study does more to invigorate and improve the mind 
 than a week spent in the ordinary exercise of its powers. 
 We should read slowly, carefully, and with reflection. We 
 sometimes rush over pages of valuable matter because at a 
 glance they seem to be dull, and we hurry along to see how 
 it is to end. 
 
268 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 At every action and enterprise ask yourself this question: 
 What shall the consequences of this be to me? Am I not 
 likely to repent of it? Whatever thou takest in hand, remem- 
 ber the end, and thou shalt never do amiss. Take time to 
 deliberate and advise, but lose no time in executing your 
 resolution. To perceive accurately and to think correctly is 
 the aim of all mental training. Heart and conscience are 
 more than the mere intellect. Yet we know not how much 
 the clear, clean-cut thought, the intellectual vision, sharp 
 and true, may aid even these. Undigested learning is as 
 oppressive as undigested food; and, as with the dyspeptic 
 patient, the appetite for food often grows with the inability 
 to digest it, so in the unthinking patient an overweening 
 desire to know often accompanies the inability to know to 
 any purpose. To learn merely for the sake of learning 
 is like eating merely for the taste of the taste of the food. 
 To learn in order to become wise makes the mind active and 
 powerful, like the body of one who is temperate and judic- 
 ious in meat and drink. 
 
 Thought is to the brain what gastric juice is to the stomach — 
 a solvent to reduce whatever is received to a condition in 
 which all that is wholesome and nutritious may be appro- 
 priated, and that alone. Learning is healthfully digested by 
 the mind when it reflects upon what is learned, classifies and 
 arranges facts and circumstances, considers the relations of 
 one to another, and places what is taken into the mind at 
 different times in relation to the same subjects under their 
 appropriate heads, so that the various stores are not 
 heterogeneously piled up, but laid away in order, and may 
 be examined with ease when wanted. This is the perfec- 
 tion of mental training and discipline, — memory well trained, 
 judgment quick to act, and attention sharp to observe. We 
 invite and urge all to turn their attention to this subject as 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 269 
 
 something worthy af those endowed with reasoning powers. 
 It is not a wearying task, but one which repays for its under- 
 taking by making much more rich in its joys and inspiring 
 in its hopes all the after-life of the man or woman who 
 went forth bravely to the work which heaven has decreed as 
 the lot of all who would enjoy the greatest good of life. 
 
 Man is a wonderful union of mind and body and to form 
 a perfect being a high degree of cultivation is required for 
 each component part. Those who cultivate the mental to 
 the exclusion of the mere bodily, or at least carelessly pass 
 by its claims, are no less in error than those who cultivate 
 the bodily faculties to the exclusion of the mental. The 
 aim of all attempts at self-cultivation should be the highest 
 and most appropriate development of the entire being — 
 physical, intellectual and moral. It comprehends the health 
 of the body, the expansion of the intellect, the purification 
 of the heart. It guards the health, because a feeble body 
 acts powerfully on the mind and is a clog to its progress. 
 It cherishes the intellect because it is the glory of the hu- 
 man being. It trains the moral nature, because if that is 
 weak and misdirected a blight falls upon the soul and a 
 curse rests upon the body. As each faculty reacts upon all 
 the others, true self- culture attends with a due proportion of 
 care to each. It strives to retain one power whose action 
 is tno intense and to stimulate another which is torpid, until 
 they act in delightful harmony with each other and the 
 result is the healthful progress toward the highest point of 
 attainable good. 
 
 Self-culture includes a proper care of the health of the 
 body. To be careless of your health is to be stunted in in- 
 tellect and miserable in feelings. You might as well expect 
 to enjoy life in a dilapidated and ruined habitation, which 
 iffords free admission to the freezing blast and pitiless rain> 
 
270 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 as to be happy in a body ruined by self-indulgence. The 
 body is the home of the soul. Can its mysterious tenant 
 find rest and unmixed joy within its chambers if daily ex- 
 posed to sharp and shivering shocks through its aching 
 joints or quivering nerves? How many bright intellects 
 have failed of making any impression upon the world simply 
 because they neglected the most obvious of hygienic laws! 
 If God has bestowed upon you the inestimable gift of good 
 health and a good constitution, it is your duty as a ratianal 
 creature, to preserve it. To expect vigorous health and the 
 enjoyment which it brings and at the same time live in open 
 defiance of the laws of health, is to expect what can not 
 take place. Not only is good health thus of value and one 
 of the most important ends of self-cultivation, but we would 
 imprs«s on all the fact that the body is just as important a 
 factor as the mind in the work of success, that it is just as 
 worthy to be cultivated so as to grow in strength and beauty 
 and the development of all those faculties which go to make 
 a physically perfect man or woman. 
 
 It is a sad sight to see a brilliant mind that has dragged 
 down a strong body, because it has been so imperious in its 
 demands, leaving its companion to suffer for lack of atten- 
 tion to some of its plainest wants. It reminds one of a 
 building tottering under its own weight, yet full of the most 
 costly machinery which can be run, if at all, only with the 
 greatest caution or the entire fabric will crumble to ruins. 
 The lesson cannot be too soon learned that, while the hu- 
 man body is most wonderfully complex in its organization, 
 still such is the perfection of all nature’s works that all that 
 is demanded of us is. compliance with simple rules to enable 
 us to enjoy health. That it is our duty as well as our privi- 
 lege to so train and cultivate the body that it will answer 
 readily all demands made upon it by an enlightened mind 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS, 
 
 271 
 
 and will perform all its appropriate functions in the great 
 work of life. 
 
 The course of training which all of our students receive 
 who enter upon the private course in Personal Magnetism, 
 has for its first object the formation of daily habits of living 
 that will ensure perfect health if continued for a reasonable 
 length of time. Our knowledge of the finer forces which 
 may be brought to bear upon any life, enable us to work in 
 harmony with nature and with a success and certainty that 
 no school of medicine can hope to achieve; indeed, a large 
 number of our students and patients are those who have 
 tried in vain the treatment of physicians who use drugs and 
 medicines and who have been reduced to helplessness and 
 left without hope under the treatment. We hold that drugs 
 never effect a permanent cure and that nature alone can re- 
 store to health; all that is needed is to remove the hindering 
 causes which interfere with nature and let her perform her 
 perfect work. 
 
 The forces which give sound, bodily health exist all around 
 us and because they have been lavished so freely upon us 
 by the Supreme Power, man has passed them by carelessly 
 and denied their existence. All that is needed is an intelli- 
 gent recognition of these forces and their wonderful power 
 and that we teach our students in Personal Magnetism. 
 We recognize that the physical body must ever be the foun- 
 dation on which to build a character full of power and able 
 to exert a Magnetic influence over others. The training 
 which we give our students, has for its aim the placing them 
 in a position of conscious power. We see all around us every 
 day of our lives men and women who are gifted by nature, 
 but who do not know how to use her gifts and who are not 
 aware of them. These powers if allpwed to remain unde- 
 veloped, become a source of unhappiness and no one can be 
 
272 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 entirely healthy while they are unhappy. The course which 
 we send out to our students deals first with the physical and 
 when our teachings have produced their legitimate effect and 
 the health is practically perfect, desire and will when rightly 
 exerted will bring happiness and success. 
 
 Self-culture also implies suitable efforts to expand and 
 strengthen the intellect by reading, by reflection and by 
 writing down your thoughts. The strength and vigor given 
 to the mind by self-culture is not materially different from 
 that expressed by the term education in its broad and com- 
 prehensive meaning. Intellect being the crowning glory 
 and chief attribute of man, there can be no nobler aim to 
 set before one’s self than that of expanding and quickening 
 all of its powers. Rightly lived, our everyday life and ac- 
 tions conduce to this result. Our education is by no means 
 entirely on the product of organized schools. Our hired 
 teachers and printed books are not all that act on our pow- 
 ers to develop them. Life is one grand school and its 
 every circumstance a teacher. Society pours in its in- 
 fluence upon us like the thousand streams that flood the 
 ocean. 
 
 Scholastic men and women speak of book education, there 
 is also a life education — that great, common arena where 
 men and women do battle with the forces around them. 
 Our duty is so to guide and control these influences as to be 
 educated in the right direction. We should recognize the 
 fact that we are educating all the time and the great ques- 
 tion for us to settle is, “What manner of education are we 
 receiving?” Some are educated in vice, some in folly, 
 some in selfishness, some in deception, some in goodness^ 
 some in truth. Everyday gives us many lessons in life. 
 Every thought leaves its impression on the mind. Every 
 feeling weaves a garment for the spirit. Every passion 
 
The Guardian Angel. 
 
* 
 
 LI3!?ARY 
 Of THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 1J.IN01S 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS. 
 
 273 
 
 plows a furrow in the soul. It is our duty as sentinent, 
 moral beings so to guide and direct these thoughts, feelings 
 and passions that they shall educate us in the right direc- 
 tion. We are lax in duty to ourselves to let the world edu- 
 cate us as it will, for we are running a great risk to yield 
 ourselves up to the circumstances life has thrown about us, 
 to plunge into the stream of popular custom and allow our- 
 selves to drift with the current. 
 
 But aside from the practical education of everyday life we 
 are to remember, in our efforts after self-culture, that it is 
 also obligatory upon us to seek the discipline afforded by 
 books and study. In the pursuit of knowledge follow it 
 wherever it is to be found; like fern, it is the product of all 
 climates and like air, its circulation is not restricted to any 
 particular class. Any and every legitimate means of acquir- 
 ing information is to be pursued and all the odds and bits of 
 time pressed into use. Set a high price upon your leisure 
 moments. They are sands of precious gold; properly ex- 
 pended they will procure for you a stock of great thoughts — 
 thoughts that will fill, stir, invigorate and expand the soul. 
 As the magnificent river, rolling in the pride of its mighty 
 waters, owes its greatness to the hidden springs of the 
 mountain nook, so does the wide sweeping influence of dis- 
 tinguished men date its origin from hours of privacy reso- 
 lutely employed in efforts after self-development. 
 
 We should esteem those moments best improved which 
 are employed in developing our own thoughts, rather than 
 acquiring those of others, since in this kind of intellectual 
 exercise our powers are best brought into action and disci- 
 plined for use. Knowledge acquired by labor becomes a 
 possession — a property entirely our own. A greater vivid- 
 ness of impression is secured and facts thus acquired, be- 
 come registered in the mind in a way that mere imparted in- 
 
274 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 formation fails of securing, A habit of observation and 
 reflection is well-nigh everything. He who has spent his 
 whole life in traveling may live and die a thorough novice in 
 most of the important affairs in life, while on the other 
 hand, a man may be confined to a narrow sphere and be 
 engrossed in the prosaic affairs of everyday life and yet have 
 very correct ideas of the manners and customs of other na- 
 tions. He that studies only men will get the body of knowl- 
 edge without the soul; he that studies only books, the soul 
 without the body. He that to what he sees adds observa- 
 tion and to what he reads reflection, is in the right road to 
 knowledge, provided that in scrutinizing the hearts of others 
 he neglects not his own. Be not dismayed at doubts, for 
 remember that doubt is the vestibule through which all must 
 pass before they can enter into the temple of wisdom; there- 
 fore, when we are in doubt and puzzle out the truth by our 
 own exertions, we have gained a something which will stay 
 by us and serve us again. But if to avoid the trouble of a 
 search we avail ourselves of the superior information of a 
 friend, such knowledge will not remain with us; we have 
 borrowed \t and not bought \t 
 
 But man possesses something more than a mere body and 
 intellect; he is the possessor of moral faculties as well. A 
 true self-culture will be none the less careful to have the ac- 
 tions of these refined and pure than it is to possess physical 
 health on the one hand and mental vigor on the other. In- 
 deed, since your happiness depends upon their healthful 
 condition more than upon the state of your body and inteL 
 lect, your first care should be devoted to giving careful at- 
 tention to your moral nature. With disordered moral facul- 
 ties you will be as a ship without a helm, dashed on bars 
 and rocks at the will of winds and waves. It is the vice of 
 the age to substitute learning for wisdom, to educate the 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 275 
 
 head and torget that there is a more important education 
 necessary for the heart. Let the heart be opened and a 
 thousand virtues rush in. There is dew in one flower and 
 not in another, because one opens its cup and takes it in, 
 while the other closes itself and the drop runs off. God 
 rains his goodness and mercy as widespread as the dew and 
 if we lack them it is because we know not how to open our 
 hearts to receive them. No man can tell whether he is rich 
 or poor by turning to his ledger. It is the heart that makes 
 a man rich. He is rich or poor according to what he is and 
 not what he has. Cultivate your moral nature, then, as well 
 as bodily strength and mental vigor. The heart is the cen- 
 ter of vitality in the physical body; so the moral senses 
 seem to give vitality to all the various faculties of the mind. 
 If the moral nature becomes stunted in its development the 
 mind is apt to become chaotic in its action. How often we 
 meet with examples of this character in the common walks 
 of life! Many lose their balance of mind and become 
 wrecks from want of heart culture. Is the head of more im- 
 portance than the heart! It is true that wealth is the child 
 of the one, but it is equally true that happiness is the off- 
 spring of the other. 
 
 Such, then, is an outline of the great problem of self- 
 culture, We cannot escape its claims; from the time rea- 
 son dawns until death closes the scene they are pressing upon 
 you. Much of the happin ess of life, both here and hereafter, 
 depends on how you meet its demands. You can, if you 
 but will it, grow apace in all that is manly or womanly in 
 life; or by neglecting the claims of your manifold nature, as 
 utterly fail of so doing as the stunted shrub fails of being 
 the stately tree with waving branches and luxuriant foliage. 
 
 Rarely do we meet a character fully developed on every 
 side and when we see a man or woman who has passed 
 
276 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 middle life and is approaching old age, with full possession 
 of all their faculties and full of wisdom and energy while 
 overflowing with kindness to all their friends and neighbors, 
 we may be sure that they have obeyed the laws of self- 
 culture and have used well the gifts which they possessed. 
 Nothing is sadder than to see those lives that have grown 
 only in one direction, while every other side of their natures 
 has been neglected. Such a life is sure to be full of vain 
 regrets and sadness when looking back over the past. While 
 a full and well rounded life finds pleasure in old age, equal 
 to those of youth. The miser who has starved every gener- 
 ous impulse in order to accumulate gold, will find too late 
 how little gold can do to bring serenity and happiness. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 POWER OF MIND, 
 
 <‘My mind to me a kingdom is; 
 
 Such perfect joy therein I find 
 As far exceeds all earthly bliss. 
 
 Though much I want that most would have, 
 
 Yet still my mind forbids to crave.” 
 
 — Sir Edmund Dyer, 
 
 HE triumph of cultivated intellect over the forces of 
 nature is indeed a wonderful subject for contempla- 
 tion. The most deadly poisons are made to conduce 
 to human health and welfare. Electricity does the writing 
 and talking and annihilates space. Steam and iron are 
 made to do the work of nerves and muscles and lay the 
 four corners of the world under contribution for our benefit. 
 In view of these and many similar facts, how full of meaning 
 becomes the old saying; ‘‘Knowledge is power! ** Reason, 
 like the magnetic influence imparted to iron, may be said to 
 give to matter, properties and powers which it did not pos- 
 sess before; but without extending its bulk, augmenting its 
 weight, or altering its organization, it is visible only by its 
 effects and perceptible only by its operations. 
 
 277 
 
278 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 Unlike those of the warriors, the triumphs of intellect de- 
 rive all their lustre, not from the evil they have produced 
 but from the good. Her successes and her conquests are 
 the common property of the world and succeeding ages will 
 be the watchful guardians of the rich legacies she bequeaths. 
 The trophies and titles of the conqueror are on the quick 
 march to oblivion and amid that desolation where they were 
 planted will decay. As the mind must govern the hand, so 
 in every society the man of intelligence must direct and 
 govern the man of ignorance. There is no exception to 
 this law. Tt is the natural sequence of the dominion of 
 mind over matter — a dominion sc strong that for a time it 
 can make flesh and nerves impregnable and string the sin- 
 ews like steel, so that the weak become strong. Some men 
 of a secluded and studious life have sent forth from their 
 closet or cloister, rays of intellectual light that have agitated 
 courts and revolutionized kingdoms, as the moon, that far 
 removed from the ocean and shining upon it with a serene 
 and sober light, is the chief cause of all those ebbings and 
 flowings which incessantly disturb that world of waters. 
 
