THERE are two sides to the study of personal mag­netism. One is the negative side by which faults are seen and eliminated. The other is the positive side by which excellencies are acquired. Previous lessons give you a good idea of what is meant by negative practice, while this period includes that which belongs to the positive side. We have gone far enough now for each and every pupil to have seen remarkable results from the practice. If you do not notice them it must be due to one of two causes:

1. Because a steady and healthy growth is not observ­able to the grower.

2. Your intelligence may not admit of your understand­ing the meaning of the principles laid down in the preceding periods. This we are not inclined to believe.

Although a steady and healthy growth is not observable to the grower under ordinary circumstances, the kind of progress that ought to be made in this course of training should be something more than the average; something out of the ordinary. There can be no doubt that every person who is endowed with at least ordinary intelligence ought to have made marked and decided progress up to this time. We speak from a vast experience in the past.

When the theory is fully understood, the student takes hold with an earnest resolve to succeed; and failure has never yet been recorded under such circumstances. We there­fore recommend that sure ground be first attained by a re­view of all the Magnetic Principles thus far presented in the book, unless you are positive that they are clear to you. Perhaps there may be doubt as to the meaning of some of them, which a careful review would immediately settle.

The importance of this stage outranks all others. It alone makes success possible. Do not shirk the work. If you are a leaker you will suffer something of agony when the outflow of vital-force is held in check for the first time. Nervousactivity grows on a person. It is always a cause of lost power. In a case in court the author witnessed the conduct of the two opposing counsel.

1. One was active, full of life and movements, "smart," as they termed it. He got excited when he became earnest. He tired his listeners and beholders.

2. The other was calm and solid as a fixed rock. Not one waste motion escaped him. When he spoke his voice was full of a pleasant vigor and accumulated feeling that held all listeners spellbound. He commanded respect. When he became earnest his calmness was so intense that it seemed a disappointment that he should stop at all. He was never fidgety, never got excited, never hitched and halted in his words. He won the case. Such people are rare. How we respect a lady or gentleman who can show such self-control!

The difference between the effort to conquer leakage and the practice of dead-stillness is not great. One is the elimina­tion of sudden starts, jerks and quick movements that throw off vitality, while the other is the positive assertion of con­trol with reference to the whole body. Both seem alike, and reach the same results, namely, self-mastery. The pres­ent period may require what seems like the necessity of practice, yet we hope to convince our pupils that everything herein given may be adopted in the daily habits of life.

The ability to use the eye successfully depends upon the magnetic conditions back of it. If the vitality of the will power is overcome, or is likely to be overcome, or if you do not care to take the trouble to arouse it, the safer way is to let the eyes drop, look off, or rest upon vacancy. No test of honesty is to be had in the use of the eyes, when they are thrown at will into any direction the owner pleases. The evidence of dishonesty, or, to speak more accurately, of fear, is found in the attempt to look into another person's face and quailing before the glance. The embarrassment is heightened by the action of the blood. Dishonesty prompts fear. There is an apprehension that the truth is known. The difference between the removed glance of a magnetic person who does not care to arouse his power, and the faltering look of dishonesty is a wide one.

In the use of the eyes it is always advisable not to allow an earnest person of composure to hold your gaze riveted, unless you are more in earnest, for magnetic vitality plays havoc upon the thoughtless and careless. You may make yourself so much of a negation as to be led by another with­out having knowledge of the fact. The man who was told that a certain lawyer would control him if he ever sat on a jury in a trial where the lawyer appeared, replied, "I will decide the case according to the evidence, and no man living can in­fluence me to do otherwise." The trial Occurred, and this strong-minded man was foreman of a jury that brought in a prompt verdict for that lawyer's client. He was reminded of his statement, and justified himself by saying, "The evi­dence was all in his favor." So it was, but justice was the other way.

No person is won by an open use of the power of mag­netism. The announcement in advance, or the expectation, that a certain person is to make an effort to secure control over you would set you against all such endeavors, and would without doubt defeat the attempt. Unless overwhelmed by a fear of weakness in an encounter of the kind you would be impregnable. The victory in any case must rest upon the willingness of the person to yield, and that willingness must be won. Many an enemy has been resolute in mind up to a point where resistance was gladly laid down, not forced down.

In dead-still work the rule is an important one which tells you that the mood of the person before you must be known. If he is in earnest you must not give him the opportunity of fixing the gaze of your eyes upon his unless you arc more in earnest. Then it is a battle for supremacy. Do not think that you are to gain anything by a fixed glare of the eye.

It might give warning and defeat its mission, for a steady glance is likely to attract attention and excite the thought.

"Oh, he is trying to outstare me!" Never stare at any person; it is rude. Save the power of your eye for such times as you choose to employ it for substantial victory.

This brings us to the consideration of dead-stillness in the presence of others. The quiescent condition is not mag­netic stillness; it is always rest or stupidity, never repose. That is, it is not called repose even if it is absolutely still or dead. There must be the magnetic life of the live engine, with the calmness of conscious strength; the power of the full developed energy without waste of force. When you have such vitality, not physical, but nervous, then you are ready to put dead-stillness to practical usefulness. Look at some ex­amples of it.

