WEEDS and hostile forces, are everywhere abun­dant. Nothing of value in the world is free from enemies of some kind. Human life is a constant example of this purpose in the plan of life. The blood is attacked by germs, the outward body is in danger from the larger forces, such as fire, water, gas, etc., and the faculties are preyed upon by the weeds of bad habits.

The reason for this is discussed in our post-graduate course, Universal Magnetism.

LESSON TWO "AWKWARDNESS"

We have considered restlessness as the first general weed in the habits that count against the cultivation of personal magnetism. The present lesson has to do with awk­wardness. This is something more than the absence of grace. It is not due to the erratic condition of the nerves, as many suppose; for we have seen many persons, both men and women, who were so awkward that life to others was a con­stant annoyance; yet each and every one of them was cured ofthe fault. It is for this reason that pupils in our systems of training are given specific exercises for overcoming awk­wardness. This side training is in our course known as Cultivation of the Chest; it is in our university course; and belongs properly to any course in expression or magnetism. Awkward people annoy others; and those who annoy cannot win. Ridicule will scatter the best magnetism ever accu­mulated, and ridicule is the natural fruit of awkwardness.

It is all removed by a little care in the deportment of the day. The more small details that are in the way of the awk­ward man or woman, the greater is the opportunity for the mishaps that must be apologized for; and the dining table furnishes the largest fund of these accidents. Explanation is always a weakness; the person who must be always excus­ing some act, is always on the defensive, and magnetic people are never on the defensive.

Remember this.

A common French proverb says that he who excuses himself, accuses himself. Never explain, never excuse, and never apologize: are three rules of magnetism. We must not be misunderstood. We do not preach the necessity of avoid­ing reparation, or avoiding elucidation. If you are clumsy and have done some injury to another's feelings, by all means apologize; but magnetic people avoid this necessity. They do not make the mishaps that call for the excuse. To make a point clear is not explaining; it is elucidating.

If you have been out late at night, when you should have been at home, explain; but the magnetic person would not have been out late when duty called for presence with the family; for magnetic people are brave, and the first element of bravery is the courage of honest and honorable conduct. We do not believe that the sneak, the liar or the evader of duty, can be magnetic in the true sense of the word.

How often we hear speakers tell the audience of some­thing that is intended to make the audience think the speakers are doing well under great disadvantages. Such excuses, apologies, or explanations never come from the magnetic Speaker.

Awkwardness is always compelling excuses. More than this it weakens the influence of the man or woman, because it annoys and gives rise to the impression that there is a fundamental weakness, or else a lack of good breeding. What do you think of some great actor, some Booth or Barrett, who enters upon the scene with a stumble and almost a fall, due to careless stepping on a mat. Imagine Hamlet's entrance In the play, with a mis-step over the threshold of door, that catches his foot and half throws him to the floor. Imagine Lady Macbeth in the famous sleep walking scene, catching her toe in a rug and running half a dozen steps in an effort to save a fall. Imagine Beecher coming into the pulpit, and knocking the water pitcher to the carpet by a careless movement of his arm. Imagine a gentleman friend being presented on icy steps to some beautiful lady, before whom he wishes to make a decided impression, and making it instead on the snow below. Imagine your best friend at your side during dinner, hitting the end of the soup ladle, and causing the contents of the tureen to fly over the clothing of those present. Imagine the button on the under part of the coat sleeve touching the edge of the glass near by, and pouring the fluid over some neighbor.

Under any conditions of awkwardness, there is nothing but disadvantage for the one who is thus afflicted. The in­stances we have hinted at are those that embody the larger acts of clumsiness; but the magnetic man or woman is wholly free, not only from them, but also from all the smallest de­tails of movement that can be called awkward.

The chief fault is in the fact that sets of muscles are used in place of parts of sets of muscles. The first step toward a cure, then, would be in the training of each and every part of a muscular set. The man who has been brought up in the country, seems to be naturally awkward; but an analysis of his faults will always show that he is using whole sets of muscles, where as the graceful man or woman uses only such parts as are called into action by the intended move­ment. Here we might write another great law, were it not for the fact that we would be treading in the realm of another line of study. We will, however, go far enough to show the general method of cure.