 The triumph of mind is shown in various ways. It en- 
 ables us to surmount difficulties with facility. Like im- 
 prisoned steam, the more it is pressed the more it rises to 
 resist the pressure. The more we are obliged to do the more 
 we are able to accomplish. Perhaps in no other respect is 
 the power of mind more signally shown than when it opens 
 to our view avenues of pleasure, before unthought of. 
 Happiness is the great aim of life. In one form or another 
 we are all striving for it. There are no pleasures so pure as 
 mental pleasures. We never tire of them, A lofty mind 
 always thinks loftily. It easily creates vivid, agreeable and 
 natural fancies, places them in their best light, clothes them 
 with all appropriate adornments, studies others’ tastes and 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 279 
 
 clears away from its own thoughts all that is useless and 
 disagreeable. Mental force or power is not the inheritance 
 of birth, nor the result of a few years’ spasmodic study; 
 it is only acquired as the result of long and patient exertion. 
 There is no age at which it cannot be increased. There is 
 absolutely no branch of literature which, when properly di- 
 gested and stowed away in the mind, will not show its effect 
 in after life by increased vigor in the whole mind. 
 
 Those intellectually strong men and women who have left 
 their influence on the world's history are almost without ex- 
 ception found to be those who have possessed broad and 
 deep acquirements; who have permitted no opportunity for 
 obtaining information to pass unimproved; who have been 
 content for years to store away knowledge, confident that in 
 the fullness of time they would reap the reward. 
 
 If anyone would be the possessor of mental power he 
 must be willing to do his duty in obtaining it. There is a 
 tendency to make the acquisition of knowledge, at the pres- 
 ent day, as easy as possible. The end proposed is good, 
 but the means employed are of doubtful utility. Instead of 
 toiling painfully on foot up the rugged steeps of learning the 
 student of today flies along a railway track, finding every 
 cliff cut through and every valley bridged. In this world 
 nothing of value is to be obtained without labor. So there 
 are some who will question the value of that education which 
 is not born of patient perseverance and hard work. As in 
 the exercise of the gymnasium the value consists in the ex- 
 ertions required to perform them, so that knowledge and 
 mental power acquired by arduous exertion is of the most 
 lasting and real value. Let patient toilers find a lesson of 
 encouragement in this. What you thus painfully acquire 
 will prove of lasting benefit to you. 
 
280 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 Mental power is seen in its best form only when all of the 
 mental faculties have been properly drilled and disciplined. 
 The mind cannot grow to its full stature, nor be rounded 
 into just proportions, nor acquire that blended litheness, 
 toughness and elasticity which it needs, if fed on one ali- 
 ment. There is no profession or calling which, if too exclu- 
 sively followed, will not warp and contract the mind. Just 
 as if in the body, a person resolves to be a rower and 
 only a rower, the chances are that he will have, indeed, 
 strong arms but weak legs and eyes blinded by the glare of 
 water. Or, if he desires to become an athlete, he may be 
 all muscles but few brains. So, in the mind, if he exercises 
 but one set of faculties and neglects the rest, he may become 
 a subtle theologian or a sharp lawyer, a keen man of busi- 
 ness, or a practical mechanic and though the possessor of 
 power it is not power in its highest and best form. 
 
 But for those who are anxious to obtain mental power and 
 for that purpose devote the years of a lifetime to patient 
 study and reflection, the rewards it offers are full compensa- 
 tion for all the hours of weary, self-denying labor. Not only 
 does it afford the best assurance of success in life's battles 
 and point out to its possessor means of happiness denied to 
 others, but it is so peculiarly the highest form of power to 
 which man can aspire that it commands the homage of all 
 and reposes as a jewel in the crown of the true man or 
 woman. 
 
 There are many who find themselves in the toils of an 
 evil custom who would most willingly give money and time 
 to be free from its contral. Montaigne says: “Custom 
 is a violent and treacherous schoolmistress. She, by little 
 and little, slyly and unperceivedly slips in the foot of her 
 authority; but having by this gentle and humble beginning, 
 with the benefit of time fixed and established it, she then 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS 
 
 281 
 
 unmasks a furious and tyrannic countenance, against which 
 we have no more the courage or the power to lift up our 
 eyes/’ Custom is the law of one class of people and fash- 
 ion of another; but the two parties often clash, for preced- 
 ence is the legislator of the first and novelty of the second. 
 Custom, therefore, looks to things that are past and fashion 
 to things that are present; but both are somewhat purblind 
 as to things that are to come. Of the two, fashion imposes 
 the heaviest burdens, for she cheats her votaries of their 
 time, their fortune and their comforts and she repays them 
 only with the celebrity of being ridiculed and despised — a 
 very paradoxical mode of payment, yet always most thank- 
 fully received. 
 
 It is surprising to what an extent our likes and dislikes 
 are creatures of custom. Our modes of belief, thoughts 
 and opinions are molded and shaped by what has been the 
 prevailing mode of thinking heretofore. Though we are^ 
 indeed, not so given to the worship of past institutions as 
 some people, yet we all acknowledge the prevailing power of 
 custom, of personal habits and of fashions. We dare not 
 stand alone in any matter of concern, but wish to be in com- 
 pany of those similarly minded. The law of opinion goes 
 forth. We do not ask who promulgates it, but fall into the 
 ranks of its followers and worshipers. We are whirled in 
 the giddy ranks and blinded by the dazzling lights. Novelty 
 is the show, conformity is the law — and life a trance, until at 
 last we awake from it to find that we have been the victims 
 of a fatal folly and a bewildering dream. 
 
 Habit is man^s best friend or worst enemy. It can exalt 
 him to the highest pinnacle of virtue, honor, or happiness, 
 or sink him to the lowest depths of vice, shame and misery. 
 If we look back upon the usual course of our feelings we 
 shall find that we are more influenced by the frequent re- 
 
282 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 currence of objects than by their weight and importance 
 and that habit has more force in forming our character than 
 our opinions. The mind naturally takes its tone and com- 
 plexion from what it habitually contemplates. “Whatever 
 may be the cause,” says Lord Karnes “it is an established 
 fact that we are mud influenced by custom. It hath an 
 effect upon our pleasures, upon our actions and even upon 
 our thoughts and sentiments.” Habit makes no figure dur- 
 ing the vivacity of youth, in middle age it gains ground and 
 in old age governs without control. In that period of life, 
 generally speaking, we eat at a certain hour, take exercise at 
 a certain time, all by the direction of habit; nay, a particu- 
 lar seat, table and bed comes to be essential and a habit in 
 any of these cannot be contradicted without uneasiness. 
 Man, it has been said, is a bundle of habits and habit is a 
 second nature. Metastasio entertained so strong an opinion 
 as to the power of repetition in act and thought that he said, 
 “All is habit in mankind, even virtue itself.’’ 
 
 Beginning with single acts, habit is formed slowly at first 
 and it is not till its spider’s thread is woven in a thick 
 cable that its existence is suspected. Then it is found that 
 beginning in cobwebs it ends in chains. Gulliver was bound 
 as fast by the Lilliputians with multiplied threads as if they 
 had used ropes. “Like flakes of snow that fall unperceiv- 
 ably upon the earth,” says Jeremy Bentham, “the seemingly 
 unimportant events of life succeed one another. As the 
 snow gathers so are our habits formed; no single flake that 
 is added to the pile produces a sensible change; no single 
 action creates, however it may exhibit a man’s character. 
 But as the tempest hurls the avalanche down the mountain 
 and overwhelms the inhabitant and his habitation, so passion, 
 acting upon the elements of mischief which pernicious habits 
 have brought together by imperceptible accumulation, may 
 
OK, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 283 
 
 overthrow the edifice of truth and virtue. The force of 
 habit renders pleasant many things which at first were in- 
 tensely disagreeable or even painful. 
 
 Walking upon the quarter deck of a vessel, though felt at 
 first to be intolerably confined, becomes by repetition, so 
 agreeable to the sailor that, in his walks on shore, he often 
 hems himself within the same bounds. Arctic explorers be- 
 come so accustomed to the hardships incident to such a life 
 that they do not enjoy the comforts of home when they re- 
 turn. So powerful is the effect of constant repetition of ac- 
 tion that men whose habits are fixed may almost be said to 
 have lost their free agency. Their actions become of the 
 nature of fate and they are so bound by the chains which 
 they have woven for themselves that they do that which they 
 have been accustomed to do even when they know it can 
 yield neither pleasure nor profit. 
 
 Those who are in the power of an evil habit must conquer 
 ^t as they can a nd conquered it must be, or neither wisdom 
 nor happiness can be obtained ; but those who are not yet 
 subject to their influence may. by timely caution, preserve 
 their freedom. They may effectually resolve to escape the 
 tyrant whom they will vainly resolve to conquer. Be not 
 slow in the breaking of a sinful habit; a quick; courageous 
 resolution is better than a gradual deliberation; in such a 
 combat he is the bravest soldier who lays about him without 
 fear or wit. Wit pleads; fear disheartens. He who would 
 kill hydra had better strike off one neck than five heads — 
 fell the tree and the branches are soon cut off. 
 
 Vicious habits are so great a strain on human nature, 
 said Cicero, and so odious in themselves that every person 
 actuated by right reason would avoid them, though he were 
 sure they would always be concealed both from God and 
 man and had no future punishment entailed on them. Vic- 
 
284 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 ious habits when opposed, offer the most vigorous resistance 
 on the first attack; at each successive encounter this resist- 
 ance grows weaker, until finally, it ceases altogether and the 
 victory is achieved 
 
 Such being the power of habit all can plainly see the im- 
 portance of forming habits of such a nature that they shall 
 constantly tend to increase our happiness and to render 
 more sure and certain that success, the attaining of which is 
 the object of all our endeavors. We may form habits of 
 honesty or knavery, frugality or extravagance, of patience or 
 impatience, self-denial or self-indulgence. In short, there is 
 not a virtue nor a vice, not an act of body nor of mind, to 
 which we may not be chained by this despotic power. It has 
 been truly said that even happiness may become habitual. 
 One may acquire the habit of looking upon the sunny side 
 of things, or of looking upon the gloomy side. He may ac- 
 custom himself by a happy alchemy, to transmit the darkest 
 events into materials for hopes. Hume, the historian, said 
 that the habit of looking at the bright side of things was 
 better than an income of a thousand pounds a year. 
 
 Habits which are to be commended are not to be formed 
 in a day, nor by a few faint resolutions, not by accident, not 
 by fits and starts — being one moment in a paroxysm of at- 
 tention and the next falling into the sleep of indifference — 
 are they to be obtained, but by steady, persistent efforts- 
 Above all, it is necessary that they be acquired in youth, for 
 then do they cost the least effort. Like letters cut in the 
 bark of a tree, they grow and widen with age. Once ob- 
 tained they are a fortune of themselves, for their possessor 
 has disposed thereby of the heavier end of the load of life; 
 all the remaining he can carry easily and pleasantly. On 
 the other hand, bad habits once formed, will hang forever on 
 the wheels of enterprise and in the end will assert their su- 
 premacy, to the ruin and shame of their victim. 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 285 
 
 Those habits are most important which directly raise or 
 lower the standard of health, Instinct has been correctly 
 styled the habit of the race, but bearings and attitudes in all 
 changes of the body are results for the greater part, of imi- 
 tation. A well known French writer has said “society is 
 imitation.” We may not agree to this wholly but the influ- 
 ence of imitation upon the individual cannot be measured. 
 Children copy the gesture, walk, manner of rising, talking^ 
 facial gestures and every peculiarity of movement of the 
 persons around them. They will copy a wrong action just 
 as quickly as a right one. The child depends upon its hu- 
 man environment for its mental and physical action; imi- 
 tates the awkwardness and constraint of attitude which only 
 a painful and constant effort in later life will enable it to 
 overcome. It is pitiful to think of the time that must be 
 wasted in breaking up habits that ought never to have been 
 acquired; to face ugliness and deformity daily and know 
 that beauty and grace might as well have been. 
 
 Habits spring from repetition of acts and habits, right or 
 wrong soon become a part of one’s self. When they become 
 automatic they are no longer under the control of the will. 
 An acquired action or gesture perpetuates itself by constant 
 repetition. This can be said of the numberless actions, 
 idioms, phrases and expressions that have become a fixed 
 part of character. Because habits which are fundamental 
 to all future action become fixed and continue through life, 
 it will readily be seen that the most extravagant and great- 
 est waste of human energy comes from the acquirement of 
 wrong habits of bodily movements. Habits are acquired at 
 every stage of development, but the active period is infancy 
 and youth. At this period we fix habits of eating, drinking, 
 lifting, reaching, sitting, running, talking and singing; in fact 
 the use of the body in function or expression is stultified or 
 
286 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 stimulated, as the early environment determines. This is 
 perfectly understood by all thinking men and women and 
 still in this age of enlightenment, it is an almost universal 
 custom to give little children the chea^pest teachers which 
 too often means the poorest teachers. A mother will select 
 a cheap teacher for piano lessons and engraft in the child’s 
 physical and mental movements habits that perhaps never 
 can be eradicated. Cheap novices from the high school are 
 allowed to instruct the primary grades and imprint their own 
 awkwardness and bad manners upon the children; implant 
 evils which grow with their growth and hinder and obstruct 
 through life. It is said by one of the great philosophers 
 that a child can learn more in the first six years of his life 
 than he ever learns after. He is developing his elementary 
 ideas, laying the foundation of habit of mind and body 
 which are to determine his usefulness or his weakness, lead 
 to strength or decay. With this in view, it becomes a moral 
 duty with every adult to overcome as far as possible the de- 
 fects of early education, not only for one’s own sake but for 
 the sake of others. Just as we would shrink from commu- 
 nicating small-pox or diptheria to those about us; so we 
 should shrink from communicating awkwardness of carriage 
 and defective bearings which are the sure indications of 
 weakness bodily or mental. Influences good or bad rain 
 upon the child from every source. The strongest influence 
 is that of the mother and the immediate family, but all with 
 whom the child comes in contact have some influence in 
 forming the character and are in a degree responsible. 
 
 With adults where bad habits have been acquired and 
 have become automatic, a certain preparation of the body to 
 bring it into a proper condition to acquire new forms is a 
 necessity. No amount of reasoning will enable an individ- 
 ual who has formed a bad habit to eradicate it. In early 
 
OR, ^URE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 287 
 
 years the body is in a plastic and mobile condition, the 
 powers of attention are at the highest and the modes of ex- 
 pression are exercised in the best possible way. It is 
 enough with the child that a new and better form of ex- 
 pression be taught; but with the adult the case is wholly dif- 
 ferent. The impulse of the organism is so strong to act 
 along certain lines that it defeats the will. The only thing 
 to do is to get control of the impulse to act; this is the key 
 note of the whole situation. Wrong habits bring about un 
 due tension, constraint or interference on the part of the 
 muscles. This is the infallible sign of every wrong, bodily 
 habit; constraint, restriction that defeats the action of the 
 will; organic defects which prevent the inflow of ideas from 
 the external world and hinder the outgo of thought and 
 emotion translated into perfect expression. 
 
 One of the most important questions that was ever solved 
 was solved by the great master of gesture, Delsarte; a man 
 who made expression his life study. In his direct contact 
 with his pupils he realized the tremendous difflculties to be 
 overcome in changing habits of the body. An acquired 
 action is an everlasting protest against change, because con- 
 sciousness in the manner of acting is a thing of the past, 
 the whole effort of the mind is to acquire once and for all, 
 the necessary forms through which to express itself. Del- 
 sarte’s great discovery was that the human being must go 
 back to the original condition of the child, must reduce the 
 muscle again to plasticity and mobility; in short, must lose 
 its already acquired power in order to gain a greater. He 
 put his mind upon this all important question and discovered 
 a means by which the strong fetters that constrain and re- 
 strict muscular action could be broken. 
 
 It is true that many human beings are impotent because 
 they have not the body to act, to respond, their souls beat 
 
288 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 against their prison houses in a futile determination to act, 
 but they are helpless; the very tension induced by over effort 
 defeats the desired end. The first step to control is the sys- 
 tematic withdrawal of the impulse to act. When this with- 
 drawal of energy through repeated exercise becomes easy 
 and the muscular action is made elastic, the nerve currents 
 can act through them in normal directions. The will, then, 
 controls the body and the thought is reflected through it. 
 Perhaps there is no greater evil in all human action especi- 
 ally in earnest, persislen, strong-willed persons, than over- 
 strain. If they could have the quiet poise of Wendell 
 Phillips or George William Curtis, their thoughts would flash 
 out control and sway the audience. The teacher before the 
 class, dead in earnest to control the class, over-wrought and 
 over-strained, wears upon the nerves of the whole school 
 Those who govern best, have the best poise and are capable 
 of the greatest passavily of physical action. They are men 
 and women of power whose every movement is expressive of 
 reserve force; the energy is there if needed and under con- 
 trol of the will. 
 
 Next to the power to change a habit, is the power to con- 
 serve energy, of which every human being has just about so 
 much. The body and its nervous force is an inheritance; if 
 this nervous force is wasted along lower lines it stands to 
 reason that all higher processes, elevation in mental and 
 spiritual life must be confined. The function of the body is 
 a sacred one. It is the medium through which the soul re- 
 ceives external energies and at the same time the medium 
 through which it dispenses its power. Soul does not help 
 body more than body helps soul. It is an absolute neces- 
 sity to the well being of that which is in the highest degree 
 spiritual, that the body should be sacredly trained for its 
 highest office. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 PERSONP^L INFLUENCE 
 
 shot an arrow in the air; 
 
 It fell on earth, 1 knew not where. 
 
