PERHAPS a person might acquire by steadfast purpose the habit of stillness under all circum­stances where it would be of value; but this end has been reached more quickly by a brief period of persistent practice; and the present chapter will be devoted to such line of work. It is necessary to re­member two things:

1. That there must be the energy of a strong life within.

2. That there must be no action without except what is needed for the expression of the life within.

The practice introduced in this chapter is of a mixed character. We prefer, wherever it is possible, to use the necessary events of the day as means of progress, rather than dry exercises. The child that grows up to manhood or womanhood, and becomes magnetic without special practice, is in fact always practicing. The nervousness, the activity and vigor of youth are all evidences of extra vitality with which young people are supplied; the excess being intended by nature to carry the child through the perils of early life, for statistics as well as circumstances conspire to its cutting off. Out of that turmoil of activity a few come to the settled re­pose of stupidity which has but little life within; and a rare few attain magnetism by natural processes.

But how ?

Who told them that a live soul, a throbbing, pulsating life within the body, when held compressed by the outer forces, became intensely magnetic; that the use of the inner power through the controlled channels of expression increased that magnetism; and that waste action or lost motions sap the fountain and spend its wealth?

No one ever proclaimed these things to them, perhaps; but some genius whose presence they could not discern whis­pered the secret to them; and they, all unconscious of the fact, became experts in the art of self-composure. Or it may be that a keen judgment told them that persons who cannot sit still or stand still are less capable of impressing themselves upon their fellow-beings than those who retain all their vigor while commanding its use. At any rate the person who is naturally magnetic possesses the same traits as those who have acquired the power. The possession has come through the same processes.

What may be practice to you is habit in another. There are not two royal roads to the same palace in the study of magnetism. It is by conserving the energies of life and in­creasing them that the results are attained. These things are done by habit in one case; and by practice in another; but they are identically the same. While the work of the present chapter may be called practice, we are endeavoring to set it forth in two classes:

1. In the habits of persons who are naturally endowed with personal magnetism.

2. In dry practice.

If you adopt the former without the latter, it will suffice, provided you are able to make the easier and more natural methods count as effectively as the dry practice. The latter has the merit of being speedier and more certain. The tests herein are made by what we call Situations. Not all of them will suit your habits of life; but we expect that you will find that a majority are possible. The requirements are stated as the tests are presented.

FORTY-THIRD GRAND PRINCIPLE

Magnetism is straightforward, simple and earnest. It must always be remembered that the possessor of per­sonal magnetism is compelled to win the admiration of one whom he would control. Affectation is not a quality that can win, for it is despised everywhere and by all sensible persons. The dude who struts and poses as the acme of pretence is as empty of magnetism as the roach that has lain drying in a garret long years after food had ceased to enter its anatomy. The man or woman who seeks to shine in society by the em­ployment of peculiarities of manner or voice, may have a train of observers; but it is a freight train.

Illustrative of this point is the case of a lawyer who was winning patronage by earnest attention to his profession. His head was slightly turned by the beginning of his success. He aimed high; that was right. He saw that the wealthy clients were more likely to hold social rank; so he entered society; as far as he could get in. At once he assumed the air of a person who thought himself the observed of the multi­tude, one talked about and gazed upon in wonder. To feed the eyes and ears of curiosity, as he regarded it, he put on a coldness of manner, a haughty reserve, a chilling air of supe­riority, which soon stamped him as an individual of silly affectation. He made society an iceberg as far as its relations to him were concerned.

How foolish is that cold shake of the hand which affecta­tion leads so many persons to give! How utterly inexcusable is that weakish hand which so many women lift to their own sex and occasionally to men! There is no magnetism in affectation, dullness or stupidity. The plain, the simple, the direct, the honest method everywhere and in everything possesses the highest charm. Mannerisms detract from all who use them, even where they are unassumed. When hon­esty speaks it is sincere; and few or none of those who dis­play affectation are honest or sincere. A suspicion is always Moused in the minds of others; this sets them against the pretender; and, even if a fair degree of magnetism were pres­ent, it would fall flat.