Taking the example already stated, that of the man bred in the country, and we find that his many muscles of the hand and arm are used in combinations, rather than in their details. Thus, he has a habit of opening and shutting all the joints of the hand in one act; he rarely ever uses the hand except as a whole. A graceful man, whether bred in the city or country, will use each and every finger of the hand as the action demands, not more than is needed. An awk­ward speaker, of whom there are scores in the United States Congress, will swing his whole arm from the shoulder, in making gestures, while the graceful speaker will use each and every joint from the tips of the fingers to the shoulder; or six instead of one. An awkward woman in moving the arm, uses the joint at the elbow, and a man at the shoulder, the latter making the swing from the shoulder, generally with the elbow rigid but at an angle; the result being that his elbow knocks many a thing down, such as a glass from the table, or anything within reach. The woman, unless man­nish, causes her mishaps by elbow swinging, which brings the wrist or knuckles into accidents.

A thorough course of self training in limbering up each and every joint of the body, from the toes to the finger tips, will help to overcome this fault. To this should be added experience in social events. Then the resolution should be formed not to do with yourself, when alone, what you would not do with yourself when others are present. That is, be as careful when no one sees you as you would wish to be when the most critical company is present. Charles Sumner once said that he would not take a position of the body, arms, feet, legs, etc., when alone in his room, that he would not be willing to take in the Senate; for, he declared, such an attitude might be taken unconsciously in the Senate. This is a great law of life. What you do alone, you are apt to do when others are present.

On the other hand the adoption of affected manners will lead to equal loss of respect. Assumed ease and grace are distasteful to all sensible people. Because the cook puts no salt in the soup on one day, is no reason why she should ruin it the next by too much salt.

The true lady or gentleman is the one who is as graceful when alone as when in society; and the grace then is natural, not affected, Affectation is the aping of good manners by one who is incapable of showing them as the result of good breeding or inherent adoption. Affectation is always an imitation; like a paste diamond, or a painted rose.

Awkwardness is not only due to the use of muscles not required for action, but is also due to the lack of gravity sup­port in the carriage of the body. Some part of it is centered beyond the base known as the center of gravity. The leaning tower of Pisa, or the badly loaded rack of hay, show the same incongruity. Humanity is full of this fault until grace takes the place of awkwardness.

Straight lines in the carriage and in the motions of the body are always crude. They represent physical force. The lessons to follow deal with the correction of this fault, and we will not discuss it here.

FOR SCHOOL LESSONS

It can at once be seen how useful might be this principle of magnetism,—the adoption of grace in place of awkward­ness,—if arranged in a series of exercises, accompanied by talks upon the rules that could be readily formulated for teaching in schools of almost every grade. The rules that follow are applicable both to teachers in their work and to pupils here and in schools; that is, they have a universal application.

RULE TWO: Awkwardness lessens a person's in­fluence.

The first rule has already been stated in an earlier page. This second rule is in line with it in meaning, for restlessness and awkwardness are the offspring of careless disregard for the finer powers of the body. A foundation precept might have been given in advance, to the effect that whatever lessens influence will at the same time lessen control over others; but this is clearly an axiom that bears its meaning on its face, and is accepted by all as a truth.

RULE THREE: Defective positions, straight lines, angularities, and the misuse of the muscles, cause awk­wardness.

The discussion that led up to these rules has shown what is meant by all these defects. Perhaps the meaning of angu­larities has not been made clear. Motions that describe acute angles, or even obtuse angles, come under the term; as do positions of the arms or any part of the body. Some persons seem to reach out with their elbows, or their knees, or their feet, or bump others with their shoulders or hips; these are common illustrations of what is meant by angularities of motion or position. Mishaps follow, and the result is ridi­cule, pity or contempt, any one of which is sure to destroy the influence of the offender.

As an illustration of the effect of so simple a law, we will cite the case of a young lawyer who knew more law than he did manners. He was encouraged by some person in high position, and at length was introduced to a gentle­man and his wife who needed advice and assistance in certain transactions. This was the one great opportunity that: opened the door to the young man, but he lost all prestige by going upstairs behind the lady and treading on her dress so as to tear it from her. He was at once excused from further interview. Even the most influential legal adviser could not live down such a piece of clumsy behavior.

RULE FOUR: Affected grace is artificial.

One of the most common assumptions in the world, and especially in shoddy parts of the country, is the effort to put on easy manners and careful conduct for a special occasion. It is true that if such occasions were numerous and closely connected in point of time, the result would be new manners, for practice gives the stamp of genuineness even to an as­sumption. But the occasions are far apart in most instances; and the boor of private life is seen trying to show ease of bearing and a sang froid nonchalance when he comes into the society of well mannered people. The disguise deceives no one but the boor himself. Grace is often assumed, and the result is the dude, the silly girl, or the simpering woman. Another and higher law holds sway in all such cases and it will be found stated in the next rule. This should be care­fully studied by all persons who wish to have a natural and logical advantage over others.