 I breathed a song into the air; 
 
 It fell on earth, I knew not where. 
 
 Long, long afterwards, in an oak, 
 
 I found the arrow still unbroke, 
 
 And the song, from beginning to end, 
 
 I found again in the heart of a friend.” 
 
 — H. W. Longfellow* 
 
 H NFLUENCE is to a man what flavor is to fruit, or fra- 
 In grance to the flower. It does not develop strength or 
 ^ determine character, but it is the measure of his interior 
 richness and worth and as the blossom cannot tell what be- 
 comes of the odor which is wafted away from it by every 
 wind, so no man knows the limit of that influence which 
 constantly and imperceptibly escapes from his daily life and 
 goes out far beyond his conscious knowledge or remotest 
 thought. Influence is a power we exert over others by our 
 thoughts, words and actions; by our lives, in short. It is a 
 
 289 
 
290 
 
 now TO WIN, 
 
 4 
 
 silent, a pervading, a magnetic, a most wonderful thing. It 
 works in inexplicable ways. We neither see nor hear it, yet» 
 consciously or unconsciously, we exert it. 
 
 Your influence is not confined to yourself or to the scene 
 of your immediate actions; it extends to others and will 
 reach to succeeding ages. Future generations will feel the 
 influence of your conduct. We all of us at times lose sight 
 of this principle and apparently act on the assumption that 
 what we do or think or say can affect no one but ourselves. 
 But we are so connected with the immortal beings around us 
 and with those who are to come after us, that we cannot 
 avoid exerting a most important influence over their charac- 
 ter and final condition, and thus, long after we shall be no 
 more — nay, after the world itself shall be no more — the con- 
 sequences of our conduct to thousands of our fellow-men 
 will be nothing less than everlasting destruction or eternal 
 life. What we do is transacted on a stage of which all in 
 the universe are spectators. What we say is transmitted in 
 echoes that will never cease. What we are is influencing 
 and acting on the rest of mankind. . Neutral we cannot be. 
 Living we act and dead we speak, and the whole universe is 
 the mighty company, forever looking and listening; and all 
 nature the tablets, forever recording the words, the deeds, 
 the thoughts, the passions of mankind. 
 
 It is a high, solemn, almost awful thought for every indi- 
 vidual man, that his earthly influence, which has a com- 
 mencement, will never through all ages have an end! 
 What is done, is done — has already blended itself with the 
 boundless, ever-living, ever-working universe and will work 
 there for good or evil, openly or secretly, throughout all time. 
 The life of every man is as the well-spring of a stream, 
 whose small beginnings are, indeed, plain to all, but whose 
 course and destination, as it winds through the expanse of 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 291 
 
 infinite years, only the Omniscient can discern. God has 
 written upon the flower that sweetens the air, upon the breeze 
 that rocks the flower upon its stem, upon the rain- drop that 
 swells the mighty river, upon the dew-drops that refresh the 
 smallest sprig of moss that rears its head in the desert, upon 
 the ocean that rocks every swimmer in its channel, upon 
 every penciled shell that sleeps in the caverns of the deep» 
 as well as upon the mighty sun which warms and cheers the 
 millions of creatures that live in its light — upon all he has 
 written, “None of us liveth to himself/’ 
 
 The babe that perished on the bosom of its mother, like a 
 flower that bowed its head and drooped amid the death- 
 frosts of time — that babe not only in its image, but in its in> 
 fluence, still lives and speaks in the chambers of the moth- 
 er’s heart. The friend with whom we took sweet counsel is 
 removed visibly from the outward eye; but the lessons that 
 he taught, the grand sentiments that he uttered, the deeds of 
 generosity by which he was characterized, the moral linea- 
 ments and likeness of the man, still survive and appear in 
 the silence of eventide and on the tablets of memory and in 
 the light of noon and dewey eve, and though dead, he yet 
 speaketh eloquently and in the midst of us. Everything 
 leaves a history and an inflaence. The pebble as well as the 
 planet, goes attended by its shadow. The rolling rock leaves 
 its scratches on the mountains, the river its channel in the 
 soil, the animal its bones in the stratum, the fern and leaf 
 their modest epitaph in the coal. The falling drop marks its 
 sculpture in the sand or the stone. Not a foot steps into 
 the snow or along the ground but prints, in characters^ more 
 or less lasting, a map of its march. Every act of man in- 
 scribes itself in the memories of its fellows and in his own 
 manners and face. The air is full of sounds, the sky of to- 
 kens; the ground is all memoranda and signatures and every 
 
292 
 
 ' HOW TO WIN, 
 
 object covered over with hints which speak to the intelli- 
 gent mind. 
 
 The sun sets beyond the western hills, but the trail of 
 light he leaves behind him guides the pilgrim to his distant 
 home. The tree falls in the forest but in the lapse of ages 
 it has turned into coal and our fires burn now the brighter 
 because it grew and fell. The coral insect dies, but the reef 
 it raised breaks the surgeon the shores of great continents, 
 or has formed an isle on the bosom of the ocean, to wave 
 with harvests for the good of man. We live and we die, but 
 the good or evil that we do lives after us and is not “buried 
 with our bones.'’ 
 
 The career of great men remains an enduring monument 
 of human energy. The man dies and disappears, but the 
 thoughts and acts survive and leave an indellible stamp on 
 his race. And thus the spirit of his life is prolonged and 
 thus perpetuated, molding the thought and will and thereby 
 contributing to form the character of the future. It is the 
 men who advance in the highest and best directions who 
 are the true beacons of human progress. They are as lights 
 set upon a hill, illuminating the moral atmosphere around 
 them, and the light of their spirit continues to shine upon- 
 all succeeding generations. 
 
 The golden words that good men have uttered, the exam- 
 ples they have set, live through all time; they pass into the 
 thoughts and hearts of their successors, help them on the 
 road of life and often console them in the hour of death. 
 They live a universal life, speak to us from their graves and 
 beckon us on in the paths which they trod. Their example 
 is still with us to guide, to influence and to direct us. No- 
 bility of character is a perpetual bequest, living from age to 
 age and constantly tending to reproduce its like. 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 293 
 
 It is what man was that lives and acts after him. What 
 he said sounds along the years like voices amid the moun- 
 tain gorges and what he did is repeated after him in ever 
 multiplying and never ceasing reverberations. Every man 
 has left behind him influences for good or evil that will never 
 exhaust themselves. The sphere in which he acts may be 
 small or it may be great, it may be his fireside or it may be 
 a kingdom, a village or a great nation — but act he does 
 ceaselessly and forever. His friends, his family, his succes- 
 sors in office, his relatives are all receptive of an influence, 
 a moral influence, which he has transmitted to mankind — 
 either a blessing which will repeat itself in showers of bene- 
 diction, or a curse which will multiply itself in ever-accu- 
 mulating eviL 
 
 We see not in life the end of human actions. Their influ- 
 ence never dies. In ever- widening circles it reaches beyond 
 the grave. Death removes us from this to an eternal world. 
 Every morning when we go forth we lay the molding hand 
 on our destiny, and every evening when we have done we 
 have left a deathless impress on eternity. “We touch not a 
 wire but that it vibrates to God.’’ 
 
 Since we all have a personal influence and our words and 
 actions leave a well-nigh indellible track, it is our duty to 
 make that influence as potential for good as possible. In 
 order to do this you must show yourself a man among men. 
 It is through the invisible lines which you are able to attach 
 to the minds with which you are brought into association 
 that you can influence society in the direction of the greatest 
 good. You cannot move men until you are one of them. 
 They will not follow you until they have heard your voice, 
 shaken your hand and fully learned your principles and your 
 sympathies. It makes no difference how much you know, 
 nor how much you are capable of doing. You may pile ac- 
 
294 
 
 HOW TO W[N, 
 
 complishments upon acquisitions mountain high; but if you 
 fail to be a social man, demonstrating to society that your 
 lot is with the rest, a little child with a song in its mouth 
 and a kiss for all and a pair of innocent hands to lay upon 
 the knees shall lead more hearts and change the direction of 
 more lives than you. 
 
 A just appreciation of the power of personal influence 
 leads to a sense of duty resting upon all to see to it that 
 their influence is exerted in inculcating a proper sense of 
 right in the community in which .they live; to be sure that 
 their weight is constantly cast in the scale of right against 
 wrong; that they be found furthering all matters of enlight- 
 ened public concern. They should as far as possible walk 
 through life as a band of music moves down the street, 
 flinging out pleasures on every side through the air to all^ 
 far and near, that can listen. Some men fill the air with 
 their presence and sweetness, as orchards in October days 
 fill the air with the perfume of ripe fruits. 
 
 Some women cling to their own homes like the honey- 
 suckle over the door, yet, like it, sweeten all the region with 
 the subtle fragrance of their goodness. Such men and 
 women are trees of righteousness, which are ever dropping 
 precious fruits around them. Their lives shine like star- 
 beams, or charm the heart like songs sung upon a holy day. 
 
 How great a beauty and blessing it is to hold the royal 
 gifts of the soul, so that they shall be music to some and 
 fragrance to others and life to all ! It would be a most 
 worthy object of life to make the power which we have 
 within us the breath of other men’s joys; to scatter sunshine 
 where only clouds and shadows reign; to fill the atmosphere 
 where earth’s weary toilers must stand with a brightness 
 which they cannot create for themselves, but long for, enjoy 
 and appreciate. There is an energy of moral suasion in a 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS 
 
 295 
 
 good man's life passing the highest efforts of the orator's 
 genius. The seen but silent beauty of holiness speaks more 
 eloquently of God and duty than the tongues of men and 
 angels. Let parents remember this. The best inheritance 
 a parent can bequeath to a child is a virtuous example, a 
 legacy of hallowed remembrance and associations. The 
 beauty of holiness beaming through the life of a loved rela- 
 tive or friend is more effectual to strengthen such as do 
 stand in virtue’s ways and raise up those that are bowed 
 down, than precept or command, entreaty or warning. 
 
 Shall our influence be for good or evW? For good.? Then 
 let no act of ours be such as could lead a fellow mortal astray. 
 It is a terrible thought that some careless word, uttered it 
 may be in jest, may start some soul on the downward road. 
 Oh, it is terrible power that we have — the power of influ- 
 ence — and it clings to us. We cannot shake it off. It is 
 born with us and it has grown with our growth and strength- 
 ened with our strength. It speaks, it walks, it moves; it is 
 powerful in every look of our eye, in every word of our 
 mouth, in every act of our lives. We cannot live to our- 
 selves. We must be either a light to illumine or a tempest 
 to destroy. We must bear constantly in mind that there is 
 one record we cannot interline — our lives written on other’s 
 hearts. How gladly we would review and write a kind 
 word there, a generous act here, erase a frown and put in a 
 loving word, a bright smile and a tender expression. Harsh- 
 ness would be erased and gentleness written. But, alas; 
 what is written is written, Clotho will not begin anew to 
 spin the the threads of life and our actions go forth into the 
 world freighted with their burden of good or evil influence. 
 
 Character is one of the greates motive powers in the 
 world. In its noblest embodiments it exemplifies human 
 nature in its highest forms, for it exhibits man at his best. 
 
296 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 It is the corner-stone of individual greatness — the Doric and 
 splendid column of the majestic structure of a true and dig- 
 nified man, who is at once a subject and a king. Character 
 is to a man what the fly-wheel is to the engine. By the 
 force of its momentum it carries him through times of temp- 
 tation and trial; it steadies him in times of popular excite- 
 ment and tumult and exerts a guiding and controlling influ- 
 ence over his life. 
 
 There are trying and perilous circumstances in life which 
 show how valuable and important a good character is. 
 It is a strong and sure staff of support when everything else 
 fails. In the crisis of temptation, in the battle of life, when 
 the struggle comes either within or without, it is our strength^ 
 heroism, virtue and consistency — our character, in short — 
 which defends and secures our happiness and honor. And 
 if they fail us in the hour of need — in the season of danger 
 — all may be irretrievably lost and nothing left us except 
 vain regrets and penitential tears. 
 
 Character is power, character is influence and he who] has 
 character, though he may have nothing else, has the means 
 of being eminently useful, not only to his immediate friends, 
 but to society, to the Church of God and to the world. 
 When a person has lost his character all is lost — all peace 
 of mind, all complacency in himself, are fled forever. He 
 despises himself; he is despised by his fellow-men. Within 
 is shame and remorse; without, neglect and reproach. He 
 is of necessity a miserable and useless man and he is so 
 even though he be clad in purple and fine linen and fare 
 sumptuously every day. Is is better to be poor; it is better 
 to be reduced to beggary; it is better to be cast into prison, 
 or condemned to perpetual slavery than to be destitute of a 
 good name, or endure the pains and evils of a conscious 
 worthlessness of character. The value of character is the 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 297 
 
 standard of human progress. The individual, the commun- 
 ity, the nation, tell of their standing, their advancement, 
 their worth, their true wealth and glory, in the eye of God, 
 by their estimation of character. That man or nation that 
 lightly esteems character, is low, groveling, and barbar- 
 ous. 
 
 Wherever character is made a secondary object sensualism 
 and crime prevail. He who would prostitute character to 
 reputation is base. He who lives for anything less than 
 character is mean. He who enters upon any study, pursuit, 
 amusement, pleasure, habit, or course of life, without con- 
 sidering its effect upon his character is not a trusty or an 
 honest man. He whose modes of thought, states of feeling, 
 every-day acts, common language, and whole outward life, 
 are not directed by a wise reference to their influence upon 
 his character is a man always to be watched. Just as a 
 man prizes his character so is he. 
 
 There is a difference between character and reputation. 
 Character is what a man is; reputation is what he is thought 
 to be. Character is within; reputation is without. Charac- 
 ter is always real; reputation may be false. Character is 
 substantial and enduring; reputation may be vapory and 
 fleeting. Character is at home; reputation is abroad. Char- 
 acter is in a man’s own soul; reputation is in the minds of 
 others. Character is the solid food of life; reputation is the 
 dessert. Character is what gives a man value in his own 
 eyes; reputation is what he is valued at in the eyes of others. 
 Character is his real worth; reputation is his market price. 
 A man may have a good character and a bad reputation; or, 
 a man may have a good reputation and a bad character, as 
 we form our opinion of men from what they appear to be, 
 and not from what they really are. Most men are more 
 anxious about their reputation than they are about their 
 
298 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 character. This is not right. While every man should en- 
 deavor to maintain a good reputation, he should especially 
 labor to possess a good character. Our true happiness de- 
 pends not so much on what is thought of us by others as on 
 'what we really are in ourselves. Men of good character are 
 generally men of good reputation, but this is not always the 
 case, as the motives and actions of the best of men are 
 sometimes misunderstood and misrepresented. But it is 
 important above everything else, that we be right and do 
 right, whether our motives and actions are properly under- 
 stood and appreciated or not. Nothing can be so important 
 to any man as the formation and possession of a good char- 
 acter. 
 
 Character is of slow but steady growth, and the smallest 
 child and the humblest and weakest individual may attain 
 heights that now seem inaccessible by the constant and 
 patient exercise of just as much moral power as, from time 
 to time, they possess. The faithful discharge of daily duty, 
 the simple integrity of purpose and power of life that all can 
 attain with effort, contribute silently but surely to the build- 
 ing up of a moral character that knows no limit to its power, 
 no bonds to its heroism. The influences which operate in 
 the formation of character are numerous, and however trivial 
 some of them may appear they are not to be despised. The 
 most powerful forces in nature are those that operate si- 
 lently and imperceptibly. This is equally true of those 
 moral forces which exert the greatest influence on our minds 
 and give complexion to our character. Among the most 
 powerful are early impressions, examples, and habits. Early 
 impressions, although they may appear to be but slight, are 
 the most enduring, and exert a great influence on life. The 
 tiniest bit of public opinion sown in the minds of children 
 in private life afterwards issue forth to the world and become 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 290 
 
 its public opinions, for nations are gathered out of nurseries. 
 By repetition of acts the character becomes slowly but de- 
 cidedly formed. The several acts may seem in themselves 
 trivial, but so are the continuous acts of daily life. 
 