There are some persons who are handicapped by man­nerisms up to a certain point. One case may illustrate the effect of a change in the conditions which occurred without the fault of the person involved. It is also the case of a law­yer. He was educated in the East, but moved to the West when forty-five years old, owing to the ill health of his wife whose constitution was unable to endure the severe coast winds. He went to a large city in the hope that he might soon find a lucrative practice. His peculiarities of speech were very much against him. For "r" he could only say "w." For "s" he said "eth." He also had a slight hesitation which amounted to an incipient stammer. If he were to attempt to say, "This case is a very sad one," he would do no better than to utter it in the following manner, "Th-this c-case is a vewy th-thad one."

He received the reputation of being affected; but he repudiated the charge. It is more than two years of dreary waiting in a large city of strangers that was to be his fate. He was not idle. By some accident he heard of the book of personal magnetism, and mastered its exercises. He then demanded all the light that it was possible to attain on the subject, and pursued the study through the advanced course. At last he got a case despite his reputation of being affected. He was in earnest. The issues involved were important to himself and to his clients; on the one hand, his future hopes; on the other, the value of victory.

When the final address was to be made to the jury, he began in the same weak manner with the appearance of affectation; but he kindled within him the fires of magnetism and they soon burned brightly. The stammer disappeared at once, and was gone as soon as his voice deepened under the influence of his magnetic energy. Some of those who sat in the audience and who knew of his peculiarities began to re­mark that he was "talking more smoothly now." In five minutes more the muscles of the tongue were more powerfully employed in the execution of consonants, which of itself will obliterate the "th" sound of "s." The "r" became more ap­parent in the place of "w." The delivery was smooth and effective.

He was eloquent and convincing. The man within was magnetic; without all was chaos. The superior faculty rose higher than the defects that encrusted his usefulness; for the outside shell may be ever so full of blemishes, yet it must fall before the onslaught of genius; and magnetism is genius. The listeners were surprised. Because of the contrast with his beginning, they were gratified. Opinions changed. They had regarded him as insincere because he seemed a devotee of affected mannerisms; now they saw and felt his earnest­ness, and that meant an approach to sincerity. His volume of speech rolled on and swelled into tones of magnificent expression. His oratory became something to be remem­bered in after years, so deeply impressive had it grown in a brief period. He won his case, and a reputation that is still undimmed. One peculiarity remains; he never frees himself from the defects of speech until in each address he warms up to a magnetic condition of the highest order. Yet this much represents what he acquired by practice.

FORTY-FOURTH GRAND PRINCIPLE Newly acquired habits soon become second nature.

What you decide to do regularly in the daily routine of action, will grow upon you and soon attend to its own per­formance. If it were not for this quality of the human mind, we would all be helpless. Parts of the body may be trained to take up these secondary habits and carry them on in many divers ways at the same time; as is specially noted in the case of the musician. No person can play the piano until the fingers have acquired the habit of traveling over the keys with accuracy of touch; a thing that is impossible for many weeks or months.

By and by the ten digits of the two hands are able to per­form ten different duties, all exact, and at the rate of hun­dreds per minute. Then comes the time when the habit of playing is so well established that the eyes need not see the key-board; the mind can measure it through the hands. The church organist operates the many keys that are made for the hands, as well as a large number of pedals for the feet.

One of the charms of second nature is in the fact that a new habit does not bother the mind when it is correct in its operations; but does bother the mind when in error. Here is a prison who has spoken bad grammar for years in ignor­ance; he learns the rules of grammar, soon applies them, does so with accuracy for weeks until he finds himself speaking cor­rectly as a second nature, and thereafter he has no knowl­edge that he is following the rules. Being adopted into his life they demand no attention from the mind. But here comes the wonder: When he speaks correctly he is not aware of the fact; yet let him make an error and his mind will recognize it at once.

In stronger force the same law holds true when personal or physical habits are involved. The faulty attitude is over­come by practice and disappears; if there is negligence the breach is noticed at the time; but the continual doing of what is one's regular way is never recognized by the doer of it. It is the error, the exception, the break in the habit that arrests attention. When an attempt to establish dead-stillness as a second nature has been persisted in for a few weeks, the whole nervous system will take it up and adopt it as a habit. Then, when some breach of this occurs, the mind will have knowl­edge of it; just as when a light grows dim the absence of the brighter beam is seen. It is to reach this condition that we present the practice called Situations. Having reached it you will have conquered the most difficult part of the study. In former editions we depended upon mechanical exercises. Here we introduce for the first time a series of Situations, all of which have been found to be better and do more good than any other method heretofore attempted.