RULE FIVE: Private habits become natural man­ners, good or bad.

This law is the under-current of success or failure in many a life. A person should not allow his or her methods and conduct in the presence of those who are entitled to re­spect, to be the same as may be found in moments of careless­ness and disregard for the conventionalities. It is generally true that men and women who are alone, or in the privacy of the family, conduct themselves in a very informal manner. Not only in matters of dress, but in diction, style of conversa­tion, freedom of ejaculation, lounging, sitting or reclining positions, and in countless little ways, they pursue a line of conduct exactly opposite that which they would adopt if some person of influence or dignified social rank were present. It is true that they pretend to be the same under all circum­stances ; but human experience proves the contrary.

The effort to conceal the habits that control their private lives is sure to make them stiff, awkward or artifical; and a certain lack of honesty is stamped on every look and motion. Between the pretender and those he seeks to impress, there arc waves of influence that are felt, although they may not be interpreted in words.

The best honesty is that which is the natural outflow of unconscious sincerity, and this must exist in private life before it can find place in an attempt to wield power over others. The best preparation for a career of supremacy, is the accu­mulation of the best manners and the most respectful de­portment in the little periods of privacy. In other words, act to yourself as you would behave if you were seeking to display excellent breeding before recognized superiors.

Treat yourself as you would treat them. Cultivate a round of private habits that will need no amending when some queenly woman or some true gentleman greets you with the honor of a visit.

LESSON THREE

"EMBARRASSMENT"

This should seem to open up a line of discussion as to what is the true cause of the weed or enemy known as embar­rassment. Some persons regard it as the fruit of a defective nervous system; others as a fault of the brain functions; and others as a born defect. We have often been told that a per­son cannot help being embarrassed if it is in the temperament, but we have as often proved that the cultivation of good breeding, under the rules already given in this course of in­struction, will remove every trace of embarrassment. We have had for pupils many young men and young women who claimed that the fault could not be cured, but it was cured. It is one of the first steps in the study of expression, to instill self control, confidence and ease, to such an extent that all traces of embarrassment are lost, thus showing one of the reasons why we recommend the study of expression as the best means of building up the powers of magnetism, outside of the direct training itself. The truly magnetic man or woman is not empty of accomplishments. The more knowledge, experience, general acquisition and unfolding of powers in collateral directions, the greater will be the force and energy of whatever degree of magnetism may be acquired.

Embarrassment is due to the presence of faults and de­fects that are apparent to the possessor. The first step is to remove awkwardness, overcome restlessness, and build up a private life of good manners.

Courage is the natural antidote of embarrassment. This is seen in the person who is engaged in conversation; if he knows how his words ought to be pronounced, and how grammar ought to be spoken, he will go ahead with more confidence in what he says, and will speak his mind with more convincing power; but if he is in doubt, he will evade the very words that he most needs to use, and this will cause a flushing of the face, and a hitching of his speech. Total ig­norance of pronunciation and grammar is better than half knowledge; with ignorant people there will be influence; with educated people the mistake-maker, while not embarrassed, will be discounted. This is the fate of thousands who are really endowed with power.

If we were to have the training of the young in the various branches of education, our first effort would be to deal with all those matters that are involved in personal contact in life; that is, we would impart the ability to meet others to the best advantage and carry on the multiform transac­tions of living in the best manner possible. This is the true education. The pupils of the schools and colleges are at a disadvantage in these respects. Association, contact, and the tools of expression—these are the means of highest use­fulness, if they are given their fullness of power.

There is courage in the life of the individual who is conscious of being an accurate speller in letter writing, an accurate talker in the use of grammar and rhetoric, an accurate employer of words and terms, an accurate pronouncer, a good judge of form and deportment, an observer of the rules of sensible etiquette, a natural exponent of grace without affecta­tion, and an experienced friend and social companion. These are the methods that show self-control and give evidence of the best courage in private life. Yet they are in fact the parts that are least developed in the people of this country; while abroad the deadness of effete customs show a graveyard where a living force should be found. There all is insincerity. Freedom from embarrassment may be brassy. What we would teach is full sincerity and full courage.