 Our minds are given us, but our characters we make. 
 The full measure of all the powers necessary to make a man 
 are no more a character than a handful of seeds is an orchard 
 of fruit. Plant the seeds and tend them well and they will 
 make an orchard. Cultivate the powers and harmonize 
 them well and they will make a noble character. The germ 
 is not the tree, the acorn is not the oak; neither is the mind 
 a character. God gives the mind; man makes the char- 
 acter, Mind is the garden; character is the fruit. Mind is 
 the white page; character is the writing we put on it. Mind 
 is the metallic plate; character is our engraving thereon 
 Mind is the shop, the counting-room; character is our profits 
 on the trade. Large profits are made from quick sales and 
 small percentage; so great characters are made by many 
 little acts and efforts, A dollar is composed of a thousand 
 mills; so is a character of a thousand thoughts and acts. 
 The secret thought never expressed, the inward indulgence 
 in imaginary wrong, the lie never told for want of courage^ 
 the licentiousness never indulged in for fear of public rebuke, 
 the irreverence of the heart, are just as effectual in staining 
 the heart as though the world knew all about them. 
 
 A subtle thing is character, and a constant work is its 
 formation. Whether it be good or bad, it has been long in 
 its growth and is the aggregate of millions of little mental 
 acts. A good character is a precious thing, above rubies, 
 gold, crowns or kingdoms, and the work of making it is the 
 noblest labor on earth. A good character is in all cases the 
 fruit of personal exertion. It is not an inheritance from 
 parents; it is not created by external advantages; it is no 
 
300 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 necessary appendage of birth, wealth, talents or station; but 
 it is the result of one’s own endeavors. All the variety of 
 minute circumstances which go to form character are more 
 or less under the control of the individuah Not a day 
 passes without its discipline, whether for good or for evil. 
 There is no act, however trivial, but has its train of conse- 
 quences; as there is no hair, however small, but casts its 
 shadow. 
 
 Not only is character of importance to its possessor as the 
 means of conferring upon him true dignity and worth, but 
 it exerts an influence upon the lives of all within its pale, 
 the importance of which can never be overestimated. It 
 might better be called an effluence; for it is constantly radi- 
 ating from a man, and then most of all when he is least 
 conscious of its emanation. We are moulding others wher- 
 ever we are. Books are only useful when they are read; 
 sermons are only influential when they are listened to; but 
 character keeps itself at all times before men’s attention, and 
 its weight is felt by everyone who comes within its sphere. 
 
 Other agencies are intermittent, like the revolving light, 
 which after a time of brightness goes out into a period of 
 darkness; but character is continuous in its operations, and 
 shines with the steady radiance of a star. A good character 
 is therefore to be carefully maintained for the sake of others, 
 if possible, more than ourselves. It is a coat of triple steel, 
 giving security to the wearer, protection to the oppressed, 
 and inspiring the oppressor with awe. Every man is bound 
 to aim at the possession of a good character as one of the 
 highest objects of his life. His very effort to secure it by 
 worthy means will furnish him with a motive for exertion, 
 and his idea of manhood in proportion as it is elevated, will 
 steady and animate his motives. The pursuit of it will prove 
 no obstacle to the acquisition of wealth or fame, but on the 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 301 
 
 contrary not only is the attainment of a good character an 
 almost indispensable thing for him who would make his 
 mark in the world, but such is the nature of character that 
 the control over the acts and thoughts of an individual, 
 which must be acquired before character can exhibit inherent 
 strength, conduces in a very great degree to the very condi- 
 tion which produces success. 
 
 Character is the grandest thing man can live for; it is to 
 have worth of soul, wealth of heart, diamond-dust of mind. 
 He who has this aim lives to be what he ought to be, and to 
 do what duty requires. To him comes fame, delighted to 
 crown him with her wreaths of honor. Sum it up as we will, 
 character is the great desideratum of human life. This 
 truth, sublime in its simplicity and powerful in its beauty, is 
 the highest lesson of religion, the first that youth should 
 learn, and the last that age should forget. 
 
 It is of minor importance what trials and struggles must 
 be passed through if only the grand result is achieved and 
 no well-balanced character, can ever be produced without 
 being tested by hardship and adversity. The lesson of per- 
 fect conquest over self, requires that a man must learn to 
 endure slights and crosses, without losing his temper and 
 when self-control is perfect without even seeming to be dis- 
 concerted by them. Benjamin Franklin who started in life 
 a rude and uneducated lad, acquired such self-command 
 and so perfect a manner, that he met the crowned heads of 
 Europe and won the respect and esteem of all who met him 
 by the dignity and force of his character. This he acquired 
 by a force of self-discipline; taking note of his own defects 
 of character and as fast as they were discovered endeavor- 
 ing to overcome them. How many men have the strength 
 to do as he did and listen attentively to those who told him 
 of his faults. 
 
302 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 For all have faults, as no one is perfect; but the man who 
 recognizes his faults and earnestly desires to overcome them 
 is laying the foundation of a character that will grow more 
 perfect day by day; while he who wraps himself in a mantle 
 of false pride and resents the mere allusion to his faults 
 merely displays his weakness and shows his own lack of 
 proper balance. Some faults are of such a nature that they 
 merely act as foils to show the strong points of a character. 
 Who can help admiring that generous hospitality which still 
 lingers among the residents of the South and which leads 
 them to offer the best they have to a passing guest even 
 though they may be in dire poverty. Those faults of char- 
 acter which should be shunned more than all the rest are 
 selfishness and cruelty. Much may be excused to him who 
 is unselfish and kind in his relations with his fellow men. 
 But a cruel and selfish man can never be admirable even if 
 he have every gift which fortune can bestow, Napoleon 
 Bonaparte will be long admired for his intellect and power, 
 but future generations will learn to abhor his name and 
 career because it was stained with blood, and his character 
 was as selfish as it was cruel. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 KINDNESS AND BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 “A soft answer turneth away wrath.” 
 
 jINDNESS is the music of good-will to men and on 
 this harp, the smallest fingers in the world may play 
 heaven’s sweetest tunes on earth. Kindness is one 
 of the purest traits that find a place in the human heart. It 
 gives us friends wherever we may chance to wander. Whether 
 we dwell with the savage tribes of the forest or with civilized 
 races, kindness is a language understood by the former as 
 well as the latter. Its influence never ceases. Started once, 
 it flows onward like the little mountain rivulet in a pure 
 and increasing stream. To show kindness it is not neces- 
 sary to give large sums of money, or perform some wonder- 
 ful deed that will immortalize your name. It is the tear 
 dropped with the mother as she weeps over the bier of her 
 departed child; it is the word of sympathy to the discour- 
 aged and the disheartened, the cup of cold water and the 
 slice of bread to the hungry one. 
 
 Kindness makes sunshine wherever it goes. It finds its 
 way into the hidden chambers of the heart and brings forth 
 
 303 
 
304 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 golden treasures, which harshness would have sealed up for- 
 ever. Kindness makes the mother’s lullaby sweeter than 
 the song of the lark and renders the care-worn brow of the 
 father and man of business, less severe in its expression. It 
 is the water of Lethe to the laborer, who straightway forgets 
 his weariness born of the heat and burden of the day. 
 
 Kindness, is the real law of life, the link that connects 
 earth with heaven, the true philosopher’s stone, for all it 
 touches it turns into virgin gold; the true gold, wherewith 
 we purchase contentment, peace and love. Would you live 
 in the remembrance of others after you shall have passed 
 away.^ Write your name on the tablets of their hearts by 
 acts of kindness, love and mercy. 
 
 Kindness is an emotion of which we never ought to feel 
 ashamed. Graceful, especially in youth, is the tear of sym- 
 pathy and the heart that melts at the tale of woe. We should 
 not permit ease and indulgence to contract our affection and 
 wrap us up in a selfish enjoyment; but we should accustom 
 ourselves to think of the distresses of human life and how 
 to relieve them. Think of the solitary cottage, the dying 
 parent and the weeping child. A tender-hearted and com- 
 passionate disposition, which inclines men to pity and to 
 feel the misfortunes of others as its own, is of all disposi- 
 tions the most amiable and though it may not receive much 
 honor, is worthy of the highest. Kindness is the very prin- 
 ciple of love, an emanation of the heart which softens and 
 gladdens and should be inculcated and encouraged in all 
 our intercourse with our fellow-beings. 
 
 Kindness does not consist in gifts, but in gentleness and 
 generosity of spirit. Men may give their money, which 
 comes from their purse and withhold their kindness, which 
 comes from the heart. The kindness which displays itself 
 in giving money does not amount to much and often does 
 
Pursuit of Pleasure. 
 
library 
 OF m. 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF IIAINOIS 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 305 
 
 as much harm as good; but the kindness of true sympathy, 
 of thoughtful help, is never without beneficent results. The 
 good temper that displays itself in kindness must not be 
 confounded with passive goodness. It is not by any means 
 indifferent, but largely sympathetic. It does not character- 
 ize the lowest; but the highest classes of society. 
 
 True kindness cherishes and actively promotes all reason- 
 able instrumentalities for doing practical good in its own 
 time, and looking into futurity, sees the same spirit working 
 on for the eventual elevation and happiness of the race. It 
 is the kindly disposed men who are the active men of the 
 world, while the selfish and the skeptical, who have no love 
 but for themselves, are its idlers. How easy it is for one 
 being to diffuse pleasure around him and how truly is one 
 fond heart a fountain of gladness, making everything in its 
 vicinity to freshen into smiles. Its effect on stern natures 
 is like the Spring rain, which melts the icy covering of the 
 earth and causes it to open to the beams of heaven. 
 
 In the intercourse of social life it is by little acts of 
 watchful kindness recurring daily and hourly — and opportu- 
 nities of doing kindness if sought for are constantly start- 
 ing up — it is by words, by tones, by gestures, by looks, that 
 affection is won and preserved. He who neglects these tri- 
 fles, yet boasts that, whenever a great sacrifice is called for, 
 he shall be ready to make it, will rarely be loved. The like- 
 lihood is he will not make it and if he does, it will be much 
 rather for his owh sake than for his neighbor’s. Life is made 
 up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in 
 which smiles and kindness and small obligations, given ha- 
 bitually, are what win and preserve the heart and secure 
 comfort. The little unremembered acts of kindness and 
 love are the best portion of a good man’s life. Those little 
 nameless acts which manifest themselves by tender and af- 
 
306 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 fectionate looks and little kind acts of attention do much to 
 increase the happiness of life. 
 
 Little kindnesses are great ones. They drive away sad- 
 ness and cheer up the soul beyond all common appreciation. 
 They are centers of influence over others, which may accom- 
 plish much good. When such kindnesses are administered 
 in times of need they are like ‘‘apples of gold in pictures of 
 silver*' and will be long remembered. A word of kindness 
 in a desperate strait is as welcome as the smile of an angel 
 and a helpful hand-grasp is worth a hundred-fold its cost, 
 for it may have rescued for all future the most kingly thing 
 on earth — the manhood of a man. 
 
 It should not discourage us if our kindness is unacknowU 
 edged; it has its influence still. Good and worthy conduct 
 may meet with an unworthy or ungrateful return; but the ab- 
 sence of gratitude on the part of the receiver cannot destroy 
 the self- approbation which recompenses the giver. The 
 seeds of courtesy and kindness may be scattered around 
 with so little trouble and expense that it seems strange that 
 more do not endeavor to spread them abroad. Could they 
 but know the inward peace which requites the giver for a 
 kindly act, though coldly received by the one to be benefitted, 
 would not hesitate to let the kindly feelings, latent in us all, 
 have free expression. Kindly efforts are not lost. Some of 
 them will inevitably fall on good ground and grow up into 
 benevolence in the minds of others and all of them will 
 bear fruit of happiness in the bosom w’hence they spring. 
 It is better never to receive a kindness than not to bestow 
 one. Not to return a benefit is the greater sin, but not to 
 confer it is the earlier. 
 
 The noblest revenge we can take upon our enemies is to 
 do them a kindness. To return malice for malice and injury 
 for injury, will afford but a temporary gratification to our 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 307 
 
 evil passions and our enemies will be rendered more and 
 more bitter against us. But to take the first opportunity of 
 showing how superior we are to them by doing them a kind- 
 ness or by rendering them a service, is not only the nobler 
 way, but the sting of reproach will enter deeply into their 
 souls and while unto us it will be a noble retaliation, our 
 triumph will not unfrequently be rendered complete, not 
 only by beating out the malice that had otherwise stood 
 against us, but by bringing repentant hearts to offer them- 
 selves at the shrine of friendship. A more glorious victory 
 cannot be gained over another man than this, that when the 
 injury began on his part the kindness should begin on ours. 
 
 The tongue of kindness is full of pity, love and comfort 
 It speaks a word of comfort to ' the desponding, a word of 
 encouragement to the faint-hearted, of sympathy to the be- 
 reaved, of consolation to the dying. Urged on by a benev- 
 olent heart, it loves to cheer, console and invigorate the sons 
 and daughters of sorrow. Kind words do not cost much 
 They never blister the tongue or lips and no mental trouble 
 ever arises therefrom. Be not saving of kind words and 
 pleasing acts, for such are fragrant gifts, whose perfume will 
 gladden the heart and sweeten the life of all who hear or 
 receive them. Words of kindness fitly spoken are indeed 
 both precious and beautiful; they are worth much and cost 
 little. 
 
 Kind words are like the breath of the dew upon the ten- 
 der plants, falling gently upon the drooping heart, refresh- 
 ing its withered tendrils and soothing its woes. Bright 
 oases are they in life’s great desert. Who can estimate the 
 pangs they have alleviated, or the good works they have ac- 
 complished? Long after they are uttered do they reverbe- 
 rate in the soul’s inner chamber and like low, sweet 
 Strains of music, they serve to quell the memory of bitter- 
 
308 
 
 HOW TO wm\ 
 
 ness or of personal wrong, to lead the heart to the sunnier 
 paths of life. And when the heart is sad and like a broken 
 harp, the chords of pleasure cease to vibrate, how peculiarly 
 acceptable then, are kind words from others. 
 
 Who can rightly estimate the ultimate effect of one kind 
 word fitly spoken? One little word of tenderness gushing in 
 upon the soul will sweep long neglected chords and awaken 
 the most pleasant strains. Kind words are like jewels in 
 the heart, never to be forgotten, but perhaps to cheer by 
 their memory a long, sad life, while words of cruelty are like 
 darts in the bosom, wounding and leaving scars that will be 
 borne to the grave by their victim. Speak kindly in the 
 morning; it lightens all the cares of the day and makes the 
 household and other affairs move along more smoothly. 
 Speak kindly at night; for it may be that before dawn some 
 loved one may finish his or her space of life and it will be 
 too late to ask forgiveness. Speak kindly at all times; it 
 encourages the downcast, cheers the sorrowing and very 
 likely awakens the erring to earnest resolves to do better, 
 with strength to keep them. Always leave home with kind 
 words; for they may be the last. Kind words are the bright 
 flowers of earthly existence; use them and especially around 
 the fireside circle. They are jewels beyond price and pow- 
 erful to heal the wounded heart and make the weighed- 
 down spirit glad. 
 
 Doing good is the only certain happy action of a man's 
 life. The very consciousness of well doing is in itself ample 
 reward for the trouble we have been put to. The enjoy- 
 ment of benevolent acts grows upon reflection. Experience 
 teaches this so truly, that never did any soul do good but he 
 came readier to do the same again with more enjoyment. » 
 .Never was love, or gratitude, or bounty practiced but with 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS 
 
 309 
 
 increasing joy, which made the practice! more in love with 
 the fair act 
 
 If there be a pleasure on earth which angels can not enjoy, 
 and which they might almost envy man the possession of, it 
 is the power of relieving distress. If there be a pain which 
 devils might almost pity man for enduring, it is the death- 
 bed reflection that we have possessed the power of doing 
 good, but that we have abused and perverted it to purposed 
 ill. He who never denied himself for the sake of giving has 
 but glanced at the joys of benevolence. We owe our super- 
 fluity, and to be happy in the performance of our duty we 
 must exceed it. The joy resulting from the diffusion of 
 blessings to all around us is the purest and sublimest that 
 can ever enter the human mind, and can be understood only 
 by those who have experienced it. Next to the consolation 
 of divine grace it is the most sovereign balm to the miseries 
 of life, both in him who is the object of it and in him who 
 exercises it. 
 
 In all other human gifts and possessions, though they ad- 
 vance nature, yet they are subject to excess. For so we see 
 that by aspiring to be like God in power, the angels trans- 
 gressed and fell; by aspiring to be like God in knowledge 
 man transgressed and fell; but by aspiring to be like God in 
 goodness or love neither man nor angels ever did or shall 
 transgress, for unto that imitation we are called. A life of 
 passionate gratification is not to bexornpared with a life of 
 active benevolence. God has so constituted our natures 
 that a man can not be happy unless he is or thinks he is a 
 means of doing good. We can not conceive of a picture of 
 more unutterable wretchedness than is furnished by one who 
 knows that he is wholly useless in the world. 
 