Standing before a vast mob that threatens to demolish a great city with the growing vengeance, a nervous man calls, shouts and gesticulates, all in vain. His wild antics exhaust themselves upon deaf ears. Another man, his eye fixed with earnestness, steps forward upon a balcony, looks calmly into the heart of the assemblage, never moves a line of his face, raises his hand for attention, and stands like a statute while the fixed gaze holds the eyes of all the multitude. He makes no sign, expresses no appeal with voice or glance; shows no mark of anxiety on his face, does nothing to ask for silence, and there he stands a volcano of pent up energy under ab­solute control; and it is true that his perfect stillness gives him his magnetism. The attitude tells the complete story of the situation; a man of heroic purpose determined to be­come the master of that mob.

This is life. It is also an actual incident. It tells the story of life. What good would shouting do? What would be the use of frantic appeals, prayers, entreaties, threats, stormy passion or plaintive coaxing? How many persons would have thrown themselves into a paroxysm of action, from the sternest command to the most intense soliciting, in the effort to still the mob? Yet there was but one kind of person who could succeed in the attempt, and that was the dead-still individual; one who could gaze calmly into the angry faces and assert his superior power. One by one they looked upon him and came to recognize his god-like bearings; their voices were lost in their eyes; a feeling of approaching silence began to travel across the crowd; it deepened; the man stood like a rock, yet alive to the highest degree; the shouts died away; all was as quiet as the grave; and in the hush of that solemn stillness his every word was heard and absorbed. One man had mastered many thousands.

A well-known business man of great coolness and mag­netism, took his accounts home one night for the purpose of looking over them. He had a sum of money with him, of which a desperado had knowledge. It was the hour of mid­night ; stormy without; and lonely within. The man sat at his desk writing, and thought he heard the sound of steps in the adjoining room which was dark, although the door stood open. He was a man of magnetism as we have said. One of the essentials of magnetism is coolness; coolness to an ex­traordinary degree. The person who gets excited, who shows fear, who trembles, who quails before anything, is to that ex­tent lacking in this power.

Coolness can be acquired. We have had letters from nervous persons who have said they were incapable of be­coming cool; and yet they conquered the fault as soon as they began to develop magnetism. From the very fact that nerv­ous motions cause a rapid loss of vitality by throwing off the energy of the body, it could at once be seen that the absence of coolness would amount to a loss of control over another person. The man referred to was of the combination required to cope with the burglar. The following conversation is sub­stantially that which took place:

"Come in."

The burglar resolved to kill the merchant if he resisted ; and, although he was surprised at the announcement, he entered the room, leveled a revolver at the head of his victim, approached toward him and said;

"I've got you."

"Eh?"

"I've got you."

"Sit down."

"No, I won't. I'm here for business. I've got you."

"Eh?"

"You're mine. Now give up."

"Isn't your language a little peculiar for a professional burglar ?"

"Well, that's my lookout. Give me that money or you're a dead one."

"The money is all right. I give lots of money away with­out being asked for it. I don't mind the money. I have plenty for my own use and to give away. I don't like the tone of your voice."

"That's all right. Be quick now. I'm here to do a clean job."

"What will you do?"

"I'll kill you if you move."

"What good would it do you to kill me? You would hang for it."

"Hang nothing."

By this time the merchant, who had kept his eyes fixed on the burglar, found a slight evidence of quailing in the lat­ter. From that moment he was sure of the result.

"You will certainly be hung. Do you see that button?"

"Yes."

"Do you hear the sound below?"

"Officers?"

"Give me your revolver."

The man is now serving a term in the penitentiary.

Coolness with magnetism are sure to conquer all things; and these two qualities belong together. The more of one you get the more of the other will follow, provided the coolness is not of the blase, cold-blooded type of stupidity. Re­member that the engine must be alive with power.

A minister stands in the pulpit delivering his sermon. He is languid, gentle, quiet, cool, collected, effeminate, weak and yet free from nervousness. He lacks the energy of a thoroughly live man. There are no fires in the engine; hence the quietude of the body.

Another minister stands in the pulpit delivering his ser­mon. He has vitality enough, but it leaks out at all sides. His head beats the emphasis of his ideas just as nearly all readers' and speakers' heads do. His eyes are unsteady, look­ing in every direction without power of expression. He steps about, shifting his weight every minute or two, now advanc­ing, now retiring, now going across to the right or the left, and never standing still very long at a time. He brings the upper half of his body forward and bends to give em­phasis to a supposedly strong idea, doing this several times a minute. He gestures in every sort of way, but contents him­self to do finger movements in the absence of the full-arm action whenever the thought is not weighty enough to admit of gesticulation. Soon he has exhausted all that stock of energy that would have gone to produce magnetism, and he now finds that he must make up in the physical what he lacks in the magnetic, and he shouts and pounds.