LESSON FOUR "STRAINED POSITIONS"

By strained positions is meant the uneasy attitudes so often seen in persons sitting or standing. While this fault is akin to awkwardness, it is sufficiently different to call for direct attention. Every awkward person is not in a strained position, although every case of the latter fault denotes one phase of awkwardness. Yet it is sometimes true that there are persons who obey the general requirements of grace, yet who manage to strain the muscles of the body by false atti­tudes.

There are two reasons why this fault is an enemy of personal magnetism. One is that the straining of the muscle saps its vitality, leaving it weary and taking energy from the nerve centers that supply it. The second reason is that it leads to lack of ease and embarrassment. Many cures of the latter trouble have been effected solely by correcting this one fault.

When the weight of the leg or body is on one or both heels, there is an undue tax on the spinal column, as may be seen from observation as well as test. The best standing attitude is that which puts the weight forward over the heav­iest base of support in the foot, which is nearly if not alto­gether free from the use of the heel. This does not mean an abnormal support too far forward. For magnetic purposes the weight should be held as near the heel as possible, without any appreciable amount coming on the heel. It is to be on the ball of the foot, but as far back as it can be carried. For the purposes of lung development, a front position on the ball of the foot is recommended if it can be made natural and easy.

Standing too long on one leg is a common fault. Legs are made to hold up the body; but they need not both take part in this duty at the same time, yet they may alternate often enough to prevent the dullness of feeling that comes from the strain.

Some ladies cross the ankles and never relieve the posi­tion for an hour or more. This causes strain and loss of vitality. The attitude is an excellent one, but should alter­nate with others, or at least with a reverse crossing of the ankles. Men often cross the knees and seem indisposed to give the muscles relief. A shifting of an attitude once a minute is not restlessness, for restless people shift their atti­tudes fifty times a minute. By observing magnetic people, you will notice a disposition to slightly change the position of the body on an average of once in every two or three min­utes; although we recall the cases of well known men who were disposed to talk in private conversation with great ani­mation, yet who seemed never to move a muscle for five or ten minutes. But closer attention disclosed the fact that they were very easy and smooth in every change of the body.

Most chairs are uncomfortable. They compel the person who would use them for resting the upper part of the body, to lounge in them in strained positions even when merely sitting. The common illustration of this fact is seen in the straight backs of some church pews and of some draw­ing room chairs. The cure of this fault is to ignore the back and allow the body to rest itself only as far as its sitting pos­ture is concerned. After standing until you are weary, or after walking until any kind of sitting support is acceptable, you are glad to get even a box or log to sit upon, and may exclaim, "How delightful," yet the box as well as the log is without a back and you never notice it. The support of the back is not required in most cases until the body has been sitting too long; then, instead of rising on the legs as ought to be done, the custom is to shift the support from the sitting posture to that of leaning back against something. When this proves too monotonous, there is always an inclination to lean farther back, until the hammock or the lounge is wanted.

During this process of wearing out the vital forces, the body is getting more and more tired. It becomes a refresh­ing relief to be able to lie down, and to thus employ the facul­ties in reading or studying. This tired out feeling is seen in law offices and other places where men and young men lounge into easy attitudes until they are seen with feet on the table or mantel, and their heads far below a normal rela­tive position.

Where the circulation of the blood is interfered with, the vitality is low. When the back receives any support the heart lessens its efforts to push the blood through the body. Remove the support from the back and the heart will do much more vigorous work. Now stand, and the heart still increases its activity; and this increase is very marked when you walk, and quite energetic when you run; showing a steady proportionate effort of this great organ of life to keep pace with the demands of the muscular system.

There are two methods of making measurements of the magnetism of an individual. One is the dilating of the pupil of the eyeball in the manner spoken of in Universal Magnetism. The other is the rapid and energetic beating of the heart. These evidences are apparent to all common observers. They do not admit of mistakes.

Now if the double proposition is true, as it always is, that vital electricity is the basis of all personal magnetism, and that the energy of the heart keep pace with the power of vital electricity, then it is a matter for careful study and adoption that the heart is not weakened by easy attitudes, except when actual rest is needed.

But here are several counter facts.

The more you rest, the more you will require rest.

The more you favor the back muscles, the more you will feel inclined to do so.

The more you sit with raised feet, lowered head and resting back, the more you will want to do these things.

The more you lie abed, the more you will have to lie in bed.

The less you stand the less you will be able to stand.

The less you walk, the less you will want to walk, except in certain abnormal instances where the deadness of the muscles rebel and a few minutes walk is refreshing; but the weariness afterwards will make you declare that you will not give way to such indiscretion again. Then, awaking to the fact that you are muscularly lazy, you try to atone for years of weakness by a few days or weeks of exercise, with the result that you break down the exhausted tissue and do yourself a permanent injury. Habits should be changed slowly if they affect the body or any of its faculties. Immoral habits may be changed by moral surgery, and haste never makes waste.