 A man or woman without benevolence is not a perfect 
 being; they are only a deformed personality of true manhood 
 
310 
 
 now TO WIN, 
 
 or womanhood. In every heart there are many tendencies 
 to selfishness; but the spirit of benevolence counteracts 
 them all. In a world like this, where we are all so needy 
 and dependent, where our interests are so interlocked, 
 where our lives and hearts overlap each other and often 
 grow together, we cannot live without a good degree of 
 benevolence. We do most for ourselves when we do most 
 for others; hence our highest interests, even from a purely 
 selfish point of view, are i n the paths of benevolence. And 
 in a moral sense we know ‘‘that it is more blessed to give 
 than to receive.’’ Good deeds double in the doing, and the 
 larger half comes back to the donor. A large heart of charity 
 is a noble thing, and the most benevolent soul lives nearest 
 to God. Selfishness is the root of evil; benevolence is its 
 cure. In no heart is benevolence more beautiful than in 
 youth; in no heart is selfishness more ugly. To do good is 
 noble; to be good is more noble. This should be the aim of 
 all the young. The poor and the needy should occupy a 
 large place in their hearts. The sick and suffering should 
 claim their attention. The sinful and criminal should 
 awaken their deepest pity. The oppressed and downtrodden 
 should find a large place in their compassion. 
 
 Woman appears in her best estate in the exercise of 
 benevolent deeds. -How sweet are her soothing words to 
 the disconsolate! How consoling her tears of sympathy to 
 the mourning! How fresh her spirit of hope to the dis- 
 couraged! How balmy the breath of her love to the op- 
 pressed! Man, too, appears in his best light and grandest 
 aspect when he appears as the practical follower of Him who 
 went about doing good. He who does these works of prac- 
 tical benevolence is educating his moral powers in the 
 school of earnest and glorious life. He is laying the foun- 
 dasion for a noble and useful career. He is planting the 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 311 
 
 seeds of a charity that will grow to bless and save the suffer- 
 ings of our fellow men. 
 
 Liberality consists less in giving profusely than in giving 
 judiciously, for there is nothing that requires so strict an 
 economy as our benevolence. Liberality, if spread over too 
 large a surface, produces no crop. If over one too small it 
 exuberates in rankness and in weeds. And yet it requires 
 care to avoid the other extreme. It is better to be some- 
 times mistaken than not to exercise charity at all. Though 
 we may chance sometimes to bestow our beneficence on the 
 unworthy it does not take from the merit of the act. It is 
 not the true spirit of charity which is ever rigid and circum- 
 spect, and which always mistrusts the truth of the necessities 
 laid open to it. Be not frightened at the hard word “im- 
 postor.’^ “Cast thy bread upon the waters.'’ Some have 
 unawares entertained angles. 
 
 A man should fear when he enjoys only what good he 
 does publicly, lest it should prove to be the publicity rather 
 than the charity that he loves. We have more confidence 
 in that benevolence which begins in the home and diverges 
 into a large humanity than in the world-wide philanthrophy 
 which begins at the outside and converges into egotism. A 
 man should, indeed, have a generous feeling for the welfare 
 of the whole world, and should live in the world as a citizen 
 of the world. But he may have a preference for that par- 
 ticular part in which he lives. Charity begins at home, but 
 it may and ought to go abroad; still we have no respect for 
 self-boasting charity which neglects all objects of commiser- 
 ation near and around it, but goes to the end of the world in 
 search of misery for the sake of talking about it. 
 
 Generosity during life is a very different thing from gen- 
 erosity in the hour of death. One proceeds from genuine 
 liberality and benevolence; the other from pride or fear. He 
 
312 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 that will not permit his wealth to do any good to others 
 while he is living prevents it from doing any good to himself 
 when he is gone. By an egotism that is suicidal and has a 
 double edge he cuts himself off from the truest pleasures 
 here, and the highest pleasures hereafter. To pass a whole 
 lifetime without performing a single generous action till the 
 dying hour, when death unlocks the grasp upon earthly 
 possessions, is to live like the Talipat palm-tree of the East, 
 which blossoms not till the last year of its life. It then 
 suddenly bursts into a mass of flowers, but emits such an 
 odor that the tree is frequently cut down to be rid of it. 
 Even such is the life of those who postpone their munifi- 
 cence until the close of their days, when they exhibit a late 
 efflorescence of generosity, which lacks the sweet-smelling 
 perfume which good deeds should possess. And when it 
 appears, like the Talipat flower, it is a sure sign that death 
 is at hand. They surrender everything when they see they 
 cannot continue to keep possession and are at last liberal 
 when they can no longer be parsimonious. The truly gen- 
 erous man does not wish to leave enough to build an impos- 
 ing monument, since there is so much sorrow and suffering 
 to be alleviated. They enjoy the pleasure of what they give 
 by giving it when alive and seeing others benefitted thereby. 
 
 A conqueror is regarded with awe, the wise man com- 
 mands our esteem, but it is the benevolent man who wins 
 our affection. A benificent person is like a fountain water- 
 ing the earth and spreading fertility; it is, therefore, more de- 
 lightful and more honorable to give than to receive. The 
 last, best fruit which comes to late perfection, even in the 
 kindliest soul, is tenderness toward the hard, forbearance 
 towards the unforbearant, warmth of heart towards the cold, 
 philantrophy towards the misanthropic. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 POLITENESS, SOCI/^BIL'TY AND MODESTY 
 
 ** Manners make the Man.’* 
 
 MONG the qualities of mind and heart which conduce 
 to worldly success, there is no one the importance of 
 which IS more real, yet which is more generally un- 
 derrated at this day by the young, than courtesy — that feel- 
 ing of kindness, of love for our fellows, which expresses itself 
 in pleasant manners. Owing to that spirit of self-reliance 
 and self-assertion, they are too apt to despise those name- 
 less and exquisite tendernesses of thought and manner that 
 mark the true gentleman. Yet history is crowded with ex- 
 amples showing that, as in literature it is the delicate, inde * 
 finable charm of style, not the thought, that makes a work 
 immortal, so it is the bearing of a man towards his fellows 
 that oftentimes, more than any other circumstances, pro- 
 motes or obstructs his advancement in life. 
 
 Manner has a great deal to do with the estimation in whicli 
 men are held by the world; and it has often more influence 
 in the government of others than qualities of much greater 
 depth and substance. We may complain that our fellow- 
 men are more for form than substance, for the superficial 
 
 313 
 
314 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 rather than the solid contents of a man, but the fact remains, 
 and it is a clue to many of the seeming anomalies and freaks 
 of fortune which surprise us in the matter of worldly pros- 
 perity. The success or failure of one’s plans have often 
 turned upon the address and manner of the man. Though 
 there are a few people who can look beyond the rough husk 
 or shell of a fellow-being to the finer qualities hidden within, 
 yet the vast majority, not so keen-visaged nor tolerant, judge 
 a person by his outward bearings and conduct. 
 
 Grace, agreeable manners and fascinating powers are one 
 thing, while politeness is another. The two points are often 
 mistaken in the occasional meeting, but the true gentleman 
 always rises to the surface at last. Nothing will develop a 
 spirit of true politeness except a mind imbued with good- 
 ness, justness and generosity. Manners are different in 
 every country; but true politeness is everywhere the same. 
 Manners which take up so much of our attention are only 
 artificial helps which ignorance assumes in order to imitate 
 politeness, which is the result of much good sense, some 
 good-nature and a little self-denial for the sake of others, 
 but with no design of obtaining the same indulgence from 
 them. A person possessed of those qualities, though he had 
 never seen a court, is truly agreeable; and if withuot them 
 would continue a clown, though he had been all his life a 
 gentleman usher. 
 
 He is truly well-bred who knows when to value and when 
 to despise those national peculiarities which are regarded by 
 some with so much observance. A traveler of taste at once 
 perceives that the wise are polite all the world over, but that 
 fools are polite only at home. Since circumstances always 
 alter cases, the polite man must know when to violate the 
 conventional forms which common practice has established, 
 and when to respect them. To be a slave to any set code 
 
OK, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 815 
 
 of actions is as bad as to despise them. Perceptiveness, 
 adaptation, penetration and a happy faculty of suiting man- 
 ners to circumstances, is one of the principles upon which 
 one must work; for the etiquette of the drawing-room differs 
 from that of the office or railroad car, and what may be 
 downright rudeness in one case may be gentility in the 
 other. 
 
 Benevolence and charity, with a true spirit of meekness, 
 must be one of the ruling motives of the understanding; for 
 without this no man can be polite. Politeness must know 
 no classification; the rich and the poor must alike share its 
 justice and humanity. Exclusive spirits that shun those 
 whose level in life is not on the same extravagant platform 
 as themselves, cannot aspire to the high honor of wearing 
 the name of gentleman. The truly polite man acts from the 
 highest and noblest ideas of what is right. 
 
 True politeness ever hath regard for the comfort and hap- 
 piness of others. ‘Tt is,'' says Witherspoon, real kindness 
 kindly expressed," Viewed in this light how devoid of the 
 virtue are some who pride themselves on a strict observance 
 of all its rules! Many a man who now stands ranked as a 
 gentleman, because his smile is ready and his bow exquisite, 
 is, in reality, unworthy of such an honor, since he cares more 
 for the least incident pertaining to his own comfort than he 
 does for the greatest occasion of discomfort to others. 
 
 The true gentleman is recognized by his regard for the 
 rights and feelings of others, even in matters the most triv- 
 ial. He respects the individuality of others just as he 
 wishes others to respect his own. In society he is quiet? 
 easy, unobtrusive, putting on no airs nor hinting by word or 
 manner that he deems himself better, wiser, or richer than 
 anyone about him. He is never “stuck up," nor looks 
 down upon others because they have not titles, honors, or 
 
816 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 social position equal to his own. He never boasts of his 
 achievements or angles for compliments by affecting to un, 
 derrate what he has done. He prefers to act rather than to 
 talk and above all things, is distinguished by his deep in- 
 sight and sympathy, his quick perception of and attention 
 to those little and apparently insignificant things that may 
 cause pleasure or pain to others. In giving his opinions he 
 does not dogmatize; he listens patiently and respectfully to 
 other men and if compelled to dissent from their opinions, 
 acknowledges his fallibility and asserts his own views in such 
 a manner as to command the respect of all who hear him. 
 Frankness and cordiality mark all his intercourse with his 
 fellows and however high his station, the humblest man feels 
 instantly at ease in his presence. 
 
 The truest politeness comes of sincerity. It must be the 
 outcome of the heart or it will make no lasting impression, 
 for no amount of polish will dispense with truthfulness. 
 The natural character must be allowed to appear freed of its 
 angularities. To acquire that ease and grace of manners 
 which distinguishes and is possessed by every well-bred per- 
 son one must think of others rather than of one’s self and 
 study to please them even at one’s own inconvenience. 
 
 “Do unto others as you would that others should do unto 
 you” — the golden rule of life — is also the rule of politeness 
 and such politeness implies selTsacrifice, many struggles 
 and conflicts. It is an art and tact rather than an instinct 
 and inspiration. 
 
 Daily experience shows that civility is not only one of the 
 essentials of success, but it is almost a fortune in itself and 
 that he who has this quality in perfection, though a block- 
 head, is almost sure to rise where, without it, men of high 
 ability fail. “Give a boy address and accomplishment,” says 
 Emerson, “and you give him the mastery of palaces and 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 317 
 
 fortunes. Wherever he goes he has not the trouble of earn- 
 ing or owning them; they solicit him to enter and possess.’' 
 Genuine politeness is almost as necessary to enjoyable suc- 
 cess as integrity or industry. 
 
 We despise servility, but true and uniform politeness is 
 the glory of any young man. It should be a politeness full 
 of frankness and good nature, unobtrusive, constant and 
 uniform in its exhibition to every class of men. He who is 
 overwhelmingly polite to a celebrity or a nabob and rude to 
 a laborer because he is a laborer deserves to be despised. 
 That style of manners v/hich combines self-respect with re- 
 spect for the rights and feelings of others, especially if it be 
 warmed up by the fires of a genial heart, is a thing to be 
 coveted and cultivated and it is a thing that pays alike in 
 cash and comfort. 
 
 What a man says or does is often an uncertain test of 
 what he is. It is the way in which he says or does it that 
 furnishes the best index of his character. It is by the in- 
 cidental expression given to his thoughts and feelings by his 
 looks, tones and gestures, rather than by his deeds and 
 words, that we prefer to judge him. One may do certain 
 deeds from design, or repeat certain professions by rote; 
 honeyed words may mask feelings of hate and kindly acts 
 may be formed expressly to veil sinister ends, but the ‘‘man- 
 ner of the man” is not so easily controlled. 
 
 The mode in which a kindness is done often affects us 
 more than the deed itself. The act may have been prompted 
 by one of many questionable motives, as vanity, pride, or 
 interests; but the warmth or coldness of address is less 
 likely to deceive. A favor may be conferred so grudgingly 
 as to prevent any feeling of obligation, or it may be re- 
 fused so courteously as to awaken more kindly feelings than 
 if it had been ungraciously granted 
 
318 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 Good manners are well-nigh an essential part of life edu- 
 cation and their importance cannot be too largely magnified 
 when we consider that they are the outward expressions of 
 an inward virtue. Social courtesies should emanate from 
 the heart, for remember always that the worth of manner 
 consists in being the sincere expression of feelings. Like 
 the dial of a watch, they should indicate that the works 
 are good and true. True civilty needs no false lights to 
 show its points. It is the embodiment of truth, the mere 
 opening out of its inner self. The arts and artificers of a 
 polished exterior are well enough, but if they are anything 
 more or less than a fair exponent of inward rectitude their 
 hollowness cannot long escape detection. 
 
 The cultivation of manner, though in excess it is foppish 
 and foolish, is highly necessary in a person who has occa- 
 sion to negotiate with others in matters of business. Affa- 
 bility and good-breeding may even be regarded as essential 
 to the success of a man in any eminent station and enlarged 
 sphere of life, for the want of it has not unfrequently been 
 found, in a great measure, to neutralize the results of much 
 industry, integrity and honesty of character. There are no 
 doubt, a few strong, tolerant minds which can bear with de- 
 fects and angularities of manner and look only to the more 
 genuine qualities; but the world at large is not so forbear- 
 ant and cannot help forming its judgments and likings mainly 
 according to outward conduct 
 
 It has been well remarked that whoever imagines legiti- 
 mate manners can be taken up and laid aside, put on and 
 off for the moment, has missed their deepest law. A noble 
 and attractive everyday bearing comes of goodness, of sin- 
 cerity, of refinement and these are bred in years, not mo- 
 ments. It is the fruit of years of earnest, kindly endeavors 
 to please. It is the last touch, the crowning perfection of a 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 319 
 
 noble character; it has been truly described as the gold on 
 the spire, the sunlight on the cornfield and results only from 
 the truest balance and harmony of soul. 
 
 Society has been happily compared to a heap of embers, 
 which when separated, soon languish, darken and expire, 
 but if placed together, glow with a ruddy and intense heat, 
 a just emblem of the strength, happiness and security de- 
 rived from society. The savage who never knew the bles- 
 sings of combination and he who quits society from apathy 
 or misanthropic spleen, are like the separate embers, dark, 
 dead, useless; they neither give nor receive heat, neither 
 love nor are beloved. 
 
 From social intercourse are derived some of the highest 
 enjoyments of life. Where there is a free interchange of 
 opinion, the mind acquires new ideas and by a frequent exer- 
 cise of its powers, the understanding gains fresh vigor. The 
 true sphere of human virtue is found in society. This is 
 the school of human faith and trials. In social, active life, 
 difficulties will perpetually be met with. Restraints of many 
 kinds will be necessary and studying to behave right in re- 
 spect to these is a discipline of the human heart useful to 
 others and improving to itself. It is good to meet in friendly 
 intercourse and pour out that social cheer which so vivifies 
 the weary and desponding heart. It elevates the feelings 
 and makes us all the better for the world. 
 
 Society is the balm of life. Should anyone be entirely ex- 
 cluded from all human intercourse he would be wretched- 
 Men were formed for society. It is one important end for 
 which they were made rational creatures. No man was made 
 solely for himself and no man is capable of living in the 
 world totally independent of others. The wants and weak- 
 nesses of mankind render society necessary for their con- 
 venience, safety and support. God has formed men with 
 
320 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 different powers and faculties and placed them under differ- 
 enc circumstances, that they might be able to promote each 
 other’s good. Some are wiser, richer and stronger than 
 others that they may direct the conduct, supply the wants 
 and bear the burdens of others. Some are formed for one 
 and some are formed for another employment and all are 
 qualified for some useful business, conducive to the general 
 good of society. The whole frame and texture of mankind 
 make it appear that they were designed to live in society. 
 The longer men live in society the more terrible is the 
 thought of being excluded from it. 
 
 Society is the only field where sexes meet on the terms of 
 equality; the arena where character is formed and studied; 
 the cradle and the realm of public opinion; the crucible of 
 ideas; the world’s university; at once a school and a theatre; 
 the spur and the crown of ambition; the tribunal which un- 
 masks pretensions and stamps real merit; the power that 
 gives government leave to be and outruns the Church in fix- 
 ing the moral sense of the people. 
 