Another minister, the rare kind, the individual with the greatest degree of honesty because he has the conscience to equip himself for his profession, stands in his pulpit delivering his sermon. He is cool, not because he is weak, but because he knows that great truths require all the power a man possesses to give them full weight of utterance. He stands still. When there is cause for action of the whole body he steps forward with a single movement as a stately ship might swing from her moorings, not as a fidgety orator might jog about over the platform. His head is not bobbing up and down, right and left, to the rhythm of his words, as is so commonly the case with speakers. He keeps his head erect upon his shoulders, strong, powerful, energetic, but in perfect repose. This is what excites the admiration of the congregation.

Few men and few women carry their heads in magnetic poise. When weak it falls forward, or is inclined to the right or left, or is tilted back; while the person of magnetism is of easier and yet more solid poise. There is no setness, no stiff­ness about the neck; but there is firmness and certainty of carriage that denotes the presence of power. To be still does not require that one be stiff; the stillness of death holds that quality. We wish the stillness of life. When the ordi­nary person is told to straighten up, to remove the lines of weakness, he has no other recourse than to the lines of hardness, and the latter is worse than the former. Magnetism steers us clear of these extremes.

The third minister of whom we spoke was magnetic. He had cultivated the body and all its faculties. He knew the value of repose, of dead-stillness, as he stood before his au­dience. The vitality that another might have thrown away in useless action he kept in storage to be dealt out as he chose. His gestures were inclined to assume the character of atti­tudes, for he presented as much versatility in his physical por­trayal of his thoughts as did any of his brother preachers; but he preferred the gesture of the outstretched arm and expres­sive position of the hand rather than the swinging motion so common to others. Why is it that nearly all speakers be­lieve that motion expresses more than attitude? Does the blow dealt by the hand hit anybody in a gesture; and, if not, why is the uplifted arm and clinched fist not more expressive of the meaning of a blow? The speaker seeks to illustrate his thought. He cannot reproduce life by acting its details. He cannot fire a gun when he tells of a killing. Repose in the attitude of description is always more effective and far more beautiful than action that never comes to a position of meaning.

A lawyer who holds mastery over himself at once wins respect. He does not fly up out of his chair to force his objection upon the judge. If the interests of his client demand that he make objection he can always be heard, and the more dignified he is the more likely he will be to get a full hearing. Judges admire cool, self-possessed lawyers; they dislike the active, nervous fellows who try to carry everything before them as by storm. The cool lawyer is most powerful in handling witnesses, for he thinks more rapidly and carries more trains of thoughts than the excitable lawyer. In the trial of a case there are unlimited opportunities for collateral thinking, for ideas on the side; for there are strings constantly going out in all directions, every one of which must be held in hand ready for use.

The habit of walking to and fro while speaking, is the result of nervousness, and is very taxing on the vitality. It occurs before juries and before audiences generally. Some men walk up and down before a jury, striding from place to place as though the action were impelled by a special degree of interest; but if you will take notice of the successful, the brainy, the magnetic lawyers, and orators generally, you will find them keeping closer to a given spot It is true that ac­tion arouses latent magnetism; but when it is aroused, it should not be wasted and thrown away wantonly.

There is no objection to be offered to the practice of standing in complete repose while speaking. It possesses the unusual charm of rarity; for the persons who are capable of it are few indeed. The gift or talent commences at the face, at the brows even, and no muscles are employed except those required in speech. It is a very common habit to move the entire face while talking. What is the use of it? Nothing is gained except wrinkles. Very nervous persons have what is almost equal to St. Vitus's dance in the twitching of the face; and there are not two in a hundred of all the men and women you see who are able to perfectly control the action of the face, whether awake or asleep.

The first charm, then, is the repose of face muscles. It is always acquired. The magnetic person knows enough to save energy, even in the smallest motions, for they count up the largest totals in the long run. Yet there are not many; who can completely obliterate all facial action when speaking or conversing. The brows are constantly at work accom­panied by the lids in most instances. Some are able to stop winking, but cannot stop the rising and falling of the brows. Many keep the cheek muscles active while talking; and do so unnecessarily. If you will attempt to converse before a mirror you will find out the difference between using the full action of the mouth, and the extra action of the face muscles.

It is true that the jaw must open and close while we talk. It is true that the muscles of the cheeks are employed in words that contain the sounds of far, oh, ee, and others simi­lar. It is also true that, to avoid mouthing and indistinct utterance, all vowel sounds should be given their full open­ness which requires mouth change and involves the assistance of the lower half of the face. But it is not true that setness of face after every labial consonant, the smacking of the lips in opening a syllable, the spreading of the face, the side action of the nose muscles, and the constant manoeuvres of the cheeks and jaw help the powers of enunciation.

It is in the words of Francis Bacon that we find our­selves in the presence of an intellect which grasps the princi­ples of all knowledge. In the words of Shakespeare we find vividly embodied almost every experience of human life. We are awed by the sublimity and grandeur of the thoughts of him who expressed himself in the words of the. Nineteenth Psalm. So the jewels, the beauty, the power and glory of life, and of hope hereafter, are contained in words that are made by the human voice alone, and shaped into coins that exist forever.

Don't be indifferent to the might and influence of clearly articulated words.