Another straining position is that which lets the chest fall down on the stomach. It ought to be taught out of all children from the first years of their schooling. This almost universal fault is the first step in consumption. Bold as the declaration may seem, we nevertheless make it, that you will not find consumption or its symptoms in a man or woman who is free from this bad habit. The fallen chest is weakness itself, and the heart is crowded and checked in its work. The raised chest compels the heart to do more work, its blood is drawn with remarkable energy all through the interiors that feed the lungs, and the vitality is such that the germs of tuberculosis could not long live there. You, who would like to do good in the world, take this one proposition into the lives of all men and women, into homes, and into schools, and note how a small principle will revolutionize humanity.

To do this work, you need not give us credit. You need not mention any names of books or authors or publishing houses or institutions where people are taught these truths. All you need do is to make a campaign for the correction of the most fatal fault of life, the dropped chest. Take the full credit yourself. The difficulty will be to make this habit universal, and to keep the minds of people on it until a new habit is formed.

If you will do this little for humanity, the result will be the disappearance of weak lungs and the departure of that fearful enemy, consumption.

In any school room, or in any home, you will see children, youth and adults with dropped chests, and narrowed rib bones. That a new habit may be formed is easily proved; all that is required is persistence for a few weeks; constant and cease­less effort to remember it until the neglect alone will arouse the attention.

Many leaning, sitting and standing attitudes are strained.

The rule is that where there is any strain there is a sapping of vitality; small, but certain.

FOR SCHOOLS

This lesson is fruitful in opportunity to introduce many exercises and methods of deportment that will prove of lasting benefit to pupils of every grade.

LESSON FIVE "RELAXED POSITIONS"

This is another class of errors that destroy the energy of the nervous system. Relaxation occurs during sleep and sickness, or fainting. This is seen in the fact that, when you are sleepy, your head begins to fall and nod or roll. You could not easily hold up the body at the knees or waist muscles, if asleep. In fainting there is a complete relaxation of the whole body; the jaw droops as in sleep, the neck weakens so as to allow the head to fall or roll, the waist no longer holds up the torso, the knees give way, the ankles lose their power, and the body staggers or falls. The same conditions are true in drunkenness.

It will thus be seen that relaxation is a condition as­sociated with low vitality. For the purposes of securing rest, it is the first and greatest essential. A person who knows how to completely relax will fall to sleep very quickly night or day, and at most any time. It is the secret of the power of immediate slumber under all conditions.

With the relaxed muscles and nerves, the brain falls into a state of lapse, in which it is empty of thought. It is then made the receptacle of the thoughts of others, as is seen in the work on the transference of thought. The process is perfectly normal and natural.

The greatest physician that Philadelphia has known in the past generation, who died only a few years ago, was able to put himself into natural slumber in ten seconds, and even after he had held a difficult consultation which would tend to excite the mind. He was asked the secret of this power, and he said it was a simple principle that all could practice if they were to train themselves to it; namely relaxing all the muscles and nerves.

Sleep is disturbed and fitful in proportion as this con­dition of relaxation is imperfect. People allow themselves to fall asleep thinking hard, and depending solely on exhaus­tion. Now it is well known that the sleep habit is capable of being cultivated one way or the other. People who accom­plish much in the world sleep only a few hours in the twenty-four. Others whose vitality runs low must have twice as much slumber. Some are too tired to sleep, and others are too sleepy when not tired to keep awake; they seem to want more sleep in proportion as they get sleep.

The sleepy folks, the relaxing folks, the languid folks, and those who are always tired, are kin of the same condition; they are semi-dead people who cannot become magnetic until they invade these enemies and destroy them.

Men and women who are in the habit of sitting in relaxed positions are much more nervously inclined than those who hold the flesh and nerves firm and tensed; they are more restless. Each little development of vitality runs right out and is lost On the other hand the tensed people are more self-contained; they are life in repose while awake; and in sleep they are re­laxed without being restless.

The cure of this line of faults is to avoid the languid condition of any part of the body, unless you seek sleep and absolute rest; then it is most natural and refreshing.

FOR SCHOOLS

The affirmative tensing movements and exercises that are given in the later pages of this course of training, are of the highest value in schools to overcome the lolling and languid positions of the youth, as well as older pupils.