 Many young men fail for years to get hold of the idea 
 that they are subject to social duties. They act as though 
 the social machinery of the world were self-operating. They 
 see around them social organizations in active existence. 
 The parish, the Church and other bodies that embrace in 
 some form of society all men, are successfully operated and 
 yet they take no part nor lot in the matter. They do not 
 think it necessary for them to devote either time or money 
 to society. Sometimes they are apt to get into a morbid 
 state of mind, which disinclines them to social intercourse. 
 
 They become so devoted to business that all social 
 intercourse is irksome. They go out to tea as if they were 
 going to jail and drag themselves to a party as to an execu- 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS. 
 
 321 
 
 tion. This disposition is thoroughly selfish and is to be 
 overcome by going where you are invited, always and at any 
 sacrifice of mere feeling. Do not shrink from contact with 
 anything except bad morals. Men who affect your unheal- 
 thy mind with antipathy will prove themselves very fre- 
 quently on mature acquaintance your best friends and wisest 
 counsellors. 
 
 It is to be noticed with what apparent ease some men en- 
 ter society and how others remain away always. Such are 
 apt to think that society has not discharged its duties as to 
 them. But all social duties are reciprocal. Society is far 
 more apt to pay its dues to the individual tnan the ind’vid- 
 ual to society. Have you who complain of the cold selfish- 
 ness of society, done anything to give you a claim to social 
 recognition.^ What kind of coin do you propose to pay in 
 the discharge of the obligations which come upon you with 
 social recognition.^ In other words, as a return for what you 
 wish society to do, what will you do for society.? Will you 
 be a member of society by right or by courtesy.? If you 
 have so mean a spirit as to be content to be a beneficiary of 
 society, to receive favors and confer none, you have no busi- 
 ness in the social circle to which you aspire. 
 
 The spirit of life is society; that of society is freedom; 
 that of freedom the discreet and modest use of it. A man 
 may contemplate virtue in solitude and retirement; but the 
 practical part consists in its participation and the society it 
 hath with others; for whatever is good is better for being com- 
 municated. As too long a retirement weakens the mind, so 
 too much company dissipates it. Too much society is nearly 
 as bad as none. A man secluded from company can have 
 none but the devil and himself to tempt him; but he that 
 converses much in the world has almost as many snares as 
 he has companions. The great object of society is refresh- 
 
322 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 merit of spirit. This is not to be obtained by luxury or by 
 the cankerous habit of speaking against others, but by a 
 bright and easy interchange of ideas on subjects which, even 
 in their brightest and most playful aspects are worthy to en- 
 gage the thoughts of men. 
 
 There is an essential vulgarity in one phase of social life, 
 that which considers the welfare of the guest’s stomach to 
 be the essential part of the host’s duty and the great ques- 
 tion of the guests to relate to the decorating of their own 
 backs. Such views elevate nobody: they refine nobody; 
 they inspire and instruct nobody; they satisfy nobody. This 
 view loses sight of the great end and aim of society, which 
 is to refine and elevate mankind, not to feed them upon 
 dainties, or to enable them to show off good clothes. Dean 
 Swift had a better relish for good society than for choice 
 viands. When invited to the houses of great men he some- 
 times insisted upon knowing what persons he was likely to 
 meet. ‘T don’t want your bill of fare, but your bill of 
 company.” 
 
 It is this losing sight of the true end of society which 
 causes it to present so many strange anomalies. Yet with 
 all its defects it is well-nigh indispensable to one who would 
 wield power and influence in the world’s arena. There is no 
 way to act out the promptings of your better nature and to 
 move men in the right direction, so poteniial as that offered 
 to the social man. You cannot move men until you show 
 yourself one among them. You cannot know their wants 
 and needs until you have mingled with them. By refusing 
 to cast your lot with others socially, you are as powerless to 
 do good as- the mountain peak is to raise tropical flowers. 
 
 It is the manner of some to forego meeting tohers socially. 
 There will certainly come a time when they will regret ii; 
 for the human heart is like a millstone in a mill. When you 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 323 
 
 put your wheat under it, it turns and bruises the wheat iitto 
 flour. If you put no wheat in it, it still grinds on; but then 
 it grinds away itself. In society, the sorrows and griefs of 
 others are the objects from which we extract the flour of 
 charity and kindness; but to the hermit from society his own 
 griefs and sorrows have the effect to render him cold and 
 selfish. Man in society is like a flower-bud on its native 
 stalk. It is there alone his faculties, expanded in full bloom, 
 shine out. ‘‘It is not safe for man to be alone.'* In the 
 midst of the loudest vauntings of philosophy, nature will 
 have her yearning for society and friendship. A good heart 
 wants something to be kind to and the best part of our na 
 ture suffers most when deprived of congenial society. 
 
 It becomes all men to seek the general good of society in 
 return for the benefits they receive from it. Though the 
 general good of society sometimes requires the individual 
 members to give up private good for that of the public, yet 
 it always is to be supposed that individuals receive more 
 advantage than disadvantage from society, on the whole. 
 Indeed, there is scarcely any comparison in this case. The 
 public blessings are always immensely great and numerous 
 They are more in number than can be reckoned up and 
 greater in worth than can be easily described. 
 
 The most independent individuals in society owe their 
 principal independence to society and the most retired and 
 inactive persons feel the happy influence of society, though 
 they may seem to be detached from it. No man can reflect 
 upon that constant stream of good which is perpetually flow- 
 ing down to him from well-regulated society, without feeling 
 his obligation to support it. Should this stream of happi- 
 ness cease to flow, the most careless and indifferent would 
 feel their loss and feel a sense of their duty to uphold the 
 good of society. Let the head of society cease to direct and 
 
824 
 
 HOW TO WIN 
 
 the hands to execute and the other members of the public 
 body would soon find themselves in a forlorn and wretched 
 state 
 
 It has been remarked that the modest deportment of really 
 wise men when contrasted to the assuming air of the vain 
 and ignorant may be compared to the difference in wheat, 
 which, while its ear is empty, holds up its head proudly, but 
 as soon as it is filled with grain bends modestly down and 
 withdraws from observation Thus, with true worth and 
 merit, it is uniformly modest in deportment. It is only the 
 shallow-pated who strive to attract attention by pretentious 
 claims. The ocean depths are mute; it is only along shal- 
 low shores that the roar of the breakers is heard. 
 
 It is not difficult to draw the line between self-reliance 
 and modesty on the one hand, and self-esteem and arrogant 
 pretensions on the other. True self-reliance does not call 
 on all men to witness its exploits. It displays itself in ac- 
 tion. It may be reserved in deportment, but quietly and 
 modestly proceeds in the path that wisdom points out, with 
 a steady reliance on its own powers. Not so, self-esteem. 
 Its boast is that it is sufficient for all things; which, to be 
 sure were not so bad, were it not for the fact that, when put 
 to the test by necessity it so quickly abandons its pretentious 
 claims and forgetting to use its own powers, is anxious only 
 for the aid of others. 
 
 Modesty is a beautiful setting to the diamond of talents 
 and genius. If ‘‘honesty be the best policy,'* we cannot 
 deny that modesty, as a matter of policy even, hath a rare 
 virtue. What so quickly commands our good wishes as 
 modesty struggling under discouragement, what our sympa- 
 thy more than modesty struck down by affliction; or what 
 our respect and love more than modesty ministering to the 
 distresses of others? There is no surer passport to the fa- 
 
OR, SCIRE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 325 
 
 vors of others than modesty of deportment. It will succeed 
 where all else has failed to waken in the minds of others an 
 interest in our affairs. It is to merit, as shades to figures in 
 a picture, giving it strength and beauty. 
 
 Modesty is far different from reserve. Reserve partakes 
 more of the nature of sullen pride. It is haughty in de- 
 meanor and hath not the sweet, retiring disposition of mod- 
 esty. A reserved man is in continual conflict with the social 
 part of his nature and even grudges liimself the laugh into 
 which he is sometimes betrayed. The modest man does not 
 refuse to perform his part socially. His only dread is that 
 others may think he is trying to center attention on himself. 
 The really modest man may be the most social of men. 
 The reserved man thinks it is beneath him to mingle with 
 the mass of the people. 
 
 Modesty never counsels real merit to conceal itself. It 
 never bids one refuse to act when action is necessary and 
 the person is conscious that his powers are adequate for the 
 performance of the task. Nor when a good deed is to be 
 done should the modest man hesitate to come forward to do 
 it, providing he is capable of so doing. Modesty counsels 
 none to be backwards where duty points the way; but mod- 
 esty strictly forbids that when a good or meritorious action is 
 done that the performer should spread abroad the story of 
 his doings. Leave that for others to do. 
 
 Bashfulness in itself cannot be admired. It completely 
 distrusts its own powers, whereas we have seen that a proper 
 reliance on self is at all times highly commendable. Pash- 
 fulness in man is never to be allowed as a good quality, but a 
 weakness, inasmuch as it suppresses his virtues and hides 
 them from the world, when, had he mind to exert himself, 
 he might accomplish much good. We doubt not but there 
 
326 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 are many fine intellects passing for naught by reason of theit 
 bashfulness. 
 
 Modesty is the crowning ornament of womanly beaiity 
 and the honor of manly powers. It alike becomes every 
 age, giving new grace to youthful figures and imparting a 
 pleasing virtue to years It softe.ns the asperities of pov- 
 erty and is a beautiful setting for wealth and fortune. It 
 gives additional charms to the possessor of genius and 
 talents, or cunningly conceals the want of the same. It is 
 the key that unlocks alike the gate to success or the door 
 of love and respect It makes life pleasant to the one who 
 exercises the virtue and charities bestowed by its hand are 
 worth far more to the recipient than their mere pecuniary 
 value. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 DIGNITY PyND TRUE NOBILITY 
 
 “The dignity of nnri into your hands is given. 
 
 Oh keep it well, with you it sinks or lifts itself to heaven.” 
 
 — Schiller. 
 
 IGNITY denotes that propriety of mien and carriage 
 which is appropriate to the different walks and ranks 
 of life. In regard to our intercourse with men we 
 should often reflect, not only whether our conduct is proper 
 and correct, but whether it is urbane and dignified. Dig- 
 nity of carriage is nearly always associated with high en- 
 dowments, the reverse is, at any rate true, that high endow- 
 ments are associated with dignity. “A trifling air and manner 
 bespeaks a thoughtless and silly mind,’' saitli a Chinese 
 proverb, ‘^but a grave and majestic outside is, as it were, 
 the palace of the soul.” 
 
 True dignity is never gained by place and never lost when 
 honors are withdrawn. There may be dignity in a hovel as 
 well as in a court; in one who depends on the sweat of his 
 brow as well as one who is placed, by reason of his wealth, 
 in a position of independence. In all ranks and classes it 
 is equally acceptable and worthy of esteem. True dignity 
 is without arms It does not deal in vain and ostentatious 
 parade. In proportion as we gratify our own self-esteem by 
 
 327 
 
328 
 
 HOW TO WIN 
 
 love of display, we commonly forfeit to the same degree the 
 respect of those whose good opinion is worth possessing. A 
 dignified manner is not necessarily an imposing manner; for 
 true dignity is but the outward expression of inherent worth 
 of character, but an imposing manner is generally ostenta- 
 tious in degree and as such may be taken as an evidence of 
 imposition. That dignity which seeks to make an ostenta- 
 tious display is often only a veil between us and the real 
 truth of things. It is only the false , mask of appearance 
 put on to conceal inherent defects. 
 
 The ennobling quality of politeness is dignity. Have you 
 not noticed that there are some persons who possess an in- 
 expressible charm of manner — a something which attracts 
 our love instantaneously, when they have neither wealth, 
 position, nor talents? You will find that a d’gnity of manner 
 characterizes their actions and that a spirit of dignity hovers 
 around them. On the other hand, have you not seen per- 
 sons of wealth who were surrounded by luxury and all the 
 comforts of affluence, yet, in lacking a spirit of dignity, 
 lacked the essential to render their lives influential for good? 
 
 Where there is an inherent want of dignity in the charac- 
 ter, how many distinguished and even noble acquisitions are 
 required to supply its place! But when a neutral dignity of 
 character exists, what a prepossession does it enlist in its 
 favor and with how few substantial and real excellencies are 
 we able to pass creditably through the world! 
 
 There are three kinds of dignity which either adorn or de- 
 face human character. There is the dignity of etiquette 
 and good manners, which is often of an artificial kind and is 
 a creature of rules and ceremonies and not of the heart. 
 The second is the dignity of pride and arrogance. This is 
 a presumptions dignity arising from self-conceit and egotism. 
 It is thoroughly selfish in its nature. It is more a spirit of 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 329 
 
 haughtiness and cold reserve than of true dignity. Then 
 there is the dignity of compassion and kindness. This is 
 that true dignity which ennobles life. It arises, not from 
 selfishness, but from kindness of heart and from a sense of 
 the importance of life. 
 
 Some men find it almost impossible to discover the line 
 which separates dignity from conceit. Dignity is a splendid 
 personal quality if it be of the right sort. To possess it is 
 to be above meanness, above cringing, above anything that 
 is low and unseemly. It holds up its head, even among 
 poverty and outward shabbiness and looks the world bravely 
 in the face It is innate manliness that outward garb cannot 
 change. But conceit is a very different quality and its pos- 
 sesssor is very far from being dignified, though he doubtlessly 
 considers himself to be so. He looks upon himself as the 
 grand center of his social system and upon all others as sat- 
 elites, whose particular business is to revolve around him. 
 The assumption may not take shape in words, but it comes 
 out in his manner all the same. Let him undertake to be 
 amiable and there is a sort of royal condescenscion; he 
 takes the attitude of stooping, rather than that of one reach- 
 ing out friendly hands to his equals. All this would be of- 
 fensive and somewhat exasperating were it not ridiculous. 
 But we laugh in charitable good nature and pity his absurd- 
 ities. There is little use in trying to point them out to him. 
 He is so hoodwinked by his overshadowing self-esteem that 
 he cannot see. True dignity does not consist in haughty 
 self-assurance. In resolving to be dignified let us see to it 
 that we strive for the true kind. 
 
 In counseling dignity, we advise no spirit of hauteur and 
 pride, but we do counsel such outward walk and conversa- 
 tions as shall become one who has a just appreciation of life 
 and its possibilities One who is always given to light and 
 
880 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 flippant remarks and always assuming a free and easy style 
 in his demeanor, cannot carry such an impression of power 
 as one who bears about him the impression cl a man among 
 men by his dignified and decorous bearing. 
 
 Its seat should be in the mind and then it will not be 
 found wanting in the manner. It is often strikingly and 
 eloquently displayed in the bearings of those utterly unac- 
 quainted with the strict rules of etiquette. If one has a 
 modest consciousness of his own worth and a sincere desire 
 to be of worth to others, he must necessarily display true 
 dignity in his manner and bearing towards others. 
 
 There is so much in this world that is artificial, so mucn 
 that glitters in borrowed light, that it is not singular that 
 moral greatness and nobility are often counterfeited by some 
 baser metal — so much so that it is no light task \o discrimi- 
 nate rightly between the true and the false and to determine 
 wherein true nobility doth consist. When we carefully con- 
 sider the nature of man, we readily admit that it is in the 
 possession of moral and intellectual powers that his superior- 
 ity over the brute world consists. 
 
 In the society of his fellow-men man ought not to be 
 rated by his possessions, by his stores of gold, by his office 
 of honor and trust; these are but temporary and accidental ad- 
 vantages and the next turn of fortur.e may tear them from 
 his grasp. The light of fame, though it shines with ever so 
 clear a light, is able to dispel the darkness of death but a 
 little ways. The greatest characters of antiquity are but 
 little known. Curiosity follows them in vain, for the veil of 
 oblivion successfully hides the greater portion of their lives. 
 
 The world ofttimes knows nothing of its greatest men. 
 There lives were passed in obscurity, but real nobility of 
 character was theirs and this is nearly always unseen and 
 unknown. He who in tattered garments toils on the way 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 381 
 
 may, and often does, possess more nobility of spirit than he 
 who is driven past in a chariot. It is the mind that makes 
 the heart rich and as the sun breaks through the darkest 
 clouds, so honor peereth in the meanest habit. Public mar- 
 tyrdom of every shade has a certain eclat and popularity 
 connected with it that will often bear men up to endure its 
 trials with courage; but those who suffer alone, without sym- 
 pathy, for truth or principle — those who, unnoticed by men, 
 maintain their part and, in obscurity and amid discour> 
 agement, patiently fulfil their trust — these are the real he- 
 roes of the age and the suffering they bear is real greatness. 
 