Be sure to find somewhere in your life all, or nearly all, of these opportunities. The fact that they are not to be met with in exactly the same details is of no importance, if they occur in semblance close enough to carry a principle.

FORTY-FIFTH GRAND PRINCIPLE

Dead-stillness requires perfect calmness of the mind and emotions.

When the mind is excited the body as its agent loses con­trol of itself to some extent. The emotions or feelings go much further, for they unbalance both mind and body.

We know of nothing more important in this or in any other study than that the mind should always be calm. Even if the muscles must give way to their proneness to move con­stantly; or the nerves twitch; the brain which is the engineer should never under any impression show excitement; nor should the emotions control the mind or body.

A calm mind is a successful mind, if the calmness is one of strength, not exhaustion. Many little laws come into play at this juncture; not broad enough to be called princi­ples. We will state them:

1. The muscles of the body, by constant involuntary motions, may waste the vitality without involving the action of the mind.

2. The nerves of the body, by constant twitching, may waste the vitality without involving the action of the mind.

3. Dead-stillness, as practiced in this book, will overcome both faults and lead to the accumulation of magnetism.

4. The excitement of the mind may or may not involve the action of the muscles or of the nerves. It generally does affect them seriously.

5. The excitement of the emotions may or may not in­volve the mind, muscles and nerves. It is almost certain to affect the mind, unless the person is of strong magnetic self-control.

6. It is a test of power to be able to separate the thoughts from the face.

7. It is the best test of power to be able to separate the emotions from the mind; thence from the face and general body.

8. The practice of dead-stillness as given in this book will accomplish such results.

Napoleon the great could make his face marble if he chose. He never allowed his nearest friend or closest coun­selor to know what was passing in his mind, or what effect any news, good or bad, really produced on him. He retained that placidity of countenance that told nothing. Apart from his occasional periods of anger, he was a man of dead-still­ness; an engine of tremendous power held in control. His magnetism was most powerful. By it he held men of treachery under sway of his will; he inspired his soldiers to deeds of frenzied heroism; and overawed his opponents in diplomacy.

Bismarck, Gladstone and all great men have separated their emotions from their minds, and both from muscles and nerves; so that passion never intrudes itself unbidden. How weak is that man or woman who shows worry in the face!

9. Mental and emotional excitement may be concealed by controlling the muscles and nerves, even at times without possessing much magnetism; but it requires the highest de­gree of this power to prevent the voice from betraying the excitement. It is dead-stillness in full earnestness.

Practice dead-stillness all day long. Use all parts of the body that are required in the performance of any duty; but do not allow a single action otherwise to escape. It will take no time. You will be all the stronger for it. If need be have some friend watch you to give advice as to any escaping motions. Make everything count.

The parent can always control the child, and without unkindness, by the perfect power of absolute repose of all parts of the body not needed in use; the steady glance, the placid face and the calm control of mind and body. No child, how­ever fractious can resist this influence if backed by the mag­netism that such calmness will generate.

The school teacher is able to control the most unruly of scholars by the same conditions just stated. We could de­vote hundreds of pages to reports from teachers confirming the irresistible force of dead-stillness when alive with mag­netic energy.

The same results are everywhere reported. There is no reason why you should not be master of those with whom you come in contact.

However, all such control requires tact. It is the one key of success in life. Tact unlocks all the doors in the hearts and pockets of your fellow-beings. It wins friendships with­out ostentation; and secures wealth without wrong.

It makes but little difference how much magnetism is born in us or later cultivated, if we have no tact we cannot suitably use it. There are today living in obscurity great men and women, who need only this one power to develop them. They have aspirations and longings for a proud career, a noble future, but have no tact. Could we go among them and bring them out by teaching them how to come in contact with the world, we should find Shakespeares, and Miltons, Whitefields and Spurgeons, Websters and Clays, Garricks and Coughs, where now we see but the yearning for greatness stamped upon the face.

The cultivation of tact and the cultivation of personal magnetism go hand in hand. Hence the practical value of the book you are now reading.