 It is refreshing to read the account of some of the truly 
 great men ana women, whose lives of usefulness have done 
 much for the alleviation of the world’s misery. And after 
 all, there is no true nobility except as it displays itself in 
 good deeds. Says Matthew Henry: '‘Nothing can make a 
 
 man truly great but being truly good and partaking of God’s 
 holiness.’' That ‘which constitutes human goodness, human 
 greatness, and human nobleness is not the degree of en- 
 lightenment with which men pursue their own advantages, 
 but it is self-forgetfulness, self-sacrifice, and the disregard of 
 personal advantages, remote or contingent, because some 
 other line of conduct is nearer right. The greatest man is 
 he who chooses right with the most invincible resolution; 
 who resists the sorest temptations from within and without; 
 who bears the heaviest burdens cheerfully; who is calmest 
 in storms, and most fearless under menaces and frowns. 
 
 Some persons are great only in their ability to do evil. 
 Such appears to have constituted the greatness of many of 
 those individuals who drenched the world in blood that their 
 ambition might be satisfied. They may possess the most 
 astonishing mental qualities, yet may be overruled for evil 
 instead of good. Men of the most brilliant qualities need 
 
332 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 only a due admixture of pride, ambition, and selfishness to 
 be great only in evil ways. Energy without integrity of 
 character and a soul of goodness may only represent the em- 
 bodied principle of evil. But when the elements of character 
 are brought into action by a determinate will, and influenced 
 by high purposes, a man enters upon and courageously per- 
 severes in the path of duty at whatever cost of worldly in- 
 terests, he may be said to approach the summit of his being — 
 to possess true nobility of character; he is the embodiment 
 of the highest idea of manliness. 
 
 The life of such a man becomes repeated in the life and 
 actions of others. He is just and upright in his business 
 dealings, in his public actions, and in his family life. He 
 will be honest in all things^ — in his works and in his words. 
 He will be generous and merciful to his opponent — to those 
 who are weaker as well as those stronger than himself. “The 
 man of noble spirit converts all occurrences into experience, 
 between which experience and his reason there is marriage, 
 and the issue are his actions. He moves by affection, not 
 for affection; he loves glory, scorns shame, and govern eth 
 and obeyeth with one countenance, for it comes from one 
 consideration. Knowing reason to be no idle gift of nature, 
 he is the steersman of his own destiny. Truth is his god- 
 dess, and he takes pains to get her, not to look like her. 
 Unto the society of men he is a sun whose clearness directs 
 in a regular motion. He is the wise man’s friend, the ex- 
 ample of the indifferent, the medicine of the vicious. Thus 
 time goeth not from him but with him, and he feels age more 
 by the strength of his soul than by the weakness of his body. 
 Thus feels he no pain, but esteems all such things as friends 
 that desire to file off his fetters and help him out of prison.” 
 
 True nobility of spirit is always modest in expression. 
 The grace of an action is gone as soon as we are convinced 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 333 
 
 that it was done only that persons might applaud the act. 
 But he who is truly great, and does good because it is his 
 duty, is not at all anxious that others should witness his 
 acts. His aim is to do good because it is right. His nobility 
 does not show itself in waiting and watching for some chance 
 to do a great good at once. Greatness can only be rightly 
 esimated when minuteness is justly reverenced. Greatness 
 is the aggregation of minuteness; nor can its sublimity be 
 felt truthfully bv any mind unaccustomed to the watching of 
 what is least. His nobility consists in being great in little 
 things. All the little details of life are attended to, and thus 
 the soul is prepared for great ones. There is more true no- 
 bility in duty faithfully done than in any one great act when 
 others are looking on and signifying their approval, and thus 
 by their sympathy spurring the soul on to greater exertions. 
 
 It is impossible to conceive of a truly great character, and 
 not think of one imbued with the spirit of kindness. Nobility 
 of spirit will not dwell with the haughty in manner. It de- 
 lights to take up its abode with the generous and tender- 
 hearted; those who seek to relieve the misery of others as 
 they would their own. If you contrast the career of Na- 
 poleon Bonaparte and Florence Nightingale, though one 
 filled all Europe with the terror of his name, doubt not that 
 in the scale of moral greatness the latter far outweighs the 
 former. Kindness is the most powerful instrument in the 
 world to move men*s hearts, and a word in kindness spoken 
 will often do more for the furtherance of your cause than any 
 amount of angry reasoning. Therefore, it is not singular 
 that one whose whole life is spent in the exercise of kindness 
 should possess a peculiar power over the lives of others — in 
 effect, wield such an influence over them as marks him as 
 one of the truly great. 
 
 Nobility of character is also reverential. The possession 
 of th s quality also marks the noblest and highest type of 
 
334 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 manhood and womanhood. Reverence for things consecra- 
 ted by the homage of generations, for high objects, pure 
 thoughts and noble aims, for the great men of former times 
 and the high minded workers among our contemporaries. 
 Reverence is alike indispensable to the happiness of indi- 
 viduals, of families and of nations. Without it there can 
 be no trust, no faith, no confidence, either in God or man — 
 neither social peace nor social progress. Reverence is but 
 another name for love, which binds men to each other, and 
 all to God. 
 
 The rewards of a life of moral greatness rests with pos- 
 terity. Great men are like the oaks, under the branches of 
 which men are happy in finding a refuge in times of storm 
 and rain. But when the danger is past they take pleasure 
 in cutting the bark and breaking the branches. As long as 
 human nature is such a mass of contradictions this is not 
 to be wondered at. But the influence of such men is ever 
 working and will sooner or later show itself. Men such 
 as these are the true life-blood of the country to which they 
 belong. They elevate and uphold it, fortify and ennoble it^ 
 and shed a glory over it by the example of life and charac- 
 ter which they have bequeathed to it. “The names and 
 manners of great men,'' says an able writer, “are the dowry 
 of a nation." Whenever national life begins to quicken, the 
 dead heroes rise in the memory of men. These men of no- 
 ble principles are the salt of the earth. In death, as well as 
 life, their example lives in their country, a stimulus and en- 
 couragement to all who have the soul to adopt it. 
 
 Nobility of character is within the reach of all. It is the 
 result of patient endeavors after a life of goodness, and 
 when acquired, cannot be swept away unless by the consent 
 of its possessor. Wealth may be lost by no fault of its pos_ 
 sessor, but grea/^ness of soul is an abiding quality. One 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 335 
 
 may fail in his other aims; the many accidents of life may 
 bring to naught his most patient endeavors after worldly 
 fame or success; but he who strives for nobility of character 
 will not fail of reward, if he but diligently seek the same by 
 earnest resolve and patient labor. Is there not in this a 
 lesson of patience for many who are almost weary of striv- 
 ing for better things? If success does not crown their am- 
 bitious efforts, will they not be sustained by the smile of an 
 approving conscience? Strong in this, they can wait with 
 patience till, in the fullness of time, their reward cometh. 
 
 There is a wave of new thought sweeping over the land 
 and the old standards of success are being weighed in the 
 balance and found wanting. The craze for wealth, the thirst 
 for gold, is appearing to the truly advanced soul among men 
 as unutterably foolish and unworthy. The student of Per- 
 sonal Magnetism learns to know what the true wealth which 
 enriches human life consists of and he values gold as some- 
 thing infinitely inferior to the power which inheres in the 
 meanest and most degraded human soul. In these days 
 when men are so madly crowding each other to obtain pos- 
 session of gold, we need some of the spirit that inspired 
 Quintius Curtius, that noble Roman warrior, who when told 
 that the choicest treasures of Rome must be thrown into the 
 yawning crevasse opened in the forum by an earthquake, ex- 
 claimed: “What greater treasure does Rome possess than 
 
 the manhood and valor of her sons.” So mounting his horse 
 and in full armor, he leaped into the abyss and was never 
 heard of more. 
 
 That wealth is truest and most' valuable, which adds to 
 the power and ability to enjoy life. Happiness is coveted by 
 all and he is the best teacher who teaches truly the way in 
 which it may be obtained, but happiness can only be secured 
 by working in harmony w th natural law, and that law is so 
 
336 
 
 HOW TO WIN 
 
 often unknown to those who desire power and knowledge, 
 that they seek in vain. But the path is plain to those who 
 have made Occult Science a life study and our knowledge is 
 gladly given to assist those deserving ones who earnestly 
 desire higher light and knowledge. A study of Personal 
 Magnetism will dispel all doubt and lead you upward by 
 easy steps until you feel within this power, which will regen- 
 erate your life and make every true and worthy ambition 
 possible of attainment. 
 

 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 SELF-CONTROL, COUI^AGE AND AMBITION. 
 
 ‘ These multiply the chances of success,” 
 
 ELF-CONTROL is the highest form of courage. It 
 is the base of ail the virtues. It is one of the most 
 important but one of the most difficult things for a 
 powerful mind to be its own master. If he reigns within 
 himself and rules passions, desires and fears, he is more 
 than a king. 
 
 Too often self control is made to mean only the control of 
 angry passions, but that is simply one form of self-control; 
 in another — a higher and more complete sense — it means the 
 control over all the passions, appetites and impulses. True 
 wisdom ever seeks to restrain one from blindly following his 
 own impulses and appetites, even those which are moral and 
 intellectual, as well as those which are animal and sensual 
 In the supremacy of self-control consists one of the perfec- 
 tions of the ideal man. Not to be impulsive, not to be 
 spurred hither and thither by each desire that in turn comes 
 uppermost but to be self-restrained, self-balanced, governed 
 by the joined decision of the feelings in council assembled, 
 before whom every action shall have been fully debated and 
 calmly determined, this is true strength and wisdom. 
 
 337 
 
338 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 Mankind are endowed by the Creator with qualities which 
 raise them infinitely higher in the scale of importance than 
 any other members of the animal world. They are given 
 reason as a guide to follow rather than instinct. But if men 
 give the reins to their impulses and passions, from that mo- 
 ment they surrender this high prerogative. They are carried 
 along the current of their life and become the slaves of their 
 strongest desires for the time being. To be morally free — 
 to be more than animal — man must be able to resist instinct- 
 ive impulses. This can only be done by the exercise of 
 self* control. Thus it is this power that constitutes the real 
 distinction between a physical and a moral life, and 
 that forms the primary basis of individual character. Nine- 
 tenths of the vicious desires that degrade society and the 
 crimes that disgrace it, would shrink tnto insignificance be- 
 fore the advance of valiant self-discipline, self-respect, and 
 self-control. 
 
 It is necessary to one’s personal happiness to exercise con- 
 trol over his words as well as his acts, for there are words 
 that strike even harder than blows, and men may “speak 
 daggers,” even though they use none. Character exhibits 
 itself in control of speech as much as anything else. The 
 wise and forbearant man will restrain his desire to say a 
 smart or severe thing at the expense of another’s feelings, 
 while the fool speaks out what he thinks and will sacrifice 
 his friend rather than his joke. There are men who are 
 headlong in their language as in their actions because of the 
 want of forbearance and self-restraining patience. 
 
 Government is at the bottom of all progress. The state or 
 nation that has the best government progresses most; so the 
 individual who governs best himself makes the most rapid 
 progress. The native energies of the human soul press it to 
 activity; controlled they bear it forward in right paths; un- 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 339 
 
 controlled they urge it on to probable destruction. No man 
 is free who has not the command over himself, but allows 
 his appetites or his temper to control him; and to triumph 
 over these is of all conquests the most glorious. He who is 
 enslaved to his passions is worse than Athens was by her 
 thirty tyrants. He who indulges his sense in any excesses 
 renders himself obnoxious to his own reason, and to gratify 
 the brute in him displeases the man and sets his two natures 
 at variance. We ought not to sacrifice the sentiments of 
 the soul to gratify the appetites of the body. Passions are 
 excellent servants, and when properly trained and disciplined 
 are capable of being applied to noble purposes; but when 
 allowed to become masters they are dangerous in the 
 extreme. 
 
 To resist strong impulses, to subdue powerful passions, to 
 silence the voice of vehement desire, is a strong and noble 
 virtue. And the virtue rises in height, beauty and grandeur 
 in proportion to the strength of the impulses subdued. True 
 virtue is not always visible to the gaze of the world. It is 
 often still and calm. Composure is often the highest result 
 of power and there are seasons when to be still demands 
 immeasurably higher strength than to act. Think you it de- 
 mands no power to calm the stormy elements of passions; to 
 throw off the load of dejection, to repress every repining 
 thought when the dearest hopes are withered, and to turn 
 the wounded spirit from dangerous reveries and wasting 
 grief to the quiet discharge of ordinary duties? Is there no 
 power put forth when a man, stripped of his property — of 
 the fruits of a life’s labor — quells discontent and gloomy 
 forebodings and serenely and patiently returns to the task 
 which providence assigns? We doubt not that the all-seeing 
 eye of Gjd sometimes discerns the sublimest human energy 
 under a form and countenanee which, by their composure 
 
340 
 
 HOW TO WIN 
 
 and tranquility, indicate to the human spectator only passive 
 virtues. Individuals who have attained such power are 
 among the great ones of earth. 
 
 Strength of character consists of two things — power of 
 will and power of self-restraint. It requires two things, 
 therefore, for its existence — strong feelings and strong com- 
 mand over them Ofttimes we mistake strong feelings for 
 strong character. He is not a strong man who bears all be- 
 fore him, at whose frown domestics tremble and the children 
 of the household quake; on the contrary, he is a weak man. 
 It is his passions that are strong; he, mastered by them, is 
 weak. You must measure the strength of a man by the 
 power of the feelings he subdues, not by the power of those 
 that subdue him. 
 
 Did we ever see a man receive a flagrant injury and then 
 reply calmly.^ That is a man spiritually strong. Or did we 
 ever see a man in anguish stand as if carved out of solid 
 rock mastering himself, or one bearing a hopeless daily trial 
 remain silent and never tell the world what cankered his 
 peace.^ That is strength He who with strong passions re- 
 mains chaste, he who. keenly sensitive, with manly powers 
 indignation in him, can be provoked and yet restrain him- 
 self and forgive, these are strong men, the spiritual heroes. 
 
 A strong temper is not necessarily a bad temper. But the 
 stronger the temper the greater is the need of self-discipline 
 and self-control. Strong temper may only mean a strong and 
 excitable will. Uncontrolled it displays itself in fitful out- 
 breaks of passion; but controlled and held in subjection, 
 like steam pent up in the mechanism of a steam engine, it 
 becomes the source of energetic power and usefulness. 
 Some of the greatest characters in history have been men of 
 strong tempers, but with equal strength of determination to 
 hold their motive power under strict regulation and control. 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 341 
 
 He is usually a moral weakling who has no strong desires or 
 strong temper to overcome; but he who with these fails to 
 subdue them is speedily ruined by them. 
 
 Man is born for dominion; but he must enter it by con- 
 quest and continue to do battle for every inch of ground 
 added to his sway. His infant exertions are put forth to 
 establish the authority of his will over his physical powers. 
 His after efforts are for the subjection of the will to the 
 judgment. There are times which come to all of us when 
 our will is not completely fashioned to our hands and the 
 restless passions of the mind hold us in sway — seasons when 
 all of us do and say things which are unbecoming, unseemly 
 and which lower and debase us in the opinions of others 
 and also of ourselves. Self-control, however, is a virtue 
 which will become ours if we cultivate it properly, if we 
 strive right manfully for its possession; fight a bitter warfare 
 against irritability, nervousness, jealousy and all unkind- 
 ness of heart and soul. But it must be cultivated properly. 
 One exercise of it will not win us the victory. We must 
 by constant repetition of efforts, obtain at last the victory 
 which will bring us repose, which will enable us to say to 
 the raging waves of passion; *‘Thus far canst thou come and 
 no farther,” We must be faithful to ourselves, faithful in 
 our watch and ward over tongue, eye and hand. It is only 
 by so doing that man comes to the full development of his 
 powers. It is alike the duty and birthright of man. Mode 
 ration in all things and regulating the actions only by the 
 judgment, are the most eminent parts of wisdom. “He that 
 ruleth his own spirit is greater than he that taketh a city.” 
 
 Courage consists not in hazarding without fear, but be- 
 ing resolutely minded in a just cause. The brave man is 
 not he who feels no fear — for that were stupid and irrational 
 — but he whose noble soul subdues its fears and bravely dares 
 
342 
 
 HOW TO WIN 
 
 tne dangers nature shrinks from. True courage is cool and 
 calm. The bravest of men have the least of a brutal, bullying 
 insolence, and in the very time of danger are found the 
 most serene and free. Rage can make a coward forget him- 
 self and fight. But what is done in fury or anger can never 
 be placed to the account of courage. 
 
 Courage enlarges, cowardice diminishes resources. In 
 desperate straits the fears of the timid aggravate the dan- 
 gers that imperil the brave. For cowards the road of deser- 
 tion should be kept open. They will carry over to the enemy 
 nothing but their fears; the poltroon, like the scabbard, is an 
 incumbrance when once the sword is drawn. It is the same 
 in the everyday battles of life; to believe a business impos- 
 sible is the way to make it so. How many feasible projects 
 have miscarried through despondency and been strangled in 
 the birth by a cowardly imagination! It is better to meet 
 danger than to wait for it. A ship on a lee shore stands out 
 to sea in a storm to escape shipwreck. Impossibilities, like 
 vicious dogs, fly before him who is not afraid of them. 
 Should misfortune overtake, retrench, work harder, but never 
 fly the track. Confront difficulties with unflinching perse- 
 verance. Should you then fail, you will be honored; but 
 shrink and you will be despised. When you put your hands 
 to a work, let the fact of your doing so constitute the evi- 
 dence that you mean to prosecute it to the end. They that 
 fear an overthrow are half conquered. 
 
 No one can tell who the heroes are and who the cowards, 
 until some crisis comes to put us to the test. And no crisis 
 puts us to the test that does not bring us up, alone and 
 single-handed to face danger. It is comparatively nothing 
 to make a rush with the multitude, even into the jaws of 
 destruction. Sheep will do that. Armies can be picked 
 from the gutters and marched up as food for powder. But 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 343 
 
 when some crisis singles out one from the multitude, point- 
 ing at him the particular finger of fate and telling him, 
 “stand or run,” and he faces about with steady nerve, with 
 nobody else to stand behind, we may be sure the hero stuff is 
 in him. When such crises come, the true courage is just as 
 likely to be found in people of shrinking nerves, or in weak 
 and timid women, as in great, burly people. It is a moral, 
 not a physical trait. Its seat is not in the temperament, but 
 the will. 
 
 Some people imagine that courage is confined to the field 
 of battle. There could be no greater mistake. Even con- 
 tentious men — unavoidably contentious — are not by any 
 means limited to the battlefield. And there are other strug- 
 gles with adverse circumstances — struggles, it may be, with 
 habits or appetites or passions — all of which require as much 
 courage and more perseverance than the brief encounter of 
 battle. Enough to contend with, enough to overcome, lies 
 in the pathway of every individual. It may be one kind of 
 difficulties or it may be another, but plenty of difficulties of 
 some kind or other everyone may be sure of finding through 
 life. There is but one way of looking at fate, whatever that 
 may be, whether blessings or afflictions, to behave with dig- 
 nity under both. We must not lose heart, or it will be the 
 worse both for ourselves and for those whom we love. To 
 struggle, and again and again renew the conflict, this is life's 
 inheritance. He who never falters, no matter how adverse 
 may be the circumstances, always enjoys the consciousness 
 of a perpetual spiritual triumph, of which nothing can de- 
 prive him. 
 
 Though the occasions of high heroic daring seldom occur 
 but in the history of the great, the less obtrusive opportuni- 
 ties for the exercise of private energy are continually offer- 
 ing themselves. With these domestic scenes as much 
 
844 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 abound as does the tented field. Pain may be as firmly en- 
 dured in the lonely chamber as amid the din of arms. Dif- 
 ficulties can be manfully combated, misfortune bravely sus- 
 tained, poverty nobly supported, disappointments courage- 
 ously encountered. Thus courage diffuses a wide and 
 succoring influence and bestows energy apportioned to the 
 trial. It takes from calamity its dejecting quality and en- 
 ables the soul to possess itself under every vicissitude. It 
 rescues the unhappy from degredation and the feeble from 
 contempt. 
 
 The greater part of the courage that is needed in the 
 world is not of an heroic kind. There needs the common 
 courage to be honest, the courage to resist temptation, the 
 courage to speak the truth, the courage to be what we really 
 are and not pretend to be what we are not, the courage to 
 live honestly within our own means and not dishonestly upon 
 the means of others. The courage that dares to display 
 itself in silent effort and endeavor, that dares to do all and 
 suffer all for truth and duty, is more heroic than the achieve- 
 ments of physical valor, which are rewarded by honors and 
 titles, or by laurels sometimes steeped in blood. It is moral 
 courage that characterizes the highest order of manhood and 
 r^omanhood. Intellectual intrepidity is one of the vital con- 
 didons of independence and self-reliance of character. A 
 man must have the courage to be himself and not the shadow 
 or the echo of another. He must exercise his own powers, 
 think his own thoughts and speak his own sentiments. He 
 must elaborate his own opinions and form his own convictions. 
 
 It has been said that he who dares not form an opinion 
 must be a coward; he who will not must be an idler; he who 
 cannot must be a fool. Every enlargement of the domain 
 of knowledge which has made us better acquainted with the 
 heavens, with the earth and with ourselves, has been estab- 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 345 
 
 lished by the energy, the devotion, the self-sacrifice and the 
 courage of the great spirits of past times, who, however 
 much they may have been oppressed or reviled by their con- 
 temporaries, now rank among those whom the enlightened 
 of the human race most delight to honor. 
 
 The passive endurance of the man or woman who for 
 conscience’s sake is found ready to suffer and endure in sol- 
 itude, without so much as the encouragement of even a 
 single sympathizing voice, is an exhibition of courage of a 
 far higher kind than that displayed in the roar of battle, 
 where even the weakest feels encouraged and inspired by 
 the enthusiasm of sympathy and the power of numbers. 
 Time would fail to tell of the names of those through faith 
 in principles and in the face of difficulties, dangers and suf- 
 ferings, have fought a good fight in the moral warfare of the 
 world and been content to lay down their lives rather than 
 prove false to their conscientious convictions of the truth. 
 
 The patriot who fights an always losing battle, the martyr 
 who goes to death amid the triumphant shouts of his ene- 
 mies, the discoverer, like Columbus, whose heart remains 
 undaunted through years of failure, are examples of the 
 moral sublime which excites a profounder interest in the 
 hearts of men than even the most complete and conspicu- 
 ous success. By the side of such instances as these, how” 
 small by comparison seem the greatest deeds of valor, incit- 
 ing men to rush upon death and die amid the frenzied 
 excitement of physical warfare. 
 
 There is a ^arge element of deception in all ambitious 
 schemes, for ofttimes, when at the summit of ambition, one 
 is at the depths of despair and the showy results of a suc- 
 cessful pursuit of ambition are sometimes but gilded misery» 
 the casing of despair. The history of ambition is written 
 in characters of blood. It may be designated as one of the 
 
346 
 
 HOW TO WIN 
 
 vices of small minds, illiberal and unacquainted with man- 
 kind. It is a solitary vice. The road ambition travels is 
 too narrow for friendship, too crooked for love, too rugged for 
 honesty, too dark for science and too hilly for happiness. 
 
 Those who pursue ambition as a means of happiness 
 awake to a far different reality. The wear and tear of hearts 
 is never recompensed. It steals away the freshness of life; 
 it deadens its vivid and social enjoyments; it shuts our souls 
 to our own youth and v/e are old ere we remember that 
 we have made a fever and a labor of our raciest years. The 
 happiness promised by ambition dissolves in sorrow just as 
 we are about to grasp it. It makes the same mistake con- 
 cerning power that avarice makes concerning wealth. She 
 begins by accumulating power as a means of happiness, but 
 she finishes by continuing to accumulate it as an end. 
 
 A thoroughly ambitious man will never make a true friend, 
 for he who makes ambition his god tramples upon everything 
 else. What cares he if in his onward march he treads upon 
 the hearts of those who love him best. In his eyes your 
 only value lies in the use you may be to him. Personally 
 one is nothing to him. If you are not rich or famous or 
 powerful enough to advance his interests, after he has got 
 above you, he cares no more for you. It is the nature of 
 ambition to make men liars and cheats, to hide the truth in 
 their breast and show, like jugglers, another thing in their 
 mouth; to cut all friendships and enmities to the measure of 
 their interests and to make a good countenance without tlie 
 help of a good will. If, as one says, “ambition is but a 
 shadow’s shadow,” it were well to remember that a shadow^ 
 wherever it passes, leaves a track behind. It would conduce 
 to humility also to remember of the greatest personages in 
 the world when once they are dead there remains no monu- 
 ment of their selfish ambition except the empty renown of 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS. 
 
 347 
 
 their boasted name. It is a very indiscreet and troublesome 
 ambition which cares so much about fame, about what the 
 world will say of us, to be always looking in the faces of 
 others for approval, to be always anxious about the effect of 
 what we do or say, to be always shouting to hear the echo of 
 our own voices. To be famous.? What does this profit a 
 year hence, when other names sound louder than yours? 
 
 The desire to be thought well of, to desire to be thought 
 great in goodness, is in itself a noble quality of the mind 
 and is often termed ambition, though it lacks the element of 
 selfishness which renders ambition so odious to all right 
 minded people. It seems an abuse of lanp;uage to confound 
 such a trait of the mind with ambition. It were better to 
 call it aspiration, which becomes ambition only when carried 
 to an extreme, or when the objects for the attainment of which 
 ambition incites us to put forth our utmost exertions are un- 
 worthy the attention of sentient moral beings, who live not 
 only for time, but for eternity. A worthy aspiration may be 
 a great incentive to advancement and civilization, a great 
 teacher to morality and wisdom; but an unworthy ambition, 
 unworthy because of its ends or the zeal with which they are 
 pursued, is often the instrument of crime and iniquity, the 
 instigator of intemperance and rashness. 
 
 Ambition is an excessive quality, and as such, is apt to 
 lead us to the most extraordinary results. If our ambition 
 leads to excel or seek to excel in that which is good, the cur- 
 rents it may induce us to support will be none but legitimate 
 ones. But if it is stimulated by pride, envy, avariciousness 
 or vanity, we will confine our support principally to the coun- 
 ter currents of life and thus leave behind us misery and de- 
 struction. An ambition to appear to be thought great in 
 noble qualities may lead us to appear good; but where we 
 only act from ambition and not from aspiration, we are sub- 
 
348 
 
 HOW TO WIN 
 
 ject to fall at any moment, since it were vain to expect sel- 
 fishness to long continue in any right direction. 
 
 If it is our ambition to gain distinction, we will rob the 
 weak and flatter the strong and become the fawning slave of 
 those who are able to foist us above our betters, and deck us 
 with the titles and honors of the great without any regard to 
 our own merit or respectability. But if we are ambitious to 
 do good, without any regard for the fame we may win or the 
 praise we may command, our course will be honorable and 
 just, our acts and deeds most worthy and good. When we 
 have done with the world the prints of our worthy ambition 
 will still remain as a legacy to those who come after us to 
 enjoy and reap the benefits, for which they will revere our 
 memory and retain our names in the lists of those whose 
 labors have aided in enriching the world and exalting the 
 general interests of mankind. 
 
 To be ambitious of true honor, of the true glory and per- 
 fection our nature is the very principle of virtue; but to be 
 ambitious of titles, of place, of ceremonial respects and civil 
 pageantry is as vain and little as the things are which we 
 court. Much of the advancement of the world can be 
 traced to the efforts of those who were moved by ambition to 
 become famous. Like fire, ambition is an excellent servant 
 but a poor master. As long as it is held subservient to in- 
 tegrity and honor and made to conform to the requirements 
 of justice, there is but little danger of a man^s having too 
 much of it. But, beware! it is such an insatiate passion that 
 you must be continually on your guard lest it speedily be- 
 come the ruling principle of your being. 
 
 A true and worthy ambition will lead to a strong desire to 
 excel in whatever we undertake and the man who is care- 
 less of the results of his labor is never the man who makes 
 his mark in the world or whose influence is powerful for good 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OP SUCCESS 
 
 340 
 
 with his fellow-men. In the truest and highest sense a 
 man who has an ambition which is worthy and who wins a 
 success which brings him the highest happiness, helps every- 
 one around him and it is an utterly false idea of life to re- 
 gard a victory which puts the lives or fortunes of others in 
 one’s power as necessary to true happiness or success in life; 
 the truest success is that victory which is won over erratic 
 impulses and injurious thoughts; for when the powers of a 
 mans nature are trained to work in a given direction with 
 most effect, the thoughts and impulses must of necessity be 
 under the control of the will and the will must act so that 
 the highest intellect and wisdom guide every act of life. 
 This is the true meaning of that text of scripture which says 
 that “He who conquers himself is greater than he that 
 taketh a city.’’ 
 
 The true conquest of self lies in a full development of 
 every power which Nature has given to man, and the work 
 the Chicago College of Psycho-Therapeutics and National 
 Institute of Science is not a work of repression, but of teach- 
 ing our students how best to bring into action those natural 
 powers which lie dormant in many, but upon the develop 
 ment of which depends much of the happiness and power of 
 life. The proper field for the use or man’s powers is not on the 
 field of battle, where the spoils of rich cities reward the victor; 
 but in the arena of peaceful life, where trained intellect 
 and inherent power is rated at its true worth and where every 
 man, sooner or later, finds his proper place. There is no 
 study so fascinating as the careful observation of the power 
 of one man over another and it requires a deep knowledge 
 of causes to be able to tell why one man or one woman po - 
 sesses such a wonderful power to influence those who come 
 in contact with them, while others are followers in every 
 way of stronger and more positive minds, and seem to be 
 destitute (f power to help themselves. 
 
3C0 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 Here is where the student of Personal Magnetism has the 
 advantage over those who are ignorant of those finer forces 
 of human life which are called occult; he not only knows 
 the laws which govern the generation of that vital magnet- 
 ism, which lends power to every word and act; he is taught 
 how to control and use that wonderful power which gives 
 potency to all his thoughts and sends them out on their mis- 
 sion like winged arrows, straight to their mark. The con- 
 scious knowledge of the laws which govern this power is 
 just as necessary to its efficient use, as a knowledge of the 
 laws of explosives is necessary to the man who would use 
 them on the battlefield. “In knowledge there is always 
 safety; in ignorance there is always danger,” and those who 
 are conscious of their ignorance and who would replace it 
 by knowledge, should not trust to the vague ideas which 
 they can glean from the pages of newspapers or magazines 
 Remember, however vague and indefinite your ideas may be 
 regarding the Occult forces, there is nothing vague or indefi- 
 nite in the science itself. Personal Magnetism, Hypnotism 
 and all the wonderful power which one mind possesses over 
 another is governed by fixed and unvarying laws, as change- 
 less in their operations as those which hold the planets in 
 their orbits. 
 
 There is no chance, in all the operations of the finer forces 
 of nature we trace the operations of law, and he who pos- 
 sesses the true knowledge of that law, can look away into 
 the realm of causes and forsee and plan results which seem 
 like the working of miracles to the uninitiated. In all the 
 domain of nature there is no effect without a cause behind it; 
 be wise then, and learn the causes of things and aspire to 
 become an adept in the knowledge and use of Occult Law. 
 
 Do not think that instruction is needless, or that the way 
 is to easy that you are in no danger of stumbling if you 
 
OR, SURE SECRETS OF SUCCESS 
 
 351 
 
 essay it without a guide. Those who have trod the path 
 before you, can make your way easy and Professor Anderson 
 who is President of the College, has spent many years of 
 research and experiment, searching for the hidden laws cf 
 which we speak. He is qualified by ripe experience and 
 natural fitness for the work, to teach those who would learn 
 the secrets of Personal Magnetism, and he has gathered 
 around him assistants who are naturally fitted to be his 
 helpers in his work for humanity. The influence of the 
 College is extending year by year and its students are re- 
 ceiving instructions from the Central College, who are in far 
 distant lands. The College is located in the Masonic 
 Temple, a building which is one of the w^onders of the 
 world. There on the fifteenth floor, away from the bustle of 
 the street yet within easy reach, the Professor and his corps 
 of assistants send out the ideas which are destined to have 
 such a powerful influence on many lives. The library be- 
 longing to the institution is unique in its way, being devoted 
 to such works as bear on human health, character and devel- 
 opment. No trash or fiction is found on its shelves; human 
 life IS too short and too full of facts which men need to 
 know, to waste time on works of imagination, which crowd 
 out useful knowledge. Put the library is rich in volumes on 
 Hygiene, Phrenology, Physiology, Character building and 
 the Occult Sciences. All students have the free use of this 
 library during their course and as long afterward as they de- 
 sire; it has been selected by Professor Anderson himself and 
 many a rare volume has been gathered from collections in 
 distant cities to enrich it; it is constantly growing; new ad- 
 ditions being made from time to time. 
 
 There is a higher and nobler ambition than that which 
 animates him who worships wealth. It is felt by the student 
 ot Personal Magnetism who feels his own power to make 
 
352 
 
 HOW TO WIN, 
 
 Others happy grow, as his own^ happiness grows. For a true 
 life must always make for happiness, and that happiness 
 which is won without giving others pain, is the only kind 
 which is without alloy. The first requirement of Personal 
 Magnetism is perfect health, and the student who has health 
 and the power of Personal Magnetism, has no need to be 
 envious of the head that wears a crown. With a confident 
 feeling that we have herewith given to the public much mat- 
 ter of vital importance and that the gateway to a life of bliss 
 heretofore unknown is opened to all who may desire to enter, 
 we submit our humble efforts, with the best of wishes. 
 
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